Failure Before The Cross Part 3

August 31, 2008

Failure Before the Cross, Part 3

Kathleen Maples

Jesus has been speaking some hard truths to His beloved disciples. This past weeks His message had turned into one that for the first time in their travel with the Messiah they did not want to hear what He had to say. He had begun to warn them and was trying to prepare them for His death and departure. They certainly had not lived with Him these past 3 1/2 glorious years knowing He would leave. They had just assumed everything would always be alright because He was there. They did not understand the Scriptures that spoke of the suffering of the Messiah, and His death. We can't understand this Book unless the Holy Spirit opens our eyes and shows it to us. But oh, what a week this had turned out to be! There was the triumphant entry into Jerusalem where the crowds had adored Him and praised Him. Oh, this had made the Pharisees so angry! The disciples had lost control of their own selves and had begun to praise Him and adore Him so much so that the Pharisees demanded the Lord shut them up. (Luk_19:37-39). Then there was the challenge in the temple. How horrified they were when He marched right in to the midst of the temple and began to overturn the tables of the money changers. They had never seen Jesus so upset and move so openly against anyone. He was not worried about making them angry. The more I study these Scriptures, the more I'm beginning to see something here. I know mortal man could never have taken the life of the Eternal One. He might have yielded to the limitations of living in the flesh for a season but He never stopped being God's Son in the flesh. He was Deity Divine. He knew He had to die and He knew they could not do it unless He set Himself up. His Father had arranged all this. But everything He did pointed to a spiritual truth we need to see and understand. Jesus had eaten the Passover meal with the disciples, and lovingly washed their feet. Judas, His betrayer, had departed and then Jesus began to minister to them about what was coming. Knowing His hour had come, that He would soon suffer and die, and their faith would be sifted violently, He began to reveal to them their need for and the promised coming of the Holy Spirit. He had not spoken directly about their need for the Holy Spirit before. He had sent them out to heal and minister. This they could do in His name. He gave them authority through faith in His name over the power of the enemy. The spirits, He said, were subject to them, but warned them against letting pride in their hearts for this reason. Pride was what caused Satan to fall. But there was something more He would require of them and for this they would need to be full of the Holy Ghost. Before they could drink the cup He would soon drink, of suffering, and betrayal and spiritual and in some cases, physical martyrdom, they would have to be baptized in the Holy Spirit or they would never endure. He knew all but John would be martyred.

They had left the upper room, and were now on their way through the streets of Jerusalem to Gethsemane. It was dark and I believe after a long and busy week, this city which was preparing for the Passover, was mostly quiet by this late hour. As they walked, the Son of God knew the powers of darkness were moving to try to

overtake Him. Still, He continued to minister hope and encouragement in an effort to fortify His disciples. He was preparing them for what was coming, though they could not fully understand, yet. Joh 16:1 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.

The word for 'offended' here is scandalizo. It means to behave in such a way that your behavior causes others to fall into sin or fall away from the Lord. Jesus knows their hour of temptation and trial is near. He knows the enemy will use these things as a snare to catch them and destroy their faith. In this case, those who are truly saved are soon to face a hard battle. Jesus doesn't want them to fall away or give up and go back. If they do, others will, too. He warns them the religious leaders will excommunicate them, ban them from the temples, the synagogues. They won't want the Gospel truth preached there. Then He says something I know got their undivided attention. Nobody interrupts Him but He who never lies to them says "the time will come that those who kill you will think they are serving God, that they are truly doing His will." Can't you hear their minds racing? Those who kill us? He said He was going to be handed over to wicked men and mocked, beaten and killed and now He says we will be killed too? Oh, what have we gotten ourselves in to here? I bet they wished they were anywhere but here in this time or place. They had to be so very afraid. He says they will do these things because they don't really know Me or My Father. (If they did, they would fear greatly to touch one of His). But, children, remember when these things begin to happen, that I warned you ahead of time. I didn't tell you these things at the beginning because I was there, but now I will be going away, returning to Him who sent Me and none of you even ask me where I'm going. I know your hearts are heavy, grieved, and full of sorrow, He tells them. But, oh, children, it's for your benefit that I go away! It hast to be so the Comforter, the Necessary One can come. He can't come if I stay and you need Him more than you need Me. Consider what Jesus begins to reveal to them now very carefully. In the days we live in there is much spiritual deception. It's past being religious, it's outright Satanic at times. There is much emphasis on weird manifestations, and outlandish behavior and claims in what some call revival. Be so careful, beloved. Much is blamed on the Holy Spirit that He has no part of at all. If you want to know if He is actively working where you are here are your guideposts: Joh 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

When He shows up, He will convict and expose what is out of order and what is wrong. He will reveal where people have missed the mark, wandered into error and have violated God's law. To be convicted is to be found guilty of violating the divine law of God and it is punishable by death so it's no wonder He wants to bring those He finds guilty to repentance. The Lord is so willing to forgive and when we look around and see the sad condition of this world and its inhabitants, this eagerness, this willingness to forgive on God's part, for the sake of His Son, testifies of a heart of love that almost takes my breath away. What kind of love is it that caused His Son to cry out from the depths of His pain and despised shame on

that cruel cross "Father, Forgive them!" I know that was a God-produced cry in the heart of His Son. It had to grieve the Father's heart but at the same time the Father wanted to open the way for these to run into His very presence and find forgiveness and communion with HIM whose Son they murdered? My feeble mind can't comprehend this. I have to look to Him and depend on Him and cry out Oh, Father, give ME your kind of holy love for I am not able to love those around me like this!! When the Holy Spirit shows up He not only reveals wrongs, and failures, and exposes that which is out of order, and sin, but also makes clear what is right. He doesn't do this in a harsh or malicious way, He is gentle, not wanting to discourage us or bring us to despair. He lovingly corrects a parent. He has been sent to parent us, to prepare us, to teach, guide and strengthen us. Those who speak for Him in ministry, they are gentle, easy to be entreated, peaceable, compassionate, the law of kindness is in their mouth. If it is not, they aren't completely crucified with Him yet or something is wrong. The Holy Spirit comes and judges in us, exposes it privately to us those things that will condemn and damn us and so we can see it and repent. The Lord loves us so much He allows things and situations to come at us that though they may be very unpleasant, and we will be pressed by them hard, He has a reason. He sees things in our hearts that are unlike Christ, and often we don't. He has seen it from the start, beloved, but yet He has patiently loved, and led and worked with us, and taught us to strengthen us to be able to face unpleasant truths about ourselves. When He begins to show us our hearts, He is right there with us to remind us of His love so we don't fall into despair and give up. When He allows hard times or places into our lives to squeeze us it's to cause that thing in our heart we don't see to come to the surface so we can see it as He convicts us, and exposes it to our understanding. He does this so we can repent and be cleansed and forgiven. What a merciful God! The next time you are in a hard, unpleasant place, remember this. He knows how you feel and He's right there with you. He will hold you up and encourage you if you cry out to HIM and not to people. Run to His Word, run to HIS embrace not yourself, or others. He is WELL able to hold you up-and once you experience how HE holds you up you will not want to run anywhere else ever again. So, how can you tell if the Holy Spirit is actually manifesting among God's people? His presence brings conviction, revelation of what is wrong and how it should be, and this is brought into the light to bring about brokenness and repentance so He can cleanse and forgive us and restore us. Jesus never said there would be gold dust in the air. He never said there would be people flopping around like fish out of water. He never said people would be making animal sounds. This is an internal, unseen work, but clearly felt by those being ministered too. (The kingdom of God is within you, remember Jesus said this and it comes not with observation (Luk 17:20-21) His presence will produce a reverence for God-an orderly, decent reverence. It will produce joy which is expressed in different ways. One might cry, one might run and shout hallelujah. One might begin to sing. One might begin to praise. However they express their gratitude and worship to God, is not ours to judge. If it is HIM it will be right. Joh 16:12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Joh 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for

he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

Joh 16:14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

Joh 16:15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

This too, identifies the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He had so much He wanted to show them but He knew they could not receive or endure it. It's so important to recognize this. There are things that just cannot be preached to people who have not been filled with the Holy Spirit of God. They can't receive this. You can't preach "Deny yourself-reject yourself and embrace the life of another" to someone who is a new convert until they get rooted in the truth and see enough of Him they would rather have HIM than self and get filled with the Holy Spirit. You can't preach meat to babes. It will choke and discourage them. This is why ministers so desperately need to seek God for the messages they bring to the pulpit. ONLY the Holy Spirit knows what the people really need, and are ready for, and only HE can bring life to the Word so it feeds and strengthens rather than kills as a dead letter. The Lord is speaking about the individual ministry of the Holy Spirit to the person here, as well as corporately to the Body of Christ. When the Holy Spirit is present, He will show the right way and lead you through this Holy Bible which is the Word of God Almighty to us, and open our understanding. He who made our minds has to enlarge our understanding so we can embrace this truth. He has to reveal it to us. He didn't come to speak of Himself, but to reveal Christ to us. The glorified, risen Christ. He hears what is said between the Father and the Son, and that is what He says. Just as Jesus said, "The Word that I speak is the Word of Him who sent Me" so the Holy Spirit speaks the Word of the One who sent Him. He will also show us what is going to happen or change in our lives. He shows us what has to go, He shows us what needs to change. He warns us of snares and traps in the way ahead. This requires an active seeking of the Lord on our part. We have to understand and believe He lives in and with us by faith as we seek understanding and seek to know the Lord, the Holy Spirit will reveal Him to us. We can't leave our Bibles closed and not show up for prayer and study and expect to learn anything. We can't let our minds wander on everything but the Lord and expect a divine revelation of anything except that we are on dangerous ground and need to get back where we belong. He comes to magnify this beautiful, Almighty Christ to us, to prepare us to be the Bride of this lovely Christ. He will teach us how to dress, walk, talk, live, and minister to this One who is HOLY. He will open the promises and reveal them and make them reality in our lives. HE is the Promise. He is the power. He shall take what Jesus Christ has for us and declare it to us so we may understand and appropriate these things that are available to us. What deep truth Jesus is revealing to them and they do not understand. They begin to wonder about what He says, murmuring among themselves. What does He mean He's going back to the Father? Jesus knows and He tells them, you are going to weep and be very grieved at what is coming while the world rejoices. But your sorrow will be turned into joy. This is something that has to happen. New

life comes only out of suffering and labor-enduring much pain- as when a woman gives birth to a child. Don't fear, children, you will see Me again and your mind, your feelings, your thoughts will be glad, you will be happy and the delight that will fill you no man can take away from you. What the world has is fast slipping through their fingers so don't envy them, beloved. What you have cannot be taken from you unless you choose to lay it down and walk away from His promises and His truth. No matter how much you feel you have failed Him, no matter how grieved your heart may be right now, no matter how confused or hurt you may feel, don't walk away from Him and His truth. Blessed is the man who endures temptation for when he is tried, (made acceptable-as silver having gone through the refining fire), he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. (Jas_1:12) That the trial of your faith (and it will be severely tested through events and things in your life that come against you) being much more precious than gold which perishes, though your faith be tried with fire, it will seen and found by others (the Lord, too) a commendable thing of precious value and glory, honor, at the coming revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Pet 1:7) That word is apokalupsis. I keep running into that word lately in my study. It means disclosure, manifestation, appearing, revelation. It means I shall know Him because I will see Him and understand Himas much as I am able to now in this body, and then, in the day of His actual coming so there is a dual application-one here, one then. I can't physically see Him now but through spiritual understanding, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit I can understand who He is and what He is like and this produces a strong love for Him in my heart. A strong desire to be like Him, to please Him, to fellowship with Him. It also brings an understanding that He loves me and wants to spend quality, private time with me, sharing His heart. Oh, what a promise we have beloved! What a golden opportunity we have been given. No wonder the enemy tries everything he can to distract us from prayer, from study of this Word, from spending time with this Glorious GOD we have! How can you shake the faith of one who got their faith like this, through such intimacy? You can't. We must seek the Holy Spirit to take us there, to lead us to Jesus Christ, through this Book, through our prayer life, and to plant the cry in our heart for an ever increasing revelation of HIM. Then more we see and learn of Him the less we want the things of this world the less we will want self. Then when He says "you must deny yourself" we will say, whatever you say, my King. I'd rather have YOU. We will understand we are trading rags for priceless treasure-HIM. He will be precious to us because we will know Him for ourselves and He is so lovely. So incomparable. So magnificent! The power of the Spirit has worked in our lives to bring us to this place, and He is the power in us. It is HIM that works in us to produce the desire to obey God, and He is the power in us to obey God. (Php_2:13). Jesus tells them, in that day, you won't ask Me anything. The relationship will change. You will ask the Father in My name, on the authority of My character, and He will give it to you. He will deliver what you require to live this life I will call you to live. Up until now, you have never asked anything of God in this manner, in My name. But you will ask, and you will get a hold of what you have been offered so your joy will be complete. You will have what I obtain for you if you do what I have told you to do. The Father loves you because you love Me and you have faith

that I AM who I said I Am. In the dark, quiet streets of Jerusalem, I can almost see Jesus stop and turn and look carefully at their disturbed, confused faces. "Do you now believe? Do you understand I've given you truth?" I believe He stopped and searched their faces carefully, knowing their hearts, loving them, knowing they were not in themselves able to endure what was about to happen in just a few hours. Quietly, I believe, He speaks to them. "The hour is near when you will run in fear, driven by uncertainty and grief, in every direction. You will separate, and forsake Me, leaving Me alone. But I will not be alone, because My Father is with Me. Everything I have told you I have said because I want you to have a rest in your soul, a calm in your mind, because in the order of this world there will be anguish, and pressure and trouble and persecution. But have courage, I have conquered this arrangement that is so out of order from what My Father intended it to be." He wants them to know before it happens. I know you will forsake Me. I know you will panic and run in fear in different directions. I will not hold it against you, nor will I forsake you in your failure. Consider the impact these words had on these men who had left all to follow Him. How would I feel if the Lord I loved and forsook all in this world I had to follow Him told me these things? I can't imagine. But if you have ever failed under pressure, if you have ever been in a hard trial and run from the Lord, or left the prayer closet, slammed His Book shut in despair and anger, take comfort from these Words of the Lord. Consider them quietly in your heart. They are for you, too. I pray the Holy Spirit helps you hear the love behind them. He's telling them before they fail Him, I know you are going to fail Me. But be of good courage, I will not fail you, nor forsake you. I won't turn My back on you. I will go with you all the way. Oh, what a God we serve, folks! Who needs religion? Just give me Jesus! Only the Holy Spirit can do that for us, beloved.