I HAVE SO MUCH MORE TO TELL YOU

In 2 Corinthians 5:17, we read that if any person is in Christ, they are a new creation; the old things have passed away and all things become new.

How do we become “in Christ” so we can become this brand new creation, this brand new person? The answer is that we repent of our sins and we ask Jesus to come live in our heart—in other words, we ask the unlimited, glorified, risen Jesus Christ to come live inside our inner man and His Spirit becomes intimately joined and one with our spirit (John 14:23; 1 Corinthians 6:17). His eternal life brings our dead spirit alive. Asking Jesus to come live in our heart is such a simple act but the consequences are of eternal importance. The risen Jesus lives in us and reveals Himself to us in the most intimate interpersonal way possible.

When we invite Jesus into our heart, He enters our very being through the presence and powerof the Holy Spirit. The act of asking Jesus into our heart is, in and of itself, a very simple action. But this simple act is of lifechanging, awesome, momentous significance because of WHO we are asking to come in.

In our book on GRACE (available free to those who request it from this ministry), we saw that grace is the free gift of the very life of God Himself, which He places inside of us. We also saw that the content of grace is the very inner life of Jesus Christ that God places within us, so that what went on inside of Jesus in terms of His love, faith, and intimacy with the Father is placed inside of us—so we can experience the very inner life that Jesus shared with the Father. We enjoy spiritual intimacy with both Jesus and the Father.
We read about Jesus as the Eternal Word in John 1:4—”In Him [Jesus] was life [zoe] and the life was the light of men.” We later read in 1 John 5:10-12: The one who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the witness that God has borne concerning His Son. And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

In other words, God Almighty gives His own eternal life into the hearts of those who believe in His Son Jesus. If we believe in Jesus as the Son of God, we have eternal life and everything eternal or divine life contains. If we don’t believe in Jesus as Son of God, then we simply do not have true, divine, everlasting life in our spirit. The Apostle Peter tells us the exact same thing: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. (2 Peter 1:2-4)

In the Gospel of John, Chapter 16, we see Jesus on the night before His crucifixion telling His disciples something very important: I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.

But when He, the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you. (John 16:12-14)

What an interesting statement. Jesus said, “I have so much more to tell you.” I HAVE SO MUCH MORE TO TELL YOU—but you wouldn’t understand it right now. Only when I send the Holy Spirit after My resurrection will you understand it. Jesus was painfully aware of how limited He was in His ability to communicate to His disciples while He walked on this earth in His human body. In spite of those limitations, He was awesome in what He actually did communicate—but He knew there was so much more, so much more. He had so much inside of Him that He wanted to give to us, but it could only be put in us through the Holy Spirit. We see a HINT of that glory inside of Jesus being revealed before His death and resurrection in the incident known as the TRANSFIGURATION (Luke 9:28-35).

When Jesus went to the top of the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James and John, we read that Jesus began to shine like the sun—the hidden riches of glory within Him began to break through the very pores of His skin and be manifest for a moment. After His death and resurrection, Jesus was glorified and the riches and depths of His inner person was turned loose, and, through the Holy Spirit, the inner heart of Jesus could become intimately invited with the inner heart of anyone inviting Him into their heart. All the riches and power of Jesus’ inner self could be revealed in the most intimate depth to the heart that opens to Him.

In other words, we each can have a closer, more intimate spiritual relationship with Jesus than even two people who have had the best marriage on earth. Some marriages are beautiful and excellent and the man and woman get to know each other as well as any two persons can get to know each other. But even in the best marriage, there is still a point beyond which even the deepest human intimacy cannot go. In our relationship with Jesus, however, there need be absolutely NO barrier to full interpersonal intimacy.

Even in everyday relationships, we may get to know each other well, but we don’t know each other 24 hours a day. With Jesus, it’s different because of His inner perfection. To have His inner perfection abiding in us at all times is our life and our strength.

Some people wish they had been alive when Jesus walked the earth, so they could have seen Him. The truth is, we know Jesus far better NOW through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit than we ever could have known Him when He walked the earth in His limited physical body. We even know Jesus better now than His own Apostles knew Him before His resurrection and the Day of Pentecost.

The life of Jesus within us saves us from the four major consequences of sin. The Greek word for sin is hamartia—it means to miss the bulls-eye or target. Sin is also, first and foremost, the breaking of man’s covenant with God back in Genesis 3. Through Adam, all of us had a covenant with GOD— He gave us life and existence and we, in turn, were to love and serve Him.

The sin of Adam and our own sinful nature is a rejection of God’s love and care. And we suffer consequences.

1) Sin is punished—Sin is a rejection of God and brings separation from God, the Source of spiritual life and all other kinds of life. Romans 3:23 tells us the wages of sin is death. Jesus, on the other hand, gives us the free gift of life—the sharing of God’s own everlasting, eternal life.

2 Sin destroys our ability to love—Every sin is a negation of love. Every sin is a rejection of God who is love. All of our inabilities to love are always the end result of sin—either our own sin or someone else’s sin against us. But Jesus within us restores our ability to love. (Read 1 John 3:14-16.)

3) Sin is slavery—Regardless of the sin, we are trapped by it—it controls us, we lack our freedom. Sin, either one time or a habit, is an evil act that controls our will. In John 8:34-36, Jesus stated that everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin, but He, Jesus, sets people free indeed, or really free. The power of the risen Christ within us restores our self-control.

4) Sin results in loneliness and anxiety—The first result of the very first sin ever committed by a human, Adam, was broken fellowship and fear. When God came to fellowship with Adam, Adam hid. When God asked Him why He hid, Adam said, “I was afraid.” That broken fellowship was the origin of all loneliness and alienation in the world. The fear was the origin of all anxiety and stress. Jesus, however, restores our fellowship with God and with each other through the cross and He reestablishes peace and security in our heart.

Our spiritual life boils down to a very simple either/or reality. Either Jesus is in our heart and we have eternal life and all that eternal life brings with it—OR, Jesus is not in our heart and we have spiritual death within us and all that spiritual death brings. My personal question to you is:

“What’s In Your Heart?”

THE HOPE

No matter how mixed up or even ruined this planet is at times, if the sun rises and sets, and earth is still spinning on its axis, then God is not done with this planet yet. No matter how terrible your own life may seem to be going and no matter how great your temptation to give up in despair might be, if you are still living and breathing on this planet, then God is not done with you yet. In the midst of all the struggle and perplexity of this life, there is a gift from God called HOPE.

In 1 Corinthians 13:13, the Apostle Paul tells us there are three great virtues or strengths that God imparts to us. Faith, Hope and Love. Many are the times we Christians have heard wonderful teachings about Faith and Love. Few are the times we’ve heard studies about Hope. Basically, HOPE is the strength an dinner knowing placed in our heart by the Holy Spirit that

our life IS going somewhere definite, somewhere good, and our journey on this earth is not some random process, but a journey directed by the hand of God bringing us to a good destination, whether or not we can see or understand that destination at the present moment. The Apostle Paul gives a specific description of that hope in Titus 2;13 where he calls the return of Jesus Christ “the blessed hope.” The appearance and return of Jesus Christ is when all questions will be answered and all problems will be solved. As we look at current events, we more and more see the words of Jesus’ own prophecies about His return being fulfilled and the time drawing closer.

In Jeremiah 29:11, we read: “‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not calamity to give you a future and a hope.’” Through the prophet Jeremiah, God promises His people that He has a plan, a future, and a hope for each of us. As we walk through this life, those of us who belong to Jesus Christ have a hope—the assurance from

God that this thing called life on earth is all going somewhere definite—we are not just subject to the random buffeting of accidental events and happenings, but the hand of Almighty God is upon each of our lives molding, fashioning, and guiding us to a destination—and that destination is the ultimate full union and sharing of God’s life with our being fashioned into the very image and likeness of His Son Jesus Christ for all eternity.

Hope tells us that we are headed toward this destination at every moment of our life in Christ whether we can clearly see or understand the present moment or not. Hope is this strength which is given to us by the presence of the Holy Spirit within us. The Holy Spirit Himself in us is God’s down payment or guarantee of our final destination (2 Corinthians 1:21-22).

In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul tells us there are three great virtues or strengths that God gives us—Faith, Hope and Love. Although these three are listed and studied separately, they often work together, and like all the things of God, are meant to work together. Paul tells us rightfully that love, or AGAPE, is the greatest. Then faith is ability to reach into the invisible world of the spirit, lay hold of a promise of God, and bring it to pass back here in the visible material world (PISTIS). Hope (Greek: ELPIS) is the assurance that our life is being directed by God to His goal for us. Paul tells us that we can have faith without love. We can also have hope without love. But love, or AGAPE, is so far superior that if we have love, we will also always have faith and hope. 1 Corinthians 13:8 tells us that love believes all things, hopes all things, and never fails.

Nevertheless, hope is a platform when both love and faith can stop and rest during the difficult moments of life. Hope is a place where love and faith can stop and “catch their breath.” In Hebrews 6:18-20, the Apostle Paul calls hope the anchor of the soul. Just as an anchor holds a boat steady at its place in a harbor—hope holds us steady in our walk with God. The storm cannot shake loose a boat that is held by a good anchor. Hope is that “gut feeling” given to us by the Holy Spirit to keep us steady in the storms of life.

Hope works as a helper to both love and faith. Hope tells us to keep having faith even when it doesn’t seem worthwhile to believe anymore. Hope tells us to keep loving even when it doesn’t seem worth it to love anymore.

The prime example of a person of hope is Abraham. We normally think of Abraham as a man of great faith, and indeed he was. The Old Testament hada special title for him— “Abraham the Believer.” The New Testament calls him the Father of our faith. Abraham was also a man of great hope. He was a man who drew on hope when his faith had been stretched almost to the breaking point. He had been promised a son by God. The promise was made when Abraham was 75 years old and his wife Sarah was barren. For 25 years, he waited, and waited, and waited. So much time passed and nothing happened. Humanly speaking, the fulfillment of the promise was more than impossible. The word “impossible” was optimistic. But the Apostle Paul tells us in Romans, Chapter 4, that Abraham “hoped against hope.” He drew on hope when not only faith seemed foolish, but even hope seemed ridiculous.

Abraham would continually tell his wife Sarah, “Sarah, this is all going someplace good.” And no doubt, Sarah would half-humor him and probably say, “Yes, I know, Abe. It happens every day—a 100 year-old man and a barren 90 year-old woman have a son.” And Abraham would probably counter and say, “No, Sarah, that’s just the point. It doesn’t happen every day, but God promised ME it WOULD happen to us. That’s why I have faith and hope.” And Paul writes that Abraham, in hope, grew strong in faith and trusted God to perform His promised—and God DID, and Abraham had a son named Isaac.

The opposite of hope is despair. Despair is when we feel there is no reason to go on, no reason to keep living, no reason to believe that anything will ever change again for the better. Hell is the place of eternal despair. The Lord Jesus gave some very detailed descriptions of hell—a place of darkness, fire, and torment, a place of separation from God where lost souls eternally cry and scream out in agony. But the real hell of Hell is that there is no more hope, ever again. There is the realization of everlasting despair.

In fact, we see the beginning of that hell of despair even in this life in all those who do not have Jesus Christ as their Lord. The Apostle Paul describes such people in Ephesians 2:12—Paul states that if we are separated from Christ, we have NO hope in this world and we are not partakers of the promises of God. How true that is. In our own nation of so much prosperity, we see so many people who own so many possessions, but have such empty hearts—hearts that really have NO hope, for true hope can only come from peace with God through His ஒன்லி begotten Son Jesus Christ. Hope and fulfillment cannot come by owning “one more thing,” or one more better possession.

We also learn from this same scripture in Ephesians that we have two reasons FOR hope if we are in Christ:

1) The Word of God and His promises and covenants and the DURABILITY of those promises and covenants. The entire Word of God is a testimony to the faithfulness of Almighty God to His promises and covenants—He fulfills His promises time after time after time—so that we have a certain hope in them.

2) Jesus Christ and His durability and reliability. He is the only one that God Almighty raised from the dead and miracle power is released whenever His resurrection is proclaimed. On the basis of that reliability and durability, we have a certain hope that we will share in His glory (Colossians 1:27) and we are promised His return to earth to set up a righteous Kingdom of love, peace and holiness. Paul calls this the “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13). Just as His resurrection and enduring power remain, we know for certain He will return.

Finally, hope is what keeps us faithful during the battles of this life. The Lord Jesus said no person can serve two masters. The trials of life force us to choose at a given moment what is most important to us—God or some thing.

Hope causes us to choose God. One preacher once said that it’s hard to really embrace or hug someone with a lot of things in your hands. Hope causes us to say we’d rather empty our hands of all things, if necessary, so that we can hug God more tightly. But when we do let go of those things rather than lose God, we find that we are hugging the God who is owner of all things and can fill our hands with all the things we let go of, and more.

More important, He has filled our hearts with good things. Faith, Hope, and Love always work together. In 1 Corinthians 13 Paul states love never fails. In Romans 5:5, he says hope is never disappointed.

So, if love never fails and hope is never disappointed, faith will always work.

THE GREATEST LOVE OF ALL

 In her 1985 song, "Greatest Love Of All,"1 Whitney Houston claimed that the greatest love of all was to love yourself: "Learning to love yourself. It is the greatest love of all." However, the Bible has a different idea about what is the greatest love.

According to Jesus, love that people give (to each other and to God) fulfils all the commandments of God.2 According to the Bible, the love of God is described as being great3 and almost beyond comprehension. God's love is compared to the height of the heavens above the earth4 and even beyond.5

The greatest human love

Jesus defined the greatest love from a human perspective, as recorded in the gospel of John:

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13)

Jesus Himself fulfilled this greatest love by dying for us so that we could be forgiven of all our sins and have fellowship with God:

But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)6

This example of the extreme love of God is to apply to those who follow Jesus Christ.

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. (1 John 3:16)

Laying down one's own life is not the message of the world, and would be considered from an evolutionary paradigm to be stupid. Even in other religions, the giving of one's life is not encouraged. As an employee of a Jewish hospital (Cedars-Sinai Medical Center), I have had many opportunities to go to seminars about medical ethics and Judaism. For example, here is an example from Orthodox Judaism:

Two men are stranded in the desert. One man has water, while the other has none. There is enough water for one man to make it to safety. However, if they share the water, they will both die before they could get to safety. What does the man with the water do?

The rabbinical answer is that the man with the water should take the water to save his own life. Of course, the Christian answer is that the man with the water should give it to the other man and give up his own life. I discussed this specific example with my Jewish supervisor, who is married to a rabbinical scholar. Apparently, it made quite an impression, since the topic was discussed by the husband and wife, who reported their conversation back to me. When confronted with the differences between Judaism and Christianity, both thought that Christianity took the higher moral ground.

It is the love of God in Christ that allows His disciples to voluntarily give up their own lives for others. You, too, can experience this love and pass it on to others.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

References:

1. Whitney Houston. 1985. Whitney Houston album. Words and Music by Michael Masser and Linda Creed.

2. "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And He said to him, "'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 22:36-40)

3. Show the wonder of Your great love, You who save by your right hand those who take refuge in You from their foes. (Psalm 17:7)How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. (1 John 3:1)

4. For great is Your love, reaching to the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. (Psalm 57:10)For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; (Psalm 103:11)

5. For great is Your love, higher than the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. (Psalm 108:4)

6. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. (Ephesians 2:4-5)

THE VOICE OF GOD

The Scattered Ones in Dens and Caverns Are Made Glad at the Voice of God. "Before the glory of Him who is to reign, the mountains will tremble and bow, the rocks will be moved out of their places, for once more will the Lord shake, not alone the earth, but the heavens also. The scattered ones, who have fled for their lives to the rocks, the dens, the caverns of the earth, because of the fury of the oppressor, will be made glad at the voice of God. .

As Christ Strengthened John, So Will He Strengthen His Terror-stricken Saints at His Second Coming.- "The child of God will be terror-stricken at the first sight of the majesty of Jesus Christ. He feels that he cannot live in His holy presence. But the word comes to him, as to John, 'Fear not.' Jesus laid His right hand upon John. He raised him up from his prostrate position. So will He do unto His loyal, trusting ones, for there are greater revelations of the glory of God to be given them. .

Effects of the Second Coming on the Lost. "There is also to be revelation to the transgressors of the law of Jehovah—they who made void the law of God, who have taken their stand on the side of him who thought to change times and laws. From the terror-stricken myriads come the cry, 'The great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand.' (Revelation 6:17)."Manuscript 56, 1886, pp. 5-7. ("Traveling in Switzerland, " May 21, 1886).

The Covenant Will be Brought Forth. "When every case is decided in the courts of heaven, this covenant, [the ten commandments) will be brought forth, plainly written with the finger of God. The world will be arraigned before the bar of Infinite Justice to receive sentence—a life measuring with the life of God for obedience, and death for transgression." Manuscript 82, 1899, p. 10. ("In the Master's Service, " May 21, 1899).

The Heaviest Judgments Will Fall on the False Shepherds. - "And upon those who have taken upon them the work of shepherds of the flock will be visited the heaviest judgments, because they have presented to the people fables instead of truth. Children will rise up and curse their parents. Church members, who have seen the light and [have) been convicted, but who have trusted the salvation of their souls to the minister, will learn in the day of God that no other soul can pay the ransom for their transgression. A terrible cry will be raised, 'I am lost, eternally lost.

The Ire of the Lost Against Their False Shepherds. "Men will feel as though they could rend in pieces the ministers who have preached falsehoods and condemned the truth. The pure truth for this time requires a reformation in the life, but they separated themselves from the love of the truth, and of them it can be said, '0 Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself' (Hosea 13:9). The Lord sends a message to the people, 'Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the Lord, because they have transgressed My covenant, and trespassed against My law' (Hosea 8:1)."-Letter 30, 1900, pp. 5-6. (To "Brother and Sister Hickox," February 25, 1900). [See also: TBC 167.]

Revelation 18:1-3 Will be Fulfilled When God Arises to Shake Terribly the Earth. "What terrible scenes will take place when the Lord shall arise to shake terribly the earth. Then the words of Revelation 18:1-3 [the announcement that Babylon is fallen] will be fulfilled. The whole of the eighteenth chapter of revelation is a warning of what is coming on the earth. But I have no light in particular in regard to what is coming on New York, only that I know that one day the great buildings there will be thrown down by the turning and overturning of God's power. From the light given me, I know that destruction is in the world. One word from the Lord, one touch of His mighty power, and those massive structures will fall. Scenes will take place, the fearfulness of which we cannot imagine." Letter 176, 1903, pp. 4-5. (To H. W. Kellogg, August 9, 1903). [See also: Ev 387-8; PM 280-1.}

God Will Protect His Believing Ones During the Convulsions of Nature Preceding the Advent. "Before the Son of man appears in the clouds of heaven, everything in nature will be convulsed. Lightning from heaven, uniting with fire in the earth, will cause the mountains to burn like a furnace, and pour out their floods of lava over villages and cities. Molten masses of rock [will] cause the water to boil, and they will send forth rocks and earth. There will be mighty earthquakes and great destruction of human life. But as in the days of the great deluge, Noah was preserved in the ark that God had prepared for Him, so in these last days of destruction a calamity, God will be the refuge of His believing ones." Letter 248, 1907, pp. 2-4. (To J. E. White and wife, August 16, 1907). [See also: IMCP 22-3.}

Satan Wants to Revive Slavery. "I am instructed to say to our people throughout the cities of the South, Let everything be done under the direction of the Lord. The work is nearing its close. We are nearer the end than when we first believed. Satan is doing his best to block. the progress of the message. He is putting forth efforts to bring about the enactment of a Sunday law that will result in slavery in the Southern field and will close the door to the observance of the true Sabbath; which God has given to men to keep holy. The law, which He came down from heaven to Mt. Sinai to proclaim, is to be observed by all who would identify themselves with the people of God." Letter 6, 1909, p. 2. (To J. E. White, January 1, 1909).

TEN COMMANDMENTS OPENED

In the Day of Judgment the Tables of God's Law Will Condemn the Lost. "Ministers have taught the people that the law of God is not binding. But God certainly does not say so, and in the day of judgment that law, written with the finger of God on tables of stone, will condemn all impenitent transgressors." -Manuscript 33, 1900. pp. 5, 6, 8-10, 18. ("Unfaithful Shepherds, " June 25, 1900). [See also: CG 513.}

These Tables Are in Heaven. "There is a sanctuary, and in that sanctuary is the ark, and in the ark are the tables of stone, on which is written the law spoken from Sinai amidst scenes of awful grandeur. These tables of stone are in the heavens, and they will be brought forth in that day when the judgment shall sit and the books shall be opened, and men shall be judged according to the things written in the books. They will be judged by the law written by the finger of God, and given to Moses to be deposited in the ark. A record is kept of the deeds of all men, and according to his works will every man receive sentence, whether they be good, or whether they be evil." Manuscript 20, 1906, pp. 8-9. ("Preach the Word," February 7, 1906). [See also: Ev 616-17; PM 224-5.]

They Are to be Brought Forth When Sentence Is Pronounced.- "In my books the truth is stated, barricaded by a 'Thus saith the Lord.' The Holy Spirit traced these truths upon my heart and mind as indelibly as the law was traced by the finger of God upon the tables of stone, which are now in the ark, to be brought forth in that great day when sentence is pronounced against every evil, seducing science produced by the father of lies." Letter 90, 1906, p. 6. (To The Brethren Assembled in Council at Graysville, Tennessee, March 6, 1906).