Lenten Devotion (Evening) for 18 April 2011 Anno Domini

Lenten Devotion (Evening) for 18 April 2011 Anno Domini
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. 20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. 21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. 22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? 23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. 24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.
25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. 26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. 27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 28 Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. 30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. 31 But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence. (John 14:15-31)

“If ye love me, keep my commandments.” This is the cardinal rule of obedience. Love of Christ entails love for His creatures of every stripe. If we love neighbor as much as our own, we will not lie, cheat, or steal from them. The Commandments God wrote with His own finger at Sinai have in no wise been abrogated, but remain in full force. But those Commandments were written in stone! Christ has changed that record so that they are now written in soft sinews of our hearts. Obedience resulting from love is much different from obedience out of fear and compulsion. “After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (Jer 31:33)
“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever.” The disciples would travel to the far reaches of the globe in spreading the Gospel message. Christ, being in a physical body, could not always be with each of them in His mortal body – so He will not leave us without a Comforter which is the Holy Spirit who, indeed, can be all places and at all times. “Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.” Christ will be in the tomb for three days and nights. He will not be seen for that time, but shall appear again at the Resurrection and, because He has risen, we shall live also in Eternity. We already studied in the morning devotion how the Christian must be IN Christ and Christ IN the believer. None of our works of righteousness can we lay any claim upon for they are the works of Christ IN us. Those shameful and dark deeds which we do belong only to US. “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” What father cannot love the friend of our child who loves that child in earnest? And why do we love Christ? “We love him, because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19).
Judas Iscariot asked how Christ can manifest Himself to His disciples and not the world? It is of foremost importance, apparently, to Judas that Christ be manifested in His power and glory to the world for the world is the choice part for Judas. Judas is not concerned with the spiritual, but he worldly. “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me. These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.” To his own demise, these last words of Christ escape the dark understanding of Judas. Please note also that the Holy Ghost does not make utterances on His own behalf, but teaches of all things from the Word which Christ brought. So this demonstrates that the Holy Spirit is not on a mission to speak words that do not belong to Christ and which Christ has not uttered to us, the decadence of modern-day charismatics notwithstanding. “ Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Here again, our Lord, facing a terrible death on the Cross in just hours, gives us words of comfort. He would not have our hearts troubled. He will allow His own magnificent Heart to suffer trouble for us.
The disciples, though loving and faithful, cannot grasp the enormity of the events to follow: “Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.” They do, indeed, love Him, but cannot rejoice over a death whose meaning fully escapes their understanding. Such understanding will not come until the Tomb is found empty on Easter morning!” And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.” Once Christ is risen, their memories will be pricked to remember His Words.

“Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.” The moment of Satan’s own humiliation is imminent. Believing that arranging for Christ to be brutally murdered, he will inherit all powers; but he is WRONG! Even Satan is victim to the Provident Hand of God in arranging for the Redemption of those whom Satan has cruelly appropriated to himself. Have you made sure your election in Christ and thus made sure your Redemption in Him?