By Pastor Greg
A young Marine and his commanding
officer board a train headed through the mountains of Switzerland. The only available seats face a young woman
and her grandmother. After a while, it’s obvious that the young woman and the
young soldier are attracted to each other.
Eventually the train passes into a tunnel, turning the interior of the
car pitch black. Suddenly there were two distinct sounds: the smack of a kiss
soon followed by the smack of a slap. When the train emerged from the tunnel,
the four travelers sat in silence. The grandmother is thinking to herself,
"It was very brash for that young
soldier to kiss my granddaughter, but I'm glad she slapped him." The
commanding officer is thinking, "That
young Marine sure was brave to kiss the girl, but I wish she hadn't missed him
and hit me!" The young woman was thinking, "I'm glad the soldier kissed me, but I wish my grandmother had not
slapped him!" The young Marine, however, had a satisfied smile on his
face. He thought, "Life is good. When does a fellow have the chance to kiss a
beautiful girl and slap his commanding officer all at the same time?"
There was confusion because it
was dark. However, had there been light,
they would have been able to know the truth.
Now that I’ve shared this story
I suppose I should also add, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and
understand”. At least I think it’s the
appropriate time to say this. That’s what Jesus would say when He was trying to
make a point through a story. For
example, at the end of a story known as the Parable of the Sower He says this. IN that story He was trying to teach a
Spiritual lesson that hopefully those who were listening would understand. So ends by saying, “Anyone with ears to hear
should listen and understand”. Unfortunately not everyone got the
point. Even His disciples were unsure
exactly what He was trying to say. They
were still in the dark and not able to completely understand. So Jesus makes them a promise. “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the
kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that seeing they may not
see, and hearing they may not understand” (Luke 8:10).
This promise may seem insignificant at
first, especially when compared to Eternal Life and the Resurrection. But it is significant when we consider that
because of this promise, Christians are better equipped to live as Christians
in this word. A believer is promised the
ability to understand the mysteries of God's Kingdom. Believers are granted the ability to see the
work of God and understand the Word of God.
In other words, believers have their eyes and ears opened, and what the
world calls a mysterious secret is revealed to those who call Jesus Lord. They no longer live in the dark.
The Apostle Paul understood this
concept completely. He was a religious
man: a very devout Jew. He knew the
Jewish Law forward and backward. He
lived by the Law. Yet without this
promised revelation that comes through a relationship with Jesus, Paul did not
fully understand the mysteries of God.
However, on the day Paul accepted Jesus as Lord, God fulfilled the
promise Jesus had made, and Paul finally truly understood the Kingdom of God.
Paul attributes this revealing to the
Spirit of God. It is God's Spirit, the
Holy Spirit, which grants believers the ability to understand these mysteries.
It is the Spirit that sheds light in the darkness so that all can be seen and
known. We see and hear and understand
the Kingdom of God because Jesus promised us The Spirit. "But it was to us that God revealed these things by his
Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets"
(1 Corinthians 2:10). Paul even claims
that believers can know the thoughts of God.
"No
one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one
can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s
Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has
freely given us" (1 Corinthians 2:11-12).
As Jesus spoke of leaving His
disciples, He also spoke of sending His disciples a guide; someone to help them
and equip them as they lived out their lives.
After all, a person can hardly walk in the light if the Light of the
world has ascended to Heaven. So He
promised that God would send His Spirit to those who do believe so they would
not be forced to live in darkness wondering about the truth and guessing about
God and His Kingdom. "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” (John 16:13). It is this revelation from God that grants a
believer wisdom and courage as they face trials and as they live out their
lives in this world. In His grace and in
His mercy, God has granted the believer His Spirit to open their eyes and ears.
For some of us, we fully
understand why this is a significant promise.
If it were not for the Spirit to guide us, we would have been lost long
ago. But maybe there are some people who
don’t fully understand why this promise is so significant. Some might be tempted to think that since
they have trusted Jesus for salvation, why worry about anything else. Why be so concerned with fully understanding
the Kingdom of God?
Let me tell you why this is
important. It’s important because Jesus
expects us to live a holy life - one that is set apart and unlike the people of
this world. He expects us to seek
righteousness - to act according to His commands. We are called to follow His teachings. If we call Him Lord, Lord, we should act upon
what He has taught and revealed to us.
Paul alludes to this in Romans chapter 6. He says, "But thanks be to God that though you were
slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to
which you were committed" (Romans 6:17). If Jesus is our Lord, we must turn away from
our sin and instead obey the teaching of Jesus. The Lord expects us to live according to His
commands. Now, this would be an
impossible task if all we had to depend upon was our wisdom, our strength, and
our determination. In our own strength,
we are still in the dark. But by grace
the Father has not left us to fumble around in the darkness on our own. He has promised us a Guide; the Holy Spirit
of God who will help us understand how to live, how to overcome, how to love,
how to care, and how to serve in ways that honor God. We are not left to search and learn on our
own. "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the
Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your
remembrance all that I said to you” (John 14:26). The Father has granted us His Spirit that
guides us, leads us, teaches us, and convicts us. God grants light to those living in darkness
when they confess the Son as Lord.
Knowing what pleases God or how
to live according to His will is just one side of this promise. But there is another side I think we need to
remember. Without the Spirit, you and I
would know nothing of God’s mercy and grace.
We would still be in the dark not knowing the depth of God’s love. Without the Spirit to guide us we would still
be left to guess whether we have been forgiven or not. Without the Spirit to guide us, we will only
see ourselves through the dark eyes of this world; never truly understanding
just how precious and how valuable we are to God.
Over the years I have had
countless conversations with individuals who felt in the dark when it came to
God and His Kingdom. My answer has
always been the same. Ask God. Tell Him you want to know more about Jesus,
more about His Kingdom, more about His Word and His Truth. Ask Him to provide these things. And true to His word, the Lord will grant you
His Guide. He will shed some light in
your heart so that you can know the deep mysteries of God.
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