Some have made the statement Concerning St. John 14:23, that the appearing of the Father and the Son, in that verse, is a personal appearance; and the idea that the Father and the Son dwell in a man's heart is an old sectarian notion, and is false.
Let’s see what God’s Holy Word says. "I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth." 1st John 2:21
In St. John 14: 23 we read: "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.”
The Greek (Zondervan / NT - Greek/English) says it like this: Answered Jesus, and said unto him, “If anyone loves Me, the Word of Me he will keep, and the Father of Me will love him, and to him We will come and abode with him We will make.”
Listen closely now to what God’s Holy Word has to say ~
The Apostle Paul in Galatians 4:19 wrote, "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you."
Think about this: Even as the first man Adam was formed by the hands of God now, we who Believe can have Jesus formed in our heart.
King Solomon in Ecclesiastes 5:2 said, “Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.”
The above Scripture is not saying that the only place where God abides is in heaven. God has the ability to be wherever He wants because He is God Almighty.
Furthermore, St. Luke 17:21 states, "Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you."
It stands to reason if God's Holy Kingdom is in you and He sits on His throne that He dwells in you.
The Apostle Paul in Romans 8:8-14 wrote, "So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. *But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. *And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. *But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. *Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. *For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. *For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God."
In respect to this Scripture one might say: "I am a human being and my Earthly Father is part of who I am". Can we then say any less of our Spiritual Selves that our Heavenly Father is part of who we are? I think not.
Without God, the Spirit of God living and abiding in the heart of the Believer, Saint, that soul is lost.
The evidence that God lives and abides in the Believer, “Saint” is evident by the righteous life they live.
The none-believer has no life in them. Even as an individual that is still in their mother’s womb does not participate in the physical activities outside the womb even so, the none-believer does not actively observe the righteousness of God’s Holy Word.
In Colossians 1:27, the Apostle Paul writes, "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:"
The person that does not have Jesus living and abiding in them does not have Life.
In 1st John 4:3-6 we read, "And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. *Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. *They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. *We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error."
If God does not dwell in the Believer, Saint, they cannot overcome the world, the power of satin. It is because God liveth and abideth in us that we can know the difference between the Spirit of Truth and spirit of error.
The Apostle Paul in 2nd Corinthians 5:17-19 said, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. *And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; *To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.”
God through the Precious Blood of Jesus His only begotten Son has purchased us back from the life of sin and death so that He might live in us that we sin not. Jesus was sent of God to redeem the lost. We too are sent by the Spirit to call sinners to repentance.
In 2nd John 1:9 we read, "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son."
The Doctrine of Christ was and is to do the Will of the Heavenly Father.
This is also what is expected of the Believer, Saint.
In 1st John 2:22-28 John said, “Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. *Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. *Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. *And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. *These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. *But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. *And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.”
God requires that which He has commanded from the Beginning of Time. God’s is a Spirit. St. John 4:24, His Law is Spiritual. Romans 7:14, and the Saints of God are Spirit. St. John 3:6 - Therefore, let us go on to perfection.
In St. John 5:43-44, the Apostle John wrote of Jesus saying, “I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. *How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?”
Seek God and Live! ~
The Word of God is True and is of NO private interpretation, 2nd Peter 1:20; God interprets His Word by His Word therefore, let’s believe God.
Derwood A. Stewart, Minister House of Prayer Sabbath Ministries
Comments? Email Us: hope@preachersteacher.org
