First Corinthians sixteen, twenty two. If anyone does not have the love of the Lord Jesus, let him be anathema. And then he ends, O Lord. Come.
So we have This pattern. Which is a pattern of evidence, it's precedence. The apostles can do it one time. then we can do it. How do you like the strength of two or three witnesses?
That Jesus is prayed to. At all. validates The deity of Christ. This is Cross Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher, Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville.
Pastorik is currently teaching through a topical series. Please stay tuned with us after today's message to hear more information about cross-reference radio, specifically, how you can get a free copy of this teaching. Dialogue with God is the title of Pastor Rick's message. He'll continue with his study today. You can't get people to follow the truth if they're not willing to admit the truth about themselves, that they're sinners needing a Savior, and then the Savior came and He died, and now He is every bit of Lord.
Or else we go back to Tozia's quote where They will. Acknowledge him. They won't obey him. And then That's a road to hell. Verse 24, John 17, Father, I desire that they may also whom you gave me?
May be with me where I am. That they may behold my glory. which you ga have given me for you loved me before the foundation of the world.
Now, Christ's language, he's always mindful that he's speaking to Jewish people, and he cannot let them think that he's preaching polytheism. That another God has come in addition to God the Father, to Yahweh.
So his language is a little veiled for that reason. Of course the apostles get To put it together a little bit better for us, and they show us attributes of Christ that match attributes of God. And no one else. I mean, for instance, if you blaspheme the Holy Spirit.
Well, you can't blaspheme a person. But you you can insult them. And offend them, you have to be divine to be blasphemed. That's the idea.
So, when Christ says blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, well, we understand that. that the Holy Spirit is divine. But then we find out later that the Holy Spirit speaks. that he can be lied to. The Holy Spirit, the Bible says, spoke to Philip and said, go to Gaza.
In other cases too.
So we put these things together and we come up with an answer. And is scattered throughout Old and New Testament, which calls for work. Again, the scripture doesn't honor the lazy. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands. And then all of a sudden you've lost everything.
So here in verse 24 He desires his followers to be in the same heaven as the Godhead, Careful reading of that verse. I desire that they also whom you gave me may may be with me where I am.
Now Well, where's he now? Of course it is. present and is anticipatory of the future. What does God desire?
Well, that none should perish. who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth. Matthew 20. 28, 20. And this is a very important verse.
For all that's going on in this chapter. Jesus said, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. You have to be divine to say that. Peter couldn't say that on his deathbed. Don't worry, I'll be back.
Well, unless you're Roman Catholic, I guess you can go for that, but it's wrong. Verse twenty-five, O righteous father. The world has not known you. But I have known you. and these have known that you sent me.
His disciples. Which is not only the twelve apostles, or well, eleven. This is assurance. Jesus saw what the church would be without Judaism. Nobody else could really see that.
And such a hard time. He had to raise up Paul to really Drive that point home. And all of the apostles were a little sluggish. coming to that realization. Here's a great lesson from the Lord's Prayer.
Father is Christ's name for God. Only one time does he refer to God, In a personal sense, as God, and that's when he's quoting scripture while he's on the cross. He says, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? But every time else, well, sometimes he says, Your Father. You know, your Father in heaven already knows what you need.
Sometimes he says, our Father. When you pray, pray, our Father.
Sometimes he says, My father.
So his own word for God is Father. What is packed to that? When you pray, you say, Our Father. You don't say our Mother, we say, Our Father.
Well well, he's the perfect father. And so packed into Christianity. The our fathers The revel is a revelation of God about Himself. For us, He makes the stipulation: Our Father who is in heaven. As opposed to our fathers who are on earth, regardless of how good of a father you may have.
They're never going to be as good as God the Father. And regardless of how bad a father you may have had, don't confuse. God in heaven with him. Verse 26, I have declared them. I have declared to them your name, and will declare it That the love with which you loved me May it be in them.
And I in them.
Well, we know later that the Holy Spirit's gonna be a big big part of that. But for him to say, I will declare it.
Well, when he's done with this prayer, he's going to cross the Kidron, he's going to go into the Garden of Gethsemane. It's going to be arrested, tried, and crucified.
So, what's this? I will be with them.
Well, you know. Where two or more gathered, there I am in the midst. How can he do that unless he's divine? You have to be ubiquitous to pull that off.
Well, he is. Peter is not, none of the apostles are ubiquitous. Peter doesn't want to hear your prayers. They want to hear your troubles. There's nothing you can do about them.
He got his own.
Well, he doesn't now. He doesn't have any more problems. Anyway. His telling us these things should be inspiring. How does this benefit my prayer life?
How do I learn from this?
Well, it's inspiring. Name is nature, will, and character. For example, If I say That's a robot. Automatically, you know it's the other free will. It's a robot.
The nature of that name means it doesn't have a free will. When we say about God, Well That doesn't give us any the only part of the nature is that And the world doesn't even know what that means. You have to tell them. If you say to some worldlings, What does God mean? They most of the time get it wrong.
They think he's still got some problems. He's like them. They make him in their image instead of being made in his image.
So we have to help them with that. He's self-existent, for example. He's eternal. From eternity past. Our eternity is forward.
His is past, present, and future. He is sovereign, he is love. He is omnipotent and all-knowing. That's why Jesus had to say, Your Father in heaven already knows what you're going to pray before you ask, otherwise, he's not omniscient.
So, the next part of the question is: how does this prayer apply to me?
Well, I already said it. That was there. But I give a little bit more. Jesus said to them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, humans. You don't preach to ducks.
I mean, you can practice on them. But it's a little quacky. Luke 19.10. For the Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost. That is our purpose as Christians.
You can go to the workplace, I have come to seek and save that which is lost. And I can look around and see that there are many of you that need to be saved. and could do a better half cut if this could. Anyway, otherwise. What use is love if we're not if we're going to leave the lost?
What good is love? If God has already selected who's going to heaven, if He chose. Then what good is love?
Well Because one of the questions, a couple of the questions coming not tonight, are about Armenianism, Calvinism, Reformed theology, and I'm committed to not having theological rage. at just the fact that they're getting away with things that I think are wrong. and which automatically makes them wrong if they disagree. But Spreading The good news. That's what we're here for, and what can I learn?
from it in my prayer life. First The movement of this prayer deals strictly with the relationship between the Father and the Son, and you're never going to hurt that. It anticipates the coming glory of the cross. and his return In verse five, And now, Father, glorify me together with you with the glory which I had with you before the world was. You have to be divine to say that.
You could put those words in any created being's mouth. Which Jehovah's Witnesses can't figure that one out. And the Mormons are so far out there, it's like, man, you can't, that's just. Only God can Undo that nonsense. The second thing about this prayer, the second section, is he spoke to his father.
Of his relationship with his disciples.
So his relationship with the Father, his relationship with his disciples. And then the world, and that's telling us he's not indifferent. He's not, well, I'm just about my people. He's very much a burden for the world and the souls in the world. John 3:16, God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son.
And verse 3: And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. And then it goes, I've already quoted the world.
So now we come to The next question. To whom are we to pray? God the Father or Jesus Christ. Yeah. Afraid of both.
Scripture teaches that. But I hope I can draw out We're not to pray directly to the Holy Spirit. We could praise him. And sing songs. That's not the same thing.
They are petitioning him. Or you see, it could be just an expression of what we want.
Well, I'll start off with New Testament examples. You only need two. Um The apostles Speaking to Jesus. 2 Corinthians 12.8. Paul writing about This thorn in his flesh, this thing that is bothering his life, it just won't go away.
He says, concerning this thing I wonder if that's on top. In the Greek. Anyway Concerning this thing, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. I pleaded with the Lord.
Now, we all know New Testament theology: the Lord is Jesus Christ. 1 Timothy Chapter 1, verse 12. I thank God. Christ Jesus, our Lord, who has enabled me because he counted me faithful. Putting me into ministry.
Christ put me into ministry. Revelation 22, 20. He who testifies of these things says, Surely I am coming quickly. That's the quote. I am coming quickly from Christ.
Then the response of John Amen. Even so. Come, Lord Jesus. is talking directly to Jesus. Acts 9:13, Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard.
This is after the resurrection. I have heard from many about this man. How much harm has he done to your saints in Jerusalem?
So there's he is in dialogue. With Jesus. 1 Corinthians 16, 22. If anyone does not have the love of the Lord Jesus, let him be anathema. And then he ends, O Lord.
Come.
So we have This pattern. Which is a pattern of evidence, it's precedence. If the apostles can do it one time, Then we can do it. How you like the strength of two or three witnesses? That Jesus is prayed to.
At all. validates The deity of Christ. Going back now to John 14:14, Jesus said, If you ask anything in my name, And that is a recognition that we could never get to the Godhead at all. without the cross. And so he says, if you ask anything in my name, now catch this, I will do it.
How do you do that? I mean, it's like, you know. Why doesn't he say in the Father will do it?
Well, because they're all the same. But he's pointing out he's going to be the one giving it. I don't think they registered with them at the time. Just like it doesn't register with us many times at the time.
So, asking the Father with Jesus granting it shows the equality of Christ with the Father. Romans 1, verse 8. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ. For you all. that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
So I thank my God through Christ as an ever-present reminder. of what it costs, what is involved. In my salvation, and nobody else has got it. Just as God of the New Testament. The faith on the cross Got to heaven directly through Christ.
The father was not even brought up at that in the exchange that we have. Lord, grant that I be a with you in paradise. You will be with me in paradise today. There's an example. And it's a little tricky because, you know, Jesus, son of David, have mercy upon me.
Well, what do you want me to do? I want you to give me my sight, a direct exchange between the incarnate God, the Son, and of course the blind man. But it couldn't be rolled out that way because of the risk of. presenting a polytheism that is multiple gods. We don't worship pre-gods.
We worship three persons coexisting as God.
So it comes down to spiritual precedence, patterns of evidence. Hebrews 8, 5. Who served to copy a shadow of heavenly things as Moses was divinely instructed when. He was about to make the tabernacle, for he said. God speaking now to Moses, see that you make all things according to the pattern shown you.
On the mountain.
Well, God showed. The disciples, the pattern of prayer and fellowship and service when he walked the earth and when he left his apostles behind.
So what did Jesus say? What did the apostles do? And what is not said about who do we pray to? Again, Most New Testament prayers are directed to the Father. The Lord's Prayer, our Father who are in heaven.
But after Pentecost, to Jesus also. Acts 7:59. This is a Stephen is being stoned to death. And they stoned Stephen. As he was calling on God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my Spirit.
Again, deity of Christ. That just put Christ on the same level as God. He's calling on God not and also saying, He's calling on God and saying. This is how he called on God. Lord Jesus, receive my Spirit.
Well, you know, you can only receive someone's spirit if you're divine.
So, no direct example of praying directly to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is portrayed as the one who empowers us and inspires us in prayers and service. rather than the one We address in prayer. And I think for good reason, I'll come to that in a little bit. But each member of the triune Godhead maintains their dominant and distinct role in our sight.
Now, what God does with it beyond this life remains to be revealed, but in this life we have. protocols to follow. For our benefit. The Father is glorified. The Son is the Savior.
These are dominant features when we see them. Emerge. In the language of Christ, only Christ died for us. The Holy Spirit did not die for us, the Father did not die for us. We have to follow that pattern.
that is set for us. The Holy Spirit inspires us. The Holy Spirit is not referred to as Lord.
Okay. That does not mean that there's a division. They just have defined their dominant roles to us. And it is for us to function within the revelation of the Godhead. Jesus alone intercedes for our salvation, but the Holy Spirit intercedes for us once we're saved when we pray.
That's 1 Timothy 2.5. In Romans 8, 26 and 27. I won't read them now because we've got More to go.
So the role of the Holy Spirit as enabler Henry. A participant. Very much a participant. As God in our lives. John 15, 26, but when he Now let me read this one.
But when the helper comes whom I shall send to you from the Father, The Spirit of Truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify of me. How much Trinity is built into that? When the helper, the comforter, the Greek word paraclete, The one who comes beside us, the Holy Spirit. Whom I shall send. Wow, that's a lot of power.
Who gets to send the Holy Spirit? From the Father.
So the Holy Spirit's coming from the Father. Just as Christ is begotten from the Father, well, not identical. The Holy Spirit flows from the Father, Christ is begotten from the Father. They still originate from the Godhead. as when they come into human contact.
Then he says the spirit of truth. Whom proceeds from the Father, he will testify of me.
So the role of the Holy Spirit is not to draw attention to himself.
So, if you go to a prayer meeting and you say, Boy, the Holy Spirit this and the Holy Spirit that, you missed Christ. He is the star. That's how God wants it. Holy Spirit's not offended by that. It's like, oh, I can't believe it.
After all, I poured into you, and you credit him? Gonna happen? As I mentioned, he can be lied to. This is an attribute of a person. You can't lie to your desk.
You can lie 'em on your desk. But you can't lie to your desk. and technically be lying unless you lied about lying to it. Acts chapter 5, Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit? and to keep back part of the price of the land for yourself.
Incidentally, You make a pledge to give to God. You better give it. Or else Don't write checks your mouth can't cash. We pray in the spirit. Not to the Spirit, Ephesians.
618. This is doctrine. Ephesians 6:18, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. He could have said at that moment to the Spirit, but he does not, which is very important. June 20, but you beloved, building yourselves up, that means getting better.
On your most holy faith. Praying in the Holy Spirit. Again, another opportunity he could have taken if he wanted us to pray to the Holy Spirit. We find No New Testament direct Dialogue With the Holy Spirit.
So, the Trinity is not, again, three distinct gods, but three distinct coexisting persons. You say, that's a lot for me to get my head around. Welcome to the club. God has sealed it. True faith from going down the paranormal trail by doing this.
If people could pray to the Holy Spirit. Christ would eventually be left out because He brings to the table what? Our guilt, our sin. Direct prayer to the Holy Spirit would distract us. From Jesus' sacrificial death, which is a doctrinal essential.
The doctrine of salvation is not. negotiable The Calvinists and and the non-Calvinists We may not agree on How God goes about it, but we agree. That the doctrine of salvation teaches that it's through the cross of Christ, the blood of Christ, and no other way.
So you take for example Roman Catholicism's praying to Mary.
Well, see, they've shifted from the Savior to a created being. You take the American or the Native American religions, and I've worked with a lot of those Mohawk Indians and some from other tribes too. And they emphasize the great spirit.
Some of them will say, they'll put them on, you know, yeah, we have the great spirit too. No, you don't. You don't have the Holy Spirit. Yours is a great fraud. They have no record of where it came from, how it got to be, who says it's not the same.
So by redirecting prayer to To the Father and the Son. stabilizes us from drifting into The paranormal Well, as long as I'm praying into the spirit, it must be okay. No, there's a protocol and there's a reason why there's a protocol. You know, a lot of things in history have a purpose, and when you start finding out The purpose the meaning becomes more rich.
So wow, I I didn't know that's why they You know, cowboy boots had that long big heel. They keep it from slipping through the stirrup and getting dragged. Why do cowboy boots have that pointy toe? Roach is in the corner. To easily slip through the stirrups.
Oh, you say, okay, there's purpose in the world. And when it's done right, it makes sense, and it's to my benefit also.
So question number three. What is your understanding of direct revelation/hearing God's voice? Wait a second.
Okay. Well, Jesus said, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. You say, okay, that's so simple. But then you have these. But you know Academic pastors or collegiate, or whatever, these formally educated, according to them.
Who comes along and say, God doesn't speak to us anymore. See, that's the kind of stuff they get away with, that irritates me. And it shouldn't irritate me, but I kinda like it. Yeah. So Anyway.
So What is my understanding on direct revelation? What is direct revelation?
Well it refers to God's clear Immediate Voicing of his will. to an individual. Singling out that person. Do I believe that God does that? I absolutely do.
Do I believe that Satan does it too? I absolutely do. Do I believe that the flesh does it? Oh, yeah, the flesh does. When the flesh says one more cookie.
Yes it You know, we know the devil on one shoulder, the angel on the other kind of thing.
Well, there's truth to that. But there are also a lot of problems here that we should kick around a little bit.
So direct is distinct from general revelation. He was a colonel when he got promoted. General revelation is: I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder. It's God in creation. You look at something, you say, look, I might not know any more about God, but I know there's a God who made this.
That is general revelation. Thanks for tuning in today to Cross Reference Radio, where Pastor Rick has some answers for various questions that have been asked. We can't fully express how grateful we are that you've been with us today. But if you're ever looking for more teaching and content from us, you're welcome to subscribe to our podcast. Just go to your favorite podcast app and look for Cross-Reference Radio.
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