Classic Christianity – A Closer Look at The Word of God P19 (03-22-21)
Synopsis
Authority was given to the apostles, those who were with Jesus from the beginning, since the baptism of John, identifying Jesus of Nazareth as the promised Messiah, with Jesus at His death, burial and resurrection, and at His ascension back into heaven, with the promise to see Him again physically, in a period of time called the millennial reign of Christ on this earth. So there are no apostles today. Signs and wonders were performed through the apostles, confirming to men that what they spoke concerning Christ, which they saw and heard directly from Christ Jesus, came to be written down for our sakes.
So as we read from the pages of scripture, we come to understand all that Christ came to do for our sakes. We learned about the Old Testament prophets, what they said concerning the word of God, with over 300 prophecies that were all fulfilled in one person, Jesus Christ. Isaiah prophesied of a person coming, of a voice crying in the wilderness, to prepare the way of the Lord. This man was John the Baptist, the last Old Testament prophet. Through John, in fulfillment of scripture, the promised Messiah was revealed to Israel, as a dove descended from heaven and lighted on Jesus, whom John testified that when this should happen, this man is the one. The disciples of Christ were witnesses of these things, and followed Christ Jesus, having heard and saw what John the Baptist testified of.
So the question is, “How can we know the scriptures truly came from God?” Delve into the scriptures, relying on the Holy Spirit to teach you and reveal truth to you. You shall see all the unfolding events and what was said and spoken through those who were eyewitnesses of these things. God Himself revealed truth to men, and the most important event was on the day of Pentecost, when for the first time in human history the Spirit of God came to permanently indwell men, and for you today, the day you were born again. That did not happen in former generations before the cross, during the days of the Old Testament prophets. The Spirit came upon people for divine purpose and action, but could leave. Not so today, for anyone born again, as Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about in John 3, the Spirit will never leave you or forsake you because of sin. You have been made complete in Christ.
The Spirit of God permanently lives in men today. That is what born again means. The Spirit of God lives in men to guide them into all truth. That is also how God brought to the remembrance to the apostles all that He had spoken while He was with them. Just as He promised would happen, on the day of Pentecost, they were born again. The word of God, the scriptures we hold in our hands today is of divine origin. God Himself worked through men as He carried them along by the Holy Spirit.
The words of God will never pass away. Heaven and earth will pass away, as 2 Peter tells us, but God and His word cannot be separated. God always lives, so His word will never go away. That also means we can live by His word today. Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. We have His words that He wants us to know concerning Himself, which is revealed to us by the Spirit living in us. Not everything He ever did on earth is written down, but what is for us to know, God and His Son Jesus Christ, in order to have life in His name. He came so that we may have life to the full. He did not come to condemn but to save. That is why the Spirit of God through His word draws us, for it is based in His character and nature. God is love, love is the fulfillment of the law, and love does its neighbor no wrong. His lovingkindness is what leads us to repentance.
Transcript
It is exciting to go through this series on A Closer Look at the Word of God. This is, to me, one of the most exciting series in our entire bible study series. Turn to Chapter 6, titled Given to the Apostles, as to the authority given to the apostles to write the New Testament, and explain how we have the word of God in our hands today. Is it true, and how can we know, that it truly comes from God Himself?
Luke 21:33
33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
What did Christ say would pass away? It looks to me that heaven and earth are going to pass away, but His words will never pass away. So even though heaven and earth are going to pass away, as we know it. The heavens that we look at to support the earth we live, that will pass away but His words will never pass away. Why will His words never pass away? Those are His words and God will never pass away, so how will His words pass away
2 Peter 3:9-11
9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be burned up.
11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives
It is important to understand that His words are eternal just as He is eternal. Since Christ is God, then you must ask, “Can you rest confidently in the fact that not only are His words going to pass away, and He is not going to pass away, but how valid are those words? It is as valid as the person who spoke them. That is Christ Jesus our Lord.
Psalm 119:160
160 All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.
Revelation 3:7
7 To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.
Shortly we will turn to John 16:12-15. Here Jesus is speaking to His disciples. This passage was important to me as a brand new Christian. As I said before, as a new Christian, I was 36 years of age when I came to Christ. I have been looking for truth all my life. I thought I had the truth when I was educated. I thought I had truth when I learned that happiness was coming to me from being successful, and having my college degree, and purchasing a home with a picket fence. That is what I thought the truth was. I found that was not true.
Jeremiah 29:13
13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
So I began a search for it. What is this all about? That old song. That was the question I was asking God at that time in my life, when I saw my dad dying in front of my eyes. I realized in the final analysis that was the destiny of all of us. Why was I born? Just to die? What am I here for? What is the meaning of this place down here?
Hebrews 9:26-28
But he [Christ Jesus] has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
So I had a desire to know the answers to those types of questions. When I came to Christ and opened up the word of God, there I found that everything I was looking for was found in those pages. I could not get enough of it.
Hebrews 4:12
12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
John 14:10
10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.
1 Peter 1:23
23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
My wife thought I had a black leather face for the first number of years coming to Christ because I was constantly reading and studying the bible. It was the most exciting thing I had come in contact with in my life. Here alone I saw truth about God, and I saw the word of God openly and willingly to speak truth about me, and yet without condemnation. It was showing me everything that I was, my yuckiness, wickedness and deceitful heart above all things. Yet, it was not distasteful as God was revealing that to me.
John 8:32
32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
It was truth because it was done in the way of love. It was not done to bury me under condemnation. It was done to help me see myself as I really was. Therefore, to be able to rejoice in Him and all that He is. It was not something to reveal your yucky nature to bury you. It was to show you it is there so you can turn that over to Him and have it replaced with all the fullness of His nature.
John 3:16-18
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
Colossians 1:18-20
18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Colossians 1:27
27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Now, as you are studying alone in the word of God and as you are new in the word of God, this is one of the most important passages you are going to read.
John 16:12-15
12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”
The context of this passage is as it relates to the apostles, but also there is a truth in as much as it also relates to you and me, who are the recipients of what was written by the apostles. It is truth. I have so much more to say to you, but it is more than you can bear right now. As a brand new Christian, one of the most important passages I read.
I do not have to understand this. If God wanted me to know what it meant right now, He would reveal it to me. The reason He does not reveal it to me is because I am not ready for it yet. You cannot bear it yet. There is a foundation for you to have before the roof is put on this thing. So put a checkmark on your bible and when God is ready He will show it to you. I do not even live up to what I do know. Why give more to you when you have not even fully grasped what I, Jesus, have revealed to you?
1 Peter 2:1-3
1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
I do not have to understand everything as a new born child in Christ. It would be like forcing a t-bone steak down the mouth of a small baby. He is not ready for it. He still needs milk. That is a wonderful message to realize. Regardless of your physical age, as a new Christian, you need milk. You do not need to understand everything. Just take what you do know and begin to dwell upon it. Like Mary, ponder those truths in your heart until they become solidified in your heart. Then you are ready for more.
Luke 2:18-20
18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told
This wonderful passage of scripture in John 16:12-15, where Jesus was revealing to the apostles that there is more I would like to share with you, but at this time you are not ready for it. In essence, what He is saying, just trust in me and I will reveal the truth of these things to you, but in my timing. And I will never lay more on you than you are able to bear.
1 Corinthians 10:13
13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
In the story of Corrie Ten Boom, In the Hiding Place, she revealed an incident in her life, as it relates to this passage. In the story told, as a young girl, she is waiting on her grandfather to get on this train. He told her to pick up those trunks and put them on the train. She looked at her grandfather and said, “Grandfather, I cannot pick up those trunks.” “How come?” “Because I am too little.” In other words, you are just not ready to pick up those trunks yet. Corrie, that just answers the question. How come I have not had it revealed to me these different things out of scripture. You are not ready for it. Just as physically, as a little girl, you are not ready to pick up a heavy trunk, so also as a babe in Christ, you are not able to pick up the things of God until God reveals them to you. In other words, you need milk. Be prepared to drink milk until you are ready for solid food. So you do not force t-bone steak down a baby, for you might choke to death. It might be best not to ever eat that type of food, but at least more solid food.
He was talking to the apostles there. He said when the Spirit of truth comes, the Holy Spirit, I will send to you. That did not happen until the day of Pentecost, the day the apostles were indwelt by the Spirit of God, which for the first time in history, the Spirit of God came to live in man forever.
Luke 24:45-49
45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
Acts 2:1-4
1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit came upon a man for divine action and function, but on the day of Pentecost, that was the first time the Spirit came to live and indwell in man forever. In essence, the first time that man was ever spiritually regenerated. In other words, the first time that, with Christ being the firstborn from among the dead, that was the first time man was ever born again spiritually, being restored to true humanity, restored to the condition that Adam was in when he was created prior to the fall. So man restored to true humanity.
John 3:3
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
When the Spirit of God came to them, and that is applicable now of Him coming to us when we are born again, the Spirit of God will guide you into all truth.
John 16:13
13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
Certainly He was guiding the apostles into all truth, not speaking on his own, but speaking only what he hears from the Father. The Spirit of God is not living in you again. He is not speaking on his own. He is speaking only what He hears from the Lord Jesus Christ, and then reveals that to you. And He will tell you what is yet to come.
Matthew 10:19-20
19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
How do we have prophecy written in the bible today? As a result of the Spirit of God living in the apostles, testifying to them only what He is hearing from the Father, from Christ, and telling you what is yet to come, revealing to them that they wrote down so we may know. The other thing the Holy Spirit is doing through the apostles is also doing the same through us, living in us, taking what is of Jesus, and making them known to you and me.
John 16:15
15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”
All that belongs to the Father is mine. All that belongs to Me is yours. That is why it says, “I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known unto you”. That was exactly what He was dealing with in John 14:25-26.
John 14:25-26
25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
So the apostles did not have to rely upon their memory as to what Jesus said to them in regard to get what He said written down on paper, the writings of what we have today in the scriptures, on the scrolls. They did not have to rely upon their memory of that. Jesus said, “I will cause all things to come back to your remembrance, everything that I said to you”. The way that will be done is through the Counselor, the Holy Spirit of God, who will come to live in you, on the day of Pentecost.
Ephesians 1:13-14
13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory.
In our particular case, on the day of our salvation, when we stepped out of Adam into Christ, Christ stepped out of heaven into us, and we were born again. When that occurred to them, and occurs to us, He will teach us all things about Jesus. He taught all of that and brought all of that to the remembrance of the apostles so that they could write that information down so that that same information that was revealed to the apostles, identical information by the Spirit of God, is revealed to us through the Spirit of God as we read the word today.
How much is the word going to teach you about Jesus? Everything. Everything that God wants us to know was revealed to the apostles in remembrance of Him, written down.
John 20:30-31
30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Were there some things Jesus said that was not written in the word. John said if we wrote down everything there would not have been enough libraries to contain it. But everything God wants you to know about Him is revealed in Christ. If there was anything more He wanted us to know, He would have written it down. If there was less to know, He would have left it out.
So all I need to know is revealed in the word of God. So I do not need to seek more revelation or seek more about God. Everything He wanted me to know about Him He put in the word. That truth that is contained in that word will set you free, if you let it.
John 8:32
32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
Folks, you are never going to be set free by trying to gain more. If He wanted you to know more, He would have put it there. Nor are you ever going to be set free by thinking maybe I did not get enough. You got all that you need to have.
2 Peter 1:3 (NASB)
3 for 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.
So rely on that. That is what faith in that does. Realize that if that is revealed in the word of God, I can walk in it, in the newness of life. It is truth and truth will do exactly what is said, and that is to set us free.
He revealed that to us, what we know today, through the apostles. Now, are there apostles today? Not according to God. There are some men who call themselves apostles, but those are man-made ones. They are certainly not apostles that Jesus named.
In Acts 1:21-22, He explained what it took to be called an apostle. An apostle is as God named him not as man walks around today calling themselves an apostle. That is an ego trip, thinking you are an apostle. Jesus said what an apostle was.
Acts 1:21-22
21 Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, 22 beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”
In other words, to be an apostle, you had to be there with Him while He was here on earth. Beginning with John’s baptism, from the time Jesus was identified as the Messiah. That is what John’s baptism is all about.
John 1:31-34
31 And I did not recognize Him, but so that He would be revealed to Israel [as the promised Messiah], I came baptizing in water.” 32 And John testified, saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. 33 And I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”
John said that the one who sent me to baptize stated that the one on whom you see the dove descend, that is the Messiah. John was sent to identify the Messiah to an unbelieving Israel. The way that he was going to be able to say to Israel, “This is the Messiah” “This is the Messiah that you have been studying about for thousands of years in the Old Testament. This is the Messiah that has over 300 testimonies regarding the Messiah.” There were over 300 prophecies involved in the Messiah, and all were fulfilled in this person that John was about to identify, namely Jesus of Nazareth.
John 1:6-8
6 A man [John the Baptist] came, one sent from God, and his name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to testify about the Light [Jesus, the promised Messiah], so that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.
John 1:22-23
22 Then they said to him, “Who are you? Tell us, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am the voice of one calling out in the wilderness, ‘Make the way of the Lord straight,’ as Isaiah the prophet said [Isaiah 40:3].”
John 3:1-2
1 Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
God sent John to baptize, identifying the people with the coming Messiah. That is what his baptism was about, before Jesus came and after, was identifying them with the Messiah. Beforehand, it was repent, change your mind. Jesus is coming. He, the one coming, is going to be the Savior. The Jew thought being a Jew saved you. No. There is a Messiah coming that is going to save you. You are not going to be saved when He gets here, if you are still holding onto being a Jew. That is not going to save you. So change your mind. You need to understand something, that the Messiah is on the way.
I, John, am going to identify Him. Prepare yourself. The way to prepare yourself is realizing that being a Jew, or a Catholic or a Baptist or a Presbyterian, is not going to save you. So get rid of that mindset before He gets here, so you will be willing to receive Him when He does. The one who told me to baptize, that the one on whom you see the dove descend, that is the Messiah of the bible.
From that day forth, he identified that Jesus is the Messiah, because somebody, and basically the disciples along the line had heard that. They were the ones who followed Him, Jesus, having heard what John the Baptist said about Him. They just got up and followed Him. Why? They were already prepared. They believed John when he said the one who told me to baptize, that when this dove descends on the one I am baptizing, that is the Messiah. Well, they saw the dove descend. So when he said follow Him, so natural a thing to do is go.
How exciting John’s ministry must have been. Whenever he baptized someone, he thought this might be the one. Also when he saw the Pharisees coming He said, “What are you doing down here? There is no sense in you coming to be baptized for sure. You are not it”.
Matthew 3:6-8
6 and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance;
We are talking about the authorities of the apostles to write what we know today as the New Testament. Once again, the canon, the criteria for writing of the scripture, in the Old Testament, had to be written in Hebrew. In the New Testament, it had to be written in Greek, and by an apostle or an Amanuensis of an apostle. An Amanuensis of an apostle would merely be a scribe, someone writing down what is being dictated by an apostle, and confirmed. That obviously was taking place. So the scripture you and I hold in our hands today, had to be written. The New Testament had to be written by an apostle or an Amanuensis. There are no more apostles today because the qualifications of being an apostle was given to us in Acts 1:21-22 when they were naming a new apostle to fulfill the role of Judas.
Acts 1:15-26
15 At this time Peter stood up among the brothers and sisters (a group of about 120 people was there together), and said, 16 “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17 For he was counted among us and received his share in this ministry.” 18 (Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out. 19 And it became known to all the residents of Jerusalem; as a result that field was called Hakeldama in their own language, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 “For it is written in the book of Psalms:‘May his residence be made desolate, And may there be none living in it’;
and,
‘May another take his office.’
21 Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us – 22 beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us – one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.” 23 So they put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and Matthias. 24 And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all people, show which one of these two You have chosen 25 to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26 And they drew lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.
So the qualification for being an apostle was someone who had been with them from the beginning, from John’s Baptism. So the event was the baptism of Jesus, whereby through that baptism, the Messiah was identified as God Himself, the Messiah, by John the Baptist. When he baptized, the dove descended upon Jesus, the clouds opened and a voice said, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased”.
Luke 3:21-22
21 Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came from heaven: “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well pleased.”
So they were there. It had to be someone who was there. Then it said, from that point until the time that Jesus was taken up from us.
Acts 1:21-22
21 Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us – 22 beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us – one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”
In other words, His ascension. For one of these people who was with Jesus at those events must become a witness with us of His resurrection. To be an apostle, you had to be one who was there at the baptism, where God identified Jesus as the Messiah, one who was a witness with us of His resurrection and one who was there when Jesus was taken up in the cloud.
Now, it goes ahead to say in John 15:27, and this is what gave the apostles the authority to write the scripture we hold in our hands today.
John 15:27
27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.
So He is saying to the apostles, that you are the ones who must testify to this truth. You are the ones who have been with me from the beginning.
Look also at Luke 24:46-48.
Luke 24:46-48
46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You [apostles] are witnesses of these things.
Folks, when we are talking about the authority of the writing of the New Testament, we are talking about the fact that Christ Jesus is living now in the apostles, who were told that when that day occurs, Jesus will bring back to their remembrance all the things He had told them.
John 16:13-15
13 But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take from Mine and will disclose it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine; this is why I said that He takes from Mine and will disclose it to you.
When the Spirit of God comes to live in you, He will testify about me, bringing glory to me, and taking the things of mine and making them known to you, the apostles.
In order to be an apostle, you had to be one with Him in the beginning, in His baptism, witness to His death, burial and resurrection and to His ascension into heaven, which took place on the last day Jesus was here physically on this earth, raised from the ground with the commission of telling the apostles to go into the world and proclaim this good news to every nation (Matthew 28:19-20), and with the promise that just as you saw I, Jesus, leave physically, I will come again physically with my feet on the mount of olives. That will be the day that will begin the thousand year, millennial reign (Revelation 20), whereby Jesus, once again, will be restored to who I am, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, whereby every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philipppians 2:10).
Matthew 28:19-20
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Acts 1:11
11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
Luke 16:16
16 “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it.
What about Paul’s writings? Paul said that what was revealed to him, the message, was revealed directly to him by God (Galatians 1:12). That would not have any meaning without having been confirmed by the men Jesus said are my representatives here on this earth (2 Peter 3:15-16, Acts 1:8).
Galatians 1:12
12 For my message comes from no less a person than Jesus Christ himself, who told me what to say. No one else has taught me.
2 Peter 3:15-16
15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
Acts 1:8
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
