The Messenger of the Covenant

Nahash, king of Ammon, was one of those few who had shown young David mercy when he fled from the mad King Saul. Nahash helped David escape death, and now David himself was King in Israel. When King David heard that Nahash had died and that his son Hanun reigned in his stead in Ammon, David said to his advisors, "I will show mercy to Hanun the son of Nahash as his father showed kindness unto me." Faithful to his promise, David sent ambassadors to Hanun to comfort him concerning his father's death. It was expected, of course, that Hanun would show gratitude for David's open demonstration of good will. Hanun's reaction, though, was anything but friendly, for "the princes of Ammon said unto Hanun their lord, Thinkest thou that David doth honor thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? Hath not David rather sent his servants unto thee to search the city, and to spy it out, and to overthrow it? Wherefore Hanun took David's servants, and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away" (2Sam.10:1-5).

This humiliation of David's ambassadors was a clear challenge, a personal affront, a display of open contempt for the king, and a bloody war between Israel and Ammon ensued. It was a war that cost the Ammonites dearly.

Throughout the history of human diplomatic relations, it has held true that mistreatment of a ruler's ambassadors is tantamount to a declaration of war. Such conduct is a clear, open challenge to the one who sends the ambassadors. This principle holds true in a spiritual sense as well. Jesus was sent from God, and just as David was insulted when his messengers were treated badly, so God was insulted when Jesus was rejected and abused. Jesus said, "He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him" (Jn.5:23).

One's response to Jesus reveals his sincere attitude toward God. Everyone who truly loves God, also loves Jesus (Jn.8:42), and everyone who rejects Jesus is rejecting the One who sent him (Mt.10:40). Many leaders in ancient Israel who appeared to be godly were exposed as ungodly by their hatred toward Christ, while many who were shunned by those seemingly holy men were revealed to be children of God by their obedience to Jesus' words. To the haughty religious leaders who, through envy and covetous ness refused to hear him, Jesus said, "Ye are they who justify yourselves before men, but God knoweth your hearts. For that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God" (Lk.16:15). On the other hand, to the simple, and at times, downtrodden souls who followed him, the Master encouraged their hearts with these words, "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Lk.12:32).

"The kingdom of God", wrote Paul, "is...righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost" (Rom.14:17). So, we see that when Jesus spoke of the kingdom his Father would give, he was saying that the Holy Ghost would be sent. This promise he kept, for just a few days after his ascension, when his disciples " were all with one accord in one place...there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:1-4).

Jesus ascended to the Father, yet he did not "leave us comfortless". He sent his personal representative, the Holy Spirit, the "messenger of the covenant" which "suddenly came to his temple" when Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan River, and which "suddenly came from heaven" to baptize the disciples in the upper room on Pentecost morning. There, on that momentous occasion, the Vicar of Christ arrived, and our response to Him is a sure indication of our heart's real attitude toward God.

Regardless of any man's lofty position or title, if he is not submissive to the power of the Holy Ghost, he is not of Christ. If a man rejects the Holy Ghost baptism and the truth the Holy Ghost teaches, he is a liar, regardless of what he says about God. Where speaking in tongues and other manifestations of the Spirit are not welcome, Jesus himself is not welcome, even if those who reject the Spirit speak well of him. Remember, those who hated Jesus spoke very reverentially of the Father who had sent him, but they were liars and deceivers. Their fair words are just for show. Watch them! They are enemies of God's righteousness, even as they extol it, professional religionists who poison hearts against the very One whom they claim to love and serve. The Father said of them, "This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me...." Flattering Jesus means nothing. Only they who walk in the power of the Spirit do truly honor him.

No man can hide his heart in the presence of the power of the Holy Ghost. Those who love God love His power. Does it make you nervous or uncomfortable, my friend, for the saints to shout and praise God around you? Do you avoid the places where people dance under the unction of the Spirit? Are you embarrassed at the power of God being demonstrated on the bodies of the worshippers? If so, ask God to rid your heart of its filthiness and pride, so that you can rejoice in the light. If you are ashamed of the Holy Ghost, you are, in fact, ashamed of Jesus, and in the end he will be ashamed of you.

It is only to the extent that the Spirit of God leads the church that it is rightly lead. Only to the extent that He governs is the church governed well. Only to the extent that the Holy Ghost gives wisdom is there sound judgment in the church. And only to the extent that He anoints is there true ministry. To love God is to love what the Holy Ghost does to people and for people. There are many who claim to love God when, in fact, what they really love is a god of their own imagination. It is a person's response to the Holy Ghost - the real Holy Ghost - which exposes their real attitude toward Jesus. And we can be certain that both Jesus and the Father take it personally when the Spirit which Jesus died to make available to men is rejected as outmoded, or even, as some with more audacity than wisdom say, of the devil. May God have mercy on their souls.

It is the Spirit that guides us into all truth (Jn.16:13). If a man knows any truth, if anyone understands anything rightly concerning God, that knowledge came only from the Holy Spirit. Said Paul, "...the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God" (1Cor.2:11). What little uprightness exists in the world today exists only by virtue of the influence of God's Spirit on man. It is the Spirit that both convicts men of wrong doing and convinces them of right (Eph.4:30; Jn.16:8). It is the Spirit that cleanses from sin (1Cor.6:9-11), and it is only by the indwelling of the Spirit that any man has a hope of being raised from the dead (Rom.8:11). One of the Spirit's titles is, "the Spirit of Grace" (Heb.10:29), and despite the claims of many deceived souls, one is being "saved by grace" only if he is filled with the Spirit, for it is only by the Spirit that the grace of God is ministered to the soul. Furthermore, no man can have the love of God within him without receiving the Holy Ghost, for "the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us" (Rom. 5:5). If Christ Jesus and his Father dwell in anyone, it is only by the Spirit that they do so! Jesus himself is inside of no one. He is in heaven with his Father. We either have the Holy Ghost within us or we have nothing holy in us at all. Oh, how we should reverence this heavenly Ambassador! How we should welcome his intervention in our lives and give him the seat of honor in our assemblies! How we should listen to his voice, and receive his instruction. He alone is able to teach us of that distant heavenly kingdom and to bring us into the covenant of fellowship with the King of kings.

"If any man have not the Spirit of Christ," Paul taught, "He is none of his" (Rom.8:9). That is just how serious it is, my friend. If you reject the Holy Ghost that the Father sent in Jesus' name, you have rejected Christ and have no part in the kingdom of God. The only way into the church is the baptism of the Holy Ghost (1Cor.12:13). The only life anyone has in Christ is the life which the Spirit of God brings when it enters in. "It is the Spirit that gives life", said Jesus (Jn.6:63). This is true because the Spirit itself is life (Rom.8:10).

If you have believed the gospel concerning Jesus, yet have not received the gift of the Holy Ghost, let me encourage you to continue in the word of God until the Spirit comes and makes you free. Some may have told you that you are free already, that you must "take it by faith", or that you must "confess the word", but you know in your heart that those gimmicks have not made you free. We encourage you to remember the words of Jesus, who told his beloved disciples, "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (Jn.8:31-32).

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