December 05, 2014
The Saints You Know
Prayer warriors have played a
huge role in Bill’s ongoing cancer issues. Yesterday while he finished the last
of the most recent course of treatment, I visited with patients and staff at
the cancer center and ran a couple errands. On three different occasions women I’d
never met before wanted to pray for Bill. I’m familiar with the generic “I’ll
pray for you,” but in each instance these woman specifically ask, “What is his
name so I can pray for him?” These three ladies were a good example of praying
for all the saints — even those we do not know. “And pray in the Spirit on all
occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert
and always keep on praying for all the saints” (Eph 6:18 NIV).
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Gail;
-----“There are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that He has borne witness to His Son.” (I John 5:8-9) These verses always fascinated me. What is in the water and what is in the blood that they carry to us God’s testimony? This is commonly taken to mean that the Spirit alighting on Jesus risen from the baptismal waters and moving into the sinner upon becoming a believer is a testimony from God to Christ as Savior. The baptismal waters which Christ went into partaking, through obedience, in our plight who also enter it partaking, through obedience, in His death unto our new life is a testimony from God to Christ as Savior. And the blood which Christ spilt that washes our sins white as snow and is partaken in holy communion with His body is a testimony from God to Christ as Savior.
-----If symbolism is true it will always open up to reveal the reality it represents. And all symbolism of God’s Word is true by the nature of what it is. So, what might stand deeper in the symbolism of these verses as God’s testimony? These three elements sort into two simple categories: stuff of the spirit realm (the Spirit,) and stuff of the physical realm (water and blood.) His testimony stands in both places.
-----Much can be known and said about the Spirit from the Scripture’s treatment of it. Though the Bible does not lay down any simple, concise, representative statement of the Spirit, from the mix of all it says rises a sense that He is the living essence of relationship unto good. Any two things existing interrelate in ways entirely and only productive of what is good for both. So, simply, God alone stands as Father and Son, and They have that kind of Interrelationship, that is, Father, Son, and Spirit. In the spirit-type realm of God’s heaven, all things interrelate with all other things for the mutual good of everything. It might sound a bit “Red Commy” to us, but the difference is that in Heaven it works. Everything there engages God‘s Spirit, i.e., everything lives by Him. A piece of It is given into a relationship with our own spirit as His testimony.
-----The physical category (water and blood) sorts out further into inanimate (water) and animate (blood.) No Guitar Man of any church rock band makes me jump up and down shouting praises to God, but the quiet objects arising from the elements He created do. The stars in heaven proclaiming His gospel, the blood moons proclaiming the nearness of evil’s doom, the Bedouin boy’s thrown rock smashing the jar in Qumran’s cave to release textual evidences for shattering centuries of lies accusing God’s Holy Word of inserted man-made myths all testify. From the skies above into the archeological dirts below, His testimony shouts from simple inanimate objects all around us.
-----And from those precious, animate objects, those souls struggling amidst a flood of evil to live God’s holiness unto the good of all they touch (kind of Holy Spirit like,) come testimonies in words and deeds both. Like a hidden baby kicks in the womb, the Holy Spirit flinches in the saved soul whose heart and mind respond with action tailored to a situation. It makes me bow in adoration.
-----And you understood God’s intimate little testimony regarding this very personal matter of Bill’s health, having seen the actions of physical bodies washed in baptismal waters driven by minds made alive from choosing His blood and sparked by the Living Spirit of God - His testimony of the Spirit, the blood, and the water - through an offered prayer. It praises Him.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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