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Joseph Charles Philpot J.C. Philpot Bevindelijke geschriften & prediking
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365 Days with Philpot

May 29

Christus’ zitten ter rechterhand Gods

Vandaag

2 min. read

It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you.
John 16:7

The gift of the Comforter depended upon the resurrection, ascension and exaltation of Jesus. “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you” (John 16:7). Therefore it is said that He will send the Comforter (John 15:26). This He does only on the ground of His exaltation and glorification at the right hand of God, as holy John says: “But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:39).

No one can grasp or describe the blessing of this gift, the gift of the Comforter. How powerful His teaching! How divine His operations! How heavenly His influences! How holy His anointings! How sweet His consolations, and yet how deep His convictions! How sincere His cries! How fervent His breathings! How unutterable His groanings! What could we know, feel, be, have or do; what could we think or say; what could we believe, hope or love; mourn over, observe or ask; lay before God or endure; preach, hear or write; how could we live; and above all, and last of all, how could we die, without this holy and blessed Comforter?

But if Jesus had not been exalted as King of Zion, this outpouring of the gifts and graces of the blessed Spirit could not take place. It is because God has “given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him.” This “eternal life” is spiritual life, for the blessing of it is that those to whom He gives it “might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent” (John 17:2, 3).

Reading: John 16:5-22

To the reader…

Perhaps you have never stopped to think how you would live, and above all how you would die, without the Comforter. Perhaps you feel little of His consolations now. Perhaps you know more of His convictions than of His anointing, more of His unutterable groanings within you than of His joy. That too is His work. Who would raise sighs in a hard heart, if He did not?

And know where that gift comes from. The Comforter is sent by Him Who is exalted at the right hand of God. Because Jesus is glorified, all who believe in Him receive the Spirit. Your hope, then, does not hang on your frame of mind, but on His exaltation. He has power over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom the Father has given Him: to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom He has sent.

With warm regards,
The compilers of jcphilpot.nl