"When God the Father thinks about His relationship with His Son, He says, 'I want all preeminence, exaltation, lifting up to reside in Him. I don't want Jesus Christ to be second to anybody. My will about my Son is that He have the preeminence in ALL of creation.'
"John 3:35 says, 'The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.' When the Father looks at His Son, He thinks, 'I value and esteem Him above all things.' The Father values the Son more than He values Himself and He's given all things unto His hands.
"John 5:20 says, [20] For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.
"They have a complete, intellectual compatibility. At that point the Son knows everything the Father knows. Think about being able to say that. I mean, you're way beyond being a human. You and I can study this Book 'til our eyes bug out and our hair turns gray and we still won't know but just a little bit of what God knows. The Son knows it all.
" 'And he will show him greater works.' What He's done is greater works than these. He's going to show Him things that are bigger than just going out and healing somebody.
[21] For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
[22] For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
[23] That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.
"You see, the Father gives knowledge, wisdom, honor to the Son. When God the Father thinks of the other members of the godhead, you know what He does? He says, 'I prefer them above myself.'
"II Peter 1:21: 'For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.'
II Timothy 3 says, [16] All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
"Who wrote God's Word? God the Holy Spirit. David says in Psalm 138:2, [2] I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.
"God the Father says, 'I'm going to magnify the work, product of the Holy Spirit above my name.' When God the Father looks at the work and the activity of the Holy Spirit, He says, 'I'm going to put that above my name.'
"Every member of the Godhead lives that way. Every member of the godhead, when they think about the other members of the godhead, they just spontaneously live for their advancement and their interest. They never esteem themselves first; they always put others ahead of themselves.
"Philippians 2:11 says, 'And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.'
"When you exalt the Lord Jesus Christ, in reality you're exalting God the Father because He points to the Father as the one to get the honor.
"Luke 4: [16] And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
[17] And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
[18] The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
"Who is it that sent Him? The Holy Spirit. Jesus, when He talks about the Holy Spirit, says, 'You know whose commissioned me, empowered me? When I do these things it's because the Spirit of God's on me.'
"John 3:34 says, 'For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.' It's so much so that in Romans 8:9-10, Paul talks about the Holy Spirit and then He calls Him the Spirit of Christ:
[9] But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
[10] And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
"Jesus Christ is so identified with the Holy Spirit that the Holy Spirit is willing to have . . . who wrote Romans 8:9? God the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God through Paul wrote. When the Spirit of God is describing His ministry and who He is, He calls Himself the Spirit of Christ. Who do you think the Holy Spirit's going to exalt? Jesus Christ lets Him call Him that.
"Jesus says, 'You exalt me, you're really exalting the Father. The Holy Spirit, He's the one who's the empowerment for what I'm doing.'
*****
"The Holy Spirit writes God's Word. Isaiah 34:16 says, [16] Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.
"The Holy Spirit says to Israel through Isaiah, 'Seek ye out of the book.' The Holy Spirit, when He talks about this Book He wrote, who does He say it belongs to, where it came from? God the Father.
"You see, no member of the godhead struts His stuff and says, 'It's all about me.' They always point to the other members of the godhead and say it's about them. The life that the living God lives . . .
"John 16 says, [13] Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
[14] He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
"So when the Holy Spirit talks about the Father, He says, 'Hey, I might have wrote the Book but it's His Word. I'm glorifying the Son because He's the one . . . '
"Every member of the godhead points TO, and their life lives FOR the benefit of the other members of the godhead. That's not that hard to get, but you see that constantly in your Bible.
"Philippians 2 says, [1] If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
[2] Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
[3] Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
[4] Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
[5] Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
"The mind that was in Christ Jesus that He wants them to have looks not on his own things, but every man on the things of others. That doesn't mean He's coveting other things; it means He's living like God lives.
"God puts that life in you so that you can live, not for yourself--that's what the middle letter of sin is. Not that you'd fulfill your desires, going through strife and vainglory in your own self, but that you'd be living for the benefit of others. God's life.
"Galatians 2:20 says, [20] I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
"It's not I, but Christ who lives in me. You ever look that word life up in the dictionary? By the way, the word means the same in Greek as it does in English. That's why they translated it 'life.' The word life means the capacity to relate, to interface with one's environment and surroundings. Life is the ability to interface. I have the capacity to relate to my environment the way He does.
"Our life in time, right here on earth, in all its details, is really His life in human form, manifest in us and our mortal bodies. His attitudes, His actions, put into the display of reality in our human experience. Christ did it perfectly. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory. That's the essence of who God is, grace and truth, and Christ put it on display perfectly.
"My thought when I read Galatians 2:20 is, 'If Christ did it perfectly, how's He doing it in me? How am I doing with it?'
"When I get out of the way and it's Him . . . you see, you have the life of Jesus Christ and what we do is we think, 'Well, I've got the life of Christ, but I need this and I need that.' Added things are just added things; they're not added life.
"If you need anything to have joy and peace and happiness and contentment it's because you're living for yourself and not the One who loves you and gave Himself for you. II Corinthians 5 says, [14] For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
[15] And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
"What He did so He could give you life--and when He gave you life--was so you could then live for Him, have that life live through you. It's His truth that animates His life in us when we believe it."
(new article tomorrow)
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