“Only to those who wait humbly upon God, who watch for his guidance and grace, is the Spirit given. The power of God awaits their demand and reception. This promised blessing, claimed by faith, brings all other blessings in its train.” Review and Herald November 19, 1908.
We need to count our blessings. They all come in the train of the Holy Spirit. What are the opposite of blessings? Curses. We need to look at and recognize what are the curses in our lives.
The destination of the Holy Spirit Train is Heaven, Eternal Life, and God Himself. The destination of the devils train of sin is Hell, Death, and Nowhere.
Proverbs 10:22: “The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow with it.” There are no sorrows in the train of the Holy Spirit. There are no blessings in the devils train.
II Corinthians 3:1-3 Not the tangible but the intangible, not with ink but with the Spirit, not on tables of stone but on the fleshy tables of the heart.
Verses 4-6 Our sufficiency is not of ourselves but of God, not of the letter but of the Spirit.
Verses 7-11 The written law was glorious but the ministration of the Spirit was more glorious. The glory of the former was made no glory at all by the glory of the latter. That which we think is the most relevant, the most important part of life and/or living for God is not nearly as important as God Himself.
Verses 12-15 The children of Israel could not stand the glory of the LORD that shown from Moses’ face so they had him veil his face so that they could receive the spoken and the written word. Paul said that even to that day, when he wrote to the Corinthians, their minds were blinded because they still had their minds veiled away from the true glory of the Lawgiver so that they could focus on the written law instead.
Today it’s possible for Christians to be blinded by a veil when they read the Bible. They may read and study the Bible, commit it to memory, teach it, and preach it, but never have seen or known Jesus Himself. Adventists may be veiled behind the good old Seventh-day Adventist message, not knowing the One who gave the message in the first place.
We can speak of Christ, even in the context of the New Testament; we can read about Him and even proclaim what we see to others, but if we are still thinking in terms of symbols as opposed to the fulfillment of them in Christ, we are still as blind as those we are trying to enlighten. We are still on the wrong train.
Verse 16 When we turn our heart to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away, Jesus Himself will be seen. We have to switch trains before He can be seen.
Verse 17 (Read John 8:31-36). By living and abiding in the word of God we will come to know the Truth, the living Word; we will come to know Jesus Himself. That’s how we know that we are His disciples. Read II Corinthians 5:17.
To know the truth, to be intimately acquainted with it we must have frequent, continued intercourse with it. This is what will set us free; the Almighty Word of God actually living in us as we breathe it in, embracing it with our whole soul. This is being one with Jesus and totally divorced from sin.
James 1:25 The law is a law of liberty. When we live in it and it in us, we are free from the letter of the law which is based on good works, and the Spirit of the law will lead us into good works.
II Corinthians 3:18 When we, with open face, turn to the Lord we will have switched trains.
I Corinthians 13:8-13 The old will pass away, be done away with; we will not be looking through the eyes of a child anymore, not needing a schoolmaster, the law anymore. We will then know because we will see God face to face.
I John 3:2 Being like Him, seeing Him as He is, this needs to take place right now, not at the second coming.
Exodus 33:11 Moses talked with God face to face. Verse 20 says no man shall see God and live. The full glory of God was concealed from Moses so that He wouldn’t die. The carnal, human flesh cannot see God and live. When we are purged from our sins, when we walk humbly with Him in the Spirit we shall see Him and live. This will be our glorification. When Jesus walked among us, His flesh veiled the full glory of God from us. Occasionally though, divinity flashed through humanity and those who believed in Him were drawn all the more to Him, while those who didn’t fled in terror. The same will take place at His return.
It’s time for us to switch trains. It’s time for us to quit playing church, going through the motions, living by the letter of the law. It’s time for us to grow up and start living by the Spirit of the law. Don’t let the physical church veil you from Christ. Don’t set your eyes on the body of Christ, but on Jesus Himself. He is the reason for the church. He is your reason to live. He is found on the Holy Spirit train.