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" Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and
shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel,
which being interpreted is, God with us."
- Matthew 1:23
Matthew recorded the incarnation of Christ under
divine inspiration - the earthly birth of the Christ so spoken by
the prophet at least 700 years before, was to become the unique
approach of man to God.
It is important that we comprehend the uniqueness of Matthew's
quoting of the Messianic prophecy. Not only does the Holy Spirit
give through Matthew the glorious account of the Son of God, but
does indeed establish the mighty doctrine of the trinity. "And she
shall call His name Immanuel."
Matthew adds the explanation that Immanuel means "God with us." I
find no record of Christ ever being called Immanuel while on earth.
He was always called Jesus. However, the wording of Matthew clearly
establishes that Jesus, born of the virgin Mary was God.
Here we are to understand that a new era had dawned upon the history
of God's dealings with the human race. Man shall have only one
avenue to God - only one way to approach the throne, and that is
through the Son of God Who is even now at the right hand of God the
Father. Only through the aid of the indwelling Holy Spirit and in
the blessed name of Jesus can we properly approach God in prayer.
My message to you this Lord's Day morning is one that bears heavy
upon my mind and challenges me early each day as I approach God in
prayer. In my mind's eye, I visualize the very throne of Jehovah God
with Christ Jesus at His right hand and, sensing the blessed Holy
Spirit within me, I bow in humble adoration to speak and listen to
the One true Creator of all things.
This message is for the purpose of making clear our approach to God
in prayer. Jesus instructs us to pray to the Father which is in
Heaven. He's on His throne! Bowing before the throne, we are made
conscious of His triune being. The two-fold purpose of my message to
this congregation is: (1) to encourage you to pray more and, (2) to
persuade you to pray correctly.
GOD IS A TRINITY
God is three persons in one being. God is
Trinity by this we believe that in His tri-personal existence is one
Godhead. As Jehovah Father, Jehovah Son, and Jehovah Holy Spirit,
Jehovah is three distinct persons in one God.
In that the Godhead exists in three personalities, we must develop a
working relationship with each one. To approach the throne of
Jehovah in prayer correctly, we should pray in full knowledge of His
triune existence. This is so clearly expressed by Porter Barrington:
"God the Father is the fullness of the Godhead, unseeable (John
1:18; God the Son is the fullness of the Godhead, bodily (John
1:14); and God, the Holy Spirit is the fullness of the Godhead,
indwelling (I Cor. 3:16).
IT TAKES FOUR TO PRAY
In that the Godhead exists in three
personalities, it takes four persons to pray correctly: (1) God the
Father, (2) God the Son, (3) God the Holy Spirit, and (4) You, the
saved sinner.
TO PRAY CORRECTLY
If we, as God's children, are to pray
correctly and receive answers to our prayers, we must study the
Trinity and establish a workable and knowledgeable relationship with
the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. This may be difficult for some
to do, in that we have in our own sincere way prayed rather
hurriedly at times. May I urge you to think deeply and create a
person to person relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
forcing yourself to speak to the three personalities as you pray.
To pray as our Lord taught His Disciples to pray will bring extended
joy and happiness as well as confidence to your heart. Some pray to
be heard, and often speak to the ears of others who listen. Some
give thought to good grammar so as to impress others. While good
grammar is not necessary, proper respect and reverence is!
ARE YOU COMPLETE IN HIM?
Matthew 3:16,17 reveals the doctrine of the
Trinity we see Christ being baptized in water, the Father speaking
from heaven, the Holy Spirit descending as a dove. We are baptized
in the "name" (not names) of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Spirit.
Paul challenges us to be complete and whole in the faith. I Thess.
5:23, "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly and pray God
your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
GOD, THE FATHER
It is more important that we individually
establish a relationship with our Creator. The many false
conceptions of God puts any man in a precarious situation. Often a
person, attempting to establish a concept of God, creates, in their
thinking, "their own god." An inferior concept of God makes it
absolutely impossible to live a life of success and happiness.
We can all build a personal relationship with God the Father by
reading daily His Word and praying for greater revelations of Him.
We can only know Him by revelation. His grace, and His goodness we
become consciously aware that He is all-powerful and always
faithful. Problems of the day seem to melt in the light of His
presence. The more we read, the more God is revealed to our hungry
hearts. We cry forth the commitment of John the Baptist, "He must
increase, I must decrease."
When the personality of God the Father is defined in your mind,
there remains yet an incompleteness of His divine nature. There are
four definitions of God that give true but partial light as to His
nature. God is love (I John 4:8), God is light (I John 1:5), God is
consuming fire (Heb. 12:29), and God is Spirit (John 4:24).
The attributes of God testify to the nature of God as being
Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent. He is all-powerful, all
knowledgeable and all present everywhere at all times. The Psalmist
speaks of God as filling the universe with His presence (Ps.
139:7-10).
Is it possible to have a relationship with God the Father? Yes, but
only through the shed blood of Christ, the only begotten. Is it
possible to have prayerful fellowship with such an awesome Creator
of everything? Yes, but only through the new birth that transforms
us and makes us a child of the great I Am.
GOD, THE SON
To build a proper relationship with Christ,
one must first be born again. For the person who boasts of a "good
buddy" relationship with the Son of God simply does not understand
the sinfulness of man nor the holiness of Jesus. To bring Christ
down to our level is to cancel any hope of prayerful communication
with Jehovah.
The cross of Christ is the one foundation on which we can build a
relationship with Christ the Lord. Paul wrote (Col. 1:20), "To
reconcile to Himself all things on earth or things in Heaven, by
making peace through His blood, shed on the cross."
It is a sad truth that many people endure the Christian life rather
than enjoy it. They have hope of Heaven. They know what it is to be
forgiven of their sins, but their daily life does not speak of a
successful relationship with Jesus.
Stephen Alford describes that barrenness and frustration of some
professing Christians as a vast gap between their initial experience
of saving faith and that final experience of truly seeing Jesus.
I call upon every believer in this congregation to examine your
relationship with Christ. Your relationship and your fellowship with
Christ depend fully upon the cross the death, the burial, and the
resurrection of God the Son, Jesus Christ. Our proper relationship
is summed up in the words of the Apostle Paul: "I have been
crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives
in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in
the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Gal. 2:20)
It is Christ within me the only hope I have of glory. To have a
proper relationship and fellowship with Christ, I must die to self.
May I suggest to all believers in this congregation that we give a
daily period of time in meditation, allowing every detail of
Christ's death on the cross to press heavy on our minds the
suffering and shedding of blood that redeems our sinful soul. Let us
build a close personal fellowship with our resurrected Saviour.
GOD, THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit is God and is equal to the Father and the Son.
Building a personal fellowship with the Holy Spirit is vital to our
growth as a believer. Our relationship and personal fellowship with
the Holy Spirit demands that we maintain complete surrender to His
guidance and control.
We live in a day that has warped and confused the doctrine and work
of the Holy Spirit. Satan has, in his deceptive way, carried
well-meaning people to such extremes that they forget the truths
that are made so beautifully clear in Scripture.
Time will not allow me to speak fully of the tremendous need of
building a personal fellowship with God, the Holy Spirit. All truly
born-again Christians have the indwelling Person of the Spirit, or
else they would not be a Christian. God's Word clearly says, "If
anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His." (Romans
8:9)
May I say in closing this message to you, a most attentive
congregation; it is one thing to be indwelt by the Spirit and
another thing to be in-filled by the Spirit. It is one thing to have
the Holy Spirit, it is quite another thing for the Holy Spirit to
have you.
Approach the triune throne of God properly and claim the promise of
His Word "Draw nigh unto Me and I will draw nigh unto you."
(W. Clyde Martin is editor of THE
PRAYER LIFE, a monthly online magazine that promotes closet praying
among the redeemed. You may contact him by
E-mail
) |
