Gospel of John, 20:12-31

Okay, we're in John chapter 20. We're dealing with the resurrection. We're in the first 11 verses, and we had gotten to, in terms of questions, I think we got past 12, right? Maybe to set it up this way, in 12 it says, Does the resurrection give the believer power over evil? What do you think? Answer yes? How many think yeah? How many think no? How many aren't so sure?

I'm sorry, 42-12. The resurrection as it is gives us power over evil. Ephesians 1.19 says, What is the exceeding greatness of his power towards us who believe according to the working of his mighty power which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places far above all principalities and power and might and dominion and every name that's named not only in this age but also in that which is to come." So what's interesting is a man in the person of Christ has overcome the power of Satan. He submitted to Satan's utmost power and then vanquished it. God has always been greater than Satan, but now there's a man who is greater than Satan. It's important to know that.

Thirteen, what does the resurrection mean to those who are united to Christ? What does your resurrection mean, now that you're united to Christ? What does it mean for you? What I'm after is, when Christ died on the cross, what does death do? Separate. When he's buried, it proves that he died. So when you're resurrected, what does that tell you?

I'm alive, but dead to all of that. I'm dead to everything I was. Everything. And then I'm alive under God, but I'm also separated from the world, the flesh, the devil, all of that. The problem I have is that my circumstances would deny the fact that biblically what the Bible says about my being separated, but I am. So when you're assailed by circumstances, the issue always comes down to what I believe, not what I feel. That's what I put down. Total disconnection from the old creation and union with Him in an entirely new existence. That's who you are.

So in verse 10, Why did they all go to their homes? It's a very interesting verse, if you're reading in 20, verse 10. And this is after Peter and John had gone to the tomb, and they had noticed some things. And then verse 10 says, And then the disciples went away again to their homes. And verse 9 says, For as yet they did not know the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. So they go down to the gravesite. It's like us running down to the cemetery. and we all look in the grave, and he's gone. What do you do next? Why would you go home? Fear. What's that? Fear. Fear? What else?

That's where your interests are. That's where your interests are, yeah. What's interesting about this, I find it revealing that John puts a verse like that in there. They went down, they checked it out, and then, meh, we're going home. They went back to what they knew. They were still of the earth, right? They were satisfied with what they saw. Jesus wasn't there. He'd risen, so they go to their homes. Home is the center of all of their interests, right? Now, I don't mean to say that to you critically. It's just where the focus of the apostles are.

Why didn't Mary go home? Because if you look at 11, it says, but Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb, and she saw two angels in white sitting on the one head and one at the feet where the body of Jesus was laying. How come she didn't go home? Now don't tell me she didn't have an address. Why didn't she go home? She was looking for her Lord.

Well, so weren't the other guys doing that too? No, not really like she was. Yeah, what's the difference? What's the difference with Mary? Her whole thing to be with the Lord. Yeah, that's exactly right. All of her affections, all of her intelligence is not satisfied by the fact that Jesus isn't there. She's still wanting to know where he is. because he is the center of her focus, not her home. You see the difference? Now, I don't say this to be critical, but we have that in our environment today.

We have those who are not satisfied with anything other than the Lord, and we have those Christians who want to go home. They come to church and do their thing, but then they go home. Church is what they do, as some believers. Christianity is what they are.

That's the difference. And I think that's why John points it up here. She's not satisfied until she finds out where the body of Christ is. Now, the last question I had for this group is, define the difference in the condition of souls presented here. How much of that did you get done? Well, I found Darby and he had some things on it. And I'm going to jump ahead and talk about Thomas. But what I want you to do is to think about the difference in the groups of people and their frame of reference and what they're viewing.

You have Peter and John who see and believe, but they don't see Christ as the only center of all the thoughts of God. They don't see that yet. He's not the center. They don't see Him for His glory for the world or for the souls. Their affections are not kindled yet, having seen that He has risen. They can do without Him. They go home.

Then you have Mary, who's ignorant to the extreme and doesn't know that he's risen. She thinks somebody swiped the body. She thinks someone has taken the body, but Christ is her all, the need of her soul, the only desire of her heart, and without him she has no home, no Lord, no anything. So you see the difference in attitude between Mary and the apostles.

We'll talk about Thomas more, but Thomas believes and acknowledges with true Orthodox faith on incontestable proof, so we'll see our friend Thomas, that Jesus is his Lord and God. He truly believes for himself, but he does not understand the efficacy of the Lord's work or of the relationship with his Father that he brings to his own. He doesn't understand that. We'll talk more about Thomas in a minute.

And then there's another group, those that understand the relationship in Him being God as their Father and they being His brethren. This position in Him gathers the disciples together. So those two things we'll elaborate on as we go to 43. So let's do 43 and you'll see how they come together. The first question in 43, John chapter 20, verses 12 through 31. In verse 12 and 13, does Mary understand that Jesus is risen?

What do you think? So explain, what is she thinking? What is she thinking? That he's dead, and that somebody took the body. And somebody took the one who her affections were centered in, away from her. And there's all this evidence around her that he's resurrected, but she doesn't see any of it. Because she's so distraught with the fact that he's dead.

You see that? In verse 15, she's crying. In verse 13, she said, Then these two angels said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? And she said, Here's the reason I'm crying, because they've taken away my Lord, and I don't know where they have laid him. Now, when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there and did not know that it was Jesus. And Jesus said to her, Woman, why are you weeping?

What are you seeking? Whom are you seeking? She, supposing him to be the gardener, and said to him, Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him and I'll take him away. Why is she crying? He's precious to her. What's that? He's precious to her. He's precious to her and he's gone.

Now, you can imagine if you were one of those people that didn't understand about death, and somebody really close to him dies and they have a funeral and bury him. I have a sister-in-law like that in Boston. She went to visit my brother's grave weekly and she'd sit in the car and talk to him like he was there. And it was because she had such love for him and affection for him and letting him go was really tough.

Well, that's what Mary's doing. And she gets down to the grave. I imagine my sister-in-law going to the grave in Boston and there's a hole there and he isn't there. What is she thinking? He must have had money in his pocket. Somebody dug him up and took him away.

Well, that's what Mary's thinking. Her whole focus of her selfish affection, to some degree selfish, is she doesn't see evidence around her and so she's crying terribly because her heart is broken, because her Lord is gone. Justifiable to be like that? What do you think?

Anybody else? Where our boys, Peter and John, they're like, OK, he's gone. He's risen. We'll see you. I'm going home. Got to watch the game. No, but they knew he was, you know, but they didn't go looking for him. If Mary would have understood that he was resurrected, what do you think she would have done? She'd been looking for him. I'm trying to set up the characters of the people in this play.

So then in verse 16, Jesus said to her, Mary. And she turned to him and said, Rabboni, which is to say teacher. What's the word Rabboni mean? Anybody know? It means more than that. What's that? It's the highest title of honor attributed usually to the president of the Jewish Sanhedrin. That's the only guy that they would call Rabboni. If he was a descendant of the school of Hillel, he had to be from the school of Hillel to have the title Rabboni. It means great master and was addressed to Christ by Bartetimus, the blind man, and by Mary Magdalene.

In Mark 10.51, Bartetimus in answering him said, What do you want me to do for you? And the blind man said, Rabboni, I want to regain my sight.

Those are the only two times it's used. So it's a title of highest honor and respect. Now, I'm thinking about Mary, she's crying, the body's gone, and Jesus just says to her, Mary. Why does she understand then? Was he sort of... standing in the fog, why didn't she recognize him before? I don't think she was still aware that he would rise from the dead. But she turns around and he's right in front of her. His body looked different. Different than what? Than he was then when he was buried. but then he says one word to her and she recognizes him.

What's that? Yeah, what's the significance of his voice? What's that? Well, my sheep hear my voice and they won't follow another one, they'll only follow me. That's the point. She recognizes the voice. So, interesting verse coming up. Jesus said... Please.

You know, you said that you hear his voice, but you said he looks different. How does he look different? Well, you know, I've read a lot of stuff on this. One person wrote that he looked different because he still was puffy from getting beat up, you know, in skirts and all.

So I don't believe that at all. The second thing about him is that he's in a resurrected body now. And although there aren't evidences in his body other than the holes that he, suffered crucifixion, but there isn't any blood in his body now, because his resurrect doesn't need blood to function.

On the road to Emmaus, the disciples, he went all the way and they didn't recognize him until... And he talked to them all the way. What did he do that caused them to recognize? He sat down and he broke bread. And they saw it. I think that the issue is that the Lord Jesus reveals himself when he wants to, to whom he wants to.

And I think this thing with Mary was, the one thing about Mary is, that's why I asked the question, is it okay for her to be grieving as hard as she is? I don't think so. Because she should have known better. And if she'd have known better, her grief was what kept her blind. Let me ask you another question. You know, Mary knew that he was the Son of God, and how do you know that she wasn't grieving because she was believing that he was supposed to be the Son of God, and then he disappeared and it wasn't what she had hoped?

It may well have been. She was upset because of that. Yeah, it may well have been. It's obvious that the center of her universe was Christ, and for him to die, and then for her to go down to the grave and find out that he isn't there, destroys her world. I think there's more to her weeping Could be. And I say that because I guess I can relate an example.

When I was in the hospital, I had a daughter that was going to die. The doctor told me six weeks. And I prayed about it, and the Lord said, she's going to live. And then the doctor came in and said, she's not going to live. And I knew that was wrong. And so I was grieving because there was something wrong. I knew that she was going to live.

And I'm wondering if that's not what Mary's doing here. Could be. Could be. Yeah, I mean when you get, when somebody gets... Women have a very intuitive sixth sense. And I think she knew that Jesus was going to live. Something was amiss here. It could be. She was trying to figure it out. Yeah, she wasn't satisfied until she found the body. She had no idea the body was going to be alive and standing in front of her. But she wouldn't rest. I like the part though about Jesus reveals himself to you when he wants to.

I think that's neat. And he does that, he's going to do it next week at the Sea of Galilee, you know, they're going to kind of look at him and when he tells them to put their nets down, John recognizes him right away, but Peter doesn't, you know. So, I don't know that he looked appreciably different, other than if the last time you saw him, he was all bloody and beat up and dying, and now three days later he's, you know. I think he was looking awesome.

So why does Jesus tell Mary in verse 17 not to touch him? It's a very interesting verse. He says, Don't cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father. But go to my brethren and say to them, I have ascended to my Father and your Father and to my God and your God. So why would he say that? I mean, here she is. It's him. And he says, Don't touch me. In most translations. Really, it's a misnomer in the King James. It doesn't mean touch. But it's more than hold on to physically. Detain, I think. What's that? Detain. So explain.

Why would he say... Didn't he have to present his blood to the Father to completely finish the covenant? He did, but that's not the reason. He did, but that's not the reason. This one says restrain. Okay. Instead of being here for life. Isn't it because he didn't want to be kept here on earth. Okay. He wanted to ascend to his father. And he wanted them to stop hanging on to me, stop holding me back, stop holding me here, stop... Yeah, you're trying... Help, I mean... Yeah, couldn't they? If they wanted to, then... How... Mary's whole relationship with the Lord Jesus up to this point is what? Earthly, right? Jewish Messiah.

And what he's really saying to her, you know, everything you know about me and our whole relationship up to this point, forget all that. We're doing a whole new thing here. And the whole new thing here is I'm resurrected and you go tell my disciples that I am now going to see my Father and who else? Your Father. That's a whole new thing to my God and your God. It does two things there. it aligns his disciples with him because he said my father and your father are the same and he's your father because you're united to me and he's my God and your God because we're united together we're the same you see that it's very interesting because if from a dispensational viewpoint this is a very significant verse because it says Judaism has been put aside earthly viewpoint has been put aside, and now that Jesus has resurrected, we're on a whole new plane altogether.

So don't come and try to associate yourself with me based on the old relationship. Everything's starting new today. Everything's new. Do you see the point that he's making? I find it interesting that right from that point, he says to her, look, don't hang on to me based on the way you knew me before, because now I'm resurrected. And there's a lot of things that have changed. Let's see. He does not want Mary to reestablish her relationship with him upon the old creation.

By his resurrection, he has accomplished a far more important thing. He had now placed them in the same position as himself with his father and his God. One more quote I'll read to you. Now the distance is gone. If his incarnation bridged the distance, redemption has removed it and our links are with him on the other side of death. When ascended, the line of communication would be forever established between himself and his own. We cannot have him back as he was before the cross.

How much of Christianity today really attempts to live before the cross? laws, Judaism, you know, I've got to be satisfying to God. I'm really working hard so I can be, you know. Which side of the cross, and that's a great question to ask a believer, which side of the cross do you live on? Which side? If you live on the resurrected side, then you have to understand what your position is and what your relationship to the old is.

And that's what he's trying to establish here. This is new, Mary. We're doing a whole new thing. So go tell my disciples. It's all new. We're starting new. That's until second time. Then you have physical again also. Say that again. You add physical back into it also when it comes again. And it's physical now for the next 40 days. Because he's doing a lot of things, interacting. But the relationships are all different.

Man's like we talked about a week or so that God now has a man that he's totally satisfied with and he deals with humanity through this new man. He does not deal with humanity through Adam anymore. He's totally satisfied with Christ. And the reason he is is because the resurrection is a brand new thing. The man in Christ and Christ himself is an entirely new relationship with God. No sin, no distance, No disappointment. God is totally pleased with the man, Jesus Christ. And because He's totally pleased with the man, Jesus Christ, those who believe in Him, He's totally pleased with you, too. That's the difference in the relationship. Not based on law. It's based solely on the grace exhibited to you. Question 5.

Had the change in relationship between Jesus and His disciples been shown before? And John 17, 11 says, Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to you, Holy Father, keep them, keep through your name those whom you have given me, that they may be one as we are one. So he's talked about and referred to this relationship earlier, especially in the prayer of John 17. They had all known Christ according to the flesh. In John 17 he begins to pray and ask the Father to change their relationship so that they would know Him after the flesh no more.

You know that verse in Hebrews that says, I think it's Hebrews, that says we don't know Jesus after the flesh anymore? That's what that means, what we're talking about right here. We do not know Christ after the flesh. This sounds irreverent, but I'm going to say it anyway. We are not associated with the little Jewish guy who's the Messiah walking around in Palestine. That's not who our Lord is.

He's the new resurrected Son of God, who has no relationship other than Lord at the earth at all. Whole new thing. New creation. Much different. Lots and lots of denominations try to get you back. Well, they try to get you back to Israel and then ultimately into the Garden of Eden. Nah, that's all gone. That's all gone. We're now heavenly people. And why? Because Christ is a heavenly man.

He said, And in that day you shall know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. When is that day? It's that day right now. That's what he's communicating. This is the day. I'm in the Father, and you're going to be in me. This is the day.

If anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. All things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ. So, describe the new relationship that they had with Jesus and the Father. So here we are. We've got these disciples. We've got 11 of them, and we've got Mary and these others, and he's told Mary Magdalene to go tell the disciples that it's a new relationship. Describe it. What is it? What's that? Holy Spirit? What was their relationship before?

Excuse me. He was here and they were there and they were followers, right? That's all they were. They were just disciples. They were learners. They followed them around and they learned from them. So what changes now? Fellowships changed. What has changed intrinsically about them? They were a part of him. Now they're a part of him. Notice that he doesn't call them disciples anymore or servants. What does he call them now? Brethren, so if Courtney and I were brothers, what would we share? Same father, same bloodline, same relationship, same inheritance, same everything.

So the relationship between Jesus as a man and me as a man with the God of the universe is totally different now. Why would Jesus say, I ascend to my God? I thought he was God. Why would he say that? That's a different thing of God and Father. Father is the same lineage. Why God? I'm ascending to my God, or my Father and your Father, my God and your God. Why my God and your God? Does Jesus have a God?

He is God. Do you understand my question? Why am I asking that question? He's a man. And as a man, he is a God. So he says, my Father, same nature, and my God. He is my God because I'm a man. I think Christ being a man and his position as a man is really important for us to understand. We're brothers and sons, we share a resurrected life of the Son. In this glorious position, he resumes as a man. He could, through redemption, associate with himself, with his redeemed ones. Cleansed, regenerated, and adopted in him, he has brought them and us into the same position as he was before the Father. Now, do you think these guys understood that? Not a chance. Do you think Mary understood it? Not yet, but they will.

So what does the information given to the disciples by Mary in 18 cause them to do? Verse 18 says, Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had spoken these things to her. And then that same evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them, Peace be with you. What does this information do to the disciples? You mean after he comes in and says peace be with you? No, before. I think they closed the door before because they were afraid. But why before that?

They gathered together. You see what they did? This information caused them to get together. It said in a couple of verses that they all went to their homes. Now they're together. And I think this information that Mary gives them causes them to come together. Now, granted, they go find a place to hide because they're afraid of the Jews, but they are together. And that information, I think, is what caused them to be together.

In verse 19, there is a change in the environment of the relationship between the disciples and Jesus. So in verse 19, which we just read, what's the change? We've talked about it already. A man is risen from the dead. That's one change in the room. The second change is who, for the first time, takes his place in the midst of his own. Christ comes to be with his own.

And what does he bring? What's the first thing he says to him? Peace to you. Why does he say that? This word, peace, means every good wish. Every good wish to you. And then he's about to do something else. Kind of an interesting part. And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side, and then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them, Peace be to you, as the Father has sent me, I also send you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained. Now, what does inspecting the hands and the side of Jesus do for the disciples? What's that?

It was really him. If you live in an age where narcissism is a big heresy, what did the Gnostics say about Christ? That he was up on the cross but he was only there in spirit and then he left right before he died? So John points this out so that the disciples could physically touch him and say, he really is the one who died. This is a man. He's got a body and it's got holes in it. This is really him.

Islam says that they took him out to crucify him, but then they stuck a soldier up there before. What you'll find in most viewpoints that are anti-Christ is that somehow they don't get him to the cross. The personal appearance of Jesus is direct evidence of his resurrection. They know he's died. Now they see him alive. That in his body he is the same Jesus that they knew who went to the cross. It's an important point. We don't think that it is, but it is. Resurrection can't be explained on the basis of hallucinations. since the disciples never expected or believed that he would rise. So here he is.

This also eliminates impersonation because they met in a locked room to which only members could come. So they're in the room, they lock the doors, and the Lord Jesus isn't hiding in a closet, he just comes in. So there's nobody impersonating him that comes into the room. He just shows up in there, which is kind of cool because when you get the body like that, you'll be able to walk through walls too.

That's kind of neat. Why could they put their finger in the holes in his hands or his wrist, put their hand on the side? Why? Why no scabs? No blood. The resurrected body does not need blood to function. It functions by a whole new principle. It's interesting that the marks are there, but they didn't scab over. The holes are there because they didn't need the blood.

Go to Matthew 18.24, where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.

Is this a promise for the body or is it a consequence? Do you understand what I mean by that? What I mean is, is that this is a promise that Jesus made to the disciples, or is it just a consequence of two or three being gathered together? I said it's a consequence. That's right, that's what it is. It's not a promise, it's a consequence.

If two of us, if Courtney and I go have lunch, guess what? He's there. When you and Don are together. Don and I are together. He's there. You're by yourself too, isn't it? Absolutely. But he's in the midst of us, He's in the midst of us when just two of us are together, which is really a cool thing. There's never a time, even though you might want to hide, that he's not.

Notice that he sends them off, gives them a job. What's the prerequisite for sending disciples then and today into the world? Now, I'm reading all this information on New Tribes Missions and about what they do and how they send people off. I thought, you know, I think they try to do this, what I'm looking for here, but what's the first thing before you get the marching orders that you get?

You've got to have peace. Explain that. Expound on that a little bit. Why is that so important? As a missionary, whether you're a missionary at Holly Hills or you're a missionary in Paopao, New Guinea, why is peace so important? Courtney, Mr. Peace. Yeah, I agree with him in that knowing him, we operate from a traditional press.

If you don't have the peace, when the trials and all the other things come, you won't be able to deal with those things. Yeah, that's right. I wrote down that peace has been made regards the world, sin and Satan. God was now completely satisfied regards these issues and they were to go from the bosom of this peace into which he had brought them by the remission of sins through his death to bear testimony to the world.

We're the ambassadors of the reconciliation, right? What does an ambassador do? Exactly, and he's not entitled to his own opinion, is he? He's only entitled to the opinion that he's been given by the home country. So if we're the ambassadors of the reconciliation and we have peace, what do we tell the world? That God is now satisfied. I'm here to tell you that there's no barrier between you and the God of the universe. He's totally satisfied because of the work of Christ. There's a place for you before him because of the work of Christ.

That's what an ambassador does. If you don't have peace about that, trust me, when it gets tough, you're going to bail. You understand the privileges as a member of his church. You understand who you are in Christ and what your relationship is within the body of Christ.

So he sends his disciples. Where does he send them from? The upper room? He sends them from the very bosom of his heart. That's where he sends them. And of that peace into which he had brought them, by the remission of sins, through his death, to bear the testimony to the world. In John, the first chapter, when we talked about, John said, where did he say Jesus came from? From the Father. What part of the Father? The Lord's Father. Yeah, that's where he came from. And he came from there to do what? Why there?

He wants to display to a lost world the affections that God has for his creation. So now he's resurrected and all of the issues between God and man have been reconciled. Men have been reconciled back to God. So here the disciples go from the very bosom of Christ out to a world to proclaim the same thing Christ proclaimed. that the sin issue is no more a barrier between God and you. God so loved the world.

That's why that location is so important for those who are sent. Then a controversial verse. Receive the Holy Spirit. Does that mean that these guys are Christians? Does that make them Christians? Well, they just are standing there, right? And he says, receive ye the Spirit. That's what he said. Yeah, so what's the difference here? Yeah, so what's the difference? Because they knew him. I mean, they knew Christ. They were his ambassadors at that time. You know, he had already explained to them that they were part of him. You know, and that their sins had been washed away.

Okay. Now, look at the circumstance here. What has he just done? He's given them their marching orders, right? Do you go out marching without the Spirit? No. So he says, here's what I'm calling you to do. Receive the Spirit. To do what? To do what I've called you to do. Lots of Christians look at that as well. That's what salvation is. What's the difference between receiving the Spirit and being a member of the body of Christ at Pentecost? Well, you have to have eternal life in the first place. First place. By first place, what do you mean? To be a believer? To be a Christian? Okay, so what happened in Pentecost then? I mean, why do it? Why didn't they go around and say, receive the Spirit, receive the Spirit, receive the Spirit? We don't need Pentecost. What do you need Pentecost for?

Well, you need an understanding of what Christ did first, before you go do marching work. Do you think these guys had an understanding? If you read the first couple of chapters of Acts, you'll see that they were really dumb. They sit around and they can't wait to come up with a twelfth apostle, so they draw straws for one. That does not sound too spiritual to me.

And Jesus had told them at the foot of the Ascension, you guys hang around in Jerusalem and wait, because the Spirit is coming. Don't do anything. Peter couldn't sit still, he had to do something. He had to have an election. What's the difference? They have the Spirit, but they're not spiritually savvy, are they? They aren't. So, again, my question is, are they Christian? Okay, we're going to have a vote. How many think they're Christians? How many think they're not? Oh, lots of chickens. People don't raise their hand. They're not Christians.

Here's why. You can receive the Spirit for the work that Christ has given you to do, but that does not put you in Christ. What happened at Pentecost was the Spirit came and took people and baptized them into Christ's death, burial and resurrection. He made new creatures out of them. They were not members of the body of Christ at this point. Did they have the Spirit? Absolutely. Did they have life? Yes, they did. But they were not Christians. They were not members of the body of Christ. But they're not going to send the Holy Spirit into an unsaved body. Oh, she did it all the time. Did it all the time. But here is an eternal possession of that. Oh, that's an eternity?

No, that's true. I mean, I've got the Spirit of God and trust me, this sucker isn't going to live forever. Hopefully. So you see the difference here? I think it's important to understand that Christ can say, receive the Spirit for the job that I'm giving you to do. But they don't become new creatures in Christ until the Holy Spirit comes and literally, spiritually baptizes them into Christ and all the identification truths happen. Do you see what I mean there? I'm still struggling because to me what it sounds like you're saying is that someone who's not a born-again believer can receive the Holy Spirit.

In Old Testament times it happened all the time. But what about New Testament times? These people were living in a peculiar time. They were living in the kind of land. In between time. They were tweeners. They were between the Old Testament attitude and the New Testament relationship. We're talking about right now. Yeah, we're talking about as believers. As believers. Can non-believers right now receive the Holy Ghost? No. Okay, that's not possible. No, they can't. Okay, but tweeners did. In this case, they did.

There are two issues about the Holy Spirit with Christians. One is that you possess the Spirit of God when you become a believer, when you believe in the personal work of Christ. But that doesn't mean you're filled. There's a difference between having the Spirit and being filled with Him. If you're reading the book of Acts, it talks about when Peter stands up and starts preaching, it always says being filled with the Spirit.

In other words, he's enabled by the Spirit to do what he's going to do. And I don't mean from a charismatic standpoint. What I mean from is that he's functioning under the control of the Holy Spirit in doing the ministry that God has called him to do. Does he already possess the Spirit of God? Absolutely he does.

But these guys at this point were not in Christ. They weren't new creations. Were they saved? Were they saints? Absolutely they were. You know? If there's no Pentecost, are these guys saints? Sure they are. Sure they are. So, we could spend a lot of time talking about the distinction there.

How about the power to forgive sins? Is that what this means? That these 11 guys said, okay, you are my chosen guys, whose sins you forgive, you get to forgive them, and the ones that you don't want to forgive, you don't have to. Because if you come out of Catholicism like I did, I hope so many Catholics are listening to this tape, The Catholic Church says that this verse gives them the authority, the power to forgive sins to only a priest.

And this is where they got it. So you can study and next week I'll give you the answer. And by the way, next week is the last week. We're going to have to really hustle. So let's close. Dear Father, How we thank you for the resurrected Christ and the life that we have with Him. We thank you for all of these blessings that we have, that we might grow in the knowledge and grace of Him and be able to abide and rest, Father. We thank you. We pray in His name. Amen.