Bible Study

WED., APR. 16, 1997, 8:35 AM
OFFICE, PULLIAM

Your weekly organized study and discussion of My Holy Bible is over, and, symbolically, you now are in the “second half” of the week. You also could see that one portion of the week ends when your third/Wednesday class is pau, but I like using the Bible study as the end of one portion and also the beginning of the other. Also I like this “almost tradition” of coming for a Teaching immediately after the breakfast and discussion. Keep it up.

This venture into the Psalms wasn’t very satisfying for you, but it apparently was for others. You rediscovered some important, spiritual sentences or verses, but you didn’t “light up” as it would have been expected that you would. But you did participate, and there always is at least potential value in that. You then nominated Ecclesiastes as the next portion to study, to assure that your interest will be higher in these next weeks.

Since it is easy for you to attest that this small “book”, attributed to The Preacher, is your favorite Old Testament portion you should be ready with some background for the group. You have a good encyclopedic source, but you may want to consult the church library also. Be sure and read over most of the Teachings I gave you during those years when you and I were conversing about these “time to’s”. These can restore your perspective, making you a better contributor.

It wasn’t a conscious realization, but when you mused about your favorite portions of Scripture, you came up with three… and I, Holy Spirit, am an aspect of the Triune God… Father, Son, and Holy Spirit… 3 in 1. Let’s explore a possible relationship.

Let’s say that Ecclesiastes represents Me as the Sovereign God, Creator and Sustainer. This suggests that I am somewhat “looser” and less “tied down” than “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”. I say that there is a time to be born and a time to die, not that earth life is the only good. I also say there is a time for war and a time for peace… a time to love and a time to hate. The Jews were right in their concept that My Name couldn’t be written fully, for that would somehow limit Me. I can act, powerfully and even miraculously, and I can let conditions develop as they will… and no one can predict what “time it shall be”.

In the Gospel of John (your favorite Gospel) I promise the Holy Spirit. I, as Jesus, tell My disciples a good deal about Me, as Holy Spirit. I have had My time on earth to preach, teach, heal, and live as a human. Now I tell, in My final discourse, that I and the Father are One, and that My Presence will be replaced by Holy Spirit, another aspect of Me. As Spirit I was, from the beginning, I was active during all of these Biblical times, and I was “announced” by Me, as Jesus, as coming actively into this earth scene. Finally, in the acts I “come in” with as much form as I was given – wind and fire. (Oh, yes, earlier I did flutter down as a dove).

Then in Paul’s Letter to the Romans I, as the crucified and Resurrected Christ, am given credit for “creating” Grace, by My sacrificial death. I took your sins upon Myself, and they died with Me… and as I arose, so did you, mystically, to sin no more. This glorifies death, in a way, and certainly makes sacrifice honorable.

In some ways this may seem like a rather bizarre way of interpreting Scripture, but who has more right to offer such a picture than I? It is quite possible for Scripture to “live”… speaking directly to a committed Christian… or even an eager seeker. It doesn’t speak to you as clearly and as relevantly as I do, to you, in these Teachings. And, as I have told you, there is no “good” or cosmic reason for this. I decided to call you. You came. I decided to “stay”. So did you. And here we are, nearly 18 years later.