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August 2010 Newsletter

 

IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE

 

One of the most misinterpreted verses in the Bible is John 14:2: In my Father's house are many dwellings [mansions KJV]; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 

 

·         First question: what is the Father's house?

·         Second question: what are the dwellings?

·         Third question: why was the word mansion used here?

·         Fourth question: where was Jesus going?

·         Fifth question: did Jesus come again?

·         Sixth question: how does Jesus receive us to Himself?

 

The context principle

Let us refresh ourselves on the context principle. Every verse of Scripture is to be first understood in the context of the passage in which it appears. Then the verse needs to be seen in the context of the chapter; then in the context of the book; then in the context of the Testament; then in the context of the whole Bible.

 

A conversation

John 14:2 comes in the midst of a conversation with Peter which started in John 13:36. This conversation took place at the Last Supper - Jesus and His disciples celebrating the Passover meal in Jerusalem. Jesus had already washed the disciples' feet; He had already identified His betrayer and Judas had gone out to do his awful deed. Jesus had given the disciples the New Commandment to love one another. Then Peter asked,

Lord, where are You going?

Jesus answered him, 'Where I am going you cannot follow Me now,

but you shall  follow Me afterward'  Jn.13:36.

 

Jesus was going to Jerusalem to suffer

Peter wanted to know where Jesus was going. He knew that Jesus was going somewhere. Jesus had been preparing the disciples for some time, telling them that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed, and be raised the third day  (Matt.16:21).

When Jesus told the disciples that they were to go with Jesus to Lazarus after he had died, Thomas said, Let us also go, that we may die with Him  (Jn.11:15-16). The disciples knew and were concerned that Jesus was going to die in Jerusalem. This is the context in which Peter asked Jesus, Where are you going?  

 

Peter would follow later

Jesus said that Peter could not go with him at that time but that Peter would follow Him later. After the resurrection, Jesus told Peter Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish  Jn.21:18. Jesus was telling Peter by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, 'Follow Me' (v.19). Peter was destined to follow Jesus to death, but not at that time.

 

Peter was not ready

Back to the conversation recorded in John 13, Peter said to Him 'Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for Your sake'  (v.37). Peter knew that Jesus was going to His death. Peter is trying to convince Jesus that he is willing to die with Him, but Jesus knew better! Jesus answered him, 'Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times'  (v.38). Jesus prophesies to Peter that not only is Peter not ready to die with Him but instead Peter would deny Jesus that very night.

 

 

Jesus was facing death

Can you see that the context of Peter's question 'Lord, where are you going?' is in the context of the knowledge that Jesus was facing death in Jerusalem? We know clearly in hindsight that Jesus was going to the cross. He had already been betrayed! He was at the Last Supper! He instituted the Lord's Supper on that night - That the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread  (1Cor.11:23)!

 

John 14

Then we come to what is called chapter 14 of John, but remember that the chapters and verses were added to the Bible much later and were not in the original manuscripts. This chapter division comes in the middle of Peter's conversation with Jesus.

 

Jesus continues to speak to Peter

Having just prophesied Peter's denial, Jesus then said to him, Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me  John 14:1. Jesus is immediately offering Peter a way forward: 'Peter, when you come to this place of great discouragement, realising what you have done, stir up your faith in God; but you will need more than a vague faith in God, you will need to believe in Me, Jesus!' What marvellous advice this is! How many people say they believe in God but they do not have a workable faith in Jesus Christ?

 

 

 

WHAT IS THE FATHER'S HOUSE?

Then Jesus said, In My Father's house ! What is the Father's house? Is it heaven? Many assume it is heaven, but what does the Scripture say?

 

In the Old Testament

In the Old Testament, the house of God was the temple in Jerusalem. In the books of Kings  and Chronicles, the temple in Jerusalem was literally the HOUSE of God. Even in the book of Haggai, the temple is referred to as the house , [translated 'temple' but literally house].

 

There were many chambers

Furthermore, the house that Solomon built for God had many chambers all around, against the walls of the temple, all around the sanctuary and the inner sanctuary. Thus he made side chambers all around it  1Kings 6:5. The house of God in the Old Testament had many rooms in it. They had been prepared by Solomon for the priests to use.

 

Jeremiah met in one of the chambers

In Jeremiah 35, God told Jeremiah to bring the Rechabites into the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers  v2. Jeremiah brought them into the chamber of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes  v4. The princes also had a chamber or a room in which they could meet people, eat and drink, and maybe rest! God's house had many rooms!

 

God s house is a house of prayer

In Isaiah 56, God's house is called a house of prayer for all nations  v7. Foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to serve Him, ... even them I will ... make joyful in My house  v6-7. Even in the Old Testament, God's house was built so that all people could be drawn to God to find a place to dwell with Him in the earth.

 

What is God's house in the New Testament?

When Jesus entered the temple in Matthew 21:12-16, He cleansed it of all commerce, and drove out all those who bought and sold  v12. He declared, It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer  v13. Jesus regarded the temple as the house of God, even calling it 'My house', as He was God in the flesh! After Jesus cleansed the temple, Then the blind and lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them  Matt.21:14. There is healing in God's house.

 

He who built the house

Hebrews 3:1-6 is speaking of Jesus the apostle and the building of the house of God. In verse 3, Jesus is referred to as He who built the house . In verse 6, the house belongs to Christ, but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are ....   Not only is Christ the owner of the house but we, His people, are the house! How awesome and wonderful is that?

 

The house is the church

Paul wrote to Timothy so that he would know how to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth  1Tim.3:15. In the New Testament, the church is the house of God, and Jesus as the apostle of God, sent from heaven, is building the church, the house of God! Jesus said to Peter, on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it  Matt.16:18. Peter was the first foundation stone Jesus used to begin building the church, the house of God.

The house of God which is the church of the living God is the place where truth is found: the truth concerning God! God was manifested in the flesh!  1Tim.3:16.

 

In my Father' s house! 

There is no reason to think that the Father's house is heaven in terms of the Biblical references to the house of God. In the Bible the house of God always refers to the dwelling place of God in the earth. God is intent on establishing His dwelling place in the earth with men: Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God  Rev.21:3. This reference in Revelation 21 is in the context of the Lord Jesus coming to the earth. He says, And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to his work  Rev.22:12.

 

WHAT ARE THE 'DWELLINGS'?

There are many dwellings [mansions KJV] 

The use of the word 'mansion' in the King James version has misled generations of believers to think that God is somehow building them a house in heaven, and no ordinary house, but a mansion! The Greek word used here is 'mone'.

 

SC#3438 Greek, mone: from #3306 - a primary verb, to stay [in a given place, state, relation or expectancy]

Mone - means a staying, residence

Translated in KJV: abode [x1] mansion [x1]

This Greek word is only used twice in the New Testament:

in John 14:2 mansion, and Jn.14:23 abode. The only other time this Greek word is used in the New Testament is in John 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, If any one loves Me, he will keep My word; and the Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our 'home' [KJV abode] with him 

The Greek word does not mean mansion, as in a rich man's house, at all. It simply means a place to dwell, a dwelling.  

 

Why the word mansion?

Many believers are dreaming of their home in heaven, some even thinking Jesus is building that house for them now. Others say the angels are busy constructing their houses in heaven. Meanwhile God is planning to come back to the earth to dwell with men. God's plan is to fill the earth with His glory; He has never veered from His plan.

 

We will be like the angels

When you think about being in heaven, why would you need an earthly-like house? Jesus said we will be like the angels in heaven. Angels do not have houses as they have no physical need for a house in heaven. Neither do the saints need a house in heaven as we will have no physical need for a house!

 

Can there be many houses in one House?

The first part of John 14:2 reads in the King James Bible: In my Father's house are many mansions . In English language, this is not a sensible sentence: how can there be many mansions [big houses] in one house. A house by definition can have many rooms, even many floors in the same building, but a house cannot have many houses in the one house. Today there are large apartment blocks but we do not say that there are many houses in the apartment block; we say there are many apartments in which people live.

 

Mansion?

The use of the word 'mansion' is incorrect and misleading, not helping us to understand the Scripture. In Nehemiah, the priests and the Levites read distinctly from the book, in the law of God, and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading  Nehe.8:8.

 

Jesus is building the house in the earth

When Jesus came the first time He brought the revelation of the glory of God to the earth manifest in a Man: We beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth  Jn.1:14. Now Jesus is building His church in the earth, a many-membered body through which He will reveal His glory and All flesh shall see it together  Isa.40:5. It is Christ in us the hope of glory : this is the revelation of the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles  (Col.1:27).

 

·         The church is the house of God;

·         the church is made up of many members;

·         the church is a spiritual house made of living stones (1Pet.2:5);

·         the church is as a building, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone  Eph.2:20.

·         The church is growing into a holy temple in the Lord  v21.

·         Individually, the believer's body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God  1Cor.6:19.

·         Corporately we are called the temple of the living God  2Cor.6:16.

 

We are the dwelling place of God, individually and corporately.

 

 

 

WHERE WAS JESUS GOING?

I go to prepare a place for you 

Where was Jesus going? How was He going to prepare a place for us? What is the Place? The place is a place to dwell, to live, to abide in. Where do we live? Where do we abide? We abide in Christ; we are born again into His kingdom; we are baptised into Christ. When we receive Jesus Christ, we are born of God (Jn.1:13). We come into that place that Jesus has prepared for us in the Father's house. Our lives are hidden with Christ in God  Col.3:3. From the time of the new birth we grow! We grow up to fill that place that Jesus prepared for us. Finally that place is a place of revelation of the glory of God; it is a place of profoundly experiencing Christ in us, the hope of glory.

 

Where was Jesus going?

·         Jesus was going to Gethsemane (Jn.18:1). See Luke 22:39-46, Mark 14:32-42, Matthew 26:36-46.

·         Then Jesus was arrested and taken before the Sanhedrin [the Jewish council of leaders] (Matt.26:57-68).

·         Then Jesus was handed over to Pilate, the Roman governor. When Pilate had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified  (Matt.27:11-26).

·         He faced Herod, the king of the Galilean province (Lu.23:6-12), and sent back to Pilate.

·         He was led away to be crucified (Matt.27:31-44).

·         Jesus died on the cross (Matt.27:45-56).

·         Jesus was buried in Joseph's tomb (Matt.27:57-61). Pilate set a guard on the tomb (Matt.27:62-66).

 

Where was Jesus going? Jesus was going to the cross, purposefully and intentionally. He was going to prepare the place for us. He was going to the cross to make it possible to come to God; to make it possible for us to live with God in a particular placement in His house, which we have discovered is His church in the earth.

Jesus prepared the places for us by shedding His blood, the only way that our sin could be taken away. Jesus went to His death for us. He laid His life down for us but always knowing that He had the power to take it up again.

While Jesus' body was in the grave, Jesus, made alive by the Spirit , was completing a number of things in the spirit realm, referred to as 'hell'. 1Peter 3:18-20 and Ephesians 4:8-10 give us some insight as to what Jesus was doing in that time. In Acts 2:24-28, the pains of death in verse 24 are literally the 'birth pangs'; Jesus was bringing forth a new creation. This is the major work that He was accomplishing during the time that His body was in the tomb.

 

JESUS CAME AGAIN

Jesus had promised His disciples I will come again  Jn.14:3. Because of the misinterpretation of John 14:2, some have even believed that this is referring to the second coming of Christ. However we must read each verse and each statement in each verse in the context of the passage. Jesus is going to the cross to die. He told His disciples that He would come again to them. He is referring to His resurrection but many of us like Jesus' disciples are slow of understanding.

Three days later Jesus came again! Then, the same day at 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' Jn.20:19. Jesus came again as He promised. Three days later the disciples saw Him. After that He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them [the disciples] during forty days  Acts 1:3.

 

HOW DOES JESUS RECEIVE US TO HIMSELF?

Jesus said I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also  Jn.14:3b. When Jesus came again to the disciples, He ministered peace to them - they were afraid and upset! He told them that He was sending them out in the same way that the Father had sent Him (Jn.20:21). Then He breathed on them, and said to them 'Receive the Holy Spirit'  Jn.20:22.

When Jesus came again He received His disciples to Himself: He ministered peace to them, the peace of God which surpasses all understanding  (Phil.4:7), and He breathed the Holy Spirit into their lives. This could not have happened before the cross. Because of sin men could not receive the Holy Spirit of God into their lives. They could only experience God by the Spirit coming upon them as an anointing to enable them to do a specific thing. But because Jesus had been to the cross to take away all sin, the disciples could receive the supernatural peace of God; they could receive the very Spirit of God into their lives.

 

What about us today? 

How does Jesus receive us? Jesus received me the day, the moment I was born again. He received me to Himself. In that moment I came to know Jesus personally. I have never 'not been' with Him since then. The Christian life is a growing up in that place that Jesus prepared for us at the cross; growing up in that placement that God has given us in the body of Christ, His church.

 

Where is Jesus today?

Jesus went to the Father. Jesus went beyond the veil, into the eternal realm of heaven. To enter that realm, that kingdom, we must be born again of the Spirit of God. Nicodemus wanted to understand how he could be with Jesus. He recognised that Jesus had come from God. He wanted to be with Jesus. Jesus told him that the only way was by being born again. Jesus said, Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God  Jn.3:5.

 

The house of God today

The Father's house is in simple terms, the body of Christ. It has pleased God to give us a place in the body (1Cor.12:18). God's intention is for His church to be His bride, His wife and God will dwell with His people, His church, in the earth. This will be the final expression of the will of God: the Father's house fully built, fully manifest in the earth.

Paul Galligan

CALENDAR

 

MISSION TRIPS

 

August: Rob Cochrane & Michael Hopkinson departed on 9^th for trip to Cairns, Nth Qld., visiting many places on the way. They had a wonderful weekend at Proserpine at Col & Judy Krueger 's place. Up to 19 gathered over the weekend.

 

September 13^th David & Elspeth Truss depart for England for visit to family  relatives.

                      14^th Paul & Alberto depart for South America - ministering in Peru, Ecuador & Colombia for three weeks

                      17^th Arend Tibben, Anthony Mackin & Keith Klass depart for Myanmar for 3 weeks

October 24^th Nicholas & Rhoda Jackson depart for Philippines for 3 wks.   Ministering in Cebu and Mindanao.

                 22^nd-26^th Apostolic Conference, Auckland, New Zealand, hosted by Kathy Siaki.

November 6^th Margaret Hooper departing for Myanmar with Ros & Roger Fraser.

February 2011: Paul & Janet going to Vanuatu to minister with Ps. George & Deborah Yasyas.                         

 

COMMUNITY WEEKENDS

 

 September: Fri.10^th - Sun.12^th   COMMUNITY WEEKEND at SHILOH                                          

                      Friday night worship: 7pm

                           Saturday: 10am - 4pm teaching sessions, fellowship lunch

                           Sunday: 9.30am Teaching; 10.30am Worship service; Community lunch

 

October: Fri.15^th - Sun.17^th  COMMUNITY WEEKEND  at SHILOH

November: Fri.12^th - Sun.14^th  COMMUNITY WEEKEND  at SHILOH

December: Fri.10^th - Sun.12^th  COMMUNITY WEEKEND  at SHILOH

 

Discipleship and training classes continue at SHILOH and Caboolture.

Please contact us for details.

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