"The Presence of Jehovah"
Jesus commissioned His disciples to preach His gospel throughout the world. Matthew quoted Him: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matt 28:19-20). Mark reported, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:15-16). Jesus sent the apostles as ambassadors of His kingdom. They announced it by preaching the good news of salvation, telling them that they were forgiven of their rebellion toward God, and gathering believers as the kingdom’s citizens. Paul explained, “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God” (2 Cor 5:20).
God gave His disciples authority to represent Jesus as His ambassadors. On Pentecost, the power present in Jesus endowed them. Jesus previously said, “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you” (John 14:18). When He came, the Savior still guided them, whether together or apart, through the presence of the Holy Ghost. The authority that He gave them was the power to miraculously bless people. Jesus had told them, “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father” (John 14:12). The apostles healed people like Jesus did. Peter and John healed the lame man at the Temple gates and Peter raised Tabitha to life. Thaddeus, a seventy (Luke 10:1) healed the King of Edessa, Abgar, who had previously invited Jesus to find refuge in his realm.
More important, the apostles bestowed the gift of the Holy Ghost on those who believed and obeyed the gospel. Peter explained how believers could obey the gospel when he answered those convicted by his preaching on Pentecost: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38).
People are innately sinful. Whenever we try to do good, evil is present, too. Paul confessed, “When I would do good, evil is present with me” (Rom 7:21). The natural man is an enemy to God, Again, Paul explained, “The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Rom 8:7). Jesus paid the penalty of our sin, satisfied the demands of God’s justice, and opened the way for us to live a life free from sin. We are washed from sin when we willingly crucify our natural man in the waters of baptism. As we rise from that watery grave our sins are washed away. Afterward, the Father gives the gift of the Holy Ghost. He resides within the repentant and transforms how they think, giving them both the desire and ability to do what God wants. Paul wrote, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Phil 2:13). Not only does the Holy Ghost live within each believer, but He inhabits their assemblies. Paul also wrote, “Ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit” (Eph 2:22). The Holy Ghost permeates their worship and lifts them into God’s presence: “And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:6). I have entered the assemblies of faithful believers when the presence of the Holy Ghost reigned among them. I could feel that presence just like a person feels the warmth of a heated room when he enters on a cold winter night. There is no joy or comfort like it anywhere else on this side of heaven.
People find it hard to pass the discipline and devotion necessary to sustain the presence of the Holy Ghost through the generations. In time, societies that once basked in the Spirit’s abiding presence lost that presence as they gradually chose more temporal and worldly pursuits. The apostolic church even fell away, but God did not abandon His people. The Reformation returned believers to the Bible and several revivals, called awakenings, prepared Christians for the Restoration when God’s presence among believers reappeared. Like before, recent generations lost the discipline and devotion necessary to sustain the presence of the Holy Ghost.
The prophets and apostles foresaw the chaotic conditions when disbelief would abound and scoffers mock: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God” (2 Tim 3:1-4), and “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts” (2P 3:3). We live in those times. Those conditions have affected us and clamor for our attention. In my youth, our preachers regularly warned us about the dangers of pursuing material goods, which were so plentiful in those days. They explained that material pursuits would sap our spiritual strength, diminish our belief, and reduce God’s presence among us. I have witnessed the decline of the spiritual manifestations the Bible describes and the presence of the Holy Ghost within our assemblies. We are becoming content with little or no spiritual presence and manifestations in our meetings.
Good News! The prophets and apostles also saw the return of God’s presence as He not only revives His people, but as He brings the triumphant conclusion to world history. Peter taught, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:19-21). The Greek word translated refreshing in our Bible means breathe again. It means revive. Peter is prophesying the time when God would revive His people who at the end of time would be lifeless through the influence of worldly enticements and the aggression of scoffers. Jesus will come to His people as He did on Pentecost. Just as Jesus breathed on His disciples, for the Greek word translated ghost means breathe, and told them “Receive ye the Holy Ghost” (John 20:22), which reception came seven weeks later, He will breathe the Holy Ghost to refresh His people in the last days. Nephi foresaw that outpouring happen when the church of the devil became established in the Gentile nations with the goal of eradicating Christianity: “I beheld that the great mother of abominations did gather together in multitudes upon the face of all the earth, among all the nations of the Gentiles, to fight against the Lamb of God. And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory” (1N 3:229-231).
This event will surprise the world. Jesus likened it to a coming of a thief: “If the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh” (Matt 24:43-44). The Lord’s people should be expecting it. Paul explained, “Ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober” (1 Thes 5:4-6). John reveals that it will come after the armies of the nations have gathered about the Middle-East: “They are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame” (Rev 16:14-15). We see the Western nations engaged in a proxy war with Russia and Iran engaged in a proxy war with Israel. Iran and Russia are allied. The CCP is aiding Russia and Iran and the Western nations, including America, are aiding Israel. The world is on the verge of the prophesied battle of Megiddo. John revealed that before that war but after the nations have gathered, the surprise refreshing will revive God’s people. According to Nephi they are scattered on “all the face of the earth” when this happens and include “the saints of the church of the Lamb” and “the covenant people of the Lord.” All those multitude are “armed with righteousness.”
The beginnings of that revival are underway. Peter calls us to repentance. Are we truly converted to our Lord Jesus? Are we ready for Him to stand among us in the full power of the Holy Ghost? Are we ready to receive Him and content to remain with Him as He is? As Paul counseled, “Let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober,” for time is marching us, along with the world, toward Armageddon. Let us be ready for the saving revival that precedes it.