The presence

“The words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63).

Maybe you’ve noticed the difference between a YouTube testimony in text form (i.e. my blog format) and the actual person telling his or her testimony. The difference is vast. The testimony’s text form on this blog can alter the whole meaning of reality as seen from the video format. This has to do with the way the words were expressed. I’m sure you already knew that, so I hope I didn’t insult anyone’s intelligence by that last sentence.

Expression sets the tone for information. It sets the stage, lays the foundation. When I was a framing carpenter we, without exception, never framed a house differently than the shape of the foundation. It is never done. The idea even sounds ridiculous to non-carpenters. Imagine trying to build a rambler onto a split-level foundation. Or imagine putting a split-level house on a split-fourier foundation. Likewise, the real message of a testimony, or any communication, is set by the source’s tone and look, which a written format can’t translate into the message. We’ve heard it said that the book is often better than the movie, but in this respect the look and sound are better. Otherwise, people wouldn’t be flocking to the theaters. They would stay home and read novels.

Beyond the verbal-tone-to-information connection, the advantage of a sensory format is even more true when you add in the visual factor, i.e. the facial expressions and body movements of arms, hands, torso etc. Is the person relaxed (giving an honest account)? Is the person uncomfortable (and pretending to tell the truth)? Is the person excited (thus, believing what he propounds)? Is the person serious (and fully settled in the truth of what he is saying)? All of these add to the validity of what they are saying as long as their body/face matches the message. Judges and juries look for these things. Right? And so does every audience. But, how can you look or listen for that from a testimony on a written page?

The audio and visual aspects of communication, or the lack thereof, especially impact testimony statements’ colloquialisms and cultural quirks, i.e. the frequent “Um”, “You know”, “Just”, “Like”, and the multitudes of “So” and “And”. These wreak havoc on the reading audience. When I transposed Charo Washer’s testimony, I had to delete so many You know’s and Just’s and also add in a lot of my guesstimated words in [brackets] in order to try to bring out the real meaning of what that beautiful woman of God was saying. I greatly butchered her content with edits! Yet, all of these linguistic “discourse markers” and “filled pauses” seem transparent to anyone watching/listening. So much can be aggravating or superfluous in the text form from its lack of audio-visual benefits. The abundance of discourse markers and filled pauses turn the written presentation into gobbledygook. Therefore the big picture is lost. Even italicizing and bolding words that are in text form fall far short of information transfer from the person’s actual presentation. There is simply no substitute for the personal presence. By far, no man-made construct can substitute for the Creator’s invention of the human look and sound!

Now, let’s apply this principle to the written word of God. Why is it that so many people don’t want to read the Bible? It’s because text alone causes so much confusion that to them reading it is not a pleasant experience. The difficulties of the Bible’s new spiritual paradigms from a sinless and holy God, the ancient colloquialisms and cultural quirks, not to mention the problems with a modern translation of an ancient Greek text, or worse, of an even older ancient Hebrew text, distort the message and discombobulate the reader. This is why Paul made the famous phrase, “The letter killeth.” (2Cor. 3:6). The letter killeth, just at the text ruineth the testimony. By the letter alone so much of heaven’s message gets lost and misunderstood. Here’s the context of Paul’s world-reknown words,

“Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the Spirit: for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.” (2Cor. 3:6).

Given my opening illustration of using YouTube videos versus blog posts as a basis for understanding a communication, if the text killeth the testimony, then how do we apply Paul’s words “the Spirit” to a testimony? Wouldn’t “the Spirit” compare to the living aural-visible component of a video? Wouldn’t “the Spirit” actually provide the audio-visual component of the scripture messages?

We don’t normally think of an audio-visual component to scripture as we do to a YouTube testimony because we don’t have a living prophet today speaking inspired words of God. Isaiah 8:20 doesn’t really work for us today. “To the Law and to the testimony: if they [the false prophets] speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them [the false prophets].” (Isa. 8:20). The living testimony of the true prophet was very important to understanding the Law, but the true prophets have passed away without replacements.

Therefore, everything today that is currently the inspired word of God exists only in written form—books, compilations of books, pages, letters. And the original letters aren’t even on handwritten paper, but on printed page. No trace of human-biblical expression exists for the world today. Today we are as far removed as we can get from the original expression of biblical truth. All we have is the letter of the Law. Is it a wonder that the Bible isn’t read and darkness has covered the earth, and gross darkness the people?

But, wait a minute. Don’t we have audio-visual available today for absorbing God’s words like we have audio-visual in YouTube videos? The written word need not be killing us. Isn’t that what the anointing is for? It’s not only for the prophets. It’s for everyone who repents and is converted.

“The anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him.” (1Jn. 2:27).

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Rom. 8:1).

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” (Rom. 5:1-5).

Upon surrender and new birth, the Spirit gives us new eyes and ears to “see” and “hear” deep inside the written word, and to enter into the experiences of the biblical characters as we read, no differently than we do while we watch YouTube testimonies. Isn’t His Spirit of truth how Jesus is able to communicate to our soul?

“Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:5,6).

We must have the Spirit of Christ anointing us for hearing and seeing the truth of God. We must see what the scriptures are saying.

“And this is the will of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life.” (John 6:40). Life from Him must come by His Spirit attending the written words that tell of Him.

With Jesus united with us, our spirit resonating with His, the Bible stories come alive, and we easily and naturally conceptualize, understand, and appropriate their lessons. We absorb what we couldn’t absorb before God gave us His Spirit. This is why Jesus could present the truth so powerfully—He could see His Father and comprehend the Old Testament because He had His Father’s Spirit. And He had that Spirit without measure, abundantly, constantly, rain or shine, in difficulty or in ease, while sitting on the mount of blessing or being beaten and crucified—He was sealed with “the eternal Spirit” (Heb. 9:14).

And this we have seen in the newly anointed YouTube testifiers. We have seen on numerous testimonies that after their conversion they hungered for the Bible and they clung to, and much more easily believed and understood its truth. But, before conversion when they had no quickened love of biblical truth, reading the word of God was like reading a foreign language written in foreign script. Reading the Bible was not an easy or pleasant experience.

What was lacking? It was “the Spirit of His Son” (Gal. 4:6), “the Spirit of Christ” (1Pet. 1:11), “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). This was promised to all who would wrestle with the conviction from His Spirit, and surrender to His gifted Spirit in them. Would they want His help so badly that they would repent? Repentance would be like the person whose stomach’s contents is toxic and needs to be expelled. Will this person stick something down his throat to trigger the unmentionable? Will he suffer the unpleasant experience of regurgitation in order to be relieved of his torments? Will he taste vomit temporarily in order to have eternal peace of body, mind, and soul?

Similarly, will the sinner pass through the saints’ rite of passage during the process of conversion, suffering under seemingly endless condemnation that increases in stages like a woman in travail? Will the sinner have his own Gethsemane next to his Saviour? Will he be crucified with Christ and surrender to the Spirit of truth, pleading, “Lord, remember me! Let me come into Thy kingdom!”?

If he will suffer together with Christ’s example, then he will have the unprecedented privilege of being a holy temple for the Spirit of truth. Truth will be beautiful to him. “The scripture of truth” (Dan. 10:21) will come alive to him. This has been attested to by many, many YouTube witnesses who experienced it. Scripture only makes sense to those whose regenerated spirit can hear and see the vocal and bodily expressions from its letters. They do what Deuteronomy 32:13 says: they suck the honey of grace that God put into His austere truth. They draw a deeper understanding than the surface and the impossible text provide.

“He made [Israel] to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock.” (Deut. 32:13).

“Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.” (Ps. 85:10,11).

This blessedness Jesus ate every day of His life until Gethsemane. The Old Testament was alive to Him and infinitely instructional and understandable. Imagine the Bible always making perfect sense and being always in line with the Law of love. It must be so. And it must be so beautiful.

“Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall He eat, that He may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.” (Isa. 7:14,15). “The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me.” (John 14:30).

Jesus’ thoughts were so filled with the scriptures that He was the Word of God, or because He was the Word of God. He was the Spirit of truth. He was the expressions of His Father Jehovah incarnate. “The last Adam was made a quickening Spirit.” (1Cor. 15:45). Therefore He was as solid as a rock to “refuse the evil, and choose the good”. 

We need to receive the Spirit before the words of scripture can be “spirit and…truth”. (John 4:24). And indeed, there is no true worship of God without conversion of heart and a love for the truth.

“God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24).

Everyone who has been born into the divine nature that pervades every citizen of heaven will love not only the Spirit, but also the letter; not only the New Testament, but also the Old; not only the gospel, but also the commandments, the fearsome, awe-filled Law of God. They are “subject to the prophets.” (1Cor. 14:32). And they are “subject to the Law of God.” (Rom. 8:7).

“Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth Him that begat loveth Him also that is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous.” (1Jn. 5:1-3).