The words of a familiar chorus come to mind.
He is Lord! He is Lord! He is risen from the dead and He is Lord! Ev’ry knee shall bow, ev’ry tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. (Source: Our Great Redeemer’s Praise #268)
If you remember singing that chorus, then your walk with the Lord spans many years.
I asked the following question on Google.
How many times is the phrase the ‘Lord Jesus Christ’ used in scripture?
The following answer was generated by AI.
“the Lord Jesus Christ appears frequently in the New Testament, especially in the epistles, and can be found 61 times in some versions, with its usage indicating a formal or significant declaration of Christ’s identity.”
What this is saying is that in the New Testament, the triplet, ‘the Lord Jesus Christ’ is used quite often depending upon the translation.
There are other scriptures that use these same three words, but not in triplet.
Such as: Jesus Christ our Lord; Christ Jesus the Lord; Jesus Christ is Lord; or the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The apostle Paul uses the triplet, the Lord Jesus Christ, frequently in his epistles.
The three words, ‘lord’, and ‘Jesus’, and ‘Christ’, occur in 106 verses in the KJV; 86 verses in the ESV; 84 verses in the NASB20; and 97 verses in the AMP version.
Why all this information?
Assuming that you have read the previous two posts (Pentecost-50 Days After Passover, Part 1 and Part 2) the following question was proposed and answered.
Q: “Having considered all of this, is there something that stands out as being more important than the coming of the Holy Spirit?”
A. Yes.
On this year’s church calendar, June 8, 2025, was Pentecost Sunday.
Pentecost Sunday is fifty days after Passover.
The fifty day period is divided into two parts.
The first part is forty days, and the second part is ten days.
Each part records significant independent events leading up to the Day of Pentecost and the birth of the Church, the Body of Christ.
Christ’s ascension back to His Father brought the forty day period to a close; and initiated the beginning of the ten day period.
Prior to His ascension, Luke summarizes what took place doing those forty days in Acts 1:1-3, NKJV.
“The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.”
I was just reminded by an author that the ministry of Jesus was based upon these words, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand”. (Matthew 4:17 NKJV)
It is interesting to note, that Matthew 3:1-3 NKJV, says, “In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” For this is he (John) who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.” (insert mine) (emphasis mine)
In Mark 1:14-15 NKJV, we read of another intersection between John the Baptist and Jesus.
This time it is not about John’s purpose in relation to Jesus’ coming.
Mark’s narrative is succinct.
[One needs to read parallel accounts to get the full context. See Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13.]
“Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:14-15, NKJV)
It was at this time, that the ministry of John concluded because he was beheaded by King Herod. (Matthew 14:1-12)
The words, “repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’ heralded by John the Baptist are continued throughout the ministry of Jesus Christ.
These ‘words’ did not end with John the Baptist’s death.
These same words are the foundation of Jesus’ teaching which He announced at the onset of His ministry and continued to unfold after His resurrection to His disciples and prior to His ascension.
This is what Luke said in Acts 1:3, NKJV, “…to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during the forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” (emphasis mine)
Q: Have you ever considered why there was a forty day period?
A. Consider this: the disciples personally needed it.
The disciples had been totally devastated by the events surrounding Jesus’ death. They had ‘scattered’; and they were internally ‘battered’.
They were berefted and empty of hope.
But, God…
On the day of His resurrection, a dawning of ‘hope’ comes to them from Mary Magadelene, she tells them, Jesus is alive!
Hope is stirred.
I am sure there was a mixture of shock, wonderment, and expectation of hearing these words, hoping what they were told was true.
Q: Did they remember what He had told them prior to His death that in three days He would be raised from the dead?
Maybe, we don’t know.
Consider this: The forty days are a time of spiritual renewal.
Jesus regroups his ‘scattered’disciples; and attends to them being ‘battered’.
The disciples and the other followers needed to be ‘restored’ to wholeness; body, soul, and spirit.
Remember, followers of Christ are no different than us.
James 5:17a, NKJV, reminds us of this: “Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are…”.
Humanity is reacting as humans.
I am beginning to understand that , we, as believers, in Christ Jesus, do not truly understand the magnitude of the internal emptiness they experienced and the internal healing they received during the forty days that Jesus Christ ministered to them.
Their ‘renewal’ is two fold.
First, He ministered to some as individuals; and secondly He ministered to them corporately. (See, T.A.Sparks, Knowing God in Christ)
So, then, what is the answer to the proposed question, “Is there something more important for us to understand and embrace; something more important that we need to give our attention too; than the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost?
Yes, Jesus Christ is Lord.
Why?
Christ is risen.
Jesus Christ is Lord.
Unless these two statements are firmly fixed in your understanding about Jesus Christ ; and unless these two statements are your personal experience regarding your relationship to Him; moving forward, and growing as a believer in Christ, will be very limited.
I am not suggesting you are not saved, if you have truly accepted Christ as your personal Savior.
I am saying you will not mature as a believer.
I am not minimizing the importance of the Third Person of the Trinity.
The premise of the prior two posts was based upon an interaction between Jesus and His disciples in the region of Caesarea Philippi found in Matthew 16:13-21.
Jesus asked His disciples what are others saying about me, the Son of Man?
Who do they think I am?
The disciples said that some thought that He was Elijah; other people thought He was Jeremiah; or just one of the prophets.
Hearing their response, He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter spoke up and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus hearing Peter’s response replies to him and the others who heard Peter’s answer, telling them that “flesh and blood”, meaning a human being, did not reveal this to you Peter, but it was “My Father which in heaven.”
At this point, I want to quote Matthew 16:18-21, NKJV.
Why?
The reason is because Jesus’ words lay the foundation for the two statements we are considering. 1. Christ is risen. 2. Jesus Christ is Lord.
(Some might say that I am being very redundant. I concur. There is a reason.)
“And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ. From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples 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.”
In this passage are the ‘seeds’ for our two statements. 1. “be raised the third day-Christ is risen. 2. “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven”; “He commanded His disciples…”-Jesus Christ is Lord.
With these two pillars firmly fixed in our relationship to the Lord, we return to the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.
Acts 1:1-14 summarizes what took place from the resurrection of Christ to His ascension.
The ‘seeds’ spoken of in Matthew 16 are no longer ‘seeds’.
Christ has risen; and Jesus Christ is Lord.
How do we know that for certain?
Read Acts 2:14-39. Peter explains the coming of the Holy Spirit; and he declares, being a viable witness, that Jesus has risen from the dead; and “that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” NKJV, (boldness mine)
It is important to understand that throughout the entirety of scripture the Son of God is recognized as Lord and Christ, God’s Anointed One, the Messiah.
When it says that God ‘made’ Jesus “both Lord and Christ”, God is not bestowing upon Him, a title that He did not already possess.
Then what is taking place?
I submit that this is the fulfillment of the words found in Philippians 2:5-11, NKJV.
Beginning at verse 8, “And being found in appearance as a man. He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also had highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.“
Matthew 28:18-20, is understood, as The Great Commission.
What is normally emphasized is the “going”.
I understand that.
With regards to what I am pointing out is this: prior to Him telling them to ‘go’; Christ says that “all authority has been given unto Me both in heaven and on earth.” (emphasis mine)
That authority is His functioning authority of having been ‘made’ by God, His Father, both Lord and Christ. ( See The Key to the Trinity: “God Has Made Him Lord”, by Mike Knox, truthandtidings.com/2022)
Following His commission to His disciples, Jesus ascended to His Father in Heaven, and took His seat at His Father’s right hand.
It is from this place that Jesus rules and reigns, as both Lord and Christ, exercising all authority that has been given unto Him, by God His Father.
Earlier in this post, it was shared that during the forty days between Passover and Christ’s ascension, Jesus’ personal and corporate interaction with His followers brought about an internal healing from their devastation over His crucifixion; and restored their confidence in following Him.
Without the inner healing of their body, soul, and spirit, they would have been unable to do the work of the ministry that the Lord was preparing them to do.
Luke’s account in Acts 1, begins with a statement that began in the lives of Jesus’ followers prior to His crucifixion ; and is continued by Jesus after His death, burial, and resurrection, confirming His commitment to them prior to His ascension.
As mentioned, His crucifixion devastated them.
Is it too harsh to say that it bankrupted (battered) them spiritually?
I think not.
Luke’s opening words in Acts, sets the scene for the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.
Allow me to paraphrase Acts 1:1-14.
I want to share an insight regarding the disciples’ internal suffering.
The disciples and followers of Christ are devastated. The Lord comes to them to reassure them of His *love* for them, His commitment to them, and to restore the purpose of their calling to follow Him. (*Comment at end of post*)
Luke begins reminding us of what has taken place prior to the cross. He is reminding them that He had called them; He had taught them; and that He had lived with them.
His life and their lives intersected and that intersection was an undeniable experience.
I recommend that you read I John 1:1-4.
Luke specifies that Jesus interacted with them from His resurrection “until the day He was taken up.”(Acts 1:2a).
Acts 1:2 continues informing us that it was during this time that Jesus “through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles”. This instruction began prior to the cross; continued after His resurrection; and concluded prior to His ascension.
Luke’s words summarize Jesus’ life with His disciples before the cross and then transitions to Jesus’ appearances to them after the cross.
It has been said previously in the post, that the disciples and the followers of Christ had endured an internal devastating experience of suffering (a battering) as the result of Jesus’ death and burial.
Jesus is restoring them.
Jesus is renewing them.
His physical presence is bringing about an internal healing that has lifted from them the weight of the despair they had suffered.
When He comes into their presence, He says, “Peace be unto you”. Jesus says this three times to His disciples. John 20:19-21,26
This restoration is necessary and practical.
Jesus needs His followers to be made whole, renewed and restored back to their place of ‘assurance’ in Him.
Luke says that Jesus “shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days”. (Acts 1:3a) (emphasis mine)
Why?
I suggest that this tells us of the depth of despair that His disciples and followers had suffered.
Yet, their depth of the realization of being separated from Jesus is but a ‘light affliction’ compared to the reality of the separation that Jesus experienced on the cross for us when He cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46)
Q: Did they experience in the natural, what Jesus experienced in the spiritual?
A: If that is true, then this small group of believers in Christ are being restored from a separation they experienced initiated by Jesus when He died on the cross.
That’s a strong statement.
I will explain it in a moment.
We come to a theological crossroads.
Q: When were the disciples, the followers of Jesus, born again?
Before the cross in the Upper Room at the Passover Supper; after the cross when He first appeared to them; or were they born again on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came?
Consider this: In the Upper Room at the Passover Supper, the Lord instituted the New Covenant in His blood and He spoke repeatedly of the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus was betrayed, beaten, maligned, scourged, pronounced guilty of religious blasphemy and crucified by the Roman authorities.
As Jesus had said, He was raised three days later, according to the scriptures.
He then began appearing to His followers, the first being Mary Magdalene.
Then on the evening of the first day of the resurrection, He appeared to His disciples.
John 20:19-23, NKJV, says, “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, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, “Peace be unto you.” And when He had said that, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.” (emphasis mine)
Many believe, including myself, that when Jesus breathed on them, they were born again.
This is parallel to God’s original creation of Adam.
Genesis 2:7, NKJV, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostril the breath of life’; and man became a living soul.” (emphasis mine)
When Jesus breathed upon His disciples, and said to receive the Holy Spirit, they were born again of the Spirit, just as Jesus had told Nicodemus in John 3:1-21.
The following week, Jesus, appeared again in the midst of His disciples.
It is noteworthy that the ten disciples who had been born again the week before were still shut up in the upper room they were staying in.
Why?
What are they afraid of?
This time, Thomas, the eleventh disciple, who was absent the week before, was present. He had his own personal reservations about the reality of Jesus’ resurrection.
Jesus appears to the disciples assembled in the upper room and addresses Thomas’ personal reservations. Thomas is overwhelmed and says to Jesus, “My Lord and My God.”
Let me re-emphasize the importance of what is taking place.
Reading John 20:30-31 NKJV, “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” (emphasis mine)
Christ has risen.
Jesus Christ is Lord.
The disciples of Jesus are now born again.
They are now living on resurrection ground as believers in Christ.
They are a new creation in Christ Jesus, the old things have passed away; and behold all things have become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
But there is one more thing that needs to be done in the lives of these new believers.
Jesus had ‘left’ these disciples.
His departure was devastating.
They were undone.
Do you recall that throughout the Upper Room teaching, Jesus repeatedly said that He would not leave them as orphans but would send to them a comforter, a helper, the Holy Spirit.
But, He did leave them.
I wonder if they wrestled with those ‘words’?
And,
The Holy Spirit did not come prior to the cross.
But, Jesus, You promised!
I believe that Jesus’ disciples needed first, to be born again; and second, experience their personal and corporate inner healing.
I propose that their inner healing included an unresolved issue of the Holy Spirit not coming.
Jesus had said, the Holy Spirit would come.
The Holy Spirit did not come.
Is it possible that they had wrestled with His words not being fulfilled?
They had no help.
They needed comfort.
They felt as orphans.
Did they struggle with abandonment?
I understand that this is speculation. I am not trying to add to the scripture. But there is a reason I am thinking this way.
Let me explain.
Jesus is getting them ready again for another departure, His ascension to the Father.
Can they handle that?
But you might say, yes they can; they are born again.
As a believer in Jesus Christ, have you thought that you were abandoned by the Lord?
Of course, we have!
Luke records, Acts 1:4-5, NKJKV, “And being assembled together with them, commanded them (Jesus Christ is Lord) that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of Me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence.” (insert mine)
Please do not miss the importance of what Jesus is saying.
Jesus, prior to His crucifixion had told them about the promise of the Father and the coming of the Holy Spirit; but at that time, He did not give any specifics about when it would happen.
This is why I suggest that the disciples may have wrestled with His words about the coming of the Holy Spirit and that contributed to their despondency because of His crucifixion.
Now He is very specific.
He commands them.
This is a notable difference.
I have written a lot of words; maybe too many; but I desire that you understand.
Jesus’ disciples can now ‘hear’ this command and respond to it.
I believe that they have received not only new life in Christ; but an inner healing from the trauma they went thorough prior to Jesus’ resurrection; and that part of that inner healing may have involved wrestling with the fact that the Holy Spirit did not come; and that they felt as orphans.
I offer this thought.
The disciples could now sing the following words of a well known hymn: “Blessed ‘assurance’, Jesus is mine, O what a foretaste of glory divine; heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of His Spirit, washed in His blood…” (composed by Fanny Crosby) (emphasis mine)
But this is only their beginning.
They have received Jesus’ ‘order’; now they have to ‘obey’ it.
Therefore, having received His ‘order, and being ‘obedient’ to it, the Father’s Kingdom will come and His will will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
What is that going to look like?
How do we know the disciples fulfilled what Jesus told them to do?
Luke writes, “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were with one accord in one place. And suddenly they came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appears unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Luke 2:1-4, NKJV)
Again, we come to a crossroads of theological interpretations.
I will leave you to your personal theological understanding.
What is important to me is that the Church understand that on the Day of Pentecost,the Holy Spirit did come; its coming validated the life of the Son of God; who came as the Son of Man; lived His life obediently fulfilling the Law perfectly; revealed God the Father; offered Himself, as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world; completely satisfied the wrath of God, through His crucifixion; He died and was buried; He was raised from the dead; He revealed Himself to many followers before His ascension; He solidified His teaching to His disciples; He ministered inner healing to them; He ascended into heaven; and presented His blood in the Presence of His Father, God. (See Hebrew 9:23-28), and He is seated at the Father’s right hand, ruling and reigning as Lord and Christ.
All of this was done ‘orderly’ and ‘obediently’, ‘governed’ by the Holy Spirit. Matthew 3:13-4:1
The Father validated His Son’s accomplishment by sending the Third Person of the Trinity , Holy Spirit, upon the followers of Christ assembled in an upper room.
The Father has also verified what Jesus had told His disciples.
I will not leave you comfortless.
You will not be an orphan.
The Holy Spirit descended from heaven.
The ‘born again’ disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit.
Peter preaches the first sermon, filled with the Holy Spirit; he preaches Christ crucified, and concludes with these words: “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.” (Acts 2:36, NKJV-context is Acts 2:14-42)
The coming of the Holy Spirit enabled the followers of Christ to “both do and teach” what Jesus had done and taught.
The Church was born.
Many were saved that day.
Many were many water baptized that day.
The ‘many’ were about three thousand souls. (Acts 2:41)
What is said about this redemptive fellowship?
“And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came up on every soul; and many signs and wonders were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they continued daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved.” (Acts 2:42-47)
Christ has risen.
Jesus Christ is Lord.
The Holy Spirit has come; the Holy Spirit ‘governs’ the Church.
The Church is the Body of Christ.
The believers the Body of Christ, live ‘orderly’ and ‘obediently’.
The Lord, the Head of the Body of Christ, adds daily to His Church such as should be saved.
Jesus said, “I will build My Church.” (Matthew 16:18)
We have come full circle.
We are back to where it all began.
See Pentecost-50 Days After Passover, Part 1, Part 2.
Q: What is the state of the Lord’s Church today?
Assuming the Church acknowledges that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead; is ‘governed’ by the Holy Spirit; seeking to live ‘orderly’ and ‘obediently’ to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, who is the Head of the Church; then it is functioning as the Body of Christ as intended by its Head, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Unfortunately, the truth is that a church can be an assembly of born again believers in Jesus Christ; not ‘governed’ by the Holy Spirit; not walking in alignment with its Head, the Lord Jesus Christ; because it is following its own agenda.
How do we know that?
Read Paul’s New Testament epistles to the churches that need to be corrected regarding how they are living.
Read the Lord’s letters written to the seven churches in Asia Minor in, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, commending them for what is right, and correcting them regarding what is wrong. Each letter encourages those that have ear, to hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Read the history of the nation of Israel in the Old Testament.
God loves His people; yet is constantly admonishing them, drawing them back to Himself; and judging them as is needed.
Is everything negative in the Church? No.
Is Christ building His Church? Yes
Then what’s my point?
Actually, it begins with me; do I live ‘governed’ by the Holy Spirit, ‘orderly’ and ‘obediently’ , ‘daily before my Father, so that His Kingdom comes and His will is done through my life on earth as it is in heaven.
When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, how did the prayer begin?
“In this manner, therefore pray, Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:9-10, NKJV.
I encourage you to examine yourself and ask the Lord if your life is lived being ‘governed’ by the Holy Spirit, ‘orderly’ and ‘obediently‘?
And remember this, Jesus said, to His disciples, the night before His crucifixion, in the Upper Room, Matthew 13:1, NKJV, “Now before the Feast of Passover , when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having *loved His own* who were in the world, *He loved them to the end.*” (emphasis mine)
*He loved them to the end; and He will love you, too, to the end.*
The Lord is committed to you until the End. (Jude 24-25)
Remember everything the Lord does for us is because He is love.*
blessings, your brother in Christ, deo
Living Words of Encouragement 