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Counsels for the Church
But never in the teaching of Christ is God thus spoken of. Christ and
the apostles taught clearly the truth of the existence of a personal God.
Christ revealed all of God that sinful human beings could bear
without being destroyed. He is the divine Teacher, the Enlightener.
Had God thought us in need of revelations other than those made
through Christ and in His written word, He would have given them.
Christ Gives Men Power to Become Sons of God
Let us study the words that Christ spoke in the upper chamber on
the night before His crucifixion. He was nearing His hour of trial,
and He sought to comfort His disciples, who were to be so severely
tempted and tried.
The disciples did not yet understand Christ’s words concerning His
relation to God. Much of His teaching was still dark to them. They had
asked many questions that revealed their ignorance of God’s relation
to them and to their present and future interests. Christ desired them
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to have a clearer, more distinct knowledge of God.
When on the Day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit was poured out upon
the disciples, they understood the truths that Christ had spoken in para-
bles. The teachings that had been mysteries to them were made clear.
The understanding that came to them with the outpouring of the Spirit
made them ashamed of their fanciful theories. Their suppositions and
interpretations were foolishness when compared with the knowledge
of heavenly things which they now received. They were led by the
Spirit, and light shone into their once darkened understanding.
But the disciples had not yet received the complete fulfillment of
Christ’s promise. They received all the knowledge of God that they
could bear, but the complete fulfillment of the promise that Christ
would show them plainly of the Father was yet to come. Thus it is
today. Our knowledge of God is partial and imperfect. When the
conflict is ended and the Man Christ Jesus acknowledges before the
Father His faithful workers, who, in a world of sin, have borne true
witness for Him, they will understand clearly what now are mysteries
to them.
Christ took with Him to the heavenly courts His glorified humanity.
To those who receive Him, He gives power to become the sons of God,
that at last God may receive as His, to dwell with Him throughout