REST, RULE, AND ABIDE

REST, RULE, AND ABIDE

Second Corinthians 13:14 (KJV) The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

I have often heard this scripture referenced during the benediction of church or prayer services. It would usually be said something like: “Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the sweet communion of the Holy Spirit, rest, rule, and abide with you, both now and forever”.

That is not the actual reading of the scripture. The words sweet, rest, rule, or abide are not in this particular verse. Yet this prayer of benediction is powerful. Grace is always present and abounds. Second Corinthians 9: 8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; That ye, always have an all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work. Romans 5: 20… but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.

The love of God is always present as well. First John 4: 16 and we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. John 14:23 says if a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. Jeremiah 31:3 says I have loved you with an everlasting love.

However, the power of this prayer does require some personal accountability and action. Communion with the Holy Spirit is where we have to put in effort. To be in communion with the Holy Spirit is to abide in unison and be united with the Holy Spirit. The following scriptures teach us about this communion with the Holy Spirit:

John 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever.

John 14: 26 But the comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

First Corinthians 10: 21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of the devils: you cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and the table of the devils.

Romans 6: 16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

First Peter 2: 24... That we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness.

Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Colossians 3: 10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.

2nd Corinthians 4: 16 For which cause we faint not; But though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

First John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin.

Jude 20-21 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

First Thessalonians 5: 23-24 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; And I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

Jude 24 -25 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

We see from these Scriptures that God sends us the Holy Spirit as a comforter and as a teacher. But the Holy Spirit does not simply control us. We must abide in the faith in Jesus Christ and have a renewed mind. According to 1st Thessalonians 5:19, we are not to quench the spirit either. Communion with the Holy Spirit is fellowship with Him; it is walking in the light. Having fellowship is not simply existing in close proximity; it is having a regular, intertwining relationship and requires ongoing interaction. This fellowship with the Holy Spirit shows up in how we live, as well as how we treat others. Not that we get it right all the time, but we must continually be renewed in our minds. Not to fear when we get it wrong: His mercies are new every morning. We can ask for forgiveness and a fresh anointing and know that because of God’s grace and mercy, and because of the precious blood of the Lamb, we can still be presented to Him without fault and perfect in Him.

Let us continue to live according to the Word of God and to allow the Holy Spirit to rest on us, rule in our hearts, as we abide in communion with the sweet Holy Spirit that we have access to through faith in Jesus Christ. Let us continue to strive for that glorious day when we will be presented as the bride of Christ without spot or wrinkle, holy and without blemish, according to Ephesians 5:27.