WHY JESUS NEVER SAID GOODBYE

PEOPLE OFTEN say “goodbye” when they are parting or leaving a place for somewhere else. But Jesus Christ never said goodbye to His disciples when He was ascending to heaven. That was because He said He would continue to be with them until the end of the world. Thus, Christ Jesus has been coming to His true servants and disciples. Anyone who thinks Jesus Christ does not exist must be daydreaming. Christ is alive, and appears to people who sincerely love Him and are willing to keep His commandments. 

The Lord Jesus Christ very often appears personally to His chosen people through dreams, visions or trances. He appeared to the apostle John on the Island called Patmos (Revelation 1: 9- 10). When Stephen was about to be stoned to death after testifying about Jesus to the Jews, his spiritual eye opened and he saw Jesus alive. “But he (Stephen) full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, the Father (Acts 7: 55- 56). 

Similarly, the living Lord revealed Himself to Ananias in a vision: “Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. THE LORD SAID TO HIM IN A VISION, “ANANIAS.” AND HE SAID, HERE I AM, LORD. AND THE LORD SAID TO HIM, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight” (Acts 9: 10- 12). 

Jesus also appeared to Paul in visions on several occasions after his dramatic conversion from Judaism to Christianity (Acts 9: 3- 6). “AND THE LORD SAID TO PAUL ONE NIGHT IN A VISION, “do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, FOR I AM WITH YOU, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people” (Acts 18: 9- 10).

He manifested Himself to Paul again: “THE FOLLOWING NIGHT THE LORD STOOD BY HIM (PAUL) AND SAID, “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome” (Acts 23: 11). 

The Lord Jesus appeared to Paul again while pouring his heart out to God in prayer: “When I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I FELL INTO A TRANCE AND SAW HIM (JESUS) saying to me, “Make haste and get out Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me. 

And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you. And when the blood of Stephen your witness was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving and watching over the garments of those who killed him. And he said to me, ‘go, for I will send you far away to the gentiles, (Acts 22: 17- 21). 

Similarly, the Lord appeared to John and instructed him to write letters to seven real churches in Asia in which He praised some of the churches and criticized others. They were churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. He again revealed Himself to Paul, giving him timely instructions, concerning his ministry and the church.  

What do these tell you? They should send a strong signal to all of us that Christ is still alive with greater concern for the building of His church. The church is His. It is His body. So, Jesus is still committed to His declaration that HE WILL BUILD HIS CHURCH. He is not man,that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it (Numbers 23: 19).

The Lord continues to reveal Himself and exercise authority in building His Church. Therefore, anyone who plays with it will not go unpunished. In this generation, scores of servants of Christ have also experienced the visitations of the Lord Jesus. Prophet Kenneth E. Hagin, a respected Servant of God who lived in the United States of America, explained how the Lord Jesus spoke with Him in visions and taught him to understand some specific scriptures.

In Ghana, I have heard Bishop Dag Heward-Mills, an international minister of the gospel, explaining how Jesus appeared to Him in visions. Many other servants of Christ of our time have also seen the Lord in visions and trances. Another way by which the Lord Jesus comes to true worshippers is through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. He dwells in the hearts (spirits) of Christians.

I can see that this is Christ’s commonest manifestation to His chosen ones. The presence of the Holy Spirit in and upon the believer is the fulfillment of the Lord’s promise to come back to dwell with them. “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave as orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14: 16 – 18).

Look at the scripture carefully. Jesus told the disciples that they ALREADY KNEW the Helper He would ask the Father to send to them. In verse 17 of John chapter 14, Jesus said, the Helper DWELT WITH THEM, AND WOULD BE IN THEM. This means that the Helper was with them in their midst guiding, helping, teaching and comforting them. Who was this Helper that dwelt with the disciples?

 In fact, there could be no Helper at that particular time than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who prayed for them, fed them, protected them, taught them and saved them. This is confirmed by the verse 25 of John chapter 14, where Jesus explained that He was the one who was still with them. Clearly, you can see whyJesus never said goodbye.

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