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THE THREE CO-ORDINATES Glory is in short supply in the UK in the 21st century. Why? The standard of preaching has fallen alarmingly over the last 100 years because the three co-ordinates are not adhered to, not mentioned and not understood. Reformed believers adhere to the primacy of the word of God in most of its length and breadth, but spawn an intellectual orthodoxy. Charismatics and Pentecostals love to balance the word of God with the Holy Spirit. The best of missionaries cleave to the deeper truths of the Cross. If we are earnest about the glory of God in the Church we must embrace and see the relationship between the three co-ordinates: the WORD OF GOD, the HOLY SPIRIT and the CROSS. Check the landmarks in the life of Jesus and we will see the working together of these divine agents that the apostle John declares agree as one:  “And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water (the Word) and the blood (the Cross); and these  three AGREE AS ONE.”  1 John 5: 8.      (Emphasis mine) The balance of truth is much needed today because heresy, a skillful intermingling of truth with error, haunts and confuses our generation. Lets look at the big events in the earth walk of Jesus our Lord. 1. Incarnation The glory came over the hills of Bethlehem as angels appeared suddenly. Have you heard angels sing? When I was born again God graciously opened my ears to hear them rejoice over a sinner who had repented. When God births His new thing He launches it in the glory. He did so at: a) creation (Job 38: 7) b) Jesus' birth (Luke 2: 9 - 14) c) the birth of the Church (Acts 2).  In the gospel account we see the personal inner cross in the life of Mary in Luke 1: 38 (submission to the commanded Word) and in Luke 1: 56 (the public appearance of Mary when it was becoming obvious she was pregnant). She would have to know the possession of the Holy Spirit, strengthening her, to carry such a cross in those days of severe legalism! Jesus was to be accused 30 years later by the Pharisees of being demonized and born of fornication. Mary heard it and had to carry it! Simeon did prophesy to her of a sword that shall pierce through her own soul.  The Cross was involved in the incarnation. The word of God came through Gabriel. The Holy Spirit surrounded the birth of Jesus.  The relationships of Word, Cross and Spirit are most interesting. Mary received the word from heaven. The Holy Spirit would facilitate and accomplish the unique birth. Mary's obedience to the word would lead her to a personal crucifixion of the sword entering her own soul. We see the vital importance of God INITIATING as He breaks into her private world. As we abide and pray, the Master's touch will come to our spirit inwardly. If the old man (Romans 6) is praying we will get confused. The Holy Spirit helps us in our inability to get a God result. The living Word will come with something of glory, this essence of divinity, in the presence of Jesus. Obedience to revelation (that Elizabeth too was pregnant) may have taken Mary to the hill country to be hidden with Elizabeth. However, there came a day, a day of the cross in returning: to her house when her pregnancy was beginning to be obvious, and to the probable uproar. 2. Boyhood Luke 2: 41 – 52: the word of God poured out of Jesus as the religious leaders questioned, discussed and became astonished. The Word should seize us with astonishment when it freshly comes as revelation in the Holy Spirit. Jesus submitted to the Cross by being “subject to them”, that is to His parents, although they failed to understand. Verse 52 which says,  “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men.” points to the work of the Holy Spirit, because He had to live as a man, under God, developing the spiritual life through obediences that included surrender and anointings. He received divine wisdom through the Spirit of wisdom and revelation.  3.Baptism In Matthew 3: 15 – 17 we see the Trinity together at work. Here we have clearly three stages: (a) Acceptance by the Son (v15). He accepted the way of the Cross, and in allowing John to baptize Him was taking prophetically the place of sin-bearer, identifying with human sin. Will we identify with the poor? (b) Anointing of the Spirit (v16). The heavens were literally rent asunder as the Holy Spirit came upon the Son because He identified with our condition by baptism. The executor of the Trinity remained on Him because no sin was found in Him. We tend to be leaky vessels and need new anointings. (c) Approval of the Father (v17). The word spoken from heaven attested to our Lord's obedience. Faith outworked in obedience, and being in the Spirit always please the Father (Romans 8: 9 and Hebrews 11: 6). The three co-ordinates of Cross, Word and Spirit need to be taught today to bring much needed balance and true grace. Much has been said of  Word and Spirit, but if we miss out the Cross we lose freshness, vitality and a real discipleship. The great need in churches today is our relationship to the Holy Spirit that includes the Cross. Note the five expressions of the Cross in Galatians, what they are and what they achieve for us. We need to be baptized into Galatians 5: 24 and 6: 14, and be open to the Spirit's challenge to come to God's altar empty handed, giving up our rights to “the many loved objects that secretly harm your soul”, as Tozer pleads. The other three verses that express the Cross in Galatians are 1: 4, 2: 20, 3: 13. 4. Temptations He was led up of the Spirit into the wilderness, and came back victorious in the power of the Spirit (Luke 4: 1, 14). Power is fullness tested. The word of God quoted in the Spirit by Jesus, became a creative sword to defeat the devil's designs. The Cross was evident in every decision our Saviour made by the refusal to take short-cuts.  5. The Transfiguration In Luke 9: 27 – 36 the glimpse of eternal glory was clearly a dramatic unveiling by the Spirit. The Word came from the bright cloud. The Cross was mentioned by Moses and Elijah as the “exodus”, or “His decease” depending on which translation you have. Jesus discussed His departure in a big three summit conference. The Spirit put the three disciples on the ground “asleep yet remaining awake” v 32 (RV). 6. The Great Confession Matthew 16: 13 – 23 clearly contains the Cross (v 21 – 25) in a double sense. The place of Golgotha where Jesus suffered (v 21) and the cross we have to bear (v 24) in our daily lives. We also see the principle of the Cross (v 25), but more of that in the next chapter. The keys of the kingdom of heaven in verse 19 are so evidenced after Pentecost and are the specific things of the Spirit like:  spirit of wisdom and revelation praise revelation gifts of the Holy Spirit fasting and command prayers deliverance and miracles. Peter's great confession in verse 16 was the word of God from heaven, the rock of revelation upon which Jesus builds the church. The gates of hades, or councils of demons, cannot prevail against obedience to the living Word from heaven. When we appropriate the Cross and take up our daily cross in obeying the Word, the keys are effective in our hands. Without the Cross in our lives, we fall into deception and the hands of the enemy, building only the kingdom of man (v 23). There are no short-cuts! The Holy Spirit will always lead us to the Cross and the blood of Jesus, and He will teach us how to use the keys of the kingdom (John 14: 15 – 18; 16: 7 – 15). 7. Gethsemane In Luke 22: 40 we are given the word of God, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” In verse 41and 42 we see Jesus Himself praying as He grappled with the immensity of His own personal Cross,  “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” v 42 Jesus had to pray through to a place of victory, where He had to resist the enemy’s temptations. The personal cross is a refusing of our own will and a choosing of His will. In verse 43 we see the ministry of the Holy Spirit using an angel to strengthen Him. He was saved from death in the garden in order to die on the Cross. As we set our will to obey the Lord, He will strengthen us by the Holy Spirit in order that we complete the given task. The wrestling occurs in prayer first to bring our will into subjection to His, then grace is given. 8. The Cross Of Calvary In Luke 23 we find three words from the Cross and the gifts of the Holy Spirit in verses 28 – 31. Leading up to these events we read of healing (22: 51) and the word of wisdom (22: 61). When Jesus was under the most pressure, He still ministered eternal life through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. When we know heavy pressure situations, in the Spirit we can still bring relief to others as we look exclusively to the Lord. He brought forth a prophetic word in verses 28 – 31, a prayer of forgiveness in verse 34, and an assurance of salvation in verse 43 to the thief dying beside Him. 9. The Resurrection Not only do we find the Trinity at work in the resurrection: God the Father (Romans 4: 24, 25) God the Son (John 10: 15 – 18) the Holy Spirit (Romans 1: 4, 8: 11) but also the three co-ordinates. When Jesus drew near to the two saddened disciples walking to Emmaus, He:   expounded the Scriptures concerning Himself (Luke 24: 27) referred to the Cross with humour! (Luke 24: 19, “What things?” has an air of dismissal.) opened their eyes by a ministry of the Spirit (Luke 24: 31) during the breaking of bread, which referred to the Cross. We could go on and add other examples in John 20 and Mark 16. 10. The Ascension Luke 24: 50 tells us of imparted blessing that produced real worship in Spirit and truth. Acts 1: 11 proclaims the prophetic word that He will return in the same manner. We glimpse the Cross in His present day ministry in heaven where, as High Priest who sympathizes with our weaknesses, he intercedes for us (Hebrews 4: 15 and 7: 25). His heavenly ministry is a result of “...for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.” (Hebrews 7:27). He passed through the heavens in an earthly body that had received the scars of the Cross. Application In The Lives Of The Disciples Can we see the three co-ordinates working in the lives of the disciples? Remember the last illustration Jesus gave in the sermon on the mount. He is speaking of two identical houses to look at, but very different foundations. The house built on sand succumbed to the storm. They were the hearers only, who failed to do the Word. At the Cross all the disciples fled in fear. In the crisis, their houses came tumbling down! Why? They had been hearing the Word, but largely were unable to put it into practice. Pentecost changed that. The Holy Spirit had to immerse them into the life of God. The disciples  slept at Gethsemane  ran from the Cross  were slow to believe the resurrection. Why?  The three co-ordinates were not working together in their lives. It is the same for us. Christians who read the Word diligently but fail to receive the Holy Spirit on a regular basis become dry and frustrated. Believers who love truth and are Spirit-filled often become self satisfied if there is no daily cross. They fail to work out their salvation with fear and trembling. Missionaries who devour the Word and have their lives laid down for the Master’s use, but have no present experience of the Spirit, can begin to move in legalism, control or tradition.  We need the BALANCE of the three co-ordinates. The interaction of  Word, Cross, and Holy Spirit produces a kingdom lifestyle. Kingdom is where Jesus lives, moves and has His authority, over-ruling and ruling over all. The word of the kingdom (parables) is balanced by the kingdom coming upon you (power). See Matthew 13 and Luke 11: 20 – 22. The kingdom within is released by the death-friendly working of the daily cross in our lives. (Compare Luke 17: 20, 21 with 2 Corinthians 4: 7 – 18). This will be developed in a later chapter. In Matters Of Guidance Why should we be looking for the three co-ordinates in the Scripture, and in our own experience of Christian life? The word God gave to John in 1 John 5: 8 clearly confirms the rightness of our search,  “And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and these three agree as one.”  Agreement of the three co-ordinates vitally maintains our security in dangerous end-time days, when deception stalks. This acid test of discerning whether something is of God or not, should be our plumb-line. The will of God is supernaturally revealed by the Holy Spirit, is always in line with the word of God, and will contain a personal cross. The often heard “the Lord told me” must have the Spirit and the Cross to check and balance. We live in a charismatic quagmire today, where many sincere believers having been cautious of excess, have returned to denominational churches and often have limited usefulness. Paul warns us not to build again those things which God destroyed (Galations 2: 18).  Tests Of A Healthy Church Choice of church fellowship should revolve around the three co-ordinates: Is the word of God preached under the anointing of the Spirit? Is the Cross at work in the lives of the fellowship? (self-sacrifice, agape love, good works etc.) Is the Holy Spirit producing gift and ministry after Romans 12: 6 – 8 and 1 Corinthians 12: 8 – 11? After discerning whether the three co-ordinates are at work, we need to ask other questions: Does the church relate truth to the neighbourhood? Is the church related to the gospel at work in the world? Is it self supporting or always dependant on outside ministry? Can it contain friction, e.g. don’t tell next door? Will it accomodate visiting ministry? Marriage Guidance In the choice of marriage partner: do the three co-ordinates work together for the glory of God? The choice of marriage partner will determine our ministry. It is the second most important choice we make. Here is some guidance: Has God spoken it into being? Does the Holy Spirit anoint prayers together and life together? Is there a personal cross or cost in the marriage that is for the glory of God alone? The last question involves the reality of agape love. God’s kind of love will flow when there is a holy valuation in our choice. The holy valuation depends on whether we follow the western norm of falling in love, or whether we allow divine love to inform the other levels of love. Phileo love is preferring one to another, preferring Bach to Mozart, you may prefer New Labour to the Liberal Democrats. Peter preferred Jesus to anyone else before the Cross but it was him in support of the Lord. Essentially self was still on the throne of his life. It is only when phileo love has the undergirding or the informing of agape love can it give God glory. When physical passion (eros love) has the reality of agape love it will also bring a sense of the presence of God. When eros is without agape love the seed of destruction is planted. Rising divorce rates are often linked to lust in one of the partners. Essentially marriage can only work when there is a sacrificial attitude in both people. Biblical submission is a giving up of my preference in loving self-sacrifice. Clear and good communication is vital, but needs to be in love. In Conclusion The three co-ordinates properly experienced in our Christian lives will produce in the disciple who loves the Lord Jesus: Increased anointing for signs and wonders and deliverance ministry. Impartations of the glory of God to your spirit, see 2 Thessalonians 2: 14. Intelligent discipleship which includes: death to self and the division of soul and spirit so we escape soulishness (i.e. having our soul the source of operations instead of our spirit). A vital union with our Lord in the adventures of true fellowship and holy intimacy. True spiritual warfare with Him, confronting alien powers from our position of far above all principalities and power. A legitimate anointing and increased discernment of the false illegitimate anointing. No cross = No true Holy Spirit. A pure flow of the gifts of the Holy Spirit that have no human mixture as LOVE and WISDOM are also evidenced. A true sharing in the intimate fellowship of the Father and the Son. These benefits are ours for the taking on the ONE VITAL CONDITION that we make the divine agents of WORD, BLOOD AND SPIRIT our own. Make a claim on the blood of Jesus! Reckon yourself dead to sin through the Cross position of Romans 6! Live in the promises of the Word! Be filled with the Holy Spirit! Hallelujah!! If you want the FULL GOSPEL the three co-ordinates are essential. The Word of grace builds up the new creation in our spirits. The Cross and the blood of Jesus minister to our soul, making it a vehicle for heaven's life. The Holy Spirit quickens our mortal body so we may do His will. << Previous | Next >>