THE NATURE OF THE GOVERNOR

Acts Chapter 1






Today we are walking in: The Nature Of The Governor






Joel 2:28


And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit H7307 upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:



SPIRIT




Today we look to the word-SPIRIT- H7307-RUWACH-wind; by resemblance breath, i.e. a sensible (or even violent) exhalation; figuratively, life, anger, unsubstantiality; by extension, a region of the sky; by resemblance spirit, but only of a rational being:—air, anger, blast, breath,





The Torah Testifies……………………….


Genesis 1:2


And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit H7307 of God moved upon the face of the waters.




Genesis 6:3


And the LORD said, My spirit H7307 shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.



Exodus 28:3


And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit H7307 of wisdom, that they may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office.








The Prophets Proclaim……………………….



Isaiah 31:3


Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit H7307. When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together.



Ezekiel 2:2


And the spirit H7307 entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me.




Haggai 1:14


And the LORD stirred up the spirit H7307 of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit H7307 of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit H7307 of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God,







The Writings Witness………………………..


Job 10:12


Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit H7307.



Psalm 34:18


The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. H7307



Proverbs 15:4


A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit H7307.






The Nature of the Governor


A person left to himself will self-destruct.


We have seen that the presence of the Governor is essential for transforming the world into the kingdom of heaven. It is now vital that we consider in more depth the nature of the Ruach HaQadesh because, though the Governor is the most important person on earth, he is also the most misunderstood and ignored.


People who are not yet in the kingdom don’t understand the Ruach HaQadesh’s indispensable role in their lives because they’ve been led to believe that he is mysterious and unknowable. Or they think he is a kind of apparition because of our modern connotation of the word Ruach and the use of the term Holy Ghost for Ruach HaQadesh in the King James Version of the Bible. Even people who have received the Governor have misconceptions regarding who he is. I said earlier that some think he’s a sensation or a thrill whose purpose is to make them feel good. Let’s explore the nature of the Governor beginning with what he is not.


What the Ruach HaQadesh Isn’t Not an “It”


The Ruach HaQadesh is not an “it” or a “thing.” Some people refer to him as a nonpersonal object, saying, “Do you feel it?” or “Do you have it?” The Ruach HaQadesh is a person with a personality. We will discuss more of his personal characteristics in the next section.


Not a Universal “Force” or “Cosmic Mind”


The Ruach HaQadesh is also not a kind of force or cosmic mind that we can “tap into” to receive the power and knowledge of the universe. He is not the sum total of the consciousness of the inhabitants of earth. To some people, these metaphysical ideas have become synonymous with Yah’s Ruach. However, no one can control the Ruach HaQadesh or “siphon off” his knowledge or power. Neither is he part of our consciousness. He is a distinct Being who grants us knowledge and power when we have a relationship with the King and are yielded to the will of the kingdom. Instead of demanding it or taking it for granted, we are to be grateful for the power with which he works in our lives to further the purposes of the kingdom and to strengthen us as children of the King.


Not a Cloud or Mist


Some people think of the Ruach HaQadesh as just a kind of smoke or mist or cloud that comes in to a place and sometimes causes people to fall down on the floor. I’m not saying that there aren’t legitimate times when the Ruach HaQadesh will manifest his presence in a physical way, but I believe that people who are always looking for such manifestations are susceptible to imaginings and fabrications.


Rather than referring to the Ruach as a kind of ethereal mist, Yahusha talked about the Ruach using the word he. In fact, this statement of his could not be clearer:


But when he, the Ruach of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.


Yahusha could have said, “When the Ruach HaQadesh comes.” He kept repeating the word he, however, as if he wanted to make sure we knew the Ruach HaQadesh is not just a force or cloud.


Not a Feeling or Sensation


The Ruach HaQadesh is also not just a “feeling.” Again, I think we have often relegated him to a kind of strange, goose-pimple- raising experience. I think part of the reason for this is that some people come to corporate worship experiences so pent up with frustration about their lives that, when they can’t take it anymore, but they sense an accepting environment, they run around screaming, roll on the ground, and call it the Ruach HaQadesh. They are simply releasing tension.


You don’t need to make noise to experience the Ruach HaQadesh. You don’t need loud drums and cowbells and screaming, shouting, and clapping. If you read the Bible carefully, most of the time when the Ruach manifested himself, it was in quietness, not feelings. The prophet Elijah had this experience:


A great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Most High, but the Most High was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Most High was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Most High was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”


Let me add this statement, however: The Ruach HaQadesh is not a feeling, but his presence can certainly affect your emotions as you experience his peace, joy, and comfort.


Who Is the Ruach HaQadesh? The Ruach HaQadesh Is Yah Extended


The most important thing we must know about the nature of the Ruach HaQadesh is that he is Yah. I like to use the term “Yah extended.” He is Yah extended to a person and/or situation to work the purpose and will of his kingdom in the person’s life or in the circumstance.


One with Yah


Earlier, we talked about the fact that Yahusha is fully Yah, even though he is also fully human. Yah the Son became Yahusha of Nazareth for the purpose of his redemptive task in the world. His dual nature never diminished His oneness and equality with the Father. The Scripture says that Yahusha, “being in the form of Yah, did not consider it robbery to be equal with Yah, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.”


You don’t need to grasp for something that you already have. Yahusha is equal with Yah, even though he is distinct in personality and function from Yah the Father and Yah the Ruach. The Scripture tells us that Yahusha was sent from the Father through the Ruach. The heavenly messenger told Mary, the mother of Yahusha, “The Ruach HaQadesh will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of Yah.” And Yahusha spoke of his oneness with the Father, saying, “I and the Father are one,” and “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”


The word Father in relation to Yah doesn’t mean father the way one is related to a human father, or in the sense of some- one who is “greater” or “older.” Yah is not “older” than Yahusha Hamachiach. Yahusha is eternal, as Yah the Father is eternal. Rather, the word Father refers to Yah’s being the Source from which Yahusha was sent.


Likewise, the Ruach HaQadesh is Yah, and he is equal to the Father and the Son. John wrote in his gospel, “Yah is Ruach, and his worshipers must worship in Ruach and in truth.” Yahusha spoke of the Ruach as “another Counselor” who would continue his work on earth. So Yah is one, but he expresses himself in three distinct personalities and dimensions.


Yahusha told his disciples, “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Ruach of truth who goes out from the Father....” Both Yahusha and the Ruach proceeded from the Father to accomplish the work that needed and still needs to be done on earth. Yahusha was sent by the Father to redeem us; the Ruach was sent by Yahusha to empower us. Yahusha was sent to restore us; the Ruach was sent to release us into a new kingdom life.


I like to describe the concept of the triune Yah by the analogy of water. Water, in its liquid state, is like Yah the Father; it is the natural source. If you were to take some water and freeze it, it would become solid ice. Ice is like Yahusha, the Word who became flesh; he was tangible, someone who could be seen, heard, and touched. If you were to take the same ice, put it in a pot, and heat it to boiling, it would become steam. Steam is like the Ruach HaQadesh, the invisible influence that generates power. Ice and steam can return to their original liquid state. All three are in essence water, although in different forms.


Receives the Same Honor as Yah


Another confirmation that the Ruach HaQadesh is Yah is Yahusha’ statement about the consequences of blaspheming him. “I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Ruach HaQadesh will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.” The only sin Yahusha said you can never be forgiven of is a sin against the Ruach HaQadesh. Why did he say this? I believe that he was saying it is the Ruach HaQadesh who (1) convicts people of their need to be cleansed from sin by the work of Hamachiach, and (2) who enables us to be spiritually reborn and brings us into the heavenly kingdom. Therefore, if someone totally hardens himself to the Ruach and his work, he won’t be drawn to forgiveness through Hamachiach, and he won’t be able to receive the regenerating work of the Ruach in his life.


Yahusha Hamachiach cleanses us, the Father forgives us, and the Ruach renews us. The writer of the book of Hebrews wrote, quoting Psalm 95, “As the Ruach HaQadesh says: ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.’” In other words, if you hear his voice, if you feel his conviction, if you hear him saying, “It’s time,” then do not harden your heart because there is going to come a day when he will stop calling you. The Scriptures speak about Yah as longsuffering or patient; it doesn’t say that he is forever-suffering. He will allow foolishness for a long time, but only for so long.


The term apostate refers to someone who has entered a state where he can’t hear the Ruach of Yah anymore. You don’t want the Ruach HaQadesh to stop convicting you. If the Ruach HaQadesh convicts you about your need to repent, receive forgiveness, and enter the kingdom of Yah, you should run to him! Why? Because that means you are still in good relationship with him, and he is able to talk to you. Don’t let your pride prevent you from responding because you wonder what people will say. You should rather worry that the Ruach will stop talking!


I hope that you will listen to the most important person from heaven, who is the most important person on earth! He is vastly more important than angels, which many people hope to see. Angels, however, work for the government, but he is the government.


The Ruach HaQadesh Is a Person with Qualities, Characteristics, and a Will


So the Ruach HaQadesh is first of all “Yah extended.” Second, as we have seen, the Ruach HaQadesh is a person. A person has qualities and characteristics that distinguish him from others, so that he is a separate being. The Governor has a distinct personality, characteristics, and will. As the Representative of heaven, the Resident Governor in the colony, his main desire is for us to fulfill the King’s purposes on earth.


Yahusha described the person and work of the Ruach HaQadesh, revealing at various times that among his characteristics are his abilities to teach and guide. A feeling or a force cannot be a governor. A mist can’t teach or guide. Most citizens of the kingdom have no real relationship with the Governor because they haven’t realized they have someone invaluable dwelling in them. Someone.


The Ruach Has Spiritual Senses


The Ruach HaQadesh also has “senses” that are part of his personality. By this, I mean that he has spiritual senses similar to the way human beings have physical senses. Spiritually speaking, the Ruach HaQadesh sees, hears, feels, and smells or discerns in his dealings with the earth and its inhabitants.


The Ruach Has Feelings or Emotions


Paul wrote, “Do not grieve the Ruach HaQadesh of Yah, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” We can grieve the Ruach when we actively resist him, behave in ways that are contrary to the kingdom of heaven, or neglect him.


I want to focus on the area of neglect. Think about this: When you ignore someone, he generally stops talking to you. And the more you ignore him, the more he will ignore you. For example, if you don’t acknowledge me, eventually I will come to the conclusion that I’m not important to you and that you don’t have any regard for me. Or, if you keep ignoring me when I talk to you, then, eventually, I should have a little sense to say, “He really doesn’t want to listen to me.” Yahusha said that the Ruach HaQadesh will teach us all things. I used to be a teacher in the classroom, and let me tell you, there is no worse experi- ence for a teacher than to have a group of students who have no interest in learning.


We must realize that the Ruach HaQadesh is a person who knows when we are ignoring him. If we disregard his teaching and leading, we aren’t treating him with the respect and devotion he deserves. We also miss opportunities to learn and serve in the kingdom. And it is not only we who are negatively affected by this. Suppose the Governor prompts you five times to bring food to a neighbor. Finally, he stops speaking to you about it. Two things happen: You miss a blessing, and your neighbor may go hungry.


Or suppose the Governor prompts you during the night to get up and pray for someone, but you say, “I’m tired, and I’ve had a long day, so I need to sleep.” The Ruach HaQadesh says, “Yes, but someone is in need of help, and I need a human vessel through whom to intercede because this is the way the kingdom of heaven works on earth.” You think, “That’s just my imagination; I’m tired.” So you stay in bed and no longer sense his prompting. You find out the next day that someone was in a dangerous or troubling situation, and your prayers were urgently needed.


We listen to other people more than we listen to the Ruach of Yah. We seek other people’s advice more than we seek his. Sometimes, he withdraws our sense of his presence in order to get our attention.


Some people have not heard the voice of the Ruach HaQadesh for a long time. Why? They get up in the morning and don’t acknowledge him at all before plunging into the day. They never refer to him when they make decisions, invest their finances, work at their jobs, run their businesses, or go to school. Therefore, he’s quiet toward them.


You literally have to learn to fellowship with and listen to the Ruach HaQadesh. He speaks to us through the Scriptures, through our thoughts, and through promptings and impressions. We need to practice hearing his voice and not ignore him, but acknowledge him as a person who is intimately interested in who we are what we do, and how we fulfill our role in the kingdom.


The Governor’s Nature Expressed to Us


Let us now look at how the Governor attends to us in fulfillment of his nature. The Scriptures describe and define particular roles and responsibilities of the Ruach HaQadesh on earth. Again, in all his works, the Governor acts only according to the word of the King. “The Ruach of truth,” Yahusha said, “...will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.”


Counselor and Comforter


Yahusha told his disciples,
But the Counselor, the Ruach HaQadesh, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.


And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever.


The Greek word for Counselor in both these statements is parakletos, which means “an intercessor, consoler,” “advocate, comforter.” Some Bible translations use the word “Helper.” It refers to one who comes right alongside us to assist us. Yahusha promised his followers that he would return to be with them in the person of the Governor to enable them to live the life they were called to: “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.”


I’ve heard people say, “I want to become a believer [citizen of the kingdom], but I’m not strong enough. When I have enough strength to stop doing this and start doing that, I’m going to commit to the kingdom.” These people still haven’t made a commitment because they think they have to be strong first. You may be struggling with the same issue because you’re trying to change yourself on your own. The King is telling us, “Look, if you’re going to learn kingdom culture, you need help from the home country.” Receiving the Governor into your life will enable you to change. He will show you how to transform your thinking and how to live.


Likewise, some of you are discouraged because, even though you are citizens of the kingdom of heaven, you feel as if you keep falling back into the attitudes and actions of the kingdom of darkness. But the Governor says to you, “I’m going to help you up again.” This is his job! He won’t give up on you.


Yahusha emphasized the King’s commitment to you through his analogy of a shepherd who leaves his ninety-nine sheep in the fold while he goes off to look for the one that is lost. This doesn’t give us a license to keep going back to the behavior of the kingdom of darkness. Once we’re in the kingdom of heaven, we’re not supposed to keep returning to our old ways intentionally. Some people purposely do what is contrary to the kingdom, and then they want to be automatically forgiven by the King. This does not reflect a true transformation into a kingdom citizen. If we really desire to live by heavenly standards, even though we sometimes may slip up, the Governor will help us to live them out. He wants us to succeed.


Guide and Teacher


Yahusha also said about the Governor,
But when he, the Ruach of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.


As we have seen, governors were placed in colonies not just to give information, but also to train the citizens to think, act, and live the standards, the customs—the entire culture—of the home country. This involved both general teaching and individual training.


Because the governor of a colony was sent from the throne of the sovereign, he knew the sovereign’s intent. In the same way, the Governor from heaven is the only one who can enable us to understand the truth of the statements that Yahusha made and the instructions he left for us. The Ruach HaQadesh is the only one who can reconnect us to original information about the King and his kingdom. He protects us from error and from others’ opinions that are not according to the mind of the King.


One of the jobs of a governor in a colony is to interpret for the citizens what the sovereign means by the words he delivers to them. We saw in the last teaching that the Ruach HaQadesh is called the Counselor. The word counsel has to do with one who interprets law, and the Governor reveals and explains the laws of the King to us, bringing those words to life.


The prophet Isaiah said of Yahusha, “The Ruach of the Most High will rest on him—the Ruach of wisdom and of understanding.” We, too, have this Ruach of wisdom and understanding living within us. Knowledge is information, and wisdom is how to apply it. In other words, wisdom is the proper use of knowledge. The Governor shows us how to take our knowledge and apply it to life. He is the one who makes us practical people in the world.


In some religious circles, this has been reversed. The Ruach HaQadesh is considered to be the one who makes people act in strange ways. However, the Governor couldn’t be more sensible. He shows us how to apply our knowledge to family, business, community, national, and worldwide issues.


Helper and Enabler


When the King-Son was on earth, he quoted from the prophet Isaiah concerning himself,


The Ruach of the Most High is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Most High’s favor.


When a sovereign declared what he wanted for a colony, it was the governor’s job to make sure it happened, encouraging the citizens to work toward its fulfillment. As the Ruach HaQadesh carries out the will of Yah in the world, we are to be in unity with his desires and intent for the earth in carrying out our role as vice governors over the territory. We are not here to establish our kingdoms. We are here to establish the kingdom of our Sovereign, whom we represent.


In Fulfilling the Purposes of the Kingdom


The above passage from the book of Isaiah emphasizes the focus of the kingdom on earth: telling the inhabitants about the promise of the Father, freeing them from the kingdom of darkness, and showing them the nature of the kingdom and how to enter in to it. It is the Governor who helps us to do all these things.


It is the King’s ultimate purpose, as spoken through the prophet Habakkuk, that “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Most High, as the waters cover the sea.” We can take this statement as an instruction concerning the kingdom. Again, the glory of Yah refers to the nature of Yah. Yahusha said that, under the Governor’s direction, we are to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Ruach HaQadesh, and teaching them to obey everything [Yahusha has] commanded.” In this way, the prophecy will be fulfilled.


The Governor calls upon us to bring the culture of the kingdom into the foreign culture that has taken over the earth—the culture of the kingdom of darkness. We saw earlier that to disciple means to teach kingdom philosophy and values, so that the students are immersed in the mind-set of the King. The term nations is the Greek word ethnos, referring to races or people groupings. Every special grouping of people on earth is to be converted into kingdom culture.


The royal governor of the Bahamas used to appoint local commissioners, or council people, from the colony, and he would empower them do different improvement projects, such as fixing the roads. Likewise, the Governor empowers us to do good works in the world on behalf of the government. As Paul wrote, “For we are Yah’s workmanship, created in Hamachiach Yahusha to do good works, which Yah prepared in advance for us to do.”




In Reconnecting to Our Gifts


Every human being is born with gifts from Yah, but in order for these gifts to reach their maximum potential in service for the kingdom, they need to be reconnected to their original source. No one really knows the true essence of his gifts unless he reconnects with the Ruach of the Creator. Moreover, the Governor activates our gifts to a level that we wouldn’t naturally bring them. Paul wrote, quoting the prophet Isaiah, “‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what Yah has prepared for those who love him’—but Yah has revealed it to us by his Ruach. The Ruach searches all things, even the deep things of Yah.”


The Governor reconnects you to the source of your gifts so that you can understand what you have been given—not just the value of your gifts, but also the magnitude of them. In other words, no one’s intellect alone can discern or understand the gifts that the King has placed within him for the purposes of the kingdom. This is why, if you want to know what the Ruach of Yah really created inside you, you have to connect to the Governor.


Paul also said, “We have not received the Ruach of the world but the Ruach who is from Yah, that we may understand what Yah has freely given us.” This statement tells us that we don’t even realize what we have until the Ruach HaQadesh reveals it to us. This truth is vital for fulfilling your purpose and potential. There are things about yourself that you will never know unless the Ruach HaQadesh reconnects you to the deep things in the mind of the Creator and enables you to use your gifts most effectively.


Paul likewise wrote, “The man without the Ruach does not accept the things that come from the Ruach of Yah, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” Without the Governor, we can never recognize what has been placed deep within us. We cannot know who we are without the Ruach of Yah. This is why many of us are living far below our potential.


We should note here that there are gifts we are born with and additional gifts that we are given when we receive the Ruach. I believe there is a distinction between these two types of gifts, and we’ll talk more about “gifts of the Ruach” in coming teachings. However, the gifts I’m referring to here are the gifts you were born with to fulfill a specific purpose on earth for the kingdom. And the Ruach HaQadesh empowers us to execute these gifts. This empowerment is not necessarily to give us the ability to do them because that ability already exists within us. Rather, he empowers us by revealing them to us fully and even introducing us to gifts we didn’t even know we had. Moreover, he shows us how to use them for the kingdom rather than for selfish purposes because the gifts our King gives us are always given to benefit other people.


Convicter


Yahusha told his disciples concerning the Governor,


When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.


The word world in the above statement is not referring necessarily to people but to a system or mind-set. It’s the system based on the kingdom of darkness that influences the behavior of humans. Therefore, it is the Governor who convicts those outside the kingdom that they need to be forgiven and connected to their Father in the heavenly government. He also convicts the citizens of the kingdom of attitudes and actions that are contrary to the nature of the kingdom. It is the Governor who works through our consciences so that we will choose to live according to kingdom standards.


We should realize that the Ruach HaQadesh is not given to us to “take over” our lives. He prompts us, but he never forces us. In other words, he makes all the citizens conscious of the expectations, the standards, the laws, the regulations, and the customs of the kingdom, and he also convinces them of the benefits of these things.


The King-Father is not in the business of controlling his citizens. He wants his children to desire what he desires. He respects our wills. The Governor shows us what the Father’s will is and helps us to fulfill it as we look to him for wisdom, strength, and power.


Drawer to Yah


In accordance with being Convicter and Convincer, the Ruach HaQadesh is heaven’s divine attraction to the throne of the King. As the Governor works in people’s lives, he draws them to the Father in a gentle way. Again, he is not overbearing. The prophet Hosea gave a beautiful illustration of this approach when he recorded these words of the King to his people: “I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love.”


Communicator


A true governor would never communicate anything to the people that violated the king’s wishes. Likewise, as we have seen, the Ruach HaQadesh communicates only what comes from the heavenly throne. Yahusha said, “He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”


This statement reminds me of a practice observed when the Bahamas was still under the kingdom of Great Britain. Every year, the people would gather at Clifford Park in Nassau to hear the royal governor read a document, sent from the queen in England, known as The Speech from the Throne. To ensure that everyone heard the speech, the whole country had a holiday; everything was shut down.


The royal governor would sit in a chair, surrounded by local government officials, and he would read the mind of the queen of England for our colony. That speech became the plan and the mandate for the new year. We were gathered together to be reminded of the sovereign’s desires for the kingdom and the colony, and her expectations from the colony. It was a review of the laws, customs, and standards of the kingdom, and it also expressed her plans for the future of the colony.


Similarly, the Ruach HaQadesh regularly brings us The Speech from the Heavenly Throne as we set aside the busyness of life to listen to him. The Governor’s words will never disagree with the King’s words or bring a message that is contrary to them. He will remind us of what the King has already said and what he desires, and he will also speak prophetically of the future of the kingdom.


Sanctifier


Paul wrote to the first-century kingdom citizens in the city of Thessalonica,


From the beginning Yah chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Ruach and through belief in the truth.


As Sanctifier, the Governor helps free us from things in our lives that are contrary to the nature of the King and that diminish our capacity to maximize our gifts for the kingdom. Earlier, we saw that to be sanctified or holy means to be both pure (integrated, whole) and set apart. The Ruach HaQadesh therefore eliminates hindrances to our development and progress. It is like separating the chaff from the wheat. The chaff is no good to us. The separation involves some painful “winnowing,” but it is for our benefit. The King doesn’t want anything to stop us from fulfilling our potential and accomplishing our purpose.


The Governor also sanctifies us in the sense of setting us apart for the service of the heavenly kingdom, and for the day when the King will once more return to the earth to live forever with his people with the creation of a new heaven and earth. When the queen of England was going to visit the Bahamas, the royal governor would require everyone to prepare for it. They would have to sweep the roads, clean the lampposts, and plant trees and flowers. They even had to mow their own private yards, even though the queen would never see them. It is the Ruach HaQadesh’s job to prepare every aspect of our lives for the King’s coming.


These, then, are the major ways in which the Governor attends to us according to his nature. In the next teaching, we’ll take a closer look at the culture of the kingdom that the Governor desires to instill in us.