God’s Spirit (2)

Posted on by korgrocker

“But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.”
1 Corinthians 2:10-12 NLT

Yesterday I started with a question: in that the Bible is full of references to the third member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, but His work and presence in believers is often played down or even ignored. Why is that? We then looked at some Scriptures that took us up to that momentous day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came with tongues of fire and the sound of a rushing wind, followed by Peter’s dramatic and hard-hitting sermon that led to 3000 men being saved. In that sermon, we then read that significant verse where Peter explained what was required. Acts 2:37-38, “Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”. As we pilgrims know, if we want to be a follower of Jesus, wholeheartedly believing in Him, then two steps need to be taken and a gift from God follows. Peter made this very clear. But this is not totally prescriptive because I always think of the penitent thief on the Cross next to Jesus’, who was not baptised either in water or, apparently, in the Holy Spirit, but he was still promised a new life with Christ. And then we have Romans 10:9-10, where Paul explained, “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved“. It would therefore appear that the Holy Spirit will not automatically accompany our salvation. However, God will not withhold His gift of the Holy Spirit to anyone who asks.

What does the Holy Spirit do in each believer? We remember that God is sovereign, and He will give spiritual gifts to us through His Spirit to whom He chooses. The Bible is clear that to receive a spiritual gift, we must first experience a true conversion to become a whole-hearted believer and follower of Jesus. A worldly person will not receive any spiritual gifts, because such a person does not know the gift-Giver, God Himself. But for us pilgrims, believers in Christ, we will each have received at least one spiritual gift. 1 Corinthians 12:7, “A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other”. We, of course, take note of the purpose of the gift, and that it is not something for our benefit but for the benefit of others. As we read further down in 1 Corinthians 12, we will see some of the gifts that Paul has listed, such as wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues and interpretation. 

So, when do we receive this gift or gifts (some people receive more than one)? Most people apparently believe that the gift of the Holy Spirit is given to us at the point of our salvation. The Holy Spirit provides gifts for us as God chooses. But there are Scriptures such as 1 Timothy 4:14, “Do not neglect the spiritual gift you received through the prophecy spoken over you when the elders of the church laid their hands on you”. In this verse, Paul reminded Timothy that there was a time when he was being resourced for ministry, and a further gift was released to him through the laying on of hands by the Elders present. God also encourages us to seek His gifts, because it is through them that the Holy Spirit will enhance God’s work. 1 Corinthians 12:31a, “So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts. … “. Yesterday we read what Jesus said about gifts, “ … So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him” (Matthew 7:11). Paul wrote that we should “earnestly desire” the gifts granted graciously to us by God. There is an old saying, “if we don’t ask, then we won’t get”. But we know that being earnest means that we aren’t making a casual request, soon to be forgotten. 

An excellent example of a Holy Spirit-inspired gift can be found in the account of the healing of the lame beggar. In response to the request for money from the beggar, we read, “But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”” (Acts 3:6). The resulting miracle reverberated around the Temple and the rest of Jerusalem, and led to the severely-threatened Jewish leaders having Peter and John arrested. Another Holy Spirit miracle can be found in Acts 9:17, “So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit”. These weren’t natural events that happened. It was the power of the Holy Spirit doing miraculous works through ordinary men exercising the gifts God had given them. 

A challenging verse can be found in Ephesians 3:20, “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think”. Don’t we realise that the Holy Spirit within us is limitless in what He can achieve? Within each believer dwells the Holy Spirit, and from His work in our lives, encouraged and supplemented by the gifts He has granted to us, great things can be accomplished for God. So, what do we think? Coming back to our starting question, why do so many people downplay the potential work of the Holy Spirit in their lives? At least one denomination believes that the gifts of the Holy Spirit died out with the first Apostles, basing this conclusion on the verses at the end of 1 Corinthians 13. Others, particularly of Pentecostal persuasions, believe that the Holy Spirit and His indwelling and gifts are just as available today as they were two thousand years ago. For me personally, I believe in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and I pray earnestly for more of God in my life, His Spirit and all.

Dear Father God. You have graciously granted us many gifts, and they all start with the Holy Spirit. We are so grateful, and we praise and worship You today. Amen.

God’s Spirit (1)

Posted on by korgrocker

“But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.”
1 Corinthians 2:10-12 NLT

The Bible is full of references to the third member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, but His work and presence in believers are often played down or even ignored. Why is that? But before we draw any conclusions, we must look at some Bible verses. The first mention of the Holy Spirit is in Genesis 1:2, “The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters”. The picture here is of a world in chaos, without any sort of structure, but the Holy Spirit was present, perhaps providing an indication that no matter what is going on in the world today, regardless of the chaos and strife, regardless of the ecological concerns, and regardless of any other challenges faced by human beings, He is still present, “hovering” over what is going on. At the other end of the Bible, in the Book of Revelation, the Holy Spirit is not explicitly mentioned, but there are references to the “sevenfold Spirit before His throne” (Revelation 1:5) and in other verses that denote the presence of God’s Spirit. And in between these two Books, the Holy Spirit is mentioned many times, though more so in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was granted to various people for specific tasks, as we read in Exodus 1:3, “I have filled him with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, ability, and expertise in all kinds of crafts”. If we think about this for a moment, the craftsman in question, Bezalel son of Uri, would previously have been a slave in Egypt, working to build the pyramids demanded by the Pharaoh in power at that time. So, where else would he have acquired the skills necessary to make the Tabernacle and all inside, at God’s command, except through the power of God’s Spirit?  We read in the following two verses in Exodus, “He is a master craftsman, expert in working with gold, silver, and bronze. He is skilled in engraving and mounting gemstones and in carving wood. He is a master at every craft!”. What a transformation, from a bricklayer to a goldsmith. And then we read about King Saul in 1 Samuel 19:23, “But on the way to Naioth in Ramah the Spirit of God came even upon Saul, and he, too, began to prophesy all the way to Naioth!”. The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament was there to resource and bless individuals, and even gave them messages for the people, just as He decided. But the prophet Joel could see something else that was to come and he prophesised about the work of the Holy Spirit in “the day of the Lord” (Joel 1:15 and 2:1), bringing a time of judgement for the wicked and salvation for the repentant as we read in Joel 2:12, “That is why the Lord says, “Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning“. And then we read, “Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on servants—men and women alike” (Joel 2:28-29). The Book of Joel is remarkable in its foretelling of the future.

In the New Testament, something significant was recorded. In Mark 1:9-10, we read, “One day Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and John baptised him in the Jordan River. As Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending on him like a dove”. John saw what was happening and could sense the Holy Spirit’s presence in this God-man before him. In John 14, we see that Jesus started to prepare His disciples for what was soon to come. In John 14:16-17, we read, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognise him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you”. I wonder what the disciples made of this. Could they have started to feel a little excitement building within them? They would have known through their knowledge of the Scriptures about the Holy Spirit and the impact that He had on the saints of old. After all, Jesus’ promise wasn’t a maybe, dependant on other things, because He assured them, “But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you” (John 14:26). In one of His post-resurrection appearances, Jesus said, “ … Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:21-22). Of course, the disciples didn’t receive the Holy Spirit at this moment, but it was a reminder to them, a foretelling, of what was to come.

And then there was that momentous day that changed the course of history. Acts 2:1-4, “On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability“. No-one was left out because “everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit”. And we also note that “everyone … began speaking in other languages”. In the commotion Jews present for the Feast of Pentecost came to find out what was going on and we read, “They stood there amazed and perplexed. “What can this mean?” they asked each other” (Acts 2:12). Peter stepped forward and “shouted to the crowd”, starting with the prophecy from Joel that we read earlier. This in itself was remarkable because Peter wasn’t a Jewish scholar, well-versed in the Hebrew Scriptures. He was a rough and ready fisherman, but with two qualities – he had spent time with Jesus and had just been baptised in the Holy Spirit, who we know would bring to his remembrance what he needed to say.

The Holy Spirit came with an introduction that shook Jerusalem and started Christianity as we know it. And today He still continues His work as he hovers over the earth, ministering to believers everywhere. Can we, pilgrims, feel the presence of God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit, within us? Are we tuned into His frequency so that His messages fill our hearts and minds? If not, then we need to get before God and ask. Jesus said, “So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him” (Matthew 7:11). We pilgrims only have to ask our Heavenly Father and He will gladly answer us, graciously gifting us more and more of His Spirit.

Dear Lord God. We thank You for never leaving us as orphans, devoid of Your presence in our lives. We do not worship a distant and uncommunicative God, aloof and inaccessible. We thank You for all that You have done for us and Your work in our lives, transforming us to become more like Jesus. Amen.

Privilege and Authority

Posted on by korgrocker

“Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey Him, bringing glory to His name.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭1‬:‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Paul is making a bold statement here. Because of his position as an Apostle he claims to have a God-given authority “through Christ”. Is that an assumption on his part or does he really have a mandate? The answer is that he received a clear mandate from Jesus at their encounter on the Damascus Road (Acts 9), an encounter that was so dramatic that it totally changed his life. To the extent that in Galatians 1:1, Paul said of himself, ” …I was not appointed by any group of people or any human authority, but by Jesus Christ himself and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead.” That’s a mandate that nobody will mess with or deny him!

In today’s verse, Paul also used the word “us” rather than “me”. Paul therefore must have been writing this letter as part of an apostolic team, but the exact nature of who was in the team is lost in the mists of time. Regarding who originally established the early church in Rome, tradition has it that the foundations were laid by Christians, probably new believers, travelling there, perhaps on business, or on returning home – we do know that some Jewish visitors from Rome heard Peter’s Acts 2 sermon. (Acts 2:10). The Apostle Peter also is credited with having an influence on the nascent Roman church.

In his letter, Paul said it was a privilege to share his message, his Good News, with the Gentiles, the non-Jews, wherever he went. And he did so with every opportunity that he had at his disposal. By all accounts he was a confident and persuasive preacher, and won many an argument with the Jews he found in places he visited. But his real heart, his real mission, was to see the Gentiles converted to be followers of Jesus. And that to him was a privilege. Notice that his message wasn’t to tell the Gentiles what God had done for him, but what God had done for them. A difference in emphasis, but one we should note because it makes the sharing of the Good News more personal and relevant.

This verse finishes with the goal of Paul’s message to the Gentiles – “that they will believe and obey Him, bringing glory to His name.” Paul’s aim was not to have a cosy chat about theology with a few like-minded people. He was fired up with an urgency to get people into God’s Kingdom, and in the process, giving God the glory.

As we read this verse, we note that Paul said he was an Apostle. But surely the job description he wrote was more that of an Evangelist. The two roles can overlap but, as we see in many places throughout Paul’s letters, his heart was in establishing and nurturing churches, an Apostle’s goal.

We pilgrims too, in a sense, are Apostles and Evangelists in that we are tasked with serving our Master, Jesus, in sharing the message of the Good News of what God has done for us. It is important that we follow up our testimonies with encouraging new believers to become part of a Bible-believing, God-fearing, local church. And if there’s not one, then perhaps we should start one. That was how the early church was established. We read in Acts 2:46, “They worshipped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity”. Jesus confirmed such an approach when He said in Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them”. If Jesus is with us, we cannot fail! Today, we call such Christian gatherings house churches. Not a modern phenomenon at all – the concept was well established before our ornate and vast church buildings and cathedrals were built.

So, pilgrims everywhere, go for it! “What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?” (Romans 8:31). Who indeed! In Acts 2 there was a day when the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the early disciples caused absolute mayhem. People came running to find out what was going on. And at the end of Peter’s sermon we read, “Those who believed what Peter said were baptised and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all“. But before we talk down such events, we must remember that Peter was just a fisherman. Not a learned Bishop, or professor of theology. He was nobody special except for one thing – he had met Jesus. We pilgrims have met Jesus too. Haven’t we?

Dear Father God. We thank You for all You have done. We thank You for extending Your grace and love to all mankind. We reach out to You today, in praise and worship. Amen.