A Study of the Holy Spirit (6)Jim Davis
Romans 8:13-14
For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. (NIV)For most of us there is a lot of mystique about the Holy Spirit's leading hearts through regeneration. Jesus said his working is like the wind, you don't know where it came from and you don't know where it is going. (John 3:3-5) I was looking at a tree in my front yard that had lost all of its leaves in the fall and now it is pretty and green. I can't see how that can be--seemingly dead one week and budding to life the next week. It is the work of God. I know it has to do photosynthesis triggering the change, but I can't understand the mechanism that makes it work.
The same is true with the work of the Holy Spirit. I can't see what is going on in regeneration but I can see lives transformed and I know that it is done with the washing and regeneration of God's Holy Spirit. It is with God's Spirit that God raises us to a new life in Christ. The Holy Spirit is the wind beneath our wings.
Isaiah 40:25-31
"To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One. Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God"? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (NIV)I. Miraculous vs. Non-miraculous
A. Many feel compelled to reproduce the Bible miracles of the first century as proof of their salvation. They may look for some special vision from God as proof of their conversion. Churches may even require a personal testimony about a mysterious working of the Holy Spirit as proof of conversion. Others may require a person to pray until the person begins to speak in tongues. They are looking for some miraculous manifestation of the Holy Spirit as proof of conversion.
1. The Holy Spirit is not confined to doing his work only through the miraculous.
a. Creation of the world was a miracle. God spoke, Christ created the elements and the Holy Spirit gave the physical world life and the laws that would perpetuate life. We call those laws that perpetuate life in the natural world the laws of nature. The laws of nature are given by power of God to sustain our world. When God intercedes and overrides the laws of nature, such as raising the dead, or instantly stilling a storm on Galilee, we call that a miracle. It is something that can only happen by supernatural power. A miracle in essence suspends the laws of nature in a given situation. But God chooses to run our created physical world through natural laws rather than supernatural occurrences.
b. Creation of God's spiritual kingdom in Jesus Christ was a miraculous event. The dead were raised, the sun grew dark at mid-day, the apostles spoke in known languages of the world which they had never studied, etc. Christians were given special miraculous gifts to perpetuate the growth of the kingdom but all of this was done to confirm the presence and approval of God upon the Word that was being spoken. The miracles were never proof of a person's conversion, but rather every conversion took place as the recipients of the message obeyed. Conversions continue to happen today because recipients of the message obey the Word of God, which the apostles spoke and the Holy Spirit confirmed.
(1.) Some object that this limits God's power for believers. Just as God works through the laws of nature to sustain our world, he also works through the Word of God to sustain our lives. The Word of God is living and powerful. Just as God plants an acorn beneath a huge slab of granite that burst through that granite and grows into a great oak tree, so can the Word of God penetrate our hearts and resurrect us to a new life in Christ.
(2.) Many say that if you can't see it and feel it, it isn't real. When I read the book of Daniel, I see God empowering Daniel in a miraculous way to do his will. God was revealing dreams and giving the interpretations as proof to Nebuchadnezzar that Daniel's God was real. God rescued three men from a furnace of fire. Then as I read the book of Esther the name of God is not even mentioned. I do not see God speaking to Mordecai or Esther giving them any special revelation as to what they should do to save the Jews. Yet, for the person who has faith in God, he/she sees the hand of God on every page of the book of Esther. The person sees God's power at work as he works out the drama through seemingly natural means. There is no room for doubt--God's powerful presence is real although his name is conspicuously absent from the story of Esther.
(3.) To believe that God continues his work through natural means as he gives the church growth and naturally endows her with the blessings needed to carry on the work in no way diminishes the availability of his power for us today. Today we receive that power through faith in his continued work as we strive to work in harmony with the message confirmed to us by the apostles. He is here. He is real. He is at work. I can't see or feel him. But I believe in HIM. He remains as powerful as ever.
Acts chapter 12 is a beautiful chapter that shows how God is working with Christians to accomplish his will for them. Herod had just killed James and imprisoned Peter. Christians are in Mark's house praying, no doubt for God's intervention. The other scene is what is going on inside the prison as the angel is releasing Peter's chains and leading him out of the prison gates. Peter comes to Mark's house and nobody can believe that Peter is out of prison. This is true with us today, as we are praying to God about our needs; God's angels are working behind the scenes to answer our prayers. We may never see or understand fully what they are doing, but we believe they are at work and their power is real. Most of the time we are just as startled as were the first century Christians when God answers.
II. Spirit's Gifts to Equip the Saints for Ministry
A. The work of the Holy Spirit in the first century was to confirm the gospel message of salvation rather than to confirm personal conversion.
Mark 16:20
Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it. (NIV)Acts 14:3
So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders. (NIV)Romans 15:18-19
I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done--by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. (NIV)Hebrews 2:3-4
how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. (NIV)1. The message was delivered as the Holy Spirit searched the mind of God and revealed his message in words to the apostles.
1 Corinthians 2:1-13
Ephesians 3:2-5
Surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. (NIV)2. The complete system of faith was delivered once and for all. Jude recognizes that there has been a system of faith delivered for which we must contend. That system of faith was delivered once and for all time.
Jude 1:3
Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. (NIV)3. We must adhere to the Holy Spirit's revelation given through the apostles.
Galatians 1:6-9
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel--which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned! (NIV)B. The work of the Holy Spirit in the first century was to equip the saints for the work of proclaiming the gospel and ministering to the church. They were to last until the complete system of faith was revealed. They were to last until the complete knowledge of the Son of God was revealed. The miraculous works of the Holy Spirit in confirming the Word of God and equipping the saints was given until the complete system of faith was revealed by the Holy Spirit through the apostles.
Ephesians 4:8-16
This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men." (What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (NIV)III. Spirit of Prophet Subject to Prophet
Paul said, "The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets." (1 Corinthians 14:32 NIV)
A. Having the Spirit of God is no guarantee that one follows the Spirit's instructions. There were those who had the Spirit of God in both the Old Testament and New Testament that refused to teach and follow God's instructions. There was no overpowering of the Holy Spirit to make those filled obey.
1. Saul was God's anointed but he refused God's instruction.
1 Samuel 15:1-3
Samuel said to Saul, "I am the one the LORD sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the LORD. This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.'" (NIV)1 Samuel 15:10-11a
Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel: "I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions." (NIV)2. Peter preached God's instruction to Jew and Gentile concerning bringing the Gentile into the body of Christ, but he led others astray as he played the hypocrite.
Galatians 2:11-13
When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. (NIV)3. Corinthians misused their spiritual gifts.
Paul told the Corinthians who were using their spiritual gifts improperly; "The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets." (1 Corinthians 14:32 NIV) They were abusing their spiritual gifts by overriding how the Holy Spirit intended for them to be used. They were taking pride in the presence of the spiritual gifts and overlooking their intended purpose to build up the body of Christ.
We understand from these examples that it was possible for a person to be spiritually endowed by the Spirit and teach and act incorrectly.
1 Corinthians 14:37-38
If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord's command. If he ignores this, he himself will be ignored. (NIV)B. The gospel can be perverted by twisting what it teaches and refusing to live up to its precepts. The only way to test what someone is teaching is by measuring what he or she says by what the Word of God says.
1. Moses warned the Israelites about false prophets and told them how to test the prophets.
Deuteronomy 18:18-22
I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account. But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death." You may say to yourselves, "How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD?" If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him. (NIV)2. There are lying spirits. John warns us not to believe every Spirit.
1 John 4:1
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (NIV)Conclusion:
We learn the truth and receive God's power as we adhere to the word given by the apostles. The Holy Spirit works from without implanting the Word into our hearts through the message of the apostles and he works through the natural laws of his kingdom to produce growth in our lives.