Next LevelThe Holy Spirit

What is Next Level and how do I use this study guide?

What is Next Level?

Next Level is our attempt to bring together the four key components of spiritual transformation (Word, Worship, Inner Life and Missional Living) and putting them all into the context of community. We are to be the church, that is, we are to be the body, the presence of Jesus Christ here in the Chagrin Valley. But, how does that happen?

In the past, we have offered these components in separate form. One might come to a Sunday morning class or a mid-week class for the Word. One might come to the Sunday morning service for Worship. Maybe in a community group, a person might cultivate the Inner Life. And then, maybe they got involved in an outside-the-walls ministry or went on a local, national or international missions trip.

The problem with that model is that it separates these four areas and compartmentalizes our spiritual growth. The reality is that these four components are overlapping and interdependent. We learn the Word by studying, but also by applying it in ministry. Our Worship comes from seeing God empower our participation in His big plan to save the world and from a heart that is being shaped by the practice of prayer and humility. Who we are and who we want to become gives us fodder for intensive prayer, but it also calls to act missionally.

The four components of spiritual formation are a lot like a mouse trap. You need all the parts working interdependently to catch a mouse (the end-goal of a mouse trap). You cannot start with a plank of wood, catch a few mice, then add a spring and catch a few more, etc… You need a plank of wood and a spring and a bar and a catch all at the same time if you want to catch even a single mouse. The same is true of spiritual formation. The end-goal is to be like Christ to a lost and dying world. But, how does that happen? You cannot start with Bible study and grow enough to then add prayer down the road (and then grow some more and then add ministry further down the road). These pieces fit together and work together.

That is why we are calling Next Level a “transformational experience”; because it IS intensive Bible study, but it does not stop there. We do this study and reflect on its meaning for our lives. We listen to God’s word for times of introspection and prayer. We also intentionally plan how to implement God’s Word into our lives for specific ministry opportunities. And then, as God’s Spirit begins to move in us as a community, we know better how to worship God in Spirit and truth.

Next Level is an attempt to be holistic about our spiritual transformation!

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Week 1- How the Holy Spirit fits into the overall plan of God (The return of His presence)

Word

I. This is an overview of the redemption plan of God. After covering some basics, we will return to the issue of how the Holy Spirit fits into the overall picture of God’s work in redeeming creation.

A. God and Creation- How it is supposed to be

The Bible opens up at a very “happy place” starting with the creation of the heavens and the earth. The world is ordered, functioning just the way it is supposed to function. At the peak of His creation, God creates human beings as the primary objects of His love; image-bearers whose presence declare God’s rulership. God’s presence is unhindered with people. The creation is very good.

At the end of the Bible, God brings about a “new” heaven and earth (Rev. 21:1); order, function and peace have been restored. He has restored the broken relationship between Him and His image-bearers and His presence is unhindered again (21:3-4, 22-23). The tree of life is restored to humans and the curse is removed (22:2-3). It is “very good” again.

But somewhere between start and finish, things got turned upside-down. We find ourselves in the middle of God’s redemption story. From the beginning, God created the universe to function in such a way as to give Him glory, to enjoy the connection with human beings, to demonstrate grace.

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B. The Fall of humanity and the new plan

But early on, we decided that we could be God and sent this universe into a tailspin. The Fall created a disequilibrium that broke down not just the connection with God, but creation itself (Rom. 8:19-22). The world no longer functions as it was intended. But God, starting in Genesis 3 puts into place a plan of restoration- for people, for the world, for His glory. It is a restoration project to bring back to perfection what was lost and to restore the presence of God with His people and His creation.

C. Forming a community to birth a King

Through a series of defined relationships (“covenants”), God began to move His creation back to restoration. A covenant with Abraham promised a “seed” (singular- see Gal. 3:16) through which all of the families of the earth would be granted new favor (Gen. 12:1-3). A covenant through Moses to the nation Israel created an entire kingdom of go-betweens (Ex. 19:5-6), a community where God’s presence would dwell and one that was shaped by His Law. With David and his dynasty, God set up a representative relationship. In other words, as God related to the king, so He related to the people (Ps. 89:27-29; cf. Ex. 4:22). The presence of God at this point is with the people (Deuteronomy 23:14), but He is all but unapproachable due to His lethal holiness (see Lev. 10:1-3; 16:1; 2 Sam. 6:6-7).

Finally, a new covenant established an entirely new relationship and new community in which sins were permanently forgiven, hearts were transformed and the Law was replaced by the empowering of the Holy Spirit (Jer. 31:31-34; Eze. 36:25-27; 37:24-28; 2 Cor. 3:6). The gospel is the culmination of these promises. It is the beginning of making all things new!

D. God with Us- Act 1

That is why the “gospel of the kingdom” (Matt. 4:23; 9:35) is more than disciple-making. It is light shining in the darkness (Gen. 1:2 John 1:5; 2 Cor. 4:6; Col. 1:13), it is the recovery of the community, the healing of diseases, the casting out of demons, the control of nature coming back under God’s authority (Mark 4:35-41). God’s redemptive plan starts with salvation for lost human beings, but it certainly does not end there. The plan, the overarching storyline of the Bible, is the renewal of all things- human hearts (Jer. 31:31-34), heaven and earth (Isa. 65:17), relationships (2 Cor. 5:18), culture, ethics, recreation, art, music, sex, etc…(1 Cor. 15:27). That is God’s big plan- the restoration of His rulership over the universe AND (once again) through the agency of human beings, His image-bearers, to demonstrate once again His lordship over all. And it starts with the presence of God, the incarnation, Immanuel (“God WITH us”). Jesus, God in the flesh, walks among humanity, He teaches them, He heals them…and ultimately He dies to pay

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for their sins once for all. The presence of God takes on a whole new dimension in the life of Christ (see Deut. 18:15-18 Acts 3:17-26).

E. God with Us- Act 2

Since it is the very presence of God that ties Genesis to Revelation (and everything in-between), one of the most important aspects of the church is being the new temple, God’s presence on this planet. God has been in the process of restoring His presence amongst people ever since human beings were evicted from the garden. Beginning with dreams and visions, God transported His presence to a “Holy of holies”- inside a tabernacle, a portable tent that accompanied Israel. The presence of God then moved from mobile tabernacle to stationary temple- still in a virtually unapproachable “sacred space”. After God’s Spirit left His temple (Ezek. 8-11), God’s presence appeared again in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, empowered by the Holy Spirit and reversing the effects of the curse wherever He went. Indeed, Jesus was the unique reality of God’s sacred space, infinitely more awesome than any burning bush or throne room theophany. But, after Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension, God’s Spirit returned yet again to indwell and empower this new aspect of His presence- His church, the body of Christ, the temple of God (John 14:16-20; 1 Cor. 3:9, 16). As Christ’s body, the church is the reality of God’s purpose to reconnect with people, to restore what was broken, to establish God’s authority against a rebel system. The Holy Spirit is an expansion on the promised presence of God among people!!

F. Forming a NEW community to advance the King’s rule

God has always had a community to serve Him- even in the beginning (“It is not good that the man should be alone”- Gen. 2:18). Whether it was one couple serving God in the garden, a family of 12 in Canaan and then in Egypt or a nation, an entire kingdom of priests (go-betweens) in the 12 tribes of Israel or whether it was 12 fishermen led by a carpenter-turned-itinerant-preacher, God has used a community of faith to be the agency of worship, redemption and transformation. Israel was to have been the vehicle for establishing and furthering God’s new kingdom initiative, but when she rejected her own King, God turned to a remnant (Isa. 10:21-22; Mic. 2:12-13; Rom. 9:27-33; 11:5), a true “Israel” from within Israel (Gal. 6:16). The church is God’s new community of faith, the new temple, God’s new presence with human beings. The church is God’s body- His hands and feet. It is His extension of compassion and grace and restoration to a world bent on global-wide suicide. It is His means to bring about rulership again- one heart at a time. And it is a community that is shaped by the Spirit instead of the Law (2 Cor. 3:6-18).

G. Bringing all things under the rule of God

In order to do this, the church is the recipient of a new, abundant life. And it is this life that the church shares with the world. This new community becomes fully functioning and spiritually healthy when it is fulfilling its call to share the overflow of this life.

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II. So what is the purpose of learning about the work of the Holy Spirit?

A. It helps us learn to identify when the Spirit is at work

1. Is the Spirit at work in church growth? Some have assumed that large churches evidence the work of the Spirit, and certainly we see the church drawing in many throughout the book of Acts (Acts 2:47; 4:4; 5:14; 6:1, 7; 9:31; 11:21, 24; 14:1). But, can we attribute large numbers to man-made efforts? The answer is “yes”. So are numbers unquestionably indicative of the work of the Spirit. No. It may be the Spirit, but it may also be our efforts. Numbers alone don’t tells us whether we are witnessing the work of the Spirit!!

2. Is the Spirit at work in signs and wonders? Others have suggested that miracles, healing, speaking in tongues, prophecy and other astounding behaviors or events are clear indications of the Spirit’s work. And surely we see this in the Scriptures (Luke 4:17-21; Acts 3:1-10). But, does not Satan have His counterfeits also? (Acts 8:9-11; 16:16; 2 Cor. 11:13-15; Rev. 13:3-4, 13-15). So, shall we conclude that every amazing, unusual, even miraculous event is a sign of the Spirit’s work? Again, we can not say that is true absolutely.

3. Is the Spirit at work in church votes? Some conclude that church votes are led by the Spirit and when the body comes together and votes, we see the work of the Spirit. But, do we typically see the voice of the Spirit in the majority vote? And what of the things the church gave approval to that would run counter to the basic plan of redemption (e.g. The Crusades, churches that rallied behind Hitler, etc…). Votes are votes. Sometimes the Spirit can guide and sometimes it is who rallied the political beast the hardest.

4. Is the Holy Spirit limited to the pages of the Bible? Sometimes we move the opposite direction and only experience the Holy Spirit vicariously through the characters in Scripture. Thus, we experience the Spirit as a matter of history, or perhaps we feel a zing from a passage (even if it is taken completely out of context). And while there is no doubt that the “sword of the Spirit” is the Word of God (Eph. 6:17) and that it pierces our inner-being with conviction (Heb. 4:12), is it true that every time we read about the Spirit, that is basically it? Or do we necessarily experience the power of the Spirit because we read a passage and felt our stomach rumble?

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These kinds of questions point to our uncertainty about what we really know about the Holy Spirit. The last question should not nullify the fact that the primary way for us to come to a better understanding of who the Holy Spirit is, is through a comprehensive understanding of Him through biblical instruction. Indeed, knowing who God is can be a debilitating experience when we ponder just how infinite infinity really is, especially compared with how finite we are. It will take God to reveal God. Reason, philosophy, logic- they all fall woefully short.

“We have now received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit of God Himself, so that we can understand something of God’s generosity towards us. It is these things that we talk about, not using expressions of the human intellect, but those which the Holy Spirit teaches us, explaining spiritual things to those who are spiritual.”

- 1 Corinthians 2:12-13 (Phillips’ translation)

And what this passage says specifically is that these people who are “spiritual” are in actuality the people of the Spirit.1 It is the Holy Spirit who takes the word of God and then explains it to the people of the Spirit. It takes God to reveal God!! That is what the Holy Spirit does. He reveals God to us.

So, if these things are not necessarily the demonstrations of the work of the Spirit, what is? The answers are found in Scripture.

Where God is revealed through Jesus Christ, there the Holy Spirit is at work!! There are a lot of things that we can conclude about God, ourselves and our world by using basic logic. We can conclude that this world was created by God to reflect His power (Rom. 1:19-20). We can conclude that God exists by virtue of the created order. We can even conclude that whoever this God is, we broke His laws (Rom. 2:14-15). But, we could not ever reach the conclusion that God would envelope Himself in humanity, die on a cross for us and pay our ransom and create an avenue to redeem all those who trust in Him. That is a mystery and ONLY the Holy Spirit can awaken us to that reality (1 Cor. 2:6-13). If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, it is because the Holy Spirit first opened your eyes to God and His love for you!!

Where character is shaped to reflect Jesus’ character, there the Holy Spirit is at work!! The contrast in Galatians 5 is between the “deeds of the flesh” and the “fruit of the Spirit”. And when the Bible says “flesh” in this context, it is using a metaphor that means our “little inner-control freak” that serves the individual. No wonder those deeds consist of community-fracturing habits (e.g. “enmities, strife, jealousy…disputes, dissensions, factions…” [Gal. 5:19-21]) among the

1 Thiselton, Anthony C., NIGTC- The First Epistle to the Corinthians, pub. by Eerdmans, 2000, pp. 264-65

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other me-centered sins!! In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit are reflections of the character of Christ (e.g. “love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…” [Gal. 5:22-23]) that build relationships and community. Walking by the Spirit, as Paul states, is to kill the inner-control freak and cultivate the virtues that acknowledge Jesus as Lord.

Where there is unity in the purpose and worship of Jesus, there

the Holy Spirit is at work!! In Philippians 1-2, Paul exhorts the believers at the church in Philippi to be of one mind and one spirit (1:27) and challenges them again with, “if there is any fellowship of the Spirit…then make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose” (2:1-2). Unity does not mean ignoring blatant sins. In 1 Corinthians 5, the church separates itself from one man because of his unrepentant sin. Nor does doctrine get sacrificed for the sake of unity. In Ephesians 4, the believers are called to preserve the “unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (4:3). That unity is spelled out in Ephesians 4:4-6, where it is “one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father…”. But, true unity in purpose, faith, and direction, rooted in the person and work of Jesus of Nazareth, is a clear demonstration of the work of the Spirit.

Where there is true “holiness”, there the Holy Spirit is at work!! Just as we call the Spirit of God the Holy Spirit, we should expect that God will utilize Him in such a way as to make us holy, set apart, sanctified, etc…as both individuals and as communities (see Lev. 11:44, 45, Rom. 12:1; 2 Cor. 7:1; Eph. 1:4; 5:25; 1 Thes. 4:3, 7; 5:23; 1 Pet. 1:15, 16).

“In relation to God, holiness takes the form of a single-minded passion to please by love and loyalty, devotion and praise. In relation to sin, it takes the form of a resistance movement…As Jesus was law incarnate, so he was love incarnate, and following his way of self-giving is holiness in its purest and most perfect expression. Hard, harsh, cold-hearted holiness is a contradiction in terms.”2

To sanctify a person, that is, to make him (or her) a person specially designed to serve Christ and ethically distinct from the world’s standards is the primary meaning of the Spirit’s work in sanctification (1 Thes. 4:7-8; 2 Thes. 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2).

“The calling of God is not to impurity but to the most thorough purity, and anyone who makes light of the matter is not making light of a man’s ruling but of God’s commands. It is not for nothing that the Spirit God gives us is called the Holy Spirit.”

- 1 Thes. 4:7-8 (Phillips’ translation)2 Packer, J.I., Keeping in Step with the Spirit, pub. by Revell, 1984. pp. 96-97, 114

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Where there is true conversion, there the Holy Spirit is at work!! Paul makes it clear to the Corinthian church that their existence was not a result of clever speaking skills or philosophical sophistication (1 Cor. 2:1), but with a weak message; a message about a crucified Messiah. In fact, the preaching of Paul, by his own testimony, was “not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God” (1 Cor. 2:4-5). That is the power of the Spirit!! Indeed, when there is a strong enthusiasm for evangelism, the Spirit is at work!! Mark only mentions the Holy Spirit as He relates to Christians in one passage in which the Spirit empowers believers to bear witness at the end times (Mark 13:9-13). But, primarily we see the Spirit’s empowerment in evangelism in the infamous passage in Acts 1:8 where the Spirit empowers the disciples to witnesses to ever-expanding concentric circles of influence (and the subsequent story of Pentecost). Michael Green notes that the conversion of Cornelius (Acts 10) mentions the Holy Spirit three separate times to emphasize the Spirit’s initiative into this man’s conversion.

“Luke does not teach us that the apostles initiated mission. They sat quietly in Jerusalem until the Spirit came upon them at Pentecost; then they could not keep quiet about the mighty deeds of God…the initiatives of evangelism were always those of the Holy Spirit.”3

Where Jesus, in particular, is the object of worship and the recipient of our service, there the Holy Spirit is at work!! Many have suggested that the universal work of the Holy Spirit in convicting the world of sin and righteousness and judgment implies that the Holy Spirit also works through other religions and, to the best that that particular religion can cooperate, lead those adherents to a knowledge of God. And while it is true that the Holy Spirit does do the work of convicting in the world, He is ultimately enabling people to cry out the words, “Jesus Christ is Lord” (1 Cor. 12:3). We should note that the Spirit in the Old Testament was an extremely vague Person; almost a shadow. Michael Green refers to the Holy Spirit’s presence during the period of history in the Old Testament as the “diffused, little-defined, fitfully manifested and sometimes sub-personal presence”4 that became localized and embodied in the Person of Jesus. Indeed, the Spirit seems so evasive in Scripture because His job is to point people back to Jesus Christ and not occupy the center stage! It is thus incredulous to believe that any religious enlightenment that happens apart from a direct connection to Jesus of Nazareth- crucified, resurrected, Lord- is the work of the Holy Spirit (John 15:26; 16:13-14). And such specific identification of Jesus as Lord, which is the work solely of the Spirit (we could never come to that conclusion on our

3 Green, Michael, I believe in the Holy Spirit (revised), pub. by Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1985, p. 764 Green, p. 59

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own!! 1 Cor. 2:8-12), will lead to service that is undeniably the work of the Spirit as well!! It was the Spirit who worked in the life of Jesus to be the Suffering Servant that He came to the world to be, and it is that same Spirit that abides now in us- calling us to serve Jesus Christ and, in fact, suffer for Him as well (Acts 4:29-31)!!

B. It helps us learn how to cooperate with the work of the Spirit

If we understand a little better where and when we see the Holy Spirit truly at work, we will then be able to understand how to cooperate with Him and become better conduits of His power. It is not enough to merely know when the Spirit is working. Knowledge must be a prompt for action!! So then, if we know that the Spirit is at work for:

Developing character…then we would find ourselves in cooperation with Him as we commit to growing in a community where there is accountability and prayer and Bible study and spiritual disciplines.

Unity…then we will be people who use biblical methods for resolving conflict and we would be seeking reconciliation as much as possible.

Worship…then we would be learning to cultivate a sense of awe and wonder of God through Jesus Christ, whether it involved learning to be quiet before God to meditate on the cross, or finding those times and places where we feel closest to God in order to develop a sense of His presence.

Holiness…then we would ask the Spirit to take inventory of who we are, what we are really striving for and allow Him to clean house, so to speak.

Outreach…then we would place ourselves in situations and circumstances where we could reach out to others with the message and compassion of Christ, and see what the Spirit does with our feeble attempts.

Utilizing the gifts He distributes…then we both venture to discover and employ the gifts we now have and pursue gifts that are needed for ministry.

C. It helps us to jettison a functional Deism

One of the biggest problems in today’s Western culture is that we have become so “enlightened” by the premises of science, history, philosophy, etc… that even as Christians, we operate more like deists. Deism is a system of belief that says that God created the world and then stepped back and no longer intervenes. It is somewhat akin to a practical atheism. “Sure, God exists, but you’ll never see Him or experience Him.” For all intents and purposes, both deism and atheism see no point in an active, present God. Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin are two of the most noteworthy deists in American History.

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But, in many ways, Christians have adopted this idea that we live in a closed system- “Sure God CAN heal…but He probably won’t.” Our prayers are very stale and generic. When we ask for something, we usually nullify that very request with a theology that gives God an out if He says “no”, thus alleviating us from any guilt for wondering if God really cares or if He is even there. Roc Bottomly writes of an experience while he was attending seminary. During a discussion in a class with 11 students and the professor, they were studying Luke 5:1-11 in which Jesus meets the disciples after an all-night fishing expedition that turned up nothing. Jesus uses one of the boats that morning to preach from and then instructs the disciples to let down their nets. Lacking any faith because reason and logic said that the fish aren’t biting at that time of the day, they nevertheless (hesitantly) obey only to bring aboard so many fish that it almost sinks the boat. As the class discussion progressed, however, no one was making the connection between the miraculous and the building up of faith in the disciples.

“The minutes ticked by, and I became increasingly restless. We talked about how the people crowded around Jesus and His amazing ability to connect with common men and women. We observed that His speaking from the boat revealed His determination to allow all to hear His priceless message. We discussed the futility of the disciples’ self-effort in their all-night fishing venture… But, we never mentioned the connection between the disciples’ supernatural experience and their leap of total devotion… Finally, I spoke up, ‘Do any of you see the real point here? Jesus created this supernatural incident so the disciples would believe more deeply.’ My voice rose with excitement, ‘We’ve got to help people experience God!’… I sat back, anticipating a lively discussion on how we might see God and help others do the same. Silence. At last, our professor, sitting next to me, mercifully intervened to end the awkward pause. ‘Well’, he gently injected, ‘expecting experience with God can easily lead to disappointment, disillusionment, and people losing their faith.’”5

The study of the Holy Spirit should be part of the remedy to this “good-as-it-gets” Christianity that would rather hedge its bets than risk knowing God and experiencing something wonderful, fearsome and category-altering!

III. What are we going to cover over this course?

A. We will look at the Holy Spirit’s work in the Old and New Testament- We will cover what the major shifts are between the work of the Spirit in both Old and New Testament. What does the Spirit do in the Old Testament? For whom? Why? How does Paul or the gospel writers now see the work of the Holy Spirit?

B. We will look at how the Holy Spirit helps us in our spiritual journey- What does it mean to be molded and shaped by the Spirit? To walk in the Spirit? How do we

5 Bottomly, Roc, The Promised Power, published by Navpress, 2005, pp. 41-42

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move beyond the clichés and really understand how we live in such a wide-open space?

C. We will look at some of the controversies surrounding the Holy Spirit- Are tongues for today? What about miracles and healing? What about being baptized in the Spirit? Does the book of Acts tells us what to expect or does it merely describe what happened in the early church?

D. We will look at how the Spirit empowers the ministry and how He helps us in the midst of spiritual warfare- How does the Spirit shape and direct His church? What are some of the ways we can learn to follow the Spirit’s lead? What does spiritual warfare look like and how does the Spirit aid us in this war?

Worship

Paul admonishes the members of the church in Philippi about rejoicing in the Lord while protecting themselves from those that would sabotage their freedom in Christ. Joy, then, is a safety rail, a protection from a life that could potentially be drained of true worship. And that worship is a “worship in the Spirit” and a “boasting6 in Christ Jesus” that places no confidence in human piety.

“Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you again is no trouble to me and it is a safeguard for you. Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision; for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.”

- Philippians 3:1-3

Thus, we might conclude from this passage that joy in the Lord, worship and glorifying Christ are all orchestrated by the Spirit.

Describe a time (or times) when you have felt moved to worship Jesus in a spontaneous and unchoreographed manner. What were the circumstances around that moment? Did you realize that that was the Spirit of God moving in your life?

How do you think joy safeguards us from false piety or judgmentalism? Are there ways to create an environment of joy that gives the Holy Spirit greater access to your life? If

6 Bruce, F.F., New International Biblical Commentary- Philippians, pub. by Hendrickson, 1989, p. 105. This word in the Greek- kauxomenoi- means “boasting”. Paul is almost certainly alluding to Jer. 9:23-24 in which the Septuagint renders the Hebrew hallel (“praise”) with kauxastho.

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yes, what are they and how do you think the Spirit would respond?

Inner-Life

Spiritual disciplines are simply exercises intended to give the Holy Spirit greater access into our lives. If you have trained yourself to hold your tongue through the spiritual discipline of silence, the Spirit may be given freedom to move you into a position that will require a steadiness and a listening spirit.

Once a day, each day this week, commit to reading one psalm starting in Psalm 61 and going on to Psalm 67. After reading it, in silence (no TV, cellphones, people, etc…) take 20 minutes to meditate on a verse and to listen for the voice of God. If it helps, jot down any thoughts, prayers or questions for each time.

Psalm 61:

Psalm 62:

Psalm 63:

Psalm 64:

Psalm 65:

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Psalm 66:

Psalm 67:

Missional Living

Commit yourself to one act of kindness this week. Write down a few ideas below before the class is over and pick one. Afterwards, listen to what God might want to tell you after the act of kindness. He may want to encourage you to be more consistently like that. He may want to point out an attitude problem (e.g. do you need to publicize your good deeds? Was there someone you did not want to show kindness to?, etc…). Allow the Spirit to not only guide you in the act, but to take that moment and shape your character.

Week 2- The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

The tricky thing about the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament is that He is even more elusive than in the New Testament. In fact, the term “Holy Spirit” only appears three times in the entire Old Testament (Isa. 63:10, 11 and Ps. 51:11). Nevertheless, we do see “the Spirit of the Lord” also orchestrating God’s plans on the pages of the Old

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Testament text. What we find is that the Spirit is involved in creation- not just Creation, but also in the creativity of worship, architecture and art for the dwelling place of God. We will find the Spirit empowering the people of God in many strange and unusual ways- ecstatic speech (1 Sam. 9), prophecy (Mic. 3:7-8), warfare (Jud. 6:34), administration (1 Sam. 16:13), etc… There are also a cluster of passages that hint at a coming Messiah and the role that the Spirit plays in both His messenger and in the New Covenant relationship that He establishes through this Messiah. Thus, we see an OT understanding of the Spirit’s work as laying the groundwork for understanding His work in the NT. Word

I. The Holy Spirit’s role in creation

A. Genesis 1:1-2

The very first words in the Bible hint at the work of the Triune God- God [Father] spoke [His Word- Jesus] creation into existence and the Spirit hovered over the primordial waters. Some have objected that this statement in Genesis 1:2…

“The earth was formless and empty, and darkness was upon the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.”

…does not suggest an introduction to the Holy Spirit since the word in Hebrew (ruach, jWr) also means “wind”. But this argument does not hold up. Inanimate forces like wind blow. They do not hover. In fact, in another very similarly worded passage, we find in Deuteronomy 32:11 that the use of this word “hovering” applies to a living being. In this case, it is the LORD who hovers over His people “like an eagle that stirs up its nest that hovers over its young.”

But, what of this passage? What should we understand about the Holy Spirit’s participation in the creation of the universe? In this particular passage, we see that the Holy Spirit’s arrival is one of motion. And this motion is one that brings about change.

“The movement of God’s ‘Spirit’ indicates that the creative forces for change commence with God’s presence.”7

One thing that we can note is that the presence of the Spirit does not allow for static and stagnant. Instead, His arrival means change. In creation, it is change from “formless and empty”, chaotic and uninhabitable to formed, filled, ordered, ready to be inhabited. That work in creation is far from what the Spirit does in a life as well! Taking what is messed up, chaotic and 7 Mathews, Kenneth A., New American Commentary- Genesis 1:1-11:26, pub. by Broadman & Holman, 1996, p. 131

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shattered and reforming it, re-ordering it and renovating it, is exactly what the Spirit does!

B. Psalm 104:27-31

The psalmist works his way through the amazement of His creation in this “praise psalm”. And when he arrives at verses 29-30, we see that the Spirit is the One who sustains life and creates it anew from the dust.

“Day by day, season by season, year by year, from age to age, the Spirit of God is there, sustaining and renewing the earth. God the Creator, God the provider- both are truths that the Bible links with the Holy Spirit.”8

This psalm sees the Spirit of God as the active member for bringing life and sustenance to all the earth, in stark contrast to pagan notions.9 It is interesting to note that in the Jewish tradition, this psalm was sung on the morning of Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement or the Day of Decontamination), as a pledge that new life will emerge out of penance and sorrow.10 This traditional usage of Psalm 104 suggests that the Spirit operates to bring life upon confession and repentance. And this idea of “new creation” in tandem with repentance is consistent with what we see in the New Testament (2 Cor. 5:17).

So we see that the Spirit’s work in creation, while veiled, peers out from behind the curtain in the Old Testament. Indeed, it is not coincidence that the Holy Spirit again appears in the context of God’s new creation in Romans 8! It is the Spirit who frees us from sin and death (Rom. 8:2). It is the Spirit who empowers us to walk in this new life (Rom. 8:4-9). It is the Spirit who raises Jesus from the dead as a precursor to His work in us (Rom. 8:11-14). It is the Spirit who testifies to our own inner-being that we are children of God in Christ in this midst of anxiously longing for the new creation (Rom. 8:16-23).

As one writer put it,

“The Holy Spirit who lives in you if you are a child of God through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, is the Spirit of God who hovered over the very beginning of God’s creation as it was spoken into existence.”11

8 Wright, Christopher, J.H., Knowing the Holy Spirit through the Old Testament, pub. by IVP, 2006, p. 219 Kidner, Derek, Tyndale Old Testament Commentary- Psalms 73-150, pub. by IVP, 1973, p. 372. Kidner suggests a possible link between this passage that notes when the Spirit of God leaves, death occurs. When He arrives, life occurs. In the Egyptian mythos, Akhenaten’s praise of the sun sound strikingly similar, “When you have risen, they live. When you set, they die.” This might suggest that this psalm is a polemic against such false beliefs about creation by offering the Spirit’s work in contrast to Amon-Re.10 Schaefer, Konrad, Berit Olam- Psalms, pub. by the Liturgical Press, 2001, p. 25811 Wright, p. 34

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If we can grasp the awesome might that goes into the creating and sustaining of every molecule in the universe, we can perhaps get an inkling of the kind of power that has taken up residence in our own bodies.

II. The empowerment of the Holy Spirit

A. The purpose of God’s empowering presence- in the Law of Moses

The names Bezalel and Oholiab should mean more to us than most people give attention to, since they are the first two individuals in the Bible to be described as being empowered by the Spirit.

“Now the LORD spoke to Moses saying, ‘See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge and in all kinds of craftsmanship, to make artistic designs for work in gold, in silver and in bronze…And behold, I Myself have appointed with him, Oholiab…” (Ex. 31:1-4, 6, see also Ex. 35:30-35).

Notice what they were empowered to do! They were to create and fashion the tabernacle and its utensils. In other words, the Spirit of God is empowering these two men (the first in the Bible to be described as being “filled with the Spirit of God”) to create a dwelling place for God among human beings!! There is a progression in the work of the Spirit’s creative efforts. The Spirit was at work in the created order (where God would dwell with human beings) and now He is at work in the creation of the tabernacle and temple. Some have speculated that the meaning of the designs of both tabernacle and temple were to reflect creation itself. And this is reflected as well in John’s description of the new heavens and earth in Revelation 21:22-22:5.

Creative efforts of the Holy SpiritCreation Tabernacle Temple Church (all of them are dwelling

places for the presence of God!!)

So, it is not coincidental when we see that the church is called the “temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 3:16; Eph. 2:19-22), as in- the place that the Holy Spirit created in order for God and humans to dwell together. One might say that one of the Spirit’s primary jobs is to create and purify places for the presence of God to dwell with people. So, when we see the Spirit sanctifying a person and making them a “temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 6:19), he is being consistent with His work throughout the Bible.

But, the most important passage in the Pentateuch involving the work of the Holy Spirit is found in Numbers 11. In this passage, Moses has to put down a rebellion among the people just three days journey from Mount Sinai. A rash of complaining has broken out in the camp and Moses’ frustration reaches a boiling point. He goes to God with his own complaint about the people, to

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which God responds by offering to take some of the Spirit’s empowerment on Moses and give it to 70 of the elders in order to share the burden of the people (11:17). Now, as Moses complies to God’s commands to rendezvous at the Tent of Meeting with these 70 elders, YHWH does indeed take some of the power of the Spirit on Moses and distribute it. The result is a one-time demonstration of this empowerment by prophetic utterances (11:24-25). But, the real kicker is that two of the elders- Eldad and Medad- who stayed in the camp also experienced this empowerment (and subsequent prophesying). Joshua, in his jealousy for Moses’ prestige asks that they be stopped, to which Moses utters:

“Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all YHWH’s people were prophets and that YHWH would put His Spirit on them!” (11:29)

The reason that this passage is so important is that it acts as a precursor for what will happen in the progression of God’s program. Certainly, one is drawn to Joel 2:28-29, in which Joel prophesies that the LORD will pour out His Spirit on all people (that belong to Him) and this empowerment will cut across all boundaries (age limits, economic boundaries, gender boundaries). Of course, it is this passage that is quoted in Acts 2:17-18 in order to explain the meaning of Pentecost as it relates to God’s overall, revealed plan for humanity.

It is also interesting to note that the 70 elders may be a picture of the biblical concept of all nations. In Genesis 10, there is what is called the “table of nations” which includes- you guessed it- 70 nations, or “all nations”. Of course, in Genesis 11, these “70 nations” are scattered by the confusion of the languages. Here in the Numbers 11 passage, there are 70 elders duly empowered by the Spirit and exhibiting their newly-given power with ecstatic language. This is a foreshadowing of things to come in which God powers out His power on “all people”. Now, in Acts 2:5, as the Spirit comes upon “all of them (believers)” and they speak in all of these different languages (Acts 2:4). And we are told that,

“…staying in Jerusalem were God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.” (Acts 2:5)

Thus, there is a link between the dispersion of the 70 (all) nations in Genesis 10-11, the empowering of the 70 elders and the foreshadowing of a new work of the Spirit in Numbers 11, the explicit prophecy of this empowering work of the Spirit in Joel 2 and the fulfillment of this prophecy in the bringing together of “all nations” (a reverse of the Tower of Babel) through the Spirit in Acts 2.

There are two other short mentions of the Spirit in the Book of Numbers and both are significant. The first is in Numbers 24:2 in which Balaam is empowered by the Spirit to make a prophetic oracle of blessing on Israel (the opposite for which Balaam was hired). The second occurrence is in Numbers 27:18 in which Joshua is described by YHWH as “a man in whom is the Spirit”. The reason for this description is that he is being selected to replace Moses as the new leader of Israel.

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The reason these two passages are important is they begin to explain some things that will be expanded upon in the prophets- namely, that the Spirit empowers any number of people for any number of jobs, even if it is a pagan prophet like Balaam. In fact, the prophecy that the Spirit gives to Balaam reaches all the way to Christ and the scepter that will rise from Israel (24:17). And Balaam is a person who becomes a paradigm for false teachers (Num. 31:16; 2 Pet, 2:15; Rev. 2:14)!! We need to understand that we can preach the right stuff and even be used by the Spirit of God without actually being a true follower of God!! Balaam’s story may explain why God still uses the ministries of flagrantly disobedient and dishonest people (e.g. TV evangelists). The Spirit is free to do His work through anyone He wishes!!

We also see that the Spirit is an absolute necessity for leadership among the people of Israel. As we shall see, particularly in the book of Judges and in Samuel, in order to have the wisdom and power to lead this holy nation, the Holy Spirit’s empowering presence must come. And when it leaves (see Samson, Saul), the ability to lead (as well as the right) has left too!!

B. The purpose of God’s empowering presence- in the Prophets

When we say “The Prophets” when referring to the Old Testament, we are referring to the second of a threefold division in the books of the Hebrew Bible- The Law (Torah), the Prophets and the Writings (see Luke 24:44). Thus, the section called the Prophets actually begins with Joshua and continues through 2 Kings and then into the Major Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel) and the twelve (sometimes referred to as the Minor Prophets…as though they were underage or something).

The prophets, as people, were what you might call “covenant mediators”- that is, they were like God’s lawyers or legal representatives. They approached the people with covenant initiatives (see Nathan and the proposal of the Davidic Covenant- 2 Samuel 7 and 1 Chronicles 17) or pressed divine “lawsuits” against the people as they broke covenant with God (see Micah 6:1-2). This they did by the empowerment of the Spirit. Micah condemns the false prophets in his day, but reports that his scathing rebuke to the people of Israel is authorized by the Holy Spirit Himself!

“The seers will be ashamed and the diviners will be embarrassed. Indeed, they will all cover their mouths because there is no answer from God.

On the other hand, I am filled with power; with the Spirit of the LORD- and with justice and courage to reveal to Jacob his rebellious act, and to Israel his sin.”

- Micah 3:7-8

Another prophet, Zechariah, writes that the prophets spoke of behalf of God via His Spirit!

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“They made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and the words which the LORD of Hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore, great wrath came from the LORD of Hosts.”

- Zechariah 7:12 (NASB Updated)

So we see that the prophets saw the Holy Spirit as the facilitator of warnings and new pacts to help the people get back on-track and to maintain the holiness of the camp in which the presence of God dwelt with people.

1. Judges

In the book of Judges, we find a cycle of rebellion, punishment, and repentance that is rooted around a deliverer that God raises up, who is filled with His Spirit. The cycle of Judges looks something like this:

In many ways, the Judge (a poor rendering of “shophet” which probably means a “tribal leader”) is a type of Christ, a deliverer raised up by the Spirit of God (Jud. 3:10; 6:34; 11:29; 13:25; 14:6, 19; 15:14) to save the people. Particularly, Samson’s miraculous birth (13:2-5), announced by an angel (13:3) and final victory (16:28-31) as brought on by his own death carries some foreshadowing punch as it points to Christ. We should, however, also understand that none of these representations are perfect in that these judges were VERY flawed and very dim reflections of whom they were typifying.

God punishes them through

oppressors

Israel repentsIsrael is

delivered

God raises up a

Judge/Deliverer

Israel sins

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2. Samuel

Samuel portrays the work of the Spirit as primarily done in the life of the king of Israel- first through Saul and then in David. Saul, apart from being tall, had none of the qualities of a leader, yet he was empowered to do that very job in the beginning (1 Sam. 10:6, 10) and it is enacted at a time of great need (1 Sam. 11:6). Unfortunately for Saul, he begins to lose sight of the purpose and reason for his kingship (as Samuel had predicted in 1 Samuel 8) and the Spirit leaves Saul and goes into David (1 Sam. 16:13-14). This is not to say that Saul “lost his salvation” in the sense that the Spirit no longer indwelt him (that was not how the Spirit was functioning prior to Pentecost). It is to say that the empowering presence of the Spirit was no longer with Saul because David had been chosen as the new king. In fact, that seems to be the fate that David so desperately prays against after his sin with Bathsheba (Ps. 51:11).

3. Isaiah

Isaiah is actually the only prophet in the OT to actually refer to the Spirit as the “Holy Spirit” (Isa. 63:10, 11). Isaiah, however, sees the work of this Holy Spirit as primarily the power that the Messiah utilizes. In the oracle of the “righteous branch” from the lineage of David, we see that this future figure will have the “Spirit of YHWH” resting on him which imbues Him with wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge and fear of the LORD (Isa. 11:2). This sevenfold description of the Spirit may be what lies behind the Holy Spirit’s description in Revelation 4:5 (the “seven Spirits of God”). In Isaiah 42, which seems to be the precursor of the baptism of Jesus (see Matt. 3:16-17), we see that this Servant has been given the LORD’s Spirit to bring forth justice to the nations (42:1). In Isaiah 61:1, another passage that prophesies specifically about Jesus (see Luke 4:14-21), we see that this messianic figure has been empowered by the Spirit to announce the arrival of the kingdom of God through various demonstrations of power.

4. Ezekiel

Finally, Ezekiel gives us insights into the work of the Spirit as it relates to enacting a “new covenant”. While the Spirit is certainly active during the beginning of Ezekiel’s prophetic ministry (Eze. 2:2; 3:14, 24, etc…), Ezekiel’s main focus is the Spirit’s work for this new age that God is about to bring. To exonerate His name among the nations, God promises to gather the people from all of their scattering (Eze. 36:24), cleanse them (36:25) and renovate their very being as the prophet states:

“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you…I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.” (Eze. 36:26-27, NASB Updated)

Ezekiel continues in chapter 37 where the Spirit breathes life into the dead bones of Israel. The interpretation is provided by Ezekiel in 37:11-14 in that

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the Spirit will resuscitate the exiled nation of Israel and restore them again. Further along in the same chapter, there is a prophecy about this New Covenant again. At the coming of the future Davidic King (37:24), God will make an eternal covenant with the people in which He will make His dwelling in the midst of them forever (37:26-28).

Thus, the messianic implications of the Spirit’s work is that He will be the empowering force that the Messiah wields to set captives free and cause them to be born again (yes, I am assuming that the ideas and images of Ezekiel 37 relate to John 3:3-5).

C. The purpose of God’s empowering presence- in the Writings

1. Psalms

As we have seen earlier, Psalm 51:11 comments on the possibility that God might take away His empowering Spirit from David after his sin with the wife of Uriah. And we have also seen that the Spirit is involved in the sustaining of life in Psalm 104:30. Psalm 106, which closes Book 4 of the Psalter, finds Israel in exile reflecting on their history of constant rebellion against God, particularly in the wilderness. In fact, the psalmist notes that it was the Holy Spirit who was guiding the people as they rebelled (106:33). It was, in fact, at Meribah, at which point Moses lost it and got himself disqualified from entering the land, because of this wholesale rejection of the Spirit’s guidance.

In Psalm 139:7, we also are shown the omnipresence of the Holy Spirit as the psalmist reflects on where he can go to be away from God’s presence. It may be very reasonable to ascribe the work of God in this psalm specifically to the Spirit since it is the Spirit that is specifically singled out as His presence. Thus, it may very well be that it is the Spirit who is involved with the very creation of life (139:13-14), who conveys the thoughts of God to the psalmist (139:17, see 1 Cor. 2:11-13) and who searches the heart of the psalmist (Ps. 139:23-24).

In Psalm 143:10, it is the Spirit who leads the psalmist and teaches him to do His will. Psalm 143 is considered one of the seven “penitential psalms” (along with Pss. 6; 32; 38; 51; 102; and 130) and thus looks inwardly at the need for grace and penance. The psalm is a lament that sees the psalmist in a place in life where he is in crisis. He is pursued by enemies, though whether these enemies are literal or figurative, it is hard to say. It does seem that the soul agony that the psalmist is experiencing leans to an interpretation of an inner battle rather than an external tormentor. Thus, the psalmist ultimately looks to the Spirit of God to guide him in the LORD’s ways and to revive him

2. Chronicles

The Chronicles are interesting in light of a comparison with 2 Samuel-to-2 Kings, since they both cover, generally speaking, the same section of history,

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yet with a different perspective. The book of Kings is a pre-exilic work, while Chronicles is looking at the history of Israel after the Jews have returned from captivity. And one of the interesting comparisons between Kings and Chronicles is the activity of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is almost non-existent in Kings, but in Chronicles, we see the Spirit showing up. Our first encounter with the Spirit is when Amasai, the “chief of the thirty” (warriors who dedicated themselves to David) prophesied when the (literally) “Spirit clothed itself with Amasai”12 This was a prophetic announcement that God was with David and was giving him “shalom” because God was ultimately helping him.

The Spirit pops up again in 2 Chronicles 15:1 when He comes upon a prophet named Azariah to encourage and exhort King Asa to be true to YHWH. It was this speech (not recorded in Kings) that led to a reformation in Israel as idolatry was dismantled in the land. In somewhat similar fashion, Jehoshaphat prays for God’s protection as a collaborative army marches forward to drive out Israel from the land. In response to his plea, the Spirit comes upon a man named Jahaziel who gives a prophetic utterance that the LORD will indeed protect His people from the advancing army.

From a different angle, the Spirit of God raises up a prophet named Zechariah to testify against a once-good king named Joash. After the death of the priest, Jehoiada, who had given Joash direction in restoring the house of YHWH, the wrong influences gained Joash’s ear and the kingship allowed for idol worship despite the fact that God sent prophets to call them back (2 Chr. 24:19). Finally, the Spirit empowers Jehoiada’s son, Zechariah, who pointedly warns the people that they have abandoned YHWH, so He has abandoned them (2 Chr. 24:20). The result is a stoning ordered by Joash himself (24:21-22).

In sum, while we did not cover every passage in which the Spirit works, we now have a working knowledge of the Spirit’s work in the OT. And primarily, the Spirit seems to have two functions in the OT- creation and empowerment. The Spirit is an active agent in the creation of dwelling places (for both God and humanity) and He empowers people to speak prophetically, or to have wisdom and capabilities to lead the faith-community.

And we may also perhaps look at this for insight into what He does in the NT. He is the Creator (humanly speaking) of Jesus’ body, at least in terms of His physical conception (Luke 1:35)- the place where both God and man dwelled together in unhindered harmony. Just as the Holy Spirit empowered men like Bezalel to fashion the Tabernacle where God’s presence would dwell (which ultimately was shifted to the temple), He is also the creator of the church, which is the “temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 3:16), where His presence now dwells.

12 Tuell, Steven S., Interpretation Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Chronicles, pub. by John Knox Press, 2001, p. 51

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Just as the Spirit is the sustainer of life (Ps. 104:30), the Spirit is also the sustainer of the vitality of the church, sweeping in and reviving His people, calling them to unity with one another, and adding more to the fold.

The Holy Spirit is also the one who empowers His people to give direction to the new community of faith, to utilize spiritual gifts for the building up of the body of Christ and to give them strength to speak the truth even in a place where those outside of God’s blessings refuse to hear it.

So, in many ways, we see the Spirit doing a lot of the same things He is doing now. Certainly, we would have to assume that the Spirit did the same illuminating work that He does in NT times (otherwise, how would people in the OT come to faith in God?). He was regenerating people to repent to God (unless we assume that the people in the OT were less stricken by sin’s effects than we are…which is absurd). But, we only see foreshadows of a future empowering presence. In the OT, it is still limited to prophets and kings and judges. We do not see a permanent fixture of the Spirit’s work in the OT. Sometimes He stays, sometimes He goes. But, in the NT we see “indwelling”, we see full-fledged gifting to all. What we have far outweighs seeing the Reed Sea split in two, or fire from heaven at Elijah’s request. We have the indwelling Spirit of God. And if that seems like nothing compared to seeing a major miracle, then it probably tells us that we have yet to explore or understand what it means to have the same Spirit who shaped the dark nothingness of creation into the world as we now know it living inside of us. Worship

We fail to truly worship God because we fail to take note of His demonstrations of power, grace and love. We are very easily overwhelmed with lesser things that shout down our opportunities to reflect on the majesty of God. The urgent and the immediate distract us from noting the kind of care, genius and artistry of the Spirit’s role in creation. In fact, Jesus notes that if we are too preoccupied to worship God, then creation itself will fill the void that we have so flippantly neglected (Luke 19:40). For this week, take a notebook or a journal around with you (keep it in your car so that it goes with you everywhere this week) and jot down anything and everything you see that has God’s creative and gracious stamp on it. It might be a human being and you observe how amazing, complex and eternal a person is. It might be the beauty of nature (perhaps a nature walk this week?). It might be deeds of dignity that reflect the “image of God” that is instilled into every one of us.

But, if the Spirit’s work in the OT is about creating, sustaining, calling out and sanctifying, take specific time and intention to note these things as you worship individually throughout the week and in preparation for corporate worship on Sunday. Inner-Life

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Psalm 143 is an amazing psalm that calls for our attention. The problem with meditating on this psalm is that if we follow the psalmist’s footsteps closely and pray as he prays, seeking God as he seeks after God, we will be called to evaluate who we really are especially against the backdrop of God’s faithfulness. And that could be scary. But, it is what is needed!! Here is a basic breakdown of this psalm.

1. The cry to God (Ps. 143:1-2) The prayer begins with a request that God would be audience to the pleas of the one praying, while acknowledging that God must withhold His judgment because the one praying knows his place before a holy God.

2. The lament (Ps. 143:3-4) Now, the prayer turns to the problem at hand- an enemy (perhaps an external foe, but just as possible, the enemy within) is bringing troubles to the spiritual well-being of the one praying.

3. Confidence in God comes from remembering His past faithfulness (Ps. 143:5-6) The psalmist’s prayer turns from the problems at hand and reflects on the many ways in which God has shown Himself trustworthy throughout the past.

4. The request (Ps. 143:7-12) Now that the psalmist has called out to God, acknowledged his place before God, noted the trouble and the past fidelity of God, he is now ready to make his request. He asks to hear God’s directions, to be taught His ways and His will and to be renewed while asking that God destroys his enemies.

5. Allegiance (Ps. 143:12) Really, this whole prayer is summarized in the very last line- “For I am your servant”. This is not a prayer to make God do anything, like we have that kind of power. Instead, it is a humble request from a servant to his master. That the psalmist calls himself a “servant” shows that in all of these things, he is powerless to so anything, while God holds all the power. It is a statement of dependence.

And now, the assignment- Take a significant amount of time to meditate on what this psalm would look like as YOU pray it. What position do you take before God? What “enemies” are hounding you and taking away the joy of your communion with God? What things has God done in your past to demonstrate His trustworthiness? What then would you ask for? How will you pray for the Spirit to lead you and revive you? Do you feel comfortable signing the prayer at the end as “your servant”?

After a time of reflection and prayer, silently and alone, go back through this psalm and re-write it in your own words below.

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Missional Living

If it is true that the Holy Spirit that indwells you is the same Spirit that empowered people like Moses, Samson, David, Ezekiel, etc… then you realize that it was not really the individuals as much as it was the Spirit within them. Thus, your prayers as empowered as,

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say, Elijah (James 5:13-20). With that is mind, ask people specifically if you can pray for them. Do this, in particular this week, with someone, who is, to the best of your knowledge, not a follower of Jesus. Most people are very willing to allow others to pray for them. Use the opportunity that the power of prayer offers and use it to see if God might open a door for you with another person.

Week 3- The Holy Spirit in the Gospels

Word

One of the more interesting things about the topic of the Holy Spirit in the Gospels is that for the most part, He is something of a sideline figure in the first three gospels (called the “Synoptic Gospels”). Even in Luke, the Holy Spirit is surprisingly not explained well, especially considering Luke’s major emphasis on the Holy Spirit in his second volume- “Acts of the Apostles”!13 It is the Gospel according to John that really begins to flesh out the Person and work of the Holy Spirit, particularly in John, chapters 14 through 16. Nevertheless we can still glean much about the Holy Spirit from the Synoptic Gospels!! Matthew, Mark and Luke-

The Spirit and the Virgin birth

Matthew, along with Luke, includes the birth narrative and the work of the Holy Spirit in the miraculous conception of Jesus. That there are some parallels between Jesus’ miraculous birth and other “deliverers” of Israel, no one can deny.

Barrier and miracle Divine being appears Child’s mission Pronouncement

The birth of IsaacSarah is barren and

beyond child-bearing years (Gen. 18:11)

YHWH and two angels appear and

announce her impending pregnancy

(Gen. 18:10)

The child is the promised “seed” who will eventually bless all the families of the

earth (Gen. 12:3)

“Is anything too difficult/wonderful

(alp) for the LORD?” (Gen.

18:14)

The birth of Samson Manoah’s wife is barren (Jud. 13:2)

Angel of YHWH appears (twice) and

announces impending pregnancy (Jud. 13:3)

Child will be a Nazarite from birth

and will deliver Israel from the Philistines

(Jud. 13:5)

“Why do you ask my name? It is too

wonderful (alp).” (Jud. 13:18)

The birth of Jesus Mary is a virgin (Isa. 7:14; Luke 1:34)

Gabriel appears to Mary and announces

Child will save people from their sins

“And He shall be called ‘Wonderful’

13 Guthrie, Donald, New Testament Theology, pub. by IVP, 1981, p. 514

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her impending pregnancy (Luke

1:26-35)

(Matt. 1:21) and establish justice and righteousness (Isa.

9:6-7)

(alp), Counselor, Mighty God…” (Isa.

9:6)

Nevertheless, the actual conception that is effected by the Holy Spirit is unique in the birth of Jesus. The elusive, shadowy presence of God in the Old Testament is an integral player in the ultimate tangible expression of the presence of God with humanity.

Baptism of Jesus

John the Baptist had declared that Jesus would be the one who baptizes with the “Holy Spirit and with fire”14 (Matt. 3:11; Luke 3:16- Mark leaves out “fire” for whatever reason), but when Jesus shows up at the Jordan River, He is visibly endowed with the empowering presence of the Spirit after His own baptism. Indeed, the picture of the Spirit’s participation in this episode strongly alludes to the Isaianic servant from Isaiah 40-55. The parallels are clear:

Isaiah’s “servant” Jesus as Isaiah’s Servant

Chosen by God “Behold, My servant…My chosen one in whom My soul delights.” Isa. 42:1

“This is My beloved Son in whom I am well-

pleased” Matt. 3:17Empowered by the

Spirit“I have put My Spirit on

Him” Isa. 42:2“The heavens were

opened and he saw the Spirit descending as a dove and lighting on

Him.” Matt. 3:16New Exodus through

the waters“Awake, awake!! Put on

strength, O arm of YHWH…Was it not You

who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; who made the depths of

the sea a pathway for the redeemed to cross over?”

Isa. 51:9-11

“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the

Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in

the wilderness.” Luke 4:1

Into, and out of, the wilderness victorious

“A voice is calling, ‘Clear the way for YHWH in the

wilderness…then the glory of YHWH will be

revealed…” Isa. 40:3-5

“And He was in the wilderness forty days

being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels

were ministering to Him.” Mark 1:13

14 France, R.T., NICNT- The Gospel of Matthew, published by Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2007, p. 113- the idea of fire is one of God’s judgment, since vv. 10 and 12 also refer to fire and carry that meaning. The coming of the Holy Spirit will bring a purifying fire that will burn away what is bad and purify the repentant ones.

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But, what we see about this baptism of the Holy Spirit in Jesus is the point of the temptation by Satan and the way in which Jesus lived as both man and God at the same time. Jesus accepts a baptism of repentance, even though it is unnecessary for Him to repent. Nevertheless, He is identifying with humanity that DOES have to repent. Now, He is empowered the same way that human beings will be empowered- through the Holy Spirit…and nothing else. He has set His own power as God aside. Thus, the temptation scene is one in which He is asked to use His own power in a way that will step out from underneath the control of the Holy Spirit. Turning stones to bread is hardly a moral issue, unless you are to walk and talk and live like every other human being has been asked to live. With each temptation, Satan is trying to pry Jesus away from the Holy Spirit’s authority- and, had Satan succeeded, Jesus would abandon His mission to redeem humanity by living and being human, and then cancelling out human sin on the cross.

Jesus, the Spirit and the ministry of the Kingdom

Matthew’s account has the ministry of Jesus immediately following the temptation in the wilderness. Having passed the first test, Jesus now begins preaching the gospel of the kingdom along with healing diseases and exorcising demons (Matt. 4:23-25). Luke’s account is more expanded, but he includes the specific concept that this was driven and orchestrated by the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:14). Indeed, Jesus announces the beginning of His ministry after the wilderness test by entering a synagogue and reading from the scroll of Isaiah 61:1 in which Isaiah prophesies of a messianic figure who is empowered by the Spirit to proclaim freedom from the effects of the curse and a new era in God’s program (Luke 4:16-21). The point of the healings and exorcisms that took place was to demonstrate that God had come into the world to take it back and restore all that was lost. But, that restoration agent was localized in the person of Jesus as He was empowered by the Spirit…or to those upon whom He imbued authority (Matt. 10:1).

Jesus’ healing ministry is, in fact, linked to another of the “servant passages” of Isaiah after He challenges the Pharisees interpretation of Sabbath-keeping and healing. After healing a man with a paralyzed hand, Jesus withdrew, refusing further quarreling while the Pharisees also withdrew to conspire against Him. Continuing His healing ministry, Matthew quotes Isaiah 42:1-3 to explain the messianic implications. The interesting thing about the use of this passage is that, along with Isaiah 61:1, Isaiah 42:1-7 focuses on the messianic servant as one who is endowed with God’s Spirit to fulfill His mission.

Thus, the Holy Spirit is critical to the ministry of Jesus Christ. Having set aside His divine prerogatives (Ph. 2:5-8), Jesus’ power comes solely through the Spirit’s empowerment. In order to fulfill His mission as the second Adam who will recover what the first Adam lost (Rom. 5:12-21), Jesus must live as a human being with only the tools that any other human, by the grace of God, would have at their disposal. But, what we also see is that the very power of Jesus is only that which is available to us as well. Indeed, Jesus states rather

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emphatically that we will do greater works for the very fact that He is sending the Holy Spirit (John 14:12), as almost unbelievable as that seems.

Jesus, the Spirit, prayer and salvation

One of the more interesting comparisons between Matthew and Luke is the saying that varies ever so slightly, yet ever so importantly! Matthew includes this section in the Sermon on the Mount when he quotes Jesus as saying:

“What man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!” (Matt. 7:9-11)

Luke, however, sees this saying as a promise of the empowering presence of the Spirit. Look how Luke quotes Jesus in what is probably a different situation:

“Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? Or he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” (Luke 11:11-13)

The context for Luke is more streamlined than Matthew. For Matthew, this statement of God giving “good things” to His children comes at the end of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus has just explained that we should not hand out what is holy (spiritual truths?) to “dogs” and “swine”, but those who ask, seek and knock will find and the Father will give them good things. For Luke, Jesus has just been asked specifically about prayer. Jesus- in reference to prayer- talks of asking, seeking and knocking in prayer after telling a short parable about a person who persists in banging on his neighbor’s door asking for bread. The reference to receiving “good gifts”…the best gift, the Holy Spirit is he who can direct us through the “narrow gate” (back to Matthew 7:12). Luke makes it clear- there is no salvation apart from the Holy Spirit!

Jesus, the Spirit and the unforgivable sin

One of the most troubling passages in the New Testament is in Matthew 12:31/Mark 3:29/Luke 12:10. It is here where Jesus speaks clearly about a sin that is beyond the scope of forgiveness…which, of course, sets us all on edge.

Have we ever committed this sin? Or has a relative or friend ever done it? What do I need to do to make sure I do not accidentally commit

this sin?

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But, let us try to understand what Jesus means by “blaspheming the Spirit” before we get too panicky. The context for Matthew and Mark, in particular, is that Jesus is being accused by the Pharisees of casting out demons by the power of Satan. Of course, Jesus counters by pointing out how preposterous such an idea is- “Why would Satan cast out Satan?” (Matt. 12:26).

Surely, one of the symptoms of insanity is that within the circle of the insane person’s reasoning, all the points come together. There is an answer for everything in their warped understanding of reality. The conspiracy theories are elaborate and well-developed and convincing…until you test the theory against actual, tangible proof. So too, the Pharisees, who are committed to the theory that Jesus is a heretic, have so developed their understanding of “Jesus’ conspiracy” that now Satan, in order to really trick everyone, is casting himself out through Jesus in order to win the people’s allegiance. It could make sense until Jesus asks what power they use to cast out demons (Matt. 12:27). What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. But, since exorcism was an event in which…

“…a hostile supernatural force can be countered only by a more powerful spiritual authority…”15

…how then, do they account for Jesus’ powerful authority over demons? Jesus offers His conclusion in vv. 28:

“But, if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

Thus, the declaration is that Jesus is casting out demons as a clear indication that the kingdom of God has arrived. And the proof of this is that He does so by the power of the Holy Spirit. Now why is it forgivable to “speak against the Son of Man”, but not the Holy Spirit (Matt. 12:32)? Perhaps the fact that Jesus has yet to fully reveal Himself as the Messiah (hence the mysterious “Son of Man” title- see also Matt. 11:25-27; 12:15-16) creates allowance for not truly understanding who Jesus is. Peter even spoke against Jesus at one point (Matt. 26:69-75) and was forgiven. But, to claim that Jesus was wielding the power of Satan was to close off any further proof of who He was and what He was proclaiming. Thus, the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit was a sin that could only be committed by seeing Jesus, in person, performing miracles by the power of the Spirit and then attributing the miracles to the deception of Satan. At that point, there was nothing more God could do to reach you. The insanity has set like cement. Reality can no longer evaluate the conspiracy theory. John

Jesus, the Spirit and John 14-16

The main concentration of John’s contribution to the work of the Spirit is found in John, chapters 14 through 16. While Jesus talks about being born of 15 France, p. 479

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the Spirit (John 3:5-8), learning true worship in the Spirit (John 4:23-24) and how the Spirit is the imparter of life (John 6:63), it is in chapters 14-16 where Jesus truly begins to unveil the ministry of the Holy Spirit. In chapter 14, Jesus continues a conversation that started in Chapter 13. Jesus reveals to His disciples that soon He will be leaving them, alluding of course, to His death, resurrection and ascension. Peter, who expresses concern about such a possibility, declares that he will follow Jesus anywhere; indeed, he will lay his very life down for Jesus. Jesus responds by telling him that he will deny Him three times.

But then, continuing that thought, Jesus comforts the disciples by saying that He is going to prepare a place for them. Explaining to them that He is the only way to the Father, that seeing Him is seeing the Father and that they will be given power to do greater works than Jesus did16, He then goes on to explain that His departure will result in another Helper coming to them, the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-18). The departure of Jesus would surely be troubling to the disciples. Their hopes, their courage were all tied directly with Jesus. What is interesting is that Jesus’ promise to “come to you” (14:18) is through the indwelling ministry of the Spirit who is called “another Helper” (NASB translation). The word in Greek is parakletos. We anglicize it to “Paraclete”, but it seems that we really do not have an English equivalent for it. The TNIV uses “Advocate” while the NLT translates it “Counselor”. The problem is that the word has multiple meanings in multiple settings. To translate the word as “counselor” suggests not someone who gives advice for our emotional well-being, but has more of a legal advisor idea behind it. The word “helper” is too generic, since a paraclete can also carry the meaning of a “patron”, someone who supports another financially (which -in a spiritual sense- may be more of the meaning here since Jesus promises not to leave them as “orphans”- individuals who desperately needed someone to plead their case). The ideas of “consolation”, “encouragement” and “helping presence” also are tied to this word.

Whatever the specific meaning of the word, Jesus tells His disciples that the presence of God will not leave them. It will take on a new form of ministry AND will make our connection to God a tangible reality. We will, contrary to the “world” which does not know Him, we DO know Him because lives in us. The presence of the Spirit, at least here in John 14, is one of the assurances that we are in relationship with God. And how does that work?

Because that person is empowered to obey Jesus’ commands (14:21).

Because that person while be taught (or illuminated on Jesus’ teachings, as opposed to some new revelation) by the Spirit (14:26). Thus, the Holy Spirit extends the ministry of Jesus. He does

16 Kruse, Colin G., Tyndale New Testament Commentary- John, pub. by Eerdmans, 2003, p. 300. We have a tendency to assume that “greater works” must mean “more quantitative” since there will be an increase of disciples all doing ministry. The word (meizona), however, has a qualitative sense meaning “greater in quality, more important or more impressive, and it is used in this way throughout the Fourth Gospel (1:50; 4:12; 5:20, 36; 8:53; 10:29; 13:16; 14:12, 28; 15:13, 20; 19:11).

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not create a new one. The setting for Spirit-teaching perhaps goes back to Essene practice, in which the “Teacher of Righteousness” interpreted the Hebrew Scriptures prophetically for the community.17 In this case, the disciples of Christ are given the Holy Spirit to interpret and learn the Scriptures for their significance in Christ.

Because that person will experience “peace” in the midst of serving God and suffering (14:27). The peace of that day was the Pax Romana (“Peace of Rome”) which is a peace created by military might and protection (“not as the world gives you”- 14:27). The peace that the Spirit brings is the peace of God that transcends any kind of financial or military security we might yearn for. It is the fulfillment of the blessings of God’s intentions to humanity that secures the present and the future.

The lack of some of these markers may call one back to God’s promises OR it might alert us to a spiritual need that we thought we had, but perhaps do not, in fact, have.

Now, in John 15, Jesus picks up to explain that our connectedness to Him will produce “fruit”, that is- good works, character, etc… Jesus then goes on to predict that the disciples would suffer persecution (if Jesus the Master suffers, why would His friends not?). But, it is the Paraclete who again serves His role in helping the disciples testify to others about Jesus.

Finally, Jesus continues further about their pending martyrdom and the Spirit’s help in “convicting the world concerning sin, righteousness and judgment” (16:8). Thus, the Spirit convicts the conscience of sin, in that, they have rejected Jesus. Jesus indicts the Jewish leadership that opposed Him (see John 8:24) and the Holy Spirit continues the work of Jesus in that manner. The Holy Spirit also convicts of righteousness in that Jesus returns to the Father via ascension (16:10). That is to say, Jesus was deemed a sinful man by the Pharisees (see John 9:24). He was, however, vindicated as righteous via the resurrection and ascension (why would God resurrect a false messiah?). Thus, the Spirit continues to vindicate Jesus along with debunking the judgments that the Jewish community has rendered. Any group that has been utilized by Satan will find now that the Spirit condemns their judgment of who Jesus is.

But, through all of this, the Spirit’s main job- the summation of all of these various smaller jobs- is to glorify Jesus and disclose the things of God to the people of God (John 16:13-15, cf. 1 Cor. 2:1-16). J.I. Packer echoes the teaching on the Spirit in John:

“What is the essence, heart and core of the Spirit’s work today? What is the central, focal element in his many-sided ministry?...the Spirit makes known the personal presence in and with the Christian and the

17 Kostenberger, Andreas J., Baker Exegetical Commentary of the New Testament- John, pub. by Baker Books, 2004, p. 442

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church of the risen, reigning Saviour, the Jesus of history who is the Christ of faith.”18

Worship

In a passage that we glanced over during the study, we see Jesus explaining worship to the woman at the well in John 4:20-26. This section of Scripture takes place in Samaria, where the people were considered heretics by the Jews. This socially-cloutless, morally-devoid woman who goes through husbands and lovers like most people go through socks, engages Jesus in a dialogue in which He offers her “living water” (cleansing from her past). She then changes the subject.

1. What limitations does the woman place on her worship in John 4:20? How does Jesus dismantle those limitations in 4:21-24? What limitations do we place on our worship of God?

2. What does Jesus mean when He says that “true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth”? He states that a time is coming when neither in Samaria, nor Jerusalem will God be worshipped, which literally came true in AD 70 when Titus destroyed the Temple. Jesus, in fact, refers to Himself as a “temple” (John 2:19-22) which would render a temple of brick obsolete. And since God is “spirit”, instead of a statue made of wood or stone, it makes concrete images or locations obsolete as well. So what is necessary to worship this God in “spirit and truth” or perhaps “spirit, that is, truth”?

3. How does Jesus’ response to the woman’s hope in a coming Messiah (in verse 26) influence our understanding our worshipping God “in spirit and in truth”? How do you worship? What “gets you in the mood”? How does this passage change the way you should worship?

Inner-Life

Take some time for silence and solitude to reflect on how the Holy Spirit has made His presence evident in your life. Or have you found that to be lacking and you need God to connect more intimately with you? You may want to reflect on John 14-16 and think through what Jesus says the “Paraclete” is going to do and how He is going to make God known to us. If you would like to journal some of your reflections, you can use the space below.

18 Packer, p. 47

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Missional Living

Prepare for the ministry initiative this coming week by praying through Colossians 4:2-6- asking for open doors (4:3), giving us clarity and wise conduct (4:4-5) and knowing how to respond to each individual situation (4:6).

Pray that the Holy Spirit would begin to prepare the way for us even this week; that He would do His convicting work even now. Make sure to pray daily through this passage and for the Spirit’s work to, ultimately, glorify Jesus!!!

Week 4- The Holy Spirit in Acts

The Book of Acts is where we see the Holy Spirit burst upon the scene in the NT. But, it would be an exaggeration to say that we should look to the Book of Acts as THE place to truly grasp the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ takes center stage again- as per the work of the Holy Spirit. But, in conveying the message of Jesus of Nazareth’s completed work on the cross and the power of the now-arriving Kingdom of God, we do see much from the Holy Spirit that informs our understanding of how He operates and what it means to be led by the Spirit. In order to get our arms around the information we get concerning the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts, we will look at two major areas: Power and Passion. What and how does

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the Holy Spirit empower us? How does passion result from the Holy Spirit’s work through our ministry?

Word

Power

We start in the very first chapter of Acts in which the disciples are being given their final instructions from Jesus. It is here that Jesus declares that the new agency of the Holy Spirit that will be coming in a few days after His ascension is what “was promised” (Acts 1:4). But, what exactly was promised and when was this promised and who made these promises? Jesus clarifies in Acts 1:5 that what was promised was that they would be “baptized with the Holy Spirit”. Such an event would be an indication that God’s Kingdom and a new era was beginning. Since John’s baptism was one of preparation, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is then the sign that what was prepared for has come. In a very real sense, this new work of the Spirit indicates that the “last days” have come- that is, God’s big renovation project is entering its final phase or phases. This baptism is one of both cleansing and empowerment.

We see from Ezekiel 36:26-27 that the expectation of the Spirit was to empower the people to obey God and follow His laws. From Joel 2:28, we note that this new coming of the Spirit is one that will empower the people to speak on behalf of God. In John 14-16, Jesus promises to send another “helping presence” (Parakletos) that will work in the believer and in the world to bring about God’s plan of redemption. The Book of Acts sums this all up in one concise explanation:

“But, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.”

-Acts 1:8

It is this passage that sets the tone and direction for the rest of the Book of Acts. The disciples would testify of Jesus’ death and resurrection…starting right there in Jerusalem and then spreading out to the ends of civilization as they knew it. And being “witnesses” means more than preaching. It means that the people have what they are selling- they are cleansed, empowered and experiencing the presence of God. In a day (in Jewish thought) when the Holy Spirit had long departed the temple and the best they could hope for in terms of God’s presence was the bath qol (the “daughter voice” or the whispers; the hand-me-downs; the residuals of the presence of the Spirit)19 this was great news indeed!!

The Day of Pentecost

In Acts 2, we find that this promised is finally poured out on all the disciples and they testify of Jesus of Nazareth in everyone’s native language. It is still 19 Green, Michael, Thirty Days that Changed the World, pub. by Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1993, 2002, p. 248

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up for debate as to whether the disciples were speaking in other known languages or if the Spirit empowered them with ecstatic speech and then empowered the hearers to hear the message in their own language (the passage can, in fact, suggest this- see Acts 2:4-6). What is important is the symbolism inherent in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Feast of Pentecost. The Feast of Pentecost had important significance for several reasons: first, as the Feast of Firstfruits, there may have been a suggestion that these people were going to be the first “harvest” and thus, an offering to God.

Another interesting parallel is that during the inter-testamental period, Pentecost began to be acknowledged as the day in which the people first received the Law at Mount Sinai because it was reckoned that 50 days after Passover (the flight from Egypt), would have placed the nation of Israel at the foot of Mount Sinai.20 Here, a NEW community of faith has assembled on the anniversary of the receiving of the Law to now receive the Holy Spirit! The Old Testament had promised that a new era was coming when the Law would be written on people’s hearts (Jer. 31:31-34) and that the Spirit of God would be placed in them to empower them to obey God’s laws (Eze. 36:26-27). Not only that, but this New Community would be shaped not by the external law (on tablets of stone), but now they would shaped and guided by the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 3:6-18), making this new event all the more fascinating as it’s occurrence happens on the anniversary of the Old Testament community receiving the Law.

Now that the disciples are properly positioned and properly prepared, the promised power is unleashed for them to do their job- witness. And witness they do!! The sound of wind, the tongues of fire and the voices proclaiming God’s rule are also reminiscent of Mount Sinai, which brought together these images of storm-wind, fire and the voice of God (see Ex. 19:16-19). But, now instead of one man as a go-between for the people (like Moses), the disciples are all empowered (what Moses had always hoped for!! Num. 11:29) and proclaiming God’s “new law”, if you will. Peter’s word, in particular, carry a Spirit-heavy wallop and 3,000 people turned to Christ at the end of his sermon (Acts 2:41).

There is an interesting parallel between Acts 2:38, in which Peter calls for the people to repent and be forgiven of sin…

“and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

In Acts 3:19, Peter’s second sermon ends in almost the same way. He calls the crowd to repent and have their sins wiped away…

“in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.”

The parallels in the passage may help us understand the different terminology that seems to be a result of repentance. “Receiving the Holy 20 Stott, John R.W., The Spirit, the Church and the World: The Message of Acts, pub. by IVP, 1990, p. 62

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Spirit”/“Times of refreshing from God’s presence” may be one and the same thing, though set against a future hope of Christ’s second coming. From the time of Jesus’ ascension to His return and the “restoration of all things”, there will be “times” (plural) of “relaxation, recovery, breathing space”.21 Barrett considers these multiple times of refreshment as conversions that bring forgiveness and the presence of the Holy Spirit.22 Thus the power of the Spirit is seen in the conversion of others and the direct presence of God into people’s lives. These are times that Luke also describes as “times of reprieve or recovery” from the task-master of sin, brokenness and the weight of guilt.

Healing and Miracles

While many times the text does not directly relate the work of healing to the Holy Spirit, it is clearly assumed since the work of Christ was to also be done by the disciples…and then some (John 14:12)! We know that God the Holy Spirit was the one working miraculous signs through Jesus, thus when we read of God working through Jesus in Acts 2:22, it is an obvious reference to the Holy Spirit. Peter’s Pentecost sermon is preceded by a mass speaking in tongues (however we understand that event). Peter’s second sermon (Acts 3) is preceded by a miraculous healing of a man without the ability to walk from birth. The Ananias and Sapphira story is another story of God’s miraculous works, but this time to protect the new community of faith from deceit (Acts 5).

There are multiple examples such as Paul shaking off a poison snake bite (Acts 28:3-6) to the astonishment of the onlookers, the resuscitation of Dorcas (Acts 9:36-43), the blinding of Elymas (Acts 13:6-12) and the healing of the man in Lystra (Acts 14:8-11). But all of these were basic accompaniments to the power to witness about Jesus. That is still the primary work of the Spirit’s empowerment- to pronounce that Jesus is Lord and to announce the arrival of His kingdom!! The Holy Spirit was the One who empowered Peter to answer the Sadducees (Acts 4:8) and He was the One who responded to the threats of the religious officials by filling the disciples and empowering them to speak boldly (Acts 4:31). Indeed, the Holy Spirit seems almost to be a “co-witness” to Jesus alongside the disciples (Acts 5:32). It is the Holy Spirit who sends Philip to witness to the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:29) and then the One who snatches him away again to preach in Azotus (Acts 8:39-40).

The bottom line is still simply this: the empowerment of the Spirit comes in many forms, but always results in one way or another in a testifying to Jesus’ lordship.21 Fitzmyer, Joseph A., Anchor Bible- The Acts of the Apostles, pub. by Doubleday, 1998, p. 288. Fitzmyer translates the word anapsyxis as “breathing space” as used in the LXX translation of Ex. 8:11 and the time of reprieve from the plague of frogs.22 Barrett, C.K., The International Critical Commentary- Acts Vol. 1, pub. by T&T Clark, 1994, p. 205

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Passion

The consistent result of the work of the Holy Spirit is a passion for living for Jesus Christ. Indeed, it seems that both passion and Spirit work interdependently! We see a greater work of the Spirit in us as we grow passionate about Jesus and vice versa. One author says it so well,

“We can have anything from Him that we are willing to labor for in prayer. I encourage you to spend more time asking God to grant you passion for the Son of God than you do asking Him for anything else…Passionate love for God is the key to power.”23

God wants to entrust the power that He has to people who will use it in a way that fits with His ultimate plan and purpose of redemption and glorification of Jesus. Paul and Peter were willing to lay down their lives for the purposes of Jesus (and did). With that kind of attitude, the Holy Spirit had a greater conduit to work the power of God through. Stephen’s fearless defense of the faith through the power of the Holy Spirit opened up the privilege of seeing the glory of God before he was executed (Acts 6:10; 7:55). By the way, notice that power is not the same as health-and-wealth prosperity. It costs much!!

What these men and women had in the pages of Acts is a relentless passion for God that was fueled by the filling of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, we may hear people pine for the days of the Book of Acts, but there is no reason that kind of excitement cannot be ours as well. The problems are our constant distractions and divided allegiances that pull us away from the work of the Holy Spirit that can infuse us with a passion for Him. The common denominator that one can see running through all of the truly converted in the Book of Acts is passion!!

“But it is true, is it not, that our faith is often dim, our expectancy so low, our ignorance about the Spirit so great, our fear of committing ourselves to anything challenging so strong, that many of us have had a sub-normal Christian birth and an anemic Christian experience? And it may be that what we need is a major injection of the Holy Spirit into those bloodless lives of ours.”24

The Holy Spirit’s empowering presence as the sign of the New Covenant

There is one last thing in this section that is important to understand, and that is that the Holy Spirit’s empowering presence is the sign of the New Covenant. Every covenant has a sign that signifies its presence. The sign of a marriage covenant is a ring. The sign of a business covenant is a signed contract. In the Bible, each of the covenants that God made also had signs!! The Covenant with Noah was accompanied by the sign of the rainbow (Gen. 23 Deere, Jack, Surprised by the Power of the Spirit, pub. by Zondervan, 1993, p. 200-20224 Green, Thirty Years that Changed the World, p. 257

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9:8-17). The Abrahamic Covenant was signified by circumcision (Gen. 17:10-14). The Mosaic Covenant had the sign of keeping the Sabbath (Ex. 31:12-17). The Davidic Covenant was signified by the perpetual lineage of David (Ps. 89:20-29; cf. 1 Ki. 11:36).

But what of the New Covenant? Some have suggested that baptism is the sign that replaces circumcision (since the New Covenant is something of a culmination of the Abrahamic Covenant). But, when we look at circumcision in the NT (and the OT for that matter- Deut. 10:16; 30:6; Jer. 9:26), circumcision is an inner-work that seem sonly appropriate for the work of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 2:28-29; Ph. 3:1-3).

In what seems to be a most crucial text on the subject, the Council at Jerusalem in Acts 15 addresses the issue of Gentiles being brought into this new community of faith and the argument by some that they needed to be circumcised. It is in Acts 15:8 that seems to indicate that there is a new sign that demonstrates being a part of the New Covenant:

“And God, who knows the heart, testified to them [the Gentiles], giving them the Holy Spirit just as He also did to us.”

It was Peter and Paul and Barnabas who testified that it was the empowerment of the Spirit among the Gentiles that made them so sure that this was the work of God (Acts 15:12). The ramifications of this truth is huge, since it seems that we see so much powerless, anemic Christianity around us. For the American culture, the sign of being a member of the New Covenant revolves around church membership, baptism or praying the prayer. But, the Book of Acts, as well as other places in the Scriptures, suggest that the sign of the New Covenant is whether there is empowerment by the Holy Spirit for God’s purposes. Consequently, a lack of such a sign may be indicative of not being a member of the New Covenant. We are called to either evaluate ourselves honestly on this point or begin to unearth the supernatural gifts that we have been endowed with and utilize them! Worship

Worship is so much more than singing songs or attending a Sunday service. Worship is a full-bodied dedication to Jesus Christ (see Romans 12:1-2). Sometimes, worship is simply taking the time to acknowledge the greatness of God and the beauty of His wonderful plans that involve us and the rest of the world. Sometimes it is how God has worked through you.

Can you recall a time when the Holy Spirit worked through you to be a witness for Jesus? How has the Holy Spirit worked in your life to enhance your trust, love, awe, passion, etc…for Jesus? Had you made yourself available in some way to the Holy Spirit’s work, whether as a witness or in appreciating the work of God through Jesus?

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Inner-Life

As a church as well as individuals, let us pray for the Holy Spirit to fall upon us, to revive us with newly strengthened faith, with a renewed passion for Jesus Christ. This should be a simple exercise in which we read and meditate on a passage about Jesus (suggestions below) and then simply take extended time for silence to ask for the Holy Spirit’s work in your life and for Him to reveal any obstacles that are crowding out a passion for God.

Suggested passages for meditation:

Isaiah 52:13-53:12

Matthew 28:1-9

Luke 24:46-49

Philippians 2:5-1

1 Timothy 1:17

Hebrews 2:9-10

What did you pray? What obstacles need to be removed?

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Missional Living

Being a witness means both living a life that testifies that what you believe is true and speaking of that truth to others to draw them into this “life”. The other component that we see in the Book of Acts is being aware of the leading of the Spirit. Read some of these passages and think through how the Spirit guided people to be (or not be) witnesses, what these people did as witnesses and what we are being called to do with specific people in our lives.

Acts 8:27-39

Acts 10:19-20; 34-48

Acts 16:6-7

Commit to listening more intently to the leading and guiding of the Spirit concerning people in your sphere of influence. Is God calling you to hold back? Is He calling you to move forward? What happened when you acted on what you perceived to be the guidance of the Holy Spirit? Understand this- that learning to be guided by the Spirit is largely a discipline learned by trial and error!

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Week 5- The Holy Spirit in the Epistles

This is probably the section that requires the most time and effort, for it is Paul in particular (but not exclusively) who really lays out for us an understanding of how the Holy Spirit works and what, in fact, He does. To understand the Holy Spirit in the epistles (especially Paul’s), one has to also understand Paul’s central focus. Reformed theology has traditionally understood the crux of Paul’s teachings to be about “justification by faith”. Paul’s foundation for everything he writes (according to this perspective) is seen through the cross of Jesus. And that position could find significant defense (Rom. 1-6; 1 Cor. 2:2, etc…)!

The problem, however, is that the cross is not central in all of His letters, nor is it always the explanation for his ethics. One need only read 1 & 2 Thessalonians or 1 & 2 Timothy to find that Paul is not constantly appealing to the cross and how Jesus justified us through our faith in Him to make applications to life situations. The focus is broader. Salvation IS Paul’s primary focus, but not in the “pray the prayer” exchange that we often think of. Instead, Paul’s “gospel” is both a “right now” thing and “not yet/still-on-the-way” event. For Paul, the Christian is living in two different time zones. In the future, we will experience this “salvation” in its totality: no more death, disease, sin, selfishness, etc… God will establish His kingship and NO ONE will be able to deny Him as Lord because He will have put all the pieces back together. And yet, we live right now- trusting Jesus and being assured of our salvation, learning to submit to God and be freed from sin’s control, seeing God intervene to heal, etc… but, we live as people who still get sick, still die, still sin. We are living in a time when we can get a preview of this future salvation (because God has begun this work through Jesus) but He is still bringing it to completion.

In other words, we live in a “kingdom overlap”.

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“So, what does this have to do with the Holy Spirit”, you ask? It is the Holy Spirit who is, in fact, the main way in which we experience this advance payment on God’s kingdom. We see the Holy Spirit being called a “down payment” (Eph. 1:14), a “taste of the powers of the age to come” (Heb. 6:4-5) and as a “seal…for the day of redemption” (Eph. 4:30) among other things. For Paul, and others, it seems that salvation both now-and-still-coming as brought about by the work of the Holy Spirit is the central thrust of Paul’s theology. Salvation is the renewing of God’s presence among His people. The Holy Spirit is the current manifestation of God’s presence until Jesus Christ returns and sets up shop, so to speak, in complete and undeniable fashion!! In fact, when NT scholar Gordon Fee was asked by a student what he would emphasize if he were to go back into the pastoral ministry is telling, Fee answered:

“No matter how long it might take, I would set about with a single passion to help a local body of believers recapture the New Testament church’s understanding of itself as an eschatological [future] community.”25

Looking at the epistles and their discussion of the Holy Spirit is an exercise in understanding who we are to become and how we should be living like that in the here-and-now!! Word

The Holy Spirit and the presence of God

If we start from the beginning and move all the way to the time of Paul’s letters, we find that the presence of God shifts and shifts…and shifts again!! 25 Fee, Gordon, Paul, the Spirit and the People of God, pub. by Hendrickson Publishers, 1996, p. 49

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First, in the Garden of Eden, God’s presence seems unhindered until sin enters into the lives of Adam and Eve. Then they are removed from His presence. But, then the presence begins to reappear- in dreams (Gen. 28:10-22) and burning bushes (Exodus 3) and pillars of fire and cloud (Ex. 13:21). Then a tent (tabernacle) was established for God’s presence to dwell among the people (Exodus 25-31; 40:34-38). Then, we move from tent to temple (1 Kings 8). But, alas the temple is destroyed in 586BC by the Babylonians. Of course, the presence of God deserted the temple before it was razed (Ezekiel 8-11).

When we get to the NT, the presence of God takes on its greatest and most clear manifestation- the person of Jesus Christ. And one day, Jesus will return to re-establish that most amazing aspect of God’s presence (Rev. 19). But, between Jesus’ resurrection and the final day of resurrection (Rom. 8:23), the presence of God is in His Holy Spirit and through the people in whom He dwells. That, of course, helps us to make sense of being a “temple of the Holy Spirit” both corporately (1 Cor. 3:16) and as individuals (1 Cor. 6:19). We, as the church, are the “new temple”, the place of God’s presence. Where we go, the Spirit of God goes. What we touch, God Himself has opportunity to touch. You can imagine the ethical implications of touching someone or something else in a sinful way (whether violently or covetously or sexually) with a hand that God’s Spirit dwells within!! In fact, Fee emphatically states that,

“There is not a more important word in all the New Testament as to the nature of the local church than this one! The local church is God’s temple in the community where it is placed; and it is so by the presence of the Spirit alone, by whom God has now revisited His people.”26

But, this idea of God’s presence through the Spirit is not really that new an idea!! We see that in Isaiah 63:9-10 where the “angel of His presence” is equated with His “Holy Spirit” when the people, having been saved out of Egypt (Isaiah is recapping these events), rebelled against God and grieved His Holy Spirit”). This is the language that Paul echoes when he writes to the Ephesian churches, a people also saved from enslavement, that they should not grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30). If Isaiah was indeed at the forefront of Paul’s mind when he penned these words, it is because he was thinking in terms of the Holy Spirit as the presence of God.

The promises that God will dwell among His people and He will be their God and they will be His people (Eze. 37:27 2 Cor. 6:16; see also Hos. 2:23) are promises that find their greatest fulfillment (to date) through the indwelling work of the Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 14:24-25, the proper uses of the spiritual gifts, which are “manifestations of the Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:7), will bring the unbeliever to the place where he or she exclaims,

“God is certainly among you!”

26 Fee, p. 19

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So…God’s Spirit is His presence among us. That is a cool idea, but what are the implications?

Implication #1- We are called to live in community!!

God is saving a “people for His name”, not an unrelated collection of individuals! It is not without intention that Paul ends his second letter to the Corinthians by saying,

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. (2 Cor. 13:14)

We need to pay attention to at least two things: first, the explicit Trinitarian language that includes Jesus (the Son), God (the Father) and the Holy Spirit. The Trinity is whose image we are made in. The Trinity is a community- God, three in one, one in three. And we are to live in community with God and with each other, as we have been designed! Second, we see that we are to blessed in the fellowship (koinonia- koinonia) of the Holy Spirit. That word “fellowship” usually means “participation” (see 2 Cor. 8:4; Ph. 1:5). But, in this case, it summarizes the mutual participation, this idea of common ground that brings them together.

This unified movement is also expressed by Paul in Ephesians 4:1-7 as he describes the need for a community that maintains the “unity of the Spirit”, calling them to “one body and one Spirit” (Eph. 4:3-4). To be indwelled by the Spirit is to be a member of the family of God and not a lone ranger. When it is easy for individuals to leave a church body and drift back-and-forth to other churches, it is an act that moves against the work of the indwelling Spirit. Certainly, it does happen and sometimes, it should happen!! Nevertheless, the consumerism of our day in terms of church hopping and shopping speaks much about how in tune we are to the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives!

Implication #2- We are called to holiness!!

This is a “duh” comment…and yet, we still do not realize just how devastating sin is to a temple that is to be kept clean for the Spirit’s usage. Paul asks a direct question when he writes in 2 Corinthians 6:14,

“How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness?”

Of course, the question is rhetorical. And Paul’s reasoning is that “we are the temple of the living God” (2 Cor. 6:16). We are to separate ourselves, therefore from unholy alliances and, by implication, unholy practices. If we recall the tedious nature by which the Israelites maintained the purity of the temple area, through sacrifice and cleansing rituals, we see how strong Paul’s language truly is!!

The Holy Spirit and the power of God

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It is not enough, really, to speak of the Holy Spirit as “God’s presence”. We should probably say, “God’s empowering presence” for that is truly what it is!! Paul (and others) speaks again and again of the power of the Holy Spirit.

The power of the Spirit sets us free from the enslavement of sin and death (Rom. 8:2)

The power of the Spirit (lit. “the Spirit of Him [God]) raised Jesus from the dead…and that same Spirit will give life to our dying bodies (Rom. 8:11)

The power of the Spirit gives us inner assurance of our belonging to God (Rom. 8:16)

The power of the Spirit helps us when we do not how to pray (Rom. 8:26)

The power of the Spirit allowed Paul to testify about Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 2:4)

The power of the Spirit is manifested in spiritual gifts for the common good (1 Cor. 12:7)

The power of the Spirit strengthens us to live out the character and love that is of Christ (Eph. 3:16-17)

The power of the Spirit gives us boldness, love and discipline (2 Tim. 1:7)

The power of the Spirit guided the writers of Scripture (2 Pet. 1:21)

We see that it is by the power of the Spirit that any one of us is a follower of Jesus in the first place! The Holy Spirit reveals the thoughts and words of God that would have otherwise been completely and totality unavailable (1 Cor. 2:11-16).

“The hearing of the Word of God…which makes human life to become Christian life, is not man’s work, but God’s; the Holy Spirit’s work. Just as our spirit cannot produce the Word of God, so too it cannot receive it.”27

And along with the work of the Holy Spirit illuminating us to God’s reality, He also regenerates in us new life! John’s gospel, of course, tells us that we need to be born of “water and Spirit”, or perhaps, as Craig Keener suggests, “water of the Spirit” (John 3:5) since the Spirit was symbolized sometimes by water (John 7:37-39; cf. Isa. 32:15). In Paul’s letter to Titus, he expresses the same need of regeneration-

“But, when God our Savior revealed His kindness and love, He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior.” (Tit. 3:4-6, NLT)

From there, of course, the Spirit provides power to continually mold and shape us into what God wants us to become. And herein lies the danger of 27 Barth, Karl, The Holy Spirit and the Christian Life, pub. by Westminster/John Knox Press, 1993, p. 10

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getting away from the work of the Holy Spirit. Our attempts to do things on our own or the simple neglect of pursuing and praying for the Spirit’s guidance can result in utter catastrophe! Paul’s brutal rebuke of the Galatians who are trying to go back to a do-it-yourself spirituality here it clearly from Paul:

“You foolish Galatians!! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by human effort?” (Gal. 3:1-3, TNIV)

Whether we are talking about an individual, a Christian institution or a church- when we begin to drift into neat, well-packaged and worldly-wise ways of living (and yes, there is wisdom to be found outside of the church), we potentially stifle the work of the Holy Spirit. Eugene Peterson warns,

“The moment the community exercises power apart from the story of Jesus, tried to manipulate people or events in ways that short-circuit personal relationships and intimacies, we can be sure it is not the power of the Holy Spirit; it is the devil’s work. The Holy Spirit, no matter how loudly or frequently or piously invoked in such settings, is a stranger to such religious blasphemies.”28

Thus, the implication of the power of the Holy Spirit is clear. We are not just commended to use it, but implored to rely on it. And as we will see, Jesus’ power is paradoxically connected with weakness- a mystery the world cannot grasp (see 1 Cor. 2:1-4; 1 Pet. 2:21-25)! Worship

Because we are “future people”, that is- we are people whose lives are really tied to the future God has for us, yet living in the present, what things do we have to celebrate despite troubles or problems of the every day grind?

Reflect on some of these passages:

1 Cor. 10:1-11 2 Cor. 5:14-17 Ph. 3:7-20

Inner-Life

Take a moment to think through how you can begin to turn over control to the Holy Spirit and allow His power to begin shaping every aspect of your life: your relationships, your health, your character. Read through the contrast between living “in the flesh” and “walking by the Spirit” in Galatians 5:16-26. What are some specific contrasts between these two ways of life? What characterizes each? How would you go about cultivating the virtues listed in Galatians 5:22-23 in cooperation

28 Peterson, Eugene, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places, pub. by Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2005, p. 272

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with the Holy Spirit? Be specific and brainstorm together about some spiritual disciplines or adjustments to make in life.

Love-

Joy-

Peace-

Patience-

Kindness-

Goodness-

Faithfulness-

Gentleness-

Self-control-

Now, map out an attack plan to work on each of these virtues over a specific amount of time (e.g. one virtue per week) Missional Living

If the Spirit is a Spirit of power, then pray for someone and ask for the Spirit to work in a powerful way in that person’s life. Keep in mind, if you pray for healing, that God wants to heal the whole person, not just a malady. Or pray for emotional comfort and relief. In any case, take a step of faith and ask God to enable to minister above and beyond conventional means. This is a trial and error learning process, so keep track of successes and failures.

Week 6- Healing, miracles and tongues: Controversies surrounding the Holy Spirit and the church today.

This is where things get confusing, controversial and downright hard to fathom…especially for a Western civilization. There are, generally speaking, three schools of thought (well…two schools of thought and one that tries to find a middle ground). One school of thought is the Charismatic school of thought. This group believes that the spiritual gifts- all of them- are still available and to used by the church. An extreme example would suggest that upon true conversion, the convert should speak in tongues. But more moderate examples see tongues as just one of many spiritual gifts that are underutilized by the church as a whole.

The other school of thought is the Cessationist school of thought. They are “cessationist” because they believe that certain gifts “ceased” after the 1st century. Those gifts would include tongues, healing and other “signs and wonders” gifts. The argument is based on an interpretation of 1 Corinthians 13:8, the decreasing reference

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to the more spectacular gifts as the epistles come along later and later and through an evaluation of the “sign gifts” in church history.

We will be looking at this debate since it has relevance to our understanding of the operation of the Holy Spirit in the church today. Can we pray for healing? If there is a “tongues” gift, what is it, how does it work, are there frauds?

More importantly is our understanding of the church as a supernatural work of God in a naturalistic world. Have we abandoned great tools that God would give to His church because we have been influenced by a humanistic worldview? And if so, how do we go about recovering those gifts?

Word

The main passage that requires our attention is 1 Corinthians 12-14, since Paul is specifically dealing with an issue related to spiritual gifts. This is not to be understood as some kind of systematic explanation of spiritual gifts and the work of the Holy Spirit. This section addresses a specific problem in the Corinthian church over the misuse of the gift of tongues. However, in the midst of Paul’s dealing with the specific crisis, he does lay much groundwork for us.

The general flow of the argument is as follows:

1. There is one Spirit distributing many different gifts for the common good and all are vital (1 Cor. 12).

2. The ethical foundation of all uses of spiritual gifts needs to be love. Love is the demonstration of spiritual maturity, not gifts (1 Cor. 13).

3. Now, concerning the specific issue of tongues being used in the church assembly: consider the outsider in your midst. There needs to be order in the time of worship (1 Cor. 14).

1 Corinthians 12

Paul, wishing to challenge the attitude that the Corinthians have adopted, first affirms that all spiritual gifts are manifestations of the same Spirit and that they are all necessary since that same Spirit is the one who distributing them. The Corinthians were emphasizing one gift over the others- tongues. The prevailing attitude was an elitist attitude that said, “I have no need of you” (see 1 Cor. 12:21), which also showed up in their treatment of some in court cases (1 Cor. 6:1-8), in misusing their liberties to the detriment of weaker brothers (see 1 Cor. 8:9-12) and in their conduct at their love feasts (which were anything but- see 1 Cor. 11:17-22). It is interesting that Paul includes three lists of spiritual gifts in this one chapter alone (12:8-10; 12:28 and 12:29-30) and each of the lists ends with the gift of tongues-

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either for emphasis or to purposefully put the gift that was thought to be so exalted by the Corinthian community last on the list.

Paul begins this section with the introductory statement:

“Now concerning spiritual things [or ‘things of the Spirit’ or ‘people of the Spirit’ or ‘spiritual gifts’], brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be ignorant.”

In order to understand the rest of the argument of Paul, it is important to start with his opening statement. Throughout this letter, Paul has repeatedly addressed the inclination of this body of Christians to move towards status enhancement. There were those in the church that considered themselves as “wise” and elevated their status in the community; an attitude that Paul firmly chastises (1 Cor. 1:18-3:3). There was another faction growing that found status in who was the group’s main “guru” (“I am of Paul”, “I am of Apollos”, etc…- see 1 Cor. 3:4-23). There were those claiming to have “knowledge”, yet Paul found their wisdom and knowledge severely lacking when it came to determining basic ethical boundaries for conduct (see 1 Cor. 5-11, esp. 5:1-2, 12; 6:1-6; 8:1-13). Paul’s comments border on outright sarcasm in places where he states,

“I do not want you to be ignorant.”

That phrase starts off 1 Corinthians 10:1 and here in 12:1 as well. Such individuals (who saw themselves as sufficient, spiritual, wise and possessing knowledge) are confronted by Paul’s opening words, “Now concerning spiritual __, I do not want you to be deficient in your understanding.” Most modern translations render verse 1 as follows,

“Now concerning spiritual gifts…”29

But, the problems translating that little phrase are many.30 It is probably broader than “spiritual gifts” as Fee points out.31 Since this word “pneumatikon” is a word that tends to focus more on the Spirit who gives the gifts than on the gifts of the Spirit (unlike the word “charismata” which focuses on the gift or gifts as an undeserved empowerment)32, perhaps the broadness is intentional. We might then translate the passage,

“Now concerning that which proceeds from the Spirit…”29 NASB, NIV, TNIV, ESV, etc…30 Thisleton, p. 901, 909-10 The phrase, ton pneumatikon could be read as a masculine genitive plural (and thus- “people of the Spirit”, “spiritual people”) or as a neuter genitive plural (thus- “spiritual gifts”, “spiritual matters”, “what comes from the Spirit”). The argument for the former is that this phrase is used to describe people who think they are spiritual (1 Cor. 2:15; 3:1 and 14:37). The argument for the latter is that Paul uses pneumatikon in 14:1 and that should clearly be understood as “spiritual gifts” since Paul states in 12:31- “earnestly desire the greater gifts [charismata- clearly ‘spiritual gifts’]” and then almost repeats himself verbatim as he picks up the argument after a brief sidebar in 1 Cor. 13 when he writes, “desire earnestly spiritual gifts [pneumatikon which seems here to be interchangeable with charismata].” 31 Fee, Gordon D., NICNT- The First Epistle to the Corinthians, pub. Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1987, pp. 575-7632 Ibid, p. 576

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In that sense, both people who claim to be spiritual and the spiritual gifts that they use to exalt themselves, can be tested through what Paul has to say next. That which proceeds from the Spirit- whether people claiming to be spiritual or the spiritual gifts that they claim validate their status…and then Paul launches into his explanation. He begins by first guiding them back to their past in which they were pagans and probably encountered, or even engaged in ecstatic utterances on behalf of the mute idol. But, for Paul, ecstatic utterances were no evidence for true Spirit-empowered lives. It is in utterances that offer intelligible testimony to Jesus Christ (vv. 2-3).33 Paul then begins to elaborate on other demonstrations of the Holy Spirit’s work with a short list of spiritual gifts (not an exhaustive list by any stretch), noting that each one is given by the same Spirit and each one has an important role to play using the body as an analogy. If everyone was an eye, who would do the hearing for the body? In fact, argues Paul, those members of the body which “seem to be weaker” are actually indispensable (12:22). Paul is probably referring to the internal organs34 which are not visible and whose functions go unnoticed. In the same way, individuals in the church who are not endowed with the same visible status or power, are still vital and necessary to the church as a whole. The point is being made, subtly, that those who have an inflated view of themselves because of the gift of tongues are severely lacking in spiritual knowledge. Paul then moves to the ethic that should guide them in their application of these spiritual gifts.

1 Corinthians 13

Of course, the famous “love” chapter gets a lot of attention during weddings, but it is primarily addressing the use of spiritual gifts and the motives behind them. It is within this passage that the Cessationist school of thought locates their primary passage. Beginning with speaking in the “tongues of men and of angels”35, Paul describes a love-less use of gifts as well as actions and charitable sacrifices that amount to nothing in the eyes of God. After an overview of what love looks like, Paul begins to talk about the transient nature of all of these gifts. It is 13:8-10 in which we find the crux of the matter. Here is says that,

“Love never ends;As for prophecies, they will pass awayAs for tongues, they will ceaseAs for knowledge, it will pass away.

For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.

33 Fee, p. 57834 Ibid, p. 61335 “tongues of angels” may have been the Corinthians understanding of what the gift of tongues is, but not necessarily what Paul endorsed. He may have been using yet another one of their slogans (see 6:13; 7:1; 8:1, 8, etc…) to drive his point home.

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It is interesting how Paul makes his argument. Love will endure without fail. As for those things which can be misused to give us some kind of artificial spiritual status, those things are temporary. Paul picks three such “gifts”: prophecy is his own personal favorite (see 14:1-5) and then two Corinthian favorites- tongues and knowledge. Since we live between the time of Jesus’ first and second coming, all such gifts are in use until the kingdom comes in full through the return of Jesus.

One Cessationist argument takes this section and suggests that “tongues” is singled out by Paul since it is connected with a different verb (and a different grammatical “voice”) than prophecy and knowledge. The gift of tongues will “cease” (pausontai), according to this reading before prophecy and knowledge because the verb in the middle voice should be understood as “dying out like a battery” or stopping on its own, unlike prophecy or knowledge which are exterminated36 The argument flows out of two primary points: first, that there is a different verb for “tongues” than for “prophecy” and “knowledge” and second, that the verb has a reflexive bent and thus, contains the idea that tongues, unlike prophecy or knowledge has a different nature that allows it to die out on its own accord. However, such an interpretation is tenuous at best.37 Trying to read that interpretation into this phrase completely gets off the topic of Paul’s intent. That is problematic enough, but there are other cases in which pauomai in the aorist tense middle voice does not have the idea of dying out on its own accord (see Luke 8:24 the waves ceased not because they died out, but because Jesus caused them to cease).

The other problem is that one must define “the perfect” as something other than the coming age of the kingdom at Christ’s return. Some of suggested the “perfect” being the formation of the New Testament (totally without warrant) while others have suggested a maturity of the church. Again, this misses the point of Paul’s argument- at the coming of the new era, spiritual gifts will not be necessary, so the squabbling over who has what gift is baseless. This attitude is childish in Paul’s eyes and the Corinthian church needs to grow up.

1 Corinthians 14

Finally, Paul returns to the issue at hand- the attitude that says that spiritual gifts like tongues represent a higher status in the community of faith. Paul responds by suggesting that prophecy is a greater gift since it can lead to edification of the church (unlike uninterpreted tongues- 14:4) as well as leading someone on the outside of the church who comes into the assembly and is convicted of their need for Christ (1 Cor. 14:24-25). Some have

36 Blomberg, Craig, NIVAC- 1 Corinthians, pub. by Zondervan, 1994, p. 260. The word katargeo contains the sense of “to be destroyed or abolished”.37 Carson, D.A., Showing the Spirit: A Theological Exposition of 1 Cor. 12-14, pub. by Baker Books, 1987, pp. 66-67. Carson shows convincingly that the verb pauomai prefers the middle voice and thus, the use of the middle does not necessitate that the subject stops on its own. There really is little to the argument that a different verb is used for “prophecy” and “knowledge” unless we wish to throw style out the window and force Paul into a pedantic fit.

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suggested that Paul’s quoting of Isaiah 28:11-12 (in 1 Cor. 14:21) suggests that tongues speaking is a negative gift that ultimately signifies judgment. The argument proceeds to link tongues-speaking as a sign of judgment on unrepentant Israel, the culmination of which came from the destruction of the Temple by Titus in AD 70. This interpretation is shabbily constructed. There is no hint in this text of the destruction of the Temple or even unrepentant Jews. The quotation from Isaiah is significant for two reasons. First, Isaiah is addressing the community of faith which refuses to hear the prophetic warnings. The second reason this passage is chosen is probably the way the Hebrew sounds from this passage-

“Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line…” (Isa. 28:10, 13)

This passage is berating the leaders of Israel who mock the prophets, saying that they speak to them like a drunken schoolmaster would rehearse the ABCs to their classroom.38 When the language they hear is unintelligible (the foreign language of invaders), it is too late. And Paul’s point is this, when all that is heard by the outsiders is babble, the church has stopped doing its job and only judgment can come next. Thus, the church is called on by Paul to embrace prophecy rather than tongues, though he certainly allows for it by setting some order for the church. They were permitted to express their gifts by limiting tongues-speaking to two or three and then only if there is an interpreter.

This is the only passage that can really argue for the idea that the “supernatural” gifts are no more. What we understand as “supernatural” really is “unusual” or “spectacular”. All true spiritual gifts, no matter how “ordinary” (in human eyes) are supernatural.

Beyond this passage, an argument for the cessation of the more spectacular spiritual gifts relies on three things:

1. The Bible talks less and less about these “sign gifts” as we get later and later into the 1st century. Thus, the conclusion is that they are disappearing.

2. History seems to suggest that the spiritual sign gifts disappeared, or only reappeared in connection with some form of heresy (e.g. Montanism, Catholic responses to the Reformers) and thus were frauds and/or attempts at manipulation.

3. An assumption that spiritual gifts like tongues, miracles, prophecy, healing usurp the authority of Scripture.

38 Watts, John D.W., Word Biblical Commentary Vol. 24- Isaiah 1-33, pub. by Word Inc., 1985, p. 363 The Hebrew for vv. 10 and 13 sounds like baby babble- tsaw la’tsaw, tsaw la’tsaw, qaw la’qaw, qaw la’qaw.

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As far as the disappearance of the “sign gifts” in the later letters, that is merely an argument from silence. You cannot draw any firm conclusions from that fact.

In terms of the disappearance of the sign gifts in history, that is a very under-examined issue which recent studies are showing may be a false conclusion. It is true that Montanists39 were guilty of misusing these supernatural spiritual gifts. Calvin certainly believed that sign gifts had ceased, but he may have been overly influenced by Roman Catholic fraud that some circles were using to win back those who were moving towards the Reformers in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries40. Nevertheless, the burden of proof is on the Cessationist camp to argue that all cases of the miraculous (e.g. healing, prophecy, tongues) are either the excesses of Montanism or Catholic fraud or emotionally overload such as what occurred during the Great Awakening in the 18th century in America.

On the contrary, there is MUCH evidence to show that these gifts did NOT die out. Augustine, in his classic City of God, recants his earlier position of cessationism in view of direct contact with various miraculous events prayed for by people in the church (see Book 22, chapter 8).41 Irenaeus (AD 140-203) testified to visions, prophecy, healing and even the raising of the dead in his day. Tertullian (c. AD 160-215) witnessed healing and exorcisms. Ambrose (c. AD 339-397) also testified to healings and tongues. John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards and others also testify to works of the Spirit.

Finally, there should be no contradiction from any true gift of the Spirit and the Word. It certainly was just as possible to run into issues of prophecy and conflict with the Scriptures in the 1st century where the Old Testament canon was complete and even much of the New Testament (see 2 Thessalonians where apparently someone with an unchecked use of prophecy spooked the church there). But, if we understand prophecy, among other gifts, as additional helps from the Spirit, we should not feel any theological contradiction between a completed canon and other means of guiding people in unique situations. No prophecy should ever be put on the same level as or above

39 Bloesch, Donald G., The Holy Spirit: Works and Gifts, pub. by IVP, 2000, pp. 88-89. Montanism was a movement started in the mid second century by Montanus, who believed that he was the mouthpiece for the “Paraclete” who would bring in the final revelation. They readily embraced such gifts as prophecy and tongues, as well as submitting to a rigid asceticism. And they placed their prophecies on a par with Scripture. 40 Thistleton, p. 106341 Augustine, City of God, pub. by Modern Library Edition, 1993, pp. 819-31. Augustine catalogs multiple occasions in which he was witness to healings and other manifestations of the Spirit that resulted in the miraculous including a blind man receiving sight, another man healed before a very painful and potentially dangerous surgery, a woman named Innocentia healed of breast cancer, a doctor who was healed of gout, a comedian from Curubis who was healed of paralysis and a hernia, and so on.

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the Scripture, nor should it ever contradict Scripture. But, that does not mean that the Holy Spirit cannot give guidance, insight, knowledge, wisdom, etc… through other means as well.

OK, so if the gifts of the Spirit are still available, what does that mean for us?

1. We need to know what these gifts are and how they function for “the common good” (1 Cor. 12:7). Listed below are a few of the more misunderstood gifts. Obviously there are gifts of teaching, preaching, evangelism (Eph. 4:11), administrations (1 Cor. 12:28), service, exhortation, liberality, leadership, mercy (Rom. 12:7-8), etc… And none of these lists are intended to be exhaustive. They are a sampling of spiritual gifts to be used for the body of Christ. There are, however, some gifts that elude us either because they seem too “supernatural” or because we have no idea what was meant by the wording.

a. Tongues- Well, since we have dealt with this so much, we’ll start here. Is the gift of tongues the ability to speak in another language to communicate the gospel (Acts 2:4-8)? Or is it a private prayer language gift (Rom. 8:26; 1 Cor. 14:2)? Or is it a public language used to praise God (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16)? Why must it be an “either/or” answer since 1 Corinthians 12:10 states that there are a variety of tongues? I have talked with missionaries who have seen friends speak in a language they did not know in order to communicate the gospel. I have seen others still talk in a prayer language that did give them great spiritual strength. We must ask more than anything what place does this gift have in today’s church? Paul regards the gift of tongues as inferior unless it builds up others. The church has permission to forbid the public use of it. Not everyone has been this gift. It offers no bonus status to the one given it.

b. Prophecy- The prophets themselves were both foretellers (giving insight into the future) and forthtellers (addressing current issues in the congregation that needed to be rectified). The NT church still has room for this gift as more than inspired preaching (the Americanized dumbed-down version of what we see in the Bible). In the NT, prophecy does include foretelling, as we see in the prophet Agabus (Acts 11:28; 21:10). We also see applications to current situations through the use of Scripture as an aspect of prophecy (Acts 4:24-31). It seems that prophets, whether being used to encourage, give direction or warn the faith-community, it is a gift that is to evaluated by that community (1 Cor. 14:29), and if found to be of God to used as divine guidance in various times.

c. Healing- This too is referred to 1 Corinthians 12:9 with a plural idea- “gifts of healing”. Perhaps the plural suggests that there are different specialties of healing. There is inner-healing that deals with

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emotional trauma. There is also physical healing. John Wimber notes that C. Peter Wagner has a penchant for healing bones. But, important to the understanding of the gift of healing is that God wishes to heal the whole person- which means that healing includes forgiveness of sins (healing the spirit of a person through bringing them to Jesus Christ), restoration from sickness, breaking the hold of some type of oppression, deliverance from demonic influence and, in some cases, raising the dead.42

d. Word of Wisdom/Knowledge- Closely related, these two gifts may be the ability to impart knowledge (perhaps in terms of teaching) or explaining some mystery (e.g. “What is going on with that person’s attitude?”) that applies to a human need or situation.43

e. Discerning of spirits- The NASB translates 1 Corinthians 12:10 as distinguishing of spirits. Keener believes that it is a gift that helps to evaluate prophetic announcements (see 1 Thes. 5:20-22; 1 John 4:1).44 It may be that this gift cab also detect demonic influence (which would go hand-in-hand with evaluating whether or not the prophetic utterance is from God or from some other source. It might also mean that “spirits” (at least in 1 Cor. 12:10) refers to people, although that seems odd to the Western mindset. But, Paul does use “spirit” to refer to people, as in the “spirit of the prophet” through whom the Holy Spirit is speaking through.

2. We need to ask how we know we have them or how we ask for them.

Spiritual gifts tests can be helpful, but let’s be honest- if you want to pre-arrange the outcome, you know how to answer the questions (“Ah, I don’t have the gift of compassion, see? So stop your whining!!” or “Well, nobody comes to my classes, but my spiritual gifts inventory said I have a gift of teaching”). The truth is we found out in a number of ways:

Trial and error by getting involved and learning what works and why Leaders and other members of the faith-community recognize our

giftedness Examining our passions and desires Corresponding habits that make the gift more usable (e.g. teachers

are always learners, people that have the gift of healing are compassionate people, etc…)

The other thing is that we need to realize that God encourages us to pursue these gifts (see 1 Cor. 14:1). John Wimber talks a lot about asking for the gift of healing and then having to learn how to use that gift in a way that exalted God and showed him His compassion for people. He had to get accustomed to when the Spirit was prompting him to talk to a person and when it was just 42 Wimber, John (and Kevin Springer), Power Healing, pub. by HarperCollins, 1987, pp. 37-3843 Keener, Craig, Gift and Giver, pub. by Baker Books, 2001, pp. 115-1644 Ibid, p. 121-23

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his own mind, knowing when the Spirit was prompting him to reach out to heal someone, etc…

3. We need to think about how this changes the way we view “church”.

A lot of times, we organize the church according to corporate models. And in some cases, the right people are in the right place and it works great. But, Paul discusses spiritual gifts in Ephesians 4:11-16, not in terms of talents, but in terms of people functioning in a certain way to build up the church. In fact, Paul writes that Christ takes captives and gives them to the church as gifts (Eph. 4:7-11). Those captives would be you and me. We are all given as gifts to the church to help it function as God intended. In a very real sense, every Christian is “God’s gift to the church” (even if that does sound like a negative way to describe how an arrogant person thinks of him or herself- “He thinks he’s God’s gift to women”, etc…).

Should we try harder to recognize the various needs in terms of giftedness and structure church and church leadership based on that? That would certainly seem to a more Spirit-led community. Indeed, Paul seems to intimate that very concept in Romans 12:1-8 in which the determining of God’s will (Rom. 12:2) seems to be tied to the discovery and application of the various spiritual gifts (Rom. 12:4-9). Most churches seem to be more ordered on the basis of a board that can become a popularity contest more than the selection of spiritually-gifted and mature leaders. Or other churches seem to watch some of the more socio-economically endowed members ascend to church leadership (some because they are wise and gifted and others, unfortunately, because they have money). So how does this change our view of “church”? Perhaps a better job of discovering our spiritual gifts and figuring out how to best connect everyone in the body is how the church will be more ably led by the Spirit. Why might the spiritual gifts in the church be rendered near obsolete?

1. We may be suffering from a form of “practical atheism”.

This was mentioned early on in our study, but we have been living amidst a very anti-supernatural worldview for all of our lives. Miracles need explanations (how ironic is that?), cancer that suddenly goes missing must have been a misdiagnosis, people that get all riled up at those Pentecostal revivals are just over-emotional, under-educated people who really don’t know the Word, blah, blah, blah.

Sometimes, these things are true. Sometimes, there are logical explanations, misdiagnoses and people who are easily conned or emotionally manipulated. But, is that the case every time? Why is it that we start with “guilty until proven innocent” when we hear about the miraculous? Could it be that we have drank so long from the cup of Enlightenment thinking that we have been inoculated from being able to conceive of a world that exists outside the

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boundaries of limited human reason and logic? Roc Bottomly describes how he began to address this “practical atheism”- a way of thinking that may acknowledge God, but renders Him obsolete.

Have you noticed any difference between church on the mission field and at home church? I found myself reading about Islamic holy men coming to Christ through dreams, angels appearing to defend Congolese missionaries from murderous guerillas, Filipino churches starting as a result of blind men seeing, Thai ancestor worshipers converting after being freed from tormenting spirits, Chinese house-church pastors being warned through visions about impending raids by the secret police and even a Nigerian pastor being raised from the dead three days after he was killed in an auto accident.45

The funny thing is that we believe these things too…but nothing here at home. Why? Is it Scripture that tells us this? Bottomly says it so concisely,

Sadly, tradition trumps Scripture most of the time.46

We are, for all intents and purposes, formed to not believe that God intervenes in miraculous ways…or won’t. Perhaps we’re afraid of looking dumb by praying for our friend to be healed (like God would heal someone so you won’t look dumb). Perhaps we’re afraid of being let down because sometimes God says “no”. The problem is that we don’t understand who God is, what kind of power he truly wields (and dispenses) and why He would heal. If we truly grasped that God is very present, very desirous to be known, willing gives power and heals because He is a compassionate God (note how many times Jesus healed because He was moved by compassion and/or mercy)47, we might be less reluctant to ask God for His direct and even miraculous intervention or equipping. If we believe in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in everyone who follows Jesus, then it seems almost impossible to avoid the conclusion that we offer God the chance to touch someone every time we touch someone.

2. We may be grieving the Holy Spirit with our moral and relational conduct.

Ephesians 4:17-5:21 contains a rather lengthy exhortation on ethical conduct as believers in Jesus Christ. But, contained in that plea are two possible outcomes for a person filled with the Spirit. They can be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18) or they can “grieve the Holy Spirit” (Eph. 4:30). Paul’s encouragement to lay aside the old self and put on this new self is pictured in specifics that have to do with inter-relational conduct. True followers of Christ are to lay aside all falsehood, ungodly anger, stealing, unwholesome speech, bitterness and malice, instead choosing tender-heartedness and forgiveness.45 Bottomly, p. 6346 Ibid, p. 7547 Jesus’ healing/miracles for compassion’s sake: Matt. 9:27-31; 15:32; 20:34; Mark 1:41-42; 5:1-19; 9:22; Luke 7:11-17

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It would seem that to continue to flail in the muck of lies, anger, malice, bitterness and the like is how one may come to the place of grieving the Holy Spirit and thus impeding His work of transformation in one’s life. It would be safe to say that since the Holy Spirit is interested in creating a place for the presence of God to dwell and then to shine forth (remember our look at the Holy Spirit in the OT?), He will be less likely to operate outwardly through a person who is interfering with the inward work. Just as the Holy Spirit is interested in healing the whole person (not just joints and organs, but also the spirit/soul), so too we can surmise that grieving the Holy Spirit through a darkened soul will force Him to go back to work on other areas first, before working through someone…more than likely.

3. We may be quenching the Holy Spirit by ignoring His movements.

1 Thessalonians 5:19 warns us also not to “quench the Spirit” or “do not put out the Spirit’s fire”, which seems to be connected to the ignoring of prophetic utterances (1 Thes. 5:20-21). In fact, looking at these five concise imperatives we see that the church (at least in Thessalonica) are told to:

“Do not put out the Spirit’s fire.”“Do not hold prophecies in contempt.”“Examine everything.”“Hold on to what is good.”“Avoid every kind of evil.”

The idea of prophecy in the church seems commonplace in the early church based on Paul’s matter-of-fact mentioning of it here, as well as in Rom. 12:6; 1 Cor. 12-14; 1 Tim. 1:18; 4:14. Prophecies came to the church through the Holy Spirit, so they were not to be despised. But, they came through mere human vessels, so they needed to be tested.48 The solution to prophecy is not stifling them. It is proper and orderly usage (see also 1 Cor. 14:29-33).

The implication, however, is that a continued ignoring of the moving of the Holy Spirit will cause Him to retreat and, perhaps even be extinguished. One gets the same sense from Paul’s exhortation to Timothy to “fan to flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands” (2 Tim. 1:6). Perhaps one of the consequences of our overly corporate American church in which we can control everything, is that we have seen less of the Spirit due to our quenching of His work. Worship

Gary Thomas, in his book, The Beautiful Fight states that we sometimes complain about all of the things that we don’t deserve when in fact, the reality is, we deserve hell. And yet, God gives us assurance of the future. We live out our days with the beauty of nature, with relationships that encourage and challenge us, with opportunities to serve and experience God.

48 Fee, Gordon D., God’s Empowering Presence, pub. by Hendrickson, 1994, p. 59

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“When we look at life through God’s eyes, we become lost in wonder and convinced of God’s astounding generosity, His marvelous mercy and His gigantic grace. Sin causes us to look at life through the lens of entitlement- that we deserve salvation without repentance, wealth without work, accolades without self-denial, health without personal discipline, pleasure without sacrifice…every small laugh, every tiny expression of joy, a simple meal- any momentary reprieve from the ongoing agony of hell- truly is an undeserved gift.”49

Paul talks about singing spiritual songs (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16) that are offered to God. Take some time to write your own hymn of praise after reflecting on the new purpose, meaning and direction that you have been given by God. Think though how the Spirit’s giving you spiritual gifts should create joy in your heart.

Inner-Life

1. What is your spiritual gift or gifts? If you are not certain, what do you think they might be? Don’t think so much in strict categories, but in talents, virtues, etc…that would be used by God to build up His church.

2. How has the employment of your spiritual gift built character in you?

3. Do certain “spiritual gifts” make you uncomfortable? What doubts do you have about certain of the more spectacular gifts? What causes these doubts? How do these doubts color your concept of God, or vice versa- How does your concept of God color your understanding of the spiritual gifts?

4. How does our culture alter the way we read Scripture when we talk about these gifts? How affected do you think you are by the culture and the use of a gift like healing or prophecy?

Missional Living

If you feel comfortable and are prepared to utilize it, ask for a spiritual gift from the Holy Spirit that would allow you to minister to others whether inside or outside the church family. Make a point of ministering to them this week. Keep track of what happened with a notebook or a journal.

49 Thomas, Gary, The Beautiful Fight, pub. by Zondervan, 2007, p. 58

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In 1 Corinthians 12:31 and 14:1, Paul exhorts the Corinthians to pursue spiritual gifts for the work of the ministry. Do you think Paul is suggesting that we can actually request spiritual gifts from God? If so, what spiritual gift would you ask for if you could choose any? How would you employ for the “common good” (12:7) and for the conviction of those far from God (14:24-25)?

Take some time to truly think through what you spiritual gift is lacking in our body, what you would desire for God’s glory and how you would use it. Then, proceed to do as God is moving you through your desires.

Week 7- The work of the Holy Spirit in ministry and spiritual warfare

“There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other

is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors, and hail

a materialist or a magician with the same delight.”50

- C.S. Lewis

We are in a war that is invisible. Sometimes as Christians, we feel like this spiritual warfare is a lot like Don Quixote challenging windmills to sword fights. It almost sounds insane except that the spiritual realm is so prevalent in so many varied and different cultures that it cannot be a simple case of psychological or superstitious phenomena. Our tendency is to swing from one extreme to the other: either we find a demon under every rock or we dismiss all possibilities of demonic activity into categories of the explainable.

The Bible portrays a vivid picture of exactly what is going on in the world around us. We have a real enemy named Satan who really wants to destroy us and he employs an army of demonic beings that are structured and committed to the task at hand. But, we also live in a world in which God employs any number of helps for us. One of which is His own angelic army that launches counterattacks and comes to our aid in times of trouble.

Primarily, God’s greatest protection for us is, in fact, His indwelling, empowering Spirit who energizes the Word of God during times of confusion and temptation. The Holy Spirit is the agent who empowered Jesus during His ministry against the forces of darkness and now, that same Holy Spirit empowers us in our confrontation with evil.

In this section, we will be looking at what exactly this warfare is all about, what it looks like and what forms it takes. Then, we will look

50 Lewis, C.S., The Screwtape Letters, pub. by MacMillan Publishing Co., 1959, p.3

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at the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives in confront evil and the powers of darkness. Word

What war?

We need to start with that all-important passage in Ephesians 6:10-12 which states:

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (NASB Updated)

This is a pivotal passage for understanding spiritual warfare! Several observations need to be noted:

The “schemes” of the devil are being employed against us!

We see in Ephesians 6:11 that the reason we must put on the armor of God is so that we can stand firm against the “schemes” (methodeias) of the devil. There are clear strategies and methods that Satan employs and he has been honing these techniques for centuries. If the armor itself is any indication of what we need (e.g. girded loins with truth, breastplate of righteousness, etc…), we might surmise that the opposite is what Satan uses to attack us. The armor is based on the antidote, or perhaps, the acting agent to nullify the assaults that Satan will launch.

Ephesians 6 Satanic strategy (substitutes/attack methods)

“gird your loins with truth” Propaganda, truth-twisting, deception

“breastplate of righteousness” Relativism, oppression, injustice

“shoes…of the gospel of peace” Power, a gospel of power, scattered lives

“shield of faith” Ideology, doubt

“helmet of salvation” Secular utopia, convenience, self-sufficiency

“sword of the Spirit/Word of God” Latest studies, personal experience51 51 Snyder, Howard A., The Community of the King, pub. by IVP, 2004 (sec. ed.), pp. 132-34

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Our struggle is not against people!

This is also important, since people are not the enemy, but captives of the enemy!! This is certainly not to say that people do not become willing helpers (2 Tim. 4:14-15), but that our primary foe are the forces of evil behind people, social structures, etc…

It is against the rulers, the powers, the world forces of this darkness, the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavens!

What Paul means by this is a little more complex than what we might, at first, assume. To be sure, the primary referent is to demonic entities. Throughout Scripture, these forces are portrayed as spiritual, personal beings with very specific assignments (Dan. 10:13; Eph. 2:2; 2 Cor. 2:11). At the same time, there is a parallel track that runs alongside societal structures that have been corrupted as well. We see that “thrones, dominions, rulers, authorities” in Colossians 1:16 seem to have had a purpose and are possibly visible or invisible. They seem to not such much hassle individuals as they do influence foundational structures in society. In other words, there is not so much a divide between demonic evil and societal evil. It seems that the biblical picture is both/and. We face demonic forces on a personal level, but also power structures that have been infested with the demonic, thus why you might see some of the “Satanic strategies” listed above as commonplace in the government where power is key or the workplace where the goal of the corporation is greed at the worker’s expense or culture that rejects an accountability to its Creator.

We are called to “be empowered”!

In light of these realities, Paul calls for us to “be strong” or perhaps, “to be empowered”. And this call refers us back to Ephesians 3:16 in which we are exhorted “to be strengthened with power through the Holy Spirit in the inner person.” What are Satan’s methods?

So how does Satan go about causing the havoc that he does? And what is his ultimate purpose? Paul writes to the church in Corinth about the restoration of a repentant brother and how the church needs to nurture him along now, so that Satan will not get the upper hand, adding that:

“We don’t Satan to win any victory here, and well we know his methods!” (Philips’ translation)

Apparently, the Corinthians had been well instructed by Paul (and others perhaps) on Satan’s methods, but unfortunately, the church today seems to be ignorant of them and perhaps could stand to take a refresher course!! There is no way we can list every method, but there are some things we can

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draw from Scripture, experience and practical wisdom that may help us know what to look for.

Deceive- Satan is called a liar, the father of lies (John 8:44). In the Garden of Eden, Satan was a master at convincing Eve that God was too strict, the fruit was too good to pass up and the sureness of consequences were debatable. And then, he lied- “You will NOT surely die…” (Gen. 3:4-5). He attacks the mind and tries to cloud people from the truth (2 Cor. 4:4). He creates false teaching systems that are meant to look similar to the real thing, but they draw the participant into either a life of legalism or license (Gal. 4:8-10; Col. 2:8; 1 Tim. 4:1-5; 1 John 4:1-4; 2 John 7). Any time there is dealing with lies, deception, half-truths and spin, this could potentially be the work of Satan.

“Warfare is one thing: it is a philosophy of deception.”52

Divide- “Divide and conquer” is an old military strategy commonly used by parents with more than one child at home. But, a unified front is absolutely more difficult to defeat. Thus, one of the enemy’s most effective strategies, particularly against the church (but also in families) is to create disunity through disagreements (not surprisingly on relative “non-issues”) or to inflame one party against the other. Anger, malice, slander are all potential footholds for Satan to get in there and create separation (Eph. 4:25-31). Harboring unforgiveness is a key strategy to maintaining division. Fueling contempt is another variation of this. Contempt is the opposite of placing value and worth on another.

Fear- Whether it is a fear of the unknown, a fear of failure or a fear of engagement with the enemy, Satan uses fear to his advantage. Christ has stripped him and his demonic hoard of their power (Col. 2:15; Heb. 2:14-15). Of course, the final reality will be at Christ’s return. Satan has been fatally wounded (Gen. 3:15 Rom. 16:20), but while he is still bleeding from the death blow, he has not been finished off yet. What Satan wants, however, is to intimidate us. He IS a roaring lion trying to devour us, but we have been given authority and blessing through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Fear comes in the form of timidity when engaging others with the gospel. It comes in retreating from God’s call in your life. We see it when God calls us to be forthright and honest and we flee from God’s call to living in holiness because we’re shown all of the negative outcomes and begin to question God’s goodness.

Temptation and Enslavement- Obviously, this was the devil’s M.O. in the Garden of Eden and then later, in a virtual replay in the wilderness with Jesus…with a completely different outcome (Matt. 4:1-11). Satan wants to enslave us to sin or destructive thoughts (2 Pet. 2:18-19). Temptation leads to sin which leads to shame which leads to cover up. The guilt begins to fester inside where the quick fix that sin offers (“you need this” or “you deserve this”) loops back around only to create the cycle again…only this time the spiral curves downward. This is the cycle of the enslaving process of sin and it is Satan’s favorite tool! 52 Gagliardi, Gary (trans.), Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, pub. by Clearbridge Publishing, 1999, p. 23

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In fact, there is some suggestion in the Bible that when it is all said and done, Satan’s ultimate strategy is to enslave, to consume. There is an interesting facet in the book, The Lord of the Rings. J.R.R. Tolkien’s story is about a hobbit trying to destroy the “ring of power” before the Dark Lord, Sauron can reclaim it and conquer Middle-Earth. This ring has an almost irresistible draw to the person who carries it, enslaving anyone who continues to wear it. Soon, instead of controlling the ring, the ring is controlling the wearer. This also seems to be Sauron’s ultimate strategy for “Middle-Earth”; he wants to enslave everyone. Tolkien’s Christian worldview was indeed bleeding over into his story! But, it was a view that his friend, C.S. Lewis held as well!

“Bad angels, like bad men, are entirely practical. They have two motives. The first is fear of punishment…Their second motive is a kind of hunger. I feign that devils can, in a spiritual sense, eat one another, and us. Even in human life, we have seen the passion to dominate, almost digest, one’s fellow…53

Guilt & Shame- Master manipulators are geniuses at wielding guilt and shame. One of the things that the cross does is to free us from the guilt and shame that our sins have produced. And as Christ-followers, we are called to make things right to the best of our ability and according to wisdom. So it should be no surprise that Satan would want to oppress us again with that taskmaster, shame. We probably need to distinguish holy guilt from unholy guilt. It IS normal to have guilty feelings when we sin or when we let something fester unaddressed. But, the difference between holy and unholy guilt is how it is addressed back to us. We know it is the Holy Spirit when we sin and we hear in our soul, “Why did you do that? You need to make that right.” Satan will also address sin, but he will accuse instead of address (hence why he is called “Satan”- “the accuser”, see Zech. 3:1). His response is, “You are such a hypocrite, such a loser. You call yourself a Christian?”

Shame can also be projected on us by ungodly things committed against us- especially as children. The enemy that attaches the shameful sins done against us to our account and refuses to let us live out from under the shadows of it.

“The pain of this shame is not a signal of something wrong in us that needs to be made right. Our shame is what is wrong with us. It is a false shame because the feeling has no basis in reality…it is a shame we do not deserve to feel.”54

The three main sources of this “false shame” that is handed to us by our “false self” and then exploited by Satan are secular culture, graceless religion and unaccepting parents. The “false self” is an image that is concocted about who we ought to be based on false ideals foisted upon us from outside sources. God is trying to help us understand what we are to look like in Christ. But, the Spirit of God is constantly doing battle with this “false self”. 53 Lewis, p. xi54 Smedes, Lewis B., Shame and Grace, pub. by Zondervan/Harper Collins, 1993, p. 37

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Secular culture tells us what beauty is (outward, near anorexic, etc…), what is popular, what is powerful, seductive, etc… Graceless religion gives us a list of rules and regulations to follow and if we succeed, then we will be worthy of God. Living up to the expectations of the traditions of that religion creates a false self that lives in perpetual failure. Unaccepting parents set up approval quotas which are unattainable. The other problem is that the expectations are often poorly defined, thus making it even more difficult to earn the parent’s love. Satan exploits all of these and creates a sense of hopelessness and despair. Playing invisible- This may be one of the most formidable challenges that face Christians today. That Satan is so hard to note, that he slides in unaware most times and drops his forms of chaos and division and then slips out, makes him even more difficult to combat. More times than we care to admit, psychological problems are partly due (if not more fully) to satanic oppression. Not every case of demonic oppression looks like Linda Blair spewing pea soup with her head doing 360 degree turns while speaking Latin in a gravely voice. The invisible work of demonic forces is seen in habitual sin, emotional wounds, psychological problems, physical illnesses, “bad luck”, disunity in relationships, irrational fears and compulsive behavior. It is not always that, but demonic oppression sometimes accompanies or lies behind these types of manifestations. Distractions and thoughts that enter our minds that either lead to sin or cause us to get off-task from prayer, studying the Word, reaching out to others, spending time with God are also how we see the invisible work of Satan, whether directly or through the world system of sensuality and multiple preoccupations.

Hinder the Church- The main focus of the Enemy is on hindering the church since it represents the greatest threat to his work. We see Satan creating blockades and hindrances for the mission of Paul (1 Thes. 2:18). It was the “rulers of this age” (human and the spiritual behind the human rulers) that brought about Jesus’ crucifixion (1 Cor. 2:8). The point behind Paul’s encouragement to the Roman Christians (“What can separate you from the love of God?”) is that “angels [fallen]” and “principalities” can bring about discouragement through trials and tribulations (Rom. 8:35-39). Anywhere in which the Kingdom of God is being spread, the Kingdom of Darkness will be there as well. It is almost a bad sign for a church when there is no spiritual opposition. It is probably a sign that they are no threat to making an impact on the world around them!! One will often see Satan attacking especially when a person is coming to know and trust Jesus or grow in a deeper relationship with him.

Demonization- This is more in line with the whole Linda Blair, satanic, demon-possession stuff although Hollywood did jazz that up as well. Sometimes there are overt expressions of demonic activity. I have personally seen an individual begin to strike and curse himself as I read the Parable of the Prodigal Son to him as a way of explaining God’s forgiveness and love towards him. The Bible describes other overt signs such as dumbness and blindness (Matt. 9:32; 12:22), epilepsy (Mark 9:14-29), high fever (Luke 4:38-39) and crippling effects (Luke 13:10-17). Insanity can be a trait of

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demonization, as can be sickness. Demonization is really the better word for what we might call “demon possession” since it does not seem that a demon can truly own a human being in totality (hence why they can be freed and may exercise some degree of free will). Demonization is actually a good translation of the Greek word for “having a demon” (daimonizomenoi) and suggests that there are varying degrees of demonization- mild to very severe. Severely demonized individuals may be prone to epileptic-like seizures, convulsions, rigidity, screaming and foaming at the mouth. There may be multiple personalities or personality projection. Sometimes, the demon will even speak through the person. Usually, the demon will speak of itself in the first person and the person inhabited in the third person. Moral depravity is a typical sign, almost always including one or more of the following: sexual sins, alcohol and drug abuse.

How do we engage the powers of darkness?

This now is the question that needs to be answered. In light of the fact that we are called to engage the powers of darkness, how do we fight such an invisible battle? It is easy to fight an individual (whether physically or in a debate). It is much harder to fight an invisible, intangible force or a cultural movement or a societal evil. But, we are called “more than conquerors” (Rom. 8:37). We are told that the Gates of Hell cannot survive the onslaught of the church (Matt. 16:18). We are told that we have strength in the Holy Spirit (Eph. 3:16). But, how do we march forward and attain victory?

Being prepared with virtue

Word and Prayer- The Ephesians 6:14-18 passage looks at the things that we must constantly sustain our life with in order to be clear-headed and prepared for Satanic attacks. At the end of the list are two references to the Holy Spirit- through the Word of God and through prayer!! Thus we need to be guided by the Spirit through Scripture and through prayer. The simplest way to explain those two commands is to so saturate yourself in the Bible that you thoughts and your prayers begin to take on the perspective and desires of God. Perhaps we should understand “praying in the Spirit” as “praying with the Spirit” almost with the sense of unleashing the Spirit’s power through prayer.55 The Holy Spirit is given greater and greater access into our lives as we incorporate God’s word into the way we actually think and live. Indeed,

“Prayer is foundational for the deployment of all the other weapons.”56 One of the interesting things about this list of armor is that we find Paul’s mind going back to Isaiah passages that relate to the Messiah (see Isa. 11:4-5; 49:2; 52:7; 59:17). Here, the messianic figure is being portrayed as the 55 Yoder Neufeld, Thomas R., Believers Church Bible Commentary- Ephesians, pub. by Herald Press, 2002, p. 306 56 O’Brien, Peter T., Pillar New Testament Commentary- Ephesians, pub. by Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1999, p. 484

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Divine Warrior who fights the forces of evil to protect and redeem His people. In this epistle to the Ephesians, Paul is basically telling us to put on the same armor that Jesus wore!

Truth- From God’s worldview through Scripture comes truth. Truth about what Christ has accomplished, truth about who we are and what our new standing is, truth about what God has called us to do. Honesty and sincerity are always a counter to religious hypocrisy that is so easily exploited by Satan. In an age of mirky ethics and moral confusion, truth is what we sheath our sword on!

Righteousness- God transfers His righteousness to us and we begin to behave in a way that reflects that righteousness in our moral conduct in everyday life. As we continually surrender to the Spirit and allow Him to live His life through us, we develop a lifestyle of virtue that protects us from the enemy.

Peace- The Hebrew concept for peace is not so much an emotional state of serenity, but an integration of thoughts and words and deeds. Such peace/integrity brings about a sense of peace in breaking through alienation from others and God.

Faith- Cultivating a trusting spirit that believes God is good and God is in control (even when it does not seem so) is a further protection from satanic attack. Flaming arrows cause havoc on the battlefield, but faith is what extinguishes these attempts by the devil to cause one to waver.

Salvation- Our salvation is rooted in Christ’s work on the cross and His resurrection. It is what protects our minds from attacks that try to draw us away from the kingdom life- either towards legalism or towards license. Meditating on the central focus of the Bible- the cross is always going to re-calibrate one’s mind in the right direction!!

Word of God- The gospel of the kingdom is our base point that we begin to examine and evaluate everything. It is the offensive weapon that allows us to know which way to go, how to attack, where we need to concentrate our efforts.

Prayer- As said earlier, we need to undergird everything in prayer. A non-praying Christian or church is a Christian or church that is going to get side-swiped in a big way!!

Attacking our thought life

Some of suggested that throughout the Scriptures, the primary aim of the cross was not to justify sinners before God (although they would say that was one of the most important aspects of Christ’s work), but to dethrone Satan and re-enthrone Jesus. It seems that over and over again, the work of Christ seems to be more directed at the defeat of the devil. We see Jesus driving out the cosmic murderer (John 8:44; 12:31), destroying the works of the devil (1 John 3:8), disarming “rulers and authorities” (Col. 2:15) and rendering powerless the devil (Heb. 2:14). Indeed, the powers of darkness had hostages that were transferred to a new kingdom that now belongs to Christ (Col. 1:13).

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It is no coincidence that Psalm 110:1 (“Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool”) is quoted multiple times in the New Testament in reference to the work of Christ (Matt. 22:42-45; Acts 2:34-35; 1 Cor. 15:25; Heb. 1:13; 10:13). It is Christ’s lordship that seems to take precedent because of His work on the cross. Our salvation is a benefit of the enthronement of the new king.

“The point is unmistakably clear. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God stripped Satan and all levels of demons of all their power (Col. 2:15). Therefore Christ now reigns in the power of God far above all such demonic powers…the work of the cross was about dethroning a cruel, illegitimate ruler and reinstating a loving, legitimate one: Jesus Christ. When Jesus Christ is reinstated, all who are aligned with His rule, all who are ‘in Christ’, all who are His ‘bride’ and part of His ‘body’, are reinstated to their appropriate position of authority as well.”57

Here then is one of the most important things that we constantly have to adjust our minds about. We were created with authority from God. We did forfeit that authority when we committed treason against God. When God brought us back under His rulership, He restored our position of authority. This is what Jesus has done for us through the Holy Spirit. He has accomplished our salvation, but also re-established our authority and outfitted us with power to continue the assignment of expanding His kingdom and engaging the brokenness of this world. Understanding and vigorously applying ourselves to this worldview is what…

“…knocks down the Devil’s strongholds. With these weapons [God’s weapon’s of the gospel], we break down every proud argument that keeps people from knowing God. With these weapons, we conquer their rebellious ideas and we teach them to obey Christ.” (2 Cor. 10:4-5, NLT)

Actively pursue brokenness with the gospel of the kingdom

Jesus gave authority to His disciples in Matthew 10 to proclaim the gospel of His Kingdom and to demonstrate His authority by healing the sick and releasing captives of demonic oppression. In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus reads from the Isaiah scroll (61:1) about proclaiming the gospel to the poor, releasing captives, healing the blind and granting liberty to the oppressed.

Proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ, His saving work on the cross, His return to rulership, His new kingdom initiative to launch an assault on the kingdom of darkness, to minister to the needy, the weak and the marginalized, to bring healing to people’s lives, etc…are all assaults on the kingdom of darkness. Our job is not merely defensive. We are commissioned to take the offensive and become change agents through the filling and empowering of the Holy Spirit. 57 Boyd, Gregory A., God at War, pub. by IVP, 1997, p. 246

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Worship

Take time to reflect again on what it means for Jesus Christ to have dethroned Satan and re-established His rulership in this world. What is it like to see an evil leader be removed from control and replaced with a good leader? How did the Germans react to the Berlin Wall being torn down? Who are some of the dictators of our day that you hope will soon be removed from power and replaced with a benevolent and godly leader? How do you think those people will respond? What does that mean for your understanding and worship of Jesus in light of what He has done?

“The point is unmistakably clear. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God stripped Satan and all levels of demons of all their power (Col. 2:15). Therefore Christ now reigns in the power of God far above all such demonic powers…the work of the cross was about dethroning a cruel, illegitimate ruler and reinstating a loving, legitimate one: Jesus Christ. When Jesus Christ is reinstated, all who are aligned with His rule, all who are ‘in Christ’, all who are His ‘bride’ and part of His ‘body’, are reinstated to their appropriate position of authority as well.”58

Inner-Life

1. Where do you feel Satan has a foothold in your life? Why do you feel that? Identify, along with your group, what it is that is giving the enemy access to your life. Take time to pray (and have others pray for you) for you to experience release.

2. Based on the list of armor in Ephesians 6, what virtues do you need to cultivate the most right now? What habits can you start to form this week that will begin to allow the Holy Spirit to reshape your character to fit more with the image of Christ?

3. Thinking through Satan’s various strategies, how have you seen him work in the past? Did he succeed or fail? Why? How will you prepare for the future to combat his various methods?

Missional Living

Begin to pray that the Holy Spirit would reveal to you an area in your circle of influence where the enemy is having his way and how you can combat it with the gospel of the kingdom. Write down what the Spirit has revealed to you throughout the week as you keep this prayer at the forefront of your mind.

58 Boyd, Gregory A., God at War, pub. by IVP, 1997, p. 246

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