PART 5. WHEN THE BAND ISN’T THERE
In a nutshell: God gifts musicians and worship leaders to help his church worship him, but we should not be dependent on these gifts in order to worship. Every part of our lives should be offered in worship to Jesus. Everything we do should speak of his praise. In the final part of this series on the Holy Spirit we will see how we are called to worship in Spirit and truth even when the band isn’t there.
The power of music
The death of Michael Jackson this week has dominated our news, despite all the huge issues affecting the world, the death of a musician is what we are most interested in. Music has great power. It fills our lives, and many people are seemingly incapable of living without it – turning off the music is life taking a pacifier from a baby.
Although often abused, or made into an idol, music is God’s gift to us. Music is something uniquely human, and we are meant to worship with music.
The question for us though is this: Can we worship when the band isn’t there? Are we able to produce worship of our own, without someone else providing the notes?
The trouble with words
The words we use are so often helpful yet unhelpful at the same time. For example, it is helpful to talk about “Church” because we know what someone means when they say, “I’m going to church,” or, “My church is here.” But it is also incredibly unhelpful because talking about church in this way reinforces the wrong notion that church is a particular building, a particular place, at a particular time, when what church really is, is God’s people.
We have a similar language problem when we talk about having an “evangelistic opportunity.” Yes, there are moments of intentionality, when we deliberately try to evangelize, but the point is that we are called to be missionaries all the time.
And when we talk about “Worship” what we are usually referring to is the time in our meetings when we are singing – but worship should be all that we do. We do gather to worship – but the whole experience of being gathered should be worshipful: singing together, talking together, storying together, eating together, praying together, learning together. “Sunday worship” is everything we do when we are together on a Sunday! We talk about “the worship” and “the preaching” because we need terminology to describe what we are doing. But our terminology also fails us, because it is not just the “worship” that is worship – Preaching is worship as well!
The woman at the well: John 4:1-26
This is the story of someone who had got this all wrong. She thought worship was about a particular place. She hadn’t had her real need for worship satisfied.
Everything about the story is wrong! Jesus was in the wrong place, the woman’s ethnicity was wrong, and her gender was wrong. Jesus should not have been there talking to a Samaritan woman.
Jesus was not looking for an “evangelistic opportunity” but he was always ready to rescue lost sheep. Empowered by the Spirit he was always ready to touch peoples hearts. Jesus identifies the woman’s real need. Her invisible heart need was more important than her obvious bodily need. Her obvious need was for water – she needed a pump and a pipe to get the water to her house so she wouldn’t have to lug it from the well every day. But she had a greater need than this.
Jesus sees the woman’s need and opens up her heart with a word of knowledge. She doesn’t like this, and throws in a red-herring question to knock Jesus off her trail: “Which mountain should we worship on?” The woman wants to make this conversation safe again, which is what religion does – it erects neat walls and creates control; it creates “ins” and “outs”; it makes it obvious and clear where the battle lines are drawn.
The Samaritans were a mixed race people, the descendents of Jews and other tribes who had been moved into Samaria by the great powers that had conquered Israel. The Samaritans worshipped on Mt. Gerizim, on which they believed many key Old Testament events to have happened, and there was great animosity between them and the Jews. In 128BC the Jews destroyed the temple on Mt. Gerizim and in AD6 the Samaritans desecrated the Jerusalem temple by spreading human bones over it during Passover.
Jews and Samaritans had many similar beliefs, but where you worshipped had become the key thing for them, so the expected response at this point is for Jesus to have a theological argument about why Jerusalem is superior to Gerizim.
But instead Jesus says something unexpected. He does affirm the Messiah will be from the Jews (the Samaritans were looking for one of their own), but he shifts the argument from the place of worship to the how of worship.
“Never mind Gerizim and Jerusalem – what counts is that you worship in spirit and truth.”
It is important to note that “Spirit” and “Truth” are not two separate items. God is spirit; and God is truth. We cannot worship truly unless we worship in the spirit, or worship in the spirit if we are not worshipping in truth.
What Jesus does is to promise never ending water, which is a picture of the Spirit. He says the day will come when people will worship by spirit and truth. And – outrageously! – he says he is the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed Anointer, the one who will pour out this Spirit.
Because of what Christ is doing, everything changes. Whereas for the Samaritans and the Jews all the focus was on a particular place, a place where God’s presence was meant to be, when the Spirit was poured out God’s presence goes wherever his people go. Christians are meant to be scattered around the world, not gathered in Jerusalem! The Land and the Temple and the Holy of Holies are no longer the thing – the presence of God in his people is the thing!
Application for us
What we do not need is mere moralism. We need heart transformation. The woman didn’t need moralism – she didn’t need just to be told to sort out her domestic arrangements; she needed a new heart. In what Jesus said to the woman he was tearing down the walls of religion and terminology.
When she said, “I have no husband” she was lying with the truth. It was true that she had no husband, but it was also a lie! And Jesus took her terminology apart to reveal her heart.
She needed an experience of the Spirit that would transform everything. And so do we.
When Jesus gets hold of our hearts and pours out the Spirit on us we are transformed. Transformed people become worshippers, who worship in spirit and truth, 24/7.
So the question is, “Can you worship when the band isn’t there?”
It is essential that we gather in corporate worship. Saying only that, “We are church wherever we are” and never actually gathering with other believers to deliberately worship is nonsense. And we need to honour the musicians and worship leaders because they are God’s gift to us and use their gifts in serving us. But when the body comes together we are to come with our many gifts – it is not all dependent on the band.
We have to keep using our terminology because we need terminology to explain things (“children in for the worship, out for the sermon”) but we need to keep fighting for the heart – for a heart of worship.
Application Questions
• What does it mean to be a worshipper?
• Why is it important that we gather in corporate worship?
• Have you ever previously thought about preaching being worship?
• What is the difference between moralism and the gospel?
Sunday, 28 June 2009
Sunday, 21 June 2009
NOT JUST FOR SUNDAYS: EXPERIENCING THE POWER & PRESENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
PART 4. SPIRITUAL GIFTS
In a nutshell: What are spiritual gifts and how should they be used? Do I have to be weird to use spiritual gifts?! God gives his people gifts of the Spirit to enable them to serve him and one another. For the health of the church we need to have a clear understanding of what the gifts are and how to operate in them. We need to see the presence of God working through his people.
My simple definition of a spiritual gift: When we are filled with the Spirit, we are given gifts that enable us to do things which we could not previously do. The Spirit also breathes on our natural gifts and enables them to be developed to their full potential, to the glory of God. The difference between operating in these grace gifts and operating in our own strength is like the difference between watching a small, fuzzy, black and white TV and watching a giant hi-def plasma screen.
Romans 12
Normal Christian Life
Romans 12 describes normal Christian life: Worship of God; Serving the Body; Witnessing to the World.
This is different from the world of the Old Testament where three special types of people represented the nation of Israel before God: Prophets, Priests and Kings.
• Prophets spoke God’s word to the people – often in judgement – and moved in signs and wonders.
• Priests interceded to God on the people’s behalf.
• King’s represented God’s authority among the people and to other nations.
By definition, these roles were reserved to only a very few people, but the Old Testament covenant promises pointed to a day when these roles would be open to all God’s people. For example, God promised Moses, You will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:6).
Now, because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross, this promise has been fulfilled. The curtain in the Temple was torn in two and the Holy Spirit poured out on the Church. Now God is building a living temple.
The best answer for the search for spirituality and significance in our society is found in the church of Jesus Christ. Our Prophetic task is to declare this good news to the world around us. Our Priestly role means we can approach God ourselves with confidence. Our Kingly role is to demonstrate the kingdom of God amongst us. All this is made possible by the work of the Spirit among us, and has profound implications for how we organize church life:
Leadership: The role of church leadership is, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12) NOT to do all the work themselves or try to solve everyone’s problems. Church leaders are to help people see the grace of God operating in their lives and teach them how to minister one to another. It is this that makes it possible to build large churches and ongoing church-plants can be a reality.
Buildings: Buildings are not sacred. People are the church, not buildings. So we use and appreciate our building for the way it helps us in advancing our mission, but we recognize that the really important building is the living temple God is building through his people.
Every member ministry: Every member of the church has a responsibility to discover and exercise their gifts, so that God is worshipped, the body blessed, and the world witnessed to.
Normal, Not Weird
Romans 12 paints a picture of believers living well-balanced lives. It presents an experience of spiritual gifts that avoids the error of seeing them as merely ‘talents’ and also the error of thinking that being spiritual means being weird.
Charismatics can be prone to weirdness (look at the example of Corinth) but this doesn’t mean we should back off from spiritual gifts. The antidote to misuse is not disuse but proper use. What Paul does in Romans 12 is to describe the gifts being used in the context of a regular life of high character. He describes a number of characteristics that are all directed towards living in a way that is attractive to others and blesses others.
Normal Means Variety
Gifts of the Spirit are gifts of grace and we all have different measures of grace; and of faith. There are several ‘gift lists’ in the New Testament (1 Corinthians 12:7-11, 28-30; Ephesians 4:11; 1 Peter 4:10-11) and they are all different! None of them is an exhaustive list.
The point is that whatever gift God has given us we must use it to glorify God and bless his people. There is variety in the type of gifts we have, and variety in the level of faith and grace we have to exercise those gifts. But, whatever they are, we must use them!
A body is made up of many different parts, but those parts are co-ordinated together so that the whole body is strengthened. This is how it is to be with spiritual gifts in the church.
Normal Means Not Just on Sundays
The whole thrust of Romans 12 is “this is normal, 24/7 Christian life.” This means that spiritual gifts are not just for Sundays! Normal Christian life means an expectation of the gifts operating anywhere. We should look for opportunities to use our gifts throughout the week, to worship God, bless his people, and witness to the world.
Application Questions
• What are your spiritual gifts?
• How are you using your gifts?
• Why is it important to understand that these are grace gifts?
• Where would you like to grow in your experience of these gifts?
In a nutshell: What are spiritual gifts and how should they be used? Do I have to be weird to use spiritual gifts?! God gives his people gifts of the Spirit to enable them to serve him and one another. For the health of the church we need to have a clear understanding of what the gifts are and how to operate in them. We need to see the presence of God working through his people.
My simple definition of a spiritual gift: When we are filled with the Spirit, we are given gifts that enable us to do things which we could not previously do. The Spirit also breathes on our natural gifts and enables them to be developed to their full potential, to the glory of God. The difference between operating in these grace gifts and operating in our own strength is like the difference between watching a small, fuzzy, black and white TV and watching a giant hi-def plasma screen.
Romans 12
Normal Christian Life
Romans 12 describes normal Christian life: Worship of God; Serving the Body; Witnessing to the World.
This is different from the world of the Old Testament where three special types of people represented the nation of Israel before God: Prophets, Priests and Kings.
• Prophets spoke God’s word to the people – often in judgement – and moved in signs and wonders.
• Priests interceded to God on the people’s behalf.
• King’s represented God’s authority among the people and to other nations.
By definition, these roles were reserved to only a very few people, but the Old Testament covenant promises pointed to a day when these roles would be open to all God’s people. For example, God promised Moses, You will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:6).
Now, because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross, this promise has been fulfilled. The curtain in the Temple was torn in two and the Holy Spirit poured out on the Church. Now God is building a living temple.
The best answer for the search for spirituality and significance in our society is found in the church of Jesus Christ. Our Prophetic task is to declare this good news to the world around us. Our Priestly role means we can approach God ourselves with confidence. Our Kingly role is to demonstrate the kingdom of God amongst us. All this is made possible by the work of the Spirit among us, and has profound implications for how we organize church life:
Leadership: The role of church leadership is, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12) NOT to do all the work themselves or try to solve everyone’s problems. Church leaders are to help people see the grace of God operating in their lives and teach them how to minister one to another. It is this that makes it possible to build large churches and ongoing church-plants can be a reality.
Buildings: Buildings are not sacred. People are the church, not buildings. So we use and appreciate our building for the way it helps us in advancing our mission, but we recognize that the really important building is the living temple God is building through his people.
Every member ministry: Every member of the church has a responsibility to discover and exercise their gifts, so that God is worshipped, the body blessed, and the world witnessed to.
Normal, Not Weird
Romans 12 paints a picture of believers living well-balanced lives. It presents an experience of spiritual gifts that avoids the error of seeing them as merely ‘talents’ and also the error of thinking that being spiritual means being weird.
Charismatics can be prone to weirdness (look at the example of Corinth) but this doesn’t mean we should back off from spiritual gifts. The antidote to misuse is not disuse but proper use. What Paul does in Romans 12 is to describe the gifts being used in the context of a regular life of high character. He describes a number of characteristics that are all directed towards living in a way that is attractive to others and blesses others.
Normal Means Variety
Gifts of the Spirit are gifts of grace and we all have different measures of grace; and of faith. There are several ‘gift lists’ in the New Testament (1 Corinthians 12:7-11, 28-30; Ephesians 4:11; 1 Peter 4:10-11) and they are all different! None of them is an exhaustive list.
The point is that whatever gift God has given us we must use it to glorify God and bless his people. There is variety in the type of gifts we have, and variety in the level of faith and grace we have to exercise those gifts. But, whatever they are, we must use them!
A body is made up of many different parts, but those parts are co-ordinated together so that the whole body is strengthened. This is how it is to be with spiritual gifts in the church.
Normal Means Not Just on Sundays
The whole thrust of Romans 12 is “this is normal, 24/7 Christian life.” This means that spiritual gifts are not just for Sundays! Normal Christian life means an expectation of the gifts operating anywhere. We should look for opportunities to use our gifts throughout the week, to worship God, bless his people, and witness to the world.
Application Questions
• What are your spiritual gifts?
• How are you using your gifts?
• Why is it important to understand that these are grace gifts?
• Where would you like to grow in your experience of these gifts?
Sunday, 14 June 2009
NOT JUST FOR SUNDAYS: EXPERIENCING THE POWER & PRESENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
PART 3. BAPTISM IN THE SPIRIT
In a nutshell: How do we receive the Spirit? Do we receive all there is to receive when we are born again? Is there a second filling? Are there more fillings than that?! What is baptism in the Spirit and why is it important? What am I missing out on if I haven’t had this experience? How can I be filled?
My story
I came to faith in Jesus at an early age, and grew up in a church that was beginning to experience greater spiritual freedom. A growing number of people in the church had experienced “baptism in the Spirit,” and this was changing everything.
By the time I was 10 I had a great desire to speak in tongues. I didn’t really understand what it meant to be filled with the Spirit, but speaking in tongues seemed to be the thing. At the Downs Bible Week, in 1980, I was desperately asking God to give me the gift of tongues. This didn’t happen, but one night, as we sang Jesus We Enthrone You, something changed in me. When I got home the immediate obvious effect was a greater freedom in worship, and I also found myself speaking in tongues!
The Spirit at Gateway
In any of our church meetings there are people with a wide range of experience of the Spirit:
• There are some who are not believers at all, but are looking in. These people need the Spirit to spark new life in them.
• There are some who are ‘charismatic’ because the church is; but haven’t really ever experienced the power of the Spirit themselves. These people need to have a power encounter.
• There are some who are confused, maybe, like me as a child, thinking this Holy Spirit stuff is just about whether or not you speak in tongues. These people need to come into a greater understanding of what the Spirit works in us.
• There are some who are fearful and need to be released into a confident freedom in the Spirit.
• And there are some who have encountered God in the past… but it is the distant past. These people need to have a fresh encounter with God.
We want everyone at Gateway to experience God’s Empowering Presence!
No Spirit = No Church
Acts 1:4-5; 2:1-18, 32-33
The New Testament church was born through a powerful experience of the Spirit. It was a powerful, bold community that pulsated with the life of the Holy Spirit! In the first ever Finding Your Place Course Peter explained at the outset that God’s intention for the church was a place where the Holy Spirit is welcome to have His way. Right up front, Peter said that things like tongues, prophecy, dreams and visions were to be part and parcel of church life. And the book of Acts records repeated instances of people being filled with, and operating in the power of the Holy Spirit.
The presence is the thing!
In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:22)
At Gateway this means:
• We believe in the ministry and gifts of the Holy Spirit
• We believe in the importance of each believer being filled with the Holy Spirit
• We believe the Spirit empowers and equips us for service
What is baptism in the Spirit?
Being filled with the Spirit is not just a warm feeling, but a promise of power, because the Spirit is God and God is powerful! This filling results in a release of spiritual gifts, which God gives us for the building up of his Church.
The New Testament uses a number of different terms to describe this empowering:
What this demonstrates is that the terminology that we use to describe this experience is not so important as the experience itself!
What does baptism in the Spirit achieve?
Assurance: It means we feel the truth of what has happened to us:
Outward expression: Whenever someone is drenched in the Spirit in the book of Acts there is always some kind of vocal response – whether it is speaking in tongues, or prophesying or preaching. The Spirit brings us into a freedom which causes us to open our mouths!
When does baptism in the Spirit happen?
This kind of encounter with God should be part of the normal order of salvation. In the book of Acts new believers were always filled with the Spirit, but there was variety in when this happened…
The Samaritans (Acts 8:4-25): Philip preached to them; they believed; were baptised in water; but did not receive the Spirit until Peter and John came and laid hands on them.
Saul (Acts 9:1-22): Encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus; then Ananias laid hands on him to receive the Spirit; then he was baptised in water.
House of Cornelius (Acts 10): They were filled with the Spirit even before they had had time to confess their faith; then baptized in water.
The Ephesians (Acts 19:1-6): They believed the message; then baptized in water; then they received the Spirit.
Clearly there was no strict pattern in the order of events, but there was an expectation that all who responded in faith would be plunged in water and the Spirit. Conversion, baptism in water and baptism in the Spirit should all happen close together. We have made the process longer than it was in Acts!
Can I be a Christian but not baptized in the Spirit?
It is not possible to be a Christian without the action of the Spirit. It is the Spirit who enables us to come into spiritual life. But it is possible to be a Christian and not know the power of the Spirit in your life. This was true of the disciples before the day of Pentecost; of the Samaritans before Peter and John prayed for them; of Paul before Ananias prayed for him; and of many believers today…
How can I be baptized in the Spirit?
The first thing is to respond in faith to Jesus!
Having believed, we need to continue in faith. In order to receive there needs to be belief that this is the promise of the Father to all who believe. Believe that this experience is for you personally. Believe that God has not excluded you from his promise. Then, have an expectation of experience. God loves to move in response to faith, and if you have no expectation, you are unlikely to have an experience.
Although not always the case, the Spirit is normally given by the laying on of hands by another Spirit filled believer. God loves to work through the members of his body and having someone lay hands on us demonstrates that we are open to receive the gift of God.
Finally, ask! Jesus said, If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink (John 7:37). So get asking and get drinking!
Keep on being filled
This is an imperative – we are to keep on doing it!
Being filled with the Spirit is not a one-off event. Like a sailing boat we can turn our sails to catch the breeze, or let the sails down and just drift in the current. Too often we can fail to keep our sails trimmed, and cease to live a Spirit empowered life. But instead of drifting, we are to be a church where the evidence of the Spirit is as clear as when people drink too much wine!
Keep on being filled!
Application Questions
• What is your experience of the Spirit?
• Where do you need to know a greater empowering and equipping from God?
• What will be the differences between a church which “keeps on being filled” and one that just drifts in the current?
• What are the dangers of being charismatic in style, but not in genuine experience?
In a nutshell: How do we receive the Spirit? Do we receive all there is to receive when we are born again? Is there a second filling? Are there more fillings than that?! What is baptism in the Spirit and why is it important? What am I missing out on if I haven’t had this experience? How can I be filled?
My story
I came to faith in Jesus at an early age, and grew up in a church that was beginning to experience greater spiritual freedom. A growing number of people in the church had experienced “baptism in the Spirit,” and this was changing everything.
By the time I was 10 I had a great desire to speak in tongues. I didn’t really understand what it meant to be filled with the Spirit, but speaking in tongues seemed to be the thing. At the Downs Bible Week, in 1980, I was desperately asking God to give me the gift of tongues. This didn’t happen, but one night, as we sang Jesus We Enthrone You, something changed in me. When I got home the immediate obvious effect was a greater freedom in worship, and I also found myself speaking in tongues!
The Spirit at Gateway
In any of our church meetings there are people with a wide range of experience of the Spirit:
• There are some who are not believers at all, but are looking in. These people need the Spirit to spark new life in them.
• There are some who are ‘charismatic’ because the church is; but haven’t really ever experienced the power of the Spirit themselves. These people need to have a power encounter.
• There are some who are confused, maybe, like me as a child, thinking this Holy Spirit stuff is just about whether or not you speak in tongues. These people need to come into a greater understanding of what the Spirit works in us.
• There are some who are fearful and need to be released into a confident freedom in the Spirit.
• And there are some who have encountered God in the past… but it is the distant past. These people need to have a fresh encounter with God.
We want everyone at Gateway to experience God’s Empowering Presence!
No Spirit = No Church
Acts 1:4-5; 2:1-18, 32-33
The New Testament church was born through a powerful experience of the Spirit. It was a powerful, bold community that pulsated with the life of the Holy Spirit! In the first ever Finding Your Place Course Peter explained at the outset that God’s intention for the church was a place where the Holy Spirit is welcome to have His way. Right up front, Peter said that things like tongues, prophecy, dreams and visions were to be part and parcel of church life. And the book of Acts records repeated instances of people being filled with, and operating in the power of the Holy Spirit.
The presence is the thing!
In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:22)
At Gateway this means:
• We believe in the ministry and gifts of the Holy Spirit
• We believe in the importance of each believer being filled with the Holy Spirit
• We believe the Spirit empowers and equips us for service
What is baptism in the Spirit?
Being filled with the Spirit is not just a warm feeling, but a promise of power, because the Spirit is God and God is powerful! This filling results in a release of spiritual gifts, which God gives us for the building up of his Church.
The New Testament uses a number of different terms to describe this empowering:
John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now (Acts 1:5)
You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you (Acts 1:8)
They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:4)
Even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy (Acts 2:18)
Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearingì "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself." (Acts 2:33-39)
Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. (Acts 8:14-17)
Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." (Acts 9:17)
While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, "Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?" (Acts 10:44-47)
What this demonstrates is that the terminology that we use to describe this experience is not so important as the experience itself!
What does baptism in the Spirit achieve?
Assurance: It means we feel the truth of what has happened to us:
It is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)
For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs - heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:15-17)
Outward expression: Whenever someone is drenched in the Spirit in the book of Acts there is always some kind of vocal response – whether it is speaking in tongues, or prophesying or preaching. The Spirit brings us into a freedom which causes us to open our mouths!
When does baptism in the Spirit happen?
This kind of encounter with God should be part of the normal order of salvation. In the book of Acts new believers were always filled with the Spirit, but there was variety in when this happened…
The Samaritans (Acts 8:4-25): Philip preached to them; they believed; were baptised in water; but did not receive the Spirit until Peter and John came and laid hands on them.
Saul (Acts 9:1-22): Encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus; then Ananias laid hands on him to receive the Spirit; then he was baptised in water.
House of Cornelius (Acts 10): They were filled with the Spirit even before they had had time to confess their faith; then baptized in water.
The Ephesians (Acts 19:1-6): They believed the message; then baptized in water; then they received the Spirit.
Clearly there was no strict pattern in the order of events, but there was an expectation that all who responded in faith would be plunged in water and the Spirit. Conversion, baptism in water and baptism in the Spirit should all happen close together. We have made the process longer than it was in Acts!
Can I be a Christian but not baptized in the Spirit?
It is not possible to be a Christian without the action of the Spirit. It is the Spirit who enables us to come into spiritual life. But it is possible to be a Christian and not know the power of the Spirit in your life. This was true of the disciples before the day of Pentecost; of the Samaritans before Peter and John prayed for them; of Paul before Ananias prayed for him; and of many believers today…
How can I be baptized in the Spirit?
The first thing is to respond in faith to Jesus!
Having believed, we need to continue in faith. In order to receive there needs to be belief that this is the promise of the Father to all who believe. Believe that this experience is for you personally. Believe that God has not excluded you from his promise. Then, have an expectation of experience. God loves to move in response to faith, and if you have no expectation, you are unlikely to have an experience.
Although not always the case, the Spirit is normally given by the laying on of hands by another Spirit filled believer. God loves to work through the members of his body and having someone lay hands on us demonstrates that we are open to receive the gift of God.
Finally, ask! Jesus said, If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink (John 7:37). So get asking and get drinking!
Keep on being filled
Do not get drunk in wine… but be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18)
This is an imperative – we are to keep on doing it!
Being filled with the Spirit is not a one-off event. Like a sailing boat we can turn our sails to catch the breeze, or let the sails down and just drift in the current. Too often we can fail to keep our sails trimmed, and cease to live a Spirit empowered life. But instead of drifting, we are to be a church where the evidence of the Spirit is as clear as when people drink too much wine!
Keep on being filled!
Application Questions
• What is your experience of the Spirit?
• Where do you need to know a greater empowering and equipping from God?
• What will be the differences between a church which “keeps on being filled” and one that just drifts in the current?
• What are the dangers of being charismatic in style, but not in genuine experience?
Sunday, 7 June 2009
NOT JUST FOR SUNDAYS: EXPERIENCING THE POWER & PRESENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
PART 2, MY PRESENCE WILL GO WITH YOU
In a nutshell: Christianity is not just a set of beliefs, or even simply a way of living: Faith in Jesus means coming into the presence of God. God’s covenant promise to his people has always been that he will be with them. We experience this through God’s empowering presence, his Holy Spirit: By the Spirit we come into an understanding of what it means to be part of the people of God.
The Presence is the Thing
How do we explain what church is to those who have no experience of it? One pithy description should be this: “We are a people shaped by the presence of God.” The presence is the thing!
The story of the Bible is the story of God making himself present by His Spirit. Right from the beginning this is how it was:
Genesis 1:2 the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters
Man came alive when God breathed his spirit into him; God walked with Man in Eden – he was present with them. The Fall led to separation from the presence of God, but God has always reached out to people who he wants to draw into his presence. We see this with Abraham who walked with God, and to whom God made a promise of a people who would be God’s and know God.
The presence is the thing!
One of the places we see this most clearly is in Exodus 33:12-17
Moses’ plea to God is: I want to know favour.
In response Yahweh promises: My presence will go with you.
Moses then makes a second plea: If your presence isn’t with us I’d rather not go!
The reason Moses says this is because he has had a revelation, that it is only the presence of God that makes Israel different. Without God’s presence they are just another rag-tag group wandering in the desert.
Now, the claim of the church, is that God’s promise to Abraham and to Moses is completed in us. We have received this favour from God.
What an audacious thing to claim!
Yahweh’s Presence in Israel’s history
When Moses led the people of Israel through the wilderness, God went before them in a pillar of smoke and fire. Yahweh also made himself present to Israel through the Law. His presence was then represented amongst the people by the Tabernacle and Ark of the Covenant, which was made by an individual who was filled with the Spirit (Exodus 35:30-33).
Later in Israel’s history the Ark was placed in the Temple and that came to be the place where God was seen to be present (2 Chronicles 7:1-3).
And at times there were specially favoured individuals who knew the Spirit in a more personal way: Bezalel, Joshua, Gideon, Samson, Saul, David, Elijah, Daniel…
All these signs of the Presence made Israel distinct, BUT, the prophets saw something more to come. They saw all these things as signs, not completion. They saw a day when the Spirit would actually indwell his people (Jeremiah 31:31-33; Ezekiel 36:26-27; 37:14).
The Presence is the thing!
Jesus: The Anointed Anointer
Jesus came to complete all the promises that had been made to Abraham and Moses and the prophets. He came in order that the Spirit might be poured out on the church (Acts 1:4-5; 2:1-4).
From this point on the presence of the Spirit has been the essential, defining characteristic of the church of Jesus Christ.
What the Presence of the Spirit Means
1. Means we have free access to God
Before Jesus caused the Spirit to be poured out, being part of God’s people meant being identified as Jewish – which meant observance of the Law; circumcision; and Temple worship.
Now the identity marker of the people of God is the Spirit – all ethnic, social, and gender barriers have been demolished.
2. Means that God dwells among us
1 Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
Ephesians 2:22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
Once the people of God had the ark and temple in their midst. Now the Spirit is present in the midst of God’s people.
3. Means we are able to please God
The promises of “hearts of flesh” and “a new spirit” have now been fulfilled.
2 Corinthians 3:3 And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
Paul was writing to non-Jews who had been transformed by the power of the Spirit. We now please God not by following the Law but the Spirit:
Romans 8:3-4 God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
It is the Spirit who makes us alive:
2 Corinthians 3:6 For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life
Jesus has made relationship with God possible through his death and resurrection, and it is the Spirit who makes this a fulfilled reality in us.
4. Means the Spirit is not an impersonal power
The Spirit is not merely a “force” or “influence.” He is the fulfilment of God’s promise to presence himself amongst his people.
The Bible describes many personal characteristics of the Spirit:
• Grieves over human sin (Ephesians 4:30)
• Persuades and convicts (John 14-16)
• Testifies (John 16:12-15)
• He is self-effacing, drawing attention to the Son (John 16:12-15)
• Intercedes with groanings (Romans 8:26-7)
• Has a mind (Romans 8:27)
• Calls out, “Abba, Father” (Galatians 4:6)
• Speaks (Mark 13:11)
• Creates (Genesis 1:2; Luke 1:35)
• Instructs evangelists (Acts 8:29, 39)
• Can be blasphemed (Mark 3:28-29)
• Lying to him is lying to God (Acts 5:3-4)
• He creates the confession that Jesus is Lord (1 Corinthians 12:3)
Water Baptism is a Sign of the Presence
Baptism is the response of faith. When we read through the book of Acts we see that whenever people came to faith in Jesus the first thing they did was get baptised. Baptism is how we demonstrate we are entering into Christ’s death and resurrection. Baptism is the means be which we enter into the people of God – a people of the Presence.
Application Questions
• How would you explain your church to someone who doesn’t know it?
• Why is it so crucial that we know the presence of God among us?
• How does the presence of God make the church different from any other club or association?
• How should being a member of the people of the presence affect the way we live?
In a nutshell: Christianity is not just a set of beliefs, or even simply a way of living: Faith in Jesus means coming into the presence of God. God’s covenant promise to his people has always been that he will be with them. We experience this through God’s empowering presence, his Holy Spirit: By the Spirit we come into an understanding of what it means to be part of the people of God.
The Presence is the Thing
How do we explain what church is to those who have no experience of it? One pithy description should be this: “We are a people shaped by the presence of God.” The presence is the thing!
The story of the Bible is the story of God making himself present by His Spirit. Right from the beginning this is how it was:
Genesis 1:2 the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters
Man came alive when God breathed his spirit into him; God walked with Man in Eden – he was present with them. The Fall led to separation from the presence of God, but God has always reached out to people who he wants to draw into his presence. We see this with Abraham who walked with God, and to whom God made a promise of a people who would be God’s and know God.
The presence is the thing!
One of the places we see this most clearly is in Exodus 33:12-17
Moses’ plea to God is: I want to know favour.
In response Yahweh promises: My presence will go with you.
Moses then makes a second plea: If your presence isn’t with us I’d rather not go!
The reason Moses says this is because he has had a revelation, that it is only the presence of God that makes Israel different. Without God’s presence they are just another rag-tag group wandering in the desert.
Now, the claim of the church, is that God’s promise to Abraham and to Moses is completed in us. We have received this favour from God.
What an audacious thing to claim!
Yahweh’s Presence in Israel’s history
When Moses led the people of Israel through the wilderness, God went before them in a pillar of smoke and fire. Yahweh also made himself present to Israel through the Law. His presence was then represented amongst the people by the Tabernacle and Ark of the Covenant, which was made by an individual who was filled with the Spirit (Exodus 35:30-33).
Later in Israel’s history the Ark was placed in the Temple and that came to be the place where God was seen to be present (2 Chronicles 7:1-3).
And at times there were specially favoured individuals who knew the Spirit in a more personal way: Bezalel, Joshua, Gideon, Samson, Saul, David, Elijah, Daniel…
All these signs of the Presence made Israel distinct, BUT, the prophets saw something more to come. They saw all these things as signs, not completion. They saw a day when the Spirit would actually indwell his people (Jeremiah 31:31-33; Ezekiel 36:26-27; 37:14).
The Presence is the thing!
Jesus: The Anointed Anointer
Jesus came to complete all the promises that had been made to Abraham and Moses and the prophets. He came in order that the Spirit might be poured out on the church (Acts 1:4-5; 2:1-4).
From this point on the presence of the Spirit has been the essential, defining characteristic of the church of Jesus Christ.
What the Presence of the Spirit Means
1. Means we have free access to God
Before Jesus caused the Spirit to be poured out, being part of God’s people meant being identified as Jewish – which meant observance of the Law; circumcision; and Temple worship.
Now the identity marker of the people of God is the Spirit – all ethnic, social, and gender barriers have been demolished.
2. Means that God dwells among us
1 Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
Ephesians 2:22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
Once the people of God had the ark and temple in their midst. Now the Spirit is present in the midst of God’s people.
3. Means we are able to please God
The promises of “hearts of flesh” and “a new spirit” have now been fulfilled.
2 Corinthians 3:3 And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
Paul was writing to non-Jews who had been transformed by the power of the Spirit. We now please God not by following the Law but the Spirit:
Romans 8:3-4 God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
It is the Spirit who makes us alive:
2 Corinthians 3:6 For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life
Jesus has made relationship with God possible through his death and resurrection, and it is the Spirit who makes this a fulfilled reality in us.
4. Means the Spirit is not an impersonal power
The Spirit is not merely a “force” or “influence.” He is the fulfilment of God’s promise to presence himself amongst his people.
The Bible describes many personal characteristics of the Spirit:
• Grieves over human sin (Ephesians 4:30)
• Persuades and convicts (John 14-16)
• Testifies (John 16:12-15)
• He is self-effacing, drawing attention to the Son (John 16:12-15)
• Intercedes with groanings (Romans 8:26-7)
• Has a mind (Romans 8:27)
• Calls out, “Abba, Father” (Galatians 4:6)
• Speaks (Mark 13:11)
• Creates (Genesis 1:2; Luke 1:35)
• Instructs evangelists (Acts 8:29, 39)
• Can be blasphemed (Mark 3:28-29)
• Lying to him is lying to God (Acts 5:3-4)
• He creates the confession that Jesus is Lord (1 Corinthians 12:3)
Water Baptism is a Sign of the Presence
Baptism is the response of faith. When we read through the book of Acts we see that whenever people came to faith in Jesus the first thing they did was get baptised. Baptism is how we demonstrate we are entering into Christ’s death and resurrection. Baptism is the means be which we enter into the people of God – a people of the Presence.
Application Questions
• How would you explain your church to someone who doesn’t know it?
• Why is it so crucial that we know the presence of God among us?
• How does the presence of God make the church different from any other club or association?
• How should being a member of the people of the presence affect the way we live?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
