Holy Spirit Series 10

Last time we saw the ministry (function) of the Holy Spirit to the people in the world. Today we will look at what He does amongst the children of God. This function is two fold (i) among the individual believer and (ii) in the Church as a whole.

(i) To Individual Believers

D. To Guarantee:

Whenever there is a monetary transaction there will always be a receipt. The Bible says that we have been bought by the Blood of Christ. Do we receive an acknowledgement that the purchase transaction went through that says we have been bought by Jesus? In other words do we have a guarantee that we are saved? Well the answer is yes to both!! Let’s read

“In whom also you, hearing the word of truth, the gospel of our salvation, in whom also believing, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the earnest (guarantee) of our inheritance, to the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of His glory.” Eph 1:13-14

Other support verses are 2Cor 1:22 and Eph 4:30. The word earnest here is used to denote a down payment. This means that everyone who has received the Holy Spirit has received a token from God confirming their salvation. Therefore, a believer can make the statement that they will be going to Heaven. The only way that a believer can forfeit this is through apostasy Heb 10:26-31. This point will be dealt with in greater detail later. The Holy Spirit therefore; to a believer must be their most cherished possession. To be sealed means to be set apart from mankind as those reserved for the Day of Redemption, while those not are for the condemnation.

E. To Re-establish Communications:

When man fell into sin he lost his connection with God. Therefore, he went about as his heart led him and of course this meant that he was open to the influence of satan much more. Man unwittingly was being led by satan through various guises making man think that he was still in a relationship with God Eph 2:2. Jesus did not come to purchase mankind from satan but rather from the wrath of God, because of man’s inability to keep the law. Through His sacrifice Jesus re-established man’s relationship with God Jn 1:12-13. Man was reinstated to what he was before…the son of God. Please do not misunderstand the term- Jesus is the only begotten Son while man is the son made in His image and likeness. The Bible calls Adam the son of God in Lk 3:38. This was the relationship in which man was made for…to be a child of God. Sin however made man God’ enemy Rom 5:10 & Col 1:21.

                  With the relationship now re-established by and in Christ, we needed an open channel of communication, since He would ascend to Heaven. This is where the Holy Spirit enables us to talk to our Father in Heaven Rom 8:15. Prayer is the most common form of communication we know. Meditation is the other. The fact is true communication is a 2 way one. Most often people pray without waiting for Him to speak. They continue to pray till they receive an answer, this is one of the ways of communication but not THE way. It’s like calling someone and leaving a voice message and waiting for them to respond at their convenience. Have you tried to speak to Him and receive His reply immediately? Yes of course there are times He does not reply immediately but that is not always. God wants to talk to His children. It is the right of the child to be able to communicate with the parent freely. There will be times when we are in difficult times where we are unable to pray or do not know how or what to pray and in these moments the Holy Spirit will intercede for us according to the Will of God Rom 8:26-27. This means that God will help us pray or talk to Him even when we do not know what to say or how to address the issue to Him. I personally have experienced this when I was praying for someone close to me, to be healed, many years ago. The Holy Spirit began to pray and the words I spoke weren't intelligible words per say and I knew that it wasn't me speaking however, the groaning’s were being translated to me as the Spirit prayed. It is an experience that I will never forget. What I want to encourage you is to seek to have conversations with your Father in Heaven. Believe me you won’t be disappointed.

F. To provide Counsel:

The Bible says that there is safety when you have a multitude of counsellors Pro 11:14. This verse specifically talks about receiving godly counsel. The more we have the better we are able to see the wisdom that God had granted His children. It gives you the ability to choose wisely. King Rehoboam, the son of King Solomon, received wise counsel from his father’s counsellors but refused to listen to them instead gave heed to his friends, thus the kingdom was split into two. Seeking godly counsel is the first thing that a child of God must do before making decisions. That does not mean running to another man of God. The first act must be to ask God directly first. My personal experience is that God will not tell another person what He has not told you first! Let this be a key counsel from me to you.

                      Jesus is called the Counsellor in Isaiah 9:6 so how can He be our Counsellor if He is in Heaven? The answer lies in His promise, “I will not leave you as orphans: I will come to you.” Jn 14:18 Jesus made this profound statement when He was talking about His ascension to His disciples. The disciples had no clue of what Jesus was talking about nor did they fathom its significance. If Jesus was to ascend how can He come to us so that we are not left as orphans? Since, Jesus took up the human form He became limited to be in one place and one time. However, the Holy Spirit has no such limitations. He is omnipresent and so can be with every one of God’s children all the time. This omnipresent quality is one of the main reasons that Jesus had to ascend so as to facilitate the arrival of the Holy Spirit to dwell within His children. In this manner Christ, who is One with the Holy Spirit, is also now living within us. To receive God’s counsel we must have a proper communication with the Father, otherwise we will have no idea what He is speaking and so will end up listening to ungodly counsel. This in itself should be an encouragement to seek godly counsel when we face problems or have to make tough decisions, so that we stay in the Will of God. Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will be given to all who ask the Father for Him in Mt 7:11 and Lk 11:13. 

                                 In Jn 10:5 Jesus speaks about the sheep that hear His voice and follow Him. The imagery is pretty straightforward and is easily understood that He is talking about the Jewish and Gentile believers, who follow Him hearing His voice. This recognition of voice comes through relationship, for example I would be able to recognize the voice of someone with whom I have had a lot of interaction rather than someone I met recently. Hearing Jesus’s voice means two things to the believer:

1. Jesus will be speaking to him/her. 

2. It refers indirectly to the Holy Spirit who will enable the believer to hear His voice as per Jn 16:13.

In Jn 16:13 we read that the Holy Spirit will reveal to us what He hears from the Father. So, when we ask for counsel from God, He will inform us through the Holy Spirit and so we can receive His Will regarding anything. God really wants us to come to him with even the most silliest things in life. Our God is not far from us and His ears are ever open for His children to hear them and to enjoy their conversations with Him. Try talking to Him today and open your heart to Him, seek His word for every situation and you will be surprised at how He hears and answers. 

We will continue with the ministry of the Holy Spirit among the individual believers, so stay tuned. Till next time God Bless.

Holy Spirit Series 9

The function of the Holy Spirit in the World:

The Holy Spirit function in the world is basically more towards the church because He came to be with the believers. The following are His function towards those who do not believe

B. To testify Christ:

We think that we are the ones that testify Christ because we are His witness. The truth is we cannot fully testify of Him because we cannot prove anything that the Bible states by ourselves. Our preaching, knowledge and understanding are foolishness to men. When we declare the Gospel our words mean nothing if the Holy Spirit does not testify of Him: by confirming the words we speak. This is how the power is manifest externally. The early church grew leaps and bounds because of this Acts 2:43-47.  So far when we talked about being a witness of Christ it was about how the power transforms us and empowers us before men. However, the effect of our personal witness is seen externally through the witness of the Holy Spirit through signs, miracles, wonders, brotherly love and resolute faith. This is where the glory belongs to God even though people come to the faith through us. Paul captures this when there arose some contentions among the Corinthians. Paul says that though he planted and Apollos watered, it is God who gave the increase therefore the glory belongs to God 1Cor 3:5-7.

“Unless the Lord builds the house, they labour in vain who build it...” Ps 127:1.

Likewise unless the Holy Spirit testifies our preaching and witnessing is in vain. Paul  is speaking about this in 1Cor 2:1-5, where the faith of the people is not established by man's wisdom but rather by the Spirit of Power. The Gifts of the Holy Spirit esp. speaking in unknown Tongues are meant to be a sign unto the unbelievers when it is interpreted 1Cor 14: 22 & 27. We see this on the day of Pentecost when the Jews from different regions heard the disciples speaking in other languages without learning it. Following this demonstration Peter explains the phenomena to them and quotes the prophecy in Joel 2:28 as scriptural proof. That day 3000 were converted instantaneously. This is the power of the testimony of the Holy Spirit. This dynamic of the Holy Spirit testifying  is very similar to how the Holy Spirit brings about what has been spoken by God; when we discussed the triune nature of the Godhead and their function within. 

C. To convict the world:

Everyone in this world has a chance at eternal life, because God is a just God and His love is infinite. Jesus commanded His disciples to go and preach the gospel to everyone. Today there are thousands of preachers and people are being converted to the faith in the tens of thousands all over the world. Do people come to Christ because of the preaching? The Bible teaches us that it is the Holy Spirit who convicts people of their sins. It is He who makes people aware of sin, righteousness and judgement Jn 16:8. The preacher is merely the messenger and not the one who convicts people. However, a lot of people do come to Christ to receive something they need. I have seen people come to prayer meetings, bible study groups, and church services when they have a need. The need can vary from a job, to a financial crisis, marriage breakdowns and even sickness. When the need is finally met, they suddenly disappear. I have also seen people accept Christ out of emotions and then break off all relations at the slightest friction. While they were in the church their interest and piousness seemed genuine. After having fed the 5000 Jesus went over to Capernaum. When the people they found Him they quizzed Him. Jesus’s reply is a shocker here. He tells them that they do not seek Him because of what He had done but rather because He met their need Jn 6:26. Coming to Christ so that our needs are met was not the reason for which Christ sacrificed Himself. We come to Him because we need a Saviour to save us from our sins so that we can have a relationship with God. It is true that through this relationship God meets our needs but the true reason must never be forgotten or misplaced. Genuine faith is God originated and so is not shaken. If Christ did not ascend into heaven the Holy Spirit would not have come and if He had not come would any of us have accepted Jesus as our personal Saviour? I sincerely doubt it would have been possible. So the very presence of the Holy Spirit is a blessing to mankind in that He is here to bring us to Jesus, who then leads us to our Father with whom we will live forever. Amen

Holy Spirit Series 8

To grant Power 2:

In our last session we saw what it means to be a witness for Christ. We studied that being a witness is not just about preaching the gospel. We saw that the power is actually the Anointing and that its purpose is to empower the recipient to fulfill the purpose of God, no matter how miniscule it may be. We also saw that the power changes you and so in this session we will delve into this change. In this session we will be exploring how the power transforms you in order to fulfil the Lord’s work.

Faithful to the End

When you think about what Jesus said in Mat 10:22-23 and Mat 24: 9-13 it is not very encouraging esp. when the implications of your faith will cause people to pursue you with hatred and deliver you up to be killed. Relationships by blood or not will not matter and those whom you trusted and loved may one day turn on you. How can people overcome this fear, accept Christ and stand for Him in their hour of trials and persecutions.

                   The Apostle Peter was a jump first, think later kind of guy and this impulsiveness did not do him any favours. After being approved by God to be a disciple and an inner core member; we see him falter exactly when the Lord needed him the most. With great confidence he looked into Jesus’ the eyes and professed that he would rather die than deny Him and within a matter of hours he found out the strength of his faith. We all have this notion that our faith is strong and that we would stand for Christ no matter what. Only when time and situation tests us will we know how strong we really are. The fact lies in what Jesus told Peter – “But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not…” Lk 22:32. Our faith stands on what Jesus has done and is presently doing for us. Peter would have perished had Jesus not interceded on his behalf. Today Jesus stands and intercedes on our behalf just as He did for Peter Heb 7:25. The same Peter, who denied Christ, after receiving the power, witnessed Him on a day when every Jew was gathered in Jerusalem. He who faltered in front of three people now stood before thousands. This dramatic change is what the power brings. When the power of the Holy Spirit comes upon you the first thing to go is our fear of death and inhibitions about what other people think when we witness Christ. The focus shifts from self to God. From what I have personally experienced ─ you make your stand and speak because there is a quickening within that literally propels you to do so. There is joy that rises up from within that makes the task no matter how hard or dangerous seem insignificant.

The Heart of Jesus

Being a witness of Christ means to represent Him in every way conceivable. No one has seen Christ in this generation but they see us who represent Him. We see this in Stephen`s preaching and even while dying his prayer mirror`s the Lord`s prayer upon the cross. First he says, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Acts 7:59 which is what Jesus prayed in Lk 23:46. His second and final prayer was, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” Acts 7:60 which is also what Jesus prayed Lk 23:34. I seriously do not believe that anyone can pray both these prayers without the Holy Spirit initiating it. To pray like Christ is something the disciples had desired to do Lk11:1 and here Stephen just does it after seeing the Glory of God Acts 7:55. This vision was initiated when he was full of the Holy Spirit. It is at this moment with his last breath he prays the final prayer of forgiveness. The heart to pray such a prayer can only come from the Holy Spirit and for a man to utter it means that he has been granted the power to do so. The power grants us Christ likeness during your ministry. Are we able to forgive and pray for those who have hurt us, or rejected us or have spitefully used us and maybe even accused us falsely? The Beatitudes are the pinnacle of what I believe to be empowerment from above in having the heart of Christ. Truly flesh cannot accomplish such deeds fully. That is why it is considered by all to be the greatest narrative by Jesus in his entire ministry.

Chains of Joy

Paul though in chains and miserable situations counted it all to joy. This is the empowerment that comes by the power from above and just like love it`s cardinal quality is that it does not seek its gain in any form except that which is for Christ. Many of have not considered the cost that Jesus bore for us. We always talk about His sufferings but to Jesus the sufferings pale before His separation from God. The Spiritual implication of His sacrifice was far more painful than all the physical abuse and torture He went through, yet we read that He counted it all to joy in Heb 12:2. To count suffering as joy is beyond understanding esp. if it is for no fault of yours. The mind begins to play when one undergoes miserable situations. The types of chains vary from person to person, it could mean imprisonment, constant jesting by people, poverty, and physical ailments, so on and so forth. It could be anything that restrains us from being free to live and serve Him.  We see the people of Israel asking what profit is there in serving the Almighty God if they are constantly suffering while their enemies suffer no loss Malachi 3:14-15. Now that the Lord’s coming is near the need of the church in the dark hours ahead is the power of the Holy Spirit, by which they will be faithful witnesses as persecutions and various trials are on the rise presently and will peak during the reign of the antichrist.

Christ Likeness

Being a witness of Christ means to represent Him in every way conceivable. No one has seen Christ in this generation but they see us who represent Him. One quote I always refer to is what Mahatma Gandhi made when he said I would have become a Christian had I met one! Think of what might have been had he accepted the Lord seeing the life of a believer or anyone who remotely represented Christ. India as a nation wouldn`t have been the same. Our only focus would be to get the word out however you can and dependency is on prayer, supplication and humbleness before God. The true revelation about the power is that it empowers us to be and do that which we cannot by ourselves. People are so finicky about Christians today that they are on the lookout for the slightest or errors. Christians are accused of being judgemental bigots who think they are above reproach, because the gospel is preached. If we carefully read the scriptures we will see that Jesus never confronted sin head on rather He ministered to people through their situation or need. Though no one acknowledges it, everyone knows that they are not always right. To address peoples sin directly sets them on the offence at the very beginning; thereby rending the goal of introducing them to Christ in vain. We need to remember that we too at one time did not like being called a sinner and may have hated being preached to yet today we are not understanding that others might also be in the same situation. Thus being sensitive enough to know how to conduct ourselves in society in a way that portrays Christ truly requires power from above. Being harmless as doves yet being wise as serpents (Mt 10:16) is something that only the Holy Spirit can teach us. Jesus is the epitome of this verse for He confounded all those who opposed Him leaving them speechless, without being aggressive. Today the Church is in great need of this empowerment to be as Jesus is.

I will not go too deeper than this for now because as I said earlier the Power from Above and the Anointing are synonymous and I would like to leave sufficient space to do an offshoot series on the Anointing specifically once we finish our current topic. One thing I would like to say is that there are a lot of overlapping sections within this study and so there are and will be times where I would have to delay the teaching so that I can do the foundational sections before I go into deeper things. Till next time, God Bless.  

The Holy Spirit Series 7

The Work of the Holy Spirit on Earth 2

We just celebrated the Resurrection Day a few days ago and what a glorious event it was indeed. All of Heaven rejoiced and all the forces of evil trembled and gnashed their teeth. I can imagine satan banging his fists and shouting seeing what had transpired, his victory was turned into defeat. The cheers had now turned into anger and frustration now that Jesus was no longer in the grave. For a believer the five most foundational days of faith, on which stands the Christian doctrine is the day of Crucifixion, the Day of Resurrection, the Day of Ascension, the Day of Pentecost and finally the Day of His return. I will talk now about the fourth day since that is from where we must begin in this topic ‘The Holy Spirit’s function in the New Testament.’

In The New Testament:

As we all know the Holy Spirit descended publicly upon men on the 50^th day from Passover. This day was also known as the Feast of Weeks. In scripture this event was prophetically called the Day of Promise. The Promise was made by Christ Himself in Mt 19:20 (Lk 12:12), Lk 11:13, John 7:39, during His discourse with the disciples however, Jesus alluded to what the scriptures spoke of in Is 32:15, Is 44:3, and Joel 2:28. The Disciples tarried in Jerusalem at the instruction (Lk 24:49) of Jesus just prior to His Ascension and this is what Luke is mentioning again in Acts 1:4.

There are a few reasons why the Holy Spirit was sent to us and these reasons maps out the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church and the individual believer and non-believer. We will look at these roles one by one:

A.   To grant power: The last instruction that Jesus gave His disciples before ascending into Heaven was to tarry in Jerusalem for the promise. Only one reason was given for this wait and that was to receive power to be a witness for Christ. By the power received the Apostles witnessed Christ and His work on the cross until their end.  

What kind of power is this?

Many are confused as to the nature of this power from above. Well to simply put the power here refers to the Anointing, which means that it is an ability given by God to accomplish certain tasks which would otherwise be impossible to achieve by our own ability. It will not turn us into superheroes rather the man of God would actually be aware of his own limitations in ministry and would rely more on the Holy Spirit to get the work done. Jesus clearly said that the power was to make us into His witnesses.

What is implied by this statement?

Being a witness for Christ is not as easy as it sounds. The Greek word for witnesses here is Martus from which we have the word ‘Martyr.’ So, when Jesus said this what did He mean exactly: Is it to be a witness in a legal sense e.g. when signing a contract, or is it to be a witness to an occurrence like an eyewitness and finally in an ethical sense where the witness follows the same path that Jesus took to die for the sake of God’s purpose. When you consider these it is obvious that we are His witnesses in all three capacities. Many are all three but not all are martyred for their faith. We are most often ridiculed or even ostracized for our faith, which is the mildest form of persecution. However, in general everyone professing their faith must be ready to die for Jesus when faced with radical persecution. This is when the true nature of this power is revealed. Jesus taught His disciples not to fear those who can kill the body but to fear Him who can destroy the body and the soul in Hell Mt 10:28, Lk 12:4. No one knows the full details of their Calling ; it is revealed to us over time on a need to know basis. None of the disciples knew that they would be killed for the gospel, except Peter , but they were ready to die either way. This kind of faith is not normal. When Jesus died the disciples were living in fear but after they saw and spent time with the risen Lord they were completely transformed; Peter on the Day of Pentecost is a prime example. The power changes you. The Spirit man is empowered to lead the soul and body.

           

In Mt 10:16 Jesus said that He was sending the disciple out as sheep among the wolves. His warnings are clearly outlined in the following verses. Being a follower of Christ has its inherent dangers which I believe to be summed up by “And you shall be hated of all men for My Name’s sake: but he that endures to the end shall be saved” Mt 10:22. People will hate us for our faith. The Greek word for hate here is Miseó which means to hate/pursue with hatred or with detest. As I write this I am reminded of the ever increasing persecution that our fellow believers face today.  I am in no way trying to scare people but am trying to put things into perspective because these things are never preached or taught in churches today. I always knew that what I had learnt in church was somehow incomplete that’s why I pursued the matter with God.

A lot of people think that the power is to demonstrate supernatural gifts and the ability to supplant the works of satan in people’s lives. This is a fact that we are granted such a power but the teaching is not wholesome. Every child of God is anointed and under the anointing we accomplish His purpose. This could be at your home, workplace, your neighbourhood, your society; it could even extend to other countries. The point is; everyone has a part to play. Now comes the catch to having this power. The power is for function and it will demonstrate itself as we 'Go' for God. Go in the sense that we are ready to minister even in the smallest thing. Stephen is said to have been filled with the Spirit of God and he ministered to widows by serving when they came to eat! He would preach time to time too. Check out the sermon he gave that led to his death. What a message he preached? Where did he get such words and courage and how was he so articulate when facing authorities (who knew the Torah and were rulers) and not the average person? Stephen spoke with understanding and authority. His speech cut the hearts of those who heard him Acts 7:54. This impact and effect upon the heart is seen in Jesus's preaching as well. The power allows us to speak as God speaks and it speaks to the core of man and not his mind.

This my dear brothers and sisters is the power at work. It is not our ability nor our talents that helps us in the God's work. The mind and body follow the leading of the Spirit of God as per Lk 12:12. We need the power of the Holy Spirit for this to be a Spirit led work otherwise it will be a flesh led work. A flesh led ministry is HARD WORK! with a very low success rate. We are not called for a fleshy ministry. We are to minister as per His leading. We will study deeper into this Spirit led ministry later since there is lot of dynamics to it. I know you will be wondering how can you do a Spirit led ministry. I assure you I will explain it throughly as we progress. Right now I am laying the foundation to teach these topics which will follow. In our next session we will look at how the Power changes us. Till then God Bless.