Final Points—The Work of the Holy Spirit
Tuesday, August 12th, 2008 : By Ken Rutherford
On August 3rd, I didn’t quite complete my lesson and I mentioned that I would post the final points to the blog. Well, better late than never! Credit to Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology for the bulk of this lesson.
The Holy Spirit Unifies
When the Spirit was poured out on the church at Pentecost, Peter proclaimed that the prophecy of Joel 2:28-32 was fulfilled (see Acts 2:16-18)
- The emphasis is not on the Spirit being poured out on specially anointed leaders (like Moses or Joshua in the OT) but the Spirit was poured out on the entire community of believers (sons and daughters, young and old, masters and servants)
- The community of believers was marked by unprecedented unity (Acts 2:44-47)
Several times in the NT, Paul appeals to the believers’ “fellowship of the Spirit” or “unity of the Spirit”
- Unifies Jews and Gentiles
- Unifies people of diverse languages and cultures
- Unifies people of diverse economic backgrounds
- Differing spiritual gifts—instead of hindering unity—actually serve to draw us together (1 Cor. 12:12-26)
The Holy Spirit Gives Stronger or Weaker Evidence of the Presence and Blessing of God According to Our Response to Him
To enjoy the power, purification, God-like atmosphere, assurance, unity, teaching and illumination of the Holy Spirit, we must walk by the Spirit
- Keep in step (following his cadence and his lead)
- Pray in the Spirit, love in the Spirit
- Be filled with the Spirit (we are filled but Paul says we must “be” filled—Eph. 5:18)
How can one be “filled” with the Holy Spirit?
- Be satisfied by the filling you already have
- Don’t seek other things to be filled with: Alcohol or drugs, Busy-ness, The works of the flesh
To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be filled with the immediate presence of God himself—When you set your mind of the things of the Spirit…
- Will result in feeling what God feels
- Desiring what God desires
- Doing what God wants
- Speaking by God’s power
- Praying and ministering in God’s strength
- Zech. 4:6b “‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.”
About The Author
In 1979, God grabbed ahold of my life and has had me in his big grip ever since. My passion is learning and teaching about God and about his word. I believe that God created us to discover his glory through intellectual pursuits. My other passions, in descending order, are my family (my wife Carla and our three kids), my profession (graphic design), community service (through my position with the Gwinnett Chamber and through coaching sports), and singing.
More entries by Ken Rutherford
3 Comments
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Thanks for the great teaching series Ken:
You Wrote….
“Don’t seek other things to be filled with: …….. Busy-ness”
I don’t think Busy-ness is something we seek, but something that we fall into as part of our culture in the USA.
We can also get too busy doing “churchy” things. So much so that we lose sight of the needs of those around us and in our own local community. Some people just need a friend and someone to love and encourage them as we really have no idea what they might be going through. We must make time to pour our lives into others outside of our own comfortable church “group”. We also tend to get so busy serving in “programs” that we think that is enough, and we have done our duty, and rest. I think the current teaching on the body shows that we should be much more intentional toward others “just because” and not just from within the “comfort zone” of our own sometimes very comfortable church programs.
I have always believed it is more important to want to get to know others in the body for “who they are” and not for “what they do”.
We need to sometimes just slow down and ….”Be still to know that I am God”
Everybody show some “intentional spontaneity” to someone today!
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Very good! Thanks for posting the final points here. Food for thought and action, indeed.
CAN : August 12th, 2008 at 7:39 am