{"id":3214,"date":"2021-11-01T15:43:47","date_gmt":"2021-11-01T20:43:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/?p=3214"},"modified":"2022-01-10T21:35:58","modified_gmt":"2022-01-11T03:35:58","slug":"the-holy-spirit-in-the-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/?p=3214","title":{"rendered":"The Holy Spirit in The Church"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Seasons Change Fall 2021<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In a men\u2019s group recently, the discussion about the Holy Spirit was excellent! Most of the guys were open to new truth and revelation as long as it was in the Bible, but having a Baptist background like me, I wondered how it would go? The same could apply to many denominations, as you will note.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy,\u201d it was asked, \u201cdoes the church in the west, or we have trouble with the Holy Spirit?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Honest answers proffered and discussed included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Our educational system is Greek modeled, materialistic, and further influenced by the French Enlightenment, stressing the intellect and neglecting or rejecting the Spirit.<\/li>
  2. Our churches are affected and infected and have not understood nor taught what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit.<\/li>
  3. The Spirit is mystical and mysterious, so He\u2019s not easy to know if you have the mindset mentioned in 1. and 2. above.<\/li>
  4. Because of excesses seen or reported, we\u2019ve been skeptical of those sects or denominations who claim to have experienced the Holy Spirit. Some have acted like they have some corner on Him, or have Him in their box, so we\u2019ve rejected them and their teaching, likely throwing out the baby with the bathwater.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Why are our eyes and minds closed? Don\u2019t we love the truth? Are we that afraid of error? Why wouldn\u2019t we trust God our Father to lead us into all truth? One of the most important truths is that we can have and should have a relationship with the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Spiritual blindness is more rampant, embedded, and systemic in our lives and churches than we have thought! This omitted teaching and missing experiential relationship with the Holy Spirit is one area that demonstrates that fact. One member of our group just finished reading \u201cThe Heavenly Man.\u201d It\u2019s about Brother Yun, a leader of the underground church in China, who the Spirit constantly led. My friend brings it up often, and I can tell the book has changed his thinking about the place of the Holy Spirit in the church and his personal life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In Isaiah chapter six, we find another clue why we in the community of believers haven\u2019t known the truth about the Holy Spirit and are consequentially spiritually dull. The Lord is understated and doesn\u2019t appear to those disinterested, but usually to those who are humble or desperate and hungry to know Him. Grace is free, but it is not cheap. Grace is costly, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer told the modern church in \u201cThe Cost of Discipleship.\u201d He found the German church in his day asleep and deceived, like the Jewish nation of Isaiah\u2019s day. The Lord told Isaiah to speak to the people whatever he heard from the Lord, but also told him the people would not hear, by and large. They had grown dull of hearing because of idolatry and the lack of intimacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Jesus on The Holy Spirit<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    What did Jesus have to say about the Holy Spirit? \u201cMuch!\u201d is the answer. I\u2019ll point out a few things for brevity. Let it serve as a springboard to do your research and study. It\u2019s easy to see that the Holy Spirit was a significant focus for Jesus and an essential part of his plan for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cNevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you\u201d (John 16:7 ESV).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cBut the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you\u201d (John 14:26 ESV).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Paul on the Holy Spirit<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Apostle Paul had much to say and demonstrate about the Holy Spirit. In Acts 19, Paul going to Ephesus met a group of believers outside of town and asked them a meaningful, telling question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cDid you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?\u201d And they said, \u201cNo, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit\u201d (Acts 19:2 ESV). Doesn\u2019t that describe or define the church in the West? In America? In our city? We have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit, it seems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    At least we act like it. While we do experience the Holy Spirit from time to time, it seems we do so without being aware. It appears we are wired by God for 220 volts and are living on AA batteries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    There isn\u2019t awareness. There isn\u2019t the practice. There isn\u2019t the experience. There isn\u2019t the hunger. Biblical teaching on the Holy Spirit as an abiding part of our lives doesn\u2019t exist in many churches. The Bible teaches that God sent the Holy Spirit in Christ\u2019s name to dwell with us and in us, to be our Helper. Is He a part of your reality?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Acts 19 account goes on to say there were about twelve men involved. That\u2019s not a significant number. God is not into big numbers, apparently. I wonder what kind of wonders these twelve accomplished after that experience and for the rest of their lives? Later in the same chapter, we read, \u201cGod was performing extra ordinary miracles by the hand of Paul\u201d (Acts 19:9 ESV). Paul continually said it was the Holy Spirit working through him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    We Should Know the Spirit<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Back to our reality, the Holy Spirit goes about his work of refining us, convicting us of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He is molding us into the image of Christ, to be his friends and his bride, the church, the \u201cecclesia?\u201d the called-out ones. But it seems there is so much more available from Him for us and through us if we understand the working of the Spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    John chapter 3 is telling and instructive about the role of the Holy Spirit. Jesus talks to Nicodemus, \u201cThe Teacher of Israel,\u201d a man schooled and skilled in the Bible, and tells Nicodemus there is more. Someone has said, \u201cGod did not leave us just a map. He left us a guide.\u201d The map is the Bible, and the guide is the Holy Spirit. Scripture completely supports this convergence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    \u201cThat which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit\u201d (John 3:6 ESV). \u201cThe wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit\u201d (John 3:8 ESV).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    How to Know the Spirit<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    To be continued…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In a men\u2019s group recently, the discussion about the Holy Spirit was excellent! Most of the guys were open to new truth and revelation as long as it was in the Bible, but having a Baptist background like me, I wondered how it would go? The same could apply to many denominations, as you will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,10,9,12,11],"tags":[32,33,68,98,21],"class_list":["post-3214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-friendoftheking","category-be-a-leader","category-be-a-man","category-bread-for-the-spirit","category-understanding-our-times","tag-christian-life","tag-faith","tag-fear","tag-grace","tag-jesus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3214"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3222,"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3214\/revisions\/3222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}