The Lent courses in Yelvertoft have continued to go well. I found that the CD content for session 4 of the York Course which focuses on the power of the Holy Spirit rather disappointing for various reasons, so I prepared my own material. Up to now the CD contents have been helpful. So this week I share with you some of the things about which we reflected.
It is the person of the Holy Spirit that makes actual in our experience all that the Father purposed and the Son made possible through his life, death, resurrection and priestly ministry in Heaven. In John 14 Jesus speaks about another... Comforter (AV) Counsellor (NIV). The Greek word parakletos used here means one who comes or is sent alongside to support and strengthen, or to be an advocate.
The Greek word here for another is allos which is normally used for another of the same or similar. (Heteros is the Greek word in the New Testament for another that is different.) Jesus also goes on to speak about the fact that they already knew the Spirit of Truth (another identity for the parakletos) because he was already with them. When we look at this part in the conversation and look back through the whole of chapter 14 we can see clearly what Jesus meant. Earlier, Jesus had stated that if they knew him then they already knew the Father. The persons of the trinity are not different in character from one another. So it is with the Holy Spirit. The presence of God that they encountered in Jesus would be the same when he left and the Holy Spirit came, not only to be with them (as Jesus was with them) but to dwell in them.
50 days after the death of Christ and ten days after his ascension the Holy Spirit was poured out on 120 people as they met in the upper room in Jerusalem. As Peter afterwards explained to the crowd, Jesus having been exalted to the right hand of the Father had received the promise of the Father had poured out the Holy Spirit on them. Now the promise was for all who believed... to all who respond to God's call. So it is that in the Acts of the Apostles we read of the Christians in Samaria, Ephesus and in the home of Cornelius also receiving the same dramatic outpouring of the Holy Spirit. So it is experienced by people today, sometimes after this blessing is purposefully sought and sometimes unexpectedly.
But we need to be clear that the Holy Spirit is not given to all. This promise is for those who repent of sin and put their trust in Jesus.
That this experience gave the early disciples boldness is clear from the account we have in scripture. Paul also writes to the Christians in Galatia about the transforming work the Holy Spirit does in our lives by which the fruit (singular) of the Holy Spirit is manifest. The nine elements of this fruit are not a list of options, nor is it about our changing our behaviour. If we are truly living in the Holy Spirit then all those nine elements should be discernable - at least to some degree. So our transformed lives witness alongside the words the Spirit empowers us to share with others.
It is the Holy Spirit who baptises us into the body of Christ and then gives gifts that enable us for the part he plans for us (1 Corinthians 12). The commentary on the CD wrongly identified some of these as mundane and some as glamorous. It further suggested that we should be satisfied with the mundane. But in writing to the Christians at Corinth Paul makes clear that no gift is of less value than another. To suggest that some are inferior is to speak against the giver (for they are not earned). Paul exhorts us to covet earnestly the best gifts, but he does not categorise these. The best gifts are whatever we need for the ministry God has entrusted to us as part of the body of Christ.
Some have become confused by Paul's comparison of speaking with tongues with prophecy. In 1 Corinthians 14 Paul returns to the theme of desiring these gifts of the Spirit, and highlights prophecy. But the text makes clear that on its own speaking in tongues does almost nothing for anyone other than the speaker, who is edified. It is only once what has been spoken in tongues has been interpreted (not translated) that others can be edified. Prophecy does not need an associated gift. We note that speaking in tongues is an utterance from the speaker to God (not the reverse). A person speaking in tongues might also speak of God (e.g. on the Day of Pentecost they declared the wonderful works of God - or praise). But we do well to note that Paul celebrated his ability to speak in tongues and his longing that all might have that gift.
Whether that gift is given to all is thrown into doubt by 1 Corinthians 12:30. But I have yet to meet anyone who has this gift who would want to be without it!
Another aspect that clearly confused those providing the commentary on the CD is that reference to wisdom and knowledge in 1 Corinthians 12 is not general wisdom and understanding but moments of revelation. The Holy Spirit might give occasions of supernatural understanding in a situation or supernatural wisdom to know what has to be done. These are singular experiences.
The purpose behind the Lent course we are using is to explore the legacy Jesus provides for his disciples. It is good that the five suggested by the course includes "Power". This is one element of the legacy about which I wish I knew more experientially. But the closing reflection on the CD helpfully points out that this is not power as the world understands power. If the loving sacrifice of Calvary is not seen in an empowered ministry then we will have lost the plot.
Barry
It is the person of the Holy Spirit that makes actual in our experience all that the Father purposed and the Son made possible through his life, death, resurrection and priestly ministry in Heaven. In John 14 Jesus speaks about another... Comforter (AV) Counsellor (NIV). The Greek word parakletos used here means one who comes or is sent alongside to support and strengthen, or to be an advocate.
The Greek word here for another is allos which is normally used for another of the same or similar. (Heteros is the Greek word in the New Testament for another that is different.) Jesus also goes on to speak about the fact that they already knew the Spirit of Truth (another identity for the parakletos) because he was already with them. When we look at this part in the conversation and look back through the whole of chapter 14 we can see clearly what Jesus meant. Earlier, Jesus had stated that if they knew him then they already knew the Father. The persons of the trinity are not different in character from one another. So it is with the Holy Spirit. The presence of God that they encountered in Jesus would be the same when he left and the Holy Spirit came, not only to be with them (as Jesus was with them) but to dwell in them.
50 days after the death of Christ and ten days after his ascension the Holy Spirit was poured out on 120 people as they met in the upper room in Jerusalem. As Peter afterwards explained to the crowd, Jesus having been exalted to the right hand of the Father had received the promise of the Father had poured out the Holy Spirit on them. Now the promise was for all who believed... to all who respond to God's call. So it is that in the Acts of the Apostles we read of the Christians in Samaria, Ephesus and in the home of Cornelius also receiving the same dramatic outpouring of the Holy Spirit. So it is experienced by people today, sometimes after this blessing is purposefully sought and sometimes unexpectedly.
But we need to be clear that the Holy Spirit is not given to all. This promise is for those who repent of sin and put their trust in Jesus.
That this experience gave the early disciples boldness is clear from the account we have in scripture. Paul also writes to the Christians in Galatia about the transforming work the Holy Spirit does in our lives by which the fruit (singular) of the Holy Spirit is manifest. The nine elements of this fruit are not a list of options, nor is it about our changing our behaviour. If we are truly living in the Holy Spirit then all those nine elements should be discernable - at least to some degree. So our transformed lives witness alongside the words the Spirit empowers us to share with others.
It is the Holy Spirit who baptises us into the body of Christ and then gives gifts that enable us for the part he plans for us (1 Corinthians 12). The commentary on the CD wrongly identified some of these as mundane and some as glamorous. It further suggested that we should be satisfied with the mundane. But in writing to the Christians at Corinth Paul makes clear that no gift is of less value than another. To suggest that some are inferior is to speak against the giver (for they are not earned). Paul exhorts us to covet earnestly the best gifts, but he does not categorise these. The best gifts are whatever we need for the ministry God has entrusted to us as part of the body of Christ.
Some have become confused by Paul's comparison of speaking with tongues with prophecy. In 1 Corinthians 14 Paul returns to the theme of desiring these gifts of the Spirit, and highlights prophecy. But the text makes clear that on its own speaking in tongues does almost nothing for anyone other than the speaker, who is edified. It is only once what has been spoken in tongues has been interpreted (not translated) that others can be edified. Prophecy does not need an associated gift. We note that speaking in tongues is an utterance from the speaker to God (not the reverse). A person speaking in tongues might also speak of God (e.g. on the Day of Pentecost they declared the wonderful works of God - or praise). But we do well to note that Paul celebrated his ability to speak in tongues and his longing that all might have that gift.
Whether that gift is given to all is thrown into doubt by 1 Corinthians 12:30. But I have yet to meet anyone who has this gift who would want to be without it!
Another aspect that clearly confused those providing the commentary on the CD is that reference to wisdom and knowledge in 1 Corinthians 12 is not general wisdom and understanding but moments of revelation. The Holy Spirit might give occasions of supernatural understanding in a situation or supernatural wisdom to know what has to be done. These are singular experiences.
The purpose behind the Lent course we are using is to explore the legacy Jesus provides for his disciples. It is good that the five suggested by the course includes "Power". This is one element of the legacy about which I wish I knew more experientially. But the closing reflection on the CD helpfully points out that this is not power as the world understands power. If the loving sacrifice of Calvary is not seen in an empowered ministry then we will have lost the plot.
Barry
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