home > Pastor’s Desk > 2016 > November 11th > The Spirit Filled Life

THE SPIRIT-FILLED LIFE

Andrew worshipingIt has been said that the thing which makes Christianity unique in comparison with other faiths is that it is a relationship rather than a religion. This is at least true. It is indeed a relationship between the redeemed and the Redeemer. But its beauty goes still deeper. This depth is wrought by the Holy Spirit in, on, through and around the redeemed. His redeeming work of captivating, convicting, converting, transforming, and commissioning the ransomed-redeemed of the Lord begins before it is too late. The Holy Spirit Himself, who (along with the Father and Son) uniquely possesses omnipresence, is mysteriously able to draw alongside an individual rebel and patiently woo their rebellious heart away from religion toward a relationship with the Jesus – and then take them deeper into the beauty of Christ.

But 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.
John 14:26

007CS-LewisWhen this wooing was felt by C.S. Lewis in the Trinity Semester of 1931, he described himself as, “The most dejected, reluctant convert in all England!” However, not everyone experiences such a spiritual conquering. F.W. Boreham for example, was raised in a church-going family, but had not experienced the Holy Spirit’s redeeming transformation until around 1890. Like Lewis, he came to the realisation that his religious efforts were grossly inadequate to qualify his soul for acceptance by God. He turned to the Saviour, was baptised, then received the laying-on-of-hands with the prayerful injunction to receive the Holy Spirit. F.W. Boreham suddenly experienced an infilling with the Holy Spirit which he said resulted in his inability to feel the ground beneath his feet for the next week or two! It appears that he was baptised with the Holy Spirit subsequent to his conversion to Christ. He, of course, is not the only one who has experienced the promised baptism with the Holy Spirit subsequent to their conversion from rebellion to redemption. Millions of the Christ-redeemed have then also experienced an overwhelming of spiritual awareness and presence which has opened them up to a realm of supernatural gifts, phenomena, and intimacy with Christ. This has then introduced these followers of Christ to a deeper, richer, closer, sweeter walk with their Lord. Have you experienced this in your relationship with Jesus?

¶ “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.
John 15:26

NEW LIFE IN THE SPIRIT

The Spirit’s work of conversion in the rebel begins with conviction of sin (John 16:8). A lingering sense of guilt and shame is a sure sign that the Holy Spirit is active in a soul. By His persistent grace He woos and drives the rebel to accept God’s gracious offer of forgiveness, soul-cleansing, and adoption. Upon acceptance of God’s love and grace, the Holy Spirit converts the rebel into a born-again follower of Christ.

 

Conversion.

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
John 3:5

Too many people have been lulled – nay, duped – by certain socialising pressures (perhaps family upbringing and church tradition) into thinking that Christianity is merely about behaving like a Christian – attending church, owning a Bible, giving to charity. But unless a person has experienced the inner work of conversion by the Holy Spirit, they are not yet a Christian. It is at this point that the converted rebel realises that Christ substituted Himself for them and bore their penalty of their divine rebellion. Have you been born-again by the Holy Spirit?

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
Romans 8:11

 

TRANSFORMED BY THE SPIRIT

doubleminded2‘Sanctification’ means to make holy, separate from the ordinary. The work of the Holy Spirit does not cease upon the conversion of the rebel into the redeemed. Although, in the eyes of God, the redeemed rebel is perfectly sanctified upon their conversion, there is still an earthly process of sanctification. This process puts to death those rebel-qualities of self-centredness and brings to life those Christlike traits of service to others.

Sanctification.

I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.
Romans 6:19, 22

The external fruit of sanctification is seen in how we speak, use our time, money and talent, relate to others, and is rooted in the inner work of the Holy Spirit transforming the rebel into the redeemed. How has the Holy Spirit sanctified you since your conversion?

 

EMPOWERED IN THE SPIRIT

We are all religiousAfter Christ had atoned for sin, He breathed on His disciples and commanded them to receive the Holy Spirit (Jn. 20:22) and then told them to wait for this Promised infilling with the Spirit (Acts 1:4). When the Promised baptism with the Holy Spirit began on the Day of Pentecost, the believers began to prophesy and/or speak in tongues (Acts 2:6). The Apostle Paul would later write that speaking and praying in tongues served different purposes. Speaking in tongues, with associated gift of interpretation, was equivalent to prophecy (1Cor. 14:3), whereas praying in tongues required no interpretation because it was speaking to God (not people) (1Cor. 14:2). The Apostle also revealed that tongues (unlearned languages) could be a language of men or a language of angels (1Cor. 13:1). When speaking to God in tongues, this form of praying is able to edify the believer (1Cor. 14:4) and build them up. One of the nine mentioned gifts of the Holy Spirit is also a type of tongues. It appears that this type of tongue is the aforementioned equivalent to prophesying.

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Luke 11:13

The Baptism With The Holy Spirit.

prophetic-feasts4pentecost

Jesus said that He would send the Holy Spirit to comfort, counsel, guide, strengthen, and empower. He said that when His followers would be baptised with the Holy Spirit, they would be empowered to witness about and proclaim Christ and His Gospel. We see on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2), that the previously timid, awkward, inarticulate, Apostle Peter was transformed into a bold, courageous, passionate, persuasive and articulate herald of the Gospel of Christ’s Kingdom  (Acts 2:14).

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Acts 2:4

In closing his ‘second’ epistle to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul sketches the believer’s interaction with each member of the Godhead, and he shines a warm light on the role that the redeemed can enjoy with the Holy Spirit-

¶ The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Second Corinthians 13:14

Our fellowship with the Holy Spirit distinguishes Christianity from mere religion. The redeemed’ fellowship with the Holy Spirit is what makes Christianity a living, vibrant, relationship with Christ. It involves the illumination of God’s Word, the reception of God’s voice in the hearts of the redeemed, the leading of the Spirit into wise choices, supernatural empowering to speak and bear witness to Christ’s Lordship, and a continual sense of God’s loving overshadowing presence.

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
Ephesians 5:18

Don’t treat your Christianity as a mere religion. Instead, let us realise what it actually is – the Spirit-filled life! Let us grow in our life in the Holy Spirit, and continue to go deeper and sweeter with Christ in our knowledge, character and choices.

Amen.

Your Pastor,

Andrew

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HE WAS A KIND AND CHARITABLE MAN

home > Pastor's Desk > 2024 > March 22ndr > He was a kind and charitable man.WHO WAS KENNETH TYNAN? You’ve probably never heard of Kenneth Tynan. I hadn’t. I was introduced to him while conducting some research for my current PhD program on C.S. Lewis. In...

FROM LITTLE THINGS

The first time I heard the song “From Little Things, Big Things Grow” was in early 2008. I was trying to get my head around superannuation funds. I never knew of its writers – Paul Kelly and Carmody. Neither did I know it was originally a protest song. In my opinion, the original lyrics and melody bears no semblance to what we may consider protest today. Many will agree with me that it is now synonymous with Industry Super Funds. But its principles remain true in nearly every aspect of life.

ADVICE WORTH MORE THAN GOLD OR A MOUNTAIN OF CASH ABOUT HOW TO USE REJECTION TO BECOME AN EVEN BETTER, WISER, STRONGER YOU!

For several reasons I am qualified to help people deal with acute and chronic pain. Some acute and chronic pain can be resolved medically. Some pains can go a long way to being resolved with the help of a psychologist. Some pains can be resolved with a hug from mum. But there is a pain that a doctor cannot cure, a psychologist cannot counsel, a mother’s hug cannot alleviate. It is a pain that goes deep – beyond the defences of our integumentary system, our neurological system (including our para-sympathetic nervous system), our muscular system, our skeletal system, our lymphatic system, our renal system, gastro-intestinal system, our respiratory system, our cardio-vascular system, our hormonal system, and our half-share of a reproductive system. It is a pain that wounds: our memory, our sense of self, our estimation of our worth, our confidence, and our ability to connect meaningfully with others (our ability to love and be loved). It is the pain of rejection. It not only effects who we are (our identity) but it also leaches symptomatically into each of these ten-and-a-half biological systems which every human being possesses. I am going to offer all those who have experienced the pain of rejection how they can be healed from its wound, and actually become stronger, wiser, more confident, as a result.

THE MYTHICAL PATHWAY TO HAPPINESS

I’ve accidentally found myself enrolled in a Ph.D. program. I kind of blame Associate Professor Stuart Piggin for this. A few years ago I was having some serious discussions with him about doing a Ph.D. in Historical Theology at Macquarie University focusing on the contribution of Dr. F.W. Boreham. But I found myself unable at that time to proceed. In my discussions with him about my health prognosis and what I wanted to be able to do in the remaining time that I have left, he suggested focusing instead on Philosophical-Theology and enquiring with Monash University. I took his sage advice and did as he said. This week, I formally commenced with Monash as a part-time extension (distance) student. The result is that after my first zoom meeting with my supervisor I am now having to delve into an arena that requires me to be able to convince a critical secular audience that my proposal about the Bible’s truth claims are reasonable. Oddly, in order to do this, I have to explain in some depth what C.S. Lewis meant by the word, myth. And to do this I have to draw even deeper on the writings of a now dead French philosopher who is regarded as the greatest exponent of what a myth is! Therefore, I am going to tell you something quite shocking. It might be advisable for you to go and get a strong cup of tea, then return to this screen, and read on while sipping your tea, to absorb some of what I am going to tell you. 

Follow Me AS I FOLLOW JESUS

We all walk a path in life that is set before us. We start with very little experience and knowledge about the purpose of our life and the world beyond us. All of humanity experiences joy, wisdom, strength, weakness, suffering and hardship, especially those who are “contending for the faith”. Knowing Jesus is a very special part of this life journey.

A CERTAIN GOD

We can be reasonably certain about many things. In fact, without this certainty about life, none of us could function. We can be certain that tonight the sun will ‘set’. Tomorrow the sun will ‘rise’. After the February 28th it will be February 29th. This year there will be international unrest and much political instability in many parts of the world. In the coming months global warming will be identified by politicians as the source of floods and wildfires. Several high profile international celebrities will die this year. Archaeologists will make a discovery that will require some aspects of history to be rewritten. And you will certainly have one of the most memorable moments in your life in the coming days. You see, there are clearly some things we can be quite certain about. However, there are some aspects about our future that we cannot be certain about, yet in those moments we can be certain about what we should do.

LOW COST LIVING

Turn on any TV or radio news lately and there’s bound to be a story about the current “cost of living crisis”. We all feel it. Initially most people accepted the widespread price-rises were caused by 2020-21 pandemic lockdowns. But whatever the reasons for the rapid price hikes over the past two years, every time we go to the supermarket we feel it again. While governments are striving to curb the impact of this cost of living crisis, there remains a way to enjoy low cost living. The key to this is recognising that the most valuable things in life are literally priceless. The path to enjoying low-cost living is to be found in Christ, and what He taught — and it begins with treasure.

How To Know Jesus Better

It’s a scary thought to realise that the Jesus we have been told about and worship may not really be known to us at all. We can ‘know’ about someone or something, but not really know them. In Christian circles it’s often referred to as head knowledge not heart knowledge.

Knowing Christ Better

As a church, this year’s theme is coming closer to Christ by getting to know Him better. I feel that I am “the least qualified person” to tell anyone how this is done — but someone else has already claimed this distinction – the apostle Paul. After decades of hearing directly from Christ, seeing extraordinary miracles, being taken to heaven temporarily, planting churches across the Roman Empire, he could still say I would give anything to really know Christ – even if it meant suffering like He did! (Phil. 3:7-10). Therefore, I could say: If you do this or that, you will then know Christ better – but in my view, it’s not as easy as that! How we develop our relationship with Christ is shaped by several factors including our personality, our life experiences, our physical health and fitness, and our relationships with others (especially our parents and particularly our father). In fact, I believe that there is a relationship between how we have learned to build relationships with others (and notably how we have learned to relate to those who are closest to us) and how we then proceed to have a relationship with God. Even though I have expressed my lack of qualifications in telling anyone how to have a closer relationship with Christ, I still can, like one hungry beggar to another hungry beggar, offer you a few of the morsels of food that I’ve been able to find.

SOME PEOPLE HAVE AMAZING BUTS

I know of several people with amazing buts. There’s Jo’, Mo’, Sam, Esther, Jerry, and others. Each of these people were gifted by God with an amazing but that changed there life and the course of human history. Sometimes these gifts came with a …then, or …God, or …the LORD. When it comes to the size of things, a but is a relatively small thing (in Greek it can be just two letters: de) but it can have huge implications and enormously great blessings for multitudes. I hope to show you how this was the case with each of the people I have chosen as samples, and then show you how God is your God of buts.