Devotional materials. Week commencing Sunday 12th December 2021
Call to worship
“In the last days”, God says, “I will pour out my Spirit on all people” Acts 2:17
Our first hymn reminds us we are in the season of Advent. We think of our Lord’s first coming to us: “O come, O come Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel” But this hymn also reminds us He is come to be our Saviour. He has promised to come again and take us to be with himself: “Come and open wide our heavenly home”
Opening Hymn
‘O Come, O Come Emmanuel’ (MP 493, piano)
John Mason Neale
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcIIZpnZPgo
We celebrate the Lord’s coming to us. The baby born in Bethlehem is God with us. But we could also say the gift of the Holy Spirit is God with us- God come to live within us! It’s this truth we will continue to explore today in our worship of God
Lighting of advent candles
Opening Prayer
O Holy Spirit- giver of light and life, impart to us thoughts higher than our own thoughts, prayers better than our own prayers and powers beyond our own powers.
Heavenly Father we confess we have sinned against You and denied Your saving presence in our lives. We have grieved the Holy Spirit. By Your Spirit come as the wind and cleanse us, come as the fire and burn within us- refine our lives and give us a passion for You and the ways of Your kingdom. St our minds on the things of the Spirit, that we may bear His fruit, develop His gifts, in love, joy and peace through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen
Let’s invite the Spirit to do His work within us:
Hymns
‘Spirit of the Living God fall afresh on me.’ (MP 613, piano)
Daniel Iverson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DtJgaGRav4
‘Be still and know that I am God’ (MP 48, guitar)
Anon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyDr9-Mpc_s
Reading. Galatians 5: 16-26
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Prayers
Father we thank you for sending Your Spirit to guide and strengthen us, to make us holy so that You conform us to the likeness of your Son, thank you for sending Your Spirit to help us understand the Bible and to love and serve the Lord Jesus.
God of grace and truth, please grant wisdom and courage to Christians who engage in debates and have relationships with people who disagree with biblical views on human sexuality. Help them to be considerate, courteous and compassionate
Father, we pray that young people who struggle with sexual or gender identity will receive wise counsel. Please guard their hearts and minds from confusion and any cultural pressures that can end in physical and emotional harm. In your mercy.
Lord, please grant clear insight to those who are working on government legislation to ban ‘conversion therapy’- trying to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Although coercive treatments must stop, we pray for pastoral care and prayer for those with unwanted sexual attractions to remain legal.
Lord God we thank You for ordaining marriage between a man and a woman, to live alongside those who are single. We pray that contemporary culture will not outlaw biblical beliefs about human relations, and we pray for an end to Christians and others who are losing their jobs simply for voicing this conviction in this country. That our culture will recognise the great value of Your ordinance of marriage to family life and our wider society.
Lord of the Church, please help Christians across the different traditions to confirm and demonstrate Your unconditional love for every individual. May they add to that an integrity and faithfulness to the teachings of Your Word, realising Your ways are born of love and for our highest good.
Thank You Lord that the 1948 Universal declaration of Human rights, inspired by biblical truths and values has continued to bring justice, equality and liberty to billions of people. We intercede for those who still suffer oppression. And we pray for those who are unjust that they would repent of their sins and find strength, peace and forgiveness for all their sins and acceptance through the grace of Your Son. Amen
(CARE Prayer Diary, October 2021-January 2022, based on p9)
“Giving ourselves wholly to Christ is the only way to discover who we are, the only way to become who Christ means us to be, the only way to experience his riches in this life and the only way to fulfil the purpose for which he made us. It may seem frightening, but once you do it, your only regret will be that you didn’t do it sooner.’ (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity)
Hymn.
‘O Breath of Life’ (MP 488, piano)
Elizabeth Ann Porter Head
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkebWO0jqiM
Sermon. “God with us.” Part Three: “The Holy Spirit. His Person and Work”
The Holy Spirit is a Person
When it comes to the Holy Spirit the Bible speaks of personality..
- The definite article ‘the’ distinguishes Him from an impersonal force. He is not a spirit of good will, love or kindness. He is The Holy Spirit.
- The personal masculine pronoun- ‘He’- is always used in the original language in describing the Holy Spirit (Cf John 14: 16, 17).
- 1 Corinthians 2: 10, 11 tells us He knows the things of God and searches all things.
- The Holy Spirit is described as having a will. The Spirit we are told in 1 Corinthians 12:11, distributes His gifts to every Christian.
- The Holy Spirit has emotions. Ephesians 4:30 and 2 Timothy 1:7 tells us He loves and grieves.
Then there are the Holy Spirit’s personal actions in relation to us:
- He gives life to those who believe (2 Corinthians 2:6)
- He cries out from within our hearts (Galatians 4:6)
- He leads us in the ways of God (Galatians 5:18, Romans 8:14)
- He bears witness with our spirits (Romans 8:16)
- He helps us in our weakness (Romans 8:26)
- He strengthens us (Ephesians 3:16) and is grieved by our sinfulness (Ephesians 4:30)
- He dwells among or within believers. His presence is more like that of a guest in the house. He affects our relationships. His views and attitudes have to be taken into account when making family decisions. He changes people and situations because He is a person Himself (1 Corinthians 3:16, Romans 8:11, 2 Timothy 1:14).
The Holy Spirit is ‘the Executor’. He is like the person named in a will to carry out its provisions. He see that we get what someone else has died to make ours. Jesus bequest to us is His peace (‘My peace I leave with you’). The Holy Spirit makes the peace of Christ ours. What the Father wills and the Son makes possible, the Holy Spirit does.
Example. Creation.
The Father ordered it ‘Let there be light’, the Son was involved- ‘Without him nothing was made’. But the Holy Spirit executed it- ‘The Spirit of God brooded over the waters.’ There is an amazing creativity in Creation. We are left in awe and wonder. The Holy Spirit is creative. He is a being of infinite variety. The Holy Spirit executed Creation.
Example. The compiling of the Bible.
The Holy Spirit also gave us the Bible ‘Holy men of God wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.’ Not one of its authors knew he was writing part of the Bible, yet there is a consistent unity throughout. The Holy Spirit was at work in the whole operation. Over a period of 1400 years, 40 authors working in at least 3 languages produced, under the Spirit’s control, the unified revelation of God. That’s why we who read the Bible need the Spirit’s aid to interpret it. After all He is the author and so He is the best interpreter.
The Holy Spirit is the Executor.
The Purity of the Holy Spirit.
There are unholy spirits in the world. Alcoholism is not a spirit as such, but satanic spiritual forces are destructive and bind a person’s will. The apostle Paul wrote ‘don’t be drunk with wine…but be filled with the Spirit’. Occult practices are a doorway to possession. The Holy Spirit drives out spirits of darkness.
When the Holy Spirit dwells in a believer the Spirit regenerates and sanctifies. He brings the gift of new birth and salvation. The Apostle Paul describes the Spirit’s work in this way: ‘He saved us through the washing of re birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.’(Titus 3: 5, 6). Ephesians 5: 25-27 also refers to the cleansing work of the Holy Spirit.
Testimony
A man called Colin. His background was that he had been orphaned, adopted and abused. When he reached 15 years of age his set purpose was to control his own life, and that no one would hurt him. He had his own goals, he would go his own way, and he was aggressively so. He pursued money and power and worked his way up in the motor trade. He was employed by a lucrative dealership. He used others. He was only interested in the sexual side of marriage- not love- and his wife would have to agree with him or get thumped. Some of his business dealings were becoming less than ethical. His conversion to Christianity came when he attended a ‘matins service’ at a local Church of England. He became irritated and had a strong urge to thump the Vicar! He thought the Vicar was ‘getting at him’, but the Vicar did not know him or his personal circumstances. The Holy Spirit was speaking to him. He began to read a Christian book. He started developing a spiritual appetite. Colin relates he was taking a shower when he broke down. He confessed his hurts and sins to the Lord. He says the water had turned cold but he now had a warm heart! He knew he had been forgiven and cleansed of his sins. From that point the Holy Spirit continued to make significant changes in Colin’s life as he embarked on a life of Christian discipleship.
The Holy Spirit continues to work in the believer’s life. To bring him or her to a greater maturity throughout their lives. As we ‘walk by the Spirit’ day by day we make progress as the Spirit sanctifies our lives. This is a steady step by step process leading to maturity and Christlikeness of character.
The Holy Spirit burns away what is sinful- of our old sinful nature- and produces His fruit in our lives. Christ like virtues. For His purpose is to make us more like Christ. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22, 23)
Example. Joy
This joy is possible even in the face of adversity and opposition. So in acts 13, Paul and Barnabas preached the Gospel with great boldness to the people of the city of Pisidion Antioch the ‘word of the Lord spread through the whole region.’ But (verse 50) ‘the Jews incited the God- fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their region…..but, verse 52 ‘the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.’
Example. Gentleness.
Jesus specifically identified this fruit of the Spirit with himself: “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11: 28-30)
Paul sees it is so important, he identifies it as a characteristic of the Apostles: “We could have been a burden to you (to the Thessalonians), but we were gentle among you like a mother caring for her little children.” (1 Thessalonians 2:7) A mother makes allowances for her children; accepting, forgiving. The mother will pick up her child and encourage him when he falls over. The mother will make sacrifices for her children.
This is a challenge to Christian men in particular. Husbands, fathers, church leaders. These are not to be over bearing, dominate or bully those in their care, but rather show the attractiveness of Christ. A genuine affection for others, at the same time firmly holding to Christ the Truth, and His teachings which can truly set people free. This outlook is sacrificial because it is saying no to the temptation ‘If I don’t show him/her who is boss then they will walk all over me” and it is also saying no to the attitude of appeasement ‘I will go along with anything to keep them happy; anything for a quiet life.’
It is important to see that it is only ‘living by the Spirit’ in these ways that we will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature (Galatians 5:16). We submit our lives to the Spirit’s leading and obey His promptings, otherwise our old sinful nature will dominate our attitudes and actions.
If we do not go forward with the Spirit we will slip back into worldliness and the destructiveness of the sinful nature: sexual immorality, idolatry, hatred, selfish ambition, factions (Paul lists other bad fruit of the sinful nature in Galatians 5: 19-21)
While it is right to attend church and carry out religious duties, these in themselves will never fully satisfy a person. It’s only that ongoing life of the Spirit being nurtured in a person’s attitudes and actions; walking by the Spirit that breathes urgency, action and love for Christ in practice. This inner engine which gives outer actions/duties meaning and direction. Only ‘living by the Spirit’ will keep us at best from going through the motions, and at worse- hypocrisy.
So then, let us ‘live by the Spirit’ so we will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.’
We have seen the Holy Spirit is a Person, we have seen His Purity. We now examine
The Power of the Holy Spirit
Every picture of the Holy Spirit in the Bible is of something on the move.
He is fire (Acts 2:3, 4), blazing and roaring in restless, endless movement. He is flowing oil (Acts 10:38). He is a bubbling spring- water in its most mobile form- gushing like an endless stream (John 7: 37-39).
But the most common picture of the Holy Spirit in the Bible is that of a howling gale (John 3:8, Acts 2:27). The Hebrew word chosen for the spirit of God is ‘ruach’- a rushing, mighty wind. The wind of God exists to get God’s people on the move.
We human beings want to raise barriers against the Holy Spirit. We want security. To be cocooned from change and disturbance. But those who live in the spirit cannot have that kind of assurance.
Think of Andrew White, known as the ‘Vicar of Bagdad’. He could have had a parish in the UK, but the Holy Spirit called him to the Middle East. A place of conflict. Iraq, such a troubled and dangerous country. Aid workers have been killed there. Suicide bombers. Anyone identified as a Christian is in danger, including any Iraqis who associate with Christians. What drives someone to go to such a country and use their gifts to benefit others in such a frightening place? The power of the Holy Spirit, driving and leading.
The Holy Spirit gives power for evangelism/mission.
Jesus said “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
As a young man Oswald Chambers (he wrote ‘My Utmost for His Highest’) battled with a persistent senses of barrenness in the Christian life. He finally wrote, “I was getting desperate. I knew no one who had what I wanted, in fact I did not know what I did want. But I knew that if what I had was all the Christianity there was, the thing was a fraud. Then, he says, Luke 11:13 got hold of him; “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy spirit to those who ask Him.”
He writes “At a little meeting in Dunoon a well-known lady was asked to take the after meeting. She did not speak, but set us to pray and then sang ‘touch me Lord.’ I felt nothing, but I knew empathetically my time had come. I rose to my feet. Then and there I claimed the gift of the Holy Spirit, according to Luke 11:13. I had no vision of heaven or of angels. I had nothing. I was as dry and empty as ever, no power or realisation of God, no witness of the Holy Spirit. Then I was asked to speak at a meeting and forty souls came out to the front. I came to realise that God intended me, having asked, to simply take it by faith, and that power would be there. I might see it only by the backward look, but I was to reckon on the fact that God would be with me.”
Power to witness. The Holy Spirit’s Power.
The Holy Spirit also distributes gifts. Gifts are to be exercised in love. Love is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 13, Romans 12: 5-9).
Christians have natural, God given gifts like the rest of the human race. Gifts/aptitudes of administration, music or manual abilities, all of which can be given to Christ and used for His glory.
The Holy Spirit also gives ‘supernatural’ gifts, also given to benefit others (1 Corinthians 12, 14). These too are to be welcomed and used for the good of all.
Example. The gift of tongues.
The gift of tongues is the divine enabling of a believer to use a language- of angels or of men- unknown to the speaker. Acts 2:4 describes how the early church spoke in languages and others could understand since they had come from many different countries to attend Pentecost. But ‘tongues’ are not only given for the benefit of foreigners. The gift of tongues can be used to praise God (Romans 8:26, 1 Corinthians 14:14, 15). It can be used for personal benefit (1 Corinthians 12: 7-10) and when supplemented by interpretation, edifies other believers.
Example. Prophesy.
Prophesy described in 1 Corinthians does not appear to be referring to inspired preaching. Rather it is the uttering of a message in your own language directly inspired by the Holy Spirit. Again prophesy is for the building up of the church.
Example. Healing
Healing is another gift distributed by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:9). There are two extreme views. Some allege there are no miracles of healing today- they belonged to an earlier era. The other extreme is to claim that to sneeze is a sin! (A group that appears to have grown in these Covid days!). They claim that sickness and disease have no place in the life of a Christian.
The first view limits the Holy Spirit, the life- Giver. The second denies the self-evident fact that we are all decaying moment by moment and that we will all eventually die. So healing is not an ‘absolute’ condition of God’s will in this life. There are other things He can do within us, and use us to benefit others who suffer, if we too have known suffering. However, The Holy Spirit has defeated Death. The life Giver will raise us from the dead and give us a new body for eternity.
Conclusion
The Holy Spirit is a person. A member of the Trinity. He is the ‘Executor’. He sees we get what the Father and Son have willed and died for respectively.
The Holy Spirit is pure. His work in the believer. He brings about regeneration and sanctification of life. He produces His fruit in our lives, making us more Christ like. If we do not live by the Spirit, we will lose His purifying work in our lives and fall back into the grip of the sinful nature.
The Holy Spirit is powerful. ‘Ruach’, the wind of God. Moving us out of comfortable self-reliance. Shaking us up to carry out mission and gospel witness with boldness. By His power He sanctifies us for God’s glory, and distributes His gifts for the building up the Church.
Postscript
We have come to the end of our short series ‘God with us’. As Christmas approaches its right that we concentrate our thoughts on the gift of the Son. But we should also remember the gift of the Holy Spirit as a permanent dweller in the heart of each of His children. We have the privilege of hearing and listening to the Spirit.’ (Hebrews 3:7) of walking in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16) of being led by the Holy Spirit and being filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). What a privilege: God making His home in our lives and in the life of His Church by the presence of the Holy Spirit- God with us!
Hymn
‘Come, Thou Long- Expected Jesus’ (MP 102, piano)
Charles Wesley, Friedrich Witt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V59Goi9HUtE
Blessing
God the Father keep us in His care, the lord Jesus Christ be our constant friend, and the Holy Spirit guide us in all we do, now and always. Amen
David Barnes (8/12/21)