Stand firm lest you fall!

Galatians 5:1


IN [this] freedom Christ has made us free [and completely liberated us]; stand fast then, and do not be hampered and held ensnared and submit again to a yoke of slavery [which you have once put off]. (Amplified)

We have received freedom from:

1. Sin 2. The World 3. Fear (See my earlier post on freedom)

If you have received this freedom there is a responsibility and there is a warning.

You are responsible to stand firm for if you don’t you will fall into the yoke of slavery again.

We are going to quickly look at how to stand firm and what is the yoke that we are in danger of being submitted to.

1. Stand Firm on a SURE FOUNDATION

We can stand firm only on solid ground. We cannot stand firm if the ground we are on is shaky, not steadfast or strong. Foundations play an integral part in determining the life of a building and how high it can soar. If we take the foundation lightly, the slightest change or move can cause all that you have labored for to come to nothing.

Psalms 40:2 – He set my feet on The Rock to stay.

Isaiah 28:16 - Therefore thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am laying in Zion for a foundation a Stone, a tested Stone, a precious Cornerstone of sure foundation; he who believes will not be ashamed or give way or hasten away.

Luke 6:48 - He is like a man building a house, who dug and went down deep and laid a foundation upon the rock; and when a flood arose, the torrent broke against that house and could not shake or move it, because it had been securely built or founded on a rock.

1 Corinthians 3:11 - For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is [already] laid, which is Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

Jesus is the sure foundation. What makes him the strong foundation we can depend on. As we see in the above verses:

1. He has been tested and have overcome. He came and lived among us, tempted as were and yet found without sin. He was hated and persecuted yet fulfilled his mission to save the world.

2. John 1:1 says that Jesus is the Word that came from the Father. Heaven and Earth will pass but the Word, Jesus, will remain steadfast. The house built on the Word stands though the challenges and problems of life beat against it

3. God himself has laid Jesus as the foundation standing on whom alone we can claim any righteousness.

When you have dealt with sin at the cross, your life hidden in Christ, you will fear no evil and shall stand firm

Job 11:14 & 15 - if you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent, then you will lift up your face without shame; you will stand firm and without fear.

As the hymn goes “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand”

2. Stand Firm with the ARMOUR

Ephesians 6:13-15 – The armour of God

Standing firm also means we have to gain ground. We are in a spiritual battle, whether we like it or not, from the moment we gave our lives to Jesus. This is because you are in the devil’s territory, the world, and yet not subject to him. For when you accepted the Lord Jesus, you have become a member of the household of God. Hence it is important that we put on the armour at all times lest we backslide, or worse, leave the truth that has been revealed to us

Matthew 11:12 - And from the days of John the Baptist until the present time, the kingdom of heaven has endured violent assault, and violent men seize it by force [as a precious prize--a share in the heavenly kingdom is sought with most ardent zeal and intense exertion].

Standing firm in the Kingdom requires a zeal and a passion equivalent to that of a soldier who leaves his loved ones, his possessions and his authority and falls in rank with others for the nation.

Sometimes we don’t have to fight but just be ready and in position and God will show His might and bring the deliverance because of our obedience to His command. For He know those who are His and He looks forward, the bible says, to show Himself powerful on their behalf.

2 Chronicles 20:17 - You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.’”

3. Stand firm in God’s faithfulness

Standing firm in the assurance of God’s faithfulness to us. In Timothy we read that though we are unfaithful, He is still faithful because that is who He is. Trust in Him for He who called you is faithful to complete the good work He has started in you.

1 Corinthians 10:13 – God is faithful and will not let you be tempted beyond that which you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so you can stand up under it.

2 Corinthians 1:21&24 – God makes us stand firm in Christ for it is by faith that we stand firm.

Paul warns in 1 Corinthians 10:12 – Let those who think they are strong beware lest they fall.

Hebrews 12:1 - THEREFORE THEN, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us.

We have lives of many people in the Old and New Testament as witness and testimony. Yet we oft repeat the very errors that our forefathers have committed. The power of sin is real for it is in our nature. No one has to teach us to lie but we need to be taught to say the truth. No one has to teach us how to fight but we need to be taugh how to uphold peace. No one teaches us how to curse but we need to be taught how to bless. That is why sin so readily clings to us and we need the power of the Holy Spirit to break free. We need our eyes set on Jesus, our hearts set on His word and our lives in total surrender as we run ahead.

Galatians 5:1 - IN [this] freedom Christ has made us free [and completely liberated us]; stand fast then, and do not be hampered and held ensnared and submit again to a yoke of slavery [which you have once put off]. (Amplified)

What is the yoke that the church can slip into these days? No better place than to look at the judgments upon the church as revealed to John the Apostle in Revelations 2 & 3

1. The Ephesian Church – The loveless Church; Hebrews 10:32-39. The writer says consider the former days when you accepted the Lord Jesus. Your hunger to spend time with God, read the scriptures and desire for the Holy Spirit to work through you, your passion to witness, your burden for the souls, your sacrifice of time, money and strength to further the Gospel, you used to be the first to come for meetings…do we still have that kind of passion and zeal? Have we increased in the love or has it all fizzled away?

2. The Pergamosian Church – The Compromising Church; 2 Timothy 2:15 Have we, in our idolatory married ourselves to a watered down Gospel that has lost all its power or do we remain a workman who has no cause to be ashamed because we teach God’s word without compromise. There is only black or white in the kingdom and no grey areas.

3. The Church at Thyatira – The Corrupt Church; 1 Timothy 6:4-6. Have we fallen victims to the rat race and to the quest for Glory in this world that have ignored God’s commandments to commit adultery with the pagans? Has our greed let us astray that we have no fear of God and use His name for our convenience that we might gain something in this temporal world? For Godliness with contentment is great and abundant gain.

4. The Church at Sardis – The Dead Church; Matthew 23:27. Are we whitewashed tombs, that stinks of death because we have given ourselves over to new traditions that have a form of Godliness but denies the power of the Spirit? Jesus said those that come to Him will have rivers of living water flow from out of him. But what is the state of our churches today? Is it not like Ezekial 37, where there is a great army but they were useless because they were dead and very dry! Will you stand up under God’s anointing to prophesy and declare life that the army will rise and gain ground. If our churches are not advancing the Gospel, we are an army that is dead and very dry.

5. The Church at Laodicea – The Lukewarm Church; Nehemiah 1: 1-4. When you have been blessed and are enjoying the blessings, check your heart if you are insensitive to the cries of less privileged. When you enjoy this journey of life in the hope of eternity with Christ, have you failed to hear the call of God to carry His message to the lost? Has your life in Shushan the Palace blinded your eyes from seeing multitudes that are walking towards eternal damnation? Let there be weeping, fasting and prayer and a deep burden for the souls around you, in the midst of your blessings.

Today let me challenge you to stand firm lest you fall under the yoke of slavery. Read Romans 8:36 – 39 right now and commit yourself to serving God under your church leadership, in your workplace, at your home among your neighbours. Look for opportunities to always reflect Jesus into the life of someone next to you.

God Bless!

Freedom in Christ

Galatians 5:1

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. (NKJV)

For freedom did Christ set us free: stand fast therefore, and be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage (ASV)

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (NIV)

Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you. (The Message)

IN [this] freedom Christ has made us free [and completely liberated us]; stand fast then, and do not be hampered and held ensnared and submit again to a yoke of slavery [which you have once put off]. (Amplified)



The book of Galatians was written by Paul as a letter of confrontation. This is the only epistle of Paul where he does not affirm anything or anyone as he begins the letter. He was writing to a group that was fast taking their eyes away from Grace to affirm works towards salvation. Paul writes to them and calls them foolish because they have allowed themselves to be deceived into adding to the Gospel that was being preached thus taking away its power.

Coming back to the key verse, there are 3 underlying messages in this power packed verse.

1. Christ has set us free

2. Stand fast

3. Do not be entangled in the yoke of bondage / slavery

For today we are going to focus on the freedom that we have through Christ. All Indians across the world celebrated Independence day yesterday. Facebook statuses were updated with Proud to be Indian statements. India put a display of its power, culture and unity to the world. But are we free today?

A lot of people do not understand freedom. As we read, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free”. To receive freedom, we must know a few things:

1. What have we been freed from?

2. How have we been freed?

3. Why have we been freed?

One reason many have never realized their bondage to sin may seem very paradoxical, but it is, nevertheless, very true. It is because they have never tried to get free. There is a yard where a dog is heavily chained. The dog, however, is fast asleep, and so he does not realize his bondage. Later on we may even notice the dog eating his food, still chained, but as the food is close to the kennel his chain is not irksome, and he is thus still unconscious of his bondage. But soon comes the owner of the dog, who, forgetting the chain, calls the dog. The animal springs up, eager to reach his master. What happens then? All his efforts are vain, and now for the first time he feels the irksomeness and restraint of his fetters. It is exactly similar with sin. Try to get free, and you feel your bond¬age.—Dr. W. H. Griffith Thomas.

Jesus, while speaking with the Pharisees in John 8:32-34, tells them that the Truth shall set them free. But we see that their immediate response is “We are Abraham’s offspring and have not been in bondage”. But Jesus, with pity I should imagine, tells them whoever commits and practices sin is a slave of sin.

1. Bound by our sins – Soul

Titus 3:3 – For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.

When we turn ourselves away from our Creator and His purposes for our lives, we submit to the devil whose sole aim is to “…steal, kill and destroy” . He makes sin attractive, Sin is conceived in the soul and manifests itself physically. Our carnal man fed and strong on the things of the world inclines to a path of destruction. We want to come out of it but don’t know how. We satisfied that craving under the assumption that we are in control. Now it has overcome us. As Paul puts in Romans “…that which I want to do, I do not do but I do the things I do not want to do…Oh wretched man that I am”

2. Bound by the World – Body

2 Peter 2:19 – “… for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage”

There is a world out there sucking millions of our brothers and sisters into a black hole of poverty, sickness, unhappiness, worry, brokenness. We were part of the whirlwind too. Matthew 13:22 warns us of the “…cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches” that chokes the word and makes us unproductive. Have you seen the destruction around us as humanity destroys itself through hatred and envy? Man is discontent and has given himself to greed that he values no more the one thing that holds true value – the Kingdom of God. There was a time when God provided for his children before the credit cards, there was a time when businesses ran successfully without mobiles and the need for 24/7 connectivity, there was a time when families sat together for worship. With all the knowledge and advancement, we have crossed the line from sanity to insanity, as we ignore eternity to run behind “survival”

Today let us think what is robbing our time? What is destroying our families? If our minds are not set on things above, what occupies it? If our hearts are not in the Kingdom of God, where is your treasure? For that which has overwhelmed you has brought you into captivity.

3. Bound by fear – Spirit

Romans 8:15 - For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”

1 John 4:18 says “Fear involves torment”. Look around you. Governments control us by instilling fear of terrorism, employers torment their subordinates by threatening to fire them if you don’t dance to their beats, religion binds you through fear of spiritual and physical repercussions if not submitted to ungodly traditions.

What is your fear today? Are you shivering before the ones who can only afflict your body or do you stand in reverant awe of the One who saves you soul?

So how are we freed?

1. By the redemptive work on the Cross, where His strength helps us in our weakness

Titus 3:4-6 - But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to His mercy he saved us through the washing and regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour.

We see that our redemption was a joint effort by our Father, our Savior and our Guide, the Holy Spirit. The price was immense. God had to turn His face (Matthew 27:46) from His beloved Son (Matthew 3:17) because He is a just God and had to punish the Lamb on whom the sins of the world was laid (Isaiah 53:4-7)

2. By the restoration of relationship with God that elevates us from this worldly realm to establishing God’s Kingdom in our daily living

We have been freed from the power of the World by the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit into a new hope in Christ.

Ephesians 2:19 – Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.

John 15:19 – Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you

1 Corinthians 2:12 - Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

Colossians 3:1-3 - If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

3. By the revelation of God’s love and grace

2 Timothy 1:7 - For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind

Hebrews 13:6 – So we may boldly say: The Lord is my Helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?

1 John 4:18 - There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear

Why are we set free?

1. To bear fruit - Romans 6:22 - But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.

2. To restore more people to a relationship with their God – 1 Corinthians 9:19 - For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; 2 Corinthians 5:18 &19 - Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation

3. To proclaim God's praises – 1 Peter 2:9 - But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light

It does not matter whether you are bound or free. God’s promises are true. Today if you accept him, irrespective of your circumstances, you can receive the freedom in Christ.

Let me leave with you this poem that Madame Guyon wrote while in prison in France for her Saviour's sake. This cultured, refined, educated, and (until smitten with smallpox) exceedingly beautiful woman spent ten years of her life in different French prisons from 1695 to 1705. Here are her words:

"My cage confines me round;

Abroad I cannot fly;

But though my wing is closely bound

My heart's at liberty.

My prison walls cannot control

The flight, the freedom of the soul.

"Oh, it is good to soar

These bolts and bars above,

To Him whose purpose I adore,

Whose Providence I love;

And in Thy mighty will to find

The joy, the freedom of the mind."

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.

God Bless!

How do we receive the Holy Spirit?

The disciples were filled with the Spirit on the day of Pentecost

They were actively seeking … longing to be filled with the Spirit …But it wasn’t just Pentecost. There are a number of other occasions as we go on in the book of Acts where we see people experiencing the Spirit.

In Acts 8 we read of a group who were not so much longing or thirsting for it … but they were, at least, receptive

Acts 8:14-17: ‘When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptised into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.'

They were quite open to receive, and clearly something dynamic was going on

1. Some were longing for the power of God, thirsting to be filled with the Spirit, to undergo this dynamic change

2. There were some who were, at the very least, receptive

3. But also there were some who were hostile

The Apostle Paul was a perfect example of one of those. We first meet him early on in Acts as Saul the Christian persecutor.

Acts 9:1: ‘Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there that belonged to the Way whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.’

Saul could not have been more hostile. Until something wonderful happened on the way to Damascus. He encountered the risen Jesus Christ. Jesus appeared to him, he was blinded by the glory of Christ and he was, unsurprisingly, converted. Saul’s life was utterly transformed.

Verse 17: Ananias went round to his house, placed his hands on Saul and said, ‘ “The Lord Jesus has sent me so that you may see again, and be filled with he Holy Spirit.” Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again.’ The second part of verse 19: ‘Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.’ Verse 20: ‘At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.’

Here was the total transformation of someone who was hostile to Christ and to the Christian faith being transformed into a person who was actively preaching Christ.

And there are some who are simply uninformed

Acts 19:1–6: ‘Paul found some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” ’

There are some people like that today. Maybe they’ve been baptised, maybe they’ve been confirmed, maybe they’ve been churchgoers, but they say, 'We’ve never even really heard about the Holy Spirit.’
So some were longing, some were receptive, some were hostile, some were uninformed.

Let’s look at one other passage in a little bit more detail.
Acts Chapter 10. This particular group was a group of Gentiles.

Acts 10: 44: ‘While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.’

Up to this point in the book of Acts, all the people were of Jewish origin. Now here is a group that are Gentiles. By a remarkable set of circumstances and by God speaking powerfully both to Cornelius and to Peter, Peter ended up at the house of Cornelius, who was a Gentile. He ended up preaching to them about Jesus. And as he was preaching this is what happened.

What did they experience?

1. They experienced the power of the Holy Spirit
Something very remarkable must have happened, because Peter was in the middle of a sermon and he had to stop preaching.Now as you well know, preachers do not stop preaching unless something very dramatic happens! Can’t shut them up for love nor money, but Peter had to stop, because God the Holy Spirit interrupted his sermon.

Now, we don’t know exactly what they experienced. Of course it’s different for everyone. What they experienced back on the day of Pentecost was clearly a very powerful thing. The language used to describe it is that of a heavy tropical rainstorm. In other words, the power of the Spirit was totally flooding their very beings.

There were physical manifestations on the day of Pentecost. They heard a gale. Not a real gale, but it resembled one...the ‘Ruach’, the wind, the life-giving breath of God. sometimes, when the Spirit of God comes, there’s an amazing sense of peace. Sometimes you see people shaking. Sometimes people even fall over. You might be thinking: ‘That is VERY ODD!’ Maybe it’s helpful to think of it as a simple physical symbol of a deeper, spiritual work of God. I sometimes think that if we accept the fact that God’s love can affect us spiritually, then it’s not so odd to think that it may affect us physically too.

They also saw something that resembled fire on the day of Pentecost – something that seemed to be like tongues of fire. Often, people talk about experiencing something like fire in their bodies. Sometimes they talk about a physical heat. Fire symbolises the passion, the refining power, and the purity of God.

Now I’m not suggesting that you necessarily need to experience any of these things. The reason for mentioning them is because sometimes people do experience them, and if we haven’t mentioned it beforehand they say, ‘Why didn’t you mention, why didn’t you explain beforehand that we might feel these things.’ No surprises here. Don’t want anyone saying, ‘We didn’t know whether it really was the Holy Spirit’. It is, and it’s perfectly biblical, just enjoy the power of God’s love!

Of course, what matters is not the physical manifestations. They’re not the important thing. Some people do experience powerful, physical manifestations of the Spirit, but others don’t and it’s no better to have experienced those things than not to have. God meets us where we are at. What matters is the inward experience in our hearts – the experience of being a child of God, the experience of the love of the Father. The love of God is revealed to us supremely on the cross. If you want to know whether God loves you, the only place you have to look is the cross. The cross reveals to us that God loves us so much, he sent his only son to die for us. That is how much God loves you. If you want to understand the love of God, look at the cross.

But in Ephesians, Paul prays that his readers will not only understand here in their minds the love of God, but that they might know the love of God that surpasses knowledge, that they might experience it, that they might be filled with all the fullness of God. And the love of God, that’s God’s love for us, is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Every single one of us needs to experience the love of God. Everyone needs love. All of us need to experience love, and supremely, we need to experience God’s love. Without it we’ll never find true meaning or peace. It’s perhaps easy to believe that God loves the world, 1 John 3, verse 16, with a kind of ‘wholesale’ love. But Paul wrote, ‘The Son of God loved me and gave himself for me.’ It’s as personal, and as deep, and as real as that, and as the Holy Spirit comes and fills us, he gives us an experience of God’s love for me. God’s love for you.

That’s a transforming experience. What matters is not the outward physical manifestations, what matters is the fruit of the experience, the changes it brings to our lives. When we have experienced the love of God, inevitably, that will bring changes to our lives. So that’s the first thing: they experienced the power of the Holy Spirit, and that is a beautiful and lifechanging thing. It’s only natural to want to express something about that. The Spirit helps us with that too, with expressions of thanks and praise and wonder. It happened at Pentecost:

2. ‘They were released in praise’ (Acts 10:46), ‘For they heard them speaking in tongues, and praising God.’

Spontaneous praise is the language of those who are thrilled and excited about something or someone, all around the world people get excited about all kinds of things.

We’re used to public displays of excitement, just perhaps not in church. But actually, when you think about it, why not?! Surely, if God does exist then he is worthy of our worship, if his love is real then that is something to get excited about! So our worship involves our minds, our hearts, everything: including our emotions.

Not only is there nothing wrong with expressing emotions, you know, there’s nothing wrong even with raising your hands in church – it’s perfectly all right. It might seem a little bit weird, but in fact that was the way in which the early Christians prayed. All people in antiquity prayed with their hands in the air.

In 1 Timothy, it speaks about ‘lifting up holy hands in prayer.’ There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that – that’s the traditional form of prayer.

So, 1. They experienced the Spirit, 2. They were released in praise, and 3. They received a new language.
: ‘For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.’

Now what is THIS all about?! We saw in Acts, Chapter 2 on the day of Pentecost they received the gift of speaking in other languages. In the account at Ephesus, in Acts 19, again: ‘they received the gift of tongues’. That word ‘tongues’ simply means a language that has not been learnt. Paul says in 1 Corinthians, 13 that it could be earthly, human languages, or it could be heavenly, angelic languages.Tongues is mostly a very private thing.

Does a Christian need to speak in tongues? The answer is, no.

• Not all Christians speak in tongues.

• It’s not the mark of being a Christian / being filled with the Spirit.

• It’s not the most important gift.

But in the New Testament it is the beginner’s gift. It’s often the first of the more obviously supernatural gifts that we receive. It takes time to see if you have the other gifts, but speaking in tongues is beautiful and instant and it builds our relationship with God. To our logical minds it IS weird! But it’s also amazing, and it’s perfectly biblical .

But what exactly is it? 1 Corinthians, chapter 14

St. Paul writes, ‘For those who speak in a tongue, do not speak to people, but to God.’ .....it’s speaking to God: i.e., prayer.

....‘Those who speak in a tongue edify themselves.’ So it builds up the individual Christian.

Paul goes on to say that it transcends the limits of human language: ‘For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.’

And all he means is that the mind is not having to go through the process of formulating those requests and expressions into the eloquent sentences of a human language. There is simply this sense of your heart directly connecting with God’s in a number of ways:

1. It helps us praise more freely

All of us are limited by human language. Do you ever get frustrated that you cannot express yourself? You want to praising the limitlessness of God’s love and power, and through tongues your heart is expressed without the limitation of words.

2. It helps us pray under pressure

When we go through the low experiences of my life, we might not know how to pray. There is all this pain and confusion. How to pray at a time like this? Have we got it wrong? Should we hold out in prayer? Should we give up? We might not know what to do.

3. it helps us pray for others

Sometimes it’s hard to pray for others, particularly if you haven’t seen them for a long time. You know, the best prayer we can manage is: ‘Lord bless them!’ But the gift of tongues can help us in praying for other people.

Jackie Pullinger works with and helps the drug addicts, gangsters and prostitutes out in Hong Kong. She wrote this about how there was a transformation in her ministry as she began to use this gift: “By the clock, I prayed 15 minutes a day in the language of the Spirit, and still felt nothing as I asked the Spirit to help me intercede for those he wanted to reach.” It is interesting. It wasn’t a feeling, it was something that she chose to do, it wasn’t some trance that she fell into, it was simply a decision to pray. ‘After about six weeks of this, I began to lead people to Jesus without trying. Gangsters fell on their knees, sobbing in the streets. Women were healed. Heroin addicts were miraculously set free. And I knew it all had nothing to do with me.’

And the New Testament approves of this gift. But there are restrictions. In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul is addressing the problem of excessive public use of the gift, and therefore he makes a distinction between using the gift in church, in public, and using it privately.

So, in verse 18 of 1 Corinthians 14 he says, ‘I thank God that I speak in tongues more than you all.’ Paul was not ashamed of speaking in tongues. ‘But, in the Church, I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.’

The issue was in Corinth they went right over the top. They got over-excited about this “supernatural gift” and instead of having a sermon, someone would stand up and speak in tongues. Paul says ‘Stop it! No-one understands what you are saying! –In private? Tongues? Go for it! In public? Be very careful!

How do we receive the gift? Just ask him for the gift and then co-operate.... simply start to praise God, to speak out in any language other than the languages we speak naturally. It’s just one or two words at first (and you really feel like you’re making it up! ) but over time the “vocabulary” grows, like with any language

What’s important is that our focus is on the Giver not the Gift. The gifts are one thing, but it’s all about God and his love, that’s the main thing.

So, coming back to our main theme: would you like to be filled with the Spirit? Would you like that deep experience of the Father’s love? How do you receive?’

In Luke Chapter 11, verses 9 to 11, we see Jesus talking in the context of the Holy Spirit, and he addresses three barriers to receiving.

The first one is doubt, verse 9. He says, ‘So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; everyone who seeks finds; and to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.’

We need not doubt. Jesus says it over and over! Ask, seek, knock. Go on! You will receive, you will find, the door will be opened!

The second barrier to receiving is fear. I might say, ‘Okay, Lord, I’m convinced I would receive, but I’m not sure I want to. Am I going to have some awful experience?’

Jesus deals with these worries with a fish, a snake, an egg and a scorpion!

Jesus said, ‘Which of you fathers, if your children ask for a fish, will give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an egg, will give them a scorpion?’ No human father is going to do that. ‘‘If you then if 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!’

Finally, Jesus deals with a third barrier, inadequacy.

Many people will say, ‘Iook, If you knew what I was like inside, you wouldn’t believe God would give me his Holy Spirit.’ We all feel like that: all of us know that deep down we are unworthy: The wonderful news is that God gives. Not because of our worthiness, not because we deserve it, not because we’ve been Christians for years, not because we’ve served him faithfully; none of those reasons.

God gives the holy Spirit ‘to those who ask him’, ‘To those who ask him.’ Ask, and you will receive. So shall we ask him?

I want to pray a prayer that makes it possible for anyone here to be sure that you’re a Christian. It maybe somebody here says, ‘All this talk about the Holy Spirit, and receiving the Spirit and being filled with the Spirit, do you know I’m not even sure that I am a Christian.’ I want to make it possible for you to pray a prayer right now, so that you can be sure that from this moment on that you are a Christian.

Some of you might want to pray a prayer now, just simply asking God to come tonight and to fill you with his Holy Spirit / gift of tongues. Here’s a prayer that you can pray.

Lord I thank you that you say: ‘Ask, and you will receive,’ and tonight I ask that you would come and fill me with your Holy Spirit. Jesus said, ‘Ask and you will receive.’ Father I want to be able to pray and praise you in this way. Most of all, Lord, would you fill me with the Father’s love? Thank you Lord, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

How can we have faith? (Alpha Series)

Paul, writing to Christians in Corinth after Jesus’ death and resurrection — 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17 — says this: ‘Those who become Christians become new persons. They're not the same any more, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun.‘

New life is exciting! When we had a new baby. It was so exciting getting to know this new person. New life is wonderful. Relationships are wonderful. And the most exciting relationship of all is our relationship with God.

What does it mean to be a Christian?’

Does it mean a 'nice person'? ‘Oh, they’re a Christian person.’ The simple truth is that you could be a very nice atheist!

What about if you are born in a country that is supposedly a Christian country, does that make you a Christian? No! Being born in a Christian country doesn't make you a Christian any more than being born in a McDonald's would make you a Big Mac burger.

A Christian is a Christ-ian – a follower of Christ; someone who has a relationship with God through Jesus.

Some would say, ‘Do you know, I can never remember a time that I wasn’t a Christian.’ Others would say, ‘Well, I think there was a time when I wasn’t a Christian, and I think I am a Christian now, but I couldn’t tell you exactly how it happened. It was a bit of a process.’

It doesn’t matter which of those categories you’re in; what matters is that you know that you are a Christian now.

It’s a bit like if you’re on a train going from one city to another. Some people will be awake at the moment the train crosses the border, they’ll see the signs, they’ll know the exact moment it happened. Other people will be snoring gently in the corner and the change won’t be so obvious! What matters is that you know that you’re at the right destination. And what matters is that you know that you’re a Christian now — and you can know that.

St John says about Jesus, ‘Yet to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.’ A child of God: the closest possible relationship with God.

God wants us to be sure of our relationship with him. Again, St John writes this:
‘I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.’

How can we know that? How can we know that we’re a Christian? How can we know that we
have eternal life?

Our confidence is based on three things – like the three legs of a tripod, and each of them are essential.

Each of these three legs represent members of the Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit: the word of the father, the work of Jesus and the witness of the Holy Spirit.

The first is this: the Word of God, the word of the Father. Our confidence is based on this book, the promises in this book. And therefore it’s based on facts and not on feelings.

If you asked me how do I know I’m married, one answer I could give you is to show you our marriage certificate. This is evidence that we’re married.

And if you asked me how I know I'm a Christian, I would point to the Bible.

You see, our feelings are changeable. They go up and down — with the weather, with what we’ve had to eat the night before, or how well our favourite cricket or football team are doing (!), with how well life is going. And if our faith was dependent on how we felt, we would never be sure whether we are a Christian or not. But it’s not; it’s dependent on the promises of God.

In Revelation, chapter 3, verse 20. Jesus says this:
‘Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with them, and they with me.’

Eating together, is a sign of friendship. He’s saying, in other words, ‘I want to come into your life and have a friendship with you.’ Jesus is not going to force his way into your life or my life. He’s not Rambo! He’s not going to kick the door in!

We have to ask him, and if we do, this is the promise: he says, ‘I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will come in.’ He doesn’t say, ‘I might come in’ — it’s a promise: ‘I will come in.’ 

Another promise of God is: I will be with you always. I will give you eternal life. In his word, the Father promises the most incredible things. We can trust those promises.

The second leg of the tripod is the work of Jesus. Our faith is based not on what we do, but on what Jesus has done for us.

Again, if you asked me how I know I’m married, I could show you the wedding certificate, but another thing I could do is point you to an event that took place in Kerala on 12th August 2006.

And if you asked me how I know I’m a Christian, I would point to an event in history: the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That’s how we know that God loves us.

In Romans, chapter 6, verse 23, St Paul writes this:
‘For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord — or, as some versions put it, the free gift of God.’

We can’t believe free stuff, can we?: we always think there has to be a catch. But not with God’s gift. God’s gift is free. It’s free to us, but it cost Jesus everything.

So how do we receive this gift that God offers?

We receive it by repentance and faith. Repentance is turning away from sin, from going our own way, turning away from the stuff that messes up our lives.

God doesn’t ask us to leave things that are good for us behind, but the stuff that, whether we fully realise it or not, damages our lives. What we leave behind is nothing compared to what we receive, and it’s nothing compared to what Jesus gave up on the cross.

But what is faith? Faith is trust.

Everybody exercises faith. You’re putting your trust in chairs when you sit on them. When you sat down next to a stranger on the Metro, you are doing so believing that he is not a mad axe murderer!

Coming back to the marriage analogy, when two people get married they exercise faith. When you say, ‘I Do,’ you’re entrusting your life to another person.

Faith is not merely intellectual; it involves an active step of putting our trust in Jesus. That’s the second leg of the tripod.

The third leg of the tripod is the witness of the Holy Spirit.

So, the Word of God, the work of Jesus and thirdly, the witness of the Holy Spirit. It’s based on him and not on us.

If you asked me the question how do I know I’m married, I can point to a marriage certificate, I can point to an event that took place here, but the third thing that I can point to is five years of the experience of marriage. And if you asked me how I know I’m a Christian, I can point to this book, to an event that took place in history, but I can also point to personal experiences.

We looked at this verse where Jesus says:
’Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in.’
It’s an extraordinary miracle, the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of Jesus, can come into your life and my life.

What happens when he comes in? Well, he begins to transform us. And some of these things you can actually see objectively.

In Galatians, chapter 5, verse 22 Paul writes this: ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.’

Sometimes people say, you know, ‘I’m a bit worried what would happen if I became a Christian.’ They say, ‘I don’t want to change. And if I did change, how would I change?’

Here’s the answer: the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness — these are the characteristics that begin to develop in our lives. They sound pretty good, don’t they? Not that they happen overnight. Fruit takes time to grow. In my case, they’re taking a very long time!

But hopefully, as life goes on we do become more loving, more joyful, more kind, more patient.

Being a Christian is never going to be an easy thing. It’s hugely challenging, hugely exciting, but it’s not easy.

And then not only are there objective changes; there’s also a subjective experience. The Holy Spirit brings a deep, personal conviction that we are children of God. Paul writes in Romans 8, verse 16, that: ‘The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.’ And as children, we are loved, completely.

And as I go through life, I often feel a failure. I often feel I’ve messed up, ‘I’ve failed again!’ And at that moment, as we say sorry, you sense the Holy Spirit connect with your own spirit and say, ‘Don’t you realize that I love you even more than you love your own child? I love you because I love you.’

That's how we know that we’re in a relationship with God:
• We know it because of the promises of God — he will come in
• We know it because of the death of Jesus for us, what he did for us
• And we know it because the love of God is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit

Why don't you pray and invite the Lord into your heart? He knocks and he waits for you to open. You have nothing to lose but all things to gain if you welcome Jesus into your life today.

God Bless You!

Who is the Holy Spirit and What does He do? (Alpha Series)

We struggle with the mystery of God, don’t we? It’s hard enough to understand Jesus … but what about the holy spirit?

You hear him called the Holy Ghost (sounds like something out of Scooby doo).
But who is he?

The Holy Spirit has been around for a while! Since the creation of the world in fact. And that’s where I want to begin – at the Creation account. Let’s look at the history of the Holy Spirit throughout the Bible.

We’re going to start with Genesis 1, verse 1, and we’re going to go the whole way through the Bible right until the very last verse of the Bible in Revelation, chapter 22. (If you’re lucky we’ll leave out one or two verses in between!).....blisteringly fast!...ready?! Ok:

The Holy Spirit was involved in creation:

Genesis 1, verses 1 and 2:
‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.’

Out of the chaos, the Holy Spirit brings the cosmos; out of disorder he brings order; out of confusion, harmony; out of deformity he brings beauty; out of the old he brings the new.

That’s how the Spirit of God works in our lives, wanting to bring order and harmony and beauty and newness, he’s the Creator Spirit.

Next, he brings life to human beings.

Genesis 2, verse 7: ‘The LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.’

The Hebrew word for the Holy Spirit in Genesis 1, verse 1 is ‘ruach’. And it’s a very similar word to the word that’s used here for ‘breath’.

Breath … Spirit …

The breath of God brings life: physical life, and spiritual life

We read that Jesus breathed on the disciples and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’
And when someone decides to become a Christian, the Holy Spirit comes to live within them, to breathe in them the breath of life.

It’s fascinating to read through the Old Testament and see how the Spirit of God rested upon particular people at particular times for particular tasks.

For example, on Bezalel for artistic work – Exodus, chapter 31
On Gideon for leadership – Judges, chapter 6
Then on Samson for power and strength – Judges, chapter 15
The Spirit rests on Bezalel for artistry, on Gideon for leadership, on Samson for strength … And then Isaiah for prophecy.

Isaiah, chapter 61, verses 1-3:
‘The Spirit of the LORD is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
…to bind up the broken-hearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favour
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and to provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
the oil of joy instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.’

Prophecy in the Bible is not so much foretelling; it’s more forth-telling. Telling people about the freedom that God offers us in Jesus.

The experience of the Holy Spirit is not just that we should have a ‘nice, warm feeling in our hearts and feel good’! It’s so we can go out and make a difference to our world.

As we go on through the Old Testament there’s this rising sense of something even more amazing. And this is referred to as ‘the promise of the Father’.
If you wanted, you could sum up the whole Old Testament in one word: ‘promise’. So what exactly is this promise?

We find it in Jeremiah, chapter 31:
‘I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.’

Under the old covenant, the Old Testament, the people of God were given the law. And the law was written on blocks of stone. They looked at these laws and they said, ‘These look good! – don’t kill, don’t steal, don’t commit adultery … if we lived like this, we’d have a great society.’
So they tried to live by the laws, but they couldn’t. And so the law, instead of becoming a blessing, it was just this great burden on them – they were trying desperately to keep it, but they were failing constantly.

So God says: ‘Look, I’m going to do something new. This is my promise. Instead of the law being outside – something that you are trying to keep but fail,’ he said, ‘I’m going to put it inside, so that you really want to do it, it comes from your hearts.’

How does he do this? How can the promise of the Father be fulfilled? In Ezekiel 36:26, God says
this:
‘I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.’

That’s how he does it – by the Holy Spirit coming to live within us.

To whom does this promise apply?

Joel, chapter 2, verse 28 – this is what God says:
‘For afterwards, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy (it’s regardless of sex),
your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions (it’s regardless of age).
Even on my servants (it’s regardless of background, race, colour, rank).
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days’ (it’s for everyone!)

‘On all people.’ That’s the promise of the Father. But this promise remained unfulfilled.

The people were waiting. They waited for hundreds of years! And then, with the birth of Jesus, it’s like a trumpet sounds. And everybody connected with the birth of Jesus is filled with the Holy Spirit.

In Luke 1 we read that John the Baptist, Mary (the Mother of Jesus), Elizabeth (Jesus’s auntie) and Zechariah (Jesus’s uncle) all get filled with the Holy Spirit.

It’s still particular people at particular times. But then John the Baptist is the first person to make this link between “The Promise” and Jesus. Luke 3:16: ‘He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.’

Baptism with water is important, but it’s not enough. Jesus is the Spirit baptiser. In the secular Greek, the word ‘baptise’ meant ‘to overwhelm, to immerse, to plunge, to drench’. It was the word that was used if a ship sunk: it was baptised, overwhelmed by water. And that’s what the Spirit wants to do – he wants to drench us, overwhelm us.
Jesus himself was completely full of the Holy Spirit, the power of God. Luke chapter 3, verse 22:
‘The Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove.’

In Luke 4:1 we read that ‘Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit’.
Verse 14: ‘Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit’
Verse 18: he says, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he’s anointed me to preach good news to the poor’ – he’s quoting directly from Isaiah’s prophecy.

And then Jesus predicts the coming of the Spirit.
In John 7, Jesus says: ‘If anyone is thirsty, come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flowing from within.’

By this he meant the Spirit literally, out of their innermost being will flow rivers of living water. In other words Jesus is saying, ‘Not only will I satisfy your spiritual thirst, but then you will become a source of blessing, a source of life.’

At the end of Luke’s gospel we read that Jesus said this:
‘I’m going to send you what my Father has promised [the promise of the Father]; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.’

In Acts 1:8 we read that Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’

They waited, and they prayed – for ten days. And all the time there’s this rising sense of
anticipation. It’s like watching the winner of the Grand Prix taking a champagne bottle and just shaking it!

And eventually – Acts 2:2 – the cork flies off! ‘Suddenly (!) a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them [ie, not just particular people at particular times for particular tasks], all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.’

Now, to this ‘happening’ people’s reactions were mixed. Some said, ‘This is so cool!’ Or words to that effect.

Others – (verse 12) – were ‘amazed and perplexed’: they thought, ‘Wow, this is
amazing, but it’s also a bit perplexing!’
Others ‘made fun of them’ – verse 13: ‘They’ve had too much wine’ … ‘they’re drunk!’
In other words, something amazing was happening and they didn’t know how to explain it. So they gave a natural explanation for something that was actually supernatural.

Peter gets up and says, ‘Let me explain this to you …These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine o’clock in the morning! No, [he says] this is …

The Promise, this is Biblical, this is what was promised in the Old Testament:
“In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.” ’

Suddenly, the promise of the Father – the gift of the Holy Spirit is no longer just for particular people at particular times for particular tasks; it’s for everyone. We can all now experience the power of the Holy Spirit.

But what does that actually mean in practice? What does the Holy Spirit do in our lives?

In John, chapter 3. Jesus is talking to a man called Nicodemus:
‘I tell you the truth, no-one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, and the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You shouldn’t be surprised at my saying, “You must be born again.” ’

The expression ‘born again’ has become a bit of a cliché. To many people it sounds a bit odd. But actually Jesus was the first person to use that expression! Jesus is saying that, just as a baby comes from physical union, so new spiritual life comes from the union of a human spirit with God’s spirit.

All of us on this planet have been created by God, but not everybody is living in this relationship like a son or a daughter with a parent. And this happens not by birth but by spiritual birth.

There’s so many facets to that relationship with your Father in heaven . Let’s look at some:
1. We are born again to be children in the family of God

Paul says this – chapter 8:14:
‘… those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we’re God’s children. And if we’re children, then we’re heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.’

By the Spirit you and I are adopted as children into God’s family. That’s an extraordinary
privilege and it has an impact on us, PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE
OUR PAST is impacted: a few verses earlier, in Romans 8, verses 1 and 2, St. Paul writes this:
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, for through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

We can be set free from the past, whatever we’ve done. Jesus, on the cross, took all our sins. The slate is wiped completely clean the moment we come to Christ...the Spirit of life sets us free from the past.

Many of us find ourselves bound by habits, patterns of thought, addictions. And when the Spirit of God comes upon us, he enables us to break free from whatever addictions we’ve been under: drugs, immorality, anger, envy.

And so our PRESENT is impacted too: Receiving God’s Spirit means experiencing God’s freedom and love TODAY.

As we’ve read: “By him we cry, “Abba, Father.” “
‘Abba’ is a very interesting word because it’s Aramaic, but the translators haven’t even bothered to try and translate it because it’s too hard. They’ve left it as it is. It’s one of the most important words in the New Testament. It’s the word that would have been used by a child to their father; but not just when they were little, all the way through their life. So it’s almost like, ‘Dad’ or ‘Daddy’. It’s a word used in a very close and intimate relationship. It’s a word that was distinctive to Jesus. Nowhere in the Old Testament is God referred to as Abba, but Jesus used it in his relationship with God. And he offers it to us. And the Spirit gives us the deepest experience that God as “Abba” is true. By the Holy Spirit we find the deepest spiritual experience you can ever have – verse 16:
‘The Spirit ... testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.’

By the Spirit, there is this impact: PAST, PRESENT .......AND FUTURE:
We are adopted into God’s family and that brings the most profound sense of security and hope – as verse 17 simply puts it: we are “heirs of God”
All of the riches of Heaven are ours.
The difference here is that to inherit all the riches of Heaven, the one who has to die is you and me. We need to die to ourselves. When the Spirit of God comes to live within a person, they become a child of God.

2. Then the Spirit helps us to develop that relationship with the Father

Relationships grow by communication. So the Spirit of God helps us to pray, to speak to
God....as we’ve looked at earlier in the course. The Holy Spirit also helps us understand God’s word. Paul prays in Ephesians that we would have ‘the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that we might know God better’. He prays that ‘the eyes of our hearts may be enlightened in order that we can understand’ ...everything,
including the Bible Understanding comes by the Spirit...
I think for some people it seems like Christianity is a huge leap of faith into some huge void. But it isn’t actually a leap of faith; it’s a step of faith. But it’s only as we take the step that we understand that actually it’s true – that we’re not leaping into the unknown, we’re on solid ground.

It’s the Holy Spirit who brings that understanding and then helps to develop the relationship withGod.

3. The Holy Spirit brings the family likeness.

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:18, ‘We, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s
glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.’

Paul is saying that when the Spirit of God comes to live within a person, he will bring about this family likeness, becoming more like God, becoming more like Jesus.

How does this happen?
In Galatians, chapter 5, verse 22 and 23, St Paul writes:
‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.’

Who wouldn’t want more of all of these in their lives? The Holy Spirit rests upon us to make us more like God.

4. The Holy Spirit brings unity in the family.

The Spirit wants us to be united with one another. We’re meant to be an example to a troubled and divided world. Jesus prayed for the unity of the Church

Paul writes in Ephesians 4, verse 3: ‘Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit
through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit.’

The church is called the ‘Body of Christ’. There is ‘one body and one spirit’. The Spirit of God lives in every Christian regardless of colour, background, denomination... The Spirit of God lives within Catholics and Protestants, within Orthodox and Pentecostal. We are one.

What unites us is infinitely greater than what divides us. Jesus unites us!

5. The Holy Spirit brings gifts for all the children.

In a moment, in your small groups, please read 1 Corinthians 12:4-11

What you find there is a list of spiritual gifts and Paul uses the analogy of the church being a physical body where there is diversity but unity. There is an essential interdependence. So the nose can’t say, ‘I’m more important than the eye.’: we need every different part of the body of Christ, we need all of the gifts.
And some of these gifts more obviously demonstrate the unusual, supernatural acts of God in the world – the gifts of speaking in tongues, or miracles. But it also includes natural talents, which can be transformed and energised by the Holy Spirit. And, using these gifts, we’re in it together.

The church is not meant to be a kind of one-man show. Too often churches have become like this – the pastor or the priest does everything. Meanwhile everyone else isn’t doing anything! The church can be like a professional game of soccer.

You have ‘22 people desperately in need of a rest being watched by 22,000 desperately in need of exercise!’

The church only works if everybody’s involved, because the Holy Spirit gives gifts to all the children

6. Finally...the Holy Spirit makes the family of God grow
One of the verses we looked at earlier was Acts 1, verse 8, where Jesus says that when the Spirit comes ‘you will receive power; and you will be my witnesses’. In other words, ‘Other people will find out about me through what you do and what you say.’
Now, I know this terrifies some people – the thought of having to speak about our faith, having to talk about Jesus to other people!

I heard of one young man like that. He was absolutely petrified of the thought of having to speak to his friends or his family about Jesus. And actually it stopped him becoming a Christian. He just thought it was such a horrible idea that he wasn’t going to become a Christian. And he went to see a wise older Christian, and this man said to him, ‘Look,’ he said, ‘In your case God’s made an exception. You don’t have to tell anybody. It can just be a little private thing between you and God.’ He went, ‘Ooh, that’s good!’ So he went home and he went up to his bedroom and he knelt down by his bed and he gave his life to Jesus. And the moment he did that, the Holy Spirit rested upon him and filled him, flooded his whole being. And he was just filled with an overflowing joy. And he rushed downstairs, and there in the kitchen were his family and five of his friends.
And he said, ‘Do you know,’ – breathless with excitement – he said, ‘Do you know, it’s amazing – you can become a Christian and you don’t have to tell anybody!’

When the Spirit of God fills us, it’s not an effort to tell people – it’s an overflow, it’s something that we’re longing to do, because it’s such wonderful news. And the Church begins to grow.

RECAP

1. We are born again to be children in the family of God
2. Then the Spirit helps us to develop that relationship with the Father
3. The Holy Spirit brings the family likeness.
4. The Holy Spirit brings unity in the family.
5. The Holy Spirit brings gifts for all the children.
6. The Holy Spirit makes the family of God grow

Every Christian has the Holy Spirit living within them. Paul writes: ‘If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, that person does not belong to Christ.’

Yet not every Christian is filled with the Spirit. Because Paul writes to people who are already Christians and he gives them a command: ‘Be filled with the Spirit’ – present continuous tense.

It means, ‘Go on being filled, over and over and over again with the Holy Spirit.’
But how? How can we be filled with the Spirit? Well, we started with Genesis 1, verse 1 and I want to end by looking at Revelation, chapter 22, verse 17 – right at the end of the Bible.
‘The Spirit [that’s the Holy Spirit] and the bride [that’s the Bride of Christ, which is the church] – The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” Let all who hear say, ‘Come!’ Let those who are thirsty come; let all who wish take the free gift of the water of life.” ’
Today as you have read this desire and ask the Lord and He will fill you.

Survey on leadership development in Schools

Dear Friend,

Please participate in this survey if you are connected with any educational institution within the GCC. Feel free to pass this link to your acquaintances who are educational professionals.

http://www.kwiksurveys.com/online-survey.php?surveyID=KJDEOI_dcd8315b

Shalom!
Robin

Bible Study

Bible study starting in Sharjah every Monday from 8:30 to 10:00pm. If you are in or around Sharjah and is curious to know about who you are and why you exist, you are welcome to send me a message for location details. Come and be blessed!