Word and Spirit/Abuse/New Age
Notes
Transcript
This morning talk about balance - Word/Spirit
20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.
23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
Jesus speaks of a time when God will be worshipped in Spirit and in truth
It seems like He is setting up this balance of Spirit and truth
We know what the Spirit is, what is truth?
As Jesus prays in…
17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
So, truth is the very word of God! So, truth could be described as the Word, Scriptures, or Jesus
Paul explains the scriptures to Timothy when he says
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
37 If anyone thinks they are a prophet or otherwise gifted by the Spirit, let them acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. 38 But if anyone ignores this, they will themselves be ignored.
So, even the words that Paul was writing were from the Lord.
By the way, even when Paul was addressing prophecy, he was showing that the words of God, trump that prophetic gifting
So, we hang in this balance, so to speak, of how we should worship…both in Spirit and in truth, or scripturally!
As we see the HS, it is important that we don’t lose sight of this!
Davis Watson said, and has been quoted many times..
All Word and no Spirit, we dry up; all Spirit and no Word, we blow up; both Word and Spirit, we grow up (David Watson)
I think that sentiment is spot on, but to remember this is Not a balance like a scale…it’s not 50% and 50%. It is totally 100% and 100%
Learn as much of the Word as you can! And receive and walk as much with the Spirit as you can!
Peter explains the importance of the Spirit’s work…
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
The Spirit is what sanctifies us, but Paul also says:
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,
So, the Spirit cleanses us and sanctifies us, but the word also cleanses and sanctifies us!
Likewise, Jesus says:
31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
So the truth sets us free, but Paul indicates…
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
So, we have the truth or word of God setting us free, but also the Spirit setting us free!
And, finally, Paul merges the two:
17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Connecting between Word of God and Spirit
Dangers on one side or the other…
Word — failure to walk by the Spirit - we may not have much direction in day in, day out or moment-by-moment decisions
Spirit - failure to discern what is the Spirit and what is not
The foundational way of knowing God and how He operates, is the through the scriptures
The scriptures are not a replacement for the HS in our lives and the HS is not a replacement for scripture..
The scriptures are what allows us to truly walk with the HS…they teach us how the HS will operate…
Because I have a high view of the scriptures, I earnestly desire the gifts of the Spirit! Because the scriptures tell me to!
Those who are more focused on the Word often times are afraid of the scriptures losing value.
Some argue the working of the Spirit, particularly in the revelatory gifts, threatens the sufficiency of scripture
To touch on this, we must understand scripture itself does not make a category of “revelatory gifts.”
That is a human made category, and to be honest, I think rightly so, I think the gifts of prophecy, WoW, and WoK, can reveal God’s will in a situation, so the do reveal things to us
But just know, God didn’t make that distinction in scripture. So, I think it is okay to categorize things to a point, but know that we can go too far with our categories if God does not intend for us to.
For example, which some do, and I believe erroneously, make a category for “sign” gifts or “revelatory” gifts and say this category of gifts ceased at some point.
If scripture doesn’t indicate this, we have taken it too far
To be fair, there are some that make a case that one verse in scripture does make a category and indicates some of the gifts will cease
This is found right in the middle of two chapters on the gifts, 1 cor 12 and 14
Remember as we read a scripture, we have to read the context around the verse…
For time sake, I’m not going to read the whole chapter but the context is love and doing all things in love
And, so Paul writes:
8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
So, Paul calls out possible three gifts and indicates that they will end
This is a whole can of works and I could preach a whole sermon on this verse.
The abridged version is yes, Paul indicates these three particular (seemingly) gifts will pass away.
Which isn’t a surprise…we do know that many of the things now will pass away…thankfully, this body will pass away…
So, the question is: when will these things pass away?
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.
So, when the perfect comes….what is the perfect?
There is debate, even among cessationists, who believe some gifts have ceased…
Thomas Schreiner, who is a cessationist says:
1 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary (Schreiner) c. Permanence of Love (13:8–13)
The words ‘will come to an end’ come from a verb (katargeō) which is often used in eschatological contexts in Paul (e.g. Rom. 6:6; 7:6; 1 Cor. 2:6; 15:24, 26; 2 Cor. 3:7, 11, 13, 14; Eph. 2:5; 2 Thess. 2:8; 2 Tim. 1:10). The eschatological context here is the coming of Christ
And here is a quote from John MacArthur, who is probably the most vocal, leading cessationist
Of the possible interpretations, the believer’s entrance into the Lord’s presence best fits Paul’s use of “perfect” in 1 Corinthians 13:10. This makes sense of Paul’s later statement in verse 12 about believers seeing Christ “face to face” and possessing full knowledge—descriptions that cannot be realized this side of glory. - John MacArthur grace to you website
He goes on to say:
Clearly—and contrary to the assertions of so many continuationists—the cessationist case does not stand or fall with 1 Corinthians 13:8–12. As New Testament scholar Anthony Thistleton says, “Few or none of the serious ‘cessationist’ arguments depends on a specific exegesis of 1 Cor. 13:8–11. . . . These verses should not be used as a polemic for either side in this debate.” - John MacArthur
There you have it from renowned cessationists that these verses do not prove or disprove the ceasing of the gifts
I just picked two well respected cessationist. I looked in over 15 commentaries and they all pointed to the return of Christ
So, the vast majority of scholarship believes Paul is referring to Christ’s return in this passage
And, I would say there are numerous other Scriptures pointing to the continuation of all the gifts
Probably the best argument is Peter quoting Joel 2 on the day of pentecost
Remember, prophecy is one of the gifts that Paul indicated would cease
17 “ ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.
So, Peter is connecting what just happened at pentecost with the last days, meaning they were in the last days..and
20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
the day of the Lord is always referring to the return of Christ
So, it seems, according to Peter (and really the prophet Joel, and really the HS who inspired Joel and just empowered Peter), in the last days in which we are living, all people will have the HS and age or gender doesn’t matter, they will prophesy
So, this is why I am a continuationist and that the gifts have not ceased and therefore, should still be desired
Back on track. So, we have cessationists who categorize gifts and say a particular category of gifts have ceased.
I do think it’s okay to form categories of things so long as we don’t go too far.
In fact, I think an okay way of categorizing gifts is like what we are doing with the class. We are talking about the 9 gifts in 1 corinthians 12. We have segregated those for education, and I think that is appropriate, so long as we don’t go too far into forming doctrine around it
Back to the idea of Word and Spirit
Some ask the question:
Does a gifts like prophecy, WoW, or WoK, threaten the sufficiency of scripture?
The answer is “no.” In fact, the sufficient scriptures tells us to earnestly desire the gifts especially prophecy
But, what about new revelation? Isn’t the moral will, character, and nature of God fully revealed in scripture?
Yes! But let’s talk about God’s will for a second. God has multiple wills and ask 6 theologians about the wills of God, and you will get 6 answers
To keep it simple, I will give you two wills, but some have many different wills of God
These are just some of the different terminology used
And, btw, these are from 6 different trustworthy theologians
Sovereign Will // Moral Will
Efficient Will // Permissive Will
Secret Will // Revealed Will
Will of Decree // Will of Command
Decretive Will // Perceptive Will
Will of Sign // Will of Pleasure
I am just going to look at two for the purpose of this message: the moral will of God and the specific will of God
The moral will of God: is what God, by his limitless perfection and holiness, has revealed about his character and the righteous requirements for men and angels who live under his Sovereign rule and reign.
So, I would include in the moral will: what is sin, salvation, righteous and holy living and the character of God
The specific will of God: God’s will for an individual and His will in any given situation
So, I believe the scripture is sufficient in God’s moral will, but is not “sufficient” in God’s specific will
So, the Bible is sufficient to tell me about God, about my humanity, sin, salvation, the heart and intent of the church,
but not tell me whether we should hire a youth pastor or not. Or to tell me if I should wear the blue shirt or red shirt today. Or whether I should be a pastor or a plumber
The sufficiency of scripture: the scriptures are sufficient in doing what they were intended to do!
So, where does the HS fit into the sufficiency of Scripture, well, the HS helps us understand the scriptures and moral will of God, but also the HS helps us understand God specific will as well
So, when it comes to new revelation, not in God’s moral will, but the HS might reveal something to me that is new to me or something about a particular situation.
I am the pastor of this church. I believe, and I hope you do too, that it is the will of God. Yet, I don’t think there is bible verse that says: thus saith the Lord, Caleb shall pastor goodland FBC.
So, the sufficiency of scripture is not threatened with the gifts of the HS
But we always test ALL things with the scriptures!
So, we have talked about the balance of the HS and the Word
Let’s talk about abuses
As with anything that God creates, the enemy distorts
As a reminder..
The gifts are given from the Spirit for the building up of the body and for the furthering of the Kingdom
They are not primary for building up ourselves and for personal gain
This seems to be one of the issues Paul is addressing in 1 Corinthians which we read at the beginning. Those who think they are better because of their gifting…
So, we are one body, and that is our goal! Not individual gain!
One of the abuses, and probably the most common is exploiting the Spirit’s gifting for personal gain
When it becomes about what I can get from a gift, is when we derail
Whether it be for status, financial, or popularity gain, any gift not used to honor God and build up the body is in error. And, we should call out errors.
Another error is mixing up the gifts of the HS with new age practice
This seems to be a common thing, even in America. I bet there are even some new age ideas and thoughts that we have said without even recognizing it!
The main difference in the gifts and new age is that the gifts are meant to build up the body where new age is about us achieving something for ourselves!
I am going to be honest, I just am not prepared enough to talk too much about new age.
Here is a chart distinguishing the two
Christianity vs. New Age
Kundalini or chi, other sings such as yoga potentially..things like secretive clubs or organizations
If you are wanting to know more about some of these things, join the class!
As we wrap up this morning, I encourage you to think about where you’re at/where you have been in the balance of the HS and the word.
Would you say that you lean to one side or the other?
How could you be more balanced?
If you need more scripture, we have several bible studies and ministries that could help you with that!
If you feel you need more of the HS or to walk with Him, I would encourage you to join the class.
We could also ask the HS to gift you or fill you!
If you are have never surrender your life to Jesus, I would encourage you this morning to do so!
We are going to take communion this morning
Deacons/worship team
Jesus gives us the opportunity to eat with Him and to remember what He has done for us!