Old School 4.2 - We Believe in the Holy Spirit
Notes
Transcript
We Believe in the Holy Spirit
We Believe in the Holy Spirit
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who eternally proceeds from the Father. He is Teacher, Comforter, Helper, and Giver of spiritual gifts. Through Him the saving and sanctifying works of Jesus Christ are applied to the life of believers. He is the empowering Presence of God in the life of the Christian and the Church. The Father has sent His Son to baptize with the Holy Spirit. Speaking in tongues and bearing the fruit of the Spirit are New Testament signs of being filled with the Holy Spirit.
16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
10 Powerful Ways the Spirit Speaks in the Bible
10 Powerful Ways the Spirit Speaks in the Bible
📷God speaks at least ten ways in the Bible. It’s important to be aware of these ways, and then to ask ourselves if we are truly listening to Him. Let me give you a short rundown of the ways God speaks as shown in the Bible. In order for us to listen, it’s vital that we see not only that God speaks but also how He speaks.
1. God can speak through circumstances.
1. God can speak through circumstances.
God spoke to Jonah first with His voice, but Jonah didn’t heed God’s voice. So God spoke to Jonah through circumstances—first, being swallowed by a great fish, and second when a vine grew up to shade Jonah, and then the vine withered (Jonah 1–4). We need to examine our circumstances and ask if we are hearing the Lord through these circumstances. Ask yourself two questions: What’s happening in my life right now? What is the Lord telling me through these circumstances?
2. God can speak through wise counsel.
2. God can speak through wise counsel.
This is shown all through Proverbs.When we seek godly counsel we can hear the voice of God. This counsel always complements Scripture. When we seek wise, godly mentors in the Lord, we don’t ask them to hear from God for us, but to prayerfully confirm that what we’ve heard from the Lord is correct.
3. God can speak through peace.
3. God can speak through peace.
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
God’s peace can rule in our hearts. The word rule doesn’t simply mean to merely exist. It means to reign or to be a deciding factor. If we don’t have peace about a decision, then it isn’t from the Lord. Don’t move forward unless you have peace.
4. God can speak through people.
4. God can speak through people.
This pattern is shown all throughout the Bible.God brings wise and godly people into the lives of others and speaks through them.
5. God can speak through dreams and visions.
5. God can speak through dreams and visions.
This pattern is shown in the lives of Joseph, Solomon, Jacob, Peter, John, and Paul.This method is available to us today too (see Acts 2:17 where Peter quotes Joel 2:28).
6. God can speak through our thoughts.
6. God can speak through our thoughts.
13 For behold, He who forms mountains, And creates the wind, Who declares to man what his thought is, And makes the morning darkness, Who treads the high places of the earth— The Lord God of hosts is His name.
Amos says that God makes known His ways to us through our thoughts. In Matthew 1:19–21, while Joseph thought about things, God spoke to him. We need to be careful here because not every thought in our minds comes from the Lord. Thoughts can also be placed in our minds from the Devil. And we can simply think up things on our own. So every time we get a thought, we need to judge if it is from God. Does it align with Scripture? Does it in any way contradict the character of God?
7. God can speak through natural manifestations.
7. God can speak through natural manifestations.
Romans 1:18–20 states clearly that God can make Himself known by nature. The voice of God can be revealed through mountains, water, trees, meadows, landscapes, and more. In John 12:27–30, God spoke from heaven, but when God spoke in this incident, some people who stood nearby thought they were hearing thunder. There’s the possibility that this could happen today. Sometimes if we hear thunder, or see floods or hurricanes or high winds or volcanoes, it may actually be the voice of God.
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.
8.God can speak through supernatural manifestations.
8.God can speak through supernatural manifestations.
God spoke to Moses through a burning bush (Ex. 3:1–4). He spoke to Gideon through a fleece (Judg. 6:37–40). He spoke to Saul on the Damascus road through a bright light (Acts 9:1–5). He even spoke to Balaam through a donkey (Num. 22:1–35).
9. God can speak through the Bible.
9. God can speak through the Bible.
Scripture is always the voice of God in the general sense that God inspired the words of Scripture
2 Timothy 3:16
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
God can also speak specifically to us through the Bible, by drawing a particular passage to our attention, because the Word of God is living and active (Heb. 4:12).
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
10. God can speak through a whisper.
10. God can speak through a whisper.
We discussed in an earlier chapter how God can speak through a still small voice. He spoke this way to Elijah
12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
Again, the point here is that if we are going to hear God’s voice, then we need to listen to Him. We need to tune in to the frequency of heaven and hear the voice of God. Note the warning held out in
13 And now, because you have done all these works,” says the Lord, “and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you, but you did not answer,
“While you have been sinning, I have been trying to talk to you, but you refuse to listen” (CEV).
Essentially, God is saying to the Israelites that they did any number of wicked things, and He was speaking and speaking to them repeatedly about it, but they did not listen to Him.
Essentially, Israel heard but did not listen. Instead, they went their own way.
They had better idea. The Golden Calf is a good example of Israel having their own idea.
7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice,
8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness,
9 Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty years.
10 Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known My ways.’
I love the promise held out for us in
17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Faith comes by hearing:
If you’ve ever met a person of great faith, then you’ve met a person of great hearing who knows how to listen to the Word of God. We need to truly listen to God. Once we hear from Him, then we need to act in faith. Have you heard from God and truly listened to His voice? Then good, now is the time to move with confidence. (From Robert Morris’ book, “Frequency: Tune In. Hear God.”)
13 Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
14 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive;
15 For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.’
16 But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear;
17 for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
What do we have that the Prophets and righteous men of the Old Testament didn’t have?
THE INDWELLING SPIRIT OF GOD!
It is the Spirit of God speaking, illuminating, reminding, and in agreement with the Word of God that keeps us from going our own way.
10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
How is that possible? Because every man’s way is right in his own eyes?
Guitar tuning example:
Have the different guitars strum a chord one at a time and ask is the guitar out of tune?
No. It sounds in tune. All that strings are in harmony with one another.
Then have all the guitars play a chord together? Are they in tune?
Individually yes. But corporately no.
Why? There is a Standard in tuning: A=440 Hz
Have the piano play the “A” key.
Have each guitar play the “A” string.
Each guitar’s “A” is a different pitch. In order for all the guitars to be in tune with each other, they all have to hear the same sound.
Have the guitars tune to standard pitch.
Remember what Jesus said:
13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.
15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.
The Holy Spirit will resonate in the same frequency as The Son. The Son will resonate in the same frequency as the Father.
They are in tune with one another.
When the Believer is “in tune” with the Spirit, they will be in tune with the Father and the Son.
They will also be “in tune” with other believers.
In order for this to happen, we have to be able to distinguish His sound from our sound!
12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
The Spirit of God speaking, illuminating, reminding, and in agreement with the Word of God will create a seperation between the soul and the spirit.
The soul consists of the mind, the will, and the emotions.
I can know when I am listening to the soul when I hear myself speak.
The mind says “I think”
The will says “I want”
The emotions say “I feel”
We have to hear the voice of the Spirit to step out of what we desire and into what God desires for us and for His Kingdom through us!
HAVE THE GUITARS A CHORD TOGETHER IN STANDARD TUNING
In order to get “in tune” with the Spirit, we have to listen to what the Spirit is speaking and follow after the Spirit rather than the the voice of the flesh - the soul.
Sometimes we have to speak out of our spirit and command our soul to do what it shoud be doing.
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance.
6 O my God, my soul is cast down within me; Therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan, And from the heights of Hermon, From the Hill Mizar.
8 The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, And in the night His song shall be with me— A prayer to the God of my life.
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:
3 Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord executes righteousness And justice for all who are oppressed.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father pities his children, So the Lord pities those who fear Him.
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,
5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
Taking charge of our soul gives us the strength to withstand any storm:
24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:
25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:
27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
Slide: Among the Ruins of Mexico Beach Stands One House, Built ‘for the Big One’ - NY Times
The elevated house that the owners call the Sand Palace, on 36th Street in Mexico Beach, Fla., came through Hurricane Michael almost unscathed.Credit...Johnny Milano for The New York Times
As they built their dream house last year on the shimmering sands of the Gulf of Mexico, Russell King and his nephew, Dr. Lebron Lackey, painstakingly documented every detail of the elevated construction, from the 40-foot pilings buried into the ground to the types of screws drilled into the walls. They picked gleaming paints from a palette of shore colors, chose salt-tolerant species to plant in the beach dunes and christened their creation the Sand Palace of Mexico Beach.
Contrary to some Christian thinking, the storm didn’t only come to the one who was on the Rock. It came to both. The storm didn’t come because one was founded on the Rock, the storm came because storms come. That’s life. How we come out of the storm is dependent on whether we are hearing and acting on what the Spirit is speaking.
27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”
Confess that every day!