Month: September 2015

Gone, But Not Forgotten.

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These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, “I am going away, and I will come to you.” If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. – John 14:25-28 ESV

As the time for His crucifixion drew near, Jesus began to ramp up the intensity of His teaching to the disciples. In an attempt to prepare them for all that was about to happen, He inundated them with increasingly more detailed specifics regarding the events surrounding His arrest, trials, death and resurrection. He broke the news to Peter he would end up denying Him. He told them He was going to prepare a place for them and would one day return for them. He claimed to be the way, the truth and the life; and the only way of access to the Father. Then He dropped a bombshell by telling them “whoever believes in my will also do the words that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12 ESV). That pieces of news had to have left the disciples’ heads spinning. And that was followed up by the promise of “another Helper” – the Holy Spirit – who would live in them. Taking in all of this information had to have been like drinking from a fire hose for the disciples. It was information overload. And in the midst of it all, Jesus told them, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me” (John 14:1 ESV).

Their belief in God was to be focused on His promise of the Messiah. They needed to believe that Jesus was the One for whom they had long been waiting. But they also needed to believe Jesus and take Him at His word when He promised to be with them, even though He was leaving them. They needed to believe that Jesus was going back to the Father and would be preparing a place for them, and that the Father would send another Helper to not only be with them, but live within them. It was essential that they believe the reality of the coming Holy Spirit and understand His function. Jesus said, “he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26 ESV). Jesus would be gone, but far from forgotten because the Holy Spirit would provide the disciples with a perfect recall of all of His teachings from the last three years. But not only would they remember all that Jesus said, they would understand, probably for the first time. When we read the gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, it would be easy to wonder how they could have recalled so well what Jesus had said. I doubt very seriously that they were taking copious notes during their time with Jesus. But Jesus’ promise that the Holy Spirit would supernaturally energize their memories explains a lot. They would be given a Spirit-empowered capacity to recall the teachings of Jesus and to understand them. The result of this would be peace. Jesus said, “Peace I have with you; my peace I give to you” (John 14:27 ESV). Their ability to enjoy peace in the midst of all that would take place in the days after Jesus’ death and resurrection would be the direct result of the Spirit’s presence and His instruction regarding the words of Jesus. Paul reminds us that the fruit of the Spirit are “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,  and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23 ESV). These are the characteristics of Jesus. As the Spirit teaches us about Jesus, we see His character produces in our lives. He is gone, but far from forgotten. He is absent physically, but with us spiritually. Jesus said, “In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you” (John 14:20 ESV). When the Holy Spirit came, the disciples realized that the very Spirit of God had taken up residence within them. Not only did they have the Holy Spirit present with then, they had the indwelling presence of the entire Godhead – Father, Son and Spirit. Jesus clearly said, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23 ESV).

Jesus left. He returned to the Father. But He did not leave us alone. The very Spirit God Himself lives within us. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit have made their home with us. Paul tells us, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him” (Romans 8:9 ESV). The Godhead, in all its triune glory, lives within each and every believer. Can I explain it? No. But I believe it. We have the full essence of God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – living within us. And that formidable presence allows us to understand the Word and the will of God, as well as the commandments of Jesus. And not only do we have the capacity to understand them, we have the Spirit-empowered strength to obey them. So that we can increase in our knowledge of God (Colossians 1:10) and grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18).

Our Divine Tutor.

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I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. – John 16:12-15 ESV

These verses are part of what has come to be known as the Upper Room Discourse. This was Jesus’ final teaching to His disciples prior to His betrayal, arrest, trials and crucifixion. It can be considered His farewell address. In it, Jesus attempted to prepare His disciples for what lie ahead for them after His death, resurrection and ascension. One of the most significant points of emphasis was the promise of the Holy Spirit. Jesus wanted His followers to know that, even though He would be leaving them and returning to His Father’s side, He would not be leaving them alone. He would send another “comforter.” The Son of God would send the Spirit of God to live in them, not just dwell among them. And, as a result, their time of instruction would continue.

Jesus describes the Spirit as the “Spirit of truth.” As the Spirit of God, He would manifest the same character as God. “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?” (Numbers 23:19 ESV). God is a god of truth. So is His Son and Jesus emphasizes that the Spirit will be no different. After His coming He would lead the disciples into all truth. In other words, there were things they did not yet know or understand. Jesus even told them, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” Their capacity to comprehend the truth of Jesus’ mission was limited by their own flesh. They were having a hard time understanding how Jesus’ death was going to turn out for their good. But when the Spirit came and took up residence within them, they would receive a divine enablement to put the pieces together and see the bigger picture of God’s divine plan of redemption.

The Spirit would take all that Jesus had taught them and not only help them recall His words but understand their meaning. Jesus had just told the disciples that “I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak” (John 12:49 ESV). Jesus spoke on behalf of God. He spoke the truth of God, regarding man, sin, salvation, and the age to come. The Holy Spirit would do the same thing. Jesus said, “he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” The disciples were going to get a big picture view of all that was going to happen. During the time they had spent with Jesus, their perspective had been limited by their somewhat self-centered view of life. They had been looking for an earthly Messiah who would lead the Jewish people in revolt against their Roman oppressors and set up His kingdom on earth. They had not been looking at Jesus’ coming from an eternal perspective, but a temporal one. With Jesus’ departure and the Holy Spirit’s arrival, they would begin to understand that there was much more to Jesus’ incarnation than they had ever suspected. They would see that the kingdom of which Jesus taught was far greater and more significant than they ever dreamed.

Probably one of the most significant points Jesus made about the Holy Spirit was His selflessness. The Holy Spirit exists to glorify the Son. His ministry is completely Christ-centered. From His residence inside the believer, the Holy Spirit persistently points them to Christ, explaining the significance of His sacrificial death on the cross in their place and transforming them into His very likeness. He takes what belongs to Christ – His redemptive work, His perfect righteousness, His commandments, His promises and His future return and reign – and makes them known to His followers. The Holy Spirit within us glorifies Jesus by giving us a greater appreciation for what He has done for us and a deeper desire to share the good news of His salvation to others. As the Spirit of God works in our lives, we become increasingly more like the Son of God, producing spiritual fruit and bringing glory to the one who made it all possible. Our ability to live Christ-like lives is made possible by the Spirit’s presence within us. But He doesn’t get the glory, Christ does. Because Christ is the one who paid the debt we owed and satisfied the righteous wrath of God with His own life. And while our fruitfulness is a result of the Spirit’s presence and Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, it ultimately brings glory to God. Jesus said, “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples” (John 15:8 ESV).

We have within us a spiritual tutor or teacher who enables us to understand the deeper things of Jesus. We have the capacity to grow in our understanding of who He was and what He has done. We can comprehend His teachings and see them as far more than moral lessons on life. We have a divinely enabled ability to expand our understanding of Jesus far beyond our initial acceptance of His as Savior. Peter says we are to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18 ESV). As we grow in our knowledge of Jesus as our Lord and Savior, He is glorified within us. He becomes of increasingly greater importance to us.

Convicting Power.

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And when he [the Holy Spirit] comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. – John 16:8-11 ESV

Jesus had just told His disciples that it would be to their advantage if He went away, because when He left He would send them the Holy Spirit to indwell them. So in place of Jesus’ physical presence, they would have the indwelling presence of the Spirit of God. Then Jesus told them one of the aspects of the Holy Spirit’s ministry: He would convict the world. What is important to remember is that Jesus had already told His disciples that the Holy Spirit would live within them, not just among them. “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:16-17 ESV). I think it is essential to keep these two thoughts together as we examine this passage. Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit came He would indwell His followers. But He also said that same Holy Spirit would convict the world (the lost) concerning sin, righteousness and judgment.

It would seem that Jesus is saying that the power of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit within the lives of believers would have a convicting influence on the lives of the lost. The Spirit within us provides us with the power to live free from slavery to sin and capable of living righteously and rightly before God. The very presence of Christ’s followers living in the power of the Holy Spirit gives proof of the gospel and brings conviction on the lost. Paul echoed this thought when he wrote, “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 1:4-6 ESV).

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul told them, “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” (Ephesians 5:11 ESV). But how were they to expose them? Paul provides the answer. “But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, Awake, O sleeper,and arise from the dead,and Christ will shine on you. Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:13-16 ESV). Our lives should have a convicting influence on the lost living around us. Our God-given capacity to live righteously, provided by the Holy Spirit within us, will expose the sin and unrighteousness of those who do not yet know Christ. We will live out the truth of the gospel, giving proof of its efficacy.

But our lives, as a result of the Spirit’s presence within us, will also convict the lost world of righteousness. The Greek word Jesus used in this passage was elegchō and it means “to bring to the light, to expose.” It can also mean “to refute” and “to show one his fault.” It would seem that Jesus is saying that the righteousness of His disciples, made possible by His coming sacrificial death and the Spirit’s indwelling presence, would expose the false righteousness of the world. Self-righteousness can never measure up to Christ’s righteousness. And it is only Christ’s righteousness that makes us right with God. It is not what we do as Christians that makes us right with God, but what Jesus did for us on the cross. Our positional righteousness before God, made possible by Christ, and our practical, everyday righteousness, empowered by the Holy Spirit, will convict the lost of their false righteousness. Which then leads to the Spirit’s final point of conviction: Judgment.

Without the righteousness Christ provides, the lost have no hope. They are condemned and destined to an eternity separated from the love of God. But our presence among them provides proof that forgiveness is possible and the gift of grace made available through Christ’s death on the cross is free to all who will accept it. But those who refuse will suffer judgment. One of the primary ways in which the lost will be convicted of sin, righteousness and judgment is through the sharing of the gospel. As followers of Jesus Christ, we have been commissioned to spread the good news regarding His death, burial and resurrection and the free gift of salvation He has made possible. What makes the gospel “good news” is the fact that it stands in direct opposition to the “bad news.” Man is sinful, unrighteousness and stands condemned and convicted of rebellion against a holy and just God. He has no way of fixing his problem, apart from the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross. As we share the good news regarding God’s love as revealed in His sacrifice of His own Son, it will bring conviction on those who hear. And as we live out the life-transforming reality of that message in our daily lives, we will be light, exposing the darkness and convicting the world of sin, righteousness and judgment.

A Holy Helper.

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If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. – John 14:15-17 ESV

I think Jesus knew the disciples loved Him. I think He believed they truly wanted to keep His commandments. But He knew that they would find that task impossible in the days ahead, especially after His death, burial and resurrection. Which is why Jesus said He was going to send them a Helper – someone to assist them. The Greek word Jesus used was paraklētos and, like most Greek words, it is rich and multifaceted in its meaning. It refers to someone who is summoned or called to the aid and assistance of another. In the literal sense it meant “one who pleads another’s cause before a judge, a pleader, counsel for defense, legal assistant, an advocate” (www.blueletterbible.org).  Jesus used this common Greek word to refer to the Holy Spirit who would “lead them to a deeper knowledge of the gospel truth, and give them divine strength needed to enable them to undergo trials and persecutions on behalf of the divine kingdom” (www.blueletterbible.org).

Jesus knew that His disciples loved Him and would be eager to keep His commandments, but they would find both tasks impossible to fulfill without divine help. Their love was going to be tested. Their desire to be obedient would weaken. And without Jesus by their side, they would find it difficult to remain motivated. So Jesus promised to send help in the form of a divine advocate or aid. They would not be left alone. They would not be left powerless. The same Spirit of God who they had seen actively present in the life of Jesus would be given to them. They would soon find themselves not only living in the presence of the Spirit of God, but living with the Spirit of God present within them. God the Son would ask God the Father to send God the Holy Spirit to come to their aid. What an incredible thought. What a remarkable reality. But one that we either take for granted or treat with a sort of doubt or incredulity. Our own experience seems to suggest that this Holy Helper is either absent in our lives or not nearly as helpful as Jesus seemed to suggest.

Jesus told His disciples that the Holy Spirit would live in them. The power and presence of God would no longer be an external force they witnessed, but an internal reality that would set them apart from the rest of the world. When Jesus performed miracles everyone was able to witness them and see the power of God at work. Anyone could hear the words of Jesus and be amazed at His teaching. But with the coming of the Holy Spirit, the followers of Jesus would find themselves possessed of a power that allowed them to not only hear the words of Jesus, but obey them. No longer would they simply be witnesses to the power of God, they would be the very conduits through which that power flowed.

As believers in Jesus Christ, we have the Holy Spirit living within us. Our ability to love Christ consistently is not left up to our own strength. We have a helper. Our capacity to remain obedient to His commands is not based on our will power and inner resolve, but on the indwelling presence of God. Jesus referred to the Spirit as the “Spirit of truth”. Because He is the Spirit of God and God is truth, the Holy Spirit speaks truth. He doesn’t bring new truth, but helps believers understand and apply the truth of God as revealed in the Word of God. We might wonder how the disciples of Jesus were able to remember all the things that He said and taught. Did they take copious notes and spend every evening writing down all that He said. Jesus Himself gives us the explanation. “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26 ESV). Not only would the Spirit give them the capacity to remember the words of Jesus, they would be able to understand them and apply them to their lives.

This “help” we have been given is not to be viewed like some kind of divine Cliff Notes or study aid. He is the very essence of God Himself. He is the third person of the Trinity and He lives within all who have accepted the free gift of salvation made possible through Christ’s death on the cross. Because He lives within us, we have all the help we need to live the life we have been called to live. We can love consistently. We can obey fully. Not because we have the capacity to do so on our own, but because we have the presence of God within us. Jesus didn’t leave us defenseless, helpless or hopeless. He sent the Spirit of God to live in us, to help us, to empower us and transform us as we live our lives in anticipation of His return. We have all the help we need to prove our love for Jesus by living in obedience to His commands.

Better Off Without Him.

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Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. – John 16:7 ESV

Author J. D. Greear draws an interesting and potentially life-altering conclusion from the verse above. Jesus had been dropping bomb shells of information on His disciples as He attempted to prepare them for His death. He told them that the world was going to hate them, just as it hated Him. He broke the news that they would soon find themselves thrown out of the synagogues and even killed for claiming to serve Him. Then He told them, “it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you” (John 16:7 ESV). This is where J. D. Greear concludes: “…something was so important about the Holy Spirit that Jesus told his disciples it was to their advantage that he go away – if his departure meant the Spirit came. The Spirit’s presence inside them, he said, would be better than himself beside them” (J. D. Greear, Jesus, Continued…). The New Living Translation puts it verse seven this way: “it is best for you that I go away.”

Think about what Jesus is saying. Consider the impact it had on His disciples. They had spent more than three years of their lives with Jesus, looking on Him as their Messiah, master, Rabbi, Lord and friend. He had been their mentor. Now they were having to listen to Him say that they would be better off without Him. How could that be? That didn’t even make sense to them at the time. The concept of no Jesus was unacceptable to them. Without Him, they would have no hope. It’s the reason they all went into hiding and mourning after He was crucified. The two who were walking along the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus put words to their pain. “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel” (Luke 24:19-21 ESV).

Yet here was Jesus telling His followers that they would be better off without Him. It would be to their advantage that He leave them. How? Why? Because Jesus was going to send His Spirit, the one He described as the Helper. “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me” (John 15:26 ESV). When Jesus left, He was going to send the Spirit, who would act as their helper. And the major difference would be that the Spirit of God would indwell them, not just dwell with them. They had enjoyed the companionship of Jesus, but they would experience an even more intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit. Rather than having the Messiah walk among them, they would have the Spirit of God residing within them. That  amazing thought was not fully comprehend by the disciples until they were filled with the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. When the Spirit came and took up residence in them, they were immediately transformed from fearful, timid, hopeless, former followers of Jesus Christ into bold, passionate, fearless messengers of the good news regarding Jesus and His resurrection.

Jesus had told His disciples, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12 ESV). When Jesus was on this earth, He was limited because of His humanity. He could only be one place at one time. He grew tired. He was restricted to a 24-hour day just like the rest of us. He could perform only so many miracles in a given day. He could travel only so far during a 24-hour period. But when He died and ascended back to the side of His Father in heaven, He sent the Spirit. He didn’t send the JV or the B-team. He sent the third person of the Trinity, the Spirit of God. And the Spirit came to dwell within each and every believer, providing them with a power they had never known before. He imparted to them an intimacy with God that no one except Jesus had ever known before. Jesus was called Immanuel, which means “God with us”, but the Spirit would be God IN us. Even in the Old Testament, God dwelt among the people, but He didn’t take up residence within them. Occasionally, men like David would be filled with the Spirit, but it was not a permanent condition. But with Jesus’ departure, the Spirit became a permanent part of the life of every single one of His followers. That includes you, if you have accepted Jesus as your Savior. You have the Spirit of God living within you. And according to Jesus, you are better off with the Spirit inside you, than if the Messiah was walking beside you. The disciples of Jesus spent most of their time watching Jesus do miracles. They were spectators of God’s power. But once the Spirit came they went from observing to doing. Rather than watching the power of God displayed in the life of Jesus, they were experiencing that power as it flowed out of their own lives. And we have that very same power available to us as followers of Jesus Christ. God isn’t some ethereal force existing somewhere in the universe. He is living right inside of us in the form of His own Spirit. We have the power of God residing in us and available to us – 24/7. And we need to take Jesus at His word when He tells us that we are better off without Him. Not because He is gone, but because His Spirit has come – and is here to stay – providing us with everything we need to live powerful, bold, hopeful, joyful, content and godly lives.

Living Water.

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On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. – John 7:37-39 ESV

Every year, in the fall, the Jews would celebrate the Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths), a commemoration of the 40 years their ancestors had spent living in the wilderness on their way to the promised land. On the seventh day of the feast, the people would carry lit torches in a procession around the temple. The priests would draw water from the well of Siloam and pour it into a silver basin beside the altar, calling on the Lord to provide heavenly water in the form of rain for their crops. During the drawing of the water, the people would recite Isaiah 55:1 and 12:3. “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” 

The eighth and final day of Sukkot, called Shmeni Atzeret, was a day when a prayer for rain was recited. It was during this feast and on the last day that Jesus uttered the words found in the verses above. He offered all those within His hearing access to a different kind of water – living water. He offered them water from the wells of salvation. But John makes it clear that Jesus was speaking of the Holy Spirit who would be given to all those who believed in Him as the Messiah, the Savior of the world. This invitation from Jesus fell on deaf ears. While there were those who were hoping that Jesus might be the long-awaited Messiah, they were looking for a different kind of Savior and a salvation that was physical in nature, not spiritual. They wanted release from the oppression of Roman rule. They longed for a return to the glory days of King David and Solomon, when the Jewish people were powerful, well-respected and independent.

But Jesus was offering them something far more significant. He was inviting them to experience a form of spiritual refreshment that was unlike anything they had ever known. He was inviting them to believe in Him as their Savior or Messiah, and to enjoy the indwelling presence of God’s Spirit within their lives. Rather than having to seek for external sources of refreshment, they would have the Spirit of God within them producing a quenching of their spiritual thirst as well as fruitfulness. When Jesus had His encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well, He told her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water” (John 4:10 ESV). The woman was confused by Jesus statement and asked Him how He intended to draw water from the well without any means to do so. And Jesus responded, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14 ESV). She remained stuck on a physical plane, finding it difficult to understand the spiritual nature of Jesus’ offer. She asked for some of this “living water,” but failed to recognize that what Jesus was offering was not available from any well or spring. It was of divine origin.

Sometimes we fail to recognize the significance of what we have received from God as a result of our faith in Jesus. Not only have we been extended forgiveness for all our sins – past, present and future – we have been given the righteousness of Christ. We have also received an unwavering assurance of our future glorification. On top of that, we have been given the gift of God’s Spirit, to live in us, guide us and empower us. Paul described the Spirit as a kind of down-payment or security deposit, assuring us that what God has promised regarding the future is true.  “And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee” (2 Corinthians 1:21-22 ESV).

The Holy Spirit is a source of refreshment, nourishment, and spiritual empowerment. He lives with us, but should also flow out of us. It is the Spirit who produces fruit in us. In Galatians 5, Paul lists the “fruit” of the Spirit. They include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are not self-manufactured, but Spirit-produced. It is the Spirit within us that allows fruit to flow from us. And it begins with a change in our heart. He renews us from within. And it is from this divinely renewed heart that our fruitfulness flows. The Spirit within us flows from us, impacting the lives of those around us.

But too often we fail to experience the soul-satisfying, thirst-quenching power of the Spirit who lives within us. We continue to try and produce fruit in our own power. We keep trying to satisfy our spiritual thirst through other sources. But our satisfaction and fruitfulness must flow from the Spirit, who Jesus sent to live in us and remain with us to the end. Out of our hearts should flow rivers of living water. Our lives should be living proof of the Spirit’s presence within us. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would be “a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” He will guide us and empower us all the days of our life on this earth and see to it that we make it to our final destination.

Prayerful Leadership.

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But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. – Acts 6:4 ESV

As the early church continued to grow in size, there were inevitable problems that came up. Acts chapter four describes a situation that arose between two different groups within the rapidly expanding church in Jerusalem. As a result of the events surrounding the coming of the Holy Spirit, Jews who had come from all over the known world to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost had come to accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah and Savior. There were native Hebrews who spoke primarily Aramaic and were from the region of Palestine. But there were also Hellenistic Jews who were primarily Greek-speaking and from outside the land of Palestine. One group used the Hebrew Scriptures, while the other used the Greek translation, called the Septuagint. It seems that their main issue was a linguistic one that translated into a cultural conflict and ended up making its way into the early church. Even in those early days Satan was attempting to use division and dissension as a means to create disunity within the body of Christ.

While Hellenistic Jews and Hebraic Jews had their own synagogues in Jerusalem, when they became believers in Christ, they ended up worshiping side by side. This inevitably led to some tension. Luke records that a dispute arose over the distribution of food to the widows within the church. The Hellenistic Jews were claiming that their widows were being neglected. This dispute led the twelve apostles, who made up the leadership of the local church, to appoint men to oversee the distribution of the food to ensure it was done fairly and equitably. Their reasoning for this decision was simple. “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables” (Acts 6:2 ESV). They were not diminishing the importance of the issue or demeaning the role of service, but were simply establishing priorities. In their minds, it was essential that they continue to spread the good news regarding Jesus Christ. That was the mandate given to them by Jesus Himself before He ascended back into heaven. So they chose “ seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom” (Acts 6:3 ESV) to handle the issue of the distribution of food to the widows. This decision left them free to devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word.

It is interesting to note that the apostles saw their responsibility as two-fold. Jesus had made His instructions clear: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20 ESV). But Jesus had also taught them how to pray. He had modeled for them in His earthly life the importance of prayer. His ministry had been marked by a careful balance between preaching and prayer. The apostles knew from watching His life, that Jesus lived a life of dependence upon the Father. As impressive as His miracles had been, the disciples didn’t ask Jesus to teach them to heal, they asked Him to teach them how to pray. They had been amazed at the intimacy of His prayer life with the Father. They were taken by His need for time alone with God and the power and guidance He seemed to receive from those moments alone in prayer. They had lived with Jesus for more than three years. They knew how hard He worked, how tired He became at the end of a long day. And they had seen Him spend entire nights in prayer, skipping the evening meal and missing out on much-needed sleep. Yet He met the new day with a renewed sense of commitment and a supernatural energy that they couldn’t explain. When Jesus had his encounter with the woman at the well, the disciples had returned with food and offered some to Him. But He said, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about” (John 4:32 ESV). They were confused by His statement, wondering where He had gotten food to eat. But Jesus replied, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34 ESV). That statement of Jesus probably came to the minds of the disciples as they considered their responsibilities within the growing church. They had a job to do. They had been given a task to accomplish by Jesus and in order to do it, they were going to need to rely on prayer just as Jesus had done. Their accomplishments for God would be directly tied to the time they spent alone with Him. It is interesting to note that when the disciples went to Jerusalem after the ascension of Jesus, “they went up to the upper room, where they were staying” (Acts 1:13 ESV). And Luke tells us, “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer” (Acts 1:14 ESV). It was in that context that the Holy Spirit came.

Prayer must be an essential part of the ministry. Activity alone is not enough. Prayer is an act of reliance upon God. It conveys our need for Him. It communicates our dependence upon His power and our need for His direction. God doesn’t need us to do things for Him. He wants to do things for us and through us. He wants to unleash His power in our lives. But sometimes we get too busy to pray. Our self-confidence can turn into self-reliance, which can end up being self-destructive. Prayer reminds us that we need God to accomplish our God-given responsibilities. Jesus needed God. Jesus depended upon the Father. So why don’t we? The apostles devoted themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word. They knew that one was not more important than the other. But they also knew that one was impossible without the other.

True Fellowship.

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They were devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. – Acts 2:42 NET

Who are the “they” Luke is referring to? All you have to do is look at the preceding verse to find out. “So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added” (Acts 2:41 NET). These were new converts to Christianity. Just after the miracle of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the followers of Jesus, Peter had spoken to the crowd that had gathered. He presented them with the reality of their own sin and their need for a Savior. Then he shared the good news regarding Jesus Christ. “Repent, and each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38 NET). And that one sermon resulted in 3,000 people accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior.

And these new believers were characterized by an excitement and fervor for their new-found faith. Luke describes them as having an ongoing devotion to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship with one another. As a result of the teaching they received and the fellowship they enjoyed, they regularly ate together and prayed for one another. It’s important to remember that this crowd of new converts would have been made up of all kinds of people from all kinds of backgrounds. They had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost and, as Luke indicates, “Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5 ESV). The text describes them as “Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians” (Acts 2:9-11 ESV). This was a hodge-podge of people with different ethnic backgrounds who spoke different languages, and who suddenly found themselves sharing a new-found faith in Christ. Many of them would have been visitors to Jerusalem who had only intended to stay in town for the duration of the festival, but who now found themselves compelled to stay longer due to their unexpected encounter with Christ. They needed places to stay and food to eat. And Luke says, “And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts” (Acts 2:44-46 ESV).

Despite their differences, these people had a sense of community. Their faith in Christ bound them together. They had a shared hunger to learn more about Christ and so they listened intently as the disciples taught them the words of Jesus. They couldn’t get enough. Luke uses the Greek word, proskartereō to describe them. It means “steadfastly attentive to.” They gathered together to enjoy fellowship with one another and instruction from Peter and the disciples. And they prayed. Luke doesn’t tell us what they prayed for, but we have to assume that the content of their prayers ran the gamut. They most likely prayed for one another and for their lost friends and family members. They probably prayed for more converts, for God’s provision of their needs, and for wisdom to know what to do next. Their worlds had been turned upside down and they would have been confused about what all this meant. But regardless of the content of their prayers, the fact is, they prayed – together. It was part of their fellowship together. It was a key element of their spiritual growth. Prayer is not just a private exercise, reserved for those moments when you can get alone with God. Prayer is to be a corporate and community experience. 

When we gather together as believers in Jesus Christ, we are to devote ourselves to prayer. We are to make prayer a part of our fellowship with one another. When we have fellow believers in our home, do we take time to pray? Do we share prayer requests with one another? Or do we simply spend our time talking about family, work, current events and other topics of interest? Our times together should be marked by prayer. Prayer invites God into our midst and reveals that we desire not only His power, but His presence. Prayer conveys our mutual dependence upon God. It is amazing to think how little we pray when we gather together with our believing friends. When we have people in our homes, we eat, drink, laugh, talk, and yet rarely take the time to pray for and with one another. We may pray over the meal, but we don’t include God in our conversation. We don’t invite Him into our circle of fellowship, acknowledging our need for Him and expressing our desire for Him.

It’s interesting to note that the closing statement in chapter two of Acts is “And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” Could it be that this was in answer to their prayers? Because they gathered together, devoted themselves to learning more about Christ, shared all they had with one another and made prayer a regular part of their fellowship, God was growing their number. True Christian fellowship should always include prayer. Conversation about God will never replace conversation with God.

Watch and Pray.

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I post watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they should keep praying all day and all night. You who pray to the Lord, don’t be silent! – Isaiah 62:6 NET

This verse conjures up an interesting and somewhat contradictory image. In it, you have God appointing watchmen to man the walls of the city of Jerusalem. Their job, as their name suggests, was to watch. They were to stay alert and keep an eye out for possible danger. They were also to act as an early warning system, alerting the inhabitants of the city and calling the army to assemble. But in these verses, God is appointing watchmen to pray. The English Standard Version translates this verse as follows: “On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent.” But The Net Bible translates the same verse as “they should keep praying all day and all night.” It would seem that the context is that of prayer. It is an intended juxtaposition that replaced the watchman’s primary role of lookout to that of intercessor. He was to pray all day and all night and never be silent. Verse seven elaborates on his newly appointed responsibility. “Don’t allow him to rest until he reestablishes Jerusalem, until he makes Jerusalem the pride of the earth” (Isaiah 62:7 NET). The watchman was to pray incessantly and persistently until God answered by reestablishing Jerusalem. It’s interesting to note that a watchman was primarily responsible to look for danger, but in this case his job was to relentlessly remind God of His promise of restoration. He was not to look for pending danger, but promised blessing. God had promised, “You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you” (Isaiah 62:3-4 ESV). The watchmen God had appointed were to eagerly look for that promise to be fulfilled and to not stop praying for its fulfillment until it happened.

God was going to punish Israel for her persistent sins and allow them to suffer the humiliation of defeat at the hands of the Babylonians. They would spend 70 years in Babylon, forcibly removed from their land and carried off as captives. But God had promised vindication. He had promised restoration. Some of what He promised was fulfilled when He returned them to the land after the 70 years was completed. But there is a future fulfillment of God’s promise that has yet to happen. Isaiah records, “Look, the Lord announces to the entire earth: ‘Say to Daughter Zion, “Look, your deliverer comes! Look, his reward is with him and his reward goes before him!” They will be called, ‘The Holy People, the Ones Protected by the Lord.’ You will be called, ‘Sought After, City Not Abandoned’” (Isaiah 62:11-12 NET). The day is coming when God will restore Jerusalem to its former glory and His Son, Jesus Christ, will reign and rule from the throne of David, in fulfillment of the promise He made to David. The watchmen were to wait, watch and pray for that day.

There is a sense in which each of us is a watchman appointed by God to look for and long for the fulfillment of the promises of God. We are to pray for God to bring about all that He has promised in His Word. It is so easy for us to look for disaster and keep an eye out for coming destruction. The world seems to be falling apart as we watch. But we know how the story ends. We know that Christ coming back and our side wins. God is not done with Israel yet. He has great plans in store for them. Jesus Christ will return to earth one day as a conquering King and mighty warrior. He will put an end to sin, death, and Satan once and for all. He will establish His kingdom on earth and bring about peace and justice. It is for that day we should look and persistently pray.

Sometimes we lose sight of all that God has promised to do. We forget that this story has a happy ending. We are victors, not victims. We are winners, not losers. But while we watch for and long for that day to come when Christ returns, we must remember that none of us know the day. Not even Christ Himself. So while we are more than welcome to watch for it, we would be better off praying for it. It is God who must bring it about. It is He who has decided the date and time. So let us give Him no rest until that day comes. May we learn to pray for the final fulfillment of God’s plan for Israel and for the whole earth. Watch and pray. Deliverance is coming. Victory is assured. Christ is returning. Righteousness wins out.

No Permission To Stop Praying.

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Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. – 1 Samuel 12:23 ESV

Samuel was near the end of his prophetic ministry. He had faithfully executed his duties as a prophet of God and had actually served as the last judge over the nation of Israel. So when the people came to him clamoring for and demanding that God give them a king just like all the other nations, Samuel was less than happy. He felt rejected by the people. Of course, on the surface, he blasted them for rejecting God as their King. But God saw through his anger and said, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them” (1 Samuel 8:7 ESV). Over the years, Samuel had had plenty of opportunities to witness the stubbornness and rebellion of the people of Israel first hand. Their arrogant demand for a king was just one more example of their unwillingness to recognize God as their sovereign ruler and Lord.

Chapter 12 starts off with a very defensive-laden monologue by Samuel. “Behold, I have obeyed your voice in all that you have said to me and have made a king over you. And now, behold, the king walks before you, and I am old and gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day” (1 Samuel 12:1-2 ESV). He is still upset. He demands that the people voice their complaints or accusations against him. He wants to know why they have rejected him. Did he steal something? If he did, he would make restitution. Had he defrauded anyone? Was his leadership oppressive? Had he ruled unfaithfully by taking bribes? The people swore before God that Samuel had done none of those things and was undeserving of their treatment of him. You can tell from the passage that Samuel was still upset about their demand for a king. He had taken it personally.

Then he recounted all the ways in which the people of Israel had sinned against God over the years. Time and time again, the people had cried out to God and He had delivered them. All the way back to their captivity in Egypt, God had heard their cries and provided them with victory over their enemies. “But they forgot the Lord their God…” (1 Samuel 12:9 ESV). And now they were doing it again. “And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the Lord your God was your king. And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the Lord has set a king over you” (1 Samuel 12:12-13 ESV). The people may have been rebellious, but they weren’t stupid. They got Samuel’s point and confessed their sin and begged Samuel to pray for them. They feared the rejection of God. So Samuel assured them, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself” (1 Samuel 12:20-22 ESV).

Then Samuel said something to them that was probably difficult for him to say. “Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way” (1 Samuel 12:23 ESV). As much as Samuel may have desired to see divine judgment meted out on the people for their rejection of him and their sin against God, he knew he wasn’t free from his responsibility to pray for and instruct them. God had not released him from his duties as a prophet. To fail to pray for them and teach them would have been a sin for Samuel. In spite of their stubbornness and rebellion, Samuel was obligated by God to minister to and pray for them. The rejection of our leadership by others is a difficult thing to stomach. Our pride suffers. Our feelings get hurt. And we find it easy to justify a decision to abandon our God-given responsibility to pray for them. Parents face this situation every day. Our children refuse to listen to us, rejecting our authority over their lives and demanding to make their own decisions. At those times it could be easy to give up and stop lifting them up in prayer. But their rejection of our authority doesn’t release us from our God-given responsibility to care for them. Samuel may have been rejected by the people, but he was still obligated by his commitment to God. There will be those in our lives who refuse to listen to us. There will be times when others will reject our input and fail to recognize our legitimate care for their lives. But rather than abandon them in anger and resentment, we must pray for them. Like Samuel, we must learn to say, “far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way.” We must keep on loving by continuing to pray for them. We must keep on trusting God by continuing to teach them, leaving the results up to Him. It’s easy to pray for those who listen to and honor us. But prayers for the rebellious and sinful come hard. When we lose our influence over others, rather than give up, we must lift them up to God. We must love them enough to trust them into His care.