Sunday, June 1, 2014

Things To Meditate On The Holy Spirit

Things To Meditate On The Holy Spirit



        I wrote this some time in the 1970s.  It draws on some things then being discussed among the non-instrument churches.  It speaks to some of the issues today about the "worship question."

        It  is  right  to  learn from a brother's experience and thinking.  In fact, this is one of the safeguards built into the Christian System (the church-kingdom)  Compare Galatians 1:19; Acts 15:4; 11:4.

        Logan Fox was for some time a missionary to Japan. He is also a Family Counselor.  Here are two quotations from him.

        "The counselor learns to accept the client, whatever the client's behavior or feelings. This involves neither approval nor disapproval, but is a deep respect for the person and worth of the client. This, to me, is love, and this is something we can do in obedience to the will of God."

        "I am now convinced that the church is failing in its mission of 'healing' because we have failed to heed Jesus' words: 'Judge not.' We have relied on the power of social disapproval in trying to change people's behavior rather than relying on the power of acceptance and love. In this, we have shown that we trust the power of the world more then we trust the spiritual power of love and holiness."

        And this from another brother, whose name I have forgotten.

        "Freedom is not someone's gift, nor do we need to ask permission for it. We must not complain that we are not free, and it is ours to act 'freely."'

        The devil wants us to believe that we are still slaves. But Christ has set us free; See John 8:36; Roman,, 6:18; 8:2; Galatians 5:1. We are already free and just need to act that way!

        "A man's mind, stretched by a new idea, can never go back to its original dimension." (Oliver Wendel Holmes) This is really another way to say what Jesus said about  'new wine' and  'old wineskins.'

        Do we act out what we claim to believe??? "Revitalize the worship by practicing the presence of God!" Jesus said HE was right there when "two or three are gathered together in My name" (Matthew 18:20). Do we 'believe' Jesus is here as we worship??? If we could see Him with our eyes -would it make any difference in HOW we worship???

        To work something out, you must begin at the right point. But this may not be where you thought it was. This is certainly true of the work of the Lord's church.

        "I was typical in my approach to worship. I was focused so much on evangelism and I thought that was what the church was about. Worship was an auxiliary activity. But in 1958, after hearing G. R. Carlson speak about the priority of worship, I was convinced that my approach was wrong.  When God calls us to worship Him, His goals are encounter and action. He wants to meet with us and  move  among  us,  interacting  with  and transforming His people. God is not administering a Bible quiz on Sundays, checking to see that everyone  is making the right doctrinal and biblical sounds so that He can bless them the following week." (Jack Hayford)

        "Praise and worship are not the same. Praise is thanking God for the blessings, the benefits, the good things. It is an expression of love, gratitude and appreciation. . .Worship involves a more intense level of personal communication with God, centering on His Person. In concentrated worship, there is a sort of detachment from everything external as we enter God's presence...As I made praise part of my daily life, I began to see the power that God provides.  I began praise in the morning, often singing in the shower. I continued all day long in the car, in my home, even at work." (Thurlow Spurr)

        The worship service is the place to begin evangelism. And worship grows out of praise in our own life. Our own praise and joy will lead us to worship with more power.  And worship based on praise and joy will cause others to turn to Christ. In this way our goal of evangelism will be fulfilled.

        "Do not put out the Spirit's fire!" This  is what Paul  is  saying in 1 Thessalonians 5:19. "HE will be with you forever!" That's what Jesus said about the Holy Spirit. Joel spoke of the Spirit being poured out on both "men and women, both old and young, etc." (Acts 2). We are to be "filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18). We are to "pray(ing) in the Holy Spirit" (Jude 20).

        But some, as Forrest H. Wells says, had in the past "used truth to teach error in order to explain the absence of an active Lord among an unbelieving people. We had deprived the Spirit of His role and place among us. Paul warns of having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof (2 Timothy 3:5). We have accepted His blood but not His Spirit. Compare what Jesus said about the Pharisees in John 5:38-40.  They  studied  the Scriptures intensely and firmly believed these were the word of God - yet they missed the point when they did not see Jesus.  Note how Paul brings this out in 2 Corinthians 3:6-18.

        "Jesus didn't go from door to door.  He didn't canvass the neighborhood.  He was the Light, and people who were in darkness came to Him.  He will teach us, day by day, and when we have learned the lesson, He will give us someone with whom "to share it." He "opens doors" and also shuts them (Revelation 3:7-8).

        Dr. Flavil Yeakley is an expert on Church Growth. In a recent survey of a typical Church of Christ (congregation): only 53% believe they are saved. 2% actually believe  they  are lost.  The rest really do not know whether they are saved or lost. These are the "active members" who were surveyed. How can someone with no assurance of his own salvation, reach out convincingly to "the unsaved?"

        "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). Compare Ephesians 2:19-22; Philippians 3:8-11; Titus 3:4-?; Romans 8:31-39.

 

Book  to  read:                

Christian,  You were Baptized In water And Spirit.

Robert Leon Gibson

 

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