Do you have the Spirit? Part 2
JCC 25.04.10 am
Read 1 Cor 2:9-16
Key Verse: V 14
Human intellect cannot understand the things of the Spirit
The theologians have a term for the human nature, ‘The Adamic nature’
Paul in another place refers to the natural man as the old man or the old nature
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him...
Eph 4:22 That you put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts
When you try to talk to someone about spiritual things, you may as well be talking to a Brick wall unless the Holy Spirit is there
There is absolutely no comprehension unless the Holy Spirit opens your heart and their heart
The Lord gave us eyes to see with, not to hear with, just as our ears are to hear with, not to see with
You might say with equal logic, the blind man cannot appreciate the beauty of a sunset.
The deaf man cannot know the sounds of a beautiful orchestra
They lack the faculties by which these things are known
And so it is with the spiritual person and the natural person
You are deaf, blind and dead without the Holy Spirit
The wisdom of God is spoken in mysteries
The eyes, ears or intellect cannot understand Him
The five senses are of no use when dealing with the spiritual world
Common sense tells you that spiritual things need spiritual discernment
The spirit senses spiritual things just as the natural is aware of natural things
The natural man cannot (emphasis) receive
Intellect can understand theology, but it has to be your spirit that understands God
The Holy Spirit needs to reveal things to us
V 9-10 Eye has not seen, ear hasn’t heard, BUT!!!!!!
But it has been revealed to ‘us’ to Christians
We forget that we cannot do what God wants us to do without His Spirit
You can shut out this message and you can shut out God
But He has spoken through a prophetic word to us and we need to listen
He is also speaking through His word
And He is speaking through this message
You may think you know all this, but do you?
Do you have the Spirit?
I said last week that God isn’t known by external means like going to church, reading the Bible and praying
It’s what is within you
What goes on in here? (Point to the heart)
Only you and God know
Only the person knows what’s within them
You can fool me, I could fool you, but He knows
You can live with a carnal Christianity or a half measured life, but you will be missing out on so much
He has so much to give us, if only we will receive
Bible study of itself doesn’t reveal anything
The Jehovah’s Witness, Mormon’s and many religious institutions study the Bible and in quite some depth
That is not a valid foundation for saying you have the Spirit
Only the Holy Spirit can reveal the Lord to you and through you
Because only He knows what’s in the heart of God
This is why it is vital that I and the oversight seek the Lord for the Church
It takes an act of the Holy Spirit before you or I can understand the bible
2 Tim 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness
Jn 3:27 John answered and said, ‘A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven’
Some people may read the bible and try to interpret it
2 Peter 1:20 But scripture is of no private interpretation
Also it is interesting how some people will try to read the Bible and find that it doesn't make any sense to them
They can read a chapter and find that they don't understand what they have read
Just like people can read scripture and have no real regard for its authority
There can be two Christ’s in your life
The one you sing and read about etc
And the One who sitting waiting to be active in your life
We also think we can talk each other into spiritual things
I cannot talk you into spiritual things, but when the word is anointed some will hear
Some will respond
But others will not
You may respond, but the person next to you may hear nothing
It is a mystery, but God reveals to whoever He wills
Preachers are not salesmen
I cannot persuade you into anything, God alone does that
If I do persuade you, would it be fruitful?
Maybe, but if He persuades you it it will be much better
We also cannot ‘gossip the gospel,’ because only the Holy Spirit can talk people into spiritual things
But a warning, you can teach people anything, but if it’s not of the Spirit, it’s of no value
And many may know about Him
So where are you in relation to the Holy Spirit?
Ministers even teach the word, but it will be only intellectual if the Holy Spirit hasn’t enlightened it
Are you taking this into your:
Mind?
Or spirit?
One glimpse from the Holy Spirit will teach you more of Jesus in a moment than years in a college or sitting in a bible study
Tozer said: ‘You only know Jesus has much has the Holy Spirit has revealed Him to you; you cannot know Him any other way’
You may try, but it will be in vain
Without him you can do nothing
We cannot resurrect a church on knowledge alone, no more than we can resurrect our own life
We cannot build this church on know-how and man-made ideas that seem good to some
The road to hell is paved with good intentions
This is why we all need to catch the vision the Lord has for here as well as for our own lives
Stop striving over who and what, and pray for the Lord to show us by His Spirit
You need to be a part of the whole thing here or you are part of nothing
There is no place for people wanting to go it alone, or to be a spectator
But be warned, if the Holy Spirit speaks to us and we don’t obey, who is accountable and to whom?
We all should have some accountability
We all need to be obedient
But first we all need to be listening
Paul was very intellectual, one of the top 6 in the world it is claimed
He knew it not just by the text of the OT, but by the light as the Spirit revealed it
He was able to write to the Church via the Spirit
He could never have done it through his knowledge and intellect
Well he could have, but it would have been be a dead letter that each church received
What value would that be to any of us?
Christianity also does not depend on, science, the natural, the world or anything else
You cannot test or weigh spiritual things with science
What science does investigate, is not spiritual things, but earthly
Measuring and making sure it is a fair test in science cannot be done with God’s Kingdom
Illustration: Two scientists were talking about Balaam’s donkey and one said it was physically impossible for the donkey to speak. The vocal cord it has proves it couldn’t have taken place. Then the other one replied, you make a donkey and I’ll make it talk. If God can make a donkey, he can surely make it talk.
Literature tells us how to pray, how to study, how to experience miracles and the power of God etc
But not one can achieve anything in life if the Spirit doesn’t illuminate us to truth
The Holy Spirit is the teacher, and one of the gifts to the church is a teacher; it doesn’t rule out teachers, but the witness is from the inner spirit
The Holy Spirit excludes the flesh, human ability, and human intellect
It is a miraculous enlightenment
If you are trying to know more about God, ask the Lord to show you
1 Cor 2:16 For who has known the mind of the Lord? But we have the mind of Christ
So what are you going to do about this message?
He can show you more in a moment that you can learn in a lifetime
So do you have the Spirit?
Did the disciples have the Spirit before Pentecost?
Were they Christian’s then?
Of cause they were
But what was the second part of their conversion?
Pentecost
We are a Pentecostal church
Let us prove we are
Let us live as though we are
We need to put the Pentecost back in here
We need the Holy Spirit in here
And it’s not just down to me or the handful who show any evidence of the Spirit
We all should aim for spiritual things
We all should be aiming for experiencing the gifts and the fruit of the Spirit
We all should be reaching for greater heights in God
John 20:22 Jesus said, receive the Holy Spirit
This was prior to Pentecost
So what was different about what happened here, and the day of Pentecost?
There are many theories
Some say it was regeneration, but they already had acknowledged who Jesus was
Others suggest it was something like the OT prophets experienced
And there are other, but the one I agree with is this one:
I believe Jesus gave them a taste of what to expect, a sample if you like
Why wasn’t it the outpouring?
Because Jesus hadn’t ascended into heaven and the Holy Spirit couldn’t be poured out until He had
Tozer was anointed and filled with the Spirit 2 years after his conversion
It was not at conversion
In my life it was about 9 months after my conversion something else happened to me that gave me understanding
True revival has come when God’s people start to hear Him and obey Him
Not through emotionalism or crowds
Not through appeals by someone to act out something resembling the move of God
We must be filled and only by the Holy Spirit
You can be filled outside of a gospel message, it doesn’t have to be here or any other church service
But, you must at one time or another, BE FILLED!
You can get away without being filled with the Spirit, but you will have no impact in your own life, that of others, or in the life of the church on a spiritual level
You can be a good upstanding Christian and still NOT be filled with the Spirit
No Spirit = no power, no gifts, no fruit
No real understanding
You can even have something that seems like the real thing
But don’t be fooled
Make sure what you have is the real thing
What about those who don’t receive the Holy Spirit?
John 14:17a the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; They speak out of their own hearts
The world recognises its own language
He who is not of God, does not recognise us
The world cannot receive
The teaching of church is that there are two different people in the world
Different in every way
Hostile and incompatible
We cannot be reconciled to each other
It’s the natural enemy
Jesus witnessed this hostility
The disciples witnessed it
The early church new this
Contradiction of two spirits
Born twice
The one born of the flesh persecutes the one born of the Spirit
No compromising of our position or reconciling of the two
We shouldn’t have to make our Christianity appeal to the world
They are not the same as you and I if we now Christ
Christianity doesn’t need to be made acceptable to the world
The world are baptised into the spirit of the world
It’s evil and blind
Full of lies, greed, lust etc
The world hears those of the world
The world cannot receive the things of the Spirit
It takes a work of God to have this new Spirit
You know what family you belong to
We try to bring everyone together and try to find a common denominator to make people feel at ease with us
They are not of us
They are a different spirit
The Holy Spirit convicts
Unless the Holy Spirit shows you your sin you cannot or will not do anything about it
We can have a coffee with someone but having coffee with a fellow believer is far different – it’s fellowship
We have things in common
There are people religious by nature, but these are not necessarily fellow Christians
They may look alike, but inside there is a difference
They will not get on
Cain and Able
Two brothers but contrary to each other
If you are a Christian you are odd
But you cannot tell one from the other today
Intermingling and mixing
During the war, men wore the uniform of the other side to infiltrate and get into the enemies camp
We should have the life and power of God within us
We should be at war with people
We should have troubles because we are not the same
They won’t like you and won’t want you around
Do you feel rejected?
Good, then you must be light shining against the darkness
You must be salt savouring the world, not the same taste
Not everyone is bad that’s not a Christian
If fact many are really nice people
But there are lost people and found people
No matter how nice they are, they belong to a different people
No one can receive Him, because they have another spirit
They have the spirit of Adam, not of Jesus
The spirit that fell and is not restored
They may listen to us
They may think we are offensive
They may ask you lots of questions
The one who nods and smiles
Ex 33:14 ‘is it not by your going with us, that we are distinguished from all others ‘ paraphrased mine
John 14:17b but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
He will be in you = Pentecost
We shall look further this evening
