Receiving the Holy Spirit

Apollos is described by Luke in Acts 18 as an eloquent man, mighty in the scriptures, instructed in the way of the LORD, fervent in spirit, one who taught diligently things of God and spoke boldly in the synagogue.  These are stellar attributes, but Apollos only had partial understanding of God's ways because he stopped short of the Gospel.  Apollos only knew the baptism of John and thus his teaching was incomplete.  He preached a baptism of repentance that prepared the way to receive Jesus Christ as LORD and Messiah.  While Apollos responded positively to Aquila and Priscilla who explained the way of God more perfectly, it likely resulted in people missing key doctrinal truth required for salvation.  The following chapter illustrates the repercussions of people omitting important doctrines in teaching.

Paul encountered believers in Ephesus and asked them if they received the Holy Spirit since they believed.  They responded they were not even aware there was a Holy Spirit, for they had submitted to John's baptism--one of repentance.  After being baptised in the name of Jesus Christ, Paul laid his hands on them and they received the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus is the One who baptises with the Holy Spirit, and it was important they received the word of God in preparation to receive the Holy Spirit in fullness and operate in spiritual gifts.  I have no doubt these believers were genuine believers, regenerated by the indwelling Holy Spirit.  Yet they had never received Him in fullness because they had not even heard of Him and thus did not ask God in faith according to knowledge.  The foundation of our faith is not signs or wonders but on Jesus Christ by faith in agreement with the word of God.  Having been born again by faith in Jesus, the gift of the Holy Spirit in fullness received by the 12 believers in Ephesus is available to all Christians today.

Paul presented an accurate summary of the Gospel to the Philippian jailer when he said, "Believe on the LORD Jesus Christ and you will be saved."  But that was not the end of the conversation or necessary instruction.  Acts 16:32 reads, "Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house."  Knowledge of God and His word preceded being born again and receiving salvation.  This is also true concerning baptism with the Holy Spirit:  it is by God's grace through faith we receive the Holy Spirit to be His witnesses and operate in spiritual gifts He gives according to His will.  A large portion of believers are ignorant of this doctrine and its relevance to them.  Others have heard of being baptised with the Holy Spirit and have no desire to be for countless reason.  Still others have a desire to receive and use a particular spiritual gift, refusing to present themselves before God in humble submission.  Believers can develop a jaded view towards the whole idea of baptism with the Holy Spirit that resembles the woman who was pleased with king Solomon dividing a baby in two because she didn't have her own baby.  I can say this because at one stage I resembled that poor, envious woman.

The desire to receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit according to a human prescription that goes nowhere can lead to all manner of responses--coldness, envy, spite, frustration and despair--because it is an impossible code to crack when people do so to accomplish their own ends.  God's wisdom and grace is shown in not immediately granting the demands or desires of such a one, and in doing so reveals their desperate need for Him to even exhibit the fruit of the Spirit Who indwells them and walk in love towards the brethren.  God will patiently go to great lengths to restore embittered and frustrated souls to Himself, even if 40 years in the wilderness or 70 years of captivity is required.  Jesus said in Luke 11:13, "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"  The gift of the Holy Spirit is for us, our children and as many as our LORD will call.  God has granted Jew and Gentile repentance to life, and Jesus Christ baptises believers with the Holy Spirit to this day.

Praise the LORD God is gracious, compassionate and patient with us!  Countless hardened sinners have been born again, made new creations by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Also many proud, hardened believers have been baptised with the Holy Spirit by His grace, and my life is a testimony of God's love, mercy and faithfulness.  Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?  If you're not sure, today can be the day if you will meet His conditions to ask believing and receive according to His word.

Our Suffering Saviour

"Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. ¹⁸ For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted."

Hebrews 2:17-18

God came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ and experienced life as a common person.  Conceived by the Holy Spirit in the virgin Mary, Jesus was carried in the womb and born into this world as a helpless, crying baby.  Whilst we learn often by failure and correction, our righteous Saviour learned obedience by the things He suffered (Hebrews 5:7-8).  He suffered falls, injuries, trials, rejection and grief, yet He continued fervent in prayer and faithful to intercede for others.  Jesus was put to the test in every possible way and has overcome all, our glorious and risen King.

The writer of Hebrews wrote that Jesus was in all things like His brethren, in a human body with physical limitations, under the authority of Joseph, Mary and the Law of Moses.  The book goes on in great detail to show how Jesus was greater than the high priests who offered the sacrifices of clean animals according to the Law for He once for all offered up Himself to provide atonement for sin.  The sacrifice of animals needed to be repeated daily and annually to cover sins, and Jesus established an infinitely better covenant in His own blood that rendered the Law obsolete as a means to approach God.  Jesus opened up a new and living way to fellowship with God by grace through faith in Him that provides spiritual rebirth, forgiveness and pardon of sins, and eternal life.

Verse 18 explains an important principle which is a source of comfort for us:  because Jesus suffered, He is able to help us.  Jesus faced every manner of temptation to sin possible, and yet He remained without sin.  He was put under extreme pressure as He was put to the test and never failed.  Spiritually speaking it would be like putting an object into a hydraulic press and the press breaking from the incredible pressure it created--and the object coming out without a scratch.  But Jesus was not some impervious object:  He was a person made of flesh with feelings, emotions and desires.  With knowledge comes sorrow, and Jesus knew the heart and thoughts of every person.  He was tempted to use His power as God to gain glory for Himself, to humiliate others, to boast in pride, to give place to worry and fear, to satisfy the desires of the flesh or seek comfort rather than submitting to God's will when it meant suffering.

If Jesus had not suffered being tempted, He would not be able to aid us who are tempted.  A prince in a palace who eats royal dainties and is waited on by attendants has no idea of what it is like to live in abject poverty and go hungry for days because there is no food.  Jesus knows what it is like to be hungry, thirsty, tired and sorrowful.  He has personally experienced every temptation to sin and overcame all without sin, so He is able to lead us in the trail He blazed in righteousness.  In fact, Jesus had an infinitely greater capacity to be tempted than anyone else because of the incredible divine power and unlimited resources at His disposal.  We are tempted to lie rather than tell the truth while Jesus could have been tempted to wipe a person's memory of an event, cause them to fall into a coma or drop dead--when He was in another city.

Jesus suffered being tempted, but He did not resist with clenched teeth only focused on Himself.  He was joyful, patient, gentle and kind--all the fruit of the Spirit evident through His life continually even in trials.  He did not commit sin in thought, word or deed and did not leave any good His Father in heaven directed Him to do undone.  Even when it meant going to the cross as a sacrifice for sinners, Jesus did so for the joy that was set before Him.  He wondrously lay down His will in Gethsemane to do the will of the Father and was lifted up on a cross like Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness.  1 Corinthians 10:13 says, "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."  With every test and temptation God allows He also makes the way of escape, and Jesus is the Way.  It is Jesus who helps us when we are tempted to bear it even though we suffer, for He is our merciful and faithful High Priest Who suffered for us and has overcome.

Guided by God's Eye

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. ⁹ Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you."

Psalm 32:8-9

During Friday night Bible study we discussed Psalm 32, and these were standout verses for me that prompted useful conversation.  God promised to instruct and teach His people in the right way to go and would guide them with His eye.  It was not a situation where all the instruction was given beforehand and then, once the examination is passed, His people could fall back on their qualifications.  Instead, God offered a relationship with His people to be lead by Him in real time to know where to go and what to do, a life available to Christians who are filled with the Holy Spirit.

Our eyes are one of the most expressive, non-verbal means of communication we possess as human beings.  By opening our eyes extra wide for a split second or by winking we can send a message to someone who maintains eye contact with us.  A king seated at his table during a meal attended by servants who knew what to look for would spring into action with a subtle look from their master.  An abrupt lift of the chin accompanied by looking at an empty glass was enough to move a servant to refill it.  While playing sport, without speaking a word, our eyes can communicate effectively to help our teammates anticipate our moves and be in the correct position.

On the other hand, horses and mules cannot communicate in this visual fashion.  While words can be useful training aids, horses naturally communicate through body language and touching.  They respond to the tone of spoken words rather than recognising the meaning of the word itself.  During an equestrian dressage competition, riders are not permitted to speak or use verbal commands and will receive a penalty for doing so.  God told His people not to be like the horse or mule without understanding, that needed to be harnessed with bit and bridle or else they would run away.  No horse or mule will do profitable work without first being extensively trained to respond properly to the bridle and submit to being led.  God's desire is for His people to have understanding of Him and willingly look to Him for guidance--without needing to bridle us with afflictions and troubles to keep our interest.

So how can we maintain eye-contact with God we cannot see with our eyes?  The first part of James 4:8 says, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you."  We are to draw near to God with eyes of faith, learning of our Saviour in God's Word, desiring and choosing to walk in His ways.  Because we are spiritually regenerated by the Holy Spirit by faith in Jesus, God dwells within us and guides us into all truth.  In one sense He looks through our eyes at the world around us and opens our understanding to perceive needs and opportunities to minister His love and grace we were once blind to.  Instead of fitting us with a bit and bridle of Law, we are governed by His love, righteousness and compassion to follow Christ's example of living out the Gospel by the leading of the Holy Spirit.  Because of the relationship we have by faith in Jesus, we are instructed and led by Him in real time by His grace.

Through God's word and the Word that became flesh, Jesus Christ, we can personally know God.  By the Gospel we are brought to an understanding beyond what Job said in Job 42:5:  "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You."  God created ants to follow one another and do profitable work for the benefit of all without a guide or ruler by chemical pheromones invisible to our eyes, and God makes Christians new creations He guides, enables and empowers to be fruitful for His glory by the indwelling Holy Spirit.  Let us be those who seek and understand God, guided by His eye.

Commended to the LORD

"So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed."

Acts 14:23

Paul and Barnabas visited churches they were instrumental in establishing by the preaching of the Gospel, and they appointed or ordained leaders in every church.  Among this group there were those who laboured in the word and doctrine as pastors do to this day, overseers who provided sound teaching from the word of God.  As a newborn baby needs to drink milk regularly, so believers needed to have their faith in Jesus Christ grounded in His word, promises and new covenant.  Christians of a Jewish background were pressured to return to the Law as their measure of righteousness that could never save, and there was no shortage of stumbling blocks facing Gentiles as well.

These elders were appointed in every church with prayer and fasting, an acknowledgement that man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.  As they communed with God concerning the elders raised up by the LORD, their reliance for wisdom and life itself was according to God's wisdom and word.  God spoke the words of life, about this new and living way to approach God through faith in Jesus Christ.  Through His sacrifice on Calvary, Jesus provided access to the presence of God for every Christian:  the torn veil in the Temple that revealed the Most Holy Place alluded to His torn flesh that makes fellowship possible by faith in our Great High Priest Jesus.  Because Jesus lives Hebrews 4:16 exhorts, "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

After prayer and fasting, Paul and Barnabas "commended them to the LORD in whom they had believed."  They commended or entrusted, committed them to the care of their living God who saved them, would protect, help and cause them to be fruitful.  This was a very important step for all involved.  It was faith in God that would prevent Paul and Barnabas from worry, fear and meddling with believers who needed to learn to depend upon God for everything.  Only God could guide, provide, protect and strengthen the Body of Christ the church to be all He created us to be.  The fact they prayed and fasted shows Paul and Barnabas were not passive or careless, but they and the elders withheld food from themselves in reliance upon God going forward.  God made every member of the church members of one another by faith in Jesus, and the health of their relationships were maintained with Jesus at the centre.

Paul and Barnabas avoided the pitfall of potentially stunting spiritual growth by fostering dependence upon them personally by commending fellow believers to the LORD with continued support.  We can entrust our pastor, spouse, friends and children into God's most capable care and hands, knowing He loves them more than we ever could and His plans and purposes are better than ours.  We too can pray and fast, denying ourselves necessary food because we trust the LORD to meet all of our needs.  To throw a child to the wolves would be heartless and brutal, but no genuine child of God is without the protection and help of the Good Shepherd Jesus Christ.  Praise the LORD we can support and intercede on behalf of one another, just one of many ways we can avail much--praying, fasting and entrusting others to God--rather than worrying or meddling.