Jay Guin over at oneinjesus.net has observed that often there is more worship in the aisles before and after “the worship of the church” than there is from the pews during that designated worship hour. But it does not have to be that way. Today I received a beautiful thought about a way our assemblies can become less formal and more joyous. Consider these two suggestions from Wayne McDaniel, an online friend for sometime now.

Two  Suggestions  for  Churches

1 Corinthians 11:17 suggests their coming together should have been for the better – but it was for the worse. If our coming together are occasions to reflect Jesus by speaking to each other sincerely in love, we will leave with joy that we have not created – but can share. I believe these suggestions will strengthen and clarify faith for all who will speak.

First, We should pray together more. Genesis 4:26 shows praying precedes the scriptures by many centuries. The Lord said his house was to be a place of prayer for all nations (Isaiah 56:7). Jesus taught we ought always to pray, and Paul repeated that. Jesus described God’s elect as those who cry unto him day and night (Luke 18:7). Not only praying alone, but praying together changes us. Paul knew Epaphras’ strivings for his fellow Colossians, 4:12. These words have taught me: “I have learned also that I do not maintain the disciplines of prayer adequately by myself, and that I must pray regularly with others.” (Leonard Allen, Pepperdine U., May, 1994) If we are not sincere in saying we want to draw near to God, our praying aloud will come to reveal it (Luke 6:45). The more we pray together, the clearer the thoughts and intents of our hearts become to us all. In view of Acts 2:17-18, 1 Corinthians11:5 should be understood and restored. If we do not open our hearts to the Lord and each other in praying together, we remain by ourselves alone.

Second, The dialogue of the early church should be restored. In Acts 20:7&9, Luke wrote that Paul dialogued with the brethren at Troas. Even with the disorder among the Corinthians (1 Cor.1:12,14:40), Paul still desired for all of them to prophecy – to speak for God (14:1-5, 24-5, 29, 31, 39). In 14:24-5 he wrote such speaking could result in conviction and declaration God was among them. Further, we may conclude that the creation of the synagogue during the Babylonian captivity was providential preparation for the church. Jesus certainly used the opportunities for dialogue in the synagogues to speak for the Father. Finally, the new covenant priesthood of all believers suggests all have something to minister to each other and to the Lord. Please notice, “but speaking truth in love, may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, Christ; from whom all the body fitly framed and knit together thru that which every joint supplies, according to the working in measure of each several part, makes the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love.” – Ephesians 4:15-16 Speaking exercises and clarifies faith, and is necessary for each of us to grow up into Christ. Our meetings should be safe places for all brothers and sisters to speak and grow. Compare Rom. 15:14

In view of the scriptures, churches will be strengthened more by shorter teaching (up to 3), accompanied by dialogue.  Some years ago a church of some size  introduced dialogue with healthy results. The Peninsula Bible Church in Palo Alto, CA began a Sunday night “body life” service on New Year’s Eve, 1969, and continued it on Sunday nights for many years. It was first led by their pastor, Ray Stedman, but later used others as well. This time of teaching and response was the subject of an article in Christianity Today, May 21, 1971. The revised edition of Stedman’s book, Body Life was published in 1977 by Regal Books. Chapter 12 and the Afterward describes what continued to occur while Stedman wrote the revision in the Fall of 1976. The large numbers of those meetings (700-1000), disprove the idea that meaningful sharing cannot occur in large groups. I was unaware of what took place there until 2000.

First faith is expressed by confessing Jesus as Lord and Savior. That faith grows in clarity and strength by ongoing confession and proclamation that our life is hid in his.

“but having the same spirit of faith, according to that which is written,

I believed and therefore did I speak;

we also believe, and therefore also we speak.” – 2 Corinthians 4:13

The faith of Christ’s members has been silenced too long. – Wayne McDaniel   6/11/11

Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Then you will defile your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, “Away with you!” – Isaiah 30:20-22 (NIV, emphasis added)

All of us have times in our lives when we need to be called back to The Way.

Those are the times we need teachers from our past – or present – to be a voice in our ear saying, “This the the way; walk in it.” Dr. Smith sent us out from our years of study with this thought: when the times of difficult come and you are tempted to leave The Way, let the things you have learned be a voice in your ear reminding you not to turn to the right or to the left – but to continue to walk in The Way that Jesus leads you.

That is good advice for everyone, not just students graduating from a seminary or Bible college.

Most of us know the Way in which we should walk far better than we walk that path. From even farther back (more than 50 years ago), I remember a statement by the preacher at the College Church in Searcy, AK when I was an under-graduate student at Harding College. He said that for most of us, our problem is not in knowing what to do. It is in doing what we know to do, or in not doing what we know not to do.

When we discuss the Way of the Cross, our real issue is not in lack of discernment; it is in lack of commitment. We see Jesus, the suffering servant who laid down His life for us. Like Peter (and the rest of the 11 – Judas had left the group by this time) as he declared that he would never forsake Jesus, that he was ready to die with him. Jesus responded, “Before the rooster crows tonight, you will deny me three times.” Peter was insistent – but before the rooster crowed, Peter had denied his Lord three times.

Chances are, I am no better. In fact, I am not as strong as Peter! At least, Peter repented and continued as a leader among the apostles. He remembered the voice behind him telling him, “This is the way; walk in it.”

I must listen to that voice of my teachers – but I must also keep my eye on The Teacher, that is, on Jesus. While my human teachers have given me much, Jesus has given me much more. My commitment must always be to walk in His footsteps.

In 1897 Charles Sheldon published a Christian novel, In His Steps: What Would Jesus Do. It has sold more than 30 million copies and is the 9th best selling book of all time. In this novel, Rev. Henry Maxwell challenges his congregation to take a pledge to ask themselves “What would Jesus do?” before every action or decision. Acting on a pledge like that would change our lives, wouldn’t it?

That pledge is at the heart of the Christian path being called The Way. It is the Way Jesus walked.

One of those early disciples/apostles who walked with Jesus later wrote in his old age:

Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. – 1 John 2:6

Do we?

Do I?

Do you?

Filed under: Uncategorized ]]> http://committedtotruth.wordpress.com/2011/11/20/the-way-4-the-voice-behind-you/feed/ 1 27.664827 -81.515754 27.664827 -81.515754 committedtotruth http://committedtotruth.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/the-way-3-walk-in-this-way/ http://committedtotruth.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/the-way-3-walk-in-this-way/#comments Sun, 20 Nov 2011 03:22:57 +0000 Jerry Starling http://committedtotruth.wordpress.com/?p=4736 ]]> Ephesians is one of the most theological of Paul’s epistles. It is likely that it was intended as a circular letter to the churches of Asia Minor. The words “in Ephesus” are missing from some early MSS, and there are no personal messages from the apostle in this letter. Some believe that this circular letter is “the letter from Laodicea” referenced in Colossians 4:13. Note that the reference is to “the letter from Laodicea,” not “the letter to the Laodiceans.”

Be that as it may, this epistle speaks clearly about The Way of life in Christ Jesus.

After his greeting to the letter’s recipients, Paul spoke of giving glory to God in what is a single sentence in the KJV (1:3-14). God has blessed us by choosing us to be holy and adopting us as his children – “to the praise of his glorious grace” (1:6). God is glorified in the redemption we have in His Son according to the mystery made known to us. The mystery is that we who hope in Christ “might be for the praise of his glory” (1:12). Finally, God’s glory is praised because of how we are sealed by the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of our inheritance as God’s children (1:13-14).

The next paragraph is a prayer of thanksgiving for how God has given us this Spirit of wisdom and revelation that we might understand the hope to which he has called us by His own great power. That power, Paul said, is like the power God exerted when he raised Jesus from the dead and exalted Him to His own right hand (1:19-20).

Chapter 2 begins with a description of how God has raised us with Christ, who “were dead in your transgressions” while living among those who are disobedient. This resurrection with Christ, Paul says, includes our being “seated with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (2:6). This is so that He might show his great grace that He gives to us in Christ (2:7). He adds that this “resurrection” is essentially a new creation “in Christ Jesus to do good works” (2:10).

The latter part of chapter 2 addresses one of the major issues in the early church – the unity of the Jew and Gentile in one body in Christ, the two becoming one holy temple to the Lord where God is glorified. After an interlude in chapter 3 where Paul describes his work among the Gentiles, which he had by God’s grace, and where he offers a prayer for all of God’s family that they might know the unknowable love of God for us so that we might be “filled to the measure of the fullness of Christ” (3:18-19), he continues the subject of unity in chapter 4:1-16.

From that point to the end of the epistle, he describes the walk of the child of God, a walk that we have earlier described as being on the road with Jesus, following Him as he is going up to Jerusalem (Mark 10:32). This, we said, is a parable of our walk in following Jesus as we are on the road to the new Jerusalem, which is from above.

He first describes this walk negatively:

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. (4:17-19)

With bold strokes of his pen, he paints a dark picture of the Gentile world. It is a world of futility or emptiness in thinking, of darkness in understanding, and of lust for more and more indulgence in sensual behavior.

This, however, is not the way you came to know Christ. “The truth that is in Jesus” teaches us to “put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (4:20-24). He then lists attitudes and actions to “put off” and describes what is to replace these depravities in our hearts.

• Put off falsehood, and speak truth.
• Put off sins of anger, and do not let the sun go down on your wrath.
• Put off stealing, but do useful work so you can even share with others.
• Put off unwholesome talk, and use your words to build others up.
• Put off bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander and malice; instead, be kind, compassionate, and forgiving.

All of this describes a transformation of those who live as children of the devil into the likeness of Jesus Himself.

Chapter 5:1-20 addresses each of the depravities of the Gentiles and shows how following Jesus changes those into life as children of God. He takes them in reverse order to the way he listed them in 4:17-19.

Passionate lust becomes Agape Love (5:1-7). As we learn to imitate God as His children, we learn to love one another as Christ loved us “and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (5:1). This eliminates the perversion of love that is practiced among the Gentiles, for “among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed.” Passion for these things are replaced with love for one another as Christ has loved us (5:1-7).

The Light of God Is To Replace Darkness As Our Way of Life (5:8-14). ”For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light” (5:8). As Jesus said to His disciples in the Sermon on the Mount, “You (plural) are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). The dark world can see light in the children of light as they love one another as Jesus loved them. This life lived in the light, as light in the Lord, is to be consistent. “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness” (5:11). In contrast to that, “find out what pleases the Lord” and live “in all goodness, righteousness and truth” (v. 10).

Futility in Thinking Becomes Wisdom in the Lord (5:15-20). In Romans 1:20-21, Paul had earlier developed the idea of the mental futility of the Gentile mind.

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools….

Right thinking results in wisdom and understanding what God’s will is. It also leads to wisdom in action, such as being filled with the Spirit (5:18) instead of being drunk and debauched. The author of Proverbs long before this informed us that wisdom is found in walking after God, in His way. Paul here reiterates this great truth.

Ephesians 5:21 – 6:9 describes how walking in love, light, and wisdom looks in different circumstances of life – as a wife, a husband, a child, a parent, a slave, or a master. While different specific instructions are given to each of these, the principles are the same: live lives characterized by love instead of lust, of light instead of darkness, and of wisdom instead of vacuity of mind.

The epistle closes with a charge to take the entire armor of God to be able to stand against the evil one who rules in this world. Without this armor, the Christian will not be prepared to face the temptations and trials of life. Along with this armor, we are to always pray in the Holy Spirit (6:10-18).

What, then, is The Way?

It is a way of giving glory to God by following His Son. It is walking in love, in light, and in wisdom as children of God who listen to Him. It is living as Jesus lived. There is no other way of life that can qualify as The Way as that expression was used in Acts.

When people began to really live as Jesus did, the world around them took notice – and they were persecuted, as Jesus had warned them they would be.

If we were to live as Jesus lived, would we also find persecution in this Way?

It is interesting that immediately after this Jesus again told His disciples what awaited Him there:

And they were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. “We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.” – Mark 10:32-34

The astonishment of the disciples came, I believe, when Jesus had just (v. 25) spoken about how difficult it would be for a rich man to find salvation. Peter replied that they had left all to follow Jesus, to which He replied that they would receive 100 fold in this life with persecutions, but in the age to come they would have eternal life, and added:

But many who are first will be last, and the last first. – Mark 10:31

Perhaps James and John heard this, but not what Jesus had just said about what He would face in Jerusalem, for it was at this point that Mark relates their request for places at His right and left hand in His glory – where they would be first.

That request prompted Jesus to tell them they did not know what they were asking and to question them as to whether or not they would be able to drink the cup he was drinking or to be baptized with the baptism with which he was being baptized. When they said they were able, he assured them that they would drink and be baptized with what Jesus Himself was facing – but that it was not possible for Him to grant their request – for these places were reserved “for those for whom they have been prepared” (see Mark 10:35-40).

Of course, when the other apostles heard of what James and John had done, they became indignant. Jesus responded with these words that have great significance if we will understand Jesus and His Way.

You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. – Mark 10:41-45

Jesus is the Way, and His steps lead to Calvary. If we are to walk after Him, we also must walk the way of the Cross. This is not in the way of power and prestige, but in the way of serving and self-denial.

Two chapters before, when Jesus told them for the first time that He would die and be raised, Peter insisted that this could not happen to Him. He called them all together and said, in words similar to those just above:

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? – Mark 8:31-37

Walking in The Way spoken of in Acts is to walk in the Way of the Cross. This does not merely mean following Jesus as He bore His cross – but taking up our cross while denying ourselves to follow Him.

Wearing a cross as a piece of jewelry is not taking up the Cross to follow Jesus. Taking up my Cross to follow Jesus means denying myself, my desires, my wishes, my pleasures, my riches for Him and for the gospel.

That is what the disciples in Acts who served God in the Way that others called a sect did. They faced persecution. Go back to the first post and read again the half-dozen passages in Acts that use the expression “the Way” or “this Way” of the followers of Jesus. Note carefully how many of them are in contexts where persecution is in the forefront.

Did you count them? It is all six!

The Way is a way of persecution, suffering, and sacrifice. It is a way of serving, of even becoming slaves to the needs of others while giving up one’s own rights and pleasures. But this is the Way that Jesus walked – and which He invites us to walk with Him.

Our next post will look at Ephesians and how Paul there describes this Way.

Why was the early church in Acts sometimes called “THE WAY”?

But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest (2) and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. (Acts 9:1-2)

But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. (Acts 19:9)

About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way. (Acts 19:23)

I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women…. (Acts 22:4)

But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets. (Acts 24:14)

But Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of the Way, put them off, saying, “When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case.” (Acts 24:22)

These half dozen occurrences of  the expression, all in Acts and all involving Saul/Paul of Tarsus, are the only uses of this very common word with reference to the church. The Greek word is hodos, and simply means road. Strong’s definition, as found in e-sword.net is:

Apparently a primary word; a road; by implication a progress (the route, act or distance); figuratively, a mode or means: – journey, (high-) way.

When this term speaks of the church, it is figurative. It speaks of the “mode or means” of the “journey” or “way” in which the church walks.

Where, though, is the emphasis of this figure? Does the “mode or means” describe the rituals of the church? Or is it something different and deeper than the ritual performances of the disciples of Christ?

Perhaps we can get some insight into this from these words of Jesus to His disciples on the night He was arrested just before He was crucified.

I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. – John 14:6

Isaiah had prophesied hundreds of years before Jesus arrived on the earth:

And a highway shall be there,
and it shall be called the way of Holiness
the unclean shall not pass over it.
It shall belong to those who walk on the way;
even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.
No lion shall be there,
nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there.
And the ransomed of the LORD shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Isaiah 35:8-10

This is a clear reference to the time of the Messianic rule. Inaugurated when Jesus began to walk about Judea and Galilee with His disciples, it reached a fuller stage when He sent His Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Jesus said of Himself, “I am the way….” Just as he is the source of life for the child of God and the truth by which we live, He is the way, or the road, in which we walk.

Mark writes of Jesus and His disciples when they were going up to Jerusalem the last time:

They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way…. (Mark 9:32, NIV)

I like to think of this as a parable of our journey to the heavenly Jerusalem. We are on the way, with Jesus leading.

I once heard a story of travelers across the desert. When they asked their guide, “Where is the road?”, he replied, “In the desert, I am your road.”

In the wilderness of this world, in the chaos of the din and clamor that is all around us, in the midst of the corruption, lies, and evil of life – Jesus is our Way. Our safe transit through this life can come only as we walk behind Him and follow Him.

In later posts, we shall look at some implications of this great truth.

Philippians 3:10  I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

While I was teaching on this text this morning, I asked the class 
when the sufferings of Jesus began.
They indicated it was when He left Heaven to come to earth.
I asked if He had suffered in Heaven before He came to earth. They 
did not think so.
Then I reminded them that before the flood, the Scripture states 
that it grieved God that He had made man because of man's 
sinfulness.
Then the class decided that the Deity had suffered when viewing 
the sinfulness of mankind, whom He had created for fellowship 
with God.
Next, I asked if we may cause Him pain and suffering today 
when we walk willfully in our own ways instead of His.
The class agreed that we do. In thinking about this later, I 
recalled that text where we are said to crucify the Son of God 
anew and put Him to open shame.
If we are going to share in the sufferings of Jesus, one 
aspect of that will be - must be - that we are pained when 
we see the sinfulness of mankind.
We must be pained when we see a sin of division in the 
church and world. We must, especially, be pained when we 
see sin in ourselves. 
Without this pain at sin, we are not likely to have 
much motivation to help people overcome sin.
In sitting down to write this post, I thought of Jesus 
leaving heaven to come to earth because it would cause 
him more pain to remain in heaven while he witnessed us 
in sin than it would for him to leave heaven to suffer 
on earth.
What do you think? Would God's love for us make seeing 
us without Him and in sin more painful than it was for 
Jesus to die on the cross for our sin.

I recently received the following question via The Question Box on our congregation’s web page.

In ACTS 2:38-39, we read: “And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Sprit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.’”

My question is : What is the use of the Holy Spirit in our Generation?

Over the centuries there has been much confusion about the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church and of the individual child of God. Many books have been written about the Spirit, many of which are of little value since they have the words and theories of men more than the words of God.

Rather than write a new essay to answer this question, I drew on a posting on this site from January 5, 2010: Forty-one Ministries of the Holy Spirit in the Believer. It comes from Given O Blakely, a minister for the Christian Church and Churches of Christ for many years. I only list the 41 ministries below with the Scriptures as he gave them. Brother Given, in his article, also gives some of the background as to why he collected this list of ministries. You can read his entire article here.

What I do have here is his list of Scriptures about the present work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of God’s children, to all of whom He has given of His Spirit (see Galatians 4:6).

1. A PERSONAL COGNITION OF THE LOVE OF GOD – “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts BY THE HOLY GHOST which is given unto us.”  (Rom 5:5)

2. FREEDOM FROM THE ENSLAVING LAW OF SIN AND DEATH – “For THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT of life in Christ Jesus hath made 

me free from the law of sin and death.”  (Rom 8:2)

3. NOT DWELLING IN THE CONDEMNING ENVIRONS OF THE FLESH – “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that THE SPIRIT OF GOD DWELL IN YOU. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”  (Rom 8:9)

4. THE EMPLOYMENT OF THE BODY FOR GOD’S GLORY – “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies BY HIS SPIRIT that dwelleth in you.”  (Rom 8:11)

5. PUTTING TO DEATH SINFUL EXPRESSIONS – “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye THROUGH THE SPIRIT do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.”  (Rom 8:13)

6. BEING LED IN THE PATHS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS – “For as many as are led BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD, they are the sons of God.”  (Rom 8:14)

7. THE AGGREGATE CHURCH BEING A DWELLING PLACE FOR GOD – “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that THE SPIRIT OF GOD dwelleth in you?”  (1 Cor 3:16)

8. A PERSONAL AWARENESS OF BEING GOD’S CHILD – “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but YE HAVE RECEIVED THE SPIRIT of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.”  (Rom 8:15) “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth THE SPIRIT OF HIS SON into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.”  (Gal 4:6)

9. HAVING A VERY REAL TASTE OF THE GLORY TO COME – “And not only they, but ourselves also, which have THE FIRSTFRUITS OF THE SPIRIT, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.”  (Rom 8:23)

10. EFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE IN DEALING WITH WEAKNESSES –  “Likewise THE SPIRIT also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but THE SPIRIT itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. “And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because HE MAKETH INTERCESSION for the saints according to the will of God.” (Rom 8:26-27)

11. THE TESTIMONY OF A GOOD CONSCIENCE – “I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness IN THE HOLY GHOST,”  (Rom 9:1)

12. THE POSSESSION OF RIGHTEOUS, PEACE, AND JOY – “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy IN THE HOLY GHOST.”  (Rom 14:17)

13. ABOUNDING IN HOPE – “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, THROUGH THE POWER OF THE HOLY GHOST.”  (Rom 15:13)

14. THE SANCTIFICATION OF PEOPLE WHO ARE OFFERED TO GOD – “That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified BY THE HOLY GHOST.”  (Rom 15:16)

15. BEING ABLE TO LOVE PROPERLY – “Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the LOVE OF THE SPIRIT, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me.”  (Rom 15:30)

16. KNOWING WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN US IN CHRIST – “For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but THE SPIRIT OF GOD. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; THAT WE MIGHT KNOW the things that are freely given to us of God.”  (1 Cor 2:11-12)

17. WASHING, JUSTIFICATION, AND SANCTIFICATION – “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and BY THE SPIRIT OF OUR GOD” (1 Cor 6:11)

18. INSIGHTFULLY AND THANKFULLY AFFIRMING THAT JESUS IS LORD – “Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but BY THE HOLY GHOST.”  (1 Cor 12:3)

19. BEING PUT INTO THE BODY OF CHRIST – “For BY ONE SPIRIT are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”  (1 Cor 12:13)

20. HAVING A DOWN PAYMENT OF WHAT WE WILL INHERIT – “Who hath also sealed us, and given THE EARNEST OF THE SPIRIT in our hearts.”  (2 Cor 1:22) “Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us THE EARNEST OF THE SPIRIT.”  (2 Cor 5:5)

21. BECOMING A PERSONAL LETTER FROM CHRIST – “Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but WITH THE SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart.”  (2 Cor 3:3)

22. BEING PROGRESSIVELY CHANGED INTO THE IMAGE OF CHRIST – “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as BY THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD.”  (2 Cor 3:18)

23. BEGINNING NEWNESS OF LIFE – “Are ye so foolish? having begun IN THE SPIRIT, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?”  (Gal 3:3)

24. PATIENTLY WAITING FOR PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS – For we THROUGH THE SPIRIT wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.”  (Gal 5:5)

25. BEING ABLE TO RESIST THE ENCROACHMENTS OF LUST – “This I say then, Walk IN THE SPIRIT, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.”  (Gal 5:16)

26. BEING ABLE TO SPEAK PROFITABLY TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD – “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled WITH THE SPIRIT; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord”  (Eph 5:18-19)

27. A STRONG COMPETITIVE INFLUENCE AGAINST THE CALL OF THE FLESH – “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and THE SPIRIT against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.”  (Gal 5:17)

28. THE PRODUCTION OF HOLY QUALITIES WITHIN – “But the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”  (Gal 5:25) “For the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT is in all goodness and righteousness and truth.”  (Eph 5:9)

29. REAPING ETERNAL LIFE – “For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall OF THE SPIRIT reap life everlasting.”  (Gal 6:8)

30. HAVING ACCESS TO THE FATHER – “For through him we both have access BY ONE SPIRIT unto the Father.”  (Eph 2:18)

31. BEING BUILT TOGETHER FOR GOD’S DWELLING PLACE – “In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God THROUGH THE SPIRIT.”  (Eph 2:22)

32. UNITY WITH THOSE IN CHRIST – “Endeavoring to keep the unity OF THE SPIRIT in the bond of peace.”  (Eph 4:3)

33. BEING SEALED, OR MARKED, AS ONE OF GOD’S OWN – “And grieve not THE SPIRIT OF GOD, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”  (Eph 4:30)

34. EFFECTIVE PRAYING – “Praying always with all prayer and supplication IN THE SPIRIT, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”  (Eph 6:18) “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying IN THE HOLY GHOST”  (Jude 1:20)

35. ACCORD WITH THE SPIRIT – “If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any FELLOWSHIP OF THE SPIRIT, if any bowels and mercies,”  (Phil 2:1)

36. MAINTAINING WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN US – “That good thing which was committed unto thee keep BY THE HOLY GHOST which dwelleth in us.”  (2 Tim 1:14)

37. THE POSSESSING OF STRENGTHENING JOY – “And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with JOY OF THE HOLY GHOST.”  (1 Thess 1:6)

38. THE SANCTIFICATION THAT CARRIES OUT AND VALIDATES DIVINE CHOICE – “But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation THROUGH SANCTIFICATION OF THE SPIRIT and belief of the truth:”  (2 Thess 2:13)

39. INITIAL AND CONTINUED RENEWAL – “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and RENEWING OF THE HOLY GHOST.”  (Titus 3:5)

40. OBEDIENCE AND THE SANCTIFYING SPRINKLING OF CHRIST’S BLOOD – “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, THROUGH SANCTIFICATION OF THE SPIRIT, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.”  (1 Pet 1:2)

41. OBEYING THE TRUTH – “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth THROUGH THE SPIRIT unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:”  (1 Pet 1:22)

Now that the Comforter has come, all of these marvelous ministries are available to the saints of God. Oh, they do not take place automatically, or in spite of unacceptable thought and conduct. However, you are sure to experience them if you will take these words seriously: “Grieve not the Spirit of God,” and “Quench not the Spirit” (Eph 4:30; 1 Thess 5:19).

The Spirit gives us the power to live a godly life in Christ. He helps us to pray, to love, and to resist and put off evil while putting on righteousness. He identifies us as children of God. He makes intercession for us when we pray but do not know what to say. In the Holy Spirit, we find righteousness, joy, and peace that passes all understanding. It is in the Holy Spirit that we have fellowship with God – and with one another. If we do not have the Spirit of Christ we do not belong to Christ.

I hope that these Scriptures will be of some assistance to you as you continue to consider the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian today. May God bless you in your walk with Him – a walk that is also called “walking by the Spirit.”

The Sunset School of Preaching, now known as the Sunset International Bible Institute, has – for nearly a half-century – sought to train workers in the Kingdom of God. They have now begun offering a one year program for developing spiritual leaders in congregations. If you are in the Lubbock area, it is on campus. Otherwise, there is room for up to 20 congregations to join them in an interactive online broadcast of the two-evening per week studies.

This evening, I received the following announcement concerning this program – and pass it on to you for your interest.

A DREAM COME TRUE!

It is with a great deal of joy and gratitude that we share the news that a dream conceived more than three decades ago is finally being realized in the beginning of Sunset School of Biblical Leadership.

This program is designed to encourage and equip current and future congregational leaders in classes offered two evenings per week. Limited space is available on a first-come basis in our Sunset classroom for those living in the Lubbock area, but up to 20
congregations anywhere can register to tune-in live to our interactive broadcast via internet.

A curriculum of 8 courses will be taught by outstanding SIBI faculty members presenting both textual and practical leadership principles and practices. Participants can complete the curriculum and receive a Certificate of Biblical Leadership in one school year, attending two evenings per week, or in two school years, attending one evening per week.

You can get more information and learn how to register for classes or set up an interactive classroom in your congregation at www.sibi.cc or just reply to this email and let us know of your interest.

This school was begun by the legendary Cline Paden who was the leader of the school during my days there as a student from 1965 – ’67. Literally thousands have been taught in this school and its affiliate branches around the world.

I am sure that this program of elder training will be among the very best available anywhere.

It’s not always what we say, but can be how we say it.

A soft answer turns away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger.

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.

How many other proverbs or even extra-biblical sayings advise us on how to frame our words to they will be effective.

Yet, we do not want to change our presentation of the good news of Jesus. We have our set way of doing it – and if someone suggests we can restate how we present it, it’s also most as if we had denied the gospel itself!

Saying the same thing in a positive way is not wrong. Hard sayings can be received when they are framed in a positive way. There is a big difference between saying, “When I look at you, time stands still” and saying “Your face stops my clock.”

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