May 2007 Lectionary
The dimensions of the Spirit’s
Work:
A. W. Tozer, well known
Christian writer and preacher was once asked a question:
What difference does the Holy
Spirit make ?
His answer was "If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the
church today, 95 percent of what we do would go on and no one would know the
difference. If the Holy spirit had been withdrawn from
the New Testament church, 95 percent of what they did would stop, and everybody
would know the difference."
There’s two parts to what he
says: Speaking about the Church today, he says:
If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95 percent of
what we do would go on and no one would know the difference
Speaking about the Church in
the New Testament he says
If the Holy spirit
had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95 percent of what they did
would stop, and everybody would know the difference."
Let’s think about that for a
moment……….
When we look at the Bible, we see that the
Bible speaks of the Holy Spirit moving and working from the first chapters of
Genesis, moving over the surface of the waters, to the last page of the book of
Revelation… where the Spirit calls out “come !” But the most dynamic work of
the Holy Spirit we see in the New Testament, particularly in the Book of Acts:
In Acts 1 and 2 we see all the
apostles and the Church gathered together in
in
the
Holy Spirit is poured out upon the believers……
and the Church springs into new life in the Spirit .
And then in the book of Acts
from the first chapter to the 28th and last…. we find the Holy Spirit working
in power……..driving the Church as it spreads.
The Spirit tells Philip ‘Go to
that chariot and stay near it’ and Philip goes and speaks to the Ethiopian
court official (8.29); the Spirit tells Peter at Caesarea ‘Simon, three men are
looking for you, and so Peter meets the Roman Centurion Cornelius who is
converted (10.19); the Spirit tells Agabus to announce that a famine is coming
on the whole Roman Empire, so the Church is prepared (11.28); the Spirit sets Paul and Barnabas
aside and they are sent off to take the gospel out towards the West and the
Mediterranean, The Spirit inspires the Council of leaders in Jerusalem to
advise and encourage the Church as it grows and blossoms all over Judea, and
Samaria and beyond (15.28) .
And we could go on to look at
all the times recorded in the book of Acts where the Spirit gave renewed
courage and fresh strength to the Christian community. So yes, what A.W. Tozer says about the Church
in the New Testament seems right,
If the Holy spirit had been withdrawn from the
New Testament church, 95 percent of what they did would stop, and everybody
would know the difference."
That’s certainly true of what
we read about the Church in the book of Acts:
the
dynamic, the power of the Church there comes from the life and power of the
Holy Spirit……
But was A.W.
Tozer right when he said:
If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95 percent of
what we do would go on and no one would know the difference ?
I wonder………
You know, it is quite common in
today’s Church to look
at
the Book of Acts,
and read there of how the Holy
Spirit is poured out on the Church, shaping, filling the Church, in creative
power……and many long for that renewal………rightly so……
but
there are more dimensions to what the Spirit does………
Where the book of Acts speaks
of the Spirit strengthening, carrying, driving the life of the Church,
the
gospel of John proclaims the work of the Spirit
in
deepening the life of the Church
where
the book of Acts shows us the wonderful
distances the Church spans and reaches in the life of the Spirit,
the
gospel of John shows us the wonderful
truth the Church grasps and touches in the life of the Spirit
Here is the Word of Jesus in
the gospel of John, chapter 16
about
the Holy Spirit, and what the Spirit does:
v.13: when he, the Spirit who reveals the truth
about God comes, he will lead
you into all the truth.
Where the book of Acts speaks
of the dynamic power of the Spirit, the outgoing Church building power - Here in
John is another dimension to the work of the Spirit, that is - the work of the
Spirit within us, deepening us.
Last year I was speaking to a
man whose great passion is for the Church in
John declares to us that the
other great dimension of the Spirit’s work is depth…..
depth
as the Spirit brings us to know Jesus Christ,
and draw us into fellowship with Him.
What then is the work of the
Spirit in John’s gospel ?
Well we only have time to
think about this verse:
Jesus says: 13
when he, the Spirit who reveals the truth about God comes, he will lead you
into all the truth.
What does this mean ?
It means that as the Spirit works
in us, He leads us into all the truth
and
our knowing becomes deeper and broader……….
In Ephesians 3, Paul says:
I pray that you together with all God’s people may have the power to
understand how broad and long, how high and deep is Christ’s love………
Here, Paul is praying for the
Spirit’s work in
praying for that power to
understand how broad and long, how high and deep is Christ’s love – and that
power comes from the Holy Spirit working within us………
To put it simply,
when
our faith deepens and broadens, we know the Spirit has been at work in us……..
when
the Spirit works in us…….. our faith deepens and
broadens
Sometimes, on a walk through
the woods, we might see pools of sunlight among the trees and we know that all
of them have one source in the light of the sun above. Just so the Spirit is at
work in us to bring together
the
parts, the fragments of our faith,
into
the light of Jesus Christ, into the fullness and the wholeness that is in
Him………..
Eugene H. Peterson, a well know
Christian writer says this:
it is not more knowledge we require, but better vision to see what has
already been given to us in Jesus Christ.
Well, the power to understand what has already been given to us in Jesus
Christ.
comes
from the Holy Spirit working within us………
Once again, to put it simply,
when
our faith deepens and broadens, we know the Spirit has been at work in us……..
when the Spirit works in us…….. our faith deepens and broadens.
Back to that question: was
A.W. Tozer right when he said:
If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95 percent of
what we do would go on and no one would know the difference ?
I am not so sure………….
if the Spirit did not bring to us all the treasures of the Gospel……… the treasures of Jesus Christ…….. we would know the difference immediately……
For you see, all our faith,
all that we know of Jesus Christ,
is
given to us……….by the Spirit………
whenever
our faith deepens and broadens, we know the Spirit has been at work in us……..
whenever
the Spirit works in us…….. our faith deepens and
broadens
This is why our prayer must be
this: that the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit
may
work among us ……..not that we be a mile wide and an inch deep,
but a mile wide and a mile……..no….. many miles deep.
For the Spirit’s work within
us, as the New Testament declares
is to
lead us to understand how broad and long, how high and deep is Christ’s love
AMEN