Lesson 60 – When the Spirit Is on My Tongue

2 Samuel 23:1-2

"Now these are the last words of David. Thus says David the son of Jesse; thus says the man raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel: 'The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and his word was on my tongue.'"

    This is a great proof text for the inspiration of God's word. At least a thousand years before Paul would write that all Scripture is God-breathed, David lays claim to the inspiration of the Bible. Among David's last words, at the end of a long and productive life, he makes clear that his poems were not his own, but the very words of the Spirit upon his tongue.

    While God used the hands of humanity to write the Holy Scriptures, allowing them to choose the words and grammar and context of the texts, let there be no doubt it was the touch of the Spirit upon these authors that brought about the Bible. As with David, the Spirit of the Lord chose to speak through one of humanity to all humanity. Who knows, maybe this is the only way we could relate to God's truth, being creatures fallen in sin.

    As a preacher of the Word, I cling to this same promise, that my words would be the very words of the Spirit. Otherwise, I'm just another person giving a passionate speech on a dear subject.

    Sometimes, I'm rather sure of this truth, as the very presence of God is felt in our worship services, and in particular when I'm preaching. Other times, I'm just as sure my words were not of the Spirit, as I fumble through some ill-timed joke while trying to save an obscure sermon point. But the majority of the time, I simply lay claim to David's testimony that the words I preach are the words of the Spirit upon my tongue. Surely this is truth, whether I sense the Spirit's presence or not, or whether the congregation gives any visible response.

    In a sense, God uses the mouths of believers to be his mouth. We speak the words of Christ, as ordained by the Father, through the moving of the Spirit upon our tongues. Think for a moment about how much we talk, write, text, e-mail or instant message in a given day. How much of this conversation is ordained by the Spirit and how much is ordained from ourselves?

    As believers, we need to seek the Spirit to be upon our tongues. Only this control will bring glory to our Lord.

LORD JESUS

Lord, I thank you for your words within me. May I never preach according to my own mind, but always according to your Spirit upon my tongue. Amen.

Lesson 59 – When the Spirit Flows Rivers

John 7:37-39

"On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.' But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified."

    Jesus speaks of spiritual rivers, promised to for those who thirst, those who drink, those who believe. With the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Church, rivers of living water flowing from our hearts.

    Thirst is one of those common traits of all humanity. Not only does every person know the sensation of thirst, so likely does every member of the entire animal kingdom. I see the hand of God in every living being. Our creator God made us so we must have water to survive, and our thirst reminds us to drink fully of this water.

    Likewise, a thirst for spiritual things is equally a part of those made in the image of God. We understand what it means to crave a relationship with God. We have a spiritual thirst which can only be filled when we drink fully of the waters of the Holy Spirit. Without these waters, we are dead spiritually and eternally separated from God in sin.

    Interestingly, Jesus chose to use the plural of river to describe these waters of the Holy Spirit. I suppose this was to emphasize the ever-flowing and abundant nature of the Spirit's touch. Surely it is limitless, like the flowing of the waters across Niagara or Victoria Falls. Surely the Spirit's rivers are more than enough for my every spiritual thirst.

    Just as water is the most precious commodity in a desert, so we must view the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, for this is the life-giving power of God within every believer. Let anyone who thirsts come to Jesus and drink.

LORD JESUS

Lord, I thank you for living water. May I daily drink of your rivers and be thankful for all your provision. Amen.

Lesson 58 – When the Spirit Gives Life

John 6:63

"It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life."

    Could Jesus have been any clearer? New life is given to believers from the Spirit. There is nothing within our physical existence which can bring about the new life.

    All of our moral living and good deeds are of no profit when it comes to the new birth in Christ. Our salvation comes to us as an unmerited and unearned gift of the Father, given through faith in Christ, by the Spirit's touch upon us.

    While a simple teaching, Jesus laid it out when his disciples questioned one of the Lord's most difficult teachings, where preaches of eating his body and drinking his blood for eternal life. Like me, you rightly struggle at even the thought of this. Surely our Lord doesn't want us to physically eat and drink of his body!

    Fortunately for us, Jesus takes the time to explain we're not to look to a physical interpretation, but to the spiritual. "The words that I speak to you are spirit". Without these added words, we find churches wrongly claiming beliefs that say we literally drink and eat of Christ during communion services, or that the bread and juice later become the body of Christ within us. But that's not what our Lord says we need. Our salvation is of the Spirit and his words to us were to be seen as spiritual.

    At least for now, our salvation is spiritual, coming at the touch of the Spirit. Just as we need food and drink to sustain our physical lives, the Lord gives us spiritual food and drink, bought with the death of Christ, to give us spiritual life.

    Our physical new life comes later, at the second coming of Christ, when we'll all be changed in the twinkling of an eye, given resurrected bodies of the new birth. But for now, we're born again within our spirits through the working of the Spirit in us. This is the guarantee of things to come.

LORD JESUS

Lord, I thank you for your life-giving Spirit living within me and the promise of an eternity with you in a transformed body to come. Amen.

Lesson 57 – When the Spirit Is Worshiped

John 4:23-24

"But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

    As I look at this passage closely, I'm afraid I've been misquoting it for years. While I got the words right, I surely wasn't getting the meaning right. Notice that "God is Spirit." It doesn't say "God is spirit", though that truth comes in the next sentence. Why else would we be told to worship in "spirit and truth"?

    When we come to worship God, we worship him as Holy Spirit. In the Trinity, God the Father and the Spirit are one, just as Christ and the Spirit are one, and Christ and God the Father are one. The Spirit is God, and as such, we worship the Spirit just as we would worship Jesus Christ. Don't worry, we're all confused by this one, but understand the Father, Son and Spirit are all God, revealed to us in different ways, forms, functions, authorities, etc. – But still worthy of our rightful worship.

    So how does one worship God as Spirit? Our preschoolers understand God is invisible and can't be seen, so how can we worship this unseeable being? Sometimes, I stand before our congregation and proclaim that Christ is present in our services, but how can we be so sure since we see no real manifestation of his presence?

    The answer lies in the concept of spirit.

    We're spiritual beings, much different than the rest of animal-kind, if only in that we're made in the image of God with a spirit. Some call this our soul. Others say it is our conscious. Some look to our personalities. But putting them all together, we have a spirit which is intertwined and inseparable on our part from the body. It is this spirit, our very being, which worships the Spirit.

    It seems to be clear that every human being is drawn in some way to spiritual things, searching for meaning in life by looking to the spirit. I believe this is the draw of the Spirit upon every life. It is this need to worship Spirit which opened the door for Jesus to reveal himself to the Samaritan woman and continue to reveal himself to us today.

LORD JESUS

Lord, I thank you for the mystery of the Spirit within me, living in communion with my spirit and thus my life. Your presence is comforting and reminds me of the eternal. May I never push your Spirit aside in a false belief I can live in satisfaction without you. Amen.

Lesson 56 – When the Spirit Is Given Without Measure

John 3:34-36

"For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure. The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His Hand. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on Him.'"

    I love this passage. It tells us simply that God the Father has given all things to Christ. These things, all authority and power, are given by the Spirit's touch, and are given "without measure". As surely as I write these words, Jesus is declared Lord by the Spirit's touch, fully revealed as God while living with humanity equally fully in person.

 

    The text is clear. When a person accepts the Son, they are given new life eternal because all things are given to the Son. There is no other way to salvation.

 

    Likewise, with every believer, the Spirit is also given "without measure". Don't let anyone tell you they've received a greater filling of the Spirit due to having some Spiritual gift given for the edification of the Church. Every believer receives the same measure of the Spirit's grace and power – a filling without measure. Simply put, we receive all of the Spirit when we come to faith in Christ. It is this filling without measure that brings our salvation and ushers us into everlasting life.

 

    While the evidence of the Spirit's filling may be greater in some than in others, presumably due to the nature of their Spiritual gifts, this doesn't mean we are any less filled by the Spirit. What we are seeing is either a more visible gift of the Spirit in one's life than in another, or the Spirit coming on power in one as they are being used of God. But both have the Spirit "without measure".

 

    Likewise, while the Spirit's power seems to be manifested in a greater way in some believers than others, this is not due to a limitation of the Spirit's filling. We are all fully and equally filled with the Spirit at our salvation. While this doesn't mean the Spirit's power is equally at work in us, the filling is none the less the same.

 

    I'm thankful that we don't have to worry about the Spirit being given to us according to the measure of our faith. Instead, the Lord fills us "without measure".

 

LORD JESUS

Lord, I thank you for the full filling of your Spirit. May I do nothing in my life which would cause you to withhold a manifestation of your presence in my life, always being open to be used of you in every way. Amen.

Lesson 55 – When the Spirit Blows

John 3:5-8

"Jesus answered, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.'"

    Surely, this short account is one of the most powerful passages in all the Bible. From the mouth of Jesus, we hear the words of truth in what may be their simplest form. Jesus explains that without the touch of the Spirit, no one enters into the kingdom of God. We must have a second birth, one which is from God.

    Jesus explains that just as every person is born of the body, of water if you will, those who are part of Christ's kingdom are born a second time. This time though, our birth is not of the body, for that is already past, but from a working of the Spirit in our lives. This is the second birth. This is being born again. This is the sole basis for salvation. When the Spirit comes upon a person, they are born again from on high.

    Knowing some would want to know how this is possible, Jesus explains that we accept the coming of the wind, though we don't know from where it comes. It is the same with the Spirit. It is only sufficient for us to know the Spirit comes from God upon the life of a believer. Just a real is the wind, so is the moving of the Spirit on the life of a believer. Just a wind brings refreshing, so the Spirit refreshes and makes new the spirit of the Christ follower.

    I'm thankful I don't have to know how God makes me new again, but I praise the Lord that I'm born again of the Spirit.

LORD JESUS

Lord, I thank you the sending of your Spirit in my life to bring about my salvation. I thank you for the new birth, and I thank you for a second chance to live for you. Amen.

Lesson 54 – When the Spirit Remains

John 1:32-34

"And John bore witness, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God."

    What does John mean when he says the Spirit "remained upon Him"? What does it mean for the Spirit to come upon Jesus and to stay on him in a way that John could understand?

    We could say John saw the dove remain on Jesus, but I suspect this doesn't give full testimony to deep meaning of this text. The Bible doesn't record the dove on Jesus in any other account, so I don't think we can say the dove remained. In fact, John makes it clear that was the Spirit who remained on Christ.

    I believe John saw a physical representation of the same touch of the Spirit that comes upon every believer. At the moment of our surrender to Jesus Christ as our Lord, the Spirit comes to be a part of our lives for all of eternity. John testifies that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit, and I believe this symbolized for us in the form of a dove at Christ's baptism.

    Wouldn't it be neat if we could see the Spirit in the form of a dove upon us. We'd be able to walk into any room and instantly identify those who are believers and those who still need to come to faith. We'd never have to again listed to those doubts concerning our salvation. But that's not God's way for us.

    Instead, "remains" is a word which in many ways reminds me of the concept of abiding. It is a word which signifies something that is lasting. It involves relationships. When a man and woman choose to marry, they remain so until "death do them part". Likewise, when a person enters into a contractual relationship, they remain under the terms of the contract until all actions are completed. Spiritually, when we come to faith in Jesus, our relationship with God is a lasting one, sealed at the Word of the Father by the presence of the Holy Spirit remaining upon us.

    Though we all face doubts about our faith at some point in life, you can be assured your relationship with Christ is one that remains. God is the one who sends the Spirit's touch upon your life, and thus only God can take the Spirit away. For us, the good news of the gospel is this: God ordained your salvation through Christ and will not withdraw from his relationship with you. We can run, hide, or even ignore our Lord, but in the end, every believer belongs fully to Jesus Christ. The Spirit remains.

LORD JESUS

Lord, I thank you for sealing my salvation for an eternity by the remaining presence of your Spirit. May I never doubt your presence and commit to live daily for your glory. Amen.

Lesson 53 – When the Spirit Takes Over

1 Samuel 19:20, 23

"Then Saul sent messengers to take David. And when they saw the group of prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as leader over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied." (vs 20)

"So he went there to Naioth in Ramah. Then the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on and prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah." (vs 21)

    Ever heard the saying, "God works in mysterious ways"? Well this is it! With the Spirit's touch taking over in a very real way, the armies of Saul and the king himself, are overwhelmed before the man of God by the holiness of the Spirit upon them. They came to capture David and instead found them self captured by the Spirit's power.

    Can you imagine our armies going out on the field of battle, approaching their enemies, ammo charged and at the ready, only for the soldiers and then the generals to rise and begin preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ? It's almost unthinkable, but that's exactly what happened to Saul and his men. Determined to kill David, Saul sent his men to Samuel's house to take David by force, and along the way, the Spirit came upon them. As the holiness of God was felt in their lives, they had no choice but to call out the truths of God. We don't know what they had to say, but you can bet it brought glory to God and affirmed David as king over Israel.

    In his own arrogance, Saul believed the Spirit wouldn't be able to take him down as he did his men, but even before his arrival at Ramah, he too is overcome by the Spirit, prophesying the things of God. The next few verses tell us Saul was thus made totally helpless before the man of God, taking off all his clothes and laying naked in the streets in shame before all the city. I'm sure God didn't want to humiliate Saul before the people, but in the face of arrogance, Saul left him with little choice but to take him down.

    We need to consider for a moment the power available to every believer through the filling of the Spirit. If the Spirit can take over whole armies and even the king of a nation, there is little to stop him from using us for his glory in the Kingdom of God. Though it is not God's way to frequently force his people to take action, I for one would rather God take over my life and use me, then to live on this earth and not bring him glory.

LORD JESUS

Lord, I invite your Spirit to take over my life, making me an instrument of blessing, service, praise and honor in your Kingdom. Amen.

Lesson 52 – When the Spirit Departs

1 Samuel 16:14

"But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a distressing spirit from the Lord troubled him."

    We read here clearly that when David was anointed King over Israel, God withdraws his Spirit of power from Saul and replaces it with a distressing spirit to trouble him. I don't know about you, but I've always been troubled by this passage, though when I think about it, this is due to my New Testament perspective of the abiding Spirit.

    As believers, the New Testament clearly teaches we're filled and sealed by the Spirit of God when we come to faith as a new born child of the King. This Spiritual filling is a permanent act of God upon our lives, marking us as one adopted into the family of God, joint heirs with Christ. Of course, this is a good thing, taking away our tendencies to worry about our qualifications to be loved by Christ. With salvation only coming by faith and God's work in me, I don't have to worry about losing my salvation.

    But this security of having the Spirit in me doesn't mean God won't act to take away the Spirit's power. Like Saul, when we choose a path of disobedience in our lives, we're no longer living under the shepherding of the Spirit. In a sense, we've gone astray and need to return. This is why even believers find themselves living in a way that is essentially the same as those who are unrepentant. Without the Spirit's counsel and control, we restore our human natures to lordship and find ourselves outside of the protection of the Lord.

    In the case of Saul, the Lord sends a distressing spirit upon him, presumably to cause Saul to return in obedience to the Lord. Don't read this as a bad thing, for it is a picture of God's love and grace. As a child of the Lord, God would not let him go.

    It's still this way today. In grace, the Lord is not satisfied to leave us in disobedience. Instead, God continuously calls us to return in faith, even by withholding the comfort of his Spirit and sending a spirit to cause us trouble.

LORD JESUS

Lord, give me a heart to remain faithful to you. Do not withhold your Spirit's touch from my life and give me a heart to return to you whenever I find myself in sin. Amen.

Lesson 51 – When the Spirit Sets Apart

1 Samuel 16:13

"Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah."

    You probably remember this story well. God sends Samuel to the house of Jesse to choose one of seven sons to replace a disobedient Saul as the king of Israel.

    At first, Samuel believed the oldest and most handsome of the boys would surely be king, judging the boys by humanities standards for leadership. But God had another plan in mind, making it clear to Samuel that the Lord does not see as man sees, for God looks at the heart. It was only when Jesse summoned in the family's youngest, calling in David from watching the sheep, that God gives the go ahead to anoint the new King.

    There are several lessons for the church in this text. Notice for a moment that God calls anoints David out of and in the midst of his brothers. God makes a choice for one over another. In today's "I can do anything myself world", the fact that the Lord chooses some to serve over others bothers us somewhat, but this is the Lord's way. The Spirit calls out and anoints men and women from the church to lead and serve within and over the congregation.

    I'm also thankful that God not only looks to the heart, but he knows our potential to become like Christ as we mature in our faith. Surely, the young David was not yet proven in life as a leader, but God already knew his true potential to lead the nation. Samuel couldn't see this, but God in his infinite wisdom could. Within the church today, the Spirit anoints men and women to be servant leaders, even when they've also not yet been fully proven within the church. Sometimes, I think we're too quick to judge one's ability to serve, not being able to see the heart and potential of a man s God does.

    I also like the implied promise here of the Spirit's presence. The text explains that from the time David's anointing, the Spirit is with him. David never had to lead without God's power with him. God's promise today is his abiding presence within the life of every believer. From the time of our salvation going forward, the Spirit is living within us, making us servants of the Lord. In ministry, we never go about our responsibilities alone. The Spirit anoints us with power to be used of God and remains with us in power as we are obedient to serve the Lord.

LORD JESUS

Lord, I thank you for your anointing presence, choosing us for salvation and choosing and empowering those whom you call to lead and serve within your church. Amen.

Lesson 50 – When the Spirit Brings Anger

1 Samuel 11:6

"Then the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard this news, and his anger was greatly aroused"

    If like me, you've probably wondered some about the concept of righteous anger. You know this kind. We see it in the righteous indignation of Christ when he drove the money changers out of the temple. This is the anger we are right to have.

    While most of us naturally think we're justified every time we're overcome by anger, it is important to understand that not every anger is righteous in God's eyes. In fact, most anger is probably sinful, since it is only when the anger we have is of the Lord that we can claim it to be righteous.

    One of King Saul's first acts of leadership was to call the nation to arms to defend of the city of Jabesh Gilead from Ammonite armies. Though David wouldn't come on the scene until later, this situation was a classic case of David versus Goliath. Here is the much smaller city aligned against a nation who threatened them with the choice of enslavement or destruction. The bully spoke, Saul hears of the plight of the oppressed, and under the movement of the Spirit, his "anger was greatly aroused." God led him to have a righteous anger.

    Any time the Spirit causes a believer to rise up in anger, you can bet your emotions are righteous. You see, it is God who decides the righteousness of anger. It is not a matter of taking stock, surveying the situation, and making a decision in which you think you're justified in your actions, even in being anger. Instead, it is the Spirit's filling that keys us to righteous anger.

    Without the Spirit, our anger is surely of the old nature and not of God, no matter how well justified we think our emotions and actions may be. When the Spirit is not controlling the life of a believer, we are in sin, wondering from God, and embracing our old life. In that case, our anger can never be viewed as righteous.

LORD JESUS

Lord, I invite your Spirit alone to be the master of my emotions. May I rightly rise up in anger as you lead. May I push away from every anger that is not from your presence. Amen.

Lesson 49 – When the Spirit Transforms

1 Samuel 10:6, 9-10

"Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man."

"So it was, when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, that God gave him another heart; and all these signs came to pass that day. When they came there to the hill, there was a group of prophets to meet him; then the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them."

    God's promise to Saul as Israel's first king was not for military might, or great wealth, or peace from his enemies or even wisdom to rule. Instead, his promise was for the Spirit's presence, and to prove it, Saul would be made to prophesy as a man of God.

    Saul must have been comforted to know he didn't have to take on this position of a ruler in his own limited abilities, but as "another man", one filled with the Spirit.

    Still today, the Spirit's touch turns every believer into the "another man". Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that every believer is transformed, with the old person without Christ becoming a new person of the Spirit. Thus, the Lord is always with us, with the Spirit living in our new lives in Christ. While God may not cause you to prophesy like Saul, you can be assured of the Spirit's presence in just a real way.

    This is a wonderful promise. Not only are my sins forgiven in Christ, having been taken from me and crucified, I am made so new that God considers me "another man". I can never be held responsible for my sins because I am no longer the person who sinned in the first place. That is indeed good news! The chance to literally start all over again in Christ through the Spirit's touch!

LORD JESUS

Lord, I thank you and praise you for me making me all over new again in you. May your Spirit reign in me daily so that I live rightfully as another man in you. Amen.