There are some verses in Scripture that stand out as having special meaning and glory. As I think of the Holy Spirit and His work in us, I am deeply grateful! There is no human being who can perform such precision by separating “thoughts and intentions of the heart” as the Spirit (Hebrews 4:12). He reveals openly what we thought was secret and inflicts immediate judgment (Acts 5:1-11).
These and many other attributes of the Spirit which cause us to bend our hearts in worship for His amazing work. But there is another work of the Spirit that is seldom spoken of by preachers or teachers. His building a dwelling place for God. Read and reread these verses. “Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:20–22). From these verses I sense that all the Spirit’s work in believers is toward this goal - that the Church become a true temple where God the Father and Jesus the Son are worshipped in holiness. No physical building can do this. It must be a spiritual work where everything gives way to the control and impulse of the Spirit. It is a continual work of the Spirit that we must not hinder.
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It is totally understandable that the world has a problem with race issues. The reason is that they have never understood God’s mystery. This mystery was revealed to the Church through Paul and if understood would immediately solve every race problem in the world.
“This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (Ephesians 3:6). In the previous chapter, Paul says that Christ “is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility” (2:14). This could never be done by any human institution no matter how powerful. It took Christ through His sacrifice to destroy the enmity, hostility, and division that separated people. This truth makes it evident that anyone who is not “in Christ” cannot enjoy this unity. It is only “through the Church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 3:10). As these powers in the universe look at the Church, they should see this mystery at work. DO THEY? We may be very critical about racial tension in the world, but I challenge us to look at ourselves and ask if we are being the witness and model of this mystery. Often, we excuse division in the Church rather than taking seriously God’s design and purpose for unity in the Church and seek the Spirit’s help to live it out in His power. Let’s start today! Sometimes we read a statement by Paul that makes us stop and realize how profound it is. He has put legalism and being justified by works out of any possible standing before God. A prime example is Galatians 2:16, “we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Christ Jesus.”
Paul was also careful not to boast in himself or in anything other than Jesus Christ. That is why he says, “our sufficiency is from God who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:5-6). And just to make sure his statements lacked clarity, he adds, “For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” I have seen this death verdict happen in my experience in so many ways. Having been brought up in a very legal and spiritually dead sect, I know how legalism kills the truth of the gospel and makes people believe that if they just follow what the leader tells them, they are okay. This is a lie and sad distortion and deception. The Spirit who is also “the Spirit of truth” (John 14:17; 15:26; 1 John 4:6), is “the Spirit [who] gives life.” I feel a deep passion in me to plead with every believer to let this Divine Person cause life to spring up in them through submitting to His control and work in you. NO other resource can produce what He gives freely. DO NOT let another gospel steal the joy of His work and presence! For those of you who pray for us on a regular basis, we want to bring you up to date on the trip to Turkey. It was planned, as you read a few days ago, for Randy to be in Turkey September 10th to 20th. Sadly, Nigeria will not allow persons from Turkey to arrive and stay in Nigeria.
Randy has rescheduled Turkey at the end of his trip to Burkina Faso and Nigeria. If you receive our newsletter or keep a record of trip dates, please change the Turkey dates October 11th to 18th. None of these last-minute changes dampen our spirits of shake our confidence in what God will do through NFI. Please keep Randy and his trip in your prayers. “O our God…We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you”” (2 Chronicles 20:12). “Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright of heart!” (Psalm 36:10). We will give the Burkina Faso dates and details before September 20th. Pray with confidence in God’s perfect work and ways. He will complete what He has started (Philippians 1:6). When someone refers to the “fruit of the Spirit,” we often relate that to Galatians 5:22-23, and this is very true. But I believe the fruit of the Spirit is much more than that list. In addition to these characteristics that come from His work in us, the mark of His work is seen in other ways.
There is no other organization or institution among people anywhere in the world where you can sense an immediate relationship or kinship than when you meet another Christian. You may not be able to speak or understand their language, but the bond we have in the Spirit is self-evident. This is another proof of Paul’s words in Ephesians 4:4; “there is one body and one Spirit.” Note that he puts these two ideas together. This principle confirms what I mentioned a few days ago regarding 1 Corinthians 12:13, that the Spirit has baptized us into one body which is the Church. If we put the same emphasis on this “oneness” as God has, can you imagine how much faster the gospel would spread and how much greater our worship would be, just to mention two things. This is the fruit of the Spirit’s work just as much as the list in Galatians 5. I challenge you to think of other areas of our lives and ministry that would see His fruit if His work in us was UNHINDERED? How would marriages, families and workplaces be transformed if His fruit in us was unleashed? With only a few days away, I want to bring you part of Randy’s prayer guide for the next trip to Turkey where he and Ryan will introduce God’s Plan for His Disciples. “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Timothy 2:1-2). What a joy to go on a mission trip to Turkey with my son, Ryan! Like Paul with his “spiritual” son, doing ministry with my true son is more than amazing! Our schedules rarely line up together, but God worked it out so here we go! Please pray for both of us as we lead a training event with Iranian refugees and look for open doors to work with other groups. We had originally planned to work with another group in Turkey Sept 16-19, but they canceled due to Covid concerns. (For any new to the training we do, GPHD stands for our discipleship material called “God’s Plan for His Disciples” and GPHC represents our leadership development material, “God’s Plan for His Church.) Sept 10-12 Travel to Yalova, Turkey Sept 13-15 Introduce GPHD & GPHC to Iranian refugees Sept 16-19 Exploring future ministry & time with Ryan Sept 20 Ryan departs for USA; I depart for Burkina Faso From the very beginning of Paul’s ministry, he fought against the tendency of some to bring the Church into bondage through the law. In Acts 15, Luke records the Jerusalem Council where Peter, James, Barnabas, and Paul convinced the Early Church that we are “saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus” and must not add a yoke of bondage.
In many of Paul’s letters, beginning with Galatians, he argues that “for freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore” (5:1). The alternative is we “submit again to a yoke of slavery.” For many this kind of freedom is too risky, and they fear being dragged by their own flesh into all sorts of sinful habits. Paul makes this stunning statement in 1 Corinthians 3:6, “the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” When we walk in the Spirit and our lives are being led by Him, His power produces the life of Christ in us so we do not carry out those sinful desires. Do you know the power of Christ through the Spirit working in you? If not, ask the Spirit to reveal who you are in Christ and teach you to live in that freedom. The common thought among church-going people is that once they are saved, they join a church by attending a membership class and then they are officially accepted as a member of the church. If they leave that church they can withdraw, transfer or be removed from the membership role.
Is this biblical? Many church leaders argue that this form of membership produces a sense of responsibility for giving financially, serving in the church in some capacity, and giving the church the right to exercise discipline if necessary. Again, I ask the question, is this a biblical approach to membership and does it accomplish what some leaders claim it does? I will let Scripture give the first answer. “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:12–13). These phrases were underlined purposely for several reasons.
If proper teaching were done by using these and other verses on how the Church is formed by God, all the concerns regarding individual responsibility would be addressed with the authority of Scripture. We should be less fearful of problems by members if we use Scripture as our authority. Many question whether they or other people are saved. When seeking to determine if someone is saved, they often look for evidence of “fruit” in their daily walk. Meaning, they are looking for the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).
Paul suggested that believers in Rome do a little self-examination. “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him” (Romans 8:9). If the answer to the question whether you or someone has the Spirit dwelling in them is “no,” then you are not saved and you do not belong to Jesus. Without the Spirit dwelling in you, there is no salvation. This agrees with Jesus’ words in John 7:38-39. “Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this He said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:38–39). Jesus makes it clear that believing in Him causes an immediate reception of the Holy Spirit. There is no delay, second blessing or waiting for baptism. It is immediate! The Spirit immediately provides confirmation that you belong to Jesus. As we have examined what contributes toward unity in the Church, we have seen that character has a lot to do with contributing to that unity. At the core of unity is the Holy Spirit. Be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). It is HIS unity, not ours.
Either we are contributing toward this unity, or we are detracting from it. To a church that was worried about when the Lord was returning or if He had already come for the Church, Paul says, “Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19). The word “quench” means to “stop a burning or extinguish a fire.” He will never lead us into subjects that He is not the Author of. That is a very descriptive way of saying that when the Spirit is seeking to promote HIS unity in us, we may respond in such a way that we “extinguish HIS fire” in us. We normally do not think of ignoring the prompting of the Spirit as quenching His work in us, but that is what is happening. Imagine the powerful influence the Church could be in this world if we were much more sensitive to the prompting, leading, and work of the Spirit in us. It is little wonder that Paul wants us to be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit” so His power and work prevails everywhere we go. |
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