Knowing the 'shared life' of the Trinity

The Spirit comes to give us revelation... he causes us to know things we could not know otherwise. But there is another wonderful truth wrapped up in this – and it is that every time God acts in our life it is so we will know something more about him.  His power, his healing, his provision, his rescues… are all God’s way of revealing himself. The point of the countless works of the Spirit in us is to reveal more and more of who the Father is and who Jesus is. If we are touched by the Spirit in worship, that is because he wants to reveal things to us. Don’t be satisfied with things happening to your body, or even your heart… ask the Lord ‘What do you want me to know about you this time?’  He always wants to reveal more of himself.

It is God’s nature to reveal himself. Because that is the nature of love – love seeks to be known. And God is the author of love. He reveals himself in creation – he reveals himself through the Scriptures – and through each other – and through life experiences…

This is why the Spirit immediately led the disciples outside to speak to the people in the streets, and not have a day of praise together in their upper room – he wanted to reveal himself to the people in Jerusalem – he had been waiting for this day for centuries!  And he did it wonderfully and powerfully through those Spirit-soaked disciples.

And here is something else to notice….Jesus came to make the Father known.  He said that over and over. And he said that when the Spirit comes he will not speak of himself but will speak of me… of Jesus.

Are you aware that each member of the Trinity will point you to another one?  Jesus speaks of the Father – the Spirit speaks of Jesus, and the Father speaks audibly at the Transfiguration and says ‘This is my Son whom I love, listen to him.’ We cannot point to things that are happening and say ‘This is the Spirit at work’ and disconnect them from the nature and ways of the Father or of Jesus. The Spirit will reflect and reveal Jesus, in the same way that Jesus reflected and revealed the Father.

This is a fascinating glimpse into how the fellowship of the Trinity live in love together. They always operate as a team – not as individual parts of the Trinity.  And it leads us into our third key mark of the Spirit.

We have observed the boldness or confidence the Spirit brings, in prayer, in witnessing about Jesus, in a courageous Kingdom life.
And we have seen that what Jesus promised would happen - did happen. They knew things about Jesus and the purposes of God, and their own place in the love of the Father that they could not have known apart from the Spirit of Truth showing it to them. And this changed their prayer and their ability to speak of God.

But there is something else very wonderful going on here. The whole nature of their life together as disciples of Jesus has changed.

We find this described in Acts 4 immediately after they prayed that bold prayer and they were filled again with the Spirit and spoke the word of God fearlessly.

Vs 32 – 35  And all the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own; but they shared everything they had…. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money and put it at the apostle’s feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.”

And earlier in Ch.2 it says they devoted themselves to learning together, eating together in each other’s homes, praying and breaking bread together.

There was an extra-ordinary sharing of their lives…both the good and the bad – the joys and the hardships…. which is what the word ‘fellowship’ means. A common life… where what is mine is yours. A family life – sharing everything – even to the point of selling property or land and giving to any in need.

What is happening here?  Where does all this freedom to give and share come from? This is so beautiful… this is such an insight into the work of the Spirit. We have had little glimpses of this here and there but in this it is fully demonstrated.

The life of God that comes to us through the Spirit being poured out on us – is ALWAYS a shared life. For the Father, the Son and the Spirit share their life together all the time.

We hear Peter saying, “ Jesus – exalted to the right hand of the Father – has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and poured him out on us… and this is what you are seeing now.”  Father, Son and Spirit – working together.

When Jesus is telling the disciples that the Spirit of Truth will come he says “When he comes you will know I am in my Father, and you are in me.”  The Spirit, the Son and the Father all reveal themselves to us. It is not one, or the other, but all three.

They have a completely shared life. They do nothing on their own as separate persons. They never act independently of each other. They reveal - even in this story of the pouring out of the Spirit their unity, their nature of working together in their plan to redeem this world they love so much.  It is the most astounding picture when you begin to explore it.

Let me give you a wonderful quote from Baxter Kruger again:

“The life that God lives as Father, Son and Spirit, is not boring and sad and lonely; there is no emptiness in this circle, no depression or fear or angst. Their shared life is a life of unrestrained fellowship and openness, fired by wholehearted self-giving love and mutual delight.

Such love, giving rise to such togetherness and fellowship, over-flows in unbounded joy, in infinite creativity and unimaginable goodness.

The gospel begins here with this God and with this divine life, for there is no other.

Before time dawned and space was called to be, before the heavens were stretched out and filled with a sea of stars, before the earth was summoned and filled with people and life and endless beauty, before there was anything, there was the Father, Son and Spirit and the great and beautiful dance of shared life. (This is why we love teams that accomplish wonderful things as they work together. We were not created to live a solitary, guarded, inward looking life.)

The amazing truth is that this Triune God, in staggering and lavish love, determined to open the circle and share their unique life with others. This is the one, eternal and abiding reason for the existence of the universe and human life within it. There is no other God, no other will of God, no second plan, no hidden agenda for human beings. From the beginning, God is Father, Son and Spirit, and from the beginning, this God has determined not to exist without us. “

I find that an astounding thought. This unparalleled fellowship of Father, Son and Spirit are saying ‘Come and join us’.  Everything Jesus did was to bring us into this shared life of their love. Everything the Spirit does on the earth is to draw us and bind us into this shared life of our three– in one God.

You see – those first believers who together experienced such a wonderful shared life were reflecting the very life that Father, Son and Spirit share in together. They couldn’t help it. It was natural to them now.  And this is precisely what the Spirit longs to do for us.

We sadly, have a very western, individual view of the Spirit and the life of God’s people. But that can be washed away by the Spirit filling our hearts with sacrificial love for others and a willingness to serve others whatever it costs us, and a freedom to exalt others and not ourselves… When this begins to happen to us - we will know that we truly walk in the Spirit and really know what divine fellowship is all about.

Are we there yet?  No we aren’t.  There is so much more we need from this wonderful Holy Spirit. He longs to pour into us the love of the Father and wash away our fears and insecurities.

He longs to give us such deep assurances that we can ever after pray boldly, and act boldly, and speak boldly without fear.

He longs to reveal to us what Jesus has done for us; what the Father is doing in the lives of those around us so we can pray for them and reach out to them.

He longs to help us see behind the text of Scripture and hear the living Word speaking to us as we ponder on the Scriptures.

He longs to reveal more of the nature of God as we battle through hard places in life, as we meet new challenges. For every new thing we face is a chance to see more of his grace that meets our needs in that season.

He is a person who yearns over us, who groans for us, who whispers to us, who bathes us in love…

Have you let him come and do that? What more do you need to cry out for today, and tomorrow and the rest of the week until he comes anew to you?  What more is there for you that you need to take hold of?

 Jesus said that God gives the Spirit ‘without measure’.  There is no limit, no safe little drop here and there…a little tear, a little shaking… no - there is a wonderful pouring out of this glorious  life of the Father, the Son and the Spirit that he has for you – and it is all good! There is nothing to fear.

I think, really, we have to stop asking for so little. And being content with so little.What if there was a table groaning with good food and all we took were a few grapes? It would indicate that we are not hungry.

I think it saddens God when we hold back and think so little of his lavish provision for us that we don’t take all we can get our hands on. Give him joy by asking UNTIL you receive all that he has for you now. Let us ask him to make us hungry for an outpouring of his life and boldness and fresh insight… we need all he can give us.

What really happened on the day of Pentecost.

The coming of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost brought to us more than we often see at first glance. Let's think about the event first. Pentecost was one of the Jewish feasts, and Jerusalem had 100s of thousands of pilgrims there from many nations all around the Mediterranean and they spoke many different languages, as well as Greek, the common language of learning and commerce.

The disciples and others are waiting in an upper room – out of sight – 120 of them, including Jesus’ mother Mary and her women friends. That's a thought... Mary had already encountered the Spirit when she conceived Jesus... but this was different. They were all waiting for ‘The Promise of the Father’ as Jesus had told them to. Waiting for the Spirit to be poured out on them. They are in the city that Jesus wept and groaned over. The city that had rejected him and hounded him to death.

And after 10 days of waiting and praying – around 9 o’clock in the morning… the Spirit came - sounding like a mighty wind, a gale force wind – and they knew it was the Spirit… for the word Spirit and Wind and breath are the same word in Hebrew – Ruach.

And a large flame is seen and it divides and each person has a portion burning over their head. And they are filled with the Spirit. And they receive such an outpouring that they overflowed - with praise pouring out of their mouths…… but they don’t stay for a worship meeting…and they are not fascinated by the signs of wind and fire…. they are led by the Spirit outside – all 120 of them - to where crowds of people are out on the streets – and they cannot stop themselves speaking of the wonders of God to the people in their own native languages. Have you ever noticed this… not a heavenly language of prayer – that must've come later - but the languages of all the people who were there for the festival. So everyone hears the good news in their own language!  How incredible is that!

 Many were amazed and perplexed and said ‘What does this mean?’… but others laughed and said – ‘Oh they are just drunk!’ Amazement, confusion, and misunderstanding. The people don’t know what they are seeing.

So Peter, who had previously been a frightened and shamed man – boldy stands up on something and interprets to the crowd what is happening. Prophecy from Joel that they already know is being fulfilled…he said, and the Spirit has been poured out because Jesus who was crucified has been raised from the dead, and we all saw him… and he has been exalted to the right hand of God and has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured him out on all these people.

Let’s hit the pause button here.

What is this boldness to speak that has come to them suddenly? They were keeping a very low profile out of fear of being arrested like Jesus was. But now they have lost their fear. What is going on?

This is one of the key characteristics of the presence of the Spirit in our lives. Boldness – a lack of fear. And it affects our worship, our prayer, our witness and our whole attitude to life.

Where is this coming from?  It is coming primarily from a new view of our selves…

Paul describes it this way:  “We are no longer cringing fearful slaves, but sons who cry out confidently “Abba, Father!”  Confident that we are accepted by the Father… confident that he is with us, he is for us, he is on our side …confident that we are deeply loved…. confident that we can do what he asks of us… One writer, Baxter Kruger calls this ‘A baptism of assurance.’

“The Spirit leads us to know the truth, not just in our heads, but in our souls – as the surest thing in all the world…. For to see ourselves seated with Christ at the Father’s right hand, to see ourselves loved and cherished, embraced and accepted by the Father, delighted in, is to know untold relief and hope and peace, and the deepest and dearest of assurances.”

 Hebr. 4:16 says “ Let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, with confidence.. sure that we will receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Boldness… in prayer surely equips us to have boldness in declaring who he is to others.  

We see this playing out in Acts 4 – Peter and John had released the healing power of Jesus to a crippled man and then preached to the crowd - and another two thousand men came to faith (and probably many women also). But then they were arrested and questioned because they preached about Jesus. And they responded with such courage, such fearlessness, that it was commented on. They were released and told not to speak in Jesus name again.

And they returned to their friends .. and together they prayed a marvellous prayer – a bold prayer – an outrageous prayer…Acts 4:29-31 …. “Lord, consider their threats… and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch forth your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit (again) and spoke the word of God boldly." Who cares about the opposition.  Who cares about the threats! "Enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness!”  What a prayer… and what an answer God gave!

One of the key characteristics of the Spirit is that he gives boldness – boldness in prayer – boldness in speaking about Jesus – boldness in what we expect the Father to do through us….

Are we there yet?  Is this our experience?  Has his love come and swept away all our doubts and fears and given us this joyful boldness in life? 

You see, it is not so much about what happens as we gather and worship and pray…that is important, it is the start… but the test is in what happens when we are out there, in our daily lives. Confidence, boldness, expecting God to act in ways that get people’s attention and that helps them look at Jesus! 

We need this baptism of this assurance – this overflow of boldness through the Spirit. 

There is something else we see at work as Peter boldly explains what is happening:

The Spirit has given Peter knowledge about things he did not have before. He always believed…he had faith in Jesus all along… but now he knows. This adds to his confidence.
I love how Jesus describes what the Spirit will do when he comes. 

John 14:16 – 27  Jesus said,     “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor or advocate or ‘One who strengthens you’ – another one… just like me – to be with you forever – the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you… and will be IN you. And I will not leave you as orphans (feeling no-one is there for you); I will come to you. … On that day you will realise – you will know that I am in my Father – and you are in me – and I am in you… The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.”

It is quite clear that when Peter speaks to the crowd on the day of Pentecost he knows things he did not know before the Spirit came to him. The Spirit of Truth has shown him things he could not have known by himself. He now had understanding of what God was doing by sending the Spirit in this way.  He knew what Scripture to quote to the crowd. He knew that Jesus had been exalted to the right hand of the Father - and the Father had given him the Spirit to pour out on those waiting disciples. How did he know what was going on in the heavenly realm?  The Spirit clearly revealed it to him.

And this is the second great work of the Spirit as he comes to live in us and do his delightful work.  He brings us knowledge and insight and inspiration and a deep knowing that we can never find by ourselves. It will not come out of study or great learning. It can only come from the Spirit of Truth, resident in us – revealing what is real and true in God’s eyes and in his realm.
This is why Jesus kept calling him ‘The Spirit of Truth’.  He tells us the truth about ourselves. “You are not orphans… you are the beloved… you are set apart for me… you belong to me… you are my precious one… you have a purpose in life which is more than you can imagine…"

He tells us the truth about Jesus. Jesus said, “He will not speak on his own – he will tell you what he hears (from the conversations between the Father and Jesus) – he will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.” 
This is the incredible and wonderful work of the Spirit. This is one of the ways he helps us to pray. And it goes further - it extends to him prompting us in our speaking to others – he can give us insight and pictures and scripture that speak directly to the hearts of others.
This the normal but super-natural life we were designed and created to live.
Are we there yet?      Do we know his delight and deep affection for us – do we hear his voice – and get his leading in our lives? 
 
This is THE primary work of the Spirit, causing us to know with certainty the heart of our Father towards us. This the source of our deep joy – another sign of the Spirit. This ‘knowing’ brings a welling up of love and praise and adoration. It is more than belief... it is knowing. We can say we believe things… but knowing deep inside is a whole new dimension.

Are we there yet?  Is this your reality – your joy – your daily expectation …..
Look at the next blog for the rest of the message.

 

The Surprising Holy Spirit

When I first encountered the Holy Spirit in 1976 I was astounded at how much love and peace and joy and insight flooded into my life. I had been greatly prejudiced against trusting the Spirit for some years. The motto in the Salvation Army was “Blood and Fire”  - the blood of Jesus and the Fire of the Spirit. I knew fire burnt and hurt you. So that was my picture of what the Spirit would do! I had no understanding of what having a burning heart for God was all about or how empowered we become as the Spirit stirs our hearts with faith.

My first experience of a Pentecostal church was of what sounded to me like out of control intense prayer and lots of noise. In Africa when someone says ‘Let’s pray’ they all begin to pray aloud at the top of their voices… 50, 100, 200 of them. It was often deafening!  This did not help me!

So God snuck up on me and made me hungry to experience the reality of the ‘living water’ Jesus talked about in John 4. Someone has called God ‘Jehovah Sneaky’ because he has a way of getting around our barriers. I finally asked for a drink, like the woman at the well - and I surrendered myself fully to him. And I was bathed with his peace and his joy and a delightful love for Jesus.

I had no idea all this was waiting for me. No idea at all.

I kept saying to people ‘This is not me!’  It was not the old me… the fearful, easily angered, confused and uncertain me.  But it was the real me that God intended when he formed me and shaped me and gave me life.

I never knew that before. No-one described it that way to me before… that we cannot become our real selves until he lives in us and fills us. This is what we were created for. Anything less is just a shadow of what we are meant to be.

And the result was that I just devoured Scripture and any book I could find about the work of the Spirit, and how God comes to people and changes them - and about revivals through history. I must’ve read 20 or 30 books over the first couple of years on this. I could tell you about dozens of passages of scripture about the Spirit and how he works in our lives – because it all become so vivid and real for me. It was like I had found a gold-mine.

I was astounded and fascinated by it all. NO – ONE HAD TOLD ME THIS BEFORE. I had no idea it was all so wonderful.   

The Scriptures are full of stories about prayer – all kinds of prayer, in all kinds of situations, by all kinds of people – with wonderful results.

There’s Abraham debating and pleading with God over the fate of Sodom and Gomorroh. There are the amazing promises he received about the future.

There’s Jacob, wrestling with an angel and saying “I will not let you go until you bless me.”

There’s Moses asking God “Show me your glory” – and God pronouncing all his goodness over him.

And Moses saying ‘If your presence does not go with us, do not send us on.”  What a great prayer!

There’s Hannah, weeping with her pain and barrenness… “Give me a child!” and God hears and answers and gives her many children.

There is David admitting he has sinned and offended God. “Have mercy on me, according to your love and kindness!”  And all his prayers and songs of praise and trust and heartache that are called the Psalms.

There’s the prayer of Jabez – “Enlarge my territory – give me success!”

There is Solomon asking for wisdom in the difficult task of ruling his nation.

So many wonderful stories of prayer and how the Lord acted in power and love as people cried out to him – for themselves, for their families and for their nation.

And there are all the stories in the New Testament, and the teaching right throughout the bible, by prophets and priests, by Jesus and the apostles…

I would recommend the little book. 21 Most Effective Prayers of the Bible.  

And all of this shouts to us – prayer is natural, it is normal, it is how we walk with God - how we discover more about him – how we enjoy partnering with him.

But there is more…. There is a glorious back- story to this life of prayer. And I want to explore 3 key elements of this story behind prayer and how the Spirit helps us to pray.  See the next few blogs shortly.