Spirit help us pray lesson 9
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Lesson 9: "Prayer in the Church Age - the promised Holy Spirit" - Who is the Holy Spirit, what does He do, why is He here?
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Spirit help us pray lesson 9
- 1. “ The Spirit Helps Us Pray” A Biblical Theology of Prayer
- 2. Lesson 9 Prayer in the Church Age the “promised” Holy Spirit
- 17. Next Week Lesson 10 Paul on Prayer – Part I Chapter 11
Editor's Notes
- "The Holy Spirit could pray a hundred fold more in us if we were only conscious of our ignorance, because we would then feel our dependence upon Him. May God teach us our ignorance in prayer and our impotence, and may God bring us to say, “Lord, we cannot pray; we do not know what prayer is.” Andrew Murray Opening prayer
- “ If the church is going to be effective in our postmodern world, we need to stop paying mere lip serve to the Spirit and to recapture (the early church’s) perspective: the Spirit as the experienced, empowering return of God’s own personal presence in and among us, who enable us to live as radically eschatological people in the present world while we await the consummation.” Gordon Fee
- So the question we have before us tonight is, who is the Holy Spirit?
- (After slide) “It is noteworthy, I believe, to see that the Spirit’s coming upon men was the sovereign choice of God, rather than God’s response to the initiative of men. Generally speaking, men did not expect the Spirit of God to come upon them, nor did they do anything to prompt it. It happened. God took the initiative, and men responded accordingly. There is clearly no “pattern” for those who would wish to find some method or formula for obtaining the Spirit’s power. Men did not dispose of God or of His Spirit; rather God disposed of men, using His Spirit to do so.” Gordon Fee
- Now let’s turn our attention to His coming.
- The result of Peter’s Holy Spirit powered sermons was that: “those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.” How often we major on the incidentals, the minor issues like wind, tongues of fire and spoken tongues , and miss the significance of what really happened that day. The Holy Spirit was given for no other reason than to fill and empower believers for the Church age; in fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy that follows.
- (After slide) What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit? Greek = “pleroo” (pla ra o) 1) to make full, to fill up, i.e. to fill to the full a) to cause to abound, to furnish or supply liberally 1) I abound, I am liberally supplied 2) to render full, i.e. to complete to fill to the top: so that nothing shall be wanting to full measure, fill to the brim 3) to fulfil, i.e. to cause God's will (as made known in the law) to be obeyed as it should be, and God's promises (given through the prophets) to receive fulfilment Be filled with the Spirit : The filling of the Holy Spirit is not a one-time event that we live off of the rest of our days. It is a constant filling, asking to be filled, and receiving the filling by faith. There is a wonderful and significant first experience with the filling of the Holy Spirit, often thought of as the Baptism of the Holy Spirit ( Matthew 3:11 ; Acts 1:5 , and 11:16 ). This is an experience valid and important for every believer. ii. Much of the weakness, defeat and lethargy in our spiritual lives can be attributed to the fact that we are not constantly being filled with the Holy Spirit. iii. The ancient Greek grammar for be filled also indicates two other important things. First, the verb is passive , so this is not a manufactured experience. Second, it is imperative , so this is not an optional experience.
- Read Acts 8:1-25 – Commentary: “As the church advances across another cultural threshold, from Hellenistic Jew to half-breed Samaritan (compare Acts 1:8--"in all Judea and Samaria"), it encounters a society steeped in occult magic and syncretistic religious practice. It learns through its missionaries, who must also be theologians, that the power of the gospel is not magic and cannot be bought. In the process it discovers again the true power of the gospel. The Gospel's Power Is Superior to Magic (8:5-13)” Now let’s unpack this passage: Point 1: The Samaritans were a mixed race – a blend of Jews left behind after Israel’s exile and Gentiles forcible settled in the region by Assyria (2 Kings 17:24). Point 2: First, Philip is one of the 7 chosen by the Apostles in Acts 6:3; he was a Grecian Jew, selected because He was “known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom.” Philip was commissioned for the role of prayer and care Point 3: The Samaritan religion was based on the Pentateuch (first five OT books). The Samaritans were awaiting a “Restorer” (Deuteronomy 18:18). The Samaritans responded with joy at Philips preaching of Christ. Point 4: Simon, due to his sorcery, had previously been a great influence on the people of this Samaritan city but now was following Philip because of the greater power on display in the healings and deliverance taking place.
- Point 1 – The Holy Spirit had not yet been received under the preaching of Philip by the believing Samaritans. But why does God sovereignly delay the coming of the Spirit in this case? In order to preserve the unity of the church and the integrity of the church's cross-cultural mission to all nations in the face of the inbred animosity between Jew and Samaritan. If God had not withheld his Spirit until the Jerusalem apostles came, converts on both sides of the cultural barrier might have found Christ without finding each other. Neither Samaritan nor Jewish Christians would have been assured that the Samaritans were truly regenerate and the spiritual equals of regenerate Jews (compare Acts 15:8-11). Point 2 - today when God chooses to do signs and wonders through his servants as his church advances, the immediate "quantitative" effect, amazement, may be expressed in outward profession of belief and even baptism. But if the signs and wonders, when combined with the Spirit-empowered preaching of the word of salvation, do not have a "qualitative" effect, regeneration, then the convert will adopt a syncretized Christianity. (After slide) One commentator has this to say on this account: “The clear teaching of the apostles and their customary practice is that the giving of the Spirit is a birthright of every Christian, received at conversion (Acts 2:38; 1 Cor 12:3, 13). Acts gives no consistent pattern for a second-stage giving of the Spirit by apostolic laying on of hands, as Roman and Anglo Catholic teaching on confirmation would assert, or with extraordinary manifestations such as prophesying and speaking in tongues, as Pentecostal and charismatic teaching on baptism with the Spirit would contend (Acts 8:14-17; 10:44-48; 16:31-34; 19:1-6). Therefore the Samaria experience must be viewed as extraordinary, not normative.”
- What does Cornelius’ experience tell us about God?
- I find what one commentator says useful in understanding the Baptism of the Holy Spirit: “Perhaps it is more useful to describe the baptism of the Holy Spirit more like a condition than an experience . We should perhaps ask, “ are you baptized in the Holy Spirit?” instead of asking, “ have you been baptized in the Holy Spirit?”