The Work of the Spirit // Walking in the Spirit, Part 2

Christianityworks Official Podcast

One of the things that we’re promised about Jesus is that when we let Him into our lives – He’ll sort the good from the bad – the wheat from the chaff in each one of us – and then burn the chaff with an unquenchable fire. At first that sounds a bit confronting. And yet when Jesus gets to work cleaning out the muck we have on the inside – talk about setting the captives free!

REFINER’S FIRE

Hey, it’s great to be with you again on the programme today. Last week, if you were able to join me, you may recall that we are talking about walking in the Spirit and the importance of yielding to God. Lots of people who believe in Jesus want to see the power of God at work in their lives; they want to walk in the Spirit, relying on God’s wisdom and guidance but at the same time, they shun God’s Word, the Bible. “Ah, no, I don’t have time for that. I’ve got a busy life.” They run their own race, doing this and doing that and then they wonder, “So, where’s God in all this?”

And friend, it’s only when we yield our lives to God and let Him into every part of our lives, that we start to experience the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s only when we say to God, ‘You know, Lord, everything is on the line for You – there is nothing that I am going to hold back from You,’ that He truly goes to work in our lives. Anything less than that is pride and we know that “He opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” James chapter 4, verse 6.

And today on the programme we are going to see what the Holy Spirit gets up to in our lives when we give Him free reign – it’s truly powerful stuff. So I hope you will be able to join me in our time together today, to discover the power that’s available to you through the Spirit of the Living God.

When Jesus was about to begin His public ministry in First Century Israel, John the Baptist went ahead of Him to herald Jesus’ arrival. John’s central message was for people to confess their sins, to repent – that is to turn away from their sins and back to God – and to be baptised. Interesting message for God to send ahead of the entrance of His Son! It was about turning away from selfishness and sin and turning back to God and being ready … being ready to accept Jesus into peoples’ lives. And this is what John the Baptist specifically had to say about Jesus because many people were already asking him, “Are you the one? Are you the promised Messiah?”

And just before Jesus came to John to be baptised, this is what John said about Jesus. If you have a Bible, grab it, open it at Matthew chapter 3, beginning at verse 11:

John said, “I baptise you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptise you with Holy Spirit and fire, his winnowing fork in his hand and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary but the chaff he will burn with an unquenchable fire.

Now, this is a powerful description indeed of what Jesus is about in our lives. And I used to read this and understand it in this way: that in clearing out the threshing floor, what Jesus would do is take those who are good and righteous, they were like the grain and they would be gathered up into the granary, but those who weren’t would be cast into the fire.

And I think a lot of people understand this passage that way. Until one of my lecturers at Bible College challenged and asked me, “What is the context here, Berni? What is John talking about?” and I answered him, “Well, baptism. He is saying that Jesus will baptise us with Holy Spirit and with fire.”

Now, I will talk about this baptism of the Holy Spirit, which causes so much controversy and division in the church, later today. But right now, back to the context: so the fire that Jesus is going to wield will be part of my baptism of the Holy Spirit, from Him. So when He goes on to talk about what that fire will do, He is talking about what it will do in my life and in your life if we so allow Him to baptise us with Holy Spirit and with fire.

What will happen when we allow the Holy Spirit to dwell in us by accepting Jesus as Lord and Saviour – by yielding to Him our whole lives – is that the fire of the Spirit will burn in us and Jesus will get inside us, as indeed He promises to do, and sort through what is going on in us – what is in our hearts, our thoughts, our desires, our attitudes, our intentions – with a winnowing fork in His hand and He will clear the threshing floor of our hearts. The good He will keep, but the chaff, the sin, He will burn with this unquenchable fire with which He baptises us.

I would encourage you to read this passage again for yourself (Matthew chapter 3, verses 11 and 12) and just see how, with this baptism of the Holy Spirit and of fire, His intention is to clean us out; to make us pure and holy. After all, there is a reason that the Holy Spirit is called the ‘Holy’ Spirit and what He does when He comes to dwell in us – just as Jesus promised – one of the things He does is to begin the life-long work of making you and me holy.

And friend, there is always a cost to that. If someone has a cancer that needs to be cut out, there is an incision to be made, there are stitches that go in, there is time in hospital, there’s recovery, there’s rehabilitation and perhaps even some treatment like chemotherapy or radiotherapy. But whilst there is a cost, the whole point of course, is to bring healing to the person by cutting out the cancer.

And the same is true of the Holy Spirit when He gets His winnowing fork out in our lives and starts to sift through the rubbish, the disease, the sickness, the sin that has accumulated in us over a life time. And there is almost always pain involved. Giving up anger – as I had to do – involves such pain. I had to learn not to vent my anger on people; to humble myself; to hold my tongue. And you know what, at times that really hurt and it still does sometimes. Am I a better person because I yielded to God’s Word and God’s Spirit in allowing Him to work in me? Absolutely!! Was it worth it? Without a doubt!! And I am glad that He took the time to do this in me? For sure!

So when we yield our lives to Jesus, what He does by His Spirit is He starts to burn the chaff, the sin, in our lives with an unquenchable fire. The first thing He starts with is me and you. We all want to see some power and some miracles and feel His presence and joy and peace and of course, as we walk in the Spirit, those things do come. But in order for us to grow, to be all that God made us to be, to shine the light of His Glory into a lost and a hurting world – He needs to rake the muck out of us. Makes sense, doesn’t it?

As I said, later we are going to talk about this baptism of the Spirit, without any denominational baggage. I’m not interested in that, can I tell you? I just want to know what God’s Word has to say on the subject. But right now I think the point that God is leading us to, is this: He wants free reign in our lives; He wants to be invited in to deal with the sin in our lives; the stuff that is robbing us of the abundant life that Jesus came to give us.

So let me encourage you to read again the thing that John the Baptist said about Jesus: Matthew chapter 3, verses 11 and 12. Let me encourage you to open your heart and your soul to the power of the Spirit of God. Give Him full sway in every part of your life. Hold nothing, absolutely nothing, back from Him, for He means to clean you from the inside out; He means to set you free from the sin that been robbing you of life all this time; He means to shine His glory out through you, a clean, pure, holy vessel. You know, through the likes of me and you.

DRENCHED IN THE SPIRIT

One of the things that I have been learning as I journeyed through my life with Jesus at my side is that I can’t achieve much on my own. Now, let me explain that. People do clever, brilliant, powerful and effective things, apparently without the help of God, all the time. There are plenty of brilliant musicians, gifted leaders, effective counsellors and so on, who don’t believe in Jesus.

And before I came to faith in Christ, almost two decades ago now, I was able to do plenty of pretty good things. I was part of building an international I.T. consulting firm, I can make a piano sing, as it were, but when I came to faith in Jesus, what I discovered was, that when it comes to doing things of eternal significance – like what I am doing right now with you – well, on my own, I can do nothing.

Oh, I can probably entertain you; I can engage you with a whole bunch of other things, but the one thing I can’t do is to effect a change in your heart that will impact you eternally. It turns out, that’s because only God can do that. How do I know that? Because it’s exactly what Jesus said. John chapter 15, verse 5. He said:

I am the vine and you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them will bear much fruit because apart from me, you can do nothing.

So in order for you and for me to bear good fruit … fruit that really, truly makes a powerful difference in the lives of others, we need to be connected – grafted into Jesus, who is the vine. And when you think about it, the thing that flows from the vine to the branches to allow the branch to thrive and to bear fruit is the sap of the plant. In this analogy of Jesus, that is the Holy Spirit.

One of the things that make me really sad is that the Holy Spirit and how He works in our lives, is the source of so much conflict and disagreement between different denominations of the church. It seems that everyone has a … well, a different perspective. But as we saw earlier, John the Baptist said something interesting about the Holy Spirit and what Jesus would do through the Spirit in our lives. Matthew chapter 3, verses 11 and 12:

“I baptise you with water,” said John, “for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire, His winnowing fork in his hand and he will clear his threshing floor and he will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

He said that Jesus would baptise us with the Holy Spirit and, as it turns out, with fire. Well, that’s something of a mixed metaphor. Because what ‘baptism’ really means – the Greek word is baptidso – is to be drowned and drenched and changed in something. For instance if a ship sank and went under – it had been baptidso’d. If a piece of cloth was put into some dye to change its colour – it had been baptidso’d.

So, to be ‘baptised’ or ‘baptidso’d’ in the Holy Spirit, means to be dunked and drenched and changed in the Holy Spirit. Imagine that piece of fabric coming out of the liquid dye – it’s dripping, completely saturated. And on top of that, it’s a brand new colour. That’s the picture; that’s what it means to be baptised in the Holy Spirit.

Now much of the controversy in the church surrounds the question of timing. When does this happen? Does it happen to every believer the moment they believe or is it something that happens later on? Seriously, as though we can put God in a box like this and telling Him He has to do it this way or that way or at some later time! Can I tell you something? My Bible – don’t know about yours – but my Bible actually contains an historical record of both! Cornelius and his family, when Peter the Apostle, preaches the Good News to them for the very first time. Acts chapter 10, verse 44:

While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word.

Right when they first believed! But you see, in Ephesus, a bit later it happened quite differently. Acts chapter 19, beginning at verse 1:

While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the interior regions and came to Ephesus where he found some disciples. He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers? They replied, “No, we have not even heard there is a Holy Spirit. Then he said to them, “Into what then were you baptised?” They answered into John’s baptism. Paul said, “John baptised with a baptism of repentance, telling people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is in Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. Altogether, there were about twelve of them.

See, it seems to me the point isn’t when or how. God is going to do what God is going to do and I for one am not about to put Him in a box and tell Him how He has to do things or when. Whilst every believer may well have the Holy Spirit in them – and again, God’s Word makes it clear that unless we do, we don’t belong to Christ, (Romans chapter 8, verse 9) – not every believer is drenched in the Spirit.

Not every believer has yielded their life completely to God and given the Holy Spirit sway in every part of their lives. Not every believer is drenched in the Spirit of God. Plenty, in fact, walk more in the flesh, in their own worldly desires, than they do in the Spirit. Again, that’s something that God’s Word makes clear – Romans chapter 8, beginning at verse 5:

For those who live according to the flesh, set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

So, my friend, the question for each one of us is simply this: have we yielded our lives fully to Christ? Have we invited Him to have complete sway in every corner of who we are – every nook and every cranny? Or are we holding something back?

I know people, for instance, who say they love God and they do – absolutely, and yet they choose to live together, man and woman, without being married. That is holding something back from God. That is not honouring to God. And people who deliberately hold something back can’t be fully drenched in the power of the Spirit because it’s like wrapping some cling wrap over that part of their lives. You go down to be baptidso’d in the Spirit and you come out and not all of you has been change.

I decided a long time ago – after being caught up as though in limbo by this futile, senseless argument about when and how we are baptised in the Holy Spirit – to give that whole thing a miss. ‘When’ and ‘how’ is simply not the point. The point is, that I am completely drenched in the Spirit, that every part of me, every … every bit of sin and stubbornness within me, is open to the Spirit of Christ because I hold nothing back from Him.

And that way … that way, when Jesus comes into my life with His winnowing fork to get rid of the chaff, to burn that in an unquenchable fire, He has free reign and free access to do so. Because what I want to do with my life is to walk in the Spirit, to be guided in all things by Christ Himself, to have the power of God to travel the roads He calls me to travel, and to go through the trials He calls me to go through.

Now, walking in the Spirit is something we are going to talk a lot more about next week, but for the moment, let me ask you, have you been drenched in the Spirit of God? Have you yielded your life completely and utterly to Christ so that He can get about sorting out the wheat from the chaff?

CLOSER TO THE FLAME

I would like to spend just a few minutes with you as our time together draws to a close today, to hopefully speak God’s truth into your heart about this baptism of the Holy Spirit. Next week of course, we are going to speak more about the Holy Spirit being poured out into the lives of every man or woman or child who puts their faith in Jesus Christ.

But as I see the dissent and the wrangling and the ill-will across different parts of the church over the work of the Holy Spirit and how He manifests Himself in the lives of individuals and churches today, I truly want to weep. The conservative evangelicals on the one hand and the Charismatics and the Pentecostals on the other. Can’t tell you how many sermons I have sat through over the years where a so called conservative or evangelical derides the Charismatics and the Pentecostals – virtually calling them heretics for believing, for instance, that they should speak in tongues, the language of angels, as the Apostle Paul calls it.

And granted, to a traditional Western mindset, this ‘speaking in tongues’ thing, well, it doesn’t make sense. But at the same time, this is what the Bible has to say about it. The Apostle Paul writing to the Corinthians about this very thing. First Corinthians chapter 14, beginning at verse 4:

Those who speak in a tongue build up themselves, but those who prophesy build up the church. Now I would like all of you to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. One who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.

Did you get that? “Those who speak in a tongue build themselves up.” And Paul would like us all to speak in tongues. So if that’s what the Bible says, what are we doing knocking people?

And on the other side of the coin, I have heard Charismatics, those who believe in the spiritual gifts bestowed on believers through the Spirit, say that unless you speak in tongues then you are not really saved. Well, the Apostle Paul again, asking a series of rhetorical questions to make the point, says that that is just not true. First Corinthians chapter 12, verse 27:

“Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed you in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. Are all of you apostles? Are all of you prophets? Are all of you teachers? Do all of you work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do you all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?” (The answer to all of those questions obviously, well, duh, no!) “Then strive for greater gift. And I will show you a more excellent way.”

Do you see the point? This nonsense; this petty wrangling and stupidity over something that is so important – being filled with the Holy Spirit and yielding our lives fully to Him and walking in the Spirit and seeing the power of the Spirit of Christ transform our lives and flow through our lives into a lost and hurting world – here’s the conclusion I have come to.

My God is a HUGE God and the church, well, there are well over twenty thousand denominations in the world – as unbelievable as that may sound. There is a rich diversity in the church – different cultures, different perspectives and because God understands that and accommodates that, He shows Himself differently to different people and to different groups.

Have I seen the odd bit of emotionalism and manipulation around spiritual gifts? Yep, of course I have. And when I see that, I either speak against it or I walk away from it. But equally on the other side of the fence, I have seen a hardness of heart. I have seen people completely closed to the surprising work of the Spirit and devoid of any real passion and enthusiasm for God. I have seen that too – it’s the same thing – I will either speak against it or I will walk away from it.

Friend, the Holy Spirit is one of the three persons of the Godhead. He is God who comes to dwell in us and my God and your God, well, sometimes God does surprising things. As we saw earlier, the Holy Spirit comes according to the sovereign will of God and manifests Himself is different churches, in different groups, in different people, in different ways.

The point isn’t how! Who am I to tell God how He should do things? The point isn’t when! Who are you and I to tell God that He should drench someone with the Spirit the moment they believe or He should drench people with the Spirit sometime later? Every believer receives the Holy Spirit and at some point, if we open our hearts to God, He will drench us.

The point is that you and I are drenched; that we are drowned; that we are changed; that we come up filled to overflowing, dripping with the Spirit of God, because that’s the plan Jesus has for us. That’s the plan that Jesus promised to us. That is the plan that Jesus has to change this world by taking the gifts and the abilities and the motivations He has put in my heart and in your heart and empowering those through His Spirit and shining the glory of God into this world.

That is God’s plan!