Present Your Body as a Living and Holy Sacrifice

This week, we set a new pattern of breaking the Sunday sermon into smaller segments for the blog. I will post them daily and each will be a more involved version of the Sunday preaching. But these should not be a substitute for hearing the word of God in our church — nor are they a substitute for an important aspect of worship: fellowship.

If you live in our area, we invite you to attend services at First Baptist Church of Nokomis. Click our church name to be taken to our website where you can find information about how to find us and when our service takes place. All are welcome! We don’t care what you look like or what you wear. Come as you are because that’s how God loves you.

This Sunday, we talked about the gifts of the Spirit mentioned in Romans 12. The key to Romans 12 is verse 2:

When I first accepted Jesus as my Savior, I made a decision to change the way I did things–to change my behaviors. This worked out well for a time, but in my own strength, I was unable to maintain or make lasting changes. It was impossible for me to make effective or permanent change by my own power.

One year later, I had an encounter with the Holy Spirit and I finally yielded to Him, realizing that it was the job of the Spirit to change me. It wasn’t something I could ever do on my own and it wasn’t even my job to try.

My life has not been the same since. I chose not to conform to what the world said I should be, and permitted the Spirit to transform me!

Romans 12:1 tells me that I am to present my body as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God.

But it isn’t. My body is not a living and holy sacrifice to God. It’s not even close! My body bears the scars of a life lived outside of God’s will; a life of sin and pain. There are physical scars on my hands from fighting, both other people and from taking my frustrations out on inanimate objects. I bear other scars caused by the foolish idea that I was indestructible, as I continually put my life at risk in seeking thrills.

I caused pain and suffering not only in myself but also in others because in my heart I was angry and frustrated. I bear emotional scars and I inflicted them on others because I did not count the cost of my words and was not willing to see what I was doing to the people I loved. And what I did see, I ignored.

How can I present my body as a living and holy sacrifice to God, which is supposed to be my spiritual service of worship?

We were saved by grace, not by works, lest we start to boast. My works cannot save me. But the really good news is that my works cannot PREVENT me from salvation either! And if this is true, then my previous life’s work cannot hinder me or my salvation.

Salvation is a free gift from God offered to everyone! No matter what you have done, God not only can forgive, but he wants to forgive. Christ died on the cross not for perfect people who–all by themselves–kept their bodies and souls clean and unblemished; those people don’t even exist! He died for scarred, broken, filthy sinners like me. He took my sin and yours and paid the price in full!

When the Spirit enters in on the day of our salvation, we are born again and the old life we lived is no more in the sight of God. We are a new creation in Christ!

Working out our salvation means coming to grips with who we were and allowing the Spirit to work in our lives. We are not to conform but to be transformed into the image of who we are in Christ. God does not waste the life I lived. He uses the mistakes and my scars to minister to others.

Praise Him!

Teaser: Tomorrow, we will focus on Romans 12:2, the transformation and renewal of your mind as a new creation in Christ.

The Attributes of the Holy Spirit, Part 2

The Spirit also worked in Jesus from birth. A small incident occurred before his ministry began in earnest that often gets overlooked, but it’s the only mention of his youth. The fact that this appears to have been the only incident important enough to recall for posterity indicates its importance.

When Jesus was 12 years old, his parents were with him in Jerusalem. An entire day after they left the city, they realized their son was not with them. They searched frantically and retraced their steps to the city. I imagine their hearts leapt whenever they saw a boy who could resemble him and then sink as they realized it was not Jesus. Finally, they found him in the temple. Teachers–Pharisees and Rabbis–were gathered around him as Jesus listened to them and asked questions far too sophisticated for the average 12-year-old. When his mother scolded him, he answered her, “‘Why were you searching for me?. . . Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?'” (Luke 2:49). The Pharisees and Rabbis were amazed at Jesus’ knowledge and wisdom; knowledge and wisdom that came from the Spirit.

The Spirit was active in Christ’s teaching and his preaching throughout his ministry. The Spirit was active in the prayers of Jesus and as he taught prayer. We are to see the Spirit as a gift and know that he intercedes on our behalf as we pray (Romans 8:26).

Luke tells us that it is the role of a Father to give his children good gifts: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” (Luke 11:13). The Holy Spirit is the best gift.

This gift was given to Jesus officially at his baptism although it was part of him–being God himself–all his life. His baptism affirmed Jesus’ nature as the son of God and Messiah. In Luke 3:21-22, we see God the Father speaking from heaven, the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descending, and Jesus praying: the triune nature of God embodied.

John 3:5 tells us: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” I believe the need to be “born of water” is in reference to our baptism by water–an outward sign of the inward baptism of the Spirit which is when we die and arise in the Holy Spirit as a new creation. Jesus sets the pattern for us to receive the Spirit by taking on himself the sins of the world and paying our death penalty on the cross.

His resurrection, his overcoming and defeating of death and sin restored our right-standing with God that enables the Holy Spirit to enter in and take up residence in our newly washed hearts. In this we see the great love of God. It is a love that we are not capable of alone. The Spirit who resides in us brings with it this deeper love and enables us to become hands and feet subservient to His will in this world.

Christ also prepares us for the Spirit by forging a fellowship between believers. After His death and resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples and showed them His wounds, telling them that He would send them out into the world to do God’s work.

“And when he had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’.” (John 20:22)

But, they did not receive the Spirit until Pentecost. What did he mean? In Luke 24:46, and again in Acts 2, we see the Disciples coming together in the upper room sharing meals and their stories of Christ working in their lives. They were prepared by this close fellowship to receive the Spirit.

Even though the Spirit had not yet come upon them in that upper room, the Spirit was still present as they came to one accord and one mind concerning the things of God. They were being prepared in their hearts and minds to receive the Spirit. We see the Holy Spirit moving in their hearts, guiding their thoughts and actions, we see the power of the Spirit when He comes upon them as they preach to the crowd. We see the Spirit active in the crowd as they hear and receive the message and as they take the message forth. The Holy Spirit goes before us, preparing the way, just as John went before Jesus. So too, the work of Jesus paves the way for the work of the Spirit.

On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down from Heaven into vessels who had been prepared by Jesus to receive Him. Then the work of the Church began in earnest: the gospel message was shared in Jerusalem and moved out into the larger world.

The work of Christ still continues. The Spirit is working in the world in us as Jesus works with us in the New Testament and as God worked for us in the Old Testament. This work is not new as it began in the Garden when a Savior was promised to Adam and Eve. That Savior lives, and through his Spirit residing in us, continues to live and work in this world, bringing light to the darkness.

The Holy Spirit in the New Testatment

As we look at the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, I want to begin with Joel 2:28-29:

And it will come about after this that I will pour out My spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. And even on the male and female servants I will pour out my spirit in those days.

“It will come about after this. . .” Chapter two is titled, “The Terrible Visitation,” in my edition. It speaks of the troubles of Israel of a conquering army devouring the land. In verse eight, the Word promises deliverance. The nation of Israel had been conquered time and time again as a consequence of failing to follow God. As they turned again to Him each time, He restored them.

In 70 AD, the Romans destroyed the temple. The Jewish people, left without a homeland, dispersed into other nations. This dispersal, called the diaspora, lasted thousands of yeas. In 1946, their land was finally restored to them. The land of the Jews had lain a desert for hundreds of years; in a few generations, the land has been converted into the paradise flowing with milk and honey it is today. God has blessed the land through the Jews.

This brings us to the promises of the Spirit, which will be as the nation of Israel coming to Jesus and accepting him as Lord and Savior. This promise was fulfilled at Pentecost when he poured out his spirit on the believers–themselves Jews. However, the nation of Israel did not believe as a nation. It needs to be noted her that God deals with Israel as a nation and Church as individuals. The first believers were Israelites who accepted Christ as individuals. They left not only their lives behind but also their people and became new: Christians. Paul was called to bring the gospel message to the Gentiles after his conversion, fulfilling the promise to Abraham that all the world would be blessed through him–through the nation of Israel. Old Testament prophesies always have two levels of interpretation: a message for the nation of Israel and another for the Church.

Hebrews 3:7-11:

Therefore, just as the holy spirit says, “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me in the wilderness, where your fathers tried Me by testing Me, and saw My works for forty years. Therefore I was angry with this generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; and they did not know My ways.’ As I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.'”

This generation had seen the miracle plagues God had brought down on Egypt. They saw the column of smoke and fire that led them to safety, they walked along the bottom of the Red Sea while the Hand of God held the waters at bay.

Image courtesy of theswordbearer.org

Yet they continued to reject God’s freedom. They had known only slavery in a pagan land and they could not or would not live free in God. He refused to let any of them enter the promised land; the entire generation died in the wilderness. Only the generation who had been raised in the freedom of the desert, under the rule of God, was allowed to enter and claim the land. So too, the generation of Israelites who rejected Jesus also perished for their unbelief. This is a warning to the Church and its people to maintain our relationship with God through the Holy Spirit.

Before the first Pentecost, the Holy Spirit did not indwell believers. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit did mighty works through God’s people but He did not take up residence in their heart as he does today. The hearts of men and women of God were still burdened with their sin; they were too tainted to allow the Holy Spirit in. On the cross, Jesus took the sins of all generations: through His sacrifice, we are cleansed. Because of this undeserved sanctity, our hearts can now provide a home for the Holy Spirit who abhors sin. In the Old Testament and the New, the Holy Spirit has remained the same. He is the same yesterday as today and as tomorrow. This should bring comfort to all believers, for the same spirit that worked in Enoch, Noah, Moses, Abraham, and David is at work today in all believers.

The Holy Spirit enables us to worship “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24). The Holy Spirit has physical descriptions:  it is envisioned as water that flows or is poured out; wind, the invisible force that we can only be aware of through the things it can do; fire that consumes us and at the same time makes us whole. At Pentecost the spirit came upon the believers in the upper room as tongues of fire which bringing the powerful Word of God. The disciples, filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke the word with the authority of God. That word spread like fire and that fire is still burning today in those who accept Christ into their lives and do His work by allowing the Spirit to work through them. It is the power of the Spirit coming on them that compelled them to write the Gospels and the Letters that now make up our Bible. It is the same Spirit that guides us and interprets that same Word of God.

The bible speaks of the seven spirits of God, now I don’t want to go too far into depth but I see this as the perfection of the holy spirit in that the spirit is perfect in his person, in his holiness and wisdom he is perfect in his power and discipline in his grace and work in his service and glory He is perfect in his truth and his anointing and in his comfort and the rest in the lord. He is perfect in his attributes and that I will leave for next Sunday. the same spirit that moved Peter at Pentecost, that moved Paul to take his many journeys and start all those churches, the same spirit that moved John to write and work is still available today IF we are willing to receive the gift. To receive a gift you must use it and to use it you must trust it and if you trust it you must yield to it. Yield to the spirit and he will set you free!

The Holy Spirit of God in the Old Testament

Gen 1:1-3 In the beginning God (ELOHIM) created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was formless and void and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and the spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light.” The triune nature of God is a mystery only in that our finite minds cannot fully comprehend the concept. However if we just accept it in faith, it is not as difficult to understand as we might think. The name for God here is ELOHIM. It is plural and could be translated gods, but it is not for there is just one God in three persons and these three verses list them as: God the creator; God the Holy Spirit; and God the Word and Light, or Son. We see God creating; the Spirit moving and the Son working as the Word and bringing light to the darkness and form to the void. All three present and all three working to bring about their will and purpose in and through their creation.

1 Corinthians 12 4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit, 5 and there are varieties of ministries and the same Lord, 6 and there are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. These verses do a great job of explaining Gen 1:1-3. The Holy Spirit is associated with water. He is the water that flows from the throne of God in Isaiah 44:3 and Joel 2:28-29.   He is the water that Jesus offers without cost that will never leave us wanting in John 4:10-15. And like water He is always moving as the bringer of the gifts of God to man that enable us to do the work that Jesus started. The very power of water that can wear down mountains, bring life to the desert, and hide the depth of the ocean’s secrets. Jesus is the minister and as such he ministers to us – God’s greatest creation – as the Word – both living and written. Touching our lives physically as in the cross as well as spiritually in that I am Christ to those around me , as Christ ministers through me. Christ also ministers as the Light. Ever try to work in the dark? “Nuf said.” God, the Father, is the chief architect and after creating all, He now sustains all, in that He upholds creation. His hand upholds the laws of nature; His hand tells the sea, “This far you may come and no farther.” His hand maintains all the bodies of the universe and sets their courses. If God were to remove His hand? Well, you get the picture.

All that background just to get to the Spirit of God as he relates to the people of the Old Testament. The Spirit moves, or works in many ways in the Old Testament and I will give a list to start. He fills us in Exodus 35:31; He came upon him in Isaiah 42:1; He spoke the words of God to us in 2 Samuel 23:2; He carries us 1 Kings 18:12;   He leads us Psalm 143:10; The Holy Spirit rests upon us in Isaiah 11:2; He gathers us in Isaiah 34:16; He gives us rest in Isaiah 63:14; He enters in us in Ezekiel 2:2; He lifts me up in Ezekiel 3:12; He takes me away in Ezekiel 3:14; He instructs us Nehemiah 9:20; He admonishes us Nehemiah 9:30. We see the Holy Spirit on the move in the Old Testament working in the lives of the believers “coming upon” but not “residing in.” With one exception: in Ezekiel 2:2 the Spirit entered into Ezekiel. Now, I don’t believe the Holy Spirit was unable to enter in, but He could not reside or take up residence because the work of salvation had not yet been fulfilled. Most importantly, He goes before us. God has promised us that He will one day put His Spirit within all His people, (Joel 2:28) and that happened at Pentecost when the Spirit came down as tongues of fire upon the believers and the work of the church began.

Genesis 5:21-24 says Enoch walked with God!  In the garden, God walked with Adam. He physically walked with him and talked with him. They had fellowship together. Enoch may or not have physically walked with God, (I will not argue that point.) but I do see this as a spiritual walk with God, in that Enoch followed the laws and precepts of God. He understood God in a way that others did not. He truly fellowshipped with God in the fullest meaning of the word fellowship. His walk was a spiritual walk in which the Spirit of God guided him and directed him and he was obedient to the Spirit.

In Genesis 6:8 Noah walked with God. Verse 9 says that Noah was blameless in his time. Neither he nor Enoch lived without sin, but they were exceptional men in their day, in that they chose to follow God when others did not. God did not give Noah a set of blueprints and a binder of specs and leave him to his work. The Spirit of God guided and directed him in the work. Noah and his three sons and his wife and three daughters-in-law all worked to accomplish what God had set them to do as they were empowered by the Holy Spirit.

In Genesis 12 Abram was righteous before God. Abram did not follow God’s instructions to the letter, but he eventually got where God wanted him and he did try to do right. He often followed his own heart and did it his way at first, but over time and as his relationship with God grew, he came to depend on the Spirit of God for direction and guidance. His willingness to sacrifice his son, Isaac, was the turning point in his life, in that from that point on, he walked with God. Most of us can not relate to Enoch or Noah, but we can, however, relate to Abraham in how he, little by little, trusted God as God proved Himself trustworthy.

In Exodus 2, Moses was God’s chosen vessel to take His people out of slavery. Moses, like Abraham, made mistakes. One, in fact, cost him the ability to enter the promise land. No one in all the Bible had a closer walk with God than Moses! No one. His face shone with the shekinah glory of God himself, and Moses had to wear a veil over his face to hide it from the people for their fear of him. Moses learned to trust the Spirit of God as he moved in the midst of the nation of Israel; to depend on the Spirit’s guidance and direction.

1 Samuel 16 says David had a heart for God. David from his youth into adulthood walked with the Spirit of God as no one before had. His trust and faith were unwavering. David, for all his faults, lived his life in the perfect unity of the flesh and the Spirit. In the flesh, David accomplished much for the nation of Israel and all the people of God. It is no wonder that God chose to have a son born of David’s line to sit on David’s throne for all eternity. David is one of, if not the very, greatest king in human history as far as his accomplishments are concerned, but do not miss that David did all this by allowing the Spirit to move in his life – by allowing the Spirit of God to guide and direct him as he walked with God.

As we look at these men, we see the attributes of Christ: Enoch was sinless (as sinless as a man could be); Noah was blameless; Abraham righteous;  Moses faithful; and David spiritual. These attributes did not belong to these men. They were given by God through his Holy Spirit, who is the giver of gifts, that men might have the abilities needed to serve God for God’s glory and man’s salvation through Christ.

Pentecost

Pastor Paul

Pentecost Sunday is a day that we remember the anointing of the Holy Spirit of God on the eleven disciples and all believers.  For Christians, Pentecost is a day of celebrating the Holy Spirit of God entering into the believer and the bringing of the gifts of service to the church. We cannot fully understand Pentecost without understanding Christmas and Easter, as these two historical events help to define Pentecost.

Image courtesy of Godspace

Let’s start with Christmas.  As Christians, we celebrate the birth of Christ at the same time that the Jewish people celebrate Hanukkah. We, as Christians, are not a new religion per se.  We are in fact an extension of Judaism.  We are following the new covenant that God has made with his people that is in fact a fulfilling of his original covenant with Adam.  Gen 3:15 “and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shall bruise his heel.”  This is the promises of the Messiah fulfilled in Jesus, the child born of Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit of God.  John 10:22 “And it was at Jerusalem the Feast of Dedication, and it was winter.”  The Feast of Dedication is today known as Hanukkah, also as the Feast of Lights. The history behind Hanukkah is not found in our bible.  It is found in a Jewish oral tradition and recorded in the books known as the Apocrypha.  The Maccabees started a revolt in 165 BC against the Greco Syrian occupation of Israel and won back the temple mount. They cleansed the temple and rededicated it to the Lord. Leviticus 24:1-4  As part of this, they lit a lamp that was to burn in the presence of the Lord continuously.  However, only one day’s amount of oil was all they had, and it would take eight days to make and consecrate more oil. They lit the lamp in faith and it burned for eight days. This miracle is commemorated as the Feast of Dedication of Lights.  Hanukkah, a feast of the rededication of the temple where God resided and the light of his presence became for us the day that God came down to dwell among men to be the light that shines in the darkness, to be the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.

And as the lamb of God, we will look at Easter, the time of year that  the Jews celebrate Passover. I recommend you read Exodus 12 through 13:16. The last plague upon Egypt was the killing of all the first born.  The Jews were saved or passed over because God through Moses instructed them to sacrifice a lamb and paint their door posts and lintels with the blood and eat the entire lamb, so the angel of death would pass them over. We celebrate the shed blood and the sacrifice of  the Lamb of God, Jesus, who was bruised for our transgressions, bruised on the heel. It was not ultimately a fatal wound, for three days later, he rose victorious from the grave, bruising the head of the devil, for no more could our sins be used against us. Not only was Christ victorious, but we who believe share in His victory over sin and death, and because of this, God will fulfill His promise to Adam and restore our relationship with Him.

Which brings us to Pentecost. God walked in the garden with Adam, they enjoyed fellowship together. Pentecost is the day that God came to dwell in believers’ hearts to restore that fellowship. Seven weeks after Passover, the Jews celebrate SHAVUOT or the Feast of Weeks. To commemorate the seven weeks or forty-nine days of travel from Egypt to Mount Sinai, where they received the law. On Shavuot, they celebrate deliverance from slavery, and the receiving of the law. We celebrate the deliverance from sin and the receiving of grace in the form of the Holy Spirit. I don’t know why we do not have as great a celebration on Pentecost as we have on Christmas and Easter.  Perhaps we should considering this day in the life of a Christian is every bit as important as the others, maybe even more so, in that this day brings the fulfillment of the promises of the first two.