Things Christians Overlook: The Ministry of the Spirit in the Believer's Life is Powerful

This series attempts to touch very briefly on a few things that many Christians overlook in their daily lives. All of these things are points that I have overlooked in my own life. This is not intended to be a nasty series, a virtual poke in the eyes, but is meant to pass along a few things others have taught me that I have found helpful.

Today we look very quickly at the power of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus and the believer. We sometimes think that Jesus accomplished the various miracles of His ministry in His own strength. But this is not what the Bible teaches. The ministry of Christ was Spirit-powered.

John 1:32-33 Then John gave this testimony: "I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.'

This text shows us that Jesus received the Spirit at the beginning of His earthly ministry. In fact, it was the Spirit's descent that marked the beginning of Christ's work as Lord and Savior. From this point forward, Christ accomplished all that He did through the power of the Spirit. Note that I'm not saying that it was not possible for Christ to do all His work in His own power; rather, He chose to lay His power down in order that the power of the Spirit would be manifest in Him. This is a key distinction, and a subtle one, and the subtlety makes all the difference.

Why is this significant beyond mere theological quibbling? As my father-in-law, Dr. Bruce Ware, explained in introducing me and others to this foundational idea, it shows us that in possessing the same Spirit that Christ did, we have access to the same power that Christ did. This is a dynamic truth, a life-changing truth. Do you see it? You do not live your life through a kind of vague divinity that occasionally trickles down from on high. No, you live your life as a Christian through access to the same Spirit who enabled Christ to raise men from the dead, heal the sick, walk on the waters. You do not have access to a trickle--you have access to a flood of spiritual power that will enable you to walk in godliness and truth all your days, and to be a channel of blessing to all who surround you in your daily life. As you carry the gospel to the lost, as you carry out your daily responsibilities, as you fight for holiness each hour of the day, you can call upon the Father to move in a powerful way in your life through the Holy Spirit. This is a prayer that God will answer. He will take joy in your recognition of the power of the Holy Spirit, and just as He did for Christ, He will move in your life in marvelous ways to bring His will and plan to pass in your life. Clearly, this is a truth we need to recognize. Have you realized that you don't have to live in your own strength as a Christian? Are you calling on God to work in you through the Spirit? Or are you out there fighting your own battles, waging your own wars, struggling to grow in godliness and live a gospel-centered life?

If so, read the gospel of John, observe how John highlights the Spirit's work in Christ's life, and claim this same Spirit dynamism in your own life. This is one matter we cannot afford to overlook.

Further reading: Bruce Ware, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Crossway, 2005.

The New 9Marks eJournal: Corporate Prayer

If you don't check the 9Marks site for its bimonthly offerings (all free!), you should. It is like taking a course in whatever subject the site is examining. It's amazing that it is free, because there are multiple contributors each issue who offer choice insights and expert analysis. Though I have a book review in this issue, I am decidedly not including myself in that group. However, I do hope that my review of Dallas Seminary professor Aubrey Malphurs's book is helpful.

The new issue, Jan/Feb 2008, is on corporate prayer. I would highly encourage you to take a look at it and read a few articles. For example, the sample corporate prayers will give you a good idea of how to pray before a congregation in a "big" way, that is, in such a way that one magnifies God and the work of His people on His earth. That's just one example, of course. The whole thing is very well done as it is led by a godly man named Jonathan Leeman. Jonathan is a very talented editor and thinker and his work is quite valuable. I would encourage you to pass on the eJournal to someone who doesn't know about it or link to it on your blog. Even if you don't agree with all that you read, I think that you'll still find some good material to mull over.

Here's a quotation from my review that gives you a taste of it:

"Malphurs encourages the church to evaluate itself, which in itself is a healthy idea. His form of measurement, however, is concerning.

Evaluation takes place according to "PIs," performance indicators that reveal the church’s progress toward its goals. For example, one might evaluate the effectiveness of a "seeker service" by the number of baptisms, or the effectiveness of personal evangelism by the number of professions of faith (307).

While numbers may reflect the blessing of God on our ministry, they may also reflect other realities. Our numbers may be high because our doctrine is shallow and easy to stomach. Our evangelism may appear fruitful because our evangelistic program goes soft on hell and perseverance. Isn’t it better to evaluate one’s church according to its faithfulness to Scripture?"

A Theology of Ambition: Biblical Considerations, Pt. 2

Update on December 25th--Merry Christmas to all consumed readers. Enjoy the holiday!

We pick back up in our biblical consideration of ambition. On Wednesday, I'll give a concluding synthesis.

1. Gen. 1:26-28 the call to take dominion
2. 1 Chron. 4:10 Jabez's bold prayer
3. 2 Chron. 1:7-13 Solomon's ambitious prayer for wisdom
4. Nehemiah an example of godly ambition
5. Matthew 28:18-20 the call to take spiritual dominion
6. 1 Cor. 10:31 life as an exercise in biblical ambition
7. Hebrews 4:16 the invitation to pray with boldness

The story of Nehemiah is incredible. Hearing that Jerusalem and its people are in shambles, Nehemiah prays to the Lord and asks Him to bless Nehemiah as he seeks to rebuild the city and reconstitute the people. We have no indication of divine prompting of this prayer. Like so many biblical characters, Nehemiah sees a lack and prays boldly that he might be used to address it. Read chapter one of Nehemiah to get the full vision of his prayer. What transpires after the prayer is equally inspiring. To make a long and invigorating story short, Nehemiah and the Jews prevail over their enemies and in an incredibly short period of time rebuild Jerusalem. It is clear from Nehemiah's example that the Lord is richly honored by Nehemiah's faith and by his bold request. Nehemiah asks God for Jerusalem, and the Lord gives it to him.

Skipping ahead to the new creation call to dominion, Matthew 28:18-20 teaches us that Christians are to be ambitious for the spread of the gospel. Jesus Christ's final recorded words in Matthew's gospel propel His disciples away from ensconcement and ease and push them to all the ends of the earth in order that sinful men might be recreated for the kingdom through the gospel's transforming power. If you follow up the new creation call to dominion by reading the book of Acts, you will see that Christ's disciples were nothing less than zealous for the publishing abroad of the euangelion, the good news. They prayed, planned, and acted, and they didn't do so in bite-sized bits. They went out and took the world by storm with the gospel. The disciples and apostles were fearless and ambitious, and their efforts, borne out of that spirit, changed all history.

There are so many texts that cover this theme, but we cannot skip 1 Cor 10:31, where the apostle Paul instructs us to do all to the glory of God. We commonly reference this text in other discussions, but it has an important place in a biblical consideration of ambition. We don't simply rubber stamp our actions as "Christian." That's not what Paul is encouraging us to do. Paul is encouraging us to be active in finding things to do that bring glory to God even as we respect the consciences of our fellow Christians. As opposed to those who prescribe a code of respectable actions, Paul pushes the Corinthian Christians to realize that all of life is an exercise in glorifying God, and thus to act boldly toward this end. We should do the same.

The final text I'll cover deals with the matter of prayer. In Hebrews 4:16, the author exhorts us to come boldly before God and to make our spiritual requests known to Him. Many of us know this text (and other passages I've covered), but I think that we sometimes fail to construct a broader theology of ambition. We are to be bold in prayer, but we are also to be bold in all of our lives. This does not and must not preclude the steady exercise of supplication to God, but just as we are to pray boldly and courageously, so we are to live boldly and courageously. The author of Hebrews makes this very clear on the matter of prayer as he pushes away from our natural hesitations to make big requests of God and tells us that such prayer is the very prayer God desires. We can of course make selfish, worldly requests of God, and this is not right. When we pray with right motives and for spiritual ends, however, God is well pleased with us. Let us live, then, as we are called to pray: boldly, courageously, passionately.

To Pray Rather Than Talk

If you are like me, you too often do the reverse.

I find this true especially when I'm stressed, uncertain, unhappy or in some other emotional state that involves unrest. At the same time, though, I also find myself more in the mood to talk with friends when I'm very happy than to pray in thankfulness to God. So when I'm at either end of the emotional spectrum, I'm more likely to incline towards communication with people than communication with the divine.

There is nothing wrong with talking to friends and family about our lives. We should do so. We should do so often, I think. But we ought to check our hearts at times on this matter. Sometimes, I'll be walking home from work, and I'll think about who I could call on the phone and talk to at that moment. Well, there may well be someone who needs an encouraging word or a friendly conversation at that moment. I am disturbed, however, by my hasty inclination to talk with friends or family rather than to pray to God. I want to have a heart that instinctively prays, not one that grudgingly prays. I want to redeem the time, not spend it for the sake of spending it. When I am faced with difficulty and trial, I want to go first to God and to lay out my concerns and needs before Him. When I am happy, I want to burst out in spontaneous thanksgiving to God rather than to call my friends. In short, I want God to have the priority in my communicative life.

There are times when we will need to go to others in an intensive way, but it is best for us all, whatever our stage or situation of life, to develop an instinctive prayer life that gives God communicative priority. We should lean on one another and celebrate together and mourn together and everything else in between. But we should first and foremost be people who pray to God, who see ten or fifteen or five or two minutes as an opportunity to, wherever we are, get away to God. When our hearts are troubled, we should not call everyone in our phone book and blather away. We should lean on our families, but not so that we crush them with our burdens. It is difficult to find this balance, and easy answers will evade us, but we have all our lives to handle this tension. May we find many moments in days to come to speak with God, to lean on Him first, and to pray rather than talk.