Christian Responsibility
(1) Do you have the Holy Spirit?
Read Acts 2:38,39; Titus 3:5; John 3:3-5; Romans 6:4,5; Eph. 1:13,14; Rom.8 and the other passages that we have read and discussed in the past weeks. Is there any doubt as to the indwelling of the Spirit in your life? Why?
Let's look at 1 Cor. 2:14-16. What does this passage tell us about the `New' behavior of one who has accepted Christ as Lord AND Savior?
14But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 15But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. 16For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.
Are we spiritual? Do we examine ourselves daily? (2Cor.13:5) When we encounter different situations throughout our day, do we make our decisions and build our attitude upon the fact that Jesus Christ is coming again for His?
If you don't have the Holy Spirit, it can only be because you weren't immersed `into Christ' for the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. And that can only be because:
You were never immersed.
You didn't believe what God promised.
You were baptized for the wrong reason.
In Acts 19:1-5 we have one example of some who were not immersed into Christ for the gift of the Spirit.
1It happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus, and found some disciples. 2He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” 3And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “Into John's baptism.” 4Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying. 7There were in all about twelve men.
You can see that these 12 men were not baptized “into Christ” ! Which means they did not reap the blessings of Acts 2:38,39
(2) Since we do have such a wonderful Helper dwelling within us, how is it that we still find ourselves doing the things that we should not and not doing the things that we should?
Eph. 4: 30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Isa. 63: 10 But they rebelled And grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them.
Acts 7: 51 “You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did.
Do we `grieve' the Holy Spirit? How?
When we KNOW that God's plan for us is different from what we want to do, and we still do the thing that we want, we are `grieving' the Holy Spirit. He is `sorry' that we ignore His warning and leading.
(3) What responsibilities accompany the reception (and indwelling) of the Holy Spirit?
1 Cor. 3: 16, 17 16Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.
1 Cor. 6: 15-20 15Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! 16Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, “The two shall become one flesh.” 17But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. 18Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. 19Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
The very Spirit of God dwells within us! How can we possibly go on living as if this were not true! How can we join ourselves to sin, knowing that we have the Spirit of God, The Spirit of Christ within us. Do we want Him to be joined with us in sin? UH-UH!
(4) How can the church be called to accept the Spirit's leadership today?
Eph. 2: 19-22 19So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, 20having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, 21in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, 22in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
The very Spirit of God dwells with His church! Not to be misled. The Spirit is not limited to this building, or to the time that we choose to come together. But He does ACTIVELY dwell within His church and people. WE WILL NOT ACCOMPLISH THE WORK OF THE LORD UNLESS WE RECOGNIZE HIS PRESENCE AND WORK WITH HIS LEADING!
Eph. 4: 3 3being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
We will never achieve UNITY apart from the Spirit! It cannot be done!
1 Cor. 2: 12-16 12Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, 13which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
14But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 15But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. 16For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.
We will NEVER understand the things of God, the spiritual matters, unless we have and recognize the indwelling Spirit of God! We are no longer to act like the natural man! We can no longer use the excuse,”I'm only human!”
Luke 11: 9-13 9“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10“For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. 11“Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? 12“Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? 13“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”
We must SEEK the help of the HELPER!
1 Thes. 5: 19-22 19Do not quench the Spirit; 20do not despise prophetic £utterances. 21But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; 22abstain from every £form of evil.
We MUST not allow our traditions, prejudice, personal goals, preconceived notions, or anything else to cause us to make hasty decisions without seeking the help of the Holy Spirit!
Rom. 8: 14 14For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
We MUST be LED by the Spirit! The Church of the Almighty God can not and will not be sustained unless we are led by the Spirit of God. This means no decision without study! No decision without prayer! No decision without Christ at the helm. The only reason that many men are found `voting' on Scriptural issues in our congregations today is because of the lack of knowledge, prayer, faithfulness, and servitude!
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