Joshua and Judges: The doctrine of leadership part 55 - Essential qualities of leadership: The filling of the Spirit; is it an experience? 2Co 3:18.Title: Joshua and Judges: The doctrine of leadership part 55 - Essential qualities of leadership: The filling of the Spirit; is it an experience? 2Co 3:18.
Announcementsopening prayer:
The filling of the Spirit cannot be characterized as any one experience. Much error has been done to doctrines when believers seek truths in experiences apart from the teaching of the scriptures.
An unlimited field lies before us when we are told that we may be changed from glory to glory.
2Co 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
2Co 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
How this transformation comes about must be gained from the scripture only. We see immediately in this verse that the Lord the Spirit is the means.
This is the understanding of the glory of the Lord being transferred to the believer who in turn is transformed into the same image. Image here would in no way mean the deity of Him but refers to the believer being a representative of Him. By continually looking into this mirror of the mind of Christ, His glory becomes known to the believer and through the Spirit, understood. Through regeneration and the gift of the divine new creature and nature, the believer himself is a result of that glory. Together, position in Him through regeneration and understanding of His glory, He will be manifested through the believer who will reveal Him, His person, His work, and His glory to the world.
This is what the passage continues with.
2Co 4:5 For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake.
2Co 4:6 For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
2Co 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves
God promises to transform our minds by means of His word so that we may prove under testing that perfect will of God.
Again, this is not based upon any one common experience. The proving tests will be unique in many ways to each believer, though there will certainly be many similarities. The possibilities are as endless as God's capacity to create.
Rom 12:1 I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual [logikos = reasonable or intelligent] service of worship.
Rom 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed [passive] by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove [dokimazo] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
The Spirit illumes the word so that the mind is transformed through understanding of the will of God. The believer puts his faith in God's will and in life his faith is put to the test through a variety of situations. God's will is always good, acceptable, and perfect and so it always passes the test. This the believer sees, and his faith in the efficacy of God's will increases.
The renewed mind comes only as the Spirit illumes the word.
1Co 2:10 For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.
These revelations or "aha moments" will come to each of us in the perfect timing of God. Not all in a congregation are going to see the depth of any truth or doctrine at the same time. God knows what we need. He will perfectly weave together the threads of Bible lessons, applications, experiences, circumstances, personal interactions in each believers life where He omnisciently knows what each positive believer will need to realize that personal revelation. God is always for the believer and never against. The work He has begun in you, He will complete it.
He promises that He will work within us both to will and to do His good pleasure.
Php 2:13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
Again, faith is the key. God promises to work in you. He is in you, His word is in you. The new creature and the justified life is in you. Therefore, God's virtues will be in you; most importantly His love. He will work this all together for good, for His good pleasure.
Eph 3:20 Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us
Php 1:6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
The believer by faith, presenting himself to God's will in all things, takes God's good pleasure to be his own. Sometimes the revelation of the deep things of God put the believer on the threshold of the finite and the infinite.
Hope in the believer becomes divine and infinite and that can be a scary place to stand. I think it's wonderful to have a good and excited fear creep over you as you begin to see and wonder about what God might reveal or do. It is not a sinful fear, but one of the infinite unknown, yet partially known, that makes a believer stand in awe.
Rom 15:13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
This is not based on any one experience that is common to all believers but the possibility of any number of varied experiences that will come into the life of a child of faith and the hope and excitement from the supernatural nature of it all.
The transformation from the glory of Christ through His word and Spirit of the believer into the same image or representation is a revelation of His marvelous light. We bask in this light to that we may proclaim His excellencies.
Walking in God's light, as a child of light, leads to true humility and an outworking of the ministry that God has given to each one individually. Each one is unique and so there cannot be any standard for common experience.
Rom 12:1 I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual [intelligent] service of worship.
Rom 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Rom 12:3 For through the grace given to me I say to every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment [sober minded], as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.
To himself, every man is in a sense the most important person in the world, and it always needs much grace to see what other people are through the eyes of truth, which is through the eyes of Christ.
Each believer is to view the gifts given to him by God through humility and thanksgiving and not pride and conceit. God is in service of others. Christ came to seek and to save those who were lost; to serve and not to be served. So then, all of God's gifts, all of which are extensions of His very nature, are designed for use in service of others. In this passage, the idea of conceit is treated the same as insanity.
Faith has been given to us by God and some believers have more of it than others, not by their works, but by their presenting themselves to God in humility. A believer strong in faith is to bear the weaknesses of the believer who is weaker in faith.
Rom 15:1 Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves. |