Joshua and Judges: The doctrine of leadership part 80 - Essential qualities of leadership: The filling of the Spirit; He fills those who are rightly adjusted to God, 1Co 11:31.Title: Joshua and Judges: The doctrine of leadership part 80 - Essential qualities of leadership: The filling of the Spirit; He fills those who are rightly adjusted to God, 1Co 11:31.
Announcements / opening prayer:
When we acknowledge our sin we are agreeing with God that we thought according to the old nature and so opposed God and grieved the Spirit of God. Knowing this we say the same as God - we acknowledge or confess the sin, think the godly truth again, and move on knowing that we have been fully forgiven at Calvary and that God has cleansed our souls.
We see the practical reality of this in Paul's letters to the Corinthians.
2Co 7:1 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
As in 1Co Paul attempts to open their minds and therefore their faith to their position in Christ as the means of correcting their erroneous thinking. Research suggests that Paul actually wrote four letters to Corinth of which two did not survive. Also, the Corinthians wrote letters to Paul, of which none have survived.
"having these promises"
2Co 6:14 Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?
2Co 6:15 Or what harmony has Christ with Belial [associated with Satan in the Jewish apocalyptic writings], or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?
2Co 6:16 Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, (compilation of several passages in the OT)
"I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
2Co 6:17 "Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate," says the Lord. "And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you.
2Co 6:18 "And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me," Says the Lord Almighty.
Several of these are Millennial promises of the Abrahamic Covenant to which we call the New Covenant, and yet, they also apply to the church by way of the mystery, especially the indwelling of God.
2Co 7:1 Therefore, having these promises [our position in Christ], beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
"defilement" - mud or filth. "perfecting" - accomplishing sanctification in the fear of God.
Holiness or sanctification is, in this context, a life that is lived unto God and separate from the world system and the flesh, even though we are in the world and the flesh is in us. Paul brings out the proper motivation - our position in Christ.
God, through Paul, communicated this same motivational truth of the incredible position the believer has in Christ to the Corinthians in an earlier letter, and then He asked them to judge themselves thoroughly.
1Co 11:31 But if we judged ourselves rightly, we should not be judged.
The issue in the direct context of this was their defilement of the Lord's Supper. Yet as we have seen in this book, there were many things that Paul convicted them of, which all stemmed from their fleshly or carnal lives.
Paul cannot judge them so as to get them to stop living carnal lives and polluting the Communion, only they can do that. He's not physically there so that he can turn over their communion tables in a manner like the Lord did in the temple.
So after hearing Paul's appeal and exhortation they are told to fully examine [diakrino] their own souls and when they do, do they agree with God's assessment of them or not?
Diakrino means to do a good job of it. Don't be hasty. Make sure you test all of your thoughts and ways.
Gal 6:4 But let each one examine [dokimazo] his own work
If they did then they would agree with God that their fleshly lifestyles were in opposition to who they now were in Christ leading to the very next thought that they need to change how they think, which is the meaning of the word repent.
2Co 7:1 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
2Co 7:8 For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it — for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while —
2Co 7:9 I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, in order that you might not suffer loss in anything through us.
"repentance" - meta,noia [metanoia] = to change one's mind.
2Co 7:10 For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret [no condemnation - identified with Christ's crucifixion], leading to salvation [deliverance from sinful lifestyle]; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
2Co 7:11 For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter.
2Co 7:12 So although I wrote to you it was not for the sake of the offender, nor for the sake of the one offended, but that your earnestness on our behalf might be made known to you [might be made manifest] in the sight of God.
2Co 7:13 For this reason we have been comforted.
Until acknowledgment of sin is made, the believer is contending for that which is evil and thus is at disagreement with the Father.
A believer who is pursuing the plan of God is going to notice many of his sins and he will gladly acknowledge them and enter into the blessedness of forgiveness. A believer who is pursuing carnality may be doing so in ignorance, but if he is a student of the word of God, this will soon become manifest and with understanding there can be repentance. The believer who is cognizant in pursuing carnality will justify, ignore, or blame someone for the sin. God's scourging hand will be on such a believer out of love so that he may open his spiritual eyes, see his error, and repent.
Two people cannot fellowship with one another unless they are agreed. God cannot agree with sin.
The child who changes his mind, who acknowledges a sin committed and changes his mind from sinning to godliness agrees with the Father. By this we turn from sin unto God and we do so without guilt or condemnation.
1Th 5:19 Do not quench the Spirit
The context of this chapter is that we are children of God and so we shouldn't sleep in life (vv. 4-8), meaning that we should have understanding and wisdom and should be alert. We are to walk in faith and love and have confidence in the deliverances of God (v. 8). We are to encourage one another and build up one another with the truth (v. 11). We are to appreciate and esteem those among us who work hard in service of the body of Christ (v. 12-13). We are to:
1Th 5:14 And we urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all men.
1Th 5:15 See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all men.
1Th 5:16 Rejoice always;
1Th 5:17 pray without ceasing;
1Th 5:18 in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
1Th 5:19 Do not quench the Spirit
In the midst of this we have the command to not quench the Holy Spirit.
Quenching the Spirit is having any unyieldedness to the will of God and is thus saying no to God. We might say that grieving the Spirit is by what one does and quenching is by what one does not do.
But we can see that there is some overlap between grieving and quenching, and I doubt that there is an instance of one that doesn't include the other. As our last principle stated, the Christian way of life does not only consist of what the Christian does not do, but more so in what he does.
The word quench doesn't imply that the Spirit is extinguished, but that the believer has canceled His power in his life. The Spirit never removes His presence and He never stops convicting the believer who has chosen independence from Him.
Yielding our will to the Spirit in faith makes for a life of production. An idle life is one of the most terrible things a person can do to himself. Faith becomes hope and hope becomes love, and faith gets stronger and stronger through that whole process of growth. In the plan of God the believer has a life of no regrets.
There is a life of no regrets and that is the life that has done the will of God.
Php 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
2Ti 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;
2Ti 4:8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.
To be yielded to Him is to allow Him to design and execute the position and effectiveness of our life. He alone can do this. Of all the numberless paths in which we might walk, He alone knows the divine one or the one predestined for you by the Father. |