Gospel of John [Joh 16:12-15]. The Doctrine of the HS, part 35. 1Th 5:19; Rom 6:12-13; 12:1; 8:12-14.Title: Gospel of John [Joh 16:12-15]. The Doctrine of the HS, part 35. 1Th 5:19; Rom 6:12-13; 12:1; 8:12-14.
Announcements/opening prayer:
Conditions for the filling of the Spirit.
There are three specific instances in the Scripture that addresses the work of the Spirit in the believer. Two of them are negative and the third is positive.
In verses 19-21 we noted each imperative verb.
1Thes 5:19 Do not quench the Spirit [present active imperative];
1Thes 5:20 do not despise [do not keep regarding as nothing] prophetic utterances.
1Thes 5:21 But examine [keep on testing or proving] everything carefully; hold fast [keep on holding down or aggressively pursuing] to that which is good;
1Thes 5:22 abstain [keep on avoiding] from every form of evil.
Verses 19-22 must be taken together. Each verb, "do not quench," do not despise," "examine," "hold fast," and "abstain," are all present imperatives.
They are durative and should be the life of the believer.
"Do not quench the Spirit" - do not limit His teaching and do not hinder His ability to do good in and through you and do not deny His power to suppress evil in you.
Both behests, do not grieve and do not quench, are negative, making request respecting specific things which must not be allowed if the full measure of the Spirit’s blessing is to be realized.
There are specific things which must not be allowed if the full measure of the Spirit's blessing is to be realized. If they are, we recover in grace and continue to suppress them through the power of doctrine and the F/HS.
We must understand the truth that is in Christ and not limit the Spirit's power to do good in us and through us.
"quench" - sbe,nnumi[sbennumi] = quenching a fire, to cause a fervent activity to cease.
Act 2:3-4 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.
It is impossible to extinguish the Holy Spirit in the absolute sense, or to put Him out. His continued indwelling is guaranteed for all Christians.
Quenching the Spirit may be simply defined as being unyielded to Him, or saying, "No."
Every believer faces the obvious fact that no man can serve two masters. It is impossible to enter into salvation and its joy without accepting the Lord as Savior. Yet in life, the believer faces the question of yielding to Christ as Lord or Master. The Bible makes it clear that the believer can call his flesh master or the Lord Master, but not both at the same time.
The fallen state of man is made obvious through the fact that even believers find it so difficult to conform to the will of God. Why should any creature find it difficult to be obedient to his own Creator? Not only does God have the inherent, sovereign right over that which He has made, but He also has the highest possible destiny for each individual, whether human or angel, who fulfill the purpose for which they have been created.
Nothing is more irrational than to suppose that a creature can better his estate or improve his prospects by keeping the direction of his life in his own hands.
Satan himself is the extreme example of this folly. By turning from the exalted position and ever increasing glory that was his by God's gift at his creation over to his own cosmos-world government in opposition to God, he evidently supposed that he was improving his fortunes. Believer's can never lose their salvation, no matter how much they resist the will of God, but they will certainly not experience the riches of God's benefits in time, and they will experience the dried up life of one walking in the dark, saved, but no different than the unbeliever and with the chastisement of God added. Why don't they turn as God chastises them? I believe they grow used to it and learn to settle for a life that is not Christ, though they have every right, by birth, to experience it.
Walvoord quotes J.E. Harrison from his work, Reigning in Life, "Some Christians who are living on the lower plane of religious experience are not only content to dwell there, but resent the suggestion that there is anything nobler or better; while others go constantly mourning and complaining of the dreary desert way they are treading. In either case the loss is unspeakable, and the harm done to the cause of Christianity by their defective testimony and character is pitiable."
Rom 6:12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts,
Rom 6:13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
"do not go on presenting" - present tense = stop continually presenting.
"present yourselves" - aorist tense = present yourselves to God once and for all.
The believer is called upon to make a decision to yield to the authority of God once and for all. This is not sinlessness, but rather a decision to make God and doctrine #1. The believer who resists this will be presented with it time and time again and God is patient and forbearing, however, the believer will only enjoy the blessedness of life when he presents himself for his proper orders from his Commander and Lord.
The same word in the aorist tense is in Rom 12:1.
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 service of worship.
“A yieldedness to the will of God is not demonstrated by some one particular issue: it is rather a matter of having taken the will of God as the rule of one’s life. To be in the will of God is simply to be willing to do His will without reference to any particular thing He may choose. It is electing His will to be final, even before we know what He may wish us to do. It is, therefore, not a question of being willing to do some one thing: it is a question of being willing to do anything, when, where and how, it may seem best in His heart of love. It is taking the normal and natural position of childlike trust which has already consented to the wish of the Father even before anything of the outworking of His wish is revealed.” [Chafer, He That is Spiritual]
The initial act accepts by faith the will of God before it is known. However, once that will is known there will be, to a lesser or greater degree, a struggle with the old nature.
Too often a desire for Spirit control of the heart is followed by an unyielded life.
The young believer in doctrine learns that there is a will of God that is to be followed and if in faith he accepts that will before it is known he has chosen not to hinder the Holy Spirit, but there is a different struggle within him when that will becomes clearly known. At this crossroad of temptation, the command, do not quench the Holy Spirit applies again and more formidably.
The leading of the Spirit is only for those who are already committed to do the will of God. He is able to speak loud enough to make a willing soul hear.
"Though the demands are superhuman, there is no ground upon which it properly can be considered a burden or bondage to avoid the quenching of the Spirit. Every demand which the presence of the Spirit engenders is in itself a path into untold riches of blessing. In truth, the presence of the Holy Spirit and the riches of His benefits constitute an earnest and foretaste of heaven’s immeasurable realities. Spiritual sanity will never shrink from the obligations which life in company with the Holy Spirit creates. Those obligations at best may be but partially discharged, but the ambition to comply with all that they exact should never be lacking." [Chafer] This is an exhortation to continue to accept the will of God and surrender to it as was adopted in the original act of faith. Yet we must be reminded that God never gives us more than we can bear. If we have initially said yes to God's will before it becomes clear and then say no to it once it does become clear then we must deal with our antinomian mind and soul. God in His grace is going to keep presenting the believer with this important decision because God loves every believer as He loves His Son. The blessedness of His life for us, which is Christ, is far greater than any we could develop on our own in the world and under the flesh |