Give us Dependent Preachers

One of the gifts of God we should pray for is dependent preachers. I would rather sit under the preaching of a man who understands his dependence on the Spirit than 10,000 preachers who just go through the motions. You can tell the difference. God, make me desperate.

"How utterly dependent we are on the Holy Spirit in the work of preaching! All genuine preaching is rooted in a feeling of desperation. You wake up on Sunday morning and you can smell the smoke of hell on one side and feel the crisp breezes of heaven on the other. You go to your study and look down at your pitiful manuscript, and you kneel down and cry, “O God, this is so weak! Who do I think I am? What audacity to think that in three hours my words will be the odor of death to death and the fragrance of life to life (2 Cor. 2:16). My God, who is sufficient for these things?”"

John Piper, The Supremancy of God in Preaching, pp. 41-42.

You Need the Spirit to See the Son

I love the cross-fertilization that comes from reading several books at the same time. Like when the wind blows the seeds from one farmer's field into his neighbor's farm.

For example, I was reading in Josh Harris' new book this morning about the power of the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. Josh challenged me to be continually seeking the filling of the Spirit day by day (Eph. 5:18).

Then, I was reading in DA Carson's The Cross and Christian Ministry. Carson opened up 1 Cor. 2 and the point that the natural man sees nothing because he doesn't have the help of the Spirit. The wisdom of the Cross is only seen by those who are enabled by the Spirit. Carson writes: "If we should express unqualified gratitude to God for the gift of his Son, we should express no less gratitude to God for the gift of the Spirit who enables us to grasp the gospel of his Son” (p. 52).

I was reminded that being dominated by the Spirit has a purpose: to see and know and enjoy Christ. Be continually being filled with the Spirit, because otherwise, you won't see Jesus.

The Holy Spirit in John's Gospel

Some of the main teaching about the third Person of the Trinity in John's Gospel:

7:37-52:
-The Spirit is given to all those who believe in Christ.
-The Spirit is given abundantly.
-The Spirit is given as a result of Christ’s glorification.

14:16-17:
-The Spirit is a gift from the Father.
-The Spirit is a “helper”.
-The Spirit is a permanent resident (inside us).
-The Spirit will teach us the truth.

16:4-15:
-The Spirit convicts the world.
-The Spirit serves the church.
...by guiding us to the truth.
...by glorifying Jesus (for more on this role of the Spirit see this post).

"Unction" in Preaching

Chapter 2 of Lloyd-Jones: Messenger of Grace is fantastic and convicting. I would encourage all preachers to read this chapter. Here is a brief outline:

Unction and the Pew (what the Spirit does in the hearers):

1. Preaching under the anointing of the Holy Spirit is preaching which brings with it a consciousness of God.

2. Where there is power in preaching there is little wandering of attention in the pew.

3. Where there is unction in preaching children also may listen and benefit.

4. Powerful preaching is preaching which results in a change in those who listen.

Unction and the Preaching

1. As anointed preaching is the work of the Holy Spirit, the preacher knows this is a gift that is not under human control.

2. The more a preacher knows of unction, the less he will think of himself and his own work.

Preparation for Preaching

1. Sermons will be formed from truth which the Holy Spirit can honor (Bible-saturated).

2. The life of the preacher will be part of the sermon.

3. There will be dependence on the Holy Spirit for his present aid.

4. There should be an awareness that Christianity is both a body of truth and doctrine, and a life to be experienced.

5. Chief attention will be given to Christ himself.

A few quotes:

"Any man who has had some glimpse of what it is to preach will inevitably feel he has never preached. But he will go on trying."

"Distrust in oneself must mark the preacher...A self-confident preacher ought to be a contradiction in terms."

"To expect the Holy Spirit to give his aid to what are merely our ideas is to desecrate the pulpit."

The Aim of the Holy Spirit

On the night of His betrayal and arrest, Jesus said a lot about the Holy Spirit. The Farewell Discourse (John 14-16) contains at least four passages on the person and work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus wanted to ensure His troubled disciples that the Spirit of truth would enable them to accomplish all that He commanded them to do.

And, of all that Jesus said about the Holy Spirit, one particular aspect of the Spirit’s work stands out. Jesus said, “He will glorify me” (John 16:14) and “He will bear witness about me” (John 15:26). This is the Holy Spirit’s primary ministry. The Spirit glorifies Jesus. The content of the Spirit’s witness is the glory of Jesus Christ.

Clearly, this is not all that the Spirit does. The New Testament is full of references to the person and work of the Holy Spirit. However, in everything that the Spirit does, this is His aim. When the Spirit is at work, the Savior is exalted.

Charles Spurgeon said, "It is the CHIEF office of the Holy Spirit to glorify Christ. He does many things, but this is what he aims at in all of them, to glorify Christ. Brethren, what the Holy Ghost does must be right for us to imitate: therefore, let us endeavor to glorify Christ. To what higher ends can we devote ourselves, than to something to which God the Holy Spirit devotes himself? Be this, then, your emotional prayer, "Blessed Spirit, help me ever to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ!"

In his book, Keep in Step with the Spirit, J.I. Packer compares the Spirit’s work with that of a floodlight. A floodlight aims to illumine whatever it is directed toward. When floodlighting is done well, you cannot even see the floodlight. You are not supposed to even notice where the light is coming from. In the same way, the Spirit is shinning on Jesus Christ. The Spirit points men and women to behold the Savior and find their deepest joy in Him.

Think of the implications of this truth. We can say with confidence that whatever does not glorify Jesus Christ is not of the Holy Spirit. If the Spirit does something, it will inevitably glorify Christ.

We should learn to test everything by this truth. How many churches claim to be “Spirit-filled,” who do not make much of Jesus Christ? How many ministries claim to be depending on the Spirit, who take up 100 causes without reference to the Savior?

Perhaps this is one of the greatest weaknesses of churches today. We try to accomplish God’s work in our own strength. We divorce the mission of God from the empowerment of the Spirit of God.

If we want to be in step with the Spirit, we must keep in step with the Spirit’s aim. How can we expect the Spirit’s power if we are not passionately engaged in the Spirit’s work? Spurgeon’s question is powerfully convicting: “To what higher ends can we devote ourselves, than to something to which God the Holy Spirit devotes himself?”

For the Glory of Jesus,
Pastor Justin

Spurgeon on the Chief Work of the Holy Spirit

"It is the CHIEF office of the Holy Spirit to glorify Christ. He does many things, but this is what he aims at in all of them, to glorify Christ. Brethren, what the Holy Ghost does must be right for us to imitate: therefore, let us endeavour to glorify Christ. To what higher ends can we devote ourselves, than to something to which God the Holy Ghost devotes himself? Be this, then, your emotional prayer, "Blessed Spirit, help me ever to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ!"

-CH Spurgeon

Prophecy and Teaching: How Are They Different Gifts?

I am finally carving out some time to read Wayne Grudem's The Gift of Prophecy. I've had it for about 5 years and knew one day I would want to read through it. Chapter 6 is extremely helpful for me as I think about the NT gift of prophecy.

It is important to note that the first 5 chapters do a great job of establishing the fact that NT prophecy is NOT the same as OT prophecy. OT prophecy was speaking the very words of God and thus authoritative. NT prophecy is speaking merely human words to report something God brings to mind.

Here are some nuggets:

The Nature of Prophecy:
2 factors that are essential to prophecy:
1. a revelation from the Holy Spirit.
2. a public report of that revelation.

The Nature of Teaching:
1. based on Scripture, not on a spontaneous revelation.
2. seeks to interpret and apply the Scripture.

This is why Paul allowed women to prophesy but not teach. Teaching carries much more authority than prophecy.

So here is the distinction: "If a message is the result of conscious reflection on the text of Scripture, containing interpretation of the text and application to life, then it is (in NT terms) a teaching. But if a message is the report of something God brings suddenly to mind, then it is a prophecy. And, of course, even prepared teachings can be interrupted by unplanned additional material which the Bible teacher suddenly feels God is bringing to his mind--in that case, it would be a 'teaching' with some prophecy mixed in" (p. 120).

"Prophets in the NT churches reported in their own words something which, it seemed to them, God had forcefully brought to mind. So teaching based on the written Word of God had far greater authority than occasional prophecies which the speaker thought were from God" (p. 122).

In prophecy, one can never be 100% sure it is from God. Thus, it does not carry near the same weight as a teaching from Scripture (which is certainly from God).

I would highly recommend that you read The Gift of Prophecy if you want to study this issue in more depth. It is a well written, engaging, and Bible-saturated teatment of the topic.

Life in the Spirit - session 3

In session 3, Dr. Storms opened up the can of worms. He preached from 1 Cor. 14:1 about earnestly desiring spiritual gifts. He had 4 observations:

1. It is not enough to simply be open to spiritual gifts. Paul says to earnestly desire them. Dr. Storms described the various views on the gifts of the Spirit. He said it is sin to belive the miraculous gifts are still available and yet not pursue their practice. Paul commands us to pursue them.

2. All spiritual gifts (even the miraculous) are intended by God for the common good and mutual edification of the body of Christ (1 Cor. 14:26; 14:3; 12:7). The miraculous gifts are not designed primarily for the attestation of the gospel (the cessationist argument). They are given for the building up of the church.

3. There is no necessary inconsistency between exercising gifts for edification of others and being edified oneself. Self-edification is not wrong unless it is an end in itself.

4. There is no necessary inconsistency between the final authority of the Bible and the spontanious revelations of prophecy. Teaching the Word is more authoritative than prophecy.

Life in the Spirit - session 2

In the second session, Dr. Storms' spoke on how Jesus is our great example of living life dependent on the Spirit. Dr. Storms argued that Jesus did not do His miracles by virtue of His diety, rather by virture of His humanity relying on the Spirit. He said, "Jesus resisted the temptations as a human in reliance on the Holy Spirit, not as God in His omnipotence." Thus, Jesus is the primary example of our dependence on the Spirit.

He argued from Phil. 2 that Jesus relinquished the use of His divine powers.

Dr. Storms walked through the life of Jesus and pointed to dozens of texts that refer to Jesus in dependence on the Spirit (John 3:34; Luke 4:1-2; 14; 18; Mark 1:10; etc.).

Life in the Spirit - session 1

It was a joy to introduce Dr. Sam Storms tonight and hear him preach from 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22. We hope to have the audio available as soon as possible. Here are my brief notes from the talk:

Sam listed 5 things we can do to the Spirit negatively:

1. Grieve the Spirit.

2. Resist the Spirit.

3. Quench the Spirit.

4. Blaspheme the Spirit (only non-believers).

5. Insult the Spirit (only non-believers).

Sam urged us not to be part of the bucket brigade throwing water on (i.e. quenching) the Spirit.

He went on to list 7 ways in which we quench the Spirit (please note that these are not the exact words Sam used; these are my shorthand for what I heard; get the audio for the exact wording):

1. We quench the Spirit when we diminish His personality or when we speak of Him as an abstract force. The Scriptures present the Spirit as a person with a mind, feelings, a will, and other designations of personhood. Most people think of the Spirit as just a fuzzy grey blob.

2. We quench the Spirit when we neglect or overlook or deny some feature of His ministry. Some Christians believe you shouldn't even talk about the Holy Spirit. They base this on the Spirit's primary role of glorifying Jesus (John 16). However, just because that is the Spirit's primary role does not mean it is the Spirit's only role.

3. We quench the Spirit when we supress or legislate the gifts He gives. Cessationism is quenching the Spirit. We need all of the gifts of the Spirit and not just a select few.

4. We quench the Spirit when we create an immovable and sanctimonious (spelling?) structure in our corporate gatherings. We pray for the Spirit to come but do not want Him to mess things up. We want things to be neat, tidy, and sophisticated. There has never been a "neat" revival in all of history.

5. We quench the Spirit when we make other people hesitant and fearful about following the Spirit's leading. We can quench the Spirit in someone else's life.

6. We quench the Spirit when we publicly verbalize our caution and hesitation. We preach for 5 mins about a particular gift and 25 mins on the dangers of that particular gift.

7. We quench the Spirit when we are skiddish about the gift of prophecy. Sam showed the progression of thought in 1 Thess. 5:19-22 and urged us to have Biblically informed discernment.

Some other nuggets:

1. We are often fearful of yeilding to the Spirit. Sam encouraged us that the safest place in the world is under the Spirit's control.

2. Sam interpreted the "spiritual songs" of Col. 3:16 as previously unrecorded vocalizations of our passions.

3. Many people are hesitant about the miraculous gifts because of their misuse. Sam made the point that we don't throw out the gift of teaching because someone misinterpreted a text one time. Misuses should not be an excuse for quenching the Spirit.

4. Sam answered one question about the use of prophecy in the local church by pointing to small groups as the best place for the use of spiritual gifts.

Sam is going to speak more directly about spiritual gifts tomorrow. Going to bed now...