Ecclesiology Part 8 - THE USE OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS WITHIN A LOCAL CHURCH

Christianity is a vital (living) relationship with God through the presence of, and interaction with, the Holy Spirit whom Christ said had dwelt with His followers, but would (after Christ’s ascension) dwell in them (John 14:17). The presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Spirit-filled believers is referred to by the apostle Paul in First Corinthians 12 and 14. In writing to the Thessalonians after a short visit in which he planted their church, he told them: “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good” (1 Thess. 5:19-21). In this article, I will explain how a believer should “test” prophecy and not end up despising prophecies.

John 16:7 “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper [the Holy Spirit] will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you.”

The God of the gospel is a trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In J. Gary Millar’s 2021 book, Changed into His Likeness: A Biblical Theology of Personal Transformation, he makes the case that the gospel is trinitarian - that is, it involves the Father’s plan of redemption, the Son’s redeeming atonement, and the Spirit’s abiding presence and activity in the redeemed. Millar argues well that many reformed preachers regard the role and work of the Holy Spirit as an historic event - but not in a present ongoing role and work. That is, they often have a high Christology - but at the expense of a low Pneumatology. This, Millar states is a deficiency in our collective understanding of who the Holy Spirit is, and what His ongoing role is. While some conservative pastors may respond to this by stating that they are merely protecting their congregations from charismatic excesses - such as what Charismatics claim to be ‘prophecies’, it would be somewhat difficult to see how this complies with the instructions in First Thessalonians 5:19-20. 

Rather than rejecting all expressions of the Holy Spirit’s gifts (especially the verbal gifts mentioned by the apostle Paul in First Corinthians 12), we would be better advised to apply First Thessalonians 5:19 (Do not quench the Spirit) and verse 21 (but test everything; hold fast what is good). 

THE PRINCIPLES FOR USING & TESTING THE GENUINENESS OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS

Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit. / ¶ Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; / and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; / and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. / To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. / For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, / to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, / to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. / All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

FIRST CORINTHIANS 12:3-11 

We have the above record of the apostle Paul’s instructions to the Corinthians because there was misuse and misunderstanding of these spiritual gifts by some of the Corinthians. We are the beneficiaries of their ignorance and the apostle’s understanding. What we see here is that within the assembling of believers, (i) there was a time for these gifts of the Spirit to be used; (ii) the use of the spiritual gifts was for the common good of the congregation; (iii) some of these spiritual gifts were verbal (spoken) including: the utterance of wisdom, the utterance of knowledge, prophecy, speaking in tongues (unlearned languages), and, interpretation of those tongues. Other spiritual gifts referred to were non-verbal including: (i) faith; (ii) healing; and, (iii) working of miracles. Presumably, these non-verbal gifts were associated with praying. 

Further to these comments, the apostle goes on to say that these gifts should be used “decently and in order” (1Cor. 14:40). (This will form a part of the testing profile for evaluating the authenticity of spiritual gifts.) What we see here from these apostolic remarks is that spiritual gifts should not be prevented, but that they should be used considerately (the remainder of First Corinthians 12 talks about this). The considerate use of spiritual gifts is also an aspect of the testing profile. Gifts should also be used decently, and in order. The apostle goes on to say that no more than three people should publicly use a verbal gift (1 Cor. 14:29). There is a testing implication in this apostolic remark that the one who wishes to exercise a verbal spiritual gift will be known by those in the congregation, and conversely, will also know their fellow congregants in order to exercise their spiritual gift considerately and in order. 

What we observe thus far is that the exercise of a spiritual gift may be tested by:

• Does it glorify Christ as Lord?
• Has the spiritual gift been in accord with the revelation of Scripture?
• Is it for the common good of the congregation?
• Was the gift used to draw unnecessary attention to the one exercising it?
• Have those who are spiritual and in oversight attested to its genuineness?
• Was the person sharing the gift in good standing with congregation? 
• If the exerciser of the gift was under prohibitive discipline, did they have permission to share their spiritual gift?

I have good reasons to believe that the Holy Spirit still gifts believers today, particularly those who seek it, with the spiritual gifts described in First Corinthians. I do not consider that when the apostle Paul said that “when the perfect has come, that which is partial [spiritual gifts] will be done away with” (1Cor. 13:10) that he was referring to the canon of the New Testament as being “the perfect”. The flow of thought throughout First Corinthians culminates in the supra-physical resurrection and glorification of the redeemed in chapter 15 as ushering in the perfect instead. Thus, my foundational reason for believing in the reality of the gifts of Spirit for today is theological. Secondly, I have experienced being a recipient of the gifts of the Spirit through other believers, and have myself exercised the gifts of the Spirit. 

I acknowledge that there are some risks for a local church to encourage the use of spiritual gifts in their weekly worship service. However, there remains a biblical warrant for doing so. There is also a risk:reward potential benefit with the benefit being leveraged when the gifts of the Spirit of used prayerfully. This could be done by inviting people to publicly and spontaneously pray in a church service in which their spiritual gift becomes a part of their spontaneous prayer.

POSTSCRIPT: FILTERS FOR EVALUATING THE AUTHENTICITY OF PROPHECY

While I have given a theological and experiential basis for the use of spiritual gifts within a church service I think there is some wisdom in the following observations. Firstly, most prophecies recorded within the Bible were not necessarily predictive - they were more commonly a prophet reminding God’s people of God’s Word. This is kind of prophesying is forth-telling rather than predictive fore-telling. Therefore, it is more likely the Holy Spirit will similarly gift a believer with an encouraging reminder of God’s Word through a prophetic gift. Secondly, prophetic words recorded in Scripture were less likely to be directive - commanding people to do certain things. To be sure, the Old Testament prophets called people to repentance and summoned their hearers to return to obedience to God’s Word - but only rarely were they specifically directive beyond this. Therefore, it is incredibly unlikely that the Holy Spirit would gift someone with a directive word for a church to obey. 

Sadly, I have pastored some people who have been sorely abused by false-prophecies. I offer this wisdom to anyone who is supposedly given a prophetic word: 

1. Is this prophetic word coming from a credible person? That is, how well do you know this person, and how well are they spoken of by others?

2. Is this prophetic word a confirmation of what God has already been saying to you. Note Acts 21:10-14 where Agabus the prophet gave the apostle Paul a prophetic word which confirmed what God had already been saying to Paul.

3. Has the one giving you this prophecy insisted on you not telling anyone? Secrecy is often an indication for concern!

4. Has this prophetic word got an urgent time-frame, or certain conditions to be met in order for it to be confirmed? If so, never act impulsively on a directive prophetic word without seeking advice or counsel from someone you trust.

I conclude with one final reflection. Every preacher should be ‘prophetic’ in the way they teach and preach God’s Word forthrightly with passion and a call to obey the gospel. Wherever and whenever the Scriptures are not being proclaimed from the pulpit, there will be a vacuum created resulting in an increased amount of verbal spiritual gifts being used (even if people go looking for it on the internet)!

SOME PEOPLE HAVE AMAZING BUTS

I know of several people with amazing buts. There’s Jo’, Mo’, Sam, Esther, Jerry, and others. Each of these people were gifted by God with an amazing but that changed there life and the course of human history. Sometimes these gifts came with a …then, or …God, or …the LORD. When it comes to the size of things, a but is a relatively small thing (in Greek it can be just two letters: de) but it can have huge implications and enormously great blessings for multitudes. I hope to show you how this was the case with each of the people I have chosen as samples, and then show you how God can be your God of buts.

JOSEPH’S BUT

But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
Genesis 39:21

Joseph loved God. He sought to always live in obedience to the LORD, yet he was betrayed by his brothers who sold him into slavery (Gen. 39:1). While serving as a slave in Egypt he was falsely accused of attempted rape by his master’s jilted wife. This accusation led to him being imprisoned for years. But the LORD had a plan for Joseph that eventually led to him being dramatically released from prison, exonerated of his alleged crime, and made the Prime Minister of Egypt (Gen. 41:14, 39-41). This but led to the rescue of his family from potential starvation and then the formation of the nation of Israel.

 

MOSES’ BUT

But the LORD said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have given him into your hand, and all his people, and his land. And you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.”
Numbers 21:34

Moses was washed up. He was a criminal on the run from Egyptian authorities who had sentenced him to death for the crime of murder. He fled Egypt into the wilderness. His prospects looked bleak. It was there that he encountered the God of buts. God commanded him to return to Egypt and rescue the descendants of Joseph’s father, Jacob (whose name had been changed to Israel). Moses told God all the reasons why this was a ridiculous command for him to obey, then this happen…

But the LORD said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand—
Exodus 4:4

God demonstrated to Moses that He would perform miracles through Moses’ obedience. Moses then did obey. God did perform miracles. And Israel was delivered from Egypt to return to the homeland in Palestine; but first, they had to overcome some deadly foes – including an army led by a giant king, Og (Deut. 3:11). Israel had every right to be afraid. This is when the LORD gave Moses another amazing but (Num. 21:34). The result of their obedience was – “So they defeated him and his sons and all his people, until he had no survivor left. And they possessed his land” (Num. 21:35). What an amazing but!

 

SAMUEL’S BUT

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”
First Samuel 16:7

Samuel had reluctantly anointed Israel’s first king, Saul. King Saul had just disobeyed the LORD and jeopardised God’s plan of redemption. Israel was now in peril from neighbouring enemies. The prophet Samuel realised that if King Saul remained in power much longer, it would lead to Israel’s doom. God then sent Samuel to anoint a new king (1Sam. 16:1. Samuel was sent to the home of Jesse and his eight sons. As Jesse brought out seven of his sons, the oldest of them even looked like a king (1Sam. 16:6)! Yet the LORD did not send Samuel to anoint him or the next six of his younger brothers (1Sam. 16:8-10). Since the LORD had specifically sent Samuel to anoint the next king of Israel from among the sons of Jesse, yet the LORD had said that none of them were to anointed! Thus, the puzzled prophet asked Jesse, “Is this all your sons? (1Sam. 16:11) This is when Samuel had an amazing but experience (1Sam. 16:7) The result would be that the jeopardy would be averted and the divine plan of salvation would be preserved. Eventually it would lead to the birth of Immanuel who would be identified as the son of David (Matt. 1:1). Samuel’s but from the LORD truly was a turning point in the Israel’s history and ultimately even human history. It really was a remarkable and amazing but!

 

ESTHER’S BUT

But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king’s ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be revoked.”
Esther 8:8

The Book of Esther takes place after the Jews had been allowed to return from the exile in Medo-Persia where Esther and, her much older cousin, Mordecai, had remained. King Saul’s earlier failure to despatch the Amalekite king, Agag, resulted in one of his descendants, Haman, wanting to destroy all Jews (Est. 3:1, 10). God had already decreed that the Amalekites should be judged for their earlier attempt at destroy the Israelites (Exo. 17:14). King Saul was told to do it. He failed to obey. King David didn’t do it. Each successive king of Israel couldn’t do it. And now, because of their failure, their entire race was now on the brink of genocide. But a teenage Jewish girl by the name of Esther, recently married to a Persian King, sought the permission of her royal husband to counter the Edict of Hamon the Agagite (Esther 8:3). The LORD then used her husband to deliver His but to Esther and the result was that Hamon’s forces of Gog and Magog were defeated by the Jews around the Empire how had been empowered to take pre-emptive action to defend themselves (Est. 8:8-17; 9:1-16). It truly was and amazing but.

 

JEREMIAH’S BUT  

But the LORD said to me,“Do not say,
‘I am only a youth’;
for to all to whom I send you, you shall go,
and whatever I command you, you shall speak.
Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
declares the LORD.”
Jeremiah 1:7-8

Most of the priests had become unfaithful. The so-called ‘prophets’ (on the king’s payroll) had become corrupt. The king had become apostate. It was an increasingly dark time as Judah’s leaders abandoned the LORD and became idolaters. They were now at risk of being invaded by the blood-thirsty Babylonians. With so much going wrong and God’s plan of redemption in jeopardy, as usual, as essayist F.W. Boreham wrote, it was now time for God to respond by sending into the world a baby. That baby was Jeremiah, the son of a priest. At a young age Jeremiah began to hear from God. Even though Jeremiah was only a youth, there was no time to waste. The word of the LORD needed to be heard! God then summoned the teenage Jeremiah to speak to kings of nations, starting with the king of Judah! Despite Jeremiah questioning the LORD’S choice of someone “too young”, God assured him that his birth was ordained, his mission was consecrated, and his life would be divinely protected (Jer. 1:5). At just the right time, despite Jeremiah’s doubts that he was ready, the LORD spoke to Jeremiah –

But you, dress yourself for work; arise, and say to them everything that I command you.
Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them.
Jeremiah 1:17

Thank God that the LORD gave Jeremiah these amazing buts! His obedience to the LORD ultimately led to God’s plan of redemption being restored and enabling the eventual birth of the Saviour.     

 

YOUR AMAZING BUT

But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8

When you turned to Christ as your LORD, it was a major turning point in your life. You were once in darkness (Eph. 5:8), spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1, 5), spiritually blind (Eph. 1:18), without hope (Eph. 2:12) — 

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.
Romans 6:22

This should give you confidence that the God who redeemed you, saved you, open your eyes, delivered you out of devilish darkness, and rescued you from hopelessness, can in your moments of uncertainty, anxiety, fear, or even failure, intervene with a – “But then God…” And those are the moments you see an amazing but. 

Your Pastor,

Andrew

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EMPTY JARS, SHOVELS, OIL, HOLES, and MIRACLES

I believe in miracles! Last Sunday night, several people gathered to pray for me and anoint me with oil for healing, including the Bishop of Tasmania Dr. Richard Condie, and Anglican archdeacon Bob McKay. Years ago, when Pastor Phil Hills was preaching, he said something that I wrote down in my Bible and have often repeated it to Kim, “Before God grants a miracle, do everything in the natural to make it possible!” As soon as I had heard this it seemed to have the Spirit’s anointing of truth all over it. As I read through the Scriptures I now see this principle often associated with God’s miracles. A poor widow had to do the possible to receive the impossible. Isaac’s servants had to dig a well in order to ‘miraculously’ find water. Peter had to get out of the boat and put his feet on the water before he could walk to the Lord. The bewildered disciples brought to Jesus the only solution they had to feed 5,000 people. And we must pray for miracles while we roll up our sleeves and do what we can in the meantime.

 

THE MIRACLE OF CANCELLING THE WIDOW’S DEBTS

¶ Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD, but the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” And Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house?” And she said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” Then he said, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbours, empty vessels and not too few. Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside.” So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they brought the vessels to her. When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another.” Then the oil stopped flowing. She came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest.”
Second Kings 4:1-7

Sometimes we pray for a miracle and miss the means by which God often wants to bring it about it. The story of the poor widow (who was the wife of “one of the sons of the prophets”) had been borrowing money since her husband’s death to keep her and her two young sons alive. But she had no means to repay her creditors. Through the prophet Elisha’s instruction, God did an outstanding miracle. I’m sure God could have just ‘magically’ made money appear for this widow to pay her creditor and protect her sons from being forced into indentured servitude. But the means of her miracle involved enterprise. She had to borrow empty jars. She had pour what little oil she had out of her existing jar into these empty jars. She then had to report back to the prophet Elisha. Finally, she had to go and sell the oil in the jars. Opportunities are most often God’s initial answer to our plea for a miracle!

 

THE MIRACLE OF WATER IN A FRESHLY DUG HOLE

That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well
that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water.”
Genesis 26:32

 Isaac had inherited wells from his father, Abraham. But these were sabotaged by the neighbouring inhabitants of Canaan. While water is essential anywhere on earth, it is rather prized in dry, arid, parts of the world where Isaac and his companions were. Our lives sometimes ‘get dry’. We too pray for the ‘ground’ to not be so hard and for God to give us some ‘water’. In praying for water though, God often provides a shovel. Isaac’s men used their digging implements to dig. It would be a very odd picture indeed if while holding a shovel someone prayed to God for a hole in the ground without ever using that shovel to start digging!

In times of spiritual drought sometimes we pray for rain instead of digging a well.

¶ “Behold, God is my salvation;I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song,
and He has become my salvation.”
¶ With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
And you will say in that day:“Give thanks to the LORD,
call upon His name,
make known His deeds among the peoples,
proclaim that His name is exalted.
Isaiah 12:2-4

As a church we are digging ‘a well’ from which parched and thirsty people from around our distract will be attracted and invited to drink deeply. Attracted. We can pray that people will be attracted to the ‘well of salvation’ but we must be prepared to dig. Attracted. Perhaps there’s nothing more attractive than an invitation. Perhaps for some the attraction to the well begins by driving past our facility and noticing the care and love that has been put into our lawns and grounds by Alan Harris and Lydia Braam. For others it might be the attraction of our brightly coloured painted building that Tom Nielsen has so masterfully gifted us with. For others it might be that they see the dozens and dozens of cars in the carpark each Sunday parked in a neat and orderly fashion because someone has painstakingly taken the time each week to gather the scattered white pebbles and carefully place them back in their neat markings. We don’t just pray for revival rain, we also dig “wells of salvation”!

 

THE MIRACLE OF THE GOSPEL’S POWER

The greatest miracle of all (apart from the incarnation and resurrection of the Christ) is when a lost soul is born-again by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit through the agency of the preaching of the Gospel. During my brief absence from being with you, Kim and I have been praying for souls to be saved each Sunday in our worship and teaching service. But it is not just about our church, our postcode, our church roll, or even our city—God’s heart for the lost extends across our State and beyond. So Kim and I pray each Sunday in particular that every church in our valley would see at least one person choose to follow Christ! We digging in prayer! But we are also digging by inviting. (In a couple of weeks when I return I will share with you some of the extraordinary mail that Kim and I have received from non-churched people who have written to us about their experience of being attracted to our church and how it has begun something in them.) This is why we dig each Sunday by sharing a salvation testimony of the Gospel’s power to transform a life. It’s why we dig by putting so much effort into our Livestream. It’s why Lois Kidmas and her team dig each Sunday by discipling the children of our church. We want to see more miracles – especially the miracles of seeing lives won to the Saviour. That’s why we dig because that’s how we get oil, water, provision, and salvations! Let’s dig together!

 

Your Pastor,

Andrew

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THE APOSTLE PAUL'S GROWING PENTECOSTAL DEPTH

¶ Now the Spirit expressly says…
First Timothy 4:1

The apostle Paul’s journey with Christ commenced on the road to Damascus. It was a dramatic, miraculous moment that led to him being knocked off his horse, being blinded for days by a supernatural light emanating from Christ with whom he had an amazing conversation about his destiny. Paul’s conversion to Christianity was profoundly supernatural, but so was the rest of his journey with Christ. While many believers can also claim to have had a dramatic and supernatural conversion to Christ resulting in much Holy Spirit activity in the early days of their conversion, sadly, not many could also claim that decades later these supernatural activities by the Holy Spirit have increased both in their frequency and intensity, as they did with the apostle Paul. Paul’s deepening charismatic experience throughout his life becomes a challenge to those of us who think that “being ‘on-fire’ for God” is only a new-Christian experience. Here’s why Paul’s spiritual journey should be a challenge for each of us. Let me explain.

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit!
Ephesians 5:18

 

PAUL’S PENTECOSTAL ORIGINS

Paul grew up as a devout Jew. He was schooled by Israel’s leading teacher, Rabbi Gamaliel (Acts 22:3). He belonged to the ultra-strict sect of the Pharisees. Soon after Christianity was birthed, he personally felt responsible to violently wipe it out (Acts 8:3). His view of the world was shaped by what the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament, the Law) and the Tanakh (the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets – note, Luke 22:44) taught.  But then came his journey to Damascus. It was on that road that he met the Christ, the Jewish Messiah, the Hope of Israel. Three days after this dramatic appearing of Christ to Paul, a courageous disciple of Jesus, Ananias, was sent by the Lord to this infamous persecutor of the Church...

And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. ¶ Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized;
Acts 9:9-18

The Lord Jesus sent Ananias to Saul (whose Romans name was Paul) to (i) pray for his healing from blindness; (ii) pray for him to be filled with the Holy Spirit; and (iii) baptise him in water. Interestingly, we have immediate evidence of Paul being healed (i) and Paul being water baptised (iii). But was Paul “filled with the Holy Spirit” after Ananias prayed for him? And, what did being filled with the Holy Spirit mean to the first generations of Christians? We don’t have to wonder for very long. We read in Acts 2 that when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the first believers there was an immediate and dramatic effect upon them.

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Acts 2:4

But was this Paul’s experience if he was filled with the Spirit after Ananias prayed for him? The evidence is clear that it was.

I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.
First Corinthians 14:18

If we had the time we would also survey Paul’s epistles where he describes his experiences with the Holy Spirit including several visions (2Cor. 12:1), direct revelations from the Lord (Gal. 1:12; 2:2) a trip to heaven (2Cor. 12:2), many healings and miracles (Acts 19:6). For me, the increasing depth of the apostle Paul’s Pentecostal experiences is borne out in his epistles, especially in Romans 8 which is saturated with evidence of his intimacy with the Holy Spirit. But as I consider his last two epistles to Timothy, it is his statement in First Timothy 4:1 which reveals his increasing closeness with the Holy Spirit. He states the Spirit expressly says – as if he is reciting a conversation he has recently had with a very familiar friend. This is all the more remarkable because of the adverse circumstances that Paul was enduring at the time he wrote this. Within a matter of months after his Roman imprisonment he would be executed. This is why I find Paul one of the highest examples of a Spirit-filled servant of God. His intimacy with the Holy Spirit did not exempt him from doubts, trials, or even infirmities. But throughout his life he continued to seek God and the fullness of the fellowship with Holy Spirit. And so should we.

Your pastor,

Andrew

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