Acts 19- Up an In

Paul heads over to Ephesus from Corinth and finds some disciples (vs. 1). He asked them, "did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" Apparently, either Paul was led to ask them that question or maybe it was quite apparent by their actions. Regardless, the question was posed. They had not received the Holy Spirit yet. They had received the baptism of John but had not been baptized into Christ.

First off, are you willing to face the fact that you might have deficiencies in your faith? You may be called disciple (like these men) but you may be living a less than fully realized faith. You may have been 'around the block' in your spirituality but that does not ensure complete intimacy with Christ. Pray that God would search you and show you where reformation needs to happen in your soul. Ask that He would draw you up and in towards Him and His presence.

Secondly, are you really a Christian at all. Have you received the Holy Spirit? Do you produce the fruit of the Spirit? Does your life reflect the supernatural wonders of having the Holy Spirit within you? Let's put it like this; if the Holy Spirit went on vacation this week, would your life be noticeably different? Are you so reliant on the power of the Holy Spirit that His absence would be devastating? Or, is your life so predictable and so natural that you could pull off your life without the help of the Holy Spirit.

Let me address two groups of people: If you are a religious it is possible that you shrug this off without even thinking twice. Spiritual pride is one of the most dangerous kinds of pride. Don't let spiritual pride keep you from getting closer to Jesus. Let Him search your heart and reveal areas He wants to change.

But, If you are the second group, and you are struggling to keep your head above water spiritually, I don't want this article to be a cause for you to give up... Paul doesn't cast off these disciples. He doesn't rebuke them. He doesn't scold them. He lays hands on and prays. If you feel like you do not have the Holy Spirit, then get on your face and ask your Father in heaven who gives good gifts... and the very best gift, Himself. He will send His Comforter. He will give the Deposit. "Now it is God who makes both you and us stand firm in Christ. He appointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come" (2 Cor 1:21-22).

What to do with Sin?

Kill it. 

"There is not a day but sin foils or is foiled, prevails or is prevailed on; and it will be so whilst we live in this world"... in short: Be killing sin or it will be killing you. - John Owen from The Mortification of Sin

The method is two fold:

1) Love God

"The love of God is the cure for sin." -Richard Baxter

Do everything within your ability to love God more than sin! He is greater and better than any momentary sin (ps. they have eternal consequences if not forgiven). This leads to my next suggestion:

 
2) Use your sword: "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:17).

Know and love your bible. Use it to see the glory of God in the face of Christ(2 Cor 4:6). It will swell your heart with love for Christ and make sin seem what it is... a plunging of a spear into the side of your Savior. 

Quote the word in the face of temptation. If the Son of God used this as His strategy for the temptation of the Devil, how much more desperately do we need to employ this strategy?!

"Sins will not only be striving, acting, rebelling, troubling, disquieting, but if let alone, if not continually mortified, it will bring forth great, cursed, scandalous, soul-destroying sins." -John Owen

So... what sins have you killed today? If it takes you a minute to think of any that you killed or even can think of, then the subtle killers are probably killing you subtly.

Conversion

Last night at bible study we looked at the nature of conversion... I was lost in the texts as I prepared for 1 Cor 15. We dwelt on the word "received" because Paul says that the Corinthian church received the gospel and on which they were taking their stand... What does that word receive mean? You received the gospel? We looked at several forms of receiving the gospel that I found in scripture:

1) Birth: This concept is seen in a few places but probably the clearest is Ephesians 2. "You were dead in your sins and transgressions... but because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ... it is by grace you have been saved" (Ephesians 2:1,4-5) So before you knew Christ, you were dead, but God graciously said this word to you, "LIVE!" (Ezekiel 16:6)

2) Kingdom Change: Romans 6 helps us with this illustration. Before receiving Christ we were a part of a nation. It is a nation of darkness. It is the kingdom of sin and we all were slaves to this sin. Sin was our master and we gladly took orders from it. God in his grace brought you into His kingdom, the kingdom of light. So, we have changed teams in a sense.

3) Adoption: Before we received Christ we were spiritually poor. We were put out. We were orphans. Sin was our father but he abandoned his own. We were in a sad state and left to ourselves we would perish. God in His mercy adopted you and I (Ephesians 1:5). He saw our poverty and was moved to act on our behalf. He reached out His hand and brought you into his home with the promise of  sharing in His inheritances.

4) Bride: The Bible also teaches us that when we receive Christ we are betrothed to Jesus. We are wed to the King of Kings. We become His object of love and commitment and we gladly receive our beloved with deep heartfelt appreciation. Before we were wed to him we were harlots so it is extremely gracious that Jesus would take us in and provide for us and love us. These word pictures are drawn from Ephesians 5 and Ezekiel 16.

Let us end by thinking about these analogies and what they mean for us personally. Each of them leads us to throw ourselves on Jesus in humble adoration. So take a few minutes today to praise Him for your receiving of the gospel.

Matthew 27

This week, the cross has crushed me with all its weight. I can think of two times this week when I thought about what Jesus did and literally I was sobbing. Tears streaming down my face, totally broken at the foot of that old rugged cross. And, there were many other times where my eyes welled up with tears. This is not normal for me. I am not a big cryer. I am a man. I grew up on a tree farm. My toys were engines and chainsaws. When I broke a limb it was inappropriate to cry... "walk it off." Me and my brothers are all that way (4 boys- you can read ''MEN"). Unfortunately that makes us slightly clueless about girls, but none the less, crying is foreign to me. And, this week I have done a lot of it. When you read about Jesus in Matthew, you realize how completely horrible the whole thing was. This was a man that was faultless. All he had ever done is help and heal and teach people. He was so selfless, so caring, so compassionate. Yet, in Matthew 27 we find him standing before accusers, and being ridiculed, and ultimately being crucified. And, the only crime they could post on his crucifix was, "King of the Jews."

I hate reading about the public humilition of Jesus. When the soldiers are mocking him and spitting in his face, and slapping him, and pulling out his beard, I want Jesus for just one minute to display his Godness. I want him to display his utter power and crush his adversaries. I want him to show them that he is the Living God. But, like a sheep is silent before the shearers, Jesus did not open his mouth. (Isaiah 53: 7) He took it all. At Central's staff meeting last week we looked at how intense his suffering was. All of the gospel accounts display how horrid the time leading to his death was. And the reason that Jesus had to suffer in those ways is because of the wrath of God. God was pouring out on Jesus the fullness of His wrath. He was exhausting completely his wrath on Jesus. And, the thing that gets me the most is that I deserve it! He was faultless but I am guilty. He is an innocent man, but I have blood on my hands. My savior endured torture and ridicule and punishment that is due to me?! So when I have taken communion this week and thought about my Jesus being slapped by roman soldiers and ridiculed and spit on, my heart breaks. That should be me. Not him. Not him at all.