May 21, 2010
Developing a Vocabulary of the Holy Spirit: Speaking to and Through Us
The last significant aspect of our vocabulary of the Holy Spirit concerns the ways in which the Holy Spirit speaks to and through us.
Many evangelicals such as myself have a hard time with this one since we’ve historically been rather fixated on the Bible as our source of revelation. Tossing the Holy Spirit into the mix complicates things.
However, even if we just try to read the Bible without acknowledging the role of the Spirit, we’ll keep bumping into verses that give the Spirit a prominent place in our lives.
Teaching Us
Throughout the Gospel of John, Jesus frequently speaks of the Holy Spirit as a guide for his followers, leading them into the truth (John 14:17, 26; 15:26: 16:13, 15). The scripture itself came about originally through the work of the Holy Spirit.
The process of interpreting the scriptures and living with wisdom is just as connected to the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts (1:2, 6:10). Paul frequently alludes to the guidance of the Spirit in discerning a particular belief or application.
Therefore, as we study scripture we can also speak of the Spirit as a guide who teaches us. This isn’t a stretch of scripture, though we can certainly take this notion too far by creating individual bastions of interpretation and defying all who disagree with us. Though, we don’t need the Holy Spirit to do such a thing, we can abuse the leading of the Holy Spirit in heavy-handed ways.
Prophetic Words
We could choose several different ways to speak of prophetic words from the Holy Spirit, but I think it’s quite biblical to speak of the spiritual gift of prophecy as another way the Spirit guides and teaches us. According to 1 Corinthians 14 a prophetic word is a revelation from the Spirit that edifies the church.
Acts, Romans, and 1 Corinthians all speak of prophetic gifts being given to God’s people, and Paul even said that he wished all of the Corinthians would prophesy. Having said that, he also took a great deal of care to explain how to use their gifts in orderly, beneficial ways. Prophecy is intended, above all else, to help other Christians to grow.
We could debate whether Acts 2 makes prophecy a gift for all Christians or whether Paul’s spiritual gift lists make it one gift among many that we may not have. I’m not certain about this, but I do believe we should remain open to the possibility of God giving ourselves or someone else a specific word for our edification.
I mean, God spoke through Balaam’s mule (or ass if you want a laugh), so there’s no reason why his Spirit couldn’t speak through me, right?
Desiring the Lord, Not Just the Gifts of the Lord
The work of the Holy Spirit is an incredible blessing that I sometimes wish I experienced on a more regular basis, but the trouble with such gifts as prophetic words is we can end up craving the gifts rather than the Lord we are called to love above all else.
And so while we should desire these important gifts that will empower us for ministry and help us contribute to the health of the church, our chief desire should be the Lord himself. As we draw near to him and remain open to the work of his Spirit, he is able to direct and empower us as he sees fit.
I have appreciated this series so much, Ed. You experience is echoed all across North America: Christians who desire more and have never been instructed.
For me, perhaps the most important break-through in my life was to realize that Jesus did EVERYTHING in ministry by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Jesus wasn’t using false modesty when he said “the Son can do nothing by himself” (John 5:19 & 30). Here’s a verse that changed my life: “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.” Acts 10:38. Peter says, in effect, that Jesus did it all through reliance upon the Holy Spirit, which means that Jesus’ way is a model for me as well.
One final quote, this one from Bill Johnson, pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, CA: “In Jesus we see a lifestyle crafted around the passion to host the presence of the Spirit of God.” ~ Bill Johnson on John 1:32
Blessings to you, and best of luck–and sales!–for A Pathway to Publishing.
Golly Ray, you’ve picked up where I left off! I think you need to do some posts about this next week on your blog. That’s great stuff. I’ve been kind of tapping away at that point, but you hit it square on. I have always skimmed over that verse in Acts. Wow! That’s powerful!
Blessings,
Ed
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Hello,
I really enjoyed your post. It truly can seem to be a difficult task somtimes listening to the Holy Spirit and then determining if it is the Holy Spirit or if it is the father of lies comming all dressed up as an angle of light.
This is why it is so important to take every thought captive before the Lord. If we act on the things we think are from the Holy
spirit without first proving them with God’s word we could find ourselves on the wrong side of things thinking it’s the right side.
You just can’t go wrong with God’s word. His entire word was brought to it’s fullness by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
We know our ways are wreched but God’s word being filled completly full of the Holy Spirit will always lead us directly towards the will of God.
In my new book titled “The Sword and the Spear” I talk about these choices we make everyday. We simply side with one or the other serveral times a day. Our thoughts or God’s word. One is filled with the Holy Spirit, the other can be filled with many influences.
Check it out. Here is the web site.
http://www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/TheSwordAndTheSpear.html
Blessings,
Rod
Thanks Rod for sharing your insights. Good thoughts to keep in mind. I’m certainly coming from a perspective that emphasized scripture over the Spirit to the point that I haven’t even had a vocabulary for speaking about the Spirit for many years. So I’m probably coming at things from a slightly different perspective, but I can certainly appreciate your words of caution.