In The Spirit On The Lord's Day

We move now from reflections on John's introduction to The Revelation to his first vision, first to what he heard, a loud voice like a trumpet. 

I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet ... - Rev 1:10 ESV

What does John mean when he says he was "in the Spirit on the Lord's day"? The Lord's day refers to that day related to or belonging to the Lord Jesus Christ. The only other thing listed with that word kyriakos is the Lord's supper, the sacred meal instituted by Christ (1 Cor. 11:20). The Lord's day is the day devoted to the Lord in sacred memory of Christ's resurrection. Here we see the practice of the early Christians to set aside the first day of the week for worship and meditation upon Christ's resurrection and God's Word.

So it was on that first day of the week, the Lord's day, that John was in the Spirit. What is he telling us? The phrase is fairly common:

• Ezekiel: The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. - Eze 37:1 ESV

• David: He said to them, "How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, "'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet"'? - Matt 22:43-44 ESV

• John the Baptist: and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, (1Kings 17-2 Kings 1) to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared." - Luke 1:17 ESV

• Simeon: And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, - Luke 2:27 ESV

• Apostle Paul: Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, "After I have been there, I must also see Rome." - Acts 19:21 ESV

• Disciples of Christ: You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him...      - Rom 8:5-17 ESV

• 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. - 1Cor 12:3 ESV

Ezekiel and David were blessed by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God. That Spirit revealed God's plan for Israel and the promised coming of the messianic King who was to ascend to the Father and rule over all things until the day of the final judgment when all of His enemies would become subject to Him. John the Baptist, in turn, spoke the strong Word of the Lord to his generation, calling all of Israel to repent and return to the Lord. He too was under the power and guidance of the Spirit. Simeon had long reflected upon God's promises. He was waiting for the coming of the Messiah as he worshiped in the Temple. And when he saw Mary and Joseph with the Child the same Spirit spoke to His heart. This is the One, this is the promised Messiah! The Apostle Paul, in turn, always followed the lead of the Holy Spirit as he fulfilled his mission. 

Now we also must ask if the same Holy Spirit is at work in our lives. Are we in the Spirit? Are we filled with the Holy Spirit? Are we baptized with the Holy Spirit? Do all these phrases refer to the same thing? The answer to all those questions would take up many blogs and much study of the Holy Scriptures. Suffice it to note that if the Spirit of God dwells in you then you know in your heart that Jesus, true God and true Man, rose from the dead and that His sacrifice upon the cross of Calvary was also for you. Your debt has been paid. You are an adopted child of God and the Spirit of God is at work in your heart, calling you to faith in Him and opening your heart to the eternal future that is ours in Christ. Read Paul's marvelous teaching in Romans 8 and continue to reflect upon what God is revealing to His children. The more you are in the Word, the more the Holy Spirit will strengthen and confirm your faith. 

When you are in the Spirit, I cannot say that you should expect a new revelation such as that given to the Apostle John. However, the Spirit will both confirm your faith in our risen Lord and guide you through the Word to do God's will. Let us all, therefore, seek to be in the Spirit, not only on the Lord's Day, but every day. 

From here we will explore the first of John's visions and will remember that this is primarily a book of symbols, as noted earlier. 

The Spirit Blows Where He Will

For these past two weeks I've posted studies on spiritual gifts, based upon Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4 and 1 Peter 4. Today I'd like to pull these studies together with a brief summary. This is, of course, only a small part of what could be said about this important part of life in the Christian community.

In speaking about spiritual gifts it is easy to overlook what the Bible teaches about the Holy Spirit and the work of the Spirit. It is easier to focus upon the recipients of the Spirit's gifts by fashioning various inventories and questionnaires so that the congregation can help members identify their gifts, put these members to work in order to grow in numbers and influence. Nowhere in any of the four texts examined are there any instructions given by the Apostles to carry on such a practice. Why not?

The answer to that question is found in the very nature of these inventories. Members are encouraged to look internally at their own experiences and feelings. Here are some questions from one such spiritual gifts discovery tool I found online:

1. I am successful at getting a group to do its work joyfully. 
2. I enjoy making something that is artistically appealing.
3. I can readily sense when someone is promoting God’s purposes or their own personal agenda.
4. I look for occasions to share what Jesus means to me with unchurched friends and neighbors.
5. I welcome opportunities to minister to people who need comfort, consolation, encouragement, and counseling.
6. I see life as an adventure and am not afraid to take risks if it moves God's work forward.
7. I have a real hunger for seeing others spending time together in the Word and in prayer.
8. Without hesitation, I give generously and freely to worthwhile projects and ministries.
9. I count it a privilege to relieve someone in a responsible position of some small task, so that they may attend to more important things.
10. I truly feel that the needs and well-being of others are more important than my own.

Note the emphasis upon 'I' this and 'I' that. I am successful, I enjoy, I sense, I look, I welcome, I see, I have a real hunger, I give, I count it a privilege, I truly feel, etc. Such an emphasis leads us away from the Word of God and from the Spirit speaking directly to our hearts from that Word. Instead we are encouraged to focus upon my experiences, my feelings, my viewpoints, my giving, my senses, etc.

Further, in the discussions of spiritual gifts, we are told that these are different from creaturely or natural gifts. So we are led to believe that the Holy Spirit only wants us to focus upon our spiritual gifts, for these are not the same as our natural gifts. So some would point out that a reborn and truly spiritual Christian will always speak in tongues. In this way, there are two types of Christians, e.g. believers and Spirit filled or born again believers. In that connection it is important to note that in those Scripture verses that speak about disciples being filled with the Spirit nothing is said to indicate that this filling is a permanent and continued gift. In other words, we do not own or control the Spirit. He blows when and where He will (Acts 2:4, 4:8,31; John 3:8). 

Above all the Scripture teaches that everything is by God's grace. The Spirit working in God's Word teaches that everything comes down from the Father as God's wondrous and unmerited gift. Our whole lives, our bodies, our personalities, our intellectual abilities, our artistic talents, our athletic skills, our powers of perception—everything we have and are has been redeemed by Christ and given to us. As Paul says,

What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? - 1 Cor 4:7 ESV

 All this we offer back to God in praise and worship as a living sacrifice. 

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice--the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. - Rom. 12:1 NLT

What the Spirit also teaches is that not only are we redeemed by Christ, we are members of his body. We are part of that community, that wondrous and varied body of believers in whom the Holy Spirit dwells. Speaking to the entire community in Corinth, Paul writes 

Do you not know that you (plural) are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? - 1 Cor 3:16 ESV

 So it is that we are the temple of God and the body of Christ and individually members one of the other. Each is important and each is God's gift to the other. So God intends that each of us is a gift to the other members of the body. Our unique personalities, experiences, gifts, abilities, talents and vocations are gifts of God through which God blesses others. Thus if I am a father, I have the calling to care for my children and to bless them through the uniqueness of who I am. If I am called to be a pastor-teacher, I have the opportunity and responsibility to bless the flock over which I am assigned with the teaching and application of God's Word. If I am a musician, I shall bless others with my music. So Paul writes,

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. - 1 Cor 12:4-7 ESV

It may be that spiritual gifts inventories could be used to help Christians discover their gifts. The cautions listed above are most important however. At most such inventories must be seen as tools toward the end of helping one another to give as they have received. Pride, discouragement and fear always lurk in our hearts because of sin. The Apostles speak to this as they emphasize in all these matters that we live by grace. It is in the Gospel and the forgiveness of sins for the sake of Christ that we find our life, our joy and our strength, never in the gifts we have or do not have.

Spirit Filled?

Once I drove past a church building with a sign posted in front proclaiming this to be a "Spirit-filled" church. Upon reading that sign I was unable to keep myself from wondering how full of the Spirit the people of that church were—one quarter, half, three-quarters or completely? I assume they wanted the rest of us to know that they were full up and overflowing with Christ's love for us all.

My strange thoughts continued. Did their sign imply that others who also have the Spirit of Christ living in them are only partially filled? Did they imply that we who do not classify ourselves as "spirit filled" are some kind of second rate or lower level Christian?

You can see where I'm going.

Let's look at the Apostle Paul for answers. For starters go to 1 Corinthians 3:1-21. There, instead of the image of filling a vessel (e.g. Spirit-filled) Paul speaks of Christians as a building, more specifically as God's temple. I'll try to relate the two images.

Paul starts by saying that he couldn't address the Corinthians as "spiritual people," yet he calls them brothers. He implies they were reborn members of God's family in Christ, but not yet "spiritual". What's he getting at? Throughout his writings spiritual people are led by the Holy Spirit, having gifts given by the Spirit. The source of their spirituality is ever the Holy Spirit who is revealing God's mercy and power in Jesus Christ.

The Corinthians were believers, but they were not always led by the Holy Spirit in their daily lives and in their relationships with one another. That's why he addressed them as infants, babies who had a lot of growing up to do. Babies are members of the family, but they are immature.

Perhaps the sign on that church was saying something like that. Perhaps that body of believers was telling us that they believed themselves to be mature and more fully developed, 'spirit-filled'. Perhaps they were inviting infant Christians to join their family so they may be cared for and nurtured through infancy and childhood and on to spiritual maturity. I like to think that was their intention rather than bragging about their spiritual maturity as if that were an one of their many accomplishments.

It was because the Corinthians were still babies that Paul says he had to feed them with baby food, with milk, while he was among them. They acted like babies. They were still 'of the flesh'. Paul addresses this issue in his letter to the Romans (Romans 7:4-23). There he admits that even he still struggled with his flesh, that nature inherited from his parents and ancestors. In his flesh he did not love God with his whole heart. In his flesh he allowed pride to fill his heart. This struggle between his flesh and his new spiritual life in Christ was an ongoing one with him, as it is with all of us.

It appears that congregations of believers must be cautious about what they proclaim themselves to be. Filled with the Spirit? Perhaps upon occasion some are, as were prophets and priests like Aaron and his sons (Exodus 28:1-4). But the sin-filled flesh remains with us and the daily temptation is to fall back into that mode of living and believing.

Being permanently filled with God's Spirit, a fully mature and completely spiritual person—that gift will be ours only after the resurrection (1 Corinthians 13:9-13).

More on this another day.