2009 Women's Retreat Morning Session

2009 Ladies’ Retreat

Saturday Morning Session

Becoming a Pillar of Strength

At some point in our lives we’ve all felt weak in the face of life’s challenges. We’d love to live a life filled with God’s strength instead of human weakness. But how can we tap into His strength and become a pillar – not only able to stand but to support others? In order to take hold of God’s strength, we will first need to stop relying on lesser sources of strength. Self-help books say we need to know and understand ourselves. But surely we already know ourselves… and how skilled we are at blowing it completely! So, to receive the strength of God we must decide that God is our strength, not carnal efforts, not psychological insights, and not spiritual experiences that don’t come from the Him. If we want God to be our “great physician” we will need to take His medicine! Ephesians 6:10 says to be strong in the Lord. But in the original Greek, Paul wrote, “Be strengthened in the Lord.” It’s not a matter of being brave – as if God were saying, “C’mon! Be strong!” No, strength comes from allowing God to give you His power first. Paul commands us to receive dunamis (power), the kind of power which creates visible results. For example, when a sick woman touched Jesus, dunamis flowed out of Him, and she was healed. But notice: Paul says this power comes from the Lord! If you’ve decided to receive strength from God, you must be curious by now… what’s His prescription for strength? There are several important sources of strength he offers to every believer, and without them your Christian life will be anemic at best. So let’s talk about some tools that will help you learn to receive his dunamis power.

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Becoming a Pillar of Strength: Outline What God has given us to make us strong is none other than… Himself! There are only two things which God has sent into the Earth for his people, and these are the two things His people neglect the most: His Word and His Spirit. As we learn and practice the Biblical disciplines of ministering to the Lord, meditating in the Word and making ourselves mighty in the Spirit we will become pillars of strength.

1. Ministering to the Lord A. Our first ministry One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple. (Psalm 27:4) B. How to minister to the Lord O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. (Psalm 95:6) C. Benefits of ministering to the Lord The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing. (Psalm 34:10)

2. Meditating in the Word A. Renewing our love for the Word More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. (Psalm 19:10)

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B. How to meditate in God’s Word With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth. (Psalm 119:13) C. A harvest of peace, and the death of offense Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them. (Psalm 119:165)

3. Making yourself mighty in the Spirit A. The person of the Spirit And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever… (John 14:16) B. The ministries of the Spirit He shall glorify me, for he shall take of what is mine, and shall show it unto you. (John 16:14) C. The Baptism in the Spirit But you shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth. (Acts 1:8) D. The power of praying in the Spirit (followed by ministry time) He who speaks in an unknown tongue edifies himself… (1 Cor. 14:4a)

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Full teaching notes 1. Ministering to the Lord A. Our first ministry One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple. (Psalm 27:4) •

David was a man after God’s heart. Wouldn’t you like to have God say this about you? If we are to be people after God’s heart like David, then we need to ask how he got to be that way. How can we be women and men after His own heart?

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Let’s ask a couple of questions then and see if we can find out. What is the most important thing in your life?

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OK, let’s ask another question. What does God think is important?

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What is God looking for when He looks at the human race? Answer: But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:23-24)

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How did David become the most famous worshipper of all time? In this little verse he gives away all his secrets. First, you must be a person of “one thing.” This one thing must be, as David says, the thing you ask God for and the thing you seek.

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So many times we do one but not the other! We ask God for something but make no efforts toward it. Or we seek things passionately without ever bringing God into the pursuit. This, by the way, will ensure that many of our pursuits will miss God and His blessing entirely.

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And what did David want? First, he wanted God. Just God. Every day. He wanted God’s Presence. That I may dwell… Is this boring, or is God the most exciting and wonderful Person there is?

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What else did David want? He wanted to see the beauty of the LORD or literally the delightfulness of God! He wanted to see God’s glory and understand more of God’s beautiful character.

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One more thing he wanted: to inquire in His temple. This means to seek out. It’s a word that is used in Ezekiel (Ezekiel 34:11) to talk about God the Shepherd out looking for His sheep. He wanted revelation and insight from God into the Word, and insights into life and how to live. A word that most literally means to plow. So he wanted, while he was in God’s Presence and gazing at God’s beauty, to dig into these things.

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Just as a side note, if you don’t dig into those things the same way you will never get those answers.

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David was a person of one thing, and the one prize he wanted was God Himself.

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Another question: What is the great commandment? Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. We learn this from Jesus. So the greatest commandment is to love God and the greatest desire we are supposed to have is to be in His Presence every day.

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So then who do we serve first? Do we serve man first or God first? Does God command us to serve others? Yes. But don’t even people who don’t love God serve others? Yes. But who were you made to serve, God or man? And who made you? Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. (Rev. 4:11)

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It is easy to see that ministering to the Lord and serving Him is our first ministry – the ministry of greatest importance. Ministering to someone means serving them and waiting upon them for their needs. Our most important 5

ministry is not to anyone else but to the Lord. He is my priority. My first ministry is to serve Him with praise and worship and waiting on Him. If you love Him the way He commands and view it as a labor of love instead of a duty, a chore, or a drudgery, your life will be completely transformed.

B. How to minister to the Lord O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. (Psalm 95:6) •

So how do we minister to the Lord? As we said, this word ministering means to serve and to wait upon. Usually, we see the word used in the Bible in connection with the priests who served the Lord in the Temple. Prayer was to be made continually and sacrifices were to be made continually. Now God says that we are all His priests. A kingdom of priests. But priests always had to offer sacrifices to god. Since we do not have a physical temple in the New Testament, and since Jesus was our one and only sacrifice, how do we minister to the Lord? What do we sacrifice? We do not give Him literal service and sacrifice as they did in the Temple, but we offer a different spiritual service.

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By him (Jesus)… let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. (Heb. 13:5)

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So we see that this is a spiritual ministry, not a physical ministry – it’s not any of the many things that people mean when they say they are working for the Lord. So then what does it involve?

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First, as we saw in Psalm 27, it means being in His Presence. You must bring yourself into His Presence, either alone or with others. As David says you must behold Him. This means you must come to a place where you are not conscious of yourself but conscious of Him – you are as David said gazing on the Lord. This may mean first of all the confession of any known sin.

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Secondly it means turning to Him. In Psalm 95 there is a call to worship – to turn aside from your other activities of the moment and make Him your only focus. You must stop looking at yourself and direct your gaze at His beauty as Psalm 27 says. On a practical level, this will mean eliminating distractions. You may need a special time or a special room or place in your home in order to do this. Music can be a great help here as long as the music does not end up being a distraction. When the priests ministering before God in the holy place the music could be heard but it was in the background and not the focus. (More on this in a minute as regards vertical worship.)

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You must also stop looking at yourself in the sense of feeling that you are inadequate in some way to approach Him. If you look at Him you will not be so self-conscious.

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Now we come into his Presence. The Scripture says we enter His gates with thanksgiving in our hearts and enter His courts with praise. (Psalm 100:4) This was literally true in the old Temple but spiritually speaking it is a symbol of how to come into the Presence of God. Think if you were going to visit Queen Elizabeth or President Obama. Someone from the Office of Protocol would instruct you in the right way to do things – what to say when you meet the President, what to do, where to go, where to sit and so forth. Here the Psalmist is telling you that the way to begin to address the Almighty is with thanksgiving.

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Why thanksgiving? Two reasons. First, thanksgiving forces you to acknowledge God as your Creator and your Sustainer. A proud man cannot thank God; a humble man can’t help it. If you want to be humble and have God’s Presence and catch God’s attention, begin to thank Him. Psalm 138:6 says this: “Though the LORD is high, yet He has respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knows afar off.” We don’t want to be afar off. We want to be near. In Isaiah 57:15, God says this, “…I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit…” When you begin to thank Him in humility He draws nears to you. He is attracted to humility. He says, “Someone is knocking on My door.” 7

There is a sense in your heart that you are engaging the Presence of His Spirit. So that is the first reason we give thanks. •

The second reason is that ministering to the Lord is a process of going ever deeper into His Presence. We move from His gates to His courts and then to His holy places. And thanksgiving causes us to go in to the next place, which is the courts of praise. You must begin to offer the sacrifice of praise to God. When we praise God we acknowledge His value and the excellence of His qualities. What is the difference between thanksgiving and praise? When I thank my wife for dinner, I may say, “Thanks for that great dinner, sweetheart.” But if I were to praise her I would say, “You know what, honey? You are a great cook!” That is praise. When we thank God, we naturally see His kindness and His other qualities. “Thank you God for saving me – You are a wonderful God.”

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You can use the words of Scripture to do this of course, but you should also learn to make your own praises to God. How do we praise the Lord? You can do this in many ways – through singing, through Scripture, and through verbal expressions of praise. I will say more about this in a minute.

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Praise leads us into something else. As we begin to praise God, He begins to manifest his presence to us more directly. In Psalm 22:3 we read, “But You are holy, who inhabit the praises of Israel.” God is present everywhere all the time, but when He is praised we become more aware of His Presence and we experience it. He dwells or in Hebrew you can also say He sits in the praises of His people. Now where does God sit? On a what? Throne. When you praise God there is a revelation to you of God on His Throne. This is why when you begin to praise Him and say how great He is you are filled with faith – your spirit is being filled with a revelation of God on his Throne. If you saw God’s throne right now you would be in awe of Him and your fears and concerns would melt away if you saw His Almighty Power, which He wants to exercise on your behalf! Your problems will seem small when you praise Him.

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Now, I said praise leads us into something else… what is it? Praise leads us into worship and adoration of the Lord. When you are in His presence you will turn another corner and there will be a change in what feels appropriate to you. At some point it will feel wrong to shout and clap hands – you will want to bow before Him and honor Him. You will feel the weight of His glory and His holiness. You may just bask in His presence or you may just express your love to Him. This is not saying, “God, You are great!” This is saying, “God, I love you! I worship You!” Learn to lavish your love upon Him.

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One of the keys to this is that your praise and worship must be vertical, more so than horizontal. At some point you need to, if I can say it this way, stop singing about Him and sing to Him. There is a difference between singing “How Great Is Our God” and singing “You Are Great.” There are songs we sing to ourselves, songs we sing to other people, songs about God, but the vertical songs and vertical worship are directed to Him.

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You can enter into His Presence this way with singing, with music, with other expressions such as clapping, shouting, all of the bodily postures of worship we see in the Word. Resolve that you will enjoy every form of worship the Bible reveals to us. You can also do it by worshipping Him in the Spirit, in other tongues, which we’ll talk about in a little bit. Tell Him that you want to see His beauty and His glory, just like David.

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One of the most powerful things you can do is to add fasting to your ministering to the Lord. This was done in the early Church. It adds focus and power to your spiritual service. We’ll mention this again in a minute.

C. Benefits of ministering to the Lord The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing. (Psalm 34:10)

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There are tremendous benefits to doing this. It’s like voting in Chicago, as they say. You should do it early and do it often! I find five chief benefits.

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The first benefit is the revelation of His Presence, as we’ve already discussed. If God has made a way for us to experience his living Presence why wouldn’t we do it? James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” I can experience him every day, not just Sunday or a midweek service. The more I see Him, the more I will be rooted and connected to Him, and the more I will be in love with Him. His Presence spreads out and even changes the spiritual atmosphere. Is your home full of strife? Through ministering to the Lord, you have the capacity to invite the living presence of God into these earthly realms.

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The second benefit is the revelation of His Voice. When we minister to Him, He speaks to us through the Holy Spirit. Acts 13:2 says, “As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, ‘Separate to me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’” When we care enough to speak to Him, He truly will speak to us. We receive guidance from the Holy Spirit as He will speak through the Word or speak by His living voice directly to our hearts.

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The third benefit is the renewal of our strength. The Bible says those who wait upon Him will renew their strength. (Isa. 40:31)

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The fourth benefit is the renewal of our vision. When we minister to the Lord we get fresh vision and His Presence sweeps away discouragement. We begin to see the plan of God behind the reversals and difficulties of life. (Ps. 73)

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5. Finally, we receive a greater knowledge of God, a greater intimacy with Him. Have you ever moved on from a friendship? Maybe you’ve reconnected with an old friend after many years and found that your interests and tastes have diverged. But what have we been learned about gazing at God? If we do, we will be changed into His likeness. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Ministering to the Lord will make you more like Him, and will also cause you to 10

know Him better. It literally will take you from strength to strength and glory to glory. •

Be sure that ministering to the Lord is a cornerstone of your walk with the Lord. You will never regret it! Make an altar in your home to the Lord and consecrate a special place unto Him for ministering to the Lord. Make an altar out of every place you are, and worship and pray without ceasing. Let’s do it now!

2. Meditating in the Word A. Renewing our love for the Word More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. (Psalm 19:10) •

The second source of strength God gives us is His Word. God has only given three gifts to the world: His Word, His Son, and His Spirit. I pray that He will renew the love each one of us has for His Word, His first gift to the world.

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The Word of God is infallible. It has no error in anything it speaks about. It is a perfect book. It expresses His nature, His character and his plan of salvation. We could not know anything about God unless He chose to tell us about Himself, and this He did primarily through His Word. In fact the Bible says He has magnified his Word above all His Name. (Psalm 138:2)

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Seeing that everything must bow to His Name, how great then is His Word? In Psalm 19, David writes these words about the Word of God, “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine

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gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.” •

My question: do we desire this Book more than gold? Do we consider it sweeter than honey? If we love his Word, and if we learn to keep His Word, I believe we will receive great reward from the Lord. We will be strengthened with supernatural strength. The Word of God has supernatural power to change your life as He speaks to you. The Word of God brings us faith, wisdom, light, healing and so many other benefits!

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One of the lies we receive sometimes and one of the things that keeps people from reading the Bible is that they think it’s boring or it’s drudgery. They approach reading the Word the way that kids approach Brussels sprouts or broccoli. But listen, if God is speaking to you in this book, the god who made you, how could it not be exciting? He says it’s like gold and like honey. The better we know this Book, the better we will know God. That should be enough of an incentive!

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There are several ways to study or interact with the Word. The first is simply to start reading. Don’t feel you have to do this for hours a day, just start off slow. If you’ve never read the Bible at all, have someone show you the Gospels and read the story of Jesus. Read it like a story. Many times we have no problem sitting on the beach with a novel for an hour… try reading the Gospels for an hour, like a story.

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Another way is to begin a program of Scripture memorization. Take verses of Scripture that are important verses or verses that are meaningful to you and commit them to memory. It will build your faith to learn the many wonderful promises of God to you. You say, well, I’m not a good student. You don’t have to be a good student. Take that one verse and just practice it over and over until you learn it and learn the chapter and verse where it can be found. It will change your life. It will help your thinking to become clearer and more orderly. You will no longer be scatterbrained if you study the Word of God.

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You should also engage in Bible study. You can do this in a class or by yourself, learning what the Bible teaches about different topics or studying one particular book of the Bible in depth. We can’t teach you how to do that today but if you need help, ask a more experienced Christian to give you pointers or to help you find a study guide. Get into one of our Tuesday or Wednesday classes. Maybe e-cwip isn’t for you just yet but in one of the other classes you can learn a tremendous amount and become familiar with the Word of God and its great themes.

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I want to show you another source of strength today, though, that is less wellknown: meditating in the Word. Let’s talk about what it means to meditate in the Word.

B. How to meditate in God’s Word With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth. (Psalm 119:13) •

What does it mean to meditate in the Word or meditate on the Word? To get some understanding, let’s look at the first time God told someone to do it. In Joshua 1:8 God said to Joshua, “This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; but you shall meditate in it day and night, so that thou may observe to do according to all that is written in it; for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success.”

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Meditation in the modern world means something mental, or altering your mental state. For some it may mean clearing or emptying their mind as a form of relaxation. Not so in the Bible. In the Bible this is an active word. In Hebrew the word used in Joshua 1:8 is hagah, and it means to murmur or to mutter, and to ponder.

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Reading and meditation in the ancient world were verbal, not silent. Even in libraries it is said people read out loud. So it is with biblical meditation.

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Look at this text: God says the book of the law shall not depart from his mouth. This clearly states that he should be contemplating it out loud. •

I’m going to give you a helpful method to do this, but first let’s look at some principles God himself gives to Joshua. First, as we’ve just said, we should do this out loud.

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Second, we should do it day and night. This actually means several things. He says, of course, that we should be doing this every day. It also means we do it in the morning. You day should begin with God’s Word. Even five minutes is good. It is better than zero minutes! It also means we end the day or the night with the Word. It will help to cleanse you and will give you peace as you end the day.

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Third, you should pay attention to “all that is written in it.” Don’t just meditate on your favorite parts. You need everything in this book.

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What is meditating in the Word, then? We meditate in the Word when we “chew on” (mutter, speak to ourselves, ponder) a specific portion of it, letting the Holy Spirit minister the life of God from that passage into our very being.

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This is more than a daily reading plan or memorizing verses, this is meeting God in the text at a deep level and having him feed your soul. Here are some principles. I will give you a technique in a moment. o Invite the Holy Spirit to illuminate the Word to you. Without Him your meditation will be fruitless. o Read the Word aloud. o Chew it thoroughly, getting nourishment from each thought or word in the passage. It may be profitable to break it down word by word where the text will allow you to do so.

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o Repeat to yourself those passages which seem to be significant, or which the Holy Spirit seems to be highlighting to you, or which seem to speak to you in some way. o Avoid being distracted by curiosity while you are meditating in the Word. (Distraction is a powerful enemy of our prayer and meditation!) The point of meditating in the Word is to encounter the Lord in His Word, not to acquire knowledge per se. Use a notebook to jot down things you do not understand or things you are interested in figuring out and research them afterwards. You will probably find that you will actually end up understanding more when you do this, because you will know more about the context of the passage once you have been meditating on it. What you learn about names and details will then truly add to your delights as you see deeper meanings and see God at work in the story! •

Here is one method of meditating in the Word. I do not say it is the only way to do so but you may find it useful. Let’s call this: Read, Ponder, and Review. o Suppose we are reading good old Psalm 27. We begin by eliminating distractions and we ask the Spirit of God to give us light. Now, we read through Psalm 27 one time, at your normal pace. If you have good powers of concentration you can do this silently, but reading out loud may be better even at this stage. o Now comes the pondering or “chewing” part. Read the entire Psalm slowly to yourself out loud. Significant verses should be read over again, extracting meaning from each word where possible. If the Lord spotlights something to you, linger there longer until you feel you have finished. Remember to make notes of anything you wish to learn about later. Perhaps God is asking or telling you something important that needs to be applied in your own life. Be sure to think and pray earnestly about those things.

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o Finish by reading the whole Psalm over again at your normal reading speed, as you did when you read it the first time through. o Notice that by doing this you are no longer under enormous pressure to read large portions of the Word with little comprehension. God would not ask you to read His Word and get nothing out of it. However, by using this approach I believe that you will over time come to have a tremendous knowledge of the Word. More important, you will come to have a great knowledge of the Author of the Book!

C. A harvest of peace, and the death of offense Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them. (Psalm 119:165) •

Meditating in the Word has great benefits and is a great source of strength. Look again at Joshua 1:8: “This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; but you shall meditate in it day and night, so that thou may observe to do according to all that is written in it; for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success.” God says we must do it so that we can observe to do what He has written. Therefore, if we meditate on the Word, we will learn what God requires of us, and we will grow in the fear of the Lord – which the Bible says is the beginning of wisdom. (Proverbs 9:10) So meditating on the Word will make you wise, in the sense of learning to engage in godly behavior. In modern terms, positive lifestyle changes!

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The second thing God told Joshua was that if he engaged in this good habit he would make his way prosperous. The third thing was that he would have good success. This matches the description of the man who meditates in the Word in Psalm 1: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law does he meditate day

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and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he does shall prosper.” •

Notice also the Scripture in Psalm 119:165: “Those who love your law have great peace, and nothing shall offend them.” Literally this means they have no stumbling block. When we love the Word, we, too will receive a harvest of peace. We will also walk free from offenses. Our trust in God, acquired through meditating on the Word and seeing His great promises, will keep our hearts in peace. It will also keep us from being shaken by stumbling blocks – things which cause us to sin. We can become dead to offenses as God teaches us to look at others through his eyes and as we trust Him for the outcome of every situation. If you want to experience a harvest of peace, and see the death of offense, begin to meditate in His Word. Watch Him change your thinking and your heart as you do so!

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Here for further study (and meditation!) are some verses dealing with meditation in the Word: o (Genesis 24:63) And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at evening… o (Joshua 1:8) This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. o (Psalm 1:2) But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. o (Psalm 19:14) Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. o (Psalm 63:6) When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.

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o (Psalm 104:34) My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD. o (Psalm 119:15) I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. o (Psalm 119:23) Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes. o (Psalm 119:48) My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes. o (Psalm 119:78) Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: but I will meditate in thy precepts. o (Psalm 119:148) Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word. o (Psalm 119:97) MEM. O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day. o (Psalm 119:99) I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.

3. Making yourself mighty in the Spirit A. The person of the Spirit And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever… (John 14:16) •

The Holy Spirit is a person. The Holy Spirit is not a force or an energy, but a person with a will, intellect and emotions. He speaks, has a will, can be grieved.

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He is God, just as the Father is God and the Son is God. Numerous scriptures bear this out. For example, in Acts 5:4, to lie to Him is to lie to God.

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He is another Comforter of the same kind as Jesus. In Greek there are two words for another – one which means another of a different kind and one which means another of the same kind. It is the difference between saying, “I want to watch another movie,” and “I want another glass of water.”

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What this means practically is that the Spirit has come into the Earth to be everything for us that Jesus was while He was on the Earth. This allows the ministry of Jesus to spread throughout the Earth. It also means that we have access to Jesus’ ministry without needing to go to find Jesus as the first disciples sometimes might have. In fact, Jesus said it was better for Him to go away so that the Spirit could come. (John 16:7) What could be better than having Jesus here with us? Jesus Himself gave the answer – having the Holy Spirit!

B. The ministries of the Spirit He shall glorify me, for he shall take of what is mine, and shall show it unto you. (John 16:14) •

Through the many ministries of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit takes the things of Jesus and shows them or reveals them to us. Some of what the Spirit does for us: (1) sanctifies us; (2) convicts of sin; (3) teaches us; (4) shows us things to come; (5) encourages us; (6) gives us counsel, and many other things. We can’t linger here as we need to talk about one important thing He does to give us supernatural strength. This is our final source of strength – God baptizes us in the Holy Spirit – he immerses us in the Spirit’s supernatural power for service.

C. The Baptism in the Spirit But you shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

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1. What is the Baptism in the Holy Spirit? All genuine Christians have the Holy Spirit living within them, but there is a deeper dimension of life and power in the Spirit available than what many have experienced. Among other things, Jesus described different levels or aspects of our experience of the Spirit in terms of three prepositions: with, in, and upon. “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Cor. 3:16) “…the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him; but you know Him; for He dwells with you, and shall be in you.” (John 14:17) Then said Jesus to them again, “Peace be unto you: as my Father has sent me, even so send I you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:21-22) Therefore when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put in His own power. But you shall receive power, after the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses…” (Acts 1:6-8a)

2. The “Upon” Experience The Baptism in the Spirit is a “coming upon” of the Spirit and an immersion in the power of the Spirit and should not be confused with the Spirit coming into a person at the point of conversion to Christ. It is received by faith. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but remain in the city of Jerusalem, until you are clothed with power from on high. (Luke 24:49) Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they 20

had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. (Acts 8:14-17 NKJV)

3. The Doorway to the Supernatural Power of God a. Jesus Himself promised that believers would receive dunamis power from God from Him when they were baptized in the Spirit. b. The unmistakable mark of being baptized in the Spirit in the NT is speaking in other tongues, which is either seen or implied in the case of every person receiving it in Acts 2, Acts 8, Acts 9, Acts 10, and Acts 19. c. These are languages never learned by the person speaking them. They may be languages of Earth, as in Acts 2, or they may possibly be angelic languages. (1 Cor. 13) d. Jesus was described in all four Gospels as the One who baptizes in the Spirit. The outpouring of the Spirit in Acts 2 was a direct sign from Heaven to the Jews that Jesus was in fact the Messiah and had poured out on God’s people the “Promise of the Father.” God’s people had been waiting for the day prophesied in the Word in which all of them could experience God, rather than just a few prophets and special people. A new age, the age of the Spirit, had begun: “…this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel, ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days,’ says God, ‘I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh’… being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He (Jesus) has shed forth this, which you now see and hear.” (Acts 2) e. The baptism in the Spirit should not be viewed as an end in itself but as a door into a fuller life in the Spirit and dimension of empowerment to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. It is typically only after a person is baptized in the Spirit that we see frequent manifestations of the gifts of the Spirit in his or her life. 21

D. The power of praying in the Spirit He who speaks in an unknown tongue edifies himself… (1 Cor. 14:4a) We promote praying in other tongues as a way to stir ourselves up in the Spirit and to strengthen ourselves for ministry in the Spirit. Not only is our spirit empowered as we do this, but we enter a greater flow of revelation and move in the gifts in a greater dimension in general. Some important points: 1. What is happening when we speak in tongues? •

You are the one speaking, not the Holy Spirit: “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:4)

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You are speaking forth words (speech or utterance) given by the Holy Spirit: “…as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:4)

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Your spirit is speaking: “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.” (1 Cor. 14:14) In November, 2006, the New York Times reported that science had caught up the Apostle Paul after more than 1,950 years. They reported on scientific explanations of what happens in your brain when you are speaking in tongues. It’s unlike any other religious experience of prayer in terms of the effect on the brain: Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania took brain images of five women while they spoke in tongues and found that their frontal lobes — the thinking, willful part of the brain through which people control what they do — were relatively quiet, as were the language centers. The regions involved in maintaining self-consciousness were active. The women were not in blind trances, and it was unclear which region was driving the behavior.

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The images, appearing in the current issue of the journal Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, pinpoint the most active areas of the brain. The images are the first of their kind taken during this spoken religious practice… The women in the study were healthy, active churchgoers. “The amazing thing was how the images supported people’s interpretation of what was happening,” said Dr. Andrew B. Newberg, leader of the study team, which included Donna Morgan, Nancy Wintering and Mark Waldman. “The way they describe it, and what they believe, is that God is talking through them,” he said. Dr. Newberg is also a co-author of “Why We Believe What We Believe.” In the study, the researchers used imaging techniques to track changes in blood flow in each woman’s brain in two conditions, once as she sang a gospel song and again while speaking in tongues. By comparing the patterns created by these two emotional, devotional activities, the researchers could pinpoint blood-flow peaks and valleys unique to speaking in tongues. Ms. Morgan, a co-author of the study, was also a research subject. She is a born-again Christian who says she considers the ability to speak in tongues a gift. “You’re aware of your surroundings,” she said. “You’re not really out of control. But you have no control over what’s happening. You’re just flowing. You’re in a realm of peace and comfort, and it’s a fantastic feeling.” Contrary to what may be a common perception, studies suggest that people who speak in tongues rarely suffer from mental problems. A recent study of nearly 1,000 evangelical Christians in England found that those who engaged in the practice were more emotionally stable than those who did not. Researchers have identified at least two forms of the practice, one ecstatic and frenzied, the other subdued and nearly silent.

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The new findings contrasted sharply with images taken of other spiritually inspired mental states like meditation, which is often a highly focused mental exercise, activating the frontal lobes. The scans also showed a dip in the activity of a region called the left caudate. “The findings from the frontal lobes are very clear, and make sense, but the caudate is usually active when you have positive affect, pleasure, positive emotions,” said Dr. James A. Coan, a psychologist at the University of Virginia. “So it’s not so clear what that finding says” about speaking in tongues. The caudate area is also involved in motor and emotional control, Dr. Newberg said, so it may be that practitioners, while mindful of their circumstances, nonetheless cede some control over their bodies and emotions. Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/07/health/07brain.html •

This is volitional (an act of your own will): “What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also…. I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than you all; yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.” (1 Cor. 14:15, 18-19)

2. Speaking in tongues primarily an expression of praise and worship •

Praise: “…we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.” (Acts 2:11)

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Mysteries: “For he who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men, but to God: for no man understands; however in the spirit he speaks mysteries.” (1 Cor. 14:2)

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Prayer: “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.” (1 Cor. 14:14)

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Song (sung worship): “…I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.” (1 Cor. 14:15)

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Blessing and thanksgiving: “Otherwise when you bless with the spirit, how will he who is unlearned say ‘Amen’ when you give of thanks, seeing he does not understand what you are saying? For truly you are giving thanks well, but the other is not edified.”(1 Cor. 14:16-17)

3. The gift of tongues compared to “prayer language” or "devotional tongues" •

Gift of tongues: “Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Do all have the gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?” (1 Cor. 12: 29-30) This passage is often used to suggest that not everyone speaks in tongues. It is true that not everyone has a “gift of tongues” in the sense of an ongoing ministry – but this is not the same as saying God doesn’t want everyone to speak in tongues.

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As used personally (“prayer language”): “I desire you all to speak with tongues… I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than you all; yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue… But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.” (1 Cor. 14:5a, 18-19, 28) You can see from this that there is a private use of tongues for private edification and worship. You can also see that Paul did the great majority of his tongues-speaking outside of church meetings.

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4. God wants us to use tongues to edify ourselves and to get the Spirit’s help as we pray •

Praying with groanings, etc.: “Likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he who searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because he makes intercession for the saints according to God. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called ones according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:26-28) ("help” in this passage means “taking hold or pulling together with you against something”)

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Communing with God in the various forms of prayer and worship described in 1 Cor. 14 (see references above)

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Edification: “He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself… I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than you all… But you, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God” (1 Cor. 14:4, 18; Jude 20-21) This word “edification “ literally means to build up the house. When you do this, your spiritual “house” will be made strong!

E. Receiving the Baptism of the Spirit (followed by ministry time) If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? (Luke 11:13) We can receive the Baptism of the Spirit in three simple steps, which we can easily remember if we think of them as the ABC’s! 1. Ask We have not because we ask not. We can simply ask – there is no precondition of worthiness. The only qualification is to belong to Jesus. He is described in all four

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Gospels as the Baptizer in the Spirit, so let’s simply ask Him in faith to fill us to overflowing with the Spirit!

2. Believe Because of the great promise Jesus gives us in Luke 11, we can trust Him to do this when we ask Him! Jesus called this “The Promise of the Father.”

3. Confess •

Begin to worship the Lord and, as you do, at some point exercise your faith by speaking in an unknown tongue.

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Sometimes people do not do this because they don’t want it to be “just them.” But Acts 2 tells us that they began to speak as the Spirit gave them words to speak.

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The Spirit does not manipulate or control your tongue or your jaw. As you speak, believe that he will supernaturally supply syllable for you to speak.

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In some people, this speech comes pouring out of them like a river. This is like what Jesus said in John 7 – that the people who believe in them would experience rivers of living water flowing out of their innermost being.

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Some people hear or even see words or sounds, which they then begin to say.

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With some people it is a powerful and emotional thing, with some quiet and gentle. God isn’t a cookie-cutter God.

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In many cases in Scripture, other believers laid hands on people for them to receive the Spirit and we do practice this as well.

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