http://www.cccowe.org/9ccowe/
After class finished there was a book sale outside the library, and another classmate suddenly pointed out a book on God's power by Smith Wigglesworth, a British evangelist who was important in the early history of Pentecostalism!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_Wigglesworth
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_Wigglesworth
Also picked up a book on the healing power of forgiveness, as well as a recommended reading from class on the Holy Spirit!!
Coincidentally my big essay assignment is on the Holy Spirit and Trinity... So I'm praying for God to open my mind & heart, so not only does the knowledge increase, but more importantly the personal relationship/ understanding/ experience and anointing by the Holy Spirit in my life!!
The Holy Spirit:
The wind blows where it wants to go (John 3:8), but
we cannot grasp it. It cannot be bottled up so we can use it. It’s sovereign.
Because the Holy Spirit is not systemically
described in Scripture, the doctrine of the Third Person of the Trinity has
been controversial.[1]
The Holy Spirit is the point at which the Trinity becomes personal to the
believer. We often think of the Father as transcendent, and the Son far removed
in history. But the Holy Spirit is active within the lives of believers because
he is resident within us. We live in a period in which the Holy Spirit’s work
is more prominent than that of the other members of the Trinity. The Father’s
work was most conspicuous in the Old Testament Period, the Son in the period
covered by the Gospels and up to the ascension, and the Holy Spirit from the
time of Pentecost on. It is primarily through the Holy Spirit’s work that we
feel God’s presence within.[2]
Class discussion: How do people talk about the Holy
Spirit, or how do people relate to the Holy Spirit?
l Dayspring:
Very charismatic, could be speaking in tongues and laughing all night.
l Baptist
churches: Variable between churches. Usually don’t teach specifically about the
gifts of the Spirit such as tongues, or encourage people to seek it. At the
same time, there’s no prohibition on praying in tongues. Most of the time, the
use of tongues is restricted to personal devotional practice.
l Korean
churches: Very enthusiastic about praying, like to pray loudly together at the
same time for hours, starting from the early hours of the morning. They also
tend to experience manifestations of the Holy Spirit, and it’s natural for
people to pray in tongues.
l Chinese
churches: In Asia it varies depending on denominations, which can range from
very conservative to highly charismatic. In Sydney, most churches tend to be
relatively conservative.
A good read on the topic of the Holy Spirit:
Fee, Gordon D. Paul,
the Spirit, and the People of God. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1996.
Holy Spirit does everything according to the Father’s
commission and the Son’s commission. It witnesses Jesus Christ to us and
others. We can’t have something that’s Christ-like without the presence of the
Holy Spirit. You don’t have to be a Christian to talk about having
faith/piety/positive thoughts. These are all part of God’s general grace. You
don’t have to be a Christian to be spiritual. There’s a general grace operating
around the world. But it is the Holy Spirit’s work that makes God personal to
us! The Holy Spirit applies the work of God on us/allows us to access Jesus
Christ. The Spirit inspires cooperation from us. We should not dismiss
something as not from God just because it’s looks weird. But we should not
always embrace something that looks miraculous either: we have to be discerning
because sometimes it is not form God.
Jesus casting out demons by the power of the Holy
Spirit: demons recognise Jesus before others could since they are not fooled by
outward appearances. The Pharisees see this happening and attributing that to
the work of the devil! If you can’t see the Spirit of God at work, you’ll never
know Jesus Christ. If you don’t know Jesus Christ, you can’t come to the Father. The people who are too deep in tradition sometimes cannot see, eg. high
Calvinistic people.
Revivalist awakening movement:
l Some
people got too carried away by the experience but their lifestyle is unchanged.
The Holy Spirit is not about witnessing outwardly miracles, but it is about
growing in the capacity to love God and reflect God in our lives.
l Miyon
discourages discussing/focusing too much on outward signs. Instead, take time
to disciple people.
l Different
people have different worship styles: sit quietly, vs. nod head, vs. dancing,
etc.
l John the
Baptist: did lots of weird thing. Rees Howells: touched deeply by the
Welsh Revival, led down the path of intercession for many years, before seeing
Revival across Southern Africa from 1915-1920. Weird things happening during
the Pyongyang revival before Japanese occupation. Weird things that we can’t
make sense of. Whilst not everyone touched by the experience get converted, out
of these experiences came out the most remarkable Christians.
l Western
culture: Strong analytical ability. But you don’t need to be a Christian to
analyse a phenomenon. People do weird things when they first encounter divine
power. Some people may be converted and find their lives transformed, some
people may revert back to their old experiences.
l Miyon
believes discipleship is the only cure. It is the Spirit that disciples us. The
qualities referred to as the “fruits of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-23) cannot
in their entirety be produced in human lives by unaided self-effort. They are a
supernatural work.[3]
There are lots of people calling themselves to be
prophets and apostles. As Christians we all can be prophetic and apostolic, but
some people are specially gifted. One distinguishing quality of the Prophets:
Conveying to people God’s profound feelings & longing for Israel. Based on
the word of God, have passion & compassion. To be able to dwell in God’s
emotion and convey that to people. Prophets
are not only given access to God’s words, but also God’s pathos, including
God’s infinite compassion. They’re screeching in the middle of the night an
octave higher when everyone’s still asleep. During reign of Hezekiah, people
were proud, while the Prophets were asking people to repent, “singing out of
tune”, discordance, not concordance. Prophets also have access to God’s
profound wrath against sin. They could only scream out while everyone else
thinks they’re doing ok, eg. “the enemies can’t attack us” etc. One of the ways
to remedy our sickness is to sit before God and ask God
to give us a sense of his compassion for the world. Even as finite creatures,
we need to feel as God does towards the world. We’re not automated machines or
just a workforce in the world. We are emotional beings. We need to feel God’s
profound feelings for the world. Make sure our hearts are not calloused against
sufferings and injustices around the world. Ask God to fill us with the proper
emotions so that we can do his will on earth out of the same heart, not with a
lukewarm heart.
Augustine: The talk of the “infusion of grace” has
caused a lot of problem in the Middle Ages. His language: infusion of grace
seems like an impersonal power zapping.
Protestants are more likely to talk about the “indwelling
of the Holy Spirit”.
The deity of the Holy Spirit (Erickson p782):
l Various
references to the Holy Spirit are interchangeable with references to God. In
Acts 5 Ananias and Sapphira, it seems that lying to the “Holy Spirit” and
“Lying to God” are interchangeable expressions. Paul’s discussion of the
Christian’s body in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17: “Holy Spirit” and “God” used
interchangeably.
l The
Holy Spirit possesses the attributes or qualities of God, including omniscience
(1Corinthians 2:10-11).[4]
Luke 1:35 it has “the power of the Most High”.
l It has
the ability to change human hearts and personalities as it works conviction
(John 16:8-11) and regeneration (John 3:5-8).
l Hebrews
9:14: “the eternal Spirit”.
l Genesis
1:2: Spirit of God brooding over the face of the waters.
l 2Timothy
3:16: All Scripture is God-breathed.[5]
l The
Great Commission: “make disciples of all nations… in the name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).
l A
person, not an impersonal force. Masculine pronoun used.[6]
l Glorifying
another member of the trinity: John 16:14 Jesus says the Spirit “will glorify
me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.”[7]
l Acts
15:28 coordinated working of the Spirit and Christian leaders is an indication
that the Spirit possess some of the very qualities found in human personality.
l Ephesians
4:30 it grieves in us. The spirit has emotions and Paul warns against grieving
the Spirit.[8]
l The
Holy Spirit is:
n A
person, not a vague force.
n Fully
divine.
n One
with the Father and Son.
n Enter
into each believer, “God with us”.[9]
Do we pray to the Holy Spirit?
l Prayer
formula: Dear Heavenly Father… In Jesus’ name we pray. In the name of the
Father, through the Son, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
l Deserves
same status as the Father and the Son. Not subordinated. The Holy Spirit is the
expression and execution of what three of them have done together.
l More
intimately involved with us than the incarnation. Do not grieve the Holy
Spirit. It gives us joy, a heart of thanksgiving, and helps us to forgive.
Worship:
l Some
people who has a great voice but spiritually immature: should we have that
person lead worship?
l Natural
talents vs spiritual gifts. Worship has an ascetic character to it. Is it a
show off of a talent, or is it something we do to reflect God’s worthiness? The
human factor should diminish. Exalting and honouring God. The Holy Spirit is
the mighty Spirit of God and gives us specific talents. There is a lot to
explore in the area of art and music.
l Preaching,
though important, is not the goal of worship. The goal of worship is to give
glory, honour and thanksgiving to God, that’s why it’s a spiritual act.
The Holy Spirit’s presence is not something we take
for granted.
l David
said, “Do not take your Holy Spirit away from me.” (Psalm 51:11)
l So, can
we lose the presence of the Holy Spirit?
l Old
Testament and New Testament: The Spirit in different contexts. David was afraid
of same thing happening to King Saul happening to him, and take away his anointing.
l God
can still take away our special anointing if we have an ongoing sin going on,
but this is not in reference to salvation. The Spirit dwells within Christians,
but we cannot feel it as strongly when we are grieving the Spirit.
The miraculous gifts today:
l Cessationism:
the doctrine that spiritual gifts such as speaking in tongues, prophecy and
healing ceased with the original twelve apostles. Uses 1Corinthians 13:8 as
evidence.[10]
l Sometimes
we hear the statement “Unless you can speak in tongues, you’re not a mature
Christian.” There is no indication that the Holy Spirit would cease to bestow
this gift on the church, and practice is nowhere forbidden in Scripture.[11]
Since no conclusions can be drawn about public practice of this gift, the
procedure laid down by Paul should be followed (1Corinthians 14): if one speaks
in tongues, there should be an interpreter so that the group as a whole may be
edified. If no one is present to interpret, the speaker should keep silent in
the church and restrict the use of tongues to personal devotional practice. We
must not prohibit speaking in tongues; on the other hand, we are nowhere
commanded to seek this gift.[12]
l In
churches that advocate 2 stage baptism: bifurcate Paul’s pneumatology from
Luke’s pneumatology. They advocate two types of baptism: water vs fire. They
tend to elevate experiential aspect of Christianity over the words. No matter
how hard Pentecostal scholars have argued, they have not been able to
demonstrate this scripturally. It’s phenomenon, which we don’t need to negate.
It’s something. As a doctrine, it’s hard to solidify biblical evidence. In
Luke/Acts: A very special period of time where people known about Jesus’
crucifixion but not resurrection, only heard of John the Baptist, doesn’t know
about the Pentecost etc. They were the last of the Old Testament believers:
they were regenerate because they believed the revelation they had received and
feared God. They had not received the Spirit, however, for the promise of his
coming could not be fulfilled until Jesus had ascended. But when on Pentecost
those who were already regenerate under the Old Testament system received
Christ, they were filled with the Spirit.[13]
The Holy Spirit created a unifying experience back then. Miyon says that
although these can’t be substantiated from the New Testament letters, the
experience is real and vibrant. It is the sovereign Spirit of God that’s in
action that is applying to work of Jesus upon us. It is for the purposing of
witnessing Jesus Christ. Walk in the Spirit, walk with the Spirit, etc.
l Prayer
healing service: When Miyon’s mother got very sick, they went to the healing
service. They sing old hymns all day. The miraculous healer put her hand on
people. They did it every day for a year. Her mother is still alive today, but
with one kidney only! This miraculous healer is a very controversial figure,
not the most moral person. Not a perfect person but many people got healed
through her ministry. Miyon doesn’t know what to make out of this experience,
but God extended Miyon’s mother’s life, that’s all she knows.
l Miyon
thinks demon possession is a real thing, but some people focus too much on the
demon part of it rather than the spirit of God part. For example, there’s a
woman who was in Satanic cult. She was diagnosed with multiple personality
disorders. Through counselling, she learned that some of her personalities, she
was blocking out a lot of things in her head about the cult experience. She had
demon possession experience before she became Christian. Once the demon is
casted out, does that mean the demon cannot repossess the person? One need to
continue exercising in their faith and grow in a good Christian community. Some
walk away from it completely, but for some it’s a lifelong issue. Some has
strong defence mechanisms, differs from person to person, no clear formula.
l Gift
of prophecy: This has been especially associated with the third wave but not
restricted to that movement.[14]
In the New Testament church, prophecy was more generalised. Most advocates of
the practice of this gift today insist that it is not to be regarded as equal
in authority to Scripture. It is imperfect and impure, thus Paul says in 1
Thessalonians 5:20-21 “to test everything”.[15]
There is a danger of knowledge of the Bible serving as a filter, interpreting
and restricting experience. At the same time, dangers can come from the “God
told me to tell you...” approach when one knows particular events in advance.[16]
There is such a thing as God “revealing” his will for a group. This, however,
based on the pattern in Acts, involves the group receiving the communication as
a group. While there may be a leader who persuades the others, it is a matter
of persuasion, not of mere proclamation. The Spirit is the one who convinces.[17]
l Miraculous
gifts from a postmodern perspective: we are reminded that all our knowledge is
conditioned by our cultural and historical situation.[18]
A lot to do with cultural contexts, and God will demonstrate his power where
there’s faith, either to create faith or strengthen faith.
l We
cannot assume that everyone who claims to have had a special experience of the
Holy Spirit’s working has really had one. If demonic forces could produce
imitations of divine miracles in biblical times, the same may be true today as
well.
l Whether
the Bible teaches that the Spirit dispenses special gifts today is not an issue
of great practical consequence. For even if he does, we are not to set our
lives to seeking them. He bestows them sovereignly; he alone determines the
recipients (1Corinthians 12:11). What we are commanded to do (Ephesians 5:18)
is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. It is a matter of his possessing more of
our lives. Each of us is to aspire to giving the Holy Spirit full control of
his or her life.[19]
Implications of the Work of the Spirit:
l The
gifts that we have are bestowals upon us by the Holy Spirit, not our own
accomplishments. They are intended to be used in the fulfilment of his plan.
l The
Holy Spirit empowers believers in their Christian life and service.
l The
Holy Spirit dispenses his gifts to the church wisely and sovereignly.
Possession or lack of a particular gift is no cause for pride or regret.
l No one
gift is for everyone, and no one person has every gift.[20]
Consequently, the individual members of the church need each other.[21]
l It is
appropriate to direct our prayer to the Holy Spirit just as to the Father and
the Son, as well as to the Triune God.[22]
References:
Erickson, Millard J. Christian Theology.
Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2013.
TH602 The Doctrine of God and the Work of Christ class
with lecturer Miyon Chung.
[1]
Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2013), 771.
[2]
Erickson, Christian Theology, 773.
[3]
Erickson, Christian Theology, 797.
[4]
Erickson, Christian Theology, 782.
[5]
Erickson, Christian Theology, 783.
[6]
Erickson, Christian Theology, 784.
[7]
Erickson, Christian Theology, 785.
[8]
Erickson, Christian Theology, 786.
[9]
Erickson, Christian Theology, 787.
[10]
Erickson, Christian Theology, 799.
[11]
Erickson, Christian Theology, 799.
[12]
Erickson, Christian Theology, 803.
[13]
Erickson, Christian Theology, 801.
[14]
Erickson, Christian Theology, 802.
[15]
Erickson, Christian Theology, 807.
[16]
Erickson, Christian Theology, 808.
[17]
Erickson, Christian Theology, 810.
[18]
Erickson, Christian Theology, 810.
[19]
Erickson, Christian Theology, 802.
[20]
Erickson, Christian Theology, 803.
[21]
Erickson, Christian Theology, 798.
[22]
Erickson, Christian Theology, 803.
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