In my previous post I quoted from a Spurgeon devotional. It said, “The church will never prosper until more reverently it believes in the Holy Spirit.”
Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity, has frequently been ignored by the Church. In my own upbringing, the Person of the Holy Spirit was hardly ever mentioned. As I have previously shared, in a personal time of despair, I said, “If this is all there is to Christianity, then I want out.” The Lord heard that, and a new journey was embarked upon. It began with an introduction to the Third Person of the Trinity, Holy Spirit.
Holy Spirit is the Lord’s C.E.O. of the Church, the Lord’s Chief Executive Officer, and the believer’s individual Comforter. Holy Spirit has been from the beginning in Genesis the active agent of the Godhead.
Genesis 1:2 says (NKJV), “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” “The word, hovering, connotes “sweeping” or “moving” rather than staying stationary. The Holy Spirit is the “executive arm” of the Trinity, so He was quite active as God spoke each word.” (NKJV Study Bible, page 4).
Question: Was the Holy Spirit active (instrumental) in the incarnation of Christ? Absolutely, (Matthew 1:20; Luke 1:35 NKJV), “And the angel answered and said unto her (Mary), The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you (sounds like hovering); therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.” (Parentheses mine)
Luke 1:40-41, Mary went to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who was pregnant (with John the Baptist), “when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” (NKJV).
Throughout Christ’s life, here on earth, the Holy Spirit was active. Thirty years after Christ’s birth, John the Baptist, declared at the Jordon River (John 1:29 NKJV), “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
John is declaring that the One, who is going to bring about change, has come, and world will never be the same be the same again–‘get used to different’ (The Chosen).
At the Jordon River, Jesus was water baptized by John. Matthew 3:16-17 (NKJV), “When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
At Jesus’s water baptism, the Holy Spirit is an active participant. He comes like a dove and remains upon Him. The Holy Spirit was active in the earthly ministry of Jesus. After Jesus’s water baptism, Matthew 4:1 (NKJV) says, “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” Luke 4:13-15 (NKJV) says, “Now when the devil has ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee and news of Him went through all the surrounding region. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.”
Change has come, and things are different. So, what does different look like?
Luke 4:16-22(NKJV) outlines for us a good understanding of what different looks like.
“So He came to Nazareth (His hometown), where He had been brought up (His neighborhood). And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day (went to His local Church) and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of Isaiah.”
(He was chosen to find a portion of scripture, read, and comment on it. Notes in my Study Bible say of verse 16, “A member or a visitor who was judged worthy was frequently asked to read the Scripture and make appropriate comments.” This seems reasonable to me; He had been absent from His hometown; He has returned; His ministry had preceded Him home; it only seems natural to have Him read and share. So far, things are the same in the eyes of the townspeople.
Continuing, “And when He had opened the book, He found (He chose) the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me”, (The Holy Spirit is active in Christ’s life, How?) “Because He has anointed Me” (When did this happen? When the Holy Spirit descended upon Him at His water baptism, continued with Him through His temptations in the wilderness, which resulted in Him returning in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, Luke 3:21-4:15).
This anointing was to enable Him:
“To PREACH the gospel to the poor; (Capitalization emphasis mine)
He hath sent Me to HEAL the brokenhearted,
To PROCLAIM liberty to the captives, and RECOVERY of sight to the blind,
To SET AT LIBERTY those who are oppressed (downtrodden);
To PROCLAIM the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Jesus had a ministerial P.H.D. He Preached, Healed, and Delivered. It was conferred upon Him by the Holy Spirit. He had passed all His tests in the wilderness.
“Then He closed the book, handed it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue (in the Church) were fixed on Him.”
Why? They have just experienced something they can’t explain. Something has changed; this isn’t the same Jesus they have known; something is different.
Verse 21-22 continues, “And He began to say to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. So all bore witness to Him and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”
Jesus has just said, ‘change has come, get used to different.’
Whoa! We know Jesus. He is Joseph’s son. Right? What gives!
For me, this sounds like the temptation leveled at Jesus by Satan in the wilderness. Matthew 4:3 NKJV, “if You are the Son of God, command…”; but it has come from the townspeople in the synagogue.
From Luke 4:23-30, we understand that the atmosphere in the synagogue changes from astonishment (vs 22) to wrath (vs 28). Why? Matthew 13:54-58 (NKJV) explains, “When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” So, they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in how own country and in his own house.” Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. “
Returning to Luke 4:23, the commentary on this verse says that Jesus’ words “anticipates the demands of the people that He perform in Nazareth the miracles He had done in Capernaum. However, His signs are not for the skeptic but the believer, (the same is basically true today), and He consistently refuses to produce compelling signs of His messiahship.” Satan had tempted Jesus to produce compelling signs in the wilderness to verify that He was the Son of God; the same thing is now being done through unbelievers in His hometown.
Isn’t it amazing what can and does take place when change comes, because ‘change’ brings ‘difference’?
Change is coming. You can count on it. Therefore, things are going to be different.
When I was first composing this blog, the Covid Pandemic was the change that the world was focused on. The pandemic had brought about many changes; many of which the world is still dealing with, especially here in the United States. And now, in the past two weeks (March 2022), the Covid pandemic is hardly a news item in the world, because it has been replaced with the headlines regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine, its systematic destruction, overthrow, and potential elimination of Ukraine as a sovereign nation. Change has come onto the world stage among the nations, and things are dramatically different. I submit to you that this aggression, over which I am grieved like you, is for us to stop and think seriously about how we respond as believers in Christ, especially to Jesus’ words in Matthew 24-25.
Reflecting back upon what Jesus read in the synagogue from the book of Isaiah found in Luke 4:17-21, “The prophecy of Isaiah 61:1,2 describes the deliverance of Israel from exile in Babylon in terms of the year of Jubilee, but its ultimate fulfillment awaited the coming of the messianic age. Jesus boldly claims to be the promised Messiah, and His defined ministry here becomes the ongoing essence of the good news of the gospel of the kingdom of God. Luke later makes it clear He passed this same ministry on to the disciples (Luke 9:1,2) and ultimately to the entire church (Acts 1:1,2). [commentary from NKJV Study Bible]
After Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, Jesus ministered to His disciples for forty days until He ascended back to heaven.
Luke writing to Theophilus, in his introduction to ‘The Acts of the apostles’, confirms the purpose of this historical record. Luke says, (Acts 1:1-5 NKJV), “The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit (Who is the agent of change!) had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them for forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait for the Promise of the Father, which, He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
Do you see ‘change’ and ‘different’ in these words? It’s coming, you can count on it.
Luke continues, Acts 1:6-8 NKJV, “Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” ” The apostles’ heard ‘change’ is coming, and they were checking out what they thought ‘different’ was going to be. But they did not get the answer that was in their hearts. “He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you (that’s change); and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth (that’s difference).”
Let me insert this thought here. We, too, as believers in Christ, might not get the answer we are looking for in our hearts from the Lord regarding the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
In Acts 2:1-4, the change occurs, and the difference is birthed. The Church, the Body of Christ, the Israel of God, is formed. It is empowered by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the C.E.O of the Church, of which Christ is the Head. The Holy Spirit is the Godhead’s Agent of Change.
I believe the Church will be undergoing major ‘changes’ beginning in 2022. Believers will need to ‘get used to different’. There will be a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Church. Jesus said in the Upper Room to His disciples that when the Spirit comes “He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement.” (John 16:7b NKJV) Lest we get pumped up unnecessarily, remember Peter’s words, “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?”, (I Peter 4:17. NKJV).
The context of this admonition is Christian suffering. I Peter 4:12-14 (NKJV), says, “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.”
I suggest that what Jesus said in the synagogue about the scripture He read about Himself will be fulfilled through the Church, the Body of Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Word of God will be preached unto the ends of the earth, and it will be confirmed with signs and wonders following.
I Thessalonians 1:5,6 (NKJV), “For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake. And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit.”
This, I believe, is the change that is coming. This type of ministry in the Church has never completely died out; but it will be ‘resurrected’ in the life of the Church, by the Lord, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and blessed by God, the Father. The Godhead is ready to be a difference throughout the world.
Are you ready for God’s shaking? Is Covid, and the Russian invasion causing a shaking the Church? I believe so.
Hebrews 12:25-29 NKJV, “See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” Now this, “Yet once more” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.”
Get ready, our God reigns; He is bringing change and difference.
Change is Coming! or should I say, the beginning of change has occurred.
a brother in Christ, deo
Living Words of Encouragement 