Am I Wrong? A Church Bible Study For Your Consideration

Posted below are the Small Group notes that have been passed out for study this week, please review and I will share my story at the end.

Basic Aim: To encourage us to understand, seek and experience the baptism of the Spirit

Ice Breaker; Either use your own, or here's a suggestion...
Someone think of a person and everyone else in the group takes it in turns to ask yes/no questions (no more than 20 in total) and the person who guesses correctly wins.

Memory Refresher; Ask the group what they recall from the preaching on this subject-It may have been a few weeks ago by now!

Intro
When Paul comes across the disciples in Ephesus he asks them a very direct question: "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?' verse 2. Let’s consider four possible responses.

The Uninformed Person's Answer
"What do you mean?"
The disciples at Ephesus expressed ignorance of the Holy Spirit and they certainly were not aware that He was available to be received. Christians need to know about God's promise to pour out his Spirit and that this is now available. In the OT God came upon special individuals for special tasks to empower them (I Samuel 16:13). Joel prophesied a time when God would pour out his Spirit on all his people (Joel 2:20) and Jesus said that would finally happen after be went back to the Father (Acts 1:4, 2:33...) This promise of the Holy Spirit is one of empowering (Acts 1:8) and sealing (Eph 1:13, 4:30).

This receiving of the Holy Spirit is described in several ways (being baptised in the Holy Spirit, filled with the Spirit, etc) and is distinct from the regenerating work of the Spirit and the indwelling of the Spirit.

The Misinformed Person's Answer
"Of course I have, I am a Christian"
Many people assume that because they are a Christian they must have received the Spirit. There are verses in the bible that at first sight seem to imply this (I COr 12:13) but they do not require it and we need to interpret them in the light of the rest of the biblical testimony about receiving the Spirit.

When we look at the accounts of people receiving the Spirit in Acts we see that it does not necessarily happen at conversion. While Pentecost is clearly a special case the others are not (Acts 2vsl-4. Acts 8:14, Acts 9:17, Acts 19:6), unless we are prepared to bring in reasons from outside the bible.

In the accounts we have of people receiving the Spirit the event is quite spectacular. Simon the sorcerer was so impressed by it that he offered money for the ability to do it himself (Acts 8:18). Peter's argument that the gentiles had been accepted by God rested on the fact that they had received the Spirit – a clearly observable phenomena (Acts 15:8) and Paul's question in verse 2 assumes that people would know if they had received the Spirit.

The Filled Person's Answer
"You bet, it was amazing, let me tell you about it!..."
So what sort of things happen when you are baptised in the Spirit?

@ Pentecost: a violent wind, things like tongues of fire, people spoke in other tongues (acts 8:18).
@ Cornelius' house: people spoke in tongues and praised God (acts 10:44).
@ Ephesus: people spoke in tongues and prophesied (Acts 19)
God had promised this sort of thing through Joel.

Throughout church history there are examples of people encountering God in a powerful way that seems to fit with the biblical experience of being filled with the Spirit. Blaise Pascal "Fire! Security, joy, peace", Isaac Watts "melting of the heart, tears gushing out of mine eyes", and D.L.Moody "I had to ask him to stay his hand". Although individual experiences will vary in intensity testimonies like these can help to raise our expectation and increase our hunger for God's empowering presence.

The Thirsty Person's Answer
"No but I would really like to"
Once things had been explained to the Ephesian disciples they were very keen to catch up. From Jesus' words in John 7:37-39 we can see there are two things that qualify us to receive the Spirit and two things we can do in seeking to be filled with the Spirit.

The qualifications are believing in Jesus and being thirsty. The things we are to do are go to Jesus and actively drink - God will not simply take control but rather work in us as we overflow in vocal praise and worship.

Ql What would your response to Paul's questions be?
Q2 What has been your experience of receiving the Spirit or seeking to receive?
Q3 What helps or hindrances are there to you actively seeking to be baptised in the Spirit or going on being filled?

Ql How should I apply this teaching to my life?
Q2 How does this apply in our church life together?
Q3 What are the implications for our witness beyond the church family?

Share ... Encourage everyone to share where they need to adjust.
Prayer... Where appropriate, pray for one another.
Care .., Don't forget to follow up next time

We would like you to continue using the 3 questions from the Discipleship leaflet.

Have you spent regular time with God this week? If 'yes' what has He been saying to you?

Have you been faithful in the responsibilities and relationships that God has given you? (work, home, friendships)

Have you been able to share your faith this week or demonstrate God's love in action towards non-Christians?

"(I ask again, "Am I Wrong?"). That didn't go over well, and I have been labled a troublemaker ever since."

I am a stickler for details. The problem that you have is that there are to many details. you cannot fit all of them into every sermon, time doesn't allow it. So the answer to you question, "Am I Wrong?" is yes. I think you lose this one an a technicality. For the average person, a lifetime of effective criticism, will fit in a thimble. For this reason, rather than bash you, I will tell you a bit of my story, and let you make the connections.

I became a christian at a very young age. It was many years later, that I heard about the idea of baptism of the Holy Spirit, and as for repentence, I really did not understand it like I do now. By observation, we know that you cannot understand birth until after you are born. Scripture affirms that the second birth is the same.

My parents were the ones that got mad and changed churches. They did it three times. Oddly, one of the things that they complained about was that every Sunday was the same thing, you know, repent, get saved, followed by an alter call. Took up the last half hour of every service, at least it seemed that long to me. The first time we changed churches I was 13. I never felt accepted, and by the time I got out of high school, I had stopped going to church and spent the next several years screwing up my life.

One day God yanked the chain, and said its time to come back. It was a tough time, but God is gracious. Any way by now my parents were at a new church, so I decided to go there, they have since moved on. Even then I was quite knowledgeable on the bible, so on several ocassions, I decided to set the pastor right. You can predict his reaction.

You have planted a seed, perhaps even overwatered it, now give God a chance to make it grow. Had to tweak that verse a little bit.

I am still very good friends with that pastor. We have a new one now, an a-millennalist, it just never ends. I am still a troublemaker, so against the advice on this thread, I think you consider staying.

Thanks for your last post, I felt that I was having a conversation with my former self, I could not have said it better.

Be well
Seven

You don't think that the concepts of sin and repentance are foundational principles for a Gospel talk? I appreciate that every doctrine can never be fully expounded upon in any sermon, however, sin and repentance don't seem like insignificant details that can be passed over lightly.

Many thanks for your story. And thanks for the advise. I think that we won't be going anywhere in the immediate future, but either way I've given it up to God at this point. I feel strongly that I need to write a letter (more of a position paper actually) outlining with more detail my concerns about the teaching, as well as my issue with how the incident was handled.

I will be nice, I promise, lol. But, we will see what happens after that.

pony

Well said. There is time to teach these things and it takes time. No two people will teach them the same, and no two people will learn them the same.

I don't know all the details of your struggle with the ledership in your church, but if you can convince them a church needs one troublemaker, that would be a good start. Maybe you could use different word.

Just know this; if they have been to seminary, then they have probably heard many of your arguments before. Their answers, that you have listed in your posts, tell me that they have at least given the question some thought.

There are no insignificant details in God's word or in his work, most are passed over lightly.

Seven

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