Believing and Belonging III

III : THE HOLY SPIRIT – OUR GUIDE

John 16:7-13

“There are three persons in the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.” (Westminster Shorter Catechism)

The Work of the Holy Spirit

Jesus was always conscious of the Holy Spirit in His own life, but it was not until His work on earth was finished that the Holy Spirit came to His followers. So important was the coming of the Holy Spirit to the future of God’s Kingdom on earth that Jesus said to His disciples, “It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Comforter will not come to you… When He comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.”[1]Jesus often emphasized the work of the Holy Spirit (called “The Comforter” in this text). He told His disciples that it would be through the Spirit that they would find the strength to be able to follow His commands. It was through the Spirit that they would be enabled to meet, courageously, the problems of living and of dying.

The strength of the early Church can only be explained by the coming of the Holy Spirit. Great numbers were added to the Church at that time. The timid were made bold. The weak became strong. The silent became vocal in witnessing to others of salvation through Jesus Christ. A third person of the Godhead had come in power – the Holy Spirit.

Who is the Holy Spirit?

Simply speaking, the Holy Spirit is the power of God let loose in the world; but that power has personality. Do you ever feel an inner urge to do a kindly or loving deed? Don’t ignore it. That urge is the Spirit whispering in your ear. Do you feel an impulse to give Christ a larger place in your life? Act upon it. The Spirit is speaking to you. Do you hear a still small voice within you impelling you to a pure and holy way of life? Respond to it. That is the Holy Spirit at work in you. Do you feel yourself strong in temptation, encouraged in moments of despair, comforted in times of sorrow? Accept His help. He is the Holy Spirit.

As Christ walked with His disciples, so the Holy Spirit walks with us today – convicting us of sin, warming our hearts, persuading and helping us to accept Jesus as our Savior, deepening our spiritual lives, making us witnesses for Christ, transforming our weaknesses into strength; and the fruits of this companionship are these: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control”[2]

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[1] John 16:7-8

[2] Galatians 5:22

Believing and Belonging II

II : JESUS CHRIST – OUR SAVIOR

Philippians 2:5-11

“The only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, in two distinct natures, and one person, forever.” (Westminster Shorter Catechism)

The Son of God

Who is Jesus Christ? This is the question each one of us must answer. Two thousand years ago people were asking it. In those days, some said He was John the Baptist, some, Elijah, and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. But Jesus stressed the importance of answering the question for oneself. “Who do you say that I am?” asked Jesus. Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”[1] It is upon this statement that the Church was built. Whatever others thought of Him, Jesus knew that He was the Son of God. Nothing less than that is acceptable as a confession of faith from those who would follow Him today.

The Gift of the Heavenly Father

Jesus Christ is the supreme gift of the Heavenly Father to His earthly children. “For God so loved the world He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life,”[2] is the best-loved statement of the Christian faith. As the gift of God, Jesus had a mission and often spoke of it. “The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost,”[3] He said. “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”[4] “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”[5]

Our Redeemer

Given for our salvation by the Father, and in turn giving Himself on the cross that we, through Him, might be saved, Jesus states His claim in no uncertain terms, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (that is, will not die eternally). “Do you believe this?”[6]

And so through the years, Christ remains a fact in history, a force in believing hearts, a guide to Christian living, and the Savior of all who will believe, placing into His nail-scarred hands the empty hands of faith.

What we believe is encapsulated, for us, in the words of the -

Apostles’ Creed:

I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.

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[1] Matthew 16:15-16

[2] John 3:16

[3] Luke 19:10

[4] John 14:6

[5] John 10:10

[6] John 11:11

Believing and Belonging

I'm going to post the chapters of a new booklet we are producing at First Presbyterian. It's called "Believing and Belonging" and is a brief introduction to church membership. Today, after an introduction, we look at the nature of God.

Believing and Belonging

What does it mean to be a member of First Presbyterian Church? As with any organization, there are expectations laid upon us all as members. There wouldn’t be much point in saying that we belonged unless that belonging actually made a difference in the things that we believe or in the way in which we live. So, what is expected of you when you become a member? This booklet will help you to understand and, we hope, decide that you, too, want to say that you believe and belong.

There are certain foundational beliefs to which you must subscribe if you are to be a member of the church. Don’t worry, we’re not going to ask you how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, or to explain supralapsarianism, whatever that is! But we do think you should be able to say who God is to you, and what Jesus Christ has done for you. In the following pages you will find an introduction to these core beliefs. It’s only an introduction, but it’s a start. We hope that you will learn more and more about what it means to call yourself a Christian as you take the journey of faith with us.

You will also find a basic introduction to the way the church is organized, locally, regionally, and nationally. You’ll learn some of the terminology that will help you to understand us. Hopefully, too, you will be able to discern the shared values that are important to us. Most of all, we hope that you will feel that you want to belong. Of course, you are already welcome, but if you become a member you will be able to participate in every aspect of the church’s life.

We hope that you will never stop asking questions, but we trust that, in the faith we share, you will find enough answers to be able to say that you take:

- The Father to be your Father;

- The Son to be your Savior and Lord; and

- The Holy Spirit to be your Helper and Guide.

May God bless you richly.

Alan Trafford.

I : GOD – OUR HEAVENLY FATHER

Isaiah 40:28-31

Who is God?

When the Westminster Confession of Faith was being written, in the seventeenth century, in London, those who had been charged with writing it had great difficulty in formulating a simple, yet comprehensive, definition of God. It was during this period, in which they were earnestly seeking the right words, that one of the ministers was asked to lead in prayer. The words that came from his lips have come down to us as a wonderful definition of our Heavenly Father. He began, “O God, who art a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in Thy being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.” The Westminster Assembly took this and used it as the definition of God. It is still a fitting definition for us, today.

The Basis of the Christian Religion

All religions are founded on belief in God, but they differ as to who and what He is. The Christian religion begins with revelation. It is based on the belief that Christ is the Son of God; its understanding of who God is and of what God is is based upon what Jesus Christ said about Him, and upon the life Jesus lived on earth. Many times, Jesus referred to God as His “Father.” This is how He prayed, and this is how He taught the disciples to pray. “When you pray,” He said, “say, Our Father, who art in heaven.”[1] Or, “In the same way let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”[2]

How Jesus Revealed God

Jesus said, “He that has seen me has seen the Father.”[3]And so it is that, as we look at Jesus, we see God. We see Jesus feeding the hungry, and we know that God cares about our physical needs and our economic problems. We see Him weeping at the tomb of Lazarus, and we know that God is sympathetic to our sufferings. We want to know whether God forgives our sins, and we see Jesus bending over a sinful woman and saying, “Neither do I condemn you. Go now and sin no more.”[4] We worry about death, and we hear Him saying, “I am going there to prepare a place for you,”[5]and we are at rest. We hear Him speak, and we hear the voice of God. As Christians, we know who God is because He has revealed His nature through His Son.

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[1] Luke 11:2

[2] Matthew 5:16

[3] John 14:9

[4] John 8:11

[5] John 14:2

Fellow Servants of Christ

Read Colossians 4:10-18

Paul's letter to the Colossians concludes with a portrait gallery of pen-pictures of his circle of friends and helpers. They live again for us in these verses.




First: three Jewish Christians (v.11). Aristarchus, who shared Paul's imprisonment, possibly voluntarily in order to serve Paul. Mark, who had failed so badly once that Paul would not have him as a companion; he is now back in his place on the team and is fully accepted. (Do we ever harbor grudges and keep people down by reminding them of their failures?) And Jesus, called Justus. Some commentators have wondered whether he changed his name in order to avoid using the same name as his Savior.




Second: five Gentile Christians (non Jews), all very different. Epaphras, the man of prayer, who is "working hard" (v.13), which demonstrates that prayer and hard work are not mutually exclusive, and that prayer is not a way of avoiding work! Luke, a dear friend and a doctor, which was God's way of providing a personal health service for Paul. Demas, who later yielded to the pressures of the world and walked away from his responsibilities. Nympha, who opened her house for the Christians to meet in - a risky thing to do in those days. And Archippus, a leader in Colossae, who needed to be encouraged to keep going and not to give up.

Have you ever wondered how your Christian service would be summed up in one sentence?

Prayer: Lord God, so work in my life that I may, in the end, hear Your commendation, "Well done, good and faithful servant." To you alone be the glory. Amen.

Devoted to Prayer

Read Colossians 4:2-9

1. Dealing with God (v.2-4). There are four factors in prayer to consider here: two concerned with our attitude in prayer ("devoted" and "watchful"); and two concerned with the content of our prayer ("thankful", "pray for us, too"). "Watchful" suggests the sentry, on alert. Alert for what? Could it be for the voice of God answering our prayer? Do we make time to listen? "Pray for us," says Paul, reminding us not to be self-centered in our prayer.

2. Dealing with Non-Believers (v.5,6). "Be wise" suggests careful thought about our relationships with non-Christians; we have to remember that though they may not read or value the Bible, they are "reading" us. We may be the only bible they ever read. "Seasoned with salt" suggests deliberately including in our conversation comments which draw attention to God's plan for the great scheme of things.

3. Dealing with One Another (v.7-9). Paul doesn't stop at asking for their prayers, he takes care to supply them with information to help them to pray (v.8). "Onesimus, our faithful and dear brother" (v.9), was in fact a slave who had run away from Colossae and had come under Paul's influence in Rome. He is "one of you"; this means he is to be accepted back as if nothing had happened.

Prayer: Lord, I confess that I have stopped bothering to pray about... Draw me back to You. Give me a heart for those in need. Through Christ my Lord. Amen.

Yielding to Christ

Read Colossians 3:18-4:1

1. Where Problems Start. Most of our lives are lived in some sort of relationship with other people - at home with our families, where each member has to learn to make some sacrifices for the sake of the family as a whole; at leisure with our friends, when we get together to enjoy common activities; or at work, where employer and employee, manager and apprentice are all involved in a network of relationships. We were made to live like this, but we quickly discover that this is where most of our problems begin. Our relationships can bring us great joy, but they can also result in quarrels, misunderstandings, jealousies, and so on.

2. Where Answers Begin. The key phrases are "in the Lord" (v.18), "pleases the Lord" (v.20), "reverence for the Lord" (v.22), "serving/working for the Lord" (vs.23, 24), and, most explicitly of all, "you also have a Master" (4:1). In other words, we do not rest content with training to be better managers, studying domestic relationships, etc. We are to see all these relationships as coming under the control of Christ. We are to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ (Ephesians 5:21). If this principle was really put into practice it would solve many of our problems, for what too frequently becomes a collision of wills would become a common concern to know and to do the will of God.

Prayer: Lord God, You have involved so many people in the story of my life, and I am grateful; help me, in all of my relationships, to seek to do Your good and perfect will. For Jesus' sake. Amen.

Put on Love

Read Colossians 3:12-17

Here, we are called upon to do two different things - First "Put on" or "clothe" (v.12, 14); second, "Let..." (v.15,16). In the first case we have to take positive steps to do something; in the second we have a more passive part to play - we allow something to influence us. Both have their place in Christian discipleship.

1. "Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience" (v.12). Here are five qualities which, as Christians, we are to cultivate. Paul does not mean that we have to pretend to have them, putting them on like an actor's make-up. He means to cultivate them as a gardener might cultivate flowers. We are also to "put on love" (v.14). This is like the string on which the pearls are threaded; without love the Christian virtues can be an untidy, unseemly mess; with love, they are orderly, winsome, and attractive.

2. "Let the peace of Christ rule..." (v.15). We cannot in any sense contribute to this; but we can open ourselves to Jesus Christ, in prayer and in trust, so that He controls us in thought, word and deed. His peace flows from absolute confidence in God. It is not affected by changes in our circumstances or in the world round about us. Then, Paul adds, "let the word of Christ dwell..." (v.16). Again, this is a case of keeping our minds and hearts open, remembering His Word, meditating on His commands. Results are sure to follow.

Prayer: Lord God, I need Your peace in my life to enable me to live at peace with others; so give me Your love, also, for I cannot be at war with those I truly love. In the name of Christ. Amen.

Therefore...

Read Colossians 3:1-11

1. The Root of Christian Behavior. The apostle turns from matters of Christian doctrine and the special problems of the church at Colossae; now he deals with down-to-earth problems, specifically, with the question of behavior. These are not really separate subjects; they are closely linked, as verse 1 proves: "raised with Christ" means sharing all of the benefits of His death and resurrection - forgiveness, peace with God, salvation, the promise of eternal life, and so on. "(S)eek the things above" means "aim for those things which will please and honor God." To put it rather bluntly, a corpse has no appetite for the food which once nourished it - and Christians have "died" to their old, sinful way of life.
2. The Fruits of Christian Belief. So, we reach the great "therefore" of verse 5. We are to deal sternly with all kinds of evil - immorality (v.5), anger (v.8), lies (v.9) etc. Then, suddenly, Paul changes the metaphor. Instead of using the illustration of dying and rising again, he speaks instead of "putting off" the old way of life, like taking off an old suit. He then continues by urging the Colossians to "put on" the Christian life, like a new set of clothes.

Finally (v.11), Paul shows one outstanding consequence of this new life: it breaks down barriers - racial (Gentile and Jew), religious (circumcised and uncircumcised), cultural (barbarian and Scythian), and social (slave and free). Christ makes us one, whatever the accident of our birth.

Prayer: Lord God, You have given Jesus to be my Savior and my living Lord; I can do no less than to give my full allegiance to You. In the name of Christ. Amen.

A Full and Perfect Sacrifice

Read Colossians 2:16-23

The teachers of error at Colossae were saying that the the cross of Christ was not the only, complete, and final way to be forgiven and accepted by God. That argument has recurred throughout the history of the church. Whenever this argument is voiced it is generally accompanied by an insistence that various rules or laws have to be obeyed in order to gain acceptance. The argument seems to be that, if Jesus Christ did not pay the toll fee in full, then those who want to cross the bridge to reconciliation with God must pay in part themselves. In Colossae, this led to rules about what could and could not be done on the Sabbath (Sunday for the early Church), rules about what could be eaten, and when, and so on. This was, in effect, a throw-back to how the Jews had understood religion before the time of Christ. It is, essentially, a religion based on merit. It confuses actions necessary for our salvation with actions that are appropriate because of our salvation. It mistakes the fruit of faith for its root.

Merit-based religion is still very popular. It can be detected easily. Those who practice merit-based religion are very fond of doing what verse 16 forbids. Some of the taboos are listed in verse 21. They contradict the plain teaching of Jesus in Mark 7:14-23. Notice how Paul restates the point in Colossians 2:23 - keeping strict rules and regulations may appear to be a very faithful way of living the Christian life, but in fact it is without merit in terms of salvation. "I came here to escape the temptations of the flesh," said the man in the monastery. "And did you succeed?" he was asked. ""No," the man replied, "for I find that I brought myself with me when I came...".

The underlying point to get clear is that if we distort the doctrine of Christ's full, perfect and sufficient sacrifice for our sin, by either adding to it or taking something away, then we are bound to get our Christianity wrong in almost every other respect.

Prayer: O Lord, Your death was really a triumph; may something of its power be revealed in me today. Amen.

The Fullness of Christ

Read Colossians 2:8-15

Again, Paul warns about the teachers of error; their "hollow and deceptive philosophy" (v.8) came from to sources - human tradition and spiritual agencies. Ephesians 6:12 is worth looking at on this matter. There is plenty of this kind of thing about today.

The answer, once again, is the fact that Jesus Christ is absolute and supreme. In Him there is:

1. "The Fullness of the Deity" (v.9). This means that He was and is truly and fully God, even as He was truly and fully man. This is hard to explain, but it is what gives verse 14 its authority - the "bridge" rests firmly on both sides of the chasm of sin, on God and Man, and because of this, many may cross it and be saved.


2. "Fullness in Christ" (v.10). This is the other side of the coin. The same Lord Jesus Christ who is fully God is able to fill us; that is, He renews, in us, the life of God, so that we become what we were always meant to be - those who know, love, and obey our Maker. So, there is no room and no need for any other bridge between God and humanity; Jesus Christ meets every need. He can carry all of the traffic that there ever could be between sinful man and a holy God. And the toll for the crossing? Verses 12 and 14 tell us how this was paid.

Prayer: Lord, I seek the fullness of Christ in me. May I know more and more of Your life in mine. For Your glory. Amen.