Thursday, November 13, 2008

Spiritual Gifts - Week 3

Spiritual Gifts
week 3 - October 24, 2008

Last week we looked at how Christ used giftedness in His ministry. But what happened after Christ died? What happened with giftedness after Christ?

Naturally I'd expect to jump into straight into Pentecost and the book of Acts, but we didn't. We remained in the gospels to see what was said would happen, before looking at what did happen. So, let's look to the end of each of the gospels and see what the writers of these books had to say. To help us understand some of these next passages we discussed the timeframe between the crusifiction and the assention.

Timespan between the death of Christ and pentecost

Day 1) Christ was crucified on Friday. This wasn't just any Friday, it was the day that passover was celebrated. Passover lasted from Friday into Saturday. see Matthew 26, John 19, Luke 23 and Mark 15

Day 3) On Sunday, the day after passover, was the feast of 1st fruits. On this day Christ rose from the grave. see Matthew 27, Matthew 28 and John 20

Luke 24
The Resurrection
1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb
The Road to Emmaus

13 And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. 15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. 16 But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.
31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. 32 They said to one another, "Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?" 33 And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them, 34 saying, "The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon." 35 They began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.

Other Appearances
36 While they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be to you." 37 But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit.
45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and He said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 "You are witnesses of these things. 49 "And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high."
** Here (v.49) Jesus promises to send forth the power from the Father

Jesus among His Disciples

19 So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you." 20 And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 So Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you." 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 "If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained."
24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples were saying to him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe."
26 After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you."
** Notice that in John 20:22 Jesus breathes on them and says "Receive the Holy Spirit." This is on the first day after his resurrection. Still 49 days before pentecost.
John 21
Jesus Appears at the Sea of Galilee
1 After these things Jesus manifested Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and He manifested Himself in this way. 2 Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We will also come with you." They went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing.
4 But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 So Jesus said to them, "Children, you do not have any fish, do you?" They answered Him, "No." 6 And He said to them, "Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch." So they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish. 7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord." So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his outer garment on (for he was stripped for work), and threw himself into the sea. 8 But the other disciples came in the little boat, for they were not far from the land, but about one hundred yards away, dragging the net full of fish.
9 So when they got out on the land, they saw a charcoal fire already laid and fish placed on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish which you have now caught." 11 Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not torn.
Jesus Provides
12 Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." None of the disciples ventured to question Him, "Who are You?" knowing that it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and the fish likewise. 14 This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples, after He was raised from the dead.
** This is the 3rd time Jesus came to the disciples. The 1st time he breathed the Spirit upon them, and they were still naive. The disciples were disobeying Him and looking for their own fish. So, while the disciples are fishing in disobedience, Jesus cleans, and cooks His fish for them. Then Jesus shows how serious He is, asking Peter 3 times if he truly loves Jesus. How patient must Jesus have been to give His disciples the Spirit, only to have them run away and have to go get them again.
Matthew 28:16-20
The Great Commission
16 But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. 18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

** Jesus tells the disciples what we found out last week. He tells them that He has ALL AUTHORITY. But then He tells the disciples that He will be with them "even to the end of the age." But how can Jesus go to the father and yet remain with EACH of the disciples?
The Disciples Commissioned

14 Afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen. 15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. 17 "These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."
** What are the signs? These sure look like effects of the giftedness that is to come indwell us.
Day 42) Christ ascends to the father. see Mark 16, Luke 24, and Acts 1

1 The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen. 3 To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. 4 Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, "Which," He said, "you heard of from Me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."

The Ascension
9 And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. 11 They also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven."

Day 52) Pentecost is 7 sabbaths (49 days) after the feast of 1st fruits. This is where we see the Holy Spirit descend upon the 120. see Acts 2 Pentecost was a one of the feast that the Jews would have traveled from very long distances to celebrate in Jerusalem. People would have been arriving before the actual day of Pentecost.
Acts 2
The Day of Pentecost
1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.
** Notice that they already had the Spirit breathed upon them by Jesus himself. Now they are being "filled" with the Holy Spirit. This brings us to there being a couple ways that the Spirit indwells us. First the Spirit "Indwells" us at the time of salvation and baptism. Then the Spirit "fills" us at the time of our total surrender to Him.
We also discussed that God has always used spectacular events to usher in new ways that He is moving in His people. Pentecost for example ushered in the "Church".

5 Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 They were amazed and astonished, saying, "Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 "And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born? 9 "Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs--we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God." 12 And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" 13 But others were mocking and saying, "They are full of sweet wine."
3 things that happened in peoples reactions
  1. Acts 2 v. 6-8 "They were amazed and astonished" - The giftedness draws a crowd
  2. Acts 2 v. 12 "continued in amazement and great perplexity" - They were perplexed, creating curiousity. This curiosity moves either toward acceptance (see v. 47) or toward step 3
  3. Acts 2 v. 13 others were mocking and saying, "They are full of sweet wine." This happens when people are afraid and reject the work of God

If we bring people to church at they stay amazed at step 1 people rarely are moved to choose to accept or reject Christ. This keeping people stuck in step 1 seems to be common among many modern churches.

But what happens when we actually do it the right way, when the Spirit is moving. See what the mockers were saying in Acts 2:13? "They are full of sweet wine" So what must it look like to be "filled" by the Spirit? It may look and even feel wierd sometimes, a lot like the drunkeness that the people at Pentecost were accused of.

This is what I want to experience. I want so much of God that I cease to care what anyone else says or thinks about me. To be so free from inhabition, full of faith, to be drunk in the Holy Spirit. Free from sin, and enslaved by the Spirit, at any cost. Even to the ridule of others.

Remember Romans 6:15-23

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! 16 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. 22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

For next week were to look at:

Romans 1 and 12

1 Peter 4

2 Corinthians 12 - 14