Whither The Spirit?
We started a new study through the book of Acts in our church and I went through my normal routine to prepare to teach.
My attitude about teaching has changed over the years… I am more interested in learning something new myself that I can share rather than simply regurgitating the standard outlines most of us follow.
Thus, I always buy at least one new commentary on whatever book I’m teaching (Ben Witherington and a collection of classic authors for Acts so far) so that I have the latest scholarship and insights on the book, then I fire up Logos and Accordance where I have dozens more commentaries, word studies, and other tools to help me deliver a coherent teaching.
Sometimes I will see if any of my favorite teachers have a sermon or teaching online from a passage I’m working on and I will listen and take notes.
I put in a lot of time, work, and money in preparation.
This was all well and good…until something struck me.
The original disciples and the early church had none of the teaching tools we have now.
They didn’t even have a complete Bible.
Many of the doctrines that now comprise Christian orthodoxy weren’t fully formed…some hadn’t even been thought of yet.
When Peter arose to address the masses at Pentecost he wasn’t carrying his trusty MacBook or an iPad…
All they had was the Holy Spirit and their lives and teaching turned the world upside down.
This realization made me realize that in teaching…and in the rest of my life…I rely on what work I can do and what resources I can purchase…so I don’t ever have to rely on God.
This made me wonder what could be if I at least opened the door to His help…
Don’t get me wrong…please.
Those pastors who claim they rely only on the Spirit to make their messages usually are barely competent and often are just parroting what they heard from someone else.
I believe in work and preparation…but I wonder if my reliance on other Spirit inspired writers sometimes leads me to quench what the Spirit would say to me and my church.
Perhaps I just need to find a balance… in a bunch of things.
The Holy Spirit does more than just help pastors put together a sermon…
Make your own application…
I found this very interesting, not because I teach Bible studies, but because, I have often thought about the role of the Holy Spirit in my own Bible studies. I accepted Christ in 1975 at a Calvary Chapel Church. At that time, Calvary really encouraged everyday Christians like myself to rely on the Holy Spirit to illuminate The Word, and to just dive into your Bible and get blessed. As a new believer, I read my Bible night and day, and I really grew as a Christian. Gradually, Calvary completely changed. They would no longer allow small group home Bible study leaders to lead their own studies. Home studies could only use the church pastor approved study. We were also told we couldn’t read books by Christian authors unless they came from the Calvary Church approved in house book store. It was stifling! Sex roles in marriage and in the church became more rigid and pronounced. Everything just went down hill from there and I believe the Spirit was quenched at Calvary Chapel from then on. I enjoy a good study by others( Especially Beth Moore) but there really is no substitute for a Spirit led study one-on-one with God. My early dependence on that kind of Bible study eventually led me away from Calvary Chapel Church, ironically, because I never stopped reading my Bible that way.
“When Peter arose to address the masses at Pentecost he wasn’t carrying his trusty MacBook or an iPad…
All they had was the Holy Spirit and their lives and teaching turned the world upside down.“
Peter relied on 3 OT texts for his sermon: Joel; Psalm 16; and Psalm 110. Peter’s sermon was about seeing Christ in the OT, fulfilling OT prophecy. He studied under the Messiah for 3+ years. IMO he put in the work. Moreover, he was called to the apostolic office and was equipped for his office by the Lord.
I don’t know if we see this topic differently, but this is my understanding.
I’ve experienced tremendous losses over the last 9 months and this post resonates with me. I prayed ‘I need you more and then more, Jesus’, and for me, I haven’t found myself quoting any experts or even yearning for anyone else’s words about God in my own quiet time, just a deep need for his direct word and it has totally changed how I study, for my prep, too. I want the patience to wait to hear past my preferred traditions and see / hear what Holy Spirit has for me.
God has been so kind to speak to exactly where I am and draw me out of my stuck places and to himself.
Janet Linn at 4:05 pm,
Calvary Chapel is, and has always been a cult.
“Calvary Chapel is, and has always been a cult.”
Muff, you wouldn’t believe the trouble caused by one of those for our community and for me personally… four years ago we didn’t even have one. First a friendly Bible study, then services, then elders appointed and more recently fired by pastor, who thinks he’s like Moses. The wife of a fired elder (they still attend) passed out a paper she’d written years ago about how cults begin. Pastor got upset. I thought “well, if the shoe fits…”
Idahoan,
Do you still attend this church? I would be far away by now, looking for something healthier. The only way I know to escape a cult is to leave. I came to a faith in a fundamentalist church that was becoming cult-like (thankfully they had a shakeup in the mid 80s, when the self-appointed pastor for life retired, and they are no longer that way). I went off to college and realized that there was a lot more to Christianity than not attending movies or whether or not I wore a dress everyday. All these years later, churches that are all about the rules (not Scriptural commands) and supreme pastoral authority are the ones I don’t commit to.
Michael,
I really had to think about your post before I had a response.
https://bible.ca/manuscripts/List-of-300-Old-Testament-passage-quotes-in-New-Testament-Septuagint-Codex-Vaticanus-LXX-Masoretic-MT-Jewish-Tanakh-Bible.htm
I present you with a list of 300 OT quotes that appear in the NT. I believe that the apostles and other NT leaders had to use quotes from the OT to have credibility when witnessing to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. I also believe that they were filled with the Spirit, most probably in a different way than we are today as we have the all counsel of Scripture to rely on.
As I was reading the Bible as a teen (I had a strange little mind back then-may still be a bit strange), I really thought that there was no relationship between the OT and the NT. The OT was full of a vengeful God and all His rules, invoking holy wrath on “sinners.” The NT gushed love and acceptance. Well, my position didn’t hold up very long as I cross-referenced and realized it was all the same book when it came to the themes of sin, judgment, and redemption. It is how I came to faith in Christ.
I don’t think we can adequately interpret the Scriptures without the Spirit’s help, and whenever I teach (and I teach mostly children, but I also lead a women’s Bible study), preparation will definitely include prayer.
I also love the way the Bible fits together in so many places. There are other places I am still unsure of (I don’t want to give the impression that I’ve figured it all out), and I welcome listening to different interpretations. And, sometimes my brain will go “but verse so-and-so in a particular OT book does not support your conclusion at all!”). I think it’s a healthy balance as I continue to get to know an infinite God more intimately. I’m thankful He took a nerdy teen and brought her to faith through a truly Good Book.
Linn,
There is no doubt that there are many OT references in the NT.
The issue is that the disciples, maybe with a couple exceptions were probably not literate.
Peter was almost certainly illiterate.
There is also abundant evidence that when the disciples were with Jesus they didn’t understand what He was telling them except in hindsight…they scattered at the crucifixion and as late as the Ascension didn’t seem to grasp the mission.
“So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”
He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.””
(Acts 1:6-8 NLT-SE)
Jean @ your 5:17 PM,
When it comes to instruction, Peter learned from the primary source. It is amazing what you can pick up when you follow and learn directly from the guy that the whole book is about.
Good comments, Michael. We do know that boys were required to memorize quite a bit of the OT and that at least Philip, Matthew (the one who wrote the Gospel), Peter, Luke, Mark, Paul, and John could read. That’s enough to make a dent People also had to memorize more information back then, and there was a lot of storytelling.
When I worked in Colombia in the 80s/90s, people in many rural areas were illiterate or semi-literate. Yet, these guys would get up and preach marvelous sermons from material they had essentially memorized (I know that the Spirit was at work, too). I think God will get His Word out any way He can. The mission organization I worked in was one of the first in the country in 1909, and they started many of the first schools in the places where they worked, for both adults and children. If people weren’t learning to read the Word, they were certainly hearing it, and often singing it (similar to some of the Maranatha Music choruses).
Most of the European continent wasn’t literate when Luther wrote his 99 Theses (hope I got the number right!). But, once people had the Bible available to them through preaching and teaching, more and more folks wanted to read it for themselves. Literacy rates grew slowly, but they did grow.
I recently learned about the “Didache” (DID-eh-kay). The Old Testament scrolls were spread individually throughout all the synagoguesof the Roman Empire. No one had a complete Old Testament. The Diadache was like a basic primer for Christianity. A paragraph on The Lord’s Supper. A paragraph on Baptism. proper Teachings on who Jesus was and God’s plan through the ages. From say 100-300AD, most all churches had was the Didache. It was 3000 words long. That would be a 25 minute sermon.
Terry,
https://www.phoenixpreacher.com/essentials-didache-duane-arnold-phd/
MIchael/Duane- Thanks! I’ve been wanting to do a deeper dive.
Interesting. How does the Spirit work, how do all things consist in Him, how was the knowledge passed down with so scant information to draw from… ? Yet, he changes lives, performs miracles as in my case, and all the church that is truly the church… truly Israel, holds to the same tenets of faith?
‘Do you still attend this church?’ No
‘I would be far away by now, looking for something healthier.’ That one would be challenging for many reasons. It’s a pretty small town. We’re also part of a small Bible study group taught by the elderly elder who was put out to pasture but still attends the CC. He’s been horribly abused, and accused of mutton rustling and fomenting dissenters like me. Actually, though, he’s recently suggested I return.
“No, I’ll not be darkening that door.”
“Well, it’s not false teaching— just shallow.” “Even if it doesn’t sound like heresy, when they’re deceiving and fleecing the sheep— IMO that’s false teaching.’
As the tip of the iceberg was emerging back in January, I asked Michael (1/12/24 open blogging) about the sermon by pastor’s BFF (and only elder not “fired” a couple weeks later). One lowlight:
“ If someone says ‘there’s this doctrine I really feel is essential, this part I hold so fast, and you guys don’t really teach or empathize it’— If it’s not something we really adhere to, I want to pray with them and try to find a church where they can grow and serve and be a part of. People don’t have to be a part of what we’re doing here.”
5 months on from leaving, and I’m still waiting for that prayer meeting.
Sorry for complaining.
Back on topic, “The Holy Spirit does more than just help pastors put together a sermon…
Make your own application…”
“ and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. And in the day of the Pentecost being fulfilled, they were all with one accord…”
Whoa! Stop right there, Doc! Because it sounds like “they” is just the apostles. But earlier when there was “all with one accord” there were about 108 others, including women. If you don’t clarify who “they” were, folks might think all that Holy Spirit stuff was mostly just for the apostles to help them do signs and wonders to confirm the word and once they finished writing the Bible, the perfect had come, and now all the HS needs do is to help pastors rightly divide it.