Class Outline:
Pastor-Teacher
John Farley
Sunday,
April 17, 2011
Spiritual Gifts Part 110: Keep worshipping in the Spirit and put no confidence in the flesh.
The Doctrine of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit
C. The Baptism of the Spirit is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit in placing every new believer into permanent union with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Body the Church.
Point 4. Definition and description of the Baptism of the Spirit.
The norms and standards that God has designed for you to have as a Church Age believer are the ones found in the epistles of the New Testament.
We must be brought to the point where we are convinced that in our flesh, in our human power, we cannot do it!
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
The word of God provides the standards for the Christian conscience, and the Holy Spirit provides the supernatural ability to live according to those standards.
We have to be broken of our habit of relying on the flesh, relying on our power and our talents and our strategies and defense mechanisms.
Our confidence in our flesh - our talents, our solutions, our money, our connections, our personality, our family, our cleverness - needs to be broken and ended.
The lesson of Gideon’s great victory is not to rely on anything man can do; rely on the power of God to pull you through.
God desires to break our confidence in the flesh so the life of Jesus may pour through our earthly bodies.
The Greek for “manifested” in verse 10 is phaneroo, and it means to make manifest or visible or known what has been hidden or unknown; to uncover, lay bare, reveal.
And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me."
Our reliance on the old “us” must be broken so the new life of Christ can pour out of us.
And God our Father has a plan to break the old “us” so the new life can pour, and be life for others and blessing for us.
this knowing, that our old man was crucified with [Him], that the body of the sin may be made useless, for our no longer serving the sin; [YLT]
Eventually, one way or the other, the believer learns that there is one basic element which can enable a man to be useful before God: brokenness. (Pastor McLaughlin)
Brokenness means we place no confidence in ourselves, and therefore place all our faith and trust in the Lord.
God’s plan includes times of failure as well as success.
