ResponsiveReiding

“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.” (Eph. 5:22-28)

Passages like this one reveal a destructive tendency in all of us: We tend to read them in terms of how the other person is, or is not measuring up to their responsibilities, rather than focus on what addresses us.

He’s not doing X. She’s not doing Y. And I won’t do X or Y until he or she does.

All of which is wholly contrary to the nature of the love of Christ. For if He will not love us and act toward us in grace, forgiveness and sweetness until we rightly love Him – we are hopeless.

You and I, each of us are responsible for our part, irrespective of how any other parties do or do not take theirs up fully. My obedience can never be regulated and dependent upon whether or not someone else is obedient to Christ. Their failure never negates my responsibility. My privilege.

That said, here is a brief word to we husbands.

‎Husbands, how do you “present” your wife to yourself each day? Do you look on her with spots and wrinkles, or in purity and without either? The choice is up to you. You can choose to see her nakedness and behold blemishes, or you can choose to array her in finery and be ravished at the sight. See her cleansed from her sin in the blood of The Lamb. See her washed and clean and perfumed and dressed in the dazzling white of the righteousness of Christ. Keep her before you in that sweet aspect and you will not fail to find much to love and adore. Fail to do it, and you have but yourself to blame for a sight that repulses you – for you fail to see her in Christ. You will fail to deal with her, as Christ does with you.

So if on the other hand, you are preoccupied with blemishes, shortcomings, or simple dislikes and differences – do not be surprised if you lose attraction for her, and open yourself up to all manner of sins. You will be easily led to imagine other women as better. You will feed discontent in your own soul. And above all, you will not be able to love her as Christ loved the Church. You will grow cold, distant, demanding, frustrated and hard. Not because of who she is, but because of what you are. If she does not meet your standard, then think for a moment how much less you meet Christ’s. And move toward her as He does you. We are set here like our Savior, to bless, not to be blessed. And if we set about the business He has given us, if we transact in His name with the “talents” He has given us, in due time, we’ll hear His “well done.”

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. (2 Cor. 1:3-4)

First I note that God is a comforting God to His people. But I wonder if why we are often so poor at being able to minister to others, is that we have not consciously sought the comfort which comes from God alone in our own distresses. And so we fail to help them seek Him for comfort directly. In other words, because WE look to others, rather than to Him directly in our trials, we then cannot help others to look directly to Him for the comfort they need. For they probably do not need us as directly as we think. Yes indeed, God often uses us as the instruments whereby He administers His comfort, but not so as to make us into the “Comforter” – that is The Spirit’s title and domain. Others need us most to point them back to Jesus, to receive the comfort we did when He comforted us. To be examples of standing fast while looking to Him.

Secondly, let us look to Him not just FOR our comfort, but AS our comfort. We tend to think of Him as supplying comfort in some fashion, rather than His nearness and presence actually being the comfort we need. For the more we come to grasp His great love, His compassion, His sweetness, His willingness to be sought and found, His nearness, His tenderness, His infinite creativity in meeting our needs and all this culminating in the Cross – the more our hearts are comforted in ways those apart from Christ cannot even imagine. Spurgeon once wrote: “Depend upon it, there are countless holy influences which flow from the habitual maintenance of great thoughts of God, as there are incalculable mischiefs which flow from our small thoughts of Him. The root of false theology is belittling God; and the essence of true divinity is greatening God, magnifying Him, and enlarging our conceptions of His majesty and His glory to the utmost.”

Third I note that He is the God of ALL comfort. He is not limited to any one means. He knows what we need spirit, soul and body. Our physical needs, psychological needs, our spiritual needs, etc. There is no category of our lives where He is not willing and able to be our comfort in distress. There is no distress His children suffer which is outside His purview.

James’ admonition that we often “have not, because we ask not” is far truer than we are wont to imagine. We consciously or even sub-consciously put some things outside the circle of what we bring to Him. And we are the losers in that approach. He who numbers the very hairs of our heads, who hears our every sigh, personally administrates the next beat of our hearts, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32) – not in terms of gross, fleshly consumption – but as the best and wisest of loving Fathers to His dear children.

Blessed indeed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the very Father of mercies. Oh how merciful to us He is – even in all the miseries we bring upon ourselves. And He is the God of all comfort. Pouring Himself into us, so that we may bring others to the mercy seat along with us when they experience trouble. That they may know Him that way too.

Run to Him Christian that you might know the comfort of Him in all things.

Run to Him sinner, that in fleeing to Christ, you may find the comfort of the forgiveness of sins, cleansing from guilt, deliverance from His just wrath, and entrance into His very family – because of Christ Jesus.

In J.I. Packer’s “God’s Plans for You” – he makes an impassioned plea for reformation in Evangelicalism. Reformation which must happen both on the personal level, as well as corporately. A reformation I might add – we are in true, desperate need of in our day. Given that this was written sometime between 1987 and a revision in 1999, we see the need all the more.

At one point Packer queries: What would a work of divine reformation in our churches today look like?” That is a vital question, and the 4 things he notes in response are truly a crying need. They are good not only for saying “we need this”, but especially – “is this me?”

May God be pleased to bless us accordingly in the days to come.

Here are the four things Packer lists:

• “First, there would be a sense of biblical authority—that is, an awareness that biblical teaching is divine truth and that the invitations and admonitions, threats and warnings, promises and assurances of Scripture still express the mind of God toward mankind. The Bible would be honored again as the Word of God, and the perverse pluralism of liberal theology, which still addles the brains and blinds the hearts of many, would wither and die.”

Let me ask you Beloved – does the Bible actually retain its divine authority for you? Or is it just good advice to help you achieve your goals? Does it call you to follow after Christ and to consider its teaching absolutely necessary truth in ordering your life? Is it God speaking?

• “Second, there would be a spirit of seriousness about eternal issues. Heaven and hell would be preached about, thought about, and talked about once again. Life in this world would once again be lived in the light of the world to come, and the Philippian jailer’s question, “What must I do to be saved?” would be seen as life’s basic question once more.”

Searching, isn’t it? How seriously do you take eternal issues? Does that actually inform your day to day thought process? Or are those things just part of your “religious” life?

• “Third, there would be a passion for God transcending any interest in religion or cultivation of religiosity. One’s relationship to God would be seen as the most important thing in the world, and a Bible-based awareness of the greatness and awesomeness of God the eternal Savior-Judge, in whose hands we ever are, would displace all cheap thoughts of God as just a useful pal.”

‘Nuff said.

• “Fourth, there would be a love of holiness, growing out of deep conviction of sin, deep repentance, deep gratitude for forgiveness and cleansing through the blood of Jesus Christ, and with that a deep desire to please God. Casualness about righteousness, cutting moral corners, areas of blatant self-indulgence, love of luxury, and broken commitments of all kinds have disfigured modern Christianity at all levels.”

Weighty and serious things to consider.

Oh how we need THIS kind of revival/reformation today.

Lord Jesus, be pleased to make it so in my own heart and mind and soul.

To many today in Evangelicalism, the name J.I. Packer is no longer a household word. Since his passing into glory in 2020 his star has sadly, quickly faded. But for countless numbers like myself, Packer’s writing was foundational and formative. His “Knowing God” was the “gateway drug” into Reformed Theology.

Growing up, my Dad’s library resided in my bedroom. As a result, the names that lined those shelves became my friends. Bunyan, Spurgeon, Clarke, Owen, Kuyper and others spoke of a Christianity that I did not encounter much in real life. And to be honest, I thought any who believed as they did – in a truly sovereign God – were all dead and gone by hundreds of years. That is, until I got my hands on a copy of Knowing God, which came out in 1973. And here, was a living, breathing, preacher and writer of that old Puritan (in the best sense of the word) ilk. I couldn’t believe it. And as that book laid out a solid theological base for me, I found the Word of God opened up in powerful new ways. But it was the sound Biblical framework Packer elucidated that was its most impactful feature. A theology with a true center of gravity: Christ Himself, in all of His sovereign glory. I will be forever grateful.

After reading Knowing God the 2^nd time through, I wrote to Dr. Packer, expressing my gratitude. Much to my surprise, I received a handwritten, wonderfully gracious reply. We corresponded a few more times and then finally met in 2002. This was Packer. Gentle, humble, a towering intellect, and not too busy to write a young yahoo from nowhere.

Now all of this is leading up to recommending another book of his to you: “God’s Plans for You.” While Packer was for many a promoter and crystallizer of Puritan and Reformed theology – he also fought fiercely against the notion that one could simply take this theological path, without it informing every part of how you lived your life. He had no truck with mere theologians. If their theology did not cross over into forming the character of Christ in them – they had missed the point of digesting those great, monumental truths. While he rescued Puritan theology from the lost archives, he was at the same time demonstrating that the caricature of Puritan and Reformed theologians, that all they cared about was doctrinal precision – was false. To be sure, there are always those in every group who think just “knowing” is the equivalent of actually growing spiritually. But that was not the norm among the Puritans and the Reformers. They were anxious to see Christ formed in their own lives and the lives of others. They knew full well such formation needed to be founded upon sound doctrinal truth, but they never dreamt of doctrinal truth alone being the end game. (Mere doctrinal precision a Pharisee doth make.) Christlikeness was the goal. It still is. And this is where Packer excelled, and what brings me to “God’s Plans for You.”

The book is not long – 218 pages. And it is not written full of theological jargon. It is an accessible handbook on living the Christian life in Biblical balance. Developing a true Biblical and Christian worldview. It is an understated masterpiece of PRACTICAL theology. How the great truths of Scripture inform, and are to be applied to every avenue of life. It is a discipleship classic. It brings symmetry to Christian living. Balance.

Where Packer interacts with differing theological views and their implications, he is always gentle and irenic in his correctives. He gives a wide berth for sincere Believers who may have missed the mark in some places. He never condemns, even while he confronts and corrects. He displays the very Christlikeness he is avering.   

I cannot recommend God’s Plans for You more heartily. It is a sweet and clear call to genuine Christian living in a wickedly complex world, and in many cases, a misdirected and confused Church. If you want some sense of what the Christian life is supposed to look like, well informed by The Word of God – couched in the most encouraging terms – this is it.

Buy it for yourself. Buy it for someone who wants to know what Biblical Christianity is all about. Buy it for a discipleship group with one or two others. You’ll find it refreshing, clarifying, edifying, and pointing you repeatedly back to the finished work of Christ and its implication in real life.

God’s Plans for You is not about self-centered mystical messaging. It is about living in truth and reality as God knows it. It is lifechanging.

“For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress. Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.” Romans 7:2-4

We were once married to the Law in this sense: We were obligated to do its bidding. But The Law was an abusive husband, beating us over every infraction. It gave us no encouragement, but only condemnation. It never spoke sweetly to us, but only shouted its accusations. It ruthlessly exposed our nakedness to the world. It battered us at every turn. It could not be pleased. It refused to be satisfied – and always glared its disapproval at every shortcoming. It held up a standard we could not live up to, and chided us with hateful barbs every failure. It imprisoned us in chains of fear and the constant threat of eventual and inevitable doom. It thundered and raged constantly. It gave no forgiveness, but rehearsed the record of our crimes perpetually on its tongue. It extended not the slightest hope, nor ever extended the slightest help to improve us.

But now, having died and been raised to a new life, we are married to another – even Christ. That we may do His bidding. Christ is the loving husband who holds us dear, encourages us, and draws us after Himself in sweet love. When we fail, He washes our feet instead of beating us. With His own blood, He washes our sin-stains away. He teaches us gently how to avoid the pitfalls and traps that challenge us. He reaffirms His love for us, and assures us we will one day have not even the slightest spot or wrinkle. He binds Himself to us with unbreakable oaths. He feeds us with the Bread of Life, slakes our thirst with the Spirit, binds up our wounds with oil and wine. He leads us beside still waters, and restores our souls. He makes us lie down in green pastures – knowing the rest we need from our labors. Because we are His, we know that goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives – instead of our criminal record. He grieves with us when we groan over our sins. He lifts up our eyes to see His beauty and glory lest we see only our sin-stains. He clothes us in robes of righteousness that He Himself has woven. He corrects in love, and never apart from instruction and encouragement. He lets us glimpse the light of the glory of God as He bids us look ever at His dear face. He rejoices over us with singing. We are betrothed to Him. And nothing can separate us from His love. No trouble or distress, not even persecution or the sword. Nothing in life, or even death itself can separate us. Not even the machinations of wicked angels. For He gave Himself up for us. He justified us in His own blood. He was raised up to the right hand of the Father, and ever intercedes for us. Our beloved is ours, and we, are His.

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5:1-5

What an astounding roster of benefits Paul enumerates in these short verses. What belongs to those who have believed the Gospel, and by means of faith have been declared to be in right standing with God – justified – declared righteous at the judgment bar of God the judge of all the universe.

4 things he camps on here:

1 – We have “PEACE WITH GOD.” Before believing, we were at war with Him. Traitors to His right to rule and reign over us. Renegades from our designed purpose to bear His image to the rest of Creation and make Him known in all of His glory, perfections, power and holiness. As Isa. 53:6 states it: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way”. And it was this great sin of rebellion – of each one of us going our “own way” which we needed both to be forgiven of and delivered from. And for which “the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” And this peace is not a mere truce or cease-fire – it is complete and full reconciliation. Restoration to sonship and full acceptance in the Beloved.

2 – And as if that were not enough – we have “gained access by Christ into this grace in which we stand.” Access. We might approach Him at all times confident we come to one who looks upon us with the dearest and tenderest favor. God never receives His justified ones begrudgingly – but always with open, inviting and joyful arms because of Jesus Christ. We never walk on eggshells around Him because we are the darlings of His favor. We live in the perpetual sunshine of His smile and goodwill.

3 – But there is more! We also rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. What? We rejoice that God has promised to grant us one day to stand in the radiance of His unveiled glory! To “see Him as He is.” To look forward to what the ancients called the “beatific vision.” To see and apprehend Him so fully as to be utterly transformed by it so as to find absolute fullness and infinite joy in Him forever and ever and ever. To be on the mountain with Him in His everlasting burnings but without the slightest fear.

4 – All of which then also grants us even now to: “rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Enabling us to seize upon every pain in life and redeem it for a blessing in due time. And what suffering to the new creature in Christ is more painful than eruptions of our sinfulness? We grieve and groan over it. Rightly so. But we can also rejoice in the midst of it – for in the hands of the Redeemer, even these things are turned for blessing. What a Savior!

And all of this Christian, because as vs. 6 says: In due time, He died for the ungodly. You and me in our sin.

Hallelujah! Let Christ Jesus be praised in the highest.

“For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.” Romans 1:11-12

This is the heart of Paul, and something which we all do well to consider: How can I bless you?

How can I make you know Jesus better?

Understand His Word better?

Live in Him more sweetly and trustingly?

Avoid the traps, distractions and other weapons of the enemy of our souls?

Grow in grace and in the image of Christ?

Look to His return more concretely?

Gain a Biblical worldview?

Understand the glories of our mutual salvation?

Gain skill in putting to death the deeds of the flesh?

Pursue prayer more thoughtfully?

Seek the advancement of Christ’s Kingdom within and without?

Warn against deceptions and untruths when it comes to what the Bible teaches?

To strengthen one another’s walk, faith and knowledge in Christ?

To strengthen the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and reminding them that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. (Acts 14:22)? etc.

Do we even come to Church with that mindset toward one another?

What if we did?

What if our Facebook posts, Tweets, Instagrams and TikToks had that idea at their base?

What if that informed our hearts when we get together for coffee, share a meal, hang out, watch the game, etc?

What if?

AUDIO FOR THIS INSTALLMENT CAN BE FOUND HEREhttps://anchor.fm/reid-ferguson/episodes/I-Believe–So-What-e1e5qsa

It is common today to hear folks say they have a “deep faith” or that they “believe.” But what does that really mean? I believe that if I don’t shovel my walk, the snow will pile up. And…? And so what? We can believe all sorts of things that either have no basis in reality at all – like if little green men inhabit some far off planet – or things which are true, but have absolutely no eternal significance for my soul. Then again, we can believe some of the fabulously transcendent doctrines of the Bible as true – and still be lost. How so? Let’s look.

What we believe, is every bit as important as believing itself. And we get a massive lesson in this reality in the account of the Apostle Paul giving his defense before King Agrippa in Acts 26.

In vs. 27, Paul asks: “Do you believe the prophets?” He was referring to the Jewish prophets of the Old Testament. And then answers his own question: “I know that you believe.” But what did that matter?

The narrative here points to a very important and often confused principle: Simply believing that what the prophets said or foretold is true, is NOT the same as believing and trusting in Christ. Merely believing facts is not the same as having saving faith.

King Agrippa believed the prophecies of the OT regarding the coming of the Messiah. But that did not make him a Christian. Many a religious person believes God exists, believes Jesus died for sin, believes the Bible is true, and even believes salvation is to be found in Jesus. But once again, that is not the same as actually trusting in the finished work of Christ for salvation. It is not the same as saving faith.

In James 2:19, James notes that just because you have a right theology about the oneness of God in His triune glory doesn’t mean you are any better off than the demons. They not only believe the truth about God, they believe it and tremble at it!

Merely believing the facts, even the facts about saving faith, is not saving faith itself. The demons know the truth of the Gospel facts. What they do not do (nor can do since salvation is not offered to them) is trust Christ as their substitute. And no matter how completely we believe all of the orthodox truth of which we are capable – unless we actually cast ourselves upon Him as having died in our stead – we too are still lost.

Saving faith is a faith which makes itself known in a life ordered around all of those truths – acting upon them as real. Above all – obeying the Gospel – looking to Jesus as the one who bore God’s just wrath in their place.

So of the utmost importance for you and me today is: Do we do more than just acknowledge the facts? Am I, are you – personally trusting in the atoning work of Jesus on the cross for our salvation? If we are looking to Him and Him alone – salvation is ours! If we are looking to or trusting in anything or anyone else – even our knowing the most perfect and orthodox theology – we still fall short of saving faith. We must cast ourselves wholly upon Him. In Him and Him alone is our true and full salvation. Anything short of that, is mere religion. And religion does not save – Jesus does.

“Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.” (Acts 8:13)

The account of the ministry of Philip in Acts 8 is filled with wonderful things. Many converts. Casting out demons. Healings. The conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch and Philip’s supernatural transport to Azotus. And the strange account of Simon the Magician in Samaria.

This Simon, the text says, had previously amazed the people in his city by performing some supposed feats of magic. Just what, we do not know. But he had a big following. And some called him “the power of God that is called Great.” Pretty big stuff. We also know that when Philip came preaching Christ, and God moved through him in some amazing ways, Simon’s interest was more than a little piqued. Many believed the Gospel Philip preached, and then vs. 13 says “even Simon himself believed.” And he was baptized to boot.

Here’s where things get interesting. You see, there is a species of belief, such as this, rooted apparently in amazement at seeing certain outward signs, which is nevertheless not a saving faith at all. It masquerades as faith, but it isn’t enduring, deep rooted and fruitful faith. It is a faith which steals some temporary life which is little more than the life of a parasite. It has no life of its own, but only that which it draws from its host. And such a faith must one day be exposed and show itself for what it truly is.

It makes the person look shiny and new at first. But in time, that new veneer proves to be a thin coating, and not a fundamental change. Like waxing your car. It looks nice, but it is just a thin coating.

Simon, it appears was simply amazed the same way His former followers were amazed by him. And as amazement at Simon’s activities could save no one, so mere amazement at Philip’s signs could not save either. Just because we might see miraculous things and be amazed by them doesn’t mean we believe Jesus has died for our sins, and are trusting in His atoning work for being reconciled to God the Father. We must trust Him and His work on behalf of our souls, not just gawk at His power.

We need to be more than “Simonized”, we need to be born again. We need to be changed from the inside out by the power of the Spirit, not merely, externally, cleaned up.

So it is we must never forget the Gospel is about Christ reconciling us to the Father – bringing about His Kingdom. It is not about getting some supernatural stream into your life to navigate YOUR life better – getting God to join your team to accomplish your dreams and aspiration. It is about leaving your life behind to join His team and be occupied with His business. Jesus’ parable in Matt. 25:14-30 is built around whether or not we are transacting His business on His behalf in His absence to accomplish His ends. We will give an account of that.

As the account goes on the demonstrate, Simon’s heart had not been affected at all. He was still motivated by greed, recognition, power and even bitterness – a lack of love for others, and certainly not love for his enemies. He had simply added Jesus to the mix. Syncretism, not salvation. Jesus was just another way to get what he always wanted. But such things can’t be the characteristics of those born again by the Spirit. While vestiges of these sins remain, they no longer do so unchallenged, and no longer carry the place of prominence.

As James will tell us in his letter, even the demons acknowledge that God is real, and has power – and they even tremble at that reality. But mere acknowledgment of God’s power is not saving faith in either men or demons. They do not love Him, serve Him or trust Him. We need to be sure we are personally trusting in the finished work of Christ on the cross on our behalf.

So how about you my friend? Have you truly been rescued from sin and death to serve the living Christ? Or have you merely been intrigued. Amazed. Picked up the lingo. Maybe even baptized. But in truth, Christianity is little more than another way to get all things you always wanted anyway.

You get to be around nice people with positive outlooks, cheering each other on and swapping positive aphorisms like trading cards. But in truth, serving Christ has nothing to do with it. Loving Him for His Cross-work is just part of the culture, but has no real impact on your soul so as to seek Christ, His glory and to walk so as to please Him and accomplish His ends. Mourning over sin? Anxious to see Christ glorified and the Father’s name restored in the earth? Wanting to know how you can advance His cause in the world? Or is He just there to help you have a nicer life?

If that’s you, you haven’t been saved my friend, you’ve just been “Simonized?”

And you need to repent can come to Christ.

Filled With The Spirit: What Does That Look Like?

Maybe not what you think.

1. The first mention of this idea we have is in reference to John The Baptizer. Luke 1:15 tells us he was to be filled with the Spirit, “even from his mother’s womb.”

And how did that manifest itself? This is an important point: His being filled with the Spirit was tied to his recognition and declaration of who Christ is, and what He came to do. John 1:19 & 36. So we are reminded in Joh  10:42 that “John did no sign, but everything he said about this man was true.”

John’s being filled with the Spirit had nothing to do with performing signs, wonders, miracles, etc. But with the declaration of Christ and His saving work.

2. Luke 1:41 Elizabeth’s being filled with the Spirit upon Mary’s visit. The key factor? Recognition of the baby in Mary’s womb as “Lord.” Once again, tied to the recognition and declaration of the person and work of Jesus.

3. Luke 1:67. John’s father Zechariah is filled with the Spirit and prophesies. And what is the core of his prophesy? That God has visited His people, raising up the horn of salvation to “show the mercy promised to our fathers.” Once again, a declaration regarding Christ. Added to it is John’s call, to be the one who marks out Christ in his generation.

4. Acts 2:4 & 11. The Day of Pentecost. The 120 were filled with the Spirit and spoke in tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. But what takes center stage is that vs. 11 tells us the content of what they spoke. “We hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” And Christ was preached. Being filled with the Spirit was tied to declaring the person and work of Jesus.

5. Acts 4:31. Upon the release of Peter and John from prison. The people were “filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.” And what was this “word” they continued to declare with boldness? What John and Peter were imprisoned for: “This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:11-12) Spirit filled declaration of Christ.

6. Acts 6:3-5. When the Church needed to respond to an inequity in the distribution of its resources to the Believing needy – they were told to pick 7 men “of good repute, full of the Spirit and wisdom.” Note, those filled with the Spirit are those who maintain a lifestyle of good repute – and they are marked by wisdom, not foolishness. As we see in the following examples both with Stephen and Phillip, once again this will be tied to a declaration of the person and work of Jesus.

7. Acts 7:54-56. This is at Stephen’s stoning. “Full of the Holy Spirit” he “gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God. And he said, “behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” What was his Spirit-filled declaration? That Christ has ascended and is at the right hand of the Father. A declaration of Christ.

8. Acts 9:17. Ananias is sent to pray for Paul that he might be filled with the Spirit. And the result is that Paul is immediately baptized in a declaration of salvation in Christ, and then engages in declaring the person and work of Christ in the synagogues.

9. Acts 11:22-24. A description of Barnabas. He was one who exhorted Christians to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose. And where did this impetus come from? “He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.” Spirit filled people are good, upright ones, who live trusting Christ. And in their speech, encourage Believers to remain steadfast in serving Christ.

10. Acts 13:9-10. Paul and Barnabas were preaching Christ in Cypress when opposed by Elymas the magician. Paul, “filled with the Holy Spirit” rebuked his hinderance of the preaching of the Gospel. Which in turn resulted in the proconsul giving ear to “the teaching of the Lord.” The proclamation of Christ.

11. Acts 13:52. When the Gentiles at Antioch Pisidia heard that the Gospel was for them, and not the Jews only – they were “filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.” The Spirit filled man or woman rejoices in the person and work of Christ preached to them and believed.

12. Rom. 15:13. The God of hope fills us with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit we abound in hope. The Spirit filled person lives in joy and peace and hope because of the finished work of Christ. The verses immediately preceding these are the declaration of the “the root of Jesse.” The declaration of the person and work of Jesus.

13. Eph. 5:18-21. Being filled with the Spirit will bring us address one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs; make melody in our heart to the Lord; give thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; and humble submission to one another out of reverence of Christ. Once again, the Spirit filled life and experience, is one which magnifies Jesus, His Person and His work. Demonstrating the same Spirit He had. And it is the opposite of being drunk with wine where our faculties are impaired. Instead, it sharpens our focus upon Him.

What does the Spirit filled life look like:

1. A perpetual attitude of praise.

2. A perpetual attitude of thankfulness.

3. A perpetual attitude of humility.

4. A perpetual attitude of reverence for Christ – i.e. of concern about His Person, place and purposes.

Life FOR and IN – Him.

Stealing a simile from Dane Ortland: Being filled with the Spirit is like a balloon being filled with helium. It does not weigh down, but lifts up. Makes us lighter. Allows to escape the gravitational pull of sin.

If the declaration of the person and work of Christ by those brought into paths of righteousness for His namesake is not central – it is not a Spirit filled life. All supposed gifts or manifestations aside.