Making decisions.

Sometimes we all face situations where we feel like we need help; a divine help; a help from above. Sometimes we come across situations where we want guidance. This help, and this guidance, comes in a variety of different forms, but for Christians, it comes from the third person of the trinity, the Holy Spirit. Some of you may be wondering how on earth he helps us in making decisions, in guiding us, and leading us in the right directions. Others of you may be wondering what happens if we ignore the Holy Spirits leading. And others of you may simply want to know what happens when we are in tune with the Holy Spirit.

So first off, the Holy Spirit is present within us if in fact we are Christians. Jesus explains in John 14 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father and he will give you another helper that he may abide with you forever.” Note: The word helper can be translated as ‘comforter’ or ‘advocate’ or ‘consoler.’ And notice that Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will abide with us forever. Abide translated in the greek is a word meno which means to continue with, to dwell with, to endure with, to remain with and to be present with forever. Forever as you know doesn’t mean ‘sometimes’ or ‘only when we want’ but it really does mean FOREVER. If we really do believe, we will have great assurance that God’s Holy Spirit is never going to leave us. The Holy Spirit dwells in ALL believers and will guide them into ALL truth teaching them ALL things and bringing them to remembrance of ALL that Jesus said to them.

The Holy Spirit is Holy, so He is not going to lead you into something that is unholy. It is very easy to get confused as to whether it is God’s spirit speaking to us or an evil spirit as the devil can disguise himself as an ‘angel of light’ (2 Corinthians 11:14). If you feel that the Holy Spirit is guiding you in a certain direction, make sure that everything He is saying is based on the Bible. It is then extremely important that we are saturating ourselves within the word of God so we are familiar with what God says. 1 John 4:1 says, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirit to see whether that are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God; every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.”

Sometimes you hear those stories of when a Christian is walking down the road and has a sudden urge and inkling to go speak to a certain person. After a bit of hesitancy, they speak to the person and God ends up changing their life. This here is a work of the Holy Spirit. He guided them into speaking to this person when it may seem like the most awkward situation in the world, He turns it right around for the best.

So, first, to be led by the Holy Spirit you must have the Holy Spirit living inside of you. Without the presence of the Holy Spirit, no one can be saved. Titus 3:5 says “...According to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” You must be a Christian to be led by the Holy Spirit. It says very clearly in Romans 8, that whoever lives according to the flesh, sets their mind on the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their mind on the Spirit. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. And in Ephesians 1:13 says, “In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.” God has promised us that he will protect and preserve us with His Holy Spirit. It is such an encouragement just to know that.

However, it can be a somewhat delicate task to describe how the Spirit speaks within the heart of a believer. Just as it seems impossible to prove a salvation experience to the unbeliever, so it is impossible to prove the experience of the Spirit’s inward guidance to the unbeliever. Just as God gives different spiritual gifts to different people, likewise, God also speaks in different ways to different people.

First, to be led by the Holy Spirit, you actually have to allow him to lead you. Likewise, if we want to hear from God, we need to listen. You can’t just pray a simple quick prayer and carry on with your life and wish for the best without putting time aside to listen to God.

Some scholars or Biblical teachers say that the Holy Spirit leads by an inner voice. They use this phrase as it is the Holy Spirit speaking to us and comes from within our heart and not from outside of our body. It is described as the still small voice as opposed to physical audible sounds such as the wind, earthquakes and fire as Elijah was expecting in 1 Kings. Instead, he heard God in a gentle breeze.

God’s spirit speaks to our spirit. Romans 8:16 says, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” This means that our spirit then echo’s the voice of God’s spirit. In other words, The Holy Spirit uses our own Spirit to lead us and guide us. Job 32:8 confirms this. “But it is the Spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty that makes him understand.” It is not the mind which gives man understanding. It is the Spirit in a man with God’s breath.

The inward guidance is like God’s peace which is clearly experienced, but beyond our full ability to put into words. God speaks to us personally. Philippians 4:7 says, “And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” We don’t understand where or how the peace resonates within us, but we know with certainty, that through that God will guard our hearts and minds. If we are making decisions that are in line with God’s plan for our life, we will have a peace about it; a peace which passes all understanding. But as we learnt earlier, the Holy Spirit is the comforter. He comforts us in those decisions that we make. However, when we are heading in a direction that is not lining up with God’s plan we will begin to experience restlessness and anxiety, in other words, lack of peace or comfort.

When we are walking in tune with the Holy Spirit we not only feel God’s peace, but we will begin to notice different fruit; fruit that is pleasing to the Lord, and from the Lord. Galatians 5:22-23 says, ‘The fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control.’

We are then walking in the direction and on the path that Christ wants us to take. As He says in Proverbs 3:5-6, If we trust in the Lord with all our heart, and acknowledge him, he will lead us in the right direction, making our paths straight.

Sometimes a decision is not exactly written out in black and white, or is not directly addressed in the word. For example, whether a family should move city and start a new job, or stay at their current one. These kinds of decisions are not spelt out in the Bible for us. However God has provided both opportunities, so it is up to them to decide and let God work through them in whatever situation they so choose while possibly seeking guidance from older wiser Christians.

So what happens when we ignore the Holy Spirits leading? In the circumstances we face, we normally get 1 of 3 answers from God. ‘Yes,’ ‘No,’ or ‘Wait.’ When I was 16, I was interested in this guy, and likewise him with me. He asked me out and I felt VERY strongly that the Holy Spirit was telling me ‘No, don’t go there.’ He wasn’t a nice guy and had a little bit of a bad reputation. However, I rejected the Holy Spirits guidance and decided to go on what I felt was best for me. I wanted to make my own decisions and at that stage decided not to rely on God. The outcome? I ended up getting hurt and it ended very messy. I ignored the Holy Spirit and had to suffer the consequences. 1 Thessalonians 5:19 says, “Do not turn away God’s Spirit; hold fast what is good.” I blatantly went against God’s commands. There is never a shortage of God’s guidance, but simply the choice from us to not hear it or to ignore it. Sometimes when we feel like the Holy Spirit isn’t guiding us; it’s merely an issue on our side. We want the answers to line up with what we want. In other words, quite often we don’t look for answers, we just look for confirmations based on OUR desires, and what WE think the answer is. Ephesians 4:30 says ‘Don't give God's Holy Spirit any reason to be upset with you. He has put his seal on you for the day you will be set free from the world of sin.’

So test everything, hold fast to what is right. Walk in the Spirit and be willing to let God lead you in directions you might not necessarily want to go. But be still before the Lord and let God do the guiding.

The Kingdom of God

Christian Jargon is used so much these days. Do people really know what half the words/phrases mean or do they simply say them because that’s the way they were bought up or because everybody else seems to use them? One day during my quiet time, I came across a passage on the Kingdom of God. I began to think to myself, ‘Do people really know what this particular phrase is? Do they really understand what the Kingdom of God is?’ So, I began to look into it and it fascinated me. The following are my thoughts on the Kingdom of God, what the kingdom of God is not, whether it is the same as the kingdom of Heaven and how one goes about to seek first the kingdom of God.

Upon wondering whether people knew what the Kingdom of God was, I decided to do a survey and I interviewed the people (both staff and students) at Capernwray Bible School. The results, I found to be quite fascinating. Coming in first was a shocking 15% for people who didn’t know. This I found quite interesting as the phrase “Kingdom of God” is used like everyday language amongst Christians. 14% of people replied by saying, “Heaven,” and a further 14% said “The Church/The body of Christ.” Others said things like, “The conclusion of earthly life,” “New Heaven and New Earth,” and “Our Hearts.” Some other resources defined the kingdom of God to be a spiritual domain over which God is sovereign while others say that the Kingdom of God is chiefly inward and spiritual.

My opinion though, while researching, I discovered the Kingdom of God to be a 3 point explanation, for it involves:

a) God’s people

b) in God’s place

c) under God’s rule and authority

The Kingdom of God means primarily the rule of God, the divine kingly authority given by the Father to the Son (Luke 22:29). The Kingdom is dynamic. The kingdom is not an abstract principle, the kingdom comes. It is God’s rule actively invading the kingdom of Satan. The kingdom of God has already come, for it is in the midst of God’s people (Luke 17:21) while at the same time, the kingdom is supernatural for it is God’s deed.

Norm Rasmussen quotes, “God’s Kingdom is His invisible government over each of us and over the whole world. One day, it’s going to be a visible government and it will be completely established, but right now, it’s actually already begun (Luke 17:20-21) in the lives of each of us who have become followers of Jesus Christ. God’s Kingdom is God’s rules here on earth and through all creation. It addresses specifically His lordship in our lives, and our desire to please and obey Him.”

My survey results came to be even more interesting here, because only a total of 7% managed to answer accurately.

So the Kingdom of God seems to be more of a two-fold development because in Luke 17:20-37, I seemed to get the idea that the Kingdom of God has already come, but it is also still to come. The Pharisees got the wrong idea and make a mistake by not recognising that the Kingdom of God had already come. This passage shows clearly that it is in the midst of us, (v21) in the person of Jesus and in the reign of God manifested in those already following Jesus. Matthew 3:2 “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” Albert Barnes says, “The petition is the expression of a wish that God may “reign” everywhere; that His laws may be obeyed; and especially that the gospel of Christ may be advanced everywhere, until the world shall be filled with his glory.”

People may sow the seed by preaching the kingdom (Matt 10:7; Luke 10:9); they can persuade others concerning the kingdom (Acts 19:8), but they cannot build it. It is God’s deed. People can receive the kingdom (Mark 10:15; Luke 18:17) but they are never said to establish it. People can reject the kingdom and refuse to receive it or enter it (Matt 23:13), but they cannot destroy it. They can wait for it (Luke 23:51), pray for its coming (Matt 6:10), and seek it (Matthew 6:33), but they cannot bring it. The kingdom is God’s deed although it works in and through humans. People may do things for the sake of the kingdom (Matt 19:12; Luke 18:29), work for it (Col 4:11), suffer for it (2 Thess 1:5), but that are not said to act upon the kingdom itself. They can inherit it (Matt 23:34; 1 Cor 6:9-10), and they can approach it (Mark 12:34) but they cannot grant it upon others. It is God’s deed.

Upon my research, I found that the Kingdom of God is not specifically the church. However, there is an inseparable relationship, for the church is the community of the Kingdom but never the Kingdom itself. The kingdom is the rule of God where as the church is a society of men. The church is the fellowship of those who have accepted God’s offer of the kingdom, submitted to its rule and entered into its blessings. Jesus and the early Christians preached the good news of the Kingdom of God, not the good news of the church (Acts 8:12; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 31). The kingdom has come into the world in Christ and it works in the world through the church.

The kingdom of God is also not heaven. Like I stated earlier, the Kingdom of God is here on earth. Yes, it may include heaven, as we want God’s kingdom here on earth just like it is in Heaven (Matthew 6:10), but it goes much further than that. The Kingdom of God is a Kingdom from Heaven, not a kingdom in heaven. It is a kingdom that has already come, not a destination that believers are going to come to. Although the Kingdom of God is heavenly in character and origin, it is not the same thing as heaven itself.

As the Kingdom of God is neither the church nor heaven that does not go to say that the Kingdom of God is not the Kingdom of Heaven. In my survey results, some people said that the Kingdom of God was simultaneous to the Kingdom of Heaven, and then others seemed to disagree. These two, I believe are concurrent. I found out that they are variations of the same idea and Matthew 19:23-24 shows the basis on why I believe this. “Only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven... It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” There is also the same parable of the mustard seed illustrated in three of the four gospels (Matthew 13:31, Mark 4:30 and Luke 13:18). In both Mark and Luke, they are illustrating the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed, but Matthew takes another approach and refers the Kingdom of Heaven to a mustard seed.

It then fascinated me in knowing how one seeks first the kingdom of God. What does that really mean? So we’ve now established the Kingdom of God is God’s people in God’s place under Gods authority/rule and that people can seek it, but how does one even begin to seek that? Jesus has told us that our treasures should not be for earthly treasure (Matthew 6:19-21), but instead for treasures in heaven. To ‘seek it first’ means to seek it above other things, above our own things and above the things of others. Some think of it as seeking it first in the morning before anything else. When you wake up, God and His Kingdom should be the first thought on your mind. To seek first means to value something far above anything else in this life. To seek Him first, we must lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, run with endurance keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:1-2).The next question is, “How do you then know that you are seeking God’s kingdom?” What does that look like? You really need to take a step back and ask yourself, “What am I primarily spending my time, my money, my energy, my thoughts on.” If other things other than the kingdom of God are at the top of the list, then those things, those sins/weights need to be cast aside. If we only learn one thing from the Bible, let it be that God MUST always come first. Matthew 22:37 says, “Jesus said to him, "'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Ecclesiastes 12:13 also says, “Fear God and keep His commandments for this is the WHOLE duty of man.” If seeking the Kingdom of God is our top priority, then we will be zealous about studying the bible, getting out there doing service for God and aiming to do His will, not complaining that we have no time to do anything.

As I stated before, Christians are called to pray for the coming of the kingdom. This here is mentioned in the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:10). There causes quite a lot of confusion as to what it means when it says “Your Kingdom come... on earth as it is in heaven.” So we are called to pray and work for the continual advance of God’s kingdom on earth. The presence of God’s kingdom in this age refers to the reign of Christ in the hearts and lives of believers and the reigning presence of Christ in his body, the church – so that they increasingly reflect his love, obey his laws, honour him, do good for all people, and proclaim the good news of the people. God’s Kingdom is perfect in heaven, and we are to pray for the coming of that perfect heaven to reign also here on earth. We should want the gospel to be preached to all and embraced by all. When God’s kingdom comes, the will of God will also be done.

So to conclude, I encourage you to really think about the words you use amongst Christians if you don’t really know what they mean, as shown by my survey. However, above that and everything else, cast aside all your weights and sin, seek God’s Kingdom first and foremost, and let God’s helper (the Holy Spirit) to resonate in and through you to live a life more pleasing to Him so that it may build up the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.

Bibliography:

Gospel and Kingdom (1981) – Graeme Goldsworthy

Systematic Theology, An introduction to biblical doctrine (1994) – Wayne Grudem

Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Second Edition (1984 – 2001) – Edited by Walter A Elwell

Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the whole Bible – Esword

Now for something totally different – A Study of the Sermon on the Mount (1978) – Stuart Briscoe

Matthew Study notes on ESV Study Bible –Michael J Wilkins

Albert Barnes’ Note on the Bible - Esword