Today we continue learning about the foundation of our relationship with the Holy Spirit. That there is a clear and obvious difference between the reception of the Holy Spirit within the heart of the believer at salvation and the subsequent event of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit which empowers us as witnesses of Jesus and the Kingdom of God.
The scriptures we cover today are Acts 11; 15; 18 & 19.
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This is a phrase used to establish personal guilt in an accused throughout scripture. hwoever, can it be rightly used regarding the establishment of doctrine as it is often used?
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In these Psalms David ponders who can approach God and dwell in His presence. He concludes that this is for those whose character is like His.
He also has prayers and statements regarding God’s protection from his enemies – one of which was Saul. He shows great confidence in God’s response and bases his confidence on both God’s faithful love and his own uprightness. He had determined not to defend himself or seek personal vindication, but was handing all of this over to the Lord to do on his behalf. In his Psalm he records how he envisions God coming to his defense out of anger against David’s enemies. The imagery has God appearing in thick dark clouds with lightning bolts in hand. Yet in tenderness scooping up David and placing him in a place of safety all around.
David also uses the light and heat of the moon and sun respectively to illustrate how God’s words (both spoken and gleaned by experiencing the natural world) are clear for all to see. Then explains the specific benefits to be gained by the statutes, testimonies, precepts, instructions as well as the fear of the Lord.
This Psalm also has a prophetic set of verses which both Peter and Paul confirm under the New Covenant applied to Jesus’ resurrection.
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The relationship of the believer with the Holy Spirit is vital in every way and it has many expressions but only two divisions. Our relationship is both familial and ministerial.
When we come into God’s family we do so by the Spirit of the Living God coming and taking up His perminent dwelling within us. Like when Jesus breathed on His disciples and told them to recieve the Holy Spirit -the Spirit came within them!
Subsequent to this (50 days later) the Spirit of God fell upon them to empower them as witnesses of the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus.
We witnessed this same pattern in the Samaritans in Acts 8 and later in the Gentiles with Cornelious – not to mention in the life of Jesus Himself!
These two relationships are very different! The Spirit within is close, intimate, nurturing, encouraging even mothering. The Spirit upon is more functional and goal oriented in that it directs, commissions, empowers, commands.
Both are intimate, but in very different ways. We will explore more of this as we move forward in this series, but for today we are simply establishing the very existence of the two and separate relationships from scripture to provide a firm foundation to build upon in future teachings.
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These Psalms cover God being the judge of individuals, nations and the whole world. He is upright and just in all He does which is reason for the righteous to express gratitude to Him even in the middle of dispair out of a certain knowledge that God will eventually right all wrongs.
David is even confident that at the end of life all who are righteous will see God face to face.
In these Psalms God is seen as being in His very person a refuge to those in trouble. All that being said, the world at large has its heart set on worthless things, exalting in things which possess no real value. Their wicked hearts are restless being unstable and aimless in their wanderings mentally, emotionall, spiritually and even sometimes physically.
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