Bob
Mumford, in Take Another Look at Guidance, compares discovering God's will
with a sea captain's docking procedure:
A
certain harbor in Italy can be reached only by sailing up a narrow channel
between dangerous rocks and shoals. Over the years, many ships have been
wrecked, and navigation is hazardous. To guide the ships safely into port,
three lights have been mounted on three huge poles in the harbor. When the
three lights are perfectly lined up and seen as one, the ship can safely
proceed up the narrow channel. If the pilot sees two or three lights, he knows
he's off course and in danger.
God
has also provided three beacons to guide us. The same rules of navigation
apply--the three lights must be lined up before it is safe for us to proceed.
The three harbor lights of guidance are: 1. The Word of God (objective
standard) 2. The Holy Spirit
(subjective witness) 3.
Circumstances (divine providence). Together they assure us that the directions
we've received are from God and will lead us safely along his way.
-- Gregory Asimakoupoulos,
Concord, California. Leadership, Vol. 6, no. 4
-- Corrie Ten Boom in Each New Day.
Christianity Today, Vol. 36, no. 3.
Scripture Text:
1Cor 12:1 (NIV) Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you
to be ignorant. 2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you
were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3 Therefore I tell you that no
one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed,"
and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit. 4
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different
kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working,
but the same God works all of them in all men. 7 Now to each one the
manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is
given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of
knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit,
to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous
powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to
another speaking in different kinds of tongues, {[10] Or languages} and to
still another the interpretation of tongues. {[10] Or languages} 11 All these
are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just
as he determines. 12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts;
and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.
13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or
Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
1.
What does the Spirit of the Lord say?
Nobody
can be indwelt by the Spirit of God and keep that Spirit to himself. Where the
Spirit is, he flows forth. And where there is no flowing forth, he is not
there. -- Bishop William Temple, Preaching Today.
2.
Through whom does He speak? V.
11. He gives to each one as He
determines.
3.
People can speak by the Spirit of the Lord.
Do we? Is this just up to
the Preachers? He speaks through
our daily lives.
4.
What
do the people say? They will not say Jesus be cursed. They will say that Jesus is Lord. Our actions speak louder than the words we use.
5.
We have different gifts but we all have the same Spirit. The Spirit
speaks through
the gifts He gives. He speaks the
same thing. “Jesus is Lord!”
The
Same Spirit speaks through different gifts, different working, and different
service.
If you have the Spirit without the Word, you blow up.
If you have the Word without the Spirit, you dry up. If you have both the Word
and the Spirit, you grow up. --
Don Lyon, Leadership, Vol. 5, no. 1.
6.
Each one is given the manifestation
of the Spirit to glory of the Lord and for the common good.
Our gift is given for someone else.
I Pet. 4:10
7.
What are the gifts:
Message of wisdom, message of knowledge, faith, healing, miraculous
powers, prophesy, distinguishing between spirits, speaking in different
languages, and interpretation of languages.
8.
Our Gifts should glorify the Lord!
Thus
how could we speak in tongues without an interpretation, unless it is the
language of the people.
9.
The Unity of the Body: The
body is our example of a unit that has many different parts.
10.
Drink of the Spirit: v.
12. Will we take of the Spirit of
the Lord?
Ideally, when Christians meet, as Christians, to take
counsel together, their purpose is not--or should not be--to ascertain what is
the mind of the majority but what is the mind of the Holy Spirit--something
which may be quite different. --
English Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the Saturday Evening Post
(July/August 1989). Christianity
Today, Vol. 33, no. 12.
MILK THE SPIRIT FOR ALL HE'LL GIVE
A city dweller moved to a
farm and bought a cow. Shortly after he did, the cow went dry. When he
reported this fact to a neighbor farmer, the farmer expressed surprise. The
city man said he was surprised too. "I can't understand it either, for if
ever a person was considerate of an animal, I was of that cow. If I didn't
need any milk, I didn't milk her. If I only needed a quart, I only took a
quart." The farmer tried to explain that the only way to keep milk
flowing is not to take as little as possible from the cow, but to take as much
as possible. Is that not also true of the Christian life? Those who only turn
to God in need miss the real joy that flows from a daily infilling of His
Spirit.
.
A woodpecker tapped with his beak against the stem of a tree just as
lightning struck the tree and destroyed it.
He flew away and said, "I didn't know there was so much power in
my beak!" When we bring the
Gospel there is a danger that we will think or say, "I have done a good
job." Don't be a silly
woodpecker. Know where your
strength comes from. It is only
the Holy Spirit who can make a message good and fruitful.
HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit's distinctive
role is to fulfill what we may call a floodlight ministry in relation to the
Lord Jesus Christ. So far as this role was concerned, the Spirit "was not
yet" (John 7:29, literal Greek) while Jesus was on earth; only when the
Father had glorified him (John 17:1, 5) could the Spirit's work of making men
aware of Jesus' glory begin.
I remember walking to church
one winter evening to preach on the words, "He will glorify me"
(John 16:14), seeing the building floodlit as I turned a corner, and realizing
that this was exactly the illustration my message needed. When floodlighting
is well done, the floodlights are placed so that you do not see them; in fact,
you are not supposed to see where the light is coming from; what you are meant
to see is just the building on which the floodlights are trained. The intended
effect is to make it visible when otherwise it would not be seen for the
darkness, and to maximize its dignity by throwing all its details into relief
so that you can see it properly. This perfectly illustrated the Spirit's new
covenant role. He is, so to speak, the hidden floodlight shining on the
Savior.
Or think of it this way. It
is as if the Spirit stands behind us, throwing light over our shoulder on to
Jesus who stands facing us. The Spirit's message to us is never, "Look at
me; listen to me; come to me; get to know me", but always, "Look at
him, and see his glory; listen to him and hear his word; go to him and have
life; get to know him and taste his gift of joy and peace." The Spirit,
we might say, is the matchmaker, the celestial marriage broker, whose role it
is to bring us and Christ together and ensure that we stay together.
James
Packer, Your Father Loves You, Harold Shaw Publishers, 1986.