The Spirit-filled life

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Galatians 5:22

When the New Testament talks about the Holy Spirit it's likely to be talking about one of two things: power, or purity.

Power is what was shown on the Day of Pentecost - the Spirit came like a gale-force wind and tongues of fire. Wind inspires, blowing away the cobwebs and breathing new life. Fire purges, burning away the dross of sin and compromise.

But purity is the focus of this challenging list in Galatians 5. God's Spirit comes to live within us and produce in our characters a harvest (that's pretty much what the word "fruit" means) of beautiful qualities. A good way to grasp the importance of what Paul is saying is to ask the question: What sort of world would planet earth be if every human being produced this fruit? The answer is simple: a paradise!

Wouldn't we all love to make the world perfect? Of course! But that's not going to happen. So our chief concern as Christians must be to live in such a way that we bring just a little hint of that paradise into our tiny corner of the world. 

As I think about Paul's list three main thoughts come to my mind.

First, fruit is something that grows naturally or not at all. You can't force it. You can, if you like, go out and hang plastic pears or cardboard grapes on their respective trees. They may look very nice; at a distance they might even look real. But it won't take anyone long to discover that they're fake.

And in the same way we can all train ourselves to put a nice veneer on our personalities; this is called being civilised, and I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it. But it isn't what Paul is talking about. He is talking about something that grows, as it were, organically, from deep within us. And it does so because it is essentially the work of the Holy Spirit. 

You can always tell a truly Spirit-filled person because they are natural, easy, unassuming; they don't give the impression of forcing things, of trying to be something they're not. This is why it is so important to let the Spirit fill us day by day; only then will the fruit flourish.

Second, this isn't an optional list. Have you ever sat an exam where you have to tackle only a certain number of questions - four out of ten, say? You can safely ignore the other six; it won't count against you. Well, that isn't how Paul's list is to be treated! You can't say: "Well, I have to admit that I'm not much good when it comes to love, patience and self-control; but joy, gentleness, kindness and faithfulness - well, I reckon I'm not too bad there. And let's face it, four out of nine isn't bad!"

No! These beautiful characteristics are intended to grow together, all of them, side by side. You never get any of them truly "sorted"; you can never tick any of them off. And neither can you act as if some of them don't matter. Indeed, examining them in that kind of way is completely artificial, for the fact is that only someone else is really qualified to judge how far we have progressed in this business of being filled with the Spirit. (I would go so far as to say that anyone who says "I am filled with the Spirit" shows by that very claim that - they aren't!)

Third, there's a sting in the tail. If you look through the list you get the impression of a very gentle type of person. But bringing up the rear is something much more muscular, if I can put it that way: self-control. Do you find yourself thinking "Ouch! that really is a weak spot of mine!"? I suspect that many of us do. I'm glad Paul put it in, because some Christians give the impression that being Spirit-filled is a bit like floating along on a spiritual cloud nine, complete with an angelic smile on your face. Again, no! Growing the fruit of the Spirit requires real determination and seriousness about following Christ. This is no Christian equivalent of a drug trip.

As I said, it's not for us to assess ourselves when it comes to being Spirit-filled - that's for others to do. But what we can do is give this list serious thought and ensure that we allow ourselves the conditions for such growth. Jesus said: "Remain in me" - in effect, Make your home in me. That's the heart of it; that's how to produce the fruit of the Spirit.

Lord God, make my life like a harvest field, producing in me all that is pure, holy and Christlike. Amen.

A word for Pentecost

The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being. Genesis 2:7

Jesus breathed on the disciples and said “Receive the Holy Spirit”. John 20:22

What a strange thing breathing is! That quiet little motion - in-out, in-out, in-out - that we hardly notice most of the time, but without which we cannot live. How many millions of times do we do it throughout our lives? How often do we stop to think about it?

To breathe is to be alive. To stop breathing is to die. Breath is life.

Well, forgive me for stating the obvious. But there are times when the obvious, the absolutely commonplace, can also be very wonderful. And if that’s true of just “ordinary” breathing, how much more is it true of the scene John gives us? Picture, please, that moment when Jesus, risen from the dead, appears to his frightened disciples and breathes on them with the simple words “Receive the Holy Spirit”.

When we think about the coming of the Holy Spirit we probably think most often of Pentecost and the dramatic events described in Acts 2: the “rushing mighty wind” and “what seemed to be tongues of fire”. And quite right too. That was the event that kick-started the Christian church, and it was massive. 

But I for one am really pleased that we have this other account too. It speaks to me of the fact that you can’t lay down hard and fast rules about how the Spirit comes. Sometimes he comes quietly, even privately, a breath; and sometimes he comes with the power of a volcanic eruption. 

How do these two stories - these two comings - relate to one another? Was the one described by John a kind of symbolic coming, paving the way for the real thing in Acts 2? That’s a question the scholars debate, and I certainly wouldn’t dare to offer a strong opinion. But the clue to the John passage lies, surely, in the link with Genesis 2, where we read how God “breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life, and he became a living being”.

By telling the story this way John seems to be saying something like this: “In the beginning God created all things. The climax of his creation was man. But he was a purely inanimate object - clay, dust - until God chose to breathe into him his divine breath. Only then did he live. And now see what Jesus is doing! His rising from the dead marks the start of a new creation. The first one went badly wrong; but instead of washing his hands of Project Humanity, God decided to start again, and it is his son Jesus who gives supernatural life to the first members of a whole new human race. He, the Son, does what the Father had done at the beginning with the breath of his mouth, so a new creation is launched, and new life is given.”

Fine. But what does this mean for us? Lots of things! But in essence this: as followers of Jesus we aren’t just people who have developed a taste for “spiritual” matters and so come to faith and become part of the church. No! We are that, if you like, but we are also far more. We are (please read the next bit really slowly...) members of a whole new race; we are a new humanity; we are being remade by God in the likeness of Christ; we have the very life of God within us; we have been born again by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Which leads to a simple but vital question: Does it show?

Here are some famous words from Paul, but translated in a strictly literal way: “If anyone is in Christ - new creation! The old things have gone. Look, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Well, how does your life, how does mine, match up to that?

Breathe on me, breath of God,

Fill me with life anew;

That I may love what thou dost love,

And do what thou wouldst do. Amen.

Get praying!

They all joined together constantly in prayer... Acts 1:14

I had a strange conversation once with a man after preaching in his church. I can't remember now what I had been talking about, but I must at some point have touched on the subject of prayer. "You know," he said to me, "I don't go along with all this business of corporate prayer." I assumed he meant that prayer should be offered either "officially" from up front in a service, or individually at home. The idea of praying together in a small group seemed wrong to him.

I was rather taken aback - praying with others has been so absolutely vital to my life as a Christian over 50 years that I didn't really know what to say. But I've a feeling that many Christians, while they would probably never be quite as open as that man, in practice have pretty much the same attitude. The idea of praying with other Christians is alien to them. Go to a prayer-meeting? - what are you going on about!

Well, I think this verse teaches us better. It's talking about the members of the early church in that strange "gap" period between the resurrected Jesus ascending to heaven and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. But I can't imagine for one minute that it was a practice that ever faded out of the church over the years.

All the words Luke uses are worth thinking about...

"They all joined together..." This wasn't just the eleven remaining apostles. Indeed, Luke makes a point of continuing, "along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and his brothers." A few verses later he mentions an approximate number: "about 120". Praying together is for all Christians, not just the leaders or a select elite.

"They all joined together..." This suggests that they made a special point of meeting - it didn't just happen by chance. They may not have called it a "prayer meeting" in the way we might. But that's what it amounted to.

"They all joined together constantly..." It didn't just happen now and then. Of course, these people had other things to do in their lives, just as we do today - they had to do the shopping, look after their children, do their jobs. Life had to go on. But "constantly" implies that it was a real and serious commitment whenever possible. These people knew they needed to be faithful in prayer - and they acted accordingly.

All right, let's admit that starting to pray with others can be difficult. Let's be realistic - we may be be a bit shy, a bit self-conscious. But - and I'm talking now to anyone who has never tried it - once you have broken the ice and got used to it, it becomes entirely natural.

And people sometimes say, "But I wouldn't know what to say!" That's fair enough too. But there are at least two good answers. First, don't feel you have to say anything. Silent prayer is still received by God. No-one is forced to do anything they don't want to. Second, why not write a prayer out in advance and simply read it? Or read a few verses from the psalms or some other part of the Bible? Easy!

Let's admit too that gatherings for prayer aren't always the most exciting of times - especially, perhaps, on a wet February evening when there's a big football match on television. But never mind! God calls his children to pray, and that's it.

Praying with others is one of the great privileges of the Christian life. Even if, yes, it sometimes seems just a duty, the fact is that duties carried out for love of God have a wonderful way of turning into joys. And there is a closeness that slowly builds up between people who pray together which (and I mean this quite seriously!) is a tiny foretaste of heaven itself.

Praying together... It's good for the individual, and it's essential for the church. When all is said and done, it's just a group of God's children coming together to talk to their loving heavenly Father. God loves to hear his people pray!

Are you in some kind of regular prayer group? No? Well, may I put it bluntly? It's time you were! Why deny yourself one of the joys of everyday Christian living?

Dear Father in heaven, thank you for the wonderful gift of prayer. And thank you for placing me in a community of people who are my brothers and sisters in Christ. May we know the joy of coming together regularly into your presence. Amen.

Facing sickness

Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses. 1 Timothy 5:23. 

I left Trophimus sick in Miletus. 2 Timothy 4:20.

I knew a woman once who had suffered the trauma of going blind in her middle years. This had of course changed her life radically, but she found great comfort later when she became a Christian. Her faith, when I knew her, was still quite new, but it was real and deep, and she was a great believer in prayer. 

All was well. But then she came into contact with a group of Christians who taught her that if only she had enough faith she could be healed - God would restore her sight. They used to gather to pray with her. She told me they sang a song which contained the words “all we need is a miracle!” She became quite troubled and asked, “Colin, is there something wrong with me? I think I do have faith in God, but could it be that I just don’t have enough?”

It became my task to offer her reassurance. These Christians were lovely people, I said, admirable in many ways; but they didn’t really understand that healing isn’t quite as straightforward as they imagined.

Miracles are a big topic in the Christian faith, not least miracles of healing. There are various facts it’s good for us to get hold of.

For one thing, they are not as common in the Bible as some Christians make out. “There are hundreds of miracles in the Bible!” we sometimes hear. “There are healings on nearly every page!”

But this just isn’t so. Broadly speaking the miracles of the Bible fall into three main clusters, each of them marking a time when God is specially on the move. First, there is the time of the Exodus, the great deliverance of Israel from the slavery of Egypt (Exodus 1-20). We read about the heaven-sent plagues, about the parting of the Red Sea, about the heavenly bread, or manna, in the desert. Second, there is the time of the early prophets, especially Elijah and Elisha (1 Kings 17 – 2 Kings 13). This is where we find such stories as Elijah calling down fire from heaven to burn up the sacrifices (soaked in water!) on the altar, or Elisha healing the Syrian army commander Naaman of his leprosy. 

And then, third, the greatest cluster of all: the ministry of Jesus himself in the Gospels, and of his apostles, as recorded in Acts. The peak, of course, is the miracle of all miracles, the raising of Jesus from the dead, never to die again.

Stories like these are wonderful to read and should stir up our worship and our faith. But it’s interesting that even in the pages of the New Testament they seem to dwindle away somewhat.

This is where we come to the verses at the top. Paul gave a lot of advice to Timothy about how to be a good pastor. But he also gave him some advice about his health. Timothy was clearly a sickly young man - Paul speaks of his “frequent illnesses” - and Paul urged him to drink wine rather than the no doubt unhealthy water that was available in his region. And then he mentions one of his travelling companions, Trophimus, whom he “left sick in Miletus”.

You almost wish you could get hold of Paul, sit him down in an armchair with a cup of coffee, and ask him to explain himself: “Paul, why didn’t you tell Timothy to pray for healing? Why did he have to put up with these frequent illnesses? A little wine may have been helpful, of course, but it won’t exactly have healed him!” And as for Trophimus... “Paul, God used you to heal the sick and even raise the dead. So why on earth did you leave him sick (in Miletus or anywhere else)?” I wonder what Paul would have said.

The point is obvious. Our God is a miracle-working God, no doubt about that. He is a God who can supernaturally heal, no doubt about that. And still he does today. But such dramatic and powerful events are the exception rather than the rule - the salvation of the soul matters far more than the healing of the body.

So - what? I suggest two things. First, may we never be guilty of raising false hopes and expectations in those who are suffering. Pray for them of course, and do all we can to help them. But recognise that the full healing may not happen until God’s kingdom comes in final perfection (take a look at the glorious words of Revelation 21:3-4). And second, if you today are a Timothy or a Trophimus - a bit off-colour, or sick, or in pain, perhaps bed-bound, perhaps even seriously ill - of course pray for healing by all means. But if it isn’t granted, don’t beat yourself up, whatever else you do!

I praise you, O God, that you are a miracle-working God, a God who has healed in the past and still heals today. But your word makes plain that you do not always heal as we would like. Help me then to trust you whatever you may choose to do or not to do, and to look forward to that day when all sorrow and pain will be at an end. Amen.