Bible Study Notes 10/8/2024

Word Alive! Bible Study ©2024

Fall Series: Experiencing The Holy Spirit In & With Us © 2024

Concord Baptist Church of Boston in Milton

Conley Hughes, Jr., Senior Pastor

Tu., 8 Oct. 2024 Lesson 9, Part 1, pp. 128-140

Quiet Time: H&M Blackaby, Experiencing the Holy Spirit

To the Extraordinary – It is through the presence and ministry of the Holy Spirit that ordinary people engage in extraordinary work. As Christians the lives we live and the ministry we engage in, is never the result of our own efforts alone. No effective work or ministry for God can be accomplished without the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We are called as Christians to first develop a relationship with God so we can have the humility to accept His instructions. In their book, Experiencing the Holy Spirit, Henry and Melvin Blackaby states this: “[God is] first concerned about our relationship to Him. Once we learn to walk with Him, we’re able to hear His voice and obey. And as we make the adjustment to do His will, He then equips our lives to complete the assignment He has for us… God desires to bring you into the middle of His activity. It’s then our lives move from the ordinary to the extraordinary.”  The transition from living a life with a mere human mindset to a spiritual life centered on the teachings of God and His wisdom, is the difference between the ordinary and the extraordinary. In the beginning of the great Psalm 119, the psalmist speaks of the necessity of knowing God’s instructions and the value of living by them. (Read, Psalm 119: 1-8, NLT). We note the psalmist realized the importance of the holy instructions and principles God has given, and how his behavior, actions, and entire life must be in line with these decrees. Jesus taught further, a committed relationship with Him was built on learning and following the commandments He taught. Jesus would send the Holy Spirit to continue teaching and leading His followers – and the Spirit’s presence would be near and inward. (Read, John 14:15-19, NLT). Our relationship with the Holy Spirit was never intended to be distant, but close and intimate. Melvin and Henry Blackaby emphasize, with the Lord “a commandment always precedes a commission.” It can be noted in Scripture, that an assignment was rarely given before a command or an instruction. When God speaks His will and we respond, we will then become spiritually enabled for an assignment He gives us.  Before Jesus ascended into heaven, the disciples did not make an arbitrary decision to go to Jerusalem. Jesus commanded the disciples to return to the city and promised them they would be commissioned to go further professing His teachings. The Holy Spirit would equip them for the assignment. (Read, Acts 1:3-5, NLT). Jesus has given us a great task to make disciples of all nations. (See, Matthew 28:16-20, NIV). The term used in the Greek New Testament is ethnos, which means literally “people groups.” Or pan ethnos, “all people groups.” Jesus commands Christians to share the Good News to every ethnicity; tribe; clan; nation; or dweller on the earth. Such a task cannot merely be accomplished through human means or with human insight. The Holy Spirit equips us to carry out the assignment Christ has given us. Jesus anticipating the presence and work of the Holy Spirit in believers after His ascension, said: “I tell you the truth anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12, NLT).  The Holy Spirit takes ordinary people and empowers them to do extraordinary work with God who is active in the world. In Christ, we are more than ordinary (Read, Acts 4:13, NLT)! With the presence of Christ and the Spirit, we’re more useful and effective.

Key Idea:

What We Believe!

1. "The Holy Spirit is in you and accompanies you!"

Key Verses:

Psalm 119:1-8, NLT

“Joyful are people of integrity who follow the instructions of the Lord. Joyful are those who obey His laws and search for Him with all their hearts. They do not compromise with evil, and they walk only in His paths. You have charged us to keep your commandments carefully. Oh, that my actions would consistently reflect your decrees! Then I will not be ashamed when I compare my life with your commands. As I learn your righteous regulations, I will thank you by living as I should! I will obey your decrees. Please don’t give up on me!”

John 14:15-19, NLT

“If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father and He will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it isn’t looking for Him

and doesn’t recognize Him. But you know Him, because He lives with you now and later will be in you. No, I will not abandon you as orphans – I will come to you. Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, since I live, you also will live.”

Acts 1:3-5, NLT

“During the forty days after He suffered and died, He appeared to the apostles from time to time, and He proved to them in many ways that He was actually alive. And He talked to them about the kingdom of God. Once when He was eating with them, He commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift He promised, as I told you before. John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 4:13, NLT

“The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men… They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.”