The Leadership of The Holy Spirit

I Introduction:

Jesus said "Come, follow me", then left his little band of disciples and returned to heaven, creating a seemingly impossible situation. Apart from their memories of the examples of His life, his teachings and his parables, they were bereft. They were like a flock of sheep having had their shepherd struck down. They couldn't see Him, hear His voice, or even really understand most of what they experienced in the few short years spent with Him. They had obeyed His command, His call on their lives to leave everything and follow Him and now what would they do?

Their own expectations of Him and their hopes for the establishment of His kingdom on the earth had been totally smashed with His crucifixion and burial. Those same hopes, briefly re-kindled when He appeared to them following His resurrection from the dead were once again shattered when He ascended bodily into heaven leaving them behind, leaderless, and painfully all alone.

The wolves must surely have been smacking their lips!

However, before returning to His glorious home in heaven, Jesus gave them some promises, assurances and not a few mysteries. These 'followers of Jesus' were to continue following Him through the development of a new set of 'senses' which transcended their normal sense of vision, sound and touch, and even more than that, their sense of human and 'natural' reasoning.

Many of the 'cryptic' sayings of Jesus burned in their minds, but several of His statements focused their hopes and prayers during a 'life and death' struggle with a growing sense of dread and urgency, lest they too suffer the fate of Jesus at the hands of the corrupt religious leaders backed by the formidable strength of the Roman army, determined to establish "Pax Romana", a peace at any cost.

As these tiny flickering flames, lit by the passion which consumed their master, huddled together, calling out to God continuously, the promised Helper, "another comforter" arrived suddenly at Pentecost, and with the rush of a mighty wind fanned the fires of Christianity into a force which turned the world upside down.

No longer leaderless, but "possessing the Spirit of Truth who would lead them into all Truth", they became utterly fearless and overcame not only their own terrible doubts but were filled with the same power and authority to defeat darkness which had astounded those who received Jesus' ministry before His crucifixion. In 'that authority' they won the hearts of thousands who then went on and did likewise. All the mysteries Jesus had revealed but not explained became known to them. They had received the promised 'counselor', as did all who believed their testimony.

This historical picture lays the groundwork for a series of studies founded on the teachings of Jesus Christ and the powerful work of the Holy Spirit as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, and invoked by St. Paul's writings among others...

The leadership of the Holy Spirit is central to fulfilling the purposes of God in the body of Christ. Understanding and applying much of what is written in the Epistles requires the 'one on one' instruction which is developed only through an intimate personal relationship with the third person of the Godhead. Just as the disciples had the benefits of a one to one relationship with Jesus while He was bodily with them, so too they discovered they could continue to inquire of their Lord as to His plans and meanings, and expect real and practical answers 'through' the indwelling Holy Spirit. They had only to commit themselves to the same unlimited service to His teaching as they had to their Lord's. That the Holy Spirit and Jesus is the same God but two different persons is a mystery we will explore as we journey.

The Apostle Paul wrote that the exceeding greatness of the revelations he expounded were tied to his life of continuous prayer 'in the spirit'. He made much of the necessity for all believers to do likewise; thanking God that he did so more than they all. How Paul could pray continuously, write great and deep works, minister to so many and still manage to sleep now and then, is testimony to the divine wisdom of God in providing a means of communication which operates on a level of being other than the conscious mind. We shall explore Paul's prayer life and the importance of it in the growth of the early church and more importantly its necessity in the work of the present and surely the 'last days' church.

This study aims to awaken in all participants (those who know and believe themselves to be 'followers of Jesus), - the faith, hope and knowledge of His plan to "make disciples of all men". It similarly intends to equip each believer with the requisite tools and resources to fulfill Jesus' purpose in the earth, especially that part of the earth accessible to each prepared and qualified son & daughter of the Most High God.

The problems facing ourselves, our families, our communities, our country and our world grow more pressing and complex each day. Even the choices we must make are often without any good outcome. The police and others attempting to win the 'war on drugs' admit they are barely making a dent. Family violence has reached epidemic proportions. The inequalities everywhere, including our own community breed contempt, fear and hostility. Society's rules have changed, and we appear to not understand what the new rules are. We seem awash in hopelessness, a lack of real power and a growing sense of despair despite the loud reassurance of our political leaders, and even some of our religious leaders. Christianity seems threatened from every quarter. We seem like orphans, with nowhere to turn, no-one to help us, and no real hope of change. Kind of like where the disciples found themselves after Jesus ascended to heaven and which Jesus foretold as He prepared them for His soon departure. He knew what was coming in the earth! He also knew WE were coming.

We ARE the joy set before Him, for the sake of which He endured the suffering of the cross.

In the gospel of John, chapter 14, Jesus very carefully laid out the Truth about who He was, who the Father was, and what the disciples could expect.

Next: Fellowship with, in and through the spirit, with, in and through The Spirit.