The Bible: A Love Story
Pt 5: The Spirit and the Bride
In the last few messages in this series, we've discussed the way in which the Church, as a Bride-to-be, will one day enter into a spiritual marriage relationship with Christ, the Lamb, as the nation of Israel did with Yahweh at Mount Sinai so long ago. The way in which the Bride is being prepared to meet her Lord, and the steps to be taken in our imminent wedding will be the subject of this and the next message - the last two in this series.
As we examine this area, we'll find that the Holy Spirit has a vital role to play in preparing and collecting the "Bride" - as well as in uniting the Bride with her beloved. As we do so, we'll discover the real meaning of the terms:
* Baptism of the Spirit
* Filling of the Spirit
* Fruit of the Spirit
Each of these functions of the Holy Spirit is fundamental and crucial in getting us, as a Bride, ready to join with our spiritual "Husband".
Now we know that the Holy Spirit is the person of the Godhead active on the earth since the time of Christ - and most believers are familiar with the individual aspects of His Person and work. But in this message I'd like to suggest one important aspect of His work on earth today that is often overlooked by many believers: the role of collecting a bride for Christ, her awaiting bridegroom.
We see, throughout the Old Testament, many events that we can use as interesting physical pictures or analogies to illustrate spiritual realities These follow the principle found in 1 Corinthians 15:46,
"The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual."
There is one particularly interesting sequence of events 'may' give us a clue as to at least one aspect of the Holy Spirit's work on earth today. Whether or not it does so, will depend on how closely it parallels events as set out in the New Testament!
One important point needs to be made at the onset. I am not here referring to "typology". A Biblical "type" is something in the Old Testament that is specifically mentioned in the New Testament as being a "figure" or "representation" of a spiritual reality. Types in the Old Testament range, for example, from people (Adam, David, Solomon) to events (the flood; the serpent in the wilderness) to objects (the Tabernacle, the offerings etc) and so forth! On the other hand, Joseph, whose life contained experiences closely parallel with those of Christ, is not regarded as a 'type' because he is nowhere described as such in the New Testament.
So, bearing this in mind, I'd like you to briefly overview the consecutive series of events in Genesis chapters 22-24. This is what we find:
Chapter 22 Abraham takes Isaac as a sacrifice.
Chapter 23 Sarah, Abraham's wife, dies.
Chapter 24 The father (Abraham) sends a
messenger to fetch a bride for his son.
I find this interesting and instructive inasmuch as this sequence of events appears to give (for me at least) an ‘illustration’ or ‘picture’ of the sequence of events that we recognize in the New Testament.
Certainly Abraham's intended sacrifice of Isaac represents (in some respects) the death of Christ (Genesis 22) and that is something most of us would agree upon. Now this is followed by the death of Sarah, Israel's matriarch (Genesis 23) and it would then seem reasonable to see this as an illustration of God's setting aside of Israel after its rejection of Christ. Not by itself, however, but because the following chapter (Genesis 24) then speaks of a messenger being sent by the father to collect a bride for the son – an event which appears to coincide with the sending of the Holy Spirit to collect a bride for Christ following Israel’s rejection by God.
I find this series of events to be compelling: a wonderful illustration of what we know to be the reality of events as set out in Scripture: the death of Christ, followed by Israel's rejection, followed by the age of the Lamb and his Bride.
Does this sound fanciful to you? It certainly fits in beautifully with the sequence of events in the New Testament - but do its details parallel with what we know of the Holy Spirit Himself? Do some of the details in this illustration reflect on certain aspects of the Spirit's work?
I believe that they do - but as I examine the account of the messenger in Genesis 24, I would invite you to judge for yourselves: we must all be like the Bereans of old, and examine for ourselves whether or not these things are so.
Take the case of Abraham's messenger (whom we believe to be Eliezer of Damascus). When he went down to Aram Naharaim to collect a bride for Isaac, (Genesis 23), he was going down to the father's original home. So far this fits well with Biblical teaching: God originally dwelt with His people on earth in Old Testament times (Exodus 25:8) until the glory of God departed from the temple (Ezekiel 10).
Furthermore, Eliezer was under strict instructions to bring the bride back to the son: on no account was he to take the son down to where the bride was living (Genesis 24:5-6). This too appears to conform to sound doctrine. When the Holy Spirit has readied the Bride for union with the Bridegroom - this will not take place on the earth (the present home of the Bride). Christ certainly comes down to earth as a Messiah-King but not in his capacity as a Bridegroom uniting with his Bride! That will take place at the 'rapture' in the air' - the 'heavenlies', if you will (see the final message in this series).
Now when Eliezer meets Rebekah, he finds that she is Isaac's relative. The bride and groom were to be related! This too, is an accurate illustration of a Scriptural reality: our Redeemer, the one who is to be our Bridegroom, also had to be a close relative. In the book of Hebrews it says that he 'shared in our humanity' so that he could lay down his life to purchase us with his blood (Hebrews 2:14). A similar concept is found in the book of Ruth where we learn that only a close relative (Boaz) could redeem Ruth's family and become her goel ('kinsman redeemer')! (Ruth 2:20; 3:9,12)
The next thing we see in this passage is that the messenger didn't act on his own behalf. He wasn't there to speak for himself or represent himself in any way: . his primary purpose was to convey the thoughts and wishes of the one who had sent him.
So it is with the Holy Spirit. He has come, not on His own behalf, but as one who has been sent by the Father for a particular purpose (a "messenger" if you like).
John 15:26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father---" (italics mine)
Now this objection could be raised: Christ himself was sent by the Father also - so why then regard the Holy Spirit as being particularly in the role of a messenger?
Well - consider what Eliezer did in his role. When he found Rebekah, he didn't talk about himself: he simply wasn't there to draw attention to himself. His mission was to persuade Rebekah of Isaac's qualities and advantages - so that she would be willing to go back with him. Accordingly, all he was there to talk about was Isaac, Isaac's family and Isaac's inheritance!
Genesis 24:35-36 The Lord has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. [36] My master's wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age, and he has given him everything he owns.(c.f. Hebrews 1:2; Colossians 1:16) (emphasis mine)
Now listen to the Lord's description of the role of the Holy Spirit and notice the parallel:
"He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you." (John 16:13-14)
The Spirit, as the messenger, is not here to talk about Himself! Jesus also said this concerning Him:
John 15:26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father---the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father---he will testify about me. (John 15:26) (Italics mine)
For this reason, the Spirit of God is not the specific object of our attention during worship (in many denominations, at least). It's the reason why many churches don't tend to pray to the Spirit or place undue emphasis on Him during this time! He's here as a messenger whose task it is to extol the virtues of (glorify) the Son!
But remember one important thing in all of this: we may not focus our attention on the Holy Spirit in our worship, but that doesn't imply that the Holy Spirit isn't worthy of praise and glory in His own right. He's God - so of course He is! He is of the same substance, will, mind, might, power and eternity as the Father and the Son - it's just that (in the opinion of many believers) praise and glory is not what He's here for!
Right now He's here on behalf of Christ. As Eliezer did with Rebekah, the work of the Spirit on earth is firstly to persuade the lost soul of Christ's beauty - his love, his glory and all that is available to the sinner who believes. Having successfully accomplished this task, He then works in the believer to prepare the Bride (the Church) to make her fit and ready to meet her bridegroom.
The work of the Holy Spirit in accomplishing this can be categorised under the following headings:
* the sanctification of the Spirit
* the regeneration of the Spirit
* the baptism of the Spirit
* the filling of the Spirit
* the fruit of the Spirit
1. The sanctification of the Holy Spirit
For unredeemed sinners to be ultimately saved and become part of the Bride, the sanctifying work of the Spirit is essential.
We saw in the last message that, to be in union with Christ, we need to be like him. This can only come about by spiritual regeneration. So the very first thing the Spirit must do is to bring the sinner to Christ and effect the new birth.
The initial problem is that man in his natural state cannot - or will not - respond to Christ. The fall in the garden of Eden was a spiritual fall - not, at first, a moral one (that came as a result). And so, in owning Lucifer as his "god", man similarly rebelled against the source of truth. Now, with a nature that's naturally rebellious, with a will that's more or less chained by sin and with a spiritually- darkened heart, man cannot, unaided, accept Divine truth. In fact, Jesus on one occasion said to the Pharisees:
" Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!"(John 8:45)
What a significant comment on the human condition! Not 'in spite of the fact that I tell the truth' but 'because I tell the truth'. And we see this terrible reality everywhere today. Man will believe anything: atheism, humanism, spiritism, evolution, reincarnation, pantheism - anything but Divine truth - simply because it's God's truth! He doesn't understand Divine realities and he is actually incapable of submitting to the one, true God (Romans 8:7).
That's what the fall in Eden caused and here's where the work of the Holy Spirit begins. He must lift the veil for the unbeliever to reveal the truth about Christ and the eternal benefits of belonging to Christ. Of course, once he has done this, the sinner is then responsible for his/her decision to either accept or reject the message. We see this with the almost-believing Jews in the book of Hebrews - those teetering on the edge of returning to Judaism. They had 'shared in' (Gk: metachoi: "been partners [in an enterprise] with") the Holy Spirit, who had 'once for all' (Gk: hapax) enlightened them (Hebrews 6:4). In their particular case, there was the terrible danger that they would reject the Messiah at this point and return to Judaism (see message entitled : "The Hebrews paradox").
So to collect a Bride for the Son, the Holy Spirit must first break through the sinner's natural animosity (Romans 8:7) and persuade him/her to accept Christ. In the analogy of the messenger and Rebekah, to persuade him/her her to come back with Him when He gathers up the church to meet the coming Bridegroom (see next message: "The Rapture of the Bride").
The first step of the Spirit's work in regenerating the lost sinner, is termed the "sanctifying work of the Spirit" (1 Peter 1:2). The word "sanctify" (hagiazo) literally means: "to set apart". Firstly, the sinner is set apart for the Spirit's work in which the Spirit does three things, according to John 16:8
" When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: "
These three aspects of the Spirit's convicting work are explained in the next verse:
John 16:9-11
9: "about sin, because people do not believe in me;"
(ie their rejection of Christ reveals their sinful hearts)
10: "about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer"
(No longer would Christ be on earth to display the standard of holiness that God required. Now the sinner would need to understand that righteousness can only be obtained in union with the ascended Lord in heaven. The Holy Spirit must convince the sinner of this).
11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
(Finally the sinner must realise that by not believing in Christ and refusing his righteousness, he is aligning himself with the 'god' of this world and will consequently share in his fate.)
Remember in all of this that the "sword" of the Spirit is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17). The Word is what saves the sinner - specifically the message of the gospel, of which Paul says:
Romans 1:16 "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. "
2. The Regeneration of the Spirit
Upon the expression of faith by the individual, regeneration takes place. There is an inward transformation by the Holy Spirit as promised in the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:33). As Eve shared in Adam's nature, and was therefore a suitable companion for him, so the Holy Spirit regenerates the believing sinner and imparts to him the life of Christ: 'born of the Spirit' as it says in John 3:8.
I'm born again - my old self is crucified with Christ and I'm now a child of God - in fact, an heir-apparent with Christ! (Romans 8:17)
In Galatians 4:19 Paul describes it as Christ being formed in us while in 2 Peter 1:4 it says that we participate in the divine nature. So Colossians 3:4 describes Christ as our life and Paul states this truth very clearly in Galatians 2:20
" I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
So the saved individual is inwardly transformed - a new creation in Christ - and is thereby qualified to be part of the Bride. As it says in Ephesians 5:30-32
" for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery---but I am talking about Christ and the church.
3. The Baptism of the Spirit
However there are millions of individual believers but only one Bride! Therefore each child of God must be incorporated into the one body (one Bride) - the Church. This is the next step the holy messenger takes in progressively readying the heavenly Rebekah for union with our heavenly Isaac. It's known in Scripture as the "baptism" of the Spirit (or the baptism performed by the Spirit) and it's described in 1 Corinthians 12:13
"For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body."
The word "baptize" comes from the Greek word "baptizo" which in turn is derived from a root-word "bapto" meaning: "to dip into dye" or "immerse" (as takes place in the art if tie-dying). We are effectively, upon conversion) dipped or immersed by the Holy Spirit into the spiritual body of Christ and thereby into an environment which is forever separated from this world - dead to the world - (Romans 6:4).
Kenneth Wuest, that eminent Greek scholar of "Back to the Bible" fame, explains, in reference to water baptism (a symbol of Spirit baptism):
Human life cannot breathe under water. Going under water symbolises the fact that we have entered a new environment that forever separates us from our previous, natural existence.
Although different denominations have varying ideas on the further implications of the term: "Spirit baptism", I'm sure that we can all agree from 1 Corinthians 12:13 that at the very least, it firstly describes the act of the Holy Spirit in placing the believer into the Body of Christ!
To further extend this thought a little: not only does the Spirit introduce the saved soul into the mystical body of the Church, He also maintains the life of theBride. No individual can be alive spiritually without the indwelling Spirit (Romans 8:9), because the Spirit (as can be seen in His very title), provides the spiritual air necessary for spiritual life (Acts 17:28). He is the One who binds the members of the Body together in the common life of Christ (the 'unity of the Spirit' [Ephesians 4:3]) and engenders love for God in each of our hearts (Romans 5:5). His work in the Bride goes further than this, of course, but this is enough to show just how central and essential His role is in preserving the integrity of the Bride! As Christ holds the first, material creation together (Colossians 1:17), so the Spirit holds new spiritual creation together.
4. The filling of the Spirit
Having made the individual part of the one Bride, and while maintaining the life of the Bride, the Holy Spirit now does His work of 'filling' each individual believer, as part of His goal to prepare the Bride to meet her Bridegroom.
As with the "baptism" of the Spirit, many people visualise the "filling" of the Spirit as an almost ecstatic experience that takes place in the believer's life at some point after conversion (often after water baptism and usually accompanied by the speaking in tongues)!
I believe that there is a better way to understand the 'filling of the Spirit'- one that doesn't visualise the Spirit as a mystical force or even a liquid ('filled with the Spirit'). To arrive at the true meaning of the term we must understand what the Spirit is trying to achieve when He 'fills' the believer.
What we have seen so far is that the messenger must fashion and equip the Bride to grow and develop to be like the Bridegroom in order to be compatible with him! In a word, she needs to be brought to maturity. As Ephesians 4:13 says:
" until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. " (italics mine).
We need to be not only of the same nature as the Bridegroom but of the same mind. As Philippians 2:5 says, we need to have the: "same mindset as Christ Jesus." And so Paul tells the believers in Rome to be " transformed by the renewing of your mind." (Romans 12:2) and 2 Corinthians 3:18 describes the process as being " transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."
Well - to grow the spiritual life of Christ within, we need spiritual food. This food is Christ himself as he said in John 6:55-56,
" For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them."
Feeding on Christ is feeding on Spiritual truth in the Word, and as Christ is the living Word (1 John 1), the Spirit feeds us by presenting Christ to us through the Word of God. Peter describes the Word of God as a 'mother' who has given birth to us (1 Peter 1:23) and who, as every mother does with her infant, nourishes and grows us with her "pure spiritual milk" (1 Peter 2:2). From there we should progress to the meat of the Word and grow into maturity (1 Corinthians 3:2).
All of this is is done by the Spirit of God who works through the gifts He has distributed to the Church (1 Corinthians 12:11; Ephesians 4:9). Indeed, the gifts given to the Church as enumerated in 1 Corinthians 12, are each one the working of the power of God (specifically the Holy Spirit?) through the individual (1 Corinthians 12:7-11; 1 Peter 4:10; Philippians 2:13) and all these are designed to grow the Bride into the image of Christ in both character and action.
Accordingly, the coming of the Holy Spirit was foretold by Christ in this way:
"But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth."(John 16:13)
And Paul said this to the believers in Corinth:
What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. (1 Corinthians 2:12 )
So, taught the Word by the Spirit, the Bride is brought to maturity:
1 Peter 2:2
Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation
Now all of this enables us to understand what is meant by the "filling of the Spirit". The word in Greek for "fill" is pleróo which literally means "fill" but can also mean "accomplish", "perform", "cause to abound". And in what sense, then, are we to understand its meaning in this context?
A comparison of two passages of Scripture my provide us with the necessary clue. As we know, Ephesians and Colossians are companion prison epistles. They each deal with the same theme: Christ as the Head of his body, the Church. Whereas Ephesians focuses on the body on earth whose Head is in heaven, Colossians emphasises our Head in heaven, whose body is on the earth.
Consequently, there are many related, almost corresponding passages in the two letters. A brief comparison of two particular passages will suggest to us the meaning of the 'filling' of the Spirit.
Firstly there's Ephesians 5:18-20 which reads:
"Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ," (italics mine)
This passage would seem to suggest that it's not so much a "filling up" (as of a liquid) that's in view but an issue of 'control' (under the influence of...). I say this because if we say that "he's had too much", or "he's had a skinful" this is not so much a reference to the quantity imbibed as it is to the fact that he is "under the influence".
And look at the results of being 'filled with the Spirit:
'Speaking in Psalms, hymns and songs from the Spirit', making music from the heart and 'giving thanks to God the Father for everything.'
So it seems reasonable to suggest that, rather than a mystical, ecstatic experience, the word 'filled' in this context conveys the idea of being 'controlled' or 'influenced' by the Spirit (as opposed to the 'joy' that comes from wine)?
I believe that it is - and to substantiate this interpretation , we need to now cross over to the companion passage in Colossians:
Colossians 3:16 "Let the message of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom - through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts."
Notice that being 'filled with the Spirit' (Ephesians) and the indwelling of the message of Christ (Colossians) are identified as having precisely the sane results (psalms, hymns, songs, gratitude to God). This strongly suggests that they are two aspects of the same experience.
This makes perfect sense. If being "filled" by the Spirit means being controlled by or influenced by the Spirit, it will be tantamount to the Spirit successfully performing His work in our lives. And what is this work? To allow the message of Christ and o dwell in us richly! He us here to enable the "message of Christ" to dwell in us by feeding us with the Living Word. He is here to lead us into all truth and thereby "fill", control or influence us!
The Spirit of God is thus consistently presented to us as being connected with Reason and Divine truth! The Lord presents the Holy Spirit to the disciples as "the Spirit of truth" who will " guide you into all the truth" (John 16:13). As Jesus said, the Holy Spirit " will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.(John 14:26). And when we go over to 1 Corinthians, we find that the Spirit's work in this respect is described in the following way:
1 Corinthians 2:10-11 ..these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. [11] For who knows a person's thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
5. The Fruit of the Spirit
As we have just seen, if being "filled with the Spirit" means being "controlled by Spirit" it suggests that the Spirit is successfully doing His work in the believer's life. And this work, we have seen, is producing the mind of Christ in us - developing the characteristics of the Lord in each believer.
This us known in Scripture as the "fruit of the Spirit". Just as we say that a man will see the "fruit of his labour" - the end result of what he has done!
And that is exactly what the "fruit of the "Spirit" is. Not a feeling - nor an atmosphere - but a description of what the Spirit is striving to achieve in the believer: - the "fruit of His labour" - which is the character of the Lord himself!
Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
There's your character description of Christ right there! The likeness of Christ! And all this can only happen through the Word - the "Sword of the Spirit" as wielded by the Spirit. That's how the Bride is brought to maturity!
Yet, as believers, we can frustrate the work of the Spirit in our lives. His great work is primarily carried out through the Word of God and in its application to our lives but there are two ways in which we can resist the 'fruit if the Spirit'
* We can "quench the Holy Spirit" (1 Thessalonians 5:19)
The blessed work of the Spirit, operating through the Word of God, is to teach us of Christ so that we might become like Christ, live like Christ and hunger to join Him when He returns to unite with us in the air. In essence, the Spirit will, as we have discussed earlier, present and explain to us the truths about Christ and also bring to our minds the words of Christ when necessary.
So what happens if we neglect to study the Word of God? What happens if we fail to meditate on what we do read?
Simply this - we neglect to include the first pre-requisite of the believers armour, which is the "belt of truth" (Ephesians 6:14). And this is fatal to our Christian development because the belt in the armour holds the scabbard in which the sword is sheathed. Consequently, if we neglect the truth in the Word of God, we go into battle without the Sword of the Spirit and, in our lives, effectively deprive the Holy Spirit of His weapon: He cannot work in us or through us as He wishes. This is how we "quench" the Spirit!
* We can "grieve" the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30).
If "quenching" the Spirit is failing to put on the first piece of armour, the belt of truth, then surely the grieving of the Holy Spirit may well be a reference to the second part of the believer's armour- the breastplate of righteousness! The Spirit within us labours in love to conform us to Christ in thought, word and deed! How grieved He must be when we fall into sin, rebel against His leading or wilfully indulge in any behaviour displeasing to God!
And although all parts of our armour are equally important, in regards to practical moral living and development, the Word of God and practical righteousness in our lives (through the Word of God) are the essentials from which everything else flows. Any soldier charging into battle without a weapon and with no protection for his heart, would be dead in seconds!
We need to both learn The Word and then ensure that we apply it to our lives. As it says in Galatians 5:25 "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."
As a member of the Body of Christ (the Bride)you've been baptised by the Spirit. But are you filled with the Spirit?
It's not an emotional experience: it's letting the Spirit do His work. It's being taught by the Word of God, meditating on it and allowing it to mould and shape your thinking and life!
It's becoming like Christ!
Reform theologian R.C. Sproule wrote these words
I think the greatest weakness in the church today is that almost no one believes that God invests His power in the Bible. Everyone is looking for power in a program, in a methodology, in a technique, in anything and everything but that in which God has placed it—His Word. He alone has the power to change lives for eternity, and that power is focused on the Scriptures.”?
Again, in the words of another:
"As the work of Eliezer was not finished until he had safely handed over Rebekah to Isaac, so the faithful Guide and Guardian of the Church, having seen her safely through the desert way, senses that his task is almost over.
The Bright and Morning Star is about to break though the murkiest storm cloud of the night.
So the Spirit in the Church, and the Church in the Spirit, join in a welcoming shout of 'Come'"
Revelation 22:16-17
“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.” The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life."
And so, as Romans 15:13 says, may we 'abound in that hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit'
May God bless His precious Word to each one of our hearts. Amen
