Holy Spirit in the church

One of the things which is commonly heard in a "church" is that the worshipers believe that The Holy Spirit of God is "in charge" of their local church.  

In modern language . . . To be in charge refers to an ADMINISTRATOR . . . in this case a Divine (or a heavenly) Administrator (supervisor).

As a church goer . . . do we believe that the preacher or the deacons are the ones who are in charge of our church . . . or does this responsibility belong to God Himself?
 Is the preacher or deacon really any "closer" to God than those that are preached to?

 If Jesus established or organized "the church" . . . then it stands to reason that Jesus (even though He is not physically present among us) should have some "say" in how the church operates.

The intent of this lesson is to look at the The Holy Spirit as The Divine Administrator or the power (who in the physical absence of Jesus) is in charge of leading/guiding or directing the church that Jesus organized before He ascended to heaven after He died on the cross.

To say that we believe that “the Holy Spirit” is the “Divine Administrator” of Jesus Christ in His churches . . . is an indication that we have

much more than a “superficial” knowledge of WHO Jesus really is – WHO The Holy Spirit is AND that we also totally and completely

understand what THE CHURCH IS – what the church DOES – and the real purpose OF the church . . . If we are a babe in Christ . . .

If our view of Jesus “begins and ends” with the fact that He is our savior . . . then we do not know enough about Jesus to say that we

believe that The Holy Spirit is His divine administrator in The New Testament Church . . . If we have been saved – then it is true that

Jesus is our savior . . . but it is also true that Jesus is much MORE than simply our savior –

and if the extent of (or if the sum total) of our “knowledge of Jesus” is that He died for our sins on the cross to provide His blood as

payment to God for our sins . . . then we simply don’t know enough about Jesus to “understand” the real significance of what is often referred to as one of landmarks of our New Testament faith.

The concept of “an administrator” refers to a manager, supervisor or an overseer . . . When we think of our lives as “Christians” – we

often see ourselves as enjoying our freedom to be “independent” . . . Enjoying the freedom that we have to choose our own path in life –and to adopt “the way of worship” that we choose to follow.

The very first step toward Christianity is to move our lives in the same direction that Jesus moved His . . . I understand that Jesus

was a “perfectly sinless” man (He was quite literally God in human form) and that we are born as sinners . . . and that even after we

are saved we continue to sin every day of our lives because salvation does not destroy the sin nature in our lives . . . but salvation DOES

ADD a new nature to our lives . . . And this concept of an overseer . . . carries with it the idea of allowing another to be the LORD of

our life – the master of our life – or the dominate force in our life . . . the point being that if in salvation we INHERIT a new nature

from God which competes with our old nature of sin . . . then there must be a winner in this struggle for dominance within us.

This is where a “meaningful dialog” about “The Holy Spirit” is able to enter our discussion.

In any contest . . . in any struggle . . . it is not long before one of the contestants in this struggle begins to dominate the other . . . 

in a sporting contest – the dominate team is the one who is better prepared – the one who is better equipped – the one who follows the leadership of their coach . . . the same thing is true regarding “the game of life”

Romans 7: 21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

Here is Paul's description of “the struggle” between the spirit of God that he inherited in salvation (the new birth) . . . and the spirit of

sin that he inherited when he was born of the flesh as a young baby . . .

As a child of God . . . Paul recognizes a struggle within his heart between what he understands is good and evil . . .

How do you think Paul is able to distinguish (or to see) the difference between the “good” and the “evil” that he speaks of here?

22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

How is it that Paul is able to see – to comprehend – or to understand “the law of God” . . . and be able to COMPARE God’s law

with the law of Satan (the desires of the flesh) which was so effective at hindering him when he tried to turn his life toward God’s law?

23 But I see “another law” (or a second nature) in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

Where did Paul get the understanding that “by birth” the direction that his heart preferred to travel proved to always be contrary to “the law of God” 

24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Do you begin to see the purpose of The Holy Spirit in the life of Paul . . . Do you begin to see the purpose of The Holy Spirit in OUR life today?

I understand that we began this lesson with the “belief” that The Holy Spirit is the divine administrator for Jesus in His churches  . . .

In the simplest of explanations . . . this simply means that The Holy Spirit is in charge of the Lords’ NTC . . . it means that influence of

The Holy Spirit DOMINATES the direction of the Lords’ NTC . . . the point is . . . if we do not yet understand the meaning of how to

submit to The Holy Spirit in our individual lives – then how can understand what it means to let The Holy Spirit be the “controlling influence” in our churches?

 1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

As children of God (in our individual lives) we all experience the same type of struggle that Paul wrote about in Romans chapter 7.

And if (in our private lives) we are not successful in allowing “the good” that Paul spoke of to dominate “the evil” that he

mentioned . . . then what hope is there that we will react any differently to that same Spirit of righteousness (in a church setting) than we

have chosen to react in the privacy of our own heart.

End Lesson #1 . . . The Holy Spirit as Divine Administrator for Jesus in the NTC . . .