Our studies on the subject of
“The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit” went well. If you followed these
reports in the September trip, you may remember that we were invited to speak
at the Sunday services of the “Bright and Morning Star Church” (known as BMS).
They are a mix of some with Baptist backgrounds as well as others with
Pentecost or charismatic backgrounds. We began our classes a little after 9am,
had a short break for lunch and finished about 3:30pm after a question/answer
period.
The group had asked that I
present lectures on the subject of the “manifestations of the Holy Spirit,” so
I edited and reorganized a series on the Holy Spirit done several years ago at
home. The six lessons in the series were:
- The Person of the Holy Spirit
- The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament
- The Holy Spirit’s work in Revelation
- The Miraculous Action of the Holy Spirit in Scripture
- The Miraculous Action of the Holy Spirit in Apostolic Time
o
(This lesson
contained a part dealing with the purpose and duration of miracles)
- The Holy Spirit’s Work in Salvation
After the lessons, there was
a period for questions from the audience about the lesson. It was obvious that
the points taught in the lessons were new to many of the audience. Several
seemed to be shocked by the things taught from the Bible having never
considered them before. So, the question/answer period began with whether I
believe that God could heal today. We looked at James 5:14-18 to show God still
acts by His providence in answer to the prayers of His saints. In that context,
prayers for healing are specifically addressed. We also noted that the prayers
of a righteous man avails much according to verse 16. We then discussed the
difference between that kind of providential action in keeping with the natural
laws and the miraculous healings in Bible times. We also covered the meaning of
the Holy Spirit “indwelling the Christian” and showed it was taught just as the
indwelling of the Father and the Son, but that all were done through a medium,
not by a physical presence of the divine person of the Holy Spirit being
located within the body of the Christian. Several other points were also raised
and discussed, but there seemed to be a good reception to the teaching.
After the conclusion of the study, I talked with the man who is one of the leaders, David. He has extended the invitation to speak both in September as well as today and tomorrow. I told him that I was having a great deal of pain and swelling with my leg and that I had to be on a plane departing for Manila at 1pm tomorrow so that a doctor could check me out. I suggested that it might be better to have Jonathan take my place for that time, but he insisted that they would rearrange their services to let me go first and then leave for the airport. So, the fact that they are still leaving the door open is a good sign. Please pray that this door will continue to be open and that other faithful brethren might be able to continue the teaching that needs to be done.
