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1 Corinthians
Copyright 1999. John Creamer. All rights reserved.
Questions: Did you ever see the television series ‘Superman’? What special abilities did Superman have? What would cause him to lose his power? (Exposure to kryptonite.) Did you ever see the television program ‘Bewitched’? What was Samantha’s special ability? Did you ever see the television program ‘I Dream of Jeannie’?
What special abilities did Jeannie have? Have you wondered what you would ask for if Genies were real and you
found a ‘Genie in a bottle’? Can you think of any other television series or movies in which someone
possessed special abilities? Hollywood doesn’t produce anything unless it appeals to the imagination
of the public; why do you think the average person is fascinated with
the thought of having special abilities? Do you think we sometimes super-impose our ‘Hollywood Style’
imagination of special abilities onto our concept of being filled with
God’s Spirit? Does God fill people with His Spirit only with the ‘Hollywood Style’
special abilities? Scripture: (1 Chronicles 12:18 NIV) Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, chief of
the Thirty, and he said: "We are yours, O David! We are with you,
O son of Jesse! Success, success to you, and success to those who help
you, for your God will help you." So David received them and made
them leaders of his raiding bands. We often think God gives His Spirit only to the ‘people at the top’
as leaders, but what did He give His Spirit to Amasai to do? (To be ‘in
the middle’, both to follow David’s leadership as well as leading
David’s men. Everyone can’t be the person at the top…someone
has to follow. God knows His Spirit is just as necessary to be a good
follower as it is to be a good leader.) Do you think people recognize the ability to support, follow and serve
under someone else’s leadership as a gift of God’s Spirit? If you were the leader, wouldn’t you like to know that God’s
Spirit had given you the power to lead and the people under your command
were filled by God’s Spirit to give them the ability to follow your
leadership? If you were the follower, wouldn’t you like to be filled with God’s
Spirit to give you the ability to follow? What are some of the undesirable results of people leading without God’s
Spirit giving them that ability or of people trying to follow someone’s
leadership without God giving them the ability to do so through His Spirit? (1 Chronicles 28:11-12 NIV) Then David gave his son Solomon the plans
for the portico of the temple, its buildings, its storerooms, its upper
parts, its inner rooms and the place of atonement. {12} He gave him the
plans of all that the Spirit had put in his mind for the courts of the
temple of the LORD and all the surrounding rooms, for the treasuries of
the temple of God and for the treasuries for the dedicated things. What did the Spirit give David? (All the plans for the courts of the
temple of the Lord.) How did the Spirit give them to David? (Through his mind.) Perhaps you have had this experience or one similar to it: You are supposed to plan something…an event, a program, perhaps
a building…and you keep ‘drawing a blank’. Finally, in
desperation you pray, asking God for wisdom and/or insight to help you
come up with something. You go to sleep. The next morning, the plan begins
to formulate in your mind. You lay out the plan in a fraction of the time
it should have taken. A burden turns into a blessing. Did God do this…or was it your brilliance? Did you immediately remember you prayer and thank God for His answer? Do we sometimes fail to recognize—like David did in verse 12—that
this is one of the ways the Holy Spirit works in us? Many people are ‘afraid’ to be filled with God’s Spirit
because they think they will turn weird. Perhaps they would not be so
apprehensive if they knew that God’s Spirit filling us may be as
practical as helping us to plan things in our minds. (2 Chronicles 15:1-2 NIV) The Spirit of God came upon Azariah son
of Oded. {2} He went out to meet Asa and said to him, "Listen to
me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are
with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake
him, he will forsake you. Why did the Spirit of God come upon Azariah? (To give a message through
him to Asa.) What was the message? Is this message consistent with what happened in the lives of Saul and
Samson? Do you think this message is still applicable for us today? (2 Chronicles 20:2-6 NIV) Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, "A
vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the
Sea. It is already in Hazazon Tamar" (that is, En Gedi). {3} Alarmed,
Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the LORD, and he proclaimed a fast
for all Judah. {4} The people of Judah came together to seek help from
the LORD; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him. {5}
Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the
temple of the LORD in the front of the new courtyard {6} and said: "O
LORD, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule
over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand,
and no one can withstand you. What did Jehoshaphat and the nation of Judah do when they realized they
were about to be attacked by a vast army? How do you think God will respond to them approaching Him seeking His
help? How do you think He would respond if our country was in a similar situation
and we approached Him the same way? (2 Chronicles 20:12-18 NIV) O our God, will you not judge them? For
we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not
know what to do, but our eyes are upon you." {13} All the men of
Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before
the LORD. What position did they take as they petitioned God? (Absolute dependency
on God.) {14} Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah,
the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and
descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly. {15} He said: "Listen,
King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what
the LORD says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this
vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's. {16} Tomorrow march
down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you
will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. {17} You
will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm
and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem.
Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow,
and the LORD will be with you.'" {18} Jehoshaphat bowed with his
face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down
in worship before the LORD. What role did the Spirit of God play in answering their prayer? Why was it good that the Holy Spirit responded immediately through Jahaziel
instructing them not to fight?…consider the alternative: They could
have prayed…no answer…took matters into their own hands and
went out to fight the huge army. Sounds like a reasonable thing to do—except
that God had a better idea, and outcome in mind. (2 Chronicles 20:20-30 NIV) Early in the morning they left for the
Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Listen
to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the LORD your God
and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful."
{21} After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to
the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went
out at the head of the army, saying: "Give thanks to the LORD, for
his love endures forever." They began to sing and praise God even before they had any evidence that
God would deliver them. Apparently, God likes this kind of faith…look
what happened as they began to sing… {22} As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against
the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and
they were defeated. {23} The men of Ammon and Moab rose up against the
men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished
slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another. {24}
When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and
looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground;
no one had escaped. As God promised by His Spirit through Jahaziel, they did not have
to fight this battle. An entire nation sought God’s help and God
delivered them. How long did Judah demonstrate this faith in God? We pick
up the story two generations later: (2 Chronicles 24:19-21 NIV) Although the LORD sent prophets to the
people to bring them back to him, and though they testified against them,
they would not listen. {20} Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah
son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, "This
is what God says: 'Why do you disobey the Lord's commands? You will not
prosper. Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has forsaken you.'"
{21} But they plotted against him, and by order of the king they stoned
him to death in the courtyard of the Lord's temple. Some fifty years earlier, an entire nation exhibited total trust in God
and He promised—by His Spirit through the prophet Jahaziel—to
fight for them and deliver them. Now, two generations later, what message
did the Holy Spirit give to Zechariah to give to Judah and King Joash?
How did Judah and Joash respond? In America’s Pledge of Allegiance, the United States is called ‘One
Nation under God’. How do you think a prophet today, filled by the
Spirit of God, would describe America…as “One Nation under
God” or as “One Nation That has Forsaken the Lord”? How do you think our media would treat this prophet if his message to America was the same as Zechariah’s message to Judah? (Zechariah 7:12-13 NIV) They made their hearts as hard as flint and
would not listen to the law or to the words that the LORD Almighty had
sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the LORD Almighty
was very angry. {13} "'When I called, they did not listen; so when
they called, I would not listen,' says the LORD Almighty. How did the people in these verses respond to the words of the Lord sent
by His Holy Spirit? How did their hard-hearted response to the Holy Spirit affect God’s
willingness to listen to them? Is it possible that God’s response to ‘hearts as hard as
flint and would not listen to the words that the LORD Almighty had sent
by his Spirit’ is still the same today? What is the solution? (Ezekiel 36:26-27 NIV) I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit
in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart
of flesh. {27} And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow
my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. What is God’s solution to our hard hearts? How did God plan to give us this new heart, new spirit and put His Spirit
in us? (Isaiah 11:1-2 NIV) A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. {2} The Spirit of the LORD will
rest on him-- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of
counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD— (Isaiah 42:1-3 NIV) "Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen
one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice
to the nations. {2} He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in
the streets. {3} A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick
he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; (Matthew 12:18 NIV) "Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the
one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will
proclaim justice to the nations. (Isaiah 59:20-21 NIV) "The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those
in Jacob who repent of their sins," declares the LORD. {21} "As
for me, this is my covenant with them," says the LORD. "My Spirit,
who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will not depart
from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths
of their descendants from this time on and forever," says the LORD. (Isaiah 61:1-2 NIV) The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because
the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent
me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners, {2} to proclaim the year
of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all
who mourn, Who did God appoint to change our ‘hearts hard as flint’? What role did the Holy Spirit have in Jesus Christ making this possible
for us? (The Holy Spirit was God’s ‘agent’ who empowered
Jesus Christ to do this redeeming work.) Bottom Line: Review the unique functions the Holy Spirit fulfilled in the Scripture passages in this lesson, then close with a prayer that God will help us accurately understand…and welcome into our lives…His great gifts through His Holy Spirit. |