Foundations of Faith
GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT (V)
We learned in the December 1994 issue of GROWING that a most important work of the Holy Spirit is teaching the believer about the Lord Jesus Christ (John 16:13-15). Such teaching helps us to follow Christ’s perfect example for us (1 Pet. 2:21-23) and to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.
What is the fruit of the Spirit? It may be described as the attitudes and behavior of Christ reproduced in the lives of believers. It consists of “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (Gal. 5:22,23).
While teaching His disciples about bearing fruit, Jesus tells them (1) “Abide in My love“; (2) “these things have I spoken unto you that My joy might remain in you”; and (3) “My peace I give unto you” (John 14:27; 15:10,11). Do you see the connection? The disciples (that is what you and I are) bear fruit by allowing the love, joy, peace, and other attitudes of Christ to come out in our lives. We can also see Christ in the other six aspects of the fruit of the Spirit.
4. “The Lord is longsuffering, not willing that any should perish” (2 Pet. 3:9; see also 1 Tim. 1:16).
5 and 6. “Take My yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart…. For My yoke is easy [literally, gentle] and My burden is light” (Matt. 11:29,30).
7. “Good Master, what shall I do…?” (Luke 18:18). “Some said, He is a good man” (John 7:12).
8. The Lord Jesus, being the eternal Son of God, did not really need to have faith in God. He fully knew who He was and who His Father was. But the Scriptures declare Him as “Faithful and True” (Rev. 19:11; see also 2 Thess. 3:3).
9. See Assignment 3.
Running the Race
HOW DOES THE HOLY SPIRIT AFFECT OUR DAILY LIVES? (IV)
Scene: Teen-age Sunday school class.
Teacher: Last week I promised to relate a couple of true stories that illustrate the Holy Spirit’s work of prompting the believer to prayer or other actions.
A friend of mine, Jean Huang of Baltimore, Maryland, told me this story about 20 years ago. A few years previous she was serving as a missionary nurse in Honduras. She had just begun receiving training in helping mothers during labor and performing deliveries. When her instructor became ill and returned to the United States, Ms. Huang was left to run the clinic by herself.
One day a woman named Mary came into the clinic in active labor. A few minutes later she delivered a child. To the dismay of both Mary and Ms. Huang, the child was born dead. That evening Mary’s husband came into the clinic, drunk and carrying a pistol. He was very angry that the child had died and he blamed the nurse for having killed it. There he stood, pointing the pistol at Ms. Huang; there she stood trembling, facing him. Suddenly, he turned and walked out of the building.
Ms. Huang related this incident in a letter to her family in Pennsylvania. One dear elderly lady, hearing the story, asked what day and hour the incident occurred. It turned out that at that very hour, the Holy Spirit had impressed this lady with the thought that Ms. Huang was in trouble and that she should pray for her.
Thus, the Holy Spirit found a willing servant who obeyed His prompting to pray, and He provided a wonderful answer to that prayer.
Katy: That reminds me of a story my mother told me of a couple named Ted and Nell. Ted was stationed at a mission center in Vietnam in 1961 during the war. His wife waited in neighboring Thailand for his return. One evening the Viet Cong attacked. Guns and artillery were blazing everywhere. The mission personnel hurried to their shelters and stayed for two hours. Returning later to the mission center, they found no civilians wounded, only light casualties among the government troops, and the mission center unharmed.
Weeks later, Ted and Nell learned that a friend of Nell’s in Australia had awakened in the middle of that very night with the strong impression that Ted and Nell were in special need. She got up and prayed for her friends, and she found out later that the Lord had wonderfully answered her prayer.
Teacher: Thank you, Katy. Isn’t it exciting to know that God is real and living? He knows all of our needs and He helps His people in wonderful ways.
Tom: Yes, and it really is encouraging to realize that sometimes God allows us to be a part of His work in helping others.
Teacher: I have another story which shows that the Holy Spirit does not always have to speak to people directly and supernaturally to stir them into action. In this story, the Holy Spirit spoke to a certain woman through a news report on the radio.
Francis and Edith Schaeffer told this story in one of their books. Mrs. Schaeffer had the radio on one evening in 1947 when the program was interrupted by a news flash that a plane was in distress over the Atlantic Ocean. Realizing that her husband was flying home from Europe that same night, she gathered her three young daughters together and they knelt down and prayed.
At that same moment, midway between Europe and North America, Mr. Schaeffer was also praying. The co-pilot had just come out and told the passengers to put on their life jackets. Both engines on one wing of the DC4 had stopped.
Just as everybody could see the waves breaking below them and were preparing for the crash, suddenly the two engines started. They proceeded safely to Gander, Newfoundland. Later the pilot told Mr. Schaeffer that he just could not explain it. He said it was very rare that two engines stop on one wing; when it does happen, one can be absolutely certain they are not going to start again. Mr. Schaeffer responded, “I can explain it. My Father in heaven started them because I was praying.” Many hours later he learned that his family was praying too.
Assignment 3: There is no verse that states specifically that the Lord Jesus had temperance (or self-control). Write out a verse from 1 Peter 2 and a verse from the prophecy concerning Christ in Isaiah 53 that demonstrate His self-control.