Katy

Q1. Because of the sin of Adam we have all inherited a sinful nature. This nature is dead to God and wants to gratify the desires of its heart. It is purely selfish. The sinful nature will never be eradicated but with the power of the Holy Spirit we can overcome this sinful nature. There will be time when we commit sin but “If we confess our sins , He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1John 1 v9. The closer we are to the Holy Spirit the less lightly we are to sin. He will at all times give us the power to overcome sin and temptation.

Q3. No the two incidents described in Caesarea and Ephesus are unusual and not what normally happens but I know God can use the time of conversion to bring about whatever He sees fit and right for the occasion.. There are many Christians including myself who have never spoken in tongues. We are still in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit.

Q2. The disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit in circumstances that were difficult or challenging. This filling is separate from them being baptised in the Spirit at Pentecost. They will always have the Holy Spirit in dwelling in them, this is like the Old Testament when certain people were given tasks to do by God and He filled them with the Holy Spirit to give them the power to carry out their mission. I think it is possible for people to have many fillings of the Holy Spirit. This happens if we are totally immersed in God. If we have confessed our sins, love God with all of our heart, all our spirit and all our strength. And we love our neighbour as ourselves. We must also obey God. Then we will be given from time to time a filling of the Holy Spirit to give us power that we need for daily living.

Q2. The disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit in circumstances that were difficult or challenging. This filling is separate from them being baptised in the Spirit at Pentecost. They will always have the Holy Spirit in dwelling in them, this is like the Old Testament when certain people were given tasks to do by God and He filled them with the Holy Spirit to give them the power to carry out their mission. I think it is possible for people to have many fillings of the Holy Spirit. This happens if we are totally immersed in God. If we have confessed our sins, love God with all of our heart, all our spirit and all our strength. And we love our neighbour as ourselves. We must also obey God. Then we will be given from time to time a filling of the Holy Spirit to give us power that we need for daily living.

Q2. The disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit in circumstances that were difficult or challenging. This filling is separate from them being baptised in the Spirit at Pentecost. They will always have the Holy Spirit in dwelling in them, this is like the Old Testament when certain people were given tasks to do by God and He filled them with the Holy Spirit to give them the power to carry out their mission. I think it is possible for people to have many fillings of the Holy Spirit. This happens if we are totally immersed in God. If we have confessed our sins, love God with all of our heart, all our spirit and all our strength. And we love our neighbour as ourselves. We must also obey God. Then we will be given from time to time a filling of the Holy Spirit to give us power that we need for daily living.

Q2. The disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit in circumstances that were difficult or challenging. This filling is separate from them being baptised in the Spirit at Pentecost. They will always have the Holy Spirit in dwelling in them, this is like the Old Testament when certain people were given tasks to do by God and He filled them with the Holy Spirit to give them the power to carry out their mission. I think it is possible for people to have many fillings of the Holy Spirit. This happens if we are totally immersed in God. If we have confessed our sins, love God with all of our heart, all our spirit and all our strength. And we love our neighbour as ourselves. We must also obey God. Then we will be given from time to time a filling of the Holy Spirit to give us power that we need for daily living.

Q2. The disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit in circumstances that were difficult or challenging. This filling is separate from them being baptised in the Spirit at Pentecost. They will always have the Holy Spirit in dwelling in them, this is like the Old Testament when certain people were given tasks to do by God and He filled them with the Holy Spirit to give them the power to carry out their mission. I think it is possible for people to have many fillings of the Holy Spirit. This happens if we are totally immersed in God. If we have confessed our sins, love God with all of our heart, all our spirit and all our strength. And we love our neighbour as ourselves. We must also obey God. Then we will be given from time to time a filling of the Holy Spirit to give us power that we need for daily living.

Q1. Up until this time the Holy Spirit had come to people for specific purposes or task that God had given them to do. At Pentecost for the first time the Holy Spirit filled the people and stayed with them to give them power. The word analogies used were, filled with the Spirit, Acts2v4. Pour out my Spirit, Acts 2v 18. The gift of the Holy Spirit, Acts 2v38. The promise, Acts 2v39. Baptise, Acts 1v 5. Comes upon you. Acts 1v8. Yes these terms are used synonymously. There were God fearing men from every nation under Heaven. When they heard this sound( a violent wind) , a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Acts 2v5-6. Peter explained to them that what was happening was the part fulfilment of Joel’s prophecy in Joel2 v28-32.

Q4. Ephesians 6v12. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the Heavenly Realms. John also tells us that the Holy Spirit within us is greater than all demons within the world. John reminds us that within us the power we possess through the Holy Spirit is greater than all other powers. The potential power We have today is just the same as Paul had. Maybe we are unaware of the power we have. Sin in our lives may interfere with the power. Satan tells us lies about ourselves which so often we believe. I will certainly be praying for guidance and help in using the power of the Holy Spirit in my life.

Q3. When we became Christians, God gave us His Holy Spirit to dwell within us as a seal upon us. A seal mark something as being real or authentic. We belong to God because we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit’s presence with us is just the beginning, a down payment or a deposit guaranteeing what is to come in the future. We will see God face to face, the presence of the Holy Spirit to help us through this life is only the beginning of wonderful times in God’s presence . We are anointed by the Holy Spirit that is set apart for the service of God.

Q2. The implications to having access to the mind of Christ through the Holy Spirit are enormous. It means we can know everything about God that He wants us to know. We can discern all thing’s spiritual. It also gives us thee huge privilege of being able to have a personal relationship with Him. The more we know Christ the more we can emulate Him and His ways. It helps us understand how God inspired His writers to write the Bible. We also have access to the great power of God. The connection with God through the Holy Spirit makes it easier to understand the gifts given to some followers of Christ such as Teaching, healing and prophecy. With the connection via the Holy Spirit to Christ and to individuals these gifts can be transmitted from Christ to the Holy Spirit to the individual. It also helps me understand how Pastors and Elders get the right words to say to us every Sunday morning. I know a lot of study, prayer and research goes into every sermon, but I imagine Christ honing their thoughts and words to what He wants us to hear.

Q1. People who have not become Christian’s do not have Christ living in them. It is only when we give our lives to Jesus, and repent of our sins , and recognise that Jesus’s work on the cross is the only hope of salvation that we have that the Holy Spirit comes to live within us. It is in the person of the Holy Spirit that the Father and Son come to live within us. This is only possible because of the Holy Trinity, three distinct persons in one. To make them feel welcome we should be aware of their presence, love them and obey them. The Jewish nation knew that God dwelt in the temple. A part of the temple was the Holy of Holies, and within this area God dwelt in the midst of His people. God lives in our bodies in a similar way. Our bodies are a living temple, unlike the temple of old made of stone. The presence of the Holy Spirit gives me the courage to face and do things I would’nt otherwise do. The Holy Spirit also makes us spiritually aware, all things to do with God are interesting and He gives us the desire to be involved. He convicts us of sins, He guides us to do the right thing in situations that maybe are not straightforward. He gives us peace even in the middle of chaos. He helps us to be more like Jesus. He gives us the desire to see others saved and we are bolder in our approach to others.

Q4. The wind blows wherever it wants to. We don’t see where it comes from or where it is going but we can see the effects. So it is with the Hole Spirit, we cannot see Him but we can see the fruit of His work in our lives or in the lives of others. The worldly things that interested us in the past, now hold little attraction for us. We are drawn more to the things of God and working for God, in whatever situation He has put us in. Only those born of the Spirit can enter the Kingdom of God.

Q3. I think to be “ born of water and the Spirit” means that when we are convicted of sin we humble ourselves before God and confess our sins….. we then are baptised with water, which is a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin. It is a gift from the Spirit, to be chosen by God to be convicted. When we come to the place of committing ourselves to God , the Holy Spirit comes upon us and we are born of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us. At baptism we are born of water, it is baptism of repentance. When we commit ourselves to God , we are born of the Spirit. Without being born again we cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. This can only be done by each of us humbling ourselves before God, seeking His forgiveness for our sins, and then allowing the work of the Holy Spirit to regenerate us.

Q2.Nicodemus was an earnest inquirer at the time he went to see Jesus. Although he was a Pharisee and a teacher of the law he must have realised that something was missing, or maybe he saw in Jesus , a unique , holy and powerful man sent by God, and he wanted to find out more about Him. He was not born of the Spirit yet but was seeking truth. People who have received second birth have recognised who Jesus is and what He has down for them by dying on the cross. They have also recognised their own sinfulness and their utter dependence on God to save them. They have submitted to God In complete humility and utter dependence on Him. Those who have not experienced these things, are Spiritually dead , they do not see their need for God. They feel self sufficient. They are dead in their sin.

Q1. All are invited to come and drink from the “ living water”. Jesus promises that ‘streams of living water will flow from within him’. By this Jesus meant that if we truly believe in Him and repent of all our sins the Holy Spirit will come and dwell within us and a spring of water will bubble up and become a river flowing out of us which enables us as Christians to reach out to others and speak to them about the things of God. I have seen my life change over the years with the help of the Holy Spirit. However there are still flaws and sin which I need to overcome with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Q3. John refers to the Holy Spirit as He , a person not a power. Unfortunately groups like the Jehovah Witnesses deny that the Holy Spirit is a divine being they strip away His personhood by referring to Him as God’s active force! The Holy Spirit comforts (Acts 9v 31), He teaches (John14v26), He guides (John16v13),He can be grieved ( Ephesians 4v30), He can be tempted (Acts 5 v9). The Holy Spirit can do everything humans can do and much more. If we refer to the Holy Spirit as ‘it’ , we are showing a lack of understanding of the status and role of the Holy Spirit. When we truly understand the Holy Spirit, we see Him as an equal partner of the Triune Godhead, three in one. Equal in status with different roles.

Q2. To testify means to tell others about something that one has witnessed. The Holy Spirit helped the disciples by reminding them about all that Jesus taught them, He also helped them understand all that they had learnt and not fully understood from Jesus. As a Christian I can testify to others all that Jesus has done in my life. It is my personal experience that no one can deny. The disciples were personal witnesses of all that Jesus did and taught and also everything He went through before He was nailed to the cross. They also were witnesses to Him being risen from the dead and Jesus spent time with them before He ascended into Heaven. Each Christian has their own personal experience of God’s work in their own lives. Many can tell of miraculous changes that could only be brought about by God. The Holy Spirit also daily helps us to bear witness to Christ and all He has done in our lives.

Q1. Jesus has been the disciples Paraclete while He was with them on earth. He has been their friend, guide, helper and counsellor but now He is returning to the Father in Heaven. Now Jesus is going to send them ‘another’ Paraclete, who is the Hole Spirit. As part of the God head , three in one, the Holy Spirit will replace Jesus but He will not be in human form as Jesus was , He will dwell within them. Jesus tells the disciples to stay in Jerusalem until they had been clothed with power from on high.Luke 24v 49. At Pentecost the Holy Spirit was given to them.

Q4. The Holy Spirit is sent by the Father in the name of the Son. Both Father and Son are involved as the Holy Spirits role is subordinate to both Father and Son.

Q3. Jesus did miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus lived fully in the Spirit. Jesus is our example to show us that we can also minister by the Holy Spirit, if we are aware , praying and asking the Holy Spirit to use us and work through us as we speak to people.

Q2.The Father Son and Holy Spirit are all part of the Holy Trinity and as such are equal in person But subordinate in role. Jesus is dependent on His Father especially during His time on earth. They are interdependent, working together for our good. Because Jesus was taking on humanness He relinquished some of the prerogatives of His divinity. This enabled Jesus to truly experience all the trial, tribulations and joys of being a human being. This experience enables Him to truly understand all our human problems and He can show genuine empathy with us because He has been there before us.

Q4. Joel foretells of a day when God would pour out His Holy Spirit on all people , both Jews and Gentiles. This was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost. Today we receive the Holy Spirit when we put our trust in Jesus as Lord and Saviour. We are told that people will prophecy, old men will dream dreams and young men will have visions. In Ezekiel God promises to take away hearts of stone and replace them with hearts of flesh. Because of the Spirit within us we will be able to be obedient and follow God’s laws.

Q3. God promises through Isaiah that from the root of Jesse a shoot would come, that shoot was Jesus through the line of David, Jesse’s son. God also promises that the Spirit of the Lord would rest on Him and He would impart wisdom, understanding, counsel, power , knowledge and fear of the Lord. Jesus is referred to as the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53, and God promises once again that He will put His Spirit on Him, and that He would bring justice to the nations. Isaiah also refers to the Anointed Messiah who would also have the Spirit of the Lord upon Him so He can bring good news to the poor , bind up the broken hearted, He would proclaim liberty to the captives, free those who are bound, to warn people about the day of vengeance, but also tell of His mercy and forgiveness to those who turn to Him for His forgiveness, Jesus would bring comfort to those who mourn. These prophecies were fulfilled in the life and ministry of Jesus. In Luke 4v21 Jesus says that the prophecy in Isaiah 61v1-2 was being fulfilled in their hearing.

Q2. It was the presence of the Holy Spirit which enabled the 70 Elders to lead the people. Initially when the Holy Spirit came upon them they Prophesied, but it was just once. This was because God wanted them to lead His people by the power of the Holy Spirit, He did not want more prophets. Moses longs for the presence of the Holy Spirit to come upon everyone, so that everyone would be closer to God, and desire the things of God, rather that being occupied with worldly things.