No Substitute for Service

Christian are called to serve.  But this service is not done begrudgingly but generosity and joy.  Service is sweet and active, but it is also one of those rare opportunities for love.  By its nature, service gets people together for an agreed-upon task and purpose, making it a fertile ground for fellowship.

To be sure, the service we are referring to here is the kind that has no eye on repayment, that is done purely out of a motivation of love.  This kind of service is sweet and robust; it is gracious and godly; and, what's more, it has been commanded as a vital part of the Christian life.

Unfortunately, we have often thought of service as a chore and not as a gift of grace.  We have refused to serve because we have thought it an obligation, or we have spurned the opportunities to serve because we couldn't see the personal benefit.

But service is a gift of grace in itself.  It is a joyous salve for the weary heart.  For anyone who may feel downtrodden or enervated, service may be the very cure for all your languor.  It is through service that that love of God passes through us.  We truly become vessels for the love of God when we serve.

Let us then never lose sight of service in our lives.  Let us make it part of our schedule.  For when we serve others, we will be served ourselves by God Himself as His Spirit flows through us unto others.  This is a beautiful and sweet transmission.  And truly, there is no substitute for service.

Understanding the Holy Spirit

Throughout the Church, there seems to be much teaching and doctrine about the Father, and certainly the Son, but the work of the Holy Spirit is oddly neglected.  To be sure, it is challenging. For however many and eloquent words we might employ to depict and discuss the Holy Spirit, we are inevitably left using material and human words to describe an altogether un-human being.  This leaves us inclined either to dig deeper into the Scriptures for clarification or simply to ignore teaching about the Holy Spirit entirely for fear of doing Him injustice.  Needless to say, the latter is unacceptable.  Instead, we should look at the opportunity to learn about God, His Holy Spirit, with joy and energy.

At the onset, the Holy Spirit is unique to Christianity.  Only Christianity teaches that God Himself, in His Holy Spirit, will actually descend upon and indwell believers.  This should excite us to know that God desires to indwell us with His very person so as to guide, to teach, and to grow us from the inside-out.  Because we are discussing a Spirit, we should be sure to consider a couple of points of clarification: we are referring to the Spirit not a material substance; we are talking about One who indwells within believers not everyone; and there is an emphasis in the New Testament, particularly Acts, for a baptism of or being filled by the Holy Spirit.  These three basic assertions form a trifecta of foundations supported and supplemented by the Word, specifically the New Testament.

While the Holy Spirit plays a major role in nearly all of the New Testament works, none more so than that of the Gospel of John and Acts.  More than any other writing does John chronicle Jesus specific teaching about the Holy Spirit.  For starters, people are to be baptized in the Holy Spirit (John 1:33), which equates to be born of the Spirit (John 3:5).  This can seem both odd and confusing, and has sparked much debate over what amounts to this baptism.  Luckily, Jesus does not leave us without reference about this, as chronicled by Luke throughout Acts.

In Acts 1:4-5, Jesus tells the disciples to wait for the promise of the Father, "He said, 'you heard from me; for John baptized with water but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.'"  Jesus, quite clearly, tells the disciples that, though they had already been baptized with water and were believers, they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit.  Moreover, just before Jesus ascends, in His final words to His disciples, He says, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8)."  The event Jesus prophesied is Pentecost (Acts 2:4), accompanied by the physical manifestations of the Holy Spirit, namely speaking in tongues and prophesying.

Much destructive and unbiblical teaching has been done on this subject, to the effect that the Church seems polarized.  In an effort to keep true to the Scripture and reserved, we can point out a couple of clear things about this.  For one, believers are to be baptized in water and the Holy Spirit.  These being two things, they do not necessarily mean two separate occasions; they could be simultaneous.  Secondly, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the power of God.  If we do not have the Holy Spirit, we could believe all the right orthodoxy but never bear fruit.  In this far-too-normal scenario, we need to earnestly pray to receive the Holy Spirit who guides, counsels, teaches, helps us grow spiritual fruit and is the medium of worship (John 4:23; 14:15-18, 25-26; 16:4-15).

The other, and most controversial, aspect of the Holy Spirit that should not be neglected for fear of disrupting our denominational doctrines or sensibilities is in reference to the "sign" gifts: healing, miracles, prophecy, visions, and tongues.  In an effort to let the Word determine theology as opposed to the dire case of the reverse, it must be said unambiguously that these gifts are still in effect today.  We still live in the age of grace, and God still empowers believers who have been baptized by the Holy Spirit with these gifts and He still works in these ways today.

In the end, understanding who the Holy Spirit is, how He is received, and what He does within believers is essential teaching.  Certainly, it is challenging teaching that can convict and push us in unforeseen ways but this should not allow us to neglect it.  In closing, Paul indicates that the Holy Spirit "seals" our inheritance in the Father, and is a "guarantor" of our eternity (2 Cor.21-22; Eph. 1:13-14).  The purpose of this article has not been an exhaustive or comprehensive teaching on the Holy Spirit, but just a taste of the more important things that Christians need to be aware of.  Let us then pray to be baptized by the Holy Spirit so as to be empowered by God Himself!

Ecclesiastes and Vanity

The book of Ecclesiastes begins with these sobering words of Solomon: "Vanity of vanities! All is vanity."  Solomon then goes into a severe indictment over the uselessness of every form of life, from wisdom to folly, from pleasure to prudence, Solomon ends this small book of wisdom before the epilogue in the same way that the book begins, "Vanity of vanities...All is vanity!"

Think of the profundity of Solomon's assertion.  The wisest man to ever live (apart from Christ Jesus) has seen everything under the sun, all of man's toil and strife as well as all of man's joys and pleasures, and Solomon's final analysis is that "All is vanity." To be sure, Solomon's verdict is more than somber, it is downright depressing but under more analysis, Solomon is painting a picture of life and wisdom.

A bit of introductory information is in order.  Ecclesiastes is one of the Old Testament Writings, the third part of the Old Testament that is more like a miscellaneous bin of various writings, like Job, Psalms, Proverbs, and Esther, that do not fit with the rest of the Old Testament.  In fact, this book completes the trifecta of wisdom books, the other two being Job and Proverbs, that offer differing views on the value of wisdom.  Because of this, Ecclesiastes should be considered in relation to the other wisdom books.  That being said, Ecclesiastes does have some good and useful things to say about wisdom and life.

Although Solomon's tone is less-than encouraging in regards to the uselessness of life, he does indicate that there is value to be had in enjoying one's work (2:24), value in timing and enjoying life (3:1-113),  value in enjoying work and simple pleasures (5:18), value in mourning (6:2-4), value of enjoying work and life (9:7-9), value of wisdom (10:10), and the value of praising the Lord in the days of youth (12:1).  Sense a theme?

Solomon, though thoroughly negative in his understanding of the vanity of life, is clear that man should work hard and toil with joy while rejoicing in the simple pleasures without over indulging.  The point is that wisdom is better than folly and taking joy in simple pleasures is a good gift from the Lord that adds enjoyment to man's toil-laden life.

Although this particular discussion was information-heavy, it should still compel us to take time to day to praise God for the gift of a good cup of coffee, the joy of a nice breeze, or the kiss of a child.  God has blessed us with little gifts and we should praise Him for them!