How do we enroll in the classroom

In my last post I asked the question "Who is our teacher?". I wanted to know who do you turn to when you need help as a christian? Who do you turn to when you need to grow as a christian? Which voice do you listen to so that you can grow?

I reminded you that Jesus is no longer here on earth, so we no longer have the privilege of learning directly from Him as did the apostles. I showed how Jesus in His last opportunity before He went to the cross, took the time to carefully instruct his disciples (John 13-17) who was going to be their teacher when he wasn't there. The disciples would not be left as orphans, but he would send them the comforter - the Holy Spirit. And whereas the disciples had learned directly from Jesus up to that point of time before the cross, now after they'd received the Holy Spirit, they were to learn directly from the Holy Spirit.
i.e. Jesus transitioned the disciples from depending on himself, to depending on the Holy Spirit.

But what message was the Holy Spirit going to teach? He wasn't bringing a new message with him - he was authorized to share the exact same message that Jesus shared, and indeed, the Spirit's commission was to lead them and guide them into all truth. So the instructor was going to change, but the message would be the same.

Doesn't that sound fantastic - being led into all truth.The Spirit was going to glorify Jesus (John 16:14) by revealing everything that Jesus had achieved on earth in His victory over the devil, and make it fully known to the disciples.
Jesus was even so bold as to say in John 16:7 that it was better for the disciples that He, Jesus, go away; because if He didn't go, then he couldn't send the Holy Spirit. Not having Jesus in person, but having the Holy Spirit in person would actually be at an advantage
Does that sound pie-in-the-sky to you? Was it just words? A wishful dream? Or, could this actually be a reality?
Yes - I believe it was back then, and it is also today. It seems that God is using this present day time to re-emphasize the truth of the Holy Spirit. In these last days God is making sure that his children have access to the best and the brightest teacher there ever was, ever is, or ever could be. God is introducing us afresh to the Holy Spirit.

So, would you like an introduction? Great - let's get started.

John 20:19-23 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” [20] After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
 [21] Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” [22] And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. [23] If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Notice this first conversation Jesus had with his disciples. He breathed on them (similar to God breathing His spirit into the first man, Adam). And he told them to receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a gift, and Jesus is offering the same gift to you, and all you need to do is receive him.

In the parallel passage in Luke 24:45 it says he opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures. Notice, that as soon as Jesus had breathed on them, suddenly their understanding of spiritual things increased. And the same will happen to you when you receive the Holy Spirit. Even though the disciples were still thoroughly amazed that Jesus has risen from the dead, Jesus was treating it as a done deal - all finished - his phase of ministry was over. And now he was commissioning the disciples to spread this message (verse 46-47) everywhere.

But surely, you ask, he needs to do some more preparation? Now that He's risen from the dead he needs to give them a few months of getting adjusted to that fact, and confident in it, doesn't he? NO. Jesus didn't do any of that! And the reason for his confidence is shown in verse 49:

I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

Jesus confidence wasn't just in the disciples ability. He didn't place his confidence in his great leadership gift and how he'd meticulously trained and developed the disciples over the last 3+ years. His confidence was in His Father's promise, that His Father was going to send the Holy Spirit to be inside each of the disciples individually. And the presence of the Holy Spirit was going to be so dramatic that they would be clothed with power. And Jesus has the same confidence in you today. The distinguishing factor was not the disciples ability - it was the promised Holy Spirit. And that is the same Holy Spirit available to you today!

Religion has tried to relegate the role of the Holy Spirit to the past, and said, that the Holy Spirit was only in the disciples because they had to establish the doctrine of the new church. The early disciples had to establish the canon of the scripture (all the writings which are gathered into the New Testament portion of our bible). And so they had this great need of the Holy Spirit, and a special dispensation from God, which we don't have.

Hocus pocus! Bull-dust! And any other words you can think of.

We are in just as much need of the Holy Spirit today as those early disciples were back then. Thank God that we have the New Testament in written form now. That sure makes the job of the Holy Spirit a lot easier to do. In the early church the Holy Spirit had to instruct the disciples by taking the writings in the Old Testament and showing how they applied to Jesus, and how they foretold of His death, burial, and resurrection. Thank God that we don't have to look in the Old Testament to try and see this veiled truth. We now have the New Testament, with the same message, not veiled, but as a clear written explanation of exactly what Jesus achieved when he died on the cross on our behalf.

But just because these truths are clearly written down in our bible doesn't mean that we clearly understand them. We have just as much need today for the Holy Spirit to take the truths of what Jesus achieved, and glorify Jesus by explaining those mysteries to us - to YOU! Because if you didn't have the Holy Spirit available to you today, then you would be an ORPHAN. And Jesus specifically promised that he would not leave us as orphans. We have the same promised Holy Spirit for us today as the early disciples had after Jesus resurrection. Believe it! And receive it!

Acts 1:4-5 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. [5] For John baptized with [Or in] water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” 

This was just before Jesus ascended into heaven (went up in a cloud). Once again he reminded them - you're not complete - you cannot fulfill the task I've given you UNLESS you first receive the promised gift. But once you have him, woo-hoo, you will have power to testify of me. And you will have a teacher on the inside of you to teach you.

You're probably thinking Yeah - you're repeating yourself here - sounds good - but how does it work? Aha! Let's look at the arrival of the Holy Spirit and see what happened.

Acts 2:1-4 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. [2] Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. [3] They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. [4] All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[Or languages] as the Spirit enabled them.

In between Acts 1 and Acts 2, they returned to Jerusalem as instructed and waited, and waited, and waited.  (It's a bit like waiting for Christmas isn't it - you know it will come, but you can't make it come any faster). But finally the day came. And what an entrance - the Holy Spirit certainly knew how to make a good first impression. Quite strategic actually, because the huge noise drew the attention of a huge crowd, and suddenly the disciples had their first crowd, ready, waiting and all prepared to hear an explanation for what on earth was going on.

But let's go back briefly to verse 4. Remember the question is How do we enroll in the classroom? How do we receive teaching from the Holy Spirit? Well, you're about to see the answer. Did you notice the new ability the disciples received? Amidst all that noise, and wind and tongues of fire, did you notice what change came across them? What was the very first thing these newly baptized disciples did? Having only just seconds before received the promised Holy Spirit, what is the very next thing they did? Can you see it?

Acts 2:4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[Or languages] as the Spirit enabled them.

All of them were filled. There were about 120 of the disciples together at this point (Acts 1:15), and all of them were filled. It wasn't just the apostles. The Holy Spirit was for everyone then, and he is for everyone now. The Holy Spirit is given for YOU!

All of them began to speak. They all began to speak in other tongues, or languages. The presence of the spirit on the inside of them caused an overflow to happen. They could have kept the Holy Spirit dammed up on the inside of them, but instead they opened their mouths and began to speak. Speaking released the Holy Spirit to flow then. It released the Holy Spirit to do His job. His commission was to lead the disciples (and us) into all truth. The first and foremost way he achieved his job, was by giving them words to say.

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[Or languages] as the Spirit enabled them. Notice that it is the Spirit that enables this. He had a job to do, a commission from the Father. And he hadn't been on earth more than a few seconds before he started. He filled the disciples mouths with new words or languages - words with spiritual meaning - words from heaven - and then He invited them to open their mouths and begin to speak. And the disciples sure did! What a commotion it created then. The huge crowd gathered together and tried to figure out what on earth was going on. Indeed It didn't take long for some to start ridiculing them.

Acts 2:12-13 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”  [13] Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.

Peter stood up and refuted this claim, and launched into a great explanation of what had just happened. He got to his high point and declared:

Acts 2:32-33 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. [33] Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.

This new found ability to speak in other languages was a direct result of God the Father doing what he had promised. He sent the Holy Spirit, as the crowd could clearly see and hear. The crowd responded with a great question, which Peter answered:

vv37-39 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
 [38] Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. [39] The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

If you ask the same question today, and follow the same instructions, then you will get the same result. Repent of your sins, be baptized for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the same gift that the early disciples did. The promise is the same today as it was back then. It was for them back then. It is for you right now. And it will be for your children as well i.e. for all future generations to come, right until the return of Jesus Christ.

Religion tries vainly to relegate this speaking in tongues to sort sort of  experience which was needed for the special task of birthing the early church. But that wasn't what Jesus said. He clearly promised that once he left, he would send another comforter in his place, the Holy Spirit, who would be our teacher and instructor, with a personal commission from the Father to lead us and guide us into all truth.

How about you? Do you know all truth yet? Have you been led and guided into all truth? Do you fully understand everything that Jesus did on earth? When it's put like that I'm sure you'll be happy to agree that you don't yet know it all. And if you don't yet know it all, then you must need the same teacher today, as the early church needed back then. You need the promised Holy Spirit, and thank God you can have him today!
I know I haven't explained in much detail about his praying in tongues business. I've just simply stated that praying in tongues is the new ability that the early disciples received when they got the Holy Spirit. I will explain more later, but you don't need to fully understand to get started. You just have to receive by faith. If you waited till you fully understood then you would never start. If Jesus had waited until we were worthy of salvation then none of us would ever have got saved. Jesus died for us when we were still his enemies, when we didn't believe on him.

You don't need to understand how tongues works, or what it does, to actually enjoy the benefit it brings. You just need to start. As well as the great promise we've just read from Peter (vv 38-39) you can also read the words of Jesus himself.

Luke 11:11-13 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone; or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? [12] Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? [13] If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

So why not you! Why not here! Why not now!

Father, I come to you right now. I repent of my sins. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I believe he paid the penalty and died in my place. I ask for your forgiveness.Thank you for cleansing me and making me brand new.

Now Father, I ask you, for what you promised. Now that I believe in Jesus as my savior, I ask you to fill me with your Holy Spirit. I acknowledge that I need your Holy Spirit to come and live on the inside of me, and lead me and guide me into all truth. I thank you that your promise never expires. It was true then, and it is true now. I thank you that you're more ready to give me the Holy Spirit than I am to ask for Him. But I do ask now - Please fill me with your Holy Spirit. I thank you that I can be confident I will not receive a stone, or a snake or a scorpion. You only give good gifts. So thank you that you've heard me. Thank you for filling me right now with your Holy Spirit. I believe I receive Him right now.

Holy Spirit - welcome. Thank you for coming to live inside of me. I'm sorry I haven't acknowledged you much before. But now I know that you've come to live in me, and to teach me. Thank you Holy Spirit that when you come you bring this new ability - the ability to speak in tongues. Please fill me now, and give me this ability. Enable me to speak in tongues, just as you enabled the early disciples. Thank you. I believe I receive that gift now!

And now begin to praise and worship God. This miracle has two parts - God's part and your part. God's part is He gives you the words to say. Your part - is that you speak these words out. You can't give yourself the words - you need God to do his part. And he can't do the speaking for you - you must do this part. And that's all that speaking in tongues is. You're not making the words up. Your natural mind may not understand these words, just like it won't understand a foreign language. But if you will trust God, and begin to repeat and speak out those words that you can hear down on the inside of you, down inside where the Holy Spirit is creating this language, then you will enjoy life like never before. And you will activate the Holy Spirit and allow him to do his job of leading you into all the truth about Jesus.

So begin to worship and praise God, and then every now and again - STOP and listen! When you hear some new words on the inside of you - foreign sounding words - then your part is to speak those words out. Go on, try it. And as soon as you speak out those words, then the Holy Spirit will give you more words to say. And when you do, you have now enrolled in the classroom of the Holy Spirit. And you can start to enjoy the best God-given teacher that you could ever have.

I trust and pray that you will ask God for the precious person of the Holy Spirit, and the precious gift that He brings. And I trust and pray that you will receive the gift, and trust God enough to speak out the new words he creates inside of you. May God bless you as you start allowing yourself to be taught by the Holy Spirit!