Mentoring Men for the Master

ARE YOU A CHARIS-PHOBIAC, CHARIS-MANIAC OR A BIBLICAL CHRISTMATIC?

 

THREE ATITUDES TOWARD THE HOLY SPIRIT:

  1. Charis-Phobia
  2. Charis- Mania
  3. Charis – Matic

 Charis – The Greek Word for Grace.

  1. Charis – Phobia – excessive fear of the Holy Spirit because of:
    1. Association with religious fanaticism,
    2. Denominational prejudice
    3. Insistence on the “status quo” (Latin for “mess we’re in.)”
    4. Desire to keep playing church
    5. Plain ignorance of the Bible.
  2. Charis -Mania – excessive interest in the sign gifts, such as tongues, healing, etc.  There are five positions on the gifts, the correct one being “Open for Cautious.”  The five positions will be explained.
  3. Charis-Matic – This is the Greek word found in 1 Cor. 12:4 and Romans 12:6, (Charismata), which simply means “the wonderful gifts God bestows upon all His children by the Holy Spirit  – 1 Cor 12:1; Ephesians 1:4; 1 Peter 4:10.  Salvation comes by the “Gift of the Holy Spirit” following repentance- Acts 2:38, which proves we are truly saved – Romans 8:9b, but not just saved but also gifted to glorify Jesus and edify our Christian brothers, and to win our lost friends to Jesus.  To put it bluntly, every born again person is “Charis-Matic,” not in the sense that this term is often used today (speaking in tongues and excessive emotionalism, etc) but in terms of being an authentic and obedient  child of God, equipped to live out the Christian life personally and victoriously and to be rivers of living water” (John 7:37-39) flowing out to a lost world.

To Understand Fully The Authentic Work of the Holy Spirit, we must grasp the “Nomenclature”  (names in a system) used in the Bible to describe the various activities of the Holy Spirit and how they relate and differ from the “Infilling,” which is our second “I” in mentoring.  Please turn to pages 27-33 in your new text book, The 10 Absolute Life-Changers of Men: From the Book Which Cannot Lie and review the different works of the Holy Spirit so you will understand our lecture in class.

Our Focus Today is “The Infilling of the Holy Spirit,” and our focal text is Ephesians 5:18.  Permit me to put this text into context.  The Ephesians had been born again, sealed with the Holy Spirit, had become the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:1ff; 1:13: 2:22) yet it was to these same believers that Paul commanded, “Be ye being continually filled by the Holy Spirit,” (Ephesians 5:18), so the infilling is not the same as the new birth, the baptism, the indwelling, etc.