After the messages last Sunday on the Holy Spirit, someone very thoughtfully asked, How do I now apply what I have learned? In our conversation, we did not fully answer that question. I have heard it several times in the past. It is a good question. Too often little changes in our lives from the Gospel we have heard. I have noted with sadness how often people will revert to old ideas that are false, rather than cleaving to the truth that they have learned. This is a failing in our human nature. It is easier to stay with the familiar, even when it is obviously wrong.

I tried to think of some occasions in Scripture where people were faced with that same situation. Note this passage concerning why some did not enter the Promised Land:

"For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them, but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it." (Heb. 4:2.)

There are, of course, many such examples. What applies to one human being often applies to all. Here are some examples: Israel’s history can be seen as a cycle going to and from God, the apostles had a difficult time understanding the spiritual kingdom of Christ, Nicodemus and the new birth, Jewish teachers continuing to teach the Law, the Corinthians in their immorality, the lack of faith in the apostles (Jesus asked, How long will I bear with you?), and individuals like Demas, Judas, and Peter.

All of us wrestle with the issue of applying what we learn to our lives. Jesus taught that one should not pour new wine into old wineskins or put a new patch on an old garment. What solution did Jesus offer? The disciples of John asked, Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples fast not? Jesus answered:

"Can the children of the bridegroom mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken from them and then shall they fast. No man puts a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up takes from the garment and the rent is made worse. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles, else the bottles break and the wine runs out and the bottles perish. But they put new wine into new bottles and both are preserved." (Matt. 9:15-17.)

There was no way to patch up the old Jewish system or to use its structures to house Christianity. Jesus was not a Jewish rabbi. He is the Son of God with a new message and a new covenant. Sometimes when radical changes are necessary, the old wineskins need to be thrown away. Some buildings will need to be destroyed. (Matthew 24:1-2.) Another captivity might be necessary in order to bring in freedom. Old institutional forms must be rejected for new life to exist. The reformers faced this in the 14^th and 15^th centuries. The old wineskins could not hold the new wine.

The new birth was a radically new concept to Nicodemus and to fleshly Israel. How does one apply this new teaching of the new birth of water and Spirit? And further, what are the implications of accepting it? The implications caused many Jews to hesitate and others to reject Jesus Christ.

Sometimes we must be willing to make some serious changes. Those who are lost must be born again. They do not need just to be immersed in water. They must change their hearts in order to change their lives. Christians must be willing to make radical changes in our lives as well or we will not continue to grow in Christ. Many Christians experience a plateau or even a stalemate in their lives. I have found that a Christian cannot stay on a plateau. He must increase or he will decrease. Paul wrote,

"And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you." (1 Thess. 3:12.) ". . . how you ought to walk and to please God, so you would abound more and more." (4:1.) "If these things be in you and abound, they make you that you shall be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 1:8.)

Jesus’ solution to the problem of applying the message is given in his reply to John’s disciples. He said that you do not put new wine in old bottles, but rather you put new wine in new bottles. "New wine" is the new message of Christ. "New bottles" is the container, the person, his mind and understanding. We must become new people for the new message. That is absolutely essential.

The church needs to be careful in constructing barriers that hinder Christian growth. If we build artificial, manmade walls around some well-known doctrines and limit any further growth or understanding, then we are building some walls that one day will need to be torn down. If we adopt written or unwritten creeds and demand conformity to them in order to be accepted, one day those creeds must be destroyed.

In addition to these radical changes like tearing Jerusalem down, abolishing the temple, and become new people, what should we do as Christians to receive something new that we have not received already? This should not be an earth-shattering thing. We should have been doing this all along; that is, we should be growing and increasing each day. Specifically, how do we now receive more of the Gospel? Here are some suggestions.

New concepts or additional information cannot be poured into closed minds. We must remain disciples, followers, learners, apprentices, or students. The parable of the soils that Jesus told applies to the Christian as well as to the non-Christian. Is the soil of my heart, of your heart, the good soil, the wayside, the stony or thorny soil? It is one of these four kinds.

Some Christians are unteachable. Some have reduced Christianity to a few simple forms and commands. They refuse to go further. Some seem to think that they know all there is to know about God and salvation. Paul wrote, "If any man thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. But if any man love God, he is known of him." (1 Cor. 8:2-3.)

I have had Christians admit to me that they know that the Bible teaches some truth, but that they cannot accept it. We should say that they will not accept it. Some refuse to allow God to work in their lives. They limit the Holy One of Israel. (Psalm 78:41.) What would you do if God commanded you to offer your only son on an altar? If we reply that we would not do it, we have a heart problem that prohibits redemption. What would you say if God told you to build an ark? Or to go into Macedonia to preach? To preach to the Ninevites? To preach to the Gentiles when you are the chief of the Pharisees? To become a teacher? (Heb. 5:12.)

Nicodemus needed to learn what Jesus meant by the new birth and then accept it. Afterwards, he needed to start using the language. He needed to say to others that they need to be born again of water and the Spirit.

Jesus used the word, kingdom, more than we do. In our language, we have stopped using it. We have substituted the word, church, for kingdom. Jesus used the word, church, only a few times as recorded in Scripture. He most often talked about the kingdom of God. Language is very important. Our language reveals much about our understanding of the Gospel.

We have almost lost the word, honor. We do not use it very much. We talk about love that is almost void of honor. The word from the Scriptures has become a hazing, cloudy word without meaning. The translators of the Hebrew OT into Greek have done us a disservice. They used one Greek word in the place of 24 different Hebrew words. We need to talk more and understand more about honor.

Concerning the Holy Spirit, we should start using appropriate language that shows that we believe that He exists. We should for example: speak of the communion of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 13:14), being born of the Spirit of God (John 3:5), being sanctified by the Spirit (2 Thess. 2:13), that there is one Lord, one Father over all, and one Spirit (Eph. 4:4-6), that the Scriptures are given by inspiration of the Spirit (2 Tim. 3:16), and that the church is the temple of the Spirit (Eph. 2:20-22).

Beyond using this language, we can then begin to think about its meaning. If we leave off the language, we also leave off the meaning of that language. I understand that if you try to learn a new language, the words may be repeated without the person really thinking in that language. What a beginning student of a new language will do is to simply think of the word in English and then substitute the matching word in the new language. Such is not thinking in that language. If to us there is no Spirit, then we have only a carnal, physical, external religion that invariably becomes cold, legal, and dead. We must use biblical language about the Spirit. Speak according to the oracles of God. (1 Peter 4:11.)

All of us want to be accepted by others. Due to the power of that need for acceptance, we will often do what is expected of us. We will do and say what others around do and say. Churches are no different. We adopt a common language in prayer. We say basically the same things that others say. Religions can be divided by their style, words, and conformity to one another. Often young preachers will simply repeat what they have heard others say. They do not study and think independently. Thus, we simply mimic those before us. We should rather be followers of Christ, of what He taught and did. It is difficult to keep from conforming to those around you. We are pressured to conform to certain forms and language.

Here are some specific examples:

Remember that the Spirit did not come to focus attention upon Himself. He came to glorify or honor the Son. ". . . for He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me." (John 16:13-14.) This is not the "age of the Holy Spirit" as some claim. It has always been the age of the Son.

Yet, we should use the language of the Bible about the Holy Spirit. We should say that we are "born of water and the Spirit" as well as "being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and abides forever." (John 3:5, 1 Peter 1:23.)

Think about the issues related to the Spirit and to His work. Meditate upon His deity. What does indwelling mean to me as a Christian? Is there a practical result? If I have the Spirit, but He does not do anything for me, then of what value is there in maintaining that I possess the Spirit? What about sanctification of the Spirit, worship in Spirit, praying in the Spirit, inspired Scripture by the Spirit, etc?

Be careful about subjective concepts concerning the Spirit of God. It is easy to make presumptive statements. Be cautious about claims of the Spirit’s dealings with you. Paul wrote, "Prove all things; hold fast to that which is good." (1 Thess. 5:21.) We should not claim that the Spirit reveals things to us personally, that he gives us knowledge directly apart from Scripture, or that certain events were surely the work of the Spirit. A good rule to follow is: If you do not know that such occurred by the Spirit, then do not claim it. Philip knew that the Spirit spoke to him and told him where to met the Eunuch. He knew that the Spirit caught him away. He did not just suppose that such happened.