God Gave His Holy Spirit To Ordinary Men
I saw this quote yesterday morning and instantly knew I would be using it for today’s post. Later in the day, I saw Pastor Russ write a post on Acts 2:41-45 where he noted how God took ordinary people and caused them to obey. Are you sensing a theme here? Whether we are talking about the apostles, the early church, the Reformers, or some nobodies in southeastern Connecticut, isn’t it all because God gave His Holy Spirit to ordinary men? It’s His Spirit who causes any of us to believe, obey, and grow in the Lord!
One of the things we like to harp on in our small group of local believers is how we are so unimportant in the grand scheme of things. Does God have roles for us and give us purpose? Absolutely! We try to take that very seriously, as this fact gives our lives real meaning and direction. However, we always try to keep the perspective that it really isn’t about us, and each one of us is merely one of billions of people who have walked the face of the earth. For me, I find it so helpful to read about the early believers, early Protestants, and others in the Reformed tradition to this day. Looking at the first two groups, we can see God raise up ordinary men in such radical ways that from a human perspective the course of history is completely changed. Can you even imagine how a small group of ordinary men could rise up to take on the Roman Empire or the Catholic Church? What better explanation do you have other than Knox’s assertion that it was ‘because God gave His Holy Spirit to ordinary men in great abundance’? Is that not also the best explanation for what we see in the early church (Book of Acts) as well? Or do we think they were so uniquely awesome by their own power or piety (h/t Peter in Acts 3:12)? Do we think we ourselves are the authors of any power or piety in our own lives?
We are reformed to the Word of God not by the writings of any of the men who came before us, but rather by the Holy Spirit and God’s Word. We recognize God’s Word itself only came about because of the Holy Spirit’s power working in ordinary men to produce it. We recognize God STILL gives His Holy Spirit to ordinary men and causes us to be shaped for His glory (Potter and clay comes to mind). That said, we need to make sure anything being done ‘in the name of God’ or attributed to the Holy Spirit aligns with His Word. After all, the Holy Spirit is the ‘Voice of Truth’ not the ‘Voice of our opinions’. There are many who God has gifted in telling and teaching others about who He is and what He says. We can glean a lot from these people. But when all is said and done, they are still mere fallible men who need their words checked against the Bible just like we do. The fact they always point us back to God and His Word is a very good example of God giving His Holy Spirit to ordinary men! I can think of no greater honor than someone describing those of us following God in this way. It’s already true according to God, but may God grant us the ability to walk in obedience and boldness so that all who we come in contact with can see that God gave His Holy Spirit to ordinary men. Amen?