Living in the Spirit
Shortly before New Life Salford was planted out, the church was gathered together in prayer. Whilst we were in the presence of Jesus, He spoke to us and gave us a key to fruitfulness, saying,
“If you live every day in the Spirit, you will bear much fruit; however if you don’t, you will fail. It’s as simple as that.”
That phrase, ‘in the Spirit’, appears many times in Scripture. We will take a moment to open the first chapter of the book of Revelation to see what happens when John is ‘in the Spirit’. For an overview, read Revelation 1v9-20 now before we begin.
“On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet.” (v10)
The first thing John experiences when he is in the Spirit is a loud voice speaking to him. The rest of the passage goes on to explain that this is the voice of Jesus. That John hears the voice of Jesus when he is in the Spirit is something we can perhaps relate to, that we are somehow familiar with, for we too will at times have been in the Spirit and heard his voice. In fact, we experience everything John records for us about his time ‘in the Spirit’, and his account isthere to both teach and instruct us. So what happened when John heard the voice of Jesus?
“I turned round to see the voice that was speaking to me.” (v12)
John was facing the wrong way! But when he heard the voice it caused him to turn and face Jesus. It’s the same for us – in the Spirit we will hear Jesus’ voice, and it will cause us to turn the right way and face Him – to come in line with His word and direct ourselves towards Him.
“And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands.” (v12)
We find out at the end of this passage, in v20, that the seven golden lampstands are a picture of the church. So in the Spirit, John hears the voice of Jesus, turns, and sees the church. That’s us! We too, like John, see the church when we are in the Spirit. We see ourselves. We see and we understand who we really are. Isaiah wrote about a similar experience he had; he says “I saw the Lord“, and his response was a recognition of who he was: “Woe to me! … For I am a man of unclean lips.” (Isaiah 6v1-5)
“…and among the lampstands was someone ‘like a son of man’, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash round his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.” (v13-16)
It is not difficult to understand from studying the rest of the Bible that such a fantastic account can only be a wonderful and awesome description of Jesus. In the Spirit John turns towards Jesus’ voice, sees the church, and immediately sees Jesus in the midst of the church, for that is how God works; a revelation of who we are and a revelation of who Jesus is are inextricably linked. It’s like when Jesus asked Simon, “Who do you say I am?” in Matthew 16. As Simon understands who Jesus is and responds, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God“, so Simon receives revelation of who he himself is – “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.”
“When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.” (v17)
This is the pose of a worshipper. Again and again throughout revelation we see images of worship described in exactly this way. For example the twenty-four elders “fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever”, in chapter 4v10 (and again in 5v8, and in 5v14, and 7v11, 11v16, and 19v4!) ‘In the Spirit’ is the worshipper’s home address.
“Then he placed his right hand on me…” (v17)
At first John only heard Jesus, behind him. Then he saw Him from a distance. Now Jesus takes the encounter to a new level of intimacy and touches John. When we are in the Spirit we should expect a great and deepening intimacy with Jesus; He will individually and personally touch us.
“The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.” (v20)
As Jesus touches us when we are in the Spirit, so He brings to us fresh revelation. He is the great revealer of mysteries, as John experienced as Jesus explained to him the meaning of the visions he saw.
‘In the Spirit’ is a place of encounter with Jesus; it’s somewhere where we are compelled to turn to Him, and to worship Him. We understand who we are, who He is, and we receive wisdom and revelation. It is no wonder that God laid it out so simply and clearly for us right at the beginning, even before New Life Church was planted: if we are to be fruitful and not fail, we must know what it is to always live in the Spirit.