The Great words of the New Testament Series. by Frank Hunring

I have on my various platforms posted videos on the great words of the New Testament , a bible study by the late pastor Frank Hunting. I am aware I have not completed this series so I am here posting a link to the whole Bible Study in PDF form.This si designed for group bible study or individual study. If you don't have a Bible I suggest you use the Bible gateway resource found on the internet to online searchable versions ofc most versions of the Christian Bible. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n0L6U-2WvE282Ws8VHId1HGts-6knfmK/view?usp=sharing

Grote Street Church of Christ 133rd Anniversary

Groups in the New Testament by Frank Hunting

"Lord Teach me to Pray" by Frank Hunting

Go to Jesus by F.C.Hunting

A Fresh Start

Baptism by Frank Hunting. Recorded in 1970's

Where does God come into it?

This is the second in my posts from Offbeat responses from the Bible by Frank Hunting. I will be posting these on a regular basis. They also appear on my youtube channel and my "Going deeper with God" blog. There are links to these on the web version of this blog. This series is especially for Christians but if you are not a Christian you may find it interesting.

Off Beat Responses to the Bible. New Devotional series

Join with me as I share a new series of devotional readings that are also on my Youtube channel.

Christian Tape Ministries- A reference of links.

In my formative Christian years, from 1974 onwards,I was fortunate to be in a Church where the weekly sermons were faithfully recorded on Cassettes by a member of the congregation.
These were a great blessing to me.
Often during services I would be behind a double thickness glass window in the "crying room" or creche.
There was a loudspeaker in there which was giving the sermon live but I really benefited by later listening to the tape of the message.
I used to listen often in the morning while preparing for work.
I did begin to make my own tapes also while in the soundproof  room.
I still have most of the recordings I made and a lot of the collection recorded by another member.
I try to put up some of the messages on my blogs and youtube channel.
Over time I collected many tapes of other Christian messages of the era.
I still use all of these resources as I continue with God.
I thought I would progressively put links here to other online tape ministries of those who I think have important Christian teaching and have been part of my Christian life.
I will start of with a link to Ray Stedman's archives.
An American Preacher and Pastor who visited our Church in the 1970's when he was doing his "Body Life" seminars. His best selling book had the same title.
Here is the link to his ongoing ministry that is helping many years after his death.

https://www.raystedman.org/thematic-studies

The late Dr Helen Roseveare was a wonderful Christian Missionary Doctor who has an amazing story to tell.
She wrote several books and we have a tape collection recorded in Adelaide in the 1970's at a Christian Women's Conference International.
I have not digitised then for a link here but below is a link to her on youtube.
There are many interviews and her speaking engagements on youtube.
This one is about the problem of suffering.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4QdQ0lpRyI

J Oswald Sanders is another whose tapes I have in my collection.
He was an incredibly gifter teacher and author.
Here is a link to him on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocLPYc7b7Z8

John Stott is another favourite author and teacher.
Here is a link to his many sermons recorded on tape.
I was privileged to hear him in Adelaide on one occasion and I have a collection of his tapes.

https://www.allsouls.org/Media/AllMedia.aspx?speaker=John%20Stott

If you spend much time on this blog you will find that the late Frank Hunting was a huge influence on my life.
Below ids a link to one of his sermons in my tape collection.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7AblWkux6Y




There will be more links following.

"Spiritual Death" by Frank Hunting

I was listening to this sermon while out walking the other day.
I have previously posted it on my "Going Deeper with God" blog some time ago.
I decided I should post it here.
Please note it was recorded in the 1970's in Adelaide at the Church of Christ in Grote Street, long before we had the internet and social media where ideas are propagated and "tweeted" every minute.
Where you have a supermarket of spiritual beliefs and ideas saturating the world.
This takes us back to the Word of God.
Perhaps the Spirit of God can speak to you and to me through this message.

"This sermon by Frank Hunting is a challenge to us all. Particularly if you are not yet born again you may find this something you will dismiss.The Bible teaches that all people are either in the process off perishing or being saved.
At our peril we turn away from God.
My prayer is that if you listen to this and are not yet a Christian,that if the Holy Spirit speaks to you, don't delay.
I sat in Church for 3 years as a believer in God in a vague way but one who could not swallow the "Born Again" stuff.
(Please note when I use the Biblical term of being born again I am not talking about miraculous signs and wonders  and speaking in tongues which some people associate with the term).
After to listening to preaching by Harold Long in that 3 years I ran out of arguments and took the steps to receive Christ as my Saviour.
I used to sit in the very back row of the Church in the corner thinking I was safer there for most of that 3 years.
My wife was already a Christian and I had agreed to attend Church with her.
I was not going to become some sort of "fanatic"
On the night I made my "decision" I was sitting 2 rows from the front.
"Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God" the Bible teaches.
That was 45 years ago.
There have been ups and downs and strong challenges along the way.
We were fortunate that Harold Long's preaching was used by God to convict me of my need.
Frank Hunting arrived at our Church  after I had been a Christian for about a year.
Not long after he arrived I was facing a personal crisis.
His personal counselling set me free from things that had me tied up in knots.
Listen with an open mind to what Frank has to say.
Don't delay taking those  steps to Jesus.
You will not be disappointed."

Click on the arrow to activate the audio podcast.

"Healing for Damaged Emotions" by David A. Seamands

I came across the work of DR David Seamands some years ago.This is a brief audio introduction to one of his books.Some many years down the track I still believe his ministry approach is valid.I am aware many think otherwise.
Click on the link below to a sermon on this blog by Frank Hunting which is what started me on my journey in his area.

https://geoffthompsonsblog.blogspot.com/search?q=inner+peace

Satanic Oppression and Satanic Accusation

 This message is published on my "going deeper with God" blog.
It will be of some interest to non Christians but only to arouse curiosity and other various thought processes.
I have put it here as I consider it an important message for Christians and has had very few views on my other site.

https://geoffthompsonstapelibrary.blogspot.com/2017/11/satanic-accusationsatanic-oppression-by.html

The attached podcast was part of a School of Prayer conducted by Frank Hunting at the Church of Christ at Grote Street Adelaide in the 1970's.
Frank was visiting the Church prior to taking up a part time appointment alongside his good friend Pastor Harold Long.
I had never heard anything like this and was privileged to sit under Frank's teaching for the next several years.
I may be able to post the whole school on this site progressively.
It was not recorded professionally but you will benefit if you concentrate on this.
I have notes on his school of prayer that compliment this podcast.
Contact me if you wish to have a copy pertaining to this subject.
Unfortunately many Christians and most non Christians are ignorant about the devil.
In this message Frank distinguishes between satanic accusation and satanic oppression.
As CS Lewis remarked, along these lines anyway in his preface to the Screwtape Letters, mankind makes 2 main mistakes about the devil.
They are either totally disbelieving about any such thing or tend to see the devil being responsible for everything that goes wrong.

The Now Moment- by Frank Hunting

This is a short devotional piece from Frank Hunting's booklet "Speaking Personally".

THE NOW MOMENT

The "now moment"
   is all that you have.

You cannot relive the past
   
 except in memory.

You cannot unsay the cruel word.
'
You cannot undo the mean action. 

Nor can you live tomorrow today.

All you have is the NOW moment.

So make it as good,

and as rich,
 
and as lovely

as you possibly can.

Complete in the
      abiding Presence
          of the Lord Jesus Christ

What's happening to our former successful athletes?

This question is one that is asked often.

It has been in the news again.

Many people who have been highly successful and well known to the public crash after their careers as "heroes" has faded.

Depression and Drug Addiction are the two most common things we hear about in this regard.

A neighbour and I discussed this topic over a cup of tea yesterday.

She has lost two sons in their prime to drug addiction and suicide.

Can you imagine how tough that is?

I felt the need to write again and post about this subject.

It is not just about athletes and for athletes but for all of us, this subject of Depression and Drug Addiction..

I have been a sufferer of depression and I still need to be on my guard to keep it at bay.

The first tussle with the dreaded black dog came when I was at the peak of my sporting life and thinking I was going somewhere.

I crashed badly.

I recovered to an extent but found it a debilitating and at times crippling thing.

Becoming a Christian at age 28 started me on a path of growth and finding my identity through and in Jesus Christ.

As a young person I was playing basketball with a young man who  was leading a double life.

Concealing his drug addiction from everyone.

When knowledge of this became public in a dramatic way my then pastor,Frank Hunting, prepared a taped study with notes for his close friends and family to pray deliberately about this.

In " authority and power".

T o cut a long story short my friend recovered form his addiction and became a professional person and family man.

The transcript of this tape is in my featured post at the moment.

I would urge families coping with these problems to read and seriously consider what Frank has prepared here.

You may not be Christians or you may be.

Take some steps in this direction while you can.

"Speaking Personally" A reading from a booklet by Frank Hunting

You will find many sermons and studies by the late Pastor Frank Hunting on this blog and my youtube channel.
I have started an occasional reading of some of his devotional booklet material and Bible Studies.
These are some readings from his devotional book called speaking personally.
More to come in the new year.
Happy New Year for 2017 for anyone who comes this way.

"How to reconstruct your marriage." by Frank Hunting

It is a tragedy today that so many marriages end in divorce and tears and sometimes domestic violence.
Our family and circle of friends has been at times greatly affected by such things.

While this post does not specifically deal with  your actual situation if you have come here with some desperation, for a Christian couple, the teaching here is a great place to start.

Some years ago my wife and I had some marriage  counselling with Frank Hunting.
He was our pastor at the time.
You will find more about Frank in the link below to my specifically Christian blog.
This post is from a collection of Frank's written Bible studies.

http://geoffthompsonstapelibrary.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/introduction-to-this-blog.html

We were a young couple with children at the time facing all the challenges of keeping it together.
We were already Christians.
We were active in our Church but still needed help.

We just did pretty much what is recommended here.

(We were strong enough in our faith, by God's grace, not to need any follow up counselling with Frank although I personally  had many conversations and discussions with him over many years.)

This study by him is along the lines of how we were counselled and  we were able to put these ideas into practice.
While this study is mainly for people who are already Christians there is no reason why non Christians cannot benefit from this if they decided to become Christians.

" WHEN TROUBLE COMES WHAT TAKES PLACE?

Always the partners in the marriage focus their attention on the faults of 
their opposite partner. 

In their minds they list the faults of the opposite partner.

They think about these.

They argue about these.

 They argue about these ,both in their minds and together.

They brood on these faults.

They build up tremendous emotional reactions to each other as a result 
of this thinking and brooding on these faults.

NOW WHAT IS THE OUTCOME OF ALL OF THIS? 

1.Their negative
                fault finding, 
                   thinking 
                           about each other becomes

                           OBSESSIVE.

 They see little of good in their partner and what they do is overwhelmed by 
  the faults they see.

2. The only thing they can see about their marriage is the faults
       and wrongs of their partner.

This convinces them no change for the better is possible in their marriage.

3. They become absolutely despairing and hopeless about any 
    resolution to their marriage.

This despair and hopelessness prevents them from recognising and believing the 
 truth that Christ can so change each one in the marriage partnership as to 
make it possible for a new marriage to be constructed under God's guidance.

THIS STATE OF THINGS NOT ONLY BLINDS SUCH PEOPLE TO THE TWO THINGS THAT WOULD CHANGE THEIR MARRIAGE , BUT MAKES THEM RESISTANT TO THESE TWO THINGS.

1. People are so stirred up over what is wrong in their marriage that, when they are told what can save can save and change their marriage, 
                         THEY REFUSE TO SEE IT AND BELIEVE IT. 

2. Secondly, brooding as they do over the sins and faults and wrongs of their partner,
   the devil is able to make them 
                     STRONGLY RESISTANT TO THE ANSWER TO THEIR                                                              PROBLEM MARRIAGE.

WHAT ARE THE TWO THINGS THAT WILL CHANGE ANY MARRIAGE THAT IS BREAKING OR BROKEN?

1. THE FIRST IS TO BRING JESUS INTO THE MARRIAGE.
      HE HAS THE ANSWER TO ANY MARRIAGE PROBLEM.

  Let me issue a note of warning at this point.

Don't assume because two people are Christians they will bring Jesus into their marriage situations.
                  They don't!

The only place where some Christians leave Jesus out of their living, is in their relationship
 with their marriage partner.

But once Christ is given control of any marriage partnership, true change for the better will begin. 

2  THE SECOND THING IS: IF WE WANT CHANGE IN OUR MARRIAGE THAT CHANGE MUST BEGIN IN "ME" NOT THE OTHER PARTNER

This is the way change comes into a marriage.

If you want change in your marriage.

If you want understanding.


If you want appreciation.

If you want peace instead of argument.


Let it start in you.


DON'T DEMAND IT START IN YOUR PARTNER.


The resistance brought to OPPOSE THESE TWO WORKABLE SOLUTIONS TO MARRIAGE PROBLEMS IS FORMIDABLE.

HOW DO YOU BRING CHRIST INTO YOUR MARRIAGE?

1. FIRST YOU MUST BRING HIM RIGHT INTO THE CENTRE AND CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE 

2. IF YOU HAND THE CONTROL OF YOUR 
                     TONGUE
                           REACTIONS
                              ACTIONS
                                   THOUGHTS
                                       and FEELINGS

OVER TO JESUS HE WILL TELL YOU WHAT TO DO. 

If you are determined to let Him change your home and will carry out what He tells you, you can listen to His guidance as to what you are to do.-AND IF YOU ARE GENUINE HE WILL TELL YOU.

HE will tell you .

      where you are to change.
       what you are not to say.
      what wrong feelings you must give up.
      what ways you are to 
            show love and make your 
                  partner happy. "

My prayer is that if you have come across this post at just the right time in your crisis you will be able to let Jesus reconstruct your marriage.

Here is a link to more about Jesus as a counsellor.

https://geoffthompsonsblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/his-name-is-counsellor.html

The Comforter and More....The Holy Spirit

This is an outline of the message I brought to the Renmark West and Renmark Uniting Church congregations on Sunday 19/6/16.

The actual presentation had some  omissions and inclusions.

The inclusions which I shared extemperaneously are covered by previous posts on this blog.

In particular part of my shared testimony and the true story of a young girl set free from blackouts.

You will find those posts in the link further down.

Call to Worship:  Geoff Thompson

Hymn: 91 Morning has broken  AHB 

Prayer of confession praise and thanksgiving 

Hymn:   “All glory praise and honour.” 250 ahb 

Offering and Prayer: Geoff 

Bible reading:       John 14:15-28 

Hymn: 173 I will sing the wondrous story AHB

Sermon: Geoff Thompson     The Comforter and much more 

  Hymn: 319 “Spirit of God that moved of old”.

Benediction and Vesper 

“May our Lord God of Peace” (as per front of Hymn books)

 Bible Reading

John 14

Jesus Promises Another Helper

¹⁵ “If you love Me, keep^[d] My commandments. ¹⁶ And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. ¹⁸ I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

Indwelling of the Father and the Son

¹⁹ “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. ²⁰ At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. ²¹ He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”
²² Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?”
²³ Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. ²⁴ He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.

The Gift of His Peace

²⁵ “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. ²⁶ But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. ²⁷ Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. ²⁸ You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said,^[e] ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I.

Sermon: The Comforter and much more---

Today I would like us to concentrate on the Holy Spirit and gain an understanding of

Who He is,

How we receive Him,

What His role is,

How do we benefit from His ministry in us.

WHO:

The Holy Spirit is the 3^rd person in the Holy Trinity. Note I said person.

We have God the Father,God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

The first thing I want to say that the principle role of the Holy Spirit is to point us to, and to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ.

Before we become Christians it is the Holy Spirit who was speaking to us in our spirits of the need to receive Jesus as our Saviour.

Convicting us of our need.

Once we have taken that step of decision it is He, The Holy Spirit, who then indwells us and sustains us in our Christian walk and daily struggles.

Please note that the Holy Spirit is not a weird sort of power that God exercises, He is a person.

Some people claim to have the Holy Spirit and act like they can turn His power on and off like a light switch.

That is not the case.

ROLE

In the Old testament times the role of the Holy Spirit and importantly His ministry to individuals was different to what it is now although even then He was pointing the human race to the coming of Jesus ,the Messiah.

The Holy Spirit was operating within the lives of God’s chosen prophets whereby they were able to teach and preach God’s truth and perform miracles.

People like Moses, Elijah,Jeremiah, and Abraham,Noah,Daniel  and others.

These were the great men of Faith who are highlighted in the famous chapter on faith, Hebrews 11.

He was not available to just anyone as He is today.

Since the day of Pentecost things have been different to Old Testament times.

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit took place once and for always on the day of Pentecost.
See Acts 2:5-12

The Apostles experienced the Holy Spirit arriving as Jesus had promised them.
Acts 1:1-8 Note Jesus is addressing the Apostles only.

They,the Apostles, were there when the mighty rushing wind arrived, tongues of fire appeared above them and they moved into the market place and spoke so that everyone present could hear them in their own language.

In our Bible reading today we heard Jesus promising the Apostles this would happen.

Here it is from Jesus

¹⁵ “If you love Me, keep^[d] My commandments. ¹⁶ And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. ¹⁸ I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
And we have this from Luke 24
⁴⁶ Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise^[h] from the dead the third day, ⁴⁷ and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ And you are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹ Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem^[i] until you are endued with power from on high.”

HOW we receive Him

On the day of Pentecost  the people were amazed and perplexed and the Peter gave his inspired sermon and shortly after about 3000 people were added to the infant Church as they followed his instruction. Acts 2:36-43
(Note Peter's instruction as per Acts2:38)
While many will tell you the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is something that is a secondary experience after we become Christians it isn’t and wasn’t.
Some will say that after you become a Christian you need to “tarry” until you receive a second blessing, but the tarry message was only given to the Apostles.

It was a once only event that gave birth to the Church and made it possible for all of us to become Christians and experience the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Now having, I hope, established some foundational facts, let’s look at how we benefit from receiving the Holy Spirit into our lives.

Here I am going to quote a fair bit from one of my mentors Frank Hunting taken from one of his sermons on the Holy Spirit.

FRANK HUNTING HOLY SPIRIT MESSAGE

“ always, (he says) there isn’t a moment if you happen to be a Christian,  when the Holy Spirit is not alongside you.

Now you and I might have a lot of difficulty believing that.cos you see we don’t very often give much attention to Him.

 We don’t think very often about Him, and we’ve got into the way of doing things that we see all around us, and the way we’ve got into doing things is battling through the best we can.

Using what ever grey matter we’ve got up here and we try to work out the situation.

And taking hold of all the facts and figures or whatever they happen to be, that we can muster, we come up with our decision.

And that’s the way we live.

And God has something quite different.

Quite different.

And that’s the battle he’s got with people like us.

 All to often we’ve become so self sufficient and that’s why we bungle.

And that’s why we stumble along so often.

And that’s why we live so frequently in indecision, we’ve never Learned what Jesus is saying in that passage,  that the holy Spirit, would be alongside of us, always.

And he’s alongside of you right at this moment, you might not be aware of it.

He is also in you if you happen to be Christian.

And that doesn’t change.

He isn’t with us sometimes and then gets sick and tired of us and buzzes off, no that never happens.

I happen to be reading from the new King James it’s a very interesting translation and one that I think many of you who was brought up as I was, on the old King James will welcome very much.

Jesus Promises Another Helper

¹⁵ “If you love Me, keep^[d] My commandments. ¹⁶ And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. ¹⁸ I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

Well the 15^th verse says this and its Jesus speaking.

“If you love me. keep my commandments and I----,(if you do that, keep my commandments,)--- I will pray the Father and He will give you another comforter.

Now if you are reading in the King James that’s what you read.

It’s a word in the original greek that no English word, no one English word, can possibly hope to give it’s meaning.

And this is the word . let me casually take you down some of the translations I looked up to see what they did with this word.

In the original new Testament as written in Greek, it’s the word paracletos.

Paracletos.

In the New international version and the revised standard version they translate that word “counsellor”.

In the Weymouth, one of the earliest of the modern translations, and also in the New English Bible translation, the word that’s used is “advocate.”

In Moffat, one of the earliest translations, in modern times, he uses the word “helper”.

And that’s the word that’s used in this. The New King James.

In the Authorised and the Revised, the English revision, they use the word “comforter”.

Perhaps I ought to stop for a moment,and say that the word paracletos has come down in meaning, it’s been chiselled away at from it’s real meaning that it had nearly 400 years ago.

And in those days it meant much more than just comforting somebody in their grief or their sorrow.

The idea behind it was strength. Somebody who came to you with strength, that’s what it meant in those days.

In the Amplfied Bible they give you all of those 6 that  I‘ve given you,plus another; 

comforter,

 counsellor,

helper,

intercessor, that’s the extra,

advocate,

strengthener,

stand by.

Seven English words, all with different meaning, all with different contents to translate this one word.

Now William Barclay who has an excellent translation of this word paracletos, gives us a really fine understanding of it so here it is , his.

It really means someone who is called in.

Someone who is called in.

But.

It’s when you examine why that someone is called in,

that this word takes on it’s really thrilling and exciting meaning.

A paracletos was a person and used by the Greeks.

A paracletos may be a person called in to give witness in a law court in our favour.

A person called in to give witness in a law court in our favour,

testimony in our favour.

A paracletos maybe someone called in to plead someone’s cause, yours maybe,

who is under charge of a serious penalty.

If the judgement goes against you you are going to be in real trouble.

So you call in a paracletos,

he may be,

and here the meaning changes slightly,

he may be an expert called in to give advice in some difficult situation.

Some situation that’s beyond you but because of His expertise, you can call him in and get the right advice or instruction or told exactly how to go about it.

Always a paracletos is someone who is  called in to help when a person is in trouble or in distress,

or in doubt or bewilderement,

and that is exactly the ministry of the holy spirit to every single Christian.”

So there you have it the passage we heard today is telling us that we have been given the Holy Spirit.

 He is always beside us he is always in us.

He is comforter,

counsellor,

helper,

intercessor,

 advocate,

 strengthener,

 stand by.

He is available to help us right now whatever our current situation.

Now we are urged in the New Testament to be filled with the Spirit.

The idea behind being filled with the Spirit is that we are allowing ourselves to be controlled by the Spirit.

You will have some idea of how the Holy Spirit is going within you if you are aware of the Fruits of the Spirit operating in you.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love,joy,peace,longsuffering,kindness,goodness,faithfulness,gentlenes, self control

If we are letting the Holy Spirit have his way with us those attributes will manifest themselves.

Often of course we won’t know ourselves if we are filled with the Spirit.

If we are Christians we will have the Holy Spirit.

But to be filled with the Spirit simply means that our lives are under the control of the Holy Spirit.

Others though will be able to see that by our behaviour even if we don’t.

We can be Christians and not exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit

Now I would like to go a bit deeper.

We are going to look at the change the Holy Spirit will bring about when we allow Him access to our sub-conscious minds.

Whatever we may have -----or may have had……in our subconscious mind, The heart that Jesus so often spoke about---------hurts,  fears, poor image, bitterness, hardness, smutty thoughts and desires, resentments,  jealousy,  self sympathy, (to name but a few) it is for the ministry of the Holy Spirit to minister to this region of our being, all that Jesus accomplished for us when He died on the cross at Calvary and rose from the dead.

Put in other words the Holy Spirit makes possible a full experience of redemption which Jesus accomplished for us at Calvary.

I am going to share some helpful ,  I hope ,    diagrams, with you.

Some of you may have heard that we have layers to our minds.

2 main ones really.

Our conscious mind and our unconscious mind.

We also have our recallable sub conscious where our memories and knowledge can be brought to the surface and abilities to do things like riding a bike.

If you think of what  happened to the Titanic where it was sunk by the 9/10ths of the Iceberg that was lurking below the surface then that is a good analogy for what can be sinking us in our subconscious.

We make a conscious decision with our normal conscious mind ,which we are operating at this very moment, some where along the way to become a Christian.

We have responded to God’s call on our lives through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Most of us here may know that we are sons and daughters of God.

But we may only know this intellectually.  In the conscious mind.

That is why we often speak,

think,

behave,

act,                  other than a true son or daughter of God would.

We are only sons and daughters of God in a sort of theoretical way.

We need the Holy Spirit to make this truth real in us and to us in the 9/10 of the subconscious mind where there are so many things lurking.

Only the Holy Spirit can make us true sons and daughters of God.

Next to Jesus the Holy Spirit is God’s greatest gift to us.

Jesus would tell you that without the Holy Spirit we don’t really live.

Life may even be intolerable..

Jesus says that the Holy Spirit filling and controlling your life and mine makes possible all that God offers for living the Christian life.

I am going to show you some diagrams now. (hand outs)

I will talk about them briefly in a moment or two.

The minister who prepared these studies once counselled me when I had had a breakdown after I had been a very active and keen Christian for about 5 years.

He showed me some of these truths as they operated in my own life and I was able to function again as I learned how to apply these truths to my life.

Below is a link to  what I shared with the congregation at this point and more.

I was talking about how we can be programmed to fail.

It does contain a lot more of my testimony.

http://geoffthompsonsblog.blogspot.com.au/search?q=programmed

I also shared another  example of a young women who was experiencing black outs.

You will find a link also to that message by Frank Hunting incorporated in the above link.

Handout no 1. The exchange study 4 ,page 2 shows a triangle representing our minds.

You can see in the sub conscious area below is where we have all these things that can going on as a result of our sinful nature and that cripples us.

In the bottom triangle you will see the some of the things that are buried deep down that we have been on the receiving end of.

Area where we need healing.

Some of these may be taken care of when we first become Christians but often they are not and they simmer on for some time.

The second page has 2 triangles similar to the previous page showing at the top sin that need s to be recognised and dealt with and the bottom triangle areas where we might need deeper healing.

The third page shows with scriptures what can happen when the Holy Spirit is enabled to minister to us in these lower areas.

There is an upflow , a ministry of transformation, that becomes real in our daily conscious living.

The open secret is that through the Holy Spirit we can have Jesus living out his resurrection life in us as we allow the Holy Spirit to control us in the areas we keep locked away.

Areas that sometimes we don’t even know are there.

We can speak and pray to the Holy Spirit and ask Him to help us in these areas.

To reveal where we need healing perhaps.

Quite often after listening to something like this we  already have gained some insight into ourselves.

Sometimes we may need a mature Christian friend or Pastor or Confidante who can help us.

Now all this may be very new.

I suggest that you take these sheets home and look up the scriptures that are quoted.

If you think you are too old or too set in your ways to want to change or dare to believe things can be better, I heard that scientists have now worked out how to unboil an egg.

How much more can the Holy Spirit do to bring us back from the things that are really crippling us?

I will conclude with the following passage that you may have read before but now it may take on new meaning.

Romans 12:2King James Version (KJV)

² And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

The Cross of Christ

The western world has been reeling from the terrible attacks on Paris.
By really wicked men.
The answers to such wickedness maybe a lot closer than we think.
It begins with us.

People are in a grip of fear,

The only answer to fear and evil is the Cross of Jesus Christ.

I provide a link to one of my first posts on this blog.

You can listen to the audio and the transcript.

Let God speak to you through this message,

It is a message of foregiveness,

 redemption,

  triumph over evil,

    the expose of our hypocrosies,

       the only answer to the unseen rulers of this world.

Ignore the fact that just a man is delivering it.

Just suppose God is speaking.

If you have switched off to God it will not mean a thing.
Just maybe there is still a glimmer of light shining through the darkness in your personal being.
I hope and pray so.

http://geoffthompsonsblog.blogspot.com.au/2009/09/the-cross-of-christ.html

We Treat it Lightly--Frank Hunting

We treat our sin lightly,
    often with less than
         a shrug of the shoulders.
That our sin has
   cut us off from God
      is a matter of indifference
          to most of us--
   and so we have become naturalized
       in our cut off state.
 And, we don’t want
        enough--to change it.
At the cross of Jesus,
   if we ever get there,
     we see what a terrible thing
         our sin is.
If ever we begin to realize
  God had to condemn His Son
   to the Cross
     we begin to realize
       how radically and irretrievably wrong
  we are
        at the very centre of our being--
we begin to realise what a totally devastating thing sin is.

This is from the devotional book by Frank Hunting called "Speaking Personally".There are other extracts on this blog including the last post.