“I was a very devout Christian before I learned anything about the
Holy Spirit,” said Thomas J. Gilroy (T.J.) as he began the first Grace Church meeting
of his small group called “The Holy Spirit in You.”
The group meets every other Wednesday
at 7:00 p.m. in Room 104 at Grace Church in Southern
Pines, N.C.
T.J. Gilroy was raised as a Roman Catholic and is the author of “The Holy Hand Grenade,” a book
about “How to get what you really want, really!” (Find his blog at www.thomasjgilroy.com.) A graduate of the
University of Virginia, Gilroy spent 12 years in the U.S. Marine Corps and
served as a Cobra Helicopter pilot. He works as vice president of sales for
Quantico Tactical in Aberdeen, N.C. He is married to Mary Gilroy.
In beginning his first meeting of "The Holy Spirit and You" group, Gilroy read Acts 1:8 (NASB): “
. . . You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you
shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even
to the remotest part of the earth.”
“You receive power, first,
before you witness,” Gilroy said.
After saying that there is
a lot of misinformation distributed about the Holy Spirit, he flashed the words
“Come, Holy Spirit” on Room 104’s PowerPoint screen. “Come, Holy Spirit” is the
name of a popular Christian chorus.
“What’s wrong with that?”
Gilroy asked the group.
He explained that for those
who have received Christ, the Holy Spirit does not need to “come,” because he’s
already inside each believer’s spirit.
“It [the chorus “Come, Holy
Spirit”] sounds very Christian, but it’s not,” Gilroy said. He then prayed, “You
[God] sent the Holy Spirit to live ‘in’ us. We thank you for that. Show
yourself to us more clearly. ... In Jesus’ name, amen.”
He read these words the
Apostle Paul wrote to Corinthian believers: “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit
of God dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16).
“What do you know about the
Holy Spirit,” Gilroy asked the group.
He credited a mentor for
helping him learn about the Holy Spirit. When Gilroy questioned his mentor,
that mentor usually told him, “Go read … .” (His mentor recommended Bible
passages or books).
A lady in the group said, “I
want more. I want to be one of these people who hear him [the Holy Spirit] all
the time.”
The Holy Spirit Knows
You
“The Holy Spirit will never
condemn you,” Gilroy said. “Satan is the accuser.”
He said the problem (in
understanding the Holy Spirit) in the past is that there has been more
attention put on “the experience” with the Holy Spirit than “on” the Holy
Spirit.
“Your experience with the
Holy Spirit will be individual,” Gilroy said. “He [the Holy Spirit] knows you
better than anyone else who knows you. … Mary [my wife] was slain in the Spirit
for three hours … on the ground, speaking in tongues. … That wasn’t my
experience.”
Gilroy said that when his
wife “came out of it” (her experience with a “baptism of the Holy Spirit”), Mary
said, ‘I feel cleansed more that I ever have in my life.”
“The entire Christian
community across the globe is supposed to operate by the Holy Spirit,” Gilroy
said.
He referred to this verse: “And
we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love
God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
He emphasized two points in that
verse: “those who love him” and “those called according to His purpose.”
“There is a world of
difference in creating disciples and evangelizing,” Gilroy said, noting that
Christians are supposed to evangelize but that discipleship takes more effort. “The
word is ‘commitment.’ … That’s where you draw people in [so that they convert
to Christ and join the group]. … Discipleship is very attractive.”
The Triune God (Three in One)
“You can’t talk about the
Holy Spirit without talking about the Triune God,” Gilroy said. “Where is the
Father?”
The Father is seated on the
Throne in Heaven, the group agreed.
“Where is the Son?” Gilroy
asked.
The Son, Jesus Christ, is
sitting at “the right hand of the Father,” the group said.
“What part of God is on the
earth?” Gilroy asked.
The Holy Spirit, the group
agreed.
Gilroy said the Bible has
three parts: the Old Testament, the Gospels, and the New Testament. (Jesus and
his disciples lived under the Old Testament laws during Jesus’ earthly ministry
– until Jesus’ death and resurrection.)
“While Jesus was here, the
Old Testament was still in place,” Gilroy said.
Group Topics
Gilroy said “The Holy Spirit
and You” group plans to investigate topics such as: Who the Holy Spirit is; Why
we need Him; His role in salvation; Changes from the Old Testament to the New
Testament (in the work of the Holy Spirit); Being baptized in the Holy Spirit;
The gifts of the Holy Spirit; and Who gets the gifts of the Holy Spirit”
“Opinions and traditions do
not count here,” Gilroy said. “He [the Holy Spirit], not ‘we,’ is the Spirit of
Truth.”
Jesus’ Disciples and the Holy
Spirit
During Jesus’ crucifixion,
the disciples ran away (indicating that the Holy Spirit wasn’t “in” them),
Gilroy pointed out.
“Jesus told them to wait for
the promise of the Father – the Holy Spirit,” Gilroy said.
He referred to John 20:19-22:
“So when it was evening on
that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the
disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and
said to them, ‘Peace be
with you.’ And
when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The
disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace
be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’ And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to
them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit … .”
“In that room, the disciples ‘received’
the Holy Spirit but were not baptized in the Holy Spirit,” Gilroy said.
The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament
and in the New Testament
The group discussed the difference
between the way the Holy Spirit seemed to operate during Old Testament (OT) times
and how he now works (under the New Testament). During OT times, the Spirit
seemed to “come upon” people or “be with” people for specific reasons. Now, the
Spirit “resides” in true followers, as promised by Jesus Christ.
“‘God with us’ or ‘God in us’?”
Gilroy asked. “Which had you rather have?”
He posed these questions - What if you became 100 percent aware
of:
God’s presence (by the Spirit) in
you?
His gifts in you?
His desire in you?
His power in you?
“I ask the Holy Spirit to show me
what’s real and what’s false,” Gilroy said. “We need to lean more and more on
the Holy Spirit and less and less on ourselves. As we go through this [study of
the Holy Spirit], Scripture is going to come alive [to you]. If you’re not
demonstrating God’s power, you’re not demonstrating God. You can’t witness
without power … if there’s not power behind the words. … Power and love are
synonymous. God is love.” ###
T.J. Gilroy and his wife,
Mary Gilroy, also lead “Chosen for Greatness,” a “small group” exploring “finding
your gifts and passions.” That group meets each Monday at Grace Church (7:00 p.m. Room 104).
Mary Gilroy also leads “Health
Is Simple,” a group meeting the second Thursday of each month at 7:00 p.m. in
Grace Church’s Room 104. A former Lt. Commander who served 10 years in the U.S.
Navy, Mary is part owner of Raider Tactical LLC. She coaches weight loss and
natural health in sharing her passion for health with others.
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