Don’t you realise....?

Written By Anthea Owen

Last Sunday we celebrated Pentecost, that amazing day when the disciples experienced a complete reversal, being transformed from sad, scared and dejected followers of Jesus, to Holy Spirit filled evangelists, bubbling over with joy and declaring to anyone and everyone, the wonders of God.

On our Open Ears Facebook pages we shared the verse from 1 Corinthians 6:19, “Don’t you realise that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God?” (NLT) In the intervening years following Pentecost, it seems that the Christian communities had lost something of that Spirit filled boldness, and had become more secular in their actions and lifestyles.

I wonder if Paul was thinking of how the early church daily added people to their number; how they ‘devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to breaking of bread and to prayer.’ Perhaps he was frustrated that there seemed little evidence of wonders and miraculous signs in the lives and witness of the Corinthian Christians, and maybe, he was saddened that there was no longer an outpouring of praise as new Christians turned to faith in Jesus.

Paul may well have wondered what had become of the people who ‘had everything in common’, who ‘sold their possessions and goods’ so that they could give to anyone in need. And where was the desire to meet together to really worship and praise God?

I know, when I look at my own life, that I cannot ignore the same questions and ask myself, in all honesty, do I live in the reality of Pentecost every day?

1 Corinthians 6 contains six ‘don’t’ you realise?’ questions. The Apostle Paul asks these rhetorical questions to make the readers (and us) really think about what Christian discipleship means. I sense in his writing a longing for all to experience and know the transforming presence of the Holy Spirit in their own lives.

The six ‘don’t you realise’ questions draw out the futility of expending our energies and fixing our desires on earthly things:

‘Don’t you realise that you will one day be called to judge the world?’ If you’re going to do that, you need to train for this by working out your petty arguments now.

‘Don’t you realise that you will even judge angels?’ That being the case, get a head start by resolving ordinary disputes in this life. It’s just not right to argue and sue one another when, in fact, you are fellow believers, brothers and sisters in the family of God.

‘Don’t you realise that wrong doers will not inherit the Kingdom of God?’ Paul leaves no loopholes here, and he warns about fooling ourselves into thinking that sin is no longer sin. He reminds us that we have been cleansed and made holy, made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of God.

‘Don’t you realise that your bodies are actually part of Christ?’ As I typed that sentence, I wanted to stop and say, “WOW!” Isn’t it utterly amazing that we are called to live as Jesus Himself?

And then Paul tells us how we can do that, how we can actually live in Pentecostal joy, praise, obedience and worship, how we will see signs and wonders in our own lives, and it’s all because of God:

He paid a high price for us – He gave His only Son to take on the burden of the sin of the world and whose precious blood cleanses and purifies us. He poured His Spirit into our mortal bodies – God with us, within us and we in Him, for ever.

No wonder the Apostle wrote, “Don’t you realise that your body in the temple of the Holy Spirit who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honour God with your body.”

Don’t you realise?

References from Acts 2 and I Corinthians 6

Anthea Owen

Anthea is Chair of Trustees for Open Ears. She lives in Leicester with her husband, Steve and their eldest daughter, Emily. Her interest in language and communication led her, when Emily became deafened through brain surgery in her early twenties, to learn sign language. Although far from proficient, she is now able to occasionally interpret for deaf members of her church congregation. Predominantly a stay-at-home mum to four daughters, Anthea augmented the family income through childminding, then as a teaching assistant and finally, until taking early retirement, as support to the school’s Attendance officer. She is always looking to include those on the edges and hopes to contribute to Open Ears in whatever way she can.

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