The Breath of God - by Jim Tharp, 2001

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7)

And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit." (John 20:22)

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from Heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. (Acts 2:1-2)

Also He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.’” So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. (Ezekiel 37:9-10)

In my fifty-four years of Christian ministry, I’ve never seen pastors and lay leaders so frantic in their search for survival within their organizations. They are running to and fro - from seminar to seminar, from university to university, from workshop to workshop, from denomination to denomination, from church to church, from concept to concept - seeking desperately for the secret to success. It is amazing how much many of them are willing to risk in order to keep their churches afloat numerically and financially. Some will do almost anything short of blasphemy to show some gains in budgets and membership. Still most of them sit in silent embarrassment during their annual conferences as a few leaders are called forward to receive recognition for their statistical gains and good works. They go back to their churches to ponder old and new options: send out a resume for a possible change of pastorates, go back to the university for another degree in another field, ask for a sabbatical, consider a different form of ministry, leave the ministry for secular employment, or .... Family members and close friends stand by with aching hearts as they watch their suffering loved one search in vain for an answer to a meaningful ministry. They suffer as well, seeing the sincerity, integrity and strained efforts of their dear one, wondering why God has not rewarded his prayers and labors with a powerful ministry of revival and a great harvest of souls.

And yet the secret is not hidden. Jesus spelled it out repeatedly. In fact, He spent more time revealing this secret to His disciples than He spent on any other subject. He declared the Holy Spirit to be the Breath of God (Ruach Ha Kodesh), apart from which they would labor in vain. But if they prayed, the Church would be birthed; and if they continued in prayer, the Church would be built; and if they prevailed in prayer, the Church would be blessed and the gates of hell could not prevail against it.

But it is not enough to know that Ruach Ha Kodesh is the secret of our spiritual life and ministry success; we must know how to receive, how to inhale, how to keep on being filled. As Jesus "breathed on" the disciples, He said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit" (John 20:22, emphasis mine). Billy Graham accurately points out, "It is interesting that the Bible nowhere gives us a neat, concise formula for being filled with the Spirit. I believe that may be because most believers in the first century did not need to be told how to be filled. They knew that the Spirit-filled life was the normal Christian life. It is a sad commentary on the low level of our spiritual lives today that we are so confused about the filling of the Spirit." (The Holy Spirit, Word Pub., 1978, p. 109). I agree with Billy Graham that getting filled with the Spirit is not a matter of following certain regimented stages, but in my five decades of personal and ministry experience, I detect a process that involves three phases leading to a life being lived under the influence of Ruach Ha Kodesh.

Expectancy and Desperation

First, we need to expect to be filled with the Spirit! From the time that Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to His disciples, they were filled with anticipation and expectancy. They never considered being filled with the Spirit something to be presumptuous about. They expected to be filled with the Spirit and so they obeyed the Lord and went back into the city and prayed until the Spirit came upon them and filled them. There is nothing automatic or accidental about a Christian being filled with the Spirit today. No one has ever fallen unintentionally into this experience. It is not for the curious or the casual believer, but for the one who wants the fullness of the Holy Spirit more than he or she wants anything else in this life.

Exhaling and Dying

Second, we must prepare to receive the Spirit. 

As Jesus "breathed on" the disciples He gave a command, "Receive the Holy Spirit." His command was an order that meant they were to prepare the way for the Spirit to come. Before they could fully experience the in-breathing of the Holy Spirit, they needed to deeply exhale -- give up the old in order to get ready for the new; empty of the toxic elements in order to take in the pure; die to self in order to live in the Spirit. This is exactly what Paul the apostle is calling for in Ephesians 4:22-24: "throw off your old evil nature - the old you that was a partner in your evil ways - rotten through and through, full of lust and sham. Now your attitudes and thoughts must all be constantly changing for the better. Yes, you must be a new and different person, holy and good. Clothe yourself with this new nature." (The Living Bible).

The Fellowship of the Holy Spirit - by Jim Tharp 2011

Finally, brothers, goodbye. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind,
live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.…

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. - 2 Cor. 13:12, 14, NIV


The history of Paul’s relationship with the Corinthian church was filled with tension. He could never ignore their carnality (immorality, instability, incongruity and insensitivity) but sought to address it not with eloquence or superior wisdom (2:1) but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power (2:4). Paul’s tearful intercession for the Corinthian church demanded much of his time and energy. Because of their rejection of the truth of his message, he felt it necessary to defend the authority of his apostleship as well as the integrity of his character.

 Throughout the years of Paul’s faithful intercession for the Corinthians, he called on his colleagues to seek to bring refinement and renewal to that incorrigible body. When Apollos declined Paul’s request to go and straighten out the group, he sent Timothy—but to no avail. The apostle’s final effort was to send Titus, and the latter’s ministry is proof that carnal Christians can, by the grace of God, be cleansed and walk in holiness and power!

Paul’s night of weeping for Corinth ended with the return of Titus to report the turnaround of the church that had caused the apostle so much suffering and grief. He now rejoices that the sorrow he had caused the church by his scathing call to repentance led them to repentance and that they are now restored to the faith (II Cor. 7:6-11)

Without question, it was the report of Titus that prompted Paul to write his second epistle to the Corinthians. It is filled with praise to God for divine grace and power at work now in a glorious manner.

Some Urgent Imperatives

Paul concludes his positive epistle first by giving some urgent imperatives: Aim for perfection. By perfection, Paul means three things: (1) Purity of heart, (2) Maturity in faith, and (3) Stability of life. Believers are to be done with insincerity in worship, they are to move away from shallowness and childishness in the Christian walk, and they are to purpose to answer God’s call to become strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.

Be of one mind. When a congregation has allowed the enemy to deepen its division to the degree as had happened in Corinth, the apostle knew the only remedy was the moving of a mighty revival throughout the entire body. This had apparently happened under Titus. But Paul feels the need to not only rejoice with them but also to remind them that, where they had once practiced disagreement with resentment, they must now begin agreeing with respect.

Live in peace. Stop the dissension, backbiting, gossiping, murmuring, judging, shunning and hatefulness! Begin now to agree on some things. Speak kindly and sincerely to and about one another. Stop disrespectful remarks about your fellow believers and pray for the love of God to wash your hearts. Clear up your reputation of evil in the community of Corinth until the whole city knows that you now love one another! This new behavior will bring the anointing of the Holy Spirit on your public worship services so that you will now become redemptive and attractive to the city of Corinth.

Live in peace. Become thankful daily for your brothers and sisters in Christ so that you will begin praying for one another. Only as you pray for your brother will you begin to love him as you should. You’ll find that you cannot pray for him and bash him at the same time. Neither can you bash him and pray for him at the same time. So live in peace with God, with your fellow believer, with those in the world and with yourself!

The Trinitarian Benediction

I truly love this Trinitarian Benediction from The Message: The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. (2 Cor. 13-14)

The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is not exhaustively enunciated in the Scriptures, but it is there like heavy humidity in the atmosphere. God is revealed in our New Testament as sovereign but not solitary. He not only exists but coexists as Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matt. 3:16-17, 28:19; Luke 21-22; John 14:16-17; II Cor. 13:14; Eph. 4:4-6).

Ever since the Nicene Creed of 325 A.D., evangelical scholars have sought to show from the Scriptures that within the Godhead there is a trinity of persons, but a unity of essence; a distinction not in their personalities but in their activities. Karl Barth reminds us that “The Trinity consists of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and each of these participates in the activities of the others.”

The Holy Trinity is an essential part of our Christian Gospel. Theologian J. I. Packer declares, “The doctrine of the Trinity is not a mere piece of scriptural lumber that we can get along very happily without.”

Consider the elements of the Gospel contained in the Trinitarian Benediction as given by the apostle Paul in II Cor. 13-14: The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. The attribute of grace belongs equally to all three members of the Godhead. But in the Only Begotten Son, the Incarnate Word, the God-man grace becomes personified. We know the Father and the Holy Spirit are gracious because we see that marvelous nature brought to us in the Person of Jesus Christ, in His life and ministries and in His death and resurrection. Jesus Himself said, Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13). Jesus, the sinless Son of God, became the perfect example of grace in his suffering and dying for us. He showed this love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8). Before we had a chance to prove our worth, while we were yet afar off from worship, praise or service to Almighty God, Christ took the chance on us by offering Himself up to the Father in full payment for all our transgressions. “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me!”

The love of God. The attribute of love belongs equally to all three members of the Godhead. In all of my adult life I’ve considered the most profound declaration in Holy writ to be the Apostle John’s twice-stated truth: God is love (I John 4:8, 4:16). No doubt this divine attribute of love is the most amazing; it is also the most misunderstood, the most denied and the most abused attribute in all of humankind. The apostle John in his first epistle makes the case that the proof that God is love is found in His sending His Beloved Son Jesus Christ to planet earth to give His life as a ransom for sinners. Not only so, but God the Father and God the Son assigns the Holy Spirit the refining task of imparting this love to believers. Paul the apostle puts it this way: God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us (Rom. 5:5). Believers are enabled by the Holy Spirit to participate in, partake of and enjoy this impartation of divine love. The Spirit internalizes and enables us to experience and express the love of God in our relationship with God and with our fellow humans.

The fellowship of the Holy Spirit. By the term fellowship, the apostle here means “intimate friendship,” or close communion. God the Father and God the Son can never become our personal enjoyment until we establish a meaningful relationship with God the Holy Spirit. This was Jesus’ emphasis in His teachings on the Holy Spirit (John 14-16). Here he presents the Spirit, once He has been received by Christian believers in a three-fold role: (1) A Convicter, or Convincer—of not trusting Christ, of not living in righteousness and holiness, of the ultimate judgment of evil; (2) A Comforter—the One replacing Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the very Spirit of Jesus, will be with believers in their sorrows, stresses, persecutions, temptations, trials and all opposition; (3) Counselor—Jesus declared Himself to be the Truth, and one of His favorite titles for His promised Holy Spirit was The Spirit of Truth. He promised that the Spirit would guide you into all the truth. He will glorify me, for He will take what is mine and declare it to you.

He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

Several years ago while attending a pastors’ conference in Portland, Oregon, it was my privilege to have lunch with the great Bible Expositor Dr. J. Vernon McGee. After a few words of getting acquainted, the venerable old Bible teacher asked, “Brother Jim, as a pastor, what are you studying and preaching on in these days?” When I answered, “I am studying on the Holy Spirit—among your Calvinistic scholars, I’m reading everything from Abraham Kuyper to Martin Lloyd-Jones, and from our Wesleyan scholars, I’m reading everything from John Wesley to Paul S. Rees to William Greathouse.” Dr. McGee replied, “That’s fine, Brother Jim! You know, one of my favorite lines from the New Testament is be not ignorant, brethren … You see, I happen to believe that the largest denomination in the world is Ignorant Brethren. Oh, Brother Jim, I think we will both agree that we must not be ignorant of the Holy Spirit!”

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us take heed lest we be ignorant of the Holy Spirit! How sinful! How shameful! How costly to fail to heed the call to His cleansing, renewing, anointing and times of fresh fillings.

Leaking Vessels - by Jim Tharp, 2001

However, we possess this precious treasure (the divine Light of the Gospel) in (frail, human) vessels of earth, that the grandeur and exceeding greatness of the power may be shown to be of God and not from ourselves.

(II Cor. 4:7, The Amplified New Testament)

Paul the apostle had been accused of secretive, underhanded measures in the conduct of his ministry. In defending his integrity, he declares that nothing has been hidden, that he is free from crafty misleadings, and testifies to a clear conscience before God and man. Then the apostle goes on to say that because of God’s mercy, he is not driven to despair; he is not disheartened. The integrity and dignity of his ministry are dependent upon the power of God and not his own abilities. In fact, he goes on to acknowledge his weaknesses. Although he used the editorial "we," Paul might just as well have written, "I have this treasure in an earthen vessel ..." The metaphor was in reference to the Romans who carried their treasures in either glass jars or small clay receptacles which were fragile and easily shattered. The apostle recognized his weakness, and because of it sought to escape pride. William Barclay saw the main characteristic of man to be "not his power but his weakness." Pascal noted that "a drop of water or a breath of air can kill him."

Some of the apostle Paul’s critics have accused him of spiritual pride in the forms of arrogance, conceit and perfectionism. But a close study of his writings will reveal several disclaimers to any kind of sinless perfection (Rom. 7:14-21; II Cor. 12:7; Phil. 3:12-14; I Tim. 1:15). After fifteen years of seeking to cast the vision of revival, I am convinced that the greatest barrier to revival is spiritual pride. So much of the American Church is locked into the delusion of the Church of Laodicea, saying, "We are saved and sanctified and blessed of God. We are above sin and reproach, and have no need of repentance." Oh, but the Lord saw the Laodicean Church from a different perspective. He said to it, "You do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked ... You are neither cold nor hot ... I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. ... Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me" (Rev. 3:15-20).

Christian Freedom - by Jim Tharp 2011

So Christ has made us free. Now make sure that you stay free and don’t get all tied up again in the chains of slavery to Jewish laws and ceremonies (Gal. 5:1, TLB).

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed (John 8:36, NIV).

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [he has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of a calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control (2 Tim. 1:7, AMP).

Paul’s epistle to the Galatians is known as “The Christian Magna Carta.” This book about the freedom of the Spirit in Christ is to New Testament believers what the Magna Carta meant to the British in the thirteenth century. The king of England was slow to articulate the freedoms that the British people were calling for. The English barons pressured King John to assent and then declare a “Fundamental Guarantee of Rights and Privileges of the English Peoples.” The American Bill of Rights, the basic part of the American Constitution of 1776, was the American counterpart of the British Magna Carta of 1213.

The book of Galatians is Paul’s call to believers to exercise the freedom that Christ purchased for us in His death by crucifixion on the cross. Most of his readers at that time would have been Jewish believers who had known the bondage of the Jewish Law and ceremonies. Paul urged them to maintain the freedom Christ had brought and to not fall back into the bondage to laws and ceremonies. He reminded them that they have been given the Holy Spirit. So he asked them, Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh?

I am greatly saddened when I am called to lead a church in revival when I sense so much bondage—apathy, indifference, anger, murmuring, criticism, negativism. So many leaders decry the deadness of their churches, but their efforts to fire up the atmosphere are futile and usually only worsen the condition.

Why are so many Christian believers in bondage? I believe the apostle Paul is telling us in the book of Galatians that it is due to our lack of responding to the Holy Spirit. We are given the Holy Spirit when we are born again (Acts 2:38, Eph. 1:13). But we are also commanded to be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18). Born-again believers will not miss the fullness of the Spirit as long as they consistently walk in the Spirit (Gal. 5:16), are led by the Spirit (Gal. 5:18) and if by the Spirit they deny themselves fleshly desires (Rom. 8:13).

We are warned to grieve not the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30). As He helps us develop a sensitivity to both His constraints and restraints, we will learn how to please Him. We must learn to trust the Holy Spirit to enable us to resist the temptation to yield to sins of prayerlessness and inappropriate expressions as well as human weaknesses that we don’t normally consider to be sins. Yes, I believe there is a difference between weaknesses and sins. But I have learned that if I want to experience freedom in the Spirit in my Christian life, I must confess every act of falling short of God’s glory as sin and know that I am mercifully forgiven and restored in fellowship with Him. Then I am enabled to continue rejoicing in God’s gracious forgiveness and cleansing and move onward and upward in His glorious freedom. Early each morning, I find myself praying, “O God, help me this day to walk in sweet fellowship with Your ungrieved Holy Spirit!”

We do need to remember that grieving the Holy Spirit is not inevitable. Just because so many Christians grieve the Spirit doesn’t mean we have to. If we are prayerfully watchful, we’ll catch the Spirit’s signals when we are being tested by the enemy to be drawn into a stream of consciousness that will lead to our being tempted to say or do something that will grieve the Spirit.

Believers who grieve the Spirit cannot bear the fruit of the Spirit. Bearing the fruit of the Spirit is simply allowing the Holy Spirit to reproduce the character of our Lord Jesus Christ in our daily lives. These gifts of His fruit borne in us are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Christians who grieve the Holy Spirit cannot pray in the Spirit. We are commanded to pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication (Eph. 6:18). This command is impossible to obey when we are disobedient, careless and insensitive to the Spirit. This means that we are not prepared to allow the Spirit to help us know what to pray for, how to pray, or even care passionately about getting YES answers in our praying. Therefore we just drift along and wonder why God seems so absent or far away in our lives.

Christians who live in bondage do not obey the Lord’s assignment as his witnesses. They aren’t filled with love for the lost person who needs to hear about God’s love. They aren’t ready to ask the Spirit for the passion, boldness and wisdom required to give a witness and lead a person to Christ.

Christians in bondage seldom fill their day with praise. We should begin the day with praise and worship, even if it is only for a minute. How can we go on into daily activities hour after hour without passionate, sincere praise to God for who He is and what He does in our lives and in our families?

As a revivalist I often begin the first night’s service facing an audience with empty, cold hearts. But because of the prayers of a concerned pastor, a few prayer warriors in the church and many heavy-lifting prayer partners all over the world, the Presence of God comes on the service. As I obey the Spirit and preach the Word, the Spirit honors us with His Presence, resulting in some of the empty hearts feeling and hearing a call of the Spirit they’ve not heard in a long time. As they come to the altars, I hear many of them praying thus:

“Oh, God! I thank You for speaking to my heart tonight! It’s been so long since my heart has been stirred. I didn’t realize until a few minutes ago that I’d drifted so far from you, had grown so empty, so cold, so hard. Lord, I’ve been critical of my brothers and sisters and the staff here, not realizing it was my emptiness and my bondage that is the problem in the church. Please forgive me. Give me a new heartwarming and a fresh filling of the Spirit. Help me to get back to praying, worshiping, praising, giving, witnessing and serving you! Lord, restore my joy! Bring back the ring in my testimony.

Fill me with holy fire. Bring back the glory of Your presence in my heart so that my loved ones, my extended family and my neighbors will know that Jesus is real to me!

Thank you, Lord for hearing my prayer and giving me the assurance that I’m now in sweet fellowship with you again!”

Dear brother, dear sister, are you free in Jesus Christ? Do you know joy unspeakable and full of glory? How much do you know about the fullness of the Holy Spirit and fire? God wants you to have victory over sin, but He also wants you to have victory over coldness and hardness of heart. He wants you to be alive, not a spiritual deadhead. Get the hymnal out and pray the old hymn by Haldor Lillenas and pray the song “Glorious Freedom.” Then receive that “freedom from envy, hatred and strife, freedom from vain and worldly ambition, freedom from all that saddens your life.” Receive from the Holy Spirit that “freedom from love and glitter of gold, freedom from evil temper and anger, glorious freedom, rapture untold!” Receive that “freedom from fear with all of its torments, freedom from care with all of its pain, freedom in Christ your blessed Redeemer, He who will rend your fetters in twain.”

God is calling you to freedom.

Freedom in worship and praise.

Freedom to prevail in prayer.

Freedom to give generously.

Freedom to live in holiness and power.

Freedom to grasp the dimensions of divine love.

Freedom to enjoy the Word of God.

Freedom to live with joy in light of His return.

Freedom to anticipate with great rejoicing the eternal Presence of God.

Jesus Christ died on the cross to atone for our sins, to purchase for us a freedom from sin, a life of holiness and power, a heritage of the kingdom of God—sonship, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. In humility, let us come before the Lord with a hungry heart and a passionate faith to know the freedom to which we have been born anew!

Only then shall we be enabled to walk in unbroken fellowship with an ungrieved Holy Spirit and experience the dimensions of divine love in this life, preparing us for the life to come!