Power to Go On - Christian Renewal Journal Volume 38, Issue 4, Fall 2020

“. . . I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive . . ..” (John 14: 16-17, NKJV)

“. . . John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. . ..But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:5, 8, NKJV)

“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. . ..” (Acts 2:4, NKJV)

“. . . but ever be filled and stimulated with the (Holy) Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18, ANT)

In 1960, an American evangelist asked Karl Barth what the new emphasis in theology would be during the next 20 years. Without hesitation, he replied, “The Holy Spirit!” The Swiss theologian did not live to see his prediction come true, but how right he was! In my opinion, the generation of the 1960s and 1970s heard more sound teaching on the Holy Spirit than has any age since the early church.

  

Christ Himself is our authority on the Holy Spirit. His five “Paraclete Passages” (John, Chapters 14-16) prepared the minds and hearts of His followers for the coming of His Spirit. He used the term parakletos to speak of the Holy Spirit and His work. It is not a term that is easily translated — “Comforter,”(KJV), “Counselor,” (NIV), “Advocate,” (NRSV), or “Helper,” (NKJV). The term means “One called to our side to help us.”

Jesus once gave this invitation to a crowd in Jerusalem: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37-38, NKJV) And then John adds, “But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (John 7:39, NKJV)

The Master explained to His disciples that He must go away from them in the flesh in order to come to them again in the Spirit. They would not be left without comfort, wisdom, and power—the power to go on.

In obedience to His command to return to Jerusalem, 120 believers went to the Upper Room after they had witnessed His ascension. There they tarried and prayed for 10 days. And then it happened! “. . . suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:2-4, NKJV)

The Holy Spirit was “poured out” on the Day of Pentecost. He breathed into those 120 empty hungry hearts and gave birth to the Church of Jesus Christ. The Pentecostal winds of the Spirit transformed them with the anointed power of the Holy Spirit to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

The Head of the Church had promised “. . . I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10, NKJV) Today’s Church does not have to be a valley of dry bones. The individual Christian does not have to be a spiritual corpse. In Ezekiel’s vision (Ezekiel 37:1-14) the miraculous effect of the wind on the bones represents the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit in renewing the life of the church.

But we live abundantly, purely, and powerfully in Christ today only as we surrender completely to the Holy Spirit. Only as modern believers match the abandonment of self as evidenced in the Upper Room Christians can they share that measure of the Spirit’s outpoured Life. What happened in the Upper Room that day is relevant to the Christian today. The Holy Spirit is waiting with abundant life to fill those who are thirsty.

The Pentecostal flames that rested upon the individual members in the Upper Room witnessed to the purifying Presence of the Holy Spirit now abiding in the Church. “. . . He [Jesus] will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire,” John the Baptist had promised. “He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3:11-12, NKJV) Early Christians were the first to undergo the threshing-floor purging. Pentecostal fires purified their hearts from the carnal chaff and set apart the spiritual grain of their lives unto the Lord.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,” said Jesus, "for they shall be filled.” (Matthew 5:6, NKJV) I sense a growing “hunger and thirst” in many Christians today for the cleansing of their hearts from sin. But a personal Pentecost cannot come until we are honest enough before God to face our fallen nature. Allow me to suggest four steps that must be taken to conquer our carnal self and achieve the sanctified life in Christ.

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“Be Not Deceived”

1. Condemn sin in the flesh. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8, NKJV) Do not deny it, but do not tolerate it. Those who would move on into the fullness of the Spirit must recognize those sins.

“If We Confess” 

2. Confess your sin. “If we confess ours sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9, NKJV) This admonition applies to sin both as a “condition” and as a “commission.” If not cleansed by the Holy Spirit, our corrupt heart will manifest “the works of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:19-21) These fleshly expressions of our depraved nature fall into four categories:

• Spiritual. “Idolatry”—the worship of creation instead of the Creator, whether it is the deplorable primitive sacrilege or the sophisticated self-worship of today; “Sorcery”—ways of superstitious exercises employing the magical and curious arts, hallucinogenic drugs, spiritism, and witchcraft.

• Sensual. “Fornication”—the prostitution of the body to immorality; “Impurity”—any uncleanness including the thought processes; “Licentiousness”—eagerness for lustful pleasure that ignores the standards of society; “Drunkenness”—intemperance in eating and drinking.

• Emotional. “Selfishness”—Self-worship, self-righteousness, self-indulgence, self-pity; “Envy”—ill will that would resort to malice; “Enmity”—hatred, hostility; “Anger”—ill temper; “Jealousy”—fear and suspicion of another, usually a rival.

• Social. “Strife”—discord; “Dissension”—doctrinal and personal factions; “Party spirit”—divisive maneuvering; “Carousing”—wild and excessive socializing.

“Dead Indeed unto Sin” 

3. Consent to the crucifixion of your old self. Please understand that your freedom from sin is first a provision of the cross of Christ. Your standing in the Lord Jesus Christ as a believer is one of perfect righteousness, so that provisionally your “old self was crucified with him.” (Romans 6:6, NRSV) But this freedom from the curse of our fallen nature is also to be experienced inwardly. We call this sanctification. “So you must also consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6:11, NRSV) And, here are some steps to this crucifixion:

• Let the Spirit drive the nails. “. . . if you live by the Spirit you put to death the [evil] deeds of the body.” (Romans 8:13, NRSV). Just as our Lord willingly and without protest went to the cross, so we must not delay our co-crucifixion with Him. Rely on the Spirit’s execution of the fallen nature within you. Do not defend it, do not nourish it, but do consent to its death.

• Make no provision for the flesh. “. . . put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” (Romans 13:14, NRSV) Whether in entertainment, reading, or conversation, do not leave the door open to the flesh.

• Set your mind on the things of the Spirit. “. . . those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.” (Romans 8:5, NRSV) This means to give Christ control of the mind in order that the Holy Spirit might reproduce in us the righteousness of Christ.

“The Pure in Heart” 

4. Consecrate your total self to God. “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (I Thessalonians 5:23, NKJV)

When you take the four steps above, God will respond. His Holy Spirit will cleanse your heart and fill your life with peace and power. Our hearts are made pure so that we may know the love of God more fully. “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” (Romans 5:5, NRSV) Through the sanctifying power of love, God shares freely His own nature with us. And then, there is the return flow of love to God from our cleansed and undivided heart, because “His love is perfected in us.” (1 John 4:12, NRSV)

“We Love Him”

Loving God with our whole heart is impossible until the Spirit of God indwells us. Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind.” (Luke 10:27, NRSV)

“Love One Another” 

As His love is poured into us we are to pass it on. “. . . If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.” (1 John 4:12, NKJV) Sanctifying love shows up in the quality of our response to others. It produces an amazing compassion. We soon come to recognize that it is a divine principle miraculously at work within us. It is “the more excellent way” pointed out in The Hymn of Love (1 Corinthians 13).

“Be Filled with the Holy Spirit”

Your life was planned from eternity to be fulfilled by the indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit. You were born to be filled with the Spirit. Your body was formed to become His temple. Your spirit was created to be quickened by His Spirit. Your brain was designed to think His thoughts. Your life was meant to be lived in His power. No life is complete, no mind is clear, no spirit is clean, and no body is consecrated until it is filled with the Holy Spirit. “But ever be filled and stimulated with the (Holy) Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18, ANT) When Christians are filled with the Holy Spirit, they receive power! Power to live! Power to be! Power to love! Power to share! 

Wouldn’t you like to be filled with the Holy Spirit?