A New Thing - By Jim Tharp, 2002

Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. (Isaiah 43:18-19)

The God of Israel had a long history as a God of power. The God of the Exodus from Egyptian bondage was determined to be the God of the Exodus from Babylonian bondage to His people Israel. But the human factor had to be reckoned with. The people of Israel must prepare for their deliverance from captivity. A part of their preparation was to let go of the old in order to have faith for the new.

So today, the God of Pentecostal revival is determined to be the God of Last-days revival. But the human factor is still a part of the equation, so that even our Sovereign God cannot give revival until His people have met His conditions. While His great loving heart yearns for the salvation of the lost billions of earth, that same loving heart must be grieving deeply over the deadness and disobedience and bondage of His Church. But let us not mistake His purpose – He will build His Church; He will produce a Bride for His Son; He will yet prepare His people for the revival that will cover the earth with His glory as the water covers the seas and reap an evangelistic harvest unparalleled in the history of His Church.

How will He do this? By drawing His people back to His ordained age-long plan of intercessory prayer. For as His people pray, they will be delivered from the bondage of the world and the flesh and an anointing will be released upon them for the spiritual harvest that is more than ripe. Oh, let us allow the Holy Spirit to align our hearts with God’s purpose at this very hour to do a new thing and break us out of our carnality, our unbelief, our paralysis, our spiritual pride, our division, our irrelevance, our indifference!

Forgetting The Old

Our churches across America and Canada are filled with members fattened on biblical truth but starved for life and power in the Spirit. So many can cite the time and place of being born again but they

Aglow with the Spirit - by Jim Tharp, 2008

Let your love be sincere - a real thing; hate what is evil (loathe all ungodliness, turn in horror from all wickedness), but hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection - as members of one family - giving precedence and showing honor to one another. Never lag in zeal and in earnest endeavor; be aglow and burning with the Spirit, serving the Lord. Rejoice and exult in hope; be steadfast and patient in suffering and tribulation; be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of God's people - sharing in the necessities of the saints - pursuing the practice of hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you - who are cruel in their attitude toward you; bless and do not curse them. Share others' joy, rejoicing with those who rejoice; and share others' grief, weeping with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty (snobbish, high-minded, exclusive), but readily adjust yourself to people and things, and give yourselves to humble tasks. Never overestimate yourself or be wise in your own conceits. Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is honest and proper and noble - aiming to be above reproach - in the sight of everyone. If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

(Romans 12:9-18, The Amplified New Testament)

I believe the most continual emblem for the Holy Spirit throughout both Old and New Testaments has been that of fire. Moses' initial personal experience with God began with his interest in the burning bush. Throughout the wilderness pilgrimage the children of Israel were led by a pillar of fire. Jesus told His disciples, "I have come to bring fire on the earth" (Luke 12:49). Jesus burned with the fire of the Holy Spirit in His praying, preaching, teaching and working of miracles. After His death and resurrection, and just before His ascension, He cited John's prophecy that Jesus would "baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (Matt. 3:11), urging His apostles and believers to return to the city of Jerusalem to pray and "wait for the promise of the Father" (Acts 1:4-5). As Luke would record it, Jesus said to them, "but stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high" (Luke 24:48-49).

The Pentecostal outpouring marked a profound historical moment - the beginning of the Age of the Spirit, the birthday of the Church, the establishment of the New Covenant. Authors W. T. Purkiser and William Greathouse agree that Pentecost "proclaimed the Church as the Body of Christ and the perpetuation of His incarnation in the world" (Exploring Christian Holiness, Vol. I, pp. 116-117).

We must not ignore the historic signs that accompanied the initial outpouring of the Holy Spirit: wind, fire and tongues. The violent blowing of the wind represented the breath of the Holy Spirit as the very life of God poured into the 120 believers. The Church was not stillborn! The tongues of fire that first filled the room and then separated and came to rest on each of them signified the purifying power, the sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit in personal relationship with each believer. The miracle of these tongues was both in the speaking of all the languages of the Mediterranean world by men and women who had not learned those languages and in the hearing of the thousands of pilgrims who were hearing the praises of God in their own mother tongues. The Pentecostal languages are not to be confused with the gift of tongues mentioned in I Corinthians 14. Pentecostal tongues carried their own interpretation by the Spirit; the "un-known tongues" of I Corinthians must be interpreted to save worshiping believers from confusion and distraction.

Dr. Robert E. Coleman notes, "The Pentecostal effusion of the Spirit marked the beginning of this new era of ministry. It was the culminating step of the descent of the divine into the human. Jesus as an external Presence now became the enthroned Sovereign in the allegiance of His people. His Word became like fire within them, and with hearts burning with the love of God, they went on their way with gladness and singleness of desire, praising their Lord."

But I must remind us that we have been warned by the apostle Paul, "Do not put out the Spirit's fire" (I Thes. 5:19). The Spirit within us can be grieved, quenched, disobeyed and ignored until He is forced by our free agency to slip into an inoperable mode, awaiting our repentance and hunger for His stirring Presence.

But the smoldering flames can be rekindled. Suffering alone in Rome's Mamertine prison, the apostle Paul had more to think about than his own personal needs and approaching execution. He longed to see the face of his spiritual son Timothy, who was in charge of the church at Ephesus. The Spirit stirred in Paul a deep concern for this one upon whom the apostle had lavished his prayers and envisioned as his successor in the coming years. Paul discerned that the fire was burning low in the younger man's heart. So Paul puts it straight to Timothy in a letter, "I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control" (II Tim. 1:5-7). If it could happen to Timothy, it can happen to you and to me. Just as Paul directed Timothy, so we too are called to brush off the ashes of our traditions and routines and acknowledge coldness of heart. In brokenness and humility we must ask the Lord to pull together the dying embers and fan them into red-hot flames. It is surely His desire to make his servants "flames of fire" (Heb. 1:7).

Resisting the Slumbering Spirit - by Jim Tharp, 2008

And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: 'The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your works; you have the name of being alive, and you are dead. Awake, and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death, for I have not found your works perfect in the sight of my God. Remember then what you received and heard; keep that, and repent. If you will not awake, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you. Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. He who conquers shall be clad thus in white garments, and I will not blot his name out of the book of life; I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.' (Rev. 3:l-6).

Many churches, as well as individual Christians, are afflicted with the Sardis Syndrome today. They have a reputation of being alive, but their inner life and strength do not match their claims to know the Lord. Their talk is full of Scriptures, but their walk is weak and wobbly.

The church in Sardis is called to repentance. It is called to an awakening. Awake (v. 2) is a command. God is calling the Sardis church to revival. A minority is walking in the Spirit of holiness - they have not soiled their garments - they have not compromised with the world, nor have they succumbed to the gravity of the flesh. They have resisted the temptation to join the majority to succumb to spiritual drowsiness, which leads to slumber. 

A Bipolar Spirituality - by Jim Tharp, 2010

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. (Rom. 8:5-6).

Most good dictionaries will define bipolar as “a condition of one having or being marked by two diametrically opposed natures or views.” In our Scripture today, we have two forces bidding for the affections of the Christian believer. It is urgent that we understand what the apostle Paul meant by the things of the flesh and life in the Spirit.

It is my understanding that by Paul’s use of the flesh he means our entire human personality under the control of our fallen nature including our mind and spirit as well as our body. I take this from John Wesley, who did not restrict his definition of the flesh to merely bodily or fleshly appetites, but to the corruption of human nature as it spreads through all the powers of the soul as well as to the members of the body.

While the apostle is faithful to warn us against a mindset on the things of the flesh, his real purpose in this classic passage on New Testament spirituality is to show us God’s plan of spiritual power for a new life in Jesus Christ. He called it Life according to the Spirit in contrast to life according to the flesh.

After yielding my heart and life to Jesus Christ in early July, 1946, I had struggled enough with the urges of my fallen nature so that with my mother’s counsel on Paul’s meaning of Life in the Spirit in Romans 8, four months later I went alone into the forest near our home and settled in my heart to know the New Testament experience for the believer promised both by John the Baptist and our Lord Jesus Christ: the baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matt. 3:11: Acts 1:5,8).

The Pinnacle of Prayer - by Jim Tharp, 2010

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us... (Eph. 3:20 TLB).

It would be hard to find a New Testament passage that would exceed the glorious promise found here. However, verse 20 should not be considered apart from its context (1:14-21), in which the apostle’s purpose is to address the believer’s knowledge of both the love of God and the power of God involved in the experience of prayer as we ascend to the very summit of prayer captured in verse 20.

Actually, our incentives to prayer and our convictions for prayer are grounded in our realization of both the love of God and the power of God. God’s love determines His willingness to hear and answer prayer; His power determines His ability to hear and answer prayer. If God were simply a God of love, but not a God of power, He would be willing but not able; if He were a God of power, but not a God of love, He would be able but not willing. But glory be to His Name! We have a willing God of unlimited ability, and this truth should become the greatest assurance and highest incentive to those of us who pray!

Paul prays for his readers to be rooted and grounded in love and have power to comprehend with all the saints the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, so that they might be filled with all the fulness of God. The apostle treats the love of God as a cube, having breadth, length, depth and height. In the Bible, the cube is presented as a symbol of perfect form. Every side of a cube is a perfect square, and is seen as such from any and every angle The “Holy of holies,” in both the Tabernacle and the Temple, representing the dwelling place of God -- was a perfect cube. By divine specification, Moses and Solomon were to make the “Holy of holies” ten cubits long, ten cubits broad and ten cubits high. We find in the book of Revelation that the New Jerusalem, of which the “Holy of holies” was the type, let down out of heaven and measured equally in length, breadth and height -- still the perfection of symmetry.

 As Paul leads us to consider the love of God, he first calls attention to its breadth.

It is broad enough to take us all in! He does not love Jews only, but His love is extended to the Gentiles including every nation, tongue and tribe. It is extended to the whole world.

The love of God is also long. He says, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” This means that back in the eons of eternity before the earth was formed and before we were born, our Gracious, Sovereign God planned our salvation by sending His Son Jesus to planet earth to suffer and die in full payment for all the sins of all of us. And in love He sends the Holy Spirit to convict and cleanse us from sin and to guide and empower us for the Christian life. His love for us never had a beginning and it will never have an ending.

Hosting the Holy Spirit - by Jim Tharp, 2010

And you were also included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance of those who are God’s possession--to the praise of his glory. (Eph. 1:13, NIV).

Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. (II Cor. 5:5, NASB).

And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you. (John 14:16-17, RSV).

You realize, don’t you, that you are the temple of God, and God himself is present in you? No one will get by with vandalizing God’s temple, you can be sure of that. God’s temple is sacred--and you, remember, are the temple. (I Cor. 3:16-17, THE MESSAGE).

Jesus spent much time preparing His disciples for the coming of the Holy Spirit into their hearts and lives. He sought to make sure they understood the importance of having Him to keep them on track spiritually and fully within divine purposes for their lives and ministries. Jesus knew that if His disciples failed to understand the importance of their relationship with the Holy Spirit, His global vision for the Gospel would never get off the ground.

The disciples were at first grief-stricken on learning of the physical departure of their Lord. But they listened carefully as He explained the difference it would make for Him to depart in the flesh in order to return to them again in the Spirit. God in the Old Testament had been a presence with believers; God in the New Testament would be a presence in believers.

When Jesus told His disciples that the Father would send the Holy Spirit “in my name” (John 14:26), He meant in my character. The Holy Spirit would be to them another Convicter, another Comforter, another Counselor, just as Jesus had been. The Holy Spirit would not be given to replace Christ, but rather to reveal Christ. In fact, one hour after being filled with the Spirit at His Pentecostal outpouring, the disciples knew Christ much more perfectly than they had before. Christ had been with them; His Spirit was now in them. For the Holy Spirit is truly the Spirit of God (Rom. 8:9) and the Spirit of Christ (I Pet. 1:11).

 

Jesus promised, I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth …. It is by the Holy Spirit that we learn about our Heavenly Father and our Redeeming Christ. The Spirit internalizes truth about God and about ourselves. He helps us form our spiritual convictions, our worldview and our philosophy of life.

As the believer’s Indwelling Guest, the Holy Spirit is our Illuminator and Counselor making truth clear, intelligible and intensely real. As the Author of the Scriptures, He will interpret His Word for the obedient follower of Jesus. He will fit all of the truth into the framework of our lives, knowing just when to hold some of the truth back from us for a time and then knowing just when we are ready to understand, receive and obey it.

Our Lord and His apostles made it very clear that our success in knowing the truth, growing in grace and representing our Lord in power depends on how we relate to our Indwelling Guest. How sensitive, attentive and obedient are we to our Guest who has been sent to us from the Father and the Son? What kind of hosts are we?

Hearts Aflame - By Jim Tharp - 2001

I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! (Luke 12:49)

We are indebted to Luke the physician for recording the declared basic purposes of our Lord Jesus for coming to planet earth: to seek and to save the lost (19:10); and to set the earth aflame (12:49). Perhaps we should say that in these two verses we have the motive (to seek and save the lost) and the manner (to set hearts aflame) for His coming. Immediately following His declaration of setting hearts on fire, Jesus said, I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished! (12:50).

"The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus" - by Jim Tharp 2011

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death. (Rom. 8:2)

The apostle Paul tells us in this great epistle of Romans of three laws that he faced in his life.

First, there is the law of God. Its commandments he found to be holy, just, good. But it had no power to save. It could bring condemnation; it could never bring deliverance from the bondage of sin.

Second, there is the law of sin and death. The law of God is good and holy, but it is outside of us, beyond our ability. The law of sin and death is inside us, and it is in direct contrast to the law of God. The apostle explained the conflict in personal testimony: “For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do (Rom. 7:18-19). But here in chapter 8 Paul goes on to tell us of a third law that triumphs over the law that is weak in that it cannot save and the law that is contradictory and hinders the believer’s desire to please God in a life of holiness and power.

The third law Paul calls the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. He opens this chapter of celebration in Romans 8 with a victory statement: There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (8:1-5).

Most believers are acquainted with the first two of these three laws. They know that the law of God is good--it is holy, ideal and challenging. But its lack of redemptive power, its inability to deliver them from their dilemma (their bondage to sin) only adds to their sense of failure and frustration.

Back in Romans 7:9-24, Paul described the defeat and despair of Christians who have yet to discover the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. They come to the close of each day with a sense of having failed spiritually. As a revivalist, I meet them at the altars or after the services and hear their confessions: “I am dead, dry, defeated; there’s got to be something more to help me rise above my dilemma.” 

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!