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).
To inhale means to draw deeply into one’s lungs and inner being. To be filled with the Spirit means to take in the abundance of the Holy Spirit as a drunk person freely partakes of alcohol and comes under its influence. Listen to Jesus calling to His followers to partake freely of His Spirit: "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." But this He spoke concerning the Spirit ..." (John 7:37-39). For the lack of this fullness, this flowing force, the churches wither and die. But the fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit will mean flowing rivers of living water resulting in people finding Christ, believers being cleansed and filled with the Spirit and genuine revival in the Church of Jesus Christ.
Exercise and Devotion
Finally, the Spirit-filled are expected to obey Christ’s commands and continue in fullness of the Spirit. We receive the Breath of God for two main reasons: (1) It purifies our hearts and makes us like Jesus; (2) It empowers us for doing the will of God. We aren’t filled with the Spirit to merely feel good; we are to exercise the power of the Holy Spirit in obedience to the Great Commission. The Spirit-filled life is about being and doing. Jesus said, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me ..." (Acts 1:8). This anointing is enlightening, inspiring, energizing and creative. When the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, they were emboldened to proclaim the Gospel, resulting in a harvest of three thousand souls for the Kingdom of God. When they were again filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:31), "they spoke the word of God with boldness ... and with great power gave witness ..." (vv. 31, 33). Luke the historian is telling us that the early leaders of the Church operated continually under the influence of the Breath of God. This alone accounts for their bold praying, militant faith and amazing success.
Friends, there is no substitute for the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Though it is truly amazing what talented, educated, creative leaders can do in the flesh, the Kingdom of God advances only by those who are filled with the Spirit. The work we are about is not done by human strength but by the Holy Spirit (Zech. 4:6). So let us pray with Edwin Hatch:
Breathe on me, breath of God; fill me with life anew,
That I may love what Thou dost love, and do what Thou wouldst do.
Breathe on me, breath of God, until my heart is pure,
Until with Thee I will one will, to do and to endure.
Breathe on me, breath of God, till I am wholly Thine,
Until this earthly part of me glows with Thy fire divine.
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