|
A couple of weeks ago, I experience a rather concerning event. Afterwards I heard the Holy Spirit say "How long will you tarry between two opinions?" I knew this was regarding a particular person who seems to have waffled for over 25 years in their submission to the things of Christ. Also, the reference was from the story of Elijah facing the Baal prophets in the Old Testament. 1 Kings 18 (Elijah on Mt Carmel) 20 So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel. 21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. I encourage you to read the entire story, but immediately Elijah told the Baal prophets to prepare their sacrifice and ask their god to burn it up. Nothing happened. Then Elijah offered his sacrifice and GOD burned it up. Then Elijah killed the prophets and the Israelites repented. You have to keep in mind that he was talking to the church folk...God's chosen people who had been wavering in their devotion. He confronted them, they said nothing and it all burned up, came crashing down, all of the former idolatry collapsed around them. "If" by Mark Batterson "You cannot be filled with the Holy spirit if you are full of yourself. An emptying process needs to happen through confession and repentance. And, like the infilling of the Holy spirit, it is not one word and done. 'Be 'Filled' is a verb meaning continuous action, so we have continuous responsibility." When I left teaching this group last year, the very last meeting, the title of my teaching was Grow UP-No More Foolishness! (see April 2025 Blog post) Then in January, the Lord gave me the word ‘Chicanery’ for 2026. That word means trickery, deception, foolishness, wrangling, or crafting. When we choose not to ‘grow up’ in the Holy Spirit, we end up being foolish, sometimes manipulative, deceptive or ‘crafty.’ As Batterson said ‘we are full of ourselves.’ This is what Elijah was telling the children of Israel. How long are you going to flip flop between God and ‘not God’ which is Baal? Book Pg 67- We have maintained in the previous chapter that the baptism in the Holy Ghost was given once for all on the day of Pentecost, when the Paraclete (HS) came in person to make his abode in the church. It does not follow therefore that every believer has received this baptism. God’s gift is one thing; our appropriation of that gift is quite another thing. My friend is moving into a house that has tarrazo tile throughout. I mentioned that she needs to get one of those Roomba vacuum mop things…she told me she has one, has had it for a while but doesn’t know how to program it around the rug. That is the act of ‘appropriating’ a gift. God may give the gift, but we still have to use it to experience its blessings. Book Pg 67 - There is a doctrine somewhat in vogue, not inappropriately denominated by incarnation, which maintains that since God gave His son to the world all the world has the Son, consciously or unconsciously, and that therefore all the world will be saved. This is called Universalism today…the false teaching that everyone goes to heaven or that there are many paths to heaven. Absolutely not true. Book Pg 67 - It need not be said that a true evangelical teaching must reject this theory as utterly untenable since it ignores the necessity of individual faith in Christ. But some orthodox writers have urged an almost identical view with respect to the Holy Ghost. I must repent and apologize here because I actually did this same thing. In many of my teachings I have said I believe everyone receives the Holy Spirit at salvation, at least a tiny measure of it. I do believe it takes the presence of the Holy Spirit to draw us and help us recognize we need Jesus, but what I didn’t realize is that the infilling is a separate event, and we have a continual need of a fresh infilling very single day. We cannot do anything without it. On the bottom of page 69, they address this a bit more, but you can read it on your own. Pg 68 - It seems clear from the Scripture that it is still the duty and privilege of believers to RECEIVE the Holy Spirit by a conscious, definite act of appropriating faith, just as they received Jesus Christ. Presumably, if the Paraclete is a person, coming down at a certain de4finite time to make his abode in the church, for guiding, teaching, and sanctifying the body of Christ, there is the same reason for our accepting Him for his special ministry as for accepting the Lord Jesus for His special ministry! Pg 68-69 – For it is as sinners that we accept Christ for our justification, but it is as SONS that we accept the Spirit for our sanctification: Galatians 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. This passage shows that logically and chronologically the gift of the Spirit is subsequent to repentance. On page 70 we see that Jesus proved it was a very separate action. John 20:21-22 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Page 71 tells us that ‘These texts seem to imply that just as there is a ‘faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, there is a faith toward the Holy Ghost for power and consecration. Acts 19:1-6 1 And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, 2 He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. 3 And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. 4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. 5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. This passage makes clear that it is a very separate action that we all NEED! This event was 20 years after the upper room outpouring and these men experienced the same thing. Pg 71 -This passage seems decisive as showing that one may be a disciple without having entered into possession of the Spirit as God’s gift to believers. The author (and I agree with him) vehemently denies the teaching that these things ended when the apostles died - cessationism. History has proven otherwise. Many not only deny the Holy Spirit, but they also deny all the gifts are for today. Pg 71 - Not only individual Christians, but whole communities of disciples are found who have been so imperfectly instructed that they have never known that there is a Holy spirit, except as an influence, and impersonal something to be vaguely recognized. Page 74-In Acts 8:14-17 there were believers who had been baptized in water. But this was not enough. The baptism in the Spirit, already bestowed at Pentecost, must be appropriated. Pg 75 – Let us observe that Christ, who is our example in this, as in all things, did not enter upon his ministry till he had received the Holy Ghost. Not only so, but we see that all his service from his baptism to his ascension was wrought in the Spirit. Jesus needed the Holy Spirit and so do we? Bottom of pg 71 – Jesus was begotten of the Holy Spirit in the womb. But when he would enter upon his public ministry, he waited for the Spirit to come upon him as he had hitherto been in him. For this anointing we find him praying; Luke 3:21-22 Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, 22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased. Pg 76 We see here that He (Jesus) received the ‘seven-fold’ spirit. Isaiah 11:1-2 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: 2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; So receiving the Holy Spirit isn’t just about speaking in tongues, boldness, or operating in signs and wonders…It’s about receiving Spirit of the Lord Spirit of Wisdom Spirit of understanding Spirit of counsel Spirit of might Spirit of knowledge Fear of the Lord (awe, reverence, etc.) This is also confirmed in Revelation Revelation 3:1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.  Pg 76 – Symbols and descriptions of the enduement of the spirit is applied both to Jesus and to his disciples.
1. The Sealing of the Spirit Eph 1 - KJV 13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. NLT 13 And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. 14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him. The author calls it a ‘Crown of Consecration’ put upon our faith. We are sealed in HIM, and it proves we belong to God. Pg 79 - God cannot put His signature on what is not His. Hence (however), if under the sway of a worldly spirit we withhold ourselves from God and insist on self-ownership, we need not count it strange if God withholds himself from us and denies us the seal of divine ownership. God is a jealous God. Pg 79 - He graciously bestows it upon those who are ready to devote themselves utterly and irrevocably to his service, but he strenuously withholds it from those who, while professing His name are yet ‘serving divers lusts and pleasures.’ Back to what I was talking about at the beginning “How long will you tarry between two opinions? I have prayed with so many people who want to receive the gift and power of the Holy Spirit, yet nothing changes in their life. You have to let go of the world to receive HIS seal! Exodus 39:30 And they made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote upon it a writing, like to the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD. This was the seal of the priest…this is also our seal! Pgs 79-80 The possession of the Spirit commits us irrevocably to separation from sin. A sanctified life is therefore the print or impression of his seal. The body can only be sinless by uninterrupted communion with the Head; the Head will not maintain communion with the body except it be holy. Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Do you grieve the Holy Spirit? 2. The Fullness of the Spirit Luke 4:1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, Pg 83 - This is the “enduement of power” the filling, Acts 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. Pg 84 - This infilling of the Spirit marks a decisive and most important crisis in the Christian life, judging from the story of the apostles conversion in Acts. But as we have intimated, we are far from maintaining that this is an experience once for all as the sealing seems to be. As the words ‘regeneration, renewal (and I add sanctification) used in scripture mark respectively the impartation of the divine life as a perpetual possession and its increase by repeated communications, so in our sealing there is a reception of the spirit once for all, which reception may be following by repeated fillings. It is reasonable to conclude this since our capacity is ever increasing and our need constantly recurring, according to the beautiful saying of Godet (Frédéric Louis Godet (1812–1900) was a Swiss Protestant theologian and influential New Testament scholar.) “Man is a vessel destined to receive God, a vessel which must be enlarged in proportion as it is filled and filled in proportion as it is enlarged.” I’ve never understood this quite in this way. The moment we ‘get saved’ we should begin to grow or mature. If we do, then we will be introduced to the opportunity to receive this seal. If we go after that, we will receive it and as we go about doing what God has called us to, then we will need to continually be in His presence, being refilled again and again. This provides the signs and wonders, the boldness, the fruit of the spirit. However, if we do not seek Him, and seek change, seek to know him more and more, we will be ‘less and less,’ and eventually walk away. There is a point where we have the opportunity to fully surrender to His Lordship or surrender to our flesh. This entire chapter is to helps us understand that this experience with Holy Spirit is separate from salvation, a separate act. One of the problems the protestant church has had is that it has limited the understanding the infilling of the Holy Spirit to the gift of tongues and it is so much more than that. The argument of what tongues are or are not has kept us from digging in and understanding that it is not about that, it is about the power, the understanding, etc. Even Jesus explains it as a separate experience. Luke 4:1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, Then 14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. 15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. 16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. 17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, 18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. 22 And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son? Pg 87 - That the filling of the Spirit belongs to us as a covenant privilege seems to be clear from the exhortation in Ephesians 5 ‘be not drunk with wine, but filled with the Spirit. And when he has come and filled the believer, the result is a kind of passive activity as of one wrought upon and controlled rather than of one directing his own efforts. 3. The Anointing of the Spirit Luke 4:18 18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me… Pg 88 - Throughout Scripture we see that the ‘Anointing’ was part of the call. The priest was anointed in Lev 8:12, the King in 1 Sam 16:15. No servant of the Lord was deemed qualified for his ministry without this holy, sanctifying touch laid upon him. Pg 89 - If we ask what this anointing is, the reply is obviously the Holy Spirit Himself. As before he was the seal attesting us, so now he is the oil, sanctifying us – the same gift described by different symbols. This anointing is what gives us the knowledge, the boldness, the actual ability to do whatever it is we are called to do. Only the Holy Spirit can know and make known the teaching, the thoughts and revelations of God. Pg 90 - In nothing does the enduement of the spirit more distinctly manifest itself than in the fine discernment of revealed truth which it imparts. There is a huge contrast between working in the power of the spirit and the energy of the flesh. And guess what, people can tell. You may not think they can, but they can. They may not be able to articulate it, but they know something is off. Pg 91 - Christ is the image of the invisible God; the Holy Ghost is the invisible image of Christ. As Jesus manifested the Father outwardly, the Spirit manifests Jesus inwardly, forming Him within us as the hidden man of the heart, imaging him to the spirit by an interior impression which no intellectual instruction, however diligent, can effect. The Gospels (yes, the entire Bible) but you especially see the power of the Holy Spirit operating through the authors of the gospels, when they tell the stories and recount Jesus words. This is only done because the spirit is so deeply IN them, so full, that they can recount all of this. Pg 92 - So now we have the enduement of the Spirit in 3 aspects Sealing Filling Anointing All of which terms, so far as can understand, signify the same thing – the gift of the Holy Ghost appropriated through faith. Each of these terms are connected with some special Divine endowment The SEAL with the assurance and consecration The FILLING with the power The ANOINTING with the knowledge All of these are wrapped up in one gift. This gift is for all and all we need to do is believe and receive, just like at salvation. Pg 95 - When the spirit came at Pentecost, it was a new development of insight into the love of God. It was a new contact, as it were with the inner and eternal movements of redeeming goodness and power, a new discovery in divine resources. The disciples had been with Jesus, and as in the Old Testament, the spirit came on them for specific tasks. But Jesus knew they would need more to do this work without Him, so He sent the Holy Spirit. We can be saved, and think we have the Holy Spirit, but until we ask Him to come and fill us, and continue to fill us, we are doing it all on our own. Next week, we work on Chapter 6.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Created by Dr. Connie SwainThe written word. Archives
July 2026
Categories |
RSS Feed