09/10/2018
Is the Holy Spirit worth waiting on, and can we receive Him today just as the disciples did? These are questions that many claim to be answered “Yes” today, and that even to ask them is spiritually childish, while others denounce today’s coming of the Holy Spirit as irrelevant and a thing of the past. So which is it? How can we talk about receiving the gifts of the Spirit, and the workings of the Holy Spirit in us... and never have received Him?
“And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, "you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."”
Acts 1:4-5 ESV
Waiting on the Holy Spirit; there are a couple of interesting thoughts about this that come to mind. The first is this... what did the disciples think they were waiting on? We really don’t know from scripture, but this particular passage says it will be spiritual, while in John 14 they are told that the Holy Spirit would be a helper, a teacher, and a reminder, or in other words... more of a person than an entity that would infuse them. So what did they think would come, and were they as surprised by the manifestation as those around them? I don’t think they actually knew for sure what was about to happen, and I think they were very surprised when it did.
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
John 14:26 ESV
Today there are entire denominations that accept the filling of the Holy Spirit, while others say it is a miraculous and uncommon happening, and some say it is contrived, a trick of the mind, and unholy. Yet, I have heard of believers of the latter group who are just as surprised by the filling of the Holy Spirit as the disciples were... they denied this experience until it actually occurred to them. I have heard of pastors, priests, and lay persons, who had no belief in the reality of being filled with the Spirit until they were suddenly set upon and filled. These men and women began to speak in tongues, and to exhibit other gifts of the Spirit in amazing ways... ways that caused some of them to be sequestered by their church, silenced, denounced, or even excommunicated... branded as heretical. Fear, it can rule us, but it can’t silence God.
“In one sense, the fulfillment can never come again as it came at Pentecost. In another sense, we need to wait for the Father to fulfill His promise in us with as deep a reality as it was with the first disciples... His gifts are inseparable from Himself. It is all the more true with the Holy Spirit. He is God - present and working in us. The only way to see more of His work is to wait on the Father.” - Andrew Murray
Pretty strong words regarding the modern filling of the Holy Spirit from an ordained Pastor in the Dutch Reformed Church, wouldn’t you say so? As a matter of fact this was a rather widely accepted view in the latter 1800s and into the 1900s. It was preached by well-known Episcopal Methodists, and Anglicans too. This view was not the sole spiritual property of the churches we now see branded as “Pentecostal”.
“the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Colossians 1:26-27 ESV
The phrase “Christ in you”, or in other words... the Holy Spirit, another comforter, our teacher, reminder, and the proclaimer of the hope of glory. This mystery is no longer withheld from us, but is here today... now. So the answer to the question “is waiting upon it prudent” becomes... Absolutely!
“and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
Romans 5:5 ESV
The disciples received the Holy Spirit after days of praying. Later, they helped others receive it by prayer and the laying on of hands. Both methods are equally fruitful today. Are you asking Him to come into you today?
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for your Son Jesus Christ, and I thank you for your Holy Spirit that comes as promised, and comforts us. I pray alongside those who desire to be filled with the Spirit Father, and I pray that the wait not be long for them. Let each of those who tears down the hard walls that surround their hearts be entered into by your Holy Spirit in a moment of incredible joy and quickening. Let your power become theirs as they begin to wield it in the service of your will. Give them your strength as they deliver the gospel of Jesus Christ, and thrill their souls with the result. Remove the fear Merciful Father, and reward their uplifted hands with an outpouring of the Spirit... falling on them as if a waterfall, and dousing them completely in knowledge, wisdom, and the remembrance of your Word. Let us rejoice in your presence, in your will, in the redemption of Jesus, and in the filling of your Holy Spirit! Bridle our fear and our reluctance Father; let our spirits cry out to yours and say COME! You are worthy of praise Gracious Lord, and in your love we find our strength. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you the giver of gifts, and the vessel from which your Spirit is poured upon us. Praised be your name forevermore.
Rich Forbes