THE GREAT TRAGEDY of the Church of Jesus Christ in our words

geJtleI·atjlon
is the failure to recognise the divine Person of the and
our lives,
Why should we be content with merely beating the air?
Why should the church stoop to entertainment when the
We are making the fatal mistake of attempting to substitute Holy Spirit stands ready to manifest His divine presence and
ourwell-organised plans and programmes for the management power among us? Oh, that we would prostrate ourselves
and the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit. But the Holy between the porch and the altar and confess to God our
Spirit is God's source of life and vitality to the church; utter hopelessness, our ballkruptcy and our sin of self-
without Him we are dead. He is God's answer to our sufficiency,and yield ourselves to Him for the mighty infilling
spiritual needs and when dare to Him we are of His Holy Spirit.
doomed to
Jesus called disciples from the field, away from preaching,
from healing the sick, from casting out devils, and told them
to wait for the promise· of the Father. Jesus underlined
thereby the importance of the anointing of the Holy Spirit
upon our ministries. He suggested that our efforts, productive
though they may seem to be, are futile or short of any lasting
results if they are not done in the power and might of the
Spirit of God. For this reason there should be no desire for spiritual gifts. But not even these gifts guarantee a
greater in the heart of any child of God, any Christian worker,
anyone who is called by the J,1flmeof Jesus Christ, than the
desire to live every momept; ipj the fulness and under the
control of the blessed Holy,Spirit of God.
Only as the Holy Spirit ministers through our lives can we
convincingly lift up our Saviour to the world of men. It is
only as He operates freely through our lives that we can hope
to liquidate the spiritual bankruptcy of the Church of our
Lord. Dr. W. H. Griffith Thomas said, "It is only as a (Romans 8.
dynamic that Christianity can recommend itself to the life of purpose for our existence.
to-day, and according to the New Testament this dynamic is Christ. We are called to be followers of Him, to radiate the
possible only through the grace and presence of the .Holy life of our blessed Lord and Master.
Spirit." The only. way of demonstrating Christianity as a
In order to effect this, God has given us His Holy Spirit to
supernatural religion is by insisting upon the management,
dwell within us. He will lovingly communicate to us the
the administration, of the Holy Spirit.
life and qualities of our Lord until Christ is funy formed in
us. How amazing that God should make it possible for us
to act like Christ, to talk like Hil11!
ordinary work. We are not in
politicians. We are not comedians. Our task is to rescue This 'is true Christianity. We need not struggle to be holy.
men from the power of Satan. We are on the battlefield because Christ lives His holiness in us by the indwelling Holy
against the forces of darkness (Ephesians 6. 12-13). We are Spirit. We need not struggle to have faith, for we "live by
enlisted in a spiritual battle, one that cannot be. fought with the faith of the Son of God." We shaH not lack love, for
carnal weapons. His love is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost,
"We have the mind of Christ," says the Scripture. He is
For this reason God has made available to us supernatural our wisdom,· our righteousness, our life. He is· everything
power which is indispensable to our success in this warfare. to us•. Further, the· Holy Spirit desires to transform us
God's word to us is dear: "Not by might, nor by power, '~from glory to glory" into the very image of Christ (2
but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts" (Zechariah 4. 6). Corinthians 3.18). Oh, the depth of the riches of His love
Paul told the Corinthians that he came "not with enticing toward us !
 In Galatians we have that beautiful list of what. Paul cans
" the fruit of the Spirit": love, joy, peace, long-imffering, .
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; these are
characteristics of Christ which the Holy Spirit will cultivate
in us for the glory of God.
Thank God for the Holy Spirit. It was a sad day when
horlesthearted Christians unguardedly allowed themselves to
confuse the graces and virtues of the Spirit with what was
simply a demonstratio~ of the flesh. May God spa~e us from
substitutys for Spirihfilled saints. May God. grant 1,1sthe
genuine manifestation.of His Holy Spirit among us s.o that
we will remind men of Christ. When we speak men will be
convinced of the reality .of our Lord and be pricked in their
hearts as in the days when the gospel was first made known.
Second, a Spirit-filled mahis always available for the operation
of the Holy Spirit. After the Spirit has formed . Christ
within us He desires to use our bodies as centres of operation
for His mighty working power, asking onlythato~r livcsbe
available to Him. It is most encouraging to. note that God
does not lopk for supermen or for ho an:; perfect. He
does.not look for men who have a jned great things in life.
Rather our lIeavenly Father seeks men whowilJ throw them-
selv:esat .Hisfeet and say, "Lord, bere am I. I amavaihlble."
Itis significant that the Holy Spirit should.tell us that" Elias
was a man~' and that he experienced the same:passions as
we (James 5. 17). Yet this man moved his generation for
God because his life was available to the Holy Spirit. The
humble men in the days of early Christianity were termed
"unlearned and ignorant," but they nevertheless turned the
w.orld upside down for Christ, for they dared to render their
lives available to the Spirit. .Menand women wer~ converted
daily. The sick were healed and the dead raised. Prison
doors were opened.. God was on the move. It was a time
of revivaL The foundations of hell were shaken.
God is the same to-day.. He is stm looking for men who are
are available, and the world also is looking.for men who will
let God use them. Paul's dynamic ministry began when,
under the blazing light of the presence of Christ on the
Damascus road, he cried, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to
do?" Are we available? . spirit of fear; but of power,and of love, and of a sound
Third, the Spirit-jilled man lives under the absolute. and un-.
~rP hindered control of the Holy Spirit. To be fined. ~lth the
.' Spirit is to be controlled by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit
should be allowed to contro! every word, every thought,
every deed, .every emotion, every disposition. He desires to
teach us (Luke 12. 12; 1 Corinthians 2. 13), to :bring aU
thibgs to our remembrance (John 14.26), to guide us into all
truth (John 16. 13) and to glorify Christ through. us (John
16.14), to reprove the world of sin through us (John 16.8)
andito empower~s for service (Acts 1. 8). In Romans 8.26
we are told that He helps our weakness in prayer, for we do
not know what we should pray for. Instead, the Spirit makes
intercession for us.. Oh, that we would give Him back His
rightful place !
10
The secret of the StiCCf,'JSS of the Early Church was simply that
the Holy Spirit was its administrator. The apostles sought
His guidance. When Peter was praying the Holy Spirit said
to him, "Three men seek thee ... get thee down, and go
with them," and Peter obeyed (Acts to. 19.20). The Spirit
said to Philip, " Go near, and join thyself to this chariot,"
and Philip." ran thither" in obedience to the Spirit's voice
(Acts 8. 29).
The Spirit chose the men who were His representatives (Acts
13. 2). It was He who chose the fields of service; certain
apostles were "forbidden of the Holy Ghost" tp preach in
Asia (Acts 16.6). He ~as consulted ;:tboutmatters relating
to the business of the church. "It seemed good to the Holy
Ghost, and to us," said. James in his letter to the Ge!)tile
brethren abroad (Acts 15.28). Even Satan recognised .His
authority and preeminence (Acts 19. 15). Does the Holy
Spirit have absolute and unhindered control over our lives?
Thq Holy Spirit is God's love-giftto us qn,this side of Calvary.
The warriors of the Old Testament never. knew Him as .we
can know Him to-day. He came upon them only in a
measure and for specific tasks. But those men anowed that
measure. to work. Elijah prayed down· fire from heaven"
Joshua commanded the sun to stand stilI. Samson took oft
the gates of Gaza and slew an army with the jawbone of a·
mule.
Incredible though it may seem, God has provided something
better for us. To-day the Holy Spirit abides with us forever.
He has chosen our bodies to b(i Histemple. We are His action
centres. There are unlimited· pOssIbilitiesopened before us
through the power of the Holy Spirit. "He that believeth on
me," Jesus said, "the works that I do shaH he do also; and
greater works than these shaH he do; because I go unto my
Father" (John 14. 12). In the same breath He said: "And
I wilI pray· tbe Father and he shall give you another Com-
forter, that he may abide with you for ever~"
How amazing! We need never say "I cab't,"·. for "I
cando all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."
We heed never confess fear, for "God hath not given ·us the
mind." We need never fall under Satan's pressure, for
" greater is he that is in (us), than he that is in the wodd."
We need never be in bondage, for "where the Spirit of the
Lord is,there is liberty."
Let every Christian ask himself, " How much of my life does
the Holy Spirit control ?" Does He saturate every compart-
ment of my being? Am I empty. so that He can fin me ?
Am I willing to be nothing so that He can be everything?
Am I hungry so that He can satisfy me ?
'~ Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteous-
ness: for they shall be fined" (Matthew 5. 6). " Be filled
with the Spirit." ..·
from THEALLIANCE
WrrNEssfor March 19th, 1969.