Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - July/92

Contributor - Wesley Ball

Title - The Indwelling Of The Holy Spirit

Topic - Holy Spirit

Some years ago, Dr. E. Stanley Jones was in the midst of an extended preaching mission all across the United States. Every evening he preached in a different church. Dr. Jones, so the story goes, soon found himself quite fascinated at what he found hidden behind the pulpits in these churches.

There was last Sunday's water glass, half emptied, and he thought, "Ah, a drink before the message would probably keep the sermon from being dry." In another pulpit there was a thermometer and he reflected, "You can't tell the spiritual temperature of a congregation with an ordinary thermometer." There were a few sticks of chewing gum in another pulpit and his observation was, "This represents the moving of the jaws but not necessarily the moving of the mind." His most striking observation came from a church where he found a fire extinguisher placed inside the pulpit. Dr. Jones sadly commented, "This is the tragedy of the Church today and of many Christians. We have been using the fire extinguisher to put out the flame of the Holy Spirit. We need to quit dampening and begin fanning the flame."

The work of the Holy Spirit is often misunderstood by those who confess Him, and because of this the Church is not reaping the full benefits of His ministry. Particularly the personal indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a subject which is foreign to many Christians. Yet the New Testament and our confessions affirm that "Christ abides in us by the Spirit which He has given us." (I John 3:24). The Heidelberg Catechism in question and answer 53 states that: "The Spirit has been given to me personally and by true faith makes me share in Christ and all His blessings, comforts me and remains with me forever." Other Scriptural references which testify of the personal indwelling of the Holy Spirit and which I recommend to our readers for further study are these: Matthew 3:11; Luke 24:49; John 4:14, 7:38; 1 John 16:7; Acts 2:3,4,4:32,33; and Ephesians 3:16.

It is my purpose in this article to highlight the unique significance of the work of the Holy Spirit in both the life of the individual believer and in the life of the Church.

In my life as a Christian and as a pastor I have made the following observations concerning the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit.

1. It is the will of God that everyone of His children should live entirely and unceasingly under the direction and control of the Holy Spirit.

2. Without the Holy Spirit, it is utterly impossible that the individual Christian or the Church can ever live and work as God desires.

3. Everywhere we see proof in the life and experience of the Christian that thjs blessing is but little enjoyed, and, alas, little sought.

4. This blessing is prepared for us and God wants to bestow it and our faith may expect it.

5. The great hindrance in the way of faith is that the self life and the world, usurp the place that Jesus ought to occupy.

To sum up, while the Holy Spirit may be the last article of our Creed, He is first in faith experience. If the Church is to be renewed, each local household of God must come to grips with a Biblical understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit. It is not enough for the Church to be formally committed to her institutional heritage and witness, or to formally affirm the chief means of grace (Word and Sacrament). When the Body of Christ with the best of Apostolic pedigree slept, God by His Holy Spirit called forth a Luther. When the proclamation of the Gospel was reduced to religious formalities and rational assent God raised up a John Wesley.

The words of Paul have continue their discomforting witness through Christian history: "Anyone who d not have the Spirit of Christ does belong to Him" (Romans 8:9). this means is that if we do not person ly acknowledge and experience Spirit's work of conviction (of sin), conversion, consecration and community we are nothing. Christian community, to cite one area of the Spirit's ministry is more than social gatherings such church suppers and recreational programs. It is a joyful and loving sharing in a fellowship which is based on unity of Father and Son and established by the Holy Spirit in us a among us.

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit revealed doctrine of Scripture. It is anticipated in the Old Testament (Eze 36:27, Ezekiel 37:14) and it is fulfilled in the New Testament through the death, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord. Jesus promised His disciples that the Holy Spirit came to them, "He would henceforth abide in them ever." The apostle Paul asks in 1Cor 6:19: "Know ye not that your bo the temple of the Holy Spirit which i you?" The question I want to answer in the concluding portion of this article How did the Holy Spirit as the indwelling Spirit, work in and through the early disciples, and how, accordingly, does He work in and through present disciples.

1. As the Spirit of Christ

Following the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, the disciples were physically separated from their Master. No longer was He with them. From the way it appeared they were on their own. But were they? Certainly not! They had inward conviction through the Spirit that Christ was at the centre of their lives and that He instructed, directed and empowered them. It was thus they embarked on their dangerous mission which led to the ends of the earth: they were always conscious of the indwelling Presence of Christ and always relied on Him for the fulfilment of their mission.

Don't you feel at times that the church is incapacitated because it holds on too tightly to means of her own making? However, we are called to live by faith, and faith is risk taking in the sense that we rely on nothing but the Word of Christ, nothing but the ministry of Word and Spirit. When Jesus sent out the 72 disciples on their first mission (Luke 10) He told them to make no provision, to have no baggage! The Latin word for baggage is impedimentum, suggesting that baggage impedes. The Church, in carrying out her mission, is often burdened by too much excess baggage: her rites, her ceremonies, the things that are not relevant to her life and mission. The New Testament Church was always conscious of this. In Acts 15:28 we read: "for it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things..." The essential need for the Church is to rely upon the Presence and Power of her indwelling Lord, the ministry of His Spirit.

2. As the Spirit of Holiness

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of holiness. It is His work to make us holy or to sanctify us. God wills that we be holy, conform to His divine nature be godly or Godlike. "You shall be holy, for I am holy." (I Peter 1:16) The Holy Spirit unites us to Christ in Whom is our righteousness or holiness. "He takes what is Christ's and declares it unto us." (John 16:14) Sanctification as a work of the Holy Spirit within us is a progressive work. Billy Graham has pointed out that while there is no difference in the extent to which the Holy Spirit indwells or fills us (his indwelling is complete), there is a difference in the extent to which the believer has yielded his life to the Spirit. In other words, sanctification for the believer is a journey. As we grow in grace, more and more of our life is yielded to the Spirit's control. Paul in his ministry aimed at "presenting every man mature in Christ." (Coloss. 1:28) It is to be kept in mind that the spiritual development of man is never a human achievement but a work of grace effected by the Spirit of Christ using the means of grace and God's providential guidance (our blessings and afflictions).

3. As the Spirit of Witness

The Church that is indwelt by the Holy Spirit is a Church with a passion for souls. When I read the accounts in the Book of Acts how the early Christians responded to the Great Commission - Christ's marching orders for them - I am reminded of "Operation Desert Storm" in the Persian Gulf War. Jesus had said: "Ye shall be my witnesses," and the early Church, propelled by the Holy Spirit, divine passport in hand, swept across political, intellectual and moral frontiers. They claimed the whole spectrum of life for their risen and reigning Lord Jesus Christ.

4. As the Spirit of Fellowship

In the Book of Acts, Luke writes (Acts 2:32): "And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and one soul." Those who joined the Christian community were Jews, Gentiles, men and women of different nationalities and different social standings. The pagan world looked at these colonies of heaven and exclaimed, "How these Christians love each other." We desperately need that. There is nothing more delightful than a Church on fire with love. It is a true mark of the Christian and fruit of a life in the Spirit.

5. As the Spirit of Joy . The early Christians were filled with incredible joy and hopefulness. The source of that joy is the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17) through Whom Christians are assured of their identity as children of God (Romans 8:16); of their victory over sin and the forces of evil (Romans 6:14); of their hope in the coming of God's Kingdom, the day when the promised redemption will be complete (Ephesians 4:30). It is this joy that determines their attitude toward all of life and all of living; it is the joy of the Lord!

It is my earnest prayer that individual Christians and congregations alike will experience the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as an ever-living fountain - that times of refreshing will come ever anew from the Presence of the Lord (Acts 3:19).

The place where William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, was converted, is marked with a bronze plaque. A man was seen here on his knees one day earnestly and softly praying: "Lord, do it again, do it again." Make that your prayer, your earnest and fervent prayer. Ask that it happen in your experience.

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