Our need for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit

Tuesday

26May2009

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

In the life of Jesus and the life of his early followers, being filled with the Spirit was synonymous with being a Christian. Living under the daily baptism of the Holy Spirit was not the exception but the rule of God’s children. Some received the Spirit prior to water baptism (by immersion), others during baptism, and still others soon after.

Once a person was filled or baptised with the Holy Spirit, also called the Spirit of God and Spirit of Christ, there were further, daily renewals if they were truly converted and were to remain so. Both Jesus and the apostle Paul are outstanding examples of such an experience and are revealed in Scripture so that we might “walk as he walked”.

There is no greater need in the church today, nor is there any experience and teaching more neglected. We seldom see the power of the early churches witness in postmodern times. There is much that masquerades as the work of the spirit, but the power of loving unity foretold by Jesus as the mark of his disciples is quite rare. For few are wiling to meet the simple conditions of repentance, faith, confession, and consecration necessary before a soul can be used by God. Few will submit to a conviction of sin in their hearts, which is the first work of the Spirit in showing us our utter poverty and need of God.

If we would take the promise of the Spirit seriously, if we would comply with the conditions for receiving the daily baptism of the Spirit, we would see a work of sanctification and soul winning longed for but neglected in these final days of earth’s present history. All of our discussions about method, all of our planning and strict budgets, all of our preaching, worship, and witness, important as they are, remain useless and sterile without the continual indwelling of the Spirit.

Where are the communal gatherings of prayer for a deeper experience? Where are the tears, the heartbreaking tears of desire for more of Christ and his Spirit? Why so casual in the face of the horrific evils that surround us, why so caviler with our own self-centred ways? For want of the Spirit we strain at a gross formalism, a precise ceremonialism that is offensive to God. We have often grieved him with our lack of consecration and love of self, even boldly defending our need to sin, rather than allow him to cleanse the soul temple of our greedy idolatry. Yet signs of grief over sin are far, far less common than the sins themselves. Gossip runs rampant in churches, but confession does not. Lust for entertainment is consuming a desire for Christ. Worry, fear, and bitterness poison pew after pew. Angry, abusive, words and behaviour fill church families with violence. Hidden secrets of terrible crimes are forced out by God’s providence, out of the churches that should be temples of his purity and truth. When will we openly, honestly confess our sins and plead for the only power that will keep us from repeating them? How long do we imagine our cover-ups will protect us from the just anger of God for such sins?

Jesus is returning soon. He is coming with deliverance and judgment. We have to wonder how many of us are prepared to meet him as long as we compromise and contradict our faith with presumptuous, cherished sins. Are we listening to the Spirit of God as he seeks to show us the hard, unlovely parts of our character that are misrepresenting God and driving others far from him? Are we truly repenting of our hypocrisy, of the games we play to convince others of our righteousness? Are we confessing the sins that everyone, even ourselves see in our lives? Or are we justifying ourselves hour by hour until we will quench the only voice that can save us from our sins?

I seldom see or experience the work of repentance moving in congregations. Pleasant, even serious, sermons are presented. A few moments of conviction come, but within the hour it is business as usual as most of us succumb to habits God has clearly revealed as sin. Real, tangible revival, long-lasting revival and reformation remains a rare commodity today. Here and there a word comes of others finding true life in Christ, but for many, especially in the West, we have lost our first love, wandering through life as mute witnesses to an experience that faded away long ago.

God means for us to have a rich, loving, gracious, powerful, pure experience with him, one in which he is continually present through faith in the atoning work of Christ. He means for the sacrifice of Christ on the cross to be the living reality within our hearts, self being crucified and dead to the world. Jesus longs to walk with us in friendship, being the Lord of our lives, leading us to an ever higher experience in the deep things of God. All that keeps us back is our unwillingness to confess our utter need of something more, something better than we naturally possess ourselves. If we will come to him as we are, without excuse, and confess the poverty of our souls, we will be renewed in his promise to give us the fullness of his grace, not only for the forgiveness of sins but for the empowering we need to be true overcomers in our battle with evil.

Time will soon tell the story of who will take hold of Christ. Who will cling to him as if nothing else mattered? Who will say as Jacob did, “I will not let you go until you bless me”? Do we imagine anything less than a complete, daily surrender will prepare us for the unveiled revelation of Christ in all his glory? Is not God still the consuming fire that destroys all impurity, all sin? Who will stand when Jesus appears if it is not those who have overcome “by the blood of the Lamb” and the “word of their testimony”?

These are questions we cannot ignore if we want Christ now and to meet him in peace when he returns. Now is the day of salvation. For every inspiration of the Spirit resisted, every moment of truth wasted only acts to harden the heart, eventually leaving it dead to the voice of God. Now is the time for the repentance Christ enjoins on his church, now is the time to seek God while he can still be found. Now is the time while time remains to receive the Spirit who alone will meet our every need.

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