Five Operations of the Holy Spirit Part 14
The Lord Jesus works not only in us but with us. There is an internal working of Christ in us and there also is the living Presence of the Person, Christ who can come and work alongside of us.
No matter how gifted and anointed we may become there ought to occur a moment each time we minister, whether our gift is that of exhortation, teaching, helps, giving, or whatever, when the Presence of the Lord Jesus Himself becomes noticeable. Of course, we cannot make a routine of the Lord's manifest Presence. Still, we ought to be looking for an increasing Presence of the Lord in all that we do.
It is not enough that we become a flaming evangelist, a tireless apostle, or a faithful pastor. There should be occasions when Jesus Himself walks into the room and ministers. How marvellous it is when we are gathered together with the saints, or are by ourselves, and the Lord Jesus comes among us. There is no mistaking the fragrance of His Presence, the touch of the nail-scarred hands, the melting compassion of the Son of God.
He sees the needs and brings the grace of Heaven. Every problem, every discouragement, every vexing bondage from the tiniest to the mightiest, becomes as chaff that is blown away before the universal power of Christ. The Glory of the Lord goes before Him and every work of Satan is driven back.
Truly, He is wonderful! We minister, and He works with us. We are labourers together with Him. Without His Presence there is no ministry among us, no matter how mature or proficient, which is adequate for the needs of the hour. Christ Himself must pass among us and assist with the ministry if the result is to have Kingdom value. If we will allow Him to bear the load, and will work alongside of Him, the tasks will be accomplished.
"Grant it, Lord Jesus, that You will come to us and work with us, confirming the Word of God with signs following. We do not wish to minister by ourselves. We desire that You take the lead and that we will be able to watch what You do and do the same. O God, send the Lord Jesus Christ among us in the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Then our ministry will accomplish the building of the Body of Christ."
Having spent some time discussing the assigning, directing and empowering of gifts and ministries, let us return to our examination of the manner in which the Lampstand of the Holy Place of the Tabernacle portrays the work of the Holy Spirit. We are studying the work of the Holy Spirit in the sanctifying of the believer, which is the second area of redemption.
We have stated that the Holy Spirit works in each of us according to at least five operations of sanctification: (1) the assigning, directing and empowering of gifts and ministries; (2) the demolishing of the guilt, tendencies, and effects of sin, of all the works of Satan; (3) the creating of the Nature of Christ in us; (4) the giving of comfort, guidance and strength in every detail of discipleship; and (5) the inspiring of us to keep on pressing toward Christ.
The five end products of these five operations of the Holy Spirit are as follows: (1) our ability to impart Christ to people at all levels of spiritual maturity; (2) the establishment of the testimony of God as the basis for His judgment of His creatures; (3) the creation of the Wife of the Lamb; (4) the creation of the Temple of God; and (5) the imposition of Christ's rule on the peoples of the earth through judgement.
We have just examined the first operation of the Holy Spirit—the assigning, directing and empowering of gifts and ministries. We shall go on to the second operation of the Holy Spirit, the demolishing of the guilt, tendencies, and effects of the sin into which we were born as the result of the disobedience of Adam and Eve.
The Holy Spirit destroys the works of the devil. The program of redemption has two principal dimensions and one principal outcome. The first principal dimension of the program of redemption is the demolishing of the guilt, tendencies, and effects of sin. The second principal dimension of the program of redemption is the creating of the moral character of Christ in us—the fruit of the Spirit. The principal outcome of redemption is our complete union with God in His Being and purposes.
We are thinking now about the destroying of the guilt, tendencies, and effects of the sins that bear on the person and behaviour of the believer in Christ. Part of the Gospel of Christ is this: we no longer are obligated to our flesh, to serve its lusts and appetites (from Romans 8:12). There is power and authority in the Lord Jesus Christ to demolish the guilt, tendencies, and effects of the sin with which we are dealing in the world.
We are not speaking about going to Heaven, which is another matter entirely. Rather we are pointing toward the plan of redemption that is operating now among us while we yet are alive on the earth. What is going on in Heaven is unknown to us because we have not been there and we do not understand from the Scripture exactly how sin is dealt with in Heaven.
We do know from the Scripture that sin had its start in Heaven among Satan and the angels that followed his lead and that there still is a government of evil spirits in the heavenlies (Ephesians 6:12). Concerning life on the earth, the Lord has showed us plainly from the Scripture the redemption that is available to us today in Christ. It is the Divine program of redemption that we wish to examine.
The Church has been defeated for so long by the bondage of sin that there is discouragement and confusion associated with this problem. There were powerful preachers of sanctification during the last century and no doubt many such teachers throughout the history of the Christian Church.
Some of us may have grown a trifle cynical concerning sanctification because the results do not always follow the teaching. We claim we have been sanctified "root and branch." But then there are those bondages that people can see in us!
A popular approach among sincere Christian people is that as long as we are in the world we will sin. We should do our best but no one is perfect. We have a hope that Christ will catch us away into Heaven and that somewhere in the airy blue the sins that we practice will vanish.
It is true that in the ages to come it will be far easier to practice righteousness than is true today in the world.