Five Operations of the Holy Spirit Part 32
Every action occurring in the Christian Church should be proceeding from the Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit of the new covenant. One of the great needs in the Christian churches of today is the restoring of the Holy Spirit to His rightful pre-eminence in the operation of the Church.
And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: (Acts 2:17) The testimony of the Christian Church must come from the Holy Spirit.
And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: (Acts 2:18)
It is the Holy Spirit who is the Oil of the Lampstand of God. We Christians have not been charged with bearing witness to Christ by our human efforts. The task of testifying of Christ is the responsibility of the Holy Spirit. The reason the testimony of the churches is not more effective than it is, is that we are attempting to perform a task that belongs to the Holy Spirit of God.
Jesus of Nazareth always is approved of God by miracles and signs (Acts 2:22).
It is the miraculous that testifies of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is not in word but in power. If we will cooperate with the Holy Spirit He will enable us to bear witness as we ought.
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, . . . . (Acts 4:8)
The reason so much was accomplished in such a short time, in those days, was that the Apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit.
The Presence of the Spirit of God was evident in the incident concerning Ananias and Sapphira. Peter asked, "Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost?" The couple were not charged with lying to the Apostles but with lying to the Holy Spirit.
The early Church was filled with the Spirit of God. Resistance to the testimony of the early Church was not resistance to men but to the Holy Spirit.
Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. (Acts 7:51)
The Spirit directed Philip.
Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. (Acts 8:29) The Spirit directed Peter.
And the spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. . . . (Acts 11:12) The Spirit gave vision to the Church.
And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar. (Acts 11:28) The Spirit directed Paul.
Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not [did not permit them]. (Acts 16:6,7)
We have cited just a few of the references to the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts. The Holy Spirit not only assigns ministries and gifts but also directs and empowers the use of them. We need to be careful that once the Holy Spirit assigns abilities to us we do not run out in our own strength under some wisdom and direction other than that of the Holy Spirit of God.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. (Romans 8:14)
The Holy Spirit must take the lead, not only in giving us wisdom and strength to overcome sin but also in working with the atoning blood of Christ, in imparting the body and blood of Christ to us, in arranging our daily circumstances, in imparting resurrection life to us, in bringing to us specific words and helps from the Father, and in many other ways.
The Holy Spirit, like Eliezer of Damascus, has been charged with bringing a bride home to be married to the Father's Son. Our perfecting is His responsibility. If we are willing to cooperate with Him each day He will perform the work of redemption in us.
The new covenant, the covenant of Christianity, has two main elements: the putting of God's laws into our hearts and minds and the removal from God's memory of our sins and iniquities. The Holy Spirit creates God's laws in our minds and hearts, and the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ blots out from God's consciousness our sins and iniquities.