THE SPIRIT FILLED CHURCH
Just before Jesus ascended into heaven, He said: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about” (Acts 1:4). Jesus then clearly stated that the purpose of the Spirit coming is to have POWER TO WITNESS effectively: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
The disciples had the GREATEST MESSAGE to proclaim to the world: that Jesus had risen from the dead and by so doing had conquered death for everyone – but they were not allowed to give this phenomenal news until they had received the promised fulness of the Holy Spirit with speaking in tongues and other gifts of the Spirit.
On the Day of Pentecost 120 people received the promised Holy Spirit, and on the same day Peter explained to the great crowd that gathered: “He (Jesus) has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.” (Acts 2:33)
Peter then went on to say: “The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:39) In other words, Peter said that the Holy Spirit was for everyone who would believe, repent and be baptised. It was for the people gathered in that crowd that day and for ALL FUTURE GENERATIONS WORLDWIDE.
Subsequently, in the Acts of the Apostles, those who received the gospel in Samaria and the first worldclass Gentile believers in the household of Cornelius all received the fulness of the Spirit just as the 120 did, with speaking in tongues. When Paul met some believers in Ephesus who did not know about the Holy Spirit, they were quickly instructed, prayed for and they received the promise and spoke in tongues.
This set a precedent that was supposed to follow through all the history of the Church but gradually along the line and certainly by the beginning of the 3rd century the vital ingredient of the baptism of the Spirit with speaking in tongues and other spiritual gifts, was all but lost. For a shocking 1300 years the Church declined more and more and although the Reformation was a turning point, Luther and other leaders rejected and persecuted people like the Anabaptists, who wanted to go all the way in returning to the fulness of New Testament church life.
The good news for us is that at the beginning of the 20th century, eight years before the start of the First World War, God poured out His Spirit on a little group of people in Los Angeles California - and that went worldwide as the Pentecostal movement. God did it again 55 years later, on people of all denominations - and that went worldwide too, as the Charismatic movement.
The situation today is that in many churches even Charismatic and Pentecostal, there are people who have not been baptised in the Holy Spirit with signs of that. What has caused this situation? I think there are a number of reasons: including a failure in the discipling of new believers and a lack of emphasis at a leadership level, on the importance of it. Also in many such churches there is not enough regular teaching about it these days, or encouragement of the use of the gifts of the Spirit in their gatherings including home groups.
If people are not taught that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is for every believer, they will not have an expectation to receive it. It is still up to every individual believer to WANT it and then they need to ASK for it: “How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ASK Him!” (Luke 11:13) It does not happen automatically at the point of being saved (as some people think). If born again (by the Spirit) believers do not want the baptism or fulness of the Spirit or they do not actively seek for it, they do not receive it!
This article is a plea for the Church to wake up and fully embrace the fact that to be effective witnesses - the way that God wants us to be – the CHURCH NEEDS TO BE SPIRIT FILLED.
The only way for that to happen is for every true member of the Church (which is individual people) to be baptised in the fulness of the Holy Spirit as those 120 disciples were on the day of Pentecost (after waiting upon God for ten days to receive it)!
As the whole world travails in pain waiting for the appearance of the sons of God (Romans 8:21-23), we can clearly see that in these last days, God wants the Church to be powerful and effective in giving the world possibly its last opportunity to turn to Jesus and be saved.
The only way for that to fully happen is for the Church of all denominations worldwide to be Spirit filled!
“Trying to do the Lord's work in your own strength
is the most confusing, exhausting,
But when you are filled with the Holy Spirit,
then the ministry of Jesus just flows out of you.”
Next month we will follow this through with an article entitled:
Reformation Revival Renewal and Restoration