Power and Glory

  In the last session we have seen that the Holy Spirit is not a dictator. He will not do for us – or through us – more than we allow Him to. There are three main areas to which we may apply this principle:

   1) the life of the individual believer; 

   2) the worship and service of a congregation as a whole; 

   3) the ministry of a preacher of the gospel.

  In this section we shall consider the first of these areas. What main results is the baptism in the Holy Spirit intended to produce in the life of each individual Christian’s? We shall look at eight specific results.

   Power to Witness

  Jesus Himself points to the first of these results in two passages where He gives final words of direction to His disciples before His ascension into heaven.

   Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high (Luke 24:49).

   But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8).

  In these passages Jesus gives His outline plan for the spread of the gospel in the present age. It is extremely simple. It contains three successive stages.

     1. Each believer is to be personally empowered by the Holy Spirit.

     2. Each believer, thus empowered by the Spirit, is by his personal testimony to win others to Jesus.

     3. These others (that are won) are in their turn to be empowered by the Spirit to win yet others.

   In this way the testimony of Jesus is to be extended outward from Jerusalem in ever-widening circles of power until it has reached the end of the earth; that is, until it has reached all nations and every creature.

  This plan is both simple and practical. Whenever it is applied, it will always work. It would make    possible the evangelization of the entire world in any century in which the church would put the plan to work. There is no other alternative plan which can accomplish the same result.

  In these passages the key word is power. The Greek word is dunamis, from which we get such English words as “dynamo,” “dynamic,” “dynamite.” The impression produced by these English derivative words is essentially that of a forceful, explosive impact.

  In this respect, the New Testament observes a logical distinction between the primary results of the new birth and the primary results of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. 

  The primary concept associated with the new birth is authority.

   But as many as received Him [Jesus], to them He gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12).

  This passage describes the new birth, for in the next verse we are told that these people who received Jesus “were born of God.” The Greek word here translated “the right” is exousia. Exousia denotes a being or a nature which is derived from some external source. In other words, the person who receives Jesus as    Savior receives, in Jesus, the being or nature of God Himself. The receiving of this new life or nature from God produces within the believer the new birth.

The English word most commonly used to translate this Greek word exousia is “authority.” 

This is the distinctive mark of the born-again child of God. He is no longer a slave of sin and Satan. He is a son of God. As such, he possesses a new authority. He no longer succumbs to temptation or opposition. He meets and overcomes these things by virtue of the new life within him. He is an overcomer. He has authority.

However, authority is not at all the same as power. The first disciples already had this authority from the time of Jesus’s resurrection onward. They were already “sons of God.” They were able to lead godly, overcoming lives. They were no longer the slaves of sin. However, during the period from the resurrection to the day of Pentecost, these first disciples made very little positive impact upon the great majority of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. As a whole, during this period Jerusalem was very little changed or affected by the fact of Jesus’s resurrection.

All this was abruptly and dramatically changed, however, by the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. As soon as the 120 believers in the upper room were baptised in the Holy Spirit, the whole of Jerusalem immediately felt the impact. Within an hour or two a crowd of many thousands had gathered, and before the day closed three thousand Jesus-rejecting unbelievers had been gloriously converted, baptised and added to the church.

What produced these dramatic results? The adding of power to authority. Before the day of Pentecost the disciples already had authority. After Pentecost they had authority plus power – they had the power that was needed to make their authority fully effective.

The evidence and outworking of this new, supernatural power are conspicuous in the ensuing chapters of the book of Acts.

  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness (4:31).

  And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus (4:33).

  The high priest complained to the apostles:

  And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine (5:28).

  The same city-shaking impact continued to make itself felt thereafter in every place where the early  professing Christian’s presented the testimony of the risen Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit.

For instance, we read concerning Samaria:

  And there was great joy in that city (8:8).

  Concerning the city of Antioch in Pisidia, it says:

  And the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the Word of God (13:44).

  In the city of Philippi the opponents of the gospel complained concerning Paul and Silas:

  These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city (16:20).

  In Thessalonica the opponents of the gospel said of Paul and Silas:

  These who have turned the world upside down have come here too (17:6).

  As a result of the opposition to Paul’s preaching in Ephesus:

  The whole city was filled with confusion (19:29).

  One common feature marked the advent of these early Christian’s witnesses in every place: a mighty spiritual impact upon the whole community. In some places there was a revival, in some there was a riot; quite often there were both together. But there were two things that could not survive this impact: ignorance and indifference.

Today, in many places, the conduct and experience of professing Christian’s are very different. This applies even to many groups of  professing Christian’s who have a genuine experience of the new birth. They meet regularly in a church building for worship; they lead decent, respectable lives; they cause no trouble; they provoke no riots; they arouse no opposition. But, alas! They make no impact. In the community all around them, ignorance and indifference concerning spiritual things prevail, unchanged and unchallenged.

The vast majority of their neighbors neither know nor care what these  professing Christian’s believe or why they attend church.

So what is lacking? The answer lies in one word: power. The explosive dynamite of the Holy Spirit has been left out of these  professing Christian’s’ lives. And nothing else can take its place.

The Christian’s church as a whole needs to face up to the challenge of Paul in 1 Corinthians 4:20:

  For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power.

  Once again, the Greek word which Paul here uses is dunamis – explosive power. It is not a question merely of the words we speak but of the power which makes our words effective. The key to this spiritual power is the baptism in the Holy Spirit. For this there is no substitute.

We see, then, that according to the New Testament the primary result of the baptism in the Holy Spirit is a supernatural enduement with power from on high to become an effective witness for Jesus.

Glorification of Jesus

  The second main result of the baptism in the Holy Spirit is indicated by Peter’s speech on the day of Pentecost.

  Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He [Jesus] poured out this which you now see and hear (Acts 2:33).

  The baptism in the Holy Spirit, which Peter and the other disciples had just received, constituted for each of them direct, personal evidence and assurance that their risen Lord was now both exalted and glorified at the Father’s right hand.

Ten days earlier a little group of them had stood on the Mount of Olives and watched Jesus be taken up from them out of their sight.

  And a cloud received Him out of their sight (Acts 1:9).

  That was the last physical contact the disciples had with Jesus. Then, ten days later on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit’s coming gave to each disciple a new, direct and personal contact with Jesus. Each one now knew with a fresh assurance that their Saviour, whom the world had despised, rejected and crucified, was henceforth and forever exalted and glorified at the right hand of the Father in heaven.

Only from the Father’s presence could Jesus have received this wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit which He, in turn, imparted to His waiting disciples. Receiving this gift gave them total assurance that Jesus was actually in the glory of the Father’s presence, invested with authority and power over the entire universe.

There are many Scripture passages which emphasize the supreme exaltation of Jesus Christ.

He [God] raised Him [Jesus] from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all (Eph. 1:20-23).

  Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name (Phil. 2:9).

When He had by Himself purged our sins, [He] sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they (Heb. 1:3-4).

Listen to what Peter says of Jesus after His resurrection:

  . . . who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him (1 Pet. 3:22).

  Through these and other scriptures every believer understands by faith that Jesus Jesus is not merely risen from the dead; He is also ascended and glorified at the Father’s right hand. However, the believer who receives the baptism in the Holy Spirit receives with it a new kind of direct, personal evidence and assurance of Jesus’s exaltation in power and glory at the Father’s throne.

Often when a loved one leaves us on a journey to some new destination, we urge him, “Be sure to send us a letter to let us know you have arrived safely.” When the letter arrives in the loved one’s own handwriting, postmarked with the name of the city of destination, we know with full assurance that he is in the very place he told us he would be.

So it is with the baptism in the Holy Spirit. For the disciples on the day of Pentecost – and for every individual believer who receives the same experience – it is like a personal letter from Jesus. The postmark on the letter is “Glory,” and the message reads: “I am here, just as I said, at the seat of all authority and power.”

I am reminded of a conversation I once had, while serving as principal of a college in East Africa, with a minister of one of the older denominations. This minister was questioning me about my personal experience of receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit. He designated the experience by the title “Pentecostalism,” and he obviously regarded the whole thing with some suspicion, as the product of some new and eccentric religious sect.

“Now let me see,” he said. “That started in America, I believe. It comes from the United States, doesn’t it?”

“Oh, no!” I replied. “You’re quite wrong about that! This thing started in Jerusalem, and it comes from heaven!”

So it is with every believer who has received the baptism in the Holy Spirit as the first disciples received it on the day of Pentecost. This experience gives him a new, direct contact in two directions: 1) with the glorified Jesus at the Father’s right hand in heaven; 2) with the New Testament church as it came into being in Jerusalem and as it is thereafter pictured in the book of Acts.

The baptism in the Holy Spirit gives a new meaning, a new reality, a new assurance, both concerning the exaltation of Jesus and the life and activity of the New Testament church. Things that before were historical or doctrinal facts accepted by bare faith become, for each Spirit-filled believer, thrilling realities in his own experience.

This is in line with the statement that in the days of Jesus’s earthly ministry “the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:39).

We have already seen earlier that the Holy Spirit could not be given to the church before Jesus was glorified with the Father in heaven. Only the glorified Jesus was worthy to exercise the privilege, bestowed by the Father, of giving this wonderful gift. Therefore, the fact that this gift was bestowed upon the disciples on the day of Pentecost was in itself evidence that Jesus had been glorified.

Invariably, throughout the New Testament, we find perfect harmony and co-operation between the three Persons of the triune Godhead. When Jesus Jesus, the second Person of the Godhead, came to earth, He came as the personal, authoritative representative of God the Father. He never sought any kind of honour or glory for Himself. His words and His works, His wisdom and His miracles, He invariably ascribed not to Himself but to His Father, dwelling and working in Him.

Likewise, when Jesus finished His earthly ministry and returned to the Father in heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit as His personal gift and representative to His church. The Holy Spirit, coming as the representative of the second Person, the Son of God, never seeks His own glory. His whole ministry on earth and in the church is always directed to uplifting, magnifying and glorifying the 

One He represents – Jesus.

Jesus Himself spoke of this aspect of the Spirit’s ministry.

  He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you (John 16:14-15).

  Here we see the relationship between the three Persons of the Godhead very clearly unfolded. The Father bestows all His authority, power and glory upon the Son. The Son in turn appoints the Holy Spirit as His representative to reveal and interpret to the church all that He has received from the Father.

The Holy Spirit is just as much a Person as the Father and the Son. Therefore Jesus, during the present dispensation, has one, and only one, personal and authoritative representative in the church and on earth. That representative is none other than the Holy Spirit.

This revelation of the Holy Spirit’s ministry provides a simple way to test anything that claims to be inspired by the Spirit. Does it glorify Jesus? If the answer is not a clear yes, we have every right to question whether we are dealing with a genuine operation or manifestation of the Holy Spirit.

  We find, then, a kind of divine jealousy between Jesus and the Holy Spirit. On the one hand, the Holy Spirit is jealous of any trend or teaching that detracts from the honour of Jesus as head over the church. On the other hand, Jesus refuses to lend His authority to any ministry or movement that does not recognise the unique position of the Holy Spirit as His representative within the church.

  The glory of Jesus and the ministry of the Holy Spirit are inseparably linked together.