Preface to The Holy Spirit or Power from on High followed by the Table of Contents with links by chapter Three baptisms is more than the norm, but that is my genetics. As an infant, I was baptized in the Presbyterian church. My elementary years were spent in a Baptist church where I was baptized by immersion after confessing Christ. From 8th grade through grad school, I attended churches in the Christian and Missionary Alliance, where I was baptized as a young adult. At that time I felt the need to turn from self and live for Christ in a public manner. Each baptism has had its own purpose. As I have tried to walk with God, or rather tried to be led by God, these are all touch points, marking stones in my journey. These acts of repentance, cleansing, and identification with Christ have all had importance in my life. At the same time, what is, was, and will always be the most important part of my walk and usefulness to Christ is a personal relationship with Christ through the His Spirit:
Our interaction with Christ and His Spirit is spiritually perceived reality. You know the interaction/abiding is happening. In this interaction is life. It is by the power of this interaction that we can have hope to live a life which magnifies, celebrates, exalts, and lifts up Christ, who said, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” If you consider yourself a Christian, and you are not aware of an interaction in your spirit with the Spirit of God, I suggest you have yet to receive the Spirit, or, possibly, if you have accepted Jesus it is the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life which absorbs your attention. Sanctification is the process of becoming conformed into the image of Christ, not just into a good image, but the image of Christ. There is a huge difference between our fallen natures and God’s perfection. The more we become conformed into the image of God, the easier it is to see the gap between our being and God’s Holiness. We might be encouraged by seeing a friends or a spouse walking in God’s love. At the same time, God might be showing them what is needed to set aside for next platau, and it might seem a long way off. It is usually hard to offer God what He requests. It was hard for Abraham, but God always has ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.‘ Jer 29:11 If we have accepted Christ as our Savior, we are called to be transformed:
We are called to begin this transformation during our lives on earth, our body awaits until after the return of Christ, “the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” I Cor 15:52 Sanctification occures in our lives both gradually and instantanious. All sanctification purifies, increases faith, and tranforms bits of what we call ourselves into what God wants in us. Sanctification is intricately related to yielding. Yeilding our will to God’s desires is the key to living in God. Since Jesus assended to the Father He has sent the Spirit to those offering themselves to Him: “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send you from the Father — the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father — He will testify about Me.” John 15:26 When women and men of God have recieved the promise of Christ, The Holy Spirit of Truth, it has, at times been overwhelming. Many people who have written about God working powerfully in their lives, have discussed a time when God sealed, empowered, or sent them, at a time other than coming to salvation. This spiritual quickening has been refered to in many ways over time:
What matters is not what we call the event, but that God empowers us with His Spirit in order to accomplish what He has prepared for us. When we step into the sun we know it, even if our eyes are closed. When the Spirit of God rests on us, it can be as a mild sustaining warmth or an intense burst of energy. In my early 20s, I became keenly aware that I was living for my own gratification. Most of the time we are focused on our own wants/needs to the exclusion of anything else. God inserts Himself into our understanding, giving us knowledge that we are called to live for Him by the power His Spirit provides. I became keenly aware that my life was unattractive in the comparison with the life God wanted to live in me.
At that moment I did not know if my life would ever be satisfying to myself. Actually, I didn’t think my life would be satisfying or happy, but I knew I needed to give myself to God. I simply said, ‘ God I do not know if I will be happy again, but I know I will be be happy in heaven, so take me and do as you want.” This was after I had aceepted Christ into my life. As I was about to learn, it is in yielding that God responds. It is in desire for God that God makes His presence richely known. We have to wait, sometimes minutes, sometimes months, and sometimes years. For me, it was months, not many, but a few. I was yielding, offering myself, but I had no idea there was anything to wait for, I was simply saying, “I am yours, let me serve You as You see fit.” Over then next few months God sealed me to Himself, and my life, which I had abandoned as mundane and dreary, became more than satisfying, rich, and fruitful. About that time I ran across a few books by A. B. Simpson (1843-1919). The Holy Spirit v2 looks at the work of the Spirit as seen in the books of the New Testiment. This resonated with what God had been showing me in my regular study. I looked into the life of this man A B Simpson. I found that in 1882 he had started The Missionary Training Institute with just two subjects, Bible and geography. That training center was to become Nyack College, which became my next destination. David B Reese 10-30-2016 The Holy Spirit v2 by A. B. Simpson.Table of Contents
Thanks is given to http://www.worthychristianlibrary.com/ab-simpson/chapter-28-the-holy-spirits-last-message/ where I found this text |
