May, 1934
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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
The$Mastership of CHRIST Christ as Master in the Realm of Christian Service*
B y WILLIAM EVANS Los Angeles, GSfflornia
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I f all that the church has to do is what any lodge or benevolent association or Community Chest can do, namely, to feed the poor, to clothe the naked, to find em ployment for the out-of-work, to provide education and entertainment and amusement for the mind, to hold up before the world a splendid system of morals, then, of course, no divine unction from God’s Holy Spirit is neces sary, for all this can be accomplished solely by human endeavor. But if the work of the church is to convert the soul, to bring men to Christ and thus bring about their re generation, then the church needs the Holy Spirit for that work. The trouble with the work of so many churches today is that it can be duplicated. Supernatural creation, spiritual re-creation of the souls of men—that is the work of the church. Only God by His Holy Spirit can create. The sooner the church learns this lesson, the better it will be for both church and world. What Jesus required of Nico- demus in order to enter the kingdom of God is exactly what God requires of men today, and nothing less: They must be “born from above” ; and that is a supernatural work: “Except a man be born of . . . the Spirit, he cannot enter
ans 12:13.) Not once, after Pentecost, is there any record of believers being baptized with the Spirit. Pente cost was never repeated. That was the birthday of the Spirit—the incarnation of the Holy Spirit in the church, just as Christmas was. the incarnation of Jesus Christ in human form. Since Pentecost, the Spirit' has never left the church. . - $ But, while there is but one baptism qf the Holy Spirit, there are many infillings, enduements, and outpourings. A Christian has the indwelling Spirit, and yet he may not have .the fullness of the Spirit. The Christian possesses the Holy Spirit, and yet the Spirit may not fully possess him. F ruitful S ervice And therein lies tire difference between barrenness arid fruitfulness in service. It is one thing to have the indwell ing Spirit for the personal, satisfaction of one’s own life, and quite another to possess the fullness of the Spirit for service and blessing to others. This difference is brought out in John 7 :37-39: “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst,
let him come unto me, and drink.” , That is for his own personal satis faction. Then follow words which describe an experience of the Holy Spirit, having a relation to service and blessing for others: “He that be- lieveth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should re ceive.)” Egypt always has the river Nile; but Egypt does not always have the overflow of the N ile. When the Nile is low at the season when water is needed, then famine, star vation, and death stalk through the land; but . when the Nile overflows its banks, it leaves behind it a rich, alluvial deposit which makes for fruitful harvests, for plenty, and for life. And so it is with the Christian in his relation to the indwelling and overflowing of the Holy Spirit. [Continued on page 187]
into the kingdom of God” (John 3 :5). It is because we have failed to grasp this truth that so many churches could report not one accession on “confes sion of faith.” That is spiritual tragedy! Do A ll C hristians H ave the H oly S pirit ? “But,” some one may ask, “does not every Christian have the in dwelling Holy Spirit ?” Yes, he does. “No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost”'(1-Cor. 12:3). It is the Holy Spirit who convicts men of sin and reveals Jesus to them ^s their Saviour (John 16:7- 10). “If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his” (Rom. 8:9). And, further, no man can be a Christian and not have been baptized with the Holy Ghost. There is but one baptism of the Ho ly Ghost, and that takes place at conver sion. (See 1 Corinthi- *Continued from last month.
A V iew of N azareth
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