in that age. It is the age prophesied by the prophet Joel (Joel 2:28, 29), when the Holy Spirit would take hold of human lives and use them by His own Divine strength to accomplish God’s work on earth among men. But, sad to say, today we are cursed with a fearful array of substitutes. We lack power because we lack the fulness of the Spirit, so we try to make up for this lack with religious entertainment, ever- expanding building p rog ram s and organizational plans. People must be attracted, and so the church competes frantically with the world, but to no avail. We are beating the air. What Christians need in our day is a consciousness of the lack of the Spirit’s power. As I observe the church's waning strength, I think of Samson. Read Judges, chapters 14-16. “ And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him” (14:6); “ And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him” (14:19); “ And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him” (15:14). During that period we read of Samson’s feats of strength such as slaying a lion; killing thirty Philistines; slaying a thousand wicked men with the jawbone of an ass; removing the gates and posts to the city with his bare hands. But then one day he succumbed to the flirtations of a woman, and the Spirit’s power was taken from him. This in itself was a tragedy, but the greater tragedy was in the fact that he was not conscious of his loss of strength. He said, “ I will go out as at other times before," but there follows the solemn words, "He wist not that the LORD was departed from him" (16:20). He went out to face the enemy as he did before, but he was shamefully defeated. We need not linger with the story of Samson to get its application. The bright gleam of a once Spirit- controlled life ended in the gloom of strengthless- ness. He broke down the wall of separation between his soul and the world, and he lost all spiritual power. Many a Christian is shaking himself in the busy ac tivity of religious work. Many a preacher is shaking himself in his pulpit. But alas, the Spirit’s power is not in the much shaking. May the Lord humble our hearts, bring us to our knees and keep us there until our sins have been confessed and cleansed and we are Spirit-filled. ■ 21
the end of the Gospel. It marked the beginning of the Gospel dispensation when men, strengthened by the Holy Spirit, would take that Gospel to the uttermost part of the earth. It is the prescribed function of the Spirit to enable Christ’s own to complete this task. Jesus turned the attention of His followers from na tional and personal ambitions to world missions, an assignment that could not possibly be carried out successfully if the Holy Spirit did not come. The dispensation has not changed, nor has the Christian's responsibility. We are here in this world to bear witness to the Person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. And if we are not succeeding, it is be cause we are ignoring the Holy Spirit. Christ’s words in Acts 1:8 strike the keynote of the whole book. The Apostles went out to do exactly what He told them to do. And they met with great success, not because they had completed their college and seminary training, but because “ they were all filled with the Holy Ghost" (Acts 2:4). The Book of the Acts emphasizes the essential power for Christian service. The Spirit is that power. The man and the message are seen throughout, but neither the man nor the message could have accom plished anything without the power. And the Apostles knew this. When Peter and John were strengthened by the Holy Spirit to heal the lame man, they said, “ Why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk” (Acts 3:12)? The source of Peter’s power is the same inexhaustible source of the Christian’s pow er for service today. When filled with the Holy Ghost, the servant of Christ becomes invincible. Every need ful qualification to render us strong and efficient for Christ is made available through the indwelling Holy Spirit. There is strength in organization, fine equipment, large numbers, much money, modern buildings, and clever advertising, but all these put together, minus the power of the Holy Spirit, cannot save one soul. There is strength in a huge mountain, but it is a dor mant, lifeless sort of strength. No man is fully pre pared to witness, teach or preach until he is energized by the Spirit of God. The advent of the Spirit marked the beginning of the age of the Spirit. We are still JULY/AUGUST, 1970
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