Chapter 11

THEN AND NOW

          The Holy Spirit has always been not only a mystery, but also a problem to man. Caught up as he is in a realm of the flesh and doomed to inescapable death, it is difficult for man to accept a rational view of the supernatural. In the days when Jesus was upon the earth, the two principal sects of the Jews were sharply divided over the matter. The Sadducees flatly denied that there were angels or spirits. They dogmatically asserted there was no such thing as a resurrection or a life beyond physical death. They accepted the five books of Moses, the Torah, as God's revelation to Moses, and defended it, but still they were materialists. The Pharisees also accepted the Torah and believed in spirits and a resurrection, but made void the law of God by their traditions. It is apparent that both groups have representatives on earth today.

     The personality of the Spirit seems to be one of the major sources of argument. Those who deny it usually seek to define the Holy Spirit by one of two propositions. They seem to ignore the fact that they have not so much found a way of explaining the Spirit, as of explaining the Spirit away. Let us briefly consider these two approaches.

     First, there are those who think of the Spirit as a mere force or quality in the world. He is in a spiritual sense what gravity, electricity, or magnetism are in the natural. All of these are indefinable except in their effects. They are intangible and we cannot be sure how or why they function. "The terms applied to them are arbitrary ones. It is suggested that the Spirit is also a force moving in the universe beyond the power of science to investigate or the power of the mind to comprehend. To those who thus speculate, the Spirit is the wind of God, mindless and unfeeling, but blowing where and when the mind of God directs.

     Those who regard the Spirit as a quality think of Him as a spirit of holiness, just as we speak of someone having a spirit of compassion or a spirit of meekness. In this case the Spirit is an attribute possessed by another, rather than one having attributes or characteristics. Whole religious movements have been built upon the predication that the Holy Spirit is simply the spirit of man, purged, purified and sanctified. In such cases the Spirit has no identity of His own, being identified only through the human spirit when it is affected by the blood of Christ.

     Second, there are those who confuse the Spirit with the word of God, and quite frequently with the Bible, as a compilation of revelation first given orally and then committed to writing for preservation. Frequently this confusion is the work of those who have a legalistic view of the letters written by the apostles and who want to enforce their interpretations, deductions and opinions as the very Spirit of God. They do not realize that by making the Spirit the revelation rather than the revealer they actually "outrage the Spirit of grace" to borrow a term from Hebrews 10:29.

     An unhealthy view of the scriptures which make them an object of worship, and causes those who view them to become guilty of bibliolatry, leads to a faulty exegesis of the statement of Jesus recorded in John 6:63, "The words that I have spoken unto you are spirit and life." Attention to the immediate context will reveal that Jesus was not affirming that the Holy Sprit was merely the spoken word. He was contrasting the bread and fish which He had provided to feed the multitude for their physical sustenance with the spiritual teaching He had given for eternal life. The first had to be digested and the other believed. "It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail," if we may paraphrase, "The words that I have spoken to you are spiritual in nature, producing life."

     The Holy Spirit is not simply an energy, a force, or a power in the world. He is a divine personage as is proven by His associates, attributes and abilities. The student who wants to pursue this phrase more thoroughly is referred to the author's book Heaven Help Us The Holy Spirit in Your Life Today. It was written for the purpose of establishing by the scriptures the identity and uniqueness of the Spirit as a personality. In this treatise we will simply proceed upon the ground that the Spirit is thus identified in the scriptures.

     Can every child of God be so directly related to the Spirit that he may share in the power and blessings bestowed by the Spirit? Before we answer directly let us be aware of the fact that the Holy Spirit has not always functioned in the same manner. Sometimes very small words in the scriptures have a great impact. Two such words are "then" and "now." These occasionally are used to mark two periods of time with the cross of Christ as the dividing point. The Holy Spirit did not operate then as He does now. The coming of Christ made the difference. Before His advent the Spirit operated on a more selective and limited basis.

     Certain individuals received the Spirit to enable them to perform their assigned functions but the body of those under the law had no individual and personal relationship with the Spirit. When Moses was taken up into the heights of Mount Sinai and shown a pattern of the tabernacle God wanted built, God called Bezaleel of the tribe of Judah, and Aholiab of the tribe of Dan, and filled them with His Spirit (Exodus 31:3). They were inspired to carve, engrave, weave and make furniture. At the same time it appears that the natural talents and abilities of others were sharpened and stirred up to act as assistants to the master craftsmen.

     The prophets received their revelations through the Holy Spirit. "God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets" (Hebrews 1:1). "No prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God" (2 Peter 1:21). It was "the Spirit of Christ within them" who predicted "the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glory" (1 Peter 1:10). The scriptures of the old covenant are God's revelation. Jesus regarded them as such and we should do the same. Any attempt to derogate the scriptures of the old covenant and to make it appear that they are merely the interpretation of current events by the prophets themselves is an affront to Christ.

     All during the time of the prophets God was predicting the day would come when He would put His Spirit in the hearts of all His people. A new covenant was to be made. It was to be unlike the covenant made at Sinai. It would not be engraved upon stone tablets. Its guiding principles or rules of action were to be written upon the inner consciousness. The heart and mind would constitute the sanctuary in which the covenant was kept. The covenant would be a person, the Messiah, whom God would appoint.

     "When the time had fully come, God sent forth His Son." The angel Gabriel was sent from God to Nazareth to make the annunciation to Mary, who was a virgin. When Mary enquired how she could bear a child since she had no husband, she was told, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God" (Luke 1:35). The Spirit is identified with the power of God and was to be the divine agent through whom the seed would be conveyed to the body of the virgin, there to impregnate the ovum from her body so conception could take place.

     Elizabeth preceded Mary in pregnancy by six months, and when Mary came to visit her in the hill country the babe leaped in Elizabeth's womb when Mary entered the door. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and cried out loudly, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!" When Elizabeth had delivered a son whose name was called John, much to the consternation of her neighbors and relatives, Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and uttered a remarkable prophecy concerning his new offspring.

     It is interesting to recall that when Jesus was forty days old, Joseph and Mary took Him to Jerusalem to formally present Him as a firstborn male to the Lord, and to offer the necessary sacrifice for Mary's ceremonial cleansing or purification. When they arrived they met an aged man by the name of Simeon. He was described as righteous and devout and as specifically looking for the consolation of Israel, that is, the Messiah. The Holy Spirit was upon him and had previously revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah. Upon the day when Jesus was brought he was inspired by the Spirit to enter the temple where he took the child up in his arms and blessed God and the father and mother. I refer to all of these to indicate that the Spirit was active in the birth and presentation of Jesus.

     There is more to it than that. When the time arrived for Jesus to begin His ministry to mankind the Holy Spirit was present in a visible form. Jesus was thirty years old. He traveled from Galilee to the fords of Jordan where John was baptizing. He persuaded John to baptize Him and they walked out into the water together. When He was buried beneath the surface of the flowing stream and brought up again, the Spirit descended in the form of a dove and lighted upon Him. This was a sign previously given to John by which to identify the Son of God. "I myself did not know him; but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God" (John 1:33,34). This was the divine anointing, and it was accomplished by God and accompanied by His voice from heaven declaring, "This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased."

     Jesus affirmed that it was by the Spirit of God He cast out demons. He also reasoned that this was proof the kingdom of God had come upon men. The dispossession of Satan, his dethronement from power over the bodies and hearts of men was proof of the appearance of a superior force (Matthew 12:28,29). This force would be operative in defence of the ambassadors of the kingdom when they were subjected to arrest and trial before governors and kings. They were to prepare no advance brief. "When they deliver you up, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you" (Matthew 10:19,20).

     Both the manner of speaking and the content were to be under the control of the Spirit. This statement of Jesus is a good definition of what we mean by inspiration. The message to be spoken by the apostles to councils, synagogues, kings and governors was not to be one devised by human rationalization. It was not something which they "figured out" as a good approach to the presentation of the claims of Jesus. They were not to seek for loopholes in the law. There was to be no anxiety in advance, no agonizing over correct phraseology. "What you are to say will be given unto you."

     It is, I think, very important that we come to see the message of the apostles for what it is--the word of God. It is not simply a human attempt to explain Jesus to the world. It is not a well thought out apology for One who was loved and accepted as the Messiah. It is not truth dressed in myth, even in the best meaning of that term in modern theological circles. Jesus said, "It is not you who speak, but the Spirit of the Father speaking through you."

     In the face of this, it is a little bit incredible for those who profess faith in Jesus, to imply that the only inspiration the apostles had was that which resulted from their own inward fervency. Even in the heat of passion they were not capable of producing the kind of message we have from them. Those who knew them best were astounded out of their wits on Pentecost when they recognized that ignorant and unlearned Galileans were performing as they did. A blatant unbeliever might reason that despite their lack of training in the art of communication, they delivered themselves nobly under pressure.

     But the believer cannot have such an option. Jesus plainly said, "It is not you who speak." He also added, "It is the Spirit of your Father speaking through you." Jesus either told the truth or He did not. If He did we are forced to accept the fact that the apology of the apostles was not originated by themselves, but was a revelation of the Spirit of God. If Jesus did not tell the truth He was not the living Word of God and the disclosure to the apostles was not the revelation of God. And if this be true we are not believers for there is no one in whom to believe.

     There was no question in the minds of the apostles as to the source of their message. Paul had no problem on this score. He declared that what could not be learned by observation, hearing or human rationalization as to God's preparation for those who love Him. "God has revealed to us through the Spirit" (1 Corinthians 2:9,10). Then he said, "And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom, but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who possess the Spirit" ( verse 13 ).

     Obviously it is not enough for one who receives and delivers a message to assign its origin to a divine source. The one to whom the message is addressed must also credit it to God, or it will appear to him as merely a piece of human philosophy. Under such circumstances it will demand no more serious attention than any other propaganda thought out by good communicators. The apostle knew the importance of a proper attitude upon the part of those who heard them. No more positive proof of this can be found than in a statement made to the Thessalonians, "And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers" (1 Thess. 2:13).

     There can be no doubt that the Spirit of God was active in the life and work of Jesus on earth. His birth was predicted by the Spirit, His entrance into the world of human need was anointed by the Spirit, His mighty works were done by the power of the Spirit, and the record of them transmitted by the Spirit through human agents called and chosen for the task.

     But all during His movement upon earth Jesus held forth great promises of the Spirit who would come to believers, enriching their lives, strengthening their resolves and leading them on to certain victory. He affirmed that great as were His mighty works. His disciples would do greater because He returned to the Father. I shall limit my discussion of the promises of Jesus to two occasions. The first is recorded by John in chapter seven of his record of the life of Jesus as we have divided it for our convenience.

     The entire section deals with events related to the feast of tabernacles or shelters. This was the third of the annual harvest festivals occurring in conjunction with the gathering of the vintage. During the days of celebration the Jewish families were required to live outside their homes in temporary shelters constructed of tree branches and palm fronds. It was a time of great joy but also of daily pomp and circumstance with priestly ritual in the temple courtyard.

     The presence of Jesus at the festival was the occasion of a considerable stir. Some defended him as a good man while others argued that he was a deceiver and dangerous. When He invaded the temple to teach publicly He became the subject of a great deal of public muttering and gossip. The stage was set for Him to make a pronouncement which would have a tremendous impact. He did so on the final day of the feast.

     Each day thousands of Jews in attendance brought branches of trees which they waved toward the altar during the singing of the Hallel by the well-trained Levitical choir. During the ceremony a priest poured water from the pool of Siloam which had been carried to the site in a golden pitcher. The water was solemnly poured out by the side of the altar. On the last day of the festival this ceremony was made even more impressive. The priests brought twice as much water from the famous pool. Just as the first words of Psalm 118 were chanted--"O give thanks unto the Lord" --they appeared at the Water Gate and marched toward the altar. Upon arrival at the altar they marched around it seven times in memory of the toppling of the walls of Jericho so that the city could become the firstfruits of Palestinian conquest.

     Then the water was ceremoniously poured out while waves of religious emotion swept over the vast audience which filled the court of the people. It was at this time Jesus daringly stood up and cried out, "If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as scripture has said, 'Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.' " John recorded these words long afterwards and he adds the explanation, "Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified."

     One does not need to be a profound thinker to recognize the tremendous import of this statement of Jesus upon our relationship with the divine. It is a prescription for the satisfaction of our deepest human need and the solution to our most profound problem in the human perspective. We should think about its implications for our lives and our world in orderly fashion.

     1. There is within every person a longing, a desire for that which is beyond. The spirit is in one sense a captive of the flesh because it is only by wearing such a garment as the flesh that the human spirit can exist and function in this kind of material realm. Just as a diver who works at great depths of the ocean, or an astronaut who walks upon other planets, must wear a special suit adapted to the environment, so the spirit must be garbed in a body composed of cells and tissues in order to function in the atmosphere of earth.

     But there is a yearning of the spirit for freedom which can never be satisfied by the flesh. As pleasurable as eating, and sex, and companionship may be, they can never be the full end of happiness. Digestion falters, desire fails and dear ones depart. Man was not made for time alone and he dreams of transcendence. It is this craving or pang which Jesus refers to as thirst.

     It was a fortunate figure of speech. Those who were present for the festival were thoroughly grounded in a knowledge of the scriptures. They knew the beautiful forty-second psalm in which David described the panting of his soul for God by the panting of a weary deer for the water brooks, and went on to say, "My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God" Nor would they forget the lovely sixty-third psalm in which David cries, "My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is." Thirst represents the acute pang of one who is dehydrating, whose tissues are burning up, whose tongue is cleaving to the roof of his mouth. And spiritual thirst is a burning desire for satisfaction in the Eternal One.

     It is significant that Jesus interrupted a religious ceremony with all of its traditional trappings to make His public announcement. The day upon which He spoke was "the great day" of the festival. It was at the climax of the week of living in the outdoors in booths. Ritualistic regulations governed every phase of the occasion. Included in the branches used for the shelters must be palm fronds and willows cut by a brook. The sides had to be woven but not close enough to exclude the sunlight. The roof had to be thatched but in such a way the stars could be seen at night.

     The water from the pool of Siloam had to be carried in a golden pitcher and only by members of the priestly caste. The priests entered the gate at a precise moment, clued in by the great blast from the priestly trumpet. Their processional to the altar was with "measured beat and slow." As the water was being poured out the huge congregation of worshipers waved their palm fronds and willow branches above their heads while shouting, "Hallelujah." It was a time of fervor and excitement. And it was then the voice of the Teacher from despised Nazareth rang out above the din.

     "If any one thirst, let him come to me, and drink!" Was there intended to be a contrast between the pompous pageantry and priestly performance, and simply coming to Christ? If so, the followers of Jesus have miserably failed to preserve the distinctive. They have incorporated into their "worship" all of the trappings of Judaism and have added thereto and multiplied what are called "Christian traditions" until once again the face of God is obscured by waving branches and the words of God drowned out by creedal shouting. The thirsty soul is summoned from empty rites to come to Christ, to forsake the formalism for the fountain of light and life.

     3. The invitation is universal. It is issued to the thirsty because no one else will come. A cup of cold water means nothing to one who is intoxicated. And so long as men and women are caught up in the giddy whirl with their feverish brains on fire with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life, the call will not be heard. But when the cold gray dawn breaks, and the heart is filled with shame, remorse and guilt, there is a possibility the call will be heard.

     It is not a matter of "coming to church" but of coming to Christ. One may do the first and go away thirstier than when he came. The problem is that "the church" in our day is also thirsty. It has often mixed dogma and opinion into the cup it has passed to the dying and their thirst has been intensified. Man cannot be satisfied by human creeds, confessions or ceremonies. These are the soft drinks bottled by religious institutions and flavored with their varied additives. They will not slake the thirst of the soul. Only Jesus can do that! And if anyone is thirsty he is invited! Anyone! Red, yellow, black or white! Rich or poor! Bond or free! Jew or non-Jew! No one need to be thirsty any longer. The fountain has been opened!

     4. Coming to Jesus is believing in Jesus. This does not mean accepting Him as a historical figure, although He is certainly that. But one may believe He was born in Bethlehem, lived in Capernaum, and died in Jerusalem, exactly as he may believe that Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston and lived and died in Philadelphia. This will not quench your thirst. It is not knowing where Jesus lived on earth but knowing that He lives in your heart that makes the difference. One may visit the holy land with an unholy heart.

     Believing in Jesus is not merely giving mental or intellectual assent to the superiority and validity of His teachings. Jesus is not simply a philosopher or a lover of wisdom, although He is that. He is wisdom embodied. To the saints in one of the ancient haunts of philosophers, the city of Corinth, Paul wrote that God had made Him "Our wisdom, our righteousness and consecration and redemption." He is not simply a person with wisdom but wisdom that is a person.

     Jesus is not merely a prophet although He is one. But a prophet is one who reveals the word of God, while Jesus is the Word of God revealed. He is not just something revealed, He is the revealer. Prophecy was transmitted, but Jesus is the transmitter. What does it mean to believe in Him so that one becomes a genuine partaker of His life, suffering, death and resurrection? Obviously the belief under consideration is one which leads to identification with its object. It is a faith so powerful, a trust so magnificent that it actually consumes the believer and melts him into a state of oneness with Him in whom the trust is imposed. It is good to remember that the word commit in several passages in our English version is identical in the original with the word rendered believe. To commit oneself to a cause is to surrender himself unreservedly to it. To commit himself to a person is to place implicit trust in that person. It is possible that no definition we can construct will be wholly adequate to explain in its fulness what it means to believe in Jesus. We experience that we cannot always confine by words. We know that believing, as He spoke of it, involves trust and commitment, and this makes our relationship true and valid.

     4. The promise of Jesus is that those who come to Him parched and dry, will not only have their thirst satisfied, but will become fountains of blessing to others. God is a specialist in causing rivers to run where there has been a dearth of water. Twice Moses smote a rock and from its inward depths a refreshing stream gushed forth to satisfy the sharp craving of his murmuring followers. Belief in Jesus is a transforming phenomenon. Hearts that were as arid as Death Valley become like a garden of flowers. The desert blossoms as a rose.

     So certain is this that there is a real question as to whether they really believe whose hearts continue sterile and unproductive. If sorrow and sighing are to flee away but they still remain, if joy and gladness are to supplant them and yet they are never manifested, does the heart really believe? What a blessing it is to be in the presence of one whose life has been completely transformed, where old things have passed away and all things have become new. We are not meant to be cisterns but fountains. We are not to be satisfied with merely taking in but we must be giving forth.

     5. Fortunately John was writing this after the glorification of Jesus. He had learned by experience the significance of the promise of Jesus. So he could explain, "Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive." The thirsty soul is invited to imbibe of the Spirit. It is the Spirit who acts like a cold draught of reviving water to assuage burning thirst. The Spirit renews, revives and resuscitates. There is no revival without the Spirit of God. "For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and all were made to drink of one Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:13).

     Notice the word "all." Everyone who has come into the divine organism, the one body, drinks of the one Spirit. He who does not dies. The body of Christ upon earth can no more survive without partaking of the Spirit than the human body can continue to exist without liquid. All who believe in Jesus in the sense in which Jesus used it of coming to Him, receive the Spirit. The reception of the Spirit is the seal of our acceptance with the Father. "Any one who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him" (Romans 8:9).

     In the form of a Helper or Comforter the Spirit could not be given every believer while Jesus was present on earth in the flesh. As a Counselor the Spirit would come to attest to the glorification of Jesus upon His coronation in Heaven. He would bring assurance that the Son of God had been exalted to the throne at the right hand of the Father. This would confirm the right to act in His name and by His authority. Jesus plainly declared, "I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go I will send him to you" (John 16:7).

     Jesus has now been glorified and magnified. Ten days after His ascension from the Mount of Olives the Holy Spirit came with audible and visual demonstration, so that Simon Peter could say, "Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which you see and hear" (Acts 2:33). In conformity with the promise made by Jesus on the last day of the Festival of Shelters, every believer now has the Spirit dwelling within as a divine gift. Those who are in Christ do not need to seek the Spirit. They possess Him.

     This poses a real question. If believers possess the Spirit where are the rivers of living water which were to flow from their hearts? The answer is that many believers exhibit the abundant joy, the glorious dynamic, and the faith that rests in the power of God. They are an inspiration and a blessing to all who come into their presence. But there are others who are critical and censorious. They live shallow lives and constantly engage in self-pity. Yet if they have been born again the Spirit dwells in them. The problem is that they have quenched the Spirit. They have dammed up the river and filled the fountain with debris.

     The hope for such persons is that, like the prodigal, they will come to themselves and forsake the pig-pen for the palace. If they can be encouraged to overcome their selfishness and to rise above their doubts they can become a source of encouragement to all. They can live longer, enjoy the marvelous grace of God and transform the neighborhood where they reside.

     I grew up in the Missouri Ozarks. This was a land of rugged pioneers and despite the encroachment of modern ways one can still see the visible reminders of the life of a simpler age. One such sign of yesteryear are the old water mills, a few of which grind corn on old stone burrs while the creaking wheel turns as the water pouring down the flume from the pond fills its troughs. But there are other mills that have fallen into decay. The power is still there but the mill race has become choked with branches, leaves and sediment. There is no sound of grinding, no service to mankind.

     It is the same with many lives I know. The Spirit is there with ability to strengthen with might in the inner man. There could be the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. But the Father forces no one to utilize the divine gift. He bestows but does not belabor! Yet if there are those who read this, and are tired of shriveled and circumscribed lives, they can find a sense of being never before attained. Let them call upon God to help them clean out the mill race, and the waters from above will again begin to flow. Rivers of living water flowing from and through the heart.

     No child of God need be overcome by circumstances. God is greater than any circumstance. He is greater than any problem. There is no grief He cannot assuage, no sorrow He cannot allay. One can be beaten only by relinquishing His hold upon God. The Spirit lives in us, abides with us, shares with us as a Friend, a Helper, a Comforter, a Counselor. The trusting heart which accepts this as a fact will be blessed.

     At a crucial time during the Civil War when dark clouds of foreboding hung over the land, Governor Yates sat down and wrote a letter filled with despair to President Lincoln. The reply was brief. It simply said, "Dick, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord." What a source of courage lies in the words, "Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world."

     The story is told of a young painter who was not satisfied with his work. He borrowed the brush of his teacher and asked permission to use it. The painting which resulted was not an improvement over his previous attempts. A friend remarked to him, "It is not the master's brush you need, but the master's spirit." Those who have the spirit of the Master can use their own gifts to produce masterpieces.

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