HOLY SPIRIT POWER
“They were all filled
with the Holy Spirit" Acts 2:4
If the words: “Ye shall be My witnesses,"
reveal the MISSION of the Church, and the METHOD by which she is to fulfill that
mission, these declare the SECRET OF HER POWER. It is a POWER which is hers by GIFT,
and is not in any sense her own except as it is thus BESTOWED. This is a
distinction which it is of the utmost importance that we never forget. As the
Church has grown, she has always been enriched by the NATURAL ABILITIES of all
her members. Those wonderful CAPACITIES resident within human lives are all
needed, and must be dedicated to the work of witnessing. But none of them is of
any use whatever apart from the HOLY SPIRIT. The FULLNESS OF THE SPIRIT means FULLNESS OF THE VERY LIFE OF CHRIST concerning which witness is to be made alive. That FULLNESS
OF LIFE possesses and employs all natural capacities, so that through them
- the things of the mind of
Christ may be made known to men,
- the things of the heart of
Christ may be persuasive among men,
- and the things of the will
of Christ may be prevailing in men.
This is the wonder and glory of the Spirit-filled life. All natural gifts, which in themselves are powerless to witness for Christ, are by the Spirit cleansed, energized, and
directed, so that they may become the media through which Christ is made known.
The story of the Acts, and of the whole Church, in so far as it is the story of
the victories of Christ, is the story of the CAPTURE AND EMPLOYMENT of all natural human capacities by Christ
through His Holy Spirit.
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