July 15, 2020
FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:
CHRIST PROMISED THE HOLY SPIRIT: WHAT FOR?
“I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever: even the Spirit of truth.”
John 14: 16,17, A.V.
“Before offering Himself as the sacrificial victim, Christ sought for the MOST ESSENTIAL AND COMPLETE GIFT to bestow upon His followers, a gift that would bring within their reach THE BOUNDLESS RESOURCES OF GRACE.[John 14:16-18 quoted].
“Before this the Spirit had been in the world; from the very beginning of the work of redemption He has been moving upon men’s hearts. But while Christ [the incarnated Creator] was in earth, the disciples desired no other Helper. Not until they were deprived of His presence would they feel their need of the Spirit, and then He would come.
“The Holy Spirit is Christ’s Representative, but divested of the personality of humanity, and independent thereof.”
“Cumbered with humanity [by His mysterious incarnation], Christ could not be in every place personally. Therefore it was for their [His followers] interest that He should go to the Father, and send the Spirit as His Successor [Vicegerent] in earth. No one then could have any advantage because of his location or his personal contact with Christ.”
“By the Holy Spirit [the Third Person of the Godhead], the Savior would be accessible to all. In this sense He would be NEARER to them than if He had not ascended in high.”
This promise belongs to us NOW as surely as it belonged to the [first] disciples.
“Let every church member kneel before God and pray earnestly [as Jacob did for the blessing] for the importation of the Holy Spirit. Cry, ‘Lord, increase my faith. Make me to understand Thy Word; for the entrance of Thy Word giveth light. Refresh me by Thy presence. Fill my heart with Thy Spirit.”
“At all times and in all places, in all sorrows and in all afflictions, when the outlook seems dark and the future perplexing [as the present multi-faceted pandemic has created], and we feel helpless and alone, the Comforter will be sent in answer to the prayer of faith.” God’s Amazing Grace, p. 191
What have you been praying and pleading for during this crisis? NMF