April 30, 2020
FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:
THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WITH FIRE
Good Thursday morning! I was led back last night to the precious subject of the Holy Spirit, who is slowly withdrawing from the earth, as evidenced by the continuous train of calamities quickly following one another to the global covid-19 pandemic.
Let us therefore humbly and prayerfully ponder upon the following:
“The Relationship of Calvary and Pentecost.”
“The baptism of the Holy Spirit is described by John the Baptist to the the ESSENTIAL, VITAL purpose of the ministry of Jesus Christ. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that cometh after Me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.” Matt. 3:11 (See also John 1:33.
“John’s message concerning Christ was two-fold—the blood of the Lamb taking away sin, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit to keep FROM sin, or Calvary and Pentecost.
“The culmination of Calvary for this dispensation is found in the gift of the Holy Spirit by Jesus Christ. They are two inseparable truths. Without Calvary there could be no Pentecost; and without Pentecost, Calvary is of little avail. Just observe this:
“The Holy Spirit was the HIGHEST of all gifts that Christ could solicit from the Father for the exaltation of His people. The Spirit was to be given as a REGENERATING agent, and without this the sacrifice of Christ would have been of no avail.
“The power of evil has been strengthening for centuries, and the submission of men to this satanic captivity was amazing. Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the Third Person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the FULLNESS of divine power.
“It is the Holy Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought out by the world’s Redeemer. It is by the Holy Spirit that the heart is made pure.
“Through the Spirit the believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature. Christ has given His Spirit as a divine power to OVERCOME all hereditary and cultivated tendencies [propensities] to evil, and to impress His own character upon His church.” Desire of Ages, p.671 (From ‘The Coming of the Comforter’ by Leroy E. Froom, pp. 31, 32).
Let all remember this: “Grieve not the Holy Spirit whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” Eph. 4:30. Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. NMF