“And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” 1 Corinthians 2:4
Dear Ones:
When the Lord Jesus was addressing the Samaritan woman,” he made a remarkable declaration, one that would address a real need, and problem, in the heart of the woman. He said, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24) It is true that the faculty in man which God has put in him, to be able to worship God, is the spirit of a man. However, just having a “spiritual” capacity is not the whole answer to being able to worship, serve, and know God. As the Lord revealed to Nicodemus, so He reveals to this Samaritan woman, the Spirit of God, and His working in the heart and life, is essential to the true worship. Why? The answer lies in Peter’s great declaration, “You have the words of eternal LIFE.” That which Christ declares as an integral part of the Gospel is that He is true LIFE, the very essence, reason, path and power, for living, and knowing God. Just the knowledge of the truth is not enough to know God, and to make Him known. Essential to the knowledge of the truth is the POWER of an indestructible, all-sufficient, and ever-present LIFE, dwelling in the heart of the believer. The true witness of Christ is not one who only espouses, and preaches, the truth. He is also that one who, by the Spirit of God working, DEMONSTRATES and REVEALS that Life of Christ. A dying world needs to know the truth, but also, the power of the Spirit. All through the New Testament, and particularly in the epistles, we find the blending of the truth and Spirit, the Spirit always working according to the truth, giving Life and Power to those who would truly trust Him.
In the eighth chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans, we have one of the clearest revelations of the work, ministry, presence and power of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. Essential to appropriating the Spirit is a vision of His relationship with the believer. The Apostle begins by speaking of “…the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.” (v.2) What is this law? It is the eternal truth and reality that the whole of the salvation in Christ, complete and perfect, is powerfully communicated to the believer, making the believer to know the freedom, “…from the law of sin and death.” Secondly, we see that it is by the presence and power of the Spirit that the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in the believer, who walks after the Spirit. Thirdly, we discover that the presence of the Spirit in the heart reveals, and testifies, of the very Person, and Life, of Christ in us…”Christ IN you the hope of glory.” Paul goes on to speak of the power of the Spirit, as revealed in the resurrection of Christ. The knowledge of this truth gives hope to the believer, as there is the promise: “… if the Spirit of Him that raised Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised Christ from the dead, SHALL ALSO quicken (make alive) your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwells in you.” (v.11)
The ministry of the Spirit is revealed in that He LEADS the believer, bears witness to his spirit that he is a child of God, and helps the believer pray aright. The Spirit even prays and intercedes in such a way that exceeds the capacity of the believer to do so. It is because of His presence and power that the believer is called to BE more than a conqueror over the obstacles and opposition in this life on earth. The Spirit’s constant, sufficient, blessed and inseparable presence, is the great witness and enablement, to KNOW the love of Christ, at all times, and in every place. It is by the Spirit of God that Christ dwells permanently in the heart by faith.
Dear Father, Open our eyes to see and understand this extraordinary ministry of the Spirit. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad