Jesus said, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me….” (See Acts 1:8.) The Holy Spirit is not some weird, mystical force; He’s part of the triune nature of God. The Bible says that the Spirit intercedes, leads, guides, teaches, convicts, and so on. He enables and empowers us to hunger and thirst for righteousness, and to boldly live for Christ. God’s word becomes living in the life of the believer who is continually filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). Charles Spurgeon said it best, “What can a hammer do without the hand that grasps it, and what can we do without the Spirit of God?”
If God seems distant, Bible study boring, and church irrelevant, or if legalism and dead formalism are setting in, it’s probably because the work of the Holy Spirit is being suppressed. More change will be seen outwardly as the Holy Spirit is given more power to rule inwardly through brokenness, humility, surrender, and repentance. We won’t be filled with the Spirit if we’re full of ourselves.
Unfortunately, many confuse a spirit-filled life with sheer emotionalism. Emotions aren’t necessarily a reflection of a changed heart, but a changed heart should be reflected in our emotions. When truth penetrates the heart, excitement and enthusiasm often follow; these emotions can be good and God-given. But I’m not suggesting that extreme fanaticism and weird behavior are marks of someone filled with the Spirit—as D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, “Never interpret Scripture in the light of your experiences, but rather, interpret your experiences in the penetrating light of Scripture.”
In the early years of American history, during the First Great Awakening, Pastor Jonathan Edwards said that a true work of the Holy Spirit would be evident: It would elevate the truth, exalt Christ, oppose Satan, point people to the Scriptures, and result in love for God and others.
Sadly, the only thing holding many churches together today is social activity, not the activity of the Spirit. I once knew a pastor who instructed his worship leader to remove all songs mentioning the Holy Spirit. How sad…in his zeal to avoid charismatic excesses, he actually quenched and grieved the Spirit by not acknowledging His vital role. A.W. Tozer put it bluntly, “If the Lord’s people were only half as eager to be filled with the Spirit as they are to prove that they cannot be filled, the church would be crowded out.”
It’s been said that if Christianity today (as a whole) were a poison, it would harm no one, and if it were a medicine, it would cure no one. When we fail to embrace the Spirit’s power, we become powerless.
It’s possible to be “Bible taught,” but not “Spirit led”—straight as a gun barrel theologically, but just as empty—the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Don’t get me wrong, I love systematic theology; it’s essential to Christian living, but how often are students taught to fast and pray for illumination of a particular text? How often are they taught brokenness and repentance instead of how to dissect and translate the Greek language—more concerned about a Master’s Degree than a degree from the Master? The Scriptures, to be understood, must be read with the same Spirit that originally inspired them. If the Holy Spirit inspired the Scriptures, and Jesus and the Apostles began their ministry in the power of the Spirit, we would be wise to ask for His guidance as well.
The power of the Holy Spirit is like dynamite that ignites a hunger for God so intense that every aspect of life is changed—we become bold, not passive; stable, not fanatical; and committed, not wavering.
Often, the only things standing between the work of the Holy Spirit and us is our will. The Holy Spirit will not empower you to do what you want to do; He will only empower you to do what God wants you to do. Pray for the Spirit’s influence, desire it above all else, and continually live a life that glorifies Christ—the Holy Spirit is given to those who obey God (Acts 5:32).
“We need to close every church in the land for one Sunday and cease listening to a man so we can hear the groan of the Spirit which we in our lush pews have forgotten” (Leonard Ravenhill).