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THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT.

By G. Campbell Morgan.


The first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles gives the last glimpse of the disciples of Jesus before the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The picture illustrates the enormous difference between those in their fallen nature and those who are indwelt by the Spirit. One cannot look at this picture, incomplete though it may be, without seeing that these men were still ignorant and selfish. There is no comparison between the men of the first chapter  and those of the subsequent history contained in the book.

They came to the risen Lord with the old question, “Lord, are You at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1 v6). The events of the past weeks had not been sufficient to reveal to them the great essential truths of the Christian faith. They were still bound by the materialism of Judaism and the spiritual vision had not yet fallen upon them; they did not understand the mission of Jesus. They were still looking for a temporal kingdom. They did not understand that Jesus was passing to a hidden throne and a hidden crown, and that the work to which they were now called was not temporal, external and material, but eternal, internal and spiritual.

They had not yet escaped from the narrow, national prejudices which had been the state of the Jewish nation for so long. “Are You at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” They had no idea of the worldwide kingdom of the Messiah. Their vision was still limited by the horizon of their own people. The Master had ever looked beyond the confines of the nation, but not the disciples, neither were they yet able to do so. They did not understand that the work He had come to do was something absolutely new. They dreamed of the restoration of the old. Restore was the word they used. Their love was deep and true, their knowledge during the days of discipleship was far in advance of others, the Resurrection was to them a fact, for the living Christ was with them, but they were absolutely unfit for the work they were to do, for they were still looking for an earthly kingdom.

Jesus said to them, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth“. These words answer and correct the false idea contained in their question. They said, “Are You at this time going to restore the kingdom?” They thought of a return to old things. He replied, “You will be My witnesses”. His mind encompassed the spiritual relationship. They were bound by the idea of the nation but He included the world in His vision. This was a new beginning, moving out from Himself, having the Holy Spirit as Administrator, and the disciples as channels of communication.

There is a sense in which these words of the Master cannot be addressed to Christians to-day. Those men had not yet been baptized with the Holy Spirit. Those that are Christians to-day are such by that baptism and new birth, and consequently they possess the power promised to those men. The central principle declared is that fitness for service in the new covenant lies within the power of the Holy Spirit. 

There are three matters to be noted. First, the power needed; secondly, the nature of the power available; and thirdly, the purpose for which the power is bestowed. They needed intellectual power, because of their ignorance and inability to appreciate the meaning of the Master’s mission. They needed spiritual power to live righteously, in spite of the worldly possibilities still resident in their own lives. They needed a new power of the will, because of the tremendous forces which would be arrayed against them in the work that was before them.

Up to this point the outlook of the disciples had been purely Jewish. They had followed the Master and had learned to love Him, but then disaster had fallen upon Him, their Teacher and their Friend. They had seen Him  being overcome by the detested Roman power and nailed to the Cross. The Cross must have extinguished hope for them. How sad was the sigh of the men who walked to Emmaus, “We had hoped that He was the one who was going to redeem Israel” (Luke 24 v21). Writing to the Corinthians Paul described the Cross as being “a stumbling-block to Jews” (1Cor. 1 v23), that is something in the way, an obstruction.

They had no understanding of the mysteries that are the essential grandeur of Christianity; the entrance to life won through death; the way into victory won through defeat; the price of light dawning out of darkness. They saw only death, defeat and darkness. The Cross was to them a stumbling-block. Afterwards they told the story of the Cross as being the story of love, of liberty and of light, but before they were able to do this they needed a new grasp of the things of God. The power they were to receive when the Holy Spirit came on them was understanding, enabling them to grasp the true meaning of the facts they were to speak of.

The second phase of the need is the power for holy living. In the purpose of God the force and meaning of the Cross were to be revealed not merely by the words of His servants but by the transformation of their lives. We have been the slaves of our own fallen nature, dominated by evil forces within. But now we are to be free from this power in union with Jesus Christ. He is to be master of the things that have mastered us in the past. The essential message of the Gospel is the declaration that through the Cross and the resurrection of Christ a new dynamic is at our disposal, in the power of which we may be victorious. Witness to this truth is to be borne not only by words, but by the triumph of lives, proving the accuracy of the testimony. First there must be a clear understanding of the meaning of the Cross and then the personal acceptance of its power. Behind the testimony there must be the triumph of Jesus in the life. It is this power that He promised to the disciples when He spoke of the coming of the Holy Spirit, and since then to us.

Further, they needed new power of the will and purpose. Persecution awaited them. All the forces that had been against their Master would oppose them. The doctrine of deliverance which they were to announce was revolutionary and the power that held mankind in slavery would seek to silence their voices. If they were to continue bearing witness to Him through darkness as well as through light, when the way was rough as well as when it was smooth, through the perils of popularity as well as through the dangers of persecution, they needed some new power of will which would make their love burn, and set their faces as flint. We too need this power.

They had already been in one place of testing and with what sad results, “everyone deserted Him and fled (Mark 14 v50). If they did that while He was with them, while the power of His personality was upon them, how would they act when the clouds had hidden Him from view and the sound of His voice was not to be heard? They stood in need of a power that would keep love burning, and the will to accomplish their work unconquered. They cannot drive the world until they themselves are driven, nor can we. This power is precisely what Jesus promised in the indwelling Spirit. Ever revealing the face of Christ to the disciples, He would capture the soul by the vision of love, and make the will to do His work invincible, as the very will of God.

Once more, they needed a new working power. “You will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, . . .  and to the ends of the earth”, said the Master (Acts 1 v8). They were to tell the story of His life and death to all, they were to urge His claims upon the attention of all, they were to win people for Him. And all this was to be done without the aids that human wisdom would immediately think of. The conquests of the past had been the conquests of argument and policy and the sword. These were all denied them. They had no commission to persuade by argument, policy had no place in their programme. Of the sword the Master Himself had said, “Put your sword back in its place, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword (Matt. 26 v52). 

Other methods were to accomplish their work. The proclaimers of the new kingdom were sent forth in the name of an absent King, with no sign of power that the world recognized. They needed some new power, and this is exactly what the Master promised them when He spoke of the coming of the Holy Spirit. Having that power, they should pass into all lands, and do deeds and win triumphs more mighty and marvellous than any that the world had ever seen or known.

No one can do the work of God until they have the Holy Spirit and are endued with power. It is impossible to preach the Gospel save in the power of the Spirit, because none can comprehend the true meaning of the Cross of Christ unless taught by the Spirit of God. Neither a knowledge of the words of the New Testament, nor a system of theology, is sufficient to equip for preaching the Cross. Nothing short of the immediate, direct and personal illumination of the Spirit is sufficient equipment. Witness for the Master is impossible save to those who co-operate with the supreme Witness. The keenest intellect and the most cultured mind are unable to understand the mystery of redemption and therefore cannot explain it to others.

It is equally true that there can be no witness of the life but by this constant indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Our nature is still capable of sin. We can only live the life that is in harmony with the teaching of Christ as we are possessed and energized by the Holy Spirit of God. Love and joy are only possible where the Spirit of God abides at the centre of the being, energizing the will that else would fail, and strengthening every step in the path of obedience. If the life is not lived under the dominion of the Spirit temptation will prove too strong and the precious Name will be dishonoured.

The nature of the power is evident. It is the coming of God to us to accomplish the Divine purpose in a sacred partnership. We are helpless apart from this co-operation with God. God chooses to be helpless apart from co-operation with us. Within thirty years of Pentecost the whole known world was influenced by this handful of men who had been gathered by Jesus, and taught by Him with such matchless patience and gentleness, in preparation for the Spirit's baptism. Yet the world failed to comprehend the meaning or to explain the mystery of this new movement. Joy and righteousness resulted from the worship of God in Christ, and the characters of men were transformed. It is hardly surprising that they were not understood. The usual signs of power were absent. These people had no visible Head. The Founder had perished by an ignominious death on a Cross. They were gathered and led, not to arming for battle or the cry of a warrior, but silently and surely, to the undermining of empires and the down fall of dynasties. The world is still unable to account for it. The secret of it all is that within every individual member of the Church, God has taken up His abode; and in perpetual comradeship and co-operation He moves on towards the purposes of His heart, through all the forces that oppose, and the obstacles that hinder. Wherever Christianity has been a real force it is because it has been spiritual, self has been forgotten and the Spirit that indwells is permitted to have unquestioned and absolute control.

Yet let it be remembered that, if the force of Christianity is not of man, it operates through man. God has so chosen to work. This was shown on the Day of Pentecost by the cloven tongues of fire, “They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them” (Acts 2 v8). Tongues, diversities of gifts; fire, the one Spirit. Tongues, the human instrument; fire, the Divine energy. Man, the instrument; God, the Worker. Much of the lack of power in service to-day is due to the fact that the true understanding of what service should be has been lost. The only reason that those who are born again of the Spirit are left in the world is that they may be His witnesses. Paul clearly teaches in his Letter to the Ephesians that the supreme vocation of the Church lies not in the present age, nor in present circumstances. Her final work will be the manifestation of the wisdom and the grace of God to principalities and powers in the heavenly places. The reason why the Church is not at once removed to this higher service is that in the midst of the darkness and death she may witness to her absent but living Lord.

The word witness actually means martyr. This word is used to-day almost exclusively of those who suffer persecution for the truth. That use of the word, while dignifying it, is in danger of obscuring its first meaning. A martyr is one, convinced of truth, who manifests that truth in life. The fires of persecution never made martyrs, they revealed them. A man who was not already a martyr never laid down his life for the truth. The noble army of martyrs died, not to become martyrs, but because they were martyrs. They are to reveal in transformed and transfigured lives the glory and beauty of the teaching and character of Jesus Christ. This ideal of service flings us back at once into the place of conscious dependence upon the Holy Spirit, for none can witness to Christ except in actual co-operation with Him. 

Two simple sentences will be helpful in order to understand the law of this co-operation. The first is - ‘The Holy Spirit witnesses only of Jesus’. It is very important to remember this. The Spirit has nothing to say of Himself. His whole mission and message has to do with Christ. Many people to-day are waiting for a manifestation of the Spirit. They are doomed to disappointment. When He obtains full possession of any individual it is not His own Person and personality He makes real, but that of Jesus.

The second sentence is of equal importance - ‘Only the Holy Spirit witnesses of Jesus’. Everything that is known of the Saviour is known as the result of the illumination of the Holy Spirit. He is the revealer. There can be no communication with Jesus until the Spirit reveals Him to the heart. There is no vision of the loveliness of His face until the Spirit anoints the eyes. Here is the blessedness of this Pentecostal age. The power for witnessing is the birthright of every believer. The Spirit reveals Christ. This new sense of the Master captivates the will and transforms the entire being into likeness to Himself. Life under the control of the Spirit glorifies the Master and witnesses for Him.

For such the world waits to-day. Humanity amid its sobbing and sighing needs a revelation of the sons and daughters of the King as they are yielded to the Spirit.


From: ‘The Spirit Of God’.