The Gift of the Spirit Is for Us

Picture: The Gift of the Spirit Is for Us4TC 25.1

Christ was standing in the shadow of the cross, fully aware of the load of guilt about to rest on Him as the Sin Bearer, when He instructed His disciples about a most essential gift He was going to give to His followers. “I will pray the Father,” He said, “and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, ... for He dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:16, 17). By the divine power of the Holy Spirit they were to resist the evil that had been accumulating for centuries.4TC 25.2

What was the result of the Spirit’s outpouring on the Day of Pentecost? The good news of a risen Savior was carried to the far thest parts of the world. Converts flocked to the church from all directions. Some who had opposed the gospel the most bitterly became its champions. One focus rose above every other—to reveal the likeness of Christ’s character and to work to enlarge His kingdom.4TC 25.3

“With great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all” (Acts 4:33). Chosen men consecrated their lives to the work of giving to others the hope that filled their hearts with peace and joy. Nothing could restrain or intimidate them. As they went from place to place, the poor had the gospel preached to them, and miracles of divine grace took place.4TC 26.1

From the Day of Pentecost to today, the Comforter has been sent to all who have yielded themselves to the Lord and His service. The Holy Spirit has come as a counselor, sanctifier, guide, and witness. Through the long centuries of persecution, the men and women who revealed the presence of the Spirit in their lives have stood as signs and wonders in the world. They have shown the transforming power of redeeming love.4TC 26.2

Those who were filled with power at Pentecost were not freed from further temptation by this experience. The enemy repeatedly attacked them, trying to rob them of their Christian experience. They had to try with all their God-given powers to reach the full potential of men and women in Christ. Daily they prayed that God would help them to reach still higher toward perfection. Even the weakest ones learned to improve the powers God had given them and to become sanctified, refined, and noble. As they submitted in humility to the molding influence of the Holy Spirit, their lives more and more reflected the divine.4TC 26.3

God Has Not Restricted His Gift

The passing of time has made no change in Christ’s promise to send the Holy Spirit. If we do not see the fulfillment, it is because we do not appreciate the promise as we should. Wherever Christians think little of the Holy Spirit, there we will find spiritual drought, spiritual darkness, and spiritual death. When minor mat ters occupy the attention, the divine power necessary for the church’s growth and prosperity is missing.4TC 26.4

Why don’t we hunger and thirst for the Spirit? The Lord is more willing to give the Spirit than parents are to give good gifts to their children. Every worker should be asking God for the daily baptism of the Spirit. The presence of the Spirit with God’s workers will give a power to our sharing of truth that not all the glory of the world could give.4TC 27.1

The words Jesus spoke to the disciples are also spoken to us. The Comforter is ours as well as theirs. The Spirit furnishes the strength that sustains struggling Christians in every emergency, amid the hatred of the world and the awareness of their own failures. When the outlook seems dark and the future perplexing, and we feel helpless and alone, the Holy Spirit brings comfort to the heart.4TC 27.2

Holiness is living by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. It is trusting God in darkness as well as in the light, walking by faith and not by sight.4TC 27.3

The nature of the Holy Spirit is a mystery. People may bring together passages of Scripture and put a human construction on them, but accepting fanciful ideas will not strengthen the church. Regarding mysteries that are too deep for human understanding, silence is golden.4TC 27.4

The Holy Spirit convicts of sin (see John 16:8). The sinner who responds will be brought to repentance and awakened to the importance of obeying God’s requirements. To the repentant sinner, the Holy Spirit reveals the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. Christ said, “He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14:26).4TC 27.5

The Spirit is given as a regenerating agency, to make real in our lives the salvation our Redeemer’s death won for us. The Spirit is constantly working to draw attention to the cross of Calvary, to unfold the love of God, and to open to the convicted heart the precious things of the Scriptures. After He brings conviction of sin, the Holy Spirit withdraws the affections from the things of this earth and fills the soul with a desire for holiness. “He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). The Spirit will take the things of God and stamp them on the heart.4TC 27.6

From the beginning, God has been working by His Holy Spirit through human beings. In the days of the apostles He worked powerfully for His church through the Holy Spirit. The same power that sustained the patriarchs, that gave Caleb and Joshua faith and courage, and that made the work of the church in the apostles’ time effective has strengthened God’s faithful children in every age since. Through the Holy Spirit during the Dark Ages the Waldensian Christians helped prepare the way for the Reformation. The same power gave success to the efforts of noble men and women who pioneered the way for modern missions and for the translation of the Bible into the languages of all nations.4TC 28.1

And today those who proclaim the cross are going from land to land, preparing the way for the second advent of Christ. They are exalting God’s law. The Spirit is moving on hearts, and those who respond become witnesses for God’s truth. Consecrated men and women communicate the light that clearly shows the way of salvation through Christ. And as they continue to let their light shine, they receive still more of the Spirit’s power. In this way the earth is to be lighted with the glory of God.4TC 28.2

On the other hand, some Christians are idly waiting for some spiritual refreshing to greatly increase their ability to enlighten others. They allow their light to burn dim while they look to a time when they will be transformed and fitted for service without any effort on their part.4TC 28.3

The Early Rain and the Latter Rain

It is true that when God’s work on the earth is closing, special evidences of divine favor will accompany the earnest efforts of consecrated believers. Using the illustration of the early and latter rains that fall in Eastern lands at seedtime and harvest, the prophets foretold the outpouring of the Spirit. The outpouring in the days of the apostles was the early, or former, rain, and the result of it was glorious.4TC 28.4

But near the close of earth’s harvest a special measure of the Spirit is promised to prepare the church for the coming of the Son of man. This outpouring is the latter rain, and Christians are to send their prayers for this added power to the Lord of the harvest “in the time of the latter rain.” In response, “the Lord ... will give them showers of rain.” (Zechariah 10:1)4TC 29.1

“He will cause the rain to come down for you—
The former rain, and the latter rain.” Joel 2:23.4TC 29.2

But only those who constantly receive fresh supplies of grace will have the ability to use that power. Daily they are improving the opportunities for service that lie within their reach, witnessing wherever they may be, at home or in a public sphere of usefulness.4TC 29.3

Even Christ during His life on earth asked His Father daily for fresh supplies of grace. The Son of God bowed in prayer to His Father! He strengthened His faith by prayer and gathered to Himself power to resist evil and to minister to others.4TC 29.4

The Elder Brother of our race knows the needs of those who live in a world of sin and temptation. The messengers whom He sees fit to send are weak and prone to make mistakes, but He promises divine aid to all who give themselves to His service. His own example assures us that faith and complete consecration to His work will bring the Holy Spirit’s aid in the battle against sin.4TC 29.5

Morning by morning, as those who carry the gospel renew their vows of consecration to the Lord, He will give them His Spirit, with its reviving, sanctifying power. As they go out to the day’s duties, the unseen influence of the Holy Spirit enables them to be “God’s fellow workers.”4TC 29.6