The Secret revealed: Hopy Spirit
From the outset, the church looked doomed, stillborn. To bring His message to the nations, Jesus had only a few ordinary men from Galilee. None of them showed any brilliance or personal qualities that would make for success, and they displayed a generous share of human failings.
They were as unqualified as world conquerors as men ever could be. The Jewish leaders wrote them off as ignorant and unlearned. Their message should have appealed to nobody.
It had no element of intellectual wisdom, political promise, or immediate social benefit. Its worst disqualification for popular acceptance was that it was centred on a leader from a seedy Galilean backwater who had been executed as a common criminal.
Mission impossible? Against all expectations, it became “mission accomplished.” How? These nobodies advanced with a new secret. God personally worked with them with signs and wonders.
Mission impossible? Against all expectations, it became “mission accomplished.” How? These nobodies advanced with a new secret. God personally worked with them with signs and wonders.
More than that, He barbed their simple words with conviction and guided them to the hearts of hearers as unerringly and powerfully as David’s stone to the head of Goliath. Without personal charisma, the charisma of the Spirit of God endued them. Their “secret”? The Holy Spirit.
Let us take it from there. If Christianity is to progress, this is the divine way. Christ knew that the world would expand. There are now sixty times more people alive than when He was here. He expected that all the world would hear His quiet words spoken so long ago in an obscure Roman province—not by normal propaganda methods but by His power.
Because the world hovers between spiritual life and death, the utmost consideration must be given to whatever can secure the destinies of precious people. What follows are principles of real importance. They may even be stressed by repeated mention throughout the following chapters.
Just as in the wilderness Jesus was tempted to misuse divine powers when He had been filled with the Holy Spirit, so are others likely to be.
The core of the test is our pride, which corrupts our sincere motives for the power gifts and produces flamboyant behaviour and egotistic display. Jesus was tempted by the devil to throw Himself off the temple pinnacle.
Let us take it from there. If Christianity is to progress, this is the divine way. Christ knew that the world would expand. There are now sixty times more people alive than when He was here. He expected that all the world would hear His quiet words spoken so long ago in an obscure Roman province—not by normal propaganda methods but by His power.
Because the world hovers between spiritual life and death, the utmost consideration must be given to whatever can secure the destinies of precious people. What follows are principles of real importance. They may even be stressed by repeated mention throughout the following chapters.
Just as in the wilderness Jesus was tempted to misuse divine powers when He had been filled with the Holy Spirit, so are others likely to be.
The core of the test is our pride, which corrupts our sincere motives for the power gifts and produces flamboyant behaviour and egotistic display. Jesus was tempted by the devil to throw Himself off the temple pinnacle.
One thing to be taken to heart is that the supernatural is not always sensational. We can attract personal admiration by our gifts, but our job is to set people’s eyes on Jesus. When Paul and Barnabas were offered worship at Lystra, they were horrified, running among the people to assert they were not divinities (Acts 14:8–18).
“This generation seeks a sign,” said Jesus (Luke 11:29). Sensation always has a market. We can exploit that situation and turn the gifts of God to self-advantage. Simon Magus wanted the Holy Spirit, but only to bolster his prestige (Acts 8:9).
“This generation seeks a sign,” said Jesus (Luke 11:29). Sensation always has a market. We can exploit that situation and turn the gifts of God to self-advantage. Simon Magus wanted the Holy Spirit, but only to bolster his prestige (Acts 8:9).
Uzza died for his presumption in putting his hand upon the ark of testimony (1 Chron. 13:10). If anyone says, “I would like the gift of healing,” or any gift, the proper reply is, “Why?” Motive is vital.
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