The Spirit Also Helpeth

As we enter the new year I have once again, as always, touched by the enormity of the task that is before us to preach the Gospel to every creature. I understand that I cannot be everywhere but I can eagerly pursue the work that God has allowed me to do. But I feel so inadequate, weak and ineffective. I am not as young as I used to be (no comments from the peanut gallery). So how will I be able to make a credible effort in my work for Christ in this coming year?

In Romans 8:26 and 27 we read these words: Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.  ²⁷ And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

I have read, quoted and preached on these verses many times but because the Word of God is LIVING and POWERFUL there is always something new, helpful and useful for the one who will make the effort to partake from it. Several things I note here:

First, this promise of the help of the Spirit in this context presupposes the fact that I am actually praying. Oh how we MUST be praying. Jesus answer to the need for laborers for his harvest was and I believe still is PRAYER. So I put this in these terms because I am painfully aware that not only do many not read the Bible in a profitable way, but also MANY are derelict in the necessity, the responsibility and the privilege of prayer. So I think we could say, the Spirit helps us to pray, what to pray and how to pray. I read somewhere that prayer is the breath of a believer or something like that. My question is this: Am I breathing?

I think we could also consider that this text gives the idea that we may be deficient in some ways in our PRAYER ABILITY. I know, I know, no one wants to consider something negative like that but the truth is we DO need help.

Think about it. When was the last time you really poured out your heart to God? When was the last prayer you prayed that surged with the pure emotion and energy to boldly bring your petitions before the throne of grace? Yes, we pray short little wholesale prayers and hope for retail answers. We throw up our little blessings before meals. We pray a brief prayer in the morning or at night. We pray as well framed a prayer as possible when called upon to pray publicly. But is that ALL? Is that enough?

When was the last time that the Searcher of hearts saw such intensity and emotion in your prayer that by means of the Spirit’s groanings He helps us plead for things that are God’s will for us, for others and God’s work in the world. Though we are so impotent the Holy Spirit intercedes to help us to pray as we ought.

I was convicted when I read again those precious words of Scripture. I asked myself when was the last time I had really wrestled and agonized in prayer. I recall some times when I was greatly burdened about something but the TRUTH that gripped me was that I do not often pray in a way that the Spirit would even need to be involved. If I am not pleading does He? If I am not striving in prayer, is He?

This year, with all the work before us to do His will, to follow His word, to do His work I want to determine to pray in such a manner that the Spirit ALSO will help, searching my heart, leading and guiding me to pray according to the will of God. If you are praying like this … PRAY FOR ME and for our work. If you are not, determine with me that you will endeavor to pray in such a way that the Spirit also helpeth!

BaptistEvangelism.org

 

 

Scrooge Remedy

There have been some Christmas seasons when my wife and kids would tell me I was like Scrooge. They would all be anxious to put up the lights, pull out the boxes of decorations and put up the Christmas tree. The house would be filled with smells of fresh cookies and fudge. On the television Christmas movies were showing. The music in the house and the car were the familiar Christmas Carols. But somehow I wasn’t getting it. I couldn’t feel the SPIRIT of the season. You ever felt like that? You ever feel like the family SCROOGE?

Maybe this will help you like it helped me on those many occasions when I just could not seem to get into the spirit of the Christmas season. I begin to find that elusive spirit as I began to GIVE. Sometimes I did not have the resources to give much, so I gave the little gifts that I could give. In giving I wasn’t thinking about what I might receive or not receive. Gifts of kindness, gifts of sacrifice, gifts to friends and to family begin to make the SCROOGE in me move to the background. We all know the Bible says it is more blessed to give than receive, but have you ever read these verses?

⁶Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.  ¹⁷But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?  ¹⁸My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.  ¹⁹And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. (1 John 3:16-19)

At Christmas, possibly more than at other times, we can think about the love of God in sending His Son Jesus, by way of a virgin womb, a Bethlehem stable and into a troubled and sinful world. His purpose in that was so that Jesus would lay down his life, die a cruel death upon the cross to satisfy the just demands of a Holy God and to satisfy the sin debt of those who believe upon Him. And so John in his epistle says we should surely learn a lesson from God who so beneficently loved and we should also love. But IF we have a selfish and Scrooge sized heart, and see those in need and will not give, our selfishness will weaken the evidence of our conversion, we will feel condemned and lack confidence of our relationship with God.

We must learn this good lesson, that no amount of Christmas sights, sounds and smells will really bring us that Spirit that filled heaven and earth on that first Christmas like GIVING! “Let us not love in word and tongue; but in deed and truth.” In other words, like God, by GIVING, especially to those who have needs. When you do, the Holy Spirit will inform your conscience, and our hearts will be assured before God. What happens when we give like this? Instant Christmas Spirit! Scrooge – gone!

This year we are encouraging others to “open their bowels of compassion” and give all they can to help our orphans at the Good Shepherd Orphanage in Haiti. For more about these needy kids or to GIVE, go to our website and click on donate. And please pray for our ministry throughout the Caribbean basin.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

www.baptistevangelism.org

What Is Your Pool?

We read the following in John chapter 5:1-9 – “After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  2 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.  3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.  4For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.  5And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.  6When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?  7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.  8Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.  9And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.”  

I love reading about the ministry of Jesus. I am always surprised and amazed to see what he does and what happens in the lives of people around him. The first thing we see is Jesus coming to this feast at Jerusalem. Many of us stay clear of these types of events and gatherings. We are content to let other people celebrate and do their thing, religious or otherwise and we seldom consider that it may well be a great evangelistic opportunity in the making.

But secondly, I am amazed at what I see taking place at the pool Bethesda. I certainly don’t understand all that I read about this pool but I do know that there were a lot of people lying around it, waiting for the troubling of the water so they could get into it and be cured. This was the sight Jesus saw as he came near and he spoke to this man who had been there a long time but had never quite been able to be the first to get into it. How long had he waited? How many years had his hope been fixed upon being the first one to enter the water and get healed? Here is what Jesus said: “Do you want to be healed?” “Well, of course. But I can’t seem to make it to the pool. No one will help me.”

Here is where I want you to think about something. In this man’s mind he was satisfied that the ONLY thing he could do was be the first into that pool. He thought of nothing else. Each day when the pool was troubled was a new disappointment as he missed his opportunity to get into that pool in time. The lesson we need to learn is that too many times we only think that miraculous or supernatural things will happen for us only in the parameters of our understanding or our mindset. Like this impotent man, we expect things to happen, but only in a certain way, as they have always happened or as we are convinced that they should happen.

But this man didn’t know Jesus! He could have been the “man” to move him into the water, but even MORE, Jesus was the one who could speak with power that could raise this man up from his lameness and impotency to take up that wretched bed and walk away whole.

Friend, what are you needing? What is your situation? What is your pool? Are you exhausted by looking in the same direction, trying by the same means to see things become better? Look to Jesus! He does not need to work in any of the same old ways. He likes to work against the “norms” as he did on that sabbath day so long ago and he wants to work in your life and mine today too. He wants to give us blessing in our misery, power in our impotency and wholeness in those empty places in our lives. Whatever pool you are waiting to see troubled, wait no more – Jesus is here. “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.”

Haiti In The Dark

I had hoped to be able to post daily about the evangelistic crusade we are doing in Port au Prince but I have been in the dark for most of the time. Black outs are the norm for Haiti. Most of the built up urban areas have electricity from around 7 pm through the night which helps those who are cooking in the evening and also makes it a little easier to get around after daylight ends. The power typically gets cut off in the morning and unless you are somewhere with a generator you are without power. Such has been the case where I am staying but the last few days we have been completely without power. Yesterday we found out that something was broken in the main power station that feeds our part of town and thankfully last night it was finally repaired. Right now, as I type, we are experiencing the unusual blessing of electricity into the daylight hours.

Being in the dark is nothing new to Haitians. It is a reality they have long lived with. It is a commodity as Americans that we have a hard time living without. Here in Haiti it makes the nights seem longer and certainly hotter and less comfortable. But darkness in Haiti is more than physical, it is also spiritual. Years of Voodooism, and every strain of spiritual ignorance and religious deception have left Haiti dark. Their minds and hearts are darkened. Jesus warned in Matthew 6:23, “If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” and Luke records it like this – “Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.”  It is hard to imagine, but absolutely true that some may have “light” which to them is “darkness”.

Though Haiti is by many perceived to be “religious”, perhaps even overly so, and very “spiritual” – I must tell you that the “light” that most of them have is spiritual “darkness” to them.  The vast, vast majority of Haitians, exist in spiritual darkness and are ignorant of the simple truths of Christ and His Gospel.

It is because of this that we labor here in this spiritual “Patmos”. We are here to preach the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ to those in spiritual darkness. We know that Jesus came “To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” And this is what we are doing! We are declaring JESUS! But we are careful to help them realize that it is not just any Jesus, not a Jesus presented by their religion, or a Jesus conjured up in their own thinking, but the Jesus of Scripture!

This is the Jesus we declare!

• In the beginning was the Word … The Eternality of Jesus Christ
• And the Word was with God … The Triunity of Jesus Christ.
• And the Word was God ... The Divinity of Jesus Christ.
• All things were made by him … The Creativity of Jesus Christ.
• In Him was life … The Exclusivity of Jesus Christ.
• He came unto his own … The Accessibility of Jesus Christ.
• But as many as received him to them gave he power … The Authority of Jesus Christ.

The above outline is the theme of my preaching in our evangelistic crusade this week. Each night we have seen the Light of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ shine into hearts. We have seen souls come to Christ in each service, we have seen those who came into the tent in spiritual darkness leave with Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, shining upon their faces and in their hearts.

I can endure a little physical darkness, the oppressive heat, and the uncomfortable conditions if that is what is necessary to bear witness to the Light. Please continue to pray for us as we launch this church of Patmos Baptist ministries in a new area. Last night we could see many people from the tent city beyond our property listening to the music and the message. New people from the area are coming in every night. We praise the Lord for that. In two weeks we must raise another $2000 to pay on our purchase contract on this land or we could loose it. Please pray! If you can help go to BaptistEvangelism.org and click on donate.

Joel: The Lord is God

The book of Joel is the 29th book of the Bible and in a grouping of 12 prophetic books commonly called the Minor Prophets mainly due to their length. Little is known about Joel but it is believed that he prophesied during the “golden” reign of the king Uzziah we know of from Isaiah’s prophecy. (Isaiah 6)

1. Revelry

In the opening words of Joel’s message we are reminded about what happens most of the time when people enjoy prosperity: they begin to spiral downward spiritually. Israel certainly always had this problem. In verse 5 we read of their reveling. “Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.” People in this condition often continue a form of their religion, but it is spiritualy impoverished and little beyond a mere religious formalism. Forgetting God always brings consequences and in the case Joel speaks of, it brings …

2. Ruin.

(1:6-7; 10-12)  The nation begins to experience the tremendous loss of material blessings and then in verse 9 the spiritual blessings are cut off.  “The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD’S ministers, mourn.”  As all of these ruinous results play out the worst comes with their alienation from God and the subsequent loss of their joy.  “… joy is withered away from the sons of men.”  (verse 12) Do we recognize this happening around us today? Because it is happening! Faced with material ruin, lacking spiritual blessings and filled with resulting sadness Joel calls his people to …

3. Repentance.

(1:13; 2:1, 12) The call is like this: “Gird yourselves … ye priests … ministers”  It begins with the leaders where repentance should always begin and be modeled. The alarm is sounded in 2:1 and the people are called to “turn … with all your heart”.  They are warned to stop going through empty religious motions “rend your heart, and not your garment” and cast your case upon the grace and mercy of the Lord. Any time there is true repentance you may expect God to send …

4. Revival.

(2:18-27)

• Revival restores relationship! “Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people.”The people had been asking: “Where is their God?”  They had been living as if they had no God. (verse 17-18)
• Revival replenishes rations. “I will send corn” (material blessings – verse 19)
• Revival releases reproach. “I will no more make you a reproach” . (verse 19)
• Revival removes resistance. “I will remove far off from you the northern [army], and will drive him into a land barren” (verse 20)
• Revival returns rejoicing. “be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things” (verse 21)

Yes, God promises to do great things for those who repent (verses 20-21) including a wonderful …

5. Restoration.  

(2:21; 28-32 and 3:21) There is a restoration of the material blessings from God – “the floors shall be full of wheat … the fats shall overflow ….”  (verse 24). He promises to restore things that were formerly lost in verse 25. But, and more importantly, this is not just a restoration of material blessings from God, but a restoration of the people to the God of those blessings. That is the greatest blessing. “the Lord dwelleth in Zion”. Our prayer today should be that the Lord would dwell with us in our land.  That will happen only if we recognize our sin and departure from His ways and repent. Revival starts with me, with you. It starts when we remember that …

The Lord is God!

Holy Spirit as “earnest” in Missions

A couple of weeks ago I began this series about the Holy Spirit and His work in missions and how He is seen in the emblems that describe Him in Scripture. I wanted us to realize that to many the Holy Spirit IS the forgotten member of the Trinity, the forgotten God. I wanted us to understand that we need the Holy Spirit if we are going to reach our world for Christ. Even with all our modern technologies and accomplishments we are sadly deficient to our task. It is possible that we will have some successes as far as the world judges success, but we will never truly accomplish what is needed if we do not understand the importance of the work of the Holy Spirit in missions.

I think for now I will close this study by looking at the Holy Spirit as our “earnest” in Missions. This teaching about the Holy Spirit can be found in Ephesians 1:14; 2 Corinthians 1:22 and 5:5. The Holy Spirit was to be to the believer the foretaste of all the promised spiritual blessings that have not yet been revealed and realized in our lives here and now. As “Earnest” He is our hope for a glorious future.

As our “Earnest” He is the Security given in our hand to let us be assured that God will fulfill all of His promises to us. He is the “Down Payment” part of the price to ratify and guarantee we will get all that was paid for us to enjoy. Our “Earnest” is our First Installment on the pledge of heaven guaranteeing us of all the rest to follow. Praise God for this Earnest!

But there is more! When we receive the Holy Spirit / Earnest, we are receiving in our lives the same nature of that which we will be a full partaker in Glory. The Holy Spirit produces in the believer all the operations of repentance, faith, and hope. He gives us comfort and a love of prayer, praise and all other Christian virtues such as love, peace, joy and purity and really all the wonderful spiritual blessings that will eventually be EXPANDED and completely FULL in heaven. We HAVE these when we have the “EARNEST” and He creates within us the desire for our coming glory!  “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. ” (Romans 8:22-23)

So when I consider what the Scriptures teach us concerning the Holy Spirit as “earnest” I believe ever more strongly that we need to REDISCOVER THE HOLY GHOST in missions? This seems to be a MISSING element in our missionary work, perhaps I should say IN ALL our work. In our rush to add new converts, new baptisms and new members I believe that in many cases those we are dealing with are taught merely to imitate us, to act, to talk and to live like we do and then they go about trying to live right in their own power. This maybe possible to accomplish for a time, but does not have the truly lasting results that we should be seeking. We want “fruit that remains” but that cannot be produced by imitation, by training, by persuasion, by bribery or any other way. Our fruit will only remain if there has been a true spiritual conversion.

When the new convert has the Holy Spirit we will not have to keep pumping them up, seeking them out dragging them toward glory. If they have been converted, have the Holy Spirit, the Earnest, they will have the sincere desire for the milk of the word. This is real assurance! Not just reading them a few verses on assurance and encouraging them that if they said the prayer, etc they are saved. Our only security and their only security is the “EARNEST”. If they are saved, they have the Holy Spirit. If they have the Holy Spirit they will have working within them a part of what heaven is all about. And if they do not have the Holy Spirit / the Earnest they are NOT saved. “Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” (Romans 8:9) That is security!

On the mission fields we do not need to build a forced and contrived type of “American” church with American “Christianity” like at home. We need true converts, who have the EARNEST of the Spirit in their hearts and who are living in waiting for the fulfillment of their inheritance to the praise of his glory! May God help us Rediscover the Holy Ghost in Missions and Ministry as we consider the biblical emblems which reveal how He is working in our world today.

Holy Spirit as “seal” in Missions

“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise …”   (Ephesians 1:13)

What a wonderful promise is this one of sealing from the Scripture. How strong and comforting is this guarantee from God. As we look at these words written to the Ephesian Christians we can unpack this verse in the following way:

1. Hearing the Gospel, the truth.

2. Trusting the message, believing.

3. Being sealed with God’s mark of ownership.

Can you see how important these truths are to missions? They are important to every believer and certainly to those who are reached in areas where Christianity is little known or known only by the minority. This was the reason Paul said as he traveled in “commended them to the Lord”  How could this help us in missions?

Mission work is hindered by those who do not follow the biblical pattern of missions as we read of it in the Scriptures. Years ago I wrote a paper on missions called Missions Malpractice. In this paper I was interested in whether or not our missionaries were leaving large areas of unreached territories untouched by their Gospel ministry because they were going to foreign stations and cities to only maintain the work of missionaries of the generation before them. They were essentially pastors, maintaining the flock that was gathered by their predecessor instead of launching out to new areas in the regions beyond.

Can you imagine what would have happened if the team of Barnabas and Saul had followed our modern missionary practices and when they had preached in Salamis (Acts 13:5) one of them decided to stay there and the other went only as far as the isle of Paphos and stayed there (Acts 13:6). How would the Gospel have gotten on to Perga, and Pisidia, the fruitful fields of Lystra, Derbe and beyond?

What was the belief and therefore the practice of Paul and the early missionaries? How did men like William Carey, known as the father of modern missions and Hudson Taylor, founder of China Inland Mission model their understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit as the “seal” of missions?

Paul and his team of first century missionaries believed in widely evangelizing and extensively proclaiming the Gospel throughout all regions. When they entered an area they preached the Gospel in the hearing of all who would avail themselves to their ministry. Those who believed were taught, confirmed, exhorted and challenged. (Acts 14:21-22) Then they appointed local, national leadership who would continue guiding the new believers (Acts 14:23a) and finally they COMMENDED them to the Lord, upon whom they believed. (Acts 14:23b) They believed in the “sealing” of the Holy Spirit of promise. They believed and taught these believers that they had already been blessed with all with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus and belonged to Him and could commend them unto the Lord and move forward with the expansion of the Gospel into other places.

Where is this extensive evangelism which was practiced by Carey, Livingstone, Taylor and so many more? Are we obeying the commission? Do we believe the Scriptures? Do we preach the Gospel far and wide doing all we can to prepare these new converts for their lives as New Testament believers? Do we commend them to God or do we commend them to ourselves and our own ministries and limit the ability of national leadership?

The Holy Spirit is vital in our work of missions. May God help us teach and preach what the Scriptures reveal to us about Him and follow His lead so that we may reach our world with the Gospel of Christ. He is the “Seal” in missions.

 

Holy Spirit as “fire” in Missions

I have so far written about four other emblems of the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures. First, “like a dove”,then as “breath”, as “water” and as “oil”.  So now let us consider the Holy Spirit as “fire”. To organize our thoughts let us understand that not all references to “fire” in the Scriptures are about the Holy Spirit, the same with “water” and “oil” as well as the other emblems. But there are some specific instances where we can clearly see this symbolism and learn some wonderful things about the Holy Spirit as “fire” in missions.

One example is the “pillar of fire” that led the children of Israel as they journeyed through the wilderness. How lost they would have been without this guidance. When the children of Israel looked out of their tents and saw the pillar they were assured that God’s presence was with them. When the pillar moved they could safely follow to any new destination.

Our members, our churches, our missions need the comforting, illuminating, invigorating, approving, reproving and improving “fire” of the Spirit to fall upon us today. We live in a scary world. We live in a dark world. We live in a sin sick world. We live in a spiritually cold world. Where is the “Fire”? We need His presence. We need our path illuminated. We need new life! We need our impurities purified. We need our coldness thawed.

In the Gospels John the Baptist promised that One was coming after him who would baptize them with the fire of the Holy Ghost. On the day of Pentecost the Spirit of God fell upon them as “fire”. Amazing things happened from Pentecost forward. What happened to the “fire” that inflamed the hearts of the early disciples and their churches? What happened to the “fire” that impelled the early church to reach their world and obey the commission?

Friend, without the FIRE of the Holy Spirit in our lives, our churches and our missions are doomed to failure. We will not have the power of His presence and we will lose our way in this dark world.

Set My Soul Afire

Set my soul afire Lord, for Thy Holy Word, Burn it deep within me, let Thy voice be heard
Millions grope in darkness in this day and hour, I will be a witness, fill me with Thy pow’r

Refrain:
Set my soul afire Lord, set my soul afire.
Make my life a witness of Thy saving pow’r. Millions grope in darkness, waiting for Thy Word. Set my soul afire, Lord, set my soul afire!

Set my soul afire, Lord, for the lost in sin, Give to me a passion as I seek to win; Help me not to falter never let me fail, Fill me with Thy Spirit, let Thy will prevail.

Set my soul afire, Lord, in my daily life. Far too long I’ve wandered in this day of strife; Nothing else will matter but to live for Thee, I will be a witness for Christ lives in me.

Holy Spirit as “oil” in Missions

So far in our studies of the work of the Holy Spirit in missions we have considered three of the emblems that we find in Scriptures, the Holy Spirit “as a dove“, as “breath” and as “water“. Today we include the emblem of the Holy Spirit as “oil” in missions.

In the Scripture oil typically represents the anointing of the Holy Spirit. We read about the oil of gladness and the oil of anointing of God’s Presence. Typically in the Old Testament we see the oil for the anointing for priests and kings. “Then shalt thou take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his head, and anoint him” (Exodus 29:7 – see also Leviticus 8).

We also see the oil for lamps representing the light of God’s illumination. “And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always” (Exodus 27:20).Who can forget that the Word is depicted as “a lamp unto our feet” to guide us in God’s ways.

Oil is certainly an emblem, and a symbol of the Person and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Oil was used to anoint the wounded and the sick …” And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, … Anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them … Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord” (Luke 10:34; Mark 6:13; James 5:14). These uses show us how the Holy Spirit is involved in every area of our lives as believers and our churches.

So, as we consider each of these actions of the Holy Spirit as oil, it begs this question; where is the “Oil” in our lives, churches and missions? The Holy Spirit is sometimes called the “Forgotten” member of the Trinity. It has been said that many churches would not even recognize a difference in their ministry if the Holy Spirit were not present in their services. They continue along, making all decisions, and fulfilling all their plans, seemingly without a hitch as if they do not need the Holy Spirit.

Many churches have been attacked, beaten and robbed by Satan and his cohorts. And like the traveler in Luke 10 they have been left beside the road half dead. We need the Samaritan to come by us and pour in the cleansing and healing oil and wine. If we don’t get up from where we have fallen we will never reach our world of nearly 7 billion souls. We will never send missionaries into all the nations. We will never have Scripture translated to all languages. We need to be anointed with Oil to strengthen us for our task. Only anointed with His Holy Presence will we have the guidance, the healing and the unity necessary to accomplish such a task. We need the precious Oil poured out upon us to make us equal to the task of world missions! (Psalms 133)

The Holy Spirit as “water” in Missions

As we continue our consideration of the various emblems of the Holy Spirit in missions we cannot pass by the emblem of water. Many of us and our churches today are like Israel in Exodus 17. We are just wandering around in the desert, spiritually dusty, dry, parched and thirsty. It was there at Horeb that God told Moses to strike the rock and living water came forth to rescue them. Can you think of anything we need more than that right now? Do we not need the Spirit to flow forth from the Rock to give us new life in our mission? The promise was that “… I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring”

Water was also the sign of the spirit that purifies:  I fear many have made sinful compromises because of alliances with the world, attempts to “contextualize” and “relate” and we need the purifying water of the Spirit to wash over us and cleanse us. Because of our idolatry that is evident in our worship at the idol of BIG, BUILDINGS and BUDGETS, we need to remember the promise of the Holy Spirit as water and the Scriptures where He says: I will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from all your impurities, and from all your idols I will cleanse you” (Ezekiel 36:25)

The churches that are not jumping, whooping it up, and swinging with the latest bands are at the other end of the pendulum. Maybe theologically sound, but SOUND ASLEEP. Maybe dead right, but more DEAD than right. They need to remember that the it is the Spirit who brings back life: “I will pour out water upon the thirsty ground, and streams upon the dry land”, and then adding to the metaphor: “I will pour out my spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing upon your descendants” (Isaiah 44:3) We need a Holy Ghost revival to bring us to life and wake us up. 

We must decide if we are content with being stagnant ponds with inadequate abilities and inferior activities or if we will be THIRSTY enough to BELIEVE so that the Spirit of God can flow from us as we read of in John chapter seven. “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.  (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive:” We need the Holy Spirit as “water” in missions!

Springs Of Living Water
(John W. Peterson)

I thirsted in the barren land of sin and shame,
And nothing satisfying there I found;
But to the blessed cross of Christ one day I came,
Where springs of living water did abound.

Chorus:
Drinking at the springs of living water,
Happy now am I, my soul they satisfy.
Drinking at the springs of living water,
O wonderful and bountiful supply.

How sweet the living water from the hills of God!
It makes me glad and happy all the way.
Now glory, grace, and blessing mark the path I’ve trod
I’m shouting “Hallelujah” every day.

0 sinner, won’t you come today to Calvary?
A fountain there is flowing deep and wide.
The Saviour now invites you to the water free,
Where thirsting spirits can be satisfied.

More of the Holy Spirit emblems for mission coming soon.