The power of the Holy Spirit is put on display throughout the Bible – both Old and New Testaments. What do you believe about him? That he comes and dwells inside you? What is his role? What is your role? Let’s explore.
Mark 16:14-20 (NASB)
14 Afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen.
15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
16 “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.
17 “These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues;
18 they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.“
19 So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.
20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.
Mark is the Gospel that the major denominations choose to largely ignore. I find this interesting as the synoptic gospels all share the same message of salvation. When you read through the gospel of Mark, there is a constant theme thoughout – the power of the Holy Spirit. There is a risk that focusing your entire faith around the Gospel of Mark can give you a limited view of our responsibility as Christians – many charismatic denominations focus heavily on Mark, hence you see in verse 17 where some of these denominations get their doctrine that new believers will “speak in tongues”. This was said by Jesus, and it was recorded in the Bible – there’s no denying that this statement is true. I don’t believe that there is a reqiurement that a new believer to speak in tongues or cast out demons to prove that they are saved, but some surely will. The synoptic gospels should all be treated with due respect – and devoured equally to give a balanced view of God’s plan of salvation.
I say all of that to get to this point – Mark demonstrates the power of the Holy Spirit – true miraculous, supernatural power. This is not power that is given to us for our own benefit – you can’t go out and just conjure up some extra cash when you need it (or handle poisonous snakes to amaze others for personal gain) – but power that we have at our disposal to glorify the Kingdom of God. Read the letters to the Churches in Revelation 2 and 3 – Jesus talks about a “little power”. The church (institutional, not necessarily individuals) has long ago removed any power except for indwelling and communicating with God from the role of the Holy Spirit. Remember – the WORLD was created by God through the Holy Spirit! He is not just a communication conduit.
The Holy spirit is represented in most christian literature today as a gentle dove – why? Because we are told that the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in bodily form like a dove: Luke 3:21-22 (NASB)
21 Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened,
22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”
However, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples as tongues of fire:
Acts 2:1-4 (NASB)
1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.
2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.
The witnesses were so bewildered by what they saw, that they called the disciples drunk, to which Peter responded:
Acts 2:14-21 (NASB)
14 But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words.
15 “For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day;
16 but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel:
17 ‘AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,’ God says, ‘THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS;
18 EVEN ON MY BONDSLAVES, BOTH MEN AND WOMEN, I WILL IN THOSE DAYS POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT And they shall prophesy.
19 ‘AND I WILL GRANT WONDERS IN THE SKY ABOVE AND SIGNS ON THE EARTH BELOW, BLOOD, AND FIRE, AND VAPOR OF SMOKE.
20 ‘THE SUN WILL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD, BEFORE THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS DAY OF THE LORD SHALL COME.
21 ‘AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’
The Holy Spirit lives within you as a Christian. You have this same power available to serve and glorify our Lord. What are you doing with him? Are you supressing him? Are you ignoring him when he tells you to act or speak? Do you ignore the Spirit because of the things in your life that you are being told are not OK with the Holy Spirit that you clutch as pearls? The Spirit teaches and brings rememberance of God’s Word to you:
John 14:23-26 (NASB)
23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.
24 “He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.
25 “These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you.
26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.
The Holy Spirit also brings blessing to us – the fruits of the Spirit are popular in the mainstream denominations today, but pay attention to the entire passage (emphasis mine):
Galatians 5:13-26 (NASB)
13 For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”
15 But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.
19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality,
20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,
21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
26 Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.
There is great power in the Holy Spirit. The world today is growing more and more callous towards him. We were told it would:
2 Timothy 3:1-9 (NASB)
1 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.
2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,
4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.
6 For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses,
7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith.
9 But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, just as Jannes’s and Jambres’s folly was also.
The Holy Spirit is widely beleived to be the retsrainer that Jesus talks about that is holding back the anti-Christ. We are told that this ”restrainer” will be moved out of the way to allow the final days of the current era to come to the prophesied conclusion. If the Holy Spirit resides in you and is taken out of the way, that necessarily means that you will be taken with him (the Rapture – in modern vernacular):
2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 (NASB)
1 Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him,
2 that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
5 Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?
6 And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed.
7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.
8 Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;
9 that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders,
10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.
11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false,
12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.
There is much that the Bible says about the times that many feel are upon us. Much of it concerns the church’s treatment of the Holy Spirit. I pray that you search for the truth and that you are not counted among the tares that did not believe and heed the Holy Spirit as part of the Christian faith.
Spread the gospel – lives depend on it!
I pray, MARANATHA! (Come quickly, Lord Jesus!)
Your brother in Christ,
-Duane
