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the

Dunamis
project
Gateways to Empowered Ministry
The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit
by Rev. Dr. Zeb Bradford Long Edited by The Rev. Douglas McMurry
Presbyterian & Reformed Ministries International Revised 2006

the

Dunamis
project
Gateways to Empowered Ministry
The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit
by Rev. Dr. Zeb Bradford Long Edited by The Rev. Douglas McMurry
Presbyterian & Reformed Ministries International Revised 2006

PRMI DUNAMIS PROJECT GATEWAYS TO EMPOWERED MINISTRY

THE DUNAMIS PROJECT


The purpose of the Dunamis Project is to equip an extended fellowship of Christians, both clergy and lay people, to share in the ministry of the Holy Spirit for and with Jesus Christ. A biblical model of spiritual leadership is envisioned that embraces prayer, trust, mutual accountability and a full expression of the spiritual gifts for the advancement of the kingdom of God and the upbuilding of the Body of Christ.

The Working Manual


This manual is intended to complement the Gateways to Empowered Ministry equipping event. It is a document that is in process and will continue to be revised and updated to better meet the needs of the Church and to be faithful to the leading of the Holy Spirit. This manual is available to those who participate in the equipping retreats of Presbyterian and Reformed Renewal Ministries International (PRMI)s Dunamis Project. It is for the participants use as a resource for continued spiritual growth and study. It is also intended to facilitate his/ her ministry to others and to the Church. Provided that credit is given to PRMIs Dunamis Project, the charts may be copied and distributed, but not sold, for the purpose of teaching and ministry.

Project Development
The Dunamis Project is directed by the Reverend Dr. Brad Long, Executive Director of Presbyterian and Reformed Renewal Ministries International. The original team members who conceived and developed the overall design of the Dunamis Project are: Clay Bostic, Andy Buchanan, Amel Whitaker, Charles Bello, Carter Blaisdell, Doug McMurry, and Brad Long. This planning took place in 1990. The first Dunamis Project Equipping Track started in February 1991 at Lake George New York. From that time the Dunamis Project has grown to have multiple tracks in locations strategic to the worldwide move of the Holy Spirit. To insure faithfulness to the original vision of the Dunamis Project for equipping spiritual leaders and to maintain orthodox biblical teaching all directors of Dunamis Tracks and teachers are required to be faculty members of the PRMI Dunamis Fellowship. The Dunamis Project is a ministry of Presbyterian-Reformed Ministries International. This manual for the Gateways to Empowered Ministry equipping event was written by the Rev. Dr. Zeb Bradford Long. (Brad Long). Extensive editing, especially in part 1 on PRMI DUNAMIS PROJECT GATEWAYS TO EMPOWERED MINISTRY

worldview, was provided by Doug McMurry. Many of the basic concepts embodied in the teaching are those taught by the Rev. Archer Torrey. Further revisions for the 2006 version were done by PRMI ministry staff members, Cindy Strickler, Jeanne Kraak and Mary Ellen Conners.

Books for Further Study and Spiritual Growth


The basic content of the Gateways to Empowered Ministry manual have been put in narrative book form for further study and inspiration. Zeb Bradford Long and Douglas McMurry, Collapse of the Brass Heaven: Expanding our Worldview to Embrace the Power of God (Grand Rapids: Chosen Books, 1994). This book expands and deepens the teaching on worldview with applications to the church today.

Zeb Bradford Long and Douglas McMurry, Receiving the Power: Preparing the Way for the Holy Spirit (Grand Rapids: Chosen Books, 1996). This book further elaborates the teaching of the Dunamis manual on the inward and outward work of the Holy Spirit that is foundational to a biblical understanding of cooperating with the Holy Spirit in the work of Jesus Church.

Bringing the Teaching on the Holy Spirit into the Congregation.


The Dunamis Project is designed to equip spiritual leaders. The basic contents of the Dunamis Project however are essential for igniting and nurturing spiritual renewal in congregations for growth and mission outreach that is grounded in Scripture and centered in Jesus Christ.

PRMI DUNAMIS PROJECT GATEWAYS TO EMPOWERED MINISTRY

The Dunamis Course: For Congregational Renewal: Course # 1 Experiencing the Person and Work of
the Holy Spirit This course consist of ten lessons with video tapes/DVDs to bring the Dunamis teaching to the local congregation. The course includes, student work books, video taped lessons, facilitators manual, and a CD ROM disk with the manual and power points for teaching. The course depends on a PRMI equipped facilitator.

A weekend event based on the PRMI Dunamis teaching giving an introduction to the Holy Spirit and providing the context for nurturing renewal. This application of the Dunamis teaching has been developed with the Group for Renewal and Evangelism in the URC in the United Kingdom. .

All books, materials and programs are available through the PRMI Office.

Copyright 2006 Zeb Bradford Long Published by Presbyterian-Reformed Ministries International P.O. Box 429 Black Mountain, NC 28711-0429 USA Office 828-669-7373, FAX 828-669-4880 Web Site: www.prmi.org E-mail: prmi@prmi.org

PRMI DUNAMIS PROJECT GATEWAYS TO EMPOWERED MINISTRY

PRMI DUNAMIS PROJECT GATEWAYS TO EMPOWERED MINISTRY

Contents: Gateways to Empowered Ministry


Part 1 - Worldview Part 2 - Streams of Renewal Part 3 - The Holy Spirit and the Trinity Part 4 - The Work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament Part 5 - Jesus and the Holy Spirit Part 6 - The Four Basic Works of the Holy Spirit Part 7 - The Infilling With the Holy Spirit Part 8 - The Nature and Experience of the Holy Spirits Power Part 9 - Receiving and Growing in the Power of the Holy Spirit Bibliography 7 73 101 131 171 205 227 271 311 343

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PART ONE

WORLDVIEW

PART ONE: WORLDVIEW

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 7

A. INTRODUCTION TO THE QUESTION, "IS THE DUNAMIS PROJECT POSSIBLE?" 7 7 B. THE WESTERN MAINLINE PROTESTANT CHURCH HAS SAID NO 1. IN OUR THEOLOGY 7 a) The Liberal wing of the church 8 b) The Evangelical wing of the church 8 c) Dispensationalism 8 (1) John Calvin 8 (2) B.B. Warfield 9 (3) Faith Based Solely Upon the Word of God - Profound Mistrust of Experience 9 9 2. IN OUR PRACTICE C. THE UNDERLYING PROBLEM IS A PHILOSOPHICAL PROBLEM, NOT THEOLOGY 10 1. WE MUST MOVE TO A DIFFERENT LEVEL OF DISCOURSE 10 D. THE MISSIONOLOGIST "DISCOVERS" THE IMPORTANCE OF WORLDVIEW 10 1. THE EXPERIENCE OF DR. CHARLES KRAFT 11 2. THE SEMINAL PAPER "THE FLAW OF THE EXCLUDED MIDDLE BY DR. PAUL G. HIEBERT" 11 II. THE NATURE OF WORLDVIEW A. DEFINITION OF WORLDVIEW B. WORLDVIEW IS CONSTRUCTED FROM MANY DIFFERENT PARADIGMS C. WORLDVIEW IS LARGELY UNCONSCIOUS III. WORLDVIEW BOTH HELPS US SEE AND BLINDS US 12 12 14 14 14

A. WORLDVIEW HELPS US SEE 14 15 B. WORLDVIEW BLINDS US 1. EXAMPLES FROM THE WORLD OF ART 15 a) The Mona Lisa 15 b) Chinese painting 15 16 2. PROJECTIONS OF WHAT WE SEE IN THE MOON 3. THE ARTIST, THE NATURALIST, THE LOGGER, EACH SEES THE TREES OF A FOREST DIFFERENTLY ACCORDING TO THEIR DIFFERENT PARADIGMS 16 4. ACTS: 14:8-18. AFTER THE CRIPPLED MAN WAS HEALED THROUGH PAUL THERE ARE DIFFERENT EXPERIENCES OF THE SAME OBJECTIVE REALITY 17 17 5. DELORES WINDER'S "IMPOSSIBLE" EXPERIENCE OF HEALING C. THREE CENTERS OF POWER 18 1. THE SPIRITUAL SPHERE 18 18 2. THE SOCIAL SPHERE

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3. THE MATERIAL SPHERE D. AREAS IMPACTED BY OUR PERCEPTION OF REALITY 1. INVESTMENT 2. CAUSALITY 3. POWER BROKERS E. THREE MAPS OF DIFFERENT WORLDVIEWS 1. BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW 2. WESTERN, MATERIALISTIC WORLDVIEW 3. A NEW AGE WORLDVIEW F. THE GOSPEL AGAINST ALL CULTURES 1. WESTERN CULTURE 2. EASTERN CULTURE 3. ANIMISTIC AND PAGAN CULTURES G. TRUE AND FALSE PARADIGMS ABOUT GOD'S POWER 1. GOD'S POWER IS AN ILLUSION, A MYTH 2. GOD'S POWER IS THE POWER OF NATURE 3. GOD'S POWER IS THE HOLY SPIRIT H. GOD'S POWER IS AVAILABLE ONLY THROUGH PERSONAL SURRENDER IV. THE WESTERN WORLDVIEW

4 18 20 20 20 20 22 22 23 24 25 25 25 26 26 26 26 27 27 28

A. THE COMPONENTS OF THE MODERN WESTERN WORLDVIEW 28 1. RENE DESCARTES (1596 - 1650) 28 28 2. SIR ISAAC NEWTON (1642-1727) 3. A POET'S DESCRIPTION AND CRITIQUE OF THE VIEW OF THE UNIVERSE BEQUEATHED TO US BY THE ENLIGHTENMENT 28 B. DEVELOPMENT OF THE WESTERN WORLDVIEW 29 1. AUGUSTINE 29 a) New Age (Manichaean) philosophy 29 b) Science (Academic philosophy) 30 c) Augustine sensed that Christ had given certain knowledge that could be relied on more than that of the rational mind 30 31 2. RENE DESCARTES 32 3. CHARLES DARWIN 32 4. SIGMUND FREUD 32 5. KARL MARX 33 6. RUDOLPH BULTMANN C. SHIFTING PARADIGMS IN THE WESTERN WORLD: HOPE AND DANGER FOR THE CHURCH 33 34 D. THE FRUITS OF THIS WESTERN WORLDVIEW 34 1. FOR WESTERN CULTURE a) Cultural decline and powerlessness 34 b) Political calamity in the rise of neo paganism 35 36 2. FOR THE WESTERN CHURCH a) Theological questions directly affected by our worldview 36 (1) The nature of God 37 (2) What is the source of morals? 37 (3) Our view of the Bible 37

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(4) The Virgin Birth and Incarnation (5) Is the Christian life a matter of faith or works? (6) What is the nature of the Church? (7) The Second Coming of Christ (8) Does God really speak? (9) The gifts of the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians12) (10) The reality of the Devil and evil spirits today (11) Reflections on the questions V. HOW IS WORLDVIEW EXPANDED? A. EXPANDING WESTERN RATIONALITY TO INCLUDE THE SPIRITUAL B. FACTORS IN LEARNING TO SEE AND EXPERIENCE THE SPIRITUAL 1. THE WILL TO SEE OR NOT TO SEE 2. THE ROLE OF EXPERIENCE 3. PSYCHOLOGICAL MAKEUP AND TYPE 4. SPIRITUAL AWAKENING 5. THE CONTEXT OF LOVE AND TRUST 6. THE PASTORAL PROBLEM: HURT HINDERS OPENNESS 7. THE CREDIBLE WITNESS VI. CONCLUSION

5 37 38 38 38 39 39 39 39 42 42 42 42 43 43 44 44 44 44 45

VII. APPENDIX 1: SIGNS AND WONDERS DID NOT CEASE A. THE THEORY THAT SIGNS AND WONDERS CEASED B. REASONS FOR BELIEVING POWER MINISTRY IS FOR TODAY 1. THEY HAVE IN FACT NEVER CEASED 2. THE EXPERIENCE OF CROSS-CULTURAL MISSIONARIES OF SIGNS AND WONDERS 3. DOES NOT CONFORM TO EXPERIENCE OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE 4. NO BIBLICAL BASIS FOR SAYING THEY STOPPED 5. THE MARK OF A TRUE APOSTLE WAS HAVING BEEN VISITED BY THE RESURRECTED JESUS 6. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT NOT EVERYONE WHO MOVED IN THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT WERE

46 46 46 46 46 47 47 48

APOSTLES 49 7. IT IS THE CLEAR TEACHING OF SCRIPTURE THAT NOT JUST THE ORIGINAL APOSTLES, BUT ALL CHRISTIANS, MAY EXPECT THE EMPOWERING AND GIFT-GIVING WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 49

a) Mark 16:17 b) John 14:12 c) Acts 2:17 d) Acts 2:39 e) I Cor 2:14 f) I Corinthians 12:7 g) I Corinthians 14:5 h) I Corinthians 14:39 i) Ephesians 5:18

49 50 50 50 50 50 50 51 51

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j) James 5:14-15 VIII. TEACHING CHARTS: PART I WORLD VIEW

6 51 53 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 65

A. THE NATURE OF WORLDVIEW B. THREE CENTERS OF POWER C. WORLDVIEW MAP 1 D. WORLDVIEW MAP 2 E. WORLDVIEW MAP 3 F. COMPONENTS OF THE WESTERN WORLDVIEW G. QUESTIONS DIRECTLY AFFECTED BY OUR WORLDVIEW H. EXPANDING WORLDVIEW I. REASONS FOR REJECTING THE CESSATION THEORY J. GROWTH OF MAINLINE VERSUS CHARISMATIC/PENTECOSTAL CHURCHES

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I. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM


A. INTRODUCTION TO THE QUESTION, "IS THE DUNAMIS PROJECT POSSIBLE?"
The purpose of the Dunamis Project is to equip Christians for ministry empowered by the Holy Spirit for the advancement of the Kingdom of God and the glory of Jesus Christ. Our preparation for spiritual leadership, evangelism and missions is the same as the first disciples: In addition to three years of receiving Jesus' teaching, following him in ministry, and being born again, they were required remain in Jerusalem until they were clothed with power from on high." 1 We require the same preparation as the first disciples if we are to follow Jesus ministry. Our intention then, in the Dunamis Project, is to receive and to learn to move in the power of the Holy Spirit. Before embarking upon this project, however, we must deal first with three fundamental philosophical/theological questions, namely: Is it possible to be empowered by the Holy Spirit as Jesus and the early disciples were? Is the manifestation of the Kingdom of God, in signs and wonders as recorded in the New Testament, possible today? In short, is the Dunamis Project a legitimate project for us to undertake? The Bible and many in the Developing World church would say YES. But in two fundamental ways the Western Protestant church has answered with a clear NO!

B. THE WESTERN MAINLINE PROTESTANT CHURCH HAS SAID NO


1. In Our Theology

The first rejection has come from the theological assumptions of the mainline Western Protestant denominations.

Luke 24:49

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a)

The Liberal wing of the church

Randolph Bultmann profoundly influenced an approach to Biblical study called liberal theology. Bultmann attempted to demythologize the New Testament, and through radical form criticism attempted to return to the essence of Jesus' teaching. Any elements of the miraculous or supernatural were presupposed to be additions made by the early Church and were thus removed. According to Bultmann, Jesus really did not move in such "supernatural power", nor did He heal the sick or cast out demons. The supreme miracle, the resurrection, was an event that took place in the hearts of the disciples not in history. The supernatural events recorded in Scripture were viewed as myths added by the early Church. From the perspective of Bultmann, belief in Christ is defined in existential philosophical terms, and has been expressed by Christian involvement in current humanitarian/social justice causes. From the perspective of liberal theology, therefore, there is no basis for us being in power ministry. The Dunamis Project is impossible. b) The Evangelical wing of the church

Evangelical churches have often allowed the empowering work of the Holy Spirit, in preaching, enlightening the Scripture, and conversion. However, "signs and wonders" and the I Corinthians 12 2 gifts of the Holy Spirit are largely discounted. This has happened through a set of presuppositions brought to biblical interpretation known as "dispensationalism." c) Dispensationalism

Unlike the proponents of Bultmanns philosophy, many Evangelicals affirm that Jesus and the early disciples did indeed perform miracles. But through a dispensational theological system imposed upon Scripture, it is believed that signs and wonders ceased with the close of the apostolic age. Sources of this thought are clear: (1) John Calvin
But that gift of healing, like the rest of the miracles, which the Lord willed to be brought forth for a time, has vanished away in order to make the new preaching of the gospel marvelous forever. Therefore, even if we grant to the full that anointing was a sacrament of those powers which were then administered by the hands of the apostles, it now has nothing to do with us, to whom the administering of such powers has not been committed. 3
2 Verses 1-11 3 John Calvin, (Trans by F.L. Battles), Institutes of the Christian Religion (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1975) p. 1467. This is about the most negative text found in Calvin against the continuation of the gifts of the Holy

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(2)

B.B. Warfield

B.B. Warfield equated the gifts of the Holy Spirit with canonical revelation; with the closing of the canon the gifts ceased. (3) Faith Based Solely Upon the Word of God - Profound Mistrust of Experience In the Evangelical stream there is the insistence that faith must be based upon the Word of God alone and not upon experience or emotions which are untrustworthy. This is of course true but often there has come a subtle denial that there may be experience of the objects of faith. Essential to this is the understanding of faith as rational assent to true doctrine about God rather then experientially knowing God. In other words, it is acceptable to believe in the reality of demons, angels, the living Christ, the empowering of the Holy Spirit, gifts of the Spirit, and so forth. These are all realities that are attested to in Scripture. But if one starts to actually encounter demons, angels, Jesus Christ, or to receive and use the gifts of the Holy Spirit then one is suspect. Once again the Dunamis Project is suspect and is either the invitation to heresy or extremism.

2.

In Our Practice

The second rejection has come in our practice. For mainline churches (with the exception of those touched by the charismatic renewal or the Third Wave) there is little or no expectation that the Holy Spirit will actually do anything other than informing, inspiring, and building fellowship through the word and sacraments. In most church services everything is a tight and tidy, model of human control with little room for God's intervention. The exercise of Spiritual gifts, while not actually forbidden, is either unexpected, undiscerned, or unwelcome. The result is that many mainline denominations have had no acceptable context in which we may experience the empowering, supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. These experiences have often been relegated to the fringes of our culture and our experience. In summary, both liberal and evangelical churches, whether in their theology or in their practice, insofar as they deny the possibility of God's supernatural power today or the present operation of the spiritual gifts, have rejected the concept of the Dunamis Project. 4

Spirit. I believe he is speaking in reaction against the Anabaptists and the Catholics. There are many other references from Calvin that shall appear in these materials that support the continuation of the empowering work of the Holy Spirit.
4

NB: We shall later show that their rationale is based, not upon the witness of Scripture, but upon philosophical presuppositions rooted in the Western rationalistic worldview.

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C. THE UNDERLYING PROBLEM IS A PHILOSOPHICAL PROBLEM, NOT THEOLOGY


1. We Must Move to a Different Level of Discourse

As long as we deal with this question of the power of God strictly on a theological level or church polity level, we are caught in a tight system of belief that will reinterpret any actual experience of the supernatural in its own terms. For instance, the gift of tongues will be viewed as just a psychological phenomenon. A personal encounter with the awesome wonder of Jesus Christ is interpreted as emotionalism. The way out of the box is to move to a different level of discourse. We must address the more basic question: what is our view of the nature of reality? In dealing with signs and wonders and power ministry it is essential first to clarify our philosophical presuppositions. Otherwise, our theological understanding will be clouded and our experience limited. According to C. S. Lewis:
Many people think one can decide whether a miracle occurred in the past by examining the evidence according to the ordinary rules of historical inquiry. But the ordinary rules cannot be worked until we have decided whether miracles are possible, and if so, how probable they are. For if they are impossible, then no amount of historical evidence will convince us... If, on the other hand, miracles are not intrinsically improbable, and then the existing evidence will be sufficient to convince us that quite a number of miracles have occurred. The result of our historical inquiries thus depends on the philosophical views that we have been holding before we even began to look at the evidence. The philosophical question must therefore come first. 5

Before we can overcome objections to, or lack of experience with, the work of the Holy Spirit, we must first deal with our philosophical presuppositions and the question of worldview.

D. THE MISSIONOLOGIST "DISCOVERS" THE IMPORTANCE OF WORLDVIEW


The importance of our worldview, in both determining our religious experience and defining our theology, was introduced to us by cross-cultural missionaries. They found that the people of other cultures had very different assumptions about the nature of reality. These assumptions led to the experience of reality in certain clearly defined ways. These crosscultural encounters forced them to examine their own worldview. They discovered some deficiencies that prevented both the understanding and experiencing of certain aspects of reality.
5

C.S. Lewis, Miracles: A Preliminary Study (New York: Macmillan, 1947) p. 8.

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1.

The Experience of Dr. Charles Kraft

Dr. Charles Kraft, while a missionary in Nigeria, found that he was well prepared through intensive study and preparation to deal with everything except what the Nigerians considered to be most important: engaging in the spirit world. He realized that his Western rational viewpoint was not inclusive enough to contain the supernatural realities that were obviously real to the Christians in Nigeria.

2. The Seminal Paper "The Flaw of the Excluded Middle by Dr. Paul G. Hiebert"
Dr. Paul Hiebert, while in India, had an experience similar to Dr. Kraft's. He was unable to deal with the supernatural realities that marked everyday life in an Indian village. Most disturbing was the fact that the Indians expected him, as a missionary and representative of Jesus Christ, to be able to work in the same spiritual capacity that Jesus had. Hiebert observed that non-Western people had a worldview that was three-tiered:
The top tier is high religion based on cosmic personalities or forces. It is very distant. The bottom tier is everyday life: marriages, raising children, planting crops, rain and drought, sickness and health, and what have you. The middle zone includes the normal way these everyday phenomena are influenced by superhuman and supernatural forces. There is no question in their minds that every day they are influenced by spirits, demons, ancestors, goblins, ghosts, magic fetishes, witches, mediums sorcerers, and any number of other powers. 6

This middle zone, which is also assumed in the Biblical worldview, is largely missing from the Western worldview and from the Western Christian experience. In the 1980s Fuller Theological Seminary, through Paul Hiebert, Peter Wagner, Charles Kraft, and the MC 510 class taught for a limited time by John Wimber, led the way in providing the theological and philosophical framework for Western Christians to accept the reality of signs and wonders today.

C. Peter Wagner, "Christian Life", December 1984, p. 45 (summarizing Paul Hiebert's thesis).

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Chart Illustrating Hieberts Excluded Middle Theory


Transcendental World Hells, Heavens, Eternity, (High god) African Vishnu, Jehovah UNSEEN SUPERNATURAL Supernatural Forces on Earth Spirits, Ghosts, Ancestors, Demons, Manna, Witchcraft, Holy Spirit, Gifts, Angels, Healing Empirical World Folk Sciences, Cause and Effect Observation, Natural Laws RELIGION

EXCLUDED MIDDLE IN WESTERN WORLDVIEW

SEEN EMPIRICAL SCIENCE

II. THE NATURE OF WORLDVIEW


The way we experience the power and presence of God is largely based upon our culturally determined worldview. Every culture maintains a worldview, a way of interpreting human experience in this world. Like a womb, in which we all experience life before birth, it shapes our thinking without our being aware of its influence.

A. DEFINITION OF WORLDVIEW
Our worldview consists of the culturally determined filters through which we perceive and experience reality. According to Charles H. Kraft
Cultures pattern perceptions of reality into conceptualizations of what reality can or should be, what is to be regarded as actual, probable, possible or impossible. These conceptualizations form what is termed the "worldview" of culture. The worldview is the central systemization of conceptions of reality to which the members of its culture assent (largely unconsciously), and from which stems their value system. The worldview lies at the very heart of the culture, touching, interacting with, and strongly influencing every aspect of the culture. 7

Charles Kraft, Christianity in Culture: A Study in Dynamic Biblical Theologizing in Cross-Cultural Perspective (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1979) p.53.

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13

SOME BASIC IDEAS ABOUT THE WAY WORLDVIEW HELPS US SEE AND EXPERIENCE REALITY 1. Through the process of being trained into our culture, we are taught to see as the other members of our society see. 2. We are strongly indoctrinated long before we seek to make any of our own choices in perceiving what is real. 3. Seeing is interpreting and not simply observing. (We never just see what is there, rather we shape our perception of reality by our ideas about reality.) 4. Seeing is selective. a. We almost always accept what confirms what we have been taught. b. We usually reject (often by reinterpreting) what doesnt fit what we have been taught. 5. What our culture teaches us becomes a set of filters or lenses through which we see and experience reality.

The Culturally Determined Filters Through Which We Perceive Reality

All that happens

What we believe

What we experience

What we analyze

Our view of reality

Most of the insights that follow concerning worldview came from Dr. Charles Krafts lectures given to a group of Taiwanese pastors in 1986. His ideas are used with permission. For more complete teaching on the question of worldview, see his book Christianity With Power.

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B. WORLDVIEW IS CONSTRUCTED FROM MANY DIFFERENT PARADIGMS


Our worldview is extremely complex and includes many different ingredients, or paradigms. Paradigms are models of how the world works and how the different parts of our world fit together. Some examples of paradigms are:
The world functions like a machine; the mind is like a computer. The world is full of mystery and wonder incomprehensible to our small human minds. God is a good God who relates to us personally. God is an abstract force or ideal who relates to us impersonally through natural law. People are basically good (or evil).

A culture's worldview may have many such paradigms. Some of these may be contradictory. Subgroups within a population of a general worldview may hold different paradigms. For instance, the liberal church lacks a paradigm of a "personal Devil" and views evil as ignorance or the result of social structure. Fundamentalist or Pentecostal churches often have a lively paradigm of a "personal Devil"--to them evil is embodied in personal beings like Satan and demons. An individual's worldview may also have contradictory paradigms that are illogical but that nonetheless exercise a powerful influence upon experience and behavior.

C. WORLDVIEW IS LARGELY UNCONSCIOUS


Much of our worldview is buried in the subconscious mind. It is pervasive, like the water a fish swims in, and thus does not often intrude on our awareness. Our worldview has developed by osmosis through our family, language, and social environment. Rarely is it consciously or intentionally developed. The unconscious nature of worldview makes it a very difficult element to change. As a result, it causes great psychological distress when challenged or changed.

III. WORLDVIEW BOTH HELPS US SEE AND BLINDS US


A. WORLDVIEW HELPS US SEE
Our worldview helps us to see things that individually we would not see. This is because we see with the collective eyes of our whole culture. We see through the experience of many others. In this way we may see some parts of reality more clearly then others. THE PRMI DUMANIS PROJECT GATEWAYS TO EMPOWERED MINISTRY

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B. WORLDVIEW BLINDS US
On the other hand, our worldview makes us blind to other aspects of reality. The philosophical framework which supports our cultural worldview also determines what we may fail to see.

1.
a)

Examples from the world of art


The Mona Lisa

The Mona Lisa is a classic example of the Western worldview. Notice that there is a human figure in the foreground, while the waterfalls are hazy in the background. (This painting emerges from, and demonstrates, philosophical presuppositions from Christianity and the Enlightenment: Human beings are created in the image of God and given dominion over the world. Humankind is the center of the universe). b) Chinese painting

In Chinese painting, the roles of the images are almost exactly reversed, with waterfalls and mountains in the foreground, and human figures small and blended into nature. (Chinese painting emerges from, and demonstrates, philosophical presuppositions from the concept of the Tao: Human beings chief end is to be in balance with the rest of the world; the harmony of all things). It should not surprise us, then, to discover that paintings of Christian saints versus those of Buddhist saints reveal profoundly different views of reality and the meaning of life. G.K. Chesterton points out the profoundly different visions of reality that are reflected in Christian and Buddhist art. Each of these art forms reflects very different worldviews that result in profoundly different experiences of, and perceptions of, reality:
Even when I thought, with most other well-informed, though unscholarly, people, that Buddhism and Christianity were alike, there was one thing about them that always perplexed me; I mean the startling difference in their type of religious art. I do not mean in its technical style of representation, but in the things that it was manifestly meant to represent. No two ideals could be more opposite than a Christian saint in a Gothic cathedral and a Buddhist saint in a Chinese temple. The opposition exists at every point; but perhaps the shortest statement of it is that the Buddhist saint always has his eyes shut, while the Christian saint always has them very wide open. The Buddhist saint has a sleek and harmonious body, but his eyes are heavy and sealed with sleep. The mediaeval saint's body is wasted to its crazy bones, but his eyes are frightfully alive. There cannot be any real community of spirit between forces that produced symbols so different as that. Granted that both images are extravagances, are perversions of the pure creed, it must be a real divergence that could

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produce such opposite extravagances. The Buddhist is looking with peculiar intentness inwards. The Christian is staring with frantic intentness outwards. If we follow that clue steadily we shall find some interesting things. 9

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2.

Projections of what we see in the moon

Our worldview helps us see and experience things differently. This may seem like a silly question, but what do you see when you look at the moon? In the Western culture, we often see the man in the moon. People of different cultures see different things in the moon.

Different ways of seeing the moon


Location USA, England, Canada, Europe What is in the moon The man in the moon Worldview reflected Western culture that makes humans the center

Taiwan, China

The rabbit in the moon

Chinese mythology and Taoism

Southern and Central Brazil

St. George killing the dragon

Catholic cultural background

Northern Brazil

A heavily burdened donkey

Reflects the experience of poverty and oppression

3. The artist, the naturalist, the logger, each sees the trees of a forest differently according to their different paradigms
The artist - sees textures, shades of color, graceful forms. The naturalist - sees distinct trees with scientific names and life cycles. The lumberman - sees trees of commercial value, others, "trash trees."

G.K. Chesterton, A G.K. Chesterton Anthology (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1985) p. 303.

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4. Acts: 14:8-18. After the crippled man was healed through Paul there are different experiences of the same objective reality
The people with a polytheistic worldview thought the gods have come down to us in the likeness of men! They even called Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes! Paul, with a Biblical worldview, denied that was possible and saw himself only as a human being like them empowered by the Spirit of Jesus. They should worship God not him.

5.

Delores Winder's "Impossible" Experience of Healing

PRMI's International Representative Delores Winder experienced an extraordinary healing that, according to her own worldview, was impossible. Her story is as follows:
At the request of her son she went to a Katherine Kuhlman healing service with her body encased in plastic from her arms down to the top of her legs. Her neck was held in a brace. For nineteen and one half years her spine and hips had been irreversibly degenerating, the medical doctors gave no hope for a cure. The pain was so excruciating and uncontrollable that, in a procedure performed only on terminally ill patients, they burned out the nerve centers of her brain. The procedure is called a "Teature coredonamy" and can only be undertaken at the assent of three physicians. As a result, Delores had no feeling on the right side of her body from the neck down. On the left side there was no feeling from the breast down. She could walk only while being assisted. "That day they took me to the Kuhlman meeting, the ride over there just about killed me. So they had to carry me into the meeting." During the meeting, she started to experience a burning sensation in her leg, which was medically impossible! It was the beginning of a miracle. By the meeting's end she was completely restored, to the extent that she had to take off the body cast, and walked out. Her spine was restored as well as full feeling in her body. Now, when one sees this spirited, energetic woman nimbly moving from person to person in prayer, one cannot but be filled with wonder and thanksgiving at the grace and power of God. That, however, was not the reaction of her Christian friends when the miracle took place. For years she and her family had been the recipients of the love and care of their church, but when God actually intervened and healed her, actually answered the prayers that had been spoken, it did not fit the peoples' worldview. Delores found that she was met with hostility and rejection for having been healed! The reaction of the Church was strange. The reality of the miracle was totally ignored by the Church. There was no announcement, no public thanksgiving, nothing, just dead silence. These wonderful, good Christians, who had suffered with her, could not see what God had done and could not give thanks. Rather, they were profoundly threatened because this event did not fit their worldview. Lest we should be judgmental of the church, Delores, said, "I can say these things about the church because they are facts. I can also say them because the person most threatened was me! My worldview had no place for this kind of miraculous intervention by God into our world. If the church people had a hard time dealing with

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the miracle, I had an even harder time. I only believed Jesus as Savior, I had no place in my world for Him being the healer! The miracle just blew everything away, everything that I had believed about Jesus and the way He works in the world. I was very angry with God! I wanted to move away to a place where no one knew me and start over again. That first year was extremely difficult. I had to adjust to a new view of Christianity and to discover from the Bible that Jesus is more than just the Savior of our souls. For months I wrestled with scripture and started to rebuild my theology. Part of this was rebuilding my worldview to include the possibility for Jesus working the miraculous way that He did in my life." 10

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C. THREE CENTERS OF POWER


At the center of a worldview are its power paradigms. Cultures develop worldviews as a search for the means of survival and as a way of overcoming problems. All cultures are trying to address the issue of our helplessness in the face of evil and tragedy. They also are seeking power to shape reality and to exercise dominion over the earth. The worldview of every culture presents what that culture believes to be the best answer to the need for power. According to Dr. Charles Kraft, there are three spheres of power from which every culture chooses its weapons against helplessness and adversity: The following charts show the difference between the Western, the Biblical, and the Third World worldviews in regards to three different realms of reality. These are the spiritual sphere, the human (or social) sphere, and the material sphere. 11

1. 2.

The spiritual sphere The social sphere

Judeo-Christian, animistic and pagan sub-cultures draw upon spiritual sources of power.

Eastern and Islamic cultures tend to place their confidence in the structuring of relationships and the lawful ordering of society.

3.

The material sphere

All Western cultures have placed their confidence in science and technology to master the material world.

From a telephone interview with Delores Winder in March 1992. Used by permission. The complete story of healing may be found in her book, Jesus Set Me Free. 11 Charles Kraft, "Worldview and Spiritual Power," Chinese Leadership Conference on Church Renewal, Spring 1987, (School of World Mission, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA) p.10.

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Dr. Kraft's Chart showing the Three Centers of Power

BIBLICAL CULTURES Spirit Sphere (greatest concern is God) Human Sphere Material Sphere

WESTERN CULTURES Spirit Sphere (God) Human Sphere Material Sphere

2/3 WORLD CULTURES Spirit Sphere (often little concern for God) Human Sphere Material Sphere

As you study the chart above, you should take note of the following characteristics: 1. The proportion of emphasis given to each sphere by each of the cultures. 2. That the lines between the spheres are broken indicates interinfluencing between the spheres. 3. There are differences between the emphases of the three culture types in the Spirit Sphere. These may be further indicated as follows. Notice that there is a God Sphere but not a clearly defined Spirit Sphere in American culture, though we may suggest an "undefined" space being felt by more and more people who seem to realize that science (the prevalent religion of America) isn't able to account for everything it encounters.

BIBLICAL God Sphere Spirit Sphere

WESTERN God Sphere Undefined

2/3 WORLD God Sphere Spirit Sphere

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D. AREAS IMPACTED BY OUR PERCEPTION OF REALITY


How we weigh these different spheres of reality has significant practical impact in the three following areas. These are given from the perspective of Western culture.

1.

Investment
First, what we designate as the main source of power will determine where we invest our time, money and energy. We Westerners invest ourselves in the advancement of science and technology and reward those who develop these areas. Electric toothbrushes, childrens computer games and sixty-inch televisions areall are evidence of Western mastery of the material world and are greeted as successes of Western expertise.

2.

Causality
Second, what we designate as the main source of power will determine our understanding of cause-and-effect relationships. We Westerners tend to see our problems as caused by a lack of material things or material knowledge. Most sickness, we believe, is caused by natural laws that have been broken, and we need more scientific knowledge to discover drugs to solve the problem. We do not believe that the spiritual world influences the material world, or that God rewards those who seek Him (except perhaps in heaven after we die). We have lost the conviction that events are caused by the spiritual world impinging on our here-and-now.

3.

Power Brokers
Third, how these spheres of power are weighted will determine whom we invest with control over our lives and our institutions. Those who mediate power are given rights to control our social system. Westerners now give these rights to those skilled in the use of material power. 12

12

The paragraphs on investment, causality and power brokers are summarized from The Collapse of the Brass Heaven by Zeb Bradford Long and Douglas McMurry (Grand Rapids: Chosen, 1994), pp. 42-45.

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All these forms of power offer themselves as ways of gaining control over the forces around us, so that we may take dominion over the earth and even prosper in the face of adversity. But human sin leads also to the corruption of the very power we trust. Each culture is blind to the way its trusted source of power can lead to its own downfall because of sin. In the West, where we trust material power, the problems that threaten to overwhelm us are material ones: 1. We believe that money will solve most problems, and have worked our way into a massive national debt, which threatens to destroy our monetary system. 2. We believe that drugs are the answer to most health problems, and battle the curse of illicit drug trafficking and addictions. 3. Superior technology in weaponry enabled Westerners to subjugate other peoples during the colonial era. Today the power of the handgun and the assault weapon has become the curse of our inner cities. The power we trust often becomes the power that curses us.

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E. THREE MAPS OF DIFFERENT WORLDVIEWS


1. Biblical Worldview

Below is a diagram that shows the worldview of the Bible. The Bible was written by human beings that were inspired by the Holy Spirit. So the Bible reveals to us the way that God sees reality. From Gods perspective we may discover what is really real.

The Worldview of the Bible


The Holy Spirit - (and Angels) at work in human lives - making real - the Father and Son HUMAN REALITY, The natural world Human relationships our own minds and emotions h h Is the Creator and ruler of all things - visible and invisible He is at work in nature, our lives, and in human history

GOD
Father & Jesus Christ

a) Start with the circle in the middle. That is you and your own experience and understanding. b) The lines are broken to show that the reality of God, the Holy Spirit, Angels and the Devil all connect with our reality and the natural world. The Bible believes that both the Holy Spirit and evil spirits are real and that they may effect us. c) From the Bibles perspective God is more real then anything else in the whole universe. d) The Bible also believes that the natural world is not only real but created

The Devil - evil


spirits - Satans kingdom - occult powers - (ghosts)

good.

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2.

Western, Materialistic Worldview


This is the world view that has developed since the enlightenment in the West. This is the view of reality most apt to be assumed in secular colleges and universities. This is where many people, in the United States, Canada and Western Europe live. Even Christians and churches have adopted this view of reality, as a result they do not take seriously a personal God at work in our daily lives.

The Western Materialistic Worldview


The Holy Spirit - (and Angels) Either do not exist or do not effect the natural world or history

GOD Father & Jesus Christ


Possiblity as creator and giver of natural and moral law, perhaps as saviour after death Doubt as to whether God really exits at all

a) Start with the circle in the middle, this is the natural world and our own experience. For the Western worldview the natural world is the part of reality that is really real and important. b) THE NATURAL WORLD is in a closed circle because even if God and spiritual reality does exist, it does not connect in any meaningful way with the natural world or with human beings. This view of reality assumes that human beings are on their own to create their own reality. We should not expect miracles or the Holy Spirit to speak to us. Jesus is a great moral teacher. Is there life after death?

The Natural World


HUMAN REALITY Human relationships our own minds and emotions

The Devil - evil spirits - Satans kingdom - occult powers - (ghosts) DOES NOT EXIST

c) God is still in the picture but He is seen as not connected to this world in any personal living way. If God is believed in at all, it is as the spiritual force that created the natural world and built in certain moral laws.

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The world that you are growing up in is very different than your parents. In the West, a major change is taking place in our worldview. Now there is a much greater openness to the spiritual and supernatural than ever before. Much of this is coming in the form of the New Age movement and the occult. a) The New Age world view takes very seriously the spiritual realm. God is seen as spirit that is often connected to and expressed in nature. This way the god circle includes the nature circle. b) Souls, angels, spirit guides are all seen as real and as beings that may effect human life. Human life is caught up in the law of karma and future life is understood in terms of rein-carnation.

New Age Worldview GOD - SPIRIT Nature

The Natural World


HUMAN REALITY Human relationships our own minds and emotions

Angels Spirit Guides


Reincarnation Karma ESP - Psychic Powers All religions are true SEEK YOUR OWN ENLIGHTENMENT !

The Devil - ??? worshipped/denied


c) Many forms of revelation are accepted. All religions are seen as true. One must seek their own path to enlightenment. d) The new age view of reality seems not to take seriously the reality of a personal devil and evil spirits. But there are some who worship the devil and seek evil occult power. THE PRMI DUMANIS PROJECT GATEWAYS TO EMPOWERED MINISTRY

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e) Jesus Christ would be seen as one great teacher among many others.

F. THE GOSPEL AGAINST ALL CULTURES


God sent His Son, Jesus, to confront all cultures and the powers we have learned to trust. Jesus reshapes every cultures worldview to conform to Gods reality as revealed in Scripture. Jesus offers to be our help and our salvation in the midst of trouble. He is worth listening to because He has "all authority in heaven and on earth" (Matthew 28:18). He sits at the right hand of power (Mark 14:62). He is above every power; indeed, He created all principalities and powers for His good pleasure (Colossians 1:16). And He is destroying all dominion, authority and power that would oppose Him (I Corinthians 15:24). At the end of the age, He will rule this world with an iron scepter, and put all His enemies under His feet (Revelation 19:15). Jesus thus confronts every culture, regardless of the power, at the center of its worldview. How does Jesus confront the cultures of the world in these sources of power?

1.

Western culture

The Western culture tends to reward material attainments with material benefits, and pursue material pleasure as the highest goal of "the good life":
"Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4) "Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:34) "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (II Corinthians 4:18)

2.

Eastern culture

Eastern culture, including Confucian and Islamic faiths, which tend to rely on human beings enforcing laws on the unregenerate through punishments, rewards and social pressure:
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. (Matthew 23:27-28) "A man is not justified by observing the law." (Galatians 2:15) "But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released

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from the law, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code." (Romans 7:6)

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3.

Animistic and pagan cultures

Animistic and pagan cultures, which enter into relationship with occult, demonic powers, which are worshipped as "gods," "spirit guides," "supermen," or "archons."
"The most important commandment is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God will all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." (Mark 12:29-30) "So with us; when we were children, we were slaves to the elemental spirits of the universe. But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son..." (Galatians 4:3) "He disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in him." (Colossians 2:15)

G. TRUE AND FALSE PARADIGMS ABOUT GOD'S POWER


Here are three paradigms about Gods power:

1.

God's power is an illusion, a myth

Lady Luck is queen. Natural law is king. Stories about God's mighty acts in the Bible are myths created by primitive people who didn't know the score. Example: "Modern man acknowledges as reality only such phenomena or events as are comprehensible within the framework of the rational order of the universe. He does not acknowledge miracles because they do not fit into this lawful order. When a strange or marvelous accident occurs, he does not rest until he has found a rational cause." 13

2.

God's power is the power of nature

God works only through natural laws. You could say that God is natural law. Paul Davies says this about the mind of God: "My feelings about God and the universe have come about entirely through my science. I hesitate to use the word "God," but in my studies of the universe I have come to the conclusion that there is some purpose to it." 14
13 14

Rudolf Karl Bultmann, Jesus Christ and Mythology (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1958) p. 38. Paul Davies, "The Mind of God", U.S. News and World Report 23 December 1991: p. 58.

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3.

God's power is the Holy Spirit

Gods power is the Holy Spirit, given to those who believe in Jesus. According to Augustine,
Many miracles were wrought to confirm that one grand and healthgiving miracle of Christ's ascension to heaven with the flesh in which He rose. For these most trustworthy books of ours contain in one narrative both the miracles that were wrought and the creed which they were wrought to confirm. The miracles were published that they might produce faith. Even now miracles are wrought in the name of Christ . . . 15

H. GOD'S POWER IS AVAILABLE ONLY THROUGH PERSONAL SURRENDER


The power of God is experienced through an act of personal surrender: The power of God is different from other powers, whether material, social, or spiritual. The power of God cannot be controlled by human beings. Paul speaks of it as the power of the cross (1 Corinthians 1:17). Only by going through a process of dying to self and surrendering one's life to God can we have any hope of experiencing the power of God.
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel will save it." (Matthew 8:34-35) "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing..." (Philippians 2:5-6) "We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." (Romans 6:4)

The power of God is available only to those who surrender their life and will to Him, and allow themselves to go where He leads them, and do what He wants them to do. We become faucets for His living water, earthen vessels for Him to use. We do not "control" or "use" the power of God. The power of God is thus different from all other powers at the center of every worldview. God controls us. We do not control Him. (In my [Doug's] second year of ministry, I was profoundly disillusioned with my faith in rational power. I was ready to surrender my life to God; in my self-surrender, I asked Jesus to baptize me with his Spirit. The resulting experience of God's love, joy, peace, and power flowed from that prayer of relinquishment. In recent years, however, many "charismatic"
15

Augustine, The City of God, XVIII.34.

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people have asked for the Holy Spirit for personal benefit, to get a sense of spiritual superiority, to gain health, wealth and prosperity, or to prove something to other people. They do not understand the principle of self-surrender and often end up discrediting the Holy Spirit.)

IV. THE WESTERN WORLDVIEW


A. THE COMPONENTS OF THE MODERN WESTERN WORLDVIEW
The Western modern worldview may be characterized as Cartesian, Newtonian and Rationalistic. This is basically a universe that is rational and governed by natural law and emptied of the spiritual.

1.

Rene Descartes (1596 - 1650)

"I think therefore I am." He introduced the approach to knowledge that began with skepticism. Everything must be doubted. He brought a division between subject and object. Knowledge was obtained by distancing oneself from things rather than by experiencing them or being associated with them. This epistemological method brought a radical break with the medieval worldview. His legacy that we all share is the vision of the universe as mechanical. 16 The result of Descartes is that we moved from a world in which we participated and were part of the whole to an atomistic universe in which things were no more then the sum of their parts.

2.

Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

Newton built on Galileo's experimental method and through precise mathematical descriptions validated the Cartesian view of the world as a vast machine of matter and motion obeying mathematical laws.

3. A Poet's Description and Critique of the View of the Universe Bequeathed to Us by the Enlightenment
So these expanders of the universe had nothing to show us except more and more infinite corridors of space lit by ghastly suns and empty of what is divine. The idea of the mystical condition quite disappeared; one can neither have the firmness of keeping laws nor the fun of breaking them. The largeness of this universe had nothing of that freshness and airy outbreak which we have praised in the universe of the poet. This modern universe is literally an empire; that
16

Morris Berman, The Re-enchantment of the World (New York: Bantam Books) pp. 20-21.

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is, it is vast, but it is not free. One went into larger and larger windowless rooms, rooms big with Babylonian perspective; but one never found the smallest window or a whisper of outer air. 17

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B. DEVELOPMENT OF THE WESTERN WORLDVIEW


Westerners once learned to rely on the power of God. God's power paradigms were at the center of Western civilization for about 1200 years, from the downfall of paganism, to the beginning of the Enlightenment. But during the last two hundred years, Westerners have progressively abandoned the power of God in favor of material power controlled by rational processes. How has this happened?

1.

Augustine

Augustine laid the foundations for the older Western worldview. He explored three ways of building a worldview, and discovered a philosophy based on Christ to be the best one. Before he arrived at the Christian view, he tried two others: a) New Age (Manichaean) philosophy

As a youth and an intellectual, Augustine was fascinated with occult; Gnostic teachings that claimed to have been revealed by spirit guides from the spirit world. The knowledge revealed to Mani and Zoroaster, among others, seemed to have great power and wisdom, especially when compared to the Bible, which seemed to him simple-minded. But in the end Augustine tired of it:
Among the Manichees our credulity was mocked by a promise of certain knowledge, and then so many most fabulous and absurd things were imposed to be believed, because they could not be demonstrated. 18

Augustine began to question whether the claims of Mani were really true. This led him to ask, "How can we know anything to be true or false?"--the question of epistemology.

17

G.K. Chesterton, "The Ethics of Elfland," A G.K. Chesterton Anthology (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1985) pp. 266-267. 18 Augustine, Confessions, translated by John Ryan (New York: Doubleday, 1960) VI.7. Ryan's translation has been used throughout.

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b)

Science (Academic philosophy)

Augustine began to question everything that anyone believed about anything whatsoever. He became a skeptic, a habitual doubter:
There half arose in me a thought that those philosophers whom they call 'Academics' were wiser than the rest, for they held, men ought to doubt everything. 19 I wished to be made just as certain of things that I could not see, as I was certain that seven and three make ten. 20

The search for certain knowledge led him to the same method for discovering truth that Rene Descartes later proposed: rational deduction and observation. Augustine eventually rejected this epistemology as too narrow. Life could not be lived under such a method, which rejects credible witnesses and all human and divine authority. The rational mind becomes the only credible witness. c) Augustine sensed that Christ had given certain knowledge that could be relied on more than that of the rational mind The Scriptures have value in that they show what Jesus did to open up the power of God to the Church, they show the proper relationship of the visible to the invisible, and they fill in areas of truth that the rational mind can never discern.
Since then we were too weak by abstract reasoning to find out truth, and for this very cause needed the authority of Holy Writ, I had now begun to believe that You would never have given such excellency of authority to that Writ in all lands, had You not willed thereby to be believed in, thereby sought. 21

The acid test of this Christian epistemology came in the area of Augustine's struggle against lust. At his conversion, he was delivered from lust by the power of God's word. "As if before a peaceful light streaming into my heart, all the dark shadows of doubt fled away." 22 Augustine concluded that his faith in Manichaeism had been a "shadowy counterfeit." And while his learning and academic philosophy had not saved him from lust, Christ and the power of God's word had. "The unlearned start up and take heaven by force, and we with our learning, and without heart, lo, we wallow in flesh and blood."

19 20

Augustine, VI 8. Augustine, VI 6. 21 Augustine, VI 8. 22 Augustine, VIII 20.

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Augustine made room for the power of God in his philosophy, and for the word of God in his epistemology. He built his worldview on these philosophical assumptions about truth and power. Because he was so influential in building the worldview that replaced paganism through the West, his worldview became, in large measure, the Western worldview. During the Reformation, for example, Luther (an Augustinian monk) and Calvin quoted Augustine more frequently than anyone else but Jesus himself. They all accepted his basic understanding of the world in which we live.

2.

Rene Descartes

Rene Descartes, in the eighteenth century, offered to build a worldview on a different way of knowing, and a different power for living. His aim was to develop rules for gaining knowledge, "such that if a man observe them accurately he shall never assume what is false as true, and will never spend his mental efforts to no purpose, but will always gradually increase his knowledge and so arrive at a true understanding of all that does not surpass his powers." 23 Descartes believed that he was exploring a totally new epistemology, whereas he was really exploring one already rejected by Augustine (Academic philosophy). Descartes, a Catholic Christian, wanted to "prove" the existence of God and of the eternal human soul for the benefit of "infidels." But his experiment in epistemology had some unexpected long-term results: a. Because his method worked best in the material world, those who followed Descartes focused on material sources of power, and denied the spiritual. b. The rational mind became the trusted means of manipulating the material world. The power of God became irrelevant. c. Descartes wanted people to know God. But his method of knowing God was rational, not relational. God was removed behind a Plexiglas wall where He could be viewed from a distance. Descartes did not show people how to love God or to communicate with Him. d. As Cartesian scientists became convinced that the world operates like a machine, wonder and mystery evaporated from the world. Natural laws could be understood by applying Descartes' method--and modern science was born. e. Because credible witnesses were out-of-bounds as a reliable source of truth, the witnesses who testified of Jesus Christ and the works of God in the Bible were put on the "doubtful" list. Descartes' method eventually led to "highercritical" biblical scholarship.

Rene Descartes, "Rules for the Direction of the Mind," Great Books of the Western World, Vol. 31 (Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1952).

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3.

Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin then supplied a paradigm that fired the imagination of Western intellectuals from 1859 to the present. More and more scientists became convinced that evolution explained the powerful processes operating in the world, and that the rational mind could control these processes because we now were learning to understand them. God was an unnecessary paradigm in our worldview, because we had even arrived at an alternative way of explaining human origins. Thus Rene Descartes and Charles Darwin, both Christians, supplied the foundational epistemology and the power paradigms that enabled the West to abandon the worldview Augustine had supplied.

4.

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud took these paradigms and applied them to the study of the human mind:
We believe that it is possible for scientific work to discover something about the reality of the world through which we can increase our power and according to which we can regulate our life. Science has many open, and still more secret, enemies among those who cannot forgive it for having weakened religious belief and for threatening to overthrow it. The more the fruits of knowledge become accessible to men, the more widespread is the decline of religious belief, at first only of the obsolete and objectionable expressions of the same, then of its fundamental assumptions also. 24

The field of psychology, like most other fields of education in this century, grew out of paradigms supplied by Descartes and Darwin. All alike have been shaped by enlightenment and evolutionary paradigms. Freud's influence on all the helping professions cannot be understated. The power of God was outlawed in all fields of study, because it required us to put confidence in credible witnesses, not the rational mind.

5.

Karl Marx

Karl Marx, better than anyone else, applied this enlightenment philosophy in the arena of politics:
When the ancient world was in its last throes, the ancient religions were overcome by Christianity. When Christian ideas succumbed in the 18th century to rationalist ideas, feudal society fought its deathbattle with the then revolutionary bourgeoisie. The ideas of religious liberty and freedom of conscience merely gave expression to the sway of free competition within the domain of knowledge.... But communism abolishes eternal truths, it abolishes all religion, and all morality, instead of constituting them on a new basis; it therefore acts in contradiction to all past historical experience. 25
24 25

Sigmund Freud, The Future of an Illusion (New York: Liveright Publishers, 1928) pp. 95-96. Karl Marx, Communist Manifesto .

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Marx fulfilled the prophecy of Descartes himself, who wrote: "Few people would prefer the right to the useful, were they restrained neither by the fear of God nor the expectation of another life."

6.

Rudolph Bultmann

Rudolph Bultmann and higher-critical scholarship completed the changeover to Enlightenment paradigms by placing the Bible under the glaring surgical lights of scientific analysis. Higher criticism of the Bible is the attempt to apply Descartes' method to biblical studies. The assumption is that science is based on a more powerful and a firmer sort of knowledge than the mere word of God itself. Therefore, the Bible must be sifted until the rational mind comes up with "the real truth of history." Those who trust the rational mind rather than the power of God tend to explain away the revelations and mighty works of God, including the virgin birth and resurrection of Jesus, and the prophetic inspiration that produced the scriptures. Because the power of God cannot be rationally discerned, but is experienced by faith in Jesus and the credible witness of the apostles, higher criticism of the Bible outlaws the power of God in the Bible before it begins to think. The way we interpret the Bible depends, more than anything else, on the philosophical presuppositions with which we begin our Bible study. If you do not wish to believe in the power of God, you will not see the power of God in the Bible, in creation, or in your own life. The Western world rejects the power of God, regarding "miracles" as an anomaly that intelligent people do not or should not believe in. Because European leaders trusted in the rational mind to free us from divine authority and primitive superstitions alike, twentieth-century Europe was wide open for disaster.

C. SHIFTING PARADIGMS IN THE WESTERN WORLD: HOPE AND DANGER FOR THE CHURCH
There seems to be a major shift of worldview within Western culture. The rationalistic model of the universe is being expanded to include the irrational, mystical and supernatural. There is transition from an atomistic vision of reality to a "systems" or holistic vision. The harbingers of this world view shift are: 1. The new physics. 2. Ecology which takes seriously the interrelatedness of things. 3. The rise of New Age mysticism and satanic cults. 4. Popular culture taking seriously the supernatural, portrayed in movies like Ghostbusters, ET, The Exorcist, and Halloween. 5. The MTV generation needs to see and to experience before they can believe. 6. Serious theological reflection, that accepts the reality of the spiritual and THE PRMI DUMANIS PROJECT GATEWAYS TO EMPOWERED MINISTRY

PART ONE: WORLDVIEW the miraculous. 7. The rapid growth and worldwide expansion of the Pentecostal and Charismatic movement. (And most recently the rise of the "Third Wave" which is a syntheses of Charismatic and Evangelical.)

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As the worldview shifts, if the Church is to preach the Gospel with power, then the church must adjust its wineskins, that is, expand its rational enlightenment worldview to embrace what in fact is the original Biblical worldview. If this does not happen, there will be a tragic repeat of the sixteenth century, when the church was so wedded to an Aristotelian scheme of nature that it was unable to speak the gospel to the new world brought by Newton and Galileo. We are now in danger of hiding in a safe Newtonian world while the rest of society has accepted the exploding possibilities of an Einsteinian universe.

D. THE FRUITS OF THIS WESTERN WORLDVIEW


1.
a)

For Western Culture


Cultural decline and powerlessness

Eight Cultural Indicators


Average Daily TV Viewing
1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1992 5:06 hours 5:29 hours 5:56 hours 6:07 hours 6:36 hours 7:07 hours 6:55 hours 7:04 hours

Average SAT Scores


1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1992 975 969 948 910 890 906 900 899

Percentage of Illegitimate Births


1960 1970 1980 1990 5.3% 10.7% 18.4% 26.2%

Children with Single Mothers


1960 1970 1980 1990 8% 11% 18% 22%

(Source- Nielson Media Research)

(Source: The College Board)

(Source; National Center for Health Statistics)

(Source: Bureau of the Census; Donald Hernandez. The American Child. Resources from Family, Government and the Economy)

Children on Welfare
1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 3.5% 4.5% 8.5% 11.8% 11.5% 11.2% 11.9%

Teen Suicide Rate


1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 3.6% 4.0% 5.9% 7.6% 8.5% 10.0% 11.3%

Violent Crime Rate


(per 100,000)
1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1991 16.1 20.0 36.4 48.8 59.7 53.3 73.2 75.8

Median Prison Sentence*


1954 1964 1974 1984 1988 1990 22.5 days 12.1 days 5.5 days 7.7 days 8.5 days 8.0 days

* Serious Crime: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny/theft and motor vehicle theft.

(Source: Bureau of the Census; U.S. House of Representatives)

(Source; National Center for Health Statistics)

(Source: FBI)

(Source; National Center for Policy Analysis)

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William Bennett's cultural indicators strongly suggest that Western culture is in decline. 26 The decline is widespread. Bennett's indicators show an entire culture that has abandoned the power of God, and looks to a power that cannot save it--the rational mind. It is this conviction, that God is preparing the Church to be an earthen vessel for His surpassing power, which motivates us to offer the Dunamis Project to train Church leaders to learn reliance on the power of God, rather than on the faded brilliance of human achievements. b) Political calamity in the rise of neo paganism

Calamity! In the spiritual vacuum produced by the modern, scientific worldview, occult, Gnostic neo-Paganism made a startling comeback in Europe during the twentieth century. This, the first worldview option that Augustine had explored and rejected, sneaked into Europe through the back door. Because cultural and church leaders did not believe in the demonic, demonic powers were free to roam where they wanted.
At the turn of the century, a high priest of neo-Pagan faith, H. S. Chamberlain, became a confidante to Kaiser Wilhelm II, head of the German state. He convinced Wilhelm that vastly powerful spiritual forces had appointed the Kaiser to move Germany to conquer the world. William Shirer describes Chamberlain: "Since he felt himself goaded on by demons, his books (on Wagner, Goethe, Kant, Christianity and race) were written in the grip of a terrible fever, a veritable trance, a state of self-induced intoxication..." (The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich). The result of this relationship between Chamberlain and the Kaiser was World War I. At the end of the war, Wilhelm retired to an estate in Doorn, Holland and purchased a collection of occult books, trying to figure out why his faith in occult powers had so betrayed him. 27

Few Germans recognized this demonic spiritual influence because their worldview blinded them. Besides, demons prefer to remain hidden. And the word "occult" means "hidden." Is it any surprise that people could not see these powers for what they were, given these conditions?
During his early years in Vienna, Adolf Hitler studied occult religions as a way of gaining power. He came under the influence of several occultists, notably Dieter Eckart, high priest of the Thule Society. Eckart wrote: "Follow Hitler! He will dance, but it is I who have called the tune. We have given him the means of communication with them. Do not mourn for me: I shall have influenced history more than any other German. Hitler, like Chamberlain, clearly became demonized, as we see in this description of him by his close friend, Hermann Rauschning: "Hitler stood swaying in his room,
26

Zeb Bradford Long, Douglas McMurry, The Collapse of the Brass Heaven (Grand Rapids: Chosen Books) p. 51 27 Gerald Suster, Hitler: The Occult Messiah (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1981) pp. 67-76.

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looking wildly about him 'He! He! He's been here!' he gasped. His lips were blue. Sweat streamed down his face. Suddenly he began to reel off figures, and odd words and broken phrases, entirely devoid of sense. It sounded horrible". 28

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Hitler, like Kaiser Wilhelm, was following the first of Augustine's alternatives: occult, Gnostic religion, in which the power for living comes from knowledge conveyed by "supermen" or "spirit guides. The result of this experiment was World War II. Hitler knew he was departing from an Enlightenment worldview:
We are now at the end of the Age of Reason. The intellect has grown autocratic, and has become a disease of life. What is called the crisis of science is nothing more than that the gentlemen are beginning to see of their own accord how they have gone off line with their objectivity and independence. 29

The powers that drove Hitler, however, were not, and will not be victorious. As Nazism began to crumble, Hermann Goering said it best: "Do you realize what has happened? It is a whole school of thought, an entire conception of the universe that has been defeated. Spiritual forces will be crushed, the hour of judgment is at hand." 30 The rise of Nazism is only one such resurgence of paganism in the spiritual vacuum created by the western worldview. It is being followed by a number of other such contemporary recurrences such as Satanism. Thus, we see the three worldviews explored by Augustine coming into prominence at various times in Western history. We of PRMI take the position that Augustine ended up with, that the power of God is essential to the further survival of Western civilization. Neither the rational mind nor New Age hope is capable of lifting us out of a gradual slide into savagery and depravity. Most Western churches have abandoned Augustine's basic faith in the power of God. As they have done so, they have lost the power to minister to a culture sliding into depravity. The message that the Reformers borrowed from Augustine still applies to today: Only God can save us; faith in the power of God is what the Church offers the world. When we abandon that faith, bedazzled with the husks of scientism and New Ageism, we will end up bereaved of everything.

2.
a)

For the Western Church


Theological questions directly affected by our worldview

28 29

Hermann Rauschning, The Voice of Destruction (New York: Putnam, 1940) p. 256. Rauschning pp. 222-223. 30 Suster p. 194.

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(1)

The nature of God

Is God a personal divine being with whom we may be personally related, or is God a force? Is our God a static reality that may have taken part in the creation of the universe and to which we relate through various laws and principles? Or is He a living active God who is acting in human history and relating personally to men and women? The former view, of course, is classical Deism, once roundly condemned by all true Christians. Deism said that God left us only two sets of laws, moral and natural. Then He retired! Many of today's Christians are really deists, but they don't know it. (2) What is the source of morals?

What is the source of morals? Are they given by God or are they merely the result of cultural conditioning? Related to the question of morals is the nature of conscience. Is conscience from God or is it merely the internalized values of one's parents? (i.e., Sigmund Freud's superego). (3) Our view of the Bible

How do you view the Bible? Is the Bible the product of divine revelation given through men and women or is it purely the result of cultural processes that God may have used? Are the prophecies recorded in Scripture actually prophetic predictions of future events or are they the work of editors who shaped and reinterpreted the words of the prophets after the events took place? Examples of this are Jeremiah's prophecies concerning the fall of Jerusalem; Isaiah's prophecies concerning the coming of Jesus Christ; the prophetic visions in Daniel Chapter 7; and Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac as foreshadowing Christ. (4) The Virgin Birth and Incarnation

The early Church fathers believed that the incarnation of Jesus Christ was of paramount importance to the faith. The virgin birth was the method used by God to produce the real miracle -- the Son of God became fully man. To defend this miracle, and with it the Virgin - Birth - Incarnation cluster of beliefs, the early church fathers were willing to die, to be tortured and harassed by the Roman government for centuries. Contrast that view, for which the Apostolic Fathers suffered and died, with William Barclay's commentary on these same beliefs, taken from his commentary on Matthew.
This passage tells us how Jesus was born by the action of the Holy Spirit. It tells us of what we call the virgin birth. The virgin birth is a doctrine that presents us with many difficulties; and it is a doctrine that our Church does not compel us to accept in the literal and the physical sense. This is one of the doctrines on which the Church says

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that we have full liberty to come to our own belief and our own conclusion. 31

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What are the "difficulties to which Barclay refers? His worldview could not accept the possibility of God's miraculous intervention in human history. (5) Is the Christian life a matter of faith or works?

How do we understand the nature of the Christian life? Is it "supernatural" living in relationship with a transcendent God? Or is it primarily doing what the rest of society concedes is the right and moral thing to do? Does God really guide, provide, teach, inspire, care, fight, judge, bless and answer prayer? Or are these ideas figments of our imagination? Are we in fact on our own, to live out the Christian life purely under our own steam? (Christian Humanism) (6) What is the nature of the Church?

What is the true nature of the Church? Without denying that the Church is a human community having things in common with other human communities, is the Church also a "divinely created living organism" that partakes of the life of Jesus Christ? Another way to put this question is to ask whether the Church is to be understood primarily in terms of programs, management principles and group process; or in spiritual terms such as faith, sacraments, prayer, the Word of God, worship of the living God, and Divine guidance. St. John saw the Holy Spirit, the blood and water flowing from the side of Jesus all as real powers flowing into the body of Christ. (I John 5) Is this true? (7) The Second Coming of Christ

Is Christ really coming again? Is that an actual possibility? Is His return imminent?
The cross is the symbol of love triumphant in its own integrity, but not triumphant in the world and society. Society, in fact, conspired the cross. Both the state and the church were involved in it, and probably will be so to the end. The man on the cross turned defeat into victory and prophesied the day when love would be triumphant in the world. But the triumph would have to come through the intervention of God. The moral resources of men would not be sufficient to guarantee it. A sentimental generation has destroyed this apocalyptic note in the vision of the Christ. It thinks the Kingdom of God is around the corner, while he regarded it as impossible of realization, except by God's grace. 32

31 32

William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Vol. 1 (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1956, 1958) p. 10. Reinhold Niebuhr, Moral Man and Immoral Society, p. 82.

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(8)

Does God really speak?

Does God actually speak to his people giving guidance and direction for daily life that does not contradict the complete revelation in Scripture but which may not be contained verbatim in Scripture? For instance is it possible to receive guidance concerning whether God is calling you into missionary service to a particular country? Is it possible for God to reveal to us through the spiritual gift of knowledge the source of a person's emotional problem? (9) The gifts of the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians12)

Are the gifts of the Holy Spirit as listed in I Corinthians 12 actually possible today? Are tongues, prophecy, healing etc. actually manifestations of the Holy Spirit or are they to be understood in psychological or social terms? (10) The reality of the Devil and evil spirits today

Does the Devil actually exist as a "personal" objective reality opposed to God or is he a concept or myth arising from an older pre-scientific age? Are evil spirits actual alien entities that may afflict human beings or are they merely psychological complexes that have to some degree become autonomous? (11) Reflections on the questions

Each of these questions puts in stark relief the presuppositions with which we come to spiritual reality. Before being able to deal with these questions adequately one must first examine one's presuppositions. As C.S. Lewis stated the "The philosophical question must therefore come first." One's worldview and philosophical presuppositions about the nature of reality are not just matters of academic discussion. There are profound and far-reaching consequences for our faithfulness to Jesus Christ, and our sharing in the advancement of the kingdom of God. (a) Loss of spiritual power to impact the world in a manner that is consistent with the Gospel. It is obvious that the mainline denominations in the West suffer from a major power shortage. We have a multiplicity of programs, well-furnished buildings, and command vast material resources yet are not growing and are finding ourselves unable to seriously address the evils plaguing modern society. The primary equipment promised the Christian for witnessing to Jesus and doing the works that He did are prayer and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

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PART ONE: WORLDVIEW Martin Luther saw prayer as the primary means that God would empower the Church.
For indeed the Christian Church has no greater power or work against everything that may oppose it than common prayer. The evil spirit knows this well, and therefore he does all that he can to prevent such prayer. This is why he lets us build handsome churches, endow many colleges, make anthems, read and sing, celebrate many masses, and multiply ceremonies beyond all measure. This brings him no sorrow. On the contrary, he helps us to do it, so that we will regard such ways the best and think that in doing them we have done our whole duty. But when this common, effectual, and fruitful prayer suffers meanwhile, and remains unnoticed because of such hypocrisy, then he has gotten what he is after. For when prayer is subordinated, nobody takes anything from him, and nobody resists him. But if he noticed that we wished to practice this prayer, even if it was under a straw roof or in a pigsty, he would not tolerate it for an instant. What matters is not the places and buildings where we assemble, but this unconquerable prayer alone and our really praying it together and offering it to God.

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Yet our modern worldview has undercut the authority of Scripture, and has borne skepticism concerning the actual historical reality of Jesus Christ and his death and resurrection. Prayer as well as the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit are relegated to the fringes of our life as a church. The result is a power failure that is blocking the advancement of the Gospel. (b) A hindrance to cross cultural mission

Another area where the Church's attachment to a Western worldview has had far-reaching negative consequence is on the mission field. Missionaries bound by a Western worldview have made profound contributions to the humanization of the world through the introduction of modern medicine, science, and education, but there have been many missed opportunities for proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ in power in the context of native cultures. There have been many cases where God had supernaturally prepared for the coming of Western missionaries, but because the missionaries came with a rationalistic and dispensational worldview they missed what God was already doing. In the Pacific Northeast, among the Spokane, God gave visions to native shamans of people with white skin, wearing strange clothes and bearing leaves bound together. The Spokanes were to listen to the words of the teaching from the leaves bound together. The result of these prophecies was that English traders were sought out by the native Americans to learn what the "Master of Life" had put into the leaves bound together. There was great interest in and openness to Christian teaching. Several years later, the first missionaries came among the Spokanes. Many were Calvinists and dispensational in their theology. They did not believe in prophecy, and they did not hold much esteem for native culture. They did not expect much good to come from an Indian, either, and they utterly ignored the Shamans who had received the visions and had learned the gospel from the English traders. They had their own ways of trying to convert the Indians, THE PRMI DUMANIS PROJECT GATEWAYS TO EMPOWERED MINISTRY

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ways that proved largely unsuccessful. Though they exhibited much self-sacrifice and love for the Lord, yet they did not earn the trust of the people among whom they served, and none found out about the shamanic prophecy that had opened the door for the gospel. Many ministered unsuccessfully for many years, failing to bring anyone to a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ. Today we know about these prophecies from several anthropologists, (Leslie Spier, Harry Holbert Turney-High) who lived among old aborigines in the early 1900's. We need not go to the past to find such examples of worldview hindering Western Christians from participating in the advancement of the kingdom of God.
Recently I was at a meeting of the mission board leaders. A representative from a church in Africa with whom this denomination had extensive commitments was speaking. In his report he spoke exclusively of the political and economic challenges facing the church. During lunch I sat with him and shared with him my experiences of seeing the gospel take root through signs and wonders and power encounters. This man got very excited and told me that the same thing was happening in his nation. Church growth had come because of the evident power of Jesus Christ in signs and wonders. But then he said, 'I can not tell the people here in your mission headquarters what is really happening, they just don't take seriously that sort of thing.'

(c)

A loss of discernment in spiritual warfare.

Whenever the Church has adopted a rationalistic scientific worldview, the demonic forces that are allied against the Church are not believed to be real and are not clearly discerned. The result is that Christians are defenseless against the attacks and schemes of their chief advisory, the devil. The consequences may be disastrous for the Church as well as humanity. We have already cited the calamity of Nazism that befell Western society. It is also an example of the Western Church blinded by its worldview and unable to exercise discernment. In the 1920's and 1930's the Church in Germany was profoundly influenced by theologians with a Western rationalistic worldview. With few notable exceptions such as Bonhoeffer and Karl Barth, who wrote the Bermon Declaration, apparently most German Christians failed to discern the demonic nature of Nazism. The history books usually point to various economic political and social reasons for the rise of Nazism. But there was also an occult dimension that scholarship is only recently bringing to light. Herman Rauschning was the Governor of Danzig and one of Hitler's closest friends. He found Hitler one night, trembling in a state of ecstasy. Hitler said: "I will tell you a secret. I have seen the new man. He is intrepid and cruel. I was afraid of him." Rauschning added: "One cannot help thinking of him as a medium. The medium is possessed. Beyond any doubt, Hitler was possessed by forces outside himself, of which the individual named Hitler was only the temporary vehicle."

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Rudolph Hess said, "We believe that the Fuehrer is obeying a higher call to fashion German history." Heinrich Hammer boasted in his ability to call up spirits and converse with them. The SS was an occult society. All the evidence shows that Nazism was a pagan cult inspired by the Evil One. 33 While many German Christians failed in their discernment of the demonic forces engulfing their country, it was left to men in other countries who retained a Biblical worldview to discern the threat to the world and go on the offensive with regards to spiritual warfare. One such person was Rees Howells, whose prayers of intercession silenced the demonic voices that directed Hitler and foiled the invasion of England. Reports of this supernatural conflict are carefully recorded in Norman P. Grub's book, Rees Howells: Intercessor. Today, where has our Western worldview prevented Christians from clearly discerning the demonic forces that are at work in our society and even in the Church?

V.

HOW IS WORLDVIEW EXPANDED?

A. EXPANDING WESTERN RATIONALITY TO INCLUDE THE SPIRITUAL


For many of us, undertaking the Dunamis Project will require expanding our worldview to include the supernatural and the spiritual realms. This does not imply discarding our rationalism, but rather expanding our view to include realities that are transrational. But how is worldview expanded? How may we learn to see the miraculous? How may we help others see and experience spiritual reality? Expanding or changing worldview is often a growth process with many aspects. Some of these are listed below.

B. FACTORS IN LEARNING TO SEE AND EXPERIENCE THE SPIRITUAL


1. The Will to See or Not to See

The "will" plays an important role in determining whether we will be able to see spiritual reality or not. We may decide to see or not to see. This is a form of spiritual pride. In the story of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus warned that there would be those who would not be willing to believe God's words and actions whether in prophecy or in miracles.
"He said to them, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither
Dave Hunt, Peace, Prosperity and the Coming Holocaust (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publisher, 1983) pp. 129-143.
33

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will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead.'" (Luke 16:31)

43

The Pharisees "saw" evidence that Jesus was the Son of God but refused to acknowledge it. They wanted to know about Jesus but were unwilling to obey. When they challenged Jesus as to the source of his teaching, he answered them:
"...if any man's will is to do His will, he shall know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority." (John 7:17)

Seeing and experiencing spiritual realities are directly related to our willingness to obey God. Through obedience, we place ourselves in the context where the objects of faith may be seen and experienced. For example, in Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis, the children are only able to "see" Aslan as they are willing to obey him. This meant being humble enough to follow Lucy, their younger sister, who had seen him first. 34

2.

The Role of Experience

There is a profound relationship between what we believe to be real and what we will experience. At the same time our experience profoundly limits our worldview and what we understand. Many have trouble accepting as real what is past the reach of their experience. Often expanding worldview requires that one be willing to be placed in the context where one is confronted again and again with direct visceral experiences of the supernatural. This often happens to cross-cultural missionaries. It may also happen through a retreat, conference, or prayer meeting. Brad Long tells us, "For a long time evil spirits were just something that I read about in scripture or in charismatic books, I had no direct experience. I had a hard time believing that they were real. In Taiwan I started having many experiences with demons. My worldview has been expanded to include such realities. Doug McMurry says this. "A friend of mine recently went to India to pastor a noncharismatic Presbyterian church. There he witnessed a dramatic exorcism and several astonishing healings. It changed his worldview!"

3.

Psychological Makeup and Type

There are different modes of knowing and experiencing reality. These modes are related to our psychological type and make up. Some people naturally feel spiritual reality, just as they feel love or the power of a brilliant sunset. Others are more analytical and experience reality through observation of facts and discerning relationships. Some people seem to readily embrace new experiences whether spiritual or aesthetic. For others, embracing the new in any form is difficult and requires great courage. Myers Briggs personality types give many insights into the different ways of knowing.

34

C.S. Lewis, Prince Caspian, pp. 132-147.

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4.

Spiritual Awakening

There is a general awareness of the spiritual realm that may be cultivated, and is universal to, humankind. Non-Christians may have a supernatural worldview, and experience things from the spiritual realm. But seeing and experiencing the working of the Holy Spirit comes from the enlightenment of the same Spirit.
"The unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned." (I Corinthians 2:14) "Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3)

Expanding worldview to include spiritual realities and to be empowered to witness effectively to Christ may only take place as one accepts Christ and is filled with the Holy Spirit. "A Christian can never be the means of communicating Christ to another until what we might call the current of communication has been switched on." 35

5.

The Context of Love and Trust

Worldview is largely subconscious. It is so much a part of us, and so defines our experience of reality and our identity that change poses a great risk. Such risk usually can only be undertaken in a context of love and trust. Worldview expansion often occurs in a loving community of support that allows for vulnerability. In the context of hostility or coercion most people, out of self-defense, usually harden their own perspective and become less able to explore alternate visions of reality.

6.

The Pastoral Problem: Hurt Hinders Openness

Those who have been made to feel like second-class Christians because they did not speak in tongues will not readily accept the validity of such gifts. Out of self-defense, they may be very staunch in a dispensational worldview that relegates all such things to the apostolic age. There is often the need for forgiveness and inner healing before those who have been hurt will risk the vulnerability required expanding their worldview.

7.

The Credible Witness

Much of the rational scientific worldview is beyond the realm of our personal experience yet we accept it as real because there have been credible witnesses attesting its reality. None of us have actually seen atoms or climbed Mount Everest but we accept their reality because those whom our culture deems reliable have experienced them.
35

John V. Taylor, The Go Between God (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979) p. 21.

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In large measure our acceptance of spiritual realities will depend upon whether we have received the reports from reliable witnesses or not. For many Westerners the witnesses to the supernatural have often been suspect in their motives. For instance the TV evangelist who parades miracles and constantly asks for donations (and then has a major moral lapse!) is hardly a credible witness. For a worldview change to take place one must have reliable witnesses to the reality of what one is embracing.

VI.

CONCLUSION

It must be firmly understood that the purpose of this discussion is not to persuade people to believe in signs and wonders or the gifts of the Holy Spirit. These are not the objects of our belief! Rather the purpose is to strip away all that hinders our full experience of Jesus Christ as present, real and active in our lives today. Western culture, just as every culture in its own way, has sought to "tame" Jesus Christ, to box him up, to make Him safe and manageable. By our worldview we have conformed our experience of Christ to our own image and expectations. The purpose of the Dunamis Project is to conform our hearts and minds to Jesus Christ who is Lord and calls us to follow Him. In Him all that He wills and intends is possible!

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VII. APPENDIX 1: SIGNS AND WONDERS DID NOT CEASE

A.

THE THEORY THAT SIGNS AND WONDERS CEASED

One of the greatest hindrances to the acceptance of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is the doctrine that the supernatural works of the Holy Spirit ceased with the Apostolic Age. This presupposition is unsupported in Scripture, and in fact arises from sources outside of Scripture. The purpose of this section is to clarify the role of the worldview from which our philosophical presuppositions are drawn. Lets look at a list of reasons supporting the position that signs and wonders did not cease at the close of the Apostolic Age.

B. REASONS FOR BELIEVING POWER MINISTRY IS FOR TODAY


1. They have in fact never ceased

There is the assumption that after the first apostles, God no longer worked in power through signs, wonders and spiritual gifts. However, this is simply not the case. God has consistently worked in these ways throughout the history of the Church. It is true that the Holy Spirit has moved through the Church in pulses, or waves of revival, and that manifestations of power are concentrated during these periods. But this in itself refutes the static model proposed by dispensationalism.

2. The experience of cross-cultural missionaries of signs and wonders


Many missionaries (including the one preparing these materials) have directly experienced gifts of the Holy Spirit and signs and wonders. They have also seen firsthand how these manifestations of God's power have accompanied the preaching of the word and served to greatly advance the Kingdom of Christ. (See John Nevious' classic Demon Possession in China, Mel Tari's Like a Mighty Wind, THE PRMI DUMANIS PROJECT GATEWAYS TO EMPOWERED MINISTRY

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Conflict and Conquest in Taiwan by Ken Shay and Types of Demon Experience by Brad Long.)

3.

Does not conform to experience of millions of people

The fastest growing parts of the Christian Church are the Pentecostal, Charismatic, and Third Wave elements. Since the early 1900's, with the beginnings in the ministry of D.L. Moody, R. A. Torrey, Charles Parham of the Topeka Bible College, and the Azusa Street Revival this stream of the Church has grown from zero to 372 million in 1990, or to include 21.4% of all Christians! That means that one out of five is associated with this movement. The movement is growing at a rate of 20 million a year. By the year 2000 it is projected that there will be over 500 million Pentecostal Charismatic Christians in the world. The hallmark of this stream of the Church is that they take signs and wonders seriously and see the operation of the manifestational gifts of the Holy Spirit (as listed in I Corinthians 12) to be part of the normal Christian life. While not always agreeing with their theology or style, the results of this emphasis are well attested by their growing numbers, their worldwide missionary outreach, and ministries of compassion. As these denominations are grow, mainline denominations that reject these realities continue to shrink. They are losing members at a remarkable rate and are finding themselves helpless to resist the inroads of secular culture. In the last twenty years the Disciples of Christ has lost 43%, the Episcopal church 27%, the Presbyterians about 25%, United Church of Christ 20% and the Methodist 18%. See chart on the growth of the Pentecostal/Charismatic vs. Mainline Denominations.

4.

No biblical basis for saying they stopped

Scripture does not predict that the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit were given only for a certain era and would cease, however, this position is often falsely justified with I Corinthians 13:8-13. However, Paul is speaking of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, who is the perfect. It is true that the empowering work of the Holy Spirit will no longer be needed when the kingdom of God is fully established, whereas the fruit of the Spirit which refer to our character will indeed last forever. To read into "the perfect, as the closing of the canon seems, is "eisegesis" (false interpretation). 36 Furthermore, if the gifts were all to have ceased then that would end the discussion. But instead Paul proceeds, in Chapter 14, to give clear guidance on how to use tongues and prophesy. He says, "I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy." He wished that they all spoke in tongues as much as he did, and even more that they would prophecy.

Calvin's rejection of the present day operation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is based not on scripture but on a reaction against the Catholics and Anabaptists. In this regards he violates his own supreme principle that scripture is to be interpreted in light of scripture.

36

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5. The mark of a true apostle was having been visited by the resurrected Jesus
The mark of a true apostle was not signs and wonders, but having been visited by the resurrected Jesus and receiving revelations directly from Him. This in turn led to the fruit of establishing the Church. It has been argued that the mark of the apostle was that they performed signs and wonders; since there are no more apostles, there are no more signs and wonders. It is true that God worked through the apostles in great power manifesting the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 37 In 2 Corinthians 12:12 Paul says
"The signs of a true apostle were performed among you in all patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works."

The signs of a true apostle were not that he performed signs and wonders. Rather the signs and wonders attested to what really made Paul a true apostle and this was that he was himself a witness to the risen Jesus Christ and had received the teaching directly from Jesus Christ. When Paul's apostleship is challenged, he does not tell them that he has performed signs and wonders but rather says,
"Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord?"

The Galatians themselves, having been brought to Jesus Christ, are one of the marks of Paul being an apostle. And in validating his revelation as coming directly from Jesus Christ, he insists in Galatians 1:16,
"I did not confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but went away into Arabia..."

It was this that marked him as an apostle; the signs and wonders were the result of him proclaiming the word of God and the confirmation that indeed he was proclaiming the word of the God.

37

Acts 2:43, 5:12.

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6. In the New Testament not everyone who moved in the gifts of the Spirit were apostles
In the New Testament others besides the apostles received gifts of the Holy Spirit and experienced signs and wonders. For example just in Acts we find: Stephen the first martyr - signs and wonders. (Acts 6:8) Ananias a disciple at Damascus - vision, through him Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit and received his sight. (Acts 9:10-19) Cornelius and his entire household - filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. (Acts 10) Agabus, a Prophet - "foretold by the Spirit the coming famine." (Acts 11:28) Twelve disciples in Ephesus - "the Holy Spirit came on them; and they spoke with tongues and prophesied." (Acts 19:6) Philip the evangelist with four unmarried daughters - prophesied. (Acts 21:9) It is true that the Apostolic Age has ceased in the sense that there are no longer those who received their teaching directly from Jesus Christ as He was in the flesh or just resurrected from the dead. Yet the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit continue into the present just as they did then. Just as in that age, there were those who received the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Likewise, we may in this age receive the same gifts.

7. It is the clear teaching of Scripture that not just the original apostles, but all Christians, may expect the empowering and giftgiving work of the Holy Spirit
The clear witness of Scripture is that the empowering gift-giving work of the Holy Spirit was not to stop with the apostles but is a possibility for all Christians. a) Mark 16:17
And these signs will accompany those who believe; in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.

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b)

John 14:12
"Truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do,

c)

Acts 2:17
"And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams yea, and on my menservants and my maidservants in those days I will pour out my spirit; and they shall prophesy..."

d)

Acts 2:39
"For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to him."

(The promise being the Holy Spirit upon for gifts and power.) e) I Cor 2:14
"The unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God for they are folly to him, he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned."

(Implies that the "spiritual man" does receive the gifts.) f) I Corinthians 12:7
"To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good."

g)

I Corinthians 14:5
"Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy."

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h)

I Corinthians 14:39
"So, my brethren, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues; but all things should be done decently and in order."

i)

Ephesians 5:18
"and do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit...."

j)

James 5:14-15
"Is any among you sick? 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; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

ALL OF THESE VERSES POINT TO THE FACT THAT IN SCRIPTURE IT IS EXPECTED, INDEED PROMISED, THAT THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WOULD CONTINUE. In summary, dispensationalism is a theory of biblical interpretation that is based not upon revelation of Scripture, but upon a set of philosophical presuppositions drawn largely from a Western worldview.

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TEACHING CHARTS: PART I WORLD VIEW

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A.

THE NATURE OF WORLDVIEW

1. Definition of Worldview:
Worldview is the culturally determined lens through which we perceive and experience reality."

2. A Culture's Worldview Contains Many Different "Paradigms"

3. Worldview is Largely Unconscious

4. Worldview Helps Us See as Well as Blinds Us 5. Examples of Different Views of Reality


Chinese Painting vs. Western painting Rabbit in the Moon vs. Man in the Moon Different Views of a Forest - Artist, Naturalist, Logger Acts 14: 8-18 - Paul and Barnabas as Gods in Human Form vs. Only Men Empowered by God.

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B.

THREE CENTERS OF POWER


BIBLICAL CULTURES Spirit Sphere (greatest concern is God) Human Sphere Material Sphere WESTERN CULTURES Spirit Sphere (God) Human Sphere Material Sphere 2/3 WORLD CULTURES Spirit Sphere (often little concern for God) Human Sphere Material Sphere

BIBLICAL God Sphere Spirit Sphere

WESTERN God Sphere Undefined

2/3 WORLD God Sphere Spirit Sphere

UNSEEN SUPERNATURAL

SEEN EMPIRICAL

Transcendent World Hells, Heavens, Eternity, (High god) African Vishnu, Jehovah Supernatural Forces on Earth Spirits, Ghosts, Ancestors, Demons, Manna, Witchcraft, Holy Spirit, Gifts, Angels, Healing Empirical World Folk Sciences, Cause and Effect Observation, Natural Laws

RELIGION

SCIENCE

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C.

WORLDVIEW MAP 1

The Worldview of the Bible


The Holy Spirit - (and Angels) at work in human lives - making real - the Father and Son HUMAN REALITY, The natural world Human relationships our own minds and emotions th ht Is the Creator and ruler of all things - visible and invisible He is at work in nature, our lives, and in human history

GOD
Father & Jesus Christ

The Devil - evil


spirits - Satans kingdom - occult powers - (ghosts)

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D.

WORLDVIEW MAP 2
The Western Materialistic Worldview

The Holy Spirit - (and Angels) Either do not exist or do not effect the natural world or history

GOD Father & Jesus Christ


Possiblity as creator and giver of natural and moral law, perhaps as saviour after death Doubt as to whether God really exits at all

The Natural World


HUMAN REALITY Human relationships our own minds and emotions

The Devil - evil


spirits - Satans kingdom - occult powers - (ghosts) DOES NOT EXIST

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E.

WORLDVIEW MAP 3
New Age Worldview GOD - SPIRIT Nature

The Natural World


HUMAN REALITY Human relationships our own minds and emotions

Angels Spirit Guides


Reincarnation Karma ESP - Psychic Powers All religions are true SEEK YOUR OWN ENLIGHTENMENT !

The Devil - ??? worshipped/denied

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F.

COMPONENTS OF THE WESTERN WORLDVIEW

The Western worldview has been shaped over the past 4000 years. The Enlightenment has profoundly shaped our modern Western worldview. Shapers of the Modern Worldview Rene Descartes (1596 - 1650) Sir Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727) A universe that is rational, governed by natural law and emptied of the spiritual. A SHIFTING OF PARADIGMS IN THE WESTERN WORLD VIEW The harbingers of this worldview shift are. A. The new physics. B. Ecology which takes seriously the interrelatedness of things. C. The rise of New Age Mysticism and satanic cults. D. Popular culture taking seriously the Supernatural: Movies like Ghost busters, ET, the Exorcist, and Halloween E. The MTV generation needs to see and to experience before they can believe. F. Serious theological reflection that accepts the reality of the spiritual and miraculous. G. The rapid growth and worldwide expansion of the Pentecostal and Charismatic movement. (And most recently the arise of the "Third Wave" which is a syntheses of Charismatic and Evangelical.) THIS PROVIDES NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL

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G.

QUESTIONS DIRECTLY AFFECTED BY OUR WORLDVIEW

1. THE NATURE OF GOD

2. WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF MORALS?

3. OUR VIEW OF THE BIBLE

4. THE VIRGIN BIRTH AND INCARNATION

5. IS THE CHRISTIAN LIFE A MATTER OF FAITH OR OF WORKS?

6. WHAT IS THE NATURE OF THE CHURCH?

7. THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST

8. DOES GOD REALLY SPEAK?

9. THE I COR. 12 GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

10. THE REALITY OF THE DEVIL AND EVIL SPIRITS TODAY

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H.

EXPANDING WORLDVIEW

Not abandoning Western rationality but expanding it to include Biblical Paradigms of the Power of God
FACTORS IN LEARNING TO SEE AND EXPERIENCE THE SPIRITUAL 1. THE WILL TO SEE OR NOT TO SEE (Luke 16:31, John 7:17)

2. ROLE OF EXPERIENCE

3. PSYCHOLOGICAL MAKE UP AND TYPE

4. SPIRITUAL AWAKENING (I Cor. 2:14, John 3:3)

5. THE CONTEXT OF LOVE AND TRUST

6. THE PASTORAL PROBLEM: HURT HINDERS OPENNESS7. THE CREDIBLE WITNES

7. EDUCATION

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I.

REASONS FOR REJECTING THE CESSATION THEORY

1. THEY HAVE IN FACT NEVER CEASED.

2. THE EXPERIENCE OF CROSS-CULTURAL MISSIONARIES OF SIGNS AND WONDERS.

3. DOES NOT CONFORM TO EXPERIENCE OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE.

4. NO BIBLICAL BASIS FOR SAYING THEY STOPPED (Rejection of I Cor 13:8-13, that implies the gifts have ceased.)

5. THE MARK OF A TRUE APOSTLE WAS NOT SIGNS AND WONDERS BUT HAVING BEEN VISITED BY THE RESURRECTED JESUS AND RECEIVING REVELATIONS DIRECTLY FROM HIM. (Gal 1:16)

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REJECTING THE CESSATION THEORY


Page 2 6. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT NOT EVERYONE WHO MOVED IN THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WERE APOSTLES

Stephen - Acts 6:8 Ananias - Acts 9:10-19 Cornelius - Acts 10 Agabus - Acts 11:28 Twelve disciples in Ephesus - Acts 19:6 Philip's four daughters - Acts 21:9

7. IT IS THE CLEAR TEACHING OF SCRIPTURE THAT NOT JUST THE ORIGINAL APOSTLES BUT THAT ALL CHRISTIANS MAY EXPECT THE EMPOWERING AND GIFT-GIVING WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. Mark 16:17, Acts 2:17, I Cor 2:14, I Cor 14:5, Eph 5:18 John 14:12, Acts 2:39, I Cor 12:7, I Cor 14: 39, James 5:14-15.

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GROWTH OF MAINLINE VERSUS CHARISMATIC/PENTECOSTAL CHURCHES

J.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. GOD WORKS BY SENDING WAVES OR PULSES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ACROSS THE WORLD CHURCH. 73

II. WAVES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT THAT PROVIDE THE CONTEXT FOR THE DUNAMIS PROJECT. 74

III. D.L. MOODY AND R.A. TORREY 1880-1910: THE GREAT TEACHERS OF THE NECESSITY OF THE BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT. A. D.L. MOODYS BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT B. R.A. TORREYS BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT C. R. A. TORREYS TEACHING ON THE BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT D. THE NON ISSUE OF TONGUES E. TORREY A MAN WELL SUITED TO BRING THE MESSAGE OF THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT TO THE CHURCH IV. THE PENTECOSTAL MOVEMENT A. TOPEKA, KANSAS REVIVAL, 1900: THE BIRTH OF THE PENTECOSTAL MOVEMENT IS IN 1900 B. THE AZUSA STREET REVIVAL: 1906 C. THE ISOLATION OF THE PENTECOSTAL MOVEMENT 1. FULL GOSPEL BUSINESSMANS FELLOWSHIP INTERNATIONAL 2. DAVID DU PLESSIS V. THE CHARISMATIC RENEWAL IN THE MAINLINE PROTESTANT DENOMINATIONS: 1960'S A. DENNIS BENNETT AND THE BEGINNING OF THE CHARISMATIC RENEWAL: 1959 B. LOUIS EVANS BEL AIR PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: 1963 C. THE FOUNDING OF PRESBYTERIAN CHARISMATIC COMMUNION (PRRMI): 1966 D. REJECTED BY THE MAINLINE CHURCHES BUT ALSO LEAVEN IN THE CHURCHES VI. THE CATHOLIC CHARISMATIC RENEWAL

74 74 76 77 78 78 80

80 81 82 82 83

83

83 83 84 84 85

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A. SPIRITUAL PREPARATION, THE CURSILLO MOVEMENT B. THE DUQUESNE WEEKEND: 1967 VII. THE THIRD WAVE A. JOHN WIMBER TEACHES "SIGNS, WONDERS AND CHURCH GROWTH" AT FULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY IN 1982 B. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE THIRD WAVE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

70 85 86 88

88 89

VIII. WHERE IN THESE MOVEMENTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE TEACHING AND PRACTICE OF THE DUNAMIS PROJECT? 91

IX. TEACHING CHARTS: 20TH CENTURY STREAMS OF RENEWAL

93

I. GOD WORKS BY SENDING WAVES OR PULSES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ACROSS THE WORLD CHURCH. 94

II. WAVES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT PROVIDE THE CONTEXT FOR THE DUNAMIS PROJECT.

94

III. MOODY AND R.A. TORREY 1880-1910: THE GREAT TEACHERS OF THE NECESSITY OF THE BAPTISM WITH HOLY SPIRIT A. D.L. MOODYS BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT IN 1871 B. R.A. TORREYS BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT C. R. A. TORREYS TEACHING ON THE BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT D. TORREY: A MAN WELL SUITED TO BRING THE MESSAGE OF THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT TO THE CHURCH IV. THE PENTECOSTAL MOVEMENT A. TOPEKA, KANSAS REVIVAL OF 1900: THE BIRTH OF THE PENTECOSTAL MOVEMENT. CHARLES PARHAM B. THE AZUSA STREET REVIVAL OF 1906: WILLIAM J. SEYMOUR V. THE CHARISMATIC RENEWAL IN THE MAINLINE PROTESTANT DENOMINATIONS: 1960'S

94 94 94 94 94 95

95 95

95

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A. 959 DENNIS BENNETT -- FIRST MANIFESTATIONS ST. MARKS EPISCOPAL CHURCH VAN NUYS CA CA B. 1963 LOUIS EVANS, JR. -- BEL AIR PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH NEAR LA IN C. MAY 1966 -- PRESBYTERIAN PASTORS CHARISMATIC COMMUNION FOUNDED. VI. THE CATHOLIC CHARISMATIC RENEWAL

71

95 95 95 96

A. SPIRITUAL PREPARATION: THE CURSILLO MOVEMENT OF 1957. STEVE CLARK AND RALPH MARTIN 96 96 B. THE DUQUESNE WEEKEND OF 1967 VII. THE THIRD WAVE 96

A. JOHN WIMBER AND THE VINEYARD: 1982. SIGNS AND WONDERS AND CHURCH GROWTH AT FULLER SEMINARY 96 B. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE THIRD WAVE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT (BY GARY S. GREIG AND KEVIN N. SPRINGER) 96 VIII. IN THESE MOVEMENTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WHERE IS THE TEACHING AND PRACTICE OF THE DUNAMIS PROJECT? 96

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I. GOD WORKS BY SENDING WAVES OR PULSES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ACROSS THE WORLD CHURCH.
Why undertake the Dunamis project? Why seek the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit? I believe the answer is found in the overall vision of our place in God's ultimate purposes. According to St. Paul this purpose is revealed as follows.
For he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 1

A review of church history suggests that one of Gods strategies for accomplishing His ultimate purposes has been sending across humanity a series of pulses or moves of the Holy Spirit. This is discerned by the great Reformed theologian, Jonathan Edwards.
Edwards conceived of the Christian movement as a kind of army of spiritual liberation moving out to free the world from an occupying force of demons that had already been defeated in principle at the Cross... According to Edwards postmillennial optimism, Christianity is destined to sweep outwards in a series of such pulsations until the whole earth is full of the knowledge and the glory of God, as the waters cover the sea. 2

The vision and purpose of the Dunamis Project is to equip that "army of Spiritual liberation," to do the works that Jesus did and still does through us by the Holy Spirit.

1 2

Ephesians 1:9-10. Richard Lovelace , "The Occult Revival in Historical Perspective, "Demon Possession, ed. Warwick Mongomery (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany Fellowship Inc., 1976) p. 87.

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II. WAVES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT THAT PROVIDE THE CONTEXT FOR THE DUNAMIS PROJECT.
In seeking to be equipped by the Holy Spirit it is important to place the teaching of the Holy Spirit that is offered here in its historical context. Edwards believed there have been a number of waves, or pulses, of the Holy Spirit moving over the World Church bringing renewal. The Dunamis Project teaching is informed by, and placed within, these recent moves of the Holy Spirit. The context and identity of the Dunamis teachings are in continuity with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, but its recent beginnings are in the period from 1890 to 1910 in the United States. During this time there was a worldwide movement of the Holy Spirit, with major revivals in Korea, Wales, England, India, and the United States. Vital to this wave of the Holy Spirit is the teaching of D.L. Moody and R.A. Torrey. Their teaching and experience of the Holy Spirit provide the base for the Dunamis Project.

III. D.L. MOODY AND R.A. TORREY 1880-1910: THE GREAT TEACHERS OF THE NECESSITY OF THE BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT.
A. D.L. MOODYS BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT
Both Dwight L. Moody and R.A. Torrey had an experience of being baptized with the Holy Spirit that marked the beginning of their effective ministry. Moody's baptism in the Holy Spirit came after an intensive inward struggle. His extensive work in the Chicago YMCA had left him burned out and empty in his soul. Furthermore, there was an awareness that God was calling him out of the role of an organizer for charity work into that of full time evangelist. By 1871 he knew that "God was calling me into higher service, to go out and preach the Gospel all over the land instead of staying in Chicago. I fought against it." As he resisted God's calling his work increasingly lacked the power of the Holy Spirit. 3

J.C. Pollock, Moody: A Biographical Portrait of the Pacesetter in Modern Mass Evangelism (New York: MacMillan, 1963) p. 85.

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Two women in his congregation discerned Moody's spiritual condition and not only began to pray for him, but also started to speak to him of his need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Through their influence and driven by need, Moody started to pray to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Yet, he refused to accept God's call that would take him away from Chicago and his beloved work. But the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 brought him right into God's hands. The fire totally destroyed their home and the YMCA. This disaster drove Moody to a point of surrender.
The chains that bound him to Chicago had snapped, all but one: his own will. Yet he craved power. He began to pace the New York streets at night, wrestling, panting for a Pentecost. In broad daylight he walked down one of the busiest streets, Broadway or Fifth Avenue, he scarcely remembered which, while crowds thrust by and the clop-clink of cabs and carriages was in his ears and the newsboys shouted. The last chain snapped. Quietly, without a struggle, he surrendered. Immediately an overpowering sense of the presence of God flooded his soul. "God Almighty seemed to come very near. I felt I must be alone." He hurried to the house of a friend nearby, sent up his card, and brushed aside an invitation to "come and have some food." "I want to be alone. Let me have a room where I can lock myself in." His host thought best to humor him. Moody locked the door and sat on the sofa. The room seemed ablaze with God. Moody dropped to the floor and lay bathing his soul in the Divine. Of this Communion, this mount of transfiguration, "I can only say that God revealed Himself to me, and I had such an experience of His love that I had to ask Him to stay His hand." Turmoil of mind glided into peace, conflict of character snapped into integration...God must lead, and God supply. Moody need never thirst again. The dead dry days were gone. "I was all the time tugging and carrying water. But now I have a river that carries me." 4

This experience marked a dramatic change in the life of Moody, it launched him into the successful work as a Holy Spirit empowered soul winning evangelist for Jesus Christ. The empowerment of Moody initiated a whole new era of mass evangelism in the United States.

Pollock pp. 90-91.

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B. R.A. TORREYS BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT


It was by accepting in "naked faith" the word of God that R.A. Torrey himself received the baptism with the Holy Spirit. This is the way he tells the story:
I had been a minister for some years before I came to the place where I saw that I had no right to preach until I was definitely baptized with the Holy Ghost. I went to a business friend of mine and said to him in private, 'I am never going to enter my pulpit again until I have been baptized with the Holy Spirit and know it, or until God in some way tells me to go.' Then just as far as I could, I shut myself up alone in my study and spent the time continually on my knees asking God to baptize me with the Holy Spirit. As the days passed, the devil tried to tempt me by saying, 'Suppose Sunday comes and you are not baptized with the Holy Spirit, what then?' I replied, 'Whatever comes, I will not go into my pulpit and preach again until I have been baptized with the Holy Spirit and know it, or God in some way tells me to go; even though I have to tell my people that I have never been fit to preach.' But Sunday did not come before the blessing came. I had it more or less definitely mapped out in my mind what would happen; but what I had mapped out in my mind did not happen. I recall the exact spot where I was kneeling in prayer in my study. I could go to the very spot in that house at 1348 N. Adams St., Minneapolis. It was a very quiet moment, one of the most quiet moments I ever knew; indeed, I think one reason I had to wait so long was because it took that long before my soul could get quiet before God. Then God simply said to me, not in any audible voice, but in my heart, 'It's yours. Now go and preach. 5

The results were immediate. Torrey says, "I went and preached, and I have been a new minister from that day to this. I was then the pastor of a very small and obscure church...But from that time my field began to wonderfully enlarge until at last I had preached the Gospel around the world and had seen, I suppose, hundreds of thousands converted to Christ." 6 This greater effectiveness in witnessing to Jesus Christ in a way that was appropriate to his calling is the one sure mark that the Holy Spirit started falling upon Torrey. In addition to this empowerment, Torrey later had a powerful emotional experience, but this was not the baptism with the Holy Spirit.
Some time after this experience (I do not recall just how long after), while sitting in my room one day, that very same room, I recall just where I was sitting, before my revolving bookcase, I do not know whether I was thinking about this subject at all, I do not remember, but suddenly, as near as I can describe it, though it does not exactly describe it, I was struck from my chair onto the floor and I found myself shouting
5 6

R.A. Torrey, The Holy Spirit: Who He Is and What He Does (Old Tappan, N.J.: Revell, 1977) p. 189. Torrey, The Holy Spirit p.199.

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(I was not brought up to shout and I am not of the shouting temperament, but I shouted like the loudest shouting Methodist), 'Glory to God, glory to God, glory to God,' and I could not stop. I tried to stop, but it was just as if some other power than my own was moving my jaws. At last, when I had succeeded in pulling myself together, I went downstairs and told my wife what had happened. But that was not when I was baptized with the Holy Spirit. I was baptized with the Holy Spirit when I took Him by faith in the naked Word of God.. 7

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I have not been able to establish a date for these initial experiences of R.A. Torrey. They were with a certainty followed by effective ministry as well as by other experiences of the Holy Spirit falling upon him. One experience did take place on July 8, 1894 that Torrey himself says he will never forget.
At three o'clock we gathered in front of Mr. Moody's mother's home; four hundred and fifty-six of us in all, all men from the eastern colleges. We commenced to climb the mountainside. After we had gone some distance, Mr. Moody said, I do not think we need to go further. Let us stop here... I can see no reason why we should not kneel down here now and ask God that the Holy Spirit may fall on us as definitely as He fell on the Apostles at Pentecost. Let us pray.' We knelt down on the ground; some of us lay on our faces on the pine needles...the Holy Ghost fell upon us. It was a wonderful hour. There are many who will never forget it. 8

While Moody was greatly empowered by the Holy Spirit to win souls for Christ, it was Torrey who did the systematic theological reflection and biblical study on the work of the Holy Spirit. He was a Holy Spirit empowered scholar educator and teacher.

C. R. A. TORREYS TEACHING ON THE BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT


R.A. Torrey taught that every Christian could receive this baptism with the Holy Spirit and that it was essential for effective service and witness. In his view the Baptism with the Holy Spirit was an operation of the Spirit that was separate from the Spirit's regenerating work. Again it is evident that the baptism with the Holy Spirit is an operation of the Holy Spirit, distinct from and additional to His regenerating work. A man may be regenerated by the Holy Spirit and still not be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

7 8

Torrey, The Holy Spirit pp. 199-200. R.A. Torrey, The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1910, 1974) p. 211.

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PART TWO: 20TH CENTURY STREAMS OF RENEWAL In regeneration there is the impartation of life by the Spirit's power, and the one who receives it is saved; in baptism with the Holy Spirit, there is the impartation of power, and the one who receives it is fitted for service. 9

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These different works of the Holy Spirit could take place at the same time or after an interval of time. There were two different patterns. One is that a person at the time of conversion is baptized with the Holy Spirit. Or, as was more often the case, a person who had been a Christian for some time later received the baptism with the Holy Spirit. (Much of this manual will be dedicated to elaborating their teaching on the Person and work of the Holy Spirit.) Torrey and Moody's teachings were consistent with their experience in ministry. Not only did this experience mark the beginning of their own effective ministries, but at their meetings many received the baptism with the Spirit and were sent into effective service.

D. THE NON-ISSUE OF TONGUES


Some writers claim that Moody spoke in tongues. R.A. Torrey apparently never had the experience of speaking in tongues. In any event, in this wave of the Holy Spirit tongues was not the issue rather it was the power of the God to witness to Jesus Christ. The "baptism with the Holy Spirit" was not a "second work of grace" nor was it connected to sanctification, it was simply the appropriation by faith of the Holy Spirits empowering work.

E. TORREY A MAN WELL SUITED TO BRING THE MESSAGE OF THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT TO THE CHURCH
Torrey both in personality, gifts and education was uniquely prepared to be the means that God could use to bring this dimension of the empowering work of the Holy Spirit to the mainstream Protestant churches. The reasons that Torrey was chosen by D.L. Moody to be the superintendent of the Bible Institute are the same reasons that God could use him for this larger purpose.

Torrey's record and abilities were as remarkable as his looks -- nearly as gray in hair and beard at thirty-four as Moody at fifty-two, and he had the piercing eyes of a prophet. Unlike Moody he was a rich man's son, a college graduate, had sown wild oats in his youth and even attempted suicide before conversion. Torrey knew the slums: he
9

Torrey, Person and Work p. 150.

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was head of a city mission in Minneapolis when Moody called him to Chicago. Torrey was a man of intellect, wide reading , theological training - Yale, Leipzig and Erlangen - who read the New Testament in Greek each day and the Old Testament in Hebrew. Moody's choice for superintending simple men was no simpleton. A third factor gave Torrey a special attraction for Moody: he had been a disciple of the higher critics: "There was a time," he once said, "when I was so wise that I believed so much of the Bible as was wise enough to agree with me." He went to Germany to learn from higher critics - and returned wholeheartedly to belief "in the Bible, the whole Bible, as the Word of God: an altogether reliable revelation from God Himself, of His own character, His Will, His purposes; and of man, his nature, his possibilities, his duty, his destiny." 10

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Torrey was one who understood the modern world. He understood the higher form critics whose methods that fit hand in glove with the modern scientific worldview, were spilling over from Germany and infecting the rest of the Western World. Yet Torrey chose the Bible as his standard rather then human wisdom. Here was no ignorant raving fundamentalist but rather one who could speak to the educated of the world and call them to the necessity of dependence on Jesus Christ as the Wisdom and Power of God. After having experienced for himself the "Baptism with the Holy Spirit", God sent R.A. Torrey out to tell the world of this equipping that is available and necessary for all Christians.
God gave me what I sought, I was "baptized with the Holy Spirit." And the result was a transformed Christian life and a transformed ministry. Then I began to tell others of what I had found in the Word of God, first in very small circles, then in larger circles, then in much wider circles, and at last it was my privilege to tell it literally around the globe. 11

We believe God wanted this message of the empowering work of the Holy Spirit to get out to the whole World Church, and Torrey was anointed to do it. But all this was cut short and diverted by the rise of the Pentecostal movement that made the baptism with the Holy Spirit a second blessing experience verified by the gift of tongues. In reaction against the Pentecostal teaching, Torreys teaching was rejected or misunderstood. (NB: Besides Scripture, R.A. Torrey provides the basic concepts for the teaching on the Holy Spirit in the Dunamis Project. Archer Torrey, his grandson, has had a part in writing these materials. R.A. Torrey and Archer Torrey have played a decisive role in Dougs and my spiritual journeys.)

10 11

Pollock p. 82. Torrey, The Holy Spirit p. 108.

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IV. THE PENTECOSTAL MOVEMENT


A. TOPEKA, KANSAS REVIVAL, 1900: THE BIRTH OF THE PENTECOSTAL MOVEMENT IS IN 1900
The key figure in the birth of the Pentecostal Church is Reverend Charles Parham. His Christian service started as a lay preacher in the Congregational Church. He later became a Methodist, and then joined the Holiness movement. This movement stressed the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. Parham apparently experienced many effects of sanctification, but still felt that he lacked the power of the Holy Spirit. In 1900 he founded a Bible College in Topeka, Kansas. The school "lived by faith" and was a center for ministry and teaching. Parham describes the life at the school as follows:
No one paid board or tuition, the poor were fed, the sick were entertained and healed, and from day to day, week to week, and month to month, with no sect or mission or known source of income back of us, God supplied our every need, and He was our all sufficiency in all things. 12

In December 1900, Parham had to go to Kansas City. Before leaving he gave his students the assignment to study the book of Acts to see if there was some concrete sign and special witness to the fact that a person had been baptized with the Holy Spirit. When he returned the students informed him that in Apostolic times when the Holy Spirit baptized believes, there was the outward manifestation of speaking in tongues. From that moment on the members of the college determined to pray for such an experience. On New Year's Eve, after a time of prayer, a woman named Miss Agnes Ozman asked that hands be lain upon her. When they did the following occurred:
I had scarcely repeated three dozen sentences when a glory fell upon her, a halo seemed to surround her head and face, and she began speaking in the Chinese language, and was unable to speak English for three days. 13

As a result, the rest of the students spent days in prayer seeking the same "Pentecostal experience." Nearly the whole student body, including Rev. Parham, received the gift of tongues.

12 13

John T. Nichol, The Pentecostals (Plainfield, N.J.: Logos International, 1971) p. 27. Nichol, p. 28.

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The unique significance of these events at the Topeka Bible College was not that speaking in tongues occurred. From time to time this has always been present in the Church. In the past, the gift of tongues was seen as simply one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit as mentioned in I Corinthians 12.
The importance of these events in Topeka is that now, for the first time, the concept of being baptized (or filled) with the Holy Spirit was linked to an outward sign - speaking in tongues. Henceforth, for the Pentecostals the evidence that one has been "filled with the Holy Spirit" is that he will have spoken in tongues. 14

This marked the beginning of the Pentecostal movement but its spread was to await the famous Azusa Street Revival in 1906.

B. THE AZUSA STREET REVIVAL: 1906


One of Parham's students, a partially blind, African-American man named William J. Seymour, went to serve in the Methodist Church in Los Angeles. A reporter for the Los Angeles Times described Mr. Seymour like this:
He was meek and plain spoken and no orator. He spoke the common language of the uneducated class. He might preach for three-quarters of an hour with no more emotionalism then that there post. He was no arm-waving thunderer, by any stretch of the imagination. 15

After being kicked out of one church for speaking about this Pentecostal experience, he then started his own faith mission on Azusa Street in the industrial section of Los Angeles. In time it became a center for Pentecostal renewal. People from all walks of life, from every part of the United States and even from other countries, came to receive this baptism with the Holy Spirit. The building that they met in was quite plain. The meeting had no particular service or organization, but the power of God was very present. One participant of a meeting at Azusa Street describes her experience like this:
A sound like a rushing, mighty wind filled the room, and I was baptized with the Holy Ghost and fire. Rivers of joy and love divine flooded my soul. God gave me the Bible evidence of receiving this experience in letting me speak in another language...but the greatest joy in my heart was the knowledge that I received power to witness for Christ, power to tell others what great things God can do in a human life. 16
14 15

Nichol, p. 28. Nichol, p. 33. 16 Nichol p. 35.

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From these humble beginnings the movement spread all over the world to become what is now called the third force in Christianity. Pentecostal Christians empowered by the Holy Spirit have been zealously committed to fulfilling the Great Commission. As a result of their dedicated and effective missionary activity, they have tremendously advanced the case of Christ worldwide.

C. THE ISOLATION OF THE PENTECOSTAL MOVEMENT


Yet from the beginning, the movement was at odds with the traditional denominations. It became a movement with little impact upon the rest of the established Church. This isolation from the Catholic Church and the mainline Protestant denominations in the United States had several sources: 1. There was often a great deal of emotionalism. 2. In the early days the movement flourished primarily among the lower social-economic classes. 3. It was often anti-intellectual and fundamentalist. 4. The teaching that tongues was the only authentic sign of having received the baptism with the Holy Spirit was inherently divisive. (We shall return for a careful evaluation of this doctrine.) 5. The sectarian attitudes of the Pentecostals, that they were the only true church who had the Holy Spirit, did not impress the mainstream denominations. 6. Furthermore, there was racism, intellectual arrogance and the blinders of a scientific worldview on the part of the mainline denominations that often prevented them from seeing the Pentecostal movement as an authentic move of the Holy Spirit.

Despite this isolation there were several events that touched the mainline denominations and contributed to the next wave of the Holy Spirit, known as the Charismatic renewal, that came upon the Church the 1960s.

1.

Full Gospel Businessmans Fellowship International

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PART TWO: 20TH CENTURY STREAMS OF RENEWAL The first was the founding in 1951 by Demos Shakarian of the Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship International. This is a lay organization for evangelism and spreading the message of the baptism with the Spirit. 2. David Du Plessis

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The second was the international ministry of the South African Pentecostal minister, David Du Plessis. In 1951 he shared his witness of the baptism with the Holy Spirit to the leadership of the World Council of Churches. After this he shared his Pentecostal message to major world ecumenical meetings of the World Council and was even invited to speak at Vatican II. While there have been problems with the Pentecostal teaching on the baptism with the Holy Spirit; nonetheless, the Pentecostal movement has recovered for this era the empowering gift giving work of the Holy Spirit. The whole church owes the Pentecostal movement a great debt.

V. THE CHARISMATIC RENEWAL IN THE MAINLINE PROTESTANT DENOMINATIONS: 1960'S


A. DENNIS BENNETT AND THE BEGINNING OF THE CHARISMATIC RENEWAL: 1959
Within the Protestant Church, the Charismatic renewal formally began at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Van Nuys, California. While Dennis Bennett was rector in 1959, spiritual gifts including tongues began to manifest in a small prayer group in the church. About seventy people in this group began to have similar experiences, but they agreed to keep things quiet for fear that their experience might become divisive. Eventually the word did get out and Bennett was forced to make a public statement to his denomination of what had happened. This statement, made in April 1960, caused great controversy and his subsequent removal by the bishop. Despite the fact that Bennett was "exiled" to a small mission church, he continued to write and teach on the Holy Spirit. He was a great encouragement to the many small charismatic prayer groups that were spontaneously springing up in many denominations.

B. LOUIS EVANS BEL AIR PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: 1963

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In 1963 an outpouring of charismatic renewal took place in the Bel Air Presbyterian Church near Los Angeles. The pastor, Louis Evans, Jr., led the people into a "...program based on commitment to Jesus Christ, the discipline of studying and obeying the Word of God and training lay leadership for group study and prayer." 17 This led first to effective ministries of evangelism and healing. Later they began to discover that as they were obedient to God, then the spiritual gifts of 1 Cor. 12 would be manifested. Though I have given just two main examples, the charismatic renewal swept over the American church, "setting aflame" Christian groups from every denominational and cultural background. As these out-pourings of the Holy Spirit in non-Pentecostal denominations became public, it caused a great deal of excitement as well as controversy. The excitement was from the blessings and the controversy was from the split churches.

C. THE FOUNDING OF PRESBYTERIAN CHARISMATIC COMMUNION (PRRMI): 1966


In May 1966, a group of Presbyterians pastors who had been touched by the Holy Spirit gathered together and founded the Presbyterian Pastors Charismatic Communion. This group was dedicated to the promoting an experience of the Holy Spirit but in terms that were consistent with their Presbyterian theology and style. Because the movement was spreading as wildfire through Presbyterian Churches many pastors as well as lay people became involved. To reflect the growing number of lay people involved, the name was changed to Presbyterian Charismatic Communion. Under the able leadership of Brick Bradford the PCC grew to be a nation wide movement. Later in 1980 with the addition of many participants from the Reformed Churches, the name was again changed to be Presbyterian and Reformed Renewal Ministries International. Following the founding of the Presbyterian Charismatic Communion, other mainline denominational groups such as the United Church of Christ, the Lutheran, Methodist and the Episcopalians all followed suit with renewal groups of their own. In addition to these streams of charismatic renewal in the United States, there were similar such outbreaks around the world.

D. REJECTED BY THE MAINLINE CHURCHES BUT ALSO LEAVEN IN THE CHURCHES

17

Charles G. Hummel, Fire in the Fireplace: Contemporary Charismatic Renewal (Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity, 1978) p. 46.

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We believe the Charismatic Renewal was God's gift to the mainline Protestant Churches. Wherever the movement stayed on track and was received by the churches' leadership, there was blessing and infusion of new life and vitality. However, in many places this gracious move of the Holy Spirit was rejected, or there was confusion and schism. There are many reasons: 1. Sin in both camps. 2. The pioneers of the Charismatic renewal often used Pentecostal theology to interpret their experience. 3. Many in the Mainline Denominations had been profoundly influenced by a Western scientific worldview that rejected the supernatural dimension of God's work. Because of this rejection many independent charismatic churches were raised up. This has become a major movement advancing the cause of Christ in the world. A number of churches that were touched by the renewal have remained in their denominations and have served as leaven.

VI. THE CATHOLIC CHARISMATIC RENEWAL


One of the most remarkable aspects of the Charismatic renewal is that it has changed the lives of many in the Catholic Church.

A. SPIRITUAL PREPARATION, THE CURSILLO MOVEMENT


In Spain after World War II there began the Cursillo movement. This grew out of a group of laymen and clergy who were concerned for the lack of power and faith commitment among Christians. They committed themselves to spiritual disciplines, and outreach to others. Out of this grew the Cursillo retreats. The focus of these intensive retreats was a personal and spiritual formation that would bring one into a deeper, more vital relationship with Jesus Christ. In 1957 the movement was well received in the United States. The early leaders of the movement were Steve Clark at Notre Dame and Ralph Martin. They would later become two of the first leaders in the Catholic Charismatic renewal movement.

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B. THE DUQUESNE WEEKEND: 1967


The next stage in the development of the movement took place in the autumn of 1966 at Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit in Pittsburgh. Here a group of lay faculty members gathered together for prayer. Their lives were Christ centered, but they felt that they lacked power for effective witness. They began to pray that the Holy Spirit would renew them with power. They also started studying the New Testament, especially concerning the early Church. Apparently the group began to read some literature that had come out of the Pentecostal and Protestant movements describing the gift-giving and empowering work of the Holy Spirit. (The book, The Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson, was especially influential.) They decided to take the then bold step of seeking out an independent Protestant fellowship group to see what was happening. They were very impressed by the warm welcome they received and by the spiritual vitality of the group. Several weeks later, in mid-February, about thirty students and faculty from Duquesne University spent a weekend devoted to prayer and meditation on the first four chapters of Acts. Most of them did not know anything about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This weekend was an important turning point in the renewal in the Catholic Church, so I will quote Hummel's description at length:
Saturday evening had been set aside for relaxation and a birthday party. Yet one girl felt drawn to the chapel. Soon by ones and twos the others made their way there. As they prayed the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them. There was no urging, there was no direction as to what had to be done. The individuals simply encountered the person of the Holy Spirit as others had several weeks before. Some praised God in new languages, others quietly wept for joy, others prayed and sang. They prayed from ten in the evening until five in the morning. Not everyone was touched immediately, but throughout the evening God dealt with each person there in a wonderful way. Through out the remainder of the spring semester at Duquesne, the external gifts and the internal fruit of the Holy Spirit continued to flourish in this little community. They spread the joy of Christ's love to many Catholics in the university area. 18

From this first out-pouring, the movement spread to Notre Dame University where a similar occurrence was experienced. It also influenced the foundation of the Word of God community in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

18

Hummel p. 49.

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From these small beginnings the movement has spread throughout the Catholic Church. The movement has the official approval and oversight of the Vatican. There are several qualities of the Catholic renewal that are distinctive. The first is that it is ecumenical. With the renewal came an openness to share in community with Protestants. In addition, the movement has not had the divisive effect that it has had in the Protestant church. There seem to be three reasons for this: 1. In the Catholic Church, authority is vested in the office of the priest and the worship is centered upon the Eucharist. Thus, when renewal came to a church it did not threaten the authority of the priest but rather deepened his authority. In the Protestant church, the minister's authority is much more personal in nature, and the worship centers much more on his gifts as a worship leader and preacher. Thus, to have laymen in the church endowed with spiritual power and gifts that may surpass the ordained minister's is a potentially disruptive situation. 2. Within the unity of the Catholic Church, there has always been room for special intentional communities with distinctive missions and spiritual pursuits. Thus, it was natural for Catholic Charismatic to form into communities, and for the rest of the Church to accept them. From the beginning the Catholics seemed to understand the need for the gifts of the Holy Spirit to be exercised in the context of a community. 3. The Catholics, with their rich tradition of spiritual formation, avoided the divisive Pentecostal doctrine that made tongues the chief sign of having received the infilling with the Holy Spirit. Being filled with the Holy Spirit was part of growing into the full Christian life. Also, with the tradition of the Saints there may have been more openness to the supernatural dimension of the Spirit's work.

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VII. THE THIRD WAVE


In a number of places these waves of the Holy Spirit have continued to deepen and mature. In some places they have fizzled out or lost their vital renewing power. In other cases those providing leadership have retired or passed away. Others fell into immorality and were removed from leadership. By the mid-eighties the charismatic renewal as a movement was on the wane. In the meantime, there has emerged another major wave of the Holy Spirit. Peter Wagner has called this the "Third Wave" of the Holy Spirit to distinguish it from the first and second waves of this century, which are the Pentecostal and Charismatic ones.

A. JOHN WIMBER TEACHES "SIGNS, WONDERS AND CHURCH GROWTH" AT FULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY IN 1982
The pioneers in this wave of the Holy Spirit have been John Wimber, Peter Wagner, and Chuck Kraft. Peter Wagner tells of the beginnings of this surprising movement of God as follows.
Just when things seemed to be settling down, the charismatic renewal [the second wave] came on the scene in the early 1960's. Many Pentecostals regretted this because for one thing they did not know how to relate to Lutherans and Episcopalians who spoke in tongues as well as drank beer; and for another, they could not understand how God could baptize Roman Catholics in the Holy Spirit. To complicate matters more, the Charismatics began giving signs and wonders and slaying in the Spirit, the high profile that Pentecostals once did. This upset traditional Christians so much that many church splits occurred through the 1960's and 1970's. Partly because of the church splits, the boundaries between those who practiced signs and wonders and traditional evangelicals remained distinct enough to tolerate. Until John Wimber came along. John, who worked with me at the Fuller Evangelistic Association, had no background in either the Pentecostal or charismatic movements. He did not have a radical experience of "the baptism." He just started a local church and felt led to take the kind of ministry he read about in the Gospels and Acts literally. The fact that those in what later

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became the Anaheim Vineyard prayed for the sick did not particularly threaten traditional evangelicals. What really upset many of them was that some were being healed by the direct power of God! In 1982, John began teaching MC510 "Signs, Wonders and Church Growth" at Fuller Theological Seminary, an institution regarded by some as representative of the very inner circle of traditional Evangelicalism. Again, controversy was sparked not so much by John's teaching but by his "ministry times" when sick people were healed and demons were cast out right in the classroom. By then, two Fuller professors, Charles Kraft and I, had become overt proponents of Wimber's teaching and ministry models. 19

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Through the ministry of John Wimber, Peter Wagner and Charles Kraft, this movement of the Holy Spirit spread rapidly. It touched many traditional evangelicals bringing the signs and wonders dimension of the faith. For those already touched by the Charismatic move of the Holy Spirit this movement came as an encouragement as well as an expansion of what they had already experienced. It also came clothed in the garments that fit the challenges of these last years of the 20th century.

B. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE THIRD WAVE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT


This wave of the Holy Spirit is summarized by Gary S. Greig and Kevin N. Springer as follows [numbering mine]: 1. Over the last decade, many evangelicals claim to have experienced a fresh outpouring of revival and renewal in the Holy Spirit across denominational lines. They do not identify themselves as Pentecostal or Charismatic though they affirm and support the same work of God's Spirit in those movements. 2. They have chosen to remain and work for renewal in their own denominational traditions. New denominational movements have also arisen out of the renewal such as the Vineyard Christian Fellowship under the leadership of John Wimber, one of the leading pioneers of the recent renewal movement among evangelicals. 3. The Third Wave, Wagner says, is analogous to the first two waves of the Holy Spirit's work in the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements. However, third wave proponents distinguish their theology and practice from that of Pentecostals and Charismatics in certain ways.

Gary S. Greig and Kevin N. Springer, ed., The Kingdom and The Power (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1993) p. 16.

19

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PART TWO: 20TH CENTURY STREAMS OF RENEWAL 4. Although Third Wave proponents are open to all the miraculous gifts and works of God, they generally understand the baptism of the Spirit not as a second blessing but as a part of conversion (I Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:13, 14; Titus 3:5; John 3:3,5-8; Romans 8:9; Galatians 3:26 and 4:6). 5. At the same time, the Third Wave acknowledges the need to be filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit more than once after conversion (Ephesians 5:18; Acts 4:8, 31, 7:55, 9, 52).

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6. They do not focus on the gift of tongues being above all other spiritual gifts as the evidence of being filled with the Spirit. (Indeed, some Third Wave leaders who minister with miraculous gifts such as healing and discerning of spirits do not speak in tongues.) Rather, they affirm the value of all spiritual gifts, whether miraculous or non-miraculous. 7. They emphasize the potential of all Christians, not just specially gifted persons, to minister healing and to minister with all the miraculous gifts (John 14:12; I Corinthians 12:7, 14:1, 5, 12, 13, 24, 31; Matthew 7:7-10). 8. Third Wave proponents also emphasize the biblical pattern of using spiritual gifts and healing, not only in the life of the Church but also in evangelism. 9. Third Wave proponents claim that the renewal has brought several positive elements to evangelism, including a greater understanding and openness to the work and power of the Holy Spirit taught in Scripture. Many evangelicals, some say, have begun to realize that biblical Christianity is much more than they had previously known. They have begun to move from an unbalanced emphasis based only on the proclaimed Word to a scripturally balanced emphasis based on both the proclaimed Word and ministry in God's power. (Romans 15:18, 19; I Corinthians 2:4, 5; 4:20; 11:1; Galatians 3:5; I Thessalonians 1:5; Hebrews 2:3, 4; I Peter. 4:11; James 5:13-16). 10. Proponents of Third Wave theology and practice claim to have attempted such a biblical balance -- a balance between the fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit, between the proclamation of the gospel and the works of healing and gift-based ministry, which are said to demonstrate the power of Christ in the gospel. 20

20

Greig and Springer pp. 20-21.

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VIII. WHERE IN THESE MOVEMENTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE TEACHING AND PRACTICE OF THE DUNAMIS PROJECT?
PRRMI as an organization and the writers of these materials have deep roots in the interpretation of the Holy Spirit as found in R.A. Torrey as well as the experience of the charismatic renewal of the 1960's through the 1980's. In practice and understanding of the Holy Spirit we are most at home in this present movement of the Holy Spirit that Peter Wagner has identified as the "Third Wave." In our theology and grounding in Scripture, we identify strongly with the Presbyterian and Reformed stream of Christianity. It is our desire to understand and faithfully follow the Holy Spirit, not according to some movement, but according to what we find in Scripture. As we have sought to be faithful to Scripture, the teaching and practice represented in the Dunamis Project will be found to be in dialogue with these renewal movements that provide our context. The teaching will also transcend these movements, as it faithfully follows the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our own unique context. The fundamental purpose in all these movements--if they are inspired by the Holy Spirit--is to build the Church and to equip Christians to witness to Jesus Christ so that the kingdom of God may advance on earth. That is the purpose of the Dunamis Project and the teaching contained in it.

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TEACHING CHARTS: 20TH CENTURY STREAMS OF RENEWAL

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THE 20TH CENTURY STREAMS OF RENEWAL AND THE LOCATION OF THE PRRMI DUNAMIS PROJECT
I. GOD WORKS BY SENDING WAVES OR PULSES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ACROSS THE WORLD CHURCH.

II. WAVES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT PROVIDE THE CONTEXT FOR THE DUNAMIS PROJECT.

III. MOODY AND R.A. TORREY 1880-1910: THE GREAT TEACHERS OF THE NECESSITY OF THE BAPTISM WITH HOLY SPIRIT
A. D.L. Moodys Baptism with the Holy Spirit in 1871 B. R.A. Torreys Baptism with the Holy Spirit C. R. A. Torreys Teaching on the Baptism with the Holy Spirit D. Torrey: A Man Well Suited to Bring the Message of the Power of the Holy Spirit to the Church

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IV. THE PENTECOSTAL MOVEMENT


A. Topeka, Kansas Revival of 1900: The birth of the Pentecostal Movement. Charles Parham B. The Azusa Street Revival of 1906: William J. Seymour

V. THE CHARISMATIC RENEWAL IN THE MAINLINE PROTESTANT DENOMINATIONS: 1960'S

A. B. C.

959 Dennis Bennett -- First manifestations St. Marks Episcopal Church Van Nuys CA 1963 Louis Evans, Jr. -- Bel Air Presbyterian Church near LA in CA May 1966 -- Presbyterian Pastors Charismatic Communion founded.

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VI. THE CATHOLIC CHARISMATIC RENEWAL


A. Spiritual Preparation: The Cursillo Movement of 1957. Steve Clark and Ralph Martin B. The Duquesne Weekend of 1967

VII. THE THIRD WAVE


A. John Wimber and the Vineyard: 1982. Signs and Wonders and Church Growth at Fuller Seminary B. Characteristics of the Third Wave of the Holy Spirit (by Gary S. Greig and Kevin N. Springer)

VIII. IN THESE MOVEMENTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WHERE IS THE TEACHING AND PRACTICE OF THE DUNAMIS PROJECT?

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. HOLY SPIRIT AS DIVINE PERSON A. WHO OR WHAT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT? 1. THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS QUESTION 2. RECOGNIZING THE AMBIGUITY OF THE SPIRIT'S NATURE B. THE DIVINE PERSONHOOD OF THE SPIRIT 1. IN SCRIPTURE THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS ATTRIBUTES OF A DIVINE "PERSON" 2. THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS A POSITION THAT MAY ONLY BE FILLED BY A DIVINE "PERSON" 3. THE EQUALITY OF THE SPIRIT WITH THE FATHER AND THE SON C. THE IMPORTANCE OF STARTING WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AS PERSON 1. R.A. TORREY'S OBSERVATION 2. PROTECTION AGAINST THE SEDUCTION TO USE THE HOLY SPIRIT'S POWER 3. EXAMPLE: PEOPLE BEING RESTED IN THE HOLY SPIRIT--THE SEDUCTION TO USE THE POWER 4. THE INVITATION TO COME AND KNOW THE HOLY SPIRIT II. THE HOLY SPIRIT'S UNIQUE PLACE IN THE TRINITY A. INTRODUCTION TO THE TRINITY B. CALVIN'S DEFINITION OF THE TRINITY 1. SUMMARY STATEMENT 2. THE ARIUS AND SABELLIUS HERESIES SET THE PARAMETERS 3. THE UNIQUE FUNCTION OF EACH PERSON OF THE TRINITY a) God the Father b) God the Son c) God the Holy Spirit 4. JOHN'S MYSTIC VISION AS A SUMMARY OF THIS DOCTRINE C. THE HOLY SPIRIT AS "GOD WITH US" 1. WHERE IS GOD? 2. IN THE HOLY SPIRIT BOTH THE FATHER AND THE SON ARE PRESENT 3. THE HOLY SPIRIT AS A SEAL OR GUARANTEE OF OUR SALVATION III. TEACHING CHARTS 101 101 101 101 102 102 104 104 104 104 105 105 107 108 108 108 108 109 110 110 110 111 112 113 113 114 114 117

A. CHARACTERISTICS ARE ASCRIBED TO THE HOLY SPIRIT THAT BELONG TO "PERSONS" 119 B. AN OFFICE IS ASCRIBED TO THE HOLY SPIRIT THAT CAN ONLY BE GIVEN TO A DIVINE "PERSON" 120 C. THE TRINITY 121 D. THE TRINITY 122 E. SUMMARY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE TRINITY 123 IV. STUDY QUESTIONS: PART THREE 124

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I. HOLY SPIRIT AS DIVINE PERSON


A. WHO OR WHAT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT?
1. The Importance of this Question

Who or what is the Holy Spirit? Is it a supernatural power? Is it a force, something like spiritual electricity? Is it a divine emanation? Or is He God? Answering this question of the nature of the Holy Spirit correctly is extremely important. For our answer will determine our attitude toward, and experience of, the Holy Spirit.

2.

Recognizing the Ambiguity of the Spirit's Nature

But this question of the nature of the Spirit is not easy to answer. For in scripture and in our experience there is a great deal of ambiguity about the Spirit's nature. The Spirit is described as water that will bring forth life in the wilderness, or that will flow out from us in rivers of living water. 1 He comes upon Jesus in the form of a dove. 2 When He fell upon the first disciples He came as fire, and as a mighty rushing wind. 3 In our own experience He is felt sometimes as electricity that charges through our bodies, making us tingle all over. He comes upon us sometime as a rush of warm love that knocks us off our feet and lays us out on the floor. He lifts us up in praise, and sets our feet to dancing. Sometimes He comes as heat that brings healing, or a strange power that makes our hands shake, or releases our tongues to speaking unknown languages. Sometimes He comes as a silence, a deep palatable silence that brings us to our knees in awe before the unfathomable mystery. Example: a personal encounter with the ambiguous nature of the Holy Spirit.
It was the last night of the retreat and people were coming forward for prayer. Suddenly the Holy Spirit tremendously fell upon a young pastor, overcoming him with bubbling heavenly joy. He fell to the ground, in fits of drunken laughter. I had seen this phenomena before, but here it seemed out of place. Knowing that there were a number of stiff Presbyterian types at this meeting, I was concerned that this may not be "decent and in order" and someone may get offended. I
1 2

Isaiah 44:3-4, John 7:38 Luke 3:22 3 Acts 2:1-4

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went over to calm down the laughter. But as I drew close to him, it was as if I had stepped into a river of swirling, sparkling, living water. I was also picked up and there erupted from within the depths of my soul joy so exuberant that it broke forth in laughter. I simply could not stand up, but as if carried by a tide more powerful then my strength to resist, I joined the pastor on the floor in hilarious laughter. The best I can describe it is that Jesus was there and in His presence there is overflowing joy. What was this power that had gripped me? I knew that this was related to the Holy Spirit. But what is the nature of the Holy Spirit? Is it a power or a person or both? (Brad Long)

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We can certainly say that God the Father and God the Son are divine persons with will and intentions that know and love us. We have clear images of Jesus embracing the little children, or of God the Father speaking face to face to Moses. But the Holy Spirit often seems vague, and is described or experienced in equally vague terms like fire, wind, and water, all of which have no specific form and are impersonal. The tendency then is to think of the Spirit as an inanimate being--a form of spiritual power that emanates from God, as heat and light emanate from the sun.

B. THE DIVINE PERSONHOOD OF THE SPIRIT


1. In Scripture the Holy Spirit Has Attributes of a Divine "Person"

While granting this ambiguity, we must push on to the essence of the Holy Spirit. We find that though the Holy Spirit does manifest His presence in ways that seem impersonal, He nonetheless is a "person". For He is the third person of the Trinity and is of the same nature and essence as Jesus Christ and God the Father, all of whom are divine persons. We find evidence of the Personhood of the Holy Spirit in Scripture where time and time again there is attributed to Him those characteristics that can only be attributed to beings with personhood, whether human or divine. 4

These verses are taken from R.A. Torrey's book, The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit. I started with the personhood of the Holy Spirit in the same way that he starts with the personhood. I have found no better approach for clearly understanding the work of the Holy Spirit. For a fuller treatment of the Person of the Holy Spirit I highly recommend this book.

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TO THE HOLY SPIRIT ARE ATTRIBUTED CHARACTERISTICS THAT BELONG TO PERSONS


SCRIPTURE Rom. 15:30 TEXT "For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God." "...and by the love of the Spirit," ATTRIBUTE Love

I Cor. 2:10

Discernment, reason

I. Cor. 2:11

"So no one comprehends the thoughts of God Understanding except the Spirit of God." "All of these are inspired by one and the same Spirit who apportions to each one individually as he wills." "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God in whom you were sealed..." Will, can make decisions

I Cor. 12:11

Eph. 4:30

May have Grief

TO THE HOLY SPIRIT IS ASCRIBED A POSITION THAT CAN ONLY BE GIVEN A PERSON
SCRIPTURE John 14:16-17 TEXT "...He will give you another Counselor even the Spirit of truth..." "...the Counselor, Holy Spirit...he will teach you all things, and will bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." "But when the Counselor comes...he will bear witness to me." POSITION He replace Jesus as our Counselor He serves as our Teacher and knows all that Jesus has said The Holy Spirit is a Witness to Jesus

John 14:26

John 15:26

John 16:8

"...He will convince the world concerning sin The Holy Spirit is a Judge and righteousness and Judgment." "For all who are lead by the Spirit are sons of The Holy Spirit is our Leader God." "...the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God." The Holy Spirit is our Intercessor

Rom. 8:14

Rom. 8:27

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2. The Holy Spirit has a Position That May Only Be Filled by a Divine "Person"
Further in Scripture there is ascribed to the Holy Spirit "offices" or "positions" that can only be filled by a person. For instance, he serves as our intercessor and as our teacher. And most wonderful of all, he has come to fill the office that Jesus filled while on earth. He is our counselor and friend. Only another divine person could take the place of Jesus.

3.

The Equality of the Spirit with the Father and the Son

Let it be established, then, that even though we may experience the Holy Spirit as a force or power, He is none-the-less a divine person. Further we must affirm that He is a divine person of equal status and nature as God the Father and God the Son. Other evidence of the personhood and equality of the Spirit with the other persons of the Trinity:
We baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19) We give "blessings" or benedictions in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (I Corinthians 13:14) The interchangeability of the Holy Spirit, Spirit of God, Spirit of Christ, and Christ. (Romans 8:9-11) The Nicene Creed affirms that the Holy Spirit, together with the Father and the Son, is worshipped and glorified and is worthy like them of our love and full obedience.

C. THE IMPORTANCE OF STARTING WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AS PERSON


1. R.A. Torrey's Observation

Now you may ask why is all this about personhood and divinity of the Holy Spirit so important? Why, as we prepare to discuss the infilling with the Spirit, is it imperative that we get this straight from the beginning?

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R.A. Torrey provides the best answer.


If you think of the Holy Spirit, as so many, even among Christian people, do today, as a mere influence of power, then your thought will constantly be, How can I get hold of the Holy Spirit and use it? But if you think of Him in the Biblical way, as a person of divine majesty and glory, youre thought will be, How can the Holy Spirit get hold of me and use me? 5

The first understanding of getting and using the Holy Spirit is the way of spiritual pride, and the precondition for abusing the Spirit's gifts and power. It is the way to the sin of Simon the magician. 6 Frankly such an attitude is no different from what goes on each day in pagan temples all over Taiwan. It is no different from the spiritual techniques of witchcraft, spiritualism, "The Force" in Star Wars and much of the New Age Movement. The Christian attitude is to recognize the Holy Spirit as Almighty God, in whose presence we can only bow down and say, mold me, melt me, use me according to your high and holy purposes.

2.

Protection Against the Seduction to Use the Holy Spirit's Power

A second reason why one must be firmly grounded in the awareness of the Holy Spirit as a divine Person of sovereignty and majesty, is to protect against the seductions to misuse the Holy Spirit's power. When you start to experience the power of the Holy Spirit and see the results at work upon other people, there is the very real danger that one may be tempted toward egoism or seduced into misusing the power for your own ends. Not only is our own human sinfulness intent upon twisting God's good gifts toward our own ego needs, but also, Satan has a vested interest in perverting the Holy Spirit toward his own purposes. Satan finds no greater ally than our own egos and fallen human nature. Without the firm grounding in relation with the Holy Spirit as Person, one may be compromised. 3. Example: People Being Rested in the Holy Spirit--The Seduction to Use the Power
Once, I was leading a large power ministry meeting in Taipei. There were several hundred Christians there plus a number of non-believers. We were all standing up, praying, and waiting upon the Lord. Suddenly I felt the Holy Spirit fall upon me. There was a sense of tingling power moving through my hands. In the next moment came a strong nudge, "Go and lay hands on the senior pastor, I want to show my power and glory by resting him on the floor.

5 6

Torrey, Person and Work p. 150. Acts 8:18-24.

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I had never had this happen through me, so I was startled at this guidance. Further, I was dismayed when I looked across the room at the senior pastor. He was a very staunch-looking, cold sort of severe Presbyterian type who did not look very amenable to being rested in the Spirit. I suggested that the Holy Spirit find someone a little more suggestible. But the guidance persisted. So finally, out of sheer obedience, without expecting anything at all to happen, I walked across the room to the senior pastor. I lifted my hand to pray for him, but did not even get a chance to touch him, when suddenly there surged through me; a burst of what felt like liquid love. The next moment the pastor had a look of joyful astonishment and then fell to the floor with a heavy thud. Immediately I look around and knew that the Holy Spirit wanted to bless six other people in the same way. I skipped from one to the other and each, with looks of pure joy, went down under the power. For me, as I touched each of the people and felt the Holy Spirit's power going through me, it was a heady and invigorating experience. It was almost erotic, especially as two very attractive young women collapsed into my arms. (The rest of the congregation was so astonished that no one thought to do the routine of catching people.) As I was watching this happen, I caught myself thinking, "I like this power! What a blast! Suddenly, the anointing lifted and I knew immediately that the Holy Spirit was finished. But by this time, the atmosphere had become charged with wonder and expectation. Other people wanted to have the same experience. I could feel that the people were in my hands and their faith and expectation had accorded me great authority. I knew that all I had to do was to go and push a few people and they would indeed have gone down onto the floor. Perhaps the Holy Spirit would have continued to bless, but I also knew that this would have been of the flesh and the power of suggestion, rather than the authentic working of the Holy Spirit. Immediately, there arose within me a great struggle. I felt a voice whispering within me, "Go ahead, just push a few of them. The power is yours. If you do, they will love you. They will look at you as a great servant of Christ." Another voice said, "No, I am no longer working like this. Obey me!" Oh, I desperately wanted that heady power; I desperately wanted the praise of those people. It was a genuine struggle. But, by the grace of God, one anchor held firm. That was the strong conviction the Holy Spirit is a Person of divine majesty, who is to be obeyed and not manipulated. I hesitated as I fought this inward battle, but then said, "Okay, let's give praise to Jesus Christ for these wonderful manifestations of His presence, but now I want everyone to sit down on the floor. The Holy Spirit is finished doing this type of work." They all sat down with an audible sigh of disappointment which cut me to the heart. Looking back, I know now, that if I had crossed the line and given into those temptations to treat the Holy Spirit other than as a Person, I would not have been allowed to continue in power ministry. (Brad Long)

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Be assured that as you grow in the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit you will experience in subtle and not so subtle ways, the temptation to misuse that power for your own ego. Then it THE PRMI DUNAMIS PROJECT GATEWAYS TO EMPOWERED MINISTRY

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4.

The Invitation to Come and Know the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the living God, thus we pray, "come Holy Spirit". When we seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit, what we are seeking is awesome, and in some ways frightening! It includes an invitation to us to submit our will and our whole being to a divine Person of majesty, power, and glory who is the Lord. The Holy Spirit is all powerful; He is God almighty; He comes in fire and rushing wind, but He also comes as a wise teacher and gentle lover to woo us to Jesus and to ravish us with His presence. Because the Holy Spirit is a divine person, and not just a spiritual power or force, we are invited to enter into a relationship with Him, and through Him into a relationship with God the Son and God the Father. 7

I have used the masculine pronoun for the Holy Spirit. This is a theological choice based on biblical revelation. The Holy Spirit very much has a feminine side. Do not forget, however, that any talk of maleness or femaleness in regards to the Holy Spirit is symbolic. The Holy Spirit actually has no gender. If he/she appears to, it is by way of God's accommodation to our limited human experience. The revelation of God's nature in the incarnation, in which Jesus is revealed as the Son of God and the first person as Abba or Father, however, places some parameters on our speculation.) THE PRMI DUNAMIS PROJECT GATEWAYS TO EMPOWERED MINISTRY

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II. THE HOLY SPIRIT'S UNIQUE PLACE IN THE TRINITY


A. INTRODUCTION TO THE TRINITY

From Scripture we have affirmed that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, the third person of the Trinity. But what is His unique place in the Trinity? This question drives us right to the heart of the mystery of God. In this paper I do not aim to fully explore the mystery of the Trinity. Let it suffice to clarify what is distinctive about each person of the Godhead, and especially to understand the unique position and role of the Holy Spirit. John Calvin explains this complex doctrine with admirable simplicity.

B. CALVIN'S DEFINITION OF THE TRINITY


1. Summary Statement

John Calvin made two decisive statements concerning the three persons of the Trinity and their distinctive attributes:
if only among all men this faith were agreed on: that Father and Son and Spirit are one God, yet the Son is not the Father, nor the Spirit the Son, but that they are differentiated by a peculiar quality. 8 Nevertheless, it is not fitting to suppress the distinction that we observe to be expressed in scripture. It is this: to the Father is attributed the beginning of activity, and fountain and wellspring of all things; to the Son, wisdom, counsel, and the ordered disposition of all things; but the Spirit is assigned the power and efficacy of that activity. 9

First observe the teaching chart on the Nature of God. This illustrates clearly the first statement that there is but one God, not three, but that each person of the Godhead is distinct.

8 9

John Calvin, (Trans by F.L. Battles), Institutes of the Christian Religion (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1975) p. 126. Calvin, pp. 142-43.

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2.

The Arius and Sabellius Heresies Set the Parameters

In the history of Christian doctrine many battles were fought to maintain this simple proposition based on biblical revelation. For instance: The Arius Heresy (Date 325 AD) Arius so separated the three persons of the Trinity that it would have become three distinct separate beings.
Arius said that, "He [Jesus] is united to the Father like other believers, although a singular privilege." 10

Christ is not eternal with the Father. The Sabellius Heresy (Date 250 AD)
Sabellius taught that, "Father, Son, and Spirit signify no distinctions in God." 11

The Trinity is thus dissolved into one unitary God. To maintain the biblical understanding of the Trinity has been difficult. It is difficult because it is an incomprehensible paradox: one God but three persons. Impossible! The human mind resists
10 11

Calvin, p. 127. Calvin, p. 127.

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paradoxes! Yet the paradox of the Trinity is the only way to describe God and be true to His own revelation of Himself in Scripture.

3.
a)

The Unique Function of Each Person of the Trinity


God the Father

Let us examine in greater depth Calvin's second statement concerning the distinctive attributes of each person of the Trinity: "To the Father is attributed the beginning of activity and fountain and wellspring of all things..." In Scripture, God the Father is revealed to be the initiator of all activity. He is the mighty King from whose will and intention flows forth all things. He is the Creator! In the beginning God said "Let there be light" and there was light. God said, "let us make man in our image." And humankind was formed from the dust of the ground and given dominion over the earth. 12 After humanity fell to Satan's designs and was consigned to alienation from God and bound by the curse of sin and death, it was God who established a way of blessing, by making a covenant with Abraham. 13 Then in the fullness of time God the Father chose to send Jesus Christ to bring eternal life to all who should believe in Him. Thus, it is God the Father who is the originator of all activity. In the mystery of God's will all things have their beginnings. b) God the Son

"To the Son, wisdom, counsel, and the ordered disposition of all things;" God the Son is the executor of the Father's will. The one through whom and in whose wisdom the will of the Father is accomplished. God the Father chose to create all things, but it was through God the Son that this was accomplished. Jesus Christ, as the eternal "logos" was with God at the beginning and was the means through whom God the Father created the universe.

12 13

Genesis 1:3, 26. Genesis 12:1-3, Genesis 15:7-20.

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"All thing were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made." (John 1:3)

God also willed the redemption of humankind, but it was through God the Son, in His incarnation, life, death and resurrection that this redemption was accomplished for us.
"God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

It was the will of the Father to reconcile us to Himself but the way He accomplished this was through Jesus Christ. c) God the Holy Spirit

"But to the Spirit is assigned the power and efficacy of that activity." To God the Holy Spirit belongs the task of making real and active in the lives of men and women all that God the Father has accomplished for us in Jesus Christ. John Calvin stated,
First, we must understand that as long as Christ remains outside of us, and we are separated from Him, all that He has suffered and done for the salvation of the human race remains useless and of no value for us. To sum up, the Holy Spirit is the bond by which Christ effectually unites us to Himself. 14

It is thus through the Holy Spirit as He binds us to Christ in faith, and seals His words in our hearts that all that is in Christ becomes real in our lives. Another way to affirm this same truth is to announce the good news that in Christ, God has established His everlasting kingdom. But with Nicodemus we may ask, "How are we to enter into this kingdom?" How is the power, the blessings, the joys, the eternal life of this kingdom to become our actual lived experience and our own possession? It is through the Holy Spirit! For Jesus says,
"Truly, truly I say to you unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God." (John 3:5)

Thus in the Trinity, the Holy Spirit plays the vital role of connecting us to God the Father and God the Son.

14

Calvin, pp. 537-538.

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4.

John's Mystic Vision as a Summary of this Doctrine

We may view these theological truths about the Trinity gleaned from scripture and expressed systematically by Calvin, from another perspective. Calvin was a lawyer with an analytical mind; now let us look at the same truths with the eyes of a mystic! In Revelation 5:1-6, St. John records a vision that allowed him to glimpse into the center of the universe. In the strange language of visions, John describes the three persons of God, their relationship to one another and their distinctive works.
And I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals; and I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, 'Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?' And no one in heaven or one earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, and I wept much that no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. Then one of the elders said to me, 'Weep not; lo, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals'. (Revelation 5:1-5) And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders, I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth; and he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. (Revelation 5:6-7)

The Throne and the Scroll: Symbols of God the Father and His Will It is God the Father who sits upon the throne. The throne is a symbol of power and authority. The Father is the great king whose divine decrees brought forth the universe and initiates all activity. In the vision, the scroll in the right hand of God is a vivid symbol of God's will and intention. This scroll contains His cosmic plans for redemption and judgment that unfolds in the Book of Revelation. Alas! The scroll is sealed with seven seals, and no one in heaven or on earth can open it. By what means will God's will be performed, how will the gap be leaped between the idea and its actuality? The Lamb who was Slain: A symbol of Jesus Christ Who Alone is Able to Fulfill God's Purpose The Lamb who was slain is symbolic of Jesus Christ. He is the crucified and risen Lord. He alone can open the seven seals, and fulfill the will and intention of the Father written therein.

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The Seven Eyes of the Lamb: A Symbol of the Holy Spirit Whose Sphere of Action is the World The symbol of the Holy Spirit is contained within the symbol of Christ, making the relationship between the two unmistakable. The Lamb has seven horns and seven eyes. The number seven in Hebrew numerology is the symbol for completeness and wholeness. 15 Seven horns means all authority in heaven and on earth has been granted to Jesus Christ. 16 The seven eyes are the seven spirits of God. This does not mean seven different spirits, but rather it is the Holy Spirit in His unity of being but diversity of manifestations. Then comes the most important statement that reveals the distinctive work of the Holy Spirit. They are the "seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth". The sphere of the Holy Spirit's activity then is primarily here on earth among us and in us, where He is to bring to fruition that which God accomplished in Jesus Christ.

C. THE HOLY SPIRIT AS "GOD WITH US"


1. Where is God?

If this fact of the imminence of the Holy Spirit is grasped, it will change our faith and lives. I ask you a question so profound that usually only children ask it. Where is God the Father?
He is in the highest of heavens surrounded by the seraphim who forever cry "Holy, Holy, Holy." From there He rules the universe in majesty and power. He is at an infinite distance away from us, inaccessible in His holiness and unapproachable light.

Where is Jesus Christ?


Two thousand years ago He walked upon this earth, and through Him we know that this distant creator God loves us and cares for us. When in the flesh, Jesus was IMMANUEL, "God with us." But after His resurrection and ascension, He now sits at the "right hand of God the Father Almighty".

15 16

Revelation 1:20. Matthew 28:18.

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2.

In the Holy Spirit Both the Father and the Son are Present

Through the Holy Spirit the inaccessible God the Father and God the Son are also present. 17
"Jesus answered him, 'If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.'" (John 14:23)

John Calvin stated,


And that passage in Gregory of Nazianzus vastly delights me: 'I cannot think on the one without quickly being encircled by the splendor of the three; nor can I discern the three without being straightway carried back to the one.' 18

To know and to experience the Holy Spirit is to experience the presence of God. It is to know and to experience Jesus Christ, not as someone who lived two thousand years ago and is now ancient history; rather it is to know Him as the resurrected Jesus, alive and present, actively at work in our midst. Knowing through experience and understanding the Holy Spirit as God present will radically change our faith from a matter of ritual or mere intellectual acceptance of certain dogmas to a living dynamic faith capable of turning the world upside down. The Holy Spirit is the connecting point between heaven and earth. Through Him we are caught up into relationship with the world of the Spirit and find ourselves in relationship with the God who is three persons.

3.

The Holy Spirit as a Seal or Guarantee of our Salvation

The Holy Spirit as "God With Us" serves as the seal and the guarantee of the promises of God.
And you too, when you had heard the message of the truth, the good news of your salvation, and had believed it, became incorporated in Christ and received the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; and the Spirit is the pledge that we shall enter into our heritage, when God has redeemed what is his own, to his praise and glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14)

We believe that in Christ many wonderful things have been accomplished for us; we have been forever incorporated into God's eternal kingdom. And yet, we live in a world in which that is often
17 18

John 10:38. John Calvin p. 141.

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not evident and God's presence is frequently hidden. At present all that it means to be in Christ has not yet fully come to us, it remains a not-yet-received inheritance, a promise. Yet we must decide, act, and even stake our present and future life upon His promises. As men and women who live in the ambiguities of this time, what assurance do we have that these promises are true and worthy for us to stake our very lives upon? What do we have to show that this is not just some illusion? We are given the Holy Spirit! He is our seal; He is the guarantee. In the Holy Spirit, as God present with us, we actually begin to taste the fruits of the kingdom. Our eyes are opened to see God's hidden hand moving in history and in our own lives. We experience the powers of the new age; we are given the assurance that Jesus Christ is indeed within us. Through the Spirit who gives us faith and provides fulfillment of faith, we know for certain that the promises are true and trustworthy. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance because He is the one who is bringing it into reality. It is He who is raising up the Church, and will in the end raise us up as well. 19 Hallelujah!

19

Romans 8:9-11.

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TEACHING CHARTS THE NATURE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

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A. CHARACTERISTICS ARE ASCRIBED TO THE HOLY SPIRIT THAT BELONG TO "PERSONS" SCRIPTURE Romans 15:30 TEXT ATTRIBUTE

"...and by the love of the Spirit," Love

I Corinthians 2:10

"For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God..."

Discernment, reason

I Corinthians 2:11

"So no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God."

Understanding

I Corinthians 12:11

"All of these are inspired by one Will, can make and the same Spirit who decisions apportions to each individually as he wills."

Ephesians 4:30

"And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God in whom you are sealed.

May have Grief

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B. AN OFFICE IS ASCRIBED TO THE HOLY SPIRIT THAT CAN ONLY BE GIVEN TO A DIVINE "PERSON"
SCRIPTURE John 14:16-17 TEXT POSITION

He replaces Jesus as our "...He will give you another Counselor even the Spirit of truth..." Counselor.

John 14:26

"...the Counselor, the Holy Spirit...he He serves as our Teacher, and knows all will teach you all things, and will bring to your remembrance all that I that Jesus has said. have said to you."

John 15:26

"But when the Counselor comes...he will bear witness to me."

The Holy Spirit is a witness to Jesus.

John 16:8

"...he will convince the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:"

The Holy Spirit is a Judge.

Romans 8:14

"For all who are led by the Spirit are The Holy Spirit is our Leader. sons of God."

Romans 8:27

"...the Spirit intercedes for the saints The Holy Spirit is our Intercessor. according to the will of God."

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C.

THE TRINITY

THE NATURE OF GOD REVEALED AS TRINITY


John Calvin ...if only among all men this faith were agreed on: that Father and Son and Spirit are one God, yet the Son is not the Father, nor the Spirit the Son, but that they are differentiated by a peculiar quality. Nevertheless, it is not fitting to suppress the distinction that we observe to be expressed in Scripture."
To the Father is attributed the beginning of activity, and fountain and wellspring of all things. (Genesis 1:1, 3, 26; John 3:16)

To the Son, wisdom counsel, and the ordered disposition of all things John 1:5, 14-18, Ephesians 1:3-10

to the Spirit is assigned the power and efficacy of that activity. Genesis 1:2, Luke 1:35
John 3:1-8, Ephesians 1:13-14

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D.

THE TRINITY

Heresies Against Which the Doctrine of the Trinity was Defined: 1. The Arius Heresy (Date 325 AD)
Arius so separated the three persons of the Trinity that it would have become three distinct separate beings. Arius said that,"...He (Jesus) is united to the Father like other believers, although by a singular privilege." Christ is not eternal with the Father.

Father

Holy Spirit

Son

2. The Sabellius Heresy (Date 250 AD)


Sabellius taught that, "Father, Son, and Spirit signify no distinctions in God."

Father
The Trinity is thus dissolved into one unitary God.

Son Holy Spirit

IN EACH PERSON OF THE TRINITY WE MEET THE OTHER TWO


John Calvin:"and that passage in Gregory of Nazianzus vastly delights me: 'I cannot think on the one without quickly being encircled by the splendor of the three; nor can I discern the three without being straightway carried back to the one. Institutes pg. 141

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E. SUMMARY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE TRINITY


1. The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity 2. The Unique place of the Holy Spirit is as follows:
a. The sphere of the Spirit's activity is on earth. (John 14:17, Revelation 5:7) b. The Spirit has the task of making real and active what God has accomplished in Jesus Christ. (John 3:5)

c. The Spirit is the seal and guarantee of our salvation. (Ephesians 1:13)

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IV. STUDY QUESTIONS: PART THREE


THE NATURE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
I. THE HOLY SPIRIT AS DIVINE PERSON 1. Can you point to some specific experiences of the Holy Spirit? Share one or two of these with the group and reflect on what they reveal about the nature of the Holy Spirit. 2. When speaking of the Holy Spirit do you use a personal or impersonal pronoun? 3. In Part I, B there are two charts of Scripture confirming the personhood of the Holy Spirit. Read over each of these and reflect how you may have experienced the Holy Spirit in these ways. For instance, the "love of the Holy Spirit." 4. Why is it so important that we have the right idea about the nature of the Holy Spirit? 5. What are the implications for viewing the Holy Spirit just as a power or as a spiritual force? 6. If the Holy Spirit is indeed the third person of the Trinity, have you come to know God the Spirit as you have God the Son and God the Father? Do you really want to know the Holy Spirit? Why? If you do, then how would you, without detracting from Jesus Christ, come to know the Holy Spirit? 7. Is there anything that is getting in the way of you growing in a deeper personal relationship with God? II. THE HOLY SPIRIT'S UNIQUE PLACE IN THE TRINITY 1. Reflect for a minute on the doctrine of the Trinity. Does it make sense? Can it make sense? 2. Use your own words to describe the unique work of each person of the Trinity. 3. Take the eyes of a child for a moment and discuss the question, "Where is God?" 4. Is there a difference in God's general presence and manifest presence? 5. How does the Holy Spirit make real our faith?

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7. The basic presupposition to the Dunamis Project is that a knowledge and experience of the Holy Spirit is the essential key to vital Christian faith. Do you agree or disagree? Why? 8. How would a deeper experience and understanding of the Holy Spirit effect your walk with Christ?

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION A. THE VASTNESS OF THE SUBJECT B. THE SPIRIT OF YAHWEH: THE BREATH OF GOD II. THE SPIRIT'S GENERAL CREATIVE LIFE-GIVING WORK 131 131 131 132

A. THE SPIRIT'S WORK OF CREATION 132 B. THE GENERAL LIFE-GIVING WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: THE BREATH OF GOD133 1. THE UNIVERSALITY OF THE SPIRIT'S PRESENCE 133 133 2. EVERYWHERE THE SPIRIT SUSTAINS AND UPHOLDS ALL LIFE 134 3. WATER IS AN IMAGE OF THE LIFE GIVING SPIRIT III. THE SPIRIT'S WORK IN OLD TESTAMENT MEN AND WOMEN A. INTRODUCTION TO THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES B. THE SPIRIT OF GOD UPON A PERSON: EMPOWERING THEM FOR ACTION 1. THE "PATTERN," THE SPIRIT FALLING UPON THEM FOR POWER 2. THE EXAMPLE OF SAMSON 3. CHART OF SCRIPTURE DEMONSTRATING THE SPIRIT UPON FOR ACTION 4. SUMMARY STATEMENTS C. THE SPIRIT OF GOD AND THE PROPHET 1. EMPOWERMENT TO SPEAK GOD'S WORD 2. THE NATURE OF THE PROPHETIC WORD a) The Prophet speaks for God b) Prophecy is not fortune telling but dialogue between God and man c) God's word as spoken through the Prophet is active and creative d) The prophetic word is God's self-revelation 3. PROPHETIC VISION a) General spiritual vision or seeing b) Visions as encounters with the living God c) Word visions d) Visions dramatized to become symbolic actions e) The inspired word of God that comes to the Prophet's mind 4. THE SPIRIT OF GOD MOVES UPON THE PROPHET FOR ECSTATIC PRAISE a) The Spirit of God resting upon the seventy elders: Numbers 11:25 b) Saul prophesying when the Spirit rested upon him: I Samuel 10:5-13 D. THE SPIRIT WITHIN GIVING WISDOM AND SKILL (NOT FOR SANCTIFICATION) E. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF THE WORK OF THE SPIRIT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT IV. THE PROPHETS LOOK TO A NEW ERA OF THE SPIRIT A. THE COVENANT OF LAW GIVEN AS GRACE BUT BROKEN BY THE PEOPLE 135 135 135 135 136 137 137 138 138 140 140 140 141 142 142 142 143 143 144 144 144 144 145 145 146 147 147

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B. A NEW COVENANT IN WHICH ALL SHALL KNOW THE LORD: JEREMIAH 31:31-34148 C. THE SPIRIT OF GOD TO BE PLACED WITHIN US GIVING A NEW HEART: EZEKIEL 36:25-27 149 D. THE SPIRIT WILL BE GIVEN TO ALL FOR EMPOWERMENT: NUMBERS 11:29, JOEL 2:28 150 151 E. THE SPIRIT OF GOD RESTORING LIFE TO THE COMMUNITY OF FAITH 153 F. A HOLY SPIRIT-EMPOWERED MESSIAH: ISAIAH 11:2, 61:1 1. THE MESSIAH WILL FULFILL HIS MISSION THROUGH THE SPIRIT 153 154 2. THE MESSIAH WILL BAPTIZE US WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT G. SUMMARY OF THE PROPHETIC HOPE 154 V. TEACHING CHARTS: THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT157 A. THE SPIRIT FALLING UPON FOR POWER B. THE NATURE OF THE PROPHETIC WORD C. SUMMARY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT'S WORK IN THE OLD TESTAMENT D. THE PROPHET'S VISION OF A NEW ERA OF THE SPIRIT E. OUR EXPERIENCE OF THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHET'S VISION OF A NEW ERA OF THE SPIRIT VI. STUDY QUESTIONS 159 160 161 162 163 164

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I. INTRODUCTION
A. THE VASTNESS OF THE SUBJECT
The purpose of the Dunamis Project is to understand and to receive the infilling with the Holy Spirit. To accomplish this purpose we must take a long journey, a journey that has already taken us into the mysteries of the nature of God, and which now must take us into the Old Testament. Do not suppose that the Holy Spirit's activity in the world began at Pentecost. The Spirit as the Third Person of the Trinity, like Jesus the divine Logos, has existed and been active from eternity. It is true, however, that with Pentecost a "new era" of the Spirit's work began. But this work in the New Covenant has its roots and beginnings in the Old Covenant. Indeed, only as we see the Spirit's work in the Old Testament may we fully understand His work in the New Testament and in the present. The work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament is as vast as the Spirit Himself. I shall present only an overview of the most obvious themes that relate directly to the question of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Naturally, much of importance will slip through the cracks of these expansive generalizations.

B. THE SPIRIT OF YAHWEH: THE BREATH OF GOD


In the preceding section we have established that the Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity; a divine person equal with God the Father and God the Son. This doctrine is based almost entirely upon the New Testament, where, through Jesus, the full nature of the Spirit has been revealed to us. In the Old Testament, however, there is not this full understanding of the Spirit as a fully divine person. Rather, the Spirit is seen as the intervention of God's active presence in human affairs accomplishing God's holy purposes. The Word "Spirit" in Hebrew is "ruach" which means breath or wind and also has the meaning of "life." In general, the term used for the Spirit, is "ruach YAHWEH" the Spirit (or breath, wind) of the Lord. Only rarely is the term Holy Spirit used. 1 Next, lets look at an overview of the works of the "Spirit of God."

Isaiah 63:10, Psalm 51:11.

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II. THE SPIRIT'S GENERAL CREATIVE LIFE-GIVING WORK


A. THE SPIRIT'S WORK OF CREATION
The Holy Spirit Prepares For Creation
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:1-2)

On the eve of the creation of the universe, the spirit of God (the wind) of God moved over the face of the chaotic waters. The word meaning "moved over the face of the waters" is most interesting. The Hebrew verb has the meaning of hovering like a bird. In Deuteronomy 32:11 the verb used describes an eagle hovering over its little ones, beating its wings as they are learning to fly. 2 Thus the image is that of the Spirit "beating its wings as it hovers over the chaotic waters." The Spirit is the presence of God pervading the chaos of the uncreated world, making ready for creation. Yet there was no creation. From the beginning the Word and the Spirit "cooperate" in the work of creation. For example: in verse three God says, "Let there be light," and there was light." The Spirit's moving was the prelude to, or the preparation for, the Word of God that was to be spoken; this initiated the creative process. The Spirit alone does not create, rather it prepares the raw substance of chaos for the spoken Word of God. It is the Word and the Spirit together that create. We find this unity of the Word and the Spirit in the creative process in Psalm 33:6:
"By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their hosts by the breath of his mouth."

This unity of Word and Spirit continues through the New Testament and into the present. 3
George T. Montague, The Holy Spirit: Growth of a Biblical Tradition (New York: Paulist Press) pp. 66-67. Paul Cho, in his book, The Fourth Dimension, speaks of the Spirit brooding over the waters waiting for the word of God. In the same manner the Holy Spirit may brood over a prayer meeting or an event. Except for a sense of presence nothing happens. He is waiting for the spoken word of God given through the prophet. The Spirit then uses the word to fulfill the intention of God's will expressed in the word. The Holy Spirit works through a threefold process. First He "hovers" over the situation, person, community etc. Second, within an individual or a group of people He gives the gift of prophecy i.e. the "rhema" word of God actively spoken. Third the Spirit gives the gift of faith that receives the "word" and the Spirit allows them to work. The
3 2

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B. THE GENERAL LIFE-GIVING WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: THE BREATH OF GOD
1. THE UNIVERSALITY OF THE SPIRIT'S PRESENCE

In the Old Testament there are references to the Spirit as the presence of God pervading the whole universe. For example, Psalm 139:7 asks:
"Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?"

The Spirit is everywhere.

2. EVERYWHERE THE SPIRIT SUSTAINS AND UPHOLDS ALL LIFE


Along with this omnipresence of the Spirit there is the sense in which the Spirit of God is the source and sustainer of all life.
Job says, "If He [God] should take back his spirit to himself, and gather to himself his breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust." (Job 34:14-15) 5 When thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created; and thou renewest the face of the ground." (Psalm 104:30)

preeminent example is Mary the Mother of Jesus. 4 In the New Testament this creative work of the Holy Spirit is also seen first in that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. We also see it in the conception of the church. 5 Other references that point to the same life giving work of the Spirit: Job 27:3, Job 33:4

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3.

WATER IS AN IMAGE OF THE LIFE GIVING SPIRIT

This image begins in the Garden of Eden, for out of it flows a river. 6 The Garden of Eden is symbolic of the time of harmony and intimate fellowship between the creation and God. The result of this fellowship is that Eden is a place of abundant and overflowing life. We see this symbolism manifested in the river and in the tree of life. Streams of water symbolize God's Spirit and are clearly confirmed through the parallelism in Isaiah 44:3:
"For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring." 7

Ezekiel, in a vision, sees the new temple of God out of which flowed an ever-widening river bringing forth life in abundance.
And wherever the river goes every living creature which swarms will live, and there will be very many fish... And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing. (Ezekiel 47:9, 12) 8

In John 7:37-39, Jesus picks up the image of the river and speaks of rivers of living water. The final vision of the new creation in Revelation 22:1-2 returns again to the image of the river. The Spirit of God is the mode of God's universal presence throughout the cosmos and is the source and sustainer of all life. We may with the Apostles' Creed affirm, "I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life." This Is Not Pantheism! We must be careful here not to read pantheism into the text and suggest that every living creature actually has God within them. With the creation of man the text says
"Then the Lord God formed man of the dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." (Genesis 2:7)

6 7

Genesis 2:10 Jesus also makes the same association in John 7:37-39. Other references: Isaiah 41:18-20, Isaiah 55:1. 8 This image appears again and is fulfilled in Revelation 22:1-2.

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"Breath" in this context means the Spirit, but it is not God himself who enters man; rather it is God through the Spirit who gives life. As the Spirit brings life to a body, He also brings life to our spirit. Scripture says that we are formed of dust and stamped with the image of God. We have life from the Spirit, but only in Christ does the Spirit of God enter into us and dwell within us. When this happens we become a new creation, and are no longer "creatures" of God but are His sons and daughters. 9

III. THE SPIRIT'S WORK IN OLD TESTAMENT MEN AND WOMEN


A. INTRODUCTION TO THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES
We now turn to the specific work of the Spirit of God in the covenant people of Israel. We will discover that there are different modes of the Spirit's work. These different works in general have as their purpose the forming, sustaining, protecting, or renewing of the Hebrew people whom God has chosen for his own, and through whom God will bring blessing to all the peoples of the earth. 10

B. THE SPIRIT OF GOD UPON A PERSON: EMPOWERING THEM FOR ACTION


1. The "Pattern," the Spirit Falling Upon Them for Power

The Spirit Comes Upon Men And Women Giving Power and Authority to Perform Great Deeds Necessary to Sustain and to Protect the Covenant Community In the Old Testament this empowering work of the Holy Spirit is referred to consistently in terms of the Spirit of God "falling upon a person," "resting upon the person," or "possessing a person." 11 The image is like that of the wind blowing upon a tree and moving its branches. In most cases the reference to the Spirit falling upon a person or moving the person is immediately followed by a description of a specific, dynamic action. For example, of Samson it says,
9

John 1:12-13, Romans 8:14-17, II Corinthians 5:17 Genesis 12:1-3 11 Some examples are: I Corinthians 3:16, I Peter 4:14, I Samuel 10:10
10

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"And behold a young lion roared against him; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion asunder as one tears a kid; and he had nothing in his hand." (Judges 14:5-6)

We will find that this will become a consistent pattern as follows: "The Spirit fell upon (or moved) (such and such a person), and he did (such and such an action)." This demonstrates clearly the direct link between the movement of the Spirit and the result. In most cases having the Spirit fall upon them and receiving power was a temporary experience and was given only as long as needed to fulfill the task at hand.

2.

The Example of Samson

Most of the Sunday school pictures of Samson show him as a weightlifter bulging with muscles. If he was naturally that strong, why then did he need the Spirit of God? Rather, it is more likely that Samson was an ordinary fellow, a man with normal strength until the Spirit came upon him. The Spirit did this as often as needed, as long as Samson was obedient to his vows as a Nazarite. 12 In the life of Samson, we find that the Spirit of Yahweh came upon Samson repeatedly in order to meet some specific emergency. This empowering of the Spirit does not refer to changing for good the character of the person. Of course they may be of good character, like King David or the seventy elders chosen to share Moses' burden. 13 But in other cases the person may even be of bad character but is still powerfully moved by the Spirit. Samson, who was often powerfully moved by the spirit, was certainly not of a character any young man would be advised to emulate. Balaam, another upon whom the Spirit fell, was a diviner who wanted to use spiritual power for his own enrichment. Let It Be Firmly Established That This Working of the Spirit Has to do Primarily with Spirit-Empowered Action and Not Character Formation There follows a chart showing some of the cases of the Spirit falling upon a person for empowered action.

12

The term Nazarite in Hebrew means, "one consecrated, devoted, separated." One who marks his status of special sanctity or his vow of self-dedication by letting his hair grow and abstaining from wine and strong drink. In the early history of Israel, the Nazarite was a holy man upon whom was the Spirit of God, granting power and special gifts. Later it became a type of religious order regulated by law. As a further development the emphasis was placed on making a vow to the Lord. (The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible Vol. III, p. 526). 13 Numbers 11:16-17

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3.

Chart of Scripture Demonstrating the Spirit upon for action


CONTEXT THE SPIRIT'S WORK RESULT PERSON AND OFFICE 70 Elders and Rulers Balaam, a spirit medium PURPOSE OF THE SPIRIT'S WORK To share the burden of governing the people with Moses. Balaam did it for money but God used him to bless His people. To set the people free from the oppression.

SCRIPTURE

Numbers 11:17, 29

The 70 Elders are anointed with the Spirit in order to assist Moses. King Balak has hired Balaam the Diviner to curse the people of Israel. The people of Israel cry out to God because they are oppressed by another people. God raised up a deliverer. The people of Israel are under attack by Midianites and the Amalekites. Samson attacked by a young lion.

"When the Spirit rested upon them... "And when the Spirit of God came upon him...

...they prophesied."

Numbers 24:2

...and he took up his discourse."

Judges 3:10

"The Spirit of the Lord came upon him...

...and he judged Israel; he went out to war..."

Othniel, a judge

Judges 6:34

"But the Spirit of the Lord took possession of Gideon...

...and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites followed him." ...and he tore the lion asunder as one tears a kid and he had nothing in his hand." ...and his bonds melted in his hands. And he found a jaw bone of an ass..." ...and he prophesied among them." (Prophesied means ecstatic praise of God.) ...Saul's anger was kindled and he gathered an army and defeated the enemy." ...from that day forward." (There follows many great exploits of David, but not immediately.)

Gideon, a judge

To defend the people of God against a military attack.

Judges 14:5-6

"The Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him...

Samson, a judge

For self-protection.

Judges 15:14-17

Samson is tied with new ropes and handed over to the Philistines to be killed. After Saul has been anointed by Samuel he meets the band of prophets.

"The Spirit of God came mightily upon him...

Samson, a judge

To harass the enemies of Israel

I Samuel 10:10-13

"And the Spirit of God came mightily upon him...

Saul, King

To provide experiential evidence that Saul had been empowered by the Spirit of God to be king.

I Samuel 11: 6

A city of Israel is besieged.

"And the Spirit of God came mightily upon Saul...

Saul, King

To protect God's people.

I Samuel 16:13

David is anointed by Samuel.

"And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David...

David, King

To prepare David to be King. An exception: no action follows.

4.

Summary Statements

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above verses are enough to make the point. In the Old Testament there are a few times when the "Spirit of God" is not mentioned but the idea of "upon" and receiving God's power for dynamic action is still present. For instance, Elijah was a man greatly empowered by God's spirit. But there is no mention of the spirit of God, rather in one instance it says that the "hand of God was on Elijah; and he ...ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel." In the power of God, Elijah outran 14 horses! We find the same idea of "upon for power" with Elisha putting on the mantle of Elijah. 15 Both the "hand of God" and the "mantle" are symbols of the Spirit of God giving spiritual power. When Elisha returned from the wilderness after Elijah had been taken up, the sons of the prophets said, "The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha." 16 From the chart we can observe the pattern of the Spirit of God coming upon persons and giving them power. With the exception of David, Elijah, and Elisha, the "anointing" of the Spirit indicated some specific emergency and was only temporarily expressed. The power manifested is episodic. 17 Later on we shall see that this concept of the Spirit falling upon a person and giving power for some task is continued right into the New Covenant and is one meaning of the term "filled with the Holy Spirit."

C. THE SPIRIT OF GOD AND THE PROPHET


1. Empowerment to Speak God's Word

In the section above we have found that the Spirit of God may fall upon persons, empowering them for decisive action on behalf of God's Kingdom. The Spirit of God also falls on people to enable them to speak God's Word. The decisive action is not an act, but a word. For example:

"The Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded, and he went out to meet Asa, and said to him, "Hear me, Asa...The Lord is with you, while you are with him...." (II Chronicles 15:1-2)
14 15

I Kings 18:46 II Kings 2:12-14 16 II Kings 2:15 17 The definition of episodic, according to Websters Dictionary, refers to an event or series of events complete in itself.

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"And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah... in the midst of the assembly. And he said, "Hearken, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord to you, `Fear not... (II Chronicles 20:14-15) "The Spirit of God took possession of Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people, and said to them, "Thus says God, Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper?" (II Chronicles 24:20)

These are clear instances that prophecy came as the result of being moved by the Spirit. In the Major Prophets, however, there is not this clear relationship between the actual event of the Spirit falling upon them and their ability to speak the Word of God. Rather, they record an event in which God called and set them apart for the prophetic vocation. Isaiah was in the temple and saw the Lord high and lifted up. His lips were touched with a hot coal from the altar. Afterwards he was commissioned to speak God's word. 18 Ezekiel, who perhaps had the most incredible direct encounters with the living God, dynamically experienced the Spirit of God. His call came after seeing an amazing vision of fire and wheels within wheels. He then was given a scroll to eat of the Word of God. 19 Ezekiel had many fantastic experiences by the Spirit of God: He was carried from place to place; he was also given clear visions. 20 But the act of receiving the Word of God is expressed not by the Spirit falling upon him, but as "The word of the Lord came to me...thus says the Lord." 21 Jeremiah uses the same expression. 22 Despite the fact that there is not the direct statement of the Spirit falling upon them, all true prophets spoke God's word by the movement of the Spirit of God upon them. 23 With the Nicene Creed we affirm, "I believe in the Holy Spirit the Lord and giver of Life, ...who spoke by the prophets...."

Isaiah 6:1-13 Ezekiel 2:8-3:3 20 Ezekiel 3:12-15, 22, 24 21 Ezekiel 7:1-2 22 Jeremiah 1:4,2:1 23 II Peter 1:21 "...because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God."
19

18

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2.
a)

The Nature of the Prophetic Word


The Prophet speaks for God

It is very important that we have a correct understanding of the nature of the prophetic word, and of the role of the prophet. In Chinese the word is to "foreknow", and the meaning of the word "prophecy" is to "speak before." God says through the prophet Isaiah,
The former things I declared of old, they went forth from my mouth and I made them known; then suddenly I did them and they came to pass. Because I know that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass, I declared them to you from of old, before they came to pass I announced them to you least you should say, 'My idol did them, my graven image and my molten image commanded them.' (Isaiah 48:3-5)

Prophecy is God telling us what He is going to do before He does it. Thus there are times when prophecy is prediction of the future. The purpose of predicting the future is not to satisfy our curiosity, but to give glory to God and reveal His sovereignty over human history. Prediction however is not his or her only role. The prophet speaks for God to the people. Sometimes this may have nothing to do with the future. Often the prophet speaks God's comfort, judgment, or reveals God's will in the present situation. It would be more descriptive of the prophet's office to call this not foreknowing words but representing words; that is, words spoken by the prophet representing God to the people.
"I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him." (Deuteronomy 18:18)

b)

Prophecy is not fortune telling but dialogue between God and man

In this age of new age mysticism and the rise of the occult, it is important to distinguish prophecy inspired by the Holy Spirit from fortune telling. Fortune telling assumes a fixed universe in which one is governed by fate. The result of such words is to lead us to bondage and despair. Prophecy on the other hand is the living words of a living God spoken to His people with whom there is a dynamic relationship. Prophecy is best understood as a form of dialogue between God and humanity. THE PRMI DUNAMIS PROJECT GATEWAYS TO EMPOWERED MINISTRY

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An example is King Hezekiah. 24 The King fell seriously ill. Isaiah the prophet brought God's word, saying he would surely die. Hezekiah responded not with resignation to his sealed fate, but by falling down upon his face and praying that God would have mercy and let him live. He reminded God of all his past service. God is responsive to Hezekiah. Isaiah then received the Word of the Lord. Not only would Hezekiah live but that God would grant him fifteen more years of life. Jeremiah spoke God's word of judgment upon the people of Jerusalem, saying that they would be destroyed. However, there was the call--indeed the urgent hope--that the people would awaken from the darkness of their sin and repent. The Old Testament recognizes this dynamic engagement of God with us by saying that God relented or changed His mind. 25 c) God's word as spoken through the Prophet is active and creative

God's word as spoken through the prophets predicts the future as well as creates the future. Through Isaiah, God says:
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and return not thither but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:10-11)

The prophet is the one who speaks God's living word into the stream of human history and consciousness. In accordance with the Holy Spirit, human faith and obedience, the prophet fulfills God's holy purposes. For this reason, one finds that a particular prophetic vision or word may have some segments only partially fulfilled. For instance, through Ezekiel's vision of the valley of dry bones, God empowered and called the exiles in Babylon to undertake the formidable task of returning to their devastated, impoverished land and rebuild their nation. 26 With the return of the exiles the vision was not yet finished. At Pentecost the Spirit fell down on Jesus' fearful disciples, filled them with new life and raised them up as the Church. The vision exists to this day. Many times the vision of dry bones has been the text for spiritempowered sermons that have "raised up" dead congregations.

24 25

2 Kings 20:1-11 Exodus 32:7-14 26 Ezekiel 37:1-14

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The prophetic words of Scripture have a special authority because they are connected to the great events of salvation history that reveal God's nature and intentions. This does not mean, however, that God has ceased to speak or that prophecy ended with the New Testament. No! Through the Holy Spirit, who is present with us, God continues to speak using scripture, preaching and teaching, visions and dreams, and through the charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit. In the New Covenant we may all be prophets. Thus we may share in God's creative work, of establishing His kingdom. d) The prophetic word is God's self-revelation

While prophecy, as God speaking, may accomplish many things like foretelling the future or creating the future, it is essentially God's revelation of Himself. The prophecy of the Bible when connected with the Holy Spirit is God speaking to us, disclosing His nature and purposes to us. Prophecy of Scripture with the Holy Spirit when received in faith becomes Gods personal self-disclosure. H. Richard Niebuhr summarizes the self-disclosing nature of the prophetic word:
Revelation means the moment in our history through which we know ourselves to be known from beginning to end, in which we are apprehended by the knower; it means the self-disclosing of that eternal knower. Revelation means the moment in which we are surprised by the knowledge of someone present in the darkness and the void of human life; it means the self-disclosure of light in our darkness. 27

3.

Prophetic Vision

There follows a review of prophetic vision in the Old Testament. We include this because of the conviction that God still speaks today. Prophetic vision is expressed today through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. a) General spiritual vision or seeing

Through the Spirit, the prophets received the Word of God in many different ways. The Spirit spoke through the prophets. To turn this statement around one could say, "Through the Spirit of the Lord the prophets received the Word of the Lord." They received it in a great variety of ways. The prophet is--above all--one who has "vision". In English the old term for prophet was "seer." He or she is one who sees deeply into the things of God and men. They are gifted with an awareness of what God is doing. This awareness gives prophets a different
27

pg. 111 The Meaning of Revelation ???

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Elisha was unafraid when surrounded by the Syrian Army sent to capture him, for he, unlike his terrified servant, saw the Lord's army of flaming chariots surrounding and protecting him. 28 Jeremiah saw deeply into the true meaning of human events and into the human heart. While everyone else went about his or her lives as usual, Jeremiah was tormented by a sense of impending doom. He knew that God's judgment was about to fall upon them. Seeing is very costly! b) Visions as encounters with the living God

Such visions were direct encounters with the Living God. Ezekiel "saw" the Lord as a terrifying flying object with wheels within wheels. 29 Isaiah also "saw" the Lord high and lifted up in the temple, sitting upon a throne surrounded by the six winged seraphim. 30 This type of vision has allowed us glimpses of the majesty and mystery of God. c) Word visions

Other visions were inspired images or pictures given to the prophet and accompanied by the word of God revealing their meaning. A clear example is found in the book of Amos:
He showed me: behold the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. And the Lord said to me, 'Amos, what do you see?' And I said, 'A plumb line.' The Lord said, 'Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel;' (Amos 7:7-8)

In Jeremiah we find the same kind of example:


And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 'Jeremiah, what do you see?' And I said, 'I see a rod of almond.' Then the Lord said to me, 'You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.' (Jeremiah 1:11)

The Hebrew words for almond (shaqed) and for watching (shoqed) are very similar. Thus God could use an image and a pun to convey his meaning.

28 29

2 Kings 6:15-17 Ezekiel 1:4-28 30 Isaiah 6:1-8

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d)

Visions dramatized to become symbolic actions

Ezekiel smashed a pot as a symbol of God's judgment against his people. Isaiah went around with a yoke, declaring that the people of Jerusalem were soon to be carried off as slaves. Hosea was commanded to marry a prostitute as a sign of the peoples' unfaithfulness to God and the covenant. I place these in the category of word visions because the actions are symbolic and are accompanied by the word of God explaining it. e) The inspired word of God that comes to the Prophet's mind

The Word of God comes to the prophet's mind, and in obedience he speaks it out or writes it down. Ezekiel says, "The word of the Lord came to me...." 31 Jeremiah says, "Thus says the Lord..." 32 There is no suggestion here that the prophet was in a special mental state like a trance, or that he became like a spirit medium, automatically allowing the spirit to speak through him. This is inspiration that came to the prophet through his own thoughts and feelings. Yet they came with such distinctiveness and authority that the prophet could in boldness say, "Thus says the Lord..."

4.

The Spirit of God Moves Upon the Prophet for Ecstatic Praise

We have often stressed the role of the prophet as the speaker of God's word. We find, however, that at least some prophets had another type of experience of the Spirit of God. This was the experience of the Spirit of God falling upon them and moving them to exalted praise. The emphasis is not on the content of the message. The emphasis is on the significance and power of experiencing the Spirit of God. a) The Spirit of God resting upon the seventy elders: Numbers 11:25

There is no reference to there being any content to the prophecy. Instead, they experienced some form of ecstatic praise and speaking as a result of the Spirit of God.

31 32

Ezekiel 7:1 Jeremiah 31:15

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b)

Saul prophesying when the Spirit rested upon him: I Samuel 10:5-13

After Saul was anointed by Samuel to be King, he was met by a "Band of Prophets They were praising God with instruments. Then the Spirit came mightily upon Saul and he "prophesied with them..." (I Samuel 10:10) This is exalted, Spirit-led praise of God. One version translates prophesying to be "dancing and shouting." Saul seems to have entered a form of ecstasy for it says that he would become another man. In Israel there were groups of men who were often so moved by the spirit they were called "Bands of Prophets", 33 and "Sons of the Prophets." 34 At times the Spirit would come upon them in strange and powerful ways. There is a wild, untrammeled element of the Spirit of God that moves us to dance, or carries us off in ecstasy of God's presence. This may have been at work when the Ark was brought up to Jerusalem. David, a man who had the Spirit upon him, leaped and danced before the Lord with all his might and all the people shouted. 35 In the New Covenant this aspect of the Spirit's work continues. He may fall upon us and move us to dance, to sing or to fall upon the floor; in short, to go into the ecstasy of God's presence. At the Iona Community in Scotland there are two images used to represent the Holy Spirit. The first is the dove; the second is the ancient Celtic image of the "Wild Goose." This image recognizes this wild, moving, creative, and ecstatic dimension of the Holy Spirit.

D. THE SPIRIT WITHIN GIVING WISDOM AND SKILL (NOT FOR SANCTIFICATION)
Lastly, there is another work of the Spirit that has not to do with power, nor moving people to praise; but with giving skill, wisdom, or creativity to fulfill God's special purposes. Terms used to describe this work of the Spirit are "the Spirit of God within" or a person "filled with the Spirit of God." Here are some examples: In reference to Joseph, the Pharaoh said,
'Can we find such a man as this, in whom is the Spirit of God?' So Pharaoh said to Joseph, 'Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discreet and wise as you are... (Genesis 41:38-39)
33 34

II Kings 2:3, 2:5,4:1, 4:38 II Kings 2:3 and 4:38 35 II Samuel 6:14-16

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The Lord said to Moses, 'See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold.

(Exodus 31:1-5) Joshua also had the Spirit of God within him.
"And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the Spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him." (Deuteronomy 34:9)

In another place it has already been affirmed that Joshua was a man in whom was the Spirit of God. 36 Comparison of the Spirit In and Upon It is important to note that this work symbolized by "within" is very different from the idea of the Spirit falling upon a person to give power for action or speaking God's word. The statements about being filled with the Spirit or having the Spirit within are followed not by verbs but by descriptions of talents or aspects of the persons character like wisdom and knowledge. This contrast shall become even clearer in the New Testament where the Holy Spirit within a person will come to mean the saving, life giving, sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.

E. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF THE WORK OF THE SPIRIT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT


. We find abundant evidence that the Spirit of God was at work in the Old Testament. Indeed, it was through the Spirit that the covenant community was protected, sustained and directed. It was the words of the prophets who held the people faithful to God's law and revealed God's will for their circumstances. It was through the empowering of kings and judges that the enemies of Israel were defeated and the community was preserved. It was also through the Spirit that praise to God was offered by the bands of prophets and by the priest in the temple reciting the inspired Psalms of David. The way the Spirit did these things may be summarized as follows:

36

Numbers 27:18

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1. The Spirit falling upon a person giving power and authority for active service and mighty works for God's people. This is the case of the judges, the charismatic kings of Israel and some of the prophets like Elijah. 2. The Spirit falling upon a person, or anointing the person to speak God's word as a prophet. This is the case of the early prophets and the major writing prophets. 3. The Spirit falling upon a person, moving him or her to ecstatic praise of God. This was the experience of King Saul, perhaps of King David, and of the Son's of the Prophets. 4. The Spirit within or filling a person, neither for power nor sanctification, but to give special skill or wisdom to accomplish God's appointed work. Some examples are Bezalel the Ark Builder, and Joseph the interpreter of dreams.

This reveals something of the diversity of the Spirit's work among God's people. As we shall see this dynamic empowering, enabling work of the Spirit will continue in the New Covenant, with the infilling, and gifts of the Holy Spirit. They will also have the same purpose of protecting, sustaining manifestations and directing the Community of Faith. 37 In addition there will be added the missionary task of extending the community.

IV. THE PROPHETS LOOK TO A NEW ERA OF THE SPIRIT


A. THE COVENANT OF LAW GIVEN AS GRACE BUT BROKEN BY THE PEOPLE
In Abraham and Moses God had established a covenant with the Hebrews. 38 He would be their God and they would be His special people. But there was a condition. They must obey God's law as given through Moses and the prophets. Because of Jesus attack against the Pharisees in the New Testament we have come to think of the law as something oppressive and bad, and indeed the Pharisees had made the law a form
37 38

I Corinthians 12:7 Genesis 15:12-21

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of bondage. But, when the law was given, it was given as an expression of God's grace and fatherly love of His people. The law was the way of blessing, peace, and freedom.
Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord! Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong but walk in his ways! (Psalm 119:1-3)

The Law of God was the gracious revelation of the "way of the Lord." It taught the Hebrews how they were to be God's people. A life lived according to the law was a life of fellowship with God. But the Hebrews broke the covenant. They persistently rebelled against God's laws and quickly forgot His mighty saving acts. They persistently turned their backs on the God who had brought them out of Egypt and like an unfaithful wife, worshipped Bael. God called for justice in the new land, but the rich oppressed the poor. King David had a heart after God's own heart but persistently the kings who followed him were corrupt and led the people away from the one true God. They filled their land with idolatry, immorality, and injustice. Jeremiah summarizes the whole tragic situation:
I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce. But you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable. The priests did not ask, Where is the Lord? Those who deal with the law did not know me, the leaders rebelled against me. The prophets prophesied by Baal, following worthless idolsHas a nation ever changed its gods? (Yet they are not gods at all.) But my people have exchanged their Glory for worthless idols. Be appalled at this, O heavens, and shudder with great horror, declares the Lord. My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water. (Jeremiah 2:7-8, 11-13)

The problem was not that they did not know the Law, or lacked prophets to remind them of it. Theirs was a problem of the heart and will. Something radically new was needed if humanitys relationship with God was to be restored.

B. A NEW COVENANT IN WHICH ALL SHALL KNOW THE LORD: JEREMIAH 31:31-34
Through the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel, God promised that there would be a New Covenant. And He would write the law in the hearts of the people and would place His Spirit within them.
Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers when I took them by

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the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, though I was their husband," says the Lord." But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," says the Lord, "I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, `Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more. (Jeremiah

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31:31-34) The New Covenant would represent a new foundation of relationship with God. It would mean that the Law of God--that is, knowing what God requires of us--is not something that is written on paper, but rather within our hearts. In the New Covenant our sinful, rebellious nature would be transformed so that we would naturally know and do what God expects of us in our relationship with him. Knowing The Lord Is Intimacy From The Heart Another wonderful thing about this New Covenant is that in it we would know the Lord. It is important to grasp the meaning of this--to know the Lord. The Hebrew word "to know" is the same word used for sexual intercourse. In Genesis it says, "Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain." 39 Sexual intercourse is the most intimate form of relationship between man and woman. It is a total knowing with mind, body, and soul of the other person. The prophet uses the term "know" as symbolic of the depth of knowing God. Such knowledge comes from within, from the heart.

C. THE SPIRIT OF GOD TO BE PLACED WITHIN US GIVING A NEW HEART: EZEKIEL 36:25-27
Jeremiah does not make it clear how the Law will be written upon the heart or how we shall all have this intimate relationship with God. Ezekiel clearly states that it is the work of the Spirit of God:
I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanliness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances. (Ezekiel 36:25-27)

For people who have tried to obey God but find that their own sinful nature tends toward
39

Genesis 4:1

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disobedience and disbelief, this is good news! God will not only cleanse us of our sins, but also will enter the human heart and change it. The result will be that we will naturally know and love God, and seek to obey him. This is all the work of the Spirit. The Inward "Sanctifying" Work of the Spirit Will Be For All God's People! The good news! This new work of the Spirit will not be for the few like David whose heart was after God's own heart but for all God's people! They would all know the Lord! This inward "sanctifying" work of the Spirit is a new thing a new creation! 40

D. THE SPIRIT WILL BE GIVEN TO ALL FOR EMPOWERMENT: NUMBERS 11:29, JOEL 2:28
We have already noted that God raised up great kings, judges, and prophets to be empowered by the Spirit. This was expressed by the terms that they had the Spirit upon them. In the history of Israel these great men and women of God were few and far between. Apparently to be empowered by the Spirit was not the expectation nor experience of the ordinary believer. It seems that even the phenomenon of being moved by the Spirit was reserved for the sons of the prophets. Some of the prophets, however, looked to a new era of the Spirit when this work of the Spirit falling upon men and women giving them power would continue, but with a radical difference. It would be for all the people of God, not just for the great chosen leaders. There would be a "democratization" of the Spirit. Moses Looks Forward To the Day When All Of God's People Would Have the Spirit Upon Them. When the Spirit fell upon the Seventy Elders to equip them to serve with Moses, Joshua, son of Nun, objected to their prophesying and asked Moses to forbid them. Apparently he was jealous to preserve Moses' exclusive right to be empowered by the Spirit.

40

The inward work mentioned already is that of giving skill and must be clearly distinguished from this heart transforming work that is promised through Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Does this mean that there was no sanctifying, heart transforming work of the Spirit of God in Old Testament? Surely there were those who feared God, who loved and obeyed him. The text does not seem to speak clearly about this. It seems that the prophets look either to an entirely new working of the spirit, or else a working that will be new in its universality. In Matthew 11:11 Jesus says, "Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." Jesus marks a radical discontinuity! The Old and New Testament people may both have the empowering work of the Holy Spirit. But only those of the New Covenant through Jesus may be born again. Thus, even the least is greater than John who was not born again.

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"Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put his spirit upon them!" (Numbers 11:29)

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This same hope is expressed in the prophecy of Joel. Undoubtedly the prophet Joel was speaking God's word to the tragic events of his time, but there suddenly burst through words about the new work of the Spirit of God.
And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even upon the men servants and maidservants in those days, I will pour out my spirit. (Joel 2:28-29)

Here again is the hope that Moses expressed. All of God's people would be prophets. What is a prophet? A prophet is a person upon whom is the Spirit of God, granting power, as well as the ability to know the word of God. This would come through visions, dreams, and receiving the word of God. Joel's statement is absolutely radical, for this rare gift of prophecy was to be poured out upon everyone regardless of social class. All would be able to have the power of the Spirit. Old men, young men, women, even the lowest, most wretched kitchen slave would have the Spirit upon him. The same Spirit of God who moved across the face of the waters at creation, who empowered Moses, and spoke through the prophet Isaiah, would fall upon ordinary people. This is the radical new dimension of the Spirit's work. It is the basis of a revolution and the foundation for a true democracy! This is the foundation of the "priesthood of all believers."

E. THE SPIRIT OF GOD RESTORING LIFE TO THE COMMUNITY OF FAITH


In the preceding passages we have spoken primarily of the Spirit's sanctifying and empowering work within the individual. The prophets also looked forward to a renewal by the Spirit of the community of faith. In 587 B.C. the city of Jerusalem was destroyed and the people carried off into captivity into Babylon. With the destruction of the temple and their nation the community of faith was shattered. Only a remnant would return. It was for the Jews in captivity that Ezekiel was given the vision of dry bones:
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full of bones. And he led me round among them; and behold, there were very many upon the valley, and lo, they were very dry. And he said to me, 'Son of man, can these bones live?' And I answered, 'O Lord God, thou knowest.' Again he said to me, 'Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause the breath

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(wind or spirit) to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath (spirit) in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord'. (Ezekiel 37:1-6) This is not primarily a vision of individual resurrection, but of the resurrection of a defeated, broken people. The way that this renewal and restoration of the broken people of God will take place is through the Spirit of God being placed within them as a community. 41
"And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. You shall know that I, the Lord have spoken, and I have done this." (Ezekiel 37:14)

Cyrus the Great comes as the means of God's justice and liberation. 42 The famous edict of 539 B.C. allowed all captive peoples to return to their homelands. 43 This became reality for the Jews in exile after 538, when Babylon fell to Cyrus. The Jews returned from exile and in 515 rebuilt the temple. As a miracle of God's preservation they were resurrected as a people with national and religious life. When one considers the extent of the devastation of not only the nation of Judah but also of their faith, this recovery is truly a miracle of resurrection. Other peoples have suffered a similar fate and have disappeared from history. In the return of the exiles and the rebuilding of the temple, the vision of Ezekiel found an important but partial fulfillment. Another fulfillment comes with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Then the Spirit would not only be upon individuals but within the community of faith, giving it life as the body of Christ.

Other references that point to the future renewal of the community through the Spirit of God are: Ezekiel 39:29 and Isaiah 44:3. 42 Isaiah 45:13 43 2 Chronicles 36:21-23

41

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F. A HOLY SPIRIT-EMPOWERED MESSIAH: ISAIAH 11:2, 61:1


We now come to the apex of the prophetic hope. It is of a messiah, a great king, following in the line of David who will restore Israel as the Kingdom of God. In the past, the focus had been on Israel. Now, however, God's saving work was to encompass all national boundaries and embrace all the peoples of the earth.
"It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." (Isaiah 49:6)

1.

The Messiah Will Fulfill His Mission Through the Spirit

How shall the servant of the Lord or the Messiah be able to perform His mission? What shall be the source of his power and authority? The prophetic hope is clear: The Spirit of God will rest upon him!
And there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. (Isaiah 11:1-2) "Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him, he will bring forth justice to the nations." (Isaiah 42:1) The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn... (Isaiah 61:1-2)

The language of these passages ("Spirit upon") is symbolic of the empowering work of the Holy Spirit. In this respect, the expected Messiah is in continuity with the Old Testament concept of inspired leadership which comes by the Spirit of God. There will be no difference in "agency" between the Messiah and the Old Testament prophets, kings and judges. There will, however, be a decisive difference in the nature of the Spirit's work.

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2.

The Messiah Will Baptize Us With the Holy Spirit

In the expected Messiah there is, however, a radical discontinuity with the Old Testament prophets, priests, kings and judges. First of all, the discontinuity is simply with regard to a matter of degree. Jesus was so empowered by the Holy Spirit that He fulfilled the promises of God that all the rest had left undone. Secondly, the last of the "Old Covenant" prophets, John the Baptist, proclaims a radical break with the Old Testament. 44 Jesus will not only have the Spirit upon him to fulfill his own mission, but he will pass the Holy Spirit on to all the members of his body, the Church.
John answered them all, I baptize you with water; but he who is mightier than I is coming, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. (Luke 3:16) 45

In the coming of Jesus Christ a New Covenant will be established. It will also be a new era of the Spirit's working in humanity.

G.

SUMMARY OF THE PROPHETIC HOPE

Of all the great figures of the Old Covenant, it was the prophets who had the most intimate experience of the Spirit. The Spirit opened them to know God's intentions, and to speak His words. The Spirit allowed them to touch God's heart and to weep His tears for His unfaithful people. 46 Through the Spirit they prophesied that God would establish a New Covenant--a new relationship between God and man. This was an incredible concept. In the new day, their unique gift of having the Spirit of God upon them would become a universal possibility for all God's children. Indeed, the work of the Spirit upon and in those of the New Covenant would so far surpass His working in the Old Covenant that Jesus could truly say of John the Baptist
"I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John; yet he who is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he." (Luke 7:28) 47
A possible exception is the relationship between Elijah and Elisha. Elisha asked for and received a double portion of Elijah's spirit. There is a decisive difference between this and what Jesus does for us. First, through Jesus, the outpouring will be upon all who believe in Him, not just one. Second, Elijah himself recognizes that he is really not free to grant this request. To Elisha he says, "You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if you do not see me, it shall not be so." (2 Kings 2:10) In this condition, Elijah places the burden of granting Elisha's request upon the Spirit of God who opens spiritual eyes as he wills. 45 Also see Mark 1:8, Matthew 3:11, and John 1:33. 46 Jeremiah 9:1 47 Not only do we have the spirit upon us for power as John did, but unlike him, we have the Spirit within. We are not only born of women, but born of the Spirit as well. (John 1:12-13)
44

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The following statements may summarize their vision of the Spirits work in the future. (Note: This particular order is given because I believe it to be the one in which the hope of the new working of the Spirit of God was given in history).

1. The Spirit may fall upon all God's people, granting power, and the opening of spiritual eyes. All God's people may become prophets and be moved by the Spirit. This is a continuation of the empowering work of the Spirit, but now it will be available not to the chosen few but to all of God's people. 2. The prophets foresaw a new working of the Spirit. The prophets foresaw a radically new working of the Spirit. This new working would provide not only power from without, but a change of heart from within. All would know the Lord, because through the Spirit the Lord would abide in the human heart. 3. There will be a "Spirit filled" community of faith 4. There will come a great Messiah who has the Spirit upon Him, who will establish the Kingdom of God. 5. The Messiah will come to "baptize with the Holy Spirit" and thus fulfill the hope of the Spirit upon and within all of God's people. He will also raise up the Spirit-filled community, His Church.

The Old Testament prophetic hope started with the empowerment, but this grew to include the New Covenant and finally the Spirit Filled Messiah. This order is, however, not consistent with our experience or focus of faith. For us, living in the New Covenant begins with Jesus Christ. 1. There will come a great Messiah who has the Spirit upon Him, who will establish the Kingdom of God. 2. The Messiah will come to "baptize with the Holy Spirit. Jesus has come as the Spirit-filled Messiah and all the works of the Holy Spirit for us flow from him and through him.

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TEACHING CHARTS: PART IV THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

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A. THE SPIRIT FALLING UPON FOR POWER


The Spirit of God falls upon people and empowers them for dynamic action. The purpose of this empowerment is often to equip that person for special service.
SCRIPTURE CONTEXT THE SPIRIT'S WORK RESULT PERSON AND OFFICE 70 Elders and Rulers Balaam, a spirit medium PURPOSE OF THE SPIRIT'S WORK To share the burden of governing the people with Moses. Balaam did it for money but God used him to bless His people. To set the people free from the oppression.

Numbers 11:17, 29

The 70 Elders are anointed with the Spirit in order to assist Moses. King Balak has hired Balaam the Diviner to curse the people of Israel. The people of Israel cry out to God because they are oppressed by another people. God raised up a deliverer. The people of Israel are under attack by Midianites and the Amalekites. Samson attacked by a young lion.

"When the Spirit rested upon them... "And when the Spirit of God came upon him...

...they prophesied."

Numbers 24:2

...and he took up his discourse."

Judges 3:10

"The Spirit of the Lord came upon him...

...and he judged Israel; he went out to war..."

Othniel, a judge

Judges 6:34

"But the Spirit of the Lord took possession of Gideon...

...and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites followed him." ...and he tore the lion asunder as one tears a kid and he had nothing in his hand." ...and his bonds melted in his hands. And he found a jaw bone of an ass..." ...and he prophesied among them." (Prophesied means ecstatic praise of God.) ...Saul's anger was kindled and he gathered an army and defeated the enemy." ...from that day forward." (There follows many great exploits of David, but not immediately.)

Gideon, a judge

To defend the people of God against a military attack.

Judges 14:5-6

"The Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him...

Samson, a judge

For self-protection.

Judges 15:14-17

Samson is tied with new ropes and handed over to the Philistines to be killed. After Saul has been anointed by Samuel he meets the band of prophets.

"The Spirit of God came mightily upon him...

Samson, a judge

To harass the enemies of Israel

I Samuel 10:10-13

"And the Spirit of God came mightily upon him...

Saul, King

To provide experiential evidence that Saul had been empowered by the Spirit of God to be king.

I Samuel 11:1-11, 6

A city of Israel is besieged.

"And the Spirit of God came mightily upon Saul...

Saul, King

To protect God's people.

I Samuel 16:13

David is anointed by Samuel.

"And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David...

David, King

To prepare David to be King. An exception: no action follows.

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B. THE NATURE OF THE PROPHETIC WORD


THE PROPHETS SPOKE AND SAW BY THE SPIRIT
I. THE NATURE OF THE PROPHETIC WORD A. All the prophets spoke God's word by the power of the Holy Spirit. II Peter 1:21, II Chronicles 20:14-15, II Chronicles 24:20 B. A prophet is one who speaks for God to the people of God. Deuteronomy 18:18-19, Isaiah 48: 3-5 C. Prophecy is not fortune telling, but dialogue between God and man. Hezekiah, 2 Kings 20:1-11 D. God's word as spoken through the Prophet is active and creative. Isaiah 55:10-11 II. PROPHETIC VISION A. General spiritual vision or seeing: 2 Kings 6:15-17 B. Visions as encounters with the living God: Ezekiel 1:4-28, Isaiah 6:1-8 C. Word visions (images accompanied by the word of God): Amos 7:7-8, Jeremiah 1:11 D. Visions dramatized to become symbolic actions: Ezekiel 4, 5 E. The inspired word of God that comes to the prophet's mind: Jeremiah 31:15

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C. SUMMARY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT'S WORK IN THE OLD TESTAMENT


I. THE GENERAL CREATIVE LIVE-GIVING WORK
A. Work at creation Genesis 1:2, Psalm 33:6 B. Life-giving and sustaining Job 34:14-15, Psalm 104:30, Ezekiel 47:9,12

II. THE SPECIFIC WORK IN THE PEOPLE OF GOD


A. The Spirit falling upon people -- resulting in dynamic action Judges 3:10, 6:34, 14:5-6, 15:14-17, I Samuel 16:13 B. The Spirit falling upon people -- resulting in speaking God's Word or seeing visions Numbers 11:17, 11:2-3, I Kings 18:46, II Kings 2:12-14, Ezekiel 1:3-4, 3:22 C. The Spirit falling upon people -- moving them to ecstatic praise of God I Samuel 10:10-13, 19:23-24, II Samuel 6:14-16 D. The Spirit within or filling people -- giving special skill or wisdom to accomplish God's work Genesis 41:38-39, Exodus 31:1-5, Deuteronomy 34:9

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D. THE PROPHET'S VISION OF A NEW ERA OF THE SPIRIT


THE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETS LOOKED TO A NEW COVENANT IN WHICH THERE WOULD BE A NEW ERA OF THE SPIRIT A. All of God's people may have the Holy Spirit upon them for empowerment to do God's work, just as He was upon the Old Testament prophets, priests, and kings. Numbers 11:29, Isaiah 44:3, Joel 2:28-29 B. The Holy Spirit will dwell within God's people. 1. The law of God will be written upon our hearts, we shall know the Lord. Jeremiah 31:31-34 2. We shall be cleansed of sin and given a new heart. Ezekiel 36:25-27 C. There will be raised up a "Spirit Filled" community of faith. Isaiah 43:18-21, Ezekiel 37:14, D. The Advent of a Messiah as a light to the nations for all the people of the world 1. The Messiah will have the Spirit upon him to be empowered for his own mission. Isaiah 11:1, Isaiah 42:1-7, Isaiah 61:1-3, 2. The Messiah will baptize his people with the Holy Spirit. Matthew 3:11, Mark 1:8, Luke 3:16, John 1:33

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E. OUR EXPERIENCE OF THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHET'S VISION OF A NEW ERA OF THE SPIRIT
A. Jesus Christ has come as the Spirit empowered Messiah.
1. Jesus has the Spirit upon him to be empowered for his own mission. Isaiah 11:1, Isaiah 42:1-7, Isaiah 61:1-3, Luke 3:21-22 Luke 4:18-21, 2. Jesus has come to baptize his people with the Holy Spirit. Matthew 3:11, Mark 1:8, Luke 3:16, John 1:33, Acts 11:16 B. Jesus Christ, through pouring out the Holy Spirit at Pentecost has raised up a "Spirit Filled" community of faith. Isaiah 43:18-21, Ezekiel 37:14, Acts 2: 1-13, Acts 2:42-47 C. The Holy Spirit now dwells within us binding us to Jesus and making real all that He has done for us on the cross. 1. The law of God is written upon our hearts, we shall know the Lord. The Holy Spirit teaches us the things of Jesus. Jeremiah 31:31-34, John 14:26, John 16:13-15 2. We shall be cleansed of sin and given a new heart. Ezekiel 36:25-27, John 1:12-13, John 3:1-5, John 3:16 D. Now all of God's people may have the Holy Spirit upon them for empowerment to do God's work, just as He was upon the Old Testament prophets, priests, and kings. Numbers 11:29, Isaiah 44:3, Joel 2:28-29, Acts 1:4-5, Acts 2:38-39

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VII. STUDY QUESTIONS


I, II. THE GENERAL LIFE GIVING WORK OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD 1. What was the role of the Holy Spirit at creation? 2. How are we to understand the relationship between the Spirit of God and the Word of God? 3. What is the general life giving work of the Spirit of God? Give Biblical evidences for this work of the Spirit. 4. What are the implications of this general life giving work of the Spirit for our relationship to other living creatures? 5. What distinguishes the general life giving work of the Spirit of God from pantheism? In particular how is the Biblical understanding of reality different from the "new age" teaching that we are god? III. THE SPIRIT'S WORK IN OLD TESTAMENT MEN AND WOMEN 1. One set of images describing the work of the Holy Spirit; is the Spirit "falling upon" someone followed by action. What are the different results of this operation of the Spirit? What do all these have in common? (See chart on the Spirit of God Falls upon People Empowering them for Dynamic Action.) 2. What is the dynamic of the relationship between a prophet and the Spirit of God? 3. Do prophets just tell the future? What is the different between a true prophet and a fortuneteller? 4. How does God's word accomplish its purpose in human history? 5. What are some of the different ways that the Old Testament prophets received God's word? 6. Has God ever spoken in similar ways to you or to someone that you have known? How did you know that it was really God who had spoken? 7. It is recorded in the Old Testament that at times the Spirit of God came upon a person like Saul and he would be caught up into the glory and presence of God. Is there any parallel between this Old Testament work of the Spirit and the present day phenomenon of "resting in the Spirit?" THE PRMI DUNAMIS PROJECT GATEWAYS TO EMPOWERED MINISTRY

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8. In the Old Testament there are references to the Spirit of God within a person such as Joseph. What is the result in their lives of the Spirit within? 9. Summarize the various ways that the Spirit of God worked in the Old Testament. 10. What is the overall purpose of the work of the Spirit in the Old Testament among God's people?

IV. THE PROPHETS LOOK TO A NEW ERA OF THE SPIRIT 1. Why was it necessary for God to establish a New Covenant? What happened to the first one? 2. According to Jeremiah 31:31-34, in regards to the Law, what is to distinguish the New Covenant from the Old? 3. What kind of knowledge of God is envisioned in the New Covenant? How is such knowledge possible? (What is the role of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit?) 4. According to Ezekiel 36:25-27, what is to be the role of the Holy Spirit in the New Covenant? 5. According to the Prophet Joel and the hope of Moses, in the New Covenant, what is to be distinctive about the work of the Holy Spirit in regards to empowerment? 6. How has the "valley of dry bones" prophecy by Ezekiel been fulfilled? What is to be the relationship between the Spirit of God and the community? 7. When the prophets look toward the coming of a Spirit-empowered Messiah what do they envision? 8. Who is the last of the Old Testament prophets? Why? 9. What is to be unique about the Spirit empowered Messiah?

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JESUS AND THE HOLY SPIRIT

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. JESUS CONCEIVED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT : THE SPIRIT WITHIN HIM A. JESUS AS THE WATERSHED IN HUMAN HISTORY B. JESUS CONCEIVED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT 1. FIRST, WE TOUCH AGAIN THE CREATIVE WORK OF THE SPIRIT 2. SECOND, JESUS CHRIST FROM CONCEPTION ONWARD HAD THE SPIRIT OF GOD WITHIN HIM II. JESUS IS EMPOWERED BY THE SPIRIT: THE SPIRIT UPON HIM

171 171 171 172 173 173

A. JESUS ANOINTED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT 173 176 B. JESUS FULFILLS HIS MISSION THROUGH THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT 1. THE OLD TESTAMENT BACKGROUND 176 177 2. CHRIST AS SPIRIT-EMPOWERED PROPHET a) Jesus saw himself as a prophet 177 b) The people also saw Jesus as a prophet 177 177 3. JESUS' WORK AS SPIRIT-FILLED PROPHET a) Jesus preached God's word with power and authority 177 b) Jesus saw deeply into the hearts of men and women 178 c) Jesus interpreted the Law of Moses and called the people to obedience 179 179 4. CHRIST AS SPIRIT-EMPOWERED PRIEST a) The Old Testament Role of Priest and The Two Types of Sacrifice 179 (1) The First Was For the Atonement of Sin 180 (2) The Second Was For Thanksgiving 180 5. THROUGH THE ANOINTING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT JESUS FULFILLS THE OLD TESTAMENT WORK OF PRIEST AND OFFERS BOTH TYPES OF SACRIFICE 180 a) Jesus as priest forgives sins and brings reconciliation between God and humankind 181 b) Jesus as priest heals and makes whole those who are broken 181 c) Jesus healing work embraces the whole person and the cosmos 182 d) Jesus intercedes for us 182 183 6. CHRIST AS SPIRIT-EMPOWERED KING a) Jesus as king calls men and women to obey and follow Him 184 b) Jesus as king routs the kingdom of Satan 184 c) Jesus as Spirit-anointed king has power over nature 185 III. JESUS RECEIVED THE HOLY SPIRIT NOT ONLY FOR HIMSELF BUT FOR US A. JESUS AS THE ARCHETYPAL SPIRIT-FILLED MAN 1. BEFORE HIS BAPTISM, HE DID NOT MANIFEST ANY SUPERNATURAL POWERS 2. JESUS SAYS THAT HE TOTALLY DEPENDED UPON THE FATHER B. JESUS BAPTIZES WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT SO THAT WE MAY CONTINUE HIS 185 185 187 187

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WORK C. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE SPIRIT OF JESUS IV. TEACHING CHARTS A. JESUS AND THE HOLY SPIRIT B. JESUS AS HOLY SPIRIT EMPOWERED PROPHET, PRIEST, AND KING V. STUDY QUESTIONS: JESUS AND THE HOLY SPIRIT

170 188 191 193 195 196 198

A. JESUS CONCEIVED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT: THE SPIRIT WITHIN HIM 198 198 B. JESUS IS EMPOWERED BY THE SPIRIT: THE SPIRIT UPON HIM C. JESUS RECEIVED THE HOLY SPIRIT NOT ONLY FOR HIMSELF BUT FOR US AS WELL 198

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I. JESUS CONCEIVED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT : THE SPIRIT WITHIN HIM


A. JESUS AS THE WATERSHED IN HUMAN HISTORY
Jesus Christ is the great watershed in human history; He fulfills the Old Covenant and establishes the New Covenant. In Jesus, all the Old Testament prophecies find their fulfillment and are transcended. In His own blood, Jesus establishes the New Covenant, which is the basis of a new relationship between God and the human race. In and through Jesus, the Holy Spirit begins a new form of work in the world. Paul calls this new reality brought in Christ the "dispensation of the Spirit." 1 Only through Jesus Christ may we understand fully the Holy Spirit. Only in Jesus may the Spirit with His gifts, power, and grace be ours. Only through the Holy Spirit may we receive and know Jesus Christ. We examine now the work of the Holy Spirit in regards to Jesus Christ. We find a threefold ordering. 1. Jesus had the Holy Spirit within Him enabling intimacy with the Father and transforming His character. 2. He had the Holy Spirit upon Him in the manner of an Old Testament prophet or king for empowering for His mission. 3. He baptizes those called to Him with the Holy Spirit, that they may be empowered for mission as well.

B.

JESUS CONCEIVED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT

The miracle of the Word becoming flesh 2 took place through the work of the Holy Spirit. When we ask, "How is it possible that God, the Creator of all the universe, can become a
1 2

II Corinthians 3:8 John 1:14

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human being?" we touch a deep mystery. 3 The event is extraordinarily holy and mysterious, yet at the same time touches earthy things like sex, conception, and birth. When the angel announced to an astonished, unmarried Mary that she was to have a son, Mary asked, "How can this be?" The angel replied...
The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. (Luke 1:35)

These mysteries are beyond human comprehension, but we can grasp some important truths about the work of the Holy Spirit.

1.

First, we touch again the creative work of the Spirit

In the creation of the universe the Holy Spirit was present and active. He also has a part in the New Creation. Unlike the first creation, Mary is not some object like the chaos waters, upon which the Spirit would act. Rather she is a free human being created in the image of God. Thus, in addition to the "hovering of the Spirit" and the word spoken by the angel, both must be received in faith and obedience. There is revealed here the three-fold dynamic of God's creative work among His people. First: the Spirit moving or hovering over the situation. Second: the word of God being discerned and spoken. Third: the word of God being met with faith and obedience in the hearts of those who hear. Through the Spirit, with the cooperation of Mary, God the Father brought forth a perfect paradox and mystery: Jesus Christ, who is fully human and fully divine. He is the Son of God, but just as surely the son of Mary.

John 1:1

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2. Second, Jesus Christ from conception onward had the Spirit of God within Him
Jesus is the first fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies that the Spirit of God would dwell within, giving a new heart and knowledge of God and the Law. 4 The story of Mary and Joseph losing Jesus in Jerusalem after the feast reveals this inward work of the Spirit. He knew that God was His Abba, He also knew the law, for the teachers were astonished at His questions and answers. 5 This inward, sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in Jesus is also pointed to by the author of Hebrews.
Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and being made perfect he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 5:8-10)

From the Greek the term "being made perfect" must be seen as "maturing" or "completeness" rather then "becoming morally perfect", which he already was from birth. 6 The inward work of the Holy Spirit has not to do with power, but with character of the person and his relationship with God. It is highly significant that Jesus performed no miracles until after being baptized by John. It was then that the Holy Spirit fell upon Him, granting gifts and power for service.

II. JESUS IS EMPOWERED BY THE SPIRIT: THE SPIRIT UPON HIM


A. JESUS ANOINTED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT
When Jesus was about thirty years old He went down to the Jordan River, there He was baptized by John the Baptist. Afterwards the Spirit fell upon Him.

4 5

Jeremiah 31:31, Ezekiel 36:25-27 Luke 2:47 6 The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament carefully shows the use of teleioo in describing maturation and ripeness, not moral perfection.

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Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form, as a dove, and a voice came from heaven, Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased. (Luke 3:21-22)

This was the decisive turning point in the life of Jesus. Up until this point, He had had the Spirit within Him, shaping and molding His character as well as giving knowledge of the Father and of the Law. But now the Spirit begins a new work in His life. The purpose of this operation of the Holy Spirit is empowerment for service.
God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how He went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. (Acts 10:38)

We also see the effects of the anointing in His ministry. In all the Gospels the time following Jesus' baptism is filled with dynamic, empowered ministry. The Gospel of Mark again and again uses the word immediately. This word captures the flavor of Jesus spirit-empowered ministry. It was intense and fast moving. One can feel an explosion of healing and liberating power coming out from Jesus. Indeed, Luke says "And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came forth from him and healed them all." 7 All this took place because the Holy Spirit had fallen upon Him at His baptism. Mark 1:12 "The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness." Here in the power of the Holy Spirit Jesus overcame the temptations of Satan. Mark 1:21 and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught." Jesus taught with such power and authority that demons begin to manifest and were cast out. Mark 1:29 Simon..." "And immediately He left the synagogue and entered the house of

There He healed Simon's mother-in-law from a fever. Mark 1:34 "And He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons..."

Luke 6:19

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And the account goes on of how Jesus preached with power, healed the sick, cast out demons, and brought forgiveness. The Spirit Falling Upon Jesus Is In Continuity With The Old Testament The Spirit falling upon Jesus granting power for service is not a new thing. It is consistent with the Spirit's work in the Old Testament. It is the same "falling upon" followed by dynamic action or speaking that we see in the Old Testament prophets, kings, and judges. It is also in fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies that looked forward to the coming of a Messiah who would have the Spirit of God upon him. After the experience of the Holy Spirit falling upon Him, Jesus seems to have been intensely aware that what has happened to Him is rooted in the Old Testament. Luke records that after passing through the wilderness temptation, Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit. In Nazareth, His home town, He enters the synagogue and reads these words from the prophet Isaiah:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. (Luke 4:18-19)

Then, to the astonishment of everyone present, Jesus adds:


"Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." 8

By quoting these words from Isaiah, Jesus connected Himself to the Old Testament understanding of Spirit-anointed leadership and identified Himself as the long expected Messiah. It is little wonder that He was met with such intense reactions. People followed Him, were awed by Him, afraid of Him. When He spoke true words of judgment against them they were filled with wrath and tried to throw Him off a cliff. 9 Let it be established then that Jesus, in continuity with, and in fulfillment of the Old Testament, had the Holy Spirit upon Him for power. This power was given so that He may fulfill the mission given Him by God the Father.

8 9

Luke 4:21 Luke 4:28-30

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B. JESUS FULFILLS HIS MISSION THROUGH THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT


1. The Old Testament Background

In the Old Testament there were three major offices which God established for the preservation of His people. a) Prophet--the one whose task it was to speak God's word to the people. b) Priest--the person who served as mediator between God and the people and offered sacrifices for the sins of the people. c) King--the person to whom was entrusted the governance and protection of the community of faith. 10 Each of these offices was usually filled by one man. But there were cases where a person occupied two different offices. For instance Ezekiel and Isaiah were priests as well as prophets. The strange mythical figure of Melchizedek is both "king of Salem," and "priest of the Most High God." 11 Jesus, as the fulfillment of the Old Testament, fills each of these positions. John Calvin summarizes Jesus' mission as follows:
Therefore, in order that faith may find a firm basis for salvation in Christ, and thus rest in him, this principle must be laid down: the office enjoined upon Christ by the Father consists of three parts. For He was given to be prophet, king, and priest. 12

Jesus fills all three offices perfectly. He is a Spirit anointed prophet, priest, and king.

10 11

The Old Testament judges as rulers would have been contained within the office of King. Hebrews 7:1, Genesis 14:18 12 John Calvin, Institutes Book II, Chapter 15 Section 1 p. 494.

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2.
a)

Christ as Spirit-Empowered Prophet


Jesus saw himself as a prophet

In Luke 4:18 by quoting the passage from Isaiah He took upon Himself the task of preaching which is the work of the prophet. He also called Himself a prophet when He said, "no prophet is acceptable in his own country." 13 b) The people also saw Jesus as a prophet

Once Jesus met a burial procession. A widow's only son was being carried out in the pier. The woman was weeping. Jesus, out of compassion, commanded the young man to arise. "The dead man sat up, and began to speak." When the people saw it they were filled with fear and glorified God. They said, a "A great Prophet has arisen among us!" 14

3.
a)

Jesus' Work as Spirit-Filled Prophet


Jesus preached God's word with power and authority

As a prophet, Jesus came to teach and preach God's word. When Jesus first started preaching in Capernaum the text says, "they were astonished at his teaching for his word was with authority." 15 Jesus was so anointed to preach that often as He preached demons would be dislodged and forced to manifest. 16 The primary content of Jesus' preaching was the Kingdom of God. Jesus affirms that to preach the good news of the Kingdom was His purpose in coming.
But He said, I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent. (Luke 4:43)

13 14

Luke 4:24 Luke 7:12-16 15 Luke 4:32 16 Preaching that is powerfully anointed with the Holy Spirit often will force demons to manifest. Demons prefer to stay hidden so they can continue to afflict and tempt the person in whom they reside. With the anointed preaching of Jesus as well as ours, the Kingdom of God becomes actually present. When this happens, by their torment and resistance to the light, they expose their existence. They may then be named and driven out.

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"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel." (Mark 1:15)

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Even after Jesus' resurrection Luke records that when He appeared to the disciples He was still "speaking of the kingdom of God." 17 b) Jesus saw deeply into the hearts of men and women

The prophet was one who saw deeply into the hearts of men and women as well as into the heart of God. Of Elisha it was said that he knew what the King of Syria said in his bedchamber. 18 Jesus has the same gift of deep seeing. When Jesus sat in Simon's house, a woman from the street came in and started to anoint Him with sweet smelling ointment. She washed His feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. Simon was appalled at the women's behavior and apparently even more appalled that Jesus let her do it. He said to Himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she was a sinner." 19 Jesus was indeed a prophet; He did know what sort of woman she was. He knew that she had sinned greatly. He also knew that her tears were tears of repentance and love for Him who would not reject her. He directly spoke God's words saying, "Your sins are forgiven. 20 Jesus also knew Simon's own thoughts. So He told the parable of the person who had been forgiven much and so loved much. Again Jesus displays this gift when talking to the woman at the well. He knows that she has had five husbands. When she reports it to the village she says to the people, "Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?" 21 This ability to see deeply into hearts of others and to know the mind of God is expressed through the spiritual gifts of knowledge, wisdom, discernment, and prophecy. The Holy Spirit may grant to those who follow Him the same gifts today.

Acts 1:3 2 Kings 6:11-12 The King of Syria suspected that one of his men was a spy because the king of Israel often times seemed to know ahead of time his plans. The men said no one was a spy rather it was Elisha who, "tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bed chamber." 19 Luke 7:39 20 Luke 7:48 21 John 4:29
18

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c)

Jesus interpreted the Law of Moses and called the people to obedience

The historical role of the prophet has also included the interpretation of the Law. Jesus radically reinterpreted the Law. He swept away the crust of oppressive legalism that the Pharisees had amassed around the law to reveal its true spirit, as demonstrated in His Sermon on the Mount. Often the learned men of Israel would ask Him hard questions about the Law in order to test Him.
And behold, a lawyer stood up to put Him to the test, saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said to him, What is written in the law? How do you read? And he answered, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself. And he said to him, You have answered right; do this, and you will live. (Luke 10:25-27)

Jesus is preeminently a prophet because He is anointed to speak God's words to us. Coming from the Father, the creator of the universe, these words were unlike those spoken by any other person in the world. They are words of eternal life. 22

4.

Christ as Spirit-Empowered Priest

We now turn to Jesus as Spirit-anointed priest. There is a great similarity between the priest and prophet. They both stand between God and humankind. But the direction is different. With the prophet, there is a downward movement from God to humanity. The prophet represents God to the people. The priest represents humanity to God. According to Hebrews, Jesus has been designated by God, "a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." 23 This means that He is a priest not according to the Levitical priesthood that is determined by birth, but by God's own election. a) The Old Testament Role of Priest and The Two Types of Sacrifice

In the Old Testament it was the role of the priest to enter the temple, and offer sacrifices to God for the people. Basically there were two types of sacrifice offered.

22 23

John 6:68 Hebrews 5:6

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(1)

The First Was For the Atonement of Sin

This required the shedding of the blood of a goat, lamb, calf, or bird. 24 The blood was important because, to the Hebrews, the life was in the blood. The sinner, seeking atonement with God, deserves to die. But in his or her stead the life-blood of an animal is offered up to God as a substitution. Hebrews says,
"Indeed under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins." (Hebrews 9:22)

Thus when there is the shedding of blood, it is called a sin offering.


(2) The Second Was For Thanksgiving

This form of sacrifice used grain, and was for thanksgiving and gratitude for God's grace. Usually this type of sacrifice went with the sacrifice for sin. 25 For the sacrifice, flour was mixed with oil and made into unleavened cakes. Part of these were burned as an offering to the Lord, part were given to the priest to be eaten. 26 Sometimes wine was also offered. 27 In the Law of Moses, this sacrificial system was highly developed and provided the means of atonement for sin, as well as, offering praise and thanksgiving to God. The priest presided over the whole system.

5. Through The Anointing of the Holy Spirit Jesus Fulfills the Old Testament Work of Priest and Offers Both Types of Sacrifice
Through the anointing of the Holy Spirit and obedience, Jesus fulfills the Old Testament requirements of priest. He, however, is the perfect priest who offers the perfect sacrifice of His own blood.
But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into
24 25

Leviticus 1:2-17, 4,5,6 all deal with sin offerings. Leviticus 2 26 Leviticus 2:4-10 27 Numbers 15:5

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the Holy Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God. (Hebrews 9:11-14)

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It was through the Holy Spirit that Jesus was able to offer Himself as the lamb without blemish. The completion of Jesus' atoning work was in His resurrection to life. This also was accomplished in the power of the Holy Spirit. 28 The shedding of Jesus' blood on the cross was the "sin offering" for all humanity once for all. Through faith in Christ we share in its benefits. But Jesus as priest in accordance with the Old Testament practice, did make provisions that the "Cereal Offering", i.e. the Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving, continue for all generations until He comes again. This is the Lord's Supper in which we break bread and drink the wine. In the life and ministry of Jesus, in addition to these great acts of sacrificial love, we see other aspects of his priestly work. a) Jesus as priest forgives sins and brings reconciliation between God and humankind When sinners came to Jesus in repentance He offered them forgiveness of sins. To the woman who was a great sinner who came to wash Jesus feet at Simon's house He said, "Your sins are forgiven." Those who were with Simon were astonished and asked, "Who is this, who even forgives sins?" 29 It is the Spirit-anointed Messiah, who is our great high priest! b) Jesus as priest heals and makes whole those who are broken

One of the primary aspects of Jesus ministry was that of healing the sick. His power of healing came from the anointing with the Holy Spirit. This work of Jesus could well have been placed under His prophetic or kingly office. Actually it belongs to all three offices. But I have put it under the priestly office because of the Old Testament understanding of sickness being related to sin. The sick person often needs physical healing as well as cleansing and forgiveness. The paralyzed man who was let down through the roof was first forgiven his sins, and then
28 29

Romans 8:11 Luke 7:48-49

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This relationship between healing and cleansing is also seen when Jesus heals those who had leprosy. According to the Law of Moses, such skin diseases made the person unclean and thus unable to be a member of the community of faith. Often when Jesus healed this type of sickness, he told the person to go to the temple and offer up the appropriate offering for their cleansing as Moses commanded as a proof to the people. 32 c) Jesus healing work embraces the whole person and the cosmos

Healing is the essential result of Jesus reconciling work. It has its focus in restoring the broken relationship between the individual and God (healing of the spirit.) But then from this point, in vastly expanding concentric circles it reaches out to include the whole person, the nations, and the cosmos:
The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. (Romans 8:19-21)

Thus, Jesus brings salvation to our souls, forgiveness between those who are estranged, inner healing and physical healing, and healing of the enmity between nations and races. Finally His healing work will climax in the new creation when there will be a new heaven and a new earth. 33 d) Jesus intercedes for us

Jesus Christ as our priest stands between God and us and prays for us.
It is God who justifies; who is to condemn? Is it Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us? (Romans 8:33-34) The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office; but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues for ever. Consequently
30 31

Luke 5:17-24 John 5:14 32 John 5:14 33 Revelation 21,22:1-5

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he is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:23-25)

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As we struggle in this life and seek to overcome the powers of death, we have the assurance that Jesus who took our nature upon Himself, prays for us, and seeks our good before the eternal Father. Without this knowledge, the universe would be utterly empty and void of hope. Let it be established then that Jesus filled and fulfilled the Old Testament office of priest. He is our great high priest through whose blood we are reconciled to God.

6.

Christ as Spirit-Empowered King

Jesus is also a Holy Spirit anointed king. Jesus came not only to announce the coming of the kingdom, but also to establish the kingdom. Jesus comes as king! It is true that Jesus' kingdom is not of this world. 34 But do not think that it has nothing to do with this world! Paul says, "For the Kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power." 35 The Kingdom of God is the rule, power, and authority of God bursting into human history. Where is the kingdom? Where is the evidence of its existence? When is it coming? The Pharisees asked Jesus the same question. Jesus answered them saying,
"The Kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, `Lo, here it is!' or `There!' for behold, the Kingdom of God is within you. (Luke 17:20-21)

To grasp the power and significance of Jesus' answer, imagine for a moment the context. Jesus is standing in the midst of the people who crowded around him. When Jesus says, the kingdom of God is within you, He is pointing to Himself. He, Jesus Christ, is in the midst of them. He is the king and where the king is, there is the kingdom. Jesus has now ascended to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit. Now through the Holy Spirit, Jesus is present. Thus, wherever the Holy Spirit is moving and active there is the kingdom of God. The other reading is also correct, the kingdom is also within you, because the Holy Spirit, and thus Jesus Christ, takes His seat of rule within our hearts. Who are his subjects? His subjects can be identified as all those who are born of water and
34 35

John 18:36 I Corinthians 4:20

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To a king there must be given authority and power. This came to Jesus at the time the Holy Spirit fell upon Him. From that day hence He received power to fulfill the office of king. While on earth, however, His power was not full and complete. This is because His task was not complete. After the resurrection and ascension, Jesus took His place of glory at the right hand of the Father. Then as Jesus Himself says,
"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." (Matthew 28:18)

While on earth we see Jesus as king in many ways. a) Jesus as king calls men and women to obey and follow Him

An earthly king has authority to call others to follow Him and to do His bidding. Jesus, likewise, has authority to call men and women to follow Him and enter into His service. To Peter, Matthew, and the other disciples Jesus said in kingly authority, "Come, follow me." Willingly and joyfully, they dropped everything and followed Him. 38 b) Jesus as king routs the kingdom of Satan

In addition to healing, another main work of Jesus is that of casting out demons. Everywhere Jesus went He cast out demons, setting free all those oppressed by the devil. Often when Jesus preached, evil spirits would start to manifest themselves. How are we to understand this strange phenomenon? When Jesus went into an area to preach, He was the vanguard of the Kingdom of God. Thus there was a clash between the kingdom of Satan and the Kingdom of God. The result was that demons were driven out of hiding, lost their hold on people, and were overcome by the Kingdom of God. When challenged as to the source of His power for casting out demons, Jesus answered:
"But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God then the Kingdom of God has come upon you." (Luke 11:20) 39

Jesus as king and messiah has come not only to reconcile men and women to God but also to
36 37

John 3:5 Luke 8:19-21 38 Mark 1:17-18 39 Luke 11:20, Matthew 12:28. "Finger of God" and "Spirit of God" are synonymous.

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bring healing. He has also come as a warrior, defeating the power of Satan who has held the world captive. Jesus is on the defensive; He actively seeks out and destroys Satan's strongholds. In John I it is written:
"...The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil." (I John 3:8)

Thus, the casting out of demons not only demonstrated compassion for the oppressed, but also served as a sign of the coming kingdom. c) Jesus as Spirit-anointed king has power over nature

Jesus' kingship also included authority over the natural order. Jesus commanded the wind and the waves.
And a storm of wind came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in danger. And they went and woke him saying, Master, Master, we are perishing! And He awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves; and they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, Where is your faith? And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, Who then is this, that he commands even wind and water, and they obey him? (Luke 8:23-25)

We also see Jesus power over nature when He performed miracles like feeding the five thousand or turning water into wine. 40 Raising Lazarus and the widow's son from the dead also belong to His kingly work. 41 These miracles demonstrate that in Jesus resides the abundant creative power of God. This is life abundant, life in all its creative exuberance. It not only alters the laws of nature, but also overcomes the creation's bondage to decay. Christ is the King, the Lord of the whole universe. Through the Holy Spirit we enter His kingdom, as sons and daughters, and are granted gifts and power that we may express His kingship on earth.

III. JESUS RECEIVED THE HOLY SPIRIT NOT ONLY FOR HIMSELF BUT FOR US
A. JESUS AS THE ARCHETYPAL SPIRIT-FILLED MAN

40 41

Luke 9:12-17, John 2:1-11 Luke 7:12-16, John 11:1-44

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The Christian Church has often focused on Jesus as the Son of God. This affirmation of the divinity of Christ is correct, for truly His divine light shines forth revealing the true nature of God and His intentions toward the human race. Jesus Christ is light of light, God of God! In these pages, however, without in any way dimming the glory of Jesus divine nature, I want to stress Jesus' human nature. In a paradoxical, incomprehensible way, Jesus is fully God and fully human, like us in every way, except without sin. This truth of Jesus humanity is strongly affirmed in Philippians 2:6-7
...though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

Seeing Jesus from the human perspective will bring a clarity about the work of the Holy Spirit both in Jesus' life as well as our own. Many Christians have attributed Jesus' power and miracles to His divine nature. When viewed only from this perspective, his mighty acts are seen as signs that He is the Son of God, meant to stir us to belief and adoration. 42 This orientation, however, really implies a quantum difference between Jesus and us. He is God. We are only human beings. His exorcisms, healings, prophetic preaching, feeding the five thousand, powers over nature, all flow from his divine nature, and thus come from a reality in which we can never share. But Jesus speaks strange words that are incomprehensible from this divine orientation. Incredibly Jesus says,
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father. (John 14:12)

Is it really possible that Jesus expects us to do what He did? It is often pointed out that, through modern communications and transportation methods, Billy Graham has preached to many more people than Jesus did. Preaching to millions of people is certainly a great work. This explanation only avoids the results of this traditional evangelical perspective that sees the miracles as proof of Jesus' divinity. The bottom line is that human beings, because we are not God, are unable to share in Jesus' power ministry.
Conservative Christians may well have brought this attitude upon themselves by relying too heavily on the value of miracles as proof
John 20:30-31. It is true that Jesus miracles do point to His divine nature, they also point to the fact that He is a man anointed with the Holy Spirit. But the miracles are not the proof of his divinity
42

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of, for example, the divinity of Jesus. The result has been in many Christian apologetics, a disastrous cleavage between the preaching of the Kingdom by Jesus on the one hand, and the necessity of dealing with the gospel miracle stories on the other. The evidential emphasis on miracles has been much used since the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but it belongs essentially with belief in the fixity of the natural order, and belief in a doctrine of immutability in the so called laws of nature. The emphasis had no place in the minds of the NT writers, for whom miracles might be expected daily, and for whom miracles were no necessary sign of divinity. 43

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From Jesus' own perspective and worldview, what he meant in the promise that we would do the works that he did is, just what he says! We will carry on the same power ministry that He did: preaching the Kingdom of God with authority, forgiving people's sins, casting out demons, healing the sick, setting people free from bondage to sin. We are to do what He did, and do it in the same way that He did, as weak human beings, totally lacking supernatural powers, radically dependent upon the Holy Spirit. As fully human, Jesus is the archetypal, Spirit-filled man. He did what he did through the Holy Spirit upon him, not through any intrinsic supernatural power of his own. We may see Jesus' dependence upon the Spirit in two ways. 1. Before his baptism, He did not manifest any supernatural powers

There are apocryphal stories about the boy Jesus making clay birds and breathing life into them. These stories did not make it into the New Testament because they have no basis in fact. As we have already noted Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, so from the womb He had the Spirit within Him, teaching Him the things of God as well as shaping and molding His character. Power for ministry was not given until the Spirit fell upon Him at His baptism. 2. Jesus says that He totally depended upon the Father

Jesus says,
Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever he does, that the Son does likewise. For Father loves the Son and shows him all that
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W. F. Albright and C.S. Mann, Matthew The Anchor Bible, pg. CXXVII

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he himself is doing; and greater works than these will he show him, that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He will. (John 5:19-21)

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Jesus can do nothing in Himself. He is totally dependent upon discerning what the Father is doing, and in obedience following along. This is the source of His miracles and power. Jesus knew that the Father, through the Spirit, was moving to heal, so in power He healed. Jesus knew that the Father, through the Spirit, was moving to raise the dead, so in boldness He said, "'Lazarus, come out.' The dead man came out." 44 We believe the purpose of Jesus' wilderness testing by the devil was to establish this principle of radical dependence upon God the Father. When Jesus was anointed with the Spirit, He did indeed receive power and authority. But it was power that was directed by, and subordinate to the will of the Father. 45 Each of the temptations is the suggestion that Jesus act on His own, and not in accordance with what He sees the Father doing. This is all relevant to us. We are called to enter the Kingdom of God. In the Kingdom we are to carry on the three offices of Christ. This is not some impossible illusion of grandeur; it is a concrete possibility born out of the fact that Jesus has given us the same Holy Spirit who was upon Him.

B. JESUS BAPTIZES WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT SO THAT WE MAY CONTINUE HIS WORK
Jesus as prophet, priest, and king is in continuity with the Old Testament counterparts. He fulfilled his mission through the Holy Spirit upon Him for power. Unlike the Old Testament prophets, priests, and kings, Jesus received the Holy Spirit not only for Himself but also for His people. There is, however, a decisive difference between Jesus and the Old Testament figures. He has received the Holy Spirit not only for Himself but for us as well. As John the Baptist says,
"...He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, `He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'" (John 1:33)

The baptism with the Holy Spirit is the act of Jesus transferring the Holy Spirit that was within and upon Him, to His body the Church. John Calvin summarizes this concept:
44 45

John 11:43-44 Matthew 26:53-54

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We see that He was anointed by the Spirit to be herald and witness of the Fathers grace. And that not in the common way - for He is distinguished from other teachers with a similar office. On the other hand, we must note this: He received anointing, not only for Himself that He might carry out the office of teaching, but for his whole body that the power of the Spirit might be present in the continuing preaching of the gospel. ...Then this anointing was diffused from the Head to the members, as Joel had foretold: "Your sons shall prophesy and your daughters shall see visions, etc." Joel 2:28 46

Jesus imparts spiritual power and authority to his disciples. The transfer of spiritual authority to us actually began during Jesus' earthly ministry. After preparing his disciples through teaching and example, Jesus moved them into actual practice of power ministry. They begin to experience the Holy Spirit "upon them" for power just as the Old Testament prophets and judges did, even before Pentecost.
He called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and sent them out to preach the Kingdom of God and to heal. (Luke 9:1-2)

After this He sent out seventy and commanded them to heal the sick and to proclaim that the Kingdom of God has come near. These disciples returned in great joy and excitement; they discovered that they really did have spiritual authority. They reported to Jesus, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!" 47 Before ascending into heaven, Jesus gave his disciples the Great Commission to continue His work. They are to be His witnesses proclaiming the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age. (Matthew 28:18-20)

Along with the giving of the mission, goes the promise of the Holy Spirit through whom this mission would be accomplished.
Jesus said to them again, Peace be with you, As the Father has sent me, even so I send you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retrain the sins of any, they are retained. (John 20:21-23)
46 47

Institutes p. 496 Vol. 1 Book II, 15,2 Luke 10:1-24

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And these signs will accompany those who believe; in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover. (Mark 16:1718) 48 You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high. (Luke 24:48-49) And while staying with them he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, you heard from me, for John baptized with water, but before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:4-5) But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

At Pentecost, after the Holy Spirit had been poured out upon the people, a large crowd gathered. They were amazed to hear the disciples praising God in other tongues. They wondered what was happening. In explanation, Peter says:
This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are witness. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which you see and hear. (Acts 2:32-33)

"Being exalted at the right hand of God, means that all authority in heaven on earth has been given to Jesus. 49 This authority came from His obedient death upon the cross, which brought redemption to the whole universe. Jesus is Lord of the universe; it is out of this Lordship that the Holy Spirit is poured out upon us. The Spirit is given for several reasons: 1) So that we may be born into the Kingdom of God. 2) As God's children we may grow into spiritual maturity. 3) We may be anointed to carry on the kingly, priestly and prophetic offices of Christ.
There is no mention here of the Holy Spirit but these are all results of the Holy Spirit upon us. The fact that some ancient manuscripts do not include this verse has led some scholars to suggest that it is an addition of the early church. If this is so, then it only serves to confirm that the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit were seen as a normal part of the Christian life in the early Church. 49 Matthew 28:18
48

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C. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE SPIRIT OF JESUS


After the ascension, Jesus is no longer, in the flesh, present with us. The Holy Spirit has come as "another comforter" to represent Jesus. We must understand, however, that in sending the Spirit, Jesus does not absent himself from the affairs of the world. Jesus is not an absentee landlord who sends some agent to manage his busyness. No! Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus and God the Father are present and active in the world. Before continuing to study in detail the work of the Holy Spirit, one fact must be set as an anchor to our faith; there is an inseparable relationship between Jesus and the Spirit.
But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although your bodies are dead because of sin, your spirits are alive because of righteousness. (Romans 8:9-10)

Paul uses "in the Spirit', the "Spirit of God", the "Spirit of Christ", and "Christ", interchangeably because in the Holy Spirit's indwelling we have present not only the Holy Spirit, but the Father and the Son as well. The following passages from John also clearly reveals that the Holy Spirit is the means by which Jesus is at work in our midst.
And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another counselor, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you. (John 14:16-17) In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. (John 14:20) Jesus answered him, If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. (John 14:23)

In the Holy Spirit the resurrected Jesus is actively present and at work in the world moving to accomplish His purposes. In coming to know the Holy Spirit, we will be led to Jesus Christ.

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TEACHING CHARTS: PART V

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A. JESUS AND THE HOLY SPIRIT


1. Jesus conceived by the Holy Spirit. Luke 1:35 2. Jesus has the Holy Spirit within Him giving knowledge of the Father and shaping His character. Luke 2:48-49, Hebrews 5:8-10 3. The Holy Spirit falls upon Jesus empowering Him for mission. (As with the Old Testament prophets, priests and kings.) Luke 3:21-22, Luke 4:18-19, Acts 10:38 4. Jesus performs mighty works because He is empowered by the Holy Spirit, and obeys the Father. John 5:19-21 5. Jesus baptizes His people with the Holy Spirit that they may continue to do His work. John 1:33, Luke 9:1-2, Luke 24:48-49, Acts 1:8 6. Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, and the Father are present and active. John 14:16, John 14:20, John 14:23

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B. JESUS AS HOLY SPIRIT EMPOWERED PROPHET, PRIEST, AND KING


The Reformed Doctrine of the three offices of Christ. According to John Calvin: Jesus is prophet, priest, and king.

1. JESUS AS SPIRIT-EMPOWERED PROPHET


a. Jesus preached God's word with power and authority. Luke 4:18-19, Mark 1:14-15, Luke 4:32 b. Jesus saw deeply into the hearts of men and women. Luke 7:39, John 4:16, c. Jesus interpreted the Law of Moses and called for obedience. Luke 10:25-27

2. JESUS AS SPIRIT-EMPOWERED PRIEST


a. Jesus fulfills the Old Testament sacrificial system. (1) On the cross Jesus offers himself as the sin offering for atonement for sin. Leviticus 1:2-17, Hebrews 9:22, Hebrews 9:11-14 (2) At the last supper with the bread and wine Jesus establishes the cereal offering for thanksgiving. Leviticus 2:4-10, Matthew 26:26-29 b. Jesus as priest forgives sins and brings reconciliation. Luke 7:48-50, 2 Corinthians 18 c. Jesus heals and cleanses those who are sick. Luke 5:20-25, Luke 5:12-14

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JESUS AS PRIEST CONTINUED
d. Jesus' healing includes the whole universe. Romans 8:19-23, Revelation 21, 22:1-5 e. Jesus intercedes for us. Romans 8:33-34, Hebrews 7:23-25

3. JESUS AS SPIRIT-EMPOWERED KING


a. Jesus Kingdom - where he is present and rules. Luke 17:20-21, John 3:5, Luke 8:19-21 b. Jesus calls men and women to obey and follow him. Mark 1:16-20 c. Jesus routs the kingdom of Satan. Luke 11:20, Matthew 12:28 d. Jesus exercises authority over nature. Luke 8:23-25, John 11

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V. STUDY QUESTIONS: JESUS AND THE HOLY SPIRIT


A. JESUS CONCEIVED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT: THE SPIRIT WITHIN HIM
1. What three-fold dynamic resulted in the mystery of the incarnation? Do we see these ingredients at work in other places in scripture and in our own lives? 2. What evidence is there that after being conceived by the Holy Spirit, Jesus then began the process of sanctification? 3. From the life of Jesus of what does the Holy Spirit's inward work consist? 4. What Old Testament prophecies does this inward work of the Holy Spirit fulfill? 5. What parallels does the inward work of the Holy Spirit in Jesus life have to our own life in Jesus Christ?

B. JESUS IS EMPOWERED BY THE SPIRIT: THE SPIRIT UPON HIM


6. What happened when Jesus was baptized in the River Jordan? Why did this mark the transition into his public ministry? 7. What are the three Old Testament offices that are fulfilled in Jesus? Discuss the meaning of each of these three offices. How do they directly effect us?

C. JESUS RECEIVED THE HOLY SPIRIT NOT ONLY FOR HIMSELF BUT FOR US AS WELL
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10. How was Jesus dependent upon the Holy Spirit? 11. What implications are there for us if Jesus is a human being endowed with supernatural power from the Holy Spirit as opposed to a God who performs wonders? 12. Why does Jesus baptize His people with the Holy Spirit? 13. In regards to the work of the Holy Spirit, how is Jesus in continuity with the Old Testament prophets? How is He radically different from the Old Testament figures? 14. After Pentecost what is the relationship between the Holy Spirit and Jesus?

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I. THE NEW DISPENSATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT'S WORK

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II. THE FOUR BASIC WORKS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE LIFE OF THE BELIEVER205 A. JUSTIFICATION: NEW BIRTH INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD 205 B. SANCTIFICATION: GROWING UP INTO CHRIST YIELDING THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT 208 C. EMPOWERMENT: RECEIVING THE HOLY SPIRIT'S POWER FOR SERVICE AND WITNESS 210 D. KOINONIA: THE BUILDING AND EXTENDING OF COMMUNITY AMONG THE MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY OF GOD. 213 III. ALL WORKS ARE POTENTIALLY OURS FROM BAPTISM ONWARD 215

IV. TEACHING CHARTS A. THE FOUR BASIC WORKS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 1. BORN INTO THE KINGDOM 2. SANCTIFICATION 3. EMPOWERMENT 4. KOINONIA V. STUDY QUESTIONS: THE FOUR WORKS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

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A. JUSTIFICATION: NEW BIRTH INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD 220 B. SANCTIFICATION: GROWING UP INTO CHRIST, YIELDING THE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT 220 C. EMPOWERMENT: RECEIVING THE HOLY SPIRIT'S POWER FOR SERVICE AND WITNESS 220 D. KOINONIA: THE BUILDING AND EXTENDING OF COMMUNITY AMONG THE MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY OF GOD 221 221 E. ALL WORKS ARE POTENTIALLY OURS FROM BAPTISM ONWARD

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I. THE NEW DISPENSATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT'S WORK


After the ascension of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit has been poured out upon the church.
This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which you see and hear (Acts 2:33)

Paul calls this the dispensation of the Spirit which will be attended with even greater splendor then dispensation of the law. 1 The Holy Spirit is now "Emmanuel", God with us. His work not only includes heaven but also embraces the earth. What is He doing among us? He is vast; His work is vast. Like the wind He is mysterious. His movements are often beyond the reach of our apprehension. He is immensely creative and though His purpose remains constant, which is witnessing to Jesus Christ. His works are varied. From the witness of Scripture we may discern three general ways that the Holy Spirit is at work among us. These are justification, sanctification, and empowerment. The result of this three-fold working, and distinctive in its own right, is what seems to be a fourth operation of the Holy Spirit. This is koinonia. 2 Though we shall have to take them in sequential order, experientially it is difficult to separate them so neatly. We are baptized into them all and the Christian life consists of growing into all the fullness of the Spirit's work. Lets look at a description of each of these categories.

II. THE FOUR BASIC WORKS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE LIFE OF THE BELIEVER
A. JUSTIFICATION: NEW BIRTH INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD
The Problem: How do we enter into the Kingdom of God?

1 2

2 Corinthians 3: 7-11 The three-fold division of the Holy Spirit's work in the life of the believer is suggested by the Reformed theologian Hendrikus Berkhof, in The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, John Knox Press. The recognition of the fourth work came through conversations with the Rev. Archer Torrey.

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From the testimony of Scripture and the doctrines of the Church we know that in Jesus are to e found all the treasures of fellowship with God and the gift of eternal life. "All the promises of God find their yes in him." 3 We may affirm these things intellectually, and elaborate them as a philosophical system. But there is a gap! How do these blessings become ours? How does Jesus move from a historical fact and true doctrine to become lived reality? In a nighttime conversation with Jesus this was Nicodemus' question. 4 He knew that Jesus was sent from God and had the keys to the Kingdom of God. But how would one enter into the Kingdom? How would one bridge the gap between knowing about the Kingdom and being in the Kingdom? There is a door and a way in. It is Jesus Christ. We must somehow get inside of Jesus and have Jesus inside of us! John Calvin says:
First we must understand that as long as Christ remains outside of us, and we are separated from him, all that he has suffered and done for the salvation of the human race remains useless and of no value for us. 5

The way that we enter in and are connected to Jesus Christ is through the agency of the Holy Spirit. Calvin calls the Holy Spirit "The bond by which Christ effectually unites us to Himself." 6 Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be born again. When asked the very natural question of "How is this possible?" Jesus answers,
"Truly truly I say to you unless one is born of Water and the Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God." (John 3:3)

Here we touch a mystery as deep as the mystery of Jesus Himself being conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary. By the same Holy Spirit, we are born into the family of God as sons and daughters. The Holy Spirit thus makes the whole Christian life possible. Without the Holy Spirit, entrance into the Kingdom of God, and sharing in the new life in Jesus Christ, would all forever be beyond our reach. How does the Holy Spirit bring us to be born again? Nicodemus wanted to know the same thing and was given the answer, that it is a mystery. Truly, it is a mystery, but we must push to the limits of our understanding and uncover the depths of the mystery.
3 4

II Corinthians 1:20 John 3:1-15 5 John Calvin Institutes Book 3, Chapter I, sec. 1 pp. 537- 538. 6 John Calvin Institutes Book 3, Chapter I, sec. 1 page 537- 538

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But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12-13)

This passage gives us the clue that the keys to being born again rest in faith in Jesus Christ. It will not serve our purpose here to fully elaborate the nature of faith, only let us ask what is its source and possibility. The principle work of the Holy Spirit is giving us faith in Jesus Christ. We return to the Holy Spirit. Calvin says, "But faith is the principal work of the Holy Spirit." 7 In reflecting on Ephesians 1:13 Calvin further says,
Paul shows the Spirit to be the inner teacher by whose effort the promise of salvation penetrates into our minds, a promise that would otherwise only strike the air or beat upon our ears. 8

In Revelations 3:20 we find this well-known image of Christ knocking at the door.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

While this image has been interpreted to refer to the church as a whole, it may also apply to individuals. There is contained in this passage the mystery of human freedom and the sovereignty of God. God has given us freedom and with it responsibility. We must decide to get up and open the door and let Jesus come into our hearts. But it is not within our will nor capacities to hear Jesus' voice. The ability to hear and to open the door is the result of the work of the Holy Spirit. The justifying work of the Holy Spirit is symbolized by baptism. Through faith, given by the Holy Spirit, we are joined with Jesus Christ. We share in His death and are raised to new life. This is symbolized by baptism with water.
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:3)

All who are born again into the Kingdom of God have the Holy Spirit within them.
7 8

John Calvin, Institutes Book 3, Ch I, 4 p. 541 John Calvin, Institutes Book 3, Ch I, 4 p. 541

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"...Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him." (Romans 8:9) Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says 'Jesus be cursed!' and no one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit. (I Cor. 12:3)

We can conclude that anyone who knows Christ as Lord and Savior has the Holy Spirit living within him. Likewise, a Christian by definition is one who has the Holy Spirit within them. Mark this well! Later when we deal with being filled with the Holy Spirit, baptized with the Holy Spirit, receiving the Spirit, the Holy Spirit upon, etc., we are not speaking of getting the Holy Spirit. Rather, these terms apply to different operations of the Holy Spirit who is already "within" those who believe.

B. SANCTIFICATION: GROWING UP INTO CHRIST YIELDING THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT


Through the Holy Spirit we are born again, we enter the Kingdom of God as children of God. Whether our birth took place with all the drama of one who was lost being found, or nearly imperceptibly as a "child of the Covenant" in the loving embrace of a Christian family, it should be celebrated as a great and glorious thing, a miracle and a mystery. Being born again, however, is not the consummation of our life in Christ but the beginning. It is a birth, and afterwards spiritual children like natural children must grow and mature. This also is the work of the Holy Spirit indwelling within us who shapes our character into the image of Jesus Christ. We are sanctified, made holy, set apart as God's sons and daughters. Biblical Images of the Sanctifying Work of the Holy Spirit Scripture describes this work of the Holy Spirit with several powerful images. 1. The Old Person Being Put To Death the New Person Being Raised Up Sanctification is the process of the old self being put to death and a new self being raised up. (Romans 6:1-11) We have been bought with a price; we no longer belong to ourselves. This fact redirects our life to live for the glory of God. John Calvin summarizes the transformation that has taken place within us through faith in Christ who died for us upon the Cross.
We are not our own: let not our reason nor our will, therefore, sway our plans and deeds.

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We are not our own: let us therefore not set it as our goal to seek what is expedient for us according to the flesh. We are not our own: in so far as we can, let us therefore forget ourselves and all that is ours. Conversely, we are God's let us therefore live for him and die for him. We are God's: let his wisdom and will therefore rule all our actions. We are God's: let all the parts of our life accordingly strive toward him as our only lawful goal. 9

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2. Bearing the Fruit of the Holy Spirit Paul also speaks of this work of the Holy Spirit in terms of enabling us to bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
..but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22)

The fruits of the Holy Spirit are an expression of our own character transformation brought by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and our relationship with Christ. They are also descriptions of the variety of ways that we live out Christ's love in the context of community. Growing In Sanctification Is A Process That Will Not Be Completed Until the Resurrection Being transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ and yielding the fruit of the Holy Spirit is not a sudden complete experience; rather, it is a lifelong process.
And we all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another: for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (II Corinthians 3:1718)

Summary This work of the Holy Spirit has to do with holiness of life and character formation. Both justification and sanctification may be referred to as the "inward work of the Holy Spirit" because the images used to describe them are of the Spirit living inside of us. This is the fulfillment of the prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel who looked to the day when there would be established a new covenant in which the Spirit of God would be within the hearts of God's people. The law would be written upon their hearts, and they would all know the Lord. 10
9

10

Institutes III, IV, 2 Jeremiah 31:31, Ezekiel 36:26

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C. EMPOWERMENT: RECEIVING THE HOLY SPIRIT'S POWER FOR SERVICE AND WITNESS
The third aspect of the Holy Spirit's work is giving us the power and gifts that we need in order to fulfill the mission of being witnesses to Jesus Christ. Through us Jesus continues his work on earth as prophet, priest, and king. Jesus promises us,
"Truly truly I say to you, he who believes in me, will do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do because I go to the Father." (John 14:12)

Jesus also clearly commissions us with the same mission that the Father had given Him.
"Jesus said to them again, 'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.'" (John 20:21) Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.' (Matthew 28:18-20)

This is all possible because we may have the Holy Spirit "upon us" for power just as Jesus did. This working of the Holy Spirit is foreseen in the following verses.
Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high. (Luke 24:46-49) And while staying with them he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, you heard from me, for John baptized with water, but before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:4-5) But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

This third work of the Holy Spirit is distinct from the justifying and sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit and has to do with equipping and empowering that we may carry out the mission Jesus has given us.

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PART SIX: THE FOUR BASIC WORKS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT R.A. Torrey sums up this third operation or work of the Holy Spirit as follows:
The baptism with the Holy Spirit is a definite experience of which one may and ought to know whether he has received it our notA man may be regenerated by the Holy Spirit and still not be baptized with the Holy SpiritThe baptism with the Holy Spirit is an operation of the Holy Spirit distinct from and subsequent and additional to His regenerating work. In regeneration there is an impartation of life, and the one who receives it is saved; in the baptism with the Holy Spirit there is an impartation of power and the one who receives it is fitted for serviceBaptized with the Holy Spirit," "Filled with the Holy Spirit," "The Holy Ghost fell on them," "The gift of the Holy Ghost was poured out," "Receive the Holy Ghost," "I send the promise of my Father upon you," Endued with power from on high," are used in the New Testament to describe one and the same experience. 11

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The "one and the same experience" to which Torrey refers is the Holy Spirit upon us for the gifts and power to do the work of Jesus. Thomas A. Smail, a Scottish pastor and theologian, in his lucid book Reflected Glory: The Spirit in Christ and Christians also clearly describes this empowering work of the Holy Spirit. His understanding is consistent with R.A. Torrey's.
Baptism in the Holy Spirit is that aspect of Christian initiation in which, through expectant and appropriating faith in Christ's promises, the indwelling Holy Spirit manifests himself in our experience, so that he works in and through us with freedom and effectiveness as he first worked with complete freedom and full effectiveness in the manhood of Christ." 12 We should note first that the context of baptism in the Spirit is Christian initiation. There is no question here of a second initiation, but only of an integral element in the first. Baptism in the Spirit has its place in the complex event of our initiation into Christ, which has as its presupposition the event of new birth and regeneration, which expresses itself in confession of faith and repentance, and receives the justification secured at the Cross, the status of sonship that joins a man to God's family, the Church, and whose sacramental enactment is baptism in water. But we have to ask not just about the context, but about the content of baptism in the Spirit. What does it mean? Is it simply another way of describing the activity of the Spirit in regenerating, justifying accepting us into Christ, or does it point to a distinctive aspect of the Spirit's work, closely connected but not identical with these others? 13

11 12

R.A Torrey, What the Bible Teaches About the Holy Spirit (New York: Revell, 1898), pp. 270-271. Thomas A. Smail, Reflected Glory: The Holy Spirit in Christ and Christians (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1976), p. 141. 13 Smail, p. 142.

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It seems to me that in the New Testament the essential content of the expression, to be 'baptized in the Spirit' is the experience of the released power and energy of the Spirit. Those to whom it happens are regenerated men, who confess Christ as Lord, have their sins forgiven and are accepted as sons, and in all that the Spirit has been at work - but to say that they are baptized in the Spirit refers not specifically to any of that, but rather to the release of the Spirit in power and love and charismatic manifestation within and through them 14 [emphasis mine].

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Be careful here! Despite some similarity of language, this distinctive work of empowerment as described by Torrey and Smail, is not to be confused with the Holiness Pentecostal doctrine of the baptism with the Holy Spirit, which is connected to a "Second Blessing." See Part Seven for clarification of the differences of these opposing understandings of the work of the Holy Spirit. We shall deepen our understanding of the Holy Spirit's empowering work in Part Seven, where we explore the meaning of the "Spirit upon and within" and "filled with the Holy Spirit." The empowering work of the Holy Spirit is consistent with that of the Spirit of Yahweh in the Old Testament. Peter describes the descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost by recalling the words of the prophet Joel:
And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and our daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; yea and on my menservants and my maidservants in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth beneath, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and manifest day. And it shall be that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Acts 2:17-21, Joel 2:28-32)

Just as the spirit of God "came upon" the great prophets, judges, and kings of the Old Testament giving God's power for action and service, now in like manner in the New Covenant the Holy Spirit continues to empower His people. There is a decisive difference however. This empowering is not just for the select few; it is for all God's people from the greatest to the least. The empowering work of the Holy Spirit is given to all Christians. The empowering work of the Holy Spirit is not just for the first disciples or the great saints but for all of God's people. On the day of Pentecost, Peter affirms that the promise of the empowering work of the Holy Spirit is given to all that the Lord calls to Himself.
14

Smail, p. 143.

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And Peter said to them, 'Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the gift is for you and to your children and to all that are far off, everyone whom the Lord calls to him.' (Acts 2:38-39)

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Paul also assumes that all Christians may expect the empowering of the Holy Spirit.
To each is given a manifestation of the Holy Spirit for the common good. (I Corinthians 12:7)

Further, Paul commands us all:


And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father. (Ephesians 5:18-20)

Summary This operation of the Holy Spirit has to do with empowerment for action and service. The Biblical images used to communicate this are consistently that of the Spirit upon a person. This is in fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies of Joel and Moses who looked to the day when the Spirit of God would be upon all of God's people as He was upon the great prophets.

D. KOINONIA: THE BUILDING AND EXTENDING OF COMMUNITY AMONG THE MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY OF GOD.
To these first three operations of the Holy Spirit, we may add a fourth: koinonia. The result of being born into the Kingdom, of beginning the process of sanctification, and being empowered to witness to Jesus Christ, is that dynamic fellowship is established between the persons of the Trinity and between those persons born again. There is a "synergy" of all the operations of the Holy Spirit that is more then the sum of the parts, and may be defined by the Greek term, koinonia. Another way to say this is that there is the creation and growth of the "Body of Christ." In Acts, after Pentecost, we find that the overall result of the dynamic life of the Holy Spirit is the creation of an extraordinary loving, growing community of believers.
So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.... And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47)

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The fourth operation of the Holy Spirit moves from the individual to the corporate This fourth operation of the Holy Spirit is vitally important for a complete understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit, for it moves from the work of the Holy Spirit in individuals to His work in community. One may, however, question whether this should be a distinct category at all. From the Biblical perspective, the first three operations of the Holy Spirit have koinonia both as their context and result. Unfortunately it has been the tendency of the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement in particular and Protestant Christianity in general to understand all the works of the Holy Spirit through the cultural filter of Western individualism. The result is that being born again, sanctification, and empowerment have often been seen as individual experiences. For this reason alone, it is important to emphasize koinonia as an operation of the Holy Spirit. The overarching intention of the Holy Spirit is building koinonia. This forth operation is in according with his intention as He weaves the individual and the individual's experience into the fabric of the whole community. In the book of Ephesians we find two clear visions of this cooperate working of the Holy Spirit. The first has to do with bringing the Gentiles into the body of Christ through the koinonia operation of the Holy Spirit.
And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in him you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:17-22)

The second passage uses the image of the Body of Christ.


There is one body and one Spirit... Rather speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every joint with which it is supplied, when each part is working properly, makes bodily growth and upbuilds itself in love. (Ephesians 4:4, 15-16)

In all these operations of the Holy Spirit, God is working out His holy purposes to extend the koinonia of the Kingdom to include all creation.
For he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. (Ephesians 1:9-10)

Building and extending koinonia thus becomes the basic motive behind Christian missions and evangelistic outreach.
...that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you may have fellowship (koinonia) with us; and our fellowship

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(koinonia) is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing this that our joy may be complete. (I John 1:3)

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III. ALL WORKS ARE POTENTIALLY OURS FROM BAPTISM ONWARD


Whether as infants or as adults, we have been baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Baptism marks the beginning of our life in Christ, and sets us on the path in this life and the next of growing as His disciples. Because baptism is a sign that the Holy Spirit is within us, then all the gifts and graces of fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are potentially ours. There must then be the process of experimentally appropriating all that is ours. For instance, Jesus won forgiveness for our sins upon the cross, yet we must open our hearts and receive this forgiveness. Growing in the fruit, gifts, and power of the Holy spirit is also a process of receiving in faith and acting in obedience on what has already been established for us in Christ and signified in our baptism. We are, as the reformers used to say, to continuously "improve upon our baptism." In this life of appropriating all that is promised there will be mountaintops, plateaus, and valleys. There will be advances and regressions. There will be times of blessing and times of wilderness testing. In growing in and appropriating all the works of the Holy Spirit, Paul's prayer for the Ephesians may become our own:
I do not cease to give thanks for you remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe, according to the working of his great might which he accomplished in Christ when he raised him from the dead and made him sit at his right hand in the heavenly places.... (Ephesians 1:16-20)

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TEACHING CHARTS: PART VI

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A. THE FOUR BASIC WORKS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT


1. Born into the Kingdom John 1:12-13, John 3:1-8, I Corinthians 12:3 2. Sanctification II Corinthians 3:17-18, Galatians 5:22-23, Romans 12:1-2 3. Empowerment Acts 1:8, Luke 24:49, I Corinthians 12:4-11 4. Koinonia Acts 2:41, I John 1:3-4, I Corinthians 12:12-31, Ephesians 4:4, Ephesians 4:15-16

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V. STUDY QUESTIONS: THE FOUR WORKS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT


1. At Christmas we sing "Oh Come Oh come Emmanuel" in reference to the incarnation of Jesus Christ. How may we now rightly refer to the Holy Spirit as Emmanuel?

A. JUSTIFICATION: NEW BIRTH INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD


2. The first and most basic operation of the Holy Spirit is "justification." What does this mean? 3. How do the blessings that Christ established for us on the cross become ours? 4. What does John Calvin say is the principle work of the Holy Spirit? Why is this so important? 5. If you are born again do you have the Holy Spirit dwelling within you? If "yes", how do you know? If "no", then explain.

B. SANCTIFICATION: GROWING UP INTO CHRIST, YIELDING THE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT


6. The second operation of the Holy Spirit is sanctification. What does this mean? 7. What are some images used in scripture to describe this process of sanctification? 8. The Holiness tradition has taught the possibility of "instantaneous" sanctification. How does this compare with the Reformed Tradition's understanding of sanctification?

C. EMPOWERMENT: RECEIVING THE HOLY SPIRIT'S POWER FOR SERVICE AND WITNESS
9. The third operation or work of the Holy is empowerment. What does this mean? 10. What is the purpose of the empowering work of the Holy Spirit? 11. How do you understand the "baptism with or in the Holy Spirit?" 12. Is this experience promised to all Christians or just to the first apostles?

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D. KOINONIA: THE BUILDING AND EXTENDING OF COMMUNITY AMONG THE MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY OF GOD
13. What is the overall result of the first three operations of the Holy Spirit? 14. How does this work of koinonia take us beyond just individual religious experience into the corporate reality of the Body of Christ? 15. What are the implications for evangelism and missions when we discover that the Holy Spirit's work is bringing koinonia?

E. ALL WORKS ARE POTENTIALLY OURS FROM BAPTISM ONWARD


15. When may we begin to experience these operations of the Holy Spirit? 16. How is growing in the Holy Spirit a growth process?

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. A. B.

FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

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WHY SEMANTICS ARE IMPORTANT 227 THE CONSISTENT SYMBOLS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT "UPON" AND "WITHIN"227 1. THE SPIRIT UPON FOR POWER 227 2. THE SPIRIT WITHIN FOR CHANGED CHARACTER 229 2. THE SPIRIT WITHIN FOR CHANGED CHARACTER 229 C. THE PROBLEM WITH "FILLED": IS IT CONSISTENT WITH THE INWARD OR OUTWARD WORK? 229 D. FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT: TWO MEANINGS 230 1. PLETHO: (PLHVQW) THE SHORT TERM FILLING FOR POWER 230 2. PLEROO AND PLERES (PLHROVW PLHVRHS) LONG TERM FOR SANCTIFICATION 232 E. BEING FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT: THE DYNAMIC BALANCE OF THE "INWARD" AND "OUTWARD" WORK 234 1. I CORINTHIANS 12 14: THE LOVE CHAPTER BETWEEN THE GIFTS CHAPTERS 234 2. THE IMAGE OF THREE TREES 234 3. ACTS 2:42-47: THE DYNAMIC BALANCE AND RESULTS 236 4. THE GIFT OF WISDOM AS A RESULT OF BALANCE 236 II. THE IMPORTANT IMPLICATIONS OF THIS UNDERSTANDING OF "FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT"

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A. THIS UNDERSTANDING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN CONTRAST TO THE HOLINESS PENTECOSTAL DOCTRINE 237 B. CLARIFIES HOW A PERSON CAN MANIFEST THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT YET FALL INTO SIN 241 C. TONGUES IS A GOOD GIFT, BUT NOT THE INITIAL EVIDENCE OF THE BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT 243 D. WHAT DO WE CALL THIS EXPERIENCE OF EMPOWERMENT? 245 1. BAPTIZED WITH OR IN THE HOLY SPIRIT : A SHORT HISTORY OF R.A. TORREY IN TENSION BETWEEN THE PENTECOSTALS AND THE EVANGELICALS 246 2. REFLECTIONS ON WHEN TO USE "BAPTIZED IN THE HOLY SPIRIT", "FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT" OR "THE SPIRIT UPON" 248 E. THIS UNDERSTANDING OF "FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT IN CONTRAST TO THE TRADITIONAL EVANGELICAL VIEW 249 III. TEACHING CHARTS 253 256 256 256

A. THE SPIRIT WITHIN FOR CHANGED CHARACTER B. FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

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FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT: PLETHO - "UPON" FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT :PLEROO AND PLERES - "WITHIN" EXAMPLES (RELATED TO THE HOLY SPIRIT): C. TRADITIONAL HOLINESS PENTECOSTAL TEACHING 1. "SECOND WORK OF GRACE" AND "TONGUES AS INITIAL EVIDENCE" D. DIFFERENCES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INWARD AND OUTWARD OPERATIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT MANY EVIDENCES OF THE SPIRIT POWER, NOT JUST TONGUES MANY EVIDENCES OF THE SPIRIT POWER, NOT JUST TONGUES G. THE THREE VIEWS OF THE EMPOWERING WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IV. STUDY QUESTIONS: THE INFILLING WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT 1. 2. 3.

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257 258 258 259 259 260 262 262 263 264

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I.
A.

FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT


WHY SEMANTICS ARE IMPORTANT

We now must address a question that may seem to be merely one of semantics. What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit? R.A. Torrey has already been quoted saying:
"Baptized with the Holy Spirit," "Filled with the Holy Spirit," "The Holy Ghost fell on them," "The gift of the Holy Ghost was poured out," "Receive the Holy Ghost," "I send the promise of my Father upon you," "Endowed with power from on high," are used in the New Testament to describe one and the same experience. 1

In other words, all of these quotes point to the empowering work of the Holy Spirit. In Scripture, the language and symbols describing God's nature and work are extremely important. We must be clear as to the meaning of "filled with the Holy Spirit" and "baptized with the Holy Spirit." A lack of clarity or non-Biblical meanings attached to these terms have been major obstacles to Christians in the Reformed tradition being open to the work of the Holy Spirit. It is important that we get our language as consistent with Scripture as possible.

B. THE CONSISTENT SYMBOLS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT "UPON" AND "WITHIN"


Our previous study of scripture shows that there are fundamentally two symbols used consistently to describe two different operations of the Holy Spirit. One symbol is "upon" which in both the Old and New Testament has to do with receiving power and results in action.

1.

The Spirit upon for power

In describing the empowering work of the Holy Spirit, the New Testament consistently uses the image of the Spirit upon someone. The Form Is Used The Spirit or Holy Spirit {fell upon, clothed, anointed} (name of person) = [dynamic action]

R.A. Torrey, What the Bible Teaches About the Holy Spirit (New York: Revell, 1898), p.

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"...the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him..." Matthew 3:16(Mark 1:10, Luke 3:22) "I saw the spirit descend as a dove from heaven, and it remained on him." (John 1:32-33) "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach..." (Luke 4:18)

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AS PROMISED TO ALL CHRISTIANS


"Clothed with power from on high." (Luke 24:48-49) "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you..." (Acts 1:8) "...I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh..." (Acts 2:17-18)

EXPERIENCED BY THE FIRST CHRISTIANS


"And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them." (Acts 2:3) While Peter was still saying this, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. (Acts 10:44)

A second symbol is "within." In the Old Testament this was for giving skill or wisdom. In the New Testament it means justification and sanctification. Here action is not the important thing; rather there is communion with Christ, receiving eternal life and transformation of character. In the New Testament, images that are "inward" or speak of the Spirit "within" describe the sanctifying and justifying operations of the Holy Spirit.

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2. The Spirit Within For Changed Character


Do you not know that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you (I Corinthians 6:19-20) if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him. (Romans 8:9) ...even the spirit of truth... for he dwells with you and will be in you. John 14:17

This is the transformational, fruit-bearing work of the permanently indwelling Holy Spirit. To summarize these two distinctive operations of the Holy Spirit, Archer Torrey writes:
"The Bible consistently distinguishes between the external and internal work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit upon us, or with us, or pushing us ("moved"), or leading us, is like the weapons and vehicles which a military unit has to have for its work, but which tells us nothing about the inner attitudes of those who use them. When the Bible speaks of the Holy Spirit in terms which make it clear the Holy Spirit is in one's inner being, then it also speaks of character, of fruit-bearing, of life, of wisdom to know God's will and the will to do it. These two different roles of the Holy Spirit are quite clear, unequivocal, and distinct in the Bible..." 2

Note: There are some terms used for the working of the Holy Spirit that do not seem to fit neatly in this within and without motif. Of special interest are "filled" and "receive." The phrase "receive the Holy Spirit" in Acts 8:15,17,19, Acts 10:47, and Acts 19:2 refers to the empowering operation of the Holy Spirit. In Romans 8:15, however, it depicts the inward justifying and sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. The term "filled" is more problematic and requires further attention.

C. THE PROBLEM WITH "FILLED": IS IT CONSISTENT WITH THE INWARD OR OUTWARD WORK?
The motifs of the Holy Spirit upon for power, and within for salvation and sanctification are all very consistent until we reach the term "filled" with the Holy Spirit. This term is used extensively in Luke and Acts. Paul urges us in the book of Ephesians to be filled with the Holy Spirit. But how are we to understand this term?

Christian Life Magazine April 1983, "The Holy Spirit and You: On or In, p. 33.

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A study of the Greek dissolves this confusion and offers some profound insights into the nature of the Holy Spirit's work. 3 We find that those who translated the Bible into English, Korean and Chinese used the same word "filled" for several different Greek words. 4 The words in Greek all have as their root meaning to be "filled" or " full." But there are some decisive differences in meaning that have been blurred by our word "filled" that lacks such distinctions. Necessity mandates a rather lengthy comparison of these two terms. I undertake this analysis because this is key to a Biblical understanding of the "infilling with the Holy Spirit" and the "baptism with the Holy Spirit". It will open the way for us to be both reformed as well as open to the empowering dimension of the Holy Spirit's work.

D. FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT: TWO MEANINGS


1. Pletho: (plhvqw) The Short Term Filling For Power

One Form Of Filled Is Short Term And Results In Action Pletho - (plhvqw) is used where the filling is temporary and is immediately followed by action. This form of "filled," when used in reference to the Holy Spirit, corresponds to the use of upon. It corresponds to the English words charged, loaded, stuffed, or moved. It is an expression of the outward operation of the Holy Spirit for power. Examples of pletho referring to things other then the Holy Spirit:
...took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar...gave it to him to drink. (Matthew 27:48, John 19:29) all they in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and put him out of the city... (Luke 4:28-29) ...filled both the ships, so they begun to sink. (Luke 5:7)

For the insights that follow, concerning the infilling of the Holy Spirit, I am entirely indebted to the Rev. Archer Torrey. 4 Perhaps there are other languages as well, but these are the ones that the author is personally familiar with.

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the whole city was filled with confusion; and they rushed together into the theater... (Acts 19:29)

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In all of these cases the "filling" is temporary and results in some type of dynamic action. The sponge is filled with vinegar so it may be drunk. The boats are filled with fish and begin to sink etc. The boats are not always full of fish nor the people always filled with wrath...these are temporary as well as recurrent conditions. The same is true when this term is used in reference to the Holy Spirit. This filling with the Holy Spirit is temporary, and results in clear dynamic action. There is a sense of movement and of being caught up by the Spirit of God and then being empowered to do something active for God.
...and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. 5 (Luke 1:15) ...and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, 'Blessed are you among women'.... (Luke 1:41-42) And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying.... (Luke 1:67) These people are all still under the Old Covenant. Now we enter the New Covenant. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:4) Then Peter filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them ... (Acts 4:8) And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4:31) So Ananias departed and entered the house. and laying his hands on him he said, 'Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me that you many regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.' And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight.... And in the synagogues immediately he proclaimed Jesus, saying 'he is the Son of God.' (Acts 9:17-20) But Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said... (Acts 13:9)

This is in reference to John the Baptist, who will experience the empowering work of the Holy Spirit.

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a. This is the same pattern that we also found in the Old Testament. It is consistent with the Old Testament image of the Spirit of YAHWEH "falling upon" a person resulting in dynamic action. The Spirit {filled} (name of person) = [dynamic action] b. This "filling" is a work of the Holy Spirit that is clearly different from the inward, sanctifying, new birth work of the Spirit that is unique to the New Covenant. It must be, because Elizabeth, John the Baptist, and Zechariah were still in the Old Covenant and not yet born again, and yet they were filled with the Holy Spirit and empowered to speak God's word. c. The "filling" (pletho) is also something that happens again and again, just as a sponge may be filled and refilled many times. It is a temporary and episodic phenomena that happens again and again. The disciples were not "filled" with the Holy Spirit only once but many times. The disciples were filled at Pentecost; that was their "baptism" into this way of experiencing the Holy Spirit. But afterwards, they were filled many times to do the works of Jesus. d. The filling with the Holy Spirit (pletho) has the same meaning as the Spirit falling upon.

2. Pleroo And Pleres (plhrovw plhvrhs) Long Term For Sanctification


Another Form of "Filled" Means Saturated Pleroo (plhrovw) and pleres (plhvrhs). These terms are used to describe a state of being. Generally it is long term and means saturated with something. As a tree must be "saturated with sap if it is to be alive and produce fruit. There is no sense of dynamic action; rather, a state of being is described. References (with no mention of the Holy Spirit) use these words in a similar way.
And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom... (Luke 2:40) ...and the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment. (John 12:3) "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." (Romans 15:13) "He who descended is he who also ascended far about all the heavens, that he might fill all things." (Ephesians 4:10) "And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting." (Acts 2:2)

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"But Peter said, 'Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land?'" (Acts 5:3) "We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching..." (Acts 5:28)

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Examples of "filled" (pleroo, pleres) with the Holy Spirit


"And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit forty days in the wilderness, tempted by the devil." (Luke 4:1) "Therefore, brethren, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this duty." (Acts 6:3) "...and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit..." (Acts 6:5) "But he full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God..." (Acts 7:55) "...for he (Barnabas) was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith." (Acts 11:24) "And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit." (Acts 13:52) "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit..." (Ephesians 5:18)

Observations: a) There is no sense of dynamic movement in these cases. Rather, there are descriptions of states of being reflecting changed character. b) This fullness is not episodic in its expression, but is long-term. This is because the indwelling of the Holy Spirit lasts until the resurrection:
But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. Rom 8:10-11 (NIV)

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c) No Old Covenant people are mentioned in this list because, unlike the Spirit upon, this is a distinctive New Covenant work of the Holy Spirit. d) In Luke 4:5 and Ephesians 5:18, the context of being filled with the Holy Spirit is on the brink of action; for instance, Jesus is full of the Holy Spirit and then led into temptation. This action flows not from manifestations of power, but rather from changed character. Being filled with the Holy Spirit then really has two different meanings, depending on the context. The Spirit is to be within us transforming our characters to be more and more Christ-like. At the same time, we may have the Holy Spirit upon us for power, manifesting the gifts and doing the works that Christ did. The purpose of the Dunamis project is to grow in the inward as well as outward work of the Holy Spirit so that Jesus may be glorified.

E. BEING FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT: THE DYNAMIC BALANCE OF THE "INWARD" AND "OUTWARD" WORK
It is God's intention that the inward and outward operations of the Holy Spirit work together in dynamic balance. When this happens, Christians have love and power, fruit and gifts, and the result is the advancement of the Kingdom of God. We can look at some images showing this balance and some of the results.

1. I Corinthians 12 14: The Love Chapter Between The Gifts Chapters


One must nurture the fruit of the Holy Spirit, but also be open to moving in the power of the Holy Spirit. This balance of the outward and inward operations of the Holy Spirit is clearly seen in Paul placing Chapter 13, dealing with love (Spirit within), right in the middle of Chapters 12 and 14 dealing with the manifestational gifts of the Holy Spirit (Spirit upon).

2.

The Image of Three Trees

Another image that may help us see the relationship between the inward and outward operations of the Holy Spirit is the contrast between a live tree full of sap yielding fruit in season, and the Christmas tree which may be dead or made of plastic but upon which are attached gifts. The living tree comes from Psalm 1 and is the image of a person who is alive in Christ, and whose character is being changed. The Christmas tree is the image of a person who can move in the power of the Holy Spirit and be actively manifesting the spiritual gifts, but who may not be mature in Christ or even born again.

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The Biblical vision is that the Christian would be actively experiencing all the operations of the Holy Spirit. A person who is born again into the kingdom of God, a vital member of the body of Christ, yielding the fruit of the Holy Spirit and manifesting the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit.

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3.

Acts 2:42-47: The Dynamic Balance And Results

It is God's intention that the inward and outward work together in dynamic balance. When this happens, Christians have both love and power, and the result is spiritual fruit and gifts, and the advancement of the kingdom of God. We see this dynamic balance in Acts 2:42-47. Evidence of the inward work of the Holy Spirit:
"And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers." (Acts 2:42) (They also had such love that they sold their possessions and gave to all who had need.)

Evidence of the outward work of the Holy Spirit:


"And fear came upon every soul; and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles." (Acts 2:43) "And with great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all." (Acts 4:33)

The Results:
"And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved." (Acts 2:47)

4.

The Gift Of Wisdom As A Result Of Balance

The gift of wisdom arises out of both the inward and outward works of the Holy Spirit.
The gifts of the Holy Spirit belong to the "Spirit upon for power" motif. They are given without condition and do not depend upon our "holiness." Wisdom, however, is a gift that grows out of the inward as well as outward work of the Holy Spirit. 6 If any one lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all men generously and without reproaching, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. (James 1:5-6)

Personal conversation with Archer Torrey, Jesus Abbey, Korea, 1988.

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The "faith and no doubting" belongs to the inward work of the Holy Spirit. This is conditional. The giving generously, as we ask, belongs to the outward operation of the Holy Spirit. Wisdom that comes from the Holy Spirit (rather than just human wisdom gained from experience) is the result of both the inward and outward operations of the Holy Spirit. This is a very important insight for, in living the Christian life, while love is essential and the gifts of the Holy Spirit useful, it is the gift of wisdom that we need to faithfully fulfill God's purposes. Our life in Christ must include both the inward as well as the outward operations of the Holy Spirit. When this happens, the Body of Christ is built up and the Kingdom of God is extended.

II. THE IMPORTANT IMPLICATIONS OF THIS UNDERSTANDING OF "FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT"
A. THIS UNDERSTANDING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN CONTRAST TO THE HOLINESS PENTECOSTAL DOCTRINE
The Biblical categories of the Holy Spirit "upon" and "within" is in stark contrast to the Pentecostal Holiness approach to the baptism with the Holy Spirit. This is not to criticize the Holiness Pentecostal tradition but to bring clarity to this teaching. The traditional Holiness Pentecostal doctrine in its strictest form is stated as follows. (These are drawn from the 1981 Manual of the Pentecostal Holiness Church. In addition to the propositions on the Holy Spirit, I have included others to give a broader context). 1. We believe that Jesus Christ shed His blood for the remission of sins that are past, for the regeneration of penitent sinners and for salvation from sin and from sinning. (Romans 3:25; I John 3:5-10; Ephesians 2:1-10) 2. We believe, teach, and firmly maintain the scriptural doctrine of justification by faith alone. (Romans 5:1) 3. We believe that Jesus Christ shed His blood for the complete cleansing of the justified believer from all indwelling sin and from its pollution, subsequent to regeneration. (I John 1:7-9) 4. We believe that entire sanctification is an instantaneous, definite, second work of grace, obtainable by faith on the part of the fully justified believer. (John 15:2; Acts 26:18; see Section III, Doctrinal Emphasis, pp. 25, 26, and 27) 7
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This belief in entire sanctification grew out of the Holiness background. Early teachers such as Phoebe Palmer identified the experience of entire sanctification as the baptism with the Holy Spirit. After Charles Parham and the outpouring at the Topeka Bible College, they realized that the baptism was an endowment of

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5. We believe that the Pentecostal baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire is obtainable by a definite act of appropriating faith on the part of the fully cleansed believer, and the initial evidence of the reception of this experience is speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance. (Luke 11:13; Acts 1:5; 2:14; 8:17; 10:44-46; 19:6)

TRADITIONAL HOLINESS PENTECOSTAL VIEW Begin New Life in Christ - Born Again (Justification) Entire Sanctification - Second Work of Grace Pentecostal Baptism of the Holy Ghost and Fire Initial Evidence is Speaking in Tongues

This doctrine is helpful in calling the Church to holiness of life and brings to proper place the neglected third person of the trinity. It also sees the empowering of the Holy Spirit as an operation that is distinct from His justifying and sanctifying work. For this the Body of Christ owes the Holiness Pentecostal movement a great debt! But, when this understanding of the Holy Spirit has provided the interpretive framework for understanding the experience of the Holy Spirit in Reformed churches, there has been division and misunderstanding. A summary of the implications of the Holiness Pentecostal interpretative framework: 1. There is the creation of classes of Christians. There are those who have just been born again. But then there are those who have experienced a second work of grace and have been baptized with the Holy Spirit. This seems to create a different and higher class of Christians than those who have only experienced the first work of grace of being saved. The result may be schism in the body of Christ. 2. This teaching makes the baptism with the Holy Spirit dependent upon an experience of entire sanctification. Thus, the baptism with the Holy Spirit is muddled in its meaning as to whether it has to do with empowerment or holiness.
power. But holiness of life remained a vital condition to experiencing the Holy Spirits power. (For an excellent review of this doctrine, see Vinson Synans article The Holiness Pentecostal Movement in Assemblies of God: Heritage magazine, Vol. 8, No. 4, Winter 1988-89).

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3. This system makes tongues the "initial evidence" that one has truly been baptized with the Holy Spirit. This immediately creates inconsistencies both with the witness of scripture as well as with personal experience. The overall result is the creation of different stages of the Christian life, with tongues being the sign that one has made it to the top. 8 The interpretive framework that results from beginning with the two motifs of the Holy Spirit upon for power, and the Holy Spirit within for salvation and sanctification is very different. It yields an understanding, which fits better with the witness of Scripture and with our actual experience of the workings of the Holy Spirit.

Vinson Synan, a respected leader in the Pentecostal Holiness Church, told me in a personal conversation that the sequence that is given above is a practical one rather than a theological necessity. The ideal is that of Cornelius. He accepted Christ, was saved, sanctified, and baptized with the Holy Spirit all at the same time. In the experience of most people, however, there is a step-by-step progression.

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In contrast to the Holiness Pentecostal doctrine, this "within and without" framework yields the following conclusions: 1. From our baptism onward we have the potential to grow in both the inward and outward works of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, the normal, healthy Christian life assumes that we will be in a process of maturing in both. 2. The empowering of the Holy Spirit is not some higher, more spiritual, or holy state beyond being in Christ or beyond being "entirely sanctified." The infilling with the Holy Spirit is available from the beginning of our life in Christ; there is no need to wait for a "second work of grace." 3. The baptism with the Holy Spirit, which is having the "Holy Spirit upon" for empowerment for service, is promised to all who accept Christ as Lord. It is received in potential in our water baptism, just as are all the other graces promised to us in Jesus Christ. But like all the other promises of God, it must be asked for in prayer, received in faith, and lived out in obedience. There is no precondition first to be "entirely sanctified". 4. The first time that we ask for and experience the Holy Spirit upon us granting power and gifts may indeed be a "baptism", that is, an initiatory or beginning experience. Just as the first time we really turn and receive Jesus' forgiveness as our own is an initiatory experience. This may bring greater faith, greater openness, and an awareness of how to receive the empowering of the Holy Spirit again, but one has not entered an elite spiritual condition. One will need to be filled with the Spirit, i.e., have the Holy Spirit upon them repeatedly in the course of serving Jesus Christ. 5. The overall result of the inward/ outward framework is that there are not different classes of Christians. There are, however, differences in growth. I will quote extensively from Thomas A. Smails book, Reflected Glory, to support my point:
There are obviously endless differences in maturity and effectiveness among Christians, but they are not differences of this kind. All of Christ and all of the Spirit is offered to all Christians, and withheld from none, as the great gift of Gods grace, and the differences arise not between haves and have-nots in regard to the Spirit, but solely from the degree to which Christians have entered into enjoyment of the inheritance that belongs to all of them and possessed the possessions that are for all in Christ. 9

Thomas A. Smail, Reflected Glory: The Spirit in Christ and Christians (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975), p. 49.

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B. CLARIFIES HOW A PERSON CAN MANIFEST THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT YET FALL INTO SIN
A constant stumbling block to Christians taking seriously the empowering work of the Holy Spirit has been the fact that sometimes a person who is spiritually immature or unwise may powerfully manifest the gifts of the Holy Spirit and be evidently "moved" by the Spirit. It is even more of a problem when a person who is obviously empowered by the Holy Spirit is found to be immoral or evil. Often the response is to conclude that the miracles or conversions could not possibly be authentic. On the other hand, another perplexity are those who have Christ-like lives, and have great spiritual maturity, yet have never manifested the gifts of the Holy Spirit or have proved to be ineffective in bringing others to Christ. This is a an insurmountable problem if the "baptism with the Holy Spirit" can only be received after first having had experienced a "second work of grace" that has brought "entire sanctification." It is also a problem for traditional theology that collapses the empowering work of the Holy Spirit into justification and sanctification and denies the present day operation of the manifestational gifts of the Holy Spirit. The outward and inward work of the Holy Spirit helps us to understand all this. One may be growing in either the outer or inward work of the Holy Spirit to a greater degree then the other. A person open to receiving gifts of the Spirit may not be growing in the fruit of the Spirit at the same pace. Likewise, a person with the Spirit within showing spiritual maturity and the fruit of the Spirit may be closed to the experience of having the Holy Spirit upon for power. The Bible even speaks of the possibility of having the outward empowering work of the Holy Spirit and lacking the inward work all together.
Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.' (Matthew 7:21-23)

Another case is Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5. Outwardly, they must have manifested evidences of having the Holy Spirit upon them otherwise they would not have been included as full members of the body. However, when they cheated the Holy Spirit, Peter said,
"Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?" (Acts 5:3)

The word "filled" is the long term filling, meaning to saturate. Outwardly, Ananias has the Spirit of God upon him, but within was Satan.

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As bitter experience has shown, the Holy Spirit "upon" for gifts and power, by the mercy of God, may occur for a while to great effect, but if there is not the inward work of the Spirit there usually follows a loss of power or disaster. Likewise, if there is just acceptance of the inward work of the Holy Spirit, there may be moral living, good works, exposition of the word and genuine church life. But there will not be the dynamic power to set people free from bondage or to fulfill the task of evangelism and making disciples.

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DIFFERENCES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INWARD AND OUTWARD OPERATIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT Inward Work of the Holy Spirit Development of Christian character Fruit of the Spirit present but.... May lack development of power for witness and ministry Outward Work of the Holy Spirit Has great power Moves in the gifts, signs, and wonders but.... May lack maturity in inward work May have little fruit in terms of character May be in sin or fall into sin Spirit upon a person for empowerment, but not within for sanctification. Person not in Christ?

Saved, but not moving in the power of the Holy Spirit

Our life in Christ is to include both the inward and the outward working of the Holy Spirit.

C. TONGUES IS A GOOD GIFT, BUT NOT THE INITIAL EVIDENCE OF THE BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT
A full teaching on tongues will be given in the second Dunamis retreat, entitled In the Spirits Power. But, because it is such a controversial gift it must be dealt with here. First, while affirming that many may indeed speak in tongues when they ask for the infilling with the Holy Spirit or receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit, we cannot accept the Pentecostal doctrine that it is always the initial evidence proving that one has received. There are many signs that one has been filled with the Holy Spirit, tongues is one among many! This conclusion comes from scripture as well as experience.
And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover. (Mark 16:17-18) 10

Some scholars think this is an addition made by the early Church. If so, then this reflects that early Christians experienced the empowering work of the Holy Spirit. Signs, wonders, and manifestations of the Holy Spirit were normal for the early Church.

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"Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good." (I Corinthians 12:7)

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These passages affirm that we may all expect some manifestation of the Holy Spirit. As church history amply shows, if we fix on one of these signs as the only sign by which we judge others, then we violate the sovereignty of God and bring schism to the Body of Christ. In Acts, the early Christians had a diversity of experiences when they received the infilling with the Holy Spirit. The initiatory cases are given as follows.

SCRIPTURE
Acts 2:1-4 Acts 8:14-24 Acts 9:10-22

MANIFESTATION
Rush of a mighty wind, tongues as of fire, other tongues No sign recorded - but Simon saw something happen Paul - something like scales fell from his eyes, immediately preaching Jesus as the Son of God in the Synagogue. (Paul spoke in tongues, but there is no mention that he received the gift at that time). Cornelius - speaking in tongues and extolling God 12 at Ephesus - spoke in tongues and prophesied

Acts 10:44-48 Acts 19:6

It is very difficult to conclude from these cases that one must always speak in tongues when one first receives the infilling with the Spirit. From the witness of scripture, it is just as likely that prophecy could be the "initial" evidence. Further, Paul clearly says that we will not all manifest the same gifts.
"Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all posses gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?" (I Corinthians 12:29-30)

The answer to Pauls question is an emphatic no! This doctrine that one must have tongues as the initial evidence has robbed many people of the blessings of God and hindered their full usefulness in the Kingdom of God. Brad shares one of his personal examples here:
Once after teaching on the work of the Holy Spirit, a group of people gathered around me and said that they had year after year

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come to the conference, had prayed for the Holy Spirit but had not received tongues, and so concluded that they had not been filled. Some of them had despaired of ever being of use to God. After teaching on the many results of the Spirit "upon" for power, we had a time of prayer. One elderly man, a space physicist came forward for prayer. He had been prayed for many times but never received tongues and so went home each time disappointed. As we prayed for him, suddenly I had an image of penetrating light coming from his eyes. And with it came the interpretative word, "I have long ago given him the gift of discernment." I shared what I had felt the Spirit say to me. The man broke down and wept, and said, "Yes, I knew it! I knew I had been given that gift all along, but I thought I was not good enough. Thank you Jesus!" In an interesting twist, I find that once people realize that they don't have to speak in tongues to prove that they have been filled with the Holy Spirit, they relax about it and often receive!

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This doctrine of tongues, when coupled with the belief in a "second work of grace," is a potent ingratiate for spiritual pride. It is hard to avoid the logic that if one does speak in tongues, then one not only has certain visible evidence that one has been baptized with the Holy Spirit but has been entirely sanctified as well. That certainly means that one is better than or more spiritually advanced than those who do not speak in tongues. The result is a schism in the Body of Christ, into first and second class Christians. While rejecting the doctrine of tongues as the initial and necessary evidence of the infilling with the Holy Spirit, it must be affirmed that many do indeed receive the gifts of tongues, and it is a very good gift that we should gladly receive. In summary, when filled with the Holy Spirit, (or baptized with the Holy Spirit), one of the ways that the power may be expressed is through receiving the gift of tongues. But there are many other ways the power will be expressed as well. The only universal "initial" evidence that we should seek is the one promised in scripture: New power for service and witness to Jesus Christ.
"But 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." (Acts 1:8)

D. WHAT DO WE CALL THIS EXPERIENCE OF EMPOWERMENT?


Back to semantics: What do we call this experience of empowerment that is distinct from justification and sanctification? Are we to say that we are "baptized with the Holy Spirit," "filled with the Holy Spirit," have "received the Holy Spirit," or "releasing the power of the Holy Spirit?" There appears to be THE PRMI DUNAMIS PROJECT GATEWAYS TO EMPOWERED MINISTRY

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ambiguity because there are a variety of terms and images used in Scripture to describe this empowering operation of the Holy Spirit. Among Christians there is also a genuine diversity of experience of the Holy Spirit's empowering work. Some Christians have a clear initiatory experience of the power of the Holy Spirit that launches them into effective empowered ministry. Others have more of a growth process into effective witness. Some have many dramatic experiences others have no experiences. How do we fit all this together?

1. Baptized With or In the Holy Spirit : A Short History of R.A. Torrey in Tension Between the Pentecostals And The Evangelicals
Archer Torrey said that he used the term "baptized in the Holy Spirit" because that is closest to the Greek words and true to the Biblical understudying of the Holy Spirit's empowering work. He goes on to give a short history of his grandfather R.A. Torrey's use of the term and the trouble that he got into may clarify for us its meaning. 11 (Archer Torrey, Lake George,
New York, February 1991, and in personal conversations.) "My grandfather, R.A. Torrey, used the term "baptized with the Holy Spirit" to mean endowment with power. He made it very clear that this was a work separate from regeneration and had as its purpose not imparting life but in giving power for service and witness. Christians are to ask in prayer for the baptism with the Holy Spirit and receive in faith. The baptism is a "definite experience" though not necessarily an emotional experience. He went all over the English speaking world teaching this with remarkable results. In 1903 and 1905 he made round the world preaching tours. In the evening sessions, the topic was a basic call to salvation in Jesus Christ. In the daytime meetings, he alternated between teaching on the "Power of Prayer" and "The baptism with the Holy Spirit." At Moody Bible Institute, where he was Superintendent, he insisted that before setting out in Christian service the essential requirement for every worker was to have had a definite experience of being baptized with the Holy Spirit. This teaching on the baptism was well received and resulted in many moving in great power in ministry and witness. But, this was before the Topeka Bible College Pentecost and the Azusa Street Revival. The Holiness Pentecostal movement tied the baptism with the Holy Spirit to a second blessing, which was entire sanctification
The following information is taken from Archer Torrey, Lake George, New York in February 1991 and from personal conversations.
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and limited the initial evidence of having received the baptism to speaking in tongues. My grandfather believed that this was a corruption of the Biblical understanding of the baptism with the Holy Spirit. He got into tensions with the Pentecostals because while accepting the empowering, and affirming the gifts, he did not accept the Second Work of Grace theology, nor would he accept the doctrine that tongues is the initial evidence. To be completely honest, I think my grandfather's rejection of the Pentecostals, as well as the rest of the mainstream churches rejection, was not entirely Biblically based. It also had a great deal to do with social class. God chose a black man to lead the Azusa Street revival! At that time, many of those who were experiencing the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and receiving the gift of tongues were people of little or no education. They had no status and no worldly power. They were precisely the kind of people from whom Jesus drew His first disciples. But they were the very people misunderstood by my Yale-educated grandfather and neglected by the upper class mainstream denominations.

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At Moody Bible Institute, as a reaction against the Pentecostals, R.A. Torrey was asked to stop teaching on the baptism with the Holy Spirit. This he refused to do, insisting that it was Biblical. Instead of causing controversy he left Moody which he had founded. (R.A. Torrey founded the Chicago Bible Institute at the request of D.L. Moody. It became the Moody Bible Institute after Moody's death.) Upon leaving Moody, he went to Los Angeles to get the infant Bible Institute of Los Angeles (BIOLA) going. There he encountered the same problem as at Moody. He was asked by evangelicals to stop teaching on the "baptism with the Holy Spirit." Once again he refused because he believed the term to be Biblical. He stuck to his original teaching because he knew that the evangelical position denied the endowment with power dimension and the present-day operation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Around 1919 he left the Congregational Church and joined the Presbyterian Church. The Congregational Church had grown too liberal. After leaving BIOLA in 1925 for the same

reason that he left Moody, he lived in Asheville, North Carolina where he continued in active ministry until his death.
After my grandfather's death, several evangelical publishers have asked my permission to expunge from his books the term "baptized with the Holy Spirit." I have refused because I have found that when this term is rejected there is often a rejection of the empowering, gift-giving work of the Holy Spirit as well. What most evangelicals have done, as for example John Stott, is make empowerment just a part of justification and sanctification. The assumption is then that everyone who is born again has received the power. There is then no need to pray for and to receive the "baptism in the Holy Spirit" as a definite experience of empowerment to equip one for service. We must reclaim from the

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Pentecostal doctrine this valid Biblical term for the empowering work of the Holy Spirit."

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As R.A. Torrey sought to walk a middle path between the traditional Holiness Pentecostal position and the traditional Evangelical position, the Dunamis Project seeks to do the same. I believe that is the Biblical position.

2. Reflections on When to Use "Baptized in the Holy Spirit", "Filled with the Holy Spirit" Or "The Spirit Upon"
In light of our study thus far, it is my conclusion that baptism in the Holy Spirit is a very good term when understood correctly. It is especially appropriate to use in describing an initial experience into the empowering work of the Holy Spirit. This was certainly the case of the first disciples at Pentecost. Acts 1:5 affirms that the disciples were to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Pentecost is a description of this "initiatory" experience into the empowering work of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 2:38-39 Peter makes it clear that the gift of the Holy Spirit, i.e., the "baptism with the Holy Spirit for empowerment," is an essential part of being brought into Jesus Christ and is promised to all who are called into salvation. In the New Testament, however, after Pentecost, the term baptized in the Holy Spirit is not used to describe the empowering work of the Holy Spirit as experienced by the disciples. In the actual accounts in Acts of people initially experiencing the empowering dimensions of the Holy Spirit the term baptism in or with the Holy Spirit is not used.

SCRIPTURE
Acts 2:1-4 Acts 8:14-24 Acts 9:10-22 Acts 10:44-48 Acts 19:6

LANGUAGE
"all filled (Pletho) with the Holy Spirit..." "received the Holy Spirit..." "all filled (Pletho) with the Holy Spirit..." "received the Holy Spirit..." "The Holy Spirit came upon them"

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There is one important exception; that is when the Holy Spirit falls upon Cornelius. Peter says,
"As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as on us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, `John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'" (Acts 11:15-16)

Peter suggests that Cornelius was indeed, "baptized with the Holy Spirit." This was his first experience. 12 After Pentecost, when the disciples repeatedly experienced manifestations of the Holy Spirit's power, the term "baptized in the Holy Spirit" is not used. Instead, terms such as "the Spirit fell upon" and "filled (pletho) 13 with the Holy Spirit" are used. Thus, "baptism in the Holy Spirit" should be used to describe the initiatory experience and "filled (pletho) with the Holy Spirit" or "the Spirit upon" for subsequent experiences. In the text above, even Peter used the terms filled with the Holy Spirit and the Spirit fell upon in describing the actual experience, rather than using the term baptized with the Holy Spirit. Summary: In conclusion, it is my opinion that using the terms "receiving the Holy Spirit" and "the baptism in the Holy Spirit" for the initial experience of empowerment for witness and service is biblical. "Filled with the Holy Spirit" or "the Spirit upon" and "gifts of the Holy Spirit" are used for continued manifestations of the Holy Spirit's power enabling witness and service. Given the continued influence of the Holiness Pentecostal teaching on the baptism with the Holy Spirit that confuses empowerment with sanctification, it is better to use the terms filled with the Holy Spirit, received the Holy Spirit, or the Spirit upon rather than baptized with the Holy Spirit. To do so not only avoids confusion but is also more consistent with the biblical usage.

E. THIS UNDERSTANDING OF "FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT" IN CONTRAST TO THE TRADITIONAL EVANGELICAL VIEW
The Holiness Pentecostal interpretation of the person and work of the Holy Spirit introduces such concepts as the "second blessing" and "initial evidence as tongues." The result is a too narrow interpretation of being filled with the Holy Spirit. This ends up distorting the Biblical evidence. The distinctions are made with greater clarity then the witness of Scripture allows. The traditional evangelical perspectives, on the other hand, suffers from a too general and diffuse understanding of the Holy Spirit's work. The evangelical position has often just
12

Receiving the Holy Spirit also seems to refer to experiencing the empowering work of the Holy Spirit for the first time. Acts 19:2 supports this: Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? 13 Meaning upon for power.

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John Stott in his book, Baptism and Fullness, identifies the "baptism with the Holy Spirit" with conversion and being brought to Christ.
In light of all this biblical testimony it seems to me clear that the baptism of the Spirit is the same as the promise or gift of the Spirit and is as much an integral part of the gospel of salvation as is the remission of sinsWhen sinners repent and believe, Jesus not only takes away their sins but also baptizes them with his Spirit. 14

This view regards the baptism with the Spirit simply as conversion rather than as a gateway to empowerment. It affirms the scriptural truth that there is only one baptism, and that nothing further needs to be added to the finished work of salvation in Jesus Christ. The task of the Christian is to grow in gracethat is, to become more Christlike. The Spirits work of empowerment is left ambiguous or assumed to grow out of the process of sanctification. 15 Those who hold this view understand very well the inner, saving and sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, but they often seem to neglect the distinctive empowering operations of the Spirit for witness and service. 16

Traditional Evangelical View


New Life in Christ Justification Sanctification Empowerment for Mission?? All Symbolized in Water Baptism John Scott calls this "Baptism with the Holy Spirit" Growing in Christ

John R.W. Stott, Baptism and Fullness: The Work of the Holy Spirit Today (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1964), pp. 25-26. 15 Zeb Bradford Long and Douglas McMurry, Receiving the Power: Preparing the Way for the Holy Spirit (Grand Rapids: Chosen, 1996), pp. 137-138. 16 Ibid.

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The Christian life then consists in the life long process of "growing in grace." There is no clear explanation or expectation of the power dimension of the Holy Spirit's work. It is of course there, but is embedded in sanctification and in such doctrine as effectual calling. The Holiness Pentecostal view suffers from over clarity and the addition of umbilical dimensions like, "second blessing" and "tongues as initial evidence." The Evangelical view has suffered from not enough clarity. There is ambiguity with regards to the role of the empowering work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. Both views end up distorting the Biblical witness and robbing Christians of what has been promised us as sons and daughters born into the Kingdom of God.

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TEACHING CHARTS: PART VII THE INFILLING WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

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THE SPIRIT UPON FOR POWER


In describing the empowering work of the Holy Spirit, the New Testament consistently uses the image of the Spirit upon someone THE FORM IS USED The Spirit or Holy Spirit {fell upon, clothed, filled, anointed} (name of person) = [dynamic action] THE SPIRIT "UPON" JESUS EMPOWERING HIM FOR MISSION Matthew 3:16 - "...the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him..." (Mark 1:10, Luke 3:22) John 1:32-33 - "I saw the spirit descend as a dove from heaven, and it remained on him." Luke 4:18 - "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach..." (Matthew 12:18) AS PROMISED TO ALL CHRISTIANS Luke 24:48-49 - "Clothed with power from on high." Acts 1:8 - "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you..." Acts 2:17-18 - "...I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh..." UPON THE FIRST CHRISTIANS? A PROBLEM? "Filled" and "received" is consistently used. "Received the Spirit" in Acts 8:15,17,19, Acts 10:47, and Acts 19:2, all have to do with power. Romans 8:15 with the inward justifying and sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.

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A.

THE SPIRIT WITHIN FOR CHANGED CHARACTER

In the New Testament the Spirit "in" or "within" describes the sanctifying and justifying work of the Holy Spirit:

I Corinthians 6:19-20 - "Do you not know that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you ..." Romans 8:9 - "...if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you." Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

John 14:17 - "...even the spirit of truth..., for he dwells with you and will be in you." This is the life transforming, fruit-bearing work of the permanently indwelling Holy Spirit. There is nothing here about power for mighty works, but one's transformed character will be reflected in the quality of one's relationships and in "good works". B.

FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

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1.

FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT: Pletho - "UPON"

Pletho - (plhvqw) the filling is temporary and is immediately followed by action. This happens again and again. It corresponds to "upon" and the English words, "charged", or "loaded", "stuffed", "moved". EXAMPLES (not related to the Holy Spirit): 1. Matthew 27:48 (John 19:29) - "...took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar...gave it to him to drink." 2. Luke 5:7 - filled both the ships, so they begun to sink. 3. Luke 4: 28-29, and Acts 19:29 - city filled with confusion. EXAMPLES (related to the Holy Spirit): 1. Luke 1:15 - "and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb" 2. Luke 1:41-42 - "...and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, 'Blessed are you among women'..." 3. Luke 1:67 - "And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying..." These people are all still under the Old Covenant. Now we enter the New Covenant. 4. Acts 2:4 - "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." 5. Acts 4:8 - "Then Peter filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ..." 6. Acts 4:31 - "And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness." 7. Acts 9:17-20 - "... has sent me that you many regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight... And in the synagogues immediately he proclaimed Jesus, saying he is the Son of God." 8. Acts 13:9 - "But Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said

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2.

FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT :Pleroo and Pleres - "WITHIN"

Pleroo (plhrovw ) and pleres (plhvrhs): Long-term and means saturated with something, describes a state of being not dynamic action. EXAMPLES (not related to the Holy Spirit): 1. Luke 2:40 - "And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom... 2. John 12:3 - "...and the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment." 3. Romans 15:13 - "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." 4. Ephesians 4:10 - "...He who descended is he who also ascended far about all the heavens, that he might fill all things." 5. Acts 2:2 - "and suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where the were sitting." 6. Acts 5:3 - "But Peter said, 'Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart...'" 7. Acts 5:28 - "...We strictly charge you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching..."

3.

EXAMPLES (related to the Holy Spirit):

1. Luke 4:1 - "and Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit forty days in the wilderness, tempted by the devil." 2. Acts 6:3 - "Therefore, brethren, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this duty." 3. Acts 6: 5 - "...and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit..." 4. Acts 7:55 - "But he full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God... 5. Acts 11:24 - "...for he (Barnabas) was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith." 6. Acts 13:52 - "And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit." 7. Ephesians 5:18 - "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit."

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C.

TRADITIONAL HOLINESS PENTECOSTAL TEACHING


"SECOND WORK OF GRACE" and "TONGUES AS INITIAL EVIDENCE"

1.

THE DOCTRINE OF THE HOLINESS PENTECOSTAL CHURCH 1. We believe, teach and firmly maintain the scriptural doctrine of justification by faith alone. (Romans 5:1) 2. We believe that Jesus Christ shed His blood for the complete cleansing of the justified believer from all indwelling sin and from its pollution, subsequent to regeneration. (I John 1:7-9) 3. We believe that entire sanctification is an instantaneous, definite, second work of grace, obtainable by faith on the part of the fully justified believer. (John 15:2, Acts 26:18; see Section III, Doctrinal Emphasis, pp. 25-27) 4. We believer that the Pentecostal baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire is obtainable by a definite act of appropriating faith on the part of the fully cleansed believer, and the initial evidence of the reception of this experience is speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance. (Luke 11:13; Acts 1:5; 2:14; 8:17; 10:44-46; 19:6)
(From the 1981 Manual of the Pentecostal Holiness Church)

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D.

DIFFERENCES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INWARD AND OUTWARD OPERATIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Inward Work of the Holy Spirit Outward Work of the Holy Spirit Has great power Moves in the gifts, signs, and wonders but.... May lack maturity in inward work May have little fruit in terms of character May be in sin or fall into sin Spirit upon a person for empowerment, but not within for sanctification. Person not in Christ?

Development of Christian character Fruit of the Spirit present but.... May lack development of power for witness and ministry

Saved, but not moving in the power of the Holy Spirit

Our life in Christ is to include both the inward and the outward workings of the Holy Spirit.

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E. THE VISION OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE: GROWING IN BOTH THE INWARD AND OUTWARD WORKS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

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F.

MANY EVIDENCES OF THE SPIRIT POWER, NOT JUST TONGUES

1. TONGUES IS ONE AMONG MANY SIGNS OF BEING FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT Mark 16:17-18 I Corinthians 12:4-11 I Corinthians 12:27-31 2. DIVERSITY OF MANIFESTATIONS RECORDED IN ACTS Acts 2:1-4 - rush of a mighty wind, tongues as of fire, other tongues Acts 8:14-24 - No sign recorded -- but Simon saw something happen Acts 9:10-19 - Paul -- something like scales fell from his eyes (He must have received tongues at a later date.) Acts 10:44-48 - Cornelius -- speaking in tongues Acts 19:6 12 - at Ephesus -- spoke in tongues and prophesied

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G. THE THREE VIEWS OF THE EMPOWERING WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT


Traditional Holiness Pentecostal View Dunamis Project View on the Spirit Within and Upon Traditional Evangelical View

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IV. STUDY QUESTIONS: THE INFILLING WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT


A. FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT 1. When it comes to terms such as "filled with the Holy Spirit", "the baptism with the Holy Spirit", etc. why are semantics important? 2. According to Archer Torrey, there are two basic motifs in scripture describing the work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit upon and within. Discuss the general meaning of each of these and give examples. 3. Discuss the distinctive aspects of the two different meanings of the term, "filled with the Holy Spirit." How have you personally experienced the two different meanings? 4. What is the result of having both the inward and outward workings of the Holy Spirit in balance? 5. In Korea and China we have found the use of the Yin and the Yang image and the Korean version to be extremely helpful. How does looking at the work of the Holy Spirit through the filters of another culture help or hinder our understanding of Biblical reality? 6. What Western filters are we bringing to this work of the Holy Spirit that may also be helping or hindering our understanding of the Biblical reality? B. THE IMPORTANT IMPLICATIONS OF THIS UNDERSTANDING OF THE "FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT" 7. Contrast the understanding of the Holy Spirit that is being given in the Dunamis Project with the traditional doctrine of the Pentecostal Holiness Church. Especially address the following points of contrast. a. Entire sanctification as a second work of grace b. The gift of tongues as the initial evidence of the "baptism with the Holy Spirit" 8. May the inward and outward operations of the Holy Spirit be separated either by time, or degree in the life of the believer? How does this help explain the situation of certain Christian leaders who have obviously been empowered by the Holy Spirit yet have fallen morally? Likewise, how does it clarify the phenomenon of good, faithful, born-again Christians who lack the power to effectively witness to Jesus Christ? 9. How does the understanding of the empowering work of the Holy Spirit, given in the Dunamis Project, stand in contrast to the traditional evangelical teaching on the Holy Spirit.

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Especially address these points of contrast. a. Empowerment seen as a part of sanctification and not as a distinctive work of the Holy Spirit. b. All Christians have received the "baptism in the Holy Spirit as part of being born again. c. The role of the manifestational gifts of the Holy Spirit. 10. What is the initial evidence of having received the baptism with the Holy Spirit? Answer and define your answer from the perspective of a Holiness Pentecostal preacher. Then answer this question from the perspective of the teaching given in the Dunamis Project. 11. What is your experience of tongues? 12. What is the use of this "least of all" gifts? 13. Is anything getting in the way of you being open to receive this or any of the other manifestational gifts? 14. If you were to draw a chart of the three understandings of the empowering work of the Holy Spirit - Pentecostal, R.A. Torrey, Evangelical - where would you put yourself? 15. Now draw some conclusions of your won. If we are to be consistent with Biblical usage when should we use the following terms: "Receive the Holy Spirit", "Baptism with the Holy Spirit", "Filled with the Holy Spirit", "The Holy Spirit upon", "Moved by the Holy Spirit", and "Anointed by the Holy Spirit"?

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THE NATURE AND EXPERIENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRITS POWER

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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I.

INTRODUCTION

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II.

THE NATURE OF THE SPIRIT'S POWER A. THE POWER IS PERSONAL AND ROOTED IN RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST B. ALL MAY RECEIVE C. THE MANIFESTATION OF THE POWER IS TEMPORARY: NOT ONE FILLING BUT MANY D. THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE SPIRIT'S POWER IS GIVEN AS GIFTS E. THE PURPOSE TO EQUIP US FOR WITNESS AND FOR THE UPBUILDING OF THE CHURCH F. MANIFESTED THROUGH A DIVERSITY OF GIFTS G. EVERYONE'S PERSONALITY IS DIFFERENT, SO THE EXPERIENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS DIFFERENT H. THE POWER IS EXPRESSED IN OPENING OUR EYES

271 271 273 274 276 277 277 278 279 280

III. A. B.

THE OCCURRENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT UPON FOR POWER

THE INFILLING WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT IS ABOVE ALL AN OCCURRENCE 280 PERSONAL TESTIMONIES TO THE INFILLING WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT 283 1. ARCHER TORREY 283 2. ANDY BUCHANAN 284 3. DOTTIE BUCHANNAN 286 4. DOUG MCMURRY 287 5. LAURA LONG 288 6. BRAD LONG 289 a) Leading Prayer Mountains 291 b) The case of the woman who could not conceive 291 C. THE RESULTS OF THE EXPERIENCE 291 1. RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE MUST BE EVALUATED ACCORDING TO ITS FRUIT 291 2. THE EFFECTS OF THE EXPERIENCE 292 a) Making operational the doctrines of the Christian faith 292 b) Experiencing and participating in the Spirit's own sphere of action 292 D. SUMMARY REFLECTIONS ON THE EXPERIENCE OF THE BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE HOLY SPIRIT UPON FOR POWER 294 1. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND SUBSEQUENT EXPERIENCES OF THE EMPOWERMENT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 296 a) There was a breaking through in lived experience of the empowering dimension of the Spirit's work. 296 b) There was, on my part, an eager openness to have the Holy Spirit upon me for power.296

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c) There was also a trust and open faith that if I were obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit, then the Holy Spirit would indeed manifest His power. 296 2. LEARNING TO RIDE A BICYCLE AS AN ANALOGY OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND SUBSEQUENT FILLINGS 296 IV. A. B. C. TEACHING CHARTS 299

THE NATURE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT'S POWER 301 THE EXPERIENCE OF THE INFILLING WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT 302 THE RESULTS OF EXPERIENCING THE INFILLING WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT 303

V. STUDY QUESTIONS: THE NATURE AND EXPERIENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT'S POWER 305

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I.

INTRODUCTION

In the Holy Spirit there is promised vast power and authority. This comes from the exalted Jesus Christ, who has been given all authority on heaven and on earth. 1 If we are to grow in receiving and using the power and authority that the Holy Spirit wishes to give us, we must be very clear in our understanding of the nature of this power and be committed to its proper use. The first section lists eight points that clarify the nature of the Holy Spirit's power. The second section will deal with the experience of the baptism with the Holy Spirit and being filled with the Holy Spirit. What is presented here represents practical conclusions drawn from the proceeding Biblical study. We shall also find some overlap in the discussion of the nature of the power and the experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit. They are interrelated.

II.

THE NATURE OF THE SPIRIT'S POWER

A. THE POWER IS PERSONAL AND ROOTED IN RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST


We must first return to the nature of the Holy Spirit as the basis for understanding His power. As has already been shown the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. The power that we receive and experience in the Holy Spirit may at times be experienced in ways similar to an impersonal force, like heat, vibrations, wind, fire and so forth. But the power comes from the Holy Spirit who is "person" and springs from our personal relationship with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit falling upon a person is a persistent motif in Scripture, and is symbolic of the Holy Spirit's empowering work. This does not sound personal, to the contrary, it suggests something impersonal and/or rather frightening. Like a wave of water and avalanche of snow falling upon us. Recourse to the Greek "epipipto" however reveals a different meaning. It is used in Acts 8:16, 10:10, 10:44 and 11:15 with regards to the Holy Spirit. The image becomes more personal when we realize that the same term "epipipto" is used to describe the

Matthew 28:18, Acts 1:8, Acts 2:33

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wonderful, loving, intensely personal event of the Father rushing to embrace his prodigal son in Luke 15:20: So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. (NIV) ." The more literal King James version reads, "fell upon his neck and kissed him." The Holy Spirit upon us is likewise a personal embrace that empowers us and moves us to action, and is the Holy Spirit literally moving in action through us. 2 The following illustrates the intensely personal nature of the Holy Spirit upon for power:
In 1989 I was debilitated with a herniated disk. I was preparing to go in for an operation, when I was nearly completely healed. The miracle happened when I was alone, lying on the floor with a heating pad. Laura, who had nursed me in this condition for a week, had taken the children and left to spend her birthday at her parent's house. I could move only with excruciating pain. I spent the long hours in prayer asking for healing. Suddenly I was aware of a power or force like electricity vibrating and tingling in my back. There was heat running all the way up my spine. It felt so much like electricity that for a moment I feared that the heating pad, which had been set on low, had broken and I would be electrocuted. At the same moment, I felt movement in my back. All this was like an impersonal force acting upon me. The next step, however, called me right to the source of the power and this was extremely personal. With the movement in my back, I became intensely aware that an unseen, warm, loving presence had filled the room. I knew that through the Holy Spirit, Jesus was standing beside me. My prayers of petition immediately changed to ones of praise and thanksgiving and exaltation. The "power" was proved to be "personal" again when the source of the "power" gave a series of commands! Clearly there came into my mind, as if the word had just been spoken but the audible voice forgotten, the words, "Get up my son!" I hesitated a moment, not quite believing that any of this was real, the beginnings of an argument arose in my mind, "Lord, I can't do that, it will hurt." But I knew the healing and perhaps much more would cease unless I obeyed. So gingerly I got to my feet. To my joy and amazement there was no pain. Other commands followed and as I obeyed, the healing continued. The next morning the doctor was amazed. He canceled my appointment for surgery. The disk had been restored and I could walk without pain. I still had to be careful, and even wear a brace for some months afterwards, until my back regained its strength. (Brad Long)
2

I am indebted to Bob Whitaker for this insight.

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The Rules and Principles for Receiving and Using This Power Are Thus Not Those of Physics or The Occult But Are Those That Govern A Loving Relationship. They Are the Same as Those Governing Our Personal Relationship with Jesus Christ as We Grow as His Disciples
As we grow in our personal relationship with Jesus we may learn how to receive and to flow with the power of the Holy Spirit but we can never use the Holy Spirit's power.

The Bottom Line Is That Apart From Abiding in Christ We Can Do Nothing
"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5) "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. (John 15:7)

If we are to grow in the inward as well as outward empowering work of the Holy Spirit then the first priority is nurturing our relationship with Christ. NOTE: I am fully aware that these observations are contradictory to statements already made about how the empowering work of the Holy Spirit may be out of balance with or even completely separated from the inward work of the Holy Spirit. While this separation is very possible, and God may use such a person for a season, it is not the ideal nor can it last.

B.

ALL MAY RECEIVE


"...and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; yea, and on my menservants and my maidservants in those days I will pour out my spirit; and they shall prophesy." (Acts 2:17)

The radical implications of the promise of Joel is that all of God's people may experience the Holy Spirit upon for power just as did the great prophets of the Old Testament and great apostles of the New Testament. Peter applies this promise to all of us on the day of Pentecost. Peter said to them,
"Repent, and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to him."

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"To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good." (I Corinthians 12:7)

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C. THE MANIFESTATION OF THE POWER IS TEMPORARY: NOT ONE FILLING BUT MANY
From all that has preceded this chapter, we have seen that the empowering work of the Holy Spirit is "temporary", or episodic. It is received and experienced as needed. Thus, though one may point to a "baptism" experience in which one for the first time asked for and received the empowering work of the Holy Spirit, this is not a new spiritual state. Rather, out of a dynamic personal relationship with the Holy Spirit, we experience many "fillings." That is, the Holy Spirit may fall upon us again and again. In Acts 2, the disciples were gloriously filled with the Holy Spirit. Yet, in Acts 4:29-31, they asked for and received the infilling of the Holy Spirit again.
"'And now, Lord, look upon their threats, and grant to thy servants to speak thy word with all boldness, while thou stretchest out thy hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of thy holy servant Jesus.' And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness." (Acts 4:29-31)

Likewise, we may pray for and experience many fillings with the Holy Spirit resulting in power and gifts. There will be other times when, though we still have the Christ-like graces (i.e. the Holy Spirit within), we will have no special power, nor manifest any spiritual gifts. This temporary, episodic experience of the Holy Spirit's power is consistent with experience. The spiritual gifts as listed in I Corinthians 12 and 14 are not continuous possessions that we exercise at will. Rather, they are manifested as the Holy Spirit moves upon us. Have you not had the occasion of stepping into the pulpit or laying hands upon a sick person and experiencing the Holy Spirit come upon you at that time, giving the gifts and power needed? Then "in the Spirit" you were able to speak with an elegance and clarity that was not yours. While praying for someone's healing, have you not been aware of power moving through you and the person was blessed or healed? Then the Spirit lifts His hand, and once again it is just ordinary, helpless you. Illustration: The effect of the Holy Spirit falling upon Dr. Billy Graham at Montreat Church

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Billy Graham came to Montreat Presbyterian Church to ask for prayer for his upcoming trip to North Korea. I was sitting on the front row and could observe this great man close up. I was disappointed! He looked old tired and frail. His hands were trembling. He stood to speak, and rambled and his voice was weak as he told of the extraordinary opportunity that had opened for him to visit North Korea. Then he said, We are going to North Korea to proclaim the Gospel. This is the good news that Jesus Christ... With these words Dr. Graham launched into the proclamation of the Gospel. At the same time a visible change took place, the weariness left him, he straightened up, the tremble left his hands, his voice became strong and the words were deeply moving. I personally felt called and convicted to surrender more fully to Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit had fallen upon him! Then he said, Amen! and sat down. An hour later, when Dr. Graham was eating lunch at the College cafeteria, I had the opportunity to meet him. He looked tired again and there was no since of power. The Holy Spirit had lifted! What I did since however was a man of goodness and of passionate of faith. That is the inward work that is not episodic but continuos. (Brad Long)

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Tongues As an Exception to the Rule The episodic expression of the Holy Spirits power does not mean that the Holy Spirit does not give a special anointing to some of his servants to consistently manifest one area of gifting. For instance, God may consistently give a person the gift of healing or prophecy. But even here, one does not constantly manifest that gift. It seems that tongues, as a "prayer language," is an exception to this episodic way the Spirit works. Many of those to whom the Spirit gives this gift are able to pray in tongues at any time. It is as if there were a constant melody playing within one's spirit that may at any time find verbal expression as tongues. Praying in tongues seems to put one in touch with the flow and guidance of the Holy Spirit and often leads into other manifestations of the Spirit's power. This is one of the reasons why Paul says, "He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church." (I Corinthians 14:4) It is also the way that we may literally fulfill Paul's command to "pray continually." 3 In this way tongues as a "prayer language" may serve as a "means of grace" that is always available to help us in our weakness. 4 It is also true that this continuous "melody" which springs from the indwelling Spirit, may, according to one's calling, naturally and regularly find expression in some other gift such as prophecy or healing.

3 4

I Thessalonians 5:17 I am indebted to Wylie Childs for this insight.

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D. THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE SPIRIT'S POWER IS GIVEN AS GIFTS


When Simon the sorcerer misunderstood the nature of the Holy Spirit and offered Peter money if he would give him the same power, Peter blasted him with these words:
"...Your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!" (Acts 8:20)

The Holy Spirit and His power and gifts are a pure gift of God. Paul makes it clear that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are given, not as we desire, but rather, as the Holy Spirit wills.
"All of these are inspired by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills." (I Corinthians 12:11)

They may not be bought nor obtained through special techniques. We may ask God to give us these gifts as He intends, but none of us deserves to receive the Spirit or the Spirit's power. Thus, we have no grounds for spiritual pride, and certainly no grounds for envying others who have received gifts that we do not. We may not receive the gifts at the time we ask for them. Consider the case below:
Often people do not open up to this gift at the time they pray or are prayed for. The first person I prayed for to receive tongues was a Chinese student named Helen. When we prayed, nothing happened. We were both disappointed, of course. But she was awakened at two in the morning praying in tongues. 5

Yet, so potent is the power and so heady the experience, that pride is a constant pitfall that must be guarded against. It is a constant danger. Paul had to deal with his own pride as well as that of the early Christians. His pride was dealt with by God through a thorn in the flesh. 6 To the Corinthians, who greatly manifested the power of the Holy Spirit, Paul had to say:
"For who sees anything different in you? What have you that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?" (I Corinthians 4:7)

That God once chose to speak through Balsams ass and to abundantly give the gift of tongues to the arrogant contentious Christians of ancient Corinth, ought to curb our pride when we also by the grace of God are filled with the Holy Spirit. 7
Zeb Bradford Long and Douglas McMurry, Receiving the Power: Preparing the Way for the Holy Spirit (Grand Rapids: Chosen, 1996), p. 133. 6 II Corinthians 12:7
5

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As we seek the infilling, let us receive it all graciously as a free gift. And let the words of Paul be fixed in our hearts, lest God send a "thorn" to remind us!

E. THE PURPOSE TO EQUIP US FOR WITNESS AND FOR THE UPBUILDING OF THE CHURCH
When filled with the Holy Spirit we may experience great joy and peace and may have exhilarating religious experiences but all that is secondary to the primary purpose of the infilling with the Holy Spirit. The power is given for two ultimate purposes. 1. That we may witness for Jesus Christ in the world. 8 2. That the Body of Christ (the Church) may be built up 9

As R.A. Torrey puts it, "So I repeat it again, 'The baptism with the Holy Spirit is always connected with, and is primarily for the purpose of, equipment for testimony and service; it is to make us useful for God in the salvation of souls and not merely to make us happy.'" 10

F.

MANIFESTED THROUGH A DIVERSITY OF GIFTS


"Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in everyone." (I Corinthians 12:4-5)

The Holy Spirit is immensely creative! There is thus a diversity of gifts of the Holy Spirit. It is not our place to dictate to the Holy Spirit which gifts we shall receive nor is it our role to put the Spirit in a box and limit his gifts to what we think is possible or proper. I believe we may freely come to Jesus and ask him to fill us with the Holy Spirit. We may also ask for certain gifts especially if prompted by the Holy Spirit to do so. But our attitude should be one of grateful openness and readiness to receive whatever God wills to give us.
7 8

Numbers 22:28-30 Acts 1:8 9 I Corinthians 12:7, 14:5; Ephesians 4:11-16 10 Torrey, p. 120

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Our task is to place ourselves entirely at the disposal of the Holy Spirit, and to obey whatever guidance he gives us. If we do that, God will take care of the rest. The Dunamis Retreat "In the Spirit's Power", will focus on receiving and using the gifts of the Holy Spirit for the glory of the Body of Christ. The focus in the Gateways Retreat is on understanding and receiving the infilling with the Holy Spirit.

G. EVERYONE'S PERSONALITY IS DIFFERENT, SO THE EXPERIENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS DIFFERENT


James Gustafson says, "Our experience of God is always refracted through the person we are." 11 God has made each of us with a unique personality; thus each is going to react to the infilling or moving of the Holy Spirit in different ways. Some may have tears, others joy, others will dance, and others just get very quiet. Some people feel all sorts of things when the Spirit is at work; others feel nothing but bring a keen analytical awareness. Others may have some type of dramatic experience when they first ask for and receive an infilling with the Holy Spirit. But after that there is no further emotional experience, there is however an increase in fruitful ministry. There is no verse of scripture that may be given that says we have diverse personalities, but we may see differences in the personalities of different Biblical figures and their experience of God. For instance, compare Peter, Paul, John, Phillip, and Andrew. That we have different personalities contributing to our different experiences of God is also based on extensive experience and observation. Some examples:
While in Taiwan, Laura and I led a retreat for the Presbyterian missionaries from the USA and Canada. After teaching on the Holy Spirit we had a time for praying to be filled with the Holy Spirit. As we prayed for each person there was a remarkable variety of manifestations. Some wept, some rested in the Spirit, some were overcome with joy, and some immediately manifested spiritual gifts like tongues or prophecy. We knew these people very well, and could see the connection with the manifestation of the Spirit and their different personalities. For instance, those who wept were those who tended to weep at other occasions as well.
Quoting Dr. Charles Sweezy professor of Ethics at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia. Dr. Sweezy often made this statement in class as a way of summarizing James M. Gustafson's thought on moral agency. The actual wording from Gustafson is as follows: "...religious belief and believing is refracted through the prism of what a person is becoming as the result of other experiences as well." James M. Gustafson, Can Ethics be Christian? (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1975) p. 64
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One couple, as the Spirit came upon them, wept in each others' arms. At that moment, the Lord gave a vision of them being involved in marriage enrichment. This has redirected their mission work and led to their founding a rapidly growing marriage enrichment program in Taiwan that has blessed hundreds of couples. Another member of the group had a rational analytical mind and a non-emotional nature. During our previous mission meetings I had never seen him moved by anything. And true to character when we prayed for him to be filled with the Holy Spirit nothing observable happened. He just had the promise that if he asked according to God's will, he would receive. (Nonetheless, he left the retreat disappointed that nothing had happened.) Two weeks later, I received a letter from him saying; "The power has come!" While leading worship in a Taiwanese church suddenly the Spirit had come upon him and he had found a new freedom in leading prayer in Taiwanese. The members of the congregation had been deeply moved by the prayer. (Brad Long)

Think about it; when you put together the diversity of the Spirit's work with the diversity of the human personality that makes for a lot of creative possibilities! Jesus Christ gives us both the gifts of discernment as well as the liberty to respond to the Spirit in diverse ways according to who we are. 12 We shall return and in greater detail to examine the experience of being filled or baptized with the Holy Spirit.

H. EYES

THE POWER IS EXPRESSED IN OPENING OUR

There is a great variety of ways that the Holy Spirit's power is manifested, but the primary way is through opening our eyes to see. If we are to introduce others to Christ, and to do Christ's work, then we must have had our spiritual eyes opened to see Jesus, and to be aware of the world, and the Spirit of God at work in the world.
"The Holy Spirit is that power which opens eyes that are closed, hearts that are unaware and minds that shrink from too much reality. If one is open towards God, one is open also to the beauty of the world, the truth of ideas, and the pain of disappointment and deformity. If one is closed up against being hurt, or blind towards one's follow-men, one is inevitably shut off from God also." 13

In the story of Elisha surrounded by the army of Syria, Elisha is unafraid because he sees the heavenly host that was protecting him. This gift of seeing is what distinguished Elisha as a great prophet. Elisha prayed for his spiritually blind and thus terrified servant saying,
12 13

II Corinthians 3:17 John V. Taylor, The Go Between God (London: Oxford University Press, 1979), p. 19

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"'Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see.' And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw; and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha." (II Kings 6:15-17)

This is the remarkable thing that the Holy Spirit does for us. In reflecting on Joel 2:28-29 it has already been emphasized that all may have the Spirit upon. Now we must draw another important conclusion. When the Spirit is upon us, the primary way that he works is that of enabling us to see as the prophets saw. The evidences of the Holy Spirit given in Joel are seeing visions, dreaming dreams, and prophesying, all of which are means by which God gives us awareness into His mind, His word, and His working in the world. It is only as we "see" that we can know the way to follow and to obey Jesus Christ. Only as we see may we be about the work of building the Kingdom of God. 14 Only as we see may we be God's means of bringing healing and freedom to those in bondage. Only as we are spiritually aware may we resist the devil and receive and use the gifts of the Holy Spirit 15 .

III. THE OCCURRENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT UPON FOR POWER


A. THE INFILLING WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT IS ABOVE ALL AN OCCURRENCE
This section was originally entitled The Experience of the Infilling with the Holy Spirit. We wrestled a long time with what language to use. To most westerners, "experience" means "emotional." It is true that there may be emotion, but this is experience in the laboratory experimental sense. So, while "experience" is a perfectly good word, we choose "occurrence" because it is void of any emotional overtones. "Infilling" was changed because it may have the meaning of both the Spirit "upon" and "within." Others have reacted negatively to the term "experience" because they assume that it implies a "second blessing." That, however, represents a reaction against a Holiness Pentecostal

Jesus tells Nicodemus that to be born again is the precondition for both seeing the Kingdom of God as well as entering into it. John 3:3,5 15 I Corinthians 2:12-16

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PART EIGHT: NATURE AND EXPERIENCE doctrinal framework that is not present in the Dunamis Project. We are working out of a completely different set of assumptions than the Pentecostal Holiness interpretation.

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Others seem to have problems because they assume that there is some conflict between faith and experience. That too is a false conflict. For while it is true that faith does not rest upon experience, if the objects of our faith are objectively real, as they most certainly are, then there will be some type of experience following their apprehension by faith. Thomas Smail clearly articulates the relationship between faith and experience. a) The Holy Spirit gives faith:
The next thing that we need to notice is that the human means by which the Spirit accomplishes our transformation into Christ is our faith. This is implicit in the passage we have been studying. It is not all and sundry who are being changed into Christs likeness, but a group (we), who can, in principle, be defined as those who have, in the language of the passage, turned to the Lord with unveiled facethat is, a group of believers. The whole transformation that we have been describing takes place within the realm of faith, it is through faith that it is both realized and recognized. What we do not believe of Christ, we cannot go on to experience of Christ. Faith is the human means, the Jacobs ladder, that the Spirit constructs in order to do his work in us; it is the door that the Spirit opens so that we may have access to Christ and he to us; as Calvin once put it, faith is the empty hand that we hold out to Christ and that he fills with himself, and the impulse and strength to stretch out the hand come from the Spirit, and it is the Spirit who through our faith fills us with Christ. 16

b) The end of faith is experience:


In John 4:46-54 it is very clear from the whole thrust of the dialogue between Jesus and the official from Capernaum that the means of his sons healing is going to be the fathers faith. The course of the healing, and the will and power to perform it are in Jesus, not the father, but the fathers faith is the necessary connecting link between the sons need and Jesus help. The turning point of the passage is obviously verse 50 Jesus said to him, Go; your son will live. The man believed the word that Jesus speaks and the promise that he makes. Implicit in the fathers believing obedience is his verdict about Jesus, not theologically formulated, but clearly expressed in what he does. His faith does not rest in any experiential fulfillment of the promise but in what he knows of Christ who has promised. The content of his faith is the Lord alone. Before he sees, he believes.

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Thomas A. Smail, Reflected Glory: The Spirit in Christ and Christians (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975), pp. 29-30.

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But having believed, he sees. That which Jesus promises him, Your son will live is of such a nature that it can only be fulfilled by a particular happening. And that happening takes place. In response to the believing of the father, there is a receiving of that which Jesus promises by the son. At the hour when Christs promise created the fathers faith, the boy began to mend. The promises of the gospel are such that, when they find faith, they press through to particular fulfillment in experience, in event. The gospel is not in word only but in manifestation of the Spirit and in power. If the father had gone home and found his boys situation unchanged, he would soon have concluded that there was something mistaken about his believing, because what he had believed had not happened. One of the characteristics of Gods word is that what it promises happens when it is believed, and if it does not, it leaves behind a situation of contradiction and unreality. Thus the object of faith is Christ, but, because Christ is who he is and promises what he promises, the end of faith is experience. 17

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If the experiential aspect of the Christian faith is a problem, then one should leave the topic of theology and return to reexamine one's philosophical presuppositions about the nature of reality. We suggest a careful reading of our book, The Collapse of the Brass Heaven. This deals with questions of worldview as they relate to our experience of the power and presence of God. From all that has been written up until now it should be apparent that to be filled or baptized with the Holy Spirit is an experience. It is not a belief or a conviction, but rather something that happens to people. It is a definite personal experience of the Holy Spirit's person and work. 18 About this experience one may make the following generalizations: 1. It is usually, but not always, separate from a conversion experience. 2. It usually comes as the result of seeking and asking through prayer. 3. It comes sometimes with great emotion; sometimes there is no emotion at all. 4. It has many results, but the universal experience is the present empowering work of the Holy Spirit, enabling one to be a more effective witness to Jesus Christ.

Smail, Reflected Glory, pp. 30-31. Because the baptism and infilling with the Holy Spirit is fundamentally an experience it is subject to any number of theological interpretations. It is very possible to have a valid experience of the Holy Spirit as attested to by its fruits while having a theology that is unsound. One of the purposes of this project is to develop a theological framework that is based on scripture and thus to remove unnecessary obstacles to our experiencing the full working of the Holy Spirit.
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There follows some short personal reports of experiences of the Holy Spirit by a few of those connected with the preparation of the Dunamis Project.

B. PERSONAL TESTIMONIES TO THE INFILLING WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT


1. Archer Torrey

Here is a telephone interview that I had with Archer not long ago concerning his experience of receiving the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Brad - How did you receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit? Archer - Well, while I was a student at Davidson College I decided to ask for the baptism with the Holy Spirit. I followed my grandfather's approach, which is asking in the name of Jesus and receiving in faith, and then stepping out in obedience as the Lord leads. So I asked and thanked God for his gift. Brad - Well what happened? Did your have any feelings? Were there any special manifestations? Archer - At that time there were no observable effects, either outwardly or inwardly. There were no tears, no joy. God had just given me the faith that if I asked for something according to his will he would give it to me. I knew without doubt that it was his will to give me the baptism. Brad - Did anything happen later on that let you know that you had indeed received new power for witness? Archer - Several weeks later I was asked to supply preach at a nearby church. (In those days local churches would often ask college students to supply preach. I had never been to this church before and did not even know where it was. The only contact that I had with anyone in the church was with an elder who told me which bus to take to get there. When I was preparing I asked the Lord what he wanted me to preach on. The Lord said, "what you like best", which at that time was worship. After the service many of the people came forward and asked me who had told me all about their church. The sermon had spoken directly to a crisis in the church.

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Archer - I think the main thing was beginning to receive clear daily guidance of what the Holy Spirit was leading me to do. There was also power in preaching. I was never conscious of having power, but the preaching was obviously being used by God. Also, I am not a good administrator but found that God had given me gifts of administration." Brad - Did you speak in tongues? Archer - No, not at that time. It was 20 years later. After Jane received the gift of tongues she took me to a Pentecostal preacher. He prayed that I may be baptized in the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues. I did not pray in tongues but after praying and talking together for a while he said that it was obvious that I had already received the baptism with the Holy Spirit even though I could not speak in tongues. Given his traditional Pentecostal background this was an amazing thing for him to say. A little after this I just decided as an experiment to open my mouth and offer sounds to the Lord. I discovered that I had had the gift all along but had just never used it. Brad - I would like to add a personal observation about Archer. This testimony is very non-emotional. I believe it points to the central element of Archer's teaching: receiving the baptism with the Holy Spirit is not a matter of feelings but rather of faith and obedience. (This in no way implies that Archer is a cold or unfeeling person.) In 1984 at a pastors conference on the Holy Spirit in Taiwan, I was praying with Archer for those who came forward. As we prayed, (mostly he prayed and I translated) absolutely the most amazing things were happening. People were resting in the Spirit, demons were manifesting, and people were falling down confessing sins, many were receiving tongues, or having visions. I could feel a tornado of the Holy Spirit rushing through the room and in me. Never had I seen anyone so empowered by the Holy Spirit. I turned to Archer and said, "Do you feel that?!!" Archer looked at me, rather sternly and said, "Feel what? I don't feel anything! Learn this and learn it well. This is not a matter of feelings; it is a matter of obedience. Obedience! Obedience! That is the important thing!" That really shook me up! But I turned and continued praying for the pastors and the miracles continued. That retreat was the beginning of a move of the Holy Spirit that continues in the Taiwan Presbyterian Church to this day! 2. Andy Buchanan

The Apostle Paul was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. For many years I tried to be a Presbyterian of the Presbyterians. I tried to be nothing but a Presbyterian who was loyal to the THE PRMI DUNAMIS PROJECT GATEWAYS TO EMPOWERED MINISTRY

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During this time I developed an active devotional life that included Bible reading and prayer. For about 25 years this life fed me spiritually and I was greatly helped by such writers as Andrew Murray, Watchman Nee, James Stewart and Thomas Merton. I might have settled down in this pattern of a private devotional life but God (as I look back on it) must have had other things in mind. One thing that affected me was my wife's experience in the Holy Spirit. She was baptized in the Spirit some nine years before I was. The tensions between us at times were intense, as she seemed to go in a way contrary to what I practiced and taught. I felt she had unfairly abandoned the ship of Presbyterian traditionalism. However, I could not ignore the fact that she and her friends genuinely loved each other--and me as well--but I was dead set against their theology. I thought they neglected the Word and put too much emphasis on the Spirit. In the midst of this struggle, I decided to stake out my spiritual pilgrimage that corresponded to my own inner being and training and let my wife go her way. The trouble was that even in my own chosen path I just got hungrier and hungrier for God. I also met a spiritual friend with whom I read the Word and prayed. After our meetings I felt the presence of God in the same way that I had felt Him in private devotions. Here I found a relationship that drew me close to God, rather than interrupting my search for God. For me, this was a most important key. I had been on my way to becoming a hermit spiritually (encouraged especially by the writings of Thomas Merton) until I learned from this relationship that the Spirit is especially alive in Koinonia. Soon, out of great spiritual hunger and need, I prayed a prayer like this, "Fill me fuller Holy Spirit. I do not know what baptism with the Spirit is, but I am open to whatever you would do in my life." No longer was I limiting my concern to whether something was Presbyterian or not. The church exists to help us in our search for God. My eyes were on Him and all other considerations were secondary. I now realize that many Presbyterians have indeed experienced empowerment from the Holy Spirit. Nothing happened for three or four weeks. Then, one morning I was awakened by the most amazing sense of joy and peace. It seemed too good to be true. Soon, as I prayed, I realized that God had visited me in His Spirit. He talked with me for over two hours. He vividly taught me lessons that I still remember and practice. Needless to say, those hours changed my life. But, a time of questioning and analyzing began. Was this a legitimate thing? Was it real or make-believe, objective or merely subjective? I had been trained to question religious experience in this way. In the first few days I could not deny the change it made in my relationships with people. I loved more readily and more deeply. God seemed to draw me as I had never been drawn. My hunger for His Word grew. Now I was talking more about the Spirit because His Word talks so much about the Spirit!

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But what about the gifts? Would I become a healer? I prayed for the sick as I had done for many years. Some of them were healed. But, what have come more and more have been words of prophecy. They came as a complete surprise; I never expected them. I did not know that prophecy was for today. Certainly, I had not been taught this by anyone. But words from the Lord came, and still do. I asked the question from an intellectual perspective, "Is the baptism of the Spirit real?" My answer is "Yes, it is real. It made a great change in my life." I also believe that for years God had been leading me into this new life and I thank Him for His patience and persistence. 3. Dottie Buchannan

I was brought up in a family that was always in church. My father was a Presbyterian elder and my mother played the organ. Every missionary who visited our church stayed in our home. At 21 I married a Presbyterian minister, but I did not hear of the full work of the Holy Spirit until I was 43 years old. When I heard about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, I asked the only Spirit-filled person I knew in our church to pray for me, that I might be baptized with the Holy Spirit. She prayed and I believed that I had received, although nothing happened at that moment. Later, as I was riding in the car that day, the joy of the Lord filled me. I drove a lot in my work and the car became a wonderful place to worship God. For years I had believed the Bible to be the Word of God. Now I found it coming alive in my experience. I began to be so hungry to know the Word of God. A small group of women began to meet at our church during lunch to study the Bible. Since then, I have seen the Holy Spirit anoint me at times to teach the Word of God. When the Holy Spirit is teaching, I can almost "see" the Word of God going into the hearts of people. The Holy Spirit has also been teaching me to pray. About three years ago the Lord healed me of a neck injury. About a week after I was healed, some of the symptoms began to return. To combat this situation the Spirit led me in spiritual warfare. I began to worship God, to sing and to dance. I realized I was treading on the enemy (Psalm 91:13). Under the guidance of the Spirit, I continued to do spiritual warfare. The singing and the dancing became more and more militant until, after a period of time, I knew the Spirit's word to me was that the enemy was defeated. When I walked out of that room, there were no more symptoms. At times the Spirit of the Lord will come on me and lead me to cry and pray. At the time I may not know for whom I am praying. One day, sitting on the sofa watching TV, I began to cry. It had nothing to do with the TV. I knew the Holy Spirit wanted me to pray. Later, one of our daughters, who lived in another state, called me to tell me she had been driving her car in a very bad storm. This storm took place at the same time I was praying. Intercession in circumstances such as this, is one of the ways the Spirit has used me in ministry. More and THE PRMI DUNAMIS PROJECT GATEWAYS TO EMPOWERED MINISTRY

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During the first three years of my ministry a sense of futility had already been growing within me. I believe that I was suffering from a western worldview that closed out God and the spiritual realm. My worldview belittled the whole idea of a God who was there and speaks, loves, feels and guides us. From seminary onwards I learned to bend the message of the Bible to fit my worldview. I doubted whether God really entered human lives to redeem them. The Christian teachings I had learned as a child seemed unreal. I learned to put my trust in the helping professions to redeem and heal people. But during a year as a psychiatric social worker in Scotland and during my first two years in a Presbyterian church in Oregon, the God of professionalism failed me. My ministry seemed fruitless. I suffered from a sense of uselessness, sleeplessness, and unsatisfying relationships. At that point, a woman of my congregation shared with me her experience of the Holy Spirit. After nine months of Bible study about the Holy Spirit, I stopped thinking that she was demented and I realized that this was what I lacked. I asked Jesus "to baptize me with the Holy Spirit and to give me some sign that he was answering my prayer." One day soon after, I was attending a prayer meeting. The organist of the neighboring Presbyterian Church began writing messages on a pad of paper. We asked her what she was writing. In reply she read a beautiful message from God expressing God's love for us. I remembered the scripture "despise not prophesying". God was beginning to break into my closed world. This was the first of several signs that He was answering my prayer. A year later my mother was dramatically healed of a back disability, brain hemorrhaging, and an ulcer all in a single day. I too began to believe that tongues were for today. Though I had no dramatic experience with this, I just began to want to pray in a language other than English . When I gave into this desire it seemed as though God was using the experience to encourage me. Tongues have since become an important part of my prayer life, priming the pump for my prayers in English. More important then these signs were the internal workings of the Spirit as mentioned in John 16. The Spirit was taking the things of Jesus and giving them to me. All the promises and commandments of Christ were coming to life. Scriptures that I had learned as a youngster but had never found convincing, spoke with truth and clarity. . I began to want to love and praise Jesus, as Jesus said, "He will glorify me". The old hymns of the church came to life while new praise choruses and psalms increased my repertoire of expressing my love for God. THE PRMI DUNAMIS PROJECT GATEWAYS TO EMPOWERED MINISTRY

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From the fountain of a changed life, every area of my ministry began to produce life. Once I had experienced God in a real personal way it became easier for me to walk in faith and trust and to help others do the same. 5. Laura Long

My year in Korea was an extremely difficult one. My husband was going home, knew many people, and spoke some Korean. For me, it was landing in an alien culture. Our living situation, at the theological seminary where we taught, was extremely difficult. We were very cold and had no running water or plumbing for four frozen months. The market was a mile walk down the mountain, and Seoul, where English speaking friends were, was one hour away by bus. As a woman, in a very chauvinistic culture, I was often treated as a non-person. I got used to not being looked at or spoken too. Brad received compliments on what a wonderful wife he had because I was quiet. Of course I had little choice not being able to speak the language. This hurt my pride and I responded by being just more culturally arrogant. While in America I had been very turned off by the charismatic renewal. Occasionally we attended prayer and praise meetings in Richmond out of curiosity and amusement. But in Korea, perhaps driven by our great spiritual need as well as the need for English speaking friends, we spent a lot of time in the homes of several Presbyterian missionaries. They had a vibrant faith and were matter of fact about the role of the Holy Spirit in their successful mission work. A couple of months after Brad had been so dramatically filled with the Holy Spirit at Jesus Abbey I reached a low point. I was sick of the culture and the difficulties of daily living. I was lonely. I felt beaten down and wondered how I could keep going. I also questioned whether I could ever be an effective minister. I was really broken. Thankfully, about this time we were able to attend the monthly prayer meeting at the Roses' house with Protestant and Catholic missionaries from all over Korea. In the evening I was just sitting in the circle listing to the singing and praying. I was not asking for anything in just sitting there. I felt the warmth and support of the group, and was very relaxed. I noticed that my tongue was moving. I just let it go; it felt very comfortable and good. I do not think anyone noticed anything happening to me. And I told no one. The next morning I awoke with the most wonderful sense that God had given me a gift. It was like there was some precious jewel buried within me. The best comparison that I can make to that THE PRMI DUNAMIS PROJECT GATEWAYS TO EMPOWERED MINISTRY

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This marked a turning point for me. The things of the Spirit became very real. For the first time I found the courage to share my faith with others. This was the beginning of continuing to grow in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 6. Brad Long

Jesus had been real in my life for a long time before I actually asked for and started receiving the infilling with the Holy Spirit. While in college and in seminary I had been hurt and put off by people in the Charismatic renewal. I also felt sure that I was adequate to the task of ministry and had no need of what I perceived to be their emotional props. A further hindrance was the Pentecostal theology and style that just rubbed me, as a Presbyterian, the wrong way. My attitude, however, started to change during my doctor of ministry intern year in Korea while serving as a PCUS Volunteer in Mission in 1976. Doing cross cultural mission work proved to be very difficult as well as exciting. We came to the realization that despite our academic "competencies" that were being honed at Union Seminary in Virginia, we lacked the power to effectively witness to Jesus Christ. The hardships that we faced, as well as participation in the dynamic spiritual life of the Korean church and the missionaries, led us to a deeper dependence upon Christ, and to an eager openness to receive all that the Holy Spirit may have for us. Part of this openness came by getting past some of the old stereotypes about the Charismatics. We also had our western rationalistic worldview expanded by seeing the Holy Spirit obviously at work. For months we attended a prayer group that met in the home of some Presbyterian missionaries named David and Ellen Ross. At these prayer meetings in non-threatening ways we started to learn about the work of the Holy Spirit. Finally, while at a Charismatic Anglican Prayer Community named Jesus Abbey, I decided to ask for the infilling with the Holy Spirit. This took place just after we finished eating supper. I asked Archer Torrey, the director of the abbey, to pray for me. I wanted to be prayed for before the worship started because I was afraid that the music would provide the occasion for psychological manipulation. If anything was to happen, I wanted it to be real. At the time I was especially afraid that I would speak in tongues, the last thing I wanted was to look like some kind of fool. Archer and other members of the community gathered around me laying on hands. Archer prayed a disappointingly simple prayer. "Lord! We give you thanks that you have used Brad THE PRMI DUNAMIS PROJECT GATEWAYS TO EMPOWERED MINISTRY

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in the past, now please baptize him with your Holy Spirit that he may be even more useful to you in the future. And by the way Lord, please give him the gift of tongues." I found myself thinking; "Now why did he go and mess everything up by throwing in that second part?" Next I started to wonder, "Was that all? Nothing is going to happen!" But the next moment I was overwhelmed with a sense of the presence of God. It seemed that Jesus was right there beside me pouring buckets of love over me. It was so delicious and wonderful that I found myself laughing for joy, and in between the laughter I was speaking in a language that I did not know but which burst spontaneously to my lips. It was absolutely glorious. I spent the rest of the night in the chapel in prayer. The very next morning, through a communication breakdown with my wife, the Lord let me know without doubt that my entire sanctification was a long way off! Right after this experience however there were several visible effects besides the gift of tongues. 1. First, I became ravenous for the word of God. The Bible came to life as never before. 2. For the first time I was able to freely witness to Jesus Christ. The opportunity to do this came the very next day on the train to Seoul when a man with a look of sadness and desperation on his face came to me and asked, "How come you look so happy?" 3. Shortly after this I had a direct terrifying encounter with evil spirits and discovered that the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the name of Jesus were given for extending the Kingdom of God. 4. I started in small ways to receive the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I also started to express the gifts and manifestations of the Holy Spirit in ministry. From that day my life and ministry were different. I realized in looking over all these testimonies, that we have really only given reports of the initial experience appropriating in faith the empowering work of the Holy Spirit. This may be called the baptism with or in the Holy Spirit. For all of us, however, there have been many experiences of power of the Holy Spirit coming upon us, at particular occasions to equip us for special ministry or witness. These occurrences are so numerous and are often accompanied by no special emotional awareness that they are hard to keep track of. There follow two from my own experience.

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The purpose of Prayer Mountain is to be open to the leadership of the Holy Spirit and to pray as He directs. At several points during the Prayer Mountain Retreats the Holy Spirit has come upon me. I find myself like the conductor of an orchestra with baton in hand ready to conduct but with no sheet music. Rather, the music is given note by note. Likewise, as the Holy Spirit moves He gives the moment-by-moment instructions of how, who, and what to pray for. It seems that the power of the Holy Spirit is expressed through having all of my spiritual, as well as physical, ears open. I know what is happening in the group and also hear the Holy Spirit telling me what we are to pray for. I am aware of the direction the Holy Spirit is moving us in and am able to enable others to follow. This intense awareness lifts as soon as the Holy Spirit lifts. b) The case of the woman who could not conceive

At a Spirit Alive Mission a woman came forward for prayer. She told me that she could not conceive because during the birth of her first child a serious infection had closed off both of her tubes. She and her husband dearly wanted to have more children. Before we started praying I was not at all conscious of the presence or power of the Holy Spirit. Rather, acting out of obedience, I asked two other women to join us. I asked them to lay their hands on the woman. Then I placed my hand over theirs. As I prayed quietly in tongues, I became aware that my hand was starting to tremble and felt some energy going through me. When I asked the women whether anything was happening she reported that she was starting to feel heat and something like electricity. As we continued to pray the heat continued and intensified and then she starting itching. We were conscious that something remarkable was happening. We kept praying for her as long as the heat, "electricity," and inner awareness that we should keep praying continued. After about an hour and a half all this ceased. We stopped and praised God for His grace. We knew that something had happened but did not want to jump to any conclusions. About a year later I received a picture of a beautiful baby girl! She had been healed!

C.
1.

THE RESULTS OF THE EXPERIENCE


Religious Experience Must Be Evaluated According To Its Fruit

From these few cases one can see something of the variety of the experiences and results of being filled with the Holy Spirit.

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These are wonderful experiences! But there are three sources of religious experience: the Holy Spirit, evil spirits, and ourselves. There may also be a mixture of these three. Thus all such experiences need to be carefully discerned and evaluated on the basis of their fruit. 19 In general the effects of an authentic experience of the baptism and infilling with the Holy Spirit are two fold. 20 2. a) The Effects Of The Experience Making operational the doctrines of the Christian faith

The first result of the experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit is that the great doctrines of our faith become operational. That is they move from being faith statements, or statements of intellectual assent, to being lived experience. In this respect there is really nothing new about this work of the Holy Spirit. Making faith a reality is what He has always been doing. Some examples of this are: * The real presence of Jesus Christ: In worship, the Lord's Supper, and in prayer Jesus Christ is experienced as alive and present. He is experienced as resurrected Lord who forgives sin, defeats Satan, provides guidance, and loves with everlasting love. * The Bible as the Living Word of God: The Bible becomes intensely important, its words become sweet and filled with power and authority. Not only is there a desire for Bible study, but verses of Scripture begin to offer clear guidance for daily life. * The Church is experienced as universal: We affirm the universality and unity of the Church in our creeds, but often this is obscured by deep racial, cultural, and theological divisions. The "church Catholic" is not an experiential reality. But those who have started receiving the infilling with the Holy Spirit often find that barriers are swept away and they experience the unity and universality of the body of Christ. b) Experiencing and participating in the Spirit's own sphere of action

19
20

Matthew 7:15-20 These two categories are elaborated in detail by J. Rodman Williams in the book, Era of the Spirit.

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In churches influenced by the reformed tradition the focus is more upon God the Father and God the Son then upon the Holy Spirit. Often the Holy Spirit is seen as having an extremely important but secondary role of mediating Christ to us. In Calvin's theology, it is through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that the Scripture, which reveals Christ, was written. It is through faith, given by the Holy Spirit, that we receive Christ. Thus the focus is not upon the Holy Spirit Himself but upon the one whom he reveals. This is as it should be for the Holy Spirit does indeed point to Jesus. In focusing on the mediation of the Holy Spirit, there has been a practical neglect of the Holy Spirits own unique sphere of operation. This has had far reaching consequences not only in our experience but also in the church's spiritual vitality, mission, and evangelism. Often when Christians begin to receive the infilling with the Holy Spirit, without in any way detracting from the glory of Jesus Christ, they begin to experience the Holy Spirit's unique sphere of work. The results are often dramatic! * The Holy Spirit is recognized as the third person of the Trinity who is present There is the awareness that the Holy Spirit like Jesus is personal, and thus we may enter into a personal relationship with the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is experienced as Counselor just as Jesus promised. 21 * The manifestation of the Spirit's power through spiritual gifts For many Christians, the manifestational gifts of the Holy Spirit as listed in I Corinthians 12 are not part of their daily experience. With the experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit, not only do Christians find themselves empowered for witness but they also begin to experience these gifts as ordinary events and the normal equipment for doing Christ's work. * Awakening to the spiritual realm and to spiritual warfare It has already been noted that the primary way in which the power of the Holy Spirit is expressed is through opening of our spiritual eyes. One becomes more aware of the Holy Spirit and of evil spirits. Spiritual warfare also becomes real because the infilling with the Holy Spirit makes one more useful in the Kingdom of God. This evokes counter attacks from the powers of darkness. * Mission and Evangelism Bishop John V. Taylor writes:

21

John 16:7-15

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The chief actor in the historic mission of the Christian church is the Holy Spirit. He is the director of the whole enterprise. The mission consists of the things that he is doing in the world. In a special way it consists of the light that he is focusing upon Jesus Christ. 22

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The chief work of the Holy Spirit is that of extending and establishing the church. He does this through empowering and equipping believers to be witnesses to Jesus Christ. One of the first and most obvious results of receiving the infilling with the Holy Spirit is a desire to share the good news of Jesus Christ. There also comes the gifts and power to do so.

D. SUMMARY REFLECTIONS ON THE EXPERIENCE OF THE BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE HOLY SPIRIT UPON FOR POWER
The baptism with the Holy Spirit is not a second work of grace, nor is it synonymous with sanctification. Rather, it is the conscious appropriation in faith and obedience of the empowering and equipping dimension of the Holy Spirit's work that already dwells within us. The baptism with the Holy Spirit fits within the same motif of the Spirit upon and has as its primary meaning empowerment for service and witness. (Acts 1:5,8) However, it should be obvious from both the testimonies given here as well as from the two categories of effects, that the experience is often of such power and impact that there is an overflow of effects and benefits beyond just empowerment for service. This encounter with the living God may effect the whole person and have reverberations throughout our whole relationship with God. To further complicate our attempt at clarity, it is also the experience of some that they have received the baptism with the Holy Spirit simultaneously with what was also a powerful experience of forgiveness and reconciliation. For some this may even have been a conversion experience or they have mistakenly called a conversion experience the Spirit baptism. This is easy for those who have grown up in well-established mainline denominations that have rarely provided the opportunity to personally accept Christ as Lord and Savior. Praying for the baptism with the Holy Spirit may provide just such an occasion. Many who have had this encounter with the Holy Spirit speak of personally meeting Jesus for the first time, of feeling overwhelmed by His reality, love, forgiveness, and power. Many for the first time know His resurrection power and are convinced beyond all doubt that Jesus is real and alive. Many not only experience the Holy Spirit's power through manifesting the
John V. Taylor, The Go-Between God: The Holy Spirit and the Christian Mission (London: Oxford Press, 1979) p 3.
22

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R.A. Torrey sums up these complex overtones of the experience of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit as follows:
The steps by which one ordinarily receives the Baptism with the Holy Spirit are of such a character, and the Baptism with the Holy Spirit makes God so real, that this Baptism is in most cases accompanied by a great moral uplift, or even a radical transformation, but the Baptism with the Holy Spirit is not in itself either an eradication of the carnal nature or cleansing from an impure heart. It is the impartation of supernatural power or gifts in service 23

It is easy to see why a range of different interpretations have been given the baptism with the Holy Spirit - conversion, sealing of salvation, holiness, assurance, etc. Truly the experience in its spectrum of its effects may include elements of all of these things. But they are all secondary to the primary purpose, which is empowerment.

23

R. A. Torrey, What the Bible Teaches About the Holy Spirit (New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1898), p. . 273

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1. The relationship between the baptism with the Holy Spirit and subsequent experiences of the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. What is the relationship between the baptism with the Holy Spirit and the subsequent experiences of the empowering work of the Holy Spirit? The empowering work of the Holy Spirit is present in potential just as are all His operations from the moment one is born again. In the experience of Jesus' disciples even before the day of Pentecost they had occasions of the Holy Spirit upon them for power. This was the case when Jesus sent them out preaching the kingdom of God, healing the sick, and casting out demons. (Luke 9:1-6, 10:1-20) In my own experience before receiving the baptism with the Holy Spirit in Korea and even while very hostile to the charismatic renewal I had experienced the Holy Spirit upon for power. It was however when I was "baptized with the Holy Spirit" that I consciously asked for and in faith appropriated this dimension of the Holy Spirit's work. The baptism with the Holy Spirit marked a radical turning point in my walk with Christ. Several things happened. a) There was a breaking through in lived experience of the empowering dimension of the Spirit's work. There was, on my part, an eager openness to have the Holy Spirit upon me for power. There was also a trust and open faith that if I were obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit, then the Holy Spirit would indeed manifest His power.

b)

c)

The occurrences of the Spirit upon for power that follow often lack the impact or far ranging effects of the initial experience, they are more narrow experiences of empowerment for specific works to the glory of God. 2. Learning to ride a bicycle as an analogy of the relationship between the baptism with the Holy Spirit and subsequent fillings Growing up I recall that there was a process of learning to ride a bicycle. There were times before breaking through when I would go a few feet while standing on one pedal or even further while on training wheels. Then one glorious day, it happened! I got the knack of it, and learned to balance, and pedal at the same time. That first real bicycle ride was a wonderful initiatory experience. It not only boosted my self-confidence, but in a moment a whole new world opened up before me. That was the beginning. I did not stay forever on the bicycle. But from that day forward I have, whenever the occasion calls for it, been able to get THE PRMI DUNAMIS PROJECT GATEWAYS TO EMPOWERED MINISTRY

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on a bicycle and take off. These further rides have lacked the power and feeling of the initial experience but they accomplish their primary purpose. I get where I want to go! Similarly, once one has experienced baptism with the Holy Spirit, even if not living a new state of empowerment by the Holy Spirit, one is able to receive that empowering dimension of the Holy Spirit and to manifest the gifts of the Holy Spirit as the Holy Spirit leads. Ideally, we should be in such an intimate relationship with Jesus, and so open to the Holy Spirit, that not only do our characters reflect Jesus but are able to move into the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit freely, and for the glory of God. The inward and the outward operations of the Holy Spirit should meet and mingle to become the Spirit filled life. We are to live by the Holy Spirit and are also to walk by the Spirit. In so doing, we will reflect the character of Jesus and will also have the power to do the same works that Jesus did.

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TEACHING CHARTS: PART VIII

THE NATURE AND EXPERIENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT'S POWER

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A. THE NATURE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT'S POWER


1. The power is personal and rooted in relationship with Christ. John 15:5, 15:7 2. All may receive. Acts 2:17-18, 39 I Corinthians 12:7 3. The power is temporary. Not one filling but many. Acts 2, 4:31 4. It is a gift; we have no grounds for pride. Acts 8:20, I Corinthians 4:7 5. The purpose of the power is twofold.
a. That we may be equipped to witness for Jesus Christ in the world Luke 24:48-49, John 20:21-23, Acts 1:8

b. For the glory of the Church I Corinthians 12:7, Ephesians 4:11-16 6. Everyone's personality is different, so the experience of the Holy Spirit is different. 7. Manifested through a diversity of gifts. I Corinthians 12:4-6, I Corinthians 12:27-30 8. The power is expressed primarily in opening our spiritual eyes. II Kings 6:15-17, Joel 2:28-29, John 3:3,5, I Corinthians 2:12-16

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B.

THE EXPERIENCE OF THE INFILLING WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

1. The infilling with the Holy Spirit is an experience! It is not a belief or a conviction, but rather something that happens to people.

2. It is usually separate from a conversion experience, but it may take place at the same time.

3. It usually comes as the result of seeking and asking through prayer.

4. It comes sometimes with great emotion; sometimes there is no emotion at all. 5. It has many results, but the universal and primary result is that one experiences the empowering work of the Holy Spirit, enabling one to be a more effective witness to Jesus Christ.

6. The infilling with the Holy Spirit has been experienced in every age since Pentecost by Christians from all different races, nationalities, educational and cultural backgrounds. It is a transdenominational, transcultural phenomena.

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C.

THE RESULTS OF EXPERIENCING THE INFILLING WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT


(As observed by J. Rodman Williams)

1. MAKING OPERATIONAL THE DOCTRINES OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH


a. The real presence of Christ b. The Bible as the living Word of God c. The Church is experienced as universal

2. EXPERIENCING AND PARTICIPATING IN THE SPIRIT'S OWN SPHERE OF ACTION


a. The Holy Spirit is experienced as third person of the Trinity b. The manifestation of the Spirit's power through spiritual gifts c. Awakening to the spiritual realm and to spiritual warfare d. Mission and evangelism

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D.

THE RIPPLE EFFECT OF THE BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

The primary purpose of the baptism with the Holy Spirit is empowerment, but may have other repercussions.

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V. STUDY QUESTIONS: THE NATURE AND EXPERIENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT'S POWER
I. INTRODUCTION, II. THE NATURE OF THE SPIRIT'S POWER 1. How have you experienced the Holy Spirit's power as both personal and impersonal? 2. What is the "bottom line" for understanding and using the power of the Holy Spirit? 3. What is the Biblical basis for affirming that all those who accept Christ may receive empowering work of the Holy Spirit? 4. Section C states that the power is temporary and episodic. Is this true to your own experience of the Holy Spirit's empowering work? What exceptions have you found? 5. If the Holy Spirit's gifts and power are given as a free gift why is it then that pride is often a temptation to those who have received? 6. What is the fundamental purpose of the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit? 7. Is it proper to ask God for certain gifts of the Holy Spirit? 8. What is the relationship between a person's personality and their experience of the Holy Spirit? 9. What is one of the fundamental ways that the power of the Holy Spirit is expressed that equips us to be more effective witnesses to Jesus Christ? III. THE OCCURRENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT UPON FOR POWER 10. What does it mean to affirm that the empowerment of the Holy Spirit is an experience or an occurrence? 11. What is the relationship between faith and experience? 12. What are the salient characteristics of the experience of the Holy Spirit? 13. After reading over the testimonies that are given, do any of them relate to your own experience or lack of experience? 14. Share your own testimony of how the empowering work of the Holy Spirit has become real in your own life. What difference has this made? 15. Why must we be careful not to take religious experience at face value? 16. What are some criteria that may help us sort out what is authentically the work of the Holy Spirit in a person's life? 17. There are two over-all effects of the experience of the infilling or baptism with the Holy Spirit. a. The first is that the Doctrines of the Christian Faith are made operational. Discuss this concept. Then share some points in your own life where you moved from accepting something as true to experiencing it. b. The second is experiencing and participating in the Spirit's unique sphere of activity. What is this sphere and how have you experienced it? 18. So we have studied all this about the Holy Spirit, where do we go from here? THE PRMI DUNAMIS PROJECT GATEWAYS TO EMPOWERED MINISTRY

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RECEIVING AND GROWING IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

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I. RECEIVING THE INFILLING WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT A. INTRODUCTION: THERE IS NO SET FORMULA B. SOME PRINCIPLES FOR BEING FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT 1. THIRST - JOHN 7:37-39 2. EXPECT - EPHESIANS 3:20 3. REPENTANCE - ACTS 2:38 4. ASK - LUKE 11:9-13 5. RECEIVE IN FAITH - GALATIANS 3:13-14, I JOHN 5:14-15 6. OBEY THE HOLY SPIRIT - ACTS 5:32, JOHN 14:15-17

311 311 311 312 312 313 314 315 316

II. MANIFESTATIONS AND GIFTS: GROWING IN OBEDIENCE TO THE HOLY SPIRIT317 A. MANIFESTATIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 317 1. WHY DO MANIFESTATIONS HAPPEN AT ALL? 318 a) The nature the Holy Spirit 318 b) The nature of human beings 319 c) Making visible and audible the invisible Holy Spirit in order to strengthen our faith 319 d) Manifestations fit in the motif of the Holy Spirit upon for power which results in actions.319 e) The manifestations are given as opportunities to learn to trust and obey the Holy Spirit 319 2. DANGERS TO BE ALERT TO IN EXPRESSING THE MANIFESTATIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 320 a) Must be carefully discerned 320 b) Manipulation must be avoided 321 c) Recognize that emotional release may take place simultaneously with authentic expressions of the Holy Spirit - do not confuse them. 321 d) Recognize that demons may manifest at the same time as there are authentic manifestations of the Holy Spirit - do not confuse them. 321 e) Do not focus on manifestations, focus on Jesus Christ 321 f) Do not quench the manifestations of the Holy Spirit - rather learn to discern and modulate them. 321 B. TWO BIBLICAL FORMS OF "INITIAL OBEDIENCE: TONGUES AND PROPHECY -322 1. TONGUES 322 2. PROPHECY 323 III. CONCLUDING THIS FIRST SECTION OF THE DUNAMIS PROJECT: GROWING ON FROM HERE! 325 A. TO RECEIVE THE BAPTISM OR INFILLING WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT IS JUST A BEGINNING. 325 B. DO NOT SEEK TO TEACH TOO QUICKLY OR PUSH YOUR WAY INTO LEADERSHIP. 325 C. DO NOT NEGLECT TO USE THE GIFTS AS GOD GIVES THEM TO YOU. (I TIMOTHY 4:14) 326

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D. EXPECT HEIGHTENED SPIRITUAL WARFARE 326 E. EXPECT TO BE SENT INTO THE WILDERNESS 326 F. STAY IN THE BODY OF JESUS CHRIST! 326 G. REMAIN IN THE WORD 326 H. LIVE A LIFE OF PRAYER. PRAY AT ALL TIMES IN THE SPIRIT. 327 I. ABOVE ALL, SET YOUR MIND, HEART, AND SOUL ON FOLLOWING JESUS CHRIST. WE ARE CALLED TO SINGLE- MINDED LOVE AND OBEDIENCE. 327 IV. TEACHING CHARTS 329

A. HOW TO RECEIVE THE INFILLING (OR BAPTISM) WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT 331 B. THE GIFT OF TONGUES 332 C. MANIFESTATIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 333 D. MANIFESTATIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: DANGERS 334 335 E. REMOVING OBSTACLES TO RECEIVING THE GIFT OF TONGUES F. REMOVING OBSTACLES TO RECEIVING THE GIFT OF PROPHECY 336 G. CONCLUDING THIS FIRST SECTION OF THE DUNAMIS PROJECT: GROWING ON FROM HERE! 337 V. STUDY QUESTIONS 338

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I. RECEIVING THE INFILLING WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

A.

INTRODUCTION: THERE IS NO SET FORMULA

To be baptized or filled with the Holy Spirit as defined by Scripture does not mean that you do not have the Holy Spirit. If you are a disciple of Jesus Christ, you already have the Spirit dwelling within you! 1 Further, it does not mean getting more of the Holy Spirit; rather it is a matter of letting the Holy Spirit have more of you. Recall Thomas Smails summary:
There are obviously endless differences in maturity and effectiveness among Christians, but they are not differences of this kind. All of Christ and all of the Spirit is offered to all Christians, and withheld from none, as the great gift of Gods grace, and the differences arise not between haves and have-nots in regard to the Spirit, but solely from the degree to which Christians have entered into enjoyment of the inheritance that belongs to all of them and possessed the possessions that are for all in Christ. 2

Most of us only give Christ a little space of our lives and a grudging ascent of our wills. D.L. Moody once said, "What could God accomplish with a man or a woman who has fully surrendered his or her will to God?" To undertake the Dunamis Project is to surrender more and more of ourselves to God, so that He may work through us in power to accomplish His holy purposes. Here Are Some Principles for Receiving and Growing in the Infilling with the Holy Spirit. These Are Basically the Same as Growing in Depth of Relationship with Jesus Christ These are given as guidelines; there is no set formula! 3 God is sovereign! These principles represent our human attempt at cooperation in God's purposes and submission to God's will. Growing in having the Holy Spirit upon for power is simply a matter of being in love with Jesus, asking for the equipping of the Holy Spirit, receiving in faith, and stepping out in obedience.

B.
1 2

SOME PRINCIPLES FOR BEING FILLED WITH THE

I Corinthians 12:3 Thomas A. Smail, Reflected Glory: The Spirit in Christ and Christians (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975), p. 49. 3 Other teachers on this subject have given other steps.

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HOLY SPIRIT
1. Thirst - John 7:37-39

It is "thirst" that leads us to Jesus Christ who gives the living water of the Spirit of God. Jesus says,
"'If anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.' Now this He said about the Spirit which those who believed in Him were to receive." (John 7:37-39)

This is, first of all, a thirst for intimacy with God.


"My God, thou art my God, I seek thee my soul thirsts for thee; my flesh faints for thee, as in a dry and weary land where no water is." (Psalm 63:1)

Second, it is a thirst that arises out of a profound awareness of our own inadequacy to do the works of God in our own strength. Jesus perfectly describes our condition when he says, "...apart from me you can do nothing!" 4

2.

Expect - Ephesians 3:20


"Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, to him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen." (Ephesians 3:20)

For many of us "our God is too small" and our expectations of the Christian life are too small. We have limited and tamed God by our fears, worldview, lack of knowledge, etc. Expectancy is an expression of untrammeled faith in God, which prepares us to receive and to do all that He has for us.

John 15:5

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3.

Repentance - Acts 2:38

At Pentecost Peter answers the crowd who had asked, "what must we do?"
"Repent, and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38)

That one is already baptized and growing in Christ is already assumed. What is emphasized here is that repentance and confession should be an ongoing part of the Christian life. Sin blocks our relationship with God, so repentance is a basic criterion for spiritual growth. Please be very careful here! One does not have to be perfect or have reached a high level of sanctification to receive the Holy Spirit "upon" for empowerment. There is no precondition of a "second blessing" or entire sanctification. If there were such a criterion for receiving the infilling, then none of us would qualify. This is given as a free gift of God's grace to all in Christ who in obedience receive. The gift is available from the moment we are in Christ. Having affirmed that there is no precondition we must be careful not to neglect the inward work of the Holy Spirit. God is very patient, but if a person persists in disobedience, God may, and often does, withdraw the Spirit's empowering. This God did in the tragic cases of Samson and King Saul who persisted in disobedience. They lost the anointing of the Spirit, and finally their lives. After David had committed adultery with Bathsheba, he prayed,
"Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me." (Psalm 51:11)

And Peter after denying Jesus, went out and wept bitterly. Later on the beach he accepted Jesus' recommissioning in the question and command, "Do you love me?...feed my sheep." 5 The way to growing in depth of relationship with Christ, and the Holy Spirit's empowerment for the work of His Kingdom, is by "walking in the light." 6 This firstly means, a willingness to be vulnerable to the Holy Spirit, and letting his searching light pierce to the secret places within us. Secondly, walking in the light means a readiness to confess and to repent of our sins and receiving the forgiveness and cleansing of Jesus. I have personally found that if I am to continue receiving the infilling of the Holy Spirit, then
5 6

John 21:15-19 I John 1:5-10

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confession must be a regular spiritual discipline. This may be done alone with God, before whom all our thoughts and desires are known. It is also helpful, and keeps us honest, to follow the direction of James and confess our sins to another brother or sister. 7

4.

Ask - Luke 11:9-13


And I tell you ask and it will be given you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (Luke 11:9-13)

If a person is in Jesus Christ he already has the Holy Spirit within him, for conversion is itself a work of the Holy Spirit. But to have the Holy Spirit "upon" for power, which is what it means to be baptized or filled with the Holy Spirit, one must appropriate it. One receives partly through asking in prayer. This is true of all that Christ has promised us. Calvin affirms this in his teaching on prayer.
Therefore we see that to us nothing is promised to be expected from the Lord, which we are not also bidden to ask of him in prayers. So true it is that we dig up by prayer the treasures that were pointed out by the Lord's Gospel, and which our faith has gazed upon. 8

The New Covenant in which all of God's people are promised the Holy Spirit for power has been established in the blood of Jesus Christ. On the day of Pentecost the promised Holy Spirit was poured out! It is now for us to appropriate God's gracious gift and provision through asking and receiving in faith. Asking in Prayer A. The important thing is to ask in prayer. It does not matter what words you use; there are no neat formulas. What matters is the intent of the heart. B. Many find it helpful to have hands laid upon them. This has good Biblical precedent and may be a support to one's faith (Acts 9:17, 19:6) C. One may ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit not once but many times, as often as needed.
7 8

James 5:16 John Calvin, (Trans by F.L. Battles), Institutes of Christian Religion, III, XX, 2 (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1975) p. 851.

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5.

Receive In Faith - Galatians 3:13-14, I John 5:14-15

Receiving the infilling with the Holy Spirit is not subject to our emotions or experience. Rather it is founded in the promises of God and received in faith. Paul asked the Galatians,
"Does He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?" (Galatians 4:5) "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us-for it is written, 'Cursed be everyone who hangs on a tree' - that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." (Galatians 3:13-14)

The key to appropriating what God has clearly promised us in Jesus Christ is given in the following incredible verses.
"And Jesus answered them, 'Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea', and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what He says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.'" (Mark 11:22-24) "And this is the confidence which we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him." (I John 5:14-15)

These promises give us the confidence to ask for and in faith receive the infilling of the Holy Spirit. We know that it is God's will and intention that we are made useful in his kingdom and equipped to witness to Jesus Christ. Thus in faith we ask for it and we trust and believe that we have indeed received. Experience will follow what we have appropriated in faith. This emphasis upon appropriating in faith the baptism with the Holy Spirit was the unique emphasis of R.A. Torrey. It is Biblical, fully respects the sovereignty of God, and avoids all the gimmicks and manipulations like tarrying meetings, or pressuring people to speak in tongues that have so marred our joyful reception of God's free gift. So crucial is this appropriation of the promise of the Holy Spirit to our project that I quote R.A. Torrey extensively.

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Now apply this to the matter of the baptism with the Holy Spirit. You have taken all the other six steps, 9 and you have come to God and asked Him definitely to baptize you with the Holy Spirit (or, to fill you with the Holy Spirit, as the case may be). Then ask yourself, "Is this petition of mine according to His will? You know that it is because Acts 2:39 and Luke 11:13 say so. Then read I John 5:14, "this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us." Then say, "I asked for the baptism with the Holy Spirit, I know that is according to His will because God says so in Luke 11:13 and Acts 2:39, therefore, I know He has heard me." Then read the fifteenth verse, "and if we know that He heareth us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions which we have asked of Him." The petition I asked was the baptism with the Holy Spirit; I know He has heard me; I know I have what I asked; I know I have the baptism with the Holy Spirit. And what you thus take upon naked faith in the word of God, you shall afterwards have in actual experimental possession. 10

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Ask and then receive in faith!

6.

Obey the Holy Spirit - Acts 5:32, John 14:15-17

This last step is the crucial one. Indeed, it is the essence of our whole relationship with Jesus Christ. We are called to obedience. After asking for the empowering of the Holy Spirit, and receiving in faith, that faith must be made active and alive, and the way this happens is through obedience to the Holy Spirit.
"And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him." (Acts 5:32) "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another counselor, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for He dwells with you, and will be in you." (John 14:15-17)

The obedience that God calls us to is not just a matter of doing a few things right to fulfill the law, rather it is a surrender of the will. R.A. Torrey clearly presents us with this call to radical obedience.
The heart of obedience is in the will. The whole essence of obedience
9

R.A. Torrey lists seven steps. 1. Accepting Jesus as Savior. 2. Renounce all sin. 3. Be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins. 4. Obedience and unconditional full surrender of the will to God. 5. Thirst. 6. Just ask Him. 7. Receive in Faith. 10 R.A. Torrey, The Holy Spirit: Who He is and What He Does (Old Tappan, NJ: Revell, 1977) p. 189.

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is the surrender of the will to God. It is coming to God and saying, "Oh God, here I am. Thou hast bought me with a price and I acknowledge Thine ownership. Send me where Thou wilt, do with me what Thou wilt, use me as Thou wilt. This is one of the most fundamental things in receiving the baptism with the Holy Spirit, the unconditional surrender of the will to God. More people miss the baptism with the Holy Spirit at this point, and more people enter experimentally into the baptism with the Holy Spirit at this point than at almost any other." 11

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In the story of Peter walking on the water, Jesus commanded him to come. As Peter obeyed and left the security of the boat he experienced the incredible miracle of walking on water. It may have only been a few steps, but that is a quantum leap beyond what the rest of the disciples experienced who did not get out of the boat. 12 Likewise, the Holy Spirit calls us to obedience and as we obey, that is when we experience the power or see evidences that we have indeed been empowered.

II. MANIFESTATIONS AND GIFTS: GROWING IN OBEDIENCE TO THE HOLY SPIRIT

A.

MANIFESTATIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

After praying to be filled with the Holy Spirit, you may experience some physical or emotional manifestations. Lets look at some of the things that have been reported by Dunamis Project participants: 1. Your hands may start to shake 2. There may have feelings of heat in your hands or through out your body. 3. A bubbly sparkly joy that feels like a spring or river starts in the stomach and then may be expressed as laughter or tears. 4. Whole body reactions that causes the person to flop like a fish, jump, shout dance, run and etc. 5. A feeling of deep peace that brings a rich silence permeated with the presence of God.
11 12

Torrey, The Holy Spirit, p. 168 Matthew 14:22-33

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6. The sensation of just being wrapped in Gods love. 7. Your knees may get weak, and you may feel in yourself the invitation just to let go and trust God. When you do you fall on the floor. 8. Images or visions of Jesus Christ or of Angles just come into your mind. 9. Words of scripture or words consistent with scripture start to bubble up into your mind and seek expression in through your lips. 10. Your tongue begins to spontaneously to move and you find yourself speaking sounds you do not understand. At other times words you do not understand start to come into your mind and you feel a little silly but natural as you open your mouth and speak them. 11. Feeling so wired up that you cannot sleep. Feeling so over come by Gods peace and love that you just have to go to sleep. 12. Sudden clarity of understanding as to mattes of Christian doctrine. (For example Jesus death on the cross suddenly makes sense.) 13. A quite still voice that whispers words of encouragement and affirmation that are consistent with scripture and leaves you with a deeper conviction of the reality of Jesus Christ. 14. No physical manifestations or feelings what so ever, just the faith that having asked you have received.

1.

Why do manifestations happen at all?

Manifestations of the Holy Spirit have been a significant source of both blessings as well as problems and misunderstands in the Church. One may ask why they happen at all or why God allows them. To understand manifestations, we must first have a biblical as well as scientific understanding of both the nature of the Holy Spirit and of human nature. a) The nature the Holy Spirit Manifestations arise because of the actual objective nature of the Holy Spirit who acts upon us and causes observable effects in the natural world. Being filled with the Holy Spirit is not just a doctrine that is accepted by faith, it is the invisible but actual Holy Spirit moving upon and through you. This event may effect your body, emotions, soul, THE PRMI DUNAMIS PROJECT GATEWAYS TO EMPOWERED MINISTRY

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mind and spirit. The Holy Spirits manifestations are analogous to the invisible wind blowing upon the leaves of a tree. The leaves will shake and the tree may sway with the wind. b) The nature of human beings Manifestations arise because our human nature is emotional, spiritual and rational. It is simply the only way we have of expressing the powerful presence of the Spirit of God. One may ask why human beings laugh, cry, blush, dance, and sing at all. This is just the way we are created. The manifestations are human ways of responding to a divine person and power that is really out there acting upon us. c) Making visible and audible the invisible Holy Spirit in order to strengthen our faith Manifestations are given as an expression of Gods grace to assure us of his presence and reality. The manifestations make visible and audible the objectively real but invisible Holy Spirit. To explain what had happened at Pentecost Peter says,
Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear Acts 2:33(NIV)

This strengthens our weak faith that is helped by first hand experience. d) Manifestations fit in the motif of the Holy Spirit upon for power which results in actions. From all the teaching of this manual we have affirmed that the Holy Spirit coming upon us will result in action that will give glory to Jesus Christ and will advance the Kingdom of God. In this action there is Gods part of acting upon us, but there is the human part of cooperating with the Holy Spirit. There are diverse ways the Spirit will invite you to join in this action. You may be called to offer your mouth and tongue and begin to speak in tongues. Or you may be given the gift of knowledge or prophecy and be called to use it in church or while praying for someone. You may be moved to reach out in compassion to someone or contribute a gift of money! The leading may come to lay hands on someone who is sick, or perhaps you are called to intercede for the lost or to witness to some stranger about Jesus Christ. And many more that we lack the space to name here. e) The manifestations are given as opportunities to learn to trust and obey the Holy Spirit The manifestations of the Holy Spirit find their proper place in this framework of the THE PRMI DUNAMIS PROJECT GATEWAYS TO EMPOWERED MINISTRY

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Holy Spirit upon for power and action. The manifestations are given as an opportunity to learn to trust and obey the Holy Spirit in small things so that we can trust and obey Him in the big things. For example, to surrender to the Holy Sprits nudging to let go and trust Him which results in falling on the floor, or saying OK to the sparkling joy bubbling up in you and letting it be expressed as holy laughter is not important in itself. But through practicing obedience and experiencing the direct results of the working of the Spirit in these small things, one can develop the trust necessary to obey in the big things like, praying for healing, giving a testimony, going to the mission field or being martyred. Learning obedience requires humility before God, oneself and others. It is a great risk, but it is also a great adventure and the way of extraordinary blessing, not because the manifestations bless us, but because we will be better able to obey in the really important things that exalt Jesus Christ.

2. Dangers to be alert to in expressing the manifestations of the Holy Spirit.


Phenomena identical to the manifestations of the Holy Spirit may be created by a highly charged emotional atmosphere, but they may also be created by demons. How is this possible? Human beings have a limited repertoire of responses to the spiritual realm. This means that the same emotional or physical manifestations may have different causes--the human psyche, the Holy Spirit, or evil spirits. A helpful analogy to understand this is of a twelve-string guitar. Different people with different musical skills may stroke the strings and cause them to vibrate. If placed in an open window, the wind blowing may cause music to come from the same strings. They may also vibrate in sympathy when a note is played on another instrument. Likewise, the same manifestation in a human being may have very different sources. In light of human nature, the following cautions must be given concerning the expression of the manifestations:

a)

Must be carefully discerned One must carefully discern the source of any manifestations. (Complete teaching on discernment is offered in the next Dunamis Manual In the Spirits Power)

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One must be careful to avoid any manipulation of such manifestations They may be created as well as learned. One must also learn how to express the manifestations of the Holy Spirit in a way that is appropriate and consistent with the character of the Holy Spirit. c) Recognize that emotional release may take place simultaneously with authentic expressions of the Holy Spirit - do not confuse them. When the Holy Spirit moves upon a person, there may be produced such love and freedom that manifestations such as laughter, crying, anger or even groaning and roaring emerge. These are not properly manifestations of the Holy Spirit but rather human (conscious or unconscious) reactions to the presence of the Holy Spirit. They are not bad--indeed they may be the signs of deep inner transformation caused by the Holy Spirit. They must however be balanced to avoid emotionalism or hysteria. d) Recognize that demons may manifest at the same time as there are authentic manifestations of the Holy Spirit - do not confuse them. Sometimes the Holy Spirit will fall upon a person who is demonized. When this happens, the demons are driven to manifest their presence at the same time that there are genuine manifestations of the Holy Spirit taking place. This can be very confusing. e) Do not focus on manifestations, focus on Jesus Christ Manifestations may be so exciting and dramatic that people begin to focus on them and to seek them. To do so would undermine not only the whole Dunamis Project, but also the whole purpose of the infilling with the Holy Spirit, which is to make us useful for the work of Jesus Christ. We are to keep our focus on Jesus Christ and not to get distracted by manifestations. f) Do not quench the manifestations of the Holy Spirit - rather learn to discern and modulate them. A final major danger is to fear the manifestations of the Spirit and to try to over control them or to quench them. This is like preventing someone from giving a cry of wonder upon seeing an exquisite sunset. It is like forbidding family members from jumping for joy, weeping, laughing and then embracing one another when their daughter arrives home at the airport from a long absence overseas. These emotions should not be

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quenched. Often quenching the manifestations goes further and leads to a quenching of the actual working of the Holy Spirit Himself. Rather, we must learn to discern the manifestations and to modulate their expression and keep them in their proper balance. 13

B.

TWO BIBLICAL FORMS OF "INITIAL OBEDIENCE: TONGUES AND PROPHECY -

In the Bible, the two most common manifestations observed to have taken place when the Holy Spirit falls upon people are tongues and prophecy. Both of these are accepted means through which the Holy Spirit may teach us obedience. They are also the beginning expressions of the gifts of the Holy Spirit which are the power tools for building the Church. Our intention here is not to provide a complete teaching but is to remove obstacles to our receiving these gifts. A more complete teaching on discerning and using the manifestational gifts is given the next manual, In the Spirits Power.

1.

Tongues

We have already rejected as unbiblical the teaching that tongues is the one and only "initial evidence" of having received the baptism or infilling with the Holy Spirit. It is However witnessed in Scripture and an experiential fact that many people do indeed receive this gift when they receive the infilling or baptism with the Holy Spirit. Often the opportunity comes as the first invitation to obedience in receiving the manifestational gifts of the Holy Spirit. The gift of tongues, like all gifts, comes as a free expression of Gods grace and cannot be forced. Either it is given or not given. There are, however, some things that we can do to keep from blocking the receipt of this gift. We can and must learn how to express this gift in a way that is consistent with the biblical principles given in I Corinthians 12 -14. Guidelines for receiving tongues: a) One needs to understand that there is divine human cooperation. (Acts 2:4) God inspires, but we must do the actual speaking. b) There are profound personality differences. Some people spontaneously receive; others receive by an act of will.
Much of this teaching on the Manifestations of the Holy Spirit will be repeated and elaborated in the next Dunamis Project manual entitled, In the Spirits Power. It would be helpful also to read the chapters on expressing the power of the Holy Spirit in our book, Receiving the Power: Making Way for the Holy Spirit, Chosen/Baker Books.
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c) Some people receive as others lay hands on them or while in cooperate worship. Others receive while alone in private prayer or praise, and still others have received in the course of ministry. d) In receiving all gifts, we must respond in obedience to the prompting of the Spirit. In other words, if the Spirit is moving you to open your mouth and speak but you refuse, you will quench the Spirit. e) You can no more speak in Chinese and English at the same time than you can in tongues and English. If the Spirit moves you to speak, don't use your own language; offer whatever "nonsense" the Spirit gives. This may come naturally through your own thoughts. f) Some people find this to be an emotional experience, yet for others there will be no emotion at all. g) Sometimes a person may ask for the gift and receive it right at that moment. Other times, they may not ask at all and it is just given as God's serendipity. The gift may be given at some unexpected time long after one has asked for it, according to God's sovereign timing, not ours! h) God respects our freedom and our will. While not in control of the Spirit who is sovereign Lord, we are certainly in control of our response. For instance, the Spirit may give us the gift of tongues nearly continually. But this does not mean that we are caught up in some ecstasy that cannot be controlled. Rather, our manifesting this gift can be carefully modulated according to the circumstances. (I Corinthians 14:32-33) You can pray in a volume that is appropriate to the context. i) Following the clear principles guiding the use of this gift established by Paul in I Corinthians 12-14 will ensure that tongues is a blessing to you and for the glory of the Church. j) Keep growing in the Spirit! Tongues is NOT a sign that you have arrived spiritually or that you are more holy then other Christians. You must keep growing in both the inward and outward works of the Holy Spirit.

2.

Prophecy

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after praying to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Prophecy is the gift of being able to speak Gods word into a particular situation at a particular time. Before seeking this gift it must be strongly affirmed that while God indeed speaks to us today through the gift of prophecy, this is different from the prophecy of Scripture that has been canonized as Gods word for all people at all times and places. The gift of prophecy given today is subordinate to and must be tested by the revelation of Holy Scripture. Prophecy, like tongues, is given as pure gift from God and we cannot create it. We can, however, remove obstacles to receiving this gift. We must learn how to discern and express it according to the principles of I Corinthians 12-14. Some guidelines for receiving the gift of prophecy a) One needs to understand that there is divine human cooperation. (Acts 2:4) God gives the gift but we must receive it and learn how to use it. b) There are profound personality differences. Some people will have words coming to them in their minds. Others may have little pictures or images, others will have Scripture verses or a passages of Scripture pouring into their mind. c) Often the words of prophecy will come as a thought amid ones own thoughts, but it comes with a certain power and authority that, over time, one learns to recognize as coming from God. d) Some people, when prayed for, will experience a release of words in themselves that will flow like a melody and will read like poetry. Amid this stream of words there may be some words that are to be spoken out loud as prophecy. This must be discerned. e) Some people receive as others lay hands on them, or while in cooperate worship. Others receive while alone in private prayer or praise. Others have received in the course of ministry as they step out in obedience. As in receiving all gifts, we must respond in obedience to the prompting of the Spirit f) Some people find receiving prophecy to be an emotional experience; for others there will be no emotion at all. g) I Corinthians 14:32-33 tells us that The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. (NIV) God respects our freedom and our will. While not in control of the Spirit who is sovereign Lord, we are certainly in control of our response. We must learn not to add our own emotions to a revelation or speak beyond the inspiration.

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III. CONCLUDING THIS FIRST SECTION OF THE DUNAMIS PROJECT: GROWING ON FROM HERE!
We now come to the conclusion of this first step in the Dunamis Project. It is, however, just a beginning, a gateway into ministry empowered by the Holy Spirit. There is much more ahead! As you grow in the Spirit and are called into spiritual leadership some exhortations are in order to guide you along the way.

A.

TO RECEIVE THE BAPTISM OR INFILLING WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT IS JUST A BEGINNING.

You have not arrived at the end of a journey, but have only begun. We must continue to walk by the Spirit.

DO NOT SEEK TO TEACH TOO QUICKLY OR PUSH YOUR WAY INTO LEADERSHIP.
As you listen to the Holy Spirit, He will guide you carefully and appropriately into empowered ministry. A great danger is to get ahead of what the Spirit is doing in you as well as in others. At the same time be willing to take the risk of stepping out when the Spirit calls. On the other hand, though, be sure to keep up with the leading of the Spirit.

B.

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C. D.

DO NOT NEGLECT TO USE THE GIFTS AS GOD GIVES THEM TO YOU. (I TIMOTHY 4:14)

EXPECT HEIGHTENED SPIRITUAL WARFARE

Those who are growing in the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit and are giving glory to Jesus Christ can expect heightened spiritual warfare. This will come as a struggle with Satan as well as with our own sinfulness. Don't nurture any illusions of the unreality of our spiritual foes, nor flatter oneself by thinking that one has fully tamed one's sinful nature. Put on and keep on the whole armor of God and never leave the side of Jesus. 14

E.

EXPECT TO BE SENT INTO THE WILDERNESS

After the Holy Spirit fell upon Jesus equipping him for ministry, He was driven by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness for testing and refinement. 15 Likewise, those who have awakened to the empowering dimension of the Holy Spirit should expect the same. Wilderness is often the preparation for spiritual leadership. 16

F.

STAY IN THE BODY OF JESUS CHRIST!

You are called to be a member of the Body of Christ. That is the proper context in which to grow in the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit.

G.

REMAIN IN THE WORD

Remain rooted in the Word through the Scriptures, preaching, and sacraments. These are the means of grace that enable you to abide in Christ.

Ephesians 6:10-17 Luke 4:1-14 16 Passage Through the Wilderness by Brad Long provides further in-depth teaching on this process of refinement.
15

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H. I.

LIVE A LIFE OF PRAYER. PRAY AT ALL TIMES IN THE SPIRIT. 17

ABOVE ALL, SET YOUR MIND, HEART, AND SOUL ON FOLLOWING JESUS CHRIST. WE ARE CALLED TO SINGLEMINDED LOVE AND OBEDIENCE.

TO JESUS CHRIST BE ALL THE GLORY AND THE PRAISE!

17

Ephesians 6:18

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TEACHING CHARTS: PART IX

RECEIVING AND GROWING IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT


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A. HOW TO RECEIVE THE INFILLING WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT


1. THIRST: John 7:37- 39 2. EXPECT: Ephesians 3:20 3. REPENTANCE AND WALKING IN THE LIGHT: Acts 2:38, I John 1:5-10 4. ASK IN PRAYER: Luke 11:9-13 MANY WAYS-- Acts 4:24 -31, 10:34-47 LAYING ON OF HANDS: Acts 9:17, 19:6 MANY TIMES: Acts 1:2-4, 4:29-31 4. RECEIVE IN FAITH: Galatians 3:13-14, Mark 11:22-24, I John 5:14-15 5. OBEY THE HOLY SPIRIT - a surrendered will: Acts 5:32, John 14:15-17, Matthew 14:22-33

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B. THE GIFT OF TONGUES


1. ONE AMONG MANY SIGNS OF BEING FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

Mark 16:17-18 I Corinthians 12:4-11 I Corinthians 12:27-31

2. THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF TONGUES

1. An actual foreign language Acts 2:4 2. A prayer language I Corinthians 13:1, I Corinthians 14:2 3. As a form of praise I Corinthians 14:14-15 4. When interpreted (like prophecy) I Corinthians 12:10, 14:13

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C. MANIFESTATIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT


1.

SOME POSSIBLE MANIFESTATIONS

2. WHY DO MANIFESTATIONS HAPPEN AT ALL?


A. The nature the Holy Spirit

B. The nature of human beings

C. Making visible and audible the invisible Holy Spirit in order to strengthen our faith Acts 2:33 D. Manifestations fit in the motif of the Holy Spirit upon for power which results in actions. E. The manifestations are given as opportunities to learn to trust and obey the Holy Spirit.

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D. MANIFESTATIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: DANGERS


THE PROBLEM OF HUMAN NATURE: IDENTICAL PHENOMENA MAY HAVE DIFFERENT CAUSES. Implications for the manifestations of the Holy Spirit 1. Must be carefully discerned 2. Manipulation can happen and must be avoided 3. Recognize that emotional release may take place simultaneously with authentic expressions of the Holy Spirit - do not confuse them. 4. Recognize that demons may manifest at the same time as there are authentic manifestations of the Holy Spirit - do not confuse them. 5. Do not focus on manifestations, focus on Jesus Christ 6. Do not quench the manifestations of the Holy Spirit - rather learn to discern and modulate them.

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E. REMOVING OBSTACLES TO RECEIVING


THE GIFT OF TONGUES
1. Understand divine human cooperation. God inspires, but we must do the actual speaking. (Acts 2:4) 2. There are profound personality differences. Some people spontaneously receive; others receive by an act of will. 3. People receive in many different ways 4. In receiving all gifts, we must respond in obedience to the prompting of the Spirit. 5. You can no more speak in Chinese and English at the same time than you can in tongues and English. 6. Some people find this to be an emotional experience, yet for others there will be no emotion at all. 7. Received in Gods serendipity and timing 8. God respects our freedom and our will. We may learn to express the gift 9. Following the principles I Corinthians 12-14 for the use of this gift 10. Keep growing in the Spirit! THE PRMI DUNAMIS PROJECT GATEWAYS TO EMPOWERED MINISTRY

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F. REMOVING OBSTACLES TO RECEIVING


THE GIFT OF PROPHECY
1. Divine Human cooperation 2. There are profound personality differences - people receive words from the Lord in different ways 3. Prophecy will as a thought amid ones own thoughts -. 4. There may be a release of words that will flow like a melody and will read like poetry - words to be spoken out must be discerned. 5. There are many ways to pray for the gift of prophecy 6. For some prophecy is emotional experience; for others there will be no emotion at all. 7. I Corinthians 14:32-33 tells us that The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. (NIV) - We must learn not to add our own emotions to a revelation or speak beyond the inspiration. 8. Following the principles guiding the use of this gift, established in I Corinthians 12-14 9. Stay rooted in the Bible as the word of God, and cultivate the gift of discernment. 10.Discernment of content as well as timing 11.Keep growing in the Spirit! THE PRMI DUNAMIS PROJECT GATEWAYS TO EMPOWERED MINISTRY

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G. CONCLUDING THIS FIRST SECTION OF THE


DUNAMIS PROJECT: GROWING ON FROM HERE!
1. To receive the baptism or infilling with the Holy Spirit is just a beginning. 2. Do not seek to teach too quickly or push your way into leadership. 3. Do not neglect to use the gifts as God gives them to you. (I Timothy 4:14) 4. Expect heightened spiritual Warfare 5. Expect to be sent into the wilderness 6. Stay in the body of Jesus Christ! 7. Remain in the word 8. Live a life of prayer. Pray at all times in the Spirit. 9. Above all, set your mind, heart, and soul on following Jesus Christ. We are called to single- minded love and obedience.

TO JESUS CHRIST BE ALL THE GLORY AND THE PRAISE!

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V. STUDY QUESTIONS
RECEIVING THE BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND GROWING IN THE EMPOWERMENT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 1. How would you gage your present spiritual thirst? 2. Have there been times in your life when you were thirstier for the things of God then you are now? What circumstances caused you to be thirsty? 3. What is it you really expect to happen in your relationship to God? Do you expect anything? 4. What do you expect to happen on Sunday morning or when you offer up prayers to God? 5. What is it you are really seeking in life anyway? 6. Don't talk doctrine! But emotionally and conceptually, what is the size of your God? 7. God has promised us the empowering of the Holy Spirit. Is there anything in your life or attitudes that are getting in the way of more complete surrender to God? 8. When you pray, or when you are alone with your own thoughts, does anything keep nagging you? Is it something that needs to be confessed or dealt with? 9. What controversies do you have with God? 10. Have you ever really asked to be baptized with the Holy Spirit? If so, how and what happened? 11. If you have already been baptized in the Holy Spirit, have you consciously asked to be filled with the Holy Spirit for empowerment? Under what circumstances? What happened? 12. The part about faith is in some ways the hard part. Most of us want some evidence right away. What has been your experience of "stepping out and receiving God's promises in faith?" 13. To receive the promises of God in faith, what fears have you had to overcome? Or will you have to overcome? 14. What is your attitude towards the gift of tongues? Is it OK with you if God wants to give you that gift? Is it OK if He does not want to give you that gift? THE PRMI DUNAMIS PROJECT GATEWAYS TO EMPOWERED MINISTRY

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15. What type of manifestations may be expected when one prays to be filled with the Holy Spirit. 16. Why may manifestations happen? And what is their purpose. 17. What are you afraid of in regards to manifestations of the Holy Spirit? 18. What gifts do you desire to receive from the Holy Spirit that you believe will make you a more effective witness to Jesus Christ? Have you asked for them yet? 19. When it comes to receiving gifts of the Holy Spirit are there any fears or special concerns you may have? 20. What can we do to prepare to receive tongues or prophecy? What is the purpose in such gifts? 21. Where do we go from here? 22. How do you intend to keep growing in your relationship with Jesus Christ, and in your effectiveness as His witness?

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Augustine. Confessions (translated by John Ryan). New York: Doubleday, 1960. Augustine. The City pf God. In Great Books of the Western World, vol. 18. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1952. Baird, Arthur J. Rediscovering The Power of the Gospel: Jesus' Theology of the Kingdom. Wooster, Ohio: The lona Press, 1982. Barclay, William. The Gospel of Matthew, vol. 1. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1958. Berkholf, Hendrikus. The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1976. Berman, Morris. The Re-enchantment of the World. New York: Bantam, 1984. Bridge, Donald, More Than Tongues Can Tell: Reflections on Charismatic Renewal. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1982. Bruner, Frederick Dale. A Theology of the Holy Spirit: The Pentecostal Experience and the New Testament Witness. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1970. Bultmann, Rudolph Karl. Jesus Christ and Mythology. New York: Charles Schribner's Sons, 1958. Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion , ed., John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960. Chesterton, O.K. A G.K. Chesterton Anthology. San Francisco: Ignatius, 1985, Davidson, Leslie. Pathway to Power: The Charismatic Movement in Historical Perspective. Watchung, NJ: Charisma, 1972. Davies, Paul. 'The Mind of God." US News and World Report. 23 December, 1991. Descartes, Rene. Rules for the Direction of the Mind. In Great Books of the Western World, vol. 31. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1952. Freud, Sigmund. The Future of An Illusion. New York: Liveright, 1928. Green, Michael. I Believe in the Holy Spirit. Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1975.

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Gustafson, James M. Can Ethics Be Christian? Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1975. Hummel, Charles G. Fire in the Fireplace: Contemporary Charismatic Renewal. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1978. Hunt, Dave. Peace. Prosperity and the Coming Holocaust. Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 1983. James, William. The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature. New York: Modern Library, 1902. Jones, James W. Filled With New Wine: The Charismatic Renewal of the Church. New York: Harper and Row, 1974. Kraft, Charles, Christianity in Culture: A Study in Dynamic Biblical Theologizing in CrossCultural Perspective. Mary knoll, New York: Orbis, 1979. , "Worldview and Spiritual Power." Chinese leadership conference on Church renewal, spring, 1987. Pasadena, CA: School of World Mission, Fuller Theological Seminary. Kreig, Gary S., and Kevin N. Springer, eds. The Kingdom and the Power. Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1993, Lederle, H.I. Treasures Old and New: Interpretations of "Spirit-Baptism in the Charismatic Renewal Movement. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1988. Lewis, C.S. Miracles: A Preliminary Study. New York: Macmillan, 1947. . Prince Caspian. New York: Macmillan, 1970 (first edition, 1951). Long, Zeb Bradford, and Douglas McMurry. The Collapse of the Brass Heaven. Grand Rapids: Chosen, 1994. . Receiving the Power: Preparing the Way for the Holy Spirit. Grand Rapids: Chosen, 1996. Lovelace, Richard. "The Occult Revival in Historical Perspective." In Warwick Montgomery, ed. Demon Possession. Minneapolis: Bethany Fellowship, Inc., 1976. Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels. The Communist Manifesto. New York: International Free Press, 1948.

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Montague, George T. The Holy Spirit: Growth of a Biblical Tradition. New York: Paulist Press, 1994. Nee, Watchman. The Normal Christian Life. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1977. Nichol, John T. The Pentecostals. Plainfield, New Jersey: Logos International, 1971. Niebuhr, Reinhold. Moral Man and Immoral Society. Packer, J.I. Keep in Step With the Spirit. Old Tappan, NJ: Revell, 1984. Pollock, J.C. Moody: A Biographical Portrait of the Pacesetter in Modern Mass Evangelism. New York: Macrnillan, 1963. Rauschning, Hermann. The Voice of Destruction. New York: Putnam, 1940. Smail, Thomas A. Reflected Glory: The Spirit in Christ and Christians. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975. Springer, Kevin. Power Encounters: Among Christians in the Western World. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1988. Stott, John R.W. Baptism and Fullness: The Work of the Holy Spirit Today. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1964. Suster, Gerald. Hitler: The Occult Messiah. New York: St. Martins, 1981. Synan, Vinson. In Latter Days: The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Twentieth Century. Ann Arbor: Servant, 1984. . The Twentieth Century Pentecostal Explosion: The Exciting Growth of the Pentecostal Churches and Charismatic Renewal Movements. Altamonte Springs, FL: Creation House, 1987. . "The Holiness Pentecostal Movement." In Assemblies of God: Heritage, vol. 8, no. 4, winter 1988-89. Taylor, John V. The Go-Between God: The Holy Spirit and the Christian Mission. London: Oxford University Press, 1972. The Holy Bible. RSV. Torrey, Archer. 'The Holy Spirit and You: On or In?" In Christian Life Magazine. April, 1983. THE PRMI DUNAMIS PROJECT GATEWAYS TO EMPOWERED MINISTRY

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Torrey, R.A. The Holy Spirit: Who He Is and What He Does. Old Tappan, NJ: Revell, 1977. . What the Bible Teaches Us About the Holy Spirit. New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1898. . The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1974 (first edition, 1910). Wagner, C. Peter. Christian Life. December, 1984 (summary of Paul Hiebert's thesis) Williams, J. Rodman. The Era of the Spirit. Plainsfield, NJ: Logos. Wimber, John. Power Healing. London: Hodder and Stoughton. . Power Evangelism: Signs and Wonders Today. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1985.

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