Morning Worship
30 May 2016
The following piece was read out on the Morning service on Sunday 30 May 2016. It was prepared and distributed by DCI School of Missions (www.dci.org.uk) and written by the late Welsh Assemblies of God minister Rev. Selwyn Hughes, author of the daily devotionals ‘Every Day with Jesus’ and founder of CWR (Crusade for World Revival).
THE PREPOSITION THAT LEADS TO A PROPOSITION
This week we were very taken the words of the very renowned, late author Selwyn Hughes when he wrote, “ Although every Christian has the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit does not have every Christian. In the light of this, can I ask you to face this question with me before going any further: I have the Holy Spirit, but does He really have me?
Selwyn Hughes goes on to give this very clear explanation. “If every Christian has the Holy Spirit, then why is there a perpetual debate about such matters as ‘the baptism of the Spirit’, ‘being filled with the Spirit’ and ‘walking in the Spirit’? In the early days of my Christian experience I thought long and hard about the gift of the Holy Spirit, but it was not until I understood the three different prepositions that Jesus used in relation to the Spirit that the matter became clearer to me.
Someone has said, ‘A preposition can alter a proposition,’ and nowhere is that more true than in relation to the teaching and understanding of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Get your prepositions right and you will have no difficulty with the propositions. The three prepositions that Jesus used when talking about the Holy Spirit are these: ‘with’, ‘in’ and ‘on’. Let’s look at each of these in turn.
What did Jesus mean in John 14:15-27 when He said the Holy Spirit was ‘with’ the disciples? He meant that the Spirit was accompanying them, and working with them from the outside. He most certainly was not in them for Jesus clearly indicated that that phase of the Spirit’s work would start at some point in the future. We see this from the words of Jesus that, ‘he will be in you.’ This is how the Spirit worked in our lives prior to our conversion. He was with us in order to convict us of sin and reveal to us the true nature and character of Jesus, and our standing with Him. However wonderful and awesome it is to have the Spirit with us, there can be no real radical transformation in our lives until the Holy Spirit moves within us, and Jesus also promised this blessing.
This brings us to the question: When did the disciples experience the Holy Spirit ‘in their lives’ to regenerate them and bring them into the fullness of new birth? Many people will say that this took place on the Day of Pentecost. I do not think so myself, and let me explain why. John 20:19-31 relives that glorious post-resurrection meeting of Jesus with His disciples when, after commissioning them, He proceeded to breathe on them, saying, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’ I believe that was the moment they received the Holy Spirit in their lives.
If that is so, then what happened on the Day of Pentecost? This is where our prepositions can really help to explain things. Here in the locked room, so I believe, the disciples’ hearts were regenerated and transformed by the Holy Spirit. He who had been ‘with’ them now came ‘in’ them to convert them.
Although the disciples belonged to Jesus before the crucifixion and resurrection, they could not have experienced the regenerative power of the Spirit, for that could only have been generously given to them following Jesus’ death and resurrection and His overcoming the grave.
It is interesting that one of the first acts of Jesus when meeting His disciples after coming back from the dead is to impart to them the Holy Spirit. Now, because of the crucifixion and resurrection, He who had been only with them was able to come into them.
Now we look at the third preposition Jesus used in relation to the Holy Spirit, which is found in today’s text: ‘You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.’ This was a prophetic reference to a day not far distant – the Day of Pentecost – when the Spirit would start to play a different part in their lives. So now we must ask ourselves: What happened at Pentecost?
The Holy Spirit who had been ‘with’ the disciples prior to the crucifixion and resurrection and came ‘in’ them following the resurrection would now come ‘on’ them in all His fullness to saturate them with divine power and turn them from timid, vacillating, hidden disciples into men and women who were ablaze and very visible.
And did that happen? Let the facts speak for themselves. When the Spirit came in fullness at Pentecost the disciples who hitherto, though converted and committed to Jesus, had been somewhat frightened and dispirited, began to feel His personal presence in a way that transformed them within. Now they had no doubt that Jesus was actually living in their lives and, feeling His personal presence with them, they went out and began to turn the world upside down.
What has all this to do with what we are saying? This – although the Spirit has been ‘with’ you in order to bring you to Jesus and is now ‘in’ you through the work of regeneration and transformation, the question remains: Have you experienced your own personal Pentecost and do you know the power of the Holy Spirit coming on you, clothing you, filling you with divine energy and power? *
So having seen the prepositions let’s close by looking at the proposition - that is the reason why the Holy Spirit comes upon us, from Acts 1.8:
You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and . . .
1. You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem (Where you live),
2. And in all Judea and Samaria (Not far away),
3. And to the ends of the earth (Very far away, as called and led by the Holy Spirit).
Which brings us right back to Selwyn Hughes’ opening line: Although every Christian has the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit does not have every Christian - in the sense that they do not allow Him to fill, guide, direct and empower every part of their lives. In the light of this, can I ask you to face this question as I do today: I have the Holy Spirit, but does the Holy Spirit really have me?
And finally, lest we think that having the Holy Spirit come upon us is a once in a lifetime experience, a reading of the Book of Acts will soon convince us otherwise. Instead, be (being) filled with the Holy Spirit, (and you will find yourself) speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:18.
* Text before here taken from Selwyn Hughes; Every Day With Jesus May-June 2016: The Presence of God (On Amazon and Kindle. © CWR. The DCI Pages, 20 May 2016 from www.dci.org.uk and on Facebook
This week we were very taken the words of the very renowned, late author Selwyn Hughes when he wrote, “ Although every Christian has the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit does not have every Christian. In the light of this, can I ask you to face this question with me before going any further: I have the Holy Spirit, but does He really have me?
Selwyn Hughes goes on to give this very clear explanation. “If every Christian has the Holy Spirit, then why is there a perpetual debate about such matters as ‘the baptism of the Spirit’, ‘being filled with the Spirit’ and ‘walking in the Spirit’? In the early days of my Christian experience I thought long and hard about the gift of the Holy Spirit, but it was not until I understood the three different prepositions that Jesus used in relation to the Spirit that the matter became clearer to me.
Someone has said, ‘A preposition can alter a proposition,’ and nowhere is that more true than in relation to the teaching and understanding of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Get your prepositions right and you will have no difficulty with the propositions. The three prepositions that Jesus used when talking about the Holy Spirit are these: ‘with’, ‘in’ and ‘on’. Let’s look at each of these in turn.
What did Jesus mean in John 14:15-27 when He said the Holy Spirit was ‘with’ the disciples? He meant that the Spirit was accompanying them, and working with them from the outside. He most certainly was not in them for Jesus clearly indicated that that phase of the Spirit’s work would start at some point in the future. We see this from the words of Jesus that, ‘he will be in you.’ This is how the Spirit worked in our lives prior to our conversion. He was with us in order to convict us of sin and reveal to us the true nature and character of Jesus, and our standing with Him. However wonderful and awesome it is to have the Spirit with us, there can be no real radical transformation in our lives until the Holy Spirit moves within us, and Jesus also promised this blessing.
This brings us to the question: When did the disciples experience the Holy Spirit ‘in their lives’ to regenerate them and bring them into the fullness of new birth? Many people will say that this took place on the Day of Pentecost. I do not think so myself, and let me explain why. John 20:19-31 relives that glorious post-resurrection meeting of Jesus with His disciples when, after commissioning them, He proceeded to breathe on them, saying, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’ I believe that was the moment they received the Holy Spirit in their lives.
If that is so, then what happened on the Day of Pentecost? This is where our prepositions can really help to explain things. Here in the locked room, so I believe, the disciples’ hearts were regenerated and transformed by the Holy Spirit. He who had been ‘with’ them now came ‘in’ them to convert them.
Although the disciples belonged to Jesus before the crucifixion and resurrection, they could not have experienced the regenerative power of the Spirit, for that could only have been generously given to them following Jesus’ death and resurrection and His overcoming the grave.
It is interesting that one of the first acts of Jesus when meeting His disciples after coming back from the dead is to impart to them the Holy Spirit. Now, because of the crucifixion and resurrection, He who had been only with them was able to come into them.
Now we look at the third preposition Jesus used in relation to the Holy Spirit, which is found in today’s text: ‘You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.’ This was a prophetic reference to a day not far distant – the Day of Pentecost – when the Spirit would start to play a different part in their lives. So now we must ask ourselves: What happened at Pentecost?
The Holy Spirit who had been ‘with’ the disciples prior to the crucifixion and resurrection and came ‘in’ them following the resurrection would now come ‘on’ them in all His fullness to saturate them with divine power and turn them from timid, vacillating, hidden disciples into men and women who were ablaze and very visible.
And did that happen? Let the facts speak for themselves. When the Spirit came in fullness at Pentecost the disciples who hitherto, though converted and committed to Jesus, had been somewhat frightened and dispirited, began to feel His personal presence in a way that transformed them within. Now they had no doubt that Jesus was actually living in their lives and, feeling His personal presence with them, they went out and began to turn the world upside down.
What has all this to do with what we are saying? This – although the Spirit has been ‘with’ you in order to bring you to Jesus and is now ‘in’ you through the work of regeneration and transformation, the question remains: Have you experienced your own personal Pentecost and do you know the power of the Holy Spirit coming on you, clothing you, filling you with divine energy and power? *
So having seen the prepositions let’s close by looking at the proposition - that is the reason why the Holy Spirit comes upon us, from Acts 1.8:
You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and . . .
1. You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem (Where you live),
2. And in all Judea and Samaria (Not far away),
3. And to the ends of the earth (Very far away, as called and led by the Holy Spirit).
Which brings us right back to Selwyn Hughes’ opening line: Although every Christian has the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit does not have every Christian - in the sense that they do not allow Him to fill, guide, direct and empower every part of their lives. In the light of this, can I ask you to face this question as I do today: I have the Holy Spirit, but does the Holy Spirit really have me?
And finally, lest we think that having the Holy Spirit come upon us is a once in a lifetime experience, a reading of the Book of Acts will soon convince us otherwise. Instead, be (being) filled with the Holy Spirit, (and you will find yourself) speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:18.
* Text before here taken from Selwyn Hughes; Every Day With Jesus May-June 2016: The Presence of God (On Amazon and Kindle. © CWR. The DCI Pages, 20 May 2016 from www.dci.org.uk and on Facebook
Image courtesy of Gualberto107 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
