What Do We Take The Holy Spirit For?

To make mockery of the person and power of the Holy Spirit is to make trivial the very throne of God and the preeminence of Christ himself.

Of all esteemed personas of the Christian faith, be it kings, martyrs, apostles, disciples, priests, prophets and pastors of days gone by and the present, who could be trifled with in thoughts and words, the Holy Spirit certainly doesn’t make the long list.

Modern theology, especially among young believers, grapples with understanding the apt operations and ministry of the Holy Spirit. The issue of who He is, how He works and His role in the life of a Christian have often revolved around dark clouds of human doubts.

I certainly claim not to have comprehended the mystery of the Spirit but the Scriptures, to an extent, give understanding on the ministry of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is an integral member of the Triune God and thus, is deserving of reverence allied with the rest of the Godhead. But pitiably, the Holy Spirit is the most unrecognized, the most dishonored, the most grieved, the most abused, the most misrepresented and the most blasphemed of the members of the Trinity.

In the light of this discourse is a scrutiny of an article brought to the fore titled: “15 Ways to Unleash the Power of the Holy Spirit Right Now”. I find it rather disturbing to conclude that heresy, I tell you, heresy and utter misapprehension of the Holy Spirit embellish the claims of this article (click here to read).

If there were ever ways to unleash the power of the Holy Spirit (a thought not so absurd to conceive) in the life of a believer of Christ, the road map should unarguably start from a willful repentance at the Cross; by faith and prayer proceed into sanctification; and a genuine spiritual longing leading to an eventual – but continuous experience of – baptism of the Holy Spirit. Hence, the unleashing of the Spirit’s powers to the glory of God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son and Lord of all.

"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 infilling or baptism of the Holy Spirit is God’s promise to His children of grace through faith in Christ Jesus, and its offering is simply to this end: that Christ be glorified in and through us being His witnesses in all nations of the world.

This gives a clearer finality as to the purpose and ministry of the Spirit of God – the believers’ Helper, Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor, Counselor, Strengthener, Standby (John 14:16; John 15:26; John 16:7 AMP), that Christ may be glorified.

But these heresies by the article in question suggest, amongst several others, that “when you stand on your head while speaking in tongues, you will literally feel the power of God activated within your soul.” It submits also that there is a thing called “Spiritual mouth-breathing” that should be observed “to the point of near-hyperventilation which will cause one to become extremely light-headed and dizzy, which always means you are having a personal experience with God.”

I suppose, at this point, you are entertaining an innocent chuckle fused with ‘godly grief’ at these erroneous views of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. What really do we take the Holy Spirit for? A supernatural force at one’s beck and call triggered by ‘chemical dumps in the brain resulting from forced emotional highs and lows?’ God forbids!

One tends to wonder the origin of such presuppositions that rattle the regenerated mind. This is certainly not Biblical if the case of the Apostles at Pentecost (see Acts 2:1-47) is anything to go by. The unleashing of the Holy Spirit’s power witnessed at Pentecost was preceded by a spiritual longing for the revelation of God’s promise (Joel 2:28-29; Ezekiel 11:19, 36:26-27) as affirmed by Jesus Christ, matched equally by prayer of faith at the upper room.

The book of Acts 10:1-48 reveals a similar case of unleashing the Spirit’s power. Cornelius, ‘a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always…’ moved the hands of God to his favour.

We shouldn’t fail to note Cornelius’ spiritual longing and prayer (as it was at Pentecost) before the unleashing of the Spirit’s power, “So Cornelius said, ‘Four days ago I was fasting until this hour…’ (Acts 10:30-31). ‘Then Peter opened his mouth and said: In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him… While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished… For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God’ (Acts 10:34-35, 44-46).

Both events of the Apostles at Pentecost and Cornelius have something in common. We see God-centered souls with a genuine spiritual longing for God’s manifestation backed by prayer of faith; and then, the unleashing of the Holy Spirit’s power.

Without exhausting the list of Scriptural references of how the Holy Spirit’s power was unleashed, it is, however, flawed to believe that the Spirit’s power could be wrought by mere mechanisms of human mind and reasoning. Unleashing the power of the Holy Spirit is not and cannot be about manufacturing and tweaking emotions. To suppose so is fit for a sacrilege or better still, a blatant blasphemy.

In lending illumination on “blasphemy of the Holy Spirit” on his blog, Morgan Guyton, director of the NOLA Wesley Foundation, defined blasphemy as “falsely attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to demonic activity.” And if this is Biblically irrefutable (Mark 3:19-30), what shall we then call an outright reversal of this – attributing the works of diabolic conception to the Holy Spirit?

Whatever coloration related responses may take in this regard, I leave you to decide as you see fit. But we could, however, deduce from this an indignity of the Holy Spirit and consequently, could label such notion as blasphemy.

“Punch yourself in the face as hard as you can. Your eyes will well up with tears as you encounter the Lord personally and intensely” or “stick your finger into a light socket. Instant Holy Spirit power!” What an appalling and heartrending depictions of the Holy Spirit’s power.

Christ’s urgent appeal to His beloved is these: “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation” (Mark 14:38) and “…do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).

Should we miss the foundational knowledge and principles of the Christian faith and our understanding of Scriptural doctrine be faulty, then have we not the truth and live not in the Spirit. We walk in darkness still and not in the light of liberty by grace through faith in Christ.

Now must we earnestly content for the faith once delivered unto the saints, upholding the truth of Christ and exposing the unfruitful works of darkness. We must not only study to shew ourselves approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth, but must also study to maintain the purity of the gospel by discerning the truth from concocted falsehood from the pit of hell meant to lure the very elect.

Finally, brethren, see then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:15-17). And since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen (2 Peter 3:17-18).

*** Written by Michael Olajubu, alias Jacobs Adewale (Admin) ***

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