Brothers :
The Holy Spirit
and Jesus
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25. Spirit-Filled Life
Breathing In and Out
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), the American pastor and author, wrote very wisely, "The Spirit-filled life is not a special deluxe edition of Christianity. It is part and parcel of the entire plan of God for His people. There is nothing about the Spirit-filled life that Christians acquire that is strange or eerie." A. B. Simpson (1843-1919), a Canadian preacher, author, and the founder of the Christian Missionary Alliance wrote, "Being filled with the Holy Spirit is as easy as breathing. You simply breathe out and in." It is such a wonderfully simple yet profound description of the Spirit-filled life that can otherwise be so daunting and frightening! ✞
Into Christ's Image
The Word of God commands the Spirit-filled life. Saint Paul wrote in Ephesians 5.18, "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit." The influential English Baptist preacher C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892), said of Ephesians 5.18, "This is not a promise to claim. It is a truth to obey." Jesus himself said in John 14.16-17a, "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever, the Spirit of truth." The Holy Spirit embodies and today demands truth rather than lies or "fake news." The truth is central to a Christian's Spirit-filled life. ✞
Not Optional Extra
Saint Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 3.18, "And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." The Bible tells us that we will change into Christ's image as we live a spiritual life. It is a fact and not an optional extra. As we "contemplate" or "reflect like a mirror," the Lord's glory so we all change. Change is inevitable for Christians, and this includes our likes and dislikes. ✞
Jesus' Work in You
Major Ian Thomas (1914-2007) served during the Second World War in Belgium and at Dunkirk's evacuation. He urged, "All that Jesus is - you have! You cannot have any more, but you need not have any less." Major Thomas's life was a testament to this truth, going through exhaustion and despair to emerge as he says, "not working for Jesus but trusting Jesus to work in him." One of the great secrets in life is not working for Jesus but allowing Jesus to work through you. We gain blessing even when reproached because the Spirit's presence is within us. Saint Peter in 1 Peter 4.14 commends and encourages us in writing, "if you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you." ✞
Jesus' Fixed Image
Jesus' fixed image is impressed with the Holy Spirit's help on the Christian. It is like a photographic plate image locked by chemicals on a plate of glass. One of the biggest problems in the early days of photography was getting the picture permanently impressed on the photographic glass plate. The French artist and photographer Louis Daguerre (1787-1851), who invented the "daguerreotype" photography process, was amazed to discover a photographic plate with a bright and clear image in a cupboard full of chemical bottles. Not knowing which one of the chemicals was responsible, he withdrew them one by one only to find that even when empty, the closet still fixed the image clearly on the plate. Finally, Daguerre realized that some mercury had spilled in the cupboard, and the lingering vapors were responsible for setting the photograph. ✞
Agbar's Healing
Similarly, the Holy Spirit helps Christians keep "Jesus' fixed image" in a sharp and clear focus. Jesus achieves this through the work of the Holy Spirit. Eusebius, (c260-340 AD) the historian and Bishop of Caesarea, claimed in his "History of the Christian Church" published in 324-5 AD that he translated an actual letter between King Agbar of Edessa and Jesus. Eusebius of Caesarea sat next to the Emperor at the Council of Nicea and made the first draft of the famous Nicean Creed. In this message, Agbar asked Jesus to heal him of an unknown illness. Jesus sent the letter with a delegation by Agbar, which included a painter named Hanaan who, quite possibly, painted the first portrait of Jesus Christ. The "Doctrine of Addai" tells us, "When Hannan, the keeper of the archives, saw that Jesus spoke thus to him, by being the king's painter, he took and painted a likeness of Jesus with choice paints, and brought it to Abgar the king, his master. And when Abgar the king saw the likeness, he received it with great joy and placed it with great honor in one of his palatial houses." ✞
Jesus' Fixed Image
There is a further interesting addition to this story and claim in "Theology of the Icon" by Leonid Ouspensky (1902-1987). He was a famous Russian icon painter and art historian, "Hannan found Christ surrounded by a large crowd; he climbed a rock from which he could see Him better. He failed in making his portrait 'because of the indescribable glory of His face, which was changing through grace.' Seeing that Hannan wanted to make His portrait, Christ asked for some water, washed, and wiped his face with a piece of linen on which his features remained fixed. He gave Hannan the linen to carry it with a letter to the one who had sent him. In his letter, Christ refused to go to Edessa himself but promised Abgar to send him one of His disciples once His mission had ended. Abgar was cured of his most severe symptoms, upon receiving the portrait though several marks remained on his face. After Pentecost, the Apostle Thaddeus, one of the seventy, came to Edessa. Jesus completely healed the king, and Thaddeus converted him." This image on a cloth reminds us of the "Veil of Veronica" on a facecloth and the "Shroud of Turin" on Jesus' tomb cloth. These three artifacts are "not-made-by-hand," and many legends surround them. ✞
Holy Spirit's Temple
The human body is to be the Holy Spirit's temple and the dwelling place for God. He inspires us to produce a joyous Christian life. The Holy Spirit's temple is God's home in us. A Christian mother was sitting on a couch, and her three years old child came over and put her ear to her mother's chest. "What are you doing?" asked the mother. "I'm listening for Jesus in your heart," replied the little girl. The mother let the little girl listen for a few moments and then asked, "Well, what do you hear?" "He's there," replied the little girl, "and it sounds to me like he's making coffee!" ✞
Spirit Inspires
Christians become a holy temple or a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. Saint Paul writes to the Corinthian Church in 1 Corinthians 6.19-20, "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own but bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies." Frederick Faber (1814-1863), who wrote the hymn "Faith of our Fathers," exhibited a beautiful, holy, and joyous Christian life that he attributed to the Holy Spirit's temple within him. More recently, the writer A. W. Tozer (1897-1963) wrote, "There is nothing good, nothing holy, nothing beautiful, nothing joyous which he (Jesus) is not to his servants. No one need be downcast, for Jesus is the joy of heaven, and it is his joy to enter into sorrowful hearts." ✞
Blessing of Abraham
In the same way, through faith in Christ, this promise is fulfilled when we make our hearts the Holy Spirit's temple. We do this through our faith as described by Saint Paul in Galatians 3.14, "He redeemed us so that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus so that by faith we might receive the Spirit's promise." The Spirit promises that we will become the Holy Spirit's Temple! ✞
Holy Spirit's Dwelling
The Holy Spirit's dwelling place is in the Christian's human body. Without Jesus, there can be no presence or dwelling of God in a person. Andrew Murray, the South African Pastor (1828-1917), considered the Holy Spirit's indwelling in a Christian essential for godliness and happiness. He wrote, "Holiness is essential to true happiness, and happiness is essential to true holiness. If you would have joy, the fullness of joy, an abiding joy which nothing can take away, be holy as God is holy. Holiness is blessed." God wants us to allow the Holy Spirit to dwell in us just as we live in a home. To do this, we have to let the Holy Spirit have free reign. ✞
Rejoice Always
That is why Saint Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 5.16-19, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit." In other words, do not willfully exclude the Holy Spirit from your life. The Holy Spirit sanctifies the believer. In 2 Thessalonians 2.13, Saint Paul writes, "But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. Because God chose us as firstfruits to be saved, through the Spirit's sanctifying work and belief in the truth." Some manuscripts render "firstfruits to be saved" as "from the beginning." The first fruits of God's harvest are Christians chosen from the beginning! ✞
Helping Hand
The French painter Emile Renouf (1845-1894) depicted on one of his canvasses called "The Helping Hand," an old fisherman in a boat with a little girl seated beside him. Both the elderly gentleman and the child have their hands on a large oar. He told her that she might help him row the boat, so the child felt she was doing much of it. However, his firm, muscular arms are the moving force that propels the vessel through the waves. Similarly, the Holy Spirit does most of the work in us as we labor away at the Christian life. We may think we are essential, but it is the Holy Spirit's indwelling who does most of it! ✞
Jesus' Indwelling Experience
Others will desire the Holy Spirit when they see his work in us. James 4.4-5 explains, "You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the Spirit he has caused to dwell in us? " The phrase "adulterous people" refers to covenant unfaithfulness. "To dwell in us" may be translated "to dwell in us envies intensely" or "to dwell in us longs jealously." The Holy Spirit is here endowed with human emotions and "envies intensely" and "longs jealously." Dr. William Barclay (1907-1978), the theologian and broadcaster, wrote, "Great men we know, Jesus we know. The others we remember, but Jesus we experience." We experience Jesus through the Holy Spirit's dwelling in us. ✞
"Spirit-Filled Life"
by Ron Meacock © 2021
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