Don't Leave Home Without the Holy Spirit

“The church will never prosper until it more reverently believes in the Holy Spirit.” – C.H. Spurgeon

For the record, I am not Pentecostal or charismatic in doctrine. As an ordained Baptist minister, I believe that the sign gifts – prophecies, speaking in tongues and the interpretation thereof, and the gift of healings/miracles performed by men – were meant to authenticate the teachings of the early apostles and therefore, once the full canon of scripture was in place, those gifts were no longer needed (see I Corinthians 13:8-10).

However, I also readily admit that I could be wrong, and it is simply a hill that I am not willing to die on. Conversely, I will gladly lay down my life to defend the inspiration and inerrancy of scripture, the virgin birth, the atoning death of Jesus, His physical resurrection and ascension, and His imminent return. I will also die in defense of the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Now, back to the Holy Spirit. He – not it – is forever part of our Triune God along with God the Father and God the Son. In fact, all three members of the Godhead are revealed to us in Genesis 1:1-2.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”

No mention of Jesus, you say? Well John 1:1-3 tells us that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” Sounds to me like Jesus was there at the moment of creation, along with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.

And so, just like Charles Spurgeon said in today’s quote, we must never exclude the Holy Spirit from our lives or our churches. After all, I Corinthians 6:11 reminds us that “But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”

Likewise, Ephesians 1:13-14 drives home the eternal truths that the Holy Spirit seals us and is the “guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” The Greek word for guarantee is “arrabon”, which is best translated as “down payment”. The same Greek phrase is used in 2 Corinthians 1:22 and 5:5 to designate “a pledge, deposit, or first installment.”

Remember the old American Express commercials with Karl Malden? “American Express, don’t leave home without it,” he would tell viewers. Well, my friend, the same thing applies to the Holy Spirit, also known as the Advocate, the Comforter, and the Helper, depending on which translation you’re using… and since He indwells us, leaving Him behind really isn’t an option anyway.

“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, so that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.” John 14:16-17 (NASB)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President