The book of Acts should really be called the Acts of the Holy Spirit, not the Acts of the Apostles, don’t you think?  The life of the early church was an exciting adventure everyday because of the Acts of the Holy Spirit.  What an amazing experience that would have been.

The church,  by in large, is a hollow shell of what it was then.  If I had to pick just one reason, might it not be that we do not know the Holy Spirit in the way they did?  This brings me to one of the two experiences I have had concerning the Holy Spirit.  This is not what you would expect.  Yes I have had many experiences of the Holy Spirit, seen His work in many ways, seen Him perform signs and miracles but this one is perhaps the most important to me personally.

I was on my way to Odessa, Ukraine to jointly teach for a week in the bible school there, training up young leaders to minister to Jewish people in the Ukraine.  My friend Don was the lead teacher and he had been given the brief of teaching about walking in the miraculous.  I felt the Lord had given me a key truth to teach there to compliment what Don would share.  In Matthew 12 we have the crescendo of Jesus confrontation with the Pharisees.  You know the story.  Jesus was brought a man, demon possessed, blind and mute, which of course He healed.  That began a huge argument among the Pharisees and they eventually concluded that Jesus was not the Son of David, but performed these miracles by the power of Satan, not the Holy Spirit.  Jesus had had it.  He judged that they had blasphemed the Holy Spirit.  I wanted to teach this story to the bible school with the point that it is important to know that the Pharisees rejected both their Messiah AND the Holy Spirit.  So, I see that the ministry, gifts and power of the Holy Spirit are important to sharing the gospel to them today, that they would not know just about Yeshua but also the Spirit of God.

As I was coming down the lift of the hotel I heard that wonderful, quiet voice of the Lord say this to me:  “The church is no better.”  I was stunned.  That forever changed my heart to the work of the Holy Spirit in the church.  As A.W. Tozer said in one of his books, the Holy Spirit is the “Forgotten One.”  He is in the doctrine of the church but not allowed to move freely in our services; not cherished, not loved, not welcomed.  We have inherited centuries of tradition, centuries of resisting Him and quenching Him and it grieves God.   So much of the church has become purpose driven:  driven by plans, goals and programs.  Should we not be a bit more “Presence shaped” and run less like a business with goals, plans, and objectives? I believe Jesus is knocking on the door of the church today saying “let me in.”  That does not just mean good teaching about Jesus, but letting the Holy Spirit back into the church and giving Him freedom.  Giving Him His rightful place.  Lifting Him off the page of our doctrinal statements of the Trinity and honouring His Presence in our midst.

Another experience not long ago drove this home for me and our church personally.  It’s too long a story to tell here, but having come home from a meeting of area leaders, I walked into our living room and once again heard that quiet voice say “Am I enough for you?“  I knew, because of the context, that God was asking me if, in our regular services and church groups and meetings, His presence was enough?  Of course the answer was a resounding YES.  Since then I know we have had a successful meeting if His presence, the presence of the Holy Spirit, His Shekinah glory is in our midst.  I don’t mean by faith, but we can feel Him and sense His presence. Since then He has been faithful to show up regularly, almost all the time!  It is all His doing if we will only open ourselves to Him in this way.

May the body of Christ catch the heart of God in this and welcome Him, the Holy Spirit into our midst.  I pray that each of us will passionately pursue the knowledge of God the Holy Spirit.