Principle 17 – The Spirit is Essential (pdf)

PRINCIPLE 17

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Principle 17

The Spirit is Essential CHRISTIANITY WAS birthed in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit309 and will only continue as we have this empowering from above. When we look at Church history the only truly significant stories of men that influenced and built the kingdom of God were men who were filled with the Holy Spirit. This anointing is something that not only signifies leadership in the Church but also usability before God for His work.

Christianity in this way is quite simple, it is a work of the Spirit of God. This simplicity can oend men but God clearly states in 1 Corinthians 1 that He uses the weak, the unwise, the unlearned and the despised of this world.310 It happened when God chose 12 disciples. Two wanted to send fire from heaven down on towns,311 three could not stay awake during a prayer meeting,312 one was a traitor and thief,313 and one betrayed Christ denying that he even knew the Lord.314 They argued over who would be the greatest and all of them fled away when hard times came.315 Yet with this group of Acts 1:8 1 Corinthians 1:27-28 311 Luke 9:53-56 312 Luke 22:45-46 313 Luke 6:16 314 Matthew 26:75 315 Matthew 26:56 309 310

Principles for the Gathering of Believers

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weak, unlearned simple men God was building His Church against which the gates of hell will not prevail.316 This can give us great consolation and hope to be usable in the work of the Lord for He is looking for those who are not self-seeking but rather are humble, weak and needy. They are the ones that are calling out to God for His Spirit because they literally need Him in every situation.

Sadly, even the weak soon learn how to be strong, how to rely on their own experiences, successes and victories. It becomes a dangerous practice of taking glory away from God for accomplishments we believe we have achieved. We then deny the proper recognition and glory which belongs to God alone because it is His work. God will only entrust His work with those He knows will give Him 100% of the glory for what is done and take no glory to themselves.317 In the same way many denominations, churches and ministries start o as a vibrant move of the Spirit of God but then turn into methods, traditions and formulas. Such groups then depend on their history, on the last move of God, on structures, buildings and all other things rather than a fresh dependence on God daily for their purpose and growth. A famous evangelical pastor said of the church in his day: “The average church has so established itself organizationally and financially that God is simply not necessary to it.

So entrenched is its authority and so stable are the religious habits of its members that God could withdraw Himself completely from it and it could run on for years on its own momentum.�318 God is always looking for the willing vessels that will trust Him afresh for the impossible,319 for in such cases He gets the glory and the individual being used simply gives the glory to this God of the impossible.320 Every true move of the Holy Spirit primarily elevates and glorifies321 the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Furthermore, He gives a fresh expression and expansion322 to the kingdom of God according to the model of the early Church when His Son is exalted.

Matthew 16:18 1 Corinthians 1:29 318 A.W. Tozer (1897-1963) 319 Ephesians 3:20 320 1 Corinthians 1:31 321 John 15:26 322 Acts 4:31 316 317