THE FULL BLESSING OF PENTECOST Part 3

The wisdom of the fathers

THE FULL BLESSING OF PENTECOST Part 3

HOW IT IS TO BE TAUGHT

It is the great work of the gospel ministry to lead believers to the Holy Spirit. Was it not the great aim of the Lord Jesus, after He had educated and trained His disciples for three years by His intercourse with them, to lead them up to the point of waiting for the promise of the Father and receiving the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven ? Was not this the chief object of Peter on the day of Pentecost, when, after summoning those who were pricked in their hearts to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins, he assured them that they should then receive the Holy Spirit?

Was it not this also that Paul aimed at when in his Epistles he asked his fellow- Christians if they did not know that they were each one "a temple of the Holy Spirit," or reminded them that they had to be " filled with the Holy Spirit?" Yes: the supreme need of the Christian life is to receive the Holy Spirit, and when we have it, to be conscious of the fact and live in harmony with it. An evangelical minister must not merely preach about (Acts 2. 38. 2. 1 Cor. 6. 19 ; Eph. 5. 18.14) the Holy Spirit from time to time or even often times, but also direct all his efforts towards teaching his congregation that there can be no true worship save through the indwelling and unceasing operation of the Holy Spirit.

(from "The Full Blessing of Pentecost" by Andrew Murray)