BY THE SPIRIT

April 12

Bible Reading: John 15:26-27

John 15:26, “But when the Spirit comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.  And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.”

It was a “by the Spirit” work when you trusted in Jesus for salvation.  You were convicted “by the Spirit” of your sins.  Someone was led “by the Spirit” to share the truth with you.  “By the Spirit” your eyes were opened to the glory of Jesus.  That is the way it works.

“I will build My church,” said Jesus, “and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). So, the Spirit came on Pentecost, as Jesus had promised, and Christ’s church building work began.  He set forth His simple plan to His disciples: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).  Jesus purposed to empower ordinary men with the Spirit to declare His extraordinary message.

Who were these men Jesus used at the start of His church building plan?  Ordinary people.  “Uneducated and untrained men” (Acts 4:13).  They held no Bible college or seminary degrees and had received no training in apologetics or church growth methodology.  They were men who had just recently abandoned or even denied Jesus.  Lacking courage, they had even hidden out behind closed doors, “for fear of the Jews,” after the resurrection (John 20:19, 26).  They had no elaborate plan or methodology.  No building or budget.  They were ordinary people like us.  But once indwelt by the Spirit, they went on to boldly and faithfully declare the truth about Jesus.  And the rest, as they say, is history. 

Albert Barnes commented on this: “Within the space of thirty years after the death of Christ the gospel had been carried to all parts of the civilized and to no small portion of the uncivilized world…Within thirty years it had settled the point that it would overturn every bloody altar, close every pagan temple, bring under its influence everywhere men of office, rank, and power, and ‘the banners of faith would soon stream from the palaces of Caesars.’ All this would be accomplished by the instrumentality of Jews—of fishermen—of Nazarenes.  They had neither wealth, armies, nor allies.  With the exception of Paul, they were men without learning.  They were taught only the Holy Ghost, armed only with the power of God, victorious only because Christ was their captain, and the world acknowledged the presence of the messengers of the Highest and the power of the Christian religion.  Its success never has been, and never can be accounted for by any other supposition than that God attended it.” 

Albert Barnes

It was a BY THE SPIRIT work.  And it is so to this day.  It is the Spirit of Truth that leads and emboldens us to be effective witnesses as Christ’s ambassadors.  Apart from the Spirit, we’ve no power to do that.  By the Spirit, God can work through us in a manner that is exceeding abundantly beyond what we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20).

An effective witness is one that is led and empowered by the Spirit of Truth.

LET IT BE SAID OF US
Let it be said of us that the Lord was our passion,
That with gladness we bore every cross we were given;
That we fought the good fight, and we finished the course;
Knowing within us the power of the risen Lord.

CHORUS:
Let the cross be our glory and the Lord be our song!
By mercy made holy, by the Spirit made strong.
Let the cross be our glory and the Lord be our song!
Till the likeness of Jesus be through us made known.
Let the cross be our glory and the Lord be our song.

Let it be said of us, we were marked by forgiveness;
We were known by our love and delighted in mercy;
We were ruled by His peace, heeding unity’s call,
Joined as one body that Christ would be seen by all.

Written by: Steve Fry
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.