The
Way to Pentecost
Samuel
Chadwick
Chapter
6: The Pentecostal Life
The
Inheritance of the Spirit-Filled
Romans
8 is the fullest exposition of the life which comes through "the Spirit of
Life in Christ Jesus." It is the charter of the believer's inheritance in
the Spirit.
1)
Pentecost Brings Deliverance
The
law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus makes men free. Where the Spirit of
the Lord is, there is liberty. He is the Spirit of Power, and the first
demonstration of power is emancipation. He breaks the power of canceled sin.
There is no bondage from which He cannot deliver. He breaks the fetters of the
soul, and opens the prison doors of the redeemed. Salvation comes with the
suddenness of a mighty rushing wind and as with the flash of fire; or it may
come as the breath of the morning and the light of the dawn. However it comes,
it comes to set men free from all that brings into bondage and condemnation. It
is the Gospel of Liberty to all imprisoned life. There is no slave the Gospel
cannot save. The greatest deliverance of all is from the moral impotence of the
dual personality of chapter 7. The measure of completeness is in the word:
"There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ
Jesus." They are delivered from all and everything that brings
condemnation.
2)
Pentecost Brings Abounding Vitality
Our
Lord came that we might have abundant and abounding life, and it is found in
the Gift of the Spirit of Life. The Gift of God is Living Water, springing up
into everlasting life. Living water is the water of vitality from the Eternal
Source of Life. The law i. good, but weak through the flesh, ineffective
through human infirmity. The Holy Spirit strengthens the inward man. The Spirit
of Life dwells in men, permeates their being, sanctifies their nature, quickens
their powers, vitalizes their mortal bodies, and radiates their life. They live
-- really live! They live the life that is life indeed. Pentecost turned anemic
believers into exuberant saints. People said they were drunk, and so they were,
but not with wine. They were vivacious with abounding vitality. Pentecost
wakens people up. It vitalizes latent powers, and makes the utmost of every
faculty and gift. Those who would have Life abounding Life, victorious Life,
satisfying Life, glorious Life must get to Pentecost. Life is the best medicine
for every kind of sickness. It cures all ills, ends all weariness, and conquers
death all the time.
3)
Pentecost Brings Understanding
Where
did Peter get the sermon he preached on the Day of Pentecost? He did not read
it from a carefully prepared manuscript. This fisherman Apostle is always
surprising us with the things he knows. Who taught him? How did he know the
hidden meanings of Prophecy? How did he come to understand the philosophy of
history so that he could say with certainty, "This is that"? How came
he to understand the meaning of the Cross and to discover the explanation of
the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead? Who instructed him in these things?
The Master tells how he had come to know that He was the Christ the Son of God;
and that one explanation explains the rest. He knew by the Spirit of Wisdom and
Revelation. The Spirit of Truth guides into all Truth. "In that day ye
shall know." We know by the Spirit that we are sons of God and joint-heirs
with Christ. The Spirit Himself is our Witness. We know that the world is
redeemed, and therefore travails in Hope, waiting for its redemption through
"the revealing of the Sons of God"; a new Creation by Regeneration.
We know, and do not despair. "We know that to them that love God all
things work together for good, even to them that are called according to His
purpose." We know, and are not as others in the day of adversity. We know
God. We know, and we know that we know. We know that at the last we shall be
saved, and shall stand approved in Christ at the Throne of God. None shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect. Nothing shall separate us from the love
of God which is in Christ Jesus. "In that Day ye shall know." The
Spirit is familiar with the deep things of God, and He takes of the things of
Christ and reveals them unto those who receive Him. He is the Spirit of Wisdom
as well as of Revelation. He leads in practical wisdom, as well as guides into
all Truth. He makes men wise with the wisdom that is from above.
4)
Pentecost Brings a New Fellowship in Prayer
"And
in like manner the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity: for we know not how to
pray as we ought; but the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with
groanings that cannot be uttered; and He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what
is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints
according to the will of God" That is the secret of prevailing prayer.
5)
Pentecost Brings Power
That
was the specific promise of Christ. "Ye shall receive Power after that the
Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto Me."
Witnessing prevails over the enemy. "We are more than conquerors,"
says St. Paul, and St. John ascribes the victory to testimony. "And they
overcame him [Satan] because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word
of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto death" (Rev.
12:2). The Spirit of Power is given for witnessing. The testimony of Pentecost
was mighty. It is always mighty in the demonstration of the Spirit.
6) Pentecost
Brings the Fire of God
Fire
is the chosen symbol of Heaven for moral passion. It is emotion aflame. God is
love; God is fire. The two are one. The Holy Spirit baptizes in fire.
Spirit-filled souls are ablaze for God. They love with a love that glows. They
believe with a faith that kindles. They serve with a devotion that consumes.
They hate sin with a fierceness that burns. They rejoice with a joy that
radiates. Love is perfected in the Fire of God. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God.
7)
Pentecost Brings Passion for the Souls of Men
The
eighth chapter overflows into the ninth. The experience consummates in anguish
and tears for the lost. There is no sterner test of Grace than the attitude to
the lost. Pentecost leads back to Gethsemane, for it baptizes into Christ's
Baptism of Redeeming Passion. Spirit-filled hearts are always tender, and they
see men through the tears of a holy compassion.
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