The Power Promised
God does not ask us to do in our own strength the work before us.
He has provided divine assistance for all the emergencies to which our
human resources are unequal. He gives the Holy Spirit to help in every
strait, to strengthen our hope and assurance, to illuminate our minds
and purify our hearts.
Just before His crucifixion the Saviour said to His disciples: “I will
not leave you comfortless.” “I will pray the Father, and He shall give
you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever.” “When
He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He
shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He
speak: and He will show you things to come.” “He shall teach you all
things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have
said unto you.”
John 14:18, 16
;
16:13
;
John 14:26
.
Christ has made provision that His church shall be a transformed
body, illumined with the light of heaven, possessing the glory of
Immanuel. It is His purpose that every Christian shall be surrounded
with a spiritual atmosphere of light and peace. There is no limit to
the usefulness of the one who, putting self aside, makes room for
the working of the Holy Spirit upon his heart and lives a life wholly
consecrated to God.
What was the result of the outpouring of the Spirit upon the Day
of Pentecost? The glad tidings of a risen Saviour were carried to the
utmost bounds of the inhabited world. The hearts of the disciples were
surcharged with a benevolence so full, so deep, so far-reaching, that it
impelled them to go to the ends of the earth, testifying: “God forbid
that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Galatians
6:14
. As they proclaimed the truth as it is in Jesus, hearts yielded to
the power of the message. The church beheld converts flocking to
her from all directions. Backsliders were reconverted. Sinners united
[20]
with Christians in seeking the pearl of great price. Those who had
been the bitterest opponents of the gospel became its champions. The
prophecy was fulfilled: The weak shall be “as David,” and the house
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