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Counsels for the Church
of one heart and of one soul.”
Acts 4:32
. The Spirit of Him who died
that sinners might live animated the entire congregation of believers.
The disciples did not ask for a blessing for themselves. They were
weighted with the burden of souls. The gospel was to be carried to
the ends of the earth, and they claimed the endowment of power that
Christ had promised. Then it was that the Holy Spirit was poured out,
and thousands were converted in a day.
So it may be now. Let Christians put away all dissension and give
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themselves to God for the saving of the lost. Let them ask in faith for
the promised blessing, and it will come. The outpouring of the Spirit
in the days of the apostles was “the former rain,” and glorious was the
result. But the latter rain will be more abundant. What is the promise
to those living in these last days? “Turn you to the stronghold, ye
prisoners of hope: even today do I declare that I will render double
unto thee.” “Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain; so
the Lord shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to
every one grass in the field.”
Zechariah 9:12
;
10:1
One’s Usefulness Depends Upon His Surrender to the Holy Spirit
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.
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
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Testimonies for the Church 8:20, 21