The Promise of the Holy Spirit: "Ye Shall Receive Power"

Christ Triumphant - A Devotional by E.G. White

The Promise of the Holy Spirit: "Ye Shall Receive Power"

Today's Text: But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Acts 1:8

The Message:      After His resurrection, Christ ascended to His appointed honor. Before the heavenly universe and the worlds unfallen He was to be enthroned. The Father would impress the minds of the believers with the glorious reception of His Son in the home He had left. For our sake He became poor, that we through His poverty might be made rich....      As Christ ascended, His hands were outstretched in blessing upon His disciples. While they stood gazing upward to catch the last glimpse of their ascending Lord, He was received by the heavenly throng into the rejoicing ranks of cherubs and seraphs. And as they escorted Him to His heavenly home, they sang in triumph, "Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth; O sing praises unto the Lord; ... that rideth upon the heavens of heavens."      Christ determined to bestow a gift on those who had been with Him and on those who should believe on Him, because this was the occasion of His ascension and inauguration, a jubilee in heaven. What gift could Christ bestow rich enough to signalize and grace His ascension to the mediatorial throne? It must be worthy of His greatness and His royalty. Christ gave His representative, the third person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit. This Gift could not be excelled.  The divine Spirit, converting, enlightening, sanctifying, would be His donation, because He would give all gifts in one.      On the day of Pentecost Christ gave His disciples the Holy Spirit as their Comforter. It was ever to abide with His church. During the whole Jewish economy the influence of this Spirit has often been revealed in a marked manner, but not in full. The Spirit had been waiting for the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. For ages prayers had been offered for the fulfillment of the promise, for the impartation of the Spirit; and not one of these earnest supplications had been forgotten. Now for ten days the disciples sent up their petitions, and Christ in heaven added His intercession. He claimed the gift of the Spirit, that He might pour it out upon His people.  He ascended on high, leading captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.  Having reached His throne, the Spirit was given as He had promised, and like a rushing, mighty wind, it fell upon those assembled, filling the whole house. It came with a fullness and power, as if for ages it had been restrained, but was now poured forth upon the church, to be communicated to the world. What followed this outpouring? Thousands were converted in a day.      In Christ is gathered all the glory of the Father. In Him is all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. He is the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of His person. The glory of the attributes of God are expressed in His character. The gospel is glorious because it is made up of His righteousness. It is Christ unfolded, and Christ is the gospel embodied. Every page of the New Testament Scriptures shines with His light. Every text is a diamond, touched and irradiated by the divine rays. We are not to praise the gospel, but praise Christ. We are not to worship the gospel, but the Lord of the gospel. Christ is a perfect representation of God on the one hand, and a perfect specimen of sinless humanity on the other hand. Thus He has combined divinity and humanity.-Manuscript 44, 1898.

Commentary: My friend, the promise that Jesus made to His disciples was that they would receive the power of the Holy Spirit, that would be sent to them from the Father.  The Comforter that was to be sent was not another being, but Himself in another form.  He promised them His Spirit that would abide with them forever.  Just prior to His ascension to heaven, He came unto them and said "... Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.  And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:" (John 20:21, 22). The Comforter, which is Jesus Christ Himself, was given to the church on the day of Pentecost, and could not be fully given prior to this because the Lamb of God had not been sacrificed and accepted of the Father.  The power that was given in the Comforter was the perfect life of Christ, sacrificed for us, and accepted of the Father.  This life is His life give to us through the indwelling of His Spirit within us.  This is the power that was promised and fulfilled in the life of Christ. The perfect life of Christ lived in the flesh is offered to every true believer of Jesus.  The victory that He gained over sin is offered to us, that we may also overcome as He overcame.  This is the power of God to transform our lives.  Prior to the day of Pentecost, the Spirit was only given with the promise of the victorious life.  Today we have the fullness of the promise in the life of the Son of God, Jesus Christ the righteous. As the disciples were filled with the Spirit of Christ, they proclaimed the gospel of the risen Savior, and thousands were converted in a day.  In the same way when the Spirit of Christ is poured out in the time of the latter rain, many more will be converted and accept the worship of the One true God.  The message that is to go to the world is the three angels message, the everlasting gospel, calling the world back to worship the One true God through His Son Jesus Christ. As in the time of Pentecost, only a small group of believes who had sanctified themselves through confession and submission to God, were filled with the Spirit of Christ.  So too in the last days will a small group, the 144,000, be filled with the Spirit of Christ through confession and submission to God.  The three angels message that has been committed to the remnant church today, has not been attended by the Spirit of God as in the time of the 1844 movement.  The reason for this is that the church has accepted the false god of the trinity which teaches that the Holy Spirit is not the Spirit of God and Christ, but is a separate being unto itself.  Thus separating the church from the Spirit of God and is being led by another spirit. The remnant church, being led by the spirit of antichrist, has corrupted the three angels message by shifting the focus of the first angels message from the One true God unto the Sabbath.  In doing this, the power of God cannot attend this message.  Therefore God is working with those in the church to awaken them to their true condition before Him saying "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.  So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:" (Revelation 3:15-17). They are in this condition because they have forsaken the One true God for the triune god of Babylon.  He is seeking to awaken the people with this message saying "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.  Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." (Revelation 3:19, 20).  Jesus is depicted as on the outside seeking to gain entrance. If we are to take the three angels message to the world, we must have the power of God attending it, and unless we are zealous in our repentance and come back to worship the One true God, we will not be among those who give the last message of hope to the world.  The first angels message is not just a message for the world, but also for the remnant church, calling them back to worship the true Creator of heaven and earth.  "But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him." (1 Corinthians 8:6). My friend, if you desire to be filled with the Holy Spirit, you must turn away from the worship of the false god of the trinity, and unto the worship of the One true God through His Son Jesus Christ. God bless,

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