How can the church experience the “fellowship of the Spirit” (2 Cor. 13:14), “love of the Spirit” (Rom. 15:30), and maintain “the unity of the Spirit” (Eph. 4:3)? Without the person and presence of the Holy Spirit, it cannot be done.

To have relationship with the Father it is through the Son (1 John 2:23), to have relationship with the Son it is through the Holy Spirit (John 16:14; Rom. 8:9), and vice versa (John 14:17). Through the Spirit we experience the Son and Father.

The Holy Spirit is indispensable in accomplishing all of God’s work, not the least his work in and through the church. The reason for this is evident. We cannot accomplish God’s work without the Holy Spirit because he alone has the knowledge of all factors involved in any situation, he alone has the wisdom to make the right decision, and he alone has the power to carry through the decision.^[1]

Without the Holy Spirit’s involvement, all the ideas generated to advance the cause of Christ, though they may be innovative, creative, and brilliant, will lack the power to transform. Sadly, sometimes in our teaching or preaching, the congregation gets the PowerPoint point but misses the Person who gives the power and the point.

Christians are nothing without the Holy Spirit. . . . The Church in its wisdom knows that pastoral leadership, preaching, and care ought not to be attempted alone. . . . Thus the Holy Spirit is nothing less than a life-and-death matter for the people of God. (Robertson McQuilkin)^[2]

The ministry of preaching, teaching, leading, and prayer is powerless without the Empowering Spirit. Indeed,

Preaching is powerless if it be not a demonstration of the Spirit’s power. Prayer is vain unless the Spirit energizes. Human resources of learning and organization, wealth and enthusiasm, reform and philanthropy, are worse than useless if there be no Holy Ghost in them. (Samuel Chadwick)^[3]

Without the Empowering Spirit, the preacher or pastor does not have a message but only a manuscript, not a sermon but only a script. Preaching and teaching become informational rather than transformational. There can be no true biblical preaching without the Holy Spirit.

The man who has the experience of the Holy Spirit is the man who has a message, the man who can utter again the prophetic words, “Thus saith the Lord.” The preacher may be a scholar, a pastor, an administrator, an ecclesiastical statesman, a scintillating orator, a social reformer. He is nothing unless he is a man of the Spirit. (New testament scholar, Barclay)^[4]

How can we “preach with power” (1 Cor. 2:4–6; 1 Thess. 1:5), bear witness (Acts 1:8), and experience transformation (cf. John 16:8–11), without the empowerment of the Holy Spirit? Indeed, “the power of the Spirit is indispensable to the proclamation of the gospel. Anyone can preach words: some can preach convincing and persuasive words; but only God can change lives” (David Watson).

True preaching is preaching through the Holy Spirit. Preaching is not the expression of man’s opinions; it is not the airing of man’s doubts; it is not the parade of a man’s intellectual knowledge and learning. Preaching is the message which the Holy Spirit has given to man to deliver to the people of God.^[5]

Studying hard and preparing well is not incongruent with relying on the power of the Holy Spirit in preaching. Through the discipline of hard work, “the Holy Spirit will shine through the pages and illuminate them so that new insights appear. The harder you work the more the Holy Spirit can work through you. If you allow your mind to grow slack, lazy, and flabby, the less the Spirit can work through you. Loving heart and disciplined minds are important.”  (Jim Cymbala) The bottom line is that to be effective in our Christian life and ministry, we need the person, presence, and power of the Holy Spirit. Apostle Paul reminded that “the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17).

Any talk about prayer that precludes the role of the Holy Spirit, any theology of prayer that neglects to give credit to the work of the Holy Spirit, any preaching that dismisses the power of the Holy Spirit, and any teaching on prayer that ignores the third person of the Trinity is biblically imbalanced, doctrinally flawed, theologically inadequate, hermeneutically unsound, and practically inexcusable in light of Scriptural teaching. In the words of George MacDonald, “The great heresy of the Church of the present day is unbelief in the Holy Spirit.” Could he be speaking about the Baptists? I wonder.

Knowing that the fullness of the Spirit is necessary for the task of Christian living and ministry, that is an imperative of inspired Scripture, and that it is the deepest desire of Christ for His very own as evidenced in His prayer. . . . How diligently we should seek that FULNESS until we are awash on the flow of those promised rivers (John 7:38). . . . THE HOLY SPIRIT DOES NOT FILL US TO MAKE US ENJOYABLE (though it will be). BUT TO MAKE US EMPLOYABLE.^[6]

As people of the book, we need to take the Holy Spirit seriously in light of what has been shown from Scripture concerning his identity, role, and work in the Christian life, church, and the world.

The bottom line, the Holy Spirit needs to be reinstated where he has been excluded from the life of the church. Without bringing the Holy Spirit on board into our praying, our prayers will be weak and anaemic. For prayers to be powerful and dynamic, we need to invoke the Holy Spirit’s help.

Without bringing the Holy Spirit on board, or giving due emphasis/credit to his role and ministry, what we will ultimately have is simply motion not momentum, activities not accomplishment, and ripples but no lasting effect.

In summary, the Bible does not present the Holy Spirit as an impersonal force, influence, or power but a living person. As a person he has a personality. He has knowledge, will, and emotion. The Holy Spirit knows the thoughts of God (1 Cor. 2:11–12). Personal pronouns are used of him (John 16:13). He makes decisions (1 Cor. 12:11) and is not just a power to be harnessed. He grieves (Eph. 4:30) which means he has emotions.

His work consists of convicting (John 16:8–11), illuminating (John 16:12–15), teaching (John 16:12–15), guiding (Rom. 8:14), assuring and interceding (Rom 8:26), directing (Acts 20:22) warning (Acts 20:23), and others.

Words like baptise (Matt. 3:11), fill (Acts 2:1–4), falling (cf. 10:44–45), and fell (Acts 11:15–17; cf. Acts 15:8; Acts 11:18) are used of the Holy Spirit. Every believer, the moment they receive Christ, has been baptized by the Spirit into the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13). Baptism with the Holy Spirit takes place at the time of conversion. Subsequent work of the Spirit is best called “filling” or anointing. We see the narrative of delays between “conversion and baptism of the Holy Spirit” (e.g., Acts 19:1–7). On the other hand, those who see 2 parts take the delay in Acts as a normal pattern. Example the disciples of Christ received it later and the disciples of John (Acts 19:1–7) is an exception rather than the rule.

The aspect of the Holy Spirit’s work in convicting, convincing, and converting is called regeneration (Titus 3:5). The Holy Spirit regenerates and renews lives (cf. John 3:3–5). Regeneration is the impartation of new life to those who are spiritually dead through sins and trespasses (Eph. 2:1; cf. John 6:63. 2 Pet. 1:4).

In light of the above teaching, it should be the aim of every Christian to be a Spirit-empowered believer, witness, and worshipper. The key question is not whether you have the Holy Spirit, but rather, does the Holy Spirit have you?