“If the Holy Spirit were to be withdrawn from the church today, ninety percent of the church would go on as though nothing had happened” (A. W. Tozer). We cannot get a corner on the “Holy Spirit market”. He is not for sale and will not allow himself to be franchised like a fast-food chain. We must therefore reverence him, honour him, let him be himself; we must flow with him and not try to coerce him to flow with us. Otherwise he will back off—very quietly and imperceptibly—while we carry on our way like Joseph and Mary on their way back to Galilee assuming the Lord was with them (Luke 2:46–48). He wasn’t. They had to go back and look for him until they found him. That is what we have to do.

All over the world the Spirit is moving
All over the world as the prophet said it would be
All over the world there’s a mighty revelation
Of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

The Holy Spirit has an unfinished business/ agenda. The Holy Spirit is alive and active in the world today, as well as in the mission fields (e.g., revival, conversion of unreached people, reconciling people, restoring broken marriages, miracles). He is doing what he has been doing in the past.

Are the signs and wonders associated with the Holy Spirit in the books of Acts still possible today? Since he is the same Holy Spirit we have today, the answer has to be yes. Concerning the gifts of the Spirit, “We must not say ‘only’ for New Testament times, nor must we say ‘always’. The answer is, ‘as he wills’, as the Spirit wills. It is always right to seek the fullness of the Spirit—we are exhorted to do so. But the gifts of the Spirit are to be left in the hands of the Holy Spirit.”

You must not say, “They never can happen, they were only for the New Testament Church. . . . Nor must you say they should always be present in their fullness.” Both views are wrong. But they are always possible.

Holy Spirit and Wildfire

Fear of the Holy Spirit and neglect of the person and work of Holy Spirit has much to do with wildfire—aberration, extremism, past bad experiences, and others. We should not let the past hold us hostage nor should we get hung up over our past. Instead, we should move on because “the past is irreplaceable but the future is irresistible” (Oswald Chambers).

We do recognise that for every genuine work of the Holy Spirit, there might be counterfeits. But to let counterfeit work hinder us from experiencing the genuine work of the Holy Spirit is unwise and too high a price to pay because we will be deprived of God’s blessings. An analogy I like to use is this, to stop eating eggs because of some rotten eggs is no the best way to eat. Isn’t that true? Therefore, be open but not uncritical (cf. 1 Thess. 5:21). Phenomena should not determine our beliefs; Scripture should.  This is what it means to be biblically balanced. The poignant words of William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army come to my mind:

We are not such fools as to refuse good bank notes because there are false ones in circulation; and although we see here and there manifestations of what appears to be nothing more than mere earthly fire, we nonetheless prize and value, and seek, for the genuine fire which comes from the altar of the Lord.

At the same time, we should not ignore or summarily dismiss things that happen just because we do not understand. Listen to the judicious words of the late Martin Lloyd-Jones:

So you see the difficulties men land themselves in when they dislike something and cannot fully understand it and try to explain it away. All things must be judged in the light of Scriptures, and we must not twist them to suit our theory or argument. . . . There is nothing in the Scripture itself which says that these things are to end, and further, every attempt to make Scriptures say that leads to the same dismal impossible conclusions.

We should differentiate between the real work of the Holy Spirit and those that are false by doing what Scripture says, “Do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world” (1 John 4:1). Patrick Morley’s point is valid when he said that we often have an “allergic reaction” to the Spirit as an overreaction “to our charismatic brothers and sisters (who are also evangelicals). But to de-emphasize the Holy Spirit is to throw the baby out with the bath water.

Anyone who is prepared to say that all this ended with the apostolic age, and that there has never been a miracle since the apostles, is making a most daring statement. Not only is there nothing in the Scripture to say that all miraculous gifts had to end with the apostolic age; the subsequent history of the church, it seems to me, gives the lie direct to this very contention. I say once more, therefore to hold such a view is simply to quench the Spirit.

There is a story told of the bush missionaries who had camped near a colony of monkeys for several days. Returning to the camp one day, they came upon monkeys scurrying about in what was an obvious imitation of the missionaries. In the centre of the camp, the monkeys had gathered firewood into a pile and were sitting around it as though warming themselves. But there was one problem. They lacked the fire! We gather stick, fire wood, question is where is the fire?

“The world has yet to see what God can do and in and for a man who is fully dedicated and consecrated to him.” D. L. Moody heard that statement and said, “I will be that man.” God honours his words,  used him to touch two continents. Will you too be that person? The Spirit of God is always on the lookout for men and women who are willing to be messengers for His sack and in your generation.