The Holy Spirit: Power Presence and Purpose Part 58

The Advent Part 50

Acts 2:18, “And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy.”

In Christ we are made one. This beautiful reality is confirmed in the Word of God, and when we are born again, God does not take into account our gender, our social standing, our education, or our nationality. We become members of the Body of Christ, having put on the new man, having died to the flesh and having been born again in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 3:9-11, “Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.”

Given the context of the scripture in Colossians, the question that begs to be asked is if we are one in Christ, if Christ is all and in all why is there so much division within the household of faith? Why is it that we are so divided, so fractured, and there is so much animosity among us? Could it be because we have placed our denominations before Christ? Could it be because we have placed our own presuppositions before the One who is to be all and in all?

The lack of unity within the house of God is disturbing, and if we are diligent we can trace the root cause of this disunity to its source. It is not Christ that is causing these fractures within the house of God it is our own stubbornness, and our conscious decision to put denomination and personal opinion above Jesus.

Through the Holy Spirit we are all made priests and kings, because we are all members of one Body, the Body of Christ. It’s only the gifts that differ from individual to individual, just as the members of our human bodies differ in their tasks and abilities, but they all work in unison for the edification of the selfsame body.

Ephesians 4:11-13, “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

So the Word clearly tells us the purpose of the gifts, namely to edify the body of Christ till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, and to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are not to lift up one individual, they are not to bring glory to one man, they are not to draw people to a particular ministry, but rather so that we should no longer be children, tossed to and from and carried about with every wind of doctrine.

It is high time that we laid aside childish things, it is high time we laid aside selfish ambitions, it is high time we grew up in all things, in Christ who is the head, and speaking the truth in love be joined and knit together as a body ought to be.

It’s no secret that the house of God is divided, and a house divided against itself cannot stand. With Christ as the head, may we pursue the righteousness and holiness to which He has called us, may we pursue the truth of Scripture as He has commanded us, and may we desire spiritual gift as the Word admonishes us to do, that we might walk in the authority rightly ours as kings and priests of the household of faith.

It is from among His the menservants and maidservants that God chooses those to serve in greater capacities, it is from among these individuals that God appoints apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, because a manservant or maidservant of God is first and foremost a child of God.

It was none other than Jesus who defined the role of the servant, as well as how a servant should react upon being called to serve his Master. Once again what Jesus says concerning servant hood seems to be in direct opposition to how we perceive it in our day and age.

As servants, in recent years we have been taught that we are entitled to our Master’s spoils, we are entitled and ought to demand that He thank us and shower us with abundant blessing for having served, but the picture Jesus paints is one drastically different from that which we have been taught.

Luke 17:7-10, “And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘come at once and sit down to eat?’ But will he not rather say to him, ‘prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink?’ Does he thank the servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘we are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.”

Whatever manner or capacity God calls you to serve in, however great a ministry God allows you to have, however many sermons you may preach, however many songs you may sing, however many hearts and lives you may touch, at the end of the day, all you did, and all I have done is those things which we were commanded to do. It was not of our own strength, it was not of our own prowess, but rather it was the Master’s good pleasure to see us labor in His harvest field, and all we have done, is what was our duty to do.

With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.