A GODLY writer over 200 years ago lamented the lack of the actual presence of God355 in Christian Assemblies with these words: “By this process the Church steadily ceased to be a testimony to the existence, presence, and working of the living and true God. Less and less often did unbelievers coming into the Assembly, and beholding in the spirit and unity and conscience-searching power of the worship, the evidences of His presence and control, exclaim: ‘God is among you indeed.’356 God was worshipped, but as absent; and presently the beauteous divine simplicity of the first days had been materialized into the lifeless magnificence of Roman ritual.”357
Those first days referred to are the simple and glorious days of the Acts of the Apostles which can be better titled the Acts of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of Christ in the meeting of believers together358 is to be deferred to and depended upon. For any believer to share or speak anything of spiritual worth requires the anointing359 and present working of the Spirit.360
Such should be our attitude when gathering together that we would come “poor in spirit”361 begging for spiritual nourishment of the Lord. It is a true spiritual principle that those who come to the Lord full and not needing anything will never receive anything of the Lord.362 The wonderful picture is given by our Lord Jesus Christ of a small child asking a father for bread. The response of the father surely always will be to feed the child and not give him a stone to eat! “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”363 The conditions for being filled with the Holy Spirit are surrender, emptiness of self, no pride, no known sins and asking the Father to fill us.
In the local Church in 1 Corinthians 12 we are encouraged to esteem the weakest amongst us and elevate them to learn from them. Such is always the spirit of a true New Testament Assembly where there is a dependence on others in the body of Christ, even the weakest, who we should esteem as indispensable!364 More than that we should consider the very Spirit of the living God to be greatly needed, so much so that if He is not present it is vain to meet together as the Church.
“The Holy Spirit does not come to entertain, to provide signs and wonders and miracles just to thrill us or make us feel good. No, every one of His workings has this divine purpose: I’m preparing a Bride. The work, ministry and mission of the Holy Spirit is singular: It is to wean us from this world, to create a longing in us for Jesus’ soon appearance, to convict us of everything that would blemish us, to turn our eyes away from everything but Jesus, to adorn us with the ornaments of a passionate desire to be with Him as His Bride!”365
This dependency on the Holy Spirit and crying out for fresh infusions of His grace needs to be a core principle for the gathering of believers who are meeting under the Headship of Jesus Christ.
We are following a crucified King who died on a Roman cross. This Savior of the world died after only 33 years of earth-life. His life was constantly dependent on the work and power of the Holy Spirit of God. From the baptism, to the wilderness and every Word He spoke our Lord relied on the Spirit. Thus should not our lives be spent in the same way with the same dependency?
“While we are looking for better methods and stronger men and women, God is looking for weak vessels with no confidence in their own abilities. He does this so that His work will be done His way and so that all the glory will go to Jesus Christ.”366
“God will confound the strong and wise by anointing as His instruments those who are considered weak and foolish. The Lord will bypass those who lean on the arm of flesh, who trust in their talents, their knowledge, their background, their family reputation. Instead, He will raise up the brokenhearted, the weak and the weary. He will pour on them a spirit of praise and a baptism of love. He will show them His greatness, His faithfulness, His covenants, and they will become strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.”367
May this be our desire to simply be weak vessels that the Lord uses. We will then depend on the Lord Himself and seek things above and not things of the earth.368 May there be a renewed testimony of the Spirit of the Lord in our meetings as we come together with great dependency on Him with hearts of full-surrender to God’s ways. This way all the glory can go to Jesus Christ, God’s Son.