INSIGHTS & NOTES FROM
CHAPTER 55
"We are all invited to come & take the benefit of that provision which the grace of God has made for poor souls in the new covenant" "...in Christ there is enough for all & enough for each" "All shall be welcome to gospel grace upon those terms only that gospel grace be welcome to them. Those that are satisfied with the world & its enjoyments for a portion, & seek not for a happiness in the favour of God - those that depend upon the merit of their own works for a righteousness, & see no need they have of Christ & his righteousness - these do not thirst" "Where God gives grace he first gives a thirsting after it" "Come to the healing waters; come to the living waters. Whoever will, let him come, & partake of the waters of life. Revelation 22:17." "John 7:37. If any man thirst, let him come to me & drink." "We come to the waters, & would be glad of them, but we find there wine & milk" "...the things offered are already bought & paid for. Christ purchased them at the full value, with price, not with money, but with his own blood. I Peter 1:19." "Let all the disappointments we meet with in the world help to drive us to Christ, & lead us to seek for satisfaction in him only." "God's good word & promise, a good conscience, & the comforts of God's good Spirit, are a continual feast to those that hearken diligently & obediently to Christ." "Covenant-mercies are all his mercies; they are purchased by him; they are promised in him; they are treasured up in his hand, & out of his hand they are dispensed to us." "Seek for him, & enquire after him, as your portion & happiness; seek to be reconciled to him & acquainted with him, & to be happy in his favour." "Let us now improve our advantages & opportunities; for now is the accepted time." "What it is to repent... [1.] It is to turn from sin; it is to forsake it. It is to leave it, & to leave it with loathing & abhorrence, never to return to it again. ...[2.] To repent is to return to the Lord; to return to him as our God, our sovereign Lord, against whom we have rebelled, & to whom we are concerned to reconcile ourselves; it is to return to the Lord as the fountain of life & living waters, which we had forsaken for broken cisterns." "Though our sins have been very great & very many, & though we have often backslidden & are still prone to offend, yet God will repeat his pardon, & welcome even backsliding children that return to him in sincerity." "If we look up to heaven, we find God's counsels there high & transcendent, his thought & ways infinitely above ours." "We forgive & cannot forget; but, when God forgives sin, he remembers it no more." "...the promises of God shall all have their full accomplishment in due time" "The covenant of grace is an everlasting covenant" CHAPTER 56 "...when God is coming towards us in a way of mercy we must go forth to meet him in a way of duty." "God is true to us; let us be so to one another." "By this it will appear that we have been in the mount with God if our faces shine in a holy conversation before men." "Whatever is God's pleasure should without dispute be our choice." "Spiritual blessings are unspeakably better than those of sons & daughters" "...the blessings we partake of in God's house are a sure & constant joy & honour, comforts which cannot be embittered." "Many a sorrowful spirit has been made joyful in the house of prayer." "His watchmen are blind, & therefore utterly unfit to be watchmen. If the seers see not, who shall see for us? If the light that in us be darkness, how great is that darkness!" "It is bad with a people when their shepherds slumber" CHAPTER 57 "The death of good men is a thing to be laid to heart & considered more than common deaths." "It is a sign that God intends war when he calls home his ambassadors." "Those that practised uprightness, & persevered in it to the end, shall find it well with them when they die." "Those who mock at God, & bid defiance to his judgments, had best consider who it is towards whom they conduct themselves so insolently." "God takes comfort in his people, while they are faithful to him; but what comfort can he take in them when those that should be his witnesses against the idolatries of the world do themselves fall in with them?"
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CHAPTER 2, PART 2
"2. Emptying" "The pathway into the deeper life is, secondly, our willing acceptance of a Kenosis or self-emptying experience." Philippians 2:5-9 "The kenosis, or self-emptying, means giving up our lives, interests, plans rights or prerogatives, & accepting the cross which is the crucifixion of the 'self-life.'" "We shall never have this same mind in us & follow in His steps as true servants until we too step down from our thrones in the kingdoms we have built, & empty ourselves of all the fruits of the self-life: the desire to have our own way, to defend our rights, or to be ministered unto, instead of ministering to others; the love of recognition & position; the normal tendency to put one's own selfish interests first, & so on." "We have been pampered & encouraged to seek self-expression & self-recognition for so long that the message of the crucified life presents a real crisis in one's life." Matthew 20:26-28 "Without the emptying of the self-image there can be no reproduction of the divine image." "3. Dying" "The pathway into the deeper life is, thirdly, acceptance of the crucified life." "Since it is the cross where the self-life must die, then any unwillingness to accept the self-emptying experience, any desire to keep the self-life alive, would produce only suffering & agony on the cross & never issue in its death." "...they have not yet been willing ...to surrender family, career, material security, recognition, rights & privileges, & humble themselves as servants." "What is the crucified life & what is its nature? The message of the deeper life is the message of the cross. Let no one be deluded into thinking that there is an easier way, for to come 'unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ,' we must follow in His steps - this is by way of the cross." "...crucifixion involves separation & suffering, as well as death." "(1) Crucifixion is Separation." "When one was thus nailed to the cross he was 'separated' from the world & all the activity which took place around him. There is just such a separation which is supposed to take place in the salvation experience." "The second phase of separation occurs in the believer's baptism in the Holy Spirit." "The third place of separation is separation from one's affections for anything but Christ." "(2) Crucifixion is Suffering." "The first aspect of suffering concerns our personal trials." "The second phase of crucifixion as suffering involves suffering on behalf of others." II Timothy 2:24-26 "The third aspect of suffering is that suffering which is offered us in behalf of Christ." "...it is experiencing the 'fellowship of his sufferings,' which will bring us into conformity to His death (Phil. 3:10)." I Peter 4:12 - 13 "(3) Crucifixion is Death" II Corinthians 5:14 "...'if one died for all, then all died.' When Christ died, every believer was in Him as He died on our behalf. It is the same as if we had died. This is a legal transaction which we enter into by faith in Christ." "...our actual death with Christ, which is the death of the self-life." "The first truth that we must accept is that the deeper life is crucifixion & death." "...the 'self' must go to the cross." "The 'self' is God's greatest competitor for our love & affections." "...we must be willing to go to the Garden of Gethsemane & settle the matter once for all just as did Jesus." "It is one thing to pray in a general way about the crucified life, but it is quite another to face the sentence of death squarely & wrestle in agony with it, as did Jesus, until it is finally, & forever, resolved." "What we surrender on the altar is the self-life (Rom. 12:1-2). When we offer the 'self' on the altar, the Holy Spirit expects, from then on, to have full control in our lives." "As a living sacrifice, you will always take the Spirit's side against yourself. If He says this or that habit must go, you will not argue, but simply will die to it. If He informs you that you are to suffer some trial, or surrender up some area of your personal life, you will not offer any objection to His wishes." "Are you willing to give such complete submission to the Holy Spirit? If not, then it means that you have not yet been to the 'garden' & accepted the sentence of death." "Accepting the sentence of death... is getting alone with God & surrendering up the self-life unto the cross." "The final aspect of crucifixion is our acceptance of the humiliation of the cross." Isaiah 53:4 "The world & the organized religious systems today do not have any more insight into the real nature of your crucifixion & death than they did of Jesus' sufferings, but will misinterpret your trials & sufferings as evidence, not of the deeper work of the Spirit in your life, but as evidence of God's disapproval." "God will allow no flesh to glory in His presence (I Cor. 1:27)." "Those who finally press into the deeper life will be those who willingly accept the humiliation of the cross & say, as the Apostle Paul, 'God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, & I unto the world' (Gal. 6:14)." "4. Overcoming." "Fourthly, the pathway into the deeper life in the Spirit is by means of the overcoming life." "Nothing is promised to those who allow themselves to be overcome." "...the pathway to the fulness of God is not merely to experience the baptism in the Holy Spirit, but it is also required that we overcome." "...promises made by the Lord to overcomers in the Book of Revelation are: they will eat of the tree of life (2:7); not be hurt by the 2nd death (2:11); eat of the hidden manna & be given a white stone with a new name written thereon (2:17); be given power to rule over the nations, & be rewarded with the morning star (2:26-28); be clothed in white raiment (3:5); be a pillar in the Temple of God (3:12); sit with Christ in His throne (3:21); & finally inherit all things (21:7)." "(1) The overcoming life will be characterized by uncompromising loyalty to God. Revelation 2:1-7" Deeper Life In The Spirit, Hobart E. Freeman, pgs. 45 - 55. CHAPTER 2
"Pathway To The Deeper Life" "They are not pressing on into the deeper things of the Spirit because they have never been taught that the baptism in the Spirit is not God's ultimate purpose for them, but that it is in reality the 'doorway' to the fulness of God (Eph. 3:14-19; 4:11-13)." "...it is a threshold experience." "...the Holy Spirit ...the purpose of His coming to them was to reveal the deeper things of God, & bring them into a place of consecration that they had never experienced before - which is the crucified life." "...the baptism in the Spirit, is an immediate experience received by a simple act of faith & accompanied with the evidence of speaking in tongues; the other, the fulness of God, is a growth & process which is accomplished when one yields himself to the ministry of the Spirit after his baptism (Eph. 4:11-15)." "...'pentecostal' Christians (all those who have received the baptism in the Spirit) must learn the difference between being 'Bible-taught' & 'Spirit-taught.' The deeper truths of God's Word must be taught us by the Spirit, & a good deal of this must come by revelation." I Corinthians 2:9, 10 "To remain in darkness concerning the deeper life in the Spirit & God's great purpose in this hour, after one has received the baptism in the Holy Spirit, is to frustrate the very purpose for which God has poured out His Spirit now at the end of the age." "5-FOLD PATHWAY TO THE DEEPER LIFE" "...eliminating the popular misconceptions." "The deeper life is not merely the acceptance of the full gospel message, as many suppose." "...the full gospel (healing, baptism in the Spirit, the charismatic gifts, deliverance from the powers of darkness, & so on)" "...all these things were intended to characterize the normal Christian life & should not be thought of as evidence of the deeper life in the Spirit." "The baptism in the Spirit, we must remember, is but the 'doorway' to the deeper life in the Spirit." "The deeper life is not, secondly, increased religious activity." "Flesh cannot crucify flesh. Many, in a sincere effort to please God & draw closer to Him, make a determined effort to fast & pray more, as well as increase their study in the Scriptures. They decide to be more faithful in their attendance in religious meetings, engage in visitation of the sick & the lost, & put forth a real effort to see more of the fruit of the Spirit manifested in their lives." "...we have found that sooner or later they will usually abandon the effort, admitting the goal is beyond their spiritual capacities. One may do all these things & still remain a babe in Christ. Some of the busiest people in the churches are often the least spiritual. The Israelites practically exhausted themselves with outward religious observances, but were not any closer to God spiritually than their heathen neighbors (Mt. 15:8-9; Isa. 1). The deeper life is not just 'doing things' for God; it is not 'busyness with church work,' nor mere religious activity, but it involves inward change, wrought by the Holy Spirit. The deeper life is developing a greater concern for 'becoming' something spiritually, more than merely 'doing' something religiously. Many seem to be more interested in religious form & activity than in learning how to walk in the Spirit, die to self, & grow in a deeper knowledge of Christ." "The deeper life is not, in the third place, great supernatural manifestations in one's life." "...Joel 2:28 tells us that those who receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit will be recipients of visions & revelations & will prophesy." "Moreover, we are told in Mark 16:17f that supernatural signs will follow any believer who will act in faith on God's Word. In fact, the supernatural will even be manifested in the lives of some whom Christ will ultimately reject, according to Matthew 7:21-23." "...we must distinguish between 'manifestations' of the Spirit & the 'deeper life' in the Spirit. Great manifestations of the Spirit of God will be seen in the lives of those who go on beyond Pentecost to full stature in Christ, but they are not the criteria to determine if one is walking in the Spirit. The gifts of the Spirit are gifts of grace (I Cor. 12:4-11); a believer who has recently been baptized in the Spirit can receive a divine anointing to use the gifts, whereas the deeper life is a growth (Eph. 4:15). The deeper life is walking in the Spirit along a 5-fold pathway in the footsteps of Christ. It involves the following concepts which will be discussed next: yielding, emptying, dying, overcoming, & committal." "1. Yielding. The pathway into the deeper life is, first of all, total yielding of one's life to the Holy Spirit." "...the life of Jesus ...'I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things ...for I do always those things that please him' (Jn. 8:28-29)." "...to the extent that we are fully yielded to the Spirit will we also know His fulness. The reason many do not manifest much spiritual growth after having received the baptism in the Holy Spirit is because, being unaware of the real purpose for which He came to them, they do not yield themselves fully to Him. In the Parable of the Sower it is the hard ground which cannot yield to the seed that was sown, & as a consequence cannot produce any fruit." "As with Jesus, total yieldedness means that every thought, deed, aim, purpose, & desire is brought willingly under the direction & control of the Holy Spirit. One's entire being - body, mind, soul & spirit - is completely subjected to the Lordship of Christ & brought into submission to the Holy Spirit to direct & use as He sees fit." "...human nature hates control (even by God) & despises the term 'subjection,' although it frequently occurs in Scripture in various contexts as being spiritually desirable. Yieldedness is not surrender or loss of human will; it is surrendering it up to God to work His perfect will through ours (Phil. 2:13)." "'Just how am I to yield & what am I to do in order to give total surrender to Christ?'" "What must one do to yield himself totally to the Holy Spirit? Nothing, absolutely nothing! Yieldedness is not something one does - it is an attitude of the heart, a state of the mind." "Many, who for years have been striving to overcome this or that habit, or conquer some besetting weakness, & who have sought earnestly to conform to Romans 12:1-2 & yield themselves fully to Christ, are, although spiritually exhausted from the effort, no closer to their desired goal than before. Yielding is a passive state; it is not something we do. It is characterized by 3 things: (1) It is the absence of resistance." "Yielding to the Spirit is not doing something - it is simply not resisting the Holy Spirit when He would seek to teach us something, correct us, discipline us, or lead us into some wilderness of trial to prove us & mature our faith. It is not resisting when He heats the furnace of testing 7 times hotter to refine us, or removes some of the fleshly assurances which we have been leaning on to support our faith & requires us either to stand on the Word of God alone or sink. Yielding is humbly to submit to His work in our hearts as He unmercifully cuts out root & branch some of those cherished, but unscriptural 'denominational doctrines' & 'traditions of men,' which we have held to with such confidence for years, certain they were inspired of God." "Efforts at sleep usually result in insomnia. The dough does not try to yield to the hand of the baker; it simply does not resist. A mother does not try to love her child; she loves without trying, for the simple reason that there is no resistance in her heart. One does not try to yield to Christ; all one needs is a receptive heart. Instead of praying, 'O, God help me to yield to Thy will,' we need simply to cease resisting His will & do it." "Jesus did not try to yield to His Father's will. He simply did not resist it. Every believer can do the same, if he will cease trying to yield to God's will & simply stop resisting it. We must allow the Spirit to bring us to the place where we confess our utter inability to 'help' God, & surrender everything without reservation to Him to work His perfect will through us." "(2) It is the absence of any expression of self-will." "Self-will resulted in the Fall of Adam. Israel's failure & rejection were due to the expression of her sinful self-will (Isa. 1, 2, 19-20). The unwillingness to surrender one's will & bring it into harmony with God's is the cause of much affliction, trial, sickness, adversity & defeat in the lives of many Christians. There is real peril in a will which is not fully yielded to the Holy Spirit, for that aspect of the will not surrendered to God is vulnerable for Satan to influence & control. Any part of the will not totally consecrated to God is self-will & is either under our influence & control or Satan's, & in either case is an expression of sinful self-will." "The total yielding of one's life to the Holy Spirit requires the full surrender & consecration of one's will to God. The Christian ought never to pray as Jesus instructs us in Matthew 6:10, 'Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven,' unless he is first willing to let God's will be done fully through him. It is hypocrisy to pray this & then ignore His will in some area of our lives." "Do we expect His will to be done through the drug addicts, or the gamblers & prostitutes?" "If God's will is ever to be done on earth at all, it will have to be realized through Christians who, as they offer up this petition, yield their wills to Him in full consecration." "...some believe that to lose their self-will would mean the loss of their freedom of will. But total consecration of one's will to the Holy Spirit is not the surrender of the free expression of one's will, but the surrender of the independent, selfish exercise of one's will, & bringing it into harmony with God's. Man's will not in harmony with God's will is not free anyway, for in such a state he is only free to choose how he will oppose God's will & how he will disobey God's purpose." "God never destroys man's power of self-determination or choice, but asks only that we surrender our selfish wills & bring our will into harmony with His. Such a harmonious blending of the 2 wills is perfectly illustrated in the yielding up of our voices to God in the baptism in the Holy Spirit, for in this blessed experience it is we who will to speak as the Holy Spirit gives us the utterance. Such a perfect union of the 2 wills, human & divine, is not to be limited merely to praying in the spirit, but is to characterize the lives of those who are pressing into the deeper life in total surrender to Christ." "(3) It is an affection of the heart." "...we are to understand yielding as an attitude of the heart or an affection of the soul." "Without a spiritual rebirth the sinner may, by an act of his will decide temporarily to change his ways, stop drinking & cursing, & will to do so, because this manner of life holds no real interest to him, for there is no affection in his heart for it." "Soldiers may submit to the discipline & hardships of warfare, but this does not imply that such dangers & trials hold any real affection in their hearts." "When there is no affection in the heart, then all the willing in the world will not produce a calm, satisfied, enjoyable experience. So too, in yielding one's total life to God - it results from the affection of a receptive heart." "It is not enough, then, merely to will to yield our lives to God; we must first set our affections on things above (Col. 3:1f), then yielding will come from the heart without effort." Deeper Life In The Spirit, Hobart E. Freeman, pgs. 35 - 45. CHAPTER 51
"How the people of God are... described. They are such as follow after righteousness, such as are very desirous & solicitous both to be justified & to be sanctified, are pressing hard after this, to have the favour of God restored to them & the image of God renewed on them." "Those that are now advanced would do well to remember how low they began." "It is the greatest comfort of the church to be made serviceable to the glory of God, & to be as his garden in which he delights." "Those are God's people & his nation who are subject to him as their King & their God, pay allegiance to him, & put themselves under his protection accordingly." "...wherever there is the righteousness of God there shall be his salvation." "God's arm shall judge the people that are impenitent , & yet on his arm shall others trust & be saved by it" "Those whose happiness is bound up in Christ's righteousness & salvation will have the comfort of it when time & days shall be no more." "Let us not fear the reproach of men; for 1. They will be quickly silenced... 2. The cause we suffer for cannot be run down. The falsehood of their reproaches will be detected, but truth shall triumph" "The church sees her case bad, her enemies many & mighty, her friends few & feeble; & therefore she depends purely upon the strength of God's arm for her relief." "Sinners, when they are brought out of the slavery of sin into the glorious liberty of God's children, may come singing, as a bird got loose out of the cage." "Those we fear we must look upon as frail & mortal, & consider what a foolish thing it is for the servants of the living God to be afraid of dying men, that are here today & gone tomorrow." "Our inordinate fear of man is a tacit forgetfulness of God." "Happy is the man that fears God always. Proverbs 28:14; Luke 12:4, 5." "When God works great deliverances for his church, & especially when he shall complete the salvation of it in the great day, he will thereby own that poor despised handful to be his people, whom he has chosen & loved." "It is a call to awake... out of the stupor of despair" "Those that will not be counselled cannot be helped." "It is often the lot of God's church to be afflicted, & God has always something to say to her then which she will do well to hearken to." CHAPTER 52 "The joy of the Lord will be our strength (Neh. 8:10)" "The gospel proclaims liberty to those who were under the burden of sin, finding relief in Christ, shake themselves from the dust of their doubts & fears & loose themselves from those bands; for if the Son make them free, they shall be free indeed." "God will do something to vindicate his own honour, something for his great name" "Those that share in mercies ought to join in praises." "God's arm is a holy arm, stretched out in purity & justice, in defence of holiness & in pursuance of his promise." "Those that are in the way of their duty are under God's special protection" "...the gospel brings to light things new & unheard of, which will awaken the attention & engage the reverence of kings & kingdoms." CHAPTER 53 "Of the many that hear the report of the gospel there are few, very few, that believe it." "What a pity is it that such rich grace should be received in vain, that precious souls should perish at the pool's side, because they will not step in & be healed!" "Carnal hearts see no excellency in the Lord Jesus, nothing that should induce them to desire an acquaintance with him or interest in him" "Oppression is a sore affliction; it has made many a wise man mad (Eccl. 7:7); but our Lord Jesus, though, when he was oppressed, he was afflicted, kept possession of his own soul." "We have all gone astray from God our rightful owner, alienated ourselves from him, from the ends he designed us to move towards & the way he appointed us to move in. We have gone astray like sheep, which are apt to wander, & are unapt, when they have gone astray, to find the way home again." "Instead of walking obediently in God's way, we have turned willfully & stubbornly to our own way, the way of our own heart, the way that our own corrupt appetites & passions lead us to." "All that are justified are justified by having their sins laid on Jesus Christ, &, though they were ever so many, he is able to bear the weight of them all." "Christ was in pain that we might be at ease; he gave satisfaction to the justice of God that we might have satisfaction in our own minds, might be of good cheer, knowing that through him our sins are forgiven us." "While the world stands Christ will have a church in it, which he himself will be the life of." "The work of man's redemption is in the hands of the Lord Jesus, & it is in good hands." "...it should be a satisfaction to us if we can do any thing to serve the interests of God's kingdom in the world. Let it always be our meat & drink, as it was Christ's, to do God's will." "Christ conquered for us, & through him we are more than conquerors." CHAPTER 54 "The more numerous the church grows the more cautious she must be to fortify herself" "How sweet the returns of mercy would be to them when God should come & comfort them according to the time that he had afflicted them." "God's anger endures for a moment, but he will gather his people when they think themselves neglected." "...God's kindness shall never depart from his people, for whom he loves he loves to the end; nor shall the covenant of his peace ever be removed, for he is the Lord that has mercy on his people." "All that are taught of God are taught to love one another (I Thess. 4:9)" "The day is coming when God will reckon with wicked men for all their hard speeches which they have spoken against him. Jude 15." "In those for whom God designs a heritage hereafter he will work righteousness now." Matthew Henry's Commentary: Isaiah to Malachi, Mac Donald, pgs. 287 - 315. CHAPTER 1, PART 2
"HOW TO RECEIVE THE BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT WITH THE SCRIPTURAL SIGN FOLLOWING?" "...preparation of the heart to receive the Holy Spirit, the other is the act of faith whereby one receives the baptism with the accompanying evidence." "PREPARATION OF THE HEART" "1. Believe the Scriptures teach that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is a personal experience subsequent to salvation which is promised to every believer." "All of God's promises are appropriated by faith, & the promise of the baptism in the Holy Spirit is not exception. We must ground our faith in the Word of God, for faith comes by hearing & believing the Word (Rom. 10:17)." "The baptism in the Holy Spirit is clearly promised every believer in the Scriptures." "Old Testament Prophecy... Joel 2:28" "The promise of the baptism in the Holy Spirit is without question for all believers who will exercise the faith to appropriate it." "New Testament Promise... Luke 11:9-13." "Christ also promises the baptism in Acts 1:4-5, 8." "2. Recognize your need of the baptism in the Holy Spirit." Matthew 5:3 "'Blessed is that individual who recognizes his spiritual poverty; who is aware of his own insufficiency to fulfill My will in his life, & to give an effective witness, or to minister to the needs of the whole man.' It is only when one sees himself, as it were, a spiritual pauper & in dire need of power from on high, will he in humility cry out for divine enablement, desiring above all else the baptism from heaven." "...until one is aware of his spiritual poverty & need of the Holy Spirit, it is useless to attempt to persuade him with scriptural argument." "3. Receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit must be the greatest expectation of the heart." "One must have a deep hunger for the Holy Spirit." "...it must be more important than work, friends, eating or sleeping." "...do not ask for the Holy Spirit until you feel such need & desire due to your spiritual poverty - until you make it as important as the experience is." "God cannot fill one who is not hungry, nor quench the thirst of one who is not thirsty." John 7:37, 38 "Without a genuine thirst for the experience, one cannot exercise sufficient faith to receive the promise." "4. Finally, there must be a willingness to receive the Holy Spirit on God's terms." "...a willingness to receive the baptism with its evidence - that is, speaking in new tongues." "To reject the sign of the baptism, because one fears the so-called stigma of tongues, betrays a lack of awareness of the basic teachings of Jesus concerning discipleship, for He repeatedly emphasized that His disciples are called to suffer tribulations & persecution for HIs sake (Jn. 15:18f; 16:33; Acts 14:23; 2 Tim. 3:12; I Pet. 2:19)." "...one who desires the baptism in the Spirit should ask God not, 'How can I receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit without tongues,' but 'How can I receive the identical experience that the disciples at Pentecost received in the identical way in which they did, so that I might be what they were & do what they did?'" Ephesians 3:19 "Our motive must be that we desire this experience in order that we might become holy temples for habitation by the Spirit." "RECEIVING THE BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT" "1. Believe God's Word which promises you the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38, 29. The terms 'baptism,' 'filled,' & 'gift' of the Holy Spirit are used synonymously. Cf. Acts 1:5; 2:4; 10:45; 11:15-17. 2. Ask for the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Luke 11:9-13. 3. Confess that you have received the Holy Spirit by faith. Mark 11:24. For example, say: 'Heavenly Father, on the authority of your promise, I now ask for, & by faith receive, the gift of the Holy Spirit, in Jesus' Name.' 4. Act on your faith. James 2:17." "Determine not to speak a word of English at this time (for you cannot speak 2 languages at once). Lift up the sound of your voice & the Holy Spirit will give you utterance in a new language supernaturally." "Do not be concerned about 'what to say,' as the language is spoken supernaturally & does not come through the mind or intellect, but through your spirit quickened by the Holy Spirit. In faith, put your speech faculties into operation (vocal chords, tongue, lips) as in speaking any language, & the Holy Spirit, now indwelling you, will give the utterance." "We are to receive the Holy Spirit by faith, & as we act on our faith, the evidence & assurance will follow." Deeper Life In The Spirit, Hobart E. Freeman, pgs. 24 - 34. CHAPTER 47
"Woe to those on whom God comes to take vengeance; for who knows the power of his anger & what a fearful thing it is to fall into his hands?" "Nothing brings a surer or sorer ruin upon any people than cruelty, especially to God's Israel." "Woe to those against whom the Lord fights, for the whole creation is at war with them." "Those that abuse their honour or power provoke God to deprive them of it, & to make them come down & sit in the dust." "God can make those sit silently that used to make the greatest noise in the world, & send those into darkness that used to make the greatest figure. Let him that glories, therefore, glory in a God that changes not, & not in any worldly wealth, pleasure, or honour, which are subject to change." "Great wealth & plenty are great temptations to sensuality, & where there is fulness of bread, there is commonly abundance of idleness." "Those that are in the height of prosperity are apt to fancy themselves out of the reach of adverse fate." "God often brings upon secure sinners those very mischiefs which they least feared, & thought themselves in least danger of." "Witchcraft is a sin in its own nature exceedingly heinous; it is giving that honour to the devil which is due to God only, making God's enemy our guide & the father of lies our oracle." "Those can expect no other than to be devoured who by their sins make themselves fuel to a devouring fire." "Happy are those who by faith & prayer deal with one that will be a very present help in time of trouble!" CHAPTER 48 "All our... professions avail nothing further than they are made in truth & righteousness. If we be not sincere in them, we do but take the name of the Lord our God in vain." "Will you not own that your God has been a good God to you? Declare this to his honour, & your own shame, who have dealt so deceitfully with him & preferred others before him." "God uses means to bring sinners to comply with him, though he knows they are obstinate." "God sent his prophets to them, but they did not hear." "God will therefore deliver his people, because he will not suffer his glory to be thus given to another." "God is jealous for the honour of his own name, & will not suffer the wrath of man to proceed any further than he will make it turn to his praise." "God will secure his own honour" "Those that would hear & understand what God says must come near, & approach to him; let them come as near as they can." "Those whom God commissions for any service the Spirit in some measure qualifies for it; & those may speak boldly, & must be heard obediently, whom God & his Spirit send." "He that redeemed us has an unquestionable right to us." "What have those to do with peace who are enemies to God?" "The quarrel sinners have commenced with God, if not taken up in time by repentance, will be an everlasting quarrel." CHAPTER 49 "Let not the ministers think it strange that they are slighted when the Master himself was." "Those whom God designs to employ as his servants he is fashioning & preparing to be so long before, when perhaps neither themselves nor others are aware of it." "Faithful ministers, though they see not the fruit of their labours, shall yet be accepted of God, & in that they shall be truly glorious, for his favour is our honour; & they shall be assisted to proceed & persevere in their labours notwithstanding." "It is in darkness that men perish. Christ enlightens men's eyes, & so makes them holy & happy." "Pardoning mercy is a release from the curse of the law, & renewing grace is a release from the dominion of sin. Both are from Christ, & are branches of the great salvation." "No evil thing shall befal those that put themselves under a divine protection" "Those who are under a divine guidance, & follows that closely, while they do so, may, upon good grounds, hope for divine comforts & cordials." "The ways in which God leads his people he himself will be the overseer of" "Church work is usually slow work; but, when God's time shall come, it shall be done suddenly." "...God has a tender affection for his church & people." "God's compassions to his people infinitely exceed those of the tenderest parents towards their children." "Some apply his engraving his church on the palms of his hands to the wounds in Christ's hands when he was crucified; he will look on the marks of them, & remember those for whom he suffered & died." "...those who wait for him, in a dependence upon his promise & a resignation to his will, shall not be made ashamed of their hope; for the vision of peace is for an appointed time, & at the end it shall speak & shall not lie." "All flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour." "God intends, by the deliverances of his church, both to notify & to magnify his own name." CHAPTER 50 "When God chastens his children, it is neither for his pleasure (Heb. 12:10) nor for his profit." "When God call men to happiness, & they will not answer, they are justly left to be miserable." "Let us repose ourselves in the many comfortable words which Christ has spoken to the weary." "None must undertake to be teachers who have not first been learners." "...it is God that wakens us morning by morning." "The Lord God will help me" "Those whom God employs he will assist, & will take care they want not any help that they or their work call for." "If God will help me, if he will justify me, will stand by me & hear me out, I shall not be confounded, as those are that come short of the end they aimed at & the satisfaction they promised themselves: I know that I shall not be ashamed." "Work for God is work that we should not be ashamed of; & hope in God is hope that we shall not be ashamed of. Those that trust in God for help shall not be disappointed; they know whom they have trusted, & therefore know they shall not be ashamed." "...there is no condemnation to those whom God justifies." "Those that truly fear God will obey the voice of Christ." "Those that make the world their comfort, & their own righteousness their confidence, will certainly meet with a fatal disappointment which will be bitterness in the end. A godly man's way may be melancholy, but his end shall be peace & everlasting light. A wicked man's way may be pleasant, but his end & endless abode will be utter darkness." Matthew Henry's Commentary: Isaiah To Malachi, Mac Donald, pgs. 262 - 287. CHAPTER 43
"Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound (Rom. 5:20)" "The expressions of God's favour & good-will to his people here are very high, & speak abundance of comfort" "Those that have God for them need not fear who or what can be against them." "...what reason have we to admire God's love to us in giving his own Son to be a ransom for us!" "True believers are precious in God's sight; they are his jewels, his peculiar treasure (Exodus 19:5)" "The affairs of the world shall all be ordered & directed so as to be most for the good of the church, II Chronicles 16:9." "Those only are fit to be called by the name of God that are created by his grace for his glory" "God is with the church, & therefore let her not fear; none that belong to her shall be lost." "God's people are witnesses for him, & attest, upon their own knowledge & experience, concerning the power of his grace, the sweetness of his comforts, the tenderness of his providence, & the truth of his promise." "For the encouragement of our faith & hope, it is good for us often to remember what God has done formerly for his people against his & their enemies." "The same power that made a way in the sea can make a way in the wilderness" "The church is of God's forming, & so are all the living members of it." "It is therefore our duty to show forth his praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to his service." "Those who neglect to call upon God do in effect tell him they are weary of him & have a mind to change their Master." "God is tender of our comfort, but we are careless of his honour." "When God forgives he forgets." CHAPTER 44 "The pardon of sin is the inlet of all the other blessings of the covenant." "Those that are barren as the dry ground shall be watered with the grace of God, with floods of that grace, & God will himself give the increase." "The water that God will pour out is his Spirit (John 7:39), which God will pour out without measure upon the seed, that is, Christ (Gal. 3:16)" "...the God we trust in is a God of incontestable sovereignty & irresistible power." "There is no God besides Jehovah. He is infinite, & therefore there can be no other; he is all-sufficient, & therefore there needs to other." "Those on whom the sun shines need neither moon, nor stars, nor the light of their own fire." "Those who have the word of God's promise to depend upon need not be afraid of any adverse powers or policies whatsoever." "What we place our confidence in for deliverance, that we make a god of." "Are our hearts set upon the wealth of the world & the pleasures of sense? They will certainly prove a lie in our right hand." "If we trust to our external professions & performances, as if those would save us, we deceive ourselves with a lie in our right hand, with a house built on the sand." "When we begin to remember God he will begin to remember us; nay, it is he that remembers us first" "The servants of the King of kings are under special protection." "The work of redemption which God has by his Son wrought for us encourages us to hope for all promised blessings from him." "It is only through Christ that sin is pardoned." "...the comforts that flow into the soul when sin is pardoned are like the clear shining after clouds & rain." "The greatest establishment of the world is the kingdom of God in it." "...there is joy in heaven when God & man are reconciled" "All being, power, life, motion, & perfection, are from God." "...nothing is too hard for him to do that made the world." "It is the greatest honour of the greatest men to be employed for God as instruments of his favour to his people." "God makes what use he pleases of men, of mighty men..." CHAPTER 45 "Those will find a ready road that have God going before them." "In all the revolutions of states & kingdoms, the sudden falls of the great & strong, & the surprising advancements of the weak, & the obscure, God is designing the good of his church." "...all that are set up in competition with me are counterfeits; they are all vanity & a lie, for I am the Lord, & there is none else." "Christ died to save us from our sins, not in our sins" "Those will find themselves in a woeful condition that strive with their Maker; for none ever hardened his heart against God & prospered." "The doctrine of God's sovereignty has enough in it to silence all our discontents & objections against the methods of his providence & grace." "God will make plain the way of those whom he designs to employ for him." "Those that are redeemed by Christ shall be not only provided for, but enriched." "As the works of God abundantly prove that he is God alone, so does his word." "God not only gives a gracious answer to those that diligently seek him, but will be their bountiful rewarder." "Those that worship idols pray to gods that cannot save" "Blessed be God for the assurance here given us that, whatever becomes of us & our interests, the Lord will reign for ever!" "All that are justified will own it is in Christ that they are justified, nor could they be justified by any other; & those who are justified shall be glorified." CHAPTER 46 "...the true God will never fail his worshippers" "Every good man is what God makes him." "Our spiritual life is sustained by his grace as necessarily & constantly as our natural life by his providence." "O! you transgressors, consider your ways; remember whence you have fallen, & repent, & so recover yourselves." "...nothing can contribute more to make us easy than to be assured of this, that God will do all his pleasure, Psalms 135:6." Matthew Henry's Commentary: Isaiah to Malachi, Mac Donald, pgs. 233 - 262. PREFACE
"Jesus' call to total commitment & His emphasis upon the crucified life will seem far too demanding & mystical, if not in fact impossible, for the followers of popular religion, to whom the term 'discipleship' has lost all real meaning." "A Church which long ago left its first love & in whose heart the fire of the Holy Spirit has gone out will not feel at ease in the company of those saints who advocate the need of a new baptism of power from on high, & a return to the apostolic message, faith & practice." "A message of holiness & crucifixion of the self-life is still as unwelcome at present as when first advocated by Christ & the apostles, who insisted this to be the ultimate goal of the Christian experience." ~ Hobart E. Freeman, 1970. INTRODUCTION "Thousands of believers today are discovering that there is a deeper experience with God after salvation; namely, the baptism in the Holy Spirit, as God in this present hour is pouring out His Spirit upon all flesh as foretold by the Prophet Joel (2:28f)." "...it comes as a surprise to most of these to learn, after they have received this experience, that they still have not attained God's highest purpose for them, but that the baptism in the Holy Spirit was, in reality, the 'means' to a greater spiritual experience - the fullness of God Himself (Eph. 3:19). The deeper life in the Spirit is the Spirit-led life (Rom. 8; Gal. 5:16-25); it is the crucified life (Gal. 2:20); it is a life of total faith in & dependence upon God (Mt. 6:33); & it is the Spirit-filled believers growth 'unto a full-grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ' (Eph. 4:13)." "How is this deeper life in the Spirit to be attained?" "...the message of the deeper life is basically the message of the cross. The way into the deeper life in the Spirit is the way of the cross. It means to take up the cross & follow Jesus. It is, in a word, the death of the self-life." "The deeper life is walking in the Spirit in total commitment as disciples - the future goal is the fulness of God." "To the extent one is filled with 'self,' he is, of necessity, to that extent not filled with the presence of God." "...the Holy Spirit brings us into conformity to the death of Christ, so that His resurrection life & power may be manifested fully in us." "THE NEED FOR THE DEEPER LIFE" "...2 evils affecting both the secular & religious spheres of life. ...moral discernment ...moral authority" "To compensate for its lack of power & effectiveness against the present-day flood of wickedness & unbelief, the Church has turned to such substitutes as increased religious activity, new methods & dynamic programs, as well as the merger of denominations in order to multiply its membership & increase its outreach." "...all such attempts are destined to fail, just as they have in the past; for man cannot restore life to the body by means of artificial respiration when the spirit has departed, 'for... the body without the spirit is dead' (Jam. 2:26)." "It is an age without moral & spiritual discernment." "...the present age ...an age of moral & spiritual crisis, reflected in such things as the phenomenal increase in crime, war, & drug addiction, the most universal preoccupation with sex, the general disregard for authority, the great social upheavals & racial strife, & the almost abysmal lack of moral understanding & concern on every hand." Judges 21:25 II Timothy 3:1-5 "Truly it is an age when men & women, in many respects, seem to have lost the capacity for moral discernment, calling darkness light & evil good, as was true of Israel in Isaiah's time, when he declared, 'Woe unto them that call evil good & good evil; that put darkness for light, & light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, & sweet for bitter' (Isa. 5:20)." "The carefree moral philosophy of today is conformity & compromise. It is a time when, even among professing Christians, being 'accepted' by the group seems to be more important than being 'accepted' by God. The distinction between the sacred & the secular is rapidly becoming more difficult to discern" "It is an age without moral & spiritual authority." "The prevailing moral philosophy of this age... everything is relative. Morals are relative to time, place, & circumstance. Conduct is largely determined by the principle 'when in Rome do as the Romans do.'" "...that which is popular & acceptable by the majority is right." "Conscience is explained as merely the childhood memory of the 'do' & 'don't' of one's parents; so-called sins are, in reality, 'mistakes' or 'errors in judgment' in our evolution to a higher morality; & pleasure & happiness, as good ends in themselves, are to be pursued for their own sake." "...men have lost faith in the integrity of the Holy Scriptures, & there remains therefore, no reliable, unchanging standard of right to measure conduct & character by." "...the Church has, more & more, come to resemble the secular community in which it exists, reflecting its customs, attitudes & mores, rather than being seen as the moral & spiritual influence upon the community. Moreover, it has become increasingly indifferent to the moral declension, decay, & spiritual shallowness within its own confines, & as a consequence, can speak with little moral & spiritual authority to the community at large." "The present move of the Spirit of God today throughout the world, as God pours out His Spirit in fulfillment of Joel's prophecy, is Heaven's answer to man's spiritual need now at the end of the age." "The present outpouring of the Holy Spirit is also Christ's answer for the contemporary Laodicean state of the Church, a Church which has the 'form of godliness, but denies the power thereof.'" "The great moving of the Spirit of God over the world in this hour is also God's reply to the great demonic flood sweeping throughout the world in preparation for the reign of Antichrist. We are witnessing a fantastic increase in Satanic wickedness & influence in the form of crime, sexual perversions, suicide, wars, fear, anxiety, divorce, physical & mental illnesses, drug & alcohol addiction, racial strife, hate, deceit, skepticism, & moral decay, as well as the spread of spiritualism & a phenomenal increase in occultism of all forms." Ephesians 6:10 "The need of the hour is for Christians to experience once more a personal encounter with the Holy Spirit, & to rediscover His blessed ministry in their lives. Only He can bring the believer into a place of total consecration & the deeper life, so that he may be able to overcome the spirit of this age, & withstand in the evil &, having done all, to stand. Never before in history has the Church needed a baptism of power from on high more than at present, in an age without moral discernment or spiritual authority." Deeper Life In The Spirit, Hobart E. Freeman, pgs. 5 - 13. |
AuthorCross Preaching Pentecostal Pastor. Husband to Tonia, Father to 3 beautiful girls, Monica, Zoe & Briana, & Grandfather to Wesley & Elliott Archives
September 2023
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