INSIGHTS & NOTES FROM
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.
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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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