Gems from the North (12) - Holy Spirit and Victory
The premillennialist expects the good times to come to earth when Christ returns bodily to overcome the weakness of the Church in history. What premillennialism ignores is the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. It also denies the doctrine of God’s irresistible grace. What the premillennialist ignores is the question of the two angels to the witnesses of Christ’s ascension: “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven...?“ (Acts 1:11). Then the witnesses returned to Jerusalem to await the coming of the Holy Spirit. But premillennialist are still standing around culturally, gazing in hope at heaven. In the meantime, their pockets are being picked by the humanists. ‘Just keep on looking up,” the humanists tell them. “Let us know if you see something.”
Jesus said it was better that he went away, because then the Holy Spirit could come. He sent the Holy Spirit to establish his Kingdom of God on earth. The Holy Spirit can do more than Jesus could, either in his earthly ministry, or on his return, because the Holy Spirit has all the power of God, but is not limited to being in one place like Jesus.
3 comments:
Ron,
I've enjoyed hearing about North as one of your influences and how he has affected your beliefs.
You wrote "The Holy Spirit has all the power of God, but is not limited to being in one place like Jesus." That is an awesome fact. Given that the Church in contemporary society is not doing so well in establishing the Kingdom, I wonder if the Church is placing the Holy Spirit under some limitations.
Neil
You are probably correct about the Church limiting the Holy Spirit.
We certainly have not yet seen the Holy Spirit giving it his best shot. I think this is also partly due to the timeing of Gods plan. See the Rugby Game. The Father is holding back his best till the time when his team is complete.
Post a Comment