We shall now go beyond the life of the individual believer to consider the general life and worship of a Christian congregation as a whole. The questions we shall seek to answer are these:
- What difference does the baptism in the Holy Spirit make in the life and experience of the congregation as a whole?
- What are the main features which distinguish a congregation in which all or most of the members have received the baptism in the Holy Spirit and are free to exercise the power thus received?
- How would such a congregation differ from one in which none of the members has received this experience?
To answer these questions, we shall examine two main ways in which a free congregation of Spirit-baptised believers differs from one in which the members have not received the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
“Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (2 Cor. 3:17)
Paul points out two major facts about the presence and influence of the Holy Spirit in a congregation. The first is that the Holy Spirit is Lord. In the New Testament the word Lord corresponds in use and meaning to the name Jehovah in the Old Testament. In this usage it is a title reserved for the one true God, never given to any lesser being or creature.
This title belongs by right to each of the three Persons of the Godhead. God the Father is Lord, God the Son is Lord, and God the Holy Spirit is Lord. When Paul says, “The Lord is the Spirit,” he is emphasising the supreme sovereignty of the Holy Spirit in the Church.
The second great fact pointed out by Paul is that where the lordship of the Holy Spirit in the Church is acknowledged, the result in a congregation is “liberty” or “freedom.” Someone has sought to bring out the true significance of the second part of this verse by a slight change in the rendering.
Instead of saying, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty,” we may say alternatively, “Where the Spirit is Lord, there is liberty.” True liberty comes to a congregation in measure as its members acknowledge and yield to the lordship of the Holy Spirit.
Lord, I want to surrender to the absolute, total rule and sovereignty of the Holy Spirit in my life. Thank You for the freedom that I may experience in His life through His rule. Amen.
