“Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” (Luke 24:49)
“When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.” (Acts 2:1,2)
“For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body–whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free–and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.” (1 Cor. 12:13)
The Holy Spirit has come down to put the soul now, into the enjoyment of its heavenly relationships, with the Father, and the Son, and to lead it into abiding communion with the Father and the Son. That is Christianity.
But, alas, Christendom has forgotten that the Holy Spirit is here. That is why you so frequently hear the prayer that the Spirit of God might be poured out. If ever you hear it again, you would do the petitioner a true service, by asking him if he ever read the second [chapter of] of Acts. The Holy Spirit has come. The Spirit of God is here.
What would the Lord have thought, when on earth, if one day while He, and His twelve disciples were passing along, one of them had turned, and prayed to God fervently, that He would send His Son? I think one of the eleven would have turned on him, and said, “What are you talking about? He is already here.”
Similarly, what inconsistency is it to pray for the Holy Spirit to be poured out! Ah! you say, “I thought He was only an influence.” I know it. But I want you to see that He is a Divine Person come here, and abiding here, in the name of Christ–here to act for Christ, and here to put the soul in the enjoyment of communion with the Father and the Son.
We should not pray, “Send power down!” There is no need. The Holy Spirit is with us already. I realize that He is here. We need not pray that He should come. In the second chapter of Acts you will find that He has already been sent. We have an accurate account that He came
Have you any account that He went back?
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“And don’t get drunk with wine, which [leads to] reckless actions, but be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18 HCSB).
Quoted in His Victorious Indwelling (ed. Nick Harrison), p.370,371. Scripture quotations have been added (NKJV unless indicated otherwise).
See Evan Hopkins classic book, The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus online. Or order a copy from www.clcpublicatons.com. “Hopkins (1837-1918), was an evangelical Angelican pastor whose ministry spanned 52 years, is best known for his faithful Bible-conference ministry throughout the British Isles.”