Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

• John 3:3

For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

• 1 Corinthians 12:13

He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.

• John 16:14

“The baptism of the Holy Spirit delivers us from independent individuality. The one thing the Holy Spirit awakens and brings into communion with God is what is meant by personality. Individual self-assertiveness is the husk, personal identity with the Lord is the kernel. The Holy Spirit builds us into the body of Christ.
“All that Jesus Christ came to do is made experimentally ours by the Holy Spirit; He does in us what Jesus did for us. The gifts of the Spirit are not for individual exaltation but for the good of the whole body of Christ. The body of Christ is an organism, not an organization. How patient God is in forming the body of Christ.
“Our Lord’s words in John 16:14 sum up the personal passion of the Holy Spirit, ‘He will glorify Me.’ The word passion has come down in the world; it is generally taken to mean a distemper from which human nature suffers, but when the phrase ‘the Passion of our Lord’ is used it means the transfiguration of peace and power and patience.”

• Oswald Chambers, He Shall Glorify Me

Boilerplate

In this mini-series, we will look at Oswald Chambers’ book He Shall Glorify Me.  The first several chapters are about the Holy Spirit.

At one time, the YMCA stood for Young Men’s Christian Association.  It was a combination of a youth hostel lodging and Christian outreach.  Few YMCA have any overnight boarding allowed anymore.  The Village People hit song YMCA was the “fun staying at the YMCA.”  Note: Corrie ten Boom stayed at the YWCA whenever possible during her years of evangelism.

But these days, membership in the YMCA is all about exercise, a pool, or more than one pool, and exercise classes.  Cheaper than most gym memberships.

Oswald Chambers spent the last two years of his life training YMCA missionaries in Egypt.  Most of his books were published by his wife after his death.  She used his teaching notes and some sermons to create My Utmost for His Highest and Daily Thoughts for Disciples.  The latter is compiled from the various books published under the name of Oswald Chambers.  The chosen book is one of those used in the compilation.

Discussion

In this quote from Chambers’ book, we can see where the book title comes from.  But we have an unnamed pronoun, a couple of them.  John 16:14 is said by Jesus in His farewell address to His disciples during the Passover meal on the night He was betrayed.  The “He” in the verse is the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is promising that the Holy Spirit will only relay to us what God the Father and Jesus have given Him.  They are three distinct persons of the Trinity, but they are one God.  Thus, they communicate with one another.

And then the question arises often.  What if we hear another voice.  Satan’s evil spirits are good at mimicking God, but the primary way to discern the voice of the Holy Spirit is that it will not go against what is in God’s Word.  And since Jesus said that even He does not know the date of the End Times, people telling you that it is next Tuesday at four o’clock Greenwich Mean Time should not be trusted sources.  We should follow what Jesus told us to do:  Be ready at any time.

But the quote from Oswald Chambers is powerful.

First, we are baptized by the Holy Spirit.  Some confuse this with water baptism, but water baptism is not the saving factor.  We are saved through faith and not by works.  Baptism is a good work, but it is only symbolic of what the Holy Spirit has already done within us.

But then, there are other denominations that take it to the far extreme.  Salvation is by faith, but then there must be some outward sign, like speaking in tongues or healing, that must manifest within the person for the person to be saved.

Beware when anyone adds something to faith in order to be saved.  And there are other ways that the Holy Spirit can be evident in us.  I became aware with understanding, reading a passage in the Bible that I had only read the night before, but then, I knew what it meant.  We will obtain the fruit of the Holy Spirit, but maybe not all at once.  Some things are gradual.  But the gifts of the Holy Spirit are as Chambers describes, they are for His glory.  “The Holy Spirit shall Glorify Jesus.”  That is the title of this quoted book without the pronouns.

So, when we show off the gifts of the Spirit and we are not glorifying Jesus, or any person of the Trinity, the Truth is not in us.  Or it is not in us at that moment.  As John the Baptist said, “John must become less while Jesus becomes more.”  Again, to avoid the pronouns.

But the Holy Spirit is within us once we accept Jesus as our Saviour.

When we are alone, we are never alone.  He is within us.

And as Chambers ends this quote, the ultimate goal is a transfiguration of peace and power and patience.  Making demands for outward signs on demand violated the third of those qualities.  If God wants me to heal someone or speak in tongues, that will happen on God’s schedule, to glorify Him, and I am merely a willing servant.  And as Paul tells the Corinthians, that speaking in tongues should edify.  There must be an interpreter or I should keep my mouth shut.

Closing Prayer

Father, guide me.  Holy Spirit, You dwell within us.  You are infinite because You are God.  Give me wisdom to keep the communication lines open without extraneous signals from the Evil One.  Make me strong in discernment and knowledge of Your Nature and Attributes so that I can recognize Your voice.
In Thy Name I pray.
Amen

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.