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AN INTERACTIVE SUMMARY OF THE WORK OF THE SPIRIT

The following paragraphs divided into numbered segments are presented as a summary of The Work of the Spirit. The review questions are designed to facilitate a clear comprehension of the thesis statements contained in that document. Click on the answer of your choice to determine the level of progress you are making in understanding the major points presented in this summary. A correct answer will prompt you to progress onward to the next segment of the lesson, while an incorrect response will encourage you to try again and allow you to return to the particular point in the paragraph from which the question is drawn. For your convenience, and to promote further study of the topic under review, a link to the entire document is provided at the end of this lesson.

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SEGMENT ONE

The work of the Spirit can be divided into two main categories: furnishing power to the work of the ministry, and forming Christ in the believers. The first category is that of the outpouring of the Spirit on all flesh. The purpose of this is to revive the purposes of God in the churches and also to bear witness to the nations of the soon coming of the Kingdom of God. Signs and wonders, healings, miracles, the gifts and ministries of the Spirit, come under this category.

The second category is that of the moral transformation of individual believers. The first category is the means. The second category is the end product. The purpose of the outpouring of the Spirit is to produce moral transformation in the Christians so they may govern the members of the nations who have repented and turned to God.

SEGMENT TWO

There are at least two things we must do if we are to receive an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

The first thing we must do is to be strictly obedient to God. When we pray for revival, God may show us things in our life that need correcting. We must correct them immediately if we expect God to give us of His Spirit.

"God has given to those who obey him."

It is fashionable today to pray to the Holy Spirit, or to attempt to direct the Holy Spirit. We are not to do either of these things. We are to obey God. When we obey God, God will give us more of the Holy Spirit.

The second thing we must do if we desire more of the Holy Spirit is to ask. We must ask, and keep on asking until we receive. We are to seek, and keep on seeking until we find the Spirit. We are to knock, and keep on knocking until the Lord opens the windows of Heaven.

SEGMENT THREE

There must be no more glorifying of man when God moves in power. It is to be a sackcloth ministry, as we read in the eleventh chapter of the Book of Revelation.

Today there is a tendency toward making a business out of what is supposed to be the work of the Holy Spirit. We hear of marketing techniques being applied. The emphasis is on larger and larger numbers of people.

We excuse our fleshly efforts by saying we want to get people saved. This may be true in some cases, but too often ministers and denominations are building their own kingdoms.

The building of the Kingdom of God is not a business. It is not to be operated by business techniques. It is not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of the Lord. We need the fire of God’s Spirit and His holiness more than we need demographic studies.

Today in the Pentecostal-Charismatic movement we are attempting to finish in the flesh what was begun in the Spirit. We have our hand on the Ark, and we are dying as a result. All the management techniques in the world are only going to bring confusion and destroy the work of God.

SEGMENT FOUR

Another massive problem we are facing when we are seeking God for an outpouring of His Spirit is that of our doctrine. It is incorrect. We are teaching people that we are "saved by grace," interpreted to mean God does not see our behavior. As long as we profess belief in Christ we will go to Heaven when we die, regardless of the kind of life we have lived.

How can we expect God to pour out His Spirit when He knows His effort is not going to result in righteous people? We must turn away from our vain, unscriptural traditions and start teaching from the Epistles. The epistles of the New Testament emphasize righteous, holy behavior, apart from which we cannot possibly inherit the Kingdom of God. The issues of the New Testament are the Kingdom of God and eternal life, not residence in Heaven.

Until we start teaching scriptural doctrine, it is useless for God to grant us a spirit of repentance. As soon as people repent they will be taught they can turn again to their sin for they are "saved by grace."

In order for there to be effective, lasting revival in the United States our doctrine must be changed from the traditional grace-rapture-Heaven emphasis to that of presenting our body a living sacrifice; to that of denying ourselves, taking up our cross, and following Christ wherever He leads us.

SEGMENT FIVE

The secret of the Christian life is to be filled with the Spirit of God at all times. This means we are to pray continually, to meditate in the Scriptures, to confess our sins when the Spirit points them out to us, to gather with fervent disciples, to give, serve, and do all else associated with wholesome Christian living.

We are freed from the Law of Moses, including the Ten Commandments, by counting ourselves crucified with Christ. Now we have a new law. Our new law is the Holy Spirit Himself.

But a new Christian is not skilled in knowing what the Spirit is telling him or her. Yet he is not under the moral Law of Moses. So what keeps him from sinning?

What keeps him from sinning are the numerous commandments found in the Gospels and the Epistles. All the Ten Commandments in enhanced form are found in the Gospels and the Epistles.

How then is he to keep commandments that are more demanding than the Law of Moses? He keeps them by praying and seeking help from the Holy Spirit.

Then what happens? If he faithfully follows the Holy Spirit in keeping the commandments of the New Testament, Christ is formed in Him. A new creation of righteous tendencies is formed in his personality. He has kept the commandments. Now the commandments are beginning to keep him. This is the new covenant.

God has given us the body and blood of Christ, the born-again experience, the Holy Spirit, and the epistles of the Apostles to enable us to keep the commandments of the New Testament. When we keep these diligently and faithfully, Christ is formed in us. When Christ is formed in us, the Father and the Son come and make Their eternal abode in that which has been formed in us.

We pass through the Judgment Seat of Christ now, today, as we confess our sins and turn away from them.

Lesson completed, great work!

Proceed to lesson two

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Source Document:

Copyright © 2002 Trumpet Ministries, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

Copyright © 1997-2001 by Trumpet Ministries, Inc. / The Word of Righteousness 
 Author of the "Words of Righteousness" - Dr. Robert B. Thompson 
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ANSWER GUIDE

Incorrect, try #1 again. 

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Incorrect, try #4 again.

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Incorrect, try #5 again.

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