It was not ordinary times. The founders of the modern Pentecostal era suffered tremendous opposition and persecution. Nevertheless, they boldly proclaimed to the world of a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit. They established massive numbers of congregations and organizations around the world. During the early years of our movement, our forefathers were preaching the Apostles’ Doctrine while laboring through extreme difficulty and change. They endured two World Wars and the hardships of the Great Depression, and they began to witness revolutionary advances in transportation, in communication, and in technology.
Nevertheless, without an organized plan, but depending on the Holy Ghost, they boldly proclaimed the real love of God both far and wide. Having received the gift of the Holy Ghost, these born again believers sowed the seeds of today’s Pentecostal revolution. It was, just as it was in the Upper Room in the book of Acts, a spiritual transformation. It was not some form of godliness or religious rite, but a true transformation (Romans 12:2).
A huge spiritual revolution has been in the making. As Alister E. McGrath stated in his book “The Future of Christianity:” “If ‘Mainline’ is defined numerically, then Pentecostalism is already the most significant Christian alternative to Roman Catholicism. It has displaced to the sidelines those Protestant groupings that once saw themselves as mainline…a massive formation in global Christianity is taking place.”
McGrath’s analysis is interesting, but no one, no church, no organization will succeed without a full commitment to the Truth. This requires a precise, honest rejection of the world, and a life lived in separation from the allurements of the world and the seductions of compromise – Living in Truth requires complete transformation.
It’s common to hear it preached that we need fresh anointing, and a deeper spiritual life. I often say it myself. However, the deeper anointing that we need, the deeper spiritual life must be desired. One cannot be forced to love anything or anybody. One worships by his own will; he volunteers. He cannot be compelled to worship or to walk in the truth. True worship comes from within, as does true love. It is the free will or desire of the worshipper that makes worship to be true worship. Someone coerced to worship is not worshipping – there is no transformation. There is nothing more valuable than a pure heart. Keeping our worship and our walk with God pure is the challenge of this modern era.
Once again, we are not in ordinary times. We’re at a level of global communication capable of reaching a level of change and influence that we cannot even imagine. The world is drunk on technology and blind to its power and influence. There are enemies of religion, especially Christianity, and they are extremely empowered and well-funded, and they are hoping to crush all belief in God. They are determined to destroy moral society. And the access and persuasive control they are being given upon the minds of children is staggering. Never has the world experienced the depth of knowledge or sources of communication that are now being wielded in the hands of godless, cunning men and women against integrity, honor, morality, decency, and goodness. Writing about this is not done in a spirit of negativity, but with an impassioned heart to encourage Holy Ghost believers who have been transformed by God himself to stand firm on the Bible and its Truth.
There is no victory in fighting against those who despise the church. But, when we maintain Upper Room realness and dependency upon the Holy Ghost, when we avoid trusting in our flesh, the victory comes. We are transformed!
“The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).