A fourfold fruitage was manifested in their lives immediately. They became men of purity. "God, which knoweth the hearts, giving them the Holy Spirit, purified their hearts by faith." A mighty inward change first was wrought. The Spirit of God is a holy Spirit and He can only dwell in a holy place. So His primary work is always the cleansing of the innermost recesses of the life. "Be ye holy for I am holy" is God's mandate to the save soul. When the disciples were baptized with the Holy Spirit He first purified them, displacing pride with humility; selfishness with love; cowardice with courage; carnal with spiritual; worldly with heavenly; human with divine; temporal with eternal.
They became men of power. "Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you." This promise abundantly was fulfilled in them. Inward purity begat outward power. The book of the Acts is one unbroken record of the mighty power of God the Holy Spirit coursing through purified channels. "Rivers of living water" flowed through those first apostles and believers into Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and even to the uttermost parts of the earth.
They became men of passion. One and all they gave themselves to the winning of souls. Their own hearts, all aglow with fervent gratitude and adoring praise to Him who loved them enough to give Himself for them, were kindled into a flame of passionate desire to bring others into the joy and peace and security of a personal, saving relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ. They became men of one passion - "This one thing I do" animated their lives.
"Oh! for a passionate passion for souls!
Oh! for a pity that yearns!
Oh! for a love that loves unto death!
Oh! for a fire that burns!
Oh! for a prayer power that prevails!
That pours itself out for the lost;
Victorious prayer in the Conqueror's name,
Oh! for a Pentecost!
They became men of prayer. Communion with God through prayer, and cooperation with God through intercession in making the finished work of Christ operative in other men's lives, became their chief delight and constant occupation. The book of the Acts is one continuous record of answered prayer. All their wonderful works were begun, continued, and ended in prevailing prayer.
The repeated impression made upon the student of the book of the Acts is that through the baptism in the Holy Spirit at Pentecost those first believers were changed from carnal into spiritual Christians and that from that time on they purposed to live their lives on the highest plane. What life on the highest plane was to them is defined aptly and adequately in a description used repeatedly in connection with them, "They were filled with the Holy Spirit."
Through our studies thus far we have seen that in the finished work of Jesus Christ, the eternal, incarnate, crucified, risen, ascended, exalted Son crowned by the sending forth of the Holy Spirit, God has made all-sufficient provision for lifting any and every person from the deepest depths of life on the natural plane to the highest heights of life on the spiritual plane.
~Ruth Paxson~
(the end of: "Life on the Lowest Plane".)
(Next: "Life on the Highest Plane - Grace Triumphant Over Sin")
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