The Amazing Power of the Holy Spirit

By E. James Dickey

NEED INSPIRATION?

The answer may be found in the labor of love The Amazing Power of The Holy Spirit by E. James Dickey!

This power-packed writing promises new insights and inspiration to all who are in need of spiritual sustenance today. It is full of examples, stories, scriptural references, and for the deep thinker, strong theological proclamations.

These pages on The Amazing Power of the Holy Spirit promise new insights and inspiration to all who love the written word, especially in relation to the critical need of spirituality today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Dec 30, 2011
• ISBN: 9781449728885

E. James Dickey

Excelsior is the fourth book by E. James Dickey. A graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University, Boston University School of Theology in the state of Massachusetts, and the Graduate School of Ecumenical Studies in Geneva, Switzerland, he is a fresh voice in behalf of spirituality during his retirement after forty strong years of appointive ministry as an ordained clergy. Popular acclaim has been granted to this new author with his three previous books: From the Trenches, an autobiography; The Amazing Power of the Holy Spirit; and a biographical approach to the whole Bible titled The Secret of the Bible. Excelsior further enhances a biographical approach to life with a personal, provocative, and forward look into a new century.

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Copyright © 2011 E. James Dickey

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Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission.

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ISBN: 978-1-4497-2889-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-2888-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011918062

Printed in the United States of America

WestBow Press rev. date: 10/04/2011

CONTENTS

Foreword

1

The Era of the Holy Spirit

2

Why is Moving in God’s Direction so Difficult?

3

What about Those Who Keep Turning Away?

4

Life in the Spirit as Exhibited in Galatians

5

The Holy Spirit as Proclaimed in Colossians

6

What about Goodness?

7

Healing

8

Reaching out to Others

9

Hope

10

Freedom

11

Prayer

12

The Holy Spirit Throughout History

13

Who is the Holy Spirit?

14

Forgiveness

15

New Life

Appendix

Study Guide

ENDNOTES

To the extraordinary women in my life commencing with my mother, my wife, my daughter, my sister, and extending to women giving of themselves untiringly in the cause of Christ throughout the world.

Appreciation is extended to Dr. James L. Burke, Betsy Burke, Maxine Boehnker, Missy Cotrell, Deanne Sears Dickey, Sally Reiff Dickey and Deborah L. Shellard for their dynamic and devoted assistance in producing this revised version of The Amazing Power of the Holy Spirit.

Foreword

My passionate interest with the Holy Spirit began during the earliest days of appointive ministry as an ordained clergy. In fact, at the very first Church that I served in Columbus, Ohio, I was so smitten in idealistic fashion with the aura of the Holy Spirit that I wanted to formulate what would become the Church of the Holy Spirit.

I expressed this thought, especially among some young friends in Depth Discussion groups. The euphoria surrounding that possibility during those early years in ministry was rekindled in retirement when I participated in a wedding at a beautiful Roman Catholic Church in Louisville, Kentucky, named the Church of the Holy Spirit. That sacred and festive event turned out to be the manifestation of what this holy edifice had been consecrated to exemplify.

Slowly but surely throughout my ministry, however, I came to the realization that the Church and the Holy Spirit have been intertwined from the beginning. For after all, the Church was founded by the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit never has left the Church through the centuries in spite of any and every attempt by people to undermine and destroy the Church. Contrary to all negative measures against the Church, the worse the situation grows, historically speaking, the more the Church seems to thrive.

This is no less true among human beings. When life is at low ebb without any known recourse, what is needed and necessary seems to be produced among those who are open and receptive to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

As a result, my interest in the movement of the Holy Spirit not only has solidified over time but also has strengthened. The limitation of literature on the subject further has motivated me in this endeavor.

A plethora of writing has appeared over the years concerning many essential aspects of the Christian faith. This has included books from some of my favorite authors, but little seems to have been expressed about the Holy Spirit.

And from my perspective, those who do concentrate upon the Holy Spirit appear to be lacking in substantive thought processes or appropriate exemplifying messages. Thus, the attempt in reflecting upon the Holy Spirit here, meager as it may seem for this awe inspiring divinity in our midst, has become a new venture not dreamed possible before this time.

Because I have learned through the years that the amazing power of the Holy Spirit has more to do with life than life itself, I have been lifted to new dimensions of the Spirit and am forever grateful for the opportunity to share these thoughts with the world.

If you derive any semblance of the same blessing from the following pages, this writing will have been more than worthwhile.

1

The Era of the Holy Spirit

We live in the era of the Holy Spirit. Try though we may to believe otherwise, there is no truer statement than this one.

The reason is clear. The first act of creation via God the Creator is in the past, who, of course, was God the Father to the person, Jesus Christ. Even Jesus Christ as Redeemer/Son lived and died in the flesh some 2,000 years ago.

Since the time of His resurrection and ascension, however, Christ’s promise of the Holy Spirit continually has been realized in the lives of human beings and has produced amazing results.

According to Saint Paul in his letter to the Romans, chapter 8, verse 9, the distinguishing mark of the Christian faith is the Holy Spirit. The one supreme fact in life is the Spirit of God through Jesus Christ demonstrated in our lives.

More than our counselor, comforter and friend, this third person of the Trinity is the strengthener, who enables us to do far more than we are able to ask or think. The Holy Spirit literally means with strength. This is why, according to Psalm 104:30, when the Spirit of God is sent forth, life is created, and the face of the earth is renewed.

Now some immediately say that this sounds good, but what evidence do we have that a mysterious force such as Spirit even exists? The only scientific conclusion from the laboratory, according to Dr. Claude Bernard, is that physical agents produce phenomena, which they do not direct.1

But this finding is enough. And this opens the way for a person like the famous Swiss psychiatrist, Dr. Paul Tournier, to assert that the Spirit is what gives meaning to the body, the psyche, and the mind and at the same time assures their harmony, their articulation, and their unity.2

Moreover, this Spirit cannot be owned by anybody. The body may be owned, but the Spirit cannot be, any more than we can clutch the winds with our fists. We have here the same conclusion, which is in the Bible, that of a guiding force in life.

Adding to this would be the testimony of countless lives throughout the ages. Immediately, the illustration of a composer, who had fallen on hard times, was almost bankrupt and weak in body, comes to mind. He returned one night to his lodgings in a drab section of London, England. He found there a manuscript with the request that he set it to music.

He became so immersed in this task that he almost forgot to eat and sleep, but he emerged with the great oratorio, The Messiah.

Later, George Frederick Handel told his friends that when he was composing the Hallelujah Chorus, he could hear the angels singing, and he only wrote down the music to which he was listening. Such is the amazing power of the Holy Spirit.

Then, there is the life of John Wesley who spent years trying to decide whether to be a college tutor or a parish priest. He went to Georgia in America as a missionary to the Indians but was a miserable failure.

Stirred by the sight of some Moravians, who displayed calm in the midst of a storm on the Atlantic Ocean, he began seeking for inner power. On May 24, 1738, back in London, England, he attended Evensong at St. Paul’s Cathedral and was moved by the music. Afterward, in a meetinghouse on Aldersgate Street, his heart was strangely warmed. Consequently, through the power of the Holy

Spirit, John Wesley went forth to change the moral and spiritual climate of England.

In over four decades of Ordained Ministry, I can attest to the working of the Holy Spirit again and again—in my own life, in the lives of people whom I have been privileged to know, in the life of the church, in the community and even throughout the world.

You may have heard about the little boy who came to watch a sculptor work on a large block of marble. When he returned a few weeks later, the block of marble had become a lion.

How did you know there was a lion inside the marble? the boy inquired.

The sculptor responded: I could see the lion in the marble, because I saw him first of all in my heart.

If we see God in the world today, it is because we recognize the Lord of the universe first of all in our own hearts.

How, then, is God’s marvelous Spirit manifest in human life?

According to that tremendous story in Acts 10:30-45, a pivotal point in the history of early Christianity transpired with Peter and a high ranking Gentile officer in the Roman army named Cornelius. The Holy Spirit is exhibited in several key ways here—beginning with moving us toward Jesus Christ. We are led to Christ, to be Christ in the world and to share Christ with the world.

The great turning point in Biblical history, according to Peter’s speech in Acts 10:38, is the Baptism of Jesus. The Spirit descended upon Jesus in bodily form, as pictured in Luke 3:22, anointing Him as the Messianic Son of God.

Peter continued by saying that after Jesus was crucified, he was raised from the dead and appeared to us who were chosen by God as witnesses. We ate and drank with him in resurrected form, and he commanded us to speak to the people concerning him (Acts 10:3942).

Then, according to Acts 10:44, while Peter was saying all of this, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the Word, and people were amazed.

Saint Paul sums this up in 2 Corinthians 3:17-18: Now the Lord is the Spirit … and we all are being changed into Christ’s likeness from one degree of glory to another.

Secondly, the Holy Spirit produces wonderful fruits, which according to Saint Paul in Galatians 5:22 are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control.

This is in contrast to the works of the flesh in Galatians 5:19-21 such as: immorality, impurity, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, envy, murder, drunkenness, carousing, and the like.

Thus, the operations of the Spirit may be hidden in their source, but they plainly are visible in their effects.

As recorded in Matthew 7:16 and 20, Jesus states: By their fruits, you will know them.

The Spirit, then, lifts us above the fleshly passions to the higher reaches of life, and as recorded by Saint Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:13, the supreme manifestation of the Spirit is love.

Someone once asked George Washington Carver how he was able to do so much with the peanut, and he said: You know, if you love something enough, it will give up its secrets to you.

That is the ultimate promise in life. If we love the Lord and all of His people, God’s heavenly kingdom will open before our eyes as it did in the last moments during the martyrdom of Stephen, according to Acts 7:56.

This does not mean that bearing fruit will be easy. The Lord prunes everyone with struggles and hardships that more fruit may be brought forth, as stated in the Gospel of John 15:12. But in the process of bearing more fruit, God is glorified, according to the Gospel of John 15:8.

That is what transpired in the story involving Peter and Cornelius. Those, who listened to the proclamation of Peter, grew in faith, hope and sacrificial love and demonstrated fruits of the Spirit before their pagan counterparts.

As a result, the Holy Spirit produced believers of innumerable proportions. Moreover, the Gospel spread throughout the Mediterranean region and continues to spread in the world today.

Finally, and perhaps most important of all, the Holy Spirit is for all people. The Holy Spirit is universal, ecumenical in nature, mission minded, servant motivated and full of hope.

This is the whole point in the story of Peter and Cornelius.

Peter began speaking to the Gentile Cornelius, his family and friends, by saying in Acts 10:34-35, I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone, who fears God and does what is right, is acceptable in God’s sight.

Then, he proceeded to expound upon what happened with Jesus.

According to Acts 10:34-35: While Peter still was speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the Word. The circumcised believers [or Jewish Christians] who had come with Peter were astounded. The gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the gentiles.

Therefore, people now are learning with an amazing swiftness and strength that just as God the Creator/Father and Jesus are one, Christ and the Maternal Holy Spirit are one, making all people one.

According to Numbers 11:29, Moses prayed: Would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would send His Spirit upon them.

That prayer was gloriously answered at Pentecost. There is no reason why this prayer should not be answered today.

Thus, we have the Holy Spirit available, and the Holy Spirit enables us to overcome all things. The Holy Spirit overcomes stagnation, resistance, desperate situations, the works of the flesh, the wilderness in human life, temptation, world history, decay, even death, because the Holy Spirit is eternal.

Everything else fails. Sholem Ash once stated that the heathen is wingless; it cannot lift itself to heights from which the totality of being is visible.

People cannot live without a permanent trust in something indestructible in themselves, and that is the Holy Spirit, our Divine and Eternal Mother, who was fully present in the Holy Baptism of Jesus and is now available to us.

Therefore, present possession of the Holy Spirit is a guarantee and first installment of the total redemption, which is entered into hereafter. Our whole future, sense of belonging and purpose, then, transpires when we learn to love where we have hated, replace fear with confidence and supplant doubt with faith.

Courtney Tower has written a moving article about Mother Teresa’s Work of Grace. He talks about a homeless man off the streets of New York, who has been received and is being cared for by Mother Teresa’s network of Sisters during his last hours on the face of this earth:

John is very tired, but they have bathed him, and he sits in a chair in clean clothes. He is listless, but alive.

Suddenly, there is a commotion below, and a soft voice calls Sister Sabita urgently: Mother’s here! Mother’s here!

Mother Teresa, in New York from India for several days, has dropped by. The old woman with the bad heart climbs to the third floor, and goes up to John. She knows he is near death.

She touches his shoulder, and says to him straightforwardly: You are going to Jesus, John. And when you arrive, there will be a great welcome for you. God loves you, you know.

John looks at Mother Teresa, and his tired face breaks into a smile. He clasps her willing hand.

Mother Teresa speaks caringly: When you get to Jesus, John, tell him that I love you, that the Sisters love you, the volunteers and the patients love you. He will know that you have much love.

And Mother Teresa continues by adding, though there seems little need, because John’s face is alight: Keep smiling!³

Whether we are on the giving or receiving end of that kind of love, we are within the amazing power of the Holy Spirit and on the lighted way toward God’s eternal kingdom. Isn’t that worth the very best of our time, talent, gifts and service here and now?

2

Why is Moving in God’s Direction so Difficult?

It often has been stated, without even a sliver of evidence to the contrary, that our lives are restless until we find rest in God. If this is true, why do we engage in such a titanic struggle with an acceptance of that reality?

The answer is simple: Two natures are lodged deep within us. There is the diabolical, lower aspect of our being and the higher, credible portion. Moreover, these two natures are at war with one another from birth until death. The New Testament of the Holy Bible refers to this raging battle within human beings as a contest between the flesh and the Spirit.

Unquestionably according to the Bible, the Spirit came first. Human beings were created in the likeness and image of God and existed in perfect harmony with God and one another in what has been called—The Garden of Eden.

That did not last long, however. Soon, a contrary nature evolved into prominence, and sinful ways dominated human existence. This led to mounting tragedy throughout the earth with literally no promise of escape.

Law emerged onto this sordid scene in anticipation of remedying the situation, but at best, legal measures seemingly could hold at bay the diabolical forces around and within human beings.

In fact, some authors like Saint Paul in the earliest days of Christianity insisted in Romans 5:20 that the law came in with the result that the trespass multiplied and sin increased, which made previous action sinful, according to some learned persons.

In the midst of this seemingly hopeless situation, leaders, kings and queens, arose through the centuries in an attempt to claim viability on behalf of God, but most failed in this endeavor. Prophets in righteous indignation pleaded for people to turn back toward God, but their cry mainly fell upon deaf ears.

Any semblance of a Garden of Eden was now too far removed from view and impossible to achieve. Sinfulness had become too vast and pervasive to be otherwise—with one exception.

Again, according to the Biblical record, there was a most uncouth prophet named John the Baptist, who proclaimed that there would be one arriving immediately after him to take away the sins of the world. He would be greater than anyone and would be espoused as the Lamb of God, the Messiah, the Son of the Most High and the Light of the World.

Then, according to John 1:29-30, when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him, while baptizing at the river Jordan, he declared: Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me, because he was before me.’

In Mark 1:7-8, these words were added to the discourse of this event: John the Baptist proclaimed, ‘The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.’

In conclusion, according to Luke 3:21-22, When Jesus had been baptized [by John the Baptist] and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’

Thus, the Baptism of the Holy Spirit transpired when Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, and the messianic signs were being visibly enacted in Jesus of Nazareth. Whereas people had been baptized by John as a remnant to wait for the dawning of the age of fulfillment, Jesus reportedly received in his own person the promised outpouring of the Spirit.

The descent of the dove means that the Holy Spirit came in bodily form upon Jesus as the Messiah with the total endowment of divine power. This proclaims the completeness of Spirit-possession that is identical with being the Son of God. Jesus of Nazareth is in personal union and total oneness with God.

This is no longer a mere temporary or partial endowment of Spirit-possession with the Prophets in the Old Testament, but a continuous, permanent, enduring union. Therefore, from that time forward, the Holy Spirit, as well as the Creator of the universe, no longer can be conceived without linkage to the person of Jesus Christ.

Upon his resurrection from the dead, according to John 20:22, Jesus breathed on his remaining disciples and said to them: Receive the Holy Spirit. Soon thereafter, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, the promised outpouring of the Holy Spirit transpired at Pentecost in Jerusalem and moved from that point onward to all people throughout all time.

The Spirit here and everywhere is the same as that which settled upon Jesus and even can be called the Spirit of Jesus, as recorded in Acts 16:7. This means that everywhere each person, community and nation can witness and testify to the ongoing work and amazing power of the Holy Spirit.

Even in our weakness, the Spirit in the power of Christ’s resurrection is able to intervene in our behalf, lift us up and do far more than we can ask or think. To turn away from the Spirit of Jesus Christ, however, is to perpetuate our torment and never know the peace that passes all human understanding.

This brings us to the critical question. Which is more powerful in this life—the flesh or the Spirit, sinful ways or godly expressions, evil or good? From a historical, empirical, factual perspective, the answer is still undetermined on this question. There is no evidence that the better angels of our nature will overcome or outlast the demonic force in this existence, or vice versa.

About the time that spiritual enhancement seems to reign supremely in human life, a contrary force undermines and destroys any progress which has been realized.

As Saint Paul states in Romans 7:19-23: For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. So I find it to be that when I want to do good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.

On the other hand, it seems from a historical perspective that nothing ever has become so bad that righteousness does not emerge by the Spirit of God in Jesus Christ within human life. Good can and does come from even the worst that this world has to offer.

From this perspective we are commanded to emphasize the positive. As stated in Romans 12:21, Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good, or as paraphrased and concluded in the third chapter of Revelation: Those who overcome and conquer will receive a crown of life right along with Christ the Lord.

Therefore, according to 1 Thessalonians 5:19: Do not quench the Spirit, [but] hold fast to what is good. And as stated in 1 Peter 3:19, Do not repay evil for evil, or abuse for abuse; but on the contrary repay evil with a blessing. Again in 1 Peter 3:11, Turn away from evil and do good.

Clearly, all of this is summed up in 3 John 1:11, Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.

Nevertheless, because neither the flesh nor the Spirit seem to dominate this existence as long as we live, many turn away from the present and concentrate upon the end of this life at death.

From a solely secular, pagan point of view, the rationale is to eat and drink, for tomorrow we die, according to Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:32.

Then, there is the simple observation by perceptive, learned people like my late father-in-law, Doctor N. M. Reiff. He expressed in conversation with me as a pre-theological student in college that there is a noticeable difference among people when they die.

As Coroner in Fayette County, Ohio, he stated that some people die with a radiance upon their countenance at the time of their death. They obviously are at peace. Others definitely have a wretched look about them, and no amount of cosmetic alterations seem to alter that facial configuration.

In well over forty years of Ordained Ministry, I can attest to the validity of that observation. There is an aura of excruciating discord among some people, while others expire in utter tranquility.

Toward the end of my ministry, I witnessed an example with each of these two extremes. First, I confronted one person of a poisonous nature during the latter hours of existence upon the face of the earth.

A lay person had just emerged from the bedside of that one and asked me not to visit this person. The rejection and foul nature of this human being was so rancid, I was told, that my presence would do no good whatsoever.

Therefore, the plea to me was: Please stay away.

But I had been asked indirectly by the family to see this person, in spite of the fact that they had left the church long before this time. So, I decided that it was my duty to make my way to the hospital room anyway.

As soon as I entered that place, I could sense a foreboding presence as sinister as anything I ever have experienced in my entire life. Nothing that I could say or do could alter that situation.

This person lit into me with a vengeance unsurpassed in my lifetime saying I was the worst person who ever existed upon the face of the earth and was representing a church, which literally had no right to exist because it was so horrible. Then, everything and everybody became a target of personal wrath until I was sent forth from that place without even a trace of light or hope. Soon thereafter, all breathing ceased, and the legacy of that tortured soul was left behind.

Contrast this with Dr. George Peters, a dentist in Springfield, Ohio. Upon our arrival in that city, he and his wife welcomed us with open arms. Each Sunday following the Morning Service of Worship, George would greet me as the clergy in charge with sunshine spread broadly across his face, proclaiming in a colloquial manner of speaking: You done good. Even when things did not go well or I did not measure up as I thought that I should, he always shared the same encouraging words.

Later, George and his wife moved to a Retirement Center, and ultimately, he was transferred to the Assisted Living Unit with a debilitating illness. During those latter days, George underwent a complete change in personality. He grew mean, grumpy and extremely irritable. He employed words never broached before this time.

And, of course, his wife bore the brunt of his darkened ways more than anyone. Somehow, she managed in the midst of it all without losing a sense of balance herself. In fact, she was the only one who could relate to George at all in those latter days. Obviously, his love for her remained constant even during his apparent deterioration in character.

Then, in the middle of the night, I received a telephone call from the wonderful wife of Dr. George Peters stating that he was dying.

As their Pastor, she asked if I could come and be with them.

I’ll be right there, was my instantaneous reply.

When I arrived at his bedside, I discovered that the Peters were not alone. Other friends of George and his wife in that Retirement Center were gathered around the circumference of his bed to be of support.

George was restless and seemingly distraught, but he kept focusing upon his wife. Her words and presence by his side were enough to subdue him for a few seconds before the next wave of nervous sounds rolled forth.

Finally, George’s wife, holding his hand looking kindly and directly at him, spoke gently and yet firmly: Reverend Dickey’s here. Isn’t that wonderful?

Gazing adoringly at his wife, George Peters calmed immeasurably and seemingly understood in a most accepting manner.

With those six older people safely gathered in seats around the bed