A. W. Tozer - The Counselor: Straight Talk About the Holy Spirit

Wing Spread Publishers
Camp Hill, Pennsylvania
www.wingspreadpublishers.com

A division of Zur Ltd.

The Counselor
ISBN: 978-1-60066-057-3
LOC Control Number: 2009920548
1993 revised edition by Zur Ltd.

Previously published by Christian Publications, Inc.
First Christian Publications Edition 1993
First WingSpread Publishers Edition 2009
The Counselor is an edited version of the Tozer classic formerly published under the titles When He is Come and The Tozer Pulpit, Vol. 2.

All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America

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Scripture taken from the Holy Bible: King James Version.

Cover design by
Design Source Creative Services, Inc.

CONTENTS

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. (Acts 2:16)

W hen we come to this important Scripture passage, the second chapter of Acts, I want us to consider something that is so often overlookedthe fact that whenever Jesus is glorified, the Holy Spirit comes!

Contrary to what most people unintentionally assume, the important thing here was not that the Spirit had comethe important thing was that Jesus had been exalted.

Now, lets summarize this chapter in Acts. Peter and all the disciples were gathered together when the day of Pentecost was fully come, and they were all with one accord in one place. Suddenly as they were gathered, there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind (Acts 2:2). It was not a rushing, mighty windit was the sound of such a wind. It filled all the house where they were sitting. Little jets of fire sat upon each forehead, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in languages. Seventeen nations were there and heard them speak in their own languages. The ones who could be amazed were amazed. The doubters doubted, and the questioners said, What meaneth this? (2:12).

Those who sat in the seat of the scornful were also present, and they said, These men are full of new wine (2:13).

But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words. This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel (2:14, 16).

He proceeded to tell them how Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled prophecy and from there on, it was all about Jesus of Nazareth. In verses 32 and 33 Peter testified that This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. Then in verse 36, Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

So, the important thing, according to Peter, was the fact that Jesus had been exalted.

Jesus Himself had said on that last great day of the feast at Jerusalem, recorded in John 7,

He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified) (John 7:3839).

It is plain that the glorification of Jesus brought the Holy Spirit, and we ought to be able to get hold of that thought instantly. So, we repeat: Where Jesus is glorified, the Holy Spirit comes. He does not have to be beggedthe Holy Spirit comes when the Savior is glorified. When Christ is truly honored, the Spirit comes.

Now, I want you to notice particularly Acts 2:14, Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice

He stood up, and then he lifted up his voice.

I would remind you that Peter here stands for the whole Church of God. Peter was the first man to get on his feet after the Holy Spirit had come to the Church. Peter had believed the Lords word and he had received confirmation in his own heart. The difference between faith as it is found in the New Testament and faith as it is found now is that faith in the New Testament actually produced somethingthere was a confirmation of it.

Faith now is a beginning and an end. We have faith in faithbut nothing happens. They had faith in a risen Christ and something did happen. Thats the difference.

Now, here was Peter, standing up, and he lifted upand that should be the business of the Churchto stand up and lift up. Peter became a witness on earth, as the church should be, to things in heaven. The Church must be a witness to powers beyond the earthly and the human; and because I know this, it is a source of great grief to me that the Church is trying to run on its human powers.

Peter testified to something beyond the human and the earthly. Some power that lay beyond the earthly scene was interested in us and was willing to enter and become known to us. That power turns out to be none other than the Spirit of God Himself.

So, Peter, witnessing to things he had experienced, wanted to influence, urge and exhort those who had not yet experienced to enter in.

Now, a plain word here about the Christian Church trying to carry on in its own power: That kind of Christianity makes God sick, for it is trying to run a heavenly institution after an earthly manner.

For myself, if I couldnt have the divine power of God, I would quit the whole business. The church that wants Gods power will have something to offer besides social clubs, knitting societies, the Boy Scout troops and all of the other side issues.

If any church is to be a church of Christ, the living, organic member of that redeemed Body of which Christ is the Head, then its teachers and its members must strive earnestly and sacrificially with constant prayer to do a number of things.

First, we must strive to make our beliefs and practices New Testament in their content. We must teach and believe New Testament truths, with nothing dragged in from the outside. It means we must be going constantly back to the grass roots.

The men who pioneered our great North American continent took over a wilderness and conquered it. They went out with their axes, cutting down trees, building houses and then planting corn, potatoes, other vegetables and grain. You know, when they planted, they didnt go to bed and sleep until time for the harvest. They fought encroachment from the wilderness from the day they planted their corn and the rest of their crops until they harvested them and had them safely in their log barns.