Thoughtful Thoughts 18.10.24 by John Dunning. THE HOLY TRINITY, Pt 1.

1). Does the Holy Spirit work now as He did in the New Testament?

Introduction…

This is how William Booth, the founder of the Sally Army, described the chief dangers of the church in the future to an enquirer… 

“I consider that the chief dangers which confront the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and heaven without hell.” 

1a). William Booth…

William Booth’s blueprint for The Salvation Army’s work was set out in his pamphlet; ‘In Darkest England and the Way Out.’ You would think that the Anglican church would want to help drag England out of darkness, but the Salvation Army was attacked by the Anglican church, as the Sally Army’s website shows. Writing their history, they record;

“The Salvation Army’s expansion brought it to the attention of a wider audience, not all of it appreciative. Criticism came from established churches, particularly the Anglican Church…” 

The Salvation Army website continues;- 

“Criticism also came from the Anglican Church, whose senior clergy had deep reservations about the Salvation Army’s forms of worship, which one bishop dismissed as having ‘ludicrous stage properties.’ 

Bishops also made accusations of sexual immorality at Salvation Army meetings but these were found to be groundless.” (In other words, they lied.)

What’s more, many were arrested and imprisoned for holding outdoor services and rallies. One female Salvationist was treated so roughly that she even died.

In order to lessen the hatred being shown towards the Salvationists by the Anglican church, William Booth held off from holding communion services, saying they would not be a church. That removed one of the grounds for criticism, so that he could keep the main thing, the main thing. (Although more recently they gave up trying to please the Anglican hierarchy and started holding communion for their members.) 

A Bible verse that fits, is Romans 12:21; “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good”. 

The Salvation Army’s only weapon used to respond to the Anglican Church’s vicious attacks on them was the love of Christ. 

1b). The impact William Booth had…

The approval rating of the Salvation Army with the public was demonstrated at William Booth’s funeral, when the public voted with their feet, as 150,000 members of the general public lined the streets. 

‘His body lay in state for three days at the Congress Hall in Clapton, where thousands of people filed past. Some 35,000 attended the memorial service for him at Olympia. Even Queen Mary attended his funeral. All this exemplifies the difference between the Anglican Church and Christians who voted with their feet who wanted to live lives filled with the Holy Spirit.’

2). Jesus told His disciples not to do anything until the Holy Spirit came…

Jesus told His disciples not to do anything after He returned to His Father in heaven – until He sent the Holy Spirit. The work of God could not be done without the Holy Spirit. They could not overcome Satan without the Holy Spirit. 

Acts 1:4-5 says; “On one occasion, while He was eating with them, He gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John immersed with water, but in a few days you will be immersed with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 1:4-5). 

3). Conditions for God’s promise … 

In the very next chapter in Acts, Peter says to a crowd, “Turn from sin, return to God, and each of you be immersed on the authority of Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah into forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Ruach HaKodesh! (Holy Spirit)”.’ (Acts 2:38) Complete Jewish Bible. 

Note that the promise of the Holy Spirit relates to having a believer’s baptism by immersion after repenting. God expects an obedient response from us. If we claim Jesus is our Lord, we would obey Him. A lack of response on our part shows that Jesus is still not first in us. (Also note that Jesus expected people to respond in thankfulness to praise God; see Luke 17:15 “One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16). He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. 17). Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18). Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19). Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”)

Epilogue…

When a new petrol station called “Z”, opened in 2011 in Christchurch, New Zealand, they invited the locals to vote for the charity they wanted the gas station to donate $1,000,000 to. They voted for the Salvation Army! That positive reaction by the public to the Salvation Army is so common, that they are the only Christian organization that can walk into pubs to collect money, even though they are tea-total, because everyone trusts them, knowing they collect to help the needy.

This is how William Booth, the founder of the Sally Army, described the chief dangers of the church in the future to an enquirer… 

“I consider that the chief dangers which confront the coming century will be:

a). religion without the Holy Ghost, 

b). Christianity without Christ, 

c). forgiveness without repentance, 

d). salvation without regeneration, 

e). politics without God, 

f). and heaven without hell.” 

This is John Dunning signing off from “Thoughtful Thoughts” for another week.

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