When King David sent his ambassadors to Hanun, King of Ammon, to console him over the death of his father, King Hanun abused those messengers from David and sent them home in disgrace (2Sam. 10).  David was livid, and a bloody war with the Ammonites ensued.  The contempt shown to David’s messengers was considered a personal affront to David, and Hanun knew it.  He was demonstrating his opinion of David by his treatment of David’s messengers.  Throughout the history of human diplomatic relations, it was held true that one’s treatment of a king’s ambassadors is indicative of one’s attitude toward that king.

This pattern held true in a spiritual sense when Jesus walked the earth.  A person’s treatment of Jesus was indicative of his heart’s attitude toward God.  Every person who truly loved God, loved Jesus (Jn. 8:42).  Every person who despised Jesus was demonstrating contempt for the one who sent him.  Jesus said, “He that honoureth not the son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him” (Jn. 5:23).  It was surprising how that most of the apparently devout people rejected Jesus, while the simple, ordinary, even downtrodden folk often were attracted to him.  Mark tells us, “the common people heard him gladly” (12:37).  To those who through envy (Mt. 27:18) or covetousness (Lk. 16:14) refused this Messenger of God, Jesus said, “Ye are they which justify yourselves before men, but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God” (Lk. 16:15).  But those who listened to Jesus and responded with respect were given these comforting words, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Lk. 12:32).  Just as David took it personally when his messengers were treated well or badly, Almighty God took it personally when Jesus was either worshiped or cursed. 

Let’s take it a little farther now.  Jesus ascended to the Father, yet he did not “leave us comfortless”.  He sent his representative, the “messenger of the covenant”, the holy ghost.  There are some who claim that their leader, a man in Rome, is the “Vicar of Christ”.  A vicar, of course, is one who stands in the place of another.  And the one and only Vicar of Christ is the holy ghost.  It was the holy ghost who was sent to take Christ’s place (Jn. 14:15-18).  And it is only to the extent that the holy ghost governs, that God’s people are governed well. It is only to the extent that the holy ghost leads, that God’s people are rightly led.  And it is only to the extent that the holy ghost anoints, that there is true ministry.  There are many, as the Scriptures declare there should be, who claim to love God yet, in fact, love only the God that they imagine Him to be.  It is a person’s response to the holy ghost which shows his true love or contempt of Jesus.  And we can be very certain that Jesus takes it personally when we submit to the leading of the Spirit, or when we refuse to allow the Spirit to govern our lives.  Where the holy ghost is not welcomed, Jesus is not welcomed, even if he is spoken well of by those who are refusing his Messenger.  Remember, those who hated Jesus the most, spoke very reverentially of Jesus’ Father.  But Jesus’ Father said of them, “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.  But in vain they do worship me. . .” (Isa. 29:13; Mt. 15:8-9).

In our city recently, as a service was commencing, the holy ghost began that sweet, convicting sweep over the congregation that has been a hallmark of the faith from the beginning.  The saints were being led of the Spirit into spontaneous praise and worship.  Sinners were feeling uneasy with their sin.  And the love of God was touching even children’s hearts.  But suddenly it was all cut off, as the pastor interrupted the Spirit so that the congregation could have the standard prayer and the choir could sing the other song they had planned to sing.  I feel certain that this was not an intentional affront to the Vicar of Christ, but there is among us a growing insensitivity to the moving of the holy ghost, which is tragic.  Grieved one brother who attended this service, “How have we become so blind, so proud?  Why has our direction changed?”  They are good questions, born of sorrow, not contempt.  Why should we abandon our Guide now that we are out of Egypt, as if we are able to cross the desert to Canaan’s land without him?  Is this what we have come to, quenching the Spirit in order to maintain a form?

There used to be too much of the reproach of Christ on Spirit-baptized believers for them to be accused of trying to please men.  Now the charge is being made by some of the most respected of Spirit-filled ministers that appearances and numbers are taking precedence over the life of the Spirit!  In Henderson, a leader in one large Pentecostal denomination advertised in the local newspaper, with a drawing of an adoring sow staring at his picture, that he would kiss a live pig, if only a certain number of people would come to his service.  Dear God, help us.  I wish that I could say that I have not been a part of the problem, that I have never brought a reproach upon the name of Jesus, but I can’t.  I believe the body of Christ is in need of restoration and healing, that we all desperately need the fire of the holy ghost to be rekindled in us.  When that happens, we won’t have to beg people to come and see.  When truth is ignored and the power of God loses its way in our gatherings and in our lives, we make choice.  Either we repent and have the glory restored, or we attempt to cover up our back-slidden condition with gimmickry and an appearance of righteousness.

It is when sin is being hidden that attendance becomes more important than attention to what the Spirit is saying to God’s people.  It is when holy living is faltering that new building funds take precedence over being built up in the holy ghost.  Covered up sins go hand-in-hand with covered dish suppers.  Lack of commitment to Christ requires many committees. 

It is Jesus that matters.  There is only one way to lift up his holy name, and that is by the virtue and power of the holy ghost.  To my knowledge, God has sent to earth nothing in the name of Jesus except the holy ghost (Jn. 14:26).  Prayer in Jesus’ name is prayer led by the Spirit.  Preaching in Jesus’ name is preaching under the anointing of the Spirit.  Worship in Jesus’ name is worship in the Spirit and truth.  All worship must be sanctified by the holy ghost to be acceptable to God (Rom. 15:16).  All other worship is unclean, even if the worshipers insist that it is in Jesus’ name that they do worship.  It is our response to the holy ghost that indicates our true connection with Jesus.  For it is only by the Spirit that we have access to God (Eph. 2:18).  “Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ,” wrote Paul, “he is none of his” (Rom. 8:9).  

It is the Spirit that leads us into all truth (Jn. 16:13).  If a man knows any eternal truth, if someone rightly understands anything about God, that right knowledge came only from the Spirit of God.  Wrote Paul again, “. . . the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God” (1Cor. 2:11).  What little faithfulness and uprightness exists in the earth is only by the influence of the Spirit of the Creator of the earth.  It is God’s Spirit that causes grief to arise in the breast of saints who err from righteousness (Eph. 4:30).  It is God’s Spirit that bears witness, that lets people know in their hearts that, yes, Jesus is Lord (1Cor. 12:3; 1Jn. 5:6-10).  It is the Spirit that cleanses from sin and sets us apart for God’s service (e.g. 1Cor. 6:11).  It is only by the Spirit that the grace of God is ministered to needy souls; indeed, it is for this very reason that one of the titles given to the holy ghost is the “Spirit of grace” (Zech. 12:10; Heb. 10:29).  It is by the Spirit that believers will be raised from their graves into eternal glory (Rom. 8:11). “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the holy ghost which is given unto us” (Rom. 5:5).  My dear reader, if Christ Jesus and his Father live in us, it is only by the Spirit that they do so!  Jesus, in person, is in nobody’s heart!  He is in heaven with his Father.  We either have his Spirit or we have nothing, except it be that we have a hunger for it.  And even the hunger for the Spirit itself is an influence of his good Spirit upon us.  My friend, it is by the Spirit that we are baptized into the true body of the living God (Rom. 6:3; 1Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:27). The Spirit of God is our very life in Christ!  (Jn. 6:63; Rom. 8:10).  How we should reverence this holy Ambassador!  How we should plead for him to abide with us, to teach us of that distant heavenly kingdom, and to guide us into fellowship with the King of kings.

It used to be that if someone wanted to serve God freely, he would have to come out of the denominations which had grown large, spiritually lethargic, and ashamed of the power of God.  Cottage prayer meetings were the norm for these sincere humble souls.  Pentecostal denominations sprouted, in the main, from such little groups, where the people were unashamed of the joy of the holy ghost and were spiritually pliable, willing to change their beliefs if the Spirit of God revealed a clearer understanding of the way of the Lord.  Now, as Pentecostal groups have grown in size and prestige, they are wrestling with the same spirit of pride that quieted the Spirit in older denominations.  And souls hungry for God are wondering why they are not content.  Some Spirit-filled ministers are warning their denominations that unless there is a wholesale return to the simplicity, purity, and humility which characterized the early meetings, it will be necessary for those who want only to please God to come out from among even Pentecostals, as the founders of that movement once made the very difficult choice to come out of other places that had grown spiritually cold and doctrinally hard.  I believe those ministers are sounding a warning that the holy ghost has been sounding for years to those who had the ears to hear it.  Some have refused to believe that message because they have confused loyalty to their denomination with loyalty to God.  But there is no denomination sacred to God.  Nor is non-denominationalism, of itself, holy.  God’s delight is in his Son, Jesus.  And only those who bring honor to his Son please him.  How do we honor him?  Not simply by speaking well of him (Mt. 7:21).  Flattery means nothing to Jesus.  And flattery is all that our praises amount to, if our lives are out of the divine will.  We honor Jesus only by receiving his Messenger with great respect, by believing and obeying the one which is sent to speak for him, the holy ghost from heaven.

“See that ye refuse not him that speaketh.  For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven” (Heb. 12:25).