The water level is rising. If you can’t swim you’d better grab a lifejacket. When the presence of the Holy Spirit starts overflowing even those not paying attention get wet. My hope is for the overflow to turn into a spiritual flood. We’re talking about the Spirit of the Living God. We should expect more that a glass of water spilling in the floor or a leaky pipe under the sink dripping just enough to fill a bucket. The presence of Jesus should do more than get our feet wet.
“I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams” (Joel 2:28). Peter preached this at Pentecost. He started with, “People of Judea give ear to my word…” He ended with “Be saved from this crooked generation.” Following his sermon 3,000 were baptized and added to the faith that very day! Friends, that’s called an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
It happened then, and it can happen now. I’m praying every single day for the church to get drenched with the overflowing presence of the Spirit of Christ. My hope is that the living water of the Living Savior will flow out of us and fill the streets of our communities with the power and presence of Jesus.
In Acts 2 we read about the inauguration of the Church. It started with revival. For many years I’ve been praying for authentic revival to pour into our churches and flow into the streets of our cities. Historically speaking, revival has a lingering effect. It gives people a renewed sense of purpose; it changes the landscape of entire communities. The Holy Spirit is likened to water in several places in scripture. Water wakes people up. That’s exactly what revival does: wakes people up.
My tribe, the Church of the Nazarene, was born out of a spirit of revival. In fact, it was a holiness revival. There was a strong emphasis on the doctrine of entire sanctification, or being filled with the Holy Spirit. A person who is filled with the Holy Spirit is so occupied with the love of God that it seeps into every aspect of their life. Their thoughts, motives, behaviors, and interactions become rooted in a radical, newfound, abundant sense of love.
Love is the chief expression of God and it becomes the central focus of anyone who is filled with the Holy Spirit. In keeping with the water metaphor we could say that sanctification is God’s love flowing like a river through the cisterns of our lives. Sanctification is not, nor has it ever been, a doctrine of sinless perfection. It’s the doctrine of love made perfect. When you’re justified you realize God has done something for you (i.e. saved you). When your sanctified you realize God is doing something in you (i.e. filling you). As God fills you it changes everything about who you are.
It seems the doctrine of sanctification has grown stagnant. It’s as if some leaders have put it in a jar and placed it on a shelf. We’ve constructed a dam that has congested the flow of this classic tenet of the faith. I don’t believe we’ve intentionally shut off the valve. I think it’s been a natural response to the poor theology that became associated with this doctrine during the 20th Century rise of fundamentalism.
Fundamentalism is a rigid form of spirituality that focuses largely on rules and regulations. It contaminated the water. Instead of filtering it we’ve simply stopped serving it. Fundamentalism emphasizes the “thou shalt nots” instead of the “thou shalts.” God empowers us to do. The emphasis on what not to do is a result of fundamentalism. It has done great harm to the holiness movement.
It’s time to reclaim entire sanctification: to set it back at the center of the table. Generic spirituality won’t bring revival. It’s time to tap into the fountain of living water. Entire sanctification is the doctrine that helps us focus on what we should be doing, not what we shouldn’t be doing… and what we should be doing is leading people toward the life-transforming power that only comes through the infilling of the Holy Spirit.
Sanctification doesn’t just influence the individual; it also bears witness to society. It is a social doctrine. It impacts one’s life in such a way that she or he can’t help but take the power and presence of Jesus to everyone they meet. It’s not about shoving religion down peoples’ throats, but loving people to such a degree that they can’t ignore the goodness of God being made known through the presence of a real person. That’s what the spring of living water looks like.
The levee is bursting; people are getting wet. People are learning to swim in a river that’s flowing like it hasn’t in a very long time. They’re being awakened to the mission of Jesus. Those who’ve become immersed in this new stream can’t get enough; those who haven’t are getting wet anyway. I’m absolutely amazed, renewed, and invigorated. Everyday feels like my mom pouring water on my head to get me out of bed when I was a teenager (yes, she really did that).
Everywhere I go I talk to pastors who are swimming in new streams. I literally get reports every week of people being saved, sanctified, healed, delivered, called to ministry, called to start a church, and the list goes on. What I’m talking about isn’t a 1960s rule-based, emotion-driven, religious form of fundamentalism. No… it’s just people waking up.
I want to remind you that you’re a vessel. If you’re a follower of Jesus, contained within you is the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit fills you up he begins to spill over into the lives of your family, friends, church, and community. That’s what floodwater does: it gets everything wet. It messes up the landscape. It shifts the soil. It washes away the debris. It wrecks everything. It forces us to start fresh.
Jesus says, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me… streams of living water will flow from within him” (John 7:37-38). The water level is rising. You’re like a reservoir. I’m praying that the floodwaters seep through the crevices of your life and overflow the entire landscape. It’s happened many times before. It can happen again. Come, Lord Jesus!
Brian L Powell 