Dr. Clifton Clarke
By Jessica Chacko, 700 Club Interactive
CBN.com –WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit is a person, He is not a just a force He is a person- He speaks, He has a will. He communicates with us as seen in Acts chapter 2 and He intercedes, testifies, guides, command, appoints, reveal things- all things you would expect from a person. He is a person and He is God. He is co-equal in the Godhead with the Father and the Son.
HIS PURPOSE
Jesus says He is going to send us "The Comforter" this term is "paraklete" meaning our helper. He helps us in our weakness. The function of the Holy Spirit is to lead us in the things of God. When we are born again your spirit is born again but the mind and the behavior have to conform to this new way of living- becoming sanctified. The Spirit is there to help us in our Christian walk- how to pray, how to communicate with God, revelation when reading God's Word. He helps us conform to the image of Christ. Dr. Clarke compares it to when he first was married. He would go out and do the same things that he used to do before marriage (spending lots of time with his friends watching sports, coming in late, his wife was getting upset)- he was married but his behavior had not adapted yet. So the Holy Spirit helped him learn, guided him how to live differently as a now married man. The Spirit of God is always here to teach us, we just have to be sensitive to Him. He will lead us into a triumphant Christian life.
BAPTISM OF HIS SPIRIT
We are sealed with the Spirit when we are born again. We receive the Holy Spirit from the moment we ask Jesus into our heart. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is the empowerment from the Spirit. The disciples waited in the upper room for the empowerment. There is a deeper work the Spirit can do- empower us for service so that we can bear witness to God in powerful ways. It helps us be more effective in our daily witness.
THE MIRACULOUS
The Holy Spirit comes to bear witness of Jesus through the miraculous. The same Jesus who healed the sick is living and working in us. As we proclaim the Kingdom, we can see the same great works of the Holy Spirit. Dr. Clarke was in a meeting in Ghana, West Africa in a Muslim village where people were very skeptical about Christianity. A Muslim crippled man was healed and because of the healing many other Muslims began to ask about who is this Jesus who can heal people. The miraculous working of the Holy Spirit is to point people to Jesus and not for show- it is to bring the Gospel!
In the West, our worldview has been influenced by The Enlightenment, an evolutionary, secular mindset or cessationist beliefs. This mindset is different than a lot of the world. Many other countries still live in a worldview that includes the demonic and a spiritual realm that is very real to them. Many times it is easier for people in poor countries to be in such desperation for God and for the miraculous that they see more, they are also open to the supernatural. However, Dr. Clarke says that while there seems to be fewer miracles happening here in the West, that there are a lot of great miracles happening right here. Sometimes we do not hear about it but God is moving in this country too. It is important for the Western church to talk about the miraculous things happening in their lives.
HIS PRESENCE
His Spirit and presence is among us. So a lot of times we are talking about becoming more sensitive to His presence that is with us. It is like electricity. We have to plug in. We don't say that the electivity is not flowing just because the iron is not plugged in. Often we are not sensitive to it or aware of it. So on one level we are talking about His presence that is already among us. But there are times when His presence comes with a greater wave and fills a room or service (for example revival meetings) not just a general presence but an active move of the Spirit (like the Welsh revival, Great Awakening etc.). This often comes when people have been praying and fasting and calling upon God with hunger for more.
DO PEOPLE KNOW WHO THE HOLY SPIRIT IS?
Throughout history in the way Theology has been taught, there has been a neglect of the Holy Spirit in the West. We can talk about God as the Creator, as Father, Jesus as Savior but we don't see as much teaching throughout history on the Holy Spirit. The early church focused a lot on who Jesus is. Apart from the Eastern Orthodox Church, there is a lack historically on teaching of the Holy Spirit. So, part of the reason why people do not know who the Holy Spirit is simply because it had not been taught. However, Pentecostal Christianity is now the fastest growing expression of Christianity in the world today. Because of this growth, there is a lot more study now on "who is the Holy Spirit?" "what does it mean to live a life of the Spirit today?"