Dear Brethren and Sisters around the world,
Warm Christian greetings with Acts 1:8: “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
Before His ascension Christ gave this wonderful promise to His disciples. After receiving this promise, we are told that the disciples “continued with one accord in prayer and supplication” (Acts 1:14).
“When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place” (2:1). Then the promise was fulfilled and the amazing result was: “They that gladly received his word were baptized; and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls” (2:41).
Considering our spiritual condition as a people, we feel our urgent need of the same power that was granted to Christ’s disciples. We need the baptism of the Holy Spirit as individuals, as families, and as a church. This is our only hope in order to fulfill the task given to God’s people. We ask your special attention and consideration to the following words from Inspiration:
“In describing to His disciples the office work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus sought to inspire them with the joy and hope that inspired His own heart. He rejoiced because of the abundant help He had provided for His church. The Holy Spirit was the highest of all gifts that He could solicit from His Father for the exaltation of His people. The Spirit was to be given as a regenerating agent, and without this the sacrifice of Christ would have been of no avail. The power of evil had been strengthening for centuries, and the submission of men to this satanic captivity was amazing. Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the Third Person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fullness of divine power. It is the Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought out by the world's Redeemer. It is by the Spirit that the heart is made pure. Through the Spirit the believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature. Christ has given His Spirit as a divine power to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to impress His own character upon His church.
“Of the Spirit Jesus said, ‘He shall glorify Me.’ The Saviour came to glorify the Father by the demonstration of His love; so the Spirit was to glorify Christ by revealing His grace to the world. The very image of God is to be reproduced in humanity. The honor of God, the honor of Christ, is involved in the perfection of the character of His people.
"When [the Spirit of truth] is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment." The preaching of the word will be of no avail without the continual presence and aid of the Holy Spirit. This is the only effectual teacher of divine truth. Only when the truth is accompanied to the heart by the Spirit will it quicken the conscience or transform the life. One might be able to present the letter of the word of God, he might be familiar with all its commands and promises; but unless the Holy Spirit sets home the truth, no souls will fall on the Rock and be broken. No amount of education, no advantages, however great, can make one a channel of light without the cooperation of the Spirit of God. The sowing of the gospel seed will not be a success unless the seed is quickened into life by the dew of heaven. . . . Then the testimony of their enemies was, ‘Ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine’ (Acts 5:28).
“Christ has promised the gift of the Holy Spirit to His church, and the promise belongs to us as much as to the first disciples. But like every other promise, it is given on conditions. There are many who believe and profess to claim the Lord's promise; they talk about Christ and about the Holy Spirit, yet receive no benefit. They do not surrender the soul to be guided and controlled by the divine agencies. We cannot use the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is to use us. Through the Spirit God works in His people ‘to will and to do of His good pleasure’ (Philippians 2:13). But many will not submit to this. They want to manage themselves. This is why they do not receive the heavenly gift. Only to those who wait humbly upon God, who watch for His guidance and grace, is the Spirit given. The power of God awaits their demand and reception. This promised blessing, claimed by faith, brings all other blessings in its train. It is given according to the riches of the grace of Christ, and He is ready to supply every soul according to the capacity to receive."—The Desire of Ages, pp. 671, 672. [Emphasis supplied.]
We should take time to pray and to organize groups of prayer with this specific purpose in mind. We need to pray for this special gift at the family altar and in the church. We need to submit ourselves completely to the control of Christ so that He can baptize us with the Holy Spirit. All our spiritual needs will be supplied by this divine power as soon we comply with the conditions mentioned on the paragraphs quoted above from the Spirit of Prophecy.
Please, dear believers, let us give serious consideration to Christ’s promise. He is more than willing to supply His people with the necessary power to finish His work in this wicked world.
Your brother in the blessed hope,
Davi Paes Silva