John 15:26
But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:These are the words of Jesus to His disciples shortly before he left this world for Heaven. He foretold of the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit would descend from Heaven and take up residence in the physical bodies of all born-again Christians.
Later, Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:29:
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?All those who have put their trust in Jesus Christ and repented of their sin are blessed to possess the living Holy Spirit within their human bodies. They are blessed because the presence of the Holy Spirit changes things. The comfort He gives is probably one of the greatest blessings. Another attribute that is a great blessing is how He can influence our thoughts and decision-making. That is, if we are willing to make ourselves available to His guidance.
We don't want to get off on a tangent here but it is a sad fact that many truly born-again Christians miss out on the peace and security offered to them by God, the Father, above through the person of the Holy Spirit. They get depressed, worry, fret and struggle, trying to manage their affairs through life on their own, rather than relaxing and leaning on the ever-lasting, loving arms of God by listening and following the guidance of the Holy Spirit. But that's not our subject for the moment.
Our subject concerns what is happening to the Holy Spirit in these last times. You may ask, “What do you mean by these 'Last Times?'” And my answer is this: The last times referred to in Revelation, Chapter 3, concerning the Laodicean Church. The Laodicean Church is the last of the seven divisions (by time) of the church age. Many Bible scholars believe that we have reached that period of time in history. If you are not familiar with this subject read Revelation, chapters 1, 2 & 3. John was told to write the letter we know of as the Book of Revelation and send it to the seven churches in Asia. There were more than seven churches in Asia but he names these seven for a purpose: Because the things Jesus says about these churches is representative of the evolution of the true church throughout the age of grace.
During this church age the Holy Spirit has been dwelling here on planet earth within the physical bodies of born-again Christians. And, while He has been dwelling with us He has exerted His influence on not only the lives of the Christians but also upon the rest of the world. His very presence is a hindrance to the enemies of God, especially Satan.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-12 (NIV)
3 Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God. 5 Don't you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? 6 And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, 10 and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.This scripture is referring to the time following the rapture of the church when the anti-christ begins to rule this world. But notice verses 6 and 7. Whom do you expect that the one who now holds it back might be? If you guessed the Holy Spirit you are 100% correct. Although the Holy Spirit dwells within the physical bodies of Christians, He still has the power to restrain the evil that Satan will someday ruthlessly wield upon the peoples of this world.
It is as if there is an aura that radiates from the body of every Christian in the world. And that aura is the literal hand of God reaching out and holding back evil. The evil He is holding back can only be imagined as you read the remaining chapters of the book of Revelation which follows chapter three. For, once that hand of God is withdrawn at the moment of the rapture of the true church, the most wicked and vile beings of all the spiritual world will begin to have a party here on earth, and it will be at the expense of the folks left behind at the end of the church age.
At the rapture every person who has ever placed their trust in the Son of God to be their Savior from sin will rise to be with Him.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.And when every Christian is gone - the Holy Spirit will also be gone - to Heaven for ever. The hand of God will have been withdrawn from the earth and the only spiritual beings left behind will be those in control of the devil himself.
But here are some questions for you to consider. Especially if you are over 40 or 50 years old. If you are under that age, ask these questions of someone who is that old or older before making a decision here.
Did you used to leave your house or car unlocked without fear of someone breaking in? But now you don't even feel like the locked car or house is a deterrent to a break-in?
When did you first hear the term Road-Rage? Was it a term used back 20 or 30 years ago? People are becoming more aggressive toward each other.
What did they used to do to a man and woman that weren't married but tried living together? How about now?
What did they used to do to a person who was found to be a homosexual? How about now?
Was there a person living in your neighborhood who used illicit drugs? How about now?
What was usually the reason a person ran for public office years ago? How about now?
There are a multitude of areas where we can compare the way things are these days with the way they were 40 or 50 years ago. Everyone agrees that evil has always been present on this earth and within every society. But over the past several years we have seen a sharp increase in every instance of it. There is not enough room in our prisons and jails. The CEOs of our largest business institutions are turning out to be cold-hearted criminals. Our politicians, AKA, lawmakers, cannot make new laws fast enough to keep up with the changes taking place in our society.
What is happening?
I truly believe it to be a drawing away of the powerful influence of the Holy Spirit. His influence is waning with each passing day as we progress farther into the age of the Laodicean church age, and out of the age of the Church of Philadelphia.
When I was a boy in grade school my parents lived in an area of Seattle known as Capital Hill. I and my two younger siblings wandered everywhere we felt like wandering. The youngest, my brother, was only four or five years old when he would tag along with my younger sister as she shopped at the local dime stores and delicatessens. Parents, back in those days, never needed to be concerned about sexual predators and the like. Today my old stomping grounds has become a place where you wouldn't want to be on the street at night.
I now live in Spokane, Washington and in this small city alone there are over 3000 registered sex offenders.
Lu 17:26
And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.So why is the earth becoming so filled with violence and why do I believe it is because the Holy Spirit's influence is subsiding? After taking into account all of the things that we see as well as what scripture says, I believe it is because there are just fewer and fewer truly born-again Christians.
My grandmother was the saint who took me to a Billy Graham rally and told me to sit up straight and listen. I did. I got saved. My grandmother grew up during the age of the church of Philadelphia. She had a close relationship with her savior and a heart opened to the influence of the Holy Spirit. But my grandmother passed away several years ago.
Each day that passes we lose more and more of those old saints that got their salvation during the age of the church of Philadelphia. Each day the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit is diminished as these saints pass away.
Now, you may be about to argue the point that there are folks getting saved and many churches growing faster than ever. Yes, that appears to be the case.
Revelation 17:8
. . . and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.Appearances can be very deceiving. If you have been very close to the Lord for any length of time you surely have noticed that there are many poor, deceived folks all around us who have been fooled by the old devil into thinking they are saved when, in fact, they are just as lost as the devil himself.
Don't misunderstand what I am saying. I am not trying to act as the judge, because only the Lord knows his own. But I talk with men and women who soundly believe they will go to Heaven when they die and, yet, they don't have any idea of what salvation really means. They don't read their Bible. They don't pray. They don't have any kind of a relationship with the Lord. But, they do attend a big church that is growing faster than you could imagine.
Now, it is true that in this church you can find truly born-again Christians. There are many of them. But also, in the same church, there are a lot of folks that bowed their heads at some point in their life, said a little prayer, asking forgiveness for their sins and for Jesus to save them. Upon saying the word, “Amen,” they have gone on their way, confident that they have done all it takes to go to Heaven when they die.
They view their salvation as if it were a ticket to Heaven. They think that, by saying a little prayer, their eternal destiny is sealed. But what they don't understand is that their words are empty because they didn't come from within the heart and soul of that person. The words didn't come from a person who was fully ashamed of their sin and wanted to make a change in their life. They didn't come from a person who wanted to know God better and live a life that would please Him. The prayer they said was a good prayer and God heard their prayer. But He is still God and He has not changed. He knows the heart of each of us. And He knows the difference between those who love Him and those who simply want something for nothing. You and I cannot make the call on whose name is really written in the Book of Life, but as Revelation 17:8 points out, it will be surprising to find out who's name is NOT written in that book.
Remember when Jesus was hanging on the cross between the two thieves? One said to him, “If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.” But the other was repentant and asked Jesus to remember him when He came into his kingdom. Both were about to die. Neither had the opportunity to do any good thing on this earth, yet, Jesus told the second thief that he would be with Him in Paradise on that very day.
One went to Heaven and the other to hell. What made the difference? The one who simply wanted to be saved from dieing, and going to hell, ended up going there. The one who was ashamed of his sin, recognized his sinful condition as compared to that of Jesus, and was repentant, was told by Jesus that he was saved. You can read the whole story in Luke, chapter 23.
Today's churches seem to be filled more and more with people who want what the first thief wanted: To be saved and go to Heaven when they die. There seem to be fewer and fewer people who sincerely love the Lord and want to be close to Him. People who yearn to read His Word and spend time with Him in prayer.
The poor folks in the first group live empty lives devoid of the Holy Spirit and His power. And, as this group grows in size while the other group gets smaller and smaller each day, we find that the influence of the Holy Spirit becomes weaker and weaker. And as His influence weakens, the influence of spiritual wickedness gains more and more power.
Those are my thoughts on the reason we see so much more violence in the world around us, and locally, than we used to. The Holy Spirit dwells within the body of truly born-again Christians. And there are fewer and fewer truly born-again Christians around with each passing day. I think it is probably pretty close to the truth. You may disagree if you would like but in doing so please make sure that you are not being fooled by Satan like so many other folks. Make sure that you take time to establish a life-long functioning relationship with Jesus, the Son of God. Recognize your sin. Understand the meaning of repentance, and, pray without ceasing.