1.5 Azusa Street & ACOP Legacy

[Wayne]

Both Bartleman and Argue have stated in their respective quotes here that Jesus is simply the One to focus on. The Holy Spirit is truly the Helper that Jesus had promised to send. He himself, continues to focus, and remind us to look to Jesus. The Holy Spirit's power in action is to bring glory to God through the work of the Son.

[Micah]

Right! That last sentence is key.

It is almost like the Holy Spirit serves as a pair of glasses that help us focus on and see more of the glory of God through his son Jesus! Especially in Argue’s account of his 21 days of seeking God’s best, the nearness to the Holy Spirit allowed him to see Jesus’ glory. This sparks a longing in me to continually ask for more of the refreshing of the Spirit that I may see and know the glory of God in Jesus in a greater way.

[IKECHUKWU]

“For God so love the world that He gave His Son” Jesus is the center of it all. We can then experience Christ in a fuller way through the work and empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

[VICTOR]

What’s common to these two quotes is the focus–Jesus Christ. These should remind us always that Jesus is the center of everything. Apart from Christ, all our knowledge about God, all amazing experiences, fellowship and teachings will continue to be the human ways to reach God (religion). I love it when Bartleman said, “The Holy Spirit never draws our attention from Christ to himself, but rather reveals Christ in a fuller way.” This should also be our aim–to focus on Jesus and never draw peoples’ attention to our wit and religious practices.

[Max]

It has got to be about Jesus. If we want God’s best it is going to be Jesus. If we believe in the trinity then Jesus can’t be slighted by an encounter with the Holy Spirit. An encounter with him should always point us closer to God, if we are not drawing closer then something is very wrong

[ECO]

@Shakeys thanks for this answer. I like how you say that an encounter with the HS can’t slight Jesus. The trinity is always seeking to promote a love for the fullness of the godhead in the believer’s heart. Your comment reminds me of this quote from Gregory of Nazianzus:

No sooner do I conceive of the One than I am illumined by the Splendor of the Three; no sooner do I distinguish Them than I am carried back to the One. When I think of any One of the Three I think of Him as the Whole, and my eyes are filled, and the greater part of what I am thinking of escapes me. I cannot grasp the greatness of That One so as to attribute a greater greatness to the Rest. When I contemplate the Three together, I see but one torch, and cannot divide or measure out the Undivided Light.