As Holy As You Want to Be

[Chad]

As Holy As You Want to Be
A.W. Tozer

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. --Matthew 5:6

It may be said without qualification that every man is as holy and as full of the Spirit as he wants to be. He may not be as full as he wishes he were, but he is most certainly as full as he wants to be.

Our Lord placed this beyond dispute when He said, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." Hunger and thirst are physical sensations which, in their acute stages, may become real pain. It has been the experience of countless seekers after God that when their desires became a pain they were suddenly and wonderfully filled. The problem is not to persuade God to fill us, but to want God sufficiently to permit Him to do so. The average Christian is so cold and so contented with His wretched condition that there is no vacuum of desire into which the blessed Spirit can rush in satisfying fullness. Born After Midnight, 8.

"Lord, quiet my heart today and fill me with this holy longing. I don't want to be contented with my present condition; I long for that vacuum of desire into which the Holy Spirit can rush. Amen."

 

[borntoride]

Thanks for this post chad. I have been saved for 1 year and as I grow in Christ, I have asked for the spirit to use me for his good. Each day I struggle with wether I am fulfilling his will or could I handle more.

I appreciate this view of the Spirit and how we must trust God is giving us what we can handle.

 

[Ed]

I've been saved for about 25 years now, but only reborn for about the last 6-7 years, and I can vouch for what Chad posted. Holiness comes from within, but it's nothing compared to love!

 

[Coconut]

BBE Psa 63:1 A Psalm. Of David. When he was in the waste land of Judah. O God, you are my God; early will I make my search for you: my soul is dry for need of you, my flesh is wasted with desire for you, as a dry and burning land where no water is;
Psa 63:2 To see your power and your glory, as I have seen you in the holy place.
Psa 63:3 Because your mercy is better than life, my lips will give you praise.
Psa 63:4 So will I go on blessing you all my life, lifting up my hands in your name.
Psa 63:5 My soul will be comforted, as with good food; and my mouth will give you praise with songs of joy;
Psa 63:6 When the memory of you comes to me on my bed, and when I give thought to you in the night-time.
Psa 63:7 Because you have been my help, I will have joy in the shade of your wings.
Psa 63:8 My soul keeps ever near you: your right hand is my support.

 

[Enow]

As Holy As You Want to Be
A.W. Tozer

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. --Matthew 5:6

It may be said without qualification that every man is as holy and as full of the Spirit as he wants to be. He may not be as full as he wishes he were, but he is most certainly as full as he wants to be.

Our Lord placed this beyond dispute when He said, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." Hunger and thirst are physical sensations which, in their acute stages, may become real pain. It has been the experience of countless seekers after God that when their desires became a pain they were suddenly and wonderfully filled. The problem is not to persuade God to fill us, but to want God sufficiently to permit Him to do so. The average Christian is so cold and so contented with His wretched condition that there is no vacuum of desire into which the blessed Spirit can rush in satisfying fullness. Born After Midnight, 8.

"Lord, quiet my heart today and fill me with this holy longing. I don't want to be contented with my present condition; I long for that vacuum of desire into which the Holy Spirit can rush. Amen."

Hi Chad,

I boldened that portion of your quote and wanted to ask you,"Has that not been fulfilled in this verse?

John 6:35And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

Isn't the promise for coming to Jesus and for believing in Jesus is that we shall never hunger nor thirst anymore afterwards?

Is it really about permitting God to fill us or is it about resting in Jesus that He has filled us?

How do these verses apply if there is a continual filling?

Matthew 9:17Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.

Colossians 2:5For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ. 6As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: 7Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. 8Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

9For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. 10And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

Isn't this verse below is how we are made pure? Is that the same thing as being made holy or the same thing as being His?

1 John 3:3And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Can you explain how when one seeks a continual filling of the Spirit in that it is NOT the same thing as preaching another spirit to receive?

2 Corinthians 11:3But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 4For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

How does one apply that verse for discernment? "..which ye have not received" is that the same as continual filling because you can never truly receive this other spirit as it is ongoing again and again?

Another thing is.. if Jesus is the Door and we see how RCC offers more doors after Jesus that kind of gets inbetween us and Him, and that is wrong, then how can there be another door after Jesus towards more filling of the Spirit thus placing the filling of the Spirit inbetween us and Jesus? How can this not be saying to the world that we have not really received Him yet or have been filled as promised for coming to Jesus? Seems like continual filling of the Spirit would be against the promise of Jesus of never having to hunger nor thirst again, doesn't it?

Kind of hard to say one is resting in Him if they are still busy being filled by Him, isn't it? How can the Holy Spirit rush if He is already in us and abiding in us forever as promised for coming to and believing in Jesus? Isn't that not like engaging in dead works that deny Him or His promise of being in us?

 

[Chad]

Enow....how is it you're using one Scripture to argue against another (the one you bolded quoting the article)? Does it make any sense to you? Did you study the Scripture you quoted from the AW Tozer article and the Scripture you quoted yourself before posting?

Jesus said it Himself

Matthew 5:6

6"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Here is a fully summary, commentary outline regarding this particular verse on righteousness:

Blue Letter Bible - Commentaries

 

[Enow]

Enow....how is it you're using one Scripture to argue against another (the one you bolded quoting the article)? Does it make any sense to you? Did you study the Scripture you quoted from the AW Tozer article and the Scripture you quoted yourself before posting?

No. I did not know I had to refer to AW Tozer's article. Was there a link? I had the arrow of my mouse over the verse and a small box opened showing the verse in KJV. Does it double as a link to his article that I have to click on it? But as far as studying the scripture, I'll just focus on that verse for now, okay? ( I hope I get rid of all the links in your post before I accidentally initiate strike four. First two my fault for not being a regular to remember the rules.)

Jesus said it Himself

Matthew 5:6

6"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Here is a fully summary, commentary outline regarding this particular verse on righteousness:

Thanks for the link of the one in this post I am replying to, but as he does set up the premise for hungering and thirsting after righteousness, in section V, he declares that we are filled with righteousness now, right? Or did I read him wrong?

Anyway, looking at this verse 6 above, Jesus was stating a promise that will be fulfilled, yes?

And the verses I quoted in my first reply spoke of how it will be fulfilled... by coming to and believing in Jesus, right? Is that not applicable towards verse 6? If not, can you edify why it is not so by the scriptures? Am I missing something here?

 

[4Given]

Great post chad,thanks for it,God Bless

 

[Chad]

he declares that we are filled with righteousness now, right? Or did I read him wrong?

1 Peter 3:17-19

17For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.
18For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison,

We are righteous by the blood of Jesus Christ, not our works. Our sins made us unrighteous. Jesus' payment for our sins on the Cross and shedding of His blood covers our unrighteousness and made us righteous once again.
​

Romans 5:18-20

18Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. 20Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more

To top it off:

Romans 1:17
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."

We are now righteousness, living by faith as Scripture states so.

Romans 4:5
And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,

 

[Enow]

Thanks Chad for taking the time to respond. I can only imagine how hard it is to run a site.

To your last post, AMEN! Yes. I acknowledge that. Praise the Lord!

But how does the truth of the scriptures applies to this quote from the article?

From A.W. Tozer' article: "Lord, quiet my heart today and fill me with this holy longing. I don't want to be contented with my present condition; I long for that vacuum of desire into which the Holy Spirit can rush. Amen."

Is not the holy longing for righteousness denying that he has received Him? By declaring the absence of the Holy Spirit for Him to rush in, is he not denying the promise that comes with this righteousness found in Jesus Christ?

Is there more to this article? Has it been paraphrased? Cause I am trying to figure out if the quote above is a sinner's prayer or a believer's denial of the faith. I just wonder if A.W. Tozer is being clear in his article since he has led me to believe he is talking about christians.

From A. W. Tozer's artcile: The problem is not to persuade God to fill us, but to want God sufficiently to permit Him to do so. The average Christian is so cold and so contented with His wretched condition that there is no vacuum of desire into which the blessed Spirit can rush in satisfying fullness.

He addressed the average christian but yet in regards to your scriptures regarding righteousness.. it should be read..."The average sinner is so cold and so contented with his wretched condition that there is no vacuum of desire into which the blessed Spirit can rush in satisfying fullness."

Then I can understand the prayer of a sinner seeking after righteousness found in Jesus Christ. For a believer to keep doing that of what a sinner is doing only once to be saved... that is denying the promise for coming to Jesus, yes?

A.W. Tozer's article is confusing to me. I guess it is just me since others have read this and found nothing to be concerned about as far as the message goes. I like your last post better cause it is clearer to me than A.W. Tozer's article, no offense to A.W. Tozer.