Sunday after Sunday, the same routine played out in churches across Britain. The preacher climbed the pulpit steps, opened his notes, and began his carefully prepared sermon. The congregation sat politely in their pews, some listening, a few fighting to stay awake.
Week after week, the same predictable pattern. Preaching, preaching, preaching. The people were getting tired of this constant stream of sermons, but they endured it, because that’s what church was supposed to be like.
But then something happened that shattered every expectation. In one particular service, the power of God fell so dramatically that 20 people jumped to their feet at the same time, and they absolutely refused to sit down until they testified about what God had done in their lives.
The whole place caught fire with testimonies of God’s power, and nobody wanted it to stop. What made the difference between dead religion and living fire? The difference between that dead church service and the one that exploded with life comes down to something most Christians never think about, foundations.
You see, it’s quite easy to construct a building if the foundation is secure, but a building will be completely unstable if it doesn’t have a solid base underneath. The same thing happens in our spiritual lives.
Here’s what most believers don’t understand. Many of us haven’t gone on in the Lord because we’ve never had a secure foundation in him. We’ve been building our Christian lives on shaky ground. And when the winds blow, when trials come, when Satan appears as an angel of light, we can’t stand because we’re not firmly fixed in the word of God.
But here’s where it gets really interesting. There must be three things in our lives if we want to go all the way with God in the fullness of Pentecost.
First, we must be grounded and settled in love. We must have a real knowledge of what love actually is.
Second, we must have a clear understanding of the word, because love must show forth the word.
Third, we must clearly understand our own ground because our own ground is what needs attention the most.
Let me tell you about the parable that will change how you see your spiritual life.
Jesus spoke about good ground where seed was planted, and that ground brought forth fruit, some 100-fold, some 60, and some 30.
Even in the good ground, the seed produced different amounts of fruit. But here’s what will amaze you. There is no limit to how much harvest you can have when your ground is perfectly in the Lord’s hands.
This connects to something that happened to Moses that reveals God’s heart for every believer.
When someone came running to Moses, saying there were two other men in the camp prophesying, Moses didn’t get jealous or try to shut them down. Instead, he said something that shows God’s desire for all of us.
Oh, that all the Lord’s people were prophets.
Moses understood that God wants us to be in such a spiritual, holy place that he could take our words and fill them with divine power so we would speak only as the Spirit leads.
But here’s what you won’t believe about the difference between human language and spiritual language.
There’s human language that always stays on the human level, but when the divine comes into that same language, it gets changed by spiritual power and brings life to everyone who hears you speak.
But this divine touch of prophecy will never come except through being filled with the Spirit.
This is exactly what that preacher discovered when his dead church suddenly came alive.
You see, there’s spiritual language and human language. When people are operating in human language alone, you get boring sermons that put people to sleep.
But when the divine comes into the language, everything changes. People can’t sit still because life is flowing through every word.
Here’s something that will shock you about God’s plan for your life. If you want to be anything for God, do not miss his plan.
God has no room for you on ordinary lines. You must realize that within you is the power of the Holy Spirit, who is forming everything you need inside of you.
The problem is, we have too much preaching and too little testifying. You’ll never have a living church with a preacher, who every night is just preaching, preaching, preaching.
People get tired of constant preaching, but they never get tired when the whole place is on fire, when 20 or more jump up at once and refuse to sit down until they testify.
This connects to an amazing prophecy from Joel that most Christians have never really understood.
Joel 2.28-29 declares, and it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions, and also on my menservants and on my maidservants I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
This happened on the day of Pentecost, but here’s what will blow your mind. That was just the first outpouring.
What would it be like now if we would only wake up to what Jesus said in John 14:12? Greater works than these you will do, because I go to my Father.
But here’s the key that unlocks everything. 1 Corinthians 14, 3-4 reveals something most believers miss. He who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.
There are two types of edification here.
First, you must edify yourself first, and after you’ve been built up by the Spirit, then you’re able to build up the church through the Spirit.
John 16.13 shows us how this works. However, when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth. For he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, He will speak.
The Holy Spirit is inspiration.
The Holy Spirit is revelation.
The Holy Spirit is manifestation.
The Holy Spirit is operation.
When someone comes into the fullness of the Holy Spirit, they’re in perfect order, built up on scriptural foundations.
Here’s something I’ve discovered that will amaze you. I’ve never seen anyone truly understand the twelfth, thirteenth, and 14th chapters of 1 Corinthians, unless they had been baptized with the Holy Spirit.
They may talk about the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts, but their understanding is only surface level.
However, when they get baptized with the Holy Spirit, they speak from deep inner conviction by the power of the Spirit working in them.
2 Corinthians 5.17 explains what happens. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.
When someone is filled with the Holy Spirit, they have a vital power that makes people know they have seen God. They should be in such a spiritual place that when they walk into a neighbor’s house or go out among people, others feel that God has come into their midst.
1 Corinthians 13:13 gives us the foundation. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three, but the greatest of these is love.
Love must be in perfect progress for all other things to work in harmony.
Jesus accomplished his great plan in this world because he was so full of love for his Father and love for us that love never failed to accomplish its purpose.
Luke 6.38 shows us the measure God wants to give us. shaken together and running over.
What we need is more of the Holy Spirit, not just a measure of the Spirit, but a pressed-down measure. Not just pressed down but shaken together and running over.
Church, here’s what most Christians will never do. They will never move beyond surface-level Christianity to build their lives on the unshakable foundation of God’s love and His Word. They’ll keep attending services where they sit passively while someone preaches at them.
But they’ll never experience the fire of God where they can’t help but testify about his power.
Most believers will never understand that God wants them to be prophets. They think prophecy is only for special people.
But Moses said, oh that all the Lord’s people were prophets.
Most Christians will settle for human language when God wants to fill their words with divine power that brings life to everyone who hears them.
Here’s the challenge I’m giving you today. Stop building your spiritual life on shaky ground.
Most believers never take the time to establish the three essential foundations.
Being grounded in love, having clear understanding of the word, and dealing with their own heart condition.
They try to build a spiritual life without proper foundations.
And when trials come, everything falls apart. Most Christians will never move from being hearers only to being people who operate in spiritual gifts.
They’ll sit in services week after week, consuming sermon after sermon. But they’ll never become people through whom the Spirit flows with power.
They want someone else to do all the spiritual work while they remain passive observers.
The challenge is this. God has no room for you on ordinary lines. You must realize that within you is the power of the Holy Spirit, who is forming everything you need.
But most believers will never tap into that power because they’re content with ordinary Christianity.
Most church members will never experience what it’s like when the whole place is on fire with testimonies and the power of God.
They’ll settle for predictable services where nothing supernatural happens.
But God wants you to be so filled with His Spirit that everywhere you go, people feel that God has come into their midst.
Here’s what you need to understand: Anybody can hold a full cup, but you cannot hold an overflowing cup. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is an overflowing cup.
Most Christians are satisfied with just enough of God to get by. But he wants to give you a pressed down, shaken together, running over measure of his Spirit.
The time has come for you to stop building your life on shaky ground and establish yourself on the unshakable foundations of God’s love and his word.
The Holy Spirit is ready to fill your language with divine power, so that life flows through every word you speak.
He wants to make you into someone who operates in spiritual gifts, not just someone who sits and listens to others operate in them.
God is calling you to move beyond ordinary Christianity, into the extraordinary realm, where His Spirit flows through you like rivers of living water.
He wants you to experience the overflowing cup, the pressed down, shaken together, running over measure of His presence. But you must choose.
Will you remain content with dead religion, or will you pursue the fullness of the Spirit? Will you keep building on shaky ground? Or will you establish yourself on the solid foundation of love, the Word, and a pure heart?
Will you stay satisfied with being a passive observer? Or will you become someone through whom God demonstrates His mighty power?
The Spirit of Truth is waiting to guide you into all truth. He wants to fill you with such vital power that everyone who sees and hears you will know you have seen God.
He desires to make you into a living testimony of his glory, someone who can’t help but prophesy and testify because his fire is burning within you.
Father God, we refuse to build our spiritual lives on shaky ground any longer. We come to you, asking for the solid foundation of your love, your word, and a pure heart.
Holy Spirit, we invite you to fill us with your overflowing presence. Press down, shaken together, and running over. Give us spiritual language that brings life to everyone who hears us speak. Make us into prophets who operate in your power, not just passive observers of your work. Fill our words with divine authority and let your fire burn within us until we can’t help but testify of your goodness. Transform us from ordinary Christians into extraordinary vessels of your glory.
We choose the overflowing cup, Lord. Flood us with your fullness until everywhere we go, people feel that you have come into their midst. In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen.
I believe with all my heart that, as you’ve learned about building on solid foundations today, you’ve been awakened to the shaky ground in your own spiritual life.
The understanding you’ve gained about the three essential foundations is already working in your spirit, creating a hunger for the overflowing cup of God’s presence and stirring you to move beyond passive Christianity.
I am an overflowing cup, and establish the three foundations, love, word, or heart condition.
This week, examine each area of your spiritual life and ask God to show you where you’ve been building on shaky ground instead of solid foundations.
Spend time daily in prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to fill your words with divine power and make you someone who brings life to others through spiritual language.
By Smith Wigglesworth