Book Review: What to Expect from the Holy Spirit
- Pastor Tony
- Oct 28, 2014
- 3 min read
Jeremy Myers has brought back, updated for the time, a great book; What to expect from the Holy Spirit. Originally published in 1983 by RBC Ministries, from a series of messages by Dr. Earl Radmacher. Dr. Radmacher served for thirty-three years on the faculty and administrative staff of the Western Seminary in Portland, OR. His background includes degrees from Bob Jones University (B.A. & M.R.E.) and Dallas Theological Seminary (Th.M. & Th.D.). He taught for many years in theology at Western, later being honored as Distinguished Professor of Systematic Theology Emeritus. He also wrote numerous other books and contributed articles for such distinguished publications as the Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary (1999) and the Nelson Study Bible (1997). No doubt, in theological and academic circles, Dr. Radmacher’s writings are well thought of.
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I had not had exposure to Dr. Radmacher’s writings, previously. This subject, the Holy Spirit, is a subject taken up by various theological bents and persuasions. The guiding verse that this book is based on is John 16:14, where Jesus said the Spirit would glorify Christ. Also, in the verse before, (John 16:13), Jesus said the Spirit would not speak of himself. Dr. Radmacher illustrates and affirms this great truth in his book.
The table of contents lays out what we should and can expect from the Holy Spirit, in its chapters. The Holy Spirit, in Chapter 1, gives us a Pattern of Dependence, in 2 a Power for Witness, 3, Protector of the Church, 4, Provider of the Gifts and finally, Possessor of the Body Member. Each chapter is sub headed to break down the points he so clearly explains. This book is not written in academic gobblegook, but in clear, concise, and easy to understand language. Jeremy Myers, publisher for this book, and Dr. Stephen R. Lewis, President, Rocky Mountain Bible College & Seminary, offer insightful conclusions to the new addition, at the end of the book, offering such quotes as, “In relation to eternal life, the Holy Spirit provides indwelling and sealing. In relation to everyday life, the Holy Spirit provides filling and living. In relation to body life, the Holy Spirit provides baptizing and gifting.” (Lewis) As well as, “One of the goals of the Holy Spirit is to bring glory to Jesus Christ.” (Myers)
Radmacher is not afraid to tackle the ‘sacred cows’ that various denominational and theological circles hold. He said, in the chapter on the Holy Spirit as Protector of the Church, “’the baptism of the Holy Spirit,’ is a non-scriptural phrase. No such statement appears in the word of God.” Also, “doctrine of the ‘in Spirit’ baptism into the body, when properly understood and applied, produces unity-not disunity, not divisiveness…” Throughout the book he tackles these notions, unbiblical thoughts and wrong-headed thinking. I had to check my own preconceived notions and thoughts as I tackled this great book.
One great quote in this book, challenging the notion of belonging to the invisible church, is, “I find too many people today who belong to the ‘invisible church.’ The reason I know they belong to the invisible church is because of their invisible attendance and their invisible tithes and their invisible talents. God is not doing His work through the invisible church. He is doing His work through a very visible church, the local church that has his calling and that has His gifts.” This quote should give you a pretty good idea of his tone, purpose and straightforwardness.
I highly recommend this book, and even though I receive a free copy to review, the publisher has no input to my thoughts on it. I am so blessed and enriched by this small, brief theological treatment of this controversial subject. As a special bonus, if you purchases the book during the week of October 27-31, 2014, you can send a proof of purchase to holyspirit@redeemingpress.com to get access to download 5 Sermon Audio files for free that go along with the book. If you forward a receipt of your book purchase to the email address. After verifying your purchase, Redeeming Press will send you a link where you can download the 5 Sermon Audio Files from Dr. Earl Radmacher. After October 31st, these audio files will no longer be available for free to those who purchase the book.
Follow link below, to go to Amazon or go to my Redeeming Press page, to order directly from the publisher.