Having the Lord’s Potential

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit" (John 12:24). When the time came for the Lord to be glorified through the sacrificial offering of His life, He compared His life with a grain of wheat. When a grain of wheat dies, it is for the purpose of bringing forth multiplied grains of wheat like the original grain.The Bible teaches that when the Lord returns, we will be like Him. The Holy Spirit residing in us will reveal the same attributes through us that He did in the Lord Jesus Christ. This belief formed the cornerstone for John G. Lake’s life and ministry.Lake believed that the Lord would not have commissioned us to do the works that He did without adequately equipping us to do those works. Lake commented, "We need to set our sights high and refuse the traditions of men who say that it is impossible to do as Jesus instructed us."True apostolic ministry is simply the extension of the ministry begun by the Lord, our ultimate example. The power of redemption is so great that sinners saved by grace and filled with the Holy Spirit are given the opportunity of carrying on the very ministry of Christ, doing the works that He did. John G. Lake is a token of this reality given to the twentieth century. Our sights should be set equally high.

His Definition of the Apostolic Church

During the years preceding and following the turn of the twentieth century, John Lake made a notable and revealing observation.

There had been a tremendous outpouring of the Holy Spirit with great manifestations of power, signs and wonders. A generation of Christians was given an extraordinary opportunity of witnessing the return of genuine apostolic ministry.

Lake discerned that his generation missed the mark by not realizing the true definition of apostolic ministry. Some attempted to build an apostolic church around the doctrine and manifestation of healing power. Others attempted to establish the apostolic church around the restoration of the gifts and speaking in tongues, while some attempted to create and establish the apostolic order around the doctrine of holiness. All of these qualities are attributes of the Holy Spirit and essential to the church, yet not one singularly sustains apostolic ministry.

Lake observed that the people were absorbed in the phenomena of God and not in the person of God.

According to Lake, the truest definition of the apostolic church could be expressed in the awesome and reverential experience known as the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He believed that the church did not regard the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the reverence due an experience so sacred and so terribly costly. In order to secure this gift for His church, the Lord Jesus lived in the world, bled on the cross, entered into the darkness of death, hell and the grave, grappled with and strangled the accursed powers of darkness,

came forth in resurrection life and ascended to heaven. Lake believed apostolic ministry was defined and realized through individuals becoming the habitation of God. The Holy Spirit literally manifested Himself in the spirit, soul and body of the believers, taking total possession of His church and bestowing on her His qualities and attributes. This process was not merely a reformation--it was a renewal. Men and women were renewed by the Spirit of God, indwelt by the Holy Spirit and becoming one Spirit with Him. The baptism of the Holy Spirit was not merely a gift of power, but of God Himself.

Out of necessity, Lake became acquainted with the healing power of God. During the later years of the nineteenth century, he was miraculously healed of a terminal illness, along with his wife, his sister and his brother. This introduction to God’s miraculous power caused Lake to begin a quest to not only know the healing of God, but to know the God of healing. His desire was fulfilled, he describes, when he became the habitation of God in a powerful baptism of the Holy Spirit.

His Baptism Experience

At the age of 16, John G. Lake came to know the saving power of Christ. His salvation experience was very real as displayed by his changed life. Many around him observed this change and said, "You are baptized in the Holy Ghost."  (con't.)