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The Wondrous Cross

     We sang in the Methodist Church a very meaningful song entitled "When I Survey The Wondrous Cross."  As I was thinking about Thanksgiving and what I wanted to be thankful for, many people and things came to mind.  But, concluded the cross was to be uppermost on our list.  Therefore I began to meditate on and thank God for the cross.  As I meditated on the cross an awesome and life-changing experience came to my focus.

     I had been baptized in the Holy Spirit about three weeks when the pastor asked me to visit a couple and share my experience with them.  As he saw my amazed expression he instructed me to pray and to be led by the Holy Spirit.  About a week later I knew the Holy Spirit was guiding me to do so.

     They were having a difficult time in their marriage because she was Methodist and he was Pentecostal.  As I was on my way to their home and stopped at a traffic light, I prayed a prayer of total surrender. I had always been a self-sufficient person, believing I could do anything.  But now I knew I would be a complete failure without Him.  I prayed, "O' Lord, make me an empty cup and completely fill me.  Use me for your glory."  Continuing on my journey, I earnestly prayed in the Holy Spirit.

     As I sat on the couch with the couple, I experience for the first time in my life, complete control of the Holy Spirit.  I marveled as it seemed I was two people in one person.  My mouth was speaking but "someone else" was talking.  It was marvelous and a marvel.  The couple's difficulties were resolved as the Holy Spirit spoke to their hearts.  Returning to the church to accompany the teen choir as they practiced, I wept with joy as I praised Him for using me.

     The wonder of this amazing experience filled me with overflowing gratitude.  As the choir sang (and I accompanied) "When I Survey The Wondrous Cross" I knew (by epignosis...knowledge beyond human knowledge) for the first time that if I had been the only one on the earth, Jesus would have gladly died on the cross for me.  I could hardly wait for their practice to finish so I could tell Him how thankful I was.

     At 6:00 p.m. I entered a private room in the youth center, sat on the floor, and began to thank Him with the "7" words I could speak in the Holy Spirit.  Words in English were inadequate to express the thanks in my heart, I wanted fluent "other tongues."  The "7" words continued.  I looked at my watch at 6:20 p.m., and said within myself, "Well, it won't be today," and then started to rise up.

     A strong, loving, and compassionate voice clearly said, "Be still, and wait for Me."  Knowing it to be the voice of the Master, I sat down.  He immediately appeared to me.  The glory, white, scintillating light surrounded Him, His eyes were pools of liquid love.  As He came to me His arms and hands were outstretched.  He drew me to Himself and I put my arms around His knees.  The heat from His being radiated through me.

     The dam of a lifetime broke, the emptiness and vacuum in the abyss of my being was filled with Him, and a lifetime of seeking to know (epignosis) Him was completed.  I do not know; but this I know, I was "caught up" and heard the redeemed singing His worship, and the angels worshipping Him, as I too worshipped Him - fluently singing in the Spirit.

     What does the cross mean to me?  Yes, "it is the power of God."  (See First Corinthians 1:18.)  The cross means so much, how can one write or speak in a message its meaning?  But the cross is the crossroads of life.  The cross is the means and way to the resurrection and the ascension.  We understand the cross from the basis of faith.  The more we increase in faith, the more we understand the cross.

     "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree" (Galatians 3:13).

     "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin: that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (Second Corinthians 5:21).

     "But he that glorieth let him glory in the Lord" (Second Corinthians 10:17).

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