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The Three-Fold Secret of the Holy Spirit
Book Study

Introductory Comment

Over the years, I have read quite a bit about the Holy Spirit, seeking to understand His role in my redemption and salvation. Nothing I have read in this stream of books has impacted me anything like The Three-fold Secret of the Holy Spirit by James McConkey. I came across the book, as the Lord would have it, at a time when I had injured my back at work and had to literally lay flat on my back for about a week to allow it to heal. Going through this book was transformative for me and set a solid biblical foundation that has enabled me to handle perplexing questions about the 'fullness of the Spirit,' the 'baptism of the Spirit,' and the 'manifestation of the Spirit.'

If you were to read only a single book on this important doctrine, this is the one you ought to read. 

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Click Here to read a bit about the man. He certainly was remarkable in many ways!

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Here is a basic overview of the contents of this important book:

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Copyright date: 1897

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Part 1: The secret of His Incoming

  • The Abundant Life

  • The Secret of His Incoming

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Part 2: The Secret of His Fullness

  • The Secret of His Fullness

  • Trust

  • Manifestation

  • My Consecration

 

Part 3: The Secret of His Constant Manifestation

  • Abiding in Christ

  • Abiding in Faith

  • Abiding in Love

 

If you have ever had uncertainty regarding the work of the Holy Spirit in your life as a believer, then I heartily encourage you to get this book, devour it, and hold on to it for your kids. It is SO important!

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Considerations of Each Section

Consider how McConkey introduces or sums up each major section of the book:

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The Secret of His Incoming

"How then shall our heart-longings for the fullness of the Spirit be satisfied? How shall we know His abundance of love, peace, joy, and power for service? What is the secret of this abundant life, this fullness of the Spirit? We answer first, negatively, It is not that we have not received the Holy Ghost. Seeing the powerlessness, the barrenness, the lack of love, joy, peace, and power in many Christian lives, and knowing these to be the fruitage of the abundant life of the Spirit, many leap to the conclusion that the Spirit has not been received, else how account for the feeble manifestations of His presence and power? Wherefore the first thing we need clearly to see is that EVERY CHILD OF GOD HAS RECEIVED THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST."

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The Secret of His Fullness

"Granted, then that we have received the gift of the Holy Ghost; that we have been baptized with Him; that He has come into lives to abide forever; what then is the secret of His fullness, of His abundant life of peace, power, and love? We answer: 

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THE ABSOLUTE, UNQUALIFIED SURRENDER OF OUR LIFE TO GOD, TO DO HIS WILL INSTEAD OF OUR OWN. Thus, 1. When we SURRENDER OUR SINS and believe, we RECEIVE the Holy Spirit; when we SURRENDER OUR LIVES and believe, we are FILLED with the Holy Spirit."

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The Secret of His Constant Manifestation

(This is a lengthy quotation, but well worth it)

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"There are two systems of running electric cars today. [Remember, this book was first published in 1897.] By one, power is laid up in storage batteries, of amount sufficient to run the cars a definite number of hours or miles."

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"But there is another, the trolley system [anybody actually remember those?], which differs wholly from the first named. In this the car is a dead, helpless thing, with no power whatever of self-propulsion. But above it runs the slender copper cable thrilling with the life that constantly pulsates through it from the distant power-house. The instant the helpless car reaches up and touches that overhead current, it becomes instinct with life, power, and motion. Now, it is not its own life and power, but another's, and the moment it ceases to touch upon the "live" wire, that moment it becomes the same helpless, motionless mass. Its continuance in the place of power depends wholly upon its constancy of contact. The lesson is obvious. Even so must the children of God keep in constant, momentary, unceasing touch with Jesus Christ, if they would know the continuous manifestation of the Holy Spirit. For God does not fill them on the storage battery, but on the trolley principle. He does not charge them with independent power, but unites them in dependent faith to Jesus Christ who is so charged."

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