Great Spirit Ocean

Who is the Holy Spirit? There is more than one symbol used in the scriptures that tells us of who He is and what He’s about. There is for instance the Dove. The Dove speaks of the Spirit’s gentleness and His peace-like nature. There is fire. The fire conveys to the Christian a type of power, a power that at times overwhelms us. It burns in the very center of our being in accordance with our faith, and therefore can cause us to become great in word and in deed. We mustn’t forget the Wind. The Wind portrays the mystique of the Holy Spirit, and indeed He is mysterious. Jesus compared the Spirit to the mystery of the wind when describing to Nicodemus that holy birth given from above: “The wind blows where it wishes,” he said, “and you can hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” The peaceful and gentle Dove, the all consuming Fire, the mysterious Wind. We call this imagery, and it is this imagery that gives us a glimpse into the nature of the One we call the Holy Spirit.

Yet the imagery that I have found to be my very favorite cannot be discovered in the scriptures. It is however certainly biblical. Though it would reveal the Spirit’s peace, its consummation of us, and its mystique, these are not its emphasis. Its emphasis is the Spirit’s infinity, yet all of the Spirit’s attributes are to be found in the picture. I believe that the imagery of which I speak was given me of the Spirit, and I have come to cherish it to this day. I once envisioned an infinite ocean – a sunlit infinite ocean of peace and love and joy, and really every good gift that comes down from “the Father of lights.” Not on the north, or the south, or the east, or the west, was there seen a shore. Likewise there existed no floor to the Great Ocean. It did however have one border. The Ocean ended at the top, I guess is a way of putting it. Yes, the Ocean’s only border was the surface. But the surface is needed since this is the Ocean that we are baptized down into when we are baptized into God’s Holy Spirit. It is much different than being baptized into water. When we are baptized into water, the water is physical and without life. Also it has borders, even if they are not within our view. But when we are baptized into the Holy Spirit of God the waters are spiritual and altogether alive. These are the living waters that we read of in the scriptures. To add, there are no borders, since this Ocean is God the Holy Spirit, and all who believe in Him and know Him also know that He is from everlasting to everlasting.

It is a very sad thing that the average Pentecostal believes that speaking in tongues signifies that the baptism of the Spirit has been made complete. But the fact of the matter is that this great baptism is never made complete. For what the first step of a never ending journey is to the remainder of the journey, so is the experience of speaking in other tongues to this Spirit baptism. It is only one of the very first things to occur, yet we make it to cover the length and breadth of our adventure. This I say because we use the terms “tongues,” and “baptism of the Holy Spirit,” interchangeably, as though there is no difference at all between the two. But I repeat, “tongues,” is only a small part of this experience. It occurs when we first go under the surface of the waters, being as I said, one of the very first things to occur. That is why we often hear it referred to as the “initial evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.” However, from that point God wants to move us on; He wants to take us deeper under the surface. He wants us to come to know Him down in the depths of His Spirit – an intimate knowing of Him.

There are many Christians who speak with other tongues whose lives all but fall apart in times of trials. When the stormy tempestuous winds blow they are tossed to and fro. Why is this? It’s because they have never ventured very far down beneath the surface of the waters, where they had first received the gift of tongues. And don’t we all know how the waters at the surface get tossed about during the times of great gales? Since those waters are the spiritual lodging places of many, the many are tossed about. However, the waters far down under are not moved at all. When the fierce winds blow, the waters of the deep remain still and calm, and full of peace. Likewise, those who know their God in the depths of this Spirit Ocean are still and at peace during the dark and threatening days of their lives. This is why our Lord was so calm during the storm on the Sea of Galilee, as opposed to His disciples, who were frantic with fear. Their lodging places were on the surface of the waters in those days, and it was those very same disturbed waters that were actually symbolizing who they were.

There is a very important factor about this Ocean that makes it different than any ocean of our Earth. The further down you descend in any of the oceans of our world, the darker it becomes, for we are going further away from the sun. On the contrary, the further we go into the great Spirit Ocean, the lighter it becomes. For now we draw ever more near to the True Light of the world, of which the sun is only in some ways a type. Also we become engulfed in the “Father of Lights.” And do they not speak of the knowledge of Him? Oh the joy and the power of the waters made alive by His Spirit! And their length and breadth are from everlasting to everlasting. Praise Him; praise Him for the life eternal that He bestows upon those who call on Him, whoever descends to know the heart of the Father in the fullness of understanding. Other tongues? We’ve only just begun, as a lady once sang. We have only broken the ocean’s surface. And the surface waters will always afford us many wonderful pleasures in our God. But they should not become our lodging place. For the Ocean is great. And where can its boundaries be discovered? Let us not be afraid to know Him in the deep.

J. Pecoraro
Feb. 10th, 2009