One obstacle to the reception of power is a widespread fear of our emotions wherever they touch the religious life. This has gone so far that it has become a phobia with many serious-minded people. Men who should know better will kneel for an hour beside a seeker, all the time warning him against his emotions as against the devil himself. Bible teachers declaim against feelings till we are ashamed to admit that we ever entertained anything so depraved. Feeling and faith are opposed to each other in modern teaching, and the listener is given to understand that any exhibition of emotion is indelicate, if not carnal, and should be avoided at any cost.
This anti-emotionalism, though it is sponsored by some good people and travels in pretty orthodox company, is nevertheless an unwarranted inference, not a scriptural doctrine, and is in violent opposition to psychology and common sense. Where in the Bible are feeling and faith said to be at odds? The fact is that faith engenders feeling as certainly as life engenders motion. We can have feeling without faith, it is true, but we can never have faith without feeling. Faith as a cold, unemotional light is wholly unknown in the Scriptures. The faith of those Bible heroes listed in the Book of Hebrews invariably aroused emotion and led to positive action in the direction of their faith. A statement, a promise, a warning always produced a corresponding excitation of feeling in the heart of the believer. Noah was “moved with fear.” Abraham “rejoiced” and “obeyed.” The Book of Acts is almost hilarious with joy. Perhaps the best summary of the whole thing is made by Paul when writing to the Romans, “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” And Peter says, “Believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
Another hindrance is fear of fanaticism. Instinctive revulsion from fleshly excesses and foolish undisciplined conduct on the part of some who profess lofty spiritual attainments has closed the door to a life of power for many of God’s true children. They have been too refined to endure the coarse gaucheries and bad taste of those self-styled heirs of Pentecost. They have made the mistake of putting all teaching concerning the Holy Spirit in the same category, and consequently will have nothing to do with any of it. This is as much to be regretted as it is easy to understand. Such victims must be taught that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus, and is as gracious and beautiful as the Saviour Himself. Paul’s words should be kept in mind, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” The Holy Spirit is the cure for fanaticism. Not the cause of it.
Another thing that greatly hinders God’s people is a hardness of heart caused by hearing men without the Spirit constantly preaching about the Spirit. There is no doctrine so chilling; as the doctrine of the Spirit when held in cold passivity and personal unbelief. The hearers will turn away in dull apathy from an exhortation to be filled with the Spirit unless the Spirit Himself is giving the exhortation through the speaker. It is possible to learn this truth and preach it faithfully, and still be totally devoid of power. The hearers sense the lack and go away with numbed hearts. Theirs is not opposition to the truth, but an unconscious reaction from unreality. Yet scarcely one of the hearers can tell another what the trouble is; it is as if they had been hearing an echo and not the voice, or seeing a reflection and not the light itself.
Then I would mention another thing which clearly hinders believers from enjoying the power of the Holy Spirit: It is the habit of instructing seekers to “take it by faith” when they become concerned with their need of the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
Now, it is a fact written all over the New Testament that the benefits of atonement are to be received by faith. This is basic in redemptive theology, and any departure from it is fatal to true Christian experience. Paul teaches emphatically that the Spirit is received through faith, and rebukes anyone who would teach otherwise. So it would seem, on the surface of it, to be sound procedure to instruct a seeker to “take it by faith.” But there is something wrong somewhere. One is forced to wonder whether the words “by faith” mean the same thing when used by modern teachers as they did when used by St. Paul. A sharp contrast is observable between Spirit-filled Christians of St. Paul’s time and many who claim to be filled with the Spirit today. Paul’s converts received the Spirit by faith to be sure, but they actually received Him: thousands now go through the motion of taking Him by faith, and believe they do so take Him, but show by their continued feebleness that they do not know Him in real power.
The trouble seems to be with our conception of faith. Faith, as Paul saw it, was a living, flaming thing leading to surrender and obedience to the commandments of Christ. Faith in our day often means no more than a meek assent to a doctrine. Many persons, convinced of their need of power, but unwilling to go through the painful struggle of death to the old life, turn with relief to this “take it by faith” doctrine as a way out of their difficulty. It saves their faith and enables them to march along with the true Israel. But it is they who constitute the “mixed multitude” which slows down the progress of the Church and causes most of the trouble when things get tight. And unless they see it differently later and decide to go through the hard way, they are fated to spend the rest of their lives in secret disappointment.
Let it be remembered that no one ever received the Holy Spirit’s power without knowing it. He always announces Himself to the inner consciousness. God will pour out His Spirit upon us in answer to simple faith, but real faith will be accompanied by deep poverty of spirit and mighty heart yearnings, and will express itself in strong crying and tears.
VII
Unity and Revival
God always works where His people meet His conditions, but only when and as they do. Any spiritual visitation will be limited or extensive, depending how well and how widely conditions are met.
The first condition is oneness of mind among the persons who are seeking the visitation. “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the shirts of his garments; as the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountain of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore” (Psa. 133). Here the unity precedes the blessing, and so it is throughout the Bible. An individual may seek and obtain great spiritual help from God; and that is one thing. For a company of people to unite to seek a new visitation from God for the entire group is quite another thing, and is a spiritual labor greatly superior to the first. The one is a personal affair, and may easily begin and end with a single person; the other may go on to bless unlimited numbers of persons.
It can hardly be doubted that there are many Spirit-filled persons, living pure devoted lives, who nevertheless exercise little or no power in the direction of revival. They live in beautiful isolation, doing nothing to bring down “showers of blessing” upon the larger group. Such as these have given up to the spirit of the times and have ceased to expect revival tides. They hear Jesus say, “Let down the hook and line for a fish,” rather than, “Let down the net for a draught.”
There is such a thing as a flow of blessing, where one experience merges into another, one day’s grace moves on to the next. The spiritual mood persists from one meeting to the next, permitting the Spirit to advance His work. It eliminates the discouraging necessity to repeat each Sunday the work done the week before. It gives the high benefit of accumulation and serves to attract increasing numbers to the fountain. It is this we need today.
Historically, revivals have been mainly the achieving of a oneness of mind among a number of Christian believers. In the second chapter of Acts it is recorded that they were “all with one accord in one place” when the Spirit came upon them. He did not come to bring them into oneness of accord; He came because they were already so. The Spirit never comes to give unity (though His presence certainly aids and perfects such unity as may exist). He comes to that company who have, through repentance and faith, brought their hearts into one accord.
This may disturb some who have not stopped to question the commonly accepted doctrine that unity of heart among Christians