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SUBJECT: 04 How Little it is Enjoyed
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THE FULL BLESSING OF PENTECOST
How little it is Enjoyed
"My speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." 1 COR. ii. 4, 5.
PAUL speaks here of two kinds of preaching and two kinds of faith. According to the spirit of the preacher will be the faith of the congregation. When the preaching of the Cross is given only in the words of human wisdom, then the faith of the hearers will be in the wisdom of men. When the preaching is in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, the faith of the Christian people will also be in the power of God, at once firm and strong. Preach - 4
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ing in the demonstration of the Spirit will bring the double blessing of power in the word and power in the faith of those that receive that word. If we desire to know the measure of the working of the Spirit, we must consider the preaching and the faith that springs from it. In this way alone can we see whether the full blessing of Pentecost is truly manifested in the Church of Christ.
There are very few who are prepared to say that this is really the case. Everywhere among the children of God we hear complaints of weakness and sin. Amongst those who do not so complain, there is reason to fear that their silence is to be ascribed to the prevalence of ignorance or self-satisfaction. It is of the utmost importance that we should concentrate our thoughts upon this fact, until we come under the full conviction that the condition of the Church is marked by impotence, and that nothing can restore her but the return to a life in the full enjoyment of the blessing of Pentecost. The more deeply we feel our deficiency, the more speedily shall we desire and obtain restoration. It will help to awaken longing for this blessing,
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and to find out the way to obtain it, if we earnestly consider how little it is enjoyed in the Church and how far the Church is from being what her Lord has willingness and power to make her.
I
Think, for example, what little power over sin there is amongst the children of God.
The Spirit of Pentecost is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God’s holiness. When He came down upon the disciples, what a transformation was effected in them. Their carnal thoughts were changed into spiritual insight, their pride into humility, their selfishness into love, their fear of man into courage and fidelity. Sin was cast out by the inflowing of the life of Jesus and of heaven.
The life which the Lord has prepared for His people is a life of victory. It is not indeed victory to such an extent as that there shall be no temptation to evil; nor yet that the inclination towards sin, inward sinfulness, shall be utterly rooted out of the flesh. But there is to be victory of such a kind that the indwelling power of the Spirit who fills us, the presence of
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the indwelling Saviour, shall keep sin in subjection, as the light subdues the darkness.
Yet, to what a small extent do we see power for victory over sin in the Church of Christ. On the contrary, how often, even amongst earnest Christians, do we see much untruthfulness and lack of honour, pride and self-esteem, selfishness and lack of love. How little are the traces of the image of Jesus obedience, and humility, and love, and entire surrender to the will of God seen even among the people of God. The truth is that we have become so accustomed to the confession of sin and unfaithfulness, of disobedience and backsliding, that it is no longer regarded as a matter for shame. We make the confession before each other, and then after the prayer rest comforted and content. Brethren, let us rather feel humbled and mourn over it! It is because so little of the full blessing of the Spirit is enjoyed or sought for that the children of God still commit so much sin, and have therefore so much to confess. Let every sin, whether in ourselves or others, serve as a summons to notice how much is lacking of the Spirit of God amongst us. Let every instance
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of failure in the fear of the Lord, in love, and holiness, and entire surrender to the will of God, only urge us the more unceasingly to call upon God to bring His Spirit once more to full dominion over the whole Church of Christ.
II
Think, too, how little there is of separation from the world.
When the Lord Jesus promised the Comforter, He said: "Whom the world cannot receive." The spirit of this world, which is devotion to the visible, is in irreconcilable antagonism with the Spirit of Jesus in heaven, where God and His will are everything. The world has rejected the Lord Jesus; and, to whatever extent it may now usurp the Christian name, the world at heart is still the same untamable foe. It was for this reason that Jesus said of His disciples, and as indicating one of their chief distinctive marks: " They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." l This, too, is the reason why Paul said: " We have received, not the spirit of this world, but the Spirit which is of 1 John xvii. 16.
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God." The two spirits, the spirit of the world and the Spirit of God, are engaged in a life-and- death conflict with one another.
Hence it is that God has always called upon His people to separate themselves from the world, and to live as pilgrims whose treasure and whose heart are in heaven. But is this what is really seen amongst Christians? Who shall dare to say so? When they have attained to a measure of unblamableness in walk and assurance of heaven, most Christians consider that they are at liberty to enjoy the world as fully as others. There is little to be seen of true heavenly-mindeduess in conversation and walk, in disposition and endeavour. Is not this the case just because the fulness of the Spirit is so little enjoyed and sought for? Nothing but light can drive out darkness; and nothing but the Spirit of heaven can expel the spirit of the world. Where a man does not surrender himself to be filled with the Spirit of Jesus and the Spirit of heaven, there can be no other issue than that, Christian though he may be, he must come under the power of the spirit of the world.
1 1 Cor. ii. 12.
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listen to the piercing cry that rises from the whole Church of Christ: " Who shall rescue us from the power of this spirit of the world? " And let your answer be: " Nothing, no one, save the Spirit of God. I must be filled with the Spirit."
Ill
Think how little there is of steadfastness and growth in faith,
There is nothing of which ministers, and especially those who labour for the salvation of souls, have to complain more than that there are so many who for a time are full of zeal and then fall away. We see, not only among the young or in times of awakening, but even among many that have for years maintained a good confession, that whenever they enter into another circle of influence, and are put to the proof by prosperity or any special form of temptation, they forthwith cease to persevere. Whence does this unhappy result arise? From nothing but the fact that the preaching is more with the wisdom of persuasive words than in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. Hence their faith also stands in the wisdom
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and work of man rather than in the power of God. So long as such people have the benefit of earnest and instructive preaching, they continue to stand; whenever they lose it, they begin to backslide. It is because the current preaching is so little in the demonstration of the Spirit that souls are brought so little into contact with the living God. For the same reason, far too much of the current faith is not in the power of God. Even the Word of God which ought always only to be a guide pointing towards God Himself becomes all too frequently a veil with the study of which the soul becomes occupied, and is thus kept back from meeting with God. The Word, and preaching, and means of grace become a hindrance in place of a help if they are not in demonstration of the Spirit. All external means of grace are things that inevitably change and fade. It is the Spirit alone that works a faith which stands in the power of God, and so remains strong and unwavering.
Whence comes it that there are so many who do not continue to stand? Let the answer of God to this question penetrate deeply into
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our hearts. There is a grave lack of the demonstration of the Spirit. Let every sad discovery of congregations, or of smaller circles, or of individuals that do not remain steadfast, or that do not grow in grace, serve as a summons to us to acknowledge that the full blessing of Pentecost is lost. This is what we long for and must have from God. Let all that is within us begin to thirst and cry out: " Come from the four winds, thou Spirit of God, and breathe upon these dead souls, that they may live."
IV
Think how little there is of power for service amongst the unconverted.
What an immense host of workers there is in Christian countries. How varied and un ceasing is the preaching of the Word. Sunday- school teachers are to be numbered by hundreds of thousands. How great is the number of Christian parents that make their children acquainted with the Word of God and would fain also bring them to the Lord as a Saviour. Yet how widespread is the acknowledgment of
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the little fruit that springs from all this work. How many there are who, notwithstanding all they hear, and in spite of the fact that they are by no means indifferent, are yet never laid hold of with power and helped to make a definite choice of salvation. How many also there are who from youth to old age are con versant with the Word of God but are never seized by it in the depths of their heart. They find it good, and pleasing, and instructive to attend church, but they have never felt the power of the Word as a hammer, and a sword, and a fire. The reason why they are so little disturbed is that the preaching they listen to is so little in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. Alas! There is evidence enough that there is but too great lack of the full blessing of Pentecost.
Does the blame for this issue attach to preachers or to congregations? My belief is that it belongs to both together. The preachers are the offspring of the Christian community. By the children we are enabled to see whether the mother is healthy or not. Preachers are very dependent on the life that is in their
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congregations. When a congregation finds satisfaction in the merely acceptable and instructive preaching of a young minister, it encourages him to go forward on the same path, whilst he should rather be helped by its elder or more advanced believers to seek earnestly the demonstration of the Spirit. When a minister does not lead his congregation, either in public worship or in private prayer, really to expect everything from the Spirit of God, then he is tempted, both for himself and his people, to put confidence in the wisdom of man and the work of man. that we could lay it to heart, that, in the midst of all our lamentation over increasing worldliness of spirit and widespread indifference, the great cause of all impenitence is the lack of the full blessing of Pentecost! This alone gives power from on high which can break down and quicken again the hard hearts of men.
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V
Think how little preparedness there is for self- sacrifice in behalf of the extension of the Kingdom of God.
When the Lord Jesus at His ascension promised the Holy Spirit, it was as a power in us to work for Him. " Ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you, and ye shall be My witnesses unto the uttermost parts of the earth." l The aim of the pentecostal blessing from the King in heaven was simply to complete the equipment of His servants for His work as King upon the earth. No sooner did the Spirit descend upon them than they began to witness for Him. The Spirit filled them with the desire and the impulse, with the courage and the power, to brave all hostility and danger, to endure all suffering and persecution, if only they could succeed in making Jesus known as a Saviour. The Spirit of Pentecost was that true missionary Spirit which seeks to win the whole world for Jesus Christ.
It is often said in our days that the missionary 1 Acts i. 8.
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spirit is so much on the increase. Yet when we reflect carefully how little effort is expended on the missionary enterprise in comparison with what we bestow on our own interests, we shall see at once how feebly this question is still kindled in our hearts: " What more can I still sacrifice for Jesus? He offered Himself for me. I will offer myself wholly for Him and His work." It has been well said that the Lord measures our gifts not according to what we give, but according to what we retain. He who stands beside the treasury and observes what is cast into it still finds many who, like the widow, cast in all their living. But, alas! how many are there who with their five shillings or their five pounds have given only what they could never miss and what costs them little or no sacrifice. How far different would it be if the full blessing of Pentecost began to flow in. How would the hearts of men burn with love to Jesus, and out of very joy be impelled to give everything that He might be known as a Saviour all around, and that all might know His love.
Brother, contemplate the condition of the
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Church on earth, of the Christian community around you, of your own heart, and then say if there is not grave reason for the cry: " The full blessing of Pentecost: how little is it known." Ponder the present lack of sanctification, of separation from the world, of steadfastness amongst professing Christians, of conversions amongst the unsaved, and of self-sacrifice for the kingdom of God, and let the sad reality deepen in your soul the conviction that the Church is at present suffering from one great evil, and that this is her lack of the blessing of Pentecost. There can be no healing of her breaches, no restoration from her fall, no renewing of her power, except by this one remedy namely, her being filled with the Spirit of God.
Let us then never cease to speak, think, mourn, and pray over this trouble until this " one thing needful " becomes the one thing that occupies our hearts. The restoration is not easy. It will perhaps not come all at once: it may not come speedily. The disciples of Jesus required every day with Jesus for three long years to prepare them for it. Let us not be unduly discouraged if the transformation we long for
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does not take place immediately. Let us feel the need and lay it to heart. Let us continue instant in prayer. Let us stand fast in faith. The blessing of Pentecost is the birthright of the Church, the pledge of our inheritance, some thing that belongs to us here on the earth. Faith can never be put to shame. Cleaving to Jesus with purpose of heart can never be in vain. The hour will surely come when, if we believe perseveringly in Him, out of our hearts too will flow rivers of living water. Amen.