Devotional High Lights From the Autumn Council
Grand Rapids, Michigan, October 23-November 1, 1950
[So that every one of our workers may get at least an impression of the excellent devotional studies given at the recent Fall Council, we are happy to reproduce these thoughts in this issue of THE MINISTRY. We only wish that space might permit sharing all these studies in their entirety, and with them the deep spirit of heart searching and reconsecration that graced every such service. We are presenting these high lights in the order that they were given, beginning with Elder Bran- son's study on Monday evening, October 23, and closing with the morning devotional study on the last day of the council, when G. E. Peters brought the message. L. K. Dickson's sermon on Sabbath morning and G. E. Vandeman's appeal on Sabbath afternoon were heard by large crowds of our believers who had gathered from the surrounding area.—B. G.]
W. H. BKANSON (Monday evening, October 23).: The council proper will open tomorrow night. We have arranged for one full day of prayer and Bible study, so that tomorrow there will be no business conducted in this hall until the evening. There will be a few boards meeting during the day, a few committees, but we are earnestly requesting that the committees that meet tomorrow do not meet during the Bible studies.
The topics that will be discussed beginning tonight and continuing right through the council, including the meetings tomorrow and the morning devotional meetings during the council, will all be on the same subject—the gift of the Holy Spirit, the latter rain.
Is It Time for the Latter Rain?
I am introducing this subject by reading from the tenth chapter of Zechariah and the first verse, where it says, "Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain; so the Lord shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field."
Is it actually time for the latter rain, or are we just about to approach that time? I read from an excerpt from Ellen White, in the Re view and Herald of March 19, 1895:
"The descent of the Holy Spirit upon the church is looked forward to as in the future; but it is the privilege of the church to have it now."
The decision as to when the latter rain will come to this people is in our hands. God must wait until the preparation of heart has been made and until in all earnestness and serious ness we set ourselves to the task of asking for it and seeking for it.
In Jeremiah 3:1 the Lord speaks about His people having gone into sin. They have not followed Him as they should. And then in the third verse he says, "Therefore [for this reason] the showers have been with holden, and there hath been no latter rain."
Another great hindrance has been our lack of faith. A lot of us have been afraid of fanaticism. We have been afraid to reach right out and lay hold of God's promises to send upon us the power of the Holy Spirit for fear we would be considered to be too earnest or perhaps a little peculiar. And we have not dared to believe that our prayers would literally be answered.
It is entirely our responsibility tonight to decide whether or not we are going to have the baptism of the Holy Spirit in its fullness in this council or whether we will have to wait until next year or five or ten years or after we are gone and our successors are on the stage of action. If we are ready tonight to clear the way for the infilling of the Holy Spirit in our hearts; if, brethren and sisters, we are ready tonight to put away all dissension and bickering and backbiting and jealousies and faultfinding and other sins of our hearts, secret sins, sins hidden from the world, which no one knows about but ourselves; if we are ready to do that tonight, and we do it with all our hearts, we have every right to reach out and claim this promised blessing and believe that God sends it. Nothing short of that will ever get us beyond the position we have been in for one hundred years.
When we receive the Holy Spirit there will be a power in our ministry that will win hundreds where we formerly won one, two, or ten.
I believe that every time a minister is pre paring to go into the desk to proclaim this mighty truth to men and women, whether it be our own people in our churches or those of the world, he has the right to go into the closet of prayer and ask God for the latter rain for that service, and get up from his knees with the feeling in his very soul that God has answered that prayer, and go before that congregation with the confidence in his heart that the Holy Ghost is upon him.
When a colporteur knocks at a door he has the perfect right to lift up his heart there to God and claim the baptism of power for that interview. When our institutional men prepare literature or minister to the sick or teach our youth in the schools, they have the right to claim this baptism of power. But it will never come until we have faith to believe in it. "He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."
"Thousands in the eleventh hour will see and ac knowledge the truth. . . . These conversions to truth will be made with a rapidity that will surprise the church."—E. G. White Letter 43, 1890.
It will be a wonderful thing when God surprises all of us with the rapidity with which people come into the church, will it not?
If we are ready tonight to make this vital decision, that we would rather have the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our work and our lives and our service than to have anything that the world can offer; if there is left nothing between us and God, then we will have this gift, provided we are ready to claim it by faith.
Results of the First Pentecost
R. A. ANDERSON : Pentecost made all the difference to the apostles.
"No longer were they a collection of independent units or discordant, conflicting elements. . . . They were of 'one accord,' of 'one heart and of one soul.' Christ filled their thoughts. ... In mind and character they had become like their Master, and men 'took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.' "— Acts of the Apostles, p. 45.
Then let me read this further word: "With what burning language they clothed their ideas as they bore witness for Him!"—Ibid., p. 46. They preached with power, and their language burned through the citadels of sin.
Would you kindly take your Bibles. I want you to go through some texts with me quickly. We want to see what their Spirit-filled ministry meant to their generation. Here in the second chapter of Acts we read that when these men began to speak as the Spirit gave them utterance, it was noised abroad, and a multitude came together. Not just a handful—the city was stirred! And the forty-first verse of Acts 2 says, "There were added unto them about three thousand souls." Then in chapter 4 we read that the number of men were "about five thousand." How the numbers were increasing! And now Acts 5:14 says that there were "added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women." And in chapter 6, verse 7, we found that "the word of God increased; and the number of disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith."
Now I turn to Acts 8:6, the Revised Version, and read, "Multitudes gave heed with one accord unto the things that were spoken by Philip." And I read in the ninth chapter and the thirty-fifth verse, "All that dwelt at Lydda and Saron saw him, and turned to the Lord." Think of it! Whole cities, whole communities, turning unto the Lord! The forty-second verse says : "And it was known throughout all Joppa; and many believed in the Lord." And in chapter ii :2I the statement is made that "a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord." And then in the forty-fourth verse of the thirteenth chapter we learn that almost the whole city came "together to hear the word of God." The fourteenth chapter and the first verse tells us: "A great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed." And the twenty-first verse says that "they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many ["had made many disciples," margin]." Now read the seventeenth chapter and the sixth verse, and listen to what their enemies were saying: "These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also." The world had to take notice of something now. And coming to the eighteenth chapter and the eighth verse, we learn that "many of the Corinthians hearing believed." Corinth, that great commercial and financial center of Greece, the place where wisdom was the most important thing—and what foolish wisdom it was! But here they are, accepting what was folly to them, and they are believing and being baptized. And now the nineteenth chapter and the twentieth verse concludes: "So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed."
Oh, see the power that was in the ministry of those men! And, brethren, this was no spasmodic revival; it was a continuous, perennial revival. And the most wonderful thing about it all to me is this: While they were of different nationalities, different groups, yet we read in Acts 4:32 that when they came together "the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul." That surely was a miracle of grace.
And what those apostles were able to do by the grace of God the Lord can do through us if we can just take Christ as they took Him.
[After this study Elder Brewer led out in a testimony meeting. Many came forward to the microphone and spoke of their determination to make room for the Holy Spirit in their lives. Only the limitation of time prevented everyone present from taking part in this consecration service.]
Promised Results of the Latter Rain
A. V. OLSON: When the Spirit of God was poured out on the day of Pentecost the brethren and sisters sold their possessions and laid all at the feet of the apostles. We know that at different times in the history of the world when the Spirit of God has been working in a special way in the church, a spirit of liberality has come in, funds have flowed in with which to carry on the work of God. As the Spirit of God is poured out more and more upon His people today there will be a. spirit of sacrifice manifested.
There are many in the church today who have long manifested this spirit of sacrifice. But as the Spirit of God comes in in a fuller measure and grips the hearts of His people, we will see a new spirit of sacrifice touch those who in the past have failed to do their duty.
"The willingness to sacrifice on the part of the Macedonian believers came as a result of wholehearted consecration. Moved by the Spirit of God, they 'first gave their own selves to the Lord;' then they were willing to give freely of their means for the support of the gospel. It was not necessary to urge them to give; rather, they rejoiced in the privilege of denying themselves even of necessary things in order to supply the needs of others. When the apostle would have re strained them, they importuned him to accept their offering. In their simplicity and integrity, and in their love for the brethren, they gladly denied self, and thus abounded in the fruit of benevolence."—Acts of the Apostles, pp. 343, 344
There was a time, we are told, when there were no sick among them. Might that not be true again in these last days?
"By thousands of voices, all over the earth, the warning will be given. Miracles will be wrought, the sick will be healed, and signs and wonders will follow the believers."—The Great Controversy, p. 612.
I am not so sure, brethren and sisters, but that we have been almost afraid in the past to lend our influence or in any way think it possible that we should see miracles in our midst. We are almost ready to think people are fanatical who believe in the manifestation of miracles. And yet, here is the promise.
" 'God will soon do great things for us, if we lie humble and believing at His feet. . . . More than one thousand will soon be converted in one day, most of whom will trace their first convictions to the reading of our publications.' "—Review and Herald, Nov. 10, 1886.
When the Spirit is poured out truth will be more precious to the people than anything else. Notwithstanding all the agencies combined against the truth, large numbers will take their stand on the Lord's side. Yes, they will be corning by thousands in a day. And I believe it will be more than that, brethren. When the latter rain is poured out we are going to see greater things wrought than were accomplished on the day of Pentecost. There were three thousand converted in a day, and if we are to see greater things, we must expect even more than three thousand. And surely this is the time for which we are longing and praying this morning.
Entering Into the Experience
M. K. ECKENROTH : In order to receive the Spirit of God, all should guard the senses lest Satan gain victory over them, for they are the avenues to the soul. In I Corinthians 2:14 the apostle says, "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." When a man is converted to God a new moral taste is created, and he loves the things that God loves, for his life is bound, by the golden chain of immutable promises, to the life of Christ.
"When we are clothed with the righteousness of Christ, we shall have no relish for sin."—Review and Herald, March 18, 1890.
"High pretensions, forms, ceremonies, however imposing, do not make the heart good and the character pure. True love for God is an active principle, a purifying agency."—Ibid., April 30, 1895.
I Corinthians 6:19, 20: "Ye are bought with a price." We are not our own.
"The interests of Christ's kingdom call for diligence and faithfulness in as much greater degree as spiritual and eternal things are of more importance than temporal things. . . . Freedom of choice is given to every soul, but after a man has enlisted, he is required to be as true as steel, come life or death."—Evangelism, pp. 647, 648. (Italics supplied.)
What a challenge that is! Once we have en listed, we are no longer our own. We heed the commands of our Captain. I have been thrilled as I have been around visiting some of our fields and talking to our ministers after the General Conference session. Their solemn decisions at the General Conference session to reach out after a new experience was very real to our workers. Many of the things on which they had taken a rather liberal attitude, they were brought face to face with, as if by a sadden jolt. They recognized that they were slipping. Many of my brethren shared with me the deep conviction that the time had come when there were some things that we could not do any longer.
Our whole attitude toward inspiration itself and the Spirit of prophecy is dependent upon our attitude in this vital fundamental. It will embrace a reformation in the physical life. It will lead us to study the laws of our being and make an intelligent application of the laws of healthful living in our own persons and in our homes. It will lead to a reform in dress and a reform in diet, and to the abandonment of every health-destroying practice.
The Spirit of prophecy points out things that are very current—things real to the Seventh- clay Adventist ministry. And I am one of you, so I am not separating myself from these issues. Love of office, ungodly conversation, criticism, anger, perhaps a distortion or a discoloring of the truth, yielding to this temptation and that, laxness in the matter of diet and healthful living, and seeking our pleasure on a level entirely too low for the Advent ministry—all of this has a very definite bearing on this. The more I studied, the more I prayed, the more I wrestled with this problem, the heavier the burden be came, as I saw that all of this must be accounted for, it must be reckoned with, as we seek for the Holy Spirit now.
Here is good counsel for us, brethren:
Present before the people the need of resisting the temptation to indulge in appetite. This is where many are failing. Explain how closely body and mind are related. "Send into the churches workers who will set the principles of health reform in their connection with the third angel's message, before every family and individual. . . . See if the breath of life will not quickly return to these churches."—Testimonies to Ministers, p. 416.
To obtain the blessings of the Holy Spirit, we must clear the way so that the Spirit can work within our being His precious fruits.
Special Prayer Service
[Immediately following M. K. Eckenroth's study a praver and consecration service was held, with Glenn Calkins leading out. On a number of other occasions as well these devotional studies led to such special services.]
GLENN CALKINS: Brother Eckenroth has stated that we are not at liberty as ministers to do some things that members in the churches can do and might be justified in doing. How true that is! We are living from the sacred tithe, and when we accept the tithe, my brethren, we accept a responsibility that we cannot easily avoid. We must live on a different spiritual plane. God expects it, the people expect it.
At my home in California there is very reverently laid away on a shelf a small pocket edition of Steps to Christ. It was given to me by a young medical student at Loma Linda with whom I became acquainted while my wife was there as a patient. It was my privilege to assist him a bit financially, and he in return, out of the goodness of his heart, gave me this little pocket edition of Steps to Christ. The book is worn out now, and although I cherish it because it was the first religious book that I had ever owned, yet more than the book itself I cherish a little message that he wrote on the flyleaf. And this is what he wrote there: "With a prayer that His life may be lived again in you." Many a time in the years that have followed, when temptations have arisen, when troubles have come, that little message has come before my eyes, "With a prayer that His life may be lived again in you."
An army officer found dissension in his company. There were misunderstandings between some of the men. There were jealousies and envious feelings, and he had tried to help his men by talking to them from time to time, but to no avail. One day, my brethren, according to this story, he ordered the company out onto the parade ground, and he deployed them out into a great circle, with himself standing in the center. Then he gave the command that every man, with his eyes fixed on the captain, who stood in the center, take one step forward toward the captain. And then came another command, another step, and then another, and another, until at last the men realized that they were standing shoulder to shoulder.
My brethren, that is what it means to be drawing nearer and nearer to God, with our eyes fixed on Him, and we will automatically draw nearer and nearer to one another. Don't you think the time has come when we should draw nearer to each other? Let us get down by each other on our knees and together, shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart, plead with God for the outpouring of His Spirit, that we might fulfill that which He has in mind. How many would like to do that just now? How many would like to come forward and kneel together, right down here in front?
[At this point every leader and worker present— there were hundreds—came forward, and all knelt while many prayers were offered.]
The Holy Spirit Given in Service for Soul Winning
J. L. MCELHANY: A few hours after His resurrection Jesus met with His disciples. You remember how He prayed there that even "as thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world." John 17:18. "When he had said this, he breathed on them, and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost." John 20:22.
I want you to notice the sequence here. "As thou hast sent me, . . . even so have I also sent them." "He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost." It is evident from this time on that the disciples were to look to the outpouring of the Spirit of God upon them in order to qualify them for the great work that lay before them. The Holy Spirit was to be the breath of spiritual life to them, just as our physical bodies depend upon the air about us for the intake of oxygen and for those life-giving qualities that sustain physical life.
Notice from Acts 2138, 39: "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the re mission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call."
Peter in his sermon that day prophetically looked down through the years to come, and saw the work of the gospel being carried on throughout the world, the preaching of the gospel. He saw us down here in the last days of time, and included us in the provisions of that promise, that we should receive power.
In the forty-first verse we have the results recorded: "And the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls." This experience may well be called the inauguration of the Holy Spirit's dispensation.
I am happy that today we are becoming more conscious of our need of the Holy Spirit's power. I have declared on a number of occasions, and I want to say it again this morning, I do not believe that the finishing of God's work in all the world is tied to the General Conference budget. I believe that the finishing of God's work in all the world is tied to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the latter rain. I believe in all the varied aspects of our organization, but they are not and never can be substitutes for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
I pray with you that God will help us to be so close to our blessed Lord and Saviour that all sin may be taken out of our hearts and lives as individuals, that we may be purified, and that we may see the church coming into line with greater spiritual power, according to this great promise that is to be fulfilled.
Praying for the Holy Spirit
A. L. HAM : We are counseled to pray without ceasing, to pray for the Holy Spirit.
"To the consecrated worker there is wonderful con solation in the knowledge that even Christ during His life on earth sought His Father daily for fresh supplies of needed grace; and from this communion with God He went forth to strengthen and bless others."—Gospel Workers, p. 510.
"When with earnestness and intensity we breathe a prayer in the name of Christ, there is in that very intensity a pledge from God that He is about to answer our prayer 'exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.' "—Christ's Object Lessons, p. 147.
We must make room for the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives as we pray. If there is sin there, the power of the Holy Spirit cannot abide with us. It must be put away through confession and forgiveness. Then Christ will come in and fellowship with us. That will be a blessed experience.
I think of an old Indian sister, a poor old soul, persecuted by her people who were all Hindus. She was beaten because she would go to our church and hear the preaching of the gospel. Finally her people locked her in a room when it was time for meeting so she could not go. She had her Bible for her comfort, and she had the privilege of prayer. She had a blessed communion with her Master. Often the evangelist would come and stand just outside her window and read to her the words of the Holy Bible, and have prayer with her.
One day he told her he wished she might come and attend the meeting that night. He went away not thinking, of course, that she would be able to come. But she came somehow. I had the privilege of attending that meeting. One of our aged workers brought her around and introduced her to me, and then he said, "Sister, how did you come?" "Oh," she said, "we walked and talked together. Sometimes we fell down into the rice paddy fields, but we got up together, we walked on together."
"But," he said, "Sister, what do you mean? Who came with you?" "Ah," she said, "my Lord and I." I shall never forget the light that shone from her wrinkled face as she said those words. She had that experience, that communion, that walk with God, that modern-time walk with God as Enoch walked in days of old.
Fellow workers, brethren and sisters, we may have that communion. We must pray the prayer of faith, the prayer of confession, the prayer of supplication, the prayer of intercession, the prayer of communion, and the prayer of thanks giving.
Righteousness by Faith a Prerequisite to the Latter Rain
H. M. S. RICHARDS : If we ever have any righteousness at all, it will be by faith. There is no other righteousness. The righteousness that is by the law is a dream. There is no such thing, because we never can merit it, never can have it. The law can't give it to us; it's impossible. The only righteousness you and I ever can have before God is His own righteousness, which is ours as His gift through our faith in Him.
Now, surely God will never pour out His Holy Spirit in latter-rain wonder and glory and power upon unbelievers. He certainly will not pour it out upon unconverted men and women, so it seems to me a simple fact that anyone can see that righteousness by faith is a prerequisite to the latter rain. It is a necessity; it is the foundation on which the other experience will come, because we must be born again, regenerated, and changed by the power of the Holy Spirit. That comes when we believe, when we accept the Lord Jesus as our Saviour, the One who paid the price for our life, who gave His life for our life, which we forfeited because of sin. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." That great text assumes the universal guilt of man; it assumes his salvation on faith, through faith, and by faith. So, friends, it is very clear from this text alone that righteous ness comes by faith—it says so right here.
Modernism has eaten its way on one side and ritualism on the other side. What a great opportunity now for God's people in these days to re-emphasize, to preach everywhere, the one great, needful doctrine!
I am sure we need an old-fashioned preaching of the gospel in every one of our hearts. I am sure that I need it. I need to understand it better and more clearly and accept Christ's righteousness as mine, and be happy every day in it. Only then can we expect the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
How Can We Finish the Work Soon?
W. B. OCHS: The work of God will be finished when the church is fully surrendered, wholly dedicated, consecrated, and when the church becomes a living, working church. I read the words found in Christ's Object Les sons, page 363: "When we give ourselves wholly to God and in our work follow His directions, He makes Himself responsible for its accomplishment." Mrs. White also says, "Everyone who is added to the ranks by con version is to be assigned his post of duty."— Testimonies, vol. 7, p. 30.
God's work will be finished when His "people are willing to follow the plans and counsels of the Lord." The different lines of our work are but parts of one great whole. They have one center. "The Lord desires His chosen servants to learn how to unite together in harmonious effort."—Ibid., vol. 9, p. 145.
Here's something even more definite:
"Let every department of our work, every institution connected with our cause, . . . while maintaining its own distinctive character, seek to protect, strengthen, and build up every other branch. ... It is the privilege of each to study and labor for the health and welfare of the whole body of which he is a member."—Ibid., vol. 7, P. 174.
We are going to finish the work soon through the power of the Holy Spirit. Thank God for the presentation of this wonderful topic in this council. The secret of finishing the work is not found in our education: it is not found in machinery, or in numbers, or in wealth. It is found in the four words: "But by my Spirit."
O brethren, let's climb the stairs and get in the upper room. Unless God's divine Spirit is manifested in all our plans and in all our activities, we labor in vain.
We should talk more about the power of the Holy Spirit than do about the power of the atomic bomb.
"He will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth."
World Evangelism Now!
L. K. DICKSOK : There are sufficient men and women before me right here in this meeting to shake the world with the evangelistic movement that God is now calling for. But think what it would mean if nearly eight hundred thousand Seventh-day Adventists would come to that conclusion all at the same time, and lay their all upon the altar, and seek God with all their hearts until they find Him and His match less power! God has never opened up paths that we cannot follow. He has never brought to us opportunities we cannot fill. It would be blasphemy for us to think that our great Leader is leading us into perplexity and impossibility. And yet today, as we are seated here enjoying this worship hour together, there are wide-open doors in many parts of the world that have been open for many years for this truth, and we have not yet entered in. There are possibilities within the Advent church today that have been up to this moment untouched, and God has promised through His messenger that there are agencies and resources that He will open up in response to the importunate prayer of faith.
It is very questionable as to whether the Seventh-day Adventist Church as yet has faced her task. It is a real question as to whether we are using what God has already put into our hands to the extent of our ability. Is it not strange that though not using to the full extent the blessings and facilities God has given us, we dare to bow before Him and call upon Him for more? I think I can hear the echo from His voice telling us, "Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion."
Some have raised the question as to whether it is going to be necessary for this truth to reach the individuals of earth. They say, Maybe the work is finished more than we know anything about. Well, that may be true; we may not know how many have heard. But I want to read to you a statement or two that I believe answers that question.
"Not one is made to suffer the wrath of God until the truth has been brought home to his mind and con science, and has been rejected. There are many who have never had an opportunity to hear the special truths for this time. The obligation of the fourth commandment has never been set before them in its true light. He who reads every heart, and tries every motive, will leave none who desire a knowledge of the truth, to be deceived as to the issues of the controversy."—The Great Controversy, p. 605.
"As the rays of the sun penetrate to the remotest corners of the globe, so God designs that the light of the Gospel shall extend to every soul upon the earth. If the church of Christ were fulfilling the purpose of our Lord, light would be shed upon all that sit in darkness and in the region and shadow of death."— Mount of Blessing, .p. 69.
So you see, dear friends, this is a matter that pertains not only to the organized movement of His church, to go out into all the world and find the honest hearted, but it is a matter that touches every individual life. Every Christian is a soul winner. Let us never forget it.
We need to seek God for the Holy Spirit until we are aflame and ablaze with evangelistic zeal.
Full Consecration and the Reception of the Holy Spirit
G. E. VANDEMAN: When the Holy Spirit is poured out in full measure something will hap pen to our ministry.
"Then the truth of God's word will be regarded with new interest. . . . The promises of God now repeated as if the soul had never tasted of His love, will then glow upon the altar of the heart, and fall in burning- words from the lips of the messengers of God. They will then plead with souls with an earnestness that cannot be repulsed. Then the windows of heaven will be opened for the showers of the latter rain."—Review and Herald, Feb. 25, 1890.
God grant that experience now. This blessing is prepared for us, and God longs to grant it.
In facing this question today I want to read a few lines that struck solemnity to my heart. Never have I read in all the writing's anything that has challenged me more than this, for it indicates that there may be a sifting among the worker body as well as among the people. Listen:
"Only those who have withstood temptation in the strength of the Mighty One will be permitted to act a part in proclaiming it [third angel's message] when it shall have swelled into the loud cry."—Ibid., Nov. 19, 1908.
What do you think of that ? The third angel's message is to lighten the earth with all its glory, but only those who have 'withstood and overcome temptation in the strength of the Mighty One will be permitted to act a part in finishing this work.
During the very early days of my ministry I once heard of a woman who prayed, "Lord, show me myself." And I thought, That is a good prayer to pray, so I rather carelessly prayed, "Lord, show me myself." May I suggest that we not pray that prayer unless we are willing to have it answered; for God will answer it if we are sincere, and when He does the revelation will not be pleasant in the least.
Just as my fingers are rooted in the palm of my hand, just so in the individual, weakness and sin are rooted to an unsurrendered self, that hidden self-life with its varied forms of self- seeking, self-pleasing, self-confidence, self-satisfaction. And that, dear friends, is our basic problem.
Are we witting to pay the price? It will not be easy. Every other battle has been a mere skirmish; this will be the real one. We are going to surrender something in this meeting, but remember that probably someone is going to cross us on that very thing thirty minutes after this meeting closes. We know enough about life and salvation to know that that very thing can happen. Are we willing to ask God to reveal to us our very basic selves? And will we, by His grace, make a full surrender now?
Cherished Sin as a Hindrance to the Work of the Holy Spirit
H. L. RUDY: God has Niagaras of spiritual power. All power in heaven and in earth is given to our Lord and Master. The lack of our power cannot be blamed on God. "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear." Isa. 59:1, 2.
"We have been asked why it is that there is so little power in the churches, why there is so Httle_ efficiency among our teachers. The answer is that it is because known sin in various forms is cherished among the professed followers of Christ, and the conscience becomes hardened by long violation. The answer is that men do not walk with God, but separate company with Jesus, and as a result we see manifested in the church selfishness, covetousness, pride, strife, contention, hard_- heartedness,. licentiousness, and evil practices."—Testimonies to Ministers, p. 162.
"There is great need that our brethren overcome secret faults. The displeasure of God, like a cloud, hangs over many of them. The churches are weak. Selfishness, uncharitableness, covetousness, envy, evil surmising, falsehood, theft, robbery, sensuality, licentiousness, and adultery, stand registered against some who claim to really believe the solemn, sacred truth for this time."—Ibid., p. 146.
I have read these statements, because I would not have had the courage and the strength to say so myself. God has spoken these words to us. This is why the churches are weak. This is why the ministry is weak. This is why we lack that power.
Cherished sin is the kind that man does not surrender easily or voluntarily. Otherwise, it would not be a cherished sin. If cherished sin is yielded at all, it is against great opposition both from within and without. Refusing to walk with God is the natural result of cherished sin in the life. The time has come when we must learn to know the blessing of walking with our God. And the blessing of God's presence can be experienced most fully when we have learned what it means to be separated from our own cherished sins, ideas, and possessions.
Sacrificial Giving, a Fruit of the Spirit
R. R. FIGUHR: "Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice." Psalms 50 :$. Sacrifice is to be an outstanding trait of God's people in the last days, a result of the presence of the Spirit in the life. By nature we are covetous, we are selfish, we are self-centered. It is a natural quality of the human heart. Something tremendous has to take place in the heart to change that condition and eradicate the evil of covetousness from the human heart.
On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit came upon His church and settled upon each one of those who were present. We see the results over here in Acts 2:44, 45: "And all that believed were together, and had all things common; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need."
There was a great real estate boom on there for a while. Land was advertised for sale; houses were advertised for sale. People had gone to the meetings not intending to sell. They came away determined to sell, and they advertised their goods by whatever means they had at that time. They sold their possessions and brought them into the treasury of God, and there was sufficient for the poor. That, my friends, is the basis of God's plan for the regenerated, conquered, Spirit-controlled heart. When the Spirit touches the wellsprings of the heart means gush forth in abundance and in sufficient amount. We are told the results of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit—this liberality on the part of the believers was the result of the outpouring of the Spirit. Converts to the gospel were of one heart and one soul. One common interest controlled them, the success of the mission en trusted to them. Covetousness had no place in their lives.
Purely human giving is carefully measured giving. How different is the sacrificial giving stirred in the heart by the Spirit of God! We give without measure; we give as God gives. We place no limits upon it. Our giving is free from covetousness, selfishness, or fear. That, my friends, is the way the Lord would have us give. And He would have us see in the means entrusted to us great possibilities.
I like the words that a converted Oriental wrote over his business: "The United-with- Heaven Business." He recognized God as His partner, and his business was united with Heaven.
It's always a great blessing, my friends, to lay our all upon the altar of sacrifice—not only our material resources and our children whom we love so dearly, but ourselves. May God help us to enter into this Pentecostal experience, as we talk and pray for the Holy Spirit, to give ourselves to the service of God, to go where He bids us, to labor where He would have us labor. May the Lord help us to this experience.
Power for Greater Evangelism
G. E. PETERS : The worker who sets himself to win a soul from darkness to light is by so doing making an attack on Satan's kingdom, and he who goes forth to do this work in his own strength should well remember that he of himself is no match for the devil. He needs the Holy Spirit. "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me." Acts 1:8.
I read in the book Evangelism, on page 285: "It is the power of the Holy Spirit that gives efficacy to your efforts and your appeals." Then on page 169, "There is a living power in truth, and the Holy Spirit is the agent that opens human minds to the truth."
May I call your attention to the following from God's messenger:
"The Lord calls for a renewal of ... spiritual life. The spiritual energies of His people have long been torpid, but there is to be a resurrection from apparent death. By prayer and confession of sin we must clear the King's highway. As we. do this, the power of the Spirit will come to us. We need the pentecostal energy. This will come; for the Lord has promised to send His Spirit as the all-conquering power."—Gospel Workers, pp. 307, 308.
The word of God declares that "one man of you shall chase a thousand." "And two put ten thousand to flight." We know this can be accomplished only by the power of the Holy Spirit, for in many instances, without that power, it takes almost a thousand professed Christians to chase one sinner, and then they frequently miss him.
May the promise found in my text (Acts 1:8), "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me," be ours, and may we be willing to spend days of humiliation and prayer for this experience. Then we will speak the Advent message with tongues of fire. The God of power is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
