THE Christian Church was launched at Pentecost. Pentecostal power impelled the young church on its mission. The assigned mission of the church was to preach the gospel of Christ in all the world. And the youthful, Spirit-filled church plied its mission magnificently.
The key to success in that mission brought on Pentecostal power. After days of heart-searching prayer and earnest confessions the once dubious disciples now fully believed on the risen Lord. And when "they were all with one accord in one place" the Holy Spirit took possession of them" (Acts 2:1-4). The Spirit-filled disciples were enable to do power-filled preaching of Christ and His promises that the populace of old Jerusalem was divinely electrified and thousands were added to the body of believers. Brethren, the fullness of the Holy Spirit in our lives is the key to success in any undertaking for God.
From the moment the commission to preach the gospel was given, the mission of the church has remained unchanged. And the key to the success of that mission has also remained the same to this day. The Lord who commissioned the church confirms this fact. "He that believeth on me," said Jesus, "as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given)" (John 7:38, 39). Here our Lord is promising that men of faith shall have the Spirit's power flow through them in life-giving streams, as a river flows through its channel. Trusting men of God may therefore draw living power from the well of salvation, and this power of the Spirit will flow through possessed men into the lives of all they touch.
Happy indeed is that church whose membership is Spirit- and life-endowed. Such in fact is "the Spirit-filled church," and such alone is the church of Christ. And no church can hope to receive this latter-rain power unless and until the majority of its membership have purified soul and spirit by heart-searching prayers and perfect faith and accord in Christ. (See Early Writings, page 71, and Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, pages 506-512.) It is a Spirit-filled, working membership in the church that Heaven merges with the second Pentecost—the more abundant "latter rain" to ripen earth's harvest.
The great outpouring of the Spirit of God, which lightens the whole earth with His glory, will not come until we have an enlightened people, that know by experience what it means to be laborers together with God. When we have entire, whole-hearted consecration to the service of Christ, God will recognize the fact by an outpouring of His Spirit without measure; but this will not be while the largest portion of the church are not laborers together with God.—Christian Service, p. 253.
It is between the first and second Pentecosts, the early and latter rains, if you will, that we behold the growing fortunes, and misfortunes, of the living church. And the patterns for both of these concepts are significantly revealed in the training for discipleship that the Lord had initiated. Recall that when the seventy returned from their first training mission they rejoiced that even demon-filled persons responded to the power given them (Luke 10:17-20). Whereupon, the divine instructor gently reminded them it was His power that provided those fortunate victories, and that their joys should rather center in His work for them in heaven.
Recall again that when the twelve entered upon their practice missions the Lord similarly "gave them power over unclean spirits," and "they went out, and preached that men should repent," and they "cast out many devils and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them" (Mark 6:7-13).
Let all take careful notice that the for tunes of these training missions, like the fruitage that followed Pentecostal preaching, depended upon the same significant gift of the power of the Spirit! Christ "gave them power," "they were all filled with the Holy Ghost," and "the Spirit gave them utterance." This, brethren, is the key to a Spirit-filled church—Spirit-filled men and women in our memberships. This alone gives hope for spiritual power in the church.
When the contrasting misfortunes that plagued the early church are examined we note a relevance to current church conditions. Indeed the church today would betray its mission and we ministers would be less than genuine men of God if we closed our minds to the misfortunes of retrenchment that assail the remnant church on more than a few of its frontiers. We shall not speak of those areas of retrenchment. Instead, we turn to a diagnosis of the sickness and let Heaven prescribe the cure.
Men sharing the good fortune of great power with God, unfortunately lost that power when they took it for granted, as the following will show.
While the Lord and three of His disciples spent a full night in heart-searching prayer for power to face tomorrow, the remaining nine disciples spent the same night in imaginary trifles that precipitated a crisis that robbed them of their power. Read the story in Matthew 17 and Mark 9. The Lord took Peter, James, and John into the mountain to pray. He requested the nine to remain and pray at the base of the mountain. The nine felt slighted at this request. Since similar requests had been made before, they began to fear they were becoming victims of discrimination.
Disappointed and peeved, they did not feel the necessity for the prayer meeting that Jesus requested. Instead, they spent the hours nursing imaginary grievances. They brooded over their grievances until doublings and resentment settled upon them. They created the climate in which Satan lives, and as faith in the Lord's plans weakened, power over the enemy slipped from their lives and the devil took over. The nine did not sense their loss until they were unable to cast demons out of a lunatic boy. Imagine it! Men possessed with the spirit of the devil attempted to cast out devils, and the devils mocked them!
When they inquired of the Lord, "Why could not we cast him out?" the grieved Saviour answered, "Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed . . . nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting" (Matt. 17:19-21). In this reply the Lord not merely diagnosed the sickness of the nine disciples, He offered a cure. He did more than call attention to the enemies of spiritual power, He offered to restore the lost power.
Disobedience, prayerlessness, peevishness, doublings, and resentments, all facets of unbelief in the Saviour's plans, brought on the sickness that robbed the nine of their power. Lessons from the parable of the mustard seed offered the divine formula for a specific cure.
"If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed," Jesus said. Seeing that the mustard seed does not literally "have faith," we must look to its natural characteristics and learn the lesson it teaches. The size of the seed is not important either, for faith does not come in sizes. Although it is among the smallest of seeds, in it nestles a God-given principle of life. Under the influence of the sun's warmth, the rain's moisture, and electric currents in the earth, Heaven quickens the life forces in the seed. The sprouting seed pushes its roots deep into the earth's bosom in search of food and drink, and lifts its young head high for help from the energy of the sun. Succulent and tender, the growing plant is choice food for animals, large and small; and suddenly its bunched head is clipped to the ground by a hungry prowler! Do you think the young plant dies because it lost its head? Oh, no, it sprouts two new heads which grow as vigorously as the first. But again it loses its two new heads to a hungry animal. Do you think the mustard plant dies because it lost both of its new heads? No, no, it sprouts yet other heads in its determination to reach maturity of life and so fulfill its divine destiny!
When we tenaciously hold to the promises and directions of our God, as the sprouted mustard seed clings to life, our faith will move mountains of difficulties.
"Howbeit," the Lord advises, "this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting." Not prayer at the moment of crisis and misfortune. Such prayers are usually born of fear, and all too often they profit little. It is the systematic prayer life, the consistent and constant lifting up of the soul unto God that generates living, power-filled faith. Spirit-empowered faith is the lone agent that cures the sicknesses of sin. James says, "The prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up" (James 5:15).
As the transformed mustard seed clings to life, so prayer-powered faith clings to Christ and His promises. This faith provides the climate in which the Holy Ghost works. And when the Holy Spirit takes over, He goes to work filling the individual life, and filling the church with a power-filled membership.
It may now be said that when the church of today puts away its enemies; when Spirit-filled church members put away dis obedience and prayerlessness, jealousies and peevishness, prejudices and resentments; then oneness and accord in Christ will be reached. The Lord Jesus will breathe again upon His disciples, and they will receive the promised endowment of the Holy Ghost. The latter rain will fall upon the church; Spirit-filled preaching will sweep the world; and the second Pentecost will ripen earth's harvest. May the church now fervently pray, "Come, Holy Spirit, cleanse our lives and fill Your church. Come, Lord Jesus, and take Your holy church home."
