Power Promised
25
to those living in these last days? “Turn you to the stronghold, ye
prisoners of hope: even today do I declare that I will render double
unto thee.” “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.”
Zechariah 9:12
;
10:1
.
Christ declared that the divine influence of the Spirit was to be
with His followers unto the end. But the promise is not appreciated
as it should be; and therefore its fulfillment is not seen as it might be.
The promise of the Spirit is a matter little thought of; and the result
is only what might be expected—spiritual drought, spiritual darkness,
spiritual declension and death. Minor matters occupy the attention,
and the divine power which is necessary for the growth and prosperity
of the church, and which would bring all other blessings in its train, is
lacking, though offered in its infinite plenitude.
It is the absence of the Spirit that makes the gospel ministry so
powerless. Learning, talent, eloquence, every natural or acquired
endowment, may be possessed; but, without the presence of the Spirit
of God, no heart will be touched, no sinner won to Christ. On the other
hand, if they are connected with Christ, if the gifts of the Spirit are
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theirs, the poorest and most ignorant of His disciples will have a power
that will tell upon hearts. God makes them channels for the outflowing
of the highest influence in the universe.
Why do we not hunger and thirst for the gift of the Spirit, since
this is the means by which we are to receive power? Why do we not
talk of it, pray for it, preach concerning it? The Lord is more willing
to give the Holy Spirit to us than parents are to give good gifts to
their children. For the baptism of the Spirit every worker should be
pleading with God. Companies should be gathered together to ask for
special help, for heavenly wisdom, that they may know how to plan
and execute wisely. Especially should men pray that God will baptize
His missionaries with the Holy Spirit.
The presence of the Spirit with God’s workers will give the pre-
sentation of the truth a power that not all the honor or glory of the
world could give. The Spirit furnishes the strength that sustains striv-
ing, wrestling souls in every emergency, amidst the unfriendliness
of relatives, the hatred of the world, and the realization of their own
imperfections and mistakes.