Teaching Resources International

The principal bond of union between Christ and His people is the Holy Spirit: but as the union is mutual, something is necessary on our part to complete it, and this is faith. Hence, Christ is said to dwell in our hearts “by faith” (Eph. 3:17).  Yet, let it be said emphatically, the faith which unites to Christ and saves the soul is not merely a natural act of the mind assenting to the Gospel, as it assents to any other truth upon reliable testimony.  But it is a supernatural act, an effect produced by the power of the Spirit of grace, and is such a persuasion of the truth concerning the Savior as calls forth exercises suited to its Object.  The soul being quickened and made alive spiritually, begins to act spiritually.  “The soul is the life of the body, faith is the life of the soul, and Christ is the life of faith” (John Flavell).

It is a great mistake to define Scriptural terms according to the narrow scope and meaning which they have in common speech.  In ordinary conversation, “faith” signifies credence or the assent of the mind unto some testimony.  But in God’s Word, so far from faith—saving faith, we mean—being merely a natural act of the mind, it includes the concurrence of the will and an action of the affections: it is “with the heart,” and not with the head, that “man believeth unto righteousness” (Rom. 10:10).  Saving faith is a cordial approbation of Christ, an acceptance of Him in His entire character as Prophet, Priest, and King; it is entering into covenant with Him, receiving Him as Lord and Savior.  When this is understood, it will appear to be a fit instrument for completing our union with Christ, for the union is thus formed by mutual consent.

Were people to perceive more clearly the implications and the precise character of saving faith, they would be the more readily convinced that it is “the gift of God,” an effect or fruit of the Spirit’s operation on the heart.  Saving faith is a coming to Christ, and coming to Christ necessarily presupposes a forsaking of all that stands opposed to Him.  It has been rightly said that “true faith includes in it the renunciation of the flesh as well as the reception of the Savior; true faith admires the precepts of holiness as well as the glory of the Savior” (J.H. Thornwell, 1850).  Not until these facts are recognized, enlarged upon, and emphasized by present-day preachers is there any real likelihood of the effectual exposure of the utter inadequacy of that natural “faith” which is all that thousands of empty professors possess.

“Now He which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God” (2 Cor. 1:21).  None but God (by His Spirit) can “stablish” the soul in all its parts—the understanding, the conscience, the affections, the will.  The ground and reason why the Christian believes the Holy Scriptures to be the Word of God is neither the testimony nor the authority of the Church (as Rome erroneously teaches), but rather the testimony and power of the holy Spirit.  Men may present arguments which will so convince the intellect as to cause a consent, but they cannot establish the soul and conscience so as to assure the heart of the Divine authorship of the Bible.  A spiritual faith must be imparted before the Word is made, in a spiritual way, its foundation and warrant.

The same blessed Spirit who moved holy men of old to write the Word of God, works in the regenerate a faith which nothing can shatter that that Word is the Word of God.  The stablishing argument is by the power of God’s Spirit, who causes the quickened soul to see such a Divine Majesty shining forth in the Scriptures that the heart is established in this first principle.  The renewed soul is made to feel that there is such a pungency in that Word that it must be Divine.  No born-again soul needs any labored argument to convince him of the Divine inspiration of the Scriptures: he has proof within himself of their Heavenly origin.  Faith wrought in the heart by the power of the Spirit is that which satisfies its possessor that the Scriptures are none other than the Word of the living God.

Not only does the blessed Spirit work faith in the written Word—establishing the renewed heart in its Divine veracity and authority—but He also produces faith in the personal Word, the Lord Jesus Christ.  The imperative necessity for this distinct operation of His was briefly shown in a previous article upon “The Spirit Comforting,” but a little further word thereon will not here be out of place.  When the soul has been Divinely awakened and convicted of sin, it is brought to realize and feel its depravity and vileness, its awful guilt and criminality, its utter unfitness to approach a holy God.  It is emptied of self-righteousness and self-esteem, and is brought into the dust of self-abasement and self-condemnation.  Dark indeed is the cloud which now hangs over it; hope is completely abandoned, and despair fills the heart.  The painful consciousness that Divine goodness has been abused, Divine Law trodden under foot, and Divine patience trifled with, excludes the expectation of any mercy.

When the soul has sunk into the mire of despair, no human power is sufficient to lift it out and set it upon the Rock.  Now that the renewed sinner perceives that not only are all his past actions  transgressions of God’s Law, but that his very heart is desperately wicked—polluting his very prayers and tears of contrition, he feels that he must inevitably perish.  If he hears the Gospel, he tells himself that its glad tidings are not for such an abandoned wretch as he; if he reads the Word he is assured that only its fearful denunciations and woes are his legitimate portion.  If godly friends remind him that Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost, he supposes they are ignorant of the extremities of his case.  Should they urge him to believe or cast himself on the mercy of God in Christ, they do not mock him in his misery, for he now discovers that he can no more do this of himself than he can grasp the sun in his hands.  All self-help, all human aid, is useless.

In those in whom the Spirit works faith, He first blows down the building of human pretensions, demolishes the walls which were built with the untempered mortar of man’s own righteousness, and destroys the foundations which were laid in self-flattery and natural sufficiency, so that they are entirely shut up to Christ and God’s free grace.  Once awakened, instead of fondly imagining I am the man whom God will save, I am now convinced that I am the one who must be damned.  So far from concluding I have any ability to even help myself, I now know that I am one “without strength” and no more able to receive Christ as my Lord and Savior than I can climb up to heaven.  Evident it is, then, that a mighty supernatural power is needed if I am to come to Him who “justifieth the ungodly.”  None but the all-mighty Spirit can lift a stricken soul out of the gulf of despair and enable him to believe to the saving of his soul.

To God the Holy Spirit be glory for His sovereign grace in working faith in the heart of the writer and of each Christian reader.  Thou hast attained unto peace and joy in believing, but hath thou thanked the peace-Bringer?—”the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15:13).  All that “joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8) and that peace which “passeth all understanding” (Phil. 4:7) to whom is it ascribed?—the Holy Spirit—it is particularly appropriated unto Him: “Peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17 and cf. 1 Thess. 1:6).  Then render unto Him the praise which is due His name!

Excerpted and edited from Studies in Scriptures, March 1935.

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It is a great mistake to suppose that the works of the Spirit are all of one kind, or that His operations preserve an equality as to degree.  To insist that they are and do would be ascribing less freedom to the Third Person of the Godhead than is enjoyed and exercised by men.  There is variety in the activities of all voluntary agents: even human beings are not confined to one sort of work, nor to the production of the same kind of effects; and where they design so to do, they moderate them as to degrees according to their power and pleasure.  Much more so is it with the Holy Spirit.  The nature and kind of His works are regulated by His own will and purpose.

Some He executes by the touch of His finger (so to speak), in others He puts forth His hand, while in yet others (as on the day of Pentecost) He lays bare His arm. He works by no necessity of His nature, but solely according to the pleasure of His will (1 Corinthians 12:11).

Upon Both The Unsaved And The Saved

Many of the works of the Spirit, though perfect in kind and fully accomplishing their design, are wrought by Him upon and within men who, nevertheless, are not saved.  “The Holy Spirit is present with many as to powerful operations, with whom He is not present as to gracious inhabitation.  Or, many are made partakers of Him in His spiritual gifts, who are not made partakers of Him in His saving grace, Matthew 7:22, 23” (John Owen on Hebrews 6:4).  The light which God furnishes different souls varies considerably, both in kind and degree.  Nor should we be surprised at this in view of the adumbration in the natural world: how wide is the difference between the glimmering of the stars from the radiance of the full moon, and that again from the shining of the midday sun.  Equally wide is the gulf which separates the savage with his faint illumination of conscience from one who has been educated under a Christian ministry, and greater still is the difference between the spiritual understanding of the wisest unregenerate professor and the feeblest babe in Christ; yet each has been a subject of the Spirit’s operations.

“The Holy Spirit works in two ways.  In some men’s hearts, He works with restraining grace only, and the restraining grace, though it will not save them, is enough to keep them from breaking out into the open and corrupt vices in which some men indulge who are totally left by the restraints of the Spirit..… God the Holy Spirit may work in men some good desires and feelings, and yet have no design of saving them.  But mark, none of these feelings are things that accompany salvation, for if so, they would be continued.  But He does not work Omnipotently to save, except in the persons of His own elect, whom He assuredly bringeth unto Himself.  I believe, then, that the trembling of Felix is to be accounted for by the restraining grace of the Spirit quickening his conscience and making him tremble” (C. H. Spurgeon on Acts 24:25).

The Holy Spirit has been robbed of much of His distinctive glory through Christians failing to perceive His varied workings.  In concluding that the operations of the blessed Spirit are confined unto God’s elect, they have been hindered from offering to Him that praise which is His due for keeping this wicked world a fit place for them to live.  Few today realize how much the children of God owe to the Third Person of the Trinity for holding in leash the children of the Devil, and preventing them from utterly consuming Christ’s church on earth.  It is true there are comparatively few texts which specifically refer to the distinctive Person of the Spirit as reigning over the wicked, but once it is seen that in the Divine economy all is from God the Father, all is through God the Son, and all is by God the Spirit, each is given His proper and separate place in our hearts and thoughts.

The Spirit’s Operation In The Non-Elect

Let us, then, now point out a few of the Spirit’s general and inferior operations in the non-elect, as distinguished from His special and superior works in the redeemed.

1.  In restraining evil. If God should leave men absolutely to their own natural corruptions and to the power of Satan (as they fully deserve to be, as He will in Hell, and as He would now but for the sake of His elect), all show of goodness and morality would be entirely banished from the earth: men would grow past feeling in sin, and wickedness would swiftly and entirely swallow up the whole world.  This is abundantly clear from Genesis 6:3, 4, 5, 12.  But He who restrained the fiery furnace of Babylon without quenching it, He who prevented the waters of the Red Sea from flowing without changing their nature, now hinders the working of natural corruption without mortifying it.  Vile as the world is, we have abundant cause to adore and praise the Holy Spirit that it is not a thousand times worse.

The world hates the people of God (John 15:19): why, then, does it not devour them?  What is it that holds back the enmity of the wicked against the righteous?  Nothing but the restraining power of the Holy Spirit.  In Psalm 14:1-3 we find a fearful picture of the utter depravity of the human race.  Then in verse 4 the Psalmist asks, “Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge?  Who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the Lord?”  To which answer is made, “There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous” (v. 5).  It is the Holy Spirit who places that “great fear” within them, to keep them back from many outrages against God’s people.  He curbs their malice.  So completely are the reprobate shackled by His almighty hand, that Christ could say to Pilate, “thou couldest have no power against me, except it were given thee from above” (John 19:11)!

2.  In inciting to good actions. All the obedience of children to parents, all the true love between husbands and wives, is to be attributed unto the Holy Spirit.  Whatever morality and honesty, unselfishness and kindness, submission to the powers that be and respect for law and order which is still to be found in the world, must be traced back to the gracious operations of the Spirit.  A striking illustration of His benign influence is found in 1 Samuel 10:26, “Saul also went home to Gibeah: and there went with him a band of men, whose hearts God (the Spirit) had touched.”

Men’s hearts are naturally inclined to rebellion, are impatient against being ruled over, especially by one raised out of a mean condition among them.  The Lord the Spirit inclined the hearts of those men to be subject unto Saul, gave them a disposition to obey him.  Later, the Spirit touched the heart of Saul to spare the life of David, melting him to such an extent that he wept (1 Samuel 24:16).  In like manner, it was the Holy Spirit who gave the Hebrews favor in the eyes of the Egyptians—who hitherto had bitterly hated them—so as to give earrings to them (Exodus 12:35, 36).

3.  In convicting of sin. Few seem to understand that conscience in the natural man is inoperative unless stirred up by the Spirit.  As a fallen creature, thoroughly in love with sin (John 3:19), man resists and disputes against any conviction of sin.  “My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh” (Genesis 6:3): man, being “flesh,” would never have the least distaste of any iniquity unless the Spirit excited those remnants of natural light which still remain in the soul.  Being “flesh,” fallen man is perverse against the convictions of the Spirit (Acts 7:51), and remains so forever unless quickened and made “spirit” (John 3:6).

4.  In illuminating. Concerning Divine things, fallen man is not only devoid of light, but is “darkness” itself (Ephesians 5:8).  He had no more apprehension of spiritual things than the beasts of the field.  This is very evident from the state of the heathen.  How, then, shall we explain the intelligence which is found in thousands in Christendom, who yet give no evidence that they are new creatures in Christ Jesus?  They have been enlightened by the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 6:4).  Many are constrained to inquire into those scriptural subjects which make no demand on the conscience and life; yea, many take great delight in them.  Just as the multitudes took pleasure in beholding the miracles of Christ, who could not endure His searching demands, so the light of the Spirit is pleasant to many to whom His convictions are grievous.

The Spirit’s Operation In The Elect

We have dwelt upon some of the general and inferior operations which the Holy Spirit performs upon the non-elect, who are never brought unto a saving knowledge of the Truth.  Now we shall consider His special and saving work in the people of God, dwelling mainly upon the absolute necessity for the same.  It should make it easier for the Christian reader to perceive the absoluteness of this necessity when we say that the whole work of the Spirit within the elect is to plant in the heart a hatred for and a loathing of sin as sin, and a love for and longing after holiness as holiness.

This is something which no human power can bring about.  It is something which the most faithful preaching as such cannot produce. It is something which the mere circulating and reading of the Scripture does not impart. It is a miracle of grace, a Divine wonder, which none but God can or does perform.

Total Depravity Apart From The Spirit

Of course, if men are only partly depraved (which is really the belief today of the vast majority of preachers and their hearers, never having been experimentally taught by God their own depravity), if deep down in their hearts all men really love God, if they are so good-natured as to be easily persuaded to become Christians, then there is no need for the Holy Spirit to put forth His Almighty power and do for them what they are altogether incapable of doing for themselves.  And again: if “being saved” consists merely in believing I am a lost sinner and on my way to Hell, and by simply believing that God loves me, that Christ died for me, and that He will save me now on the one condition that I “accept Him as my personal Savior” and “rest upon His finished work,” then no supernatural operations of the Holy Spirit are required to induce and enable me to fulfill that condition—self-interest moves me to, and a decision of my will is all that is required.

But if, on the other hand, all men hate God (John 15:23, 25), and have minds which are “enmity against Him” (Romans 8:7), so that “there is none that seeketh after God” (Romans 3:11), preferring and determining to follow their own inclinations and pleasures.  If instead of being disposed unto that which is good, “the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil” (Ecclesiastes 8:11).  And if when the overtures of God’s mercy are made known to them and they are freely invited to avail themselves of the same, they “all with one consent begin to make excuse” (Luke 14:1 8)—then it is very evident that the invincible power and transforming operations of the Spirit are indispensably required if the heart of a sinner is thoroughly changed, so that rebellion gives place to submission and hatred to love.  This is why Christ said, “No man can come to me, except the Father (by the Spirit) which hath sent me draw him” (John 6:44).

Again—if the Lord Jesus Christ came here to uphold and enforce the high claims of God, rather than to lower or set them aside.  If He declared that “strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto Life, and few there be that find it,” rather than pointing to a smooth and broad road which anyone would find it easy to tread.  If the salvation which He has provided is a deliverance from sin and self-pleasing, from worldliness and indulging the lusts of the flesh, and the bestowing of a nature which desires and determines to live for God’s glory and please Him in all the details of our present lives—then it is clear beyond dispute that none but the Spirit of God can impart a genuine desire for such a salvation.  And if instead of “accepting Christ” and “resting upon His finished work” be the sole condition of salvation, He demands that the sinner throw down the weapons of his defiance, abandon every idol, unreservedly surrender himself and his life, and receive Him as His only Lord and Master, then nothing but a miracle of grace can enable any captive of Satan’s to meet such requirements.

Objections To Total Depravity Proved False

Against what has been said above it may be objected that no such hatred of God as we have affirmed exists in the hearts of the great majority of our fellow-creatures—that while there may be a few degenerates, who have sold themselves to the Devil and are thoroughly hardened in sin, yet the remainder of mankind are friendly disposed to God, as is evident by the countless millions who have some form or other of religion.  To such an objector we reply, The fact is, dear friend, that those to whom you refer are almost entirely ignorant of the God of Scripture: they have heard that He loves everybody, is benevolently inclined toward all His creatures, and is so easy-going that in return for their religious performances will wink at their sins.  Of course, they have no hatred for such a “god” as this!  But tell them something of the character of the true God: that He hates “all the workers of iniquity” (Psalm 5:5), that He is inexorably just and ineffably holy, that He is an uncontrollable Sovereign, who “hath mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth” (Romans 9:18), and their enmity against Him will soon be manifested—an enmity which none but the Holy Spirit can overcome.

It may be objected again that so far from the gloomy picture which we have sketched above being accurate, the great majority of people do desire to be saved (from having to suffer a penalty for their sin), and they make more or less endeavor after their salvation.  This is readily granted.  There is in every human heart a desire for deliverance from misery and a longing after happiness and security, and those who come under the sound of God’s Word are naturally disposed to be delivered from the wrath to come and wish to be assured that Heaven will be their eternal dwelling-place—who wants to endure the everlasting burnings?  But that desire and disposition is quite compatible and consistent with the greatest love to sin and most entire opposition of heart to that holiness without which no man shall see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).  But what the objector here refers to is a vastly different thing from desiring Heaven upon God’s terms, and being willing to tread the only path which leads there!

The instinct of self-preservation is sufficiently strong to move multitudes to undertake many performances and penances in the hope that thereby they shall escape Hell.  The stronger men’s belief of the truth of Divine revelation, the more firmly they become convinced that there is a Day of Judgment, when they must appear before their Maker, and render an account of all their desires, thoughts, words and deeds, the most serious and sober will be their minds.  Let conscience convict them of their misspent lives, and they are ready to turn over a new leaf; let them be persuaded that Christ stands ready as a Fire-escape and is willing to rescue them, though the world still claims their hearts, and thousands are ready to “believe in Him.”  Yes, this is done by multitudes who still hate the true character of the Savior, and reject with all their hearts the salvation which He has. Far, far different is this from an unregenerate person longing for deliverance from self and sin, and the impartation of that holiness which Christ purchased for His people.

All around us are those willing to receive Christ as their Savior, who are altogether unwilling to surrender to Him as their Lord.  They would like His peace, but they refuse His “yoke,” without which His peace cannot be found (Matthew 11:29).  They admire His promises, but have no heart for His precepts.  They will rest upon His priestly work, but will not be subject to His kingly scepter.  They will believe in a “Christ” who is suited to their own corrupt tastes or sentimental dreams, but they despise and reject the Christ of God.  Like the multitudes of old, they want His loaves and fishes, but for His heart-searching, flesh-withering, sin-condemning teaching, they have no appetite.  They approve of Him as the Healer of their bodies, but as the Healer of their depraved souls they desire Him not.  And nothing but the miracle-working power of the Holy Spirit can change this bias and bent in any soul.

It is just because modern Christendom has such an inadequate estimate of the fearful and universal effects which the Fall has wrought, that the imperative need for the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit is now so little realized.  It is because such false conceptions of human depravity so widely prevail that, in most places, it is supposed all which is needed to save half of the community is to hire some popular evangelist and attractive singer.  And the reason why so few are aware of the awful depths of human depravity, the terrible enmity of the carnal mind against God and the heart’s inbred and inveterate hatred of Him, is because His character is now so rarely declared from the pulpit.  If the preachers would deliver the same type of messages as did Jeremiah in his degenerate age, or even as John the Baptist did, they would soon discover how their hearers were really affected toward God; and then they would perceive that unless the power of the Spirit attended their preaching they might as well be silent.

From Studies in the Scriptures, January and February 1934.

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In the past having given consideration to the attributes of God our Father, and then to a contemplation of some of the glories of God our Redeemer, it now seems fitting that these should be followed by this series on the Holy Spirit.  The need for this is real and pressing, for ignorance of the Third Person of the Godhead is most dishonoring to Him, and highly injurious to ourselves.  The late George Smeaton of Scotland began his excellent work upon the Holy Spirit by saying, “Wherever Christianity has been a living power, the doctrine of the Holy Spirit has uniformly been regarded, equally with the Atonement and Justification by faith, as the article of a standing or falling church.  The distinctive feature of Christianity as it addresses itself to man’s experience, is the work of the Spirit, which not only elevates it far above all philosophical speculation, but also above every other form of religion.”

THE IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING THE HOLY SPIRIT

Not at all too strong was the language of Samuel Chadwick when he said, “The gift of the Spirit is the crowning mercy of God in Christ Jesus.  It was for this all the rest was.  The Incarnation and Crucifixion, the Resurrection and Ascension were all preparatory to Pentecost.  Without the gift of the Holy Spirit, all the rest would be useless.  The great thing in Christianity is the gift of the Spirit.  The essential, vital, central element in the life of the soul and the work of the Church is the Person of the Spirit” (Joyful News, 1911).

The great importance of a reverent and prayerful study of this subject should be apparent to every real child of God.  The repeated references made to the Spirit by Christ in His final discourse (John 14 to 16) at once intimates this.  The particular work which has been committed to Him furnishes clear proof of it.  There is no spiritual good  communicated to anyone but by the Spirit; whatever God in His grace works in us, it is by the Spirit.  The only sin for which there is no forgiveness is one committed against the Spirit.  How necessary is it then that we should be well instructed in the Scripture doctrine concerning Him!  The great abuse there has been in all ages under the pretense of His holy name should prompt us to diligent study.  Finally, the awful ignorance which now so widely prevails upon the Spirit’s office and operations, urges us to put forth our best efforts.

Yet important as is our subject, and prominent as is the place given to it in Holy Writ, it seems that it has always met with a considerable amount of neglect and perversion. Thomas Goodwin commenced his massive work on The Work of the Holy Spirit in Our Salvation (1660) by affirming, “There is a general omission in the saints of God, in their not giving the Holy Spirit that glory that is due to His Person and for His great work of salvation in us, insomuch that we have in our hearts almost forgotten this Third Person.”  If that could be said in the midst of the balmy days of the Puritans, what language would be required to set forth the awful spiritual ignorance and impotency of this benighted 20th century!

In the Preface to his Lectures on “The Person, Godhead, and Ministry of the Holy Spirit” (1817), Robert Hawker wrote, “I am the more prompted to this service, from contemplating the present awful day of the world. Surely the ‘last days’ and the ‘perilous times,’ so expressly spoken of by the Spirit, are come (1 Timothy 4:1).  The floodgates of heresy are broken up, and are pouring forth their deadly poison in various streams through the land.  In a more daring and open manner the denial of the Person, Godhead, and Ministry of the Holy Spirit is come forward and indicates the tempest to follow.  In such a season it is needful to contend, and that, ‘earnestly, for the faith once delivered unto the saints.’  Now in a more awakened manner ought the people of God to remember the words of Jesus, and ‘to hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.’”  So again, in 1880, George Smeaton wrote, “We may safely affirm that the doctrine of the Spirit is almost entirely ignored.”

And let us add, wherever little honor is done to the Spirit, there is grave cause to suspect the genuineness of any profession of Christianity.  Against this, it may he replied, such charges as the above no longer hold good.  Would to God they did not, but they do.  While it is true that during the past two generations much has been written and spoken on the person of the Spirit, yet, for the most part, it has been of a sadly inadequate and erroneous character.  Much dross has been mingled with the gold.  A fearful amount of unscriptural nonsense and fanaticism has marred the testimony.

Furthermore, it cannot be denied that it is no longer generally recognized that supernatural agency is imperatively required in order for the redemptive work of Christ to be applied to sinners.  Rather do actions show it is now widely held that if unregenerate souls are instructed in the letter of Scripture their own willpower is sufficient to enable them to “decide for Christ.”

THE PROBLEM: EFFORT IN THE FLESH

In the great majority of cases, professing Christians are too puffed up by a sense of what they suppose they are doing for God, to earnestly study what God has promised to do for and in His people.  They are so occupied with their fleshly efforts to “win souls for Christ” that they feel not their own deep need of the Spirit’s anointing. The leaders of “Christian” (?) enterprise are so concerned in multiplying “Christian workers” that quantity, not quality, is the main consideration.  How few today recognize that if the number of “missionaries” on the foreign field were increased twenty-fold the next year, that that, of itself, would not ensure the genuine salvation of one additional heathen?  Even though every new missionary were “sound in the faith” and preached only “the Truth,” that would not add one iota of spiritual power to the missionary forces, without the Holy Spirit’s unction and blessing!

The same principle holds good everywhere.  If the orthodox seminaries and the much-advertised Bible institutes turned out 100 times more men than they are now doing, the churches would not be one bit better off than they are, unless God vouchsafed a fresh outpouring of His Spirit.  In like manner, no Sunday School is strengthened by the mere multiplication of its teachers.

O my readers, face the solemn fact that the greatest lack of all in Christendom today is the absence of the Holy Spirit’s power and blessing.  Review the activities of the past 30 years.  Millions of dollars have been freely devoted to the support of professed Christian enterprises.  Bible institutes and schools have turned out “trained workers” by the thousands.  Bible conferences have sprung up on every side like mushrooms.  Countless booklets and tracts have been printed and circulated.  Time and labors have been given by an almost incalculable number of “personal workers.”  And with what results? Has the standard of personal piety advanced?  Are the churches less worldly?  Are their members more Christ-like in their daily walk?  Is there more godliness in the home?  Are the children more obedient and respectful?  Is the Sabbath Day being increasingly sanctified and kept holy?  Has the standard of honesty in business been raised?

THE NEED

Those blest with any spiritual discernment can return but one answer to the above questions.  In spite of all the huge sums of money that have been spent, in spite of all the labors which has been put forth, in spite of all the new workers that have been added to the old ones, the spirituality of Christendom is at a far lower ebb today than it was 30 years ago.  Numbers of professing Christians have increased, fleshly activities have multiplied, but spiritual power has waned.  Why?  Because there is a grieved and quenched Spirit in our midst. While His blessing is withheld there can be no improvement.  What is needed today is for the saints to get down on their faces before God, cry unto Him in the name of Christ to so work again, that what has grieved His Spirit may be put away, and the channel of blessing once more be opened.

Until the Holy Spirit is again given His rightful place in our hearts, thoughts, and activities, there can be no improvement.  Until it be recognized that we are entirely dependent upon His operations for all spiritual blessing, the root of the trouble cannot be reached.  Until it be recognized that it is “‘Not by might, (of trained workers), nor by power (of intellectual argument or persuasive appeal), but by MY SPIRIT,’ saith the Lord” (Zechariah 4:6), there will be no deliverance from that fleshly zeal which is not according to knowledge, and which is now paralyzing Christendom.  Until the Holy Spirit is honored, sought, and counted upon, the present spiritual drought must continue.  May it please our gracious God to give the writer messages and prepare the hearts of our readers to receive that which will be to His glory, the furtherance of His cause upon earth, and the good of His dear people. Brethren, pray for us.

From Studies in the Scriptures, January 1933.

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There are some very important outward ordinances and means of grace which are plainly implied in the Word of God, but for the exercise of which we have few, if any, plain and positive precept; rather are we left to gather them from the example of holy men and from various incidental circumstances.  An important end is answered by this arrangement: trial is thereby made of the state of our hearts.  It serves to make evident whether, because an expressed command cannot be brought requiring its performance, professing Christians will neglect a duty plainly implied.  Thus, more of the real state of our minds is discovered, and it is made manifest whether we have or have not an ardent love for God and His service. This holds good both of public and family worship.  Nevertheless, it is not at all difficult to prove the obligation of domestic piety.

Consider first the example of Abraham, the father of the faithful and the friend of God.  It was for his domestic piety that he received blessing from Jehovah Himself, “For I know him, that he will command his children and household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment” (Genesis 18:19).  The patriarch is here commended for instructing his children and servants in the most important of all duties, “the way of the Lord”—the truth about His glorious person.  Note well the words “he will command” them, that is, he would use the authority God had given him as a father and head of his house, to enforce the duties of family godliness.  Abraham also prayed with as well as instructed his family: wherever he pitched his tent, there he “built an altar to the Lord” (Genesis 12:7; 13:4).

Now my readers, we may well ask ourselves, Are we “Abraham’s seed” (Galatians 3:29) if we “do not the works of Abraham” (John 8:39) and neglect the weighty duty of family worship?  The example of other holy men are similar to that of Abraham’s.  Consider the pious determination of Joshua who declared to Israel, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (24:15).  Neither the exalted station which he held, nor the pressing public duties which developed upon him, were allowed to crowd out his attention to the spiritual well-being of his family. Again, when David brought back the ark of God to Jerusalem with joy and thanksgiving, after discharging his public duties, he “returned to bless his household” (2 Sam. 6:20).  In addition to these eminent examples, we may cite the cases of Job (1:5) and Daniel (6:10).  Limiting ourselves to only one in the New Testament, we think of the history of Timothy, who was reared in a godly home. Paul called to remembrance the “unfeigned faith” which was in him, and added, “which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois and thy mother Eunice.” Is there any wonder then that the apostle could say, “from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures” (2 Timothy 3:15)!

On the other hand, we may observe what fearful threatenings are pronounced against those who disregard this duty.  We wonder how many of our readers have seriously pondered these awe-inspiring words: “Pour out Thy fury upon the heathen that know Thee not, and upon the families that call not on Thy name” (Jeremiah 10:25)!  How unspeakably solemn to find that prayerless families are here coupled with the heathen that know not the Lord.  Yet need that surprise us?  Why, there are many heathen families who unite together in worshiping their false gods.  And do not they put thousands of professing Christians to shame?  Observe too that Jeremiah 10:25 recorded a fearful imprecations upon both classes alike: “Pour out Thy fury upon…” How loudly should these words speak to us.

It is not enough that we pray as private individuals in our closets; we are required to honor God in our families as well.  At least twice each day—in the morning and in the evening—the whole household should be gathered together to bow before the Lord—parents and children, master and servant—to confess their sins, to give thanks for God’s mercies, to seek His help and blessing. Nothing must be allowed to interfere with this duty: all other domestic arrangements are to bend to it.  The head of the house is the one to lead the devotions, but if he be absent, or seriously ill, or an unbeliever, then the wife would take his place.  Under no circumstances should family worship be omitted.  If we would enjoy the blessing of God upon our family, then let its members gather together daily for praise and prayer.  “Them that honor Me, I will honor” is His promise.

An old writer well said, “A family without prayer is like a house without a roof, open and exposed to all the storms of Heaven.” All our domestic comforts and temporal mercies issue from the lovingkindness of the Lord, and the best we can do in return is to gratefully acknowledge, together, His goodness to us as a family.  Excuses against the discharge of this sacred duty are idle and worthless.  Of what avail will it be when we render an account to God for the stewardship of our families to say that we had not time available, working hard from morn till eve?  The more pressing be our temporal duties, the greater our need of seeking spiritual succor.  Nor may any Christian plead that he is not qualified for such a work: gifts and talents are developed by use and not by neglect.

Family worship should be conducted reverently, earnestly and simply.  It is then that the little ones will receive their first impressions and form their initial conceptions of the Lord God. Great care needs to be taken lest a false idea be given them of the Divine Character, and for this the balance must be preserved between dwelling upon His transcendency and immanency, His holiness and His mercy, His might and His tenderness, His justice and His grace.  Worship should begin with a few words of prayer invoking God’s presence and blessing.  A short passage from His Word should follow, with brief comments thereon.  Two or three verses of a Psalm may be sung.  Close with a prayer of committal into the hands of God.  Though we may not be able to pray eloquently, we should earnestly.  Prevailing prayers are usually brief ones.  Beware of wearying the young ones.

The advantages and blessings of family worship are incalculable.  First, family worship will prevent much sin.  It awes the soul, conveys a sense of God’s majesty and authority, sets solemn truths before the mind, brings down benefits from God on the home.  Personal piety in the home is a most influential means, under God, of conveying piety on the little ones.  Children are largely creatures of imitation, loving to copy what they see in others.  “He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers that they should make them known to their children: That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments” (Psalm 78:5-7).  How much of the dreadful moral and spiritual conditions of the masses today may be traced back to the neglect of their fathers in this duty?  How can those who neglect the worship of God in their families look for peace and comfort therein?  Daily prayer in the home is a blessed means of grace for allaying those unhappy passions to which our common nature is subject.  Finally, family prayer gains for us the presence and blessing of the Lord.  There is a promise of His presence which is peculiarly applicable to this duty: see Matthew 18:19-20.  Many have found in family worship that help and communion with God which they sought for and with less effect in private prayer.

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“But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you” (1 Peter 5:10).  Though mention is made frequently in the Scriptures of the grace of God and of His being gracious, yet nowhere but in this verse do we find him denominated “the God of all grace.”  There is a special emphasis here that claims our best attention: not simply is He “the God of grace,” but “the God of all grace.”

God’s people personally receive constant proof that He is indeed so; and those of them whose thoughts are formed by His Word know that the benefits with which He daily loads them are the out-workings of His everlasting design of grace toward them.  But they need to go still farther back, or raise their eyes yet higher, and perceive that all the riches of grace He ordained, and of which they are made the recipients, are from and in His very nature. “The grace in His nature is the fountain or spring; the grace of His purposes is the wellhead, and the grace in His dispensations, the streams,” says Goodwin.  It was the grace of His nature that caused Him to form “thoughts of peace” toward His people (Jer. 29:11), as it is the grace in His heart that moves Him to fulfill the same.  In other words, the grace of His very nature, what He is in Himself, is such that it guarantees the making good of all His benevolent designs.

As He is the Almighty, self-sufficient and omnipotent, with whom all things are possible, so He is also an all-gracious God in Himself—lacking no perfection to make Him infinitely benign.  There is therefore a sea of grace in God to feed all the streams of His purposes and dispensations that are to issue there from.  Here then is our grand consolation: all the grace there is in His nature, which makes Him to be the “God of all grace” to His children, renders certain not only that He will manifest Himself as such to them, but guarantees the supply of their every need and ensures the lavishing of the exceeding riches of His grace upon them in the ages to come (Eph. 2:7).

Look then beyond those streams of grace of which you are now the partaker to the God-man, Jesus the Anointed One, who is “full of grace” (John 1:14), and ask for continual and larger supplies from Him.  The straightness is in us and not in Him, for in God there is a boundless and limitless supply.  I beg you (as I urge myself) to remember that when you come to the mercy seat (to make known your requests) you are about to petition “the God of all grace.”  In Him, there is an infinite ocean to draw upon, and He bids you come to Him, saying, “open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it” (Psalm 81:10, ital. mine).  Not in vain has He declared, “According to your faith be it unto you.”

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