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CHAPTER 3
WITNESSING IN POWER
The subject of witness-bearing in the power of the Holy Ghost is not
sufficiently understood by the Church. Until we have more intelligence on this point we
are laboring under great disadvantage. Now, if you will take your Bible and turn to the
5th chapter of John and the 26th verse, you will find these words:
"But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from
the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father,
He shall testify of me; and ye also shall bear witness, because ye have
been with me from the beginning."
Here we find what the Spirit is going to do, or what Christ said He would do when He came;
namely, that He should testify of Him. And if you will turn over to the second chapter of
Acts you will find that when Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost, and testified of what
Christ had done, the Holy Spirit came down and bore witness to that fact, and men were
convicted by hundreds and by thousands. So then man can not preach effectively of himself.
He must have the Spirit of God to give ability, and study God’s Word in order to
testify according to the mind of the Spirit.
WHAT IS TESTIMONY?
If we keep back the Gospel of Christ and do not bring Christ before the people, then the
Spirit has not the opportunity to work. But the moment Peter stood up on the day of
Pentecost and bore testimony to this one fact, that Christ died for sin, and that He had
been raised again, and ascended into heaven - the Spirit came down to bear witness to the
Person and Work of Christ.
He came down to bear witness to the fact that Christ was in heaven, and if it was not for
the Holy Ghost bearing witness to the preaching of the facts of the Gospel, do you think
that the Church would have lived during these last eighteen centuries? Do you believe that
Christ’s death, resurrection and ascension would not have been forgotten as soon as
His birth, if it had not been for the fact that the Holy Spirit had come?
Because it is very clear, that when John made his appearance on the borders of the
wilderness, they had forgotten all about the birth of Jesus Christ. Just thirty short
years. It was all gone. They had forgotten the story of the Shepherds; they had forgotten
the wonderful scene that took place in the temple, when the Son of God was brought into
the temple and the older prophets and prophetesses were there; they had forgotten about
the wise men coming to Jerusalem to inquire where He was that was born King of the Jews.
That story of His birth seemed to have just faded away; they had forgotten all about it,
and when John made his appearance on the borders of the wilderness it was brought back to
their minds. And if it had not been for the Holy Ghost coming down to bear witness to
Christ, to testify of His death and resurrection, these facts would have been forgotten as
soon as His birth.
GREATER WORK
The witness of the Spirit is the witness of power. Jesus said, "The works that I do
shall ye do also, and greater works than these shall ye do because I go to the
Father." I used to stumble over that. I didn’t understand it. I thought, what
greater work could any man do than Christ had done? How could any one raise a dead man who
had been laid away in the sepulcher for days, and who had already begun to turn back to
dust; how with a word could he call him forth? But the longer I live the more I am
convinced it is a greater thing to influence a man’s will; a man whose will is set
against God; to have that will broken and brought into subjection to God’s will - or,
in other words, it is a greater thing to have power over a living, sinning, God hating
man, than to quicken the dead. He who could create a world could speak a dead soul into
life; but I think the greatest miracle this world has ever seen was the miracle at
Pentecost. Here were men who surrounded the Apostles, full of prejudice, full of malice,
full of bitterness, their hands, as it were, dripping with the blood of the Son of God,
and yet an unlettered man, a man whom they detested, a man whom they hated, stands up
there and preaches the Gospel, and three thousand of them are immediately convicted and
converted, and become disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, and are willing to lay down
their lives for the Son of God. It may have been on that occasion that Stephen was
converted, the first martyr, and some of the men who soon after gave up their lives for
Christ. This seems to me the greatest miracle this world has ever seen. But Peter did not
labor alone; the Spirit of God was with him; hence the marvelous results.
The Jewish law required that there should be two witnesses, and so we find that when Peter
preached there was a second witness. Peter testified of Christ, and Christ says when the
Holy Spirit comes He will testify of Me. And they both bore witness to the verities of our
Lord’s incarnation, ministry, death, and resurrection, and the result was that a
multitude turned as with one heart unto the Lord. Our failure now is, that preachers
ignore the Cross, and veil Christ with sapless sermons and superfine language. They
don’t just present Him to the people plainly, and that is why, I believe, that the
Spirit of God don’t work with power in our churches. What we need is to preach Christ
and present Him to a perishing world. The world can get on very well without you and me,
but the world can not get on without Christ, and therefore we must testify of Him, and the
world, I believe, today is just hungering and thirsting for this divine, satisfying
portion. Thousands and thousands are sitting in darkness, knowing not of this great Light,
but when we begin to preach Christ honestly, faithfully, sincerely and truthfully; holding
Him up, not ourselves; exalting Christ and not our theories; presenting Christ and not our
opinions; advocating Christ and not some false doctrine; then the Holy Ghost will come and
bear witness. He will testify that what we say is true. When He comes He will confirm the
Word with signs following. This is one of the strongest proofs that our Gospel is Divine;
that it is of Divine origin; that not only did Christ teach these things, but when leaving
the World He said, "He shall glorify Me," and "He will testify of Me."
If you will just look at the second chapter of Acts - to that wonderful sermon that Peter
preached - the thirty-sixth verse, you read these words:
"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made
that same Jesus whom ye crucified, both Lord and Christ."
And when Peter said this the Holy Ghost descended upon the people and testified
of Christ - bore witness in signal demonstration that all this was true. And again, in the
fortieth verse,
"And with many other words did He testify and exhort, saying, Save
yourselves from this untoward generation."
With many other words did He testify, not only these words that have been
recorded, but many other words.
THE SURE GUIDE
Turn to the sixteenth chapter of John, in the thirteenth verse, and read:
"Howbeit, when He, the Spirit of Truth is come, He will guide you
into all truth; for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He
shall hear that shall He speak; and He will show you things to come. He
will guide you into all truth.
Now there is not a truth that we ought to know but the Spirit of God will guide
us into it if we will let Him; if we will yield ourselves up to be directed by the Spirit,
and let Him lead us, He will guide us into all truth. It would have saved us from a great
many dark hours if we had only been willing to let the Spirit of God be our counsellor and
guide.
Lot never would have gone to Sodom if he had been guided by the Spirit of God. David never
would have fallen into sin and had all that trouble with his family if he had been guided
by the Spirit of God. There are many Lots and Davids now-a-day. The churches are full of
them. Men and women are in total darkness, because they have not been willing to be guided
by the Spirit of God. "He shall guide you into all truth. He shall not speak of
Himself." He shall speak of the ascended glorified Christ.
What would be thought of a messenger, entrusted by an absent husband with a message for
his wife or mother who, on arrival, only talked of himself, and his conceits, and ignored
both the husband and the message? You would simply call it outrageous. What then must be
the crime of the professed teacher who speaks of himself, or some insipid theory, leaving
out Christ and His Gospel? If we witness according to the Spirit, we must witness of
Jesus.
The Holy Spirit is down here in this dark world to just speak of the Absent One, and He
takes the things of Christ and brings them to our mind. He testifies of Christ; He guides
us into the truth about Him.
RAPPINGS IN THE DARK
I want to say right here, that I think in this day a great many children of God
are turning aside and committing a grievous sin. I don’t know as they think it is a
sin, but if we examine the Scriptures, I am sure we will find that it is a great sin. We
are told that the Comforter is sent into the world to "guide us into all truth,"
and if He is sent for that purpose, do we need any other guide? Need we hide in the
darkness, consulting with mediums, who profess to call up the spirits of the dead? Do you
know what the Word of God pronounces against that fearful sin? I believe it is one of the
greatest sins we have to contend with at the present day. It is dishonoring to the Holy
Spirit for me to go and summon up the dead and confer with them, even if it were possible.
I would like you to notice the 10th chapter of 1st Chronicles, and 13th verse:
"So Saul died for his transgression which he had committed against the
Lord, even against the Word of the Lord, which he kept not, and also for
asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire of it; and
inquired not of the Lord: therefore He slew him, and turned the kingdom
unto David the son of Jesse."
God slew him for this very sin. Of the two sins that are brought against Saul
here, one is that he would not listen to the Word of God, and the second is that he
consulted a familiar spirit. He was snared by this great evil, and sinned against God.
Saul fell right here, and there are a great many of God’s professed children to-day
who think there is no harm in consulting a medium who pretends to call up some of the
departed to inquire of them.
But how dishonoring it is to God who has sent the Holy Spirit into this world to guide us
"into all truth." There is not a thing that I need to know, there is not a thing
that is important for me to know; there is not a thing that I ought to know but the Spirit
of God will reveal it to me through the Word of God, and if I turn my back upon the Holy
Spirit, I am dishonoring the Spirit of God, and I am committing a grievous sin. You know
we read in Luke, where that rich man in the other world wanted to have someone sent to his
father’s house to warn his five brothers, Christ said They have Moses and the
prophets, and if they will not hear them, they will not hear one though he rose from the
dead. Moses and the prophets, the part of the Bible then completed, that is enough. But a
great many people now want something besides the Word of God, and are turning aside to
these false lights.
SPIRITS THAT PEEP AND MUTTER
There is another passage which reads, "And when they shall say unto you,
seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and mutter: Should
not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?" What is but
table-rapping, and cabinet-hiding? If it was a message from God, do you think you would
have to go into a dark room and put out all the lights? In secret my Master taught
nothing. God is not in that movement, and what we want, as children of God, is to keep
ourselves from this evil. And then notice the verse following, quoted so often out of its
connection. "to the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this
word, it is because there is no light in them." Any man, any woman, who comes to us
with any doctrine that is not according to the law and the testimony, let us understand
that they are from the evil one, and that they are enemies of righteousness. They have no
light in them. Now you will find these people who are consulting familiar spirits, first
and last, attack the Word of God. They don’t believe it. Still a great many people
say, you must hear both sides - but if a man should write me a most slanderous letter
about my wife, I don’t think I would have to read it; I should tear it up and throw
it to the winds. Have I to read all the infidel books that are written, to hear both
sides? Have I to take up a book that is a slander on my Lord and Master, who has redeemed
me with His blood" Ten thousand times No; I will not touch it.
"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall
depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils." - 1
Timothy 4:1
That is pretty plain language, isn’t it? "Doctrines of devils." Again,
"speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their consciences seared with a hot iron."
There are other passages of Scripture warning against every delusion of Satan. Let us ever
remember the Spirit has been sent into the world to guide us into all truth. We don’t
want any other guide; He is enough. Some people say, "Is not conscience a safer guide
than the Word and the Spirit?" No, it is not. Some people don’t seem to have any
conscience, and don’t know what it means. Their education has a good deal to do with
conscience. There are persons who will say that their conscience did not tell them that
they had done wrong until after the wrong was done; but what we want, is something to tell
us a thing is wrong before we do it. Very often a man will go and commit some awful crime,
and after it is done his conscience will wake up and lash and scourge him, and then it is
too late, the act is done.
THE UNERRING GUIDE
I am told by people who have been over the Alps, that the guide fastens them, if
they are going in a dangerous place, right to himself, and he just goes on before: they
are fastened to the guide. And so should the Christian be linked to His unerring Guide,
and be safely upheld. Why if a man was going through the Mammoth Cave, it would be death
to him if he strayed away from his guide - if he separated from him, he would certainly
perish; there are pitfalls in that cave and a bottomless river, and there would be no
chance for a man to find his way through that cave without a guide or light. So there is
no chance for us to get through the dark wilderness of this world alone. It is folly for a
man or woman to think that they can get through this evil world without the light of
God’s Word and the guidance of the Divine Spirit. God sent Him to guide us through
this great journey, and if we seek to work independent of Him, we shall stumble into the
deep darkness of eternity’s night.
But bear in mind the Words of the Spirit of God; if you want to be guided, you must study
the Word; because the Word is the light of the Spirit. In the 14th chapter of John and
26th verse, we read:
"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my
name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever
I have said unto you."
Again in John 16:13
"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all
truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he
speak: and he will shew you things to come."
"He will show you things to come" A great many people seem to think that the
Bible is out of date, that it is an old book, and they think it has passed its day. They
say is was very good for the dark ages, and that there is some very good history in it;
but then it was not intended for the present time; that we are living in a very
enlightened age, and that men can get on very well without the old book; that we have
outgrown it. They think we have no use for it, because is an old book. Now you might just
as well say that the sun, which has shone so long, is now so old that it is out of date,
and that whenever a man builds a house he need not put any windows in it, because we have
got a newer light and a better light; we have gaslight and this new electric light. These
are something new; and I would advise people, if they think the Bible is too old and worn
out, when they build houses, not to put any windows in them, but just to light them with
this new electric light; that is something new, and this is what they are anxious for.
People talk about this Book as if they understood it; but we don’t know much about it
yet. The press gives us the daily news of what has taken place. This Bible, however, tells
us what is about to take place. This is new; we have the news here in this Book; this
tells us of the things that will surely come to pass; and that is a great deal newer than
anything in the newspapers. It tells us that the Spirit shall teach us all things; not
only guide us into all truth, but teach us all things; He teaches us how to pray, and I
don’t think there has ever been a prayer upon this sin-cursed earth that has been
indicted by the Holy Spirit but was answered. There is much praying that is not indicted
by the Holy Spirit. In former years I was very ambitious to get rich; I used to pray for
one hundred thousand dollars; that was my aim, and I used to say, "God does not
answer my prayer; He does not make me rich." But I had no warrant for such a prayer;
yet a good many people pray in that way; they think that they pray, but they do not pray
according to the Scriptures. The Spirit of God has nothing to do with their prayers, and
such prayers are not the product of His teaching.
It is the Spirit who teaches us how to answer our enemies. If a man strikes me, I should
not pull out a revolver and shoot him. The Spirit of the Lord don’t teach me revenge;
He don’t teach me that it is necessary to draw the sword and cut a man down in order
to defend my rights. Some people say, You are a coward if you don’t strike back.
Christ says, turn the other cheek to him who smites. I would rather take Christ’s
teaching than any other. I don’t think a man gains much by loading himself down with
weapons to defend himself. There has been life enough sacrificed in this country to teach
men a lesson in this regard. the Word of God is a much better protection than the
revolver. We had better take the Word of God to protect us, by accepting its teaching, and
living out its precepts.
AN AID TO MEMORY
It is a great comfort to us to remember that another office of the Spirit is to
bring the teaching of Jesus to our remembrance. This was our Lord’s promise, "He
shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance."
- John 16:26
How striking that is. I think there are many Christians who have had that
experience. They have been testifying, and found that while talking for Christ the Spirit
has just brought into mind some of the sayings of the Lord Jesus Christ, and their mind
was soon filled with the Word of God. When we have the Spirit resting upon us, we can
speak with authority and power, and the Lord will bless our testimony and bless our work.
I believe the reason why God makes use of so few in the Church, is because there is not in
them the power that God can use. He is not going to use our ideas, but we must have the
Word of God hid in our hearts, and then, the Holy Spirit inflaming us, we will have the
testimony which will be rich, and sweet, and fresh, and the Lord’s Word will
vindicate itself in blessed results. God wants to use us; God wants to make us channels of
blessing; but we are in such a condition He does not use us. That is the trouble; there
are so many men who have no testimony for the Lord; if they speak, they speak without
saying anything, and if they pray, their prayer is powerless; they do not plead in prayer;
their prayer is just a few set phrases that you have heard too often. Now what we want, is
to be so full of the Word, that the Spirit coming upon us shall bring to mind - bring to
our remembrance - the words of the Lord Jesus.
In 1 Corinthians 2:9 it is written,
Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of
man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
We hear that quoted so often in prayer - many a man weaves it into his prayer and
stops right there. And the moment you talk about Heaven, they say, "Oh, we don’t
know anything about Heaven; it hath not entered into the heart of man; eye hath not see;
it is all speculation; we have nothing to do with it; and they say they quote it as it is
written." Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of
man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." What next -
"but God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit." You see the Lord hath
revealed them unto us: "For the Spirit searches all things - yea, the deep things of
God." That is just what the Spirit does.
LONG AND SHORT SIGHT
He brings to our mind what God has in store for us. I heard a man, some time ago,
speaking about Abraham. He said "Abraham was not tempted by the well-watered plains
of Sodom, for Abraham was what you might call a long-sighted man; he had his eyes set on
the city which had foundation - ‘whose Builder and Maker is God.’" But Lot
was a short-sighted man; and there are many people in the Church who are very short
sighted; they only see things right around them they think good. Abraham was long-sighted;
he had glimpses of the celestial city. Moses was long-sighted, and he left the palaces of
Egypt and identified himself with God’s people - poor people, who were slaves; but he
had something in view yonder; he could see something God had in store. Again there are
some people who are sort of long-sighted and short-sighted, too. I have a friend who has
one eye that is long-sighted and the other is short-sighted; and I think the Church is
full of this kind of people. They want one eye for the world and the other for the Kingdom
of God. Therefore, everything is blurred, one eye is long and the other is short, all is
confusion, and they "see men as trees walking." The Church is filled with that
sort of people. But Stephen was long-sighted; he looked clear into heaven; they
couldn’t convince him even when he was dying, that Christ had not ascended to heaven.
"Look, look yonder," he says, "I see Him over there; He is on the throne,
standing at the right hand of God;" and he looked clear into heaven; the world had no
temptation for him; he had put the world under his feet. Paul was another of those
long-sighted men; he had been caught up and seen things unlawful for him to utter; things
grand and glorious. I tell you when the Spirit of God is on us the world looks very empty;
the world has a very small hold upon us, and we begin to let go our hold of it. When the
Spirit of God is on us we will just let go the things of time and lay hold of things
eternal. This is the Church’s need today; we want the Spirit to come in mighty power,
and consume all the vile dross there is in us. Oh! that the Spirit of fire may come down
and burn everything in us that is contrary to God’s blessed Word and Will.
In John 14:16, we read of the Comforter. This is the first time He is spoken of as the
Comforter. Christ had been their Comforter. God had sent Him to comfort the sorrowing. It
was prophesied of Him,
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to
preach the Gospel to the poor; He has sent me to heal the broken
hearted."
You can’t heal the broken-hearted without the Comforter; but the world would
not have the first Comforter; and so they rose up and took Him to Calvary and put Him to
death; but on going away He said, "I will send you another Comforter; you shall not
be comfortless; be of good cheer, little flock; it is the Father’s good pleasure to
give you the kingdom." All these sweet passages are brought to the remembrance of
God’s people, and they help us to rise out of the fog and mist of this world. O, what
a comforter is the Holy Spirit of God!
THE FAITHFUL FRIEND
The Holy Spirit tells a man of his faults in order to lead him to a better life.
In John 16:8 we read: "He is to reprove the world of sin." Now,
there are a class of people who don’t like this part of the Spirit’s work. Do
you know why? Because He convicts them of sin; they don’t like that. What they want
is some one to speak comforting words and make everything pleasant; keep everything all
quiet; tell them there is peace when there is war; tell them it is light when it is dark,
and tell them everything is growing better; that the world is getting on amazingly in
goodness; that it is growing better all the time; that is the kind of preaching they seek
for. Men think they are a great deal better than their fathers were. That suits human
nature, for it is full of pride. Men will strut around and say, "Yes, I believe that;
the world is improving; I am a good deal better man than father was; my father was too
strict; he was one of those old Puritanical men who was so rigid. O, we are getting on; we
are more liberal; my father wouldn’t think of going our riding on Sunday, but we
will; we will trample the laws of God under our feet; we are better than our
fathers."
This is the kind of preaching which some dearly love, and there are preachers who tickle
such itching ears. When you bring the Word of God to bear upon them, and when the Spirit
drives it home, then men will say: "I don’t like that kind of preaching; I will
never go to hear that man again;" and sometimes they will get up and stamp their way
out of church before the speaker gets through; they don’t like it. But when the
Spirit of God is at work he convicts men of sin. "When He comes He will reprove the
world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment; of sin" - not because men swear and
lie and steal and get drunk and murder - "of sin because they believe not on
Me."
THE CLIMAX SIN
That is the sin of the world. Why, a great many people think that unbelief is a
sort of misfortune, but do not know, if you will allow me the expression, it is the
damning sin of the world today; that is what unbelief is, the mother of all sin. There
would not be a drunkard walking the streets, if it were not for unbelief; there would not
be a harlot walking the streets, if it were not for unbelief; there would not be a
murderer, if it was not for unbelief, it is the germ of all sin. Don’t think for a
moment that it is a misfortune, but just bear in mind it is an awful sin, and may the Holy
Spirit convict every reader that unbelief is making God a liar. Many a man has been
knocked down on the streets because some one has told him he was a liar. Unbelief is
giving God the lie; that is the plain English of it. Some people seem to boast of their
unbelief; they seem to think it is quite respectable to be an infidel and doubt God’s
Word, and they will vainly boast and say, "I have intellectual difficulties; I
can’t believe." Oh that the Spirit of God may come and convict men of sin! That
is what we need -His convicting power, and I am so thankful that God has not put that into
our hands. We have not to convict men; if we had I would get discouraged, and give up
preaching, and go back to business within the next forty-eight hours. It is my work to
preach and hold up the Cross and testify of Christ; but it is His work to convict men of
sin and lead them to Christ. One thing I have noticed, that some conversions don’t
amount to anything; that if a man professes to be converted without conviction of sin, he
is one of those stony-ground hearers who don’t bring forth much fruit. The first
little wave of persecution, the first breath of opposition, and the man is back in the
world again. Let us pray, dear Christian reader, that God may carry on a deep and thorough
work, that men may be convicted of sin so that they can not rest in unbelief. Let us pray
God it may be a thorough work in the land. I would a great deal rather see a hundred men
thoroughly converted, truly born of God, than to see a thousand professed conversions
where the Spirit of God has not convicted of sin. Don’t let us cry "Peace,
peace, when there is no peace." Don’t go to the man who is living in sin, and
tell him all he has to do is to stand right up and profess, without any hatred for sin.
Let us ask God first to show every man the plague of his own heart, that the Spirit, may
convict them of sin. Then will the work in our hands be real, and deep, and abide the
fiery trial which will try every man’s labor.
Thus far, we have found the work of the Spirit is to impart life, to implant hope, to give
liberty, to testify of Christ, to guide us into all truth, to teach us all things, to
comfort the believers, and to convict the world of sin. |