Pray for the Spirit

Ix order to miglitj and unexampled revival, what we especially need is for the whole Church to be down on its knees before God. Past redemptions should make our cravings great. “lam the Lord thy Grod, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt; open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.“ Thousands have already been seen gathered in one place for prayer, but when “the Spirit of grace and of supplications “is poui-ed -out on the great body of Christians, touched with pity for the desolations of the spiritual Jerusalem, that word will come true: “Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion, for the time to favor her, yea, the set time is come; for thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favor the dust thereof. Oh! that God’s

1 Psalm 81: 10. 2 Pgalm 102: 13, 14. people were awake to the privilege of crying aloud for his great gift!

Open your mind, believing reader, to the extraordinary truth, that God has an infinite willingness to bestow in answer to prayer that which, since the sending of his Son, is the greatest of all his possible gifts. ^” If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?“^ 0 parent I ponder on this blessed verse; there is that within thy heart which will reveal its meaning! And what is it that God is so ready to give? It is that which secures and appHes all the benefits of Christ’s mediation; that which makes revivals here, and heaven hereafter; it is the Holy Spirit! Ought not all disciples, all over the world, to be prostrate before the throne of grace, beseeching God for Christ’s sake to communicate this all-comprehensive boon? To him only do we look, because with him is “the residue of the Spirit. “^ But we ask in the name of Christ, for the very name means Anointed, and the anointing,

lLukoll:13. 2 Mai. 2:15.

which flows from him as Head, to all the members, is this very gift, the Holy Ghost, “for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.“^ He hath it immeasurably, and for his Church, and they draw for it in his name by prayer. Occupy a few moments upon this great gift; it will aid your prayers. 1. There is such a thing as the pouring out of the Holy Ghost. As Moses “poured of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head,” so God pours the unction of his Spirit on the head of our Great High Priest.^ And as the ceremonial fragrance flowed down to “the skirts of his garments,”^ so the gift of the Spirit comes on all believers. “The anointing which ye have received of him,” says the Apostle John, *’abideth in you.“** But the effusion is sometimes uncommonly great, even to outpouring. Some have found fault with the term, which nevertheless is intensely biblical, and consecrated in the Church. Among promises to Israel in the latter day, the Lord says:” Neither will I hide my face any more from them; for I have poured out my Spirit upon the

lJohn3:34. 2 Lev. 8: 12.

3 Psalm 133: 2. 4 i John 2: 27.

house of Israel, saith the Lord God.“^ Apostolic comment applies to New Testament times the words of another prophet: “I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh.”^ So in another place: “Behold, I will pour out mj Spirit unto you.”^ The idea necessarily presented is that of bountiful effusion. Let us ask for it. The Lord Jesus comforted his sorrowing .disciples by the promise of this gift, as the result of his ascension. “If I depart, I will send him unto you.”^ This Comforter he did send, 0! how graciously and gloriously, at the first Christian Pentecost. “Having received of the Father the promise of the Holy GhostJ’’ said the Apostle Peter,” he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear.“^ There had just been suddenly a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, filling all the house where they were sitting; “and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.” Do not fail to observe, that believers had been in union of prayer for this very gift, thus complying with the Lord’s injunction that they should” wait for the

1 Eze. 39: 29. 2 Joel 2: 28. 3 Prov. 1: 23

4 John 16 7. 5 Acts 2: 3.’..

promise of the Father.“^ The gift was continued, under early preaching; and ^’the Holy Ghost fell on them that heard the “Word.”^ The same Apostle, many years afterwards, refers to the known fact of “the Holy Grhost sent down from heaven.”^ Every great awakening and plentiful harvest of souls has proceeded from the same Spirit, sought by the same importunity of beseeching prayer. Therefore, pray for the Spirit!

2. The influence of the Holy Spirit of God is exceedingly powerful We ask something mighty and revolutionizing. It is Omnipotence that we are praying for. A wicked city, a wicked world, will yield to no inferior strength. What an encouragement that “with the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength!” It is as applicable to revival of the Church as to the rebuilding of the Temple. “ISTot by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.”^ Let Christians no longer despair of the conversion of high-handed sinners, even the vilest of the vile, in our filthiest and bloodiest dens; as if

1 Compare Acta 1: 4, 5, U; 2: 1. 2 Acts 10: 44; II: 15. 3 1 PetcT 1: 12. 4Zecb. 4: 6.

we expected in answer to our prayers only some weak, half-way operation. “Our gospel,” says the Apostle of the Gentiles, *’came not unto you in word, only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance.“^ This is our ground of hope when the ministers of the Word proclaim the glad tidings; that the preaching may be “in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.“^ God grant us deliverance from our unbelief, as to the power of the Holy Spirit in giving eJficacy to the- truth I 8. The Spirit, whom we seek, is the Author of Begeneration and Sanctification. If God vouchsafe us these, in wide extent, our revival will be indeed complete. “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.“^ All believers shout the same praise: “According to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.“‘* Look at thousands, utterly blind as to spiritual realities, and say, what can we ask for them so indispensably important, as that Spirit of Truth, who will “reprove,” or convince” the world of sin, and of righteousness, and

1 Thess. 1:5. a i Cor. 2: 4.

3 John 3: 6, 6, 8. 4 Titus 3: 8.

of judgment’?”^ He is just as able to convert the ruffian, or the fallen woman, as the church-going Pharisee; just as able to renew a thousand as one. Who is sufficiently awake to the necessity of imploring God to convert a multitude of sinners?

All revival of the Church is increased sanctification; and all reclaiming of the imp enitent is sanctification begun. For both we need the gift of the Spirit; and we need it now. We need it to break the power of sin in professing Christians, and to nail their lusts to the cross; for it is by this influence that we “do mortify the deeds of the body.“^ Some of the primitive believers had been atrocious sinners;” but,” says the Apostle Paul, “ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”^ Hope, Joy, Love, and consequent activity and success, are fruits of the same Spirit.’* Li a word, the Spirit of God is the Spbrit of Revival. Earnest, daily, united prayer of the people of Christ for this high gifb puts honor upon God in a remark-

1 John 16: 8. 3 Rom. 8: 13.

3 1 Cor. 6:11. Rom. 5: 5; 1 Thess. 1: 6. able degree; and we already haVe cause to note how signally lie blesses endeavors which were openly begun in prayer. Beloved brethren, let us not mistake the token, nor fail to go in the path pointed out by’Providence and the Spirit.

4. The Holy Spirit sends those gifts luhich are necessary for successfu I work. “When miraculous gifts were necessary, they were not withheld. All inspiration, wisdom, and ministry are from the same source. So also are the common qualifications for service demanded in the daily walk of an earnest Christian, who seeks to save souls. “There are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all; but the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.”^ The Lord promised that the Spirit should prompt his disciples when arraigned.^ Equally does the blessed Monitor fill their hearts and lips for common service. Apostles themselves sought for “utterance” by means of prayer f and a praying Church will have a ministry and members, bold and loving in owning and recommending their Lord. The

iCor. 12:6, 7. 2 Luke 12 t 12. 3 Eph. 6: 19.

supplications, which bring down such influences, are themselves wrought of Grod, when believers, keeping themselves in the love of Grod, are at the same time “praying in the Holy Ghost.”^ See thus how completely dependent we are for all upon the Holy Spirit of God. Grace manifestly began the work; grace keeps it alive; grace must carry it on and give it extension.

Brethren, we must pray as we have never yet prayed. Our want of success is due to our coldness of desire and niggardliness of request. We are not straitened in God, but in our own low, slender conceptions and hopes. We have no?, because we ask not. K we were under a deep and solemn impression of the Divine power, bounty, and faithfulness, “how should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight I”^ The lesson which the Revival should teach us is the duty of being instant in supplication for the larger and more glorious effusion of the Holy Spirit. Acting on this, we shall behold new marvels of love in the place of prayer.

1 Jude 20. 2 Deut. 32: 30.

FOB SINCEKITY.

Master, when I attempt thy work,

A thousand vexing cares are nigh,
A thousand base corruptions lurk,
To make me linger, fall or fly:
More than thy orders, Lord, I need,
For constant strengthening grace I plead.

When I should seek thy only praise,

Wretch! I am seeking oft my own;
Nor can I hymns of glory raise
Devoutly at thy sacred throne,
But that the self-exalting strain
Intrudes to make my worship vain.

Oft when my lips express a care

For what concerns thy work alone,
Among the musings, cluster there
Some little troubles of my own;
Self still has place, alas! I fear
‘Tis self that speaks and governs here.

Yet if thy glory thou reveal —

If Christ in full effulgence shine — If heavenly rapture o’er me steal — And love, and joy, and zeal combine-The new emotions shall expel
The retinue of sin and hell.