|
|
|
The World’s Greatest Need Today- God |
|
|
|
|
Written by Jonathan Goforth
|
 “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brethren.” - Acts 1:14
They were seeking God the Holy Ghost. The one thing which the Master emphasized when He was leaving the disciples was God the Holy Ghost, and their need of Him. Without Him they could not hope to be true representatives of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth. So they just went to work in one accord and sought for Him. We find them here appreciating the value of God the Holy Ghost for them in their work. They were not for one moment turned aside by any other issue. It was according to the promise of God the Father and the promise of the Lord Jesus to wait in Jerusalem until the promised One should come; and then He would convict of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; He would guide into all truth; He would glorify Jesus.
Agreement About Our Need for the Holy Spirit
Now, can we do better than to unite and imitate them? My whole theme today will be the need of unity in seeking God’s best gift for us. If we had been in the right attitude, with one accord, seeking God as for hidden treasure, He would have come long ago with such tremendous power that the whole world would come to know our Jesus. But the world does not know the Lord Jesus through us, for there is not a mighty manifestation of Holy Ghost power in this land today; so that the need is still—God.
I am sure that if the King of Britain were to come to this tent, we would make way for him and we would give him the best place. There is a greater King—God the Father, and God the Son, represented by God the Holy Ghost. We may rightly say that the Holy Spirit is the executive of the Godhead. The worlds were made by Him, Jesus performed all His miracles by Him and Jesus spoke the words of the Father through Him. The disciples preached the Word of God with the Holy Ghost sent from above, and there were results following prayer.
It’s this same mighty Holy One that we are called to seek for today - Isn’t He worthy? Oh, how could we keep anything in our hearts that would keep Him out? What can be compared with this Holy One? All down through the Christian ages, whenever any mighty manifestation of power was seen which glorified Jesus Christ, He was the Author. He has never changed; He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is just as almighty; He is just as full of love; He is just as thoughtless of self today as of old. He never will glorify Himself. But oh, we should honor ourselves in honoring Him; we should honor and help others by honoring Him, by allowing Him to come that Christ might be exalted.
The Holy Spirit will never glorify Himself. He always keeps in the background. He lifts up Jesus Christ so high, and makes Him appear so glorious that all eyes are fixed upon Him, all hearts are drawn to Him; and so it is easy for every lip to confess Him, every knee to bow before Him.
Could we do better, than to seek for God the Holy Ghost to come—to come without any condition? God forbid that we should make any condition for the coming of One so great and so wise! He understands everything; He understands every need and He can come in and supply all the fullness of the Godhead. He will come in, when He is allowed to reign in the heart. Then, why not agree? Why not come in one accord in seeking for God the Holy Ghost?
Why Do We Want the Holy Spirit to Come?
But we must be in one accord in our motives. Why should we seek God the Holy Ghost? If God the Holy Spirit comes there will be signs, mighty ones. I believe that if He were allowed to come and if He were appreciated as in the beginning, there would be more wonderful signs than ever before. There is more material to catch fire in the world today; there are more hearts alive to Jesus Christ today than there were at Pentecost; so that if He came today there would be tremendous movements in the world.
Now, how about our motives? The Holy Spirit, if He had control, could not be idle. He would transform our lives, save the children in our homes, save our neighbors, sweep out giant evils everywhere. Yes, He would come with glorious power. And what would be the consequence? Would we be declaring our own fame, that we through our own holiness or goodness had been the means of bringing down the Holy Ghost in such a way as the world never knew before? If such a thought enters our heart, we are far from Pentecost, far form having the Holy One to come and take possession.
If out of a million parts, we are not prepared to give every part to Jesus Christ, and to crown Him Lord of all, we are far from receiving such a blessing. Christ must have all the glory. No matter how high He exalts us, we must fall prostrate at His feet, as dead to the world, as dead and risen with Him, sitting in the heavenly places and exalting Him as King. Are we prepared for this? Can we with one accord, seek that condition before God? It is God’s right to claim it, and our duty to grant it. Oh, may God make us willing in this day of His power, to let Him once and for all reign as King in our lives, our homes, our churches, our land, that no God-dishonoring thing shall be allowed to remain. We will be zealous for God, and will remember that all the glory shall be His.
Agreement About the Promise of the Holy Spirit
There is another thing upon which we can unite. It is this: Believe that God means just what He says. We must cast away unbelief forevermore. It is unbelief and hardness of heart that keep God out. Mind you, they were all with one accord in believing that Jesus meant just what He said, when He promised that the Spirit of God should come with power, and with power to witness for Him to the ends of the earth. They believed that the Lords words would come true. Heaven and earth should pass away rather than the words of Jesus should be unfulfilled. “It is the promise of the Father to us,” they would say, “and we must stay right on here praying.” Not a soul in the company doubted for one instant, but all went on praying. It took them ten days, its true; but it was ten days to get emptied out. There were many things to set right, a good deal in their hearts to be emptied out, but they believed God’s word. It might take us twenty days to get emptied out, and the time would be well spent. God would have taken possession of many of us long ago, if we were only ready.
I imagine that on the first morning that the brethren and sisters met in the upper room prayer meeting, if everything had been emptied out God would have come in and filled them. Yet, it required them ten days to get right with God. Are we prepared, with one accord, to seek in faith God the Holy Spirit? They realized that He desired to use them; they believed that they needed Him; they believed that the world needed Him; they believed that the very honor of Jesus Christ was at stake and that God’s glory was at stake. Beloved, no one but the Spirit of God could truly represent Jesus Christ in them. Do we believe that?
We Have NO Excuses!
Now, remember, we have not as much excuse for sinful unbelief as they would have had. They had no Pentecost to look back to. God’s Holy Spirit was never been poured out in any extraordinary measure before. They had no experience to base their faith upon. They had the word of Jesus Christ; but you have that much and you have a Pentecost as well to fall back upon. You know that when the brethren sought God at Pentecost it was not in vain. All who were in one accord received the Holy Ghost and did wonders. Whenever we have decided to do work for God, we have to go back to Pentecost for our models. God is a reality in the world; and God the Holy Ghost can do wonders beyond what we ask or think. Everyone, after He came at Pentecost, received exceeding abundantly above all that he had asked or thought. Jesus did not deceive. His words are as true today; He has never changed, never weakened in His power. God the Holy Ghost is just as ready to take possession in our lives today, as He was in Jerusalem in that upper room. Do you believe it?
God Comes to Wales
What excuses have we for our unbelief? We have Pentecost and God has added to that. We have had repeated manifestations of God’s power in this “England of ours, and God has never left Himself without witness. In the autumn of 1904 God began to work in Wales, through Evan Roberts and continued working there in 1905. There was a mighty movement. That was not of the devil - that was the Spirit of God in Wales, glorifying Jesus Christ. It emptied the taverns and the theatres. Rough miners were changed and even the four-footed beasts in the coal pits knew that god the Holy Ghost had come among the Welsh. You then got ruffled, uneasy, startled; but you had not faith to invite God to come to England, Scotland and Ireland.
God was there and you could not mistake it. They have hindered God in Wales since then. It was not God’s will to let things go down in Wales. God never got weary in well-doing. There was sinning somewhere that hindered God’s movement in Wales. God is the same as ever. Why didn’t you believe that God could do the same for England and Scotland? Did not Scotland need Him then? Did not Ireland need Him then? Did not your life need Him then?
God Comes to India
He was not welcome here, so He went away to India. He was welcome in the Kassia Hills. Beloved, since He moved in Wales, He has moved in those hills among a down cast people. They had prayed two or three years for Him. The natives speak of His coming as an “explosion.” It was not where the foreign missionaries were leading, but where the natives were seeking Him in out-stations. The unreached were led to fall prostrate at His feet. They cried out, “God is in this place” and many of them were converted. In two years more than 8,000 men and women gave themselves to God.
You heard about that. - You let God go to India, but you did not want Him here. I wonder if when you heard how He had moved in India, you weren’t so convicted by God that you invited Him back to England, to your homes and hearts - But you did not.
God Comes to Korea
Those who went to Korea had heard of His power in Wales and India; and they humbled themselves before Almighty God, and got rid of hindering things. God came to the city of Ping Yang in 1907, and more than two thousand were converted in two months. The unreached walking through the streets were awed. God was in that place with tremendous power, and overthrew all opposition. In one year 30,000 were saved in Korea. Last year there were 50,000 saved and this year they are praying for a million. And still you will not believe God.
The crowning sin which Jesus Christ faced at every turn was unbelief. He came to His own, but His own would not receive Him. The Light of God had come to them, but they did not awake to see Jesus Christ, the Son of God, standing in their midst. They rejected and crucified Him. Jesus is as truly working in Korea as He worked in Jerusalem, and you will not believe it.
God Comes to China
I went over and saw it—I saw God working in Korea. I visited eight of the missionary stations there. I walked through Ping Yang, and felt as if I were walking on holy ground. I came back to China, and told the story and the people believed that God was as willing to bless China as Korea. They went on praying, even unto agony, and felt that they must have God and that life was not worth living without Him. Then God came to China and He sent two men here to witness about it last year, who had seen His mighty power. A year has elapsed, and you have not humbled yourselves, and have not believed God. Ah, what sin! How the Master’s heart must be disappointed - oh the Holy Spirit must be grieved! He is willing to glorify Jesus, in the British Isles and throughout the world; but through unbelief you will not give Him a chance. We must, with one accord, believe that God means what He says. Will you believe it?
Then you must believe that you need Him. Remember, revival is no pleasant process; it just means Gethsemane and Calvary. I have seen those audiences of happy men and women, especially the young men and women, come up for their first meeting in China. Ah, they seemed so lighthearted! Oh, if they only knew what a few days will reveal! If they only knew the heart-agony, the sleepless nights that will soon intervene before they get right with God, they would not be so happy now. The shadow of that awful revelation would startle them! But they did not see it; thank God, it was hidden from their eyes.
God Comes Through the Cross
If you want all, it will mean crucifixion. Yes, there is no other road to revival victory, but right through Gethsemane and up by Calvary. If you believe that you need it, you will have to be in one accord. No man would submit his body to the surgeon’s knife unless he believed that the painful process was necessary; and God the Holy Spirit, when He comes in, searches as by judgment and by fire. The hidden things of darkness come to light, and you may lose all reputation. The Chinese lost their reputation. They faced everything, but they gained God. The process rewarded them - they all believed that and thanked God for it. They thank God that He did not leave them sleeping on until the Judgment Day.
Do you believe that you need God? Many people say, “Don’t you think that God is grieved away, and will not come back to Britain anymore?” But I cannot bring myself to believe that Great Britain has sinned away her day of grace. There are enough awful sins here to give encouragement to this thought, but I cannot bring myself to believe it. I believe that the day of grace still remains and that God, at this Keswick time, desires to be gracious in a way such as we never knew.
Do you believe that we need Him? Oh, do we believe it? No one but God the Holy Ghost can convince an unbelieving world or terrify the devil. No, no, none but God! We need Him. Are you united on that—that you really have a need? Have you come to the end of yourselves – of what you can do? If so, it is God’s opportunity. Do you believe it? Are you in one accord?
Hindrances to God Coming
Then you will have to get in one accord about removing the stones of hindrance. The dead Lazarus was in the grave, but the Lord of life was there. But the stone hindered the Lord of life; and they moved the stone away when He commanded them. They could do it - He never would have commanded them to attempt something that was impossible. As soon as they removed the stone, Lazarus came to life. And the dead are all about us in our homes—dead yet in trespasses and sins, and because of the stones of hindrance, not outside, but inside the Church of God and inside our lives...
In Cleveland many years ago there was a revival, but one church, the most famous in the city was not moved at all. They were so alarmed by it that the minister and the leaders called for a day of fasting and prayer. It was held in the church, and they prayed and fasted all day; and before nightfall two of the chief families that had not been on speaking terms came together. Then God came and gave that church a greater blessing than any of the others in Cleveland. Every place where I have gone in this movement I find this division; it is the pride of heart that will not humble itself, but must have its way. It is SELF instead of God that is everywhere.
Every stone that God may point out to you—get rid of them. God the Holy Ghost would not be the Holy Ghost if He did not point them out to you. When I went to Manchuria the people came to the missionaries and said, “This man has second sight - The things which were done years ago he has brought them all to light.” Now, that was God the Holy Ghost just putting His finger on the spot. If you will just obey Him with one accord, and get these stones out of the way, you may depend upon it that the very floodgates of heaven shall be lifted, and God will flow through.
When Will We Ask God to Come?
Now when shall we ask Him to come? Would it be convenient for God to come now? Would it be convenient for all of us for God to come now? I can imagine someone saying, “No, my business has something in it that needs to be straightened out.” Are you willing to have it straightened out? Are you willing for God to take possession, and, as soon as you get home, straighten that thing out? Are you willing? If we can come to that point with one accord, we may seek Him today, and He will come. He is the only One we need. He is God’s appointment for our lives, our people, our land, and for the need of this world. Shall we invite Him to come today?
No conditions - absolute surrender! Who are we that we should make conditions with Almighty God? Can we answer back to the Almighty? Oh, if we only had a vision of the Crucified, and in that vision saw our own sinfulness, there would be no hesitation. Over in Korea they learned the lesson by praying more than five and a half months. As a result they saw God do more in half a day, as the missionaries say, than they would have done in half a year. If God came at this hour to Keswick He would do more than all the thirty years of Keswick.
When God Comes
In Korea, after they knew that God wanted to come and take possession —they went and opened a high school for more than three hundred young men. They did not want to educate them without the Spirit of God filling their hearts; otherwise they knew the young men would make only educated rascals for Korea. We do not fear this in our British schools and colleges. In fact, the Holy Spirit is hardly honored in our institutions of learning. But in Korea, they prayed for God the Hoy Ghost to come that Monday morning, and fill the young men. They did not start school that morning, but a week later, because before the clock had struck nine, many of those young men were in the agonies of conviction. For a whole week God laid bare every sin; and they got right with God and afterwards studied for His glory.
Then one hundred Methodist preachers met to study the Bible for one month. The missionaries felt how important it was that the first night God the Holy Ghost should come and fill them. They prayed for it; and when the men met, God Himself came and overwhelmed them, and they all fell down before Him. These Spirit-filled young men were taught for a month, only as God could teach them; and they went forth to live and to testify for Him.
Those young men had scarcely reached their homes before 550 Presbyterian women gathered from out-stations to study the Word of God for twelve days. They believe in God’s Word over there. If we believed like they do, of course we should have revival; of course we should have the way prepared for Jesus Christ in the world; of course we should have lots of money for the work of God in world-wide missions; and of course there would be lots of men for the work. These mothers got right with God, under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, and would certainly see that their children were trained for the King. Now these mothers were met by God on the first night; and when they went home, everybody around knew that God had come to Korea.
The women had scarcely reached home before seventy-five theological students from the Presbyterian missions came for a three month’s term of study; they had a five years’ course altogether. Now these missionaries realized the great importance of God the Holy Spirit beginning with these young men that first night, so tdsmithershey would study under His direction. Their desire was that when these men went out from college they would go out not only with a diploma, but in the power of God truly to represent the Lord Jesus. They prayed, and God came the first night. He filled the young men and made them right with Himself, so that they studied under His direction.
That is why there are such wondrous results in Korea. It is natural, because God has control; and we will never have God until we depend on Him and get into His way of doing things. We have the opportunity here at Keswick. Shall we be of one accord right now?
Reference: Jonathan Goforth delivered this address on July 20th, 1910 at the Keswick Convention
|
|
