In this article I propose to consider
the conditions upon which this enduement of power can be
obtained. Let us borrow a little light from the
Scriptures. I will not cumber your paper with quotations
from the Bible, but simply state a few facts that will
readily be recognized by all readers of the Scriptures. If
the readers of this article will read in the last Chapter of
Matthew and of Luke the commission which Christ gave to His
disciples, and in connection read the first and second
Chapters of the Acts of the Apostles, they will be prepared
to appreciate what I have to say in this article. 1st. The disciples had already been
converted to Christ, and their faith had been confirmed by
His resurrection. But here let me say that conversion to
Christ is not to be confounded with a consecration to the
great work of the world's conversion. In conversion the soul
has to do directly and personally with Christ. It yields up its prejudices, its
antagonisms, its self-righteousness, its unbelief, its
selfishness; accepts Him, trusts Him, and supremely loves
Him. All this the disciples had, more or less, distinctly
done. But as yet they had received no definite commission,
and no particular enduement of power to fulfill a
commission. 2nd. But when Christ had dispelled their
great bewilderment resulting from His crucifixion, and
confirmed their faith by repeated interviews with them, He
gave them their great commission to win all nations to
Himself. But He admonished them to tarry at Jerusalem till
they were endued with power from on high, which He said they
should receive not many days hence. Now observe what they
did. They assembled, the men and women, for prayer. They
accepted the commission, and, doubtless, came to an
understanding of the nature of the commission, and the
necessity of the spiritual enduement which Christ had
promised. As they continued day after day in prayer and
conference they, no doubt, came to appreciate more and more
the difficulties that would beset them, and to feel more and
more their inadequacy to the task. A consideration of the
circumstances and results leads to the conclusion that they,
one and all, consecrated themselves, with all they had, to
the conversion of the world as their life-work. They must
have renounced utterly the idea of living to themselves in
any form, and devoted themselves with all their powers to
the work set before them. This consecration of themselves to
the work, this self-renunciation, this dying to all that the
world could offer them, must, in the order of nature, have
preceded their intelligent seeking of the promised enduement
of power from on high. They then continued, with one accord,
in prayer for the promised baptism of the Spirit, which
baptism included all that was essential to their success.
Observe, they had a work set before them. They had a promise
of power to perform it. They were admonished to wait until
the promise was fulfilled. How did they wait? Not in
listlessness and inactivity; not in making preparations by
study and otherwise to get along without it; not by going
about their business, and offering an occasional prayer that
the promise might be fulfilled; but they continued in
prayer, and persisted in their suit till the answer came.
They understood that it was to be a baptism of the Holy
Ghost. They understood that it was to be received from
Christ. They prayed in faith. They held on, with the firmest
expectation, until the enduement came. Now, let these facts
instruct us as to the conditions of receiving this enduement
of power. We, as Christians, have the same
commission to fulfill. As truly as they did, we need an
enduement of power from on high. Of course, the same
injunction, to wait upon God till we receive it, is given to
us. We have the same promise that they had.
Now, let us take substantially and in spirit the same course
that they did. They were Christians, and had a measure of
the Spirit to lead them in prayer and in consecration. So
have we. Every Christian possesses a measure of the Spirit
of Christ, enough of the Holy Spirit to lead us to true
consecration and inspire us with the faith that is essential
to our prevalence in prayer. Let us, then, not grieve or
resist Him: but accept the commission, fully consecrate
ourselves, with all we have, to the saving of souls as our
great and our only life-work. Let us get on to the altar
with all we have and are, and lie there and persist in
prayer till we receive the enduement. Now, observe,
conversion to Christ is not to be confounded with the
acceptance of this commission to convert the world. The
first is a personal transaction between the soul and Christ
relating to its own salvation. The second is the soul's
acceptance of the service in which Christ proposes to employ
it. Christ does not require us to make brick without straw.
To whom He gives the commission He also gives the admonition
and the promise. If the commission is heartily accepted, if
the promise is believed, if the admonition to wait upon the
Lord till our strength is renewed be complied with, we shall
receive the enduement. It is of the last importance that all
Christians should understand that this commission to convert
the world is given to them by Christ
individually. Everyone has the great responsibility
devolved upon him or her to win as many souls as possible to
Christ. This is the great privilege and the great duty of
all the disciples of Christ. There are a great many
departments in this work. But in every department we may and
ought to possess this power, that, whether we preach, or
pray, or write, or print, or trade, or travel, take care of
children, or administer the government of the state, or
whatever we do, our whole life and influence should be
permeated with this power. Christ says: "If any man believe
in Me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water"
that is, a Christian influence, having in it the element of
power to impress the truth of Christ upon the hearts of men,
shall proceed from Him. The great want of the Church at
present is, first, the realizing conviction that this
commission to convert the world is given to each of Christ's
disciples as his life-work. I fear I must say that the great
mass of professing Christians seem never to have been
impressed with this truth. The work of saving souls they
leave to ministers. The second great want is a realizing
conviction of the necessity of this enduement of power upon
every individual soul. Many professors of religion suppose it
belongs especially and only to such as are called to preach
the Gospel as a life-work. They fail to realize that all are
called to preach the Gospel, that the whole life of every
Christian is to be a proclamation of the glad tidings. A
third want is an earnest faith in the promise of this
enduement. A vast many professors of religion, and even
ministers, seem to doubt whether this promise is to the
whole Church and to every Christian. Consequently, they have
no faith to lay hold of it. If it does not belong to all,
they don't know to whom it does belong. Of course they
cannot lay hold of the promise by faith. A fourth want is
that persistence in waiting upon God for it that is enjoined
in the Scriptures. They faint before they have prevailed,
and, hence, the enduement is not received. Multitudes seem
to satisfy themselves with a hope of eternal life for
themselves. They never get ready to dismiss the question of
their own salvation, leaving that, as settled, with Christ.
They don't get ready to accept the great commission to work
for the salvation of others, because their faith is so weak
that they do not steadily leave the question of their own
salvation in the hands of Christ; and even some ministers of
the Gospel, I find, are in the same condition, and halting
in the same way, unable to give themselves wholly to the
work of saving others, because in a measure unsettled about
their own salvation. It is amazing to witness the extent to
which the Church has practically lost sight of the necessity
of this enduement of power. Much is said of our dependence
upon the Holy Spirit by almost everybody; but how little is
this dependence realized. Christians and even ministers go
to work without it. I mourn to be obliged to say that the
ranks of the ministry seem to be filling up with those who
do not possess it. May the Lord have mercy upon us! Will
this last remark be thought uncharitable? If so, let the
report of the Home Missionary Society, for example, be heard
upon this subject. Surely, something is wrong. An average of five souls won to Christ by
each missionary of that Society in a year's toil certainly
indicates a most alarming weakness in the ministry. Have all
or even a majority of these ministers been endued with the
power which Christ promised? If not, why not? But, if they
have, is this all that Christ intended by His promise? In a
former article I have said that the reception of this
enduement of power is instantaneous. I do not mean to assert
that in every instance the recipient was aware of the
precise time at which the power commenced to work mightily
within him. It may have commenced like the dew and increased
to a shower. I have alluded to the report of the Home
Missionary Society. Not that I suppose that the brethren
employed by that Society are exceptionally weak in faith and
power as laborers for God. On the contrary, from my
acquaintance with some of them, I regard them as among our
most devoted and self-denying laborers in the cause of God.
This fact illustrates the alarming weakness that pervades
every branch of the Church, both clergy and laity. Are we
not weak? Are we not criminally weak? It has been suggested
that by writing thus I should offend the ministry and the
Church. I cannot believe that the statement of so palpable a
fact will be regarded as an offense. The fact is, there is
something sadly defective in the education of the ministry
and of the Church. The ministry is weak, because the Church
is weak. And then, again, the Church is kept weak by the
weakness of the ministry. Oh for a conviction of the
necessity of this enduement of power and faith in the
promise of Christ!