Holy spirit power

HOLY SPIRIT POWER
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
GOTQUESTIONS.ORG
Question: "What is the power of the Holy Spirit?"
Answer: The power of the Holy Spirit is the power of God. The Spirit, the third Person of
the Trinity, has appeared throughout Scripture as a Being through and by whom great
works of power are made manifest. His power was first seenin the act of creation, for it
was by His power the world came into being (Genesis 1:1–2; Job 26:13). The Holy Spirit
also empowered men in the Old Testament to bring about God’s will: “So Samuel took the
horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the
Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power” (1 Samuel 16:13; see also Exodus 31:2–5;
Numbers 27:18). Although the Spirit did not permanently indwell God’s people in the Old
Testament, He worked through them and gave them power to achieve things they would
not have been able to accomplish on their own. All of Samson’s feats of strength are
directly attributed to the Spirit coming upon him (Judges 14:6, 19; 15:14).
Jesus promised the Spirit as a permanent guide, teacher, seal of salvation, and comforter
for believers (John 14:16-18). He also promised that the Holy Spirit’s power would help His
followers to spread the message of the gospel around the world: “But you will receive
power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and
in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The salvation of souls is
a supernatural work only made possible by the Holy Spirit’s power at work in the world.
When the Holy Spirit descended upon believers at Pentecost, it was not a quiet event, but a
powerful one. “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.
Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole
house where they were sitting. They saw what seemedto be tongues of fire that separated
and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to
speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” (Acts 2:1–4). Immediately afterward,
the disciples spoke to the crowds gathered in Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost. These
people hailed from a variety of nations and therefore spoke many different languages.

Imagine their surprise and wonder when the disciples spoke to them in their own tongues
(verses 5–12)! Clearly, this was not something the disciples could have accomplished on
their own without many months—or evenyears—of study. The Holy Spirit’s power was
made manifest to a great number of people that day, resulting in the conversion of about
3,000 (verse 41).
During His earthly ministry, Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:1), led by the
Spirit (Luke 4:14), and empowered by the Spirit to perform miracles (Matthew 12:28).
After Jesus had ascended to heaven, the Spirit equipped the apostles to perform miracles,
too (2 Corinthians 2:12; Acts 2:43; 3:1–7; 9:39–41). The power of the Holy Spirit was
manifest among all the believers of the early church through the dispensation of spiritual
gifts such as speaking in tongues, prophesying, teaching, wisdom, and more.
All those who put their faith in Jesus Christ are immediately and permanently indwelt by
the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:11). And, although some of the spiritual gifts have ceased(e.g.,
speaking in tongues and prophecy), the Holy Spirit still works in and through believers to
accomplish His will. His power leads us, convicts us, teaches us, and equips us to do His
work and spread the gospel. The Holy Spirit’s powerful indwelling is an amazing gift we
should never take lightly.
COMPELLINGTRUTH.ORG
The power of the Holy Spirit – What is it?
Power is defined as 1) the ability to act effectively and 2) the capacity to direct or influence
the behavior of others or the course of events. These two definitions accurately describe the
power of the Holy Spirit. Because the power of the Holy Spirit is literally the power of God,
the ability to act and influence is infinite, unlimited, and eternal. In this way, the power of
the Holy Spirit is different from any other kind of power.
The Spirit's power was first seenacting effectively in the act of creation, for it was by His
power the world came into being (Genesis 1:1–2; Job 26:13). Not only was the Spirit's
power effective, it was more effective than anything known before or since. The power in

creation was unique in that it produced everything from nothing. This raw, incomparable
power could only belong to God, the Creator. The Spirit's creative power is seenin His
creating new life in believers, producing spiritually alive beings out of those who were once
dead in sin (John 3:6; Ephesians 2:1–2; Titus 3:5). To this day, the salvation of souls is a
supernatural work only made possible by the Holy Spirit's power as He turns men from
darkness to light.
The power to influence the behavior of others and the course of events is seenthroughout
the Bible as the Holy Spirit empowered men to bring about God's will and foreordained
plans. The Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power, enabling him to do wonderful
things, sometimes under great hardship and persecution (1 Samuel 16:13). Although the
Spirit did not permanently indwell God's people in the Old Testament, He worked through
them and gave them power to achieve things they would not have been able to accomplish
on their own. All of Samson's feats of strength, for example, are directly attributed to the
Spirit coming upon him (Judges 14:6, 19; 15:14).
The power of the Holy Spirit enabled the disciples of Christ to turn the world upside down
with the powerful preaching of the gospel. They could not have accomplished this in their
own power. Jesus promised that the Spirit would come, live within them, and empower
them in a miraculous way. "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come
upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to
the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8). The disciples, who had been in hiding from the Romans
after the crucifixion, became filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit's
power was made manifest to a great number of people that day, resulting in the conversion
of about 3,000 (Acts 2:41). The day of Pentecost was the beginning of the indwelling power
of the Spirit living within those He saves (John 14:17; Acts 2:1–4).
Stephen, the martyr, is a perfect example of the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit.
Stephen was filled with faith and the power of the Spirit (Acts 6:5, 8) and did many
wonders and signs before the people, who were unable to resist the power of the Spirit in
him (Acts 6:10). When he was falsely accused and put to death, the same power enabled
Stephen to die with faith and glorify God to the end (Acts 7:55–56).
The Apostle Paul gave all the credit and glory to the Spirit, whose power enabled his
message to pierce the hearts of sinful men and bring them to salvation. He knew it was not

his apologetics, hermeneutics, or persuasive ability that brought people to Christ: "My
speechand my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the
Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the
power of God" (1 Corinthians 2:4–5).
The power of the Holy Spirit to influence people and change the course of events is also
seenin the early church through the dispensation of the spiritual gifts such as speaking in
tongues, prophesying, teaching, wisdom, and more (1 Corinthians 12:7–11). The Holy
Spirit still works in the world today, accomplishing God's will through believers. His power
leads us, convicts us, teaches us, and equips us to do His work and spread the gospel. He
also works in unbelievers who are not able to resist His power to bring about God's plans
and purposes.
A. B. SIMPSON
Power from On High
“Ye shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you; and ye shall be witnesses
unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part
of the earth.” Acts 1:8.
The greatest need of human nature is power. Man is weaker than all other creatures. The
tiger’s cub is able to take care of itself, but the human being spends one-third of an
ordinary lifetime before he reaches maturity.
He is the prey of all the elements around him, and morally he is much weaker still. In his
heart are elements of evil that drag him downward, and around him a thousand influences
that lead him astray.
There is unspeakable pathos in the cry of a poor, sinning woman who once said in a
hospital, as we were pleading with her to do right: “I am not strong enough to be good;”
there is infinite comfort in that blessedassurance of the Holy Scriptures, “When we were
yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.”
The gospel is a message of strength. “It is the power of God unto salvation, to every one
that believeth.” It is the special ministry of the Holy Ghost to give power from on high.
How much is signified in this mighty promise? How far have we come short of His fullness?
How far may we claim its fulfillment?

We cannot find a better answer than in the book of Acts. This verse is the keynote and the
table of contents. Every word in this verse points forward to a whole section of the book
which follows.
The first chapter of Acts tell us the story of the power. The next chapters tell us of the
witnessing which followed. Then we have the church in Jerusalem. Then we have the gospel
in all Judea. Then we have the story of Samaria. And finally, the closing chapters are
wholly devoted to the preaching of the gospel unto the uttermost part of the earth.
We shall not attempt now to trace the unfolding of this order through the book of Acts, but
shall simply endeavor to illustrate the meaning of this word “power”by the facts and
incidents of the story of the apostolic church, as given in the book of Acts, which is really
the story of the acts of the Holy Ghost more than the acts of the apostles.
I. THIS IS THE POWER OF A PERSON. The right translation is, ye shall receive not
power, but the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you. It is not your power, but His
power. It is not abstract power under your control, but it is a Person, whose presence with
you is necessary to your possessing and retaining the power.
He has the power and you have Him. In the science of electricity, it has been found that the
best form in which this motive power can be used to run our street cars, is not through
storage batteries, but through overhead wires. The power is not stored up in the car, but in
the dynamo and the wire, and the car just draws it from above by constant contact, and the
moment it lets go its touch the power is gone. The power is not in the car, but in the wire.
And so the power of the Holy Ghost is power from above. It is not our power, but His, and
received from Him moment by moment.
In order to receive this power and retain it, there are certain conditions which are
necessary. One of them is that we shall obey Him and follow His directions. We can only
have His power in the line of His will. The car can only draw the power from the wire in so
far as it follows the track. It can have the power to run along the highway, but it cannot
have it to run into the neighboring farms and follow the capricious will of the driver. The
Holy Ghost is given to them that obey Him, and obedience to the Holy Ghost is a much
larger thing than many dream.
It is not merely to keepfrom doing wrong in some little contracted sphere; but it is to
understand and follow the whole will and purpose of God in the use of this divine
enduement. We cannot have it to please ourselves. We cannot have it to please ourselves
evenin the mode of our Christian work. We can only enjoy the fullness of the Spirit, in so
far as we use this fullness for the work to which He has called us.

This verse is the measure and the limit of the Spirit’s power. He is given that we shall be
witnesses unto Christ, both “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the
uttermost part of the earth.”
We can only know the fullness of the Spirit’s power as we use it to give the gospel to the
whole world. Only in the line of the world’s evangelization and the fulfillment of our great
trust can the church of God everrealize the utmost meaning of the promise of Pentecost.
II. IT IS THE POWER OF HOLY CHARACTER. It is not primarily power for service,
but it is power to receive the life of Christ; power to be, rather than to say and to do. Our
service and testimony will be the outcome of our life and experience. Our works and words
must spring from our inmost being, or they will have little power or efficacy. “We must
ourselves be true, if we the truth would teach.”
The change produced by the baptism of the Holy Ghost upon the first disciples was more
remarkable in their own lives than evenin their service and testimony.
Peter, the irresolute disciple — always running ahead of his Master, boasting in his self-
confidence of what he would do or would not do, and then running away at the threat of a
servant girl, transformed into the fearless hero, who stood before the murderers of His
Lord and charged them with their crime, and then with lowly spirit and humble heart,
going forth to walk in his Master’s steps, and at last to die upon his Master’s cross with
downward head, is a greater miracle in his personal life than evenin the wondrous power
of his public testimony.
The spirit of unselfish love, that led to the entire consecration of all their means to the
service of Christ and the help of one another, was an example that could not fail to impress
the skeptical and selfishworld. The “great grace” that was upon them all was more
wonderful than “the great power” with which they bore witness to the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. The heroic fortitude with which they endured unparalleled
sufferings, “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of
Jesus,” was an exhibition of power that no man can gainsay, and carried a weight of
conviction that nothing can counterpoise.
This is the power which the church needs today to convince an unbelieving world; the
power that will make us, not inspired apostles, but “living epistles, known and read of all
men.” Nothing is so strong as the influence of a consistent, supernatural, and holy
character. Many a skeptic, whom all the books in the universe would never have convinced,
has been converted by the sweet example of his Christian wife.
Many a missionary among the heathen has found that the failure of his temper and spirit
has done more in a moment to counteract all his teaching than years could undo. “He that
keepethhis spirit is greater than he that taketh a city.” And the power that can surpass the

angry word, and stand in sweetness in the hour of provocation in the humble kitchen and
laundry, has often become an object lessonto the proud and cultured mistress, until her
heart has hungered for the blessing which has made her lowly servant’s life a ministry of
power, and her humble heart a heaven of love.
III. IT IS THE POWER OF TRUTH. The Holy Ghost works through the Holy Scriptures,
and so the baptism of Pentecost was clearly identified with the power of the Word.
The very first thing that Peter did after the Holy Spirit came was to quote the Scriptures,
and explain the manifestation from God’s own inspired Word, and it was a Scriptural
sermon which was used in the extraordinary conversions of that day.
If you will carefully notice the different messages of the apostles, you will find that in every
instance they made large use of the Bible, and some of their messages are simply statements
of Scripture and quotations from the Old Testament.
The Holy Ghost has given the Holy Scriptures and will never dishonor His own message.
The more we know of Him, the more will we honor His Word. The Bible must ever be the
foundation of spiritual power, and the instrument of spiritual service; but it must everbe in
the power of the Spirit. “The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.”
The late Dr. Gordon tells of a Sabbath he spent abroad, on which day he went in the
morning to hear a distinguished preacher who was celebrated for his Biblical knowledge.
He came home delighted with the clear and brilliant expositions of the truth that he had
heard, but chilled with the icy coldness of the message. It was true, clear, Scriptural truth,
but as cold as an iceberg.
He went in the afternoon to hear another preacher distinguished for his fervor, and he
came back delighted with the earnestness and unction of the preacher but it was a fire of
shavings, and there was not truth enough in it to make it lasting.
He went again at night, and heard a third preacher, and he came away not only instructed,
but thrilled, because this sermon had been not only an exposition of Scriptural truth, but it
had also been alive with the power of God and full of the fire of the Holy Ghost. It was not
a fire of shavings, but of substantial fuel, and it left not only a memory of truth, but a glow
of warmth that filled his heart with joy and love. This is the power of the Holy Ghost,
speaking the truth in love; the Bible ablaze with holy fire; the Word of God dissolved in
unction and love, until it can be observed in every fibre of our being, and become the
nutriment of our life.
IV. IT IS THE POWER OF LOVE. The baptism of Pentecost was a baptism of love. It
brought a love to God that annihilated the power of self. “Neither said any of them that

aught of the things which he possessedwas his own.” Their costliest treasures were yielded
up to God. Their wealth, their homes, were held at the service of the church of Christ.
It was love to one another, and they were so absolutely bound together that they formed a
corporate body. There was no schism or possible place for the paralysis or mutilation of the
whole body of Christ. Today the church of Christ has broken to pieces. Here and there we
find a sound member, but the whole body is mutilated and severed, so that it is not possible
for the Spirit to flow with undivided and unhindered fullness through the whole;
consequently we do not have the gifts of the Spirit in the same measure as in the day of
Pentecost. The body is carrying about with it diseasedand lacerated members, and it takes
the strength of those that are whole to carry those that are broken.
What we need today is the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and then the union will come
because of the unity, and we shall not need our platforms and our convocations to bring the
body together, but bone to his bone, member to member and heart to heart we shall stand
in “unity of the Spirit,” and the Church of Jesus will be “fair as the moon, clear as the sun,
and terrible as an army with banners.”
The baptism of the Holy Ghost will always bring a spirit of love. It will fill the heart with
devotion and devotedness to God, with tender consideration for one another, with loving
regard for our brethren, with intense longing for the salvation of souls, and with sweetness
and charity toward all men.
V. IT IS THE POWER OF SUPERNATURAL GIFTS AND DIVINE HEALING. The
name of Jesus, through the power of the Holy Ghost, was efficacious to restore the
paralytic at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and evento raise the dead at the prayer of
Peter.
At every great crisis in the apostolic ministry, we find a special manifestation of
supernatural power. It was given to emphasize their testimony in Jerusalem. It was
specially marked at the opening of the gospel in Samaria. It was still more wonderfully
manifested as Peter preached through all Judea. And at every new point in Paul’s
missionary journey we find “God bearing witness by signs, and wonders, and mighty
deeds.”
You will notice, however, that the healing of the sick and the working of supernatural
power were not primary ends, but rather testimonies to something more important, even
the reality and power of the name of Jesus, and the message of mercy through the gospel.
And so, while we must still recognize the supernatural ministry of the Spirit, which never
was intended to be interrupted, and ought to be expected yet more wonderfully in these last
days before the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, let us never make the mistake of
regarding it as an end, or allowing it to take the place of the higher truths that relate to our

spiritual life. At the same time, let us not ignore it. The church is one through all the ages.
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever”; the Holy Spirit in unchanged,
and the constitution of the church is identical with the twelfth chapter of First Corinthians
and the plan which God gave at Pentecost.
We cannot leave out any part of the Gospel without weakening all the rest; and if there
everwas an age when the world needed the witness of God’s supernatural working, it is
this day of unbelief and Satanic power. Therefore, we may expect, as the end approaches,
that the Holy Ghost will work in the healing of sickness, in the casting out of demons, in
remarkable answers to prayer, in special and wonderful providences, and in such forms as
may please His sovereign will, to prove to an unbelieving world that the power of Jesus’
name is still unchanged, and that “all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him,
Amen, forever.”
Let us not fear to claim His power for our physical as well as our spiritual need, and we
shall find that, “if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in us, He that
raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken our mortal bodies by His Spirit that
dwelleth in us.”
VI. IT IS THE POWER OF PROVIDENTIAL WORKING. There is nothing more
remakable than the manner in which God’s providence worked in line with the first
disciples, showing that He who dwelt within them was the same God that controls the
universe and all the affairs of human life.
How wonderful the providence that brought represtatives from the whole world to meet at
Pentecost, and then to receive the power and go forth to their homes in every nation, as
witnesses for Jesus!
How marvelous the providence that brought Philip and the eunuch of Ethiopia together
down there at the cross roads of the desert, and then sent the prince on to his home in
Africa converted, enlightened, and filled with the Holy Ghost, to be a witness for Jesus to
his whole nation, and perhaps bring all North Africa to God!
How remarkable the providence that sent Peter to the housetop, and then brought to him
the vision that illuminated his mind, enlarged his ideas, and prepared him for his greater
commission for the Gentile churches; then, when he was ready, sent, on the very niche of
time, the messengers of Cornelius to knock at his door and take him up to Caesarea to
preach the gospel to the Gentiles and witness the outpouring of the Holy Ghost at
Pentecost!
How wonderful the providence of God that opened the church at Antioch and prepared a
new center for Gentile Christianity, in the larger spirit of the cosmopolitan congregation,

and then gathered there men like Paul and Barnabas to be the leaders of a wider movement
for all the world!
How marvelous the providence that savedPeter from the cruel hand of Herod, opening his
prison doors on the very night preceding his intended execution, and smiting Herod down
with a hideous disease in the hour of his presumptuous purpose to destroy the Church of
God!
How extraordinary the providences that followed Paul through his wondrous life, opening
his way from land to land, and making storm and tempest, and eventhe very viper that
sprang upon him, to work for the cause of Christ!
And still the same God rules in the same realm of Providence. Still the Holy Ghost within
us can control the circumstances around us. Still the march of events will keeptime to the
leadings of the Spirit. And the man that walks in the Holy Ghost shall have a charmed life
and be immortal till his work is done, and he will find that winds and waves and fierce and
cruel men, and evenSatan’s very emissaries shall be forced to become auxiliaries to His
purpose, and work with Him for the furtherance of the Gospel.
And so God has shown in the lives of men like Arnot, in Africa; Paton, in the New
Hebrides; George Muller, in Bristol, and many a humble missionary of the cross who has
dared to trust the mighty promise of the ascending Master, the permanent value of His
words, “All power is given Me in heaven and in earth, and lo, I am with you all the days,
evenunto the end of the age.”
VII. IT IS THE POWER FOR GUIDANCE. The Holy Spirit gives power for guidance. He
directed them. He led their steps. He sent Philip to Samaria, and down to the desert to meet
the eunuch. He sent Peter to the housetop and then to the home of Cornelius. He restrained
Paul and Silas from preaching in Bithynia and Ephesus, and then He sent them to
Macedonia, to give the gospel to Europe.
Step by step He was the Guide of all their ways, and He is still our Counselor and Guide;
and if we will trust Him and acknowledge Him in all our ways, He will direct our steps and
lead us into all the fullness of our Father’s will.
VIII. IT IS THE POWER FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH. There is
nothing more wonderful than the oversight of the Holy Ghost in the church of the apostolic
age. He was its recognized Leader and Head. He directed its councils, and was
acknowledged as its President. He controlled its disciples, kept out unworthy members, and
preserved it from the touch of the world.

How solemn and awful His dealing with Ananias and Sapphira! How suggestive the solemn
statement “of the rest, durst none join themselves unto them”! Oh, if the Holy Ghost is in
the Church, the world will not have to be kept out; it will be only too glad to stay out.
Alas, that day should have come when learning, genius, influence and worldly power
should be recognized in the house of God, and the world should be sought by sinful
compromises and unholy attractions, and the church should be baffled and hindered by the
“mixed multitude” that she has no power to keepaway. God is trying to show His ministers
and people that He is adequate for all the needs of His work, and any pastor and church
that will fully recognize Him, shall always be prospered and blessed, spiritually, financially,
numerically, influentially, and every way.
Oh, that God would show His Church her true power and glory, and that she might again
be the woman “clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet!”
IX. IT IS THE POWER OF CONVICTION OVER THE HEARTS OF MEN. The power
of the Holy Ghost is not always a conscious power on our part. It is marked chiefly by
effectiveness in reaching the hearts of others. On the day of Pentecost, it was the power to
convict the consciences of men, and to influence and control their actions. “They were
pricked to the heart, and they said, Menand brethren, what shall we do?”
It is not always the highest excitement that indicates the strongest power. The great
question is, “What is the effect upon the hearts and lives of men?” When Demosthenes used
to speak in Athens, the people forgot all about Demosthenes, and said, “Let us go and find
Philip.” It put the “go” into them. And so when the Holy Ghost is present in power He
leads to results.
The speakermay be very calm, and have little consciousness of the power, but in the
audience are men and women who are brought face to face with God; and the truth is
“manifested to every man’s conscience in the sight of God,” and a Voice within says, “Thou
art the man.” The will is led to decide and choose for God, and men turn from sin and yield
themselves in entire surrender. This is the power we want — the power that “will convict
men of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment;” not the power of great machinery, of
thrilling eloquence, melting pathos, and marvelous preaching and singing but the power
that quietly moves upon the hearts of men, in their workshops and in their homes, until
they are constrained to give themselves to God.
X. IT IS THEPOWER TO SUFFER. Perhaps there is no more remarkable manifestation
of the power of the Holy Ghost, in the early church, than the sweetness and grandeur with
which they endured all things for Jesus’sake. Beatenwith stripes and humiliated before the
council, they came together, not to condole with each other or show their bleeding wounds,
but to rejoice “that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Jesus.”

Hunted out of Iconium by a mob of respectable women, pelted with stones and hooted from
the community, the “disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.” Theirs was a
gladness that did not recognize their sufferings, but lifted them above persecution, and
counted it but part of their coronation.
And so the power of the Holy Ghost will give us the heroism of endurance and enable us,
like our Master, for the joy set before us to endure the cross, despising the shame. It will
bring about a spirit of self-denial and holy sacrifice; it will make it easy for us to let go
things and give up things “and endure all things for the elect’s sake,” and to say with the
great apostle, “Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy
and rejoice with you all.”
XI. IT IS THE POWER FOR SERVICE. Finally this was the power for unwearied, earnest
and effective work. It was a power that could enable Paul, in a single lifetime, while
supporting himself by his own manual labor, unsupported by any missionary society or
church, and without the facilities of our railroads, steamboats, telegraphs and means of
communication, to girdle the globe and preach the gospel everywhere, and say in words of
superlative triumph, “So that from Jerusalem, round about unto Illyricum, I have fully
preached the gospel of Christ.”
O, beloved, we are living in an earnest age, and surely the Holy Ghost ought to produce
earnest men today. God give to us this power for work that will multiply our lives until they
measure up to the extraordinary opportunities, and to the marvelous intensities of these
last days on which the ends of the world are come.
Oh, for a race of Pauls! Oh, for an army of Gideons! Oh, for a band of heroes! Oh, for the
baptism of the Holy Ghost in all the meaning of Pentecost and in all the highest thought of
Christ Himself!
I feel the power,
the Holy Spirit’s rush
I feel the fire . . .
of joy’s eternal blush.
I feel His electricity,

stirring me up inside
I feel the energy
only He can provide.
I feel the power,
the Holy Spirit’s might
I feel the intensity
of His heavenly light.
I feel His strength,
emerging out of me
I feel the profundity
of His setting me free.
I feel the power,
the Holy Spirit’s fire
it’s burning me up
with a heavenly desire!
Ephesians 1:18-20
“The eyes of your understanding being enlightened;
that ye may know what is the hope of his calling,
and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance
in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness
of his power to us-ward who believe, according to

the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought
in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set
him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,”
King James Version
by Public Domain
Copyright 2015
Deborah Ann Belka
D. L. MOODY
Power — It’s Source
“Without the soul, divinely quickened and inspired, the observances of the grandest
ritualism are as worthless as the motions of a galvanized corpse.” -Anon.
I quote this sentence, as it leads me at once to the subject under consideration. What is this
quickening and inspiration? What is this power needed? From whence its source? I reply:
The Holy Spirit of God. I am a full believer in “The Apostles’ Creed,” and therefore “I
believe in the Holy Ghost.” A writer has pointedly asked: “What are our souls without His
grace? – as dead as the branch in which the sap does not circulate. What is the Church
without Him? – as parched and barren as the fields without the dew and rain of heaven.”
There has been much inquiry of late on the subject of the Holy Spirit. In this and other
lands thousands of persons have been giving attention to the study of this grand theme. I
hope it will lead us all to pray for the greater manifestation of His power upon the whole
Church of God. How much we have dishonored Him in the past! How ignorant of His
grace, and love and presence we have been? True, we have heard of Him and read of Him,
but we have had little intelligent knowledge of His attributes, His offices and His relations
to us. I fear He has not been to many professed Christians an actual existence, nor is He
known to them as a personality of the Godhead.
The first work of the Spirit is to give life; spiritual life. He gives it and He sustains it. If
there is no life, there can be no power; Solomon says: “A living dog is better than a dead
lion.” When the Spirit imparts this life, He does not leave us to droop and die, but

constantly fans the flame. He is everwith us. Surely we ought not to be ignorant of His
power and His work.
IDENTITY AND PERSONALITY
In 1st John 5:7, we read: “There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the
Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one.” By the Father is meant the first
Person, Christ, the Word is the second, and the Holy Spirit, perfectly fulfilling His own
office and work in union with the Father and the Son, is the third. I find clearly presented
in my Bible, that the One God who demands my love, service and worship, has there
revealed Himself, and that each of those three names of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost
has personality attached to them. Therefore we find some things ascribed to God as Father,
some to God as Saviour, and some to God as Comforter and Teacher. It has been remarked
that the Father plans, the Son executes, and the Holy Spirit applies. But I also believe they
plan and work together. The distinction of persons is often noted in Scripture.
In Matthew 3:16-17, we find Jesus submitting to baptism, the Spirit descending upon Him,
while the Father’s voice of approval is heard saying: “This is my BelovedSon in whom I
am well pleased.” Again in John 14:16 we read: “I (i.e. Jesus) will pray the Father, and He
shall give you another Comforter.” Also in Ephesians 1:18 “Through Him (i.e. Christ
Jesus) we both (Jews & Gentiles) have access by one Spirit unto the Father.” Thus we are
taught the distinction of persons in the Godhead, and their inseparable union. From these
and other scriptures also we learn the identity and actual existence of the Holy Spirit.
If you ask do I understand what is thus revealed in Scripture, I say “no.” But my faith
bows down before the inspired Word and I unhesitatingly believe the great things of God
when even reason is blinded and the intellect confused.
In addition to the teaching of God’s Word, the Holy Spirit in His gracious work in the soul
declares His own presence. Through His agency we are “born again,” and through His
indwelling we possess superhuman power. Science, falsely so called, when arrayed against
the existence and presence of the Spirit of God with His people, only exposes its own folly to
the contempt of those who have become “new creatures in Christ Jesus.” The Holy Spirit
who inspired prophets, and qualified apostles, continues to animate, guide and comfort all
true believers. To the actual Christian, the personality of the Holy Spirit is more real than
any theory science has to offer, for so-called science is but calculation based on human
observation, and is constantly changing its inferences. But the existence of the Holy Spirit is
to the child of God a matter of Scripture revelation and of actual experience.
Some skeptics assert that there is no other vital energy in the world but physical force,
while contrary to their assertions, thousands and tens of thousands who can not possibly be
deceived have been quickened into spiritual life by a power neither physical or mental.
Menwho were dead in sins – drunkards who lost their will, blasphemers who lost their

purity, libertines sunk in beastliness, infidels who published their shame to the world, have
in numberless instances become the subjects of the Spirit’s power and are now walking in
the true nobility of Christian manhood, separated by an infinite distance from their former
life. Let others reject, if they will, at their own peril, this imperishable truth. I believe, and
am growing more into this belief, that divine, miraculous creative power resides in the Holy
Ghost. Above and beyond all natural law, yet in harmony with it, creation, providence, the
Divine government, and the upbuilding of the Church of God are presided over by the
Spirit of God.
His ministration is the ministration of life more glorious than the ministration of law, (2
Corinthians 3:16-10). And like the Eternal Son, the Eternal Spirit having life in Himself, is
working out all things after the counsel of His own will, and for the everlasting glory of the
Triune Godhead.
The Holy Spirit has all the qualities belonging to a person; the power to understand, to will,
to do, to call, to feel, to love. This can not be said of a mere influence. He possesses
attributes and qualities which can only be ascribed to a person, as acts and deeds are
performed by Him which can not be performed by a machine, an influence, or a result.
AGENT AND INSTRUMENT
The Holy Spirit is closely identified with the words of the Lord Jesus. “It is the Spirit that
quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing, the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and
they are life.” The Gospel proclamation can not be divorced from the Holy Spirit. Unless
He attend the word in power, vain will be the attempt in preaching it. Human eloquence or
persuasiveness of speechare the mere trappings of the dead, if the living Spirit be absent;
the prophet may preach to the bones in the valley, but it must be the breath from Heaven
which will cause the slain to live.
In the third chapter of the First Epistle of Peter, it reads, “For Christ also hath once
suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death
in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit Here we see that Christ was raised up from the
grave by this same Spirit, and the power exercisedto raise Christ’s dead body must raise
our dead souls and quicken them. No other power on earth can quicken a dead soul, but
the same power that raised the body of Jesus Christ out of Joseph’s sepulcher. And if we
want that power to quicken our friends who are dead in sin, we must look to God, and not
be looking to man to do it. If we look alone to ministers, if we look alone to Christ’s
disciples to do this work, we shall be disappointed; but if we look to the Spirit of God and
expect it to come from Him and Him alone, then we shall honor the Spirit, and the Spirit
will do His work.
SECRET OF EFFICIENCY

I can not help but believe there are many Christians who want to be more efficient in the
Lord’s service, and the object of this book is to take up this subject of the Holy Spirit, that
they may see from whom to expect this power. In the teaching of Christ, we find the last
words recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, the 28th chapter and 19th verse, Go ye,
therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son
and of the Holy Ghost.
Here we find that the Holy Spirit and the Son are equal with the Father – are one with
Him, “teaching them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”
Christ was now handing His commission over to His Apostles. He was going to leave them.
His work on earth was finished, and He was now just about ready to take His seat at the
right hand of God, and He spoke unto them and said: “All power is given unto Me in
heaven and on earth.” All power, so then He had authority. If Christ was mere man, as
some people try to make out, it would have been blasphemy for Him to have said to the
disciples, go and baptize all nations in the name of the Father, and in His own name, and in
that of the Holy Ghost, making Himself equal with the Father.
There are three things: All Power is given unto Me; go teach all nations.
Teach them what? To observe all things. There are a great many people now that are
willing to observe what they like about Christ, but the things that they don’t like they just
dismiss and turn away from. But His commission to His disciples was, “Go teach all nations
to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” And what right has a messenger
who has been sent of God to change the message? If I had sent a servant to deliver a
message, and the servant thought the message didn’t sound exactly right – a little harsh-
and that servant went and changed the message, I should change servants very quickly; he
could not serve me any longer. And when a minister or a messengerof Christ begins to
change the message because he thinks it is not exactly what it ought to be and thinks that
he is wiser than God, God just dismisses that man.
They haven’t taught “all things.” They have left out some of the things that Christ has
commanded us to teach, because they didn’t correspond with man’s reason. Now we have
to take the Word of God just as it is; and if we are going to take it, we have no authority to
take out just what we like, what we think is appropriate, and let dark reason be our guide.
It is the work of the Spirit to impress the heart and seal the preached word. His office is to
take of the things of Christ and reveal them unto us.
Some people have got an idea that this is the only dispensation of the Holy Ghost; that He
didn’t work until Christ was glorified. But Simeon felt the Holy Ghost when he went into
the temple in 2 Peter 1:21 we read: “Holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost.” We find the same Spirit in Genesis as is seenin Revelation. The same Spirit that
guided the hand that wrote Exodus inspired also the epistles, and we find the same Spirit

speaking from one end of the Bible to the other. So holy men in all ages have spoken as they
were moved by the Holy Spirit.
HIS PERSONALITY
I was a Christian a long time before I found out that the Holy Ghost was a person. Now this
is something a great many don’t seemto understand, but if you will just take up the Bible
and see what Christ had to say about the Holy Spirit, you will find that He always spoke of
Him as a person – never spoke of Him as an influence. Some people have an idea that the
Holy Spirit is an attribute of God, just like mercy -just an influence coming from God. But
we find in the fourteenth chapter of John, sixteenth verse, these words: “And I will pray
the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter that He may abide with you forever.”
And again, in the same chapter, seventeenth verse: “Even the Spirit of Truth, whom the
world can not receive, because it seethHim not, neither knoweth Him; but ye know Him;
for He dwelleth with you and shall be in you.” Again, in the twenty-sixth verse of the same
chapter: “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.” Observe the pronouns “He” and “Him.” I want to call attention to this
fact that whenever Christ spoke of the Holy Ghost He spoke of Him as a person, not a mere
influence; and if we want to honor the Holy Ghost, let us bear in mind that He is one of the
Trinity, a personality of the Godhead.
THE RESERVOIR OF LOVE
We read that the fruit of the Spirit is love. God is love, Christ is love, and we should not be
surprised to read about the love of the Spirit. What a blessedattribute is this. May I call it
the dome of the temple of the graces.
Better still, it is the crown of crowns worn by the Triune God. Human love is a natural
emotion which flows forth towards the object of our affections. But Divine love is as high
above human love as the heaven is above the earth. The natural man is of the earth, earthy,
and however pure his love may be, it is weak and imperfect at best. But the love of God is
perfect and entire, wanting nothing. It is as mighty ocean in its greatness, dwelling with
and flowing from the Eternal Spirit.
In Romans 5:5, we read: “And hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us.” Now if we are co-workers
with God, there is one thing we must possess, and that is love. A man may be a very
successful lawyer and have no love for his clients, and yet get on very well. A man may be a
very successful physician and have no love for his patients, and yet be a very good
physician; a man may be a very successful merchant and have no love for his customers,
and yet he may do a good business and succeed; but no man can be a co-worker with God
without love. If our service is mere profession on our part, the quicker we renounce it the

better. If a man takes up God’s work as he would take up any profession, the sooner he
gets out of it the better.
We can not work for God without love. It is the only tree that can produce fruit on this sin-
cursed earth, that is acceptable to God. If I have no love for God nor for my fellow man,
then I can not work acceptably. I am like sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. We are
told that the “love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost.” Now, if we have
had that love shed abroad in our hearts, we are ready for God’s service; if we have not, we
are not ready. It is so easy to reach a man when you love him; all barriers are broken down
and swept away.
Paul when writing to Titus, second chapter and first verse, tells him to be sound in faith, in
charity, and in patience. Now in this age, ever since I1 can remember, the Church has been
very jealous about men being unsound in the faith. If a man becomes unsound in the faith,
they draw their ecclesiastical sword and cut at him; but he may be everso unsound in love,
and they don’t say anything. He may be ever so defective in patience; he may be irritable
and fretful all the time, but they never deal with him. Now the Bible teaches us, that we are
not only to be sound in the faith, but in charity and in patience. I believe God can not use
many of His servants, because they are full of irritability and impatience; they are fretting
all the time, from morning until night. God can not use them; their mouths are sealed; they
can not speak for Jesus Christ, and if they have not love, they can not work for God. I do
not mean love for those that love me; it don’t take grace to do that; The rudest Hottentot in
the world can do that; the vilest man that every walked the earth can do that. It don’t take
any grace at all I did that before I ever became a Christian. Love begets love; hatred begets
hatred. If I know a man loves me first, I know my love will be going out towards him.
Suppose a man comes to me, saying, “Mr. Moody, a certain man told me today that he
thought you were the meanest man living.” Well, if I didn’t have a good deal of the grace of
God in my heart, then I know there would be hard feelings that would spring up in my
heart against that man, and it would not be long before I would be talking against him.
Hatred begets hatred. But suppose a man comes to me and says, “Mr. Moody, do you know
that such a man that I met today says that he thinks a great deal of you?” and though I
may never have heard of him, there would be love springing up in my heart. Love begets
love; we all know that; but it takes the grace of God to love the man that lies about me, the
man that slanders me, the man that is trying to tear down my character; it takes the grace
of God to love that man. You may hate the sin he has committed; there is a difference
between the sin and the sinner; you may hate the one with a perfect hatred, but you must
love the sinner. I can not otherwise do him any good. Now you know the first impulse of a
young convert is to love. Do you remember the day you was converted? Was not your heart
full of sweet peace and love?
THE RIGHT OVERFLOW

I remember the morning I came out of my room after I had first trusted Christ, and I
thought the old sun shone a good deal brighter than it ever had before; I thought that the
sun was just smiling upon me, and I walked out upon Boston Common, and I heard the
birds in the trees, and I thought that they were all singing a song for me. Do you know I fell
in love with the birds? I never cared for them before; it seemedto me that I was in love
with all creation. I had not a bitter feeling against any man, and I was ready to take all men
to my heart. If a man has not the love of God shed abroad in his heart, he has never been
regenerated. If you hear a person get up in a prayer meeting, and he begins to speak and
find fault with everybody, you may know that his is not a genuine conversion; that it is
counterfeit; it has not the right ring, because the impulse of a converted soul is to love, and
not to be getting up and complaining of every one else, and finding fault.
But it is hard for us to live in the right atmosphere all the time. Some one comes along and
treats us wrongly, perhaps we hate him; we have not attended to the means of grace and
kept feeding on the word of God as we ought; a root of bitterness springs up in our hearts,
and perhaps we are not aware of it, but it has come up in our hearts; then we are not
qualified to work for God. The love of God is not shed abroad in our hearts as it ought to
be by the Holy Ghost.
But the work of the Holy Ghost is to impart love. Paul could say, “The Love of Christ
constraineth me.” He could not help going from town to town and preaching the Gospel.
Jeremiah at one time said: “I will speak no more in the Lord’s name; I have suffered
enough; these people don’t like God’s Word. They lived in a wicked day, as we do now.
Infidels were creeping up all around him, who said the word of God was not true; Jeremiah
had stood like a wall of fire, confronting them, and he boldly proclaimed that the Word of
God was true. At last they put him in prison, and he said: “I will keepstill; it has cost me
too much.” But a little while after, you know, he could not keepstill. His bones caught fire;
he had to speak. And when we are so full of the Love of God, we are compelled to work for
God, then God blesses us. If our work is sought to be accomplished by the lash, without any
true motive power, it will come to nought.
Now the question comes up, have we the love of God shed abroad in our hearts and are we
holding the truth in love? Some people hold the truth, but in such a cold stern way that it
will do no good. Other people want to love everything, and so they give up much of the
truth; but we are to hold the truth in love; we are to hold the truth evenif we lose all, but
we are to hold it in love, and if we do that, the Lord will bless us.
There are a good many people trying to get this love; and they are trying to produce it of
themselves. But therein all fail. The love implanted deep in our new nature will be
spontaneous. I don’t have to learn to love my children. I can not help loving them. I said to
a young miss some time ago, in an inquiry meeting, who said that she could not love God;
that it was very hard for her to love Him – I said to her, “Is it hard for you to love your

Mother? Do you have to learn to love your Mother? And she looked up through her tears,
and said, “No; I can’t help it; that is spontaneous.” “Well,” I said, “when the Holy Spirit
kindles love in your heart, you can not help loving God; it will be spontaneous.” When the
Spirit of God comes into your heart and mine, it will be easy to serve God.
The fruit of the Spirit, as you find it in Galatians, begins with love. There are nine graces
spoken of in the sixth chapter, and of the nine different graces, Paul puts love at the head of
the list; love is the first thing -the first in that precious cluster of fruit. Some one has put it
in this way: that all the other eight can be put in the word love. Joy is love exulting; peace is
love in repose; long suffering is love on trial; gentleness is love in society; goodness is love
in action; faith is love on the battlefield; meekness is love at school; and temperance is love
in training. So it is love all the way; love at the top; love at the bottom, and all the way
along down these graces; and if we only just brought forth the fruit of the Spirit, what a
world we would have; there would be no need of any policemen; a man could leave his
overcoat around without some one stealing it; men would not have any desire to do evil.
Says Paul, “Against such there is no law,” you don’t need any law. A man who is full of the
Spirit don’t need to be put under law; don’t need any policemen to watch him. We could
dismiss all our policemen; the lawyers would have to give up practicing law, and the courts
would not have any business.
THE TRIUMPHS OF HOPE
In the fifteenth chapter of Romans, thirteenth verse, the Apostle says: “Now the God of
hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope through the
power of the Holy Ghost.” The next thing then is hope.
Did you evernotice this, that no man or woman is ever used by God to build up His
kingdom who has lost hope? Now, I have been observing this throughout different parts of
the country, and wherever I have found a worker in God’s vineyard who has lost hope, I
have found a man or woman not very useful. Now, just look at these workers. Let your
mind go over the past for a moment. Can you think of a man or woman whom God has
used to build His kingdom who has lost hope? I don’t know of any; I never heard of such
an one. It is very important to have hope in the Church; and it is the work of the Holy
Ghost to impart hope. Let Him come into some of the churches where there have not been
any conversions for a few years, and let Him convert a score of people, and see how hopeful
the Church becomes at once. He imparts hope; a man filled with the Spirit of God will be
very hopeful. He will be looking out into the future, and he knows that it is all bright,
because the God of all grace is able to do great things. So it is very important that we have
hope.
If a man has lost hope, he is out of communion with God; he has not the Spirit of God
resting upon him for service; he may be a son of God, and disheartened so that he can not

be used of God. Do you know there is no place in the Scriptures where it is recorded that
God ever used evena discouraged man. Some years ago, in my work I was quite
discouraged, and I was ready to hang my harp on the willow. I was very much cast down
and depressed. I had been for weeks in that state, when one Monday morning a friend, who
had a very large Bible class, came into my study. I used to examine the notes of his Sunday
School lessons, which were equal to a sermon, and he came to me this morning and said,
“Well, what did you preach about yesterday?” and I told him. I said, “What did you
preach about?” and he said that he preached about Noah. “Did you everpreach about
Noah?” “No, I never preached about Noah.” “Did you everstudy his character?” “No, I
never studied his life particularly.” “Well,” says he, “he is a most wonderful character. It
will do you good. You ought to study up that character.” When he went out, I took down
my Bible, and read about Noah; and then it came over me that Noah worked 120 years and
never had a convert, and yet he did not get discouraged; and I said, “well, I ought not to be
discouraged,” and I closed my Bible, got up and walked down town, and the cloud had
gone. I went down to the noon prayer meeting, and heard of a little town in the country
where they had taken into the church 100 young converts; and I said to myself, I wonder
what Noah would have given if he could have heard that; and yet he worked 120 years and
didn’t get discouraged. And then a man right across the aisle got up and said, “My friends,
I wish you to pray for me; I think I’m lost;” and I thought to myself, “I wonder what Noah
would have given to hear that.” He never heard a man say, “I wish you to pray for me; I
think I am lost,” and yet he didn’t get discouraged! Oh, children of God, let us not get
discouraged; let us ask God to forgive us, if we have been discouraged and cast down; let us
ask God to give us hope, that we may be everhopeful. It does me good sometimes to meet
some people and take hold of their hands; they are so hopeful, while other people throw a
gloom over me because they are all the time cast down, and looking at the dark side, and
looking at the obstacles and difficulties that are in the way.
THE BOON OF LIBERTY
The next thing the Spirit of God does is to give us liberty. He first imparts love; He next
inspires hope, and then gives liberty, and that is about the last thing we have in a good
many of our churches at the present day. And I am sorry to say there must be a funeral in
a good many churches before there is much work done, we shall have to bury the
formalism so deep that it will never have any resurrection. The last thing to be found in
many a church is liberty.
If the Gospel happens to be preached, the people criticise, as they would a theatrical
performance. It is exactly the same, and many a professed Christian never thinks of
listening to what the man of God has to say. It is hard work to preach to carnally minded
critics, but “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” Very often a woman will hear
a hundred goods things in a sermon, and there may be one thing that strikes her as a little
out of place, and she will go home and sit down to the table and talk right out before her

children and magnify that one wrong thing, and not say a word about the hundred good
things that were said. That is what people do who criticise.
God does not use men in captivity. The condition of many is like Lazarus when he came out
of the sepulcher bound hand and foot. The bandage was not taken off his mouth, and he
could not speak. He had life, and if you had said Lazarus was not alive, you would have
told a falsehood, because he was raised from the dead. There are a great many people, the
moment you talk to them and insinuate they are not doing what they might, they say: “I
have life. I am a Christian.” Well, you cant deny it, but they are bound hand and foot.
May God snap these fetters and set His children free, that they may have liberty. I believe
He comes to set us free, and wants us to work for Him, and speak for Him. How many
people would like to get up in a social prayer meeting to say a few words for Christ, but
there is such a cold spirit of criticism in the Church that they dare not do it. They have not
the liberty to do it. If they get up, there are so frightened with these critics that they begin
to tremble and sit down. They can not say anything. Now, that is all wrong. The Spirit of
God comes just to give liberty, and wherever you see the Lord’s work going on, you will see
that Spirit of liberty People won’t be afraid of speaking to one another. And when the
meeting is over they will not get their hats and see how quick they can get out of the
church, but will begin to shake hands with one another, and there will be liberty there. A
good many go to the prayer meeting out of a mere cold sense of duty. They think “I must
attend because I feel it is my duty.” They don’t think it is a glorious privilege to meet and
pray, and to be strengthened, and to help some one else in the wilderness journey.
What we need today is love in our hearts. Don’t we want it? Don’t we want hope in our
lives? Don’t we want to be hopeful? Don’t we want liberty? Now, all this is the work of the
Spirit of God, and let us pray God daily to give us love, and hope, and liberty. We read in
Hebrews, “Having, therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of
Jesus.” If you will turn to the passage and read the margin – it says: “Having, therefore,
brethren, liberty to enter into the holiest.” We can go into the holiest, having freedom of
access, and plead for this love and liberty and glorious hope, that we may not rest until God
gives us power to work for Him.
If I know my own heart today, I would rather die than live as I once did, a mere nominal
Christian, and not used by God in building up His kingdom.
It seems a poor empty life to live for the sake of self.
Let us seek to be useful. Let us seek to be vessels meet for the Master’s use, that God, the
Holy Spirit, may shine fully through us.

Holy Spirit, come to me,
rest right here, inside of me
guard my heart, keepmy mind
let it be Your peace, that I find.
Holy Spirit, come be with me,
continually support, all of me
lead my soul, direct my ways
hear the words, my heart prays.
Holy Spirit, come anoint me,
place your seal, right here in me
Spirit of Life, Spirit of Grace
may Your wisdom, I embrace.
Holy Spirit, come comfort me,
release and deliver, unto me
all Your might, all Your power
counsel me, every waking hour.
Holy Spirit, my Father’s gift to me,
Spirit of Christ, living inside me
Spirit of God, Spirit of holy Fear
come whisper truth, in my ear!
~~~~~~~
Ephesians 1:13
“In whom ye also trusted,
after that ye heard the word of truth,

the gospel of your salvation:
in whom also after that ye believed,
ye were sealedwith that
holy Spirit of promise,
King James Version
by Public Domain
Copyright 2015
Deborah Ann Belka
CHARLES FINNEY
Power from on High
Please permit me through your columns to correct a misapprehension of some of the
members of the late Council at Oberlin of the brief remarks which I made to them; first on
Saturday morning, and afterwards on the Lord’s Day. In my first remarks to them I called
attention to the mission of the Church to disciple all nations, as recorded by Matthew and
Luke, and stated that this commission was given by Christ to the whole Church, and that
every member of the Church is under obligation to make it his lifework to convert the
world. I then raised two inquiries:
1. What do we need to secure success in this great work?
2. How can we get it?
Answer. 1. We need the enduement of power from on high. Christ had previously informed
the disciples that without Him they could do nothing. When He gave them the commission
to convert the world, He added, “But tarry ye in Jerusalem till ye be endued with power
from on high. Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. Lo, I send
upon you the promise of My Father.” This baptism of the Holy Ghost, this thing promised
by the Father, this enduement of power from on high, Christ has expressly informed us is
the indispensable condition of performing the work which he has set before us.
2. How shall we get it? Christ expressly promised it to the whole Church, and to every
individual whose duty it is to labour for the conversion of the world. He admonished the

first disciples not to undertake the work until they had received this enduement of power
from on high. Both the promise and the admonition apply equally to all Christians of every
age and nation. No one has, at any time, any right to expect success, unless he first secures
this enduement of power from on high. The example of the first disciples teaches us how to
secure this enduement. They first consecrated themselves to his work, and continued in
prayer and supplication until the Holy Ghost fell upon them on the Day of Pentecost, and
they received the promised enduement of power from on high. This, then, is the way to get
it.
The Council desired me to say more upon this subject; consequently, on the Lord’s Day, I
took for my text the assertion of Christ, that the Father is more willing to give the Holy
Spirit to them that ask Him than we are to give good gifts to our children.
1. I said, This text informs us that it is infinitely easy to obtain the Holy Spirit, or this
enduement of power from the Father.
2. That this is made a constant subject of prayer. Everybody prays for this, at all times, and
yet, with all this intercession, how few, comparatively, are really endued with this spirit of
power from on high! This want is not met. The want of power is a subject of constant
complaint. Christ says, “Everyone that askethreceiveth,” but there certainly is a “great
gulf” between the asking and receiving, that is a great stumbling-block to many. How, then,
is this discrepancy to be explained? I then proceeded to show why this enduement is not
received. I said:
(1) We are not willing, upon the whole, to have what we desire and ask.
(2) God has expressly informed us that if we regard iniquity in our hearts He will not hear
us. But the petitioner is often self-indulgent. This is iniquity, and God will not hear him.
(3) He is uncharitable.
(4) Censorious.
(5) Self-dependent.
(6) Resists conviction of sin.
(7) Refuses to confess to all the parties concerned.
(8) Refuses to make restitution to injured parties.
(9) He is prejudiced and uncandid.
(10) He is resentful.
(11) Has a revengeful spirit.

(12) Has a worldly ambition.
(13) He has committed himself on some point, and become dishonest, and neglects and
rejects further light.
(14) He is denominationally selfish.
(15) Selfish for his own congregation.
(16) He resists the teachings of the Holy Spirit.
(17) He grieves the Holy Spirit by dissension.
(18) He quenches the Spirit by persistence in justifying wrong.
(19) He grieves Him by a want of watchfulness.
(20) He resists Him by indulging evil tempers.
(21) Also by dishonesties in business.
(22) Also by indolence and impatience in waiting upon the Lord.
(23) By many forms of selfishness.
(24) By negligence in business, in study, in prayer.
(25) By undertaking too much business, too much study, and too little prayer.
(26) By a want of entire consecration.
(27) Last and greatest, by unbelief. He prays for this enduement without expecting to
receive it. “He that believeth not God, hath made Him a liar.” This, then, is the greatest sin
of all. What an insult, what a blasphemy, to accuse God of lying!
I was obliged to conclude that these and other forms of indulged sin explained why so little
is received, while so much is asked. I said I had not time to present the other side. Some of
the brethren afterward inquired, “What is the other side?” The other side presents the
certainty that we shall receive the promised enduement of power from on high, and be
successful in winning souls, if we ask, and fulfill the plainly revealed conditions of
prevailing prayer. Observe, what I said upon the Lord’s Day was upon the same subject,
and in addition to what I had previously said. The misapprehension alluded to was this: If
we first get rid of all these forms of sin, which prevent our receiving this enduement, have
we not already obtained the blessing? What more do we need?
Answer. There is a great difference between the peace and the power of the Holy Spirit in
the soul. The disciples were Christians before the Day of Pentecost, and, as such, had a

measure of the Holy Spirit. They must have had the peace of sins forgiven, and of a
justified state, but yet they had not the enduement of power necessary to the
accomplishment of the work assigned them. They had the peace which Christ had given
them, but not the power which He had promised. This may be true of all Christians, and
right here is, I think, the great mistake of the Church, and of the ministry. They rest in
conversion, and do not seek until they obtain this enduement of power from on high. Hence
so many professors have no power with either God or man. They prevail with neither. They
cling to a hope in Christ, and evenenter the ministry, overlooking the admonition to wait
until they are endued with power from on high. But let anyone bring all the tithes and
offerings into God’s treasury, let him lay all upon the altar, and prove God herewith, and
he shall find that God “will open the windows of heaven, and pour him out a blessing that
there shall not be room enough to receive it.”
What is it?
The apostles and brethren, on the Day of Pentecost, received it. What did they receive?
What power did they exercise after that event?
They received a powerful baptism of the Holy Ghost, a vast increase of divine illumination.
This baptism imparted a great diversity of gifts that were used for the accomplishment of
their work. It manifestly included the following things: The power of a holy life. The power
of a self-sacrificing life. (The manifestation of these must have had great influence with
those to whom they proclaimed the gospel.) The power of a cross-bearing life. The power of
great meekness, which this baptism enabled them everywhere to exhibit. The power of a
loving enthusiasm in proclaiming the gospel. The power of teaching. The power of a loving
and living faith. The gift of tongues. An increase of power to work miracles. The gift of
inspiration, or the revelation of many truths before unrecognized by them. The power of
moral courage to proclaim the gospel and do the bidding of Christ, whatever it cost them.
In their circumstances all these enduements were essential to their success; but neither
separately nor all together did they constitute that power from on high which Christ
promised, and which they manifestly received. That which they manifestly received as the
supreme, crowning, and all-important means of success was the power to prevail with both
God and man, the power to fasten saving impressions upon the minds of men. This last was
doubtless the thing which they understood Christ to promise. He had commissioned the
Church to convert the world to Him. All that I have named above were only means, which
could never secure the end unless they were vitalized and made effectual by the power of
God. The apostles, doubtless, understood this; and, laying themselves and their all upon the
altar, they besiegeda Throne of Grace in the spirit of entire consecration to their work.

They did, in fact, receive the gifts before mentioned; but supremely and principally this
power to savingly impress men. It was manifested right upon the spot. They began to
address the multitude; and, wonderful to tell, three thousand were converted the same
hour. But, observe, here was no new power manifested by them upon this occasion, save the
gift of tongues.
They wrought no miracle at that time, and used these tongues simply as the means of
making themselves understood. Let it be noted that they had not had time to exhibit any
other gifts of the Spirit which have been above named. They had not at that time the
advantage of exhibiting a holy life, or any of the powerful graces and gifts of the Spirit.
What was said on the occasion, as recorded in the gospel, could not have made the
impression that it did, had it not been uttered by them with a new power to make a saving
impression upon the people. This power was not the power of inspiration, for they only
declared certain facts of their own knowledge. It was not the power of human learning and
culture, for they had but little. It was not the power of human eloquence, for there appears
to have been but little of it. It was God speaking in and through them. It was a power from
on high–God in them making a saving impression upon those to whom they spoke. This
power to savingly impress abode with and upon them. It was, doubtless, the great and main
thing promised by Christ, and received by the apostles and primitive Christians. It has
existed, to a greater or less extent, in the Church ever since. It is a mysterious fact often
manifested in a most surprising manner. Sometimes a single sentence, a word, a gesture, or
evena look, will convey this power in an overcoming manner.
To the honour of God alone I will say a little of my own experience in this matter. I was
powerfully converted on the morning of the 10th of October. In the evening of the same
day, and on the morning of the following day, I received overwhelming baptisms of the
Holy Ghost, that went through me, as it seemedto me, body and soul. I immediately found
myself endued with such power from on high that a few words dropped here and there to
individuals were the means of their immediate conversion. My words seemed to fastenlike
barbed arrows in the souls of men. They cut like a sword. They broke the heart like a
hammer. Multitudes can attest to this. Oftentimes a word dropped, without my
remembering it, would fasten conviction, and often result in almost immediate conversion.
Sometimes I would find myself, in a great measure, empty of this power. I would go out and
visit, and find that I made no saving impression. I would exhort and pray, with the same
result. I would then set apart a day for private fasting and prayer, fearing that this power
had departed from me, and would inquire anxiously after the reason of this apparent
emptiness. After humbling myself, and crying out for help, the power would return upon
me with all its freshness. This has been the experience of my life.
I could fill a volume with the history of my own experience and observation with respect to
this power from on high. It is a fact of consciousness and of observation, but a great
mystery. I have said that sometimes a look has in it the power of God. I have often

witnessed this. Let the following fact illustrate it. I once preached, for the first time, in a
manufacturing village. The next morning I went into a manufacturing establishment to
view its operations. As I passed into the weaving department I beheld a great company of
young women, some of whom, I observed, were looking at me, and then at each other, in a
manner that indicated a trifling spirit, and that they knew me. I, however, knew none of
them. As I approached nearer to those who had recognized me they seemedto increase in
their manifestations of lightness of mind. Their levity made a peculiar impression upon me;
I felt it to my very heart. I stopped short and looked at them, I know not how, as my whole
mind was absorbed with the sense of their guilt and danger. As I settledmy countenance
upon them I observed that one of them became very much agitated. A thread broke. She
attempted to mend it; but her hands trembled in such a manner that she could not do it. I
immediately observed that the sensation was spreading, and had become universal among
that class of triflers. I looked steadily at them until one after another gave up and paid no
more attention to their looms. They fell on their knees, and the influence spread throughout
the whole room. I had not spoken a word; and the noise of the looms would have prevented
my being heard if I had. In a few minutes all work was abandoned, and tears and
lamentations filled the room. At this moment the owner of the factory, who was himself an
unconverted man, came in, accompanied, I believe, by the superintendent, who was a
professed Christian. When the owner saw the state of things he said to the superintendent,
“Stop the mill.” What he saw seemedto pierce him to the heart.
“It is more important,” he hurriedly remarked, “that these souls should be savedthan that
this mill should run.” As soon as the noise of the machinery had ceased, the owner
inquired: “What shall we do? We must have a place to meet, where we can receive
instruction.” The superintendent replied: “The muleroom will do.” The mules were run up
out of the way, and all of the hands were notified and assembled in that room. We had a
marvelous meeting. I prayed with them, and gave them such instructions as at the time
they could bear. The word was with power. Many expressedhope that day; and within a
few days, as I was informed, nearly every hand in that great establishment, together with
the owner, had hope in Christ.
This power is a great marvel. I have many times seenpeople unable to endure the word.
The most simple and ordinary statements would cut men off from their seats like a sword,
would take away their bodily strength, and render them almost as helpless as dead men.
Several times it has been true in my experience that I could not raise my voice, or say
anything in prayer or exhortation except in the mildest manner, without wholly
overcoming those that were present. This was not because I was preaching terror to the
people; but the sweetest sounds of the gospel would overcome them. This power seems
sometimes to pervade the atmosphere of one who is highly charged with it. Many times
great numbers of persons in a community will be clothed with this power, when the very
atmosphere of the whole place seems to be charged with the life of God. Strangers coming

into it, and passing through the place, will be instantly smitten with conviction of sin, and
in many instances converted to Christ. When Christians humble themselves, and
consecrate their all afresh to Christ, and ask for this power, they will often receive such a
baptism that they will be instrumental in converting more souls in one day than in all their
lifetime before. While Christians remain humble enough to retain this power the work of
conversion will go on, till whole communities and regions of country are converted to
Christ. The same is true of ministers. But this article is long enough. If you will allow me, I
have more to say upon this subject.
The Enduement of the Spirit
Since the publication in the Independent of my article on “The Power from on High” I
have been confined with protracted illness. In the meantime I have received numerous
letters of inquiry upon that subject. They relate mostly to three particular points of
inquiry:
1. They request further illustrations of the exhibition of this power.
2. They inquire, “Who have a right to expect this enduement?”
3. How or upon what conditions can it be obtained?
I am unable to answer these inquiries by letters to individuals. With your leave I propose, if
my health continues to improve, to reply to them in several short articles through your
columns. In the present number I will relate another exhibition of this power from on high,
as witnessed by myself. Soon after I was licensed to preach I went into a region of country
where I was an entire stranger. I went there at the request of a Female Missionary Society,
located in Oneida County, New York. Early in May, I think, I visited the town of Antwerp,
in the northern part of Jefferson County. I stopped at the village hotel, and there learned
that there were no religious meetings held in that town at the time. They had a brick
meeting-house, but it was locked up. By personal efforts I got a few people to assemble in
the parlour of a Christian lady in the place, and preached to them on the evening after my
arrival. As I passed round the village I was shocked with the horrible profanity that I
heard among the men wherever I went. I obtained leave to preach in the school-house on
the next Sabbath; but before the Sabbath arrived I was much discouraged, and almost
terrified, in view of the state of society which I witnessed. On Saturday the Lord applied
with power to my heart the following words, addressed by the Lord Jesus to Paul (Acts
18:9,10): “Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace; for I am with thee, and no man
shall set on thee to hurt thee; for I have much people in this city.” This completely subdued
my fears; but my heart was loaded with agony for the people. On Sunday morning I arose
early, and retired to a grove not far from the village to pour out my heart before God for a

blessing on the labours of the day. I could not express the agony of my soul in words, but
struggled with much groaning, and, I believe, with many tears, for an hour or two, without
getting relief. I returned to my room in the hotel; but almost immediately came back to the
grove. This I did thrice. The last time I got complete relief, just as it was time to go to
meeting. I went to the school-house, and found it filled to its utmost capacity. I took out my
little pocket Bible, and read for my text: “God so loved the world that He gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
I exhibited the love of God as contrasted with the manner in which He was treated by those
for whom He gave up His Son. I charged home their profanity upon them; and, as I
recognized among my hearers several whose profanity I had particularly noticed, in the
fullness of my heart and the gushing of my tears I pointed to them, and said, “I heard these
men call upon God to damn their fellows.” The Word took powerful effect. Nobody seemed
offended, but almost everybody greatly melted. At the close of the service the amiable
landlord, Mr. Copeland, rose and said that he would open the meeting-house in the
afternoon. He did so. The meeting-house was full, and, as in the morning, the Word took
powerful effect. Thus a powerful revival commenced in the village, which soon after spread
in every direction. I think it was on the second Sabbath after this, when I came out of the
pulpit in the afternoon, an aged man approached, and said to me: “Can you not come and
preach in our neighborhood? We have never had any religious meetings there.” I inquired
the direction and the distance, and appointed to preach there the next afternoon, Monday,
at five o’clock, in their school-house. I had preached three times in the village, and attended
two prayer-meetings on the Lord’s Day; and on Monday I went on foot to fulfill this
appointment. The weather was very warm that day, and before I arrived there I felt almost
too faint to walk, and greatly discouraged in my mind. I sat down in the shade by the
wayside, and felt as if I was too faint to reach there; and if I did, too much discouraged to
open my mouth to the people. When I arrived I found the house full, and immediately
commenced the service by reading a hymn. They attempted to sing, but the horrible
discord agonized me beyond expression. I leaned forward, put my elbows upon my knees
and my hands over my ears, and shook my head withal, to shut out the discord, which even
then I could barely endure. As soon as they had ceasedto sing I cast myself down upon my
knees, almost in a state of desperation. The Lord opened the windows of heaven upon me,
and gave me great enlargement and power in prayer. Up to this moment I had no idea what
text I should use on the occasion. As I rose from my knees the Lord gave me this: “Up, get
you out of this place, for the Lord will destroy this city.” I told the people, as nearly as I
could recollect, where they would find it, and went on to tell them of the destruction of
Sodom. I gave them an outline of the history of Abraham and Lot, and their relations to
each other; of Abraham’s praying for Sodom, and of Lot, as the only pious man that was
found in the city. While I was doing this I was struck with the fact that the people looked
exceedingly angry about me. Many countenances appeared very threatening, and some of
the men near me looked as if they were about to strike me. This I could not understand, as

I was only giving them, with great liberty of spirit, some interesting sketches of Bible
history. As soon as I had completed the historical sketchI turned upon them, and said that
I had understood they had never had any religious meetings in that neighborhood; and,
applying that fact, I thrust at them with the sword of the Spirit with all my might. From
this moment the solemnity increased with great rapidity. In a few moments there seemedto
fall upon the congregation an instantaneous shock. I cannot describe the sensation that I
felt, nor that which was apparent in the congregation; but the word seemedliterally to cut
like a sword. The power from on high came down upon them in such a torrent that they fell
from their seats in every direction. In less than a minute nearly the whole congregation
were either down on their knees, or on their faces, or in some position prostrate before
God. Everyone was crying or groaning for mercy upon his own soul. They paid no further
attention to me or to my preaching. I tried to get their attention; but I could not. I observed
the aged man who had invited me there as still retaining his seat near the centre of the
house. He was staring around him with a look of unutterable astonishment. Pointing to
him, I cried at the top of my voice, “Can’t you pray?” He knelt down and roared out a
short prayer, about as loud as he could holler, but they paid no attention to him. After
looking round for a few moments, I knelt down and put my hand on the head of a young
man who was kneeling at my feet, and engaged in prayer for mercy on his soul. I got his
attention, and preached Jesus in his ear. In a few moments he seized Jesus by faith, and
then broke out in prayer for those around him. I then turned to another in the same way,
and with the same result; and then another, and another, till I know not how many had laid
hold of Christ and were full of prayer for others. After continuing in this way till nearly
sunset I was obliged to commit the meeting to the charge of the old gentleman who had
invited me, and go to fulfil an appointment in another place for the evening. In the
afternoon of the next day I was sent for to go down to this place, as they had not been able
to break up the meeting. They had been obliged to leave the school-house, to give place to
the school; but had removed to a private house near by, where I found a number of persons
still too anxious and too much loaded down with conviction to go to their homes. These
were soon subdued by the Word of God, and I believe all obtained a hope before they went
home. Observe, I was a total stranger in that place, had never seenor heard of it, until as I
have related. But here, at my second visit, I learned that the place was called Sodom, by
reason of its wickedness; and the old man who invited me was called Lot, because he was
the only professor of religion in the place. After this manner the revival broke out in this
neighborhood. I have not been in that neighborhood for many years; but in 1856, I think,
while labouring in Syracuse, New York, I was introduced to a minister of Christ from St.
Lawrence County by the name of Cross. He said to me, “Mr. Finney, you don’t know me;
but do you remember preaching in a place called Sodom?” I said, “I shall never forget it.”
He replied, “I was then a young man, and was converted at that meeting.” He is still living,
a pastor in one of the churches in that county, and is the father of the principal of our
preparatory department. Those who have lived in that region can testify of the permanent

results of that blessedrevival. I can only give in words a feeble description of that
wonderful manifestation of power from on high attending the preaching of the Word.
Enduement of Power from on High
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 fulfil 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 fulfil. 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 seemnever 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 evenministers, seemto 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 seemto 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 evensome 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 evenministers go to work without it. I
mourn to be obliged to say that the ranks of the ministry seemto 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 evena 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 labourers for God. On the contrary, from my acquaintance with some of
them, I regard them as among our most devoted and self-denying labourers 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 offence. 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!
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Cynthia BuhainBaello
Cynthia BuhainBaello (November 17,1949 / Manila, Philippines)
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Poems by Cynthia BuhainBaello : 574 / 1628
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Holy Spirit Power - Poem by Cynthia BuhainBaello
Always learning but never knowing
The things they so often say,
Having form but not empowering-
The Spirit absent when they pray.
You see the Substance of the Word
Is not just idle words we send,
It has the Power of the Lord
Cutting through the hearts of men.
Without the Presence of the Savior,
In the hearts of those who study,
There is no Guide in all their labor,
Their search for Truth will be so empty.
Voluminous words won't touch another
But space and time it will occupy.
For only God bestows His Power
On a man's word, devoid of lies.
You wonder then, why do some have it?

Their words like flames fly out to you,
The message burns, your soul to meet
Your mind and heart it will undo.
For the workings of the Holy Spirit,
The Power of that Resurrection,
Transcends the plane of tales and myth,
And breaks the chains of false perception.
Desire His Presence, let Him fill you-
And humbly ask for His anointing,
His gifts will pour out, birth in you
Love, Joy, Peace, and Long-Suffering.
Your barren previous life will be
Active, growing, everjoyful-
His Power guides your step you see
He'll make you whole, oh so fruitful!
You'll see the Word in a new perspective,
And you'll understand the God you seek.
His Word will live and be so active
That knowledge makes you humble, meek.

Holy spirit power

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Holy spirit power