A: Times of revival have almost always been times of
great emotional
reactions. In fact, many divisions have occurred between believers
and
churches concerning how to deal with these outbursts. Even some
who
initially support them will often come to see their harm. However,
those
who oppose any sort of emotional awakening usually end up on the
bad
side of history. This is an area where balance is most important.
I have read several histories of revivals. My conclusion is that
any
great working of God in the hearts of men will be accompanied
by
increased emotional responses. People will cry. They may drop
to their
knees or all the way to the floor in prayer. They may shout out
praise to
the Lord. As long as this stays within the control of the Lord,
it will
be blessed by Him. However, two things soon happen. First, people
begin
to identify the outbursts as the revival itself. They forget
that the
true revival is what God is doing in the hearts, not the secondary
responses. Second, they get hooked on the emotional release and
think
them required for spiritual activity. As a result of these two
false
conclusions, many begin seeking the emotional expressions that
they have
equated with revival.
I find today that many people who really want revival think that
the way
to get it is to work up the emotional responses that they associate
with
revival. That is akin to trying to win the lottery by working
up the
outward expressions you think you would have if you won it. It
is taking
one of the common results of something as the thing itself. This
error
has led to much false worship. Revival seekers have learned to
work up
the emotional outbursts that they associate with revival and
then count
it as having had revival. This leads to an empty though emotional
experience that satisfies while it is going on but seldom leaves
the door
of the church.
The second blessing doctrine is, as you said, often associated
with
revival times. But it is also associated with certain teachers
and
religious groups. It was for years taught by the Methodists and
the
Salvation Army. Moody, Torrey, and Rice all claimed to have it
(though I
have not really run across this teaching with Spurgeon). Of course,
this
teaching is a two-edged sword. If you speak against it, you are
just one
of those deadheads who do not know the power of God.
The problem comes from the lack of scriptural authority. Oh,
there are
many blessings in the Christian life. I can say that I have had
numerous
powerful spiritual experiences with God. Of some of them I could
say that
I was never quite the same afterwards. However, this is not the
teaching
of the second blessing. By most advocates, it is taught to be
a one-time
event. In fact, it is so singular that it is akin to salvation.
Many advocates, though not all, teach that it leads to sinless perfection, a
truly unbiblical doctrine.
Now, who am I to say that God has not given to a number of people
a
one-time experience that brought them into the power of the Holy
Spirit
as never before and that changed their life forever? Nothing
in the Bible
teaches us that this is not possible--as long as we do not use
it to
teach sinless perfection. However, this is a long ways from teaching
this
experience of some as a requirement for all if they are to fully
know the
power of God. One man I read after wrote three volumes on the
subject. I
read much of his Bible "proof" of the second blessing.
It was full of
typology, creative application, and taking verses out of context.
There
is no such teaching in scripture.
There are many truths that when learned and implemented may change
the
spiritual life of the believer in radical ways. Yet, the Bible
does not
teach us to look for some life changing experience. Rather, we
are
admonished and taught to seek the Lord Himself. We are to seek
the person
of Jesus Christ and seek to know Him (Philippians
3:10). We are never
taught to seek an experience similar to the second blessing.
Men like D. L. Moody and John R. Rice did a great work for God
and God
certainly had His hand on them. However, men are men and they
make
errors. One common error of successful people is to assume that
the way
God worked with them must be the key to success since it worked
with
them. They know that God is the key but they end up teaching
their
experience. They forget that God must have all the glory and
the way He
works with one man is not to be the pattern for how He works
with all
men. The scriptures provide the only absolute patterns.
I am presently reading a biography of D. L. Moody and find his
life
fascinating and instructive. I read about his baptism of the
Spirit
(another inaccurate title for the second blessing). I even believe
that
the Lord gave Him a powerful experience of His presence and used
him more
after the experience than He did before. However, I note two
things.
First, God was using Moody in wonderful ways before he had this
experience. Most preachers would love to have his pre-baptism
results.
God just had a special purpose for D. L. Moody and gave him a
greater
filling. Second, as I have been reading, I have noticed that
Moody was
not perfect after the experience. For instance, he was known
to have
outbursts of temper. Certainly, the pressure on him would have
destroyed
most of us, but that is not the point. Also, we cannot say that
is was
all righteous indignation. He often apologized for the anger
later. There
is no need to apologize for perfection. So, although Moody may
have
received a special enabling of the Holy Ghost, he certainly had
the power
of the Spirit before this time and he was not perfect afterwards.
And,
finally, there is no reason to use his experience as a rule for
all
believers. Even great men of God are wrong on many issues.
The Welsh Revival of 1904 was probably a genuine refreshing from
the
Lord. However, men today tend to look only at the sensational.
Even in
the times of the revival, this was what people talked about the
most.
This is one of the downsides of revival. Men have trouble distinguishing
as to when they are full of the Holy Ghost and when they are
full of
themselves. That is not meant to be cruel but it should be a
reminder
that no man becomes perfect in his opinions simply because God
chooses to use him. We should always be little in our own eyes and hold
God up
higher than all.
Till He comes,
Pastor David Reagan