"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon
you."
Since God saves men by "the foolishness of preaching," the
preacher has an infinitely important work, and he must be fitted
for it. But what can fit a man for such sacred work? Not
education alone, not knowledge of books, not gifts of speech, not
winsome manners, nor a magnetic voice, nor a commanding presence,
but only God. The preacher must be more than a man--he must be a
man plus the Holy Ghost.
Paul was such a man. He was full of the Holy Spirit, and in
studying his life and ministry we get a life-sized portrait of an
anointed preacher living, fighting, preaching, praying,
suffering, triumphing, and dying in the power and light and glory
of the indwelling Spirit.
In the second chapter of the First of Thessalonians he gives us a
picture of his character and ministry which were formed and
inspired by the Holy Spirit, a sample of His workmanship, and an
example for all Gospel preachers.
At Philippi he had been terribly beaten with stripes on his bare
back, and roughly thrust into the inner dungeon, and his feet
were made fast in the stocks; but that did not break nor quench
his spirit. Love burned in his heart, and his joy in the Lord
brimmed full and bubbled over, and at midnight, in the damp,
dark, loathsome dungeon, he and Silas, his comrade in service and
suffering, "prayed and sang praises unto God." God answered with
an earthquake, and the jailer and his household got gloriously
converted. Paul was set free and went at once to Thessalonica,
where, regardless of the shameful way he had been treated at
Philippi, he preached the Gospel boldly, and a blessed revival
followed with many converts; but persecution arose, and Paul had
again to flee. His heart, however, was continually turning back
to these converts, and at last he sat down and wrote them this
letter. From this we learn that--
1. He was a _joyful_ preacher. He was no pessimist, croaking
out doleful prophecies and lamentations and bitter criticisms. He
was full of the joy of the Lord. It was not the joy that comes
from good health, a pleasant home, plenty of money, wholesome
food, numerous and smiling friends, and sunny, favouring skies;
but a deep, springing fountain of solemn, gladdening joy that
abounded and overflowed in pain and weariness, in filthy, noisome
surroundings, in loneliness and poverty, and danger and bitter
persecutions. No earth-born trial could quench it, for it was
Heaven-born; it was "the joy of the Lord" poured into his heart
with the Holy Spirit.
2. He was a _bold_ preacher. Worldly prudence would have
constrained him to go softly at Thessalonica, after his
experience at Philippi, lest he arouse opposition and meet again
with personal violence; but, instead, he says: "We were bold in
our God to speak unto you the Gospel of God with much contention."
Personal considerations were all forgotten, or cast to the winds,
in his impetuous desire to declare the Gospel and save their
souls. He lived in the will of God, and conquered his fears. "The
wicked" are fearful, and "flee when no man pursueth; but the
righteous are as bold as a lion."
This boldness is a fruit of righteousness, and is always found in
those who are full of the Holy Ghost. They forget themselves, and
so lose all fear. This was the secret of the martyrs when burned
at the stake or thrown to the wild beasts.
Fear is a fruit of selfishness. Boldness thrives when selfishness
is destroyed. God esteems it, commands His people to be
courageous, and makes spiritual leaders only of those who possess
courage (Joshua i. 9).
Moses feared not the wrath of the king, refused to be called the
son of Pharaoh's daughter, and boldly espoused the cause of his
despised and enslaved people.
Joshua was full of courage. Gideon fearlessly attacked one
hundred and twenty thousand Midianites, with but three hundred
unarmed men.
Jonathan and his armour-bearer charged the Philistine garrison
and routed hundreds singlehanded.
David faced the lion and the bear, and inspired all Israel by
battling with and killing Goliath.
The prophets were men of the highest courage, who fearlessly
rebuked kings, and at the risk of life, and often at the cost of
life, denounced popular sins, and called the people back to
righteousness and the faithful service of God. These men feared
God, and so lost the fear of man. They believed God, and so
obeyed Him, and found His favour, and were entrusted with His
high missions and everlasting employments.
"Fear thou not, for I am with thee," saith the Lord; and this
Paul believed, and so says, "We were bold in our God." God was
his high tower, his strength and unfailing defence, and so he was
not afraid.
His boldness toward man was a fruit of his boldness toward God,
and that, in turn, was a fruit of his faith in Jesus as his High
Priest, who had been touched with the feeling of his infirmities,
and through whom he could "come boldly to the Throne of Grace,
and obtain mercy, and find grace to help in every time of need."
It is the timidity and delicacy with which men attempt God's work
that often accounts for their failure. Let them speak out boldly
like men, as ambassadors of Heaven, who are not afraid to
represent their King, and they will command attention and
respect, and reach the hearts and consciences of men.
I have read that quaint old Bishop Latimer, who was afterwards
burned at the stake, "having preached a sermon before King Henry
VIII, which greatly displeased the monarch, was ordered to preach
again on the next Sunday, and make apology for the offence given.
The day came, and with it a crowded assembly anxious to hear the
bishop's apology. Reading his text, he commenced thus: 'Hugh
Latimer, dost thou know before whom thou art this day to speak?
To the high and mighty monarch, the king's most excellent
majesty, who can take away thy life if thou offendest. Therefore,
take heed that thou speakest not a word that may displease. But,
then, consider well, Hugh, dost thou not know from whence thou
comest? Upon whose message thou art sent? Even by the great and
mighty God, who is all-present, and who beholdeth all thy ways,
and who is able to cast thy soul into Hell! Therefore, take care
that thou deliver thy message faithfully.'"
He then repeated the sermon of the previous Sunday, word for
word, but with double its former energy and emphasis. The Court
was full of excitement to learn what would be the fate of this
plain-dealing and fearless bishop. He was ordered into the king's
presence, who, with a stern voice, asked: "How dared you thus
offend me?" "I merely discharged my duty," was Latimer's reply.
The king arose from his seat, embraced the good man, saying,
"Blessed be God I have so honest a servant."
He was a worthy successor of Nathan, who confronted King David
with his sin, and said, "Thou art the man."
This Divine courage will surely accompany the fiery baptism of
the Spirit.
What is it but the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that gives
courage to Salvation Army Officers and Soldiers, enabling them to
face danger and difficulty and loneliness with joy, and attack
sin in its worst forms as fearlessly as David attacked Goliath?
"Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord."
"Shall I, for fear of feeble man,
The Spirit's course in me restrain?
Awed by a mortal's frown, shall I
Conceal the word of God most high?
Shall I, to soothe the unholy throng,
Soften Thy truth, or smooth my tongue?
"How then before Thee shall I dare
To stand, or how Thine anger bear?
Yea, let men rage; since Thou wilt spread
Thy shadowing wings around my head;
Since in all pain Thy tender love
Will still my sure refreshment prove."
3. He was _without guile_. "For our exhortation was not of
deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile; but as we were allowed
of God to be put in trust with the Gospel, even so we speak; not
as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts."
He was frank and open. He spoke right out of his heart. He was
transparently simple and straightforward. Since God had honoured
him with this infinite trust of preaching the Gospel, he sought
to so preach it that he should please God regardless of men. And
yet that is the surest way to please men. People who listen to
such a man feel his honesty, and realise that he is seeking to do
them good, to save them rather than to tickle their ears and win
their applause, and in their hearts they are pleased.
But, anyway, whether or not they are pleased, he is to deliver
his message as an ambassador, and look to his home government for
his reward. He gets his commission from God, and it is God who
will try his heart and prove his ministry. Oh, to please Jesus!
Oh, to stand perfect before God after preaching His Gospel!
4. He was _not a time-server nor a covetous man._ "Neither
at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloak of
covetousness; God is witness," he adds.
There are three ways of reaching a man's purse: (1) Directly. (2)
By way of his head with flattering words. (3) By way of his heart
with manly, honest, saving words. The first way is robbery. The
second way is robbery, with the poison of a deadly, but pleasing,
opiate added, which may damn his soul. The third reaches his
purse by saving his soul and opening in his heart an unfailing
fountain of benevolence to bless himself and the world.
It were better for a preacher to turn highwayman, and rob men
with a club and a strong hand, than, with smiles and smooth words
and feigned and fawning affection, to rob them with flattery,
while their poor souls, neglected and deceived, go down to Hell.
How will he meet them in the Day of Judgment, and look into their
horrorstricken faces, realising that he played and toyed with
their fancies and affections and pride to get money, and, instead
of faithfully warning them and seeking to save them, with
flattering words fattened their souls for destruction!
Not so did Paul. "I seek not yours, but you," he wrote the
Corinthians. It was not their money, but their souls he wanted.
But such faithful love will be able to command all men have to
give. Why, to some of his converts he wrote: "I bear you record,
that if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own
eyes, and have given them to me" (Gal. iv. 15). But he sought not
to please them with flattering words, only to save them.
So faithful was he in this matter, and so conscious of his
integrity, that he called God Himself into the witness-box. "God
is witness," says he.
Blessed is the man who can call on God to witness for him; and
that man in whom the Holy Spirit dwells in fullness can do this.
Can you, my brother?
5. He was _not vain-glorious, nor dictatorial, nor oppressive_.
Some men care nothing for money, but they care mightily for power
and place and the glory that men give. But Paul was free from
this spiritual itching. Listen to him: "Nor of men sought we
glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might have been
burdensome" (or "used authority") "as the Apostles of Christ."
Said Solomon, "For men to seek their own glory is not glory," it
is only vain-glory. "How can ye believe, which receive honour one
of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?"
asked Jesus.
From all this Paul was free, and so is every man who is full of
the Holy Ghost. And it is only as we are thus free that with the
whole heart and with a single eye we can devote ourselves to the
work of saving men.
6. With all his boldness and faithfulness he was _gentle_.
"We were gentle among you," he says, "as a nurse cherisheth her
children."
The fierce hurricane which casts down the giant trees of the
forest is not so mighty as the gentle sunshine, which, from tiny
seeds and acorns, lifts aloft the towering spires of oak and fir
on a thousand hills and mountains.
The wild storm that lashes the sea into foam and fury is feeble
compared to the gentle, yet immeasurably powerful influence,
which twice a day swings the oceans in resistless tides from
shore to shore.
And as in the physical world the mighty powers are gentle in
their vast workings, so it is in the spiritual world. The light
that falls on the lids of the sleeping infant and wakes it from
its slumber, is not more gentle than the "still small voice" that
brings assurance of forgiveness or cleansing to them that look
unto Jesus.
Oh, the gentleness of God! "Thy gentleness hath made me great,"
said David. "I beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of
Christ" (2 Cor. x. 1), wrote Paul. And again, "The fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness" (Gal. v.
22). And as the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are gentle, so will
be the servant of the Lord who is filled with the Spirit.
I shall never forget the gentleness of a mighty man of God whom I
well knew, who on the platform was clothed with zeal as with a
garment, and in his overwhelming earnestness was like a lion or a
consuming fire; but when dealing with a wounded or broken heart,
or with a seeking soul, no nurse with a little babe could be more
tender than he.
7. Finally, Paul was full of _self-forgetful, self-sacrificing
love._ "So being affectionately desirous of you, we were
willing to have imparted unto you, not the Gospel of God only,
but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us."
No wonder he shook those heathen cities, overthrew their idols,
had great revivals, that his jailer was converted, and that his
converts would have gladly plucked out their eyes for him! Such
tender, self-sacrificing love compels attention, begets
confidence, enkindles love, and surely wins its object.
This burning love led him to labour and sacrifice, and so live
and walk before them that he was not only a teacher, but an
example of all he taught, and could safely say, "Follow me."
This love led him to preach the whole truth, that he might by all
means save them. He kept back no truth because it was unpopular,
for it was their salvation and not his own reputation and
popularity he sought.
He preached not himself, but a crucified Christ, without the
shedding of whose blood there is no remission of sins; and
through that precious blood he preached present cleansing from
all sin, and the gift of the Holy Spirit for all who obediently
believe.
And this love kept him faithful and humble and true to the end,
so that at last in sight of the martyr's death, he saw the
martyr's crown, and cried out: "I am now ready to be offered,...
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have
kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me
at that day."
He had been faithful, and now at the end he was oppressed with no
doubts and harassed with no bitter regrets, but looked forward
with eager joy to meeting his Lord and beholding the blessed face
of Him he loved. Hallelujah!
"Have you received the Holy Ghost?
'Twill fit you for the fight,
'Twill make of you a mighty host,
To put your foes to flight.
"Have you received the Holy Power?
'Twill fall from Heaven on you,
From Jesus' throne this very hour,
'Twill make you brave and true.
"Oh, now receive the Holy Fire!
'Twill burn away all dross,
All earthly, selfish, vain desire,
'Twill make you love the Cross."
"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?"