Spiritual Breakthrough the Holy Spirit and Ourselves

Spiritual Breakthrough The Holy Spirit and Ourselves

International Headquarters of The Salvation A r m y 101 Queen Victoria Street, London EC4P 4 E P

JOHN LARSSON BD (Lieut-Colonel at the time of writing this book) became a Salvation Army officer in 1957. He has served in the British and Scotland Territories (now the UK Territory) and in South America and at the International Training College where he subsequently became its Principal. He has commanded T h e Salvation A r m y ’s work in the UK, New Zealand and Sweden, and was elected General (world leader) in 2002. He is the author of Doctrine without Te a r s, The Man Perfectly Filled with the Spirit and How Your Corps can Grow, and composer of much music including 10 full-length musicals with lyricist General John Gowans (now retired).

i i C o n t e n t s

C h a p t e r P a g e

1 A classic instance ...... 1 2 Moments of spiritual bre a k t h ro u g h ...... 1 0 3 B re a k t h rough to fuller liv i n g ...... 2 7 4 S p i ritual bre a k t h ro u g h : e n t i re sanctiﬁc at i o n ? ...... 4 2 5 S p i ritual bre a k t h ro u g h : b aptism in the Holy Spiri t ? .5 9 6 S p i ritual bre a k t h ro u g h : a spiritual awa kening? . . . .7 4 7 Towa rds a concl u s i o n ...... 8 3 8 Seeking spiritual fullness ...... 8 9 9 E n t e ring into spiritual fullness ...... 1 0 8

All Scripture quotations are from the New English Bible

i i i i v 1 A classic instance

‘ S A M , wh at is the matter? You look so diffe re n t ! ’

S a muel Brengle smiled, re t u rned the book he had borrowed fro m his student fri e n d, and left as quick ly as he had entere d. It was too e a rly, he decided, to share his secret. He was not sure he could tru s t his vo i c e. No attempts at a casual manner could hide the ex h i l a rat i o n , the tingling glow he felt throughout his whole being. Just 20 minutes prev i o u s ly God had invaded his soul in so vital a way that it seemed to Sam that he was still poised somewh e re b e t ween Heaven and earth. He knew it was too soon to tell, but he ch e rished an inwa rd assurance he had never befo re known. He wh o had been a seeker for so long had become a ﬁn d e r !

B rengle knew that something important had happened to him, bu t he could have no inkling of how momentous the events of that m o rning we re to prove to the course of his life. He could not have k n own that the gusts of the Spirit now released in his life we re soon to bl ow him from the comparat ive lull of the Boston Th e o l ogi c a l S e m i n a ry wh e re he was study i n g, right into the storm centre of the e a rly - d ay Salvation A rmy wa r fa re, t h at he would almost be killed in a hooligan at t a ck , t h at during his convalescence he would begin to w rite of his personal ex p e rience of God, and that his writings wo u l d lead him to be hailed as a prophet and a saint within the A rmy.

Not in his wildest imagi n ation could Brengle have seen himself t ravelling the wo rld for 30 ye a rs as a roving eva n ge l i s t , i n ﬂu e n c i n g thousands by his powerful orat o ry, or dreamt that his books wo u l d sell over a million copies and would continue to sell long after his d e at h , or fo reseen that year by year Brengle institutes would be c o nvened around the wo rld for the purpose of study i n g, ex p l o ri n g and praying for the kind of spiritual bre a k t h rough ex p e rience that was granted to him that morn i n g.

If Brengle had known that his name was to become synony m o u s with Chri s t l i keness in both the sense of ch a racter and spiri t u a l

1 p owe r, t h at he would be rega rded as an A rmy ‘ s a i n t ’ , t h at no one outside the Booth fa m i ly itself would make a gre ater spiritual impact on The Salvation A rmy, and that wh at had happened to him that m o rning would be spoken of by ge n e rations of salvationists ye t u n b o rn — young Sam would have shaken his head in disbelief.

But all of this was hidden from Brengle on that morning of 9 Ja nu a ry 1885. His thoughts we re on the present and, i n ev i t ably, o n the recent past. The sense of peace that enveloped him seemed too good to be tru e. Wh at a contrast to all he had been through! Later he was to discover that many others have had to trave rse the same w i l d e rness befo re arriving at the promised land.

B rengle was now 25 and 13 ye a rs had elapsed since his c o nve rsion. From a spiritual point of view those 13 ye a rs had been ve ry mixe d. Soon after his conve rsion he had stru ck out angri ly at a lad who was taunting him, and had discove red on re ﬂection that t h e re was mu ch that was unlike Christ in his ch a ra c t e r. The incident itself was unimportant but for Brengle it symbolised the incompleteness of God’s wo rk in his life.

He had also been incre a s i n g ly tro u bled with the way he seemed a lways to oppose wh at he felt we re God’s plans for his life. If God wanted one thing, B rengle would want the other. By nat u re he wa s an ambitious orat o r, e ager to impress the wo rl d. But the Spiri t seemed to have other ideas. On this point, as with so many others , young Brengle was at odds with God.

The lack of spiritual power in his life was also something that t ro u bled Sam deep ly. Not only was he defe ated by the tempter fa r too fre q u e n t ly, but waves of doubt would often wash over him, sometimes almost smothering him completely. Some days he fo u n d it well-nigh impossible to believe in God at all. On those days he found the tension of having to fulﬁl his outwa rd re l i gious duties whilst inwa rd ly being in a state of ap at hy or even rebellion almost too mu ch to bear. And he had to admit that he was an ineffe c t ive C h ristian as far as his wo rk for the Kingdom was concern e d. B rengle had a nat u ral aptitude for pre a ching and he found the kind of visiting the students engaged in no stra i n , but he knew inward l y t h at his effo rts lacked the anointing from ab ove wh i ch alone could m a ke them effe c t ive.

But wh at tro u bled him most was the absence of immediacy in his

2 s p i ritual life. Others could speak in glowing terms of commu n i n g with their Lord, of ﬁnding inner re s o u rc e s , of being uplifted, i n s p i re d, sometimes even of being upbra i d e d, by the Holy Spiri t within. Their re l i gion seemed real. It was vital, wa rm , t h ro bb i n g. P rayer and the reading of God’s wo rd ap p e a red ge nu i n e ly to ex c i t e them. Even the prospect of yet another service in the ch apel wa s greeted with enthusiasm. Compared with this Brengle felt that his s p i ritual life was dry and barren. He could remember times wh e n God had felt cl o s e, p a rt i c u l a rly soon after his conve rs i o n , but of lat e it had more and more seemed a matter of going through the motions.

E ve lyn Underhill has with her usual perc ep t iveness diag n o s e d this particular predicament wh i ch is common to many believe rs. ‘ S o m a ny Christians are like deaf people at a concert ,’she writes in Th e S p i ritual Life. ‘ Th ey study the programme care f u l ly, b e l i eve eve ry s t atement made in it, speak re s p e c t f u l ly of the quality of the mu s i c, but only re a l ly hear a phrase now and again. So they have no notion at all of the mighty symphony wh i ch ﬁlls the unive rs e.’B re n g l e ’s t ro u ble was that he could not hear the mu s i c. But he knew it wa s t h e re—he had heard the occasional snat ch—and he was pro fo u n d ly d i s s at i s ﬁed with things as they we re.

Does God plant the seeds of spiritual dissat i s faction within us, making us seek for that wh i ch will meet the soul’s hunger and thirs t for righteousness? Many would say it is all part of the Holy Spiri t ’s wo rk within us because they trace their ﬁrst fa l t e ring steps towa rd s s p i ritual fulﬁlment from that gnawing sense of incompleteness, eve n d e s p a i r, t h at made them re a ch out for the something more they i n t u i t ive ly felt beckoning them on.

It was cert a i n ly so for Bre n g l e. At 25 ye a rs of age his spiri t u a l d evelopment had re a ched crisis point. He had looked inwa rd s , h a d not liked wh at he saw, and now he was looking for help.

G o d, as alway s , had someone re a dy. ‘ Why don’t you call in to see me sometime?’ a s ked Dr Daniel Steele, the reve red Pro fessor of Didactic Th e o l ogy at Boston Unive rs i t y. Sam was surp rised at this p e rsonal interest in an unknown student, but the doctor had noted t h at some of Sam’s questions after lectures betrayed a more than t h e o retical interest in the gre at mat t e rs of spiritual liv i n g.

‘If wh at I have ex p e rienced of God, of abundant life, is all there is to Chri s t i a n i t y, then it is all a cruel mocke ry,’ex claimed the

3 young student as he faced Dr Steele in his offi c e. The doctor re a ch e d for his New Testament and together they looked at some of the v i b rant passages wh i ch speak of life in all its fullness for the b e l i eve r. A new hope was born in Sam’s heart that eve n i n g. Th ey met a number of times, and under the pro fe s s o r ’s personal guidance S a m ’s eyes we re opened to the promises of the wo rd— promises he had often read but wh i ch he was now seeing with new eyes. Th e w ritings of We s l ey, F l e t ch e r, Dwight L. Moody—and Cat h e ri n e B o o t h — fanned the ﬂame of faith in the young heart. Th e re wa s something more !

And on a Sat u rd ay morning the ru m bling crisis came to a head. In Po rt rait of a Pro p h e t, his biograp hy of Bre n g l e, C l a rence Hall d e s c ribes the events of that day :

He is up and dressed early this morning for a particular reason. Fo r s eve ral days conviction that he should be sanctiﬁed has lashed his soul into re s t l e s s n e s s , re n d e ring sleep almost impossible; for weeks he has s e a rched the Scri p t u re s , ra n s a cked his heart ,c ried to God almost day and night. To d ay, he tells himself, he must obtain—or be lost for eve r.

At nine o’cl o ck in the morning it happens. A gre at sense of peace ﬂows over his soul:

Is this the blessing? He need not put the question twice. Like a gre at , wo rd l e s s ,a l l - e nveloping ‘Ye s ’ he gets the answer from eve ry chamber of his body and soul. It is as though all nat u re, v i s i ble and inv i s i bl e, h a d n o dded its head in testifying assent, and in the next instant has begun the m ovement of a cool, re f reshing bre e ze within him and started springs of s p a rkling wat e rs bu bbling up all through his being. Wh e reas all prev i o u s blessings have been tra n s i t o ry, coming and go i n g, this ex p e rience has the feel of perm a n e n cy. His thro at emits no shout, his feet do not dance,bu t his face regi s t e rs unmistakably w h at has hap p e n e d.

No wonder his student friend is startled when Sam enters his room with the book. Wo rd soon spreads round the college : ‘Something has happened to Samuel Bre n g l e ! ’

But this is only the begi n n i n g. The divine fire has been lit in his soul but it is still only smoulderi n g. The sense of divine pre s e n c e remains with him during that day and the next as he boldly tells of his ex p e rience from the pulpit, but it is not until the third day that the fire bu rsts into flame and the glory of God almost consumes him. B rengle recalls the moment in a passage of classic beauty:

4 I awo ke that morning hunge ring and thirsting just to live this life of fe l l owship with God, n ever again to sin in thought or wo rd or deed against Him, with an unmeasure able desire to be a holy man, a c c ep t abl e unto God.

Getting out of bed about six o’cl o ck with that desire,I opened my B i ble and, while reading some of the wo rds of Je s u s , He gave me such a blessing as I never dreamed a man could have this side of heaven. It wa s an unu t t e rable reve l ation. It was a heaven of love that came into my h e a rt. My soul melted like wax befo re fire. I sobbed and sobb e d. I l o athed myself that I had ever sinned against Him or doubted Him or l ived for myself and not for His glory. Eve ry ambition for self was now go n e. The pure flame of love bu rned it like a blazing fire would bu rn a m o t h .

I wa l ked out over Boston Common befo re bre a k fa s t , we eping for joy and praising God. Oh, h ow I loved! In that hour I knew Je s u s , and I love d Him till it seemed my heart would break with love. I was ﬁlled with love for all His cre at u res. I heard the little sparrows ch at t e ri n g : I loved them. I s aw a little wo rm wri ggling across my pat h : I stepped over it; I didn’t want to hurt any living thing. I loved the dog s , I loved the hors e s , I love d the little urchins on the stre e t , I loved the stra n ge rs who hurried past me, I loved the heathen—I loved the whole wo rl d !

A bre a k t h rough of such power that it tra n s fo rmed a student of d ivinity into a spiritual giant! Looking back on those days many ye a rs lat e r, he wri t e s , as Hall re c o rd s :

I have never doubted this ex p e rience since. I have sometimes wo n d e red whether I might not have lost it, but I have never doubted the ex p e rience any more than I could doubt that I had seen my mother, o r l o o ked at the sun, or had my bre a k fast. It is a living ex p e ri e n c e.

In time, God withdrew something of the tremendous emotional feelings. He taught me I had to live by my faith and not by my emotions. I wa l ked in a bl a ze of glory for we e k s , but the glory gra d u a l ly subsided, and He made me see that I must walk and ru n , instead of mounting up with wings. He showed me that I must learn to trust Him, to have c o n ﬁdence in His unfailing love and devo t i o n , rega rdless of how I fe l t .

S a muel Brengle could never be the same again. A new energy had been poured into him and spiritual gifts came into play wh i ch made him a fe a rless and powerful pre a ch e r. The events of those days at the s e m i n a ry we re to launch him on a crusade wh i ch even after his deat h still continues through his writings. He never tired of speaking of the reality of God indwelling the human personality and tra n s fo rming it to his own likeness. He had the gift of being

5 able to paint the picture of God’s glory in the soul of man so viv i d ly t h at it awa kened in his heare rs an almost passionate longing for re a l and immediate ex p e rience of God. His descriptions of the div i n e i n p o u ring sometimes border on the poetic:

Do you want to know wh at holiness is? It is pure love. Do you wa n t to know wh at the baptism of the Holy Ghost is? It is not mere sentiment. It is not a hap py sensation that passes away in a night. It is a baptism of l ove that brings eve ry thought into cap t ivity to the Lord Jesus; that casts out all fear; that bu rns up doubt and unbelief as ﬁre bu rns tow; that m a kes one ‘meek and low ly in heart’; that makes one hate uncl e a n n e s s , lying and deceit, a ﬂat t e ring tongue and eve ry evil way with a perfe c t h at red; that makes heaven and hell eternal realities; that makes one p atient and gentle with the frowa rd and sinful; that makes one ‘ p u re, p e a c e abl e, easy to be entre at e d, full of mercy and good fru i t s ,w i t h o u t p a rtiality and without hy p o c risy’; that brings one into perfect and u n b ro ken sympat hy with the Lord Jesus Christ in His toil and travail to b ring a lost and rebel wo rld back to God. (Helps to Holiness)

His re a d e rs and heare rs sensed that he himself possessed wh at he p ro fe s s e d. Th ey did not hesitate to call him a saint. Accounting for the experience

Wh at actually happened to Brengle that morn i n g, and wh at is its s i g n i ﬁcance for us today? We live in an era when incre a s i n g nu m b e rs of Chri s t i a n s , of all denominations and of all types of p e rs o n a l i t y, a re testifying to life - t ra n s fo rming moments of spiri t u a l b re a k t h rough similar to Bre n g l e ’s ex p e ri e n c e. In some cases sought fo r, in others arriving completely unex p e c t e d ly, these moments of d ivine invasion have set luke - wa rm , ap athetic and nominal believe rs on ﬁre for God, and have lifted their spiritual awa reness into dimensions prev i o u s ly undreamt of. Their stories make compelling reading and quicken hope and holy desire.

But how does one account for these moments of inﬁlling? Th e phenomenon of the new birt h , of Christian initiat i o n , is unders t o o d and is cl e a rly marked on theological maps. But wh at about this f u rther ex p e rience wh i ch came to Brengle subsequent to his c o nve rsion? A re moments like these marked on the spiritual map s ? A re they promised in the Scri p t u res? Is it possible to lay dow n n o rms for the Spiri t ’s wo rking in individual lives? But how mu ch can be predicted with certainty? And if these are deeper or higher

6 or ri cher or fuller dimensions of Christian ex p e ri e n c e, who may, a n d h ow does one, enter in?

It is to attempt some answe rs to these questions that this book has been written. The outline will be simple.

Taking Samuel Bre n g l e ’s ex p e rience as our starting point we will ﬁrst of all call other witnesses who claim to have shared similar moments of divine bre a k t h rough. Wh at further light on the nat u re and value of these ex p e riences can be gleaned from the pages of C h ristian biograp hy? Our study will centre on post-conve rs i o n ex p e ri e n c e s , but not ex cl u s ive ly, for all spiritual ex p e rience is b a s i c a l ly the bre a k t h rough of the divine into the human c o n s c i o u s n e s s , and it is there fo re diffi c u l t , f rom an ex p e ri e n t i a l a n g l e, to draw hard and fast distinctions between a conve rsion and a p o s t c o nve rsion ex p e ri e n c e.

M a ny re a d e rs might ﬁnd these two ch ap t e rs with their catena of human stories the most rewa rding in the book. The va riety of ex p e rience is enormous—an important fact to bear in mind—and ye t t h e re are certain cl e a rly discern i ble similarities and pat t e rns of ex p e rience wh i ch emerge.

H aving looked at these testimonies in considerable detail we will then turn to three diffe rent schools of Christian thought wh i ch seek to account for the ex p e riences we have studied.

A re these tra n s fo rming moments best explained as instances of the blessing of holiness, in the we s l eyan sense of entire s a n c t i fic ation? Brengle cert a i n ly interp reted wh at had happened to him along these lines. ‘On the morning of 9 Ja nu a ry 1885, G o d s a n c t i fied my soul.’Behind the key phrase of ‘ e n t i re sanctific at i o n ’ lies a complex but fa s c i n ating stru c t u re of Christian thought, a n d this we must survey.

Or are these ex p e riences better interp reted as instances of the ‘ b aptism in the Holy Spirit’—a phrase wh i ch also was never fa r f rom Bre n g l e ’s lips? This term , wh i ch was mu ch used in the early S a l vation A rmy, has re c e ived widespread curre n cy of lat e, and we shall need to look at the doctrinal ex p l a n ation wh i ch it rep re s e n t s .

Or are these ex p e riences best deﬁned as moments of spiri t u a l awa ke n i n g, or wh at has sometimes been termed by the Church as ‘ mystical conve rsion’? Th rough the 20 centuries of Chri s t i a n

7 thought runs a ri ch vein of deep spiri t u a l i t y. Wh at have the cl a s s i c saints to tell us about these moments of divine bre a k t h ro u g h ?

H aving completed our study of these three main ways of c o n s i d e ring moments of spiritual bre a k t h rough we will then ﬁn i s h the task by seeking to draw the search to a conclusion and to ap p ly our ﬁndings to our own needs and circ u m s t a n c e s .

The book is aimed both at the head and the heart. Intellectual doubt can be a ve ry real hindrance to spiritual re c ep t iv i t y, and if the p re s e n t ation of facts helps to clear away some mental haziness then the book will have served its purpose we l l .

The testimonies

B e fo re we turn to the human stories of the next two ch ap t e rs , a wo rd of introduction might be helpful.

In our search for parallels to Samuel Bre n g l e ’s testimony we shall ra n ge over a wide spectrum of Christian ex p e rience from the past and the present. But as soon as we try to study spiritual ex p e ri e n c e t h rough testimonies we are faced with an almost insurm o u n t abl e p ro blem. It is the unanimous testimony of all who have know n moments of intense spiritual ex p e rience that these are ineffabl e. Wo rds cannot describe them—‘they are better felt than telt’. C h a n ges of attitude or ch a racter resulting from such moments can be put into wo rds without too mu ch diffi c u l t y, but to cap t u re the actual m o m e n t , the surge of emotional wa rm t h , the sense of illumination of the mind, and the feeling of new re s o u rces being released within— the essence of an ex p e rience wh i ch utterly sat i s ﬁes the soul—seems b eyond the power of wo rds. Even Cat h e rine of Genoa, t h at pra c t i c a l v i s i o n a ry of the 15th century who never tired of trying to descri b e her inner commerce with God, ends up by sighing:

O h , t h at I could tell you wh at the heart fe e l s , h ow it bu rns and is consumed inwa rd ly! Only, I ﬁnd no wo rds to ex p ress it. I can but say : Might but one little drop of wh at I feel fall into Hell,and Hell would be t ra n s fo rmed into a Pa ra d i s e.

Not even a genius like Blaise Pa s c a l , the brilliant Fre n ch s c i e n t i s t , t h i n ker and wri t e r, could ﬁnd wo rds with wh i ch to

8 d e s c ribe adequat e ly the dra m atic and life - ch a n ging visitation wh i ch came to him at the age of 31. After his death a servant found a small p a rchment hidden in the lining of his coat wh i ch in brief and broke n but moving phrases re c o rds the moment:

The year of grace 1656 M o n d ay, 2 3 rd November . . . From half-past ten till half-past twe l ve F I R E

God of A b ra h a m , God of Isaac, God of Ja c o b, Not the God of philosophers and sch o l a rs , C e rt a i n t y, c e rt a i n t y, fe e l i n g, j oy, p e a c e God of Jesus Christ. . . .

Fo rt u n at e ly for us the fact that these moments cannot be a d e q u at e ly tra n s l ated into wo rds has not deterred the saints fro m making the attempt. But in view of the inherent pro bl e m , a ny collection of testimonies will tend to highlight the ex p e riences of those who have most viv i d ly ex p e rienced the div i n e, and of those most able to commu n i c ate their ex p e ri e n c e. Having then share d v i c a ri o u s ly these moments of intense re l i gious ex p e ri e n c e, we can better understand our own perhaps mu ch paler moments of spiri t u a l awa re n e s s .

9 2 Moments of spiritual breakthrough

T RYING to classify testimonies about spiritual ex p e rience into c at ego ries is like trying to divide the ex p e rience of falling in love into its component parts. It is an impossible task and can prove misleading when it is at t e m p t e d.

But the human mind likes ord e r, and the testimonies have t h e re fo re been grouped under three headings: those that highlight t h at something is fe l t , those that stress that something is perc e ive d, and those that bring out that something is re c e ive d. But a viv i d encounter with the divine is like ly to contain all three elements, a n d most of the testimonies quoted will illustrate more than just one p o i n t .

Moments of feeling

A spiritual ex p e rience is something that is felt. This is perhaps its most ch a ra c t e ristic constituent element. ‘ G o d ’s love has ﬂooded our inmost heart through the Holy Spirit he has given us’(Romans 5:5, N E B) , ex claims Paul. ‘It was as if liquid love was being poured into the entire depths of my soul,’ w rites a 20th century ap o s t l e. ‘I wa s u t t e rly ove r whelmed with joy,’ a dds a salvationist. In a highly intellectualised pers o n a l i t y, wh e re the springs of feeling have been a l l owed to dry up, the feeling content will be less prominent bu t d e ep down it will be there none the less.

E ven the cereb ral Pascal had to ex claim with astonishment, ‘ Feeling! Joy, p e a c e ! ’ It should be mentioned in passing that anyo n e who insists on not mixing emotion with his re l i gion diminishes gre at ly the possibility of personal ex p e rience of the div i n e. It is like t rying to fall in love without becoming emotionally invo l ve d.

A Salvation A rmy officer describes her ex p e rience in poetical fo rm :

1 0 O h , Je s u s , I love you! I love you! With a pounding heart and a racing bra i n , I whisper these wo rds again and aga i n , And deep in my heart I feel love ’s sharp pain, I t ’s breaking me, making me, n ew once aga i n .

You touched me this morn i n g, you held out your hand, The mira cle happened—I don’t unders t a n d. I thought love was dead, t h at all feeling had go n e, Emotions we re dried and tears there we re none. You kindled the embers , you made the heart ﬂa m e, In one ﬂashing moment my love bu rnt aga i n !

A young salvationist lass puts it like this:

I felt a bl a n ket of love slow ly descend upon me, its wa rm ra d i a n c e s p reading through my whole body. Its peace and joy settled within me and dispelled all doubt: Jesus was alive !

In his autobiograp hy Dwight L. Moody re c a l l s :

The blessing came upon me sudd e n ly like a ﬂash of lightning. I remember I was walking the streets of New Yo rk , and right there on the s t reet the power of God seemed to come upon me so wo n d e r f u l ly I had to ask God to stay His hand. I was ﬁlled with a sense of God’s go o d n e s s , and I felt as though I could take the whole wo rld to my heart .

C h a rles Fi n n ey, the A m e rican eva n gelist whose writings gre at ly i n ﬂuenced William and Cat h e rine Booth, in his memoirs descri b e s in vivid terms his ex p e ri e n c e :

As I turned and was about to take a seat by the ﬁre, I re c e ived a mighty baptism of the Holy Ghost. Without any ex p e c t ation of it, without ever having the thought in my mind that there was such a thing for me, without any recollection that I had ever heard the thing mentioned by any person in the wo rl d, the Holy Spirit descended upon me in a manner that seemed to go through me, b o dy and soul. I could feel the impre s s i o n , l i ke a wave of electri c i t y, going through and thr o u g h m e. Indeed, it seemed to come in waves of liquid love. No wo rds can ex p ress the wonderful love that was shed ab road in my heart. I wep t aloud with joy and love.

When I awo ke the next morn i n g, i n s t a n t ly the baptism I had re c e ive d the night befo re re t u rned upon me in the same manner. I arose upon my knees in bed and wept aloud for joy, and remained for some time too mu ch ove r whelmed with the baptism of the Spirit to do anything bu t pour out my soul to God.

1 1 S t a n l ey Jo n e s , the we l l - k n own missionary and wri t e r, d e s c ri b e s , in Vi c t o rious Liv i n g, the inﬁlling wh i ch tra n s fo rmed his ministry :

I was a Christian for a year or more when one day I looked at a l i b ra ry shelf and was stru ck with the title of a book, The Chri s t i a n ’s S e c ret of a Hap py Life.

As I read it my heart was set on fire to find this life of freedom and fullness. I re a ched the fo rty-second page when the Inner Voice said ve ry d i s t i n c t ly, ‘ N ow is the time to fin d ! ’ I pleaded that I did not know wh at I wa n t e d, t h at when I finished it I would seek. But the Inner Voice wa s i m p e ri o u s ,‘ N ow is the time to seek.’I tried to read on, but the wo rd s seemed bl u rre d. I was up against a Divine insistence,so closed the book, d ropped on my knees and aske d, ‘Wh a t shall I do?’The Voice rep l i e d, ‘ Will you give Me your all—your ve ry all?’After a moment’s hesitat i o n I rep l i e d, ‘I will.’ ‘ Then take My all, you are cl e a n s e d,’the Voice said, with a stra n ge inviting firmness. ‘I believe it,’I said, and arose from my knees. I wa l ked around the room affi rming it over and ove r,and pushing my hands away from me as if to push away my doubt. This I did for ten m i nu t e s , when sudd e n ly I was filled with a stra n ge re fining fire that seemed to course through eve ry portion of my being in cleansing wave s .

It was all ve ry quiet and I had hold of myself—and yet the Div i n e waves could be felt from the inmost centre of my being to my ﬁn ge rt i p s . My whole being was being fused into one, and through the whole there was a sense of sacredness and awe—and the most exquisite joy. I knew t h e n , and I know now, t h at I was not being mere ly emotionally stirre d, but the ve ry sources of my life we re being cleansed and we re take n possession of by Life itself. My will was just as mu ch invo l ved as my emotion. The fact is the whole of my life was on a perm a n e n t ly higher l eve l .

Pea c e , se re n i t y ,wonderful stillness, de e p tran q u i l l i t y , ar e descrip t i ve wor ds freq u e n t l y used of moments of spiritual brea k t h r ough. Briga d i e r Jos e ph Korbel recalls in In My Enemy’ s Camp:

I did not fully understand wh at it was all about. I only knew that a t re m e n d o u s , fantastic ch a n ge had taken place in my life. A new and ve ry real joy ﬁlled my heart , and I felt as if a gre at bu rden had been taken off my shoulders. I had a feeling of deep sa t i s faction and peace beyo n d u n d e rs t a n d i n g. My soul was singing praises to the Lord whom I had not k n own until just then. My lips we re not able to fo rm a single prayer of t h a n k s giv i n g, but I knew I was no longer alone. The presence of the Holy One was with me. Wh at glory ﬁlled my soul!

‘ The presence of the Holy One was with me.’A moment of s p i ritual awa reness. ‘ Th e re came a wonderful peace and feeling of

1 2 G o d ’s presence that I am ve ry certain of,’ w rites another. And J. E. C a rp e n t e r, t o o , speaks of feeling himself to be in God’s pre s e n c e :

I went out one afternoon for a walk alone. I was in the empty, unthinking state in wh i ch one saunters along country lanes, s i m p ly yielding oneself to the casual sights around wh i ch give a tow n - b red lad with country ye a rning such intense delight. Sudd e n ly I became conscious of the presence of someone else. I cannot describe it, but I fe l t t h at I had as direct perc eption of the being of God all around about me as I have of you when we are toge t h e r. It was no longer a matter of i n fe re n c e, it was an immediate act of spiritual (or wh at ever adjective yo u l i ke to employ) ap p rehension. It came unsought, ab s o l u t e ly u n ex p e c t e d ly. I remember the wonderful tra n s ﬁg u ration of the fa r- o ff woods and hills as they seemed to blend in the inﬁnite being with wh i ch I was thus brought into r e l ation. This ex p e rience did not last long. But it s u fficed to ch a n ge all my fe e l i n g. I had not found God because I had n ever looked for Him. But He had found me. (Jo s eph Estlin Carp e n t e r, by C. H. Herfo rd. )

‘An inex p l i c able swe e t n e s s ,’was the way St Augustine descri b e d his feelings in these moments of awa reness. ‘An inex p l i c abl e swe e t n e s s , s u ch that , if it should be perfected in me, I know not to wh at point my life might not arrive.’

Moments of perception

But moments of spiritual encounter are not only felt. Th ey are moments of insight. The mind perc e ives truth in a supern at u ral way, it is illumined in a way wh i ch deﬁes description but wh i ch is re a l b eyond doubt to the ex p e ri e n c e r. Eve rything seems to cl i ck into p l a c e. Often there is a strong sense of assurance that all is well and t h at all will be we l l .

In The Christian A g n o s t i c, Dr Leslie D. We atherhead recalls such a moment wh i ch came to him at the age of 19 when as a student minister he was travelling by train to fulﬁl a pre a ching engage m e n t :

The third - class compartment was full. I cannot recall any part i c u l a r thought processes wh i ch may have led up to the gre at moment. But the gre at moment came and wh e n , ye a rs lat e r, I read C. S. Lew i s ’s S u rp ri s e d by Joy I thought, ‘Ye s , I know ex a c t ly how he felt. I felt like that .’For a few seconds only, I suppose, the whole compartment was ﬁlled with light. This is the only way in w h i ch to describe the moment,

1 3 for there was nothing to see at all. I felt caught up into some tre m e n d o u s sense of being within a lov i n g, t riumphant and shining purp o s e. I neve r felt more humbl e. I never felt more ex a l t e d. A most curious bu t ove r whelming sense possessed me and ﬁlled me with ecstasy. I felt that all was well for all mankind—how poor the wo rds seem! . . . I was ri g h t to want to be a minister. I had wanted to be a doctor and the conﬂict had been intense, but in that hour I knew the ministry was the right path fo r m e. For me it was ri g h t , ri g h t , right. An indescri b able joy possessed me.

In a few moments the glory had dep a rted—all but one curi o u s l i n ge ring fe e l i n g. I l ove d eve ry b o dy in that compartment. It sounds silly n ow, and indeed I blush to write it,but at that moment I think I wo u l d h ave died for any one of the people in that compartment. Th ey seemed— all of them—immensely lovable and va l u abl e. I seemed to sense the golden wo rth in them all.

B rengle spoke of ‘an ex p e rience that bu rns up doubt and unbelief as ﬁre bu rns tow’. A young student’s testimony is typical of many :

I went to ch u rch that morning (he wri t e s ) , m e re ly hoping for some help in my search i n g, and when I left, t wo ye a rs of aimlessness and futility and agnosticism had simply faded out as if they had never been. For the ﬁrst time I felt alive, and that my life had a centre and re a l ly m at t e re d.

I l l u m i n ation came to Martin Luther through a sentence of the C re e d :

When a fe l l ow-monk one day rep e ated the wo rds of the Cre e d, ‘ I b e l i eve in the fo rgiveness of sins,’I saw the Scri p t u res in an entire ly new light; and stra i g h t way I felt as if I we re born anew. It was if I had fo u n d the door of paradise thrown wide open.

The assurance of rightness with God, of sins fo rgiven and a re l ationship re s t o red—a frequent neotic quality of spiri t u a l ex p e riences—came to John We s l ey as he listened to a reading of L u t h e r ’s pre face to the Epistle to the Romans:

About a quarter befo re nine, while he was describing the ch a n ge wh i ch God wo rks in the heart through faith in Chri s t , I felt my heart s t ra n ge ly wa rm e d. I felt I did trust in Chri s t ,C h rist alone for my s a l vation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my s i n s , even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and deat h .

C e rtainty came to Augustine in an intuitive ﬂash as he read a ve rse from Romans.

1 4 I had no wish to read more and no need to do so. For in an instant, a s I came to the end of the sentence, it was as though the light of conﬁd e n c e ﬂooded into my heart and all the darkness of doubt was dispelled.

Sometimes these ex p e riences of the Spirit convey not only a sense of rightness but also seem to convey actual info rm ation ab o u t G o d, man and the unive rs e, k n ow l e d ge wh i ch pro fo u n d ly sat i s ﬁe s the intellect. Unfo rt u n at e ly the details of the know l e d ge thus ga i n e d a re lost as soon as the moment of awa reness is ove r, l e aving only the abiding impression that eve rything in the unive rse makes perfect and wonderful sense.

Attempts to recall and commit the details to writing make ex t re m e ly turgid and sometimes seemingly nonsensical re a d i n g, a s the authors despairi n g ly admit. But the reve l ation ap p e a rs to have been real enough and perfe c t ly satisfying to the intellect at the time. M a ny people who have ex p e rienced a moment of awa reness will k n ow something of this aspect of ex p e ri e n c e, though pro b ably in mu ch paler fo rm than the examples wh i ch fo l l ow.

The inspired shoemaker Jacob Boehme, of the 17th century, wh o has been described as ‘the most astonishing case in history of a n at u ral genius for the tra n s c e n d e n t ’ , re c o rd s :

In one quarter of an hour, I saw and knew more than if I had been m a ny ye a rs together at a unive rs i t y.

Francis Xav i e r, a distinguished scientist and philosopher of the 16th century, w ro t e :

I , t o o , in my youth pursued know l e d ge with ard o u r, and I even praye d God to help me attain it to make me more useful to my congregat i o n . After this prayer I found myself inu n d ated by divine light; it seemed to me that a veil was raised befo re the eyes of my spiri t , and the truths of the human sciences, even those wh i ch I had never studied, b e c a m e m a n i fest to me by an infused intuition, as to Solomon of old. This stat e of intuition lasted about twe n t y - four hours; then,as if the veil had fa l l e n aga i n , I found myself as ignorant as befo re.

Few have ex p e rienced illumination in such startling detail, but the sense of having ex p e rienced a reality wh i ch from then on cannot be doubted or denied is a more frequent ex p e ri e n c e. Thomas R. Ke l ly, the 20th century Quake r, speaks for many when he say s , in his Testament of Devo t i o n:

One emerges from such soul-shaking, L ove - i nvaded times into more n o rmal states of consciousness. But one knows ever after that the

1 5 E t e rnal Lover of the wo rl d,the Hound of Heave n , is utterly, u t t e rly re a l , and that life must hencefo rth be fo rever determined by that Real.

Te resa of Av i l a , t h at practical saint of the 16th century, a dds a f u rther insight on this same theme:

God establishes Himself within one’s soul in such a manner that when the soul re t u rns to herself it is impossible to doubt that God has been in her and she in Him. And this certainty remains so ﬁrm ly i m p rinted on one’s mind that if one should go for many ye a rs without being raised again to this condition, one could neither fo rget the favo u r t h at has been re c e ived nor doubt its re a l i t y.

A further aspect of that wh i ch is perc e ived in spiritual ex p e ri e n c e is the sense of affi n i t y, h a rm o ny or even unity wh i ch emerge s b e t ween the ex p e riencer and the cre ated wo rl d. The ex p e ri e n c e r feels at one with the unive rse and feels that he belongs, t h at he is at h o m e, so to speak. It is as if in one timeless moment he has ex p e rienced wh at life should always be.

The cre ated wo rld often seems suffused with a new glory as a result of a divine reve l at i o n , wh i ch further heightens the sense of b e l o n gi n g. Jo n athan Edwa rds describes this aspect:

The ap p e a rance of eve rything was altered; there seemed to be, as it we re, a calm,sweet cast, or ap p e a rance of divine glory, in almost eve ry t h i n g. God’s ex c e l l e n cy, His wisdom, His purity and love, s e e m e d to appear in eve ry t h i n g : in the sun, moon and stars; in the clouds and blue sky; in the gra s s , ﬂowe rs and trees; in the water and all nat u re ; wh i ch used gre at ly to ﬁx my mind.

B i l ly Bray, the irrep re s s i ble illiterate eva n gelist of the 19th c e n t u ry, who used to say, ‘I can’t help praising the Lord. As I go along the stre e t , I lift up one fo o t , and it seems to say “ G l o ry”; and I lift up the other, and it seems to say “Amen”; and so they ke ep up l i ke that all the time I am wa l k i n g ’ — recalls this detail:

I remember this, t h at eve rything looked new to me, the people, t h e ﬁe l d s , the cat t l e, the trees. I was like new man in a new wo rl d.

Another describes his ex p e rience thus:

When I went in the morning into the ﬁelds to wo rk , the glory of God ap p e a red in all His visible cre ation. I well remember we re aped oat s , a n d h ow eve ry straw and head of the oats seemed, as it we re, a rrayed in a kind of ra i n b ow glory.

1 6 E ve lyn Underhill, 20th century writer on the spiritual life :

I still remember walking down the Notting Hill main road and o b s e rving the ex t re m e ly sordid landscape with joy and astonishment. E ven the movement of the tra ffic had something unive rsal and s u blime in it.

Pe r h aps it was more than poetic licence that enabled George Wade Robinson to wri t e :

H e aven ab ove is softer bl u e, E a rth around is sweeter gre e n , Something lives in eve ry hue, C h ristless eyes have never seen, B i rds with gladder songs o’erﬂow, F l owe rs with deeper beauties shine, Since I know, as now I know, I am his and he is mine.

Moments of reception

It is a we l l - attested fact that moments of divine invasion can also m e d i ate to or release within the personality new and unsuspected p owe rs of re m a rk able strength. The ex p e riencer feels himself cleansed and then positive ly re - e n e rgi s e d, m o ra l ly, s p i ri t u a l ly and even phy s i c a l ly.

The sense of beautiful newness in the wo rld without is mat ch e d by a sense of clean and beautiful newness within. A Salvation A rmy o fficer writes of such a moment:

All of an awful sudden God showed me at least part of my sinful self and how phoney, d e s p i c able and small I re a l ly was.... God’s wo rkings in me over the next minutes or hours (of wh i ch I was not awa re) we re so real that they have never lost their sharpness or re a l i t y. He made me clean! Right through! Shiny clean like I’d never known befo re! A shine wh i ch glowed white and clear in eve ry pore of my being. No fuzz or mu rkiness or scaliness—just pure and clean. Wh at a wonderful God! But t h at was just the beginning because as my heart lifted in praise for this wonderful bl e s s i n g, He ﬁlled me with Himself; and wa rmth of love, golden mellow n e s s , gentle stre n g t h , peaceful powe r, d e ep joy began to bu bble from inside as my hands began to rise towa rds God.

G e o rge Fox , founder ﬁg u re of the Society of Fri e n d s , d e s c ri b e s the moment of his divine visitat i o n :

1 7 All things we re new, and all the cre ation gave another smell unto me than befo re, b eyond wh at wo rds can utter. I knew nothing but pure n e s s , i n n o c e n cy and ri g h t e o u s n e s s , being re n ewed up into the image of God by Christ Je s u s , so that I was come up into the state of A d a m , wh i ch he was in befo re he fe l l .

The annals of The Salvation A rmy abound with accounts of men and women who have re c e ived miraculous new moral energy t h rough moments of divine bre a k t h rough. A we l l - k n own case is that of Henry F. Milans, whose life and career as a successful new s p ap e r editor we re destroyed through alcohol addiction. He became an outcast of society until introduced to the power of Christ thro u g h meeting with the A rmy.

In Out of the Dep t h s C l a rence Hall describes the moment wh e n Milans knelt at the penitent fo rm :

Th e re stole ge n t ly across his tro u bled spirit the consciousness of a gre at peace. He seemed to feel close beside him a comfo rting Pre s e n c e, and he thought he heard with an inner ear a Voice wh i ch said: ‘ C o m e. We will start life all over again without the habits that have spoilt it. Tru s t M e, I will ke ep thee.’He arose from his knees. He says that he was not e c s t a s i zed by an ove rp owe ring emotion. No instantaneous wave of ex a l t ation swept over him. Comfo rt , yes; but no ru s h i n g, ove r wh e l m i n g d e s i re to leap and shout. No seventh heaven descended to engulf him in a cloud of glory. But nineteen ye a rs later he is able to decl a re : ‘ From that moment to the present I never have been tempted to take a drink of a nything with alcohol in it. If I we re again to become a dru n k a rd I should h ave to acquire anew the appetite for liquor. I should have to learn all over again to love the drink that was for thirt y - ﬁve ye a rs the gre atest love of my life.’

A fo rmer drug addict named Jo s ep h , quoted by David Wi l ke rs o n in The Cross and the Switch bl a d e, t e l l s :

Jesus helped me get rid of drugs. I used goof balls and mari j u a n a , a n d I was beginning to skin pop heroin. I alre a dy had the mind habit and I had to do this thing. When I heard about Jesus it kind of shocked me that He loved people in spite of all their sins. It stirred me when I heard that He puts real teeth behind His pro m i s e s , by coming into us with this b aptism of the Holy Spirit.... So I got wanting this, just like Neda. In the ch apel I cried to God for help, and that ’s when He came aro u n d. I wa s n ’t l o n e ly any more. I didn’t want any more drugs. I loved eve ry b o dy. Fo r the ﬁrst time in my life I felt cl e a n .

In The Va rieties of Religious Experi e n c e, William James quotes the wo rds of a military officer who looks back on a moment of

1 8 s p i ritual bre a k t h rough wh i ch freed him from the bonds of impuri t y :

I was effe c t u a l ly cured of all incl i n ation to impurity—a sin that I wa s so stro n g ly addicted to that I thought nothing but shooting me thro u g h the head could have cured me of it; and all desire and incl i n ation to it was re m ove d, as entire ly as if I had been a sucking ch i l d, nor did the t e m p t ation re t u rn to this day.

John of the Cro s s , the gre at Spanish re l i gious leader and writer of the 16th century, sums up the almost miraculous power wh i ch can be released through wh at he calls the ‘ t o u ch e s ’ of God on the soul:

Th ey enri ch it marve l l o u s ly. A single one of them may be sufficient to abolish at a stro ke certain imperfections of wh i ch the soul during its whole life had va i n ly tried to rid itself, and to leave it adorned with v i rtues and loaded with supern at u ral gi f t s .

In many instances it is the spiritual re - e n e rgising rather than the m o ral ch a n ge wh i ch is the most notable effect of a spiri t u a l ex p e ri e n c e. A frequent comment is that wh at was prev i o u s ly nominal and fo rmal and habitual as far as the spiritual life is c o n c e rn e d, wh at was in a sense an acting out of a part , n ow becomes re a l , s p o n t a n e o u s , j oyous and utterly sat i s f y i n g. A bundant life becomes an actuality. God’s presence is re a l ly felt. It is no longer a m atter of pious wo rds. Love and joy well up, l ove towa rds God and l ove towa rds other people. The Scri p t u res come alive and are i m bued with a new and heightened signiﬁc a n c e. Prayer becomes real and lifts one into new dimensions of spiritual awa re n e s s . Meetings for prayer and wo rship become a joy. The desire to witness to others becomes intense. In Eve lyn Underhill’s phrase—those that we re prev i o u s ly like deaf people at a concert , n ow actually hear the g l o rious mu s i c.

S p i ritual powe rs , h i t h e rto lat e n t , wh i ch equip the Christian fo r s p i ritual ministry to others , a re also re l e a s e d, and the true meaning of the wo rd ministry becomes ap p a rent to the ex p e riencer for the ﬁrst time. The effect in the lives and ministry of both lay and o rdained servants of God has at times been highly dra m at i c.

A Salvation A rmy officer describes a long period of spiri t u a l b a rrenness at her corp s , wh i ch leads to a personal cri s i s :

Then I opened my heart to the Holy Spiri t , and He came and ﬂo o d e d me with love and peace and powe r. You may judge how real that

1 9 b aptism was when I tell you that during the next week-end we had t we n t y - ﬁve seeke rs , and only one week has passed since in wh i ch there h ave not been some conve rt s .

Dwight L. Moody noted a new pers u a s iveness coming into his p re a ch i n g. ‘I took the old sermons I had pre a ched without any p owe r,’he writes. ‘It was the same old tru t h , but there was new p owe r.’

In his spiritual autobiograp hy, None Can Guess, M i chael Harp e r d e s c ribes the ch a n ge that came over his pre a ching immediat e ly fo l l owing his empowe ring ex p e ri e n c e :

I found I had a new ﬂu e n cy as I spoke. I was so cl e a r- h e a d e d. A l m o s t for the ﬁrst time in my life I found myself leaving the shelter of my notes and adve n t u ring out, bl own along by the wind of the Spirit. I even had moments when I wanted to stop and listen to wh at I was say i n g, it was so i n t e resting! The wo rds of the Lord Jesus came litera l ly tru e, ‘It will not be you that speaks, but the Holy Spiri t .’I did not have to turn to the c o m m e n t at o rs all the time, I was actually being given or i ginal thoughts! And the wo rds we re meeting with a real response in the audience. I found myself at last commu n i c ating effe c t ive ly,and I was excited ab o u t the things I was say i n g.... This new sense of freedom in speaking wa s one of the revo l u t i o n a ry results of this ex p e ri e n c e. My whole attitude to p re a ching ch a n ged ove rnight. It was not a matter of giving up prep a ri n g s e rmons. Th at would have been wro n g. But from now onwa rds the p rep a ration of the speaker was ve ry mu ch more important than that of the mat e rial he was to use.

In Power from on High, C h a rles Fi n n ey, whose testimony we h ave alre a dy noted, w rites of the ex t ra o rd i n a ry conve rting powe r with wh i ch he found himself endued fo l l owing his Spirit bap t i s m :

I was powe r f u l ly conve rted on the morning of October 10. In the evening of the same day, and on the morning of the f o l l owing day, I re c e ived ove r whelming baptisms of the Holy Ghost, t h at went thro u g h m e, as it seemed to me, b o dy and soul. I immediat e ly found my s e l f endued with such power from on high that a few wo rds dropped here and t h e re to individuals we re the means of their immediate conve rsion. My wo rds seemed to fasten like barbed arrows in the souls of men. Th ey cut l i ke a swo rd. Th ey bro ke the heart like a hammer. Multitudes can at t e s t to this. Oftentimes a wo rd dro p p e d, without my re m e m b e ring it, wo u l d fasten conv i c t i o n , and often result in almost immediate conve rs i o n .

This power is a gre at marvel. I have many times seen people unable to e n d u re the wo rd…. Seve ral times it has been true in my ex p e rience that

2 0 I could not raise my vo i c e, or say anything in prayer or ex h o rt at i o n ex c ept in the mildest manner, without wh o l ly ove rcoming those that we re present. This was not because I was pre a ching terror to the people; but the sweetest sounds of the gospel would ove rcome them. This powe r seems sometimes to pervade the at m o s p h e re of one who is highly ch a rged with it. Many times gre at nu m b e rs of persons in a commu n i t y will be ch a rged with this powe r, when the at m o s p h e re of the whole place seems to be ch a rged with the life of God. Stra n ge rs coming into it, a n d passing through the place, will be instantly smitten with conviction of s i n , and in many instances conve rted to Chri s t .

For the Rev J. Cameron Pe dd i e, of the Church of Scotland, t h e n ew power released through a spiritual ex p e rience was the power of h e a l i n g. In his book The Fo rgotten Ta l e n t he tells of a grow i n g c o nviction about spiritual healing wh i ch led him eve n t u a l ly to set aside one hour each day, f rom 11 pm until midnight, f rom his bu s y m i n i s t ry in the slums of Glasgow, for the purpose of prep a ri n g himself spiri t u a l ly for the re c eption of the gift of healing. He d e s c ribes his method of spiritual discipline, and then comments:

For a whole year I carried out these daily tasks as fa i t h f u l ly as I could, a lways expecting something to happen that would make clear to me that the Lord re c og n i zed the personal private covenant I had tried to enter into with Him and call me to the Healing Ministry. But no such thing h appened and I continued my special programme for a second ye a r. But still there was no call other than my own wishful thinking. A third ye a r p a s s e d, then a fo u rt h , with the same re s u l t , and I was tempted to give up. B u t , under the impulse of wh at must have been the Holy Spiri t , for no other power could have sufficed to ke ep me go i n g,I reg u l a rly continu e d my ro u t i n e. Befo re the end of the fifth year something hap p e n e d. The sign came on May 17, 1 9 4 7 ,b e t ween the hours of 11 a.m. and n o o n , ex a c t ly thirty ye a rs to the hour after my ord i n ation.... Th i s p a rticular day I was alone and was prep a ring lunch. Wh at hap p e n e d might have been expected in the sanctuary,a cat h e d ral or on some piece of holy gro u n d. But it happened as I stood at the sink in the kitch e n p a ring potat o e s , a knife in one hand, a potato in the other. Wh at my thoughts we re I cannot re m e m b e r, but I have no doubt that being alone I was talking to the Father about the wo rk I wished to do. What e ve r thoughts engaged my at t e n t i o n , s u dd e n ly I felt myself gripped by a s t ra n ge benevolent power that filled me with an unspeakable sense of h appiness. I seemed to be drawn up out of the body and did not know wh e re I wa s , whether ‘in the body or out of it’. It was supreme and fin a l bliss! Joy filled my heart and ove r flowed in tears , h e l p l e s s ly I cri e d, l i ke a ch i l d, the tears pouring from my eyes. All I could say wa s , ‘ Fat h e r, o h , Father’. I was the Pro d i gal Son arriving home and the Father had fa l l e n on my neck and was kissing me. I had re a ch e d, I knew, the home of u l t i m ate truth and all things we re clear and plain. All doubts va n i s h e d.

2 1 E ve ry question-mark was erased and I knew, I simply knew, t h at God is and that He rewa rds all who dilige n t ly seek Him.

In some instances of spiritual ex p e rience the moral and spiri t u a l re - e n e rgising is coupled with a new and ex h i l a rating mental and p hysical vitality. ‘ S e rmon topics came to me until I grew ex h a u s t e d w riting them dow n ,’ w rites a minister, and re fe rences to intense feelings of physical well-being are fre q u e n t ly made. Baron vo n H u gel wri t e s :

All the gre at my s t i c s , and this in precise pr o p o rtion to their gre at n e s s , h ave ever taught that only such ecstasies are va l u able as leave the soul, and the ve ry body as its instru m e n t , s t rengthened and improve d.

John L. Sherrill fo l l ows the account of his baptism in the Spiri t w i t h :

The next three months we re one long smile, one long laugh, one long bounding out of bed each morning to meet the day. Never had I know n s u ch a pro t racted period of we l l - b e i n g. My wo rk went well. I glimpsed wh at being a cre at ive father could be like : when the ch i l d ren bu rst into my office I stopped wo rk i n g, re a l ly glad to see them, and when they left I turned back to the interrupted business without missing a beat. If one of the boys slipped into my shop and go u ged a gro ove in my grinding wh e e l I bawled him out, s u re, but in my annoyance was no rejection of him.

M a ny deep - rooted psych o l ogical quirk s , wh i ch I had used most of my l i fe to ke ep people at a safe distance, d i s ap p e a red entire ly during these months. I got to know old friends on an entire ly diffe rent level and made n ew ones without the shyness wh i ch is my usual lot.

A salvationist missionary conﬁdes in her diary :

12th Ju n e. Th ree weeks ago today I re c e ived such blessing wh i ch has, p raise God, remained and increased with time. During the we e k — wh i ch has been ve ry exacting with all the ex t ra wo rk — t wo people have told me h ow pretty or love ly I look! I re c o rd this only to show that the lov i n g S p i rit of the Lord ch a n ges our faces too!

16th Ju n e. Between 5 and 6 a.m. I am re a dy to get up and spend long p e riods in prayer for the sheer joy of communion with God. Wa ke up feeling ex u b e rant—so diffe rent from befo re. This ex p e rience gives one s u ch energy. I used to be such a we a ry pers o n , but am now able to wo rk mu ch harder and longe r. All thanks to Him!

19th Ju n e. Look back with joy on the ve ry best month of my life, bu t do not dwell in the past. This ex p e rience is progre s s ive.

2 2 It is by no means uncommon for an intense spiritual ﬂash to accomplish actual mental or physical healing. Long-standing and d e ep ly - e n t re n ched phobias, c o m p l exes and dev i ations have been k n own to dissolve mira c u l o u s ly befo re the divine inrush. A Fi n n i s h S a l vation A rmy officer tells of being released from her fear of witnessing to her fa i t h :

H ow humiliating it was for me to be unable to testify, even in a few wo rd s , of the true life the soul lived in God, while others stood up to testify fre e ly and conv i n c i n g ly. Then the most wonderful thing that can b e fall man happened to me. God sanctified my spiri t , soul and body : p u ri fied and sanctified it. All the chains we re go n e. I was free! Oh, t h e ex u l t ation of my soul! I was free to love souls—men and wo m e n wh o ever they we re; free to testify and pray without fe a ring criticism. I was free to testify of my ex p e rience on streets or boat s , in the dock s , among fa c t o ry wo rkers , ye s , to hundreds of godless men and wo m e n . Fre e, because the chains of pri d e, s e l fis h n e s s , c o m fo rt and sin no longe r fe t t e red and weighed dow n .

P hysical healings, sometimes almost unnoticed at ﬁrs t , sometimes of a dra m atic nat u re, a re occasionally mentioned. Major H e n ry A n d rews tells of how he was afflicted by stammering for 20 ye a rs , an affliction wh i ch made it impossible for him to speak e ffe c t ive ly in publ i c :

After being a Salvationist for two ye a rs with no sign of improve m e n t , I went to the holiness meeting one Fri d ay night. While sitting in the meeting the Holy Spirit said to me quite cl e a rly, ‘All things are possibl e to him that believe t h .’I dropped to my knees and cried out: ‘ L o rd, I b e l i eve ! ’ In an instant the wo rk was done. To God be the glory. I got to my feet and said, ‘Dear comra d e s , God has healed me. Pray for me. I am going to be an offi c e r.’Hallelujah! Wh at I said has come tru e, and I have n ow been a corps officer for over thirty-one ye a rs .

Other characteristics

Intense moments of spiritual bre a k t h rough are sometimes accompanied by sensory impressions wh i ch are ve ry real to the ex p e ri e n c e r. The most widely quoted are those of supern at u ral light and inner vo i c e s .

Paul both sensed a light and heard a voice in his dra m at i c encounter with God. ‘As I was on my way, your majesty,’he rep o rt s to King A gri p p a , ‘in the middle of the day I saw a light

2 3 f rom the sky, m o re brilliant than the sun, shining all around me and my travelling-companions. We all fell to the gro u n d, and then I h e a rd a voice saying to me in the Jewish language, “ S a u l , S a u l , why do you persecute me?”’(Acts 26:13-14, N E B. )

C h a rles Fi n n ey describes a vivid sensory impression of light at his conve rs i o n :

All at once the glory of God shone upon and around about me in a manner almost marvellous. A light perfe c t ly ineffable shone in my soul, t h at almost pro s t rated me to the gro u n d. This light seemed like the b rightness of the sun in eve ry direction. It was too intense for the eye s .

In some cases, but more ra re ly, the sense of light evo l ves into f u l ly - fo rmed visual images and becomes an actual ‘ v i s i o n ’ .

R e fe rences to sounds and voices speaking are often to be found in the rep o rts of spiritual encounters. The pro blem of disentangling m e t ap h o rical language and factual description is daunting, but the rep o rts of inner, and seemingly outer, voices are too nu m e rous to be dismissed simply as poetic licence. A number of instances have a l re a dy been cited in our survey of testimonies, but the fo l l ow i n g re c o l l e c t i o n , by Major A. Ora m , combines both the visual and aura l e l e m e n t s :

Th e re came a day when I re a l i zed that there was ‘something more ’ . Wh at , I did not know. In this state of seeking w h at seemed to me then a w i l l - o ’ - t h e - w i s p , weeks passed by. The ﬁnal victory came after a most t rying day; wo rk seemed to pile up and the fo reman seemed more d i fficult than ever befo re.

The day cl o s e d, the machines became silent and, as usual,I made my way to my bedroom wh e re I spent about ﬁfteen minutes in praye r. Coming out of my ro o m , still bu rdened with the desire and the weight of the day, I seemed to hear a voice asking, ‘ H ave you re c e ived wh at yo u s o u g h t ? ’After some hesitation I had to rep ly in the negat ive and I felt an u rge to re t u rn. Instantly there came the temptation to wait till some other t i m e, but I re t u rned and knelt beside my bed. I had nothing to say to God, I had said it all in the prayer befo re; but there bro ke from my heart — a n d by now the tears we re falling—one sentence, ‘O Lord, help me!’And He d i d, for the room seemed ﬂooded with a stra n ge light and as though One s p o ke came the wo rd s , ‘I will,be thou cl e a n .’I knew then that the wo rk had been done—that for wh i ch I had long sought had come.

Commissioner William Ebbs re c a l l s :

2 4 The manner of my coming into the fullness was almost akin to the b reaking of a storm. I had been fo l l owing the speake rs in a holiness c o nvention with peculiar a t t e n t ive n e s s , for I knew that I had not responded to the highest call. To be quite fra n k , at that time I had lost mu ch of my spiritual ‘ p u n ch ’ and was re a l ly unhap py. In spite of this I maintained my public activity and even tried to assume that all was we l l . D u ring that meeting my soul had responded to the truths ex p ressed with gre at cl e a rness and when Mrs Booth had concluded a most pers u a s ive appeal for complete abandon to God, I said: ‘O Holy Spiri t ,h ave Thy way, and lead me.’ At that decisive moment I heard the voice of the leader announce ‘Major Ebbs will pray.’I rose to my feet and stepped to the rail with a s t ra n ge mellowness in my heart. My petition started when something e n t i re ly unfo reseen hap p e n e d. The radiance of the Holy Presence fe l l upon me and—the victory in my own soul having been gained but a few moments befo re—a Voice distinctly said to me: ‘ Wi t n e s s! ’ Tis better than to interc e d e.’I hard ly remember wh at hap p e n e d. I know that I told the gre at audience wh at had tra n s p i red and then, l e aving the plat fo rm , I wa l ked down to the Mercy Seat and wept for joy befo re the Lord.

The publ i c ation of an account in a Salvation A rmy periodical of someone ‘ h e a ri n g ’ celestial music in a moment of deep sorrow, d rew out the fo l l owing testimony from a re t i red offi c e r, who until then had never shared it with anyo n e :

I heard celestial music when I got conve rt e d, when I accepted Chri s t in the ‘ Palais de la fe m m e ’ in Pa ris in 1933. I heard it for hours all a round me, in the stre e t , in the subway, I couldn’t say for how long. A n d it was so celestial, so div i n e, so beautiful, so delicat e, t h at after this ex p e rience I could not touch the piano for weeks on end. Eve ry time I s t a rted playing the music wh i ch befo re had uplifted me so mu ch ,i t sounded just so vulgar and coars e, nothing more than vulgar noise. No B e e t h ove n , no gre at composer otherwise enjoye d, would satisfy me fo r months afterwa rds. After hours of this heave n ly mu s i c,it faded away s l ow ly, became fainter and fainter and ﬁn a l ly ceased entire ly. And all t h at time I did not feel the ground under my feet. It was like walking in the air. I am ve ry grateful to God for this wonderful manife s t ation of His welcome and love to me. Since then I have come to believe that the music is all the time around us, but we hear it only when it pleases God to open our ears to it.

‘ G re at nervous excitement of any kind, but especially fear and j oy, has to ove r ﬂow into the mu s cles somehow,’w rites J. B. Pratt in The Religious Consciousness, and this leads us to yet a furt h e r p o s s i ble ch a ra c t e ristic of moments of spiritual ex p e ri e n c e. Intense s p i ritual moments may in some cases result in we eping or laughing, shouting or cl ap p i n g, and a number of other bodily re a c t i o n s

2 5 wh i ch , though they may bewilder the onlooker not caught up in the same ex c i t e m e n t , seem the most nat u ral way in the wo rld to the ex p e riencer of ex p ressing wh at is welling up from within. A p e rs o n ’s basic temperament will large ly dictate the manner of his re s p o n s e, h oweve r, and people of quiet disposition are unlike ly to react out of ch a racter through spiritual re l e a s e.

Ballington Booth rep o rts on a holiness meeting held on 13 S eptember 1878, a rep o rt typical of many :

Eve r yone was ove rp owe red by the Spirit. One young man, a f t e r s t ru ggling and wrestling for nearly an hour, shouted ‘ G l o ry! glory ! g l o ry! I’ve got it. Oh, bless God!’One young woman shook her head, s ay i n g, ‘ N o , not tonight,’but soon was seen on the ground pleading m i g h t i ly with God. Eve ry unsanctiﬁed man or woman felt indescri b ably. Th ree or four times we cl e a red the tables and fo rm s , and again and aga i n t h ey we re ﬁlled…. One brother said, ‘ O h , oh! if this ain’t heave n , wh at ’l l h e aven be?’Another brother said, ‘I must jump.’I said, ‘ Then jump,’ a n d he jumped all aro u n d. So we sang, c ri e d, l a u g h e d, s h o u t e d, and after t we n t y - t h ree had given their all to the Master, t rusting Him to ke ep them f rom sinning, as He had pardoned their sins we cl o s e d, s i n gi n g,

G l o ry, g l o ry, Jesus saves me, G l o ry, g l o ry to the Lamb.

2 6 3 Breakthrough to fuller living

H OW important are the moments of spiritual bre a k t h rough we have been looking at? Have they lasting value? Do they effect real and e n d u ring ch a n ges in the personality? Do they raise life perm a n e n t ly to a higher level and into a new dimension? Or are they but a re l i gious ve rsion of the drug add i c t ’s ‘ t rip’—a moment of glory wh i ch vanishes and leaves the ex p e riencer poorer than befo re ?

‘By their fruits ye shall know them’ ( M at t h ew 7:16), said Je s u s , and this is the only way in wh i ch the value of spiritual encounters can be judge d. Wonderful accounts of inner glory that do not leave a C h ri s t l i ke imprint on the ex p e riencer are to be suspected. As Bishop Kenneth E. Kirk puts it: ‘Unless an alleged ex p e rience of God bri n g s with it a call to disinterested action of some kind or other—unless t h e re is re a c t i o n , re s p o n s e, re c i p ro c i t y — we shall scarc e ly be able to avoid the conclusion that something is amiss.’

The actual moments of reve l ation are usually bri e f. In some instances mere seconds, in others minu t e s , in ra rer instances a m atter of hours , in a few cases a day, s e l d o m , if eve r, l o n ge r. H oweve r, wh e re the ex p e rience has been powerful and uplifting, l i fe-enhancing emotional glow will remain for a mu ch longer time, sometimes we e k s , sometimes months. For some people the emotional tone of life is never quite the same again. Having entere d into a new dimension they now sense the presence of the Lord in a n ew, s e e m i n g ly permanent way, not perhaps with the intensity of the o ri ginal moment of glory, but neve rtheless quite diffe re n t ly fro m a nything known prior to that ex p e ri e n c e.

Most people, h oweve r, rep o rt that at some point or other fo l l owing the moment of divine inﬁlling the soul is ove rt a ken by s p i ritual darkness. The glow va n i s h e s , and for a period of we e k s , o r m o n t h s , p o s s i bly ye a rs , the soul enters a dark night. This does not mean that all the beneﬁts of the spiritual ex p e rience are lost, it is m o re a matter of loss of fe e l i n g. From the psych o l ogical point of v i ew it is

2 7 a matter of emotional cy cl e s — p ay i n g, as it we re, for the ex a l t at i o n e n j oye d. The human psyche cannot live continu a l ly at a high emotional pitch. Th e re have to be periods of rest. From a spiri t u a l point of view, these are the times when the soul learns to live by faith rather than fe e l i n g, and are re ckoned by many to be the cru c i a l p e riods in a believe r ’s spiritual deve l o p m e n t .

The intensity of the periods of soul darkness depend a gre at deal on the spiritual and psych o l ogical make-up of the individual. Th o s e who ex p e rience the highest heights are like ly to touch the deep e s t d ep t h s , whilst for others the emotional pendulum will only sw i n g s l i g h t ly. The fo l l ow i n g, h oweve r, seems to be a fa i rly typical t e s t i m o ny. Mrs Captain Riley writes in The Offi c e r t h at , after a p e riod of spiritual ex a l t at i o n :

All at once, for no reason that I could see, a sudden dark n e s s ove rs h a d owed my soul; the heavens became as brass. I prayed but there was no re s p o n s e. I was mostly tro u bled because I had lost the swe e t n e a rness I felt to God. In looking back over this time I am sure God wa s in the shadows though I did not see Him. I am glad He kept me fro m doubting Him. After about three months the sun came out again and ‘ H e wa l ked with me, and He told me I was His ow n ’ .

It is a mistake to lay too mu ch stress on feelings. Some of the mightiest men of the Spirit have re c e ived comparat ive ly meagre a s s u rance from their feelings that they we re being used of God. Jo h n We s l ey is a case in point. Th e re is no question that as a consequence of his A l d e rs gate ex p e rience on 24 May 1738 John We s l ey ’s m i n i s t ry was tra n s fo rm e d. As W. E. Sangster puts it: ‘ B e fo re this d ay John We s l ey was a man marve l l o u s ly equipped but pitifully i n e ffe c t ive, after this day he was an ap o s t l e ! ’ The fruits we re there to be seen by eve ryo n e. But unlike many of the saints,We s l ey was not to know gre at ecstasy. In fa c t , the emotional content of his ex p e ri e n c e, wh i ch he describes as his heart being ‘ s t ra n ge ly wa rm e d ’ , was so slight that he often wo n d e red whether anything had h appened at all. A dd to this the fact that We s l ey inclined towa rd s ove r-emphasising the importance of feelings—and you have a re c i p e for spiritual unhap p i n e s s .

John We s l ey is such an important ﬁg u re in our study that we will t a ke the time to fo l l ow his ch a n ging feelings as re c o rded with amazing candidness in his Jo u rn a l, if only to show that effe c t ive n e s s as a servant of God does not depend on how mu ch or how little we feel. John We s l ey ’s testimony might come as a comfo rt to some.

2 8 ‘After my re t u rn home’, he writes in his entry for that day, ‘I wa s mu ch bu ffeted with temptat i o n s : but cried out and they ﬂed away.’ H e re fo l l ow some more brief ex t racts taken from the ﬁrst week after the ex p e ri e n c e.

25th May, 1738. The moment I awa ke n e d, ‘ Je s u s ,M a s t e r ’ was in my h e a rt and in my mouth. (Later in the day.) Yet the enemy injected a fe a r, ‘If thou dost believe,why is there not a more felt ch a n ge ? ’ 26th May, 1738. My soul continued in peace, but yet in heav i n e s s , because of manifold temptat i o n s . 27th May, 1738. Believing one reason for my want of joy was want of time for praye r, I re s o l ved to do no business till I went to c h u rch in the m o rn i n g,but to continue pouring out my heart befo re Him. And this day my spirit was enlarg e d. 28th May, 1738. I wa l ked in peace, but not in joy.

Second week after the ex p e ri e n c e.

31st May, 1738. On We d n e s d ay did I gri eve the Spirit of God, n o t o n ly by not ‘ wat ching unto praye r ’ but likewise by speaking with s h a rpness instead of tender love, of one that was not sound in the fa i t h . I m m e d i at e ly God hid His fa c e, and I was tro u bl e d, and in this heav i n e s s I continued till the next morn i n g, June 1st, when it pleased God… to give comfo rt to my soul. 3 rd Ju n e, 1738. I was so stro n g ly assaulted by one of my old enemies, t h at I had scarce strength to open my lips, or even to look for help. But after I had prayed fa i n t ly as I could, the temptation vanished away. 4th Ju n e, 1738. Was indeed a fe a s t - d ay. For from the time of my rising till past one in the aftern o o n , I was pray i n g, reading the Scri p t u re s , s i n ging pra i s e, or calling sinners to rep e n t a n c e. All these days I scarc e remember to have opened the Te s t a m e n t , but upon some gre at and p recious pro m i s e. 6th Ju n e, 1738. I had still more comfort , and peace and joy; on wh i ch I fear I had begun to pre s u m e. . . .

Five months after the ex p e ri e n c e. The text ‘Examine yo u rs e l ve s , whether ye be in the fa i t h ’ , read in the evening lesson, p ro m p t s We s l ey to consider his own spiritual progre s s .

14th October, 1738. I cannot ﬁnd in myself the love of God or of C h rist. Hence my deadness and wa n d e rings in public prayer; hence it is, t h at even in the Holy Communion I have fre q u e n t ly no more than a cold attention. A ga i n , I have not that joy in the Holy Ghost; no settled

2 9 lasting joy; nor have I such peace as ex cludes the possibility either of fear or doubt. Yet upon the wh o l e, although I have not yet that joy in the Holy G h o s t , nor the full assurance of fa i t h , mu ch less am I, in the full sense of the wo rd s , ‘in Christ a new cre at u re’; I neve rtheless trust that I have a m e a s u re of fa i t h , and am ‘ a c c epted in the belove d ’ .

Eight months after the event in A l d e rs gat e, a lengthy selfa n a ly s i s wh i ch one presumes must have been written in a dep ressed state of m i n d. The entry for three days befo re this is an account of an all- night meeting. :

‘About three in the morn i n g, as we we re continuing in pray e r, t h e p ower of God came mightily upon us.... As soon as we re c ove red a little f rom that awe and amazement at the presence of His Majesty, we bro ke into song. . . .’

But this now seems far from his thoughts. Selected ex t racts fro m the self-analy s i s :

4th Ja nu a ry, 1739. My friends affi rm that I am mad, because I said I was not a Christian a year ago. I affi rm , I am not a Christian now. For a C h ristian is one who has the fruits of the Spirit of Chri s t , wh i ch (to mention no more) are, l ove, p e a c e, j oy. But these I have not. I have not a ny love of God. I do not love either the Father or the Son. How do I know?… I fe e l this moment I do not love God; w h i ch there fo re I know because I feel it. Th e re is no wo rd more pro p e r, m o re cl e a r, or more stro n g. And I know it also by St Jo h n ’s plain ru l e : ‘If any man love the wo rl d, the love of the Father is not in him.’For I love the wo rl d. I desire the things of the wo rl d, some or other of them and have done all my life. A ga i n , j oy in the Holy Ghost I have not. I have now and then some s t a rts of joy in God:but it is not that joy : for it is not ab i d i n g : neither is it gre ater than I have had on some wo rl d ly occasions. Ye t , again I have not ‘the peace of God’, t h at peace, p e c u l i a rly so c a l l e d. The peace I have may be accounted for on nat u ral principles. I h ave health, s t re n g t h , f ri e n d s , a competent fo rt u n e, and a composed, cheerful temper. Who would not have a sort of peace in such c i rcumstances? But I have none wh i ch can with any pro p riety be called a peace wh i ch passeth unders t a n d i n g. From hence I concl u d e, though I have give n , and do give all my go o d s to feed the poor,I am not a Christian. Though I have endured hard s h i p ,

3 0 though I have in all things denied my s e l f, and taken up my cro s s , I am not a Christian. My wo rks are nothing, my suffe rings are nothing: I have not the fruits of the Spirit of Christ. Though I have constantly used all the means of gra c e, for twenty ye a rs , I am not a Chri s t i a n .

N o t w i t h s t a n d i n g,We s l ey continues his alre a dy God-bl e s s e d m i n i s t ry wh i ch increased in effe c t iveness constantly. During 1739 he ap p e a rs to enter less tro u bled emotional wat e rs and the negat ive tone disap p e a rs from the personal refe r ences in his Jo u rn a l.

But even 28 ye a rs after the A l d e rs gate ex p e ri e n c e, in a ﬁt of d ep re s s i o n , John writes to his brother Charl e s :

27th Ju n e, 1766. I do not love God. I never did. T h e re fo re I neve r b e l i eved in the Christian sense of the wo rd.... If I ever have had that fa i t h it would not be so stra n ge. But I never had any other evidence of the e t e rnal or inv i s i ble wo rld that I have now.... I have no direct witness.

It is obvious that We s l ey knew wh at it was to be in the trough of d e s p a i r, and by re c o rding his feelings so fa i t h f u l ly he has enri ch e d our know l e d ge of Christian living enorm o u s ly. It is so easy in testimonies to give the impression that spiritual living is one u n b ro ken state of being in the seventh Heaven. But if We s l ey, a n d L u t h e r, and Peter and Pa u l , not to mention our Lord Himself, k n ew t e m p t at i o n , s u ffe ring and times of spiritual desolat i o n , it is like ly t h at most if not all Christians will sooner or later have to pass t h rough the same va l l ey. And the main point to be made is that , despite the ups and downs re c o rded in the Jo u rn a l, the ultimat e value of the A l d e rs gate ex p e rience cannot be questioned. It re l e a s e d unsuspected spiritual powe rs in We s l ey wh i ch turned England upside down by setting in motion the most powerful rev ival the c o u n t ry has ever known. And despite the oscillations in fe e l i n g s t ates wh i ch the Jo u rn a l reve a l s , t h e re is little doubt that if at the end of his days We s l ey had been asked to name the most import a n t moment of his life, he would have rep l i e d : ‘A l d e rs gat e, 24 May 1 7 3 8 , about a quarter to nine.’

Other testimonies

But let us now call other witnesses and ask them to tell us of the l o n g - t e rm value of their spiritual bre a k t h rough. The testimonies that fo l l ow have a longer pers p e c t ive than those in the last ch ap t e r. Th ey will further illustrate a number of the points alre a dy made,

3 1 but the emphasis will be on how the testiﬁer eva l u ates his spiri t u a l c risis some time after the eve n t .

M oving from We s l ey ’s Jo u rn a l to the spiritual diary kept by the l ate Major Thomas Ky l e, when a young businessman in Glasgow, reveals a completely diffe rent picture—and yet for all his e ffe c t iveness as an eva n ge l i s t , Major Kyle would have been the firs t to grant that John We s l ey, despite all his internal ago n i e s , was an i n fin i t e ly more influential instrument in God’s hand. Here are some key phrases selected from the daily entries fo l l owing his bap t i s m with the Spiri t .

Second week after the ex p e ri e n c e. It is now nearly eight ye a rs since God pardoned my sins. But He has wo n d e r f u l ly blessed my soul within the last fo rtnight. I have prayed to God for y e a rs that I might re c e ive the b aptism of the Holy Spirit. And now I have re c e ived it, p raise His Holy n a m e. I feel I would rather lose my life than lose this bl e s s i n g. I felt ve ry near the Lord this mor n i n g. I have been with Him all day. I have felt the j oy of the Holy Ghost so gre at ly in me that I have to go to Him and ask special grace to bear the joy.

Th i rd week. God bathed our souls in heave n ly bliss at the 7 a.m. p rayer meeting. I felt ex c e e d i n g ly re f reshed in body when I rose this m o rn i n g,although I had been wo rking so hard for Jesus ye s t e rd ay. Th e L o rd is increasing even my physical strength. Lord, I am getting neare r Thee eve ry day. I feel the longer the light bu rns the brighter it becomes. L o rd, let it bu rn! Have felt ﬁlled with the Spirit and with powe r. I feel it is getting better.

Fo u rth week. I felt nearer my Saviour this day than eve r. How p recious He is. None but they who feel it know. Wo n d e r f u l ly re f reshed in s p i rit this morn i n g. It is getting better eve ry day. Felt ve ry near to the L o rd, although I have had gre ater joy than today. A most blessed day in my ex p e ri e n c e.

Fifth week. Precious time with the Lord this morn i n g. This has been my spiritual birt h d ay. It is eight ye a rs today since God saved me, bu t h ow I regret that I should have wo rked for Him all these ye a rs without full power in the Spirit. Rose early, had reading and praye r — my spiri t u a l b re a k fa s t .

Sixth week. More grace eve ry day. The best Sunday that I have spent on earth. Was delightful to be all day with Jesus. If God gives me such j oy here I can understand how we shall be able to praise Him through the long etern i t y !

S eventh week. A baptism of ﬁre in the hall at eleven. Oh, it was glory in our souls! Ye s , i t ’s getting better. I feel the love of God sweet to my

3 2 t a s t e. All day I was talking to Him. Went to visit: the house was full of His pre s e n c e. After wo rk went to the meeting and had a plunge in the fountain. Tru ly it was heaven to be there. Eighth week. A time of gre at joy together as we spake of all that God has done for us. It is hard to get people to understand the doctrine of holiness. We l l , I believe that the difficulties in the way of unders t a n d i n g it are self-caused, and are some idols that they are not willing to give up. I will pre a ch it for it is the backbone of the gospel. Salvation A rmy ex c u rsion to Edinbu rgh. Heaven all the way, h e aven there, and heaven all the way home! N i n t h , tenth and eleventh weeks. He is blessing me ve ry mu ch eve ry way. Felt ve ry near the Lord today. I bless God that He has given me s u ch an appetite for visiting the sick. Spent a quiet day with Jesus. Fe l t ve ry mu ch in the Spirit all day. Lord, let me walk with Thee for I do delight in Thy company. I could see His hand today in all my steps. I do thank God for the power He has given me to control my s e l f. It is heave n b e l ow when you are guided by the Spirit. Glorious day with Genera l Booth. The Lord was in our pre s e n c e. A powerful time.

Eight ye a rs later the Major wri t e s :

Lifted this book and felt I should write my present ex p e rience after n e a rly eight ye a rs of silence. I do thank God that He has kept me free to s e rve Him, and though my service has not been as gre at as I should have d e s i red it, yet I am pleased that the dear Lord kept me at the feast so l o n g, and I do feel that I love Him and the wo rk better than ever I did b e fo re. Bless His name for eve r.

A testimony written one year after a bre a k t h rough ex p e ri e n c e, must be quoted at length because it illustrates so many import a n t a s p e c t s :

One day, a year and a half ago , I was at a re a l ly low ebb and had been so for a number of ye a rs , although outwa rd ly ap p e a ring to be conﬁd e n t and able in carrying out of Salvation A rmy duties. Inwa rd ly I felt more and more pove rt y - s t ri cken and more and more fru s t rated about the wh o l e t h i n g. The stress of trying to pre a ch the go s p e l ,c a rry out the impossible task of being a Salvation A rmy officer and the internal conﬂict in my ow n s p i rit was weighing heav i ly upon me phy s i c a l ly. I was under the doctor’s c a re. It was with gre at difficulty that I conducted meetings each Sunday. These trials we re bri n ging me to a state of bro kenness and surrender wh e re I would seek the Lord. Desperat e ly I cried to Him in my desperation fo r The Salvation A rmy,for my own life,for my own spirit. I saw cl e a rly that I could go along as an ‘ o rga n i s at i o n a l ’ man and would h ave,

3 3 u n d o u b t e d ly, a successful career in the A rmy. It was ‘on the card s ’ , but it would be a hollow thing if I did not have w h at God was giving me a gre at hunger for—His anointing and the certainty of His pre s e n c e. I s u rre n d e red eve rything to Him—ambition, fa m i ly securi t y, eve ry t h i n g. A sense of utter helplessness without Him made me cry for His help.

At that moment all by myself at the Mercy Seat in the Citadel I knew the ve ry presence of God as He touched me with a quiet assurance and a p e a c e, a s s u ring me that He had heard me, had accepted and fo rgiven and would re s t o re me. One cannot put into wo rds a spiritual ex p e rience like this. I just gave Him praise and glory and I shouted loudly in thanks fo r the bl e s s i n g. From then on I enjoyed a closer fe l l owship. I longed to seek His face in praye r. Th e re was a freshness and a newness in my spiri t .

The testimony continues with the account of how he is led into the fe l l owship of people who have been re n ewed spiri t u a l ly and how he begins to search the Scri p t u res along these lines for himself. Talking the matter over with a re l at ive some months later he is s u rp rised to discover that she has been baptised in the Spiri t .

The presence of the Lord lit up that living room that morning after b re a k fast as we talked about Him. We prayed toge t h e r. She laid her hands on my head as she prayed and at that moment I knew such a t remendous anointing of God that I could feel it phy s i c a l ly. I rejoiced in Him! I praised Him!

After I left I was walking on air. I understood something of the t e s t i m o ny of men like Bre n g l e, Fi n n ey, To rrey and Moody. Bre n g l e called it a baptism of love. As I wa l ked down the street I love d eve ry b o dy and I was just bu rsting with the joy of the Lord.

I knew I was healed and this has been conﬁrmed in the year since then. Wh e reas befo re I could only mount the steps of the plat fo rm if I had taken the doctor’s pre s c ri p t i o n , I now found that I was longing to speak to people about Jesus; longing to tell them of His love and His gre atness; longing to pre a ch to them that He is alive and r e a l .

But this wa s n ’t the only kind of healing. All my intellectualism and doubt was cure d. I found that instantaneously I knew it was all tru e. Th e B i bl e, the mira cl e s , the apostolic power—it is as true today as it eve r wa s !

I ask my s e l f : h ow had I missed it? Why had it only come to me at fo rty-one ye a rs of age? How long and tenderly and pat i e n t ly the Lord has to deal with us!

He discove rs that he has been empowe red to minister to others :

3 4 Th at ﬁrst Sunday there was a new sense of the power of God in our meetings. I felt His anointing in a new way as I pre a ch e d. Th e re was an u nusual amount of conviction present. The congregation knew that something had happened to their officer and many said so. Th at night we felt constrained to have an ex t ra time of prayer at the conclusion of the evening meeting and pra c t i c a l ly the whole congregation stayed and there was mu ch seeking and earnestness in praye r.

A young lady in her twenties had given a moving testimony in the meeting and the Lord impressed me that if I would lay my hands upon her head she would re c e ive the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Now this wa s a stra n ge thing because I had never done such a thing in my whole life! I did sum up the courage to whisper to her that if she wished to re c e ive the b aptism in the Holy Spirit she should come fo r wa rd in the praye r meeting and I would pray with her. But she didn’t feel led to come fo r wa rd. Howeve r, so strong was the urge of the Spirit upon me, t h at I sought her out after the meeting in the songster ro o m .

Although I was rather embarrassed I simply said, ‘Kneel dow n ’ , wh i ch she did just wh e re she was with two others. Immediat e ly the Spiri t of God descended upon her in a most startling way. It was like a p owerful physical electric shock accompanied by a sense of spiritual joy and the reality of the living presence of Jesus. Instantly she rejoiced and p rayed and praised the Lord. Her life has subsequently ch a n ged in a re m a rk able way. Her wo rldliness and spiritual pove rty have given way to gre at joy and sat i s faction in the Lord. She testiﬁes to a marvellous new walk in the Spiri t .

But at the time I was thunders t ru ck! I’d never seen such a thing in my l i fe. When we prayed with the other two the same thing hap p e n e d. Th e ve ry power of God entered their live s , and they knew that they had e n t e red His pre s e n c e. We all did! It was an ex p e rience that deﬁes wo rd s . It took us so completely by surp ri s e. Th e re was no possibility of c o n t riva n c e, a u t o - s u gge s t i o n , fa n at i c i s m , e t c. It was a deep cl e a n s i n g. It was a gre at empowe ri n g. It was simply an inﬁlling of the Spirit. One p e rson saw the ve ry presence of Jesus in a gr e at light. She has ra d i at e d t h at light of Jesus ever since. In fa c t , e a ch person who has been ba p t i ze d into the Spirit this year has shown ev i d e n c e, c o n s i s t e n t ly, of the wonderful love, j oy and peace of the Lord. T h e re has been no fa n at i c i s m but a deep love for people, for the Bible and for praye r.

On being told of wh at has hap p e n e d, his wife asks him to pray with her too:

So we re t u rned to the songster room and we all knelt and prayed that the Lord would answer the longing of her heart. She is ve ry quiet and re s e rved and not given to emotional demonstration. We l l , the power of the Lord was so present with her and she re c e ived such a blessing that

3 5 she did something I have never seen her do befo re in praye r. She laughed and laughed and laughed till the tears rolled down her ch e e k s , so gre at was the joy of the presence of the Lord. She knew the joy unspeakabl e !

He sums up the year since his spiritual bre a k t h ro u g h :

N ow one year later I still ﬁnd this gre at joy. I still ﬁnd myself pra i s i n g the Lord as I walk down the stre e t , s i n ging to Him in my car, p ray i n g wh e rever I am and always knowing His power and reality ve ry, ve ry n e a r. He has brought me deeper into Himself and I praise Him, for I am a ve ry needy person. I hinder the wo rk of the Lord so terri bly, but I long to let Him ex p ress Himself more perfe c t ly through my life — t h rough the b reaking down of self, and through obedience to His Spirit. I long to o b ey God rather than men.

It has been our ex p e rience this year that we are equipped moment by moment through the power of the Holy Spirit in an undreamed of way. We have rejoiced even in tri bu l ations. It has been a wonderful ye a r. We h ave seen mira cles. We have seen people whose lives have been c o m p l e t e ly ch a n ge d. One couple had been sep a rated for one-and-a-half ye a rs. Th ey now have a beautiful marri age. People have been healed. We h ave seen the impossible come tru e. I could write a book. I believe t h o ro u g h ly in all the gifts of the Spirit simply because the Lord has m a n i fested them through us. I feel our lives have accomplished more fo r the Lord in this one year than in the previous doze n !

This kind of testimony corro b o rates Bre n g l e ’s statement that the d ivine bre a k t h rough ‘is not mere sentiment, not a hap py sensat i o n t h at passes away in the night’. But let us extend the time interva l f u rther as we listen to Mrs Major Booth Davey giving her testimony ﬁve ye a rs after the decisive eve n t :

A little over five ye a rs ago I entered into this glorious ex p e rience of E n t i re Sanctific ation and the conscious incoming of the Holy Spirit. My c o nve rsion had been a ve ry real one, and during my training days I had wonderful reve l ation and ex p e ri e n c e s , but after I became a wife and a mother I had not the same opportunities for unbro ken times of praye r and found it diffi c u l t , often indeed impossibl e, to get the same mellow feelings I used to have. I began to find certain risings of feeling wh i ch ve ry mu ch discouraged me. Sometimes I doubted whether I ought to h ave marri e d.

I had gre at difficulties in hiding these moods and if the ch i l d ren did a nything annoy i n g, I felt irri t able and cross and often showed it to them. I had ve ry little pat i e n c e. I was tempted to think it was my nerves and t h at my quick ly growing fa m i ly was the cause of it. I was full of selfpity and tempted to be envious of others who seemed to have life so

3 6 mu ch easier. After such ex p e riences I was ve ry unhap py and would plead with God to give me power to rise ab ove all this. I thought it must be that I needed the power of the Holy Spirit. I made up my mind to seek after H i m .

I was a fo rtnight praying and w e ep i n g, claiming and doubting until at last I had a reve l ation of my s e l f, my inbred sin, the ‘old man’, wh i ch ﬁlled me with amazement. I was humbled and ashamed. Eve rything of mine was carnal and loa t h s o m e. I was shorn of eve rything of self—and was glad to be. I stre t ched out helpless hands to Him. The Holy Spiri t came and entire ly sanctiﬁed me and by faith I re c e ived Him.

Two hours after I felt as though a ball of ra p t u re had bu rst within me. I stood still and said to m y s e l f :‘ Wh at is this?’The answer came so softly and ge n t ly : ‘ This is the Holy Ghost.’I was ﬁlled with joy and praise and was lost in Him for a long time. Inbred sin was destroye d, bu rnt out; the C o m fo rter had come.

I began to know wh at real wo rship was. I often go to pray meaning to ask for many things, but am so ﬁlled with love for God that the time is spent in we eping and adoring Him. The joy of communion gets deep e r and sweeter eve ry day. Those fo rmer unholy feelings are never felt. I h ave such peace and joy when tr o u bles come and a wonderful conﬁd e n c e in my Fat h e r ’s wo rking for me and in His success.

This entrance into the life of full salvation has taken away all my anxiety for the future. I am surp rised often at the contentment and c o n ﬁdence I have in God. I can leave eve rything to Him, feeling quite s u re that when the time comes for action eve ry necessary door will be o p e n e d. I used to think it was impossible not to wo rry. Now I cannot wo rry! I feel I must praise God all the day long. My whole being seems w rapped up in Him. The things of time and earth have lost the fo rm e r undue value they had in my eye s , i n cluding ra n k s , titles and position, a n d I rega rd them only in so far as I can use them to further His Kingdom.

In meetings I ex p e rience wonderful waves of bl e s s i n g s , so delugi n g my soul that it is only with a strong effo rt I hide my emotion. It is union with Him, t h rough the Blood of Chri s t , by the Holy Spirit wh o , dwe l l i n g w i t h i n , ke eps His temple clean and r a d i ates His life and health until eve ry part is affe c t e d.

My love for sinners ch a n ge d. It became a passion, so that eve ry t h i n g in my life must bend to it. I shall never fo rget an incident at Sherbu rn Hill. I was we d ged in amongst a lot of ‘ d ru n k s ’ in a billiard room. Th e p ower of God fe l l , and ten of them made a Pe n i t e n t - fo rm of the billiard t abl e. We we re so packed together that to deal with them our faces nearly t o u ch e d, and we had the full beneﬁt of the spray of their dru n ke n

3 7 s p l u t t e ri n g. This at one time would have revolted me, but now I did not mind a bit. My love for them rose ab ove all personal recoilments. I did not mind how long I bre athed the beery bre ath as long as I could guide them into the Kingdom.

A n d rew Murray makes the perc ep t ive comment that ‘in the life of the believer there sometimes comes a cri s i s , as cl e a rly marked as his c o nve rs i o n , in wh i ch he passes out of a life of continual fe ebl e n e s s and fa i l u re to one of stre n g t h , and victory, and abiding rest. Th e ch a n ge is in many cases as cl e a r, as marke d, as wo n d e r f u l , a s c o nve rs i o n .’His point is well illustrated in the spiritual pilgri m age of a Salvation A rmy officer who re c o rds her impressions ﬁve ye a rs after the dra m atic days wh i ch tra n s fo rmed her spiritual life :

You ask about the permanence of the ex p e ri e n c e. Has it lasted? Is it p rogre s s ive? And I say ‘Ye s ’ , a thousand times ‘Ye s ! ’

It was mainly through corps cadet lessons and the consistent teach i n g of sincere Christians in our holiness meetings that as a teenager I ﬁrs t sought the bl e s s i n g. It was cert a i n ly a spiritual milestone—but a seeking rather than a ﬁn d i n g. ‘ When the Spirit gri eves—He leave s ’s u ggested to me that He was the kind of Pe rson who would go off in a ‘ h u ff’if things did not go His way. This was fru s t rating and unsatisfying as I tried by a full surrender and good wo rks to placate Him. I wanted desperat e ly to e n j oy a positive life with the Holy Spiri t , but I was riding a ‘ s p i ri t u a l s e e s aw ’ for more ye a rs than I care to re m e m b e r.

The Holy Spirit now makes Jesus real to me. Since that day when He s at u rated me with His love and brought about that life - t ra n s fo rm i n g encounter with Je s u s , I have been fully and completely sat i s ﬁed in Him.

He gives me peace. For long enough my moods, d ep re s s i o n s , g u i l t s and fe a rs we re a stumbl i n g - bl o ck and although I tried to live ab ove them and hide them from others , t h ey we re a constant menace. I have fo u n d t h at He brings stability into my life.

He is my Te a ch e r. As with the new - b o rn ch i l d, I feel that most p rogress was made during that ﬁrst year of re c e iving Him, bu t t h roughout almost ﬁve ye a rs He has been revealing Himself steadily and p at i e n t ly, m a i n ly through prayer and the Scri p t u res. He gives the desire for prayer and makes it a pure delight.

He gives release from inner contra d i c t i o n s , wh i ch makes serv i c e u n fe t t e red and a joy. For many ye a rs it was a conscientious devotion to duty wh i ch was the basis of my serv i c e. But duty of itself is a hard ex p e rience—cold and unfe e l i n g. With the Spirit there is libert y !

3 8 And wh at about Samuel Brengle himself? Ten ye a rs after his ex p e rience he wri t e s :

These ye a rs have been wonderful. God has become my Te a ch e r, my G u i d e, my Counsellor, my All in All. He has allowed me to be perp l exe d and tempted, but it has been for my go o d. I have no complaint to make against Him. Sometimes it has seemed that He had left me alone, but it has been as the mother who stands away from her child to teach him to use his own legs that he may walk. He has not suffe red me to fall. He has been with my mouth and helped me to speak of Jesus and His gre at s a l vation in a way to instru c t , c o m fo rt and save other souls. He has been light to my dark n e s s , s t rength to my we a k n e s s , wisdom in my fo o l i s h n e s s , k n ow l e d ge in my ignora n c e.

When my heart has ach e d, He has comfo rted me; when my feet had well-nigh slipped, He has held me up; when my faith has tre m bl e d, H e has encouraged me; when I have been in sore need, He has supplied all my need; when I have been hungry, He has fed me; when I have thirs t e d, He has given me living wat e r. Oh, g l o ry to God! Wh at has He not done for me? I praise Him! I adore Him! I love Him! My whole being is His for time and etern i t y. I am not my own. He can do with me as He pleases, for I am His.

D u ring these ten ye a rs God has enabled me to ke ep a perfe c t u n b ro ken purpose to serve Him with my whole heart. No temptation has swe rved that steadfast purp o s e. No wo rl d ly or ecclesiastical ambition has had an atom of weight to allure me.

And now for two older men looking back on their full life - s p a n . The ﬁrs t , S a muel Chadw i ck , methodist minister, author and fo rm e r p rincipal of Cliff College, S h e ffi e l d :

I owe eve rything to the gift of Pentecost. It came to me when I wa s not seeking it. I was about my Heave n ly Fat h e r ’s bu s i n e s s , s e e k i n g means wh e reby I could do the wo rk to wh i ch He had called and sent me, and in my search I came across a pro p h e t , h e a rd a testimony, and set out to seek I knew not wh at. I knew that it was a bigger thing than I had eve r k n own. It came along the line of duty, in a crisis of obedience.

When it came I could not explain wh at had hap p e n e d, but I was awa re of things unspeakable and full of glory. Some results we re immediat e. Th e re came into my soul a deep peace, a thrilling joy, and a new sense of p owe r. My mind was quicke n e d. Th e re was a new sense of spring and v i t a l i t y,a new power of endura n c e, and a strong man’s ex h i l a ration in big things.

Things began to happen. Wh at we had failed to do by stre nu o u s e n d e avour came to pass without lab o u r. It was glori o u s ly wo n d e r f u l .

3 9 The things that happened we re the least part of the ex p e ri e n c e. Th e wind and the ﬁre and the tongues excited most comment, but they va n i s h e d, and it was the realities that remained that we re most wonderful. The ex p e rience gave me the key to all my thinking, all my s e rvice and all my life. Pentecost gave me the key to the Scri p t u res. Th e same Spirit gave me new understanding and ex p e rience of praye r, a n d with these gifts there came a new enduement of wisdom and powe r. From the ﬁrst day of my Pentecost I became a seeker and winner of s o u l s .

Fi n a l ly, let Lieut-Commissioner Julius Horskins tell of how his l i fe was tra n s fo rmed 45 ye a rs prev i o u s ly :

At the age of twe l ve ye a rs I sought and found Christ as my Sav i o u r, and it was not long befo re I discove red that my heart was seeking for a d e eper ex p e rience and a closer walk with my God. The Salvation A rmy opened up wo rk near my home at Notting Hill, and I went to some of the meetings held. One Fri d ay night I heard an exposition from God’s Book on ‘Holiness of Heart ’ , and I said to my s e l f, ‘ Th at is wh at you have been seeking for ye a rs .’At the close of the meeting I went fo r wa rd to re c e ive this bl e s s i n g, but alas! I got no furt h e r in my ex p e ri e n c e. But I felt that I was on the right tra ck. It was faith to a c c ept that I needed. At this time I was wo rking some miles from my home, and although our store did not close until midnight on Sat u rd ay s , it was my custom to rise at 4 a.m. on Sunday morning and prep a re for my long walk in ord e r to attend the knee-drill at 7 a.m. These walks we re times of commu n i o n with God. I was young and stro n g, and I looked fo r wa rd to this we e k ly walk for wh at it meant to my soul. One Sunday morning I was passing over Clapham Common as usual. Rain had fallen heav i ly during the night and the common was far fro m i nviting as a prayer gro u n d. My steps gained speed, assisted by my s i n ging and pray i n g. My soul’s one gre at desire was to secure the blessing of full salvation. God knew this and came to me in an u n expected manner. I was aroused from my songs and thoughts of God by a voice wh i ch said, ‘Be ye holy.’I turned to see who fo l l owed me, bu t seeing no one I wa l ked on, and again came those compelling wo rd s ,‘ B e ye holy ! ’D own I went upon my knees. Th e re I wa i t e d. I could not speak for some time, then a swe e t , calm peace came into my soul, and I knew without a doubt that the wo rk of making holy had been done in my soul and I prayed with libert y. Th at day began a new era in my spiritual life. I wa l ked along with a n ew kind of spring in my step , sang and prayed with joy. It was heaven; I was on the mountain top. My life became a new life; I had a new joy, a n ew powe r. Eve rything seemed ch a n ged—the stre e t s , the houses, t h e

4 0 p e o p l e, all seemed to wear a fresh aspect, even the trees seemed to me to p raise the Lord. I went home singi n g. I went to bed singi n g.

For many weeks I attended the meetings at my corps as often as the distance would allow me, for the ﬁre bu rned within my soul. Then our C aptain announced a night of prayer to be led by the General at 272 Wh i t e ch apel Road. How I longed for this night. A whole night fo r p rayer! The time went all too slow ly; I not only counted the days but the h o u rs as the time grew neare r. The anticipated night came and I hastened to the hall. The crowd! The singing! The pre a ching! Eve rything held me. At 3 a.m. I was at the Holiness Tabl e, giving my heart , my life, my all to God and the A rmy for offi c e rship. Oh, wh at a ﬂoodtime came! Th at n i g h t ’s consecration decided my life - wo rk for God.

Fo rt y - ﬁve ye a rs have passed since on Clapham Common I was led into the full light of perfect love,and I rejoice in the fact that I am able to testify to its power to ke ep always and under all circumstances. To God be all the glory.

A re there pat t e rns of ex p e rience that can be discerned from this welter of testimony, e s p e c i a l ly with rega rd to the post-conve rs i o n ex p e ri e n c e s , wh i ch are the special subject of our study? The mind can only grasp that wh i ch has been cl a s s i ﬁed and arra n ged in ord e r, and it is there fo re not surp rising to discover that theologians have sought to establish certain doctrinal fra m ewo rks to account for these i nvasions of the div i n e. Our next task must be to turn to the ﬁrst of t h ree such doctrinal ex p l a n ations wh i ch we shall be looking at , a n d ask how these moments of spiritual bre a k t h rough can best be i n t e rp re t e d.

4 1 4 Spiritual breakthrough: entire sa n c t i f i c a t i o n ?

WE have alre a dy noted that Samuel Brengle interp reted the spiri t u a l b re a k t h rough that came to him 13 ye a rs after his conve rsion in term s of sanctiﬁc ation. ‘On the morning of 9 Ja nu a ry 1885 God sanctiﬁe d my soul.’We must now look more cl o s e ly at the doctrinal stru c t u re wh i ch lies behind this stat e m e n t .

B ro a d ly speaking there are two strands of thought within C h ristian thinking rega rding sanctific at i o n — growth in ri g h t e o u s n e s s , o r, s i m p ly, growth in Chri s t l i keness. The firs t , wh i ch Dr W. E. Sangster, the re n owned methodist minister and sch o l a r, d e s c ribes as the i m p rov i n g ap p ro a ch , c o n s i d e rs progress in holiness as a pro c e s s , ‘ wh e reby we are enabled more and more to die unto s i n , and live unto ri g h t e o u s n e s s ’ (S h o rter Cat e ch i s m) , wh i ch commences at conve rsion and continu e s , sometimes with many fit s and start s , right throughout life, re a ching its culminating point only in deat h , wh e n , released from the old nat u re, the soul stands pure b e fo re God.

The second ap p ro a ch , l abelled i m p a rt e d by Dr Sangster, sees the p rocess of development in sanctity as re a ching a culminating point a l re a dy in this life, m a rked by a crisis ex p e rience through wh i ch full sanctity is impart e d. Further progress remains possible beyond this p o i n t , but there is a clear distinction between the ‘ b e fo re ’ and the ‘after’. Th rough the crisis ex p e rience the believer has entered the s t ate of being ‘ e n t i re ly sanctiﬁe d ’ .

B re n g l e ’s simple testimony, quoted ab ove, s h ows that he i n t e rp reted wh at he had ex p e rienced in terms of the i m p a rt e d thought pat t e rn .

The i m p a rt e d ap p ro a ch to sanctiﬁc ation cannot be considere d without re fe rence to John We s l ey, t h at towe ring ﬁg u re of the 18th

4 2 c e n t u ry Church. All of the current strands of theological thinking wh i ch emphasise a further wo rk of grace fo l l owing conve rs i o n — wh i ch J. F. Brunner refe r s to as t h e o l ogies of subsequence—look to John We s l ey as their sourc e.

We s l ey saw the crisis of conve rsion as taking us out Egy p t ’s land — but leaving us wa n d e ring in the wilderness. Deﬁn i t e ly better than being in bondage back in Egy p t , but still not quite the pro m i s e d l a n d. A second crisis is needed to get us from the wilderness into the actual promised land of Canaan.

He viewed this second crisis ex p e rience in quite radical term s . ‘He believed and taught this,’ s ays Sangster, ‘ t h at in an instant and by a simple act of fa i t h , p e r fection was “ w rought in the soul”,’ l e aving it entire ly cleansed from sin.

As We s l ey ex p l a i n s : ‘Although we may, by the Spiri t , m o rtify the deeds of the body, resist and conquer both outwa rd and inwa rd sin; although we may we a ken our enemies day by day; yet we cannot d rive them out. By all the grace wh i ch is given at justiﬁc at i o n ( c o nve rsion) we cannot ex t i rp ate them. Though we wat ch and pray ever so mu ch , we cannot wh o l ly cleanse either our hearts or hands. Most sure we cannot, till it please our Lord to speak to our heart s aga i n , to speak the second time, “Be clean”; and then only the l ep rosy is cl e a n s e d. Then only the evil ro o t , the carnal mind, i s d e s t royed; and inbred sin subsists no more.’

He called the resulting state Entire Sanctiﬁc at i o n , or Chri s t i a n Pe r fe c t i o n , and saw it as an ultimate stage in Christian growth wh i ch most people would only attain short ly befo re death. But he could see no reason why this perfection should not be attained earl i e r :

Q u e s t i o n: M ay we expect ‘ e n t i re sanctiﬁc at i o n ’ sooner than a little b e fo re deat h ?

A n swe r:Why not? For although we grant (1) that the ge n e rality of b e l i eve rs , whom we have hitherto know n , we re not so sanctiﬁed till near d e ath; (2) that few of those to whom St Paul wrote his Epistles we re so at t h at time; nor (3) he himself at the time of writing his fo rmer Epistles; yet all this does not prove that we may not be so today.

The key to We s l ey ’s thinking is his understanding of sin. He saw sin as something wh i ch could be rooted out, re m ove d, got rid of once and for all, l i ke a cancer or a rotten tooth.

4 3 G iven that starting point one can fo l l ow We s l ey ’s reasoning with s y m p at hy. If sin could be destroye d, he arg u e d, was it not eminently re a s o n able to presume that God was able and willing to do it duri n g the lifetime of the believer? Wh at kind of God would it be who wa s content with a half-ﬁnished task? Sure ly He would complete the wo rk alre a dy beg u n !

Indeed the scri p t u ral support wh i ch We s l ey marshals consists not so mu ch in explicit assertions that the spiritual path of the Chri s t i a n is necessari ly marked by a further wo rk of gra c e, as a series of S c ri p t u re passages wh i ch implicitly make that suggestion by s t ressing the completeness of God’s redeeming wo rk , and the need for a full response on our part. We s l ey rested his case ch i e ﬂy on the fo l l owing 30 re fe re n c e s : E zekiel 36:25, 2 6 , 29. Mat t h ew 5:7, 4 2 ; 6:10. John 8:34ff; 17:20-23. Romans 2:29; 12:1. 2 Cori n t h i a n s 3:17f; 7:1. Galatians 2:20. Ephesians 3:14-19, 27. Philippians 3:15. 1 Thessalonians 5:23. Titus 2:11-14. Heb rews 6:1, 7:25; 10:14. 1 John 1:5, 7-9; 2:6; 3:3, 8 - 1 0 , 36; 5:13. James 1:4.

Some of the fo rce of these texts is diminished, h oweve r, i f We s l ey ’s basic pre s u p p o s i t i o n — t h at sin is a ‘ t h i n g ’ wh i ch can be re m ove d — fails to pers u a d e. And not eve ryone has felt able to fo l l ow him on this point. ‘ This is not the biblical idea of sin,’ c o m m e n t s another we l l - k n own methodist sch o l a r, Dr Newton Flew. ‘Sin is a fa r m o re subtle, p e rva s ive and persistent enemy than that .’Sin is coming short of the glory of God. And that is a state wh i ch cannot be put right by an ex t raction. It is in the clash of motive s , our lack of c o u rage, our lack of ze a l , rather than in the more obvious sins of commission that sin in all its complexity is reve a l e d.

After Wes l e y

But we must now notice a point of the utmost importance fo r a nyone seeking to understand the imparted ap p ro a ch to the doctri n e of sanctiﬁc at i o n , and that is that the doctrine has not remained stat i c. A process of erosion with rega rd to some of the more radical aspects of the teaching began even during We s l ey ’s lifetime as his thinking d eveloped through study of the Scri p t u res and observation of the ex p e riences of his conve rt s , and continued under his fo l l owe rs after his death in 1791.

4 4 M a ny va ri ations of the doctrine began to make their ap p e a ra n c e as sch o l a rs wrestled with it. Mat t e rs like whether sin is ‘ e ra d i c at e d ’ or mere ly ‘ s u s p e n d e d ’ or ‘ s u p p re s s e d ’ we re argued at length. Some laid increasing emphasis on the positive side of We s l ey ’s teach i n g, the perfection of love. Others sought to avoid the wo rd perfe c t i o n because of its inherent difficulties. Sangster, in commenting on the va riety of teaching that emerge d, puts it well when he says that ‘ t h e ﬂavo u rs of diffe rence on some minor points are so subtle that only a connoisseur can savour them.’

The process of gradual modiﬁc ation of We s l ey ’s ori ginal insight has in fact continued right down to our times, and over the ye a rs key t e rms have taken on new shades of meaning, re n d e ring study of the subject doubly diffi c u l t .

Without entering into the welter of detail, the evolution of i m p a rt e d thinking from We s l ey ’s time until the present can be summed up in terms of ‘ c risis and pro c e s s ’ by saying that wh e reas in We s l ey ’s ori ginal concept the process came ﬁrst and was fo l l owe d by a culminating cri s i s , the pat t e rn has incre a s i n g ly become that of a c risis wh i ch is seen as initiating the pro c e s s .

For We s l ey, the crisis point was only a few feet away from the ve ry summit of the mountain of holiness. The state of ‘ e n t i re s a n c t i ﬁc at i o n ’u s h e red in by the crisis ex p e ri e n c e, was a state of ‘ C h ristian perfe c t i o n ’ gra n t e d, as we have alre a dy noted, o n ly to a few, and usually just befo re deat h , and so high an attainment ‘ t h at few of those to whom the apostle Paul wrote his epistles we re s a n c t i ﬁe d, nor he himself at the time of writing his fo rmer ep i s t l e s.’ To the question, ‘Can you show one such example now ? ’We s l ey rep l i e d : ‘ Th e re are many reasons why there should be few, if any, i n d i s p u t able examples. Wh at inconveniences would this bring on the p e rson himself—set as a mark for all to shoot at .’

But We s l ey himself began moving the crisis point down the mountainside so as to allow for considerable progress a f t e r t h e c risis. ‘ Th e re is no perfection wh i ch does not admit of perp e t u a l i n c re a s e,’he said—arousing considerable controve rsy by his singular use of the wo rd. Later in his long life he re fe rs not to ‘ few, if any ’ ex a m p l e s , but to ‘625 examples of our Society in London who we re ex c e e d i n g ly clear in their ex p e ri e n c e.’And fo l l owing his d e ath the dow n wa rd trend with rega rds to the positing of the cri s i s ex p e rience continu e d, until it was incre a s i n g ly seen as a necessary and at t a i n able ex p e rience for a l l b e l i eve rs .

4 5 It would be fair to say that the dominant thought today is not that of a process leading to a culminating cri s i s , but rather the reve rs e, the crisis is seen as ‘ t ri gge ring off’the process of sanctiﬁc at i o n . S o m ewh e re in the fo o t h i l l s , the pilgrim ex p e riences a spiritual cri s i s wh i ch sets him a-climbing the hill of holiness. The crisis has become the gat eway, not the goal. And the crisis is there fo re not fo r the few athletes of the spirit who have nearly made it to the top. It is the way in to spiritual progre s s , and is there fo re meant fo r eve ry b o dy.

B e fo re attempting to draw some conclusions from the ab ove t re n d, it will be instru c t ive bri e ﬂy to ch a rt the history of holiness t e a ch i n g, e s p e c i a l ly as it re l ates to William and Cat h e rine Booth and The Salvation A rmy.

The holiness movement

In the mid-19th century there was a re l i gious awa kening both in B ritain and in the USA wh i ch was linked with holiness teach i n g. This had the effect of spreading the We s l eyan emphasis into all d e n o m i n at i o n s , and gave birth to wh at is now known as the Holiness M ovement. Charles Fi n n ey was one of its prominent ﬁg u re s , a n d William E. Board m a n ’s The Higher Christian Life, p o s s i bly the most inﬂuential book of its kind ever wri t t e n , d ates from this peri o d.

A desire among Christians whose lives had been tra n s fo rm e d t h rough a further ex p e ri e n c e, to meet together to wa rm their hands at the We s l eyan ﬁre but without having to leave their ow n d e n o m i n at i o n s , led to the fo rm ation of a number of inter- d e n o m i n ational and more or less info rmal gro u p i n g s .

In England the most important such movement was the Ke sw i ck M ove m e n t , wh i ch derived its inspiration from Canon D. T. Hart fo rd B at t e rs by,Vicar of St Jo h n ’s Church in Ke sw i ck , who had re c e ived a n ew gift of spiritual power in 1874. This movement has continu e d ever since to stress the higher Christian life in its annual confe re n c e s at Ke sw i ck , but without We s l ey ’s strong stress on at t a i n abl e p e r fection. We l l - k n own names such as F. B. Meye r, A n d rew Murray, Hudson Tay l o r, R. A. To rrey and Alan Redpat h , a re rep re s e n t at ive of the move m e n t .

4 6 In A m e rica the rev ival of We s l ey ’s teaching led to the era of camp m e e t i n g s , when whole trains we re ch a rt e red to take people to holiness camp meetings. Spri n ging ori gi n a l ly from within Methodism this new fe at u re on the re l i gious scene soon touch e d m a ny denominations. It eve n t u a l ly led to the fo rm ation of the N ational Camp Meeting A s s o c i ation for the Promotion of Holiness. In 1867 the National A s s o c i ation for the Promotion of Holiness wa s fo rm e d, to link together believe rs in We s l ey ’s teach i n g.

‘ For many ye a rs ’ , w rites George E. Failing in Insights into H o l i n e s s, ‘the entire ly sanctiﬁed we re urged to remain in their local ch u rches to “ l e aven the lump”. Then either one of two things h ap p e n e d, or perhaps both: (1) the “ l e ave n ” was unable to perm e at e the “ l u m p ” and in some cases the “ l e ave n ” was cast out by the “lump”; (2) those who met together so often in these holiness fe l l owships came to desire constant communion with one another and mutual support. Between 1890 and 1910 most of the pre s e n t - d ay holiness denominations had their begi n n i n g s .’

The rev ival of We s l ey ’s teaching was also an important factor in the launching of the Pentecostal movement at the beginning of the 20th century—a story we shall be considering lat e r.

William and Catherine Booth

William and Cat h e rine Booth we re pers o n a l ly inﬂuenced by the rev ival of John We s l ey ’s teaching in the mid-19th century. Cat h e ri n e w rites in 1861 to her parents from Gateshead wh e re William is a minister of the Methodist New Connexion. Both of them are 32 ye a rs of age :

My soul has been mu ch called out of late on the doctrine of holiness. I feel that hitherto we have not put it in a suffi c i e n t ly deﬁnite and t a n gi ble manner befo re the people—I mean as a speciﬁc and at t a i n abl e ex p e ri e n c e. Oh, t h at I had entered into the fullness and enjoyment of it my s e l f.

Some time lat e r :

I spoke a fo rtnight since at Bethesda on holiness, and a precious time we had. William has pre a ched on it twice, and there is a glori o u s q u i ckening amongst the people.... I have mu ch to be thankful for in my d e a rest husband. The Lord has been dealing gra c i o u s ly with him fo r

4 7 some time past.... He is now on full stre t ch for holiness. You would be a m a zed at the ch a n ge in him. It would take all night to detail all.

In a letter dated 11 Fe b ru a ry 1861 she opens her heart to her p a re n t s :

My mind has been absorbed in the pursuit of holiness, wh i ch I fe e l i nvo l ves this and eve ry other bl e s s i n g.... I re s o l ved to seek till I fo u n d t h at pearl of gre at pri c e,‘the white stone wh i ch no man knoweth save him that re c e iveth it’. In reading that precious book The Higher ( C h ristian) Life, I perc e ived that I had been in some degree of error with re fe rence to the nat u re, or rather manner, of sanctiﬁc at i o n .

On Th u rs d ay and Fri d ay I was totally absorbed in the subject and laid aside almost eve rything else and spent the chief part of the day in reading and praye r, and in trying to believe for it. On Th u rs d ay aftern o o n at tea-time I was well-nigh discouraged and felt my old besetment, i rri t ability; and the devil told me I should never get it, and so I might as well give up at once. Howeve r, I knew him of old as a liar. . . .

On Fri d ay morning God gave me two precious passage s , but aga i n unbelief hindered me, although I felt as if getting gra d u a l ly neare r.

I stru ggled through the day until a little after six in the eve n i n g, wh e n William joined me in praye r. We had a blessed season. While he wa s s ay i n g, ‘ L o rd, we open our hearts to re c e ive Th e e ’ ,t h at wo rd was spoke n to my soul: ‘ B e h o l d, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear My vo i c e, and open unto Me, I will come in and sup with him.’I felt sure He had long been knock i n g, and oh, h ow I ye a rned to re c e ive Him as a p e r fect Saviour! But, o h , the inve t e rate habit of unbelief! How wo n d e r f u l t h at God should have borne so long with me.

When we got up from our knees I lay on the sofa , exhausted with the excitement and effo rt of the day. William said, ’ D o n ’t you lay all on the a l t a r ? ’ I rep l i e d, ‘I am sure I do!’Then he said, ‘And isn’t the altar holy ? ’ I replied in the language of the Holy Ghost, ‘ The altar is most holy, a n d wh at s o ever toucheth it is holy.’Then said he, ‘A re you not holy ? ’ I replied with my heart full of emotion and with some fa i t h , ‘ O h , I think I a m .’ I m m e d i at e ly the wo rd was given me to conﬁrm my fa i t h ,‘ N ow are ye clean through the wo rd wh i ch I have spoken unto you’. And I took h o l d, t ru e, with a tre m bling hand, and not unmolested by the tempter, bu t I held fast the beginning of my conﬁd e n c e, and it grew stro n ger; and f rom that moment I have dared to re ckon myself dead indeed unto sin, and alive unto God through Jesus Chri s t , my Lord. I did not feel mu ch rap t u rous joy, but perfect peace, the sweet rest wh i ch Jesus promised to the heav y - l a d e n .

Though William has not left us a corresponding re c o rd of his

4 8 own ex p e ri e n c e, a letter he wrote a month later to the President of the New Connexion includes the sentence: ‘My soul has lat e ly been b rought into a higher walk of Christian ex p e ri e n c e.’

It would have been fa s c i n ating to hear how William and C at h e rine Booth viewed the Gateshead ex p e rience in their lat e r ye a rs as they looked back on their total spiritual journ ey. Unlike We s l ey ’s A l d e rs gate ex p e rience it cannot be said that prev i o u s ly l atent re s o u rces we re sudd e n ly released within the Booths thro u g h the ex p e ri e n c e, for William had alre a dy proved his power as an eva n gelist and Cat h e rine had alre a dy launched out on her ministry. Nor can it be said, and in this way they are l i ke We s l ey, t h at the ex p e rience lifted them on to a totally new plane of Christian liv i n g, t u rning previous defe at into uninterrupted victory and prev i o u s doubt into continuous cert a i n t y. As far as one can judge by their l e t t e rs , their spiritual a p p re h e n s i o n , a lways sensitive, c o n t i nued with its inev i t able ups and downs. About two ye a rs after the Gat e s h e a d ex p e ri e n c e, in the midst of a hard and seemingly unfru i t f u l eva n gelical campaign,Wi l l i a m , in Hyde, near Manch e s t e r, w rites to his wife :

I wish I we re in a more sat i s fa c t o ry state spiri t u a l ly. I feel almost dead; powe rless. Consequently my pre a ching and praying in public has but little effect on the people. But wishing produces no improvement. O t h at God would come and give me some new light or some new powe r. Will you pray for me? I never felt less emotion and power in prayer in my life. And I am sure I don’t know wh at to do....

S h o rt ly after his spiritual ex p e rience at Gat e s h e a d,Wi l l i a m s eve red his link with the New Connexion and became an i n d ependent eva n gelist. For the next few ye a rs his thinking was to c e n t re on the doctrine of conve rs i o n , and it is not until the e s t ablishment of The Christian Mission in London that the subject of E n t i re Sanctiﬁc ation re - s u r fa c e s .

The Christian Mission

The mission wh i ch William Booth established in East London in 1865 at t racted eva n gelists and helpers from many and dive rs e t h e o l ogical back grounds. The need to establish unifo rmity of d o c t rine was soon felt. On the subject of sanctiﬁc ation this ap p e a rs to have taken some time.

4 9 The East London Christian Mission’s first doctrinal stat e m e n t was published in 1867 and consisted of seven points. No mention of holiness teaching was incl u d e d. Th ree ye a rs lat e r, in 1870, t h e d o c t rinal statement of The Christian Mission (the ch a n ged title re flecting its expansion) was revised and extended to 11 points. In this document William Booth committed the movement to the fo l l owing art i cle of faith on sanctific ation—a statement wh i ch remains The Salvation A rmy ’s official doctrine on the subject:

We believe that it is the priv i l ege of all believe rs to be wh o l ly s a n c t i ﬁe d, and that their whole spirit and soul and body may be p re s e rved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Much of the wo rding is taken from 1 Thessalonians 5:23.)

Six ye a rs lat e r, in 1876, G e o rge Railton moved at the A n nu a l C o n fe rence that the fo l l owing deﬁnition should be added to the wo rding of the doctrine so as to re m ove any ambiguity:

Th at is to say, we believe that after conve rsion there remain in the h e a rt of the believer incl i n ations to ev i l , or roots of bittern e s s , wh i ch , unless ove rp owe red by divine gra c e, p roduce actual sin; but that these evil tendencies can be entire ly taken away by the Spirit of God, and the whole heart , thus cleansed from eve rything contra ry to the will of God, or entire ly sanctiﬁe d, will then produce the fruit of the Spirit only. A n d we believe that persons thus sanctiﬁed may, by the power of God, b e kept unbl a m e able and unrep rovable befo re Him.

But even as late as 1877, B ra m well Booth re m a rks at the A n nu a l C o n fe re n c e :

This evening I have been especially rejoiced in observing in the va rious testimonies we have heard that we are at length leaving behind us the position of ap o l ogists on this gre at theme, and I think the time fo r this has fully arrive d. We have ap o l ogi zed for the doctrine of holiness of h e a rt for long enough; we have hesitat e d, I fe a r, in our utterances only too long, and I hope, n ay,I re j o i c e, in feeling assured that one gre at result of this blessed gat h e ring will be that , f rom this time, both as i n d ividuals and as a Mission, we shall openly and plainly and u n ﬂi n ch i n g ly make our glory in our God, and our boast in His perfe c t s a l vat i o n .

At this same event William Booth expounded in detail the M i s s i o n ’s stand on sanctiﬁc ation. His add ress to the 1877 C o n fe rence vies with some art i cles he wrote on the subject for Th e War Cry in 1880 as being the most important statement we have f rom William Booth on the matter of holiness, and a lengthy ex t ra c t f rom The Christian Mission Maga z i n e, 1 8 7 7 , is there fo re justiﬁe d.

5 0 It seems to me there is a large amount of uncertainty ab road amongst us on this subject. Many of our people seem to live in wh at may be called an indeﬁnite land; they are all uncertainty and fe a r. If you ask the q u e s t i o n , ‘ H ave you got a clean heart? Has the Lord made, and does He ke ep you holy ? ’ you can get no distinct answer either one way or the o t h e r.

N ow this is large ly the result of misap p rehension. People don’t know wh at is intended by a clean heart , or how it is to be go t , and how it is to be kept. Now tonight I wa n t , if possibl e, to state plainly wh at at least our v i ews are on this theme. In doing so, I may premise that I have no new t ruth to set fo rth; the doctrine is as old as the book.

Holiness to the Lord is to us a fundamental truth; it stands to the fo re f ront of our doctrines. We write it on our banners. It is in no shape or fo rm an open deb at able question as to whether God can sanctify wh o l ly, whether Jesus does save His people fro m their sins. In the estimation of the Christian Mission that is settled for eve r,and any eva n gelist who did not hold and pro claim the ability of Jesus Christ to save His people to the u t t e rmost from sin and sinning I should consider out of place amongst us.

Wh at do we understand by holiness? . . . Holiness in its bro a d s i g n i ﬁc ation means sep a ration from all unrighteousness and c o n s e c ration to God.... This delive rance can be, and in the early stages of the ex p e rience of most Christians is, o n ly partial. Th at is,while the soul is delive red from the domination and power of sin, still there are the remains of the carnal mind and roots of bitterness left in the heart , wh i ch , s p ri n ging up tro u ble the soul and often lead it into sin,and wh i ch , if not continu a l ly fought against and kept under, attain their old powe r, and bring the soul again into bondage.

N eve rt h e l e s s , in this stat e, the soul, when fa i t h f u l , has peace with G o d, the guidance of the Holy Spiri t , p ower for usefulness, and the witness of the Spiri t , wh i ch cre ates in the soul that blessed sense of a s s u rances and certainty with rega rd to salvation wh i ch together go to constitute an inwa rd heaven. All this is compat i ble with the conscious existence of sin in the soul.

But this delive rance from sin may be entire.... Sin cannot only be held in bondage but destroye d. . . .

Th e re are three broad and we l l - d e ﬁned re l ations in wh i ch a man can stand towa rds sin:

(1) He can be under sin—under its powe r. He is its slave. . . .

(2) He can be over sin. It may be that pri d e, env y , a n ge r, m a l i c e, l u s t and all or wh at s o ever other evils ruled him with a rod of iron befo re may

5 1 be there. Bruised and bro ken and faint they may be, but still they ex i s t ; but the Master has taken them from the throne of the soul and given the saint power over them. He is now no longer under sin, but under gra c e. They — t h a t is,the old habits and tempers and tendencies and i n cl i n ations—can still make their presence felt; they can whisper and s u ggest and claim and rise up, but they are no longer the masters; the Philistines are still there, the old pro p ri e t o rs of the land, but they are put under harrows and saws and instruments of iron and held in bondage. Th e soul in this state has p ower over sin. But there is another stat e, and that is:

(3) Without sin, in wh i ch the promise of the Holy Ghost in Ezekiel is f u l ﬁlled when He say s : ‘ Then I will sprinkle clean water upon yo u , a n d ye shall be clean from all your ﬁl t h i n e s s , and from all your idols will I cleanse yo u . . . .’

N ow in this ex p e rience this engagement is fulﬁl l e d, and Pa u l ’s praye r for the Th e s s a l o n i a n s , and through them for all saints, is answe re d. Th e God of peace sanctiﬁes wh o l ly, and the whole body, soul and spirit is p re s e rved bl a m e l e s s .

N ow I am free to confess that about this state there may be diffi c u l t i e s and perp l exities. I simply insist that it is described in the Bibl e, and that the descriptions of the Bible have been ve ri fied by the ex p e rience of thousands of saints. It means a clean heart , being cleansed from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spiri t — s a n c t i fied wh o l ly, being made p e r fect in eve ry good wo rk , and God wo rking in the soul all the go o d p l e a s u re of His will....

William Booth continues by stressing that this ex p e ri e n c e i m p l i e s : (1) Full delive rance from all known sin, (2) Th e c o n s e c ration of eve ry power and possession to God and His wo rk , (3) Constant and unifo rm obedience to all the re q u i rements of God. But it is not a state without imperfe c t i o n s , without temptat i o n , o r without the possibility of fa i l i n g. He then goes on to say :

N ow there is the blessing of holiness as I understand it to be taught in the Scri p t u re s , and now I am to ask you wh at you ought to do with it, a n d to this question I rep ly, get it!

After dealing with the conditions of repentance and fa i t h , h e winds up in ch a ra c t e ristic fa s h i o n :

Who is to accomplish this revolution in your soul, and ﬁnish the new c re ation alre a dy begun? Who is going to make you holy? Your new eva n ge l i s t , wh o , you have been info rm e d, e n j oys and pre a ches the blessing? This strong will of yo u rs? Th at book you are going to re a d ? No! Not these things all put together and, I will add, your fa i t h , and the

5 2 book of books into the bargain. Let me ask, who saved you? The liv i n g G o d, and He is going to sanctify you. If ever done, He will do it. He will do it all. Wh at fo l l ows? Why simply this, t h at when you have bro u g h t yo u rself to God you have nothing more to do but simply to trust Him. Roll yo u rself on His pro m i s e, p l u n ge in the fo u n t a i n , honour the Blood, but oh! do it now.

Some of you are old and grey - h e a d e d, and you have been hearing and reading and talking about this blessing a long, long time, but you are little or no fo r wa rder and,my bre t h re n , you wo n ’t be until you trust the l iving God, and then it will be done at once.... Bre t h re n , be ye holy, bu t be holy now.

Three Army holiness teachers

Ap a rt from William and Cat h e rine Booth themselve s , it is the names of George Scott Railton, B ra m well Booth and Samu e l B rengle that will for ever be associated with holiness teach i n g within the A rmy.

Railton gave the A rmy its ﬁrst full doctrinal exposition of the d o c t rine in the doctrine book wh i ch was published in 1881. Th e t re atment is in ve ry similar terms to William Booth’s 1877 speech , but with ch a ra c t e ri s t i c a l ly pungent additional comments like :

Q u e s t i o n: A re there any special fruits of sanctiﬁc ation noticed in the o ffi c e rs of The Salvation A rmy ?

A n swe r:Yes; for it is impossible to be an efficient officer without the e n j oyment of this bl e s s i n g. Almost eve ry officer has, at one time or a n o t h e r, possessed it, too; so that those who do not possess it must be in a fallen condition, and more or less wre t ched and untru e.

B ra m well Booth’s name became synonymous with The Salvat i o n A rmy ‘holiness meeting’. ‘ The ch a racter of these meetings,’ w ri t e s B eg b i e, ‘ eve n t u a l ly provo ked the ﬁe rcest at t a cks ever made upon William Booth by re l i gious people,’and he notes that the holiness meetings also caused dissension within the A rmy ’s ra n k s , and that some members left as a result. ‘ The holiness meetings we re d i s ap p roved of by those who objected to ex c i t e m e n t , and the t e a ching of holiness by others .’But the holiness meetings saw the e a rly A rmy at its most powe r f u l .

B eg b i e, in introducing re p o rts of holiness meetings from Th e

5 3 C h ristian Mission Maga z i n e, re m a rks that they ‘ a ffo rd no re a l p i c t u re of the ex t ra o rd i n a ry sights wh i ch we re witnessed, nor do t h ey give an adequate account of the effects produced upon the souls of those who took part in them’. He continu e s : ‘ B ra m well Booth tells me that , after many ye a rs of re fle c t i o n , and disposed as he now is to think that in some degree the at m o s p h e re of those meetings wa s c a l c u l ated to affect hy s t e ri c a l ly certain unbalanced or ex c i t abl e t e m p e ra m e n t s , he is neve rtheless conv i n c e d, e n t i re ly conv i n c e d, t h at something of the same fo rce wh i ch manifested itself on the day of Pentecost manifested itself at those meetings in London. He d e s c ribes how men and women would sudd e n ly fall flat upon the gro u n d, and remain in a swoon or trance for many hours , rising at last so tra n s fo rmed by joy that they could do nothing but shout and sing in an ecstasy of bliss. He tells me that beyond all question he s aw instances of lev i t ation—people lifted from their feet and m oving fo r wa rd through the air. He saw bad men and wo m e n s t ri cken sudd e n ly with an ove rm a s t e ring despair, fli n ging up their a rm s , u t t e ring the most terri ble cri e s , and falling back wa rd s , as if d e a d — s u p e rn at u ra l ly convinced of their sinful condition. The flo o r would sometimes be crowded with men and women smitten dow n by a sense of ove r whelming spiritual re a l i t y, and the wo rke rs of the Mission would lift their fallen bodies and carry them to other ro o m s , so that the meetings might continue without distraction. Doctors we re often present at these gat h e rings. Conve rsions took place in gre at nu m b e rs; the eva n gelists of the Mission derived strength and i n s p i ration for their difficult wo rk; and the opposition of the wo rl d o n ly deepened the feelings of the more enthusiastic that God wa s p owe r f u l ly wo rking in their midst.’

Something of Pentecost does indeed pervade this rep o rt of ‘A Night of Praye r ’ , in August 1878, d e s c ribed in The Chri s t i a n Mission Maga z i n e as ‘ u n d o u b t e d ly the most wonderful meeting eve r held in the history of the Mission’:

Round the table in the gre at central square Satan was fought and c o n q u e re d, as it we re, v i s i bly by scores of persons whose names and nu m b e rs no one attempted to take. Eva n gelists came there bu rdened with the consciousness of past failings and unfa i t h f u l n e s s , and we re so ﬁl l e d with the power of God that they litera l ly danced for joy. Bre t h ren and s i s t e rs who had hesitated as to yielding themselves to go fo rth any wh e re to pre a ch Je s u s , came and we re set free from eve ry doubt and fe a r, a n d nu m b e rs whose peculiar besetments and difficulties God alone can re a d, came and washed and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb.

5 4 Th at scene of wrestling prayer and triumphant fa i t h , no one who saw it can ever fo rget. We saw one collier lab o u ring with his fists upon the floor and in the air, just as he was accustomed to stru ggle with the ro ck s in his daily toil, until at length he gained the diamond he was seeking— p e r fect delive rance from the carnal mind—and rose up shouting and almost leaping for joy. Big men, as well as wo m e n , fell to the gro u n d, l ay t h e re for some time as if dead, ove r whelmed with the Power from on high. When the gladness of all God’s mighty delive rance bu rst upon s o m e, t h ey laughed as well as cried for joy,and some of the yo u n ge r eva n gelists might have been seen, l i ke lads at play, l o cked in one a n o t h e r ’s arms and rolling each other over on the flo o r.

For a number of ye a rs Bra m well Booth conducted we e k ly holiness meetings in Wh i t e ch ap e l , L o n d o n , and exe rcised a highly i n ﬂuential ministry. But as he became incre a s i n g ly absorbed with the administration of the A rmy, and especially when he became G e n e ral in 1912, it was Samuel Brengle who grasped the holiness t o rch and carried it round the wo rld to the second and third ge n e rations of salvat i o n i s t s .

B re n g l e ’s special contri bution to the pre s e n t ation of the doctri n e l ay in his strong emphasis on the positive side of the ex p e ri e n c e — the inpouring of divine love and powe r — rather than the re m oval of s i n , though this was incl u d e d. He fre q u e n t ly termed the ex p e ri e n c e the baptism with the Holy Spiri t , a fact of some signiﬁcance in an e ra when the pentecostal movement was claiming that term as its ow n , and he spoke of the baptism with the Holy Spirit and the blessing of holiness as two sides of the same coin. He discusses this point in a ch apter entitled, Is the baptism with the Holy Spirit a third bl e s s i n g ?

Th e re are four classes of teach e rs whose views appear to differ on this subject. Th e re are : (1) Those who emphasize cleansing; who say mu ch of a clean heart , but little, if any t h i n g,about the fullness of the Holy Spirit and powe r f rom on high. (2) Those who emphasize the baptism with the Holy Ghost and fullness of the Spir i t , but say little or nothing of cleansing from inbre d sin and the destruction of the carnal mind. (3) Those who say mu ch of both, but sep a rate them into two distinct ex p e ri e n c e s , often widely sep a rated in time. (4) Those who teach that the truth is in the union of the two , and that , while we may sep a rate them in their ord e r, putting cleansing ﬁrs t , we

5 5 cannot sep a rate them as to time, since it is the baptism that cl e a n s e s ,j u s t as the darkness vanishes befo re the ﬂash of the electric light....

The ﬁrst blessing in Jesus Christ is salvat i o n , with its negat ive side of remission of sins and fo rgive n e s s , and its positive side of re n ewal and rege n e ration—the new birth—one ex p e ri e n c e.

And the second blessing is entire sanctific at i o n , with its negat ive side of cl e a n s i n g, and its positive side of filling with the Holy Ghost—one wh o l e, ro u n d e d, g l o ri o u s , ep o chal ex p e ri e n c e. And while there may be m a ny re f re s h i n g s , gi rd i n g s , i l l u m i n ations and secret tokens and a s s u rances of love and favo u r, t h e re is no third blessing in the large sense in this present time.... In eternity we shall have the third bl e s s i n g — we shall be glori fie d.

C l a rence Hall’s ove rall assessment of Bre n g l e ’s holiness teach i n g completes the picture : ‘He taught that this ex p e rience of holiness— of the blessing of a Clean Heart , the A rmy ’s term for wh at is otherwise spoken of as Entire Sanctiﬁc at i o n , I n dwelling of the S p i ri t , Full A s s u rance of Fa i t h , O ve rcoming Powe r, D e ath to the S e l f L i fe, etc—comes to a person through an entire consecration of the body, mind and soul; is the point of the soul’s seve rance from sin in disposition as well as in deed; and is wrought in the believ i n g h e a rt by the Holy Spiri t , by whom the heart is cleansed of the ro o t s of sin and is made pure, and the believer thus re n d e red Chri s t l i ke, e n t i re ly Chri s t l i ke, and nothing else but Chri s t l i ke.’

The Salvation Army today

The main thrust of Salvation A rmy holiness teaching today wo u l d seem to be an emphasis on the p ro c e s s of sanctiﬁc at i o n , with the c ri s i s seen as the gat eway ex p e rience to growth in holiness. A s G e n e ral Fre d e ri ck Coutts puts it in The Call to Holiness:

. . . In penitent obedience I yield up a fo rgiven life. In faith believing I re c e ive of His Spirit. Th at is the begi n n i n g :

The begi n n i n g — but not the end. This is the commencement of the l i fe of holiness, not its crown. This is the star t , but only a start. And a s t a rt loses all meaning unless there is a continu a n c e.

The crisis must be fo l l owed by a process. In the initial act of s u rrender I re c e ive of the fullness of the Spirit according to my cap a c i t y to re c e ive.

5 6 But that capacity grows with re c e iving—as a bandsman’s facility to play grows with play i n g, or to speak with speaking or to fo l l ow his craft by p ractising it.... Th e re ’s a long, long trail a-winding between start and ﬁnish. A ny compre h e n s ive view of the doctrine of holiness must have room for both. The ex p e rience can neither be explained nor lived without c risis and pro c e s s .

The gre ater stress on the process is also illustrated by the ch a n ge s of emphasis to be observed in the succeeding editions of the offi c i a l Handbook of Doctri n e. Until 1969 the editions devoted about 7,000 wo rds to the crisis ex p e rience and only about 200 to the process. But in the handbook published in 1969 a diffe rent pat t e rn emerges. Th e ch apter heading ch a n ges from E n t i re Sanctiﬁc at i o n to simply S a n c t i ﬁc at i o n, and the pro p o rtion of wo rds dealing with the cri s i s and the process are reve rs e d. The crisis is again seen as the b egi n n i n g, not the culmination of the pro c e s s :

The ex p e rience of holiness invo l ves both a crisis and a pro c e s s — t h e initial dedication when the commitment is made,and the process or subsequent action by wh i ch the implications of this commitment are wo rked out in eve ry dep a rtment of life.

Th e re is a gre at deal to be said for this emphasis on the pro c e s s . H o l i n e s s , after all, ought not to be so mu ch the pursuit of a p a rticular re l i gious ex p e ri e n c e, as the day to day, indeed moment by moment ex p e rience of seeking to live, by the grace of God, a n eve rm o re Chri s t l i ke life in a sinful wo rl d. And without losing its d i s t i n c t ive stress on a crisis subsequent to conve rs i o n , t h e i n c reased attention paid to the process has also brought Th e S a l vation A rmy ’s holiness teaching closer to the mainstream of C h ristian thinking, wh i ch William Sangster describes as fo l l ows in The Pure in Heart:

R e c ognizing the truth in We s l ey ’s teaching of sudden moments of vision and special occasions of divine re c ep t iv i t y, t h ey recoil from any s t ress on ‘ s e c o n d ’ wo rks of grace if only because life has brought them m a ny moments of vision and re c ep t iv i t y, and they could not select just o n e ex p e rience (subsequent to conve rsion) wh i ch is to remain fo reve r u n i q u e.

God is constantly at wo rk in the soul,’ t h ey arg u e. Th e re are times of s p i ritual crisis in the minds of all aspiring pilgri m s , but the fa l l ow p e riods are important too. If one ke eps open to the grace of God, t h e grace comes in, and the Holy Spirit fashions the Divine Son in the soul of His consenting serva n t .

5 7 Th ey see it all as a steady advance in holiness. Swifter at one time than at others , the wo rk steadily advances. A nyone who can tell us how better to wo rk with God must be heard—and heard with eage rn e s s — bu t holiness they feel is given to no man in an instant of time, if only because God ever deals with us as persons and not by ‘ s t ro kes of o m n i p o t e n c e ’ .

But whether the interp re t ation of the crisis as simply the gat eway to the mountain trail of holiness f u l ly accounts for the kind of ex p e rience that Samuel Brengle knew on 9 Ja nu a ry 1885 needs c o n s i d e ration. Moving the state of being perfect befo re God into the f u t u re as an ideal always beckoning us on, is a positive step. We are able to share Pa u l ’s sentiments: ‘It is not to be thought that I have a l re a dy ach i eved all this. I have not yet re a ched perfe c t i o n , but I p ress on, hoping to take hold of that for wh i ch Christ once took hold of me’(Philippians 3:12). But on the other hand we must also guard against the error of minimising the ep o chal nat u re and tra n s fo rm i n g p ower of a crisis ex p e rience such as Brengle ex p e ri e n c e d.

Though the scri p t u ral grounds for postulating a crisis point subsequent to conve rsion wh i ch initiates the process of s a n c t i ﬁc ation may not be ove rt ly ev i d e n t , t h e re is no doubt that the l ives of countless Christians have been totally tra n s fo rmed by a moment of visitation that does remain fo rever unique for them.

We must now see wh at further light the next major doctri n a l s t ru c t u re to be studied can throw on these moments of fe e l i n g, p e rc eption and re c ep t i o n , wh i ch leave the soul re n ewe d.

5 8 5 Spiritual breakthrough: baptism in the Holy Spirit?

BRENGLE often spoke of his ex p e rience as his baptism in the Holy S p i rit. He saw it as the positive side of a two-sided ex p e ri e n c e. God had cleansed and God had ﬁlled him. The blessings of sanctiﬁc at i o n and baptism in the Holy Spirit we re one and the same thing to him. But the phra s e, b aptism in the Holy Spiri t , has been used to convey m a ny meanings in its day, and in view of its curre n cy in the pre s e n t t i m e, we must inquire furt h e r.

The term baptism in the Holy Spirit was fre q u e n t ly used in the e a rly Salvation A rmy. A visitor to Manchester in 1880 comments: ‘ From the large posters in the city I discove red that a baptism of ﬁre was to be the object of the morn i n g ’s mu s t e rings of the ze a l o u s s a l vat i o n i s t s .’For a time, j u d ging by announcements in The Wa r C ry, ‘ b aptism of ﬁre ’ was the accepted name for the Sunday m o rning meeting.

‘ We are met this morning for a baptism of ﬁre. We want this b aptism of the Holy Ghost,’ s ays William Booth to 1,500 people gat h e red in Spitalﬁelds in 1880. And at Fa l m o u t h : ‘Some of yo u h e re have had a baptism of wat e r, n ow you are going to have a b aptism of the Holy Ghost!’

R ep o rts like the fo l l owing abound in The War Cry:

After we had had a few testimonies the glory came in a marve l l o u s m a n n e r. Talk about a baptism of fire like they had at Pe n t e c o s t , we we re all filled and flooded and some ove r whelmed with the divine pre s e n c e. And then the Captain and the Lieutenant lay on the flo o r, both we re fil l e d u nu t t e rably full of glory and of God. All of us got such a baptism we had not had for a long time.

Some ye a rs prev i o u s ly William Booth had penned a letter to the m i s s i o n e rs at Dunedin Hall, E d i n bu rg h , in wh i ch he ex p ressed his thinking on the bap t i s m : ‘Success in soul-winning wo rk depends on

5 9 c e rtain conditions. Fi rst and fo re m o s t , the Pentecostal baptism of the H o ly Ghost. Spiritual wo rk can only be done by those who possess s p i ritual powe r. No men could do the wo rks that are being done in your midst, ex c ept God was with them. But how mu ch more might be done had you all re c e ived this Pentecostal baptism in a l l i t s f u l l n e s s .’

Fo rty ye a rs later William Booth would have found it difficult to ex p ress himself in the same terms without being misunders t o o d, fo r by then the phrase ‘ b aptism in the Spiri t ’ would have become a s s o c i ated with a highly distinctive, ri gid and controve rsial doctri n a l s t ru c t u re. But when William Booth wrote his letter, the term was in the main used to convey the idea of an inﬁlling or enduement of s p i ritual power wh i ch could be rep e ated many times in the life of a b e l i eve r. It was the kind of ex p e rience one could pray for and ex p e c t eve ry Sunday morning in the prayer meeting. ‘ S p i rit of the liv i n g G o d, fall afresh on me!’It was a b aptism with the Spiri t , rather than t h e B aptism with the Holy Spirit—with deﬁnite art i cle and cap i t a l B. ‘All of us got such a baptism we had not had for a long time!’

The phrase had also become incre a s i n g ly used in the late 19th c e n t u ry in connection with teaching on entire sanctiﬁc at i o n , and wa s sometimes used in this sense in A rmy publ i c ations. But in the main it was used in the ge n e ral sense described ab ove.

S a l vationist writings of the era do not offer a detailed ex p o s i t i o n of the baptism of the Spirit in this ge n e ral sense. In this the early A rmy ap p e a rs to have fo l l owed Charles Fi n n ey. Th e re is a stro n g emphasis on the need for pentecostal power but no attempt to bu i l d up a doctrinal stru c t u re as, for ex a m p l e, with the doctrine of holiness. The ﬁrst Salvation A rmy doctrine book issued in 1881 d evotes considerable space to holiness teaching but there is no mention of baptism in the Spirit. The term was no doubt felt to be s e l f - ex p l a n at o ry.

But the dawn of the 20th century was to ch a n ge that , and to turn the phrase into one bristling with diffi c u l t i e s .

It all began at 7 pm on 31 December 1900. The 40 students at a B i ble college in To p e k a , K a n s a s , had come to the conclusion that the b i blical evidence of baptism in the Spirit was speaking in tongues, and they we re now praying for the ex p e ri e n c e. When the

6 0 p rincipal of the college, the methodist eva n gelist Charles Pa r h a m , was persuaded to lay hands on one of the students, ‘a glory fell upon h e r, a halo seemed to surround her head and fa c e ’ and she began to speak in tongues.

But it was not until 1906 that the full impact of this event bega n to be felt. An ordained Negro minister, W. J. Sey m o u r, who had been i n ﬂuenced by the teaching emanating from To p e k a , found the doors of a Negro ch u rch closed to him in Los A n geles. He moved into an old live ry stable in Azusa Street and began to hold services. Within a s h o rt time a rev ival began wh i ch was to last three ye a rs and wh i ch at t racted people from all over the wo rl d. And the result? ‘At the turn of the century ’ , w rites David du Plessis, ‘ t h e re was no Pe n t e c o s t a l M ovement. To d ay it consists of a community of more than ten million souls that can be found in almost eve ry country under the s u n .’

The pentecostal thrust in the 20th century is a re m a rk able ch ap t e r of Church history and continues with considerable vigour in many p a rts of the wo rl d. It has been part i c u l a rly powerful in Scandinav i a and in North and South A m e ri c a .

It is instru c t ive to learn , h oweve r, t h at some of the older pentecostal groups are facing the same pro blems that seem eve n t u a l ly to beset all ch u rches born through rev ival. It ap p e a rs , fo r ex a m p l e, t h at conve rsions are no longer so marke d. ‘ The older pentecostal ch u rches know that the ex p e rience of conve rsion wa s m o re dra m atic in the early day s ,’comments Walter J. Hollenwege r in his monumental The Pe n t e c o s t a l s, and quotes J. E. Campbell: ‘To d a y even pentecostals, and especially their ch i l d re n , b e c o m e C h ristians in a milder manner, without being able to point to a d e ﬁnite emotional crisis taking place at a deﬁnite time. Some of the ve ry best saints of the ch u rch bear testimony to this type of c o nve rsion ex p e ri e n c e, wh i ch results from a lengthy period of C h ristian tra i n i n g.’

S u rp ri s i n g ly, it ap p e a rs that not even the crucial ex p e rience wh i ch is the touchstone of pentecostalism is shared by all in the older ch u rches. ‘In the older pentecostal denominat i o n s ’ , c o n t i nu e s H o l l e n wege r, ‘the majority of members have not re c e ived the b aptism of the Spiri t ,’and quotes this incisive comment: ‘ O n e cannot help but observe that the fe rvour of the holiness and pentecostal movements cooled as the social and economic status of the participants improve d.’

6 1 From the beginning of the 20th century the term ‘ b aptism in the S p i ri t ’ became the distinctive ‘ t ra d e - m a rk ’ of pentecostalism and because of the ri gid doctrinal stru c t u re wh i ch was erected around it and its frequent association with tongue speaking the term wa s avoided by other ch u rches for fear of misunders t a n d i n g. Th e re are c o n s i d e rable diffe rences in the way that the va rious denominat i o n s within pentecostalism understand and use this term. It is the emphasis on the ex p e ri e n c e rather than its doctrinal interp re t at i o n t h at unites them. But in view of the fact that the ex p e ri e n c e i s c u rre n t ly ove r ﬂowing into non-pentecostal denominat i o n s , and with it mu ch of the pentecostal interp re t at i o n , it is important that we look m o re cl o s e ly at the mainstream of pentecostal thinking on the s u b j e c t .

Baptism in the Spirit

The distinctive teaching of pentecostalism is the emphasis on a second crisis ex p e rience subsequent to conve rsion wh i ch is called the baptism in the Spirit. This ex p e rience is seen as giving power fo r witness and releasing the gifts of the Spirit within the pers o n a l i t y and increasing the fruit of the Spirit. Speaking in tongues is c o n s i d e red by most pentecostals to be the necessary sign that the blessing has been re c e ive d.

As will be observe d, this is also a theology of subsequence. Th e re is something more to be at t a i n e d, something more to be re c e ived in the life of the believer fo l l owing conve rsion. Th e re are shades of We s l eyanism here. Indeed, ‘the Pentecostal child was brought up in the nu rs e ry of the Holiness Move m e n t ’ , comments Michael Harp e r in As at the Begi n n i n g, ‘ f rom wh i ch it acquired so mu ch of its t e a ching—and also, s t ra n ge ly enough, a gre at deal of its p e rsecution. Methodism . . . had always taught both the decisive n e s s of the conve rsion ex p e rience and also of a further ex p e ri e n c e, va ri o u s ly called “ E n t i re Sanctiﬁc at i o n ” , “ H o l i n e s s ” , “ Pe r fect Love ” , “the Second Blessing” and later “the Baptism in the Spirit”. It wa s l a rge ly from this ro ck that the Pentecostal stone was hew n .’

At the first the pentecostal ch u rches added the baptism in the S p i rit as a t h i rd blessing to the We s l eyan two - s t age pat t e rn of c o nve rsion and entire sanctific ation. But soon the majority of pentecostal ch u rches adopted a new two - s t age pat t e rn — c o nve rs i o n fo l l owed by the baptism in the Spiri t , with sanctific ation under-

6 2 stood as a process commencing at conve rsion. Th e re is still some d ive rgence of opinion on this point among pentecostal ch u rch e s .

The doctrine of the baptism in the Spirit does not raise the same kind of difficulties we noted when studying We s l ey ’s concept of s a n c t i ﬁc ation as ori gi n a l ly pre s e n t e d, for the emphasis is entire ly on the positive aspects. Th e re is no mention of sinlessness, o r p e r fection; it is a gift of God wh i ch releases fullness of love and fullness of powe r. The difficulties are therefo r e less ev i d e n t , t h o u g h this does not mean that the doctrine is without its pro blems for the N ew Testament student.

But the additional teach i n g, t h at the initial evidence of the b aptism in the Spirit is speaking in tongues, is full of diffi c u l t i e s . E ven a number of the pentecostal denominations have now abandoned this particular stand, and instead teach that any of the s u p e rn at u ral gifts of the Spirit is sufficient ev i d e n c e. But this linking of a particular crisis ex p e ri e n c e, the baptism of the Spiri t , with the gift of tongues, has given the phenomenon of speaking in tongues a p rominence in this century wh i ch it has never had befo re.

It needs to be said quite deﬁn i t e ly that wh at ever other merits the d o c t rine of baptism in the Spirit might have, and wh at ever the view s we might hold on tongue speaking, the case for linking the two and making the gift of tongues the necessary evidence for the bap t i s m has virt u a l ly no scri p t u ral basis. It rests almost entire ly on the fa c t t h at in three instances quoted in the book of Acts—the ap o s t l e s ( 2 : 4 ) , C o rnelius (10:46) and a number of conve rts in Ephesus (19:6)—the gift of tongues accompanied the re c e iving of the Spiri t . Some feel that it can also be infe rred from the happenings in S a m a ria (Acts 8:17), but those instances rep resent the total New Testament support for this teach i n g. A gainst that must be placed the fact that the Bible nowh e re ex p l i c i t ly makes this link-up and that when Paul deals with the subject of spiritual gifts in ge n e ral and the gift of tongues in particular he cl e a rly expects a negat ive answer to his question, ‘Do all speak with tongues?’(1 Corinthians 12:30).

The pentecostal movement lays gre at emphasis on all the gifts of the Spirit listed in the New Te s t a m e n t , and stresses that these gi f t s we re not intentionally withdrawn by God from the Early Church , a s is sometimes arg u e d, but we re lost through faithlessness and i g n o ra n c e, and that today we are regaining wh at should always have been there. The Church as a whole owes a gre at debt to pente-

6 3 costalism for highlighting this neglected dimension of Chri s t i a n i t y.

But we must now examine the doctrine of the baptism in the S p i rit as a second ex p e rience more cl o s e ly.

The scri p t u ral fo u n d ations on wh i ch this doctrine rests are d i ffe rent from those on wh i ch the teaching of entire sanctiﬁc at i o n a re built. This is an important point. From the angle of scri p t u ra l s u p p o rt , the ‘ ex p e ri e n c e s ’a re not just two sides of the same coin. The scri p t u ral backing for We s l ey ’s ori ginal concept is built up fro m a series of Scri p t u re texts dealing with cleansing from sin, putting on the new man, and concepts of holiness and perfection. Though the p o s i t ive element is also there, for ex a m p l e, as in the text ‘ p e r fe c t l ove casteth out fe a r ’ (1 John 4:18)—and the positive element in the fo rm of the indwelling Holy Spirit has re c e ived increasing at t e n t i o n in the holiness movement—the basic idea, h owever modiﬁe d, remains that of cl e a n s i n g.

When we come to look at the scri p t u ral backing for the pentecostal doctrine we ﬁnd ours e l ves moving into entire ly diffe re n t a reas of the Bibl e. ‘ Pentecostalism is built fo u r- s q u a re on A c t s ,’ w rites James G. Dunn in his important study, B aptism in the Holy S p i ri t. ‘So far as its doctrine of Spiri t - b aptism is concerned Pa u l need not have written any t h i n g.’

The scri p t u ral support does not consist of a series of proof tex t s as used by We s l ey, but is rather a matter of drawing out meaning f rom the re c o rded ex p e riences of certain of the early Christians. To pentecostal eyes these biographies show that God perfo rms his wo rk of grace within us in two distinct stage s .

Th e re are four main passages. The ﬁrs t , the mira cle of Pe n t e c o s t itself (Acts 2). J. G. Dunn summarises the line take n : ‘ Pe n t e c o s t a l s a rgue that those who we re bap t i zed in the Spirit on the day of Pentecost we re alre a dy “ s ave d ” and “ rege n e rate”. Their re c eption of the Spirit on that day was not their conve rsion; it was not the b eginning of their Christian life. In other wo rd s , Pentecost was a second ex p e rience subsequent to and distinct from their earlier “ n ew b i rth”. As such it gives the pat t e rn for all Christian ex p e ri e n c e t h e re a f t e r.’

Not eve ryone would agree with the assumptions made and the c o n clusions re a ch e d. The day of Pentecost was a unique event and

6 4 the disciples we re in a unique situation. Th ey we re ex p e riencing the d awn of a new era , something that could not be rep e ated in the ex p e rience of other believe rs. It is there fo re difficult to rest too mu ch weight on this instance. It is interesting to note also that lat e r on the apostles seem to have looked back to Pentecost as their ow n i n i t i at i o n to fa i t h , rather than as a further ex p e ri e n c e. Wh e n rep o rting to the Church at Je rusalem about the conve rsion of C o rnelius and his household, Peter uses a signiﬁcant choice of wo rd s : ‘ The Holy Spirit came upon them, just as upon us at the b egi n n i n g’ , and ‘God gave them no less a gift than he gave us wh e n we put our trust in the Lord Jesus Chri s t’(Acts 11:15, 1 7 ) .

The second instance is one of the most intriguing pro blems in the N ew Testament. Wh at happened in Samaria? We read in Acts 8 that Philip pre a ched in Samaria and that when the people ‘came to b e l i eve Philip with his good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Chri s t , t h ey we re bap t i ze d, men and women alike ’ ( ve rse 12). Th at is stra i g h t fo r wa rd. A few ve rses later comes the c o nu n d rum. ‘ The apostles . . . sent off Peter and Jo h n , who we n t d own there and prayed for the conve rt s , asking that they might re c e ive the Holy Spirit. For until then the Spirit had not come upon a ny of them. Th ey had been bap t i zed into the name of the Lord Je s u s , t h at and nothing more. So Peter and John laid their hands on them and they re c e ived the Holy Spiri t ’( ve rses 15-17).

Those that hold that Spirit baptism is a deﬁnite second wo rk lay gre at stress on this passage. To them it is concl u s ive proof that this is the way God has arra n ged mat t e rs. The passage is cert a i n ly i n t riguing and raises a number of questions, wh i ch may never be a d e q u at e ly answe re d. But it must be pointed out that the passage is a d o u bl e - e d ged swo rd. Pentecostalism sees it as a supreme proof that the re c eption of the Spirit is a second wo rk. But those who disagre e rest almost as mu ch weight on the same text to prove the opposite c a s e. The whole point of the passage, t h ey arg u e, is that eve ryo n e was surp rised by the fact that the Holy Spirit had not come to the b e l i eve rs when they we re bap t i s e d. It is because the case wa s u nusual and unex p e c t e d, and there fo re perp l ex i n g, t h at Peter and John had to be sent to inve s t i gate and the matter came to be mentioned in A c t s .

The third instance is the story of Pa u l ’s conve rsion as re c o rded in Acts 9. Paul was conve rted on the road to Damascus, goes the a rg u m e n t , but it was not until three days later that he was baptised in the Spirit. A ga i n , the interp re t ation depends on how one view s

6 5 the events of those days. Those that start from the pentecostal p remise are like ly to see two distinct ex p e ri e n c e s — c o nve rsion and S p i rit bap t i s m — while those who are not looking for second ex p e riences will pro b ably view the events of the three days as part of the same, single ex p e ri e n c e, a spiritual crisis wh i ch lasted thre e d ay s .

The fo u rth narrat ive instance wh i ch is seen as supporting Spiri t b aptism as a second ex p e rience is the case of the 12 Ephesians. When Paul re a ched Ephesus he found a number of conve rts to wh o m he said, ‘“Did you re c e ive the Holy Spirit when you became b e l i eve rs ? ” “ N o ,” t h ey rep l i e d, “ we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spiri t .” He said, “ Then wh at baptism we re you give n ? ” “ Jo h n ’s bap t i s m ,” t h ey answe re d. Paul then said, “ The baptism that John gave was a baptism in token of rep e n t a n c e, and he told the people to put their trust in one who was to come after him, t h at is, Je s u s .” On hearing this they we re bap t i zed into the name of the Lord Jesus; and when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spiri t came upon them and they spoke in tongues of ecstasy and p ro p h e s i e d ’ (Acts 19:2-6).

Pa u l ’s initial question carries an additional punch in the Au t h o ri zed Ve rs i o n wh e re, t h rough a mistra n s l at i o n , it is re n d e re d : ‘ H ave ye re c e ived the Holy Ghost s i n c e ye believe d ? ’

The pentecostal interp re t ation of this passage stresses that the ‘ c o nve rt s ’ we re Christians alre a dy, and there fo re the implication of Pa u l ’s question is that one can be a Christian and not have re c e ive d the Spirit. This is cert a i n ly one interp re t at i o n , but others wo u l d a rgue that by their replies the men revealed their ignorance of the h e a rt of the Christian faith. Th ey we re possibly fo l l owe rs of John the B aptist or ‘ s u p p o rt e rs ’ of the Church. But what e ver they we re, Pa u l seems to tre at them as n o n - C h ri s t i a n s in that he ﬁrst bap t i zes them into the name of the Lord Jesus befo re laying hands on them.

These four instances rep resent the ke rnel of the pentecostal a rgument for Spirit baptism as a second ex p e ri e n c e. A gainst this must be set the many other instances of conve rsion mentioned or implied in Acts in wh i ch the matter of subsequent Spirit bap t i s m does not appear to ari s e, and the fact that nowh e re in the Scri p t u re s does it ex p re s s ly say or even hint that the re c eption of the Spirit is a second ex p e ri e n c e. On the contra ry, the re c eption of the Spirit is often ex p re s s ly linked with conve rsion itself, as in Romans 8:9: ‘If a man does not possess the Spirit of Chri s t , he is no Chri s t i a n .’

6 6 And in the one remaining description in Acts of the Spirit being re c e ive d, the conve rsion of Cornelius and his household (Acts 10), the pentecostal case is in difficulty from the start , and the support e r of two - s t age ex p e rience has to fall back on such arguments as ( a ) C o rnelius was in fact conve rted befo re Peter pre a ched to him, or ( b ) he got conve rted in the course of Pe t e r ’s serm o n , or ( c ) c o nve rs i o n and Spirit baptism did happen simu l t a n e o u s ly here but are n eve rtheless distinct acts of God.

But wh at about ex p e rience? If the scri p t u ral case is not strong fo r the theology of subsequence we have studied, it could be arg u e d : does not the fact that many Christians have ex p e rienced such a b ap t i s m , as a second ex p e rience fo l l owing conve rs i o n , p rove that the t e a ching is true? It is cert a i n ly a most important factor that cannot be dismissed lightly, but doctrinal pat t e rns cannot be infe rred fro m ex p e rience alone. The teaching of a further ex p e rience has led many b e l i eve rs to seek and to pray for a divine inﬁlling —and it has come. Th at they have labelled the ex p e rience their ‘ b aptism in the Spiri t ’ and thought of it as a necessary second ex p e rience has not affe c t e d the ex p e rience itself or its value for the ex p e ri e n c e r. But if that same ex p l a n ation becomes a stumbling bl o ck to a fe l l ow believer wh o longs for a similar happening in his own life but cannot accept the d o c t rinal stru c t u re wh i ch surrounds it, then we have a duty to seek for the best possible ex p l a n ation of these moments of div i n e b re a k t h ro u g h , so that no one will be put off from seeking the ke rn e l by the unat t ra c t iveness of the shell.

Holy Spirit renewal

The early pentecostal movement met with a gre at deal of opposition from the established ch u rch e s , and this made it turn in on itself with the result that the Christian wo rld was only dimly awa re of the rev ival wh i ch was taking place on a wo rld scale. But in the 1950s their wo rld secre t a ry, D avid du Plessis, felt led to make an ap p ro a ch to the leaders of the Wo rld Council of Churches. He wa s agre e ably surp rised by the wa rmth of his re c eption and the ge nuineness of the interest shown. The initial encounter led to i nv i t ations for himself and his colleagues to add ress ecumenical c o n fe re n c e s , and though David du Plessis could not have known it at the time, those early tri ckles of sharing and discove ry we re to lead to a vast ove r ﬂowing of pentecostal ex p e rience into most other d e n o m i n ations in later ye a rs .

6 7 It happened to diffe rent people in diffe rent places and so quietly t h at no one was awa re that a new wo rk of God was taking place, until the summer of 1960. On Passion Sunday that ye a r, the Rev Dennis Bennett, of St Mark ’s Episcopal Church in Van Nuys, C a l i fo rn i a , told the congregation that he had been ﬁlled with the H o ly Spirit and had spoken in tongues. ‘ Th at serv i c e ’ , w ri t e s M i chael Harp e r, ‘set off an eart h q u a ke whose tre m o rs we re picke d up on ecclesiastical seismographs all over the wo rl d.’C h u rch m e m b e rs took sides on the issue, tension grew, and by June the s i t u ation was suffi c i e n t ly new swo rt hy for both Ti m e m agazine and N ew swe e k to write it up. The publ i c ation of the story ‘ b rought into the open a movement wh i ch had been gat h e ring momentum for at least four ye a rs ’ , c o n t i nues Michael Harp e r. ‘It gave many lay people courage to come out into the open and decl a re wh at God had been doing in their live s .’

If the beginnings of the so-called Holy Spirit rev ival or ch a ri s m atic movement can be dat e d, then it dates from that summer of 1960. Since that time this re n ewa l , c e n t red on pers o n a l ex p e rience of the Holy Spiri t , has grown and cro s s e d d e n o m i n ational boundaries in a notable way, with the result that t o d ay there is no major denomination wh i ch it has not touch e d.

In growing nu m b e rs Christians all over the wo rld have entere d into a new spiritual dimension through a spiritual bre a k t h ro u g h ex p e rience and have found not only a new, vital reality in their ow n s p i ritual life, but have found themselves becoming effe c t ive in G o d ’s service through the release of spiritual re s o u rces within them.

The va rious denominations have on the whole responded with gre at mat u rity to this upsurge of new spiritual life in their midst, a n d h ave sought to make room for and welcome the new emphasis into the hallowed shrines of their own traditions without allowing these to be swamped in the process. And this applies not only to pro t e s t a n t ch u rch e s , for the Roman Catholic Church has been notably wa rm t owa rds the Holy Spirit re n ewa l , the National Confe rence of C atholic Bishops in the USA asserting as early as in 1969 that : ( 1 ) the movement ap p e a red to be theologi c a l ly sound; (2) there we re d a n ge rs invo l ved in it; (3) but they wished that more priests wo u l d get invo l ved in it. When Pope Paul add ressed a congress of Roman c atholic ‘ p e n t e c o s t a l s ’ in Rome and joined them in wo rs h i p , t h e u l t i m ate seal of ap p roval was give n .

6 8 In some congregat i o n s , h oweve r, the upsurge of new spiri t u a l e n e rgy has led to friction. Some degree of tension is perhap s u n avo i d abl e, but regre t t ably not all who have re c e ived a new touch of spiritual power have been as wise as they might. Insuffi c i e n t a l l owance has sometimes been made for the nat u ral and ve ry u n d e rs t a n d able hesitations of other members of the congregat i o n , and for the fact that the Holy Spirit wo rks in diffe rent ways in d i ffe rent people. In some cases there has been a dep l o rable tendency to look down on those who have not shared a similar ex p e rience as s o m e h ow spiri t u a l ly infe ri o r. It has not always been ap p re c i ated by those full of excitement because their spiritual eyes have been opened that one reason for the seeming lack of excitement in others could be that they have been able to see for many ye a rs !

Not all have been able to diffe re n t i ate between the vital and the p e ri p h e ral in their ex p e ri e n c e, and attempts at wh o l e s a l e i n t roduction of pentecostal customs, t e rm i n o l ogy, wo rs h i p , ge s t u re s , mu s i c, t h e o l ogy and traditions as a necessary part of spiri t u a l re n ewal have met with we l l - d e s e rved re s i s t a n c e. This tendency to i m i t ate all things pentecostal was mu ch in evidence in the early day s of the Holy Spirit re n ewa l , but today there is a gre ater awa re n e s s t h at the Spirit is able to wo rk through any of the traditional fo rms of wo rship in the va rious ch u rches. The Holy Spirit re n ewal has also s u ffe red its quota of individuals whose claims to spiritual fullness h ave not been mat ched by their conduct, and the claims of some to be ‘ S p i rit led’when it has seemed more a matter of blaming their own inconsistencies on the Holy Spirit has also led to the re n ewa l being criticised as a wh o l e.

But despite these pro blems there has been a widespre a d re c ognition that no rev ival is ever bl e m i s h - f re e, and that at no time has the wo rk of God been rev ived without it producing re s i s t a n c e. As someone has put it, the spiritual temperat u re of the ave rage ch u rch is so low that when someone comes along whose temperat u re is normal he gets accused of having a fever! Apat h y never take s k i n d ly to enthusiasm. It has also been widely re c ognised that ex cl u s ive attention to the minus fa c t o rs of a rev ival whilst ignori n g the far gre ater plus fa c t o rs puts us in danger of falling into the trap wh i ch Gamaliel wa rned ab o u t : ‘ you risk ﬁnding yo u rs e l ves at wa r with God’(Acts 5:39).

The too-eager taking over of eve rything pentecostal in the early d ays of the Holy Spirit re n ewal was part i c u l a rly acute in the re a l m

6 9 of theology. Not only was it the pentecostal ex p e rience wh i ch wa s c rossing denominational boundari e s , it was the pentecostal i n t e rp re t ation as we l l , d own to the last detail. In the 1960s Chri s t i a n s f rom denominations with no previous ‘second bl e s s i n g ’ links we re f re e ly at t ri buting their new spiritual release to the baptism in the S p i rit as a necessary second ex p e ri e n c e, evidenced by speaking in tongues. But mu ch has happened since then.

The theologians of the major ch u rches have been fo rced by events to re-think their teaching on the indwelling of the Holy Spiri t . D i s s at i s ﬁed with the pentecostal theology of subsequence, t h ey have had to re t u rn to the New Testament to discover how best to account for these ex p e riences. A number of denominations have set up d o c t rinal commissions, with fruitful re s u l t s , and many indiv i d u a l t h e o l ogians and wri t e rs from right across the theological and d e n o m i n ational spectrum have produced exciting wo rk in a ve ry s h o rt time.

The question of speaking in tongues has also been re a s s e s s e d. In the early ye a rs of the re n ewal the gift of tongues was fre q u e n t ly rega rded as the necessary evidential sign of spiritual re n ewal. But this stress has faded a gre at deal, p a rt ly because it has become i n c re a s i n g ly accepted that this teaching lacks scri p t u ral support , a n d p a rt ly because of the simple fact that countless Christians are ﬁnding release of the Spirit in their lives without speaking in tongues. The link wh i ch should never have been made in the ﬁrs t p l a c e, the link wh i ch sought to bind spiritual fullness with the gift of t o n g u e s , is now effe c t ive ly being bro ken. The point needs to be s t re s s e d. It is perfe c t ly possible to be ‘ b aptised in the Spiri t ’w i t h o u t speaking in tongues.

The Salvation Army and the Holy Spirit

The Salvation A rmy was born of a Holy Spirit rev ival. The rap i d expansion in the late 1880s was the result of a mighty outpouring of pentecostal powe r. It was little wonder that blood and ﬁre b e c a m e the motto of the young movement. Pentecostal scenes like the fo l l owing wh i ch Bra m well Booth describes we re the order of the d ay. He tells of a night of prayer in Stockton in 1878:

Then we went to praye r, and oh, s u ch pray i n g, s u ch desperat e d e t e rmined calling upon Jesus to manifest His almighty, s a n c t i f y i n g

7 0 p owe r. It was answere d . Fi rst one and then another began to pra i s e G o d — b egan to shout, or laugh, or cry.

After re f re s h m e n t , we resumed at 1.45. During the singing of the ch o rus ‘ Washed in blood and ﬁlled with glory ’ ,s eve ra l , both men and wo m e n , fell to the gro u n d, ove rcome with the power of the Holy Ghost. Then we had testimony and ex h o rt ation. Eve ryone knelt. Heaven drew near to earth. The glory of God ﬁlled the Old Th e at re, S t o ck t o n ,a n d m a ny in our company fell on their faces. Others looked on and shouted, or cried or laughed. No one seemed to be leading in prayer and yet all seemed to be pray i n g. We saw, we heard, we felt things unlawful to be u t t e re d. ‘ S t ay Thy hand, s t ay Thy hand,’we heard a brother near ex claim; while another, d own whose face tears of joy fo l l owed one a n o t h e r, was shouting: ‘ L o rd, e n l a rge — g l o ry, g l o ry—the vessel. Lord, g l o ry, g l o ry ! — e n l a rge — g l o ry!—the ve s s e l .’We think the Lord did it. I t ’s never well to ask Him to stay His hand. Many bu rst out praising God for full delive ra n c e, and oh, the scene of bew i l d e ring and enthra l l i n g rejoicing surpassed any description. Some we re greeting one another with the holy kiss. Some wept in one another’s arms. Some sat and some s t o o d, and some seemed as if they we re on the ve rge of an ascending cl o u d.

Th e re was a delightful openness and re s p o n s iveness in the early A rmy to the wo rk of the Spirit. Instances of spiritual healing we re nu m e rous. In looking back on this peri o d, B ra m well Booth wri t e s about ‘ well authenticated instances of Divine healing’in E choes and M e m o ri e s:

The A rmy has ever had in its ranks in va rious parts of the wo rld a number of people unquestionably possessed of some kind of gift of h e a l i n g. If ex t ravagances have gat h e red round the subject in some q u a rt e rs , t h ey ought not to be permitted to obscure the central fa c t , wh i ch is that the healing of the sick by special immediate Divine interp o s i t i o n , in answer to prayer and fa i t h , has undoubtedly occurre d. Sure ly there is nothing surp rising in this. On the contra ry, it would have been surp ri s i n g had it been otherwise. For we have not mere ly re c og n i zed that the healing of the sick by the power of God has from the beginning been a s s o c i ated with the office of pro p h e t s , p ri e s t s , t e a ch e rs and ap o s t l e s , bu t it has always seemed to us in perfect harm o ny with the views and ex p e rience of the A rmy itself that God should heal the sick after this fashion. Not only has nothing to the contra ry ever been taught amongst u s , but far and near we have insisted upon the fact that God does raise up the sick in answer to our praye rs; and nu m e rous instances of this healing m i n i s t ry have occurred throughout our history.

Instances of speaking in tongues wer e rar e among the early sa l v ati o n i s t s , and there is little mention of the subject. Bram w ell Booth

7 1 c o m m e n t s : ‘Although some of our own people have re c e ived wh at is s p o ken of as a gift of tongues, we have almost inva ri ably found that one of the consequences has been a disposition to withdraw fro m h a rd wo rk for the blessing of others and from fe a rless testimony to the Sav i o u r.’

Pe r h aps the gift of the Spirit most evident in the early days wa s wh at Charles Fi n n ey called ‘ c o nve rting power’. The way in wh i ch t e e n age salvationist lads and lasses we re used to bring wh o l e c o m munities to conve rsion can only be explained by the operat i o n of a supern at u ra l , m i raculous powe r : the power of the Holy Spiri t .

The explosion wh i ch sent the A rmy through Britain and then to the wo rld was a divine one. But rev ivals must eve n t u a l ly end, a n d unless in the meantime God’s people have built up a stru c t u re that will ke ep wh at has been ga i n e d, the rev ival will fade away and leave nothing permanent. It is to the eve rlasting credit of William Booth and his colleagues that they built a stru c t u re so solid and yet elastic t h at it not only retained wh at had been gained but has been able to expand and adapt itself to ch a n ging conditions.

The transition from an open, f re e, S p i rit-led movement to the m o re ord e red ways of a settled ch u rch is not without its dange r. Th e main danger is that the pendulum might swing too fa r. No one ge t s so re s p e c t able as those with an unre s p e c t able past! No one gets so o rd e red as those with a history of disord e r, and no one gets so c o n fo rmist as the conve rted non-confo rmist! It is a we l l - attested fa c t of ch u rch history that movements born of rev ival tend to look back at their beginnings not only with pride but also a degree of d i s c o m fo rt. And one cannot help but think that many contempora ry s a l vationists would feel stra n ge ly out of place, s ay, in the night of p rayer at Stockton wh i ch Bra m well Booth descri b e d. Is this an i n d i c ation that the pendulum has in fact swung too fa r ?

The gre ater emphasis on the wo rk of the Holy Spirit in re c e n t ye a rs within the Church has been re ﬂected in Salvation A rmy w ritings. General Clarence Wiseman deals with some of the issues of contempora ry concern in L iving and Walking in the Spiri t. ‘ Th e N ew Testament does not teach that Christians need a new baptism in the Spiri t ,’he wri t e s , ‘ for they alre a dy possess the Holy Spiri t , otherwise they would not be Christians. Wh at is re q u i red is an awa kening to the necessity for an utter and complete surrender to the S p i ri t , a l l owing Him to take full possession of body, mind and soul, p u rging the centre as well as the peri p h e ry of ex i s t e n c e, c o n -

7 2 t rolling the life-style and the full ga mut of human re l at i o n s h i p s .’

‘ Wh at should be the A rmy ’s attitude towa rds the gifts of t o n g u e s ? ’ he asks. ‘ S u re ly the answer is that it should be the at t i t u d e adopted by Paul. It must not be negat ive : t h o u g h , as with all s e n s i t ive issues, evil is bound to try to get a toe-hold, so there mu s t be a cautionary note. Tongues have their place in the Bibl e, a n d t h e re fo re should not be ignore d.’

The General then deals with Pa u l ’s understanding of the gi f t , a dding that ‘ The Salvation A rmy has always considered it i n a dv i s able to allow speaking in tongues in its meetings.’In this the A rmy is in line with all the major ch u rches wh o , whilst accepting or welcoming the trend towa rds info rmality and freedom in praye r group meetings, see the ori ginal tradition wh i ch gave birth to their p a rticular style of wo rship as equally Holy Spirit inspire d.

‘ H oweve r,’a dds the Genera l , ‘this does not deny salvationists the right to use the gift in their private devo t i o n , should it be God’s will to bestow it upon them. Not a few Christians have found re l e a s e f rom personal inhibitions, and new freedom and joy in the Lord t h rough the exe rcise of the gift of tongues, and no one would wish to d e ny them this liberating ex p e ri e n c e.’

The Salvation A rmy was born of the Spirit and must remain in the S p i rit if it is to be used of God. Dare one believe that the pendulum is sw i n ging once aga i n , away from an ove r-emphasis on tra d i t i o n , o rd e r, o rga n i s at i o n , m o n ey and means, t owa rds a balanced yet life - giving dependence on the Holy Spirit? The answer lies with the i n d ividual salvat i o n i s t .

7 3 6 Spiritual breakthrough: a spiritual aw a k e n i n g ?

WE are still searching for a compre h e n s ive interp re t ation of wh at h appened in the Boston Seminary on 9 Ja nu a ry 1885 at around 9 am. The ideas associated with sanctiﬁc ation and the baptism in the Spiri t h ave shed light. But have the ancient traditions of the Church a nything to add to the subject?

Th e re is a ri ch vein of deep spirituality wh i ch has run thro u g h C h ristianity from its inception to the present day that we mu s t ex a m i n e. ‘No serious student of sanctity can help but feel awe d when he surveys the ri ch tre a s u res of wh at is commonly called “ c atholic spiri t u a l i t y ” ,’ w rites W. E. Sangster in The Pure in Heart. ‘ The possession of the whole We s t e rn Church befo re the gre at s chism of the 16th century, it has been still further enri ched thro u g h four more centuries by those who have remained loyal to the Roman o b e d i e n c e. The ex p e rience of many saints, and the direction of gre at “ d o c t o rs of perfe c t i o n ” , h ave produced a mass of deep counsel of h o l i n e s s , wh i ch has been systemat i zed and codiﬁe d, and bears now an easily re c og n i z able and classic shap e.’

Could it be that somewh e re here we might ﬁnd some truth to help us in our understanding of moments of spiritual bre a k t h rough? In o rder to answer we must ﬁrst set the scene.

Classic Christian counsel on spiritual growth likens it to a way along wh i ch the pilgrim must pro c e e d. Progress along the way rep resents va rious stages of spiritual growth and va rious ex p e ri e n c e s t h at people will pass through. W rites Simon Tu g well in Did Yo u R e c e ive the Spiri t ?: ‘ The commonest teachings of Eastern and We s t e rn Christians see the Christian life in three stage s , t h o u g h , u n l i ke the Pe n t e c o s t a l s , t h ey are less concerned with pre c i s e, d at abl e ex p e ri e n c e s , and talk rather of stage s , e a ch of wh i ch can be cl e a rly distinguished by its ch a ra c t e ristic ra n ge of ex p e riences and

7 4 “ evidences”. The transition from one stage to another may be s u dden and dra m at i c, or long and obscure.’

The three classic stages of the way are the Purgat ive Way, t h e I l l u m i n at ive Way and the Unitive Way. We shall ask Dr Sangster to t a ke us for a conducted tour by means of some ex t racts from Th e P u re in Heart. 1

The Purgat ive Way All who would begin on that path wh i ch ends at intimate union with God must begin with puri ﬁc ation. God’s purpose with them at this stage is to purify their souls. The interm e d i ate steps invo l ve an ap p re n t i c e s h i p to serious praye r, penance to atone for the past, m o rt i ﬁc ation to s a feg u a rd the future, and a constant wa r fa re against temptation and sin.

With the logical thoroughness and sch e m at i z ation of the sch o o l m e n , the capital sins are lab e l l e d, u n m a s ked and set in ord e r. Those who set out for the heights are shown their adve rs a ries as pri d e, env y , a n ge r, g l u t t o ny, l u s t , sloth and ava ri c e. The ch a racter of the sin is delineat e d, i t s subtlety exposed and the re m e dy offe re d.

But by Purgation men re a ch only the foothills of the gre at ra n ge. Th i s is but the ﬁrst stage of the path wh i ch leads to the heights.

The Illuminat ive Way It will be clear that any soul upon the Illuminat ive Way is advanced in the spiritual life. By the power of the Holy Spiri t , the sins wh i ch did p rev i o u s ly so easily beset the pilgrim are large ly cast aside. The gre at aim on this part of the journ ey is the imitation of Chri s t : the positive a ch i evement and exe rcise of the Christian virt u e s .

Put at its simplest, the aim of the Illuminat ive Way is, so to identify o u rs e l ves with our Lord, t h at He becomes the soul and centre of all our l iv i n g. He is the soul and centre of our thoughts. Wh e n ever our minds relax from the concentration on daily tasks, t h ey turn to feasting in thought on Him, as love rs think of the one belove d. Clearly then, He is the soul and centre of our affections too. As know l e d ge incre a s e s , l ove d e ep e n s , and as love deep e n s , the eage rness for still more know l e d ge i n c reases also. Our hearts run out to Him with an eve r- i n c reasing love. And love leads to imitation—conscious and unconscious. I aim to be like H i m , and consequently He becomes the centre and soul of our actions t o o .

P rayer becomes habitual. Those on the Illuminat ive Way love praye r. Though there may be times when prayer is still an act of will, a n d discipline drags them to their knees, this is not usual with those on the I l l u m i n at ive Way. Inev i t ably, the cardinal virtues are built up in them

7 5 ( p ru d e n c e, j u s t i c e,fo rtitude and tempera n c e ) , and the virtues cl a s s i ﬁe d as ‘ t h e o l ogi c a l ’ too (fa i t h , hope and ch a rity). New temptations a t t a ck them and the seven capital vices assault them in more subtle fo rm s , bu t , while they are set ﬁrm ly on their course and the Holy Spirit dwe l l s w i t h i n , t h ey do not miss their way.

The Unitive Way The puri ﬁed soul, a d o rned with the virtues of Chri s t , a dvances now t owa rds intimate and habitual union with God. This is, i n d e e d,the stat e d e s c ribed by St Pa u l : ‘I live and yet no longer I, but Christ lives in me.’ A c c o rding to catholic spir i t u a l i t y, t h e re is a gre at simplifying of all things for the seeker after holiness when he re a ches the Unitive Way. Th e l ove of God becomes the only virtue of the soul. Even the pat t e rn of p rayer and meditation is simpliﬁe d, in the sense that life is one perp e t u a l p raye r. Men of gre at discernment pick out these ra re souls by three ch i e f m a rks. Th ey have a gre at purity of heart , a gre at mastery of self, a n d their minds are all taken up by God.

The spiritual life

But wh at sort of quality of life is produced by this process? A re the saints sick ly hot-house plants? On the contra ry, c o m m e n t s E ve lyn Underhill in her classic wo rk M y s t i c i s m (a term wh i ch is h e re used in the sense of ‘ d e ep spiri t u a l i t y ’ ) : the chief ch a ra c t e ri s t i c of the higher re a ches of the Unitive Way is ‘an access of cre at ive v i t a l i t y. It means man’s small derivat ive life invaded and enhanced by the Absolute Life : the ap p e a rance in human history of p e rsonalities and care e rs wh i ch seem superhuman when judged by the surface mind.’

Te resa of Avila comments on this compulsion to activity wh i ch she discove red on re a ching the peak:

The most surp rising thing to me is that the sorrow and distress wh i ch s u ch souls felt because they could not die and enjoy our Lord ’s pre s e n c e a re now ex ch a n ged for as fe rvent a desire of serving Him, of causing Him to be praised and of helping others to the utmost of their powe r.

The classic saints we re anything but impractical re cluses. Th e ve ry opposite. ‘ When we look at their live s ,’ c o n t i nues Eve ly n U n d e r h i l l , ‘ we ﬁnd ours e l ves in the presence of an amazing, a s u p e rabundant vitality: of a “ t riumphing fo rc e ” over wh i ch c i rcumstance has no powe r.’After listing some of their pra c t i c a l a c c o m p l i s h m e n t s , she asks: ‘ H ow came it that these ap p a re n t ly

7 6 u n s u i t able men and wo m e n , ch e cked on eve ry side by inimical e nv i ro n m e n t , i l l - h e a l t h , c u s t o m , or povert y , a ch i eved these stupendous destinies? The ex p l a n ation can only lie in the fact that all these persons we re gre at mystics. In each a ch a racter of the hero i c t y p e, of gre at vitality, d e ep enthusiasms, u n c o n q u e rable will, wa s raised to the spiritual plane, remade on higher levels of consciousness. Each by surrender of self-hood, by acquiescence in the large destinies of life, had so furt h e red the self’s nat u ral ge n i u s for the Inﬁnite that their human limitations we re ove r- p a s s e d. Hence t h ey rose to freedom and attained to the one ambition to the “naughted soul”—“I would fain be to the Eternal Goodness wh at his own hand is to a man”.’

O n ly the Holy Spirit can make a saint. ‘All holiness derives fro m G o d,’as Sangster puts it. ‘Sanctity is His wh e rever it is fo u n d. Th e H o ly Ghost has been at wo rk in all aspiring souls. Only God could m a ke Cat h e rine Booth and Te resa of Avila. Only God could make Francis de Sales and Fletcher of Madeley. Only God could make William Law and Tikhon Zndonskey.’And whether we think in t e rms of baptisms of the Spirit or stages of a way does not in one sense matter ve ry mu ch. Pe r h aps God is amused by the many way s in wh i ch we try to describe his wo rk within us! But at the same time it is sad that for so long protestantism has ignored the ri ch lega cy of s p i ritual wisdom gleaned over many centuri e s .

This was one of the losses of the Refo rm ation. With the R e fo rm ation emphasis on salvation by faith rather than wo rk s , t h e old classic way towa rds sanctity (wh i ch admittedly at the time wa s in need of repair) seemed to smack too mu ch of salvation by wo rk s . So it was ab a n d o n e d.

The lack of emphasis on holiness teaching is one of the sorri e r p a rts of the Refo rm ation story. Many bra n ches of the pro t e s t a n t c o m munion still hold to some fo rm of the idea of ‘ i m p u t e d ’ h o l i n e s s , t h at God accepts us as holy whether we are or not because ‘the robe of Christ is wrapped around us’, and this takes away the i n c e n t ive to setting out on the path to holiness. For it is a costly j o u rn ey.

It was pre c i s e ly to oppose this tendency that We s l ey fo rmu l at e d his teaching on sanctiﬁc ation. He despaired of conve rts who did not grow in gra c e. Christ did not die to produce such sorry specimens of abundant living! Having been schooled himself in the disciplines of the catholic way to sanctity, and knowing how steri l e

7 7 t h ey could become when divo rced from the power of the indwe l l i n g S p i ri t , he sought to crystallise a doctrine wh i ch would ke ep the accent on the wo rk of God, to be re c e ived by grace through faith just l i ke salvat i o n , but wh i ch would neve rtheless ke ep all that was go o d in classic spiri t u a l i t y. By so doing he brought back to pro t e s t a n t i s m a mu ch-needed emphasis on holiness. But ‘ when We s l ey insisted t h at the grace of God wh i ch justiﬁed us by faith would entire ly sanctify us by faith also, he seems not to have allowed enough fo r the diffe rences between a ch a n ged re l ation with God and a c o m p l e t e ly ch a n ged life ’ , comments Dr Sangster. ‘Put bl u n t ly, o n e is an assertion about God and the other is an assertion ab o u t o u rs e l ve s .’

It is to be hoped that one of the results of the Holy Spirit re n ewa l , in wh i ch both protestant and Roman catholic believe rs (not to mention Eastern ort h o d ox and pentecostal) are being bro u g h t t ogether through an ex p e ri e n c e of the Spiri t , will be a sharing of insights about the development of Chri s t l i ke liv i n g.

Spiritual awakening

But having now set the scene we must inquire wh e re an ex p e rience such as came to Samuel Brengle would ﬁt into the cl a s s i c p at t e rn of spiritual development. Wh e re along the ascending p at h way that has been described would such a spiri t u a l b re a k t h rough be placed?

The answer is hard ly in doubt. It would be placed ve ry near the b eginning of the ro a d. If anyone brought up in the classic pat t e rn of s p i rituality had been present that morn i n g, he would have put his hands on the young man’s shoulders and said: ‘ S a m , the Lord has granted you a spiritual awa ke n i n g. He is calling you to a gre at s p i ritual journ ey.’And if Sam had been schooled in the same t radition he would have known and re c ognised that wh at had h appened to St Francis and St Te resa and to many other saints had h appened to him, and that the Purgat ive and Illuminat ive and Unitive s t ages of the road lay beckoning him on.

The fact that Brengle did not speak of his ex p e rience in terms of a ‘ s p i ritual awa ke n i n g ’ did not hinder his advance along the road to s a i n t l i n e s s , for we know from his life story how he grew in gra c e and in power from that moment. But the danger of teaching wh i ch

7 8 s t resses a special baptism of the Spirit is that this is seen as the u l t i m ate in spiritual grace and power rather than just its begi n n i n g.

Let us look more cl o s e ly at the ex p e rience wh i ch spiritual wri t e rs and psych o l ogists speak of as ‘ mystical conve rs i o n ’ , and wh i ch we a re suggesting is identical with the moment of bre a k t h rough wh i ch B rengle ex p e ri e n c e d.

R o b e rt H. Thouless in his I n t roduction to the Psych o l ogy of R e l i gi o n d raws a clear distinction between ord i n a ry conve rs i o n , t h at i s , f rom an irre l i gious to a re l i gious life, and mystical conve rs i o n , f rom an ord i n a ry re l i gious life to a life of deep spiri t u a l i t y. ‘ Th e accounts of mystical conve rs i o n ’ , he wri t e s , ‘ a re typically of a c o nve n t i o n a l ly re l i gious pers o n , l iving the usual life of the devo u t wo rl d, mu ch respected for his piety and good wo rks. He, h oweve r, feels a restless ye a rning for something more than his life is giv i n g him. He begins to cut himself free from the ties that bind him to the l i fe to wh i ch he as been accustomed. Th e n , after a longer or short e r p e riod of unhappiness due to a painful inner conﬂi c t , he passes t h rough an ex p e rience wh i ch he is unable to descri b e, but wh i ch has given him a reve l ation in the light of wh i ch his subsequent life mu s t be live d.’

This seems a fair description of many of the testimonies that we h ave studied.

E ve lyn Underhill comments:2

This awa ke n i n g, f rom the psych o l ogical point of view, ap p e a rs to be an intense fo rm of the phenomenon of ‘ c o nve rsion’.... It is a disturbance of the equilibrium of the self, wh i ch results in the shifting of the ﬁeld of consciousness from lower to higher leve l s , with a consequent re m oval of the centre of interest from the subject to an object now brought into v i ew : the necessary beginning of any process of tra n s c e n d e n c e. . . .

Those to whom it hap p e n s , often enough, a re alre a dy ‘ re l i gi o u s ’ : sometimes deep ly and earn e s t ly so. Rulman Mersw i n , St Cat h e rine of G e n o a , G e o rge Fox ,L u c i e - C h ristine—all these had been bred up in p i e t y, and accepted in its entirety the Christian tradition. Th ey we re none the less conscious of an utter ch a n ge in their wo rld when this opening of the soul’s eye took place.

Sometimes the emergence of the mystical consciousness is grad u a l un m a r ked by any deﬁnite crisis. The self slides gen t l y, al m o s t im p e rc ep t i b ly, fr om the old univer se to the new. The rec o r ds of mys t i c i s m ,

7 9 h oweve r, s u ggest that this is ex c ep t i o n a l :t h at travail is the norm a l accompaniment of birt h .

In another type . . . there is no conve rsion in the ord i n a ry sense; but a gradual and increasing lucidity . . . interm i t t e n t ly accompanies the pain, m i s e ry of mind, and inwa rd stru ggles ch a ra c t e ristic of the entrance upon the Way of Purgation. Conve rsion and puri ﬁc ation then go hand in hand, ﬁn a l ly shading off into the serenity of the Illuminated Stat e. . . .

C o m m o n ly, h oweve r, if we may judge from those ﬁrst-hand accounts wh i ch we possess, mystic conve rsion is a single and ab rupt ex p e ri e n c e, s h a rp ly marked off from the long, dim stru ggles wh i ch precede and succeed it. It usually invo l ves a sudden and acute re a l i z ation of a splendour and adorable reality in the wo rld—or sometimes of its o bve rs e, the divine sorrow at the heart of things—never befo re p e rc e ive d. In so far as I am acquainted with the re s o u rces of language, t h e re are no wo rds in wh i ch this re a l i z ation can be descri b e d. It is of so actual a nat u re that in comparison the normal wo rld of past perc ep t i o n seems but twilit at the best. Consciousness has sudd e n ly ch a n ged its r hythm and a new aspect of the unive rse rushes in. The teasing mists are swept away, and reve a l , if only for an instant, the sharp outline of the Eve r lasting Hills....

In this ab rupt re c ognition of reality ‘all things are made new ’ : f ro m this point the life of the mystic begins. Conve rsion of this sort has, s ay s De Sanctis, t h ree marked ch a ra c t e ri s t i c s : a sense of liberation and v i c t o ry : a conviction of the nearness of God: a sentiment of love towa rd s G o d. We might describe it as a sudd e n , i n t e n s e, and joyous perc eption of God immanent in the unive rse; of the divine beauty and unu t t e rabl e p ower and splendour of that larger life . . . to be lived by the self in c o rrespondence with this now dominant fact of ex i s t e n c e.

The case of Pa s c a l , quoted earl i e r, whose written testimony wa s found sewn into the hem of his ga rm e n t , is a classic instance of a mystical awa ke n i n g. Francis of Assisi is another. Attempting to ﬂe e G o d ’s hand he was in a deep ly divided stat e, but ‘being led by the S p i ri t ’ , re c o rds his biograp h e r, ‘he went in to pray; and he fell dow n b e fo re the cru c i ﬁx in devout supplicat i o n , and having been smitten by unwonted visitat i o n s , found himself another man than he wh o had gone in’.

C at h e rine of Genoa, d e ep ly re l i gious by nat u re, after ye a rs of loneliness and dep re s s i o n , visits a holy man. ‘ S u dd e n ly, as she knelt b e fo re him, she re c e ived in her heart the wound of the unmeasure d l ove of God, with so clear a vision of her own misery and her fa u l t s , and of the goodness of God, t h at she almost fell upon the gro u n d. And by these sensations of inﬁnite love she was so gre at ly drawn by

8 0 p u rifying affection away from the poor things of this wo rld that she was almost beside hers e l f, and for this she cried inward l y with a rdent love, “No more wo rld! No more sin!”And at this point, if she had possessed a thousand wo rlds she would have thrown all of them away.’

The similarity of w h at is ex p e ri e n c e d, wh at is felt and wh at is p e rc e ived and wh at is re c e ive d, in re c o rds of ‘ s p i ritual awa ke n i n g s ’ to that described in testimonies of sanctiﬁc ation and baptism in the S p i ri t , i n cluding the similarity of events leading up to the ex p e riences and results ﬂowing there f ro m , would seem to indicat e t h at these ex p e riences are substantially the same f rom an ex p e riential angle. It is the i n t e rp re t at i o n of the ex p e ri e n c e, t h e thought pat t e rn surrounding it, wh i ch va ri e s .

Po s i t ive consequences derive from making this identific ation. Fo r the believer brought up in the sanctific ation or baptism of the Spiri t s chools of thought, a cl e a rly defined way towa rds holiness opens up b e fo re him. He may not wish to subscribe to all the details of all the w ritings on the subject, but a definite goal is set befo re him and m aps for the road are ava i l able for the asking.

For those brought up in the older traditions new possibilities also open up. The belief associated with ‘ s p i ritual awa ke n i n g s ’h a s u s u a l ly been that they should not be active ly sought. God sends them in His own good time. This has often led to a kind of pers o n a l s p i ritual stalemat e. ‘A gre at gulf seemed to be set betwe e n “ o rd i n a ry ” p rayer and “ my s t i c a l ” p raye r,’w rites Simon Tu g we l l , ‘and there seemed no way through for the majority of Chri s t i a n s . Into this situation the Catholic Pentecostal movement cl e a rly comes as a major bre a k t h rough. Its emphasis is practical in the ex t reme and it offe rs easy access, to all and sundry, into spiritual praye r. And it m a n i fe s t ly “ wo rk s ” : things do actually happen to people!’

The guidelines offe red to would-be pilgrims in the cl a s s i c a l p at t e rn of spirituality have ge n e ra l ly been felt to go beyond the subject matter of the Bibl e, in the same way that , for ex a m p l e, b o o k s on prayer do. The basic ex p e ri e n c e, whether of the Spirit or of p raye r, is based on the Scri p t u re s , but the detailed further teach i n g t a kes over wh e re the Bible leaves off. Th e re is there fo re no at t e m p t to account for either the crisis or the va rious stages of the process in t e rms of the New Testament. The crisis ex p e riences are simply seen as gra c i o u s , e m p owe ring visitations by the Spiri t .

8 1 Sometimes sought after, sometimes arriving spontaneously, t h ey open a new wo rld to the soul and call it to further progre s s .

Let Eve lyn Underhill have the last wo rd in this ch apter as she links the ex p e riences of the gre at saints with our ow n :

E ve ry pers o n , t h e n , who awa kens to consciousness of a Reality wh i ch t ranscends the normal wo rld of sense—however small, we a k , i m p e r fe c t t h at consciousness may be—is put upon the road wh i ch fo l l ows at low l evels the path wh i ch the mystic treads at high levels. The success with wh i ch he fo l l ows this way to freedom and full life will depend on the intensity of his love and will; his capacity for self-discipline, h i s s t e a d fastness and courage. It will depend on the ge n e rosity and completeness of his outgoing passion for absolute beauty, ab s o l u t e go o d n e s s , or absolute truth. But if he move at all, he will move through a s e ries of states wh i ch are, in their own small way, a n a l ogous to those ex p e rienced by the gre atest contemplat ive on his journ ey towa rds that union with God wh i ch is the term of the spiri t ’s ascent towa rds its home.

8 2 7 Towards a conclusion

WE must now begin to pull in the threads in our search for the most s atisfying interp re t ation of the kind of spiritual bre a k t h rough that S a muel Brengle ex p e rienced on that Sat u rd ay morning long ago . The ch apter will be brief for a number of points will be deve l o p e d f u rther in the pastoral ch ap t e rs wh i ch fo l l ow.

Our enquiry is more than a theoretical one. Th e re is a widespre a d awa reness among many Christians that they are living at a s u b s t a n d a rd level of Christian ex p e ri e n c e. John We s l ey had an ap t d i agnosis of the condition. ‘ D e s e rt Chri s t i a n s ’ , or ‘half Chri s t i a n s ’ we re the terms he coined for those wh o , s p i ri t u a l ly speaking, h a d left Egypt but had failed to make it to Canaan.

M a ny would accept that these terms describe their spiri t u a l condition with gre at insight. ‘In our moment of tru t h ’ , w rites John V. Tay l o r, ‘ we whisper to ours e l ve s : The Wo rd of God tells me I am this and I know I am not. It says the ch u rch is all that , and I know we a re not.’

But coupled with this awa reness comes the intuitive feeling that , in the haunting title of Cat h e rine Mars h a l l ’s book, t h e re is Something More. And for the one who knows ‘ d ivine dissat i s fa c t i o n ’ w i t h i n , t h e re is something more. Something more to be discove re d, something more to be at t a i n e d, something more to be re c e ive d. Th e C h ristian life is meant to be life ex p e rienced in all its fullness. Not a constant disap p o i n t m e n t .

To build a doctrinal stru c t u re wh i ch adequat e ly accounts for and leads the seeking soul to break through into that ‘something more ’i s not as easy as at ﬁrst glance it might seem. Some have even been d riven to concl u d e, on an ultra - ri gid interp re t ation of the Scri p t u re s , t h at there cannot be anything more to be ex p e ri e n c e d. If we have been born again then by deﬁnition we are alre a dy ex p e ri -

8 3 encing all that can be known. But, as Thomas A. Smail puts it in R e ﬂected Glory:

To tell believe rs who know themselves to be spiri t u a l ly inadequat e t h at rive rs of living wat e rs are pouring from them,to tell those who fe e l futile and fruitless in their Christian service that the outpoured energy of the Holy Spirit is fre e ly at wo rk in them, to tell Christians who are hard ly awa re of the Holy Spirit that they are alre a dy baptised in the Spir i t , s o l e ly because the New Testament is interp reted as saying that all C h ristians are baptised in the Spirit—all this is to run into complete u n re a l i t y.

We can be quite sure that it is not God’s will that his people should always have an infe ri o rity feeling and be inwa rd ly d i s s at i s ﬁed about their spiritual life. No. For the hungry soul there is something more. And many are entering into the ex p e ri e n c e.

John We s l ey was right in his basic insight that the Christian life is meant to be a victorious life, and that God longs to ‘ m a ke us holy in eve ry part , and to ke ep us sound in spiri t , soul and body ’( 1 Thessalonians 5:23). Th e re a re higher heights of holiness to be re a ch e d. Th e re is something more. And the doctrine of sanctiﬁc at i o n sheds light on how to break through to those further dimensions of C h ri s t l i ke n e s s .

The doctrine of baptism in the Spirit also re ﬂects this inner ye a rning of the human heart for fullness. The New Te s t a m e n t , f ro m c over to cove r, sets befo re us a quality of Spiri t - ﬁlled living quite b eyond that commonly ex p e rienced today—and it leaves an ach i n g l o n ging within us. But there is a way through to this fullness, and the d o c t rine seeks to encap s u l ate it.

The classical pat t e rn of spirituality reminds us that moments of ‘ s p i ritual awa ke n i n g ’ , h owever uplifting, a re but a begi n n i n g. Th e moment of glory takes us into a new wo rl d. But we must not stand still. Th e re is a long trail ahead—and it leads to even gre ater glory.

E a ch of the major doctrinal stru c t u res we have looked at make s its contri bution to a fuller understanding of these post-conve rs i o n moments of spiritual bre a k t h ro u g h .

But doctrines wh i ch seek to show that the Scri p t u res indicate the need for a further wo rk of grace subsequent to conve rsion are h a n d i c apped by the fact that the Bible nowh e re ex p l i c i t ly states this to be so. As we have noted, the biblical fo u n d ation for such

8 4 t e a ching is in the nat u re of an infe rence drawn from the ve ry o bvious diffe rence between promise and re a l i t y, or is infe rred fro m the ex p e riences of certain biblical personalities. This poses a re a l p ro blem for many. And yet the existence and value of post- c o nve rsion moments of spiritual bre a k t h rough are beyond question.

The way through would there fo re seem to be to consider these ex p e riences as completing in ex p e ri e n c e the fullness of the ex p e rience of ‘ n ew birt h ’ , of wh i ch the Scri p t u res speak in gre at detail using many and va ried metap h o rs. Th rough these p o s t c o nve rsion ex p e ri e n c e s , we ex p e rience in actuality wh at t h e o re t i c a l ly and potentially has always been possible to anyo n e who is ‘in Chri s t ’ .

Just why so many should seem to fail to enter into their full and rightful heri t age at the actual moment of new birth is far from cl e a r. But possibly through ignora n c e, or unbelief, or disobedience —or t h rough some deep - s e ated psych o l ogical hindrance he cannot eve n b egin to fathom—the seeking soul sometimes fails to ﬁnd i n ex p e ri e n c e wh at is his in theory. Only through a further touch is the d ivine wo rk completed.

This understanding of the post-conve rsion ex p e riences we have been considering seems most adequat e ly to mat ch the human ex p e rience with the gre at and glorious promises of the Scri p t u res. If for a ny reason we have failed to be ﬁlled at the heave n ly banquet, we must come again—and if needs be, again and aga i n .

The Salvation A rmy Handbook of Doctri n e deals with the point and sets out the underlying theology as it re l ates to the ex p e rience of s a n c t i ﬁc at i o n .

The Atonement provides for man’s sanctific ation as well as for his s a l vation. This means that the wo rk of Christ ‘ who of God is made unto us wisdom, and ri g h t e o u s n e s s , and sanctific at i o n , and re d e m p t i o n ’( 1 C o rinthians 1:30), p rovides the possibility of being sanctified in Chri s t quite as mu ch as being justified in Christ. Sanctific at i o n ,j u s t i fic at i o n , rege n e ration and adoption are equally part of the inheritance of those who trust in the saving virtue of the Atonement.... Wh e n ever this wo rk of grace is not being fully ex p ressed in a Chri s t i a n ’s life, the ex p l a n at i o n lies not in the lack of divine provision but in his fa i l u re to make co- o p e rating re s p o n s e.... Th rough lack of know l e d ge, faith or willingness, he is not claiming wh at God h a s p rov i d e d.

With rega rd to baptism in the Spirit doctri n e, the writings of

8 5 James D. G. Dunn may be taken as rep re s e n t at ive of the care f u l , s ch o l a rly reassessment wh i ch the re n ewal movement has stimu l at e d. The same emphasis on the conve rsion ex p e rience that we have noted comes across. After examining all the re l evant New Te s t a m e n t p a s s ages in B aptism in the Holy Spiri t, he concl u d e s :

The gift of the Spirit may not be sep a rated in any way fro m c o nve rs i o n , whether to be set bef o re conve rsion as its pre s u p p o s i t i o n , o r after conve rsion as a mere ly empowe ri n g, c o n ﬁrm at o ry or ch a ri s m at i c gift. The gift of the Spirit (that is Spiri t - b aptism) is a distinct element within conve rs i o n ,i n d e e d, in the New Te s t a m e n t , the most signiﬁc a n t element and focal point of conve rsion. It is the gift of saving grace by wh i ch one enters into Christian ex p e rience and life, into the new c ove n a n t , into the Church. It is, in the last analy s i s , t h at wh i ch makes a man a Chri s t i a n .

And in commenting on the phenomenon of the number of C h ristians who are having to complete their conve rs i o n , as it we re, t h rough a further ex p e ri e n c e, he asks pointedly : ‘Has modern eva n gelism held fo rth the promise of the Spirit ex p l i c i t ly enough?’ Indeed it could be aske d : ‘Is our pro cl a m ation of God’s gift of s a l vation as a whole suffi c i e n t ly compre h e n s ive ? ’

Th e re is no one term that adequat e ly describes the ‘ ex p e ri e n c e s of completion’of wh i ch we have been speaking. ‘ The blessing of h o l i n e s s ’ , ‘the blessing of a clean heart ’ , ‘ b aptism in the Spiri t ’ , remain deep ly meaningful terms and will for many convey all that is n e e d e d. But for others they will have less helpful associations. We shall be considering other possible term s , but ‘letting the Spirit be released within us’ m ay prove illuminating for many. And ye t , s a l vationists can re a ch right back into the history of their move m e n t for a term that is uniquely ri ch in meaning and associat i o n : the term full salvat i o n.

Our fo re fat h e rs well understood that many of their new conve rt s e n t e red into a ve ry partial ex p e rience of the blessing of salvat i o n , and the promise of ‘full salvat i o n ’ was continu a l ly held out befo re them. The ‘ blessing of holiness’is indeed the completion of the ex p e rience of salvation. The special beauty of the old term ‘ f u l l s a l vat i o n ’ is that it makes this ex p l i c i t .

Of cours e, wh at the conve rts in reality ex p e rienced was not so mu ch salvation as ‘half salvation’. Th ey took hold only of part of the blessing that was being offe re d. In We s l ey ’s phra s e, t h ey we re

8 6 ‘half Christians’. But later they we re to complete in ex p e rience wh at p o t e n t i a l ly had been theirs all along. In other wo rd s , t h ey we re to ex p e rience s a l vation in all its fullness.

If we are looking for a phrase to sum up the meaning of the exp e r ience Samuel Brengle knew on that sunlit morni n g , it wou l d pro b a bly be just that: sa l v ation in all its fullness. Tha t morning Bren g l e took hold of his rightful herit a ge as a son of God. He was sanctiﬁed , he was baptised in the Spirit—he entered into full salvati o n .

Let Francis Bottome, with the insight of the poet, d e s c ribe the bl e s s i n g :

Full salvat i o n , full salvat i o n , Lo! the fo u n t a i n , opened wide, S t reams through eve ry land and nat i o n From the Sav i o u r ’s wounded side! Full salvat i o n , S t reams an endless crimson tide.

O the glorious reve l at i o n ! See the cleansing current ﬂow, Washing stains of condemnat i o n Whiter than the driven snow. Full salvat i o n , O the rap t u rous bliss to know !

L ove ’s resistless current swe ep i n g All the regions deep within, Thought and wish and senses ke ep i n g N ow, and eve ry instant, clean. Full salvat i o n From the guilt and power of sin.

L i fe immort a l , H e aven descending, Lo! my heart the Spiri t ’s shri n e ; God and man in oneness b l e n d i n g ; O wh at fe l l owship is mine! Full salvat i o n , Raised in Christ to life div i n e.

C a re and doubting, gloom and sorrow, Fear and shame are mine no more ; Faith knows naught of dark tomorrow, For my Saviour goes befo re. Full salvat i o n , Full and free for eve rm o re.

8 7 Though in one sense the task of this book has been completed, i t s p u rpose would not be fulﬁlled without some wo rds of pers o n a l guidance to the seeking soul. In the fo l l owing two ch ap t e rs a w i d e ra n ging enquiry is set out in conve rs ational style betwe e n author and a seeker after truth that attempts to deal with a number of questions re l ating to our search for spiritual fullness and how we o u rs e l ves might enter into salvation in all its fullness.

8 8 8 Seeking spiritual fullness

I AM a salvationist born and bre d, and I have fo l l owed with intere s t all you have said about moments of spiritual bre a k t h rough. I fe e l t h e re may be something here for me. I am an active salvat i o n i s t , a b a n d s m a n , songster and young people’s wo rke r, and I enjoy my s e rv i c e, but I have often wo n d e red whether I was not missing out s p i ri t u a l ly somewh e re. I went to the mercy seat when I was seve n , and though the occasion was signiﬁcant to me at the time, I have since wo n d e red whether anything actually took place. Then I we n t t h rough a difficult pat ch in my teens, but at youth councils one year I went fo r wa rd and gave my all to God. For a few days after that I fe l t d i ffe rent. I felt something had re a l ly hap p e n e d, but then it began to fa d e, and after a week or two I came to the conclusion that it wa s just the same old me back aga i n .

Since then there have been certain occasions when I have fe l t close to God, wh e n , for ex a m p l e, the band went specialling and t h e re was a marvellous break in the Sunday night prayer meeting and many seeke rs came fo r wa rd, but on the whole I cannot claim to be ve ry mu ch spiri t u a l ly alive. I pray each day and sometimes re a d my Bibl e, but I must admit it is something of an effo rt. When I hear of others speaking of how real God is to them, and hear testimonies to gre at spiritual encounters like the ones you have mentioned and h ow it made them effe c t ive people both inward l y and outward l y, I feel a ve ry real longing for something similar to happen to me. Of l ate I have become incre a s i n g ly dissat i s ﬁed with myself and u n h ap py. I feel I am re a ching out after something, but so far nothing has hap p e n e d.

Th e re are dozens of questions I want to ask yo u , but befo re I ask you about further ex p e riences of God can I say that the thing that b o t h e rs me most in all this talk about further ex p e riences is that I do not seem to have had a ﬁrs t ex p e rience! I cannot remember a single occasion in my life when I have felt a divine bre a k t h ro u g h , as yo u call it. I sometimes wonder whether I am re a l ly save d. Pe r h ap s

8 9 I am still outside the Kingdom. If one has not had a deﬁnite and d at able conve rsion ex p e ri e n c e, can one call oneself a born - aga i n C h ri s t i a n ?

You touch here on one of the most vital questions for all wh o h ave been brought up within a Christian setting, and part i c u l a rly in a n o n - s a c ramental setting like the A rmy. Stra n ge as it may seem, eve n after 2,000 ye a rs there is a considerable dive rgence of thought within Christianity as to how those who are born into the Church are b o rn into the fa i t h — a re rege n e rated or ‘ b o rn again’. The Bible is not ve ry explicit on this point.

No one has any difficulty in understanding the way a non- C h ristian can come to faith and be rege n e rat e d. Wh at happened to Paul on the Damascus road poses no pro blems for the theologian. He was glori o u s ly born aga i n , he was conve rt e d, he got save d — a l l p h rases meaning the same thing.

It is when we come to those nu rt u red in the faith from birth that the theoretical pro blems start. Some Christians have a sacra m e n t a l ap p ro a ch to the question and hold that when a child is baptised he is then rege n e rat e d. The practice of baptising infants has ge n e rated a lot of heat at va rious times in Church history, and we may not be able to agree with the rationale behind it, but the underlying theory is at least cl e a r.

B u t , as we have noted, those that hold this view in a sense only postpone the re a l - l i fe pro blem until lat e r. Wh at are they to make of a t e e n ager who was baptised as an infant but who bears none of the m a rks of Christ upon him? Sometimes the attitude has been that his b e h aviour is a gre at shame but that the teenager is neve rtheless ‘ b o rn aga i n ’ , an ap p ro a ch wh i ch does not always commend the Chri s t i a n faith to others. And sometimes the attitude has been—as was Jo h n We s l ey ’s opinion—that wh at had been gained through infa n t b aptism had obv i o u s ly since been lost and must be regained thro u g h a conve rsion ex p e ri e n c e.

But non-sacramental Christians like ours e l ve s , and those wh o cannot agree with infant bap t i s m , also have their pro bl e m s , and the p ro blem is to try and deﬁne the actual moment when the ch i l d, re a red in a Christian home, is born again. Wh e re our thinking diffe rs f rom those who believe in child baptism is that we hold that ‘ s a l vat i o n ’ must be consciously re c e ived through faith and

9 0 rep e n t a n c e. Here again there is no real pro blem with a child wh o comes new to the faith and is ove r whelmed by the good new s , s e e k s Jesus as his Saviour and is wo n d e r f u l ly conve rt e d. The Bibl e n owh e re says that conve rsion is for adults only. Th at ch i l d ren of even ve ry tender age can know and ex p e rience the kind of div i n e b re a k t h rough we have been illustrating has been demonstrated aga i n and again. But wh at about the child who has been taught to pray and to love God at his mother’s knee? Must he be expected to be able to give the date and time at wh i ch the wo rk was done?

The answer can only be a ﬁrm no. Th e re are many Christians wh o we re re a red in a loving and go d ly at m o s p h e re who cannot recall or d e s c ribe the moment of their rege n e ration. When it actually h appened is God’s secret. Pe r h aps it was that moment of u n d e rstanding and outgoing love towa rds God during prayer time one eve n i n g, or in a moment of spontaneous contri bution and fa i t h , or in that meeting now only dimly re m e m b e re d. Who knows? Only God himself.

William Booth was quite speciﬁc on this point. In The Training of C h i l d re n he poses the question, ‘ M ay not ch i l d ren grow up into s a l vation without knowing the exact moment of conve rs i o n ? ’a n d p roceeds to answe r : ‘Ye s , it may be so; and in the future we trust this will be the usual way in wh i ch ch i l d ren will be brought into the Kingdom. When the parents are go d ly, and the ch i l d ren are s u rrounded by holy inﬂuences and examples from their birt h , a n d t rained up in the spirit of their early dedicat i o n , t h ey will doubtless come to know and love and trust their Saviour in the ord i n a ry cours e of things.’

‘ The Holy Ghost’, he continu e s , ‘will take possession of them f rom the ﬁrst. Mothers and fat h e rs will, as it we re, put them into the S av i o u r ’s arms in their swa ddling cl o t h e s , and He will take them, and bless them, and sanctify them from the ve ry wo m b, and make them His ow n , without their knowing the hour or the place wh e n t h ey pass from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of Light. In fact with such little ones it shall never be ve ry dark , for their n at u ral birth shall be, as it we re in the spiritual twilight, wh i ch b egins with the dim daw n , and increases gra d u a l ly until the noontide b rightness is re a ch e d.’

The all-important cri t e rion as to rege n e ration is not when or how it hap p e n e d, but whether I am now alive in Chri s t , or in the old p h ra s e, whether ‘ Jesus saves me now’. Christianity is not so mu ch

9 1 about a birth as about a life. For some people the ch a n ge from night to day is like shutters sudd e n ly being re m oved and the light s t reaming in. For others , as William Booth descri b e s , t h e re is no conscious memory of any shutters being there. From as far back as t h ey can remember they have been open to God, and have wat ch e d the dawn turn into full day. But wh at does it matter that they cannot pin-point a precise moment when day began as long as they are l iving in daylight? No one is expected to be able to describe their moment of nat u ral birth in order to prove that they are alive !

We l l , put like that I suppose I am ‘ a l ive in Chri s t ’ , but I don’t fe e l ve ry mu ch alive, if you know wh at I mean. I believe in God, and I suppose you could say that ‘ Jesus saves me now ’ — but it all seems u n real somehow, as if it is a matter of wo rds rather than actuality. Is t h at because I have n ’t yet got the Holy Spirit? Pe r h aps that is the missing dimension.

If you have been born again then you alre a dy have the Holy Spiri t , to use your phra s e. A Christian is by deﬁnition one who is indwe l t by the Holy Spirit. It is that fact that makes you into a Christian. Th e couplet from the song book says it we l l : Soon as my all I ve n t u red on the atoning bl o o d, The Holy Spirit entered and I was born of God. N ow, a d m i t t e d ly, you sometimes hear testimonies like : ‘ Je s u s came into my heart when I was save d, but it was not until many ye a rs later that I re c e ived the Holy Spiri t .’And a testimony like that can give the misleading impression that the Trinity has somehow fallen ap a rt and that it is possible to ex p e ri e n c e the persons of the Godhead sep a rat e ly and indiv i d u a l ly. But however helpful and n e c e s s a ry tri n i t a rian doctrine is to a full understanding of the nat u re of God, it was never meant to suggest that there is more than one G o d. In ex p e ri e n c e t h e re is only one divine reality that we can e n c o u n t e r, and the testiﬁer in this case is adding a dash of i n t e rp re t ation to his testimony.

To speak of that reality wh i ch indwells us, sometimes as God, sometimes as Chri s t , and sometimes as the Holy Spiri t , can be helpful as long as it does not obscure the fact that from an ex p e riential angle there is only one reality wh i ch can be know n . Note how in this famous passage from Romans, Paul moves with ease from calling that indwelling reality ‘ G o d ’s Spiri t ’ , ‘the Spirit of C h ri s t ’ , ‘ C h ri s t ’ and ‘the Spiri t ’ — but the sense of the paragrap h m a kes it clear that he is speaking of one and the same pers o n :

9 2 You are on the spiritual leve l , if only G o d ’s Spiri t dwells within yo u ; and if a man does not possess the S p i rit of Chri s t, he is no Christian. But if C h ri s t is dwelling within y o u , then although the body is a dead thing because you sinned, yet the spirit is life itself because you have been j u s t i ﬁe d. More ove r, if the S p i rit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells within yo u , then the God who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give new life to your mortal bodies through his indwe l l i n g S p i rit (Romans 8:9-11) (author’s italics).

But it is not only in testimonies that the sep a ration between the wo rk of Christ and the Holy Spirit ap p e a rs. A ny teaching wh i ch sees the ‘ b aptism of the Spiri t ’ as a distinct second wo rk tends nat u ra l ly to speak of the Spirit being re c e ive d at that point, and one can fo rgive the busy Christian for failing to note the small print wh i ch s ays that the Spirit was also at wo rk in his conve rs i o n .

So you can be quite sure that the Holy Spirit is alre a dy at wo rk within you. And if you do not feel that ‘ s t reams of living water are ﬂowing out from within yo u ’ , as Jesus described the person alive with Spiri t , then it is important that we discover wh at it is that is h i n d e ring you from enjoying in ex p e ri e n c e wh at the New Te s t a m e n t tells us you alre a dy possess potentially.

You mean I ought to seek a ‘ b aptism in the Spiri t ’ ?

You need to seek for the re l e a s e of the Spirit within you. Wh e t h e r you want to call this ‘ b aptism of the Spiri t ’ is up to you. The tro u bl e with the phrase is that it is almost impossible to use it these day s without bri n ging into play the narrow and ri gid associat i o n s , wh i ch h ave been shown to be unscri p t u ral. But it is an evo c at ive, b i bl i c a l and indeed beautiful phra s e, and if we could use it in the wider sense in wh i ch it was used in the early A rmy then all would be we l l .

‘ We have refused to wear the unifo rm of a second bl e s s i n g t h e o l ogy,’s t ates Thomas A. Smail about the re n ewal move m e n t , ‘and the question is there fo re whether we can, without being shot d ow n , c o n t i nue to ﬂy a “ b aptism in the Spiri t ” b a n n e r ! ’ His answe r i s , yes. The phrase ought still to be used even if it means painstaking ex p l a i n i n g. But others feel that the phrase is now too ‘ l o a d e d ’a n d t h at we ought to seek for some other term. He quotes Canon Mich a e l G re e n ’s plea: ‘Could we not bear to call the rose by some other name? It will smell just as swe e t .’

The term re l e a s e of the Spirit has been sugge s t e d. Also d i s c ove ry

9 3 of the Spiri t , m a n i fe s t at i o n of the Spiri t , re n ewa l or re k i n d l i n g of the S p i ri t , or seeking the f u l l n e s s o f, or being ﬁl l e d by the Spirit. None of them is quite right. Pe r h aps you will ﬁnd the wo rd - p i c t u re of f u l l s a l vat i o n helpful to you. But, of cours e, it is the ex p e rience of the S p i rit wh i ch is of ultimate import a n c e, not its lab e l .

But if I read you ri g h t , the New Testament does not describe such an ex p e ri e n c e. Wh at scri p t u ral support is there then for seeking a f u rther bl e s s i n g ?

The New Testament as a whole provides all the scri p t u ral support you need if you feel spiri t u a l ly hungry. When you read its pro m i s e s and its descriptions of abundant liv i n g, you cannot but agree with Canon J. B. Phillips wh o , after spending 14 ye a rs tra n s l ating its p age s , re c o rd e d : ‘It is the sheer spiritual zest and drive of the New Testament wh i ch ﬁlls one with both wonder and wistfulness. It is as though in these pages there lies the secret of human life. The secre t is not mere theory or ideal, but a fresh quality of living wo rked out in terms of ord i n a ry human life and circumstances. A b ove all, t h e ge n e ral impression is of something supern at u ra l , of supra - h u m a n t ruth and a supra-human way of liv i n g. The wistfulness ari s e s , o f c o u rs e, f rom the comparison between the shining, blazing cert a i n t y of the New Testament wri t e rs and the comparat ive ly tentat ive and u n c e rtain faith and hope we meet so often in pre s e n t - d ay C h ri s t i a n i t y.’

The Scri p t u re s , both dire c t ly and indire c t ly, s h ow us wh at life in the Spirit ought to be like. As co-heirs with Christ the promises are meant for us. If there is a pro blem it must be on our side, not God’s . We must there fo re open ours e l ves further that he may deepen the wo rk within and through us.

Reading the New Testament through and comparing its ‘ s u p rahuman way of liv i n g ’ with our own can be a humbling and painful ex p e ri e n c e. But from such an exe rcise can come new fa i t h and a new vision of wh at God longs to accomplish through us. A n d if we add the testimonies of contempora ry Christians who say that t h ey are alre a dy ex p e riencing a new power of the Spirit in their live s an almost unanswe rable case builds up.

But are these intense spiritual ex p e riences open to eve ryo n e ? Could it not be that the New Testament re c o rds the ex p e rience of people who had a gre at gift for spiritual ex p e ri e n c e, and that the

9 4 o rd i n a ry ave rage Christian functioned at a mu ch lower level of s p i ritual awa reness? Is it not also possible that the people who have ex p e rienced re n ewal have a particular kind of personality wh i ch m a kes them more sensitive to things spiritual? How can I know whether such an ex p e rience is for me?

These are vital questions and we must spend some time a n swe ring them. Fi rs t , let us define care f u l ly wh at we are talking about. We have agreed that a Christian is someone who by defin i t i o n is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The question now ari s e s , is it alway s p o s s i ble for a believer to fe e l this indwe l l i n g, or does it remain more an intellectual conv i c t i o n , or even a matter of faith for some, p e r h ap s due to their temperament and ge n e ral make-up? Our rep ly must be g u a rd e d. Towa rds the end of his life John We s l ey wrote some wo rd s in a letter wh i ch stands as a wa rning to us. ‘ When fifty ye a rs ago my b rother Charles and I, in the simplicity of our heart s , told the go o d people of England that unless they k n ew their sins fo rgive n , t h ey we re under the wrath and curse of God, I marve l , M e l v i l l e, t h ey did not stone us! The Methodists, I hope, k n ow better now; we pre a ch a s s u rance as we always did, as a common priv i l ege of the ch i l d re n of God; but we do not enfo rce it, under the pain of damnat i o n , denounced on all who enjoy it not.’

After 50 ye a rs of pastoral ex p e rience We s l ey was driven to the c o n clusion that the ex p e ri e n c e of re l i gi o n , by feeling or mental i n t u i t i o n , was ‘a common priv i l ege of the ch i l d ren of God’—but he had to allow that for some the Christian path has to be trod more by faith than by fe e l i n g s .

N ow, I grant to you that the testimonies chosen for our c o n s i d e ration we re chosen because of their vividness and colour. This is re a l ly the only way open to us for the study of testimonies, but we need to make due allowance all the time for the fact that the ex p e riences described are like ly to be rep roduced in paler fo rm in the lives of the ave rage believe r. But there is re a l ly no doubt that some people have a gre ater nat u ral capacity for re l i gious fe e l i n g than others. Th ey are gifted in that way just as some are more mu s i c a l ly gifted than others. Their temperaments make them e s p e c i a l ly sensitive to ex p e riences of the Spirit and they there fo re ex p e rience powe r f u l ly and dra m at i c a l ly wh at to others will be a h a rd ly discern i ble emotional ri p p l e. Moments of div i n e b re a k t h rough can therefo r e ra n ge, in Thomas Ke l ly ’s wo rd s , ‘ f ro m s u blime heights to ve ry mild moments of lift and ve ry faint glimpses of glory ’ .

9 5 All people have s o m e c apacity for direct spiritual ex p e ri e n c e. One of the most striking fe at u res of the Holy Spirit re n ewal is the d ive rsity of the people in whom the Spirit has been re l e a s e d. Yo u n g, o l d, h i g h - b row, l ow - b row, l i g h t - h e a rt e d, s e ri o u s , i n t rove rt s , ex t rove rt s , m o d e rn i s t s , f u n d a m e n t a l i s t s — t h e re seems to be no common denominator wh i ch gives us a cl u e. Many people wh o s t a rted by thinking of themselves as tempera m e n t a l ly less re s p o n s ive to spiritual ex p e rience have found themselve s , to their s u rp ri s e, d e ep ly stirre d. The basic capacity within the human consciousness is there bu t , of cours e, the intensity will va ry fro m p e rson to pers o n , for psych o l ogical reasons as well as reasons of fa i t h , not to mention God’s sove reign freedom to wo rk more p owe r f u l ly through one of his servants than another.

Some people’s spiritual life will be highly ‘ ch a ri s m atic’. Th e re will be plenty of ﬁrewo rks. Gre at uplifts will often be fo l l owed by the deepest depths. A sense of the miraculous will perva d e eve ry t h i n g. Th ey will feel with intensity, both love and joy — a n d pain. For others it will be a mu ch quieter walk. No gre at ups or d owns— just deep sere n i t y, with the occasional shaft of joy, as they walk in the Spiri t .

A lways ke ep in mind that fe e l i n g G o d ’s presence is not the only and by no means the most important factor pointing to the Spiri t ’s wo rk in you. It is the emergence of the fruit of the Spirit in your life and ch a ra c t e r, those gracious Chri s t l i ke qualities, and sensing yo u rself as being used in God’s service through some of the nat u ra l or supern at u ral gifts of the Spiri t , wh i ch are the real tests. In G a l atians 5:22, Paul speaks of the harve s t , or fru i t , of the Spirit as being ‘ l ove, j oy, p e a c e, p at i e n c e, k i n d n e s s , go o d n e s s , ﬁd e l i t y, gentleness and self-contro l .’These are qualities of ch a racter and s t ates of the mind, as opposed to the more serv i c e - o ri e n t ated ‘ gi f t s ’ of the Spirit. A ny spiritual ex p e rience wh i ch does not give some evidence of the fruit of the Spirit is to be suspected. Remember how little support John We s l ey got from his feeling states fo l l owing the A l d e rs gate ex p e rience? And yet how mightily he was being used by G o d !

I once asked a mu ch respected commissioner, a saintly man of G o d, to tell me of the gre atest moment of spiritual feeling he had k n ow n .

‘ The nearest I have come to a “ h e ave n ly ” ex p e ri e n c e,’he rep l i e d, ‘ was when I was a sergeant at the training college. We

9 6 s e rgeants we re allowed to attend the annual offi c e rs ’c o u n c i l s conducted by Commissioner Samuel Hurren. Th ey we re mighty gat h e rings. The commissioner was a wonderful orator and he wa s also a master at conducting meetings, using new songs and melodies t h at gripped us. All of us sergeants seem to have ex p e rienced a similar uplift because I remember how we used to gather for ex t ra p rayer meetings in the mess. The days fo l l owing the councils wo u l d b ring back waves of emotion. Th at was the time when the song “Come Ye Yo u rs e l ves Ap a rt ” was ﬁrst intro d u c e d, and for ye a rs a f t e r wa rds the reading or the quiet humming of this song in my m o rning devotions would bring back tender feelings and mellow n e s s of spirit. But the heave n ly ex p e rience gra d u a l ly subsided, h oweve r h a rd we tried to hold on to it, and in a week or 10 days the fe e l i n g s we re gone and I my s e l f, as far as I could judge, was back to “ n o rm a l ” .’

No eart h - s h at t e ring ex p e rience to rep o rt , but rather a now fa i n t m e m o ry of events long past. And yet that the commissioner wa s used of God throughout his life there was no doubt.

You ask me how you can know whether a spiritual bre a k t h ro u g h ex p e rience can be yo u rs. I can only rep ly in We s l ey ’s wo rd s , t h at it is the common priv i l ege of the ch i l d ren of God to k n ow t h ro u g h ex p e rience the power of God at wo rk in them. The discove ry may b owl you over or it may be a faint glimpse of glory or you may see it in the evidence of God wo rking t h ro u g h yo u , as was the case with We s l ey, bu t , unless you are part of that small minority who are called to walk by faith only, you will k n ow.

But if I am one of these low - keyed people who do not ex p e ri e n c e these things ve ry viv i d ly, could it be that the little I alre a dy know of the Spiri t , f rom time to time, is all that I am cap able of or that God will grant me? Pe r h aps the Spirit is alre a dy at wo rk and I don’t need this release or ﬁlling at all.

This is cert a i n ly a possibility. The test is whether your spiri t u a l l i fe is satisfying to you. Th e re is always something of a longing in the heart of eve ry Christian to be drawn nearer to his Lord, and ye t t h at longing can co-exist with a deep sense of joy and peace and s at i s faction. But it is when we become dissat i s ﬁed with ours e l ve s and our spiritual at t a i n m e n t , when we ﬁnd ours e l ves hunge ring and t h i rsting for righteousness as never befo re, almost agonising fo r reality in our re l i gion (all part of the Holy Spiri t ’s prep a rat o ry

9 7 wo rk ) , t h at we know that God is wanting to break through in some n ew way. You try and tell one who is hunge ri n g, s t a rving fo r something more, t h at he is alre a dy sat i s ﬁe d. You try and tell a seeke r t h at he is alre a dy a ﬁn d e r. It just does not wo rk. And it is by this test t h at you will know whether God is drawing you on to some furt h e r reve l ation in your spiritual life.

I was interested in the gre at va ri e t y of the personal ex p e ri e n c e s wh i ch you instanced earl i e r. How do you account for the va riety and h ow might it affect me pers o n a l ly ?

The constant factor in the va riety of human spiritual ex p e ri e n c e i s , of cours e, the Spirit of God. If, for a moment, we think of the S p i rit in more impersonal term s , as a powe r, we can then say that the d ivine power a c t s upon us and that all we do is to re-act to the div i n e t o u ch. In a sense the initial action will always be the same, t h e d ivine power is the constant fa c t o r, but the reaction to the div i n e i n ﬂow will va ry according to the inﬁnite permu t ations of human c i rc u m s t a n c e s , needs and desire s .

A pers o n ’s basic psych o l ogical make-up will there fo re have an i m p o rtant bearing on how the divine touch will be manife s t e d. We h ave alre a dy noted that some people appear to have a gre at e r c apacity for re l i gious ex p e rience than others , but whether we are the c o o l , l ogi c a l , reasoning type of pers o n a l i t y, or the wa rm , i n t u i t ive, feeling type will also tend to shape the fo rm of the actual ex p e ri e n c e. Wh at to one will pre d o m i n a n t ly seem like an utterly compelling ﬂash of insight, will to the other seem like a wa rm sense of emotional we l l - b e i n g, but equally as compelling. You will remember that we divided the testimonies according to the stress on wh at was fe l t, p e rc e ive d and re c e ive d. All intense spiri t u a l ex p e rience pro b ably contains the three ingre d i e n t s , but the p ro p o rtions of the mix va ries according to our basic pers o n a l i t y.

But this is only helpful to a degre e. The Spirit is not impers o n a l . We are not opening ours e l ves up to a blind fo rce but to a God of love who knows our needs and understands our ex p e c t ations. It is t h e re fo re more helpful to think of the Spirit as coming to the aid of our inﬁrmities and responding to our spoken or unspoken praye rs .

Th at is why, as Thomas A. Smail points out, ‘the most pro m i n e n t fe at u re of the ex p e rience for some will be a new sense of cl o s e -

9 8 ness to Christ; for others it will be the discove ry of a new urge to p ray and reality in prayer; for others a new sense of openness to people and of effe c t ive re l ationship with them; for others an enteri n g into victory at a salient point of moral defe at; and for yet others a n ew boldness to be Chri s t ’s witness’. Of cours e, sometimes it will seem that the Spirit in his ge n e rosity goes way beyond our speciﬁc p e t i t i o n s , but you can be quite sure that he will not fo rce upon yo u gifts that you do not wa n t .

You mention gifts. Wh at about the gifts of the Spirit? Should I expect to re c e ive these gifts? Should I pray for speciﬁc gi f t s ?

You ought to consider ve ry care f u l ly wh at the New Testament has to say about gifts of the Spirit. The main section dealing with the subject is 1 Corinthians 12-14. ‘ These ch ap t e rs are like a honey s a n dw i ch ,’ o b s e rves David C. K. Watson in One in the Spiri t, ‘ w i t h l ove as the honey in the midd l e. Unfo rt u n at e ly, some lick the honey and ignore the rest of the sandw i ch , wh i ch is missing the wh o l e point in Chapter 13; while others swa l l ow the bread but fo rget ab o u t the honey, and that is bad for the spiritual digestion! It is there fo re i m p o rtant to stress the “ b o t h / a n d ” aspects of these ch ap t e rs .’

‘ N o t i c e ’ , c o n t i nues David Wat s o n , ‘the gre at va riety of gifts. In ve rses 8-10 we have nine of the more re m a rk able ones; ve rses 28-30 a dd ap o s t l e s , t e a ch e rs , h e l p e rs , a d m i n i s t rat o rs; Ephesians 4:11 i n cludes eva n gelists and pastors; and Romans 12 speaks ab o u t s e rv i n g, ex h o rt i n g, giving (money and aid) and “acts of mercy ” . Th u s , d epending on how we group these gi f t s , t h e re are either s eve n t e e n , nineteen or twenty-one distinct gifts that are mentioned in the Scri p t u re s .’

But it is unlike ly that even this list is ex h a u s t ive. The New Testament is not a volume of systematic theology. The Spiri t ’s wo rk is inﬁn i t e ly va ried and it would be beyond any human being to attempt to list all the possible ways in wh i ch the Spirit might wo rk t h rough us. But the New Testament lists give us a starting point.

Paul speaks of the Spirit ‘ d i s t ri buting the gifts sep a rat e ly to each i n d ividual at will’, and that ‘in each of us the Spirit is manifested in one particular way, for some useful purp o s e ’ , and that ‘the higher gifts are those you should aim at ’ (1 Corinthians 12:7, 3 1 ) .

9 9 Ye s , you should expect to re c e ive gifts of the Spirit. This in a sense is only another way of talking about the need for more powe r, or more love for souls, p h rases that we often use. Paul points out that the Spirit will gift us each in some particular way, and that when we e a ch fulﬁl our ro l e, the Church as a whole can meet the needs of the wo rl d. This does not mean that we are limited to only one gi f t , bu t rather that one particular gift will be our main contri bution to the b o dy of Chri s t .

Sometimes powe rs are granted to us for certain occasions only. Thus some people have felt an inner urge to mediate the power of healing in some particular instance, and have discove red that the gi f t was there, but for that occasion only. The Christian is God’s i n s t rument and God can perfo rm his mira cles through him as need a ri s e s .

Should you pray for speciﬁc gifts? It seems as if God plants within us the desire for the gifts that he wants to give us! Th e Q u a ke rs talk about Christians being given ‘a concern ’ fo r s o m e t h i n g, and we talk about people feeling led in some direction or o t h e r. These are diffe rent ways of speaking of a real fact of ex p e ri e n c e. God d o e s implant within us diffe rent concerns. Some C h ristians feel part i c u l a rly stro n g ly about the outcasts of society, some have a passionate concern for eva n ge l i s m , o t h e rs feel their task is to build up the saints, or to teach. This is, of cours e, the wh o l e point of Pa u l ’s va rious lists of functions within the Church. And just as God gives diffe rent concerns to diffe rent people, so he grants the gifts that will enable us to fulﬁl the allotted ro l e. How often have we not heard that God equips those he calls? This is the same tru t h clothed in diffe rent wo rd s .

So if God has given you a ‘ c o n c e rn ’ and your own need points in the direction of a gift listed in the New Testament or even one not l i s t e d, p ray speciﬁc a l ly for that gift. Our fo re fat h e rs continu a l ly singled out the gift they called ‘ l ove for souls’. We know wh at they meant and we also know how abu n d a n t ly that was granted to so m a ny of them.

Can one guarantee that a sick person will be healed through a p owerful inﬁl l i n g, as was mentioned in some of the testimonies, o r t h at people bound by phobias or compulsions will be set fre e ?

N o , t h at sort of guarantee cannot be given. The kind of mira cl e s you mention do happen again and aga i n , but it would be unfair of

1 0 0 me not to point out that they do not always fo l l ow. Why this is so is one of the unanswe rable my s t e ries of life. Why are some people healed through spiritual means and others not? Why are some released from their fe a rs in an instant, while for others it is a long p ro c e s s , and others again never ﬁnd complete release? It could be a l a ck of faith on the part of the person concern e d, for Jesus said, ‘A c c o rding to your faith be it unto yo u ,’but that suggestion seems far too glib and easy and cold when we are faced with actual instances of human suffe ri n g. It is like blaming the suffe re rs fo r their misfo rt u n e. The degree of faith of some suffe re rs is so intense t h at it becomes heart - rending to wat ch. Could it be, t h e n , t h at the S p i ri t , the wind that bl oweth wh e re it listeth, for some re a s o n withholds healing or release? Th at would seem to be totally contra ry to the nat u re of God. So we are no further fo r wa rd. We are fa c e d with a my s t e ry.

D avid Wi l ke rs o n , in his B eyond the Cross and the Switch bl a d e, tells of a deep - s e ated fear of flying wh i ch he felt was crippling his m i n i s t ry. To get rid of it he tried ‘ eve ry technique know n , s p i ri t u a l and temporal’. He tried ‘ p ray i n g, fa s t i n g, re l i n q u i s h m e n t , s e e k i n g d e l ive ra n c e, requesting interc e s s i o n ’ , but nothing wo rke d. Someone s u ggested to him that he ought to think of it as a ‘ s t ru c t u ra l we a k n e s s ’ and to learn to live with it, and adapt his life accord i n g ly. At first this seemed utterly repugnant to Dav i d. An admission of d e fe at. But in the ch apter entitled ‘ The fear I couldn’t conquer’ h e tells how eve n t u a l ly he was led to accept this fear as a part of him, t o look at it like Pa u l ’s famous thorn in the fle s h , and to adapt his t ravelling plans accord i n g ly.

He concl u d e s : ‘ M a ny of us are built with stru c t u ral we a k n e s s e s wh i ch we are not able to conquer. Paul says they are there to ke ep us h u m bl e. When we face these, admit our inability ever to ove rc o m e t h e m , He will—if we just ask Him—make a way of escape that we m ay be able to bear it.’

Wh at was Pa u l ’s testimony? ‘ Th ree times I begged the Lord to ri d me of it but his answer wa s : “My grace is all you need; power comes to its full strength in we a k n e s s .” I shall there fo re pre fer to ﬁnd my j oy and pride in the ve ry things that are my weakness; and then the p ower of Christ will come and rest upon me. Hence I am we l l c o n t e n t , for Chri s t ’s sake, with we a k n e s s , c o n t e m p t , p e rs e c u t i o n , h a rd s h i p , and fru s t ration; for when I am we a k , then I am stro n g ’ (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

1 0 1 G re at sensitivity of spiritual discernment is, of cours e, needed to distinguish between a ‘ s t ru c t u ral we a k n e s s ’ wh i ch God wants us to bear gra c e f u l ly and a ﬂaw wh i ch can be re m e d i e d. But God has his own ways of letting us know the truth about ours e l ve s .

1 0 2 9 Entering into spiritual fullness

W H AT must I do to ex p e rience ‘ s a l vation in all its fullness’in my own life ?

WE sometimes talk about our part in a spiritual encounter as the f u l filling of certain conditions. We say, for ex a m p l e, t h at there are c e rtain conditions on wh i ch God saves us. Now if wh at you are seeking is in fact a completion, or fulfilment in ex p e ri e n c e, of the wo rk of salvat i o n , it should not surp rise us if we find that the conditions are ex a c t ly the same. If in our ex p e rience we have only found ‘ s a l vat i o n ’ in the sense of fo rgiveness and of belonging to the fa m i ly of God, when all along God meant us to find ‘full salvat i o n ’ and to enjoy all the promises he has made, then it is because s o m e h ow we did not fulfil the conditions suffi c i e n t ly adequat e ly.

The conditions of salvation are crystallised in two wo rd s — repentance and faith. Wh at ever other wo rds and metap h o rs and i l l u s t rations we might choose to use to describe our part in seeking for the ex p e rience of salvat i o n — wh i ch includes our fo rgiveness and being born again as a child of God through the Holy Spiri t — t h ey all boil down to these two basic ideas. We rep e n t , we turn away in s o rrow from the past, we confess our sins and renounce them fo r eve r, and we consecrate ours e l ves to God. And then we put our fa i t h in God, we trust him to accept us and do his wo rk within us, a c c o rding to his pro m i s e.

The literat u re wh i ch springs from a back ground of sanctific at i o n or baptism in the Spirit teaching gives us compre h e n s ive lists of the conditions wh i ch must be fulfilled for the further blessing to be b e s t owe d. But it is interesting to note, though not surp ri s i n g, t h at all of these conditions can easily be grouped under our two headings of faith and rep e n t a n c e. This gives us further confirm ation of the fa c t t h at wh at we are seeking is not a diffe rent but a deeper wo rk of gra c e.

1 0 3 Let us look more cl o s e ly at the cluster of ideas surrounding the wo rd rep e n t a n c e. Often it is not the more obvious sins of commission that tro u ble us most when seeking a fullness ex p e ri e n c e, but it is rather the sins of omission, the good we ought to h ave done, wh i ch tro u ble us. We feel there is still too mu ch of self and that we have failed to yield ours e l ves fully to God and to love him with all our mind, h e a rt and soul. The idea of consecrat i o n t h e re fo re becomes all import a n t .

We repent of our lack of willingness to yield ours e l ve s c o m p l e t e ly to God, and we abandon ours e l ves to his will. We say to him that we are his for time and eternity and that ‘ Thy will shall be f u l ﬁlled in me, wh ate’er the consequences be.’

Because of the lack of self-know l e d ge from wh i ch most people s u ffe r, this emptying of ours e l ves needs to be a continual pro c e s s . The Holy Spiri t , t h roughout our early life, will be revealing to us a reas of our personality wh i ch have not yet been surre n d e re d, a n d ‘our consecration must ke ep pace with God’s reve l ation’. Spiri t u a l c risis points arise only because of our fa i l u re to expand our faith and commitment to mat ch God’s unfolding plan for us.

‘ This consecrat i o n ’ , w rites Samuel Brengle in Helps to Holiness, ‘consists in a perfect putting off of your own will, your disposition, t e m p e r, d e s i re s , l i kes and dislike s , and a perfect putting on of C h ri s t ’s will, C h ri s t ’s disposition, t e m p e r, d e s i re s , l i kes and dislike s . In short , p e r fect consecration is a putting off self and a putting on C h rist; a giving up your own will in all things and re c e iving the will of Jesus instead. This may seem well-nigh impossible and ve ry d i s agre e able to you; but if you mean business for etern i t y, and will i n t e l l i ge n t ly and unﬂi n ch i n g ly look at this strait gate through wh i ch so few enter, and tell the Lord that you want to go through that way, though it cost you your life, the Holy Spirit will show you that it is not only possibl e, but easy and delightful thus to yield yo u rself to G o d.’

But complete consecration of themselves to God is a hurdle fro m wh i ch many of God’s ch i l d ren appear to shy away.

When it comes to faith this is again but an extension of the fa i t h t h at leads to salvation. We need to be intellectually convinced that the kind of life in the Spirit we have been talking about is indeed open to us. Such faith will come to us, as I have mentioned, by the

1 0 4 reading of Scri p t u re, and devotional wri t i n g s , supplemented by h e a ring the pre a ching of the wo rd, and testimonies of those wh o a l re a dy know this life. Faith in that sense is not something we can wo rk up. It is something that arises spontaneously within us wh e n we expose ours e l ves to the full impact of God’s reve l ation in Chri s t .

But at some point or other there must come that moment of heart t rust when we, in the old phra s e, claim the promise for ours e l ve s . This concept is not without its practical difficulties so we must deal with these.

B e fo re you do, could I just mention that if consecration and fa i t h a re the conditions for the release of the Spirit or full salvation then I feel that I have many times re a ched that point. I have fuiﬁlled the c o n d i t i o n s , but nothing ever seems to happen. Time and again I have s u rre n d e red my all to God, ge nu i n e ly so, and I have believed the p romises of Scri p t u re and put my trust in him—but nothing hap p e n s . Why ?

Your pro blem is shared by many. It may well be that yo u r c o n s e c ration is not so complete as you would like to think, and that God is getting two conﬂicting messages from yo u , or it could be re l ated to this question of wh at is called ap p ro p ri at i n g faith. Let’s look at them in turn .

Th e re is a line in a song from the musical G l o ry ! wh i ch gives us the key to successful seeking after spiritual bl e s s i n g. ‘If you want it, i t ’s yo u rs ! ’Ye s , b e l i eve it or not, the line says it all. If you re a l ly want it, i t ’s yo u rs for the taking. God is like a ge n e ro u s , l ov i n g fat h e r, who longs to shower his gifts on us. It is not a matter of w resting blessings by brute importunity from a reluctant God. He longs to give, and we know from wh at Jesus told us that God take s the initiat ive in these mat t e rs .

But why, t h e n , does he not answer my cry and rend the heave n s and come down? The answer may be quite simple; perhaps at heart I do not want him to! Sometimes the prayer of our lips does not c o rrespond with the prayer of our heart. Or in more psych o l ogi c a l t e rm s , sometimes the prayer of my conscious mind is being c o n t radicted by the prayer my subconscious mind is lifting up to G o d. And we do not even have to think of it in such psych o l ogi c a l j a rgon. If my set add resses to God at special, h o ly times, a re c o n t i nu a l ly being contradicted by the way I order my days and by the value I place on certain things, h o p e s , aims and ambitions, and

1 0 5 the ge n e ral set of my life, then these are an indication of wh at the re a l me wa n t s , and my pray i n g — h owever sincere it may seem to me—is not rep re s e n t at ive of the full me at all. God answe rs the p raye rs that arise from the re a l m e, not those of the re l i gious me wh i ch surfaces from time to time.

H. E. Fo s d i ck speaks of this in The Meaning of Praye r as praye r of the dominant desire. ‘ M a ny of the speeches we have add ressed to God that we have called our praye rs are not real praye rs at all. Th ey a re not our dominant desires. Th ey do not ex p ress the inwa rd set and d e t e rm i n ation of our lives. Wh at we pray for in the closet is not the thing that daily we are seeking with undiscourage able crav i n g. A n d p rayer that is not dominant desire is too weak to ach i eve any t h i n g.’ God answe rs the prayer of our dominant desire.

N ow this may help us to understand why the longe d - fo r b re a k t h rough does not come. But it still leaves us with a re a l p ro blem. How do I re a ch the point wh e re the real me wants the S p i rit to be re l e a s e d, the point wh e re my dominant desire is to wa l k in the Spiri t ?

Some people have called this process wrestling with God, but it is mu ch more accurate to talk of wrestling with my s e l f. Th e p e rsonality for a season turns into a bat t l e ﬁeld as the spiritual and the carnal self set to. And one by one the unwo rt hy motives and subconscious resistances are unmasked and dealt with. For some it is a period of intense mental and spiritual ago ny.

Wh at are some of these vo l u n t a ry and invo l u n t a ry hindrances to l i b e rty within the personality? The list of possibilities would be i m m e n s e ly long, but fo rt u n at e ly the Holy Spirit has a way of putting his ﬁn ger on our particular pro bl e m s , so that we are not left wo n d e ri n g. Th ey can ra n ge from gru d ges held against others to fe a r of ‘letting go and letting God’, fear of ri d i c u l e, fear of becoming ‘too spiri t u a l ’ , fear of trusting the future to God’s hands, fear that s u rrender will lead ultimat e ly to mat e rial loss, or loss of prospects. It could be wrong actions, thoughts or attitudes wh i ch we refuse to p a rt with. Or a shrinking from the suffe ring of the cross and fro m being a co-wo rker with God in seeking to save the wo rl d. A n d, a s Simon Tu g well comments, ‘ Wh at we are up aga i n s t , as we seek to enter more fully our Christian heri t age, is often not sin so mu ch as p s y ch o l ogical bl o ck ages and mental hangups. Wh at is re q u i red is a t ra n s fo rm ation at a level inaccessible to reason and deliberat i o n a l o n e.’

1 0 6 M a ny people, i n cluding Bre n g l e, witness to this time of trava i l , o f inner dark n e s s , b e fo re the dawning of peace and light. But it is d u ring this process that the desire for a spiritual bre a k t h ro u g h , t h rough the Spiri t ’s prep a rat o ry wo rk , becomes the dominant one. And wh e n , at last, you re a l ly want it—it’s yo u rs !

Let me add that other people, with beautiful, childish simplicity of faith and consecrat i o n , appear to walk with the utmost of ease into spiritual re l e a s e. Th ey seem to be the nat u rals in the Kingdom. The rest have to stru ggle to enter.

We l l , I think I must be one of the stru ggling kind, but perhaps part of my pro blem lies in this business of claiming God’s wo rk of gra c e by faith. I remember once when I went to the mercy seat that the counsellor suggested I should claim ‘the bl e s s i n g ’ by fa i t h , a n d b e l i eve that something had happened within me, even though all my intuition told me nothing had in fact hap p e n e d. We l l , I kept this up for a day or two , but it seemed like one big pre t e n c e, and gra d u a l ly I s o rt of fo rgot about it. Nothing ever came of it, and I am there fo re wa ry of the whole idea of claiming by fa i t h .

H e re we come to the crux of the mat t e r. Th e re is a real dange r t h at we shall end up as eternal seeke rs unless at some point we re a ch out and grasp that for wh i ch we are seeking. Some people have been seeking reality in their re l i gion for ye a rs , on and off. Th ey have wa i t e d, p raye d, s o u g h t , fa s t e d, knelt at the mercy seat , had hands laid on them, done eve ry t h i n g, in fa c t , ex c ept re c e ive the gift that is o ffe re d.

N ow I admit that there can be an element of God’s timing in all of this. It is no use urging people to take a step of faith for wh i ch they a re not inwa rd ly re a dy. A rriving at complete consecration may take a long time for some. All kinds of psych o l ogical barri e rs may have to come down. And arriving at intellectual acceptance of the New Testament reve l ation may also be a lengthy process. But allow i n g for all of that , t h e re does come the moment when the seeker know s i n t u i t ive ly that the time is ri p e. He is within the re a ch of the p romised land. One step more and he will be there.

It is at this point that ap p ro p ri at i n g, as contrasted with intellectual, faith comes into play. As Dr Sangster puts it, ‘ Faith steps fo r wa rd and grasps by anticipation the thing wh i ch is to be.’Wh at in effe c t h appens is that the seeker so trusts God to be true to his pro m i s e s t h at he accepts by fa i t h t h at the wo rk is done, and thanks

1 0 7 God and praises him for fulﬁlling his pro m i s e s , and then proceeds to l ive as if the wo rk of grace has been wrought. Sooner or later the i n wa rd conﬁrm ation will come.

It is like Peter walking on the wat e r. Unless at some point he had s t epped out of the boat and actually trusted the Lord ’s wo rd that the water would support him, he would never have known it in ex p e ri e n c e. The eternal seeke rs are the ones who hesitate to take the s t ep over the boat s i d e. ‘ I t ’s too ri s ky,’t h ey say. And so they re m a i n in the boat. And they never discover that the water can support them.

‘I tell yo u ,’said Je s u s , ‘ wh at ever you ask for in praye r, b e l i eve t h at you have re c e ived it and it will be yo u rs ’( M a rk 11:24).

D avid C. K. Wat s o n : ‘ The nat u re of faith is to take a promise of G o d, b e l i eve it to be tru e, claim it humbly and yet conﬁd e n t ly, a n d then start praising God that it is alre a dy tru e, whether or not the ex p e rience of its truth comes immediat e ly.’

S a muel Bre n g l e :

If we give ours e l ves to God, t h e re is but one thing more to do; that is, to take the blessing by faith and wait pat i e n t ly on Him for the witness of the Spirit that it is ours .

‘A nobleman whose son was sick came to Je s u s , and besought Him t h at He would come dow n , and heal his son; for he was at the point of d e ath. Then said Jesus unto him, E x c ept ye see signs and wo n d e rs , ye will not believe. The nobleman saith unto Him, S i r, come down ere my child die. Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man b e l i eved the wo rd that Jesus had spoken unto him,and he went his way ’ ( John 4:47-50). The next day when he got home he found his boy we l l . Hallelujah! Th at is the kind of faith that walks off with the bl e s s i n g.

Jesus will not fail you at this point if you pat i e n t ly look to Him and hold fast your faith. A gain and again I have seen people bu rst into the light when they have consecrated their all and believed in this way.

And let it be said, it was true to Bre n g l e ’s own ex p e ri e n c e. He placed his all on the altar on the Sat u rd ay morn i n g. It was an act of faith that brought him a measure of peace and joy. From the pulpit on the Sunday he witnessed to wh at he had done. But it was not until Tu e s d ay morning that the ﬁre descended from Heave n , c o n s u m i n g the offe ring and ﬁlling him with glory.

1 0 8 Another window into the same truth is the whimsical picture that Dr Evan Hopkins draws for us, of three men in a para d e. Fi rst comes Mr Fa c t , then behind him Mr Fa i t h , who is fo l l owed by Mr Fe e l i n g. Th ey are in the correct ord e r, but the tro u ble is that Mr Faith ke ep s wanting to turn round to see if Mr Feeling is fo l l ow i n g. But as soon as he does that he takes his eyes off Mr Fact and is in difficulties. ‘ I f o n ly Mr Faith would ke ep his eyes on Mr Fa c t ,’ s ays the doctor, ‘ h e would ﬁnd Mr Feeling fo l l owing close behind.’

The facts are the gre at promises of the New Testament and it is on these that we base our faith. The spiritual life is not seated in the emotions but in the will, and when after mu ch consideration I ‘ w i l l to believe ’ , I ﬁx my intention and I ﬁx my eyes on the gre at fa c t s b e fo re me. Now, my feelings may rebel and send me all kinds of c o n t ra d i c t o ry messages to dive rt my attention from the facts befo re m e, but the testimony of all who have wa l ked this way is that if I p e rs eve re, if Mr Faith ke eps his eyes on Mr Fa c t , then Mr Fe e l i n g will eve n t u a l ly come into step behind.

I can see that you are tro u bled about this point, and knowing that you have been disillusioned befo re, I can understand why. But a point that might help you is to remember that no one expects you to m a ke ex t ravagant ‘ cl a i m s ’ about your fe e l i n g s , claims wh i ch yo u r emotions might ﬂat ly contradict. It is no use thanking and pra i s i n g God for the rap t u rous joy, h e ave n ly love and eart h s h at t e ring powe r you feel if you feel none of these things. God does not expect us to become liars. No, your claims of faith must be centred on the fa c t s , not the fe e l i n g s .

Let me try to describe to you how you might ap p ro a ch the moment of discove ry, though this is such an intensely pers o n a l m atter that it is difficult to say anything ve ry speciﬁc.

You might well feel you ought to start by rev i ewing some of the gre at statements in the New Testament that have inflamed your fa i t h , the promises wh i ch you feel are beckoning you on. You will no doubt have certain texts in mind that seem vested with special meaning for you. Pa s s ages like John 3; John 14-17; Acts 2; Romans 8; 1 Corinthians 12-14; 1 John 1, a re continual re m i n d e rs of the reality wh i ch is promised to us. You might end with the cl a s s i c wo rds of Je s u s : And so I say to yo u , a s k , and you will re c e ive; seek,and you will fin d ; k n o ck , and the door will be opened. For eve ryone who asks re c e ive s , h e who seeks fin d s , and to him who knock s , the door will be opened.

1 0 9 Is there a father among you who will offer his son a snake when he asks for ﬁs h , or a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If yo u , t h e n , bad as you are, k n ow how to give your ch i l d ren wh at is good for them, h ow mu ch more will the heave n ly Father give the Holy Spirit to those wh o ask him! (Luke 11:9-13).

Then thank God for all he has alre a dy done in your life. Th a n k him for Jesus and thank him because he has made you a child of G o d. But then rev i ew in prayer your fa i l u res of the past, your sins and shortcomings wh i ch the Holy Spirit has been pointing out to you. Thank him for revealing them all so cl e a rly to you. Th e n renounce them and ask God to fo rgive you and to cleanse yo u . A c c ept his fo rgiveness by faith and thank him for it. You are now a clean ve s s e l .

Then ‘ o ffer your ve ry (self) to him, a living sacri ﬁc e, d e d i c at e d and ﬁt for his accep t a n c e ’ (Romans 12:1). Place yo u rs e l f u n re s e rve d ly in God’s hands; yield, s u rre n d e r, ab a n d o n , c o n s e c rat e yo u rself to him. As Brengle said, you may have to go over this a number of times until you are sure you have given your all. Cert a i n ve rses from the song book might be of help at this point, or wo rds of c o n s e c ration like the fo l l ow i n g, wh i ch are quoted in Fi re in C ove n t ry, by Stephen Ve rn ey :

I am no longer my ow n , but Th i n e. Put me to wh at Thou wilt, rank me with whom Thou wilt; put me to doing; put me to suffe ring; let me be e m p l oyed for Thee or brought low for Thee; let me be full, let me be empty; let me have all things, let me have nothing; I fre e ly and heart i ly yield all things to Thy pleasure and disposal.

And now ask God to release the Holy Spirit in your life, to come in fullness, to baptise yo u , to fill yo u , to grant you salvation in all its fullness according to the promises you have just re a d. Use wh at eve r wo rds have the deepest meaning for yo u , but ask him to penetrat e eve ry pore of your being and to fill you with himself. Ask him to re fine yo u , to mould you. Ask him to make you more Chri s t l i ke. A n d ask him to bestow on you all the re s o u rces of the Spirit. If you are favo u red with a good imagi n ation then try to visualise it h appening—God filling the empty vessel with his glory and releasing any inhibitions within yo u .

And now comes the step of faith. Thank God for his promises and tell him that you are taking him at his wo rd. Th at if ‘the pro m i s e is to yo u , and to your ch i l d re n , and to all who are far away, eve ryo n e whom the Lord our God may call’(Acts 2:39), then

1 1 0 you are going to take it to include yo u as well. And simply accept the gift by faith. Begin to thank him and to praise him for ﬁlling yo u with himself. ‘ Thank yo u , L o rd. I believe that at this moment yo u r S p i rit is being released within me, t h at you are ﬁlling me with yo u r wonderful fullness, t h at your power is coursing through me, and that you are making me alive in the Spirit and giving me new spiri t u a l p ower so that I might be a more effe c t ive servant of yo u rs .’

Notice the present tense of the verbs. Faith exe rcised in a future tense amounts to nothing. Th at is like staying in the boat. But after you have thanked God in the present tense, a ffi rm your step of fa i t h even further by praising him in the past tense. Thank him for hav i n g given the gift you asked fo r. Praise him for having granted wh at yo u s o u g h t .

N ow notice that nowh e re have there been any claims ab o u t feelings. You have accepted by faith the fact of the Spiri t ’s re l e a s e within you. Let Mr Faith ke ep his eyes on Mr Fact and all will eve n t u a l ly be well. Though in one sense the step of faith needs to be as determined and heroic as Jo b ’s—‘though he slay me yet will I t rust him’—there should also be an element of hap py anticipat i o n and eager ex p e c t ation—almost a looking for the miraculous. Yo u h ave placed your all on the altar and you are determined that it will s t ay there wh at ever happens—or does not happen. You are d e t e rmined that Mr Faith is not going to look back. Neither now nor in the future. But at the same time, p re c i s e ly because you trust God, you look fo r wa rd to the future with eager anticipat i o n .

Wh at happens then?

You ke ep thanking and praising God and begin to live as if t h e p romise has been fulﬁlled in you. You walk on the wat e r, in other wo rds. And you will be surp rised to ﬁnd that it supports yo u .

I have deliberat e ly not stressed the feeling element too much , bu t , of cours e, it is not unusual for a seeker actually to ex p e ri e n c e t h e ‘ l i fe in all its fullness’of wh i ch Christ spoke at the actual moment of his dedication of himself to God. As he lifts his heart in praise and t h a n k s giving he begins to feel ove r whelmed by feelings of love and j oy and peace—to a gre ater or lesser degree depending on his basic p e rs o n a l i t y. But it is important that the feeling element should not become the touch s t o n e.

1 1 1 For many people there is a time-lag between their consecrat i o n and ﬁnding inner assurance that something has hap p e n e d. But the s t eps of faith and consecrat i o n , ‘d e ﬁn i t e ly taken and unwave ri n g ly p e rs eve red in, will cert a i n ly bring you out sooner or later into the green pastures and still wat e rs of this life hid with Christ in God. You may be perfe c t ly sure of this.’

M ay I just interject another question here and ask whether it is best to seek God alone or in the company of other people?

M a ny people have found this inner completion when they have been praying on their own. Brengle is a case in point. But it is i n t e resting to note that the New Testament does not mention solitary s e e k i n g. In the Bible the Holy Spirit is always mediated thro u g h another human being. The old A rmy tradition of someone kneeling with you at the mercy seat and ‘helping you thro u g h ’ is there fo re ve ry mu ch scri p t u ral. Your own faith and your own seeking will be p owe r f u l ly enhanced if there is a group of believe rs who will join you in faith and praye r.

H ow will conﬁrm ation come to me that something new has take n place within?

We l l , you know wh at happened to Bre n g l e. It could be any t h i n g f rom that kind of ex p e rience down to just a faint glimpse of glory, o r We s l ey ’s ‘ my heart was stra n ge ly wa rm e d ’ , or some evidence of your being used by God in a new way. It is impossible to tell. But in some way or other God will reveal in you or through you that something has indeed taken place.

Do not be disappointed if it turns out to be diffe rent from wh at you had anticipat e d. Thank God for any sign wh i ch comes your way, h owever small, and let it encourage you in your walk of faith. God deals with us in diffe rent ways. You are only at the beginning of a n ew life - s t y l e. God’s presence may gra d u a l ly unfold to yo u — a f requent pat t e rn of ex p e rience—and you may wat ch in amaze m e n t as the gifts and the fruit of the Spirit develop in yo u .

And wh at of the future ?

This book has dealt mainly with the actual moments of spiri t u a l b re a k t h rough that lift us to a higher level of awa reness rather than dealing with the life in the Spirit wh i ch fo l l ows. But it is the life that fo l l ows wh i ch counts. A c c o rding to the classic pat t e rn of spiri t u -

1 1 2 ality you stand at the threshold of a period in your life wh i ch will be full of ups and downs as God continues his re ﬁning wo rk within you. You will become incre a s i n g ly awa re of God’s Spirit at wo rk in the wo rld and in you. But this same bre a k t h rough in ex p e ri e n c e wh i ch makes us awa re of the Spiri t ’s presence also makes us more a c u t e ly awa re of the evil fo rces wh i ch surround us. You may t h e re fo re ex p e rience temptation in increased measure.

At ﬁrst there will pro b ably be a time of inner glow, the kind of h o n eymoon time that God grants us. But this eve n t u a l ly fades. Yo u m ay recall Bre n g l e ’s comments: ‘In time, God withdrew something of the tremendous emotional feelings. He taught me I had to live by my faith and not by my emotions.’Donald Gee puts it delightfully : ‘ The kiss with wh i ch the father greeted the re t u rning pro d i gal son must have been like sweetest balm upon his we a ry spirit; yet no one would suggest that the father kept on kissing him all the time!’

The way ahead is ex c i t i n g. As you let the Spirit wo rk fre e ly in and through yo u , you will ﬁnd your life becoming a spiri t u a l a dve n t u re. It will be costly and demanding. The heave n ly gales may bl ow you wh e re you do not want to go. But through incre a s i n g p rayer and pra i s e, and increasing turning to God’s wo rd, a n d i n c reasing sharing with his people, and increasing giving of yo u rs e l f to others and to God’s serv i c e, and by increasing trust and s e l f y i e l d i n g, you will ﬁnd yo u rself ever more alive in God and eve r m o re being used by him as a ‘ c o - wo rke r ’ .

‘Of one thing I am cert a i n : ’w rote Pa u l , ‘the One who started the good wo rk in you will bring it to completion by the Day of Chri s t Je s u s ’ (Philippians 1:6).

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