May, 1869.
Dearest A—,
There is one point, in connection with our subject, winch has much occupied my mind, and that is the immense importance of cultivating an earnest faith in the presence and action of the Holy Ghost. We want to remember, at all times, that we can do nothing, and that God the Holy Ghost can do all. It holds good in the great work of evangelization, as in all beside, that it is, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” The abiding sense of this would keep us humble, and yet full of joyful confidence. Humble, because we can do nothing; full of joyful confidence, because God can do all. Moreover, it would have the effect of keeping us very sober and quiet in our work—not cold and indifferent, but calm and serious, which is a great matter just now. I was much struck with a remark lately made by an aged workman, in a letter to one who had just entered the field. “Excitement,” says this writer, “is not power, but weakness. Earnestness and energy are of God.”
This is most true and most valuable. But I like the two sentences taken together. If we were to take either apart, I think you and I would prefer the latter; and for this reason: there are many, I fear, who would regard as “excitement” what you and I might really consider to be “earnestness and energy.” Now, I do confess, I love a deep-toned earnestness in the work. I do not see how a man can be otherwise than deeply and thoroughly in earnest who realizes, in any measure, the awfulness of eternity, and the state of all those who die in their sins. How is it possible for anyone to think of an immortal soul standing on the very brink of hell, and in danger, at any moment, of being dashed over, and not be serious and earnest?
But this is not excitement. What I understand by excitement is the working up of mere nature, and the putting forth of such efforts of nature as are designed to work on the natural feelings—all high pressure—all that is merely sensational. This is all worthless. It is evanescent. And not only so, but it super induces weakness. We never find aught of this in the ministry of our blessed Lord, or His apostles: and yet what earnestness! what untiring energy! what tenderness! We see an earnestness which wore the appearance of being beside oneself; an energy which hardly afforded a moment for rest or refreshment; and a tenderness which could weep over impenitent sinners. All this we see; but no excitement. In a word, all was the fruit of the Eternal Spirit, and all was to the glory of God. Moreover, there was ever that calmness and solemnity which becomes the presence of God, and yet that deep earnestness which proved that man’s serious condition was fully realized.
Now, dearest brother, this is precisely what we want, and what we ought diligently to cultivate. It is a signal mercy to be kept from all merely natural excitement; and at the same time, to be duly impressed with the magnitude and solemnity of the work. Thus the mind will be kept properly balanced, and we shall be preserved from the tendency to be occupied with our work, merely because it is ours. We shall rejoice that Christ is magnified, and souls are saved, whoever be the instrument used.
I have been thinking a good deal lately of that memorable time, now exactly ten years ago, when the Spirit of God wrought so marvelously in the province of Ulster. I think I gathered up some valuable instruction from what then came under my notice. That was a time never to be forgotten by those who were privileged to be eyewitnesses of the magnificent wave of blessing which rolled over the land. But I now refer to it in connection with the subject of the Spirit’s action. I have no doubt whatever that the Holy Ghost was grieved and hindered in the year 1859, by man’s interference. You remember, dearest Α., how that work began. You remember the little school-house by the roadside, where two or three men met, week after week, to pour out their hearts in prayer to God, that He would be pleased to break in upon the death and darkness which reigned around; and that He would revive His work, and send out His light and His truth in converting power. You know how those prayers were heard and answered. You and I were privileged to move through those soul-stirring scenes in the province of Ulster; and I doubt not the memory of them is fresh with you, as it is with me, this day.
Well, what was the special character of that work, in its earlier stages? Was it not, most manifestly, a work of God’s Spirit? Did not He take up and use instruments the most unfit and unfurnished, according to human thinking, for the accomplishment of His gracious purpose? Do we not remember the style and character of the agents who were chiefly used in the conversion of souls? Were they not, for the most part, “unlearned and ignorant men?” And, further, can we not distinctly recall the fact that there was a most decided setting aside of all human arrangement and official routine? Working men came from the field, the factory, and the workshop, to address crowded audiences; and we have seen hundreds hanging, in breathless interest, upon the lips of men who could not speak five words of good grammar. In short, the mighty tide of spiritual life and power rolled in upon us, and swept away, for the time being, a quantity of human machinery, and ignored all question of man’s authority in the things of God and the service of Christ.
Now we can well remember, that just in so far as the Holy Ghost was owned and honored, did the glorious work progress; and, on the other hand, in proportion as man intruded himself, in bustling self-importance, upon the domain of the Eternal Spirit, was the work hindered and quashed. I saw the truth of this illustrated in numberless cases. There was a vigorous effort made to cause the living water to flow in official and denominational channels, and this the Holy Ghost would not sanction. Moreover, there was a strong desire manifested, in many quarters, to make sectarian capital out of the blessed movement; and this the Holy Ghost resented.
Nor was this all. The work and the workmen were lionized in all directions. Cases of conversion which were judged to be “striking” were blazed abroad and paraded in the public prints. Travelers and tourists, from all parts, visited these persons, took notes of their words and ways, and wafted the report of them to the ends of the earth. Many poor creatures, who had up to that time lived in obscurity, unknown and unnoticed, found themselves, all of a sudden, objects of interest to the wealthy, the noble, and the public at large. The pulpit and the press proclaimed their sayings and doings; and, as might be expected, they completely lost their balance. Knaves and hypocrites abounded on all hands. It became a grand point to have some strange and extravagant experience to tell; some remarkable dream or vision to relate. And even where this ill-advised line of action did not issue in producing knavery and hypocrisy, the young converts became heady and high minded, and looked with a measure of contempt upon old established Christians, or those who did not happen to be converted after their peculiar fashion—“stricken,” as it was termed.
In addition to this, some very remarkable characters—men of desperate notoriety, who seemed to be converted, were conveyed from place to place, and placarded about the various streets, and crowds gathered to see them and hear them recount their history, which history was very frequently a disgusting detail of immoralities and excesses which ought never to have been named. Several of these remarkable men afterward broke down, and returned with increased ardor, to their former practices.
These things, dearest Α., I witnessed in various places. I believe the Holy Ghost was grieved and hindered, and the work marred thereby. I am thoroughly convinced of this; and hence it is that I think we should earnestly seek to honor the blessed Spirit, to lean upon Him, in all our work; to follow where He leads, not run before Him. His work will stand. “Whatsoever God doeth it shall be forever.” “The works that are done upon the earth, he is the doer of them.” The remembrance of this will ever keep the mind well balanced. There is great danger of young workmen getting so excited about their work, their preaching, their gifts, as to lose sight of the blessed Master Himself. Moreover, they are apt to make preaching the end instead of the means. This works badly in every way. It injures themselves and it mars their work. The moment I make preaching my end, I am out of the current of the mind of God, whose end is to glorify Christ; and I am out of the current of the heart of Christ, whose end is the salvation of souls, and the full blessing of His Church. But where the Holy Ghost gets His proper place, where He is duly owned and trusted, there all will be right. There will be no exaltation of man; no bustling self-importance; no parading of the fruits of our work; no excitement. All will be calm, quiet, real, and unpretending. There will be the simple, earnest, believing, patient waiting upon God. Self will be in the shade; Christ will be exalted.
I often recall a sentence of yours, dearest A. I remember your once saying to me, “Heaven will be the best and safest place to hear the results of our work.” This is a wholesome word for all workmen. I shudder when I see the names of Christ’s servants paraded in the public journals, with flattering allusion to their work and its fruits. Surely those who pen such articles ought to reflect upon what they are doing; they should consider that they may be ministering to the very thing which they ought to desire to see mortified and subdued. I am most fully persuaded that the quiet, shady, retired path is the best and safest for the christian workman. It will not make Him less earnest, but the contrary. It will not cramp his energy, but increase and intensify it. God forbid that you or I should pen a line or utter a sentence which might, in the most remote way, tend to discourage or hinder a single worker in all the vineyard of Christ. No, no, dearest Α., this is not the moment for aught of this kind. We want to see the Lord’s laborers thoroughly in earnest; but we believe, most assuredly, that true earnestness will ever result from the most absolute dependence upon God the Holy Ghost.
But only see how I have run on! And yet I have not referred to those passages of scripture of which I spoke in my last. Well, dearly beloved in the Lord, I am addressing one who is happily familiar with the Gospels and the Acts, and who therefore knows that the great Workman Himself, and all those who sought to tread in His blessed footsteps, owned and honored the Eternal Spirit as the One by whom all their works were to be wrought.
I must now close, for the present, my much loved brother and fellow-laborer; and I do so with a full heart, commending you, in spirit, and soul, and body, to Him who has loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and called us to the honored post of workers in His gospel field. May He bless you and yours, most abundantly, and increase your usefulness a thousand fold!
As ever, and forever,
Your deeply affectionate work-fellow,