Spiritual BreakthroughThe Holy Spirit and Ourselves

by John Larsson

International Headquarters of The Salvation A r m y101 Queen Victoria Street, London EC4P 4 E P

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Copyright © 1983 The General of The Salvation A r m yPrint edition first published 1983

ISBN 0 85412 329 6

JOHN LARSSON BD

(Lieut-Colonel at the time of writing this book) became aSalvation Army officer in 1957. He has served in the Britishand Scotland Territories (now the UK Territory) and in SouthAmerica and at the International Training College where hesubsequently became its Principal. He has commanded T h eSalvation A r m y ’s work in the UK, New Zealand and Sweden,and was elected General (world leader) in 2002. He is theauthor of Doctrine without Te a r s, The Man Perfectly Filled withthe Spirit and How Your Corps can Grow, and composer ofmuch music including 10 full-length musicals with lyricistGeneral John Gowans (now retired).

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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

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1Aclassic 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 mhis student fr i e n d, and left as quick ly as he had entere d. It was tooe a rly, he decided, to share his secret. He was not sure he could tru s this vo i c e. No attempts at a casual manner could hide theex 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 away that it seemed to Sam that he was still poised somewh e reb e t ween Heaven and earth. He knew it was too soon to tell, but hech e rished an inwa rd assurance he had never befo re known. He wh ohad been a seeker for so long had become a fin d e r !

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

Not in his wildest imag i n ation could Brengle have seen himselft 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 gthousands by his powerful orat o ry, or dreamt that his books wo u l dsell over a million copies and would continue to sell long after hisd e at h , or fo reseen that year by year Brengle institutes would bec o nvened around the wo rld for the purpose of study i n g, ex p l o ri n gand praying for the kind of spiritual bre a k t h rough ex p e rience thatwas granted to him that morn i n g.

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

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p owe r, t h at he would be rega rded as an A rmy ‘ s a i n t ’ , t h at no oneoutside the Booth fa m i ly itself would make a gre ater spiritual impacton The Salvation A rmy, and that wh at had happened to him thatm o rning would be spoken of by ge n e rations of salvationists ye tu 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 9Ja nu a ry 1885. His thoughts we re on the present and, i n ev i t ably, o nthe recent past. The sense of peace that enveloped him seemed toogood to be tru e. Wh at a contrast to all he had been through! Later hewas to discover that many others have had to trave rse the samew 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 hisc o nve rsion. From a spiritual point of view those 13 ye a rs had beenve ry mixe d. Soon after his conve rsion he had stru ck out angri ly at alad who was taunting him, and had discove red on re flection thatt h e re was mu ch that was unlike Christ in his ch a ra c t e r. The incidentitself was unimportant but for Brengle it symbolised theincompleteness 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 seemeda lways to oppose wh at he felt we re God’s plans for his life. If Godwanted one thing, B rengle would want the other. By nat u re he wa san ambitious ora t o r, e ager to impress the wo rl d. But the Spiri tseemed to have other ideas. On this point, as with so many other s ,young Brengle was at odds with God.

The lack of spiritual power in his life was also something thatt ro u bled Sam deep ly. Not only was he defe ated by the tempter fa rtoo 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 dit well-nigh impossible to believe in God at all. On those days hefound the tension of having to fulfil his outwa rd re l i gious dutieswhilst inwa rd ly being in a state of ap at hy or even rebellion almosttoo mu ch to bear. And he had to admit that he was an ineffe c t iveC 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 kindof visiting the students engaged in no stra i n , but he knew inwa rd lyt h at his effo rts lacked the anointing from ab ove wh i ch alone couldm a ke them effe c t ive.

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

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s p i ritual life. Others could speak in glowing terms of commu n i n gwith 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 twithin. 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 ethem. Even the prospect of yet another service in the ch apel wa sgreeted with enthusiasm. Compared with this Brengle felt that hiss p i ritual life was dry and barren. He could remember times wh e nGod 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 eit 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 dthis particular predicament wh i ch is common to many believe rs. ‘ S om a ny Christians are like deaf people at a concert ,’she writes in Th eS p i ritual Life. ‘ Th ey study the programme care f u l ly, b e l i eve eve rys 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 notionat all of the mighty symphony wh i ch fills the unive rs e.’B re n g l e ’st ro u ble was that he could not hear the mu s i c. But he knew it wa st h e re—he had heard the occasional snat ch—and he was pro fo u n d lyd 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 tfor righteousness? Many would say it is all part of the Holy Spiri t ’swo rk within us because they trace their first fa l t e ring steps towa rd ss p i ritual fulfilment from that gnawing sense of incompleteness, eve nd e s p a i r, t h at made them re a ch out for the something more theyi 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 ld evelopment had re a ched crisis point. He had looked inwa rd s , h a dnot 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 seeme sometime?’ a s ked Dr Daniel Steele, the reve red Pro fessor ofDidactic Th e o l ogy at Boston Unive rs i t y. Sam was surp rised at thisp e rsonal interest in an unknown student, but the doctor had notedt h at some of Sam’s questions after lectures betrayed a more thant 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 isto Chri s t i a n i t y, then it is all a cruel mocke ry,’ex claimed the

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

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

He is up and dressed early this morning for a particular reason. Fo rs eve ral days conviction that he should be sanctified has lashed his soulinto re s t l e s s n e s s , re n d e ring sleep almost impossible; for weeks he hass e a rched the Scri p t u re s , ra n s a cked his heart ,c ried to God almost day andnight. 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 peaceflows 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 ofhis 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 dn o dded its head in testifying assent, and in the next instant has begun them ovement of a cool, re f reshing bre e ze within him and started springs ofs p a rkling wat e rs bu bbling up all through his being. Wh e reas all prev i o u sblessings have been tra n s i t o ry, coming and go i n g, this ex p e rience has thefeel of perm a n e n cy. His thro at emits no shout, his feet do not dance,bu this 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 hisroom 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 hissoul but it is still only smoulderi n g. The sense of divine pre s e n c eremains with him during that day and the next as he boldly tells ofhis ex p e rience from the pulpit, but it is not until the third day thatthe fire bu rsts into flame and the glory of God almost consumes him.B rengle recalls the moment in a passage of classic beauty:

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

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

I wa l ked out over Boston Common befo re bre a k fa s t , we eping for joyand praising God. Oh, h ow I loved! In that hour I knew Je s u s , and I love dHim till it seemed my heart would break with love. I was filled with lovefor all His cre at u res. I heard the little sparrows ch at t e ri n g : I loved them. Is aw a little wo rm wri ggling across my pa t h : I stepped over it; I didn’twant to hurt any living thing. I loved the dog s , I loved the hors e s , I love dthe 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 ofd ivinity into a spiritual giant! Looking back on those days manyye 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 sometimeswo n d e red whether I might not have lost it, but I have never doubted theex p e rience any more than I could doubt that I had seen my mother, o rl 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 emotionalfeelings. 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 upwith wings. He showed me that I must learn to trust Him, to havec 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 hadbeen poured into him and spiritual gifts came into play wh i ch madehim a fe a rless and powerful pr e a ch e r. The events of those days at thes e m i n a ry we re to launch him on a crusade wh i ch even after his deat hstill continues through his writings. He never tired of speaking of thereality of God indwelling the human personality and tra n s fo rming itto his own likeness. He had the gift of being

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able to paint the picture of God’s glory in the soul of man so viv i d lyt h at it awa kened in his heare rs an almost passionate longing for re a land immediate ex p e rience of God. His descriptions of the div i n ei 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 tto 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 ofl ove that brings eve ry thought into cap t ivity to the Lord Jesus; that castsout all fear; that bu rns up doubt and unbelief as fire bu rns tow; thatm 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 th at red; that makes heaven and hell eternal realities; that makes onep 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 tp a rtiality and without hy p o c risy’; that brings one into perfect andu n b ro ken sympat hy with the Lord Jesus Christ in His toil and travail tob 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 hep 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 itss i g n i ficance for us today? We live in an era when incre a s i n gnu m b e rs of Chri s t i a n s , of all denominations and of all types ofp 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 lb 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 soughtfo r, in others arriving completely unex p e c t e d ly, these moments ofd ivine invasion have set luke - wa rm , ap athetic and nominal believe rson fire for God, and have lifted their spiritual awa reness intodimensions prev i o u s ly undreamt of. Their stories make compellingreading and quicken hope and holy desire.

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

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

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

Taking Samuel Bre n g l e ’s ex p e rience as our starting point we willfirst of all call other witnesses who claim to have shared similarmoments of divine br e a k t h rough. Wh at further light on the nat u reand value of these ex p e riences can be gleaned from the pages ofC h ristian biograp hy? Our study will centre on post-conve rs i o nex p e ri e n c e s , but not ex cl u s ive ly, for all spiritual ex p e rience isb a s i c a l ly the bre a k t h rough of the divine into the humanc 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 la n g l e, to draw hard and fast distinctions between a conve rsion and ap 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 ofhuman stories the most rewa rding in the book. The va riety ofex p e rience is enormous—an important fact to bear in mind—and ye tt h e re are certain cl e a rly discern i ble similarities and pat t e rns ofex p e rience wh i ch emerge.

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

A re these tra n s fo rming moments best explained as instances ofthe blessing of holiness, in the we s l eyan sense of entires a n c t i fic ation? Brengle cer t a i n ly interp reted wh at had happened tohim along these lines. ‘On the morning of 9 Ja nu a ry 1885, G o ds 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 dthis 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 rf rom Bre n g l e ’s lips? This term , wh i ch was mu ch used in the earlyS a l vation A rmy, has re c e ived widespread curre n cy of lat e, and weshall 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 lawa 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

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thought runs a r i ch vein of deep spiri t u a l i t y. Wh at have the cl a s s i csaints 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 ofc o n s i d e ring moments of spiritual bre a k t h rough we will then fin i s hthe task by seeking to draw the search to a conclusion and to ap p lyour 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. Intellectualdoubt can be a ve ry real hindrance to spiritual re c ep t iv i t y, and if thep re s e n t ation of facts helps to clear away some mental haziness thenthe 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 , awo rd of introduction might be helpful.

In our search for parallels to Samuel Bre n g l e ’s testimony we shallra n ge over a wide spectrum of Christian ex p e rience from the pastand the present. But as soon as we try to study spiritual ex p e ri e n c et h rough testimonies we are faced with an almost insurm o u n t abl ep ro blem. It is the unanimous testimony of all who have know nmoments 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 beput into wo rds without too mu ch diffi c u l t y, but to cap t u re the actualm o m e n t , the surge of emotional wa rm t h , the sense of illumination ofthe 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—seemsb eyond the power of wo rds. Even Cat h e rine of Genoa, t h at pra c t i c a lv i s i o n a ry of the 15th century who never tired of trying to descri b eher 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 isconsumed 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 bet 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 Fr e n chs 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

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

The year of grace 1656M o n d ay, 2 3 rd November . . .

From half-past ten till half-past twe l veF 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 eGod of Jesus Christ. . . .

Fo rt u n at e ly for us the fact that these moments cannot bea d e q u at e ly tra n s l ated into wo rds has not deterred the saints fro mmaking the attempt. But in view of the inherent pro bl e m , a nycollection of testimonies will tend to highlight the ex p e riences ofthose who have most viv i d ly ex p e rienced the div i n e, and of thosemost able to commu n i c ate their ex p e ri e n c e. Having then share dv 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 canbetter understand our own perhaps mu ch paler moments of spiri t u a lawa re n e s s .

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2Moments of spiritual breakthrough

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

But the human mind likes ord e r, and the testimonies havet h e re fo re been grouped under three headings: those that highlightt 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 dencounter with the divine is like ly to contain all three elements, a n dmost of the testimonies quoted will illustrate more than just onep o i n t .

Moments of feeling

A spiritual ex p e rience is something that is felt. This is perhaps itsmost ch a ra c t e ristic constituent element. ‘ G o d ’s love has flooded ourinmost 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 intothe entire depths of my soul,’ w rites a 20th century ap o s t l e. ‘I wa su t t e rly ove r whelmed with joy,’ a dds a salvationist. In a highlyintellectualised pers o n a l i t y, wh e re the springs of feeling have beena l l owed to dry up, the feeling content will be less prominent bu td 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 ewho insists on not mixing emotion with his re l i gion diminishesgre at ly the possibility of personal ex p e rience of the div i n e. It is liket rying to fall in love without becoming emotionally invo l ve d.

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

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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 es p reading through my whole body. Its peace and joy settled within meand 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. Iremember I was walking the streets of New Yo rk , and right there on thes t reet the power of God seemed to come upon me so wo n d e r f u l ly I had toask 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 lyi n fluenced William and Cat h e rine Booth, in his memoirs descri b e sin 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 amighty 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 thingfor me, without any recollection that I had ever heard the thingmentioned by any person in the wo rl d, the Holy Spirit descended uponme in a manner that seemed to go through me, b o dy and soul. I couldfeel 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 hm e. Indeed, it seemed to come in waves of liquid love. No wo rds canex p ress the wonderful love that was shed ab road in my heart. I wep taloud 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 dthe night befo re re t u rned upon me in the same manner. I arose upon myknees in bed and wept aloud for joy, and remained for some time toomu ch ove r whelmed with the baptism of the Spirit to do anything bu tpour out my soul to God.

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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 al i b ra ry shelf and was stru ck with the title of a book, The Chri s t i a n ’sS e c ret of a Hap py Life.

As I read it my heart was set on fire to find this life of freedom andfullness. I re a ched the fo rty-second page when the Inner Voice said ve ryd 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 Iwa n t e d, t h at when I finished it I would seek. But the Inner Voice wa si m p e ri o u s ,‘ N ow is the time to seek.’I tried to read on, but the wo rd sseemed bl u rre d. I was up against a Divine insistence,so closed the book,d ropped on my knees and aske d, ‘ Wh at 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 nI 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 myknees. I wa l ked around the room affi rming it over and ove r,and pushingmy hands away from me as if to push away my doubt. This I did for tenm i nu t e s , when sudd e n ly I was filled with a stra n ge re fining fire thatseemed 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 ewaves 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 therewas a sense of sacredness and awe—and the most exquisite joy. I knewt 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 npossession of by Life itself. My will was just as mu ch invo l ved as myemotion. The fact is the whole of my life was on a perm a n e n t ly higherl eve l .

Pe a c e, s e re n i t y,wonderful stillness, d e ep tra n q u i l l i t y, a re descri p t ivewo rds fre q u e n t ly used of moments of spiritual bre a k t h rough. Bri ga d i e rJo s eph Korbel recalls in In My Enemy ’s Camp:

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

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

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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 lyyielding oneself to the casual sights around wh i ch give a tow n - b red ladwith country ye a rning such intense delight. Sudd e n ly I becameconscious of the presence of someone else. I cannot describe it, but I fe l tt h at I had as direct perc eption of the being of God all around about me asI have of you when we are toge t h e r. It was no longer a matter ofi n fe re n c e, it was an immediate act of spiritual (or wh at ever adjective yo ul i ke to employ) ap p rehension. It came unsought, ab s o l u t e lyu n ex p e c t e d ly. I remember the wonderful tra n s fig u ration of the fa r- o ffwoods and hills as they seemed to blend in the infinite being with wh i chI was thus brought into r e l ation. This ex p e rience did not last long. But its u fficed to ch a n ge all my fe e l i n g. I had not found God because I hadn 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 dhis feelings in these moments of awa reness. ‘An inex p l i c abl eswe e t n e s s , s u ch that , if it should be perfected in me, I know not towh at point my life might not arrive.’

Moments of perception

But moments of spiritual encounter are not only felt. Th ey aremoments 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 lb eyond doubt to the ex p e ri e n c e r. Eve rything seems to cl i ck intop l a c e. Often there is a strong sense of assurance that all is well andt 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 sucha moment wh i ch came to him at the age of 19 when as a studentminister 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 rthought processes wh i ch may have led up to the gre at moment. But thegre 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 dby Joy I thought, ‘ Ye s , I know ex a c t ly how he felt. I felt like that .’For afew seconds only, I suppose, the whole compartment was filled withlight. This is the only way in w h i ch to describe the moment,

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for there was nothing to see at all. I felt caught up into some tre m e n d o u ssense of being within a lov i n g, t riumphant and shining purp o s e. I neve rfelt more humbl e. I never felt more ex a l t e d. A most curious bu tove r whelming sense possessed me and filled me with ecstasy. I felt thatall was well for all mankind—how poor the wo rds seem! . . . I was ri g h tto want to be a minister. I had wanted to be a doctor and the conflict hadbeen intense, but in that hour I knew the ministry was the right path fo rm 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 cur i o u sl i n ge ring fe e l i n g. I l ove d eve ry b o dy in that compartment. It sounds sillyn ow, and indeed I blush to write it,but at that moment I think I wo u l dh 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 thegolden wo rth in them all.

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

I went to ch u rch that morning (he wr i t e s ) , m e re ly hoping for somehelp in my search i n g, and when I left, t wo ye a rs of aimlessness andfutility 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 lym at t e re d.

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

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

The assurance of rightness with God, of sins fo rgiven and are l ationship re s t o red—a frequent neotic quality of spiri t u a lex p e riences—came to John We s l ey as he listened to a reading ofL 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 gewh i ch God wo rks in the heart through faith in Chri s t , I felt my hearts t ra n ge ly wa rm e d. I felt I did trust in Chr i s t ,C h rist alone for mys a l vation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away mys 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 ave rse from Romans.

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

Sometimes these ex p e riences of the Spirit convey not only asense of rightness but also seem to convey actual info rm ation ab o u tG 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 sthe intellect. Unfo rt u n at e ly the details of the know l e d ge thus ga i n e da re lost as soon as the moment of awa reness is ove r, l e aving only theabiding impression that eve rything in the unive rse makes perfect andwonderful sense.

Attempts to recall and commit the details to writing makeex t re m e ly turgid and sometimes seemingly nonsensical re a d i n g, a sthe authors despairi n g ly admit. But the reve l ation ap p e a rs to havebeen 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 willk n ow something of this aspect of ex p e ri e n c e, though pro b ably inmu ch paler fo rm than the examples wh i ch fo l l ow.

The inspired shoemaker Jacob Boehme, of the 17th century, wh ohas been described as ‘the most astonishing case in history of an 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 beenm a ny ye a rs together at a unive rs i t y.

Francis Xav i e r, a distinguished scientist and philosopher of the16th 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 dGod 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 tome that a veil was raised befo re the eyes of my spiri t , and the truths ofthe human sciences, even those wh i ch I had never studied, b e c a m em a n i fest to me by an infused intuition, as to Solomon of old. This stat eof intuition lasted about twe n t y - four hours; then,as if the veil had fa l l e naga i n , I found myself as ignorant as befo re.

Few have ex p e rienced illumination in such startling detail, but thesense of having ex p e rienced a reality wh i ch from then on cannot bedoubted 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 hisTestament of Devo t i o n:

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

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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 af u rther insight on this same theme:

God establishes Himself within one’s soul in such a manner thatwhen the soul re t u rns to herself it is impossible to doubt that God hasbeen in her and she in Him. And this certainty remains so firm lyi m p rinted on one’s mind that if one should go for many ye a rs withoutbeing raised again to this condition, one could neither fo rget the favo u rt 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 eis the sense of affi n i t y, h a rm o ny or even unity wh i ch emerge sb e t ween the ex p e riencer and the cr e ated wo rl d. The ex p e ri e n c e rfeels at one with the unive rse and feels that he belongs, t h at he is ath o m e, so to speak. It is as if in one timeless moment he hasex p e rienced wh at life should always be.

The cre ated wo rld often seems suffused with a new glory as aresult of a divine reve l at i o n , wh i ch further heightens the sense ofb 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 itwe re, a calm,sweet cast, or ap p e a rance of divine glory, in almosteve 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 dto appear in eve ry t h i n g : in the sun, moon and stars; in the clouds andblue 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 19thc e n t u ry, who used to say, ‘I can’t help praising the Lord. As I goalong the stre e t , I lift up one fo o t , and it seems to say “ G l o ry”; and Ilift up the other, and it seems to say “Amen”; and so they ke ep upl 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 efie 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 Godap p e a red in all His visible cre ation. I well remember we re aped oat s , a n dh ow eve ry straw and head of the oats seemed, as it we re, a rrayed in akind of ra i n b ow glory.

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

I still remember walking down the Notting Hill main road ando 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 GeorgeWade 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 alsom e d i ate to or release within the personality new and unsuspectedp owe rs of re m a rk able strength. The ex p e riencer feels himselfcleansed 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 andeven phy s i c a l ly.

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

All of an awful sudden God showed me at least part of my sinful selfand how phoney, d e s p i c able and small I re a l ly was.... God’s wo rkings inme over the next minutes or hours (of wh i ch I was not awa re) we re soreal that they have never lost their sharpness or re a l i t y. He made meclean! Right through! Shiny clean like I’d never known befo re! A shinewh i ch glowed white and clear in eve ry pore of my being. No fuzz ormu rkiness or scaliness—just pure and clean. Wh at a wonderful God! Butt h at was just the beginning because as my heart lifted in praise for thiswonderful 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 tobu 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 sthe moment of his divine visitat i o n :

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All things we re new, and all the cre ation gave another smell unto methan 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 Godby Christ Je s u s , so that I was come up into the state of A d a m , wh i ch hewas in befo re he fe l l .

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

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

Th e re stole ge n t ly across his tro u bled spirit the consciousness of agre 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. Wewill start life all over again without the habits that have spoilt it. Tru s tM e, I will ke ep thee.’He arose from his knees. He says that he was note c s t a s i zed by an ove rp owe ring emotion. No instantaneous wave ofex 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 gd e s i re to leap and shout. No seventh heaven descended to engulf him in acloud of glory. But nineteen ye a rs later he is able to dec l a re : ‘ From thatmoment to the present I never have been tempted to take a drink ofa nything with alcohol in it. If I we re again to become a dru n k a rd I shouldh ave to acquire anew the appetite for liquor. I should have to learn allover again to love the drink that was for thirt y - five ye a rs the gre atest loveof my life.’

A fo rmer drug addict named Jo s ep h , quoted by David Wi l ke rs o nin 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 dI was beginning to skin pop heroin. I alre a dy had the mind habit and Ihad to do this thing. When I heard about Jesus it kind of shocked me thatHe loved people in spite of all their sins. It stirred me when I heard thatHe puts real teeth behind His pro m i s e s , by coming into us with thisb aptism of the Holy Spirit.... So I got wanting this, just like Neda. In thech apel I cried to God for help, and that ’s when He came aro u n d. I wa s n ’tl o n e ly any more. I didn’t want any more drugs. I loved eve ry b o dy. Fo rthe first time in my life I felt cl e a n .

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

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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 sso stro n g ly addicted to that I thought nothing but shooting me thro u g hthe head could have cured me of it; and all desire and incl i n ation to itwas re m ove d, as entire ly as if I had been a sucking ch i l d, nor did thet 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 ofthe 16th century, sums up the almost miraculous power wh i ch can bereleased 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 toabolish at a stro ke certain imperfections of wh i ch the soul during itswhole life had va i n ly tried to rid itself, and to leave it adorned withv 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 them o ral ch a n ge wh i ch is the most notable effect of a spiri t u a lex p e ri e n c e. A frequent comment is that wh at was prev i o u s lynominal and fo rmal and habitual as far as the spiritual life isc o n c e rn e d, wh at was in a sense an acting out of a part , n ow becomesre 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 lifebecomes an actuality. God’s presence is re a l ly felt. It is no longer am atter of pious wo rds. Love and joy well up, l ove towa rds God andl ove towa rds other people. The Scri p t u res come alive and arei m bued with a new and heightened signific a n c e. Prayer becomesreal 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 witnessto others becomes intense. In Eve lyn Underhill’s phrase—those thatwe re prev i o u s ly like deaf people at a concert , n ow actually hear theg 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 rs p i ritual ministry to others , a re also re l e a s e d, and the true meaningof the wo rd ministry becomes ap p a rent to the ex p e riencer for thefirst time. The effect in the lives and ministry of both lay ando 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 lb a rrenness at her corp s , wh i ch leads to a personal cr i s i s :

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

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

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

In his spiritual autobiograp hy, None Can Guess , M i chael Harp e rd e s c ribes the ch a n ge that came over his pre a ching immediat e lyfo 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 tfor the first time in my life I found myself leaving the shelter of my notesand adve n t u ring out, bl own along by the wind of the Spirit. I even hadmoments when I wanted to stop and listen to wh at I was say i n g, it was soi n t e resting! The wo rds of the Lord Jesus came litera l ly tru e, ‘It will notbe you that speaks, but the Holy Spiri t .’I did not have to turn to thec 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. Ifound myself at last commu n i c ating effe c t ive ly,and I was excited ab o u tthe things I was say i n g.... This new sense of freedom in speaking wa sone 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 top re a ching ch a n ged ove rnight. It was not a matter of giving up prep a ri n gs e rmons. Th at would have been wro n g. But from now onwa rds thep rep a ration of the speaker was ve ry mu ch more important than that ofthe mat e rial he was to use.

In Power from on High, C h a rles Fi n n ey, whose testimony weh ave alre a dy noted, w rites of the ex t ra o rd i n a ry conve rting powe rwith 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 theevening of the same day, and on the morning of the f o l l owing day, Ire c e ived ove r whelming baptisms of the Holy Ghost, t h at went thro u g hm e, as it seemed to me, b o dy and soul. I immedia t e ly found my s e l fendued with such power from on high that a few wo rds dropped here andt h e re to individuals we re the means of their immediate conve rsion. Mywo rds seemed to fasten like barbed arrows in the souls of men. Th ey cutl i ke a swo rd. Th ey bro ke the heart like a hammer. Multitudes can at t e s tto this. Oftentimes a wo rd dro p p e d, without my re m e m b e ring it, wo u l dfasten 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 toe n d u re the wo rd…. Seve ral times it has been true in my ex p e rience that

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I could not raise my vo i c e, or say anything in prayer or ex h o rt at i o nex c ept in the mildest manner, without wh o l ly ove rcoming those thatwe 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 rseems sometimes to pervade the at m o s p h e re of one who is highlych a rged with it. Many times gre at nu m b e rs of persons in a commu n i t ywill be ch a rged with this powe r, when the at m o s p h e re of the whole placeseems to be ch a rged with the life of God. Stra n ge rs coming into it, a n dpassing through the place, will be instantly smitten with conviction ofs 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 en ew power released through a spiritual ex p e rience was the power ofh e a l i n g. In his book The Fo rgotten Ta l e n t he tells of a grow i n gc o nviction about spiritual healing wh i ch led him eve n t u a l ly to setaside one hour each day, f rom 11 pm until midnight, f rom his bu s ym i n i s t ry in the slums of Glasgow, for the purpose of prep a ri n ghimself spir i t u a l ly for the re c eption of the gift of healing. Hed 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 thatthe Lord re c og n i zed the personal private covenant I had tried to enter intowith Him and call me to the Healing Ministry. But no such thingh appened and I continued my special programme for a second ye a r. Butstill there was no call other than my own wishful thinking. A third ye a rp 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 noother power could have sufficed to ke ep me go i n g,I reg u l a rly continu e dmy 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. andn o o n , ex a c t ly thirty ye a rs to the hour after my ord i n ation.... Th i sp a rticular day I was alone and was prep a ring lunch. Wh at hap p e n e dmight have been expected in the sanctuary,a cat h e d ral or on some pieceof holy gro u n d. But it happened as I stood at the sink in the kitch e np a ring potat o e s , a knife in one hand, a potato in the other. Wh at mythoughts we re I cannot re m e m b e r, but I have no doubt that being alone Iwas talking to the Father about the wo rk I wished to do. Wh at eve rthoughts engaged my at t e n t i o n , s u dd e n ly I felt myself gripped by as t ra n ge benevolent power that filled me with an unspeakable sense ofh appiness. I seemed to be drawn up out of the body and did not knowwh e re I wa s , whether ‘in the body or out of it’. It was supreme and fin a lbliss! 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 kea 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 non my neck and was kissing me. I had re a ch e d, I knew, the home ofu l t i m ate truth and all things we re clear and plain. All doubts va n i s h e d.

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E ve ry question-mark was erased and I knew, I simply knew, t h at God isand 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 lre - e n e rgising is coupled with a new and ex h i l a rating mental andp hysical vitality. ‘ S e rmon topics came to me until I grew ex h a u s t e dw riting them dow n ,’ w rites a minister, and re fe rences to intensefeelings of physical well-being are fre q u e n t ly made. Baron vo nH 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 f o l l ows the account of his baptism in the Spiri tw i t h :

The next three months we re one long smile, one long laugh, one longbounding out of bed each morning to meet the day. Never had I know ns u ch a pro t racted period of we l l - b e i n g. My wo rk went well. I glimpsedwh at being a cre at ive father could be like : when the ch i l d ren bu rst intomy office I stopped wo rk i n g, re a l ly glad to see them, and when they leftI turned back to the interrupted business without missing a beat. If one ofthe boys slipped into my shop and go u ged a gro ove in my grinding wh e e lI 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 myl i fe to ke ep people at a safe distance, d i s ap p e a red entire ly during thesemonths. I got to know old friends on an entire ly diffe rent level and maden 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 chhas been ve ry exacting with all the ex t ra wo rk — t wo people have told meh ow pretty or love ly I look! I re c o rd this only to show that the lov i n gS 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 longp e riods in prayer for the sheer joy of communion with God. Wa ke upfeeling ex u b e rant—so diffe rent from befo re. This ex p e rience gives ones u ch energy. I used to be such a we a ry pers o n , but am now able to wo rkmu 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 tdo not dwell in the past. This ex p e rience is progre s s ive.

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

H ow humiliating it was for me to be unable to testify, even in a fewwo rd s , of the true life the soul lived in God, while others stood up totestify fre e ly and conv i n c i n g ly. Then the most wonderful thing that canb 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 eex u l t ation of my soul! I was free to love souls—men and wo m e nwh o ever they we re; free to testify and pray without fe a ring criticism. Iwas 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 rke rs , 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 rfe t t e red and weighed dow n .

P hysical healings, sometimes almost unnoticed at firs t ,sometimes of a dr a m atic nat u re, a re occasionally mentioned. MajorH e n ry A n d rews tells of how he was afflicted by stammering for 20ye a rs , an affliction wh i ch made it impossible for him to speake 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 themeeting the Holy Spirit said to me quite cl e a rly, ‘All things are possibl eto him that believe t h .’I dropped to my knees and cried out: ‘ L o rd, Ib e l i eve ! ’ In an instant the wo rk was done. To God be the glory. I got tomy feet and said, ‘Dear comra d e s , God has healed me. Pray for me. I amgoing to be an offi c e r.’Hallelujah! Wh at I said has come tru e, and I haven 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 sometimesaccompanied by sensory impressions wh i ch are ve ry real to theex p e ri e n c e r. The most widely quoted are those of supern at u ral lightand inner vo i c e s .

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

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f rom the sky, m o re brilliant than the sun, shining all around me andmy travelling-companions. We all fell to the gro u n d, and then Ih e a rd a voice saying to me in the Jewish language, “ S a u l , S a u l , whydo 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 athis conve rs i o n :

All at once the glory of God shone upon and around about me in amanner 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 theb 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 intof 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 inthe rep o rts of spiritual encounters. The pro blem of disentanglingm e t ap h o rical language and factual description is daunting, but therep o rts of inner, and seemingly outer, voices are too nu m e rous to bedismissed simply as poetic licence. A number of instances havea l re a dy been cited in our survey of testimonies, but the fo l l ow i n gre c o l l e c t i o n , by Major A. Ora m , combines both the visual and aura le 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 aw i l l - o ’ - t h e - w i s p , weeks passed by. The final victory came after a mostt rying day; wo rk seemed to pile up and the fo reman seemed mored i fficult than ever befo re.

The day cl o s e d, the machines became silent and, as usual,I made myway 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 ofthe day, I seemed to hear a voice asking, ‘ H ave you re c e ived wh at yo us o u g h t ? ’After some hesitation I had to rep ly in the negat ive and I felt anu rge to re t u rn. Instantly there came the temptation to wait till some othert 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 dby now the tears we re falling—one sentence, ‘O Lord, help me!’And Hed i d, for the room seemed flooded with a stra n ge light and as though Ones p o ke came the wo rd s , ‘I will,be thou cl e a n .’I knew then that the wo rkhad been done—that for wh i ch I had long sought had come.

Commissioner William Ebbs r e c a l l s :

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The manner of my coming into the fullness was almost akin to theb reaking of a storm. I had been fo l l owing the speake rs in a holinessc o nvention with peculiar a t t e n t ive n e s s , for I knew that I had notresponded to the highest call. To be quite fra n k , at that time I had lostmu ch of my spiritual ‘ p u n ch ’ and was re a l ly unhap py. In spite of this Imaintained 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 withgre at cl e a rness and when Mrs Booth had concluded a most pers u a s iveappeal for complete abandon to God, I said: ‘O Holy Spiri t ,h ave Thyway, 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 as t ra n ge mellowness in my heart. My petition started when somethinge n t i re ly unfo reseen hap p e n e d. The radiance of the Holy Presence fe l lupon me and—the victory in my own soul having been gained but a fewmoments befo re—a Voice distinctly said to me: ‘ Wi t n e s s! ’ Tis betterthan to interc e d e.’I hard ly remember wh at hap p e n e d. I know that I toldthe gre at audience wh at had tra n s p i red and then, l e aving the plat fo rm , Iwa 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 ofsomeone ‘ h e a ri n g ’ celestial music in a moment of deep sorrow, d rewout the fo l l owing testimony from a re t i red offi c e r, who until thenhad never shared it with anyo n e :

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

‘ G re at nervous excitement of any kind, but especially fear andj oy, has to ove r flow into the mu s cles somehow,’w rites J. B. Pratt inThe Religious Consciousness, and this leads us to yet a fur t h e rp o s s i ble ch a ra c t e ristic of moments of spiritual ex p e ri e n c e. Intenses 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

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

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

E ve ryone was ove rp owe red by the Spirit. One young man, a f t e rs 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 pleadingm 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 nt h ey we re filled…. One brother said, ‘ O h , oh! if this ain’t heave n , wh at ’l lh e aven be?’Another brother said, ‘I must jump.’I said, ‘ Then jump,’ a n dhe 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 aftert we n t y - t h ree had given their all to the Master, t rusting Him to ke ep themf 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.

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3Breakthrough to fuller living

H OW important are the moments of spiritual bre a k t h rough we havebeen looking at? Have they lasting value? Do they effect real ande n d u ring ch a n ges in the personality? Do they raise life perm a n e n t lyto a higher level and into a new dimension? Or are they but are l i gious ve rsion of the drug add i c t ’s ‘ t rip’—a moment of glorywh 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 encounterscan be judge d. Wonderful accounts of inner glory that do not leave aC h ri s t l i ke imprint on the ex p e riencer are to be suspected. As BishopKenneth E. Kirk puts it: ‘Unless an alleged ex p e rience of God bri n g swith it a call to disinterested action of some kind or other—unlesst 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 toavoid the conclusion that something is amiss.’

The actual moments of reve l ation are usually br i e f. In someinstances mere seconds, in others minu t e s , in ra rer instances am 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 theemotional tone of life is never quite the same again. Having entere dinto a new dimension they now sense the presence of the Lord in an ew, s e e m i n g ly permanent way, not perhaps with the intensity of theo ri ginal moment of glory, but neve rtheless quite diffe re n t ly fro ma 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 otherfo l l owing the moment of divine infilling the soul is ove rt a ken bys p i ritual darkness. The glow va n i s h e s , and for a period of we e k s , o rm o n t h s , p o s s i bly ye a rs , the soul enters a dark night. This does notmean that all the benefits of the spiritual ex p e rience are lost, it ism o re a matter of loss of fe e l i n g. From the psych o l ogical point ofv i ew it is

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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 ne n j oye d. The human psyche cannot live continu a l ly at a highemotional pitch. Th e re have to be periods of rest. From a spiri t u a lpoint of view, these are the times when the soul learns to live byfaith rather than fe e l i n g, and are re ckoned by many to be the cru c i a lp 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 dealon the spiritual and psych o l ogical make-up of the individual. Th o s ewho ex p e rience the highest heights are like ly to touch the deep e s td ep t h s , whilst for others the emotional pendulum will only sw i n gs l i g h t ly. The fo l l ow i n g, h oweve r, seems to be a fa i rly typicalt e s t i m o ny. Mrs Captain Riley writes in The Offi c e r t h at , after ap 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 sove rs h a d owed my soul; the heavens became as brass. I prayed but therewas no re s p o n s e. I was mostly tro u bled because I had lost the swe e tn e a rness I felt to God. In looking back over this time I am sure God wa sin the shadows though I did not see Him. I am glad He kept me fro mdoubting Him. After about three months the sun came out again and ‘ H ewa 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 themightiest men of the Spirit have re c e ived comparat ive ly meagrea s s u rance from their feelings that they we re being used of God. Jo h nWe s l ey is a case in point. Th e re is no question that as a consequenceof his A l d e rs gate ex p e rience on 24 May 1738 John We s l ey ’sm i n i s t ry was tra n s fo rm e d. As W. E. Sangster puts it: ‘ B e fo re thisd ay John We s l ey was a man marve l l o u s ly equipped but pitifullyi n e ffe c t ive, after this day he was an ap o s t l e ! ’ The fruits we re there tobe seen by eve ryo n e. But unlike many of the saints,We s l ey was notto know gre at ecstasy. In fa c t , the emotional content of hisex p e ri e n c e, wh i ch he describes as his heart being ‘ s t ra n ge lywa rm e d ’ , was so slight that he often wo n d e red whether anything hadh appened at all. A dd to this the fact that We s l ey inclined towa rd sove r-emphasising the importance of feelings—and you have a re c i p efor 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 willt a ke the time to fo l l ow his ch a n ging feelings as re c o rded withamazing candidness in his Jo u rn a l, if only to show that effe c t ive n e s sas a servant of God does not depend on how mu ch or how little wefeel. John We s l ey ’s testimony might come as a comfo rt to some.

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‘After my re t u rn home’, he writes in his entry for that day, ‘I wa smu ch bu ffeted with tempta t 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 afterthe 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 myh 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 oftime for praye r, I re s o l ved to do no business till I went to c h u rch in them o rn i n g,but to continue pouring out my heart befo re Him. And this daymy 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 to n ly by not ‘ wat ching unto praye r ’ but likewise by speaking withs 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 sI continued till the next morn i n g, June 1st, when it pleased God… togive 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. Butafter 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 myrising 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 eremember to have opened the Te s t a m e n t , but upon some gre at andp recious pro m i s e.

6th Ju n e, 1738. I had still more comfo rt , and peace and joy; on wh i chI 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 f a i t h ’ , read in the evening lesson, p ro m p t sWe s l ey to consider his own spiritual progre s s .

14th October, 1738. I cannot find in myself the love of God or ofC 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 coldattention. A ga i n , I have not that joy in the Holy Ghost; no settled

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lasting joy; nor have I such peace as ex cludes the possibility either offear or doubt.

Yet upon the wh o l e, although I have not yet that joy in the HolyG h o s t , nor the full assurance of fa i t h , mu ch less am I, in the full sense ofthe wo rd s , ‘in Christ a new cre at u re’; I neve rtheless trust that I have am 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 swh i ch one presumes must have been written in a dep ressed state ofm 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 ep ower of God came mightily upon us.... As soon as we re c ove red a littlef rom that awe and amazement at the presence of His Majesty, we bro keinto song. . . .’

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

4th Ja nu a ry, 1739. My friends affi rm that I am mad, because I said Iwas not a Christian a year ago. I affi rm , I am not a Christian now. For aC h ristian is one who has the fruits of the Spirit of Chri s t , wh i ch (tomention no more) are, l ove, p e a c e, j oy. But these I have not. I have nota ny love of God.

I do not love either the Father or the Son. How do I know?… I fe e lthis 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 thethings 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 somes 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 itgre 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 soc a l l e d. The peace I have may be accounted for on nat u ral principles. Ih 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 suchc i rcumstances? But I have none wh i ch can with any pro p riety be called apeace 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 sto feed the poor,I am not a Christian. Though I have endured hard s h i p ,

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though I have in all things denied my s e l f, and taken up my cro s s , I amnot a Christian. My wo rks are nothing, my suffe rings are nothing: I havenot the fruits of the Spirit of Christ. Though I have constantly used allthe 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 dm i n i s t ry wh i ch increased in effe c t iveness constantly. During 1739he ap p e a rs to enter less tro u bled emotional wat e rs and the negat ivetone disap p e a rs from the personal r e fe rences 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 ofd 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 rb e l i eved in the Christian sense of the wo rd.... If I ever have had that fa i t hit would not be so stra n ge. But I never had any other evidence of thee 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 ofd 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 dour know l e d ge of Christian living enorm o u s ly. It is so easy intestimonies to give the impression that spiritual living is oneu n b ro ken state of being in the seventh Heaven. But if We s l ey, a n dL u t h e r, and Peter and Pa u l , not to mention our Lord Himself, k n ewt e m p t at i o n , s u ffe ring and times of spiritual desolat i o n , it is like lyt h at most if not all Christians will sooner or later have to passt 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 evalue of the A l d e rs gate ex p e rience cannot be questioned. It re l e a s e dunsuspected spiritual powe rs in We s l ey wh i ch turned Englandupside down by setting in motion the most powerful rev ival thec o u n t ry has ever known. And despite the oscillations in fe e l i n gs 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 endof his days We s l ey had been asked to name the most import a n tmoment of his life, he would have rep l i e d : ‘A l d e rs gat e, 24 May1 7 3 8 , about a quarter to nine.’

Other testimonies

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

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but the emphasis will be on how the testifier eva l u ates his spiri t u a lc 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 thel ate Major Thomas Ky l e, when a young businessman in Glasgow,reveals a completely diffe rent picture—and yet for all hise ffe c t iveness as an eva n ge l i s t , Major Kyle would have been the firs tto grant that John We s l ey, despite all his internal ago n i e s , was ani n fin i t e ly more influential instrument in God’s hand. Here are somekey phrases selected from the daily entries fo l l owing his bap t i s mwith the Spiri t .

Second week after the ex p e ri e n c e. It is now nearly eight ye a rs sinceGod pardoned my sins. But He has wo n d e r f u l ly blessed my soul withinthe last fo rtnight. I have prayed to God for y e a rs that I might re c e ive theb aptism of the Holy Spirit. And now I have re c e ived it, p raise His Holyn a m e. I feel I would rather lose my life than lose this bl e s s i n g. I felt ve rynear the Lord this mor n i n g. I have been with Him all day. I have felt thej oy of the Holy Ghost so gre at ly in me that I have to go to Him and askspecial 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 thism o rn i n g,although I had been wo rking so hard for Jesus ye s t e rd ay. Th eL o rd is increasing even my physical strength. Lord, I am getting neare rThee 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 itis getting better.

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

Fifth week. Precious time with the Lord this morn i n g. This has beenmy spiritual bir t h d ay. It is eight ye a rs today since God saved me, bu th ow I regret that I should have wo rked for Him all these ye a rs withoutfull power in the Spirit. Rose early, had reading and praye r — my spiri t u a lb re a k fa s t .

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

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

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t a s t e. All day I was talking to Him. Went to visit: the house was full ofHis pre s e n c e. After wo rk went to the meeting and had a plunge in thefountain. Tru ly it was heaven to be there.

Eighth week. A time of gre at joy together as we spake of all that Godhas done for us. It is hard to get people to understand the doctrine ofholiness. We l l , I believe that the difficulties in the way of unders t a n d i n git 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 rmyex c u rsion to Edinbu rgh. Heaven all the way, h e aven there, and heaven allthe way home!

N i n t h , tenth and eleventh weeks. He is blessing me ve ry mu ch eve ryway. Felt ve ry near the Lord today. I bless God that He has given mes u ch an appetite for visiting the sick. Spent a quiet day with Jesus. Fe l tve ry mu ch in the Spirit all day. Lord, let me walk with Thee for I dodelight in Thy company. I could see His hand today in all my steps. I dothank God for the power He has given me to control my s e l f. It is heave nb e l ow when you are guided by the Spirit. Glorious day with Genera lBooth. 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 aftern e a rly eight ye a rs of silence. I do thank God that He has kept me free tos e rve Him, and though my service has not been as gre at as I should haved e s i red it, yet I am pleased that the dear Lord kept me at the feast sol o n g, and I do feel that I love Him and the wo rk better than ever I didb 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 ta 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 beenso for a number of ye a rs , although outwa rd ly ap p e a ring to be confid e n tand able in carrying out of Salvation A rmy duties. Inwa rd ly I felt moreand more pove rt y - s t ri cken and more and more fru s t rated about the wh o l et h i n g.

The stress of trying to pre a ch the go s p e l ,c a rry out the impossible taskof being a Salvation A rmy officer and the internal conflict in my ow ns p i rit was weighing heav i ly upon me phy s i c a l ly. I was under the doctor’sc 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 reI would seek the Lord. Desperat e ly I cried to Him in my desperation fo rThe Salvation A rmy,for my own life,for my own spirit. I saw cl e a rly that Icould go along as an ‘ o rga n i s at i o n a l ’ man and would h ave,

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u n d o u b t e d ly, a successful career in the A rmy. It was ‘on the card s ’ , but itwould be a hollow thing if I did not have w h at God was giving me agre at hunger for—His anointing and the certainty of His pre s e n c e. Is 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. Asense 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 knewthe ve ry presence of God as He touched me with a quiet assurance and ap e a c e, a s s u ring me that He had heard me, had accepted and fo rgiven andwould re s t o re me. One cannot put into wo rds a spiritual ex p e rience likethis. I just gave Him praise and glory and I shouted loudly in thanks fo rthe bl e s s i n g. From then on I enjoyed a closer fe l l owship. I longed to seekHis 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 intothe fe l l owship of people who have been re n ewed spiri t u a l ly and howhe 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 iss 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 afterb re a k fast as we talked about Him. We prayed toge t h e r. She laid herhands on my head as she prayed and at that moment I knew such at remendous anointing of God that I could feel it phy s i c a l ly. I rejoiced inHim! I praised Him!

After I left I was walking on air. I understood something of thet 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 ecalled it a baptism of love. As I wa l ked down the street I love deve 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 sincethen. Wh e reas befo re I could only mount the steps of the plat fo rm if Ihad taken the doctor’s pre s c ri p t i o n , I now found that I was longing tospeak to people about Jesus; longing to tell them of His love and Hisgre 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 anddoubt was cure d. I found that instantaneously I knew it was all tru e. Th eB i bl e, the mira cl e s , the apostolic power—it is as true today as it eve rwa s !

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

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

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

A young lady in her twenties had given a moving testimony in themeeting and the Lord impressed me that if I would lay my hands uponher head she would re c e ive the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Now this wa sa stra n ge thing because I had never done such a thing in my whole life! Idid sum up the courage to whisper to her that if she wished to re c e ive theb aptism in the Holy Spirit she should come fo r wa rd in the praye rmeeting and I would pray with her. But she didn’t feel led to comefo r wa rd. Howeve r, so strong was the urge of the Spirit upon me, t h at Isought 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 tof God descended upon her in a most startling way. It was like ap owerful physical electric shock accompanied by a sense of spiritual joyand the reality of the living presence of Jesus. Instantly she rejoiced andp rayed and praised the Lord. Her life has subsequently ch a n ged in are m a rk able way. Her wo rldliness and spiritual pove rty have given way togre at joy and sat i s faction in the Lord. She testifies to a marvellous newwalk in the Spiri t .

But at the time I was thunders t ru ck! I’d never seen such a thing in myl i fe. When we prayed with the other two the same thing hap p e n e d. Th eve ry power of God entered their live s , and they knew that they hade 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 ofc 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. Itwas a gre at empowe ri n g. It was simply an infilling of the Spirit. Onep e rson saw the ve ry presence of Jesus in a gr e at light. She has ra d i at e dt h at light of Jesus ever since. In fa c t , e a ch person who has been ba p t i ze dinto 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 thewonderful love, j oy and peace of the Lord. T h e re has been no fa n at i c i s mbut 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 praywith her too:

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

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she did something I have never seen her do befo re in praye r. She laughedand laughed and laughed till the tears rolled down her ch e e k s , so gre atwas 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 gthe Lord as I walk down the stre e t , s i n ging to Him in my car, p ray i n gwh e rever I am and always knowing His power and reality ve ry, ve ryn e a r. He has brought me deeper into Himself and I praise Him, for I am ave ry needy person. I hinder the wo rk of the Lord so terri bly, but I long tolet Him ex p ress Himself more perfe c t ly through my life — t h rough theb reaking down of self, and through obedience to His Spirit. I long too b ey God rather than men.

It has been our ex p e rience this year that we are equipped moment bymoment 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. Weh ave seen mira cles. We have seen people whose lives have beenc o m p l e t e ly ch a n ge d. One couple had been sep a rated for one-and-a-halfye a rs. Th ey now have a beautiful marri age. People have been healed. Weh ave seen the impossible come tru e. I could write a book. I believet h o ro u g h ly in all the gifts of the Spirit simply because the Lord hasm a n i fested them through us. I feel our lives have accomplished more fo rthe 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 thed ivine bre a k t h rough ‘is not mere sentiment, not a hap py sensat i o nt h at passes away in the night’. But let us extend the time interva lf u rther as we listen to Mrs Major Booth Davey giving her testimonyfive 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 ofE n t i re Sanctific ation and the conscious incoming of the Holy Spirit. Myc o nve rsion had been a ve ry real one, and during my training days I hadwonderful reve l ation and ex p e ri e n c e s , but after I became a wife and amother I had not the same opportunities for unbro ken times of praye rand found it diffi c u l t , often indeed impossibl e, to get the same mellowfeelings I used to have. I began to find certain risings of feeling wh i chve ry mu ch discouraged me. Sometimes I doubted whether I ought toh ave marri e d.

I had gre at difficulties in hiding these moods and if the ch i l d ren dida 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 andt h at my quick ly growing fa m i ly was the cause of it. I was full of selfpityand tempted to be envious of others who seemed to have life so

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

I was a fo rtnight praying and w e ep i n g, claiming and doubting until atlast I had a reve l ation of my s e l f, my inbred sin, the ‘old man’, wh i chfilled me with amazement. I was humbled and ashamed. Eve rything ofmine was carnal and loa t h s o m e. I was shorn of eve rything of self—andwas glad to be. I stre t ched out helpless hands to Him. The Holy Spiri tcame 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 softlyand ge n t ly : ‘ This is the Holy Ghost.’I was filled with joy and praise andwas lost in Him for a long time. Inbred sin was destroye d, bu rnt out; theC o m fo rter had come.

I began to know wh at real wo rship was. I often go to pray meaning toask for many things, but am so filled with love for God that the time isspent in we eping and adoring Him. The joy of communion gets deep e rand sweeter eve ry day. Those fo rmer unholy feelings are never felt. Ih ave such peace and joy when tr o u bles come and a wonderful confid e n c ein 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 myanxiety for the future. I am surp rised often at the contentment andc o n fidence I have in God. I can leave eve rything to Him, feeling quites u re that when the time comes for action eve ry necessary door will beo p e n e d. I used to think it was impossible not to wo rry. Now I cannotwo rry! I feel I must praise God all the day long. My whole being seemsw rapped up in Him. The things of time and earth have lost the fo rm e rundue value they had in my eye s , i n cluding ra n k s , titles and position, a n dI 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 b l e s s i n g s , so delugi n gmy soul that it is only with a strong effo rt I hide my emotion. It is unionwith Him, t h rough the Blood of Chr i s t , by the Holy Spirit wh o , dwe l l i n gw i t h i n , ke eps His temple clean and r a d i ates His life and health untileve 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 gin my life must bend to it. I shall never fo rget an incident at Sherbu rnHill. I was we d ged in amongst a lot of ‘ d ru n k s ’ in a billiard room. Th ep ower of God fe l l , and ten of them made a Pe n i t e n t - fo rm of the billiardt abl e. We we re so packed together that to deal with them our faces nearlyt o u ch e d, and we had the full benefit of the spray of their dru n ke n

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s p l u t t e ri n g. This at one time would have revolted me, but now I did notmind a bit. My love for them rose ab ove all personal recoilments. I didnot mind how long I bre athed the beery bre ath as long as I could guidethem into the Kingdom.

A n d rew Murray makes the perc ep t ive comment that ‘in the life ofthe believer there sometimes comes a cri s i s , as cl e a rly marked as hisc o nve rs i o n , in wh i ch he passes out of a life of continual fe ebl e n e s sand fa i l u re to one of stre n g t h , and victory, and abiding rest. Th ech 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 sc o nve rs i o n .’His point is well illustrated in the spiritual pilgri m ageof a Salvation A rmy officer who re c o rds her impressions five ye a rsafter 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 itp 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 gof sincere Christians in our holiness meetings that as a teenager I firs tsought the bl e s s i n g. It was cert a i n ly a spiritual milestone—but a seekingrather than a fin d i n g. ‘ When the Spirit gr i eves—He leave s ’s u ggested tome that He was the kind of Pe rson who would go off in a ‘ h u ff’if thingsdid not go His way. This was fru s t rating and unsatisfying as I tried by afull surrender and good wo rks to placate Him. I wanted desperat e ly toe n j oy a positive life with the Holy Spiri t , but I was riding a ‘ s p i ri t u a ls 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 Hes at u rated me with His love and brought about that life - t ra n s fo rm i n gencounter 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 sand fe a rs we re a stumbl i n g - bl o ck and although I tried to live ab ove themand hide them from others , t h ey we re a constant menace. I have fo u n dt 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 mostp rogress was made during that first year of re c e iving Him, bu tt h roughout almost five ye a rs He has been revealing Himself steadily andp at i e n t ly, m a i n ly through prayer and the Scri p t u res. He gives the desirefor 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 eu n fe t t e red and a joy. For many ye a rs it was a conscientious devotion toduty wh i ch was the basis of my serv i c e. But duty of itself is a hardex p e rience—cold and unfe e l i n g. With the Spirit there is liber t y !

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

These ye a rs have been wonderful. God has become my Te a ch e r, myG u i d e, my Counsellor, my All in All. He has allowed me to be perp l exe dand tempted, but it has been for my go o d. I have no complaint to makeagainst Him. Sometimes it has seemed that He had left me alone, but ithas been as the mother who stands away from her child to teach him touse his own legs that he may walk. He has not suffe red me to fall. He hasbeen with my mouth and helped me to speak of Jesus and His gre ats a l vation in a way to instru c t , c o m fo rt and save other souls. He has beenlight to my dark n e s s , s t rength to my we a k n e s s , wisdom in myfo 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 hadwell-nigh slipped, He has held me up; when my faith has tre m bl e d, H ehas encouraged me; when I have been in sore need, He has supplied allmy need; when I have been hungry, He has fed me; when I have thir s t e d,He has given me living wat e r. Oh, g l o ry to God! Wh at has He not donefor me? I praise Him! I adore Him! I love Him! My whole being is Hisfor 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 tu n b ro ken purpose to serve Him with my whole heart. No temptation hasswe rved that steadfast purp o s e. No wo rl d ly or ecclesiastical ambitionhas 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 rp 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 snot 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 gmeans 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 outto seek I knew not wh at. I knew that it was a bigger thing than I had eve rk 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 reof 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 ofp owe r. My mind was quicke n e d. Th e re was a new sense of spring andv 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 inbig things.

Things began to happen. Wh at we had failed to do by stre nu o u se 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 .

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The things that happened we re the least part of the ex p e ri e n c e. Th ewind and the fire and the tongues excited most comment, but theyva n i s h e d, and it was the realities that remained that we re mostwonderful. The ex p e rience gave me the key to all my thinking, all mys e rvice and all my life. Pentecost gave me the key to the Scri p t u res. Th esame Spirit gave me new understanding and ex p e rience of praye r, a n dwith 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 ofs o u l s .

Fi n a l ly, let Lieut-Commissioner Julius Horskins tell of how hisl 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 ad 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 anexposition 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 themeeting 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 rin my ex p e ri e n c e. But I felt that I was on the right tra ck. It was faith toa c c ept that I needed.

At this time I was wo rking some miles from my home, and althoughour store did not close until midnight on Sat u rd ay s , it was my custom torise at 4 a.m. on Sunday morning and prep a re for my long walk in ord e rto attend the knee-drill at 7 a.m. These walks we re times of commu n i o nwith God. I was young and stro n g, and I looked fo r wa rd to this we e k lywalk 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 mi nviting as a prayer gro u n d. My steps gained speed, assisted by mys i n ging and pray i n g. My soul’s one gre at desire was to secure theblessing of full salvation. God knew this and came to me in anu n expected manner. I was aroused from my songs and thoughts of Godby a voice wh i ch said, ‘Be ye holy.’I turned to see who fo l l owed me, bu tseeing no one I wa l ked on, and again came those compelling wo rd s ,‘ B eye holy ! ’D own I went upon my knees. Th e re I wa i t e d. I could not speakfor some time, then a swe e t , calm peace came into my soul, and I knewwithout a doubt that the wo rk of making holy had been done in my souland I prayed with libert y.

Th at day began a new era in my spiritual life. I wa l ked along with an ew kind of spring in my step , sang and prayed with joy. It was heaven; Iwas on the mountain top. My life became a new life; I had a new joy, an ew powe r. Eve rything seemed ch a n ged—the stre e t s , the houses, t h e

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p e o p l e, all seemed to wear a fresh aspect, even the trees seemed to me top 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 thedistance would allow me, for the fire bu rned within my soul. Then ourC aptain announced a night of prayer to be led by the General at 272Wh i t e ch apel Road. How I longed for this night. A whole night fo rp rayer! The time went all too slow ly; I not only counted the days but theh o u rs as the time grew neare r. The anticipated night came and I hastenedto 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 toGod and the A rmy for offi c e rship. Oh, wh at a floodtime came! Th atn 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 ledinto the full light of perfect love,and I rejoice in the fact that I am able totestify to its power to ke ep always and under all circumstances. To Godbe all the glory.

A re there pat t e rns of ex p e rience that can be discerned from thiswelter of testimony, e s p e c i a l ly with rega rd to the post-conve rs i o nex p e ri e n c e s , wh i ch are the special subject of our study? The mindcan 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 havesought to establish certain doctrinal fra m ewo rks to account for thesei nvasions of the div i n e. Our next task must be to turn to the first oft h ree such doctrinal ex p l a n ations wh i ch we shall be looking at , a n dask how these moments of spiritual bre a k t h rough can best bei n t e rp re t e d.

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4Spiritual breakthrough: entire

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

B ro a d ly speaking there are two strands of thought withinC h ristian thinking rega rding sanctific at i o n — growth inri 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 chDr 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 holinessas a pro c e s s , ‘ wh e reby we are enabled more and more to die untos 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 chcommences at conve rsion and continu e s , sometimes with many fit sand start s , right throughout life, re a ching its culminating point onlyin deat h , wh e n , released from the old nat u re, the soul stands pureb e fo re God.

The second ap p ro a ch , l abelled i m p a rt e d by Dr Sangster, sees thep rocess of development in sanctity as re a ching a culminating pointa l re a dy in this life, m a rked by a crisis ex p e rience through wh i ch fullsanctity is impart e d. Further progress remains possible beyond thisp 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 thes 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 hei n t e rp reted wh at he had ex p e rienced in terms of the i m p a rt e dthought pat t e rn .

The i m p a rt e d ap p ro a ch to sanctific ation cannot be considere dwithout re fe rence to John We s l ey, t h at towe ring fig u re of the 18th

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c e n t u ry Church. All of the current strands of theological thinkingwh i ch emphasise a further wo rk of grace fo l l owing conve rs i o n —wh i ch J. F. Brunner re fe rs to as t h e o l ogies of subsequence—look toJohn 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 thanbeing in bondage back in Egy p t , but still not quite the pro m i s e dl a n d. A second crisis is needed to get us from the wilderness into theactual 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 andby 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 thedeeds 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 cannotd 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 prayever 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 saga i n , to speak the second time, “Be clean”; and then only thel ep rosy is cl e a n s e d. Then only the evil ro o t , the carnal mind, i sd 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 nPe r fe c t i o n , and saw it as an ultimate stage in Christian growth wh i chmost people would only attain short ly befo re death. But he could seeno 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 littleb e fo re deat h ?

A n swe r:Why not? For although we grant (1) that the ge n e rality ofb e l i eve rs , whom we have hitherto know n , we re not so sanctified till neard e ath; (2) that few of those to whom St Paul wrote his Epistles we re so att 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 sawsin as something wh i ch could be rooted out, re m ove d, got rid ofonce and for all, l i ke a cancer or a rotten tooth.

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

Indeed the scri p t u ral support wh i ch We s l ey marshals consists notso mu ch in explicit assertions that the spiritual path of the Chri s t i a nis necessar i ly marked by a further wo rk of gra c e, as a series ofS c ri p t u re passages wh i ch implicitly make that suggestion bys t ressing the completeness of God’s redeeming wo rk , and the needfor a full response on our part. We s l ey rested his case ch i e fly on thefo 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 s3:17f; 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 fWe 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 bere m ove d — fails to pers u a d e. And not eve ryone has felt able to fo l l owhim on this point. ‘ This is not the biblical idea of sin,’ c o m m e n t sanother we l l - k n own methodist sch o l a r, Dr Newton Flew. ‘Sin is a fa rm o re subtle, p e rva s ive and persistent enemy than that .’Sin iscoming short of the glory of God. And that is a state wh i ch cannot beput right by an ex t raction. It is in the clash of motive s , our lack ofc o u rage, our lack of ze a l , rather than in the more obvious sins ofcommission that sin in all its complexity is reve a l e d.

After We s l e y

But we must now notice a point of the utmost importance fo ra nyone seeking to understand the imparted ap p ro a ch to the doctr i n eof 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 aspectsof the teaching began even during We s l ey ’s lifetime as his thinkingd eveloped through study of the Scri p t u res and observation of theex p e riences of his conve rt s , and continued under his fo l l owe rs afterhis death in 1791.

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M a ny va ri ations of the doctrine began to make their ap p e a ra n c eas 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. Somelaid 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 nbecause of its inherent difficulties. Sangster, in commenting on theva riety of teaching that emerge d, puts it well when he says that ‘ t h eflavo u rs of diffe rence on some minor points are so subtle that only aconnoisseur can savour them.’

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

Without entering into the welter of detail, the evolution ofi m p a rt e d thinking from We s l ey ’s time until the present can besummed up in terms of ‘ c risis and pro c e s s ’ by saying that wh e reas inWe s l ey ’s ori ginal concept the process came first and was fo l l owe dby a culminating cri s i s , the pat t e rn has incre a s i n g ly become that of ac 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 theve ry summit of the mountain of holiness. The state of ‘ e n t i res 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 afew, and usually just befo re deat h , and so high an attainment ‘ t h atfew of those to whom the apostle Paul wrote his epistles we res 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 eyrep 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 thep e rson himself—set as a mark for all to shoot at .’

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

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It would be fair to say that the dominant thought today is not thatof 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 cr i s i swh i ch sets him a-climbing the hill of holiness. The crisis hasbecome the gat eway, not the goal. And the crisis is there fo re not fo rthe few athletes of the spirit who have nearly made it to the top. It isthe way in to spiritual progre s s , and is there fo re meant fo reve ry b o dy.

B e fo re attempting to draw some conclusions from the ab ovet re n d, it will be instru c t ive bri e fly to ch a rt the history of holinesst 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 andThe Salvation A rmy.

The holiness movement

In the mid-19th century there was a re l i gious awa kening both inB 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 alld e n o m i n at i o n s , and gave birth to wh at is now known as the HolinessM ovement. Charles Fi n n ey was one of its prominent fig u re s , a n dWilliam E. Board m a n ’s The Higher Christian Life, p o s s i bly themost influential book of its kind ever wri t t e n , d ates from this per i o d.

A desire among Christians whose lives had been tra n s fo rm e dt h rough a further ex p e ri e n c e, to meet together to wa rm their hands atthe We s l eyan fire but without having to leave their ow nd 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 ckM ove m e n t , wh i ch derived its inspiration from Canon D. T. Hart fo rdB at t e rs by,Vicar of St Jo h n ’s Church in Ke sw i ck , who had re c e ived an ew gift of spiritual power in 1874. This movement has continu e dever since to stress the higher Christian life in its annual confe re n c e sat Ke sw i ck , but without We s l ey ’s strong stress on at t a i n abl ep 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 ofthe move m e n t .

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In A m e rica the rev ival of We s l ey ’s teaching led to the era of campm e e t i n g s , when whole trains we re ch a rt e red to take people toholiness camp meetings. Spri n ging ori gi n a l ly from withinMethodism this new fe at u re on the re l i gious scene soon touch e dm a ny denominations. It eve n t u a l ly led to the fo rm ation of theN 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 sfo 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 intoH o l i n e s s, ‘the entire ly sanctified we re urged to remain in their localch u rches to “ l e aven the lump”. Then either one of two thingsh ap p e n e d, or perhaps both: (1) the “ l e ave n ” was unable to perm e at ethe “ 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 holinessfe l l owships came to desire constant communion with one anotherand mutual support. Between 1890 and 1910 most of the pre s e n t - d ayholiness 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 inthe launching of the Pentecostal movement at the beginning of the20th 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 therev ival of John We s l ey ’s teaching in the mid-19th century. Cat h e ri n ew rites in 1861 to her parents from Gateshead wh e re William is aminister of the Methodist New Connexion. Both of them are 32ye 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 andt a n gi ble manner befo re the people—I mean as a specific and at t a i n abl eex p e ri e n c e. Oh, t h at I had entered into the fullness and enjoyment of itmy s e l f.

Some time lat e r :

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

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some time past.... He is now on full stre t ch for holiness. You would bea 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 herp a re n t s :

My mind has been absorbed in the pursuit of holiness, wh i ch I fe e li 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 dt h at pearl of gre at pri c e,‘the white stone wh i ch no man knoweth savehim 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 withre 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 laidaside almost eve rything else and spent the chief part of the day inreading and praye r, and in trying to believe for it. On Th u rs d ay aftern o o nat 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 aswell 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 nunbelief 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 nWilliam joined me in praye r. We had a blessed season. While he wa ss 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 nto my soul: ‘ B e h o l d, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear Myvo i c e, and open unto Me, I will come in and sup with him.’I felt sure Hehad long been knock i n g, and oh, h ow I ye a rned to re c e ive Him as ap e r fect Saviour! But, o h , the inve t e rate habit of unbelief! How wo n d e r f u lt h at God should have borne so long with me.

When we got up from our knees I lay on the sofa , exhausted with theexcitement and effo rt of the day. William said, ’ D o n ’t you lay all on thea 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 dwh at s o ever toucheth it is holy.’Then said he, ‘A re you not holy ? ’ Ireplied with my heart full of emotion and with some fa i t h , ‘ O h , I think Ia 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 areye clean through the wo rd wh i ch I have spoken unto you’. And I tookh o l d, t ru e, with a tre m bling hand, and not unmolested by the tempter, bu tI held fast the beginning of my confid e n c e, and it grew stro n ger; andf 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 chrap t u rous joy, but perfect peace, the sweet rest wh i ch Jesus promised tothe heav y - l a d e n .

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

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own ex p e ri e n c e, a letter he wrote a month later to the President ofthe New Connexion includes the sentence: ‘My soul has lat e ly beenb 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 andC at h e rine Booth viewed the Gateshead ex p e rience in their lat e rye a rs as they looked back on their total spiritual journ ey. UnlikeWe s l ey ’s A l d e rs gate ex p e rience it cannot be said that prev i o u s lyl atent re s o u rces we re sudd e n ly released within the Booths thro u g hthe ex p e ri e n c e, for William had alre a dy proved his power as aneva 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 theex 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 sdoubt into continuous cert a i n t y. As far as one can judge by theirl 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 withits inev i t able ups and downs. About two ye a rs after the Gat e s h e a dex p e ri e n c e, in the midst of a hard and seemingly unfru i t f u leva n gelical campaign,Wi l l i a m , in Hyde, near Manch e s t e r, w rites tohis 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 almostdead; powe rless. Consequently my pre a ching and praying in public hasbut little effect on the people. But wishing produces no improvement. Ot 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 inmy 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 ms eve red his link with the New Connexion and became ani n d ependent eva n gelist. For the next few ye a rs his thinking was toc e n t re on the doctrine of conve rs i o n , and it is not until thee s t ablishment of The Christian Mission in London that the subject ofE 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 in1865 at t racted eva n gelists and helpers from many and dive rs et h e o l ogical back grounds. The need to establish unifo rmity ofd o c t rine was soon felt. On the subject of sanctific ation this ap p e a rsto have taken some time.

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The East London Christian Mission’s first doctrinal stat e m e n twas published in 1867 and consisted of seven points. No mention ofholiness teaching was incl u d e d. Th ree ye a rs lat e r, in 1870, t h ed o c t rinal statement of The Christian Mission (the ch a n ged titlere flecting its expansion) was revised and extended to 11 points. Inthis document William Booth committed the movement to thefo l l owing art i cle of faith on sanctific ation—a statement wh i chremains 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 lys a n c t i fie d, and that their whole spirit and soul and body may bep re s e rved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Much ofthe 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 lC o n fe rence that the fo l l owing definition should be added to thewo 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 theh 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 theseevil tendencies can be entire ly taken away by the Spirit of God, and thewhole 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 dwe believe that persons thus sanctified may, by the power of God, b ekept 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 lC o n fe re n c e :

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

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

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

N ow this is large ly the result of misap p rehension. People don’t knowwh at is intended by a clean heart , or how it is to be go t , and how it is tobe kept. Now tonight I wa n t , if possibl e, to state plainly wh at at least ourv i ews are on this theme. In doing so, I may premise that I have no newt 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 thefo re f ront of our doctrines. We write it on our banners. It is in no shape orfo rm an open deb at able question as to whether God can sanctify wh o l ly,whether Jesus does save His people f ro m their sins. In the estimation ofthe Christian Mission that is settled for eve r,and any eva n gelist who didnot hold and pro claim the ability of Jesus Christ to save His people to theu 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 ds i g n i fic ation means sep a ration from all unrighteousness andc o n s e c ration to God.... This delive rance can be, and in the early stages ofthe ex p e rience of most Christians is, o n ly partial. Th at is,while the soulis delive red from the domination and power of sin, still there are theremains 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 withG o d, the guidance of the Holy Spiri t , p ower for usefulness, and thewitness of the Spir i t , wh i ch cre ates in the soul that blessed sense ofa s s u rances and certainty with rega rd to salvation wh i ch together go toconstitute an inwa rd heaven. All this is compat i ble with the consciousexistence of sin in the soul.

But this delive rance from sin may be entire.... Sin cannot only be heldin 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 canstand 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, e nv y, a n ge r, m a l i c e, l u s tand all or wh at s o ever other evils ruled him with a rod of iron befo re may

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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 thesaint power over them. He is now no longer under sin, but under gra c e.Th ey — t h at is,the old habits and tempers and tendencies andi n cl i n ations—can still make their presence felt; they can whisper ands u ggest and claim and rise up, but they are no longer the masters; thePhilistines are still there, the old pro p ri e t o rs of the land, but they are putunder harrows and saws and instruments of iron and held in bondage. Th esoul 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 isf u l filled when He say s : ‘ Then I will sprinkle clean water upon yo u , a n dye shall be clean from all your fil t h i n e s s , and from all your idols will Icleanse yo u . . . .’

N ow in this ex p e rience this engagement is fulfil l e d, and Pa u l ’s praye rfor the Th e s s a l o n i a n s , and through them for all saints, is answe re d. Th eGod of peace sanctifies wh o l ly, and the whole body, soul and spirit isp 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 sand perp l exities. I simply insist that it is described in the Bibl e, and thatthe descriptions of the Bible have been ve ri fied by the ex p e rience ofthousands of saints. It means a clean heart , being cleansed from allfilthiness of the flesh and of the spiri t — s a n c t i fied wh o l ly, being madep e r fect in eve ry good wo rk , and God wo rking in the soul all the go o dp l e a s u re of His will....

William Booth continues by stressing that this ex p e ri e n c ei m p l i e s : (1) Full delive rance from all known sin, (2) Th ec 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 tempta t i o n , o rwithout 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 inthe Scri p t u re s , and now I am to ask you wh at you ought to do with it, a n dto this question I rep ly, get it!

After dealing with the conditions of repentance and fa i t h , h ewinds 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 newc re ation alre a dy begun? Who is going to make you holy? Your neweva n ge l i s t , wh o , you have been info rm e d, e n j oys and pre a ches theblessing? 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

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book of books into the bargain. Let me ask, who saved you? The liv i n gG o d, and He is going to sanctify you. If ever done, He will do it. He willdo it all. Wh at fo l l ows? Why simply this, t h at when you have bro u g h tyo 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 andreading and talking about this blessing a long, long time, but you arelittle or no fo r wa rder and,my bre t h re n , you wo n ’t be until you trust thel iving God, and then it will be done at once.... Bre t h re n , be ye holy, bu tbe holy now.

Three Army holiness teachers

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

Railton gave the A rmy its first full doctrinal exposition of thed o c t rine in the doctrine book wh i ch was published in 1881. Th et 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 theo ffi c e rs of The Salvation A rmy ?

A n swe r:Yes; for it is impossible to be an efficient officer without thee n j oyment of this bl e s s i n g. Almost eve ry officer has, at one time ora n o t h e r, possessed it, too; so that those who do not possess it must be ina 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 nA rmy ‘holiness meeting’. ‘ The ch a racter of these meetings,’ w ri t e sB eg b i e, ‘ eve n t u a l ly provo ked the fie rcest at t a cks ever made uponWilliam Booth by re l i gious people,’and he notes that the holinessmeetings also caused dissension within the A rmy ’s ra n k s , and thatsome members left as a result. ‘ The holiness meetings we red i s ap p roved of by those who objected to ex c i t e m e n t , and thet e a ching of holiness by others .’But the holiness meetings saw thee 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

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

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

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

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Th at scene of wrestling prayer and triumphant fa i t h , no one who sawit can ever fo rget. We saw one collier lab o u ring with his fists upon thefloor and in the air, just as he was accustomed to stru ggle with the ro ck sin 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 andalmost leaping for joy. Big men, as well as wo m e n , fell to the gro u n d, l ayt h e re for some time as if dead, ove r whelmed with the Power from onhigh. When the gladness of all God’s mighty delive rance bu rst upons o m e, t h ey laughed as well as cried for joy,and some of the yo u n ge reva n gelists might have been seen, l i ke lads at play, l o cked in onea 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 lyholiness meetings in Wh i t e ch ap e l , L o n d o n , and exe rcised a highlyi n fluential ministry. But as he became incre a s i n g ly absorbed withthe administration of the A rmy, and especially when he becameG e n e ral in 1912, it was Samuel Brengle who grasped the holinesst o rch and carried it round the wo rld to the second and thirdge n e rations of salvat i o n i s t s .

B re n g l e ’s special contr i bution to the pre s e n t ation of the doctr i n el 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 ofs 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 ethe baptism with the Holy Spiri t , a fact of some significance in ane ra when the pentecostal movement was claiming that term as itsow n , and he spoke of the baptism with the Holy Spirit and theblessing of holiness as two sides of the same coin. He discusses thispoint in a ch apter entitled, Is the baptism with the Holy Spirit a thirdbl e s s i n g ?

Th e re are four classes of teach e rs whose views appear to differ onthis 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 rf rom on high.

(2) Those who emphasize the baptism with the Holy Ghost andfullness of the Spir i t , but say little or nothing of cleansing from inbre dsin and the destruction of the carnal mind.

(3) Those who say mu ch of both, but sep a rate them into two distinctex 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

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cannot sep a rate them as to time, since it is the baptism that cl e a n s e s ,j u s tas 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 ofremission of sins and fo rgive n e s s , and its positive side of re n ewal andrege 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 sideof cl e a n s i n g, and its positive side of filling with the Holy Ghost—onewh 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 bem 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 anda s s u rances of love and favo u r, t h e re is no third blessing in the large sensein this present time.... In eternity we shall have the third bl e s s i n g — weshall be glor i fie d.

C l a rence Hall’s ove rall assessment of Bre n g l e ’s holiness teach i n gcompletes 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 isotherwise spoken of as Entire Sanctific at i o n , I n dwelling of theS p i ri t , Full A s s u rance of Fa i t h , O ve rcoming Powe r, D e ath to theS e l f L i fe, etc—comes to a person through an entire consecration ofthe body, mind and soul; is the point of the soul’s seve rance from sinin disposition as well as in deed; and is wrought in the believ i n gh e a rt by the Holy Spir i t , by whom the heart is cleansed of the ro o t sof 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 dseem to be an emphasis on the p ro c e s s of sanctific at i o n , with thec ri s i s seen as the gat eway ex p e rience to growth in holiness. A sG 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 Ire 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 thel i fe of holiness, not its crown. This is the star t , but only a start. And as 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 ofs u rrender I re c e ive of the fullness of the Spirit according to my cap a c i t yto re c e ive.

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But that capacity grows with re c e iving—as a bandsman’s facility to playgrows with play i n g, or to speak with speaking or to fo l l ow his craft byp ractising it.... Th e re ’s a long, long trail a-winding between start andfinish. A ny compre h e n s ive view of the doctrine of holiness must haveroom for both. The ex p e rience can neither be explained nor lived withoutc risis and pro c e s s .

The gre ater stress on the process is also illustrated by the ch a n ge sof emphasis to be observed in the succeeding editions of the offi c i a lHandbook of Doctri n e. Until 1969 the editions devoted about 7,000wo rds to the crisis ex p e rience and only about 200 to the process. Butin the handbook published in 1969 a diffe rent pat t e rn emerges. Th ech apter heading ch a n ges from E n t i re Sanctific at i o n to simplyS 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 sand the process are reve rs e d. The crisis is again seen as theb 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 einitial dedication when the commitment is made,and the process orsubsequent action by wh i ch the implications of this commitment arewo rked out in eve ry dep a rtment of life.

Th e re is a gr e 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 ap a rticular re l i gious ex p e ri e n c e, as the day to day, indeed momentby moment ex p e rience of seeking to live, by the grace of God, a neve rm o re Chri s t l i ke life in a sinful wo rl d. And without losing itsd i s t i n c t ive stress on a crisis subsequent to conve rs i o n , t h ei n c reased attention paid to the process has also brought Th eS a l vation A rmy ’s holiness teaching closer to the mainstream ofC h ristian thinking, wh i ch William Sangster describes as fo l l ows inThe Pure in Heart:

R e c ognizing the truth in We s l ey ’s teaching of sudden moments ofvision and special occasions of divine re c ep t iv i t y, t h ey recoil from anys t ress on ‘ s e c o n d ’ wo rks of grace if only because life has brought themm a ny moments of vision and re c ep t iv i t y, and they could not select justo n e ex p e rience (subsequent to conve rsion) wh i ch is to remain fo reve ru 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 ofs p i ritual crisis in the minds of all aspiring pilgri m s , but the fa l l owp e riods are important too. If one ke eps open to the grace of God, t h egrace comes in, and the Holy Spirit fashions the Divine Son in the soulof His consenting serva n t .

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

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

Though the scr i p t u ral grounds for postulating a crisis pointsubsequent to conve rsion wh i ch initiates the process ofs 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 thel ives of countless Christians have been totally tra n s fo rmed by amoment of visitation that does remain fo rever unique for them.

We must now see wh at further light the next major doctri n a ls 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.

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5Spiritual breakthrough: baptism in

the Holy Spirit?BRENGLE often spoke of his ex p e rience as his baptism in the HolyS p i rit. He saw it as the positive side of a two-sided ex p e ri e n c e. Godhad cleansed and God had filled him. The blessings of sanctific at i o nand 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 conveym a ny meanings in its day, and in view of its curre n cy in the pre s e n tt i m e, we must inquire fur t h e r.

The term baptism in the Holy Spirit was fre q u e n t ly used in thee 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 firewas to be the object of the morn i n g ’s mu s t e rings of the ze a l o u ss a l vat i o n i s t s .’For a time, j u d ging by announcements in The Wa rC ry, ‘ b aptism of fire ’ was the accepted name for the Sundaym o rning meeting.

‘ We are met this morning for a baptism of fire. We want thisb aptism of the Holy Ghost,’ s ays William Booth to 1,500 peoplegat h e red in Spitalfields in 1880. And at Fa l m o u t h : ‘Some of yo uh e re have had a baptism of wat e r, n ow you are going to have ab 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 sm 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 reall 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 du nu t t e rably full of glory and of God. All of us got such a baptism we hadnot had for a long time.

Some ye a rs prev i o u s ly William Booth had penned a letter to them 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 histhinking on the bap t i s m : ‘Success in soul-winning wo rk depends on

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

Fo rty ye a rs later William Booth would have found it difficult toex p ress himself in the same terms without being misunders t o o d, fo rby then the phrase ‘ b aptism in the Spir i t ’ would have becomea s s o c i ated with a highly distinctive, ri gid and controve rsial doctri n a ls t ru c t u re. But when William Booth wrote his letter, the term was inthe main used to convey the idea of an infilling or enduement ofs p i ritual power wh i ch could be rep e ated many times in the life of ab e l i eve r. It was the kind of ex p e rience one could pray for and ex p e c teve ry Sunday morning in the prayer meeting. ‘ S p i rit of the liv i n gG o d, fall afresh on me!’It was a b aptism with the Spiri t , rather thant h e B aptism with the Holy Spirit—with definite art i cle and cap i t a lB. ‘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 19thc e n t u ry in connection with teaching on entire sanctific at i o n , and wa ssometimes used in this sense in A rmy publ i c ations. But in the mainit 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 nof the baptism of the Spirit in this ge n e ral sense. In this the earlyA rmy ap p e a rs to have fo l l owed Charles Fi n n ey. Th e re is a stro n gemphasis on the need for pentecostal power but no attempt to bu i l dup a doctrinal stru c t u re as, for ex a m p l e, with the doctrine ofholiness. The first Salvation A rmy doctrine book issued in 1881d evotes considerable space to holiness teaching but there is nomention of baptism in the Spirit. The term was no doubt felt to bes 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 turnthe 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 aB i ble college in To p e k a , K a n s a s , had come to the conclusion that theb 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

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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 uponh e r, a halo seemed to surround her head and fa c e ’ and she began tospeak in tongues.

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

The pentecostal thrust in the 20th century is a re m a rk able ch ap t e rof Church history and continues with considerable vigour in manyp a rts of the wo rl d. It has been part i c u l a rly powerful in Scandinav i aand 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 olderpentecostal groups are facing the same pro blems that seemeve n t u a l ly to beset all ch u rches born through rev ival. It ap p e a rs , fo rex a m p l e, t h at conve rsions are no longer so marke d. ‘ The olderpentecostal ch u rches know that the ex p e rience of conve rsion wa sm o re dra m atic in the early day s ,’comments Walter J. Hollenwege rin his monumental The Pe n t e c o s t a l s, and quotes J. E. Campbell:‘ To d ay even pentecostals, and especially their ch i l d re n , b e c o m eC h ristians in a milder manner, without being able to point to ad e finite emotional crisis taking place at a definite time. Some of theve ry best saints of the ch u rch bear testimony to this type ofc o nve rsion ex p e ri e n c e, wh i ch results from a lengthy period ofC 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 chis the touchstone of pentecostalism is shared by all in the olderch u rches. ‘In the older pentecostal denominat i o n s ’ , c o n t i nu e sH o l l e n wege r, ‘the majority of members have not re c e ived theb aptism of the Spir i t ,’and quotes this incisive comment: ‘ O n ecannot help but observe that the fe rvour of the holiness andpentecostal movements cooled as the social and economic status ofthe participants improve d.’

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

Baptism in the Spirit

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

As will be observe d, this is also a theology of subsequence. Th e reis something more to be at t a i n e d, something more to be re c e ived inthe life of the believer fo l l owing conve rsion. Th e re are shades ofWe s l eyanism here. Indeed, ‘the Pentecostal child was brought up inthe nu rs e ry of the Holiness Move m e n t ’ , comments Michael Harp e rin As at the Begi n n i n g, ‘ f rom wh i ch it acquired so mu ch of itst e a ching—and also, s t ra n ge ly enough, a gre at deal of itsp e rsecution. Methodism . . . had always taught both the decisive n e s sof 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 sl 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 theS p i rit as a t h i rd blessing to the We s l eyan two - s t age pat t e rn ofc o nve rsion and entire sanctific ation. But soon the majority ofpentecostal ch u rches adopted a new two - s t age pat t e rn — c o nve rs i o nfo l l owed by the baptism in the Spiri t , with sanctific ation under-

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stood as a process commencing at conve rsion. Th e re is still somed 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 samekind of difficulties we noted when studying We s l ey ’s concept ofs 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 onthe positive aspects. Th e re is no mention of sinlessness, o rp e r fection; it is a gift of God wh i ch releases fullness of love andfullness of powe r. The difficulties are there fo re less ev i d e n t , t h o u g hthis does not mean that the doctrine is without its pro blems for theN ew Testament student.

But the additional teach i n g, t h at the initial evidence of theb 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 nowabandoned this particular stand, and instead teach that any of thes u p e rn at u ral gifts of the Spirit is sufficient ev i d e n c e. But this linkingof a particular crisis ex p e ri e n c e, the baptism of the Spiri t , with thegift of tongues, has given the phenomenon of speaking in tongues ap 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 thed o c t rine of baptism in the Spirit might have, and wh at ever the view swe might hold on tongue speaking, the case for linking the two andmaking the gift of tongues the necessary evidence for the bap t i s mhas virt u a l ly no scri p t u ral basis. It rests almost entire ly on the fa c tt 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 Spir i t .Some feel that it can also be infe rred from the happenings inS a m a ria (Acts 8:17), but those instances rep resent the total NewTestament support for this teach i n g. A gainst that must be placed thefact that the Bible nowh e re ex p l i c i t ly makes this link-up and thatwhen Paul deals with the subject of spiritual gifts in ge n e ral and thegift of tongues in particular he cl e a rly expects a negat ive answer tohis question, ‘Do all speak with tongues?’(1 Corinthians 12:30).

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

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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 theS 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 ared i ffe rent from those on wh i ch the teaching of entire sanctific at i o na re built. This is an important point. From the angle of scri p t u ra ls 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 ma series of Scr i p t u re texts dealing with cleansing from sin, putting onthe new man, and concepts of holiness and perfection. Though thep 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 tl ove casteth out fe a r ’ (1 John 4:18)—and the positive element in thefo rm of the indwelling Holy Spirit has re c e ived increasing at t e n t i o nin the holiness movement—the basic idea, h owever modifie d,remains that of c l e a n s i n g.

When we come to look at the scri p t u ral backing for thepentecostal doctrine we find ours e l ves moving into entire ly diffe re n ta 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 HolyS p i ri t. ‘So far as its doctrine of Spiri t - b aptism is concerned Pa u lneed 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 sas used by We s l ey, but is rather a matter of drawing out meaningf rom the re c o rded ex p e riences of certain of the early Christians. Topentecostal eyes these biographies show that God perfo rms his wo rkof 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 titself (Acts 2). J. G. Dunn summarises the line take n : ‘ Pe n t e c o s t a l sa rgue that those who we re bap t i zed in the Spirit on the day ofPentecost we re alre a dy “ s ave d ” and “ rege n e rate”. Their re c eption ofthe Spirit on that day was not their conve rsion; it was not theb eginning of their Christian life. In other wo rd s , Pentecost was asecond ex p e rience subsequent to and distinct from their earlier “ n ewb i rth”. As such it gives the pat t e rn for all Christian ex p e ri e n c et h e re a f t e r.’

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

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the disciples we re in a unique situation. Th ey we re ex p e riencing thed awn of a new era , something that could not be rep e ated in theex p e rience of other believe rs. It is there fo re difficult to rest toomu ch weight on this instance. It is interesting to note also that lat e ron the apostles seem to have looked back to Pentecost as their ow ni 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 nrep o rting to the Church at Je rusalem about the conve rsion ofC o rnelius and his household, Peter uses a significant choice ofwo rd s : ‘ The Holy Spirit came upon them, just as upon us at theb egi n n i n g’ , and ‘God gave them no less a gift than he gave us wh e nwe 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 theN ew Testament. Wh at happened in Samaria? We read in Acts 8 thatPhilip pre a ched in Samaria and that when the people ‘came tob e l i eve Philip with his good news about the kingdom of God and thename 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 thec o nu n d rum. ‘ The apostles . . . sent off Peter and Jo h n , who we n td own there and prayed for the conve rt s , asking that they mightre c e ive the Holy Spirit. For until then the Spirit had not come upona ny of them. Th ey had been bap t i zed into the name of the LordJe s u s , t h at and nothing more. So Peter and John laid their hands onthem 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 laygre at stress on this passage. To them it is concl u s ive proof that this isthe way God has arra n ged mat t e rs. The passage is cer t a i n lyi n t riguing and raises a number of questions, wh i ch may never bea d e q u at e ly answe re d. But it must be pointed out that the passage is ad o u bl e - e d ged swo rd. Pentecostalism sees it as a supreme proof thatthe re c eption of the Spirit is a second wo rk. But those who disagre erest almost as mu ch weight on the same text to prove the oppositec a s e. The whole point of the passage, t h ey arg u e, is that eve ryo n ewas surp rised by the fact that the Holy Spirit had not come to theb e l i eve rs when they we re bap t i s e d. It is because the case wa su nusual and unex p e c t e d, and there fo re perp l ex i n g, t h at Peter andJohn had to be sent to inve s t i gate and the matter came to bementioned in A c t s .

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

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

The fo u rth narrat ive instance wh i ch is seen as supporting Spiri tb 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 mhe said, ‘“Did you re c e ive the Holy Spirit when you becameb e l i eve rs ? ” “ N o ,” t h ey rep l i e d, “ we have not even heard that there isa 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 thatJohn gave was a baptism in token of rep e n t a n c e, and he told thepeople 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 LordJesus; and when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spir i tcame upon them and they spoke in tongues of ecstasy andp ro p h e s i e d ’ (Acts 19:2-6).

Pa u l ’s initial question carries an additional punch in theAu 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 ofPa u l ’s question is that one can be a Christian and not have re c e ive dthe Spirit. This is cert a i n ly one interp re t at i o n , but others wo u l da rgue that by their replies the men revealed their ignorance of theh e a rt of the Christian faith. Th ey we re possibly fo l l owe rs of John theB aptist or ‘ s u p p o rt e rs ’ of the Church. But wh at ever they we re, Pa u lseems 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 theminto the name of the Lord Jesus befo re laying hands on them.

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

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And in the one remaining description in Acts of the Spirit beingre 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 suppor t e rof 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 nand Spirit baptism did happen simu l t a n e o u s ly here but aren eve rtheless distinct acts of God.

But wh at about ex p e rience? If the scr i p t u ral case is not strong fo rthe 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 ab ap t i s m , as a second ex p e rience fo l l owing conve rs i o n , p rove that thet e a ching is true? It is cert a i n ly a most important factor that cannot bedismissed lightly, but doctrinal pat t e rns cannot be infe rred fro mex p e rience alone. The teaching of a further ex p e rience has led manyb 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 Spir i t ’and thought of it as a necessary second ex p e rience has not affe c t e dthe ex p e rience itself or its value for the ex p e ri e n c e r. But if that sameex p l a n ation becomes a stumbling bl o ck to a fe l l ow believer wh olongs for a similar happening in his own life but cannot accept thed o c t rinal stru c t u re wh i ch surrounds it, then we have a duty to seekfor the best possible ex p l a n ation of these moments of div i n eb re a k t h ro u g h , so that no one will be put off from seeking the ke rn e lby the unat t ra c t iveness of the shell.

Holy Spirit renewal

The early pentecostal movement met with a gre at deal ofopposition from the established ch u rch e s , and this made it turn in onitself with the result that the Christian wo rld was only dimly awa reof the rev ival wh i ch was taking place on a wo rld scale. But in the1950s their wo rld secre t a ry, D avid du Plessis, felt led to make anap p ro a ch to the leaders of the Wo rld Council of Churches. He wa sagre e ably surp rised by the wa rmth of his re c eption and thege nuineness of the interest shown. The initial encounter led toi nv i t ations for himself and his colleagues to add ress ecumenicalc o n fe re n c e s , and though David du Plessis could not have known it atthe time, those early tr i ckles of sharing and discove ry we re to lead toa vast ove r flowing of pentecostal ex p e rience into most otherd e n o m i n ations in later ye a rs .

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It happened to diffe rent people in diffe rent places and so quietlyt 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 RevDennis 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 theH o ly Spirit and had spoken in tongues. ‘ Th at serv i c e ’ , w ri t e sM i chael Harp e r, ‘set off an eart h q u a ke whose tre m o rs we re picke dup on ecclesiastical seismographs all over the wo rl d.’C h u rchm e m b e rs took sides on the issue, tension grew, and by June thes i t u ation was suffi c i e n t ly new swo rt hy for both Ti m e m agazine andN ew swe e k to write it up. The publ i c ation of the story ‘ b rought intothe open a movement wh i ch had been gat h e ring momentum for atleast four ye a rs ’ , c o n t i nues Michael Harp e r. ‘It gave many laypeople courage to come out into the open and decl a re wh at God hadbeen doing in their live s .’

If the beginnings of the so-called Holy Spirit rev ival orch a ri s m atic movement can be dat e d, then it dates from that summerof 1960. Since that time this re n ewa l , c e n t red on pers o n a lex p e rience of the Holy Spiri t , has grown and cro s s e dd e n o m i n ational boundaries in a notable way, with the result thatt 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 dinto a new spiritual dimension through a spiritual bre a k t h ro u g hex p e rience and have found not only a new, vital reality in their ow ns p i ritual life, but have found themselves becoming effe c t ive inG 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 withgre at mat u rity to this upsurge of new spiritual life in their midst, a n dh ave sought to make room for and welcome the new emphasis intothe hallowed shrines of their own traditions without allowing theseto be swamped in the process. And this applies not only to pro t e s t a n tch u rch e s , for the Roman Catholic Church has been notably wa rmt owa rds the Holy Spirit r e n ewa l , the National Confe rence ofC 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 red a n ge rs invo l ved in it; (3) but they wished that more priests wo u l dget invo l ved in it. When Pope Paul add ressed a congress of Romanc 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 eu l t i m ate seal of ap p roval was give n .

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In some congregat i o n s , h oweve r, the upsurge of new spir i t u a le n e rgy has led to friction. Some degree of tension is perhap su n avo i d abl e, but regre t t ably not all who have re c e ived a new touchof spiritual power have been as wise as they might. Insuffi c i e n ta l l owance has sometimes been made for the nat u ral and ve ryu 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 ind i ffe rent people. In some cases there has been a dep l o rable tendencyto look down on those who have not shared a similar ex p e rience ass 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 bythose full of excitement because their spiritual eyes have beenopened that one reason for the seeming lack of excitement in otherscould be that they have been able to see for many ye a rs !

Not all have been able to diff e re n t i ate between the vital and thep 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 ei 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 lre n ewal have met with we l l - d e s e rved re s i s t a n c e. This tendency toi m i t ate all things pentecostal was mu ch in evidence in the early day sof the Holy Spirit r e n ewa l , but today there is a gre ater awa re n e s st h at the Spirit is able to wo rk through any of the traditional fo rms ofwo rship in the va rious ch u rches. The Holy Spirit re n ewal has alsos u ffe red its quota of individuals whose claims to spiritual fullnessh ave not been mat ched by their conduct, and the claims of some tobe ‘ S p i rit led’when it has seemed more a matter of blaming theirown inconsistencies on the Holy Spirit has also led to the re n ewa lbeing criticised as a wh o l e.

But despite these pro blems there has been a widespre a dre c ognition that no rev ival is ever bl e m i s h - f re e, and that at no timehas 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 ragech u rch is so low that when someone comes along whose temperat u reis normal he gets accused of having a fever! Ap at hy never take sk i n d ly to enthusiasm. It has also been widely re c ognised thatex cl u s ive attention to the minus fa c t o rs of a rev ival whilst ignori n gthe far gre ater plus fa c t o rs puts us in danger of falling into the trapwh i ch Gamaliel wa rned ab o u t : ‘ you risk finding yo u rs e l ves at wa rwith God’(Acts 5:39).

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

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of theology. Not only was it the pentecostal ex p e rience wh i ch wa sc rossing denominational boundari e s , it was the pentecostali 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 sf rom denominations with no previous ‘second bl e s s i n g ’ links we ref re e ly at t ri buting their new spiritual release to the baptism in theS p i rit as a necessary second ex p e ri e n c e, evidenced by speaking intongues. But mu ch has happened since then.

The theologians of the major ch u rches have been fo rced byevents 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 havehad to re t u rn to the New Testament to discover how best to accountfor these ex p e riences. A number of denominations have set upd o c t rinal commissions, with fruitful re s u l t s , and many indiv i d u a lt h e o l ogians and wri t e rs from right across the theological andd e n o m i n ational spectrum have produced exciting wo rk in a ve rys h o rt time.

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

The Salvation Army and the Holy Spirit

The Salvation A rmy was born of a Holy Spirit rev ival. The rap i dexpansion in the late 1880s was the result of a mighty outpouring ofpentecostal powe r. It was little wonder that blood and fire b e c a m ethe motto of the young movement. Pentecostal scenes like thefo l l owing wh i ch Bra m well Booth describes we re the order of thed 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 ed e t e rmined calling upon Jesus to manifest His almighty, s a n c t i f y i n g

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p owe r. It was answe re d. Fi rst one and then another began to pra i s eG 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 thech o rus ‘ Washed in blood and filled with glory ’ ,s eve ra l , both men andwo 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 drewnear to earth. The glory of God filled the Old Th e at re, S t o ck t o n ,a n dm 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 allseemed to be pray i n g. We saw, we heard, we felt things unlawful to beu t t e re d. ‘ S t ay Thy hand, s t ay Thy hand,’we heard a brother nearex claim; while another, d own whose face tears of joy fo l l owed onea 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 Godfor full delive ra n c e, and oh, the scene of bew i l d e ring and enthra l l i n grejoicing surpassed any description. Some we re greeting one anotherwith the holy kiss. Some wept in one another’s arms. Some sat and somes t o o d, and some seemed as if they we re on the ve rge of an ascendingcl o u d.

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

The A rmy has ever had in its ranks in va rious parts of the wo rld anumber of people unquestionably possessed of some kind of gift ofh e a l i n g. If ex t ravagances have gat h e red round the subject in someq u a rt e rs , t h ey ought not to be permitted to obscure the central fa c t , wh i chis 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 isnothing surp rising in this. On the contra ry, it would have been surp ri s i n ghad it been otherwise. For we have not mere ly re c og n i zed that thehealing of the sick by the power of God has from the beginning beena 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 tit has always seemed to us in perfect harm o ny with the views andex p e rience of the A rmy itself that God should heal the sick after thisfashion. Not only has nothing to the contra ry ever been taught amongstu s , but far and near we have insisted upon the fact that God does raise upthe sick in answer to our praye rs; and nu m e rous instances of this healingm i n i s t ry have occurred throughout our history.

Instances of speaking in tongues we re ra re among the earlys a l vat i o n i s t s , and there is little mention of the subject. Bra m well Booth

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

Pe r h aps the gift of the Spirit most evident in the early days wa swh at Charles Fi n n ey called ‘ c o nve rting power’. The way in wh i cht e e n age salvationist lads and lasses we re used to bring wh o l ec o m munities to conve rsion can only be explained by the operat i o nof 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 tothe wo rld was a divine one. But rev ivals must eve n t u a l ly end, a n dunless in the meantime God’s people have built up a stru c t u re thatwill ke ep wh at has been ga i n e d, the rev ival will fade away and leavenothing permanent. It is to the eve rlasting credit of William Boothand his colleagues that they built a stru c t u re so solid and yet elastict h at it not only retained wh at had been gained but has been able toexpand and adapt itself to ch a n ging conditions.

The transition from an open, f re e, S p i rit-led movement to them o re ord e red ways of a settled ch u rch is not without its dange r. Th emain danger is that the pendulum might swing too fa r. No one ge t sso re s p e c t able as those with an unre s p e c t able past! No one gets soo rd e red as those with a history of disord e r, and no one gets soc o n fo rmist as the conve rted non-confo rmist! It is a we l l - attested fa c tof ch u rch history that movements born of rev ival tend to look backat their beginnings not only with pride but also a degree ofd i s c o m fo rt. And one cannot help but think that many contempora rys a l vationists would feel stra n ge ly out of place, s ay, in the night ofp rayer at Stockton wh i ch Bra m well Booth descri b e d. Is this ani 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 r e c e n tye a rs within the Church has been re flected in Salvation A rmyw ritings. General Clarence Wiseman deals with some of the issuesof contempora ry concern in L iving and Walking in the Spiri t. ‘ Th eN ew Testament does not teach that Christians need a new baptism inthe 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 anawa kening to the necessity for an utter and complete surrender to theS 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 -

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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 oft 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 eadopted by Paul. It must not be negat ive : t h o u g h , as with alls e n s i t ive issues, evil is bound to try to get a toe-hold, so there mu s tbe a cautionary note. Tongues have their place in the Bibl e, a n dt 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 iti n a dv i s able to allow speaking in tongues in its meetings.’In this theA rmy is in line with all the major ch u rches wh o , whilst accepting orwelcoming the trend towa rds info rmality and freedom in praye rgroup meetings, see the ori ginal tradition wh i ch gave birth to theirp 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 theright to use the gift in their private devo t i o n , should it be God’s willto bestow it upon them. Not a few Christians have found re l e a s ef rom personal inhibitions, and new freedom and joy in the Lordt h rough the exe rcise of the gift of tongues, and no one would wish tod 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 theS p i rit if it is to be used of God. Dare one believe that the pendulumis 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 thei n d ividual salvat i o n i s t .

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6Spiritual breakthrough: a spiritual

a w 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 ath 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 th ave shed light. But have the ancient traditions of the Churcha 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 hC h ristianity from its inception to the present day that we mu s tex a m i n e. ‘No serious student of sanctity can help but feel awe dwhen 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 ats chism of the 16th century, it has been still further enri ched thro u g hfour more centuries by those who have remained loyal to the Romano 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 ofh o l i n e s s , wh i ch has been systemat i zed and codifie d, and bears nowan 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 helpus in our understanding of moments of spiritual bre a k t h rough? Ino rder to answer we must first set the scene.

Classic Christian counsel on spiritual growth likens it to a wayalong wh i ch the pilgrim must pro c e e d. Progress along the wayrep resents va rious stages of spiritual growth and va rious ex p e ri e n c e st h at people will pass through. W rites Simon Tu g well in Did Yo uR e c e ive the Spiri t ?: ‘ The commonest teachings of Eastern andWe 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 eex 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 rlydistinguished by its ch a ra c t e ristic ra n ge of ex p e riences and

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“ evidences”. The transition from one stage to another may bes 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 eI l l u m i n at ive Way and the Unitive Way. We shall ask Dr Sangster tot a ke us for a conducted tour by means of some ex t racts from Th eP u re in Heart. 1

The Purgat ive Way

All who would begin on that path wh i ch ends at intimate union withGod must begin with pur i fic ation. God’s purpose with them at this stageis 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 pto serious praye r, penance to atone for the past, m o rt i fic ation tos 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 setout for the heights are shown their adve rs a ries as pri d e, e nv 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 ssubtlety 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 sis 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 inthe spiritual life. By the power of the Holy Spiri t , the sins wh i ch didp rev i o u s ly so easily beset the pilgrim are large ly cast aside. The gre ataim on this part of the journ ey is the imitation of Chri s t : the positivea 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 identifyo u rs e l ves with our Lord, t h at He becomes the soul and centre of all ourl iv i n g. He is the soul and centre of our thoughts. Wh e n ever our mindsrelax from the concentration on daily tasks, t h ey turn to feasting inthought on Him, as love rs think of the one belove d. Clearly then, He isthe soul and centre of our affections too. As know l e d ge incre a s e s , l oved e ep e n s , and as love deep e n s , the eage rness for still more know l e d gei 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 likeH i m , and consequently He becomes the centre and soul of our actionst 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 ddiscipline drags them to their knees, this is not usual with those on theI l l u m i n at ive Way. Inev i t ably, the cardinal virtues are built up in them

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( p ru d e n c e, j u s t i c e, f o rtitude and tempera n c e ) , and the virtues cl a s s i fie das ‘ 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 ckthem 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 sw 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 nowt owa rds intimate and habitual union with God. This is, i n d e e d,the stat ed 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 allthings for the seeker after holiness when he re a ches the Unitive Way. Th el ove of God becomes the only virtue of the soul. Even the pat t e rn ofp rayer and meditation is simplifie d, in the sense that life is one perp e t u a lp raye r. Men of gre at discernment pick out these ra re souls by three ch i e fm a rks. Th ey have a gre at purity of hear t , a gre at mastery of self, a n dtheir minds are all taken up by God.

The spiritual life

But wh at sort of quality of life is produced by this process? A rethe saints sick ly hot-house plants? On the contra ry, c o m m e n t sE ve lyn Underhill in her classic wo rk M y s t i c i s m (a term wh i ch ish 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 cof the higher re a ches of the Unitive Way is ‘an access of cre at ivev i t a l i t y. It means man’s small derivat ive life invaded and enhancedby the Absolute Life : the ap p e a rance in human history ofp e rsonalities and care e rs wh i ch seem superhuman when judged bythe surface mind.’

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

The most surp rising thing to me is that the sorrow and distress wh i chs u ch souls felt because they could not die and enjoy our Lord ’s pre s e n c ea re now ex ch a n ged for as fe rvent a desire of serving Him, of causingHim 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 eve ry opposite. ‘ When we look at their live s ,’ c o n t i nues Eve ly nU n d e r h i l l , ‘ we find ours e l ves in the presence of an amazing, as u p e rabundant vitality: of a “ t riumphing fo rc e ” over wh i chc i rcumstance has no powe r.’After listing some of their pra c t i c a la 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

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u n s u i t able men and wo m e n , ch e cked on eve ry side by inimicale nv i ro n m e n t , i l l - h e a l t h , c u s t o m , or pove rt y, a ch i eved thesestupendous destinies? The ex p l a n ation can only lie in the fact that allthese persons we re gre at mystics. In each a ch a racter of the hero i ct y p e, of gre at vitality, d e ep enthusiasms, u n c o n q u e rable will, wa sraised to the spiritual plane, remade on higher levels ofconsciousness. Each by surrender of self-hood, by acquiescence inthe large destinies of life, had so furt h e red the self’s nat u ral ge n i u sfor the Infinite that their human limitations we re ove r- p a s s e d. Hencet 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 hisown hand is to a man”.’

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

This was one of the losses of the Refo rm ation. With theR e fo rm ation emphasis on salvation by faith rather than wo rk s , t h eold classic way towa rds sanctity (wh i ch admittedly at the time wa sin 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 rp a rts of the Refo rm ation story. Many bra n ches of the pro t e s t a n tc 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 thei n c e n t ive to setting out on the path to holiness. For it is a costlyj 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 dhis teaching on sanctific ation. He despaired of conve rts who did notgrow in gra c e. Christ did not die to produce such sorry specimens ofabundant living! Having been schooled himself in the disciplines ofthe catholic way to sanctity, and knowing how steri l e

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t h ey could become when divo rced from the power of the indwe l l i n gS p i ri t , he sought to crystallise a doctrine wh i ch would ke ep theaccent on the wo rk of God, to be re c e ived by grace through faith justl i ke salvat i o n , but wh i ch would neve rtheless ke ep all that was go o din classic spir i t u a l i t y. By so doing he brought back to pro t e s t a n t i s ma mu ch-needed emphasis on holiness. But ‘ when We s l ey insistedt h at the grace of God wh i ch justified us by faith would entire lysanctify us by faith also, he seems not to have allowed enough fo rthe diffe rences between a ch a n ged re l ation with God and ac o m p l e t e ly ch a n ged life ’ , comments Dr Sangster. ‘Put bl u n t ly, o n eis an assertion about God and the other is an assertion ab o u to 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 tomention Eastern ort h o d ox and pentecostal) are being bro u g h tt ogether through an ex p e ri e n c e of the Spiri t , will be a sharing ofinsights 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 anex p e rience such as came to Samuel Brengle would fit into the cl a s s i cp at t e rn of spiritual development. Wh e re along the ascendingp at h way that has been described would such a spiri t u a lb re a k t h rough be placed?

The answer is hard ly in doubt. It would be placed ve ry near theb eginning of the ro a d. If anyone brought up in the classic pat t e rn ofs p i rituality had been present that morn i n g, he would have put hishands on the young man’s shoulders and said: ‘ S a m , the Lord hasgranted you a spiritual awa ke n i n g. He is calling you to a gr e ats p i ritual journ ey.’And if Sam had been schooled in the samet radition he would have known and re c ognised that wh at hadh appened to St Francis and St Te resa and to many other saints hadh appened to him, and that the Purgat ive and Illuminat ive and Unitives 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 tos a i n t l i n e s s , for we know from his life story how he grew in gra c eand in power from that moment. But the danger of teaching wh i ch

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s t resses a special baptism of the Spirit is that this is seen as theu 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 rsand psych o l ogists speak of as ‘ mystical conve rs i o n ’ , and wh i ch wea re suggesting is identical with the moment of bre a k t h rough wh i chB 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 ofR e l i gi o n d raws a clear distinction between ord i n a ry conve rs i o n , t h ati 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 eaccounts of mystical conve rs i o n ’ , he wri t e s , ‘ a re typically of ac 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 two 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 ghim. He begins to cut himself free from the ties that bind him to thel i fe to wh i ch he as been accustomed. Th e n , after a longer or short e rp e riod of unhappiness due to a painful inner confli c t , he passest h rough an ex p e rience wh i ch he is unable to descri b e, but wh i ch hasgiven him a reve l ation in the light of wh i ch his subsequent life mu s tbe live d.’

This seems a fair description of many of the testimonies that weh 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 bean intense fo rm of the phenomenon of ‘ c o nve rsion’.... It is a disturbanceof the equilibrium of the self, wh i ch results in the shifting of the field ofconsciousness from lower to higher leve l s , with a consequent re m oval ofthe centre of interest from the subject to an object now brought intov 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 ofG e n o a , G e o rge Fox ,L u c i e - C h ristine—all these had been bred up inp i e t y, and accepted in its entirety the Christian tradition. Th ey we re nonethe less conscious of an utter ch a n ge in their wo rld when this opening ofthe soul’s eye took place.

Sometimes the emergence of the mystical consciousness is gra d u a lu n m a rked by any definite crisis. The self slides ge n t ly, a l m o s ti m p e rc ep t i bly, f rom the old unive rse to the new. The re c o rds of my s t i c i s m ,

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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 laccompaniment of birt h .

In another type . . . there is no conve rsion in the ord i n a ry sense; but agradual 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 uponthe 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 accountswh 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 andsucceed it. It usually invo l ves a sudden and acute re a l i z ation of asplendour and adorable reality in the wo rld—or sometimes of itso bve rs e, the divine sorrow at the heart of things—never befo rep 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 descr i b e d. It is of soactual a nat u re that in comparison the normal wo rld of past perc ep t i o nseems but twilit at the best. Consciousness has sudd e n ly ch a n ged itsr hythm and a new aspect of the unive rse rushes in. The teasing mists areswept away, and reve a l , if only for an instant, the sharp outline of theE ve rlasting Hills....

In this ab rupt re c ognition of reality ‘all things are made new ’ : f ro mthis point the life of the mystic begins. Conve rsion of this sort has, s ay sDe Sanctis, t h ree marked ch a ra c t e ri s t i c s : a sense of liberation andv i c t o ry : a conviction of the nearness of God: a sentiment of love towa rd sG o d. We might describe it as a sudd e n , i n t e n s e, and joyous perc eption ofGod immanent in the unive rse; of the divine beauty and unu t t e rabl ep ower and splendour of that larger life . . . to be lived by the self inc 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 sfound sewn into the hem of his ga rm e n t , is a classic instance of amystical awa ke n i n g. Francis of Assisi is another. Attempting to fle eG o d ’s hand he was in a deep ly divided stat e, but ‘being led by theS p i ri t ’ , re c o rds his biograp h e r, ‘he went in to pray; and he fell dow nb e fo re the cru c i fix in devout supplicat i o n , and having been smittenby unwonted visita t i o n s , found himself another man than he wh ohad 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 ofloneliness and dep re s s i o n , visits a holy man. ‘ S u dd e n ly, as she kneltb e fo re him, she re c e ived in her heart the wound of the unmeasure dl 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

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p u rifying affection away from the poor things of this wo rld that shewas almost beside hers e l f, and for this she cried inwa rd ly witha rdent love, “No more wo rld! No more sin!”And at this point, if shehad possessed a thousand wo rlds she would have thrown all of themaway.’

The similarity of w h at is ex p e ri e n c e d, wh at is felt and wh at isp 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 theS p i ri t , i n cluding the similarity of events leading up to theex p e riences and results flowing there f ro m , would seem to indicat et h at these ex p e riences are substantially the same f rom anex 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 ethought 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 rthe believer brought up in the sanctific ation or baptism of the Spiri ts chools of thought, a cl e a rly defined way towa rds holiness opens upb e fo re him. He may not wish to subscribe to all the details of all thew ritings on the subject, but a definite goal is set befo re him andm aps for the road are ava i l able for the asking.

For those brought up in the older traditions new possibilities alsoopen up. The belief associated with ‘ s p i ritual awa ke n i n g s ’h a su s u a l ly been that they should not be active ly sought. God sendsthem in His own good time. This has often led to a kind of pers o n a ls 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 comesas a major bre a k t h rough. Its emphasis is practical in the ex t reme andit offe rs easy access, to all and sundry, into spiritual praye r. And itm a n i fe s t ly “ wo rk s ” : things do actually happen to people!’

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

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Sometimes sought after, sometimes arriving spontaneously, t h eyopen 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 shelinks 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 cht ranscends the normal wo rld of sense—however small, we a k , i m p e r fe c tt h at consciousness may be—is put upon the road wh i ch fo l l ows at lowl evels the path wh i ch the mystic treads at high levels. The success withwh i ch he fo l l ows this way to freedom and full life will depend on theintensity of his love and will; his capacity for self-discipline, h i ss t e a d fastness and courage. It will depend on the ge n e rosity andcompleteness of his outgoing passion for absolute beauty, ab s o l u t ego o d n e s s , or absolute truth. But if he move at all, he will move through as e ries of states wh i ch are, in their own small way, a n a l ogous to thoseex p e rienced by the gre atest contempla t ive on his journ ey towa rds thatunion with God wh i ch is the term of the spir i t ’s ascent towa rds its home.

1 Copy right © 1954 by W. E. Sangster from The Pure in Heart: E p wo rth Press 1954.

2 Copy right © 1911 by Eve lyn Underhill from M y s t i c i s m:Methuen 1960.

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7Towards a conclusion

WE must now begin to pull in the threads in our search for the mosts atisfying interp re t ation of the kind of spiritual bre a k t h rough thatS 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 df 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 dawa reness among many Christians that they are living at as 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 td 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 dleft Egypt but had failed to make it to Canaan.

M a ny would accept that these terms describe their spiri t u a lcondition with gr e 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 amthis and I know I am not. It says the ch u rch is all that , and I know wea 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 isSomething 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 eC h ristian life is meant to be life ex p e rienced in all its fullness. Not aconstant 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 andleads the seeking soul to break through into that ‘something more ’i snot as easy as at first glance it might seem. Some have even beend 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 havebeen born again then by definition we are alre a dy ex p e ri -

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encing all that can be known. But, as Thomas A. Smail puts it inR e flected Glory :

To tell believe rs who know themselves to be spiri t u a l ly inadequat et h at rive rs of living wat e rs are pouring from them,to tell those who fe e lfutile and fruitless in their Christian service that the outpoured energy ofthe Holy Spirit is fre e ly at wo rk in them, to tell Christians who are hard lyawa 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 allC h ristians are baptised in the Spirit—all this is to run into completeu n re a l i t y.

We can be quite sure that it is not God’s will that his peopleshould always have an inf e ri o rity feeling and be inwa rd lyd i s s at i s fied about their spiritual life. No. For the hungry soul there issomething 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 ismeant to be a victorious life, and that God longs to ‘ m a ke us holy ineve ry part , and to ke ep us sound in spiri t , soul and body ’( 1Thessalonians 5:23). Th e re a re higher heights of holiness to bere a ch e d. Th e re is something more. And the doctrine of sanctific at i o nsheds light on how to break through to those further dimensions ofC h ri s t l i ke n e s s .

The doctrine of baptism in the Spirit also re flects this innerye a rning of the human heart for fullness. The New Te s t a m e n t , f ro mc over to cove r, sets befo re us a quality of Spir i t - filled living quiteb eyond that commonly ex p e rienced today—and it leaves an ach i n gl o n ging within us. But there is a way through to this fullness, and thed 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 emoment of glory takes us into a new wo rl d. But we must not standstill. 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 sits contri bution to a fuller understanding of these post-conve rs i o nmoments 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 theneed for a further wo rk of grace subsequent to conve rsion areh a n d i c apped by the fact that the Bible nowh e re ex p l i c i t ly states thisto be so. As we have noted, the biblical fo u n d ation for such

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t e a ching is in the nat u re of an infe rence drawn from the ve ryo bvious diffe rence between promise and re a l i t y, or is infe rred fro mthe ex p e riences of certain biblical personalities. This poses a re a lp 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 theseex p e riences as completing in ex p e ri e n c e the fullness of theex p e rience of ‘ n ew birt h ’ , of wh i ch the Scri p t u res speak in gre atdetail using many and va ried metap h o rs. Th rough thesep o s t c o nve rsion ex p e ri e n c e s , we ex p e rience in actuality wh att h e o re t i c a l ly and potentially has always been possible to anyo n ewho is ‘in Chri s t ’ .

Just why so many should seem to fail to enter into their full andrightful her i 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 —ort h rough some deep - s e ated psych o l ogical hindrance he cannot eve nb egin to fathom—the seeking soul sometimes fails to find i nex p e ri e n c e wh at is his in theory. Only through a further touch is thed ivine wo rk completed.

This understanding of the post-conve rsion ex p e riences we havebeen considering seems most adequat e ly to mat ch the humanex p e rience with the gr e at and glorious promises of the Scri p t u res. Iffor 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 Doctr i n e deals with the pointand sets out the underlying theology as it re l ates to the ex p e rience ofs a n c t i fic at i o n .

The Atonement provides for man’s sanctific ation as well as for hiss a l vation. This means that the wo rk of Christ ‘ who of God is made untous 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 ’( 1C o rinthians 1:30), p rovides the possibility of being sanctified in Chri s tquite 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 thosewho trust in the saving virtue of the Atonement.... Wh e n ever this wo rk ofgrace 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 nlies 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

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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 notedcomes across. After examining all the re l evant New Te s t a m e n tp 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 mc 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 rafter 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 cgift. The gift of the Spirit (that is Spiri t - b aptism) is a distinct elementwithin 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 telement and focal point of conve rsion. It is the gift of saving grace bywh i ch one enters into Christian ex p e rience and life, into the newc ove n a n t , into the Church. It is, in the last analy s i s , t h at wh i ch makes aman a Chri s t i a n .

And in commenting on the phenomenon of the number ofC 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 moderneva 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 ofs 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 sof completion’of wh i ch we have been speaking. ‘ The blessing ofh o l i n e s s ’ , ‘the blessing of a clean heart ’ , ‘ b aptism in the Spir i t ’ ,remain deep ly meaningful terms and will for many convey all that isn e e d e d. But for others they will have less helpful associations. Weshall be considering other possible term s , but ‘letting the Spirit bereleased 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 tfor a term that is uniquely ri ch in meaning and associat i o n : the termfull salvat i o n.

Our fo re fat h e rs well understood that many of their new conve rt se 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 rethem. The ‘ blessing of holiness’is indeed the completion of theex p e rience of salvation. The special beauty of the old term ‘ f u l ls 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 somu ch salvation as ‘half salvation’. Th ey took hold only of part of theblessing that was being offe re d. In We s l ey ’s phra s e, t h ey we re

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

If we are looking for a phrase to sum up the meaning of theex p e rience Samuel Brengle knew on that sunlit morn i n g, it wo u l dp ro b ably be just that : s a l vation in all its fullness. Th at morning Bre n g l etook hold of his rightful heri t age as a son of God. He was sanctifie d, h ewas baptised in the Spirit—he entered into full salvat i o n .

Let Francis Bottome, with the insight of the poet, d e s c ribe thebl 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 nFrom 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 nWhiter 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 gAll the regions deep within,

Thought and wish and senses ke ep i n gN ow, and eve ry instant, clean.

Full salvat i o nFrom the guilt and power of sin.

L i fe immort a l , H e aven descending,Lo! my heart the Spir i 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.

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

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8Seeking spiritual fullness

I AM a salvationist born and bre d, and I have fo l l owed with intere s tall you have said about moments of spiritual bre a k t h rough. I fe e lt h e re may be something here for me. I am an active salvat i o n i s t , ab a n d s m a n , songster and young people’s wo rke r, and I enjoy mys e rv i c e, but I have often wo n d e red whether I was not missing outs 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 havesince wo n d e red whether anything actually took place. Then I we n tt h rough a difficult pat ch in my teens, but at youth councils one year Iwent fo r wa rd and gave my all to God. For a few days after that I fe l td i ffe rent. I felt something had re a l ly hap p e n e d, but then it began tofa d e, and after a week or two I came to the conclusion that it wa sjust the same old me back aga i n .

Since then there have been certain occasions when I have fe l tclose to God, wh e n , for ex a m p l e, the band went specialling andt h e re was a marvellous break in the Sunday night prayer meetingand many seeke rs came fo r wa rd, but on the whole I cannot claim tobe ve ry mu ch spiri t u a l ly alive. I pray each day and sometimes re a dmy Bibl e, but I must admit it is something of an effo rt. When I hearof others speaking of how real God is to them, and hear testimoniesto gre at spiritual encounters like the ones you have mentioned andh ow it made them effe c t ive people both inwa rd ly and outwa rd ly, Ifeel a ve ry real longing for something similar to happen to me. Ofl ate I have become incre a s i n g ly dissat i s fied with myself andu n h ap py. I feel I am re a ching out after something, but so far nothinghas hap p e n e d.

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

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

You touch here on one of the most vital questions for all wh oh ave been brought up within a Christian setting, and part i c u l a rly in an o n - s a c ramental setting like the A rmy. Stra n ge as it may seem, eve nafter 2,000 ye a rs there is a considerable dive rgence of thoughtwithin Christianity as to how those who are born into the Church areb o rn into the fa i t h — a re rege n e rated or ‘ b o rn again’. The Bible is notve 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 toPaul on the Damascus road poses no pro blems for the theologian. Hewas glori o u s ly born aga i n , he was conve rt e d, he got save d — a l lp h rases meaning the same thing.

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

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

But non-sacramental Christians like ours e l ve s , and those wh ocannot agree with infant bap t i s m , also have their pro bl e m s , and thep 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 rsf 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

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rep e n t a n c e. Here again there is no real pro blem with a child wh ocomes new to the faith and is ove r whelmed by the good new s , s e e k sJesus as his Saviour and is w o n d e r f u l ly conve rt e d. The Bibl en owh e re says that conve rsion is for adults only. Th at ch i l d ren ofeven ve ry tender age can know and ex p e rience the kind of div i n eb re a k t h rough we have been illustrating has been demonstrated aga i nand again. But wh at about the child who has been taught to pray andto love God at his mother’s knee? Must he be expected to be able togive 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 owe re re a red in a loving and go d ly at m o s p h e re who cannot recall ord e s c ribe the moment of their rege n e ration. When it actuallyh appened is God’s secret. Pe r h aps it was that moment ofu n d e rstanding and outgoing love towa rds God during prayer timeone 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? OnlyGod himself.

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

‘ The Holy Ghost’, he continu e s , ‘will take possession of themf rom the first. Mothers and fat h e rs will, as it we re, put them into theS 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 makethem His ow n , without their knowing the hour or the place wh e nt 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 theirn at u ral birth shall be, as it we re in the spiritual twilight, wh i chb egins with the dim daw n , and increases gr a d u a l ly until the noontideb rightness is re a ch e d.’

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

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about a birth as about a life. For some people the ch a n ge from nightto day is like shutters sudd e n ly being re m oved and the lights t reaming in. For others , as William Booth descri b e s , t h e re is noconscious memory of any shutters being there. From as far back ast h ey can remember they have been open to God, and have wat ch e dthe dawn turn into full day. But wh at does it matter that they cannotpin-point a precise moment when day began as long as they arel iving in daylight? No one is expected to be able to describe theirmoment 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 lve ry mu ch alive, if you know wh at I mean. I believe in God, and Isuppose you could say that ‘ Jesus saves me now ’ — but it all seemsu n real somehow, as if it is a matter of wo rds rather than actuality. Ist h at because I have n ’t yet got the Holy Spirit? Pe r h aps that is themissing 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 tby the Holy Spirit. It is that fact that makes you into a Christian. Th ecouplet from the song book says it we l l :

Soon as my all I ve n t u red on the atoning b l 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 scame into my heart when I was save d, but it was not until manyye a rs later that I re c e ived the Holy Spiri t .’And a testimony like thatcan give the misleading impression that the Trinity has somehowfallen ap a rt and that it is possible to ex p e ri e n c e the persons of theGodhead sep a rat e ly and indiv i d u a l ly. But however helpful andn e c e s s a ry tri n i t a rian doctrine is to a full understanding of the nat u reof God, it was never meant to suggest that there is more than oneG o d. In ex p e ri e n c e t h e re is only one divine reality that we cane n c o u n t e r, and the testifier in this case is adding a dash ofi 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 Chr i s t , and sometimes as the Holy Spiri t , can behelpful as long as it does not obscure the fact that from anex 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 withease from calling that indwelling reality ‘ G o d ’s Spiri t ’ , ‘the Spirit ofC h ri s t ’ , ‘ C h ri s t ’ and ‘the Spiri t ’ — but the sense of the paragrap hm a kes it clear that he is speaking of one and the same pers o n :

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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. Butif C h ri s t is dwelling within y o u , then although the body is a dead thingbecause you sinned, yet the spirit is life itself because you have beenj u s t i fie d. More ove r, if the S p i rit of him who raised Jesus from the deaddwells within yo u , then the God who raised Christ Jesus from the deadwill also give new life to your mortal bodies through his indwe l l i n gS p i rit (Romans 8:9-11) (author’s italics).

But it is not only in testimonies that the sep a ration between thewo rk of Christ and the Holy Spirit ap p e a rs. A ny teaching wh i ch seesthe ‘ b aptism of the Spir i t ’ as a distinct second wo rk tends nat u ra l lyto speak of the Spirit being re c e ive d at that point, and one canfo rgive the busy Christian for failing to note the small print wh i chs 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 rkwithin you. And if you do not feel that ‘ s t reams of living water areflowing out from within yo u ’ , as Jesus described the person alivewith Spiri t , then it is important that we discover wh at it is that ish 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 ttells us you alre a dy possess potentially.

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

You need to seek for the re l e a s e of the Spirit within you. Wh e t h e ryou want to call this ‘ b aptism of the Spiri t ’ is up to you. The tro u bl ewith the phrase is that it is almost impossible to use it these day swithout bri n ging into play the narrow and ri gid associat i o n s , wh i chh ave been shown to be unscr i p t u ral. But it is an evo c at ive, b i bl i c a land indeed beautiful phra s e, and if we could use it in the wider sensein 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 gt 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 shotd ow n , c o n t i nue to fly a “ b aptism in the Spir i t ” b a n n e r ! ’ His answe ri s , yes. The phrase ought still to be used even if it means painstakingex 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 dt h at we ought to seek for some other term. He quotes Canon Mich a e lG re e n ’s plea: ‘Could we not bear to call the rose by some othername? 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

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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 theS 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. Noneof them is quite right. Pe r h aps you will find the wo rd - p i c t u re of f u l ls a l vat i o n helpful to you. But, of cours e, it is the ex p e rience of theS p i rit wh i ch is of ultimate impor t a n c e, not its lab e l .

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

The New Testament as a whole provides all the scri p t u ral supportyou need if you feel spiri t u a l ly hungry. When you read its pro m i s e sand its descriptions of abundant liv i n g, you cannot but agree withCanon J. B. Phillips wh o , after spending 14 ye a rs tra n s l ating itsp age s , re c o rd e d : ‘It is the sheer spiritual zest and drive of the NewTestament wh i ch fills one with both wonder and wistfulness. It is asthough in these pages there lies the secret of human life. The secre tis not mere theory or ideal, but a fresh quality of living wo rked outin terms of ord i n a ry human life and circumstances. A b ove all, t h ege n e ral impression is of something supern at u ra l , of supra - h u m a nt ruth and a supra-human way of liv i n g. The wistfulness ar i s e s , o fc o u rs e, f rom the comparison between the shining, blazing cer t a i n t yof the New Testament wri t e rs and the compara t ive ly tentat ive andu n c e rtain faith and hope we meet so often in pre s e n t - d ayC 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 inthe Spirit ought to be like. As co-heirs with Christ the promises aremeant 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 thewo 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 andpainful ex p e ri e n c e. But from such an exe rcise can come new fa i t hand a new vision of wh at God longs to accomplish through us. A n dif we add the testimonies of contempora ry Christians who say thatt h ey are alre a dy ex p e riencing a new power of the Spirit in their live san 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 ofpeople who had a gre at gift for spiritual ex p e ri e n c e, and that the

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

These are vital questions and we must spend some timea n swe ring them. Fi rs t , let us define care f u l ly wh at we are talkingabout. We have agreed that a Christian is someone who by defin i t i o nis indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The question now ari s e s , is it alway sp o s s i ble for a believer to fe e l this indwe l l i n g, or does it remain morean intellectual conv i c t i o n , or even a matter of faith for some, p e r h ap sdue to their temperament and ge n e ral make-up? Our rep ly must beg u a rd e d. Towa rds the end of his life John We s l ey wrote some wo rd sin a letter wh i ch stands as a wa rning to us. ‘ When fifty ye a rs ago myb rother Charles and I, in the simplicity of our heart s , told the go o dpeople of England that unless they k n ew their sins fo rgive n , t h eywe re under the wrath and curse of God, I marve l , M e l v i l l e, t h ey didnot stone us! The Methodists, I hope, k n ow better now; we pre a cha s s u rance as we always did, as a common priv i l ege of the ch i l d re nof 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 thec o n clusion that the ex p e ri e n c e of re l i gi o n , by feeling or mentali 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 hehad to allow that for some the Christian path has to be trod more byfaith than by fe e l i n g s .

N ow, I grant to you that the testimonies chosen for ourc 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 theex p e riences described are like ly to be rep roduced in paler f o rm inthe lives of the ave rage believe r. But there is re a l ly no doubt thatsome people have a gre ater nat u ral capacity for r e l i gious fe e l i n gthan others. Th ey are gifted in that way just as some are moremu s i c a l ly gifted than others. Their temperaments make theme s p e c i a l ly sensitive to ex p e riences of the Spirit and they there fo reex p e rience powe r f u l ly and dra m at i c a l ly wh at to others will be ah a rd ly discern i ble emotional ri p p l e. Moments of div i n eb re a k t h rough can there fo re ra n ge, in Thomas Ke l ly ’s wo rd s , ‘ f ro ms u blime heights to ve ry mild moments of lift and ve ry faint glimpsesof glory ’ .

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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 thed 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 nocommon denominator wh i ch gives us a cl u e. Many people wh os t a rted by thinking of themselves as tempera m e n t a l ly lessre s p o n s ive to spiritual ex p e rience have found themselve s , to theirs u rp ri s e, d e ep ly stirre d. The basic capacity within the humanconsciousness is there bu t , of cours e, the intensity will va ry fro mp e rson to pers o n , for psych o l ogical reasons as well as reasons offa i t h , not to mention God’s sove reign freedom to wo rk morep 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 rewill be plenty of firewo rks. Gre at uplifts will often be fo l l owed bythe deepest depths. A sense of the miraculous will perva d eeve ry t h i n g. Th ey will feel with intensity, both love and joy — a n dpain. For others it will be a mu ch quieter walk. No gre at ups ord owns— just deep sere n i t y, with the occasional shaft of joy, as theywalk 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 onlyand by no means the most important factor pointing to the Spiri t ’swo rk in you. It is the emergence of the fruit of the Spirit in your lifeand ch a ra c t e r, those gracious Chr i s t l i ke qualities, and sensingyo u rself as being used in God’s service through some of the nat u ra lor supern at u ral gifts of the Spir i t , wh i ch are the real tests. InG a l atians 5:22, Paul speaks of the harve s t , or fru i t , of the Spirit asbeing ‘ 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 ands 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 someevidence of the fruit of the Spirit is to be suspected. Remember howlittle support John We s l ey got from his feeling states fo l l owing theA l d e rs gate ex p e rience? And yet how mightily he was being used byG o d !

I once asked a mu ch respected commissioner, a saintly man ofG o d, to tell me of the gre atest moment of spiritual feeling he hadk 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

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s e rgeants we re allowed to attend the annual offi c e rs ’c o u n c i l sconducted by Commissioner Samuel Hurren. Th ey we re mightygat h e rings. The commissioner was a wonderful orator and he wa salso a master at conducting meetings, using new songs and melodiest h at gripped us. All of us sergeants seem to have ex p e rienced asimilar uplift because I remember how we used to gather for ex t rap rayer meetings in the mess. The days fo l l owing the councils wo u l db 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 rsa f t e r wa rds the reading or the quiet humming of this song in mym o rning devotions would bring back tender feelings and mellow n e s sof spirit. But the heave n ly ex p e rience gra d u a l ly subsided, h oweve rh a rd we tried to hold on to it, and in a week or 10 days the f e e l i n g swe 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 tm e m o ry of events long past. And yet that the commissioner wa sused of God throughout his life there was no doubt.

You ask me how you can know whether a spiritual br e a k t h ro u g hex 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 itis the common priv i l ege of the ch i l d ren of God to k n ow t h ro u g hex p e rience the power of God at wo rk in them. The discove ry mayb owl you over or it may be a faint glimpse of glory or you may see itin the evidence of God wo rking t h ro u g h yo u , as was the case withWe s l ey, bu t , unless you are part of that small minority who arecalled 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 ethese things ve ry viv i d ly, could it be that the little I alre a dy know ofthe Spiri t , f rom time to time, is all that I am cap able of or that Godwill grant me? Pe r h aps the Spirit is alre a dy at wo rk and I don’t needthis release or filling at all.

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

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wo rk ) , t h at we know that God is wanting to break through in somen ew way. You try and tell one who is hunge ri n g, s t a rving fo rsomething more, t h at he is alre a dy sat i s fie d. You try and tell a seeke rt h at he is alre a dy a fin d e r. It just does not wo rk. And it is by this testt h at you will know whether God is drawing you on to some furt h e rreve 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 swh i ch you instanced earl i e r. How do you account for the va riety andh ow might it affect me per s o n a l ly ?

The constant factor in the va riety of human spiritual ex p e ri e n c ei s , of cours e, the Spirit of God. If, for a moment, we think of theS p i rit in more impersonal term s , as a powe r, we can then say that thed ivine power a c t s upon us and that all we do is to re-act to the div i n et o u ch. In a sense the initial action will always be the same, t h ed ivine power is the constant fa c t o r, but the reaction to the div i n ei n flow will va ry according to the infinite permu t ations of humanc 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 ani m p o rtant bearing on how the divine touch will be manife s t e d. Weh ave alre a dy noted that some people appear to have a gre at e rc apacity for re l i gious ex p e rience than others , but whether we are thec 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 actualex 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 utterlycompelling flash of insight, will to the other seem like a wa rm senseof emotional we l l - b e i n g, but equally as compelling. You willremember that we divided the testimonies according to the stress onwh at was fe l t, p e rc e ive d and re c e ive d. All intense spiri t u a lex p e rience pro b ably contains the three ingre d i e n t s , but thep 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 imper s o n a l .We are not opening ours e l ves up to a blind fo rce but to a God of lovewho knows our needs and understands our ex p e c t ations. It ist h e re fo re more helpful to think of the Spirit as coming to the aid ofour 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 tfe at u re of the ex p e rience for some will be a new sense of cl o s e -

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

You mention gifts. Wh at about the gifts of the Spirit? Should Iexpect 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 hasto say about gifts of the Spirit. The main section dealing with thesubject is 1 Corinthians 12-14. ‘ These ch ap t e rs are like a honeys a n dw i ch ,’ o b s e rves David C. K. Watson in One in the Spiri t, ‘ w i t hl ove as the honey in the midd l e. Unfo rt u n at e ly, some lick the honeyand ignore the rest of the sandw i ch , wh i ch is missing the wh o l epoint in Chapter 13; while others swa l l ow the bread but fo rget ab o u tthe honey, and that is bad for the spiritual digestion! It is there fo rei 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. Inve rses 8-10 we have nine of the more r e m a rk able ones; ve rses 28-30a 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 4:11i n cludes eva n gelists and pastors; and Romans 12 speaks ab o u ts 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 eithers eve n t e e n , nineteen or twenty-one distinct gifts that are mentionedin 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 NewTestament is not a volume of systematic theology. The Spiri t ’s wo rkis infin i t e ly va ried and it would be beyond any human being toattempt to list all the possible ways in wh i ch the Spirit might wo rkt 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 eachi n d ividual at will’, and that ‘in each of us the Spirit is manifested inone particular way, for some useful purp o s e ’ , and that ‘the highergifts are those you should aim at ’ (1 Corinthians 12:7, 3 1 ) .

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Ye s , you should expect to re c e ive gifts of the Spirit. This in asense 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 thatthe Spirit will gift us each in some particular way, and that when wee a ch fulfil our ro l e, the Church as a whole can meet the needs of thewo rl d. This does not mean that we are limited to only one gi f t , bu trather that one particular gift will be our main contri bution to theb 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 ofhealing in some particular instance, and have discove red that the gi f twas there, but for that occasion only. The Christian is God’si n s t rument and God can perfo rm his mira cles through him as needa ri s e s .

Should you pray for specific gifts? It seems as if God plantswithin us the desire for the gifts that he wants to give us! Th eQ u a ke rs talk about Christians being given ‘a concern ’ fo rs o m e t h i n g, and we talk about people feeling led in some direction oro t h e r. These are diffe rent ways of speaking of a real fact ofex p e ri e n c e. God d o e s implant within us diffe rent concerns. SomeC h ristians feel par t 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 taskis to build up the saints, or to teach. This is, of cours e, the wh o l epoint of Pa u l ’s va rious lists of functions within the Church. And justas God gives diffe rent concerns to diffe rent people, so he grants thegifts that will enable us to fulfil the allotted ro l e. How often have wenot heard that God equips those he calls? This is the same tru t hclothed in diffe rent wo rd s .

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

Can one guarantee that a sick person will be healed through ap owerful infil l i n g, as was mentioned in some of the testimonies, o rt 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 syou mention do happen again and aga i n , but it would be unfair of

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me not to point out that they do not always fo l l ow. Why this is so isone of the unanswe rable my s t e ries of life. Why are some peoplehealed through spiritual means and others not? Why are somereleased from their fe a rs in an instant, while for others it is a longp ro c e s s , and others again never find complete release? It could be al 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 seemsfar too glib and easy and cold when we are faced with actualinstances of human suffe ri n g. It is like blaming the suff e re rs fo rtheir misfo rt u n e. The degree of faith of some suffe re rs is so intenset h at it becomes heart - rending to wat ch. Could it be, t h e n , t h at theS p i ri t , the wind that bl oweth wh e re it listeth, for some re a s o nwithholds healing or release? Th at would seem to be totally contra ryto the nat u re of God. So we are no further fo r wa rd. We are fa c e dwith 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 hism 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 land 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 gd e l ive ra n c e, requesting interc e s s i o n ’ , but nothing wo rke d. Someones u ggested to him that he ought to think of it as a ‘ s t ru c t u ra lwe 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 ofd e fe at. But in the ch apter entitled ‘ The fear I couldn’t conquer’ h etells how eve n t u a l ly he was led to accept this fear as a part of him, t olook at it like Pa u l ’s famous thorn in the fle s h , and to adapt hist 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 swh i ch we are not able to conquer. Paul says they are there to ke ep ush u m bl e. When we face these, admit our inability ever to ove rc o m et h e m , He will—if we just ask Him—make a way of escape that wem ay be able to bear it.’

Wh at was Pa u l ’s testimony? ‘ Th ree times I begged the Lord to ri dme of it but his answer wa s : “My grace is all you need; power comesto its full strength in we a k n e s s .” I shall there fo re pre fer to find myj oy and pride in the ve ry things that are my weakness; and then thep ower of Christ will come and rest upon me. Hence I am we l lc 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).

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G re at sensitivity of spiritual discernment is, of cours e, needed todistinguish between a ‘ s t ru c t u ral we a k n e s s ’ wh i ch God wants us tobear 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 hisown ways of letting us know the truth about ours e l ve s .

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9Entering into spiritual fullness

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

WE sometimes talk about our part in a spiritual encounter as thef u l filling of certain conditions. We say, for ex a m p l e, t h at there arec e rtain conditions on wh i ch God saves us. Now if wh at you areseeking is in fact a completion, or fulfilment in ex p e ri e n c e, of thewo rk of salvat i o n , it should not surp rise us if we find that theconditions are ex a c t ly the same. If in our ex p e rience we have onlyfound ‘ s a l vat i o n ’ in the sense of fo rgiveness and of belonging to thefa 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 becauses 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 andi l l u s t rations we might choose to use to describe our part in seekingfor the ex p e rience of salvat i o n — wh i ch includes our fo rgiveness andbeing born again as a child of God through the Holy Spiri t — t h ey allboil down to these two basic ideas. We rep e n t , we turn away ins o rrow from the past, we confess our sins and renounce them fo reve r, and we consecrate ours e l ves to God. And then we put our fa i t hin 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 nor baptism in the Spirit teaching gives us compre h e n s ive lists of theconditions wh i ch must be fulfilled for the further blessing to beb e s t owe d. But it is interesting to note, though not surp ri s i n g, t h at allof these conditions can easily be grouped under our two headings offaith and rep e n t a n c e. This gives us further confirm ation of the fa c tt h at wh at we are seeking is not a diff e rent but a deeper wo rk ofgra c e.

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

We repent of our lack of willingness to yield ours e l ve sc o m p l e t e ly to God, and we abandon ours e l ves to his will. We say tohim that we are his for time and eternity and that ‘ Thy will shall bef 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 peoples u ffe r, this emptying of our s 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 usa 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’. Spir i t u a lc risis points arise only because of our fa i l u re to expand our faith andcommitment 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 ofC 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 onC h rist; a giving up your own will in all things and re c e iving the willof Jesus instead. This may seem well-nigh impossible and ve ryd i s agre e able to you; but if you mean business for etern i t y, and willi 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 chso 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 isnot only possibl e, but easy and delightful thus to yield yo u rself toG o d.’

But complete consecration of themselves to God is a hurdle fro mwh 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 ht h at leads to salvation. We need to be intellectually convinced thatthe kind of life in the Spirit we have been talking about is indeedopen to us. Such faith will come to us, as I have mentioned, by the

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reading of Scri p t u re, and devotional wri t i n g s , supplemented byh e a ring the pre a ching of the wo rd, and testimonies of those wh oa l re a dy know this life. Faith in that sense is not something we canwo rk up. It is something that arises spontaneously within us wh e nwe 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 heartt 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 dealwith these.

B e fo re you do, could I just mention that if consecration and fa i t ha re the conditions for the release of the Spirit or full salvation then Ifeel that I have many times re a ched that point. I have fuifilled thec o n d i t i o n s , but nothing ever seems to happen. Time and again I haves u rre n d e red my all to God, ge nu i n e ly so, and I have believed thep 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 rc o n s e c ration is not so complete as you would like to think, and thatGod is getting two conflicting messages from yo u , or it could bere l ated to this question of wh at is called ap p ro p ri at i n g faith. Let’slook at them in turn .

Th e re is a line in a song from the musical G l o ry ! wh i ch gives usthe 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 lywant it, i t ’s yo u rs for the taking. God is like a ge n e ro u s , l ov i n gfat h e r, who longs to shower his gifts on us. It is not a matter ofw resting blessings by brute importunity from a reluctant God. Helongs to give, and we know from wh at Jesus told us that God take sthe 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 sand come down? The answer may be quite simple; perhaps at heart Ido not want him to! Sometimes the prayer of our lips does notc o rrespond with the prayer of our heart. Or in more psych o l ogi c a lt e rm s , sometimes the prayer of my conscious mind is beingc o n t radicted by the prayer my subconscious mind is lifting up toG o d. And we do not even have to think of it in such psych o l ogi c a lj a rgon. If my set add resses to God at special, h o ly times, a rec o n t i nu a l ly being contradicted by the way I order my days and bythe value I place on certain things, h o p e s , aims and ambitions, and

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the ge n e ral set of my life, then these are an indication of wh at there a l me wa n t s , and my pray i n g — h owever sincere it may seem tome—is not rep re s e n t at ive of the full me at all. God answe rs thep raye rs that arise from the re a l m e, not those of the re l i gious mewh 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 rof the dominant desire. ‘ M a ny of the speeches we have add ressed toGod that we have called our praye rs are not real praye rs at all. Th eya re not our dominant desires. Th ey do not ex p ress the inwa rd set andd e t e rm i n ation of our lives. Wh at we pray for in the closet is not thething that daily we are seeking with undiscourage able crav i n g. A n dp 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 rb re a k t h rough does not come. But it still leaves us with a re a lp ro blem. How do I re a ch the point wh e re the real me wants theS p i rit to be re l e a s e d, the point wh e re my dominant desire is to wa l kin the Spiri t ?

Some people have called this process wrestling with God, but it ismu ch more accurate to talk of wrestling with my s e l f. Th ep e rsonality for a season turns into a bat t l e field as the spiritual andthe carnal self set to. And one by one the unwo rt hy motives andsubconscious resistances are unmasked and dealt with. For some it isa 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 tol i b e rty within the personality? The list of possibilities would bei m m e n s e ly long, but fo rt u n at e ly the Holy Spirit has a way of puttinghis fin ger on our particular pro bl e m s , so that we are not leftwo n d e ri n g. Th ey can ra n ge from gru d ges held against others to fe a rof ‘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 thats 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 top a rt with. Or a shrinking from the suffe ring of the cross and fro mbeing a co-wo rker with God in seeking to save the wo rl d. A n d, a sSimon Tu g well comments, ‘ Wh at we are up aga i n s t , as we seek toenter more fully our Christian heri t age, is often not sin so mu ch asp s y ch o l ogical bl o ck ages and mental hangups. Wh at is re q u i red is at ra n s fo rm ation at a level inaccessible to reason and deliberat i o na l o n e.’

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M a ny people, i n cluding Bre n g l e, witness to this time of trava i l , o finner dark n e s s , b e fo re the dawning of peace and light. But it isd u ring this process that the desire for a spiritual bre a k t h ro u g h ,t h rough the Spir i 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 simplicityof faith and consecrat i o n , appear to walk with the utmost of easeinto 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 partof my pro blem lies in this business of claiming God’s wo rk of gra c eby faith. I remember once when I went to the mercy seat that thecounsellor suggested I should claim ‘the bl e s s i n g ’ by fa i t h , a n db e l i eve that something had happened within me, even though all myintuition told me nothing had in fact hap p e n e d. We l l , I kept this upfor a day or two , but it seemed like one big pre t e n c e, and gra d u a l ly Is o rt of fo rgot about it. Nothing ever came of it, and I am there fo rewa 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 rt h at we shall end up as eternal seeke rs unless at some point we r e a chout and grasp that for wh i ch we are seeking. Some people have beenseeking reality in their re l i gion for ye a rs , on and off. Th ey havewa i t e d, p raye d, s o u g h t , fa s t e d, knelt at the mercy sea t , had handslaid on them, done eve ry t h i n g, in fa c t , ex c ept re c e ive the gift that iso ffe re d.

N ow I admit that there can be an element of God’s timing in all ofthis. It is no use urging people to take a step of faith for wh i ch theya re not inwa rd ly re a dy. A rriving at complete consecration may takea long time for some. All kinds of psych o l ogical barr i e rs may haveto come down. And arriving at intellectual acceptance of the NewTestament reve l ation may also be a lengthy process. But allow i n gfor all of that , t h e re does come the moment when the seeker know si n t u i t ive ly that the time is ri p e. He is within the r e a ch of thep 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 rdand grasps by anticipation the thing wh i ch is to be.’Wh at in effe c th appens is that the seeker so trusts God to be true to his pro m i s e st h at he accepts by fa i t h t h at the wo rk is done, and thanks

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

It is like Peter walking on the wat e r. Unless at some point he hads t epped out of the boat and actually trusted the Lord ’s wo rd that thewater would support him, he would never have known it inex p e ri e n c e. The eternal seeke rs are the ones who hesitate to take thes 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 nin 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 evet 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 ofG o d, b e l i eve it to be tru e, claim it humbly and yet confid e n t ly, a n dthen start praising God that it is alre a dy tru e, whether or not theex 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 ofthe Spirit that it is ours .

‘A nobleman whose son was sick came to Je s u s , and besought Himt h at He would come dow n , and heal his son; for he was at the point ofd e ath. Then said Jesus unto him, E x c ept ye see signs and wo n d e rs , yewill not believe. The nobleman saith unto Him, S i r, come down ere mychild die. Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the manb 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 andhold fast your faith. A gain and again I have seen people bu rst into thelight 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. Heplaced his all on the altar on the Sat u rd ay morn i n g. It was an act offaith that brought him a measure of peace and joy. From the pulpiton the Sunday he witnessed to wh at he had done. But it was not untilTu e s d ay morning that the fire descended from Heave n , c o n s u m i n gthe offe ring and filling him with glory.

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Another window into the same truth is the whimsical picture thatDr Evan Hopkins draws for us, of three men in a para d e. Fi rst comesMr 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 swanting to turn round to see if Mr Feeling is fo l l ow i n g. But as soonas he does that he takes his eyes off Mr Fact and is in difficulties. ‘ I fo n ly Mr Faith would ke ep his eyes on Mr Fa c t ,’ s ays the doctor, ‘ h ewould find Mr Feeling fo l l owing close behind.’

The facts are the gr e at promises of the New Testament and it is onthese that we base our faith. The spiritual life is not seated in theemotions but in the will, and when after mu ch consideration I ‘ w i l lto believe ’ , I fix my intention and I fix my eyes on the gre at fa c t sb e fo re me. Now, my feelings may rebel and send me all kinds ofc o n t ra d i c t o ry messages to dive rt my attention from the facts befo rem e, but the testimony of all who have wa l ked this way is that if Ip e rs eve re, if Mr Faith ke eps his eyes on Mr Fa c t , then Mr Fe e l i n gwill 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 thatyou have been disillusioned befo re, I can understand why. But apoint that might help you is to remember that no one expects you tom 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 remotions might flat ly contradict. It is no use thanking and pra i s i n gGod for the rap t u rous joy, h e ave n ly love and eart h s h at t e ring powe ryou feel if you feel none of these things. God does not expect us tobecome 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 themoment of discove ry, though this is such an intensely pers o n a lm 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 thegre 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 nodoubt have certain texts in mind that seem vested with specialmeaning for you. Pa s s ages like John 3; John 14-17; Acts 2; Romans8; 1 Corinthians 12-14; 1 John 1, a re continual re m i n d e rs of thereality wh i ch is promised to us. You might end with the cl a s s i cwo 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 ewho seeks fin d s , and to him who knock s , the door will be opened.

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

Then thank God for all he has alre a dy done in your life. Th a n khim for Jesus and thank him because he has made you a child ofG o d. But then rev i ew in prayer your fa i l u res of the past, your sinsand shortcomings wh i ch the Holy Spirit has been pointing out toyou. Thank him for revealing them all so cl e a rly to you. Th e nrenounce 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 aclean 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 dand fit for his accep t a n c e ’ (Romans 12:1). Place yo u rs e l fu 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 eyo u rself to him. As Brengle said, you may have to go over this anumber of times until you are sure you have given your all. Cert a i nve rses from the song book might be of help at this point, or wo rds ofc o n s e c ration like the fo l l ow i n g, wh i ch are quoted in Fi re inC 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 mewith whom Thou wilt; put me to doing; put me to suffe ring; let me bee m p l oyed for Thee or brought low for Thee; let me be full, let me beempty; let me have all things, let me have nothing; I fre e ly and heart i lyyield all things to Thy pleasure and disposal.

And now ask God to release the Holy Spirit in your life, to comein fullness, to baptise yo u , to fill yo u , to grant you salvation in all itsfullness according to the promises you have just re a d. Use wh at eve rwo rds have the deepest meaning for yo u , but ask him to penetrat eeve ry pore of your being and to fill you with himself. Ask him tore fine yo u , to mould you. Ask him to make you more Chri s t l i ke. A n dask him to bestow on you all the re s o u rces of the Spirit. If you arefavo u red with a good imagi n ation then try to visualise ith appening—God filling the empty vessel with his glory andreleasing 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 eis to yo u , and to your ch i l d re n , and to all who are far away, eve ryo n ewhom the Lord our God may call’(Acts 2:39), then

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you are going to take it to include yo u as well. And simply accept thegift by faith. Begin to thank him and to praise him for filling yo uwith himself. ‘ Thank yo u , L o rd. I believe that at this moment yo u rS p i rit is being released within me, t h at you are filling me with yo u rwonderful fullness, t h at your power is coursing through me, and thatyou are making me alive in the Spirit and giving me new spiri t u a lp 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 futuretense amounts to nothing. Th at is like staying in the boat. But afteryou have thanked God in the present tense, a ffi rm your step of fa i t heven further by praising him in the past tense. Thank him for hav i n ggiven the gift you asked fo r. Praise him for having granted wh at yo us o u g h t .

N ow notice that nowh e re have there been any claims ab o u tfeelings. You have accepted by faith the fact of the Spiri t ’s re l e a s ewithin you. Let Mr Faith ke ep his eyes on Mr Fact and all willeve n t u a l ly be well. Though in one sense the step of faith needs to beas determined and heroic as Jo b ’s—‘though he slay me yet will It rust him’—there should also be an element of hap py anticipat i o nand eager ex p e c t ation—almost a looking for the miraculous. Yo uh ave placed your all on the altar and you are determined that it wills t ay there wh at ever happens—or does not happen. You ared e t e rmined that Mr Faith is not going to look back. Neither now norin 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 ep romise has been fulfilled in you. You walk on the wat e r, in otherwo 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 mu ch , 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 ofhis dedication of himself to God. As he lifts his heart in praise andt h a n k s giving he begins to feel ove r whelmed by feelings of love andj oy and peace—to a gre ater or lesser degree depending on his basicp e rs o n a l i t y. But it is important that the feeling element should notbecome the touch s t o n e.

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For many people there is a time-lag between their consecrat i o nand finding inner assurance that something has hap p e n e d. But thes t eps of faith and consecrat i o n , ‘d e fin i t e ly taken and unwave ri n g lyp e rs eve red in, will cert a i n ly bring you out sooner or later into thegreen 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 isbest to seek God alone or in the company of other people?

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

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

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

Do not be disappointed if it turns out to be diffe rent from wh atyou had anticipa t 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. Goddeals with us in diffe rent ways. You are only at the beginning of an ew life - s t y l e. God’s presence may gra d u a l ly unfold to yo u — af requent pat t e rn of ex p e rience—and you may wat ch in amaze m e n tas 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 lb re a k t h rough that lift us to a higher level of awa reness rather thandealing with the life in the Spirit wh i ch fo l l ows. But it is the life thatfo l l ows wh i ch counts. A c c o rding to the classic pat t e rn of spiri t u -

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ality you stand at the threshold of a period in your life wh i ch will befull of ups and downs as God continues his re fining wo rk withinyou. You will become incre a s i n g ly awa re of God’s Spirit at wo rk inthe wo rld and in you. But this same bre a k t h rough in ex p e ri e n c ewh i ch makes us awa re of the Spiri t ’s presence also makes us morea c u t e ly awa re of the evil fo rces wh i ch surround us. You mayt 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 ofh o n eymoon time that God grants us. But this eve n t u a l ly fades. Yo um ay recall Bre n g l e ’s comments: ‘In time, God withdrew somethingof the tremendous emotional feelings. He taught me I had to live bymy 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 sonmust have been like sweetest balm upon his we a ry spirit; yet no onewould 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 inand through yo u , you will find your life becoming a spiri t u a la dve n t u re. It will be costly and demanding. The heave n ly gales maybl ow you wh e re you do not want to go. But through incre a s i n gp rayer and pra i s e, and increasing turning to God’s wo rd, a n di n c reasing sharing with his people, and increasing giving of yo u rs e l fto others and to God’s serv i c e, and by increasing trust ands e l f y i e l d i n g, you will find yo u rself ever more alive in God and eve rm 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 thegood wo rk in you will bring it to completion by the Day of Chri s tJe s u s ’ (Philippians 1:6).

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