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A disinterested observer, reading without the handicap of doctrinal prejudice, would surely gather from the Scriptures that God desires to advance His work among men by frequent outpourings of the Spirit upon His people as they need them and are prepared to receive them.

We make this statement with the full knowledge that it will be hotly challenged by some teachers. “It is not scriptural,” they say, “to pray for or expect an outpouring of the Spirit today. The Spirit was poured out once for all at Pentecost and has not left the Church since that time. To pray for the Holy Spirit now is to ignore the historical fact of Pentecost.” That is the argument used to discourage expectation, and it has been successful in damping down the fervor of many a congregation and silencing their prayers. There is a specious logic about this objection, even an air of superior orthodoxy; but for all that, it is contrary to the Word of God and out of harmony with the operations of God in Church history.

The Bible does not sponsor this chilling doctrine of once-for-all blessing. Rather, it encourages us to expect “showers of blessing” and “floods upon the dry ground.” It was impossible for the outpouring which came at Pentecost to affect persons who were not present or congregations not yet in existence. It is obvious that the spiritual benefits of Pentecost must be prolonged beyond the lifetimes of the persons who were the first to receive them. The Spirit must fill not only that first company of “about an hundred and twenty,” but others as well or the blessings of that experience would cease with the death of the last member of the original band.

All this seems reasonable enough, but we have a more sure word of Scripture: Some time after Pentecost a company of believers met to pray for strength and power to meet the emergency then facing them, and to enlist the help of God on their behalf. “And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31). Some of these were of the original number filled at Pentecost. It is hardly conceivable that God acted contrary to His own will in filling them again after Pentecost. Still other outpourings are recorded in Acts 8, 10 and 19. All these occurred some years after the original act.

In brief, the teaching of the New Testament is that the outpouring at Pentecost was the historic beginning of an era which was to be characterized by a continuous outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Through the prophet Joel, God had promised that He would, during the last days, pour out His Spirit upon all flesh. The phrase “the last days” applies to a period beginning with the first advent of Christ and continuing through to the second. This is the position held by Dr. C. I. Scofield, as may be learned from his notes on Joel 2 and Acts 2.

That God’s promise of poured-out power is meant for the Church for the whole time of her earthly warfare is confirmed to us by the recorded experiences of 1900 years. While Christendom as a whole has been content with creed and form, there has always been a smaller group within the larger body which has proved the promises and enjoyed the fruits of Pentecost. Powerful movings called “reformations,” rushes of missionary activity, sudden breakings out of revival flame over communities and nations have been the sign of the fire by night to indicate the goings forth of God. In fairly recent times, as history goes, these spiritual visitations have given us the Moravians, the Methodists, the Salvation Army, and a galaxy of mighty preachers and missionaries whose names are in the Book of Life. In these very days in which we live there are scattered evidences that God is still pouring out His Spirit upon men. The mighty works taking place in the Scandinavian countries, in the East Indies and in French Indo-China can be explained only as new chapters in God’s unfinished book, the Acts of the Holy Ghost.

Now, if God wills to pour out His Spirit upon us, why do not more Christians and more churches receive an experience of power like that of the early Church? That some have so received is joyfully admitted, but why is the number so few? When the provision is so broad and the promise so sure, what doth hinder us?

In answer, we present the following analysis, which, if no more, has this much to its credit, that it is the fruit of painstaking and prayerful observation.

One obstacle to the reception of power is a widespread fear of our emotions wherever they touch the religious life. This has gone so far that it has become a phobia with many serious-minded people. Men who should know better will kneel for an hour beside a seeker, all the time warning him against his emotions as against the devil himself. Bible teachers declaim against feelings till we are ashamed to admit that we ever entertained anything so depraved. Feeling and faith are opposed to each other in modern teaching, and the listener is given to understand that any exhibition of emotion is indelicate, if not carnal, and should be avoided at any cost.

This anti-emotionalism, though it is sponsored by some good people and travels in pretty orthodox company, is nevertheless an unwarranted inference, not a scriptural doctrine, and is in violent opposition to psychology and common sense. Where in the Bible are feeling and faith said to be at odds? The fact is that faith engenders feeling as certainly as life engenders motion. We can have feeling without faith, it is true, but we can never have faith without feeling. Faith as a cold, unemotional light is wholly unknown in the Scriptures. The faith of those Bible heroes listed in the Book of Hebrews invariably aroused emotion and led to positive action in the direction of their faith. A statement, a promise, a warning always produced a corresponding excitation of feeling in the heart of the believer. Noah was “moved with fear.” Abraham “rejoiced” and “obeyed.” The Book of Acts is almost hilarious with joy. Perhaps the best summary of the whole thing is made by Paul when writing to the Romans, “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” And Peter says, “Believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

Another hindrance is fear of fanaticism. Instinctive revulsion from fleshly excesses and foolish undisciplined conduct on the part of some who profess lofty spiritual attainments has closed the door to a life of power for many of God’s true children. They have been too refined to endure the coarse gaucheries and bad taste of those self-styled heirs of Pentecost. They have made the mistake of putting all teaching concerning the Holy Spirit in the same category, and consequently will have nothing to do with any of it. This is as much to be regretted as it is easy to understand. Such victims must be taught that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus, and is as gracious and beautiful as the Saviour Himself. Paul’s words should be kept in mind, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” The Holy Spirit is the cure for fanaticism. Not the cause of it.

Another thing that greatly hinders God’s people is a hardness of heart caused by hearing men without the Spirit constantly preaching about the Spirit. There is no doctrine so chilling; as the doctrine of the Spirit when held in cold passivity and personal unbelief. The hearers will turn away in dull apathy from an exhortation to be filled with the Spirit unless the Spirit Himself is giving the exhortation through the speaker. It is possible to learn this truth and preach it faithfully, and still be totally devoid of power. The hearers sense the lack and go away with numbed hearts. Theirs is not opposition to the truth, but an unconscious reaction from unreality. Yet scarcely one of the hearers can tell another what the trouble is; it is as if they had been hearing an echo and not the voice, or seeing a reflection and not the light itself.

Then I would mention another thing which clearly hinders believers from enjoying the power of the Holy Spirit: It is the habit of instructing seekers to “take it by faith” when they become concerned with their need of the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

Now, it is a fact written all over the New Testament that the benefits of atonement are to be received by faith. This is basic in redemptive theology, and any departure from it is fatal to true Christian experience. Paul teaches emphatically that the Spirit is received through faith, and rebukes anyone who would teach otherwise. So it would seem, on the surface of it, to be sound procedure to instruct a seeker to “take it by faith.” But there is something wrong somewhere. One is forced to wonder whether the words “by faith” mean the same thing when used by modern teachers as they did when used by St. Paul. A sharp contrast is observable between Spirit-filled Christians of St. Paul’s time and many who claim to be filled with the Spirit today. Paul’s converts received the Spirit by faith to be sure, but they actually received Him: thousands now go through the motion of taking Him by faith, and believe they do so take Him, but show by their continued feebleness that they do not know Him in real power.

The trouble seems to be with our conception of faith. Faith, as Paul saw it, was a living, flaming thing leading to surrender and obedience to the commandments of Christ. Faith in our day often means no more than a meek assent to a doctrine. Many persons, convinced of their need of power, but unwilling to go through the painful struggle of death to the old life, turn with relief to this “take it by faith” doctrine as a way out of their difficulty. It saves their faith and enables them to march along with the true Israel. But it is they who constitute the “mixed multitude” which slows down the progress of the Church and causes most of the trouble when things get tight. And unless they see it differently later and decide to go through the hard way, they are fated to spend the rest of their lives in secret disappointment.

Let it be remembered that no one ever received the Holy Spirit’s power without knowing it. He always announces Himself to the inner consciousness. God will pour out His Spirit upon us in answer to simple faith, but real faith will be accompanied by deep poverty of spirit and mighty heart yearnings, and will express itself in strong crying and tears.