Whispers of the Divine Wind

Sound Bites from Those the Holy Spirit Used Over the Centuries (Session 5)

Edward Burrough, an early English Quaker (1600s):

While waiting upon the Lord in silence, as often we did for many hours together, we received often the pouring down of the Spirit upon us, and our hearts were glad and our tongues loosened and our mouths opened, and we spake with new tongues as the Lord gave us utterance, and His Spirit led us, which was poured down upon us, on sons and daughters, and the glory of the Father was revealed. And then began we to sing praises to the Lord God Almighty and to the Lamb forever.

John Wesley (1703 1791), spark of the Methodist awakening:

Preaching to scholars and clergy at his alma mater, Oxford (1744) How few of you spend, from one week to another, a single hour in private prayer! How few of you have any thought of God in the general tenor of your conversation! Who of you is, in any degree, acquainted with the work of his Spirit, his supernatural work in the souls of men? Can you bear, unless now and then, in a church, any talk of the Holy Ghost? Would you not take it for granted, if one began such in a conversation, that it was either hypocrisy or enthusiasm? In the name of the Lord God Almighty, I ask, What religion are you of? O my brethren, what a Christian city is this! It is time for thee, Lord, to lay to thine hand! Greatest sound bites: The world is my parish. (after the bishop of Bristol complained) Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.

Thomas Walsh, one of the prominent Methodist lay preachers, writing in his diary
(March 8, 1750): This morning the Lord gave me language that I knew not of, raising my soul to him in a wonderful manner.

William Law (1686 1761), English devotional writer:

Read whatever chapter of Scripture you will, and be ever so delighted in ityet it will leave you as poor, as empty and unchanged as it found you unless it has turned you wholly and solely to the Spirit of God, and brought you into full union with and dependence upon Him. Take away this inspiration of the Holy Spirit, or suppose it to cease for a moment, then no religious acts or affections can give forth anything that is godly or divine.
Student Handout, Session 5 page 1 of 2

Whispers of the Divine Wind

Sound Bites from Those the Holy Spirit Used Over the Centuries (Session 5)

William Law, continued:

Resisting the Spirit, quenching the Spirit, grieving the Spirit gives growth to every evil that reigns in a fallen creation and leaves men and churches an easy prey to the world, the flesh, and the devil. Nothing but obedience to the Spirit, walking in the Spirit, trusting Him for continual inspiration can possibly keep men from being sinners or idolaters in all that they do. An intriguing analogy: The Christian church today [is] in the same apostasy that characterized the Jewish nation. And it has occurred for one and the same reason. The Jews refused Him [i.e., Jesus] who was the substance and fulfilling of all that was taught in their Law and Prophets. The Christian church is in a fallen state for the same rejection of the Holy Spirit, who was given to be the power and fulfilling of all that was promised by the gospel. And just as the Pharisees rejection of Christ was under a profession of faith in the Messianic Scriptures, so church leaders today reject the demonstration and power of the Holy Spirit in the name of sound doctrine. The New Testament without the coming of the Holy Spirit in power over self, sin, and the devil is no better a help to heaven than the Old Testament without the coming of the Messiah. He who places any hope or trust for salvation in a mere intellectual assent to doctrinal opinions has no more scriptural faith that he who looks for redemption to an image of stone. Every society of Christians which rejects the present operations of the Holy Spirit can produce nothing better than a religion of self-effort, despite its great zeal for sound Scripture doctrines. One can be so proud of his doctrinal soundness that the Holy Spirit cannot convict him of the unsoundness of his life. .

Student Handout, Session 5 page 2 of 2