God always works where His people meet His conditions, but only when and as they do. Any spiritual visitation will be limited or extensive, depending how well and how widely conditions are met.
The first condition is oneness of mind among the persons who are seeking the visitation. “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the shirts of his garments; as the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountain of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore” (Psa. 133). Here the unity precedes the blessing, and so it is throughout the Bible. An individual may seek and obtain great spiritual help from God; and that is one thing. For a company of people to unite to seek a new visitation from God for the entire group is quite another thing, and is a spiritual labor greatly superior to the first. The one is a personal affair, and may easily begin and end with a single person; the other may go on to bless unlimited numbers of persons.
It can hardly be doubted that there are many Spirit-filled persons, living pure devoted lives, who nevertheless exercise little or no power in the direction of revival. They live in beautiful isolation, doing nothing to bring down “showers of blessing” upon the larger group. Such as these have given up to the spirit of the times and have ceased to expect revival tides. They hear Jesus say, “Let down the hook and line for a fish,” rather than, “Let down the net for a draught.”
There is such a thing as a flow of blessing, where one experience merges into another, one day’s grace moves on to the next. The spiritual mood persists from one meeting to the next, permitting the Spirit to advance His work. It eliminates the discouraging necessity to repeat each Sunday the work done the week before. It gives the high benefit of accumulation and serves to attract increasing numbers to the fountain. It is this we need today.
Historically, revivals have been mainly the achieving of a oneness of mind among a number of Christian believers. In the second chapter of Acts it is recorded that they were “all with one accord in one place” when the Spirit came upon them. He did not come to bring them into oneness of accord; He came because they were already so. The Spirit never comes to give unity (though His presence certainly aids and perfects such unity as may exist). He comes to that company who have, through repentance and faith, brought their hearts into one accord.
This may disturb some who have not stopped to question the commonly accepted doctrine that unity of heart among Christians is a sovereign work of God, and that we can have no part in it. This dull doctrine of inaction has taught us that we should study to do nothing and hope vaguely that somehow God will bring us to oneness of accord. If the achieving of unity is solely a work of God, why are we constantly exhorted to unity by Christ and His apostles? “Fulfil ye my joy, that ye may be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind” (Phil. 2:2). “Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph 4:3). “I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord (Phil. 4:2). “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (I Cor. 1:10). It is plain from all this that believers have a large part in achieving and maintaining unity among themselves. In this as in everything else God must give effective aid, but He cannot do the work alone. He must have active cooperation on the part of the believer. And since the Holy Spirit can do His mighty works only where unity exists, it becomes of utmost importance that everyone who desires revival do everything in his power to bring about such a state of unity on as wide a scale as possible.
Now, it is easy to find in this teaching a source of discouragement for the struggling pastor. “If oneness of accord is so important to the working of the Spirit, then I despair of my church. Its members are made up of a cross-section of Protestantism, with a dozen shades of theological opinion among them. They agree on the fundamentals, it is true, but they differ on so many points that I could never hope to bring them together. How can they erase the differences arising from varying religious backgrounds? How can they ever see eye to eye on all points? If God cannot send refreshing until we have accomplished what I believe to be the impossible, then our case is hopeless.” Something like this will be the reply to our exhortation to unity, and the troubled soul who thus states his case will be no opposer, but a sincere lover of God and men.
This argument would seem to destroy all that has been said in favor of revival unity were it not for two facts: (1) The oneness of which we speak is not theological oneness; (2) unity embracing one hundred per cent of the people is not required before God begins to work. God responds to even “two or three” who may be gathered in His name; the extent and power of His working will depend upon the size of the nucleus with relation to the total number of believers in the church.
Revival unity is not the same as doctrinal unity. God demands no more than oneness in all things that matter; in all other things we are free to think as we will. The disciples at Pentecost were one only in the things of the Spirit; in everything else they were one hundred and twenty. Harmony may be defined as oneness at points of contact. It need extend no further than this to meet the requirements of revival. God will bless a body of men and women who are one in spiritual purpose, even if their doctrinal positions are not identical on every point.
Then, we should be encouraged to know that God does not want for perfection in any church. A smaller group within the larger body may be the key to revival. They who compose this group need only become united in heart and purpose and God will begin a work in them, a work which may go on to embrace larger numbers as they meet the simple conditions. The greater the number in any church who are of one heart and one mind the more powerfully will the Spirit move in His work of salvation; but He never waits for an every-member participation.
Every church should strive for unity among its members, not languidly, but earnestly and optimistically. Every pastor should show his people the possibilities for power that lie in this fusion of many souls into one.
The Pursuit of God
II. The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing
VIII. Restoring the Creator-creature Relation
