Do we not long for a refreshing filling of the Spirit of God in our churches? It is certain that God is not finished with his work, and indeed, it is he who said, "I will build my church" (Matthew 16:18). Sometimes we need simply read of such powerful effusions of the Spirit in days gone by to remind us that God may yet pour out his grace today. A favorite reading of mine is from Iain Murray's Revival and Revivalism. The following is taken from the life of Gardiner Spring, pastor of Brick Church, NY City, 1810-1873.
“Sparse clouds of mercy had been hovering over the congregation during the first four years of my ministry . . . and not a few, especially of those in middle life, had been brought into the kingdom of God.
The year 1814 was a year of great labor and deep solicitude. Many a time after preaching did I remain long in the pulpit, that I might not encounter the reproaches of the people of God for my heartless preaching, and many a time, as I left it, has my mind been so depressed that I have felt I could never preach another sermon. But I did not know to what extent the Spirit of God was carrying forward his own noiseless work. . . God was already beginning a precious work of grace among the people. He had taken it into his own hands, and was conducting it is his own quiet way, convincing the church and the world that ‘it is not by might, nor by power, but by his own Spirit,’ as the Author and Finisher of the whole” (pp. 205-206).
May God the Father grant a powerful effusion of his Spirit over this land, in our churches . . . tomorrow!
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