I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great
you won't have enough room to take it in! (Malachi
3:10 NLT)
There is very much prayer being made, and
appeal being pressed for revival.... If the Spirit of God either ignores or
transcends so much that marks the Christian system, and makes it as though it
counts so little, (and the Holy Spirit never compromises on what is vital and
really of God), does it not mean that He calls for a reconsideration of very
much that obtains? The days of the Church's greatest spiritual power and impact
were days when ecclesiastical forms, architecture and ritual were nil, and the
Lord Himself was everything.... To get away from the lesser things we need a
mighty visitation of the Spirit of God; this, and this only, will do it. Most
people agree to this, and we have heard very much said along this line. What has
always perplexed us is that, while things of this kind have been so repeatedly
and strongly stated, the implication seems never to have registered itself with
sufficient strength as to result in practical adjustments. So, on the other
hand, if we seriously faced the things which the Spirit of God has again and
again ruled out when He has had His way, would not the way be opened for a more
permanent high level of spiritual life, fullness, and effectiveness?
Is not reformation an essential part of revival? Does not the Lord call for
certain drastic adjustments before He can "open the windows of heaven"? (Mal.
3:10). Whenever and wherever, by a new revealing of Himself, His purpose and
method, the Lord has secured those who have moved out on to the ground of Christ
only and in fullness, they have always had to meet a great and painful
cost. Usually it has been their own brethren in Christ who have exacted it....
How difficult it is for organized Christianity to believe that anything very
much of real value can go on without machinery, publicity, and all the framework
of organized work! May it not be well to pause and consider whether God's
mightiest and most fruitful works in nature and in grace are not done hiddenly,
quietly, unobtrusively, and – in many cases – done before anyone knows about it?
What of the resurrection of nature every Spring-time? The law of God's highest
work is the biological, the law of Life; it is organic.