The Church is the Body of Christ, and the Spirit is the
Spirit of Christ. He fills the Body, directs its movements, controls its members, inspires
its wisdom, supplies it's strength. He guides into truth, sanctifies its agents, and
empowers for witnessing. The Spirit has never abdicated His authority nor relegated His
power. Neither Pope nor Parliament, neither Conference nor Council is supreme in the
Church of Christ. The Church that is man-managed instead of God-governed is doomed to
failure. A ministry that is College-trained but not Spirit-filled works no miracles. The
Church that multiplies committees and neglects prayer may be fussy, noisy, enterprising,
but it labors in vain and spends its strength for nought. It is possible to excel in
mechanics and fail in dynamic. There is a superabundance of machinery; what is wanting is
power. To run an organization needs no God. Man can supply the energy, enterprise, and
enthusiasm for things human. The real work of a Church depends upon the power of the
Spirit. The Presence of the Spirit is vital and central to the work of the Church. Nothing
else avails. Apart from Him, wisdom becomes folly, and strength weakness. The Church is
called to be a "spiritual house" and a holy priesthood. Only spiritual people
can be its "living stones," and only the Spirit-filled its priests.
The Church always fails at the point of self-confidence. When the Church is run on the
same lines as a circus, there may be crowds, but there is no Shekinah. That is why prayer
is the test of faith and the secret of power. The Spirit of God travails in the
prayer-life of the soul. Miracles are the direct work of His power, and without miracles
the Church cannot live. The carnal can argue, but it is the Spirit of God that convicts.
Education can civilize, but it is being born of the Spirit that saves. The energy of the
flesh can run bazaars, organize amusements, and raise millions; but it is the presence of
the Holy Spirit that makes a Temple of the Living God. The root-trouble of the present
distress is that the Church has more faith in the world and in the flesh than in the Holy
Ghost, and things will get no better till we get back to His realized presence and power.
The breath of the four winds would turn death into life and dry bones into mighty armies,
but it only comes by PRAYER!
Reference Used - "The Way To Pentecost" by Samuel Chadwick
From: A Revival Source Center