Friday, May 29, 2009

The Power of Holy Spirit (Pentecost Sunday, May 31, 2009)

Dwight L. Moody’s Experience

One day in New York—what a day! I can’t describe it! I seldom refer to it! It is almost too sacred to name! I can only say God revealed Himself to me! I had such an experience of love that I had to ask Him to stay His hand! I went to preaching again. The sermons were no different. I did not present any new truth. Yet hundreds were converted. I would not be back where I was before that blessed experience.

—Dwight L. Moody

Greatest Unused Power

An American with an English gentleman was viewing the Niagara whirlpool rapids, when he said to his friend: “Come, and I’ll show you the greatest unused power in the world.” And taking him to the foot of Niagara Falls, “there,” he said, “is the greatest unused power in the world!” “Ah, no my brother, not so!” was the reply. “The greatest unused power in the world is the Holy Spirit of the living God.

—A. J. Gordon

Filling Is Answer

Paul tells us to live victoriously and to avoid excesses of the flesh. Moody once illustrated this truth as follows: “Tell me,” he said to his audience, “How can I get the air out of this glass?” One man said, “Suck it out with a pump.” Moody replied, “That would create a vacuum and shatter the glass.” After many impossible suggestions, Moody smiled, picked up a pitcher of water, and filled the glass. “There,” he said, “all the air is now removed.” He then went on to show that victory in the Christian life is not by “sucking out a sin here and there,” but rather by being filled with the Spirit.

—Mrs. Ruby Miller