The Essential Works of A. W. Tozer - A. W. Tozer

Скачать книгу

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

       Table of Contents

       Preface

       I. Following Hard after God

       II. The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing

       III. Removing the Veil

       IV. Apprehending God

       V. The Universal Presence

       VI. The Speaking Voice

       VII. The Gaze of the Soul

       VIII. Restoring the Creator-creature Relation

       IX. Meekness and Rest

       X. The Sacrament of Living

      Preface

       Table of Contents

      In this hour of all-but-universal darkness one cheering gleam appears: within the fold of conservative Christianity there are to be found increasing numbers of persons whose religious lives are marked by a growing hunger after God Himself. They are eager for spiritual realities and will not be put off with words, nor will they be content with correct "interpretations" of truth. They are athirst for God, and they will not be satisfied till they have drunk deep at the Fountain of Living Water.

      This is the only real harbinger of revival which I have been able to detect anywhere on the religious horizon. It may be the cloud the size of a man's hand for which a few saints here and there have been looking. It can result in a resurrection of life for many souls and a recapture of that radiant wonder which should accompany faith in Christ, that wonder which has all but fled the Church of God in our day.

      But this hunger must be recognized by our religious leaders. Current evangelicalism has (to change the figure) laid the altar and divided the sacrifice into parts, but now seems satisfied to count the stones and rearrange the pieces with never a care that there is not a sign of fire upon the top of lofty Carmel. But God be thanked that there are a few who care. They are those who, while they love the altar and delight in the sacrifice, are yet unable to reconcile themselves to the continued absence of fire. They desire God above all. They are athirst to taste for themselves the "piercing sweetness" of the love of Christ about Whom all the holy prophets did write and the psalmists did sing.

      There is today no lack of Bible teachers to set forth correctly the principles of the doctrines of Christ, but too many of these seem satisfied to teach the fundamentals of the faith year after year, strangely unaware that there is in their ministry no manifest Presence, nor anything unusual in their personal lives. They minister constantly to believers who feel within their breasts a longing which their teaching simply does not satisfy.

      I trust I speak in charity, but the lack in our pulpits is real. Milton's terrible sentence applies to our day as accurately as it did to his: "The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed." It is a solemn thing, and no small scandal in the Kingdom, to see God's children starving while actually seated at the Father's table. The truth of Wesley's words is established before our eyes: "Orthodoxy, or right opinion, is, at best, a very slender part of religion. Though right tempers cannot subsist without right opinions, yet right opinions may subsist without right tempers. There may be a right opinion of God without either love or one right temper toward Him. Satan is a proof of this."

      Thanks to our splendid Bible societies and to other effective agencies for the dissemination of the Word, there are today many millions of people who hold "right opinions," probably more than

Скачать книгу