Spirit Baptism as a Moral Source in a Secular Age

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Spirit Baptism as a Moral Source in a Secular Age

Caroline Redick Marquette University

caroline.redick@marquette.edu

Abstract

CharlesTaylor notes that moderns aspire to high moral standards, such as universal jus- tice and benevolence, but lack the moral resources necessary to fulfill these standards. Instead, the weak motivations of egoism, guilt, and obligation result in hypocrisy or the projection of blame on others when we fail to meet these ideals. Taylor’s work seeks to uncover deep moral sources, such as agape, that make it possible to fulfill these stan- dards. This article will complement Taylor’s excavation of powerful moral resources by arguing that Spirit baptism, understood as intense participation in divine love, is a retrieval ofagapeas an empowering moral source as well as a way to contact this source through spiritual articulation. It is a particular kind of retrieval that resonates with the modern sense of the self through a language of personal resonance and an elevation of the ordinary person into the extraordinary life.

Keywords

Charles Taylor – moral sources –agape– Spirit baptism – glossolalia – secularity

Introduction

In his philosophical anthropology,Sources of the Self, Charles Taylor notes that moderns aspire to high moral standards, such as universal justice and benev- olence, but lack the moral resources necessary to fulfill these standards. For example, we may send relief funds to a tsunami-impacted area, not because these are human beings worthyof good will, but in order to avoid the crushing guilt of failing to meet a standard. The weak moral motivations of egoism, guilt, and obligation result in this type of moral hypocrisy. One alternative to this scenario is to lower our modern moral expectations to a more attainable level.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2018 | doi: 10.1163/15700747-04001007

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Instead of aspiring to alleviate hunger around the world, one could prudently focus on providing for their immediate family. Yet, Taylor also finds this alter- native dissatisfying, as adopting a stripped-down morality stifles a key piece of being human: deep spiritual aspirations. It is a form of “spiritual lobotomy,” ignoring distant others to focus on a proximate few, thereby denying the deep desire to care for all human beings because they are worth caring for.1 From a theological perspective, it denies God-like love for the whole world.

Instead of criticizing the high aspirations of universal justice and benevo- lence as overly idealistic, Taylor affirms these modern moral intuitions while seeking to retrieve sources that make them possible, such as the Christian notion of God’s agapic love.2Taylor laments that “the secular ethic of altruism has discarded something essential to the Christian outlook, once love of God no longer plays a role.”3Moderns have become blind to this strong moral source through an “inward turn” away from a transcendent perspective.4Taylor’s work seeks to uncover deep moral sources, such as agape, that make it possible to fulfill these standards.

ThisarticlewillcomplementTaylor’sexcavationof powerfulmoralresources by arguing that Spirit baptism, understood as participation in divine love, is a retrieval of agapeas a moral source. This will be accomplished, first, by explor- ing Taylor’s concept of moral sources; second, through articulating a theology ofagapein relation to the Creator’s vision of creation and Christ’s incarnate sol- idarity with creation; and third, by arguing that Spirit baptism opens up new possibilities for retrievingagapeas a moral source in our secular age.5

1 CharlesTaylor,Sourcesof theSelf:TheMakingof theModernIdentity(Cambridge,MA: Harvard,

1989), 520.

2 As Gary Kitchen has noted, Taylor is neither a “booster” or “knocker” of modernity; “Charles

Taylor: The Malaises of Modernity and the MoralSources of the Self,”Philosophy & Social Crit-

icism: An International, Interdisciplinary Journal25, no. 3 (1999): 30.

3 Taylor,Sources of the Self, 22.

4 Taylor,Sources of the Self, 515.

5 By “secular” I follow Taylor’s definition of “secularity 3,” which refers to new conditions for

belief. For example, “self-sufficient” humanism, with no reference to transcendence, is an

option for the modern person. See Charles Taylor, A Secular Age (London: Belknap Press,

2007), 18, 20.

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Moral Sources

Sources and the Good

In Sources of the Self, Taylor offers a thick description of the development of the modern identity through providing a historical account of notions of the self. As part of this account, Taylor relies on the image of “moral sources” that empower our pursuit of the good. This concept becomes intelligible in the con- text of his moral ontology. For Taylor, there are some goods that we respect because of their nature. While reductive naturalists believe human agency is based upon one’s subjective preferences, Taylor argues that human choices are consonant with a framework of goods.6 These are goods that correspond to a “strong evaluation” independent of our subjective desires, choices, or procliv- ities and “command our awe.”7 Although we may only be implicitly aware of these goods, they nevertheless orient our lives.

Taylor uses a spatial metaphor for the self’s orientation to these goods. We view ourselves in relation to a field of qualitative distinctions between goods, and placing ourselves in this space forms our identity. From this position, we orient ourselves to a good and move toward it. Thus, “Orientation in moral space turns out again to be similar to orientation in physical space. We know where we are through a mixture of recognition of landmarks before us and a sense of how we have travelled to get here.”8 Furthermore, we gain a sense of direction from narrating our lives in relation to this good. Through telling sto- ries, we reaffirm the goods that are important to us and recount our failures and accomplishments in pursuit of these goods.

Among the plurality of goods, some are more important than others, and these displace other goods in relation to them. Taylor refers to these standards as “hypergoods” by which other goods are evaluated.9 For example, a culture may value the avoidance of suffering as a hypergood that outweighs all other goods that come into conflict with it. Hypergoods are not simply a matter of subjective taste; rather theymoveus to respect them because we perceive them to be objectively worthwhile. There is an “intrinsic connection between seeing and feeling” as we are moved by what we see as “infinitely valuable.”10

6

7 8 9 10

Taylor, Sources of the Self, 26–27. See pp. 5, 22–24 for his description of modern natural- ism. Reductive naturalists view moral reactions as similar to instincts and dispense with any ontological account of morality (morality that involves claims about what the human being is).

Taylor,Sources of the Self, 20.

Taylor,Sources of the Self, 48.

Taylor,Sources of the Self, 69.

Taylor,Sources of the Self, 74.

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Modern culture especially resonates with the hypergoods of universal be- nevolence, the affirmation of the ordinary life, and autonomy.11 These goods form the framework for the modern self, providing the self qualitatively distin- guishable goods as points of orientation. Conflicts arise when one hypergood clashes with another, such as when one must choose between benevolent ser- vice on behalf of others and autonomous self-expression.12 For example, we affirm the decision of a young writer who gives up her dream of studying cre- ative writing in graduate school in order to earn money to pay for her father’s medical bills. At the same time, we view this decision as a real loss, because she sacrifices her autonomous self-expression in order to care benevolently for a family member. As moderns, we feel this tension because the writer chooses between two recognizable hypergoods: benevolence and autonomy. But if she chose to move to Florida to learn to surf instead of caring for her sick father, we would not feel sympathetic. Learning to surf is a genuine life-good, but it is not a hypergood—it does not outweigh the obligation of benevolence.13 Tay- lor’s point is that we intuitively sense the weight of hypergoods, even though we may not be able to articulate why these goods hold our respect.

Furthermore, there are particular goods that not only relativize other goods, but also move us as we love them. These “constitutive goods” are associated with strong moral sources that empower us to do good and be good.14For exam- ple, the Platonic idea of the Good is the source of value for all other goods, and persons are motivated by the love of it. Augustine, improvising upon Plato’s idea, recognizes God as the constitutive good whose agapic love empowers our pursuit of him.15 As gift of God, agape empowers the self from without as a moral source, while also intimately relating to it to affect its re-creation.16

Through language, human cultures express their deep sources. Thus, Arto Laitinen has observed that, for Taylor, moral sources are dependent upon

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12 13

14 15 16

William Greenway, “Charles Taylor on Affirmation, Mutilation, and Theism: A Retrospec- tive Reading of Sources of the Self,” Journal of Religion80, no. 1 (2000): 27.

Greenway, “Charles Taylor on Affirmation, Mutilation, and Theism,” 28.

Greenway provides a similar example: In the first case, a young man who chooses between joining the Nazi resistance or caring for his elderly mother (two hypergoods). In the sec- ond case, he refuses to join the resistance so he can enjoy eating strawberry ice cream (a life-good). Again, we intuitively recognize the absurdity of choosing a life-good over a hypergood.

Taylor,Sources of the Self, 93.

Taylor,Sources of the Self.

Roshnee Ossewaarde-Lowtoo, “The Sources of Modernity: Agape and Secularised Agape in Charles Taylor,” presented at conference Radical Secularization? in Antwerp (2012): 2.

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human culture and articulation, yet are not completely human constructions.17 Deep sources, such asagape, originate in God and become manifest in human language. In a theological sense, the Word becomes flesh—the external moral source is articulated in a familiar tongue. The problem is that moderns have become blind to anything beyond the immanent frame and unable to express these deep sources.

The Internalization of Moral Sources

Through gradual internalization, moderns have come to draw upon sources exclusively found within humanity. Taylor traces the relocation of moral sources through Western history. The ancient attraction to the Platonic Good, or God, took an “inward turn” when Augustine posited that the road to God lies within. For Augustine,

our principal route to God is not through the object domain but ‘in’ our- selves. This is because God is not just the transcendent object or just the principle of order of the nearer objects … God is also and for us primarily the basic support and underlying principle of our knowing activity … So the light of God is not just ‘out there,’ illuminating the order of being, as it is for Plato; it is also an ‘inner’ light.18

In this way, Augustine initiates a shift in epistemic access to the source—God is no longer found as the Logos in the external order, but within the self.19This move anticipates later thinkers, such as Descartes and Rousseau, who interpret inwardnessasasourceof itsown,effectively(althoughunintentionally)cutting it off from its connection to the divine.20

For Descartes, insight does not come from attunement to the cosmic order or the Good, but from a separation of the mind from the world.21 The world becomes a mechanism that can be controlled through instrumental reason. Similarly, human passions are brought under the control of reason.22 This

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18 19

20 21 22

Arto Laitinen, Strong Evaluation without Moral Sources: On Charles Taylor’s Philosophical Anthropology and Ethics(Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2008), 272.

Taylor,Sources of the Self, 129.

Taylor, Sources of the Self, 128–129. Also see Arto Laitinen, Strong Evaluation without Moral Sources: On Charles Taylor’s Philosophical Anthropology and Ethics (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2008) 271.

Laitinen,Strong Evaluation without Moral Sources, 271.

Taylor,Sources of the Self, 146, 8.

Taylor,Sources of the Self, 149.

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new “mastery of reason” leads to the relocation of moral sources—they are no longer found in an external order or Good but within the human being.23 A sense of one’s own dignity as a rational being, with the ability to con- trol one’s emotions and environment, provides moral strength.24Furthermore, the internalization of reason functions to provide “self-sufficient certainty.”25 While Descartes is a theist, he no longer encounters God within like Augustine. Instead, the source of empowerment is the self—specifically, instrumental rea- son, which provides certainty. This internal moral source no longer requires encounter with the divine. Thus, Descartes opens the way to a complete imma- nentization of moral sources—a path taken by later thinkers.

John Locke carries on the internalization of sources through developing the “punctual self,” which harnesses instrumental reason to objectify and remake the self.26 Through self-control, one’s consciousness becomes detached from any outside sources of influence such as passion, tradition, or authority.27The punctual self, as described by Locke, is recognizable in modern culture’s self- disciplinary practices in the military, schools, fitness programs, and bureaucra- cies, which aim to remake individuals and society through drawing upon the source of disengaged reason.28 Thus, self-control exemplifies a moral source still operative today.

But this is only one possible direction in modernity. Taylor clarifies that modern moral culture is influenced by three sources: the “original theistic foun- dation,” disengaged reason, and the goodness of nature.29Thinkers influenced by the Cambridge Platonist school did not locate moral sources in disengaged reason but in nature. For example, Shaftesbury argued that the highest good was found in the nature of the cosmos.30 Persons do not access this good via disengaged reason, but through the inherent “bent” of their nature to love the whole.31 Love bridges the gulf between the interior subject and the exterior world. Thus, Shaftesbury counters Locke’s disengaged reason with a way to reengage with the whole through love.

23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Taylor,Sources of the Self, 151–152. Taylor,Sources of the Self, 152. Taylor,Sources of the Self, 156. Taylor,Sources of the Self, 171. Taylor,Sources of the Self, 167, 72. Taylor,Sources of the Self, 173. Taylor,Sources of the Self, 317. Taylor,Sources of the Self, 253. Taylor,Sources of the Self, 254.

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At the same time, it is important to note that Shaftesbury’s emphasis is not on thelovabilityof the whole, but onloveas an innate endowment that carries us beyond ourselves to disinterested affection for all.32The ethic of nature has become internalized: natural affection, the main moral source, is found within the self.33 Like Shaftesbury, Hutcheson located human moral sources in senti- ment, the most important of which was benevolence.34 He argued that failure to see the benevolence in our nature cripples our moral sentiments, but recog- nition of the good in ourselves and others empowers benevolent actions. Thus, internal sentiments, especially benevolence, become the way in which the self moves toward the good.

Yet, for Hutcheson and other deists, moral sentiments work in conjunction with the providential order. Contact with these sources attunes the self to the created order and empowers the self to bring about good.35 Thus, while these sources are internal to the human being, they are still connected to the divine plan. Later thinkers develop this trajectory into the exclusively human sources associated with secularity.

For Rousseau, the inner feelings do not provide contact with the good in the created order but “define” what is good.36 He associates nature, and its moral source, with a voice within the human person that transforms the will so the self can become truly benevolent.37 While this voice is present to all, only a few hear it since it is hidden deep within the self. Thus, Rousseau’s depic- tion of nature becomes the modern “expressive view of life” in which fulfilling the self’s nature requires contact with (and expression of) one’s inner voice.38 Furthermore, each individual has their own original source and way of being human that must be expressed to be realized.39 Moral sources are no longer found within humanity in general, but located within individual selves, requir- ing expression. Art and poetry, in particular, provide a language for articulat- ing one’s inner nature.40 Through creative imagination, persons express their “inexhaustible inner depths.”41

32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41

Taylor,Sources of the Self, 256. Taylor,Sources of the Self, 255. Taylor,Sources of the Self, 261. Taylor,Sources of the Self, 362. Taylor,Sources of the Self. Taylor,Sources of the Self, 357–358. Taylor,Sources of the Self, 374–375. Taylor,Sources of the Self, 375–376. Taylor,Sources of the Self, 377. Taylor,Sources of the Self, 390.

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At the same time, expressivism resists instrumental reason’s division of nature within and nature without (nature within the human person and in the natural order). In the Romantic vision of nature, there is a current of love or life running through the natural order that must be participated in to be fully understood.42 The artist not only expresses the depths of the individual, but also strives to express the élan of nature.43 Again, this is nature not as God’s providential order, but as a mysterious enigma. Like nature within the human subject, it is also an immanent moral source.

Through this revolutionary transition in Western consciousness, exclusive humanists have come to rely upon immanent moral sources, such as human dignity and natural sentiments.44 In the first case, admiration for the human power of disengaged reason, or natural sentiments, creates the horizon that directs the self’s activity. In the second case, artists tap into moral sources within the depths of the individual, or outside of the subject through express- ing an epiphany of the natural world. Although this source is beyond the sub- ject, it still resides in the immanent frame.

While moderns may not always recognize these sources, or be able to artic- ulate them, they are nevertheless present, functioning as analogues to older moral sources, such asagape.Taylor interprets the shift in the location of moral sources as the process of secularization.45 But he is not ready to accede to the reality of traditional (transcendent) sources that empower humanity. The problem is not that these strong sources do not exist, but that we have become blind to them through the immanentization of our moral sources. Unfortu- nately, this moral ignorance not only keeps us from accessing helpful moral sources, but also blinds us to our “darker motivations.”46

Shadows

The occlusion of strong moral sources has resulted in reliance upon the weak analogues of the immanent frame. For example, benevolence has come to replace the constitutive good of agape. Benevolence is a high moral standard, calling for a solidarity that moves one beyond one’s own kin, social group, or

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Taylor,Sources of the Self, 380.

Taylor,Sources of the Self, 383–385.

Laitinen,Strong Evaluation without Moral Sources, 271.

Taylor,Sources of the Self, 313. He explains, “Secularization doesn’t just arise because peo- ple get a lot more educated, and science progresses … What matters is that masses of people can sense moral sources of quite a different kind, ones that don’t necessarily sup- pose a God.”

Ossewaarde-Lowtoo, “The Sources of Modernity,” 4.

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class, to care for all without discrimination. On the one hand, this is a remark- able advancement since “our age makes higher demands of solidarity and benevolence on people today than ever before.”47On the other hand, these high moral aspirations are cut off from their original moral source.

Colin Grant has noted that the secular concept of altruism, or benevolence toward those outside one’s own group, is rooted in the Christian gospel, par- ticularly the Christian message that God is agape. God reaches out in love to humanity and “seeks to elicit an emulating caring from us for one another.”48 Similarly, Taylor views the ethic of benevolence as a shadow of the Christian notion of agape, which presents an ideology of universal love. Unlike agape, benevolence lacks a way to empower these high standards, other than human power.49Insteadof participatingthroughgraceindivinelove,benevolentaltru- ism is fueled from within, by a direction of the human will.50 This is too high a moral standard to be sustained by the human will alone. Eventually, the pur- suit of benevolence results in self-condemnation for failing to meet this high standard or even in self-hate as it opposes our human tendency toward self- fulfillment.51Thus, solidarity rooted in benevolent altruism leads to unforeseen consequences.

Nietzsche, an insightful critic of high moral standards, warns that benev- olence can become “destructive to the giver and degrading to the receiver” when it is opposed to self-fulfillment.52 Taylor follows Nietzsche in this suspi- cion toward benevolence as a moral source, while also identifying other pitfalls. He warns that failure to meet the high standard of universal benevolence can lead to a “sense of unworthiness” resolved by projecting evil out toward other groups.53Through projection, one blames others for one’s own sense of failure. For example, the high modern standard of universal justice demands a form of economic fairness. The guilt from failing to meet this standard may result in a projection of blame onto the poor. Thus, we often hear that the poor are vicious or “lazy” and that it is their own fault that they are poor. These assess- ments do not only come from ignorance of poverty, or pride in one’s own ability to overcome difficult circumstances, but are often the result of projected guilt.

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49 50 51 52 53

Charles Taylor, A Catholic Modernity? (Dayton,OH: Dayton University Press, 1996), 29. Colin Grant, Altruism & Christian Ethics (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 167–168.

Charles Taylor, A Secular Age(Cambridge,MA: Belknap Press, 2007), 247.

Taylor,Sources of the Self, 22.

Taylor,Sources of the Self, 516.

Taylor,Sources of the Self.

Taylor,Sources of the Self.

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While projection functions to alleviate one’s conscience, projection itself may not be enough to overcome this sense of guilt. Taylor notes how the iden- tification of moral failure with a particular group can lead to violent elimina- tion of that group. In this case, the other is blamed for preventing universal benevolence—and the solution is through their destruction. For example, we may recall the millions slaughtered in pursuit of the Communist ideal of eco- nomic equality and universal justice. As manifested in Stalinism, a sense of guilt often leads to an “ideology of polarization” in which one recovers purity by opposing the group identified with evil.54

Taylor believes that the only way to avoid this pull toward violence is in the turn toward transcendence “through the full-hearted love of some good beyond life.”55In the terms of moral sources, the only way to affirm human flourishing without resorting to violence is throughagape. Thus, Taylor posits that “only if thereissuchathingasagape,oroneof thesecularclaimantstoitssuccession,is Nietzsche wrong.”56The only way to meet high moral standards without falling into the trap of projection is through connection to a strong moral source. Fur- thermore, this source cannot be found completely within the immanent frame. If self-giving love is possible for human beings, then it is possible “to the extent that we open ourselves to God.”57

Recognizing that benevolence is parasitic of agape, drawing from its high aspiration to “see good” and enact the good, Taylor endeavors to retrieve this original source. He believes that the forgotten goods of moral sources, such as agape, can be retrieved through articulating them so that we become aware of their presence.58 He observes, “If articulacy is open to us, to bring us out of the cramped postures of suppression, this is partly because it will allow us to acknowledge the full range of goods we live by. It is also because it will open us to our moral sources, to release their force in our lives.”59 Through articu- lating our sources, we become aware of their presence. Taylor describes this process as a “retrieval” of “buried goods.”60 Articulation provides language to see these goods so that we may participate in them and thereby be empowered by them.61

54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61

Taylor,Sources of the Self. Taylor, A Catholic Modernity?, 27. Taylor,Sources of the Self, 516. Taylor, A Catholic Modernity?, 35. Taylor,Sources of the Self, 520. Taylor,Sources of the Self, 107. Taylor,Sources of the Self, 520. Taylor,Sources of the Self, 92.

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Agapeas a Moral Source

In a sense, Taylor’s whole narration of Western history in Sources of the Self is an exercise in articulating moral sources so that they become available to us again.62 While he does not claim to provide a theological account of modern identity, a theological anthropology is present in his narrative, particularly the self’s orientation toward constitutive goods (includingtheconstitutive good— God). The theological roots of this good in creation and incarnation, discern- able in Taylor’s work, assists our understanding of agape as a strong moral source.63

Agapeand Creation

Taylor derives his notion of agape as “seeing good” from the narrative of Gen- esis 1, in which God sees creation and declares it as good. This optic is central to the notion of divine love. Taylor argues that “agapeis inseparable from such a ‘seeing-good’” since it is “a love that God has for humans which is connected with their goodness as creatures.”64 God creates humanity as good, sees them as good, and loves them in this goodness. Taylor clarifies that God’s love is not just a response to seeing this inherent goodness, but also makes it good.65

Taylor follows the classical theological understanding of creation as God’s free, gratuitous gift of life.66 God does not create because of dependency, or a need for creation, but out of an overflowing love. There is no need to decide whether humans are loved because they are good or good because they are loved.67 Either way, God affirms human being; agape is the overflow of love that generates new life.

As a moral source, this “seeing good” transforms our vision of the world. Taylor notes that the “transformation of our stance toward the world” is tra- ditionally connected to grace.68In this case,agapeis a moral source for human

62 63

64 65 66 67 68

Taylor,Sources of the Self, 521.

Here I follow a path trod by Philip Rossi, “Seeing Good in a World of Suffering: Incarnation as God’s Transforming Vision,” in Godhead Here in Hiding: Incarnation and the History of Human Suffering, ed. Terrence Merrigan and Frederik Glorieux (Leuven, Belgium: Uitgev- erij Peeters, 2012), 455. Rossi senses an implicit theology of incarnation and creation in Taylor’s anthropology as it relates to “seeing good.”

Taylor,Sources of the Self, 516.

Taylor,Sources of the Self, 449.

Grant, Altruism & Christian Ethics, 215.

Taylor,Sources of the Self, 516.

Taylor,Sources of the Self, 449.

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empowerment, as persons participate in this divine love.Through participating in divineagape, persons are empowered to view creation through this optic— we see that “human beings are eminently worth helping” and treating with dignity.69 Because this gaze beholds all of creation, it extends beyond the nor- mal human scope of tribal selectivity. We not only see the goodness of family, kinship group, or fellow citizens, but also see the dignity of the stranger and even other creatures. This sight empowers action on behalf of others. In short, participation in the Creator’s agapic gaze opens up the possibility of fellowship with other creatures.

Inspired byagape, universal benevolence strives to see the good of the whole but is deprived of the Creator’s perspective. Since benevolence is powered from within, and from the individual’s perspective, it must rely upon techniques and technologies to extend its gaze. From time to time, this standard of seeing good is successful, such as when television highlights the impact of an earthquake in another country. We see and are moved to give to strangers in distant lands. But in the end, as a weak moral source, benevolence lacks the motivating power, and source outside of the human will, to sustainably see in a way that generates new life. Such a task becomes possible through seeing with God and participat- ing in the Creator’s gift of life by affirming life.

This produces a kind of solidarity that Taylor terms “a network of agape.” In contrast to a “categorical grouping” of people who share a common prop- erty, agapic solidarity is not based on a universal category or in tribal kinship. Rather, it is based on “the kind of love God has for us,” which creates bonds of particular relationships, resembling family relationships.70This kind of love is exemplified in the parable of the Good Samaritan, who sees a wounded Jewish man on the side of the road and is moved to care for him. While moderns are tempted to take this story to be an endorsement of universal moral rules,Taylor (following Ivan Illich) insists that the story actually points to a source of moti- vation. The Samaritan does not feel called by an “ought” but by the wounded human being before him.71 Thus, the source of his altruistic activity is seeing the wounded man as a person worthy of care and assistance. The Samaritan participates in the Creator’s gaze and is moved to act in love.

69 70 71

Taylor,Sources of the Self, 515. Taylor, A Secular Age, 739. Taylor, A Secular Age, 738.

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Agapeand Incarnation

Loving participation in divine seeing good becomes a source for affirming life and working toward the flourishing of all. Yet, agape, as a moral source, aims notonlytowardhumanflourishingbutalsotowardagood“beyond”flourishing, expressed in eschatological terms as union with God or the beatific vision.72 Pursuit of this good may even require fasting from one’s own flourishing. This is why Christianity can find meaning in death and suffering.The negation of life can become “a place to affirm something which matters beyond life, on which life itself originally draws.”73 In this way, agape follows the kenotic model of Christ’s incarnation, in which the Son divests himself of life in order to affirm a good beyond his own flourishing. Christ displays a willingness to suffer in solidarity, a prospect that makes little sense in an immanent frame in which human flourishing, especially one’s own flourishing, is the singular good. Per- sons participate in this form of agapethrough self-renunciation, for the sake of union with God.

At the same time, the two goods, flourishing and “beyond” flourishing, are mutually supportive. While “renunciation de-centers you in relation with God, God’s will is that humans flourish, and so you are taken back to an affirmation of this flourishing, which is biblically called agape.”74 Thus, kenotic renuncia- tion of life paradoxically functions to affirm creation.

The incarnation further affirms a particular facet of creation—embodi- ment—through divine enfleshment. While the modern turn to disengaged reason has disembodied the spiritual life, leading to an “excarnation” of the modern self, agape is an embodied love-response to others.75 Taylor points to Christ’s experience of seeing others and being physically moved by compas- sion. Christ felt moved in his bowels (splangnizesthai) to take pity on those he saw. Thus, “agape moves outward from the guts.”76 It is an embodied response to seeing good in the other.

Christ’s incarnate experience of embodiedagapebecomes a model for form- ing a network of enfleshed people. Through participating in agape, persons are “fitted together in a dissymmetric proportionality … which comes from God, which is that of agape, and which became possible because God became flesh.”77 The incarnation, not universal rules or standards discovered through

72 73 74 75 76 77

Examples of “beyond” flourishing are my own. Taylor, A Catholic Modernity?, 16.

Taylor, A Catholic Modernity?

Taylor, A Secular Age, 771.

Taylor, A Secular Age, 741.

Taylor, A Secular Age, 739.

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rational agency, makes this network possible. Universal rules obscure the lived reality of our contingency—a reality that is central to the Samaritan’s percep- tion of his neighbor. He discovers his neighbor by accident, on the side of the road, and enfolds him into his network.78 Disengaged reason and its universal rules attempt to bypass contingency and enfleshment, thereby missing the gaze of the other. In doing so, they lose contact with the incarnate source of love for neighbor.

Thus far, this essay has illuminated Taylor’s notion of agape by noting its theological roots in creation and incarnation. This theological articulation has hopefully assisted in discernment of what agape is, and how it is a strong moral source for solidarity, capable of forming networks of love. But a ques- tion remains, how does a moral source become available? How do persons “tap into” this source?79 While Taylor focuses on articulating history as one way a lost source may become available for moderns again, some may wonder if this is sufficient on its own.80 In order to engage the question of contacting moral sources, this essay will examine the third article of the creed for new ways to articulate and participate in agape. In particular, the pentecostal-charismatic experience of Spirit baptism may be interpreted as a recovery of this empow- ering moral source as well as a way to tap into this source through spiritual participation and articulation.

Agapeand the Spirit of Love

Spirit Baptism as Participation inAgape

InBaptizedintheSpirit, Frank Macchia frames Spirit baptism in agapic terms— as the self-impartation of divine love. In contrast to those who view divine love as something that God has, Macchia emphasizes that the Spirit is the flame of love—the love between the Father and the Son.81 The Father gives himself to the Son, and the Son to the Father—a self-gift that is the Spirit. This intratrini- tarian gifting shows that “love is not a mere attribute, but God’s very nature.”82

78 79

80 81 82

Taylor, A Secular Age, 742.

Ossewaarde-Lowtoo, “The Sources of Modernity,” 5, asks this insightful question in refer- ence to Taylor’sSources of the Self.

Taylor, A Secular Age, 512.

Macchia, Baptized in theSpirit, 261–262.

Macchia, Baptized in theSpirit, 262.

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Furthermore, human love finds its model and ground in the triune nature. Human persons image the divine self-gift through an “analogy of love.”83David R. Nichols, who has identified this analogy at the heart of pentecostal “spiritual ontology” (and, in this case, pentecostal anthropology), explains:

The analogy lies in the fact that love, even as it proceeds from the spir- itual dimension into the material, can also be produced and returned toward the spiritual dimension. This, perhaps, is man’s greatest dignity, that he is capable of striving to produce that free, unconditional love which reciprocates the love of God … But this is a flawed, conditional love, which needs the corrective of regeneration. In the Christian, love has an exterior source, namely God. Divine love has interpenetrated his human love so that he is on the way toward the complete, unconditional agape.84

Nichols notes that human persons extend love to one another in a way that is analogous to trinitarian love. Thus, we often see individuals acting altruis- tically and benevolently toward others. Yet, this love is not “complete” (sus- tainable and completely unconditional) without divine assistance. An exterior source, the love of God, is necessary to transform partial, conditional love into agape.TheSpiritinterpenetrateshumanlove,elevatingitsothatitmoreclosely resembles the unconditional self-gift of the triune persons.

In addition, the Spirit’s interpenetration enables human participation in divine love. Through the Spirit of love, human persons take part in divine love, sharing in what properly belongs to the Godhead without exhausting it.85Thus, Macchia understands the event of Pentecost as an outpouring of divine love through which we enjoy fellowship in the “love of God as Father, Son, and Holy

83

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85

For more on the “analogy of love” see L. William Oliverio, “Spirit Baptism in the Late Mod- ern World: A Pentecostal Response to the Church: Towards a Common Vision,” inThe Holy Spirit and the Church: Ecumenical Reflections with a Pastoral Perspective, ed.Thomas Hugh- son, 44–70 (New York: Routledge, 2016), 60.

David Nichols, “The Search for a Pentecostal Structure in Systematic Theology,”Pneuma6, no. 1 (1984): 72. Nichols does not assume the method of analogy of being, but an analogy between Barth’s dialectics and the Thomists’ analogia entis, which retains God’s “other- ness” while also affirming humanity’s responsibility for responding to revelation. Here I draw from a Thomistic understanding of participation as articulated by Joseph W. Koterski, “The Doctrine of Participation in Thomistic Metaphysics,” in The Future of Thomism, ed. Deal W. Hudson and Dennis W. Moran, From the American Maritain Asso- ciation (Notre Dame,IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1992), 189.

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Spirit.”86L. William Oliverio suggests that Macchia’s theology of Spirit baptism points to an “ontology of divine love” in which the substance of life is partici- pation in divine love.87 Moreover, Spirit baptism is a particularly potent locus of taking part in divine life. James K.A. Smith has recognized that there are “intense” sites of participation in God.88Smith notes that “while all that is par- ticipates in God through the Spirit, there are sites and events that exhibit a more intense participation.”89 Thus, in the sphere of participatory life, Spirit baptism could be interpreted as one such exceptional point of enfoldment into the divinekoinonia.

While Macchia, Nichols, and Smith articulate Spirit baptism in an ontologi- cal register through the language of “participation” and “analogy,” their crucial insight into the relation of Spirit baptism and agape may be carried over into Taylor’s register through the language of “moral sources” with its ethical impli- cations. Spirit baptism, as an elevation of human love through intense partic- ipation in divine love, provides a crucial nexus by which human persons tap into agape (that is, a love that transcends, but interpenetrates, human love). Through this elevation, persons are empowered to participate in God’s mission in the world: the self-giving Spirit produces a people who are self-giving.90 As a retrieval of a deep source, Spirit baptism produces genuine solidarity with others. Macchia explains:

Spirit baptism fills us with the love of God so that we transcend ourselves and cross boundaries.We find the power to transcend limitations through divine infilling to pour ourselves out for others. In transcending ourselves we are fulfilled, for we have been made for the love of God.91

The Spirit enables self-emptying for a good beyond our own flourishing, and at the same time, a fulfillment of our own flourishing through being caught up in divine love through this loving activity.

86

87 88

89

90 91

Frank Macchia, Baptized in the Spirit (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006) 257–259. See also 1John 1:3–7.

Oliverio, “Spirit Baptism in the Late Modern World,” 59.

James K.A. Smith, Thinking in Tongues: Pentecostal Contributions to Christian Philosophy (Grand Rapids,MI: Eerdmans, 2010), 102.

Smith,Thinking in Tongues, 102–103. It should be noted that Smith is not advocating that the Spirit intervenes at these sites (grace conceived above and apart from nature); rather, the Spirit is “already present in creation” and is particularly active at these sites. Macchia, Baptized in theSpirit, 264.

Macchia, Baptized in theSpirit, 281.

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Similarly, AmosYong observes that pentecostal spirituality “may provide one window into how human beings tap into the divine love energy and through that enter into solidarity with others to the extent that such piety motivates benevolent and loving action.”92 By taking up human affections, the Spirit enables persons to extend love beyond its current horizon to include others. It is through the Spirit that persons tap into a deep moral source—the divine seeing good of unanticipated neighbors. Thus, Spirit baptism (and pentecostal spirituality more broadly) can be seen as a locus of agapic participation. The question is how this source may be articulated so that it becomes available to us.

Tongues as Articulation of Agape

Taylor argues that articulation brings sources close so that we may be inspired and empowered by them. Articulation reveals the good as a “whole speech act” in which “the speaker, the formulation, and the act of delivering the mes- sage all line up together.”93Effective language may either “tap a source hitherto unknown” or it may excavate an older source that has become obscured.94 WhileTaylor’s project endeavors to articulate sources we have lost contact with through historical narrative, Pentecostalism provides a new language for con- tacting old sources.

Following the Romantics, Taylor argues that “new languages of personal res- onance” are necessary that enable “the search for moral sources outside the subject through languages that resonate within him or her, the grasping of an order which is inseparably indexed to a personal vision.”95 The pentecostal practice of tongues-speech may be understood as one way of articulatingagape in a language of personal resonance. This is not to say that tongues-speech arises from within the self as an exclusively human articulation—any Pente- costal would resist such an explanation. Rather, glossolalia, as a divine gift, is expressed by the individual person in their own tongue, voicing his or her inner sense of the indwelling Spirit and linguistic cooperation with the Spirit.96Thus,

92

93 94 95

96

Yong, Spirit of Love: A Trinitarian Theology of Grace (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2012), 80.Yong’s notion of “pentecostal spirituality” is not limited to a classical pentecostal understanding of Spirit baptism.

Taylor,Sources of the Self, 96.

Taylor,Sources of the Self, 96–97.

Taylor, Sources of the Self, 513, 510. See also p. 512, in which he argues that languages of personal resonance are the only way the modern self can access moral sources. While numerous scholars have contributed to theological and philosophical understand- ings of tongues-speech, an overview of previous work on glossolalia is beyond the scope of

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“glossolalia implies … that one can have direct contact with the divine Spirit in a way that penetrates deeply into the core of one’s being.”97Through this human language, the self expresses contact with a deep moral source—the Spirit of love.

As an expression of agape, glossolalia makes the Spirit’s love available so that speakers may participate in it. Taylor explains, “a formulation has power when it brings the source close, when it makes it plain and evident, in all its inherent force, its capacity to inspire our love, respect, or allegiance. An effec- tive articulation releases this force, and this is how words have power.”98In the practice of tongues-speech, the love of God poured into the heart overflows into a language of love which releases the inherent force of love and orients the speaker’s affections to the good. Tongues-speech becomes a way of narrat- ing the self’s orientation to God.99Thus, glossolalia is like a compass—pointing the self toward the Good on the moral map.

To use another visual metaphor, glossolalia may be interpreted as a “see- ing good” that makes good. Randall Holm has suggested that tongues-speech could be viewed as an auditory icon that “allows those seeking after God to go through language into an audible transcendent communion with God.”100 The perlocutionary effect of this form of speech is to bring the speaker into the presence of God, similar to the way an icon ushers the viewer into a heav- enly realm.Through glossolalia, the congregation “comes into contact with God as he passes by them,” thereby contacting a constitutive good.101 As an icon, tongues is an audible “seeing good” that makes good—it allows the speaker to see the Spirit’s vision and thereby participate in the divine making-good in the world. In this way, it is a linguistic participation in God’s creative activity—an echo of the original speech that brought the world into existence.The God who

97

98 99

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this article. Instead, this section will focus on hearing tongues in the key of Taylor’s moral sources in order to explore the ethical dimensions of glossolalia.

See Macchia,Baptized in the Spirit, 75, who paraphrases Morton Kelsey,Tongues Speaking: The History and Meaning of Charismatic Experience(New York: Crossroad, 1981). Taylor,Sources of the Self, 96.

For a similar observation of glossolalic directionality, see Edmund J. Rybarczyk, “Refram- ing Tongues: Apophaticism and Postmodernism,”Pneuma 27, no. 1 (2005): 93. He argues that for Paul, tongues “reflects an apophatic quality of God-ward and God related expres- sion. The words and noises do not immediately define God or his purposes, nevertheless they move the believer’s heart and spirit toward God and His purposes.”

Randall Holm, “Tongues as a Blush in the Presence of God,”Journal of PentecostalTheology 20, no. 1 (2011): 129.

Holm, “Tongues as a Blush in the Presence of God,” 130.

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declared that creation is good continues to do so in the voices of his sons and daughters who groan with the Spirit for the new creation. This is why Pente- costals have emphasized the missional character of tongues-speech: it is not only for the individual speaker, but a gift for the world.102

As an expression of a moral source, linguistic participation in the Spirit of love taps intoagapiclove for others. Macchia, also focusing on the perlocution- ary effect of tongues, describes it as a symbolic bridge across the boundaries of language and culture.103 Other scholars have noted how the Azusa Street Revival unified people across racial and gender boundaries.104 For example, Dale T. Irvin observes, “The fullness of divine power and love through a new baptismal experience of the Spirit was realized first in sacramental signs of the unity of all people, the speaking of many tongues.”105As an event of divine love, tongues provided a language for bridging the fractures of culture. To use Tay- lor’s terminology, participation in the Spirit created a “network of relations” not limited by kinship groups. Azusa Street, as a case study, is an example of a social network constituted throughagapicarticulation: it expressed universal benev- olence because it was empowered by a deep moral source. The contemporary charismatic community has much to learn from Azusa’s emphasis on divine love, even as it must work to heal the fractures that have emerged since that time.106

The Ordinary Person and Extraordinary Life

Thus far, I have argued that Pentecostals “tap into” the powerful moral source of agape through participating in and articulating with the Spirit of love. Yet, the phenomenon of Spirit baptism points not only to a particular way per- sons contact a deep moral source, but also to an understanding of who may be empowered by this source. Pentecostals insist that baptism in the Spirit is available to every Christ follower, whether experienced in the presence of the

102

103 104

105 106

Richard H. Bliese, “Speaking in Tongues and the Mission of Godad gentes,” Journal of Pen- tecostal Theology20, no. 1 (2011): 47.

Macchia, Baptized in the Spirit, 281.

Dale T. Irvin, “‘Drawing All Together in One Bond of Love’: The Ecumenical Vision of William J Seymour and the Azusa Street Revival,” Journal of Pentecostal Theology 3, no. 6 (1995): 45–46. See also Harvey Cox, Fire from Heaven: The Rise of Pentecostal Spirituality and the Reshaping of Religion in the Twenty-first Century (Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 1995), 58.

Irvin, “‘Drawing All Together in One Bond of Love,’” 45.

For example, divisions (and power disparities) within the church based upon race, sex, or culture.

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community or in the privacy of one’s prayer life: the Spirit of love is poured out on all. In this way, Pentecostalism builds upon the egalitarian emphasis of the Reformation.

Taylor notes how Reformers criticized “higher” spiritual activities (such as monasticism) that only an elite minority could pursue. Instead, the Reforma- tion lead to “the affirmation of the ordinary life” in which spiritual emphasis was placed on ordinary activities such as child-rearing, labor, and produc- tion.107 This shift, originally inspired by “practical agape,” made the heart of spiritual life available to all.108 Similarly, the Pentecostal experience of Spirit baptism, and its charisms, is available to ordinary persons. This often produces an equalizing effect in a congregation—where anyone, regardless of gender or age, may testify, prophecy, or minister in a public manner. In other words, the creative potential of this agapic source is “decentralized” and dispersed among the community.109 Thus, like the Reformers, Pentecostals affirm the spiritual experience of the ordinary person.

Pentecostalism, however, is not simply another iteration of the Reformation and its way of contacting moral sources. While the Reformers criticized elite religion by elevating the ordinary life, Pentecostals do so by emphasizing the extraordinary life.110As the Spirit is poured out on all flesh, the “higher” activi- ties of divine encounter, scriptural interpretation, prophetic speech, and other charisms become available to the ordinary person. Spirit baptism is egalitarian because it makes mystical experience possible for every Christian, instead of only for a spiritual elite.

At the same time, the pentecostal affirmation of the extraordinary life for the ordinary person builds upon the prior Reformation emphasis on practical agape. Spirit baptism is not only a mystical union with the divine, but also per- fects love toward human persons.111 But this love is expressed in an extraordi- nary fashion: through prayers for healing, deliverance, and divine intervention.

107 108 109

110

111

Taylor, A Secular Age, 370.

Taylor, A Secular Age.

For more on glossolalic speech and the “decentralization” of human creativity see Nimi Wariboko,The Pentecostal Principle: Ethical Methodology in New Spirit (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2011), 29.

Wariboko, Pentecostal Principle, 132, similarly observes that “the Protestant Era and the Pentecostal Era are undergirded by a similar drive: to give every individual regardless of class, race, or any other social predicate the full opportunity to fulfill his or her potential- ities,” but “[Protestantism] focuses on resisting obstacles to the emergence of the new; [Pentecostalism] focuses on the capacity to initiate the new.”

This is also a central argument in Yong,Spirit of Love.

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Thus, the self’s contact with the Spirit of love produces hope for human flour- ishing that participates in eschatological renewal. Pentecostals pray for flour- ishing “on earth as it is in heaven”—the ordinary life interrupted by the extraor- dinary. Thus, the pentecostal practice of agape is a unique way of retrieving this moral source, which involves a new shift in the conception of the good life. While many moderns continue to elevate the ordinary life (albeit in a secular fashion), Pentecostals represent another current in modernity that affirms the ordinary person’s contact with a powerful spiritual reality.

Conclusion

The purpose of this exploration has been to discern a particular locus of God’s grace in a secular age: the pentecostal experience of Spirit baptism is a retrieval of a vital moral source that has become obscured in modernity. Yet, it should be noted that Spirit baptism is one way to contact agape in modernity. The notion of Spirit baptism as a transcendent good indexed to a personal vision may only resonate within a pentecostal framework and its emphasis on a par- ticular moment of intense participation in divine love that initiates the partic- ipant into spiritual life. It is likely that other means of contacting grace can be imagined that will resonate within other frameworks. Ecumenical sensitivity provides an awareness and openness to how the Spirit’s activity is recognized (and participated in) within various frameworks.

Nevertheless, Spirit baptism is a particularly powerful kind of retrieval that resonates with the modern sense of the self through a language of personal res- onance. Men and women now look within themselves to contact and express deep moralsources,but this inwardturn need not necessitate a breakwith tran- scendence. The pentecostal-charismatic experience of Spirit baptism exempli- fies a working of grace in the modern self—as the Spirit hovers over the inner depths, re-creating the person from within. Through the gift of the Spirit and the language of love, ordinary persons tap into the deep moral source of agape and are empowered to pursue a good beyond human flourishing, while at the same time affirming human flourishing through networks of solidarity. Thus, Spirit baptism is a particularly powerful way in which modern persons connect with the triune God and model the height, depth, and breadth of this love within the fractures of a secular age.

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Water Baptism in the Thundja River

Baptism in the Fire of Persecutions as the Final Stand for Holiness

Historical and Doctrinal Formation of Holiness Teachings and Praxis among Bulgarian Pentecostals (Research presentation prepared for the Society of Pentecostal Studies, Seattle, 2013 – Lakeland, 2015, thesis in partial fulfillment of the degree of D. Phil., Trinity College)

The eschatology of the first Pentecostals in Bulgaria was definitely Premillennial, built around the suffering of the church and the coming final deliverance. “Christ shall return in person,” not just in spirit or presence, read the Pentecostal Union’s first Declaration of Faith. But first they were to be tested in a baptism of fire…

After the 1923 unrest in Bulgaria, Pentecostal missionary Dionesy Zaplishny was abducted, severely beaten and held in a well for a week. His health was never the same and he passed away at an early age in 1935. But this was only the beginning of the persecution upcoming with the Communist Regime.

Bulgaria’s Pentecostal movement entered the oppression period split and divided. The westernized denominational structure, which Nikoloff proposed in 1928, never fit the existing Pentecostal churches and was unable to unite them as a whole. When the communists took over in 1944 they used the existing church defragmentation to infiltrate and manipulate the congregations. Thus, the eschatological suffering of the church experienced its prime under Communist dictatorship.

In 1948-49 two consecutive trials targeted evangelical pastors effectively sentenced fifteen of them and virtually beheading the evangelical movement in Bulgaria from its leadership. When a new generation of leaders became involved some 30 years later, another similar trial imprisoned six of them in 1979. The evangelical churches were left without any leaders, except the ones placed under the control of the communist state. The congregations that refused to accept them were outlawed and marginalized with no contact with the outside world. But through all these trials and tribulations, the believers learned how to survive the persecution and overcame…

Water Baptism among early Bulgarian Pentecostals

by Dony K. Donev, D.Min.

Historical and Doctrinal Formation of Holiness Teachings and Praxis among Bulgarian Pentecostals (Research presentation prepared for the Society of Pentecostal Studies, Seattle, 2013 – Lakeland, 2015, thesis in partial fulfillment of the degree of D. Phil., Trinity College)

The sacrament of water baptism was not new for Bulgarian believers. But Pentecostals did NOT accept infant baptism. Converts who were baptized as babies or any other Eastern Orthodox ritual were re-baptized before being received in the church. Among early Bulgarian Pentecostals, baptism was always done outside in “running water.” It was also considered mandatory for salvation as Bulgaria’s early Pentecostals insisted on spiritual fullness including: (1) salvation, (2) water baptism and (3) baptism with the Spirit. This formula of spiritual experience satisfied the witness of blood, water and Spirit (1 Jn. 5:8) on earth and corresponded with the triune God in heaven (1 Jn. 5:7), from whom the believer’s spiritual experience originated.

WAR ON THE SAINTS: Revival Dawn and the Baptism of the Spirit

The name of Jessie Penn-Lewis often occurs in works related to the Welsh revival of 1904, not surprisingly, as she was a major chronicler of the movement. She wrote an article each week in the “The Life of Faith,” tracing the course of the spiritual movement first throughout Wales, and then through many lands and by many individuals. She contributed to a number of periodicals and produced her own history of the revival called “The Awakening in Wales – and Some of its Hidden Springs.” She is also well known for her extreme caution regarding what she perceived to be possible demonic intrusions in the developing Pentecostal work of her day, and her later involvement with Evan Roberts. We have included the entire chapter.

Chapter XII: Revival Dawn and the Baptism of the Spirit.
We have seen that the period in the believer’s life wherein he receives the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is the special time of danger from the evil supernatural world, and the Baptism of the Spirit is THE ESSENCE OF REVIVAL. Revival dawn, is, therefore, the great moment for deceiving spirits to find entrance into the believer by deception through counterfeits, resulting sometimes in the possession dealt with in preceding pages.

The hour of Revival is a time of crisis and possible catastrophe. A crisis in the history of every individual, as well as in the history of a country, a church, or a district. A crisis for the unregenerate man, wherein he settles his eternal destiny, as he accepts, or rejects conversion to God; a crisis to those who receive the fulness of the Holy Spirit, and to those who reject Him; for to the believer who bends and receives the Holy Spirit, it is the day of the visitation of the Most High, but to others it means the decision whether they will become spiritual men or remain carnal (1 Cor. iii. i); whether they will elect to remain in defeat in the personal life, or determine to press on as overcomers. Few go through the crisis without deception by the enemy in more or less degree, and only those who cling to the use of their reasoning faculties at this time, can hope to be saved from the catastrophe of becoming a victim to the subtle workings of evil supernatural powers. If the believer does become deceived by evil spirits at the time that he is baptized with the Spirit, almost immediately after the highest point of his experience, he begins through deception to descend into a pit which ultimately means depth of darkness, bondage and misery, until he is undeceived and returns to the normal path. Those who do not discover the deceptions, sink into deeper deception, and become practically useless to God and to the Church.

REVIVAL THE HOUR AND POWER OF GOD
Revival is the hour and power of God, and of the devil, for the descent of the Divine power brings the accompanying onslaught of evil supernatural powers. It means MOVEMENT IN THE SPIRITUAL REALM. Revival itself is the hour of God, when heaven is opened, and the power of God works among men, but when the Divine power appears to pass away, and evil supernatural powers manifest their workings in a man, or a church, or a country,then men marvel that the devil’s work should be where God had been so manifest, not knowing that the devil was planting his seeds, and DOING HIS WORK, FROM THE DAWN OF REVIVAL. Revival ebb began with its flow, but all unseen.

In the hour and power of God in Revival, the “Tempter” appears to be absent, but he is present as the Counterfeiter. Men say there is ”no devil,” and yet it is his greatest harvest time. He is netting his victims, mixing his workings with the workings of God, and beguiling the saints more effectively than he was ever able to do with his temptations to sin. As a counterfeiter, and deceiver, the ever-watchful foe uses his old methods of deception and guile on new converts, who, having victory over known sin, think the Tempter has left them, not knowing his new ways. His absence is only apparent, and not real. Satan was never more active among the sons of God.

WHY REVIVAL STOPS
The Devil’s great purpose is to stop the Revival power of God, and every Revival that has been given of God to awaken His people, has ceased after a time, more or less short, because of (i) the Church’s ignorance of the laws of the spirit for co-working with God; and (2) the insidious creeping on of the powers of darkness, unrecognized, and yielded to by the people of God through ignorance. Those who are born of the Spirit at such a period of the manifested power of the Holy Spirit emerge into a spiritual world, where they come into contact with spirit-beings of evil, OF WHOSE EXISTENCE THEY HAVE NO EXPERIMENTAL KNOWLEDGE. They become conscious of spiritual forces and things which they think must be of God, and they do not know of the possibility of workings mingled by wicked spirits with the things of God. This is the reason why Revival, which quickens the Church, and for a period manifests to the world the regenerating, uplifting power of God, produces as an aftermath a number of genuine Spirit-born believers who are said to have “religious mania,” or are called “cranks.” And this is why “Revival” is sooner or later checked and discredited, the testimony to the world destroyed, the sober section of the Church dismayed, and made fearful of its effects.

To put it in bluntest language, the Revival hour is the occasion for evil spirits to obtain “possession” of spiritual believers, and REVIVAL CEASES BECAUSE OF SUCH POSSESSION. The most spiritual believers, baptized with the Holy Spirit, and most fitted to be used of God in Revival service, may become deceived and possessed by evil spirits in their outer being THROUGH ACCEPTING THE COUNTERFEITS OF SATAN. Believers who are not so abandoned to the Spirit escape the acute “possession,” but in their contact with hitherto unknown workings from the spiritual realm, are equally open to deception which is manifested in a less recognizable way. What is called the “fanatical” spirit, which in some degree, follows Revival, is purely the work of evil spirits. At Revival dawn the ignorant are teachable, but through their “spiritual experiences,” later on they become unteachable. Pre-Revival simplicity gives place to Satanic “infallibility,” or an unteachable spirit. Dogged, stubborn obstinacy in a believer after Revival is not from the source of the man himself, but from evil spirits deceiving his mind, holding his spirit in their grip, and making him unbending and unreasonable. The scheme of the powers of darkness in Revival dawn, is to drive, or push to extreme, what is true. Their “push” is very slight and imperceptible at the beginning, in suggesting thoughts, or impelling to actions a very little contrary to reason, but as the “push” is yielded to, and the use of the reason is silenced, those who are thus deceived in due course become fanatical. The judgment of those believers impelled to unreasonable actions, may be against, and even resisting the things they are supernaturally urged to do: yet they are unable to stand against the supernatural power driving them, which they think and believe is from God.

REVIVAL AND WAR ON SATAN
All this, and much else already dealt with in preceding pages, together with the after history of all Revivals of the past, shows that REVIVAL MINUS WAR ON SATAN AND HIS WICKED SPIRITS, must always appear to end in partial failure through the mixed results, consequent upon Satanic counterfeits of the working of the Holy Spirit.

The Church, therefore, sorely needs believers equipped with knowledge and discernment, to meet the Satanic counterfeits which invariably follow the advent of Revival, knowing the symptoms of Satanic deception and possession, and able to resist the powers of darkness, and teach the children of God the way of victory over them, as well as the aggressive warfare upon them. War upon the attacking spirits of evil is indispensable for maintaining the health, sanity and spiritual power of those who are revived. A PURE REVIVAL–free from the usual aftermath–is POSSIBLE if the Church understood the truth about the powers of darkness, as well as the way of co-operation with the Holy Spirit. Apart from this same knowledge of the workings of Satan and his wicked spirits, so as to be able to recognise their presence under any guise, no one can with safety accept all the supernatural manifestations which accompany Revival, or believe all Seeming “Pentecostal power” to be of God. A PURE Revival is Divine power in full operation, minus sin and Satan. It is not cold “belief,” but life, and it has to do with the spirit, not the intellect.

PRAYER FOR REVIVAL
Apart from this same knowledge, those who pray for Revival do not clearly understand what they pray for, nor how to act when their prayers are answered; for they are not prepared to meet the Satanic opposition to their prayers; nor even the dangers attendant upon prayer for Revival.

Why is there not yet world-wide Revival in answer to world-wide prayer? For the same reason that Revival subsides when it has begun, and that prayer meetings for Revival may end in catastrophe, or powerlessness. The check to Revival, both when it has begun, and in the prayer preceding its advent, is caused by the spirits of evil deceiving or hindering the praying ones. The hindrance to Revival, at the present time lies, not only in this opposition of the powers of darkness, but in the PRESENT CONDITION OF THE MOST SPIRITUAL SECTION OF THE CHURCH, through whom alone God can work in Revival power. These are the believers who know the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, and were liberated in spirit in the Revivals of the last decade, but who are now driven back into themselves by the pressure of the enemy in the atmosphere, or else are in captivity to the foe through his counterfeits. Let these quenched or deceived believers be liberated once more, and THOSE WHO ARE NOW USELESS WILL BE PRICELESS IN VALUE for teaching and strengthening others when Revival is once more given.

INSTRUMENTS FOR REVIVAL
The Holy Spirit is still in those who were baptized with the Spirit, during the last Revivals. The mistake at the time of the Revival in Wales in 1904 was to become occupied with the effects of Revival, and not to watch and pray in protecting and guarding the cause of Revival. The Spirit baptized souls, at present locked up in spirit, or side-tracked through Satanic deceptions, are still those who would be the instruments through whom God could work, were they but set free. Useless now, but priceless in maturity, and experience and knowledge for the guiding and guarding of a Revived Church, when they are once more liberated for true co-working with the Holy Spirit of God.

How, then, should the Lord’s praying ones pray at the present time? They should pray (i) Against evil spirits now blocking and hindering Revival. (ii) For the cleansing and delivering of those who became possessed through deception during the time of later Revivals. (iii) That when Revival is once more given it may be kept pure, and (iv) For the preparation of instruments for Revival, trained and taught of God to guard against further inroads of the powers of darkness. In brief, let all who pray for Revival, pray for light to reach those who HAVE BEEN ENSNARED INTO BONDAGE TO THE DECEIVING POWERS OF DARKNESS, that they may be set free, and once more become usable in Revival service; then will the forces of evil be beaten back from the ground they have regained, which still belongs to God. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is the essence of Revival, for Revival comes from a knowledge of the Holy Spirit, and the way of co-working with Him which enables Him to work in Revival power. The primary condition for Revival is, therefore, that believers should individually know the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. This term being used as a convenient expression for describing a definite influx of the Holy Spirit which thousands of believers throughout the Church of Christ have received as a definite experience. Such an infilling of the Spirit was the cause not only of the Revival in Wales in 1904, but of all other Revivals in the history of the world. The fact that the counterfeiting work of Satan follows Revival through such an opening of the spiritual world as enables the evil spirit-beings to find access to believers under the guise of the Divine Spirit, must not hold back the children of God from seeking the true flood tide of the Spirit, for the bringing about of pure Revival, and the emancipation of the Church of Christ from the bonds of sin and Satan.

WHAT IS A TRUE BAPTISM OF THE SPIRIT?
It is of primary importance to understand what is a true Baptism of the Spirit, the conditions for its reception, and the effects of obtaining it. Previous chapters will have thrown much light upon what it is not, and the dangers to be avoided in seeking it. It is not an influence coming upon the body, nor, according to the records in the Acts of the Apostles, does it result in physical manifestations, such as convulsions, twitchings and writhings of the human frame; nor does it rob a man of the full intelligent action of the mind, or ever make him irresponsible for his speech and actions.

In brief, the place of the indwelling of the Spirit of God in man, gives the key to all the true manifestations connected with the Baptism of the Spirit, as well as the conditions for receiving it, and the results in personal experience and service. THAT PLACE IS THE HUMAN SPIRIT. Once let the believer understand that his SPIRIT lS the organ through which the Holy Spirit carries out all His operations in and through him, he will be able to discern the true meaning of being filled with the Holy Ghost, and how to detect the counterfeit workings of Satan in the realm of the senses. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit may be described as an influx, sudden or gradual, of the Spirit of God into a man’s spirit, which liberates it from the vessel of the soul, and raises it into a place of dominance over soul and body. The freed spirit then becomes an open channel for the Spirit of God to pour through it an outflow of Divine power. The mind receives, at the same time, a clarifying quickening, and the “eye of the understanding” is filled with light (Eph. i. I8). The body becomes entirely under the man’s complete control, as the result of the dominance of the spirit, and often receives a quickening in strength for endurance in the warfare service he finds he has emerged into. That the Spirit of God OPERATES THROUGH THE ORGAN OF A MAN’S SPIRIT, as shown in the epistles of Paul, needs to be kept in mind in reading the records of the working of the Holy Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles.

THE INFLUX OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AT PENTECOST
On the day of Pentecost, the 120 disciples–men and women–were filled in the spirit, as the Spirit of God filled the atmosphere, and their tongues were liberated, so that THEY THEMSELVES as intelligent personalities, could speak of the mighty works of God as the Spirit gave utterance, i.e., gave them power to speak. The record gives no hint that they became automatons, or that the Spirit spoke HIMSELF through them, or INSTEAD of them. From a spirit under the clothing of, and the afflatus of the Spirit of God, they themselves were given intelligent insight into, and utterance about, the wonderful things of God, as they were “moved” in spirit by Him. This influx of the Divine Spirit into their spirits, not only left their mental powers in full action, but clarified them, and increased their keenness of discernment and power of thought, as seen in the action and the words of Peter, who spoke with such convincing power that through his words–inspired by the Spirit, but spoken by him in intelligent clearness of mind–three thousand were convicted and saved, the true influence of God the Holy Spirit being manifested through him, not in “control” of those who heard him, but in a deep conviction in their consciences which turned them to God, not conquered by terror of God, but by a godly awe, which led them to godly sorrow and repentance. The “falling upon” of the Spirit (Acts xi. I g), is therefore upon the spirit, clothing it with Divine light and power, and raising it into union of spirit with the glorified Lord in heaven; at the same time, baptizing the believer into one spirit with every other member of the mystical Body of Christ, joined to the Head in heaven. All who are thus liberated and clothed in spirit are “made to drink of one Spirit” (I Cor. xii. 13)–the Holy Spirit–Who then, through the spirit capacity of each member of the Body, is able to distribute to each the gifts of the Spirit, for effective witness to the Risen Head, “dividing to each one severally even as He will.” (See Cor. xii. 4-11).

THE HOLY SPIRIT REVEALING CHRIST IN HEAVEN
Another aspect of the true Baptism of the Spirit, having an important bearing upon the experiences of believers to-day, is to be found in the words of Peter on the Day of Pentecost, showing that the revelation of Christ given by the Holy Spirit at such a time, was of Christ as the glorified Man in heaven (Acts ii. 33,34), and not in any vision or manifestation as a Person within. The same attitude to Christ as seated on the right hand of God, is uniformly to be seen in all the later records of the work of the Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles. The martyr Stephen sees the “Son of Man, standing on the right hand of God” (Acts vii. 56), and Paul on the road to Damascus is arrested by a light from heaven (Acts ix. 3; xxii. 6; xxvi. I3), out of which clothing of light the Ascended Lord spoke to him, saying, ”I am Jesus”

The Holy Spirit fills the human spirit of the believer, and communicates to him the very Spirit of Jesus, joining him in one spirit to the Spirit of the glorified Lord, imparting to him the life and nature of Christ for the building up of a new creation in His likeness (Rom. viii. 29; Heb. ii. 2-13). Instead of being turned inward to a self-centred apprehension of Christ, he is, by the influx of the Spirit of God into his spirit, lifted, so to speak, out of the narrow limit of himself, into a spiritual sphere where he finds himself one spirit with others who are joined to the Living Head forming one Body–or spirit organism– for the influx and outflow of the Spirit of the Lord.

REVIVAL DEPENDS UPON TRUE UNDERSTANDING OF THE BAPTISM OF THE SPIRIT
This aspect of the true meaning of the Baptism of the Spirit and its spiritual effect, has an important bearing upon Revival, and the reason why Revival does not come.

Revival is an OUTFLOW OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD THROUGH THE ORGAN OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT LIBERATED FOR His USE. When the influx of the Spirit takes place into the spirits of many believers, and finds outlet through all, the unity which was so marked in the early Church is seen, and the united power becomes strong enough to overflow through all these liberated ones to others. But if the believer turns INWARD, either (I) through the pressure of opposition, (2) powers of darkness in the atmosphere, or (3) to worship and pray in a self-centred way; or is occupied in any degree with an inward experience, THE OUTFLOW OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS HINDERED; the unity with other liberated believers is checked by an invisible barrier, which has come between, and the released spirit, which was kept dominant over soul and body so long as the man turned outward as a channel for the inflow and outflow of the Holy Spirit, sinks down into the soul-vessel, a “spirit in prison”, so to speak, once more. “Revival” is then checked at its very birth, because believers who seek, and obtain a Baptism of the Spirit, do not clearly understand the conditions upon which the inflow was given, nor how to co-operate with the Holy Spirit in the purpose of His coming; which is to make them channels for the OUTFLOW of rivers of living water.. The influx of the Spirit of God to a man’s spirit, means love, joy, and liberty, buoyancy, light and power. It means a revelation of Christ as the Risen and Ascended Lord, which brings joy unspeakable and full of glory; and an intimate sense of His nearness in fellowship and communion, which makes the “I in you” a living power. It is at this time that ignorance is dangerous. If the believer does not understand that all this is an EFFECT WHICH IS INWARD AS A RESULT OF THE UNION WITH CHRIST IN HEAVEN, and an effect which will continue only so long as he abides in the right attitude toward the glorified Christ in heaven, he will turn into and sink down into the soul, I.e., into himself; and then the deceiving spirits will counterfeit in the sense-sphere the true experiences which he had IN SPIRIT through the incoming of the Holy Ghost. These ”experiences” then have little result beyond the circumference of the believer. When the true influx of the Holy Spirit to the spirit took place, there was (I) unity with others in the same Spirit, (2) joy, (3) liberty of’ utterance, (4) power to witness to Christ, (g) effective and permanent results in the lives of others, and a heavenly “fire” from God in a burning, consuming white heat intensity of SPIRIT (Rom. xii. II) in service to God. But when the sense counterfeit takes place, supernatural “experiences” frequently occur at the very same time that a wrong spirit is discernible, such as harshness, bitterness, pride, presumption, disunion, etc., showing either (I) that the “experiences” are not from the spirit, or (2) that the spirit is out of co-working with the Holy Spirit, and (3) the Holy Spirit is no longer able to bring forth the pure fruit of the Spirit through the believer’s Spirit and life. (Footnote:This may only be temporary, until the believer becomes conscious that something Is wrong, and he takes steps to regain his right condition of spirit, when the Holy Spirit again manifests His Presence and power.) The after counterfeit of the true is also marked by, (1) inability to recognize and unite with the Spirit of God in others, this being contrary to the pattern of the oneness of the Body shown in I Cor. xii., where the same Spirit in each member is in harmony with the Spirit in the other; (2) the spirit of separation and division on account of not seeing eye to eye in non-essential matters, for union of spirit, where the Holy Spirit is ruling and working, is possible apart from unity of faith, which can only be according to the degree of knowledge.

WHY BELIEVERS DO NOT OBTAIN THE BAPTISM OF THE SPIRIT
Believers who know that a Baptism of the Spirit is possible, and obtainable by them, may not receive that Baptism because of many misconceptions about experiences.

The reception of the Holy Spirit, and the Pentecostal measure of the enduement, or clothing, of the Spirit, vary in manifestation and result according to the preparation of, and the knowledge of the believer. Many do not receive the Baptism of the Spirit, because they have misconceptions which hinder them from co-operation with the Spirit of God in His workings, on account of these varying facts in connection with it, and the consequent apparent contradictions of teaching about it.
THE RECEPTION OF THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

After the manner, of the Lord’s dealing with His disciples, and borne out in the experience of many today, it is clear that there is a reception of the Holy Spirit answering to the experience of the Easter Day, as the initial stage of the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in enduement of power, by an influx of the Spirit of God into the human spirit, which liberates the man for utterance and witness bearing. The reception of the Holy Spirit in its initial form requires certain conditions which the believer should be able quickly and simply to fulfil. The (I) putting away of every known sin in the life; (2) definite trust in the power of the Blood of Christ to cleanse from all unrighteousness (1 John i. 9); (3) obedience right up to the edge of light through the Word of God; (4) full surrender to God as His entirely, with not one thing clung to and withheld from Him; (5) the act of faith in which the believer, fulfilling these conditions, takes the Gift of the Holy Spirit, as simply as he received the gift of eternal life through Christ.

Believers should understand that these simple conditions can be carried out by the action of the will alone, with no conscious feeling of any kind. Once the transaction is made, it should be held to persistently and steadily, without question or deviation from a fixed volition. In some cases the entry of the Holy Spirit into the renewed spirit in the manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. v. 22) very quickly follows the fulfilment of the conditions. But the believer should be on guard not to turn to any experience as the basis of continued faith, or it will quickly pass away. The transaction with God upon His Word stands good, whether manifested in spirit-consciousness of the Holy Spirit’s presence or not. Once made, the transaction should be held to, experience or no experience, by the surrendered believer. It is from this stage that the Spirit of God now works to discipline and lead the believer on into knowledge of the greater influx of His power which is the enduement for service, and for aggressive warfare against the principalities and powers of Satan.

THE ENDUEMENT FOR SERVICE AND THE CONDITIONS
Some say they have prayed for hours for this needed equipment, to no purpose; others have spent weeks or months in waiting upon God for some experience they think accompanies this Baptism, with very grave results in a counterfeit power breaking forth upon them with manifestations afterwards acknowledged to have come from the deceiving spirits of Satan. Others have received a true influx of the Spirit, but through ignorance and misconceptions have given place at the same time to the workings of evil spirits in the physical frame. This we have already dealt with in earlier chapters, and need only now set forth the conditions for knowing the enduement for service, and the effects which follow.

THE AWAKENED SENSE OF NEED
In the first place there must be a definite assurance that such an enduement of power is possible, and a deep conviction of, and sense of need. This may come about in the believer by his discovering that he has no effectiveness in his life and service, although he may have known for years the Holy Spirit in His indwelling power. Especially, the sense of need may be acute in lack of utterance and power to witness for God; and almost complete absence of the aggressive power against the forces of darkness so marked in the early church. Sometimes those who are thus being moved by the Spirit to the sense of need, which precedes the greater influx of His power, are diverted or hindered from pressing on by others who are not at the same stage of the spiritual life, and who say this enduement is not obtainable. A believer in such a case should put aside the voices of men, and dealing with God direct, PUT TO THE PROOF FOR HIMSELF whether God will meet his awakened need. This means a definite transaction with God, that, (I) He will give to the suppliant what HE MEANS by a “Baptism of the Holy Ghost”; and (2) in His own way grant to His redeemed one the liberty of utterance and, power for effective service, which he should have for fulfilling his part as a member of the Body of Christ. This should be a transaction with God in a deliberate act of the will, which must not be departed from, whatever the after experience may be. This is taking the enduement of the Spirit by faith, on the ground of the Word of God. “Christ redeemed. . having become a curse for us . . . that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith . . . ” (Gal. iii 13-14). As we have seen there is no command given to the Church after Pentecost to “wait” for a personal enduement for service. The Spirit of the Lord fell upon those in the house of Cornelius without any ”waiting,” and He will do so still upon any believer directly he is in the right attitude, and fulfilling the conditions for the Spirit of God to flood his spirit with His power. The waiting on the part of the believer, is really a patient waiting for the Spirit of God to do the work in him that is required, after he has definitely dealt with God for such an enduement of His Spirit. A ”waiting” which is consistent with the faithful discharge of the duties of ordinary life, wherein he learns the minute obedience to all the known will of God, which is necessary when he is given more definite service later on.

THE OBSTACLES TO THE BAPTISM OF THE SPIRIT
During this period the believer’s faith-dealing with God must continue to be active, trusting the Spirit of God to prepare him for the enduement required for his sphere of service. The danger now is the using of excuses to cover up lack of power, or else shrinking from the examination of points in the life which the Spirit of God is dealing with, or even quenching the Spirit by refusing to yield up to God what He claims, or quailing from some sacrifice, upon which turns the liberation of the spirit of the seeker for the influx of the greater measure of power.

In the initial reception of the Spirit, the conditions necessary, dealt with a narrow sphere. It meant just the centre of the man dealt with, in will and heart, the former in surrender to God, and the latter cleansed from the love of sin. But in the enduement of power the scope of God’s dealings widens. The man’s SPIRIT has to be separated from the entanglements of the soul, and the lawful things belonging to the natural, or soul-man, have to be surrendered, so that he may become a spiritual man, governed only by his spirit. He must have every trace of an unbending spirit removed, that his spirit may co-operate with the Holy Spirit with pliability; he must lose every degree of an unforgiving spirit, so as to give no inlet to evil spirits, when, by the moving of the Holy Spirit, he may be charged to rebuke sin, or suffer rejection for Christ’s sake; and be freed from a narrow grasping spirit, if he is to be a wide channel for the outflow of the gracious life-giving Spirit of God. Moreover, the man who seeks an enduement of power must be willing for the Spirit of God thoroughly to deal with his life, and remove out of it every obstacle to his immediate readiness to fulfil all the will of God; he must be searched in motive, and taught the principles of righteousness, for the enduement of the Spirit which he seeks to know, means an AGGRESSIVE WARFARE AGAINST SIN, and thc powers of evil, and how can the Holy Spirit convict of sin by the preaching of righteousness, if the man He equips as a messenger of God is ignorant of the law of righteousness? He must learn what GOD’s ATTITUDE TO SIN IS IN HIS OWN LIFE, ere he can be God’s witness against sin in others.

WHY DELAY IN THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST
If a believer has made the transaction with God for the Baptism of the Spirit, and taken it by faith, and for a prolonged period there is no evidence in experience, he should renew his prayer to God for the removal of all obstacles as quickly as possible, and be on the alert to co-operate with God in every trace of light given him. Misconceptions as to the way the Spirit will work may prevent the believer recognizing the evidence that his prayer has been answered. He may be expecting an experience similar to some other believer, or have some thought in his mind governed by his wishes or prayers, which blinds him to the working of the Holy Spirit in an opposite manner.

It is here that advantage is given to the spirits of evil. If the believer is bent upon some special mark as evidence of the Baptism, the deceiving spirits use every possible means to give the seeker the counterfeit. The influx of the Spirit of God into the believer’s spirit bears its own evidence, in the release of the spirit into light, liberty and power, resulting in liberty of utterance for witness bearing, and the co-working conviction of others by the Holy Spirit, which is the ultimate purpose of His coming. Believers who are being disciplined and trained by the Holy Spirit for the enduement of power, should continue in present service for Christ, in the keenest faithfulness up to light, using to the full the measure of grace already received, for it is in the path of faithful service that the assurance of the enduement of power may be given. It is God’s law that His children use all He has given them ere He gives more. The believer must DEMONSTRATE HIS OBEDIENCE TO GOD to the utmost extent of his present knowledge, learning to heed the sense of his spirit, and using his mind and judgment in reliance upon the illuminating of the Spirit of God, as he seeks to know the mind of God in His Word.

THE SPEAKING IN TONGUES
A question arises here as to whether believers may now speak in unknown tongues, as the disciples did at the time of the Holy Spirit’s infilling at Pentecost. There are those that say, Yes, but the truths set forth in preceding chapters, show that until the spiritual section of the Church of Christ are more acquainted with the counterfeiting methods of the spirits of evil, and the laws which give them power of working, any testimony to such experience as true, cannot be safely relied upon. (The subject of speaking in tongues is not further dealt with, as the counterfeits in connection with it are only a fraction of the countless counterfeits being forced upon the children of God at the present time, numbers of which are not referred to in these pages. A believer not deceived by counterfeit speaking in tongues can be deceived and possessed by accepting other counterfeits. An understanding of the broad principles showing the basic differences between the way of God’s working, and the deceptive imitations by Satan, will enable spiritual believers to discern for themselves all the counterfeits they meet with to-day.)

Let it be said again: REVIVAL IS AN OUTFLOW OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD THROUGH THE ORGAN OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT, and the Baptism of the Spirit is the influx of the Spirit of God into the man’s spirit, whereby it is released from all obstacles and bonds which oppress or hold it down, and closes or reduces its capacity as an outlet for the Holy Spirit. These obstacles may return through the deceptive workings of the Adversary, and the believer become locked up in spirit again, or rendered practically useless to God and His people.

THE OBJECTIVES OF THE TRUTHS ABOUT THE POWERS OF DARKNESS
There are two objectives to the truths which have been set forth in preceding pages. The first is, the removal of these obstacles, so that the Revival power which is lying locked up in many, may break forth once more, and the Church of Christ press on into maturity and power, victorious over the powers of darkness hindering her progress. These have gained their purpose of checking Revival through the ignorance of God’s people, but they can be defeated and driven back from the ground they have gained, by knowledge of their workings, and by aggressive prayer against them. The truths about them, when put into operation, will not only set free individual believers, but disperse the block in the atmosphere in a church, or a town, or a country.

If it is proved that one evil spirit can be rendered powerless by prayer, then all the hosts of Satan in their onslaught on the Church can be conquered, if the children of God would use the weapons of victory. IF ALL HELL HAS BEEN CONQUERED BY CHRIST THE FORCES OF SATAN CAN BE TURNED BACK, AND THE CHURCH OF CHRIST DELIVERED FROM THEIR POWER.

WHY GOD PERMITS SATAN’S ATTACKS
The hindrance to aggressive warfare against the foe lies in the unwillingness of the Church to face the truth; not in the lack of weapons for victory. Believers are content because they are ignorant of their state. The good they have, blinds them to the greater good, and the greater need of the Church. Therefore, to arouse them from their self-satisfied condition, God has permitted Satan to sift His people, for Satan cannot go one shade beyond the permission of God. Believers will be taught the truth about themselves only by experience, therefore God permits experience. The Church of Christ must be matured, and prepared for the Lord’s appearing, therefore God permits the onslaught of the foe, for only through the fire of sifting will the people of God be urged forward to the battle and victory which will drive the forces of Satan from their place in the heavenlies, making way for the Church to ascend to her place of triumph with the Lord.

Wrong conceptions of Divine things can only be destroyed by experience. Many of the children of God are deceived whilst they think they are protected by God. They comply with the conditions for God to work, apart from intelligent understanding of why He does so, and they do not realize that it is just as possible IGNORANTLY TO COMPLY WITH THE CONDITIONS FOR EVIL SPIRITS TO WORK, through ignorance of the laws governing both Divine and Satanic workings. The supernatural manifestations of the present time, are being forced upon the notice of the Church of Christ, by the wreckage of work for God, and of devoted individual believers. Other children of God go into the midst of such manifestations in a blind confidence that God will protect, yet often they are not protected, because they do not understand the conditions for such protection. Sometimes their confidence covers a wrong condition in themselves, which is hidden from their knowledge, i.e., (1) they have a secret self-confidence that they are capable of judging what they see and hear, which has no basis of true reliance upon God through a deep consciousness of their ignorance; (2) a secret spirit of curiosity, of desiring to see what is “wonderful”; (3) a secret wanting to go to such gatherings, without first seeking, with unbiassed mind, a clear knowledge of the will of the Lord; or they may have (4) a real purpose of obtaining more blessing from God, which covers a deeply hidden pride, or self-ambition to be among the first in the Kingdom of God. Any of these hidden causes can frustrate God’s protection, but where there is a true, pure, single-eyed reliance upon God to protect from the wiles of Satan, with a keen watching unto prayer, and a ready mind open to truth as God gives it, together with an unbiassed faithfulness to the will of God–even though, for purposes greater than the personal good, the far seeing wisdom of God may allow the believer to discover by sore experience the deceptive workings of the Counterfeiter–such an one will be able to say, “out of them all the Lord delivered me.”

SATAN’S VICTIMS MADE VICTORS
The second, and greatest, ultimate result of the operation of the truths concerning the deceptive workings of Satan and the way of victory, is in connection with the dispensational position of the Church, in view of the closing days of the age, and the Millennial Appearing of the Ascended Lord. That Millennial Appearing of the Glorified Christ means to Satan and his hierarchy of powers, the triumph of his erstwhile victims, and their ascension to the throne of Christ, where, in reigning with their Lord, they will “judge angels” (I Cor. vi. 2, 3). It means to the fallen archangel the deepest cup of humiliation he has yet had to drink, when redeemed man, who was for a little while made lower than the angels (Heb. ii. 7), and cast down, by his fall, near the level of the beast, is lifted up again, and made to sit among princes; lifted up above the high position which Satan once occupied as a great archangel of God; lifted up to one nature, and one life and position with the Son of God as an heir of God, and joint-heir with Christ (Rom. viii. 17, Heb. ii. 11-12); lifted up with the Redeeming Lord, far above all principality and power and every name that is named in heaven or on earth, or below the earth; lifted up to the very side of the Triumphant Lord, to the place of judgment of the foe. For Satan, there awaits the abyss–the bottomless pit–the lake of fire. For his victims–the sharing of the throne of the Son of God, above the angels and archangels of God.

THE NAME OF THE CALVARY VICTOR AND ITS POWER
Is it a marvel, then, that at the close of the Age, and on the eve of the Millennial triumph of the Church, the whole hierarchy of evil powers endeavour to submerge the future judges of the fallen hosts of Satan? Is it any marvel that GOD PERMITS THE ONSLAUGHT, for it has been His way throughout the Ages to use this planet as the battle ground and training school of His people? The Son of God Himself had to become obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross, ere He was given the NAME which is above every name; that NAME which now speaks to every fallen angel, and every evil spirit among the dregs of the spirit world, of the CONQUEST OF CALVARY. And every member of the Christ, who will reign with Him, and share in His judgment of the fallen angels, must individually, whilst on the planet of earth, learn first in person, not only to walk in victory over sin, but to trample under foot the viper brood of hell, in the Name of the Conqueror. They must overcome AS HE OVERCAME,” if they are to share His throne and conquest. He led the way. They must follow. He passed through the hour and power of darkness on Calvary, and passed through it to the place of victory. United to Him in spirit, they pass through the same dark atmosphere, filled with the hosts of evil, to their place of triumph in Him.

That closing onslaught from the hosts of darkness is upon the Church. Not one living member of the Risen Head can escape attack if he is a true “joint” in the Body (Ephes. iv. 16). Some will know it before others, according to their place in the Body. “If the whole Body were an eye, where were the hearing?’ They who are of the “feet” will know it latest, but know it they will, for they who are of the “feet” must also ascend, though the foot be the last part to move heavenward, and is nearest earth of the ascending Body. Some of the “elect” of the Body–yea, many–may “fall” victims to the deceptive wiles of Satan, but though they may seem submerged for a time, and–to their own vision–rendered useless to their Lord, if they but see how all the deceits of Satan can be turned into steps of victory, and equipment for the deliverance of others from his power, they can arise again, and become as it were “eyes” to the Body of Christ, in its advance through the aerial hosts of darkness contesting the way. They can arise again when they discover that what was meant by Satan to overwhelm them, can be changed by the light of truth into a glorious liberation from the enemy’s power, and thus make them witnesses, not only to men, but to the principalities and powers in the heavenly regions (Ephes. iii. 10) of the manifold wisdom of God. The hierarchy of Satanic power may hope to delay their judgment for a season, but the purposes of God must ultimately come to pass. He will draw His Church through to join the Risen Head in due season, even though the hour and power of darkness now surrounds her. The ULTIMATE OF THE CALL TO WAR AGAINST THE POWERS OF DARKNESS IS REVIVAL! But the ultimate of that Revival which will come as the result of victory over Satan is ASCENSION TRIUMPH: THE MILLENNIAL APPEARING OF THE CHRIST AND THE CASTING OF SATAN AND HIS EVIL POWERS TO THE ABYSS.

Even so, come Lord Jesus.

Water Baptism in the River

A Truly Pentecostal Water Baptism

The Tundja River is a popular tourist attraction being one of the longest rivers in Bulgaria.  It is an ancient waterway, which runs from the heart of Bulgaria down through Stara Zagora and Yambol all the way to Turkey. The river is a haven to much wildlife, a retreat to fishermen, and simply a tranquil sight to those passing by. But on August 22, 2009 the Tundja River served a different purpose.  It was the location where 14 more new believers were baptized in water.

Cup and Cross Ministries along with the home mission team from the local Pentecostal church and a step-mission team from Spain met and had a baptismal service at the base of the Tundja River in the outskirts of the Hanovo village near Yambol.  The service began with praise and worship in the Roma language, in Bulgarian, Spanish and English as representatives of these ethnos groups worshiped the Lord by the river.  We shared a brief teaching on the subject of Water Baptism from the Church of God Declaration of Faith to encourage the new believers from the local village churches and to establish the Scriptural base of our gathering by the river.

Then we stepped into the cool waters and in the hot summer day, 14 new souls dedicated their lives to God and came out of the Thundja River resurrected for a new life with Him. Spontaneous singing, prayers of praise and cries of worship continued throughout the entire time in all languages that the people in the congregation spoke to form one truly Pentecostal water baptism service by the running stream waters, as we were all reminded of the old Gospel spiritual:

As I went down to the river to pray

Studying about that good old way

And who shall wear the starry crown

Good Lord show me the way …