THE POWER OF THE LORD WAS PRESENT TO HEAL -- Luke 5:17.

Christ worked in a changed atmosphere; a sort of "Halo of Power" accompanied His ministry.

How hard, and almost useless, to tug, exhort, beg, and work, and give our logical propositions and other efforts to get men saved until the result of our text is on us! Then we do not need to drag to the altar and argue into salvation and sanctification by syllogism. They come! They pray! They hear from heaven! They secure pardon and sanctification, when the power of the Lord is present to heal!

We are learning how futile is "Revival" effort without a demonstration of this text. The church and world are dying for lack of manifestations of what the real power of God on His people, clergy and laity, will accomplish. Instead of berating church and world for decay of conscience and being Gospel hardened, many of us owe both an apology for not having this power accompany our ministries, which makes it comparatively easy for them to believe and be saved. "What must I do to be saved, is the question the world asks when Pentecost comes to the church." The trouble is not so much with them, lethargic conscience, Gospel hardened, etc., as with us, for "When He (the Holy Ghost) is come to you (disciples) He will (through you) convict the world of sin!" No trouble then to get folks out. At this time the multitudes surrounded Him. We have seen thousands assemble on plain and in forest to see this text demonstrated. It settles the order problem. God polices the grounds. The interest and attention problems are also settled: "All eyes were fastened on Him;" no one went to sleep. The vital power in the speaker to speak, is also the vital power in the hearer, enabling him to attentively listen. The man who has this power on his ministry does not say, "I invite your earnest attention to the subject," but proceeds to take it. People are all attention when he speaks. He is a true "spell-binder."

The absence of the power of the Lord present to heal in church services accounts for so little interest in them.

I.

It Was Power, "OF THE LORD."

"The power of the Lord was present to heal."

Not the power of learning, culture, titles, degrees, official standing, reputation, personality, eloquence, or rhetoric, logic, oratory, homiletics, so highly esteemed among men; it was not the power of subtle schemes and propositions we use to trap men into profession; but pure power of God operating directly on men, bringing them into contact with Himself.

Power of the Lord! Who can comprehend the power of God! Who define it? Limitless! exhaustless! See it in creation; from nothing it creates all things; speaks worlds into existence and upholds and sustains them! "Piles the mountains up six miles high! Hollows a bed in the earth five miles deep for the sea!" The heavens are the work of the fingers of this power. "When I consider the heavens the work of Thy fingers." "Not hard for God to make worlds; merely exerts His fingers." To cast out demons from men is not hard when linked up with this power, "If I by the finger of God cast out devils." "Power belongeth unto God." "The excellency of the power is of God, and not of us." Nothing too hard for God! All things are possible with God." Power is any form of energy available for doing any kind of work. This power is that form of energy available in God for doing God's work! We have as much power as the opposing obstacles we overcome; that much, no more!

This power is thousands of leagues beyond (in doing God's kind of work (spiritual) Aggressive Evangelism Committees, Conferences, and Forward Movements that get together and discuss, discuss, "how," and "method," and "ways" and "means" of doing His work. It has communities in the throes of old fashioned, agonizing conviction before they can get newspaper puffs and dodgers before the people, telling what they are going to do! The power of God would be present if half as much time were spent in humiliation, heart searching, surrender, and prayer, and faith for it, as is spent in discussion, suggestion, and debate.

In this age of skepticism, doubt, and unbelief, even among holiness professors, as well as nominal Christianity, which cries, "We may not see the power of God as formerly," this writer wants to confess that unbelief fires his soul with faith, and he takes his stand along with men of faith and declares his faith in the power of God. He believes, "the power of God is just the same today, it doesn't matter what the people say." And rather than believe we may not see it as formerly, he believes we may see far greater manifestations than have ever been seen in any age. A Scripture to prove it:

"Call upon me and I will show thee great and mighty things, that thou knowest not of," i. e., there is no precedent in history as great as He is able to show. "Thou knowest not of." You never read of as great things as He will do if price of proper calling on Him is paid.

What Doth Hinder?

Let us give just two verses which clearly fix the responsibility of lax power. They contain the reason for all powerless lives:

"Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver?"

"Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither is His ear heavy, that it cannot hear (your prayers); But, (the real reason) your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, (so) that He will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue has muttered perverseness." Here is the cause, sin, violated consciences. The confessions to us of ministers, of living in secret sin, and violating their consciences over periods of years have been shocking in the extreme. A powerless life and ministry and sin go hand in hand! God, Almighty, awake deceived professors! Away with sin which hinders faith, and the power of former days is ours!

The power of the Lord is a match for Twentieth Century conditions, worldliness, and Devil! Amen. If we lived in the 5000th century and conditions were proportionately and increasingly bad, we would still believe in the superiority of the power of the Lord!

II.

Self Effacement Necessary

"The power of the Lord was present to heal." It is more manifest that His power is accomplishing the healing than "our sermon" or singing, or our oratory, or logic, or rhetoric, or homiletical order, etc. "We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be 'of God' and not of 'us.' "We preach, not ourselves, but Christ Jesus, as Lord," We are, in a measure, set aside; when His power properly comes, "We stand still and see the salvation of God." We see Him do it. We are set aside and are willing men should know it is "God that worketh in us," and we are "not sufficient of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God." So it was in Wales. Ever apparent, He had the pre-eminence. The Creator all in all, and the creature nothing. When one arose and tried the old, well known methods, firstly, secondly, thirdly, etc., the Holy Spirit was grieved and fled. But when the self-effaced Roberts, surcharged with the "power of the. Lord," resumes control, speaking as the Spirit gives utterance, the power returns. Where are the men to follow his self-effacement to the point of letting the Holy Spirit, in that hour, tell them what they ought to say? Oh, they must have homiletical order and precision! But how much better is Holy Ghost order and spontaneity, to bring conviction! Study, of course, but above all "preach with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven!" How many want it to appear, my sermon, my song, my work, is the accomplishing force! God is set aside. O, that we may learn fully what He would do through us if we were only sufficiently blotted out to let Him have the glory!

III.

This Power Was Also Resident in Jesus.

Wherever He went He precipitated it. "Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit." One day He entered the synagogue and testified: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me; this day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears." We read, "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost, who went about -- i. e., from place to place doing good." This power accompanied Him everywhere He went. It was in connection with the Pentecostal experience they said: "These men who have turned the world upside down have come hither also." Everywhere Evan Roberts went there was a stir. "In a miniature counterpart we may have this power in us and carry it everywhere." Everywhere we go under the anointing of the Holy Spirit we expect and see things stir for God. We carry the psychological moment and the historic period with us, and whether these are due to roll around, bringing auspicious tokens of coming revival or not, the revival is on, wherever we land. Praise the Lord!

IV.

It Was the Power of Changed, God Impregnated Atmosphere.

The power of the Lord was present there, in that atmosphere -- it was full, intense, thick, impregnated with God! The Welsh revival was not a revival of preaching, but of a changed atmosphere -- warm with God's presence, which made it desirable and comparatively easy to find God, an atmosphere surcharged with God, which does the work of warning, alarming, convincing, drawing, persuading, and enabling men to find God in conversion and sanctification. "I am not changing men's hearts," said Evan Roberts, "God is present changing their hearts." This is why so much church and revival work is abortive; the solemnizing, awe inspiring presence of God does not surcharge the atmosphere at the scene of action! God is not powerfully felt in it. There is something lacking. Something in it is displeasing to Him and He will not come and surcharge it until it is put away.

It is all but useless to try to do God's work until by "Intercession" the mighty power of God has been fought down from the skies, changing the atmosphere and creating a condition which makes it comparatively easy for men to be saved in. "It shall come to pass, whosoever shall call on the Lord (in Pentecostal surroundings especially) shall be saved." How we have pumped and tugged, and sweat, and worked, and exhorted, to get men to yield when God's power to heal was not present! And then how easily have we observed men come to God and find pardon and sanctification when the atmosphere had been changed by withdrawing and working the victory out on our knees! Here is the why of powerless services. The atmosphere has not been clarified by prayer and surcharged with God. "Jesus withdrew Himself... and, directly, it is added, the power of the Lord was present to heal."

The Lord waits to surcharge our revivals with such intense solemnity that men will feel the awe of His presence and be compelled to think of eternal realities, death, judgment, hell, heaven, eternity. Finney's praying partner (more essential than a singing partner) would so prevail the supernatural on his ministry that strangers passing through communities where he labored would feel it and yield to God. Said an aged preacher to us, who lived at Oberlin during his pastorate there, from the agonizing prayer of Finney and Father Nash such an awful sense of God fastened on the people, that as they would leave the church after his sermons and walk down the boardwalks toward home, their shoes would squeak out Eternity! Eternity! Eternity! Eternity!

Evan Roberts has a right to speak. He has demonstrated what a changed atmosphere will do: "We must fight heaven down, we must fight it down, we must fight it down now and here;" by prayer we must lodge on the consciences of the lost an intolerable conviction of sin. This is the only hope for the present pleasure loving age! They can be reached no other way, and won to God we did not say to the church. The expressions are not synonymous, though they should be.

The early church labored in the changed atmosphere brought about through "giving themselves to prayer," so that strangers coming in their presence would cry out, falling down in their midst, "God is in you of a truth." This fact explains why such mighty revivals come to certain centers (e. g., holiness colleges); they have such a volume of incessant, persistent, determined prayer ascending that an atmosphere is created in which it is easy to find God. People speak of feeling God in it as they approach the campus. Again and again we have seen souls flock to the altar when there had been no preaching! Let us not look so muck for the hindrances in others m but in ourselves. If we are properly surcharged, victory and success is sure! The next division shows.

V.

This Power Was Present to Heal in Spite of Opposers who did not wish Him success m lawyers, doctors of the law, scribes, Pharisees, all of whom were His avowed enemies, and had repeatedly sought to trap Him. These classes now surround Him, but in spite of them, "the power of the Lord was present to heal them." In the very presence of those who do not wish the cause of holiness success, we may see God's power displayed. We have frequently seen souls get to the altar and to God in spite of intimidating pastors et al unpropitious influences. "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies." Ecclesiastics and officials may hope they are stamping the "fad" of holiness out, but in spite of them, yea, in their very presence, we may see the power of God sanctifying souls.

VI.

We said this Power was resident in Jesus. Still it is evident He lived in momentary dependence on God. "The Son can do nothing of Himself, the Father dwelling in ]Vie doeth the works." It seems virtue went out of Him, at least He so perceived, and so said, and He was under necessity of waiting on God and replenishing His used up supplies. What other explanation is there of His frequent and protracted seasons of prayer? So thinks Dr. Asa Mahan -- "Jesus, our example, as a man, in prayer and momentary dependence on God."

VII.

The Power Present to Heal Was Not Accidental! Spiritual power and atmospheres are never so. Some one behind the scenes has met conditions. If I now have power, it is because of long drawn out seasons of agonizing intercession. A few lines back in the context reveals how through Jesus' example this power was and may be secured: "And Jesus withdrew Himself from the multitudes into the wilderness and prayed." Four or five lines further on it is added, "The power of the Lord was present to heal." There is an intimate connection between these verses. They are related. One explains the other. A few minutes morning and night, "for Jesus' sake, amen," does not bring this spiritual power, but the special seasons of conflict do when we have it out with God, insist on victory, and pray through!

VIII.

Power was present to "HEAL THEM" spiritually. This crowd was not only sick physically, but spiritually. Power was present to heal them, make them well. Not to have them catechized into the church, or confirmed (often in their sins), or sign some drawn up propositions and assent to certain syllogisms, or confess Christ, or decide for Christ, or choose the preacher and church of their choice, or enroll them, or give the Evangelist the tips of their fingers in fashionable handshake. .But to HEAL THEM in their souls and make them feel as good in their souls as a sick man in body, suddenly healed, would feel. Power present to regenerate and give the birth of the Spirit, and the witness of the Spirit bearing witness with their spirits that they were the children of God. All revival effort that falls short of this result is spurious.