God's Remedy for Today's Barrenness — Peter Brandon

Walking as Children of Light

The reading today is from Ephesians chapter 5, and we are going to commence reading from verse 8. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth.

Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove or expose them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.

But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light. For whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, or literally the dead ones, and Christ shall give thee light.

And the word there is radiancy. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

And be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Singing a making melody in your heart to the Lord. Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father.

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submit yourselves one to another in the fear of God. And the Lord will bless to us the reading of his word. I think everyone in this room this afternoon will agree.

The Historical Decline of Spiritual Fervor

That there has come over the assemblies in the western world great baroness. For instance in the year 1925 there was an evangelist in Britain whose name was Fred Elliot. And he went and preached in Aberdeen for a month.

And the assembly was only about 68 in fellowship then. And 300 were saved. 300 were baptised. And 300 were added to that local church. So within a month their numbers increased from about 67 to almost 367.

In the same year he went to London and preached the gospel at Folkestone Road Hall. And 120 were saved. 120 were baptised. And 120 were added to the church. And it took them a week to baptise all the convicts.

Then he went from there to a place called Merion Hall in Dublin. And that hall held over 3000 people. And he preached and there were so many people receiving the Lord Jesus that they couldn't deal with them at night.

And so every day there was a queue from 12 to 2 queuing up to be converted. And that assembly arose to over 1000 members until they had to hive off. And this went on right until the year 1938. And I remember tent missions outside my own assembly where hundreds assembled.

And every night people were saved. Prayer meetings that were packed to capacity and sometimes went on for an hour and a half. But after the war a new generation arose. And they went in for the material things more than the spiritual things.

Therefore we lack spiritual leadership and we lack gifts. And then we had in London assemblies and the average assembly would be roughly about 100 to 120. And there were about 125 to 130 assemblies. And unfortunately carnality came in and we had that awful thing Sunday morning only worshippers.

That meant that more than half the assembly was not in fellowship. This continued until gradually the Lord took away lampstands. And in places where we have seen mighty blessing you will see the halls turned into factories, one into a theatre.

The lampstand has gone. Now people have been asking the question. How can we remedy this barrenness? Well my dear friends I am not going to speak on the barrenness anymore. Because if I did I think it would bring depression.

I want to speak now on God's remedy. And that's the main thing. Now if you go through the book of the Acts you will find that they had a very few evangelical gimmicks. Although they were flexible. And you will find that they had two absolutes.

One, they preached the word of God. Two, they preached the word of God in the power of the spirit. Now it's hard for us to believe this. But within 40 years the whole of the Roman world was shaken by the preaching of the gospel.

And they were moving as fast as Noah in the boat. And certainly no faster than Adam on a horse. And yet within 40 years the Roman world was hearing the gospel. Now we must all agree we have moved into a period of materialism.

We must face up to it. We do have carnality in the assembly. But we are not going to major on that. And therefore what is the remedy for today's problem? First of all it is that we should be consecrated.

Consecration and the Power of the Spirit

And that's why I dealt with the subject this morning. Wherever we find a group of consecrated people. And can I go further than that? Whenever God finds a group of consecrated people. Who love the scripture.

And who are clear on the doctrines of Christ. Irrespective of what they call themselves. He will bless them. Now we must be prepared to accept that. And in our research in assembly fellowship. Where we find a group of people really consecrated.

God blesses. Now the twin brother to consecration. Is this subject of being filled with the spirit. Unfortunately some of our brothers and sisters in the school of God. Have exaggerated this teaching.

But we must not allow exaggeration to hinder the great truth of being spirit filled. Now before we go right into the subject. We must look at the Holy Spirit. And there are actually 16 titles given to him in the New Testament.

More in the Old Testament. And I think it's true to say that the major titles are as follows. He is called the Spirit of God. This shows to us his deity. He is called the Spirit of Christ. This shows to us his objectivity.

And he is called the Holy Spirit. This shows to us his unique identity. Now his deity. When we think of the Holy Spirit. And I want to say this lowly because this is very important. We must never think of him as an active force.

We must never think of him as merely an active power. We must never think of him even as an influence. Always think of the Holy Spirit as a divine person. Because he is a divine person. Furthermore. He is as divine as God.

And I will use now another expression. He is co-equal with God in every single detail. We call him the third person of the Trinity. The Bible never does. In fact if we look at the Scripture carefully.

The first divine person to be introduced to us as a person. Is the Spirit of God. In Scripture. In Genesis chapter 1 we read. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the word God there is Elohim.

And that word refers to the Trinity. The first person that is spoken of in the Godhead. Is the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the deity. Now the question comes. What basically makes God, God? Well God is first of all omnipresent.

That means God fills the whole universe. He is outside of time and space. And looks upon it as a small thing. And therefore we say he is transcendent. Then we say that God is imminent. That means he projects his glory in everything that he makes.

From the smallest to the greatest thing. So is the Holy Spirit. When the Psalmist was writing about him he said. With us shall I flee from thy spirit. With us shall I flee from thy presence. If I make my bed in hell thou art there.

If I ascend into heaven thou art there. And so on. Secondly we find in Scripture. That God is omnipotent. That means he has all powers. The same applies to the Holy Spirit. In fact if you go through the Old Testament.

All the miracles that were wrought in the Old Testament. Were wrought in the power of the Spirit. And for the glory of God. If you go through the New Testament. You will find even the incarnation was the work of the Holy Ghost.

And when you go through especially John's Gospel and Luke's Gospel. You will find the Lord Jesus saying. Of my own self I can do nothing. Every single miracle that he performed. Was performed in the power of the Holy Spirit.

When we come to the atonement. According to Hebrews. It was the eternal Spirit aiding him. Through the pains of that atoning death. And when we come to the resurrection. According to Romans 8. It was the Spirit of God who raised him from the dead.

And so you can see that the Holy Spirit is omnipotent. He has all power. There is nothing impossible with him. Now just see those two things. Number one. He is omnipresent. Number two. He is omnipotent.

All power. And then lastly. He is omniscient. God never thinks. Now you are raising your eyebrows. God never thinks. He knows. He is the Alpha and Omega. The beginning and the end. We think God knows.

The same applies to the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 2. Paul says. The Spirit searches the deep deep things of God. Think of the wisdom in the Holy Spirit. Now brothers and sisters. Let's relax. Isn't it wonderful that such a divine person dwells in us.

The miracle of it. That is why when you grasp the dignity and the majesty of the Holy Spirit. You will see that there is power in you to overcome every besetting sin. Then the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Christ.

The Holy Spirit Reveals Christ

Now what does this mean? The main purpose of the Holy Spirit as far as the church is concerned. Is to reveal the Lord Jesus. Now there are two ways in which we can learn of the Lord Jesus. If you have a good mind.

You can study Christology. And you can study all the types and the offerings of the Old Testament. And you can feed into your cranium. A great stock of knowledge about Christ. Now that's good. And I would advise every one of you to search the scripture in order to find Christ.

But that doesn't mean to say that you know him. You know all the facts and figures about him. But there is one thing in knowing the facts and figures about a person. And knowing the person intimately.

Now it's only the Holy Spirit. That can make Jesus Christ real to you as a living person. Therefore when you read the Hebrews. We find that the Lord Jesus has gone through the heavens. He is seated above the heavens on the throne of God.

And he is there in triumphant power. And he is our Great High Priest. Now the work of the Holy Spirit. Is to take you to him who is our Great High Priest. So that you know him as a person intimately. Then secondly.

He wants to reveal Christ to you subjectively. Now what does that mean? You have a body that the body calls. That the scripture calls the body of humiliation. We were seeing last night within that body.

There is a priceless faculty. That makes you a complete mystery called the soul. The eternal part of you. Now the Holy Spirit wants to come right into your body. Right into your soul. Right into the seat of your soul which is the spirit.

And then he wants to do something that is exquisitely beautiful. He wants to invade your soul. With the beauty and the loveliness of Christ. So that year by year you are conforming to that image. And that is the thrilling thing about Christianity.

You may see five Christians and you look at one. And you can see he is like the Lord Jesus. Why? Because he has received more Holy Spirit than the others so now. But he has allowed the Holy Spirit to so invade his personality.

That the beauty of the Lord is seen in him. Now my dear friends that is basic Christianity. You cannot get higher than that. To know that living exalted saviour intimately. And for that saviour to be formed in you.

So that you can say for me living means Christ. Not only the objective but the subject. And to die is gain. But more. When you are in assembly fellowship you are actually in body life. I hope the Lord revives that truth.

And that means you are all dependent one on another. And then Paul says another very beautiful thing. He says the body is Christ. That means it belongs to him. He is the head of that body. But it means that the body should reflect Christ.

So that the Holy Spirit wants to come and reveal Christ in the body. So that would mean if you had a visitor who came to see you on this Sunday. He would look around and he should be able to see Christ in the body.

And then if he came back four years time he should see more of Christ in the body. All the members moving up to the head. But there is something more than that. When God's people are gathered together in real body life by the power of the Spirit.

The Lord Jesus is not only forming himself in the body collectively. But his presence is known. And that means in a very special way. The presence of the risen Lord is among his people. Beloved if we had a manifestation of that Spirit in power.

Unsaved people would recognize that God is among us. Now that's the work of the Holy Spirit. Note the work of the Holy Spirit is not to give you an it. But to give you a him. The Lord Jesus. And then he is called the Spirit or the Spirit of Holiness.

And that means there is a glorious Trinity. Comprised of Father, Son and Holy Ghost. A wonderful Godhead that we adore and magnify. But God is a personality. The Lord Jesus is a personality. And so is the Holy Spirit.

Making that glorious Godhead. Now the first question is this. What is the fullness of the Spirit? What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit? Does it mean just as you fill up a glass you can fill it up to the full.

And you've got water in the glass. And so the Lord fills you with the Spirit like that. No. You see we must now look very carefully. Especially through Ephesians. To see what Paul means by this fullness.

Fullness as Sovereignty, Power, and Maturity

Shall we turn to the first chapter. For the sake of time we can only read from verse 22. And have put all things under his feet. And gave him to be head over all things to the church. Which is his body.

The fullness of him that filleth all in all. Now we shall look at that word filleth in a moment. But you will see that the word filled there is linked with headship. And headship is linked with sovereignty.

Therefore when a person is filled with the Spirit. Note this. He comes under the total sovereignty of the Lord. Now that's the first thing. Now when you come to the third chapter. You will find that there is another expression.

The third chapter verse 18. May be able to comprehend with all saints. What is the breadth and length and depth and height. And to know the love of Christ which parteth knowledge. That he might be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. According to the power that worketh in us. Now can you see there that the word fullness and filled is linked with the word power.

So the second meaning is this. When a person is filled with the Spirit. He comes under the Lordship of Christ. Secondly when a person is filled with the Spirit. He has the authority of Christ. The power of Christ.

Now if you come with me to the fourth chapter. You will see that Paul uses it again in another way. Verse 12 of chapter 4. For the perfecting of the saints. For the work of the ministry. For the edifying of the body of Christ.

Till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. Unto a perfect man. Unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Now can you see that the word fullness there is linked with the perfect man.

And the word perfect man means the matured man. And this basically is the main meaning of fullness. It's the idea of being filled out to maturity. Let me illustrate so we get to the point. I was staying in Vancouver with two sons.

Belonging to a lovely Christian mum and dad. And one of these boys weighed 18 stone. Now you won't believe this he was only about 20, 21. But there wasn't an ounce of fat on him. He was massive. Sometimes frightening to look at.

The type of man you wouldn't like to meet in the dark. His brother was 12 and forgive me being a little crude. But he was a weed. Thin and delicate. And one day I went down into this gym. And this fellow was picking up these weights.

And you know it was almost unbelievable that a man could have such a beautiful built body. And I must have been looking at him and looking at this brother. And the mother came in. And she weighed up my thoughts.

And she says I know what you're thinking of Peter. I said what's that? How did they come from the same stock? Well I was. And then she got a little annoyed with me. And she said when he fills out he'll be as big as him.

And I said some hopes. Well he filled out. And they sent me a photograph. They were at a wedding. And would you believe it this boy that was just a weed. He was massive. But he had filled out. He had come to maturity.

Would you mind if I used a little bit of good old fashioned cockney. There are many weeds among us. And they've never been filled out. And that's why the meetings are not functioning correctly. But when we are filled with the spirit.

Oh the difference. We come to maturity. We begin to grow. And we grow from one degree to another. And there's no stopping of that growth. Because the idea of being filled with the spirit. Is being constantly filled with the Holy Spirit of God.

Every Believer Has the Holy Spirit

Now can you see now what he means by this fullness. Now we must ask ourselves some questions. Is every Christian entwelt with the Holy Spirit? If we went through the book of the Acts that gives us history.

We would find ourselves in deep water. But when we come to the epistles. It's all settled and clear. In Ephesians Paul says. Since you believed you were filled with the Holy Spirit of promise. Chapter 1.

Can't turn you to these. Otherwise we never get through this address. Again we find in Romans chapter 8. If we have not the spirit of Christ. We are none of his. That means we are not a Christian. When we come to Galatians 3.

He argues out. Did you receive the Holy Spirit by the hearing of faith. Or through the works of the law. And obviously we received the Holy Spirit. When we heard the gospel and believed. So can you see in the New Testament.

It is clear as daylight. That every single born again believer. Has the Holy Spirit. But I must say this in passing. We must make sure before we lead a person to Christ. That God has worked in them. There are four people that are coming.

That we believe may be in the kingdom or near the kingdom. And we must pray now. That there might be no hand forcing them to make a profession. That it may be the real work of the Spirit of God. That's so important.

But the next question is a little more tantalizing. Are all Christians aware of the Holy Spirit? And the answer is no. When the apostle went to Ephesus. He found a group of people who were being influenced by Apollos.

And they were following probably the teaching of John the Baptist. And he couldn't decipher whether they were Christians or not. Now what was his answer? Have you got a letter of commendation? No. Have you been baptized by immersion?

No. Are you in assembly fellowship? No. What did he say? Now listen. Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? And when he heard that they had not received the Holy Spirit. Nor did they know anything about the Holy Spirit.

He knew they were not complete in the faith. But when he writes to the Corinthians. And many of them he had led to the Lord Jesus. And one or two of them or perhaps a few more had become very carnal. What did he say to them?

Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? No. Now notice the difference. What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. In other words. Hasn't it dawned upon you by divine revelation that your body is sacred.

How can you give your body that is sacred to the act of lust. Therefore every Christian has the Holy Spirit. But not every Christian is fully aware of the Holy Spirit. We need our inner eyes open to see that he is there.

Let me illustrate because this is a very very fine point. I went to the petrol station to get some diesel. That's a paradox but my car is a diesel. And I filled it right up to the brim. And then I went to look for my money and I forgot my wallet.

And he knew I was a preacher. I went round the car twice wondering what to do. Then I had an idea. Take my watch off and give it to him. And I was just going to take my watch off. When you know I felt in my back pocket.

And I felt some paper. What could that be? And I brought out the paper and it was a twenty pound note. Forgive me saying it. I said Hallelujah. No an angel didn't put it at the back. It was there all the time.

But I had discovered it. Now my dear friends when you discover that the Holy Spirit is within you. Don't call it by a special name. He was there the moment you were saved. But now you've got your eyes open.

And you have discovered that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. And he is within you. Now is that fullness? No not quite. You're moving there. What then is fullness? The scripture that I read to you this morning gives us the secret.

Hunger, Exposure, and Consecration

When a group of Christians or an individual Christian can say sincerely from the heart.

Sovereign Lord God.

And that means you're laid on the altar. That means you become a living sacrifice for God. Be sure of this you're filled with the Spirit. Because immediately they finished that prayer. And they didn't even ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

They asked that they might heal in the name of that servant Jesus. And that they may have boldness to preach the word. The scripture says the place was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.

Now I have been challenged. And I'm so glad someone has challenged me. And this is what the person has said. You teach about the fullness of the Spirit and you show us all the doctrine. Yes. And we agree with it.

Good. But how do we get from a carnal state into a state where we're filled? The person was being honest. He says quite frankly and I'm moving with many many young people. We are in a carnal condition.

So he was honest. Now how do we get from that position of being carnal to that position where we are spiritual? Well I'm going to give you three or four stages. First of all there must be hunger. Psalm 42 says as the heart pence after the water brooks so pence my soul after thee O God.

When we come to Matthew chapter 5 the sermon on the mount the Lord Jesus said Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled. When we come to John chapter 7 the Lord Jesus said in the last day the great day of the feast If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink and out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.

This he spake of the Holy Ghost for the Holy Ghost had not been given because Christ had not been glorified. Now can you see it's hungering and thirsting. Now sometimes we go among a group of people in my own country and we cannot speak to them about the Holy Spirit.

Do you know why? There's no hunger. It's gone. And then sometimes we go among a group of people and we can almost feel the hunger. As though in the atmosphere there was an inarticulate groaning for the deeper things of God.

One group of sisters said this to me and I was deeply moved. We have just been studying the Ephesians and quite frankly what's in that book we do not know by experience but all we want to know. That's it.

A hunger. If you're the type of person that has no real hunger for the deeper things of God then my dear friends I must say this to you lovingly. God will never meet you. But the moment there is this hunger, this desire for those deeper things then God will meet you.

He loves hungry people. Secondly there must be exposure. Would you turn to Ephesians 4. This is such an important scripture. I must turn you to it. Ephesians 4 we read verse 29. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth but that which is good to the use of edifying that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. And be kind one to another tender hearted forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you.

Now that word grieve. The scholars tell me it's one of the strongest words for sadness in the scripture. Do you remember when the Lord Jesus saw the people weeping at the graveside of Lazarus. He wept and groaned in his spirit.

It has something to do with that kind of grief. Sometimes when someone dies in a family and they are greatly loved you see bereavement and deep sorrow. Now that basically is the meaning of the grief. A deep, deep grief.

Now first of all think of the grace of God that's given to us the Holy Spirit. I'm going to forget my congregation and I'm going to think of myself just now. Just imagine the Holy Spirit indwelling my life.

Why should he bother? It would be a wonderful thing if God forgave and that he has done. But to give me that extra blessing. The Spirit of God coming into my body making it a temple. And yet this is the tragedy.

Although the grace of God has given to us the Holy Spirit. We can hurt him and grieve him. And therefore when a person is going to be filled with the Spirit. He gets alone with his God and he prays with the Psalmist.

Search me O God and know my heart. And all those things that are mentioned here we bring to the notice of God. Sometimes this exposure will go on for a day. Sometimes it will go on for two days. Sometimes it could go on for a week.

But let me be careful. We don't want morbid introspection. That will give you a mental breakdown. We want healthy spiritual introspection. So that our lives are cleansed through the Word of God. Now when we have been through that process we are almost there.

Hunger, exposure and then consecration. You see there comes a time in your experience when you get alone with the Lord. And you heed the great challenge that God has given to us in Romans 12. I beseech you therefore brethren by the tender mercies of God.

That ye present your bodies a living sacrifice. Now when you yield up your body as a living sacrifice. Don't yield up the flesh crucify that. Realize now that you are a new man in Christ. And yield up the new members.

How should we do it? Take your mind and yield it up to God for him to think through it. Take your eyes, be careful about this now this is very important. And say Lord I am going to make a covenant with my eyes.

In the power of the spirit that you might see through them. Take your ears and say Lord these ears belong to you. I must no longer listen to gossip or criticism. These ears must be for your voice. Take your lips and yield your lips up to God.

So upon your lips there is the fruit of praise. Take those hands, all those hands of service. And yield them up to the Lord. And take your feet and say Lord I want to walk now in the narrow way. And if your feet is in the narrow way your heart and head will be in the wide way.

That's the glory of heaven. And then last of all. Take your heart, your affections. And yield them up to God. Now you don't do that casually. It's something we are told to distinctly do and we must do it.

You see there came a moment when the priests were consecrated. And there comes a moment in a believers life when he consecrates himself to the Lord. Now I am going to ask you a question. Have you done that?

Well go over that process. And God will bless you. And then having consecrated yourself to the Lord. Then realize this that God loves faith. He that comes to God must believe that he is and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Without faith it's impossible to please God. Therefore now you've trusted Christ to save you. Now you've got to trust the Lord to fill you. And therefore you've come to a moment where you say now Lord fill this life with your Holy Spirit.

And trust him to do it. And then what? Ah you say that's what I'm afraid of brother Peter. I might roll on the floor. You would do if you were drunk. I might start dancing down the aisle. You would do if you were drunk.

Oh but then I might start frothing at the mouth. You would do if you were drunk. Ah but you say I might start barking like a dog and roaring like a lion. Listen you were made in the image and in the likeness of God.

And don't go back to animal creation. Just imagine people made in his image roaring like lions, barking like dogs. How foolish. It's nothing like that at all. The moment you are filled with the Spirit.

Forgive me raising my voice but this is so important. You are under self-control and that means divine control. Never out of control. So when you are filled with the Spirit you won't be swinging on these vans.

Oh no. So what then is the evidence of a Spirit filled life? First of all my dear friends. Christ will become very precious to you. Instead of knowing all the facts and figures. You will find the person will become intimate and close.

And Jesus will be absolutely real. And he'll become more real. And then you will find he will begin to move through your personality. So that Christ will be seen in you and the fruits of the Spirit will be seen.

And then according to the exegesis here. You'll be speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Now what does that mean? The word means addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.

Now first of all we mustn't imagine that the first century Christians had a book like that. Only one or two of them had a scroll of the Old Testament. But they did have at hand the psalms. They had the hymns.

Now what were hymns? They were inspired quotes that they used to sing. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. That was a hymn. This may surprise you. But when Paul gave out that particular anthem.

That Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. He was buried and he rose again the third day according to the scripture. That was a spiritual song that they used to sing. And so some of the quotes that they had in song and used to sing became real to them.