Revival - Part 1 — Doc Greenway

Choosing Between Two Sermon Texts

I don't know whether you will be able, perhaps, to take this from me, but I'll venture out and tell you something of what happened some years ago when I was in Wales, my own little country. I was a speaker at a convention, and in this particular convention, I was just a young man at the time, very young indeed, and I didn't have very many sermons in those days, but I had some that I thought were of convention standard, and the trouble was, you know, that I was bothered because I had two texts, and I didn't know which one I was to take.

That was a predicament. I was sitting up there on the platform, and these two texts were in my mind, conflicting with one another, it seemed to me. One was Galatians 2 .20, and the other was in the book of Psalms, All thy garments smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia, out of the ivory palaces whereby they have made thee glad.

And there I was. Well, the singing had come to an end, and the chairman looked to me, and he said, well, it's time to stand up. So I stood up, but I still didn't know, and I wasn't going to open my mouth until I was sure, and so in desperation from the depth of my being, quietly, of course, silently, the prayer went up to God, oh God, please do something, show me what you want me to do.

And as I stood there, the chairman began to sing himself, being in wills, of course, they were fond of singing, and the congregation took it up, and they were singing a little chorus just over and over again, a simple thing.

He was giving me time to get my bearings. I understood this, but I was becoming more and more confused. I didn't know what to do. And then from the other end of the platform, a servant of God rose up and came right to where I stood.

Obeying the Unexpected Word About Myrrh and Aloes

He stood behind me and he said, I don't know what it means, my brother, but the Lord has just told me to come over and tell you myrrh and aloes. I don't know what it means, he said, but I'm just giving obedience.

Revival Begins Through the Spirit's Sovereign Presence

And I gave out my text from the book of Psalms, all thy garments smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia. And I preached. Well, I had never finished that sermon. Before I'd got halfway through that sermon, the Spirit of God came upon that congregation of God's people.

And as it was in the days of revival, spontaneous singing burst forth from them, and they were singing that wonderful song that we have heard, I suppose, sometimes, out of the ivory palaces into a world of war.

Only his great, redeeming love made my Saviour go. And they sang this. And a woman stood up and she began to wave her arm. I thought, oh, I don't like this, this fanaticism, that's going to extremes now.

Healing, Conversion, and Restoration Without Human Manipulation

I didn't like it at all. And I turned to the chairman, I said, I don't like this very much. He said, man, that woman hasn't raised her arm for about thirty years. She's been unable to do it. That arm has been paralyzed.

It's no wonder she's waving it around. God has healed her. And I saw, to my amazement, people breaking down and weeping, and then coming out at the front and kneeling down. There was no appeal made. I had nothing to do with it.

But the Spirit of God simply took over. And in that service, which went on for about four hours, there were lives transformed, there were people brought to Christ, there were backsliders restored, there were people healed spontaneously and dramatically by the hand of God without anybody touching them at all.

And I tell you, it revolutionized that town. Now this is what I mean when I talk about the possibilities that lie within the compass of the Holy Spirit's ministry when he is given his rightful place in the Christian church.

The Holy Spirit and Unity in the Church

And this is why I think the Apostle Paul keeps on stressing the thing over and over again. There can only be similarity of thought. We can only think the same thing about the essentials of God's Word when the Holy Spirit takes control of us and when we allow him to guide us into all truth.

And then, as it was in the early church, they will be of one mind and one heart. It's gloriously possible, but not on any human level. God himself must take over before this can be done. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others, not consulting each one his own interests, but also each one having regard for the interests and the well-being of others.

Crucifying Self-Interest for the Unity of Christ's Body

So that self-interest is crucified and unity takes over. We are not concerned anymore with ourselves as individuals, but only concerned with the members of the body of Christ and concerned most desperately that there shall be no dissension and no contention in the midst of Christ's body to cause schism and division.

Where the Holy Spirit is allowed to preside, not simply ideally as one whose presence we acknowledge and to which we give a mental assent, but practically and personally and progressively residing and presiding in the church, this sort of unity will be brought about.

But without it, it seems to be an impossibility. So may we pray from our hearts that God will, by his Spirit, create the sort of unity that pleases him and which brings us together in a new dimension of life's experience as members of the body of Christ controlled by the Spirit of the Lord.