9.22.2016 Finney on THE PRESENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT ephesians 5.18

285  why do many people not have the Spirit?
it may be that they live a hypocritical life.
their prayers are not earnest and sincere.
not only is their religion a mere show without any heart, but they are insincere in their personal exchange with others.

others are so frivolous that the Spirit will not dwell with them.

others are so proud that they cannot have the Spirit.
they like to find ways to prove to everyone that they are better than others.
they are so fond of dress, high life and fashion, it is no wonder they are not filled with the Spirit.


some are so worldly-minded, love property so well and are trying so hard to get rich that they cannot have the Spirit. how can He dwell with them when all their thoughts are on things of the world and all their powers are absorbed in procuring wealth? and when they get money, they are in agony if their consciences pressure them to do something with it for the conversion of the world. they show how much they love the world in all their conversations with others. little things show it. they will badger a poor man who is doing a little piece
286  of work for them down to the lowest penny. but if they are dealing on a large scale, very likely they will be liberal and fair because it is for their advantage.

if they do not care about the person - a laborer, mechanic or a waitress - they will grind him down to the last fraction, no matter what his work is really worth. they actually pretend to make it a matter of conscience that they cannot possibly give any more. now, they would be ashamed to deal like this with people of their own rank because it would be found out and injure their reputation.

but God knows it and has it all written down. he knows that they are covetous and unfair in their dealings. he knows they will not do right as a matter of course, but only when it is for their interest. now, how can such believers have the Spirit of God? it is impossible.

others are neglecting some known duty and that is why they do not have the Spirit. one does not pray in his family, though he knows he should, yet he is trying to get the spirit of prayer!

if you have neglected any known duty and lost the spirit of prayer, you must yield first. God has a disagreement with you. you have refused obedience to God and you must change. you may have forgotten it, but God has not. you must recall your failure and repent. God never will yield or grant you His Spirit until you repent.
if you  know what it is to commune with God, how sweet it is to dissolve in penitence and to be filled with the Spirit, you cannot help but desire a return of those joys. you may determine to pray for it and pray for a revival of religion. but on the whole you are unwilling to see it come. you have so much to do that you cannot wait for it.
or it would require so many sacrifices that you cannot bear to have it. there are some things you are not willing to give up. you find that, if you wish to have the Spirit of God dwell with you, you must lead a different life. you must break off from your worldly associations and confess your sins. so, on the whole, you do not really want to have the Spirit
287  come, unless He will consent to let you live as you please. he will never do that.

your guilt is as great as the authority of God that commands you, 'Be filled with the Spirit'. God commands it and it is just as much a disobedience of God's commands as it would be to swear, steal, commit adultery, or break the Sabbath. yet there are many people who do not blame themselves at all for not having the Spirit. they even think they are very good christians because they go to prayer meetings and take Communion, though they live year after year without the Spirit of God. God who says, 'Do not be drunk (ephesians 5.18) also says, 'Be filled with the Spirit.

you say that if a man is a habitual adulterer or a thief, he is not christian. why? because he lives in habitual disobedience to God. likewise, if he swears, you have no love for him. you will not allow him to plead that his heart is right and that words are nothing. he cannot tell you that God does not care about words. you would think it outrageous to have such a man in the church or to have a group of these people pretend to call themselves a christian church. yet they are no more living in disobedience to God than you are, you who live without the spirit of prayer and without the presence of God.
your guilt is equal to all the good you might do if you were filled with the Spirit of God in as great a measure as it is your duty to be. you are entirely responsible to the church and to God for all this good that you might do. a man is responsible for all the good he can do.

you will be called eccentric, and you will probably deserve it. probably you really will be eccentric.
i never knew a person who was filled with the Spirit who was not called eccentric. the reason is that these people are unlike other people. they act under different

288  influences, take different views, are moved by different motives and are led by a different Spirit. you are to expect such remarks.
i have often heard this remark regarding such a person: 'He is a good man, but he is rather eccentric. i have sometimes asked for specifics. how is he eccentric? their answer amounts to this: he is spiritual. make up your mind to be 'eccentric. there is such a thing as false eccentricity. Horrible! but there is such a thing as being so deeply imbued with the Spirit of God that you must and will appear strange and eccentric to those who cannot understand the reasons behind your conduct.

paul was accused of being deranged by those who did not understand the power under which he acted. no doubt, Festus thought the man was crazy, that 'much learning' had driven him mad. acts 26.24 but paul said, 'I am not mad,...but speak the words of truth and reason. v. 25 his conduct was so strange, so novel, that fes thought it must be insanity. but the truth simply was that paul saw that paul saw the subject so clearly that he threw his whole soul into it.

you must make up your mind to throw yourself to Jesus. and the more you do this, the more you will live apart from the world, walking closer to God. the piety of the ministry, though real, is so superficial, in many instances, that the spiritual people of the church feel that ministers do not and cannot sympathize with them...

289  very likely the leading men in the church will oppose you. there has always been opposition in the church. it was this way when Christ was on earth. if you are far above their state of feeling, church members will oppose you. 'yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. II tim. 3.12 often the elders and even the minister will oppose you if you are filled with the Spirit of God.
you must expect very frequent and agonizing conflicts with Satan. Satan has very little trouble with christians who are not spiritual, but lukewarm, slothful and worldly minded. these christians do not understand what is said about spiritual conflicts. perhaps they will smile when spiritual battles are mentioned. so the Devil leaves them alone. they do not disturb him, nor he them.

but spiritual christians, whom satan understands very well, are really injuring him; therefore, he sets himself against them. such christians often have terrible conflicts. they have temptations that they never thought of before: blasphemous thoughts, atheism, suggestions to do deeds of wickedness, to destroy their own lives and more. if you are spiritual, you can expect these terrible conflicts.

290  you will have greater conflicts within yourself than you ever dreamed of. you will sometimes find your own weaknesses making strange headway against the Spirit. 'the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. galatians 5.17 such a christian (until wholly sanctified) is often thrown into consternation at the power of his own corruptions. christians are often amazed and confused by the power of their own corruptions.
but you will have peace with God. if the church, sinners and the devil oppose you, there will be One with whom you will have peace. let you who are called to these trials, conflicts and temptations and you who groan, pray, weep and break your hearts, remember this consideration. our peace toward God will flow like a river. you will also have peace of conscience if you are led by the Spirit. you will not be constantly goaded and tortured by a guilty conscience. your conscience will be  as calm, quiet and unruffled as a lake in summer.
if you are filled with the Spirit, you will be useful. you cannot help being useful. even if you were sick and unable to leave your room and could see no one, you would be 10 times more useful than 100 lukewarm christians with no spirituality.
once a fine christian man was dying of tuberculosis. he was poor and had been sick for years. a very kind, but unconverted, merchant in town would send him things for his comfort and for his family. the dying man was grateful for the kindness, but he could not return the favor.

finally, he decided that praying for the merchant's salvation was the greatest gift he could give. he began to pray. his soul kindled with the Spirit and he was in vibrant communication with God.

at the time, there was not a revival in progress, but to everyone's astonishment, this merchant accepted Jesus as his Lord. this
291  spark kindled the roaring fire of revival all over town and many many people were saved.

this poor man lingered in this condition of weakness for several years. after his death, i visited his home and his widow showed me his diary. among other entries was this: 'I am acquainted with about 30 ministers and churches. he went on to say how he set aside certain hours in the day and week to pray for each of these ministers and churches. he also prayed for different missionary stations.

generally his diary read like this: 'today i was enabled to offer what i call the prayer of faith for the outpouring of the Spirit on  ------ church, and i trust God will soon bring a revival. on another date he wrote, 'I have today been able to offer what i call the prayer of faith for ------ church, and trust there will be a revival there. thus he prayed for them in faith that a revival would soon start among them.

292  if you are filled with the Spirit, you will not find yourself distressed, annoyed, or worried when people speak against you. when i find people irritated  and fretting over every little thing that touches them, i am sure they are not filled with the Spirit of Christ. Jesus Christ could have everything said against Him that malice invented, and yet not be disturbed by it. if you desire to be meek under persecution, exemplify the temper of the Savior and honor religion this way, you need to be filled with the Spirit.
you will be calm under affliction. you will not be confused or worried when you see a storm coming. people will be astonished at your calm and cheerful disposition under heavy trials. they will not understand the inner support Spirit-filled believers have.

if you do not have the Spirit, you are very likely to stumble because of those who are filled with the Holy Spirit. you will doubt the propriety of their conduct. if they seem to feel things a food deal more than yourself, you will be likely to call it 'base feeling'. you will perhaps doubt their sincerity when they say they have these feelings. you will say, 'I don't know what to think of so and so. he seems to be very pious, but i do not understand him. i think he has a lot of base feeling. you will be trying to criticize them to justify yourself.
if you want to have the Spirit, you must be childlike and yield to His INFLUENCES.  if He is drawing you to prayer, you must stop everything to yield to His gentle strivings. no doubt, you have sometimes felt a desire to pray for something and you have put it off and resisted until God finally stopped calling you. if you wish Him to remain, you must yield to His SOFTEST LEADINGS,  watch and learn what He wants you to do and yield yourself to His guidance.