Explanation of Crisis Experiences

Introduction: The Problem of Crisis Experiences Subsequent to Conversion

0:05 This adult Sunday school class was held on January 9, 1983, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:16 Adult class, God willing. Now this morning, I hope to conclude this facet of our study in which we are dealing together with the fourth of a series of what I have called major principles of living the Christian life. And this fourth principle that we've been examining for a number of weeks, I have couched in these words that there is no crisis experience commanded or promised in Scripture as essential to living the Christian life. Now I look out and see visitors, and I must say for your sake that we do not simply shoot in the dark or just make blanket assertions in this class without proof from Scripture. But I obviously cannot go back and recapitulate and cover the ground that it's taken us some ten Lord's Day mornings at about an hour a clip to cover. Suffice it to say that we've dealt with this principle in the following manner. We've identified the various strands of teaching which do assert that a crisis experience is both commanded and promised, and that such a crisis experience, subsequent to regeneration and conversion,

1:34 is indeed essential if one is to live the Christian life as he ought. And then we went to the Scriptures for a positive refutation of that teaching. And we saw that the entire pattern of the teaching of the Word of God is entirely contrary to that perspective. And then we gave a rather thorough examination, or underwent a rather thorough examination, of the passages in Acts, the Acts of the Apostles, which are often used, to support this contrary teaching.

2:07 And then we concluded by looking at the normal pattern of the reception of the Spirit as found in the Book of Acts and as articulated in the Epistles. And so our position does not rest upon a few selective texts wrenched out of context, but rather upon the overarching teachings systematized from the entirety of the New Testament. Now, I promised you last week that we would address ourselves to one final strand of this fourth principle, and it is this. What do we say to those who testify to a life-changing crisis experience subsequent to regeneration?

Distinguishing Valid Spiritual Experiences from Nonsense

2:52 What do we do with those who write their books and their pamphlets and who give their testimonies, and who say that for a certain period of time they were merely, quote, converted? They were, quote, only saved. But then they had a crisis experience, either a baptism in the Holy Spirit, they came to a rest of faith, they came to some kind of experience described in various ways, which transformed their lives from defeated, fruitless, joyless lives into victorious, fruitful, happy Christian lives. What do we do with people who claim life-transforming experiences, which, judged by biblical standards, do indeed make them better Christians? Now, I'm not addressing myself at all to life-transforming experiences that have nothing to do with the norms of the Bible. For instance, experiences such as this one that came in an advertisement for Guideposts, Dear friend, Virginia Lively is a suburban housewife, that's a real person, who, like many others, saves grocery coupons and watches her wait.

4:16 There was nothing unusual about her life until she began crying one afternoon as she drove home from PTA. Without understanding why, she continued to cry for four straight days. On the morning of the fourth day, alone in her living room, there was a sudden hum and crackle in the air. She saw a ball of white light through a window, spraying showers of multicolored light in its wake and approaching her with amazing speed.

4:49 Then it was right there, beside her, and as she looked at it, she saw a face. He is perfect, was her first thought. His forehead was high, his eyes were large, but she could not fix their color. Any more than she could the color of the sea.

5:08 His features were lost in the overwhelming impression of life brimming over with power and freedom. Instantly she knew this was Jesus. She saw his utter lack of condemnation, saw that nothing she had ever done or ever would do could alter the absolute caring or the unconditional love in his eyes. Jesus stayed with Virginia.

5:34 For three months, then slowly his presence began to fade. The last time she saw him, he said to her, I will always be with you. But how will I know, she cried, if I can't see you? You will see me, he said.

5:50 Then he was gone. Years went by, but the vision did not return. Then one day, as she spoke to a church group, she saw his loving eyes shining into hers again. The eyes belonged to a woman in the second row.

6:07 And suddenly she saw his eyes looking at her from the eyes of every person in the room. Today, if Virginia lively looked into your eyes, she would see Jesus. I'd like to send you a free issue of Guideposts, the magazine that prints stories like Virginia's, the true stories of today's miracles, stories you can't find anywhere else. And then you can get a free booklet called Expect a Miracle, Make Miracles Happen, end quote.

6:45 Well, when I talk about people who have experienced life-transforming crises in their spiritual lives, I'm not talking about anything that has to do with this kind of nonsense.

The Fundamental Axiom: Scripture Interprets Experience

7:00 Now that stuff can be multiplied, and the explanations are manifold, all the way from the psychic to the demonic to the dishonest to who knows what. But now we want to address ourselves to people who say, and I'm being very careful, because in spite of how careful I am, you wait when I open up for questions, someone's going to come with a question off the wall that has nothing to do with what we're talking about. We're only talking about people who, according to the standard of the Word of God, have reason to believe they are Christians, and after an amazing crisis experience as professing Christians, they came to a new level of biblically defined Christian power, grace, and success in the Christian life. What do we say about such crisis experiences? That's our question, and I hope you're clear now as to precisely what we are addressing in this question. Now as we attempt to answer that question, we must start with this fundamental axiom, this inflexible rule, of interpreting any and all so-called Christian experience.

8:15 And the axiom is this. All experiences must be interpreted by the Scriptures and not vice versa. All experiences must be interpreted by the Scriptures and not vice versa. In other words, we do not read the Scriptures through the eyes of our experiences, but we read our experiences through the eyes of Scripture.

8:45 Isaiah 8 and verse 20 says, To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Or Romans 3 and verse 4, Yea, let God be true, and every man a liar. And it must not merely be using the language of Scripture, but letting Scripture speak in its plain and obvious sense. For according to 2 Peter 3 and verse 16, it is possible to maintain the language of Scripture, but to twist the Scriptures to our own destruction.

9:27 And we saw that with the use which our Pentecostal friends make of Acts 2, of Acts 8, of Acts 10, and Acts 19. They point us to Scripture, to specific Scriptures, and to Scripture. But they place a meaning upon that Scripture which the Scripture itself does not warrant. Now in a very helpful little book called Great Doctrines of the Bible, The Way of Holiness, by Kenneth Pryor, P-R-I-O-R, an InterVarsity publication, in speaking of this axiom, or in writing of this fundamental axiom, in a chapter entitled, Crises on the Way, he says these very perceptions, Now it is usually a good thing to remember that Christian experience is not necessarily the same thing as the experience of some Christians.

10:23 See that turn phrase? Very helpful. It's good to remember that Christian experience is not necessarily the same thing as the experience of some Christians. By this, we do not mean that any sudden turning point in a Christian's life is to be regarded as a turning point.

10:40 It is to be regarded as spurious. Trying to explain away parts of other Christians' testimonies is rarely a profitable pursuit, and unbelievers are often masters of it. What we are saying, however, is that whereas such experiences may be perfectly valid for the person who has them, they are never meant to be regarded as the norm for all Christians. Still less are other Christians to be urged to seek such crises for themselves.

11:11 Some booklets and tracts have fallen into this error. In them, the author fills most of the space writing about himself and his experience. He tells us how his life had been defeated and lacking in blessing, and how he went through some experience which affected a change in his life and led him to greater victory. He then interprets Scripture in the light of his experience and seeks to press it on all Christians.

11:39 Sure. Surely the ground for what we believe about the Christian life is the Bible and not another man's experience. And the only kind of experience we have any right to press on others is what is clearly shown in Scripture. So that's our fundamental axiom.

First Explanation: Initial Conversion Misidentified as a Second Work of Grace

12:00 So I hope I've located for you precisely what we're addressing in this class today. What do we say to those who have had a Christ-like experience? What is this experience? Something has happened to them subsequent to their professed or apparent conversion.

12:19 Here is their passing from a professed state of nature and wrath into a state of grace and blessing. And they say that something happened subsequent to this that brought them to an entirely new level of victory, of joy, of power, and of usefulness. And their lives, their lives bear witness to the fact that something has indeed happened to them. What do we say?

12:44 Well, whatever we say, it must be interpreted by the Scriptures. And we must bring whatever transpired here to the light of the Word of God and interpret it in the light of that rather than interpret the Word in the light of that experience. All right? Now our first response or first strand of the answer is this.

13:06 What some regard as their second work of grace was in reality the first real work of grace they ever knew. What some regard as the second work of grace was in reality the first work of grace they ever really knew. Now set the stage for so much that people testify to in this area. They will often say, my life was characterized by defeat.

13:38 I could not seem to gain victory over sin in my life. Not just one sin here or there, but my general pattern of life was one of bondage. And with that bondage, continually living with a guilty conscience and therefore no joy and therefore no vibrance in my witness and testimony. I was like a person trying to run a race while he was cut off at the knees.

14:04 And in that consciousness and terrible dissatisfaction with my present level of spiritual attainment, particularly in the area of power over sin or joy or victory and usefulness in witnessing, I then heard someone at a convention or I read a book or I heard a testimony about the fact that Jesus Christ is able to give abundance of life. That on the basis of what He did upon the cross and what He does in the sending of His Spirit, it is not necessary to be the bond slave of sin. It is not necessary to live a joyless life. It is not necessary to have a life in which there is no boldness or grip in your testimony.

14:49 And Jesus Christ is able to break the dominion of sin. He is able to give joy. He is able to give power in witness. And then furthermore, the third major strand of what happens in this complex of crisis experience is that someone in a book or a conference then urges them to do two things.

15:11 To turn from those sins to determine by the grace of God to be done with them and to trust in Jesus Christ to do for them what they have not been able to do for themselves. Now, in that consciousness of felt need pertaining to sin and its effects, the message that there was something better in Jesus Christ and the demand to turn from that whole mess and to trust Christ to do something about it, what biblical concepts and biblical terminology do you see in all of that? What would you call that first area of consciousness? Defeat?

15:55 Bondage? A longing for deliverance? What would you call that in biblical language?

16:03 Consciousness of sin? All right, to be a little more biblical in our language. Conviction of sin. Here's a person who's come to a felt consciousness and conviction about the sinfulness of sin.

16:16 All right? What would you call holding up Christ as the great deliverer from sin? What's the Bible call that?

16:25 The free offer of the gospel. Thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins. Christ is set for as a savior from sin, as the giver of life and not of life that is restricted, but as we, we heard several weeks ago, life that is more abundant. And then that call to surrender and trust.

16:49 What biblical terminology do we put on that? Someone?

16:56 George? Repentance and? Faith.

17:02 Are you all awake or am I asleep?

17:05 Do you see it? All right. Though biblical terminology was not used, and though the preacher or the writer may have been holding forth the promise of a crisis subsequent to this, the terminology and the concepts were in reality a setting forth of the heart of the fundamental message of the gospel. So in this context of a defective presentation of the gospel in terms of what the initial thing ought to be, God nonetheless deals with people as and where they are and in terms of the message that they are exposed to.

17:46 And if God didn't deal with us as and where we are, then we wouldn't be able to do it. And if God didn't deal with us as and where we are, if he only dealt with us in terms of where we ought to be and what we ought to hear, most of us would be in a terrible mess today. Most of you got saved in rank Arminian circles. Don't ever forget that.

18:02 God took you where you were and brought you to himself in the context of the message to which you were exposed and his work was better than the message which you heard by which he effected that work. And so what happens with many of these people is for the first time, they are really and truly converted. And so they say, sin's power has been broken in my life. I'm not sinless, but I have a power over sin I never had before.

18:32 Well, Romans 6.14 says that's true of everyone who's in the orbit of grace. Sin shall not exercise lordship over you, for you're not under the law, but under grace. Being then made free from sin and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto holiness in the end everlasting life.

18:51 The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace. When you listen to them telling what they've got when they had what they call their second work, lo and behold, when you interpret it in the light of the Bible, you find for the first time they have the fruits of what God says attends any true work of coming from a state of nature into a state of grace. So that often what they describe as their spirit, their second work, and their crisis experience, their baptism in the Spirit, their entrance into the fuller life, the deeper life, the higher life, the rest of faith, and we could go on multiplying terminology, is in reality a testimony to conversion, but their heads are all mixed up as to what has really happened. But God has indeed done something very real in them. And people like this, generally speaking, you see, would be, very, very uncomfortable if they were to try to interpret what they were and had in this period in the light of 1 John.

19:59 It just doesn't square. There was not any real victory over sin. There was not any real walking in the light. There was not any real love of the brethren.

20:08 There was not any real practicing of righteousness. And they are hard-pressed to square this part of their lives with the Bible's teaching on the necessary fruits of regeneration. Now, in his excellent work, and if you don't possess a copy of this, I would urge you to purchase it, Bishop Ryle's book, series of essays entitled Holiness, Bishop Ryle, in his introduction, says this, that there is a vast difference between one degree of grace and another, that spiritual life admits of growth and that believers should be continually urged on every account to grow in grace. All this I fully conceive.

20:52 But the theory of a sudden, mysterious transition of a believer into a state of blessedness and entire consecration at one mighty bound, I cannot receive. It appears to me to be a man-made invention. I do not see a single plain text to prove it in Scripture. Gradual growth in grace, growth in knowledge, growth in faith, growth in love, growth in holiness, growth in humility, growth in spiritual mightiness, all this I see clearly taught and urged in Scripture and clearly exemplified in the lives of many of God's saints.

21:30 But sudden, instantaneous leaps from conversion to consecration I fail to see in the Bible. I doubt indeed whether we have any warrant for saying that a man can possibly be converted without being consecrated to God. More consecrated he doubtless can be and will be in the future. Will be as his grace increases.

21:53 But if he was not consecrated to God in the very day he was converted and born again, I do not know what conversion means. If he did not turn to God from his idols to serve the living and the true God, he's not converted. That's the language of conversion. 1 Thessalonians 1 and verse 9.

22:13 Are not men in danger of undervaluing and underrating the immense blessedness of conversion? Are they not when they urge unbelievers the higher life as a second conversion, underrating the length and breadth and depth and height of that great first change which Scripture calls the new birth, the new creation, the spiritual resurrection? I may be mistaken, but I have sometimes thought while reading the strong language used by many about consecration in the last few years, that those who use it must have had preeminence and previously a singularly low and inadequate view of conversion if indeed they knew anything about conversion at all. In short, I have almost suspected now that's a tactful Anglican speaking I have almost suspected that they were when they were consecrated they were in reality converted for the first time. A blunt Reformed Baptist says I am convinced. That many who claim to have been consecrated in a second work and who do now have Bible fruits of regeneration they have Bible fruits of regeneration are in reality for the first time converted.

23:41 And they are wrongly describing this work which in reality has been this initial. Alright? Any question then on the first strand of our answer to the question what do we do when someone says you can't take my experience from me? And you've heard the saying one experience is worth a thousand words and I know what I experienced and I know what I was like until I went to that convention.

24:09 I know what I was like until I read that book by Watchman Nee. I know what I was like until I went to this conference and you cannot take from me my experience. Ask my wife. Ask my kids.

24:22 Go to my place of business. You can't take my experience from me. What do you say? I don't want to take experience from you.

24:32 I've done all that for you. Marvelous. I don't want to take it from you. I'm your friend.

24:35 I'm not a thief taking valuable things from people but I'd like you to begin to interpret your experience in the light of the Word of God. And could it be my dear friend that what you're calling your crisis of consecration your baptism in the Spirit your anything was in reality your conversion. All right? Yes.

24:57 Well, oh yes. Mm-hmm.

25:07 Mm-hmm.

25:09 Yes, but then they have a problem with some of the other strands of the answer. In other words, this strand of the answer does not take in everyone. It takes in many. It doesn't take in everyone.

25:21 All right? Any further question then on this first strand of the answer? What do we say to people who have had a crisis experience which has transformed them into biblical patterns of life? All right?

25:33 Yes. Luis?

25:43 Well, I do believe there are some who when they have sought that experience and have had an experience and even did something that they called speaking in tongues were in reality converted on that occasion. And what they did with their gibberish was incidental to the real work of grace in their hearts. But what God was doing was bringing them to a place of thirst for the reality of His grace looking to Christ for the support and the supply of that grace and God brought them to repentance and faith. And we can only know that by the subsequent fruits.

26:17 That's the only way they can know. That's why I keep emphasizing if the crisis has brought the fruit of what the Bible says are the fruits of union with Christ and of conversion then we have reason to regard that that is indeed the work that God did. Though it does not mean that God was the author of all the incidentals any more than if someone else when he got converted got so happy he ran out in the streets in his underwear and his socks. Well, we don't go saying the only way you're going to get converted is to run out in the street in your underwear and your socks, you see.

Second Explanation: Restoration from Backsliding Misidentified as a Second Work of Grace

26:48 Those are what we might call abnormal aberrations and incidentals to the reality of God's work in the heart. All right? All right, let's press on then to the second strand of our answer and it is this. What some regard as a baptism in the Spirit is in reality a new beginning or a restoration of the vigor of gospel faith and obedience.

27:22 What some regard as a baptism in the Spirit a second work of grace is in reality a new beginning or restoration of the vigor of gospel faith and obedience. Now let me explain that mouthful. Here's someone who, according to the scriptures, we have reason to believe was truly converted and when they passed from death into life there were positive biblical evidences of the transforming work of God's grace in them. But somewhere along the line they began to grieve and quench the Holy Spirit. Maybe they faced a crisis of decision. Perhaps when they were converted there was a relationship that was already sustained back here in the unregenerate days and when they were brought to the Lord in principle they said every relationship every ambition I'm willing for Christ to be Lord and Sovereign over all of my life and they broke off that relationship and they began to grow in grace began to read the word of God began to think biblically but then they began to get hankering for that person. Or for associations with the old life and they began to compromise

28:49 and dabble in some area of compromise of conscience. With that they began to neglect the means of grace the word of God and secret prayer because every time they went to pray that issue came before them and they felt uncomfortable and by that subtle and yet very real grieving and quenching of the Spirit they no longer were growing in grace at the same rate that they did after they were genuine. Genuinely converted and first of all there is a leveling off and then there is actually a declension and that declension the Bible doesn't define its limits up to the point of the sin unto death. The Bible records true believers who can commit adultery who can murder who can lie who can commit incest just read the New Testament read your Old Testament read the account of how low believers can go when left with sin. Now what happens to this person is that when he is here at this point he goes to a convention he reads a book he hears a testimony or because of past teaching he says what I desperately need in this mess I am in is a baptism in the Holy Spirit I need a crisis experience of surrender I need one of these many brands of crisis teaching that we have examined in the past and in that context he says he reads his book and says I have seven things

30:17 you must do you must put away every compromising relationship so what does he do? He heals you that compromising relationship you must begin to pray and seek the face of God regularly and earnestly he begins to read and pray again you must be with the people he begins to use the means of grace again now these things are set forth as seven steps to get the baptism but the things themselves are biblical directives to put you away sin to start cutting off right hands plucking out right eyes reading the word of God associating with the people of God so when he begins all at once to do those things he comes almost overnight and sometimes overnight right back up to a new level of spiritual vigor and power and what he does is he interprets this experience as a distinct separate work of grace and builds a theology around the experience or interprets his experience within the framework of the theology he has heard when in reality he hasn't had a second work of grace he hasn't received an initial baptism in the spirit there has been what I have called a new beginning or a restoration of the fundamental initial actings of repentance and faith there has been a restoration of the spirit

31:46 there has been a renewal he has been restored to that place of spiritual vigor unlike the person who never had anything real in the beginning who could never testify to any of the fruits of first John in his life or any of the ninefold fruit of the spirit he was quote just a carnal Christian from the time he was quote converted or saved this person in the light of scripture we have reason to believe was indeed regenerate the spirit he entered what in Old Testament language would be a backslidden state and God has graciously restored him you remember with Peter it was just a look from our Lord and there was restoration followed by the words of our Lord there on the seaside and so we see with David it was the visitation of the prophet Nathan and in a sense David was restored almost immediately he was sinned against the Lord and the prophet says the Lord is put away by sin so what has happened has been that restoration that reinvigoration of the fundamental graces of repentance and faith implanted in the initial conversion alright does that make sense any questions alright let's take the third strand then

Third Explanation: Sovereign, Uncategorized Visitations of God's Grace

33:16 what some describe as a second work of grace or a baptism in the spirit is simply a sovereign uncategorized visitation of God's grace to their hearts what some describe as a second work of grace or a baptism in the Holy Spirit is simply a sovereign uncategorized visitation of God in grace now you remember in John's gospel chapter three that with respect to regeneration our Lord emphasizes in his dealings with Nicodemus the absolute sovereignty of the spirit as well as the inscrutability or the mystery of the spirit's work in regeneration John three and verse eight the wind blows where it wills you hear the voice thereof but you do not know where it goes so is everyone that is born of the spirit the wind blows where it wills there's the element of sovereignty on a hot

34:45 humid July afternoon in New Jersey with sweat pouring off you and it takes an effort simply but the wind is not at your back and call it blows where it wills so is everyone that is born of the spirit the activity of the spirit in regeneration has an element of sovereignty about it that is so painted so evident when we simply trace out our existence and it becomes our everyday life it becomes our life and it becomes our life and we are not going to be ever able to be to be fit. Now it's something of that nature that the hymn writer knew when he wrote the hymn we sing from time to time. Sometimes a light surprises the Christian while he sings. It

36:11 is the Lord who rises with healing in his wings. And then he goes on in that hymn to say our spirits are languid and dull and it seems at times out of nowhere God comes and visits the heart of one of his children. Now the danger is that we try to fit that sovereign uncategorized visitation of God in grace into some theology of a second work of grace. Now you have examples of this in Holy Scripture. You have that incident of the early disciples in Acts chapter 4. In the midst of persecution you remember that Peter and John return to their company and report. What has happened? And they give themselves to prayer. They're crying to God. No indication

36:59 that they were asking God for any unusual manifestation of his presence. They were simply praying for boldness to go on witnessing in the face of persecution. That was their primary focus of concern. Look at the language in Acts chapter 4. Acts chapter 4 verse 29. And now Lord look upon their threatenings. We've been threatened by these very authorities who crucified your son. Look upon their threatenings. Grant unto your servants to speak your word with all boldness. While you stretch forth your hand to heal. Remember this was the seat of the apostolate to whom God had given those special gifts to perform miracles. While you stretch forth your hands to heal and the signs and wonders may be done through the name of God. So they're praying for boldness to preach and power to perform the miraculous in the very face of the opposers. And what does God do? And when they had prayed the place was

38:12 shaken where they were gathered together. God came and shook the building in which they were meeting. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke the word of God with boldness. Now there's not a shred of evidence that in any of the books of the Bible there is no any other situation in the book of Acts that God shook the building where people were praying.

38:34 Now he shook the jail in the middle of the night. God shook that prison. Do you remember that? That jail house was shaken and you remember the manacles fell off the hands of the prisoners.

38:47 But there's no indication that they formed the theology of house shaking prayer meetings. I mean if you've really prayed as you ought for boldness. you're going to get a house shaking. And if you don't get a house shaking, you haven't really prayed right.

39:04 How stupid that would have been. This was an uncategorized visitation of God in grace and in power. And what God did here, He has done again and again for His people corporately and for His servants individually. I have no doubt there are some of you sitting here today that have had special embraces of God which you've never told another soul about.

39:29 And in a sense, the principle of Paul's language in 2 Corinthians 12 would be true of you. You've had dealings with God that it's not lawful to utter. Now that was a special visitation of God in grace to the Apostle in 2 Corinthians. He said, I know a man, 14 years ago, whether in the body of the outer or the body of the body, I know not, caught up into the third heaven who heard things unlawful to utter.

39:57 Now he didn't build a theology, you see, of being caught. He didn't go into the third heaven and tell all his fellow Apostles, you don't have what I've got, you're not quite fully an Apostle with capital A, capital P, capital O. You may have capital A, but that's as far as you go. He didn't do that.

40:12 And so often when people are seeking to build a theology in which we need to have a crisis, God did come and visit them. And something did happen that bore a marvelous amount of fruit in their lives. And we would not deny that God does that. And we see in Scripture special visitations of God to His people.

40:34 And all we can do is call them the uncategorized visitations of God in grace. Yes, Doug?

41:05 I doubt that's what he's referring to. I think a responsible exegesis would point in a different direction, Doug. But certainly we could use the terminology, use the biblical terminology while not basing it on this text. Uncategorized seasonings, reasons of refreshing from the Lord.

41:23 We've experienced them in this place, time after time. When those who minister to you, as far as they know, they've not been more godly the week before, more prayerful, more diligent in their preparation. You as a congregation have not been exceptionally prayerful or diligent. And what happens?

41:42 God draws near in an unusual way. And anyone with an ounce of discernment knows God was present on that occasion to a greater degree. Then on another occasion. How do you know that?

41:56 Do you have a balance by which you can weigh the measure of God's presence? And yet you know that God was present. Sometimes, and this is the amazing thing, in a given service, someone sits there who's come prayerful, expectant, no conscious controversy with God, a heart like a dry, thirsty sponge. And they just get a few drops.

42:24 Someone else comes in rather careless, ill-prepared, a conscience bloodied with unconfessed sin. And God draws near and meets them and melts them and breaks them down and sends them out walking on air.

42:38 How do you explain that? I don't have an explanation except the sovereign visitations of God for which there are no categories that I know in Holy Scripture. God is gracious, God is sovereign, and God is sovereign in the exercise of that graciousness. All right, let me touch on the last one and we will have completed this and that was my goal for this morning.

Fourth Explanation: Special Endowment for Service Misidentified as Normative Experience

43:03 What some define as a normative experience in the Spirit is a special endowment for service sovereignly granted. What some define as a normative experience in the Spirit is a special endowment of the Spirit for service sovereignly granted. In 1 Corinthians 12, verses 7 and 8, a passage we looked to in another connection or looked at in another connection several weeks ago, speaking of spiritual gifts, the Apostle writes in verse 7, but to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit to profit with all. For to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom and to another, the word of knowledge, to another, the same, I'm sorry, word of knowledge according to the same Spirit. Now we're not going into the question of whether or not these are temporary gifts, all of them are permanent. This is all we're seeking to extract from the passage is that when the Spirit of God sovereignly endowed one of the Corinthians with one of these peculiar gifts, it was an exercise of divine sovereignty.

44:27 And perhaps in condemnation, in conjunction with the endowment of that gift, was a peculiar presence of the Spirit of God in the actual conferral of that gift. And often what happens, and this is where you must be especially careful of reading the biography of men who've been greatly used in public ministry. Often when they describe their spiritual experiences, there was indeed a crisis in which God came upon them, in an unusual endowment of the Spirit and a power for ministry.

45:07 And that endowment with power for ministry in the case of many was more definite, they could point to the day of it, more definite than the day of their conversion.

45:19 But to make that normative for all Christian experience is mixing apples and pears and comparing beans and pomegranates. Yes. And often this is what has happened. Some men, I do not doubt that R.A. Torrey was greatly used of God as an evangelist and a Bible teacher. One reads of what happened under his ministry in several countries and judging what happened under his ministry by the standard of the word of God, we have to say God did a mighty work in many places under the ministry of R.A. Torrey.

45:59 But R.A. Torrey was one of the strongest proponents of God. R.A. Torrey was one of the strongest proponents of a second work of grace, a baptism in the Spirit subsequent to regeneration. And part of his problem was, my own understanding is, that he took his own experience in which God did indeed come and give him an unusual endowment of the Spirit for service and out of that he concocted a doctrine of the Holy Spirit that was to be normative for all Christian experience. And that we must beware of, especially in reading, Christian biography. Now I'm sure I haven't covered all the categories, but as I have tried to reflect upon this question and have for many years, how do we explain those who've had life-transforming experiences

46:45 in the light of what we've seen to be the clear teaching of the Bible that no Christ's experience is either commanded or promised as essential to living the Christian life, how do we explain what has happened when biblical fruits have followed? I offer these four strands of an answer to that question and I trust you will find them helpful. Pastor Nichols, do you have anything you want to add to what we've covered this morning? Pastor Waldron?

47:27 Exactly.

47:38 Yes. And you see it in the Old and the New Testament. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson. The same Samson who's going down and laying with a harlot.

47:49 Yet the Spirit of the Lord comes upon him, giving him tremendous power to do mighty feats. And yet that, that endowment obviously did not intensify the inward work of sanctification. And that was obviously true of the Corinthians. They had this mighty endowment for these gifts.

48:05 But man, the level of their Christian experience, many of them, was so low. So I'm glad you underscored that. That there is no necessary relationship between those two. In fact, it's evident that in some cases God gives an endowment for power where He doesn't even give regenerating grace.

48:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not done many mighty works in Thy name, Judas included? No indication that Judas lacked anything in the way of endowment of power to raise the dead, heal the sick, open the eyes of the blind like all the others whom the Lord sent out. That's frightening, isn't it? The vital point, if someone said, my, this happened and I began to see people converted and all the rest, you don't look to the fruits of service as the primary evidence that you're in a state of grace.

48:55 You look to that which only grace, can produce. A hatred for sin, a love for Christ, a love for holiness, growing conformity to the Lord Jesus. All right. Any other questions?

Crisis of Discovery and the Role of Ignorance

49:03 Yes. Paul? Amen. It's what Mr. Pryor calls a crisis of discovery. Sometimes great blessings attend the rediscovery of a neglected truth. And so there is a crisis that comes with that understanding of that truth and the faith responds to it that brings the person to a qualitatively new level. And so, you know, it's a crisis of discovery.

49:46 It's a crisis of discovery. It's a crisis of discovery. It's a crisis of discovery. It's a crisis of discovery.

49:50 It's a crisis of discovery. It's a crisis of discovery. It's a crisis of discovery. It's a crisis of discovery.

49:54 It's a crisis of discovery. It's a crisis of discovery. It's a crisis of discovery. It's a crisis of discovery.

49:58 It's a crisis of discovery. It's a crisis of discovery. And that's a new level. But that doesn't mean that's what God intended.

50:04 What it is, is the confession that ignorance was the, lay at the root of this low level of experience. Good point. All right. Anyone else?

The Straightest Line: Obedience, Not Crisis

50:22 A comment or question? Yes. Dean? No.

50:29 The straightest line between a life that may be characterized by any controversy with God The straightest line is our duty. Not anything that may come to us along that line.

50:41 No crisis is ever to be sought. The will of God is to be sought. Obedience is to be sought. And that directly, immediately, and wholeheartedly.

50:51 And anything that comes along the way is incidental.

50:55 But that is to be sought. And that's why what happens so often, people have been dilly-dallying, fooling with this, fooling with that. They read a book on how to get to baptism and it gives them six steps. And they get dead in earnest for the first time.

51:09 And they start making restitution, getting things right with God, and getting sick enough of some sins just to quit. I find more and more in my study, I'm telling people that. They're coming in, you know, they've got a problem they've had for years. I say, look, the problem with you is you're just not sick enough to stop.

51:23 Well, what about that? I say, don't worry whether the Lord's doing it or you're...

51:26 Just quit. Just quit. Just stop it. Yeah, well, how will I know I'm not doing it?

51:32 Don't worry about it. Just quit. Did God tell you to stop? Yeah, well, then stop it.

51:38 And take all your theological problems, just stop. And when you're done, you'll get on your knees and say, thank you, Lord. Don't worry about who you'll thank. But just quit.

51:49 And what happens is when people get determined to quit, it's amazing. Springs of grace that have been clogged up suddenly begin to be opened up and they have what some would call a crisis. The same way I've had people come to me because they've recognized on occasion that the anointing of God was upon...

52:09 My preaching ministry, they said, well, since you had the anointing, you must have had the baptism. But since you've not spoken in tongues, you've got an irregular baptism.

52:20 So if we can just get you over your hang-ups, we know you've got... The tongues are in there, you just haven't let them out.

52:28 That's right. That's right. I've had them tell me that. I've had them sit down and coach me, lay hands on me, coach me over the phone.

52:37 Now, desperately longing. They say, we can't deny that you have the fruit of the anointment, but you don't have the attendance sign. So it must be in there. You just ain't got it out.

52:49 So if you just let your jaw go and relax and get over your hang-ups and all your inhibitions, as I said a few weeks ago, imagine telling me I've got inhibitions and that I need to relax. If I get any more relaxed, you probably get a new teaching elder. But anyway, our time is gone and I'll get in touch with my other elders. Excuse me.

Conclusion and Prayer

53:09 Use the phrase, Abe.

53:13 But I do hope you found this helpful and seriously that you will use what you've learned as we've wrestled with this thing, not only for guidance in your own life, but to seek to be of help to others. There's such confusion in these areas in the church today and you have a stewardship of what you've learned in our study together. Let's pray.

53:39 Father, we do thank you that we have your word, that infallible and changeless, lamp unto our feet and light to our pathway, seal its truth to our hearts. And oh God, have mercy upon those who are held in the grip of the mass confusion. We think of the editors of this guidepost magazine putting forth this kind of claptrap in the name of vital Christianity. God, have mercy upon such people and we pray that you would restore sanity and biblicality and biblical thought to the professing church and use us and this assembly and its corporate witness to that end.

54:23 Hear us and receive our thanks for your presence with us. In Jesus' name, amen.