10 - A Message of Evan Roberts'

Chapter 10 A MESSAGE OF EVAN ROBERTS’

Now the Lord had said unto Abraham, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee; and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing" - Gen 12:1-2.

We all ought to obey God as Abraham obeyed Him. What was Abraham? What was his knowledge of God? What amount of revelation had he received from God as compared with us? He was an idolator, and God called him to leave his country, his nation, his father’s home. What shall follow this? "I will make thee a great na­tion". "I will magnify thy name" - he shall be a magnet, a man full of God, who shall draw everybody unto him. And Christ said, "I, if I be lifted up, shall draw all men unto Me". All must be filled with the Spirit of God if they are to draw men to them. It may be unconsciously, but the Spirit-filled man draws them. If a man is a friend of God, everything in him draws - silence draws, everything he does draws. He cannot but draw. The magnet cannot help it; and only the magnet draws. We must be in readiness to give obedience to God. If Abraham obeyed without much knowledge of God, should not we obey, to whom so much has been revealed?

We should give obedience instantly. God calls every one of us, but people are so stupid. But thank God! there are many now through all the world who obey, not only the voice, but the authority behind it, and thereby see more clearly. God not only calls, but He gives the bless­ings. He does not call without giving a promise. "I will make thee a great nation". "And they shall be a great nation". It is wonderful. Abraham has the blessing. He brings blessing upon men. "Those that bless thee shall be blessed". The nation goes into captivity. Is it then at an end with them? No! Heaven makes no mistake. The promise will be kept. Where is the enemy? He thinks he is getting a big vic­tory, but God puts his hand lightly upon the enemy. If anyone shall put his hand upon the child of God to oppose him, God will put His hand upon him. If you put your hand upon a child of God, God’s hand will press you down. The oppressor’s hand is upon you. Why is that so? How much has it cost God to make us His children? It cost Him putting His hand upon His own Son. Woe to him who touches the children of God! It is touching the apple of His eye.

OBEDIENCE TO THE CALL

Everyone must obey, and go where God directs him. That is the great lesson we have to learn. If God calls, we must obey. Do not ask, "What will become of me?" ­it does not matter what. God is a God of light. He has plenty of light to shed upon your path. "I am the light of the world". "I am weak", says a man - it does not matter. God is strong. He is a God of all power, and if God is for us, who can be against us? The path will be made light for us, so that we shall not lose our way. No­body ever lost his way who followed Him. You must keep near to your Leader. If anyone loses his way, it is either by going too far behind or going before God. If he says, "Come after Me’" we are to follow. "But the ene­mies are powerful". It does not matter. If ten thousand are against you, do not be afraid - God is with you. If you are filled with God, you are not afraid of anybody except God.

God has been calling for years. We have been saying, "No". If we are children of God, let us obey. What should you think of a father who had a son and asked him to do something, and he said "No!" all day; what should you think of that son? He is not worthy to be called a son because of his disobedience. But that is old history, and it is true today.

We pray "Send us power down!" There is no need. The Holy Spirit is with us. I realize that He is here. We need not pray that He should come. If you read the second chapter of Acts, you will find that He has been sent. We have an account that He came. Have you an account that He went back? Our prayer should be "Open our hearts to receive Him!" He presses hard on the door of your heart but He cannot get in. It is open to everybody else, but not to Christ. Must He call again and again and find us disobedient? The Spirit is calling continually, but I thank God that He is here today. I am glad to find you in the Spirit today. Obey Him! Rest upon God. That will be the place for you. What joy to be in heaven resting upon Him forever! Just roll your burden upon Him. The Spirit calls continually, calls everybody. That is the danger - not heeding the voice. NOT "SOMETHING", BUT "HIM" Do you know what people called the Holy Spirit in the past? They called Him "something" - they knew not what. Now we call Him the Holy Ghost. The great lesson is obedience, obedience, obedience. How can we know the voice of the Spirit? It is very easy. How is it easy? There are two powers influencing a man - one draws him toward everything that is good, the other draws him towards everything that is evil. You know who draws you towards evil - the devil. And you know who draws toward that which is good - it is the Holy Spirit. Every good gift comes from Heaven. There is no good in us. Then, henceforth call Him - not "something" but call Him the Spirit of God. If we speak of "some­thing" we shall remain without the Spirit. It will be no good getting thousands to the churches unless we learn the lesson of obedience to the Spirit. If we speak of the Spirit we must obey the Spirit, and from doing that, great results are sure to accrue. If I had not given up everything to the Spirit, I should not be here today, and I am obliged to say things that make some people regard me almost as insane. But though the whole world sneer at me, I know that I must obey the Spirit.

"QUENCH NOT THE SPIRIT"

Now do not say, "What will people say?" I shall not be here long, but we shall be face to face with God, and we must answer Him. In every prompting of the Spirit, quench it not. God calls and we disobey. Something prompts me to pray. Something prompts me to give an experience. It is not "something", it is from God. We honour the Father, we honour the Son; when do we hon­our the Spirit? Who prompts me to call on the Father? It is the Spirit. And who prompts me to call on the Son? It is the Spirit. But who prompts us to pray to the Spirit? Look at our hymnbooks. They praise the Father, and praise the Son, but very few praise the Spirit. Men write hymns that do not praise the Spirit, but I will praise the Spirit of God as long as I live. I shall praise the whole Trinity, and in praising, I shall obey in everything, and the Spirit shall lead me in everything.

I do nothing without having a prayer. It is not enough to hear the voice calling. You must ask, "What time?" and "Where" you are to go. If you are prompted to pray, it is not enough. You must ask to be led to pray again. The great thing is to get led. A lady was prompted to give herself to the Lord, but it was three hours before she was able to make the surrender. She was led, however. Your deep need is direction and guidance in offering yourself. If He says to you "Be silent", be silent. There is no necessity to talk. To be silent may be a way of answering to the call of God. If God calls on you to give out a hymn, or to pray, or to give a testimony, do it. It does not matter if you go into prison or into captivity, if the call comes to you. - We were talking about sacrifices. There is nothing worth calling a sacrifice. What have we done for Christ? Someone has never said a word for Christ, and he has been in the Church for years. Say a word for Christ. It is not enough to be there. You must be working there by your word and testimony. If you see a man who cannot say a word for Christ, he does not know what it is. If you find a man who does not say a word for Christ, he has never known him. The moment you meet Christ you will be on fire; you cannot help speaking. Try to stop the spring and it will burst out at once. If he were silent the stones would talk. You are on fire. The fire is here. You must be baptised with the Spirit of God and fire. It burns everything. If you try to stop the fire, you may get burnt yourself.

RESTING UPON GOD When Abraham obeyed he was blessed. When Israel went into captivity, God was true to them. When Pharaoh approached, the Israelites were afraid. They saw the enemy, but they did not see God. The Israelites called for God. They asked, "Are there no sepulchres in Egypt that we are brought out?" The nation could see nothing but death. They could not see CANAAN and life. God sees life everywhere. If we believe God, WE shall see life. We shall lead others to obtain life. The Israelites said "It would be better for us to serve the Egyptians than to go into the wilderness." Friends, do not obey the enemy any more; obey God. Moses said, "Be not afraid, but stand." "Trust Me", said God. But it is a task to trust when we do not see the future. We want to ask questions even when God invites us to stop and see the heaven of God. Mark this, God shall watch over you. Shall we be­lieve now that God is going to fight for us? That is our danger - to believe that we fight for ourselves, as if God were not with us. We think that God helps us, instead of us helping God. What would you think of a little boy who thinks that it is he who helps his father? God is the great Power, and we are brought in as fellow­-workers. Let us rest upon God. The Lord shall fight for us. If we believe, there is nothing that God denies us. Go back to the promises. Go to the last chapter of Matthew again and the 18th verse. The Lord Jesus Christ, before He ascended to heaven, spoke to His followers and said, "All authority in heaven and earth is given to me" Shall we believe that? "All Authority"? If you believe that, the victory shall be with you. Many will try to stand against us. It is better for them to stand aside. The Lord’s chariot is going with mighty impetus. John saw the white horse going out. Victory! Woe to anyone who stands before the Lord’s chariot! Many will try, but I tell you, "Get aside", for the Lord is in it.