(II Cor. 4:7, The Amplified New Testament)
Paul the apostle had been accused of secretive, underhanded measures in the conduct of his ministry. In defending his integrity, he declares that nothing has been hidden, that he is free from crafty misleadings, and testifies to a clear conscience before God and man. Then the apostle goes on to say that because of God’s mercy, he is not driven to despair; he is not disheartened. The integrity and dignity of his ministry are dependent upon the power of God and not his own abilities. In fact, he goes on to acknowledge his weaknesses. Although he used the editorial "we," Paul might just as well have written, "I have this treasure in an earthen vessel ..." The metaphor was in reference to the Romans who carried their treasures in either glass jars or small clay receptacles which were fragile and easily shattered. The apostle recognized his weakness, and because of it sought to escape pride. William Barclay saw the main characteristic of man to be "not his power but his weakness." Pascal noted that "a drop of water or a breath of air can kill him."
Some of the apostle Paul’s critics have accused him of spiritual pride in the forms of arrogance, conceit and perfectionism. But a close study of his writings will reveal several disclaimers to any kind of sinless perfection (Rom. 7:14-21; II Cor. 12:7; Phil. 3:12-14; I Tim. 1:15). After fifteen years of seeking to cast the vision of revival, I am convinced that the greatest barrier to revival is spiritual pride. So much of the American Church is locked into the delusion of the Church of Laodicea, saying, "We are saved and sanctified and blessed of God. We are above sin and reproach, and have no need of repentance." Oh, but the Lord saw the Laodicean Church from a different perspective. He said to it, "You do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked ... You are neither cold nor hot ... I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. ... Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me" (Rev. 3:15-20).
Unless we respond to the Spirit’s rebuke of our spiritual pride, we shall not see revival. Our lack of a sense of need is proof that we have not felt God’s convicting power. We will realize our need only as the light of divine revelation breaks in upon our undoneness, our sinfulness, our brokenness. No wonder Jesus warned His disciples, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees" (Mark 8:15). The context shows that Jesus was warning His followers against leaning to their own understanding and the resulting lack of spiritual perception, dullness in spiritual hearing, hardness of heart and unbelief.
About eight years ago I was conducting a city-wide School of Prayer in a large mid-western city here in the U.S. During the session leading up to the lunch break, I emphasized the need for times of refilling of the Holy Spirit. I set forth the need for an initial cleansing and filling of the Holy Spirit, and then I sought to make the case for subsequent re-fillings of the Holy Spirit, such as we see in the case of the apostles (Acts 2:4 and 4:31). Immediately after the break for lunch, a pastor rushed up to me and asked, "Jim, do I understand you to be saying that you need to be filled with the Spirit more than once?" I answered that he had understood me correctly. "Why?" he wanted to know. I answered as honestly and as wisely as I knew how, "I guess it is because I leak a lot!" He looked off in disappointment and then when he looked back at me, he had a big grin on his face with his hand stretched toward me, saying, "You know, I do too; I just guess I never had the courage to admit that I leak a great deal myself!" We shook hands and agreed to pray for one another that we would try to keep on being filled with the Spirit. Actually, I’m convinced that Jesus Christ is the only human being who never needed a new filling of the Spirit after His initial filling following His baptism in the Jordan (Luke 3:21-22). Because Jesus never fell short of the glory of God. He never grieved or quenched the Holy Spirit. He never spoke a selfish word or did a selfish deed. None of the rest of us can make such a claim. Not the apostles, not anyone of us. We are all leaking vessels. And while we can plug the holes through humility, prayer, repentance, confession and obedience, we still need times of seeking the Lord for fresh fillings of the Spirit. A fresh filling of the Spirit will mean fresh oil, fresh fire, fresh faith, fresh vision.
Back in 1966, while pastoring in Indianapolis, Dr. Bob Pierce, founder of World Vision and Samaritan’s Purse, came to our church to conduct a wedding for the daughter of a missionary family he had worked with when they ministered in Indonesia. When he arrived, I was on hand to receive him and ushered him into my office where we got acquainted. A few minutes after our initial exchanges, he said, "Pastor, can we go somewhere and pray? I've been cooped up in airplanes for two days, flying in from the Far East and I need to pour my heart out to God." I said, "Doctor Bob, we can pray right here in my office." He replied, "No, brother, I’ve got to get somewhere away from the stream of traffic where I can cry out." "Sure," I said, "let’s go up here on the north side of the building into the children’s department where no one will disturb us and we’ll disturb no one." We went to that area of our education plant and closed the door. I found some small throw-rugs for us to use as kneepads against the tile floor. I don’t think Bob ever used them; he just dropped down on his knees and started weeping before the Lord. And did I ever get a lesson in powerful praying! Bob Pierce, the famous global evangelist, world missionary, humanitarian, philanthropist, statesmen and author wept out his heart in confession. I was not accustomed to hearing prominent Christian leaders confess their weaknesses, their laziness, their pride and smugness, their bondage to food and other creature comforts, their convenient forgetfulness, their pushy ways and selfish desires. He told the Lord that he was amazed that He had ever called him, and that He could even use him at all, given the times he had disappointed Him. He said, "Lord, I am reminding you this afternoon of the irrevocable contract that I have with you - that you have the freedom to do with me whatever you want for the rest of my life. I might not like it, and I may scream my head off and beg and deny it, and say I want out; but I give you authority again this afternoon to do whatever you want with my life." Then Bob Pierce spent a half hour praying for China, India, Japan, Korea and Israel. He seemed to have special authority to pray specific things for each nation. He sobbed out his heart as he prayed. As I listened, I realized this was the man who had written the best seller called Break My Heart With The Things That Break Your Heart, Oh God! I had never heard a man weep like this. I remembered that back during the 30s and 40s my own mother had wept and prayed for our wicked community until God answered prayer and sent revival to a small prairie community in Arkansas County that swept our whole family into the kingdom of God. As I listened to Bob Pierce weep before the Lord, and remembered the sobs of my mother crying out to God for the salvation of her husband and children and others, I knew there was more to passionate praying than I knew about.
Though it would be twenty years from that experience that I would truly come into the reality of Spirit-anointed prayer, I never recovered from the experience of hearing Bob Pierce prevail in brokenness before the Lord. As I got to know more about him, I realized that Bob Pierce functioned from a broken heart. We arrived ten minutes late for the wedding rehearsal, but it was Bob’s show, not mine; I was assisting him. He went out poised and unapologetic. The vessel was full, even if it was still leaking.
Oh, dear friends, let's break through the spiritual stalemate that grips most of us and our churches by humbling ourselves and confessing that we are leaking vessels. And let's tarry before the Lord until we are inflamed with a fresh fiery baptism of the Holy Spirit! Something divine has got to happen to bring the people of God back to a New Testament Pentecost for revival and evangelism and exciting Body Life. This humble route has worked for two thousand years and it still works today. Let us try it and experience the glory of God.
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