How remarkable it is to hear true gospel preachers declare that they long for an old-fashioned revival while they at the same time dictate to God the direction and terms on which they would have the revival come. They insult the Holy Spirit by telling Him what kind of revival to bring! They dictate to Him the avenues and channels He must use for His movements.

The trouble is that the Lord’s people will not “let go and let God.” They will not hand over the entire service or campaign to the Spirit’s control; they insist on keeping entire control of the gathering. They want to be able to turn on and off the workings of God as they so desire. They will not countenance anything they dislike or which they think is not perfect decorum. For instance, the jailor’s piercing cry of soul agony at the midnight hour (recorded in Acts 16) would have overstepped the bounds of dignity and decency in the estimation of some. THEY WANT A PUSH-BUTTON REVIVAL.

They want revival. But it must be one of their own understanding - a poor puny thing that they can organize to death. They have been so accustomed to the natural that they insist on suppressing all supernatural workings of God. They have lived in the realm of the natural so long that they are absolute strangers to the miraculous. Again and again I have witnessed the blessed Spirit seeking to break through in a gathering of believers convened for the express purpose of acknowledging their need of Him. Invariably He was frustrated in His attempts to work as the chairman kept everything under his control. The dear man had forgotten that in the conventions of the early church the true chairman was the Holy Spirit, Himself: - “It seemed good to the Holy Ghost…” (Acts 15:28)