Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out and streams in the desert. Isaiah 35:5-6 

Surely we can trust the Holy Spirit to take care of His own work. If we can trust Him for small manifestations, why can we not trust Him for small manifestations, why can we not trust Him for mighty ones? In the Book of Acts, we see how He restrains as well as constrains. He vindicated His deity when He restrained sin in the church through the death of Ananias and Sapphira. His restraining influence is again seen when He forbade Paul on two occasions to enter into fields of his own choosing. We needn't be afraid of the Spirit. He has safety-checks of His own. We needn't be deceived by false manifestations. I Corinthians 12:7 declares, "But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit to profit withal." If a brother or sister is speaking under the Spirit's anointing, he or she will be edifying the church. The Spirit's ministry is always to profit. Again, the Word of God declares, "He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine and shall declare it unto you" (John 16:14) 

The Holy Spirit always glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ, and thus, any testimony or exposition that attracts attention to self is false. In all mighty gatherings where the Spirit of God is working, the center of attraction is Christ, the Son of God. All hearts go out to Him as the Adorable One. 

I have known the Holy Spirit to take away from me the human control of the campaign and make Himself the chairman of the meetings. Often times, I wasn't allowed to preach, as the meeting was under the control of the Spirit day by day and night after night. I simply sat on the platform bowed in prayer. I prayed that the Spirit of Pentecost would restrain or constrain and that no demon in hell would be able to work - that so powerful would be His presence that there'd be no possibility of a fleshly manifestation. We can testify to God's glory that the gatherings were kept under the Spirit's control as He led the believers one by one to praise, pray, expound and testify. Instead of only myself taking part, hundreds of ordinary believers ministered in the meetings during several weeks. We were "borne along and impelled by the Holy Spirit" (II Peter 1:21).

 As I ponder on my knees before God this deep mystery of the suppression of the Spirit, I've come to the conclusion that people are afraid of something they don't understand - something they've never experienced. Brought up in an atmosphere which has never known revival, they are like the amateur walking a tightrope, afraid of the unknown way. Oh, my brother, why not trust the Spirit of God? If you really want Him to work, then allow Him to work. Hands off! Let us stop dictating to the Holy Spirit. 

This is copyrighted material from James Stewart's book Come O Breath!, available from Revival Literature, PO Box 6068, Asheville, NC 28816.