Spurgeon on Honoring the Holy Spirit

In “The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit,” the first chapter of his book Power for You, C. H. Spurgeon writes:

Now, it is the work of the Holy Spirit that I wish to especially direct to your attention, and I may as well mention the reason why I do. It is this: in the United States of America, there has been a great awakening. Two hundred and fifty thousand people profess to have been regenerated. They have united themselves with different sections of God’s church. What makes me believe that the work is genuine is this: the enemies of Christ’s holy Gospel are exceedingly angry at it. When the devil roars at anything, you may rest assured that there is some good in it. The devil is not like some dogs we know of; he never barks unless there is something to bark at. When Satan howls, we may rest assured that he is afraid his kingdom is in danger.

Now, this great work in America has been manifestly caused by the outpouring of the Spirit, for no one minister has been a leader in it. All the ministers of the Gospel have cooperated in it, but none of them have stood at the forefront. God Himself has been the leader of His own hosts. It began with a desire for prayer. God’s people began to pray, and the prayer meetings were better attended than before. It was then proposed to hold meetings at times that had never been set apart for prayer; these also were well attended. Plus, there has been real prayer. Sinners, beyond all count, have risen up in the prayer meetings and have requested the people of God to pray for them. They thus made public to the world that they had a desire for Christ. They have been prayed for, and the church has seen that God truly does hear and answer prayer.

Now, to have a similar effect produced in this land, the one thing we must seek is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. I thought that perhaps my writing about the work of the Holy Spirit might fulfill the text, “Them that honour me I will honour” (1 Sam. 2:30). My sincere desire is to honor the Holy Spirit, and if He will be pleased to honor His church in return, unto Him be the glory forever.

The great awakening Spurgeon referred to here is the great Prayer Revival of 1857-1858 in America which before it was over brought one million souls into the kingdom. Spurgeon’s desire and prayer came to pass as the awakening bridged the Atlantic and gave life to Great Britain in 1859. But the point I want to emphasize is that Spurgeon felt free to “honor the Holy Spirit” based on the text “Them that honour me I will honour.”

This is our desire for the upcoming Christ Life Conference which will highlight the Holy Spirit. We will address wrong notions that hinder and bring forward truth that sets free. Please pray about joining others who seek to experience Jesus in all His fullness through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. For schedule and registration details, visit our information page here.