God comes into your heart, it is because your heart has been prepared to receive it. There must be a cleaning out of the rubbish and a getting right with God.GCB May 21, 1909, page 105.14

Will some one please read Isaiah 28:9-12?GCB May 21, 1909, page 105.15

“Whom shall be teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts: for precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: for with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.”GCB May 21, 1909, page 105.16

Then to whom will he teach knowledge?—Those who are weaned. What is it for a Christian to be weaned? The Lord teaches knowledge to the person who comes to him without one preconceived idea as to what is truth, only what he gets in the Bible. He is perfectly weaned from what he has believed, and then God can tell him something.GCB May 21, 1909, page 105.17

In 2 Timothy 2:7 we read: “Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.” From this we are to understand that we get our understanding from the Word. Then I am to lay aside all my ideas of the matter, and consider what God says; and if I get my mind clearly on what God says, I shall get my understanding from God. If you want to receive the Holy Spirit, you should put away from your minds all your own ideas, both as to the manner of God’s working and the nature of his working. He will work in his own way and manner, and he will give his Holy Spirit when you may least expect it.GCB May 21, 1909, page 106.1

Referring again to Isaiah 28, I would ask, What is the rest spoken of in verse 12?—The Word of God. He who lays aside every idea of his own, and comes to God, takes his Word, and considers what he says, secures the rest. The Lord will give such an one understanding. That is the refreshing.GCB May 21, 1909, page 106.2

Turn to Nehemiah 8:8, and we have an illustration of how we should read the Bible. We should give the sense, and cause those who hear to understand the reading.GCB May 21, 1909, page 106.3

In John 6:63 we read: “It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life.” When you lay aside all your own ideas, and consider what God says, you will have the Spirit, and also the refreshing.GCB May 21, 1909, page 106.4

In Acts 3:19 we read: “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” Then your sins are blotted out when the times of refreshing come. We are to-day in the time of the blotting out of our sins. We are now looking for the times of refreshing, and the outpouring of Spirit. The Lord teaches knowledge to those who are weaned, and those who study the Word have the refreshing. The refreshing is the outpouring of the Spirit of God in the time of the blotting out of sins, and that is where we are now.GCB May 21, 1909, page 106.5

The devil can imitate almost everything, but there is one thing he can not imitate, and that is the character of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that character is in the Word. His character is revealed there, and his character in every phase of it is there, but you never can get it unless you study the Word, and appropriate the Word to your own heart. Believe it, consider it; then you will get the Spirit.GCB May 21, 1909, page 106.6

We have sometimes thought that the Spirit of God would come upon us suddenly, like a mighty rushing wind, without the Word. I take no stock in that belief. Too many people have gone off on that very theory. We want the Word of God as an infallible revelation of what the Spirit says. When your mind is fixed on anything that God says, you will get the Spirit.GCB May 21, 1909, page 106.7

Let us begin to study the Bible more. Do not study it to prove some doctrine, but study it to believe the doctrine, and appropriate its words to your own heart. Then you will find that the Spirit of God will come into your heart and life. That is what the disciples did on the day of Pentecost. In Acts 1:15-22, we find the record of what the disciples were doing at that time [reading this scripture]. The disciples were trying to see if they were right, if there had been any neglect of duty, and, from what is mentioned, we conclude that they found one thing in which they were wrong,—in not selecting another to take the place of Judas. They then selected some one to take his place. After they had done this, and were studying the Bible, and were trying to relate themselves properly to the Lord and his work, the Spirit came like a mighty rushing wind. “They were all in one accord” when the Lord poured out his Spirit. This idea of being one because you feel good, I take very little stock in. The devil can make one feel good. Politicians feel good,—thousands of people feel good,—but you want to have your feelings in harmony with the Word of God. I would give more for one text in the Bible to stand on, than all the feelings in earth or heaven. I believe we need an understanding of the Word of God individually and as a people.GCB May 21, 1909, page 106.8

God’s work will never wind up in a corner. Elder J. N. Andrews used to come to me when I first began to preach as a young man, and put his hand on my head occasionally, and say, “Remember this, young man; God will never allow the third angel’s message to go out at the back door. There will be a triumph to this truth such as you have never seen.” It is not by might, nor by power, but by God’s Spirit, that this will be accomplished. God is to pour out his Spirit upon all flesh. He will put his Spirit upon the man that gives the truth, and upon the man that receives it.GCB May 21, 1909, page 106.9

The Sermon - THE WORK BEFORE US

WASHINGTON (D. C.) SANITARIUM ASSOCIATION