Niels Prip – Blog

Revival Meeting- an excerpt from Watchman Nee’s- The Latent Power of the Soul Published in 1972

This excerpt was originally written in 1928. It is amazing how pertinent it is for today!

It is rather amazing how many brothers who preach a lot mention the matter of meetings to me. They assert that if they go to a church hall and find the lights dim, attendance low, and empty chairs abundant, they seem to lose their power upon standing up to preach. But should the lights be burning bright and the audience full and enthusiastic, they appear to grow in power. But what kind of power is this?
May I frankly say that this is none other than the power of your own soul force. The power which comes from the Holy Spirit is never affected by outside environment. Anyone who wishes to know what preaching in soul power is need only attend a big meeting packed with people and provided with the finest equipment, and just listen to the people singing and watch the movement of the audience. You will be able to sense that there is special power in a crowded place. What power is this? Do you feel a force which presses on you? It cannot be the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the power of the soul.

Link to full book- http://www.banner.org.uk/media/books/Nee-LatentPowerofSoul.pdf

It is scarcely possible in most places to get anyone to attend a meeting where the only attraction is God.– AW Tozer

I have personally seen this kind of thing happening in my lifetime, money being thrown at a famous Christian leader’s feet. Shameful! How many wealthy pastors, evangelists, and TV preachers are there today? There are many! With the world in the condition that it is today, I would have to ask the same question that Elisha asked Gehazi in 2 Kings 5:26 “Is this time to be taking money?”.

What the world and the church is seeing today is totally opposite of what people saw in the Book of Acts.

Acts 4:32-35 And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own; but all things were common property to them. And with great power the apostles were giving witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay the money at the apostles’ feet; and they would be distributed to each, as any had need.

What a stark contrast. Today’s rich Christian leaders will justify themselves, and they will also be the ones who claim they really have the Spirit’s power in their meetings. They claim miracles, anointing and power. Today we see them claiming signs and wonders along with their greed.

In Acts they had signs, wonders and power like never seen before, and along with it they had humility. None of the Apostles “claimed that anything belonging to them was their own”. The money laid at their feet was used to meet needs of the saints, all who had need. They did not buy themselves mansions! Behold what manner of outpouring of the Spirit that was! It has never been repeated! Today they want the outpouring without humility, and use it as a channel for power and wealth.

Paul spoke the truth about those who supposed that “godliness was a means of gain”.

1 Timothy 6:3-5 “If anyone advocates a different doctrine, and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain”.

There is a doctrine that conforms us to Godliness, it makes us more like Jesus. Greed has no place! We should desire to be like Jesus, we should desire to have the Spirit like the Apostles! Today’s leaders want the Apostles power and recognition, but many want to keep the money.

There is a friction between Godly men, and men of depraved mind, deprived of truth. This is the comparison! The men of truth were the Apostles, with the fullness of the Spirit, today’s rich leaders are men of partial truth, deprived, having pride but lacking the fullness of the Spirit. I think of a child that is deprived, one who lacks enough food, causing starvation and at times illness. They create followers who are deficient in Godliness and truth. They bring about partial truth, mixed with hype and emotion, not knowing they are wretched. Well did John speak of them in the Revelation, in the Message to the Church in Laodicea

Revelation 3:17-18 “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art the wretched one and miserable and poor and blind and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold refined by fire, that thou mayest become rich; and white garments, that thou mayest clothe thyself, and that the shame of thy nakedness be not made manifest; and eyesalve to anoint thine eyes, that thou mayest see.” This message was to a church, they had a form of Godliness but was greatly lacking.

I encourage you all to avoid these men, do not support them, do not watch them.  As it says in 2 Timothy 3:5 “holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these”. What power have they denied? They claim to have great Spiritual power and anointing. But, they have denied the power of humility, the power of the Cross. That is the power that would have conformed them to be like Jesus.

A short article by a dear friend, Doug Detert, worth a read.

Click to access i-vs-christ-doug-detert.pdf

If I never sing another song, I will still worship the Lord.

In Art Katz’s book, Apostolic Foundations, it says the following concerning the word Apostolic. “It is a word that needs to be resuscitated, rather than to be thought of merely as a denominational identification. Like every great biblical word, we need to be apprehended by the essence of what that word represents”. Apostolic Foundation-page 8. I have been greatly impacted by his writings and have had the fortune of knowing him personally.

As a worship leader, I have always felt that, like the word “apostolic”, the word “worship’ has lost it’s true place and it’s true meaning. What is the true essence of true worship? How is it distinct from praise? Nowadays, worship means one thing to most believers, music and praise. The distinction is lost, much to the hurt of the modern church. True worship is rarely spoken of.

The meaning of the word “worship” has changed in the last 50 or 60 years. If we lose the original meaning of worship, what word will we use to describe what biblical worship is? Genesis 22 is the first place in the Bible where the word “worship” is mentioned. It was when Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac, out of obedience and love toward God. We need to look at Abraham’s love, obedience and sacrifice to get a clear understanding of “worship”. In both the old and new testaments, worship mostly refers to someone “bowing down in reverence, prostrating oneself in humility and reverence”. There are many passages in both testaments, too numerous to mention.

I have friends who are missionaries in China, and they have meetings in their apartment, but they can’t lift their voices to the Lord in singing or playing instruments. If they were heard, they might be arrested and thrown in jail. Someone in America might say, “Oh those poor Christians, they can’t worship the Lord”. It is a ludicrous statement to make since in reality, they are true worshipers of the God. They are living their lives in faith, risking imprisonment! I am sure they would love to be able to praise the Lord with loud singing and instruments, but they can’t. But their faith is real and vibrant, trusting the Lord day to day. Walking by the Spirit in humble dependence on the Lord.

In the American church, we have elevated praise above worship. We have been calling praise and music “worship”, and neglected the weightier requirement of what true worship is. We love the singing and the great praise teams. We love the latest music coming out of the mega churches, many of whose music is produced by corporations. It is now a multi-billion dollar industry. That is cause for concern.

What is the condition of our churches? When He returns, will He find faith in the earth? God seeks those will worship Him in Spirit and in truth. The new testament says very little about music, yet it takes center stage in many churches.

We need to start hearing about true worship again, we need to restore it to it’s primary position in our Christian faith.