Where Do I Start If No One Around Me Lives This?
Drawn from the teaching of Professor Gary S. Maxey · 2 min read
Perhaps your pastor never teaches on holiness. Perhaps your friends find the subject strange. Perhaps you have never met anyone who seems to live the Highway. Professor Gary Maxey knows this feeling and gives a plain answer.
Start with the Spirit's light
In his book on the Highway of Holiness, Professor Maxey says the first operation of the Holy Spirit is illumination. You do not need a leader or a program to begin. You need an open heart. His first key to success is to keep an open spirit toward the Holy Spirit. He points to David's prayer: "Search me, O God, and know my heart" (Psalm 139:23-24).
A short path
He gives steps. Continue in obedience, having entered through the new birth. Listen carefully when the Spirit shows an unclean area. Do not run from what comes to light. Confess it in specific terms. Then seek God's cleansing by faith.
Give it time
He also says this is not a three-minute prayer. Cleansing can be instant, but our surrender takes serious time. He recommends getting alone with God long enough to hear him.
Find company, even if small
Professor Maxey says that in the 1858 revival the movement came largely from lay people meeting together to call on God. He also recalls a season of prayer in Port Harcourt in which believers prayed together for three months. Two or three people can begin.
Read, but check everything
He recommends reading the testimonies of saints from past centuries, as he did. But he cautions that the final measure of truth is Scripture, and no one's experience should become your pattern.
Be gentle with those who do not see yet
He notes that the church has failed to teach this clearly for centuries. Many people around you are not unwilling. They have not been taught. Pray, live it quietly and answer questions when they come.
Your first week
Day one, read Psalm 24. Day two, pray Psalm 139:23-24. Day three, write what comes to mind. Day four, confess it. Day five, thank God. Day six, tell one person. Day seven, rest.
Drawn from the teaching of Professor Gary S. Maxey.
