EMOTIONALISM;
OBEDIENCE: NEED FOR

When they want to get blessed, some people try getting worked up psychologically.…

Some people try group dynamics.…

What is needed is some old-fashioned, salty horse sense. I am sure there are 189 mules in the state of Missouri that have more sense than a lot of the preachers who are trying to teach people how to get the blessing of God in some way other than by the constituted means. When you get people all broken up, dabbing at their eyes and shaking, what is the result? It does not bring them any closer to God. It does not make them love God any better, in accordance with the first commandment. Nor does it give any greater love for neighbors, which is the second commandment. It does not prepare them to live fruitfully on earth. It does not prepare them to die victoriously, and it does not guarantee that they will be with the Lord at last.

The Lord has constituted means. Jesus said in the Gospel of John, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me” (John 14:21a).

Matthew 22:37–39; John 14:21–24; 1 John 5:3

Rut, Rot or Revival: The Condition of the Church, 46, 47, 48.