One of the major holidays for the Christian Year is Pentecost Sunday, marking the day when the Holy Spirit came upon the apostolic church. Luke’s record of that event in Acts 2 describes what happened that day as people had gathered from many nations for the Jewish Pentecost festival in Jerusalem. Jesus’ followers were meeting together in an upper room, waiting for the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise. With the sound like a rushing wind and the appearance of what looked like tongues of fire, the Holy Spirit was poured out on those disciples. The commotion attracted a crowd who then heard the gospel being preaching in their own language, occurring as a supernatural gift from the Holy Spirit.
In all of those events, the common theme was power, the power in the wind, the flames, and the tongues. But the greatest demonstration of power was in the incredible change of hearts in hearers that took place while Peter was preaching. Three thousand people who were spiritually dead were transformed by the Holy Spirit, producing in them conviction of sin and faith in Christ, as they interrupted Peter’s preaching to cry out, “Brothers, what must we do?” Such total reversal of thinking could only have happened by the power of the Holy Spirit. He did what Jesus told Nicodemus needed to happen: “You must be born again.”
Musical reflections about Pentecost abound in the church’s repertoire, especially from the time of the Reformation. Some are instrumental works, frequently for organ. Others are choral compositions, including cantatas. But almost all of them are based on hymns about the Holy Spirit and His coming at Pentecost. Today, every hymnal will have, in its topical structure, hymns about God the Father, hymns about God the Son, and also hymns about God the Holy Spirit. Many of these are actually addressed to the Spirit Himself. Quite a few composers have written works based on the ancient (9th century) hymn, “Veni Creator Spiritus” (“Come, Creator Spirit”).
Hopefully, church leaders will help their congregations gain greater familiarity with such hymns as “Come, O Creator Spirit Blest” (Latin 10th century), “Come, O Come, Thou Quickening Spirit” (17th century), “Come, Holy Spirit Heavenly Dove” (Isaac Watts), “Breathe on Me, Breath of God” (19th century). Other hymns are already better known by modern congregations, including “Gracious Spirit, Dwell with Me,” “Spirit of God, Descend upon My Heart,” “O Breath of Life, Come Sweeping through Us,” and Margaret Clarkson’s comprehensive 1984 hymn, “For Your Gift of God the Spirit.”
Celebrations of Pentecost today can also include a simple chorus written in 1926 by Daniel Iverson (1890-1977), one of the most significant names in American Presbyterian history of the 20th century. The little chorus “Spirit of the Living God” has probably been sung by more people than any other song about the Holy Spirit. Iverson was born in Asheville, North Carolina. He wrote the words and the tune after hearing a sermon on the Holy Spirit during an evangelism crusade by the George Stephens Evangelistic Team in Orlando, Florida, 1926. That sermon was based on the text in Ephesians 3:19, “That you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Iverson’s hymn was sung at the crusade and then printed in leaflets for use at other services. Published anonymously in Robert H. Coleman’s “Revival Songs” (1929) with alterations in the tune, this short hymn gained much popularity by the middle of the century. Since the 1960s it has again been properly credited to Iverson.
Iverson studied at the University of Georgia, Moody Bible Institute, Columbia Theological Seminary, and the University of South Carolina. Ordained in the (“Southern”) Presbyterian Church in 1914, he served congregations in Georgia and in North and South Carolina. In 1927 he founded the Shenandoah Presbyterian Church in Miami, Florida, and served there until his retirement in 1951. An evangelist as well as a preacher, Iverson planted seven new congregations during his ministry in Miami. During his powerful gospel ministry at Shenandoah, literally thousands of people came to faith in Christ, and more than 150 young people in the church (or churches Shenandoah planted) went into career ministry as either ministers or missionaries.
Shenandoah Presbyterian Church in its first twenty-four years under Daniel Iverson grew from seventeen worshipers in an old dance hall (half of them Iversons) to 1664 members with a Sunday School of 1200. Some twenty-one churches were founded through Shenandoah and its pastor, together with its “children and grandchildren. With the vast shift of population, seventy five years later, the Calle Ocho Church began to replant the church, “Reformed according to the Word of God” in the heart of what is now known as “Little Havana.” Efforts to transition to a Hispanic congregation eventually failed, and the marvelous sanctuary with its towering steeple would up being demolished as the property was sold to a commercial developer.
This autobiographical sketch in Dan Iverson’s own words best explains the miracle of Shenandoah. How did such an amazing gospel work prosper so mightily. It is a simple answer. Obviously, God did it!
Mrs. Iverson and I began to visit from home to home in the Southwest section of the city to see about prospects. The people were in such an unsettled condition due to the collapse of the business boom and the terrible hurricane, it looked like a hopeless task. We were greeted with more or less indifference. We did not have a place to worship, and did not know where we could secure such a place; but we felt it was God’s will that we should work as though everything would work out alright, trusting Him every step of the way.
We found some people suspicious, charging that we had an ax to grind. We found some very receptive and interested, and that most of them had heartaches they were trying to hide. Having had some experience with people (Dan was about thirty eight years old), we felt it was our duty to penetrate the crust that hid the real self, and be of comfort and service to those in distress. Having felt it was the time to start the church in the Shenandoah community, I put notices in the newspapers, inviting those who were interested in establishing a Presbyterian Church to visit us in our home on a Tuesday evening in late February. About eight people attended that meeting, but only one became a member of what is now known as the Shenandoah Presbyterian Church.
After visiting for several weeks, we had interested enough folks, we thought, to justify our finding a place of worship. There was an apartment on the corner of Southwest 20th Avenue and 12th Street that had stores on the ground floor. We thought that was the place to begin, and tried to secure one of the stores. The owner of the building said that if we could gain the consent of those in the apartment building, we could use the store for a short time. After four days, we had the people’s consent, but then the owner of the building decided against it. This was discouraging, for we had tried several places and met with similar rebuffs.
On Tamiami Trail and 20th Avenue there was a wooden building, now very much dilapidated, but then being used as a dance hall. It did not look to be the right thing to start a church in a Dance Hall. I found the building open, and walked in to take a look, and found it ideal as a Tabernacle. I felt God had led me to this place. There was a little orchestra stand in the center of the building, and I knelt down behind the stand and claimed the building for God, and as I knelt and prayed, I felt God had answered my prayers. I did everything I could to secure this building, but failed. Yet I felt in my heart that it would finally be ours.
I kept looking around the area and found an open air theater, now known as the Trail Auto Parts Company, that had closed its doors as a moving picture concern. I felt it was an unwise move to begin, but feeling it was imperative, I was ready to accept anything. I secured this building for ten dollars per Sunday, and did not have the ten dollars to pay it.
That week, having printed ten thousand invitation cards, my two boys, Dan and Ned, and my little girl Ella Lillian, went with me and assisted me in placing under the doors of 1000 homes these cards. This interested them in the venture, and I found in family prayers they were constantly remembering this effort before God. Having given out one thousand cards, they thought everyone would respond and expected to see a large gathering on that first Sunday, March 13, 1927 at the Kew Garden Theater.
We advertised the Bible School hour at 9:45 A.M. I painted a sign and placed it outside the door, and opened up at 9:00 AM. There were five from our own family present. At 9:45 there were still just five present, and that was a matter of anxiety for us all. As we were beginning with just our family at five minutes of ten, one person strolled in and asked if this was the place for the service, and wondered where the crowd was. At five minutes after ten, there were possibly ten present, and by 10:15 AM we had our first Sunday School of seventeen people divided into three classes. These classes were led by Mrs. Jennie Anderson, and for the adults a class by Mrs. Daniel Iverson, and one by Miss Alice France.
The open air theater had a concrete floor and sunshine rules very strongly in Miami in March. It was unbearably warm and the glare very hard on the eyes. We found we were laboring under tremendous hardships. After a brief Sunday School session of the three classes, we asked the people to stay for church, and we would not keep them long. Some people were added to the eleven o’clock service, making the attendance perhaps twenty-five or thirty. The sun was so hot that the people complained about it. I suggested we hold a short service and someone suggested that they go home and get their parasols and come back. I was afraid that if I let them go, they would not come back. They were so nice and kind, I gave them their wish and everyone came back. This was just a little thing, but that was an encouraging thing, and I needed that little encouragement at what seemed to be a very dark moment in the blazing sun.
We had no hymn books, but I found a friend from my home town that was kind enough to make a couple hundred copies of three hymns. We used those hymns for a number of weeks, for we had no funds with which to purchase hymn books. During the following weeks I felt it necessary to get another place of worship, but found it impossible to secure them. So I printed one thousand more cards and with some neighbor children and my own, we placed cards under the doors again. I know we were not as welcome as we ought to have been, but I overlooked that, and went on. In spite of the handicap of a very uncomfortable place, we had a slight increase of both Bible School and Church. On these cards we suggested that people bring their parasols, and they did. We prayed earnestly that God at that time would answer the prayers for the dance hall. Another week went by with the same disappointment and fear, but again, there was a slight increase in attendance.
And the rest is, as they say, history!
“Spirit of the Living God” is one of the most long-lasting and widely used choruses in Christian worship. Every aspect of the song embodies a simple sincerity. The melody encompasses only five notes, with every pitch in its place. The harmonies can be played by a very modestly skilled pianist, and three of the four lines repeat the same nine words. Yet for many, the straightforward petitions of this song draw the singer into an attitude of prayer to the Spirit with these important requests.
Many people today need to be reminded that the Holy Spirit is the third PERSON of the Holy Trinity. He is not some vague force or energy that flows out of God. He is not the Christian version of the phrase in the Star Wars movies: “May the force be with you.” No, He is a distinct person beside the Father and the Son. It would be most improper and insulting if one of us were to speak in this manner. “I have a wonderful wife; it fixes my breakfast each day and makes sure I have clean clothes throughout the week. It has been a great help to me for many years. I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have it.”
Even so is it insulting and improper to speak of the Holy Spirit as an “IT.” “HE” is just as much a distinct person as the Father and the Son. He is a thinking spiritual being who acts and works, making decisions about giving spiritual gifts, producing spiritual fruit, and powerfully changing spiritually dead hearts, causing people to be born again. He can be pleased, and He can be grieved. Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3 that such new birth would be necessary to see heaven, and that it would be accomplished by the Spirit who works like the wind, invisible to see in His being, but gloriously visible in the effects of His work on people’s hearts. He is an essential part of our salvation, as we read in Ephesians 1:3-14. It is God the Father who has “chosen” us before the foundation of the world. It is God the Son who has “redeemed” us by the shedding of His precious blood. It is God the Holy Spirit who has “sealed” that work in our hearts.
Iverson’s little chorus has been sung countless times in worship services, in Bible study groups, in youth retreats, and at evangelistic services. It is a simple prayer that the Holy Spirit would “fall fresh” on us with His divine power to make and use us. The four verbs have sometimes been altered by hymnal editors, but we ought to have the integrity to remain faithful to the intent of the author with the sequence he intentionally wrote in 1926 … “Break me! Melt me! Mold me! Fill me!” It’s understandable how some in more recent publications have changed the sequence, omitting “Break me” (as noted below) and adding at the end “Use me.” It’s certainly consistent with the Holy Spirit’s work that we want to be used by God to do His will in all that we do. But people should remember that there is still an active copyright attached to this from Moody Bible Institute, so any changes would be unlawful.
First petition: “Break me!” Most modern publications have changed this to “melt me” as the second petition, omitting “Break me.” Why have so many rejected the original? Is it because the word “break” sounds too harsh and unpleasant? But Iverson’s theology was good, and he correctly started here. We come to God in our sinful pride and self-righteousness. The first thing the gospel does is to break us, humbling us before God to realize how much we need Him to make us something new and different.
This is how God began His charge to the prophet Jeremiah when he was called to his ministry. In chapter one God said to him, “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant” (vs 9-10). The first four (negative) had to happen before Jeremiah would be able to go on to the final two (positive). So it is in our lives, that the Holy Spirit first breaks us under the conviction of sin before He can move on to make us something new. When you sing it, make sure that you start at the correct place!
Second petition: “Melt me!” Iverson seemed to imagine that in our unchanged form, we are hard and brittle. Perhaps that could rightly allude to what sin has done to us, making us stiff and rigid and stubbornly set in having our own way. What the Holy Spirit does increasingly in our sanctification is to bring the fire of holiness to work in our soul to melt those firm, inflexible ways, softening us so that the Lord can re-shape us after His image. That’s at the heart of what the Holy Spirit does in making us new creatures who love to do His will.
Third petition: Mold me!” The next step further imagines what happens with the refiner’s fire (Malachi 3:2) as the hard pieces of our hearts were melted by the Holy Spirit’s cleansing fire. Having been melted into softer form, our wills are made ready to be molded into the new shapes that more closely resemble the Lord Jesus, not in His appearance, but in His character. The Spirit’s work is to mold us into the character of the holy Son of God, loving to do the Father’s will, hungering to feed on His Word, finding our greatest pleasure in fellowship with Him.
Fourth petition: “Fill me!” Here is the final step in this process. Having molded us into a new spiritual shape, we don’t want to be left empty. Our request is that the Spirit would fill us. And with what would we want to be filled? It would be that He would fill us with what Paul described as the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
He did that for Dan Iverson. I know that from the record of his amazingly fruit-filled ministry at Shenandoah Presbyterian Church in Miami. I know that from having heard him in person in my youth. I know that from having grown up under a wonderful gospel ministry in one of the churches Shenandoah planted in Miami.
Here is a link to the song with its original words.