Secret Power: The Secret of Success in Christian Life and Work by Dwight L. Moody

Secret Power: The Secret of Success in Christian Life and Work Reviews

• 
  Vaughn

  Solid Christian reading with a focuses on the power of the Holy Spirit and His availability to work in our lives when we submit.
  
  A few relevant points:
  1. We cannot work for God without love.
  2. God, through the Holy Spirit, will give encouragement.
  3. The Gospel is every bit as powerful today as it was thousands of years ago.
  4. The Holy Spirit will fill us with His presence and power when we empty ourselves of pride, vanity, and other worldly attitudes (submit)
  5. When God's Spirit is on us, the world looks very empty and we begin to let go of it as we begin to focus on the eternal.
  6. When we have God's Spirit on us, we will speak with authority and power.
  7. True service to God is marked by waiting to receive His power in His time and way.
  
  Though encouraging and challenging, it does at times leave the reader wanting a bit more. Still - a very highly recommended read.
• 
  Michael Walker

  A musty work on the power of the Holy Spirit by a great 19th c. preacher.
• 
  Matt Lee

  This short work on the Holy Spirit looks at how depedent man is on Him. Nothing, argues Moody, can be accomplished outside the Spirit, in terms of doing good for God. He is the 'power' by which we walk the Christian life.
  
  Moody begins by focussing on the personality and full Divinity of the Spirit and denying this idea He is a power divorced from full personhood. Slightly unfortunately, Moody uses the the comma Johanneum (1 John 5:7 - 8) as proof text. I am against the inclusion of this verse into the canon, but it is understandable given the state of English translation at the time of Moody's writing.
  
  In analysing the preaching of the Word, which Moody maintains is vital to true Gospel ministry, the Spirit's role here is a revelatory one. The revelation of God comes by the Word and through the power of the Spirit. In fact, Moody shrewdly rebuts the misnomer that we have to, in some way, ask or invite the Spirit to dwell within us and within the Church. The truth is, He has never left and has been with us and in us since the very beginning of the Church age - a shall be present until the end. Indeed, he says:
  
  "Our work is not to make them believe; that is the work of the Spirit. Our work is to give them the Word of God - not to preach our theories and our ideas about it but to deliver the message as God gives it to us"
  
  Another area of contention in the book is that of the works we perform through the Spirit as believers. Moody gives a good explanation of the "greater works" referenced in John 14:12 that will be performed by the Spirit after Jesus was ascended. He argues that the Spirit's work of the subjugation of man's will from sinning and God-hating is greater even than the raising of the dead.
  
  Following the theme of the Spirit in the life of believers, Moody expounds the fruit of the Spirit, showing how the aspects of the fruit manifest in piety and practice. I found his distinction between God - oriented (love, joy, peace), man - oriented (patience, kindness, goodness), and self - oriented (faithfulness, gentleness, and self control) a helpful one. This is followed by a section on the unforgivable sin. Moody rightly distinguishes between grieving the Holy Spirit and committing the unforgivable sin of calling the Holy Spirit evil and thus blaspheming Him.
  
  Moody also makes a point about the preaching ministery of the churches in his day. He calls out churches that are simply providing worldly amusements - they take up their time with fairs, raffles, dramas, and musical entertainment rather than actual, Spirit filled worship. It was almost like he had modern congregations in mind! His critique against such churches is strong. He ends his critique by giving a great exhortation for cross centred preaching:
  
  "Our failure now is that preachers ignore the cross and hide Christ with sapless sermons and superfine language. They don't present Him to the people in a simple fashion, and I believe that is why the Sprit of God doesn't work with power in our churches" Again, he could well have been talking about contemporary pulpits.
  
  However, Moody in the next section goes further than simply a call to cross - centred preaching, and slips into revivalism theology. He says, in essence "If our churches do this, then we will experience the Spirit in this way...". He implies if only the church were to fulfill a certain conditon, then we will experience a particular manifestation of God's power. We will "have conversions all the time" (p. 106). Praying for God's revival is all well and good, but I think Moody tips into revivalism here. He even belittles churches for not counting/boasting in their conversions.
  
  Furthermore, I did disagree with his statement that "A man or a woman who is downcast is not fit to work for God" on the basis of Nehemiah 8:10. He seems to be equating 'service of God' with 'evangelistic outreach' and the two are not synonymous. Moreover, there are plenty of ways to serve God whilst under the weight depression or other forms of mental suffering.
  
  Also, on the very last page, Moody makes a troubling statement that seems to implying that the Father is wrathful, the Son is wrathful but the Spirit is "the gentle, innocent, meek, and loving one". Yikes.
  
  Moody's writing style is full of short sentences. He is punchy and sometimes witty, with some sarcasm thrown in on occasion. The book is an easy to read, especially for its time (late 19th century). Each section concise and broken into small chunks and relatively self contrained. A couple of odd comments at the end excepted, a fine treatment of the work of the Spirit in the life of the Church.
• 
  Nathan Albright

  [Note:  This book was provided free of charge by Aneko Press.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.]
  
  Relatively frequently, at least once or twice a month, I get a surprise package, usually without any warning, from this publisher with their books inside.  Included in a recent package was this particular book, one of several I have read by this author [1].  I was admittedly puzzled before reading about the subject matter of the book, but upon starting it the subject matter of the book was very clear.  That is not to say that I agreed with everything that was in the book, but at the very least one knew exactly where the author was coming from and what his perspective was.  Given my own differences with the author concerning my perspective on the subject of the book, I was surprised that I agreed with as much of it as I did, and I can see why this book on the Holy Spirit and its importance to believers and to churches was rereleased, as it has a lot to say to our day and age where it can be justly said that the power of the Spirit appears weak in much of Christendom.
  
  This short book of 125 pages is written about the power of the Holy Spirit.  The author begins with the fairly obvious truth that this power comes from God and not from ourselves.  The author talks about how some people try to stir themselves up and how the world itself recognizes the power of the Spirit because it longs to be filled from that which is already full, and we cannot help the world without God first filling us.  This is something, it should be noted, that is often forgotten when it comes to the social justice efforts of our day.  After this, the author talks about how the Holy Spirit is both power upon us and in us, how we witness about our Lord and Savior through the power of the Spirit as was done by Peter and Stephen and the early Church.  The author talks about the power of the Spirit in operation in our lives and then talks in the last chapter about how this power can be grieved or resisted.  It appears that then, as is the case now, there are many who are worried about having committed the unpardonable sin without having committed it.  The author's reminder that we should focus on God's glory and not our own is one that many contemporary ministers would do well to emulate.
  
  This book begins in an interesting place, using the almost certainly fraudulent Johanine pericope of John 5:7-8 to attempt to demonstrate the Trinity and defend the Holy Spirit as a being rather than as something else.  Therefore, the book set me on edge from the very beginning, considering how abrupt the beginning was.  In fact, it is likely that textual criticism about John 5 may have led the author to begin with that passage as a way of turning it back on the audience.  There seems to be a fair bit about this book that is at least a little bit combative when it comes to the Holy Spirit and its operations.  In many ways, the focus on the Holy Spirit as being power and as being the reality of intimacy with God is something that I well understand and appreciate, and something that I think the author does well to focus on.  Ultimately, and thankfully, this is not a book that is a theological study of the Trinity as a doctrine--which would likely have been a terrible read--but is a work about the practical workings of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers, and that is certainly a book worthy to be read and meditated over.
  
  [1] See, for example:
  
  
  https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
  
  
  https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
  
  
  https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
• 
  richard

  Secret Power ~ D.L. Moody
  
  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5
  
  A wonderful book about being filled with the Holy Spirit. This book has a lot of great advice that is applicable today as it was in Moody's day.
  
  Mr Moody says that most Christians don't look to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit and so 95% of Christians have no power because they either don't want it and are content with just believing in Christ or they don't understand and know that there is a filling of the Spirit that leads to power for ministry.
  
  Mr Moody said most Christians don't share the gospel with others and are not really interested in the work of the church which is the sharing of the gospel because they don't have this power from on High which, equips and motivates to share Jesus with others.
  
  He also said that God's love needs to be shed abroad in our hearts to do any mission, if whatever we do does not proceed from love then it is worth nothing. Whether that be preaching, serving even good deeds, all must proceed from love or it will not please God.
  
  So much to think about from this book, a great read.
• 
  Rebekah Palmer

  Out of the three Moody books I have reviewed so far (the other two being A Life for Christ and How To Study the Bible), this one was by far his best.
  
  In 5 chapters, D. L. Moody writes on the Holy Spirit: the power, the Spirit’s influence in the Christian, the Spirit’s influence in a congregation of Christians, and the hindrances the Holy Spirit finds among Christ followers.
  
  While I don’t particularly adhere to Moody’s view on Christian liberty (all criticism must cease), I was most edified by this work. The other thing I will mention was Moody’s use of the slur “Hottentot” on page 13. I originally had thought this to be from one of Jonathan Swift’s imaginary people in the popular 18th century book Gulliver’s Travels, but upon looking it up it is indeed a derogatory term white European persons used to refer to the Khoikhoi (southwestern Africans). While it wasn’t seen as racist back in 1881, it is now in 2017. A footnote revealing this history might be most helpful.
• 
  Jo

  A little gem from DL Moody here on the Holy Spirit. I have consciously been reading more on this subject this year, but had originally got this book on Kindle for free a few months ago. So when I decided to read this, I hadn't realised how relevant it would be to my chosen topic. I've been reading it in parallel with Octavius Winslow's 'The Work of the Holy Spirit', which has been interesting. I am finding Winslow's work richer but Moody's style is more succinct and he covers the matters in substantially less words! It has therefore helped drive home some of the challenges and encouragements to be reading this alongside Winslow. This is the second Moody work I've read this year, and on the basis of what I've read so far I will be picking up more before the year is out!
• 
  F

  Wonderful book for what it is [short, not an exhaustive study- nor is it meant to be]- a helpful book on the Holy Spirit and the power He can provide in the Christian's life. The version I am reading has NOT been updated and I am glad. There is a quaintness to Moody's writing and a genuineness in his lack of polish ["don't" is often used in place of "doesn't"] that reminds me that God is not limited in who He chooses to use.
• 
  Manette

  This is a short quick read (I listened to the audio book) about the power of the Holy Spirit. It was interesting how timeless some of Moody’s examples about church are. It was as if he were describing a church from the 21st century rather than his time era.
  
  If you’re interested in an overview of the necessity of the Holy Spirit this is solid scripture based book. Without the power of the Holy Spirit man can accomplish nothing.
• 
  pamela harrington

  I have the power
  
  Always enjoy Br Moody's writings. I can understand most of it at times it gets to seem as if it's over my head, but if I reread the sentence or two. I will understand. There were questions I had beforehand and they were cleared up for me. Br Moody is a great Pastor has written many books a d sermons .
• 
  Ed Barton

  Plenty of Quotes
  
  There are plenty of good quotes and some insights here. I normally view books of this genre as being designed to get the reader to stop and think as they read - meditating on the words. Unfortunately, there were fewer passages than normal where I stopped and listened with the ear of the heart. It’s fine, but was hoping for better.
• 
  Mike Panton

  Solid, easy read. Extremely relevant for the church today as we have largely forgotten about the Holy Spirit and our need of Him in the West.
  
  Moody provides many quick and profound illustrations to explain his points. This work was both inspiring and convicting as he touches on our need of the Holy Spirit for sharing the Gospel and in growing the fruit of the Spirit in our own lives.
• 
  John Timothy

  If you live in the physical then you must also believe in the spiritual.
  I know how keen we are on providing and taking care for our physical body, my pointer today is how about the spiritual body? What content and care do you provide for it.
  This book can serve as a guide and provide content for spiritual growth too.
  #GoodReadsWithJohnT
• 
  Ester

  Learned some new things about the holy spirit. Also, discovered that people and churches are the same throughout time. Just like now people like to have a church be a theater with concerts so did they like it back then. The church and christians need to have a higher standard for living then the rest of the world and not lower God's standards.
  The Holy Spirit is God.
• 
  John Yelverton

  There are certain sections of this book which are pretty amazing, and the author makes some excellent points; but there are others, especially towards the end, where he is way out in left field and it becomes rather uncomfortable to read.
• 
  Andy Febrico Bintoro

  You could read this book for free on Google Play Books
  a book about Holy Spirit. the explanation was a simple one, this is a quick read, but its enough to understand who and how Holy Spirit could help us.
• 
  Tierrance

  Excellent Study aide
  
  Very helpful. This clearly articulated many of the questions I've been turning over in my mind concerning being an effective disciple.
• 
  William

  Another good book by D.L. Moody. This one is on the Holy Spirit. While I did not find it to be as profound or insightful as songs of his others, I still feel that I feel edified for having read it.
• 
  Daniel

  He promised to send the comfortable to teach and guide us, and empower us. The comfortable gives many gifts to help us wage an unseen war.
• 
  Cinnabug

  Truth
  
  Dwight L. Moody speaks truth and wisdom through his books. I love the way he teaches his readers boldly and without apology.