BIBLE READINGS ON THE SECOND BLESSING
CHAPTER 06 -- THE HOLY SPIRIT
God gave Jesus Christ as a gift to the world; the Holy Ghost
is given as a gift to the church,
and not to the world, The Holy Ghost bestows His gifts upon
the individual severally as He will.
In order to understand the thought here, you will need to
distinguish between the birth of the
Spirit and the baptism of the Spirit. The scripture teaches
both. To the sinner it says: "Except a
man be born of the Spirit he cannot see the kingdom of G od." To the believer He says: "But ye
shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days
hence."
The one great need of the world is the Holy Ghost. The one
great need of the Church is the Holy Ghost. The one great need of the
individual -- of your heart, and my heart, is the Holy Ghost,
We may think we need many things, but we need nothing so
much as we need the Holy Ghost. We will take:
Matt, 3:11: "I indeed baptize you with water unto
repentance, but He that cometh after me
is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear, He
shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." Thus preached John
the Baptist. "He shall baptize you with the Holy
Ghost and with fire."
John had a baptism that was significant and full of meaning.
You will note that this passage
speaks of two baptisms administered by two different
persons, employing two different elements,
administered at two different times, -- John baptizing with
water unto repentance; and it will be
interesting to note that John's converts had an experience
before he pointed out Christ's baptism,
the baptism with the Holy Ghost and with fire.
As stated in a former discourse, John preached genuine
repentance, as seen in this chapter
(Matthew 3:7-8) he not only preached genuine repentance, but
he preached faith in Christ.
Acts 19:4: "Then said Paul, John verily baptized with
the baptism of repentance, saying
unto the people, that they should believe on him which
should come after him, that is, on Christ
Jesus." "That they should believe on Christ Jesus,"
and he that repents and believes on Christ Jesus gets something. And not only
does he preach repentance and faith, but that this brings remission of sins.
Luke:: "And he came into all the country round about Jordan, preaching the baptism of
repentance for the remission of sins." "For the
remission of sins." And not only were they to repent and have faith in
Christ, and have remission of sins, but in:
Luke 1:76, 77: "And Thou, Child, shall be called the
Prophet of the Highest, for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to
prepare His ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto His people by the
remission of their sins." They were to know that their sins were forgiven.
This was not a theoretical knowledge, -- it is an experimental knowledge, the
result of having their sins forgiven. In other words they were to repent and
have faith in Christ, and have remission of their
sins, and know it, And now John preaches: "He that
cometh after me shall baptize you with the
Holy Ghost and with. fire." John's ministry was simply
getting them ready for Christ's baptism,
"preparing the way of the Lord:"
John 14:15, 16, 17: "If ye love Me, keep my
commandments, and I will pray the Father, and
He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with
you forever; even the Spirit of truth, Whom the world cannot receive, because
it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him; but ye know Him, for He dwelleth with
you and shall be in you." "He dwelleth with you and shall be in
you."." Mark that this promise is given to such as have loved Him and
kept His commandments, and that the world cannot receive Him, This is the
promise of Jesus.
There have been three dispensations: The dispensation of the
Father, the dispensation of the Son, the dispensation of the Holy Ghost. Under
the dispensation of the Father we read of the Spirit having come upon
individuals; under the dispensation-of the Son the Holy Spirit is said to be
with the believer; but under the dispensation of the Holy Ghost, "He shall
be in you." The disciples had the Holy Ghost. They were regenerated before
the day of Pentecost. Jesus testified
that the Comforter "dwelleth with you and, shall be in
you," -- a deeper promise. That the disciples were converted before the
day of Pentecost would seem unmistakable and clear to any
unprejudiced mind. The very fact that Christ had called them
and ordained them, and commissioned and sent them forth to preach is an
evidence that they were converted. Surety Jesus Christ would not have called
unconverted men to preach His Gospel. He gave them power to cast out devils.
Strange this would be if they were still themselves full of the devil, and
going about to cast the devil out of other folks, It is a controverted point,
however, were the disciples converted before the day of Pentecost? Let us
investigate briefly:
Luke 24:49, 50, 51, 52: "And behold, I send the promise
of My Father upon you; but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued
with power from on high. And He led them out as far
as to Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them,
And it came to pass while 'He blessed them, He was parted from them and carried
up into heaven, And they worshipped Him. And returned to Jerusalem with great
joy." Sinners, do you suppose?
Luke 24:53: "And were continually in the temple,
praising and blessing God." If this meant that they were yet sinners, then
certainly they were a very remarkable lot of sinners, a very remarkable type
of sinners. I should like to meet a lot of sinners like that, whom Jesus has
blessed, who are rejoicing in Him, who obediently go back to Jerusalem, though
the mob is still there, who worship Christ, and who are "Continually in
the temple, praising and blessing God." I have traveled some, but I am
frank to say that I never met any sinners like that; have you? No sir. And
note, that is said of them prior to Pentecost. Then of the Seventy it was said
in:
Luke 10:19-20: "Behold I give you power to tread on
serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall
by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice
not that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather
rejoice because your names are written in
heaven." Are the names of sinners written in heaven?
This alone would prove that they were
converted prior to the Pentecost. Then the Saviour said to
them that, when they were apprehended and brought before magistrates, that they
should take no thought of what they should say:
Matt. 10:20: "For it is not ye that speak, but the
Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you." "The Spirit of your
Father." God is not the Father of sinners. I have no sympathy with this
modern idea which was emphasized so largely at the World's
Congress of Religions in Chicago at the time of the Exposition there, that of
the Fatherhood of God and common brotherhood of man. God is simply the Father
of His Own children and they only can lay claim to God, as their Father who
have been born of God. Christ said of sinners in:
John 8:: "Ye are of your father, the devil, and the
lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and
abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him, When he speaketh a
lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it."
We note that Christ says that some people are of the devil,
and God is not the Father of everybody. "Ye are of your father, the
devil," and He said that of church members, too; but of His disciples and
apostles He said: "It is the Spirit of your Father," referring to
God. That is simply saying that God is their Father, and it is His Spirit
speaking through them. Some will allow that the disciples were Christians in a
sense, but not in the fullest sense of the term. They were disciples, which is
to say they were learners:
John 1:12, 13: "But as many as received Him, to them gave
He power to become the sons
of God, even to them that believe on His name; which were
born, not of blood, nor of the will of
the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
"They were born of God." That was prior to
Pentecost. "To as many as received Him." Had these
disciples received Him? Yes. Then they were born of God, according to this
statement. In sending them forth He said in:
Luke 10:: "Go your ways; behold I send you forth as
lambs among wolves." He did not say,
"Behold I send you forth as wolves among wolves?"
They were not sent forth as wolves among
wolves, but as "lambs among wolves."
I might multiply this sort of evidence. Remember we gave you
one lesson from the 17th chapter of John touching this very point to
prove that the disciples were justified, born of God, regenerated, converted,
before the day of Pentecost.
The reason this position is so fiercely contested is because
that when a man admits that the disciples were converted before Pentecost, he
is compelled to admit the "second-blessing" theory.
No one will deny that the Pentecost marked an epoch, a
distinct experience in the heart and life of the disciples. To admit that they
had an experience previous to the Pentecost, would be to admit that they had a
second experience; so, rather than to admit the "second-blessing"
theory, they take this extreme view that the disciples were not converted until
the day of Pentecost; though they had been associated with Jesus for fully
three years, sat under His teaching, and witnessed his miracle-working power,
yet Jesus Christ could not succeed in getting them converted. Friends, I take
the position that they were converted. Let us locate them one time more before
the Pentecost:
Acts 1:12-13: "Then they returned unto Jerusalem from the Mount called Olivet, which is
from Jerusalem a Sabbath day's journey. And when they were
come in, they went into an upper
room, where abode both Peter,. and James, and John, and
Andrew, Philip and Thomas,
Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon
Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James." What were they doing?
Acts 1:14: "These all continued with one accord in
prayer and supplication, with the
women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His
brethren." "Continued in prayer and
supplication."
Acts 2: I, 2, 3, 4: "And when the day of Pentecost was
fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came
a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house
where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of
fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy
Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them
utterance." "And began to speak," and no
where can. you read that they ever stopped. Mark:
“They were all with one accord in one place," engaged
in prayer and supplication, They
had been obedient, and were united; they were expectant;
they were in one place. If we would
have a Pentecost, we must meet Pentecostal conditions.
Now it is supposed that they were in waiting about ten days
though strictly speaking that is
incorrect, but that passes as a rule, and some have thought
that it took them ten days to get filled
with the Holy Ghost, That is a mistake. It might have taken
them something like ten days to get
emptied, but notice, the filling was "suddenly."
And I want you to notice that there was some sound about it. I love those
heavenly sounds: "A sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it
filled all the house."
My principal thought here is that the Holy Ghost was given
to them as a second experience, If they were not converted prior to this, then
Jesus was mistaken when He said that the Holy Ghost
cannot be received by the world. Christ said: "Whom the
world cannot receive. They are not
eligible to this experience until after they are converted;
this clearly is the teaching of the
Scripture.
Now please turn to,
Acts 8:5, 6, 7, 8: "Then Philip went down to the city
of Samaria and preached Christ unto
them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those
things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For
unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many that were possessed
with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. And
there was great joy in that city." After the persecution and scattering of
the disciples, you will notice that brother Philip had a genuine revival down
there in Samaria; the unclean spirits were cast out, and the sick were healed,
and there was great joy in that city."
Acts 8:12: "But when they believed Philip preaching the
things concerning the Kingdom of
God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both
men and women." They believed and were baptized.
Acts 8:14: "Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Word of God, they sent unto them Peter and
John." You see the news was scattered abroad as to what brother Philip was
doing, and that they were having a great revival down in Samaria, and they
decided to send some of those second-blessing preachers down, and so they sent
Peter and John:
Acts 8:15: "Who, when they were come down, prayed for
them that they might receive the Holy Ghost." Prayed for them that they
might receive pardon for their sins? No. "Prayed that they
might receive the Holy Ghost."
Acts 8:16, 17: "(For as yet He was fallen upon none of
them, only they were baptized in the
name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid they their hands on them,
and they received the Holy Ghost."
Mark that; they were converted under Philip's preaching, and
received the Holy Ghost under the
preaching of brother John and brother Peter. I am trying to
show that it is a second experience.
Acts 10:1: "There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band
called the Italian band." What kind of a man was he?
Acts 10:2: "A devout man, and one that feared God with
all his house, which gave much
alms to the people, and prayed to God alway." Some
people 'would have us believe that this man
was yet a sinner. Well, he was another remarkable sinner, if
he was a sinner, a devout sinner,
"praying to God alway, and giving much alms to the
people," and it was the praying and giving of faith, for it came up as a
memorial before God:
Acts 10:3-4: "He saw in a vision, evidently about the
ninth hour of the day, an angel of God coming to him, and saying unto him,
Cornelius, And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and
said: What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers
and thine alms are come up for a
memorial before God." Notice that his prayer was heard,
and God answered it, too. And then you
remember how Peter was directed to go down there and
minister to them, and, after Peter arrived, Cornelius relates his experience:
Acts 10:30-3 1: "And Cornelius said, Four days ago I
was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and,
behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, and said, Cornelius, thy
prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of
God." What
want you to notice is what Peter said:
Acts 10:34-35: "Then Peter opened his mouth and said,
Of a truth I perceive that God is no
respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth
Him, and worketh righteousness, is
accepted with Him." Is not that virtually a testimony
of Peter to the effect that Cornelius -was
accepted with God?
Acts 10:44-45: "While Peter yet spake these words, the
Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the Word. And they of the circumcision
which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the
Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost." For they
heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. "For
they heard them speak." You 'will observe this is a speaking blessing. The
point I want you to notice is that the Holy Ghost came upon a just man, a
devout man, and one that feared God, and prayed to God alway, and gave much
alms to the people, and that he fasted to the ninth hour, and had a vision from
God, and a testimony of God to his acceptance; that after this the Holy Ghost
came upon him as a second blessing.
Acts 19:1: "And it came to pass that, while Apollos was
at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus, and finding certain disciples." Finding certain sinners?
No! "Disciples."
Acts 19:2: "He said unto them, Have ye received the
Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as
heard whether there be any Holy Ghost." The revised
version has doubtless the more correct rendering. "We
have not yet so much as heard whether the
Holy Ghost was given." You need to remember they were
John's converts, and John preached the
baptism of the Holy Ghost; so it is reasonable to suppose
they had heard about the Holy Ghost
under John's preaching, but "We have not heard whether
the Holy Ghost was given." They had
believed, and were disciples and been baptized.
Acts 19:3, 4, 5, 6: "And he said unto them, Unto what
then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John
verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that
they should believe on Him which should come after him, that is, on Christ
Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they
spake with tongues, and
prophesied." "And they spake with tongues."
It is a speaking blessing. "And all the men were about twelve."
"Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?" That is the
thought. It is a second experience in every instance.
Now let us inquire as to the real purport and meaning of
this baptism as relating to the
individual experience. I wish to take the position that the
primary object of the baptism of the Holy Ghost is the purification of the
heart. To prove that we need to come to Acts 11, where Peter refers to his
visit to the house of Cornelius:
Acts 11:: "And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell
on them, as on us at the beginning,"
''As on us at the beginning.
Acts 1:17: "Forasmuch then as God gave them the like
gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, what was I that
I could withstand God?" "The like gift as He did
unto us." "The Holy Ghost came on them as on us at
the beginning."
Acts 15:8: "And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare
them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us." He is
saying that the house of Cornelius had been given the Holy Ghost "even as
He did unto us." There was no difference whatever. The like gift,
"even as He did unto us at the beginning."
Acts 15:9: "And. put no difference between us and them,
purifying their hearts by faith."
Put no difference between the house of Cornelius and those
on the day of Pentecost; pardoning all their sins, is that it? Purifying their
hearts by f-a-i-t-h growth? Peter was saying that exactly the same thing had
happened to the house of Cornelius as to them at the Pentecost, and God gave
them the like gift, and put no difference between them. Exactly the same thing;
what was it? The
"purifying of their hearts by faith." The thought
is God gave them the Holy Ghost, and the baptism of tile Holy Ghost was for
the purifying of their hearts by faith.
Says someone, but that was just for the early church; that
was just for the apostles. I heard a
company of Christian men and women say not more than three
weeks ago, that no man could or did receive the Holy Ghost in this day; it was
simply for the early church and the apostles. I would have you turn to:
Acts 2:39: "For the promise is unto you, and to your
children, and to all that are afar off, even as many -as the Lord our God shall
call." "To you, to your children, and to all that are afar off."
I was a good way off, but I arrived in time. "Even as many as the Lord our
God shall call." And He has called me. That is not only to the early
church but to all Christians.
I insist that the primary object of the baptism with the
Holy Ghost was the purification of
the heart. Another phase, or aspect, of this experience, is
the enduement of power:
Acts 1:8: "But ye shall receive power after that the
Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the
earth." The marginal rendering is the better: "Ye shall receive the
power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you." The Holy Ghost is the power.
Some teach that this was simply power for service, but I contend they had power
for service before the Pentecost, when Jesus had spoken to them in Luke 10 19:
"I give unto you power over all the power of the enemy." They had
power to heal the sick; they had power to perform miracles; they had power for
service.
This word "witness" in the eighth verse is the
same word that is translated elsewhere "martyr," and the Greek word
is "marturos," -- the same word from which martyr is derived is here
translated witness, And that may give us some key to the nature of this power.
There is the word in the Greek, "dynamis," from which we have our word
dynamite, signifying power. The nature of dynamite is to explode, and to tear
things up in general; but the "marturos" power is the power to be
patient, gentle, kind under trial, and if need be, to suffer martyrdom. Peter
had the dynamite
power before Pentecost, but he lacked the
"marturos" power.
We need marturos power in our daily lives, as we meet with
the trials, and perplexities, and temptations; We need power to keep us patient
and victorious. The facts are that all of us, I
presume, had rather be swallowed by a whale than simply be
nibbled to death by minnows, It is
under these petty little trials these nagging, trying,
testing things that people go down. It takes more power to be kind and gentle
and loving, and patient under trial than it does to do some powerful shouting
in a big meeting. I have known men who could do powerful shouting in a revival
meeting, who were powerfully weak when they got home and had to contend with
the trials of life, I had rather have the marturos power than the dynamite
power. The primary object of the baptism with the Holy Ghost was not power but
purity; it is the power of purity that is promised in connection with this
baptism. Purity is power. Multitudes of people are praying: "Lord give us
power," and want the baptism of power for service. If you will consent to
the purification of your heart, the sanctifying of your nature, burning out of
the dross of carnality, and so have inbred sin, eliminated, expurgated,
eradicated, exterminated and the "old man," crucified and destroyed,
I will guarantee the filling and enduement of power. It is folly for a man to
oppose the sanctification and purification of the heart and yet cry for power
for service.
I want to bring another thought in this connection. I want
you to view the life of Christ a
moment in relation to the Spirit:
Matt. 1:20: "But while he thought on these things,
behold the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou
son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife:
for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy
Ghost." The marginal rendering has it: "begotten
of the Holy Ghost." Jesus was the Son of God in His
very conception, being "begotten of the Holy Ghost." But when He was
thirty years of age He met John, and was baptized by him.
Matt, 3:15-16: "And Jesus answering said unto him:
Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.
Then he suffered Him. And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out
of the water: and lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and he saw the Spirit
of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him." After He had
fulfilled all righteousness at the age of thirty, He received the distinctive
gift of the Holy Ghost, spoken of as the anointing of the Spirit. 'He was the
Son of God before; He was begotten of the Spirit, and now baptized with the
Spirit.
Matt. 4:1: "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into
the 'wilderness to be tempted of the devil. "Then was Jesus led of the
Spirit." Begotten of the Spirit, anointed with the Spirit, led of the
Spirit. This is the order for us: Born of the Spirit,
baptized with the Spirit, led of the Spirit.
Just a few thoughts that we gather from this scripture we
have just read: That Jesus received the same Holy Spirit, in the form of a
dove, as did the disciples on the day of Pentecost, when He came as a
"rushing mighty wind." The thought I want you to notice is that the
Holy Spirit can manifest Himself in many ways. The dove is the very emblem of
quietness; there is no noise,
no demonstration about a dove; just the subdued cooing of
peace. I wish you to recognize this truth, as it accounts for much of the
confusion among Christian people. Here are the noisy Salvationists, the noisy
Nazarenes, the shouting Methodists, etc., who have received the Spirit, and
they say they know how He comes, and they emphasize the spectacular; they say
He came down like a cyclone, and I just shouted and jumped, and had a marvelous
display of divine power; if you did not get it that way you have not got it. We
know how He comes. Why surely everybody gets it as we did. The man who was
converted behind a certain stump thinks that everybody must get converted
behind that very stump. Then here are quiet Quakers, Presbyterians, Baptists,
and others, and they say: O this shouting, this excitement, -- this is
dreadful, it is wildfire, fanaticism, extreme enthusiasm. We know how He comes;
He comes as a gentle dove, just the quiet, subdued, cooing dove. The noisy
folks unChristianize the quiet folks, and the quiet folks unChristianize the
noisy folks, who think that if He does not come In their way He does not come.
We need to remember that. He can manifest Himself in a thousand 'ways, and can
and does come like a rushing mighty wind; and that lie can and does come as a
gentle dove, I have known people who get into trouble right there; they have
wanted the experience of someone else. Some person who is naturally quiet and
reserved fancies he ought to be bold, forward, loud, demonstrative, like
somebody else, and tries to get somebody else's experience. Well that would not
fit you; not but that they might have a better experience than you have, but
your experience just fits you, it was just made to order, and suits you
exactly. while the experience of another would not fit you at all.
Now the point we need to learn is that we noisy folks will
just have to 'have patience and grace to put up with you quiet people, and then
you quiet people ought to have grace and patience
to put up with us noisy folks. Say amen!
The Holy Spirit can manifest Himself in a thousand different
ways; it is not the manifestation we want at all, it is Him we want. I have
discovered He usually comes in a way opposite to that which we would dictate.
The people who are praying: O Lord, please bless me easy, bless me easy, Lord,
and are afraid they might make a spectacle of themselves, as a rule are the
people that mop tip the floor, and dance around with their hat hanging over
their left ear on two strands of hair; those are the people that usually do the
shouting. On the other hand, the people that
want to shout are the people that must rest in faith on the
promise, to whom the Spirit comes quietly as a dove.
The danger of these manifestations is, you attach your faith
to the manifestation; if the manifestation should wane and cease, then the
blessing would be gone. That is the difficulty with
hundreds of souls who have had these manifestations; they
get the blessing, and, when the feeling, or manifestation, subsides, they say,
I have lost my experience! You want your faith attached to His promise, and
pray through until the Holy Ghost comes and manifests Himself as He may choose,
and cease to dictate as to how He should come.
Another lesson to learn from this latter scripture: When
Jesus received the Holy Ghost, He was led of the Spirit. Led of the Spirit to
come to a camp meeting to shout continually for nearly
forty years? No. "Led of the Spirit into the wilderness
to be tempted of the devil." The very next
thing on the program was a hand-to-hand tussle with the devil,
I have known people to get this
blessing and they were led into the wilderness at once, when
they became alarmed, and began to
complain and say: O my! since I was sanctified I have had
more trouble than ever before. I thought when I got sanctified I could just
shout forever, but now everything is going wrong. I claimed to be sanctified,
but when I got home, the children had been in the pantry and had the molasses
and apple butter smeared over everything; the fire wouldn't burn, husband came
home cross, and everything has gone wrong. I thought I was sanctified, but I
must have been mistaken.
They simply did not understand the program; and let me say
most emphatically, every soul that enters this experience will have its
wilderness; if not immediately, it will be somewhere along
the line, as soon as God can trust you; you will have a Waterloo, a hand-to-hand conflict with the
powers of darkness. God wants to teach you to stand by
faith. You have need of being weaned, and detached from the things of the world,
and human dependencies, and you will dome to a place where you will be allowed
to test the powers of darkness. If you will go through and be true, you will
have angel ministries after that. So don't be alarmed if you profess
sanctification and the devil has begun to show Himself. That is the program.
"Many shall be purified, made white and tried." Dan. 12:10.
That is the order. And the idea that a sanctified man is
exempt from temptation is a mistake. I want to tell you that if you ever had
any doubt as to there being a personal devil before you got
sanctified, your doubts will all be dispelled after you have
been sanctified; you will never question that any longer. It is on the
principle that the larger the treasure in the house, the greater
the effort of the thief to break through and steal. The
devil does not bother some people very much, for obvious reasons; he would not
get anything if he did; and he is reasonably sure of them to begin with; but
when you have this pearl of greatest price, have some of the real treasure of
the skies in your soul, he will be prowling around and seek to rob you; but you
may still be "more than conqueror.
That ought to help somebody here, somebody who got
sanctified since the meeting began, and has had so much temptation and trial,
and is tempted that maybe they did not get it after all
Remember the program, and stick to it; keep believing God.
Turn to:
John 16:7: "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is
expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away the Comforter will not
come unto you; but if I depart I will send him unto you." "If I go
not away the Comforter will not come into the world?"
No, "Unto you." "If I depart I will send
Him into the world?" I want you to see that "I
will send Him unto you." Many people have thought that the Holy Ghost was
a mere influence, an ethereal, something floating about in the air; they make
an errand boy out of the Holy Ghost, and want the Holy Ghost to use Him. Well
the Holy Ghost is a person; He is God, and you don't want the Holy Ghost to use
Him; you want to be so utterly abandoned to Him that He may use you; and when
He is come to you," what will happen? Read:
John 17:8: "And when He is come He 'will reprove the
world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment." Convince the world;
the Holy Ghost came to convict men; in other words: God
means to reprove and convict men by the power of the Holy
Ghost through you. A Spirit-filled
church is the proper condition for a revival; you need to
see that the salvation of your loved ones,
your unsaved friends hinges largely upon your being filled
with the Holy Ghost. The way to get
them convicted and converted is for you to get filled with
the Holy Ghost. He purposes to do it
through you. When He becomes incarnate in you, and abides in
you, something will happen. Not
only will He come, but note another thought in:
John 14: 16: "And I will pray the Father, and He will
give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever." Visit you
on Sunday, and visit you at the weekly prayer meeting? Visit you daily? No!
"Abide forever." "Shall abide with you forever." Not a mere
blessing, but "shall abide."
John 14:26: "But the Comforter, which is the Holy
Ghost, Whom the Father will send in
My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things
to your remembrance whatsoever I
have said unto you."
John 15:26: "But when the Comforter is come, whom I
will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth
from the Father, He shall testify of Me." He will talk to
you about Jesus. Testify of Jesus.
John 16:13: "Howbeit when He, the Spirit of Truth, is
come, He will guide you into all truth, for He shall not speak of Himself, but
whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak; and He will show you things to
come." "He will guide you into all truth . . . . and will show you
things to
come." "He shall abide with you." He shall
testify to you of Jesus. He shall quicken your memory, and "will bring all
things to your remembrance." ,"He shall guide you into all
truth." "He shall show you things to come." "He will
reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment." There is
a passage in Proverbs I believe that has reference to this very truth:
Prov. 6:22: "When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when
thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with
thee." You will not need to be entertained any more after that.
You will not be crying around here for your Mamma and want
to go home. Talk about being
lonesome, -- you have company. "He shall talk with
you," praise God!
How then may I receive Him?
Luke 11:13: "If ye then, being evil, know how to give
good gifts to your children, how
much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to
them that ask Him." "To them that ask Him."
Acts 5:32: "And we are His witnesses of these things;
and so is also the Holy Ghost, Whom God hath given to them that obey Him."
"To them that obey Him."
Gal. 3:14: "That the Blessing of Abraham might come on
the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the
Spirit through faith." "Receive the promise of the Spirit through
faith." Three words: Ask, Obey, Believe, That is how you receive the Holy
Ghost. Asking in obedient faith brings the Holy Ghost to every heart.
Acts 2:16: "This is that which was spoken by the
prophet Joel." "This is that." Do you know anything about that?
Well you have to have this to know anything about that. "This is
that."
Acts 2:17: "And it shall come to pass in the last days,
saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your
daughters shall prophesy; and your young men shall
see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams." Pour
out My Spirit upon the preachers? "Upon all flesh. And your sons and your
daughters shall prophesy." What does He mean by prophesy?
I Cor. 14:: "But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men
to edification, and exhortation, and comfort." "And your sons and
your daughters shall prophesy." There is one passage in the Book
that I never spend much time upon, and that is: "Let
your women learn to keep silence in the
churches." If she is not filled with the Holy Ghost it
may be best if she does keep silent; but if she is filled with the Holy Ghost
you can't shut her up, so what is the use to waste any time on that?
The point is, that, when the Holy Ghost is given, He comes
not only to the sons, but to the daughters. And the daughters are commissioned
to "prophesy: " speak "to men to edification, and
exhortation, and comfort." So we must let these women
go on preaching: "Have ye received the
Holy Ghost since ye believed?" Do you know what
Pentecost means? You ought to know as
distinctly and definitely as though you had been in that
upper room with the One Hundred and
Twenty. I am glad to tell you that I was convicted at Sinai,
converted at Calvary, and sanctified at Pentecost.
