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INTRODUCTION.
I have been asked by the publishers to write a few lines introducing this
book to American Christians. I count it a privilege to be allowed to do so.
_The one thing needful_ for the church of Christ in our day, and for every
member of it, is to be filled with the spirit of Christ. Christianity is
nothing except as it is a ministration of the Spirit. Preaching is nothing,
except as it is a demonstration of the Spirit. Holiness is nothing except
as it is the fruit of the Spirit. These truths are so little taught or
emphasized as they should be, and the blessings they speak of are so little
experienced that one gladly welcomes every voice that draws attention to
them.
It is known that all do not perfectly agree as to the best answer to the
question: How to be filled with the Spirit? Some press that aspect of truth
which reminds us that the Holy Spirit _has been given_ to the church and
that He dwells in every believer, a fountain of living water. As there have
been fountains clogged by stones and earth, and only needing to be cleared
and opened up, so we have only to remove the hindrances, to yield ourselves
in perfect surrender to the Spirit in us, and the filling will come. We
must not ask God for more of the Spirit. God asks for more of us that the
Spirit may have us wholly.
Others, while admitting fully that the Spirit is in the believer, and that
He asks for a more entire surrender, yet urge that it is from God direct
that the filling of the Spirit must ever still be asked and received. God
cannot give His spiritual gifts apart from Himself, once for all. As the
divine and everlasting One, He gives unceasingly. The Spirit has not been
given as if He had left heaven. He is in God and in the church. It is from
God Himself that larger measures of the Spirit must ever be sought and
received.
Among those who hold this latter view, there is again somewhat of a
diversity in the representation of truth. On the one hand we are reminded
that it is "_by faith_" we receive the Holy Spirit, and that faith often
has to rest and to act without any conscious experience--has to walk in the
dark. Souls that are _fully surrendered_ to God are invited to claim the
promise and then to go and work in the full assurance that the Spirit is in
them, and will in His fullness work through them. On the other hand stress
is laid on the words "_we receive_ the Spirit" by faith. The difference
between believing and receiving is pointed out, and we are urged to wait
until we receive what we claim, and know that God has anew filled us with
His Spirit. "To be filled with the Spirit" is offered us as a definite,
conscious experience.
With still other Christians there is to be found what may be regarded as a
combination of these different views. They believe that a very definite,
conscious filling of the Spirit been received by some, and may be had
by all. Though from their own experience they cannot testify of it, they
still look for God to do for them above what they have asked or thought.
Meantime they know that God's Spirit is in them, and seek grace to know Him
better, and to yield themselves to Him more undividedly. They believe that
the Spirit within them is Himself leading them on to the Lord above them,
whose it is to fill with the Spirit. They have claimed in faith the
fullness; they have placed themselves to be filled; they look to their Lord
to fulfill His promise. Whether it comes in one swift moment or more
gradually, they know it is theirs.
I have written this with an eye to those who may not entirely agree with
the way in which the truth is presented in this little book. I wish to urge
all, especially ministers of the gospel, to give it a prayerful reading. I
feel confident it will bring them help and blessing. It will deepen the
conviction of the great need and absolute duty of being filled with the
Spirit. It will point out the hindrances and open up the way. It will stir
up faith and hope. And it will, I trust, bring many a one to feel that it
is at the footstool of the throne, in the absolute surrender of a new
consecration, that the blessing is to be received from God Himself.
And may this book stir up all its readers, not only to seek this blessing
for themselves, but to cry earnestly, "praying exceedingly day and night,"
"_for all Saints_," that God may throughout His whole church give the Holy
Spirit in power. It is when the tide comes in, that every pool is filled,
and all the separate little pools are lost in the great ocean. It is as all
believers who know or seek this blessing begin to pray as intensely for
each other and all their brethren, as for themselves, that the power of the
Spirit will be fully known. With the prayer that this Spirit-filled book
may be greatly blessed of God, I commend it to the study of His children.
ANDREW MURRAY.
_London, Dec. 1, 1895._
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Introduction--Andrew Murray 3
Author's Preface 9
Introduction to first Australian edition 13
CHAPTER I.
The Starting Point 17
CHAPTER II.
Every Believer's Birthright 19
CHAPTER III.
A Command to be Obeyed 21
CHAPTER IV.
Something different from the new Birth--Proved from the Case of
(1) The Apostles--(2) The Samaritans--(3) Saul of Tarsus--(4)
The Ephesians--Unclaimed Deposits 23
CHAPTER V.
Everybody's Need 29
CHAPTER VI.
Preventive Against Backsliding 31
CHAPTER VII.
How long Between the New Birth and the Filling? 34
CHAPTER VIII.
Other New Testament Names for "Being Filled with the Spirit"--(1)
Baptized with the Holy Ghost--"Baptized into One Body,"
What it means--(2) Rivers of Living Waters--(3) The Promise
of the Father--(4) Pouring Forth--(5) The Gift--(6)
Receiving--(7) Falling--(8) Coming--(9) Sealed 36
CHAPTER IX.
How Obtained?--(1) Cleanse--(2) Consecrate--(3) Claim 47
CHAPTER X.
Wrong Motives 48
CHAPTER XI.
Cleansing--A "New Heart" not necessarily a "Clean Heart"--What is
a Clean Heart?--Not Sinlessness--Blameless, not Faultless--"I
was alone in the Twilight"--Cleansing a Crisis, not a
Process 49
CHAPTER XII.
Consecration: What is it?--(1) Sanctification--(2) Surrender--(3)
Transference of Ownership--(4) Enthroning Christ 72
CHAPTER XIII.
Claiming--(1) Prayer--(2) Laying on of Hands--Claiming and
Asking--Through Faith the Blessing Made Ours--Objections
Against This 87
CHAPTER XIV.
How Does it Come?--Aorist Tense: "Were Filled," Refilled, A
Crisis--Imperfect Tense: "Were being Filled," A
Process--Present Tense: "Full," the Normal Condition--Deacons
"Full of the Holy Ghost"--Illustration of Water
Trough--Illustration of Service Pipe 91
CHAPTER XV.
Its Effects--(1) Courage--(2) Fruit of the Spirit--(3) Reach the
Masses--(4) Persecution 104
CHAPTER XVI.
May One Know that he is Filled?--(1) From the Testimony of the
Word--(2) The Witness of the Spirit--(3) Signs
Following 117
CHAPTER XVII.
May One Say that He is Filled?--Testifying to
Forgiveness--Testifying to Full Salvation 120
CHAPTER XVIII.
May One Lose the Blessing?--By Disobedience--By Neglect of the
Word--It will be Found Where it was Lost 122
THE
SPIRIT-FILLED LIFE
BY THE LATE
REV. JOHN MACNEIL, B. A.
INTRODUCTION BY THE
REV. ANDREW MURRAY
_Be filled with the Spirit_--Eph. v. 18
Chicago
THE BIBLE INSTITUTE COLPORTAGE ASSOCIATION
250 LA SALLE AVENUE
_Copyright 1896 by
Fleming H. Revell Company._
PREFACE.
I have written only for the "babes." The "full-grown," the "perfect," who
may read will kindly bear this in mind. A wide and more or less intimate
acquaintance with the Churches of Australasia has shown me the need for a
simple, homely talk, such as this little book professes to be. Many, oh! so
many of God's dear children are living on the wrong side of Pentecost,
living on the same plane as that on which the disciples were living before
they "were filled with the Holy Ghost;" and thus by their lives practically
making the sad confession, "We did not so much as hear whether the Holy
Ghost was given," or "whether there be any Holy Ghost." The object of this
little work is to call their attention to their Birthright, to the fact
that the Fullness of the Spirit is the Birthright of every believer. God
wants us to be living _this_ side Pentecost, not the _other_ side.
The substance of the following pages has been occasionally delivered as a
series of afternoon Bible Readings in connection with my Mission Services.
The frequent request that those who heard them might have them in a more
permanent form, coupled with the hope that the great blessing that has most
graciously been vouchsafed to them when spoken, might not be withheld from
them when being read, has induced me to commit them to writing.
I gratefully acknowledge help received from many sources, both in preparing
the Bible Readings, and in preparing them for publication; especially do I
owe a debt of gratitude to my beloved "fellow-worker in Christ Jesus," who
has now for many years been "a succorer of many, and of myself also," the
Rev. H. B. Macartney, M. A., Incumbent of St. Mary's, Caulfield. He has
most kindly revised my MS., penned an introduction, and encouraged me to
publish.
In "much fear and trembling," because of its inadequateness, but with
earnest and unceasing prayer to Him who has been pleased before to-day to
"choose the weak things of the world to confound the things which are
mighty"--with the prayer that He would graciously do so again, I send this
little messenger forth on its mission, trusting that the reading of it may
be as great a blessing to every reader as the writing of it has been to the
writer.
JOHN MACNEIL.
THE BIBLE INSTITUTE COLPORTAGE ASSOCIATION
(D. L. MOODY, PRESIDENT.)
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INTRODUCTION
_To First Australian Edition._
Christian reader, I pray that before you finish this little book you may
become so eager, so intense in your longings after God, that you will not
be satisfied until you are really and actually "FULL" of Him, "filled" with
the Holy Ghost.
When the Lord asked Job, in chap. xxxviii. 34, "Canst thou lift up thy
voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?" he would
undoubtedly have answered, No. We, on the other hand, with all humility,
but without the slightest hesitation, can answer, Yes. "Abundance" is the
Father's will; "abundant" are the Stores of Life in Jesus; "abounding" for
ever and ever is the Stream of the Spirit's energies.
We have only _to reflect a little_ till the truth flashes, and _then_ the
victory is all but won. We have only to consider, WHO was it that first
loved us, and called us to be His own children, when we were wandering in
sin's desert? WHO was it that first crossed the wild with a cup of living
water to slake our dying thirst? WHO now crosses that desert a second time
on our behalf with great camel loads of wine and milk? What did it cost Him
to draw that water from Salvation's well, or to buy those luxuries for
growth and power? What will one healing, stimulating draught accomplish in
us and others? How will He grieve if we decline to "buy," or hesitate to
"drink"? What, above all, will be the consequences to His glory? Oh, let us
arise! Let us "shake ourselves from the dust!" Let us drink abundantly,
Beloved! There is just now an unutterable need for "something more." Single
souls are drooping, though divinely planted. Churches are full of bones,
"very many and very dry." The world is a jungle, a forest ready for the
fire. Men, women and children form one vast continent of feeling, of
ever-increasing sensibility, with an ever-deepening, an ever-aching void.
Even the Teachers of High Truth themselves are not "abundantly satisfied"
with the fatness of God's House; they do not drink deep enough from the
"River of God's pleasures." Yes, there is a thirst not quenched; and I am
persuaded that we can only quench Immanuel's thirst when _in Him_ we quench
our own. Then let us make haste to God; let us hurry to the Stream that is
"full of water." We cannot know what the "Infilling of the Spirit" means
until we are infilled. It is a new experience. God is not thereby better
seen than before by nature's eye, but He is better understood, better
loved, better leaned on; that is what He wants, and that is enough.
Perhaps, dear reader, the pathway between you and blessing is somewhat
hidden, or your eyes are dim, or your heart is only beating with a faint
desire. If so, then carefully read this little book; read it beside an open
Bible; read it in prayer. It may be, through infinite compassion, that it
may prove a key into the "wealthy place;" it may rend the veil, scatter the
darkness, lead you to joy unspeakable, and--to power!
I have known the author long, and love him much. He is thoroughly trained
in theology; he is a first-rate preacher; his gospel for sinners is as
"clear as crystal;" and when you have read a little further, you will say
the same of his gospel for saints! He has penetrated far into the "Secret
of the Most High," and so can speak from a rich experience of his own, to
which, however, he never refers.
I cannot but express the hope that this little treatise on the
"Spirit-filled Life," may not only be widely circulated in Australia, but
also in England and America. It is fresh, it is homely, it is temperate,
it is timely, it is scriptural, it is splendid. It sets forth a Promise to
be claimed, a Gift to be received, a Command to be obeyed; and it portrays
the sequel--more liberty, more peace, more devotion, more fellowship with
the Son of God in His rejection by man, in His fellowship with the Father.
H. B. MACARTNEY, JR.
_St. Mary's, Caulfield,
Victoria, July 12, 1894._
THE SPIRIT-FILLED LIFE.
CHAPTER I.
_THE STARTING POINT._
Reader, are you a B. A.? This little book is only for those who possess
that degree from the King's College. If you are not "Born Again," please
put it aside, for this is our starting point in considering the Fullness
of the Spirit as the birthright of every believer. If you have not been
born again you have no right by birth to this, the chiefest of New
Testament blessings. Your first concern is to become one of the children
of God, and then you may enquire as to your inheritance. If you _are_
born again, ask that you may read with the anointed eye and with an
unprejudiced mind, for the amount of prejudice that exists against this
subject is saddening in the extreme. In nothing that he ever wrote does
John Bunyan's masterful genius flash forth more clearly than when, in
"The Holy War," he places that old churl, Mr. Prejudice, with sixty deaf
men under him, as warder of Eargate. Nothing that even Emmanuel may say
can reach Mansoul while Prejudice and his deaf men keep that gate. "There
is nothing about this in the Standards of our Church." "I have not met
with this truth in my favorite authors." "It is quite new to me, and I
never will believe it," etc., etc. These and such like, are illustrations
one meets with of how well Prejudice keeps his ward! In the name of the
Lord let us displace him, and determine to give what of God's truth may
be set forth in the following pages a fair field, no favor being asked
for. Deep-rooted prejudice is one of the causes of the appalling
spiritual poverty that abounds--yes, appalling when we consider the
treasures within our reach!