"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon
you."
There is much difference of opinion among many of God's children
as to the time and order of the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and
many who believe that entire cleansing is subsequent to
salvation, ask if the baptism with the Spirit is not subsequent
to cleansing, and, therefore, a third blessing.
There are four classes of teachers whose views appear to differ
about this subject. There are:--
1. Those who emphasise cleansing; who say much of a clean heart,
but little, if anything, about the fullness of the Holy Spirit
and power from on High.
2. Those who emphasise the baptism with the Holy Ghost and
fullness of the Spirit, but say little or nothing of cleansing
from inbred sin and the destruction of the carnal mind.
3. Those who say much of both, but separate them into two
distinct experiences, often widely separated in time.
4. Those who teach that the truth is in the union of the two, and
that, while we may separate them in their order, putting
cleansing first, we cannot separate them as to time, since it is
the baptism that cleanses, just as the darkness vanishes before
the flash of the electric light when the right button is touched;
just as the Augean stables were cleansed, in the fabled story of
Grecian mythology, when Hercules turned in the floods of the
River Arno; the refuse went out as the rushing waters poured in.
There are three very blessed portions of Scripture which show us
that this is God's order, and two that plainly show us that
cleansing and the baptism are not separate in time.
In Psalm li. 10 and 12, David prays, "Create in me a clean heart,
O God, and renew a right spirit within me.... Uphold me with Thy
free Spirit." First the cleansing, then the filling that upholds:
for as it is my spirit within me that upholds my body, so it is
God's Spirit within that upholds my soul.
In Ezekiel xxxvi. 25 and 27, the Lord says, "Then will I sprinkle
clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your
filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.... And I
will put My Spirit within you."
Here again, the order is first cleansing, then filling.
In John xvii. 15-26, Jesus prays for His disciples, and says: "I
pray not that Thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that
Thou shouldst keep them from the evil.... Sanctify them;... that
they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee;
that they also may be one in Us;... I in them, and Thou in Me,
that they may be made perfect in one;... that the love wherewith
Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them."
Here, again, it is first sanctification (cleansing, being made
holy), then filling, divine union with the Father and the Son
through the Holy Spirit.
These Scriptures make plain the order of God's work, and if we
looked at them alone, without diligently comparing Scripture with
Scripture, as God would have us do, we might perhaps conclude
that the cleansing and filling were as distinct and separate in
time as they are in this order of statement.
But other Scriptures give us abundant light on that side of the
subject. In Isaiah vi. 1-8, we have the record of the prophet's
sanctification, and we notice that the cleansing and the filling
were not separate in time. The cleansing was not _before_
the baptism, but _by_ the baptism. The "live coal" was laid
upon his mouth, and touched his lips; and by this fiery baptism
his iniquity was taken away and his sin was purged.
In Acts x. 44, we read of Peter's preaching Jesus to Cornelius,
the Roman centurion, and his household; and "while Peter yet
spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard
the word"; and in Acts xv. 7-9, at the first Council in
Jerusalem, we have Peter's rehearsal of the experience of
Cornelius and his household. Peter says: "Men and brethren, ye
know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the
Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the Gospel, and
believe. And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness,
giving them the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us; and put no
difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith."
Here we see that their believing, and the sudden descent of the
Holy Ghost with cleansing power into their hearts, constitute one
blessed experience.
What patient, waiting, expectant faith reckons done, the baptism
with the Holy Ghost actually accomplishes. Between the act of
faith by which a man begins to reckon himself "dead indeed unto
sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans
vi. 11), and the act of the Holy Spirit, which makes the
reckoning good, there may be an interval of time, "a little
while" (Hebrews x. 37); but the act and state of steadfastly,
patiently, joyously, perfectly believing, which is man's part,
and the act of baptising with the Holy Ghost, cleansing as by
fire, which is God's part, bring about the one experience of
entire sanctification, and must not and cannot be logically
looked upon as two distinct blessings, any more than the act of
the husband and the act of the wife can be separated in the one
experience of marriage.
There are two works and two workers: God and man. Just as my
right arm and my left arm work when my two hands come together,
but the union of the two hands constitute one experience.
If my left arm acts quickly, my right arm will surely respond.
And so, if the soul, renouncing self and sin and the world, with
ardour of faith in the precious blood for cleansing, and in the
promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit, draws nigh to God, God
will draw nigh to that soul, and the blessed union will be
effected suddenly: and in that instant, what faith has reckoned
done will be done, the death-stroke will be given to "the old
man," sin will die, and the heart will be clean indeed, and
wholly alive toward God through our Lord Jesus Christ. It will
not be a mere "make-believe" experience, but a gloriously real
one.
It is possible that some have been led into confusion of thought
on this subject by not considering all the Scriptures bearing on
it. What is it that cleanses or sanctifies, and how? Jesus prays:
"Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth." Here it is
the word, or truth, that sanctifies.
John says: "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from
all sin." Here it is the blood.
Peter says: "God...put no difference between us and them,
purifying their hearts by faith." And Paul says: "That they may
receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are
sanctified by faith." Here it is by faith.
Again, Paul writes: "God hath from the beginning chosen you to
salvation through sanctification of the Spirit" (2 Thess. ii.
13). And again, "That the offering up of the Gentiles might be
acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost" (Romans xv. 16).
And Peter writes: "To the strangers... elect... through
sanctification of the Spirit" (1 Peter i. I, 2). Here it is the
Spirit that sanctifies or makes clean and holy.
Is there, then, confusion here? Jesus says, "the truth"; John
says, "the blood"; Paul and Peter say, "faith," and "the Holy
Ghost." Can these be reconciled? Let us see.
Here is a child in a burning house. A man at the peril of his
life rushes to the spot above which the child stands in awful
danger, and cries out, "Jump, and I will catch you!"
The child hears, believes, leaps, and the man receives him; but
just as he turns and places the boy in safety, a falling timber
smites him to the ground wounded to death, and his flowing blood
sprinkles the boy whom he has saved.
A breathless spectator says: "The child's faith saved him."
Another says: "How quick the lad was! His courageous leap saved
him." Another says: "Bless the child! He was in awful danger, and
he just barely saved himself." Another says: "That man's word
just reached the boy's ear in the nick of time, and saved him."
Another says: "God bless that man! He saved that child." And yet
another says: "That boy was saved by blood; by the sacrifice of
that heroic man!"
Now, what saved the child? Without the man's presence and promise
there would have been no faith; and without faith there would
have been no saving action, and the boy would have perished. The
man's word saved him by inspiring faith. Faith saved him by
leading to proper action. He saved himself by leaping. The man
saved him by sacrificing his own life in order to catch him when
he leaped out.
Not the child himself alone, nor his faith, nor his brave leap,
nor his rescuer's word, nor his blood, nor the man himself saved
the boy, but they all together saved him; and the boy was not
saved till he was in the arms of the man.
And so it is faith and works, and the word and the blood and the
Holy Ghost that sanctify.
The blood, the sacrifice of Christ, underlies all, and is the
meritorious cause of every blessing we receive, but the Holy
Spirit is the active Agent by whom the merits of the blood are
applied to our needs.
During the American Civil War certain men committed some
dastardly and unlawful deeds, and were sentenced to be shot. On
the day of the execution they stood in a row confronted by
soldiers with loaded muskets, waiting the command to fire. Just
before the command was given, the commanding officer felt a touch
on his elbow, and, turning, saw a young man by his side, who
said, "Sir, there in that row, waiting to be shot, is a married
man. He has a wife and children. He is their bread-winner. If you
shoot him, he will be sorely missed. _Let me take his place._"
"All right," said the officer; "take his place, if you wish; but
you will be shot."
"I quite understand that," replied the young man; "but no one
will miss me"; and, going to the condemned man, he pushed him
aside, and took his place.
Soon the command to fire was given. The volley rang out, and the
young hero dropped dead with a bullet through his heart, while
the other man went free.
His freedom came to him by blood. Had he, however, neglected the
great salvation, and, despising the blood shed for him, and
refusing the sacrifice of the friend and the righteous claims of
the law, persisted in the same evil ways, he, too, would have
been shot. The blood, though shed for him, would not have availed
to set him free. But he accepted the sacrifice, submitted to the
law, and went home to his wife and children; but it was by the
blood; every breath he henceforth drew, every throb of his heart,
every blessing he enjoyed, or possibly could enjoy, came to him
by the blood. He owed everything from that day forth to the
blood, and every fleeting moment, every passing day, and every
rolling year but increased his debt to the blood which had been
shed for him.
And so we owe all to the blood of Christ, for we were under
sentence of death--"The soul that sinneth it shall die"; and we
have all sinned, and God, to be holy, must frown upon sin, and
utterly condemn it, and must execute His sentence against it.
But Jesus suffered for our sins. He died for us. "He was wounded
for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities;... and
with His stripes we are healed." "Ye know that ye were not
redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold... but with
the precious blood of Christ" (i Peter i. 18, 19); "Who loved me,
and gave Himself for me" (Gal. ii. 20). And now every blessing we
ever had, or ever shall have, comes to us by the Divine
Sacrifice, by "the precious blood." And "How shall we escape, if
we neglect so great salvation?" His blood is the meritorious
cause not only of our pardon, but of our cleansing, our
sanctification; but the Holy Spirit is the ever-present, living,
active Cause.
The truth or word which sanctifies is the record God has given us
of His will and of that Divine Sacrifice, that "precious blood."
The faith that purifies is that sure confidence in that word
which leads to renunciation of all self-righteousness, that utter
abandonment to God's will, and full dependence on the merits of
"the precious blood," the "faith that works by love," for "faith
without works is dead." And thus we draw nigh to God, and God
draws nigh to us, and the Holy Ghost falls upon us, comes into
us, and cleanses our hearts by the destruction of sin, and the
shedding abroad within us of the love of God.
The advocates of entire sanctification as an experience wrought
in the soul by the baptism with the Spirit subsequent to
regeneration call it "the second blessing."
But many good people object to the term, and say that they have
received the first, second, third, and fiftieth blessing; and no
doubt they have; and yet the people who speak of "the second
blessing" are right, in the sense in which they use the term; and
in that sense there are but the two blessings.
Some years ago a man heard things about a lady that filled him
with admiration for her, and made him feel that they were of one
mind and heart. Later, he met her for the first time, and fell in
love with her. After some months, following an enlarged
acquaintance and much consideration and prayer, he told her of
his love, and asked her to become his wife; and after due
consideration and prayer on her part she consented, and they
promised themselves to each other; they plighted their faith, and
in a sense gave themselves to each other.
That was the first blessing, and it filled him with great peace
and joy, but not perfect peace and joy. Now, there were many
blessings following that before the great second blessing came.
Every letter he received, every tender look, every pressure of
the hand, every tone of her voice, every fresh assurance of
enduring and increasing affection was a blessing; but it was not
the second blessing.
But one day, after patient waiting, which might have been
shortened by mutual consent, if they had thought it wise, and
after full preparation, they came together in the presence of
friends and before a man of God, and in the most solemn and
irrevocable manner gave themselves to each other to become one,
and were pronounced man and wife. That was the second blessing,
an epochal experience, unlike anything which preceded, or
anything to follow. And now their peace and joy and rest were
full.
There had to be the first and second blessings in this
relationship of man and wife, but there is no third. And yet in
the sense of those who say they have received fifty blessings
from the Lord, there have been countless blessings in their
wedded life; indeed, it has been a river of blessing, broadening
and deepening in gladness and joy and sweet affections and
fellowship with the increasing years.
But let us not confuse thought by disputing over terms and
wrangling about words.
The first blessing in Jesus Christ is salvation, with its
negative side of remission of sins and forgiveness, and its
positive side of renewal or regeneration--the new birth--one
experience.
And the second blessing is entire sanctification, with its
negative side of cleansing, and its positive side of filling with
the Holy Ghost--one whole, rounded, glorious, epochal experience.
And while there may be many refreshings, girdings, illuminations,
and secret tokens and assurances of love and favour, there is no
third blessing in this large sense, in this present time.
But when time is no more, when the ever-lasting doors have lifted
up, and the King of Glory comes in with His Bride, and, for ever
redeemed and crowned, He makes us to sit down with Him on His
throne, then in eternity we shall have the third blessing--we
shall be glorified.
"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?"