"Dead to the world and all its toys,
Its idle pomps and fading joys."
The world masters and enslaves people who have not the Holy
Spirit. To one man it offers money, and he falls down and
worships; sells his conscience and character for gold. To another
it offers power, and he falls down and worships and sacrifices
his principles and sears his conscience for power. To another it
offers pleasure; to another learning; to another fame, and they
fall down and worship, and sell themselves for these things. But
the man filled with the Holy Ghost is free. He can turn from
these things without a pang, as he would from pebbles; or, he can
take them and use them as his servants for the glory of God and
the good of men.
What did Peter and James and John care for the great places in
the kingdoms of this world after they were filled with the Holy
Ghost? They would not have exchanged places with Herod the king
or with Caesar himself. For the gratification of any personal
ambition these things were no more attractive to them now than
the lordship over a tribe of ants on their tiny hill. They were
now kings and priests unto God, and theirs was an everlasting
kingdom, and its glory exceeds the glory of the kingdoms of this
world as the splendour of the sun exceeds that of the glow-worm.
The head of some great business enterprises was making many
thousands of dollars every year; but when the Holy Spirit filled
him money lost its power over him. He still retained his
position, and made vast sums; but, as a steward of the Lord, he
poured it into God's work, and has been doing so for more than
thirty years.
The disciples in Jerusalem after Pentecost held all their
possessions in common, so completely were they freed from the
power and love of money.
A rising young lawyer got filled with the Spirit, and the next
day said to his client: "I cannot plead your case. I have a
retainer from the Lord Jesus"; and he became one of the mightiest
preachers the world has ever seen.
A popular lad got the fiery baptism, and went to his baseball
team, and said: "Boys, you swear, and I am now a Christian, and I
cannot play with you any more"; and God made him the wonder of
all his old friends, and a happy winner of souls.
A fashionable woman got the baptism, and God gave her power to
break away from her worldly set and surroundings, live wholly for
Him, and gave her an influence that girdled the globe.
Paul said: "The world is crucified unto me, and I unto the
world." Men could whip, and stone, and imprison his body, and cut
off his head, but his soul was free. It was enslaved and driven
by no unholy or inordinate ambition, by no lust for gold, by no
desire for power or fame, by no fear of man, by no shame of
worldly censure or adverse public opinion. He had power over the
world, and this same power is the birthright of every converted
man, and the present possession of every one who is wholly
sanctified by the baptism with the Holy Ghost.
2. _Power over the flesh_. The body which God intended for a
"house beautiful" for the soul, and a temple holy unto Himself,
is often reduced to a sty, where the imprisoned soul wallows in
lusts and passions, and degrades itself below the level of
beasts. But this baptism gives a man power over his body.
God has given to man such desires and passions as are necessary
to secure his continued existence, and not one is in itself evil,
but good and only good; and when controlled and used, but not
abused, will help to develop and maintain the purest and highest
manhood. The appetites for food and drink are necessary to life.
Another desire is intended to secure the continuance of the human
race. And so all the desires and appetites of the body have
useful ends, and were given to us in love by our Heavenly Father
for high and essential purposes, and are necessary to us as human
beings.
But the soul, cut off from fellowship with God, by sin, seeks
satisfaction in sensual excesses, and the unlawful gratification
of these appetites, and so sinks to depths of degradation to
which no beast ever falls. Thus man becomes a slave; swollen and
raging passion takes the place of innocent appetites and desires.
Now, when the Holy Spirit enters the heart and sanctifies the
soul, He does not destroy these desires, but He purifies and
regulates them. He reinforces the soul with the fear and love of
God, and gives it power, complete power, over the fleshly
appetites. He restores it to its full fellowship with God and its
kingship over the body.
But while these appetites and desires are not in themselves
sinful, but are necessary for our welfare and our complete
manhood, and while their diseased and abnormal power is cured
when we are sanctified, they are still avenues through which we
may be tempted. Therefore, they must be guarded with care and
ruled in wisdom. Many people stumble at and reject the doctrine
of entire sanctification, because they do not understand these
things. They mistake that which is natural and essential to a
human being for the diseased and abnormal propensity caused by
sin, and so miss the blessed truth of full salvation.
I knew a doctor, who had used tobacco for over sixty years,
delivered from the abnormal appetite instantly through sanctification
of the Spirit. I knew an old man, who had been a drunkard for over
fifty years, similarly delivered. I knew a young man, the slave of a
vicious habit of the flesh, who was set free at once by the fiery
baptism. The electric current cannot transform the dead wire into
a live one quicker than the Holy Spirit can flood a soul with light
and love, destroy the carnal mind, and fill a man with power over
all sin.
3. _Power over the Devil_. The indwelling presence of the
Holy Spirit destroys all doubt as to the personality of the
Devil. He is discerned, and his malice is felt and known as never
before.
In the dark a man may be so skilfully attacked that his enemy is
not discovered, but not in the day. Many people in these days
deny that there is any Devil, only evil; but they are in the
dark, so much in the dark that they not only say that there is no
Devil, but that there is no personal God, only good. But the day
comes with the Holy Spirit's entrance, and then God is intimately
known and the Devil is discovered. And as he assailed Jesus after
His baptism with the Spirit, so he does to-day all who receive
the Holy Ghost. He comes as an angel of light to deceive, and as
a roaring lion to devour and overcome with fear; but the soul
filled with the Spirit outwits the Devil, and, clad in the whole
armour of God, overcomes the old enemy.
"Power over all the power of the enemy" is God's purpose for all
His children. Power to do the will of God patiently and
effectively, with naturalness and ease, or to suffer the will of
God with patience and good cheer, comes with this blessed
baptism. It is power for service or sacrifice, according to God's
will. Have you this power? If not, it is for you. Yield yourself
fully to Christ just now, and if you ask in faith you shall
receive.
"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?"