When the Holy Ghost is Come. Samuel Logan Brengle

written in Heaven. They were not of the world, even as Jesus was not of the world, for they belonged to Him and to the Father. They knew the Holy Spirit, for He was with them, working in them, but not yet living in them, for they were yet carnal; that is, they were selfish, each seeking the best place for himself. They disputed among themselves as to which should be the greatest. They were bigoted, wanting to call down fire from Heaven to consume those who would not receive Jesus, and forbidding those who would not follow them to cast out devils in His name. They were positive and loud in their professions of devotion and loyalty to Jesus when alone with Him. They declared they would die with Him. But they were fearful, timid, and false to Him when the testing time came. When the mocking crowd appeared, and danger was near, they all forsook Him, and fled; while Peter cursed and swore, and denied that he knew Him.

      But the Holy Spirit did not forsake them. He still wrought within them, and, no doubt, used their very mistakes and miserable failures to perfect within them the spirit of humility and perfect self-abasement in order that they might safely be exalted. And on the day of Pentecost His work of preparation was complete, and He moved in to abide for ever. Hallelujah!

      And this experience of theirs before Pentecost is the common experience of all true converts. Every child of God knows that the Holy Spirit is with him; realises that He is working within, striving to set the house in order. And with many who are properly taught and gladly obedient, this work is done quickly, and the heavenly Dove, the Blessed One, takes up his constant abode within them; the toil and strife with inbred sin is ended by its destruction, and they enter at once into the sabbath of full salvation.

      Surely this is possible. The disciples could not receive the Holy Spirit till Jesus was glorified; because not until then was the foundation for perfect, intelligent, unwavering faith laid. But since the day of Pentecost, He may be received immediately by those who have repented of all sin, who have believed on Jesus, and been born again. Some have assured me that they were sanctified wholly and filled with the Spirit within a few hours of their conversion. I have no doubt that this was so with many of the three thousand who were converted under Peter’s preaching on the day of Pentecost.

      But often this work is slow, for He can only work effectually as we work with Him, practising intelligent and obedient faith. Some days the work prospers and seems almost complete, and then peace and joy and comfort abound in the heart; at other times the work is hindered, and oftentimes almost or quite undone, by the strivings and stirrings of inbred sin, by fits of temper, by lightness and frivolity, by neglect of watchfulness and prayer, and the patient, attentive study of His word; by worldliness, by unholy ambitions, by jealousies and envyings, by uncharitable suspicions and harsh judgments and selfish indulgences, and slowness to believe.

      “The flesh lusteth against the Spirit,” seeks to bring the soul back under the bondage of sin again, while the Spirit wars against the flesh, which is “the old man,” “the carnal mind.” The Spirit seeks to bring every thought into “captivity to the obedience of Christ,” to lead the soul to that point of glad, whole-hearted consecration to its Lord, and that simple, perfect faith in the merits of His blood which shall enable Him to cast out “the old man,” destroy “the carnal mind,” and, making the heart His temple, enthrone Christ within.

      “Here on earth a temple stands,

       Temple never built with hands;

       There the Lord doth fill the place

       With the glory of His grace.

       Cleansed by Christ’s atoning blood,

       Thou art this fair house of God. Thoughts, desires, that enter there, Should they not be pure and fair? Meet for holy courts and blest, Courts of stillness and of rest, Where the soul, a priest in white, Singeth praises day and night; Glory of the love divine, Filling all this heart of mine.”

      My brother, my sister, what is your experience just now? Are you filled with the Spirit? Or is the old man still warring against Him in your heart? Oh, that you may receive Him fully by faith just now!

      “Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”

III.

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Is the Baptism with the Holy Spirit a Third Blessing?

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      “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