Chapter XX: The Baptism with the Holy Spirit (2)

But this is not all even yet. We read in Acts vii. 14-16, “Now when the Apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: who, when they were come down, _prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost_ (for as yet He was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus).” There was a great company of happy converts in Samaria, but when Peter and John came down to inspect the work, they evidently felt that there was something so essential that these young disciples had not received that before they did anything else, they must see to it that they received it. In a similar way we read in Acts xix. 1, 2, R. V., “And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper country came to Ephesus, and found certain disciples: and he said unto them, Did ye receive the Holy Ghost when ye believed?” When he found that they had not received the Holy Spirit, the first thing that he saw to was that they should receive the Holy Spirit. He did not go on with the work with the outsiders until that little group of twelve disciples had been equipped for service. So we see that when the Apostles found believers in Christ, the first thing that they always did was to demand whether they had received the Holy Spirit as a definite experience and if not, they saw to it at once that the steps were taken whereby they should receive the Holy Spirit. It is evident then that _the baptism with the Holy Spirit is absolutely necessary in every Christian for the service that Christ demands and expects of him_. There are certainly few greater mistakes that we are making to-day in our various Christian enterprises than that of setting men to teach Sunday-school classes and do personal work and even to preach the Gospel, because they have been converted and received a certain amount of education, including it may be a college and seminary course, but have not as yet been baptized with the Holy Spirit. We think that if a man is hopefully pious and has had a college and seminary education and comes out of it reasonably orthodox, he is now ready that we should lay our hands upon him and ordain him to preach the Gospel. But Jesus Christ says, “No.” There is another preparation so all essential that a man must not undertake this work until he has received it. “Tarry ye (literally ‘sit ye down’) until ye be endued with power from on high.” A distinguished theological professor has said that the question ought to be put to every candidate for the ministry, “Have you met God?” Yes, but we ought to go farther than this and be even more definite; to every candidate for the ministry we should put the question, “Have you been baptized with the Holy Spirit?” and if not, we should say to him as Jesus said to the first preachers of the Gospel, “Sit down until you are endued with power from on high.”

But not only is this true of ordained ministers, it is true of every Christian, for all Christians are called to ministry of some kind. Any man who is in Christian work, who has not received the baptism with the Holy Spirit, ought to stop his work right where he is and not go on with it until he has been “clothed with power from on high.” But what will our work do while we are waiting? The question can be answered by asking another, “What did the world do during these ten days while the early disciples were waiting?” They knew the saving truth, they alone knew it; yet in obedience to the Lord’s command they were silent. The world was no loser. Beyond a doubt, when the power came, they accomplished more in one day than they would have accomplished in years if they had gone on in self-confident defiance and disobedience to Christ’s command. We too after that we have received the baptism with the Spirit will accomplish more of real work for our Lord in one day than we ever would in years without this power. Even if it were necessary to spend days in waiting, they would be well spent, but we shall see later that there is no need that we spend days in waiting, that the baptism with the Holy Spirit may be received to-day. Some one may say that the Apostles had gone on missionary tours during Christ’s lifetime, even before they were baptized with the Holy Spirit. This is true, but that was before the Holy Spirit was given, and before the command was given, “Tarry ye until ye be clothed with power from on high.” After that it would have been disobedience and folly and presumption to have gone forth without this enduement, and we are living to-day after the Holy Spirit has been given and after the charge has been given to tarry until clothed.

WHO CAN BE BAPTIZED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT?

We come now to the question of first importance, namely, Who can be baptized with the Holy Spirit? At a convention some years ago, a very intelligent Christian woman, a well-known worker in educational as well as Sunday-school work, sent me this question, “You have told us of the necessity of the baptism with the Holy Spirit, but who can have this baptism? The church to which I belong teaches that the baptism with the Holy Spirit was confined to the apostolic age. Will you not tell us who can have the baptism with the Holy Spirit?” Fortunately this question is answered in the most explicit terms in the Bible. We read in Acts ii. 38, 39, R. V., “And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto Him.” What is the promise to which Peter refers in the thirty-ninth verse? There are two interpretations of the passage; one is that the promise of this verse is the promise of salvation; the other is that the promise of this verse is the promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit (or the baptism with the Holy Spirit; a comparison of Scripture passages will show that the two expressions are synonymous). Which is the correct interpretation? There are two laws of interpretation universally recognized among Bible scholars. These two laws are the law of usage (or “usus loquendi” as it is called) and the law of context. Many a verse in the Bible standing alone might admit of two or three or even more interpretations, but when these two laws of interpretation are applied, it is settled to a certainty that only one of the various possible interpretations is the true interpretation. The law of usage is this, that when you find a word or phrase in any passage of Scripture and you wish to know what it means, do not go to a dictionary but go to the Bible itself, look up the various passages in which the word is used and especially how the particular writer being studied uses it, and especially how it is used in that particular book in which the passage is found. Thus you can determine what the precise meaning of the word or phrase is in the passage in question. The law of context is this; that when you study a passage, you should not take it out of its connection but should look at what goes before it and what comes after it; for while it might mean various things if it stood alone, it can only mean one thing in the connection in which it is found. Now let us apply these two laws to the passage in question. First of all, let us apply the law of usage. We are trying to discover what the expression “the promise” means in Acts ii. 39. Turning back to Acts i. 4, 5, R. V., we read, “He charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for _the promise of the Father_, which, said He, ye heard from Me: for John indeed baptized with water, but ye _shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence_.” It is evident then, that here the promise of the Father means the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Turn now to the second chapter and the thirty-third verse, R. V., “Being therefore by the right hand of God exalted, and having received _of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost_, He hath poured forth this, which ye see and hear.” In this passage we are told in so many words that the promise is the promise of the Holy Spirit. If this peculiar expression means the baptism with the Holy Spirit in Acts i. 4, 5, and the same thing in Acts ii. 33, by what same law of interpretation can it possibly mean something entirely different six verses farther down in Acts ii. 39? So the law of usage establishes it that the promise of Acts ii. 39 is the promise of the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Now let us apply the law of context, and we shall find that, if possible, this is even more decisive. Turn back to the thirty-eighth verse, “And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and _ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost; for the promise_ is unto you, etc.” So it is evident here that the promise is the promise of the gift or baptism with the Holy Spirit. It is settled then by both laws that the promise of Acts ii. 39 is that of the gift of the Holy Spirit, or baptism with the Holy Spirit. Let us then read the verse in that way, substituting this synonymous expression for the expression “the promise,” “For the baptism with the Spirit is unto you, and to your children and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” “_It is unto you_,” says Peter, that is to the crowd assembled before him. There is nothing in that for us. We were not there, and that crowd were all Jews and we are not Jews; but Peter did not stop there, he goes further and says, “And _to your children_,” that is to the next generation of Jews, or all future generations of Jews. Still there is nothing in it for us, for we are not Jews; but Peter did not stop even there, he went further and said, “And _to all them that are afar off_.” That does take us in. We are the Gentiles who were once “afar off,” but now “made nigh by the blood of Christ” (Eph. ii. 13, 17). But lest there be any mistake about it whatever, Peter adds “even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto Him.” So on the very day of Pentecost, Peter declares that the baptism with the Holy Spirit is for every child of God in every coming age of the church’s history. Some years ago at a ministerial conference in Chicago, a minister of the Gospel from the Southwest came to me after a lecture on the Baptism with the Holy Spirit and said, “The church to which I belong teaches that the baptism with the Holy Spirit was for the apostolic age alone.” “I do not care,” I replied, “what the church to which you belong teaches, or what the church to which I belong teaches. The only question with me is, What does the Word of God teach?” “That is right,” he said. I then handed him my Bible and asked him to read Acts ii. 39, and he read, “For the promise is unto you, and unto your children and to all them that are afar off even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto Him” (R. V.). “Has He called you?” I asked. “Yes, He certainly has.” “Is the promise for you then?” “Yes, it is.” He took it and the result was a transformed ministry. Some years ago at a students’ conference, the gatherings were presided over by a prominent Episcopalian minister, a man greatly honoured and loved. I spoke at this conference on the Baptism with the Holy Spirit, and dwelt upon the significance of Acts ii. 39. That night as we sat together after the meetings were over, this servant of God said to me, “Brother Torrey, I was greatly interested in what you had to say to-day on the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. If your interpretation of Acts ii. 39 is correct, you have your case, but I doubt your interpretation of Acts ii. 39. Let us talk it over.” We did talk it over. Several years later, in July, 1894, I was at the students’ conference at Northfield. As I entered the back door of Stone Hall that day, this Episcopalian minister entered the front door. Seeing me he hurried across the hall and held out his hand and said, “You were right about Acts ii. 39 at Knoxville, and I believe I have a right to tell you something better yet, that I have been baptized with the Holy Spirit.” I am glad that I was right about Acts ii. 39, not that it is of any importance that I should be right, but the truth thus established is of immeasurable importance. Is it not glorious to be able to go literally around the world and face audiences of believers all over the United States, in the Sandwich Islands, in Australia and Tasmania and New Zealand, in China and Japan and India, in England and Scotland, Ireland, Germany, France and Switzerland and to be able to tell them, and to know that you have God’s sure Word under your feet when you do tell them, “You may all be baptized with the Holy Spirit”? But that unspeakably joyous and glorious thought has its solemn side. If we may be baptized with the Holy Spirit then we _must_ be. If we are baptized with the Holy Spirit then souls will be saved through our instrumentality who will not be saved if we are not thus baptized. If then we are not willing to pay the price of this baptism and therefore are not thus baptized we shall be responsible before God for every soul that might have been saved who was not saved because we did not pay the price and therefore did not obtain the blessing. I often tremble for myself and for my brethren in the ministry, and not only for my brethren in the ministry but for my brethren in all forms of Christian work, even the most humble and obscure. Why? Because we are preaching error? No, alas, there are many in these dark days who are doing that, and I do tremble for them; but that is not what I mean now. Do I mean that I tremble because we are not preaching the truth? for it is quite possible not to preach error and yet not preach the truth; many a man has never preached a word of error in his life, but still is not preaching the truth, and I do tremble for them; but that is not what I mean now. I mean that I tremble for those of us who are preaching the truth, the very truth as it is in Jesus, the truth as it is recorded in the written Word of God, the truth in its simplicity, its purity and its fullness, but who are preaching it in “persuasive words of man’s wisdom” and not “in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (1 Cor. ii. 4, R. V.). Preaching it in the energy of the flesh and not in the power of the Holy Spirit. There is nothing more death dealing than the Gospel without the Spirit’s power. “The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.” It is awfully solemn business preaching the Gospel either from the pulpit or in more quiet ways. It means death or life to those that hear, and whether it means death or life depends very largely on whether we preach it with or without the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

WE MUST BE BAPTISED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT.

Even after one has been baptized with the Holy Spirit, no matter how definite that baptism may be, he needs to be filled again and again with the Spirit. This is the clear teaching of the New Testament. We read in Acts ii. 4, “_They were all filled_ with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Now one of those who was present on this occasion and who therefore was filled at this time with the Holy Spirit was Peter. Indeed, he stands forth most prominently in the chapter as a man baptized with the Holy Spirit. But we read in Acts iv. 8, “Then Peter, _filled with the Holy Ghost_, said unto them, etc.” Here we read again that Peter was filled with the Holy Ghost. Further down in the chapter we read, in the thirty-first verse, that being assembled together and praying, they were “_all filled with the Holy Ghost_, and they spake the Word of God with boldness.” We are expressly told in the context that two of those present were John and Peter. Here then was _a third instance in which Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit_. It is not enough that one be filled with the Holy Spirit once. We, need a new filling for each new emergency of Christian service. The failure to realize this need of constant refillings with the Holy Spirit has led to many a man who at one time was greatly used of God, being utterly laid aside. There are many to-day who once knew what it was to work in the power of the Holy Spirit who have lost their unction and their power. I do not say that the Holy Spirit has left them—I do not believe He has—but the manifestation of His presence and power has gone. One of the saddest sights among us to-day is that of the men and women who once toiled for the Master in the mighty power of the Holy Spirit who are now practically of no use, or even a hindrance to the work, because they are trying to go in the power of the blessing received a year or five years or twenty years ago. For each new service that is to be conducted, for each new soul that is to be dealt with, for each new work for Christ that is to be performed, for each new day and each new emergency of Christian life and service, we should seek and obtain a new filling with the Holy Spirit. We must not “neglect” the gift that is in us (1 Tim. iv. 14), but on the contrary “kindle anew” or “stir into flame” this gift (1 Tim. i. 6, R. V., margin). Repeated fillings with the Holy Spirit are necessary to continuance and increase of power.

The question may arise, “Shall we call these new fillings with the Holy Spirit ‘fresh baptisms’ with the Holy Spirit?” To this we would answer, the expression “baptism” is never used in the Scriptures of a second experience and there is something of an initiatory character in the very thought of baptism, so if one wishes to be precisely Biblical, it would seem to be better not to use the term “baptism” of a second experience but to limit it to the first experience. On the other hand “_filled_ with the Holy Spirit” is used in Acts ii. 4, to describe the experience promised in Acts i. 5, where the words used are “Ye shall be _baptized with the Holy Ghost_.” And it is evident from this and from other passages that the two expressions are to a large extent practically synonymous. However, if we confine the expression “baptism with the Holy Spirit” to our first experience, we shall be more exactly Biblical and it would be well to speak of one baptism but many fillings. But I would a great deal rather that one should speak about new or fresh baptisms with the Holy Spirit, standing for the all-important truth that we need repeated fillings with the Holy Spirit, than that he should so insist on exact phraseology that he would lose sight of the truth that repeated fillings are needed, _i. e._, I would rather have the right experience by a wrong name, than the wrong experience by the right name. This much is as clear as day, that we need to be filled again and again and again with the Holy Spirit. I am sometimes asked, “Have you received _the second blessing_?” Yes, and the third and the fourth and the fifth and hundreds beside, and I am looking for a new blessing to-day.

We come now to the question of first practical importance, namely, WHAT MUST ONE DO IN ORDER TO OBTAIN THE BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT? This question is answered in the plainest and most positive way in the Bible. A plain path is laid down in the Bible consisting of a few simple steps that any one can take, and it is absolutely certain that any one who takes these steps will enter into the blessing. This is, of course, a very positive statement, and we would not dare be so positive if the Bible were not equally positive. But what right have we to be uncertain when the Word of God is positive? There are seven steps in this path:

1. The first step is that we _accept Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Lord_. We read in Acts ii. 38, R. V., “Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Is not this statement as positive as that which we made above? Peter says that if we do certain things, the result will be, “Ye _shall receive_ the gift of the Holy Ghost.” All seven steps are in this passage, but we shall refer later to other passages as throwing light upon this. The first two steps are in the word “repent.” “_Repent_ ye,” said Peter. What does it mean to repent? The Greek word for repentance means “an afterthought” or “change of mind.” To repent then means to change your mind. But change your mind about what? About three things; about God, about Jesus Christ, about sin. What the change of mind is about in any given instance must be determined by the context. As determined by the context in the present case, the change of mind is primarily about Jesus Christ. Peter had just said in the thirty-sixth verse, R. V., “Let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified. When they heard this, they were pricked in their heart,” as well they might be, “and said unto Peter and the rest of the Apostles, Brethren, what shall we do?” Then it was that Peter said, “Repent ye,” “Change your mind about Jesus, change your mind from that attitude of mind that rejected Him and crucified Him to that attitude of mind that accepts Him as Lord and King and Saviour.” This then is the first step towards receiving the baptism with the Holy Spirit; receive Jesus as Saviour and Lord; first of all receive Him as your Saviour. Have you done that?

What does it mean to receive Jesus as Saviour? It means to accept Him as the One who bore our sins in our place on the cross (Gal. iii. 13; 2 Cor. v. 21) and to trust God to forgive us because Jesus Christ died in our place. It means to rest all our hope of acceptance before God upon the finished work of Christ upon the cross of Calvary. There are many who profess to be Christians who have not done this. When you go to many who call themselves Christians and ask them if they are saved, they reply, “Yes.” Then if you put to them the question “Upon what are you resting as the ground of your salvation?” they will reply something like this, “I go to church; I say my prayers, I read my Bible, I have been baptized, I have united with the church, I partake of the Lord’s supper, I attend prayer-meeting, and I am trying to live as near right as I know how.” If these things are what you are resting upon as the ground of your acceptance before God, then you are not saved, for all these things are your own works (all proper in their places but still your own works) and we are distinctly told in Rom. iii. 20, R. V., that “By the works of the law shall no flesh be justified in His sight.” But if you go to others and ask them if they are saved, they will reply “Yes.” And then if you ask them upon what they are resting as the ground of their acceptance before God, they will reply something to this effect, “I am not resting upon anything I ever did, or upon anything I am ever going to do; I am resting upon what Jesus Christ did for me when He bore my sins in His own body on the cross. I am resting in His finished work of atonement.” If this is what you are really resting upon, then you are saved, you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Saviour and you have taken the first step towards the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

The same thought is taught elsewhere in the Bible, for example in Gal. iii. 2. Here Paul asks of the believers in Galatia, “Received ye the Holy Spirit by the works of the law, or _by the hearing of faith_?” Just what did he mean? On one occasion when Paul was passing through Galatia, he was detained there by some physical infirmity. We are not told what it was, but at all events, he was not so ill but that he could preach to the Galatians the Gospel, or glad tidings, that Jesus Christ had redeemed them from the curse of the law by becoming a curse in their place, by dying on the cross of Calvary. These Galatians believed this testimony; this was the hearing of faith, and God set the stamp of His endorsement upon their faith by giving them as a personal experience the Holy Spirit. But after Paul had left Galatia, certain Judaizers came down from Jerusalem, men who were substituting the law of Moses for the Gospel and taught them that it was not enough that they simply believe on Jesus Christ but in addition to this they must keep the law of Moses, especially the law of Moses regarding circumcision, and that without circumcision they could not be saved—_i. e._, they could not be saved by simple faith in Jesus (cf. Acts xv. 1). These young converts in Galatia became all upset. They did not know whether they were saved or not; they did not know what they ought to do, and all was confusion. It was just as when modern Judaizers come around and get after young converts and tell them that in addition to believing in Jesus Christ, they must keep the Mosaic Seventh Day Sabbath, or they cannot be saved. This is simply the old controversy breaking out at a new point. When Paul heard what had happened in Galatia, he was very indignant and wrote the Epistle to the Galatians simply for the purpose of exposing the utter error of these Judaizers. He showed them how Abraham himself was justified before he was circumcised by simply believing God (Gal. iii. 6), and how he was circumcised after he was justified as a seal of the faith which he already had while he was in uncircumcision. But in addition to this proof of the error of the Judaizers, Paul appeals to their own personal experience. He says to them, “You received the Holy Spirit, did you not?” “Yes.” “How did you receive the Holy Spirit, by keeping the law of Moses, or by the hearing of faith, the simple accepting of God’s testimony about Jesus Christ that your sins were laid upon Him, and that you are thus justified and saved?” The Galatians had had a very definite experience of receiving the Holy Spirit and Paul appeals to it, and recalls to their mind how it was by the simple hearing of faith that they had received the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Holy Spirit is God’s seal upon the simple acceptance of God’s testimony about Jesus Christ, that our sins were laid upon Him, and thus trusting God to forgive us and justify us. This then is the first step towards receiving the Holy Spirit. But we must not only receive Jesus as Saviour, we must also receive Him as Lord. Of this we shall speak further in connection with another passage in the fourth step.

2. The second step in the path that leads into the blessing of being baptized with the Holy Spirit is _renunciation of sin_. Repentance as we have seen is a change of mind about sin as well as a change of mind about Christ; a change of mind from that attitude of mind that loves sin and indulges sin to that attitude of mind that hates sin and renounces sin. This then is the second step—renunciation of sin. The Holy Spirit is a _Holy_ Spirit and we cannot have both Him and sin. We must make our choice between the Holy Spirit and unholy sin. We cannot have both. He that will not give up sin cannot have the Holy Spirit. It is not enough that we renounce one sin or two sins or three sins or many sins, we must _renounce all sin_. If we cling to one single known sin, it will shut us out of the blessing. Here we find the cause of failure in many people who are praying for the baptism with the Holy Spirit, going to conventions and hearing about the baptism with the Holy Spirit, reading books about the baptism with the Holy Spirit, perhaps spending whole nights in prayer for the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and yet obtaining nothing. Why? Because there is some sin to which they are clinging. People often say to me, or write to me, “I have been praying for the baptism with the Holy Spirit for a year (five years, ten years, one man said twenty years). Why do I not receive?” In many such cases, I feel led to reply, “It is sin, and if I could look down into your heart this moment as God looks into your heart, I could put my finger on the specific sin.” It may be what you are pleased to call a small sin, but there are no small sins. There are sins that concern small things, but every sin is an act of rebellion against God and therefore no sin is a small sin. A controversy with God about the smallest thing is sufficient to shut one out of the blessing. Mr. Finney tells of a woman who was greatly exercised about the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Every night after the meetings, she would go to her rooms and pray way into the night and her friends were afraid she would go insane, but no blessing came. One night as she prayed, some little matter of head adornment, a matter that would probably not trouble many Christians to-day, but a matter of controversy between her and God, came up (as it had often come up before) as she knelt in prayer. She put her hand to her head and took the pins out of her hair and threw them across the room and said, “There go!” and instantly the Holy Ghost fell upon her. It was not so much the matter of head adornment as the matter of controversy with God that had kept her out of the blessing.

If there is anything that always comes up when you get nearest to God, that is the thing to deal with. Some years ago at a convention in a Southern state, the presiding officer, a minister in the Baptist Church, called my attention to a man and said, “That man is the pope of our denomination in ——; everything he says goes, but he is not at all with us in this matter, but I am glad to see him here.” This minister kept attending the meetings. At the close of the last meeting where I had spoken upon the conditions of receiving the baptism with the Holy Spirit, I found this man awaiting me in the vestibule. He said, “I did not stand up on your invitation to-day.” I replied, “I saw you did not.” “I thought you said,” he continued, “that you only wanted those to stand who could say they had absolutely surrendered to God?” “That is what I did say,” I replied. “Well, I could not say that.” “Then you did perfectly right not to stand. I did not want you to lie to God.” “Say,” he continued, “you hit me pretty hard to-day. You said if there was anything that always comes up when you get nearest to God, that is the thing to deal with. Now there is something that always comes up when I get nearest to God. I am not going to tell you what it is. I think you know.” “Yes,” I replied. (I could smell it.) “Well, I simply wanted to say this to you.” This was on Friday afternoon. I had occasion to go to another city, and returning through that city the following Tuesday morning, the minister who had presided at the meeting was at the station. “I wish you could have been in our Baptist ministers’ meeting yesterday morning,” he said; “that man I pointed out to you from the north part of the state was present. He got up in our meeting and said, ‘Brethren, we have been all wrong about this matter,’ and then he told what he had done. He had settled his controversy with God, had given up the thing which had always come up when he got nearest to God, then he continued and said, ‘Brethren, I have received a more definite experience than I had when I was converted.’ ” Just such an experience is waiting many another, both minister and layman, just as soon as he will judge his sin, just as soon as he will put away the thing that is a matter of controversy between him and God, no matter how small the thing may seem. If any one sincerely desires the baptism with the Holy Spirit, he should go alone with God and ask God to search him and bring to light anything in his heart or life that is displeasing to Him, and when He brings it to light, he should put it away. If after sincerely waiting on God, nothing is brought to light, then we may proceed to take the other steps. But there is no use praying, no use going to conventions, no use in reading books about the baptism with the Holy Spirit, no use in doing anything else, until we judge our sins.

3. The third step is _an open confession of our renunciation of sin and our acceptance of Jesus Christ_. After telling his hearers to repent in Acts ii. 38, Peter continues and tells them to be “baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins.” Heart repentance alone was not enough. There must be an open confession of that repentance, and God’s appointed way of confession of repentance is baptism. None of those to whom Peter spoke had ever been baptized, and, of course, what Peter meant in that case was water baptism. But suppose one has already been baptized, what then? Even in that case, there must be that for which baptism stands, namely, an open confession of our renunciation of sin and our acceptance of Jesus Christ. The baptism with the Spirit is not for the secret disciple, but for the open confessed disciple. There are many doubtless to-day who are trying to be Christians in their hearts, many who really believe that they have accepted Jesus as their Saviour and their Lord and have renounced sin, but they are not willing to make an open confession of their renunciation of sin and their acceptance of Christ. Such an one cannot have the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Some one may ask, “Do not the Friends (‘Quakers’), who do not believe in water baptism, give evidence of being baptized with the Holy Spirit?” Doubtless many of them do, but this does not alter the teaching of God’s Word. God doubtless condescends in many instances where people are misled as to the teaching of His Word to their ignorance, if they are sincere, but that fact does not alter His Word, and even with a member of the congregation of Friends, who sincerely does not believe in water baptism, there must be before the blessing is received that for which baptism stands, namely, the open confession of our acceptance of Christ and of our renunciation of sin.

4. The fourth step is _absolute surrender to God_. This comes out in what has been already said, namely, that we _must accept Jesus as Lord_ as well as Saviour. It is stated explicitly in Acts v. 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_.” That is the fourth step, “obey Him,” obedience. But what does obedience mean? Some one will say, doing as we are told. Right, but doing how much that we are told? Not merely one thing or two things or three things or four things, but all things. The heart of obedience is in the will, the essence of obedience is the surrender of the will to God. It is going to God our heavenly Father and saying, “Heavenly Father, here I am. I am Thy property. Thou hast bought me with a price. I acknowledge Thine ownership, and surrender myself and all that I am absolutely to Thee. Send me where Thou wilt; do with me what Thou wilt; use me as Thou wilt.” This is in most instances the decisive step in receiving the baptism with the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament types it was when the whole burnt offering was laid upon the altar, nothing kept back within or without the sacrificial animal, that the fire came forth from the Holy Place where God dwelt and accepted and consumed the gift upon the altar. And so it is to-day, in the fulfillment of the type, when we lay ourselves, a whole burnt offering, upon the altar, keeping nothing within or without back, that the fire of God, the Holy Spirit, descends from the real Holy Place, heaven (of which the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle was simply a type), and accepts the gift upon the altar. When we can truly say, “My _all_ is on the altar,” then we shall not have long to wait for the fire. The lack of this absolute surrender is shutting many out of the blessing to-day. People turn the keys of almost every closet in their heart over to God, but there is some small closet of which they wish to keep the key themselves, and the blessing does not come.

At a convention in Washington, D. C., on the last night, I had spoken on How to Receive the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit Himself was present in mighty power that night. The chaplain of one of the houses had said to me at the close of the meeting, “It almost seemed as if I could see the Holy Spirit in this place to-night.” There were many to be dealt with. About two hours after the meeting closed, about eleven o’clock, a worker came to me and said, “Do you see that young woman over to the right with whom Miss W—— is speaking?” “Yes.” “Well, she has been dealing with her for two hours and she is in awful agony. Won’t you come and see if you can help?” I went into the seat back of this woman in distress and asked her her trouble. “Oh,” she said, “I came from Baltimore to receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and I cannot go back to Baltimore until I have received Him.” “Is your will laid down?” I asked. “I am afraid not.” “Will you lay it down now?” “I cannot.” “Are you willing that God should lay it down for you?” “Yes.” “Ask Him to do it.” She bowed her head in prayer and asked God to empty her of her will, to lay it down for her, to bring it into conformity to His will, in absolute surrender to His own. When the prayer was finished, I said, “Is it laid down?” She said, “It must be. I have asked something according to His will. Yes, it is done.” I said, “Ask Him for the baptism with the Holy Spirit.” She bowed her head again in brief prayer and asked God to baptize her with the Holy Spirit and in a few moments looked up with peace in her heart and in her face. Why? Because she had surrendered her will. She had met the conditions and God had given the blessing.

5. The fifth step is _an intense desire for the baptism with the Holy Spirit_. Jesus says in John vii. 37-39, “If any man _thirst_, let him come unto Me and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive.” Here again we have _belief on Jesus_ as the condition of receiving the Holy Spirit but we have also this, “If any man thirst.” Doubtless when Jesus spake these words He had in mind the Old Testament promise in Isa. xliv. 3, “For I will pour water upon him that is _thirsty_, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour _My Spirit_ upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring.” In both these passages thirst is the condition of receiving the Holy Spirit. What does it mean to thirst? When a man really thirsts, it seems as if every pore in his body had just one cry, “Water! Water! Water!” Apply this to the matter in question; when a man thirsts spiritually, his whole being has but one cry, “The Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit!” As long as one fancies he can get along somehow without the baptism with the Holy Spirit, he is not going to receive that baptism. As long as one is casting about for some new kind of church, machinery, or new style of preaching, or anything else, by which he hopes to accomplish what the Holy Spirit only can accomplish, he will not receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit. As long as one tries to find some subtle system of exegesis to read out of the New Testament what God has put into it, namely, the absolute necessity that each believer receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit as a definite experience, he is not going to receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit. As long as a man tries to persuade himself that he has received the baptism with the Holy Spirit when he really has not, he is not going to receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit. But when one gets to the place where he sees the absolute necessity that he be baptized with the Holy Spirit as a definite experience and desires this blessing at any cost, he is far on the way towards receiving it. At a state Young Men’s Christian Association Convention, where I had spoken on the Baptism with the Holy Spirit, two ministers went out of the meeting side by side. One said to the other, “That kind of teaching leads either to fanaticism or despair.” He did not attempt to show that it was unscriptural. He felt condemned and was not willing to admit his lack and seek to have it supplied, and so he tried to avoid the condemnation that came from the Word by this bright remark, “that kind of teaching leads either to fanaticism or despair.” Such a man will not receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit until he is brought to himself and acknowledges honestly his need and intensely desires to have it supplied. How different another minister of the same denomination who came to me one Sunday morning at Northfield. I was to speak that morning on How to Receive the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. He said to me, “I have come to Northfield from —— for just one purpose, to receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and I would rather die than go back to my church without receiving it.” I said, “My brother, you are going to receive it.” The following morning he came very early to my house. He said, “I have to go away on the early train but I came around to tell you before I went that I have received the baptism with the Holy Spirit.”