How May I Receive Him?

“That we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” — Gal. iii. 14.

THE Apostle Paul in his journeyings -*- had come to Ephesus and found there a company of twelve men who were trying in a rude way to lead a holy life. They were John’s disciples. They had been instructed by him in the doctrine of repentance, and it is supposed that they were members of the church of Corinth. Possibly because there was evidently something lacking in their testimony, or, as others have supposed, because they may have been denying the power of God in their lives or conversation, the Apostle puts to them the question, “Did ye receive the Holy Ghost when ye believed? And they said unto him. Nay, we did not so much as hear whether the Holy Ghost was.” (Acts xix. 2, R. V.) It is not for a moment to be supposed that they were ignorant of the existence of the Spirit, for they were Jews, and their Scriptures teemed with references to his work. Then, too, they must have heard John speak of him. What they meant, undoubtedly, was that they had not heard of him as the abiding Comforter; and in this they were like many of the church-members of to-day. When Jesus ascended the Spirit came. It was his

HO^ MAY I RECEIVE HIM?

work, as it is now, to take up his abode in the hearts of beHevers. David might pray, ‘’ Take not thy Holy Spirit from me” (Ps. H. ii), but it would be a betrayal of ignorance for the child of God to offer such a petition to-day. There is not a thought in the New Testament suggesting that we “may grieve him away.” What a difference there is between the Old Testament picture of the Spirit and the New Testament view of him! There he is represented as having his part in the work of creation: “And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” (Gen. i. 2.) He is there made known as the source of deliverance for his people: “And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war.” (Judges iii. lo.) He was then, as now, the spring of all strength and courage: “And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid.” (Judges xiv. 6.) But in the New Testament he is called the ‘’Comforter”: ‘’And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter.” (John xiv. 1 6.) He is called the Teacher or Guide: “When the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth.” (John xvi. 13.)

There is an illustration of this truth in the Old Testament, which another has used. In the days of the flood, when Noah opened the window of the ark, the little dove flew over the waters, and finding no place to rest the sole of its foot, it came back again to the outstretched hand. He let it go forth a second time. Flying hither and thither, it came back with an oHve leaf in its mouth. He let it go yet the third time, and it found a resting-place for the sole of its foot, and it returned no more forever. The dove generally typifies the Spirit. In this case it at least tells a story of his coming. He came in the Old Testament, breathing upon Moses, burning in Isaiah, speaking through the lips of Abraham, but in the old dispensation he is not said to abide. He came when Jesus was crucified, and plucked, as it were, the olive leaf of peace from the cross (for the olive is the symbol of peace), and bore it back to the presence of God, saying, “Peace hath been made in the death of the Son.” But he came the third time at Pentecost, with a rushing sound as of a mighty wind, and from that day to this he has never gone back. He has found his abiding-place in the hearts of beHevers.

It is interesting to notice how he is manifested, and how his coming is described. Sometimes he is represented as ‘’clothing” his chosen ones, as, for example: ‘’ Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.” (Luke xxiv. 49.) The word translated “endued “is elsewhere rendered ‘’clothed.” He is also represented as “poured out,” to indicate his freeness: “Behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you.” (Prov. i. 23.) He is represented as “filHng,” or taking complete possession of. It was predicted of John the Baptist, “He shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.”

And to be “filled with the Spirit “is far more a scriptural expression than to be ‘’baptized with the Holy Ghost.” John the Baptist, Elizabeth, Zacharias, Jesus, Stephen, Barnabas, and Paul were all “filled with the Spirit,” and we are told to be ‘’ filled with the Spirit.” (Eph. V. 1 8.) There is a distinction here well worth our consideration. To be “baptized with the Spirit “may mean a Pentecostal experience, a great rush of feeling, a change as great in the believer as the change from night to day. Not many people have such an experience, and for that reason multitudes are deprived of the real blessing of the Spirit’s presence. To be” filled with the Spirit “may be almost the opposite of such an experience as that referred to. Mr. Meyer says that you can fill a cistern with water just as surely by letting little drops of water fall into it as by pouring in great hogsheads of water. There are really two parts to the receiving of the Holy Ghost. First of all there is the baptism of the Spirit, as found in I Corinthians xii. 12, 13:” For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” The second part is described in Acts i. 8: “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and 1 unto the uttermost part of the earth.” This is power, and depends upon one’s moral condition. According to this outline, then, every child of God has received the baptism of the Spirit; he is also, because of this, a member of the body of Christ. This experience can never be repeated; so, then, it is unscriptural for the Christian to be talking about the baptism of the Holy Ghost when he has already received it: but he may be filled with the Spirit and then, because of his moral condition, lose the power of the Spirit, as we find the disciples doing. They were filled in the first chapter of Acts, and in the fourth chapter of Acts, thirty-first verse, it is said again that ‘’ they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.” If you will study the second and third chapters, you will find that the disciples had lack of courage, and for that very reason had lost their blessing; but when the Spirit came upon them again, they became possessed of the very thing in which they had been lacking. There is, therefore, one baptism, many fillings. The Holy Ghost as certainly abides in us as that Jesus Christ stands to-day at the right hand of the Father. We need only to remove the hindrances in order that he may manifest his power; so, therefore, ‘’Take ye away the stone.” I am persuaded that to be “filled with the Spirit” we must make a complete and definite surrender and then trust him to do his work. He will, doubtless, begin in some little way to manifest his presence, just as it were drop by

HOH^ MAY I RECEIVE HIM?

drop. To-day a new pathos in the voice, to-morrow a new touch of the hand, and so on day by day, till his presence in all its fullness will be a blessed reality. The first step, however, in this blessing, as the first step into the ‘’ life of the eternal,” is a step of faith. I used to be greatly troubled by the recitation of personal experiences in many of the public meetings. One would say, ‘’ I was converted such a year;” another, such a month; another, such a day or hour; and to me it was discouraging, for I could not tell the year, much less the day. But I am distressed about it no longer, and for two reasons: First, I should know I was living physically even if I did not know my birthday, and I may know that I am living spiritually even though I do not ’ know when I “passed from death into life.” My second reason is found in the fact that I have a better experience: I have had my eyes opened to the truth of the Spirit; and if you will allow me to choose between the man who has had a definite experience in conversion, and knows little of the Holy Ghost, and the man who may be uncertain as to the time of his conversion, but knows about the third person of the Trinity, I will choose the latter every time, for I am certain that I may be a Christian and not know when I crossed the line, but I cannot be a Christian with an experience of power until I know something definite about the Holy Ghost.

What vague ideas and views we have concerning him! We think of him as coming and going, with us to-day, away

//OAK MAY I RECEIVE HIM?

from us to-morrow. We pray for his outpouring. We cry out in sermon, in song, and in prayer, ‘* Come, Holy Ghost,” as if he were still in the skies, when the fact is that he abides with us ALWAYS and is nearer to us than our right hand. He may not always be manifesting his power, but that is because we have placed some hindrance in the way. In a sense, there is a two-fold bestowal of the Spirit, but it is like this, quoting from Dr. James H. Brooks in his work on the Holy Spirit: ‘’ We are told that on the evening of the same day that our Lord arose from the grave, ’ when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them. Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them. Receive ye the Holy Ghost’ (John xx. 19-22.) No one can imagine that these solemn words were uttered in vain, or that the disciples did not then receive the Holy Ghost. It makes the language and action of our risen Lord all the more significant when we remember that this is the only place in the New Testament where the word rendered ’ breathed ’ is found, and that the Saviour never elsewhere is said to breathe on any one.” The other was the bestowal of the Spirit at Pentecost, when they were qualified

HO^V MAY I RECEIVE HIM?

as witnesses. Hence there is a twofold bestowal of the Spirit: one secret and inward, within closed doors as it were; the other open and outward in its manifestations. The former is never repeated; the latter is repeated over and over according to the measure of our faith and of our desire. The former was Christ’s gift to his servants; it was a special blessing for a special purpose. The latter was in fulfilment of the promise, “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be Witnesses unto me.” (Acts i. 8.)

One word needs to be sounded over and over again if we are to be the recipients of this blessing. That word is “surrender.” The very moment we have fulfilled this condition then rest assured that he will begin the manifestation of himself. We are not to suppose that we may mark out the channel in which he is to run, for the YILL must be given up in this as in other things. It is generally supposed, however, that to be filled with the Spirit always means power from the human standpoint, and this is anything but true. It always means power; but power in the estimation of God may mean defeat in the thought of men. It is to be remembered that Peter was “filled with the Holy Ghost,” and preached the sermon at Pentecost, while Stephen was “filled with the Holy Ghost,” and was stoned to death: one was as great a victory in the sight of God as the other.

Not infrequently the children of God go mourning after this blessing and find it not, and for the reason that they are seeking the consciousness of the blessing rather than the Spirit himself. Wel have nothing to do with the conscious- /’ ness: we are to have faith in God, be- i lieving in the indwelling Spirit when with great emotion and much enthusi-; asm we are working, as well as when without either we do his bidding. Consciousness of power may be a very dangerous thing. There is hardly an old horse with which we are familiar which we would be willing to drive if that horse were conscious of his power. He could break away from us in an instant — but he is not conscious. We, have the consciousness, and he has the power, and so we guide him whithersoever we will. Let us just believe God, and let him be conscious of all that we may accomplish. It is ours just to be submissive.

I. HOW MAY I RECEIVE HIM?

First. One of the most important steps with which I am familiar is this: do not seek to know him, first of all, that you might teach or preach with power. This is not the way to the blessing. Again, do not seek to know him that you may have the peace of which others have spoken who have known him in all his fullness. This is not the first step. But rather, bid him abide in you, that, first

of all, HE MAY HAVE POWER OVER

YOURSELF. He is the fire, and will,

if allowed, burn out the dross. He is

the water, and he will keep the temple

clean. Then only may we expect to be

HO MAY I RECEIVE HIM?

used. Mr. Moody has so many times said: “God does not seek silver vessels, and he does not require gold ones for his service, but he must have clean ones.”

Second. The second step has already been indicated. It is this: SURRENDER FULLY. To give up ninety-nine parts of the nature and withhold the hundredth is to put a hindrance in the way of the blessing. If a contagious disease had been raging in a certain house, and you had a desire to live in the house, you know that you would not do it until every room had been purified. If every room but one had been fumigated, and that the smallest room, you know that you would not occupy the house. Nor will the Holy Spirit work with power in the life till it has all been surrendered to him, till it has all been made clean by true confession: then make ready for the blessing which God has promised. I can remember when God opened my eyes to this truth. I had been struggling for five years, I had had visions of his power and glimpses of what I might be if I were “filled with the Spirit,” but all this time, like the disciples at Ephesus, there was a great lacking. At last I reached the place where I felt that I was willing to make the surrender. I reached it by the path marked out by Mr. Meyer when he said: “If you are not ready to surrender everything to God, are you ready to say, ‘I am willing to be made willing, i about everything’?” That seemed easy, and alone before God I simply said, “I am willing.” Then he made the way easy. He brought before me my ambition, then my personal ease, then my home, then other things came to me, and I simply said, ‘’ I will give them up.” And last of all my ‘’will’ ‘was surrendered about everything. Then without any emotion, for, as Mr. Meyer said, it was “faith without emotion,” I said, “My Father, I now claim from thee the infilling of the Holy Ghost.” From that moment to this he has been a living reality. I never knew what it was to love my family before, I question if they ever knew what it was to love me, although we had called ourselves happy in the love of each other. I never knew what it was to study the Bible before, and why should I? For had I not just then found the key? I

never knew what it was to preach before. “Old things are passed away; “in my Christian experience, ‘’ behold, all things are become new.”

Third. The third step is found in Paul’s letter to the Galatians, where he says: “That we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” (Gal. iii. 14.) You will notice that it does not say, “That we might receive the Spirit through faith.” It is often so quoted. This would be unscriptural, for we have the Spirit. He is with us to abide forever. It is just to believe his word; and the third step is one of FAITH. We say to the man seeking Christ, and yet who hesitates because he is without feeling — we say to him, “It is faith first, then feeling after;” and so we say to all who seek the infilling of the Holy Ghost, “Receive the promise by faith.”

HOIV MAY I RECEI’/E HIM?

These steps do not of necessity follow in logical order, for the last may be first if one so desires; but the next step suggested would be this: keep your eyes fixed upon Christ. There is an Old Testament illustration of this. When Elijah and Elisha were journeying toward the place of the translation, you will remember that the people came out at Bethel, Gilgal, and other places, and entreated Elisha to tarry with them for a season, and Elijah said, “Tarry, I pray thee, here.’* (2 Kings ii. 6.) ‘’And he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee.” (2 Kings ii. 6.) ‘’ And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee.

And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.” (2 Kings ii. 9, 10.) Suddenly, as they talked, the chariot of fire appeared, and Elijah became a passenger. I suppose Elisha was too greatly surprised to speak at first; then he cried out, ‘’ My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof.” (2 Kings ii. 12.) And Elijah dropped upon him, I imagine, the old mantle, for it is said that he took it up. Suppose he had wrapped it around him, saying, “How comfortable it is!” what benefit would it have been? But he did not do this. He had his reward when the old mantle fell

Upon him. He simply stood on the banks of the Jordan and used the mantle as his master had used it, and the waters parted as before. We are given the Spirit not that we may consume him upon our own lusts, but in order that we may be in this world as Jesus himself. Do you remember his words, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that y believeth on me, the works that I do - shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father”? (John xiv. 12.) What is this but Elijah and Elisha again? Here is the secret of it all: KEEP YOUR EYES FIXED ON A TAKEN-UP MASTER. Elisha had the spirit of his master before.

I suppose he had followed him so

closely that he had absorbed the very

spirit of Elijah; but it was the double

RECEr/ED YE THE HOLY GHOST?

portion he was seeking, and that he received. So it is with us if we are in Christ: we have the indwelHng Spirit; but we need, and we must have, the double portion, and this comes with a knowledge of the Spirit, which every one may have in Christ.

II. SUGGESTIONS.

It may be helpful to ask the question, ‘’ Why have I not received him?” This may be for many reasons.

First. It may be because we have disobeyed some clear command of the Master: if at any time in the past we have broken a thread in the weaving of a garment, we need not expect to know about the fullness of the Spirit until we have made the past right with God, If it was

an unkind word spoken, an inconsistent action which caused another to stumble or fall, if it is some unforgiven sin, then make it right; and then, too, it is not enough to get right, as we often hear, but we must keep right. And there is no way by which this may be so easily accomplished as just to be quick to obey God’s least commands. Be very sensitive to his leadings and teachings; offer this prayer of David’s: ‘’ Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Ps. cxxxix. 23, 24.) Second. The second suggestion may be embraced with the first, but it is made distinct, at least for the sake of emphasis. It may be that the difiiculty is found in the fact that you have not confessed your sin. In a western city a gentleman approached the evangelist laboring in the city with this question: “Can you tell me why it is that I have no power in my Christian life? I have a class of men in the Sunday-school, and have had for three years, and have never been able to lead one of them to Christ.” The evangelist replied, “It may be because your heart is not right with God, and that you are hiding some sin.” The man’s face became pale, and then in the secrecy of the minister’s room he made his confession:” Twelve years ago I was a clerk in a mercantile

establishment in the city of P. One

night in balancing my books I had two hundred dollars for which I could not account; my books were balanced, but the money was there. The books balanced the next day and the next week, and the money was still not accounted for. Then the devil came to me to say, * Use it; no one will ever know it, and you can put it back.’ God pity me! I took it, and all these years I have had it. Here it is,” he said, handing it to the evangelist. ‘’ I cannot take it,” he said; ‘’’ you will have to make restitution.” The man sprang to his feet, exclaiming: “I can never do it. I have a position now worth twenty thousand dollars a year to me, and I should lose it if I were even suspected of being dishonest in the past.” “It is either restitution or no power,” said the evangelist. The man was still for a moment; then, rising to his feet, he exclaimed, ‘’ I will do it if I die.” He made his way to the city where the wrong had been committed, into the private office of the man against whom he had sinned, and made confession. The Christian merchant listened to his words; then, rising, he closed the door of the office, and said, ‘* Let us pray about it.” They fell on their knees, and when the prayer was offered the merchant said to him: “Go back to your work, and God’s blessing go with you. I forgive you just as freely as he does.” The man came back to his home with his face shining. The next Sunday he sat down before his class to tell them of Christ. He said to them: “I never knew till this week why it was that I could not get you for Christ. I have now found out. It was because I was not right myself.” Then, turning to his class, he made such a plea as he had never made before, and with the result that every member of his class accepted

Christ as Saviour, and a few Sunday<J after joined the church of which he was a member. It is very easy to understand why. He had simply gotten right with God, and then the Spirit, who had been abiding in him all the time, used him; and that is always the Spirit’s way. Third. Again, it may be that we have too little communion with God in his Word. Have you not always noticed that when one knew his Bible he knew the Spirit well? It is the poverty of the knowledge of the Word of God that makes us poor in our understanding of the Spirit. He inspired holy men of old to write the Book. Why should we not know him if we know his thought? When one of our Christian philanthropists was presiding, a number of years ago, at a great Peace Congress in

Washington, In the midst of their deliberations a company of Indians came in. They were asked to speak, and through an interpreter an old chief made the following remarks: “We have come here to see the Great Father, the President. We have come to ask him to help our people.” And then looking about on the crowd assembled, he said: “Our people are not like yours, our women and children are not like yours, our homes are not like yours. Can you tell the Indian,” he said, ‘’ what medicine he must take to make him right?” Then Major-General O. O. Howard, who was a member of the congress, the man who wears an empty coat-sleeve to the honor of his country, the man who is a loyal soldier of .Christ as well, sprang to the speaker’s desk, and with his one arm raised aloft the Bible, exclaiming, while every one was thrilled: ‘’ Mr. Speaker, tell him this is the Good Medicine.” And it is. It is the medicine to make right the world’s wrongs; it is the medicine to purify the heart; and to know this is to know the Spirit, while to know the Spirit is POWER. n’^.