The Necessity and Possibility of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit

Shortly before Christ was received up into heaven, having committed the preaching of the gospel to his disciples, He laid upon them this very solemn charge concerning the beginning of the great work He had committed to their hands: "Behold, I send forth the promise of my father upon you; but tarry ye in the city, until ye be clothed with power from on high." (Luke xxiv:49 R. V.) There is no doubt as to what Jesus meant by the "promise of my Father" for which they were to wait before beginning the ministry which He had intrusted to them; for in Acts i: 4, 5, we read that Jesus ''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 baptised with water: but ye shall be baptised with the Holy Ghost not many days hence." "The promise of the Father," through which the enduement of power was to come, was the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. (Comp. Acts i: 8). Christ then strictly charged his disciples not to presume to undertake the work to which He had called them until they had received as the necessary and all-essential preparation for that work, the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. The men to whom Jesus said this, seemed to have already received very thorough preparation for the work in hand. They had been to school to Christ Himself for more than three years. They had heard from His own lips the great truths that they were to proclaim to the world. They had been eye witnesses of His miracles, of His death and of His resurrection and were about to be eye-witnesses of His ascension. The work before them was simply to go forth to proclaim what their own eyes had seen and what their own ears had heard from the lips of Christ Himself. Were they not fully prepared for this work? It would seem so to us. But Christ said, "No. You are so utterly unprepared you must not stir a step yet. There is a further preparation, so all-essential to effective service, you must abide at Jerusalem until you receive it. This further preparation is the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. When you receive that — and not until then — you will be prepared to begin the work to which I have called you." If Christ did not permit these men who had received so rare and unparalleled a schooling for the work to which He had so definitely and clearly called them to undertake this work without receiving in addition to that the Baptism with the Holy Spirit, what is it for us to undertake the work to which He has called us until we have received, in addition to any amount of schooling we may have had for the work, the Baptism with the Holy Spirit? Is it not most daring presumption?

But this is not all. In Acts x: 38, we read "how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil." When we look into the gospels for an explanation of these words we find it in Luke iii: 21, 22; iv: i, 14, 15, 18, 21. We find that at the Baptism of Jesus at Jordan, as He prayed, the Holy Spirit came upon Him. Then, ''full of the Holy Ghost," He has the temptation experience. Then, "in the power of the Spirit," He begins his ministry, and proclaims Himself ''anointed to preach" because "the Spirit of the Lord is upon Him." In other, words, Jesus the Christ, never entered upon the ministry for which He came into this world until He was baptised with the Holy Spirit. If Jesus Christ, who had been supernaturally conceived through the Holy Spirit's power, who was the only begotten Son of God, who was divine, very God of very God, and yet truly man, if such an one, "leaving us an example that we should follow in His steps," did not venture upon the ministry for which the Father had sent Him until thus baptised with the Holy Ghost, what is it for us to dare to do it? If, in the light of these recorded facts, we dare to do it, it seems like an offence going beyond presumption. Doubtless it has been done in ignorance by many, but can we plead ignorance any longer? The Baptism with the Holy Spirit is an absolutely necessary preparation for elective service for Christ along every line of service. We may have a very clear call to service, as clear it may be as the Apostles had, but the charge is laid upon us, as upon them, that before we begin that service we must "tarry until ye be clothed with power from on high." This enduement with power is through the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. There are certainly few greater mistakes that we are making to-day, than that of setting men to teach Sunday-school classes, and do personal work, and even to preach the gospel, simply because they have been converted and received a certain amount of education — perhaps including a college and seminary course — but have not as yet been baptised with the Holy Spirit. 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? What did the world do those ten days while the early disciples were waiting? They alone knew the saving truth, yet, in obedience to the Lord's command, they were silent. The world was no loser. When the power came they accomplished more in one day than they would have accomplished in years, if they had gone on in presumptuous disobedience to Christ's charge; so will we after we have received the Baptism with the Holy Spirit accomplish more in one day than we ever would in years without His power. Days spent in waiting, if it were necessary, would be well spent, but we shall see further on that there is no need that we spend days in waiting. It may be said that the Apostles had gone out on missionary tours during Christ's lifetime before they were baptised with the Holy Spirit. This is true, but that was before the Holy Ghost was given, and before the charge, ''tarry until ye be clothed with power from on high" was given. After that it would have been disobedience and presumption to have gone forth without this enduement, and we are living to-day after the Holy Ghost has been given and after the charge to "tarry until clothed" has been given.

We come now to the question of the Possibility of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. Is the Baptism with the Holy Spirit for us? This is a question that has a most plain and explict answer in the Word of God. In Acts ii:39, R. V., we read: "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" of this passage? Turning back to the fourth and fifth verses of the preceding chapter we read: "Wait for the promise of the Father, which saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptised with water; but ye shall be baptised with the Holy Ghost not many days hence." Again in the thirty-third verse of the second chapter we read: "Having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost.'' It would seem to be perfectly clear that "the promise" of the thirty-ninth verse must be the same as "the promise" of the thirty-third verse, and "the promise" of the fourth and fifth verses of the preceding chapter; i. e. the promise of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. This conclusion is rendered absolutely certain by the context: "Repent and be baptised 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," etc. The promise then of this verse is the promise of the gift or Baptism with the Holy Ghost. (Comp. Acts x: 45 with Acts xi: 15, 16.) Who is this gift for? "To you, " says Peter to the Jews whom he was immediately addressing. Then looking over their heads to the next generation, ''And to your children." Then looking down all the coming ages of the Church's history to Gentile as well as Jew, "And to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto him." The Baptism with the Holy Spirit is for every  child of God in every age of the Church's history. If it is not ours in experimental possession, it is because we have not taken (the exact force of the word "receive" in verse 38 is take) what God has provided for us in our exalted Saviour. (Acts ii: 33; Jno. vii: 38, 39.) A minister of the Gospel once 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." "It matters not," was replied, "what the church to which you belong or the church to which I belong teaches. What says the Word of God?" Acts ii: 39 was read: "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. " ''Has he called you?" I asked. "Yes, he certainly has." "Is the promise for you?" "Yes, it is." And it was. And it is for every child of God who reads these pages. What a thrilling thought it is that the Baptism with the Holy Spirit, the enduement with power from on high is for us, is for ME individually. But that unspeakably joyous thought has its solemn side. If I may be baptised with the Holy Spirit I must be. If I am baptised with the Holy Spirit, then will souls be saved through my instrumentality who are not so saved if I am not so baptised. If then I am not willing to pay the price of this Baptism, and therefore am not so baptised, I am responsible before God for all the souls that might have been saved but were not saved through me because I was not baptised with the Holy Spirit. I oftentimes tremble for my brethren in Christian work and myself. Not because we are teaching deadly error to men; some are guilty of even that, but I do not refer to that now. Not that we are not teaching the full truth as it is in Jesus. It must be confessed that there are many who do not teach positive error who do not preach a full gospel, but I do not refer to that. I tremble for those who are preaching the truth, the truth as it is in Jesus, the Gospel in its simplicity, in its purity, in its fullness, but preaching it "in persuasive words of wisdom" and not "in demonstration of the spirit and of power" (i 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 deadly 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 who hear, and whether it means death or life, depends very largely on whether we preach it without or with the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. We must be baptised with the Holy Spirit.

It is sometimes argued that "the Baptism with the Holy Spirit" was for the purpose of imparting miracle-working power and for the Apostolic age alone. In favor of this position it is asserted that the Baptism with the Holy Spirit was followed quite uniformly by miracles. The untenableness of this position is seen:"

(1) By the fact, that Christ Himself asserted that the purpose of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit was to impart power for witnessing — not especially power to work miracles. (Acts i: 5, 8; Luke xxiv: 48, 49.)

(2) By the fact, that Paul distinctly taught that there were diversities of gifts, and that "workings of miracles" was only one of the manifold manifestations of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. (1 Cor, xii: 4, 8-10.)

(3) By the fact, that Peter distinctly asserts that "the gift of the Holy Ghost," "the promise," is for all believers in all generations (Acts ii: 38, 39), and it is evident from a comparison of Acts ii: 39 with Luke xxiv: 49; Acts i: 4, 5; ii, 33, and of Acts ii: 38 with Acts x: 45 and Acts xi: 15, 16, that each of these two expressions, "the promise," and "the gift of the Holy Ghost," refers to the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. If we take miracles in a broad sense of all results wrought by supernatural power, then it is true that each one baptised with the Holy Spirit does receive miracle-working power; for each one so baptised does receive a power not naturally his own supernatural power, God's own power. The result of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit that was most noticeable and essential was convincing, convicting and converting power. (Acts ii: 4, 37, 41. Acts iv: 8-13. Acts iv: 31, 33. Acts ix: 17, 20-22.) There seem to have been no displays of miracle-working power immediately following Paul's Baptism with the Holy Spirit, even though he became so singularly gifted in this direction at a later day — it was power to witness for Jesus as the Son of God that he received in immediate connection with the Baptism with the Holy Spirit.