The Baptism of the Holy Spirit — Dan Augsburger

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit

Father in Heaven, I feel the need of the Holy Spirit to help us again this afternoon. Father, it's easy to talk, it's much harder to do. The reality back in the churches is far more complicated, and I fear, Father, that I talk and I can simplify what is anything but simple at times.

So please send the Holy Spirit, guide us, direct us, draw us together. Holy Spirit, please take over what's going on so that when we leave, we will be much stronger for the time that we spend together.

For Jesus' sake, for the success of His kingdom, for the advance of the churches in the various areas throughout Tasmania, we want to be known, Father, as a church of prayer and a church taken over by the most godly form of the Holy Spirit.

In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. From the signs of the times as we begin, we need the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit that we may realize what is our obligation and have power from on high to carry out our purposes to serve God and Him only.

The Holy Spirit as Divine Helper and Teacher

But how little is said concerning the Holy Spirit, although it is a divine influence whereby we are to reach the souls of men. We should study upon this subject. We should talk of it in our families, in our meetings, and pray that we may be baptized with the Spirit of God.

And Jesus said in John 16, verse 7, He said, It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you, but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And we'll see some promises soon, but here's a list I made from John 15 through 17 of all the things that the Spirit would do.

The Spirit given to Jesus would always be with them. The Spirit would dwell with them. The Spirit would dwell in them, would teach them. I know you're writing fast. I apologize. I will, by the way, make this PowerPoint available to all of you as a PDF.

I'll be happy to send it to you. In fact, we should send a piece of paper around and everyone put their email address on it, and I can send it if they want. The Spirit would help them remember all things.

The Spirit would testify of Jesus. They would gain more from the Spirit than they would lose in the departure of Christ. The Spirit would convict the world of righteousness, of sin, judgment. The Spirit would guide into all truth, would speak of things to come, would glorify Jesus.

The Spirit, Cornelian White, was the best gift that would be given to the Church. Here's some of the things we've talked about already today, so we're not going to take time much, but the Spirit would help with knowledge.

There's this statement, when you receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, then you will understand more of the joys of salvation than you've known all your life hitherto. You shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses to me.

I like it how definite those verses are in the Bible, ye shall be witnesses. We're not going to take time to read all of these. You'll see them later. Regarding prayer, by the Spirit every sincere prayer is indicted, and such prayer is acceptable to God.

Wherever a soul reaches out after God, there the Spirit's working is manifest, and God will reveal Himself to that soul. For such worshipers He is seeking, He waits to receive them and to make them His sons and daughters.

The Spirit’s Work in Prayer, Regeneration, and Sanctification

Chadwick speaks of the fact that the Spirit filled love to pray, and prayer that is in the Spirit must always prevail. I recently found a book by a man named Edward Bickerstith, where he speaks of the help of the Holy Spirit in prayer.

He speaks of the fact that when we struggle in our prayers, one of the best things we can do is ask the Holy Spirit to help us, because that's part of His job. How many a person who has been kind of lost for words suddenly can pray, and how people who are under the power of the Holy Spirit, though their words are faltering, they've not been to lots of schools, suddenly they can pray the most beautiful, almost eloquent prayers because it's actually the Spirit that's praying through them.

That's what the Holy Spirit does. And of course, there's the promise of power. The only power that can quicken the heart into activity is the power which will give life to the dead, the Holy Spirit of God.

Hang your helpless soul upon your mediator, in and through Him and Him alone you can come to God. The Holy Spirit is your help. And there are countless quotations, and we're not going to read all of them because of the limited time we have before three o 'clock, but here's another one.

The Spirit was given as a regenerating agent, and without this, the sacrifice of Christ would have been of no avail. The power of evil had been strengthening for centuries, and the submission of men to this satanic captivity was amazing.

Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the third person, of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fullness of divine power. Skipping down a bit, it is by the Spirit that the heart is made pure.

Through the Spirit, the believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature. What an awesome, awesome gift. This is probably one of the most important quotations, I think, on the subject from Desire of Ages, page 671.

In describing to his disciples the office work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus sought to inspire them with the joy and the hope that inspired his own heart. He rejoiced because of the abundant help he provided for his church.

The Holy Spirit was the highest of all gifts that he could solicit from his Father for the exaltation of his people. The Holy Spirit was the very best gift. God takes men as they are, educates them for his service if they will yield themselves to him.

The Spirit of God, received into the soul, will quicken all its facilities. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the mind that is devotedly unreserved to God develops harmoniously and is strengthened to comprehend and fulfill the requirements of God.

The weak, vacillating character becomes changed to one of strength and steadfastness. And then it goes on. It's all about what the Holy Spirit has done. Now notice the lack of the Spirit. It is the absence of the Spirit that makes the Gospel ministry so powerless.

Not only what the Spirit does, but the lack of the Spirit that's important too. Learning, talent, eloquence, every natural or acquired endowment may be possessed, but without the presence of the Spirit of God, no heart will be touched, no sinner will enter Christ.

On the other hand, if they are connected with Christ, if the gifts of the Spirit are theirs, the poorest and the most ignorant of his disciples will have power that will tell upon hearts. God makes them channels for the outflowing of the highest influence of the universe.

It's the absence of the Spirit that makes the Gospel ministry so powerless. It's not the members, not the issues. I realize it's easily said, but it's the absence of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the breath of spiritual life in the soul.

The impartation of the Spirit is the impartation of the life of Christ. It imbues the receiver with the attributes of Christ. Only those who are thus taught of God, those who possess the inward working of the Spirit and in whose life the Christ life is manifested, are to stand as representative men to minister in behalf of the Church.

It's only as we have the Holy Spirit in our lives that we actually understand the need to have the right to stand as ministers. That's why it's so important. It's like we can't possibly succeed. None of us can.

The Promised Baptism in Acts and the Prophets

As a result of the importance of the Spirit in Acts chapter 1 verses 4 and 5, Acts chapter 1 verse 4 and 5, it's on the screen, but I like to look them up. It says, In being assembled together with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, You have heard from me.

For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit, not many days from now. They were baptized. They were told to wait for that baptism. The baptism was promised in the Bible.

In the book of Ezekiel, it speaks of the river with the water that goes out from the altar and grows bigger and bigger. I believe that's symbolizing the role of the work of the Holy Spirit. Joel 3 speaks of that as well.

In John 7, when Jesus spoke of, Come, drink of the living water, it was all the same thing. Well, the early church experienced such a baptism. First one, we've already done one verse 5. We read 2 verse 4 earlier, but it says, And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

So they received the Spirit, and then the tongue, the Spirit was the one that gave utterance to their mouths. And then in Acts 10, 44 and 45, it says, While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word.

And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. So they asked the question, Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?

And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days. The more you study about the Spirit in the book of Acts and the New Testament, the more you find it's lurking everywhere.

Now the baptism that was promised was a definite experience. Luke 24, 49 speaks of how they were going to be sent the Holy Spirit. Luke 24, 45. Jesus said, or 49 rather, Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you, but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power.

In Acts chapter 19, Paul could ask the people, Did you receive the Holy Spirit? Acts 19 verse 2, that was when he was speaking to the Ephesian church. We've already mentioned that several times today.

He said, Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? And they said, Why, we've not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit. And in verse 6, it says, Paul laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and immediately there was a response.

They spoke with tongues and prophesied. Another interesting point about this baptism, it came to individuals who had already been converted. If you read church history much, you discover that there's been big discussions on this as well.

But Acts 6, 65, or John 6 rather, 65, as just proof, and I don't need to read this, we know that Peter and the disciples were already converted by that time. Peter confesses that he's Lord in John chapter 6.

In John chapter 13, it's the time of the Last Supper, and we know that though they were growing, they were certainly individuals who had surrendered their lives for seeking to follow Jesus, though it wasn't a full experience yet.

Same in Acts chapter 8, 14 and 15, and that one I will read. It says, Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. So these are people that heard and had received the word of God.

Who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost, for as yet he had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

So they were believers, they were following Jesus, but receiving the Holy Spirit was an additional act to what had already occurred. And I see that the words went off the page at that bottom one. We won't go there, we've already mentioned it.

Transformation Through the Holy Spirit

Now, the baptism changed everyone, and the example that comes to mind is Peter. The Peter who denied Christ in the hour of his greatest need was impulsive and self-confident, differing widely from the Peter who was brought before the Sanhedrin for examination.

We all know that Peter was the guy who often put his foot in his mouth, often said things that he shouldn't have done, was offering to build tents to separate Jesus and the three and Moses, and he lied on the Mount of Transfiguration.

Notice what's said about him. Since his fall he had been converted. He was no longer proud and boastful, but modest and self-distrustful. He was filled with the Holy Spirit, and by the help of this power he was resolved to remove the stain of his apostasy by honoring the name that he'd once disowned.

His life was completely changed through the instrumentality of the Holy Spirit. It's possible. Exactly. Exactly. Which was very healthy. If men are willing to be molded, there will be brought about a sanctification of the whole being.

The Spirit will take the things of God and stamp them on the soul. By His power the way of life will be made so plain that none need err therein. The Holy Spirit will literally stamp its impression upon us.

Now, notice that the Holy Spirit brought a new understanding of Scripture. John 16, 13 says,. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth. And speaking of that kind of thing, 1 Corinthians 2, verse 10 says,.

But God has revealed it to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. And then there's a quotation of Samuel Chadwick, how the coming of the Spirit in his life suddenly helped him to understand the Word in ways that he'd never understood before.

Baptism of the Spirit also brought a new joy in being occupied for God. Acts 2, 46 and 47 speaks of how they would meet together daily, breaking bread in their homes, eating together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people, and the Lord added to their number daily people who were being saved.

There was a new joy that they had in their hearts. Acts 13, the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. And in Ephesians, Paul counsels them to be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.

Baptism also brought a new willingness to pray. We find Peter and John going up to the temple at the time of prayer, three in the afternoon. Acts 6, the apostles say, we need to give ourselves to the ministry and to prayer.

And while Peter was in prison, Acts 12, verse 5, the church is busily praying to God on his behalf. Where Jesus, I think, was doing most of the praying while he was alive, now the disciples and the apostles were busy taking up that role.

Baptism also brought a new concern for the lost. The apostles left the Sanhedrin rejoicing because they'd been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the name. We had a bit of discussion about this yesterday.

They actually reveled in the fact that they would suffer for Jesus. It's hard to understand, but that was something that, I think, may be a payment of gratitude or something. Day after day in the temple courts, from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.

And we find that Philip, for example, he's busy preaching. Also, here's more on that, and I love this one. With what burning language they clothed their ideas that they bore witness for him. Their hearts were surcharged with a benevolence so full, so deep, so far reaching, that it impelled them to go to the ends of the earth testifying to the power of Christ.

They were filled with an intense longing to carry forward the work that he'd begun. I think of William Chalmers Burns. Has anyone read anything about William Chalmers Burns? He was a revivalist, lived in Scotland in 1844, actually, right at that time.

He said his one desire would be to take the gospel to every single living person on the face of the earth. And he began in Scotland, and thousands would come to his services. Eventually he went to Canada.

In just a few short months he learned the French language so he could speak French. Came back to Ireland, felt impressed to go to China. His family was back in Scotland. He immediately left for China.

He never went home to say goodbye to his family. He just got on a boat and headed across where he lived and worked in virtual anonymity. But because he recognized the great need of the people, accidentally he ran into Hudson Taylor, and I think they only spent maybe seven months together, maybe less than that, and then they were separated again.

But it's interesting that his desire was to go anywhere and everywhere to share the gospel of Jesus with the people. I believe that was the role of the Spirit. If you want to read an amazing book of sermons, look for the Revival Sermons by William Chalmers Burns.

If you want to read multigrain spirituality of appeals, his books are wonderful, his sermons. There's only, I think, one book that's been written of his sermons. But powerful, powerful. I had the students at the seminary read that book, and they came back to me and said, you know, maybe we can preach sermons that are more intense.

In one of his sermons he talks about, if you were to go into a very popular program, you were going to like a hall, and it was absolutely necessary to get there, how you would drop everything behind you just to force your way and press into the kingdom.

He said, you know, it's not going to be you and the world going in. A lot of people, he says, will accept God as long as they can have God with it. They're even willing to put God first as long as they can have the world second.

But he says, no, God says either all or none. And it's powerful preaching. I mean, there's no doubt about where you stand when you listen to him. You don't get angry with him, though. It's just very convicting, amazingly convicting.

William Chalmers Burns, and actually it's available. I could send you a PDF of it. It's because it's in the public domain. It's called Revival Sermons by William Chalmers Burns. And his story is an interesting one.

His first revival actually happened in the church of Robert Murray McShane, who was a preacher at Dundee. And he'd gone on a trip to the Holy Land. And when he came back, he discovered that a guest pastor had actually started a huge revival in his own church.

But instead of feeling any competition, he rejoiced. And they were really partners in ministry. He recognized the true work of God. So it's a good example for us. Anyway, baptism also brought a new ability to witness.

When they heard this sound, let me just write down Burns, because I can send that to you or make sure it's available. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment because each one heard them speaking in his own language.

They had a new ability. And I love this quotation. The Holy Spirit did for them that which they would not have accomplished for themselves in a lifetime. They could now proclaim the truths of the gospel abroad, speaking with accuracy the languages of those for whom they were laboring.

Typo. Shame on me. From this time forth, the language of the disciples was pure, simple, and accurate, whether they spoke in their own native tongue or in a foreign language. That's quite amazing, isn't it?

And there are a few examples. I mentioned them while I've been here, where God truly gave the gift of tongues, the gift of languages to people. Baptism, we continue with the theme of it bringing a new boldness.

From Samuel Chadwick, the paraclete had come and they were comforted. The spirit of truth had come and they knew. The witness to the Christ had come and they became witnesses. The exeutant of the kingdom had come in power, and each found himself under authority, and speaking as the spirit gave him utterance.

Fear had gone. They no longer sat with closed windows and bolted doors for fear of the Jews. They feared no one. They were afraid of nothing. And if you want to read or listen to some amazing sermons on my website, there are some sermons by Major Ian Thomas.

I mentioned him earlier in the devotion today. I have some of his sermons. He speaks of the early church, always in trouble, but always happy, never afraid of anything. They were just so happy in Jesus that they were irrepressible, and the authorities didn't know how to deal with them.

Anyway, it brought also new power. With great power it gave the apostles witness of the resurrection, and great grace was upon them all. It also brought converts, and believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women.

What was the result of the outpouring of the spirit on the day of Pentecost? The glad tidings of a risen Savior were carried to the uttermost parts of the inhabited world. As the disciples proclaimed the message of redeeming grace, hearts yielded to the power of this message.

The church beheld converts flocking, I love that word, flocking to her from all directions. Backsliders were reconverted. Sinners united with believers in seeking the pearl of great price. Some who'd been the bitterest opponents of the gospel became its champions.

That's not bad, is that? Wouldn't it be nice to have churches where people are flocking to the church? Now, I'd like to believe that's going to happen again. What do you think? If the fields are white for harvest, they're out there, right?

That's what I pray. Anyway, so now some examples of the baptism. We know about the early church. We know how they prayed, and they came into one accord, and the Spirit was poured out on them. Later, in Acts 4, another time they were praying together, the place was shaken, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and the outcome was what?

A boldness in witnessing for God. The true manifestation of the Spirit will always result in more witnessing, I believe. Same was true in Paul's filling. Anyway, you know about Paul. It's interesting, when Ananias came, God sent him there to help Paul recover his sight and to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Conversion Stories and the Experience of Charles Finney

Some more modern examples. John Bunyan, he wrote the book, The Pilgrim's Progress. The book of the night, when God became so precious, he could scarce lie in bed for joy and peace and triumph through Christ.

Probably would have been in prison when that happened, although I'm not sure. Charles Finney. The Holy Spirit descended upon me in a manner that seemed to go through me, body and soul. I could feel the impression like a wave of electricity going through and through me.

Indeed, it seemed to come in waves of liquid love, for I could not express it any other way. It seemed like the breath of God. I can recollect distinctly that it seemed to fan me like immense wings. No words can express the wonderful love that was shed abroad in my heart.

And Charles Finney, he was a lawyer. He was the one trying to convince people not to become Christians. But he had a dialogue with a man, I think it was the pastor, who was a Christian. And eventually he was led to give his life to God.

He went out to the grove and he had this experience where the Holy Spirit descended upon him. And then he had later manifestations of the Holy Spirit back at the office. It came upon him like liquid waves of love.

D .L. Moody, we talked about it earlier. He says, The blessing came upon me suddenly like a flash of lightning. For months I'd been hungry and thirsty. And then it came as we read the first thing. Then there's George Mueller.

As to my soul, the change was so great that it was like a second conversion. The result was that the first evening I shut myself in my room to give myself to prayer and meditation of the scriptures and learned more in a few hours than I'd done during a period of several months previously.

And I've already told you about Samuel Chack numerous times, so we won't do it again. But James Brainerd Taylor, another pastor of that same era, in response to the, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean, then there ensued such emotions I'd never before experienced, always calm and tranquil.

And a heaven of love pervaded my whole soul. I had a witness of God's love to me and of mine to him. Shortly after, I was dissolved in tears of love and gratitude to our blessed Lord. The name of Jesus was precious to me.

Now, none of these people were holy rogues. These people were the most serious, sober-minded Christians you could possibly imagine. They were people who were willing to literally suffer in the worst cold to take the Gospel to other people.

I believe this was the true manifestation of the Holy Spirit. That's what we're talking about, you know, as we talk. We're not talking about the spurious thing that was out there.

But they're not Sabbath people. How could it be?

Well, for many of these people, there wasn't such a thing as the Sabbath. And secondly, it's called faithfulness to present truth. And we may be surprised by the people who are in heaven, the people who are not in heaven someday, you know.

Sadly. In fact, yeah. I appreciate the comment that Carl made. And there is...

The Bible says the Holy Spirit leads us into all truth, so... Yeah. They don't necessarily have to have it at that point. Yeah.

Actually, I was sharing this with Wayne. If you were to look at our church here and Protestantism here, what you'd find is in the 1800s, the later 1800s, that both were seeking after the righteousness of Christ.

We've had the 1888 experience, and on this side was the Keswick Movement, there was Andrew Murray, F .B. Meyers, there was William Chalmers Burns, there was George Mueller, there was Hudson Taylor. I mean, I can just go up.

And what happens is they were wanting to seek after holiness, and the more they seek after holiness, what happens? They're getting closer and closer. But right about up here, in the late 1800s, there was the Minneapolis Conference, and we got torn away a little bit, and they got pulled off into dispensationalism, and they went that way.

And I believe had they not gotten off the tracks, we could have had what we read of how Jesus could have come. Because they were both seeking after holiness, but both got diverted by Satan's instigation.

I think you'd make a fascinating dissertation Sunday to do a study of the parallel movements of holiness in our church and in the Protestant world at the same time. When were the Edmonds diverted? After Minneapolis, when they didn't really embrace rights by faith, somewhat.

I think there was a whole period there for probably 10, 12 years. Well, and I'm not... The emphasis on the Holy Spirit. I'm not...

All your statements. Yeah. Actually, apostolism. Sure. I'm not saying there wasn't a time period, but what I'm saying is that something happened where both kind of went away. I don't know if it was right then, but something happened.

I have great interest personally in the Keswick holiness movement, and it's interesting, the message that they espoused could have come out of Steps to Christ or any other book that you could imagine.

But then dispensationalists came in and they began arguing about the Second Coming, and you can see they're just kind of wandering off into the bushes. Unfortunately. Anyway. Jesus, he was baptized, and after his baptism, the dove came upon him.

Repentance, Prayer, and Surrender Before Receiving the Spirit

Right? And we've already talked about the early church. What does it mean to obtain the baptism of the Holy Spirit? For the early church, they tarried. They sought to be right with God. They sought to be right with each other.

They surrendered to be entirely God's, asked God to send the Spirit. They received the Spirit, and the rest is history. Now, there may be some other details, but I think those are some of the main points that we could agree on quite easily.

Now, here's a short statement, but it's pretty comprehensive. Much prayer and a humbling of the heart, a constant surrender of the will to God, will bring the help pledged to every worker by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

Angels of God will work for those who yield themselves to the leading of the Holy Spirit. So there are the elements. Much prayer, humbling of heart, and a constant surrender of the will to God. Do you want to have a strong Christian life?

I believe that covers the basis. Prayer, humbling of heart, and a constant surrender, a constant obedience. I wanted to share with you what others have said on the same thing. This comes from Samuel Chadwick.

He says, these are the four points that he sees. Repent. When men begin to pray for the blessing of Pentecost, the answer begins in the conviction of sin. It always begins there. The second point is ask.

There are thousands of believers who have never definitely asked for the blessing. God waits to give. But He is a God of discretion and waits to be asked. Receive. There is a point at which asking becomes foolishness.

Faith claims and takes. Obey. The Spirit filled must be Spirit ruled. We are ministers of the Spirit through whom the supply is conveyed. Those who are greatly used of God have no monopoly of the Holy Ghost.

They are mighty through God because the Spirit has a monopoly of them. Those are the steps that he saw. You notice he begins with repentance. Another fairly famous figure when it comes to revival and the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a man named Jonathan Goforth.

If you want to read a wonderful book on prayer, read by Roslyn Goforth, How I Know God Answers Prayer. It's just a short book. You can get it as a PDF on my site or on the Internet. You can also buy it in print.

It's still published. He actually came across a book of Charles Finney where Finney said, if the conditions are created, revival will follow. He says, I can create the conditions in China as much as Charles Finney in the United States.

He spent a year studying, reading the book by A .J. Gordon on the ministry of the Spirit, Finney's revival lectures and autobiography, studying the Bible, and sure enough, God began to bring revival to him.

But he always began with the acknowledgement of sin and confession. There's a book called By My Spirit where he records the revivals of Korea and the process that those churches went through, and it always starts with massive amounts of confession and repentance.

Not that he artificially did it, but the Spirit put it on people. He died a broken-hearted man because he came back to Canada where he was from, and the Presbyterian Church in Canada refused to have revival meetings that had such an emphasis on confession and repentance.

He said revival only comes one way. He was convinced of it. And so he was sad, very, very sad that they weren't interested in what he had found brought revival consistently. Anyway, so what Samuel Chadwick says there is absolutely true, and we can find other examples in history to support it.

From the Surrendered Life by Wilbur Chapman, also a wonderful book on the Holy Spirit, we must desire the double portion of the Spirit only that we may live for God's glory. In other words, when we get the Spirit, it's for the sole purpose of obeying God.

Two, we must bring clean vessels to Him. Three, the possession of the double portion of the Spirit must be our greatest desire. If we permit anything to occupy a higher place in our affections than this, the blessing will tarry.

And I told you about William Chalmers Burns who said, God will have all or none. All or none. Pretty hard when you read some of what he said, but I think he was right. And finally, we must keep our eyes constantly fixed upon Christ.

The secret of all power is with Him, and power is not an experience, but Christ is the power of God Himself. In other words, we're not looking for an experience, we're looking for a person. When we ask for the Spirit, we're asking for a person who's actually the instrumentality of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Spirit specializes in Jesus. Any comments or questions on what we've discussed there? On these steps at all. Just getting the experience. Essentially, receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit is when we choose to die to self and be emptied of our own motives and our own actions so that the Holy Spirit can literally take over our lives, and we become basically slaves to the Holy Spirit from that point on.

That's what receiving the Holy Spirit is all about. We choose to empty of ourselves, that's what the repentance is all about, so the Holy Spirit can take control. And all these people say from that moment on, you just obey.

Just obey. Just obey. Chadwick's book finishes with four words. Repent, seek, receive. Repent, ask, receive, obey. He says you want the Holy Spirit, follow those four steps. And he says on the last one, but you remember, you must always obey.

The Holy Spirit helps you, but that's what the life of the Spirit taking over is all about. Repent, ask, receive, obey. If you can pick up his book, Way to Pentecost, it's a profound, profound book on the Holy Spirit.

Well worth reading. There are other books that are much longer. His gets right to the heart of the matter. Way to Pentecost, W-A-Y, Way to Pentecost by Samuel Chadwick. And it's also on the internet if you want to find it as a PDF.

Or I could send you a copy of that too. Anyway, more steps. This came from Gerhard Terstig and he was the pietist from Germany in the late 1600s. He starts with repenting and obeying. Then he speaks of continuing advancing, walking with God, cultivating cordial relationships with other people, outward and inward collectedness.

In other words, living in the presence of God, and then waiting without losing hope. What he writes is just some of the most beautiful things on what it means to be a Christian that comes out of him. I first learned of him by poems that I would see in books from time to time.