PREPARATION FOR THE RECEPTION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

• If ye love me, keep my commandments and I will pray the Father and He shall give you another Comforter that He may abide with you forever. St. John 15:15-16.

• And being assembled together with them commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father which saith He ye have heard of Me. The Angel of God, whose I am and whom I serve. Acts 27 123.

• My times are in Thy hand. Psalm 31:15.

The baptism with the Holy Spirit is a definite and specific work. It is a specific experience Which believers are to receive. But we do not believe that it is given by the Lord Jesus unexpectedly and suddenly to any man. We do not believe it is an unsought baptism, or that it comes without any preparation of heart or mind. We do not believe it is like a flash of lightning — in a clear sky, or like the firing of a gun in times of peace; but it is more like the entrance of a king into a city that has prepared itself to receive him, or it is like the rising of the sun in the morning after the night is far spent and the morning star has been shining.

Jesus himself did not unexpectedly receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit. It was not until He had prepared Himself. It was not until He had fulfilled all righteousness and received the baptism of John.

The disciples were prepared for Pentecost. Jesus had told them time and again that if they would keep His commandments He would pray the Father and the Father would send them another Comforter.

I. The disciples were at that time good people.

What state of grace were they in? Were they Christians or not? If not Christians, then this baptism was their regeneration and justification. If they were, then this is the New Testament preparation for living and serving. I say living and serving, for many people have sought and received the baptism, but failing to see that the Lord wanted service out of them, they have lost out and some of them have gone on professing the blessing, when they have lost the reality.

1. They were regenerated. We say: “Believe on the Lord and thou shalt be saved.” They had believed on Him. They had received Him and “as many as had received Him to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them which believed on His name, “which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God They were regenerated.

2. They were adopted into the family of God. To be adopted is to have your names written in heaven. Their names were “written there on the pages white and fair.” Seventy of them returned with joy, saying that the devils are subject unto us in Thy name and Jesus said, “Rejoice not that the devils are subject unto you, but rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven.”

3. They had the full assurance of knowledge. Jesus said to them, “Will you also go away?” and Peter said to Jesus, “To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of Eternal life. We know and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.”

4. Jesus said, “The world hated them because they were not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” Jesus said to His own brothers, “The world cannot hate you,” but it hated these disciples, because they were not of the world.

5. They were ordained and commissioned. “You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit and your fruit shall remain.” “As the Father hath sent Me, so send I you. Heal the sick, raise the dead and cast out devils. Behold, I have given you power above all the power of the enemy.”

6. They were spiritually minded. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them, 'because they are spiritually discerned.” They already knew the Holy Spirit and were waiting to receive Him. Jesus said, these men were spiritually minded, and “He would send them the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him, but ye know Him, for He dwelleth with you and shall be in you.” They were not backslidden. Thomas had gotten over his doubts and said, “My Lord and my God.” Peter had repented of his denial, and had told the Lord, “Thou knowest all things, and thou knowest I love thee.” Judas had gone out and hanged himself. Some of them had eaten toasted bread and broiled fish that He had prepared with His own pierced hands. Aye, they were the best class of people that, up to that time, had ever assembled on the face of the earth.

II. This waiting signified that there was an intense desire on the part of disciples to receive this baptism.

Men do not wait for anything unless they want it. They did not go into that upper room and dismiss all care and all anxiety, or spend the time listlessly. They did not have a literary entertainment, or a social meeting, or a business meeting like an annual conference. The waiting that the disciples engaged in had all the intensity that could be concentrated on any subject. They were intensely desirous that the promises of Jesus Christ should be fulfilled in them. And they waited with earnest hearts that this baptism should come. I suppose they waited about like a mother waits for her absent child to return home after she has received word that the child is coming. I suppose the waiting was something like General Milroy had when he sent for Patterson and waited for him to come, that he might save the army of the Potomac from the great Bull Run defeat, but alas, Patterson never came. I suppose the intensity of spirit with which they waited was something like the agony of soul that the old Iron Duke had when he saw his splendid army on the verge of being annihilated. And lifting up his hand and wiping the sweat from his brow exclaimed, “Oh, that Blücher would come!” Thus the disciples went into the upper room to wait with all the agony of soul that is imaginable, and every moment that passed only increased their intensity. Every moment that passed waked up a more earnest desire that this Comforter should come to them. Charles Wesley described it in this way:

“Restless, resigned for Thee I wait,

For Thee my vehement soul stands still.”

Do you want Him to come, He will not come unless He is wanted.

III. This Waiting Signifies Earnest Seeking.

Not only was there an earnest desire on their part, but there was also an earnest seeking. God says in regard to this gift, “Yet for this thing will I be inquired of by Israel to do it for them.” If ever there was a little company of men on the face of the earth seeking for anything, that little company was the disciples that went into that upper room.

Did you ever wait all night in prayer for a blessing of God to come upon you? If you did, you know this, that after the first two or three hours you begin to get down to business. The first prayer was a very wordy one. It included many things. Your mind wandered at a great many points, and you told the Lord about a good many things during the first few hours. But when you came towards midnight, how different your prayer. You fixed your mind on the one thing for which you were really praying. Your soul held on to God with a singleness of purpose that you did not dream of during the first or the second hour of that prayer. These disciples did not think it was too long to pray twenty-four hours for the promise of the Father. They were not discouraged because their prayers were not answered immediately. They did not say, “I have sought the Lord and he has not heard me. I might as well quit.,, A great many people stop praying before they get really down to business in prayer. If the disciples had begun to waver when they went into the upper room they would have scattered before they received the blessing. They continued to pray all one day and the next, and the next, until the tenth day had arrived. They were determined to have the Blesser and the blessing, or else die in that upper room.

You will not get this baptism with the Holy Spirit until you seek it earnestly, until you fix your eyes upon Jesus and the chief desire of your life is to possess the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Are we seeking Him in this way? If we are really in earnest it will not be many days until the Holy Spirit will come upon these waiting hearts of ours.

IV. This waiting signifies earnest prayer and supplication. Prayer is the asking and supplication is telling the reasons why we pray. Praying is just prayer. When we send petitions to Congress or to the Governor of the State we say, “Whereas such and such is the case, and it is wrong, therefore, we ask,” that we may be granted this petition.

Peter could say, “I need the Holy Spirit, so I’ll never be in the way again and do things I ought not to do,” and all the others said “Amen.” John could say, “I need the Holy Spirit, so I’ll never seek the best appointment again and forbid a man to cast out devils because he was not a Methodist.” And all the rest said “Amen.” James could say, “I need the Holy Spirit so I will not call for fire from heaven on the people that don’t please me,” and all the others could say “Amen.” Thomas could say, “I need the Holy Spirit, so I can believe the brethren when they run ahead and find out something about Jesus that I don’t know,” and they all said “Amen.” Peter, James and John might have said, “We need the Holy Spirit so as not to go to sleep when great things are taking place.” They all could say, “We need the Holy Spirit so as not to be called Fools and slow of heart to believe what Moses and the prophets have written about Jesus Christ. So we all know what temper, what habit, what temptations have broken us down and why we need the Holy Spirit.”

V. This Waiting on God Signifies that they had no confidence in the flesh.

Not only does this “waiting” signify earnest seeking, but it signified the denial of self. The disciples never would have gone into that upper room if they had had any idea that they could get along without the Spirit. Jesus had said to them all along, “Without me ye can do nothing,” and now He was gone and the Holy Spirit was to take His place and they went into that upper room denying themselves, having no hope that they could get along in the Christian life and do the work they had to do, without him.

The trouble with us is that we think we can get along tolerably well without Him. We think that somehow or other we can make a little showing, do a little good, and accomplish something without Him. The disciples felt sure that when Jesus was away from them in person they could do nothing. He told them over and over again that the Holy Spirit would make them able to do things and so they abandoned themselves at the start, having no confidence that worldly experience, that worldly customs, or worldly wisdom was going to help them. We have an idea that in carrying on the work of Christ we must have recourse to worldly wisdom that we must conform to worldly customs, that we must rely on many worldly things and thus gain prestige, honor or success. Our great need is to abandon our trust in worldly things that men are accustomed to rely on, and rest alone on the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

VI. This waiting also signifies that their lives were dedicated to God, so that they could say truthfully and all the time, “Thy will, not mine, be done.’*

This consecration to God is to be eternal and made once for all. Then we are to stay consecrated, so that we can say. “I am willing to receive what Thou givest; I am willing to want what Thou withholdest; I am willing to relinquish what Thou takest; I am willing to suffer that which Thou dost inflict: I am willing to be what Thou dost require me to be; and I am willing to do what Thou dost command me to do.” There must be no reserve, nor hesitancy at any point in the Christian life, we must be willing and ready to yield at any point to the direction of the Holy Spirit.

I do not know where they commenced in this consecration. I believe the last thing they consecrated was their tongues. They were required to witness unto the uttermost parts of the earth, and this dispensation of the Spirit was to be a dispensation of confession with the mouth, and their tongues were the very hardest things to consecrate, and when they were given up, the cloven tongues of fire rested upon them. They had the same dread of confessing Christ before men that we have. Today many fear to confess Christ, even in Christian congregations where everybody believes in Him as his Savior.

The first time this consecration was broken by the disciples, it was broken by the tongue. Two of the disciples said they had sold all their property for so much when they had kept back part of the price. They promised to tell the truth. They promised that their tongues should be dedicated to God and when they violated that covenant they both died instantly. That sin killed both of them.

The tongue is an unruly member full of deadly poison. Don’t try to control your tongue. It is an unruly member, which no man can tame. James says, “No man can tame it.” You can tame a lion or a tiger, or a wild cat, but only God can tame a man’s tongue. Give your tongue over to the Lord to be tamed and to be used by Him, so that if He wants you to pray, your tongue will be loosed; if He wants you to exhort, you can exhort; if He wants you to praise, you can praise; if he wants you to shout, you can shout.

The devil has a heavy mortgage on a great many people’s tongues. They seem to have a dumb spirit. They cannot talk about the things of Jesus Christ, and the reason is they do not consecrate their tongues. They can talk about horses and dogs and property and dress, or art, or music or anything almost that comes along, but when they come to the things of Jesus Christ, they have a dumb spirit, they cannot talk. How strange it is, that we have to coax and urge people to get a testimony for the Lord Jesus Christ.* Even in a prayer meeting you can hardly get a testimony out of some people with a pair of forceps. But when you close the meeting, they will gibble and gabble, bibble and babble, twiddle and twaddle with everybody in the house over the most trivial things. What is the matter? Their tongues are not given to God. Is your tongue consecrated? I beseech you, if you have not given your voices and your tongues to God, make that consecration to-day.

VII. They Consecrated all their Possessions. I do not believe they gave up the stewardship of their possessions. They put all their possessions down on the altar and relinquished their right of ownership. They considered their possessions as dedicated to the Lord; not to be used for any other purpose. They saw, that what they had, was used for that purpose and not for something else. And when the two disciples kept back a portion of the price of a possession and would not use it for that purpose, they suffered the consequences. How many of us consecrate our possessions to God and then go on using them as if they had not been consecrated, as if we were not under obligations to spend all to the glory of His precious Name.

I think there is a good deal of deception about the consecration of property. Louis XI. once made a deed of one whole county in France — the county of Boulogne — to the Virgin Mary. He thought he was doing a pious thing, but he reserved for his own use all the revenues of the county. The Virgin Mary never got a cent. He gave the county to her and then used for his own purpose all its revenues. In the same way we dedicate our substance to God and then use the revenue for ourselves.

Ralph Wells once had a blackboard in front of his Sunday school on which he wrote these words: “See that Jesus gets it all.” What did they mean? They meant that he had a little child in the Sunday school who died that week. Before she died she called her grandmother and said, “Grandmother, I want you to get my pocket book.” Her grandmother went and got her little pocket book. She counted out all the money in it — 48 cents — and said, “This is mine. This don’t belong to papa, or mamma, it belongs to me. I have saved it all to give to the mission school and I want you to see that ‘Jesus gets it all’” She gave more than Louis XI. He did not give anything. She saw that Jesus got it all. When you put your possessions into the hands of God, see that He gets the revenue. See that God gets it all, and when He gets all it wont be long till you get all.