DIFFICULTIES IN RECEIVING THE HOLY SPIRIT.

• How can these things be? St. John 3:9.

• Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people. Isaiah 62:10.

• Make straight paths for your feet; lest that which is lame be turned out of the way. Hebrews 12:13.

• They err in vision, they stumble in judgment. Isaiah 28:7.

• Behold if the Lord would make windows in heaven might this thing be. 2 Kings 7:1.

Whenever an advanced truth is offered to the mind or heart there comes at once with the sense of newness a conviction of needlessness or unreasonableness, especially if people have lived sometime without the advanced truth. The knowledge of forgiveness of sins seems to us very reasonable and easy to be believed, but one hundred and fifty years ago it was considered to be the wildest fanatisicm. Wesley records the fact that men were imprisoned because they declared that they knew their sins were forgiven, and the Methodists were sneered at and insulted on every hand, because they held that men might know their sins were taken away.

The experience of perfect love, or the baptism with the Holy Spirit appears strange and needless to many people and to some it is exceedingly offensive. They are ready to join that General in Samaria and say: “If the Lord would open the windows of heaven then might such a thing be.”

But why should it be thought a thing incredible with us that God should purify and fill our hearts with the Holy Spirit? If He has given commandment, provided the grace, then sent his Holy Spirit on purpose to dwell in us, why should it be thought a thing incredible that a believer should realize in his own heart the result and benefit of God’s promise and provision?

1. The doctrine of the baptism with the Holy Spirit has been rejected because there is a lack of information. Multitudes who are fearful and are standing aloof do not understand what the real doctrine of the church is on this subject. Wesley’s Plain Account, Fletcher’s Christian Perfection. Clark’s works and many of our standard authors are not read, so that they do not know what we teach.

2. But the strongest opposition is caused by the carnal mind that remains in the heart of the regenerated, not the remains of the carnal mind, but the carnal mind that remains.

All the carnal mind in the Christian after he is converted will oppose the baptism, with the Holy Spirit.

The pride of the heart will oppose it, the selfishness of the heart will oppose it, the anger of the heart will oppose it, the willfulness and stubbornness of the heart will oppose it. Everything within you that embitters you, causes you to stumble and makes your Christian life a struggle, will join with the world and the devil in opposing the indwelling of the Spirit, for that is death to the “old man.”

1. Does God cleanse the heart from all inbred sin in conversion? No, It has never been taught in any of the churches, neither Roman, nor Greek, nor Protestant, Calvinistic, or Armenian, that the regenerated man was free from inbred sin.

2. What does regeneration do for the sinner? In conversion the sinner is forgiven of all his sins. The guilt for all his actual transgressions is taken away so that he is made as innocent as a child. “Except ye be converted and become as little children ye cannot see the kingdom of God.” The sinner is brought back to his state of childhood innocency and the new life is imparted to him which makes him superior to the carnal life — so that sin does not have dominion over him, but it is not cast out. “In him the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, so that he may not do the things that he would.”

3. If inbred sin is not taken away in regeneration, when is it taken away? Whenever the believer receives the promise of the Spirit. Speaking of the House of Cornelius, Peter says: “God gave them the Holy Spirit making no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.” Whenever the disciple will yield himself unto God and believe the promise, then the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth him from all sin.

4. Is the cleansing of the heart from all sin the same as the baptism with the Holy Spirit? No. The cleansing of the heart is the removal of uncleanness — the preparation of the heart for the indwelling of the Spirit.

The Baptism with the Holy Spirit is the incoming of the Spirit of God. The cleansing and the baptism may both occur at the same time, or they may be separated by more or less time.

5. Do you hold that entire sanctification is a second blessing? No, not a second blessing merely, but a second work. There may be many blessings between regeneration and sanctification, but it is the distinct and separate work that is given to believers. I will not discount regeneration into a blessing in order to have another name for entire sanctification. A man may have blessings before and after this work, but as regeneration is not a mere blessing, but the pivotal work in the life of a sinner, so entire sanctification is a pivotal work in the life of a believer when doubts and fears and inbred sin are all cast out. Hallelujah!

6. Is every converted person fully saved? He is saved from all his sins, from the guilt of all his transgressions and if he should die in that state he would go to heaven, but he is not cleansed from his depravity. He has not the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ. Many people live and die without the baptism with the Holy Spirit and go to heaven, but they suffer loss, the church suffers loss and, above all, Jesus suffers loss.

7. Is there any danger in the use of terms? Yes, Jesus mentions eighteen different things that the Holy Spirit is sent to do for us, and when we lay emphasis on any one thing, we are in danger of limiting the Holy One of Israel and being offensive.

The reason I do not use the terms holiness and entire sanctification, as often as others do, is they are not as much in harmony with Jesus’ command-. He did not say, 'Tarry till you are fully saved, entirely sanctified or made holy,” but he did say, "Tarry until ye are baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

There is no place mentioned anywhere in the New Testament where they were entirely sanctified. At Pentecost, “They were filled.” Peter preached at the home of Cornelius and “they were filled with the Holy Spirit.” Peter and John prayed in Samaria and the converts of Philip “were filled with the Holy Spirit.” Paul prayed for the Ephesians and they were “filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Beloved, when you say, I am holy, you think of self. When you say, I am entirely sanctified you think of self. But when you say “Jesus baptizes me with the Holy Spirit,” your mind is on the Spirit that fills you, or on Jesus, the person that baptizes you.

8. May not a man be injured by giving too much attention to any one thing? Certainly. That is one of Satan's methods to injure the cause of Christ. It is easy enough to take up one subject and exalt that until it takes the place of Christ.

Plain apparel is right, but giving undue attention to it is sin. I know an excellent Christian woman who went wild over the subject of dress and is now an infidel. Years ago there were many, who injured themselves and the cause they loved by abnormal propagation of the abolition of slavery. Temperance is right, but I have no doubt that some people are bitter and unchristian because they have dwelt exclusively on that question.

God does not want us to dwell on any one subject to the exclusion of others.

You may lose the experience of a pure heart by opposing the wrong. I believe there are preachers who have lost their experience of salvation by opposing infidelity. I could not use tobacco, but if I meet a brother whose father and grandfather used it and went to glory and I say, “You must quit tobacco or be damned,” I offend him and will do harm to myself and the cause of purity.

It is easy for good men or women to concentrate their minds on existing evils, till their own salvation leaks out little by little until their only joy is in making somebody else miserable.

9. Another says, I believe in the progressive theory and not in the instantaneous cleansing and filling.

All Christians believe in growth, but growth is the addition of the same kind of particles, it is not the removal of opposing elements. To grow In grace does not imply the gradual removal of sin; becoming less and less sinful. That would permit us to tolerate some sins for years to come, and the word is very clear on this point: “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”

The seeking of a clean heart by imperceptible degrees necessarily pushes the consummation into the indefinite future. To expect it at death, or any time in the future is much the same as not expecting it at all.

To aim at it with a conviction that you can never get it, is to put yourself down into a fool’s paradise.

Death to sin is spoken of as death by crucifixion. Crucifixion is a short process. Christ suffered on the cross from the sixth to the ninth hour. Three hours he suffered and then gave up the Ghost.

Death is not a gradual process. The approach to death may be gradual or not, but no man is dead till the soul leaves the body. So long as the soul remains in the body, the whole of it remains — the man is positively alive. When the soul leaves the body the whole of it leaves and the man is positively dead.

A clean heart is the true starting point of growth. While the carnal mind remains, most of the energy will be spent in watching self, battling sinful tendencies and worldly affinities and devilish temptation. The vitality of the soul is exhausted with its own fevers.

In the happy experience of perfect love, don't think that it is the climax of Christian chararter. We are not then finished and packed and labeled for glory with nothing to do, but shout Hallelujahs.

There is a great development ahead of us! There is a great work to do! One man's character will have too much passionate fiery red in it. Another will have too much of that long-faced sanctimonious cadaverous blue.

Another will have too much of that verdant green of immaturity. Another will be troubled with the sallow yellow of feebleness, while others will be tinted with that sweet violet of sickly sentimentality and each of us will have work to do.

9. How long should a man be converted before he seeks to have his heart purified by the baptism with the Spirit? How much time should elapse? Only time enough for his instruction as to his need and privilege.

The testimony of all experience shows that the longer it is delayed the more difficult it is to yield to the conditions. Why should a child of God go on in neglect of any commandment? Paul exhorted the Thessalonians to seek and obtain the experience when they were only six months in the Christian life, and they were converted heathen.

John Wesley says: “There is one point wherein we have all been wanting. We have not made it a rule, as soon as persons were justified to remind them of going on to perfection, whereas this is the very time preferable to all others. Oh, why do we not encourage all to expect this blessing every hour from the moment they are justified,” “expect it as you are, expect it now, expect it by faith.”

Age nor time have nothing to do with the reception of this grace.

10. If I receive the Baptism, will I be subject to temptation? Certainly; certainly; more liable than before. Do you suppose Satan will fall in love with you because you have a clean heart?

Your Master was “holy, harmless and undefiled” and yet was “tempted in all points as we are.” It is an awful mistake to say that heart purity or holiness puts a man out of the reach of temptation. Jesus himself was tempted, yet without sin. Oh, yes, you will be tempted! Your love will be sorely tried. Your faith will be tempted. Your patience will be tempted.

11. But how can a man sin when he has a pure heart? Just as the angels did when they fell from heaven. Just as Adam and Eve were tempted and sinned when they were in the Garden of Eden as pure as the breath of God.

When Satan tempted Eve, his thoughts were evil. When Eve entertained his thoughts and adopted them they became hers. The Devil suggested evil thoughts to Jesus, but he rejected them and did not sin. The enemy will suggest evil thoughts to all men and whenever they are entertained they will produce evil, and so while we are in the world we are liable to sin.

12. I do not understand it and how can I seek what I do not understand? How did you seek regeneration? Did you understand it? Jesus says that you did not. “The wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth. So is every one that is born of the Spirit.” You believed that there was such an Experience as regeneration and you sought the Lord and obtained it. The experience of it was the explanation of it. That is God's method in all the Christian life. The experience is the explanation. Does not every Christian know that God commands him to be filled with the Spirit? Did not Jesus come to take away the sin of the world and to “purify us unto himself, a peculiar people zealous of good works/’ and then, did he not obtain the gift of the Holy Spirit for us, and though you cannot understand it, yet by seeking it and believing the promises you may obtain it, and your great need is not the theory or the logic, but the experience of it.

13. There are so many who claim the experience that I don’t like, that the whole subject is repulsive to me and I do not care about the experience.

I will not ask whether there is any lack of charity on your part, though the bible does say, “We are to love all men/' and “be patient towards all men.”

I will not ask whether you are to blame in judging them, though we are to “judge not that we be not judged.” But I will ask this: Is it safe for

any reason to discard or neglect any Scriptural experience, because there are some people that we do not like who claim this grace?

Do not some unconverted men make the same objection to regeneration and refuse to be Christians because there are some Christians that they do not like? Do you not know that these Christians that are not liked are sometimes the very best we have? How foolish for people to be in danger of death and make such unwise objections to be saved. How foolish for Christians to let a matter of taste make them disobedient and keep them; out of the rich things of God.

14. The indiscretions and excesses of the friends and professors of heart purity have driven me away from it.

That there have been serious mistakes among people who claim the deeper experiences of grace, I freely admit. That they are led into sin sometimes, I am sorry to say, is true, but what have these excesses of men to do with your obligation to God? Because the Spiritualists have gone into excess concerning the communion with the spirits of the dead, will you turn Sadducee and not believe in spirits at all, neither of men, angels or devils?

Because the Millerites claimed that they had the witness of the Spirit that the world would end in 1843 an d were mistaken, will you not believe in the witness of the Spirit at all.

15. But, says one, I will have to give up some of my habits if I should seek that experience. Well, if you are doing things in your business or in your private life that are wrong you will have to give them up or lose your soul. No man can practice adulteration, underminings, overreaching, exaggerations or secret crookedness in any business and maintain a Christian character at all. No man can retain justification who persists in doing what he knows to be wrong. Does not the Bible plainly declare, “He that committeth sin is of the devil?”

If we are living in sinful habits, if sin is having dominion over us, it is not heart purity but pardon that we should seek. The forgiveness of sins and not the purifying of the heart. Whenever a man truly repents, he goes out of the sin business.

16. I think the experience of full salvation is a great thing and impossible for me to obtain. Your fall into sin was a great fall, your sins were great and your conversion was a great thing. The gospel is a great thing, its provisions mighty and divine. Your salvation is a great thing. It does not depend on your merit or strength, but on the grace and power of God. Now, if the provisions have been made, if the promises have been given, is it presumption to claim their fulfillment? An old king made a present to one of his friends When the man received it he was greatly embarrassed and said: “This is too great for me to receive.” “Yes,” said the king, “but it is not too great for me to give.”

You have a great Savior who can save to the uttermost. Wherever sin hath abounded, His grace can much more abound. Hallelujah.

17. There is too much responsibility in obtaining this experience. The position is too high. But if God has called us and promised to cleanse us, will we not be responsible for our disobedience? If God calls a sinner to repent and he refuses, does he escape the responsibility? If God calls us to be cleansed from all sin and we neglect it, do we really escape the responsibilty of neglect? Can we choose to obey in part and not in all? Can we pass over any of the commandments with impunity? Does not God hold a people responsible for all the light He gives them? For the word He has revealed, for the days of visitation, for the opportunity of development, for the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

If we do not accept all the light that is offered to us, how can we urge others to take the light that is offered to them?