Glimpses of Christian History Presents Pastwords #107: The Baptism of the Holy Ghost by Asa Mahan, president of Adrian College©2007

Dunamis the Only Evidence of Spirit Baptism

n no era of Church history, since the primitive age passed away, has the mission and "promise of the Spirit" occupied so much attention among all classes of believers as now. Two distinct and opposite forms of instruction upon this subject are being distinctly set forth before the churches.

According to one, "the promise of the Spirit" is always fulfilled at the moment of conversion. What is subsequently to be expected is merely a continuation and gradual increase of what was then conferred.

According to the other view, "the Spirit falls upon," "comes upon," believers, and "the sealing and earnest of the Spirit" are given, not in conversion, but "after we have believed." The Spirit, first of all, induces in the sinner "repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." : After he has believed," that is, after conversion, "the Holy Ghost comes upon," "falls upon," and is "poured out upon him," and thus "endues him with power from on high" for his life mission and work. In this baptism of power, this "sealing and earnest of the Spirit," which is always given, not in conversion, but "after we have believed," "the promise of the Spirit" is fulfilled.

The fact stands recorded, that many individuals were truly converted in Samaria under the preaching of Philip, and that upon not one of them "had the Holy Ghost fallen" when Peter and John first appeared among them. There were many holy men and holy women among the followers of Christ prior to his crucifixion. The Holy Ghost, as promised in the New Testament, however, was not given, as we are absolutely informed, until after "Jesus was glorified". The New Testament saints, or the Scriptures have been broken, were "sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise" "after they believed," and not when they were converted. This is sufficient for the present, as the whole subject will be fully elucidated in subsequent discourses.

THE PLAN OF CHRIST IN REGARD TO THE AGENCY OF THE CHURCH.

We notice, in the next place, the plan of our Saviour, as far as the agency of the Church is concerned in the work, for the saving of lost men, and bringing the world back to God. This plan may be thus stated:

1. To organize the entire membership into one divinely anointed sacramental host, all of whom, in their individual and social relations, are to labor with supreme devotion for this great end.

2. To impart to each and every one, through the Spirit, such a full and special baptism of power as will perfectly qualify for, and adapt him to, the peculiar and special mission and work appointed him. Each individual is to be so "endued with power from on high," and so "filled with all the fulness of God," that there shall not be "a sickly or feeble one in all that host;" "the feeble among them being as David, and the house of David" (the leaders under the Great Captain of our salvation), "as the Lord, as the angel of the Lord before him."

3. Through the abiding presence of the Spirit, and through him of Christ and the Father in each heart, there shall obtain such a visible unity of spirit, purpose, and mutual love among all the sanctified family, that the world shall believe in the divinity of our Saviour's mission.

4. To secure in all, in common, such peace, quietude, assurance, and fulness of joy, that "the Gentiles shall come to the light of the Church, and kings to the brightness of her rising."

ONE WORD OF CAUTION AND ADMONITION.

Reader, if you are now far from God, and cold and dead in your religious affections, heed not the counsels of those who advise you to go forth at once, and engage in the work of saving souls, and thus "warm yourself into spiritual life." The warmth thus generated will be from fire of your own kindling. As the result, you will, after a few heartless efforts, "lie down in sorrow." Repent, on the other hand, of your sin, and especially of your broken vows, and tarry in deep humiliation and fervent prayer before God, until he shall "restore to you the joy of his salvation, and uphold you by his free Spirit." Then, under the "power of the Spirit," go forth to your life work, and your "labor will not be in vain in the Lord." You will now "teach transgressors God's ways, and sinners shall be converted unto him." What has a dead backslider to do, to "declare God's counsels"?

DIVERSITY OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS, WHY CONFERRED.

The object for which the Spirit is given is also specified in the New Testament. I Cor. Xii. 7 : "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal;" that is, to render him efficiently useful as a member of the sanctified family. "To one," we are told, I Cor. xii. 8-11, "is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another, the word of knowledge by the same Spirit: to another, faith by the same Spirit; to another, the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to another, the working of miracles; to another, prophecy; to another, disconcerning of spirits; to another, divers kinds of tongues; to another, the interpretation of tongues; to another, the interpretation of tongues; but all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will." All who receive this baptism, we are taught, verse 13, "by one Spirit are baptized into one body," and "made to drink into one Spirit." All have not imparted to them the same gifts; but each receives, in connection with what is common to all, special gifts and influences, which adapt him to his special place as "a member of the body of Christ."

THE GIFT OF PROPHECY IN THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH. The spirit of prophecy which attends this baptism requires special attention. Acts ii. 18: "And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will in those days pour out of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy." Acts xxi. 9. "And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy." The special meaning of the term, prophesy, in the New Testament, is not to foretell future events, but, as we are informed, I Cor. xiv. 3, 4, to utter divine truth under the illumination of the Spirit, so as to edify those that hear--the Church especially: "But he that prophesieth, speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort. He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself. But he that prophesieth, edifieth the Church."

This prophetic power, the power of utterance for the edification of the Church and the conversion of sinners, is in all such passages, and in other scriptures, represented as the common privilege of all believers. Let any worldly person enter a circle whose hearts are full of the Holy Ghost, and he will at once recognize himself as encircled with the light of God, and will be impressed with the fact, that the kingdom of God has come nigh unto him. When any one speaks, there will be an unction about this utterance, an unction which all will recognize as divine.

SOME OF THE HISTORIC RESULTS OF THIS BAPTISM UNDER THIS DISPENSATION.

The case of the Apostles.

If we take the Apostles as examples, and contrast their intellectual, moral, and spiritual states prior and subsequent to the Pentecost, we shall be constrained to acknowledge that such transformations of character had never occurred in the history of the world before. All along up to the crucifixion, how dull were their apprehensions; how limited and obscure their vision of truth; how weak their faith; what cowards they were; how worldly their affections; how weak their mutual love; and how like ropes of sand were their most sacred fixed resolutions!

How opposite in all respects to all this were they after they "were all filled with the Holy Ghost." "In a moment," as it were, "in the twinkling of an eye," "they were crucified to the world, and world to them;" and their characters took on forms of glorious beauty and perfection, which rendered them "a spectacle to the world, and to angels, and to men." Their vision of truth seemed to be as cloudless as the kingdom of light. Their speech and their preaching brought the world on its knees before God. Peter, in faith, courage, and strength, became a rock. James and John vindicated their right to be called "sons of thunder." "They were all conquerors, and more than conquerors, through Him that loved them."

Power was one of the most striking characteristics of this baptism. All who received it "were endued with power from on high." Before these men passed off the stage of life, the Gospel was firmly planted among all nations. Literally had "their sound gone into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world."

Unity of Spirit, and mutual fellowship and love, was another equally marked characteristic of this baptism. Before its descent, ambition, jealousy, and disputation among themselves, about who should be the greatest, and even anger towards one another, often divided their hearts. Now they were all 'one in Christ Jesus," and nothing could interrupt their mutual love, fellowship, and co-operation.

Their boldness and courage were a mystery of mysteries to their enemies. No power in heaven or earth could induce them to "deny the Lord that bought them." Their peace in God, their "assurance of hope," their "everlasting consolations," their triumphs of faith, and "fulness of joy," nothing could interrupt or diminish. "They walked in the light, as God is in the light."

THE IMMEDIATE SUCCESSORS OF THE APOSTLES.

If we turn from the Apostles and their immediate associates and converts to the the primitive Church, we shall find, among countless thousands of its membership, examples equally conspicuous of the results and power of this baptism.

For the first four or five centuries of the Christian era, the doctrine of the gift of the Spirit, after conversion and believing in Christ, was a great leading theme of thought and teaching. Hence there was a very general experience of this baptism during all this period.

This was the martyr age of the Church, the era, also, of her power, of her glory, and of her "victory through the blood of the Lamb and the word of His testimony." Such persecutions and fiery trials, and such patience and endurance, such brotherly love, such charity to the poor, and goodwill to men, such faith in Christ, such meek submission to the Divine will, such "assurance of hope," such deathless zeal, such courage, such peace in God, such "everlasting consolations" and "fulness of joy," the world never witnessed until after "Jesus was glorified," and "the Holy Ghost was given." "The light of the Church had come," and "the glory of the Lord had risen upon her." As a consequence, "the Gentiles came to her light, and kings to the brightness of her rising." "Her righteousness went forth as brightness, and her salvation as a flame that burneth." No amount of suffering and torture, threatened or inflicted, could induce a denial of the faith, or draw from the sufferers any sentiment but those of good-will towards even their judges and tormentors. "The holy martyrs of Christ," says Cyprian, "evidently show us, that during this sad hour of suffering they were strangers to their own bodies: or rather, that our Lord himself stood by them, and familiarly conversed with them; and that, being made partakers of his grace, they made light of these temporal torments, and by one short hour delivered themselves from eternal miseries."

Take a single fact illustrative of the Spirit and manner in which believers then "endured even unto the end." At Sebastia, in Armenia, in a cold and frosty night in the depth of winter, forty martyrs, stripped of all their clothing, were placed together in a lake. As death came on, they thus conversed together: "Is the weather sharp? But Paradise is comfortable and delightful. Is the frost cold and bitter? The rest that remains is sweet and pleasant. Let us but hold out a little, and Abraham's bosom will refresh us; we shall exchange this one night for an eternal age of happiness. It is but the flesh that suffers; let us not spare it. Since we must die, let us die that we may live!"

"By reason of our strange wonderful courage and strength," says Lactantius, "new additions are made to us; for when people see men torn to pieces with infinite variety of torments, and yet maintain a patience unconquerable, and able to tire out their tormentors, they begin to think (what the truth is) that the consent of so many, and the perseverance of dying persons, cannot be in vain; not that patience itself, were it not from God, could hold out under such racks and tortures. Thieves and men of robust bodies are not able to bear such tearing to pieces; they groan and cry out, and are overcome with pain, because not endued with divine patience; but our very children and women (to say nothing of men) do with silence conquer their tormentors; nor can the hottest fire force the least groan from them." So manifest did the fact become, that the places where the Christians were tortured were the holy places where the greatest numbers of converts were made, that the Roman emperors at length prohibited all public executions of the saints of God.

Had this Divine baptism continued in the Church, long before the first thousand years of the Christian era had passed away would "the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ."

BAPTISMS OF THE SPIRIT DURING THE DARK AGES.

If we leave this era of light and power and traverse the dark ages which followed--the dark ages in which this and all other vital truths of the gospel went into a deep and dark eclipse--we shall find that even here God did not leave himself without witnesses. "Burning and shining lights" arose among all Christian nations, men and women who were "full of faith and the Holy Ghost." These attained to the full "liberty of the sons of God," "walked in the light of God," and had "fellowship with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ."

Such individuals as Thomas a Kempis, Catharine Adorna, and many others, were not only Christians, but believers who had a knowledge of all the mysteries of the higher life, and who, through all coming time, will shine as stars of the first magnitude in the firmament of the Church. In their inward experiences, holy walk, and "power with God and with men," they had few if any superiors in any preceding era of Church history. "The unction of the Spirit" was as manifest in them as in the Apostles and primitive believers. They, also, made their attainments in the Christian life under distinct apprehensions of the doctrine of the Spirit, as set forth in these discourses.

BAPTISM OF THE SPIRIT SINCE THE REFORMATION.

We now turn our attention to the state of the Church since the Reformation. Among Catholics, there have been a few, and among Protestants many, who have fully known this baptism. It is a singular fact, that while the fundamental doctrine of Protestantism was "Justification by faith," the equally essential doctrine of "Sanctification by faith" was first, in modern times, distinctly announced and taught within the circle of the Catholic Church--announced and taught by such individuals as Madame Guyon and Archbishop Fenelon. It is equally true, that in all the Churches of every name, the men and women who have been most distinguished for "power with God and with men," are the individuals who did receive the "sealing and earnest of the Spirit" after they believed. Luther, for example, Knox and his associates, "the Scotch worthies," who, with him, brought Scotland out from under the power of "the man of sin," and rendered it, for a long period, the crowning glory of Christendom, received this Divine baptism in this form, and "here was the hiding of their power."

The case of Luther.

Let us first consider the case of Luther. After his conversion he had many and hard struggles after the "Higher Life." While studying the Epistle to the Romans, these words, "The just shall live by faith," sent new light through his soul. On a subsequent occasion, when clouds and darkness hung over his mind in regard to the subject of personal holiness, the words, "The just shall live by faith," came again to him with new force, and filled him with the light of heaven.

"The Pentecost," with him, however, was not yet fully come. He had heard that all who, upon their knees, would climb Pilate's staircase, at Rome, would thereby attain to full salvation. While painfully creeping up, from stone to stone, that ascent, he suddenly heard, in the depth of his soul, a voice as of thunder, "The just shall live by faith." In a moment he leaped up, the freeman of the Lord. "Then," he says, "I felt myself born again as a new man, and I entered by an open door into the very Paradise of God. From that hour I saw the precious and holy Scriptures with new eyes. I went through the whole Bible. I collected a multitude of passages, which taught me what the work of God was. Truly, this text of St. Paul was to me the very gate of heaven." Here we have the secret of Luther's subsequent courage and power. Here, too, we have one special form in which "the baptism of the Spirit" is commonly received--the opening, in new and divine forms, of some special truth of God upon the mind, and that in connection with some particular passage of the Divine Word.

The Scotch Worthies.

"The Memoirs of the Scotch Worthies" disclose three central facts in their spiritual history--their conversion, followed by the common forms of Christian experience; a subsequent heart-searching, breaking up of the fountains of the great deep of the soul, and a renewal, in which they were filled with "the light of God;" and, finally, forms of the divine life so new, and so far transcending anything before experienced, that they were utterly at loss in regard to the nature and character of their first conversion.

It was after this renewal that they became the mighty men of God, who revolutionized that kingdom. It was no uncommon event then, for one, two, and sometimes as many as five hundred souls, to be converted under single discourses delivered by these men--souls who evinced, by their subsequent lives, that they belonged to "the people of whom God is not ashamed to be called their God." It was the eclipse of this glory which left the Scotch Church the comparatively "dead letter" which it now is.

Mr. Wesley and his associates.

Who is not aware that no one ever led a more laborious, and comparatively fruitless life, than did Mr. Wesley, during the interval between his conversion and divine baptism, and that very few ever led a more laborious and fruitful life than he did after he was "endued with power from on high." The era of is barrenness terminated, and of his amazing fruitfulness commenced, at the same moment. The same is true of his associates. The experience of these men of God should be a solemn admonition to all believers, never to go forth to their life mission and work but under "the power of the Spirit."

The Tenants.

The Tenants, William especially, were the wonder of the age in which they lived. The secret of the savor of God, which everywhere encircled them, and of their wonderful power as "ministers of the Word," was the fact that "after they believed they were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise."

On one occasion, during the interval of worship on the Sabbath, Mr. William Tenant retired to a grove near by, for private meditation and prayer. When the congregation reassembled, and their pastor did not appear, several individuals went to the grove to find him. They found him lying helpless upon the ground, under the power of the visions of God, which had there opened upon his mind. In their arms they carried him to the pulpit, where he lifted up a prayer that God would veil his power and love a little, so that he might tell the people of the "glory manifested to him." The prayer was answered, and "no man" not thus illumined "ever spake as did this man" on that occasion. Such manifestations were of common occurrence in the experience of these men, and they ever spoke and acted under their unfluence.

President Edwards.

President Edwards thus describes the baptism which rendered his subsequent life so divine: "One day, when walking for divine contemplation and prayer, I had a view, that for me was extraordinary, of the glory of the Son of God, as Mediator between God and man, and his wonderful, great, full, pure, and sweet grace and love, and meek and gentle condescension. This grace, that appeared so calm and sweet, appeared also great above the heavens; the person of Christ appeared also ineffably excellent, with an excellency great enough to swallow up all thought and conception, which continued, as near as I can judge, about an hour, which kept me the greater part of the time in a flood of tears, weeping aloud. I had an ardency of soul to be, what I know not otherwise how to express, emptied, and annihilated, to lie in the dust and to be filled with Christ alone, to love him with a holy and pure love, to trust in him, to live upon him, and to be perfectly sanctified, and made pure with a divine and heavenly purity."

Mrs. Edwards.

Of the lady who afterwards became his wife, and who, during her married life, often had visions of the divine glory and love, under the power of which she would lie helpless for hours, President Edwards thus writes:

"They say there is a young lady in___who is beloved of that great Being who moves and rules the world, and that there are certain seasons in which this great Being, in some way or other invisible, comes to her, and fills her mind with exceeding sweet delights, and that she hardly ever cares for anything, except to meditate on Him; that she expects, after a while, to be received up where He is, to be raised up out of this world and caught up into heaven, being assured that He loves her too well to let her remain at a distance from Him always. There she is to dwell with Him, and to be ravished with His love and delight forever. Therefore, if you present all the world before her, with the richest of its treasures, she disregards it, and cares not for it, and is unmindful of any pain or affliction. She has a strange sweetness in her mind, and singular purity in her conduct, and you could not persuade her to do anything wrong or sinful if you would give her all the world, lest she should offend this great Being. She is of a wonderful sweetness, calmness, and benevolence of mind. She will sometimes go about from place to place, singing devoutly, and seems to be always full of joy and pleasure, and no one knows for what. She loves to be alone, walking in the fields and groves, and seems to have some one invisible always conversing with her."

Merle D'Aubigne.

All are aware that the savor of the writings of Merle D'Aubigne has been, throughout Christendom, "as ointment poured forth." What was the cause of this savor? Several years after his conversion, when at Kiel, in company with Rev. F. Monod of Paris, Rev. C. Riell of Jutland, and Klenker, Biblical Professor of the University there, in the course of their conversation upon the Scriptures, the aged Professor refused to enter into any detailed solution of difficulties presented, saying that the first step was to be "firmly settled in the grace of Christ" and that "the light which proceeds from Him will disperse all darkness." "We were studying," says D'Aubigne, "the Epistle to the Ephesians, and had got to the end of the third chapter. When we read the last two verses, 'Now unto Him that can do exceeding abundantly, above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,' etc., this expression fell upon my soul as a revelation from God. He can do, by his power, I said to myself, above all that we ask, above all, even, that we think, nay, EXCEEDING ABUNDANTLY above all. A full trust in Christ for the work to be done in my poor heart now filled my soul."

They then all knelt together in prayer. "When I arose," he adds, "I felt as if my wings had been 'renewed, as the wings of eagles.' All my doubts were removed, my anguish was quelled, and the Lord extended peace to me as a river. Then I could 'comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and depth, and length, and height, and know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge.' Then was I able to say, 'Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.'" Mr. Carpenter.

About thirty or forty years ago, there died, in the city of Newark, N. J., a man of God, named Carpenter. At his funeral in the First Presbyterian Church in that city, it was publicly stated by one of the ministers present, that from the most careful estimate it was fully believed that the deceased had been directly instrumental in the conversion of more than ten thousand souls. This man was a layman of a very limited common-school education, and was very simple and ungrammatical in his conversation and public addresses. Prior to the time of his divine anointing, he had a mere "name to live" in the Church. As soon as he received that anointing, "as a prince, he had power with God and with men."

At one time, for example, he, with another Christian associate, entered the stage to pass from Newark to New York. They found seven other individuals, all impenitent, with them in the vehicle. While on the way, or very soon after, all those seven individuals were hopefully converted, and that through the influence exerted during the ride. Such was the influence everywhere exerted by this "holy man of God." To a very intimate friend he made these statements, a little time before his death, that, for the prior ten years, he had walked continuously under the cloudless light of the sun of righteousness; that the doctrine of Entire Sanctification was true; that he had been in that state during the period referred to; and that this doctrine would, ere long, be a leading theme in the churches.

President Finney.

We would here state the important fact, that the special power which attended the preaching of President Finney, during the early years of his ministry, was chiefly owing to a special baptism of the Spirit, a personal manifestation of Christ to his mind, a baptism which he received not long after his conversion. Hence it was, that when, through him, "the violated law spake out its thunders," it did seem as if we had in truth "come unto the Mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, and unto blackness and darkness and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words." But when he spoke of Christ, then indeed did his "doctrine drop as the rain, and his speech distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the mown grass." The reason, also, why he is bringing forth such wondrous "fruit in his old age," is, that while his whole ministry has been under "the power of the Spirit," his former baptisms have been renewed with increasing power and frequency during a few years past.

In drawing this discourse to a close, we would refer to some of the special peculiarities which distinguish, and have distinguished, all individuals who have received "the baptism of the Holy Ghost." Among these we would designate the following:

SOME OF THE SPECIAL PECULIARITIES WHICH PECULIARIZE ALL WHO RECEIVE THIS BAPTISM.

I. One of these is a peculiar and special savor about their lives and utterances--a savor which all in common recognize as unearthly and divine. When the light comes, the glory will be seen by the Church and the world. The prophet had made but a few calls at a certain house, before all the inmates knew him as "a holy man of God." A very bigoted Irish Catholic had occasion to board for a time in the family of a friend of ours, whose wife had for years "walked in the light of God." This man had from childhood been taught, and had believed, that "out of the Mother Church salvation is impossible." His attention, however, was soon arrested by the peculiar spirit and sanctified conversation of that woman. He would frequently stop after meals, and continue conversation with her upon Christ, purity, and heaven. At the close of such a conversation one day, he said: "Madam, you will get to heaven before you die." That man was as profane and wicked as he was bigoted; yet such a character as hers could not lift its benign form before his mind without his recognizing it as unearthly and divine, and as advancing heavenward.

Here is a divine something which must be possessed in order to be represented. A preacher, for example, a preacher who is a stranger to this anointing, may be very able, exciting, and even instructive, in his discourses. But the peculiar savor of God which attends the unction of the Spirit, no utterances can possess, but the teachings of those who "have received the Holy Ghost since they believed," and those who have received this anointing, "cannot be hid."

2. All such individuals, also, have an omnipresent peace, quietude, assurance, and fulness of joy in God, which not only lifts them above all worldly vicissitudes, but remains with them alike in all vicissitudes. "Their sun does not go down, neither does their moon withdraw itself. The Lord is their everlasting light, and the days of their mourning are ended." In the storm and the tempest, when "they go up by the mountains," they are consciously going nearer and nearer to heave, and when "they go down by the valleys," they are as consciously going down deeper and deeper into the bosom of God. "They have learned, in whatsoever state they are, therewith to be content." "They can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth them."

3. A peculiar and special form of self-control, and balance of soul, a control over their own spirits, their temper, their appetites, and worldly propensities, is another very marked characteristic of all who receive this baptism. We refer to that selfmastery, and divine equanimity of temper represented in such statements and forms of expression as the following: "Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure it; and being defamed, we entreat;" "none of these things move me;" "I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then am I strong;" and "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." As the infant Jesus lay in his mother's arms, with similar quietude, self-composure, self-control, and hopeful trust, does the soul, when filled with Spirit, lie in the centre of the sweet will of God."

"President Mahan," said a clerical friend to us, years ago, "I wish you could see my mother. To give you some idea of what a monument of grace she is, I would state, that in early life she was spoiled by training. She had one of the worst and most ungovernable tempers I ever knew. For years past, she has been wholly confined to her bed from nervous prostration. During the early part of this period, it did seem that nobody could take care of her, or endure her continued manifestations of irritability, impatience fretfulness, and furious anger. Right there, she became fully convinced that through grace and the baptism of the Spirit she could have perfect rest, quietude, and self-control. She set her whole heart upon attaining that state. Such was her fervency of spirit, and earnestness in prayer, that her friends thought she would become deranged and urged her to cease seeking and prayer. 'I die in the effort,' was her reply, 'or I obtain what I know to be in reserve for me.' At length the baptism of power came gently upon her. From that hour there has not been the slightest indication of even the remains of that temper. Her quietude and assurance have been absolute, and her sweetness of spirit 'as ointment poured forth.' It is no trouble to any one now, but a privilege to all, to care for her. Many come, even from long distances, to listen to her divine discourse."

Years passed on, and again we met. "What of your mother?" we asked. "Does her faith hold out?" "She is gone," was the reply. "But from the hour of that baptism to that of her death, that quietude and assurance remained, and that ineffable sweetness of temper was never for a moment interrupted. I witnessed the closing scene. She died of cholera, and in the greatest conceivable agony. Yet such patience, such serenity of hope, and such quiet waiting for the coming of the Lord, I hardly before deemed possible. "My son," she would say, "nature has a hard struggle; but it will be soon over, and I shall "enter into the rest that remains for the people of God."

"This," reader, "is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." The feeblest among us may be "more than conquerors, through Him that hath loved us." Even "at evening time there shall be light" to all who "walk in the light of God." By the grace of Christ and "the power of the Spirit," we can "rule our own spirits." "We can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth us."

4. A peculiar and special degree of moral and spiritual power, "power with God and with men," is the only other characteristic which we would present, as distinguishing and peculiarizing those who receive this baptism. The form of power possessed by each is in certain respects unlike that possessed by any others. Yet in all it has this one common tendency--an almost resistless influence to draw others toward God, purity, and heaven. Some are "sons of thunder;" others are "sons of consolation." Some have special wisdom as teachers of truth; others are endued with the special power of exhortation. Some have peculiar forms of courage and faith, by which they have special power to "'strengthen weak hands, and confirm feeble knees;" others have equally special forms of power in ministering to the necessities of the sick and afflicted. Others still have special power in exciting in believers the spirit of hunger and thirst for the bread and waters of life. "What do you think of Mr.----?" said one Christian to another? "I have not heard him." The clergyman referred to was a man "full of faith and of the Holy Ghost." "Well," replied the other, "if you will hear this man a few times, and not feel such a hungering and thirsting after righteousness as you never felt before, your experience will differ from mine." Others have special power in drawing sinners to repentance.

Power to prophesy--that is, to "speak unto men for consolation, for exhortation, and edification"--this is universal among all who receive this anointing. When one or more individuals in a given church have this baptism, there will be a constant divine influence there, drawing the whole body and people heavenward. When the Church generally shall be endued with this power, "Gentiles will come to her light, and kings to the brightness of her rising." If, then, we would "serve God and our generation" according to the will of our God and Redeemer, we must, one and all of us, tarry in the place of prayer, and struggle there with "strong crying and tears," until we are "endued with power from on high."