"For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest; until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth."

ISAIAH xlii. 1.

THE DOCTRINE OF THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST AS SET FORTH IN THE SCRIPTURES.

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BY REV. ASA MAHAN D.D. LL.D.

SHORT time previous to the Confer

ence at Brighton, the great theologian in Berlin-the individual who is, in reality, Primate of the Lutheran Church in Germany-made a statement to this effect: "For centuries past the thought of the Church has been mainly occupied with the mission of the Father and Son. Hereafter religious thought will, in a special sense, be occupied with the mission of the Holy Spirit." Prominent facts in all parts of Christendom clearly indicate the truth of the above statement.

THE THREE DISTINCT AND OPPOSITE THEORIES UPON THE SUBJECT.

Since the subject has been brought prominently before the public mind, three distinct and opposite theories pertaining to "the Promise of the Spirit" have been set forth, and each now has its zealous advocates in the Church. The time has arrived, we believe, when the True Doctrine of the Spirit may be set forth with such distinctness that it will be received by all true believers who shall understand it. The three theories under consideration are the following:

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1. The Promise of the Spirit became, at the Pentecost, for the whole Church in all future time, an accomplished fact, just as the work of atonement was finished" when Christ gave up the ghost upon the cross, that the promised baptism of the Holy Ghost is always given in Regeneration; that "all believers in common now have the whole Holy Ghost," that it is no more proper for them to pray for the Spirit than it is to pray that Christ may atone for our sins; and that when we believe that the Spirit is in us, His influence becomes effective for our illumination and sanctification, just as when we believe in Christ,

His atonement becomes effective for the pardon of our sins.

2. The second theory is this: All believers do, in fact, at Regeneration, receive the promised "Baptism of the Holy Ghost," and all are under the power of this Baptism. All are not, however, at that time, nor are all now, "filled with the Spirit; " and this filling-up, by an increase of what all have in a measure, is what we are required to seek. According to this theory, the "Promise of the Spirit," or "the Baptism of the Holy Ghost," is not, with any believer, an object of faith or prayer. The filling to fulness of what is already in us is all that is to be now sought or expected.

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3. According to the third theory, the true doctrine, as we fully believe, the promised Baptism of the Holy Ghost, is seldom or never given at the moment of Regeneration, but is a special enduement of power to be sought and received by faith, AFTER we have believed." The experience of all who receive this Baptism, is, we believe, thus written out by the pen of Inspiration: In whom (Christ) ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom, also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed by that Holy Spirit of promise.' To all believers who have not yet received this Baptism, the words of Christ are just as applicable as they were to the disciples then : "If ye love me, keep my commandments, and I will pray the Father for you, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever.' The revealed order of Divine procedure is this: Regeneration; then obedience; and, lastly, the sealing and earnest of the Spirit" received by faith. God gives the Spirit, we read (Acts i. 32), "to those who obey Him," and those who obey (Gal. iii. 14) "receive the promise of the Spirit by faith."

EVIDENCE BY WHICH THE FIRST TWO THEORIES ARE SUPPOSED TO BE VERIFIED.

The arguments by which the first two of the above theories are professedly proven are the same in fact and form. We read, it is said with truth, that all believers have the Spirit,-" that if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His "-that "their bodies are the temples of the Holy Ghost which

is in them "-that "by one Spirit are we all baptised into one body "--and “have been all made to drink into one Spirit," &c. This, it is affirmed, could not be true, if all believers in common do not, at conversion, receive the promised❘ "Baptism of the Holy Ghost." The evidence against such a conclusion based upon the revealed fact, that none of the converts in Samaria, nor in the house of Cornelius, did "receive the Promise of the Spirit" at the time of their conversion, but subsequent to that event, is thus disposed of. It was necessary that the first converts in Samaria, and among the Gentiles, should receive the Spirit as the disciples did at the Pentecost, in order to evince the fact that the gift of the Spirit is the common inheritance of all believers of all nations and in all time. That truth being thus evinced, no special Baptism of the Holy Ghost, except in conversion, has since been given, or is to be expected. Those who employ such an argument forget that quite twenty years subsequent to these events, Paul found certain disciples at Ephesus who had not then "received the Holy Ghost," and that the question which he put to those disciples, absolutely implies that, in his inspired judgment, the fact of Regeneration does not imply that the subject has yet received "the Baptism of the Holy Ghost." If he had held and taught, that all believers, in common, do at Regeneration receive this Baptism, would he have put the question to acknowledged converts, believers in Jesus: "Have ye received the Holy Ghost, since ye believed?" The same question, together with the facts recorded (Acts xix. 1-7), absolutely implies that when Paul, as in the passages above cited, spoke of all believers as having the Spirit, and of their bodies as "temples of the Holy Ghost," he did not, by any means, intend to be understood as teaching, that all in common have received "the Baptism of the Holy Ghost." We affirm, all the passages under consideration implying it, that while the Spirit is in all believers, and their bodies are His temples, very few of them may yet have received the Pentecostal "Baptism of the Holy Ghost." These statements we will now proceed to verify and elucidate.

TRUE DOCTRINE VERIFIED AND ELUCIDATED.

We adduce as the basis of our verification and elucidation of the True Doctrine of "the Baptism of the Holy Ghost," the following passage of Scripture (Eph. ii. 22): 22) "In whom (Christ) ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." Reference in this, and the verses preceding, is had to the building of the ancient Temple and Tabernacle. To these we must recur, in order to understand the bearing of what is here revealed upon our subject. The owner of a house, while it is as much his at one time as another, sustains, we should bear in mind, quite different relations to it before and after he takes up his abode in it. All that is previously done is preparatory to this final occupancy.

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Let us now turn our thoughts to the Tabernacle built by Moses. This entire structure, we must bear in mind, was constituted of dedicated materials, materials, first Divinely designated, and then dedicated for a specific purpose, the rearing-up of a building which was to become a habitation of God through the Spirit," a place, as heaven is, of His special abode. Not only so, but the entire building was reared up under direct and specific Divine dictation and superintendence, the entire pattern of it being, first of all, distinctly "shown in the Mount," and all the leading workmen being first designated by name, and then acting, in all they did, under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, God, in the highest sense, was the builder as well as the proprietor of that structure. It was God's Tabernacle, reared up, we repeat, "for an habitation of God through the Spirit."

Let us now recur to the scene recorded (Ex. xl.). Under special and specific Divine direction the structure was set up, and all its furnishment put in perfect order, and all the prescribed offerings were made. When the Tabernacle was thus dedicated, and set apart for God, Moses and Aaron, and all the priests, retired, and stood without, leaving the divinely erected and dedicated structure in the hands of God, and alone with Him. "Then," we read, "a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of

the Lord filled the tabernacle, and Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle." We must bear in mind here that this tent was as really and truly God's tabernacle, that it was as sacred in His sight, that it would have been as criminal to desecrate it, and that God was as really in it, and in it in a peculiar sense, before as after He took special and visible possession of it, by filling it with His glory. Before this event, He was present in the Tabernacle as giving inspired directions in regard to its structure and arrangements, and accepting the act of its dedication to Him. After that event He was in that tabernacle as a glorymanifested personal presence, to hear the prayers, and accept the offerings of His people, and to reveal to them His will and His truth. The two relations of God to His Tabernacle differed, not only in degree, but in kind, and it was God's dwelling-place in a new and different sense after from what it was before, that event.

ILLUSTRATIVE FACTS APPLIED.

Let us now, in the light of these illustrative facts, turn our thoughts to the believer in Jesus. The words, 66 Ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building," apply directly to every true saint of God. As the entire Tabernacle, of which we have been speaking, was constituted of dedicated materials, as all was wrought, and constructed under direct Divine superintendence, and as all was done as a means to one exclusive purpose, the rearing up "a habitation of God, through the Spirit," so with the work of God, in and upon every believer. First of all, "by the precious blood of Christ," he is "bought with a price" to become "a habitation of God through the Spirit." Then, in the work of Regeneration, conviction of sin, and "repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ,' are all the direct and immediate result of the agency of the Spirit. From this moment, the Spirit is never absent from the heart of the believer, but is always "working within him to will and to do," carrying forward the process of sanctification, perfecting his obedience and love, and "building him up in the most holy faith."

For what purpose is he thus builded? For the same purpose, we answer, for which the ancient Tabernacle was reared up-" for an habitation of God through the Spirit." As the fact that a house is builded to be the home-residence of its proprietor, and that it is his house, and that he is in it preparing it for the purpose designated, does not imply that he has yet entered it for home-occupancy, so the fact that "in Christ the believer is builded for an habitation of God through the Spirit," does not imply that God, as a glory-manifested personal presence, has entered His habitation, and "made his abode in it." Now, what the entrance of the cloud into the ancient Tabernacle, and filling it with the Divine glory, after it was reared up, purified and dedicated as the habitation of God, was to that Tabernacle, such is "the Baptism of the Holy Ghost" to the believer, after, as "God's husbandry and God's building," he has been "builded in Christ, for an habitation of God through the Spirit."

THE PENTECOST.

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As a further illustration of this great theme, let us now recur to the scene of the Pentecost (Acts ii. 1-4): "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place." Here we have the Tabernacle set up, put in order, and dedicated, as "the habitation of God through the Spirit." The body of each individual was here consecrated as a "temple of the Holy Ghost," and all their members and all their faculties were set apart as instruments of righteousness unto God." What then followed? As in the symbolical Tabernacle when it was set up and dedicated, "the cloud covered the tent, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle," so, in this case, 66 suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them. cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost." All their prior experiences had been under the direct agency and control of the Spirit, but had been preparatory to this great consummation. As "God's husbandry and God's building," they had" been in Christ builded for an habitation of God through

the Spirit," and now, as a personally manifested presence, God entered all these divinely built and consecrated Temples, filled them with His glory, and made His abode in them. We must bear in mind that the visible signs which in three recorded cases, and in these only, attended the Baptism of the Spirit, were no part of the Baptism itself. When "they were all filled with the Holy Ghost," then, and not till then, did they receive "the Baptism of the Holy Ghost." This Baptism is 'the Promise" which all believers are required to "receive by faith." The subject will be further elucidated on a future occasion.

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THE BELIEVER'S POSITION.

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BY THE REV. JAMES FLEMING, D.D. THE HE words which St. Paul employs to describe the position are Christ." They are words, as every reader of DIVINE LIFE knows, which frequently occur in his epistles. He employs them. when speaking of the life, and walk, and heritage of believers :-"If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new "thanks be unto God who always causeth us to triumph in Christ" "whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus ""blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ."

The words must have had a wonderful richness of meaning, and even fascination to the Apostle, to be repeated by him with such frequency and variety of application. He interweaves them with all his instructions, as if they were the very life and soul of the truths he expounds, and the duties. he enforces.

How far the meaning he put upon them exhausted their significance, it is not possible to say; but so far as ordinary readers of Scripture are concerned, they imply what will never be comprehended, and cover depths which will for ever remain unexplored.

The meaning they obviously bear, and with which religious teachers, are, as a rule, contented is, union with Christ. As

thus understood, they express a subject to which the writers of the New Testament attach the highest importance, and on which consequently they frequently dwell. Nor is this to be wondered at, as it covers the whole ground of salvation and Christian experience. Yes, only as you are one with Christ, are you His. The degree of your indentification with Him is the measure of the grace you possess, and the security you enjoy.

To be in Christ, then, is to be one with Him, as the member is with the body, and the branch with the vine. It is, in other words, to be in Him as the sphere of your life, and the element of your being.

The converse of the truth is, that Christ is in us. The one is synonymous with the other. To be in Christ is the same as having Christ in us. Nor must the two ever be separated, as on their co-existence and mutual action depend advancement in holiness, and the possession of of power for service.

Then think with whom this union associates you; it is with Him who is "fairer than all the sons of men ; who is "the Brightness of the Father's glory and the express image of His Person; "in whom dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily;" with whom are all the resources of grace, and by whom "all power is wielded both in heaven and in earth."

But what a position is this for man to fill! How exalted the standing! How Divine the relation!

Israel's place of old was on the breast and shoulders of Aaron; yours, beloved, is in the heart and strength of the Son of God. But you have not only His love and power, you have Himself, in undivided personality and ever-available sufficiency.

To be in Christ is to have His acceptance. Guilt no more attaches to you there than it does to Him. Possessed of His "righteousness," you receive the very acceptance which is accorded to Him. And must not it be so? There is not one kind of acceptance for the Head and another for the Members. You are not only "accepted in the Beloved," but as the Beloved. "As He is before God," so are we in this world. There is therefore no condemnation for us. Our past may

be clouded, but our future is light in the Lord.

But we have in Christ also the "Eternal Life," which is the outflow and gift of the Life-giving Spirit. No, you cannot be in Christ without partaking of His life. The branch receives of the life of the tree, and the member of that of the body, and all who are joined to the Lord are one spirit with Him. And then the life you have from Him is resurrection-life-a life over which death has no power, and on which no spot of defilement is seen. Yes, this, child of God, is your life in Christ, not your own made better, but Christ's infused into you. May Christ Himself be enthroned within you, as the Master of your being, and the Hope of Glory.

When you came forth from the grave in which you had been buried with Him, you did so as a new creation. But do you believe this? Then do not be ever trying, as is the case with only too many, to improve what you possess. You cannot add to what is Divine. You may mend and patch up the old, but the new needs no improving. Then is there nothing which it behoves you to do? Are you to remain where you are, and be satisfied with what you have attained? You are not yet all you are capable of and intended to be. You are in Christ to grow, to go from strength to strength, to rise up to the stature of Christian perfection, and glorify God by much fruit-bearing.

And for this-for walking before the Lord unto all-pleasing and fulfilling the purposes of life, you have in Christ the power that you need. He perfects His strength in the weakness of all who are one with Him. They are henceforth equipped for every service, and possessed of resources adequate to all emergencies.

"Electricians tell us," to quote from Mr. Aitken," that our nervous system is so constituted that under the force of electricity we can perform prodigies of strength and endurance, which would be impossible under ordinary circumstances. We will suppose a book to weigh several pounds. I hold it out at arm's length, my arm being in a horizontal position. Ere many minutes have passed, the sense of fatigue becomes insupportable, and my arm must fall to my side. But turn on a current of electricity to the outstretched arm, and I am able to sustain the weight

indefinitely, without any such sense of fatigue. Where does my part in the matter lie? Not in struggling to force my arm to do what it is too weak to do, but in yielding my member to the power which can enable it to accomplish what is otherwise impossible. I have to see to it that no non-conductor shuts me off from the generating mechanism, and breaks the invisible stream of power; and that is just what I have to see to, above everything else, in my spiritual experience. Am I in full connexion with Omnipotence? Listen to the language of St. Paul: 'I can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth me.' How did Christ strengthen him? By endowing his nature with a new and adequate power; 'I laboured more abundantly than they all; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

Then we have here the secret and growth of holiness. Only in union with Christ can you become like Him. It is association that produces resemblance. As then you abide in Christ and walk with Him, you assume His image, become His representative, and dying to sin, live unto righteousness. Nor are these ends to be reached by any other way. Christ is our sanctification. Salvation is from beginning to end His work. He prepares for heaven as well as preserves from perdition. He is the supply for our every need, whilst in Him we occupy His standing, become the subjects of a Divine nature, and are holy as God is holy. "All things are yours in Christ: for as many as receive Him, to them gives He power to become the Sons of God; even to them that believe on His name;" that "ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound in every good work."