CRY IN THE DESERT; OR, EARNEST WORDS OF WARNING ADDRESSED TO A SLUMBERING CHURCH, A MONTHLY TRACT. No. I. THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT;-WHAT IS IT? "Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?"-ST. PAUL. ST. PAUL, the Gentile Apostle, when visiting a few men in the city of Ephesus, who had been converted to Christ, by the preaching and ministry of Apollos, asked of them this question" Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?" And it was the most natural and important question an Apostle could ask; for the impartation of the Holy Spirit by the laying on of their hands, was one of the chief duties which the Lord Jesus Christ had committed to that office and ministry to discharge. It was therefore his duty to see that men converted to Christ, were not only converted and baptized, but that the converted and baptized were filled with the Holy Ghost; which was the seal of their faith, the first fruits of their hope, and the earnest of their inheritance. They (the Apostles) not only ministered spiritual things, but they were the Divine ordinance and channel for ministering The Spirit Himself. This was the glory of their ministry, over all other Christian ministers— and over all ministers in the Mosaic dispensation. They were ministers of the Spirit which makes alive, and not of the latter which kills. 141. k. 565. み Another class of Christians will say, that this glorious and mighty gift-was the power vouchsafed to the Apostles, to work miracles, and perform mighty deeds of power. But this could not be the distinguishing characteristic of this glory, promised to the Christian Church; for Moses, Joshua, Samson, David, the Prophets, and our Lord, and his twelve Apostles, and seventy Evangelists,-all, more or less, wrought miraculous works by the power of the Holy Spirit, before this promised Baptism was vouchsafed. Miracles, therefore, are not the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. It may be, and is, of an entirely supernatural character, both in its inward power and outward manifestation;-but miracles, that is, appeals to the senses of men, do not constitute its essential and distinguishing characteristic. Another class of Christians will say, It is the grace imparted to Christian people in Baptism and the Lord's Supper; But our Lord's Apostles had received the latter, and had been Baptized with John's Baptism also, yet had not received that mighty gift, which John, the greatest of prophets and harbinger of the Son of God, announced as belonging to Him, and as being His peculiar office and ministry to bestow. The Baptism with the Holy Ghost, promised by the Baptist, and given upon Pentecost to remain in and with the Church -and "to abide for ever"-is neither a mere influence-nor a mere moral power-nor repentance nor faith-nor miraculous energy-nor baptismal grace-nor sacramental food;-but the Baptism of the Spirit, is the gift of God superadded over and above all that has gone before, both in all preceding dispensations, as well as in the calling, separation, and regeneration of the members of Christ;-a gift which Apostles themselves did not receive till Jesus was glorified,though they believed,-were cleansed by His word, and had wrought mighty miracles in His name;-a gift, which the Lord Himself promised as His last legacy to His Church, when leaving her in the world. My dear Christian reader, you may have known the Spirit's influence; you may have been brought to penitence, faith, conversion, Baptism, the holy Supper;-and yet an Apostle (over and above all these) would still be justified, and I am justified, therefore, in asking," Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?" Are you listening to the robbers of God's people, who are teaching them, that the Baptism of the Spirit has passed away-never to return ? That it was only given for a few years in the days of her youth, and then withdrawn? Or are you joining with that sanctified unbelief, -which says, in excuse for its sin and wilful neglect, The Lord Has withdrawn His gifts, and Has left us the sensible for the spiritual— the form for the power-the flesh for the Spirit ;-and that having begun in the Spirit, the Church can now be made perfect by the powers and faculties of the flesh? The New Testament begins with announcing the approaching Baptism with the Spirit, as the bright effulgence of its surpassing glory, throwing into shade all other glory that had been seen before. St. John the Baptist, has, as it were, but two words in his mouth; Repent, and prepare to receive Him, Who is the Lamb of God,—the true Victim,-ending all sacrifices slain for sin,-and the Baptizer with the Holy Ghost and fire;inaugurating that further thing, which all the prophets have seen in their visions of glory looming in the far distant horizon;—that kingdom of God, of heaven, and of Christ, wherein God shall not only dwell WITH MEN, BUT SHALL DWELL IN THEM, AND WALK IN THEM, AND MAKE THEM A TEMPLE FOR HIS ABODE FOR EVER. This is the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; He, Who is the Redeemer of the world, is also the Baptizer of His Church, with the Holy Ghost and fire. In Matt. iii. 11, 12; Mark i. 9; Luke iii. 16, 17; John i. 33; this glorious gift is announced as approaching, for the acceptance and enjoyment of the people of God. Each saint, prophet, and messenger of God, in each dispensation, has his own peculiar work to do, and his own peculiar glory shining upon him; Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, Elijah, David, Solomon, and all the prophets; but of all men born of women, and of all prophets sent by God to His Church and people, John was the greatest; for he was the immediate harbinger and forerunner of Him, Who, being the Lamb, "shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire;-Whose fan is in His Hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into His garner, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."(Matt. iii. 11, 12.) All the works and promises of our Lord in the days of His flesh on earth, -all He did and suffered, was but to prepare for this,-" "the Baptism with the Holy Ghost." This high office and function, is the glory and the fruit of His resurrection from the dead, and Enthronement at the right hand of God. It is the higher, greater, and more glorious gift, which the Christian Church is called into the fellowship and enjoyment of; and without which, "Ichabod" is written upon her; for, whatever else she may have her true and distinguishing glory is departed!! This, her true glory, -- |