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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
May, 1941
Phases of Positional Sanctification 2. The Baptism with the Holy Spirit By RUTH PAXSON T O EVERY life, the Cross of Christ presents a great divide—a sepa ration between the trinity of evil and the trinity of holiness. On the one
ians 5:27 states it thus: “That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot,-or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” Oh, how far the Church is from that state today! We get occasional glimpses of glory out of some congregations and out of some individual lives, but what a long step it will be from the Church as it is today to the Church as it will be when the Lord returns! And, friend, as regards your own personal life—is it so . sanctified that when the Lord Jesus Christ comes to take you to Himself, it will be just a step out of sanctification into glorifica tion? It may be, if you and I (ive ac cording to the truth of His Word. Now in the new dispensation the Holy Spirit was to be the medium of the revelation of Christ to the disciples and the medium of realization of Christ in" them. In other words, He was to become the heart of the Church of which Christ is the head. The function of the human heart is to keep the blood circulating through the entire body, through the head,- hands, feet. And similarly the living, invisible life that is in the Head yonder in heaven is to be kept circulating in and through the Church by this precious indwelling and infilling Holy Spirit, that the Church may in deed and truth become the full ness of Him who “filleth all in all” (Eph. 1:23). Friends, do we realize that is the work of the Holy Spirit? If we did, we would not ignore Him and neglect Him as we do! Do you know the reason for the condi tion of the Church as it is today? It is that we have ignored the Qne that God designated and appointed to live within you and me in order that the life of the invisible Head in heaven might be made a reality in us down here on earth. Christ commanded them to wait for the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4, 5). Jesus ascended; the Spirit descended. Pentecost Let us tnink together of the baptism with the Spirit as an event—the descent of the Holy Spirit as an event, and later on we will take it as an experience. We need to study the Book of Acts in this way to avoid error. May I say that I never speak upon. this subject without acknowledging that
side are Satan, the world, and the flesh. Every unsaved soul is on this side of the Cross of Christ. But by trusting in the crucified Saviour, men may, by His atoning blood, pass from this position to the new sphere beyond the Cross— to dwell in Christ, in the Church, and in the Spirit. In our previous discus sion, we considered this great divide in its first aspect, the believer’s positional sanctification through the blood of Christ. The Continuance of Christ’s Work Now we go on to the other phase of this positional sanctification, our sancti fication through the baptism of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. All that Christ accomplished on Cal vary would have been ineffectual and unavailing apart from Pentecost. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself stated it thus: “It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Com forter will not come unto you” (John 16:7). For their sakes the Comforter must come. “I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even 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” (John 14:16, 17). The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament dispensation had come upon men. He had even been in men temporarily, but He had never been an abiding presence. He was to come now in a totally new and different way that would mean a totally new and different relationship to men. For Christ’s sake He must come. “He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you” (John 16:14). Will you get the words “glorify” and “glory” ? On that last night when He came to the garden to pray, the Lord Jesus Christ said, “I am glorified in them” (John 17:10). Oh! is He glorified in you and in me ? Today may that prayer be answered in us! Do we so live that the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ may be seen in our daily living ? And what is the goal toward which He is working for the Church? Ephes
Ruth Paxson I know there is a great difference of opinion upon it among earnest, evangel ical Christians. All I can say to you is that I am only giving to you that which God has thus far revealed to me. I pray that He will not let me give a single thing that is not out of His Book; but may your mind be open, as mine is open, to a fuller and fuller light on this subject. But I believe that there is no theme on which the devil is bringing such confusion both as to the truth and the experience as on this great truth— the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Now there was a descent of the Spirit on the one hundred and twenty in that upper room, and they were baptized with the Holy Spirit into the Body of Jesus Christ. I believe that, as an event, Pen tecost was as significant and stupendous as Calvary. It is both the complement and the completion of Calvary. It Is the counterpart of Christ’s work as Sin- Bearer. It is the crowning work of the Saviour. As truly as He poured out His blood on the Cross of Calvary, He poured out His Spirit on Pentecost. On Calvary the Father gave the Son as Saviour to the world to open the fountain of life to sinners, and on Pentecost the Son gave the Spirit as Sanctifier to the Church to provide fullness of life in Christ for the saints.
Calvary and Pentecost are Inseparable historically, doctrinally, and experimen- T h ird in a Se r ie s on wThe H o ly S p ir it in the L i fe o f the B e l ie v e r 99
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