Sermon 1790. Receiving the Holy Spirit

(No. 1790)

A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, JULY 13, 1884,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"He said unto them, Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?" Acts 19:2.

IT may be well to notice what question the Apostle did not put to these Ephesian disciples of John. He did not say to them,"Have you believed?" This would have been a very important question and it ought to be settled once and for all. Our faithmust either be boldly affirmed or sorrowfully denied-it should not remain the subject of question. It is a great pity thatso many Christians are always saying, "Have I believed?" and allowing that most vital point to be a matter of debate-for aslong as the existence of faith within our souls is the subject of question, we must be unhappy. Faith is the cornerstone ofthe edifice of godliness-if it is not well laid and known to be well laid-there can be no sense of security to the inhabitantof the house. We not only ought to know that we believe, but to know Whom we believe! And it would be well for us to advancebeyond common believing to assurance-and then to full assurance-the assurance of faith, the assurance of hope and the assuranceof understanding.

Again, Paul does not put the question, "If you have believed, how came it about? By what agencies was faith created in yoursouls? When did you first become Believers?" These are very proper questions if we view them as points of interest, but theydo not touch the essence of salvation. A man may be saved and yet know none of the details of his conversion. No doubt thereare many strong Believers who could not point to any special agency as the means by which faith was begotten within them.In general, it was by the hearing of the Word of God and by the operation of the Holy Spirit-but they do not remember, assome do, a remarkable text, or a thrilling sermon, or a striking Providence, through which they were turned from darknessto the Light of God.

Thousands in the fold of Jesus come to the Good Shepherd by degrees. Many who now walk in the Light received daylight, notby the leaping of the sun above the horizon in a moment, but as our days mostly begin in this country-a little light tingedthe eastern sky and then came a rosy hue, followed by a dim dawn-and afterwards came the actual rising of the sun which comesout of the chambers of the east and runs his course till he has created perfect day. Many are gradually brought to Christand yet they are truly brought to Christ. I say we may ask about the when and the how of conversion if we wish to be interested,as we have a right to be, in the stories of the godly, but we must not ask such questions as if they were of vital importanceand should stand first.

Paul does not enquire about ways, means and times, but he does ask-"Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?"Our Revised Version reads it, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" and others who are probably quite as accurateread it, "Are you receiving the Holy Spirit now that you have believed?" It does not matter one atom which way you read it-allthe renderings come to this-"Do you see a connection between your believing and the Holy Spirit? Did you receive Him whenyou believed? Have you received Him since you believed? Are you daily receiving Him as you believe?"

That is the subject which is now before us-the Holy Spirit in our hearts as Believers. Has your faith been sealed by the impressof the Holy Spirit? This is a point of the utmost importance and upon it I desire to speak with deep and solemn earnestnessin the power of the Holy Spirit, Himself. You know, dear Friends, when the Holy Spirit was given in the earliest ages, Heshowed His Presence by certain miraculous signs. Some of those who received the Holy Spirit spoke with tongues; others beganto prophesy and a third class received the gifts of healing-so that wherever they laid their hands, disease fled before them.I am sure that if these powers were given now in connection with the reception of the Holy Spirit and your believing, youwould all be anxious to possess them. I can hardly imagine a single Christian who would not put

to himself the enquiry, "Have I received the Holy Spirit in that fashion?" You would want to be healing, or to be speakingwith tongues, or to be working miracles by which you could benefit your fellow men and glorify God! Would you

not?

Now, be it never forgotten that those works of the Holy Spirit which are permanent must assuredly be of greater value thanthose which were transitory. We cannot suppose that the Holy Spirit brought forth the best wine at first and that His operationsgradually deteriorated. It is a rule of the Kingdom of God to keep the best wine for the last and, therefore, I conclude thatyou and I are not left to partake of the dregs, but that those works of the Holy Spirit which are at this time vouchsafedto the Church of God are, in every way, as valuable as those earlier miraculous gifts which have departed from us. The workof the Holy Spirit, by which men are quickened from their death in sin, is not inferior to the power which made men speakwith tongues! The work of the Holy Spirit, when He comforts men and makes them glad in Christ, is by no means second to theopening of the eyes of the blind! Why, Sirs, men might have the gifts of the Spirit as to miracles and yet might perish, afterall! But he that has the spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit shall never perish-they are saving blessings and where they come,they lift the man out of his sinful state and make him to be a child of God!

I would, therefore, press it upon you, this morning, that as you would certainly enquire whether you had the gifts of healingand miracle-working, if such gifts were now given to Believers, much more should you enquire whether you have those more permanentgifts of the Spirit which are, this day, open to you all. By them you shall work no physical miracle, but shall achieve spiritualwonders of the grander sort! If we come to weigh spiritual operations, they are by no means secondary in the judgment of enlightenedservants of God. Have you then received the Spirit since you believed? Beloved, are you now receiving the Spirit? Are youliving under His Divine influence? Are you filled with His power?

Put the question personally. I am afraid some professors will have to admit that they hardly know whether there is any HolySpirit. And others will have to confess that though they have enjoyed a little of His saving work, yet they do not know muchof His ennobling and sanctifying influence. We have, none of us, participated in His operations as we might have done-we havesipped where we might have drunk! We have drunk where we might have bathed! We have bathed up to the ankles where we mighthave found rivers to swim in! Alas, of many Christians it must be affirmed that they have been naked, poor and miserable whenthey might, in the power of the Holy Spirit, have been clad in golden garments and have been rich and increased in goods.

He waits to be gracious, but we linger in indifference, like those of whom we read, "they could not enter in because of unbelief."There are many such cases and, therefore, it is not improper that I should, with all vehemence, press home upon you the questionof the Apostle, "Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?" Did you receive Him when you believed? Are you receivingHim now that you are believing in Christ Jesus? We will, first, this morning, consider the question. And then we will listento the lessons which it is calculated to teach.

I. I want you to consider THE QUESTION. In some respects it is a vital question. I shall not be playing around the outskirtsof religion now, but plunging into its very center. This question has nothing to do with the sect to which you belong, norwith the particular condition in which your mind may happen to be for the present hour-it is an enquiry which touches theheart of the man and the inmost life of his spirit. "Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?" For, remember,the Holy Spirit is the Author of all spiritual life. Life does not lie latent in natural men for themselves to stir up-untilthe Holy Spirit visits them they are dead in trespasses and sins. If, when you believed, you had not a life imparted by theHoly Spirit, your believing was a dead believing, a mere counterfeit of living faith-and not the faith of God's elect!

If the Holy Spirit has not been with you since your conversion, every act of your religion has been formal, dead and unaccepted!In vain have you sung your formal songs! In vain have you attempted to adore! Your Hosannas have languished on your tonguesand your devotion has fallen like a corpse before the altar. If the Holy Spirit is not there, life is not there-your manyprayers have been mockeries! Your joys have been delusions and your griefs have been carnal! That which is born of the fleshis flesh and nothing better-let that flesh be washed and cleansed-yet all that comes of it is flesh! Only that which is bornof the Spirit is spirit! There must, then, be a work from Heaven, a work of the Holy Spirit upon the heart, or else you havenot believed unto life and you still abide in death.

As the Holy Spirit is the Author of our quickening, the Lord and Giver of life, so is He the Author of all true instruction.Brother, you have professed to be a Believer, but you know nothing at all unless the Holy Spirit has taught you.

"All your children shall be taught of the Lord." To be taught of the minister is nothing-but to be taught of the Lord is everything!It is only the Spirit of God who can engrave the Truth of God upon the fleshy tablets of the heart. We speak to the ear, butonly He can speak to the inmost soul. He that professes to be a Believer while he has never received the Truth of God in thepower of it, as sent home by the Spirit of light and fire, has need to begin again and learn the first rudiments of the faith!He has learned nothing aright who has not been under the direct operation of the Holy Spirit. The knowledge of the letteronly puffs up those who rest in it-and eventually the letter kills. But the inward whisper, the secret admonition, the silentoperation of the Spirit of God which falls as the dew from Heaven upon the heart-this is quite another thing. He that hasit not is blind and ignorant, though he has a Doctor of Divinity and is revered as a rabbi in Israel! Though he is a preacherto thousands, he is still in the dark unless the Spirit of God has shone upon his soul. See, then, how vital this questionis! Both for life and for light we must have the Holy Spirit, or else we are dead and in the dark.

Furthermore, if we have believed in Christ aright, the Holy Spirit has come upon us to transform us altogether. By DivineGrace we are not now what we used to be-we have new thoughts, new wishes, new aspirations, new sorrows, new joys-and theseare worked in us by the Spirit. A man's conversion is nothing. His believing is nothing. His profession is nothing unlesshe is made to be a new creature in Christ Jesus. But how can we be made new by any other power than the Holy Spirit? OnlyHe that creates can new-create. "Except a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." We cannot hate evil and loveright of ourselves, for the whole bent and bias of our spirit since the Fall are toward evil, only evil, and that continually!Neither can we renew ourselves. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one! Can an unclean thing bring forth itselfclean out of uncleanness? Between the ribs of death there cannot be spontaneously formed the seeds of life. The Holy Spiritmust transform us by the renewing of our minds-we must be begotten again unto a lively hope by the Resurrection of Jesus Christfrom the dead, or else we are still in the flesh and cannot please God. If our faith has not brought with it the Holy Spirit.If, indeed, it is not the fruit of the Spirit and we are not changed in nature and in life, then our faith is presumptionand our profession is a lie!

Furthermore, it is absolutely essential to all true religion that you and I should be sanctified. A faith which works notfor purification will work for putrefaction. Unless our faith makes us pine after holiness and pant after conformity to God,it is no better than the faith of devils and, perhaps, it is not even as good as that! How can any man become holy exceptby the Spirit of Holiness? A holy man is the workmanship of the Holy Spirit! Through faith we are sanctified by the operationof the Holy Spirit so that we are delivered from the dominion of sin and set free to follow after that which is good and pureand right in the sight of God. Faith which does not bring holiness with it is a dead faith which will never bring us intocommunion with the living God! Oh, the absolute necessity that the Holy Spirit should rest upon us when we believe in Christ!

Beside that, remember, dear Friends, there is one mark of God's people which, if it is lacking, is fatal-and that is prayer."Behold, he prays," is a true sign of the new birth! But can a man pray without the assistance of the Holy Spirit? Let himtry to do so and, if he is honest and sincere, he will soon find the value of that text-"Likewise the Spirit also helps ourinfirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanswhich cannot be uttered." Pray without the Spirit of God? Oh, Sir, it will be a mechanical performance- the statue of prayer-notthe living, prevailing supplication of an heir of Heaven! You may go to your chamber and kneel down at that particular chairwhere you have so often enjoyed communion with God, but unless you invoke the Spirit of God, the posture shall be a weariness,the exercise shall be heartless and the result shall be worthless!

What is the incense without the burning coals? What is the Mercy Seat without the Shekinah light? Prayer without the Spiritis as a bird without wings, or an arrow without a bow! As well hope to see a dead man sit up in his coffin and plead a casein a court of law, as hope to see a man prevail in prayer who is a stranger to the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of Graceand of supplications! You will leave your prayer closet unrefreshed if you have been in it without the Spirit. Even the desireto pray is not with us unless the Holy Spirit has worked it in the soul. No true word of supplication can arise from the heartunless the Spirit of God shall prompt it. Dear, dear Friends, you do see, do you not, how on all these points, contact withthe Spirit of God becomes essential to our present spiritual life and to our eternal salvation? Look you to it; look you toit at once!

If all you have is what you have made yourself, you and your works must perish! If all your prayers have risen from no greaterdepth than your own heart and if they are the fruit of no better spirit than your own-they will never reach the ear of God,nor bring you blessings from the Throne of God. If there is not something supernatural about your religion, it will be a millstoneabout your neck to sink you into Hell! What comes from the dunghill and is of the dunghill will rot on the dunghill! Thatwhich comes from a man's heart, apart from the gracious operation of the Holy Spirit, will rise no higher than his own depravednature and leave Him unblessed! But that which comes from above will elevate him to its own element and cause him to dwellwith Christ at the right hand of God!

But now, while this is a vital question, I beg to say further that where it is not vital, it is, nevertheless, greatly important.I do not think we ought always to be asking the question, "Is this essential?" meaning thereby, "Is it essential to our salvation?"Those are miserable souls who would be stingy in obedience and love so that they would labor and love no more than is absolutelynecessary to get to Heaven! They would be saved in the cheapest possible way and they would be content to crawl over the thresholdof Glory, but not to go too far in! They want as much Grace as may be necessary to float them over the bar at the harbor'smouth, but they do not desire a grand entrance. O you miserly professors, stinting yourselves in the matter of the Grace ofGod-I have little to say to you!

But I turn to the children of God and joyfully remind them that there is, in the Holy Spirit, not only what they absolutelyneed to save them, but much more! Here is not only bread, but wine on the lees well refined. In the Holy Spirit there is comfortto gladden you, Grace to strengthen you, holiness to ennoble you and love to purify you. For, first, the Spirit of God isthe Comforter and how important it is that you should be comforted! Why do you hang your heads? Why do you go mourning asif you were in the night and the dews were thick upon your eyelids? You are the children of the morning and the children ofthe day-rejoice in the Lord and walk in the light as He is in the light! "Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?"You whose brows are furrowed with care, whose hearts are distracted with anxiety, receive the Spirit of consolation and beglad in the Lord, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!

In the Holy Spirit there is also a spirit of enlightening. Do you read the Word of God understanding very little of it? Doyou hear it as though you heard not? Why is this? Should you not seek more of the teaching of the Holy Spirit, that He maylead you into all Truths of God? How much happier you would be-and how much more useful-if you knew more of the things ofGod! The Holy Spirit can take of the things of Christ and can show them to you. Now you only see men as trees walking, butthere is no need to be content with such dim vision, for the Comforter can anoint your eyes with eye salve that you may see-Hecan open your eyes that you may behold wondrous things out of His Law! Why not seek to have the enlightening Spirit of Godresting on you, to teach you in His Word and way?

The Spirit of God is, also, the Spirit of liberty, but some of God's children do not seem to have attained their freedom asyet. They have one fetter remaining on their feet and though they try to enter into the broad fields of heavenly enjoyment,they cannot escape from their prison. Of such we may well ask-Have you received the Spirit since you believed? If so, whyare you the slaves of custom, the bandaged serfs of fashion? Why do you ask leave of your fellow men to breathe, or think?Why are you so cowardly that you dare not follow conscience, or speak of the things of God? The fear of man brings a snareto many and that snare is also a chain to their feet. It ought not be! Rather should they feel that, since the Son has madethem free, they are free, indeed! The Holy Spirit is a free Spirit and makes men free-where the Spirit of the Lord is, thereis liberty! Glory be to You, O God, "I am Your servant; You have loosed my bonds."

Many weak children of God have received the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but they have not yet received the Spirit ofadoption by which we cry, "Abba, Father." Oh, the glory of the Spirit of God when He makes us feel that we are no more servants,but sons-not under the Law, but under Grace-not under wrath, but under love, not doomed to death, but endowed with life! Hehas brought us forth from prison and broken all our bonds asunder! He has set our feet in a large room and made us to walkat liberty because we keep His statutes! Ours is the freedom of no mean city, for our citizenship is in Heaven and the Spiritof God enables us to enjoy the citizenship of the New Jerusalem! It is important that we should know what this heavenly freedommeans.

Some of God's people need to feel the Spirit of God as a power moving and impelling them to holy service. Do you ever hear,behind you, a voice saying, "This is the way; walk you in it"? Have you ever known holy impulses bidding you do this and that-impulseswhich did not come from human nature, for they impelled you to something which you would naturally have avoided? And do youever follow after things unseen, driven onward as by a powerful wind, not to

be resisted? Have you been made willing in the day of God's power to do the Divine bidding? I would we had more of it, forthen we should be more ready for service and should do greater things than these. That same Spirit who moves the saints towork, also empowers them to achieve the purpose which is put into their souls. By His aid you shall go forth in your feeblenessand put to flight the armies of the aliens! You shall be, in God's hands, as a sharp threshing instrument having teeth andshall thresh mountains-and beat them small-yes, fan them and the wind shall carry them away!

Does any man know what the Spirit of God can make of him? I believe the greatest, ablest, most faithful, most holy man ofGod might have been greater, abler, more faithful and more holy if he had put himself more completely at the Spirit's disposal.Wherever God has done great things by a man, He has had power to do more had the man been fit for it. We are straitened inourselves, not in God! O Brothers and Sisters, the Church is weak today because the Holy Spirit is not upon her members aswe would desire Him to be! You and I are tottering along like feeble babes, whereas, had we more of the Spirit, we might walkwithout fainting, run without weariness and even mount up with wings as eagles! Oh, for more of the anointing of the HolySpirit whom Christ is prepared to give immeasurably unto us if we will but receive Him! "Have you received the Holy Spiritsince you believed?" Is there not much Divine Power which has not, as yet, been manifested in you?

"Oh," says one, "I feel so dull today!" Do you? Is not the Holy Spirit the power to refresh you and to rekindle in your soulthe dying flame of spiritual fervor? Oh, if you did but receive His power today, you would not mind the heaviness of the atmosphere,nor any other deadening surroundings, for the Spirit would triumph over the flesh. Do you know the power of the Spirit? DidHe ever make you like the chariots of Amminadib? Did He ever carry you away with His supreme power? Did you ever run likeElijah before Ahab's chariot and feel that it was a little thing to do? Can you not say, "O my Soul, you have trodden downstrength! By my God have I leaped over a wall and broken thorough a troop: I can do all things through Christ that strengthensme"? These are the expressions of souls familiar with the Holy Spirit- when He inspires them, they are divinely strong, evento omnipotence! Brothers and Sisters, we must have the Holy Spirit! Are you receiving His forces? Are you receiving His fullnesseven now?

Now I come to notice that this question is assuredly answerable. "Have you received the Holy Spirit?" The notion has sprungup that you cannot tell whether you have the Holy Spirit or not, but you can. Give a man an electric shock and I guaranteeyou he will know it! But if he has the Holy Spirit, he will know it much more. You may sometimes raise the question, "DidI ever feel the Holy Spirit in years gone by?" but you cannot ask the question, "Do I feel it now?" for if you feel it nowyou have the witness in yourself that the Lord is at work with you. You need not ask a question about present experience.If you do not feel the Holy Spirit at work distinctly and perceptibly, even now, then lift your heart to God for it and praythat you may now receive Him in all His fullness.

"Oh," says one, "I thought we must always say, 'I hope so. I trust so.'" I know that jargon, but men do not say, "I hope Ihave an estate," or, "I trust I have 20 shillings in the pound," or, "I think I have a wife and children." Some of us arequite clear about these matters, one way or the other! We should not live on guess-work as to daily life, much less as toeternal things. O Souls, live daily on what God gives you and you cannot doubt! Live near to Christ and you cannot doubt whetheryou love Him! Live in the Holy Spirit, give yourselves up fully to His Divine anointing and bedewing, and you will not haveto say, "I hardly know whether there is any Holy Spirit," for He dwells with you and shall be in you!

Permit me to say here that there are many professors to whom this question is inevitable. I will pick out certain of them.There is the Brother with the long dreary face, the Knight of the Rueful Countenance. You know him and you pity him. His favoritehymn is-

"'Tis a point I long to know, Oft it causes anxious thought."

Is there anything dreary? He delights in it as much as he can delight in anything! He is sure of nothing but the horri-ble-everythingthat is pleasant he is afraid of. His life is one protracted groan. Come along, Brother, and shake hands as cheerfully asyou can. Please tell me, have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed? How he hesitates! Poor Soul, he is perplexed.He is not well acquainted with the Comforter. Here is a hymn for him-let us sing it to a gladsome tune-

"Why should the children of a King Go mourning all their days? Great Comforter, descend and bring

Some tokens of Your Grace! Do You not dwell in all the saints And seal the heirs of Heaven? When will You banish my complaints,And show my sins forgiven?"

Surely, if we have the earnest of the Spirit, the first fruits of Heaven, we ought to rejoice in the Lord always! Brother,you look comfortless-how can this be when the Comforter has come to you?

Another Brother is a member of the Church and a very unpleasant neighbor, for he picks holes in everybody and everything.He is a born grumbler and since he has been new-born he has not given up the habit. When he goes home this morning, afterdinner he will spend the afternoon in his growlery, complaining of the heat and, perhaps, of my sermon. Oh, my dear Brother,you who are so uneasy and unhappy-and so worrying and annoying to everybody-did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?Are you still receiving the Holy Spirit? I have sometimes thought that certain unfriendly friends must have been baptizedin vinegar instead of water, from the sharp acid of their temperament. Surely the Spirit of God is a dove, full of peace,love and kindness-not a bird of prey! Let me put my hand on that Brother's shoulder, if he will allow such a rudeness, andsay, "Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?"

Here comes another who flies out into great tempers and grows fiercely angry. A little thing puts him out-he finds fault readilyenough and becomes excited in no time. He says that he is very sorry for it, afterwards, but this does not remove the woundswhich he has inflicted. If you cut a person's head off, it is of small use to apologize to him afterwards. Many a man boilsover with passion and scalds his friends and, then, in cooler moments expresses his regret. All very fine-but fine words cureno blisters! I would suggest to you, the next time you are in a great temper, that you ask yourself this question, "Have Ireceived the Holy Spirit since I believed? Is He not the spirit of peace and gentleness?" I fancy anybody putting that questionto you, when you are in an irritated state of mind, you would reply, "Pray do not mention such a subject here, for I am notacting as I ought to do." Then do act as you ought to do and ask for the Spirit of God to help you to be quiet, forgiving,humble and meek!

Here is a Brother who cannot be happy unless he indulges in worldly frivolities and useless amusements. When he gets intoa grand frolic with worldly people, he finds himself at home-but the joys of godliness he despises! My Friend, the next timeyou are coming home from a party, I should like to meet you in the street and enquire, "Have you received the Holy Spiritsince you believed?" You would think me almost blaspheming! Alas, the blasphemy is in your heart! You would feel awkward,would you not? Do not do things which make you feel awkward-keep out of those scenes which are unfit for a child of God! Donot play with the devil's children. Many people around this place are sore put to it to keep their children from bad company.There is no playground for their children but the streets-and it seems hard when they say that their children shall not associatewith rude children in the road-yet they must do it. Our Lord does not love that His dear children should sport with heirsof wrath, or make them their intimates. Such evil communications will bring you misery sooner or later. You cannot expectthe Holy Spirit to continue with you if you are joined with the adversaries of the Lord!

But there are certain persons who live solely to hoard and scrape and get money that they may grow rich and grind everybodyelse to pieces in the process. I would like, when the avaricious man is totaling up his gains, to put to him the question,"Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?" He would answer, "Don't, don't! It is terribly out of place to mentionso serious a matter!" It is out of place, no doubt, for the man himself is out of place! But ought a Believer to be in a positionin which it shall be out of place for a friend to speak to him about his eternal interests?

I know some to whom the question is needless. You never did put it to them and you never will. You meet them in the morning,soaring aloft, like the lark, in the praises of God. See them in trouble? They are patient and resigned to their heavenlyFather's will. Mark how they spend their lives in hallowed service, seeking always to win sinners to Christ! Their commontalk is sweet with the honey of the Holy Land-you cannot be with them 10 minutes without discovering that they have leanedon Jesus' bosom! There is an aroma about them which tells you that they dwell in the garden of the Lord. When they tell youtheir experience, it is even as if an angel shook his wings! You do not ask them if they have received the Holy Spirit-youstand still and admire the work of the Spirit of God in them!

Now, Beloved, be such yourselves. If our Church is to be strong and if it is to make a lasting impression upon its age bybearing a telling testimony to the Truth of God, we must not only have the Spirit of God in His essential operations,

but in His soul-enriching, heart-delighting, life-sanctifying power! Thus will He turn earth into Heaven and make us poorearth-born creatures meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. So much upon the question. I cannot sendit home-I can only pray that God the Holy Spirit, whom I desire to honor, may apply these thoughts with power to your souls.

II. One or two LESSONS can be gathered upon the very surface of this question. "Have you received the Holy Spirit since youbelieved?" The first lesson is, we are not to look for salvation to one single act of faith in the past, but to Jesus, inwhom we continue to believe. I have read, very much to my grief, an assertion that whatever we may be, today, we are safe,if years ago we exercised a single act of faith. There may be truth in the statement, but it is so badly stated and so wretchedlydistorted, that it looks like a lie-that which saves is a faith which does not spend itself in a single act, but continuesto work and operate throughout the whole of life! It is not a question for me, today, "Did I believe in the Lord Jesus Christin the year 1850, on a certain morning in the month of January?"

Oh, no-the question is, "Do I believe in the Lord Jesus at this hour?" For if my faith is "faith of the operation of God,"it has continued to this hour and will continue to the end! All my troubles, all my temptations, all my sins have not killedmy faith, but for every day, as the day has come, I have continued to receive the Holy Spirit's gracious aid since I believedand was brought into newness of life. "The just shall live by faith." It is a principle within, springing up unto everlastinglife! It is a living well which never ceases to flow. It is not something I do in one five minutes and then have done withit-it is an holy act which I began to do at a certain time, but which I shall never leave off doing till there remains nothingmore to be believed!

They say we do not believe in Heaven, but this is surely an error occasioned by lack of thought. Heaven is a fit sphere forfaith, not faith for what we shall see there, but for things promised and not yet fulfilled. If I were to go to Heaven today,I would believe in my staying there; I would believe in the Lord's continuing to love me; I would believe in all the propheciesyet unfulfilled-in the ingathering of the redeemed, the perfecting of the Church-and the second Advent of the Lord. I wouldlook for the resurrection, the new heavens and the new earth, the millennial glory, the binding of Satan and the eternal gloryof the Triune God. Faith may be altogether lost in sight so far as things realized are concerned, but it will be grandly exercisedupon blessings yet to come. We must live by faith, but it is not only our starting point, but the road along which we areto travel.

The next lesson of the text is that we must continue to live by receiving. We received Christ Jesus the Lord at the first,and now we receive the Holy Spirit. These disciples were questioned about their receiving rather than their expending, forat bottom everything depends upon what we receive. Nothing can come out of us if it does not first go into us. We are alwayscharity children. It is our blessed lot to live upon the alms of Divine bounty. The question may still be asked of us, "Whathave you which you have not received?" We are always filled out of the fullness of the Lord, for we are not fountains butreservoirs, not creators but receivers! What shall we render unto the Lord for all His benefits towards us? We can only keepon receiving-take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord!

Again, let us learn that we may not despise the very lowest form of spiritual life-no, not even those who have not so muchas heard whether there is a Holy Spirit. Paul, when he met these half-instructed disciples, did not say, "You see the door.Be off! You have nothing to do with me, for you are so desperately ignorant." On the contrary, he sat down and taught themmore and then baptized them! God has some children who are mere babes and sucklings-and it is a fact for their comfort thatHe does not judge of their being His children by measuring their height. Babes in Grace are as much His children as thosewho have reached perfect manhood! Weaklings are dear to God-let them be dear to us. When you are considering some poor childof God who has no education and cannot read the Bible, do not judge him by his knowledge. The question is not whether he knows,"A" from "B," for if he knows, "J" from "I," he knows enough-that is to say, if he knows Jesus from himself, he has graspedthe essential point. If He trusts Christ and not himself, he knows enough to take him to Heaven, and enough for you to takehim into your heart.

Another lesson is that the Holy Spirit always keeps sweet company with Jesus Christ. As long as these good people only knewJohn the Baptist, they might know water baptism, but they could not know the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. It was only whenthey came to know Jesus, that the Spirit of God came upon them and they began to work those mighty things which are the fruitsof the Spirit. Learn, then, to keep close to Christ both in your lives and in your teaching. The

Spirit of God will not set His seal to what I say or what you say, but He will confirm the testimony of Jesus Christ! Thethings of God concerning Christ Jesus our Lord shall never be without the attesting power of the Holy Spirit.

Once more, the Holy Spirit can yet be more fully possessed by all Believers. If there should be a Brother or Sister here whohas a notion that he cannot have any more Grace, I am afraid he is specially in need of it. The perfect Brother I must leaveto the angels-he is above my reach, for I am sent to fallible men! I conceive that when a man is so good in his own esteemthat he cannot be better, he is even then no better than he should be and is either cracked in his head or his honesty! However,I leave him to his own master. But as for you and for me, let us be certain that if we have been taught of the Spirit, thereis yet more light for the Spirit to give us! If we have been quickened of the Spirit, there is yet more life for the Spiritto impart to us! If we have been comforted, there are greater consolations yet which the Spirit of God can apply to our hearts!If we have been made strong, we can be stronger, yet, to do yet greater exploits! If we have had communion with Christ, wecan have closer communion and enter more thoroughly into the secret place of the tabernacle of the Most High! If it can be,then why should it not be?

Does not every man or woman here that is a Christian say, "I mean to realize all the possibilities of true religion"? Littlereligion is a miserable thing. He that has just enough to save him, at last, may not have enough to comfort him for the present.He that has much Grace and is filled with the Spirit of God, shall have two heavens-a Heaven here and a Heaven hereafter!I desire to make that true in my own case. I would find two heavens in Jesus; are there not many more? He who has the Spiritrichly shall have the joy of the Lord, here, to be his strength, and the joy of the Lord hereafter to be his reward! Come,let us ask for all that God is willing to give! Does He not say, "Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it"? Come, you littleones! Why remain little?

Our prayer for you is that you may be as David and David as the angel of the Lord. Come! You are living on crumbs-why noteat abundantly of the Bread of Heaven? Do not be content with pennies, for a king's ransom is at your disposal! Poor Brother,rise out of your poverty! Sister, bowed down by reason of the little of the Spirit of God you have received, believe for moreand pray upon a larger scale! May the Lord enlarge all our hearts and fill them! And then enlarge them again and fill themagain-so that from day to day we may receive the Holy Spirit till, at the last, Jesus shall receive us into His Glory.