These are such exciting days for God's children.
These are the days that the scripture refers
to when the word says, when you see these things
begin to come to pass, look up and rejoice, be
glad. Make the most of the hours, the moments,
because your redemption draweth nigh. Thrilling
days for the church. This is the hour when again
the fruits and the gifts of the Spirit are all
being restored to the church. It's a great hour
of restoration so far as the things of the Spirit
are concerned. I know it's getting dark out there
for the unbeliever. It's getting so dark. It's
getting darker with every passing hour, but oh,
our future is so bright. So glorious. Our redemption
draweth nigh. And remember, our redemption will
not be perfected as Christians. as heirs of God
and joint heirs with Christ Jesus until we see
Him face to face. This is the hour when literally
thousands are being filled with the Holy Spirit,
that wonderful experience that we call the baptism
with the Holy Spirit. And because so many are
being baptized with the Spirit, there are many
who feel that the Holy Spirit is a new personality.
just recently having come upon the scene. Oh,
no, beloved. He was present when Jesus offered
himself through the Holy Spirit to be given to
God the Father, that the Father might give his
only begotten Son, that you and I might receive
life everlasting through the shed blood of the
only begotten Son. The baptism of the Holy Spirit
is not some new experience, even as the Holy
Spirit is not a new personality just recently
having come upon the scene. But I want to talk
to you about something that is vitally important
in relationship to the baptism of the Holy Spirit
and its significance for our wills. This is something
that I feel needs to be taught. It's overlooked.
And we need more teaching when it comes to this
experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit.
It is vitally important that we realize that
our wills, your will, my will, are wills which
can be separate and apart from the will of God.
and how it relates to this wonderful experience
and to the person of the Holy Spirit and to God
himself. There's a scripture found in the 10th
chapter of Hebrews, the 16th verse. This is the
covenant that I will make with them after those
days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into
their hearts. And in their minds, will I write
to them? Now, because the baptism of the Spirit
affects our emotional life, we must not forget
that the most important part of this experience
affects that which is not always visible, and
that's our wills. We must be very careful that
We do not misinterpret or accept some great emotional
experience for the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Sometimes I think that we're so human that we
get carried away in our ecstasy. We get carried
away with some great emotional experience and
label it as the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I
repeat, be Because the baptism of the Holy Spirit
affects our emotional life, and it does, we must
not forget that the most important part of this
wonderful experience of being filled with the
Holy Spirit affects that which is not always
visible, and that is our wills. The root is the
most important part. of the tree. No man will
take issue with that statement. The root is the
most important part of any tree. And the most
important part of our spiritual lives is that
which cannot be seen with the eyes of men. The
most important part of my life is my will. The
most important part of you is your will. And
when it comes to your spiritual experience, when
it comes to your relationship to God, to Jesus
Christ, to the Holy Spirit, is still your will.
And that's one thing that we'd like to talk about
and discuss the least. Our wills. All... We enjoy
the emotional part of it. We enjoy the ecstasy
of it all. But when it comes to the place where
we can honestly say, nevertheless, not my will,
but thine be done. We've come to the place. You
know, reading the Word, carefully noting its
translation to practical living, we must arrive
at the conclusion that the most important part
of all points in this experience is that the
Holy Spirit gets full control of that will. We'd
like to talk about the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
And there are thousands who profess to the experience
of being filled with the Holy Spirit. And yet
they know absolutely nothing in that experience
of having the Holy Spirit get full control of
their will. It's not what happens at that moment.
It's not what happens to that one in 15 minutes
or 30 minutes. It's what? happens following that
experience. If the Holy Spirit has not gotten
full control of your will, if this be not the
case, the experience will be shallow and passing.
And it is possible for those who are not deeply
spiritual to be so gripped by a powerful spiritual
meeting that they're drawn into the movement
of enthusiasm without having their very nature
changed. When God revealed himself at Mizpah
in the days of Saul, some of the men following
after Saul, in their quest... to capture David
were gripped by the same spirit of ecstasy that
swayed the prophets. It's possible to be in attendance
at a powerful spiritual prayer meeting, receive
a wonderful experience, so much that one might
almost be beside himself, but still miss the
deep and abiding blessing. And this abiding blessing
comes only as the Spirit is permitted to go to
the depth of our very being and change the very
roots of our lives. Our mind and will must be
under the absolute control of the Spirit if the
blessing, if the experience is to abide. I'm
talking about something that's very practical.
I'm giving you a teaching that's needed today.
I'm not talking about just something that was
a great emotional experience. I'm talking about
an experience that got hold of your mind, that
changed your mind. I'm talking about a spiritual
experience. When you literally surrender not
only your mind, but your will to the will of
God. Something that was not just temporary, but
something that will be with you when the waters
are deep and about to overflow and the night
is so... Doc, there isn't a star in your sky.
Troubles come and tribulations come and testing
times come and you're still there. And you can
still look up even through blinding tears. You
can still look up even when you do not understand
and say, nevertheless, not my will but thine
be done. The real foundation to our mind and
its makeup is the wheel. And my experience would
have had me to understand it so. After all these
years of having been in the ministry, I have
observed that it is of utmost importance that
our wheels be under the control of the spirit.
And then and then only do we become partakers
of this wonderful salvation provided for in Christ
Jesus. You may boast of having been filled with
the Spirit. You may boast of having received
the baptism with the Holy Spirit. But let me
ask you something. Holy Spirit, if it is not,
then I would not give you much for whatever experience
that you had. It was only something that was
temporary. If God be given our wills to rule,
then he will have our entire life under his control.
Now, there are many engaged in spiritual work.
Who do not understand what I'm talking about.
There are many who professing to be filled with
the Holy Spirit. Who do not understand what I
am saying. And they have erred on this point.
They never arrive at the right destination. Simply
because they do not understand this. They seem
to have accepted. The fact that they had some
great emotional. and because there was great
ecstasy that that was it. Remember. Sure. It
is necessary that the realm of feelings be stirred
and enthused. But we must... come to the place
in our experience where we become independent
of emotions. We must become independent of our
feelings if we're to enjoy the deeper things,
if we're to be used of the Holy Spirit. Such
deep blessings will come only if God is given
control of the will. Then our lives will be in
fellowship with him no matter where we are. And
it will be a life in continual harmony with his.
Oh, that glorious place. Do you know what I'm
talking about? That wonderful place in him where
our life is in continual. harmony with God. And
you awake in the morning and you say, now, what
would you have me to do today? When you face
the difficulty and you look up and say, what
is your will in the matter? It's a constant abiding
in Him. It's glorious. Then we're weaned away
from the sad experience of one moment being caught
up in feelings of ecstasy and emotion, and the
next in the lowlands of gloom and despair. Up
one day, down the next, being controlled by the
weather. by the feelings, personal feelings,
by circumstances. You know, when the Holy Spirit
comes upon an individual, it's a tremendous experience.
Then God conquers the will, and He becomes the
supreme power in the life. Everything, absolutely
everything, is dependent on this. The whole life
for all time is affected by this experience.
From this time on, he no longer has the final
word in life, but this always comes from him,
the one who controls our life. This is marvelous.
Scripture calls this crucifixion. The will of
man is set aside and gives place to the will
of God. This act is as if an inventory of life
were taken and all its possessions turned over
to God, turned completely over to the Holy Spirit.
I had an experience the other day. You know,
there's a scripture, the words of Jesus, that
has always meant so much to me. He that loseth
his life for my sake shall find it. I had preached
many sermons on the first part. He that loseth
his life for my sake. but I'd never put any emphasis
on the last spot. I remember well the end of
McChesney Road in Portland, Oregon, at that time's
the Dead End Street, four o 'clock one Saturday
afternoon, when literally I felt I had lost my
life to him, because that was the hour. was the
day years ago when I literally for all time surrendered
my will to his will. Very recently in the Civic
Auditorium in Portland, Oregon, the same city
where I lost my will to his will. I lost my will
to him. When I stood recently on that stage and
saw a man who'd been in wheelchair for nine years
with multiple sclerosis, stand to his feet, saw
the healing power of the Lord Jesus Christ flowing
to his body. Those who witnessed that great miracle
never dreamed what the Spirit was saying to me.
You lost your life for my sake, but you found
it in me. Beloved, I have found my life, for
I lost my will to his will.