The One Thing Needful by R. D. Quinn

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D.C. · Aug 17, 1911

The One Thing Needful

By R. D. Quinn

THE one thing needful for the church of Christ in our day, and for every member of it, is to be filled with the Spirit of God. This experience, when realized, will bring all other blessings in its train. Christianity consists in God's clothing men with power and authority, that they may make disciples of all nations. If Jesus himself, 'leaving us an example, that ye should follow in his steps,' did not venture upon his ministry until thus definitely baptized with the Holy Ghost and with power, how could men dare to do it?

But this is not all. When our Lord was about to go away, he said to his disciples, 'And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.' He had just commissioned them to be his witnesses to all nations, but before they were to undertake this work, they were to receive the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Now, who were these men whom Jesus commissioned not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father?—None other than the disciples whom Jesus had chosen and trained for the work. They had continued with him for more than three years, living in the closest fellowship with him, studying daily his methods and beholding his miracles. They were ordained ministers, and had returned from their evangelistic work rejoicing in the power and authority they had over all devils, to cast them out and to cure disease.

They were converted men, for between the cross and Pentecost they had been thoroughly humbled, and all strife and differences and love of preeminence had been put away. Their mission was simply to go and declare unto the world what they had seen and heard and handled of the Word of Life; and they alone knew the saving truth, for the want of which the world was perishing. Still, with their altogether exceptional fitness for the work, they were commanded not to stir a step from Jerusalem until they were fully equipped.

In the light of what Jesus required of these first disciples before undertaking the work committed to them, could there be a stronger testimony to the absolute necessity of our waiting upon God for a similar infilling before undertaking not only a similar work, but one that is far more extended and difficult of accomplishment? To dare to undertake the finishing of this work with any less power than marked the lives and labors of the early church would seem to be unpardonable presumption.

But this is not all yet. The disciples upon whom the Spirit came were not satisfied until their converts had received the same blessing. And so we read, in Acts 8: 14-16, that 'when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John; who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost.' In Acts 19: 1, 2, R. V., we read: 'And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, he said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?' And when Paul learned from them that they had not received the Holy Spirit, he did not go on with the campaign for outsiders in that city until that little company of believers was thoroughly equipped for service.

Then followed a mighty work in Ephesus. A flourishing church was raised up, and it became the center of missionary activity throughout the province of Asia for many years. But how different it all might have been had not Paul called the attention of that little company to the one thing needful before beginning their efforts in that important city? No time was really lost in Jerusalem or in Ephesus by waiting on God for the Spirit's infilling. But could it not be truly said of many of us who have lived and labored since those days that much time has been lost by our going forth without it?

The universal testimony of Scripture after Pentecost is that the preaching of the disciples mightily stirred the masses. Multitudes of men and women were converted, and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith, 'so mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.' Even their enemies testified that they had filled Jerusalem with their doctrine, and 'turned the world upside down.'

The word has come: 'Study the first and second chapters of Acts.' Light has been given me that our work must be carried forward in a higher and broader way than it has ever yet been carried. We need to come to God with faith in all that he has promised in the Word, and then walk in all the light and power that God gives.' We gather from the instruction to study these chapters in Acts that Pentecost was simply meant to be an object-lesson, or type, of all the days of all the years of the present age. In other words, God did not give a Pentecostal experience which he either would not or could not maintain. The fact that our times have fallen far below the blessed standard of those early days is not because of any failure upon God's part, but because the church in a large degree has lost sight of this holy doctrine. We never can regain or hold our true position until we see that the infilling of the Holy Ghost is as surely for us as it was for the first Christians. We can not dispense with the definite anointing of the Holy Ghost for service.

R. D. QUINN.