The Holy Spirit—How Received
By Editor
SURELY, it is important, infinitely so, that every child of God should have the Holy Spirit, the great eternal life of the universe; for "if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His." It is infinitely important that human, finite, ever failing, ever fruitless weakness should be supplemented by divine life and power in the work of overcoming sin and of building eternal character. It is of infinite importance that the worker for God should be Spirit-filled and Spirit-panoplied, in order that he may successfully fight his Lord's battles and win souls for Christ. How may that Spirit be obtained?—Simply by asking. Listen to the assurance of the Master: "And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. "And of which of you that is a father shall his son ask a loaf, and he give him a stone? or a fish, and he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he give him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how MUCH MORE shall your heavenly Father GIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT to them that ASK HIM?" Luke 11:9-13. What striking figures God uses to show His willingness! It is a hard-hearted father who will not feed a hungry son if that father have the bread. It is a cruel father who would mock and tantalize his son by offering that son a stone instead of bread, a serpent instead of fish, a scorpion instead of an egg. God is infinitely better than man. He is willing and waiting to bestow His Spirit. "But," says one, "I ask again and again, but no response comes, and I am as weak as ever." Granted. Perhaps you do not ask aright. Let us study for a little time how we should ask that we may receive. 1. We should ask in humility. That is the first step in true asking. It must always be. Humility is a proper estimate and opinion of one's self, of one's unworthiness, littleness, weakness, nothingness. God reveals it. We admit it all. We are "poor in spirit;" we have no righteousness, no worthiness, to plead. We are sick, and need healing. We are poor, and need riches. We are clothed with rags or naked, and we need clothing. We are blind, and need sight; sinful, and need righteousness. We have but two mighty arguments to make, God's goodness and our need. And so all we need, in Him to find, we come. Will He turn us away? Nay. It is His message, "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up." "Saith Jehovah: But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at My Word." Once more: He who dwells in "the high and holy place" declares, "I dwell . . . with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite." Ask in true humility, and thy prayer will be heard. 2. Ask in self-emptying, self-abnegation, self-denial. Says Jesus, "If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." Matt. 16:24. Even so Christ sought: Therefore, "have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant; . . . wherefore also God highly exalted Him." Phil. 2:5-9. There are thousands who would receive the Spirit of God, but their ambitions stand in the way. They desire power, influence, greatness. They are not willing to give all up to God and trust Him for the future. Ask, seek, as did Jesus, and let God do the exalting. "Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared." Heb. 5:7. 3. Ask in constant self-surrender. God's Spirit always works with God's will, with God's law. "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination." Prov. 28:9. But "if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us: and if we know that He heareth us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions which we have asked of Him." 1 John 5:14, 15. "And whatsoever we ask we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight." 1 John 3:22. Even so Jesus sought God: "Abba, Father, all things are possible unto Thee; remove this cup from Me; howbeit not what I will, but what Thou wilt." Mark 14:36. And the prayer was answered. God saves us for service. His Spirit is given for service. But He can neither fit for service nor sustain in service those who are not surrendered, and devoted to His service. 4. Ask in the name of Jesus. "And whatsoever ye shall ask in My Name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in My Name, that will I do. If ye love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth." John 14:13-17. See also John 15:16. This does not mean the mere word "Jesus," but what Jesus stands for. It means the self-emptying, the self-denial, the self-abnegation, the self-effacement, that God might use Him to save others. "Thou shalt call His name JESUS; for He shall save His people from their sins." Matt. 1:21. For that service He was fitted by His self-emptying and God's filling Him with the Spirit. Luke 4:18; Acts 10:38. Ask in His Name. 5. Ask in faith. "All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. And whatsoever ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any one; that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses." Mark 11:24, 25. There can be no true faith in God's promises based on an unforgiving heart or a heart which holds hardness against a fellow man. Faith is based on God's Word, not on human creed or statement. Rom. 10:17. Faith accepts God's Word as to man's needs, man's duty; God's Word as to God's precepts, promises, power. It is a spurious faith which ignores God's Word. It is a spurious faith which believes God's promises and rejects His precepts. It is an unworthy faith which would accept the crown and reject the cross. It is a faith not current at the court of Heaven that wants forgiveness of sin and goes on in the sinning. Faith lays hold on God to submit to God's conditions, to do God's will, to believe God's promises, to follow where the Master leads. That is faith. Ask in that faith, and it will ever meet response. "If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; and so shall ye be My disciples." John 15:7, 8. These are God's conditions on which His Holy Spirit is granted. They are all one, parts of one cord, intertwined and interlaced. There is no true comprehensive asking which does not embrace them all; and the loyal heart will desire to make them all his own. Soul, ask according to God's will, and His Spirit will be given; then His whole service will be a delight, because the love of God is "shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit which was given unto us." Rom. 5:5. Then His law will be our delight, His Word our comfort and guide, His work a constant joy and blessing. "Receive ye the Holy Spirit."