Now, when the Holy Spirit enters the heart and sanctifies the
soul, He does not destroy these desires, but He purifies and
regulates them. He reinforces the soul with the fear and love of
God, and gives it power, complete power, over the fleshly
appetites. He restores it to its full fellowship with God and its
kingship over the body.
But while these appetites and desires are not in themselves
sinful, but are necessary for our welfare and our complete
manhood, and while their diseased and abnormal power is cured
when we are sanctified, they are still avenues through which we
may be tempted. Therefore, they must be guarded with care and
ruled in wisdom. Many people stumble at and reject the doctrine
of entire sanctification, because they do not understand these
things. They mistake that which is natural and essential to a
human being for the diseased and abnormal propensity caused by
sin, and so miss the blessed truth of full salvation.
I knew a doctor, who had used tobacco for over sixty years,
delivered from the abnormal appetite instantly through sanctification
of the Spirit. I knew an old man, who had been a drunkard for over
fifty years, similarly delivered. I knew a young man, the slave of a
vicious habit of the flesh, who was set free at once by the fiery
baptism. The electric current cannot transform the dead wire into
a live one quicker than the Holy Spirit can flood a soul with light
and love, destroy the carnal mind, and fill a man with power over
all sin.
3. _Power over the Devil_. The indwelling presence of the
Holy Spirit destroys all doubt as to the personality of the
Devil. He is discerned, and his malice is felt and known as never
before.
In the dark a man may be so skilfully attacked that his enemy is
not discovered, but not in the day. Many people in these days
deny that there is any Devil, only evil; but they are in the
dark, so much in the dark that they not only say that there is no
Devil, but that there is no personal God, only good. But the day
comes with the Holy Spirit's entrance, and then God is intimately
known and the Devil is discovered. And as he assailed Jesus after
His baptism with the Spirit, so he does to-day all who receive
the Holy Ghost. He comes as an angel of light to deceive, and as
a roaring lion to devour and overcome with fear; but the soul
filled with the Spirit outwits the Devil, and, clad in the whole
armour of God, overcomes the old enemy.
"Power over all the power of the enemy" is God's purpose for all
His children. Power to do the will of God patiently and
effectively, with naturalness and ease, or to suffer the will of
God with patience and good cheer, comes with this blessed
baptism. It is power for service or sacrifice, according to God's
will. Have you this power? If not, it is for you. Yield yourself
fully to Christ just now, and if you ask in faith you shall
receive.
"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?"
VII.
TRYING THE SPIRITS.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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