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Yesteryear's Great Soul Winners Write on the Baptism with the Holy Spirit                                           
                                 Researched, Analyzed and Compiled
                                                    by                                                                                                                          Josprel       
                                               
                                               Part Two

                                                                                                                                                                       DR. CHARLES G. FINNEY:

The revivals under the ministry of that quintessential evangelist, Charles G. Finney, did not merely stir the churches of the 1800's, it shook them into an awakening, most often, in no gentle manner. Under his ministry, entire cities and communities were shut down by the convicting power of the Holy Spirit., a number of them a short distance from Josprel's hometown.

A brilliant scholar and educator, Finney was a Bible expositor of unequaled intellect. He recorded that, subsequent to his salvation, he was endued with a mighty Baptism with the Holy Spirit., the source of his power. Recording his salvation experience, he stated that one day he went to "a woods" to seek God for forgiveness from sin. He wrote that ". . . Sin appeared awful, infinite. It broke me down before the Lord. Just at that point this passage of Scripture seemed to drop into my mind with a flood of light: 'Then shall ye go and pray unto me, and I will harken [sp. Finny's] unto you. Then shall ye seek me and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.' I instantly seized hold of this with my heart . . . . That seemed to settle the question."

Persisting in prayer, Finney continued "to receive and appropriate promises for a long time" before returning to town. His mind was quiet, his conviction was gone, as was "the load of sin under which I had been laboring."

Entering his law office he started to sing hymns. "But as soon as I began to sing those sacred words, I began to weep. It seemed as if my heart was all liquid. . . . After trying to suppress my tears, I put up my instrument and stopped singing." After dinner, he and his law partner "were engaged in removing our books and furniture to another office. We were very busy at this, but had little conversation all the afternoon. My mind remained in that profoundly tranquil state. There was a great sweetness and tenderness in my thoughts and feelings."

Toward evening, Finney's law partner went home and Finney went into prayer, and experienced a vision of Christ. "It seemed to me that I bathed his feet with my tears."

After the vision, he entered his front office. "But as I turned and was about to take a seat by the fire, I received a mighty baptism of the Holy Ghost. Without any expectation of it, without ever having the thought in my mind that there was any such thing for me, without any recollection that I had ever heard the thing mentioned by any person in the world, the Holy Spirit descended upon me in a manner that seemed to go through me, body and soul. I could feel the impression, like a wave of electricity, going through and through me . . . It seemed like the very breath of God. I can recollect distinctly that it seemed to fan me, like immense wings . . . I wept aloud with joy and love; and I do not know but I should say, I literally bellowed out the unutterably gushings of my heart" ("Charles G. Finney, An Autobiography"; Oberlin College; Fleming H. Revell Company; Old Tappan, New Jersey; 1876, 1908; 15, 21).

"A number of suggestive phrases    'Baptized with the Holy Spirit,' 'Filled with the Holy Ghost,' 'The Holy Ghost fell on them,' 'The gift of the Holy Ghost was poured out,' 'Receive the Holy Ghost,' 'The Holy Ghost came upon them,' 'Gifts of the Holy Ghost,' 'I send the promise of my Father upon you,' 'Endued with power from on high,' are used in the New Testament to describe one and the same experience" ("What the Bible Teaches"; R. A. Torry; 270).
                                                                                                                                                                                        Josprel's comment:

As Torry noted above, a word study of the Biblical terms used in connection to the believer's relationship to the Holy Spirit reveals that the phrases, "baptized with the Holy Spirit" and "filled with the Holy Ghost" are synonymous. It therefore follows that the command: "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is access; but be filled with the Spirit;" (Ephesians 5:18) refers to the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. Moreover, the command calls to mind the accusation made against the upper room believers in Acts 2: 13: "Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine," also a possible proof text that the command to be filled with the Spirit in Ephesians 5:18, refers to the Baptism with the Holy Spirit.
                                                                                                                                                                                             - 30-
                               
                    Josprel welcomes reader comments on this posting.