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TOPIC: Gordon, Samuel Dickey - Quiet Talks on Power (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 38. A Four-Sided Truth
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A Four-Sided Truth
Now notice that the word used at the time of the actual occurrence and afterwards is another word "filled" and "full," which occurs eleven times in the first nine chapters of Acts. It tells what was experienced by those persons at Pentecost and afterwards. It describes their side. Baptism was the act; filling was the result.
If you plunge a book into water you are submerging the book: that is your side. The leaves of the book quickly become soaked, filled with the water: that is the other side. When a baby is born it is plunged out into the atmosphere. That is an immersion into air. It begins at once to cry and its lungs become filled with the air into which it has been plunged. So here "filled" is the experience word; it tells our side.
The third word, "anointed," indicates the purpose of this filling; it is to qualify for living and for service. It is the word commonly used in the Old Testament for the setting apart of the tabernacle to its holy use; and of priests and kings, and sometimes prophets for service and leadership. In the New Testament it is four times used of Jesus, each time in connection with His public ministry ((1) Luk_9:18, quo. From Isa_61:1. (2) Act_4:27. (3) Act_10:38. (4) Heb_1:9, quotations from Psa_45:7. Paul uses it of himself in answering those who had criticized his work and leadership at Corinth (2Co_1:21. And John uses it twice in speaking of ability to discern and teach the truth (Joh_1:20; Joh_1:27. It is the power word, indicating that the Holy Spirit's coming is for the specific purpose of setting us apart, and to qualify us for right living, and for acceptable and helpful service.
The fourth word, "sealed," explains our personal connection with the Lord Jesus. It is used once by Paul in writing to his friends at Corinth, and twice in the Ephesian epistle (2Co_1:22; Eph_1:13; Eph_4:30). The seal was used, and still is to mark ownership. In our lumber regions up in the Northwest it is customary to clear a small spot on a log and strike it with the blunt end of a hatchet containing the initials of the owner, and then send it adrift down the stream with hundreds of others, and though it may float miles unguarded, that mark of ownership is respected. On the Western plains it is common to see mules with an initial branded on the flank. In both cases the initial is the owner's seal, recognized by law as sufficient evidence of ownership. So the Holy Spirit is Jesus' ownership mark stamped upon us to indicate that we belong to Him. He is our sole Owner. And if any of us are not allowing Him to have full control of His property, we are dealing dishonestly. Sealed is the property or ownership word.
The last one of these words, "earnest," is peculiarly interesting one. It is found three times in Paul's Epistles (2Co_1:22; 2Co_5:5; Eph_1:14). An earnest is a pledge given in advance as an evidence of good faith. We are familiar with the usage of paying down a small part of the price agreed upon to make a business transaction binding. In old English it is called caution money. My mother told me of seeing her mother many a time pay a shilling in the Belfast market-house to insure the delivery of a bag of potatoes, paying the remainder on delivery.
Now here the Holy Spirit is called "the earnest of our inheritance unto the redemption of the purchased possession." That means two things to us: First-that the Holy Spirit now filling us is Jesus' pledge that He has purchased us, and that some day He is coming back to claim His possessions; and then that the measure of the Spirit's presence and power now is only a foretaste of a greater fullness at the time of coming back; a sort of partial advance payment which insures a payment in full when the transaction is completed. Paul speaks of this to the Romans as the first fruits of the Spirit (Rom_8:23).
So, if you will take all five words you will get all of the truth about our friend the Holy Spirit, and just what His coming into one's life means. The first word, "baptism," is the historical word, pointing us back to the day of Pentecost. The other four words, taken together, tell us the four sides of the Holy Spirit's relation to us now. "Filled" is the experience word, pointing us inward to what actually takes place there. "Anointed" is the power word, pointing us outward to the life and service among men to which we are set apart. "Sealed" is the personal-relation word, pointing us upward to our Owner and Master. "Earnest" is the prophetic word, pointing us forward to the Master's coming back to claim His own, and to bestow the full measure of the Spirit's presence.
And to-night we want to get some hint of how to have this infilling, which shall also be an anointing of power and a seal of ownership and an earnest of greater things at Jesus' return.