), but what was given to the
world as a whole each individual in the world must appropriate to himself;
and just so the Holy Spirit was given to the church as an abiding gift at
Pentecost, but what was given to the church as a whole each individual in
the church must appropriate to himself, and God's way of appropriation is
prayer. But those who say we should not pray for the Holy Spirit go
further still than this. They tell us that every believer already has the
Holy Spirit (which we have already seen is true in a sense), and why pray
for what we already have? To this the very simple answer is, that it is
one thing to have the Holy Spirit dwelling way back of consciousness in
some hidden sanctuary of the being and something quite different, and
vastly more, to have Him take possession of the whole house that He
inhabits. But against all these specious arguments we place the simple
word of Jesus Christ, "How much more shall your heavenly Father give the
Holy Spirit to them that ask Him." It will not do to say, as has been
said, that "this promise was for the time of the earth life of our Lord,
and to go back to the promise of Luke xi. 13 is to forget Pentecost, and
to ignore the truth that now every believer has the indwelling Spirit;"
for we find that after Pentecost as well as before, the Holy Spirit was
given to believers in answer to definite prayer. For example, we read in
Acts iv. 31, R. V., "_When they had prayed_, the place was shaken wherein
they were gathered together, and _they were all filled with the Holy
Ghost_, and they spake the Word of God with boldness." Again in Acts viii.
15, 16, we read that when Peter and John were come down and saw the
believers in Samaria they "_prayed for them that they might receive the
Holy Ghost_, for _as yet He was fallen upon none of them_, only they were
baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." Again in the Epistle of Paul to
the Ephesians, Paul tells the believers in Ephesus that he was praying for
them that they might be strengthened with power through His Spirit (Eph.
iii. 16). So right through the New Testament after Pentecost, as well as
before, by specific teaching and illustrative example, we are taught that
the Holy Spirit is given in answer to definite prayer. At a Christian
workers' convention in Boston, a brother came to me and said, "I notice
that you are on the program to speak on the Baptism with the Holy Spirit."
"Yes." "I think that is the most important subje