ands of persons have been led into a clearer understanding
of His personality and mission, and into intimate relationship with
Himself. And yet, may I say frankly, that I read much and listened to
much without being able to get a simple workable understanding of how I
was to receive the much-talked-of baptism of power. That may quite
likely have been due to my own dullness of comprehension. But whatever
the cause, my failing to understand led to a rather careful study of the
old Book itself until somewhat clearer light has come. And now in this
convention I am anxious to put the truth as simply as I may that others
may not blunder and bungle along and lose precious time as I have done.

Many an earnest heart, conscious of weakness and failure, is asking, how
may I have power to resist temptation, and live a strong, useful,
christian life? In the search for an answer some of us have run across
two difficulties. One of these is in _other people's experiences_. It is
very natural to try to find out how someone else has succeeded in
getting what we are after. Many a godly man has told of his experience
of waiting and pleading with God before the thing he sought came.
Personal experiences are intensely interesting, and often helpful. But
there are apt to be as many different sorts of experiences as there are
persons. Yet there is one unchanging law of God's dealing with men
underlying them all. But unless one is more skilled than many of us are
in analyzing experiences and discovering the underlying law, these
experiences of others are often misleading. We are so likely to think at
once of the desirability of having the same experience as someone else,
rather than trying to find God's law of spirit life in them all. And so,
some of the written experiences have clouded rather than cleared the
sky. We should rather try _first_ to get something of a clear
understanding of God's law of dealing with men as a sort of basis to
build upon. And then fit into that, even though it may develop
differently in our circumstances. We may then get much help from others'
experiences. If possible, we want to-night to get something of an
inkling of that law.

Another difficulty that has bothered some of us is in the great variety
of language used in speaking of this life of power; a variety that seems
confusing to some of us. "The baptism of the Holy Spirit," "the
induement," "the filling," "refilling," "many fillings," "special
anointings"--t