the Spirit _through faith_."

CHAPTER XIV.

_HOW DOES IT COME?_

How does the Filling of the Spirit come? "Does it come once for all? or
is it _always_ coming, as it were?" was a question addressed to me once
by a young candidate for the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. There are many
asking the same question. We have considered how the Fullness is obtained,
but now we proceed to consider, How does the Fullness come? In speaking
of the blessing of being filled with the Spirit, the New Testament
writers use three tenses in the Greek--the Aorist, the Imperfect, and the
Present. Each of these tenses has a different shade of meaning. The
inspiring Spirit has employed these different tenses for a purpose, and
it will be to our profit to try and get at that purpose, to note the
differences, and to learn His meaning.

(1) The Aorist tense--a tense to which the English language is a
stranger--denotes generally "a sudden, definite act of the past,"
"something done and finished with"--"They were filled"--as in Acts
ii. 4.

(2) The Imperfect tense, denoting, as in English, just what its name
implies--"They were being filled" (literally)--as in Acts xiii. 52.

(3) The Present tense, also denoting, as in English, just what its name
implies--"Full," the normal condition--as in Acts xi. 24.

The following are the passages in the Acts in which the various tenses
are found:--

(1) _Aorist_:--

Acts ii. 2, "It filled all the house."

Acts ii. 4, "They were all filled."

Acts iv. 8, "Peter filled with the Holy Ghost." Peter was already
"filled," in ch. ii. 4.

Acts iv. 31, "And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost." Peter was
again amongst them. Peter received an "Aorist" filling in ch. ii. 4,
again in ch. iv. 8, and yet again in ch. iv. 31. So that an "Aorist"
filling may be repeated and repeated again and yet again. On both
occasions--ch. iv. 8 and ch. iv. 31--there was special need, and to
meet this special need, Peter received a fresh and special and
definite "filling" of the Holy Ghost. From this we learn that to
equip us for every new important or difficult service to which we may
be called, the Lord Jesus is prepared to grant us a fresh Infilling,
a "refilling" of the Holy Ghost; and that these "refillings" may be,
and ought to be, repeated just as often as the need arises. We see
it reported t