『禱告完了,聚會的地方震動。他們就都被聖靈充滿,放膽講論神的道。……使徒大有能力。見證主耶穌復活』(徒四章三十一節~三十三節)
伊文思(Christmas Evans)在他的日記中告訴我們:一天下午,他行經一條很荒僻的道路去出席一個聚會,他自己覺得他那時候的心是冰冷的。他說:『我繫住了我的馬,步行到一處與塵世隔絕的地方去,在那裏我很痛苦地走來走去,檢點自己的生活。我在神前等候了三小時,我的心被悲哀壓服著;最後,一種甘甜仁慈的愛的感覺溫暖了我的心-在那裏我重新受了一次聖靈的澆灌。日頭平西的時候,我回到原路上,找到了我的馬,向前騎去。次日,我在山坡上對一大群聽眾講道,覺得自己充滿了新的能力,以致全威爾斯城(Waler)的人民,在那天都得到一個極大的復興。』
當你遇見一個重生的人,第一個問題你應當問他的就是:『你…信的時候,受了聖靈沒有?』(徒十九章二節)-選
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"And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they spoke the word of God with boldness. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection. (Acts 4:31, 33.)
CHRISTMAS Evans tells us in his diary that one Sunday afternoon he was traveling a very lonely road to attend an appointment, and he was convicted of a cold heart. He says, "I tethered my horse and went to a sequestered spot, where I walked to and fro in an agony as I reviewed my life. I waited three hours before God, broken with sorrow, until there broke over me a sweet sense of His forgiving love. I received from God a new baptism of the Holy Ghost. As the sun was westering, I went back to the road, found my horse, mounted it and went to my appointment. On the following day I preached with such new power to a vast concourse of people gathered on the hillside, that a revival broke out that day and spread through all Wales."
The greatest question that can be asked of the "twice born" ones is, "Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?"
This was the password into the early Church.
"O the Spirit filled life; is it thine, is it thine?
Is thy soul wholly filled with the Spirit Divine?
O thou child of the King, had He fallen on thee?
Does He reign in thy soul, so that all men may see
The dear Savior's blest image reflected in thee?
"Has He swept through thy soul like the waves of the sea?
Does the Spirit of God daily rest upon thee?
Does He sweeten thy life, does He keep thee from care?
Does He guide thee and bless thee in answer to prayer?
Is it joy to be led of the Lord anywhere?
"Is He near thee each hour, does He stand at thy side?
Does He give thee with strength, has He come to abide?
Does He give thee to know that all things may be done
Through the grace and the power of the Crucified One?
Does He witness to thee of the glorified Son?
"Has He freed thee from self and from all of thy greed?
Dost thou hasten to succor thy brother in need?
As a soldier of Christ dost thou hardness endure?
Is thy hope in the Lord everlasting and sure?
Hast thou patience and meekness, art tender and pure?
"O the Spirit filled life may be thine, may be thine,
In thy soul evermore the Shekinah may shine;
It is thine to live with the tempests all stilled,
It is thine with the blessed Holy Ghost to be filled;
It is thine, even thine, for thy Lord has so willed,"
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