Reuben Archer Torrey (28 January 1856 – 26 October 1928), Was an American evangelist, pastor, educator, writer, and first Superintendent of Moody Bible Institute In Chicago.
"While a great deal is said in these days concerning the baptism with the Holy Spirit, it is to be feared that there are many who talk about it and pray for it who have no clear and definite idea of what it is. But the Bible, if carefully studied, will give us a view of this wondrous blessing that is perfectly clear and remarkably definite.
"While a great deal is said in these days concerning the baptism with the Holy Spirit, it is to be feared that there are many who talk about it and pray for it who have no clear and definite idea of what it is. But the Bible, if carefully studied, will give us a view of this wondrous blessing that is perfectly clear and remarkably definite.
1. We find first of all that there are a number of designations in the Bible for this one experience. In Acts 1:5 Jesus said: “Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.” In Acts 2:4, when this promise was fulfilled, we read, “They were all filled with the Holy Ghost.” In Acts 1:4 the same experience is spoken of as “the promise of the Father,” and in Luke 24:49 as “the promise of my Father” and “endued with power from on high.’ By a comparison of Acts 10:44, 45, and 47 with Acts 11:15, and 16, we find that the expressions “the Holy Ghost fell on them” and “the gift of the Holy Ghost” and “received the Holy Ghost” are all equivalent to “baptized with the Holy Ghost.”
2. We find in the next place that the baptism with the Holy Spirit is a definite experience which one may know whether he has received or not. This is evident from our Saviour’s command to the apostles: “Tarry ye in the city…until ye be endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). If this enduement with power, the baptism with the Holy Spirit, were not an experience so definite that one could know whether he had received it or not, how could they tell when those commanded days of tarrying were at an end?
The same thing is clear from Paul’s very definite question to the disciples at Ephesus. “Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed?” (Acts 19:2, ASV). Paul evidently expected a definite “yes” or a definite “no” for an answer. Unless the experience were definite and of such a character that one could know whether he had received it or not, how could these disciples answer Paul’s question! In fact, they know they had not received or been baptized with the Holy Spirit, and a short time afterward they knew they had received and been baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:6).
The Baptism with the Holy Spirit is for every child of God in every age of the Church's history. If it is not ours in experimental possession, it is because we have not taken (the exact force of the word "receive" in verse 38 is take) what God has provided for us in our exalted Saviour. 2. We find in the next place that the baptism with the Holy Spirit is a definite experience which one may know whether he has received or not. This is evident from our Saviour’s command to the apostles: “Tarry ye in the city…until ye be endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). If this enduement with power, the baptism with the Holy Spirit, were not an experience so definite that one could know whether he had received it or not, how could they tell when those commanded days of tarrying were at an end?
The same thing is clear from Paul’s very definite question to the disciples at Ephesus. “Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed?” (Acts 19:2, ASV). Paul evidently expected a definite “yes” or a definite “no” for an answer. Unless the experience were definite and of such a character that one could know whether he had received it or not, how could these disciples answer Paul’s question! In fact, they know they had not received or been baptized with the Holy Spirit, and a short time afterward they knew they had received and been baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:6).
A minister of the Gospel once came to me after a lecture on the Baptism with the Holy Spirit and said: "The church to which I belong, teaches that the Baptism with the Holy Spirit was for the Apostolic age alone." "It matters not, " was replied, "what the church to which you belong or the church to which I belong teaches.
What says the Word of God?" Acts ii: 39 was read: "To you is the promise, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto him." "Has he called you?" I asked. "Yes, he certainly has." "Is the promise for you?" "Yes, it is." And it was. And it is for every child of God who reads these pages. What a thrilling thought it is that the Baptism with the Holy Spirit, the endue-ment with power from on high is for us, is for me individually."
