ttend at once to the consecrating, and then (but not
till then) will you be able to profit by what will be said about the
claiming of the blessing. Do we appreciate the immense difference between
"claiming" and "asking"? I "claim" that which is mine own; I "ask" for a
favor. For instance, if a man has a credit balance of $250 in his current
banking account, and draws a check for $50, he does not require to go to
the manager and "ask" for $50; he presents his check and "claims" it, for
it is his own. But supposing that same man is in need of an advance of
$500; he goes into the manager's room, and "asks" for the favor of a loan.
No "claiming" now! So it is often with the Christian and his God. When God
gives him a definite promise for some definite blessing, it is the
Christian's privilege to "claim," to "receive" by faith the thing
promised. If God tells him a certain blessing is his by virtue of his
sonship, it is his to "claim," to "receive" what through grace has been
made his own. There is no "asking" needed here, that is "asking" in the
sense of saying--"Lord, _if_ it be Thine holy will, give me this." Where
is the room for an "if"? Has not God told him it _is_ His will?--has He
not promised it?--has He not given it to him? Why, then, should he mock
his Lord by saying, "If it be Thy will"? But supposing, on the other hand,
that that man wants something which God has not expressly promised to give,
something in reference to which He has _not_ revealed His will; all the
Christian can do in this case is to "ask"; he cannot "claim;" and God
_may_ give him what he asks, or He may see that it will be for the best
to refuse His child's request. A Christian may want $250, and may "ask"
his Father to send it to him, and God may give or withhold. But if a
Christian man wants to be filled with the Holy Ghost, he need be in no
doubt as to the issue here, he may "claim" the Fullness, for has not God
promised it? Is not this blessing his very own? His birthright by virtue
of his new birth? Let us learn then clearly to distinguish between
"claiming" as an act of faith based on an express promise in the Word,
and "asking" as a request in prayer. That the Fullness of the Holy Ghost
is one of the blessings which it is our privilege to "claim," to "receive"
by a simple act of faith, is abundantly clear from the Book of God.
"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse
for us; for it is written, Cursed is every