raw, but oh, do Thou tarry! To whom
shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. All the prophets
and kings of men without Thee will not suffice; but to have Thee is to
have all that is strong, and wise, and good, gathered up into the
perfect beauty of a man, with the Divine glory of the Infinite God.

III. HOW MAY WE HAVE THAT SAME SPIRIT?--John the Baptist came in the
spirit and power of Elijah: that spirit and power are for us too. Just
as the dawn touches the highest peaks of the Alps, and afterwards, as
the morning hours creep on, the tide of light passes down into the
valley, so the Spirit that smote that glorious pinnacle Elijah, and
that nearer pinnacle the Baptist, is waiting to descend upon and
empower us.

We are all believers in Jesus, but did we receive the Holy Ghost when
we believed? (Acts xix. 2). When the great apostle of the Gentiles met
the little handful of John's disciples, gathered in the great
idolatrous city of Ephesus, the first word he addressed to them was the
eager enquiry, "Did ye receive the Holy Ghost when ye believed?" And
they replied, "Nay, we did not so much as hear whether the Holy Ghost
was given." In other words: We heard from our master, John, that
Jesus, of whom he spake, would baptize with the Holy Ghost and with
fire; but we have never heard of the fulfilment of his prediction--we
only know of Him, concerning whom our great leader so often spake, as
the great Teacher, Miracle-worker, and Sacrifice for the sins of the
people--but what more there is to tell and know we wait to hear from
thee.

Then Paul explained that John's baptism had stood only for confession
and repentance: "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying
unto the people that they should believe on Him, which should come
after him, that is, on Jesus." Those who descended the shelving banks
of Jordan to be plunged beneath its arrowy waters, declared their
discontent with the past, their desire to be free of it, and their
belief in the Messianic character of Jesus of Nazareth, who was to
introduce a new and better age.

But the apostle hastened to explain that this Jesus, whom the Jews had
delivered up and slain by wicked hands, was the Prince of Life; that
God had raised Him from the dead; and that being by the right hand of
God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy
Ghost, He had poured Him forth in mighty power on the waiting Church,
anointing it for its m