... And I
will put My Spirit within you."
Here again, the order is first cleansing, then filling.
In John xvii. 15-26, Jesus prays for His disciples, and says: "I
pray not that Thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that
Thou shouldst keep them from the evil.... Sanctify them;... that
they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee;
that they also may be one in Us;... I in them, and Thou in Me,
that they may be made perfect in one;... that the love wherewith
Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them."
Here, again, it is first sanctification (cleansing, being made
holy), then filling, divine union with the Father and the Son
through the Holy Spirit.
These Scriptures make plain the order of God's work, and if we
looked at them alone, without diligently comparing Scripture with
Scripture, as God would have us do, we might perhaps conclude
that the cleansing and filling were as distinct and separate in
time as they are in this order of statement.
But other Scriptures give us abundant light on that side of the
subject. In Isaiah vi. 1-8, we have the record of the prophet's
sanctification, and we notice that the cleansing and the filling
were not separate in time. The cleansing was not _before_
the baptism, but _by_ the baptism. The "live coal" was laid
upon his mouth, and touched his lips; and by this fiery baptism
his iniquity was taken away and his sin was purged.
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