The disciples in Jerusalem after Pentecost held all their
possessions in common, so completely were they freed from the
power and love of money.
A rising young lawyer got filled with the Spirit, and the next
day said to his client: "I cannot plead your case. I have a
retainer from the Lord Jesus"; and he became one of the mightiest
preachers the world has ever seen.
A popular lad got the fiery baptism, and went to his baseball
team, and said: "Boys, you swear, and I am now a Christian, and I
cannot play with you any more"; and God made him the wonder of
all his old friends, and a happy winner of souls.
A fashionable woman got the baptism, and God gave her power to
break away from her worldly set and surroundings, live wholly for
Him, and gave her an influence that girdled the globe.
Paul said: "The world is crucified unto me, and I unto the
world." Men could whip, and stone, and imprison his body, and cut
off his head, but his soul was free. It was enslaved and driven
by no unholy or inordinate ambition, by no lust for gold, by no
desire for power or fame, by no fear of man, by no shame of
worldly censure or adverse public opinion. He had power over the
world, and this same power is the birthright of every converted
man, and the present possession of every one who is wholly
sanctified by the baptism with the Holy Ghost.
2. _Power over the flesh_.
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