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To Unexpected People, November 9
But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto
them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this
known unto you, and hearken to my words: for these are not drunken,
as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that
which was spoken by the prophet Joel.
Acts 2:14-16
.
The baptism of the Holy Ghost as on the day of Pentecost will lead to
a revival of true religion and to the performance of many wonderful works.
Heavenly intelligences will come among us, and men will speak as they are
moved upon by the Holy Spirit of God. But should the Lord work upon men
as He did on and after the day of Pentecost, many who now claim to believe
the truth would know so very little of the operation of the Holy Spirit that
they would cry, “Beware of fanaticism.” They would say of those who were
filled with the Spirit, “These men are full of new wine” (
Acts 2:13
).
The time is not far off now when men will want a much closer relation to
Christ, a much closer union with His Holy Spirit than ever they have had, or
will have, unless they give up their will and their way, and submit to God’s
will and God’s way. The great sin of those who profess to be Christians is that
they do not open the heart to receive the Holy Spirit. When souls long after
Christ, and seek to become one with Him, then those who are content with
the form of godliness exclaim, “Be careful, do not go to extremes.” When the
angels of heaven come among us, and work through human agents, there will
be solid, substantial conversions, after the order of the conversions after the
day of Pentecost.
Now brethren, be careful and do not go into or try to create human
excitement. But while we should be careful not to go into human excite-
ment, we should not be among those who will raise inquiries and cherish
doubts in reference to the work of the Spirit of God; for there will be those
who will question and criticize when the Spirit of God takes possession of
men and women, because their own hearts are not moved, but are cold and
unimpressible.—
Selected Messages 2:57
.
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