Wait for the promise of the Father…ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
—Acts 1:4-5
After our Lord had given the great command, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15), He added His very last command: “Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49); “Wait for the Promise of the Father…ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.”
All Christians agree that the great command to preach the gospel to every creature was not only for the disciples, but is our obligation as well. But not everyone appears to believe that Christ’s very last command—not to preach until they had received the power from on high—is as binding on us as it was on the disciples. The church seems to have lost possession of what ought to be her secret of secrets—the daily, abiding consciousness that only as she lives in the power of the Holy Spirit can she preach the gospel with Spirit and power. Therefore, there is much preaching and working with little spiritual result. It is owing to nothing but this that the universal complaint is heard that there is too little prayer, especially that much-availing prayer that brings down the power from on high. Without the baptism of the Holy Spirit, prayer is not likely to produce results.
In this section, I desire to study the secret of Pentecost as it is revealed in the words and deeds of our blessed Master, and in the words and deeds of His disciples as they took Him at His word and continued with one accord in prayer and supplication until the promise was fulfilled. As the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, they proved what the mighty power of their God could do through them.
Let us seek earnestly the grace of the Holy Spirit, who alone can reveal to us what “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man,” that is, “the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). Let us pray that the lost secret may be found—the sure promise that in answer to fervent prayer, the power of the Holy Spirit will indeed be given.