For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16).

The apostle Paul tells us in what the power of the gospel consists, when he says as in the first chapter of his 1st Epistle to the Thessalonians, “For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost.” Peter in the first chapter of his first epistle speaks of “the things which were reported by them that have preached the gospel, with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven.”

Paul also says to Titus, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us,” i.e., from sin, “by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour.” The power of the gospel then to save from sin consists in the regenerating, renewing, and sanctifying influences of the Spirit of God, shed forth to attend the gospel through Jesus Christ our Saviour, and without these influences the Gospel, with all the love which it reveals is utterly powerless in working in the hearts of men that “holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.”

Accordingly, our Lord Jesus Christ at His ascension, after having commissioned His disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait for the promise of the Father. “Ye shall receive power,” said He, “after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.”

Having therefore received from Christ the direction, “Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high,” and the assurance behold I send the promise of My Father upon you; and ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, the disciples returned unto Jerusalem from the Mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath day’s journey, and went into an upper chamber, and there continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, both men and women, until they were, on the day of Pentecost, all filled with the Holy Ghost. Then they preached the gospel with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, and multitudes were pricked in their hearts and inquired, What shall we do? And when others mocking said “these men are full of new wine”—they replied, “this Jesus whom ye crucified hath God raised up whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear. Yea and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after have likewise foretold these days. Unto you first, God having raised up his Son Jesus Christ, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.” Here then we behold the power of the gospel to save men from sin: It is in being attended by the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. I freely admit that it is the setting forth of the love of God which saves men from sin, but in order that the love of God may have its cleansing efficacy—it must be as Paul says to the Romans, “The love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” Accordingly, we find that the success of the apostles in saving men from sin by the preaching of the gospel is uniformly ascribed to the Holy Ghost. Barnabas was a man full of the Holy Ghost and faith, and much people were added to the Lord. Peter preached at the house of Cornelius, and the Holy Ghost fell on all which heard the word.—“Then remembered I,” said he, “the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.”

The whole current of the New Testament shows that the work which should follow the coming of Christ should be the dispensation of the Holy Ghost. Peter in the first chapter of his 1st Epistle tells us that the prophets searched and inquired diligently respecting the time of this salvation, which the Spirit of Christ which was in them signified, when it testified beforehand of the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. This glory was to be the outpouring of the Spirit as predicted by Joel; and which Ezekiel also had in view, when God is heard saying by the mouth of that prophet, “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be clean, from all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you. And I will save you from all your uncleannesses.” Here also is brought to view by the prophets that baptism of the Holy Ghost which was to be the establishment of the kingdom of heaven upon earth—which kingdom we are told is “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”

John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way of the Lord for the establishment of this kingdom. This work of preparation was performed by him, as he preached saying, “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, the kingdom of “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but there cometh one after me, mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose, He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

The same great truths Christ Himself had in view, when He said to Nicodemus, “Verily verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit—he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” What is the kingdom of God? “Righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” What is it to be born of water? It is to receive John’s baptism unto repentance. That is, truly to repent and bring forth fruits meet for repentance. This prepares the way of the kingdom of heaven in us. What is it to be born of the Spirit? It is to receive the baptism of Christ with the Holy Ghost, or to have Christ “sprinkle clean water upon us, and make us clean; and cleanse us from all our filthiness, and from all our idols.” Then when this baptism of Christ is received, when this work of purification is wrought by being baptized with the Holy Ghost, we enter that “kingdom of God” which “is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” And we have the positive assertion of the Son of God, “Verily, verily, I say unto you except a man be born of water,” i.e., led to the exercise of true repentance, “and of the Spirit,” i.e., sprinkled with clean water, or baptized with the Holy Ghost, and cleansed from all his filthiness and from all his idols—“he cannot enter into the kingdom of God,” which “is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”

Here then we clearly see, my hearers, what it is which makes the gospel of Christ the power of God unto salvation from sin. It is our Lord Jesus Christ, baptizing with the Holy Ghost, and thus cleansing men from all their filthiness and from all their idols; thus bringing them into God’s kingdom of righteousness, and establishing that kingdom in their hearts—filling them with righteousness, as Christ says those shall be, who hunger and thirst after it; and giving them peace and joy in the Holy Ghost—making their peace as a river and their righteousness as the waves of the sea. This gospel is indeed the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. It is the dispensation of God’s Almighty Spirit, “Burying us with Jesus Christ, by baptism of the Holy Ghost into death,” i.e., making us dead to sin—“that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also should walk in newness of life.” It is enabling us to “put off the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and to put on the new man, which after God” (i.e., after the likeness of God) “is created in righteousness and true holiness.”