The baptism with the Holy Spirit is distinct from conversion. That is how one could summarise the Doctor's teaching on the subject of the Spirit. One perhaps unintended consequence of his ministry was that, in the introduction of this subject to reformed pastors, several of them went on to become reformed charismatic ministers, spawning groups like newfrontiers - which has been remarkably successful in the UK. Perhaps the Doctor is partly responsible for why the charismatic landscape in the UK looks so different from that of the US.

I have referred to this subject in my charismatic debate post yesterday, and even mentioned the passage to which the Doctor will refer in this post.

MLJ will address the first of three arguments people make in connection with certain texts which, on the surface, seem to say that every Christian has received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and that it's wrong, therefore, to urge them to seek this blessing, since Christians of necessity must have already received it. "Or, as MLJ states, "sometimes they put the difficulty in this way — that if the promise is made that this is something that is going to happen to all believers, well then, either all believers have received it, or else they are in difficulties as to why those who ask for it have not received it."

The first text in question is:

Luke 11:13
"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?"

MLJ states the argument this way:

"Now [this] is one of these verses that perplex people. 'Either,' they say, 'we have all received the Holy Spirit in this way as Christians or else we are left in difficulties. There we seem to be told that we have only to ask for this gift and we shall receive it.' Then the argument continues like this: people say, 'Well, I have asked him and I have not had any experience such as you have been describing. Therefore there is only one conclusion to come to, either that you are wrong in saying this is something special and unique and it is the possession of all Christians whether they know it or not, or else the answer seems to be that somehow or other God is not fulfilling his promise'."

MLJ divides his answer into two important principles. The first one governs not only this text, but many others — i.e., the Lord is referring only to children.

"You notice that our Lord is referring only to children, the children who ask. Here is something interesting in and of itself. He seems to be taking it for granted that those who are going to ask the Father for the Holy Spirit are those who know that they are children and who address him as their heavenly Father. This suggests that here, once more, we are being told that it is only those who are children who ask for this. It is not something that happens automatically, therefore, at regeneration, but it is the regenerate, the 'children,' who make this request; nobody else will do so."

The second principle, and one which MLJ considers to be of greater importance concerns:

"The impression people seem to have . . . that you have only to ask and God immediately gives . . . So they assume that anybody who has asked God for this gift of the Holy Spirit should receive it at once . . . and it is here that we tend to go astray. You notice that our Lord suggests a kind of gradation in this question of asking. 'And I say unto you,' he says in Luke 11:9, 'Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.' Then he says, 'For everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened' . . .I am suggesting that . . . there is a greater content to this word 'asking' than we tend to think . . .

True asking, I am suggesting, is the knocking. In other words, asking does not mean a casual request . . . In true asking there is a kind of urgency, there is a refusal to be content with anything less than the answer. That is where the knocking comes in. You do not merely shout from a distance, you go on and you approach nearer and nearer, and at last you are, as it were, hammering at the door . . . There is this element of real seeking . . . 'Ask; seek; knock.' Importunity! 'I will not let thee go!' This whole element is of vital importance in this matter. It is in the teaching of the Scripture, it is confirmed by the testimonies and experiences of the saints . . . You will never know the heights of the Christian life without effort. You have to strive for these things — there is a seeking, knocking, and an importunity. And it is because so many have missed that element that they get into confusion at this point.

Next week the Doctor will address Acts 2:37-39 about which the question is asked, "There is only one way in which that passage can be interpreted. How can you say that a man can be a Christian without the gift of the Holy Spirit?"

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All emphasis mine.

Excerpts from this past were taken from:

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Joy Unspeakable - The Baptism and Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Christopher Catherwood, Ed., Combined edition of Joy Unspeakable (1984) and Prove All Things (1985), Kingsway Publications, Eastbourne, England, 1995, "Something Worth Striving For", chapter 18, pp. 320-325.