In verse 13 we read, "For by ONE SPIRIT are we all BAPTIZED into ONE BODY".

In I Cor. 8: 6 we read, "To us ONE GOD, THE FATHER . . . . . and ONE LORD

JESUS CHRIST". Again we read, "And now abideth FAITH, HOPE, and LOVE"

(I Cor. 13: 13). It will be seen that the seven wonderful components of the Unity of the

Spirit are here, although not yet brought together in order, nor invested with their fuller

and higher meaning. Had the nation of Israel repented, and the Kingdom come as a

consequence, these passages would have exactly fitted the prophecy of Zech. 14: 9,

"And the LORD shall be king over all the earth; in that day shall there be ONE LORD

and His Name ONE".

As it is, the Kingdom is in abeyance; and instead of ONE LORD being King, He is

exalted as HEAD of the Church, His Body;  not "over all the earth", but "in the

Heavenlies"; for "earthly things" are connected with the Kingdom of Israel (John 3: 12).

The One Body of I Cor. 12: is connected with "Gifts". "All these worketh that one

and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will, FOR AS the body is

one and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one

body: so also the Christ. FOR by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body . . . . . and

have been all made to drink into one spirit". The fact that all had a gift is compared to

the body having many and varied members, yet all composing one body. The words,

"All made to drink into one Spirit", refer to the promise of John 7: 37, 39. (Compare

Mark 16: 14-20; Acts 2: 33).

A question arising out of the foregoing subject is: "Does the term `The Baptism of the

Spirit', of the Pentecostal dispensation, mean the same thing as the Baptism of Eph. 4:?"

We hope to demonstrate in another pamphlet that the "One Baptism" of Eph. 4: is the

Baptism of the Spirit, to which the reader is referred. We sometimes meet a Christian

who tells us that he has "received the Baptism of the Holy Ghost", or that he is "Praying

for the Second blessing". "Second blessings" may be a legitimate subject for prayer, on

the other hand, they may result from undispensational views. The believers' charter

COMMENCES (in Eph. 1: 3) with the fact that God "HATH blessed us with ALL

spiritual blessings".

The book of the Acts gives us very clear data as to what the Baptism of the Spirit is.

Acts 1: 5 and 2: 14-16 make it quite clear as to what the term refers. Let us examine the

passages carefully:

Acts 2: 1-4.

"And began to SPEAK with other tongues."

Acts 8: 18.

"When Simon SAW . . . . . the Holy Spirit was given."

Acts 10: 44-46.

"They HEARD them speak with tongues."

Acts 19: 6.

"They SPAKE with tongues and prophesied" and I Cor. 12: 1-27.

Almost without exception, miraculous gifts followed the Baptism of the Spirit--but

such is nowhere hinted at in the Epistles written after Acts 28: Ministering the Spirit