IN THIS heart to heart talk we wish to make clear a subject that has confused many, or at least has led many to believe certain things that are only partial truths and that has consequently limited them in a way from going farther on their spiritual journey.

We refer to the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit.” There is an increasing number of earnest seekers who have met those who claim to have had this baptism, and who offer as evidence that it has completely changed their lives and that during the baptism they “spoke in tongues;” some of such claiming that unless one has had a similar experience one is not “chosen” or of the “elect.” In fact, there are certain sects that teach and prepare their members for this kind of baptism and lead them to think only those who have so experienced are favored and blessed by God. They usually base their claims on what is stated in the second chapter of Acts, which follows:

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they (the apostles) were all with one accord in one place.

And suddenly there came a sound as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

And they were filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.

Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.

And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans?

And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born.

And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?

Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.

But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judea, 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;

And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

Yea and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:

And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs on the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

And then Peter continued, telling them about the crucifixion of Jesus by the wicked, about his resurrection that now, as prophesied by David, “God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their hearts, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?

Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.

Then they that had gladly received his word were baptized; and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

And fear came upon every soul; and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.

And all that believed were together, and had all things in common; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.

And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,

Praising God, and having favour with all people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

WE HAVE quoted almost the whole chapter, that you may have the full text, italicizing the parts we wish you particularly to note and that bear upon what we wish to emphasize.

At the outset we will state that there are three baptisms in the course of man’s spiritual unfoldment. The first is symbolized in the life of Jesus by His birth, and in man’s life by the baptism of infants or children; is supposed to represent the spiritual birth or the awakening of the soul. In almost all cases, with those sects where through prayer and “tarrying” with the Spirit until the or she has received what they call the “baptism of the Holy Spirit,” it is the birth of the Spirit in the soul, bringing about a spiritual awakening in the outer consciousness that changes the nature of the personality and causes it to receive a new and higher understanding of life. In other words, as we have taught, it is the birth of the Christ, or of Love, in the heart. This makes the outer man a disciple on probation, and often times gives the power to heal and awaken the soul of others, as when the Apostles received the Holy Spirit.

The second baptism comes when the Christ has matured both in the soul and in the outer mind and Love rules completely, and is symbolized in the life of Jesus by His baptism in the Jordan and the full descent of the Christos or Holy Spirit. When that occurs in the disciple, he is intimately aware of the Christ within, Who endues him with the power not only to heal and awaken others, but to perform many so-called miracles. He thereby becomes an “Accepted Disciple,” and is given the mission for which all his previous life has been a preparation and which he came here expressly to do.

A careful study of the above chapter of Acts shows that what really took place that the Apostles was the birth of the Christ or of Divine Love in their hearts, God thus pouring into them His Holy Spirit, bringing about a complete change in their natures and causing them to speak a “new language” that of Love and Brotherhood, which every man who heard in his heart would understand. Even as now, when a servant of Christ, inspired by the Holy Spirit, speaks to one he would help, it reaches beyond the mind into the heart, and the heart understands and the one is helped and blessed.

On the other hand, careful inquiry into the experiences of those who “speak with tongues” during the so-called baptism of the Holy Spirit, brings out the fact that neither the baptized or the hearers understand the language used, that it sounds like gibberish, and it is probably the language of an Indian or Oriental speaking through the supplicant during a temporary fit of obsession, invited by the highly emotional state reached and induced by the prayers and singing of the audience and the exhortations of the minister.

However, when the after effect is such as to awaken the aspirant spiritually, to change his former nature and life, and the change is permanent, a real blessing has resulted, and it has been indeed a spiritual baptism. This of course comes in this way only to a certain type of mind, for others could not bring themselves to the certain practices required by the various sects mentioned. Such others will come to the same spiritual awakening or baptism through other and more natural means, but in every way just as effective.

You will note that Peter said, above, “And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh, etc.,” quoting from the prophecy of Joel, in the second chapter of his book, and speaking of those days also referred to by Jesus in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, and meaning the end of this present age. You will also remember the sign of Aquarius, that of a man walking across the sky pouring water from a pitcher down upon the earth.

“Aquarius signifies the spiritual baptism that stands for that grander type of the initiate about to accomplish his earthly labors, who sees in himself the fullness of the promise that he shall inherit the Kingdom of Heaven

“Aquarius is the soul, the user of knowledge, gathered from many lives, many experiences.” The Divine Language of Celestial Correspondence.

In other words, while we feel we are in the “last days” and that God is now pouring His Spirit upon all flesh, and that there are many sons and daughters who are now prophesying, seeing visions, and old men dreaming dreams, yet the fullness of time has not yet come and all that was promised has not yet been fulfilled. But this definite promise we have, “that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Think of what that means, dear ones! When we sincerely turn to and call on His Name, we shall be saved! But how can we call on His Name? Only by recognizing Him within as our own Divine Self, and letting go, yielding up our mortal selves, and surrendering all to Him, and saying, “Accept me Lord, do with me as Thou

Have you learned to do that—and have you actually surrendered all? If not, you have not come to the second baptism. Practically all who receive this Paper are preparing for that baptism; having already been born or received your spiritual awakening, or first became aware of your Christ Self within.

PETER further said, “For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.”

Many of you have wondered why, although you have surrendered yourself—as you thought, there has not come the gift of the Holy Spirit, bringing the “Peace which passeth understanding.”

In these last words of Peter you will find the answer. The Lord your God has not yet called you—you are not yet worthy and ready to be used by Him—there is evidently some of self that has not yet surrendered.

But when He sees you want more than anything else to give yourself to Him, that you may serve Him alone, side of your Brothers in Spirit, then will He call you, and through the power of His Grace, self will yield and henceforth you will live only in serving Him, even as did Jesus when on earth. Such will then receive the second baptism.

You will ask, “What is the third baptism?” That will come with the final crucifixion of self, as symbolized in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. It came at the moment on the cross when He said, “It is finished,” and then “gave up the ghost.” Then was He given a Baptism that cannot be known to one of earth, for it came to the Soul while lifted up in Spirit into complete Oneness once more with God; for then was consummated Divine Union, when the mind, soul and Spirit were become One. Consciousness—they had returned to the “Father and were One with Him.

If you can see it, in all three baptisms there is a surrender—a surrender of self, or of one’s concept of self. In the first, one surrenders the old material concept, and enters a higher consciousness, where he lives in a world that completely changes his old ideas, beliefs and opinions about life and God. He glimpses God as within himself and not somewhere in the skies, and he becomes aware of loving guidance from within, and seeks to learn all about that guidance and to become fully worthy to serve God.

In the second baptism, he surrenders all desire for and concern about self, for he has learned that the Divine Self of him, the Christ within, is his only self; and so he abides in that consciousness and allows the Divine Self to work and teach through him. Of course the former self has passed away and a higher Self, that of the Jesus Christ man, is now in evidence; who maintains until the work is finished that he came here to do.

In the third baptism, he makes the final surrender to God, even as in the second baptism he surrendered to his Christ Self, and in the first he surrendered to his higher and better nature. In the third, having finished his work on earth, and having lifted up all of his consciousness—physical, mental and spiritual, which took many millions of years—back into his God Consciousness, he was now ready and equipped to serve the Father in the higher realms of Spirit, but still under the direction of His Elder Brother, the Christ, in a greater and far more effective way than he ever could on earth.

But there is no more a self—he is now one in Christ with all of his Brothers in Spirit, and is working as one with Christ and the Father for the lifting up and redeeming of all men still on earth into the Light and Blessedness of Christ.

IN THE above statement of Peter, he says that the promise given through the prophet Joel “as many as the Lord our God shall call.”

Have you heard that call, dear one? We feel that most of you have very definitely heard it. But how are you answering it? Are you doing all that He is pointing you to do, all that He is making possible for you to do?

It is time that every disciple—in view of what is shown above, of the fact that most of you feel we are in the “last days,” and that you are among those who have been called—be fully prepared, worthy and ready for the descent of the Holy Spirit in the second baptism; when God by His Grace will endue you with the same Power given to Jesus, that you may begin your ministry—that which you came here to perform.

By His Grace we have helped you more surely to know and follow Him. We have shown you that the one and only way to win to Accepted Discipleship and therefore to the second baptism, is through love, selfless service. Through four years of study and preparation, you should now be thoroughly ready and able to serve—and should have found your own avenue of service. Many are indeed ready, and many are now definitely and acceptably serving. All such know this in their hearts.

But for those who have not been able up to this time to free themselves for other service than that in their homes with their families, we make the following suggestions:

Those of you who are members of Groups and have had long experience in meeting and studying together, taking your turns in leading and thus accustoming yourselves to taking charge of meetings, are now fully prepared to form in your community new Groups of those desiring to study the Impersonal Teachings, and thus help to develop more workers in Christ’s Cause.

This need not in any way interfere with your attendance and work in the Parent Group, but the time is now here when all that has been learned by and developed in your human instruments should be put to definite use in the Master’s Service—through your active co-workers of the Christ Brotherhood.

With those who are not members of any Group, we feel—if you realize the longing to serve—that it will soon be arranged that you draw to you those who are to meet, study and prepare with you as instruments for the Brotherhood’s use. For the time is growing very short when every possible worker must be made ready and prepared to receive instruction direct from our Lord and Leader, the Christ, in the Kingdom within.

No, not personal teaching anymore, but instructions how you may teach and help others. For it is through such service only, as stated above, that you are proved worthy and fit for Accepted Discipleship and the second baptism, and for your own special mission.

Think! Must this not be so? If not, what has all this study and preparation been for? Only in order to bring you into conscious membership as Accepted Disciples of the Great Christ Brotherhood when you can work as one with Them in Their Christ Service to humanity.

Of course this means that you will then be one with Them—and that all They have and are, is yours to use; that all Wisdom, Love and Power will be yours in other words, that the Holy Spirit will fill you and endue you with the power to do the Father’s Work on earth, even as They are doing it in Heaven.

But your preparation must be complete, and we are now offering you the opportunity to complete your preparation and to gain the further experience needed.

If you truly love these teachings, your hearts and minds are filled with their truths. That alone will prove a mighty attracting magnet to draw to you those who need the loving help that will be given through you. You can use either the Impersonal Teachings in the Papers, those in THE INNER LIFE Magazine, or both, forming advanced Groups for those wishing to study the former, and beginners Groups for the latter. Every outer help will be given you, by writing for it to the Sun Center; but when you declare yourself ready and that you are earnestly desirous to form such a Group, guidance will be given you from within, and the soul comrades necessary for your help will be drawn to you.

Try to realize that the period is past for seeking to get personal teachings and help from Group meetings. Now you should be ready to give out—to pass on to others the truths and blessings you have received, that they too may enjoy the fellowship of Christ that is yours.

Remember the real purpose of an Impersonal Group is to prepare its members for service, through study and practice in giving out and in helping others. Let every Group member keep that ever foremost in mind. After four years of intensive study every one should be well equipped to begin active service in and for the Brotherhood.

In the New-day Service, you were given an opportunity to prove your trust to serve the Brotherhood. If you have been faithful and have left nothing interfere with that service, you have surely felt the Loving Power of the Holy Spirit flowing through you, and you know that many have been brought into Its Light as a consequence and have been blessed thereby.

What we offer now is a further opportunity to render Them faithful and more devoted service, as was promised in that Call. When you have your own Group meeting regularly in true consecration to Them, doubt not that you will receive definite evidence of Their appreciation and co-operation.

We hope to hear from you this coming Fall and that you are forming a Group of earnest ones—if only two or three that you have found—and that you wish suggestions and help to that end.

OH THOU blessed Christ Spirit, Who art the Father of my being: Take me wholly unto Thyself to use as Thou seest fit.

For I hereby dedicate myself to Thee and promise from the bottom of my heart that if it be Thy Will, every thought I think, every word I speak, and every act I do, shall be in Thy service, henceforth and forevermore.

Beloved Father, I desire nothing but to serve Thee, and therefore am ready to be prepared so that Thou canst possess me and make me Thy dwelling place. Baptize me with Thy Holy Spirit so that all my consciousness will be lifted above the claims of self and will be used only for helping and blessing of others.

Father, I hereby devote my every material possession and all that I am to Thee to do with as Thou wilt, and I promise to abide selflessly in Thee and to allow Thy Word to abide in and lead me. For I know that Thou art my Self and my Life, that Thou hast given me all that I have and am, and Thou wilt always give me what is needed to accomplish Thy Loving Will in, through and for me.

IN THE NAME OF CHRIST JESUS.

Received by a Disciple in Paris, France Sunday evening, June 18th

BE STILL, and KNOW,—I AM,—God.

I am thy Self, thy Consciousness, thy Life—thy All. Keep this Truth ever in thy mind, so that I may inspire thy every thought, word and act—that each may glorify Me and may help unfold My Perfect Plan for thee and for humanity.

My Plan cannot at present manifest on earth, because It is hindered and obscured by man’s selfishness and lack of love; man who considers only himself, disregarding his brothers, not realizing that he is but a minute center of My Consciousness, in which all its universes, planets and men live, move and have their being.

Unless each center be joined in consciousness with all others of its kind through Love—My Love, that ruleth and uniteth all things—My Plan must await Its fulfillment, and humanity must continue to wander in the darkness of self.

Through Love alone can man return to and unite with Me, express My Will and make My Kingdom to appear on earth.

Keep thyself pure; keep thyself true; keep thyself loving;—and thus always be able to receive My guidance and to do My work.

Thou art needed, as are all earnest souls who can hear My Voice and do My bidding. Let the flame of Love burn brightly in thy heart, for it is the purifying fire that cleanses and frees thee from all that hinders My Word from expressing through thee.

Think only loving thoughts, do only loving deeds, each day and hour of thy life—so that My Love will shine forth so perfectly that all who approach thee can feel its healing and blessing power, and be turned to Me within themselves.

Pity for another is the first step; the desire to help; then the knowing that I am in that other even as I am in thee; then a great, overwhelming Love, allowing Me to come forth and do that which I inspired in the first impulse to help.

No man can know Me, except through Love. My Voice speaking from out Love in thy heart will teach thee day by day and every moment of the day—if thou wilt but listen and heed It.

Surrender all thy desires and merge thyself in My Love, so that henceforth we form but One Consciousness—that of Love; when you will know that you are not, and that I alone Am.

That is the goal of thy present life—attend thou to it, and be not led aside by outer passing events.

Keep steadfast; keep true; keep thine eye fixed upon the goal, and thy heart ever centered in Me, thy God—Who am all that thou art and all that there Is, and from Whom all things proceed.

Help lead My children out of their sense of separation back to Me, by teaching them the Truth about Me, even as I am now teaching thee.

Let My Love surround and fill thee, and My Peace enfold and comfort thee; now and forevermore.

—AMEN.

DEAR Friend:

Noonday Silently after you sent out the request about the Sunday Silence, asking us to turn our minds to the Sun Center, I had a strong feeling of not wanting to. For this was the thought that came to me:

“Why should I send my thoughts first to the Sun Center? We are all one—the same Loving One is guiding me as well as guiding them, and we can receive all the help we need from within.”

I felt that way for two days. Then the third day the Loving Teacher explained, “You are thinking of them as being personal.” And immediately I felt that you did not mean the Sun Center at Akron, but the Sun Center within each disciple—the Christ Consciousness, wherein our Divine Selves were all working consciously to bring the Light of Christ to every soul on earth.

Now I turn within to the Sun Center, knowing that there I am contacting all my Brothers in Spirit, and I feel as though we are sitting in the Center of a Great Light which I know is the Father’s Wonderful Love, Its Light flowing from us in every direction, reaching into the hearts of all who are ready to receive It.

And I know that that Light contains and supplies me and them with just the Wisdom, Love, Power and Substance we need to bring about the fulfillment of the Father’s Plan in and through us.

H. B.