The Second Stage - The Baptism of the Spirit or the Stage of Power

A new, previously unknown revelation of God becomes clear to us as soon as God’s power flows through us. Life has suddenly changed. You have been transported from the soulish to the spiritual sphere. Often God’s power flows noticeably through the entire body—accompanied by an infinite blessedness that manifests itself in exceeding happiness and joy. From a state of impotence you have entered into God’s power, from darkness into beautiful light. God’s peace penetrates your very being; it is truly like a mighty flood. Joy wafts around you like a glorious breath of air from heaven—sweet and refreshing. It is as if you were shrouded in a mist. You are resting as in pure love. At this moment you almost cannot say anything except to give praise and thanks. Songs of praise fill your heart, and their tones seem to echo in heaven.

You can literally be drunk with joy just as they said about the apostles on the day of Pentecost: “They are full of new wine.” Acts 2:13-16. It can be just the same in the spiritual as in the natural. Your joy can be so excessive that you can forget everything around you and just jump for joy. This external conduct is a manifestation of an internal emotion. It is as if the emotions have taken up too much room so that the spiritual ability to think, with its controlling and balancing power, is somewhat relegated to the sidelines. However, the apostles were not full of new wine for any length of time. They had a mission in life that awaited them. This power from God, which at first had such an overwhelming effect, was to be released by serving their fellow men. Often, but not always, one or more of the gifts of the Spirit that we read about in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 can accompany the baptism of the Spirit. Thus the richness and joy with which the person is favored increases even more. It is as if God has a special love for this kind of person, for he is adorned and favored with gifts, blessings, visions, and revelations. This is the fulfillment of what Jesus says: “But you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit . . . . You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me . . . .” Acts 1:5, 8. Peter says, “‘But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy.’” Peter says further, “For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” Acts 2:16-18, 39.

We now learn to know Christ as the motivating force in our lives through the Spirit. Now we have victory over things to which we previously succumbed. Striving to serve Christ is being replaced by the motivating power of the Spirit. The fearful become bold, the weak become strong, and the wavering become assured. Consciousness of God’s manifested power establishes the mind in God. Large portions of the Scriptures that had been obscure are now made clear, and in this increasing light we are overcome with awe at their beauty. We have truly been richly blessed. Love for God is fostered by a flood of grace consisting of blessings and gifts. He adorns us, and we cannot but highly exalt Him.

Dangers of the Second Stage

By entering into this new, unknown spiritual sphere, we have come into a new area of temptation. Dangers that did not threaten us before are now imminent. New dangers are being revealed in each stage of development. They are manifestations of that which was there before, but which had not yet been revealed until we had attained to greater light. The root of these very same things lies hidden in all those who have not yet attained to this stage. The manifestation of these things can be an offense to those who have not yet reached this stage, because they are unaware that these very same things that are manifest faults in others lie hidden in themselves.

Everything that is hidden must be revealed so that we can forsake it.

In the second stage we may have a tendency to rejoice over the fact that we are glad, that we have received power, that we have peace; all in all, we are inclined to rejoice over the state into which we have entered, just as those in the first stage rejoiced over having their sins forgiven. We can feel rich and are inclined to enjoy our riches. It is the same in the natural when people rejoice over the gifts they have received and their prevailing state. This is always a part of the beginning stage. It gives rise to a longing within us to revert repeatedly to an enjoyment of these things, and thus risk losing that pure connection with God by clinging to the things God has given us instead of clinging to Him. Thus we lose out on that deepening state in God which He had intended for us to experience.

The soul’s pressing into God is often associated with a nebulous transport of joy in which a person’s emotions are strongly aroused. In this state of sweet intoxication the person is enveloped by a pleasant feeling of well-being which is often much sought after. When a person comes out of this state, he will seek to revert to it in order to obtain blessings from God, and God, in His grace, meets such a person during this state to strengthen him. However, now the person tends to be inclined to seek this state for its own sake, and all other food will have lost its flavor. Such a person becomes spiritually self-indulgent and will pass harsh judgments on those he believes hinder him from entering into these spiritual feelings of well-being, whether it be at meetings or in other places.

Once a person has given himself to this state of spiritual well-being, he does not like to be confronted with clear doctrines and truths that penetrate into his self-life—because it causes pain. He feels that he is strong in Christ, just as Paul writes to the Corinthians: “We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong!” 1 Cor. 4:10. He may possess a spiritual self-confidence, and he likes to compare himself with others and measure his own spiritual greatness. Since this person feels rich, he may also secretly look down on others who have not advanced as far as he has.

In this state it is possible for a person to be hard beyond the limits of zeal with those who do not understand him. How many missteps he would avoid if he would always be aware of the fact that the Word can only be understood after it is believed. Therefore it is the word of faith that must be proclaimed. God’s secrets are revealed only to those who declare that they cannot understand because of their immaturity, but who acknowledge that God is true by believing His Word. The Word we believe opens up our understanding so that we can comprehend its content. Conceit and spiritual obstinacy are also dangers, as well as thinking that every impression we receive is the voice of the Spirit.

In the first stage Satan tempted us mostly with outward sins; he tried to get us to become absorbed with outward things. In the second stage we have victory over these things, but at this point we are totally ignorant of his wiles and of how he works. Satan can open up expedient ways to many mistakes by imitating the Spirit’s voice. The more refined spiritual sins become evident in the second stage. By rejoicing in victory over outward things, the inner life is often overlooked.

Those who are in the first stage are often afraid to seek further because of the mistakes they find among those who are in the second stage; and many of those in the first stage who are rich excuse their deficient life by pointing out the mistakes in the lives of those who are in the second stage. However, in God’s kingdom you can never advance by putting others down.

In the first stage you will find many opposers of the second stage. The reasons for this opposition can be varied, yet the deepest root can be found in unbelief and its consequent lack of devotion to God. He who looks to God alone is quickly led forward on the inner ways.

In the second stage we are led into a firm spiritual state in which we—if we have a normal development—are gradually grounded. An established spiritual state results in a steadfast mind. You are not moved. However, this is usually regarded as pride.

There is an ascending side to the second stage just as there is an ascending side in the first stage. Everyone in the second stage reaches a high point and then descends again. This is God’s way. In the beginning God supports us with rich gifts and blessings, but at a later point in time He removes these supports from our consciousness so that we in full faith—without supports—can advance, relying solely on God. Such faith-supports are necessary for those who have not learned to walk by faith alone.

God’s purpose with us always goes deeper. His desire is to lead us forward from this stage. He wants to lead us into a deeper acknowledgment so that we can attain to a higher life, since the highest life and the deepest acknowledgment go hand in hand. Now God’s goal with us is to come to grips with our self-life. His desire is to lay it bare so that we can fully see our own corruption. First we have to forsake our sin, and then our own strength by receiving God’s power. Now it becomes a question of forsaking life itself—our self-life—the root of all carnal and spiritual sins.

God acts and proceeds with great wisdom. He has showered us richly with grace to show us that He is love. He arouses within us a love for Himself through this abundant grace so that we love Him because He loved us first. After this intimate trust relationship has become established and grounded, God goes further. It is as if He whispered to our hearts: “You can see that I am pure love; you have acknowledged it. Let Me continue my loving treatment of you. It will cause you pain, but you know that love’s motive is good, and its goal is glorious. Let Me pour out your self-life.”

This is how God proceeds. He never forces Himself on us. He desires willing souls who fully trust Him in all His ways. Faith in God reveals our trust in God, which in turn reveals pure love for Him.

The majority of those in the first stage do not proceed to the second stage, and the majority of those in the second stage do not enter into the third stage. They stop on the way. They love joy and fear pain; therefore they tremble and draw back at the first sight of their self-life, because the first cut of the knife was painful.

The opposite expression for joy in our emotional life is pain. Walking in Jesus’ steps brings both of them into our life. It is as if joy has to be purified through pain; otherwise it will become like stagnant water that gives off a foul odor. Running water always stays fresh. Joy is purified by its opposite—pain. Our love for God is purified by our hate for sin and self-life. Hope is purified by despair over everything that hinders us from reaching the goal of our hope. Opposites work together in order to reach love’s goal, which is the truth fully executed in deed. Blessed is everyone who is willing to be led by this eternal wisdom. They will become partakers of love’s pure joy over a completed work.

The joy of those who stop in the second stage will not become pure. They do not desire to enter into the sufferings that are the result of God’s purifying fire. They draw back from the fire and always seek to revert to joy. But since their joy is not truly pure, they always seek further to find a purer joy. Each folly seeks to cover itself with purity, even when it appears in the most refined forms. Folly is apt to cover itself with many words; it continuously seeks for more refined expressions to find a pure cover. The more it seeks for a cover, the greater the deception. Their “joy” is not in harmony with the innermost recesses of their heart. Their outbursts of joy sound so shallow. They do not have that pure tone, this undercurrent of purity that is the result of a spirit of acknowledgement found in those who walk straight ahead on the way. Souls without this spirit of acknowledgment and purity are obstacles to revival irrespective of which stage they are in. They constitute the spiritual friction (opposition) in the assemblies, preventing them from developing. They are an obstacle to God’s cause on whatever level you meet them. They will usually become entrenched in their experiences which they transform into empty doctrines, continuing to build further on rational conclusions, but without developing further.

Just as many people in the first stage cover their impotence with false humility, so there are many people in the second stage who feign a false joy.

When a person’s joy in God is not pure, he will seek consolation wherever he can find it as a kind of support. They praise the spiritual state into which they have entered; in this beautiful joy of hope they dream about things that God will one day reveal as if they had already arrived there. They grasp at these things so they can believe that they are making progress toward a higher goal. They do not realize that in order to ascend, they have to descend first, that each step up is conditional on taking a step down. They wish to discover the glory by going up, yet it is only discovered by going down. They desire more life, but they do not realize that this can only be obtained at the cost of their self-life. They deceive themselves by believing that they have lost their entire “I” when they gave up the strength of their self-life to serve God. Just as many believers in the first stage found new strength in their hand and therefore said, “I will not give up,” so there are many who find new joy so that they will not give up. They quote the Scriptures to console themselves, saying, “The joy of the Lord shall be our strength.” They forget that the joy of the Lord is conditional on the Lord rejoicing over us. The joy of the Lord is pure when we walk in His ways, though the way goes through sufferings. We must distinguish between the joy of the Lord and the joy over our state, over our well-being, over our joy.

At this point one is inclined to veer off onto the wrong track. Satan concocts a way of glory for people, and some of them go astray. In order to avoid sufferings, they say that the self-life has been taken away, because sufferings will occur when the self-life is to be destroyed. Whenever God points out one of the many expressions of egotism, they ascribe them to temptations that come from without, from Satan’s hosts, as they say. They cover their self-life with a veil of forgetfulness, and Satan leads them into self-deception. They regard the blood of Jesus as a preserving power instead of seeing it as a means of cleansing. The cleansing is disregarded. Exhortations become useless. The power of the cross for salvation from all folly is made ineffective, and all further spiritual development comes to a stop; the heart ceases to be molded, and an outward human love and joy are fostered to counterbalance the inward loss.

Some believers in the second stage do not dare to go on the way of the cross because they are afraid to lose what they already have. They want to be strong, but suffering as a consequence of the leading of the Spirit results in poverty and weakness. When they begin to sense these things, they draw back, terrified. They do not dare to venture out of the exquisite light of joy into the darkness of faith. Many of them believe that they are going backwards to the descending side of the first stage; therefore they avoid the way of the cross. Satan holds them back by telling them that on this way they will end up in their former ways of striving to serve God. They are afraid to serve God again in a legalistic way. However, on the way of the cross you will not come into conflict with God’s laws; on the contrary, there you will be molded according to His will. When joy is blended with suffering, the fearful soul who does not know the way asks, “Why is it not as in the beginning when I was baptized with God’s Spirit?” He has still not realized that Christ also baptizes with fire.