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The Baptism of Soldiers
Salvation Army Orders and Regulations for Field Officers
(1917)
Book I, Part III, Chapter II, Section 7
The Baptism of Soldiers
1. The Field Officer must lead his
Soldiers on to the full realization of the baptism of the Holy
Ghost; he must make them Blood-and-Fire. The work of the
Spirit is to fill the soul with burning zeal for the Salvation
of the world. Christ’s work must be finished. He has left that
task to His people, and it can only be continued and completed
by His Spirit working in the hearts and through the lives of
His people. The Holy Ghost was promised for this end. This is
what His people have therefore a right to expect, and without
it they are powerless for the War.
(a) This enduement will make them wise.
They will know how to fight, what to say, what to sing, how to
pray, and how to talk to the consciences and hearts of men.
The Spirit will lead them into right methods of action, will
show them how to make opportunities, and how to put these
opportunities to the best use.
(b) The Holy Spirit will give them
perseverance, keeping them going on in the face of difficulty.
(c) The Holy Spirit will give them
power, making them not only willing to endure the Cross, but
to glory in it.
(d) The Holy Spirit will give them the
fire of love, the seraphic spirit, the live coal from off the
altar, making them both burn and shine. With this they will
come to Knee-Drill, to the Open-Air, to face mocking crowds,
and to endure the scorn, and hatred, and persecution of men ;
not merely from a sense of duty, dragging themselves to it,
because it is the will of God ; or for the good of The Army ;
or as an example to their comrades ; or even for the Salvation
of souls ; but because they love it, and cannot stay away.
(e) The Holy Spirit will be a fire in
their bones, which must have vent ; a spirit that must have a
voice ; a love burning in the heart, which all the waters of
earth and Hell cannot quench — a love with which no other love
can compare. It will be the Saviour loving a dying world
through His people ; it will be Christ indeed come again in
the flesh.
2. The Soldiers must be baptized with
Fire. It will give them the Soldier’s spirit, and, with that,
all a Soldier needs in the way of drill, and duty, and
sacrifice will inevitably follow.
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