The third mystery in the New Testament is the matter of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. This is altogether a mystery. It has been a matter of argument for over nineteen centuries.
When I first came to this country, I met two groups of people within a short time. Firstly, I was invited to a dinner in Los Angeles and met the leader of a group which denies the water baptism. He interpreted the baptism such as mentioned in Matthew 28:19, Romans 6:4, etc. all as baptism in the Holy Spirit. He was strongly opposed to water baptism. Then I went to Texas. While I was speaking there in a meeting about being baptized in the Holy Spirit, a lady from a certain group stood to interrupt my speaking and to argue with me about being saved by water baptism. This group believes that if you are not immersed with water by them, you cannot be saved. It has to be with their immersion, not with any other. These two occasions showed me the two extremes in the argument concerning the baptism in the Holy Spirit. It surprised me and saddened me very much.
Some people say that to be baptized in the Holy Spirit you must speak in tongues. According to them, if you have never spoken in tongues, you have never received the baptism in the Spirit. Some even say that if you have never spoken in tongues, you are not regenerated. It is ridiculous!
So many Christians today know the name of Watchman Nee. I was with him about twenty years and knew him very well. He never spoke in tongues. Does this mean that Watchman Nee did not have the Holy Spirit? Does it mean that he was never regenerated? In 1936 I was sent to work in North China by the work under his leadership. While I was there I became influenced to speak in tongues, and I took the lead to help many others to speak in tongues. Of course, this news traveled to Shanghai where Watchman Nee was. Immediately I received a cable from him. It simply said, “Not all speak in tongues.” He was one-hundred percent against the teaching that speaking in tongues is the unique manifestation of the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
The baptism in the Holy Spirit is a mystery. How could anyone say that a man like Watchman Nee did not have the Holy Spirit? It is doubtful that Spurgeon, the king of preachers, ever spoke in tongues. We spent much time to study his writings, but we could not find a hint that he spoke in tongues. Does this mean that he did not have the baptism in the Holy Spirit? D. L. Moody was also a great preacher. There is no indication in his writings that he spoke in tongues. Many people know Jesse Penn-Lewis. She wrote a good number of spiritual books on the cross. She was absolutely against the so-called Pentecostal movement emphasizing the speaking in tongues in England. Andrew Murray was a very spiritual person, yet in his books you cannot find anything about him speaking in tongues. I can give you a list of names of many spiritual giants that never spoke in tongues. This is why it is too much to say that if you have never spoken in tongues you have never received the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
The Pentecostal movement came to this country in the early years of this century. At the beginning, Dr. A. B. Simpson, the founder of the Christian Missionary Alliance Church, was with the Pentecostal movement. He was one of the most spiritual persons that America has ever produced. When most of the leaders of this movement made the decision that speaking in tongues is the unique manifestation of the baptism in the Holy Spirit, he would not agree and withdrew from the movement.
Why are there so many different opinions and interpretations about the baptism in the Holy Spirit? Because it is a mystery. Therefore, we must come back to the pure Word of God.