that this is God's order, and two that plainly show us that
cleansing and the baptism are not separate in time.

In Psalm li. 10 and 12, David prays, "Create in me a clean heart,
O God, and renew a right spirit within me.... Uphold me with Thy
free Spirit." First the cleansing, then the filling that upholds:
for as it is my spirit within me that upholds my body, so it is
God's Spirit within that upholds my soul.

In Ezekiel xxxvi. 25 and 27, the Lord says, "Then will I sprinkle
clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your
filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.... And I
will put My Spirit within you."

Here again, the order is first cleansing, then filling.

In John xvii. 15-26, Jesus prays for His disciples, and says: "I
pray not that Thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that
Thou shouldst keep them from the evil.... Sanctify them;... that
they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee;
that they also may be one in Us;... I in them, and Thou in Me,
that they may be made perfect in one;... that the love wherewith
Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

Here, again, it is first sanctification (cleansing, being made
holy), then filling, divine union with the Father and the Son
through the Holy Spirit.

These Scriptures make plain the order of God's work, and if we
looked at them alone, without diligently comparing Scripture with