{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_30241/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_30241","id":"gutenberg_30241","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/30241","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Religion/Spirituality","Holy Spirit"],"text":"The Person and Work\n\n                                    of\n\n                             The Holy Spirit\n\n                      As Revealed in the Scriptures\n\n                        And in Personal Experience\n\n                                    By\n\n                               R. A. Torrey\n\n                        Fleming H. Revell Company\n\n                       New York, Chicago, Toronto,\n\n                           London and Edinburgh\n\n                            Copyright 1910, by\n\n                               R. A. Torrey\n\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\nChapter I. The Personality of the Holy Spirit.\nChapter II. The Deity of the Holy Spirit.\nChapter III. The Distinction of the Holy Spirit from the Father and from\nHis Son, Jesus Christ.\nChapter IV. The Subordination of the Spirit to the Father and to the Son.\nChapter V. The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit as Revealed in His\nNames.\nChapter VI. The Work of the Holy Spirit in the Material Universe.\nChapter VII. The Holy Spirit Convicting the World of Sin, of Righteousness\nand of Judgment.\nChapter VIII. The Holy Spirit Bearing Witness to Jesus Christ.\nChapter IX. The Regenerating Work of the Holy Spirit.\nChapter X. The Indwelling Spirit Fully and Forever Satisfying.\nChapter XI. The Holy Spirit Setting the Believer Free From the Power of\nIndwelling Sin.\nChapter XII. The Holy Spirit Forming Christ Within Us.\nChapter XIII. The Holy Spirit Bringing Forth in the Believer Christlike\nGraces of Character.\nChapter XIV. The Holy Spirit Guiding the Believer Into a Life as a Son.\nChapter XV. The Holy Spirit Bearing Witness to our Sonship.\nChapter XVI. The Holy Spirit as a Teacher.\nChapter XVII. Praying, Returning Thanks, Worshipping in the Holy Spirit.\nChapter XVIII. The Holy Spirit Sending Men Forth to Definite Lines of\nWork.\nChapter XIX. The Holy Spirit and the Believer\u2019s Body.\nChapter XX. The Baptism With the Holy Spirit.\nChapter XXI. The Work of the Holy Spirit in Prophets and Apostles.\nChapter XXII. The Work of the Holy Spirit In Jesus Christ.\nFootnotes\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I. THE PERSONALITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.\n\n\nBefore one can correctly understand the work of the Holy Spirit, he must\nfirst of all know the Spirit Himself. A frequent source of error and\nfanaticism about the work of the Holy Spirit is the attempt to study and\nunderstand His work without first of all coming to know Him as a Person.\n\nIt is of the highest importance from the standpoint of worship that we\ndecide whether the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person, worthy to receive our\nadoration, our faith, our love, and our entire surrender to Himself, or\nwhether it is simply an influence emanating from God or a power or an\nillumination that God imparts to us. If the Holy Spirit is a person, and a\nDivine Person, and we do not know Him as such, then we are robbing a\nDivine Being of the worship and the faith and the love and the surrender\nto Himself which are His due.\n\nIt is also of the highest importance from the practical standpoint that we\ndecide whether the Holy Spirit is merely some mysterious and wonderful\npower that we in our weakness and ignorance are somehow to get hold of and\nuse, or whether the Holy Spirit is a real Person, infinitely holy,\ninfinitely wise, infinitely mighty and infinitely tender who is to get\nhold of and use us. The former conception is utterly heathenish, not\nessentially different from the thought of the African fetich worshipper\nwho has his god whom he uses. The latter conception is sublime and\nChristian. If we think of the Holy Spirit as so many do as merely a power\nor influence, our constant thought will be, \u201cHow can I get more of the\nHoly Spirit,\u201d but if we think of Him in the Biblical way as a Divine\nPerson, our thought will rather be, \u201cHow can the Holy Spirit have more of\nme?\u201d The conception of the Holy Spirit as a Divine influence or power that\nwe are somehow to get hold of and use, leads to self-exaltation and\nself-sufficiency. One who so thinks of the Holy Spirit and who at the same\ntime imagines that he has received the Holy Spirit will almost inevitably\nbe full of spiritual pride and strut about as if he belonged to some\nsuperior order of Christians. One frequently hears such persons say, \u201cI am\na Holy Ghost man,\u201d or \u201cI am a Holy Ghost woman.\u201d But if we once grasp the\nthought that the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person of infinite majesty, glory\nand holiness and power, who in marvellous condescension has come into our\nhearts to make His abode there and take possession of our lives and make\nuse of them, it will put us in the dust and keep us in the dust. I can\nthink of no thought more humbling or more overwhelming than the thought\nthat a person of Divine majesty and glory dwells in my heart and is ready\nto use even me.\n\nIt is of the highest importance from the standpoint of experience that we\nknow the Holy Spirit as a person. Thousands and tens of thousands of men\nand women can testify to the blessing that has come into their own lives\nas they have come to know the Holy Spirit, not merely as a gracious\ninfluence (emanating, it is true, from God) but as a real Person, just as\nreal as Jesus Christ Himself, an ever-present, loving Friend and mighty\nHelper, who is not only always by their side but dwells in their heart\nevery day and every hour and who is ready to undertake for them in every\nemergency of life. Thousands of ministers, Christian workers and\nChristians in the humblest spheres of life have spoken to me, or written\nto me, of the complete transformation of their Christian experience that\ncame to them when they grasped the thought (not merely in a theological,\nbut in an experimental way) that the Holy Spirit was a Person and\nconsequently came to know Him.\n\nThere are at least four distinct lines of proof in the Bible that the Holy\nSpirit is a person.\n\nI. _All the distinctive characteristics of personality are ascribed to the\nHoly Spirit in the Bible._\n\nWhat are the distinctive characteristics, or marks, of personality?\nKnowledge, feeling or emotion, and will. Any entity that thinks and feels\nand wills is a person. When we say that the Holy Spirit is a person, there\nare those who understand us to mean that the Holy Spirit has hands and\nfeet and eyes and ears and mouth, and so on, but these are not the\ncharacteristics of personality but of corporeity. All of these\ncharacteristics or marks of personality are repeatedly ascribed to the\nHoly Spirit in the Old and New Testaments. We read in 1 Cor. ii. 10, 11,\n\u201cBut God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit\nsearcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth\nthe things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the\nthings of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.\u201d Here knowledge is\nascribed to the Holy Spirit. We are clearly taught that the Holy Spirit is\nnot merely an influence that illuminates our minds to comprehend the truth\nbut a Being who Himself knows the truth.\n\nIn 1 Cor. xii. 11, we read, \u201cBut all these worketh that one and the\nselfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as _He will_.\u201d Here will\nis ascribed to the Spirit and we are taught that the Holy Spirit is not a\npower that we get hold of and use according to our will but a Person of\nsovereign majesty, who uses us according to His will. This distinction is\nof fundamental importance in our getting into right relations with the\nHoly Spirit. It is at this very point that many honest seekers after power\nand efficiency in service go astray. They are reaching out after and\nstruggling to get possession of some mysterious and mighty power that they\ncan make use of in their work according to their own will. They will never\nget possession of the power they seek until they come to recognize that\nthere is not some Divine power for them to get hold of and use in their\nblindness and ignorance but that there is a Person, infinitely wise, as\nwell as infinitely mighty, who is willing to take possession of them and\nuse them according to His own perfect will. When we stop to think of it,\nwe must rejoice that there is no Divine power that beings so ignorant as\nwe are, so liable to err, to get hold of and use. How appalling might be\nthe results if there were. But what a holy joy must come into our hearts\nwhen we grasp the thought that there is a Divine Person, One who never\nerrs, who is willing to take possession of us and impart to us such gifts\nas He sees best and to use us according to His wise and loving will.\n\nWe read in Rom. viii. 27, \u201cAnd He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what\nis _the mind of the Spirit_, because He maketh intercession for the saints\naccording to the will of God.\u201d In this passage mind is ascribed to the\nHoly Spirit. The Greek word translated \u201cmind\u201d is a comprehensive word,\nincluding the ideas of thought, feeling and purpose. It is the same that\nis used in Rom. viii. 7 where we read that \u201cthe carnal mind is enmity\nagainst God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can\nbe.\u201d So then in this passage we have all the distinctive marks of\npersonality ascribed to the Holy Spirit.\n\nWe find the personality of the Holy Spirit brought out in a most touching\nand suggestive way in Rom. xv. 30, \u201cNow I beseech you, brethren, for the\nLord Jesus Christ\u2019s sake, and for the _love of the Spirit_, that ye strive\ntogether with me in your prayers to God for me.\u201d Here we have \u201c_love_\u201d\nascribed to the Holy Spirit. The reader would do well to stop and ponder\nthose five words, \u201c_the love of the Spirit_.\u201d We dwell often upon the love\nof God the Father. It is the subject of our daily and constant thought. We\ndwell often upon the love of Jesus Christ the Son. Who would think of\ncalling himself a Christian who passed a day without meditating on the\nlove of his Saviour, but how often have we meditated upon \u201c_the love of\nthe Spirit_\u201d? Each day of our lives, if we are living as Christians ought,\nwe kneel down in the presence of God the Father and look up into His face\nand say, \u201cI thank Thee, Father, for Thy great love that led Thee to give\nThine only begotten Son to die upon the cross of Calvary for me.\u201d Each day\nof our lives we also look up into the face of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus\nChrist, and say, \u201cOh, Thou glorious Lord and Saviour, Jesus Thou Son of\nGod, I thank Thee for Thy great love that led Thee not to count it a thing\nto be grasped to be on equality with God but to empty Thyself and\nforsaking all the glory of heaven, come down to earth with all its shame\nand to take my sins upon Thyself and die in my place upon the cross of\nCalvary.\u201d But how often do we kneel and say to the Holy Spirit, \u201cOh, Thou\neternal and infinite Spirit of God, I thank Thee for Thy great love that\nled Thee to come into this world of sin and darkness and to seek me out\nand to follow me so patiently until Thou didst bring me to see my utter\nruin and need of a Saviour and to reveal to me my Lord and Saviour, Jesus\nChrist, as just the Saviour whom I need.\u201d Yet we owe our salvation just as\ntruly to the love of the Spirit as we do to the love of the Father and the\nlove of the Son. If it had not been for the love of God the Father looking\ndown upon me in my utter ruin and providing a perfect atonement for me in\nthe death of His own Son on the cross of Calvary, I would have been in\nhell to-day. If it had not been for the love of Jesus Christ, the eternal\nWord of God, looking upon me in my utter ruin and in obedience to the\nFather, putting aside all the glory of heaven for all the shame of earth\nand taking my place, the place of the curse, upon the cross of Calvary and\npouring out His life utterly for me, I would have been in hell to-day. But\nif it had not been for the love of the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father in\nanswer to the prayer of the Son (John xiv. 16) leading Him to seek me out\nin my utter blindness and ruin and to follow me day after day, week after\nweek, and year after year, when I persistently turned a deaf ear to His\npleadings, following me through paths of sin where it must have been agony\nfor that holy One to go, until at last I listened and He opened my eyes to\nsee my utter ruin and then revealed Jesus to me as just the Saviour that\nwould meet my every need and then enabled me to receive this Jesus as my\nown Saviour; if it had not been for this patient, long-suffering,\nnever-tiring, infinitely-tender love of the Holy Spirit, I would have been\nin hell to-day. Oh, the Holy Spirit is not merely an influence or a power\nor an illumination but is a Person just as real as God the Father or Jesus\nChrist His Son.\n\nThe personality of the Holy Spirit comes out in the Old Testament as truly\nas in the New, for we read in Neh. ix. 20, \u201cThou gavest also Thy good\nSpirit to instruct them, and withheldest not Thy manna from their mouth,\nand gavest them water for their thirst.\u201d Here both intelligence and\ngoodness are ascribed to the Holy Spirit. There are some who tell us that\nwhile it is true the personality of the Holy Spirit is found in the New\nTestament, it is not found in the Old. But it is certainly found in this\npassage. As a matter of course, the doctrine of the personality of the\nHoly Spirit is not as fully developed in the Old Testament as in the New.\nBut the doctrine is there.\n\nThere is perhaps no passage in the entire Bible in which the personality\nof the Holy Spirit comes out more tenderly and touchingly than in Eph. iv.\n30, \u201cAnd grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the\nday of redemption.\u201d Here grief is ascribed to the Holy Spirit. The Holy\nSpirit is not a blind, impersonal influence or power that comes into our\nlives to illuminate, sanctify and empower them. No, He is immeasurably\nmore than that, He is a holy Person who comes to dwell in our hearts, One\nwho sees clearly every act we perform, every word we speak, every thought\nwe entertain, even the most fleeting fancy that is allowed to pass through\nour minds; and if there is anything in act, or word or deed that is\nimpure, unholy, unkind, selfish, mean, petty or untrue, this infinitely\nholy One is deeply grieved by it. I know of no thought that will help one\nmore than this to lead a holy life and to walk softly in the presence of\nthe holy One. How often a young man is kept back from yielding to the\ntemptations that surround young manhood by the thought that if he should\nyield to the temptation that now assails him, his holy mother might hear\nof it and would be grieved by it beyond expression. How often some young\nman has had his hand upon the door of some place of sin that he is about\nto enter and the thought has come to him, \u201cIf I should enter there, my\nmother might hear of it and it would nearly kill her,\u201d and he has turned\nhis back upon that door and gone away to lead a pure life, that he might\nnot grieve his mother. But there is One who is holier than any mother, One\nwho is more sensitive against sin than the purest woman who ever walked\nthis earth, and who loves us as even no mother ever loved, and this One\ndwells in our hearts, if we are really Christians, and He sees every act\nwe do by day or under cover of the night; He hears every word we utter in\npublic or in private; He sees every thought we entertain, He beholds every\nfancy and imagination that is permitted even a momentary lodgment in our\nmind, and if there is anything unholy, impure, selfish, mean, petty,\nunkind, harsh, unjust, or in anywise evil in act or word or thought or\nfancy, He is grieved by it. If we will allow those words, \u201cGrieve not the\nHoly Spirit of God,\u201d to sink into our hearts and become the motto of our\nlives, they will keep us from many a sin. How often some thought or fancy\nhas knocked for an entrance into my own mind and was about to find\nentertainment when the thought has come, \u201cThe Holy Spirit sees that\nthought and will be grieved by it\u201d and that thought has gone.\n\nII. _Many acts that only a Person can perform are ascribed to the Holy\nSpirit._\n\nIf we deny the personality of the Holy Spirit, many passages of Scripture\nbecome meaningless and absurd. For example, we read in 1 Cor. ii. 10, \u201cBut\nGod hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for _the Spirit searcheth_\nall things, yea, the deep things of God.\u201d This passage sets before us the\nHoly Spirit, not merely as an illumination whereby we are enabled to grasp\nthe deep things of God, but a Person who Himself searches the deep things\nof God and then reveals to us the precious discoveries which He has made.\n\nWe read in Rev. ii. 7, \u201cHe that hath an ear, let him hear what _the Spirit\nsaith_ unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the\ntree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.\u201d Here the Holy\nSpirit is set before us, not merely as an impersonal enlightenment that\ncomes to our mind but a Person who speaks and out of the depths of His own\nwisdom, whispers into the ear of His listening servant the precious truth\nof God.\n\nIn Gal. iv. 6 we read, \u201cAnd because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the\nSpirit of His Son into your hearts, _crying_, Abba, Father.\u201d Here the Holy\nSpirit is represented as crying out in the heart of the individual\nbeliever. Not merely a Divine influence producing in our own hearts the\nassurance of our sonship but one who cries out in our hearts, who bears\nwitness together with our spirit that we are sons of God. (See also Rom.\nviii. 16.)\n\nThe Holy Spirit is also represented in the Scripture as one who prays. We\nread in Rom. viii. 26, R. V., \u201cAnd in like manner the Spirit also helpeth\nour infirmity; for we know not how to pray as we ought; but _the Spirit\nHimself maketh intercession_ for us with groanings which cannot be\nuttered.\u201d It is plain from this passage that the Holy Spirit is not merely\nan influence that moves us to pray, not merely an illumination that\nteaches us how to pray, but a Person who Himself prays in and through us.\nThere is wondrous comfort in the thought that every true believer has two\nDivine Persons praying for him, Jesus Christ, the Son who was once upon\nthis earth, who knows all about our temptations, who can be touched with\nthe feeling of our infirmities and who is now ascended to the right hand\nof the Father and in that place of authority and power ever lives to make\nintercession for us (Heb. vii. 25; 1 John ii. 1); and another Person, just\nas Divine as He, who walks by our side each day, yes, who dwells in the\ninnermost depths of our being and knows our needs, even as we do not know\nthem ourselves, and from these depths makes intercession to the Father for\nus. The position of the believer is indeed one of perfect security with\nthese two Divine Persons praying for him.\n\nWe read again in John xv. 26, \u201cBut when the Comforter is come, whom I will\nsend unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth\nfrom the Father, _He shall testify_ of Me.\u201d Here the Holy Spirit is set\nbefore us as a Person who gives His testimony to Jesus Christ, not merely\nas an illumination that enables the believer to testify of Christ, but a\nPerson who Himself testifies; and a clear distinction is drawn in this and\nthe following verse between the testimony of the Holy Spirit and the\ntestimony of the believer to whom He has borne His witness, for we read in\nthe next verse, \u201cAnd _ye also_ shall bear witness because ye have been\nwith Me from the beginning.\u201d So there are two witnesses, the Holy Spirit\nbearing witness to the believer and the believer bearing witness to the\nworld.\n\nThe Holy Spirit is also spoken of as a teacher. We read in John xiv. 26,\n\u201cBut the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in\nMy name, _He shall teach_ you all things, and bring all things to your\nremembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.\u201d And in a similar way, we\nread in John xvi. 12-14, \u201cI have yet many things to say unto you, but ye\ncannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, _He\nwill guide_ you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but\nwhatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things\nto come. He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show\nit unto you.\u201d And in the Old Testament, Neh. ix. 20, \u201cThou gavest also Thy\ngood Spirit to instruct them.\u201d In all these passages it is perfectly clear\nthat the Holy Spirit is not a mere illumination that enables us to\napprehend the truth, but a Person who comes to us to teach us day by day\nthe truth of God. It is the privilege of the humblest believer in Jesus\nChrist not merely to have his mind illumined to comprehend the truth of\nGod, but to have a Divine Teacher to daily teach him the truth he needs to\nknow (cf. 1 John ii. 20, 27). The Holy Spirit is also represented as the\nLeader and Guide of the children of God. We read in Rom. viii. 14, \u201cFor as\nmany as are _led by the Spirit_ of God they are the sons of God.\u201d He is\nnot merely an influence that enables us to see the way that God would have\nus go, nor merely a power that gives us strength to go that way, but a\nPerson who takes us by the hand and gently leads us on in the paths in\nwhich God would have us walk.\n\nThe Holy Spirit is also represented as a Person who has authority to\ncommand men in their service of Jesus Christ. We read of the Apostle Paul\nand his companions in Acts xvi. 6, 7, \u201cNow when they had gone throughout\nPhrygia and the region of Galatia, and were _forbidden of the Holy Ghost_\nto preach the Word in Asia, after they were come to Mysia, they assayed to\ngo into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not.\u201d Here it is a Person\nwho takes the direction of the conduct of Paul and his companions and a\nPerson whose authority they recognized and to whom they instantly submit.\n\nFurther still than this the Holy Spirit is represented as the One who is\nthe supreme authority in the church, who calls men to work and appoints\nthem to office. We read in Acts xiii. 2, \u201cAs they ministered to the Lord,\nand fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate Me Barnabas and Saul for the\nwork where unto I have called them.\u201d And in Acts xx. 28, \u201cTake heed\ntherefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy\nGhost hath made you overseers, to feed the Church of God, which He hath\npurchased with His own blood.\u201d There can be no doubt to a candid seeker\nafter truth that it is a Person, and a person of Divine majesty and\nsovereignty, who is here set before us.\n\nFrom all the passages here quoted, it is evident that many acts that only\na person can perform are ascribed to the Holy Spirit.\n\nIII. _An office is predicated of the Holy Spirit that can only be\npredicated of a person._\n\nOur Saviour says in John xiv. 16, 17, \u201cAnd I will pray the Father, and He\nshall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; Even\nthe Spirit of truth: whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him\nnot, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and\nshall be in you.\u201d Our Lord had announced to the disciples that He was\nabout to leave them. An awful sense of desolation took possession of them.\nSorrow filled their hearts (John xvi. 6) at the contemplation of their\nloneliness and absolute helplessness when Jesus should thus leave them\nalone. To comfort them the Lord tells them that they shall not be left\nalone, that in leaving them He was going to the Father and that He would\npray the Father and He would give them another Comforter to take the place\nof Himself during His absence. Is it possible that Jesus Christ could have\nused such language if the other Comforter who was coming to take His place\nwas only an impersonal influence or power? Still more, is it possible that\nJesus could have said as He did in John xvi. 7, \u201cNevertheless I tell you\nthe truth: _It is expedient for you that I go away_: for if I go not away,\nthe Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him\nunto you,\u201d if this Comforter whom He was to send was simply an impersonal\ninfluence or power? No, one Divine Person was going, another Person just\nas Divine was coming to take His place, and it was expedient for the\ndisciples that the One go to represent them before the Father, for another\njust as Divine and sufficient was coming to take His place. This promise\nof our Lord and Saviour of the coming of the other Comforter and of His\nabiding with us is the greatest and best of all for the present\ndispensation. This is _the_ promise of the Father (Acts i. 4), the promise\nof promises. We shall take it up again when we come to study the names of\nthe Holy Spirit.\n\nIV. _A treatment is predicated to the Holy Spirit that could only be\npredicated of a Person._\n\nWe read in Isa. lxiii. 10, R. V., \u201cBut they _rebelled and grieved_ His\nHoly Spirit: therefore He was turned to be their enemy, and He fought\nagainst them.\u201d Here we are told that the Holy Spirit is rebelled against\nand grieved (cf. Eph. iv. 30). Only a person can be rebelled against and\nonly a person of authority. Only a person can be grieved. You cannot\ngrieve a mere influence or power. In Heb. x. 29, we read, \u201cOf how much\nsorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden\nunderfoot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant,\nwherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath _done despite unto_\nthe Spirit of grace?\u201d Here we are told that the Holy Spirit is \u201cdone\ndespite unto\u201d (\u201ctreated with contumely\u201d\u2014Thayer\u2019s Greek-English Lexicon of\nthe New Testament). There is but one kind of entity in the universe that\ncan be treated with contumely (or insulted) and that is a person. It is\nabsurd to think of treating an influence or a power or any kind of being\nexcept a person with contumely. We read again in Acts v. 3, \u201cBut Peter\nsaid, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart _to lie to_ the Holy\nGhost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?\u201d Here we have the\nHoly Spirit represented as one who can be lied to. One cannot lie to\nanything but a person.\n\nIn Matt. xii. 31, 32, we read, \u201cWherefore I say unto you, All manner of\nsin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against\nthe Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a\nword against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever\nspeaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in\nthis world, neither in the world to come.\u201d Here we are told that the Holy\nSpirit is blasphemed against. It is impossible to blaspheme anything but a\nperson. If the Holy Spirit is not a person, it certainly cannot be a more\nserious and decisive sin to blaspheme Him than it is to blaspheme the Son\nof man, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ Himself.\n\nHere then we have four distinctive and decisive lines of proof _that the\nHoly Spirit is a Person_. Theoretically most of us believe this but do we,\nin our real thought of Him and in our practical attitude towards Him treat\nHim as if He were indeed a Person? At the close of an address on the\nPersonality of the Holy Spirit at a Bible conference some years ago, one\nwho had been a church-member many years, a member of one of the most\northodox of our modern denominations, said to me, \u201cI never thought of _It_\nbefore as a Person.\u201d Doubtless this Christian woman had often sung:\n\n\n    \u201cPraise God from whom all blessings flow,\n    Praise Him all creatures here below,\n    Praise Him above, ye heavenly host,\n    Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.\u201d\n\n\nDoubtless she had often sung:\n\n\n    \u201cGlory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost,\n    As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,\n    World without end, Amen.\u201d\n\n\nBut it is one thing to sing words; it is quite another thing to realize\nthe meaning of what we sing. If this Christian woman had been questioned\nin regard to her doctrine, she would doubtless have said that she believed\nthat there were three Persons in the Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,\nbut a theological confession is one thing, a practical realization of the\ntruth we confess is quite another. So the question is altogether\nnecessary, no matter how orthodox you may be in your creedal statements,\nDo you regard the Holy Spirit as indeed as real a Person as Jesus Christ,\nas loving and wise and strong, as worthy of your confidence and love and\nsurrender as Jesus Christ Himself? The Holy Spirit came into this world to\nbe to the disciples of our Lord after His departure, and to us, what Jesus\nChrist had been to them during the days of His personal companionship with\nthem (John xiv. 16, 17). Is He that to you? Do you know Him? Every week in\nyour life you hear the apostolic benediction, \u201cThe grace of the Lord Jesus\nChrist and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you\nall\u201d (2 Cor. xiii. 14), but while you hear it, do you take in the\nsignificance of it? Do you know the communion of the Holy Ghost? The\nfellowship of the Holy Ghost? The partnership of the Holy Ghost? The\ncomradeship of the Holy Ghost? The intimate personal friendship of the\nHoly Ghost? Herein lies the whole secret of a real Christian life, a life\nof liberty and joy and power and fullness. To have as one\u2019s ever-present\nFriend, and to be conscious that one has as his ever-present Friend, the\nHoly Spirit and to surrender one\u2019s life in all its departments entirely to\nHis control, this is true Christian living. The doctrine of the\nPersonality of the Holy Spirit is as distinctive of the religion that\nJesus taught as the doctrines of the Deity and the atonement of Jesus\nChrist Himself. But it is not enough to believe the doctrine\u2014one must know\nthe Holy Spirit Himself. The whole purpose of this chapter (God help me to\nsay it reverently) is to introduce you to my Friend, the Holy Spirit.\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II. THE DEITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.\n\n\nIn the preceding chapter we have seen clearly that the Holy Spirit is a\nPerson. But what sort of a Person is He? Is He a finite person or an\ninfinite person? Is He God? This question also is plainly answered in the\nBible. There are in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments five\ndistinct and decisive lines of proof of the Deity of the Holy Spirit.\n\nI. _Each of the four distinctively Divine attributes is ascribed to the\nHoly Spirit._\n\nWhat are the distinctively Divine attributes? Eternity, omnipresence,\nomniscience and omnipotence. All of these are ascribed to the Holy Spirit\nin the Bible.\n\nWe find _eternity_ ascribed to the Holy Spirit in Heb. ix. 14, \u201cHow much\nmore shall the blood of Christ, who through the _eternal_ Spirit offered\nHimself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to\nserve the living God?\u201d\n\n_Omnipresence_ is ascribed to the Holy Spirit in Ps. cxxxix. 7-10,\n\u201cWhither shall I go from Thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy\npresence? If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there: if I make my bed in\nhell, behold, Thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and\ndwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall Thy hand lead\nme, and Thy right hand shall hold me.\u201d\n\n_Omniscience_ is ascribed to the Holy Spirit in several passages. For\nexample, we read in 1 Cor. ii. 10, 11, \u201cBut God hath revealed them unto us\nby His Spirit: for the Spirit _searcheth all things_, yea, the deep things\nof God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man\nwhich is in him? _Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit\nof God._\u201d Again in John xiv. 26, \u201cBut the Comforter, which is the Holy\nGhost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall _teach you all\nthings_, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said\nunto you.\u201d Still further we read in John xvi. 12, 13, R. V., \u201cI have yet\nmany things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He,\nthe Spirit of truth is come, He shall _guide you into all the truth_: for\nHe shall not speak from Himself; but what things soever He shall hear,\nthese shall He speak: and He shall declare unto you the things that are to\ncome.\u201d\n\nWe find _omnipotence_ ascribed to the Holy Spirit in Luke i. 35, \u201cAnd the\nangel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and\nthe _power of the Highest_ shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy\nthing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.\u201d\n\nII. _Three distinctively Divine works are ascribed to the Holy Spirit._\n\nWhen we think of God and His work, the first work of which we always think\nis that of creation. In the Scriptures creation is ascribed to the Holy\nSpirit. We read in Job xxxiii. 4, \u201cThe Spirit of God _hath made me_, and\nthe _breath of the Almighty_ hath given me life.\u201d We read still again in\nPs. civ. 30, \u201cThou sendest forth Thy Spirit, _they are created_: and Thou\nrenewest the face of the earth.\u201d In connection with the description of\ncreation in the first chapter of Genesis, the activity of the Spirit is\nreferred to (Gen. i. 1-3).\n\nThe impartation of life is also a Divine work and this is ascribed in the\nScriptures to the Holy Spirit, We read in John vi. 6, A. R. V., \u201cIt is the\nSpirit that giveth life: the flesh profiteth nothing.\u201d We read also in\nRom. viii. 11, \u201cBut if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the\ndead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also\nquicken your mortal bodies _by His Spirit_ that dwelleth in you.\u201d In the\ndescription of the creation of man in Gen. ii. 7, it is the breath of God,\nthat is the Holy Spirit, who imparts life to man, and man becomes a living\nsoul. The exact words are, \u201cAnd the Lord God formed man of the dust of the\nground, and breathed into his nostrils _the breath of life_; and man\nbecame a living soul.\u201d The Greek word which is rendered \u201cspirit\u201d means\n\u201cbreath\u201d and though the Holy Spirit as a Person does not come out\ndistinctly in this early reference to Him in Gen. ii. 7, nevertheless,\nthis passage interpreted in the light of the fuller revelation of the New\nTestament clearly refers to the Holy Spirit.\n\nThe authorship of Divine prophecies is also ascribed to the Holy Spirit.\nWe read in 2 Pet. i. 21, R. V., \u201cFor no prophecy ever came by the will of\nman: but men spake from God, _being moved by the Holy Ghost_.\u201d Even in the\nOld Testament, there is a reference to the Holy Spirit as the author of\nprophecy. We read in 2 Sam. xxiii. 2, 3, \u201c_the Spirit of the _LORD_ spake_\nby me, and His word was in my tongue. The God of Israel said, the Rock of\nIsrael spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the\nfear of God.\u201d\n\nSo we see that the three distinctly Divine works of creation, the\nimpartation of life, and prophecy are ascribed to the Holy Spirit.\n\nIII. _Statements which in the Old Testament distinctly name the __LORD__\nor Jehovah as their subject are applied to the Holy Spirit in the New\nTestament, i. e., the Holy Spirit occupies the position of Deity in New\nTestament thought._\n\nA striking illustration of this is found in Isa. vi. 8-10, \u201cAlso I heard\nthe voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?\nThen said I, Here am I; send me. And He said, Go, and tell this people,\nHear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.\nMake the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut\ntheir eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and\nunderstand with their heart, and convert and be healed.\u201d In verse five we\nare told that it was Jehovah (whenever the word LORD is spelled in\ncapitals in the Old Testament, it stands for Jehovah in the Hebrew and is\nso rendered in the American Revision) whom Isaiah saw and who speaks. But\nin Acts xxviii. 25-27 there is a reference to this statement of Isaiah\u2019s\nand whereas in Isaiah we are told it is Jehovah who speaks, in the\nreference in Acts we are told that it was the Holy Spirit who was the\nspeaker. The passage in Acts reads as follows, \u201cAnd when they agreed not\namong themselves, they departed after that Paul had spoken one word, Well\nspake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, saying, Go\nunto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not\nunderstand; and seeing ye shall see and not perceive: For the heart of\nthis people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their\neyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with\ntheir ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and\nI should heal them.\u201d So we see that what is distinctly ascribed to Jehovah\nin the Old Testament is ascribed to the Holy Spirit in the New: _i. e._,\nthe Holy Spirit is identified with Jehovah. It is a noteworthy fact that\nin the Gospel of John, the twelfth chapter and the thirty-ninth to\nforty-first verses where another reference is made to this passage in\nIsaiah, this same passage is ascribed to Christ (note carefully the\nforty-first verse). So in different parts of Scripture, we have the same\npassage referred to Jehovah, referred to the Holy Spirit, and referred to\nJesus Christ. May we not find the explanation of this in the threefold\n\u201cHoly\u201d of the seraphic cry in Isaiah vi. 3, where we read, \u201cAnd one cried\nunto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole\nearth is full of His glory.\u201d In this we have a distinct suggestion of the\ntri-personality of the Jehovah of Hosts, and hence the propriety of the\nthreefold application of the vision. A further suggestion of this\ntri-personality of Jehovah of Hosts is found in the eighth verse of the\nchapter where the Lord is represented as saying, \u201cWhom shall I send, and\nwho will go for _us_?\u201d\n\nAnother striking illustration of the application of passages in the New\nTestament to the Holy Spirit which in the Old Testament distinctly name\nJehovah as their subject is found in Ex. xvi. 7. Here we read, \u201cAnd in the\nmorning, then ye shall see the glory of the LORD; for that He heareth your\nmurmurings against the LORD: and what are we that ye murmur against us?\u201d\nHere the murmuring of the children of Israel is distinctly said to be\nagainst Jehovah. But in Heb. iii. 7-9, where this instance is referred to,\nwe read, \u201cWherefore, _as the Holy Ghost saith_, To-day if ye will hear His\nvoice, harden not your hearts, and in the provocation, in the day of\ntemptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted _Me_, proved _Me_,\nand saw My works forty years.\u201d The murmurings which Moses in the Book of\nExodus says were against Jehovah, we are told in the Epistle to the\nHebrews were against the Holy Spirit. This leaves it beyond question that\nthe Holy Spirit occupies the position of Jehovah (or Deity) in the New\nTestament (cf. also Ps. xcv. 8-11).\n\nIV. _The name of the Holy Spirit is coupled with that of God in a way it\nwould be impossible for a reverent and thoughtful mind to couple the name\nof any finite being with that of the Deity._\n\nWe have an illustration of this in 1 Cor. xii. 4-6, \u201cNow there are\ndiversities of gifts, but the _same Spirit_. And there are differences of\nadministrations, but the _same Lord_. And there are diversities of\noperations, but it is the _same God_ which worketh all in all.\u201d Here we\nfind God, and the Lord and the Spirit associated together in a relation of\nequality that would be shocking to contemplate if the Spirit were a finite\nbeing. We have a still more striking illustration of this in Matt. xxviii.\n19, \u201cGo ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of\nthe _Father_, and of the _Son_, and of the _Holy Ghost_.\u201d Who, that had\ngrasped the Bible conception of God the Father, would think for a moment\nof coupling the name of the Holy Spirit with that of the Father in this\nway if the Holy Spirit were a finite being, even the most exalted of\nangelic beings? Another striking illustration is found in 2 Cor. xiii. 14,\n\u201cThe grace of _the Lord Jesus Christ_, and the love of _God_, and the\ncommunion of _the Holy Ghost_, be with you all. Amen.\u201d Can any one ponder\nthese words and catch anything like their real import without seeing\nclearly that it would be impossible to couple the name of the Holy Spirit\nwith that of God the Father in the way in which it is coupled in this\nverse unless the Holy Spirit were Himself a Divine Being?\n\nV. _The Holy Spirit is called God._\n\nThe final and decisive proof of the Deity of the Holy Spirit is found in\nthe fact that He is called God in the New Testament. We read in Acts v. 3,\n4, \u201cBut Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to\nthe Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it\nremained, was it not thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in thine\nown power? Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou hast\nnot lied unto men but _unto God_.\u201d In the first part of this passage we\nare told that Ananias lied to the Holy Spirit. When this is further\nexplained, we are told it was not unto men but unto God that he had lied\nin lying to the Holy Spirit, _i. e._, the Holy Spirit to whom he lied is\ncalled God.\n\nTo sum it all up, by the ascription of all the distinctively Divine\nattributes, and several distinctly Divine works, by referring statements\nwhich in the Old Testament clearly name Jehovah, the Lord, or God as their\nsubject to the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, by coupling the name of\nthe Holy Spirit with that of God in a way that would be impossible to\ncouple that of any finite being with that of Deity, by plainly calling the\nHoly Spirit God, in all these unmistakable ways, God in His own Word\ndistinctly proclaims that the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person.\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III. THE DISTINCTION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT FROM THE FATHER AND FROM\nHIS SON, JESUS CHRIST.\n\n\nWe have seen thus far that the Holy Spirit is a Person and a Divine\nPerson. And now another question arises, Is He as a Person separate and\ndistinct from the Father and from the Son? One who carefully studies the\nNew Testament statements cannot but discover that beyond a question He is.\nWe read in Luke iii. 21, 22, \u201cNow when all the people were baptized, it\ncame to pass that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was\nopened, and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon\nHim, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art My beloved Son; in\nThee I am well pleased.\u201d Here the clearest possible distinction is drawn\nbetween Jesus Christ, who was on earth, and the Father who spoke to Him\nfrom heaven as one person speaks to another person, and the Holy Spirit\nwho descended in a bodily form as a dove from the Father, who was\nspeaking, to the Son, to whom He was speaking, and rested upon the Son as\na Person separate and distinct from Himself. We see a clear distinction\ndrawn between the name of the Father and that of the Son and that of the\nHoly Spirit in Matt, xxviii. 19, where we read, \u201cGo ye therefore, and\nteach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, _and_ of the\nSon, _and_ of the Holy Ghost.\u201d The distinction of the Holy Spirit from the\nFather and the Son comes out again with exceeding clearness in John xiv.\n16. Here we read, \u201cAnd _I_ will pray _the Father_, and He shall give you\n_another Comforter_, that He may abide with you forever.\u201d Here we see the\none Person, the Son, praying to another Person, the Father, and the Father\nto whom He prays giving another Person, another Comforter, in answer to\nthe prayer of the second Person, the Son. If words mean anything, and\ncertainly in the Bible they mean what they say, there can be no mistaking\nit, that the Father and the Son and the Spirit are three distinct and\nseparate Persons.\n\nAgain in John xvi. 7, a clear distinction is drawn between Jesus who goes\naway to the Father and the Holy Spirit who comes from the Father to take\nHis place. Jesus says, \u201cNevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient\nfor you that I go away: for if I go not away, _the Comforter_ will not\ncome unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you.\u201d A similar\ndistinction is drawn in Acts ii. 33, where we read, \u201cTherefore being by\nthe right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the\npromise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this, which ye now see and\nhear.\u201d In this passage, the clearest possible distinction is drawn between\nthe Son exalted to the right hand of the Father and the Father to whose\nright hand He is exalted, and the Holy Spirit whom the Son receives from\nthe Father and sheds forth upon the Church.\n\nTo sum it all up, again and again the Bible draws the clearest possible\ndistinction between the three Persons, the Holy Spirit, the Father and the\nSon. They are three separate personalities, having mutual relations to one\nanother, acting upon one another, speaking of or to one another, applying\nthe pronouns of the second and third persons to one another.\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV. THE SUBORDINATION OF THE SPIRIT TO THE FATHER AND TO THE SON.\n\n\nFrom the fact that the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person, it does not follow\nthat the Holy Spirit is in every sense equal to the Father. While the\nScriptures teach that in Jesus Christ dwelt all the fullness of the\nGodhead in a bodily form (Col. ii. 9) and that He was so truly and _fully\n_ Divine that He could say, \u201cI and the Father are one\u201d (John x. 30) and\n\u201cHe that hath seen Me hath seen the Father\u201d (John xiv. 9), they also teach\nwith equal clearness that Jesus Christ was not equal to the Father in\nevery respect, but subordinate to the Father in many ways. In a similar\nway, the Scriptures teach us that though the Holy Spirit is a Divine\nPerson, He is subordinate to the Father and to the Son. In John xiv. 26,\nwe are taught that the Holy Spirit is sent by the Father and in the name\nof the Son. Jesus declares very clearly, \u201cBut the Comforter, which is the\nHoly Ghost, whom _the Father will send_ in My name, He shall teach you all\nthings, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said\nunto you.\u201d In John xv. 26 we are told that it is Jesus who sends the\nSpirit from the Father. The exact words are, \u201cBut when the Comforter is\ncome, _whom I will send_ unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of\ntruth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of Me.\u201d Just as\nwe are elsewhere taught that Jesus Christ was sent by the Father (John vi.\n29; viii. 29, 42), we are here taught that the Holy Spirit in turn is sent\nby Jesus Christ.\n\nThe subordination of the Holy Spirit to the Father and the Son comes out\nalso in the fact that He derives some of His names from the Father and\nfrom the Son. We read in Rom. viii. 9, \u201cBut ye are not in the flesh, but\nin the Spirit, if so be that _the Spirit of God_ dwell in you. Now if any\nman have not _the Spirit of Christ_, he is none of His.\u201d Here we have two\nnames of the Spirit, one derived from His relation to the Father, \u201cthe\nSpirit of God,\u201d and the other derived from His relation to the Son, \u201cthe\nSpirit of Christ.\u201d\n\nIn Acts xvi. 7, R. V., He is spoken of as \u201cthe Spirit of Jesus.\u201d\n\nThe subordination of the Spirit to the Son is also seen in the fact that\nthe Holy Spirit speaks \u201cnot from Himself but speaks the words which He\nhears.\u201d We read in John xvi. 13, R. V., \u201cHowbeit when He, the Spirit of\ntruth, is come, He shall guide you into all the truth: for He _shall not\nspeak from Himself_; but _what things soever He shall hear_, these shall\nHe speak: and He shall declare unto you the things that are to come.\u201d In a\nsimilar way, Jesus said of Himself, \u201cMy teaching is not Mine, but His that\nsent Me.\u201d (John vii. 16; viii. 26, 40).\n\nThe subordination of the Spirit to the Son comes out again in the clearly\nrevealed fact that it is the work of the Holy Spirit not to glorify\nHimself but to glorify Christ. Jesus says in John xvi. 14, \u201cHe shall\nglorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine, and shall shew it unto you.\u201d In\na similar way, Christ sought not His own glory, but the glory of Him that\nsent Him, that is the Father (John vii. 18).\n\nFrom all these passages, it is evident that the Holy Spirit in His present\nwork, while possessed of all the attributes of Deity, is subordinated to\nthe Father and to the Son. On the other hand, we shall see later that in\nHis earthly life, Jesus lived and taught and worked in the power of the\nHoly Spirit.\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V. THE PERSON AND WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AS REVEALED IN HIS\nNAMES.\n\n\nAt least twenty-five different names are used in the Old and New\nTestaments in speaking of the Holy Spirit. There is the deepest\nsignificance in these names. By the careful study of them, we find a\nwonderful revelation of the Person and work of the Holy Spirit.\n\nI. _The Spirit._\n\nThe simplest name by which the Holy Spirit is mentioned in the Bible is\nthat which stands at the head of this paragraph\u2014\u201c_The Spirit_.\u201d This name\nis also used as the basis of other names, so we begin our study with this.\nThe Greek and Hebrew words so translated mean literally, \u201cBreath\u201d or\n\u201cWind.\u201d Both thoughts are in the name as applied to the Holy Spirit.\n\n1. The thought of breath is brought out in John xx. 22 where we read, \u201cAnd\nwhen He had said this, _He breathed on them_, and saith unto them, Receive\nye the Holy Ghost.\u201d It is also suggested in Gen. ii. 7, \u201cAnd the LORD God\nformed man of the dust of the ground, and _breathed_ into his nostrils the\nbreath of life; and man became a living soul.\u201d This becomes more evident\nwhen we compare with this Ps. civ. 30, \u201cThou sendest forth _Thy Spirit_,\nthey are created: and Thou renewest the face of the earth.\u201d And Job\nxxxiii. 4, \u201c_The Spirit of God hath made me_, and _the breath_ of the\nAlmighty hath given me life.\u201d What is the significance of this name from\nthe standpoint of these passages? It is that the Spirit is the\noutbreathing of God, His inmost life going forth in a personal form to\nquicken. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we receive the inmost life of\nGod Himself to dwell in a personal way in us. When we really grasp this\nthought, it is overwhelming in its solemnity. Just stop and think what it\nmeans to have the inmost life of that infinite and eternal Being whom we\ncall God, dwelling in a personal way in you. How solemn and how awful and\nyet unspeakably glorious life becomes when we realize this.\n\n2. The thought of the Holy Spirit as \u201cthe Wind\u201d is brought out in John\niii. 6-8, \u201cThat which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is\nborn of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be\nborn again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound\nthereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is\nevery one that is born of the Spirit.\u201d In the Greek, it is the same word\nthat is translated in one part of this passage \u201cSpirit\u201d and the other part\nof the passage \u201cwind.\u201d And it would seem as if the word ought to be\ntranslated the same way in both parts of the passage. It would then read,\n\u201cThat which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the\n\u2018Wind\u2019 is wind. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.\nThe wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof, but\ncanst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth: so is every one that\nis born of the \u2018Wind.\u2019 \u201d The full significance of this name as applied to\nthe Holy Spirit (or Holy Wind) it may be beyond us to fathom, but we can\nsee at least this much of its meaning:\n\n(1) The Spirit like the wind is _sovereign_. \u201cThe wind bloweth where it\nlisteth\u201d (John iii. 8). You cannot dictate to the wind. It does as it\nwills. Just so with the Holy Spirit\u2014He is sovereign\u2014we cannot dictate to\nHim. He \u201cdivides to each man\u201d severally even \u201c_as He will_\u201d (1 Cor. xii.\n11, R. V.). When the wind is blowing from the north you may long to have\nit blow from the south, but cry as clamorously as you may to the wind,\n\u201cBlow from the south\u201d it will keep right on blowing from the north. But\nwhile you cannot dictate to the wind, while it blows as it will, you may\nlearn the laws that govern the wind\u2019s motions and by bringing yourself\ninto harmony with those laws, you can get the wind to do your work. You\ncan erect your windmill so that whichever way the wind blows from the\nwheels will turn and the wind will grind your grain, or pump your water.\nJust so, while we cannot dictate to the Holy Spirit we can learn the laws\nof His operations and by bringing ourselves into harmony with those laws,\nabove all by submitting our wills absolutely to His sovereign will, the\nsovereign Spirit of God will work through us and accomplish His own\nglorious work by our instrumentality.\n\n(2) The Spirit like the wind is _invisible but none the less perceptible\nand real and mighty_. You hear the sound of the wind (John iii. 8) but the\nwind itself you never see. You hear the voice of the Spirit but He Himself\nis ever invisible. (The word translated \u201csound\u201d in John iii. 8 is the word\nwhich elsewhere is translated \u201cvoice.\u201d See R. V.) We not only hear the\nvoice, of the wind but we see its mighty effects. We feel the breath of\nthe wind upon our cheeks, we see the dust and the leaves blowing before\nthe wind, we see the vessels at sea driven swiftly towards their ports;\nbut the wind itself remains invisible. Just so with the Spirit; we feel\nHis breath upon our souls, we see the mighty things He does, but Himself\nwe do not see. He is invisible, but He is real and perceptible. I shall\nnever forget a solemn hour in Chicago Avenue Church, Chicago. Dr. W. W.\nWhite was making a farewell address before going to India to work among\nthe students there. Suddenly, without any apparent warning, the place was\nfilled with an awful and glorious Presence. To me it was very real, but\nthe question arose in my mind, \u201cIs this merely subjective, just a feeling\nof my own, or is there an objective Presence here?\u201d After the meeting was\nover, I asked different persons whether they were conscious of anything\nand found that at the same point in the meeting they, too, though they saw\nno one, became distinctly conscious of an overwhelming Presence, the\nPresence of the Holy Spirit. Though many years have passed, there are\nthose who speak of that hour to this day. On another occasion in my own\nhome at Chicago, when kneeling in prayer with an intimate friend, as we\nprayed it seemed as if an unseen and awful Presence entered the room. I\nrealized what Eliphaz meant when he said, \u201cThen a spirit passed before my\nface; the hair of my flesh stood up\u201d (Job iv. 15). The moment was\noverwhelming, but as glorious as it was awful. These are but two\nillustrations of which many might be given. None of us have seen the Holy\nSpirit at any time, but of His presence we have been distinctly conscious\nagain and again and again. His mighty power we have witnessed and His\nreality we cannot doubt. There are those who tell us that they do not\nbelieve in anything which they cannot see. Not one of them has ever seen\nthe wind but they all believe in the wind. They have felt the wind and\nthey have seen its effects, and just so we, beyond a question, have felt\nthe mighty presence of the Spirit and witnessed His mighty workings.\n\n(3) The Spirit like the wind is _inscrutable_. \u201cThou canst not tell whence\nit cometh and whither it goeth.\u201d Nothing in nature is more mysterious than\nthe wind. But more mysterious still is the Holy Spirit in His operations.\nWe hear of how suddenly and unexpectedly in widely separated communities\nHe begins to work His mighty work. Doubtless there are hidden reasons why\nHe does thus begin His work, but often-times these reasons are completely\nundiscoverable by us. We know not whence He comes nor whither He goes. We\ncannot tell where next He will display His mighty and gracious power.\n\n(4) The Spirit, like the wind, is _indispensable_. Without wind, that is\n\u201cair in motion,\u201d there is no life and so Jesus says, \u201cVerily, verily, I\nsay unto you, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot\nenter into the kingdom of God.\u201d If the wind should absolutely cease to\nblow for a single hour, most of the life on this earth would cease to be.\nTime and again when the health reports of the different cities of the\nUnited States are issued, it has been found that the five healthiest\ncities in the United States were five cities located on the great lakes.\nMany have been surprised at this report when they have visited some of\nthese cities and found that they were far from being the cleanest cities,\nor most sanitary in their general arrangement, and yet year after year\nthis report has been returned. The explanation is simply this, it is the\nwind blowing from the lakes that has brought life and health to the\ncities. Just so when the Spirit ceases to blow in any heart or any church\nor any community, death ensues, but when the Spirit blows steadily upon\nthe individual or the church or the community, there is abounding\nspiritual life and health.\n\n(5) Closely related to the foregoing thought, like the wind the Holy\nSpirit is _life giving_. This thought comes out again and again in the\nScriptures. For example, we read in John vi. 63, A. R. V., \u201cIt is the\nSpirit that giveth life,\u201d and in 2 Cor. iii. 6, we read, \u201cThe letter\nkilleth, but the Spirit giveth life.\u201d Perhaps the most suggestive passage\non this point is Ezek. xxxvii. 8, 9, 10, \u201cAnd when I beheld, lo, the\nsinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above:\nbut there was _no breath_ in them. Then said He unto me, Prophesy unto\n_the wind_, prophesy, son of man, and say to _the wind_, Thus saith the\nLord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these\nslain, that they may live. So I prophesied as He commanded me, and _the\nbreath came into them, and they lived_, and stood upon their feet, an\nexceeding great army\u201d (cf. John iii. 5). Israel, in the prophet\u2019s vision,\nwas only bones, very many and very dry (vs. 2, 11), until the prophet\nproclaimed unto them the word of God; then there was a noise and a shaking\nand the bones came together, bone to his bone, and the sinews and the\nflesh came upon the bones, but still there was no life, but when the wind\nblew, the breath of God\u2019s Spirit, then \u201cthey stood up upon their feet an\nexceeding great army.\u201d All life in the individual believer, in the\nteacher, the preacher, and the church is the Holy Spirit\u2019s work. You will\nsometimes make the acquaintance of a man, and as you hear him talk and\nobserve his conduct, you are repelled and disgusted. Everything about him\ndeclares that he is a dead man, a moral corpse and not only dead but\nrapidly putrefying. You get away from him as quickly as you can. Months\nafterwards you meet him again. You hesitate to speak to him; you want to\nget out of his very presence, but you do speak to him, and he has not\nuttered many sentences before you notice a marvellous change. His\nconversation is sweet and wholesome and uplifting; everything about his\nmanner is attractive and delightful. You soon discover that the man\u2019s\nwhole conduct and life has been transformed. He is no longer a putrefying\ncorpse but a living child of God. What has happened? The Wind of God has\nblown upon him; he has received the Holy Spirit, the Holy Wind. Some quiet\nSabbath day you visit a church. Everything about the outward appointments\nof the church are all that could be desired. There is an attractive\nmeeting-house, an expensive organ, a gifted choir, a scholarly preacher.\nThe service is well arranged but you have not been long at the gathering\nbefore you are forced to see that there is no life, that it is all form,\nand that there is nothing really being accomplished for God or for man.\nYou go away with a heavy heart. Months afterwards you have occasion to\nvisit the church again; the outward appointments of the church are much as\nthey were before but the service has not proceeded far before you note a\ngreat difference. There is a new power in the singing, a new spirit in the\nprayer, a new grip in the preaching, everything about the church is\nteeming with the life of God. What has happened? The Wind of God has blown\nupon that church; the Holy Spirit, the Holy Wind, has come. You go some\nday to hear a preacher of whose abilities you have heard great reports. As\nhe stands up to preach you soon learn that nothing too much has been said\nin praise of his abilities from the merely intellectual and rhetorical\nstandpoint. His diction is faultless, his style beautiful, his logic\nunimpeachable, his orthodoxy beyond criticism. It is an intellectual treat\nto listen to him, and yet after all as he preaches you cannot avoid a\nfeeling of sadness, for there is no real grip, no real power, indeed no\nreality of any kind, in the man\u2019s preaching. You go away with a heavy\nheart at the thought of this waste of magnificent abilities. Months,\nperhaps years, pass by and you again find yourself listening to this\ncelebrated preacher, but what a change! The same faultless diction, the\nsame beautiful style, the same unimpeachable logic, the same skillful\nelocution, the same sound orthodoxy, but now there is something more,\nthere is reality, life, grip, power in the preaching. Men and women sit\nbreathless as he speaks, sinners bowed with tears of contrition, pricked\nto their hearts with conviction of sin; men and women and boys and girls\nrenounce their selfishness, and their sin and their worldliness and accept\nJesus Christ and surrender their lives to Him. What has happened? The Wind\nof God has blown upon that man. He has been filled with the Holy Wind.\n\n(6) Like the wind, the Holy Spirit is _irresistible_. We read in Acts i.\n8, \u201cBut _ye shall receive power_, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon\nyou: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all\nJudea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.\u201d When\nthis promise of our Lord was fulfilled in Stephen, we read, \u201cAnd they were\n_not able to resist_ the wisdom _and the Spirit_ by which he spake.\u201d A man\nfilled with the Holy Spirit is transformed into a cyclone. What can stand\nbefore the wind? When St. Cloud, Minn., was visited with a cyclone years\nago, the wind picked up loaded freight cars and carried them away off the\ntrack. It wrenched an iron bridge from its foundations, twisted it\ntogether and hurled it away. When a cyclone later visited St. Louis, Mo.,\nit cut off telegraph poles a foot in diameter as if they had been pipe\nstems. It cut off enormous trees close to the root, it cut off the corner\nof brick buildings where it passed as though they had been cut by a knife;\nnothing could stand before it; and so, nothing can stand before a\nSpirit-filled preacher of the Word. None can resist the wisdom and the\nSpirit by which he speaks. The Wind of God took possession of Charles G.\nFinney, an obscure country lawyer, and sent him through New York State,\nthen through New England, then through England, mowing down strong men by\nhis resistless, Spirit-given logic. One night in Rochester, scores of\nlawyers, led by the justice of the Court of Appeals, filed out of the pews\nand bowed in the aisles and yielded their lives to God. The Wind of God\ntook possession of D. L. Moody, an uneducated young business man in\nChicago, and in the power of this resistless Wind, men and women and young\npeople were mowed down before his words and brought in humble confession\nand renunciation of sin to the feet of Jesus Christ, and filled with the\nlife of God they have been the pillars in the churches of Great Britain\nand throughout the world ever since. The great need to-day in individuals,\nin churches and in preachers is that the Wind of God blow upon us.\n\nMuch of the difficulty that many find with John iii. 5, \u201cJesus answered,\nVerily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the\nSpirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God,\u201d would disappear if we\nwould only bear in mind that \u201cSpirit\u201d means \u201cWind\u201d and translate the verse\nliterally all through, \u201cExcept a man be born of water and Wind (there is\nno \u2018the\u2019 in the original), he cannot enter the kingdom of God.\u201d The\nthought would then seem to be, \u201cExcept a man be born of the cleansing and\nquickening power of the Spirit (or else of the cleansing Word\u2014cf. John xv.\n3; Eph. v. 26; Jas. i. 18; 1 Pet. i. 23\u2014and the quickening power of the\nHoly Spirit).\u201d\n\nII. _The Spirit of God._\n\nThe Holy Spirit is frequently spoken of in the Bible as the Spirit of God.\nFor example we read in 1 Cor. iii. 16, \u201cKnow ye not that ye are the temple\nof God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you.\u201d In this name we have\nthe same essential thought as in the former name, but with this addition,\nthat His Divine origin, nature and power are emphasized. He is not merely\n\u201cThe Wind\u201d as seen above, but \u201cThe Wind _of God_.\u201d\n\nIII. _The Spirit of Jehovah._\n\nThis name is used of the Holy Spirit in Isa. xi. 2, A. R. V., \u201cAnd the\nSpirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him.\u201d The thought of the name is, of\ncourse, essentially the same as the preceding with the exception that God\nis here thought of as the Covenant God of Israel. He is thus spoken of in\nthe connection in which the name is found; and, of course, the Bible,\nfollowing that unerring accuracy that it always exhibits in its use of the\ndifferent names for God, in this connection speaks of the Spirit as the\nSpirit of Jehovah and not merely as the Spirit of God.\n\nIV. _The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah._\n\nThe Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of the Lord Jehovah in Isa. lxi. 1-3,\nA. R. V., \u201cThe Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon Me; because Jehovah hath\nanointed Me to preach good tidings to the meek; He hath sent Me to bind up\nthe broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, etc.\u201d The Holy\nSpirit is here spoken of, not merely as the Spirit of Jehovah, but the\nSpirit of the Lord Jehovah because of the relation in which God Himself is\nspoken of in this connection, as not merely Jehovah, the covenant God of\nIsrael, but as Jehovah Israel\u2019s Lord as well as their covenant-keeping\nGod. This name of the Spirit is even more expressive than the name \u201cThe\nSpirit of God.\u201d\n\nV. _The Spirit of the Living God._\n\nThe Holy Spirit is called \u201c_The Spirit of the living God_\u201d in 2 Cor. iii.\n3, \u201cForasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ\nministered by us, written not with ink, but with _the Spirit of the living\nGod_; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.\u201d What is\nthe significance of this name? It is made clear by the context. The\nApostle Paul is drawing a contrast between the Word of God written with\nink on parchment and the Word of God written on \u201ctables that are hearts of\nflesh\u201d (R. V.) by the Holy Spirit, who in this connection is called \u201cthe\nSpirit of the living God,\u201d because He makes God a living reality in our\npersonal experience instead of a mere intellectual concept. There are many\nwho believe in God, and who are perfectly orthodox in their conception of\nGod, but after all God is to them only an intellectual theological\nproposition. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to make God something\nvastly more than a theological notion, no matter how orthodox; He is the\nSpirit _of the living God_, and it is His work to make God a living God to\nus, a Being whom we know, with whom we have personal acquaintance, a Being\nmore real to us than the most intimate human friend we have. Have you a\nreal God? Well, you may have. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the living\nGod, and He is able and ready to give to you a living God, to make God\nreal in your personal experience. There are many who have a God who once\nlived and acted and spoke, a God who lived and acted at the creation of\nthe universe, who perhaps lived and acted in the days of Moses and Elijah\nand Jesus Christ and the Apostles, but who no longer lives and acts. If He\nexists at all, He has withdrawn Himself from any active part in nature or\nthe history of man. He created nature and gave it its laws and powers and\nnow leaves it to run itself. He created man and endowed him with his\nvarious faculties but has now left him to work out his own destiny. They\nmay go further than this: they may believe in a God, who spoke to Abraham\nand to Moses and to David and to Isaiah and to Jesus and to the Apostles,\nbut who speaks no longer. We may read in the Bible what He spoke to these\nvarious men but we cannot expect Him to speak to us. In contrast with\nthese, it is the work of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit _of the living God_,\nto give us to know a God who lives and acts and speaks to-day, a God who\nis ready to come as near to us as He came to Abraham, to Moses or to\nIsaiah, or to the Apostles or to Jesus Himself. Not that He has any new\nrevelations to make, for He guided the Apostles into all the truth (John\nxvi. 13, R. V.): but though there has been a complete revelation of God\u2019s\ntruth made in the Bible, still God lives to-day and will speak to us as\ndirectly as He spoke to His chosen ones of old. Happy is the man who knows\nthe Holy Spirit as the Spirit of the living God, and who, consequently,\nhas a real God, a God who lives to-day, a God upon whom he can depend\nto-day to undertake for him, a God with whom he enjoys intimate personal\nfellowship, a God to whom he may raise his voice in prayer and who speaks\nback to him.\n\nVI. _The Spirit of Christ._\n\nIn Rom. viii. 9, \u201cBut ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be\nthat the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not _the Spirit\nof Christ_, he is none of His.\u201d The Holy Spirit is called _the Spirit of\nChrist_. The Spirit of Christ in this passage does not mean a Christlike\nspirit. It means something far more than that, it means that which lies\nback of a Christlike spirit; it is a name of the Holy Spirit. Why is the\nHoly Spirit called _the Spirit of Christ_? For several reasons:\n\n(1) _Because He is Christ\u2019s gift._ The Holy Spirit is not merely the gift\nof the Father, but the gift of the Son as well. We read in John xx. 22\nthat Jesus \u201cbreathed on them and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy\nGhost.\u201d The Holy Spirit is therefore the breath of Christ, as well as the\nbreath of God the Father. It is Christ who breathes upon us and imparts to\nus the Holy Spirit. In John xiv. 15 and the following verses Jesus teaches\nus that it is in answer to His prayer that the Father gives to us the Holy\nSpirit. In Acts ii. 33 we read that Jesus \u201cBeing by the right hand of God\nexalted and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit,\u201d\nshed Him forth upon believers; that is, that Jesus, having been exalted to\nthe right hand of God, in answer to His prayer, receives the Holy Spirit\nfrom the Father and sheds forth upon the Church Him whom He hath received\nfrom the Father. In Matt. iii. 11 we read that it is Jesus who baptizes\nwith the Holy Spirit. In John vii. 37-39 Jesus bids all that are thirsty\nto _come unto Him_ and drink, and the context makes it clear that the\nwater that He gives is the Holy Spirit, who becomes in those who receive\nHim a source of life and power flowing out to others. It is the glorified\nChrist who gives to the Church the Holy Spirit. In the fourth chapter of\nJohn and the tenth verse Jesus declares that He is the One who gives the\nliving water, the Holy Spirit. In all these passages, Christ is set forth\nas the One who gives the Holy Spirit, so the Holy Spirit is called \u201cthe\nSpirit of Christ.\u201d\n\n(2) But there is a deeper reason why the Holy Spirit is called \u201cthe Spirit\nof Christ,\u201d _i. e._, _because it is the work of the Holy Spirit to reveal\nChrist to us_. In John xvi. 14, R. V., we read, \u201cHe (that is the Holy\nSpirit) shall glorify Me: for He shall take of Mine, and shall declare it\nunto you.\u201d In a similar way in John xv. 26, R. V., it is written, \u201cBut\nwhen the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father,\neven the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall bear\nwitness of Me.\u201d This is the work of the Holy Spirit to bear witness of\nChrist and reveal Jesus Christ to men. And as the revealer of Christ, He\nis called \u201cthe Spirit of Christ.\u201d\n\n(3) But there is a still deeper reason yet why the Holy Spirit is called\nthe Spirit of Christ, and that is _because it is His work to form Christ\nas a living presence within us_. In Eph. iii. 16, 17, the Apostle Paul\nprays to the Father that He would grant to believers according to the\nriches of His glory to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the\ninner man, that Christ may dwell in their hearts by faith. This then is\nthe work of the Holy Spirit, to cause Christ to dwell in our hearts, to\nform the living Christ within us. Just as the Holy Spirit literally and\nphysically formed Jesus Christ in the womb of the Virgin Mary (Luke i. 35)\nso the Holy Spirit spiritually but really forms Jesus Christ within our\nhearts to-day. In John xiv. 16-18, Jesus told His disciples that when the\nHoly Spirit came that He Himself would come, that is, the result of the\ncoming of the Holy Spirit to dwell in their hearts would be the coming of\nChrist Himself. It is the privilege of every believer in Christ to have\nthe living Christ formed by the power of the Holy Spirit in his own heart\nand therefore the Holy Spirit who thus forms Christ within the heart is\ncalled the Spirit of Christ. How wonderful! How glorious is the\nsignificance of this name. Let us ponder it until we understand it, as far\nas it is possible to understand it, and until we rejoice exceedingly in\nthe glory of it.\n\nVII. _The Spirit of Jesus Christ._\n\nThe Holy Spirit is called _the Spirit of Jesus Christ_ in Phil. i. 19,\n\u201cFor I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and\nthe supply of _the Spirit of Jesus Christ_.\u201d The Spirit is not merely the\nSpirit of the eternal Word but the Spirit of the Word incarnate. Not\nmerely the Spirit of Christ, but the Spirit _of Jesus Christ_. It is the\nMan Jesus exalted to the right hand of the Father who receives and sends\nthe Spirit. So we read in Acts ii. 32, 33, \u201cThis _Jesus_ hath God raised\nup, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God\nexalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost,\nHe hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.\u201d\n\nVIII. _The Spirit of Jesus._\n\nThe Holy Spirit is called _the Spirit of Jesus_ in Acts xvi. 6, 7, R. V.,\n\u201cAnd they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been\nforbidden of the Holy Ghost to speak the word in Asia; and when they were\ncome over against Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia; and the _Spirit\nof Jesus_ suffered them not.\u201d By the using of this name, \u201c_The Spirit of\nJesus_\u201d the thought of the relation of the Spirit to the _Man Jesus_ is\nstill more clear than in the name preceding this, the Spirit of Jesus\nChrist.\n\nIX. _The Spirit of His Son._\n\nThe Holy Spirit is called _the Spirit of His Son_ in Gal. iv. 6, \u201cAnd\nbecause ye are sons, God hath sent forth _the Spirit of His Son_ into your\nhearts, crying, Abba, Father.\u201d We see from the context (vs. 4, 5) that\nthis name is given to the Holy Spirit in special connection with His\ntestifying to the sonship of the believer. It is \u201c_the Spirit of His Son_\u201d\nwho testifies to our sonship. The thought is that the Holy Spirit is a\nfilial Spirit, a Spirit who produces a sense of sonship in us. If we\nreceive the Holy Spirit, we no longer think of God as if we were serving\nunder constraint and bondage but we are sons living in joyous liberty. We\ndo not fear God, we trust Him and rejoice in Him. When we receive the Holy\nSpirit, we do not receive a Spirit of bondage again to fear but a Spirit\nof adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father (Rom. viii. 15). This name of the\nHoly Spirit is one of the most suggestive of all. We do well to ponder it\nlong until we realize the glad fullness of its significance. We shall take\nit up again when we come to study the work of the Holy Spirit.\n\nX. _The Holy Spirit._\n\nThis name is of very frequent occurrence, and the name with which most of\nus are most familiar. One of the most familiar passages in which the name\nis used is Luke xi. 13, \u201cIf ye then, being evil, know how to give good\ngifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give\n_the Holy Spirit_ to them that ask Him?\u201d This name emphasizes the\nessential moral character of the Spirit. He is _holy_ in Himself. We are\nso familiar with the name that we neglect to weigh its significance. Oh,\nif we only realized more deeply and constantly that He is the _Holy_\nSpirit. We would do well if we, as the seraphim in Isaiah\u2019s vision, would\nbow in His presence and cry, \u201cHoly, holy, holy.\u201d Yet how thoughtlessly\noftentimes we talk about Him and pray for Him. We pray for Him to come\ninto our churches and into our hearts but what would He find if He should\ncome there? Would He not find much that would be painful and agonizing to\nHim? What would we think if vile women from the lowest den of iniquity in\na great city should go to the purest woman in the city and invite her to\ncome and live with them in their disgusting vileness with no intention of\nchanging their evil ways. But that would not be as shocking as for you and\nme to ask the Holy Spirit to come and dwell in our hearts when we have no\nthought of giving up our impurity, or our selfishness, or our worldliness,\nor our sin. It would not be as shocking as it is for us to invite the Holy\nSpirit to come into our churches when they are full of worldliness and\nselfishness and contention and envy and pride, and all that is unholy. But\nif the denizens of the lowest and vilest den of infamy should go to the\npurest and most Christlike woman asking her to go and dwell with them with\nthe intention of putting away everything that was vile and evil and giving\nto this holy and Christlike woman the entire control of the place, she\nwould go. And as sinful and selfish and imperfect as we may be, the\ninfinitely Holy Spirit is ready to come and take His dwelling in our heart\nif we will surrender to Him the absolute control of our lives, and allow\nHim to bring everything in thought and fancy and feeling and purpose and\nimagination and action into conformity with His will. The infinitely Holy\nSpirit is ready to come into our churches, however imperfect and worldly\nthey may be now, if we are willing to put the absolute control of\neverything in His hands. But let us never forget that He is _the Holy_\nSpirit, and when we pray for Him let us pray for Him as such.\n\nXI. _The Holy Spirit of Promise._\n\nThe Holy Spirit is called _the Holy Spirit of promise_ in Eph. i. 13, R.\nV., \u201cIn whom ye also, having heard the Word of truth, the Gospel of your\nsalvation,\u2014in whom, having also believed, ye were sealed with _the Holy\nSpirit of promise_.\u201d We have here the same name as that given above with\nthe added thought that this Holy Spirit is the great promise of the Father\nand of the Son. The Holy Spirit is God\u2019s great all-inclusive promise for\nthe present dispensation; the one thing for which Jesus bade the disciples\nwait after His ascension before they undertook His work was \u201cthe promise\nof the Father,\u201d that is the Holy Spirit (Acts i. 4, 5). The great promise\nof the Father until the coming of Christ was the coming atoning Saviour\nand King, but when Jesus came and died His atoning death upon the cross of\nCalvary and arose and ascended to the right hand of the Father, then the\nsecond great promise of the Father was the Holy Spirit to take the place\nof our absent Lord. (See also Acts ii. 33.)\n\nXII. _The Spirit of Holiness._\n\nThe Holy Spirit is called _the Spirit of holiness_ in Rom. i. 4, \u201cAnd\ndeclared to be the Son of God with power, according to _the Spirit of\nholiness_, by the resurrection from the dead.\u201d At the first glance it may\nseem as if there were no essential difference between the two names the\nHoly Spirit and the Spirit of holiness. But there is a marked difference.\nThe name of the Holy Spirit, as already said, emphasizes the essential\nmoral character of the Spirit as holy, but the name of _the Spirit of\nholiness_ brings out the thought that the Holy Spirit is not merely holy\nin Himself but He imparts holiness to others. The perfect holiness which\nHe Himself possesses He imparts to those who receive Him (cf. 1 Pet. i.\n2).\n\nXIII. _The Spirit of Judgment._\n\nThe Holy Spirit is called _the Spirit of judgment_ in Isa. iv. 4, \u201cWhen\nthe Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and\nshall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by _the\nSpirit of judgment_, and by the Spirit of burning.\u201d There are two names of\nthe Holy Spirit in this passage; first, _the Spirit of judgment_. The Holy\nSpirit is so called because it is His work to bring sin to light, to\nconvict of sin (cf. John xvi. 7-9). When the Holy Spirit comes to us the\nfirst thing that He does is to open our eyes to see our sins as God sees\nthem. He judges our sin. (We will go into this more at length in studying\nJohn xvi. 7-11 when considering the work of the Holy Spirit.)\n\nXIV. _The Spirit of Burning._\n\nThis name is used in the passage just quoted above. (See XIII.) This name\nemphasizes His searching, refining, dross-consuming, illuminating and\nenergizing work. The Holy Spirit is like a fire in the heart in which He\ndwells; and as fire tests and refines and consumes and illuminates and\nwarms and energizes, so does He. In the context, it is the cleansing work\nof the Holy Spirit which is especially emphasized (Isa. iv. 3, 4).\n\nXV. _The Spirit of Truth._\n\nThe Holy Spirit is called _the Spirit of truth_ in John xiv. 17, \u201cEven the\nSpirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not,\nneither knoweth Him; but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall\nbe in you\u201d (cf. John xv. 26; xvi. 13). The Holy Spirit is called the\nSpirit of truth because it is the work of the Holy Spirit to communicate\ntruth, to impart truth, to those who receive Him. This comes out in the\npassage given above, and, if possible, it comes out even more clearly in\nJohn xvi. 13, R. V., \u201cHowbeit when He, _the Spirit of truth_, is come, He\nshall guide you into all the truth: for He shall not speak from Himself;\nbut what things soever He shall hear, these shall He speak: and He shall\ndeclare unto you the things that are to come.\u201d All truth is from the Holy\nSpirit. It is only as He teaches us that we come to know the truth.\n\nXVI. _The Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding._\n\nThe Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of wisdom and understanding in Isa.\nxi. 2, \u201cAnd the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, _the Spirit_ of\nwisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of\nknowledge and of the fear of the LORD.\u201d The significance of the name is so\nplain as to need no explanation. It is evident both from the words used\nand from the context that it is the work of the Holy Spirit to impart\nwisdom and understanding to those who receive Him. Those who receive the\nHoly Spirit receive the Spirit \u201cof power\u201d and \u201cof love\u201d and \u201c_of a sound\nmind_\u201d or sound sense (2 Tim. i. 7).\n\nXVII. _The Spirit of Counsel and Might._\n\nWe find this name used of the Holy Spirit in the passage given under the\npreceding head. The meaning of this name too is obvious, the Holy Spirit\nis called \u201cthe Spirit of counsel and of might\u201d because He gives us counsel\nin all our plans and strength to carry them out (cf. Acts viii. 29; xvi.\n6, 7; i. 8). It is our privilege to have God\u2019s own counsel in all our\nplans and God\u2019s strength in all the work that we undertake for Him. We\nreceive them by receiving the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of counsel and\nmight.\n\nXVIII. _The Spirit of Knowledge and of the Fear of the Lord._\n\nThis name also is used in the passage given above (Isa. xi. 2). The\nsignificance of this name is also obvious. It is the work of the Holy\nSpirit to impart knowledge to us and to beget in us a reverence for\nJehovah, that reverence that reveals itself above all in obedience to His\ncommandments. The one who receives the Holy Spirit finds his delight in\nthe fear of the LORD. (See Isa. xi. 3, R. V.) The three suggestive names\njust given refer especially to the gracious work of the Holy Spirit in the\nservant of the Lord, that is Jesus Christ (Isa. xi. 1-5).\n\nXIX. _The Spirit of Life._\n\nThe Holy Spirit is called _the Spirit of life_ in Rom. viii. 2, \u201cFor the\nlaw of _the Spirit of life_ in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law\nof sin and death.\u201d The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of life because it\nis His work to impart life (cf. John vi. 63, R. V.; Ezek. xxxvii. 1-10).\nIn the context in which the name is found in the passage given above,\nbeginning back in the seventh chapter of Romans, seventh verse, Paul is\ndrawing a contrast between the law of Moses outside a man, holy and just\nand good, it is true, but impotent, and the living Spirit of God in the\nheart, imparting spiritual and moral life to the believer and enabling him\nthus to meet the requirements of the law of God, so that what the law\nalone could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, the Spirit of\nGod imparting life to the believer and dwelling in the heart enables him\nto do, so that the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in those who walk\nnot after the flesh but after the Spirit. (See Rom. viii. 2-4.) The Holy\nSpirit is therefore called \u201cthe Spirit of life,\u201d because He imparts\nspiritual life and consequent victory over sin to those who receive Him.\n\nXX. _The Oil of Gladness._\n\nThe Holy Spirit is called the \u201coil of gladness\u201d in Heb. i. 9, \u201cThou hast\nloved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath\nanointed thee with the _oil of gladness_ above thy fellows.\u201d Some one may\nask what reason have we for supposing that \u201cthe oil of gladness\u201d in this\npassage is a name of the Holy Spirit. The answer is found in a comparison\nof Heb. i. 9, with Acts x. 38 and Luke iv. 18. In Acts x. 38 we read \u201chow\nGod anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power,\u201d and in\nLuke iv. 18, Jesus Himself is recorded as saying, \u201c_The Spirit of the Lord\nis upon_ Me, because He hath _anointed_ Me to preach the Gospel to the\npoor,\u201d etc. In both of these passages, we are told it was _the Holy Spirit\nwith which Jesus was anointed_ and as in the passage in Hebrews we are\ntold that _it was with the oil of gladness that He was anointed_; so, of\ncourse, the only possible conclusion is that the oil of gladness means the\nHoly Spirit. What a beautiful and suggestive name it is for Him whose\nfruit is, first, \u201clove\u201d then \u201cjoy\u201d (Gal. v. 22). The Holy Spirit becomes a\nsource of boundless joy to those who receive Him; He so fills and\nsatisfies the soul, that the soul who receives Him does not thirst forever\n(John iv. 14). No matter how great the afflictions with which the believer\nreceives the Word, still he will have \u201c_the joy of the Holy Ghost_\u201d (1\nThess. i. 6). On the Day of Pentecost, when the disciples were baptized\nwith the Holy Spirit, they were so filled with ecstatic joy that others\nlooking on them thought they were intoxicated. They said, \u201cThese men are\nfull of new wine.\u201d And Paul draws a comparison between abnormal\nintoxication that comes through excess of wine and the wholesome\nexhilaration from which there is no reaction that comes through being\nfilled with the Spirit (Eph. v. 18-20). When God anoints one with the Holy\nSpirit, it is as if He broke a precious alabaster box of oil of gladness\nabove their heads until it ran down to the hem of their garments and the\nwhole person was suffused with joy unspeakable and full of glory.\n\nXXI. _The Spirit of Grace._\n\nThe Holy Spirit is called \u201cthe Spirit of grace\u201d in Heb. x. 29, \u201cOf how\nmuch sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath\ntrodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the\ncovenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done\ndespite unto _the Spirit of grace_?\u201d This name brings out the fact that it\nis the Holy Spirit\u2019s work to administer and apply the grace of God: He\nHimself is gracious, it is true, but the name means far more than that, it\nmeans that He makes ours experimentally the manifold grace of God. It is\nonly by the work of the Spirit of grace in our hearts that we are enabled\nto appropriate to ourselves that infinite fullness of grace that God has,\nfrom the beginning, bestowed upon us in Jesus Christ. It is ours from the\nbeginning, as far as belonging to us is concerned, but it is only ours\nexperimentally as we claim it by the power of the Spirit of grace.\n\nXXII. _The Spirit of Grace and of Supplication._\n\nThe Holy Spirit is called \u201cthe Spirit of grace and of supplication\u201d in\nZech. xii. 10, R. V., \u201cAnd I will pour upon the house of David, and upon\nthe inhabitants of Jerusalem, _the Spirit of grace and of supplication_;\nand they shall look unto Me whom they have pierced: and they shall mourn\nfor him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for\nhis first-born.\u201d The phrase, \u201cthe Spirit of grace and of supplication\u201d in\nthis passage is beyond a doubt a name of the Holy Spirit. The name \u201cthe\nSpirit of grace\u201d we have already had under the preceding head, but here\nthere is a further thought of that operation of grace that leads us to\npray intensely. The Holy Spirit is so called because it is He that teaches\nto pray because all true prayer is in the Spirit (Jude 20). We of\nourselves know not how to pray as we ought, but it is the work of the Holy\nSpirit of intercession to make intercession for us with groanings which\ncannot be uttered and to lead us out in prayer according to the will of\nGod (Rom. viii. 26, 27). The secret of all true and effective praying is\nknowing the Holy Spirit as \u201cthe Spirit of grace and of supplication.\u201d\n\nXXIII. _The Spirit of Glory._\n\nThe Holy Spirit is called \u201cthe Spirit of glory\u201d in 1 Pet. iv. 14, \u201cIf ye\nbe reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for _the Spirit of\nglory_ and of God resteth upon you: on their part He is evil spoken of,\nbut on your part He is glorified.\u201d This name does not merely teach that\nthe Holy Spirit is infinitely glorious Himself, but it rather teaches that\nHe imparts the glory of God to us, just as the Spirit of truth imparts\ntruth to us, and as the Spirit of life imparts life to us, and as the\nSpirit of wisdom and understanding and of counsel and might and knowledge\nand of the fear of the LORD imparts to us wisdom and understanding and\ncounsel and might and knowledge and the fear of the LORD, and as the\nSpirit of grace applies and administers to us the manifold grace of God,\nso the Spirit of glory is the administrator to us of God\u2019s glory. In the\nimmediately preceding verse we read, \u201cBut rejoice, inasmuch as ye are\npartakers of Christ\u2019s sufferings: that, when His glory shall be revealed,\nye may be glad also with exceeding joy.\u201d It is in this connection that He\nis called the Spirit of glory. We find a similar connection between the\nsufferings which we endure and the glory which the Holy Spirit imparts to\nus in Rom. viii. 16, 17, \u201cThe Spirit Himself beareth witness with our\nspirit, that we are children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of\nGod and joint-heirs with Christ; _if so be that we suffer with_ Him, that\nwe may _be also glorified with Him_.\u201d The Holy Spirit is the administrator\nof glory as well as of grace, or rather of the grace that culminates in\nglory.\n\nXXIV. _The Eternal Spirit._\n\nThe Holy Spirit is called \u201cthe eternal Spirit\u201d in Heb. ix. 14, \u201cHow much\nmore shall the blood of Christ, who through _the eternal Spirit_ offered\nHimself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to\nserve the living God.\u201d The eternity and the Deity and infinite majesty of\nthe Holy Spirit are brought out by this name.\n\nXXV. _The Comforter._\n\nThe Holy Spirit is called \u201cthe Comforter\u201d over and over again in the\nScriptures. For example in John xiv. 26, we read, \u201cBut _the Comforter_\nwhich is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall\nteach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever\nI have said unto you.\u201d And in John xv. 26, \u201cBut when _the Comforter_ is\ncome, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth,\nwhich proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of Me.\u201d (See also John\nxvi. 27.) The word translated \u201cComforter\u201d in these passages means that,\nbut it means much more beside. It is a word difficult of adequate\ntranslation into any one word in English. The translators of the Revised\nVersion found difficulty in deciding with what word to render the Greek\nword so translated. They have suggested in the margin of the Revised\nVersion \u201cadvocate\u201d \u201chelper\u201d and a simple transference of the Greek word\ninto English, \u201cParaclete.\u201d The word translated \u201cComforter\u201d means\nliterally, \u201cone called to another\u2019s side,\u201d the idea being, one right at\nhand to take another\u2019s part. It is the same word that is translated\n\u201cadvocate\u201d in 1 John ii. 1, \u201cMy little children, these things write I unto\nyou, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have _an advocate_ with the\nFather, Jesus Christ the righteous.\u201d But \u201cadvocate,\u201d as we now understand\nit, does not give the full force of the Greek word so rendered.\nEtymologically \u201cadvocate\u201d means nearly the same thing. Advocate is Latin\n(\u201cadvocatus\u201d) and it means \u201cone called to another to take his part,\u201d but\nin our modern usage, the word has acquired a restricted meaning. The Greek\nword translated \u201cComforter\u201d (Parakleetos) means \u201cone called alongside,\u201d\nthat is one called to stand constantly by one\u2019s side and who is ever ready\nto stand by us and take our part in everything in which his help is\nneeded. It is a wonderfully tender and expressive name for the Holy One.\nSometimes when we think of _the Holy Spirit_, He seems to be so far away,\nbut when we think of the Parakleetos, or in plain English our \u201cStand-byer\u201d\nor our \u201cpart-taker,\u201d how near He is. Up to the time that Jesus made this\npromise to the disciples, He Himself had been their Parakleetos. When they\nwere in any emergency or difficulty they turned to Him. On one occasion,\nfor example, the disciples were in doubt as to how to pray and they turned\nto Jesus and said, \u201cLord, teach us to pray.\u201d And the Lord taught them the\nwonderful prayer that has come down through the ages (Luke xi. 1-4). On\nanother occasion, Peter was sinking in the waves of Galilee and he cried,\n\u201cLord, save me,\u201d and immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand and caught\nhim and saved him (Matt. xiv. 30, 31). In every extremity they turned to\nHim. Just so now that Jesus is gone to the Father, we have another Person,\njust as Divine as He is, just as wise as He, just as strong as He, just as\nloving as He, just as tender as He, just as ready and just as able to\nhelp, who is always right by our side. Yes, better yet, who dwells in our\nheart, who will take hold and help if we only trust Him to do it.\n\nIf the truth of the Holy Spirit as set forth in the name \u201cParakleetos\u201d\nonce gets into our heart and abides there, it will banish all loneliness\nforever; for how can we ever be lonely when this best of all Friends is\never with us? In the last eight years, I have been called upon to endure\nwhat would naturally be a very lonely life. Most of the time I am\nseparated from wife and children by the calls of duty. For eighteen months\nconsecutively, I was separated from almost all my family by many thousands\nof miles. The loneliness would have been unendurable were it not for the\none all-sufficient Friend, who was always with me. I recall one night\nwalking up and down the deck of a storm-tossed steamer in the South Seas.\nMost of my family were 18,000 miles away; the remaining member of my\nfamily was not with me. The officers were busy on the bridge, and I was\npacing the deck alone, and the thought came to me, \u201cHere you are all\nalone.\u201d Then another thought came, \u201cI am not alone; by my side as I walk\nthis deck in the loneliness and the storm walks the Holy Spirit\u201d and He\nwas enough. I said something like this once at a Bible conference in St.\nPaul. A doctor came to me at the close of the meeting and gently said, \u201cI\nwant to thank you for that thought about the Holy Spirit always being with\nus. I am a doctor. Oftentimes I have to drive far out in the country in\nthe night and storm to attend a case, and I have often been so lonely, but\nI will never be lonely again. I will always know that by my side in my\ndoctor\u2019s carriage, the Holy Spirit goes with me.\u201d\n\nIf this thought of the Holy Spirit as the ever-present Paraclete once gets\ninto your heart and abides there, it will banish all fear forever. How can\nwe be afraid in the face of any peril, if this Divine One is by our side\nto counsel us and to take our part? There may be a howling mob about us,\nor a lowering storm, it matters not. He stands between us and both mob and\nstorm. One night I had promised to walk four miles to a friend\u2019s house\nafter an evening session of a conference. The path led along the side of a\nlake. As I started for my friend\u2019s house, a thunder-storm was coming up. I\nhad not counted on this but as I had promised, I felt I ought to go. The\npath led along the edge of the lake, oftentimes very near to the edge,\nsometimes the lake was near the path and sometimes many feet below. The\nnight was so dark with the clouds one could not see ahead. Now and then\nthere would be a blinding flash of lightning in which you could see where\nthe path was washed away, and then it would be blacker than ever. You\ncould hear the lake booming below. It seemed a dangerous place to walk but\nthat very week, I had been speaking upon the Personality of the Holy\nSpirit and about the Holy Spirit as an ever-present Friend, and the\nthought came to me, \u201cWhat was it you were telling the people in the\naddress about the Holy Spirit as an ever-present Friend?\u201d And then I said\nto myself, \u201cBetween me and the boiling lake and the edge of the path walks\nthe Holy Spirit,\u201d and I pushed on fearless and glad. When we were in\nLondon, a young lady attended the meeting one afternoon in the Royal\nAlbert Hall. She had an abnormal fear of the dark. It was absolutely\nimpossible for her to go into a dark room alone, but the thought of the\nHoly Spirit as an ever-present Friend sank into her mind. She went home\nand told her mother what a wonderful thought she had heard that day, and\nhow it had banished forever all fear from her. It was already growing very\ndark in the London winter afternoon and her mother looked up and said,\n\u201cVery well, let us see if it is real. Go up to the top of the house and\nshut yourself alone in a dark room.\u201d She instantly sprang to her feet,\nbounded up the stairs, went into a room that was totally dark and shut the\ndoor and sat down. All fear was gone, and as she wrote the next day, the\nwhole room seemed to be filled with a wonderful glory, the glory of the\npresence of the Holy Spirit.\n\nIn the thought of the Holy Spirit as the Paraclete there is also a cure\nfor insomnia. For two awful years, I suffered from insomnia. Night after\nnight I would go to bed apparently almost dead for sleep; it seemed as\nthough I must sleep, but I could not sleep; oh, the agony of those two\nyears! It seemed as if I would lose my mind if I did not get relief.\nRelief came at last and for years I went on without the suggestion of\ntrouble from insomnia. Then one night I retired to my room in the\nInstitute, lay down expecting to fall asleep in a moment as I usually did,\nbut scarcely had my head touched the pillow when I became aware that\ninsomnia was back again. If one has ever had it, he never forgets it and\nnever mistakes it. It seemed as if insomnia were sitting on the foot-board\nof my bed, grinning at me and saying, \u201cI am back again for another two\nyears.\u201d \u201cOh,\u201d I thought, \u201ctwo more awful years of insomnia.\u201d But that very\nmorning, I had been lecturing to our students in the Institute about the\nPersonality of the Holy Spirit and about the Holy Spirit as an\never-present Friend, and at once the thought came to me, \u201cWhat were you\ntalking to the students about this morning? What were you telling them?\u201d\nand I looked up and said, \u201cThou blessed Spirit of God, Thou art here. I am\nnot alone. If Thou hast anything to say to me, I will listen,\u201d and He\nbegan to open to me some of the deep and precious things about my Lord and\nSaviour, things, that filled my soul with joy and rest, and the next thing\nI knew I was asleep and the next thing I knew it was to-morrow morning. So\nwhenever insomnia has come my way since, I have simply remembered that the\nHoly Spirit was there and I have looked up to Him to speak to me and to\nteach me and He has done so and insomnia has taken its flight.\n\nIn the thought of the Holy Spirit as the Paraclete there is a cure for a\nbreaking heart. How many aching, breaking hearts there are in this world\nof ours, so full of death and separation from those we most dearly love.\nHow many a woman there is, who a few years ago, or a few months or a few\nweeks ago, had no care, no worry, for by her side was a Christian husband\nwho was so wise and strong that the wife rested all responsibility upon\nhim and she walked care-free through life and satisfied with his love and\ncompanionship. But one awful day, he was taken from her. She was left\nalone and all the cares and responsibilities rested upon her. How empty\nthat heart has been ever since; how empty the whole world has been. She\nhas just dragged through her life and her duties as best she could with an\naching and almost breaking heart. But there is One, if she only knew it,\nwiser and more loving than the tenderest husband, One willing to bear all\nthe care and responsibilities of life for her, One who is able, if, she\nwill only let Him, to fill every nook and corner of her empty and aching\nheart; that One is the Paraclete. I said something like this in St.\nAndrews\u2019 Hall in Glasgow. At the close of the meeting a sad-faced\nChristian woman, wearing a widow\u2019s garb, came to me as I stepped out of\nthe hall into the reception room. She hurried to me and said, \u201cDr. Torrey,\nthis is the anniversary of my dear husband\u2019s death. Just one year ago\nto-day he was taken from me. I came to-day to see if you could not speak\nsome word to help me. You have given me just the word I need. I will never\nbe lonesome again.\u201d A year and a half passed by. I was on the yacht of a\nfriend on the lochs of the Clyde. One day a little boat put out from shore\nand came alongside the yacht. One of the first to come up the side of the\nyacht was this widow. She hurried to me and the first thing she said was,\n\u201cThe thought that you gave me that day in St. Andrews\u2019 Hall on the\nanniversary of my husband\u2019s leaving me has been with me ever since, and\nthe Holy Spirit does satisfy me and fill my heart.\u201d\n\nBut it is in our work for our Master that the thought of the Holy Spirit\nas the Paraclete comes with greatest helpfulness. I think it may be\npermissible to illustrate it from my own experience. I entered the\nministry because I was literally forced to. For years I refused to be a\nChristian, because I was determined that I would not be a preacher, and I\nfeared that if I surrendered to Christ I must enter the ministry. My\nconversion turned upon my yielding to Him at this point. The night I\nyielded, I did not say, \u201cI will accept Christ\u201d or \u201cI will give up sin,\u201d or\nanything of that sort, I simply cried, \u201cTake this awful burden off my\nheart, and I will preach the Gospel.\u201d But no one could be less fitted by\nnatural temperament for the ministry than I. From early boyhood, I was\nextraordinarily timid and bashful. Even after I had entered Yale College,\nwhen I would go home in the summer and my mother would call me in to meet\nher friends, I was so frightened that when I thought I spoke I did not\nmake an audible sound. When her friends had gone, my mother would ask,\n\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you say something to them?\u201d And I would reply that I supposed\nI had, but my mother would say, \u201cYou did not utter a sound.\u201d Think of a\nyoung fellow like that entering the ministry. I never mustered courage\neven to speak in a public prayer-meeting until after I was in the\ntheological seminary. Then I felt, if I was to enter the ministry, I must\nbe able to at least speak in a prayer-meeting. I learned a little piece by\nheart to say, but when the hour came, I forgot much of it in my terror. At\nthe critical moment, I grasped the back of the settee in front of me and\npulled myself hurriedly to my feet and held on to the settee. One Niagara\nseemed to be going up one side and another down another; my voice\nfaltered. I repeated as much as I could remember and sat down. Think of a\nman like that entering the ministry. In the early days of my ministry, I\nwould write my sermons out in full and commit them to memory, stand up and\ntwist a button until I had repeated it off as best I could and would then\nsink back into the pulpit chair with a sense of relief that that was over\nfor another week. I cannot tell you what I suffered in those early days of\nmy ministry. But the glad day came when I came to know the Holy Spirit as\nthe Paraclete. When the thought got possession of me that when I stood up\nto preach, there was Another who stood by my side, that while the audience\nsaw me God saw Him, and that the responsibility was all upon Him, and that\nHe was abundantly able to meet it and care for it all, and that all I had\nto do was to stand back as far out of sight as possible and let Him do the\nwork. I have no dread of preaching now; preaching is the greatest joy of\nmy life, and sometimes when I stand up to speak and realize that He is\nthere, that all the responsibility is upon Him, such a joy fills my heart\nthat I can scarce restrain myself from shouting and leaping. He is just as\nready to help us in all our work; in our Sunday-school classes; in our\npersonal work and in every other line of Christian effort. Many hesitate\nto speak to others about accepting Christ. They are afraid they will not\nsay the right thing; they fear that they will do more harm than they will\ngood. You certainly will if _you_ do it, but if you will just believe in\nthe Paraclete and trust Him to say it and to say it in His way, you will\nnever do harm but always good. It may seem at the time that you have\naccomplished nothing, but perhaps years after you will find out you have\naccomplished much and even if you do not find it out in this world, you\nwill find it out in eternity.\n\nThere are many ways in which the Paraclete stands by us and helps us of\nwhich we will speak at length when we come to study His work. He stands by\nus when we pray (Rom. viii. 26, 27); when we study the Word (John xiv. 26;\nxvi. 12-14); when we do personal work (Acts viii. 29); when we preach or\nteach (1 Cor. ii. 4); when we are tempted (Rom. viii. 2); when we leave\nthis world (Acts vii. 54-60). Let us get this thought firmly fixed now and\nfor all time that the Holy Spirit is One called to our side to take our\npart.\n\n\n    \u201cEver present, truest Friend,\n    Ever near, Thine aid to lend.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI. THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE MATERIAL UNIVERSE.\n\n\nThere are many who think of the work of the Holy Spirit as limited to man.\nBut God reveals to us in His Word that the Holy Spirit\u2019s work has a far\nwider scope than this. We are taught in the Bible that the Holy Spirit has\na threefold work in the material universe.\n\nI. The creation of the material universe and of man is effected through\nthe agency of the Holy Spirit.\n\nWe read in Ps. xxxiii. 6, \u201cBy the word of the LORD were the heavens made;\nand all the host of them _by the breath of His mouth_.\u201d We have already\nseen in our study of the names of the Holy Spirit that the Holy Spirit is\nthe breath of JEHOVAH, so this passage teaches us that all the hosts of\nheaven, all the stellar worlds, were made by the Holy Spirit. We are\ntaught explicitly in Job xxxiii. 4, that the creation of man is the Holy\nSpirit\u2019s work. We read, \u201c_The Spirit of God_ hath made me, and _the breath\nof the Almighty_ hath given me life.\u201d Here both the creation of the\nmaterial frame and the impartation of life are attributed to the agency of\nthe Holy Spirit. In other passages of Scripture we are taught that\ncreation was in and through the Son of God. For example we read in Col. i.\n16, R. V., \u201cFor in Him were all things created, in the heavens and upon\nthe earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or\ndominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created\nthrough Him and unto Him.\u201d In a similar way we read in Heb. i. 2, that God\n\u201chath at the end of these days spoken unto us in His Son, whom He\nappointed heir of all things, _through whom_ also He made the worlds\n(ages).\u201d In the passage given above (Ps. xxxiii. 6), the Word as well as\nthe Spirit are mentioned in connection with creation. In the account of\nthe creation and the rehabilitation of this world to be the abode of man,\nFather, Word and Holy Spirit are all mentioned (Gen. i. 1-3). It is\nevident from a comparison of these passages that the Father, Son and Holy\nSpirit are all active in the creative work. The Father works _in_ His Son,\n_through_ His Spirit.\n\nII. Not only is the original creation of the material universe attributed\nto the agency of the Holy Spirit in the Bible but _the maintenance of\nliving creatures_ as well.\n\nWe read in Ps. civ. 29, 30, \u201cThou hidest Thy face, they are troubled: Thou\ntakest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust. Thou\n_sendest forth Thy Spirit_, they are created: and Thou _renewest_ the face\nof the earth.\u201d The clear indication of this passage is that not only are\nthings brought into being through the agency of the Holy Spirit, but that\nthey are maintained in being by the Holy Spirit. Not only is spiritual\nlife maintained by the Spirit of God but material being as well. Things\nexist and continue by the presence of the Spirit of God in them. This does\nnot mean for a moment that the universe is God, but it does mean that the\nuniverse is maintained in its being by the immanence of God in it. This is\nthe great and solemn truth that lies at the foundation of the awful and\ndebasing perversions of Pantheism in its countless forms.\n\nIII. But not only is the universe created through the agency of the Holy\nSpirit and maintained in its existence through the agency of the Holy\nSpirit, but _the development of the earlier, chaotic, undeveloped states\nof the material universe into higher orders of being is effected through\nthe agency of the Holy Spirit_.\n\nWe read in Gen, i. 2, 3, \u201cAnd the earth was (or became) without form and\nvoid; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And _the Spirit of God\nmoved_ upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and\nthere was light.\u201d We may take this account to refer either to the original\ncreation of the universe, or we may take it as the deeper students of the\nWord are more and more inclining to take it, as the account of the\nrehabilitation of the earth after its plunging into chaos through sin\nafter the original creation described in v. 1. In either case we have set\nbefore us here the development of the earth from a chaotic and unformed\ncondition into its present highly developed condition through the agency\nof the Holy Spirit. We see the process carried still further in Gen. ii.\n7, \u201cAnd the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, _and breathed_\ninto his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.\u201d Here\nagain it is through the agency of the breath of God, that a higher thing,\nhuman life, comes into being. Naturally, as the Bible is the history of\nman\u2019s redemption it does not dwell upon this phase of truth, but seemingly\neach new and higher impartation of the Spirit of God brings forth a higher\norder of being. First, inert matter; then motion; then light; then\nvegetable life; then animal life; then man; and, as we shall see later,\nthen the new man; and then Jesus Christ, the supreme Man, the completion\nof God\u2019s thought of man, the Son of Man. This is the Biblical thought of\ndevelopment from the lower to the higher by the agency of the Spirit of\nGod as distinguished from the godless evolution that has been so popular\nin the generation now closing. It is, however, only hinted at in the\nBible. The more important phases of the Holy Spirit\u2019s work, His work in\nredemption, are those that are emphasized and iterated and reiterated. The\nWord of God is even more plainly active in each state of progress of\ncreation. God _said_ occurs ten times in the first chapter of Genesis.\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII. THE HOLY SPIRIT CONVICTING THE WORLD OF SIN, OF RIGHTEOUSNESS\nAND OF JUDGMENT.\n\n\nOur salvation begins experimentally with our being brought to a profound\nsense that we need a Saviour. The Holy Spirit is the One who brings us to\nthis realization of our need. We read in John xvi. 8-11, R. V., \u201cAnd He,\nwhen He is come, will convict the world in respect of sin, and of\nrighteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they believe not on Me; of\nrighteousness, because I go to the Father, and ye behold Me no more; of\njudgment, because the prince of this world hath been judged.\u201d\n\nI. We see in this passage that _it is the work of the Holy Spirit to\nconvict men of sin_. That is, to so convince of their error in respect to\nsin as to produce a deep sense of personal guilt. We have the first\nrecorded fulfillment of this promise in Acts ii. 36, 37, \u201cTherefore let\nall the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same\nJesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard\nthis, _they were pricked in their heart, and said_ unto Peter and to the\nrest of the apostles, Men and brethren, _what shall we do_?\u201d The Holy\nSpirit had come just as Jesus had promised that He would and when He came\nHe convicted the world of sin: He pricked them to their heart with a sense\nof their awful guilt in the rejection of their Lord and their Christ. If\nthe Apostle Peter had spoken the same words the day before Pentecost, no\nsuch results would have followed; but now Peter was filled with the Holy\nSpirit (v. 4) and the Holy Spirit took Peter and his words and through the\ninstrumentality of Peter and his words convicted his hearers. The Holy\nSpirit is the only One who can convince men of sin. The natural heart is\n\u201cdeceitful above all things and desperately wicked,\u201d and there is nothing\nin which the inbred deceitfulness of our hearts comes out more clearly\nthan in our estimations of ourselves. We are all of us sharp-sighted\nenough to the faults of others but we are all blind by nature to our own\nfaults. Our blindness to our own shortcomings is oftentimes little short\nof ludicrous. We have a strange power of exaggerating our imaginary\nvirtues and losing sight utterly of our defects. The longer and more\nthoroughly one studies human nature, the more clearly will he see how\nhopeless is the task of convincing other men of sin. We cannot do it, nor\nhas God left it for us to do. He has put this work into the hands of One\nwho is abundantly able to do it, the Holy Spirit. One of the worst\nmistakes that we can make in our efforts to bring men to Christ is to try\nto convince them of sin in any power of our own. Unfortunately, it is one\nof the commonest mistakes. Preachers will stand in the pulpit and argue\nand reason with men to make them see and realize that they are sinners.\nThey make it as plain as day; it is a wonder that their hearers do not see\nit; but they do not. Personal workers sit down beside an inquirer and\nreason with him, and bring forward passages of Scripture in a most\nskillful way, the very passages that are calculated to produce the effect\ndesired and yet there is no result. Why? Because we are trying to do the\nHoly Spirit\u2019s work, the work that He alone can do, convince men of sin. If\nwe would only bear in mind our own utter inability to convince men of sin,\nand cast ourselves upon Him in utter helplessness to do the work, we would\nsee results.\n\nAt the close of an inquiry meeting in our church in Chicago, one of our\nbest workers brought to me an engineer on the Pan Handle Railway with the\nremark, \u201cI wish that you would speak to this man. I have been talking to\nhim two hours with no result.\u201d I sat down by his side with my open Bible\nand in less than ten minutes that man, under deep conviction of sin, was\non his knees crying to God for mercy. The worker who had brought him to me\nsaid when the man had gone out, \u201cThat is very strange.\u201d \u201cWhat is strange?\u201d\nI asked. \u201cDo you know,\u201d the worker said, \u201cI used exactly the same passages\nin dealing with that man that you did, and though I had worked with him\nfor two hours with no result, in ten minutes with the same passages of\nScripture, he was brought under conviction of sin and accepted Christ.\u201d\nWhat was the explanation? Simply this, for once that worker had forgotten\nsomething that she seldom forgot, namely, that the Holy Spirit must do the\nwork. She had been trying to convince the man of sin. She had used the\nright passages; she had reasoned wisely; she had made out a clear case,\nbut she had not looked to the only One who could do the work. When she\nbrought the man to me and said, \u201cI have worked with him for two hours with\nno result,\u201d I thought to myself, \u201cIf this expert worker has dealt with him\nfor two hours with no result, what is the use of my dealing with him?\u201d and\nin a sense of utter helplessness I cast myself upon the Holy Spirit to do\nthe work and He did it.\n\nBut while we cannot convince men of sin, there is One who can, the Holy\nSpirit. He can convince the most hardened and blinded man of sin. He can\nchange men and women from utter carelessness and indifference to a place\nwhere they are overwhelmed with a sense of their need of a Saviour. How\noften we have seen this illustrated. Some years ago, the officers of the\nChicago Avenue Church were burdened over the fact that there was so little\nprofound conviction of sin manifested in our meetings. There were\nconversions, a good many were being added to the church, but very few were\ncoming with an apparently overwhelming conviction of sin. One night one of\nthe officers of the church said, \u201cBrethren, I am greatly troubled by the\nfact that we have so little conviction of sin in our meetings. While we\nare having conversions and many accessions to the church, there is not\nthat deep conviction of sin that I like to see, and I propose that we, the\nofficers of the church, meet from night to night to pray that there may be\nmore conviction of sin in our meetings.\u201d The suggestion was taken up by\nthe entire committee. We had not been praying many nights when one Sunday\nevening I saw in the front seat underneath the gallery a showily dressed\nman with a very hard face. A large diamond was blazing from his shirt\nfront. He was sitting beside one of the deacons. As I looked at him as I\npreached, I thought to myself, \u201cThat man is a sporting man, and Deacon\nYoung has been fishing to-day.\u201d It turned out that I was right. The man\nwas the son of a woman who kept a sporting house in a Western city. I\nthink he had never been in a Protestant service before. Deacon Young had\ngot hold of him that day on the street and brought him to the meeting. As\nI preached the man\u2019s eyes were riveted upon me. When we went down-stairs\nto the after meeting, Deacon Young took the man with him. I was late\ndealing with the anxious that night. As I finished with the last one about\neleven o\u2019clock, and almost everybody had gone home, Deacon Young came over\nto me and said, \u201cI have a man over here I wish you would come and speak\nwith.\u201d It was this big sporting man. He was deeply agitated. \u201cOh,\u201d he\ngroaned, \u201cI don\u2019t know what is the matter with me. I never felt this way\nbefore in all my life,\u201d and he sobbed and shook like a leaf. Then he told\nme this story: \u201cI started out this afternoon to go down to Cottage Grove\nAvenue to meet some men and spend the afternoon gambling. As I passed by\nthe park over yonder, some of your young men were holding an open air\nmeeting and I stopped to listen. I saw one man testifying whom I had known\nin a life of sin, and I waited to hear what he had to say. When he\nfinished I went on down the street. I had not gone far when some strange\npower took hold of me and brought me back and I stayed through the\nmeeting. Then this gentleman spoke to me and brought me over to your\nchurch, to your Yoke Fellows\u2019 Meeting. I stayed to supper with them and he\nbrought me up to hear you preach, then he brought me down to this\nmeeting.\u201d Here he stopped and sobbed, \u201cOh, I don\u2019t know what is the matter\nwith me. I feel awful. I never felt this way before in all my life,\u201d and\nhis great frame shook with emotion. \u201cI know what is the matter with you,\u201d\nI said. \u201cYou are under conviction of sin; the Holy Spirit is dealing with\nyou,\u201d and I pointed him to Christ, and he knelt down and cried to God for\nmercy, to forgive his sins for Christ\u2019s sake.\n\nNot long after, one Sunday night I saw another man sitting in the gallery\nalmost exactly above where this man had sat. A diamond flashed also from\nthis man\u2019s shirt front. I said to myself, \u201cThere is another sporting man.\u201d\nHe turned out to be a travelling man who was also a sporting man. As I\npreached, he leaned further and further forward in his seat. In the midst\nof my sermon, without any intention of giving out the invitation, simply\nwishing to drive a point home, I said, \u201cWho will accept Jesus Christ\nto-night?\u201d Quick as a flash the man sprang to his feet and shouted, \u201cI\nwill.\u201d It rang through the building like the crack of a revolver. I\ndropped my sermon and instantly gave out the invitation; men and women and\nyoung people rose all over the building to yield themselves to Christ. God\nwas answering prayer and the Holy Spirit was convincing men of sin. The\nHoly Spirit can convince men of sin. We need not despair of any one, no\nmatter how indifferent they may appear, no matter how worldly, no matter\nhow self-satisfied, no matter how irreligious, the Holy Spirit can\nconvince men of sin. A young minister of very rare culture and ability\nonce came to me and said, \u201cI have a great problem on my hands. I am the\npastor of the church in a university town. My congregation is largely made\nup of university professors and students. They are most delightful people.\nThey have very high moral ideals and are living most exemplary lives.\nNow,\u201d he continued, \u201cif I had a congregation in which there were drunkards\nand outcasts and thieves, I could convince them of sin, but my problem is\nhow to make people like that, the most delightful people in the world,\nbelieve that they are sinners, how to convict them of sin.\u201d I replied, \u201cIt\nis impossible. You cannot do it, but the Holy Spirit can.\u201d And so He can.\nSome of the deepest manifestations of conviction of sin I have ever seen\nhave been on the part of men and women of most exemplary conduct and\nattractive personality. But they were sinners and the Holy Spirit opened\ntheir eyes to the fact.\n\nWhile it is the Holy Spirit who convinces men of sin, He does it through\nus. This comes out very clearly in the context of the passage before us.\nJesus says in the seventh verse, R. V., of the chapter, \u201cNevertheless I\ntell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go\nnot away, the Comforter will not come _unto you_; but if I go, I will send\nHim _unto you_.\u201d Then He goes on to say, \u201cAnd when He is come (_unto\nyou_), He will convict the world of sin.\u201d That is, our Lord Jesus sends\nthe Holy Spirit unto us (unto believers), and when He is come unto us\nbelievers, through us to whom He has come, He convinces the world. On the\nDay of Pentecost, it was the Holy Spirit who convinced the 3,000 of sin,\nbut the Holy Spirit came to the group of believers and through them\nconvinced the outside world. As far as the Holy Scriptures definitely tell\nus, the Holy Spirit has no Way of getting at the unsaved world except\nthrough the agency of those who are already saved. Every conversion\nrecorded in the Acts of the Apostles was through the agency of men or\nwomen already saved. Take, for example, the conversion of Saul of Tarsus.\nIf there ever was a miraculous conversion, it was that. The glorified\nJesus appeared visibly to Saul on his way to Damascus, but before Saul\ncould come out clearly into the light as a saved man, human\ninstrumentality must be brought in. Saul prostrate on the ground cried to\nthe risen Christ asking what he must do, and the Lord told him to go into\nDamascus and there it would be told him what he must do. And then Ananias,\n\u201ca certain disciple,\u201d was brought on the scene as the human\ninstrumentality through whom the Holy Spirit should do His work (cf. Acts\nix. 17; xxii. 16). Take the case of Cornelius. Here again was a most\nremarkable conversion through supernatural agency. \u201c_An angel_\u201d appeared\nto Cornelius, but the angel did not tell Cornelius what to do to be saved.\nThe angel rather said to Cornelius, \u201cSend men to Joppa, and _call for\nSimon_, whose surname is Peter, who shall tell thee words whereby _thou\nand all thy house shall be saved_\u201d (Acts xi. 13, 14). So we may go right\nthrough the record of the conversions in the Acts of the Apostles and we\nwill see they were all effected through human instrumentality. How solemn,\nhow almost overwhelming, is the thought that the Holy Spirit has no way of\ngetting at the unsaved with His saving power except through the\ninstrumentality of us who are already Christians. If we realized that,\nwould we not be more careful to offer to the Holy Spirit a more free and\nunobstructed channel for His all-important work? The Holy Spirit needs\nhuman lips to speak through. He needs yours, and He needs lives so clean\nand so utterly surrendered to Him that He can work through them.\n\nNotice of which sin it is that the Holy Spirit convinces men\u2014the sin of\nunbelief in Jesus Christ, \u201cOf sin because they believe not on Me,\u201d says\nJesus. Not the sin of stealing, not the sin of drunkenness, not the sin of\nadultery, not the sin of murder, but the sin of unbelief in Jesus Christ.\nThe one thing that the eternal God demands of men is that they believe on\nHim whom He hath sent (John vi. 29). And the one sin that reveals men\u2019s\nrebellion against God and daring defiance of Him is the sin of not\nbelieving on Jesus Christ, and this is the one sin that the Holy Spirit\nputs to the front and emphasizes and of which He convicts men. This was\nthe sin of which He convicted the 3,000 on the Day of Pentecost.\nDoubtless, there were many other sins in their lives, but the one point\nthat the Holy Spirit brought to the front through the Apostle Peter was\nthat the One whom they had rejected was their Lord and Christ, attested so\nto be by His resurrection from the dead (Acts ii. 22-36). \u201cAnd _when they\nheard this_ (namely, that He whom they had rejected was Lord and Christ)\nthey were pricked in their hearts.\u201d This is the sin of which the Holy\nSpirit convinces men to-day. In regard to the comparatively minor\nmoralities of life, there is a wide difference among men, but the thief\nwho rejects Christ and the honest man who rejects Christ are alike\ncondemned at the great point of what they do with God\u2019s Son, and this is\nthe point that the Holy Spirit presses home. The sin of unbelief is the\nmost difficult of all sins of which to convince men. The average\nunbeliever does not look upon unbelief as a sin. Many an unbeliever looks\nupon his unbelief as a mark of intellectual superiority. Not unfrequently,\nhe is all the more proud of it because it is the only mark of intellectual\nsuperiority that he possesses. He tosses his head and says, \u201cI am an\nagnostic;\u201d \u201cI am a skeptic;\u201d or, \u201cI am an infidel,\u201d and assumes an air of\nsuperiority on that account. If he does not go so far as that, the\nunbeliever frequently looks upon his unbelief as, at the very worst, a\nmisfortune. He looks for pity rather than for blame. He says, \u201cOh, I wish\nI could believe. I am so sorry I cannot believe,\u201d and then appeals to us\nfor pity because he cannot believe, but when the Holy Spirit touches a\nman\u2019s heart, he no longer looks upon unbelief as a mark of intellectual\nsuperiority; he does not look upon it as a mere misfortune; he sees it as\nthe most daring, decisive and damning of all sins and is overwhelmed with\na sense of his awful guilt in that he had not believed on the name of the\nonly begotten Son of God.\n\nII. But the Holy Spirit not only convicts of sin, _He convicts in respect\nof righteousness_.\n\nHe convicts the world in respect of righteousness because Jesus Christ has\ngone to the Father, that is He convicts (convinces with a convincing that\nis self-condemning) the world of Christ\u2019s righteousness attested by His\ngoing to the Father. The coming of the Spirit is in itself a proof that\nChrist has gone to the Father (cf. Acts ii. 33) and the Holy Spirit thus\nopens our eyes to see that Jesus Christ, whom the world condemned as an\nevil-doer, was indeed the righteous One. The Father sets the stamp of His\napproval upon His character and claims by raising Him from the dead and\nexalting Him to His own right hand and giving to Him a name that is above\nevery name. The world at large to-day claims to believe in the\nrighteousness of Christ but it does not really believe in the\nrighteousness of Christ: it has no adequate conception of the\nrighteousness of Christ. The righteousness which the world attributes to\nChrist is not the righteousness which God attributes to Him, but a poor\nhuman righteousness, perhaps a little better than our own. The world loves\nto put the names of other men that it considers good alongside the name of\nJesus Christ. But when the Spirit of God comes to a man, He convinces him\nof the righteousness of Christ; He opens his eyes to see Jesus Christ\nstanding absolutely alone, not only far above all men but \u201cfar above all\nprincipality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is\nnamed, not only in this world but also in that which is to come\u201d (Eph. i.\n21).\n\nIII. The Holy Spirit also convicts the world of judgment.\n\nThe ground upon which the Holy Spirit convinces men of judgment is upon\nthe ground of the fact that \u201cthe Prince of this world hath been judged\u201d\n(John xvi. 11). When Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross, it seemed as if\nHe were judged there, but in reality it was the Prince of this world who\nwas judged at the cross, and, by raising Jesus Christ from the dead, the\nFather made it plain to all coming ages that the cross was not the\njudgment of Christ, but the judgment of the Prince of darkness. The Holy\nSpirit opens our eyes to see this fact and so convinces us of judgment.\nThere is a great need to-day that the world be convinced of judgment.\nJudgment is a doctrine that has fallen into the background, that has\nindeed almost sunken out of sight. It is not popular to-day to speak about\njudgment, or retribution, or hell. One who emphasizes judgment and future\nretribution is not thought to be quite up to date; he is considered\n\u201cmedi\u00e6val\u201d or even \u201carchaic,\u201d but when the Holy Spirit opens the eyes of\nmen, they believe in judgment. In the early days of my Christian\nexperience, I had great difficulties with the Bible doctrine of future\nretribution. I came again and again up to what it taught about the eternal\npenalties of persistent sin. It seemed as if I could not believe it: it\nmust not be true. Time and again I would back away from the stern\nteachings of Jesus Christ and the Apostles concerning this matter. But one\nnight I was waiting upon God that I might know the Holy Spirit in a fuller\nmanifestation of His presence and His power. God gave me what I sought\nthat night and with this larger experience of the Holy Spirit\u2019s presence\nand power, there came such a revelation of the glory, the infinite glory\nof Jesus Christ, that I had no longer any difficulties with what the Book\nsaid about the stern and endless judgment that would be visited upon those\nwho persistently rejected this glorious Son of God. From that day to this,\nwhile I have had many a heartache over the Bible doctrine of future\nretribution, I have had no intellectual difficulty with it. I have\nbelieved it. The Holy Spirit has convinced me of judgment.\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII. THE HOLY SPIRIT BEARING WITNESS TO JESUS CHRIST.\n\n\nWhen our Lord was talking to His disciples on the night before His\ncrucifixion of the Comforter who after His departure was to come to take\nHis place, He said, \u201cBut when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto\nyou from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the\nFather, He shall bear witness of Me: and ye also bear witness, because ye\nhave been with Me from the beginning\u201d (John xv. 26, 27, R. V.), and the\nApostle Peter and the other disciples when they were strictly commanded by\nthe Jewish Council not to teach in the name of Jesus said, \u201cWe are\nwitnesses of these things, and so is also the Holy Ghost\u201d (Acts v. 32). It\nis clear from these words of Jesus Christ and the Apostles that it is the\nwork of the Holy Spirit to bear witness concerning Jesus Christ. We find\nthe Holy Spirit\u2019s testimony to Jesus Christ in the Scriptures, but beside\nthis the Holy Spirit bears witness directly to the individual heart\nconcerning Jesus Christ. He takes His own Scriptures and interprets them\nto us and makes them clear to us. All truth is from the Spirit, for He is\n\u201cthe Spirit of truth,\u201d but it is especially His work to bear witness to\nHim who is the truth, that is Jesus Christ (John xiv. 6). It is only\nthrough the testimony of the Holy Spirit directly to our hearts that we\never come to a true, living knowledge of Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Cor. xii. 3).\nNo amount of mere reading the written Word (in the Bible) and no amount of\nlistening to man\u2019s testimony will ever bring us to a living knowledge of\nChrist. It is only when the Holy Spirit Himself takes the written Word, or\ntakes the testimony of our fellow man, and interprets it directly to our\nhearts that we really come to see and know Jesus as He is. On the day of\nPentecost, Peter gave all his hearers the testimony of the Scriptures\nregarding Christ and also gave them his own testimony; he told them what\nhe and the other Apostles knew by personal observation regarding His\nresurrection, but unless the Holy Spirit Himself had taken the Scriptures\nwhich Peter had brought together and taken the testimony of Peter and the\nother disciples, the 3,000 would not on that day have seen Jesus as He\nreally was and received Him and been baptized in His name. The Holy Spirit\nadded His testimony to that of Peter and that of the written Word. Mr.\nMoody used to say in his terse and graphic way that when Peter said,\n\u201cTherefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made\nthat same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ (Acts ii.\n36), the Holy Spirit said, \u2018Amen\u2019 and the people saw and believed.\u201d And it\nis certain that unless the Holy Spirit had come that day and through Peter\nand the other Apostles borne His direct testimony to the hearts of their\nhearers, there would have been no saving vision of Jesus on the part of\nthe people. If you wish men to get a true view of Jesus Christ, such a\nview of Him that they may believe and be saved, it is not enough that you\ngive them the Scriptures concerning Him; it is not enough that you give\nthem your own testimony, you must seek for them the testimony of the Holy\nSpirit and put yourself into such relations with God that the Holy Spirit\nmay bear His testimony through you. Neither your testimony, nor even that\nof the written Word alone will effect this, though it is your testimony,\nor that of the Word that the Holy Spirit uses. But unless your testimony\nand that of the Word is taken up by the Holy Spirit and He Himself\ntestifies, they will not believe. This explains something which every\nexperienced worker must have noticed. We sit down beside an inquirer and\nopen our Bibles and give him those Scriptures which clearly reveal Jesus\nas his atoning Saviour on the cross, a Saviour from the guilt of sin, and\nas his risen Saviour, a Saviour from the power of sin. It is just the\ntruth the man needs to see and believe in order to be saved, but he does\nnot see it. We go over these Scriptures which to us are as plain as day\nagain and again, and the inquirer sits there in blank darkness; he sees\nnothing, he grasps nothing. Sometimes we almost wonder if the inquirer is\nstupid that he cannot see it. No, he is not stupid, except with that\nspiritual blindness that possesses every mind unenlightened by the Holy\nSpirit (1 Cor. ii. 14). We go over it again and still he does not see it.\nWe go over it again and his face lightens up and he exclaims, \u201cI see it. I\nsee it,\u201d and he sees Jesus and believes and is saved and knows he is saved\nthere on the spot. What has happened? Simply this, the Holy Spirit has\nborne His testimony and what was dark as midnight before is as clear as\nday now. This explains also why it is that one who has been long in\ndarkness concerning Jesus Christ so quickly comes to see the truth when he\nsurrenders his will to God and seeks light from Him. When he surrenders\nhis will to God, he has put himself into that attitude towards God where\nthe Holy Spirit can do His work (Acts v. 32). Jesus says in John vii. 17,\nR. V., \u201cIf any man willeth to do His will, he shall know of the teaching,\nwhether it be of God, or whether I speak from Myself.\u201d When a man wills to\ndo the will of God, then the conditions are provided on which the Holy\nSpirit works and He illuminates the mind to see the truth about Jesus and\nto see that His teaching is the very Word of God. John writes in John xx.\n31, \u201cBut these are written (these things in the Gospel of John) that ye\nmight believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing\nye might have life through His name.\u201d John wrote his Gospel for this\npurpose, that men might see Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, through\nwhat he records, and that they might believe that He is the Christ, the\nSon of God, and that thus believing they might have life through His name.\nThe best book in the world to put into the hands of one who desires to\nknow about Jesus and to be saved is the Gospel of John. And yet many a man\nhas read the Gospel of John over and over and over again and not seen and\nbelieved that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. But let the same man\nsurrender his will absolutely to God and ask God for light as he reads the\nGospel and promise God that he will take his stand on everything in the\nGospel that He shows him to be true and before the man has finished the\nGospel he will see clearly that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and\nwill believe and have eternal life. Why? Because he has put himself into\nthe place where the Holy Spirit can take the things written in the Gospel\nand interpret them and bear His testimony. I have seen this tested and\nproven time and time again all around the world. Men have come to me and\nsaid to me that they did not believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of\nGod, and many have gone farther and said they were agnostics and did not\neven know whether there was a personal God. Then I have told them to read\nthe Gospel of John, that in that Gospel John presented the evidence that\nJesus was the Christ, the Son of God. Oftentimes they have told me they\nhave read it over and over again, and yet were not convinced that Jesus\nwas the Christ, the Son of God. Then I have said to them, \u201cYou have not\nread it the right way,\u201d and I have got them to surrender their will to God\n(or in case where they were not sure there was a God, have got them to\ntake their stand upon the right to follow it wherever it might carry\nthem). Then I have had them agree to read the Gospel of John slowly and\nthoughtfully, and each time before they read to look up to God, if there\nwere any God, to help them to understand what they were to read and to\npromise Him that they would take their stand upon whatever He showed them\nto be true, and follow it wherever it would carry them. And in every\ninstance before they had finished the Gospel they had come to see that\nJesus was the Christ, the Son of God, and have believed and been saved.\nThey had put themselves in that position where the Holy Spirit could bear\nHis testimony to Jesus Christ and He had done it and through His testimony\nthey saw and believed.\n\nIf you wish men to see the truth about Christ, do not depend upon your own\npowers of expression and persuasion, but cast yourself upon the Holy\nSpirit and seek for them His testimony and see to it that they put\nthemselves in the place where the Holy Spirit can testify. This is the\ncure for both skepticism and ignorance concerning Christ. If you yourself\nare not clear concerning the truth about Jesus Christ, seek for yourself\nthe testimony of the Holy Spirit regarding Christ. Read the Scriptures,\nread especially the Gospel of John but do not depend upon the mere reading\nof the Word, but before you read it, put yourself in such an attitude\ntowards God by the absolute surrender of your will to Him that the Holy\nSpirit may bear His testimony in your heart concerning Jesus Christ. What\nwe all most need is a clear and full vision of Jesus Christ and this comes\nthrough the testimony of the Holy Spirit. One night a number of our\nstudents came back from the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago and said to\nme, \u201cWe had a wonderful meeting at the mission to-night. There were many\ndrunkards and outcasts at the front who accepted Christ.\u201d The next day I\nmet Mr. Harry Monroe, the superintendent of the mission, on the street,\nand I said, \u201cHarry, the boys say you had a wonderful meeting at the\nmission last night.\u201d \u201cWould you like to know how it came about?\u201d he\nreplied. \u201cYes.\u201d \u201cWell,\u201d he said, \u201cI simply held up Jesus Christ and it\npleased the Holy Spirit to illumine the face of Jesus Christ, and men saw\nand believed.\u201d It was a unique way of putting it but it was an expressive\nway and true to the essential facts in the case. It is our part to hold up\nJesus Christ, and then look to the Holy Spirit to illumine His face or to\ntake the truth about Him and make it clear to the hearts of our hearers\nand He will do it and men will see and believe. Of course, we need to be\nso walking towards God that the Holy Spirit may take us as the instruments\nthrough whom He will bear His testimony.\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX. THE REGENERATING WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.\n\n\nThe Apostle Paul in Titus iii. 5, R. V., writes, \u201cNot by works done in\nrighteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to His mercy He saved\nus, through the washing of regeneration and _renewing of the Holy Ghost_.\u201d\nIn these words we are taught that _the Holy Spirit renews men, or makes\nmen new_, and that through this renewing of the Holy Spirit, we are saved.\nJesus taught the same in John iii. 3-5, \u201cJesus answered and said unto him,\nVerily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see\nthe kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto Him, How can a man be born when\nhe is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother\u2019s womb and be\nborn? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be\nborn of water and _of the Spirit_, he cannot enter into the kingdom of\nGod.\u201d\n\nWhat is regeneration? _Regeneration is the impartation of life, spiritual\nlife, to those who are dead, spiritually dead, through their trespasses\nand sins_ (Eph. ii. 1, R. V.). It is the Holy Spirit who imparts this\nlife. It is true that the written Word is the instrument which the Holy\nSpirit uses in regeneration. We read in 1 Pet. i. 23, \u201cBeing born again,\nnot of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, _by the Word of God_, which\nliveth and abideth forever.\u201d We read in James i. 18, \u201cOf His own will\nbegat He us with _the Word of truth_, that we should be a kind of first\nfruits of His creatures.\u201d These passages make it plain that the Word is\nthe instrument used in regeneration, but it is only as the Holy Spirit\nuses the instrument that the new birth results. \u201cIt is the Spirit that\ngiveth life\u201d (John vi. 63, A. R. V.). In 2 Cor. iii. 6, we are told that\n\u201cthe letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.\u201d(1) This is sometimes\ninterpreted to mean that the literal interpretation of Scripture, the\ninterpretation that takes it in its strict grammatical sense and makes it\nmean what it says, kills; but that some spiritual interpretation, an\ninterpretation that \u201cgives the spirit of the passage,\u201d by making it mean\nsomething it does not say, gives life; and those who insist upon Scripture\nmeaning exactly what it says are called \u201cdeadly literalists.\u201d This is a\nfavourite perversion of Scripture with those who do not like to take the\nBible as meaning just what it says and who find themselves driven into a\ncorner and are looking about for some convenient way of escape. If one\nwill read the words in their context, he will see that this thought was\nutterly foreign to the mind of Paul. Indeed, one who will carefully study\nthe epistles of Paul will find that he himself was a literalist of the\nliteralists. If literalism is deadly, then the teachings of Paul are among\nthe most deadly ever written. Paul will build an argument upon the turn of\na word, upon a number or a tense. What does the passage mean? The way to\nfind out what any passage means is to study in their context the words\nused. Paul is drawing a contrast between the Word of God outside of us,\nwritten with ink upon parchment or graven on tables of stone, and the Word\nof God written within us in tables that are hearts of flesh with the\nSpirit of the living God (v. 3) and he tells us that if we merely have the\nWord of God outside us in a Book or on parchment or on tables of stone,\nthat it will kill us, that it will only bring condemnation and death, but\nthat if we have the Word of God made a living thing in our hearts, written\nupon our hearts by the Spirit of the living God, that it will bring us\nlife.(2) No number of Bibles upon our tables or in our libraries will save\nus, but the truth of the Bible written by the Spirit of the living God in\nour hearts will save us.\n\nTo put the matter of regeneration in another way; _regeneration is the\nimpartation of a new nature, God\u2019s own nature to the one who is born\nagain_ (2 Pet. i. 4). Every human being is born into this world with a\nperverted nature; his whole intellectual, affectional and volitional\nnature perverted by sin. No matter how excellent our human ancestry, we\ncome into this world with a mind that is blind to the truth of God. (\u201cThe\nnatural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are\nfoolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are\nspiritually discerned.\u201d 1 Cor. ii. 14.) With affections that are alienated\nfrom God, loving the things that we ought to hate and hating the things\nthat we ought to love. (\u201cNow the works of the flesh are manifest, which\nare these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry,\nwitchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions,\nheresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like.\u201d Gal.\nv. 19, 20, 21.) With a will that is perverted, set upon pleasing itself,\nrather than pleasing God. (\u201cBecause the mind of the flesh is enmity\nagainst God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can\nit be.\u201d Rom. viii. 7, R. V.) In the new birth a new intellectual,\naffectional and volitional nature is imparted to us. We receive the mind\nthat sees as God sees, thinks God\u2019s thoughts after Him (1 Cor. ii. 12-14);\naffections in harmony with the affections of God. (\u201cThe fruit of the\nSpirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,\nmeekness, temperance: against such there is no law.\u201d Gal. v. 22, 23); a\nwill that is in harmony with the will of God, that delights to do the\nthings that please Him. (Like Jesus we say, \u201cMy meat is to do the will of\nHim that sent Me, and to finish His work.\u201d John iv. 34; cf. John vi. 38;\nGal i. 10.) It is the Holy Spirit who creates in us this new nature, or\nimparts this new nature to us. No amount of preaching, no matter how\northodox it may be, no amount of mere study of the Word will regenerate\nunless the Holy Spirit works. It is He and He alone who makes a man a new\ncreature.\n\nThe new birth is compared in the Bible to growth from a seed. The human\nheart is the soil, the Word of God is the seed (Luke viii. 11; cf. 1 Pet.\ni. 23; Jas. i. 18; 1 Cor. iv. 15), every preacher or teacher of the Word\nis a sower, but the Spirit of God is the One who quickens the seed that is\nthus sown and the Divine nature springs up as the result. There is\nabundant soil everywhere in which to sow the seed, in the human hearts\nthat are around about us upon every hand. There is abundant seed to be\nsown, any of us can find it in the granary of God\u2019s Word; and there are\nto-day many sowers: but there may be soil and seed and sowers, but unless\nas we sow the seed, the Spirit of God quickens it and the heart of the\nhearer closes around it by faith, there will be no harvest. Every sower\nneeds to see to it that he realizes his dependence upon the Holy Spirit to\nquicken the seed he sows and he needs to see to it also that he is in such\nrelation to God that the Holy Spirit may work through him and quicken the\nseed he sows.\n\nThe Holy Spirit does regenerate men. He has power to raise the dead. He\nhas power to impart life to those who are morally both dead and\nputrefying. He has power to impart an entirely new nature to those whose\nnature now is so corrupt that to men they appear to be beyond hope. How\noften I have seen it proven. How often I have seen men and women utterly\nlost and ruined and vile come into a meeting scarcely knowing why they\ncame, and as they have sat there the Word was spoken, the Spirit of God\nhas quickened the Word thus sown in their hearts and in a moment that man\nor woman, by the mighty power of the Holy Spirit, has become a new\ncreation. I know a man who seemed as completely abandoned and hopeless as\nmen ever become. He was about forty-five years of age. He had gone off in\nevil courses in early boyhood. He had run away from home, had joined the\nnavy and afterwards the army, and learned all the vices of both. He had\nbeen dishonourably discharged from the army because of his extreme\ndissipation and disorderliness. He had found his companionships among the\nlowest of the low and the vilest of the vile. When he would go up the\nstreet of a Western town at night, and merchants would hear his yell, they\nwould close their doors in fear. But this man went one night into a\nrevival meeting in a country church out of curiosity. He made sport of the\nmeeting that night with a boon companion who sat by his side, but he went\nagain the next night. The Spirit of God touched his heart. He went forward\nand bowed at the altar. He arose a new creation. He was transformed into\none of the noblest, truest, purest, most unselfish, most gentle and most\nChristlike men I have ever known. I am sometimes asked, \u201cDo you believe in\nsudden conversion?\u201d I believe in something far more wonderful than sudden\nconversion. I believe in sudden regeneration. Conversion is merely an\noutward thing, the turning around. Regeneration goes down to the deepest\ndepths of the inmost soul, transforming thoughts, affections, will, the\nwhole inward man. I believe in sudden regeneration because the Bible\nteaches it and because I have seen it times without number. I believe in\nsudden regeneration because I have experienced it. We are sometimes told\nthat \u201cthe religion of the future will not teach sudden miraculous\nconversion.\u201d If the religion of the future does not teach sudden\nmiraculous conversion, if it does not teach something far more meaningful,\nsudden, miraculous regeneration by the power of the Holy Spirit, then the\nreligion of the future will not be in conformity with the facts of\nexperience and so will not be scientific. It will miss one of the most\ncertain and most glorious of all truths. Man-devised religions in the past\nhave often missed the truth and man-devised religions in the future will\ndoubtless do the same. But the religion God has revealed in His Word and\nthe religion that God confirms in experience teaches sudden regeneration\nby the mighty power of the Holy Spirit. If I did not believe in\nregeneration by the power of the Holy Spirit, I would quit preaching. What\nwould be the use in facing great audiences in which there were multitudes\nof men and women hardened and seared, caring for nothing but the things of\nthe world and the flesh, with no high and holy aspirations, with no\noutlook beyond money and fame and power and pleasure, if it were not for\nthe regenerating power of the Holy Spirit? But with the regenerating power\nof the Holy Spirit, there is every use; for the preacher can never tell\nwhere the Spirit of God is going to strike and do His mighty work. There\nsits before you a man who is a gambler, or a drunkard, or a libertine.\nThere does not seem to be much use in preaching to him, but you can never\ntell but that very night, the Spirit of God will touch that man\u2019s heart\nand transform him into one of the holiest and most useful of men. It has\noften occurred in the past and will doubtless often occur in the future.\nThere sits before you a woman, who is a mere butterfly of fashion. She\nseems to have no thought above society and pleasure and adulation. Why\npreach to her? Without the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit, it would\nbe foolishness and a waste of time; but you can never tell, perhaps this\nvery night the Spirit of God will shine in that darkened heart and open\nthe eyes of that woman to see the beauty of Jesus Christ and she may\nreceive Him and then and there the life of God be imparted by the power of\nthe Holy Spirit to that trifling soul.\n\nThe doctrine of the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit is a glorious\ndoctrine. It sweeps away false hopes. It comes to the one who is trusting\nin education and culture and says, \u201cEducation and culture are not enough.\nYou must be born again.\u201d It comes to the one who is trusting in mere\nexternal morality, and says, \u201cExternal morality is not enough, you must be\nborn again.\u201d It comes to the one who is trusting in the externalities of\nreligion, in going to church, reading the Bible, saying prayers, being\nconfirmed, being baptized, partaking of the Lord\u2019s supper, and says, \u201cThe\nmere externalities of religion are not enough, you must be born again.\u201d It\ncomes to the one who is trusting in turning over a new leaf, in outward\nreform, in quitting his meanness; it says, \u201cOutward reform, quitting your\nmeanness is not enough. You must be born again.\u201d But in place of the vague\nand shallow hopes that it sweeps away, it brings in a new hope, a good\nhope, a blessed hope, a glorious hope. It says, \u201cYou may be born again.\u201d\nIt comes to the one who has no desire higher than the desire for things\nanimal or selfish or worldly and says, \u201cYou may become a partaker of the\nDivine nature, and love the things that God loves and hate the things that\nGod hates. You may become like Jesus Christ. You may be born again.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X. THE INDWELLING SPIRIT FULLY AND FOREVER SATISFYING.\n\n\nThe Holy Spirit takes up His abode in the one who is born of the Spirit.\nThe Apostle Paul says to the believers in Corinth in 1 Cor. iii. 16, R.\nV., \u201cKnow ye not that ye are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God\ndwelleth in you?\u201d This passage refers, not so much to the individual\nbeliever, as to the whole body of believers, the Church. The Church as a\nbody is indwelt by the Spirit of God. But in 1 Cor. vi. 19, R. V., we\nread, \u201cKnow ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost which is\nin you, which ye have from God?\u201d It is evident in this passage that Paul\nis not speaking of the body of believers, of the Church as a whole, but of\nthe individual believer. In a similar way, the Lord Jesus said to His\ndisciples on the night before His crucifixion, \u201cAnd I will pray the\nFather, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with\nyou forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive,\nbecause it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He\ndwelleth with you and _shall be in you_\u201d (John xiv. 16, 17). The Holy\nSpirit dwells in every one who is born again. We read in Rom. viii. 9, \u201cIf\nany man have not the Spirit of Christ (the Spirit of Christ in this verse,\nas we have already seen, does not mean merely a Christlike spirit, but is\na name of the Holy Spirit) he is none of His.\u201d One may be a very imperfect\nbeliever but if he really is a believer in Jesus Christ, if he has really\nbeen born again, the Spirit of God dwells in him. It is very evident from\nthe First Epistle to the Corinthians that the believers in Corinth were\nvery imperfect believers; they were full of imperfection and there was\ngross sin among them. But nevertheless Paul tells them that they are\ntemples of the Holy Spirit, even when dealing with them concerning gross\nimmoralities. (See 1 Cor. vi. 15-19.) _The Holy Spirit dwells in every\nchild of God._ In some, however, He dwells way back of consciousness in\nthe hidden sanctuary of their spirit. He is not allowed to take possession\nas He desires of the whole man, spirit, soul and body. Some therefore are\nnot distinctly conscious of His indwelling, but He is there none the less.\nWhat a solemn, and yet what a glorious thought, that in me dwells this\naugust Person, the Holy Spirit. If we are children of God, we are not so\nmuch to pray that the Spirit may come and dwell in us, for He does that\nalready, we are rather to recognize His presence, His gracious and\nglorious indwelling, and give to Him complete control of the house He\nalready inhabits, and strive to so live as not to grieve this holy One,\nthis Divine Guest. We shall see later, however, that it is right to pray\nfor the filling or baptism with the Spirit. What a thought it gives of the\nhallowedness and sacredness of the body, to think of the Holy Spirit\ndwelling within us. How considerately we ought to treat these bodies and\nhow sensitively we ought to shun everything that will defile them. How\ncarefully we ought to walk in all things so as not to grieve Him who\ndwells within us.\n\nThis indwelling Spirit is a source of full and everlasting satisfaction\nand life. Jesus says in John iv. 14, R. V., \u201cWhosoever drinketh of the\nwater that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall\ngive him shall become in him a well of water springing up unto (better\n\u2018into\u2019 as in A. V.) eternal life.\u201d Jesus was talking to the woman of\nSamaria by the well at Sychar. She had said to Him, \u201cArt Thou greater than\nour father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank thereof himself, and his\nchildren and his cattle?\u201d Then Jesus answered and said unto her,\n\u201cWhosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again.\u201d How true that is of\nevery earthly fountain. No matter how deeply we drink we shall thirst\nagain. No earthly spring of satisfaction ever fully satisfies. We may\ndrink of the fountain of wealth as deeply as we may, it will not satisfy\nlong. We shall thirst again. We may drink of the fountain of fame as\ndeeply as any man ever drank, the satisfaction is but for an hour. We may\ndrink of the fountain of worldly pleasure, of human science and philosophy\nand of earthly learning, we may even drink of the fountain of human love,\nnone will satisfy long; we shall thirst again. But then Jesus went on to\nsay, \u201cBut whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall\nnever thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well\nof water springing up into everlasting life.\u201d The water that Jesus Christ\ngives is the Holy Spirit. This John tells us in the most explicit language\nin John vii. 37-39, \u201cIn the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus\nstood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and\ndrink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his\nbelly shall flow rivers of _living water_. (But this _spake He of the\nSpirit_, which they that believe on Him should receive.)\u201d The Holy Spirit\nfully and forever satisfies the one who receives Him. He becomes within\nhim a well of water springing up, ever springing up, into everlasting\nlife. It is a great thing to have a well that you can carry with you; to\nhave a well that is within you; to have your source of satisfaction, not\nin the things outside yourself, but in a well within and that is always\nwithin, and that is always springing up in freshness and power; to have\nour well of satisfaction and joy within us. We are then independent of our\nenvironment. It matters little whether we have health or sickness,\nprosperity or adversity, our source of joy is within and is ever springing\nup. It matters comparatively little even whether we have our friends with\nus or are separated from them, separated even by what men call death, this\nfountain within is always gushing up and our souls are satisfied.\nSometimes this fountain within gushes up with greatest power and fullness\nin the days of deepest bereavement. At such a time all earthly\nsatisfactions fail. What satisfaction is there in money, or worldly\npleasure, in the theatre or the opera or the dance, in fame or power or\nhuman learning, when some loved one is taken from us? But in the hours\nwhen those that we loved dearest upon earth are taken from us, then it is\nthat the spring of joy of the indwelling Spirit of God bursts forth with\nfullest flow, sorrow and sighing flee away and our own spirits are filled\nwith peace and ecstasy. We have beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for\nmourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness (Isa. lxi. 3).\nIf the experience were not too sacred to put in print, I could tell of a\nmoment of sudden and overwhelming bereavement and sorrow, when it seemed\nas if I would be crushed, when I cried aloud in an agony that seemed\nunendurable, when suddenly and instantly this fountain of the Holy Spirit\nwithin burst forth and I knew such a rest and joy as I had rarely known\nbefore, and my whole being was suffused with the oil of gladness.\n\nThe one who has the Spirit of God dwelling within as a well springing up\ninto everlasting life is independent of the world\u2019s pleasures. He does not\nneed to run after the theatre and the opera and the dance and the cards\nand the other pleasures without which life does not seem worth living to\nthose who have not received the Holy Spirit. He gives these things up, not\nso much because he thinks they are wrong, as because he has something so\nmuch better. He loses all taste for them.\n\nA lady once came to Mr. Moody and said, \u201cMr. Moody, I do not like you.\u201d He\nasked, \u201cWhy not?\u201d She said, \u201cBecause you are too narrow.\u201d \u201cNarrow! I did\nnot know that I was narrow.\u201d \u201cYes, you are too narrow. You don\u2019t believe\nin the theatre; you don\u2019t believe in cards; you don\u2019t believe in dancing.\u201d\n\u201cHow do you know I don\u2019t believe in the theatre?\u201d he asked. \u201cOh,\u201d she\nsaid, \u201cI know you don\u2019t.\u201d Mr. Moody replied, \u201cI go to the theatre whenever\nI want to.\u201d \u201cWhat,\u201d cried the woman, \u201cyou go to the theatre whenever you\nwant to?\u201d \u201cYes, I go to the theatre whenever I want to.\u201d \u201cOh,\u201d she said,\n\u201cMr. Moody, you are a much broader man than I thought you were. I am so\nglad to hear you say it, that you go to the theatre whenever you want to.\u201d\n\u201cYes, I go to the theatre whenever I want to. I don\u2019t want to.\u201d Any one\nwho has really received the Holy Spirit, and in whom the Holy Spirit\ndwells and is unhindered in His working will not want to. Why is it then\nthat so many professed Christians do go after these worldly amusements?\nFor one of two reasons; either because they have never definitely received\nthe Holy Spirit, or else because the fountain is choked. It is quite\npossible for a fountain to become choked. The best well in one of our\ninland cities was choked and dry for many months because an old rag carpet\nhad been thrust into the opening from which the water flowed. When the rag\nwas pulled out, the water flowed again pure and cool and invigorating.\nThere are many in the Church to-day who once knew the matchless joy of the\nHoly Spirit, but some sin or worldly conformity, some act of disobedience,\nmore or less conscious disobedience, to God has come in and the fountain\nis choked. Let us pull out the old rags to-day that this wondrous fountain\nmay burst forth again, springing up every day and hour into everlasting\nlife.\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI. THE HOLY SPIRIT SETTING THE BELIEVER FREE FROM THE POWER OF\nINDWELLING SIN.\n\n\nIn Rom. viii. 2 the Apostle Paul writes, \u201cThe law of the Spirit of life in\nChrist Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.\u201d What the\nlaw of sin and death is we learn from the preceding chapter, the ninth to\nthe twenty-fourth verses. Paul tells us that there was a time in his life\nwhen he was \u201calive apart from the law\u201d (v. 9). But the time came when he\nwas brought face to face with the law of God; he saw that this law was\nholy and the commandment holy and just and good. And he made up his mind\nto keep this holy and just and good law of God. But he soon discovered\nthat beside this law of God outside him, which was holy and just and good,\nthat there was another law inside him directly contrary to this law of God\noutside him. While the law of God outside him said, \u201cThis good thing\u201d and\n\u201cthis good thing\u201d and \u201cthis good thing\u201d and \u201cthis good thing thou shalt\ndo,\u201d the law within him said, \u201cYou cannot do this good thing that you\nwould;\u201d and a fierce combat ensued between this holy and just and good law\nwithout him which Paul himself approved after the inward man, and this\nother law in his members which warred against the law of his mind and kept\nconstantly saying, \u201cYou cannot do the good that you would.\u201d But this law\nin his members (the law that the good that he would do, he did not, but\nthe evil that he would not he constantly did, v. 19) gained the victory.\nPaul\u2019s attempt to keep the law of God resulted in total failure. He found\nhimself sinking deeper and deeper into the mire of sin, constrained and\ndragged down by this law of sin in his members, until at last he cried\nout, \u201cOh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me out of the body of\nthis death?\u201d (v. 24, R. V.). Then Paul made another discovery. He found\nthat in addition to the two laws that he had already found, the law of God\nwithout him, holy and just and good, and the law of sin and death within\nhim, the law that the good he would he could not do and the evil he would\nnot, he must keep on doing, there was a third law, \u201cthe law of the Spirit\nof life in Christ Jesus,\u201d and this third law read this way, \u201cThe\nrighteousness which you cannot achieve in your own strength by the power\nof your own will approving the law of God, the righteousness which the law\nof God without you, holy and just and good though it is, cannot accomplish\nin you, in that it is weak through your flesh, the Spirit of life in\nChrist Jesus can produce in you so that the righteousness that the law\nrequires may be fulfilled in you, if you will not walk after the flesh but\nafter the Spirit.\u201d In other words when we come to the end of ourselves,\nwhen we fully realize our own inability to keep the law of God and in\nutter helplessness look up to the Holy Spirit in Christ Jesus to do for us\nthat which we cannot do for ourselves, and surrender our every thought and\nevery purpose and every desire and every affection to His absolute control\nand thus walk after the Spirit, the Spirit does take control and set us\nfree from the power of sin that dwells in us and brings our whole lives\ninto conformity to the will of God. _It is the privilege of the child of\nGod in the power of the Holy Spirit to have victory over sin every day and\nevery hour and every moment._\n\nThere are many professed Christians to-day living in the experience that\nPaul described in Rom. vii. 9-24. Each day is a day of defeat and if at\nthe close of the day, they review their lives they must cry, \u201cOh, wretched\nman that I am, who shall deliver me out of the body of this death?\u201d There\nare some who even go so far as to reason that this is the normal Christian\nlife, but Paul tells us distinctly that this was \u201cwhen the commandment\ncame\u201d (v. 9), not when the Spirit came; that it is the experience under\nlaw and not in the Spirit. The pronoun \u201cI\u201d occurs twenty-seven times in\nthese fifteen verses and the Holy Spirit is not found once, whereas in the\neighth chapter of Romans the pronoun \u201cI\u201d is found only twice in the whole\nchapter and the Holy Spirit appears constantly. Again Paul tells us in the\nfourteenth verse that this was his experience as \u201ccarnal, sold under sin.\u201d\nCertainly, that does not describe the normal Christian experience. On the\nother hand in Rom. viii. 9 we are told how not to be in the flesh but in\nthe Spirit. In the eighth chapter of Romans we have a picture of the true\nChristian life, the life that is possible to each one of us and that God\nexpects from each one of us. Here we have a life where not merely the\ncommandment comes but the Spirit comes, and works obedience to the\ncommandment and brings us complete victory over the law of sin and death.\nHere we have life, not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, where we not only\nsee the beauty of the law (Rom. vii. 22) but where the Spirit imparts\npower to keep it (Rom. viii. 4). We still have the flesh but we are not in\nthe flesh and we do not live after the flesh. We \u201cthrough the Spirit do\nmortify the deeds of the body\u201d (v. 13). The desires of the body are still\nthere, desires which if made the rule of our life, would lead us into sin,\nbut we day by day by the power of the Spirit do put to death the deeds to\nwhich the desires of the body would lead us. We walk by the Spirit and\ntherefore do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh (Gal. v. 16, R. V.). We\nhave crucified the flesh with the passions and lusts thereof (Gal. v. 24,\nR. V.). It would be _going too far to say we had still a carnal nature_,\nfor a carnal nature is a nature governed by the flesh; _but we have the\nflesh_, but in the Spirit\u2019s power, it is our privilege to get daily,\nhourly, constant victory over the flesh and over sin. But this victory is\nnot in ourselves, nor in any strength of our own. Left to ourselves,\ndeserted of the Spirit of God, we would be as helpless as ever. It is\nstill true that in us, that is in our flesh, dwelleth no good thing (Rom.\nvii. 18). It is all in the power of the indwelling Spirit, but the\nSpirit\u2019s power may be in such fullness that one is not even conscious of\nthe presence of the flesh. It seems as if it were dead and gone forever,\nbut it is only kept in place of death by the Holy Spirit\u2019s power. If for\none moment we were to get our eyes off from Jesus Christ, if we were to\nneglect the daily study of the Word and prayer, down we would go. We must\nlive in the Spirit and walk in the Spirit if we would have continuous\nvictory (Gal. v. 16, 25). The life of the Spirit within us must be\nmaintained by the study of the Word and prayer. One of the saddest things\never witnessed is the way in which some people who have entered by the\nSpirit\u2019s power into a life of victory become self-confident and fancy that\nthe victory is in themselves, and that they can safely neglect the study\nof the Word and prayer. The depths to which such sometimes fall is\nappalling. Each of us needs to lay to heart the inspired words of the\nApostle, \u201cWherefore, let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he\nfall\u201d (1 Cor. x. 12). I once knew a man who seemed to make extraordinary\nstrides in the Christian life. He became a teacher of others and was\ngreatly blessed to thousands. It seemed to me that he was becoming\nself-confident and I trembled for him. I invited him to my room and we had\na long heart to heart conversation. I told him frankly that it seemed as\nif he were going perilously near exceedingly dangerous ground. I said that\nI found it safer at the close of each day not to be too confident that\nthere had been no failures nor defeats that day but to go alone with God\nand ask Him to search my heart and show me if there was anything in my\noutward or inward life that was displeasing to Him, and that very often\nfailures were brought to light that must be confessed as sin. \u201cNo,\u201d he\nreplied, \u201cI do not need to do that. Even if I should do something wrong, I\nwould see it at once. I keep very short accounts with God, and I would\nconfess it at once.\u201d I said it seemed to me as if it would be safer to\ntake time alone with God for God to search us through and through, that\nwhile we might not know anything against ourselves, God might know\nsomething against us (1 Cor. iv. 4, R. V.), and He would bring it to light\nand our failure could be confessed and put away. \u201cNo,\u201d he said, \u201che did\nnot feel that that was necessary.\u201d Satan took advantage of his\nself-confidence. He fell into most appalling sin, and though he has since\nconfessed and professed repentance, he has been utterly set aside from\nGod\u2019s service.\n\nIn John viii. 32 we read, \u201cYe shall know the truth and _the truth shall\nset you free_.\u201d In this verse it is the truth, or the Word of God, that\nsets us free from the power of sin and gives us victory. And in Ps. cxix.\n11 we read, \u201c_Thy Word_ have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin\nagainst Thee.\u201d Here again it is the indwelling Word that keeps us free\nfrom sin. In this matter as in everything else what in one place is\nattributed to the Holy Spirit is elsewhere attributed to the Word. The\nexplanation, of course, is that the Holy Spirit works through the Word,\nand it is futile to talk of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us if we neglect\nthe Word. If we are not feeding on the Word, we are not walking after the\nSpirit and we shall not have victory over the flesh and over sin.\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII. THE HOLY SPIRIT FORMING CHRIST WITHIN US.\n\n\nIt is a wonderful and deeply significant prayer that Paul offers in Eph.\niii. 16-19 for the believers in Ephesus and for all believers who read the\nEpistle. Paul writes, \u201cFor this cause I bow my knees unto the Father, from\nwhom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that He would grant\nyou, according to the riches of His glory, that ye may be strengthened\nwith power through His Spirit in the inward man; that Christ may dwell in\nyour hearts through faith; to the end that ye, being rooted and grounded\nin love, may be strong to apprehend with all the saints what is the\nbreadth and length, and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ\nwhich passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled unto all the fullness of\nGod\u201d (R. V.). We have here an advance in the thought over that which we\nhave just been studying in the preceding chapter. It is the carrying out\nof the former work to its completion. Here the power of the Spirit\nmanifests itself, not merely in giving us victory over sin but in four\nthings:\n\nI. _In Christ dwelling in our hearts._ The word translated \u201cdwell\u201d in this\npassage is a very strong word. It means literally, \u201cto dwell down,\u201d \u201cto\nsettle,\u201d \u201cto dwell deep.\u201d It is the work of the Holy Spirit to form the\nliving Christ within us, dwelling deep down in the deepest depths of our\nbeing. We have already seen that this was a part of the significance of\nthe name sometimes used of the Holy Spirit, \u201cthe Spirit of Christ.\u201d In\nChrist on the cross of Calvary, made an atoning sacrifice for sin, bearing\nthe curse of the broken law in our place, we have _Christ for us_. But by\nthe power of the Holy Spirit bestowed upon us by the risen Christ we have\n_Christ in us_. Herein lies the secret of a Christlike life. We hear a\ngreat deal in these days about doing as Jesus would do. Certainly we ought\nas Christians to live like Christ. \u201cHe that saith he abideth in Him, ought\nhimself so to walk even as He walked\u201d (1 John ii. 6). But any attempt on\nour part to imitate Christ in our own strength will only result in utter\ndisappointment and despair. There is nothing more futile that we can\npossibly attempt than to imitate Christ in the power of our own will. If\nwe fancy that we succeed it will be simply because we have a very\nincomplete knowledge of Christ. The more we study Him, and the more\nperfectly we understand His conduct, the more clearly will we see how far\nshort we have come from imitating Him. But God does not demand of us the\nimpossible, He does not demand of us that we imitate Christ in our own\nstrength. He offers to us something infinitely better, He offers to form\nChrist in us by the power of His Holy Spirit. And when Christ is thus\nformed in us by the Holy Spirit\u2019s power, all we have to do is to let this\nindwelling Christ live out His own life in us, and then we shall be like\nChrist without struggle and effort of our own. A woman, who had a deep\nknowledge of the Word and a rare experience of the fullness that there is\nin Christ, stood one morning before a body of ministers as they plied her\nwith questions. \u201cDo you mean to say, Mrs. H\u2014\u2014,\u201d one of the ministers\nasked, \u201cthat you are holy?\u201d Quickly but very meekly and gently, the elect\nlady replied, \u201cChrist in me is holy.\u201d No, we are not holy. To the end of\nthe chapter in and of ourselves we are full of weakness and failure, but\nthe Holy Spirit is able to form within us the Holy One of God, the\nindwelling Christ, and He will live out His life through us in all the\nhumblest relations of life as well as in those relations of life that are\nconsidered greater. He will live out His life through the mother in the\nhome, through the day-labourer in the pit, through the business man in his\noffice\u2014everywhere.\n\nII. _In our being rooted and grounded in love_ (v. 17). Paul multiplies\nfigures here. The first figure is taken from the tree shooting its roots\ndown deep into the earth and taking fast hold upon it. The second figure\nis taken from a great building with its foundations laid deep in the earth\non the rock. Paul therefore tells us that by the strengthening of the\nSpirit in the inward man we send the roots of our life down deep into the\nsoil of love and also that the foundations of the superstructure of our\ncharacter are built upon the rock of love. Love is the sum of holiness,\nthe fulfilling of the law (Rom. xiii. 10); love is what we all most need\nin our relations to God, to Jesus Christ and to one another; and it is the\nwork of the Holy Spirit to root and ground our lives in love. There is the\nmost intimate relation between Christ being formed within us, or made to\ndwell in us, and our being rooted and grounded in love, for Jesus Christ\nHimself is the absolutely perfect embodiment of divine love.\n\nIII. _In our being made strong to apprehend with all the saints what is\nthe breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of\nChrist which passeth knowledge._ It is not enough that we love, we must\nknow the love of Christ, but that love passeth knowledge. It is so broad,\nso long, so high, so deep, that no one can comprehend it. But we can\n\u201capprehend\u201d it, we can lay hold upon it; we can make it our own; we can\nhold it before us as the object of our meditation, our wonder, and our\njoy. But it is only in the power of the Holy Spirit that we can thus\napprehend it. The mind cannot grasp it at all, in its own native strength.\nA man untaught and unstrengthened by the Spirit of God may talk about the\nlove of Christ, he may write poetry about it, he may go into rhapsodies\nover it, but it is only words, words, words. There is no real\napprehension. But the Spirit of God makes us strong to really apprehend it\nin all its breadth, in all its length, in all its depth, and in all its\nheight.\n\nIV. _In our being __\u201c__filled unto __ALL__ the fullness of God.__\u201d_ There\nis a very important change between the Authorized and Revised Version. The\nAuthorized Version reads \u201cFilled _with_ all the fullness of God.\u201d The\nRevised Version reads more exactly \u201cfilled _unto_ all the fullness of\nGod.\u201d It is no wonder that the translators of the Authorized Version\nstaggered at what Paul said and sought to tone down the full force of his\nwords. To be filled _with_ all the fullness of God would not be so\nwonderful, for it is an easy matter to fill a pint cup with all the\nfullness of the ocean, a single dip will do it. But it would be an\nimpossibility indeed to fill a pint cup _unto_ all the fullness of the\nocean, until all the fullness that there is in the ocean is in that pint\ncup. But it is seemingly a more impossible task that the Holy Spirit\nundertakes to do for us, to fill us \u201cunto all the fullness\u201d of the\ninfinite God, to fill us until all the intellectual and moral fullness\nthat there is in God is in us. But this is the believer\u2019s destiny, we are\n\u201cheirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ\u201d (Rom. viii. 17), _i. e._,\nwe are heirs of God to the extent that Jesus Christ is an heir of God;\nthat is, we are heirs to all God is and all God has. It is the work of the\nHoly Spirit to apply to us that which is already ours in Christ. It is His\nwork to make ours experimentally all God has and all God is, until the\nwork is consummated in our being \u201c_filled unto all the fullness of God_.\u201d\nThis is not the work of a moment, nor a day, nor a week, nor a month, nor\na year, but the Holy Spirit day by day puts His hand, as it were, into the\nfullness of God and conveys to us what He has taken therefrom and puts it\ninto us, and then again He puts His hand into the fullness that there is\nin God and conveys to us what is taken therefrom, and puts it into us, and\nthis wonderful process goes on day after day and week after week and month\nafter month, and year after year, and never ends until we are \u201cfilled\n_unto_ all the fullness of God.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII. THE HOLY SPIRIT BRINGING FORTH IN THE BELIEVER CHRISTLIKE\nGRACES OF CHARACTER.\n\n\nThere is a singular charm, a charm that one can scarcely explain, in the\nwords of Paul in Gal. v. 22, 23, R. V., \u201cThe fruit of the Spirit is love,\njoy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness,\ntemperance.\u201d What a catalogue we have here of lovely moral\ncharacteristics. Paul tells us that they are the fruit of the Spirit, that\nis, if the Holy Spirit is given control of our lives, this is the fruit\nthat He will bear. All real beauty of character, all real Christlikeness\nin us, is the Holy Spirit\u2019s work; it is His fruit; He produces it; He\nbears it, not we. It is well to notice that these graces are not said to\nbe the fruits of the Spirit but the fruit, _i. e._, if the Spirit is given\ncontrol of our life, He will not bear one of these as fruit in one person\nand another as fruit in another person, but this will be the one fruit of\nmany flavours that He produces in each one. There is also a unity of\norigin running throughout all the multiplicity of manifestation. It is a\nbeautiful life that is set forth in these verses. Every word is worthy of\nearnest study and profound meditation. Think of these words one by one;\n\u201clove\u201d\u2014\u201cjoy\u201d\u2014\u201cpeace\u201d\u2014\u201clongsuffering\u201d\u2014\u201ckindness\u201d\u2014\u201cgoodness\u201d\u2014\u201cfaith\u201d (or\n\u201cfaithfulness,\u201d R. V.; faith is the better translation if properly\nunderstood. The word is deeper than faithfulness. It is a real faith that\nresults in faithfulness)\u2014\u201cmeekness\u201d\u2014\u201ctemperance\u201d (or a life under perfect\ncontrol by the power of the Holy Spirit). We have here a perfect picture\nof the life of Jesus Christ Himself. Is not this the life that we all long\nfor, the Christlike life? But this life is not natural to us and is not\nattainable by us by any effort of what we are in ourselves. The life that\nis natural to us is set forth in the three preceding verses: \u201cNow the\nworks of the flesh are manifest, which are these, fornication,\nuncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife,\njealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, heresies, envyings, drunkenness,\nrevellings and such like\u201d (Gal. v. 21, R. V.). All these works of the\nflesh will not manifest themselves in each individual; some will manifest\nthemselves in one, others in others, but they have one common source, the\nflesh, and if we live in the flesh, this is the kind of a life that we\nwill live. It is the life that is natural to us. But when the indwelling\nSpirit is given full control in the one He inhabits, when we are brought\nto realize the utter badness of the flesh and give up in hopeless despair\nof ever attaining to anything in its power, when, in other words, we come\nto the end of ourselves, and just give over the whole work of making us\nwhat we ought to be to the indwelling Holy Spirit, then and only then,\nthese holy graces of character, which are set forth in Gal. v. 22, 23, are\nHis fruit in our lives. Do you wish these graces in your character and\nlife? Do you really wish them? Then renounce self utterly and all its\nstrivings after holiness, give up any thought that you can ever attain to\nanything really morally beautiful in your own strength and let the Holy\nSpirit, who already dwells in you (if you are a child of God) take full\ncontrol and bear His own glorious fruit in your daily life.\n\nWe get very much the same thought from a different point of view in the\nsecond chapter and twentieth verse, A. R. V., \u201cI have been crucified with\nChrist; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me: and that\nlife which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in\nthe Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.\u201d\n\nWe hear a great deal in these days about \u201cEthical Culture,\u201d which usually\nmeans the cultivation of the flesh until it bears the fruit of the Spirit.\nIt cannot be done; no more than thorns can be made to bear figs and the\nbramble bush grapes (Luke vi. 44; Matt. xii. 33). We hear also a great\ndeal about \u201ccharacter building.\u201d That may be all very well if you bear\nconstantly in mind that the Holy Spirit must do the building, and even\nthen it is not so much building as fruit bearing. (See, however, 2 Pet. i.\n5-7.) We hear also a great deal about \u201ccultivating graces of character,\u201d\nbut we must always bear it clearly in mind that the way to cultivate true\ngraces of character is by submitting ourselves utterly to the Spirit to do\nHis work and bear His fruit. This is \u201csanctification _of the Spirit_\u201d (1\nPet. i. 2; 2 Thess. ii. 13). There is a sense, however, in which\ncultivating graces of character is right: viz., we look at Jesus Christ to\nsee what He is and what we therefore ought to be; then we look to the Holy\nSpirit to make us this that we ought to be and thus, \u201creflecting as a\nmirror the glory of the Lord, we are transformed into the same image from\nglory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit\u201d (2 Cor. iii. 18, R. V.).\nSettle it, however, clearly and forever that the flesh can never bear this\nfruit, that you can never attain to these things by your own effort that\nthey are \u201c_the fruit of the Spirit_.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV. THE HOLY SPIRIT GUIDING THE BELIEVER INTO A LIFE AS A SON.\n\n\nThe Apostle Paul writes in Rom. viii. 14, R. V., \u201cFor as many as are _led\nby the Spirit of God_, these are the sons of God.\u201d In this passage we see\nthe Holy Spirit taking the conduct of the believer\u2019s life. A true\nChristian life is a personally conducted life, conducted at every turn by\na Divine Person. It is the believer\u2019s privilege to be absolutely set free\nfrom all care and worry and anxiety as to the decisions which we must make\nat any turn of life. The Holy Spirit undertakes all that responsibility\nfor us. A true Christian life is not one governed by a long set of rules\nwithout us, but led by a living and ever-present Person within us. It is\nin this connection that Paul says, \u201cFor ye received not the spirit _of\nbondage_ again _to fear_.\u201d A life governed by rules without one is a life\nof _bondage_. There is always _fear_ that we haven\u2019t made quite rules\nenough, and always the dread that in an unguarded moment we may have\nbroken some of the rules which we have made. The life that many professed\nChristians lead is one of awful bondage; for they have put upon themselves\na yoke more grievous to bear than that of the ancient Mosaic law\nconcerning which Peter said to the Jews of his time, that neither they nor\ntheir fathers had been able to bear it (Acts xv. 10). Many Christians have\na long list of self-made rules, \u201cThou shalt do this,\u201d and \u201cThou shalt do\nthis,\u201d and \u201cThou shalt do this,\u201d and \u201cThou shalt not do that,\u201d and \u201cThou\nshalt not do that,\u201d and \u201cThou shalt not do that\u201d; and if by any chance\nthey break one of these self-made rules, or forget to keep one of them,\nthey are at once filled with an awful dread that they have brought upon\nthemselves the displeasure of God (and they even sometimes fancy that they\nhave committed the unpardonable sin). This is not Christianity, this is\nlegalism. \u201cWe have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear,\u201d we\nhave received the Spirit who gives us the place of sons (Rom. viii. 15).\nOur lives should not be governed by a set of rules without us but by the\nloving Spirit of Adoption within us. We should believe the teaching of\nGod\u2019s Word that the Spirit of God\u2019s Son dwells within us and we should\nsurrender the absolute control of our life to Him and look to Him to guide\nus at every turn of life. He will do it if we only surrender to Him to do\nit and trust Him to do it. If in a moment of thoughtlessness, we go our\nown way instead of His, we will not be filled with an overwhelming sense\nof condemnation and of fear of an offended God, but we will go to God as\nour Father, confess our going astray, believe that He forgives us fully\nbecause He says so (1 John i. 9) and go on light and happy of heart to\nobey Him and be led by His Spirit.\n\nBeing led by the Spirit of God does not mean for a moment that we will do\nthings that the written Word of God tells us not to do. The Holy Spirit\nnever leads men contrary to the Book of which He Himself is the Author.\nAnd if there is some spirit which is leading us to do something that is\ncontrary to the explicit teachings of Jesus, or the Apostles, we may be\nperfectly sure that this spirit who is leading us is not the Holy Spirit.\nThis point needs to be emphasized in our day, for there are not a few who\ngive themselves over to the leading of some spirit, whom they say is the\nHoly Spirit, but who is leading them to do things explicitly forbidden in\nthe Word. We must always remember that many false spirits and false\nprophets are gone out into the world (1 John iv. 1). There are many who\nare so anxious to be led by some unseen power that they are ready to\nsurrender the conduct of their lives to any spiritual influence or unseen\nperson. In this way, they open their lives to the conduct and malevolent\ninfluence of evil spirits to the utter wreck and ruin of their lives.\n\nA man who made great professions of piety once came to me and said that\nthe Holy Spirit was leading him and \u201ca sweet Christian woman,\u201d whom he had\nmet, to contemplate marriage. \u201cWhy,\u201d I said, in astonishment, \u201cyou already\nhave one wife.\u201d \u201cYes,\u201d he said, \u201cbut you know we are not congenial, and we\nhave not lived together for years.\u201d \u201cYes,\u201d I replied, \u201cI know you have not\nlived together for years, and I have looked into the matter, and I believe\nthat the blame for that lies largely at your door. In any event, she is\nyour wife. You have no reason to suppose she has been untrue to you, and\nJesus Christ explicitly teaches that if you marry another while she lives\nyou commit adultery\u201d (Luke xvi. 18). \u201cOh, but,\u201d the man said, \u201cthe Spirit\nof God is leading us to love one another and to see that we ought to marry\none another.\u201d \u201cYou lie, and you blaspheme,\u201d I replied. \u201cAny spirit that is\nleading you to disobey the plain teaching of Jesus Christ is not the\nSpirit of God but some spirit of the devil.\u201d This perhaps was an extreme\ncase, but cases of essentially the same character are not rare. Many\nprofessed Christians seek to justify themselves in doing things which are\nexplicitly forbidden in the Word by saying that they are led by the Spirit\nof God. Not long ago, I protested to the leaders in a Christian assembly\nwhere at each meeting many professed to speak with tongues in distinct\nviolation of the teaching of the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul in 1\nCor. xiv. 27, 28 (that not more than two or at the most, three, shall\nspeak in a tongue in one gathering and that not even one shall speak\nunless there was an interpreter, and that no two shall speak at the same\ntime). The defense that they made was that the Holy Spirit led them to\nspeak several at a time and many in a single meeting and that they must\nobey the Holy Spirit, and in such a case as this were not subject to the\nWord. The Holy Spirit never contradicts Himself. He never leads the\nindividual to do that which in the written Word He has commanded us all\nnot to do. Any leading of the Spirit must be tested by that which we know\nto be the leading of the Spirit in the Word. But while we need to be on\nour guard against the leading of false spirits, it is our privilege to be\nled by the Holy Spirit, and to lead a life free from the bondage of rules\nand free from the anxiety that we shall not go wrong, a life as children\nwhose Father has sent an unerring Guide to lead them all the way.\n\nThose who are thus led by the Spirit of God are \u201c_sons_ of God,\u201d that is,\nthey are not merely _children_ of God, born it is true of the Father, but\nimmature, but they are the grown children, the mature children of God;\nthey are no longer babes but sons. The Apostle Paul draws a contrast in\nGal. iv. 1-7 between the babe under the tutelage of the law and differing\nnothing from a servant, and the full grown son who is no more a servant\nbut a son walking in joyous liberty. It sometimes seems as if\ncomparatively few Christians to-day had really thrown off the bondage of\nlaw, rules outside themselves, and entered into the joyous liberty of\nsons.\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV. THE HOLY SPIRIT BEARING WITNESS TO OUR SONSHIP.\n\n\nOne of the most precious passages in the Bible regarding the work of the\nHoly Spirit is found in Rom. viii. 15, 16, R. V., \u201cFor ye received not the\nspirit of bondage again to fear; but ye received the spirit of adoption,\nwhereby we cry Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our\nspirit, that we are the children of God.\u201d There are two witnesses to our\nsonship, first, our own spirit, taking God at His Word (\u201cAs many as\nreceived Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God,\u201d John i.\n12), bears witness to our sonship. Our own spirit unhesitatingly affirms\nthat what God says is true that we are sons of God because God says so.\nBut there is another witness to our sonship, namely, the Holy Spirit. He\nbears witness _together with_ our spirit. \u201cTogether with\u201d is the force of\nthe Greek used in this passage. It does not say that He bears witness _to_\nour spirit but \u201c_together_ with\u201d it. How He does this is explained in Gal\niv. 6, \u201cBecause ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son\ninto your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.\u201d When we have received Jesus\nChrist as our Saviour and accepted God\u2019s testimony concerning Christ that\nthrough Him we have become sons, the Spirit of His Son comes into our\nhearts filling them with an overwhelming sense of sonship, and crying\nthrough our hearts, \u201cAbba, Father.\u201d The natural attitude of our hearts\ntowards God is not that of sons. We may call Him Father with our lips, as\nwhen for example we repeat in a formal way, the prayer that Jesus taught\nus, \u201cOur Father, which art in heaven,\u201d but there is no real sense that He\nis our Father. Our calling Him so is mere words. We do not really trust\nHim. We do not love to come into His presence; we do not love to look up\ninto His face with a sense of wonderful joy and trust because we are\ntalking to our Father. We dread God. We come to Him in prayer because we\nthink we ought to and perhaps we are afraid of what might happen if we did\nnot. But when the Spirit of His Son bears witness together with our spirit\nto our sonship, then we are filled and thrilled with the sense that we are\nsons. We trust Him as we never even trusted our earthly Father. There is\neven less fear of Him than there was of our earthly father. Reverence\nthere is, awe, but oh! such a sense of wonderful childlike trust.\n\nNotice when it is that the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we\nare the children of God. We have the order of experience in the order of\nthe verses in Rom. viii. First we see the Holy Spirit setting us free from\nthe law of sin and death, and consequently, the righteousness of the law\nfulfilled in us who walk not after the law but after the Spirit (vs. 2-4);\nthen we have the believer not minding the things of the flesh but the\nthings of the Spirit (v. 5); then we have the believer day by day through\nthe Spirit putting to death the deeds of the body (v. 13); then we have\nthe believer led by the Spirit of God; then and only then, we have the\nSpirit bearing witness to our sonship. There are many seeking the witness\nof the Spirit to their sonship in the wrong place. They practically demand\nthe witness of the Spirit to their sonship before they have even confessed\ntheir acceptance of Christ, and certainly before they have surrendered\ntheir lives fully to the control of the indwelling Spirit of God. No, let\nus seek things in their right order. Let us accept Jesus Christ as our\nSaviour, and surrender to Him as our Lord and Master, because God commands\nus to do so; let us confess Him before the world because God commands that\n(Matt. x. 32, 33; Rom. x. 9, 10); let us assert that our sins are\nforgiven, that we have eternal life, that we are sons of God because God\nsays so in His Word and we are unwilling to make God a liar by doubting\nHim (Acts x. 43; xiii. 38, 39; 1 John v. 10-13; John v. 24; John i. 12);\nlet us surrender our lives to the control of the Spirit of Life, looking\nto Him to set us free from the law of sin and death; let us set our minds,\nnot upon the things of the flesh but the things of the Spirit; let us\nthrough the Spirit day by day put to death the deeds of the body; let us\ngive our lives up to be led by the Spirit of God in all things; and _then_\nlet us simply trust God to send the Spirit of His Son into our hearts\nfilling us with a sense of sonship, crying, \u201cAbba, Father,\u201d and He will do\nit.\n\nGod, our Father, longs that we shall know and realize that we are His\nsons. He longs to hear us call Him Father from hearts that realize what\nthey say, and that trust Him without a fear or anxiety. He is our Father,\nHe alone in all the universe realizes the fullness of meaning that there\nis in that wonderful word \u201cFather,\u201d and it brings joy to Him to have us\nrealize that He is our Father and to call Him so.\n\nSome years ago there was a father in the state of Illinois, who had a\nchild who had been deaf and dumb from her birth. It was a sad day in that\nhome when they came to realize that that little child was deaf and would\nnever hear and, as they thought, would never speak. The father heard of an\ninstitution in Jacksonville, Ill., where deaf children were taught to\ntalk. He took this little child to the institution and put her in charge\nof the superintendent. After the child had been there some time, the\nsuperintendent wrote telling the father that he would better come and\nvisit his child. A day was appointed and the child was told that her\nfather was coming. As the hour approached, she sat up in the window,\nwatching the gate for her father to pass through. The moment he entered\nthe gate she saw him, ran down the stairs and ran out on the lawn, met\nhim, looked up into his face and lifted up her hands and said, \u201cPapa.\u201d\nWhen that father heard the dumb lips of his child speak for the first time\nand frame that sweet word \u201cPapa,\u201d such a throb of joy passed through his\nheart that he literally fell to the ground and rolled upon the grass in\necstasy. But there is a Father who loves as no earthly father, who longs\nto have His children realize that they are children, and when we look up\ninto His face and from a heart which the Holy Spirit has filled with a\nsense of sonship call Him \u201cAbba\u201d (papa), \u201cFather,\u201d no language can\ndescribe the joy of God.\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI. THE HOLY SPIRIT AS A TEACHER.\n\n\nOur Lord Jesus in His last conversation with His disciples before His\ncrucifixion said, \u201cBut the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost, whom the\nFather will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all\nthings to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you\u201d (John xiv.\n26).\n\nHere we have a twofold work of the Holy Spirit, teaching and bringing to\nremembrance the things which Christ had already taught. We will take them\nin the reverse order.\n\nI. _The Holy Spirit brings to remembrance the words of Christ._\n\nThis promise was made primarily to the Apostles and is the guarantee of\nthe accuracy of their report of what Jesus said; but the Holy Spirit does\na similar work with each believer who expects it of Him, and who looks to\nHim to do it. The Holy Spirit brings to our mind the teachings of Christ\nand of the Word just when we need them for either the necessities of our\nlife or of our service. Many of us could tell of occasions when we were in\ngreat distress of soul or great questioning as to duty or great extremity\nas to what to say to one whom we were trying to lead to Christ or to help,\nand at that exact moment the very Scripture we needed\u2014some passage it may\nbe we had not thought of for a long time and quite likely of which we had\nnever thought in this connection\u2014was brought to mind. Who did it? The Holy\nSpirit did it. He is ready to do it even more frequently, if we only\nexpect it of Him and look to Him to do it. It is our privilege every time\nwe sit down beside an inquirer to point him to the way of life to look up\nto the Holy Spirit and say, \u201cJust what shall I say to this inquirer? Just\nwhat Scripture shall I use?\u201d There is a deep significance in the fact that\nin the verse immediately following this precious promise Jesus says,\n\u201cPeace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you.\u201d It is by the Spirit\nbringing His words to remembrance and teaching us the truth of God that we\nobtain and abide in this peace. If we will simply look to the Holy Spirit\nto bring to mind Scripture just when we need it, and just the Scripture we\nneed, we shall indeed have Christ\u2019s peace every moment of our lives. One\nwho was preparing for Christian work came to me in great distress. He said\nhe must give up his preparation for he could not memorize the Scriptures.\n\u201cI am thirty-two years old,\u201d he said, \u201cand have been in business now for\nyears. I have gotten out of the habit of study and I cannot memorize\nanything.\u201d The man longed to be in his Master\u2019s service and the tears\nstood in his eyes as he said it. \u201cDon\u2019t be discouraged,\u201d I replied. \u201cTake\nyour Lord\u2019s promise that the Holy Spirit will bring His words to\nremembrance, learn one passage of Scripture, fix it firmly in your mind,\nthen another and then another and look to the Holy Spirit to bring them to\nyour remembrance when you need them.\u201d He went on with his preparation. He\ntrusted the Holy Spirit. Afterwards he took up work in a very difficult\nfield, a field where all sorts of error abounded. They would gather around\nhim on the street like bees and he would take his Bible and trust the Holy\nSpirit to bring to remembrance the passages of Scripture that he needed\nand He did it. His adversaries were filled with confusion, as he met them\nat every point with the sure Word of God, and many of the most hardened\nwere won for Christ.\n\nII. _The Holy Spirit will teach us all things._\n\nThere is a still more explicit promise to this effect two chapters further\non in John xvi. 12, 13, 14, R. V. Here Jesus says, \u201cI have yet many things\nto say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit\nof truth, is come, He shall guide you into all the truth: for He shall not\nspeak from Himself; but what things soever He shall hear, these shall He\nspeak: and He shall declare unto you the things that are to come. He shall\nglorify Me: for He shall take of Mine, and shall declare it unto you.\u201d\nThis promise was made in the first instance to the Apostles, but the\nApostles themselves applied it to all believers (1 John ii. 20, 27).\n\nIt is the privilege of each believer in Jesus Christ, even the humblest,\nto be \u201ctaught of God.\u201d Each humblest believer is independent of human\nteachers\u2014\u201cYe need not that any teach you\u201d (1 John ii. 27, R. V.). This, of\ncourse, does not mean that we may not learn much from others who are\ntaught of the Holy Spirit. If John had thought that he would never have\nwritten this epistle to teach others. The man who is the most fully taught\nof God is the very one who will be most ready to listen to what God has\ntaught others. Much less does it mean that when we are taught of the\nSpirit, we are independent of the written Word of God; for the Word is the\nvery place to which the Spirit, who is the Author of the Word, leads His\npupils and the instrument through which He instructs them (Eph. vi. 17;\nJohn vi. 33; Eph. v. 18, 19; cf. Col. iii. 16). But while we may learn\nmuch from men, we are not dependent upon them. We have a Divine Teacher,\nthe Holy Spirit.\n\nWe shall never truly know the truth until we are thus taught directly by\nthe Holy Spirit. No amount of mere human teaching, no matter who our\nteachers may be, will ever give us a correct and exact and full\napprehension of the truth. Not even a diligent study of the Word either in\nthe English or in the original languages will give us a real understanding\nof the truth. We must be taught directly by the Holy Spirit and we may be\nthus taught, each one of us. The one who is thus taught will understand\nthe truth of God better even if he does not know one word of Greek or\nHebrew, than the one who knows Greek and Hebrew thoroughly and all the\ncognate languages as well, but who is not taught of the Spirit.\n\nThe Spirit will guide the one whom He thus teaches \u201cinto all the truth.\u201d\nThe whole sphere of God\u2019s truth is for each one of us, but the Holy Spirit\nwill not guide us into all the truth in a single day, nor in a week, nor\nin a year, but step by step. There are two especial lines of the Spirit\u2019s\nteaching mentioned:\n\n(1) \u201cHe shall declare unto you the things that are to come.\u201d There are\nmany who say we can know nothing of the future, that all our thoughts on\nthat subject are guesswork. It is true that we cannot know everything\nabout the future. There are some things which God has seen fit to keep to\nHimself, secret things which belong to Him (Deut. xxix. 29). For example,\nwe cannot \u201cknow the times, or the seasons\u201d of our Lord\u2019s return (Acts i.\n7), but there are many things about the future which the Holy Spirit will\nreveal to us.\n\n(2) \u201cHe shall _glorify Me_ (that is, Christ) for He shall take of Mine and\nshall declare it unto you.\u201d This is the Holy Spirit\u2019s especial line of\nteaching with the believer, as with the unbeliever, Jesus Christ. It is\nHis work above all else to reveal Jesus Christ and to glorify Him. His\nwhole teaching centres in Christ. From one point of view or the other, He\nis always bringing us to Jesus Christ. There are some who fear to\nemphasize the truth about the Holy Spirit lest Christ Himself be\ndisparaged and put in the background, but there is no one who magnifies\nChrist as the Holy Spirit does. We shall never understand Christ, nor see\nHis glory until the Holy Spirit interprets Him to us. No amount of\nlistening to sermons and lectures, no matter how able, no amount of mere\nstudy of the Word even, would ever give us to see \u201cthe things of Christ\u201d;\nthe Holy Spirit must show us and He is willing to do it and He can do it.\nHe is longing to do it. The Holy Spirit\u2019s most intense desire is to reveal\nJesus Christ to men. On the day of Pentecost when Peter and the rest of\nthe company were \u201cfilled with the Holy Spirit,\u201d they did not talk much\nabout the Holy Spirit, they talked about Christ. Study Peter\u2019s sermon on\nthat day; Jesus Christ was his one theme, and Jesus Christ will be our one\ntheme, if we are taught of the Spirit; Jesus Christ will occupy the whole\nhorizon of our vision. We will have a new Christ, a glorious Christ.\nChrist will be so glorious to us that we will long to go and tell every\none about this glorious One whom we have found. Jesus Christ is so\ndifferent when the Spirit glorifies Him by taking of His things and\nshowing them unto us.\n\nIII. _The Holy Spirit reveals to us the deep things of God which are\nhidden from and are foolishness to the natural man._\n\nWe read in 1 Cor. ii. 9-13, \u201cEye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither\nhave entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for\nthem that love Him. But _God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit_:\nfor _the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God_. For\nwhat man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in\nhim? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now\nwe have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of\nGod; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.\nWhich things also we speak, not in the words which man\u2019s wisdom teacheth,\nbut which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with\nspiritual.\u201d This passage, of course, refers primarily to the Apostles but\nwe cannot limit this work of the Spirit to them. The Spirit reveals to the\nindividual believer the deep things of God, things which human eye hath\nnot seen, nor ear heard, things which have not entered into the heart of\nman, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. It is\nevident from the context that this does not refer solely to heaven, or the\nthings to come in the life hereafter. The Holy Spirit takes the deep\nthings of God which God hath prepared for us, even in the life that now\nis, and reveals them to us.\n\nIV. _The Holy Spirit interprets His own revelation. He imparts power to\ndiscern, know and appreciate what He has taught._\n\nIn the next verse to those just quoted we read, \u201cBut the natural man\nreceiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness\nunto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually\ndiscerned\u201d (1 Cor. iii. 14). Not only is the Holy Spirit the Author of\nrevelation, the written Word of God: He is also the Interpreter of what He\nhas revealed. Any profound book is immeasurably more interesting and\nhelpful when we have the author of the book right at hand to interpret it\nto us, and it is always our privilege to have the author of the Bible\nright at hand when we study it. The Holy Spirit is the Author of the Bible\nand He stands ready to interpret its meaning to every believer every time\nhe opens the Book. To understand the Book, we must look to Him, then the\ndarkest places become clear. We often need to pray with the Psalmist of\nold, \u201cOpen Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy\nlaw\u201d (Ps. cxix. 18). It is not enough that we have the revelation of God\nbefore us in the written Word to study, we must also have the inward\nillumination of the Holy Spirit to enable us to apprehend it as we study.\nIt is a common mistake, but a most palpable mistake, to try to comprehend\na spiritual revelation with the natural understanding. It is the foolish\nattempt to do this that has landed so many in the bog of so-called \u201cHigher\nCriticism.\u201d In order to understand art a man must have \u00e6sthetic sense as\nwell as the knowledge of colours and of paint, and a man to understand a\nspiritual revelation must be taught of the Spirit. A mere knowledge of the\nlanguages in which the Bible was written is not enough. A man with no\n\u00e6sthetic sense might as well expect to appreciate the Sistine Madonna,\nbecause he is not colour blind, as a man who is not filled with the Spirit\nto understand the Bible, simply because he understands the vocabulary and\nthe laws of grammar of the languages in which the Bible was written. We\nmight as well think of setting a man to teach art because he understood\npaints as to set a man to teach the Bible because he has a thorough\nunderstanding of Greek and Hebrew. In our day we need not only to\nrecognize the utter insufficiency and worthlessness before God of our own\nrighteousness, which is the lesson of the opening chapters of the Epistle\nto the Romans, but also the utter insufficiency and worthlessness in the\nthings of God of our own wisdom, which is the lesson of the First Epistle\nto the Corinthians, especially the first to the third chapters. (See for\nexample 1 Cor. i. 19-21, 26, 27.)\n\nThe Jews of old had a revelation by the Spirit but they failed to depend\nupon the Spirit Himself to interpret it to them, so they went astray. So\nChristians to-day have a revelation by the Spirit and many are failing to\ndepend upon the Holy Spirit to interpret it to them and so they go astray.\nThe whole evangelical church recognizes theoretically at least the utter\ninsufficiency of man\u2019s own righteousness. What it needs to be taught in\nthe present hour, and what it needs to be made to feel, is the utter\ninsufficiency of man\u2019s wisdom. That is perhaps the lesson which this\ntwentieth century of towering intellectual conceit needs most of any to\nlearn. To understand God\u2019s Word, we must empty ourselves utterly of our\nown wisdom and rest in utter dependence upon the Spirit of God to\ninterpret it to us. We do well to lay to heart the words of Jesus Himself\nin Matt. xi. 25, \u201cI thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth,\nbecause Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast\nrevealed them unto babes.\u201d A number of Bible students were once discussing\nthe best methods of Bible study and one man, who was in point of fact a\nlearned and scholarly man, said, \u201cI think the best method of Bible study\nis the baby method.\u201d When we have entirely put away our own righteousness,\nthen and only then, we get the righteousness of God (Phil. iii. 4-7, 9;\nRom. x. 3). And when we have entirely put away our own wisdom, then, and\nonly then, we get the wisdom of God. \u201cLet no man deceive himself,\u201d says\nthe Apostle Paul. \u201cIf any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world,\n_let him become a fool_, that he may be wise\u201d (1 Cor. iii. 18). And the\nemptying must precede filling, the self poured out that God may be poured\nin.\n\nWe must daily be taught by the Spirit to understand the Word. We cannot\ndepend to-day on the fact that the Spirit taught us yesterday. Each new\ntime that we come in contact with the Word, it must be in the power of the\nSpirit for that specific occasion. That the Holy Spirit once illumined our\nmind to grasp a certain truth is not enough. He must do it each time we\nconfront that passage. Andrew Murray has well said, \u201cEach time you come to\nthe Word in study, in hearing a sermon, or reading a religious book, there\nought to be as distinct as your intercourse with the external means, the\ndefinite act of self-abnegation, denying your own wisdom and yielding\nyourself in faith to the Divine teacher\u201d (\u201cThe Spirit of Christ,\u201d page\n221).\n\nV. _The Holy Spirit enables the believer to communicate to others in power\nthe truth he himself has been taught._\n\nPaul says in 1 Cor. ii. 1-5, \u201cAnd I, brethren, when I came to you, came\nnot with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the\ntestimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you, save\nJesus Christ, and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in\nfear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with\nenticing words of man\u2019s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of\npower: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the\npower of God.\u201d In a similar way in writing to the believers in\nThessalonica in 1 Thess. i. 5, \u201cFor our Gospel came not unto you in word\nonly, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as\nye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.\u201d We need not\nonly the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth to chosen apostles and prophets\nin the first place, and the Holy Spirit in the second place to interpret\nto us as individuals the truth He has thus revealed, but in the third\nplace, we need the Holy Spirit to enable us to effectually communicate to\nothers the truth which He Himself has interpreted to us. We need Him all\nalong the line. One great cause of real failure in the ministry, even when\nthere is seeming success, and not only in the regular ministry but in all\nforms of service as well, comes from the attempt to teach by \u201centicing\nwords of man\u2019s wisdom\u201d (that is, by the arts of human logic, rhetoric,\npersuasion and eloquence) what the Holy Spirit has taught us. What is\nneeded is Holy Ghost power, \u201cdemonstration of the Spirit and of power.\u201d\nThere are three causes of failure in preaching to-day. First, Some other\nmessage is taught than the message which the Holy Spirit has revealed in\nthe Word. (Men preach science, art, literature, philosophy, sociology,\nhistory, economics, experience, etc., and not the simple Word of God as\nfound in the Holy Spirit\u2019s Book,\u2014the Bible.) Second, The Spirit-taught\nmessage of the Bible is studied and sought to be apprehended by the\nnatural understanding, that is, without the Spirit\u2019s illumination. How\ncommon that is, even in institutions where men are being trained for the\nministry, even institutions which may be altogether orthodox. Third, The\nSpirit-given message, the Word, the Bible studied and apprehended under\nthe Holy Ghost\u2019s illumination is given out to others with \u201centicing words\nof man\u2019s wisdom,\u201d and not in \u201cdemonstration of the Spirit and of power.\u201d\nWe need, and we are absolutely dependent upon the Spirit all along the\nline. He must teach us how to speak as well as what to speak. His must be\nthe power as well as the message.\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII. PRAYING, RETURNING THANKS, WORSHIPPING IN THE HOLY SPIRIT.\n\n\nTwo of the most deeply significant passages in the Bible on the subject of\nthe Holy Spirit and on the subject of prayer are found in Jude 20 and Eph.\nvi. 18. In Jude 20 we read, \u201cBut ye, beloved, building up yourselves on\nyour most holy faith, _praying in the Holy Ghost_,\u201d and in Eph. vi. 18,\n\u201c_Praying_ always with all prayer and supplication _in the Spirit_, and\nwatching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.\u201d\n\nThese passages teach us distinctly that _the Holy Spirit guides the\nbeliever in prayer_. The disciples did not know how to pray as they ought\nso they came to Jesus and said, \u201cLord, teach us to pray\u201d (Luke xi. 1). We\nto-day do not know how to pray as we ought\u2014we do not know what to pray\nfor, nor how to ask for it\u2014but there is One who is always at hand to help\n(John xiv. 16, 17) and He knows what we should pray for. He helps our\ninfirmity in this matter of prayer as in other matters (Rom. viii. 26, R.\nV.). He teaches us to pray. True prayer is prayer in the Spirit (_i. e._,\nthe prayer that the Holy Spirit inspires and directs). The prayer in which\nthe Holy Spirit leads us is the prayer \u201caccording to the will of God\u201d\n(Rom. viii. 27). When we ask anything according to God\u2019s will, we know\nthat He hears us and we know that He has granted the things that we ask (1\nJohn v. 14, 15). We may know it is ours at the moment when we pray just as\nsurely as we know it afterwards when we have it in our actual possession.\nBut how can we know the will of God when we pray? In two ways: First of\nall, by what is written in His Word; all the promises in the Bible are\nsure and if God promises anything in the Bible, we may be sure it is His\nwill to give us that thing; but there are many things that we need which\nare not specifically promised in the Word and still even in that case it\nis our privilege to know the will of God, for it is the work of the Holy\nSpirit to teach us God\u2019s will and lead us out in prayer along the line of\nGod\u2019s will. Some object to the Christian doctrine of prayer; for they say\nthat it teaches that we can go to God in our ignorance and change His will\nand subject His infinite wisdom to our erring foolishness. But that is not\nthe Christian doctrine of prayer at all; the Christian doctrine of prayer\nis that it is the believer\u2019s privilege to be taught by the Spirit of God\nHimself to know what the will of God is and not to ask for the things that\nour foolishness would prompt us to ask for but to ask for things that the\nnever-erring Spirit of God prompts us to ask for. True prayer is prayer\n\u201cin the Spirit,\u201d that is, the prayer which the Spirit inspires and\ndirects. When we come into God\u2019s presence, we should recognize our\ninfirmity, our ignorance of what is best for us, our ignorance of what we\nshould pray for, our ignorance of how we should pray for it and in the\nconsciousness of our utter inability to pray aright look up to the Holy\nSpirit to teach us to pray, and cast ourselves utterly upon Him to direct\nour prayers and to lead out our desires and guide our utterance of them.\nThere is no place where we need to recognize our ignorance more than we do\nin prayer. Rushing heedlessly into God\u2019s presence and asking the first\nthing that comes into our minds, or that some other thoughtless one asks\nus to pray for, is not praying \u201cin the Holy Spirit\u201d and is not true\nprayer. We must wait for the Holy Spirit and surrender ourselves to the\nHoly Spirit. The prayer that God, the Holy Spirit, inspires is the prayer\nthat God, the Father, answers.\n\nThe longings which the Holy Spirit begets in our hearts are often too deep\nfor utterance, too deep apparently for clear and definite comprehension on\nthe part of the believer himself in whom the Spirit is working\u2014\u201cThe Spirit\nHimself maketh intercession for us _with groanings which cannot be\nuttered_\u201d (Rom. viii. 26, R. V.). God Himself \u201cmust search the heart\u201d to\nknow what is \u201cthe mind of the Spirit\u201d in these unuttered and unutterable\nlongings. But God does know what is the mind of the Spirit; He does know\nwhat these Spirit-given longings which we cannot put into words mean, even\nif we do not, and these longings are \u201caccording to the will of God,\u201d and\nGod grants them. It is in this way that it comes to pass that God is able\nto do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to\nthe power that worketh in us (Eph. iii. 20). There are other times when\nthe Spirit\u2019s leadings are so clear that we pray with the Spirit and with\nthe understanding also (1 Cor. xiv. 15). We distinctly understand what it\nis that the Holy Spirit leads us to pray for.\n\nII. _The Holy Spirit inspires the believer and guides him in thanksgiving_\nas well as in prayer. We read in Eph. v. 18-20, R. V., \u201cAnd be not drunken\nwith wine, wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit; speaking one to\nanother in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody\nwith your heart to the Lord; _giving thanks always_ for all things in the\nname of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.\u201d Not only does the\nHoly Spirit teach us to pray, He also teaches us to render thanks. One of\nthe most prominent characteristics of the Spirit-filled life is\nthanksgiving. On the Day of Pentecost, when the disciples were filled with\nthe Holy Spirit, and spoke as the Spirit gave them utterance, we hear them\ntelling the wonderful works of God (Acts ii. 4, 11), and to-day when any\nbeliever is filled with the Holy Spirit, he always becomes filled with\nthanksgiving and praise. True thanksgiving is \u201c_to_ God, even the Father,\u201d\n_through_, or \u201cin the name of\u201d our Lord Jesus Christ, _in_ the Holy\nSpirit.\n\nIII. _The Holy Spirit inspires worship_ on the part of the believer. We\nread in Phil. iii. 3, R. V., \u201cFor we are the circumcision, who _worship by\nthe Spirit of God_, and glory in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in\nthe flesh.\u201d Prayer is not worship; thanksgiving is not worship. Worship is\na definite act of the creature in relation to God. Worship is bowing\nbefore God in adoring acknowledgment and contemplation of Himself and the\nperfection of His being. Some one has said, \u201cIn our prayers, we are taken\nup with our needs; in our thanksgiving we are taken up with our blessings;\nin our worship, we are taken up with Himself.\u201d There is no true and\nacceptable worship except that which the Holy Spirit prompts and directs.\n\u201cGod is a Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him _in Spirit_\nand truth; for such doth the Father seek to be His worshippers\u201d (John iv.\n24, 23). The flesh seeks to intrude into every sphere of life. The flesh\nhas its worship as well as its lusts. The worship which the flesh prompts\nis an abomination unto God. In this we see the folly of any attempt at a\ncongress of religions where the representatives of radically different\nreligions attempt to worship together.\n\nNot all earnest and honest worship is worship in the Spirit. A man may be\nvery honest and very earnest in his worship and still not have submitted\nhimself to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the matter and so his\nworship is in the flesh. Oftentimes even when there is great loyalty to\nthe letter of the Word, worship may not be \u201cin the Spirit,\u201d _i. e._,\ninspired and directed by Him. To worship aright, as Paul puts it, we must\nhave \u201cno confidence in the flesh,\u201d that is, we must recognize the utter\ninability of the flesh (our natural self as contrasted to the Divine\nSpirit that dwells in and should mould everything in the believer) to\nworship acceptably. And we must also realize the danger that there is that\nthe flesh intrude itself into our worship. In utter self-distrust and\nself-abnegation we must cast ourselves upon the Holy Spirit to lead us\naright in our worship. Just as we must renounce any merit in ourselves and\ncast ourselves upon Christ and His work for us upon the cross for\njustification, just so we must renounce any supposed capacity for good in\nourselves and cast ourselves utterly upon the Holy Spirit and His work in\nus, in holy living, knowing, praying, thanking and _worshipping_ and all\nelse that we are to do.\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII. THE HOLY SPIRIT SENDING MEN FORTH TO DEFINITE LINES OF\nWORK.\n\n\nWe read in Acts xiii. 2-4, \u201cAs they ministered to the Lord, and fasted,\n_the Holy Ghost said, Separate Me_ Barnabas and Saul for the work\nwhereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and\nlaid their hands on them, they sent them away. So they, being _sent forth\nby the Holy Ghost_, departed into Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to\nCyprus.\u201d It is evident from this passage that _the Holy Spirit calls men\ninto definite lines of work and sends them forth into the work_. He not\nonly calls men in a general way into Christian work, but selects the\nspecific work and points it out. Many a one is asking to-day, and many\nanother ought to ask, \u201cShall I go to China, to Africa, to India?\u201d There is\nonly one Person who can rightly settle that question for you and that\nPerson is the Holy Spirit. You cannot settle the question for yourself,\nmuch less can any other man settle it rightly for you. Not every Christian\nman is called to go to China; not every Christian man is called to go to\nAfrica; not every Christian man is called to go to the foreign field at\nall. God alone knows whether He wishes you in any of these places, but He\nis willing to show you. In a day such as we live in, when there is such a\nneed of the right men and the right women on the foreign field, every\nyoung and healthy and intellectually competent Christian man and woman\nshould definitely offer themselves to God for the foreign field and ask\nHim if He wants them to go. But they ought not to go until He, by His Holy\nSpirit, makes it plain.\n\nThe great need in all lines of Christian work to-day is men and women whom\nthe Holy Ghost calls and sends forth. We have plenty of men and women whom\nmen have called and sent forth. We have plenty of men and women who have\ncalled themselves, for there are many to-day who object strenuously to\nbeing sent forth by men, by any organization of any kind, but, in fact,\nare what is immeasurably worse, sent forth by themselves and not by God.\n\n_How does the Holy Spirit call?_ The passage before us does not tell us\nhow the Holy Spirit spoke to the group of prophets and teachers in\nAntioch, telling them to separate Barnabas and Saul to the work to which\nHe had called them. It is presumably purposely silent on this point.\nPossibly it is silent on this point lest we should think that the Holy\nSpirit must always call in precisely the same way. There is nothing\nwhatever to indicate that He spoke by an audible voice, much less is there\nanything to indicate that He made His will known in any of the fantastic\nways in which some in these days profess to discern His leading\u2014as for\nexample, by twitchings of the body, by shuddering, by opening of the Bible\nat random and putting his finger on a passage that may be construed into\nsome entirely different meaning than that which the inspired author\nintended by it. The important point is, He made His will clearly known,\nand He is willing to make His will clearly known to us to-day. Sometimes\nHe makes it known in one way and sometimes in another, but He will make it\nknown.\n\nBut _how shall we receive the Holy Spirit\u2019s call_? First of all, by\ndesiring it; second, by earnestly seeking it; third, by waiting upon the\nLord for it; fourth, by expecting it. The record reads, \u201cAs they\n_ministered to the Lord, and fasted_.\u201d They were waiting upon the Lord for\nHis direction. For the time being they had turned their back utterly upon\nworldly cares and enjoyments, even upon those things which were perfectly\nproper in their place. Many a man is saying to-day in justification for\nhis staying home from the foreign field, \u201cI have never had a call.\u201d But\nhow do you know that? Have you been listening for a call? God usually\nspeaks in a still small voice and it is only the listening ear that can\ncatch it. Have you ever definitely offered yourself to God to send you\nwhere He will? While no man or woman ought to go to China or Africa or\nother foreign field unless they are clearly and definitely called, they\nought each to offer themselves to God for this work and be ready for the\ncall and be listening sharply that they may hear the call if it comes. Let\nit be borne distinctly in mind that a man needs no more definite call to\nAfrica than to Boston, or New York, or London, or any other desirable\nfield at home.\n\nThe Holy Spirit not only calls men and sends them forth into definite\nlines of work, but He also _guides in __ the details of daily life and\nservice as to where to go and where not to go, what to do and what not to\ndo_. We read in Acts viii. 27-29, R. V., \u201cAnd he (Philip) arose and went:\nand behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace,\nqueen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, who had come to\nJerusalem for to worship; and he was returning and sitting in his chariot,\nand was reading the prophet Isaiah. _And the Spirit said_ unto Philip, Go\nnear, and join thyself to this chariot.\u201d Here we see the Spirit guiding\nPhilip in the details of service into which He had called him. In a\nsimilar way, we read in Acts xvi. 6, 7, R. V., \u201cAnd they went through the\nregion of Phrygia and Galatia, _having been forbidden of the Holy Ghost to\nspeak the word in Asia_; and when they were come over against Mysia, they\nassayed to go into Bithynia; and _the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not_.\u201d\nHere we see the Holy Spirit directing Paul where not to go. It is possible\nfor us to have the unerring guidance of the Holy Spirit at every turn of\nlife. Take, for example, our personal work. It is manifestly not God\u2019s\nintention that we speak to every one we meet. To attempt to do so would be\nto attempt the impossible, and we would waste much time in trying to speak\nto people where we could do no good that might be used in speaking to\npeople where we could accomplish something. There are some to whom it\nwould be wise for us to speak. There are others to whom it would be unwise\nfor us to speak. Time spent on them would be taken from work that would be\nmore to God\u2019s glory. Doubtless as Philip journeyed towards Gaza, he met\nmany before he met the one of whom the Spirit said, \u201cGo near, and join\nthyself to this chariot.\u201d The Spirit is as ready to guide us as He was to\nguide Philip. Some years ago, a Christian worker in Toronto had the\nimpression that he should go to the hospital and speak to some one there.\nHe thought to himself, \u201cWhom do I know at the hospital at this time?\u201d\nThere came to his mind one whom he knew was at the hospital, and he\nhurried to the hospital, but as he sat down by his side to talk with him,\nhe realized it was not for this man that he was sent. He got up to lift a\nwindow. What did it all mean? There was another man lying across the\npassage from the man he knew and the thought came to him that this might\nbe the man to whom he should speak. And he turned and spoke to this man\nand had the privilege of leading him to Christ. There was apparently\nnothing serious in the man\u2019s case. He had suffered some injury to his knee\nand there was no thought of a serious issue, but that man passed into\neternity that night. Many instances of a similar character could be\nrecorded and prove from experience that the Holy Spirit is as ready to\nguide those who seek His guidance to-day as He was to guide the early\ndisciples. But He is ready to guide us, not only in our more definite\nforms of Christian work but in all the affairs of life, business, study,\neverything we have to do. There is no promise in the Bible more plainly\nexplicit than James i. 5-7, R. V., \u201cBut if any of you lack wisdom, let him\nask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall\nbe given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting: for he that\ndoubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed. For\nlet not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.\u201d This\npassage not only promises God\u2019s wisdom but tells us specifically just what\nto do to obtain it. There are really five steps stated or implied in the\npassage:\n\n1. That we \u201clack wisdom.\u201d We must be conscious of and fully admit our own\ninability to decide wisely. Here is where oftentimes we fail to receive\nGod\u2019s wisdom. We think we are able to decide for ourselves or at least we\nare not ready to admit our own utter inability to decide. There must be an\nentire renunciation of the wisdom of the flesh.\n\n2. _We must really desire to know God\u2019s way and be willing at any cost to\ndo God\u2019s will._ This is implied in the word \u201c_ask_.\u201d The asking must be\nsincere, and if we are not willing to do God\u2019s will, whatever it may be,\nat any cost, the asking is not sincere. This is a point of fundamental\nimportance. There is nothing that goes so far to make our minds clear in\nthe discernment of the will of God as revealed by His Spirit as an\nabsolutely surrendered will. Here we find the reason why men oftentimes do\nnot know God\u2019s will and have the Spirit\u2019s guidance. They are not willing\nto do whatever the Spirit leads at any cost. It is he that \u201c_willeth to_\ndo His will\u201d who shall know, not only of the doctrine, but he shall know\nhis daily duty. Men oftentimes come to me and say, \u201cI cannot find out the\nwill of God,\u201d but when I put to them the question, \u201cAre you willing to do\nthe will of God at any cost?\u201d they admit that they are not. The way that\nis very obscure when we hold back from an absolute surrender to God\nbecomes as clear as day when we make that surrender.\n\n3. _We must definitely __\u201c__ask__\u201d__ guidance._ It is not enough to\ndesire; it is not enough to be willing to obey; we must _ask_, definitely\nask, God to show us the way.\n\n4. _We must confidently expect guidance._ \u201cLet him ask in faith nothing\ndoubting,\u201d There are many and many who cannot find the way, though they\nask God to show it to them, simply because they have not the absolutely\nundoubting expectation that God will show them the way. God promises to\nshow it if we expect it confidently. When you come to God in prayer to\nshow you what to do, know for a certainty that He will show you. In what\nway He will show you, He does not tell, but He promises that He will show\nyou and that is enough.\n\n5. _We must follow step by step as the guidance comes._ As said before,\njust how it will come, no one can tell, but it will come. Oftentimes only\na step will be made clear at a time; that is all we need to know\u2014the next\nstep. Many are in darkness because they do not know and cannot find what\nGod would have them do next week, or next month or next year. A college\nman once came to me and told me that he was in great darkness about God\u2019s\nguidance, that he had been seeking, to find the will of God and learn what\nhis life\u2019s work should be, but he could not find it. I asked him how far\nalong he was in his college course. He said his sophomore year. I asked,\n\u201cWhat is it you desire to know?\u201d \u201cWhat I shall do when I finish college.\u201d\n\u201cDo you know that you ought to go through college?\u201d \u201cYes.\u201d This man not\nonly knew what he ought to do next year but the year after but still he\nwas in great perplexity because he did not know what he ought to do when\nthese two years were ended. God delights to lead His children a step at a\ntime. He leads us as He led the children of Israel. \u201cAnd when the cloud\nwas taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel\njourneyed: and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of\nIsrael pitched their tents. At the commandment of the LORD the children of\nIsrael journeyed, and at the commandment of the LORD they pitched: as long\nas the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents. And\nwhen the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the\nchildren of Israel kept the charge of the LORD, and journeyed not. And so\nit was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; according to\nthe commandment of the LORD they journeyed. And so it was, when the cloud\nabode from even unto the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the\nmorning then they journeyed: whether it was by day or by night that the\ncloud was taken up, they journeyed. Or whether it were two days, or a\nmonth, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining\nthereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not:\nbut when it was taken up, they journeyed. At the commandment of the LORD\nthey rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the LORD they\njourneyed: they kept the charge of the LORD, at the commandment of the\nLORD by the hand of Moses\u201d (Num. ix. 17-23).\n\nMany who have given themselves up to the leading of the Holy Spirit get\ninto a place of great bondage and are tortured because they have leadings\nwhich they fear may be from God but of which they are not sure. If they do\nnot obey these leadings, they are fearful they have disobeyed God and\nsometimes fancy that they have grieved away the Holy Spirit, because they\ndid not follow His leading. This is all unnecessary. Let us settle it in\nour minds that God\u2019s guidance is _clear_ guidance. \u201cGod is light, and in\nHim is no darkness at all\u201d (1 John i. 5). And any leading that is not\nperfectly clear is not from Him. That is, if our wills are absolutely\nsurrendered to Him. Of course, the obscurity may arise from an\nunsurrendered will. But if our wills are absolutely surrendered to God, we\nhave the right as God\u2019s children to be sure that any guidance is from Him\nbefore we obey it. We have a right to go to our Father and say, \u201cHeavenly\nFather, here I am. I desire above all things to do Thy will. Now make it\nclear to me, Thy child. If this thing that I have a leading to do is Thy\nwill, I will do it, but make it clear as day if it be Thy will.\u201d If it is\nHis will, the heavenly Father will make it as clear as day. And you need\nnot, and ought not to do that thing until He does make it clear, and you\nneed not and ought not to condemn yourself because you did not do it. God\ndoes not want His children to be in a state of condemnation before Him. He\nwishes us to be free from all care, worry, anxiety and self-condemnation.\nAny earthly parent would make the way clear to his child that asked to\nknow it and much more will our heavenly Father make it clear to us, and\nuntil He does make it clear, we need have no fears that in not doing it,\nwe are disobeying God. We have no right to dictate to God _how_ He shall\ngive His guidance\u2014as, for example, by asking Him to shut up every way, or\nby asking Him to give a sign, or by guiding us in putting our finger on a\ntext, or in any other way. It is ours to seek and to expect wisdom but it\nis not ours to dictate how it shall be given. The Holy Spirit divides to\n\u201ceach man severally _as He will_\u201d (1 Cor. xii. 11).\n\nTwo things are evident from what has been said about the work of the Holy\nSpirit. First, how utterly dependent we are upon the work of the Holy\nSpirit at every turn of Christian life and service. Second, how perfect is\nthe provision for life and service that God has made. How wonderful is the\nfullness of privilege that is open to the humblest believer through the\nHoly Spirit\u2019s work. It is not so much what we are by nature, either\nintellectually, morally, physically, or even spiritually, that is\nimportant. The important matter is, what the Holy Spirit can do for us and\nwhat we will let Him do. Not infrequently, the Holy Spirit takes the one\nwho seems to give the least natural promise and uses him far beyond those\nwho give the greatest natural promise. Christian life is not to be lived\nin the realm of natural temperament, and Christian work is not to be done\nin the power of natural endowment, but Christian life is to be lived in\nthe realm of the Spirit, and Christian work is to be done on the power of\nthe Spirit. The Holy Spirit is willing and eagerly desirous of doing for\neach one of us His whole work, and He will do in each one of us all that\nwe will let Him do.\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX. THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE BELIEVER\u2019S BODY.\n\n\nThe Holy Spirit does a work for our bodies as well as for our minds and\nhearts. We read in Rom. viii. 11, R. V., \u201cBut if the Spirit of Him that\nraised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, He that raised up Christ\nJesus from the dead _shall quicken also your mortal bodies through His\nSpirit_ that dwelleth in you.\u201d\n\n_The Holy Spirit quickens the mortal body of the believer._ It is very\nevident from the context that this refers to the future resurrection of\nthe body (vs. 21-23). The resurrection of the body is the Holy Spirit\u2019s\nwork. The glorified body is from Him; it is \u201ca spiritual body.\u201d At the\npresent time, we have only the first fruits of the Spirit and are waiting\nfor the full harvest, the redemption of our body (v. 23).\n\nThere is, however, a sense in which the Holy Spirit even now quickens our\nbodies. Jesus tells us in Matt. xii. 28 that He cast out devils by the\nSpirit of God. And we read in Acts x. 38, \u201cHow God anointed Jesus of\nNazareth _with the Holy Ghost_ and with power, who went about doing good\n_and healing_ all that were oppressed of the devil.\u201d In James v. 14, the\nApostle writes, \u201cIs any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the\nchurch; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of\nthe Lord.\u201d The oil in this passage (as elsewhere) is the type of the Holy\nSpirit, and the truth is set forth that the healing is the Holy Spirit\u2019s\nwork. God by His Holy Spirit does impart new health and vigour to these\nmortal bodies in the present life. To go to the extremes that many do and\ntake the ground that the believer who is walking in fellowship with Christ\nneed never be ill is to go farther than the Bible warrants us in going. It\nis true that the redemption of our bodies is secured by the atoning work\nof Christ but until the Lord comes, we only enjoy the first fruits of that\nredemption; and we are waiting and sometimes groaning for our full place\nas sons manifested in the redemption of our body (Rom. viii. 23). But\nwhile this is true, it is the clear teaching of Scripture and a matter of\npersonal experience on the part of thousands that the life of the Holy\nSpirit does sweep through these bodies of ours in moments of weakness and\nof pain and sickness, imparting new health to them, delivering from pain\nand filling them with abounding life. It is our privilege to know the\nquickening touch of the Holy Spirit in these bodies as well as in our\nminds and affections and will. It would be a great day for the Church and\nfor the glory of Jesus Christ, if Christians would renounce forever all\nthe devil\u2019s counterfeits of the Holy Spirit\u2019s work, Christian Science,\nMental Healing, Emmanuelism, Hypnotism and the various other forms of\noccultism and depend upon God by the power of His Holy Spirit to work that\nin these bodies of ours which He in His unerring wisdom sees that we most\nneed.\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX. THE BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT.\n\n\nOne of the most deeply significant phrases used in connection with the\nHoly Spirit in the Scriptures is \u201cbaptized with the Holy Ghost.\u201d John the\nBaptist was the first to use this phrase. In speaking of himself and the\ncoming One he said, \u201cI indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but\nHe that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to\nbear: _He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire_\u201d (Matt.\niii. 11). The second \u201cwith\u201d in this passage is in italics. It is not found\nin the Greek. There are not two different baptisms spoken of, the one with\nthe Holy Ghost and one with fire, but one baptism with the Holy Wind and\nFire. Jesus afterwards used the same expression. In Acts i. 5, He says,\n\u201cFor John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be _baptized with the\nHoly Ghost_ not many days hence.\u201d When this promise of John the Baptist\nand of our Lord was fulfilled in Acts ii. 3, 4, R. V., we read, \u201cAnd there\nappeared unto them tongues parting asunder, like as of fire; and it sat\nupon each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.\u201d\nHere we have another expression \u201c_filled with the Holy Spirit_\u201d used\nsynonymously with \u201cbaptized with the Holy Spirit.\u201d\n\nWe read again in Acts x. 44-46, \u201cWhile Peter yet spake these words, _the\nHoly Ghost fell on_ all them which heard the word. And they of the\ncircumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter,\nbecause that on the Gentiles also was _poured out the gift of the Holy\nGhost_. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God.\u201d Peter\nhimself afterwards describing this experience in Jerusalem tells the story\nin this way, \u201cAnd as I began to speak, _the Holy Ghost fell on them_, as\non us at the beginning. Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that\nHe said, John indeed baptized with water; but _ye shall be baptized with\nthe Holy Ghost_. Forasmuch then as _God gave them the like gift as He did\nunto us_ who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could\nwithstand God?\u201d (Acts xi. 15-17). Here Peter distinctly calls the\nexperience which came to Cornelius and his household, being _baptized with\nthe Holy Ghost_, so we see that the expression \u201cthe Holy Ghost fell\u201d and\n\u201cthe gift of the Holy Ghost\u201d are practically synonymous expressions with\n\u201cbaptized with the Holy Ghost.\u201d Still other expressions are used to\ndescribe this blessing, such as \u201creceive the Holy Ghost\u201d (Acts ii. 38;\nxix. 2-6); \u201cthe Holy Ghost came on them\u201d (Acts xix. 2-6); \u201cgift of the\nHoly Ghost\u201d (Heb. ii. 4; 1 Cor. xii. 4, 11, 13); \u201cI send the promise of My\nFather upon you;\u201d and \u201cendued with power from on high\u201d (Luke xxiv. 49).\n\n_What is the baptism with the Holy Spirit?_\n\nIn the first place _the baptism with the Holy Spirit is a definite\nexperience of which one may and ought to know __ whether he has received\nit or not_. This is evident from our Lord\u2019s command to His disciples in\nLuke xxiv. 49 and in Acts i. 4, that they should not depart from Jerusalem\nto undertake the work which He had commissioned them to do until they had\nreceived this promise of the Father. It is also evident from the eighth\nchapter of Acts, fifteenth and sixteenth verses, where we are distinctly\ntold, \u201c_the Holy Spirit had not as yet fallen upon any of them_.\u201d It is\nevident also from the nineteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, the\nsecond verse, R. V., where Paul put to the little group of disciples at\nEphesus the definite question, \u201cDid ye receive the Holy Ghost when ye\nbelieved?\u201d It is evident that the receiving of the Holy Ghost was an\nexperience so definite that one could answer yes or no to the question\nwhether they had received the Holy Spirit. In this case the disciples\ndefinitely answered, \u201cNo,\u201d that they did not so much as hear whether the\nHoly Ghost was given. They did not say what our Authorized Version makes\nthem say, that they did not so much as hear whether there was any Holy\nGhost. They knew that there was a Holy Ghost; they knew furthermore that\nthere was a definite promise of the baptism with the Holy Ghost, but they\nhad not heard that that promise had been as yet fulfilled. Paul told them\nthat it had and took steps whereby they were definitely baptized with the\nHoly Spirit before that meeting closed. It is equally evident from Gal.\niii. 2 that the baptism with the Holy Spirit is a definite experience of\nwhich one may know whether he has received it or not. In this passage Paul\nsays to the believers in Galatia, \u201cThis only would I learn of you,\nReceived ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of\nfaith?\u201d Their receiving the Spirit had been so definite as a matter of\npersonal consciousness, that Paul could appeal to it as a ground for his\nargument. In our day there is much talk about the baptism with the Holy\nSpirit and prayer for the baptism with the Spirit that is altogether vague\nand indefinite. Men arise in meeting and pray that they may be baptized\nwith the Holy Spirit, and if you should go afterwards to the one who\noffered the prayer and put to him the question, \u201cDid you receive what you\nasked? Were you baptized with the Holy Spirit?\u201d it is quite likely that he\nwould hesitate and falter and say, \u201cI hope so\u201d; but there is none of this\nindefiniteness in the Bible. The Bible is clear as day on this, as on\nevery other point. It sets forth an experience so definite and so real,\nthat one may know whether or not he has received the baptism with the Holy\nSpirit, and can answer yes or no to the question, \u201cHave you received the\nHoly Ghost?\u201d\n\nIn the second place it is evident that _the baptism with the Holy Spirit\nis an operation of the Holy Spirit distinct from and additional to His\nregenerating work_. This is evident from Acts i. 5, \u201cFor John truly\nbaptized with water; but ye _shall be_ baptized with the Holy Ghost _not\nmany days hence_.\u201d It is clear then that the disciples had not as yet been\nbaptized with the Holy Ghost, that they were to be thus baptized not many\ndays hence. But the men to whom Jesus spoke these words were already\nregenerate men. They had been so pronounced by our Lord Himself. He had\nsaid to them in John xv. 3, \u201cNow ye are _clean through the word_ which I\nhave spoken unto you.\u201d But what does clean through the word mean? 1 Peter\ni. 23 answers the question, \u201c_Being born again_, not of corruptible seed,\nbut of incorruptible, _by the word of God_, which liveth and abideth\nforever.\u201d A little earlier on the same night Jesus had said to them in\nJohn xiii. 10, R. V., \u201cHe that is bathed needeth not save to wash his\nfeet, but is clean every whit: and _ye are clean but not all_.\u201d The Lord\nJesus had pronounced that apostolic company clean\u2014_i. e._, regenerate\nmen\u2014with the exception of the one who never was a regenerate man, Judas\nIscariot who should betray Him (see verse 11). The remaining eleven Jesus\nChrist had pronounced regenerate men. Yet He tells these same men in Acts\ni. 5, that the baptism with the Holy Spirit was an experience that they\nhad not as yet realized, that still lay in the future. So it is evident\nthat it is one thing to be born again by the Holy Spirit through the Word\nand something distinct from this and additional to it to be baptized with\nthe Holy Spirit. The same thing is evident from Acts viii. 12, R. V.,\ncompared with the fifteenth and sixteenth verses of the same chapter. In\nthe twelfth verse we read that a large company of disciples had believed\nthe preaching of Philip concerning the kingdom of God _and the name of\nJesus Christ_, and \u201chad been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus\u201d (v.\n16, R. V.). Certainly in this company of baptized believers there were at\nleast some regenerate persons. Whatever the true form of water baptism may\nbe, they undoubtedly had been baptized by the true form, for the baptizing\nhad been done by a Spirit-commissioned man, but in the fifteenth and\nsixteenth verses we read, \u201cWhen they (that is Peter and John) were come\ndown, they prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: for as\nyet He was fallen upon none of them: only they had been baptized into the\nname of the Lord Jesus.\u201d Baptized believers they were; baptized into the\nname of the Lord Jesus they had been; regenerate men some of them most\nassuredly were, and yet not one of them as yet had received, or been\nbaptized with, the Holy Ghost. So again, it is evident that the baptism\nwith the Holy Spirit is an operation of the Holy Spirit distinct from and\nadditional to His regenerating work. A man may be regenerated by the Holy\nSpirit and still not be baptized with the Holy Spirit. In regeneration,\nthere is the impartation of life by the Spirit\u2019s power, and the one who\nreceives it is saved: in the baptism with the Holy Spirit, there is the\nimpartation of power, and the one who receives it is fitted for service.\nThe baptism with the Holy Spirit, however, may take place at the moment of\nregeneration. It did, for example, in the household of Cornelius. We read\nin Acts x. 43, that while Peter was preaching, he came to the point where\nhe said concerning Jesus, \u201cTo Him bear all the prophets witness, that\nthrough His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of\nsins,\u201d and at that point Cornelius and his household believed and we read\nimmediately, \u201cWhile Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on\nall them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed\nwere astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles\nalso was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.\u201d The moment they believed\nthe testimony about Jesus, they were baptized with the Holy Ghost, even\nbefore they were baptized with water. Regeneration and the baptism with\nthe Holy Spirit took place practically at the same moment, and so they do\nin many an experience to-day. It would seem as if in a normal condition of\nthe church, this would be the usual experience. But the church is not in a\nnormal condition to-day. A very large part of the church is in the place\nwhere the believers in Samaria were before Peter and John came down, and\nwhere the disciples in Ephesus were before Paul came and told them of\ntheir larger privilege\u2014baptized believers, baptized into the name of the\nLord Jesus, baptized unto repentance and remission of sins, but not as yet\nbaptized with the Holy Ghost. Nevertheless _the baptism with the Holy\nSpirit is the birthright of every believer_. It was purchased for us by\nthe atoning death of Christ, and when He ascended to the right hand of the\nFather, He received the promise of the Father and shed Him forth upon the\nchurch, and if any one to-day has not the baptism with the Holy Spirit as\na personal experience, it is because he has not claimed his birthright.\nPotentially, every member of the body of Christ is baptized with the Holy\nSpirit (1 Cor. xii. 13), \u201cFor in one Spirit, _we were all_ baptized into\none body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and\nhave been all made to drink into one Spirit.\u201d But there are many believers\nwith whom that which is potentially theirs has not become a matter of\nreal, actual, personal experience. All men are potentially justified in\nthe atoning death of Jesus Christ on the cross, that is justification is\nprovided for them and belongs to them (Rom. v. 18, R. V.), but what\npotentially belongs to every man, each man must appropriate to himself by\nfaith in Christ; then justification is actually and experimentally his and\njust so, while the baptism with the Holy Spirit is potentially the\npossession of every believer, each individual believer must appropriate it\nfor himself before it is experimentally his. We may go still further than\nthis and say that it is only by the baptism with the Holy Spirit that one\nbecomes in the fullest sense a member of the body of Christ, because it is\nonly by the baptism with the Spirit that he receives power to perform\nthose functions for which God has appointed him as a part of the body.\n\nAs we have already seen every true believer has the Holy Spirit (Rom.\nviii. 9), but not every believer has the baptism with the Holy Spirit\n(though every believer may have as we have just seen). It is one thing to\nhave the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, perhaps dwelling within us way\nback in some hidden sanctuary of our being, back of definite\nconsciousness, and something far different, something vastly more, to have\nthe Holy Spirit taking complete possession of the one whom He inhabits.\nThere are those who press the fact that every believer potentially has the\nbaptism with the Spirit, to such an extent that they clearly teach that\nevery believer has the baptism with the Spirit as an actual experience.\nBut unless the baptism with the Spirit to-day is something radically\ndifferent from what the baptism with the Spirit was in the early church,\nindeed unless it is something not at all real, then either a very large\nproportion of those whom we ordinarily consider believers are not\nbelievers, or else one may be a believer and a regenerate man without\nhaving been baptized with the Holy Spirit. Certainly, this was the case in\nthe early church. It was the case with the Apostles before Pentecost; it\nwas the case with the church in Ephesus; it was the case with the church\nin Samaria. And there are thousands to-day who can testify to having\nreceived Christ and been born again, and then afterwards, sometimes long\nafterwards, having been baptized with the Holy Ghost as a definite\nexperience. This is a matter of great practical importance, for there are\nmany who are not enjoying the fullness of privilege that they might enjoy\nbecause by pushing individual verses in the Scriptures beyond what they\nwill bear and against the plain teaching of the Scriptures as a whole,\nthey are trying to persuade themselves that they have already been\nbaptized with the Holy Spirit when they have not. And if they would only\nadmit to themselves that they had not, they could then take the steps\nwhereby they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit as a matter of\ndefinite, personal experience.\n\nThe next thing which is clear from the teaching of Scripture is that _the\nbaptism with the Holy Spirit is always connected with, and primarily for\nthe purpose of testimony and service_.\n\nOur Lord in speaking of this baptism which they were so soon to receive in\nLuke xxiv. 49 said, \u201cAnd behold I send the promise of My Father upon you:\nbut tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be _endued with power from\non high_.\u201d And again He said in Acts i. 5, 8, \u201cFor John truly baptized\nwith water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days\nhence.... But _ye shall receive power_ after that the Holy Ghost is come\nupon you: and _ye shall be witnesses unto Me_, both in Jerusalem, and in\nall Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.\u201d In\nthe record of the fulfillment of this promise of our Lord in Acts ii. 4,\nwe read, \u201cAnd they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak\nwith other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.\u201d Then follows the\ndetailed account of what Peter said and of the result. The result was that\nPeter and the other Apostles spoke with such power that three thousand\npersons that day were convicted of sin, renounced their sin and confessed\ntheir acceptance of Jesus Christ in baptism and continued steadfastly in\nthe Apostles\u2019 doctrine and fellowship and in the breaking of bread and in\nprayers ever afterwards. In the fourth chapter of Acts, the thirty-first\nto the thirty-third verses, we read that when the Apostles on another\noccasion were filled with the Holy Spirit, the result was that they\n\u201c_spake the word of God with boldness_\u201d and that \u201c_with great power gave\nthe Apostles their witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus_.\u201d And in\nthe ninth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, we have a description of\nPaul\u2019s being baptized with the Holy Spirit. We read in the seventeenth to\nthe twentieth verses, \u201cAnd Ananias went his way, and entered into the\nhouse; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even\nJesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me,\nthat thou mightest receive thy sight, and _be filled with the Holy Ghost_.\nAnd immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he\nreceived sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized. And when he had\nreceived meat, he was strengthened.... And _straightway, he preached\nChrist_ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God,\u201d and in the\ntwenty-second verse we read that he \u201cconfounded the Jews which dwelt at\nDamascus, proving that this is the Christ\u201d (R. V.). In 1 Cor. xii. we have\nthe fullest discussion of the baptism with the Holy Spirit found in any\npassage in the Bible. This is the classical passage on the whole subject.\nAnd the results there recorded are gifts for service. The baptism with the\nHoly Spirit is not primarily intended to make believers happy, but to make\nthem useful. It is not intended merely for the ecstasy of the individual\nbeliever, it is intended primarily for his efficiency in service. I do not\nsay that the baptism with the Holy Spirit will not make the believer\nhappy; for as part of the fruit of the Spirit is \u201cjoy,\u201d if one is baptized\nwith the Holy Spirit, joy must inevitably result. I have never known one\nto be baptized with the Holy Spirit into whose life there did not come,\nsooner or later, a new joy, a higher and purer and fuller joy than he had\never known before. But this is not the prime purpose of the baptism nor\nthe most important and prominent result. Great emphasis needs to be laid\nupon this point, for there are many Christians who in seeking the baptism\nwith the Spirit are seeking personal ecstasy and rapture. They go to\nconventions and conferences for the deepening of the Christian life and\ncome back and tell what a wonderful blessing they have received, referring\nto some new ecstasy that has come into their heart, but when you watch\nthem, it is difficult to see that they are any more useful to their\npastors or their churches than they were before, and one is compelled to\nthink that whatever they have received, they have not received the real\nbaptism with the Holy Spirit. Ecstasies and raptures are all right in\ntheir places. When they come, thank God for them\u2014the writer knows\nsomething about them\u2014but in a world such as we live in to-day where sin\nand self-righteousness and unbelief are so triumphant, where there is such\nan awful tide of men, women and young people sweeping on towards eternal\nperdition, I would rather go through my whole life and never have one\ntouch of ecstasy but have power to witness for Christ and win others for\nChrist and thus to save them, than to have raptures 365 days in the year\nbut no power to stem the awful tide of sin and bring men, women and\nchildren to a saving knowledge of my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.\n\nThe purpose of the baptism with the Holy Spirit is not primarily to make\nbelievers individually holy. I do not say that it is not the work of the\nHoly Spirit to make believers holy, for as we have already seen, He is\n\u201cthe Spirit of Holiness,\u201d and the only way we shall ever attain unto\nholiness is by His power. I do not even say that the baptism with the Holy\nSpirit will not result in a great spiritual transformation and uplift and\ncleansing, for the promise is, \u201cHe shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit\n_and fire_\u201d (and the thought of fire as used in this connection is the\nthought of searching, refining, cleansing, consuming). A wonderful\ntransformation took place in the Apostles at Pentecost, and a wonderful\ntransformation has taken place in thousands who have been baptized with\nthe Holy Spirit since Pentecost, _but the primary purpose of the baptism\nwith the Holy Spirit is efficiency in testimony and service_. It has to do\nrather with gifts for service than with graces of character. It is the\nimpartation of spiritual power or gifts in service and sometimes one may\nhave rare gifts by the Spirit\u2019s power and yet manifest few of the graces\nof the Spirit. (See 1 Cor. xiii. 1-3; Matt. vii. 22, 23.) In every passage\nin the Bible in which the baptism with the Holy Spirit is mentioned, it is\nconnected with testimony or service.\n\nWe shall perhaps get a clearer idea of just what the baptism with the Holy\nSpirit is, if we stop to consider what are the results of the baptism with\nthe Holy Spirit.\n\nWHAT ARE THE RESULTS OF THE BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT?\n\n1. _The specific manifestations of the baptism with the Holy Spirit are\nnot precisely the same in all persons._ This appears very clearly from 1\nCor. xii. 4-13, \u201cNow there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.\nAnd there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there\nare diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in\nall. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit\nwithal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another\nthe word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same\nSpirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to another the\nworking of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of\nspirits; to another divers kind of tongues; to another the interpretation\nof tongues: but all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit,\ndividing to every man severally as He will. For as the body is one, and\nhath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are\none body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into\none body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and\nhave been all made to drink into one Spirit.\u201d Here we see one baptism but\na great variety of manifestations of the power of that baptism. There are\ndiversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. The gifts vary with the\ndifferent lines of service to which God calls different persons. The\nchurch is a body, and different members of the body have different\nfunctions and the Spirit imparts to the one who is baptized with the\nSpirit those gifts which fit him for the service to which God has called\nhim. It is very important to bear this in mind. Through the failure to see\nthis, many have gone entirely astray on the whole subject. In my early\nstudy of the subject, I noticed the fact that in many instances those who\nwere baptized with the Holy Spirit spake with tongues (_e. g._, Acts ii.\n4; x. 46; xix. 6) and I wondered if every one who was baptized with the\nHoly Spirit would not speak with tongues. I did not know of any one who\nwas speaking with tongues to-day and so I wondered still further whether\nthe baptism with the Holy Spirit were for the present age. But one day I\nwas studying 1 Cor. xii. and noticed how Paul said to the believers in\nthat wonderfully gifted church in Corinth, all of whom had been pronounced\nin the thirteenth verse to be baptized with the Spirit, \u201cAnd God hath set\nsome in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly\nteachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, governments,\ndiversities of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all\nteachers? Are all workers of miracles? Have all the gift of healing? _Do\nall speak with tongues?_ Do all interpret?\u201d So I saw it was clearly taught\nin the Scriptures that one might be baptized with the Holy Spirit and\nstill not have the gift of tongues. I saw furthermore that the gift of\ntongues, according to the Scripture, was the last and the least important\nof all the gifts, and that we were urged to desire earnestly the greater\ngifts (1 Cor. xiii. 31; 1 Cor. xiv. 5, 12, 14, 18, 19, 27, 28). A little\nlater I was tempted to fall into another error, more specious but in\nreality just as unscriptural as this, namely, that if one were baptized\nwith the Holy Spirit, he would receive the gift of an evangelist. I had\nread the story of D. L. Moody, of Charles G. Finney and of others who were\nbaptized with the Holy Spirit, and of the power that came to them as\nevangelists, and the thought was suggested that if any one is baptized\nwith the Holy Spirit will not he also obtain power as an evangelist? But\nthis was also unscriptural. If God has called a man to be an evangelist\nand he is baptized with the Holy Spirit, he will receive power as an\nevangelist, but if God has called him to be something else, he will\nreceive power to become something else. Three great evils come from the\nerror of thinking that every one who is baptized with the Holy Spirit will\nreceive power as an evangelist.\n\n(1) The evil of disappointment. There are many who seek the baptism with\nthe Holy Spirit expecting power as an evangelist, but God has not called\nthem to that work, and though they really meet the conditions of receiving\nthe baptism with the Spirit, and do receive the baptism with the Spirit,\npower as an evangelist does not come. In many cases this results in bitter\ndisappointment and sometimes even in despair. The one who has expected the\npower of an evangelist and has not received it sometimes even questions\nwhether he is a child of God. But if he had properly understood the\nmatter, he would have known that the fact that he had not received power\nas an evangelist is no proof that he has not received the baptism with the\nSpirit, and much less is it a proof that he is not a child of God.\n\n(2) The second evil is graver still, namely, the evil of presumption. A\nman whom God has not called to the work of an evangelist or a minister\noftentimes rushes into it because he has received, or imagines he has\nreceived, the baptism with the Holy Spirit. He thinks all a man needs to\nbecome a preacher is the baptism with the Holy Spirit. This is not true.\nIn order to succeed as a minister a man needs a call to that specific\nwork, and furthermore, he needs that knowledge of God\u2019s Word that will\nprepare him for the work. If a man is called to the ministry and studies\nthe Word until he has something to preach, if then he is baptized with the\nHoly Spirit, he will have success as a preacher, but if he is not called\nto that work, or if he has not the knowledge of the Word of God that is\nnecessary, he will not succeed in the work, even though he receives the\nbaptism with the Holy Spirit.\n\n(3) The third evil is greater still, namely, the evil of indifference.\nThere are many who know that they are not called to the work of preaching.\nIf then they think that the baptism with the Holy Spirit simply imparts\npower as an evangelist, or power to preach, the matter of the baptism with\nthe Holy Spirit is one of no personal concern to them. For example, here\nis a mother with a large family of children. She knows perfectly well, or\nat least it is hoped that she knows, that she is not called to do the work\nof an evangelist. She knows that her duty lies with her children and her\nhome. If she reads or hears about the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and\ngets the impression that the baptism with the Holy Spirit simply imparts\npower to do the work of an evangelist, or to preach, she will think \u201cThe\nevangelist needs this blessing, my minister needs this blessing, but it is\nnot for me\u201d; but if she understands the matter as it is taught in the\nBible, that while the baptism with the Spirit imparts power, the way in\nwhich the power will be manifested depends entirely upon the line of work\nto which God calls us, and that no efficient work can be done without it,\nand sees still further that there is no function in the church of Jesus\nChrist to-day more holy and sacred than that of sanctified motherhood, she\nwill say, \u201cThe evangelist may need this baptism, my minister may need this\nbaptism; but I must have it to bring up my children in the nurture and\nadmonition of the Lord.\u201d\n\n2. _While there are diversities of gifts and manifestations of the baptism\nwith the Holy Spirit, there will be some gift to every one thus baptized._\nWe read in 1 Cor. xii. 7, R. V., \u201cBut to _each one_ is given the\nmanifestation of the Spirit to profit withal.\u201d Every most insignificant\nmember of the body of Christ has some function to perform in that body.\nThe body grows by that \u201cwhich every joint supplieth\u201d (Eph. iv. 16), and to\neach least significant joint, the Holy Spirit imparts power to perform the\nfunction that belongs to him.\n\n3. _It is the Holy Spirit who decides how the baptism with the Spirit\nshall manifest itself in any given case._ As we read in 1 Cor. xii. 11,\n\u201cBut all these worketh the one and the selfsame Spirit dividing to each\none severally, _even as He will_.\u201d The Holy Spirit is absolutely sovereign\nin deciding how, that is, in what special gift, operation, or power, the\nbaptism with the Holy Spirit shall manifest itself. It is not for us to\npick out some field of service and then ask the Holy Spirit to qualify us\nfor that service. It is not for us to select some gift and then ask the\nHoly Spirit to impart to us this self-chosen gift. It is for us to simply\nput ourselves entirely at the disposal of the Holy Spirit to send us where\nHe will, to select for us what kind of service He will and to impart to us\nwhat gift He will. He is absolute sovereign and our position is that of\nunconditional surrender to Him. I am glad that this is so. I rejoice that\nHe, in His infinite wisdom and love, is to select the field of service and\nthe gifts, and that this is not to be left to me in my short-sightedness\nand folly. It is because of the failure to recognize this absolute\nsovereignty of the Spirit that many fail of the blessing and meet with\ndisappointment. They are trying to select their own gift and so get none.\nI once knew an earnest child of God in Scotland, who hearing of the\nbaptism with the Holy Spirit and the power that resulted from it, gave up\nat a great sacrifice his work as a ship plater, for which he was receiving\nlarge wages. He heard that there was a great need of ministers in the\nnorthwest in America. He came to the northwest. He met the conditions of\nthe baptism with the Holy Spirit and I believe was really baptized with\nthe Holy Spirit, but God had not chosen him for the work of an evangelist,\nand the power as an evangelist did not come to him. No field seemed to\nopen, and he was in great despondency. He even questioned his acceptance\nbefore God. One morning he came into our church in Minneapolis and heard\nme speak upon the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and as I pointed out that\nthe baptism with the Holy Spirit manifested itself in many different ways,\nand the fact that one had not power as an evangelist was no proof that he\nhad not received the baptism with the Holy Spirit, light came into his\nheart. He put himself unreservedly into God\u2019s hands for Him to choose the\nfield of labour and the gifts. An opening soon came to him as a\nSunday-school missionary, and then, when he had given up choosing for\nhimself and left it with the Holy Spirit to divide to him as He would, a\nstrange thing happened; he did receive power as an evangelist and went\nthrough the country districts in one of our northwestern states with\nmighty power as an evangelist.\n\n4. _While the power may be of one kind in one person and of another kind\nin another person, there will always be power, the very power of God, when\none is baptized with the Holy Spirit._ We read in Acts i. 5, 8, \u201cFor John\ntruly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost\nnot many days hence.... But _ye shall receive power_, after that the Holy\nGhost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in\nJerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part\nof the earth.\u201d As truly as any one who reads these pages, who has not\nalready received the baptism with the Holy Spirit, seeks it in God\u2019s way,\nhe will obtain it, and there will come into his service a power that was\nnever there before, power for the very work to which God has called him.\nThis is not only the teaching of Scripture; it is the teaching of\nreligious experience throughout the centuries. Religious biographies\nabound in instances of men who have worked along as best they could, until\none day they were led to see that there was such an experience as the\nbaptism with the Holy Spirit and to seek it and obtain it and, from that\nhour, there came into their service a new power that utterly transformed\nits character. In this matter, one thinks first of such men as Finney, and\nMoody, and Brainerd, but cases of this character are not confined to the\nfew exceptional men. They are common. The writer has personally met and\ncorresponded with hundreds and thousands of persons around the globe, who\ncould testify definitely to the new power that God has granted them\nthrough the baptism with the Holy Spirit. These thousands of men and women\nwere in all branches of Christian service; some of them are ministers of\nthe Gospel, some evangelists, some mission workers, some Y. M. C. A.\nsecretaries, Sunday-school teachers, fathers, mothers, personal workers.\nNothing could possibly exceed the clearness and the confidence and the\njoyfulness of many of these testimonies.\n\nI shall not soon forget a minister whom I met some years ago at a State\nConvention of the Young People\u2019s Society of Christian Endeavour at New\nBritain, Conn. I was speaking upon the subject of personal work and as I\ndrew the address to a close, I said that in order to do effective personal\nwork, we must be baptized with the Holy Spirit, and in a very few\nsentences explained what I meant by that. At the close of the address,\nthis minister came to me on the platform and said, \u201cI have not this\nblessing you have been speaking about, but I want it. Will you pray for\nme?\u201d I said, \u201cWhy not pray right now?\u201d He said, \u201cI will.\u201d We put two\nchairs side by side and turned our backs upon the crowd as they passed out\nof the Armoury. He prayed and I prayed that he might be baptized with the\nHoly Spirit. Then we separated. Some weeks after, one who had witnessed\nthe scene came to me at a convention in Washington and told me how this\nminister had gone back to his church a transformed man, that now his\ncongregations filled the church, that it was largely composed of young\nmen, and that there were conversions at every service. Some years after,\nthis minister was called to another field of service. His most\nspiritually-minded friends advised him not to go, as all the ruling\nelements in the church to which he had been called were against aggressive\nevangelistic work, but for some reason or other, he felt it was the call\nof God and accepted it. In six months, there were sixty-nine conversions,\nand thirty-eight of them were business men of the town.\n\nAfter attending in Montreal some years ago an Inter-provincial Convention\nof the Young Men\u2019s Christian Association of the Provinces of Canada, I\nreceived a letter from a young man. He wrote, \u201cI was present at your last\nmeeting in Montreal. I heard you speak upon the Baptism with the Holy\nSpirit. I went to my rooms and sought that baptism for myself and received\nit. I am chairman of the Lookout Committee of the Christian Endeavour\nSociety of our church. I called together the other members of the\ncommittee. I found that two of them had been at the meeting and had\nalready been baptized with the Holy Spirit. Then we prayed for the other\nmembers of the committee and they were baptized with the Holy Spirit. Now\nwe are going out into the church and the young people of the church are\nbeing brought to Christ right along.\u201d\n\nA lady and gentleman once came to me at a convention and told me how,\nthough they had never seen me before, they had read the report of an\naddress on the Baptism with the Holy Spirit delivered in Boston at a\nChristian Workers\u2019 Convention and that they had sought this baptism and\nhad received it. The man then told me the blessing that had come into his\nservice as superintendent of the Sunday-school. When he had finished, his\nwife broke in and said, \u201cYes, and the best part of it is, I have been able\nto get into the hearts of my own children, which I was never able to do\nbefore.\u201d Here were three distinctly different lines of service, but there\nwas power in each case. The results of that power may not, however, be\nmanifest at once in conversions. Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit,\nbut as he witnessed in the power of the Holy Spirit for his risen Lord, he\nsaw no conversions at the time. All he saw was the gnashing of the teeth,\nthe angry looks and the merciless rocks, and so it may be with us. But\nthere was a conversion, even in that case, though it was a long time\nbefore it was seen, and that conversion, the conversion of Saul of Tarsus,\nwas worth more than hundreds of ordinary conversions.\n\n5. Another result of the baptism with the Holy Spirit will be _boldness in\ntestimony and service_. We read in Acts iv. 31, \u201cAnd when they had prayed,\nthe place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all\nfilled with the Holy Ghost, and they _spake the word of God with\nboldness_.\u201d The baptism with the Holy Spirit imparts to those who receive\nit new liberty and fearlessness in testimony for Christ. It converts\ncowards into heroes. Peter upon the night of our Lord\u2019s crucifixion proved\nhimself a craven coward. He denied with oaths and curses that he knew the\nLord. But after Pentecost, this same Peter was brought before the very\ncouncil that had condemned Jesus to death, and he himself was threatened,\nbut filled with the Holy Ghost, he said, \u201cYe rulers of the people, and\nelders of Israel, if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the\nimpotent man, by what means he is made whole; be it known unto you all,\nand to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of\nNazareth, _whom ye crucified_, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him\ndoth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set\nat nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither\nis there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven\ngiven among men, whereby we must be saved\u201d (Acts iv. 8-12). A little later\nwhen the council commanded him and his companion, John, not to speak or\nteach in the name of Jesus, they answered, \u201cWhether it be right in the\nsight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we\ncannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard\u201d (Acts iv. 19,\n20). On a still later occasion, when they were threatened and commanded\nnot to speak and when their lives were in jeopardy, Peter told the council\nto their faces, \u201cWe ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our\nfathers raised up Jesus, _whom ye slew and hanged on a tree_. Him hath God\nexalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give\nrepentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are His witnesses of\nthese things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them\nthat obey Him\u201d (Acts v. 29-32). The natural timidity of many a man to-day\nvanishes when he is filled with the Holy Spirit, and with great boldness\nand liberty, with utter fearlessness of consequences, he gives his\ntestimony for Jesus Christ.\n\n6. _The baptism with the Holy Spirit causes the one who receives it to be\noccupied with God and Christ and spiritual things._ In the record of the\nday of Pentecost, we read, \u201cThey were all filled with the Holy Ghost and\nbegan to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. And\nthey were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not\nthese which speak Galileans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue,\nwherein we were born? Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our\ntongues _the wonderful works of God_\u201d (Acts ii. 4, 7, 8, 11). Then follows\nPeter\u2019s sermon, a sermon that from start to finish is entirely taken up\nwith Jesus Christ and His glory. On a later day we read, \u201cAnd when they\nhad prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and\nthey were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they _spake the word of God_\nwith boldness. And with great power gave the Apostles _witness of the\nresurrection of the Lord Jesus_: and great grace was upon them all....\nThen Peter, _filled with the Holy Ghost_, said unto them, Ye rulers of the\npeople, and elders of Israel, if we this day be examined of the good deed\ndone to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; be it known unto\nyou all, and to all the people of Israel, that _by the name of Jesus of\nNazareth_, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him\ndoth this man stand here before you whole\u201d (Acts iv. 31, 33, 8-10). We\nread of Saul of Tarsus, that when he had been filled with the Holy Spirit,\n\u201cStraightway in the synagogues _he proclaimed Jesus_\u201d (Acts ix. 17, 20, R.\nV.). We read of the household of Cornelius, \u201cWhile Peter yet spake these\nwords, the Holy Ghost fell on them who heard the Word. And they of the\ncircumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter,\nbecause that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy\nGhost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and _magnify God_.\u201d Here we\nsee the whole household of Cornelius as soon as they were filled with the\nHoly Spirit magnifying God. In Eph. v. 18, 19, we are told that the result\nof being _filled with the Spirit_ is that those who are thus filled will\nspeak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and\nmaking melody in their hearts _to the Lord_. Men who are filled with the\nHoly Spirit will not be singing sentimental ballads, not comic ditties,\nnor operatic airs while the power of the Holy Ghost is upon them. If the\nHoly Ghost should come upon any one while listening to one of the most\ninnocent of the world\u2019s songs, he would not enjoy it, he would long to\nhear something about Christ. Men who are baptized with the Holy Spirit do\nnot talk much about self but much about God, and especially much about\nChrist. This is necessarily so, as it is the Holy Spirit\u2019s office to bear\nwitness to the glorified Christ (John xv. 26; xvi. 14).\n\nTo sum up everything that has been said about the results of the baptism\nwith the Holy Spirit; _the baptism with the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of\nGod coming upon the believer, filling his mind with a real apprehension of\ntruths, especially of Christ, taking possession of his faculties,\nimparting to him gifts not otherwise his but which qualify him for the\nservice to which God has called him._\n\nTHE NECESSITY OF THE BAPTISM WITH THE SPIRIT.\n\nThe New Testament has much to say about the necessity for the baptism with\nthe Holy Spirit. When our Lord was about to leave His disciples to go to\nbe with the Father, He said, \u201cAnd, behold, I send the promise of My Father\nupon you: but _tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with\npower from on high_\u201d (Luke xxiv. 49). He had just commissioned them to be\nHis witnesses to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem (vs. 47, 48), but He\nhere tells them that before they undertake this witnessing, they must wait\nuntil they receive the promise of the Father, and were thus endued with\npower from on high for the work of witnessing which they were to\nundertake. There is no doubt as to what Jesus meant by \u201cthe promise of My\nFather,\u201d for which they were to wait before beginning the ministry that He\nhad laid upon them; for in Acts i. 4, 5, we read, \u201cAnd being assembled\ntogether with them (He), commanded them that they should not depart from\nJerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith He, ye\nhave heard of Me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be\nbaptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.\u201d It is evident then that\n\u201cthe promise of the Father\u201d through which the enduement of power was to\ncome was the baptism with the Holy Spirit. He went on to tell His\ndisciples \u201cYe shall receive power _after that_ the Holy Ghost shall come\nupon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all\nJudea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth\u201d (Acts i.\n8). Now who were the men to whom Jesus said this? The disciples whom He\nHimself had trained for the work. For more than three years, they had\nlived in the closest intimacy with Himself; they had been eye-witnesses of\nHis miracles, of His death, of His resurrection, and in a few moments were\nto be eye-witnesses of His ascension as He was taken up right before their\neyes into heaven. And what were they to do? Simply to go and tell the\nworld what their own eyes had seen and what their own ears had heard from\nthe lips of the Son of God. Were they not equipped for the work? With our\nmodern ideas of preparation for Christian work, we should say that they\nwere thoroughly equipped. But Jesus said, \u201cNo, you are not equipped. There\nis another preparation in addition to the preparation already received, so\nabsolutely necessary for effective work that you must not stir one step\nuntil you receive it. This other preparation is the promise of the Father,\nthe baptism with the Holy Spirit.\u201d If the Apostles with their altogether\nexceptional fitting for the work which they were to undertake needed this\npreparation for work, how much more do we? In the light of what Jesus\nrequired of His disciples before undertaking the work, does it not seem\nlike the most daring presumption for any of us to undertake to witness and\nwork for Christ until we also have received the promise of the Father, the\nbaptism with the Holy Spirit? There was apparently imperative need that\nsomething be done at once. The whole world was perishing and they alone\nknew the saving truth, nevertheless Jesus strictly charged them \u201cwait.\u201d\nCould there be a stronger testimony to the absolute necessity and\nimportance of the baptism with the Holy Spirit as a preparation for work\nthat should be acceptable to Christ?\n\nBut this is not all. In Acts x. 38 we read, \u201cHow _God anointed Jesus of\nNazareth with the Holy Ghost and power_; who went about doing good, and\nhealing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him.\u201d To\nwhat does this refer in the recorded life of Jesus Christ? If we will turn\nto Luke iii. 21, 22, and Luke iv. 1, 4, 17, 18, we will get our answer. In\nLuke iii. 21, 22, R. V., we read that after Jesus had been baptized and\nwas praying, \u201cThe heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended in a\nbodily form, as a dove, upon Him, and a voice came out of heaven, Thou art\nMy beloved Son; in Thee I am well pleased.\u201d Then the next thing that we\nread, with nothing intervening but the human genealogy of Jesus, is \u201cAnd\nJesus, _full of the Holy Spirit_, returned from the Jordan, and was led by\nthe Spirit in the wilderness\u201d (Luke iv. 1). Then follows the story of His\ntemptation; then in the fourteenth verse we read, \u201cAnd Jesus returned _in\nthe power of the Spirit_ into Galilee: and a fame went out concerning Him\nthrough all the region round about.\u201d And in the seventeenth and eighteenth\nverses, \u201cAnd there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Isaiah.\nAnd He opened the book, and found the place where it was written, The\nSpirit of the Lord is upon Me, because _He hath anointed Me to preach_,\netc.\u201d Evidently then, it was at the Jordan in connection with His baptism\nthat Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit and power, and He did not\nenter upon His public ministry until He was thus baptized with the Holy\nSpirit. And who was Jesus? It is the common belief of Christendom that He\nhad been supernaturally conceived through the Holy Spirit\u2019s power, that He\nwas the only begotten Son of God, that He was Divine, very God of very\nGod, and yet truly man. If such an One \u201cleaving us an example that we\nshould follow His steps\u201d did not venture upon His ministry, for which the\nFather had sent Him, until thus definitely baptized with the Holy Spirit,\nwhat is it for us to dare to do it? If in the light of these recorded\nfacts we dare to do it, does it not seem like the most unpardonable\npresumption? Doubtless it has been done in ignorance by many of us, but\ncan we plead ignorance any longer? It is evident that the baptism with the\nHoly Spirit is an absolutely necessary preparation for effective work for\nChrist along every line of service. We may have a very clear call to\nservice, as clear it may be as the Apostles had, but the charge is laid\nupon us as upon them, that before we begin that service we must tarry\nuntil we are clothed with power from on high. This enduement of power is\nthrough the baptism with the Holy Spirit.\n\nBut this is not all even yet. We read in Acts vii. 14-16, \u201cNow when the\nApostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Word\nof God, they sent unto them Peter and John: who, when they were come down,\n_prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost_ (for as yet He\nwas fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the\nLord Jesus).\u201d There was a great company of happy converts in Samaria, but\nwhen Peter and John came down to inspect the work, they evidently felt\nthat there was something so essential that these young disciples had not\nreceived that before they did anything else, they must see to it that they\nreceived it. In a similar way we read in Acts xix. 1, 2, R. V., \u201cAnd it\ncame to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed\nthrough the upper country came to Ephesus, and found certain disciples:\nand he said unto them, Did ye receive the Holy Ghost when ye believed?\u201d\nWhen he found that they had not received the Holy Spirit, the first thing\nthat he saw to was that they should receive the Holy Spirit. He did not go\non with the work with the outsiders until that little group of twelve\ndisciples had been equipped for service. So we see that when the Apostles\nfound believers in Christ, the first thing that they always did was to\ndemand whether they had received the Holy Spirit as a definite experience\nand if not, they saw to it at once that the steps were taken whereby they\nshould receive the Holy Spirit. It is evident then that _the baptism with\nthe Holy Spirit is absolutely necessary in every Christian for the service\nthat Christ demands and expects of him_. There are certainly few greater\nmistakes that we are making to-day in our various Christian enterprises\nthan that of setting men to teach Sunday-school classes and do personal\nwork and even to preach the Gospel, because they have been converted and\nreceived a certain amount of education, including it may be a college and\nseminary course, but have not as yet been baptized with the Holy Spirit.\nWe think that if a man is hopefully pious and has had a college and\nseminary education and comes out of it reasonably orthodox, he is now\nready that we should lay our hands upon him and ordain him to preach the\nGospel. But Jesus Christ says, \u201cNo.\u201d There is another preparation so all\nessential that a man must not undertake this work until he has received\nit. \u201cTarry ye (literally \u2018sit ye down\u2019) until ye be endued with power from\non high.\u201d A distinguished theological professor has said that the question\nought to be put to every candidate for the ministry, \u201cHave you met God?\u201d\nYes, but we ought to go farther than this and be even more definite; to\nevery candidate for the ministry we should put the question, \u201cHave you\nbeen baptized with the Holy Spirit?\u201d and if not, we should say to him as\nJesus said to the first preachers of the Gospel, \u201cSit down until you are\nendued with power from on high.\u201d\n\nBut not only is this true of ordained ministers, it is true of every\nChristian, for all Christians are called to ministry of some kind. Any man\nwho is in Christian work, who has not received the baptism with the Holy\nSpirit, ought to stop his work right where he is and not go on with it\nuntil he has been \u201cclothed with power from on high.\u201d But what will our\nwork do while we are waiting? The question can be answered by asking\nanother, \u201cWhat did the world do during these ten days while the early\ndisciples were waiting?\u201d They knew the saving truth, they alone knew it;\nyet in obedience to the Lord\u2019s command they were silent. The world was no\nloser. Beyond a doubt, when the power came, they accomplished more in one\nday than they would have accomplished in years if they had gone on in\nself-confident defiance and disobedience to Christ\u2019s command. We too after\nthat we have received the baptism with the Spirit will accomplish more of\nreal work for our Lord in one day than we ever would in years without this\npower. Even if it were necessary to spend days in waiting, they would be\nwell spent, but we shall see later that there is no need that we spend\ndays in waiting, that the baptism with the Holy Spirit may be received\nto-day. Some one may say that the Apostles had gone on missionary tours\nduring Christ\u2019s lifetime, even before they were baptized with the Holy\nSpirit. This is true, but that was before the Holy Spirit was given, and\nbefore the command was given, \u201cTarry ye until ye be clothed with power\nfrom on high.\u201d After that it would have been disobedience and folly and\npresumption to have gone forth without this enduement, and we are living\nto-day after the Holy Spirit has been given and after the charge has been\ngiven to tarry until clothed.\n\nWHO CAN BE BAPTIZED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT?\n\nWe come now to the question of first importance, namely, Who can be\nbaptized with the Holy Spirit? At a convention some years ago, a very\nintelligent Christian woman, a well-known worker in educational as well as\nSunday-school work, sent me this question, \u201cYou have told us of the\nnecessity of the baptism with the Holy Spirit, but who can have this\nbaptism? The church to which I belong teaches that the baptism with the\nHoly Spirit was confined to the apostolic age. Will you not tell us who\ncan have the baptism with the Holy Spirit?\u201d Fortunately this question is\nanswered in the most explicit terms in the Bible. We read in Acts ii. 38,\n39, R. V., \u201cAnd Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one\nof you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye\nshall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For to you is the promise, and\nto your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord\nour God shall call unto Him.\u201d What is the promise to which Peter refers in\nthe thirty-ninth verse? There are two interpretations of the passage; one\nis that the promise of this verse is the promise of salvation; the other\nis that the promise of this verse is the promise of the gift of the Holy\nSpirit (or the baptism with the Holy Spirit; a comparison of Scripture\npassages will show that the two expressions are synonymous). Which is the\ncorrect interpretation? There are two laws of interpretation universally\nrecognized among Bible scholars. These two laws are the law of usage (or\n\u201cusus loquendi\u201d as it is called) and the law of context. Many a verse in\nthe Bible standing alone might admit of two or three or even more\ninterpretations, but when these two laws of interpretation are applied, it\nis settled to a certainty that only one of the various possible\ninterpretations is the true interpretation. The law of usage is this, that\nwhen you find a word or phrase in any passage of Scripture and you wish to\nknow what it means, do not go to a dictionary but go to the Bible itself,\nlook up the various passages in which the word is used and especially how\nthe particular writer being studied uses it, and especially how it is used\nin that particular book in which the passage is found. Thus you can\ndetermine what the precise meaning of the word or phrase is in the passage\nin question. The law of context is this; that when you study a passage,\nyou should not take it out of its connection but should look at what goes\nbefore it and what comes after it; for while it might mean various things\nif it stood alone, it can only mean one thing in the connection in which\nit is found. Now let us apply these two laws to the passage in question.\nFirst of all, let us apply the law of usage. We are trying to discover\nwhat the expression \u201cthe promise\u201d means in Acts ii. 39. Turning back to\nActs i. 4, 5, R. V., we read, \u201cHe charged them not to depart from\nJerusalem, but to wait for _the promise of the Father_, which, said He, ye\nheard from Me: for John indeed baptized with water, but ye _shall be\nbaptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence_.\u201d It is evident then,\nthat here the promise of the Father means the baptism with the Holy\nSpirit. Turn now to the second chapter and the thirty-third verse, R. V.,\n\u201cBeing therefore by the right hand of God exalted, and having received _of\nthe Father the promise of the Holy Ghost_, He hath poured forth this,\nwhich ye see and hear.\u201d In this passage we are told in so many words that\nthe promise is the promise of the Holy Spirit. If this peculiar expression\nmeans the baptism with the Holy Spirit in Acts i. 4, 5, and the same thing\nin Acts ii. 33, by what same law of interpretation can it possibly mean\nsomething entirely different six verses farther down in Acts ii. 39? So\nthe law of usage establishes it that the promise of Acts ii. 39 is the\npromise of the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Now let us apply the law of\ncontext, and we shall find that, if possible, this is even more decisive.\nTurn back to the thirty-eighth verse, \u201cAnd Peter said unto them, Repent\nye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the\nremission of your sins; and _ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost;\nfor the promise_ is unto you, etc.\u201d So it is evident here that the promise\nis the promise of the gift or baptism with the Holy Spirit. It is settled\nthen by both laws that the promise of Acts ii. 39 is that of the gift of\nthe Holy Spirit, or baptism with the Holy Spirit. Let us then read the\nverse in that way, substituting this synonymous expression for the\nexpression \u201cthe promise,\u201d \u201cFor the baptism with the Spirit is unto you,\nand to your children and to all that are afar off, even as many as the\nLord our God shall call.\u201d \u201c_It is unto you_,\u201d says Peter, that is to the\ncrowd assembled before him. There is nothing in that for us. We were not\nthere, and that crowd were all Jews and we are not Jews; but Peter did not\nstop there, he goes further and says, \u201cAnd _to your children_,\u201d that is to\nthe next generation of Jews, or all future generations of Jews. Still\nthere is nothing in it for us, for we are not Jews; but Peter did not stop\neven there, he went further and said, \u201cAnd _to all them that are afar\noff_.\u201d That does take us in. We are the Gentiles who were once \u201cafar off,\u201d\nbut now \u201cmade nigh by the blood of Christ\u201d (Eph. ii. 13, 17). But lest\nthere be any mistake about it whatever, Peter adds \u201ceven as many as the\nLord our God shall call unto Him.\u201d So on the very day of Pentecost, Peter\ndeclares that the baptism with the Holy Spirit is for every child of God\nin every coming age of the church\u2019s history. Some years ago at a\nministerial conference in Chicago, a minister of the Gospel from the\nSouthwest came to me after a lecture on the Baptism with the Holy Spirit\nand said, \u201cThe church to which I belong teaches that the baptism with the\nHoly Spirit was for the apostolic age alone.\u201d \u201cI do not care,\u201d I replied,\n\u201cwhat the church to which you belong teaches, or what the church to which\nI belong teaches. The only question with me is, What does the Word of God\nteach?\u201d \u201cThat is right,\u201d he said. I then handed him my Bible and asked him\nto read Acts ii. 39, and he read, \u201cFor the promise is unto you, and unto\nyour children and to all them that are afar off even as many as the Lord\nour God shall call unto Him\u201d (R. V.). \u201cHas He called you?\u201d I asked. \u201cYes,\nHe certainly has.\u201d \u201cIs the promise for you then?\u201d \u201cYes, it is.\u201d He took it\nand the result was a transformed ministry. Some years ago at a students\u2019\nconference, the gatherings were presided over by a prominent Episcopalian\nminister, a man greatly honoured and loved. I spoke at this conference on\nthe Baptism with the Holy Spirit, and dwelt upon the significance of Acts\nii. 39. That night as we sat together after the meetings were over, this\nservant of God said to me, \u201cBrother Torrey, I was greatly interested in\nwhat you had to say to-day on the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. If your\ninterpretation of Acts ii. 39 is correct, you have your case, but I doubt\nyour interpretation of Acts ii. 39. Let us talk it over.\u201d We did talk it\nover. Several years later, in July, 1894, I was at the students\u2019\nconference at Northfield. As I entered the back door of Stone Hall that\nday, this Episcopalian minister entered the front door. Seeing me he\nhurried across the hall and held out his hand and said, \u201cYou were right\nabout Acts ii. 39 at Knoxville, and I believe I have a right to tell you\nsomething better yet, that I have been baptized with the Holy Spirit.\u201d I\nam glad that I was right about Acts ii. 39, not that it is of any\nimportance that I should be right, but the truth thus established is of\nimmeasurable importance. Is it not glorious to be able to go literally\naround the world and face audiences of believers all over the United\nStates, in the Sandwich Islands, in Australia and Tasmania and New\nZealand, in China and Japan and India, in England and Scotland, Ireland,\nGermany, France and Switzerland and to be able to tell them, and to know\nthat you have God\u2019s sure Word under your feet when you do tell them, \u201cYou\nmay all be baptized with the Holy Spirit\u201d? But that unspeakably joyous and\nglorious thought has its solemn side. If we may be baptized with the Holy\nSpirit then we _must_ be. If we are baptized with the Holy Spirit then\nsouls will be saved through our instrumentality who will not be saved if\nwe are not thus baptized. If then we are not willing to pay the price of\nthis baptism and therefore are not thus baptized we shall be responsible\nbefore God for every soul that might have been saved who was not saved\nbecause we did not pay the price and therefore did not obtain the\nblessing. I often tremble for myself and for my brethren in the ministry,\nand not only for my brethren in the ministry but for my brethren in all\nforms of Christian work, even the most humble and obscure. Why? Because we\nare preaching error? No, alas, there are many in these dark days who are\ndoing that, and I do tremble for them; but that is not what I mean now. Do\nI mean that I tremble because we are not preaching the truth? for it is\nquite possible not to preach error and yet not preach the truth; many a\nman has never preached a word of error in his life, but still is not\npreaching the truth, and I do tremble for them; but that is not what I\nmean now. I mean that I tremble for those of us who are preaching the\ntruth, the very truth as it is in Jesus, the truth as it is recorded in\nthe written Word of God, the truth in its simplicity, its purity and its\nfullness, but who are preaching it in \u201cpersuasive words of man\u2019s wisdom\u201d\nand not \u201cin demonstration of the Spirit and of power\u201d (1 Cor. ii. 4, R.\nV.). Preaching it in the energy of the flesh and not in the power of the\nHoly Spirit. There is nothing more death dealing than the Gospel without\nthe Spirit\u2019s power. \u201cThe letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.\u201d It\nis awfully solemn business preaching the Gospel either from the pulpit or\nin more quiet ways. It means death or life to those that hear, and whether\nit means death or life depends very largely on whether we preach it with\nor without the baptism with the Holy Spirit.\n\nWE MUST BE BAPTISED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT.\n\nEven after one has been baptized with the Holy Spirit, no matter how\ndefinite that baptism may be, he needs to be filled again and again with\nthe Spirit. This is the clear teaching of the New Testament. We read in\nActs ii. 4, \u201c_They were all filled_ with the Holy Ghost and began to speak\nwith other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.\u201d Now one of those\nwho was present on this occasion and who therefore was filled at this time\nwith the Holy Spirit was Peter. Indeed, he stands forth most prominently\nin the chapter as a man baptized with the Holy Spirit. But we read in Acts\niv. 8, \u201cThen Peter, _filled with the Holy Ghost_, said unto them, etc.\u201d\nHere we read again that Peter was filled with the Holy Ghost. Further down\nin the chapter we read, in the thirty-first verse, that being assembled\ntogether and praying, they were \u201c_all filled with the Holy Ghost_, and\nthey spake the Word of God with boldness.\u201d We are expressly told in the\ncontext that two of those present were John and Peter. Here then was _a\nthird instance in which Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit_. It is not\nenough that one be filled with the Holy Spirit once. We, need a new\nfilling for each new emergency of Christian service. The failure to\nrealize this need of constant refillings with the Holy Spirit has led to\nmany a man who at one time was greatly used of God, being utterly laid\naside. There are many to-day who once knew what it was to work in the\npower of the Holy Spirit who have lost their unction and their power. I do\nnot say that the Holy Spirit has left them\u2014I do not believe He has\u2014but the\nmanifestation of His presence and power has gone. One of the saddest\nsights among us to-day is that of the men and women who once toiled for\nthe Master in the mighty power of the Holy Spirit who are now practically\nof no use, or even a hindrance to the work, because they are trying to go\nin the power of the blessing received a year or five years or twenty years\nago. For each new service that is to be conducted, for each new soul that\nis to be dealt with, for each new work for Christ that is to be performed,\nfor each new day and each new emergency of Christian life and service, we\nshould seek and obtain a new filling with the Holy Spirit. We must not\n\u201cneglect\u201d the gift that is in us (1 Tim. iv. 14), but on the contrary\n\u201ckindle anew\u201d or \u201cstir into flame\u201d this gift (1 Tim. i. 6, R. V., margin).\nRepeated fillings with the Holy Spirit are necessary to continuance and\nincrease of power.\n\nThe question may arise, \u201cShall we call these new fillings with the Holy\nSpirit \u2018fresh baptisms\u2019 with the Holy Spirit?\u201d To this we would answer,\nthe expression \u201cbaptism\u201d is never used in the Scriptures of a second\nexperience and there is something of an initiatory character in the very\nthought of baptism, so if one wishes to be precisely Biblical, it would\nseem to be better not to use the term \u201cbaptism\u201d of a second experience but\nto limit it to the first experience. On the other hand \u201c_filled_ with the\nHoly Spirit\u201d is used in Acts ii. 4, to describe the experience promised in\nActs i. 5, where the words used are \u201cYe shall be _baptized with the Holy\nGhost_.\u201d And it is evident from this and from other passages that the two\nexpressions are to a large extent practically synonymous. However, if we\nconfine the expression \u201cbaptism with the Holy Spirit\u201d to our first\nexperience, we shall be more exactly Biblical and it would be well to\nspeak of one baptism but many fillings. But I would a great deal rather\nthat one should speak about new or fresh baptisms with the Holy Spirit,\nstanding for the all-important truth that we need repeated fillings with\nthe Holy Spirit, than that he should so insist on exact phraseology that\nhe would lose sight of the truth that repeated fillings are needed, _i.\ne._, I would rather have the right experience by a wrong name, than the\nwrong experience by the right name. This much is as clear as day, that we\nneed to be filled again and again and again with the Holy Spirit. I am\nsometimes asked, \u201cHave you received _the second blessing_?\u201d Yes, and the\nthird and the fourth and the fifth and hundreds beside, and I am looking\nfor a new blessing to-day.\n\nWe come now to the question of first practical importance, namely, WHAT\nMUST ONE DO IN ORDER TO OBTAIN THE BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT? This\nquestion is answered in the plainest and most positive way in the Bible. A\nplain path is laid down in the Bible consisting of a few simple steps that\nany one can take, and it is absolutely certain that any one who takes\nthese steps will enter into the blessing. This is, of course, a very\npositive statement, and we would not dare be so positive if the Bible were\nnot equally positive. But what right have we to be uncertain when the Word\nof God is positive? There are seven steps in this path:\n\n1. The first step is that we _accept Jesus Christ as our Saviour and\nLord_. We read in Acts ii. 38, R. V., \u201cRepent ye, and be baptized every\none of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and\nye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.\u201d Is not this statement as\npositive as that which we made above? Peter says that if we do certain\nthings, the result will be, \u201cYe _shall receive_ the gift of the Holy\nGhost.\u201d All seven steps are in this passage, but we shall refer later to\nother passages as throwing light upon this. The first two steps are in the\nword \u201crepent.\u201d \u201c_Repent_ ye,\u201d said Peter. What does it mean to repent? The\nGreek word for repentance means \u201can afterthought\u201d or \u201cchange of mind.\u201d To\nrepent then means to change your mind. But change your mind about what?\nAbout three things; about God, about Jesus Christ, about sin. What the\nchange of mind is about in any given instance must be determined by the\ncontext. As determined by the context in the present case, the change of\nmind is primarily about Jesus Christ. Peter had just said in the\nthirty-sixth verse, R. V., \u201cLet all the house of Israel know assuredly,\nthat God hath made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified.\nWhen they heard this, they were pricked in their heart,\u201d as well they\nmight be, \u201cand said unto Peter and the rest of the Apostles, Brethren,\nwhat shall we do?\u201d Then it was that Peter said, \u201cRepent ye,\u201d \u201cChange your\nmind about Jesus, change your mind from that attitude of mind that\nrejected Him and crucified Him to that attitude of mind that accepts Him\nas Lord and King and Saviour.\u201d This then is the first step towards\nreceiving the baptism with the Holy Spirit; receive Jesus as Saviour and\nLord; first of all receive Him as your Saviour. Have you done that?\n\nWhat does it mean to receive Jesus as Saviour? It means to accept Him as\nthe One who bore our sins in our place on the cross (Gal. iii. 13; 2 Cor.\nv. 21) and to trust God to forgive us because Jesus Christ died in our\nplace. It means to rest all our hope of acceptance before God upon the\nfinished work of Christ upon the cross of Calvary. There are many who\nprofess to be Christians who have not done this. When you go to many who\ncall themselves Christians and ask them if they are saved, they reply,\n\u201cYes.\u201d Then if you put to them the question \u201cUpon what are you resting as\nthe ground of your salvation?\u201d they will reply something like this, \u201cI go\nto church; I say my prayers, I read my Bible, I have been baptized, I have\nunited with the church, I partake of the Lord\u2019s supper, I attend\nprayer-meeting, and I am trying to live as near right as I know how.\u201d If\nthese things are what you are resting upon as the ground of your\nacceptance before God, then you are not saved, for all these things are\nyour own works (all proper in their places but still your own works) and\nwe are distinctly told in Rom. iii. 20, R. V., that \u201cBy the works of the\nlaw shall no flesh be justified in His sight.\u201d But if you go to others and\nask them if they are saved, they will reply \u201cYes.\u201d And then if you ask\nthem upon what they are resting as the ground of their acceptance before\nGod, they will reply something to this effect, \u201cI am not resting upon\nanything I ever did, or upon anything I am ever going to do; I am resting\nupon what Jesus Christ did for me when He bore my sins in His own body on\nthe cross. I am resting in His finished work of atonement.\u201d If this is\nwhat you are really resting upon, then you are saved, you have accepted\nJesus Christ as your Saviour and you have taken the first step towards the\nbaptism with the Holy Spirit.\n\nThe same thought is taught elsewhere in the Bible, for example in Gal.\niii. 2. Here Paul asks of the believers in Galatia, \u201cReceived ye the Holy\nSpirit by the works of the law, or _by the hearing of faith_?\u201d Just what\ndid he mean? On one occasion when Paul was passing through Galatia, he was\ndetained there by some physical infirmity. We are not told what it was,\nbut at all events, he was not so ill but that he could preach to the\nGalatians the Gospel, or glad tidings, that Jesus Christ had redeemed them\nfrom the curse of the law by becoming a curse in their place, by dying on\nthe cross of Calvary. These Galatians believed this testimony; this was\nthe hearing of faith, and God set the stamp of His endorsement upon their\nfaith by giving them as a personal experience the Holy Spirit. But after\nPaul had left Galatia, certain Judaizers came down from Jerusalem, men who\nwere substituting the law of Moses for the Gospel and taught them that it\nwas not enough that they simply believe on Jesus Christ but in addition to\nthis they must keep the law of Moses, especially the law of Moses\nregarding circumcision, and that without circumcision they could not be\nsaved\u2014_i. e._, they could not be saved by simple faith in Jesus (cf. Acts\nxv. 1). These young converts in Galatia became all upset. They did not\nknow whether they were saved or not; they did not know what they ought to\ndo, and all was confusion. It was just as when modern Judaizers come\naround and get after young converts and tell them that in addition to\nbelieving in Jesus Christ, they must keep the Mosaic Seventh Day Sabbath,\nor they cannot be saved. This is simply the old controversy breaking out\nat a new point. When Paul heard what had happened in Galatia, he was very\nindignant and wrote the Epistle to the Galatians simply for the purpose of\nexposing the utter error of these Judaizers. He showed them how Abraham\nhimself was justified before he was circumcised by simply believing God\n(Gal. iii. 6), and how he was circumcised after he was justified as a seal\nof the faith which he already had while he was in uncircumcision. But in\naddition to this proof of the error of the Judaizers, Paul appeals to\ntheir own personal experience. He says to them, \u201cYou received the Holy\nSpirit, did you not?\u201d \u201cYes.\u201d \u201cHow did you receive the Holy Spirit, by\nkeeping the law of Moses, or by the hearing of faith, the simple accepting\nof God\u2019s testimony about Jesus Christ that your sins were laid upon Him,\nand that you are thus justified and saved?\u201d The Galatians had had a very\ndefinite experience of receiving the Holy Spirit and Paul appeals to it,\nand recalls to their mind how it was by the simple hearing of faith that\nthey had received the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Holy Spirit is God\u2019s\nseal upon the simple acceptance of God\u2019s testimony about Jesus Christ,\nthat our sins were laid upon Him, and thus trusting God to forgive us and\njustify us. This then is the first step towards receiving the Holy Spirit.\nBut we must not only receive Jesus as Saviour, we must also receive Him as\nLord. Of this we shall speak further in connection with another passage in\nthe fourth step.\n\n2. The second step in the path that leads into the blessing of being\nbaptized with the Holy Spirit is _renunciation of sin_. Repentance as we\nhave seen is a change of mind about sin as well as a change of mind about\nChrist; a change of mind from that attitude of mind that loves sin and\nindulges sin to that attitude of mind that hates sin and renounces sin.\nThis then is the second step\u2014renunciation of sin. The Holy Spirit is a\n_Holy_ Spirit and we cannot have both Him and sin. We must make our choice\nbetween the Holy Spirit and unholy sin. We cannot have both. He that will\nnot give up sin cannot have the Holy Spirit. It is not enough that we\nrenounce one sin or two sins or three sins or many sins, we must _renounce\nall sin_. If we cling to one single known sin, it will shut us out of the\nblessing. Here we find the cause of failure in many people who are praying\nfor the baptism with the Holy Spirit, going to conventions and hearing\nabout the baptism with the Holy Spirit, reading books about the baptism\nwith the Holy Spirit, perhaps spending whole nights in prayer for the\nbaptism with the Holy Spirit, and yet obtaining nothing. Why? Because\nthere is some sin to which they are clinging. People often say to me, or\nwrite to me, \u201cI have been praying for the baptism with the Holy Spirit for\na year (five years, ten years, one man said twenty years). Why do I not\nreceive?\u201d In many such cases, I feel led to reply, \u201cIt is sin, and if I\ncould look down into your heart this moment as God looks into your heart,\nI could put my finger on the specific sin.\u201d It may be what you are pleased\nto call a small sin, but there are no small sins. There are sins that\nconcern small things, but every sin is an act of rebellion against God and\ntherefore no sin is a small sin. A controversy with God about the smallest\nthing is sufficient to shut one out of the blessing. Mr. Finney tells of a\nwoman who was greatly exercised about the baptism with the Holy Spirit.\nEvery night after the meetings, she would go to her rooms and pray way\ninto the night and her friends were afraid she would go insane, but no\nblessing came. One night as she prayed, some little matter of head\nadornment, a matter that would probably not trouble many Christians\nto-day, but a matter of controversy between her and God, came up (as it\nhad often come up before) as she knelt in prayer. She put her hand to her\nhead and took the pins out of her hair and threw them across the room and\nsaid, \u201cThere go!\u201d and instantly the Holy Ghost fell upon her. It was not\nso much the matter of head adornment as the matter of controversy with God\nthat had kept her out of the blessing.\n\nIf there is anything that always comes up when you get nearest to God,\nthat is the thing to deal with. Some years ago at a convention in a\nSouthern state, the presiding officer, a minister in the Baptist Church,\ncalled my attention to a man and said, \u201cThat man is the pope of our\ndenomination in \u2014\u2014; everything he says goes, but he is not at all with us\nin this matter, but I am glad to see him here.\u201d This minister kept\nattending the meetings. At the close of the last meeting where I had\nspoken upon the conditions of receiving the baptism with the Holy Spirit,\nI found this man awaiting me in the vestibule. He said, \u201cI did not stand\nup on your invitation to-day.\u201d I replied, \u201cI saw you did not.\u201d \u201cI thought\nyou said,\u201d he continued, \u201cthat you only wanted those to stand who could\nsay they had absolutely surrendered to God?\u201d \u201cThat is what I did say,\u201d I\nreplied. \u201cWell, I could not say that.\u201d \u201cThen you did perfectly right not\nto stand. I did not want you to lie to God.\u201d \u201cSay,\u201d he continued, \u201cyou hit\nme pretty hard to-day. You said if there was anything that always comes up\nwhen you get nearest to God, that is the thing to deal with. Now there is\nsomething that always comes up when I get nearest to God. I am not going\nto tell you what it is. I think you know.\u201d \u201cYes,\u201d I replied. (I could\nsmell it.) \u201cWell, I simply wanted to say this to you.\u201d This was on Friday\nafternoon. I had occasion to go to another city, and returning through\nthat city the following Tuesday morning, the minister who had presided at\nthe meeting was at the station. \u201cI wish you could have been in our Baptist\nministers\u2019 meeting yesterday morning,\u201d he said; \u201cthat man I pointed out to\nyou from the north part of the state was present. He got up in our meeting\nand said, \u2018Brethren, we have been all wrong about this matter,\u2019 and then\nhe told what he had done. He had settled his controversy with God, had\ngiven up the thing which had always come up when he got nearest to God,\nthen he continued and said, \u2018Brethren, I have received a more definite\nexperience than I had when I was converted.\u2019 \u201d Just such an experience is\nwaiting many another, both minister and layman, just as soon as he will\njudge his sin, just as soon as he will put away the thing that is a matter\nof controversy between him and God, no matter how small the thing may\nseem. If any one sincerely desires the baptism with the Holy Spirit, he\nshould go alone with God and ask God to search him and bring to light\nanything in his heart or life that is displeasing to Him, and when He\nbrings it to light, he should put it away. If after sincerely waiting on\nGod, nothing is brought to light, then we may proceed to take the other\nsteps. But there is no use praying, no use going to conventions, no use in\nreading books about the baptism with the Holy Spirit, no use in doing\nanything else, until we judge our sins.\n\n3. The third step is _an open confession of our renunciation of sin and\nour acceptance of Jesus Christ_. After telling his hearers to repent in\nActs ii. 38, Peter continues and tells them to be \u201cbaptized every one of\nyou in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins.\u201d Heart\nrepentance alone was not enough. There must be an open confession of that\nrepentance, and God\u2019s appointed way of confession of repentance is\nbaptism. None of those to whom Peter spoke had ever been baptized, and, of\ncourse, what Peter meant in that case was water baptism. But suppose one\nhas already been baptized, what then? Even in that case, there must be\nthat for which baptism stands, namely, an open confession of our\nrenunciation of sin and our acceptance of Jesus Christ. The baptism with\nthe Spirit is not for the secret disciple, but for the open confessed\ndisciple. There are many doubtless to-day who are trying to be Christians\nin their hearts, many who really believe that they have accepted Jesus as\ntheir Saviour and their Lord and have renounced sin, but they are not\nwilling to make an open confession of their renunciation of sin and their\nacceptance of Christ. Such an one cannot have the baptism with the Holy\nSpirit. Some one may ask, \u201cDo not the Friends (\u2018Quakers\u2019), who do not\nbelieve in water baptism, give evidence of being baptized with the Holy\nSpirit?\u201d Doubtless many of them do, but this does not alter the teaching\nof God\u2019s Word. God doubtless condescends in many instances where people\nare misled as to the teaching of His Word to their ignorance, if they are\nsincere, but that fact does not alter His Word, and even with a member of\nthe congregation of Friends, who sincerely does not believe in water\nbaptism, there must be before the blessing is received that for which\nbaptism stands, namely, the open confession of our acceptance of Christ\nand of our renunciation of sin.\n\n4. The fourth step is _absolute surrender to God_. This comes out in what\nhas been already said, namely, that we _must accept Jesus as Lord_ as well\nas Saviour. It is stated explicitly in Acts v. 32, \u201cAnd we are His\nwitnesses of these things; and so is also _the Holy Ghost, whom God hath\ngiven to them that obey Him_.\u201d That is the fourth step, \u201cobey Him,\u201d\nobedience. But what does obedience mean? Some one will say, doing as we\nare told. Right, but doing how much that we are told? Not merely one thing\nor two things or three things or four things, but all things. The heart of\nobedience is in the will, the essence of obedience is the surrender of the\nwill to God. It is going to God our heavenly Father and saying, \u201cHeavenly\nFather, here I am. I am Thy property. Thou hast bought me with a price. I\nacknowledge Thine ownership, and surrender myself and all that I am\nabsolutely to Thee. Send me where Thou wilt; do with me what Thou wilt;\nuse me as Thou wilt.\u201d This is in most instances the decisive step in\nreceiving the baptism with the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament types it\nwas when the whole burnt offering was laid upon the altar, nothing kept\nback within or without the sacrificial animal, that the fire came forth\nfrom the Holy Place where God dwelt and accepted and consumed the gift\nupon the altar. And so it is to-day, in the fulfillment of the type, when\nwe lay ourselves, a whole burnt offering, upon the altar, keeping nothing\nwithin or without back, that the fire of God, the Holy Spirit, descends\nfrom the real Holy Place, heaven (of which the Most Holy Place in the\ntabernacle was simply a type), and accepts the gift upon the altar. When\nwe can truly say, \u201cMy _all_ is on the altar,\u201d then we shall not have long\nto wait for the fire. The lack of this absolute surrender is shutting many\nout of the blessing to-day. People turn the keys of almost every closet in\ntheir heart over to God, but there is some small closet of which they wish\nto keep the key themselves, and the blessing does not come.\n\nAt a convention in Washington, D. C., on the last night, I had spoken on\nHow to Receive the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit Himself was\npresent in mighty power that night. The chaplain of one of the houses had\nsaid to me at the close of the meeting, \u201cIt almost seemed as if I could\nsee the Holy Spirit in this place to-night.\u201d There were many to be dealt\nwith. About two hours after the meeting closed, about eleven o\u2019clock, a\nworker came to me and said, \u201cDo you see that young woman over to the right\nwith whom Miss W\u2014\u2014 is speaking?\u201d \u201cYes.\u201d \u201cWell, she has been dealing with\nher for two hours and she is in awful agony. Won\u2019t you come and see if you\ncan help?\u201d I went into the seat back of this woman in distress and asked\nher her trouble. \u201cOh,\u201d she said, \u201cI came from Baltimore to receive the\nbaptism with the Holy Spirit, and I cannot go back to Baltimore until I\nhave received Him.\u201d \u201cIs your will laid down?\u201d I asked. \u201cI am afraid not.\u201d\n\u201cWill you lay it down now?\u201d \u201cI cannot.\u201d \u201cAre you willing that God should\nlay it down for you?\u201d \u201cYes.\u201d \u201cAsk Him to do it.\u201d She bowed her head in\nprayer and asked God to empty her of her will, to lay it down for her, to\nbring it into conformity to His will, in absolute surrender to His own.\nWhen the prayer was finished, I said, \u201cIs it laid down?\u201d She said, \u201cIt\nmust be. I have asked something according to His will. Yes, it is done.\u201d I\nsaid, \u201cAsk Him for the baptism with the Holy Spirit.\u201d She bowed her head\nagain in brief prayer and asked God to baptize her with the Holy Spirit\nand in a few moments looked up with peace in her heart and in her face.\nWhy? Because she had surrendered her will. She had met the conditions and\nGod had given the blessing.\n\n5. The fifth step is _an intense desire for the baptism with the Holy\nSpirit_. Jesus says in John vii. 37-39, \u201cIf any man _thirst_, let him come\nunto Me and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said,\nout of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake He of\nthe Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive.\u201d Here again we\nhave _belief on Jesus_ as the condition of receiving the Holy Spirit but\nwe have also this, \u201cIf any man thirst.\u201d Doubtless when Jesus spake these\nwords He had in mind the Old Testament promise in Isa. xliv. 3, \u201cFor I\nwill pour water upon him that is _thirsty_, and floods upon the dry\nground: I will pour _My Spirit_ upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine\noffspring.\u201d In both these passages thirst is the condition of receiving\nthe Holy Spirit. What does it mean to thirst? When a man really thirsts,\nit seems as if every pore in his body had just one cry, \u201cWater! Water!\nWater!\u201d Apply this to the matter in question; when a man thirsts\nspiritually, his whole being has but one cry, \u201cThe Holy Spirit! The Holy\nSpirit! The Holy Spirit!\u201d As long as one fancies he can get along somehow\nwithout the baptism with the Holy Spirit, he is not going to receive that\nbaptism. As long as one is casting about for some new kind of church,\nmachinery, or new style of preaching, or anything else, by which he hopes\nto accomplish what the Holy Spirit only can accomplish, he will not\nreceive the baptism with the Holy Spirit. As long as one tries to find\nsome subtle system of exegesis to read out of the New Testament what God\nhas put into it, namely, the absolute necessity that each believer receive\nthe baptism with the Holy Spirit as a definite experience, he is not going\nto receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit. As long as a man tries to\npersuade himself that he has received the baptism with the Holy Spirit\nwhen he really has not, he is not going to receive the baptism with the\nHoly Spirit. But when one gets to the place where he sees the absolute\nnecessity that he be baptized with the Holy Spirit as a definite\nexperience and desires this blessing at any cost, he is far on the way\ntowards receiving it. At a state Young Men\u2019s Christian Association\nConvention, where I had spoken on the Baptism with the Holy Spirit, two\nministers went out of the meeting side by side. One said to the other,\n\u201cThat kind of teaching leads either to fanaticism or despair.\u201d He did not\nattempt to show that it was unscriptural. He felt condemned and was not\nwilling to admit his lack and seek to have it supplied, and so he tried to\navoid the condemnation that came from the Word by this bright remark,\n\u201cthat kind of teaching leads either to fanaticism or despair.\u201d Such a man\nwill not receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit until he is brought to\nhimself and acknowledges honestly his need and intensely desires to have\nit supplied. How different another minister of the same denomination who\ncame to me one Sunday morning at Northfield. I was to speak that morning\non How to Receive the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. He said to me, \u201cI have\ncome to Northfield from \u2014\u2014 for just one purpose, to receive the baptism\nwith the Holy Spirit, and I would rather die than go back to my church\nwithout receiving it.\u201d I said, \u201cMy brother, you are going to receive it.\u201d\nThe following morning he came very early to my house. He said, \u201cI have to\ngo away on the early train but I came around to tell you before I went\nthat I have received the baptism with the Holy Spirit.\u201d\n\n6. The sixth step _is definite prayer for the baptism with the Holy\nSpirit_. Jesus says in Luke xi. 13, \u201cIf ye then, being evil, know how to\ngive good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly\nFather give the Holy Spirit _to them that ask Him_.\u201d This is very\nexplicit. Jesus teaches us that the Holy Spirit is given in answer to\ndefinite prayer\u2014just ask Him. There are many who tell us that we should\nnot pray for the Holy Spirit, and they reason it out very speciously. They\nsay that the Holy Spirit was given as an abiding gift to the church at\nPentecost, and why pray for what is already given? To this the late Rev.\nDr. A. J. Gordon well replied that Jesus Christ was given as an abiding\ngift to the world at Calvary (John iii. 16), but what was given to the\nworld as a whole each individual in the world must appropriate to himself;\nand just so the Holy Spirit was given to the church as an abiding gift at\nPentecost, but what was given to the church as a whole each individual in\nthe church must appropriate to himself, and God\u2019s way of appropriation is\nprayer. But those who say we should not pray for the Holy Spirit go\nfurther still than this. They tell us that every believer already has the\nHoly Spirit (which we have already seen is true in a sense), and why pray\nfor what we already have? To this the very simple answer is, that it is\none thing to have the Holy Spirit dwelling way back of consciousness in\nsome hidden sanctuary of the being and something quite different, and\nvastly more, to have Him take possession of the whole house that He\ninhabits. But against all these specious arguments we place the simple\nword of Jesus Christ, \u201cHow much more shall your heavenly Father give the\nHoly Spirit to them that ask Him.\u201d It will not do to say, as has been\nsaid, that \u201cthis promise was for the time of the earth life of our Lord,\nand to go back to the promise of Luke xi. 13 is to forget Pentecost, and\nto ignore the truth that now every believer has the indwelling Spirit;\u201d\nfor we find that after Pentecost as well as before, the Holy Spirit was\ngiven to believers in answer to definite prayer. For example, we read in\nActs iv. 31, R. V., \u201c_When they had prayed_, the place was shaken wherein\nthey were gathered together, and _they were all filled with the Holy\nGhost_, and they spake the Word of God with boldness.\u201d Again in Acts viii.\n15, 16, we read that when Peter and John were come down and saw the\nbelievers in Samaria they \u201c_prayed for them that they might receive the\nHoly Ghost_, for _as yet He was fallen upon none of them_, only they were\nbaptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.\u201d Again in the Epistle of Paul to\nthe Ephesians, Paul tells the believers in Ephesus that he was praying for\nthem that they might be strengthened with power through His Spirit (Eph.\niii. 16). So right through the New Testament after Pentecost, as well as\nbefore, by specific teaching and illustrative example, we are taught that\nthe Holy Spirit is given in answer to definite prayer. At a Christian\nworkers\u2019 convention in Boston, a brother came to me and said, \u201cI notice\nthat you are on the program to speak on the Baptism with the Holy Spirit.\u201d\n\u201cYes.\u201d \u201cI think that is the most important subject on the program. Now be\nsure and tell them not to pray for the Holy Spirit.\u201d I replied, \u201cMy\nbrother, I will be sure and not tell them that: for Jesus says, \u2018How much\nmore shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask\nHim?\u2019 \u201d \u201cYes, but that was before Pentecost.\u201d \u201cHow about Acts iv. 31, R.\nV., was that before Pentecost or after?\u201d He said, \u201cIt was certainly\nafter.\u201d \u201cWell,\u201d I said, \u201ctake it and read it.\u201d \u201cAnd when they had prayed,\nthe place where they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all\nfilled with the Holy Ghost and spake the Word of God with boldness.\u201d \u201cHow\nabout Acts viii. 15, 16, was that before Pentecost or after?\u201d \u201cCertainly,\nit was after.\u201d \u201cTake it and read it.\u201d \u201cWho when they were come down prayed\nfor them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for as yet He was fallen\non none of them, only they were baptized in the name of Jesus.\u201d He had\nnothing more to say. What was there more to say? But with me, it is not a\nmatter of mere exegesis, that the Holy Spirit is given in answer to\ndefinite prayer. It is a matter of personal and indubitable experience. I\nknow just as well that God gives the Holy Spirit in answer to prayer as I\nknow that water quenches thirst and food satisfies hunger. In my first\nexperience of being baptized with the Holy Spirit, it was while I waited\nupon God in prayer that I was thus baptized. Since then time and again as\nI have waited on God in prayer, I have been definitely filled with the\nHoly Spirit. Often as I have knelt in prayer with others, as we prayed the\nHoly Spirit has fallen upon us just as perceptibly as the rain ever fell\nupon and fructified the earth. I shall never forget one experience in our\nchurch in Chicago. We were holding a noon prayer-meeting of the ministers\nat the Y. M. C. A. Auditorium, preparatory to an expected visit to Chicago\nof Mr. Moody. At one of these meetings a minister sprang to his feet and\nsaid, \u201cWhat we need in Chicago is an all-night meeting of the ministers.\u201d\n\u201cVery well,\u201d I said. \u201cIf you will come up to Chicago Avenue Church Friday\nnight at ten o\u2019clock, we will have a prayer-meeting and if God keeps us\nall night, we will stay all night.\u201d At ten o\u2019clock on Friday night four or\nfive hundred people gathered in the lecture-rooms of the Chicago Avenue\nChurch. They were not all ministers. They were not all men. Satan made a\nmighty attempt to ruin the meeting. First of all three men got down by the\ndoor and knelt down by chairs and pounded and shouted until some of our\nheads seemed almost splitting, and some felt they must retire from the\nmeeting; and when a brother went to expostulate with them and urge them\nthat things be done decently and in order, they swore at the brother who\nmade the protest. Still later a man sprang up in the middle of the room\nand announced that he was Elijah. The poor man was insane. But these\nthings were distracting, and there was more or less of confusion until\nnearly midnight, and some thought they would go home. But it is a poor\nmeeting that the devil can spoil, and some of us were there for a blessing\nand determined to remain until we received it. About midnight God gave us\ncomplete victory over all the discordant elements. Then for two hours\nthere was such praying as I have rarely heard in my life. A little after\ntwo o\u2019clock in the morning a sudden hush fell upon the whole gathering; we\nwere all on our knees at the time. No one could speak; no one could pray,\nno one could sing; all you could hear was the subdued sobbing of joy,\nunspeakable and full of glory. The very air seemed tremulous with the\npresence of the Spirit of God. It was now Saturday morning. The following\nmorning, one of my deacons came to me and said, with bated breath,\n\u201cBrother Torrey, I shall never forget yesterday morning until the latest\nday of my life.\u201d But it was not by any means all emotion. There was solid\nreality that could be tested by practical tests. A man went out of that\nmeeting in the early morning hours, took a train for Missouri. When he had\ntransacted his business in the town that he visited, he asked the\nproprietor of the hotel if there was any meeting going on in the town at\nthe time. He said, \u201cYes, there is a protracted meeting going on at the\nCumberland Presbyterian Church.\u201d The man was himself a Cumberland\nPresbyterian. He went to the church and when the meeting was opened he\narose in his place and asked the minister if he could speak. Permission\nwas granted, and with the power of the Holy Spirit upon him, he so spoke\nthat fifty-eight or fifty-nine persons professed to accept Christ on the\nspot. A young man went out of the meeting in the early morning hours and\ntook a train for a city in Wisconsin, and I soon received word from that\ncity that thirty-eight young men and boys had been converted while he\nspoke. Another young man, one of our students in the Institute, went to\nanother part of Wisconsin, and soon I began to receive letters from\nministers in that neighbourhood inquiring about him and telling how he had\ngone into the school-houses and churches and Soldiers\u2019 Home and how there\nwere conversions wherever he spoke. In the days that followed men and\nwomen from that meeting went out over the earth and I doubt if there was\nany country that I visited in my tour around the world, Japan, China,\nAustralia, New Zealand, India, etc., in which I did not find some one who\nhad gone out from that meeting with the power of God upon them. For me to\ndoubt that God fills men with the Holy Spirit in answer to prayer would be\nthoroughly unscientific and irrational. I know He does. And in a matter\nlike this, I would rather have one ounce of believing experience than ten\ntons of unbelieving exegesis.\n\n7. The seventh and last step is _faith_. We read in Mark xi. 24,\n\u201cTherefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray,\n_believe that ye receive them_ and ye shall have them.\u201d No matter how\ndefinite God\u2019s promises are, we only realize these promises experimentally\nwhen we believe. For example we read in James i. 5, R. V., \u201cBut if any of\nyou lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and\nupbraideth not; and it shall be given him.\u201d Now that promise is as\npositive as a promise can be but we read in the following verses, \u201cBut let\nhim _ask in faith nothing doubting_: for he that doubteth is like the\nsurge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed. For let not that man think\nthat he shall receive anything of the Lord; a double-minded man, unstable\nin all his ways.\u201d The baptism with the Spirit, as we have already seen, is\nfor those believers in Christ, who have put away all sin and surrendered\nabsolutely to God, who ask for it, but even though we ask there will be no\nreceiving if we do not believe. There are many who have met the other\nconditions of receiving the baptism with the Holy Spirit and yet do not\nreceive, simply because they do not believe. They do not expect to receive\nand they do not receive. But there is a faith that goes beyond\nexpectation, a faith that puts out its hand and takes what it asks on the\nspot. This comes out in the Revised Version of Mark xi. 24, \u201cTherefore I\nsay unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, _believe that ye\nhave received them_ and ye _shall have_ them.\u201d When we pray for the\nbaptism with the Holy Spirit we should believe that we have received (that\nis that God has granted our prayer and therefore it is ours) and then we\nshall have the actual experience of that which we have asked. When the\nRevised Version came out, I was greatly puzzled about the rendering of\nMark xi. 24. I had begun at the beginning of the New Testament and gone\nright through comparing the Authorized Version with the Revised and\ncomparing both with the best Greek text, but when I reached this passage,\nI was greatly puzzled. I read the Authorized Version, \u201cWhat things soever\nye desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them and ye shall have\nthem,\u201d and that seemed plain enough. Then I turned to the Revised Version\nand read, \u201cAll things whatsoever ye pray and ask for believe that _ye have\nreceived_ them and ye _shall have_ them.\u201d And I said to myself, \u201cWhat a\nconfusion of the tenses. Believe that ye have already received (past), and\nye shall have afterwards (future). What nonsense.\u201d Then I turned to my\nGreek Testament and I found whether sense or nonsense, the Revised Version\nwas the correct rendering of the Greek, but what it meant I did not know\nfor years. But one time I was studying and expounding to my church the\nFirst Epistle of John. I came to the fifth chapter, the fourteenth and\nfifteenth verses (R. V.) and I read, \u201cAnd this is the boldness which we\nhave towards Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He\nheareth us: and if we know that He heareth us whatsoever we ask, we know\nthat we have the petitions which we have asked of Him.\u201d Then I understood\nMark xi. 24. Do you see it? If not, let me explain it a little further.\nWhen we come to God in prayer, the first question to ask is, Is that which\nI have asked of God according to His will? If it is promised in His Word,\nof course, we know it is according to His will. Then we can say with 1\nJohn v. 14, I have asked something according to His will and I know He\nhears me. Then we can go further and say with the fifteenth verse, Because\nI know He hears what I ask, I know I have the petition which I asked of\nHim. I may not have it in actual possession but I know it is mine because\nI have asked something according to His will and He has heard me and\ngranted that which I have asked, and what I thus believe I have received\nbecause the Word of God says so, I shall afterwards have in actual\nexperience. Now apply this to the matter before us. When I ask for the\nbaptism with the Holy Spirit, I have asked something according to His\nwill, for Luke xi. 13 and Acts ii. 39 say so, therefore I know my prayer\nis heard, and still further I know because the prayer is heard that I have\nthe petition which I have asked of Him, _i. e._, I know I have the baptism\nwith the Holy Spirit. I may not feel it yet but I have received, and what\nI thus count mine resting upon the naked word of God, I shall afterwards\nhave in actual experience. Some years ago I went to the students\u2019\nconference at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, with Mr. F. B. Meyer, of London. Mr.\nMeyer spoke that night on the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. At the\nconclusion of his address, he said, \u201cIf any of you wish to speak with Mr.\nTorrey or myself after the meeting is over, we will stay and speak with\nyou.\u201d A young man came to me who had just graduated from one of the\nIllinois colleges. He said, \u201cI heard of this blessing thirty days ago and\nhave been praying for it ever since but do not receive. What is the\ntrouble?\u201d \u201cIs your will laid down?\u201d I asked. \u201cNo,\u201d he said, \u201cI am afraid\nit is not.\u201d \u201cThen,\u201d I said, \u201cthere is no use praying until your will is\nlaid down. Will you lay down your will?\u201d He said, \u201cI cannot.\u201d \u201cAre you\nwilling that God should lay it down for you?\u201d \u201cI am.\u201d \u201cLet us kneel and\nask Him to do it.\u201d We knelt side by side and I placed my Bible open at 1\nJohn v. 14, 15 on the chair before him. He asked God to lay down his will\nfor him and empty him of his self-will and to bring his will into\nconformity with the will of God. When he had finished the prayer, I said,\n\u201cIs it done?\u201d He said, \u201cIt must be. I have asked something according to\nHis will and I know He hears me and I know I have the petition I have\nasked. Yes, my will is laid down.\u201d \u201cWhat is it you desire?\u201d \u201cThe baptism\nwith the Holy Spirit.\u201d \u201cAsk for it.\u201d Looking up to God he said, \u201cHeavenly\nFather, baptize me with the Holy Spirit now.\u201d \u201cDid you get what you\nasked?\u201d I asked. \u201cI don\u2019t feel it,\u201d he replied. \u201cThat is not what I asked\nyou,\u201d I said. \u201cRead the verse before you,\u201d and he read, \u201cThis is the\nboldness which we have towards Him that if we ask anything according to\nHis will He heareth us.\u201d \u201cWhat do you know?\u201d I asked. He said, \u201cI know if\nI ask anything according to His will He hears me.\u201d \u201cWhat did you ask?\u201d \u201cI\nasked for the baptism with the Holy Spirit.\u201d \u201cIs that according to His\nwill?\u201d \u201cYes, Acts ii. 39 says so.\u201d \u201cWhat do you know then?\u201d \u201cI know He has\nheard me.\u201d \u201cRead on.\u201d \u201cAnd if we know that if He heareth us whatsoever we\nask, we know that we have the petitions which we have asked of Him.\u201d \u201cWhat\ndo you know?\u201d I asked. \u201cI know I have the petition I asked of Him.\u201d \u201cWhat\nwas the petition you asked of Him?\u201d \u201cThe baptism with the Holy Spirit.\u201d\n\u201cWhat do you know?\u201d \u201cI know I have the baptism with the Holy Spirit. I\ndon\u2019t feel it, but God says so.\u201d We arose from our knees and after a short\nconversation separated. I left Lake Geneva the next morning, but returned\nin a few days. I met the young man and asked if he had really received the\nbaptism with the Holy Spirit. He did not need to answer. His face told the\nstory, but he did answer. He went into a theological seminary the\nfollowing autumn, was given a church his junior year in the seminary, had\nconversions from the outset, and the next year on the Day of Prayer for\nColleges, largely through his influence there came a mighty outpouring of\nthe Spirit upon the seminary of which the president of the seminary wrote\nto a denominational paper, that it was a veritable Pentecost, and it all\ncame through this young man who received the baptism with the Holy Spirit\nthrough simple faith in the Word of God. Any one who will accept Jesus as\ntheir Saviour and their Lord, put away all sin out of their life, publicly\nconfess their renunciation of sin and acceptance of Jesus Christ,\nsurrender absolutely to God, and ask God for the baptism with the Holy\nSpirit, and take it by simple faith in the naked Word of God, can receive\nthe baptism with the Holy Spirit right now. There are some who so\nemphasize the matter of absolute surrender that they ignore, or even deny,\nthe necessity of prayer. It is always unfortunate when one so emphasizes\none side of truth that he loses sight of another side which may be equally\nimportant. In this way, many lose the blessing which God has provided for\nthem.\n\nThe seven steps given above lead with absolute certainty into the\nblessing. But several questions arise:\n\n1. _Must we not wait until we know we have received the baptism with the\nHoly Spirit before we take up Christian work?_ Yes, but how shall we know?\nThere are two ways of knowing anything in the Christian life. First, by\nthe Word of God; second, by experience or feeling. God\u2019s order is to know\nthings first of all by the Word of God. How one may know by the Word of\nGod that they have received the baptism with the Holy Spirit has just been\ntold. We have a right when we have met the conditions and have definitely\nasked for the baptism with the Holy Spirit to say, \u201cIt is mine,\u201d and to\nget up and go on in our work leaving the matter of experience to God\u2019s\ntime and place. We get assurance that we have received the baptism with\nthe Holy Spirit in precisely the same way that we get assurance of our\nsalvation. When an inquirer comes to you, whom you have reason to believe\nreally has received Jesus but who lacks assurance, what do you do with\nhim? Do you tell him to kneel down and pray until he gets assurance? Not\nif you know how to deal with a soul. You know that true assurance comes\nthrough the Word of God, that it is through what is \u201cwritten\u201d that we are\nto know that we have eternal life (1 John v. 13). So you take the inquirer\nto the written Word. For example, you take him to John iii. 36. You tell\nhim to read it. He reads, \u201cHe that believeth on the Son hath everlasting\nlife.\u201d You ask him, \u201cWho has everlasting life?\u201d He replies from the\npassage before him, \u201cHe that believeth on the Son.\u201d \u201cHow many who believe\non the Son have everlasting life?\u201d \u201cEvery one that believes on the Son.\u201d\n\u201cDo you know this to be true?\u201d \u201cYes.\u201d \u201cWhy?\u201d \u201cBecause God says so.\u201d \u201cWhat\ndoes God say?\u201d \u201cGod says, \u2018He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting\nlife.\u2019 \u201d \u201cDo you believe on the Son?\u201d \u201cYes.\u201d \u201cWhat have you then?\u201d He\nought to say, \u201cEverlasting life,\u201d but quite likely he will not. He may\nsay, \u201cI wish I had everlasting life.\u201d You point him again to the verse and\nby questions bring out what it says, and you hold him to it until he sees\nthat he has everlasting life; sees that he has everlasting life simply\nbecause God says so. After he has assurance on the ground of the Word, he\nwill have assurance by personal experience, by the testimony of the Spirit\nin his heart. Now you should deal with yourself in precisely the same way\nabout the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Hold yourself to the word found in\n1 John v. 14, 15, and know that you have the baptism with the Spirit\nsimply because God says so in His Word, whether you feel it or not.\nAfterwards you will know it by experience. God\u2019s order is always: first,\nHis Word; second, belief in His Word; third, experience, or feeling. We\ndesire to change God\u2019s order, and have first, His Word, then feeling, then\nwe will believe. But God demands that we believe on His naked Word.\n\u201cAbraham _believed God_ and it was accounted to him for righteousness\u201d\n(Gal. iii. 6; cf. Gen. xv. 6). Abraham had as yet no feeling in his body\nof new life and power. He just believed God and feeling came afterwards.\nGod demands of us to-day, as He did Abraham of old, that we simply take\nHim at His Word and count the thing ours which He has promised, simply\nbecause He has promised it. Afterwards we get the feeling and the\nrealization of that which He has promised.\n\n2. The second question that some will ask is, \u201c_Will there be no\nmanifestation of the baptism with the Spirit which we receive?_ Will\neverything be just as it was before, and if it will, where is the reality\nand use of the baptism?\u201d Yes, there will be manifestation, very definite\nmanifestation, but bear in mind _what the character_ of the manifestation\nwill be, _and when_ the manifestation is to be expected. When is the\nmanifestation to be expected? After we believe. After we have received on\nsimple faith in the naked Word of God. And what will be the character of\nthe manifestation? Here many go astray. They have read the wonderful\nexperiences of Charles G. Finney, John Wesley, D. L. Moody and others.\nThese men tell us that when they were baptized with the Holy Spirit they\nhad wonderful sensations. Finney, for example, describes it as like great\nwaves of electricity sweeping over him, so that he was compelled to ask\nGod to withhold His hand, lest he die on the spot. Mr. Moody, on rare\noccasions, described a similar experience. That these men had such\nexperiences, I do not for a moment question. The word of such men as\nCharles G. Finney, D. L. Moody and others is to be believed, and there is\nanother reason why I cannot question the reality of these experiences, but\nwhile these men doubtless had these experiences, there is not a passage in\nthe Bible that describes such an experience. I am inclined to think the\nApostles had them, but if they had, they kept them to themselves and it is\nwell that they did, for if they had put them on record, that is what we\nwould be looking for to-day. But what are the manifestations that actually\noccurred in the case of the Apostles and the early disciples? New power in\nthe Lord\u2019s work. We read at Pentecost that they were all filled with the\nHoly Ghost and _began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them\nutterance_ (Acts ii. 4). Similar accounts are given of what occurred in\nthe household of Cornelius and what occurred in Ephesus. All we read in\nthe case of the Apostle Paul is that Ananias came in and said, \u201cBrother\nSaul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou\ncamest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled\nwith the Holy Ghost.\u201d Then Ananias baptized him, and the next thing we\nread is that Paul went straight down to the synagogue and preached Christ\nso mightily in the power of the Spirit that he \u201cconfounded the Jews which\ndwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ\u201d (Acts ix. 17-22). So\nright _through the New Testament, the manifestation that we are taught to\nexpect, and the manifestation that actually occurred was new power in\nChristian work_, and that is the manifestation that we may expect to-day\nand we need not look too carefully for that. The thing for us to do is to\nclaim God\u2019s promise and let God take care of the mode of manifestation.\n\n3. The third question that will arise with some is, _May we not have to\nwait for the baptism with the Holy __ Spirit?_ Did not the Apostles have\nto wait ten days, and may we not have to wait ten days or even more? No,\nthere is no necessity that we wait. We are told distinctly in the Bible\nwhy the Apostles had to wait ten days. In Acts ii. 1, we read, \u201cAnd when\nthe day of Pentecost was fully come\u201d (literally \u201cWhen the day of Pentecost\nwas being fulfilled,\u201d R. V., margin). Way back in the Old Testament types,\nand back of that in the eternal counsels of God, the day of Pentecost was\nset for the coming of the Holy Spirit and the gathering of the church, and\nthe Holy Spirit could not be given until the day of Pentecost was fully\ncome, therefore the Apostles had to wait until the day of Pentecost was\nfulfilled, but there was no waiting after Pentecost. There was no waiting\nfor example in Acts iv. 31; scarcely had they finished the prayer when the\nplace where they were gathered together was shaken and \u201cthey were all\nfilled with the Holy Ghost.\u201d There was no waiting in the household of\nCornelius. They were listening to their first Gospel sermon and Peter said\nas the climax of his argument \u201cto Him (that is Jesus) bear all the\nprophets witness that through His name every one that believeth on Him\nshall receive remission of sins\u201d (R. V.), and no sooner had Peter spoken\nthese words than they believed and \u201cthe Holy Ghost fell on them which\nheard the word.\u201d There was no waiting in Samaria after Peter and John came\ndown and told them about the baptism with the Holy Spirit and prayed with\nthem. There was no waiting in Ephesus after Paul came and told them that\nthere was not only the baptism of John unto repentance, but the baptism of\nJesus in the Holy Spirit. It is true that they had been waiting some time\nuntil then, but it was simply because they did not know that there was\nsuch a baptism for them. And many may wait to-day because they do not know\nthat there is the baptism with the Spirit for them, or they may have to\nwait because they are not resting in the finished work of Christ, or\nbecause they have not put away sin, or because they have not surrendered\nfully to God, or because they will not definitely ask and believe and\ntake; but the reason for the waiting is not in God, it is in ourselves.\nAny one who will, can lay this book down at this point, take the steps\nwhich have been stated and immediately receive the baptism with the Holy\nSpirit. I would not say a word to dissuade men from spending much time in\nwaiting upon God in prayer for \u201cThey that wait upon the Lord shall renew\ntheir strength\u201d (Isa. xl. 31). There are few of us indeed in these days\nwho spend as many hours as we should in waiting upon God. The writer can\nbear joyful testimony to the manifest outpourings of the Spirit that have\ncome time and again as he has waited upon God through the hours of the\nnight with believing brethren, but the point I would emphasize is that the\nbaptism with the Holy Spirit may be had at once. The Bible proves this;\nexperience proves it. There are many waiting for feeling who ought to be\nclaiming by faith. In these days we hear of many who say they are \u201cwaiting\nfor their Pentecost\u201d; some have been waiting weeks, some have been waiting\nmonths, some have been waiting years. This is not Scriptural and it is\ndishonouring to God. These brethren have an unscriptural view of what\nconstitutes Pentecost. They have fixed it in their minds that certain\nmanifestations are to occur and as these particular manifestations, which\nthey themselves have prescribed, do not come, they think they have not\nreceived the Holy Spirit. There are many who have been led into the error,\nalready confuted in this book, that the baptism with the Holy Spirit\nalways manifests itself in the gift of tongues. They have not received the\ngift of tongues and therefore they conclude that they have not received\nthe baptism with the Holy Spirit. But as already seen, one may receive the\nbaptism with the Holy Spirit and not receive the gift of tongues. Others\nstill are waiting for some ecstatic feeling. We do not need to wait at\nall. We may meet the conditions, we may claim the blessing at once on the\nground of God\u2019s sure Word. There was a time in the writer\u2019s ministry when\nhe was led to say that he would never enter his pulpit again until he had\nbeen definitely baptized with the Holy Spirit and knew it, or until God in\nsome way told him to go. I shut myself up in my study and day by day\nwaited upon God for the baptism with the Holy Spirit. It was a time of\nstruggle. The thought would arise, \u201cSuppose you do not receive the baptism\nwith the Holy Spirit before Sunday. How it will look for you to refuse to\ngo into your pulpit,\u201d but I held fast to my resolution. I had a more or\nless definite thought in my mind of what might happen when I was baptized\nwith the Holy Spirit, but it did not come that way at all. One morning as\nI waited upon God, one of the quietest and calmest moments of my life, it\nwas just as if God said to me, \u201cThe blessing is yours. Now go and preach.\u201d\nIf I had known my Bible then as I know it now, I might have heard that\nvoice the very first day speaking to me through the Word, but I did not\nknow it and God in His infinite condescension, looking upon my weakness,\nspoke it directly to my heart. There was no particular ecstasy or emotion,\nsimply the calm assurance that the blessing was mine. I went into my work\nand God manifested His power in that work. Some time passed, I do not\nremember just how long, and I was sitting in that same study. I do not\nremember that I was thinking about this subject at all, but suddenly it\nwas just as if I had been knocked out of my chair on to the floor, and I\nlay upon my face crying, \u201cGlory to God! Glory to God!\u201d I could not stop.\nSome power, not my own, had taken possession of my lips and my whole\nperson. The writer is not of an excitable, hysterical or even emotional\ntemperament, but I lost control of myself absolutely. I had never shouted\nbefore in my life, but I could not stop. When after a while I got control\nof myself, I went to my wife and told her what had happened. I tell this\nexperience, not to magnify it, but to say that the time when this\nwonderful experience (which I cannot really fully describe) came was not\nthe moment when I was baptized with the Holy Spirit. The moment when I was\nbaptized with the Holy Spirit was in that calm hour when God said, \u201cIt is\nyours. Now go and preach.\u201d\n\nThere is an afternoon that I shall never forget. It was the eighth day of\nJuly, 1894. It was at the Northfield Students\u2019 Convention. I had spoken\nthat morning in the church on How to Receive the Baptism with the Holy\nSpirit. As I drew to a close, I took out my watch and noticed that it was\nexactly twelve o\u2019clock. Mr. Moody had invited us to go up on the mountain\nthat afternoon at three o\u2019clock to wait upon God for the baptism with the\nHoly Spirit. As I looked at my watch, I said, \u201cGentlemen, it is exactly\ntwelve o\u2019clock. Mr. Moody has invited us to go up on the mountain at three\no\u2019clock to wait upon God for the baptism with the Holy Spirit. It is three\nhours until three o\u2019clock. Some of you cannot wait three hours, nor do you\nneed to wait. Go to your tent, go to your room in the hotel or in the\nbuildings, go out into the woods, go anywhere, where you can get alone\nwith God, meet the conditions of the baptism with the Holy Spirit and\nclaim it at once.\u201d At three o\u2019clock we gathered in front of Mr. Moody\u2019s\nmother\u2019s house; four hundred and fifty-six of us in all, all men from the\neastern colleges. (I know the number because Mr. Paul Moody counted us as\nwe passed through the gates down into the lots.) We commenced to climb the\nmountainside. After we had gone some distance, Mr. Moody said, \u201cI do not\nthink we need to go further. Let us stop here.\u201d We sat down and Mr. Moody\nsaid, \u201cHave any of you anything to say?\u201d One after another, perhaps\nseventy-five men, arose and said words to this effect, \u201cI could not wait\nuntil three o\u2019clock. I have been alone with God and I have received the\nbaptism with the Holy Spirit.\u201d Then Mr. Moody said, \u201cI can see no reason\nwhy we should not kneel right down here now and ask God that the Holy\nSpirit may fall on us as definitely as He fell on the Apostles at\nPentecost. Let us pray.\u201d We knelt down on the ground; some of us lay on\nour faces on the pine-needles. As we had gone up the mountainside, a cloud\nhad been gathering over the mountain, and as we began to pray the cloud\nbroke and the rain-drops began to come down upon us through the\noverhanging pine trees, but another cloud, big with mercy, had been\ngathering over Northfield for ten days and our prayers seemed to pierce\nthat cloud and the Holy Ghost fell upon us. It was a wonderful hour. There\nare many who will never forget it. But any one who reads this book may\nhave a similar hour alone by himself now. He can take the seven steps one\nby one and the Holy Spirit will fall upon him.\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXI. THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN PROPHETS AND APOSTLES.\n\n\n_The work of the Holy Spirit in apostles and prophets is an entirely\ndistinctive work. He imparts to apostles and prophets an especial gift for\nan especial purpose._\n\nWe read in 1 Cor. xii. 4, 8-11, 28, 29, R. V., \u201cNow there are diversities\nof gifts, but the same Spirit.... For to one is given through the Spirit\nwisdom; and to another the word of knowledge, according to the same\nSpirit; to another faith, in the same Spirit; and to another gifts of\nhealings, in the one Spirit; and to another workings of miracles; and to\n_another prophecy_; and to another discerning of spirits: to another\ndivers kinds of tongues; and to another the interpretation of tongues: but\nall these worketh the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each severally\neven as He will.... And God hath set some in the church, _first apostles_,\n_secondly prophets_, thirdly teachers, then miracles, then gifts of\nhealing, helps, governments, divers kinds of tongues. _Are all apostles?\nAre all prophets?_ Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Have all\ngifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?\u201d It is\nevident from these verses that the work of the Holy Spirit in apostles and\nprophets is of a distinctive character.\n\nThe doctrine is becoming very common and very popular in our day that the\nwork of the Holy Spirit in preachers and teachers and in ordinary\nbelievers, illuminating them and guiding them into the truth and opening\ntheir minds to understand the Word of God is the same in kind and differs\nonly in degree from the work of the Holy Spirit in prophets and apostles.\nIt is evident from the passage just cited that this doctrine is thoroughly\nunscriptural and untrue. It overlooks the fact so clearly stated and\ncarefully elucidated that while there is \u201cthe same Spirit\u201d there are\n\u201cdiversities of gifts\u201d \u201cdiversities of administrations\u201d \u201cdiversities of\nworkings\u201d (1 Cor. xii. 4-6) and that \u201cnot all are prophets\u201d and \u201cnot all\nare apostles\u201d (1 Cor. xii. 29). A very scholarly and brilliant preacher\nseeking to minimize the difference between the work of the Holy Spirit in\napostles and prophets and His work in other men calls attention to the\nfact that the Bible says that Bezaleel was to be \u201cfilled with the Spirit\nof God\u201d to devise the work of the tabernacle (Ex. xxxi. 1-11). He gives\nthis as a proof that the inspiration of the prophet does not differ from\nthe inspiration of the artist or architect, but in doing this, he loses\nsight of the fact that the tabernacle was to be built after the \u201cpattern\nshown to Moses in the Mount\u201d (Ex. xxv. 9, 40) and that therefore it was\nitself a prophecy and an exposition of the truth of God. It was not mere\narchitecture. It was the Word of God done into wood, gold, silver, brass,\ncloth, skin, etc. And Bezaleel needed as much special inspiration to\nreveal the truth in wood, gold, silver, brass, etc., as the apostle or\nprophet needs it to reveal the Word of God with pen and ink on parchment.\nThere is much reasoning in these days about inspiration that appears at\nfirst sight very learned, but that will not bear much rigid scrutiny or\ncandid comparison with the exact statements of the Word of God. There is\nnothing in the Bible more inspired than the tabernacle, and if the\nDestructive Critics would study it more, they would give up their\ningenious but untenable theories as to the composite structure of the\nPentateuch.\n\n2. _Truth hidden from man for ages and which they had not discovered and\ncould not discover by the unaided processes of human reasoning has been\nrevealed to apostles and prophets in the Spirit._\n\nWe read in Eph. iii. 3-5, R. V., \u201c_By revelation_ was made known unto me\nthe mystery, as I wrote afore in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye can\nperceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ; which in other\ngenerations was not made known unto the sons of men, _as it hath now been\nrevealed unto His holy Apostles and prophets in the Spirit_.\u201d The Bible\ncontains truth that men had never discovered before the Bible stated it.\nIt contains truth that men never could have discovered if left to\nthemselves. Our heavenly Father, in great grace, has revealed this truth\nto us His children _through_ His servants, _the apostles and the\nprophets_. The Holy Spirit is the agent of this revelation. There are many\nwho tell us to-day that we should test the statements of Scripture by the\nconclusions of human reasoning or by the \u201cChristian consciousness.\u201d The\nfolly of all this is evident when we bear in mind that the revelation of\nGod transcends human reasoning, and that any consciousness that is not the\nproduct of the study and absorption of Bible truth is not really a\nChristian consciousness. The fact that the Bible does contain truth that\nman never had discovered we know not merely because it is so stated in the\nScriptures, but we know it also as a matter of fact. There is not one of\nthe most distinctive and precious doctrines taught in the Bible that men\nhave ever discovered apart from the Bible. If our consciousness differs\nfrom the statements of this Book, which is so plainly God\u2019s Book, it is\nnot yet fully Christian and the thing to do is not to try to pull God\u2019s\nrevelation down to the level of our consciousness but to tone our\nconsciousness up to the level of God\u2019s Word.\n\n3. _The revelation made to the prophets was independent of their own\nthinking. It was made to them by the Spirit of Christ which was in them.\nAnd was a subject of inquiry to their own mind as to its meaning. It was\nnot their own thought, but His._\n\nWe read in 1 Peter i. 10, 11, 12, R. V., \u201cConcerning which salvation the\nprophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that\nshould come unto you: _searching what time or what manner of time the\nSpirit of Christ which was in them did point unto_, when it (He) testified\nbeforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that should follow\nthem. _To whom it was revealed_, that not unto themselves, but unto you,\ndid they minister these things, which now have been announced unto you\nthrough them that preached the Gospel unto you _by the Holy Ghost_ sent\nforth from heaven; which things angels desire to look into.\u201d These words\nmake it plain that a Person in the prophets, and independent of the\nprophets, and that Person the Holy Spirit, revealed truth which was\nindependent of their own thinking, which they did not altogether\nunderstand themselves, and regarding which it was necessary that they make\ndiligent search and study. Another Person than themselves was thinking and\nspeaking and they were seeking to comprehend what He said.\n\n4. _No prophet\u2019s utterance was of the prophet\u2019s own will, but he spoke\nfrom God, and the prophet was carried along in his utterance by the Holy\nSpirit._\n\nWe read in 2 Peter i. 21, R. V., \u201cFor _no prophecy ever came by the will\nof man_: but men spake _from God, being moved by the Holy Ghost_.\u201d Clearly\nthen, the prophet was simply an instrument in the hands of another, as the\nSpirit of God carried him along, so he spoke.\n\n5. _It was the Holy Spirit who spoke in the prophetic utterances. It was\nHis word that was upon the prophet\u2019s tongue._\n\nWe read in Heb. iii. 7, \u201cWherefore _as the Holy Ghost saith_, To-day if ye\nwill hear His voice.\u201d Again we read in Heb. x. 15, 16, \u201cWhereof _the Holy\nGhost also is a witness_ to us: for _after that He had said_ before, This\nis the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the\nLord. I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I\nwrite them.\u201d\n\nWe read again in Acts xxviii. 25, R. V., \u201cAnd when they agreed not among\nthemselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken the word, \u2018_Well\nspake the Holy Ghost_ by Isaiah the prophet unto your fathers saying,\netc.\u2019 \u201d Still again we read in 2 Sam. xxiii. 2, R. V., \u201cThe _Spirit of the\nLord spake by me_, and _His word_ was upon my tongue.\u201d Over and over again\nin these passages we are told that it was the Holy Spirit who was the\nspeaker in the prophetic utterances and that it was His word, not theirs,\nthat was upon the prophet\u2019s tongue. The prophet was simply the mouth by\nwhich the Holy Spirit spoke. As a man, that is except as the Spirit taught\nhim and used him, the prophet might be as fallible as other men are but\nwhen the Spirit was upon him and he was taken up and borne along by the\nHoly Spirit, he was infallible in his teachings; for his teachings in that\ncase were not his own, but the teachings of the Holy Spirit. When thus\nborne along by the Holy Spirit it was God who was speaking and not the\nprophet. For example, there can be little doubt that Paul had many\nmistaken notions about many things but when he taught as an Apostle in the\nSpirit\u2019s power, he was infallible\u2014or rather the Spirit, who taught through\nhim was infallible and the consequent teaching was infallible\u2014as\ninfallible as God Himself. We do well therefore to carefully distinguish\nwhat Paul may have thought as a man and what he actually did teach as an\nApostle. In the Bible we have the record of what he taught as an Apostle.\nThere are those who think that in 1 Cor. vii. 6, 25, \u201cBut I speak this by\npermission, not of commandment ... yet I give my judgment as one that hath\nobtained mercy of the Lord,\u201d Paul admits that he was not sure in this case\nthat he had the word of the Lord. If this be the true interpretation of\nthe passage (which is more than doubtful) we see how careful Paul was when\nhe was not sure to note the fact and this gives us additional certainty in\nall other passages. It is sometimes said that Paul taught in his early\nministry that the Lord would return during his lifetime, and that in this\nhe was, of course, mistaken. But Paul never taught anywhere that the Lord\nwould return in his lifetime. It is true he says in 1 Thess. iv. 17,\n\u201c_Then we which are alive and remain_, shall be caught up together with\nthem to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.\u201d\nAs he was still living when he wrote the words, he naturally and properly\ndid not include himself with those who had already fallen asleep in\nspeaking of the Lord\u2019s return. But this is not to assert that he would\nremain alive until the Lord came. Quite probably at this period of his\nministry he entertained the hope that he might remain alive and\nconsequently lived in an attitude of expectancy, but the attitude of\nexpectancy is the true attitude in all ages for each believer. It is quite\nprobable that Paul expected that he would be alive to the coming of the\nLord, but if he did so expect, he did not so teach. The Holy Spirit kept\nhim from this as from all other errors in his teachings.\n\n6. _The Holy Spirit in the Apostle taught not only the thought (or\n__\u201c__concept__\u201d__) but the words in which the thought was to he\nexpressed._ We read in 1 Cor. ii. 13, A. R. V., \u201cWhich things also we\nspeak not _in words_ which man\u2019s wisdom teacheth, but which the Spirit\nteacheth combining spiritual things with _spiritual words_.\u201d This passage\nclearly teaches that the words, as well as the thought, were chosen and\ntaught by the Holy Spirit. This is also a necessary inference from the\nfact that thought is conveyed from mind to mind by words and it is the\nwords which express the thought, and if the words were imperfect, the\nthought expressed in these words would necessarily be imperfect and to\nthat extent be untrue. Nothing could be plainer than Paul\u2019s statement \u201c_in\nwords_ which the Spirit teacheth.\u201d The Holy Spirit has Himself anticipated\nall the modern ingenious and wholly unbiblical and false theories\nregarding His own work in the Apostles. The more carefully and minutely we\nstudy _the wording_ of the statements of this wonderful Book, the more we\nwill become convinced of the marvellous accuracy of the words used to\nexpress the thought. Very often the solution of an apparent difficulty is\nfound in studying the exact words used. The accuracy, precision and\ninerrancy of the exact words used is amazing. To the superficial student,\nthe doctrine of verbal inspiration may appear questionable or even absurd;\nany regenerated and Spirit-taught man, who _ponders the words_ of the\nScripture day after day and year after year, will become convinced that\nthe wisdom of God is in the very words, as well as in the thought which\nthe words endeavour to convey. A change of a word, or letter, or a tense,\nor case, or number, in many instances would land us into contradiction or\nuntruth, but taking _the words exactly_ as written, difficulties disappear\nand truth shines forth. The Divine origin of nature shines forth more\nclearly in the use of a microscope as we see the perfection of form and\nadaptation of means to end of the minutest particles of matter. In a\nsimilar manner, the Divine origin of the Bible shines forth more clearly\nunder the microscope as we notice the perfection with which the turn of a\nword reveals the absolute thought of God.\n\nBut some one may ask, \u201cIf the Holy Spirit is the author of the words of\nScripture, how do we account for variations in style and diction? How do\nwe explain for instance that Paul always used Pauline language and John\nJohannean language, etc.?\u201d The answer to this is very simple. If we could\nnot account at all for this fact, it would have but little weight against\nthe explicit statement of God\u2019s Word with any one who is humble enough and\nwise enough to recognize that there are a great many things which he\ncannot account for at all which could be easily accounted for if he knew\nmore. But these variations are easily accounted for. The Holy Spirit is\nquite wise enough and has quite facility enough in the use of language in\nrevealing truth to and through any given individual, to use words, phrases\nand forms of expression and idioms in that person\u2019s vocabulary and forms\nof thought, and to make use of that person\u2019s peculiar individuality.\nIndeed, it is a mark of the Divine wisdom of this Book that the same truth\nis expressed with absolute accuracy in such widely variant forms of\nexpression.\n\n7. _The utterances of the Apostles and the prophets were the Word of God.\nWhen we read these words, __ we are listening not to the voice of man, but\nto the voice of God._\n\nWe read in Mark vii. 13, \u201cMaking _the word of God_ of none effect, through\nyour tradition, which ye have delivered; and many such like things do ye.\u201d\nJesus had been setting the law given through Moses over against the\nPharisaic traditions, and in doing this, He expressly says in this passage\nthat the law given through Moses was \u201c_the word of God_.\u201d In 2 Sam. xxiii.\n2, we read, \u201cThe Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and _His word_ was in my\ntongue.\u201d Here again we are told that the utterance of God\u2019s prophet was\nthe word of God. In a similar way God says in 1 Thess. ii. 13, \u201cFor this\ncause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye _received the\nword of God which ye heard of us_, ye received it not as the word of men,\nbut as it is _in truth, the word of God_, which effectually worketh also\nin you that believe.\u201d Here Paul declares that the word which he spoke,\ntaught by the Spirit of God, was _the very word of God_.\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXII. THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN JESUS CHRIST.\n\n\nJesus Christ Himself is the one perfect manifestation in history of the\ncomplete work of the Holy Spirit in man.\n\n1. _Jesus Christ was begotten of the Holy Spirit._ We read in Luke i. 35,\nR. V., \u201cAnd the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall\ncome upon thee; and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee:\nwherefore also that which is to be born shall be called holy, the Son of\nGod.\u201d As we have already seen, in regeneration the believer is begotten of\nGod, but Jesus Christ was begotten of God in His original generation. He\nis the only begotten Son of God (John iii. 16). It was entirely by the\nSpirit\u2019s power working in Mary that the Son of God was formed within her.\nThe regenerated man has a carnal nature received from his earthly father\nand a new nature imparted by God. Jesus Christ had only the one holy\nnature, that which in man is called the new nature. Nevertheless, He was a\nreal man as He had a human mother.\n\n2. _Jesus Christ led a holy and spotless life and offered Himself without\nspot to God through the working of the Holy Spirit._ We read in Heb. ix.\n14, \u201cHow much more shall the blood of Christ, who _through the eternal __\nSpirit offered Himself without spot to God_, purge your conscience from\ndead works to serve the living God.\u201d Jesus Christ met and overcame\ntemptations as other men may meet and overcome them, in the power of the\nHoly Spirit. He was tempted and suffered through temptation (Heb. iii.\n18), He was tempted in all points like as we are (Heb. iv. 15), but never\nonce in any way did He yield to temptation. He was tempted entirely apart\nfrom sin (Heb. iv. 15), but He won His victories in a way that is open for\nall of us to win victory, in the power of the Holy Spirit.\n\n3. _Jesus Christ was anointed and fitted for service by the Holy Spirit._\nWe read in Acts x. 38, \u201cHow God anointed Jesus of Nazareth _with the Holy\nGhost and with power_: who went about doing good, and healing all that\nwere oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him.\u201d In a prophetic vision\nof the coming Messiah in the Old Testament we read in Isa. lxi. 1, \u201c_The\nSpirit of the Lord God is upon me_, because the LORD hath anointed me to\npreach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to bind up the\nbroken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of\nthe prison to them that are bound.\u201d In Luke\u2019s record of the earthly life\nof our Lord in Luke iv. 14, we read \u201cAnd Jesus returned _in the power of\nthe Spirit_ into Galilee, and there went out a fame of Him through all the\nregion round about.\u201d In a similar way Jesus said of Himself when speaking\nin the synagogue in Nazareth, \u201c_The Spirit_ of the Lord is upon Me,\nbecause He hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the poor; He hath\nsent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovering of sight to\nthe blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to proclaim the\nacceptable year of the Lord\u201d (Luke iv. 18, 19, R. V.). All these passages\ncontain the one lesson, that it was by the especial anointing with the\nHoly Spirit that Jesus Christ was qualified for the service to which God\nhad called Him. As He stood in the Jordan after His baptism, \u201cThe Holy\nGhost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon Him,\u201d and it was then\nand there that He was anointed with the Holy Spirit, baptized with the\nHoly Spirit, and equipped for the service that lay before Him. Jesus\nChrist received His equipment for service in the same way that we receive\nours by a definite baptism with the Holy Spirit.\n\n4. _Jesus Christ was led by the Holy Spirit in His movements here upon\nearth._ We read in Luke iv. 1, R. V., \u201cAnd Jesus full of the Holy Ghost\nreturned from Jordan and _was led by the Spirit_ in the wilderness.\u201d\nLiving as a man here upon earth and setting an example for us, each step\nof His life was under the Holy Spirit\u2019s guidance.\n\n5. _Jesus Christ was taught by the Spirit who rested upon Him. The Spirit\nof God was the source of His wisdom in the days of His flesh._ In the Old\nTestament prophecy of the coming Messiah we read in Isa. xi. 2, 3, \u201c_And\nthe Spirit of the _LORD_ shall rest upon Him_, the spirit of wisdom and\nunderstanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge\nand of the fear of the LORD. And shall make Him of quick understanding in\nthe fear of the LORD: and He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes,\nneither reprove after the hearing of His ears.\u201d Further on in Isa. xlii.\n1, R. V., we read, \u201cBehold My servant, whom I uphold; My chosen in whom My\nsoul delighteth; _I have put My Spirit upon Him_; He shall bring forth\njudgment to the Gentiles, etc.\u201d Matthew tells us in Matt. xii. 17, 18,\nthat this prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth.\n\n6. _The Holy Spirit abode upon Jesus in all His fullness and the words He\nspoke in consequence were the very words of God._ We read in John iii. 34,\nR. V., \u201cFor He whom God hath sent _speaketh the words of God_: for He\ngiveth not the Spirit by measure.\u201d\n\n7. _After His resurrection, Jesus Christ gave commandment unto His\nApostles whom He had chosen through the Holy Spirit._ We read in Acts i.\n2, \u201cUntil the day in which He was taken up, after that He _through the\nHoly Ghost had given commandment_ unto the Apostles whom He had chosen.\u201d\nThis relates to the time after His resurrection and so we see Jesus still\nworking in the power of the Holy Spirit even after His resurrection from\nthe dead.\n\n8. _Jesus Christ wrought His miracles here on earth in the power of the\nHoly Spirit._ In Matt. xii. 28, we read, \u201cI cast out devils by the power\nof the Spirit of God.\u201d It is through the Spirit that miracle working power\nwas given to some in the church after our Lord\u2019s departure from this earth\n(1 Cor. xii. 9, 10), and in the power of the same Spirit, Jesus Christ\nwrought His miracles.\n\n9. _It was by the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus Christ was raised\nfrom the dead._ We read in Rom. viii. 11, \u201cBut if the Spirit of _Him that\nraised up Jesus from the dead_ dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from\nthe dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth\nin you.\u201d\n\nThe same Spirit who is to quicken our mortal bodies and is to raise us up\nin some future day raised up Jesus.\n\nSeveral things are plainly evident from this study of the work of the Holy\nSpirit in Jesus Christ:\n\nFirst of all, we see the completeness of His humanity. He lived and He\nthought, He worked, He taught, He conquered sin and won victories for God\nin the power of that very same Spirit whom it is our privilege also to\nhave.\n\nIn the second place, we see our own utter dependence upon the Holy Spirit.\nIf it was in the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus Christ, the only\nbegotten Son of God, lived and worked, achieved and triumphed, how much\nmore dependent are we upon Him at every turn of life and in every phase of\nservice and every experience of conflict with Satan and sin.\n\nThe third thing that is evident is the wondrous world of privilege,\nblessing and victory and conquest that is open to us. The same Spirit by\nwhich Jesus was originally begotten, is at our disposal for us to be\nbegotten again of Him. The same Spirit by which Jesus offered Himself\nwithout spot to God is at our disposal that we also may offer ourselves\nwithout spot to Him. The same Spirit by which Jesus was anointed for\nservice is at our disposal that we may be anointed for service. The same\nSpirit who led Jesus Christ in His movements here on earth is ready to\nlead us to-day. The same Spirit who taught Jesus and imparted to Him\nwisdom and understanding, counsel and might, and knowledge and the fear of\nthe Lord is here to teach us. Jesus Christ is our pattern (1 John ii. 6),\n\u201cthe first born among many brethren\u201d (Rom. viii. 29). Whatever He realized\nthrough the Holy Spirit is for us to realize also to-day.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES\n\n\n    1 Both the translators of the Authorized Version and the Revised\n      Version, and even the translators of the American Revision, seem to\n      have lost sight of the context, for while they spell \u201cSpirit\u201d in the\n      third verse with a capital, in the sixth verse, in all three\n      versions it is spelled with a small \u201cs.\u201d\n\n    2 The ministry of many an orthodox preacher and teacher is a ministry\n      of death. It is true that the Word of the Gospel is preached but it\n      is preached with enticing words of man\u2019s wisdom and not in the\n      demonstration of the Spirit and of power (1 Cor. ii. 4). The Gospel\n      comes in word only and not in power and in the Holy Spirit (1 Thess.\n      i. 5).","title":"The Person and Work of The Holy Spirit","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":73478}