01.12. Holy Spirit and Christian (Ellis)

XII. THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE CHRISTIAN.

F. M. SIXIS, D.D. THE fact that "the Baptism of the Holy Spirit" " the promise of the Father " and " Special gift of the Son " -follows the " new birth " which Jesus, in his conversation with Nicodemus, explained as being " born of the Spirit," and furthermore, that such terms as " Baptized with the Holy Spirit," " The Holy Spirit fell on them," " The Holy Spirit came," " Receive ye the Holy Spirit," " The power of the Holy Spirit," The fellowship of the Holy Spirit, etc., are only applied to believers in Christ, unite to invest with more than ordinary interest the topic assigned me "THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE CHRISTIAN."

While the general statement of this topic might warrant a wide range of treatment, it will be our aim, as far as possible, to confine ourselves to a strictly Scriptural treatment of it. In this discussion we shall confine ourselves to the New Testament; and in our quotations shall use the " new version " using the terms " Holy Spirit " rather than the terms " Holy Ghost " as we believe this better expresses the original. The tide of modern thought, that has so long swept about the person and work of Christ, seems, on its return, to be becoming more concerned with the person and work of the Holy Spirit. From the Christ, " the organ of external revelation," attention is being turned to the Holy Spirit " the organ of internal revelation." From the Advocate for us, who is with the Father, Christians are earnestly asking to know more of the advocate with us, who is here among us.

Whatever opinions may have place in our minds as to the meaning and application of the words of the Baptist:" He that cometh after me is mightier than I. . . He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire " we are all agreed that there is, at least, an implied promise in these words of a richer blessing and a far larger equipment for service than that enjoyed by average Christians to-day.

If the statement of Bishop Hopkins be accepted as the true interpretation of the Baptist’s meaning that " those who are baptized with the Holy Spirit are, as it were, plunged into the heavenly flame, whose searching energy devours all their dross, tin and base alloy," then certainly we may conclude that too many, who have a place in our Churches, like the disciples at Ephesus, " have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Spirit" (Acts 19:2). And especially are we thus impressed when we call to mind our Lord’s promise, " ye shall receive power when the Holy Spirit is come upon you" (Acts 1:8). If an endowment of power be inseparable from the baptism of the Holy Spirit, then surely the confessed and lamentable absence of such power among us ought to occasion the most serious concern upon the part of all who have "named the name of the Lord." In no age, possibly, have Christian Churches been so well equipped for effective service for Christ as they are now. Like marvelous structures of ingenious machinery, our churches stand forth endowed with wealth, enriched with education, culture and social influence possessing splendid church edifices, elaborate magic and rituals, sound in creeds, confessions and covenants. And yet, alas! these numerous and admirable channels carry but driveling streams of that divine energy that made the early churches such centres of evangelizing power when they were composed of disciples whose faith stood not in " the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Spirit teacheth." The crying need of the age is not more of such churches, or more or better appliances, but a universal baptism of the Holy Spirit. Were this given, the church could, with her present resources, give the gospel to the world within the next decade.

It goes without saying, therefore, that the relation of the Holy Spirit to the Christian is a most vital and important one. For it is to such as are taught by the Spirit to discern things spiritual that the Christ is revealed, and to such only. If, e.g., it had been revealed to Simeon that " he should not see death until he had seen the Lord’s Christ " (Luke 2:26), it was because before that " the Holy Spirit was upon him." The promise of Jesus that God would bestow the gift of the Holy Spirit could not be more freely made indeed, he places the Father under obligations of love, greater than that of parental affection, to do so.

" If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him" (Luke 11:13; John 7:37-39). If, then, we are without this blessed endowment, it is certainly not because the Father is unwilling to grant it. It must be because we do not ask for it. Or if we ask, because we ask amiss.

While the gifts of the Holy Spirit may fall upon the church at large, as the sunshine falls upon the plain, after all these gifts emphasize the personal duty and responsibility of believers as that sunlight burnishes and beautifies each separate object on the wide plain. The gifts of the Holy Spirit, however, are not the monopoly of ordained teachers, nor the special trust of the few gifted ones, but the priceless gift of God to believers as such. On the evening of the day on which our Lord rose from the dead, when he had met his disciples, and had shown them his hands and his side, u the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord; Jesus, therefore, said unto them again, Peace be unto you; as the Father hath sent me, even so send I you, and when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit." (John 20:20, John 20:23.) Thus Jesus recognized, in his gift, no official claim or ecclesiastical superiority. " He breathed on them " the disciples. So also on the day of Pentecost, when " they were all together in one place," the descending Spirit " sat upon each of them, and they were all fitted with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." (Acts 2:1-4.) Nor was this fulfillment of "the promise of the Father" confined to those from " the upper room " for even to those who, " pricked in the heart," cried out " what shall we do? " Peter replied, " Repent ye, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, unto the remission of your sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:37-38.) And later on, when Peter and John, being dismissed from the Sanhedrim, had related to " the company of the disciples" what the chief priests and elders had said unto them, the record is " when they had prayed the place was shaken wherein they had gathered together, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spake the word of God with boldness." (Acts 4:31.) On another occasion, when before the council, Peter, on behalf of the disciples, bore this testimony " We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God hath given to all them that obey him" (Acts 5:32.) After this, when persecution had scattered abroad the church at Jerusalem (" except the Apostles "), and the disciples went about preaching the word, Philip went down to the City of Samaria, and so preached Christ there that " the multitudes gave heed to his testimony," and " the city was filled with joy." The news of this wonderful work soon reached the Apostles at Jerusalem, and they sent Peter and John down to Samaria, "who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit. . . . s then laid they their hands on them, and they (the Samaritans) received the Holy Spirit" (Acts 8:18). By the laying on of Ananias’ hands Saul received the Holy Spirit.

Peter testifies respecting Cornelius and his household, " As I began to speak the Holy Spirit fell on them, even as on us at the beginning" (Acts 11:15). This statement he reiterates before the Apostles and brethren at Jerusalem {Acts 15:8-9). So also Paul bestowed the gift of the Holy Spirit upon the "twelve brethren" whom he found at Ephesus. (Acts 19:6.)

Thus upon those who " believed the testimony of God to his Son " was this gift of the Holy Spirit given and that, too, not for the comfort and happiness of those who thus received it, but for witness testimony service.

God makes no gifts to us, much less does he give us the Holy Spirit to be a mere selfish luxury. The Spirit’s gift is one of life and power, and these are for use, and not for personal gratification merely. With the privileges of this gift comes the most solemn and responsible ordination God has ever given to man. No qualification is so important or more practical to the Christian as this gift of the Holy Spirit.

Looking forward to those coming days of trial, when brother would deliver brother to death, when parents should betray children and children would persecute parents, Jesus said:" When they lead you to judgment and deliver you jip, be not anxious beforehand what ye shall speak, but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye, for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Spirit." (Mark 12:11; Luke 12:11-12.) For the full assurance and illustration of this promise of the Master we have but to turn to that marvelous "gospel of the Holy Spirit," the book of the "Acts of the Apostles."

These relations of the Holy Spirit to the early Christians are sufficient to illustrate what his relations are to Christians of all ages. In applying what has been said to the subject in hand let us consider I. What the Holy Spirit is to the Christian.

1. Without the Holy Spirit a Christian would be an impossibility. The Apostle lays down as unquestionable this statement:" Wherefore I give you to understand that no man speaking in the spirit of God saith Jesus is anathema, and no man can say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Spirit " (1 Corinthians 12:13). This test of the absolute need of the Holy Spirit, even in the full confession of Jesus Christ, applied to the Corinthian Christians no more fully than it does to Christians now. This statement of Paul is thus reaffirmed by John:" Hereby know ye the Spirit of God; every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God; and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God " (1 John 4:2). The Holy Spirit came into the world, not only " to glorify Christ," but to manifest himself in those who " honor the Son even as they honor the Father." I need not say this question is not one of physical ability, but one of honest, loving loyalty to Jesus Christ as Master and Lord. It is not the creed or ordinance that makes the Christian. We are Christians just so far as we love, serve and honor the Lord Jesus Christ, and we can do this only as we are taught and aided by the Holy Spirit.

" Every good gift and every perfect gift," says James, " is from above." Further on he says, " Of his own will begat he us by the word of truth " (James 2:18). Referring to the influence of the word in regeneration, Paul says, " Knowing, brethren, beloved of God, your election, how that our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance; even as ye know what manner of men we showed ourselves toward you, for your sake, and ye became imitators of us and the Lord; having received the Word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit " (1 Thessalonians 1:5-6). If further proof be needed of this essential relation of the Holy Spirit to the Christian, as the Quickener of those " dead in trespasses and sins," and hence of the fact that, apart from the Holy Spirit, the Christian life would be impossible, we have it in the following exhaustive summary. After showing what man is as a subject of the " powers of darkness," before he is made u meet to be partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light," the Apostle says, " But when the kindness of God our Saviour, and his love toward man appeared, not by works done in righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, which he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, that being justified by his grace we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life " (Titus 3:4-7).

Jesus said to Nicodemus, " Except a man be born anew he cannot see the kingdom of God." This our Lord explains thus:" That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit ’’ (John 3:36). The necessity of being born of the Spirit to enter upon a spiritual life is as necessary as natural birth is for entrance into the natural life.

2. As Christians we have our access to God by the Holy Spirit.

While it is said that we who were once afar off were brought nigh " in the blood of Christ," it is also said, " Through him (i. e., Christ) " we have our access in one Spirit unto the Father" (Ephesians 2:18). The death of Christ gave to all, Jew and Gentile alike, audience with a reconciled Father, through the merits of Christ. Jesus Christ is the only name whereby we can be saved, because no man can come unto the Father except through him. To the Christ who presents us to God, we must be presented by the Holy Spirit.

" Through Christ we bring our message to the Father by the Spirit’s aid." " For the Spirit helpeth our infirmity, for we know not how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered, and he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for us according to the will of God " (Romans 8:26).

If the petitions we bring to the Father, through the Son, are acceptable, therefore, they must voice the intercession of the Holy Spirit. " The searcher of hearts " must find in our prayers the mind of the Spirit, for he only can " make intercession according to the will of God." On the other hand, prayer in the Holy Spirit will not be denied by the Father. Jude exhorts us, in these words, " But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most ’holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life " (Romans 8:20-21).

We may not translate " infirmity " into such terms as " indifference," " known sin," and the like, and expect the " help " of the Holy Spirit in our intercession and prayers. He dwells not where he is not wanted. If he teaches us " how to pray," if he reveals unto us the things of the Christ, and thus makes known to us the will of God, we must not grieve him by an habitual neglect of the word of God, for the Holy Spirit honors the Christ by honoring his word through that divine word the divine Spirit reaches the Christian. In such things as hinder those who earnestly and honestly seek God’s will in his word, the Holy Spirit will give his aid. But he nowhere promises his help to those who refuse compliance with the terms on which he offers his help.

3. Consider the Spirit’s relation to the Christian as a witness. He does not bear witness to the Christian oj his conversion. The word bears that witness. But the Spirit does bear witness to the believer’s adoption or Sonship. The gospel is not a " message of bondage to fear," but a revelation of the liberty and heirship of believers as the sons and daughters of God. To this testimony of the word the Holy Spirit adds his blessed witness.

" For ye have received," says Paul, " the spirit of adoption, whereby ye cry, Abba Father, the Spirit beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ" (Romans 8:15-17).

Again, the Holy Spirit also witnesses to the presence of the Christ in the believer. " Hereby we know that he abideth in us by the Spirit which he gave us" (1 John 3:24). And again, "Hereby know we that we abide in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit" (1 John 4:13). So fully was the Apostle Paul given up to the guidance of the Holy Spirit that he submitted his conscience to his leading. He never said that he was to be followed in anything, because he was conscientious in what he said or did. What does he say? listen, " I say the truth in Christ; I lie not, my conscience bearing witness with me in the Holy Spirit " (Romans 9:1). Such a conscience, thus enlightened and in harmony with the truth in Christ, and with the witness of the Holy Spirit, any Christian may follow. But before we pronounce upon the accuracy of the decisions of our conscience, let us be sure that our conscience is in accord with the " truth in Christ," and the Holy Spirit’s infallible witness.

Only as the Christian has the witness of the Spirit to his adoption as a son of God will the kingdom of God be anything more than " eating and drinking, ordinances and ceremonies, rights and works," and become what it really is, " Righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit "(Romans 14:17).

These are the fruit of the Spirit in Christian living that give forth the fragrance of grace here, and will ripen eventually in the kingdom of Christ’s glory.

4. Let us dwell a moment on the relation of the Holy Spirit to the believer as "the Comforter," thus further showing what he is to the Christian. The sending of the Comforter was to be more than a compensation for the departure of Jesus. True, they were not to be left " desolate." " If I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I go away I will send him unto you" (John 16:7). Christ was still to be nearer them even than he could be by his personal presence; for his personal presence was limited to locality. Whereas when the Comforter came he would not be restricted by any such limitation. " Wherever two or three were met in his name," there would he be " in the midst of them." He was to " abide with them forever " as " the Spirit of Truth." " Moreover," said Jesus, ".the Comforter, even the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I have said unto you" (John 14:16-26). As the divine presence was the glory of the Temple of old, so of these regenerated disciples, who were to be the Temples of the Holy Spirit, their glory would be his indwelling. If the manifestation of the divine glory of the Old Temple was awful and glorious in its outward revelations, the manifestation of the divine Paraclete, in the disciples of Christ, was to be much more glorious in his inner teachings and blessed consolations. Hence Jesus said, " It is expedient for you that I go away." We therefore undervalue these words of our Lord when we suppose that the time of his personal presence among his disciples was the most favored period of the Church’s history. This was not as our Lord thought; on the contrary, he himself taught us to look for the Comforter’s administration as an advance upon his ministry; and as being a greater blessing to his people than that of his personal companionship with them. "Greater things than these shall ye do because I go unto the Father." The Comforter was more than an emanation from the Father, or an indefinable influence; he is more than a principle of spiritual life in believers; he is a living person, and hence we may not degrade him into a mere abstraction or influence, even though these misconceptions of his divine personality be dignified by such terms as " the enthusiasm of humanity" He is the divine Spirit of Truth leading the believer into all truth the Holy Spirit producing in those whom he leads the fruit of holiness: ln a word, the fruit of the Spirit which " is in all goodness and righteousness and truth " (Ephesians 5:9). The word never confounds " the fruit of the Spirit " with " the works of the flesh ""fruit " belongs to the Spirit: "works" to the flesh. We need to have a care, therefore, in our thought of the personality of the Holy Spirit lest we lose sight of his person in vague ideas of him that maintain a place in our minds by means of terms the most general and indefinite. So also we need to have definite ideas of his specific work as well as of his person. It is the Holy Spirit who imparts spiritual life, quickens and sustains it who gives strength, implants hope, grants liberty; testifies to and glorifies the Christ; leads, guides, teaches, comforts, sanctifies, supports and sustains the believer. As Christ is the foundation of faith, and the source of all merit, so the Holy Spirit is the fountain of all spiritual life. Until he imparts to the soul spiritual life, we are incapable of the exercise of that faith that lays hold on the person and work of Christ for justification and eternal life.

After quoting Isaiah as saying, " Things which the eye saw not, and ear heard not, and which entered not into the heart of man, whatsoever things God prepared for those who loved him," Paul adds these words, " But unto us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God " (1 Corinthians 2:9-10). This is certainly an advance upon the revelation of Christ’s ministry what Jesus taught the Holy Spirit makes to be’ understood. Indeed, the advent of the Holy Spirit is the final and most glorious manifestation of God that will be granted the world, or the Church, until his dispensation will be superseded by the Second Advent of our Lord as the " King of Saints." When the care of the Churches so weighed upon the great apostle of the Gentiles as to press him to his knees upon the cold stone floor of his Roman prison when his heart was bleeding at the thought of the trials of their faith, with hands that moved slowly because of the chains that bound them, he traced in letters of cheer and instruction, such words as these, punctuated by his tears, " For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father . . . that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that ye may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man " (Ephesians 3:14-16). Such was the help which the apostle sought from the Comforter for his brethren. Such is the comfort we all need, and this help the Comforter has for us also.

Thus the Christian who is chosen " according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:2), who enters the kingdom of God by being " born of the Spirit," and who is ’’washed, sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God " (1 Corinthians 6:11), must, "through the Spirit, by faith, wait for the hope of the righteous " (Galatians 5:5).

Having considered what the Holy Spirit is to the Christian, let us II. Consider what the Holy Spirit does for the Christian.

Being, by the grace of God, made partakers of the Holy Spirit, we become the special objects of the Holy Spirit’s love, care and culture. And since our love for God, and God’s love for us, are in a sense reciprocal for " we love him because he first loved us," and because " God is love," and because " he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God in him" (1 John 4:16) the Holy Spirit, who first awakens, also develops this love for God in us; " because," says Paul, " the love of God hath been shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit which was given unto us " (Romans 5:5). As an illustration of this, you may remember how Epaphras refreshed Paul when he declared unto him " the love in the Spirit " of the brethren at Colosse. The influence of the Holy Spirit in thus awakening in us the highest possible form of love, is absolutely indispensable. Grant that the natural affections are the soil out of which this love of the Christian for God is produced. Yet, such a love can be grown out of such a soil only as it is quickened by the warmth and showers of the Spirit’s influence. Natural affections may be the ties that bind into a society unity, individuals, families and tribes; but the love that binds us to God and his Son is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. In natures such as ours the love of God is an exotic, it must not only be planted in our hearts, but also sustained there by the Holy Spirit’s personal care. But again, the Holy Spirit is also the dispenser of the Christian’s joy, peace and hope in the service of the Christ. Hear the Apostle, as he prays for his brethren at Rome " Now the God of hope fill you with joy and peace in believing that ye may abound in hope in the power of the Holy Spirit" (Romans 15:13). The same blessed Spirit that quickened the Ephesian believers the same "Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" which made the Apostle " free from the law of sin and death" this same Spirit quickens, emancipates and enfranchises every Christian who is made a Son of God. The eighth of Romans is the Magna Charta of every enfranchised believer who " walks not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." The Apostle insists that " if the Spirit of God dwells in us," that such " are not in the .flesh" And while he boldly affirms:" If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" he as boldly declares that " as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the Sons of God " (Romans 8:14).

It is not, therefore, by one or two acts good or bad that the Christian is to be judged, but by the consistency and character of his life. " Enoch walked with God " thus our walk must be the evidence to the world that we are led by the Spirit.

There are acts in the lives of unregenerate men and women that are worthy of all commendation. So in the lives of Christians there may be, unfortunately, acts as unchristian as the sin of David or the denial of Peter, or, to quote old Swinnock " Sheep may fall into the mire; but swine love day and night to wallow in it." Yes, a Christian may stumble and fall, but he is soon up again, and following the leading of the Spirit. His heart temples the Holy Spirit, his life is a redeemed one, and his living will show this as true, nevertheless, that he is dead to the law that he has been crucified with Christ, and risen with him to that new life which he lives; and " yet no longer I," as Paul says, " but Christ liveth in me, and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me " (Galatians 2:20).

One other service of the Holy Spirit to the Christian I linger a moment to simply mention -- After saying that the end of the believer’s faith is " the praise of the glory of Christ," the Apostle adds:" In whom having also believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit, which is the earnest of our inheritance unto the redemption of God’s own possession, unto the praise of his glory " (Ephesians 1:13-14). This sealing of the believer, you observe, follows his acceptance of the gospel of salvation. But the seal of the Spirit is also the earnest of the inheritance which the Christ, by his death, acquired for the believer, or, in other words, is the divine guarantee of its ultimate possession. But in the mean time, by his indwelling power, the Holy Spirit renews, sanctifies, leads, keeps and comforts the heir, thus preparing him for that inheritance which Christ has secured to him.

" He that established! us with you in Christ," says Paul, " and anointed us, is God; who also sealed us, and gave us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts " (2 Corinthians 1:21-22). As the preceding sealing was for security, so the preceding " anointing " was for service. If Christians are a sealed people, they are also a devoted people. As the sealing makes him safe in this inheritance, so the earnest guarantees to him the ultimate realization of the hope he has in Jesus Christ. " For he that hath wrought us for this Very thing is God, who gave unto us the earnest of the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 6:5).

However diverse or various may be the gifts of God’s people, they have one common origin " the same Spirit" or, however different the manifestations of the Spirit may be to different persons, the end is the same: "to profit withal"

Having thus indicated 1 what the Holy Spirit is to the Christian, and 2 what he does for the Christian, let us inquire III. What the Christian is to the Holy Spirit. From what has been said it is evident that redeemed men and women are not their own, and furthermore, that they are the special subjects of the Holy Spirit’s love and guidance. ’ What the Apostle said of the Ephesian believers is just as true of believers now: "Ye are no more strangers and sojourners, but ye are fellow-citizens with the saints and of the household of God, being built upon the foundation of Apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom each several building, fitly framed together, groweth into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit" (Ephesians 2:19-22). As believers we are each a part of the household of God, members of the redeemed family; and as such the Holy Spirit evidently regards us. But again " Know ye not that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, which is in you, which you have from God? and ye are not your own, for ye were bought with a price; glorify God, therefore, in your body" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

Now, in so far as the Holy Spirit appreciates the value of the price paid for our redemption, may we not infer that to that degree will the purchase of that infinite price be precious in his .sight? Our acceptance of Christ carries with it not only our devotion to his service, but likewise our submission to the love and guidance of the Holy Spirit. If Ananias, who kept back part of the price of his land, " lied unto the Holy Spirit/’ what shall be thought of the sin of him who, having devoted himself and all he has to God, takes it back in part or in whole, that he may, as James says, "spend it in his pleasures?" Brethren, when we call to mind the fact that as believers we are " the epistles of Christ, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God" (2 Corinthians 3:3), ’’What manner of persons ought we to be in all holy living and godliness? " (2 Peter 3:11). In closing, allow mention to be made of some lessons suggested by this imperfect discussion.

1. Every visitation of the Holy Spirit and every gift of his grace should be prayerfully cherished and encouraged.

"That good thing which was committed unto thee, guard through the Holy Spirit which dwelleth in us " (2 Timothy 1:14). " Stir up the gift of God, which is in thee, by the laying on of my hands" (2 Timothy 1:6). If such exhortations were appropriate to Timothy, surely we ought to take heed to this grace which has been bestowed upon us also. And even more appropriate to us, and to our times, certainly, are these words of Paul to his "Son in the gospel," that breathe for his welfare a concern so affectionate and earnest:"O Timothy, guard that which is committed to thee, turning away from the profane babblings and oppositions of the knowledge which is falsely so called; which some professing have erred concerning the faith " (1 Timothy 6:20-21).

2. If we would be guided by the Holy Spirit, we must " walk in the Spirit" and to do this we must " live in the Spirit."

Such a life is inseparable from conflict: For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh." It is impossible that it be otherwise, " for these " (i.e., the flesh and the Spirit) " are contrary the one to the other" (Galatians 5:7). We can choose which of these two lives shall be ours, and we must choose and we do choose we can’t live both lives. Alas, that so few find and so many seem not to learn that conformity to the world is rebellion against the Holy Spirit! Alas for Christianity that more Christians are not transformed (or literally), transfigured by the Holy Spirit’s indwelling! Say what we will, the love of the world and the pride of life and the lusts of the flesh will be cast out of us only as we are " filled with the Spirit."

3. Let us understand our duties to the Holy Spirit and faithfully perform them as in the fear of God. " Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom ye were sealed unto the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30). Need I say that these words of caution and command demand our most prayerful and constant attention?

"We need the use of no pessimistic spectacles to see in our own lives, and in the lives of many Christians about us, too much that must and does grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Nor would I be overstating a truth which, doubtless, they feel most deeply who live most closely to God, were I to add, that until the living of Christians is more fully submitted to the leading of the Holy Spirit we shall look and labor in vain for such a revival in the churches as our needs demand. Let us remember these words, " God hath called us not for uncleanness, but in sanctification; therefore, he that rejecteth, rejecteth not man, but God " (1 Thessalonians 4:7-8). Sins, even in Christians, may change their dress and their names, and yet be just as hateful to God. Under the deception of " prudent economy " we may disguise a covetousness as odious in God’s sight as the grossest idolatry. Under the masks of business, or social duties, we may hide a worldliness as despicable as paganism. And under the pretence of church benevolence we may bring into the church of God entertainments that wound our Lord in the house of his friends. Before the Holy Spirit can fill us, or our churches, much must be scourged from the temples of our hearts and sanctuaries. It is not the kind of sin that grieves the Holy Spirit; sin of any kind must grieve him who is himself the essence of holiness.

Again, we are warned:"Quench not the Spirit" (1 Thessalonians 5:19). As the fire on the altar may be so neglected and covered up as to be left to smoulder amid ashes that hide its heat and light, so may we quench the Holy Spirit in our hearts. " Whatever/’ said Dr. C. S. Robinson, " the Holy Spirit prompts a true Christian to do for the glory of God, he allures him to do in a modest way, and with a disposition of indescribable tenderness." Mackay makes this distinction, "Resist " is the word applied to the unconverted; " Grieve " is that applied to the individual Christian; "Quench" is that which has reference to the saints when gathered together waiting on the Spirit. This may be correct; and yet the individual may quench the presence of the Holy Spirit in his soul by his neglect and sins, as well as grieve him by such things. The warning of the Apostolic Seer has long since become history. Looking back from these " latter days," we painfully realize the truth of what he said to Timothy:" The Spirit saith expressly that in the latter times some shall fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, through the hypocrisy of men that speak lies; branded in their own consciences as with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats which God created to be received with thanksgiving by them that believe and know the truth " (1 Timothy 4:1-3.) The word of God not only thus smites the pretensions of spiritualism and the presumptions of Romanism, but, at the same time, exposes the open and disguised designs of many another tendency of our times to oppose or corrupt " the faith " which was " once for all delivered unto the saints." Let us not forget that we are to contend for and defend "the faith of Jesus," but in doing so let us also remember that, after all, the best possible defence that can be made is being made by those whose lives most closely imitate the life of Jesus Christ our Lord. The tongue of the Christian and of the Church is still the old and unanswerable " tongue of flame "

" If ye then were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God: set your affections on things that are above; not on the things that are upon the earth. For ye died and your life is hid with Christ in God " (Colossians 3:1-3). And " insomuch as you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings, rejoice; that at the revelation of his glory, also, ye may rejoice with exceeding joy. If ye are reproached for the name of Christ blessed are ye; because the Spirit of glory and the Spirit of God resteth upon you" (1 Peter 4:13-14). On the day of Pentecost, said William Arthur:" Christianity faced the world a new religion, without a history, without a priesthood, a college, without a people without a portion; . . . her tongue of fire was her sole instrument of aggression." But, my brethren, how is it now? Now, besides having the complete canon of God’s inspired word, we have almost everything else except " the tongue of fire." This inspired word needs inspired men to preach it. The churches need the old pentecostal power for worship and witness, and the energy of the Holy Spirit to make her methods of work effective. Believers need the Holy Spirit, enshrined in the indwelling word, abiding in them, that the divine word, aflame with the light and life of the Holy Spirit, may transfigure them, and, through them, quicken from the death of sin to eternal life them that are lost.

Finally, brethren:" The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all." Amen.