by Rev. James McRobbie ©Pillar of Fire, International |
"The victorious,
happy, useful, contented Christian life can only be attained by yielding
oneself to the complete control of the Spirit." |
Learn more about the power of the Holy Spirit for personal holiness
through Sanctification
[Bottom of page] [The
Living Word] [Back: Chapter 2]
[Next: Chapter 4] [Index]
Chapter 3 Contents: |The Comforter|
|Age-Mission of the Spirit| |Divinity
of the Holy Spirit| |Pentecost| |Various
Phases of the Spirit| |Receive Ye the
Holy Ghost|
[What the Bible Teaches refers to numerous
passages from the Bible. Your study will be greatly enhanced by looking
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the Bible and this study. All quotations in What the Bible Teaches
are from the King James Version [KJV] unless otherwise specified.]
Chapter 3: What the Bible Teaches ABOUT
THE HOLY SPIRIT
"Our blest Redeemer,
ere He breathed
His tender last farewell,
A Guide, a Comforter
bequeathed,
With us to dwell."
Since
we are now living in the dispensation of the Holy Spirit, and since the
Holy Spirit is vitally related to our spiritual well-being, this subject
cannot be studied with but much profit and interest.
The Comforter
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The words, Holy
Spirit and Holy Ghost, are used interchangeably in the Scriptures, and
both are taken from the Greek word, pneuma, signifying wind, air,
or to breathe. Dr. Godbey reminds us that the word "Ghost," is from the
Anglo-Saxon Guest, suggesting that the Holy Spirit is to be our
abiding Guest. The Weymouth translation uses the words "Holy Spirit" exclusively.
In John 14:16 Jesus introduces us to that other beautiful word as the unique
name of His Successor: "I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another
Comforter." The Greek word here is Paracletos, which signifies
Advocate, Teacher, Friend, Guide, or, summing up all -- Comforter. Jesus
being rejected must of necessity go away; His chosen nucleus would falter
and fail in His absence, but now He gives the assurance that He is not
to leave them as orphans. He had been their Teacher and Master, but, says
He, when the Comforter is come, "he shall teach you all things" [John 14:26].
We see then that the Holy Spirit was given in order to reveal the things
of God [1 Corinthians 2:10, 13]; the things of Christ [John 16:14]; the
future [Luke 2:26; Acts 21:11]; to bring the words of Christ to remembrance
[John 14:26]; to direct one in the ways of godliness [Isaiah 30:21]; to
enable ministers to teach [1 Cor. 2:7-10]; to guide into all truth [John
14:26; 16:13]; to direct the decisions of the church [Acts 15:28]. The
Holy Spirit exalts the Lord Jesus Christ: "He shall glorify me" [John 16:14].
We are always to remember that the great work of the Spirit is to empower
members of the church of Christ: "Ye shall receive power, after that the
Holy Ghost is come upon you [Acts 1:8].
We will remember
that the Holy Spirit has always been in the world. In the second verse
of the Bible are the words: "And the Spirit of God moved upon the face
of the waters." We also find the plurality of the Godhead in Genesis 1:26,
showing that the Holy Spirit was present at creation: "Let us make
man in our image, after our likeness." The Holy Spirit was
conspicuous in the antediluvian [pre-Flood] world, probably exercising
a restraining influence -- striving with man [Genesis 6:3]. Gideon, Samson,
Jephthah, David, the prophets of the Old Testament, and others, were clothed
upon by the Spirit.
The whole volume
of the Scriptures is the result of the inspiration of the Spirit of God.
In 2 Peter 1:21 we read: "The prophecy came not in old time by the will
of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."
The Holy Spirit then was present all through the period we call B.C., yet
it was in a limited sense, for during the course of our Lord's earthly
ministry He declared that the "Holy Ghost was not yet given." He also said
the "Father will send" Him, and, "Tarry ye. . . until ye be endued with
power from on high." This was not a contradiction of facts but referred
to the coming dispensation of the Spirit, which had its inauguration on
that memorable day of Pentecost [Acts 2]. Previous to this we are safe
in assuming the Spirit acted with or upon those individuals,
but now He was to dwell in men. Now He "dwelleth with you," said
Jesus, but with the coming of the Comforter, He shall "be in you" [John
14:17].
Age-Mission of the
Spirit
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The descent
of the Spirit at Pentecost confirms the fact that there is an age-mission
of the Spirit. Augustine emphasized this thought when he referred to the
coming of the Spirit at Pentecost as the dies natalis, the "birthday"
of the Spirit. That could hardly be comparable with the incarnation
of Christ, although the idea is the same. We have a phrase in our Authorized
[KJV] Bible which substantiates the idea of the Spirit's dispensational
coming, but which bears the opposite meaning in the English translation:
"That he may abide with you for ever" -- for the aion, not "for
ever" but for "the age." There is also our Lord's other word: "Lo, I am
with you alway, [not literally, but through the agency of the Spirit] even
unto the consummation of the age" [R.V., marg.]. The age-mission of the
Spirit will come to an end, for Jesus referred to the consummation of it.
Why? Because Jesus Himself will return "as he went away" to become Lord
and Master of His own coming kingdom -- His reign of righteousness on the
earth.
The Holy Spirit
working in and through the church bears a restraining influence upon the
overspreading of evil through Satanic agencies. St. Paul definitely says,
"There is one that restraineth now, until he be taken out of the way [2
Thessalonians 2:7, R.V.]. This restraining power is a personality, "He,"
and is a reference to the Holy Spirit. By and by He will be taken "out
of the way," not out of the world, as many would infer; then will come
the unrestrained "mystery of lawlessness," the end-period of this dispensation
when Satan will come down to the earth having great wrath [Revelation 12:7-12],
when he will put forward his masterpiece of sin -- the Antichrist.
In the interim,
the great work of the Spirit is not alone to convict the world of sin,
of righteousness, and of judgment to come, or to be the Comforter to all
believers, but more especially to gather out the church, and to perfect
it in holiness in view of its final consummation in rapture at the coming
of the Lord. "To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness
before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" [1
Thess. 3:13; 5:23; Romans 15:16].
The work of
the Spirit will not come to an end when His age-mission will be accomplished
at the close of this age. We are to bear in mind that the outpouring at
Pentecost was only initial. The Holy Spirit is to be outpoured in far greater
measure yet in the future. But it is not in this age, for this age is to
culminate in apostasy and failure and in the manifestation of the man of
sin [2 Timothy 3:13]. Turn your Bible to Joel, chapter 2. Verses 21-27
reveal Israel restored and blest of God. Then there follow the words Peter
referred to: "It shall come to pass afterward," that is, after the
regathering of Israel, "that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh;"
a reference to a time of universal outpouring; a condition which has not
yet taken place; it is a millennial condition: "And your sons and your
daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men
shall see visions." This is a reference to the Israelites, for Joel was
preaching to the Hebrews. During the millennium they will be the world's
Spirit-anointed evangelists. There is then a reference to the "servants,"
and the "handmaids," perhaps referring to Arabs and others. They will likewise
be recipients of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Joel's prophecy is
in association with the "great and terrible day of the Lord," that is,
the day of the revelation of Jesus Christ, when He will come in "flaming
fire," to establish His government upon the earth and to render judgment
upon the ungodly. With Satan incarcerated, with the incorrigibly wicked
obliterated, with Christ present, with the Holy Spirit outpoured, we will
have a wonderful world -- an age of worship and world-wide righteousness.
Divinity of the
Holy Spirit
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Ancient Socinianism,
denying the Trinity, naturally robbed the Holy Spirit of His divinity.
There are modern systems that do the same. To all who believe in the divine
inspiration of the Scriptures, it can readily be seen that the Holy Spirit
is classed as one with the Father and the Son. For example, there is 1
John 5:7 which tells of the three which bear record in heaven. There is
the fact of St. Paul's divine benediction used in all Protestant churches:
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion
of the Holy Ghost" [2 Corinthians 13:14], coupled with which is our Lord's
appointed order for baptism in the name "of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost" [Matt. 28:19]. For a fuller account of this subject
see next chapter: "Holy Trinity."
Against the
idea that the Holy Spirit is but an influence, is the fact that all through
the Scriptures He is designated as a person. "When he
is come," etc.
In order to
prove the omnipresence of the Spirit we have David's statement
in the 139th Psalm: "Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall
I flee from thy presence?" That the Spirit searches all things, even the
"deep things of God" [1 Cor. 2:10], proves His omniscience.
The Spirit is the author of "might signs and wonders," and is associated
with creation, showing His omnipresence -- very God of very God. [See Luke
1:35; Rom. 15:19; Job 33:4.]
Pentecost
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The disciples before Pentecost were
very ordinary persons. They were subject to passions [James 5:17] like
all others, considerably carnal [Luke 9:54], conspicuously ambitious [Mark
9:34], and most vacillating [Mark 14:50]. But Pentecost changed all that.
Here is seen the unique purpose of the gift of the Holy Spirit. In their
natural condition the disciples stood chiefly in need of power. So our
Lord's last word to them was: "Ye shall receive power, when
the Holy Ghost is come upon you" [Acts 1:8, R.V.]. The book of Acts records
how that heavenly dynamite [the Greek word here for "power" being dunamin]
was demonstrated to the world in preaching, revivals, miracles, evangelism,
and the administration of the church.
The Spirit was given as the great
means of unification in the church. If all who professed the Christian
religion were truly sanctified
persons [Spirit-filled], there would be no divisions. Now, as then, He
works out the same benign purpose among His people. The Corinthian church
was divided, and Paul added, "Ye are yet carnal." There is one Spirit and
one baptism [Ephesians 4:4-5] -- the baptism which Jesus gives: "He shall
baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire" [Matt. 3:11]. Although
the universal church has a heterogeneous membership -- people of all temperaments,
classes, and races -- these respective members are not to be "biting and
devouring one another," not divided, not deifying those whom God sets up
as leaders. The respective members of the church are comparable to the
various organs of the human body -- all harmoniously working together under
one directing mind [Rom. 12:4-8; 1 Cor. 12:12-25]. The Word expressly states
that by "one Spirit are we all baptized into one body" [1 Cor. 12:13],
and adds, "Now ye are the body of Christ." People who are indwelt by the
Holy Ghost are not divided; the Holy Ghost in them binds them together.
The flesh, with its carnal lusts and cravings being crucified, the "body
of sin" being destroyed, then God the Father, Son, and Spirit alone are
exalted.
Although basically it is the blood
(or death) of Christ that avails for our cleansing [Heb. 13:12], yet the
great work of the Spirit is to apply the blood in the sanctification of
the believer. The baptism of John was comparable to water -- signifying
the washing of regeneration; but the baptism of Jesus, that of the Holy
Ghost, is comparable to fire -- cleansing, purging, purifying. When speaking
of the Holy Spirit coming upon the Gentiles, Peter said God "put no difference
between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith" [Acts 15:9]. As God
is perfect in holiness, and as heaven is immune from all that is defiling,
so the Holy Spirit, executive of the Godhead, works out the perfecting
of holiness in every heart whom He possesses. Because He is the Holy
Spirit then God's people are preserved holy.
The third person of the Trinity will
be the agency in the rapture of the saints. He who raised Jesus from the
dead "shall also quicken [make alive] your mortal bodies by his Spirit
that dwelleth in you" [Rom. 8:11]. We shall be changed "in the twinkling
of an eye," and "caught up to meet the Lord in the air," through the power
of the Holy Spirit. They who have no Holy Spirit will experience no quickening,
electrifying rapture-thrill when the voice of Jesus [John 5:28] shall summon
the dead and living saints to meet Him in the air.
Various Phases
of the Spirit
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The sealing of the Spirit is the guarantee
of our immunity from falling. So long as we abide in the Spirit we are
"sealed unto the day of redemption" [Ephesians 4:30]. The only way by which
a sanctified person can fall is by grieving the Spirit away. He who abides
in God cannot sin [1 John 3:9]. The sealing is also the branding of identity
which reveals ownership. The Spirit takes possession, the flesh is crucified,
self no longer dominates. Christ, through the Spirit, rules supreme in
the citadel of the soul.
The filling of the Spirit is an imperative
requirement [Ephesians 5:18; Luke 24:49]. The infilling of the Spirit imparts
all the graces and goodness of God within the believer. A pailful of water
dipped out of the ocean contains in substance the fulness of the briny
deep. So we, through the Spirit that "dwelleth in us," become partakers
of the nature and attributes and character of God; we become "filled with
all the fulness of God" [Ephesians 3:19].
-
The gifts of the Spirit
[1 Corinthians 12:4-11; Hebrews 2:4], of which there are nine, are administered
by the "same Spirit," dividing severally as He will, and it is our imperative
duty to "covet earnestly the best gifts."
The graces of the Spirit delineated
in Galatians 5:22-23, of which there are likewise nine, are the inseparable
consequence of the Spirit's possession. They are the "fruit of the Spirit,"
a compound unity, one cannot be there without the other, for they are not
fruits but fruit. The first three reveal the expression of
the Spirit with relation to God: "love, joy, peace;" the next three, the
expression of the Spirit toward others: "longsuffering, gentleness, goodness;"
the last three, the expression of the Spirit toward self: "faith, meekness,
temperance."
-
The love of the Spirit reveals how impossible
it would be for one, so naturally self-centered as the ordinary human being
is, to have true affection for God. Consider how selfless, self-forgetting,
and self-sacrificing the members of the true church have always been! Consider
the spirit of the martyrs and the foreign missionaries! This can only be
accounted for by what St. Paul beautifully calls the "love of the Spirit"
[Romans 15:30]. He further says that we have a hope that makes us not ashamed,
for "the love of God is spread abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost"
[Romans 5:5].
-
The administration of the Spirit is a most
conspicuous evidence of God's leadership. Turn to Acts chapter 13, for
instance: "The Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work
whereunto I have called them" [verse 2]. In verse 4 they were "sent forth
by the Holy Ghost." Then St. Paul is seen working through the directing
influence of the Holy Spirit after he had been sent out [verses 9, 52].
At the Jerusalem council the conclusions of the church and the requirements
for the Gentiles were sanctioned conjointly: "It seemed good to the Holy
Ghost, and to us" [Acts 15:28]. When Paul made his farewell address to
the elders of Ephesus, stressing the necessity of feeding the church of
God, he added: "Over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers"
[Acts 20:28].
-
The emblems of the Spirit are used abundantly
all through the Word of God. Water -- invigorating, refreshing,
cleansing, as a never-failing fountain of life and gladness -- was spoken
of by Jesus [John 7:38-39]. Compare also the water of life [Isaiah 55:1;
John 4:14; Revelation 22:17]. Fire -- purging, illuminating,
and searching [Acts 2:3; Matthew 3:11; Psalm 78:14]. Wind
-- independent and powerful [Acts 2:2; John 3:8]. Oil --
comforting, healing, and reviving [Hebrews 1:9; Revelation 3:18; Matthew
25:3-4]. Rain -- productive, refreshing and abundant [Psalm
133:3; Psalm 72:6; Psalm 68:9]. A dove -- representing gentleness
[Matthew 3:16]. A voice -- guiding, speaking, warning [Isaiah
6:8; Isaiah 30:21 with John 16:13; Matthew 10:20; Hebrews 3:7-11].
Receive Ye the
Holy Ghost
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Christ Jesus
the Lord, even with His spotless humanity coupled with deity, would not
dare commence His ministry without the anointing of the Spirit [Luke 3:22].
His whole life's work was controlled and empowered by the Spirit. It was
through the Holy Ghost that He gave commandment to the apostles [Acts 1:2].
His anointing to preach the Gospel was predicted with the opening words
of Isaiah 61: "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord
hath anointed me to preach" [Luke 4:18]. The anointing of the Spirit was
the secret of Christ's ministry. The commission of the church to go was
to be associated first with tarrying for the Spirit-enduement.
Christ's power
in healing and casting out demons was not merely the consequence of His
inherent divinity; it is definitely attributed to the power of the Holy
Spirit [Acts 10:38; Matthew 12:28].
The Holy Spirit
is the key to everything in the life of the church: the minister, the mission
worker, the Sunday-school teacher, the laity of the church in general.
The victorious, happy, useful, contented Christian life can be attained
only by yielding oneself to the complete control of the Spirit. St. Paul
says, "Walk in the Spirit [Galatians 5:16]; "Live in the Spirit"
[Galatians 5:18]; pray "in the Spirit" [Ephesians 6:18]; be 'led of the
Spirit' [Galatians 5:18]. Then how comforting, at the first resurrection
or the Rapture, to know that He who "raised up Christ from the dead" shall
also "by his Spirit,"
"QUICKEN YOUR MORTAL BODIES."
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