Ministry of the Spirit

7/28/2019 Ministry of the Spirit

1/231


2/231

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 64-14564

Reprinted, ]964, byBaker Book House Company

Reprinted from the editionissued in 1894 by the

American Baptist Publishing Society

PHOTOLITHOPRINTED BY CUSHING - MALLOY, INC.ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

1964


3/231

'Qrro * l r ~ INHERITORS OF THE SPIRIT


4/231


5/231

PREFACE

IT is not claimed that in this little volume all hasbeen said that might be said upon the subjecttreated. On the contrary, the writer has proceededupon the belief that the doctrine of the Holy Spiritcan be better understood by limiting the sphere ofdiscussion, rather than by extending it to the largestbounds. For finite beings, at least, presence ismore intelligible than omnipresence. So, thoughthe subject of this book is in itself profoundly mys-terious, we have sought to simplify it by dwellingupon the time-ministry of the Holy Ghost withoutentering upon the consideration of his eternal ministry. What the Spirit did before the incarnationof Christ, and what he may do hereafter beyondthe second advent of Christ, is a question hardlytouched upon in this volume. We have soughtrather to emphasize and to magnify the great truththat the Paraclete is now present in the church:that we are living in the dispensation of the Spirit,with all the unspeakable blessing for the churchand for the world which this economy provides.Hence, as we speak of the ministry of Christ

vii


6/231

VIll PREFACEmeaning a service embraced wi thin defined limits,so we name this volume the "Ministry of th eSpirit," as referring to the work of the Comforterextending from Pentecost to the end of this dis-pensation.

Ho w deep a subject for a study! What prayermore becoming for those entering upon it than thehumble petition that the Spirit himself will teachus concerning the Spirit ! Deeply sensible of theimperfection of this work, it is now committed tothe use and blessing of that Divine Person of theGodhead of whom it so unworthily speaks.

A. J. G.BOSTON, Dec., 189 ...


7/231

INTRODUCTION

IT is remarkable how many in these last dayshave been led to deal with the sublime subject towhich this treatise is devoted. Without doubt th emind of the church is being instructed, and herheart prepared for a recognition of the indwelling,administration, and co-operation of the blessedParaclete, which has never been excelled in her his-tory, and is fraught with the greatest promise bothto her and to the world.

Each of these treatises has brought out somenew phase in respect to th e person or mission ofthe Holy Spirit, bu t I cannot recall one that is solucid, so suggestive, so scriptural, so deeplyspiritual as this, by my beloved friend, Dr. Gordon.Th e chapters on the Embodying, the Enduement,and th e Administration of the Spirit seem speciallyfresh and helpful. But all is good, and deservingof prayerful perusal. Let only such truths be wellwrought into the mental and spiritual constitution. X


8/231

x rNTRODUCTTONof God's servants, and there would be such arevival of pure and undefiled religion in th echurches, and such marvelous results through themon the world that the age would close with a world-wide Pentecost. And there are many symptomsabroad that this also is in the purpose of God.Nothing else can meet th e deepest needs and yearn-ings of our time.

Christianity is beset with three powerful cur-rents, which insidiously operate to deflect he r fromher course, Materiali sm, which denies or ignoresthe supernatural, and concentrates its heed onameliorating the outward conditions of human life;criticism, which is clever at analysis and dissection,but cannot construct a foundation on which thereligious faculty may build and rest; and a finelite rary taste, which has greatly developed of late,and is disposed to judge of power by force ofwords or by delicacy of expression.

To all of these we have bu t one reply. Andthat is, not a system, a creed, a church, bu t th e liv-ing Christ, who was dead, bu t is alive forevermore,and has the keys to unlock all perplexities, prob-lems, and failures. Though society could be re-


9/231

xiNTRODUCTIONconstituted, and material necessities be more evenlysupplied, discontent would break out again in someother form, unless the heart were satisfied with hi slove. The truth which he reveals to the soul, andwhich is ensphered in him, is alone able to appeasethe consuming hunger of the mind for data onwhich to construct its answer to th e questions oflife and destiny and God, which are ever knockingat it s door for solution. And men have yet tolearn that the highest power is not in words ormetaphors or bursts of eloquence, but in the indwelling and out-working of the Word, who is th ewisdom and the power of God, and who deals withregions below those where the mind vainly labors.

] esus Christ, the ever-living Son of God, is th eone supreme answer to th e restlessness and travailof our day. But he cannot, he will not reveal him-self. Each person in th e Holy Trinity revealsanother. The Son reveals the Father, but his ownrevelation awaits the testimony of th e Holy Ghost,which, though often given directly, is largelythrough th e church. What we need then, an dwhat the world is waiting for, is th e Son of God,borne witness to and revealed in all his radiant


10/231

X ll INTRODUCTIONbeauty of the ministry of the Holy Spirit, as heenergizes with and through the saints that makeup the holy and mystical body, the church.

I t is needful to emphasize this distinction . Insome quarters it seems to be supposed that theHoly Spirit himself is the solution of the perplexi-ties of our time. Now what we may witness insome coming age we know not, but in this it isclear that God in the person of Christ is th e oneonly and divine answer. Here is God's yea andamen, the Alpha and Omega, sight for the blind,healing for the paralyzed, cleansing for the polluted,life for the dead, th e gospel for th e poor and sa dand comfort less. Now we cove t the gracious be-stowal of the Spirit, that he may take more deeplyof th e things of Christ, and reveal them unto us.When the disciples sought to know the Father, theLord said, He that hath seen me hath seen theFather. I t is his glory that shines on my face, hiswill that molds my life, his purpose that is fulfilledin my minist ry. So the blessed Paraclete wouldturn our thought and attention from himself to him,with whom he is One in the Holy Trinity, andwhom he has come to reveal.


11/231

INTRODUCTION x i i iThroughout the so-called Christian centuries the

voice of the Holy Spirit has borne witness to theLord, directly and mediately. Directly, in eachwidespread quickening of the human conscience, ineach revival of religion, in each era of advance inthe knowledge of divine truth, in each soul that ha sbeen regenerated, comforted, or taught. Mediatelyhis work has been carr ied on through the church,the body of those that believe. But, alas! howsadly his witness has been weakened and hinderedby th e medium through which it has come. Hehas not been able to do many mighty works becauseof the unbelief which has kept closed and barredthose avenues through which he would have pouredhis glad testimony to the unseen and glorifiedLord.

The divisions of th e church, her strife aboutmatters of comparative unimportance, her magnification of points of difference, her materialism, herlove of pelf and place and power, her accountingherself rich and increased in goods and needingnothing, when she was poor, and miserable, andblind, and naked-these things have no t onlyrobbed her of her testimony, bu t have grieved and


12/231

xiv INTRODUCTIONquenched the Holy Spirit , and nullified his testi-mony.

We gladly hail the signs that this period ofapathy and resistance is coming to a close. TheChurch which is in the churches is making herselffelt, is arising from the dust and arraying herselfin her beautiful garments. There is a widespreadrecognition of the unity of all who believe, togetherwith an increasing desire to magnify the points ofagreement and minimize those of divergence. Thegreat conventions for the quickening of spiritual lifeon both sides of the Atlantic in which believersmeet, irrespective of name or sect, are doing anincalculable amount of good in breaking down th eold lines of demarcation, and making real ourspiritual oneness. The teaching of consecrationand cleanliness of heart and life is removing thoseobstacles that have restrained and drowned theSpirit's still small voice. The fuller's soap andthe refiner's fire have been largely resorted to, withthe best results. And as believers have becomemore consistent and devoted, they have grownincreasingly sensitive to th e indwelling, energy, andco-witness of th e Holy Spirit.


13/231

xvNTRODUCTIONI f only this glorious movement IS permitted to

achieve its full purpose, the effect will be trans-cendently glorious. The church will become aspliant to the Divine Tenant as th e resurrectionbody of our Lord to the impulse of his divinenature. An d so the Lord Jesus will increasinglybecome th e object of human hope, the center aroundwhich the concentric circles of human life shallcircle.

That th e Lord Jesus should be thus magnifiedand glorified through th e ministry of the HolySpirit, and with this end in view, that the heartsand lives of believers should be made more sensi-tive to and receptive of his blessed energy, thistreatise has been prepared; and I add my testi-mony to the beloved author's, that in the mouthof two witnesses, every word may be established;and my prayer to his that the yea of the Spirit tothe great voice of the gospel may be heard moremightily and persistently amongst us.


14/231


15/231

CONTENTSrA.GBCHAPTER I.

TH E AGE-MISSION OF THE SPIRIT. INTRODUCTORY, I JCHAPTER II .

TH E ADVENT OF THE SPIRIT, q-IAPTER III.

TH E NAMING OF THE SPIRIT, 33CHAPTER IV.

TH E EMBODYIIllG OF THE SPIRIT, 51CHAPTER V.

TH E ENDUEMENT OF THE SPIRIT, I. Sealing; 2. Filling; 3. Anointing.

CHAPTER VI.TH E COMMUNION OF THE SPIRIT, 97

I . Th e Spirit of Life: Our Regeneration.2. Th e Spirit of Holiness: Our Sanctification.3. Th e Spirit of Glory: Our Transfiguration.

CHAPTER VII.TH E ADMINISTRATION OF TH E SPIRIT, 12 7

1. In the Ministry an d Government of the Church.2. In the Worship an d Service of th e Church.3. In the Missionary Enterprise of th e Church.

xvii


16/231

XVl l l CONTENTSCHAPTER VIII.

TH E INSPIRATION OF THE SPIRIT,CHAPTER IX.

TH E CONVICTION OF THE SPIRIT,I. Of Sin ; 2 . Of Righteousness; 3. Of Judgment.

185

TH E ASCENT OF THECHAPTER X.

SPIRIT, 23


17/231

J

THE AGE-MISSION OF THE SPIRIT


18/231

.. I t is evident that the present dispensation under whichwe are is the dispensation of the Spirit, or of the Third Per-son of the Holy Trinity. To him in the Divine economy,has been committed the office of applying the redemption ofthe Son to the souls of men by the vocation, justification, andsalvation of the elect. We are therefore under th e personalguidance of the Third Person, as truly as the apostles wereunder the guidance of the Second." -Henry Edward Man-ning.


19/231

I

TH E AGE-MISSION OF TH E SPIRIT -INT RODUCT ORy

IN some observations on the doctrine of th e Spirit,which lie before us as we write, an eminentprofessor of theology remarks on the disproportion-ate attention which has been given to the personand work of the Holy Spirit, as compared with thatbestowed on the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.It is affirmed, moreover, that in many of the worksupon the subject now extant there is a lack of defi-niteness of impression which leaves much still to bedesired in the treatment of this subject. These ob-servations lead us to ask: Why not employ the samemethod in writing about the Third Person of th eTrinity as we use in considering th e Second Person?Scores of excellent lives of Christ have been written;and we find that in these, almost without exception,the divine story begins with Bethlehem and ends withOlivet. Though the Saviour lived before his incarnation, and continues to live after his ascension, ye tit gives a certain definiteness of impression to limitone's view to his historic career, distinguishing hisvisible life lived in time from his invisible life livedin eternity.

13


20/231

14 TH E MINISTRY OF THE SPIRITSo in considering the Holy Spirit, we believe

there is an advantage in separating his ministry intime from his ministry before and after, boundingit by Pentecost on the one side, and by Christ'ssecond coming on the other. We have to confessthat in many respects one of the best treatises onthe Spirit which we have found is by a RomanCatholic - Cardinal Manning. Notwithstandingthe papistical errors which abound in th e volume,his general conception of the subject is in someparticulars admirable. His treatise is called" Th eTemporal Mission of the Holy Ghost." Howmuch is suggested by this title! Just as JesusChrist had a time-ministry which he came into th eworld to fulfill, and having accomplished it returnedto the Father, so the Holy Spirit, for the fulfillmentof a definite mission, came into the world at anappointed time; he is now carrying on his ministryon earth, and in due time he will complete it andascend to heaven again-this is what these wordssuggest, and what, as we believe, the Scripturesteach. I f we thus form a right conception of thispresent age-ministry of the Spirit, we have a definite view-point from which to study his operationsin the ages past, and his greater mission, if therebe such, in the ages to come.

Now we conceive that the vagueness and mysteryattaching in many minds to the doctrine of theSpirit, are clue largely to a failure to recognize his


21/231

THE AGE-MISSION IStime-ministry, distinct from all that went beforeand introductory to all that is to come after-s-aministry with a definite beginning and a definitetermination. Certa inly no one can read the farewell discourse of our Lord, as recorded by John,without being impressed with the fact that just asdistinctly as his own advent was foretold byprophets and angels, he now announces the adventinto the world of another, co-equal with himself,his Divine successor, his other self in the mysterious unity of the Godhead. And moreover, itseems clear to us that he implied that this comingOne was to appear not only for an appointed work,but for an appointed period: " He shall give youanother Comforter, that he may abide with you forever - ~ , < ; ..ov alwva. I f we translate literally andsay "for the age," it harmonizes with a parallelpassage. In giving the great commission, Jesussays: "And 10, I am with you alway, evenunto the end of the age." Here his presenceby the Holy Ghost is evidently meant. The perpetuity of that presence is guaranteed, "withyou all the days"; and its bound determined,"unto the end of the age." Not that it need beargued that he shall not be here after this dispensation is finished; but that there is such athing as a temporal mission of the Holy Spiritdoes seem to be implied. And a full study confirms the view. The present is the dispensation of


22/231

16 THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRITthe Holy Ghost; the age-work which he inaugurated on the day of Pentecost is now going on, andit will continue until the Lord] esus returns fromheaven, when another order will be ushered in andanother dispensational ministry succeed.

In the well-known work of Moberly, on "TheAdministration of the Holy Spirit in th e Body ofChrist," the author divides the course of redemptionthus far accomplished into these three stages: Thefirst age, God the Father; the second age, God th eSon; and the third age, God th e Holy Ghost.This distribution seems to be correct, an d so doeshis remark upon the inauguration of the last ofthese periods on the day of Pentecost. " At thatmoment," he says, "the third stage of th e development [manifestation] of God for the restoration ofth e world finally began, never to come. to an end orto be superseded on earth till the restitution of allthings, when th e Son of Man shall come again inthe clouds of heaven, in like manner as his disciplessaw him go into heaven." And what shall be thenext period, "the age to come," whose powers theyhave already tasted who have been" made partakersof the Holy Ghost"? This question need notbe answered, as we have done all that is required,defined the age of th e Spirit which constitutes the

~ e l d in which our entire discussion lies.


23/231

II

THE ADVENT OF THE SPIRIT


24/231

"Therefore the Holy Ghost on this day-Pentecost-descended into the temple of his apostles, which he ha d pre-pared for himself, as a shower of sanctification, appearingno more as a transient visitor, but as a perpetual Comforterand as an eternal inhabitant. He came therefore on thisday to his disciples, no longer by the grace of visitation andoperation, but by the very presence of his majesty."-Augustine.


25/231

I I

TH E ADVENT OF THE SPIRIT"FOR the Holy Ghost was not yet," is th e morethan surprising saying of Jesus when speaking

of "the Spirit which they that believe on himshould receive." Ha d not the Spirit been seen descending upon Jesus like a dove at his baptism, andremaining on him? Ha d he not been the divineagent in creation, and in the illumination and inspiration of th e patriarchs and prophets and seersof the 010 dispensation? How then could Jesussay that he "was not ye t given," as th e wordsread in our Common version? The answer to thisquestion furnishes our best point of departure foran intelligent study of the doctrine of th e Spirit.Augustine calls the day of Pentecost th e "diesnatalis " of the Holy Ghost; and for the same rcason that the day when Mary "brought forth herfirst-born son" we name "the birthday of JesusChrist." Yet Jesus had existed before he lay in th ecradle at Bethlehem; he was "in th e beginning withGod"; he was the agent in creation . By him allthings were. But on th e day of his birth he becameincarnate, that in the flesh he might fulfill his great

19


26/231

20 THE MINIS'fRY OF THE SPIRITministry as the Apostle and High Priest of ou r con-fession, manifesting God to men, and making him-self an offering for th e sins of the world. No tuntil after his birth in Bethlehem was Jesus in theworld in his official capaci ty, in his divine ministryas mediator between man and God; and so no t tillafter the day of Pentecost was the Holy Spirit inth e world in his official sphere, as mediator betweenmen and Christ. In the following senses then isAugustine's saying true, which calls Pentecost" thebirthday of the Spirit" :

I. The Holy Spirit, from that time on, took uphis residence on earth. The Christian churchthroughout all this dispensation is the home of th eSpirit as truly as heaven, during this same period,is the home of Jesus Christ. This is according tothat sublime word of Jesus, called by one "thehighest promise which can be made to man": " I fa man love me he will keep my words: an d myFather will love him, and we will come unto him,and make our abode with him" (John 14 : 23).This promise was fulfilled at Pentecost, an d th efirst two Persons of th e Godhead now hold residencein the church through the Third. The Holy Spiritduring the present time is in office on earth; andall spiritual presence and divine communion of th eTrinity with men are through him. In other words,while th e Father and th e Son are visibly and per-sonally in heaven, they are invisibly here in the


27/231

THE ADVENT OF' THE SPIRIT 2Ibody of the faithful by the indwelling of the Comforter. So that though we affirm that on the dayof Pentecost the Holy Spirit came to dwell uponearth for this entire dispensation, we do not implythat he thereby ceased to be in heaven. Not withGod, as with finite man, does arrival in one placenecessitate withdrawal from another. Jesus uttereda saying concerning himself so mysterious andseemingly contradictory that many attempts havebeen made to explain away its literal and obviousmeaning: "And no man hath ascended up to heavenbut he that came down from heaven, even the Sonof man who is in heaven"-Chris t on earth, andyet in glory; here and there, at the same time,just as a thought which we embody in speech andsend forth from the mind, yet remains in the mindas really and distinctly as before it was expressed.Why should this saying concerning our divine Lordseem incredible? And as with the Son, so with theSpirit. The Holy Ghost is here, abiding perpetually in the church; and he is likewise there, in communion with the Father and the Son from whom heproceeds, and from whom, as co-equal partner in theGodhead, he can never be separated any more thanthe sunbeam can be dissociated from the sun inwhich it has its source.

2. Again: The Holy Spirit, in a mystical butvery real sense, became embodied in the church onthe day of Pentecost. Not that we would by any


28/231

22 TH E MINISTRY OF THE SPIRITmeans put this embodiment on the same plane withthe incarnation of the Second Person of th e Trinity.When "the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongus," it was God entering into union with sinlesshumanity; here it is the Holy Spirit uniting him-self with the church in its imperfect and militantcondition. Nevertheless, it is according to literalScripture that the body of the faithful is indweltby the divine Spirit. In this fact we have the dis-tinguishing peculiarity of the present dispensation."For he dwelleth with you and shall be in you,"said Jesus, speaking anticipatively of the coming ofthe Comforter; and so truly was this prediction ful-filled that ever after the day of Pentecost the HolySpirit is spoken of as being in the church. " If sobe that the Spirit of God dwell in you" is the in-spired assumption on which the deep teaching inRomans eighth proceeds. All the recognitionand deference which the disciples paid to theirLord they now pay to the Holy Spirit, his truevicar, his invisible self, present in the body of be-lievers. How artlessly and naturally this comes outin the findings of the first council at Jerusalem:" I t seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us" runsthe record; as though it had been said: .1 Peter andJames and Barnabas and Saul and the rest werepresent, and also just as truly was the Holy Ghost."

And when the first capital sin was committedin the church, in the conspiracy and falsehood


29/231

THE ADVENT OF THE SPIRIT 23of Ananias and Sapphira, Peter's question is :"Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to theHoly Ghost?" "How is it that ye have agreedtogether to tempt the Holy Ghost?" "Not only isthe personal presence of the Spirit in the body ofbelievers thus distinctly recognized, but he is therein author ity and supremacy, as th e center of theassembly. "Incarnated in th e church!" do wesay? We get this conception by comparing together the inspired characterizations of Christ andof the church. " This temple" was the name whichhe gave to his own divine person, great ly to thescandal and indignation of the] ews; and the evangelist explains to us that "he spoke of the templeof his body." A metaphor, a type! do we say?No! He said so because it was so. "The Wordwas made flesh and tabe rnacled among us, and webeheld his glory" (John I : 14). This is temple imagery. "Tabernacled" (tlTX7jYWlTeY) is the word usedin Scripture for the dwelling of God with men; andthe -temple is God's dwelling-place. The" glory"harmonizes with the same idea. As the Shechinahcloud rested above th e mercy-seat, the symbol andsign of God's presence, so from the Holy of Holiesof our blessed Lord's heart did the glory of Godshine forth, "the glory as of the only begotten ofthe Father, full of grace and truth," certifying himto be the veritable temple of the Most High.

After his ascension and the sending down of the


30/231

24 THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRITSpirit, the church takes the name her Lord had bornebefore; she is the temple of God, and the only tern-ple which he has on earth during the present dis-pensation. "Know ye not that ye are th e templeof God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? "asks the apostle. This he speaks to the church inits corporate capacity. "A holy temple in theLord, in whom ye also are builded together for ahabitation of God through the Spirit," is the sub-lime description in the Epistle to the Ephesians. Itis enough that we now emphasize the fact that thesame language is here applied to the church whichChrist applies to himself. As with the Head, sowith the mystical body; each is indwelt by theHoly Spirit, and thus is God in some sense incar-nated in both; and for the same reason. Christwas "the Image of the Invisible God"; and whenhe stood before men in the flesh he could say tothem, "H e that hath seen me hath seen theFather." Not otherwise than through th e incar-nation, so far as we know, could the unknown Godbecome known, and the unseen God become seen.So, after Christ had returned to the Father, and theworld saw him no more, he sent the Paraclete to beincarnated in his mystical body, the church. Asthe Father revealed himself through the Son, sothe Son by the Holy Spirit now reveals himselfthrough the church; as Christ was the image ofthe invisible God, so the church is appointed to be


31/231

THE ADVENT OF THE SPIRIT 25the image of the invisible Christ; and his members,when they are glorified with him, shall be the ex-press image of his person.

This then is the mystery and the glory of thisdispensation; not less true because mysterious;not less practical because glorious. In an ad-mirable work on the Spirit, the distinction be-tween th e former and the present relation of th eSpirit is thus stated; " In the old dispensat ion th eHoly Spirit wrought upon believers, but did not inhis person dwell in believers and abide permanentlyin them. He appeared unto men; he did not in-carnate himself in man. Hi s action was intermit-tent; he went and came like the dove which Noahsent forth from the ark, and which went to and fro,finding no rest; while in th e new dispensation hedwells, he abides in the heart as the dove, his emblem,which John saw descending and alighting on the headof Jesus . Affianced of the soul, the Spirit went oftto see his betrothed, but was not yet one with her;the marriage was not consummated until th e Pen-tecost, after the glorification of Jesus Christ." 1

3. A still more obvious reason why before th eday of Pentecost it could be said tha t" th e HolyGhcst was not yet," is contained in th e words,"Because that Jesus was 1ZOt ye t glorijied." In theorder of the unfolding ages we see each of th e persons of the Godhead in turn exercising an earthly

1 " Th e Work of the Holy Spirit in Man," by Pastor Tophel , p. 32.C


32/231

26 THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRITministry and dealing with man in the work ofredemption. Under the law, God the Father comesdown to earth and speaks to men from the cloud ofSinai and from the glory above the mercy-seat;under grace, God the Son is in the world, teaching,suffering, dying, and rising again; under th e dispensation of election and out-gathering now goingon, the Holy Spirit is here carrying on th e work ofrenewing and sanctifying the church, which is thebody of Christ. There is a necessary successionin these Divine ministries, both in time and in character. In the days of Moses it might have beensaid: "Christ is not yet," because th e economyof God-]ehovah was not completed. Th e law mustfirst be given, with it s sacrifices and types an d ceremonies and shadows; man must be pu t on trialunder the law, till th e appointed time of his schooling should be completed. Then must Christ cometo fulfill all types and terminate all sacrifices inhimself; to do for us "what the law could no t doin that it was weak through the flesh," an d tobecome "the en d of the law for righteousness toeveryone that believeth." When in turn Christhad completed his redemption-work by dying on thecross for our sins, and rising again from th e deadfor our justification, and had taken his place atGod's right hand for perpetual intercession, thenthe Holy Ghost came down to communicate andrealize to th e church the finished work of Christ.


33/231

THE A D V E ~ T OF THE SPIRIT 27In a word, as God the Son fulfills to men the workof God the Father, so God the Holy Ghost realizesto human hearts the work of God the Son.

There is a holy deference, if we may so say,between the Persons of th e Trinity in regard totheir respective ministries. When Christ was inoffice on earth, the Father commends us to him,speaking from heaven and saying: "This is mybeloved Son, hear ye him"; when the Holy Ghosthad entered upon his ear thly office, Chr ist com-mends us to him, speaking again from heaven withsevenfold reiteration, saying: "H e that hath anear, let him hea r what the Spirit saith unto thechurches."! As each Person refers us to th e teach-ing of the other, so in like manner does each inturn consummate th e ministry of the other.Christ's words and works were not his own, but hisFather's: "The words which I speak unto you Ispeak not of myself, but the Father that dwellethin me he doeth the works," 2 Th e Spirit's teachingand communicat ions are not his own, but Christ's:" Howbeit when he the Spirit of truth is come, hewill guide you into all truth; fo r he sluzll not speakof himself; but whatsoever he shall hear tluzt shallhe speak; and he will show you things to come.""He shall glonjy me ; fo r he shall receive of mt'neand show it unto you."

This order in the ministries of the Persons ofI See epistles to the seven churches: Rev 2 : II . John 14 : 10 .


34/231

28 THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRITthe Godhead is so fixed and eternal that we find itdistinctly foreshadowed even in the typical teachingof the Old Testamen t. Many speak slightingly ofthe types, but they are as accurate as mathematics ;they fix the sequence of events in redemption asrigidly as the order of sunrise and noontide is fixedin the heavens. Nowhere in tabernacle or in temple,shall we ever find the laver placed before th e altar.The altar is Calvary and the laver is Pentecost;one stands for the sacrificial blood, the other forthe sanctifying Spirit. I f any high priest wereignorantly to approach the brazen laver withoutfirst having come to the brazen altar, we mightexpect a rebuking voice to be heard from heaven:" Not yet the washing of water"; and such a say-ing would signify exactly the same as: " Not yetthe Holy Ghost."

Again, when the leper was to be cleansed,observe that the blood was to be put upon the tipof his right ear, the thumb of his right hand, andthe great toe of his right foot; and then the oil wasto be put upon the right ear, the right thumb, andth right foot-the oil upon the blood of the trespass-offering (Lev. 14). Never, we venture to say, inall the manifold repetitions of this divine ceremony,was this order once inverted, so that the oil wasfirst applied, and then the blood; which means, in-terpreting type into antitype, that it was impossiblethat Pentecost could have preceded Calvary, or


35/231

THE ADVENT OF THE SPIRIT 29that the outpouring of th e Spirit should haveanticipated the shedding of the blood.

Then let us reflect, that not only the order ofthese two great events of redemption was fixedfrom the beginning, but their dates were marked inthe calendar of typical time. The slaying of thepaschal lamb told to generation after generation,though they knew it not, th e day of th e year andweek on which Christ our Passover should be sacri-ficed for us. Th e presentation of th e wave sheafbefore the Lord, on the morrow after the Sabbatlt" Ihad for long centur ies fixed the time of our Lord'sresurrection on the first day of th e week. An d th ecommand to "count from the morrow after th eSabbath, from the day that ye brought th e sheaf ofthe wave offering, seven Sabbaths," I determined theday of Pentecost as th e time of the descent of th eSpirit. We sometimes think of the disciples wait-ing for an indefinite period in that upper room forthe fulfillment of the promise of th e Father; bu tthe time had been fixed no t only with God ineternity, bu t in th e calendar of the Hebrew ritualupon earth. They tarried in prayer for ten days,simply because after the forty days of the Lord'ssojourn on earth subsequent to his resurrection, tendays remained of the "seven Sabbaths" period.

To sum up what we are saying: The Spirit ofGod is th e successor of the Son of God in his offi-

1 Lev. 23 : 11-16.


36/231

30 THE MINISTRY o f THE SPIRITcial ministry on earth. Until Christ's earthly workfor his church had been finished, the Spirit's workin this world could not properly begin. The officeof the Holy Ghost is to communicate Christ to us-Christ in his entireness. However perfectly thephotographer's plate has been prepared, there canbe no picture until his subject steps into his placeand stands before him. Our Saviour's redemptivework was not completed when he died on th e cross,or when he rose from the dead, or even when heascended from the brow of Olivet. Not until hesa t down in his Father's throne, summing up all hisministry in himself,-" I am he that liveth and wasdead, and behold I am alive forevermore,"-did thefull Christ stand ready to be communicated to hischurch. 1 By the first Adam's sin, God's communionwith man through the Holy Ghost was broken, andtheir union ruptured. When the second Adamcame up from his cross and resurrection, and tookhis place at God's right hand, there was a restora-tion of this broken fellowship. Very beautiful are

1 " Christ having reached his goal, and Dot till then, bequeathesto his followers the graces that invested his earthly course; theAscending Elijah leaves his m antle behind him. It is only an exten-sion of the same principle, that the declared office of the Holy Spiritbeing to complete the image of Christ in every faithful follower by ef-fecting in this world a sp iritual death an d resurrection,-a pointattested in every e p i s t l e , - t k ~ i m a g ~ could not s t i l m p ~ d until r ~ a l i t y kad bun wkolly accomplished; Divim Artist could notfitly dnund to m a k ~ tl u copy befor mtir original ka d bu n pro-

f J i d ~ d . " - A r c k ~ r Butl".


37/231

TH E ADVENT OF THE SPIRIT 31the words of our risen Lord as bearing on thispoint: " I ascend to my Father and your Father, tomy God and your God." I The place which th edivine Son had won for himself in the Father'sheart, he had won for us also. All of acceptanceand standing and privilege which was now his, wasours too, by redemptive right; and the Holy Ghostis sent down to confirm and realize to us what hehad won for us. Without the expiatory work ofChrist for us, the sanctifying work of the Spirit inus were impossible; and on the other hand, withoutthe work of the Spirit within us, the work of Christfor us were without avail.

"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come."What these words mean historically, typically, anddoctrinally, we are now prepared to see. The truewave sheaf had been presented in the temple onhigh. Christ the first-fruits, brought from the graveon "the morrow after th e Sabbath," or th e first dayof the week, now stands before God accepted onour behalf; the seven Sabbaths from the resurrection day have been counted, and Pentecost hascome. Then suddenly, to those who were "all ofone accord in one place," "there came a sound fromheaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all

1 John 20 : 17. "Because though he and the Father are one, and theFather his Father by the propriety of nature, to us God became aFather through the Son, not by right of nature, but by grace."-Ambrose,


38/231

32 THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRITthe house where they were sitting, and there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire, andsat upon each of them, and they were all filled withthe Holy Ghost." As the manger of Bethlehemwas the cradle of the Son of God, so was theupper room the cradle of the Spirit of God; asthe advent of "the Holy Child" was a testimonythat God had "visited and redeemed his people,"so was the coming of the Holy Ghost. The factthat the Comforter is here, is proof that th e Advocate is there in the presence of the Father. BoldlyPeter and the other apostles now confront the rulerswith their testimony, "Whom ye slew and hangedon a tree . . . Him hath God exalted with hisright hand to be a prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins; and weare his witnesses of these things; an d so also is theHoly Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obeyhim." As the sound of the golden bells upon thehigh priest's garments within the Holiest gave evidence that he was alive, so the sound of the HolyGhost, proceeding from heaven and heard in thatupper chamber, was an incontestable witness thatthe great High Priest whom they had just seenpassing through the cloud-curtain, entering withinthe veil, was still living for them in the presence ofthe Father. Thus has the" dies natalis," the birthJay of the Holy Spirit, come; and the events of hisearth ly mission will now be considered in their order.


39/231

III

THE NAMING OF THE SPIRIT


40/231

"The name Paraclete is applied to Christ as well as tothe Spirit; and properly: For it is the common office ofeach to console an d encourage us and to preserve us bytheir defense. Christ was their [the disciples'] patron solong as he lived in the world; he then committed them tothe guidance and protection of the Spirit. I f anyone asksus whether we are not under the guidance of Christ, theanswer is easy: Christ is a perpetual guardian, but not visi-bly. As long as he walked on the earth he appearedopenly as their guardian: now he preserves us by his Spirit.He calls the Spirit ' another Comforter,' in view of the dis-tinction which we observe in the blessings proceeding fromeach."-John Calvin.


41/231

II ITH E NAMING OF THE SPIRIT

"rH E Son of God was named by the angel beforehe was conceived in the womb: "Thou shalt

call his name Jesus, for he shall save his peoplefrom their sins." Thus he came, not to receive aname, but to fulfill a name already predeterminedfor him. In like manner was the Holy Ghostnamed by our Lord before his advent into theworld: "But when the Paraclete is come, whom Iwill send unto you from the Father" (John 15 :26). This designation of the Holy Spirit hereoccurs for the first t ime-a new name for th enew ministry upon which he is now about to enter.The reader will find in almost any critical commen-tary discussions of the meaning of the word, andof the question of its right translation, whether by"Comforter," or "Advocate," or "Teacher," or" Helper." But the question cannot be fully set-tled by an appeal to classical or patristic Greek,for the reason, we believe, that it is a divinelygiven name whose real significance must be mademanifest in the actual life and history of the Spirit.The name is the person himself, and only as weknow the person can we interpret his name. Why

35


42/231

36 THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRITattempt then to translate this word any more thanwe do the name of Jesus? We might well transfer it into our English version, leaving the historyof the church from the Acts of the Apostles to theexperience of the latest saint to fill into it thegreat significance which it was intended to contain.Certain it is that the language of the Holy Ghostcan never be fully understood by an appeal to thelexicon. Th e heart of the church is the best dictionary of the Spirit. While all the before-mentioned synonyms are correct, neither one is adequate,nor are all together sufficient to bring out the fullsignificance of this great name, "The Paraclete."

Let us consider, however, how much is suggestedby the literal meaning of this word, "the Para-cletos," and by all that our Lord says concerninghim in his last discourse. "To call to one's aid,"is the meaning of the verb, 1rapaxa).{w, from whichthe name is derived. Very beautiful therefore isthe word in its application to the disciples of Christat the time when the Spirit was given. They hadlost the visible presence of their Lord. The sorrow of his removal from them through the crossand the sepulchre had after three days been turnedinto joy by his resurrection. But now anotherseparation had come, in his departure to the Fatherafter the cloud had received him out of sight. In thislast and longer bereavement, what should they do?Their beloved Master had told them beforehand


43/231

THE NAMING OF TH E SPIRIT 37what to do. They were to call upon th e Father tosend them One to fill the vacant place, and he wh oshould be sent would be the" Paraclete," the" onecalled to their help." 1

But what deep questionings must have arisen intheir hearts as they heard th e Saviour's promise:" I f I go not away th e Paraclete will not come untoyou; but if I depart I will send him unto you."Did they begin to ask whether the mysteriouscomer would be a "person"? Impossible toimagine. For he was to take the place of thatgreatest of persons; to do for them even greaterthings than he had done; and to lead them intoeven larger knowledge than he had imparted.The discussion of the personality of the HolyGhost is so unnatural in th e light of Christ'slast discourse that we studiously avoid it. Let ustreat the question, therefore, from th e point of viewof Christ's own words, and tr y to put ourselvesunder the impression which they make upon us.To state the matter as simply and familiarly as pos-sible: Jesus is about to vacate his office on earth asteacher and prophet; but before doing so he wouldintroduce us to his successor. As in a complexproblem we seek to determine an unknown quantityby the known, so in this paschal discourse Jesus

1The word " a p a . > ' ~ T w p is used in the Septuagint (Job 16 : 2) withthe meaning of "Comforter," and the tenn 1Hl.paf'CAl'jTOS occurs in theTalmud. signifying" Interpreter."

l>


44/231

38 THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRITaims to make us acquainted with the mysterious,invisible coming personage whom he names the" Paracle te " by comparing him with h imself, theknown and the visible one. Collat ing his comparisons we may find in them several groups of seeming contradictions, and just such contradictions aswe should expect if this comer is indeed a personof the Godhead. Of the coming Paraclete thenwe find these intimations.'

I. He is another, yet the same: " An d I will praythe Father and he shall give you another Comforter" (John 14 : 16). By th e use of this expression "another" our Lord distinguishes the Paraclete from himself, but he also puts him on thesame plane with himself. Fo r there is no parityor even comparison between a person and an influence. I f th e promised visitor were to be on ly animpersonal emanation from God, it would seem impossible that our Lord should have so co-ordinatedhim with himself as to say: " I go to be an Advocate for you in heaven (I John 2 : I), and I sendanother to be an Advocate for you on earth."

1 The most obvious reason for concluding that the Holy Spirit is Bperson is that he performs actions and stands in relations which belongonly to a person, e. g.: Ht sptaks (Acts I : 16); ht works mira-cles (Acts 2 : 4; 8 : 39); ht sets ministers ouer churchu (Acts 20 :28); ht commands an d forbids (Acts 8 : 29 ; II : 1 2; 1 3: 2; 16 :6, 7) ; ht prays fo r us (Rom. 8 : 26); ht untnesses (Rom. 8 : 16);lu can bt gril!Ved (Eph. 4 : 30); ht can bt blasplumtd (Mark 3 :29); ht can be resist ed (Acts 7 : 51, etc).


45/231

THE NAMING OF THE SPIRIT 39But if Christ thus distinguishes the Comforter

from himself , he also identifies him with himself:" I will not leave you orphans: J will come to you"(John r4 : r8). By common consent this promiserefers to the advent of the Spirit, for so the Con-nection plainly indicates. An d ye t almost in th esame breath he says: "The Comforter whom I willsend unto you" (John 14 : 26). Thus our Lordmakes the same event to be at once his coming andhis sending; and he speaks of th e Spirit now ashis own presence, and now as his substitute duringhis absence. So what must we conclude bu t thatthe Paraclete is Christ's other self, a third Personin that blessed Trinity of which he is the second.

2. Th e Paraclete is subordinate yet superior inhis ministry to the church. "For he shall no tspeak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear thatshall he speak He shall glorify me ; for he shall re-ceive of mine and show it unto you" (John r6 : r 3).

Well may we mark th e holy deference betweenthe persons of the Trinity which is here pointedout. Each receives from another what he com-municates, and each magnifies another in hispraises. As Bengel concisely states it: "The Songlorifies th e Father; th e Spirit glorifies the Son."What then is the office of the Holy Ghost, so faras we can interpret it, but that of communicatingand applying th e work of Christ to human hearts?I f he convinces of sin it is by exhibiting the


46/231

40 THE MINISTRY OF TH E SPIRITgracious redemptive work of the Saviour an d showing men their guilt in not believing on him. I f hewitnesses to the penitent of his acceptance it is bytestifying of the atoning blood of Jesus in whichthat acceptance is grounded; if he regenerates andsanctifies the heart it is by communicating to it th elife of the risen Lord. Christ is "all" in himself,and through the Spirit "in all" those whom theSpirit renews. This reverent subjection of theearthly Comforter to th e heavenly Christ containsa deep lesson for those who are indwelt by theSpirit 1 and makes them rejoice evermore to bewitnesses rather than originators.

With this subordination of the Holy Spirit to( hris t, how is it yet true that such a great advan-tage was to accrue to th e church by the departureof the Saviour and the consequent advent of theSpirit to take his place? That it would be so is whatis plainly affirmed in the following text: "N evertheless I tell you the truth. I t is expedient for youthat I go away: for if I go not away th e Comforterwill not come unto you; bu t if I depart I will sendhim unto you" (John r6 : 7). I f th e Spirit is simplythe measure of the Son, his sole work being to com-municate the work of th e Son, what gain couldthere be in the departure of th e one in order to

1 I f the Holy Spirit may not speak of himself as preacher, howcanst thou draw thy preaching out of thyself-out of thine head 01even out or thine hearL-Pastor Gessner.


47/231

THE NAMING OF THE SPIRIT 41the coming of the other? Would it not be simplythe exchange of Christ for Christ ?-his visiblepresence for his invisible?

To us the answer of this question is most obvious. It was not the earthly Christ whom theHoly Ghost was to communicate to the church, butthe heavenly Christ,-the Christ re-invested withhis eternal power, re-clothed with the glory whichhe had with the Father before the world was, andre-endowed with the infinite treasures of gracewhich he had purchased by his dea th on the cross.I t is as though-to use a very inadequate illustrat ion-a beloved father were to say to his family:II My children, I have provided well for your needs;but your condition is one of poverty compared withwhat it may become. By the death of a kinsmanin my native coun try I have become heir to an immense estate. I f you will only submit cheerfullyto my leaving you and crossing the sea, and entering into my inheritance, I will send you back athousand times more than you could have by myremaining with you." Only in the instance 've areconsidering, Christ is the" testator" as well as theheir. By his dea th the inheritance becomes available, and when he had ascended into heaven hesent down the Holy Spirit to distribute the estateamong those who were join t he irs with him.What this estate is, may be best summarized in twobeautiful expressions of frequent recurrence in the


48/231

42 THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRITepistles of Paul, "The riches of his grace" (Eph. 1 :7), and" The riches of his glory" (Eph. 3 : 16). Onthe cross "the riches of his grace" was secured tous in the forgiveness of sins; on the throne "theriches of his glory" was secured to us in our beingstrengthened with all might by his Spirit in theinner man; in the indwelling of Chri st in ourhearts by faith, and in our infilling with all the fullness of God. The divine wealth only becomescompletely available on the death, resurrection, andascension of our Lord; so that the Holy Spirit, thedivine Conveyancer, had not th e full inheritance toconvey till ] esus was glorified.

Observe therefore, in th e valedictory discourseof our Lord, the frequent recurrence of the words:"Because I go to the Father," one of the sayingswhich great ly perplexed his disciples. In th e lightof all which Jesus says in this connection, le t ussee if it s meaning may not be clear to us. "If yeloved me ye would rejoice because I go unto theFather; for the Father is greater than I" (] ohn14 : 28), he says in th e same connection. We cannot here enter into the deep question of the kenosis,or self-emptying of the Son of God in his incarna.tion. I t is enough that we follow th e plain teaching of the Scripture, that though "being in theform of God, he counted it not a thing to begrasped to be on an equality with God; but emptiedhimself, taking the form of a servant" (Phil. 2 :


49/231

43HE NAMING OF THE SPIRIT6, 7, R. V.). What now does his going to theFather signify but a refilling with that of which hehad been emptied, or a resumption of his co-equality with God? The greater blessing which hecould confer upon his church by his departureseems to lie in the fact of the greater power andglory into which he would enter by his enthronement at God's right hand As Luther pointedly putsit: "Therefore do I go, he saith, where I shall begreater than I now am, that is, to the Father, andit is better that I shall pass out of this obscurityand weakness into the power and glory in whichthe Father is." In the light of this interpretationthe meaning of our Lord's words above quoteddoes not seem difficult. Th e Paraclete was to communicate Christ to his church,-his life, his power,his riches, his glory. In his exaltation all thesewere to be very greatly increased. "All thingsthat the Father hath are mine" (John 16 : 15), hesays. An d though he had for a time voluntarilydisinherit ed himself of his heavenly possessions, heis now to be repossessed of them. "Therefore said I,that he shall take of mine and shall show it untoyou" (16 : 15). Christ at God's right hand willhave more to give than while on earth; thereforethe church will have more to receive through th eParaclete than through the visible Christ. Whatobvious significance then do the following sayingsfrom this farewell sermon of Jesus have: "Verily


50/231


51/231

THE NAMING OF THE SPIRIT 45Holy Ghost communicate "the power from onhigh." Therefore it is expedient that he go away.

As with the power which Christ was to impartto his church through th e Paraclete, so with therighteousness which he was both to impute and toimpart; its highest source must be found in heaven:" And when he, the Comforter, is come, he will convince the world of righteousness; . . . of righteousness because I go to my father, and ye see me nomore" (John 16: 8-10). We may say truly that therighteousness of Christ was not completely finishedand authenticated till he sa t down at the right handof the majes ty on high. By his death he perfectlysatisfied the claims of a violated law, but this factwas not attested until the grave gave back the cer-tificate of discharge in his released and risen body.By his resurrection he was "declared to be the So nof God in power, according to the Spirit of holi-ness" (Rom. I : 4). Bu t th e fact was not fullyverified till God had" set him at his own right handin the heavenly places, far above all principality, andpower, and might, and dominion, and every namethat is named" (Eph. I : 20 , 2 I ). Now in his con-summated glory he is prepared to be "made wis-dom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption" to his people. He who had been" manifest in the flesh" that he might be made sinfor us, was now " j ustified in the Spirit" and "received up into glory," that he might be made


52/231

46 THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRITrighteousness to us, and that "we might be madethe righteousness of God in him." Christ's cor-onation, in a word, is the indispensable condition toour justification. Till he who was made a curse forus is crowned with glory and honor we cannot beassured of our acceptance with the Father. 1 Howdeep the current of thought which flows throughthis narrow channel-" Because I go to the Father."3. The Paraclete teaches only the things ofChrist; yet teaches more than Christ taught: "Ihave yet many things to say unto you, but ye can-not bear them now. Howbeit when he the Spiritof truth is come, he will guide you into all thetruth" (John 16 : 12, 13). It is as though he hadsaid: "I have brought you a little way in theknowledge of my doctrine; he shall bring you allthe way." One reason for this saying seems plain:Th e teaching of Jesus during his earthly ministrywaited to be illumined by a light not risen-thelight of the cross, the light of the sepulchre, thelight of the ascension. Therefore until theseevents had come to pass, Christian doctrine wasundeveloped, and could not be fully communicatedto the disciples of Christ. But this is not all.The "because I go to the Father" still gives thekey to our Lord's meaning. "But what things so-

1 How righteous must he be, who will go to the Father from thecross and the grave! Thus will the Holy Spirit convince the worldthat he is a righteous man, and truly righteous for man.-Roos.


53/231

THE NAMING OF THE SPIRrr 47ever he shall hear, these shall he speak, and heshall declare unto you things to come" (John16: 13, R. V.). Very wonderful is this hint of themutual converse of the Godhead, so that the Para-clete is described as listening while he leads, ashaving an ear in heaven attentive to the converseof the Father and the glorified Son, while he ex-tends an unseen guidance to the flock on earth,communicating to them what he has heard fromthe Father and the Son. And we may reverentlyask, Has not th e glorified Christ more of knowl-edge and revelation to communicate than he had inthe days of his humiliation? O f" the things tocome" has he not secrets to impart which hithertomay have been hidden in the counsels of theFather? To take a single illustration from th ewords of Christ. Speaking of his second advent,he says: "But of that day or that hour knoweth noone, not even th e angels in heaven, neither th eSon, but the Father" (Mark 13 : 321). It is bestthat we should interpret these words frankly, andinstead of saying, with some, that he did not knowin the sense that he was not permitted to disclose,admit it possible that while in his humiliation andunder the veil of his incarnation, this secret washidden from his eyes.

But is it not presumptuous for us to reason, that1 " Neither the Son" : " I t is more than ntitlur .. it is no t Jltt tl u

Son," says Morrison the commentator.


54/231


55/231

THE NAMING OF THE SPIRIT 49cause also the fuller revelation of the future and th eleading into completer truth concerning the blessedhope of the church? In other words, if we maythink of Christ as entering into larger revelation ashe returns to the glory which he had with th eFather must we not think of larger communica-tions of truth by the blessed Paraclete?

Have we not learned something of the natureand offices of the Spirit by this study of his ne wname, and of all that the departing Lord saysin the wondrous discourse wherein he introduceshim to his disciples? At least the study shouldenable us to distinguish two inspired terms whichhave been needlessly confounded by not a fewwriters, viz.: the words v Paraciete" and" Parou-sia:" The latter word, which constantly occurs inScripture as describing our Lord's second coming,has been applied in several learned works to theadvent of the Holy Spirit; and since Christ camein the person of the Spirit, it has been argued thatthe Redeemer's promised advent in glory has al-ready taken place. But this is to confuse termswhose use in Scripture marks them as clearly dis-tinct. Observe their difference: In the Paraclete,Christ Gomes spiritually and invisibly; in the Pa-rousia, he comes bodily and gloriously. The adventof the Paraclete is really conditioned on the Saviour'spersonal departure from his people: " I f I go not awaythe Paraclete will not come to you" (] ohn 16 : 7).

E


56/231

50 THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRITThe Parousia, on the other hand, is only realized inhis personal return to his people: " For what is ourhope or joy or crown of rejoicing? Ar e no t evenye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at hiscoming?" (I Thess. 2 : 19.) The Paraclete attendsthe church in the days of her humiliation i th eParousia introduces the church into the day of he rglory. In the Paraclete, Christ came to dwell withthe church on earth: "I will not leave you orphans;I will come to you" (John 14: 18). In th e Parousia, Christ comes to take the church to dwellwith himself in glory: " I will come again andreceive you unto myself; that where I am thereye may be also" (John 14 : 3). Christ prayed onbehalf of his bereaved church for the coming ofthis Paraclete: " And I will pray th e Father and heshall give you another Paraclete." The Holy Spiritnow prays with the pilgrim-church for th e hastening of the Parousia. "And the Spirit and thebride say, Come" (Rev. 22 : 17). These two canonly be understood in their mutual relations. Christ,who gave the new name to the Holy Spirit, can bestinterpret that name to us by making us acquaintedwith himself. May that name be for us so real asymbol of personal presence that while strangersand pilgrims in the earth we may walk evermore" in the paraclesis of the Holy Ghost" (Acts 9 : 3I).


57/231

IV

THE EMBODYING OF THE SPIRIT


58/231

"But now the Holy Ghostis given more perfectly, for he isno longer present by his operation as of old, but is presentwith us so to speak, and converses with us in a substantialmanner. For it was fi tting that, as th e Son ha d conversedwith us in the body, the spirit should also come among usin a bodily manner." -Gregory Nasianeen,


59/231

IVTH E EMBODYING OF THE SPIRIT

"THE church, which is his body," began its his-tory and development at Pentecost. Be-

lievers had been saved, and the influences of th eSpirit had been manifested to men in all previousdispensations from Adam to Christ. But now anecclesia, an outgathering, was to be made to con-stitute the mystical body of Christ, incorporatedinto him the Head and indwelt by him through th eHoly Ghost. The definition which we sometimeshear, that a church is "a voluntary association ofbelievers, united together for the purposes of wor-ship and edification" is most inadequate, not to sayincorrect. I t is no more true than that hands andfeet and eyes and ears are voluntarily united in thehuman body for the purposes of locomotion andwork. The church is formed from within; Christpresent by the Holy Ghost, regenerating men bythe sovereign action of th e Spirit, and organizingthem into himself as the living center. Th e Headand the body are therefore one, and predestined tothe same history of humiliation and glory. An d asthey are one in fact, so are they one in name. Hewhom God anointed and filled with the Holy Ghost

S3


60/231

54 THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRITis called "the Christ," and the church, which is hisbody and fullness, is also called" the Christ." "Foras the body is one, and hath many members, andall the members of that one body, being many, areone body, so also is the Christ" (I Cor. 12 : 12).Here plainly and with wondrous honor the churchis named 6 Xp{(I'ror;, commenting upon which factBishop Andrews beautifully says: "Christ is bothin heaven and on earth; as he is called the Headof his church, he is in heaven; but in respect of hisbody which is called Christ, he is on earth."

So soon as the Holy Ghost was sent down fromheaven this great work of his embodying began, andit is to continue until the number of the elect shallbe accomplished, or unto the end of the presentdispensation. Christ , if we may say it reverently,became mystically a babe again on the day of Pente-cost, and the hundred and twenty were his infantilebody, as once more through the Holy Ghost he in-carnated himself in his flesh. Now he is growingand increasing in his members, and so will he con-tinue to do "till we all corne in the unity of thefaith and of the knowledge of the Son of God untoa perfect man, unto the measure of the stature offullness of Christ." Then the Christ on earth willbe taken up into visible union with the Christ inheaven, and the Head and the body be glorified to-gether. Observe how the history of the church'sformation, as recorded in the Acts, harmonizes with


61/231

THE EMBODYING OF THE SPIRIT S5th e conception given above. The story of Pentecost culminates in th e words, "and th e same daythere were added about three thousand souls"(Acts 2 : 41). Added to whom? we naturally ask.And the King James translators have answered ourquestion by inserting in italics " to them." Butnot so speaks the Holy Ghost. And when, a fewverses further on in the same chapter, we read:"And the Lord added to the church daily such asshould be saved," we need to be reminded that th ewords "to th e church" are spurious. All suchglosses and interpolations have only tended to marth e sublime teaching of this first chapter of theHoly Spirit's history. "And believers were themore added to the Lord" (Acts 5 : 14.) "Andmuch people were added unto the Lord" (Acts1 1 : 24.) This is th e language of inspiration-Notth e mutual union of believers, but their divine co-uniting with Christ; not voluntary association ofChristians, but their sovereign incorporation intothe Head and this incorporation effected by the Headthrough th e Holy Ghost.

I f we ask concerning th e way of admission into thisdivine ecclesia, th e teaching of Scripture is explicit:"For in one Spirit were we all baptized into onebody" (I Cor. 1 2 : 13). The baptism in water marksth e formal introduction of th e believer' into th echurch; but this is the symbol, not th e substance.For observe th e identity of form between th e ritual


62/231

S6 THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRITand the spiritual. " I indeed baptize you in water,". . said John, "but he that cometh after me . . .shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost and in fire"(Matt. 3 : I I). As in the one instance the disciplewas submerged in th e element of water, so in theother he was to be submerged in the element of theSpirit. And thus it was in actual historic fact. Theupper room became the Spirit's baptistery, if we mayuse the figure. His presence" filled all the housewhere they were sitting," and "they were all filledwith the Holy Ghost." The baptistery would neverneed to be re-filled, for Pentecost was once and forall, and the Spirit then came to abide in th e churchperpetually. But each believer throughout th e agewould need to be infilled with that Spirit whichdwells in the body of Christ. In other words, itseems clear that the baptism of the Spirit was givenonce for the whole church, extending from Pentecost to Parousia. "There is one Lord, one fai th,one baptism" (Eph. 4 : 5). As there is one bodyreaching through the entire dispensation, so there is"one baptism" for that body given on the day ofPentecost. Thus i f we rightly understand the meaning of Scripture it is true, both as to time an d as tofact, that" in one Spirit we were all baptized into onebody, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free."

Th e typical foreshadowing, as seen in the churchin the wilderness, is very suggestive at this point:" Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be


63/231

THE EMBODYING OF THE SPIRIT 57ignorant, how that all our fathers were under thecloud and all passed through the sea; and were al lbaptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea"(I Cor. 10 : I). Baptized into Moses by their pas-sage through the sea, identified with him as theirleader, and committ ed to him in corporate fellowship;even so were they also baptized into Jehovah, who illthe cloud of glory now took his place in th e midst ofthe camp and tabernacled henceforth with them.The type is perfect as all inspired types are. Theantitype first appears in Christ our Lord, baptizedin water at the Jordan, and then baptized in th eHoly Ghost which "descended from heaven like adove and abode upon him." Then it recurred againin the waiting disciples, who besides the baptism ofwater, which had doubtless already been received,now were baptized" in the Holy Ghost and in fire."Henceforth they were in the divine element, astheir fathers had been in the wilderness, "not in theflesh bu t in the Spirit" (Rom. 8 : 9); called "tolive according to God in the Spirit" (I Peter 4 : 6) ;to "walk in the Spirit" (Gal. 5 : 2 5); "praying al-ways with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit JJ(Eph. 6 : 18). In a word, on the day of Pentecostthe entire body of Christ was baptized into the ele-ment and presence of the Holy Ghost as a perma-nent condition. And though one might object thatthe body as a whole was not yet in existence, wereply that neither was the complete church in ex-


64/231

58 THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRI'l'istence when Christ died on Calvary, ye t all be-hevers are repeatedly said to have died with him.

To change th e figure of baptism for a moment toanother which is used synonymously, that of th eanointing of the Spirit, we have in Exodus a beauti-ful typical illustration of our thought. At Aaron'sconsecration th e precious ointment was no t onlypoured upon his head, but ran down in rich profu-sion upon his body and upon his priestly garments.This fact is taken up by th e psalmist when he sings:"Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren todwell together in unity. It is like the preciousointment upon the head that ran down upon th ebeard, even Aaron's beard, that went down to theskirts of his garments" (Ps. 133 : I, 2). Of ourgreat High Priest we read: "How God anointedJesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost an d withpower" (Acts 10 : 38). But it was no t for himselfalone but also for his brethren that he obtained thisholy unction. He received that he might communi-cate. "U pon whom thou shalt see th e Spirit descend-ing and remaining on him, th e same is he that bap-tizeth in the Holy Ghost" (John I : 33) And nowwe behold our Aaron, our great High Priest, who haspassed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God,standing in the holiest in heaven. "Thou diclstlove righteousness and didst hate iniquity," is thedivine encomium now passed upon him, "thereforeGod, thy God, anointed thee with th e oil of gladness


65/231

THE EMBODYING OF THE SPIRIT S9above th y fellows" (Heb, I : 9). He, th e Christos,the Anointed, stands above and for th e Christoi,his anointed brethren, and from him th e Head, th eunction of the Holy Ghost descended on th e day ofPentecost. I t was poured in rich profusion uponhis mystical body. I t has been flowing down eversince, and will continue to do so till th e last mem-be r shall have been incorporated with himself, andso anointed by th e one Spirit into the one body,which is the church.

It is true that in one instance subsequent toPentecost the baptism in the Holy Ghost is spokenof. When th e Spirit fell on the house of Corne-lius, Peter is reminded of th e word of the Lord, howthat he said: "John indeed baptized in water, bu t yeshall be baptized in th e Holy Ghost" (Acts I I: r6).This was a great crisis in th e history of th e church, th eopening of the door of faith to th e Gentiles, and itwould seem that these new subjects of grace nowcame into participation of an already present Spirit.Yet Pentecost still appears to have been the agebaptism of th e church. As Calvary was once forail, so was th e visitation of th e upper room.

Consider now that, as through th e Holy Ghostwe become incorporated into th e body of Christ, weare in th e same way assimilated to th e Head of thatbody, which is Christ. An unsanctified churchdishonors the Lord, especially by it s incongruity.A noble head, lofty-browed an d intellectual, upon a


66/231

60 THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRITdeformed and stunted body, is a pitiable sight.What, to the angels and principalities wh o gazeevermore upon the face of Jesus, must be th e sightof an unholy and misshapen church on earth,standing in that place of honor called" hi s body."Photographing in a sentence the ecclesia of theearliest centuries, Professor Harnack says: "Originally the churclt was the heavenly bride of Christ,and the abiding place of the Holy Spirit." Let thereader consider how much is involved in this defini-tion. The first and most sacred relation of thebody is to the head. Watching for the return ofthe Bridegroom induces holiness of life and con-duct in the bride; and th e supreme work of theSpirit is directed to this end, that" He may estab-lish our hearts unblamable in holiness before Godour Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christwith all his saints" (I Thess. 3 : 13). In accom-plishing this end he effects all other and subordi-nate ends. The glorified Christ manifests himselfto man through his body. I f there is a perfectcorrespondence between himself and his members,then there will be a true manifestation of himselfto the world.' Therefore does the Spirit abide inthe body, that the body may be "inChristed," to

! "The Holy Spirit not only dwells in the church as his habitation,hut also uses he r as the liV'ing organism whereb y he moves and walksforth in the world, and speaks to the world and acts upon the world.He is the soul of the church wh ich is Christ's body."-Bishop Webb,The Presence and Office of the Spirit, p. 17


67/231

TH E EMBODYING OF THE SPIRIT 6ruse an old phrase of the mystics; that is, indweltby Christ and transfigured into th e likeness ofChrist. Only thus, as "a chosen generation, aroyal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people,"can it "shew forth th e virtues of him who hascalled us out of darkness into his marvelouslight." And who is the Christ that is thus to bemanifested? From the throne he gives us hisname: "I am he that liveth and was dead, andbehold I am alive for evermore" (Rev. I : 18).Christ in glory is not simply what he is, bu t whathe was and what he is to be. As a tree gathersup into itself all the growths of former years, andcontains them in its trunk, so Jesus on the throne isall that he was and is and is to be. In other words,his death is a perpetual fact as well as his life.

And his church is predestined to be like himin this respect, since it not only heads up in him,as saith the apostle, that ye "may grow up intohim in all things which is the Head, even Christ,"but also bodies itself forth from him, "from whomthe whole body, fitly joined together and compactedby that which every joint supplieth, . . makethincrease of th e body" .. (Eph. 4 : 16). I f th echurch will literally manifest Christ, then she mustbe both a living and a dying church. To this sheis committed in th e divinely given form of he r bap-tism. "Know ye not that so many of us as werebaptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his

F


68/231

62 THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRITdeath i therefore we were buried with him by bap-tism into death, that like as Christ was raised upfrom the dead by the glory of the Father, even sowe also should walk in newness of life" (Rom.6 : 3, 4). An d the baptism of the Holy Ghost intowhich we have been brought is designed to accom-plish inwardly and spiritually what the baptism ofwater foreshadows outwardly and typically, viz., toreproduce in us the living and the dying of ou rLord.

First, the living. "For the law of the Spirit oflife in Christ Jesus hath made me free from thelaw of sin and death" (Rom. 8 : 2). That is,that which has been hitherto the actuating princi-ple within us, viz., sin and death, is now to be metand mastered by another principle, the law of life,of which th e Holy Spirit of God is the author andsustainer. As by our natural spirit we are can-nected with the first Adam, and made partakers ofhis fallen nature, so by th e Holy Spirit we are nowunited with the second Adam, and made partakersof his glorified nature. To vivify the body ofChrist by maintaining its identity with th e risenHead is, in a word, th e unceasing work of th e HolyGhost.

Secondly, the dying of our Lord in his membersis to be constantly effected by the indwelling Spirit.Th e church, which is the fullness of him that fill-eth all in all," completes in the world his crucifix-


69/231

THE EMBODYING OF THE SPIRIT 63ion as well as his resurrection. This is certainlyPaul's profound thought, when he speaks of filling up "that which is behind of the afflictions ofChrist in my flesh, for his body's sake, which isthe church" (Col. I : 24). In other words, thechurch, as the complement of her Lord, must havea life experience and a death experience runningparallel.

I t is remarkable how exact is this figure of thebody, which is employed to symbolize the church.In the human system life and death are constantlyworking together. A certain amount of tissuemust die every day and be cast out and buried, anda certain amount of new tissue must also be createdand nourished daily in the same body. Arrest th edeath-process, and it is just as certain to producedisorder as though you were to arrest the life-process. Lite ral ly is this true of the corporate bodyalso. The church must die daily in fulfillment ofthe crucified life of her Head, as well as live dailyin the manifestation of his glorified life. This italicised sentence , which we take from a recent book,is worthy to be made a golden text for Christians:"The Church is Cltristian no more than as it is theorgan of the continuous passion of Christ." Tosympathize, in th e literal sense of suffering withour sinning and lost humanity, is not only the dutyof the church, but th e absolutely essential conditionto her true manifestation of her Lord. A self


70/231

64 TH E MINISTRY OF THE SPIRITindulgent church disfigures Christ; an avariciouschurch bears false witness against Christ; a worldlychurch betrays Christ, and gives him over oncemore to be mocked and reviled by his enemies.

The resurrection of our Lord is prolonged in hisbody, as we all see plainly. Every regeneration isa pulse-beat of his throne-life. But too little dowe recognize the fact that his crucifixion must beprolonged side by side with his resurrection. it I fany man will come after me le t him deny himselfand take up his cross daily and follow me." Thechurch is called to live a glorified life in communionwith her Head, and a crucified life in her contactwith the world. And the Holy Spirit dwells ever.more in the church to effect this twofold manifestation of Christ. "But God be thanked, that yehave obeyed from the heart that pattern of doctrineto which ye were delivered," writes th e apostle(Rom. 6 : 17). The pattern, as th e context shows,is Christ dead and risen. I f the church truly livesin the Spirit, he will keep her so plastic that sh ewill obey this divine mold as the metal conforms tothe die in which it is struck. I f she yields to thesway of "the spirit that now worketh in th e children of disobedience," she will be stereotypedaccording to th e fashion of th e world, and they thatlook upon her will fail to see Christ in her.


71/231

V

THE ENDUEMENT OF THE S n ~ T


72/231

.. To the disciples, the baptism of the Spirit was very distinctly not his first bestowal for regeneration, bu t th e definitecommunication of his presence in power of their glorifiedLord. Just as there was a two-fold operation of th e oneSpirit in the Old an d New Testaments, of which the state ofthe disciples before an d after Pentecost was the striking illustration, so there ma y be, an d in the great majority of Chris-tians is, a corresponding difference of experience. . Whenonce the distinct recognition of what the indwelling of theSpirit was meant to bring is brought home to th e soul, an d itis ready to give up all to be made partaker of it, the believermay ask and expect what ma y be termed a baptism of theSpirit. Praying to th e Father in accordance to the twoprayers in Ephesians, an d coming to Jesus in the renewedsurrender of faith an d obedience, he may receive such aninflow of the Holy Spirit as shall consciously lift him to adifferent level from the one on which he ha s hitherto lived."-Rev . Andrew Murray.


73/231

vTH E ENDUEMENT OF TH E SPIRIT

W have maintained in th e previous chapter thatthe baptism in th e Holy Ghost was givenonce for all on the day of Pentecost, when theParaclete came in person to make his abode in thechurch. It does not follow therefore that every be-liever has received this baptism. God's gift is onething; our appropriation of that gift is quite anotherthing. Our relation to the second and to th e thirdpersons of the Godhead is exactly parallel in thisrespect. "God so loved the world that he gave hisonly begotten Son" (John 3 : 16). "But as manyas received Mm to them gave he the right to becomethe children of God, even to them that believeon his name" (John I: 12). Here are the twosides of salvation, the divine and the human, whichare absolutely co-essential.

There is a doctrine somewhat in vogue, not inappropriately denominated redemption by incarnation,which maintains that since God gave his Son to th eworld, all the world has th e Son, consciously or unconsciously, and that therefore all the world will besaved. It need not be said that a true evangelicalteaching must reject this theory as utterly unten

('7


74/231

68 T H 1 ~ MINISTRY OF THE SPIRITable, since it ignores the necessity of individual faithin Christ. But some orthodox writers have urgedan almost identical view with respect to the HolyGhost. They have contended that the enduementof the Spirit is "not any special or more advancedexperience, bu t simply the condition of everyonewho is a child of God"; that" believers convertedafter Pentecost, and living in other localities, arejust as really endowed with the indwelling Spirit asthose who actually partook of the Pentecostal bless-ing at Jerusalem." 1

On the contrary, it seems clear from the Script-ures that it is still the duty and privilege of believersto receive the Holy Spirit by a conscious, definiteact of appropriating faith, just as they receivedJesus Christ. We base this conclusion on severalgrounds. Presumably if the Paraclete is a person,coming down at a certain definite time to make hisabode in the church, for guiding, teaching, andsanctifying the body of Christ, there is th e samereason for our accepting him for his special minis-try as for accepting the Lord Jesus for his specialministry. To say that in receiving Christ wenecessarily received in the same act the gift ofthe Spirit, seems to confound what th e Scripturesmake distinct." For it is as sinners that we accept

1 Rev. E. Boys, " Fill ed with the Spirit," p. 87. It is assumed hy some that because those that walked with Christ

of old received the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire at Pentecost,


75/231

THE ENDUEMENT OF THE SPIRIT 69Christ for our justification, bu t it is as sons thatwe accept th e Spi rit for our sanctifi cation: "Andbecause ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spiritof his Son into your hearts, crying Abba, Father"(Gal. 4 : 6). Thus, when Peter preached his firstsermon to the multitude after the Spirit had beengiven, he said: " Repent and be baptized, everyoneof you, in th e name of Jesus Christ, for th e remis-sion of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of theHoly Ghost" (Acts 2 : 38).

This passage shows that logically and chrono-logically the gift of th e Spirit is subsequent torepentance. Whether it follows as a necessaryand inseparable consequence, as might seem, weshall consider later. Suffice that this point isclear, so clear that one of th e most conservativeas well as ablest writers on this subject, in com-menting on this text in Acts, says: "There-fore it is evident that the reception of the HolyGhost, as here spoken of, has nothing whatever todo with bringing men to believe and repent. It isa subsequent operation; it is an additional andmore than eighteen hundred years ago, therefore all belie vers nowhave received the same. As well might the apostles, when firstcalled, have concluded that because at his baptism th e Spirit like adove rested upon Christ, therefore they had equally received the sameblessing. Surely the Spirit has been given and the work in Christwrought for all; but to enter into possession, to be enlightenedand made partakers of the Holy Ghost, there must be a personal'pplication to the Lord, etc.-Andrtw Juku ," Tht Ntw Afan."


76/231

..

70 THE MINISTRY o f TH E SPIRITseparate blessing; it is a privilege founded on faithalready actively working in the heart. . . I do notmean to deny that the gift of the Holy Ghost maybe practically on the same occasion, but never inthe same moment. The reason is quite simple too.The gift of the Holy Ghost is grounded on the factthat we are sons by faith in Christ, believers rest-ing on redemption in him. Plainly, therefore, itappears that the Spir it of God has already regen-erated us." 1

Now, as we examine the Scriptures on this point,we shall see that we are required to appropriate theSpirit as sons, in the same way that we appropri-ated Christ as sinners. "As many as received him,even to them that believe on his name," is the con-dition of becoming sons, as we have already seen,receiving and believing being used as equivalentterms. In a kind of foretaste of Pentecost, therisen Christ, standing in the midst of his disciples,"breathed on them and said, Receive ye the HolyGhost, The verb is not passive, as our Englishversion might lead us to suppose, but has here asgenerally an active signification. just as in the fa-miliar passage in Revelation: "Whosoever will, le thim take the water of life freely." Twice in theEpistle to the Galatians the possession of the HolyGhost is put on the same grounds of active appro-

1 William Kelly, " Lectures on the New Testament Doctrine of theHoly Spirit," p. 161.


77/231

71HE ENDUEMENT OF THE SPIRITpriation tarough faith: "Received ye the Spirit byth e works of th e law or by th e hearing of faith? "(3 : 2). "That ye might receive th e promise ofth e Spirit through faith" (3 : 14). These textsseem to imply that just as there is a "faith towardou r Lord Jesus Christ" for salvation, there is afaith toward the Holy Ghost for power and conse-cration.

I f we turn from New Testament teaching to NewTestament example we are strongly confirmed in thisimpression. We begin with that striking incident inth e nineteenth chapter of Acts. Paul, having foundcertain disciples at Ephesus, said unto them: "Didye receive th e Holy Ghost when ye believed? Andthey said unto him, Nay; we did no t so much ashear whether there is a Holy Ghost." This passageseems decisive as showing that one may be a disciple without having entered into possession of th eSpirit as God's gift to believers. Some admit this,who ye t deny any possible application of th e incident to our own times, alleging that it is th e miraculous gifts of the Spirit which are here under consideration, since, after recording that when Paul hadlaid his hands upon them and "the Holy Ghostcame upon them," it is added that" they spake withtongues and prophesied." All that need be saidupon this point is simply that these Ephesian disciples, by the reception of th e Spirit, came into th esame condition with the upper-room disciples who


78/231

72 THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRITreceived him some twenty years before, an d ofwhom it is written that "they were all filled withthe Holy Ghost and began to speak with othertongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." Inother words, these Ephesian disciples on receivingthe Holy Ghost exhibited the traits of the Spiritcommon to the other disciples of the apostolic age.

Whether those traits-the speaking of tonguesand the working of miracles-were intended to beperpetual or not we do not here discuss. But thatthe presence of the personal Holy Spirit in thechurch was in tended to be perpetua l there can beno question. And whatsoever relations believersheld to that Spirit in the beginning they have aright to claim to-day. We must withhold our consent from the inconsistent exegesis which wouldmake the water baptism of the apostolic times stillrigidly binding, but would relegate the baptism inthe Spirit to a bygone dispensation. We holdindeed, that Pentecost was once for all, bu t equallythat the appropriation of the Spirit by believers isalways for all, and that the shutting up of certaing

Documents

Ministry of the Spirit