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5. The
Holy Spirit is given at once on the remission of sins to them that believe
in Christ Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.
It is, however, to be
observed that as the Spirit acts according to the truth known,
or believed and obeyed, an interval unspiritual or unfruitful may come
between the remission of sins and the marked manifestation of the Spirit,
either in relation to holiness of life, or to power for service, or to patience
in trials. It certainly is the divine ideal of a holy life, that the presence
of the Spirit should at once be made manifest on the forgiveness of
sins, and continue in increasing light and power to the end. (Romans 5:1-5;
Titus 3:4-7).
And this steady onward
progress more and more unto the perfect day has been and is true of
many, who from early childhood, or from the day of conversion,
in the case of adults, were led continuously by the Spirit and never
came to one great crisis. With others it is not so, for it is the confession
of a large number of men and women, afterward eminent for holiness,
devotion, endurance, that their life previous to such crisis had been
hardly worth the name of Christian. Whatever explanation or "philosophy"
of such experience may be given, the following is true of the majority.
The full truth of the
sonship and salvation of believers may not have been taught
them when they first believed; the life may have begun under a yoke of
legal bondage; the freedom of filial access may have been doubted, even though
their hearts often burned within them because of the presence of the unknown
Spirit; and thus weary, ineffective years passed, attended with but little
growth in grace or fruitful service, or patient resignation, until a point was
reached in various ways, and through providences often unexpected and
most marvelous, when at last the Holy Spirit made Himself manifest in the
fulness of His love and power.
That there is with God
an interval between justification and the giving of the
Spirit (an interval such as certain theories contend for), cannot be proved.
The unsatisfactory experience of the ignorant Christian may lead him
to think he never had the Spirit.
There are, however,
certain intervals recorded in the New Testament which should
be considered. The one between the ascension and Pentecost Was for
a peculiar preparation through prayer and waiting on the Lord; that of the
forty days between the resurrection and the ascension was a continuation
of the presence of Jesus the other Comforter, and of whom it is
written, "He opened their understanding that they understand the Scriptures,"
so doing what His Holy Spirit was to do when He came; and during
the previous days of His public ministry not only did Jesus teach, but
as attested at the confession of Peter, also the Father was revealing truth
to men: "Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father
who is in heaven."
In the light of this
word to Peter it may be said that up to Pentecost the Spirit
of God was at work in the world in the modes of the old dispensation,
but that when the Day of Pentecost came His peculiar work began
in relation to believers as sons of God. Even the breathing of Christ upon
the disciples on the evening of the day of His resurrection was, in accordance
with the many symbolic acts and sayings recorded in the Gospel
of John, symbolic of the Mighty Breath of Pentecost, for both the symbol
and the reality were associated with the enduement of power for the
service which began at Pentecost. Besides, they were told forty days later
to tarry in Jerusalem
for such enduement. They could not already have received it and yet be
told to wait for it. And Thomas was not present on the
evening of that breathing.
As to other intervals;
that in case of the converts on the Day of Pentecost was
doubtless for the confirmation of the apostolic authority; that of the Samaritans
when Philip preached may be accounted for by remembering the
religious feud between Jew and Samaritan which now must be settled for
all time and the unity of the Church established. Also seeing "salvation is
from the Jews," the authority of Jewish apostles must be affirmed, for to them
Christ had committed the founding of the Church. (Acts 8:14-17).
In regard to Paul, it
is evident from the narrative, he knew not the full import
of the appearing of Jesus, until Ananias came. The recovery of sight,
the forgiveness of sins, the filling of the Holy Spirit, all took place during
this interview. He received the Spirit, as was befitting the Apostle to the
Gentiles, in a Gentile city, far away from the other apostles, for his apostleship
was to be "not from men, neither through a man" (Acts 9:10-19;
22:6-16).
But the case of
Cornelius proves that no interval at all need exist, for the moment
Peter spoke this word, received by faith by Cornelius and those present,
the Holy Spirit who knew their hearts fell on them: "To Him give all
the prophets witness that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall
receive the remission of sins." Peter intended to say more, but God showed
by the sudden outpouring of the Spirit that Peter had said enough, for
from Peter’s report to the church
in Jerusalem we learn that he intended to say more, and not only say more but
probably do more, so making an interval even as in the case of the Samaritans
through baptism, prayer and laying on of his hands that they might receive
the Holy Ghost. (Acts 8:14-17; 10:43-44; 11:15,16).
It is especially to be
noted in this connection that the text of Ephesians 1:13,
so often quoted as proving a long interval between faith in Christ and "the
sealing of the Spirit," "In whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed
with that Holy Spirit of promise," lends no authority for such long interval
of time, for the word "after" implies more than the Greek participle warrants,
and accordingly the Revision reads, "In whom having also believed,
ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise;" but the very same
participle, "having believed," used by Paul in Ephesians, is used by Peter
in the Acts in rehearsing the interview with Cornelius, who received the
Spirit immediately. (Acts 2:17).
Neither does the
remaining instance of the twelve disciples of John the Baptist
whom Paul found in Ephesus, prove that such an interval is necessary
or inevitable today; for they had not even heard that Jesus had come,
and that redemption had been accomplished, and the Spirit given; but
as soon as remission of sins in the name of Jesus was preached to them, they
believed, were baptized, and through prayer and the laying on of Paul’s
hands, received the Holy Spirit. (Acts 19:1-6).
The question Paul
addressed to them, "Have ye received the Holy Ghost since
ye believed?" (or in the Revision, "Did ye receive the Holy Ghost when
ye believed?") has been most strangely applied in these days to Christians,
whereas it was pertinent to these disciples of John only. To address
it to Christians now is to deny a finished redemption, the sonship of
believers and the once-for-all out-pouring of the Holy Spirit.
And it is implied in
the case of Cornelius (Acts 10) with which the Apostle Peter
had nothing to do except to preach the word, that when the apostles had
passed away the mold of experience common for all succeeding centuries
would be that of these Gentile converts wherever in Christendom or
heathendom the Gospel of Christ might be preached.
6. The
conditions of the manifestation of the presence and power of the Spirit
are the same, at conversion or at any later, deeper experience of the believer,
whether in relation to fuller knowledge of Christ, or to more effective
service, or to more patient endurance of ill, or to growth in likeness
to Christ.
The experience, in
each case, is run in the same mold; each part, each word or
fact of Christ, must be received in the same attitude and condition of mind
as the first, when He was seen as the Bearer of our sins, even by faith alone.
Negatively, it may be
said that the conditions are confessed weakness and inability
to help oneself; the end of nature’s
wisdom, power, righteousness has been reached; utter despair of there being
any good thing "in the flesh" settles over the soul, a willingness to
look to God alone for help begins to stir in the heart. Convictions of
unfaithfulness and self-seeking mingle with a hunger and thirst for righteousness and
a life worthy of the name of Christian.
It is not, however, as
consciously sinless in themselves that the Spirit is given
to them who "seek the blessing," but to them as sinless "in
Christ." Believers
in Christ begin their life in the very standing of the Son of God Himself.
Neither do the Scriptures teach, as implied or expressed in certain theories,
that there is an interval between the remission of sins and "the sealing
of the Spirit," and that "justified" believers may die during
such interval
having never been "sealed," and so never been "in Christ,"
and never
been attested sons of God.
Such belief
contradicts the very grace of God and implies that sonship depends
upon the gift of the Spirit and not upon redemption and the remission
of sins, and would read, "Because ye have the Spirit ye are sons,"
instead of, "And because ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His
Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." It also follows that such justified
ones devoid of the Spirit are not Christ’s
nor Christians, for it is plainly written, "But if any man hath not
the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His;" and also, "No man can
say, Jesus is Lord, but in the Holy Spirit." And as to the proof of
the presence of the Spirit at such times, whatever emotions
or high raptures may attend the discoveries of the love and power of
God in the case of some, they are not to be the tests and measures for all.
Conversions are not alike in all, neither are the manifestations of the Spirit.
He may come like the sun at high noon through rifted clouds or like a
slowly deepening dawn; like a shower or like the dew; like a great tide of air
or like a gentle breathing; but "all these worketh the one and self-same Spirit."
But more than all, the proof is seen in growth in holiness, in selfdenials for
Christ’s sake, in the
manifold graces and abiding fruit of the Spirit.
As in the apostolic
day so now the desire exists for the manifestation of the Spirit
in marvelous ways; but a life sober, righteous, holy, lived in the hope of
the glory to come, is the more excellent way of the Spirit’s
manifestation and
undeniable proof of His indwelling.
Positively, the
requirements or inseparable accompaniments of the manifestation of the
indwelling Spirit, whether for holy living or faithful service,
must be drawn from the example of the Son of God our Lord Jesus.
And they are prayer, obedience, faith, and above all a desire and purpose
to glorify Christ. All, indeed, may be summed up in one condition, and
that is, to let God have His own will and way with us.
If, then, it is to
believers as sons of God, to whom and in whom and through whom the Holy
Spirit manifests His presence and power, it would follow that whatever
Jesus did in order to fulfil His mission in the power of the
Spirit, believers must do; and we find His life to have been a life of prayer
for all the gifts and helps of God, a life of obedience, always doing the
things that pleased the Father; and so, never left alone, a life of faith in the
present power of God, a life of devotion to the glory of God, so that at its
close He, through the eternal Spirit, offered Himself without blemish unto
God.
But the chief and
all-including condition and proof is the desire and purpose
to glorify Christ.
The prayer should not
be so much for this or that gift, or this or that result, as
for Christ Himself to be made manifest to us and through us. The Apostle
who was most filled with the Spirit sums all up in that one great word,
"For me to live is Christ." As Jesus the Son of God glorified the Father,
so the sons of God are to glorify Christ.
The Spirit cannot be
where Christ is denied as Redeemer, Life and Lord of all.
Christ is "the Truth," and the Spirit is "the Spirit of the
Truth;" all is personal, not ideal, for the sum and substance
of material wherewith the Spirit works is Christ The Spirit cannot be
teaching if Christ is not seen in "the law of Moses, and in the
prophets, and in the Psalms," as well as in the Gospels, or if
Christ is not acknowledged to have continued "to do and to
teach" in the Acts and in the Epistles what He began in the Gospels.
If Christ is indeed
the wisdom of God unto salvation, the Holy Spirit alone can
demonstrate it unto the minds and hearts of men; and He has no mission
in the world separable from Christ and His work of redemption. The
outer work of Christ and the inner work of the Spirit go together. The work
for us by Christ is through the blood, the work in us by the Spirit is through
the truth; the latter rests upon the former; and without the Spirit, substitutes
for the Spirit and His work will be accompanied by substitutes for
Christ and His work. The importance, therefore, of the presence and work
of the Holy Spirit should be estimated according to that far-reaching and
all-touching word of Christ, "He shall glorify Me" (John 16:13-15).
To glorify Christ is
to manifest Him as supremely excellent; to blind the eyes
of men to that glory is the purpose of the god of this world; therefore, which
spirit is at work in a man or in a church can easily be told.
7. In
conclusion, the sum of all His mission is to perfect in saints the good work
He began, and He molds it all according to this reality of a high and holy
sonship: He establishes the saints in and for Christ. (2 Corinthians 1:21).
According to this reality their life and walk partake of thoughts and desires,
hopes and objects, unworldly and heavenly. Born of God and from above,
knowing whence they came and whither they are going, they live and
move and have their being in a world not realized by flesh and blood.
Their life is hid with
Christ in God; their work of faith is wrought out in the unseen
abode of the Spirit; their labor of love is prompted by a loyal obedience
to their Lord, who is absent in "a far country" to which both He and
they belong; their sufferings are not their own but His, who, from out of
the Glory could ask, "Why persecutest thou Me?" Their worship is of the
Father "in spirit and in truth" before the mercy seat, "in the
light which no
man can approach unto;" their peace is "the peace of God," which
can never
be disturbed by any fear or trouble which eternal ages might disclose; their
joy is "joy in the Lord," its spring is in God and ever deepening in
its perpetual
flow; their hope is the coming of the Son of God from heaven and
the vision of the King in His beauty amidst the unspeakable splendors of
His Father’s house; and through
all the way, "thorn and flower," by which they are
journeying to the heavenly country; it is the good Spirit who
is leading them. (Isaiah 63:7-14).
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