Holy spirit alphabet vol. 4

HOLY SPIRIT ALPHABET VOL. 4
WRITTEN AND EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
CONTENTS
PARACLETE
PARTNER
PARTNER IN PRAYER
PERSONHOOD
PRAYER TO THE HOLY SPIRIT
PRESENCE
PRESERVING
PROVIDENCE
PURITY
QUICKENING
QUOTES
RECEPTION
RIVER
PARACLETE
PARAKLETOS
We have already considered this subject1 in sufficient detail to establish the fact that
all the functions of the Parakletos were entirely miraculous in character and that it
continued only as long as the Apostles lived. To do a detailed word study on the

cognate forms of the word is perhaps profitable but hardly necessary as it does not
alter the above facts. It is felt, however, that the following paragraphs2 may help to
round out the points already established.
Many theories which claim we have the Spirit lean heavily on the modern sense of
the English word "Comforter" and on the many cognate forms of the Greek
Parakletos that are often translated "comfort" by the AV. It is interesting to note,
however, that most of the modem translations, recognising that a process of
weakening of the meaning of the 17th century English "comfort" has taken place,
largely abandon the word as a translation of the verb parakaleo or the noun
paraklesis, and use instead phrases like "encourage" (Weymouth, NEB, and
MOFF), "stimulating courage" (Phillips) and "reassure" (Jerusalem Bible). In
many cases, even in the AV, the translators have recognised that these cognate Greek
forms have an even stronger and more specific meaning, and the words are rendered
"beseech" (2 Cor. 5:20 AV - in connection with Paul’s Spirit-guided ministry as an
"ambassador for Christ"), "intreaty" (2 Cor. 8:4 AV) or, significantly, "appeal"
(Rom. 12:1 MOFF) and "plead" (Matt. 8:5 Jerusalem Bible).
As for the word parakletos itself, though scholars are notoriously ‘brittle reeds’, and
often disagree with one another, yet one of them writes: ‘It must be remembered
without fail that the Hebrew word nicham (translated parakaleo in the LXX) does
not by any means signify "console"; it signifies "comfort out of sorrow", not
"comfort in sorrow". The essential meaning of the Hebrew word is "relief, change",
and the translation "comfort" is misleading. The true meaning of the word is seen in
John 16:7,8’. Confirmation of this categorical pronouncement, and justification of
the rendering "Advocate" in the NEB, comes in fuller detail from Harvey’s NEB
Companion to the New Testament, the following extracts from which are worth
quoting here concerning John 14:16: ‘To borrow a technical term from Jewish legal
procedure: they would find that they had a paraclete, an advocate (the original
word parakletos was Greek, but it had been taken over into Jesus’ own language,
Aramaic, in the form paraclete). In a Jewish court, a plaintiff or a defendant was
entitled to enlist the help, not only of witnesses to the facts, but of a person of high
standing who might give him personal support ... and… make the case appear in a
more favourable light… The paraclete influenced the judge’s decision ... by the
weight of his personal authority… When they found themselves on trial for their
faith, the Spirit would prompt them with the right words for their defence (Mark
13:11): in this sense, the Spirit was already their Advocate. Moreover, John is about
to make Jesus depict the present confrontation between Christianity and the world
as a trial, in the course of which the Spirit plays its part as the Christians’
Advocate".

“Great Paraclete! to Thee we cry:
O highest Gift of God most high!
O Fount of life! O Fire of love!
And sweet Anointing from above!
“Our senses touch with light and fire;
Our hearts with tender love inspire;
And with endurance from on high
The weakness of our flesh supply.
“Far back our enemy repel,
And let Thy peace within us dwell;
So may we, having Thee for Guide,
Turn from each hurtful thing aside.
“Oh, may Thy grace on us bestow
The Father and the Son to know,
And evermore to hold confessed
Thyself of Each the Spirit blest.”
“And His that gentle voice we hear,
Soft as the breath of even;
That checks each thought, that calms each fear,
And speaks of Heaven.”

“And every virtue we possess,
And every victory won,
And every thought of holiness,
Are His alone.”
PARTNER
I. J. ROSENBERGER
The Spirit Our Partner. — A Summary
“ Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and up-
hold me with thy free Spirit” — Psa. 5 /: 12 .
From the preceding chapters the reader will be
able to see that there are three dispensations re-
lating to the Spirit. 1. The dispensation of the
Father, in which gifts and powers of the Spirit were
given to persons to fit them for special missions to
which they were called. Special powers of the
Spirit were given as the needs of cases required.
2. The dispensation of the Son, in which the Spirit
was with the believer, as an Associate Factor in
His work ; to give them efficiency. 3. The dispens-
ation of the Spirit, in which the Spirit was with
and in the believer as a Guide and a Dominating
Factor. In this present dispensation the Spirit be-
comes the believer’s Partner. Some one has said,
“ The Spirit is the believer’s silent Partner.” This
phase of our subject ought to interest the reader
very much ; for our success in business depends so
much upon our associate or partner. I wonder if
Paul did not have this thought in mind when he
said, “ I can do all things through Christ that doth
strengthen me.” Paul seemed to rely much on his
partnership, his Associate, Christ Jesus.

The Need of the Spirit as Our Partner
Peter, addressing the Christian, calls him “ A
pilgrim and a stranger.” Paul says, “ We have no
continuing city, but we seek one to come.” Hence
the Christian is a sojourner, a traveler. Israel’s
march from the land of bondage to the land of their
Caanan home was a type of the Christian’s journey
from his land of sin to his land of heavenly free-
dom; of the route none could tell; none had ever
been over the road. The prophet says, “ O Lord,
I know that the way of man is not in himself ; it is
not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” Hence
the need of a partner, a guide to direct him on the
way, is very apparent. The Spirit, our Partner, is
said to teach, to lead, to guide, to comfort, to quick-
en, etc. Such helps will be most timely. Besides,
we must conclude that Jesus well knew man’s needs,
and to supply these He sent the Spirit; and it is
left to us to accept of the Spirit’s needful service.
It will be remembered that the first settlement of
the early territory of the United States was made
along the eastern shore, along the Atlantic coast.
After some years a colony landed and settled on the
Pacific coast. These colonies spread and grew
rapidly, which awakened a desire for an overland
route across the plains ; especially after the dis-
covery of gold in California. The road was long
and over rugged mountains, rapid rivers, and many
long miles of wasting sand ; inhabited by roving
tribes and wild animals. Different attempts were
made to open a route to the colony on the farther
shore; but they failed and resulted in many human
forms lying unburied, scattered on the plains; no
one knew the route, none knew the way. Colonel
Fremont was the first man who successfully led a
white party across the plains to the colony on the
western coast. There was then a traveling guide
issued, which became a standard guide to the travel-
er, across the plains ; giving the traveler all neces-
sary information.
In like manner there has been a well and long-
conceived idea within the breast of human kind,
that there is, somewhere and somehow, a better

country, a most desirable place on some farther
shore; and many have been the human efforts to
reach that desired haven; but they failed, signally
failed. As a sample of failure we point to the effort
in the land of Shinar, of those who sought to reach
heaven with human hands, by building a tower, the
tower of Babel. But, alas ! It all came to naught ;
for “ it is not in man to direct his steps.” Christ
alone has opened the way through this dangerous
world to the haven on the farther shore; and He
has issued a traveling guide, that " sure Word of
prophecy, whereunto we do well that we take heed,”
in which the pilgrim traveler is “ throughly fur-
nished.” We are quite certain that this Christ made
a successful round trip, for the Spirit says, “ He
came from God and went to God.” Jesus said of
himself as to His ascent, “ I go to my Father ” ; and
Luke says of Stephen, “ Being full of the Holy
Ghost, he looked up steadfastly into heaven, and
saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the
right hand of God.” Besides, God gave His ap-
proval of this Jesus in thundering tones from the
clouds; hence Jesus' credentials are not to be
questioned. This language sounds as if Christ's
way is an exclusive one. He says : “ I am the way
. . . No man cometh to the Father but by me.”
And He warned us of those who would come say-
ing : “ Lo, here is Christ ; or there ; believe them
not.” Hence the need of the Spirit as our Partner
is apparent ; and the Spirit is both willing and even
solicitous to be our Partner if we will but yield to
His guidance and teaching.
The Completeness and Efficiency of Our Spirit
Partner
Listen to what Jesus said this Spirit would do on
coming into the world : “ He shall teach you all
things, and bring all things to your remembrance
whatsoever I have taught you . . . He will guide you
into all truth . . . He will testify of me . . . And he
will abide with you forever.” Then Luke speaks
about the early Christians “ walking in the comfort
of the Holy Ghost.” The foregoing points out and
indicates the efficiency of the Spirit. The Spirit

likewise restrained the apostles at times as to what
they should not do. We find at one time Paul and
Silas, when on their missionary journey, were for-
bidden of the Holy Ghost to preach in Asia ; at an-
other time “ they assayed to go to Bythinia, but
the Spirit suffered them not.” Helps of such com-
pleteness, with such long range of vision, are of
most eminent value. John, in his apocalyptic vision,
in giving assurance of the happy future state of the
righteous, says, “ Blessed are the dead which die
in the Lord from henceforth.” The thought did not
seem to be complete in the mind of the Spirit ; hence
he takes up the thought and adds, “ Yea, saith the
Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and
their works do follow them/' The Spirit’s supple-
ment to John’s message is a most cheering thought
indeed. The Spirit was John’s Partner; and at this
juncture gave him most valued help. In course of
the happy experiences of the apostles, we read of
their “ joy and the Holy Ghost ” and “ their joy in
the Holy Ghost.” I think these happy experiences
were all occasioned by the completeness of the line
of their Spirit Partner’s effort.
And the efficiency of the work of the Spirit as the
Christian’s Partner, holds up a most gladsome pic-
ture in the early history of the apostolic church.
The chosen twelve were under the personal tutor-
ship of their Jesus for three long years, and before
leaving them “ He breathed on them and saith unto
them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” We would have
thought them fully efficient for their coming duties ;
but there were constant developments of their great
lack ; yes, their seeming utter want. But on that
wonderful event of their Holy Ghost baptism, when
the Spirit became their Partner in directing and em-
powering them in their work, what a change sud-
denly came and with what astonishing results ! Be-
fore, through their fear, they seemed as pigmies ;
but now they seemed to have attained, “ unto the
measure of the stature of their fulness of Christ.”
And what marvelous utterances and power the
Spirit did give those men, with corresponding re-
sults ! It looks to the casual reader as if that day's
results might have exceeded the three years' efforts
of Christ and His apostles, with the seventy in-

cluded. Their success, as recorded in the first few
chapters of Acts, would seem to indicate the pos-
sibility of that apostolic force converting the world
in a very short time. With this new equipment
their success was marvelous. The priests, in con-
sultation about what seemed to them to be alarm-
ing results, said, they “ doubted of them whereunto
this would grow.” The efficiency of the Spirit as
the Christian's Partner is seen in the healing of the
lame man at the temple gate and at Lystra,
as well as at the conversion of Paul, Cor-
nelius and the jailer; in short, with the Spirit
as their Partner they were “ throughly fur-
nished unto all good work.” The sympathy of the
Spirit as an Associate Partner is of interest. “ The
Spirit helpeth our infirmities.” Human infirmities
are so many, and now to be assured that our Partner,
an Associate of the Holy Trinity, helps us, is a mes-
sage of cheer. How readily will a kind mother lend
her aid in helping her loving child who is infirm in
sight, hearing, or in some member of its physical be-
ing! Just so the Good Spirit, our life's Partner, our
Intercessor, helps us in our defects and infirmities ; '
pleads for us; but we must be kind, sincere and
pure, for only, “ the pure in heart shall see God.”
Again, “ For we know not what we should pray for
as we ought ; but the Spirit maketh intercessions for
us with groanings which can not be uttered.” This
language not only expresses sympathy, but deep,
heartfelt concern for our erring race. How well
fitted is such a Character to intercede for us ! And
then this Spirit Partner has been an Associate Fac-
tor with God in all His efforts for past ages in seek-
ing the redemption of our poor race; these so well
fit him to be our sympathizing Intercessor.
Our Need of the Written Word
As we have seen, the Spirit strives, transforms
and sanctifies, which at times affords the Christian
seasons of joy. Now there are those who have had
such joyful experiences along these lines that they
have raised the question, “ What further need have
I of the written Word? The Spirit's gifts and
graces are entirely sufficient.” They even profess
to have received messages through the Spirit apart

from the Word. I remind such that John gives us
a most timely warning : thus, “ Beloved, believe not
every spirit, but try the spirits whether they be of
God ; because many false prophets have gone out in-
to the world.” Jeremiah says, “ Let not your proph-
ets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you,
deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which
ye cause to be dreamed. For they prophesy falsely
unto you in my name ; I have not sent them, saith
the Lord.” We have need of the unerring Word to
try these spirits, whether they be of God. We need
this “ sure Word of prophecy,” by which to take
our reckonings and adjust our bearings on our life's
voyage on the sea of time. The Word is our rule,
the Spirit is the Power. The Spirit our Partner, is
our Intercessor, but he intercedes through and by
the Word along the way which Christ Himself has
gone.
The Evidences of the Spirit Being Our Partner
Paul met those in his time of whom he inquired,
“ Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye be-
lieved ?" There are times when that question is a
proper one. I raise that question with the reader:
“ Have you received the Holy Ghost since you be-
lieved ?" True, the fruits of the Spirit Paul lists
thus: “ Love, joy, peace, longsufifering, goodness,
faith," etc. And Christ does say : “ A tree is known
by its fruit." This would imply that these fruits
become evidence of the presence of this Spirit
Partner. But let me inquire, Is it not possible for
us to have a semblance of these fruits that will
satisfy, and yet be deceived and disappointed? Did
not the foolish virgins have a semblance of these
fruits? Did not Cornelius enjoy a semblance of
these fruits, previous to his conversion by Peter,
that seemed to have been satisfying? Those
distinguished clergy, to whom Christ refers as
coming to him in the last day, certainly had
a semblance of these fruits that satisfied them
in time; but were sadly disappointed in eternity;
hence we need look further as to the reality of our
Spirit Partner. Paul speaks of this Spirit leading
us, and Jesus says, “ He will guide you into all

truth.” Hence the man that is led or guided in all
truth; his obedience being in faith; the fruits of
the Spirit, love, joy, peace, etc., will all be manifest
in his life; they will be a natural sequence. Being
led in all truth, and having the presence of the fruits
of the Spirit are conclusive evidences that the Spirit
Partner is his. These are the two needful witnesses.
Be it remembered that the Spirit revealed the mes-
sage of the Word to holy men a long time ago, and
He would not bring a contrary message to you and
me now . The Spirit and the Word are cooperative,
mutual. Christ is our Mediator in Heaven and the
Spirit is our Intercessor on earth ; between the two
there is an eternal wireless; they are in constant
communication; their work is mutual. Hence the
efforts of our Spirit Partner will be on lines mutual
with the Word. The two will be cooperative. The
church at Laodicea had a splendid equipment in
numbers, of men, money and machinery, but John
told them they were dead. They lacked the Spirit
as their Partner, which gives life; and hence, not-
withstanding their fine equipment, they were worth-
less. Among the aids that this Spirit Partner gives
is “ utterance It was said on Pentecost, “ They
spake as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Paul
prayed “ That utterance might be given me.” I
think this prayer was fully answered when he ad-
dressed that dignified assembly: Agrippa, the chief
captains, and principal men of the city with Festus.
There was given Paul such power of utterance
that King Agrippa cried out, “ Almost thou per-
suadest me to be a Christian.”
The Spirit directs in prayer and song. Paul says,
“ I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with
the understanding also ; I will sing with the spirit,
and I will sing with the understanding also.” Paul
assures us that “ the Spirit maketh intercessions
for us.” What a penetrating, convicting power
there is in a prayer fully dominated by the Spirit !
It will not seem strange that the Spirit should direct
us in song, when we remember that we offer well-
worded prayers in song. I once noticed a sister
suddenly closing her book in the midst of song. I
inquired of her why she did so. She replied, “ It

was not my sentiment ; it was not my prayer.” That
sister answered well.
Let us notice how plenary is the purpose of song.
1. What sing? “ Spiritual songs, psalms and
hymns.” 2. How sing? “ Sing with the spirit and
with the understanding.” 3. What are the objects
of song? “ Teaching and admonishing one another
in spiritual songs, psalms and hymns.” 4. What
are the fruits of song? “ Making melody in your
hearts to the Lord.” Surely a service that embraces
so much and promises so much needs to be under
the X-ray vision of the Spirit.
There are those who supplement their songs in
worship with a musical instrument. This to me is
not the wise thing to do. Paul bids us to employ
two agencies in our song worship : the Spirit and
the understanding. To supplement our worship
with a musical instrument is not the safe thing to
do. Even Solomon left the caution : “ Add thou
not unto his words lest he reprove thee/’ If we
sing aright we make melody in our hearts to the
Lord. The service reaches heaven ; and may I say
that angels reverberate the happy anthem? A mu-
sical instrument is a machine and can take no part
in such services. A musical instrument is as help-
less in the object and purpose of song as was poor
Dagon, sitting beside the ark in the house of Ashdod.
Let it be noted with care that God communicated
His displeasure in the use of instruments of music
in worship through the Spirit to the prophet Amos
in these words : “ Woe to them that are at ease in
Zion, and trust in the mountains of Samaria . . .
that lie upon beds of ivory . . . that chant to the
sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instru-
ments of music like David did.” And again God
said, “ I will not hear their viols.” If God would
not hear their viols then will He hear them now ?
We have seen that the Spirit is to aid in song.
Would it be safe to conclude that the Spirit will
aid in song, associated with musical instruments,
which were so offensive to God in the prophet’s
day, and which stand unauthorized under the
Gospel ? These questions deserve serious con-

sideration. We take pleasure in reminding the
reader that congregational singing stands well rec-
ommended. A number of religious societies em-
ploy vocal music alone in their worship. Charles
Haddon Spurgeon, of world-wide fame, used vocal
music only in his London congregation of five
thousand. Dr. Burdette, of fame in the lecture field.
allowed our people, the Church of the Brethren, the
use of his Auditorium in Los Angeles, Cal., in
which to hold our Conference in 1907. The doctor
delivered a most enthusiastic speech of welcome.
Among the things he said was : “ I was surprised
that you did not use our thirty-five thousand dollar
organ ; but I am not surprised now, since I see you
have thirty-five million dollar voices with which
you produce your most excellent music/' The doc-
tor's language showed his high appreciation of vocal
music. In 1914 our Conference was held in Seattle,
Wash. The city was unaccustomed to our plain
manner of worship. The daily papers were in con-
stant praise of our fine music in the absence of any
musical instrument. I ask the kind reader to in-
dulge me in giving Dr. Clarke's comment on the
text quoted from the prophet Amos :
“ I believe that David was not authorized by
God to introduce that multitude of musical instru-
ments into divine worship. And I am satisfied that
his conduct in this respect is most solemnly repre-
hended by this prophet. And I further believe that
the use of such instruments of music in the Chris-
tian Church is without the sanction and against the
will of God, and that they are sinful. If there was
a woe to those who invented instruments of music,
as did David under the law, is there no woe, no
curse to them who invent them and introduce them
into the worship of God under the Gospel ? I am an
old man, and an old minister, and I here declare I
never knew them to be productive of any good in
the worship of God, but have reason to believe that
they are productive of much evil. Music as a
science, I esteem and admire, but instruments in
the house of God I abominate and abhor. This is
the abuse of music, and I here register my protest
against all such corruptions in the worship of the
Author of Christianity . . . Those who know the

church of God best, and what constitutes its genuine
spiritual state , know that these things have been in-
troduced as a substitute for the life and power of
religion; and that where they prevail most, there
is least of the power of Christianity.” — Dr. Clarke's
Com., Vol. i, p. 954.
Dr. Clarke’s profound scholarship with his broad
research ought to give his words great weight.
This unseen Partner is provided with different
names, owing to the kind of service He renders.
He is called the Spirit of truth, the Spirit of wis-
dom, the Spirit of prophecy, the Spirit of promise,
the Spirit of glory, etc. These terms are most ex-
quisitely fitted to our needs ; they are not of the
earth, earthy ; but are of the heavenly; they are
divine. With such an equipment how well we are
fitted for every good word and work. Let the read-
er mark the different powers or degrees of this
Spirit. To Christ was given the Spirit without
measure; His life was perfect; a Vessel without a
flaw; hence He always retained that first fulness.
But man, humanlike, is of the leaky, losing kind,
needs refilling. When Peter came to deal with the
lame man at the temple gate, and Paul with Elymas,
they each had need of a refilling; hence were again
“ filled with the Holy Ghost.” Let us therefore
with care retain our partnership of the Spirit and
if needs be, get a refilling, or a rebaptism of the
Holy Ghost.
The value of such partnership is seen by Solomon
when he says, “ When thou goest, it shall lead thee ;
when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when
thou awakest, it shall talk with thee” (Prov. 6: 22).
The apostles tarried as bidden till He came; the
converts received Him with joy in conversion; and
with us He is a necessity in time, and in eternity
we will want His quickening power in resurrecting
our poor wasted forms, these being reclothed like
unto Christ’s body, to fit us and equip us for the
joyful and glorious abode of the saints, whose
dwelling will be in that city whose walls are jasper,
whose gates are pearl and whose streets are gold.

As Abraham sent Eleazer, of Damascus, to Padan
Aram to fetch Rebecca from her home to be the
wife of Isaac; in like manner the Holy Spirit has
been sent to bring the church home to Christ, His
long-looked-for bride. What a mutual joy there
was in that old oriental home as Rebecca was wel-
comed, on that festal occasion ! This all is but a
feeble type of the joy in that coming day, when the
Spirit will bring the church, Christ’s bride, home
to Him; which will culminate in that festal mar-
riage supper of the Lamb.
Dear reader, shall we not share in the joy of that
future home-coming, in that eternal day, to dwell
in that eternal city, with God's eternal family? Let
it be noted that at that juncture all will be eternal,
eternal. Can we not join with David in saying,
“ Bless the Lord, O my soul ! and all that is within
me bless His Holy name ” ? Shall we not say,
“ Ebenezer, Hitherto the Lord has helped us”?
PARTNER IN PRAYER
from Dr. JACK Hyle's excellent book, Meet The Holy Spirit)
Romans 8:26-28, "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know
not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit Itself maketh
intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And He that
searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He
maketh intercession for the saints according the will of God. And we know that
all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
called according to His purpose."
Two of the most important things that the young Christian has to learn are (1)
how to get things from God, and (2) how to share with others and give to
others what God gives.
It should be remembered that in the Bible, prayer is asking. Prayer is not
praise; it is asking. Prayer is not thanksgiving; it is asking. Prayer is not
adoration; it is asking. This discussion will deal with the Holy Spirit, our prayer
partner, Who joins with us in our prayer life.
1. The Holy Spirit intercedes with us. Romans 8:26, "Likewise the Spirit also

helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought:
but the Spirit Itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be
uttered." The word "intercession" in verse 26 is not the same word that is
translated "intercession" in verse 27. In verse 26 the word means that the Holy
Spirit goes WITH us to the Father to help us plead for our needs and, yes, for
our wants. There are several aspects: (1) I don't know what I need. (2) The Holy
Spirit DOES know what I need. (3) I go to Him, that is, the Holy Spirit, to find
my needs. (4) He tells me what my needs are. (5) I make a list of the things He
reminds me. (6) I then go to the Father. (7) He goes with me.
After I have been to the Holy Spirit with pen and paper in hand to inquire of
Him what my needs are, and after I have made a list of them, I then go to the
Father with the needs that the Holy Spirit has given me. Then, praise, God, the
Holy Spirit goes with me to the Father. He knows the Father better than I, and
He knows me perhaps better than the Father, so what a better Person could I
have to go with me to the Father when I present my petitions than the Holy
Spirit Who led me in making my petitions.
Now for an illustration. Before I go to the Father, I ask the Holy Spirit what I
need. Let's suppose, for example, I go to the Holy Spirit and say, "Holy Spirit, I
would like to have a cashmere coat with a mink collar. What do You think?" The
Holy Spirit says, "Now I do think you need a new coat, but you could sure get
along without a cashmere coat and you certainly don't need a mink collar." So
the Holy Spirit leads me to ask for a coat. I then ask the Holy Spirit, "I would
like a mink hat." The Holy Spirit reminds me that I perhaps could use a hat, but
mink would be too extravagant. I then suggest to the Holy Spirit that He and I
go to the Father and ask for a new $500 suit of clothes. The Holy Spirit reminds
me that I do need a new suit, but not a $500 suit.
So I make my list: a new coat, a new hat and a new suit. The Holy Spirit has led
me. After He has led me and after I have written down what I believe the Holy
Spirit wants me to ask the Father, I ask the Holy Spirit to go to the Father. This
He does as my petitions are presented to the Heavenly Father, as I pray in and
with the Holy Spirit.
Note Ephesians 2:18, "For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto
the Father." Note the word "both." We find then that we pray TO the Father
THROUGH the Son WITH the Spirit. Our access to the Father is through the Son.
Our prayer partner when we go to the Father is the Holy Spirit.
Now notice Matthew 18:19, "Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree
on earth as touching anything on earth, it shall be done for them. The word
"agree" is the word from which we get our word "symphony" or "harmony." When
we are in tune with the Holy Spirit or when we harmonize with the Holy Spirit,
we can present our petition to the Father. Not only can we present them to the
Father, but the Holy Spirit will accompany us as we appear at the throne of
grace.
Now notice Acts 15:28, "For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay
upon you no greater burden than these necessary things." Ah, these are

beautiful words: "It seemed good to the Holy Ghost, AND TO US." Notice the
agreement there. There was a fellowship between the Holy Spirit and the
apostles. They had communed with the Holy Spirit and there was a harmony
between them.
There is another way that the Holy Spirit helps us when we pray. Just as He
talks to the sinner as I talk to the sinner, He also talks to the Father as I talk to
the Father. He has helped me make up my prayer list. I have taken the prayer
list that He has led me to make and brought it before the Father. The Holy
Spirit went with me as I went to the Father and now, praise the Lord, He talks
to the Father as I talk to the Father. I say, "Father, give me a new coat." The
Holy Spirit says, "Yes, Father, he does need a new coat. He and I have talked
about it." I say, "Father, give me a new hat." The Holy Spirit says, Father, I
believe he needs a new hat. We have talked about this too." I ask, "Father, give
me a new suit." The Holy Spirit says, "Father, I do believe he needs a new suit.
He and I have talked about this before coming to You."
In summary and in practicality, let's review. It is time for me to pray; that is, to
ask God for some things. I bow to my knee and talk to the Holy Spirit. I tell Him
what I think I need. He impresses me concerning my needs. He leads me to
make a prayer list of things for which I am to ask the Father. Then I go to the
Father in prayer. The dear Holy Spirit accompanies me. He leads me as I talk to
the Father and then He talks to the Father with me, reminding the Father that
we have talked together before coming to present the petitions.
Then I can claim Psalm 37:4, "Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give
thee the desires of thine heart." Then I can claim John 15:7, "If ye abide in Me,
and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto
you." There is a way that the Christian can walk in the Spirit in such a way that
the Lord will almost give him power of attorney. He will almost give the
Christian a blank check because as we walk in the Sprit, with the Spirit and
through the Spirit, our wants become much like the wants of God, our delights
become His delights, our desires become His desires.
2. The Holy Spirit intercedes for us concerning things for which we do not
ask. See Romans 8:27. The word "intercession" here does not imply the Holy
Spirit meeting with us to plead. This is the Holy Spirit coming before God for us
on our behalf. Here He tells God about the needs for which we forgot to ask.
He tells the Father our needs even when we forget them. Suppose, for
example, that I prayed to the Father for the aforementioned "coat and suit,"
but I forgot the hat. I say, "Father, please give me a new coat and please give
me a new suit." The Holy Spirit says, "Father, he needs a new hat too." You see,
he is interceding FOR me just as He previously interceded WITH me.
There are some things that I need that I do not know that I need. There are
some things I forget when I come to the Father. The Holy Spirit knows my
needs. Some of these may not be things that I myself would choose, but He
knows what they are, and so He intercedes before the Father to give me the
things that I need. I may want all sunshiny days, but He may know I need a

cloudy day. I may want all victories, but He may know that I need a defeat. I
may want all smiles, but He may know that I need some tears. This is where
Romans 8:28 comes in. "And we know that all things work together for good to
them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose."
Years ago I was preaching in a big tent in Jacksonville, Florida. After the crowd
had dispersed one night, I was kneeling at the altar praying. I thought I was
alone. An old preacher walked up beside me and asked if he could pray with
me. Of course, I was delighted to have him join me in prayer. He prayed aloud:
"Dear Lord, I hate baking powder." I could not believe what I heard. Then he
prayed, "Dear Lord, I hate flour." I could not believe what I was hearing.
Through tears he said, "Dear Lord, I hate baking soda." Then he prayed, "Dear
Lord, I hate salt." He continued to list several things that he hated, and the
more he prayed the louder he got. Then a smile came across his face as his
voice continued heavenward. "But, dear Lord, " he said, "put together all those
things I hate, stir them up, put them in the oven and cook them, and I sure do
love hot biscuits!"
That is the best explanation of Romans 8:28 that I have ever heard. Thank God
that the Holy Spirit knows what I need and makes intercession for me.
Now in review, dear Christian, the next time you come to God in prayer
concerning your needs, first talk to the Holy Spirit. Speak something like this,
"Dear Holy Spirit, I have a pen and paper in hand, and I'm on my way to the
Father to present my needs. Would You help me make out my prayer list?" Tell
Him what you want to ask from the Father. Ask Him what He thinks about it.
Then ask Him to impress you about other things for which you should ask. Once
you have completed your prayer list, as led by the Holy Spirit, then come the
Heavenly Father, asking the Holy Spirit to appear with you before the throne of
grace. Then pray in the Spirit to the Father, trusting the Holy Spirit to help you
convince the Father of what you and He have decided to request. Be grateful
that the Holy Spirit will work on your behalf. Realize that those things for
which you forget to ask, He will not forget to mention to the Father. For those
things that you do not even know you need, ask the Holy Spirit to petition the
Father if He thinks best.
Spirit Divine, attend our prayers,
And make this house thy home;
Descend with all thy gracious powers,
O come, Great Spirit, come.

Come as the light; to us reveal
Our emptiness and woe:
And lead us in those paths of life,
Where all the righteous go.
Come as the fire, and purge our hearts
Like sacrificial flame;
Let our whole soul an offering be
To our Redeemer's name.
Come as the dew, and sweetly bless
This consecrated hour;
May barrenness rejoice to own
Thy fertilizing power.
Come as the dove, and spread thy wings,
The wings of peaceful love;
And let thy church on earth become
Bless'd as the church above.
Spirit Divine, attend our prayers;
Make a lost world thy home;
Descend with all thy gracious powers,
O come Great Spirit, come.

PERSONHOOD
CHRIS POBLETE
All the distinctive characteristics of personality are
ascribed to the Holy Spirit in the Bible.
What are the distinctive characteristics or marks of personality? Knowledge, feeling and
will. Any being who knows and feels and wills is a person. When you say that the Holy
Spirit is a person, some understand you to mean that the Holy Spirit has hands and feet
and eyes and nose, and so on, but these are the marks, not of personality, but of
corporeity.
When we say that the Holy Spirit is a person, we mean that He is not a mere influence or
power that God sends into our lives but that He is a Being who knows and feels and wills.
These three characteristics of personality, knowledge, feeling and will, are ascribed to the
Holy Spirit over and over again in the Scriptures.
Knowledge
In 1 Corinthians 2:10,11 we read, “But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for
the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the
things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God
knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.” Here “knowledge” is ascribed to the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is not merely an illumination that comes into our minds, but He is a
Being who Himself knows the deep things of God and who teaches us what He Himself
knows.
Will
We read again in 1 Corinthians 12:11, R.V., “But all these worketh the one and the same
Spirit, dividing to each one severally as He will.” Here “will” is ascribed to the Holy
Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not a mere influence or power which we are to use according to
our wills, but a Divine Person who uses us according to His will. This is a thought of
fundamental importance in getting into right relations with the Holy Spirit. Many a
Christian misses entirely the fullness of blessing that there is for him because he is trying
to get the Holy Spirit to use Him according to his own foolish will, instead of
surrendering himself to the Holy Spirit to be used according to His infinitely wise will. I
rejoice that there is no divine power that can get hold of and use according to my ignorant
will. But how greatly do I rejoice that there is a Being of infinite wisdom who is willing
to come into my heart and take possession of my life and use me according to His
infinitely wise will.
Mind
We read in Romans 8:27, “And He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of

the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”
Here “mind” is ascribed to the Holy Spirit. The word here translated “mind” is a
comprehensive word, including the ideas of thought, feeling and purpose. It is the same
word used in Romans 8:7, where we read, “The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it
is not subject to the law of God. neither indeed can be.” So then, in the passage quoted
we have personality in the fullest sense ascribed to the Holy Spirit.
Love
We read still further in Romans 15:30, “Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus
Christ’s sake and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers
to God for me.” Here “love” is ascribed to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not a mere
blind, unfeeling influence or power that comes into our lives. The Holy Spirit is a person
who loves as tenderly as God, the Father, or Jesus Christ, the Son. Very few of us
meditate as we ought upon the love of the Spirit. Every day of our lives we think of the
love of God, the Father, and the love of Christ, the Son, but weeks and months go by,
with some of us, without our thinking of the love of the Holy Spirit. Every day of our
lives we kneel down and look up into the face of God, the Father and say, “I thank Thee,
Father, for Thy great love that led Thee to send Thy only begotten Son down into this
world to die an atoning sacrifice upon the cross of Calvary for me.” Every day of our
lives we kneel down and look up into the face of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and
say, “I thank Thee, Thou blessed Son of God, for that great love of Thine that led Thee to
turn Thy back upon all the glory of heaven and to come down to all the shame and
suffering of earth to bear my sins in Thine own body upon the cross.” But how often do
we kneel down and say to the Spirit, “I thank Thee, Thou infinite and eternal Spirit of
God for Thy great love that led Thee in obedience to the Father and the Son to come into
this world and seek me out in my lost estate, and to follow me day after day and week
after week and year after year until Thou hadst brought me to see my need of a Saviour,
and hadst revealed to me Jesus Christ as just the Saviour I needed, and hadst brought me
to a saving knowledge of Him.” Yet we owe our salvation just as truly to the love of the
Spirit as we do to the love of the Father and the love of the Son.
If it had not been for the love of God, the Father, looking down upon me in my lost
condition, yes, anticipating my fall and ruin, and sending His only begotten Son to make
full atonement for my sin, I should have been a lost man today. If it had not been for the
love of the eternal Word of God, coming down into this world in obedience to the
Father’s commandment and laying down His life as an atoning sacrifice for my sin on the
cross of Calvary, I should have been a lost man today. But just as truly, if it had not been
for the love of the Holy Spirit, coming into this world in obedience to the Father and the
Son and seeking me out in all my ruin and following me with never-wearying patience
and love day after day and week after week and month after month and year after year,
following me into places that it must have been agony for Him to go, wooing me though I
resisted Him and insulted Him and persistently turned my back upon Him, following me
and never giving me up until at last He had opened my eyes to see that I was utterly lost
and then revealed Jesus Christ to me as an all-sufficient Saviour, and then imparted to me
power to make this Saviour mine; if it had not been for this long-suffering, patient, never-
wearying, yearning and unspeakably tender love of the Spirit to me, I should have been a
lost man today.

Intelligence and Goodness
Again we read in Nehemiah 9:20, R. V., “Thou gavest also Thy good Spirit to instruct
them, and withheldest not Thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their
thirst.” Here “intelligence” and “goodness” are ascribed to the Holy Spirit. This does not
add any new thought to the passages already considered, but we bring it in here because it
is from the Old Testament. There are those who tell us that the personality of the Holy
Spirit is not found in the Old Testament. This passage of itself, to say nothing of others,
shows us that this is a mistake. While the truth of the personality of the Holy Spirit
naturally is not as fully developed in the Old Testament as in the New, none the less the
thought is there and distinctly there.
Grief
We read again in Ephesians 4:30, “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are
sealed unto the day of redemption.” In this passage “grief” is ascribed to the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is not a mere impersonal influence or power that God sends into our
lives. He is a person who comes to dwell in our hearts, observing all that we do and say
and think. And if there is anything in act or word or thought, or fleeting imagination that
is impure, unkind, selfish, or evil in any way, He is deeply grieved by it.
This thought once fully comprehended becomes one of the mightiest motives to a holy
life and a careful walk. How many a young man, who has gone from a holy, Christian
home to the great city with its many temptations, has been kept back from doing things
that he would otherwise do by the thought that if he did them his mother might hear of it
and that it would grieve her beyond description. But there is One who dwells in our
hearts, if we are believers in Christ, who goes with us wherever we go, sees everything
that we do, hears everything that we say, observes every thought, even the most fleeting
fancy, and this One is purer than the holiest mother that ever lived, more sensitive against
sin, One who recoils from the slightest sin as the purest woman who ever lived upon this
earth never recoiled from sin in its most hideous forms; and, if there is anything in act, or
word, or thought, that has the slightest taint of evil in it, He is grieved beyond description
How often some evil thought is suggested to us and we are about to give entertainment to
it and then the thought, “The Holy Spirit sees that and is deeply grieved by it,” leads us to
banish it forever from our mind.
JOHN MACARTHUR
He has personality. Sometimes people refer to “it,” the Holy Spirit. That is inaccurate. He
possesses intellect, emotion, and will. And evidences of that in the Scriptures are ample
everywhere in Scripture. For instance, He knows the deep things of God, 1 Corinthians 2.
In other words, He’s plumbed the full depth of divine knowledge. He has knowledge
equal to that of the Father, equal to that of the Son. That’s 1 Corinthians 2. He loves the
saints, and His love is equal to that love which is characteristic of Christ and God,
Romans 5:5. He makes choices, divine choices, sovereign choices. First Corinthians
12:11, He decides what He will give to what believer with regard to spiritual capacities

and spiritual gifts. He speaks – He speaks. He speaks the truth always. He prays for us –
Romans 8 – as we’ll find out in verse 26. He teaches us all things. He is the anointing that
comes from God – John 14, 1 John 2 – so that we don’t need a human teacher because He
teaches us everything. John 16:13 says He guides us. Here in Romans 8, it says He leads
us, as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they’re the sons of God.
He commands. His commands are given, for example, in Acts 16:6-7. He fellowships
with us. Second Corinthians chapter 13 verse 14 talks about the fellowship of the Spirit.
Ephesians 4:30 says He can be grieved. All these indicate He’s a person. He can be
grieved. Acts 5:3, He can be lied to, as Ananias and Sapphira did, “Why have you lied to
the Holy Spirit?” He can be tested. That’s the same passage. “Why are you testing the
Holy Spirit?” He can be vexed, angered, you might say, according to Isaiah 63:10. He can
be resisted. Acts 7:51, “Why do you resist the Holy Spirit?” And in Mark 3 as in Matthew
12, He can be blasphemed. First Thessalonians 5:19, He can be quenched; that is, His
efforts thwarted, hindered. All of these are evidences that this is a person, one who thinks
and feels and acts and makes decisions in every capacity, as a person does.
PRAYER TO THE HOLY SPIRIT
JOHN MACARTHUR
Thank You, O Holy Spirit, for just this incomprehensible work that You’ve done, not just
in creation but in regeneration. You gave us life. You gave us salvation, forgiveness, and
You empowered us, now You sanctify us and You’ll bring us to glory. We’ll be glorified
by Your power. We’ll be changed by Your power. We’ll be fit for heaven by Your power.
In the meantime, You’re there producing fruit and energizing our gifts and empowering
our witness and fighting against our flesh and praying for us and making everything work
together for good, securing us and sealing us to the day of redemption.
We love You, we honor You, we worship You, we exalt You. And we are deeply grieved,
as You must be, at the way You are misrepresented. Help us, Lord, to be all that we
should be as we worship You, our Trinitarian God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. May we
worship You in truth as You truly are and with all our might, both in praise itself and in
obedience. What can we say, O Holy Spirit, for all that You’ve done for us and You are
doing even as we speak and will do until we see Jesus face-to-face and by Your power are
made perfect into His image?
We give You our worship today and we ask that You would be honored, not only in our
lives and in our midst but in Your church, the church which You regenerated, to which
You have given life, the church through which You work, the church in which You can do
exceeding, abundantly above all we ask or think according to the power that works in us,
even that power that raised Jesus from the dead, even the power of You, O blessed Holy
Spirit. Show Your power in Your church and be honored and glorified, we pray. Amen.

PRESENCE
BY CHARLES R. ERDMAN
ABIDING PRESENCE
If the Spirit already is present, why pray for his coming? The explanation is not difficult.
In these prayers and hymns we are using proper and Scriptural figures of speech by
which we express our desire, not that an absent One may approach us, but that a present
One may help us ; we do not ask the Holy Spirit to change his location in space, but to
grant a new manifestation in time. He is present and even helping us as we pray or sing.
The beautiful hymn by Croly begins : "Spirit of God, descend upon my heart;" But the
fourth stanza reads : "Teach me to feel that Thou art always nigh" There is no
contradiction here. The desire is that the Spirit who is ever present may grant us anew his
gracious influence to make us patient and holy and loving, and to take away "the
dimness of our souls." The spiritual presence of Christ is not the peculiar privilege of
some favored circle; it is not the prerogative of saints and of apostles and of prophets, nor
is it assured only to minis- ters of religion and to public servants of the church. Our
sphere in life may be obscure, our tal- ents few, our burdens crushing, our disappoint-
ments bitter, our struggles severe, but we are not standing alone. We are inspired and
cheered by the belief that the Comforter has l8 The Spirit of Christ come to abide with us
forever, through all the days however bright or dreary. All this is easily said, for it is a
common- place of Christian truth. By many it is readily believed, for they were taught it
in youth and have experienced it in daily life ; but for some of us the mysteries involved
becloud our weak faith, and the vision grows dim ; the divine Presence seems to have
been withdrawn* In the light of certain modern teachings we look at the outer world and
see a vast soulless machine ; we look within, and thought and feeling and determination
are resolved into chemi- cal or mechanical reactions; and we find ourselves in a lonely
universe to which we cry de- spairingly, "Where is thy God?" Then we remember that a
machine must have a Maker; and force and matter must have a First Cause ; and
conscience must have a Source of authority for its imperative demands. We review again
the pages of revelation ; we gaze in reverence upon the glory of the divine Man ; we
feebly pray and feel there must be some response; we trust and find new strength; the
mists drift away; we see the Invisible and cry The Abiding Presence 19 repentantly,
trustfully, "My Lord, and my God." The consciousness of a divine Presence may be
elementary; but it is the ground and the sub- stance of all religious experience. "I will fear
no evil; For Thou art with me." Need our confidence be more rich and full than this? In
some measure this consciousness is common to men of all faiths; yet in its truest es-
sence the experience of a Christian is unique. For us the Presence is one with that of our
living Lord; it is the Spirit of the Son of God. Through all the mists of doubt, in spite of
mysteries which baffle, we "See the Christ stand." As the glad Christmas-tide returns, this
truth is impressed upon us anew ; for we realize how, in Christ, God has drawn near to
man and still draws near. He who was "conceived by the Holy Ghost," and "born of the
Virgin Mary," is rightly called "Immanuel," God with us; for even now when God is with
us, then 20 The Spirit of Christ Christ is with us, even our divine Saviour, in whose

unseen Presence we rejoice. Or, as we follow the footsteps of the Master into the opening
year and out through the thronged highways of life, touching with sympathy and help
the struggling, the suffering, the sin-stricken, the distressed, as we lean on him for
strength and venture much upon his grace, his Presence becomes so real that we can sing
with the Huguenot poet : "I have a Friend so precious, So very dear to me, He loves me
with such tender love, He loves so faithfully. I could not live apart from Him, I love to
feel Him nigh, And so we dwell together, My Lord and I." We, however, need to form no
mental image of this unseen Friend ; we must not torment our minds too far by vain
questions as to the mys- terious relation of the divine "Persons" in the "Trinity" ; but we
must believe as did Tenny- son, when he declared that Father, Son and Holy Spirit were
as really present with him when he crossed the moor, as was the friend with whom he
was walking, and as truly as The Abiding Presence 21 Christ was with his disciples on
the hills of Galilee. This consciousness of the divine Presence can be cultivated. We must
not be discouraged if our spiritual sight is dim, but we must form the habit of
remembering the promise, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Bishop Jeremy
Taylor urged believers to "practice the presence of God" by prayer and meditation and
Christian fellowship and by dwelling upon His word. His contemporary was Brother
Lawrence, a French foot soldier, who after his conversion served in a humble capacity in
a monastery. He testified of so constantly thinking of his Lord that he realized his
presence as truly when busied with the tasks of the kitchen as when kneeling to partake of
the holy sacrament. Let us too practice the divine Presence ; and, by the power of his
Spirit, our Master will give us ever clearer visions of his glory as we walk through this
world of semblances and shadows ; and at last our joy will be full when we see him face
to face. 22 The Spirit of Christ "Still, still with Thee, when purple morning breaketh,
When the bird waketh, and the shadows fiee; Fairer than morning, lovelier than the
daylight, Dawns the sweet consciousness, I am with Thee. "So shall it t be at last, in that
bright morning When the soul waketh, and life's shadows -flee; ! in that hour, more fair
than daylight dawning, Shall rise the glorious thought, I am with Thee."
F B MEYER, "In the Secret of His Presence
IN ONE SENSE God is always near us. He is not an Absentee, needing to be brought
down from the heavens or up from the deep. He is nigh at hand. His Being pervades
all being. Every world, that floats like an islet in the ocean of space, is filled with
signs of His presence, just as the home of your friend is littered with the many
evidences of his residence, by which you know that he lives there, though you have
not seen his face. Every crocus pushing through the dark mold; every firefly in the
forest; every bird that springs up from its nest before your feet; everything that is-
all are as full of God's presence as the bush which burned with His fire, before
which Moses bared his feet in acknowledgment that God was there.
But we do not always realize it. We often pass hours, and days, and weeks. We
sometimes engage in seasons of prayer, we go to and fro from His house, where the
ladder of communication rests; and still He is a shadow, a name, a tradition, a
dream of days gone by.
"Oh! that I knew where I might find Him! that I might come even to His seat! . . .

Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:
on the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on
the right hand, that I cannot see him" (Job 23:3,8,9).
How different is this failure to realize the presence of God to the blessed experience
of His nearness realized by some.
Brother Lawrence, the simple-minded cook, for more than sixty years never lost the
sense of the presence of God, but was as conscious of it while performing the duties
of his humble office, as when partaking of the Holy Supper.
John Howe, on the blank page of his Bible, made this record in Latin: "This very
morning I awoke out of a most ravishing and delightful dream, when a wonderful
and copious stream of celestial rays, from the lofty throne of the Divine Majesty,
seemed to dart into my open and expanded breast. I have often since reflected on
that very signal pledge of special Divine favor, and have with repeated fresh
pleasure tasted the delights thereof."
Are not these experiences, so blessed and inspiring, similar to that of the author of
the longest, and in some respects, the sublimest Psalm in the Psalter? He had been
beating out the golden ore of thought through the successive paragraphs of
marvelous power and beauty, when suddenly he seems to have become conscious
that He, of whom he had been speaking, had drawn near, and was bending over him.
The sense of the presence of God was borne in upon his inner consciousness. And,
lifting up a face on which reverence and ecstasy met and mingled, he cried, "Thou
art near, O Lord!" (Psalm 119:151).
If only such an experience of the nearness of God were always ours, infolding us as
air or light; if only we could feel, as the great Apostle put it on Mars' Hill, that God
is not far away, but the element in which we have our being, as sea-flowers in deep,
still lagoons:-then we should understand what David meant when he spoke about
dwelling in the house of the Lord all the days of his life, beholding His beauty,
inquiring in His temple, and hidden in the secret of His pavilion (Ps. 27). Then, too,
we should acquire the blessed secret of peace, purity and power.
In the Secret of His Presence there is Peace. "In the world ye shall have tribulation,"
our Master said, "but in Me ye shall have peace." It is said that a certain insect has
the power of surrounding itself with a film of air, encompassed in which it drops into
the midst of muddy, stagnant pools, and remains unhurt. And the believer is also
conscious that he is enclosed in the invisible film of the Divine Presence, as a far-
traveled letter in the envelope which protects it from hurt and soil.
"They draw near me that follow after mischief," but Thou art nearer than the
nearest, and I dwell in the inner ring of Thy presence. The mountains round about
me are filled with the horses and chariots of Thy protection. No weapon that is
formed against me can prosper, for it can only reach me through Thee, and,
touching Thee, will glance harmlessly aside. To be in God is to be in a well-fitted
house when the storm has slipped from its leash; or in a sanctuary, the doors of
which shut out the pursuer.
In the Secret of His Presence there is Purity. The mere vision of snow-capped Alps,
seen from afar across Lake Geneva so elevates and transfigures the rapt and wistful

soul as to destroy all evil things which would thrust themselves upon the inner life.
The presence of a little child, with its guileless purity, has been known to disarm
passion, as a beam of light, falling in a reptile-haunted cave, scatters the slimy
snakes. But what shall not Thy presence do for me, if I acquire a perpetual sense of
it, and live in its secret place? Surely, in the heart of that fire, black cinder though I
be, I shall be kept pure, and glowing, and intense!
In the Secret of His Presence there is Power. My cry, day and night, is for power-
spiritual power. Not the power of intellect, oratory, or human might. These cannot
avail to vanquish the serried ranks of evil. Thou sayest truly that it is not by might
nor power. Yet human souls which touch Thee become magnetized, charged with a
spiritual force which the world can neither gainsay nor resist.
Oh! let me touch Thee! Let me dwell in unbroken contact with Thee, that out of
Thee successive tides of Divine energy may pass into and through my emptied and
eager spirit, flowing, but never ebbing, and lifting me into a life of blessed ministry,
which shall make deserts below like the garden of the Lord.
But how shall we get and keep this sense of God's nearness?
Must we go back to Bethel, with its pillar of stone, where even Jacob said, "Surely
God is in this place"? Ah, we might have stood beside him, with unanointed eye, and
seen no ladder, heard no voice; while the patriarch would discover God in the bare
moorlands of our lives, trodden by us without reverence or joy.
Must we travel to the mouth of the cave in whose shadow Elijah stood, thrilled by
the music of the still small voice, sweeter by contrast with the thunder and the
storm? Alas! we might have stood beside him unconscious of that glorious Presence;
while Elijah, if living now, would discern it in the whisper of the wind, the babbling
of babes, the rhythm of heart throbs.
If we had stationed ourselves in our present state beside the Apostle Paul when he
was caught into the third Heaven, we should probably have seen nothing but a tent-
maker's shop, or a dingy room in a hired lodging-we in the dark, while he was in
transports; while he would discern, were he to live again, angels on our steamships,
visions in our temples, doors opening into Heaven amid the tempered glories of our
more somber skies.
In point of fact, we carry everywhere our circumference of light or dark. God is as
much in the world as He was when Enoch walked with Him, and Moses communed
with Him face to face. He is as willing to be a living, bright, glorious Reality to us as
to them. But the fault is with us. Our eyes are unanointed because our hearts are not
right. The pure in heart still see God, and to those who love Him, and do His
commandments, He still manifests Himself as He does not to the world. Let us cease
to blame our times; let us blame ourselves. We are degenerate, not they.
What, then, is that temper of .soul which moss readily perceives the presence and
nearness of God: Let us endeavor to learn the blessed secret of abiding ever in the
secret of His Presence and of being hid den in His pavilion (Ps. 31:20).
Remember, then, at the outset, that neither you nor any of our race, can have that
glad consciousness of the Presence of God except through Jesus. None knoweth the

Father but the Son and those to whom the Son reveals Him; and none cometh to the
Father but by Him. Apart from Jesus the Presence of God is an object of terror,
from which devils wish to hid themselves, and sinners weave aprons, or hide among
the trees. But in Him all barriers are broken down all veils rent, all clouds dispersed,
and the weaker believer may live, where Moses sojourned, in the midst of the fire,
before whose consuming flames no impurity can stand.
"What part of the Lord's work is most closely connected with this blessed sense of
the Presence of God?"
It is through the blood of His cross that sinners are made nigh. In His death He not
only revealed the tender love of God, but put away our sins, and wove for us those
garments of stainless beauty, in which we are gladly welcomed into the inner
presence-chamber of the King. Remember it is said, "I will commune with thee from
off the mercy-seat." That golden slab on which Aaron sprinkled blood whenever he
entered the most Holy Place was a type of Jesus. He is the true mercy-seat. And it is
when you enter into deepest fellowship with Him in His death, and live most
constantly in the spirit of His memorial supper, that you shall realize most deeply
His nearness. Now, as at Emmaus, He loves to make Himself known in the breaking
of bread.
"And is this all? for I have heard this many times, and still fail to live in the secret
place as I would."
Exactly so; and therefore, to do for us what no effort of ours could do, our Lord has
received of His Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, that He should bring into our
hearts the very Presence of God. Understand that since you are Christ's, the blessed
Comforter is yours. He is within you as He was within your Lord, and in proportion
as you live in the Spirit. and walk in the Spirit, and open your entire nature to Him,
you will find yourself becoming His Presence-chamber, irradiated with the light of
His glory. And as you realize that He is in you, you will realizethat you are ever in
Him. Thus the beloved Apostle wrote, "Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and
He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit" (1 John 4:13).
"All this I know, and yet I fail to realize this marvelous fact of the indwelling of the
Spirit in me; how then can I ever realize my indwelling in Him?"
It is because your life is so hurried. You do not take time enough for meditation and
prayer. The Spirit of God within you and the Presence of God without you cannot be
discerned while the senses are occupied with pleasure, or the pulse beats quickly, or
the brain is filled with the tread of many hurrying thoughts. It is when water stands
that it becomes pellucid, and reveals the pebbly beach below. Be still, and know that
God is within thee and around! In the hush of the soul the unseen becomes visible,
and the eternal real. The eye dazzled by the sun cannot detect the beauties of its
pavilion till it has had time to rid itself of the glare. Let no day pass without its
season of silent waiting before God.
"Are there any other conditions which I should fulfill, so that I may abide in the
secret of His Presence?"
Be pure in heart. Every permitted sin encrusts the windows of the soul with thicker
layers of grime, obscuring the vision of God. But every victory over impurity and

selfishness clears the spiritual vision, and there fall from the eyes, as it had been,
scales. In the power of the Holy Ghost deny self, give no quarter to sin, resist the
devil, and thou shalt se God.
The unholy soul could not see God even though it were set down in the midst of
Heaven. But holy souls see God amid the ordinary commonplaces of earth, and find
everywhere an open vision. Such could not be nearer God though they stood by the
sea of glass. Their only advantage there would b that the veil of their mortal and
sinful natures having been rent, the vision would be more direct and perfect.
Keep His commandments. Let there be not one jot or tittle unrecognized and
unkept. He that hath My commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me,
and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My father, and I will love him, and will
manifest My self to him. Moses the faithful servant was also the seer, and spake with
God face to face as a man speaketh with his friend.
Continue in the spirit of prayer. Sometimes the vision will tarry to test the
earnestness and steadfastness of thy desire. At other times it will come as the dawn
steals over the sky, and, or ever you are awareyou will find yourself conscious that
He is near. He was even accustomed to glide, unheralded, into the midst of His
disciples through unopened doors. "Thy footsteps are not known" (Ps. 77:19).
At such times we may truly say with St. Bernard "He entered not by the eyes, for
His presence was not marked by color; nor by the ears, for there was no sound; nor
by the breath, for He mingled not with the air; nor by the touch, for He was
impalpable. You ask, then, how I knew that He was present. Because He was a
quickening power. As soon as He entered, He awoke my slumbering soul. He moved
and pierced my heart, which before was strange, stony, hard and sick, so that my
soul could bless the Lord, and all that is within me praised His Holy Name."
Cultivate the habit of speaking aloud to God. Not perhaps always, because our
desires are often too sacred or deep to be put into words. But it is well to acquire the
habit of speaking to God as to a present friend while sitting in the house or walking
by the way. Seek the habit of talking things over with God-thy letters, thy plans, thy
hopes, thy mistakes, thy sorrows and sins. Things look very differently when
brought into the calm light of His presence. One cannot talk long with God aloud
without feeling that He is near.
Meditate much upon the Word. This is the garden where the Lord God walks, the
temple where He dwells, the presence-chamber where He holds court, and is found
by those who seek Him. It is through the word that we feed upon the Word. And He
said, "He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me and I in him"
(John 6:56).
Be diligent in Christian work. The place of prayer is indeed the place of His
manifested presence, but that presence would fade from it were we to linger there
after the bell of duty had rung for us below. We shall ever meet it as we go about our
necessary work: "Thou meetest him that worketh righteousness." As we go forth to
our daily tasks the angel of His presence comes to greet us, and turns to go at our
side. "Go ye," said the Master; "Lo, I am with you all the days." Not only in temple
courts, or in sequestered glens, or in sick rooms, but in the round of daily duty, in

the common-places of life, on the dead levels of existence, we may be ever in the
secret of His presence, and shall be able to say with Elijah before Ahab, and Gabriel
to Zacharias, "I stand in the presence of God" (1 Kings 17:1; Luke 1:19).
Cultivate the habit of recognizing the Presence ofGod. "Blessed is the man whom
Thou choosest, and causest to approach unto Thee, that he may dwell in Thy
courts." There is no life like this. To feel that God is with us; that He never leads us
through a place too narrow for Him to pass as well; that we can never be lonely
again, never for a single moment; that we are beset by Him behind and before, and
covered by His hand; that He could not be nearer to us, even if we were in Heaven
itself. To have Him as Friend, and Referee, and Counselor, and Guide. To realize
that there is never to be a Jericho in our lives without the presence of the Captain of
the Lord's host, with those invisible but mighty legions, before whose charge all
walls must fall down. What wonder that the saints of old waxed valiant in fight as
they heard Him say, "I will be with thee; I will not fail thee nor forsake thee" (Josh.
1:5).
Begone fear and sorrow and dread of the dark valley! "Thou shalt hide [me] in the
secret of Thy presence from the pride of man; Thou shalt keep [me] secretly in a
pavilion from the strife of tongues" (Ps. 31:20).
BY W. H. GRIFFITH THOMAS, D.D.
THE HOLY SPIRIT AND DIVINE IMMANENCE.
Every age has its characteristic tendencies and needs, and
on this account Christianity has to be adapted constantly
and perpetually to human life. The secret of this feature
of constant variety and complete adaptation is found in
the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. It is impossible in one
volume to consider modern life in all its fulness and com-
plexity, but some special applications seem to call for
attention, not only because of their own importance, but
also as illustrations of the way in which the Holy Spirit's

presence in the Christian religion enables the Church to
face all the problems of humanity.
Among modern problems connected with this subject,
one of the most prominent is that known as Divine Im-
manence. On every hand we hear to-day of the Immanence
of God, and it is at once interesting and curious to observe
how ready Christian thought has been to accept it. What
does it mean ? It is said to be the necessary complement
of the doctrine of Divine Transcendence, and that together
they form the true idea of God.^
Let us endeavour to obtain from a competent authority
the true meaning of Immanence.
' We mean that God is the omnipresent ground of all finite exist-
ence and activity. The world alike of things and spirits is nothing
existing and acting on its own account while God is away in some
extra-sidereal, but it continually depends upon, and is ever upheld
by the ever-living, ever-present, ever- working God.' -
To put the matter in a simpler form, Immanence is
intended to teach that God is everywhere present and
active in nature, ceaselessly at work in history, and spiritu-
ally present with and in man.

Now, although differences are made between God's
Immanence in nature and in man, it is still a question
whether the general idea of Immanence is really clear.
Science to-day is teaching an Immanence in the process of
nature, a Divine Thought and Purpose immanent in every-
thing. But what about man ? Is God immanent in him ?
St. Paul's words are sometimes quoted as bearing on
this point, ' In Him we live, and move, and have our
being ' (Acts xvii. 28). Yet, apart from the fact that this
refers to man's immanence in God, not God's Immanence
in man, it surely must be interpreted by the previous
words, ' He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things '
(ver. 25). But setting this aside, there still remains the
question of sin. Is God in that also ? As Mackintosh
well says :
' No one can be so keenly aware of the limits of the Divine Imma-
nence as the sinner, to whom repentance has brought home the
divergence of self and God with a vivid realisation which is sharpened
and registered by the sense of guilt.' ^
There is, it is true, a school of Christian philosophy which
endeavours to support a doctrine of Divine Immanence, but
it may be questioned whether it affords a clear view of it.

The way in which Immanence has overthrown an incorrect
idea of dualism in nature has been very welcome, and we
* W. N. Clarke, Outline of Christian Theology, p. 132.
- Bowne, The Immanence of God.
^ Mackintosh, The Person of Jesus Christ, p. 432.
AND DIVINE IMMANENCE 195
can no longer think of the universe as consisting of two
separate and opposed spheres, the natural and the super-
natural. The natural is a method by which the super-
natural expresses itself. The supernatural works in the
realms of history and personal experience, and nature in
many respects is the manifestation of divinity. But
still the question persists as to where we should stop.
Are the souls of men part of this Divine activity ? We
must preserve moral realities. Immanence must be con-
sistent with Theism, or else it will not be moral. The
distinction between the Divine and the human is real.
We distinguish ourselves as personal individuals, endowed

by God with wills of our own, even though we recognise
that we have the basis of our existence in Him, and that
by Him all our faculties are bestowed and sustained. Any
view that ignores, still more that sets aside this position
tends to destroy moral reality, and it is therefore impossible
to accept any view of Immanence that does not recognise
ethical distinctions.^
There are also those who say that God was immanent in
the Incarnation, but this does not appear to be an adequate
interpretation of the Incarnation in the light of several
passages of the New Testament (John i. 14 ; Rom. viii. 3 ;
I Tim. iii. 16). What we can say is, not that God was
immanent in Christ, but that Christ is God, that His Per-
son was representative of God, that He was God manifest
in the flesh.^
It is evidently not intended that we should regard the
Divine Immanence as merely a substitute for the old idea
of Omnipresence. Immanence means something more,
and it is this ' something ' that has to be clearly stated
and proved. According to one writer, the doctrine of
Immanence adds to the doctrine of Omnipresence
' the endeavour to expound the relation between the omni-

present God and the universe with which He is present. It not only
affirms that God is present, but attempts to suggest something as
to what He effects by virtue of His presence, and how the universe
is affected by it. The doctrine of immanence is nothing more than
^ Mackintosh, op. cit. p. 432.
* Mackintosh, op. cit. pp. 433, 434.
196 THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD
an endeavour to interpret the fact of God's universal presence, and
tell what that presence signifies, or accomplishes.' ^
But it may be questioned whether the new idea adds
anything material to the old. In the same way, it has
been recently said that the Jews taught this doctrine, and
that the modern view of Immanence, meaning something
more than Omnipresence and suggesting a closer com-
munion between the Creator and His works, was taught
centuries ago by the Jewish Rabbis.^ It is certainly
interesting to follow the teaching of the Rabbis on the
subject of the Divine Shekinah, or God's presence with

His people ; of the Ruach, or Holy Spirit ; of the Memra,
or word of the Targums. But while all this clearly proves,
what no one ever denied, that the doctrine of the Divine
Omnipresence was held by the Jews notwithstanding the
fact that the supreme thought of the Old Testament is
the Divine Transcendence, yet it may be seriously ques-
tioned whether the writer has succeeded in showing that
the Jewish Rabbinical doctrine is one of Immanence in
the modern sense.
It is hardly too much to say that there is a good deal
of loose thinking on the subject of Immanence, especially
when men allow themselves to speak of God's ' incarnation
in the race,' which is not only untrue to fact, but also robs
the Divine revelation of all thought of redemption from
sin, and takes away from Christ His uniqueness as the
Incarnate Son of God. Neither in the past nor in the
present can we speak of God's incarnation in this way.
On the contrary,
' the loose and confused notion of " incarnation in the race,"
which has been offered as a profounder substitute for the Christian
view, is out of harmony with concrete fact. Any attractiveness it
may seem to possess is in reality owing to a crude obliteration of
moral distinctions, resting on the mistaken assumption that the

relations of God and man are completely interpretable in physical
and logical categories.' '
It is clear, therefore, that while Immanence is a useful
term, it may be ' the parent of a nest of fallacies.' The
^ W. N. Clarke, The Christian Doctrine of God, pp. 329, 330.
^ Abelson, The Immanence of God in Rabbinical Literature.
3 Mackintosh, op. cit. p. 436.
only true Immanence of God is the presence of Christ by
the Holy Spirit in the heart and life of the believer (John
xiv. 17, 21 ; I Cor. iii. 17 ; vi. 19). Converted lives have
been well said to be the best proof and the truest safeguard
of Divine Immanence, since they involve the entrance of
a new Divine power into life. An able writer in vindica-
tion of Modernism has expressed surprise that the Church
should think it necessary to combat the view of Divine
Immanence held by the Modernists, which he says is as
old as religion itself and is wholly in keeping with the
doctrine of the outpouring of the Spirit. But this is just

where the doctrine of Divine Immanence robs Christianity
of its distinctiveness by a quasi-pantheistic conception of
God's presence in the world. The New Testament, as we
observed, never associates the Holy Spirit with God's
action in nature, but only with the redemptive work of
Christ for and in man. The sphere of the Spirit is definitely
spiritual, and His activities are spiritual also. There may
be analogy, but there is certainly no identity between the
presence of God in nature and the Holy Spirit of God in
the believer. This is all we can say, but it does not carry
us where the Modernists would have us go. Indeed,
Modernism in this respect is the very antithesis of the
Christian position. It robs Christianity of everything
characteristic of redemption ; it endangers man by em-
phasising his spiritual possibilities without reminding him
of his sinfulness ; above all, it makes Christ a Teacher
rather than a Redeemer, and sums up man's greatest need
as revelation rather than redemption ; knowledge rather
than salvation. But this, whatever else it is, is not New
Testament Christianity. The Incarnation of Christ and
the gift of the Spirit were unique, both in their manifesta-
tion and destination, and the only Immanence of which
we can speak with truth and safety is the presence of God
in Christ by the Spirit in the hearts and lives of the people
of God. Ethical indwelling is one thing, natural causality

is quite another.^
It is in relation to the Holy Spirit that the Christian
doctrine of God meets the deepest human need. Man's
^ Mackintosh, op. cit. p. 439.
igS THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD
prevailing desire has always been for the presence of God.
This is the essential truth underlying pantheism.
' The doctrine of the Holy Spirit represents the truth of panthe-
ism. The infinite Power that is everywhere present, the reahty of
which the energy and hfe of nature are the manifestation, is the
Spirit of God. He is the substratum of the human spirit, the
Hght of our intellectual seeing, the source of all that is pure and
holy in us. Moreover, by the Incarnation God has become immanent
in the world in a peculiar and wondrous way for our redemption.
The Word has become flesh, the Father has come to us through the
Son." 1
But an impersonal doctrine of Immanence is utterly
insufficient to satisfy this need. A mere ' stream of ten-

dency ' is impossible. The logical outcome of a belief in
Divine Immanence in the modern sense is seen in a recent
article entitled ' The Little Rag of Faith that is Left.' ^
It is said that the orthodox conceptions of Christian wor-
ship have disappeared, that the religion of nature is taking
their place, and that even the conception of God as the
Heavenly Father introduced by Jesus Christ is only a
metaphor expressive of kinship with the Eternal. The
article goes on to call attention to ' the remarkable extent
to which within the last generation especially, the concep-
tion of Divine Immanence has found favour both in and
beyond the Church.' This conception is declared to be
' a prominent form of, and a great stepping-stone towards
the Impersonality of the Divine Nature.' This apparently
is what is meant by the title, ' The Little Rag of Faith that
is Left,' and it is said to constitute the problem of Christian
philosophy to-day. But the view stands condemned by
the writer's own admission that Divine Impersonality
' can never be a really popular thought for the bulk of
the religious world,' even though it is said to be constantly
becoming more certain, and ' for the higher and more
trained minds the natural and final resting place.' A
religion which can never be popular and is only occupied
with a metaphor will never meet the deepest needs of
mankind. Personality in God is essential if human per-

sonalities are to be satisfied, and it is here that Christianity
1 Stearns, Present Day Theology, p. 206.
2 Westminster Review, January, 191 3.
steps in with its distinctive message. It is easy to say
that the principle of Immanence has for ever destroyed
the deistic conception of God, but it is sometimes forgotten
that for all practical purposes the two ideas come to the
same thing. If God is apart from the world, or is identified
with the world, it is obvious that He cannot come into
essential relationships with the human beings who crave
for fellowship with the Divine. ' A uniform world with
God locked in is exactly equivalent to a uniform world
with God locked out.' ^ It is only in the Holy Spirit that
man finds the truth suggested by pantheism, that of a definite
offer, guarantee, and realisation of the presence of God.
' All the longing of pious mysticism, and the affinity for panthe-
istic union with the Eternal Existence which have shown themselves

in milhons of the religious peoples of the earth may find deepest
satisfaction in this doctrine of the Spirit. The human soul cries
out for a God that is personally present, and not afar off ; an abiding
Comforter, whom the world cannot receive nor cast out. The
Spirit of truth reveals Himself with all this blessed assurance to
them that worship in spirit and in truth. Herein we recognise the
blessed reahty which was from the beginning but has been sadly
overlooked at times — the reality of the vital, everlasting Immanence
of God.' 2
But the distinctness between the Divine Spirit and the
human is always maintained. Sanday and Headlam point
out that
' the very ease with which St. Paul changes and inverts his
metaphors shows that the Divine immanence with him nowhere
means Buddhistic or Pantheistic absorption.' ^
It is easy for Christians to sing :
' Till in the ocean of Thy love
We lose ourselves in heaven above.'
But we do well to remind ourselves that this is not
strictly correct, that it is only a poetic expression of an

anticipated satisfaction, and that it would be infinitely
truer (in the double sense) to say :
' Till in the ocean of Thy love
^e find ourselves in heaven above.'
1 MulUns, Freedom and Authority in Religion, p. 243. See also
pp. 241-244.
2 Terry, Biblical Dogmatics, p. 508.
3 Inter. Crit. Com. on Romans viii. 9.
Even in the future there will be no absorption, though
withal the most complete satisfaction. It is in this way
that we are safeguarded against a false Mysticism due to
an equally false Monism, which ignores the fact of moral
evil, and therefore sets aside the redemptive element in
Christianity. No doubt the problem is one of great
difficulty. It has always been one of the profoundest
questions, how we can conceive of an all-embracing Mind,

and yet find room for free independent beings of limited
knowledge. If in order to avoid Deism we endeavour to
prevent the infinite and the finite from remaining in
isolation, we are in danger of Pantheism, and on this theory
Personality inevitably disappears and with it all dis-
tinctiveness of human nature. But every philosophical
attempt to reconcile the two great realities — the Divine
Immanence and the Divine Transcendence, has utterly
failed, and invariably led to forms of Monism which have
not only obliterated human personalities, but have under-
estimated and even ignored the universal consciousness of
moral evil. Say what we will, human life is not normal,
and the abnormality is due to what the Bible calls sin.
' The recognition of something divine in man and the recognition
of something inconsistent with and contrary to that divine element
in man always start up side by side. . . . Recognition of that
which is of God in man, and recognition of something in man that
is not of God, are always in the New Testament, the two close-
lying planks in the platform of thought. ... It is an impaired
Immanence, therefore, with which the New Testament has to
deal. . . . An impaired Immanence can be repaired only by and
out of Transcendence.' ^
Any view which ignores or denies this is false from the

outset to the most patent and potent realities of life. And
it is just here that the Christian doctrine of the Godhead
enters with vital, uplifting, transforming, and satisfying
power. Its attitude to sin is four-fold : it reveals, rebukes,
redeems, and restores. When this is seen, we understand
the statement that Immanence in the New Testament is the
goal to which all else in Christianity leads up, and that
the New Testament is eminently concerned with the means
1 H. W. Clark, ' ReUgious History and the Idea of " Immanence," '
Review and Expositor, pp. 7, 8 (January, 1913).
and method of reaching that goal.^ And so the problem
of the New Testament is the entrance of God into man's
life for the purpose of removing that which is wrong and
bestowing that which is right. Immanence, or, rather,
Fellowship, is the end, and Redemption is the means.^
' God was in Christ, reconcihng the world to Himself,' and
this reconciliation is applied to the soul by the Holy Spirit.
Everything in belief and practice, in doctrine and duty,
is intended to lead up to and bring about the indwelling of

God in the believer. ' Christ in you the hope of glory '
is the centre of Christianity. His earthly Life, His atoning
Death, His Resurrection, His Ascension, His gift of the
Spirit — are all for the purpose of accomplishing this, and
the great New Testament words, like Faith and Justification,
which express man's attitude to God, are all so many ways
of indicating our appropriation of this indwelling Christ
in order to bring God into our life. Christ for us, our
Atoning Sacrifice, is intended to lead up to Christ in us as
our living power.^
And so while from one point of view we agree with
Phillips Brooks that the doctrine of the Holy Spirit is a
continual protest against every constantly recurring ten-
dency to separate God from the current world, it is equally
true that the doctrine of the Holy Spirit is a continual
protest against every constantly recurring tendency to
identify God with the world. Dr. Forsyth lately had an
article on Schlatter, in which he says of that great
theologian :
' He distrusts the mysticism of a natural and rationalist spiritu-
ality, of mere warm intimacy apart from a positive and creative
content in the final act of God in Christ. He is, of course, a Christian
mystic, as everyone must be whose citizenship is in heaven, and

whose life is hid with Christ in God.' *
And he quotes Schlatter, who speaks of
' the central, given point of history ; to what Christ's disciples
said at first ; to the fact that He is Lord. The whole theme and
^ H. W. Clark, ut supra, p. 5. ^ H. W. Clark, ut supra, p. 9.
^ H. W. Clark, ut supra, pp. 27, 28.
* Forsyth, ' The Rehgious Strength of Theological Reserve,'
British Weekly, Feb. 13, 191 3.
motive of my Christology is that here a human life issued from
God, hved in His service, and was hallowed to be the instrument
whereby God's grace reached us unmaimed and complete.' ^
In the Holy Spirit as the Appher of Divine Redemption
which emanated from the Father, and was wrought out by
the Son, we have the only and adequate safeguard against

all extremes of theistic speculation, and the only and
adequate guarantee of a theistic doctrine which is vital
to the life of mankind.
ROBERT NEWTON McKAIG, D.
ADVANTAGES OF THE SPIRITS PRESENCE. Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is
ex- pedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto
you, but if I depart I will send him unto you. St. John 16, 7-8. This promise, that it would
be better for the disciples for Jesus to go away, was given by Jesus himself to his
disciples and by them to all the believers for all time. This text was spoken to men and
women who were Christians. They were already regenerated. Their names were written
in Heaven. Jesus himself had chosen them and commissioned them to go and bing forth
fruit, and now, when he was about to leave them, He said it would be better for them, for
Him to go away. They would secure ad- var tages by the indwelling of the Spirit that
could not be secured by the visible presence of Jesus Himself. 99 100 LIFE AND TIMES
OF HOLY SPIRIT Let us study to-day some of the advantages that the disciples had by
Jesus going away from them, and if they received benefits by his absence, we may also
be profited, and will appreciate the Spirit's presence and work as I fear many of us are not
appreciating now. We must predicate these benefits on the character of Jesus Himself, and
not on our feelings or desires, for we know very well that Jesus would not do anything
and would not go anywhere that would not be best for the world that he had come to
save, and especially for those who had received him as their Lord and Master. i. The
disciples understood more perfectly what the Kingdom of God was, after Jesus went
away and the Spirit came to them. Before he left them they had vague and limited notions
about the kingdom. They were not willing for Jesus to suffer. They wanted temporal
honor, and even the day he left them they asked Him if He would “at this time restore the
Kingdom of Israel." The office of the Spirit is to take the things of Jesus and show them
to the disciples, and to glorify Jesus. When the surgeon removes the film from the eye, he
does not add a new function to the eye, but simply clarifies the vision. So the Spirit
removes the film or the vail from the soul that a clear view of the Kingdom of Heaven
may be obtained. ADVANTAGES OF THE SPIRIT’S PRESENCE 101 When the
telescope shows you many new worlds it does not make a single new star, but simply
brings out the hidden ones that you may enjoy their beauty and glory. There is a native
darkness in the soul that no amount of learning can dispel, and though we should talk
with Jesus in the flesh it would not be dispelled. When the Spirit came to Peter then all
his uncertainty about the Kingdom of God was gone, and he taught the old Testament
truth in such a clearness that all the people were pricked in their hearts and said, “What
must we do to be saved ?” Then the whole church became missionaries. We are pressing
the thought that information about the heathen will send missionaries to the foreign
fields, but it is the Holy Spirit who makes missionaries. The early church were all
missionaries, when they were scattered abroad, they went everywhere preaching the
Word. The Moravian church has more missionaries in the foreign fields than preachers in
the home church, and more members in the foreign field than in the home fields. It is not

knowledge, that makes missionaries, it is the Spirit. 2. The disciples had more assurance
of Spiritual life by the Spirit's indwelling than by the personal, visible presence of Jesus.
The Bible wants us to know, not merely to think we are Christians. It is not the purpose of
the Book that we should rest 109 LIFE AND TIMES OF HOLY SPIRIT with a perhaps or
a guess in religious matters. Jesus says, “My sheep know my voice/’ ‘‘In that day ye shall
know that I am in the Father and ye in Me and I in you.” We know whom we have
believed, we know we have passed from death unto life. Before Pentecost the Disciples
were uncertain about their relation to Jesus, but afterwards they were fully assured of His
Deity and of their being the sons and daughters of God. They knew Jesus was Lord just
as well as if they had lived with Him ten thousand years. They were surer that the blood
of Jesus Christ cleansed them from all sin than they were that two and two made four.
James and Jude, brothers of Jesus, did not believe in Him before the crucifixion, but after
Pentecost they knew Him as Lord so well that the brotherhood sank into insignificance,
and they sub- scribed themselves as servants of the Lord . James was a brother of Jesus
but he begins his Epistle saying, “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,”
and Jude begins his letter with, “Jude, a brother of James, and the servant of the Lord
Jesus Christ.” 3. They had absolute certainty in God's daily providences . While Jesus
was with them they were not certain about an overruling providence. They thought many
times “that all these things were against them,” while God was working out his
ADVANTAGES OF THE SPIRIT’S PRESENCE 103 great plan of Redemption through
them. Before Pentecost they were afraid of storms and winds and wars and Pharisees and
enemies, but afterwards they “took joyfully the spoiling of their goods/’ They counted
all things but loss for the ex- cellency of the knowledge of Christ. They went away from
the whipping post leaping and shouting that they were worthy to suffer shame. In lonely
prisons they spent their time in prayer and praising God. Every Christian believes in
special providences, but he sees them for other people, or for himself after they are all
over. But the Holy Spirit takes the present providences and illuminates them so that we
know at the time that all things are working together for good. We know that not a spar-
row falls to the ground without our Father and that all the hairs of our heads are
numbered. So many people walk in uncertainties, in quag- mires and bogs, but when the
Holy Spirit comes to them the uncertainties of a lifetime are all gone, and under their feet
is the solid pavement of ada- mant. They know whom they have believed and are
persuaded that he is able to keep that which they have committed unto him against that
day. A man here with the Holy Spirit abiding within him is safer than Adam was when he
came toddling fresh from the hand of God in the Garden of Eden. Safer here with the
Third 104 LIFE AND TIMES OF HOLY SPIRIT Person of the Trinity abiding in his soul,
than to stand with Moses with uncovered feet at the Burning Bush or to have the pillar of
cloud by day and of fire by night to give him safety. It is safer and more glorious now to
live with the Holy Spirit’s indwelling, than to live on the shores of Gallilee with Jesus of
Nazareth in the flesh. 4. They had perpetual soul health by the Spirit's indwelling which
they did not have with Jesus present in the flesh. God wants his children to have a healthy
spirit as well as a healthy body. We want a healthy body that we may have a matured and
well rounded life. God has planned for us to have a healthy spirit that we may have a well
rounded life of eternal power and glory. Before Pentecost the disciples were not free from
many forms of depravity, or soul sickness that are common among the followers of Christ
to-day. There is no doubt but they were Christians and chosen servants of God, but 1.

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