¥ A arnet ce Hostorsonnsocoeshrerremnarernanannson agente sa erent naan earn nnn +f sreerveraneaahe _—mrecnnevetoroecsangragrerenirey stevteansnsoperrevaiytretyeyndvirvanctpernaressrorer77eetaet) ervictey Ceveyrngeescaoanvegvstve-n-ccasena Case thenpaes ste yapeaneemererte nett e { , teres pants Lucan nen gem eeenceen fe remeeanece pee femme J. 20S. Hrom the Library of Professor Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield Begueathed by him to the Library of Princeton Chenlogical Seminary BT 121 .P36 1894 | Pitzer A. Wi. T834e1977" The manifold ministry of the Holy Spirit = 4 ie iI —— * ts 5 a - ‘ : A, et) i, a0 . = wT ar oe : on: + Ve, oy ’ r , : x oS : rae 2 7 . 2 _ oy - * r J “ F , a 5 . # ‘ r °¥ rs -- Z i=" 7 a ee a ' a" ay mt ; oe ee ae aa%-5 ee . a 1” ; ‘ + ah sow LS A : SAP jad ~ J = ae Ae oy gle oe E: j ee, eee it ih en ng Rr Fonts : saieget eT. : he Dee 7 ™ Pang a vee 3 rts tye eres Lf THE MANIFOLD MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT BY > VY THE REV. A. W. PITZER, D.D. AUTHOR OF “CCE DEUS HOMO,” “CHRIST THE TEACHER,” “THE NEW LIFE, NUT THE HIGHER LIFE.” PHILADELPHIA PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION AND SABBATH-SCHOOL WORK No. 1834 CHESTNUT STREET COPYRIGHT, 1894, By THE TRUSTEES OF THE PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION AND SABBATH-SCHOOL WORK. DEDICATION. THIS treatise on the Person and Work of the Blessed Comforter is dedicated, with warm affection, to the CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, whose pastor [ have been for six and twenty years, and from whose members I have received unfailing confi- dence, kindness, and love. May the Spirit Himself abide with the Church and -go with the booklet. é A. W. PITzer. WASHINGTON, D. C., September 14, 1894, THE MANIFOLD MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. BELIEFS concerning God determine the religions of men. If they do not believe that there is any God, then they are atheists, and have no religion—unless they worship themselves as the highest object in the uni- verse; if they believe in many gods, and attribute divine qualities to a variety of objects, then their religion is polytheism, and the worshipers are polytheists ; if they believe that Mary is the sinless mother of God and has irresistible influence with her Son, Jesus of Nazareth, then the religion of the people is Mariolatry, or the worship of the Virgin; if they believe that the universe is governed by foul and malignant spirits in the unseen realm, then. the ancient demonology or modern spiritualism is the religion of the people; if they believe that Jesus Christ is 5 6 THE MANIFOLD MINISTRY God, of the same substance and equal in power and glory with the Father, then they have Christianity, the religion of the New Testament. It is a truism of theology that the concep- tion of the moral character of the deity who is adored shapes the moral character of the worshipers, for the worshiper will strive to become like his conception of the god he serves. The worshipers of Moloch could not be other than cruel and bloodthirsty, nor could the worshipers of Bacchus be other than drunkards, nor the worshipers of Venus other than licentious, nor can the true wor- shipers of Jehovah be other than strivers after holiness.) When Moses came down from the mount after forty days’ communi- cation with Jehovah, his face shone with the glory of God. The true conception of the mode of divine existence is, therefore, of necessity fundamental in the Christian re- ligion, and determines and controls the nature of the worship. OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. i There is a God, and one God only—the true and living God, who reveals himself to us as Father, Son, and Spirit. The Father is God, the Son is God, the Spirit is God ; and these three are one God. Apart from this conception of divine ex- istence the Bible knows nothing of salvation for sinful men; apart from this it provides no redemption for the lost. The fact of the Trinity in the one indivisible and_ eternal Godhead is the keystone of the Christian arch. Eliminate the conception of any one of these divine Persons, and there is left neither salvation nor redemption. Men are saved to the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit. The Christian’s conception of the Father and of the Son is more distinct and vivid than his conception of the Holy Spirit. With the exceptions of the first and second Adam, all the children of men have had fathers ; one of the earliest ideas is that of fatherhood ; we all learn to say “ father,” we realize that 5 THE MANIFOLD MINISTRY we are sons, and from this knowledge of the earthly relationship we rise to the conception of the heavenly Fatherhood. The incarnation of the eternal Son brings him within the realm of the seen and tangible. We see and hear and handle the Word of Life. The incarnate Son of God is a historic person; in him Godhead is eternally united toa human soul and body. As we read his biography in the four gospels we have a distinct and vivid conception of his person- ality and work; with Thomas, as we gaze upon him, we can say, “My Lord and my God.” The attempt of the mind to grasp the idea of pure spirit is attended with great difficulty. A spirit invisible, intangible, without body or form, immaterial, infinite, eternal,—this idea is surely dim, vague, shadowy. And yet it may be found that the Holy Spirit comes into more intensely personal and inti- mate relations with men than does either the Father or the Son. OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 9 Three divine Persons are not more incom- prehensible and incredible than one divine Person. The mode of the divine existence is far more easily comprehended than is the di- vine existence itself; the inscrutable mystery is God himself, not the mode in which he subsists. Before the stupendous fact of eternal, uncaused, uncreated, relationless ex- istence the finite mind is paralyzed. This thought confounds the powers and logic of all human reasoning: man cannot find out the Almighty to perfection. Having accepted this thought, no man need stumble at the mode in which God reveals himself; in some aspects. of the case three divine personalities are more reasonable than only one. Some even think that the self-consciousness of God necessitates capacity to say, “IT am; thou art ; he is,” and that thus the one eternal divine Essence or Life is made known to himself. Each divine Person—Father, Son, and Spirit —can say, “I am; thou art; he is.” Our -knowledge of spirit must come from 10 THE MANIFOLD MINISTRY spirit; our knowledge of God, from God. If the things of a man can be known only by the spirit of man, so the things of God can be known only by the Spirit of God and by him to whom the Spirit shall reveal them ; and so all believers have received the Spirit of God, that they may know the things freely given them of God. He who searcheth: all things, yea, the deep things of God, hath made known the things which Ged_ hath prepared for them that love him—things that the eye hath not seen, nor the ear beard, nor the heart conceived; for the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. Only the spiritual man can under- stand spiritual things. If we know the characteristic qualities of aman, and what he does, then we know the man; and this is true though we have never seen his form nor heard his voice. So, if we know the qualities of the Holy Spirit, and what he does, then do we know, the Holy OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 1k Spirit ; and this is true though we have never seen his form nor heard his voice. The spirit of man may know, and does know, the Spirit of God, in whose image he was made and whose likeness he bears. Yea, by the Spirit’s revelation man may know the deep things of God. In the Word of God three qualities are ascribed to the Holy Ghost—viz. : 1. He is eternal, uncreated, and without beginning of days or end of years; for it was “through the eternal Spirit” that Christ “ offered himself without spot to God.” 2. The Spirit is omnipresent. Whatever difficulty men may have in comprehending fully the idea of omnipresence, the fact is clearly revealed that the eternal Godhead of the Spirit is equally and fully present every instant in every part of the universe. “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.” 12 THE MANIFOLD MINISTRY 3. The Spirit is omniscient. Knowledge of all kinds, and without any limitation, is ascribed to him. “The Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” When we think of the Spirit. as eternal, omnipresent, and omniscient, his personality begins to assume clear and distinct proportions before us; and when to this we add his work as embraced in his manifold ministry, his personality is no less marked than that of the Father or the Son. In the wondrous revelation of Jesus Christ to John on Patmos the “ manifold ministi y ” of the Holy Spirit is symbolically represented by the seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. John saw in the right hand of him who sat upon the throne a book or roll written within and on the back side; this roll con- tained the whole counsel of God’s redemption, and the only being who could open this book and reveal God and his salvation to men was the slain Lamb, the Lion of the tribe of OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 15 Juda, the Root of David; and this Lamb had the seven eyes which are the seven Spirits of God. Seven is the covenant number of complete- ness, fullness, perfection, and the seven eyes represent the completeness of the Spirit’s work in applying the redemption made known out of the seven-sealed book by the slain Lamb ; in other words, we have in this expressive symbol the manifold ministry of the Holy Spirit. | The Holy Spirit has always been in the world and at work with the children of men. Before the ascension and enthronement of the Lord Jesus “he came upon man” sporadically and from without; after the glorification of Jesus he entered into permanent and organic union with men. In Job 26: 13; 33: 4, the creation of the heavens and of man is ascribed to him; and God’s mighty work of providence is also wrought by him; but it is in the application to the sons of men of the redemption wrought out by Jesus Christ that 14 THE MANIFOLD MINISTRY we are brought into the most intimate and intensely personal relations with the Holy Spirit. 3 The frequent use of the number seven (the symbolic number of completeness, per- fection) in connection with the scriptural symbols expressive of the work of the Holy Spirit would lead us naturally to expect that an exhaustive classification of his work could be made under seven heads; and this classi- fication may be thus stated: 1. His ministry in creation ; 2. His ministry in providence ; 3. His ministry to the Son of man—the Mediator ; 4. His ministry to the writers of the sacred Scriptures ; 5. His ministry to believers as individuals ; 6. His ministry to the Church as the body of Christ; — 7. His ministry to the world. OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 15 1. THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRIT IN CREATION. The creation of the heavens and earth, and all that in them is, is ascribed to the Holy Spirit. In the beginning God created all things by the logos of his power and the spirit of his wisdom; creation ever ascending from the lower to the higher, and all very good. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath—the spirit—of his mouth. Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with a span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in seales and the hills in a balance? Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counselor, hath taught him? And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters; and God breathed into man’s nostrils the breath or spirit of life, and man became a living soul. 16 THE MANIFOLD MINISTRY Life in all of its varied and_ beautiful forms was imparted by the omnipresent and omnipotent Spirit of the living God. “ The production of beings advances continually toward more complex and glorious organisms, until creative power and wisdom are satisfied in the creation of man; and when in the Adam the image of God is placed over against himself, he rests from his works.” * The precise manner or mode of the Spirit’s work in creation is inexplicable, but the fact of his direct agency therein is plainly taught in the Word of God. There is no evolution from non-being into being, nor development from the inorganic to the organic. ‘“ Omne vivum ex vivo.” All things and all living things from this eternal, loving Spirit. And in creation, as the product of his power, is laid the foundation for both providence and redemption. | Without such a creation the new creation is both incredible and impossible. * Dr. G. F. Oehler. OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 17 2. THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRIT IN PROVIDENCE. “God’s works of providence are, his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions.” The relation of the Spirit to providence is analogous to his relation to creation. He is immanent in both; and, as the Executive of the Godhead, the universe continues in being in him, and all creatures and actions move on to their divinely-ordained end: all ends eternally foreordained, and yet all acts of all agents and actors contingent. He sends forth his Spirit, they are created : he renews the face of the earth, and gives to all life, and breath, and all things. In the symbolic stone of the vision of the prophet Zechariah there were seven eyes— and these the eyes of the Lord running to and fro through the whole earth; and Je- hovah declared to Zerubbabel that his pur- 2 18 THE MANIFOLD MINISTRY poses should be accomplished, not by might nor by power, but by the Spirit symbolized in these seven eyes of the Lord. This providential administration of gov- ernment is coextensive with the entire crea- tion: all principalities and powers ; all angels and demons in the invisible worlds ; all races, nations, governments, empires, civilizations ; all potencies, powers, and forces in the natural and supernatural realms,—all of these, with- out exception, are subject to the guidance and control of this omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent Spirit of the Father and Son from whom he doth eternally proceed, and with both of whom he joyfully co-operates in the work of creation and redemption. It would lead beyond the limit I have set to this discussion to elaborate or dwell upon the ministry of the Spirit in creation and providence ; enough has been said to prepare the way for a fuller treatment of his ministry in redemption, for herein does he reveal God most graciously and gloriously, and he him- OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 19 self becomes an abiding guest in the souls and bodies of the redeemed. 3. THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRIT TO THE MEDIATOR. (a) The incarnation of the Son of God was wrought by the Holy Spirit; the Word was made flesh by uniting to his Godhead a true body and a reasonable soul; and that soul and that body were formed for the Son, by the Spirit, in the womb of the virgin and of her substance. The Holy Ghost came upon the virgin, and the power of the Most High overshadowed her, and the holy thing born of her was called the Son of God. There is no development, no evolution of humanity here, but direct, immediate forth- putting of divine power by the Holy Spirit. This is the Son of man, the antitype of Adam, who was a figure of him who was to come, the highest and truest Son of man, the first-born of many brethren. (6) Having thus effected the incarnation 20 THE MANIFOLD MINISTRY of the Son of God, the Spirit enshrined him- self in the Son of man, to abide with him for ever, so that the Holy Ghost was always with him, and thus, as Son of man, through the Spirit he always did the things that pleased his Father in heaven; that Father gave not that Spirit by measure to that Son ; he was full of the Holy Ghost. (c) The Spirit anointed the Son of man and endued him for all of his mediatorial work. When Jesus was baptized and the heavens were opened unto him the Holy Spirit. testified to his sonship by descending like a dove and lighting upon him. By the same Spirit he was led into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil, and when that was ended Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee to enter upon his ministry. (7) The ministry of Christ as Son of man was wrought in the power and by the co- operating agency of the Holy Spirit. While we must never obscure the fact of the God- head of Christ, we are not at liberty to 1gnore OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 21 or forget the positive action of the Spirit in the entire work of Jesus Christ as Son of man. ‘This is the name by which he habit- ually called himself, and as such he taught, and wrought mighty works by the Holy Spirit. On one occasion, when his enemies charged him with casting out demons by Beelzebub, the prince of the demons, he told them that this was blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, which could never be forgiven. To attribute the works of the Spirit to the devil is blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, and is in its nature unpardonable. “ He was anointed with the immeasurable plenitude of the Spirit. By the light of the Spirit the man Christ Jesus thought all his thoughts; by the grace of the Spirit willed his purposes; by the strength of the Spirit wrought his works; till finally he through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God.” * . From beginning to end the earthly life of * Rev. Hugh Martin. y THE MANIFOLD MINISTRY our Lord as Son of man, and so Mediator of the covenant of redemption, was filled with the Spirit, so that he spoke no word, he wrought no act, without the concurrence of the Holy Ghost. We fail to grasp the doctrine of the Trinity, and fail to understand the relations of the Spirit to Christ, if we think of his mediatorial work as wrought by the power of his Godhead, to the exclusion of the omnipo- tent energy and ceaseless activity of the Holy Spirit. (ec) The last and supreme act of Christ’s earth- ly life was the separation of his human soul from his human body on the cross when he offered up himself a sacrifice to God for human guilt. As priest he was active in the offering, and he offered himself “ through the eternal Spirit” without spot to God. (f) His resurrection from the dead was by the Holy Spirit. His mighty power wrought in Christ when God raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. | 2S the heavenly places: the same Spirit who now dwells in believers raised Jesus from the dead ; and Jesus Christ of the seed of David accord- ing to the flesh was declared to be the Son of God according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit concurred and co-operated in the resurrection of the Man Christ Jesus, so that sometimes it is ascribed to one person and sometimes to another. The same Spirit who fashioned the body of our Lord in the womb of the virgin and of her substance wrought with almighty energy in raising that body from the grave. 4. THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRIT TO THE WRITERS OF THE SACRED SCRIPTURES. All the generations since the earthly life of our Lord see and know him only in and through the written Word ; and as the Spirit was and is most intimately related to the incarnate Word, so was and is he also related to the written Word ; and his work was just as 24 THE MANIFOLD MINISTRY essential and perfect in the one case as in the other. The Rev. Hugh Martin, in his magnificent and thoroughly biblical work entitled Christ’s Presence in Gospel History, thus speaks: “ Tf this very specific use is to be made of it— namely, that the Saviour in all ages means to fill it with himself, looking forth from it from generation to generation upon the sons of men in the very countenance and person, so that he commits himself to us for ever as being exactly what the Word declares him to be— then I demand its absolute infallibility, in order that my Lord be in nothing misrep- resented to me. We cannot tolerate the thought of spot, or blemish, or any such thing in the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But what is: all this glory and perfection to you, lodged unspotted and unblemished in the person of the Word made flesh, if the revelation of that eternal Word in the written Word be less than unblemished and infallible OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: 25 —if the written Word be less the express image of the Son than he is the express image of the Father?” When perfection and infallibility are thus asserted of the written Word, it is not claimed that God has promised to work a continuous miracle to the end of the age, so as to pre- serve every copyist, every type-setter, every proof-reader, and every translator from stupidity, carelessness, inattention, weariness, and error; infallibility is claimed only for the original work of the inspired authors as they were moved by the Holy Ghost; his work of inspiration was perfect. Nor does the claim of infallibility for the written Word involve what is so superciliously and ignorantly termed by some the “ mechan- ical theory” of inspiration. There was no “mechanical inspiration,” from the simple and obvious fact that the writers were not machines. Moses was not a machine, nor was David, nor was Paul. The writers pre- served all of their separate and distinct pe- 26 THE MANIFOLD MINISTRY culiarities as men and writers; the influence of the Spirit in his work of inspiration no more destroyed their personal peculiarities than did his work of regeneration. “So far from the personality and the peculiarities of the writers being overborne or repressed or obliterated by the Spirit, they were brought out into more light and more positive action.” Paul was all that Saul of Tarsus had been, plus the Holy Ghost. When we say that the Holy Spirit is the author of the sacred Serip- tures and that his work is perfect, what do we mean? Just this: The writers of the holy Seriptures were so moved (borne along) by the Holy Spirit that the writings, as written, were not from the will of man, but from God. The origin, the starting-point, was from God, not from the writer; the Spirit moved him as to what he should write and how he should write ; and when the influence of the Spirit bearing him along in the writing ceased to be felt, the sacred writer ceased to record—for at no time did the prophecy come by the will of man. OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 27 How long did the inspiration of the writer continue? Just so long as he was engaged in completing his portion of the written record ; when his work was ended his inspiration ceased. To what extent or degree did the Spirit move, influence, lead, and guide the writer? To the fullest extent and degree of actual authorship—so that the holy writings are God’s; the Bible is God’s Word written. The record was made up by the inspired writers from various sources: at one time it is mere historic narrative; at another it is what the devil said ; at another it is proverbs of the ancients; at another it is transcript from the national history of Israel ; at another it is a quotation from the official decrees of Nebuchadnezzar or Cyrus; at another it is the sad story of the sin of a saint ; at another it is a psalm used in public worship; at another, a prophecy delivered by a man of God; at another it is a direct communication of divine truth by God himself. 28 THE MANIFOLD MINISTRY It was the ministry of the Holy Spirit to direct the writers in making up the record, euiding them as to the matter and form of the record, influencing them both as to what should be inserted and what should be omitted, and so bearing them along that they were raised above errors in making up -the record as God’s revelation of himself. Not that everything in the Bible is a revelation from God, but the record is so constructed by the Spirit that it reveals God to men; God is revealed as the history is unfolded, and the sacred writers, guided by the Spirit, recorded just what was needful to make the revelation complete. The Bible both contains the Word of God and is the Word of God. The Bible records the manifestations or revelations of God, and inspiration relates to the making up of the record—what should be written and in what words recorded. ‘This word came unto Jeremiah from the Lord,” saying, “ Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee.” Jer. 36: OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 29 1,2. And when the princes of Judah asked Baruch the scribe of the prophet, “ How didst thou write?” Baruch said, ‘“ He pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them.” Jer. 36:17, 18. The apostle Paul in his letter to the Galatians lays great stress upon the fact that, in making his covenant with Abraham, God used the word “seed,” not “seeds,” and that Moses, guided by the Spirit, had made up the record in perfect accord with that fact, and had written “seed,” not ‘seeds. Whether “plenary,” “mechanical,” or “verbal,” the Holy Spirit exerted sufficient influence to keep the sacred penman from using the wrong word. If Moses had used the plural instead of the singular in the twelfth chapter of Genesis, Paul would have been constrained to strike out the third of Galatians. “What God said to the sacred writer in the depths of his soul, he now speaks to others; and what he speaks is not his own thought, nor his notion of what God has 30 THE MANIFOLD MINISTRY revealed to him, but God’s own veritable word. It is not God’s word with some human and fallible element introduced into it, which must first be eliminated before the exact truth of God can be ascertained, but that which comes forth from his tongue is God’s word pure and simple. There is nothing mechanical about this. In using the inspired writer as an organ of his revelation the Lord made use of the whole man—not merely of his fingers to record, or of his tongue to utter, words dictated to him, and upon which his mind had not been employed. God made use of the mind of the man, acting freely in its intellectual operations, with its particular faculties, its mode of thought and style of expression, and yet so guided and controlled that he gives forth without error or mistake just what has been revealed to him. It is the word of man; it is also the word of God.” * — After thirty-four years’ laborious study of * Rev. Dr. W. H. Green. OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. ol these records I am fully satisfied of their genuineness and authenticity; that is, they were written by their reputed authors, and accurately record events as they actually occurred. I am not unaware of the claims that have been put forth in behalf of the ‘“ Deuteronomist,” the “ Redactor,” and even the “ Post Exilist ;’ but these persons are utterly unknown to history; there is not even the trace of a tradition, Jewish, Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, or Grecian, concerning them; and yet an inflated and arrogant criti- cism demands that well-known historic per- sons, as Moses, David, Jeremiah, and Daniel, shall be superseded in the authorship of the books that bear their names by the utterly unknown and unhistoric persons designated in Germany as “ Elohist,” “ Jehovist,” “ Re- dactor,”’ and “ Post Exilist.” | ate THE MANIFOLD MINISTRY 5. THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRIT TO BELIEVERS AS INDIVIDUALS. The Holy Ghost formed for the Son of man, as God-man—Mediator, a new and unique life; so every son of man who be- comes a son of God in and by regeneration receives a new, unique, and eternal life. (a) Christ said plainly to Nicodemus, “Except a man be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (R. V.). And when the Jewish ruler marveled, the Lord told him that this new birth was by the water of the Word and the power of the Spirit. The higher heavenly kingdom can be entered only by the higher spiritual birth. To be born “again” in the same old way and grow up the same “old man” would prove the truth _of the saying, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh.” Only that which is born of the Spirit is spiritual. The Holy Spirit in his work of regeneration implants in a soul spiritually dead a new life, OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 33 a vital principle of holiness; and this new, divine, and eternal life doth not and cannot sin, for his seed abideth in him. 1 John 3:9 (Rk. V.). The old life of the old man, the life of the flesh, coexists side by side in the one person, and the two are contrary, the one to the other. The “ passivity” of the believer in regen- eration is the “passivity” of a free, active, moral, responsible, and spiritual agent who is made willing in the day of the Spirit’s power. It deserves earnest attention that the Spirit in his work of moral and spiritual renovation never moves upon men in masses, but always as single individuals ; he attempts no reform in church or state or communities, except as he renews the individual heart and sends forth the new man in Christ Jesus as a light- and life-giving factor in human society. (6) The indwelling Spirit. “ He shall be in you,” said our Lord to his disciples. Let each and every believer en- 3 o4 THE MANIFOLD MINISTRY deavor to realize this most precious and fruit- ful fact: the omnipresent, eternal Spirit, a divine Person, dwells in me; I am the habita- tion of God. Many Christians think and_ speak of the Spirit as if he were very far from them—as if they could only hope for an occasional visit from him, or perhaps some influence from him. Some ignorantly imagine that his blessed presence and influence can be enjoyed only after long and _ persistent importuning of God the Father. Some Christians, even in- telligent and educated ones, speak of the Spirit as “ 7.” Our Lord expressly promised to give his people a divine Person to abide with them for ever, to be in them, to dwell with them. How few, alas, realize this fact and live in the light of it! Rey. Andrew Murray, in his admirable work “ The Spirit of Christ,’ says: “This indwelling is to be recognized by faith. Even though I cannot see the least evidence OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. ao of his working, I must reverently believe that he dwells in me. In that faith I am trust- fully to count upon his working, and to wait for it. His first workings may be so feeble and hidden that I can hardly recognize them as coming from him; they may appear to be nothing more than the voice of conscience or the familiar sound of some Bible truth. Let me be faithful to what appears to be nearest to his voice, and yield up my whole being to his teaching and guidance.” (c) With this indwelling is connected the leadership of the Spirit. “ For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” When the righteousness of the law has been fulfilled in these sons in Christ Jesus, they ought to walk, not after or according to the old nature before regenera- tion, but according to the promptings of the indwelling Spirit of God. A son of God must in all things walk, not as he wishes, but as the Spirit of the Father, dwelling in him, wishes him to walk. If we have new life 36 THE MANIFOLD MINISTRY from and in the Spirit, then also must we walk in the Spirit. All of our worship—the holiest actions of our life—to be acceptable to God, must be not from ourself, not in the strength of man, but by the power of the Holy Spirit and under his inspiration and_ leadership. The Spirit himself maketh intercession for the saints. according to the will of God. This is what the Saviour meant when he told the woman of Samaria that the true wor- shipers of the Father must worship not only in truth, but also in spirit. The fruit of this indwelling and leadership of the Spirit, as the children of God walk in him, is daily seen to be love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance ; for the passions and lusts of the flesh have been crucified. And this “walk” is within easy reach of every child of God who will yield himself up to be led by the Spirit ; unless he is willing to be led, the Spirit cannot lead him. Every OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. od believer does have at all times every particle of spiritual influence and power that he is willing to receive from the Holy Ghost. If he is not filled with the Spirit, it is simply because he will not permit himself to be filled. (d) The Spirit testifies to the believer’s sonship. The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. There is fellowship between the Holy Spirit and the new creature in Christ Jesus, and the former says to the latter, “Thou art born of the Spirit, born of God; thou art God’s child.” The believer receives the spirit of adoption because he is a son; he has both the nature and name of son, and the Spirit in his heart enables him to say, “ Abba, Father.” The Spirit also “seals” the believer as God’s child, and is to every son thus sealed the “earnest” of his inheritance until the day of the redemption of the purchased possession—viz. the resurrection of the body. This sealing of the Spirit marks the believer 38 THE MANIFOLD MINISTRY as God’s child and possession, and is a guaran- tee from God of the certainty of his promises and of the security of his child. The indwelling and sealing of the Spirit are an “earnest”—the first-fruits of the heavenly inheritance, and a pledge of the full harvest of glory and blessedness. (ec) The resurrection and glorification of the saints by the Holy Spirit. We have seen that the resurrection and glorification of Christ Jesus as Son of man were accomplished by the Spirit dwelling in him; and, since he is made like unto his brethren in all things, his brethren also, by the same Spirit, are made like unto him; and 30, “if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you ;” and we are all awaiting the Parousia of the Lord Jesus Christ from heaven, who will fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be like the body of his glory; OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 39 then, and not until then, will death be swal- lowed up in victory. Then the creation shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God, and God will indeed dwell with men in the new heavens and earth. Rom. 8: 21; Rey. 21: 1-3. 6. THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRIT TO THE: : CHURCH. The word church, ekklesia, has a variety of significations in the Word of God: Ist. The holy universal Church—the mystical body of Christ (John 10:16; Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12: 15-31), 2d. The whole congregation of faithful people (Acts 2:47); 3d. The local or private congregation (Acts 14:27; Rom. 16: 5); 4th. The place of worship. 1 Cor. 11:18. The Spirit comes into organic connection and union with the Church, considered as a vine with many branches, a body with many members, a temple built of living stones, 2 holy temple in the Lord builded of individual 40 THE MANIFOLD MINISTRY believers, the new creatures in Christ, and these builded together for a habitation of God. As the Spirit inhabited the body of the Son of man, as he dwells in each believer, so also he inhabits the mystical body of Christ, which is his Church. The elect of God are called out of a lost race, and are, by the Spirit, built into this living temple, the habitation of God for ever. (a) The Spirit endues the Church with power for service. . Nothing is more common in these days than for the Church to point to her large and rapidly-increasing membership, her numerous and richly-endowed institutions of learning, her eloquent and_ scholastic ministry, her costly and comfortable houses of worship, her refined and artistic music, her long roll of eminent, influential, and wealthy members, her able and aggressive press, and her ever- increasing influence at the polls, in the halls of legislature, and in the cabinets of kings. And yet all these, without the indwelling OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 41 presence of the Holy Spirit, are absolutely devoid of any and all spiritual power—nay, may prove hurtful snares, if they turn the heart of the Church away from entire de- pendence on the Holy Spirit. Whenever the Church says, “I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing,” her Lord will spew her out of his mouth. | He told the Church plainly the source of spiritual power when he said, “ Ye shall receive power ”—-dunamis— after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” When the day of Pentecost was fully come the promise of the Father and the prediction of Joel were fulfilled, though not exhausted ; the Holy Spirit came upon not the apostles only, but also upon all the disciples, and all of them being filled with the Spirit were endued with power for service. What that power did, and what it can always do, is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. (b) The Spirit calls and qualifies believers for service. 4? THE MANIFOLD MINISTRY The field is the world, and God has need for a great variety of workmen and of work ; and the Spirit claims as his special and sov- ereign prerogative the calling and furnishing of all these multitudinous workmen for their several and varied services. No apostle planted the church in. the Syrian Antioch, but disciples, scattered by the persecution, bore the glad tidings to that famous city ; a Gentile church was gathered, and as they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, ‘“ Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them ;” and the believers laid hands on them, and they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed to Seleucia. In this instance the Spirit calls; the Spirit qualifies; the Spirit bestows authority; the Spirit designates the work. The Church recognizes, accepts, and certifies what the Spirit has already done. Some ecclesiastical bodies arrogate to them- selves this high function and prerogative of OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 43 the Holy Spirit. They claim to confer “authority” on men to serve the Lord Christ, and deny that any man is or can be called to the ministry except through the holy orders or the ecclesiastical ordination manipu- lated by them through the lawful apostolic succession or the historic episcopate. Even many Christians who reject both popery and prelacy attach a superstitious veneration to ordination, and vainly imagine that the human act of ordination imparts divine authority and qualification for the ministry. “ Human ordination imparts nothing, whether character, power, grace, or privilege ; it is a simple ac- Iknowledgment of what God has done.” * If any man holds a divine commission and warrant for his work, it is absolutely certain that the Holy Spirit furnished him with his authority and credentials. There is a vast difference between man-made and God-made ministers. Alas, that there is so little recog- nition of the Holy Spirit in his blessed work * Rey. Dr. J. H. Thornwell. 44 THE MANIFOLD MINISTRY of calling, qualifying, sending out, and locat- ing ministers and other workers in the Church and in the world ! I am fully satisfied that God the Holy Spirit has called and qualified and assigned to service, not to the ministry, not only D. L. Moody, but many others whose heads have never felt the touch of hands ecclesiastical ; and I am also satisfied that many who have received the human are entirely destitute of the divine ordination. On this vital subject let us return to the Holy Ghost theory and practice of the Apostolic Christians, as re- corded in the book of Acts. The recognition of this supreme and exclusive prerogative of the Spirit would add omnipotence to the work of the Church. (c) A third ministry of the Spirit to the Church is the bestowment of “gifts.” In the Epistle to the Corinthians there is an enumeration of the gifts or charisma of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12 : 4-16; also in Rom. 12:6-9). “The peculiarity of the dispen- OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. Ad sation of the Spirit consisted in the general diffusion of these gifts; they extended to all classes—male and female, young and old ; and there was also a wonderful diversity of these gifts. Believers were organs of the Spirit and under his influence.” * Biblical exegetes have been unable to agree on any natural or logical classification of these gifts or charisma; nor are they agreed on the answer to the further question, Were these gifts local and limited in the time, or were they general and perpetual? Those enu- merated in the Epistle to the Corinthians are : 1. The word of wisdom ; 2. The word of knowledge ; “Faith ; Gifts of healing ; Working of miracles ; Prophecy ; Discerning of spirits ; Tongues ; COON AP TP Interpretation of tongues. * Dr. Charles Hodze. 46 THE MANIFOLD MINISTRY The eternal energies of the Spirit flowed out through believers as his organs. in all these varied manifestations; but all these were the work of one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one according to the Spirit’s sovereign will, and every manifestation of the Spirit was for the spiritual profit of the Church. There were three infallible tests or marks Viz. : of the divine character of these gifts Ist. No man could say that Jesus Christ was Lord, and serve him as such, but by and in the Holy Ghost. 2d. Every gift or manifestation must be for the edification of the Church. 3d. The manifestation would never be in conflict with the written Word or apostolic authority. The dispensation inaugurated at Pentecost by the Holy Spirit was most emphatically a supernatural one, and must of necessity con- tinue to be supernatural. The omniscient and omnipresent Spirit abides in the Church OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 47 as a spirit of life and power and salvation ; and Joel’s prophecy will yet be more abun- dantly fulfilled. The Holy Spirit has never, anywhere in the written Word, placed on these gifts a limit either as to the time or place or people. He has never named the last place or the last day of his manifestation in and through these supernatural gifts. If in any place, if at any time, the claim is made that these gifts of the Spirit have been bestowed, then all we can demand—and this much we must demand—is, Bring forth evidence sufficient to establish the fact alleged ; if the fact is proved, we accept it. If the “miracle,” the “ healing,” or the “tongue” be a fact, then adduce the proof; we will sift the evidence, and if it be sufficient we will admit and accept the fact, and honor the Holy Spirit in his manifested work. We will never deny his supernatural power, nor any established fact wrought by that power. | In the striking figure of the human body 48 THE MANIFOLD MINISTRY the Spirit teaches Christians not to disparage the position or work of one another. The eye, the ear, the hand, the limb, has each its proper place and function in the body ; so in the body of Christ—his Church —there are many members, but each with his appropriate position and duties. The work to be done is manifold, and coextensive with the race; the workers must be of. all ranks, conditions, and classes ; hence there will be great diversities in both the workers and the work, and yet if all are under the guid- ance cf the same Spirit the work will be one. We cannot forbid men to cast out demons in the name of the Lord because they follow not with us, because they do not belong to our race or country or sect or church or party. We may not be able to work with them in their way, but we dare not hinder them from casting out demons by the power of the Spirit in the name of the Lord Jesus. This is the supreme test of all Christian work: Are OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 49 Jesus and by the power of the Spirit dwell- ing in the worker? If so, do not hinder, but help him. Alas that there should be in the Christian Church so little toleration and so much bigotry! The Holy Spirit dwells in, and has use and work for, each and every Chris- tian. (d) The final glorification of the Church by the Holy Spirit. The Church during this dispensation is sadly marred and disfigured by the sins of its members; even the churches planted and ninistered to by the apostles of our Lord deserved and received his sharpest rebukes. There were factions, heresies, schisms, cor- ruptions, defections, and apostasies, and the evil seeds have germinated and borne the same sad harvests in every age and among _jevery people; and this condition will continue until the end of the harvest, when the Lord imself will return in like manner as he weut ip into heaven. 4 50 THE MANIFOLD MINISTRY Then the Head of the Church, our Lord Jesus, will present her to himself, a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing ; then will she look forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners. When the time for the marriage of the Lamb shall come, his wife, arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, will be ready—made ready by the transforming and glorifying power of the Holy Spirit. The preparation of the bride for her marriage with her glorious Bride- groom is from beginning to end the work of the Holy Ghost, and the marriage itself will be consummated by his indwelling presence and power. 7. THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRIT TO THE WORLD. - Our Lord plainly told his disciples that it was expedient for them that he should go away ; that the coming of the Comforter was conditioned upon his departure; that when OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. rat that blessed Person should come he would execute a threefold ministry to the world: He would convince— (a) Of sin; (6) Of righteousness ; and (c) Of judgment. A ministry not outward and material, but inward and spiritual; a ministry of convinc- ing and convictive power, wrought in the innermost depths of the heart and the con- science ; a ministry without which none could be saved, without which the Church could not be extended and enlarged. The Lord Jesus classified this ministry under three heads: (a) “ Of sin, because they believe not on me;” (6) “Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more ;” (c) “Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.” These three things, sin, righteousness, and judgment, are facts—fearful realities; but the world does not see and know them as such ; nay, the world does not believe, and 52 THE MANIFOLD MINISTRY never will believe until convinced and con- vieted by the powerful personal ministry of the Holy Spirit. (a) He will Convict of. Sin. The conscience of the natural man is so defiled that his convictions of sin are faint and infrequent; much less does he see sin as God sees it. Human governments, for the protection of persons and property, legislate against crime, and organized society lifts its hands in holy horror when some gross offender against its proprieties 1s detected in some detestable vice. Men are forward enough to denounce “open criminality and vice, and especially detected vice, because it offends their sense of propriety and has a tendency to render persons and property insecure ; not that they have so much hatred of sin or sense of its heinousness as love for themselves and their possessions. The world sweeps on in its mad career of sin, with faint and in- adequate consciousness of its deep and des- OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. Do perate depravity in the sight of a holy God; nor will true conviction of sin ever come except through the convincing work of the Holy Ghost. The Spirit uses the Word of God to con- vince the natural man of sin and to reveal to him the intense and searching spirituality of the moral law. God’s law is designed for the thoughts and intents of the heart. The greatest expounder of the Law who ever lived said plainly that anger in the heart is murder, that lust in the heart is adultery. The outward act of sin may never be committed, and yet when the Holy Spirit lights up the dark recesses of the soul with the truth of God, the man shrinks with horror from the view of his own dark and dreadful iniquity. “This personal consciousness is so vivid and real that it becomes intolerably painful ; a man will see himself as he never before saw himself, and feel the burden of life with a new and insupportable oppression. His moral a THE MANIFOLD MINISTRY sense will be so purified that he will feel at times that even an evil thought is an unpar- donable sin.” * At such a time he will clearly see that sin and crime are not identical, and that a man ean be filled with sin though free from crime. Nor will he be at all concerned with degrees of sin—any sin, all sin, will be damnable ; for then he will see sin in the light of God’s Jaw and as the Holy Ghost sees it. But the specific sin of which the Spirit convicts the awakened sinner is the sin of unbelief in the Lord Jesus Christ—“ of sin, because they believe not on me.” Under the purifying power of the Holy Spirit unbelief in Jesus Christ, unbelief in God manifested in the flesh, stands out in all its horrible hideousness as the sin of sins— the deepest, darkest, and most damnable of all sin. “ Where shall my trembling soul be hid? For I the Lord have slain.” * Rey. Dr. Joseph Parker. OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 5Y3) Now the conviction is so keen and relent- less that every concealing shadow is chased from the inmost life by the consuming light of infinite purity, and the man knows that in turning away from Jesus Christ he has turned from the Son of God, the only Mediator and Saviour, and then the agony will be like the very pains of hell. In all his past life he has not believed what God said about. his Son, and hence he has treated God as if he were a har. | This conviction of the sin of unbelief is unlike any natural experiences of the sinner ; it is wrought not by the power of the natural conscience, nor even by the truth of God itself, but by the omnipotent influence of a divine Person, even the Holy Spirit. He will convict “ of sin, because they believe not on me.” “Unless sin be understood, Jesus Christ will not be understood. The first clear view any man gets of his sin marks the crisis of his life.” If now he turns away from the 56 THE MANIFOLD MINISTRY incarnate Son of God, how shall he escape the damnation of hell ? (6) He will Convince of Righteousness. The sinner thus convicted of sin by the Spirit feels his need of righteousness—right- ness in the sight of God. First, foremost and above all else, he must be right with God, for he now knows that God must be just and that his right hand is full of right- eousness. It is not so much a question of how to escape punishment as how to get such a rightness that he will not deserve punish- ment. His own conscience must be satisfied ; he must be satisfied with himself; he must be at peace with both himself and God, and God also must be at peace with him. Nor can this peace ever be established and enjoyed except in and by and upon righteousness. The work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever. OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 57 But where shall such a righteousness be found, and how shall it be secured, made a personal possession, and enjoyed? The answer ‘is this: He shall convince “ of righteousness, ? as if our Lord because [ go to my Father ;’ had said, ‘My resurrection, ascension, and enthronement will be the conclusive evidence to you that my righteous Father has been well pleased with me in all my mediatorial work, and that he accepts and approves that work of righteousness done by me for every one who will accept me as the end of the law for righteousness.” And now the blessed Comforter through the Word thus speaks to the convicted sinner : “ Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above): or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead). But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach. . . . For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and 58 THE MANIFOLD MINISTRY with the mouth confession is made unto sal- ration.” “ This righteousness is personal and living ; it is Christ himself, the end of the law for rightness, and the Lord our Rightness. It is not suffering endured by him; it is the great Sufferer, the great Offerer himself. It is not some event in Christ’s history; it is the his- torical and ever-living Christ himself. It is not some ‘legal fiction’ preliminary to re- demption; it is redemption itself; it is the slain Lamb our righteousness shining forth, perfected in death and resurrection glory.” * Christ is rightness, and Christ is ours, and we are made the righteousness of God in him. This conviction is wrought in the soul, not by the wisdom of men, not by any natural power or force of man himself, but by the persuasive power of the personal Spirit as he glorifies the personal Christ to the convicted and convineed sinner. To such a sinner the question of rightness with God is righteously * Rey. Hugh Martin. OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 59 and eternally settled,and, being justified by faith, he has peace with God. He shall convince “ of righteousness, because I go to my Father.” (c) He will Convince of Judgment. In the 12th chapter of John’s Gospel our Lord spoke of the “ hour” and the “ lifting up,” and the Father testified in an audible voice to his beloved Son, and then * Jesus added these significant words: ‘ Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.” In the “lifting up” of Jesus on the cross is revealed God’s judgment or condemnation on sin, on this world, and on the prince of this world. At the cross the world is judged : it is a wicked world,.a world guilty of the blood of the Lord Jesus, whom “ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain,” is the judgment of the Holy Ghost by the mouth of the apostle Peter; “and this is the condemation,” or judgment, “that light is come into the world, and men 60 THE MANIFOLD MINISTRY loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil ;” and “he that believeth not is condemned already.” The judgment of which the Spirit here convinces is not so much the judgment to come, as it is often incorrectly quoted, as thie judgment that is past—passed at the cross and in the death of Christ; by that cross this world is to the believer a dead world, and by the same cross he is dead to the dead world. The lifting up of the Son of man is a judgment of death on the world; at the end, it and all its works shall be burned up. “Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.” There are several clearly marked stages in the judgment of God on Satan, the adversary of “Christ and the “ god of this world.” He is not yet bound with a chain and cast into the abyss. That judgment — is future, and then, a thousand years after, the final judgment will be reached and he will be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone prepared for him and his angels. OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 61 “T beheld Satan,” said Christ, “as light- ning fall from heaven.” For the very pur- pose of destroying the works of the devil was the Son of God manifested. At the cross the victory was secured, and when the great High Priest ascended into heaven, then was this foul accuser of Christ’s brethren cast out and down; for they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb. The deep and abiding conviction of this divine judgment on sin, on the world, and on Satan is wrought by the power of the Holy Ghost, and is wrought in connection with the conviction of sin and righteousness. He, the blessed Comforter, glorifies Christ as he thus carries on in the souls of men this threefold convictive work of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; nor is any man ever convinced of these tremendous realities of the spiritual and eternal world except by the personal power of the Holy Spirit. These, then, are the works of the Spirit, as those works are revealed in the Word of God; 62 THE MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. this his manifold ministry, as that ministry is so clearly stated in the Scriptures; and in the light of such a ministry it would seem more reasonable to question or doubt the per- sonality of the Father, or even of the Son, than to question or doubt the divine person- ality of the Holy Spirit. He is omniscient, omnipresent, and eternal, of the same substance and equal in glory with the Father and the Son. He comes much nearer to us than either the Father or the Son, for he enters into our innermost life and being, so that he dwells in us and we are his habitation. He reveals Christ to us, and forms Christ in us the hope of glory. This is that other divine Person promised by our Lord to his disciples—“the Com- forter,” “the Spirit of truth,’ who will teach them all, things, and bring all of Christ’s words to their remembrance: let them be. careful “to grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby ” they “are sealed unto the day of redemption.” v4 7 = ‘sor Z ' fy ines is ~ os y ii Date Due S He i ll Hin cnn A