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ARY OF PRIND ES. 
 oF “29 
 
 THE 
 
 AFAR 8 1933 
 ite ® 
 LOgicar gents 
 
 MISSION OF THE SPIRIT; 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE OFFICE AND WORK OF THE COMFORTER 
 IN HUMAN REDEMPTION, 
 
 A 
 By Key. LR. DUNN: 
 “'O dé mapdKAnroc, TO rvedua TO dytov.’—JOHN xiv, 26. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 New YORK: 
 
 CARLTON & LANAHAN 
 SAN FRANCISCO: E. THOMAS. 
 CINCINNATI: HITCHCOCK. & WALDEN. 
 1873. 
 
nD Se ee eee 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, by 
 CARLTON & LANAHAN, 
 in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 
 
|e d Kiked by nlp ated Gad We 
 
 HIS is the dispensation of the Spirit. 
 
 We are living in the very midst of 
 
 its culminating glories. The rushing fires of 
 another Pentecost are coming upon the Church 
 now as they have not during the centuries pre- 
 ceding the one in which we live. All eyes are 
 lifted expectant to the everlasting hills, where 
 intercedes a glorified and exalted Christ. Or 
 ever his triumphal chariot had wheeled upward 
 to the gates of pearl, he left his promise and his 
 pledge to the Church of the wonderful gift of the 
 Comforter. That promise and that pledge have 
 only been fulfilled in part—zin individual in- 
 stances,and in certain localities. The Church, 
 overrun with worldliness and beclouded by un- 
 belief, has been comparatively powerless for the 
 want of the full baptism of the Comforter. And 
 the world, this poor, lost, fallen world, still re- 
 mains unransomed from its sins and their conse- 
 quences: The great work of preparation for its 
 
4 Preface. 
 
 complete redemption seems, however, well-nigh 
 finished. The mountains have been leveled, and 
 the valleys upreared; the crooked places have 
 been straightened, and the rough places smooth- 
 ened, and the time for “all flesh to see the sal- 
 vation of our God” is at hand. 
 
 What is now wanted is a universal pentecost, 
 not only that all the babbling millions of earth 
 may hear of “the wonderful works of God” in 
 their “own tongue wherein they were born,” but 
 that they may be “ pricked to the heart” by the 
 arrows of the convincing Spirit, and be saved 
 by his power. 
 
 It is a somewhat remarkable fact that, with 
 all the teachings of the Divine Head in reference 
 to the Comforter, with all the luminous promises 
 of his gifts and grace, so little, comparatively, 
 has been written concerning him. The world 
 is full of books about Christ, and the number 
 of them is constantly increasing; but we can 
 almost count on our finger ends the books writ- 
 ten specifically about the Holy Ghost. And 
 yet his sovereign agency in the completion 
 and consummation of redemption’s work is con- 
 stantly acknowledged in the word of God. Why 
 this is so, that so little has been written, we can 
 
Preface. 5 
 
 scarcely tell; and yet, because it is so, there is 
 much of ignorance, doubt, and unbelief in the 
 Church as to his work and his power. Many 
 huge volumes of theology devote only a few 
 pages to the consideration of his Godhead, his 
 offices, and his work. There is now and then 
 a sermon preached upon these all-important 
 themes; but too seldom are they introduced 
 into the sacred desk. 
 
 The author of this book has long felt that a 
 treatise bearing directly upon these questions is 
 a desideratum in the literature of the Christian 
 Church. In conversation with several leading 
 divines in his own and other denominations, he 
 has found that they entertained the same views 
 and feelings, and he has been encouraged by 
 their advice to proceed with the preparation of 
 this volume. How successful he may have been 
 in the performance of his work the reader will 
 judge. Due acknowledgment has been made 
 of the authors from whose works quotations 
 have been made, in foot-notes, and™therefore no 
 mention of their names is needed here. 
 
 The author fully believes that the coming and 
 the crowning conflict of the Church will be 
 about the truths dwelt upon in this volume. 
 
6 Preface. | 
 
 Indeed, there is, even now, “skirmishing all along 
 the line.” The great aim of modern infidelity is 
 to ignore all spiritual agencies ; to banish God 
 from the world ; to deny all miraculous agency 
 and all moral regeneration ; to proclaim a cold, 
 dull, dead materialism ; and to bind the universe 
 in the chains of fixed, irreversible and inviolable 
 law. If the writer has made it to appear that 
 there is not only a supernatural and superhu- 
 man, but a Divine Agency, working out great 
 spiritual results, and effecting great moral re- 
 generations—an agent who, because he is God, 
 is capable of bringing about the complete trans- 
 formation and revivification of a fallen and dead 
 humanity, and who is able and willing and 
 ready to do this work now—he will be glad that 
 he has contributed something that will serve to 
 call attention to the ever-blessed Comforter. 
 
 Bespeaking the indulgence of the critical 
 reader, and beseeching the earnest, prayerful 
 reading of this book by all classes of the minis- 
 try and laity of the evangelical Churches, the 
 author sends forth this volume with many 
 prayers that all may find a “blessing in it.” 
 
 ja oa bh 
 
 ST. PAUL’s ParsonaGE, Elizabeth, N. F. 
 
- CONTENTS: 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 I. THE PERSONALITY AND GODHEAD OF THE 
 
 COMBORTER Vion os ceics's woe 30 3.2 Lc aan Steere eee eke 
 
 II]. THE PROMISE OF THE COMFORTER......... 24 
 
 Il]. THE GIFT OF THE COMFORTER THE EVI- 
 DENCE OF CHRIST’S ASCENSION AND ME- 
 DIATION . Dykes fe RL ca SEP ey OL aumene ea 
 
 IV. THE FULL BrooGe: OF THE Comeont nn 
 CONDITIONED UPON THE DEPARTURE OF 
 
 CHRIST FROM THE WORLD ...... Sia RYE 45 
 
 V. THE GIFT OF THE COMFORTER — WHAT IT 
 COMPRISES. ©. ..:s0ts% + Be Ae AS SN Fe 2 67 
 
 VI. THE COMFORTER THE SOURCE OF THE hie: 
 SPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES..... ae Nie 75 
 
 VII. THE COMFORTER CONVINCING THE WELD 
 OF SIN—THE SPIRIT OF BONDAGE......-.. 93 
 VIII. THE COMFORTER AS THE REGENERATOR.... 107 
 
 IX. THE COMFORTER AS THE WITNESS-BEARER . I15 
 
 X. OBJECTIONS TO THE DOCTRINE OF THE DI- 
 RECT WITNESS OF THE COMFORTER CON- 
 MERI WIPE ER meen hg oe 5 Og Pia Pa sipsaioee aie oheeats ease c's) 
 
 XI. THE COMFORTER AS THE SEALER OF Guns 
 SAINTS, AND AS THE EARNEST IN THEIR 
 
 PE WAR US oe 6 onists tye ee ois Mra At stores «car sar IAL 
 
 XII. THE COMFORTER AS OUR INTERCESSOR! SS 
 
 XIII. THe ComrortEeR AS A LEADER AND Gume 163 
 
 XIV. THE CoMForRTER AS THE SANCTIFIER...... 178 
 XV. THE COMFORTER RESISTED, , QUENCHED, 
 
 Ror PRON ICED og ig enor aol chs ois he ga Sees Taw Oe 
 
 XVI. THE SIN AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST ...... 204 
 
 XVII. THE COMFORTER AND THE MINISTRY ...... 229 
 
 XVIII. THE COMFORTER AND THE CHURCH...... ee Lys 
 
 XIX. THE DISPENSATION OF THE COMFORTER THE 
 MOST GLORIOUS AND THE-LAST...-.i4+5 283 
 
VENI SANCTE SPIRITUS* 
 
 i 
 Veni, Sancte Spiritus, 
 Et emitte ccelitus, 
 Lucis tuze radium. 
 Veni, pater pauperum, 
 Veni, dator munerum, 
 Veni lumen cordium, 
 
 II. 
 Consolator optime, 
 Dulcis hospes anime, 
 
 Dulce refrigerium. 
 In labore requies, 
 In gestu_temperies, 
 
 In fletu solatium. 
 
 ITI. 
 
 O lux beatissima ! 
 Reple cordis intima 
 Tuorum fidelium. 
 Sine tuo numine, 
 Nihil est in homine, 
 Nihil est innoxium. 
 
 * Written at the beginning of the eleventh century. 
 
The following translation of this inimitable hymn is from 
 the chaste and elegant pen of Dr. Abraham Coles of Newark, 
 NBAE 
 
 1 
 
 Come, O Holy Spirit, come, 
 And from Thy celestial home 
 Of Thy light a ray impart ! 
 Come Thou, Father of the poor ! 
 Come Thou, giver of heaven’s store ! 
 Come Thou, light of every heart ! 
 
 IT. 
 
 Promised Comforter, and best, 
 Of the soul the dearest Guest, 
 Sweet Refreshment here below, 
 Rest, in labor, to the feet, 
 Coolness in the scorching heat, 
 Solace in the time of woe. 
 
 FEE 
 
 O most blessed Light! the heart’s 
 Innermost, most hidden parts 
 Of Thy faithful people, fill! 
 Not without Thy favor can 
 Any thing be good in man, 
 Any thing that is not ill. 
 
IO Vent Sancte Spiritus. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Lava quod est sordidum, 
 Riga quod est aridum } { 
 Sana quod est saucium ! 
 Flecte quod est rigidum, 
 Fove quod est frigidum 
 Rege quod est devium ! 
 
 V. 
 
 Da tuis fidelibus, 
 Inte confidentibus, 
 Sanctum septenarium : * 
 Da virtutis meritum, 
 Da salutis exitium, 
 Da perenne gaudium! 
 ROBERTUS REX FRANCIA, 
 
 * The seven gifts of the Spirit. 
 
Veni Sancte Spiritus — II 
 
 EVs 
 
 What is sordid make Thou clean ; 
 What is dry make moist and green ; 
 What is wounded heal for aye. 
 
 Bend what’s rigid to Thy will; 
 Warm Thou whatsoe’er is chill ; 
 Guide what’s devious and astray. 
 
 Ve 
 
 To thy faithful given be— 
 Those confiding still in Thee— 
 Graciously the holy seven ; 
 Give Thou virtue’s recompense, 
 
 Give a safe departure hence, 
 Give th’ eternal joy of heaven. 
 
THE 
 
 MISSION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 CHAE TER: i. 
 
 PERSONALITY AND GODHEAD OF THE COMFORTER. 
 
 2 ] BELIEVE in the Holy Ghost.” — So 
 
 universal Christendom has given utter- 
 ance to its credo during the roll of the centuries. 
 But while this utterance has been uniform and 
 universal, the interpretations given to it have 
 widely differed. The Greek Church, while hold- 
 ing to his essential Godhead, teaches that he 
 “proceeds only from the Father.” The Romish, 
 as well as the Evangelical Protestant Church, 
 holds to the procession “from the Father and 
 the Son.” The Unitarian or Socinian Church, 
 however differing in its views as to the charac- 
 ter of Christ, denies the personality and God- 
 . head of the Holy Ghost, and looks upon him as 
 merely an attribute, an emanation, or an influ- 
 
14 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 ence. For ages past fierce controversies have 
 been waged by those occupying these different 
 stand-points. The history of these controversies 
 is of deep interest to the Christian scholar ; but 
 it is no part of the design of this volume to 
 enter upon this field. 
 
 Nor is this struggle yet ended. It is more 
 than probable that as Atheism has denied the 
 existence of God, and as Arianism has denied 
 the divinity of Christ, so the enemies of God 
 and of his truth will assail the divinity and per- 
 sonality of the Holy Ghost. This, indeed, may 
 be the last great struggle which the “Truth. of 
 God” may have to endure before the glories of 
 millennial day shall burst upon this world. The 
 struggle with the Atheist is over. The strug- 
 gle with the Rationalist, Pantheist, Spiritualist, 
 and Scientist must soon close; but the strug- 
 gle with the “ blasphemers against the Holy 
 Ghost” is coming on. I would do my part 
 toward preparing the Church for this final eon- 
 flict. In so doing, I shall endeavor to state, 
 illustrate, and enforce the teachings of the word 
 of the Lord concerning the character and _per- 
 fections of the Paraclete, and his offices and re- 
 lations in the economy of human redemption. 
 
The Mission. of the Spirit. 15 
 
 I shall now undertake to prove that the Holy 
 Ghost ts a Person distinct from the Father and 
 the Son, and not merely an Attribute or an Ema- _ 
 nation from either. The evidence adduced to 
 sustain this position is from the word of God. 
 In the very nature of the case there is, there 
 can be, no other. No man can read that word 
 with any degree of care without noticing that 
 there is a Being constantly referred to as acting 
 with the Father, or with the Son, or with both ; 
 and that that Being is called by the names, bears 
 the titles, possesses the attributes, and performs 
 the acts of God. Masculine pronouns and rela- 
 atives in the Greek of the New Testament are 
 used with the neuter noun mvevwa—spirit ; thus 
 showing that the writers of its books intended to 
 teach his personality. “TI will pray the Father, 
 and he shall give you another Comforter, that he 
 may abide with you forever ; even the Spirit of 
 truth; whom the world cannot receive, because 
 it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye 
 know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall 
 be in you.” John xiv, 16,17. “But the Com- 
 forter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Fa- 
 ther will send in my name, he shall teach you 
 all things.” John xiv, 26. “ But when the Com- 
 
16 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 forter is come, whom I will send unto you from 
 the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which pro- 
 ceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me.” 
 John xv, 26. “And when he is come, he will 
 reprove the world of sin.” John xvi, 8. “When 
 he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you 
 into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself ; 
 but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he 
 speak: and he will show you things to come. 
 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of 
 mine.” John xvi, 13, 14. Now any interpreta- 
 tion which makes the Holy Spirit an Attribute 
 or an Emanation renders these, and many other 
 portions of the word of God, utterly unmeaning. 
 It is well known that at the first Arius, re- 
 garded the Holy Ghost as a creature, created 
 by Christ; but afterward his personality was 
 denied by the Arians ; and the view since held 
 by them is that he is the exerted energy, or 
 power, of God. Let us regard this view in the 
 light of other portions of the word of God. 
 “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy 
 Ghostand with power.” Acts x, 38. The Arian in- 
 terpretation would make it read, “ God anointed 
 Jesus with the holy power of God, and with 
 power.” Again, “ Now the God of hope fill you 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 17 
 
 with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may 
 abound in hope, through the power of the Holy 
 nose) Rom. xv, 13. - That: ‘is; according to 
 the Arian view, by the power of the holy 
 power of God. “Through mighty signs and 
 wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God.” 
 Rom. xv, 19. That is, mighty signs and won- 
 ders by the power of the power of God. “In 
 demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” 
 1 Cor. ii,4. That is, demonstration of the power 
 and of power. These portions of Scripture are 
 sufficient to prove his personality, and to show 
 the senselessness of the Arian ‘interpretation. 
 But the Paraclete is not only « person; he is 
 also a divine person, To prove this, I shall 
 proceed to show that the Mames, the A ttributes, 
 and the Acts of God are ascribed to him. 
 
 1. And first the Names. The apostle Peter said 
 to Ananias, “Why hath Satan filled thine heart to 
 lie to the Holy Ghost ?... Thou hast not lied unto 
 men, but unto God.” Acts v, 3,4. Here we see 
 that the Holy Ghost is called God. “Now the 
 Lord is that Spirit.” 2 Cor. iii, 17. “For who hath 
 known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct 
 him?” 1 Cor. ii, 16. “For who hath known the 
 
 mind of the Lord? or who hath been his coun- 
 9 
 
 9 
 Fic, 
 
18 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 selor?” Rom. xi, 34. Both these passages are 
 evidently quotations from Isaiah: “Who hath 
 directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his 
 Counselor hath taught him?” Isa.xl,13. “And 
 the Lord direct your hearts into the love of 
 God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.” 
 2 Thess. iii, 5. Now this person, thus prayer- 
 fully addressed, is called tne Lord, is regarded 
 as able to direct the hearts of the Thessalonians, 
 and to inspire them with patience ; and prayer is 
 offered to him by an inspired apostle. Yet he is 
 evidently neither God the Father nor God theSon. 
 Hence we see that the highest names, ‘‘ God” 
 and “the Lord,” are given to the Holy Ghost. 
 2, With equal clearness the Aztributes of God. 
 are ascribed to him. 
 Eternity —“ Christ, who through the eternal 
 Spirit offered himself without spot to God.” 
 Pied. ix, 4 
 Omnipotence-—This is so frequently ascribed 
 to him as to seem to afford some show of reason 
 for the Arian view that he is the power of God. 
 Omnisctence. —“ The Spirit searcheth all 
 things, yea, the deep things of God.” “The 
 things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit 
 onGod. e1iGon dL ional 
 
Lhe Massion of the Spirit. 19 
 
 Omnipresence. —“ Whither shall I go from thy 
 Spirit > ~or whither shall I flee from thy pres- 
 ence'’* “Psa; cxxxix, 72. «.“ What I> know ye not 
 that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost 
 which is in you?” 1 Cor. vi, 19. But this is 
 said of all believers. Now, then, if the body of 
 each Christian is the temple of the Holy Ghost, 
 then he must be present with, and abide in, a 
 multitude at the same time, and in widely 
 different localities ; and to do this he must be 
 omnipresent. 
 
 ffoliness—“ The Holy Ghost.” “ Holy Spirit.” 
 2 Spirit of of Holiness’ And in the New Testa- 
 ment he bears this emphatic name no less than 
 ninety-three times.* 
 
 Lruth.—* When he, the Spirit of truth, is 
 come.) John xvi, 13. 
 
 Goodness.—*“ Thy good Spirit,” Neh. ix, 20. 
 % Thy Spirit i Is good.” Psa. cxliii, fo. 
 
 Glory.—* The spirit. of glory and of God.” 
 I Pet. iv, 14. 
 
 3. The Acts of God are ascribed to him. 
 
 Creation.— The Spirit of God moved upon the 
 face of the waters.” Gen. i, 2. “ By his Spirit 
 he hath garnished the heavens.” Job xxvi, 13. 
 
 * Spirit of Life, p. 53. 
 
20 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 “The Spirit of God hath made me.” Job 
 Kooathh.e 
 
 The power of working miracles, which the in- 
 spired writers explicitly declare is of God, is 
 said to belong to him. 
 
 Inspiration.—Paul, writing to the Hebrews, 
 mole “God spake unto the fathers by the proph- 
 
 ts.’ Heb. i,t. And Peter says, “ Holy men of 
 as spake as they were moved by the Holy 
 Ghost.” 2 Pet. i, 21. Also, that it was “the 
 Spirit of Christ which was in them” which 
 “testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, 
 and the glory that should follow.” 1 Pet. 1, TI. 
 
 _ Quickening.—“It is the Spirit that quickeneth.” 
 John vi, 63. “ Quickened by the Spirit.” 1 Pet. 
 iii, 18.“ Shall also quicken se mortal bodies 
 by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” Rom. Vili, IT. 
 
 4. The Holy Ghost is acknowledged in his 
 personality and Godhead in the formula of 
 Christian Baptism, and in the solemn and im- 
 pressive form of benediction—* Baptizing them 
 in the name of the » Father, and of the Son, and 
 of the Holy Ghost.” Matt. xxviii, 19, “The 
 grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of 
 God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost.” 
 2 Cor. xiii, 14. Now, if the Arian interpretation 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. Zi 
 
 be correct, then these formulas are in the name 
 of one God, one creature, and one attribute or 
 emanation. 
 
 5. Inmany parts of Scripture the Holy Ghost __ 
 is associated with the Father and the Son in _ 
 acts, titles, authority, and worship, and is spoken 
 of, or addressed, as of egual power, glory, and 
 authority. For instance, in the Old Testament 
 Scriptures we read as follows: “And now the 
 Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me.” Isa. 
 xlviii, 16. “Iam with you, saith the Lord of 
 Hosts: according to the word that I covenanted 
 with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my 
 Spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not. 
 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of 
 all nations shall come.” Hag. ii, 4, 7. Here is 
 God the Father speaking of his Spirit and prom- 
 ising the advent of his Son. “The Lord of 
 Hosts,” whom Isaiah declared spoke to him, the 
 apostle says was the Holy Ghost: “I heard 
 the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall | 
 send?” etc. Isa. vi, 8-10. And, “ Well spake 
 the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our 
 fathers.” Acts xxviii, 25. It may be well here 
 to add that the Apostle John says that in this 
 sublime vision and call of the prophet he saw the 
 
22 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 glory of Christ. “These things said Esaias, when 
 he saw his glory”’—the glory of Christ—“and 
 spake of him.” John xii, 41. It was in view of 
 the presence of the three persons in the God- 
 head in this vision, doubtless, that the six-winged 
 seraphim cried, “ Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord 
 of hosts!” Isa. vi, 3. To come to the New Tes- 
 tament Scriptures: here we find at the baptism 
 of Christ the presence of the Father and of his 
 Holy Spirit. After his baptism, “ The heavens 
 were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of 
 God descending like a dove, and lighting upon 
 him. And loa voice from heaven, saying, This 
 is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 
 Matt. iii, 16,17. Here is the Father speaking 
 from heaven, acknowledging the one just bap- 
 tized by John as his beloved Son ; and here is, 
 also, the Spirit, distinct from both, and yet in 
 harmony and union with both, anointing the Son 
 of God and'the Son of man for his work. 
 
 In the great work of saving the sinner, and 
 of adopting him into the divine family, the Spirit 
 is said to be associated with the Father and the 
 Son in a number of places. Take only the fol- 
 lowing: ‘‘ Because ye are sons, God hath sent 
 forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, cry- 
 
Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 23 
 
 ing, Abba, Father.” Gal.iv,6. “After that the 
 kindness and love of God our Saviour toward 
 man appeared, . . . according to his mercy he 
 saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and 
 renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed 
 on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our 
 
 ) 
 
 Saviour.” Titus iii, 4-6. These proofs might 
 be greatly multiplied. They are, in fact, so 
 abundant that to quote all legitimately bearing 
 upon these several points would occupy a large 
 part of the present volume. Here are enough 
 to convince any honest mind of the distinct 
 personality and essential Godhead of the Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 Let us, therefore, bow before the throne, and 
 devoutly say, “Glory be to the Father, and to 
 the Son, and to the Holy Ghost! As it was in 
 the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world 
 without end! Amen,” 
 
24 The Mission of the Sprrit. 
 
 lobe Wag BO) SE ib E. 
 
 THE PROMISE OF THE COMFORTER. 
 
 IGHT hundred years before the advent of 
 
 Christ, the Prophet Joel heralded the 
 coming of the Comforter in the following 
 language: “ And it shall come to pass after- 
 ward that I will pour out my Spirit upon all 
 flesh ; and your sons and your daughters shall 
 prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, 
 your young men shall see visions: and also 
 upon the servants and upon the handmaids in 
 those days will I pour out my Spirit.” Joel ii, 
 28, 29. All down those centuries this promise 
 was uttered, until it had its first grand and sig- 
 nal fulfillment upon the day of Pentecost. So 
 clearly and fully indeed was it fulfilled that the 
 Apostle Peter unhesitatingly declared, “7hzs zs 
 that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel.” 
 Acts ii, 16. John the Baptist, recognizing the 
 great mission and work of the Divine Redeemer, 
 proclaimed of him, “ He shall baptize you with 
 the Holy Ghost, and with fire.” Matt. iii, 11, 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 25 
 
 At length he came, “The Desire of all Nations,” 
 and for the space of three years his wondertul 
 ministry was exercised among men. Not, how- 
 ever, until toward its close did he announce the 
 coming of the mighty Comforter. It was then, 
 when the disciples were sad and sorrowing at 
 the announcement of his departure from them, 
 when they felt that they were going to be or- 
 phaned, and the future looked dark and dreary 
 to them, that he promised, upon the event of 
 his departure, to send to them the Comforter, 
 the richest gift of heaven. ‘“If I depart, I will 
 send him unto you.” John xvi, 7. The prom- 
 ises now began to multiply, and the sweet and 
 gracious assurances of an ever-abiding Com- 
 forter were unstintedly given to them. “I will 
 pray the Father, and he shall give you another 
 Comforter, that he may abide with you forever ; 
 even the Spirit of truth ; whom the world can- 
 not receive, because it seeth him not, neither 
 knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwell- 
 eth with you, and shall be in you.” John xiv, 
 16,17. ‘But the Comforter, which is the Holy 
 Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name.” 
 John xiv, 26. “But when the Comforter is 
 come, whom I will send unto you from the Fa- 
 
26 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 ther, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth 
 from the Father, he shall testify of me.” John 
 xv, 26. “And when he [the Comforter] is come, 
 he will reprove the world,” etc. John Xvi, 8—II. 
 “ Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, 
 he will guide you into all truth,” etc. John xvi, 
 13-14. After his resurrection the Son of God 
 repeated his promise, and proclaimed the near 
 advent of the Comforter. “But ye shall receive 
 power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon 
 you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me.” Acts 
 i, 8. Again, “Behold, I send the promise of 
 my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city 
 of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power 
 from on high.” Luke xxiv, AO. es eesecttat 
 be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many 
 days hence.” Acts i, 5. It was, doubtless, 
 for the fulfillment of this promise that they 
 tarried in the upper room at Jerusalem, and 
 held their ten days’ prayer-meeting. Let us 
 here note, 
 
 1. These promises are clear and CUB lactic ot 
 welt send him unto you.” “The Father z2// 
 seud him in my name.” “If ye then, being evil, 
 know how to give good gifts unto your children ; 
 how much more shall your heavenly Father 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 27, 
 
 give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” 
 Luke xi, 13. There was no room for doubt 
 in the minds of the early disciples ; nor after 
 Christ’s resurrection did they seem to have any 
 doubt or misgiving as to the bestowment of 
 this gift. What thoughts may have entered 
 into their minds as they waited day after day 
 and prayed for, and expected, the gift so freely 
 promised, we know not. We can readily con- 
 ceive how dark shadows of doubt might have 
 flitted across their minds as the promise was 
 delayed. How they might have said to one 
 another, “ Have we misunderstood the prom- 
 ise?” “Are we asking aright for this gift?” 
 ‘Why; then, is, it delayed?* +} But if these 
 thouchts passed through their minds they were 
 quickly dispelled, and faith triumphed. If such 
 questionings had risen in their minds the an- 
 swer would doubtless have been ready and 
 prompt. “We cannot misunderstand that 
 promise. He certainly said that if he should 
 go away he would send us the Comforter ; and 
 he has gone away. We saw him in his great 
 ascent ; we beheld him go up into heaven. He 
 is certainly there. And then, too, we are asics 
 
 ing for this gift in his name, as he told us to 
 
28 Lhe Musston of the Spirit. 
 
 ask. We will pray on. The promise must be 
 fulfilled.” 
 
 It may be also that they tried to imagine to 
 themselves how the Comforter would come. 
 Perhaps some of them who knew of the scenes 
 which had occurred at the baptism of their 
 Lord thought he would come in a bodily shape, 
 like a dove brooding over them, and thus visibly 
 abide among them. Others, mayhap, rose in 
 the fullness of their faith to the conception that 
 this was to be an inward gift, unaccompanied 
 by external signs ; a gift unseen by mortal eye, 
 but to be consciously felt in the very depths of 
 their spiritual being. But, whatever were their 
 thoughts, they still prayed on in anxious, yet 
 undoubting expectation of the coming of the 
 promised Comforter. 
 
 O what a-model is this for the Church in all 
 the ages! We, too, have the promise, not ut- 
 tered from memory, but right before our eyes 
 in the blessed book. We can put our finger 
 upon it and look up. There is no darkness or 
 obscurity about it. It is clear as the light of 
 heaven. It is sustained by the immutability 
 and omnipotence of the Son of God. There is 
 
 really no room for doubt or fear as to its truth 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 29 
 
 or as to its actual fulfillment. Then, too, we 
 have an advantage which they did not possess. 
 The promise to us is a ¢vied promise. But they 
 had no one to say to them, “I know what this 
 gift is; I have received it; pray on, you will 
 certainly receive it.” But we have the accumu- 
 lated testimony of centuries, and of countless 
 thousands of believers who have received this 
 gift and felt the power of the Holy Ghost in 
 every avenue of their being. The saints of 
 eighteen centuries bear witness to this truth. 
 
 2. This promise is universal, This was not 
 merely a gift for the apostles and their contem- 
 poraries, but for every clime and every age. 
 The prophecy of Joel had clearly settled this 
 point: “I will pour out my Spirit won all 
 flesh.” And the Apostle Peter, under the 
 plenary inspiration of the Comforter, after 
 quoting this promise, made of it the most un- 
 limited application. ‘“ The promise is to you,” 
 —all that were there gathered together—“ Jews, 
 devout men, from every nation under heaven ;” 
 and, more than this, “it is to your children "— 
 your descendants in all the future ages ; and, 
 more than this, “it is to all who are afar off ”— 
 to the Gentile world, so spoken of by the apos- 
 
30 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 tle in his letter to the Ephesians, (ii, Ly) 
 and more than this, it is “even to as many 
 as the Lord our God shall call.” Acts ii, 39. 
 No language could more clearly point out the 
 universality of the promise than this. It just 
 as certainly proclaims the promise to every 
 person, in every age, and clime, as if an angel 
 from heaven had personally addressed him, and 
 said, “The promise of the Holy Ghost is to 
 you ;’ or as if his name were written in pencil- 
 ings of light on the tablet of the sky, and under 
 it the assurance, “The promise of the Holy 
 Ghost is to you.” O then, child of God, grasp 
 the promise! It is yours in all its freeness, 
 richness, and fullness ; and it is yours zow. It 
 is yours every day, hour, and moment of your 
 history, and sooner shall the blue arch above 
 you shrivel into atoms, and the mighty earth 
 upon which you stand melt away, than this 
 promise shall fail. 
 
 3. Lhe Comforter ts promised as an abidin Sa 
 syft. How often I have thought of the time 
 when the promise of the Comforter first fell upon 
 the saddened hearts of the disciples. They might 
 have asked, “ Lord, how long will he abide with 
 us? Thou hast been with us only a little while, 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 31 
 
 and now ¢houw art going away. How long will 
 the other Comforter of whom thou hast spoken 
 abide with us?” And O, how must their hearts 
 have been cheered by the announcement, “ /fe 
 shall abtde with you forever.” Yes; forever! 
 There was to be no intermission of his presence, 
 of his gifts, of his grace or power, in the hearts 
 of true believers. No matter where they might 
 be, or what might be their circumstances or con- 
 ditions, believing, this gift would be theirs, and, 
 according to the promise, so has it been, and so 
 will it be until the end of time. This was glo- 
 riously realized in the first three centuries of the 
 history of the Church, and it has been realized 
 in every century since. It is his presence and 
 power which have kept the Church alive amid the 
 persecutions of-Pagan and of Papal Rome. His 
 presence abode with the martyred saints while 
 endungeoned, or exiled, or driven into the dens 
 and caves of the mountains, or hunted like beasts 
 of prey, or fighting with beasts at Ephesus and 
 Rome, or gored by wild bulls, or torn to pieces 
 by hungry lions and tigers, or burned at the 
 stake, or decapitated on the block ; every-where, 
 at all times, all along the ages, the Holy Ghost 
 has abode in the Church. He has never left - 
 
ntti ee 
 may, 
 
 a 
 
 32 The Mission of the Sprrit. 
 
 this redeemed world, and he never will until the 
 “Jast trump shall sound.” It is his presence 
 which has kept alive and brightly burning the 
 flames of divine truth and love in the hearts of 
 the Waldenses amid the everlasting snows and 
 ie ol the Alps; This inspired and empowered 
 Wiclif, Huss and Jerome, Luther, Melanchthon, 
 Zwingle, Farel, La Fevre, Calvin, Knox, and their 
 
 “followers ; and this, during the last century and 
 
 a quarter, girded the Wesleys, Whitefield, their 
 co-laborers and successors, so that they were 
 able to shake the whole civilized world, and to 
 be the instruments in commencing a revival, 
 the consummaion of which will be seen only 
 amid the bursting glories of the millennium. 
 
 4. The first grand fulfillment of the promise. 
 It was on the tenth day after they had seen their 
 Lord and Master “go into heaven ”’—‘ when 
 the day of Pentecost had fully come ”—that 
 they were again found assembled together in 
 the upper room. It was early in the morning, 
 how early we do not know. “ But it must have 
 been very early: for after they had prayed and 
 received the baptism, and all Jerusalem was 
 filled with the noise of what had occurred, Peter 
 reminded the multitude that it was only the 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 33 
 
 ‘third hour of the day, or nine o’clock in the 
 morning.” * “ They were all now with one ac- 
 cord in one place.” Although the promise had 
 been long delayed, still their faith did not waver ; 
 their courage was undaunted. It is not improb- 
 able that they had been looking forward to the day 
 of Pentecost as the time when this gift of power 
 was to be bestowed upon them. They may 
 have said one to another, “ Was not Pentecost 
 the time when the Lord descended upon Mount 
 Sinai, amid ‘thunderings and lightnings, the 
 voice of a trumpet and the sound of words,’ and 
 formally inaugurated the dispensation of the 
 law? And may not this anniversary of that 
 grand event be the chosen and ordained period 
 when the Holy Ghost will come down upon 
 Mount Zion, and inaugurate the new dispensa- 
 tion?” However this may be, there they were, 
 all of the disciples, one hundred and twenty in 
 number, not one absent. There was no dissen- 
 tient voice, no doubting Thomas, no trembling, 
 affrighted Peter, no weeping Mary, Heart beat 
 responsive to heart ; faith was linked to faith: 
 prayer was mingled with prayer; and all eyes 
 were lifted up to the hills whence they expected 
 
 * Tonguelof: Fire, “7p. *3'3. 
 
 ey 
 
34 The Mission of the Sprrit. 
 
 “the Comforter” would come, when “suddenly 
 there came a sound as of a rushing mighty 
 wind.” It was not wind, but a sound like the 
 rushing of the wind. It did not come in at the 
 __window, nor through the door, but it came right 
 “down from heaven.” The sound was not nat- 
 ural; it was preternatural. When God ap- 
 peared of old to Elijah, there was not only a 
 fire and an earthquake, but a tempest which 
 rent the rocks asunder, and made the whole 
 mountain tremble under its power. Now again 
 the sound of the “rushing mighty wind” her- 
 alds the approach of the Lord—the Holy Ghost. 
 They understood the sign, Awed, subdued, 
 overpowered, they fell upon their knees or upon 
 their faces, as Elijah had done, and then the 
 mighty baptism came 
 
 came thrilling and throb- 
 bing through every part of their being—hal- 
 lowing and inspiring them with his presence 
 and grace, emboldening them for their great 
 work, filling them with unutterable peace and 
 joy, and causing their tongues to speak the 
 praises of the Lord. 
 
 And now, with eyes kindled with celestial 
 fire, with faces all aglow with the inward rap- 
 ture of their souls, and their whole being pul- 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 35 
 
 sating with the new, divine life, they ventured 
 to look up, and “ John sees Peter’s head crowned 
 with fire, Peter sees James crowned with fire, 
 James sees Nathanael crowned with fire, Na- 
 thanael sees Mary crowned with fire, and round 
 and round the fire sits ‘on each of them.’ ” * 
 Thus, while they were anointed with the 
 Holy Ghost to be the priests of the new dispen- 
 sation, they were also crowned with coronals of 
 fire as the kings of the Lord our God. It was, 
 indeed, the befitting inauguration of a kingdom, 
 all of whose subjects were to be “kings and 
 priests.” It is well for us to pause a moment 
 at this point and notice that, vast and important 
 as was the work which was given them to do— 
 although the world was perishing all around 
 them—notwithstanding during those ten days, 
 while they were waiting and praying, thousands 
 of immortal beings went down into their graves, 
 and were ushered into eternal realities — yet, 
 they were not allowed to open their lips to 
 proclaim the Gospel until they had been “en- 
 dued with power from on high.” It would, in 
 fact, have been useless for them to attempt 
 this work without this baptism. They would 
 
 * Tongue of Fire, p. 34. 
 
36 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 not only have lacked the grand, essential quali- 
 fication for it, but their ministry would have 
 proved a failure without it. Zhe time was not_ 
 lost while they tarrve -d. Nor is that time ‘Jost. 
 “by t the minister or the Church which is spent 
 in pleading for the Holy Ghost. O how often 
 are both impatient to engage in labor for the 
 salvation of souls, for the overthrow of Satan's 
 kingdom, and, commencing without proper 
 qualifications, they are routed, discomfited, 
 mortified and discouraged! It will not do now, 
 any more than in the olden time, for Israel to 
 attack his enemies unless the ark of God is with 
 him ; but if the ark is with him, and he is fitted 
 to bear it, there will be “the shout of a king in 
 athe ycamp.,7O ive ministers of Jesus, go aa 
 forth to this work unless the baptism is upon 
 you! O ye followers of Christ, see well to it 
 that ye are anointed with this power! If the 
 whole Church, in its ministry and membership, 
 were thus, as the disciples were, waiting before 
 God day and night for this baptism, how soon 
 would it arise and shine! how soon would it be 
 lifted up to the platform of a blood-purchased 
 holiness, and thence would radiate the world 
 with its light, and shake it to its very center 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 37, 
 
 with its power! The immediate results of that 
 early pentecostal morning baptism have aston- 
 ished the world for nearly two thousand years, 
 while the outgoing influences from it have trav- 
 eled down all the centuries, and are felt now in 
 every part of the wide world. I need not re- 
 peat the immediate results of that baptism. 
 They are well known to all. Timid disciples— 
 one of whom, and he the chief, had denied his 
 _Lord, and the rest had fled in terror; who 
 after his crucifixion had abandoned all hope, 
 _ who had even doubted his resurrection when 
 proclaimed to them by the women—now came 
 forth boldly and preached Jesus and the resur- 
 rection, braving the Jewish Sanhedrim and the 
 whole power of the Roman empire; and their 
 first day’s preaching harvested three thousand 
 souls. 
 
 It was not many days after this, when perse- 
 cution began to rage against them, when the 
 council, swayed by mingled emotions of rage 
 and alarm, threatened them with imprisonment 
 and death if they persisted in preaching Jesus, 
 that another baptism of the Spirit came upon 
 them. The prayer which they offered upon 
 that occasion is remarkable, not for its length, 
 
38 The Mission of the Sprrit. 
 
 nor its learnedness, but for its simplicity and its 
 courageous faith. And when that prayer was 
 ended, the very place where they assembled 
 “was shaken, and they were all filled with the 
 Holy Ghost.” We are not to regard these as 
 the only baptisms which they received. They 
 were only grand specimens of the daily expe- 
 rience of the Church. And what was the daily 
 experience of the Church then may be the daily 
 experience of the Church now. Are we pray- 
 ing for it? Are we believing and holding fast 
 to the promise? Are we, even now, looking 
 up to the heavens and expecting his descent 
 upon us? Then he will come not placeing coro- 
 nals of fire upon our brows, not preceded by the 
 rushing mighty wind, not shaking the place 
 where we are praying, mayhap, but just as 
 really, just as fully, and just as gloriously 
 anointing us with his graces and his power. 
 
 ‘Come, Holy Ghost, for thee we call; 
 Spirit of burning, come!” 
 
 ‘ 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 39 
 
 CHAP PERS IIT, 
 
 THE GIFT OF THE COMFORTER THE EVIDENCE 
 OF CHRIST'S ASCENSION AND MEDIATION. 
 
 N the very midst of his labors and: toils the 
 Son of God declared, “ My Father worketh 
 hitherto, and I work.” John y, 7ives buieens 
 work upon the earth was completed when he 
 had offered himself a sacrifice for sin, and had 
 risen from the dead, and had given to his 
 Church her grand commission; then, in the 
 sight of them all, he was “taken up into heav- 
 en.” He had frequently declared unto them 
 that he “ must go away ; that it was ‘expedient 
 for them that he should go away.” John xvi, 7. 
 But he had also promised, If I go away I will 
 send you another Comforter, that he may abide 
 with you forever. (John xiv, 16; xvi, 7.) He had 
 also said unto them, when sorrow was filling 
 their hearts, “If I go not away, the Comforter 
 will not come unto you; but if I depart, Twill 
 send him unto you.’ John xvi, 7. The bestow- 
 ment of this gift, then, was conditioned upon his 
 
40 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 departure from earth to heaven. J/¢t was to be 
 his great ascenston and coronation gift. During 
 ‘the ages preceding his advent the Holy Ghost 
 had been given in a measure. He had inspired 
 the prophets ; he had moved them to write and 
 speak ; he had testified within them the “ suffer- 
 ings of Christ and the glory which was to fol- 
 low ;’ he had been imparted to the Baptist from 
 his birth; and yet all this was not that great 
 gift to the Church and the world which was to 
 be imparted after his ascension and glorification. 
 
 “The Holy Ghost was not yet [fully] given ; _ 
 
 because that Jesus was not glorified.” John 
 vu, 39. But now Jesus had gone away. They 
 had seen him, reversing the laws of nature, 
 ascending up toward heaven until a “ cloud had 
 received him out of their sight.” He was no 
 more with them in his bodily presence; but 
 they delzeved what he had told them: “I ascend 
 unto my Father, and your Father; and to my 
 God, and your God.” John xx, 17. How were 
 they to vow it? What evidence could they 
 receive which would demonstrate the fact that 
 he was “at the right hand of God exalted ?” 
 They no longer doubted his resurrection. The 
 many “infallible signs” which he had given 
 
Lhe Misston of the Spirit. 41 
 
 them of this had dissipated forever all their 
 doubts and fears. Now how could they kxow 
 that he was glorified? Christ himself had 
 given the sign: “If I go away, I will send you 
 another Comforter.” 
 
 Let us illustrate this. Suppose you have a 
 friend who is about to sail for India or China. 
 Before his departure you converse with him, 
 and he promises you, that if he shall arrive 
 safely in the country to which he goes, he will 
 write you a letter, and send you some of the ~ 
 peculiar productions of that country. The day 
 arrives for his departure, and amid tears and 
 farewells you watch the vessel until it disappears 
 in the dim distance. You then return home, 
 and wait in expectation of the promised letter 
 and the promised gift. A few weeks pass away, 
 and you begin to think the time is drawing 
 near for the fulfillment of the promise, and you 
 are on the anxious outlook for the mail carrier 
 and the express-man ; when, lo, on some bright 
 morning a letter is handed you, and you see at 
 a glance that the handwriting is taat of your 
 friend. What is the very first thought that 
 enters your mind as you see it addressed trom 
 the country whither your friend has gone? 
 
42 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 Why, you say, “No doubt he has arrived 
 safely ; he is certainly there.” And when, a few 
 hours later, the express-man arrives with a pack- 
 age containing the promised specimens, you are 
 confirmed in your belief, and there is no further 
 room for doubt. Now the disciples had seen 
 their Lord and Master go into heaven. They 
 stood gazing up into heaven as his chariot went 
 up, until the angel voices startled them, and 
 they turned to see them and listen to their 
 words of hope and cheer.. Then comes the 
 period of waiting, They were not told how long 
 they were to wait ; but the assurance was given 
 them that they should not wait long. Ve 
 shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost xot many 
 days hence.’ ‘Ne have seen how they waited, 
 and how they prayed, and how the promised 
 gift was bestowed. And after the first outburst 
 of their exuberant joy, what was the deep con- 
 viction, the undoubted assurance, which took 
 possession of their hearts? Must they not joy- 
 fully and triumphantly have said to each other, 
 “QO, He is ascended! He is glorified! He is 
 seated at the right hand of God the Father !” 
 And how boldly did Peter declare this in his 
 wonderful Pentecost sermon! “ Therefore being 
 
The Mission of the Sptrtt. 43 
 
 by the right hand of God exalted, and having re- 
 ceived of the Father the promise of the Holy 
 Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now 
 see and hear.” Acts ii, 33-36. With equal bold- 
 ness did he testify before the Jewish Sanhedrim. 
 “Him hath God exalted with his right hand 
 to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repent- 
 ance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And 
 we are his witnesses of these things; and so 
 is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given 
 foetaem: that obey, him; Acts ¥-31,:32. *iHete 
 then, is the grand demonstration to the Church 
 and the world of Christ’s exaltation and media- 
 tion. O, there is not a sinner whose dark 
 mind is illuminated with the light, and whose 
 unbelieving heart is convinced by the power of 
 the Holy Ghost, but who has an indubitable 
 evidence that Christ is “seated at the right 
 hand of God.” And there is not a Christian 
 who experiences the baptism of the Holy Ghost, 
 but who knows as well that Jesus is glorified as: 
 if he had seen him with his own eyes sitting 
 upon the eternal throne. So, when his peace 
 and comfort and joy are imparted to the soul 
 of the believer, he feels, he knows that he is ex- 
 alted at God’s right hand. Each repetition of 
 
44. The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 the baptism increases the assurance, until 
 “meridian evidence puts doubts to flight” 
 forever. 
 
 ‘* Enthroned is Jesus now 
 Upon his heavenly seat ; 
 The kingly crown is on his brow ; 
 
 The saints are at his feet.” 
 
 “ Enthroned on high, Almighty Lord, 
 The Holy Ghost send down ; 
 
 Fulfill in us thy faithful word, 
 And all thy mercies crown.” 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 45 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE FULL BESTOWMENT OF THE COMFORTER 
 CONDITIONED .-UPON ; THE DEPARTURE OF 
 CHRIST FROM THE WORLD. 
 
 ““T T is expedient for you,” said the Son of God, 
 
 “that I go away: for if I go not away, 
 the Comforter will not come unto you; but of T 
 depart, I will send him unto you.’ John xvi, 7. 
 No language could have made it clearer to the 
 minds of the disciples that, if the Comforter, who 
 was to abide with them forever, came, Christ must 
 depart from them. Why was this? Had not the 
 Holy Ghost been given to men before this ? And 
 if so, how was this new coming to differ from all 
 his former manifestations? There can be no 
 doubt whatever that the Spirit had been given 
 during each of the preceding dispensations ; and, 
 also, even during Christ’s sojourn with his dis- 
 ciples. Far back, in the very dawn of the patri- 
 
 archal dispensation, God had said, “ My Spirit * 
 
 shall not always strive with man.” Gen. vi, 3. 
 He must, then, have been given at that very 
 early period in order that he might strive with 
 
 ee 
 
46 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 man. Again, St. Peter says, “ Holy men of God 
 spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 
 2 Pet. i, 21.. Of John the Baptist it was Said; 
 “He shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even 
 from his mother’s womb.” Luke i, 1s. It was 
 said of Elizabeth that she “was filled with the 
 Holy Ghost.” Luke i, 41,67. The same is said 
 of Zacharias. The aged Simeon, the Evangelist 
 says, had “the Holy Ghost upon him.” And it 
 was revealed to him by the Holy Ghost that “he 
 should not see death, before he had seen the 
 Lord's Christ.” Luke ii, 25, 26. It was by the 
 Spirit, also, that he came into the temple. 
 (Luke ii, 27.) Mary herself received the Holy 
 Ghost, that she might become the mother of our 
 Lord. (Luke i, 35.) Our Saviour, speaking to his 
 disciples, says of the Spirit, “whom the world 
 cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither 
 knoweth him: but ye know him ; for he dzwedleth 
 wth you, and shall be in you.” John xiv, 17. 
 And yet, notwithstanding these frequent 
 references, it is expressly declared by the Evan- 
 gelist, “The Holy Ghost was not yet given ; be- 
 cause that Jesus was not yet glorified.” John vii, 
 39. How, then, are these statements to be rec- 
 onciled? The only solution of this difficulty 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 47 
 
 is that, until the ascension and glorification of 
 Christ, the Spirit was only partially and tem- 
 porarily given ; while since his exaltation to the 
 right hand of God he has been fully and con- 
 stantly poured forth. There were only certain 
 offices, which, previous to Christ’s exaltation, 
 the Spirit had exercised. He had striven with 
 the antediluvians. He had inspired the proph- 
 ets, and Mary, Elizabeth, Zachariah, Simeon, 
 Anna, and John the Baptist. In a measure, he 
 had dwelt with the disciples. But all will read- 
 ily perceive how limited and transient were his 
 gifts. His most glorious manifestation under 
 the Old Testament dispensation was as “the 
 
 b] 
 
 spirit of prophecy.” In this high and glorious 
 office he had opened the eyes of the prophets, 
 so that they could look down the vistas of the 
 ages, and see the rise and fall of empires, king- 
 doms, and states, and, especially, the coming 
 and glory of the kingdom of the Messiah. In- 
 spired by his presence and power, their souls 
 had been kindled into rapture, and made to 
 glow with ecstasies divine. They had been 
 transported beyond themselves, and, rapt in 
 the visions of God, they had uttered truths 
 
 which they could never have reasoned out or 
 
48 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 known ; had used words which they could not 
 have used ; and had poured forth the most mag- 
 nificent poetic effusions which have held the 
 ages enraptured and entranced. And yet this 
 gift was not a/ways upon them, it was not adzd- 
 zug. And when the Divine Afflatus departed 
 they were weak, and feeble, and ignorant as 
 other men, But for the time being, while the 
 Spirit was upon them, “They were,” says an 
 eloquent writer,* “a momentary incarnation—a 
 meteor, kindled at the eye, and blown on the 
 breath, of the Eternal.” To the ancient prophet, 
 then, the Holy Ghost was an occasional visitant, 
 mighty in his operations, and glorious in his 
 manifestations. Suddenly He came upon him, 
 and as suddenly departed. Sometimes return- 
 ing at different periods, and in other cases, 
 probably, only realized once in the whole life- 
 time of the man of God. Various, also, were 
 the means he employed in revealing himself to 
 
 the prophets, sometimes speaking to them in 
 
 dreams and visions of the night, when his con- 
 scious presence would make their hair to stand 
 up and their flesh to crawl. Then again, after 
 periods of fasting and prayer, on the banks of 
 
 * Gilfillan. 
 
 -_ 
 
 | 
 : 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 49 
 
 the Ulai, the Chebar, or the Euphrates. Thus, 
 as the apostle says, “at sundry times and in 
 divers manners God spake unto the fathers by 
 the prophets.” Heb. i, 1. But there is no evi- 
 dence whatever that he was given to the Church, 
 in these former dispensations, as he was given 
 at the day of Pentecost, or as he is now given 
 to believers. The prophets themselves were 
 made conscious that a brighter and more glo- 
 rious dispensation was to follow their own. 
 Hence, the frequency with which they speak of 
 “that day.” They saw the’ coming on of that 
 day ; they anxiously desired to see the day itself; 
 but they only saw it in the distant future. The 
 Prophet Joel speaks of this wonderful and uni- 
 versal outpouring of the Spirit as occurring 
 “in the last days.” -And- when the Apostle 
 Peter stood up on the-day in which the Church 
 received the mighty baptism, he said, “ This zs 
 that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel.” 
 It was, indeed, the grand fulfillment of the an- 
 cient prophecies, the blessed realization of the 
 Saviour’s promise. Now Jesus had departed 
 Now he was glorified at the right hand of God. 
 Now the Comforter had come, as it had been 
 
 foretold and fore-promised. And now, too, he 
 4 
 
50 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 had come to stay—to stay “until the redemption 
 of the purchased possession,” and until the final 
 “restitution of all things.” But he had come 
 to give, not always the power of working mira- 
 cles, or of speaking with tongues, but to be the 
 great enlightener, regenerator, and sanctifier of 
 the race. Now the Spirit is to be so in the 
 heart of the believer, that out of it should 
 “flow rivers of living water.” John vu, 38. 
 Calvin’s exposition of this promise is very fine. 
 He says, “Christ here teaches the abundant 
 fullness to be found in him, which will refresh us 
 to satiety. It is, indeed, a rather strong meta- 
 phor when rivers of living water are said to flow 
 out of the hearts of believers. Nevertheless, 
 the sense is by no means doubtful, namely, that 
 no spiritual blessing shall ever be wanting to 
 them that believe. Azvers, in the plural num- 
 ber, I understand to express the multiplied 
 graces of the Spirit which are necessary to the 
 spiritual life of the soul. In short, here is 
 promised to us the perpetuity of the gifts of the 
 Spirit, as well as their abundance. But we are 
 also admonished by this how small may be the 
 measure of our faith when the Spirit barely 
 distills upon us, drop by drop, that which might 
 
Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 51 
 
 flow like a river, if we would give the right 
 place to Christ ; that is, should our faith render 
 us capable of receiving him.” 
 
 But the question now arises, Why was it 
 necessary that Christ should depart in order to 
 the full bestowment of the Spirit? To this I 
 answer, first, It was essential in order that the 
 apostles and Christians in all ages might learn 
 to walk by fatth. Paul expressly declares, 
 “We walk by faith, not by sight.” 2 Cor. v, 7. 
 And they thus walked because God had given 
 unto them “the earnest of the Spirit.” 2 Cor. 
 v, 5. In view of this he sums up the whole ar- 
 gument by saying, ‘“ Wherefore, henceforth 
 know we no man after the flesh: yea, though 
 we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now 
 henceforth know we him no more.” 2 Cor. 
 v, 16. 
 
 Christ had been with them for three years. 
 He had called them his “brethren,” his “ friends.” 
 They had heard his voice, had seen him with 
 their own eyes; they had looked upon him, 
 and their hands had handled “the Word of life.” 
 1 Johni, 1. In all their doubts and difficulties 
 they had gone directly to him, and they were 
 not satisfied unless they were in his immediate 
 
oe lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 presence. And when he had spoken to them 
 of going away sorrow had filled their hearts. 
 We all know that upon the Mount of Trans- 
 figuration Peter had wanted to build three tab- 
 ernacles, so that their Master might abide with 
 them there.. Thus they were walking almost 
 wholly by szght, gazing with wondering eyes 
 upon the Saviour’s miracles, or listening with 
 admiration and awe to his unearthly teachings, 
 although failing often to understand their great 
 import. His visible and tangible presence 
 seemed to be more and more necessary to 
 them the longer he remained with them. 
 They had come, in some instances at least, to 
 regard that his actual presence was essential to 
 the performance of his mighty works. It was 
 so with both Mary and Martha. Much as they 
 loved him, cordially as they embraced him as 
 the promised Messiah, yet they evidently had this 
 idea when each of them said, “ Lord, if thou hadst 
 been ere my brother had not died.” John xi, 
 21, 32. Just as if his visible presence was es- 
 sential to the restoration of their brother. But 
 it was the design of Christ that the new dispen- 
 sation should not be sensuous but spiritual—not 
 one which should appeal to the eye, but one 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 53 
 
 which should engage the confidence and the 
 affections of the heart. Hence, after his resur- 
 rection, Christ said to the once doubting, but. 
 now overwhelmingly convinced, Thomas, “ Be- 
 cause thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: 
 blessed are they that have not seen, and yet 
 have believed.” John xx, 29.. So the Apostle 
 Peter says, “Whom having not seen, ye love; in 
 whom, though now ye see him not, yet believ- 
 ing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of 
 glory.” 1 Peter i, 8. But then, if they, in a 
 still higher and sublimer sense than Moses did, 
 were to “endure as seeing Him who is invisi- 
 ble,” they must be sustained by a faith which is 
 inspired by the Holy Spirit. That they might 
 “walk by faith and not by sight,” Jesus was 
 taken away from them, and that this faith might 
 be inspired and maintained the Spirit was given 
 to them. 
 
 2. His departure was essential not only to a 
 life of faith, but also that our love to him might 
 be spiritual and divine, and not fleshly and hiat- 
 man. Yhere was a tradition among the Jewish 
 people that Christ, when he came, would never 
 die. This is evident from their language to 
 him when he had spoken to them of his being 
 
54 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 “lifted up,” which they evidently understood, 
 as he intended they should understand him, 
 namely, as “signifying by what death he should 
 die.” ‘“ We have heard,” say they, “out of the 
 law that Christ abideth forever: and how say- 
 est thou, The Son of man must be lifted up ?” 
 John xii, 31-34. So when he spoke to his 
 disciples of his sufferings and death, Peter said, 
 “ Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto 
 thee.” Matt. xvi, 22. Such was their love for 
 his person, that any mention of his departure 
 from them filled them with amazement and 
 grief. Thus it is evident that their love for 
 him, while, doubtless, it was ardent and sincere, 
 yet was not as pure and spiritual as it was after 
 they received the Spirit. St. Augustine says, 
 “Tt seems to me that the disciples had been 
 occupied with the human form of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, and, being men, were controlled, 
 as it were, by human affection to man. But he 
 desired them rather to have a divine affection, 
 and to be made spiritual instead of carnal, 
 which a man does not become except by the 
 eift of the Holy Spirit. This, therefore, he 
 says, ‘I send to you a gift by which you may 
 be made spiritual, namely, the gift of the Holy 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 55 
 
 Spirit. You cannot become spiritual unless 
 you cease to be carnal. Now you will cease to 
 be carnal if the bodily form is withdrawn from 
 your eyes, that the image of God may be placed 
 in your hearts.’ For by this human form the 
 heart even of Peter was detained when he 
 feared that he whom he loved much would die ; 
 for he loved the Lord Jesus Christ as a man 
 loves man, as the carnal loves the carnal, not as 
 the spiritual loves true majesty.” 
 
 Let me suggest just here, that it has often 
 seemed to me to be a relic of this human love 
 when the expressions, ‘sweet Jesus,’ “ dear 
 Jesus,” and the like are made use of. Without 
 for a moment doubting the piety or the sincer- 
 ity of many of those who habitually make use 
 of such expressions in addressing Christ or 
 speaking of him, at the same time I would ex- 
 press a sincere doubt as to the propriety and the 
 profit of making use of them. The apostles of 
 our Lord never speak thus of him, nor is there 
 any evidence that the early Church employed this 
 language. The same, and even greater, objec- 
 tions lie against the use of all images of Christ, 
 or all attempts to form images of him in “the 
 chambers of imagery,” that we may humanly 
 
56 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 love and embrace him. This is one of the great 
 errors of the Romish Church, and perhaps the 
 very secret of her sensuous worship. On this 
 point Archdeacon Hare says,* “But true it is 
 that, while it is the glory of the Church of Rome 
 to have preserved the confession of Christ, the 
 Son of the living God, through so many ages, 
 notwithstanding the open assaults and insidious 
 snares of numberless forms of heresy, that 
 Church has ever beén especially apt to lose 
 sight of the spiritual and divine truth in the 
 outward human form. She has been unable to 
 recognize how indeed it was expedient for 
 Christ to go away. She has never been con- 
 tent unless she could get something present—a 
 vicar, images, outward works, actual sacrifices, 
 with priests to offer them up, real flesh and real 
 blood. She chose rather to defy the evidence 
 of the senses than not to have an object of 
 sense.” And Calvin in his Commentary on the 
 text, “It is expedient for you that I go away,” 
 etc., says, “Because we are carnal, nothing is 
 more difficult than to tear from our minds this 
 preposterous affection, by which we draw Christ 
 to us from heaven.” It is the sturdy, brawny 
 
 * Mission of the Comforter, p. 234. 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 57 
 
 faith of the soul which is more enlightened and 
 sanctified, which eliminates from it the earthly, 
 the groveling, and the human, and soars aloft 
 into the sublimer altitudes of love divine. It 
 is true that his human soul and his human 
 body ally him and endear him to our humanity, 
 but we are to know him, and to love him after 
 the flesh, no more. 
 
 3. His departure was necessary in order that 
 
 his disciples and his Church might be “led ato. 
 
 all truth.’ It was his own promise that “ When 
 He, the Spirit of truth, shall come, he shall guide 
 you into all truth "—tdaoav tijy dAnjdetar, all the 
 truth. “ He shall not speak of himself; but what- 
 soever he shall hear, that shall he pee John 
 xvi, 13. “He shall testify of me.” John xv, 26. 
 When Christ was with them he told them that 
 he had yet many things to say to them, but that 
 they “could not bear them then.” John xvi, 12. 
 And we all know that while Christ was with them 
 they were very slow of heart to understand what 
 he said to them. There seemed to be a mist, a 
 vail upon their minds. All that he said to them 
 about his death, his resurrection and ascension, 
 they did not seem to comprehend. But the 
 promise was, that the Spirit should guide them 
 
58 Lhe Mtssion of the Spirit. 
 
 into all the truth. J understand by this that 
 they should be guided by him, not into all scien- 
 tific, or purely speculative truth, but the truth 
 as itis in Jesus—“ the truth as it relates to man’s 
 present and eternal well-being.” Hence we see 
 that, as soon as the Spirit was given to them, 
 they seem to have had a new revelation of 
 Christ. He was no longer to them merely 
 “the man Christ Jesus,” “ Jesus of Nazareth,” 
 or a man of poverty, sorrow, and grief; but 
 “exalted to the right hand of God,” “a Prince 
 and a Saviour,” “The Son of God,’ “God over 
 all, blessed forever!” “ He was no longer a mere 
 teacher and example, but transfigured into their 
 God and Saviour and Redeemer.” * They had, 
 as we have seen, the clearest evidence of his 
 resurrection ; they now had the most undoubt- 
 ing faith in his Godhead. “The history of the 
 disciples, of the light they received, and of what 
 they did after the ascension and the outpouring 
 of the Holy Ghost, explains and confirms our 
 Lord’s words. None but he who had been 
 crucified, had risen, and been glorified—the Son 
 of God, who sat at the right hand of the Father— 
 could be preached by the apostles as the 
 
 * Hare, p. 55. 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 59 
 
 Saviour of the whole world, and as the Lord of 
 a new eternal and spiritual kingdom of heaven. 
 None but the Son of God, who had overcome 
 death, and returned in triumph to the Father, 
 could the Paraclete proclaim to the world as the 
 fulfiller of all righteousness, as the conqueror 
 of the prince of this world, and as him unbelief 
 in whom is sin.’* So Augustine says: “It was 
 necessary that the servant form should be re- 
 moved from their eyes, because they thought 
 this alone, which they saw, to be Christ. Hence 
 his word: ‘If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, 
 because I go unto, the Father ; for my Father is 
 greater than I ; that is, It is necessary for me to 
 go to the Father, because, while ye thus behold 
 me ye judge, from what ye see; that I am less 
 than the Father, and, occupied with my created 
 and assumed nature, ye do not perceive the 
 equality which I have with the Father. Hence 
 also the language, ‘Touch me not; for I am 
 not yet ascended to my Father.’ For touch 
 makes an end, as it were, to conception. And 
 he was unwilling that what was seen should be 
 thought the whole, that the heart directed to 
 him should pause with the visible. By ascend- 
 
 * Locke. 
 
60 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 ing to the Father he was to appear as equal to 
 the Father.” 
 
 Peter, and the other disciples, had caught 
 occasional glimpses of this great truth. They 
 had stood in awe and amazement at his wonder- 
 ful power, when he had commanded the winds 
 and the sea, and they had obeyed him. But 
 even then they had asked, “ What manner of 
 man is this?” Matt. viii, 27. When the miracu- 
 lous draught of fishes had been secured, Peter 
 had fallen down at the feet of his Master, over- 
 whelmed by a sense of his wisdom and _ his 
 power, and had said, “ Depart from me; for I 
 am a sinful man, O Lord.” Luke v, 8. And 
 then, too, when Jesus asked his disciples, 
 “Whom say ye that I am?” Peter, answering 
 for himself and the other disciples, said, “ Thou 
 art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Matt. 
 xvi, 16. This answer was given, however, under 
 the influence of a direct revelation from God: 
 “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: for flesh 
 and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but 
 my Father which is in heaven.” Matt. xvi, 17. 
 But not always was the mind of Peter so clear 
 in its conceptions of the character of his Master. 
 If he had continued to believe this, would he 
 
The Mission of the Spirtt. 61 
 
 have denied his Lord “with oaths and curses ?” 
 No, indeed. But when he saw him standing a 
 prisoner at the bar, and the whole power of the 
 Jewish hierarchy threatening his death, his faith 
 gave way under the pressure, and he fell fear- 
 fully into sin. True, his great brawny, noble 
 heart was broken, and he wept bitterly when 
 his Lord looked upon him ; but then, again, his 
 death seems to have extinguished all hope 
 within his breast. There is great significance 
 in his saying to the other disciples, “I goa 
 fishing,” and in their answer, “ We also go with 
 thee.” John xxi, 3. They knew not how they 
 were to be employed, and hence they returned 
 to their former means of obtaining a livelihood. 
 
 But after the descent of the Holy Ghost upon 
 them, they never doubted the divine character 
 of their Lord. With the utmost boldness they 
 preached “ Jesus and the resurrection” in the 
 very face of imprisonment, torture, and death. 
 Besides this, the whole character of the suffer- 
 ings and death, the resurrection and ascension, 
 as well as the way of salvation by faith in his 
 blood, seems to have burst at once upon their 
 minds. The complete fulfillment of ancient 
 prophecies and promises, the grand antetypal 
 
62 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 and substantial completemenit of the sacrifices 
 of the law in Christ, all were brought out clearly 
 to their minds. The whole Levitical priesthood 
 and economy, and all the writings of the old 
 prophets, were luminous, and all aglow, under 
 the influence of the mighty baptism of the Spirit 
 which was uponthem. Thus the entire rounds 
 of Christian doctrine, recorded in the Gospels 
 and the Epistles, and embraced by all true be- 
 
 ‘lievers for nearly two thousand years, loomed 
 
 up “with all its rays complete” before their 
 astonished minds. 
 
 5. His departure was essential to the universal 
 
 Spread of the Gospel. It was hardly possible for 
 
 the Gospel to travel out into the regions beyond 
 Judea while our Lord remained upon the earth. 
 His presence with his disciples localized all their 
 ideas of his operations and of his kingdom, and 
 confined their labors to the narrow limits of the 
 Holy Land. 'His command to the seventy had, 
 indeed, positively restricted their labors to the 
 Jews alone. But his post-resurrection command 
 was extended to “all the world,” and “to every 
 creature.” Mark xvi,15. This command was based 
 upon, and derived ail its authority and emphasis 
 from, the all-power which was given him in heaven 
 
The Mission of the Spirtt. 63 
 
 and earth. (Matt. xxviii, 18.) And in harmony 
 with the command was the promise, “Lo, I am 
 with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” 
 Matt. xxviii, 20. And the further one, “ Ye shall 
 receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come 
 upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both 
 in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and 
 unto the uttermost part of the earth.’ Acts i, 8. 
 
 ‘Not till he was taken away from them did 
 they learn to feel that He was with them not 
 merely in Judea, but in every part of the world. 
 So long as he was living upon earth he might 
 give light to the country round, like a beacon 
 upon a hill. But it was only from his sun-like 
 throne in the heavens that he could pour light 
 over every quarter of the globe. It was only 
 from thence that his voice could go forth 
 throughout all the earth, and his words unto the 
 end of the world. It was only when he was 
 lifted up that he could draw all men to his feet. 
 Then alone could the foundations of his Church 
 be laid so deep and wide that all nations could 
 be gathered into it.”* 
 
 To the same effect Bishop Andrews says, 
 “As the disciples were to be sent abroad into 
 
 * Hare, p. 46, 
 
O4 The Massion of the Spirit. 
 
 all coasts, to be scattered all over the earth to 
 preach the Gospel, and not to stay together still 
 in one place, Christ’s corporal. presence would 
 have stood them in small stead. He could have 
 been resident but in one place, to have com- 
 forted some one of them, St. James at Jerusa- 
 lem: as for John at Ephesus, or Thomas in 
 India, or Peter at Babylon—as good for them in 
 heaven as in earth; allone. The Spirit which 
 was to succeed was much more fit for men dis- 
 persed. He could be, and was present with 
 them all, and with every one by himself, as 
 filling the compass of the whole world.”* There 
 is peculiar significance here in the promise, 
 “Lo, Iam with you alway, even unto the end 
 of the world.” In his bodily presence this. 
 could not have been verified ; he could not have 
 been with each of them always and every-where ; 
 but by his Spirit the promise has been faithfully 
 and gloriously fulfilled to the joy and comfort 
 of all the laborers in his vineyard. Wherever 
 his servants have gone preaching the Gospel, 
 whether among “ Barbarians, Scythians, bond or 
 free ;” amid hyperborean regions of eternal ice 
 and snow, or amid the burning heats of tropical 
 
 * Sermons on sending the Holy Ghost. 
 
Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 65 
 
 regions, every-where his presence has been 
 realized through the agency of the Eternal 
 Spirit. His departure, and the consequent com- 
 ing of the Comforter, were essential, also, to 
 break down the middle wall of partition between 
 the Jews and Gentiles. Thus the mighty bar- 
 riers of the ages were removed. So strong had 
 been the prejudices of the disciples, that it re- 
 quired a miraculous interposition, and a special 
 command of the Spirit to Peter, to induce him 
 to go to the house of Cornelius. Nor was it 
 until he had preached unto the family and 
 friends of the Centurion, and the Spirit had 
 fallen upon them as upon the disciples at the 
 beginning, that the truth burst fully upon his 
 mind that redemption was provided for them. 
 So the Church at Jerusalem, still encased in the 
 bigoted prejudices of Judaism, contended with 
 Peter because he had gone to men uncircum- 
 cised, and had eaten with them. (Acts xi, 3.) 
 But when he had “rehearsed the matter from 
 the beginning,” and had told them how “the 
 Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the be- 
 ginning,... they held their peace, and glorified 
 God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles 
 
 granted repentance unto life.” Acts xi, 4, 15, 18. 
 5 
 
66 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 It was thus, and by the persecution which scat- 
 tered the members of the Jerusalem Church, that 
 the sacred fire, which had been pent up in the 
 Holy City and in Judea, now overleaped these 
 narrow boundaries, and spread in every direc- 
 tion, until the world’s cold heart began to melt 
 under its power, and its darkness fled before 
 the brilliancy of its radiance. Hence we see 
 that the departure of Christ was essential to the 
 full bestowment of his Spirit, and the universal 
 extension of his kingdom. 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 67 
 
 CLUA TH Reeve 
 
 THE GIFT OF THE COMFORTER—WHAT IT 
 COMPRISES. 
 
 ESUS is glorified. The Holy Ghost is giv- 
 ] en. Let us, then, fix our gaze upon the 
 character and importance of the gift which we 
 have received. What, then, does this gift com- 
 prise? As we look at the gift, and endeavor to 
 appreciate its richness, its freeness and full- 
 ness—its infinite variety of blessings—we are, 
 we must be, overwhelmed with its greatness. 
 And yet how slow have we been to appreciate 
 its value and importance! How often has it 
 been undesired and unsought ; yea, how often 
 has it been despised, resisted, and refused? O, 
 wonder of wonders, that such a gift should be 
 offered to us on the simple condition of asking 
 for it, and yet that we are so slow to ask, and 
 - so unwilling to receive it! But now let us en- 
 deavor to understand the gift so freely promised, 
 so freely bestowed. The blessed Comforter, the 
 ascension gift of Jesus, comes to us himself, 
 
68 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 bringing the richest gifts. The early Church 
 was flooded with these gifts—both in their ex- 
 traordinary and ordinary forms. The apostle 
 enumerates them as follows: “ Now there are 
 diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit... . But 
 the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every 
 man to profit withal. For to one is given by 
 the Spirit the word of wisdom ; to another the 
 word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to 
 another faith by the same Spirit; to anoth- 
 er the gifts of healing by the same Spirit ; to 
 another the working of miracles; to another 
 prophecy; to another discerning of spirits ; to 
 another divers kinds of tongues; to anoth- 
 er the interpretation of tongues: but all these 
 worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, 
 dividing to every man severally as he will.” 
 1 Cor. xii, 4, 7-11. So also in verses 28-30: 
 “And God hath set some in the church, first 
 apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teach- 
 ers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, 
 helps, governments, diversities of tongues.” 
 But he adds, “ Are all apostles? are all prophets? 
 are all teachers? are all workers of miracles ? 
 have all the gifts of healing ? do all speak with 
 tongues?” In Rom. xii, 6-8, we have anoth- 
 
Lhe Mission of the Spirit. is) 
 
 other division of these gifts: “ Having then gifts 
 differing according to the grace that is given to 
 us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy accord- 
 ing to the proportion of faith; or ministry, let 
 us wait on our ministering; or he that teach- 
 eth, on teaching; or he that exhorteth, on ex- 
 hortation.” So in Eph. iv, 11, 12, “And he 
 gave some, apostles ; and some, prophets; and 
 some, evangelists ; and some, pastors and teach- 
 ers ; for the perfecting of the: saints, for the 
 work of the ministry, for the edifying of the 
 body of Christ.” 
 
 The following classification of these gifts has 
 been made, and as it serves so clearly to im- 
 press them upon the mind, I quote it entire: 
 
 I, 
 
 TaConiodi ss. 
 CLAss I—w pév. |CLAss Il—éyépw 0?.|CLAss IlI—érépw 6 
 
 1. Abyo¢ codiac, I. wiotic, Faith, I. yéve yAwoodbr, 
 Word of wisdom.|2. Xapiouatalayarwov| Divers hinds of 
 2. Ady0¢ yrdoewc, Gifts of healing. tongues, — 
 Word of knowl-|3. tvepyhuata dvvé-|o. épunvetla yAwoouwr, 
 edge, Hewr, Working of| J, uter pretation of 
 miracles. longues. 
 4. Tpodnteia, Proph- 
 ecy. 
 
 5. dvaxpioere rvevud- 
 tTwv, Discerning 
 
 of spirits, 
 
70 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 Di 
 
 TeCOlS ies OF 
 
 I. GrdoT0A0i, Apostles. 
 
 2. mpogdntat, Prophets. (See 4 in Class II.) 
 
 3. Oiddoxahot, Teachers. (Including 1 and 2 in Class I, and 
 perhaps) 
 
 4. dvveuec, Miracles. (See 3 in Class II.) 
 
 I. Yapiopuata iaudtwr, Gifts of healing. (See 2 of Class II.) 
 
 2. avTAnwerc, Helps. 
 
 3. KuBepvfoeic, Governments. 
 
 4. yévy yAwoowr, Diversities of tongues. (See 1 of Class 3.) * 
 
 But nearly all, if not all these gifts were extra- 
 ordinary in their character, and limited as to 
 the period of their bestowment. Nor did every 
 member of the early Church enjoy a// these 
 gifts. All were not even then “apostles,” all 
 were not prophets, nor teachers, nor workers of 
 miracles. There are, however, gifts of the 
 Spirit which have been denominated “ordinary,” 
 that is, which it is the privilege of every child of 
 God in every age to enjoy. And, also, there 
 are gifts which this redeemed world will possess 
 until the consummation of all things. Such are 
 his gifts of enlightenment and conviction to the 
 world, of regeneration, the witness of adoption, 
 and the entire sanctification of the believer. 
 
 ° Howson and Conybeare, Life and Epistles of St. Paul, 
 vol. i., pp., 427, 428. Note. 
 
The Mission of the Sptrit. 71 
 
 Such are also the fruits of his indwelling and 
 his grace—‘‘ Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, 
 gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temper- 
 ance.” Gal. v, 22, 23. The first of these is the 
 common heritage of humanity, and the second 
 is the common heritage of the people of God; 
 they have been enjoyed by the Church from 
 the day of Pentecost until now, and they will 
 continue in it until the end of time. Nor has 
 the Church, notwithstanding the apparent limit- 
 ations of them, been entirely destitute of the 
 extraordinary gifts of the Spirit. I would not 
 be considered as referring with any degree of 
 favor to the mania of the Irvingites of England, 
 who claimed to speak in “unknown tongues.” 
 Indeed, they were “unknown.” They neither 
 knew them themselves, nor did any living man 
 know them. Their utterances were nothing 
 but unintelligible jargon. Nor do I regard as 
 worthy of serious notice the claims of the 
 Elders of the Mormgn Church to speak with 
 tongues, and to perform miraculous works. 
 Whatever of gibberish these poor deluded crea- 
 tures indulge in, it certainly is not the speaking 
 with tongues which characterized the apostolic 
 age. Nor have they ever been able to substan- 
 
Tee Lhe Mission of the Spirit 
 
 tiate a claim to the working of a genuine 
 miracle. 
 
 I do not say that the power to work miracles 
 will zever again be given to the Church, There 
 is certainly no authority for believing or saying 
 this, All that we know on this subject is the 
 historical fact that the power to work miracles 
 seems to have been limited to apostolic days. 
 But, as a certain writer well says, “ Miracles 
 were as the toiling of the great bell of the uni- 
 verse to call the attention of mankind to the serv- 
 ice. When the service has commenced the bell 
 stops ; but it may ring out again when the sery- 
 ice is over, and the congregation is going home.” 
 How do we know but that the Holy Ghost may 
 yet endow his ministers with this wondrous 
 power? What I would now, however, particu- 
 larly refer to is the fact that there have been, 
 in the history of the Church, instances of ex. 
 traordinary faith, produced by the Holy Spirit, 
 which have been marked by extraordinary mani- 
 festations and results. There are instances in 
 the life of Bramwell, of Pastor John Bort and 
 his wife of the Department of Dordogna, in 
 France, of Father Zeller of Bruggen, in the 
 Grand Duchy of Baden, and of Miiller, in Bris- 
 
 ‘ 
 4 
 | 
 d 
 . 
 
The Mission of the Sprrit. 73 
 
 tol, England, which are supernatural and super- 
 human. I ask, Is not the faith exhibited by 
 these persons extraordinary ? Have a// Chris- 
 tians had this gift? Do a Christians have 
 it? Furthermore, is it not the work of the 
 Spirit to produce such a faith? And when 
 such a faith has been, and is exercised, is not 
 God pleased to own and honor it? Yet, again, 
 are we not warranted to expect that in the last 
 days there will be more extraordinary manifesta- 
 tions of the Spirit than any which the Church 
 or the world have ever before witnessed? I 
 think so. What marvels or miracles may ac- 
 company such visitations I cannot tell. One 
 thing, howeyer, is certain, that the Church 
 scarcely yet conceives the wondrous power 
 which she may realize and wield for her grand 
 triumph in the world. Ay, and we have 
 scarcely more than tasted of the fullness of the 
 baptism of the Spirit—of his love, his light, his 
 power, his peace, and his joy. O that our eyes 
 may be opened to see the fullness of the promise ! 
 O that our hearts may be opened to embrace 
 the promises, and to know experimentally their 
 fullness and their power ! 
 
 There can be no doubt, then, that, long as this 
 
74 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 dispensation lasts, the ungodly will have the 
 illumination, the reproof, the conviction and the 
 call of the Spirit unconditionally bestowed 
 through the mediation of Jesus Christ, and 
 that the believer will have the renewing power, 
 the conscious witness of his forgiveness, his 
 justification and adoption, and the sealing and 
 sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit. Ay, 
 more: that he shall be endued with his power 
 to witness for Christ, and be filled with the 
 peace and joy and hope which he imparts. 
 Never will these gifts be withdrawn from the 
 Church or the world ; but we may expect that 
 they will be enjoyed in greater fullness and in 
 richer abundance as we approach the glories of 
 the millennial period. 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 75 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE COMFORTER THE SOURCE OF THE INSPI- 
 RATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 
 
 F the Bible is indeed the word of God, as 
 
 it purports to be, then it is the prod- 
 
 uct of the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. If 
 it is not the word of God, then it is the word 
 of man, and, as such, has no claim upon the 
 credence or confidence of intelligent beings. 
 And more than this; the writers of these 
 books uniformly and unequivocally declare that 
 they wrote and spoke at the dictate and under 
 the inspiration of God. If, therefore, it could 
 be ascertained that they were either deceivers 
 or deceived, then their writings would be noth- 
 ing but a tissue of falsehood and deceit. I can 
 see no alternative. The writers of these books 
 were what they professed to be—God-inspired 
 men—or they were vile impostors, and deserve 
 the reprobation of mankind, Here are sixty- 
 six books, written during the progress of six- 
 teen centuries by men of various conditions 
 
76 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 and circumstances—from the humble shepherd 
 to the great lawgiver, from the peasant to 
 the monarch, from the unlettered fisherman to 
 the learned and logical Paul—and yetsalt 
 agree in their teaching of the character and will of 
 God, the redemption of man, and a future state. 
 
 Here, in this wondrous book, are history and 
 poetry, narrative and description, prophecy and 
 promise, at times rising to the most exalted 
 strains of eloquence unequaled in all the liter- 
 ature of this world, and then again falling to the 
 simple record of genealogies, the familiar par-_ 
 able, or the unvarnished narrative ; but all so 
 wonderfully blended, so harmoniously wrought, 
 that, like an inimitable mosaic, they exhibit only 
 one plan or design. Of no human productions 
 can this be said, 
 
 Then, again, there never has been a book 
 which has been called to pass through such 
 an ordeal ‘as this. It has been in the fiery 
 crucible of criticism, investigation, and_perse- 
 cution for centuries gone by. The most acute 
 minds, some animated by bitterest prejudice and 
 hate, others sincere and honest inquirers after 
 truth, have with the utmost scrutiny examined 
 
 cvery book, every chapter, every verse, every 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 77 
 
 sentence, and every word of this book. The 
 history of nations, their arts and sciences, 
 their customs and manners, their topography, 
 hieroglyphics, entablatures, coins, their philo- 
 sophics and their poetry, the exhumation of 
 
 buried cities—all have been ransacked, or un- 
 
 raveled, or deciphered, to confirm or disprove its 
 records. Every new development of science 
 has been, and still is, seized upon with the 
 utmost avidity to ascertain if some fact or 
 principle could not be evoked from it which would 
 undermine or disprove the statements of this 
 book. And yet, while not professing to teach 
 science, and while adapting its references to it 
 to the actual conditions of the times in which its 
 books were written, nothing has yet been settled 
 upon or fixed in science, in all its developments, 
 during all the procession of the centuries, which 
 in any sense conflicts with it. It is well known 
 that in the early history of the sciences of 
 astronomy, chemistry, and, later, of geology, 
 men have supposed that they had found unmis- 
 takable evidences of the falsity of the records 
 of the Bible; but subsequent investigation has 
 demonstrated how utterly futile all such hasty 
 conclusions and premature announcements 
 
78 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 were. And thus it must ever continue to be. 
 The reason for this is obvious. The author and 
 inspirer of this book is the same Almighty Spirit 
 who erst moved upon the face of the mighty 
 deep, bringing order out of disorder, and who 
 garnished the heavens with beauty and glory. 
 Look now at the fact, 
 
 1. Lhat this book claims to be enspired,—* All 
 Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is 
 profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, 
 for instruction in righteousness.” 2 Tim. li, 16. 
 “For the prophecy came not in old time by the 
 will of man: but holy men of God spake as they 
 were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2 Pet. i, 21, 
 “Searching what, or what manner of time the 
 Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, 
 when it testified beforehand the sufferings of 
 Christ, and the glory that should follow.” 
 I Pet. i, 11. All those prophecies then in the 
 Old Testament Scriptures which speak of the 
 sufferings of Christ, and the glory following those 
 sufferings, were testified to and written under 
 the influence of the Spirit of Christ which was 
 in the ancient prophets. Our Saviour teaches 
 us that David was inspired when he wrote 
 Psalm cx: “How then doth David in spirit 
 
The Mission of the Sprrtt. 79 
 
 [mark, by the Holy Ghost, that is, by his in- 
 spiration] call him [Christ] Lord?” Matt. xxii, 43. 
 St. Paul affirms the inspiration of Isaiah when 
 he says, “ Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias 
 the prophet unto our fathers.” Acts xxvill, 25. 
 He also clearly announces the inspiration of 
 David the Psalmist in Psalm xcv: ‘“ Wherefore as 
 the Holy Ghost saith.” Heb. iii, 7. The Lord 
 Jesus Christ puts the seal of his own acknowl- 
 edgment and authority upon Moses, the prophets 
 and the Psalms. (Luke xxiv, 44.) The apostles 
 of our Lord were promised the same Spirit: 
 “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, 
 whom the Father will send in my name, he 
 shall teach you all things, and bring all things 
 to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said 
 unto you.” John xiv, 26. 
 
 Well does a recent writer say, “ But whose 
 design is this, which appears not in the sep- 
 arate books, but in the collection taken as a 
 whole? The agents were severed from each 
 other, and wrote as their respective terms of 
 mind and historical circumstances determined. 
 Where, then, was the presiding mind which 
 planned the whole, and, in qualifying and em- 
 ploying the chosen agents, divided to every 
 
80 ihe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 man severally as he would ? By the voice of 
 the Church as a body, by the ever-accumulat- 
 ing consent of her several members, an un- 
 changing answer comes down from age to age. 
 The Spirit of the Lord is here. 
 
 “Yes, the Spirit was to testify of Jesus, 
 and the fourfold Gospel is his permanent tes- 
 timony.” * 
 
 2. The writers of these books in nearly every 
 instance directly announce that they wrote and 
 spoke under this inspiration, ’ Their predictions 
 and statements are not made in their own 
 names, or by their own authority, but it is uni- 
 formly declared as “Thus saith the Lord.” 
 We. have seen the authoritative sanction which 
 Christ and his apostles have given to Moses, 
 David, and the prophets, and the especial dec- 
 laration of the inspiration of David and Isaiah. 
 Let us see now how they speak of themselves 
 and their writings. Moses frequently said to 
 the children of Israel, “ These are the words of 
 the Lord your God.” And the law which he 
 brought down from Sinai he declared was “writ- 
 ten with the finger of God.” Deut. ix, 10, Jere- 
 
 * Bernard’s Progress of Doctrine in the New Testament, 
 PP: 72; 73- 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 81 
 
 miah says that “the word of the Lord came to 
 nim.” “Then the Lord put forth his hand, and 
 touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, 
 Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.” 
 Jer. i, 2,9. Ezekiel says, “The word: of the 
 Lord came expressly unto” him. Ezek. i, 3. 
 Again, nearly every chapter begins as follows: 
 “The word of the Lord came unto me.” Dan- 
 iel attributes his power to interpret dreams, and 
 the visions which he had of the future, to the 
 wisdom and power of God. (Dan. ii, 19-23, 27, 
 28.) Nebuchadnezzar was made aware of this 
 fact, and acknowledged it in his proclamation. 
 (Dan. iv, 9.) The wife of Belshazzar evidently 
 understood the same. (Dan. v, 11.) Daniel also 
 assures us that be was able to understand the 
 import of some of his own prophetical utter- 
 ances and of his wonderful visions only by the 
 intervention of an angel commissioned by God 
 for this purpose. (Dan. viii, 16; ix, 21, 22; x, 1 I.) 
 
 Hosea says, “ The word of the Lord came” 
 to him, (Hos. i, 1,) and all his announcements 
 are made as from the Lord. It is the same 
 with Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Na- 
 hum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Zechariah, and 
 
 Malachi. 
 6 
 
82 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 The proof of the inspiration of the New Tes- 
 tament Scriptures is equally clear and positive. 
 inthe “first place) the:Lord, jesus’ Christ vex. 
 pressly promised the Holy Ghost to his apos- 
 tles for the purpose of enabling them to re- 
 member all he had said to them, and of 
 guiding them into all truth. “But the Com- 
 forter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Fa- 
 ther will send in my name, he shall teach you 
 all things, and bring all things to your remem- 
 brance, .whatsoever I have said unto you.” 
 John xiv, 26. 
 
 “ But when the Comforter is come, whom I 
 will send unto you from the Father, even the 
 Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Fa- 
 ther, he shall testify of me: and ye also shall 
 bear witness, because ye have been with me 
 from the beginning.” John xv, 26, 27. ‘“ How- 
 beit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he 
 will guide you into all [the] truth: ...and he 
 will show you things to come. He shall glo- 
 rify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall 
 show it unto you.” John xvi, 13, 14. The evi- 
 dence upon this point is so clear and explicit 
 that argument is unneeded. In addition to 
 this, the apostles and evangelists themselves 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 83 
 
 claim to have written and spoken under the 
 direct inspiration of the Holy Ghost. On the 
 day of Pentecost the promised baptism of the 
 Holy Ghost came upon the disciples, and, as 
 the result of that baptism, they “began to speak 
 with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them 
 utterance.” Acts ii, 4. And what did they thus 
 speak? Those who heard them bore testimony 
 as follows: “We do hear them speak in our 
 tongues the wonderful works of God.” Acts 
 li, 11. The Apostle Paul in a number of in- 
 stances claims this inspiration for himself and 
 his co-apostles. “But we speak the wisdom of 
 God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, 
 which God ordained before the world unto our-———~ 
 glory.” “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, 
 neither have entered into the heart of man, the 
 things which God hath prepared for them that 
 love him. But God hath revealed them unto 
 us by his spirit: .. . Now we have received, not 
 the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is 
 of God ; that we might know the things that 
 are freely given to us of God. Which things 
 also we speak, not in the words which man’s 
 wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost 
 teacheth ; comparing spiritual things with spir- 
 
84 Lhe Misston of the Spirit. 
 
 itual”’—that is, explaining spiritual things in 
 Spirimual words: -(1 Cor ,tO, 1O,.12-anR.) 
 
 In his Epistle to the Galatians he says, “I 
 certify you, brethren, that the Gospel which 
 was preached by me was not after man. For I 
 neither received it of man, neither was I taught 
 it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.” Gal. 
 1, 11, 12. “ But when it pleased God to reveal 
 his Son in me, that I might preach him among the 
 heathen?” .Galy.1,.1'55°16,, “Once more“ li-aay 
 man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, 
 let him acknowledge the things which I write 
 unto you are the commandments of the Lord.” 
 1 Cor. xiv, 37. It is needless to quote further, al- 
 though, as Dr. Dwight says, “In near two hun- 
 dred different passages, in one manner and an- 
 other, St. Paul asserts explicitly the inspiration 
 of himself and his companions in the Gospel.” + 
 But not only,so. The apostles claim that the 
 Gospel which they preached is “the Gospel of 
 God,’ “the Gospel of Christ,” “the power of 
 
 ’ 
 
 God unto salvation ;’ that where it is -be- 
 lieved, “it is the savor of life unto life,’ and 
 where it is rejected, “it is the savor of death 
 unto death ;” and, finally, that “if any man, 
 
 * Dr. Macknight. t Theology, wol. ii, ‘p. ra8: 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 85 
 
 or if any angel, preach another Gospel, let him 
 be accursed.” Then the whole New Testa- 
 ment canon is closed by these words of solemn 
 warning and threatening: “If any man shall 
 add unto these words, God shall add unto him 
 the plagues that are written in this book: and 
 if any man shall take away from the words of 
 the book of this prophecy, God shall take away 
 his part out of the book of life, and out of the 
 holy city, and from the things which are writ- 
 ten in this book.” Rev. xxii, 18, 109. 
 Furthermore, in confirmation of that Gospel 
 which they preached, miracles, signs, and won- 
 ders were wrought by God through them. But 
 would God work miracles to attest false or 
 spurious doctrines? Yea, is it to be supposed 
 that he would work miracles to support a merely 
 human opinion? Was not the very design of 
 his working these miracles to confirm the word 
 spoken by the apostles, and to show to those 
 who heard them that it was, indeéd, his own 
 word? Is not the very idea that he would 
 work miracles to support a falsehood blasphe- 
 mous ? And if the apostles were zof inspired 
 of God to write and speak as they did, then 
 they were deceivers, and their utterances were 
 
86 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 false. Let us hear what they say on this sub- 
 ject: “And they went forth and preached 
 every-where ; the Lord working with them, 
 and confirming the word with signs [miracles] 
 following.” Mark xvi, 20. 
 
 So St. Paul says: “ How shall we escape, if 
 we neglect so great salvation ; which at the first 
 began to be spoken by the Lord, and was con- 
 firmed unto us by those that heard him ; God 
 also bearing them witness, both with signs and 
 wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of 
 the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?” 
 Heb. u, 3, 4. It is scarcely necessary to add 
 that these truths and asseverations in reference 
 to the source whence they were derived were 
 uttered in the very midst of the severest per- 
 secutions, privations, and perils ; and, finally, 
 they sealed them with their own blood, thus 
 giving the clearest and the highest evidence 
 which they were capable of giving of their 
 sincerity, their truthfulness, and their title to 
 OiiterLeacice, 
 
 3. With equal clearness do the writers of the 
 word of God claim that not only the swdstance 
 of what they wrote was revealed unto them, but 
 also that the very words in which they originally 
 
 (Ps 
 a, 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 87 
 
 wrote these books were also directly from God. 
 This position, of course, does not cover the 
 blunders or biases of translators, the carelessness 
 and mistakes of copyists, or the fallibility and 
 weakness of interpreters ; but it does cover all 
 that ‘holy men of old,” whether prophets, apos- 
 tles, or evangelists, “wrote and spoke.” While 
 it comes not within the province of this volume 
 to enter largely into the discussion of this ques- 
 tion, yet I may be permitted to present the two 
 leading views held by the Christian world on 
 this subject. The first I will speak of is that 
 which regards this inspiration as plenary. It 1s 
 thus presented by an able commentator of the 
 present day: “The inspiration of . the sacred 
 writers I believe to have consisted in the full- 
 ness of the influence of the Holy Spirit, espe- 
 cially raising them to, and enabling them for, |\ 
 their work, zz a manner which distinguishes 
 them from all other writers in the world, and 
 their work from all other works. The men 
 were full of the Holy Ghost ; the books are the 
 pouring out of that fullness through the men, 
 the conservation of the treasure in earthen ves- 
 sels. The treasure is ours in all its richness ; 
 but it is ours, as only it can be ours, in the im- 
 
88 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 perfections of human speech, in the limitations 
 of human thought, in the variety incident at first 
 to individual character, and then to manifold 
 transcription and the lapse of ages.”* On the 
 other hand, many very able writers have held 
 that this inspiration is verbal, or, in other words, 
 that not only were the writers of the Bible so 
 inspired by the Holy Ghost that the sruths 
 which they wrote or spoke were entirely free 
 from all admixture of error, but that the very 
 words in which these truths are uttered were 
 also inspired. This harmonizes entirely with 
 the position which I have here assumed. The 
 objectors to this say that, if this is so, then we 
 should have precisely the same style, the same 
 forms of expression, the same narratives, and 
 the same statements of the same facts. All, how- 
 ever, will agree that the doctrine, the narrative, 
 the fact is zvwly stated—so stated that there is 
 not only perfect harmony among the inspired 
 writers, but an infallible presentation of the 
 truth of God. Of this there can be no doubt in 
 the mind of any one who believes at all in the 
 inspiration of the Sacred Scriptures. But those 
 who make the objection referred to seem to 
 
 * Alford. Prolegomena, vol. i, pay, 
 
 ® 
 
The Misston of the Spirit. 89 
 
 overlook the fact that in God’s word, as well as 
 in God's works, there is perfect harmony amid 
 great diversity. The Spirit of the Lord has 
 taken the minds of men as they were, with all 
 their peculiarities, their weaknesses, their limi- 
 tations of knowledge, and their surroundings of 
 country, clime, language, manners, and customs, 
 and has put his own words into their mouths 
 or into their minds, and has spoken through 
 them in view of all these circumstances, and 
 yet so that nothing written or uttered by them 
 is, or can be, untrue. The ten commandments, 
 or words written by God upon the tables of 
 stone, are directly and distinctly his own words. 
 How constantly Moses told the children of 
 Israel that what he communicated to them from 
 God was exactly as God commanded him! How 
 careful he was to impress upon their minds that 
 he was not toadd unto those words, or diminish 
 from them, under severest penalties. (Deut. iv, 2.) 
 To quote all the places where this language is 
 employed would be to transcribe a large part of 
 the Pentateuch. So true is this, in fact, that ifthe 
 words in which Moses spake to the people were 
 not the words of God, he is plainly liable to the 
 charge of gross imposture. The verbal inspira- 
 
90 The Mission of the Spirtt. 
 
 tion of David’s Psalms is witnessed to by Christ 
 and his apostles: “ For David himself said by 
 the Holy Ghost, The Lord said to my Lord.” 
 Mark xii, 36. “Men and brethren, this scrip- 
 ture must needs have been fulfilled, which the 
 Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake.” Acts 
 1, 16. “Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, 
 To-day if ye will hear,” etc. (Psa. xcv, 7.) Heb. 
 iil, 7. Isaiah opens his sublime prophecies by 
 calling upon the heavens and the earth to hear, 
 for the Lord hath spoken. (Isa. i, 2.) When 
 Jeremiah hesitated to obey the divine command, 
 saying, “ Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: 
 for I amachild.” “Then the Lord put forth his 
 hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord 
 said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in 
 thy mouth.” Jer. i, 6, 9. Over and over again 
 God charged Ezekiel, saying, “ Thou shalt hear 
 the word from my mouth, and shalt warn the 
 people from me.” And in almost every chapter 
 he directly attributes all he says to the “ word of 
 the Lord which came to him.” 
 
 It is needless to quote further from the Old 
 Testament scriptures, as all the writers ac- 
 knowledge directly and indirectly the same 
 thing. And what the writers of the Old Testa- 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. — Ql 
 
 ment declare of themselves, the writers of the 
 New Testament accord to them. “God, who 
 at sundry times and in divers manners spake 
 in time past unto the fathers by the prophets.” 
 Heb. i, 1. “Holy men of God spake as they 
 were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2 Pet. 1, 21. 
 The same verbal inspiration is claimed by the 
 apostles. ‘Which things also we speak, not in 
 the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but 
 which the Holy Ghost teacheth.” These script- 
 ures, I think, sufficiently prove the position 
 which I have taken. And I may add that all 
 those objections which Rationalists and others 
 urge against the position, derived from the lan- 
 guage of St. Paul in his first Epistle to the Co- 
 rinthians, in the sixth and seventh chapters, 
 and also from his directions to Timothy to 
 bring his “cloak which he left at Troas with 
 Carpus, and his books and parchments,” may be 
 urged with equal strength against the plenary 
 inspiration of the apostle. The answers to these 
 have been so frequently given that I need not 
 attempt a reply here. I will only add the lan- 
 guage of one of the most forcible writers of the 
 present day, who, at the close of three arti- 
 cles on this subject, says, “ May all Christian 
 
92 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 scholarship accept the decision of modern phi- 
 lology, of -the laws of language, of the sancti- 
 fied instincts of the faithful, of the historic> 
 Church, of the Scriptures themselves, and, with 
 the angel of the Apocalypse, ever declare that 
 ‘these are the true words of God!’”* 
 
 * Rey. G. Haven, Methodist Quarterly Review, on Divine 
 Element in Inspiration, Jan., April, July, 1868. 
 
The Mission of the Sprit. 93 
 
 Cres ECR Ven 
 
 THE COMFORTER CONVINCING THE WORLD OF 
 SIN — THE SPIRIT OF BONDAGE. 
 
 NE of the most important announcements 
 
 made by Christ as to the coming of the 
 Comforter was this: “ And when He is come, 
 he will reprove [or convince] the world of sin, 
 and of righteousness, and of judgment. Of sin, 
 because théy believe not on me: of righteous- 
 ness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me 
 no more; of judgment, because the prince of 
 this world is judged.” John xvi, 8-11.. This 
 announcement is important, because of the extent 
 of the operations of the Comforter. “ He shall 
 reprove [convince] the world.” It is also im- 
 portant if the character of his operations is care- 
 fully regarded. He shall convince the world “ of 
 sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.” The 
 word édéyyeiv, which our translators render. 
 “reprove,” has a much deeper meaning. “ It is \ 
 better rendered convince; but still this does 
 not express the double sense which is mani- | 
 
94 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 festly here intended, of a convincing unto salva- 
 tion, and a convicting unto condemnation ; “re- 
 prove’ is far too weak, conveying merely the idea 
 of an objective rebuke; whereas the original 
 word reaches into the heart, and works sub- 
 jectively in both the above-mentioned ways.” * 
 It was not necessary that the Comforter should 
 come to reprove the world of sin. “The words 
 of men, the thoughts of men, the eloquence of 
 men, would have been sufficient to do this. 
 Every body who in any age has lived a holy life, 
 or in any way been better than his neighbors, 
 has done this. Even an unholy man may re- 
 prove sin. Poetry, in comedy and satire, had 
 reproved the world of sin. Philosophy had re- 
 proved the world of sin, and its reproofs were 
 severer and more clamorous, but vainer than 
 ever, when ,the Spirit of God began his great 
 work.” = But the Comforter came to convince 
 the world of sin, and in doing this he struck at 
 the very root of all sin, namely, unbelief. “Of sin, 
 because they believe not in me.” This, indeed, 
 is the great condemning sin of the world. In 
 view of the great provisions of the Gospel, no 
 
 * Vide Alford, zx Zoco. 
 + Hare, Mission of the Comforter, pp. 62, 63. 
 
The Mission of the Spiret. 95 
 
 man is condemned solely for being a sinner, or 
 even for being a great sinner ; but because of 
 his not believingly accepting Christ as his 
 Saviour. So, upon the other hand, no man is 
 saved by his virtue, honesty, good works, holy 
 life. He must believe in Christ, or he will come 
 under the condemnation of the Spirit. The 
 plan of God for making men good, pure, and 
 holy, differs from all the ways and means of 
 man’s devising. Men see that sin exists in 
 themselves and others. Not only so, they re- 
 prove sin ; they despise, they hate it ; they even 
 loathe themselves on account of it. But how 
 do they go about to remedy it? All their efforts 
 are merely directed against the symptoms of the 
 disease. If they can only succeed in allaying 
 or in mitigating these they rest content. -But 
 have they succeeded in even doing this? Still, 
 after all their efforts, the fever rages with un- 
 checked severity—still the inflammation spreads 
 —-still death is hovering near. Or, they have 
 tried to purify the streams of corruption ever 
 issuing from the corrupt fountain of the human 
 heart. They have cast into them one remedy 
 after another, but still they have remained cor- 
 rupt. Then they have vainly tried to dry up 
 
96 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 those streams. And every expedient which 
 the human mind could conceive has been em- 
 ployed to this end. But still the streams flow 
 on as from an exhaustless fountain. Failing to 
 purify or to dry up these streams, the effort has 
 been made to dam them up—to hold them 
 within certain limits, or to restrict them within 
 fixed boundaries. To this end the whole juris- 
 prudence of the world has been directed. Codes 
 of law have been multiplied without number. 
 Statutes have been enacted to cover every possi- 
 ble case of human sin and guilt; and all of the 
 dreadful majesty of the law-makers, of judges, 
 and executioners, of pains and penalties, of fines 
 and imprisonments, and even of the death- 
 penalty, executed ofttimes with the most horrid 
 barbarities ; and yet, while many have ‘been 
 restrained from the outward and overt act of 
 which alone the law can take cognizance, multi- 
 tudes have still gone on in the ways of wicked- 
 ness. The pent-up streams have burst forth, 
 breaking down the barriers which had restrained 
 them, and spreading every-where, in their fearful 
 Sweep, ruin and desolation. Or, they have en- 
 deavored to make good fruit grow upon a corrupt 
 tree ; to make grapes grow upon the thorn-bush, 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 97 
 
 or figs upon the thistle. Such have been the 
 weary and unsuccessful efforts of the world 
 during the by-gone centuries. Nor have men 
 yet abandoned the vain attempt. Still men 
 look upon sin as an accident, as a misfortune, 
 as the result of unfavorable surroundings—of 
 birth, food, climate, or education, and they are 
 plying their remedies accordingly. 
 
 But not so works the Comforter. He strikes 
 at the very root and seat of the disease at once. 
 He comes to cleanse the fountain, that its 
 streams may be both pure and sweet; he 
 comes to make the tree good, that its branches 
 may be laden with ripe and luscious fruits. 
 To save the world from sin he strikes at the 
 very source of all sin—unbelief. Now the work 
 of the Comforter in the heart of the unregen- 
 erate man, first of all, is to convince him of zs 
 need of Christ. That man has not believed that 
 he is in need of such a Saviour is evident. 
 He has not believed that his condition is so 
 fearful, so perilous, and so alarming as to make 
 it necessary for him to come to Christ. Asa 
 consequence of this he has made no effort to 
 secure an interest in the blood of the Lamb of 
 God, and hence has remained with all the 
 
 Lod 
 
 ‘ 
 
98 The Misston of the Spirit. 
 
 weight of his unpardoned sins upon his soul, and 
 with the terrible vengeance of God overhanging 
 his unsheltered head. But when the Comforter 
 comes to that one, he so reveals his condition to 
 him that he sees, he /fee/s, his lost and undone 
 state, and hence he is made deeply conscious 
 of his need of Christ—of an all-sufficient, al- 
 mighty, divine Christ. And in all the long 
 catalogue of his sins now unrolled before his 
 eyes he sees none so dark, so aggravated, and 
 so condemning, as that of his willful rejection of 
 Jesus Christ. Now the Comforter becomes to 
 him “the Spirit of bondage unto fear.’ He 
 beholds himself held in a bondage the most 
 abject, and bowed under a burden too intolera- 
 ble to be borne; hence he cries out, “O wretched 
 man that I am! Who shall deliver me from 
 the body of, this death?” Or, like Bunyan’s 
 Pilgrim, he is bound under a burden which 
 presses him to the earth, and he seeks and 
 sighs for deliverance. At once he is also con- 
 vinced “of righteousness.” Not of his own, for 
 
 he has none. All his boasted “righteousnesses” 
 
 now seem to him only as “ filthy rags.” What 
 he wants, what he is convinced he must have, 
 is a spotless righteousness in which to appear 
 
 ! 
 : 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 99 
 
 before God. That righteousness he sees he 
 cannot work out for himself He has labored 
 at the loom for many a year for this purpose, 
 but the garment, whatever it may be, which he 
 has wrought out is not tke garment which a 
 holy God requires. The Comforter now pre- 
 sents Christ before him as “ The Lord, our 
 
 aa 
 
 righteousness.” He shows to him how he 
 demonstrated his own righteousness by going 
 to the Father; how, while the world crucified 
 him as a malefactor, God.the Father has hon- 
 ored and declared him to be his Son with 
 power by the resurrection from the dead, and 
 had “exalted him to his own right hand, far 
 above all principality, and power, and every 
 name that is named.” There is also now re- 
 vealed to him the way, the plan, of God’s right- 
 eousness through the atoning sacrifice of Cal- 
 vary, and that it is only through the blood and 
 righteousness of Christ that it is possible for 
 nim to be constituted righteous in the sight 
 of a holy God. And further, the means by 
 which this righteousness may be obtained are 
 made to appear. That it is not by doizg this 
 or that, but by defeving on the Lord Jesus 
 Christ that the dying sinner comes into the 
 
[00 The Mission of the Spirtt. 
 
 possession of this blood-purchased righteous- 
 ness. “The righteousness which is of faith 
 speaketh on this wise, 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 ; that if thou shalt confess with thy 
 mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in 
 thine heart that God hath raised him from the 
 dead, thou shalt be saved.” Rom. x, 6-9. 
 Another part of the work of the Comforter is 
 to convince the world of “judgment,” — “ of 
 judgment, because the prince of this world is 
 judged.” This does not refer primarily to the 
 final judgment, as is generally supposed. This 
 is a judgment which is daily and hourly being 
 rendered. It is the conviction which the Spirit 
 of God produces in the human soul that the 
 judgment of this world of God’s character, of 
 Christ's atoning sacrifice, of sin and its de- 
 served punishment, of righteousness and _ its 
 absolute necessity, is all wrong, is diametrically 
 _opposed to God’s judgment, and is condemred 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 101 
 
 both by his divine law and the economy of his 
 grace. This judgment of an ungodly world is 
 formed and exercised under the power and in- 
 duence. of the: Prince of :Darkness, :It- is he 
 who “blinded the minds of them which believe 
 not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, | 
 who is the image of God, should shine unto 
 them.” 2 Cor. iv, 4.. They are not always. con- 
 scious of this power which is exercised upon 
 them ; ay, even in many instances they deny 
 its existence ; but the Comforter will convince 
 them of the fearful delusion under which they 
 have been laboring, and of the awful bondage 
 in which they have been held. For instance, 
 under the influence of “the prince of this 
 world” they have regarded sin as a trifling 
 thing ; they have looked upon the service of 
 God as a gloomy and miserable drudgery ; they 
 have laughed at God’s threatened judgments, 
 and trifled with the terrors of his law; they 
 have imagined that they could live in sin and 
 die in sin, and yet obtain at last everlasting life. 
 Thus they have been shut up in unbelief, and 
 thus, too, they are prejudged and precondemned. 
 For “he that believeth not zs condemned al- 
 ready, because he hath not believed in the 
 
102 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 name of the only begotten Son of God.” Joha 
 ii, 18. And so the Prince of this World is 
 judged and condemned already, in premonition 
 of his final and everlasting condemnation at the 
 second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ Then 
 he shall go out no more to deceive the nations. 
 Then he shall be “cast into the lake of fire,” 
 and ‘‘be tormented day and night for ever and 
 ever.” Rev. xx, 10. 
 
 But let it be remembered by every one that 
 what the Comforter does in the human soul is 
 to convince it of these things. It is not prom- 
 ised that he shall produce great feeling or deep 
 emotion, but simply convince of sin, of righteous- 
 ness, and of judgment. This conviction is fre- 
 quently accompanied by these deep emotions, 
 and sometimes they are alarming and over- 
 whelming. But this is not always the case. 
 All that the divine economy provides for, and 
 that is enough, is to produce in the mind 
 such a conviction of sin as that it will feel its 
 need of Christ so as to make application to him 
 for salvation, and believe upon him for its re- 
 ception and enjoyment. Some persons who 
 are truly convinced of sin are greatly troubled 
 because they do not feel as they think they 
 
The Mission of the Sptrtt. 103 
 
 should, or as they have seen others feel. This 
 is a great mistake. If man is truly convinced 
 of his sin, of his condemnation, of his need of 
 Christ, and of his exposure to the wrath of God, 
 this is all that is necessary to produce in him a 
 most earnest desire for salvation, and to call 
 forth from him the most determined and perse- 
 vering efforts for its enjoyment. 
 
 By the influence of the Comforter every hu- 
 man soul, in every place and age of the world, 
 has been made conscious of sin to a greater or 
 less extent, and with more or less clearness. 
 It is in view of this that sacrifices have bled all 
 along the ages, and among all nations, and men 
 have undertaken pilgrimages, practiced pen- 
 ances, lacerated their bodies, tortured their 
 limbs, and even devoted their offspring or them- 
 selves to death, to be rid of this conscious bur- 
 den. The Prophet Micah gathers up into one 
 piercing wail the universal outcry of a sin- 
 burdened humanity in its desire to be delivered 
 from sin and its fearful condemnation. ‘“ Where- 
 with shall I come before the Lord, and bow 
 myself before the high God? shall I come 
 before him with burnt-offerings, with calves of a 
 year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thou- 
 
104 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 sands of rams, or with ten- thousands of rivers 
 of oil? shall I give my first-born for my trans- 
 gression, the fruit of my body for the sin of 
 my soul?” Micah vi, 6, 7. This consciousness 
 of sin and guilt often becomes a burden from 
 which the sinner groans to be delivered. This 
 has been realized in thousands of instances. 
 Often, under the preaching of the word, by 
 some providence, by the sudden awakening of 
 the conscience, in dreams of the night, by a 
 single word spoken by a Christian friend, or 
 even by a little child, or by a recalling of ser- 
 mons, exhortations, vows, and promises—in an 
 instant the sins of a life-time have been made 
 to appear before the eye of the sinner, and he 
 has been made to confront the terrible conse- 
 quences of his guilt. Then a sense of bondage 
 to fear, of a heavy burden, has come upon the 
 soul; then fearful promonitions of a coming 
 vengeance are realized; then the fountain of 
 tears is unsealed; and then the cry goes up 
 from the burdened heart, ‘‘What must I do to 
 be saved ?” | 
 
 It has been often remarked of late that con- 
 viction of sin has not seemed to be so deep or 
 SO overpowering as it was in former years. One 
 
 ee ee i 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 105 
 
 reason among others that has been assigned for 
 this is that the masses of those who attend 
 upon our ministrations have been religiously 
 trained, and are consequently familiar with the 
 truths of the Gospel, so that they do not pro- 
 duce that impression which they would if those 
 truths were new or unknown. This I regard 
 as a very unsatisfactory answer. Is it not rath- 
 er true that the pulpits of our land have failed 
 to proclaim clearly and unhesitatingly the ter- 
 rors of God’s law? Have not many good min- 
 isters, men of undoubted piety, been restrained 
 from doing this for fear of offending “ears po- 
 lite?” Has there not been, is there not ow, 
 a practical unbelief, a practical universalism, 
 prevalent among the ministry and membership 
 of our Churches? Have not the thunders of 
 Sinai been hushed, and its lightnings vailed? 
 It is, indeed, very pleasant to speak of the melt- 
 ing strains of Calvary, or to dwell upon the 
 heavenly mansions, the jasper walls, and the 
 gates of ‘pearl. But, historically as well as 
 experimentally, Mount Sinai comes before 
 Mount Calvary. The Comforter not only con- 
 vinces man of the fact and the existence of sin, 
 but also of its damning character. And when 
 
106 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 God’s ministers have uttered these truths as 
 they are in Jesus, his divine power has always 
 accompanied the truth, and sealed it upon hu- 
 man hearts and consciences. We have been 
 cowed down by the derisive cry of the godless 
 and unbelieving world against preaching the 
 fiery terrors of the law, and cowardly and pusil- 
 Janimously we have yielded to its demand upon 
 us to “prophesy smooth things.” Weare expe- 
 riencing the bitter fruits of this in an emascu- 
 lated Christianity—a_ pale, sickly, powerless 
 thing. Let the ministry of our land, then, and 
 of the whole world, follow the teachings of the 
 Comforter in his divine word, and his convic- 
 tions in their hearts, and let them, “ knowing 
 the terrors of the Lord, persuade men ;” and 
 not only will many more be persuaded to be- 
 come Christians, but they will also go out from 
 our sanctuaries in greater numbers, crying out, 
 “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” * 
 
 * On this whole subject read Hare on the Mission of the 
 Comforter, 
 
The Mission of the Sprrit. 107 
 
 CHA PUR VITE 
 THE COMFORTER AS THE REGENERATOR. 
 
 HE law of Regeneration, or of the new 
 
 birth, is absolute in the kingdom of God. 
 “Except a man be born again, he cannot— 
 ov dvvarai—see the kingdom of God.” John 
 iii, 5. No language could more clearly express 
 the deep, the tremendous necessity of this work. 
 Now if all that is meant by this work is the 
 sprinkling of a few drops of water upon the 
 brow, or even a submergence into “the floods 
 
 b] 
 
 of great waters,’ or if man, by the mere exer- 
 ercise of his volitional powers, could accomplish 
 what it requires or imports, then we might ex- 
 clude the necessity of adivine Almighty agency. 
 But if we carefully look at what this require- 
 ment is, we shall see that no other power can 
 accomplish it. See what is required. A man 
 “must be born again,” literally born from above 
 —from heaven—from God. This is further ex- 
 pressed by the Saviour in verse 5, when he says, 
 “Except a man be born of water and of the 
 
108 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 Spirit” —of water as the outward and visible 
 sign, and of the Spirit, as the divine, efficient 
 agent— “he cannot enter into the kingdom of 
 God.” 
 
 We shall be readily convinced of the great- 
 ness of this work, and of the necessity of a divine 
 agent for its performance, if we look carefully 
 at the language which the word of God employs 
 in describing it. It is called a “ quickening.” 
 Eph. ui, 1. A being made alive from the dead. 
 It is called a translation from the kingdom of 
 darkness into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. 
 (Col. i, 13.) It is called a new creation, in 
 which old things have passed away, and all 
 things have become new. (2 Cor. V;-L%) Ves 
 frequently spoken of as a change from sin to 
 holiness, from bondage to liberty, from darkness 
 to light, and from death to life. N Ow, a work 
 so great and so momentous as this is certainly 
 beyond the power of men or angels to perform. 
 Hence the word of God uniformly ascribes 
 this work to the Spirit. (John iii, 5 ; Tit. iii, 5.) 
 In other places it is ascribed to the Father, and 
 in others still to the Son. But nowhere in the 
 word of God is this work ascribed to man, 
 or declared to be within his power to do, 
 
 | 
 . 
 
The Mission of the Sprrit. 109 
 
 Nowhere is it even hinted at that it can be done 
 by baptism alone. 
 
 When we bring our children to the altars of 
 our churches to receive the baptismal dew upon 
 their brows, it is not that any change can be 
 effected in their character by this act. But it 
 is to acknowledge that our offspring inherit the 
 rich benefits of the redemptional work of 
 Christ, and that they are, and of right ought 
 to be, the children of God. Baptism does not 
 make or constitute our children children of 
 God. They are already the children of God in 
 Christ Jesus before baptism. And while it is 
 the duty of parents to recognize these existing 
 relations by this solemn and impressive rite, 
 yet the condition and relation of the child 
 toward God and heaven are just the same be- 
 fore baptism as after it. The child, subsequent 
 to baptism, doubtless sustains a different rela- 
 tion to the visible Church, and the parents have 
 acknowledged the obligations which rest upon 
 them to give him a religious training; but 
 otherwise no change whatever is produced. If 
 children and adults can be saved, or regenerated, 
 by the baptism of water alone, and if without 
 
 regeneration they cannot enter into the king- 
 
110 The Mission of the Spirtt. 
 
 dom of God, but must forever perish, then the 
 theory and practice of compulsory baptism, as 
 held by the Romish Church, have great show 
 of reason and humanity in it. 
 
 But this work none but God can perform. “If,” 
 says a most earnest writer,* “it were only a little 
 mending, a little patching, a little turning over 
 of a new leaf, then man might do this.” But 
 
 when it isa creation, a translation, a transforma-_ 
 
 tion, a resurrection, God. must do. zt. The cause 
 must always be adequate to the production of 
 the effect. And where, I ask, has this moral, 
 this spiritual transformation ever occurred with- 
 out the direct almighty agency of the Eternal 
 Spirit? But by his power, countless multitudes 
 have been thus regenerated and _ transformed. 
 The instances are too numerous, indeed, to 
 allow any more than a reference to them. They 
 have been occurring all through the ages ; and, 
 blessed be God! they are now daily occurring. 
 The character of the work wrought in many, 
 very many instances, as to its reality and genu- 
 ineness and blessed results, cannot be doubted 
 by any honest mind. The work wrought has 
 been evidently not the work of man, but of 
 * Ryle. 
 
 : 
 | 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. II 
 
 God. Truly has Mr. Wesley said, “ Nothing 
 but that power which made a world can make a 
 Christian.” Indeed, this work is only paralleled 
 by the work of creation. “If any man be in 
 Christ, he is a new creature ’—-a new creation. 
 2 Cor. v,17. “God,who commanded the light 
 to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our 
 hearts.” 2 Cor. iv, 6. What wonders has the 
 Comforter wrought in the regeneration of human 
 souls! Men who have been guilty of nearly 
 every sin—bold blasphemers, relentless perse- 
 cutors, licentious, covetous, extortioners, men 
 sunken to the lowest depths of degradation and 
 infamy—have been renewed, purified, and ‘saved ; 
 have lived and died in the enjoyment of God’s 
 favor ; and have exemplified in life and death 
 the sweetness, the purity, and the power of 
 saving grace. It was so in the early history of 
 the Church; it is so now. Look at the mem- 
 bers of the Corinthian Church. After the 
 apostle had enumerated nearly every crime in 
 the catalogue, he says: “ And such were some 
 of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, 
 but ye are justified in the name of the Lord 
 Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Cor. 
 vi, I1. So with the members of the Ephesian 
 
12 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 Church; they had “walked according to the 
 course of this world, according to the prince of 
 the power of the air.” Eph. ii, 2, They had 
 been “dead in trespasses and in sin;” they 
 were “children of wrath even as others.” But 
 they had been “quickened,” “raised up, and 
 made to sit together in heavenly places ”—liter- 
 ally, in the heavenlies—“in Christ Jesus ;” they 
 were “made nigh by the blood of Christ,” and 
 “built upon the foundation of the apostles and 
 prophets,” and were growing up “unto a holy 
 temple.<in~ the “Lord. Hpi: ti, 6, 113, 20 nied 
 The same thing was true of the Church at 
 Colosse. Its members had been guilty of “ for- 
 nication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil 
 concupiscence.” Col. iii, 5. But in their new 
 state the apostle writes to them: “ And you, 
 being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision 
 of your flesh, hath he quickened together with 
 him, having forgiven you all trespasses; blot- 
 ting out the handwriting of ordinances that was 
 against us, which was contrary to us, and took 
 it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.” Col. li, 
 13,14. They were now “risen with Christ ;” 
 they had “put on the new man,” and were 
 “the elect of God, holy and beloved.” Col. iii, 1, 
 
 a 
 
The Mission of the Sprit. 113 
 
 iii, I, 10,12. The Thessalonians had been wor- 
 shipers of “dumb idols,” and had practiced the 
 abominable rites of that worship ; but they had 
 been turned from them “to serve the living and 
 the true God.” 1 Thess. i, 9. Their piety was 
 eminent. They “were ensamples to all that 
 believed in Macedonia and Achaia.” Their 
 “faith,” also, “grew exceedingly, and the 
 charity of every one of (them) you all toward 
 each other aboundeth.” 2 Thess. i, 3. And 
 these miracles of grace have been repeated all 
 along the ages. It is no argument against 
 these statements that many who have professed 
 to be Christians are not what they ought to 
 be, and furnish no evidence whatever of any 
 change in their character and life. All this is 
 readily admitted ; and yet the fact remains undis- 
 puted that there ave many who, although their 
 previous course was one of sin and shame, are 
 now living blameless and harmless, in all the 
 various conditions and relations of life. Now 
 what has effected this change ? Certainly it 
 is not philosophy —it is not the adoption of 
 any mere system of ethics—it is not the result 
 of the self-determining power of the will—it is 
 
 not a development—for that would only have 
 8 
 
[14 The Mussion of the Spirit. 
 
 been from bad to worse; it is not any condition 
 of the natural. We must therefore conclude 
 when such cases occur, as, blessed be God! 
 they frequently do, that this is the work of | 
 -God--that it is the result of the mighty opera- 
 tion of the Holy Ghost. 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 115 
 
 GrAT DE Re is 
 
 THE COMFORTER AS THE WITNESS-BEARER. 
 
 HERE are two great possibilities in the 
 condition of every adult human being, re- 
 sulting directly from the redemptional work of 
 the Son of God. The first is, that he may be 
 certainly saved, and the second is, that he may 
 have a certain knowledge that he is saved. Of 
 the first-named of these possibilities there can 
 be no doubt in the mind of any one who believes 
 in the sacrificial character of the death of Christ, 
 and in the universality of the provisions of the 
 atonement. “Christ Jesus came into the world 
 to save sinners,” (1 Tim. i, 15,) and “ by the grace 
 of God he tasted death for every man,” (Heb. ii, 
 9,) is the grand evangel proclaimed to our world. 
 And along with that announcement comes the 
 blessed assurance that he that believeth on him 
 shall be saved, no matter who, or where, or what 
 he is. But when we come to inquire, May a 
 man know that he is saved, that his sins are 
 
116 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 forgiven him, and that he is a child of God? 
 many doubt, hesitate, and even deny that he 
 may. Now, in addition to the positive evidence 
 which I shall adduce from the word of God to 
 sustain the position which I have assumed, 
 there are some presumptive evidences to which 
 the attention of the reader is desired. 
 
 It is hardly probable then, I say, that, after 
 God has made such a provision for the sal- 
 vation of the sinner at an infinite expense, 
 when he has complied with the conditions 
 upon which he has proffered that -salvation 
 to him, he wiil leave him still in doubt and 
 uncertainty as to whether he zs saved or not. 
 There cannot certainly be any reason advanced 
 why God should will that his creatures must be 
 left in the dark upon a question of such vital 
 importance to them. If it is his will that man 
 should be saved—and who can doubt this ?— © 
 it does seem clear that he should also will that 
 he should know he is saved. Again, here I am, 
 an immortal being, hurrying on through time to 
 meet the changeless destinies of eternity, know- 
 ing that I must dwell forever either with the 
 angels and with God, or with devils and damned 
 spirits, and is it possible that I cannot know 
 
The Mission of the Spurit. 117 
 
 - whither I am going? what is my actual charac- 
 ter and relation to God and eternity? Must I 
 live in the dark and die in the dark? Must I 
 go on to eternity without knowing whether I 
 shall be among the saved or the lost? Am I 
 not to know until after probation is ended, or 
 until the judgment is set, whether my pol tion 
 shall be among the blessed or the damned ? 
 In view of these considerations I ask, Is it not 
 presumable that if I comply with the conditions 
 of the Gospel, and God for Christ’s sake par- 
 dons my sins, he will give me a knowledge of 
 the fact in some way ? 
 
 Again, the character of the work wrought 
 by the Holy Spirit in the soul is such that it 
 seems probable that he would give his testimony 
 to the fact that such a work has been done. 
 That it 2s possible for the Comforter to do this 
 work, or bear this witness in the soul, is evi- 
 dent. No person can.reasonably doubt this. 
 If he can act directly upon the mind and heart 
 of man in producing conviction for sin, and the 
 sense “of bondage unto fear,’ then he can act 
 directly upon his mind or spirit, giving the con- 
 sciousness of sins forgiven and of adoption into 
 ‘he divine family. This brings us at once to 
 
118 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 the question, Will he do this work? Will he 
 bear his testimony within the heart of the actu- 
 ally forgiven, justified, and adopted believer, 
 that this great change in his condition and re- 
 lation has been wrought? The evidence for 
 the affirmative of this question is clear and con- 
 clusive. The language of the apostle on this 
 point is explicit. Writing to the Romans, he 
 says, “ Ye have not received the spirit of bond- 
 age again to fear; but ye have received the 
 Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Fa- 
 ther. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our 
 spirit, that we are the children of God:” Rom. 
 Vili, 15, 16. Again, “ Because ye are sons, God 
 hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your 
 hearts, crying,. Abba,’ Father.” «Gali “iv, 6. 
 Hence it appears that the facts of man’s par- 
 don and adoption are not left to mere guess- 
 work, to conjecture, to inference, or induction, 
 but are directly revealed unto the soul by the. 
 Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. And, in 
 fact, in no other way can this be fully or satis- 
 factorily known. What I want to know is, Are 
 my sins forgiven me? Of course, no one who 
 reads this book will for a moment believe that 
 any man or any hierarchy has the right or 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 119 
 
 the power to absolve me. It is God against 
 whom I have sinned. It is God’s forgiveness’ 
 that I must have. But the question still re- 
 turns, “ How am I to know that God has for- 
 given me?” “How is the act of pardon which 
 passes in the depths of the Divine Mind to be 
 made known to me?” The priest, assuming to 
 stand in the place of God, may say to me, “ Ad- 
 solvo te.’ But how does he know that God ab- 
 solves me. “May he not be mistaken?” “As 
 he is nothing but an erring man, may he not has- 
 tily and unwarrantably pronounce me forgiven 
 when really I am not forgiven, and so, after all 
 his absolution, may I not still be under the wrath 
 of God?” But there are those who will tell me 
 that I must judge from my feelings, my state 
 and condition, whether I am a child of God or 
 not. But this would certainly be a most unsafe 
 ground upon which to base my hopes. I am 
 naturally inclined to put the most favorable 
 construction upon my character and conduct, 
 and so I may easily deceive myself. What I 
 want is a knowledge of this fact so clear, direct, 
 and positive, that I need have no further doubt 
 that this work has been wrought, But there 
 are others still who will tell me, “You must 
 
120 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 take the word of God and compare your char- 
 acter, conduct, and experiences with its teach- 
 ings, and if there is a correspondence, a har- 
 mony, between the written word and your ex- 
 perience, then you may properly and safely 
 conclude that you are a child of God. Now 
 this I know is all well enough in its place. 
 This is the witness of my own spirit ; but what 
 I want is God’s witness or testimony. There 
 is nothing in the Bible which tells me that sy 
 “sins are forgiven me.” That blessed book 
 gives me certain marks or signs by which I 
 may judge whether I have the general charac- 
 teristics of a child of God. But I must dea 
 child of God before I can have these marks. 
 Now can I know at the time when I become a 
 child of God that I am indeed in this blessed 
 relation? I regard, then, the language already 
 quoted as distinctly teaching that God has 
 made a provision entirely adequate to meet 
 this felt want of my soul, and the blessed 
 Comforter is the only one in the universe who 
 can act in this great work. 
 
 When the Son of God was upon the earth he 
 proclaimed directly to the forgiven one, “ Thy 
 sins are forgiven thee.”’ Matt. ix, 7; Mark ii, 5 ; 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 121 
 
 Luke vii, 48. But he is no longer here. He 
 is gone away into the heavens, and “is seated 
 at the right hand of God.” But before he went 
 he promised another Comforter to carry on his 
 great designs and to complete his wonderful 
 work. Now it is this Comforter which brings 
 and bears this witness to the consciousness of 
 the believer of his forgiveness and of his son- 
 ship. I have already referred to his eminent 
 fitness for this work. This the apostle dis- 
 tinctly presents before us when he says, “ 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 And the Spirit of God “searcheth all 
 things, yea, the deep things of God.” > 1 Cor. i, 
 JO,.11. Consequently, when the act of pardon 
 passes in the Divine Mind, the Eternal Spirit is 
 in agreement therewith, and is fully cognizant 
 thereof. Now, then, God the Father, who, for 
 the sake of his only-begotten Son, hath for- 
 given the sinner, and adopted him into his di- 
 vine family, “sends forth the Spirit of his Son 
 into the heart of the forgiven and adopted one, 
 crying ‘ Abba, Father.” ” That is, by his pres- 
 ence in the soul, and the witness which he 
 
© omneeperrgenas ey 
 
 nec eatery 
 
 122 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 bears to the soul, he calls forth the filial cry 
 from the adopted child. 
 
 Does any one ask me now, “ How is this wit~ 
 ness borne in the soul of the believer?” I an- 
 swer, I cannot fully tell, any more than I can ex- 
 plain the manner in which the Spirit regenerates 
 the human soul. -The manner is unknown, but 
 the blessed fact is clear to the consciousness of 
 the child of God. But what then is this witness? 
 No uninspired writer ever so clearly expressed 
 this as Mr. Wesley has done in his sermon. upon 
 this subject. He says, “By the testimony of 
 the Spirit, I mean an inward impression on the 
 soul, whereby the Spirit of God immediately 
 and directly witnesses to my spirit that I am a 
 child of God; that Jesus Christ hath loved me, 
 and given himself for me: that all my sins are 
 blotted out, and I, even I, am reconciled to 
 God.”* But is it not possible to be deceived 
 about this witness? May not a person think 
 that he has such a witness, when indeed he has 
 itnot? I answer, There is no necessity whatever 
 for deception here, nor scarcely a possibility of 
 it to an honest and sincere soul. For, where 
 this witness of the Spirit is made directly to the 
 
 * Wesley’s Sermons, vol. i, p. 94. 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 123 
 
 soul, there is always the corroborating testimony 
 of our own spirit. On this point Dr. Chalmers 
 well says, “ The part which our own spirit has 
 is, that with the eye of consciousness we read 
 what is in ourselves, and with the eye of the 
 understanding we read what is in the book of 
 God’s testimony. And upon our perceiving 
 that such as the marks of grace which we find 
 to be within so are the marks of grace which 
 we observe in the description of that word with- 
 out that the Spirit incited, we arrive at the con- 
 clusion that we are born of God.”* But when 
 he says in the same lecture, “I could not, with- 
 out making my own doctrine outstrip my own 
 experience, vouch for any other intimation of 
 the Spirit of God than that which he gives in 
 the act of making the word of God clear unto 
 you, and the state of your own heart clear unto 
 you,” t he evidently limits the word of God by 
 the standard of his own experience. Now that 
 the Spirit of God does all that Dr. Chalmers says, 
 in the heart, and on the inspired page, we fully 
 believe. But he does more than this. He does 
 not leave us to an inference; he witnesses di- 
 
 rectly in the heart. And, although in conse- 
 
 * Lecture on the Romans, p. 275. + Ldid., 276. 
 
124 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 quence of the creed of Dr. Chalmers, he, and 
 many others of the same faith, have been hin- 
 dered from enjoying this clear and_ blessed 
 testimony, yet this will not weigh against the 
 clear utterance of God’s revealed truth, nor the 
 joyful experience of countless thousands of be- 
 lievers. This blessed witness zz the soul is 
 guarded by the concurrent witness of the soul, 
 and thus is distinguished from “the presump- 
 tion of the natural mind, and from the delusion 
 of the devil.” The word of God has certain infalli- 
 ble signs by which we may know whether or 
 not the witness in our hearts is, indeed, the 
 work of the Spirit. Wherever the witness of 
 the Spirit is, there are, also, “the fruits of the 
 Spirit.” It is as much a matter of my own con- 
 sciousness whether I have these fruits of the 
 Spirit or not, as it is whether I now breathe and 
 live. And if, when I am made conscious by the 
 indwelling and witnessing of the Comforter that 
 I am a child of God, I have also the conscious- 
 ness that I have “love, joy, peace, long-suffer- 
 ing, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and 
 temperance,” (Gal. v,.22,23,) then without pre- 
 sumption, and with filial confidence, I may cry, 
 “Abba, Father.” Thus the child of God may 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 125 
 
 stand upon a rock, and “ rejoice in hope of the 
 glory of God.” But without this clear witness 
 of our childship, we can have no clear witness of 
 our heirship. “If children, then heirs.” But I 
 must be a child before I can be an heir. And 
 I must know that I am a child before I can 
 know that Iam an heir. If I have doubts or 
 misgivings upon the one point, I shall certainly 
 have them upon the other. If Iam in the dark 
 as to my sonship, I certainly shall be in the dark 
 as to my heirship. But if I have the Spirit’s wit- 
 ness in my soul crying within me, Abba, Father, 
 and the fruits of the Spirit in my heart and in my 
 life demonstrating that I arn not deceived, then 
 “JT can read my title clear” to my heavenly in- 
 heritance ; then all doubts and fears evanish from 
 my mind, and then I can say, I “know if the 
 earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, 
 I have a building of God, a house not made with 
 hands, eternal in the Reavers: 2. Core vy fa + 
 
 _ This great doctrine is not peculiar to Method- 
 ism, but it has been clearly taught by the lead- 
 ing minds in the Church in all periods of its 
 history. Wherever the Gospel has been clearly 
 and powerfully preached, this great truth has 
 
 been prominently brought forward, and this 
 
126 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 blessed experience, in various degrees of clear- 
 ness, has been enjoyed. Luther says, “ He that 
 hath not assurance spews faith out.” Melanch- 
 thon declares that, “ Assurance is the dividing 
 line between Christianity and heathenism.” 
 Rutherford writes to a friend, “Make meikle 
 (much) of assurance, for it keepeth your anchor 
 fast.” Bishop Andrews, in his sermon on the 
 Holy Ghost, says,* “It is the proper effect of 
 the blood of Christ to cleanse our consciences 
 from dead works to serve the living God ; which, 
 if we find it doth, Christ is to come to us as he- 
 is to come ; and the Spirit is come, and puts his 
 teste, (witness.) And if we have his teste, we 
 may go our way in peace; we have kept a right 
 feast to him, and to the memory of his coming.” 
 Bishop Hooker, in his sermon on the Certainty 
 of Faith, says, “The Spirit which God hath 
 given us to assure us that we are the sons of 
 God, to enable us to call him our Father.” Also, 
 in his sermon on Jude, “ Unto you, because ye 
 are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his 
 Son into your hearts, to the end ye might know 
 that Christ hath built you upon a rock immova- 
 
 * Watson’s Institutes, vol. ii, pp. 282, 283. 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 127 
 
 ble, that he hath registered your names in the 
 book of life.” Thesame truth was proclaimed by 
 Archbishop Usher, Bishop Brownrigg, Bishop 
 Pearson, on the creed, Dr. Isaac. Barrow, anda 
 multitude of others. Stier well remarks, ‘“ That 
 there must ever remain uncertainty among men 
 concerning God’s forgiveness in heaven, is the 
 - Pharisaic Catholic doctrine.” The dying testi- 
 mony of Samuel Wesley, Sen., was, “The inward 
 witness, the inward witness, that is the proof— 
 the strongest proof of Christianity.” Mr. Wes- 
 ley, while clearly announcing this doctrine, dis- 
 claims any originality, and says, “ With regard 
 to the assurance of faith, I apprehend that the 
 whole Christian Church in the first centuries 
 enjoyed it. For though we have few points of 
 doctrine explicitly taught in the small remains 
 of the ante-Nicene fathers, yet, I think, none 
 that carefully read Clemens Romanus, Ignatius, 
 Polycarp, Origen, or any other of them, can 
 doubt whether either the writer himself pos- 
 sessed it, or all whom he mentions, as real 
 Christians. And I really conceive, both from 
 the Harmonia Confesstonum, and whatever else 
 I have occasionally read, that all reformed 
 
128 Lhe Mtssion of the Spirit. 
 
 Churches in Europe did once believe, ‘ Every 
 true Christian has the divine evidence of his 
 being in favor with God.” * 
 
 And, indeed, there can be no: satisfactory 
 Christian experience without this witness. In 
 order to bea Christian at all my sins must be for- 
 given me, and I am required to be a “ new crea- 
 ture in Christ Jesus.” But how am I to know 
 that the one has been done for me, and the other 
 done zz me, unless I have the Spirit’s witness ? 
 And if the Holy Ghost is not in me as an abid- 
 ing guest and gift, I can certainly lay no claim 
 to the character or the experience of a Christian. 
 But can he abide in me without my being con- 
 scious of his presence? And if he is in me, 
 then will he not bear his own testimony to his 
 own work?, What is any one as a Christian 
 without the Holy Ghost? Our religion without 
 his presence and mighty working will be noth- 
 
 ing but a form without power, a skeleton with- — 
 
 out the living soul, a body without the spirit, a 
 shadow without the substance. And the his- 
 tory of the Church clearly shows that, wherever 
 
 * “* History of the Religious Movement,” etc., vol. ii, p. 
 
 415, e¢ seg. 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 129 
 
 this doctrine has been ignored, and this expe- 
 rience has been unenjoyed, it has degenerated 
 into a heartless formalism or into a sickening 
 ritualism. Well, then, may the whole Church 
 now, in an agony of desire, cry out, 
 
 ‘Come, Holy Comforter, 
 Thy sacred witness bear 
 L[n this glad hour ! 
 Thou who Almighty art 
 Now rule in every heart, 
 And ne’er from us depart, 
 Spirit of power.” 
 
 9 
 
130 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 CIVAT iy Raexe 
 
 OBJECTIONS TO THE DOCTRINE OF THE DIRECT 
 WITNESS OF THE COMFORTER CONSIDERED. 
 
 LL important as this doctrine is, and 
 clearly as it seems to us the Scriptures 
 teach it, yet there have.been many objections 
 made to it which although they have been often 
 answered, are still entertained by many honest 
 and sincere persons. 
 The first I shall notice is that made by Dr. 
 Dwight’ in his sermon on the “Evidences of 
 ~ Regeneration.” * The objection is that, while 
 some have enjoyed this witness, or assurance, 
 the experience is by no means a common one. 
 He says: “I am fully persuaded that the num- 
 ber of these persons [who enjoy this witness] is 
 not very great. If the Christians and ministers 
 with whom I have had opportunity to converse, 
 many of whom have been eminently exemplary in 
 their lives, nay be allowed to stand as representa- 
 tives of Christians in general, it must certainly be 
 
 * Vol. iil, p, 42. 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 131 
 
 true that the faith of assurance is not common.” 
 But to this I would reply, There can certainly 
 be no reason, so far as the divine provision and 
 the divine promise are concerned, why one Chris- 
 tian should have this witness and not another. 
 All are certainly equally interested in knowing 
 whether or not their sins are forgiven them— 
 whether they are the children of God or not. 
 ‘There is certainly no difference in the provision 
 made or in the promise given. The fact that 
 the Christians and ministers referred to adzd not 
 enjoy this grace, is no evidence whatever that 
 they might not have enjoyed it. If they had 
 specifically sought it and believed for it, would 
 not they have enjoyed it as well as others? 
 Certainly, or else God is a respecter of persons. 
 The Bible gives no intimation whatever of any 
 such favoritism in the family of God. Iwill 
 readily admit that many who profess to be 
 Christians have not this witness, and that some 
 have it much more clearly than others. But I 
 repeat that the fact they do not have this assur- 
 ance is no argument whatever that they may not 
 have it They are resting short of their birth- 
 right and blood-bought privileges because 
 their faith neither perceives nor grasps those 
 
7 
 
 132 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 privileges. And others have this witness dimly 
 and occasionally, simply because their faith is 
 weak, irregular, and staggering. Thus, while 
 those who are strong in faith cry, ‘“ Abba, 
 Father,” with an “unfaltering tongue,” others 
 lisp it with a faltering one. 
 
 The New Testament gives us clearly to under- 
 stand that this was the common privilege and ex- 
 perience of the Christians of the first century. 
 The apostle, writing to the Church at Rome, says: 
 “Ve have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby 
 we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth 
 witness with our Spirit that we are the children of 
 God.” Rom. viii, 15, 16. Sohe writes to the Corin- 
 thians: “ But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, 
 but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, 
 and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Cor. vi, 11. And 
 they certainly must have vow it. Also, “ For. 
 we know that, if our earthly house of this taber- 
 nacle were dissolved,” etc. 2 Cor.v,1. To the 
 Galatians he writes, “ Because ye are sons, God 
 hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your 
 hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” Gal. iv, 6. To 
 the Ephesians he writes, “In whom also, after 
 that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy 
 Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 133 
 
 inheritance.” Eph. i, 13, 14; also, ii, 1-7. He 
 writes to the Colossians, “ Who até delivered 
 us from the power of darkness, and hath trans- 
 lated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: in 
 whom we save redemption through his blood, 
 even) they: toreiveneéss (of sins,” etc! Coly7 
 13-22. He says to the Thessalonians, “ Our 
 Gospel came not into you in word only, but also 
 in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much 
 assurance.” I Thess. i, 5. “God hath also 
 mIvetieuiitO sUs Nis elioly. opiritact2- 4 heasail; 
 13,14. Writing to Titus he says, “ Accord- 
 ing to his mercy he saved us, by the wash- 
 ing of regeneration, and renewing of the 
 Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly 
 through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that being 
 justified by his grace, we should be made heirs 
 according to the hope of eternal life.” Titus iii, 
 4-7. Peter, writing to “the strangers scattered” 
 abroad, says, “Blessed be the God and Father 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to 
 his abundant mercy /azh begotten us again unto 
 a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ 
 Hae the. dead. }T-Petyin 3... The >Epistles 
 of the beloved John are so full of this truth 
 that nearly the whole of them would have to be 
 
134 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 quoted to notice them all; but read the follow- 
 ing 1 John i, 6, 7, 9; ili, 1, 2, 14; iv, 16 
 17, etc. If then the early Christians did not 
 have this witness, this assurance, the letters of 
 the apostles to them must have been an “ un- 
 intelligible jargon,” and they must seriously 
 have asked one another, “What does the apostle 
 mean?” “We know nothing of what he writes 
 to us.” But not so; what he wrote them was the 
 conscious and joyous experience of their souls. 
 
 _Dr. Dwight in his Theology admits that “the 
 apostles were evangelically assured of their own 
 piety ; 
 subjects of the same faith ;” and that there are, 
 
 ’ 
 
 also, that the “first martyrs were the 
 
 in every country and in every age where Chris- 
 tianity prevails, some persons who enjoy the 
 faith or hope of assurance.”’* But I think it 
 has been clearly shown that if the apostles 
 had this assurance, then the Christians to whom 
 they wrote must have had it also. Almost al- 
 ways when speaking of this they join themselves 
 with the body of believers. “The Spirit beareth 
 witness with our Spirit,” etc. “We know that 
 if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dis- 
 solved, we have a building of God,” etc. “We 
 
 * Dwight’s Theology, vol. iii, Pp. 41, 42. 
 
 —_ — 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 135 
 
 know that we have passed from death unto 
 life’ And if it is true that some persons in 
 every age enjoy this assurance, why may not 
 all Christians enjoy it? It is objected, again, 
 “That some persons who have professed to 
 
 enjoy this witness have subsequently backslid- a 
 
 den in heart and in life, and thus have brought 
 disgrace upon the cause of Christ.” The fact is 
 admitted. But it does not at all affect the 
 truth of the doctrine. Indeed, if the objection 
 proves any thing it proves too much?) “Or 
 these persons, while professing to have this 
 witness, or assurance, professed also to be 
 Christians. Now, then, if their falling into sin 
 proves that the doctrine of the witness of the 
 Spirit is false, it proves likewise that the Chris- 
 tian religion is false. I am aware that those who 
 hold to the Westminster Confession of Faith 
 have difficulty in reconciling this doctrine of 
 assurance with that of the unconditional per- 
 severance of the saints. It is well known that 
 their idea of assurance amounts to this, that the 
 man who has it is not only assured of his pres- 
 ent, but also of his eternal salvation. Now 
 to have this knowledge, it is feared, would lead 
 to carelessness and_ indifference, and even 
 
nin Neer eaten, 
 
 136 eu he Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 Slothfulness, on the part of Christians. There- 
 fore, in order that they may be kept watchful 
 and diligent and prayerful, it is necessary that 
 this question shall be kept in doubt and uncer- 
 tainty. But there is also a difficulty on the 
 other side. If a man may not, caxnzot, know 
 that his sins are forgiven him, how can he know 
 that he is one of God’s elect? How can he 
 know but that he may ultimately be damned ? 
 Very different from this is the Wesleyan doc- 
 trine of “the witness of the Spirit.”. That 
 teaches us that the believer in Jesus may and 
 does know that his sins are now forgiven and 
 that he is now a child of God. But it gives 
 him no assurance of his final and unconditional 
 salvation. On the contrary, he is taught that 
 this witness is only to be retained by diligently 
 keeping all God’s commandments, and walking 
 in the same all the days of his life; that if he 
 is unwatchful, careless, yields to temptation and 
 falls into sin, he will lose this divine witness, 
 and unless he is restored by penitence and faith 
 he will ultimately perish. Again, it is objected 
 “that the testimony of the word of God and the 
 witness of our own spirit are all-sufficient.” But 
 
 it is admitted by all that we must be actually 
 
 _ Pg 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 137 
 
 forgiven, and in the relationship of children of 
 God, before we can have the testimony of the 
 word or the testimony of our spirit. But if this 
 work is accomplished for us it must be through 
 the atoning sacrifice of Christ, and by the direct 
 agency of the Holy Spirit. If, then, the Holy 
 Spirit is present in the soul effecting its regen- 
 eration and adoption into the family of God, 
 will he not make that soul conscious that it zs 
 regenerated and adopted into the family of God ? 
 Would not this supposition be natural, even if 
 there were no direct evidence from the word of 
 God confirming this view of the case? This 
 view, also, limits the testimony to that of our 
 own spirit, whereas the word of God declares 
 there are fo witnesses—the Spirit of God and 
 our own spirit. It is objected again that if 
 we have a consciousness of faith joined with 
 true repentance we may properly conclude that 
 we are forgiven; in other words, “T believe ; 
 J repent; therefore I am forgiven.” The con- 
 clusion is correct, provided that the premises 
 are true. Now repentance and faith are simply 
 the conditions of salvation and in no sense the 
 evidence of it. They also precede the acts of 
 
 Shes er ‘ 
 pardon and adoption. 
 
138 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 But the question will arise, “How am I to 
 know that I have truly and acceptably repented 
 and believed? I may think that my repent- 
 ance and faith are sincere and genuine, and yet 
 I may be deceived. But even adinitting that 
 these acts of mine have been such as God re- 
 quires, how am I to know that I am pardoned ? 
 Repentance and faith are acts of which my own 
 spirit is conscious, but the act of pardon passes 
 in the depths of the Divine Mind. How then 
 can I know of that act unless God in some way 
 reveal it to. me? And if TI do ever know it, 
 must it not be by a direct revelation from 
 heaven?” If we must, then, be left to the evi- 
 dence of our own spirit as to our having prop- 
 erly performed the conditions of salvation, we 
 must be left to doubts and fears on the one 
 hand, or to presumptuous professions of piety 
 on the other. The weak, the timid, the earnest 
 and sincere, will doubt whether they have truly 
 repented or not, while the bold and presumptu- 
 ous will rest satisfied with a very slight and 
 superficial work. There is, finally, a “ hack- 
 neyed objection,” as Mr. Arthur well calls i 
 namely, “That it is presumption for any one to 
 
 * Tongue of Fire, p. 186. 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 139 
 
 say that he is a child of God. ‘To this he re- 
 plies, “It is never presumption to acknowledge 
 what you are. Had David never been taken 
 from the sheep-cot and made king it would 
 have been presumption in him to say that he 
 had ; but when it was the case, he was bound 
 in gratitude to own and commemorate the 
 mercy showed to him; so if a man has not been 
 delivered from the dominion of sin and adopted 
 into the family of God, for him to say that such 
 is the case is presumption ; but if he has, then 
 not to praise his Redeemer for it would be in- 
 eratitude. Saying that it is presumption for azzy 
 one to call himself the child of God takes it for 
 granted that no one is, or else it is absurd.” 
 
 In what beautiful and blessed contrast to all 
 these objections stands the great and glorious 
 Gospel truth as explained and enforced by the 
 _ Wesleyan theology. Here we see that the wit- 
 ness of the indwelling spirit is primary, giving 
 the deep, heartfelt consciousness to the par- 
 doned sinner that his sins are forgiven him, and 
 that he is a child of God. Then there naturally 
 follows the indwelling of the Spirit, his gracious 
 fruits confirming the inward testimony and 
 demonstrating the blessed reality. Thus, on 
 
140 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 the one hand, he is not left to grope his way in 
 the dark, to guess, to imagine, to infer, to trem- 
 blingly hope that he is a child of God, for as he 
 zs a child he knows it, and rejoices in the 
 blessed assurance ; nor, on the other hand, is 
 he left to presumption, fanaticism, or folly, for 
 the testimony of his own ‘spirit is necessary to 
 confirm his inward impression and experience. 
 Now he knows that his repentance and faith 
 have been accepted for Jesus’ sake, that he has 
 been enabled to meet the required conditions 
 upon which the blessings of pardon are sus- 
 pended, and that God has set his seal of ap- 
 proval upon him as his child ; and if ever a 
 doubt is injected into his mind as to the reality 
 of this work, he can instantly satisfy himself 
 by self-examination as to whether o= not he has 
 the “fruits of the Spirit.” Hence all true be- 
 lievers can sing, 
 “ His Spirit, which he gave, 
 Now dwells in us, we know; 
 The witness in ourselves we have, 
 And all its fruits we show. 
 Our nature’s turned, our mind 
 Transformed in all its powers ; 
 
 And both the witnesses are Joined, 
 Thy Spirit, Lord, with ours’—C. WESLEY, 
 
The Mission of the Sportt. 14! 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE COMFORTER AS THE SEALER OF GODS 
 “SAINTS, AND AS. THE (|EARNEST “IN = THEIR 
 HEARTS. 
 
 ELIEVERS not only have the witness of 
 
 the Spirit as to their forgiveness and 
 adoption, but they are also sealed by the Spirit 
 as the peculiar treasure, as the people, of God. 
 This work is frequently referred to in the New 
 Testament. Hence the apostle, writing to the 
 Ephesians, says, “In whom ye (Gentiles) also 
 trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, 
 the Gospel of your salvation: in whom also, 
 after that ye believed, ye were sea/ed with that 
 Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of 
 our inheritance until the redemption of the pur- 
 chased possession.” Eph. i, 13, 14. Also to 
 the Corinthians he says, “ Now he which stab- 
 lisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed 
 us, is God ; who hath also sealed us, and given 
 the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” 1 Cor. 
 teet-22. Again, he exhorts the Ephesians, 
 
1.42 Lhe Mission of the Spiret. 
 
 “Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby 
 ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” Eph. 
 Iv, 30. God's people, then, are a sealed people— 
 “sealed in their foreheads” so conspicuously 
 that they are known of him and known of a 
 godless world. Hence the apostle writes to 
 Timothy, “ Nevertheless the foundation of God 
 standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord Avow- 
 eth them that are his.” 2 Tim. ii, 10. 
 
 The seal has been in use from a very remote 
 antiquity. We read of its use far back in the 
 patriarchal times. (Gen. xxxviii, 18.) It is the 
 instrument by which letters and other writings 
 are stamped and ratified as evidence of their 
 authenticity. This instrument is used by kings, 
 states, corporate bodies, and individuals. It is 
 not only used upon writings, but also stamped 
 upon articles of value, and at the present day is 
 employed largely in commerce and trade. The 
 design of its use is to signify that the writings 
 are authentic, actually given by the person or 
 corporation or state which employs it, no other 
 person or parties having a right to use it, and 
 thus all fraud is prevented. It is also used to 
 confirm or ratify an agreement or covenant. 
 Again, it is used to mark as one’s own prop- 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 143 
 
 erty, and to make secure that which is thus 
 marked. The process itself is simple. The 
 instrument with some letter or device or image 
 is stamped upon a piece of wax, of lead, or of 
 heated iron, or upon a wafer or mucilaged 
 stamp, and thus the exact impress of the seal is 
 made upon the writing or the article stamped. 
 The whole process is beautifully applied and 
 illustrated by Cruden.* 
 
 Now believers are said to be thus sealed by 
 the Spirit of God, and this denotes that “they 
 are the ascertained property of God, for this is 
 the idea conveyed by the affixing of a seal. 
 He has received them, he claims them, he 
 gives his attestation to the fact that they are 
 his. It cannot, either to themselves or to any 
 considerate observer, be any longer doubtful 
 among what description of persons they are to 
 be classed, nor to whom they belong.” + 
 
 This sealing is by no means an evidence of 
 final and unconditional salvation. It marks 
 and secures the one who is now a child of God 
 as his property. But if the Spirit is grieved by 
 our sins or our slothfulness, the impress of this 
 
 * Cruden’s Concordance, under ‘‘ Seal.”’ 
 + Walton on Witness of the Spirit, p. 51. 
 
144 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 seal may be effaced from the soul. This seal- 
 ing needs to be frequently renewed, for it is by 
 no means true that ovce sealed we are always 
 sealed. It is only while the Comforter abides 
 in the soul that the sealing is kept clear and 
 uneffaced ; but if he depart from us, then the 
 seal will also be removed. Thus God speaks 
 of Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, 
 that though he “ were the signet upon his right 
 hand, yet would he pluck him thence.” Jer. xxii, 
 24. Hence, although, as we have seen, the 
 Ephesians were sealed, yet it was not a full nor 
 an abiding earnest of heaven to them. It was 
 a real earnest while they took care not to 
 “grieve the Holy Spirit of God, whereby they 
 were sealed.” And that their first sealing did 
 not confirm their souls long is but too evident 
 from the Saviour’s message from Patmos, 
 charging them with having “left their first 
 love,” and threatening to remove their “ candle- 
 stick out of its place” unless they repented. 
 
 These facts show the absurdity of all theories 
 of sealing which make the seal final or indeli- 
 ble. His seal, like every other part of his work, 
 has to be renewed from time to time. Like his 
 witness, it is not abiding any longer than we 
 
Lhe Misston of the Spirit. 145 
 
 keep from grieving him. The Holy Spirit soon 
 unseals every one who makes a bad use of his 
 comforts. “And in unsealing the inconsistent 
 and slothful, he evinces as much love as when 
 he seals most fully the diligent and devotional.” * 
 This indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the be- 
 liever, witnessing and sealing, is the earnest of 
 his heavenly inheritance; hence, as already 
 quoted, “ Ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit 
 of promise, which is the earnest of our inherit- 
 tance.” Eph.i, 13,14. So the apostle says to the 
 Corinthians, “ Now he that hath wrought us for 
 the self-same thing is God, who also hath given 
 unto us the earnest of the Spirit.” 2 Cor. v, oe 
 The sealing of the Spirit and the earnest of the 
 Spirit are distinct from each other, and yet al- 
 ways co-exist. The word earnest is from the 
 Hebrew, Way, and signifies a pledge-earnest, 
 a mercantile term which the Greeks and Ro- 
 mans appear to have adopted from the Pheni- 
 clans as the founders of commerce.’ ~ In the 
 Greek it is dépaBor, and in the Latin arrabe. 
 Thus it appears that the word was not trans. 
 lated by the Greeks and Latins, but merely 
 * Philip, ‘* Love of the Spirit,” pp. 135 -137. 
 
 t Gesenius, Hebrew Lexicon /7 Zoco. 
 10 
 
140 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 transferred. This word signifies, according to 
 Webster, “A part paid or delivered beforehand, 
 as money or goods under a contract, as a pledge 
 and security for the whole. Thus earnest, or 
 earnest-money, is a first payment or deposit, 
 giving promise or assurance of a full payment, 
 and serving also to bind the seller to the terms 
 of agreement.” * It signifies also the first-fruits 
 which give the promise of the harvest to come. 
 There are two things, then, especially, which 
 the Spirit thus furnishes to the believer : first, 
 a pledge of his inheritance ; and, secondly, a 
 foretaste of its bliss. The Spirit’s witness to 
 our sonship gives us a title to heaven, his seal- 
 ing confirms our sonship and heirship, for “if 
 children, then heirs ;’ and thus, long as we 
 have the witness and the seal of the Spirit, we 
 have the pledge of heaven. The child of God, 
 justified and sealed, is not at once taken to 
 heaven. He is left here to struggle against 
 hosts of foes, to battle with adverse influences, 
 and to travel, often a weary road, to his 
 heavenly home. But, stranger and pilgrim 
 though he be, unknown to, or even persecuted 
 by, the world, often poor and despised, yet in 
 
 * Webster 272 loco. 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 147 
 
 the depths of his soul he has a title, a pledge to 
 a mansion, a crown, a harp, a throne. He is 
 not in heaven, but he has the pledge of heaven 
 in his soul. That pledge is given to him, and 
 the inheritance is sure upon one simple condi- 
 tion: “Be thou Jatthful unto death.’ ith this 
 condition fulfilled, or while fulfilling it, he is as 
 sure of heaven as if he were now by the throne 
 of God. And this was not only a pledge to the 
 early members of the Christian Church, but it 
 is a pledge to the whole body of believers “ un- 
 til the redemption of the purchased possession,” 
 until all the saints are gathered home. 
 
 But not only is this earnest of the Spirit in 
 the soul as a pledge, it is there also as a _fore- 
 taste. Just as the first-fruits were a foretaste of 
 the harvest, and a part of the harvest, so the 
 Spirit is a foretaste of heaven—it is “heaven be- 
 gun below.” It is, indced, only a small part of 
 the inheritance, a slight foretaste, but yet it ds 
 a part, a prelibation of what is to come. The 
 first-fruits of the Jewish harvest might have 
 been carried in the hands, or in a small basket 
 or bag, while the full harvest itself filled the 
 largest granaries and barns; so a few dollars 
 may secure as well as foreshadow the payment 
 
148 Lhe Mission of the Spirtt. 
 
 of thousands, or even of millions, and the pos- 
 session of that for which they are paid. Our 
 poor hearts here can hold but little of heaven 
 even when filled to the utmost, but that little 
 is sweet beyond expression. It is the joy of 
 the glorified; it is the joy of the angels; 
 morethan.this,»it¢ 18 “‘the joy ‘of thes ordss 
 it is “joy unspeakable and full of glory.” 
 And did we live nearer to God, how much more 
 of this earnest might we enjoy even here! If 
 the film of worldliness were removed from our 
 eyes, if the mists and shadows which envelop 
 our spirits were only rifted, if our faith were 
 more vigorous and clear-visioned, how would 
 the glory break over our souls! how would the 
 joys divine well up in our hearts! how thin 
 would be the vail which separates us from that 
 heavenly world! We permit ourselves to be 
 robbed of much of heaven’s joys by our worldly 
 spirit, our sloth, our indifference, and our un- 
 belief. Well does Rutherford say in one of his 
 letters, “ I dare avouch the saints know not the 
 length and largeness of the sweet earnest, and 
 of the sweet green sheaves before the harvest, 
 that might be had on this side of the water if 
 we would only take the pains.” And again, 
 
 OE — ee eee 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 149 
 
 “Tt is our folly to postpone all till the term- 
 day, seeing abundance of earnest will not di- 
 minish any thing from the principal sum.” * 
 As the first-fruits of the harvest revealed to 
 the Jew the character and abundance of the 
 coming harvest, so the joy in the Holy Ghost 
 which the saint has in his heart here tells him 
 of the full and endless joys of heaven. ‘ That is 
 the fullness, this is the taste.” That is the ocean, 
 this is the drop. That is the endless fruition, 
 this is only the beginning—only the day-dawn. 
 But O, if the drops are so sweet, what will the 
 ocean be? O, if the taste is so ravishing, what 
 will the fullness be? A recent writer has well 
 said, “ Heaven is only the maturer, brighter, 
 fuller development of that state which has begun 
 in the individual heart. Joys here are like a 
 few flowers retaining their Eden fragrance that 
 the spirit may long for the climes where they 
 bloom perpetually. They are a few notes of 
 heavenly harpers, that the soul may be led to 
 desire to join in the eternal jubilee. They are 
 glimpses of glory in which the soul may see 
 those hours which, like the hours on the sun- 
 dial, are measured only by sunshine, and 
 
 = Rutherford’s Letters. 
 
150 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 of which, through eternity, there will be no 
 end, * 
 
 Thus the sealed believer has both the pledge 
 and the foretaste of heaven, until he enters upon 
 his everlasting inheritance, and partakes, at the 
 fountain-head, of its everlasting joys. 
 
 “*T would not wait for heaven ; 
 Heaven may begin below ; 
 To every newborn soul ’tis given 
 
 A present God to know.” 
 
 * Cumming’s ‘‘ Voices of the Night,” p. 50. 
 
 Dele). 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 151 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE COMFORTER AS OUR INTERCESSOR. 
 
 ‘4 IKEWISE the Spirit also helpeth our 
 infirmities: for we know not what we 
 should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit 
 maketh intercession for us with groanings which 
 cannot be uttered.” Rom. viii, 26. The question 
 at once arises here, “In what sense does the 
 Comforter make intercession for us?” To this 
 I would answer, His intercession is entirely dif 
 ferent from that which Christ, as our great High 
 Priest, makes for us. His intercession is based 
 upon his own merits ; the Comforter’s interces- 
 sion is occasioned by our weakness. Christ's 
 intercession is before the throne; the Spirit 
 makes intercession within our hearts. Christ 
 intercedes for us as our Advocate; the Spirit 
 as an enlightener and helper in our petitions. 
 The intercession of Christ for us is uncon- 
 ditional; that of the Comforter is conditioned 
 upon our willingness and desire to come to God. 
 1. First, then, his office is fo help us to pray. 
 
152 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 When man is made conscious of his sinfulness, 
 he is at the same time made conscious of his 
 helplessness. His first thoughts are, “I cannot 
 pray ;” “I do not know how to pray ;” “How 
 dare such a sinful worm as I am approach unto 
 God?” With these reflections his whole soul 
 shrinks from an interview with a holy God. 
 Like the Publican, he stands afar off, not daring 
 to lift up his eyes to heaven, the dwelling-place 
 of infinite purity ; but, smiting upon his agonized 
 breast, he cries out, “God be merciful to me a 
 sinner !” 
 
 There are also many periods in the history 
 of the child of God when, assaulted by the pow- 
 ers of darkness, or overwhelmed with trials,- or 
 crushed by the bereaving stroke, or sunk into 
 the lowest depths of humiliation by a sense of 
 his vileness and unworthiness, he feels that he 
 cannot pray. It is then that the Comforter 
 comes in with his divine help. The timid, 
 _ shrinking heart is now encouraged by his 
 presence and his aid, and emboldened to speak 
 out its wants, or at least to groan out its desires. 
 Thus the worm is enabled to speak unto God, 
 and dust and ashes talk to “ the Great, the 
 Holy, and the High.” 
 
 : 
 
The Mission of the Spurit. 153 
 
 “The word translated ‘helpeth’ signifies to 
 lay hold of any thing, as of a beam or burden, 
 together with another. In ourselves we know 
 not what to pray for or how to pray. But the 
 Holy Spirit of God which dwelleth in us, knowing 
 our wants better than we, himself pleads in our 
 prayers, raising us to higher and holier desires 
 than we can express in words, which can only 
 find utterance in sighs and aspirations. But 
 although these yearnings are inexpressible in 
 words, the Searcher of hearts recognizes in 
 them what is the minding of the Spirit, because 
 these inarticulate pleadings of the Holy Ghost, 
 in and for his saints, are in perfect unison with 
 his own mind, (Kata Oedv ;) they are God-like.” * 
 
 2. The Comforter by his divine illumination 
 makes us conscious of our condition and our 
 wants, so far, at least, as we can bear to see 
 them. We know not ourselves, our actual con- 
 dition, nor the deep and alarming necessities 
 of our being. Nor could we probably bear to 
 see ourselves as we are seen by the eye of in- 
 finite purity. It is natural for.us to put the 
 most favorable construction upon every thing 
 appertaining to our character and condition. 
 
 * The Spirit of Life, pp. 154, 155. 
 
154 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 We are all inclined to lay the flattering unction 
 to our souls that all is well; to cry “ Peace! 
 
 1? 
 
 peace!” when God has not spoken peace. Nor 
 does the true Christian always realize his con- 
 dition, his privileges, and the glorious possibili- 
 ties of his being. Hence the Holy Spirit shines 
 in upon the darkness of the mind, reveals our 
 condition, creates the sense of want, inspires 
 the soul with earnest longings, produces “hun- 
 gerings and thirstings after righteousness,” and 
 thus leads us up to God. It is in view of this 
 that we read of Christians “ praying in the Holy 
 Ghost,” of their “making supplication in the 
 Spirit.” Jude xx; Eph. vi, ro. 
 
 3. Here, then, we see the source of those un- 
 utterable groanings which the true penitent and 
 the true Christian often experience. They are 
 not natural to man. They do not arise spon- 
 taneously in the human soul. They are begot- 
 ten by the Holy Ghost. They are the results 
 of his mighty operations. They occur in ereat 
 crises of our history and experience. It is in 
 the midst of them that the soul rises up to 
 meet God, to take hold upon his Omnipotence, 
 to test the power of the cleansing blood of 
 Calvary, and to enter upon the higher walks of 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 155 
 
 the Christian life. And yet, in its enlarged 
 desires, in its crushing burden of wants, it can 
 find no language in which to express its strug- 
 gling emotions. Prostrate in the dust at the 
 foot of the throne, the lips are dumb, the words 
 are lost, or fail to utter what now is so deeply 
 felt, and naught but groans and sighs escape 
 the breast of the burdened and troubled one. 
 So Moses groaned in spirit before God when 
 he said, “ Oh, this people have sinned a great 
 sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet 
 now, if thou wilt forgive their sin— ; and if not, 
 blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou 
 
 3 
 
 hast written.’ Exod. xxxil, 31,327 -2S0° Han- 
 nah prayed: “She spake in her heart ; only her 
 lips moved, but her voice was not heard,” etc. 
 1 Sam. i, 13-16. The secret of all this was 
 she was a “woman of a sorrowful spirit ;’ and 
 “out of the abundance of her complaint and 
 grief” she had spoken unto God. So Hezekiah 
 prayed when his life was in danger: “ Like a 
 crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: IJ did 
 mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking 
 upward: O Lord, I am oppressed ; undertake 
 for me.” Isa, xxxvili, 14. 
 
 On this passage Tholuck thus speaks: “ That 
 
156 the Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 in those moments when the soul turns with 
 deepest ardor to its original, itis not that which 
 is human in man, that rises Godward, but the 
 Divine Spirit in the human breast which seeks 
 to meet God, the profound thinkers of every 
 clime have been aware.” He instances the 
 following from the Methnewi of Dschelaleddin, 
 (Cod. M.S., Bibl. Reg., Ber. T. III, p. 146,) where 
 
 the writer thus sings of a Mohammedan saint: 
 
 “‘O never think a prayer like this like other prayer; for know, 
 It is not mortal man, but God, from whom the accents flow. 
 Behold, God prays! the lowly saint stands deep abased the 
 while, 
 And God who gave the humbled mind upon his prayers will 
 smile.” 
 
 Also, on page 13 of the same work he sings: 
 
 *** Allah!’ was all night long the cry of one oppressed with 
 care, 
 
 Till softened was his heart, and sweet became his lips with 
 prayer. 
 
 Then near the subtle tempter stole, and spake, ‘Fond bab- 
 bler, cease !’ 
 
 For not one Here am J has God ere sent to give thee 
 peace! ’ 
 
 With sorrow sank the suppliant’s heart, and all his senses 
 fled, 
 
 But, lo! at midnight, Chiser * came, and gently spake and 
 said, 
 
 * Name of Elias, whom the Easterns describe as Counselor 
 of Men. 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 157 
 
 ‘ What ails thee now, my child, and whence art thou afraid te 
 pray, 
 
 And why thy former love dost thou repent ? declare, and 
 say!’ 
 
 ‘Ah! cries he, ‘Never once to me spoke God, Here am J, 
 Soi. 
 
 Cast off methinks I am, and warned far from his gracious 
 throne.’ 
 
 To whom Elias, ‘Hear, my son, the word from God I bear. 
 
 “Go tell,” he said, ‘yon mourner sunk in sorrow and 
 despair. 
 
 Each Lord appear, thy lips pronounce contains my— 
 Heream Jf. 
 
 A special messenger I send beneath thine every sigh. 
 
 Thy love is but a girdle of the love I bear to thee, 
 
 And sleeping in thy Come, O Lord, there lies, ene, Sox, 
 from me.” * 
 
 4. In such intercession there is frequently an 
 assurance accompanying, or immediately fol- 
 lowing it, chat the prayer is heard. The experi- 
 ence of God’s saints, in recorded instances not 
 a few, clearly demonstrates the truthfulness of 
 this statement. After a period of intense long- 
 ing, of unutterable groanings of soul, either for 
 themselves, or for others, suddenly, but with 
 fullest assurance, there is realized the faith that 
 the prayer is heard, that the answer is granted. 
 So when John Knox prayed, “Give me Scot- 
 land, or I die,” he rose up from his knees assured 
 
 * Tholuck on Romans, p;. 269, 270. 
 
158 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 that his prayer had prevailed with God. This 
 is remarkably illustrated in the case of the 
 brother of Melville Cox, the heroic Missionary 
 to Africa. 
 
 “The following are the facts: they occurred 
 when Mr. Cox was about twenty years of age, 
 At the time of this singular incident his brother 
 James, who, it will be seen, was concerned in 
 the affair, was at sea, being master of the brig 
 ‘Charles Faucet,’ which was then on ker passage 
 to New Orleans. This young gentleman, al- 
 though well fitted for his business in every 
 other respect, and irreproachable in his conduct 
 among men, was destitute of religion. 
 
 “From the hour that James sailed for New 
 Orleans, Melville, with another brother of his, 
 and who was alike partner in his ‘ precious faith,’ 
 made the absent brother a constant subject of 
 prayer. Such, indeed, were their feelings for 
 James, and so absorbing to them was the great 
 question of his soul’s salvation, that it became 
 for a few weeks with them their first and last 
 thoughts for the day. 
 
 “One evening, just as the sun had fallen, the 
 two brothers, as they were sometimes wont to 
 do, visited the edge of the woods back of the 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 159 
 
 villaze where they then resided, and there 
 knelt down to pray. The first object of interest 
 before them was their absent brother, whose 
 image came up to their view with more than 
 ordinary distinctness, and who, it seemed to 
 them, was not only far away on the sea, tossed 
 upon its waves as the spirit of the storm might 
 drive him, but ‘without hope, without God in 
 the world, and liable to fall into the gulf of woe. 
 As they prayed, their own spirits seemed in 
 agony for James, and they poured out their 
 feelings in alternate offerings, with a depth of 
 sympathy, of religious fervor, of faith in God, 
 never before experienced by them for him. It 
 was given to them to wrestle with God in prayer, 
 and to importune as for their own souls. And 
 thus they did, unconscious of the nightly dews 
 that were falling upon them, until the conflict 
 seemed past, and the blessing they sought 
 gained. They both rose from prayer, and, with- 
 out exchanging a word upon the subject of 
 their feelings, went to their different homes for 
 the night. 
 
 “The next morning the brothers met; but 
 the feelings of the past night were yet too vivid 
 to be dissipated. Said Melville to the younger, 
 
160 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 ‘What did you think of our feelings last night ?’ 
 ‘I think,’ said the younger brother, ‘ James has 
 experienced religion.’ ‘Well, I think, said 
 Melville, ‘THAT HE Is DEAD; and I have put it 
 down in my diary, and you will see if it is not 
 true. A few weeks passed away, and tidings 
 came that Yames was dead! He died within a 
 few days’ sail of the Balize, in the evening, and, 
 as the brothers supposed, by a comparison of 
 the letter they received with Melville’s diary, 
 on the same hour in which they were engaged tn 
 prayer for his soul. 
 
 “The above letter contained no reference to 
 his religious feelings, so that the correctness of 
 the younger brother’s impressions was yet to be 
 determined., On the return of the brig, how- 
 ever, it was ascertained by conversation with 
 the mate that the feelings of both were equally 
 true. It appeared from the mate’s testimony 
 and other circumstances, that immediately after 
 his sailing James ‘became serious, abandoned 
 profaneness, to which he had been accustomed 
 for years, and forbade the indulgence of this 
 profitless and degrading crime on board his ves- 
 sel, and this seriousness continued to the hour 
 of his death. He communicated his thoughts, 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 161 
 
 however, to no one, excepting to his friends, 
 upon paper, which they received after his death. 
 Yet it does not appear from any of these cir- 
 cumstances that he found peace to his mind, 
 unless it were in his last hour. 
 
 “On the morning of the day on which he 
 died he said to his mate he thought he should 
 die that day, and accordingly made what 
 arrangements he could for such an event. He 
 gave some directions about the vessel, and re- 
 quested a lock of hair to be cut from his head, 
 which, with a ring that he took from his finger, 
 was handed to his friends. He then gave him- 
 self up to his fate. In the evening the mate 
 went below; and, seeing quite a change had 
 taken place in his appearance, and that death 
 was rapidly approaching, he took his hand and 
 thus addressed him: ‘Captain Cox, you area 
 very sick man.’ ‘Yes, I know it,’ was calmly, 
 though feebly, articulated. ‘You are dying; 
 continued the mate. ‘Yes, I know ty be apains 
 
 whispered. ‘And are you willing?’ ‘Yes, 
 blessed’ — and burst into a flood of tears and 
 expired.” 
 
 The conviction, simultaneously impressed upon 
 
 the minds of these brothers, that their prayer 
 EE 
 
162 The Mission of the Sptrtt. 
 
 was heard, was doubtless produced by the Holy 
 Ghost. The impression regarding the death of 
 their brother is a psychological fact, well de- 
 serving the consideration of the philosopher. 
 But time would fail to tell of all the instances 
 on record ; while every earnest saint in all the 
 ages has known the truth of this—although 
 this fact in his experience may have been known 
 only to himself and his God. The answer is 
 in the prayer. The same Spirit which creates 
 the desire and produces the groanings of soul 
 is present with the answer. The desire has 
 come from God—it is in accordance with the 
 will of God ; the answer is sure. 
 My prayer hath power with God; the grace 
 Unspeakable I now receive ; 
 Through faith I see thee face to face ; 
 I see thee face to face and live! 
 
 In vain I have not wept and strove ; 
 Thy nature and thy name is Love.—-C. WESLEY. 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 163 
 
 CHAPTER XiIT 
 
 THE COMFORTER AS A LEADER AND GUIDE. 
 
 ? S many as are led by the Spirit of God, 
 
 they are the sons of God.” But what is 
 it to be Zed by the Spirit of God? It will read- 
 ily be seen that a right answer to this question 
 is of the greatest importance. An error here 
 may lead the mind very far astray, either into 
 the vagaries of mysticism on the one hand, or 
 the delusions of fanaticism on the other. There 
 have been persons at various periods in the his- 
 tory of the Church who have imagined that 
 they were, and declared themselves to be, under 
 the guidance of the Spirit ; and yet they have 
 been guilty in some instances of the most fanat- 
 ical conduct, and in others, of the most abom- 
 inable excesses. I would inquire, then, Is it pos- 
 sible for us to k7zow when we are led by the Spirit 
 of God? Can his guidance be distinguished 
 from the actings of our own minds, or the decis- 
 ions and determinations of our own wills? Or, 
 on the other hand, are all who profess to be led by 
 
164 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 the Spirit fanatics and deceivers? One thing is 
 settled for us right here, and that is, that the sons, 
 or children of God, are led by the Spirit. Then, 
 again, the Saviour expressly promised to his 
 disciples that the Comforter should “ guide them 
 into all truth.” John xvi, 13. 
 
 But the word of God names several conditions 
 the existence of which is essential to the enjoy- 
 ment of this leading and guidance. And, first 
 of all, it is only those who are sozs of God who 
 are thus led. This implies that they have re- 
 pented of their sins, have believed on the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, and have experienced his justifying 
 and renewing grace. It involves, also, the fur- 
 ther fact that there is a complete submission of 
 the soul to the dictates and control of the Divine 
 Spirit. In other words, if the Holy Spirit actu- 
 ally leads a man, he must be willing to be led 
 just in the way he would have him go. It would, 
 indeed, be a great comfort to many persons if 
 they could convince themselves and others that 
 the way in which they go, and the actions which 
 they perform, are from the promptings and 
 leadings of the Holy Ghost: if, in other words, 
 they could practice the most gross immoralities, 
 the most impure conduct which their base hearts 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 165 
 
 or their corrupt passions incline them to, and 
 yet throw the responsibility upon the Holy 
 Ghost. Some have ventured so far as to do 
 these very things. Their blasphemy is of the 
 most fearful character, for they are ascribing the 
 works of the devil to the Spirit of God, and thus 
 are bringing upon themselves the terrible judg- 
 ments of heaven. The word of God gives us clear- 
 ly to understand that no person who performs 
 an unholy or impure action can possibly be led 
 to do this by the Holy Ghost. The infinite 
 purity and holiness of his character render such 
 a thing infinitely impossible. But, on the other 
 hand, he can only lead a person to do that which 
 is right and just and true and good. If any 
 man’s conduct varies from these principles, no 
 matter what his professions or pretensions may 
 be as to his being led by the Spirit of God, “ he 
 is a liar, and the truth is notin him.” There 
 are but two spirits in the world which lead and 
 control men’s minds---the Spirit of light and the 
 spirit of darkness; the Spirit of truth and the 
 spirit of error ; the Spirit of God and the spirit 
 of the devil. These are in direct and eternal an- 
 tagonism. They can never coalesce, or co-exist. 
 Satan, it is true, may appear as an “angel of 
 
166 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 light,” but he is no less a devil under this garb 
 than in his own thunder-scarred deformity. Error 
 may put on the garb of truth, but it is error still. 
 When, therefore, the Spirit of God leads a man, 
 he leads him to do right, to do good, to believe 
 the truth and embrace it. The promise is em- 
 phatic, ‘ He shall guide you into all the truth,” 
 not into error, not into folly, not into sin. 
 
 The question may arise here, “ How am I to 
 know what is truth?” ‘“ The theological world,” 
 it may be said, “is a Babel of confused opinions 
 and theories ; science seems to be opposed to 
 some of the teachings of the Bible, and the 
 wisest and the best men differ widely upon some 
 important passages of Scripture; how, in the 
 midst of all this confusion, am I to perceive the 
 truth?” Let me say right here that the Bible 
 does not profess or aim to teach philosophy or 
 science. It does not attempt to formulate any 
 system of astronomy, geology, chemistry, or geog- 
 nosy. But it does profess to teach man about God, 
 his character and relations to his creatures ; about 
 man, his origin, his character, his fall, his redemp- 
 tion by Christ, and his destiny. Its allusions to 
 those questions which belong to philosophical 
 or scientific investigation, as we have already 
 
The Misston of the Spirit. 167 
 
 seen, are made in the language of the existing 
 ideas and knowledge of the people among whom 
 its truths were primarily uttered, and are merely 
 occasional and incidental. But upon the great 
 questions on which it does profess to give man 
 light and knowledge it speaks out clearly and 
 unmistakably. “The wayfaring men, although 
 fools, shal/ not err therein.” Isa. xxxv, 8. “To 
 us at this day this word has come, and to us at 
 this day the anointing from the Holy One flows 
 down. For you, for me, (thank God !) the teach- 
 ing of the Spirit remains. It remains for the 
 servants and the handmaids, and many an ob- 
 scure and lowly brother in the streets around 
 us can say for himself, as truly as St. Paul could 
 say, ‘I have received the Spirit that is of God, 
 that I may know the things which are freely given 
 me of God.’ But one who thus speaks can know 
 that his convictions are really the teaching of 
 the Spirit of God only so far as they correspond 
 with the eternal types of truth, which ascertain 
 to us what the teaching of the Spirit is. Now, 
 as in the apostolic days, he which is spiritual can 
 show that he is so only ‘by acknowledging that 
 the things which’ these appointed teachers 
 
 ‘wrote to us are commandments of the Lord ;’ 
 
168 ~ The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 for the gift of the Holy Ghost to others is not 
 a gift whereby they originate the knowledge of 
 new truths, but a gift whereby they recognize 
 and apprehend the old unchanging mystery, still 
 receiving afresh the one revelation of Christ, 
 ever approaching, never surpassing the compre- 
 hensive but immovable boundaries of the faith 
 once delivered to the saints. This is the gift 
 which makes the written word a living word, 
 which fills a Church with joy, and seals a soul for 
 glety.” * 
 
 Again, The Spirit of God never leads a man 
 to believe any thing contrary to the word of God, 
 or to do any thing contrary to its teachings. It 
 is right here that we have an all-sufficient check 
 against error and fanaticism. Ifany person 
 thinks or feels that he is led by the Spirit of God, 
 heis to test his impressions by the truths of God’s 
 word. If the convictions, impressions, or inelie 
 nations of his mind and heart are in accordance 
 with the eternal truths of that word, then he 
 may safely follow them, and properly conclude 
 that the Spirit of the Lord is leading and guid- 
 ing him aright. But if they are not in harmony 
 with the word, then the sooner he gets rid of 
 
 * Bernard’s Progress of Doctrine in the New Testament. 
 
The Mission of the Spirtt. 169 
 
 them the better it will be for himself and for all 
 concerned ; for it is not the Spirit of God, but 
 the spirit of “that wicked one” which is endeav- 
 oring to lead him astray. There are those who 
 profess to be entirely governed by their impres- 
 sions, and who ascribe all those impressions to 
 the Holy Spirit. Such governance will com- 
 monly lead those astray who followit. Nothing 
 is more variable and uncertain than our feelings 
 and impressions. We are creatures subject to a 
 thousand influences both from within and with- 
 out. Some of our impressions are healthy and 
 right, others are morbid and wrong. Some are 
 from a sound normal condition of our physical 
 system, and others from its deranged and disor- 
 dered conditions. Some are from the world with- 
 out us, and some are from the world within us. 
 Some are from the Spirit of God, and some are 
 from the devil. Now, then, we are commanded 
 not to believe every spirit, but to ¢vy the spirits 
 whether they are of God. (1 John ivy, 1.) 
 
 We are to try our impressions by the word of 
 God, according to its eternal principles of truth 
 and right. And just here comes in that right, 
 aye, that duty, of private judgment in reading 
 and endeavoring to understand the word of God. 
 
170 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 God has given to his intelligent creatures pow- 
 ers of reason, of judgment, of understanding, 
 of analysis and synthesis. These are to be 
 brought into exercise in reading the word of 
 God, in humble reliance upon the promised aid 
 of the Divine Spirit. Given, then, the word of 
 God in our hands, the Spirit of God in our 
 hearts, and our God-given reason duly enthroned 
 in our minds, and no man need to, or will, go 
 far astray. But any one who relies upon mere 
 impressions will go astray into the wildest fan- 
 cies, or the grossest irregularities, or the most 
 mortifying blunders. Some very good, although 
 at the time very mistaking, people, have done 
 very singular, and even very ludicrous, things 
 in following out their mere impressions. And 
 there can be no doubt that God has permitted 
 them to be thus humbled in order to save them 
 from greater errors and mistakes. The well- 
 known instance in the life of Dr. Nathan Bangs 
 is here in point. “At a certain time when he 
 was laboring in Canada, when the weather was 
 very cold and the snow deep, as he was riding 
 - along the road he came opposite a dwelling that 
 stood quite a distance from the road in the field. 
 Instantly he was impressed to go to the house 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. EFI 
 
 and talk and pray with its family. He could 
 see no path through the deep snow, and he felt 
 reluctant to wade that distance. He resolved 
 not to go. No sooner had he passed the house 
 than the impression became doubly strong, and 
 he was constrained to turn back. He fastened 
 his horse to the fence, waded through the snow 
 to the house, and zot a soul was there. From 
 that time he resolved never to confide in mere 
 tmpressions.” * 
 
 But all this, while it guards, does not militate 
 against the doctrine of the guidance of the Spirit 
 as taught so clearly in the word of God. In 
 every dispensation of God’s mercy and grace 
 ‘toward our world this great truth has been 
 taught, and this experience has been realized. 
 Enoch, in his three-century walk with God; 
 Abraham, leaving Ur of the Chaldees, and going 
 out under the Divine guidance, not knowing 
 whither he went, but following that guidance 
 toward Canaan, and “the city which hath foun- 
 dations.” The royal Psalmist very frequently 
 in his rapt and sublime utterances refers to 
 this truth, and dwells upon it with holy rapture : 
 “This God is our God for ever and ever: he will 
 
 * Tife and Times of Nathan Bangs, D. D., p. ror. 
 a7 3 ] 
 
172 The Mission of the S spirit. 
 
 be our gwzzde even unto death.” Psa. xlviii, 14, 
 “The meek will he guide in judgment: and the 
 meek will he teach his way.” Psa. xxv,9. ‘Thou 
 shalt guzde me with thy counsel, and afterward 
 receive me to glory.” Psa. Ixxiii,24. “The steps 
 of a good man are ordered by the Lord.” Psa. 
 XXXV, 23. “Teach me to do thy will;... thy 
 Spirit is good ; lead me into the land of upright- 
 
 ness.” Psa. cxliii, 10. The apostle John, writing - 
 
 to his brethren, says, “ But ye have an unction 
 from the Holy One, and ye know all things.” 
 I John ii, 20. “But the anointing which ye 
 have received of him abideth in you, and ye 
 need not that any man teach you: but as the 
 same anointing teacheth you of all things, and 
 is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught 
 you, ye shall abide in him.” 1 John ii, 27. 
 
 All these Scriptures thus clearly teach a divine 
 leadership, a divine guidance. Yes, poor, feeble, 
 erring man may be led by the Spirit of God into 
 all truth and righteousness ; may be led through 
 all the wildering mazes of this world up to the 
 gates of pearl and the fadeless mansions. And 
 O, if we oftener sought his guidance, if our 
 hearts were only more willing to follow where 
 he would lead, how many errors, straits, diffi- 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 173 
 
 culties, and troubles we might avoid, and how 
 would we be led by the side of the still waters, 
 up to the lofty altitudes of communion with God, 
 down into the hallowed depths of love divine, 
 and into the immeasurable riches of divine 
 grace! But we so often want our own will and 
 our own way; and when the Spirit would lead 
 us we shrink back, or refuse to follow, because 
 the way looks to us rough and thorny, or a cross 
 lies directly in the path. We too seldom think 
 that the way of the cross is the way to the 
 crown, and that the rough and thorny path 
 leads upward to the golden streets. If we fail 
 to follow where the Spirit leads we are losers 
 always—losers in every way. 
 
 I cannot, however, leave this subject without 
 noticing that this blessed fact of a Divine 
 Leader and Guide is not only one of the deepest 
 interest and importance, but, also, of the greatest 
 satisfaction and comfort. Full well do we know 
 that where he leads there it is not only safe for 
 us to follow, but it is best for us to go. Some- 
 times the way may be one of difficulty, sorrow, 
 and trial. We may shrink, at first, from enter- 
 ing upon it. But if we will only follow where 
 our Lord doth lead all will be well. Jesus, the 
 
MA Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 divine Jesus, “was led up of the Spirit into the 
 wilderness to be tempted of the devil.” Matt. IV, I. 
 Fierce, determined, persistent were Satan’s at- 
 tacks ; but when the struggle was over “angels 
 came and ministered unto him.” Matt. Well eese 
 will it ever be with us. In the wilderness of life 
 the Spirit may lead us to scenes of fierce tempta- 
 tion, as he led our Lord ; but the conflict ended, 
 the victory ours, angel pinions will fan our heated 
 brows, and angel hands will minister to our 
 comfort. Again, while the Church at Antioch 
 with its “prophets and teachers,” “ministered 
 to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, 
 Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work 
 whereunto I have called them.” Acts iia 
 Obedient to the Divine direction, they departed 
 on a long journey, involving dangers and perils 
 and persecutions innumerable. But they re- 
 turned with a song of triumph in their hearts 
 and on their lips: “Now thanks be unto God, 
 which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, 
 and maketh manifest the savor of his knowl- 
 edge by us in every place.” 2Cor. ii, 14. These 
 instances will suffice to show that, however diffi- 
 cult or dangerous the way may be in which we 
 are led, the result will be, if we follow the Divine 
 
 EE a 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 175 
 
 guidance, peace, comfort, and joy. But scme- 
 times, O how often! he will “lead us by the still 
 waters, and make us to lie down in the green 
 pastures,” where Eden flowers bloom and shed 
 their fragrance all around, where the skies are 
 bright and cloudless, and all the air is burdened 
 with celestial melodies. 
 
 But let me say, further, however rough, or 
 thorny, or dark, the way may be at times over 
 which the Spirit leads us, yet if we are assured 
 that it is his hand which is guiding our steps, 
 we may walk on with the utmost confidence and 
 joy. What though the billows of some Red 
 Sea may roll darkly before our eyes, and seem 
 to forbid our advance even when the voice of 
 God bids us “go forward!” If we will only 
 obey the Divine command, those dark billows 
 will be rolled up into walls of adamant; “the 
 depths will be congealed in the heart of the sea,” 
 and the slimy paths of the monsters of the deep 
 will be reared into a highway, over which we 
 shall pass to sing songs of victory on the shore 
 that lies nearest to Canaan. Or, if we are led 
 into a den which has quivered and shaken with 
 the thundering roar of hungry lions eager for 
 their prey that den will be a downy couch, 
 
176 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 prepared by angel hands after they shall have 
 locked the lion’s jaws ; and through the livelong 
 night their wings will canopy our heads, and 
 their gleaming spear-heads will defend us from 
 harm. Mayhap we shall be led into some seven- 
 times heated furnace of affliction in obeying his 
 divine command. But even then the fire-flame 
 will become as harmless as a gilded drapery, 
 while, inconsumable as asbestos, we walk tri- 
 umphantly with our Lord in the midst of the 
 fire. Yes, if he lead us there, even martyr-tor- 
 tures, martyr-dungeons, and martyr-stakes shall 
 be turned into scenes of rapturous triumph and 
 joy. Thus the Comforter leadeth us to mount- 
 ain-tops radiant and rosy with the light of God— 
 to valleys of humiliation, sometimes resonant 
 with sighs and groans, and then ringing with 
 shouts of victory and triumph. But, blessed 
 Comforter, only let us know that show leadest 
 us and we will follow thee ! 
 
 We have, then, a sure and certain guide, 
 whom we can always follow with the utmost 
 confidence. Amid all the wildering mazes of 
 our earthly course, amid all the perplexing cares 
 of life, through all its waves of trouble and sor- 
 row, here is a Guide who is ever near. And 
 
The Mission of the Spirtt. 177 
 
 with the divine word in our hands, and the di- 
 vine Comforter in our hearts, we not only eed 
 not, but, we positively shall not, go astray. Well 
 may we join in the prayer of the poet as we 
 close this chapter : 
 
 “‘ While life’s dark maze I tread, 
 And griefs around me spread, 
 Be thou my guide ; 
 Bid darkness turn to day; 
 Wipe sorrow’s tears away, 
 Nor let me ever stray 
 From thee aside.” 
 
 THE GUIDING HAND. 
 ***Ts this the way, my Father?’ ‘’Tis, my child; 
 Thou must pass through this tangled, dreary wild 
 If thou would’st reach the city undefiled, 
 Thy peaceful home above.’ 
 
 «But enemies are round !’ ‘Yes, child, I know 
 That where thou least expect thou 'lt find a foe ; 
 But victor thou shalt prove o’er all below; 
 
 Only seek strength above.’ 
 
 *** My Father, it is dark!’ ‘Child, take my hand; 
 Cling close to me; I'll lead thee through the land; 
 Trust my all-seeing care; so shalt thou stand 
 
 ’Midst glory bright above.’ 
 
 “** My footsteps seem to slide!’ £ Child, only raise 
 Thine eye to me, then in these slippery ways 
 I will hold up thy goings; thou shalt praise 
 
 Me for each step, above.’ 
 
 ‘**QO, Father, Iam weary!’ ‘ Lean thy head 
 
 Upon my breast. It was my love that spread 
 
 Thy rugged path ; hope on, till I have said, 
 ** Rest, rest for aye, above.’’’” 
 
 12 
 
178 The Mtssion of the Spirit. 
 
 CHAPTER Xiy: 
 
 THE COMFORTER AS THE SANCTIFIER. 
 
 HE Holy Ghost is the Sanctifier. So the 
 
 word of truth uniformly declares. “We 
 are bound to give thanks always to God for 
 you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because 
 God hath from the beginning chosen you to 
 salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and 
 belief of the truth.” 2 Thess. ii, 13. The Apos- 
 tle Peter, writing to the “strangers scattered 
 throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, 
 and Bithynia,’ calls them “elect according to the 
 foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctt- 
 fication of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprink- 
 1 Pet.i;1,2:. Butahe 
 question arises just here, “ What is that sancti- 
 
 ling of the blood of Jesus.’ 
 
 fication which the Spirit of God accomplishes 
 in the soul of the believer?” The word “sanc- 
 tify” has two meanings, which are correlative, 
 the one implying, but not necessarily including, 
 the other. One is “to set apart,” “ devote,” 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 179 
 
 $9 
 
 “consecrate ;’- the other is “to hallow,” or ‘to 
 make holy.” The word is frequently used in 
 both of these ways in the word of God. Hence 
 we read that the first-born of Israel were 
 sanctified to God, that is, set apart, devoted to 
 the Lord. (Exod. xiii, 2.) They were redeemed, 
 and therefore set apart. So also the tabernacle, 
 and afterward the temple, the priests, the altars, 
 the sacrifices were sanctified, or set apart, for 
 sacred uses and purposes. It is also used in 
 the sense of cleansing from sin, or making holy. 
 In the New Testament the word as applied 
 to believers always signifies purity, holiness. 
 “And such were some of you: but ye are 
 washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified 
 in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit 
 of our God.” 1 Cor. vi, 11. “ Christ also loved 
 the Church, and gave himself for it ; that he might 
 sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of wa- 
 ter iby. the- word.” Eph, .v;-25, 26.- ‘The very 
 God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray 
 God your whole spirit and soul and body be 
 preserved dlameless unto the coming of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thess. v, 23. “ Where- 
 fore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the peo- 
 ple with his own blood, suffered without the 
 
180 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 pate. Heb. xiii, 12,. ‘This isithe will of God. 
 even your sanctification, that ye should abstain 
 from fornication.” 1 Thess. iv, 3. 
 
 Among all evangelical Christians these defi- 
 nitions are regarded as entirely in harmony 
 with the divine teachings, and there is no dif- 
 ference of opinion as to the nature of the work, 
 about the truth and the blood by which it is 
 accomplished, or as to the Almighty Agent who 
 alone can perform it. The only real difference 
 of opinion among them is as to the ze when 
 it may be performed, experienced, and enjoyed. 
 This, however, I shall notice more fully here- 
 after. - 
 
 At present let us look at the work of the 
 Spirit in effecting this wonderful transformation 
 and purification in the human soul. 
 
 I, The Holy Spirit convinces the believer of 
 the wecessity of this work. This he does in two 
 ways: (I.) By his inward operations upon the 
 soul, revealing to it the corruptions which re- 
 main after the work of regeneration has been 
 performed ; and, (2.) By shedding his light upon 
 the sacred page, thus revealing the duty and 
 the privilege of the believer unto him. The 
 theory which to some minds appears so beautiful, 
 
 ~~ 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 181 
 
 that men are entirely sanctified when they are 
 justified and regenerated, is regarded by nearly 
 the whole Christian Church as in conflict with 
 the teachings of God’s word, and contradictory 
 to the universal experience of the Church of 
 God. It is possible for us to conceive a per- 
 son whose faith at the time of his experiencing 
 justifying and renewing grace grasps in the 
 whole work, and then, of course, it would be 
 done ; and it may be also that in the progress- 
 ive development of Christian doctrine, and in 
 the increasing light which will shine upon this 
 question, such experience will become more 
 general; but up to this time the instances, if 
 such there are, are exceedingly rare. The com- 
 mon experience of all Christians 1s substantially 
 as follows: After the first gush of the raptures 
 of pardon, and the first clear consciousness of 
 -“the renewing of the Holy Ghost,” which 1s 
 prolonged sometimes for days and even weeks— 
 there is revealed to the new-born child of God, 
 by the Holy Spirit, that there are remaining 
 corruptions, or sins in his heart. So clearly, in- 
 deed, is this revelation made to him that no 
 doubt exists in his mind as to the fact. He 
 not only sees them, but he also feels them there 
 
182 The Mission of the Spirtt. 
 
 They do not dominate in his soul, they do not 
 overcome the newly implanted graces of the 
 Spirit, but they struggle for the mastery. “The 
 flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit 
 against the flesh: and these are contrary the 
 one to the other; so that ye cannot do the 
 things that ye would.” Gal. v, 17. Anger, 
 pride, the love of the world, of its wealth, hon- 
 ors, fashions, and follies ; “the lust of the flesh, 
 the lust of the eye, and the pride of life,” are all 
 consciously existent in the believer's soul, clam- 
 oring for supremacy, but controlled by grace. 
 At first the revelation of these to the young 
 Christian is cause of inexpressible grief. Some- 
 times he is led even to doubt whether he was 
 ever made the subject of saving grace. “How 
 can I be a child of God,” he asks, “when so 
 much of sin remains in my soul?” The dis- 
 covery is truly and always a painful one. To 
 ene who has been exulting in the rapturous 
 heights of pardon and salvation thus to be led 
 to view his condition is cause of sorrow and 
 humiliation ; but it is thus that the Comforter 
 would lead the soul, not to undervalue the great 
 and wonderful work already wrought, but to 
 seek after a higher life, a fuller conformity to 
 
 | 
 | 
 . 
 | 
 ; 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 133 
 
 God, and the spotless purity which the blood 
 of Jesus can impart. No one who has ever ex- 
 perienced the saving grace of God can under- 
 standingly place a light estimate upon it; in- 
 deed, the most difficult part of the work if his 
 salvation has now been wrought. He has 
 abandoned his sins, he has believed on the 
 Lord Jesus Christ with a heart unto righteous- 
 ness, and, as the blessed result, his sins and 
 iniquities are remembered against him no more. 
 He is “justified freely,” he is born of the Spirit, 
 he is adopted into the divine family, and conse- 
 quently becomes “an heir of God and a joint- 
 heir with Jesus Christ.” In this blessed reia- 
 tion “he stands and rejoices in hope of the 
 glory of God,” and his “hope maketh him not 
 ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad 
 in his heart by the Holy Ghost which is given 
 to him.” All the graces of the Spirit in regen- 
 eration are implanted in his soul, and while he 
 ‘s faithful to God, they are ever growing there. 
 Now I say that no person who has ever enjoyed 
 this state and relation can speak lightly of them. 
 All such expressions as “ only justified,” ‘“mere- 
 ty regenerated,” should never be employed. 
 
 But the inquiry arises here, “ If what has 
 
184 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 been done already is so great and glorious, can 
 any thing further be attained or enjoyed by the 
 believer ?” Vesttfor-the Comforter, in his word 
 and in the heart, convinces the believer of the 
 necessity and desirableness of a higher life, of 
 a closer walk with God. 
 
 2. But not only so. He shows by the same 
 means the foss¢bility of experiencing and en- 
 joying tt. It would be to confuse and dis- 
 courage the child of God, if convinced of the 
 remains of sin in his heart, and at the same 
 time of the command of God requiring him to 
 ebe ROly,”) to “o0 on to perfection,” etc., he 
 were assured that the attainment of such a 
 State is an utter impossibility, But, blessed 
 be God! the Comforter who convinces of the 
 necessity of this work points us also to the Zos- 
 sibility of its enjoyment. Ou blessed Saviour 
 in his intercessory prayer says, “ Sanctify them 
 
 through thy truth: thy word is truth.” John — 
 
 Xvi, 17, So the Holy Spirit who inspired the 
 word brings to the mind its promises and as- 
 surances, and reveals the rich provisions of in- 
 finite love. Does the child of God groan over 
 his impurities and corruptions? He is pointed 
 to the fountain over which is written, “The 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 185 
 
 blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from 
 all sin.’ 1 John i, 7. Does he sigh over his 
 want of conformity to God? He is assured 
 that, beholding as with open face in a glass 
 the glory of the Lord, he shall be changed, 
 (kaTonTplcomevol, OF metamorphosed,) into the 
 same image from glory to glory, even by the 
 Lord the Spirit. (2 Cor. iii, 18.) Does he doubt 
 whether this is #zs great privilege? Again the 
 Spirit speaks in his word, “ Faithful is he that 
 calleth you, who also wz2// do it.” 1 Thess. v, 24. 
 He is led thus to see that, such is the amplitude 
 of the provision, such the all-cleansing power 
 of the blood of Christ, such the almightiness 
 of the Eternal Spirit, no matter what he may 
 be, the work can be done; and whenever, at 
 any stage of the believer's experience, his faith 
 lays hold of these great promises and provis- 
 ions, the work will be done. According to his 
 faith it will be done unto him. This work of 
 entire sanctification, we see, is the completion of 
 an on-going process of grace in the soul—the 
 entireness of a work which had hitherto been 
 partial, the perfection of a work which up to 
 this point had been imperfect or incomplete. 
 That the work of grace in the soul up to this 
 
186 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 period may be, and is, gradual in most in- 
 stances cannot be doubted. It is possible for a 
 person subsequently to his conversion to “ press 
 forward toward the mark of his high calling in 
 Christ Jesus,” “to grow in ‘grace, and in the 
 knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ,” to be 
 maturing and ripening for glory. Probably 
 this is the experience of most ot the children 
 of God. Multitudes who are and have been 
 ultimately saved in heaven have never distinctly 
 experienced, or professed to enjoy, entire sancti- 
 fication. To argue that those only have been 
 saved who have had such definite experience, 
 would exclude the vast majority of all the Church 
 of God. No; the work of sanctification in the 
 human soul may be, and in the majority of in- 
 stances up to this period in the history of the 
 Church is, gradual. 
 
 But here J, inquire, Can this work of the 
 Comforter be wrought zwstantaneously ? May 
 the believer now present his body a living sac- 
 rifice, holy and acceptable to God, and be con- 
 scious that God now accepts his sacrifice ? 
 May he zow “reckon himself as indeed dead 
 unto sin, and alive unto God through Jesus 
 Christ our Lord?” May the corruptions and 
 
The Mission of the Spirvt. 187 
 
 impurities of his soul now be all washed away 
 in the blood of the Lamb? May he now, by 
 the aid of the Comforter, measure up to the 
 divine requirement to love the Lord God with 
 all his heart, soul, mind, and strength? To 
 al] these inquiries I am constrained, in view of 
 the clear and unequivocal testimony of the word 
 of God, to answer, Yes! O how many dear 
 Christians, not only of the Calvinistic, but also 
 of the Wesleyan belief, halt, hesitate, and stag- 
 ger just here! How many grieve the blessed 
 Comforter by their doubts, reasonings, phi- 
 losophizings, and unbeliefs, and enshroud their 
 minds in mist often so dense that all truths are 
 seen in a dim, shadowy, and spectral form by 
 the mind! 
 
 The idea that we must wait until death before 
 this work can be done is dishonoring to the 
 blood of Christ and the power of the Holy 
 Ghost. If sin were a material or physical thing, 
 and if its seat were in the body, then death 
 might have something to do in its destruction ; 
 but it is in the soul, and death cannot touch it. 
 O it is “the blood of Jesus which cleanseth us 
 from all sin!” It is the Holy Ghost who 
 sanctifies the soul. And if it is the blood of 
 
188 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 Jesus which does this work, it can do it now . 
 if it is the Holy Ghost who sanctifies, he can 
 do the work now as well as a century hence. 
 But it is so natural for us to ignore the work of 
 the Comforter, and to undertake a legal process, 
 or to look to secondary causes for its accom- 
 plishment. We think sometimes a long period 
 of sickness would accomplish it, or some heavy 
 disaster would wean us from the world and 
 make us submit to Christ fully ; or, mayhap, if 
 we could be placed in some coveted position in 
 life we might then enjoy and retain this grace. 
 But all this is only “limiting the Holy One of 
 Israel.’ That the Comforter can, and often 
 does, make use of such means as I have referred 
 to, cannot be doubted. And yet, have we not 
 often wondered at ourselves in coming out of 
 such periods of affliction and trial, or after hav- 
 ing been placed in the positions so eagerly de- 
 sired by us, to find how little spiritual improve- 
 ment we have realized? But we can no more 
 mortify, or fast, or work ourselves into sanctifi- 
 cation than we can into justification. It was 
 not Luther’s and Wesley’s and Whitefield’s - 
 fastings and prayers and good works which 
 Lrought them into a justified state, but it was 
 
Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 189 
 
 faith, simple faith in Christ, which, by a single 
 act, placed them where months, and even years, 
 of earnest and honest effort had utterly failed 
 to bring them. If we believe, then, distinctively 
 and fully for this great blessing, the Comforter 
 will honor our faith by imparting it to us now. 
 
 3. This work of the Comforter in the sancti- 
 fication of the believer is dzstznzct from the work 
 which he wrought in his regeneration. It is not. 
 separated from it—it was germinally and poten- 
 tially present then ; but in character and chron- 
 ologically it is distinct, just as the completion 
 of a work is distinct from its commencement, as 
 death is distinct from dying, as learning to 
 read is distinct from learning the alphabet, 
 or as the bringing on the top-stone is distinct 
 from the foundation of the building. The work 
 of regeneration and initial sanctification is 
 the basal work of the whole -Christian charac- 
 ter. No one can be sanctified zolly who has 
 not been sanctified in part in regeneration, and 
 who 1s not living, at the time he seeks to have 
 this work wrought in him, in a justified state. 
 To seek sanctification without the enjoyment 
 of justification would be as vain as to’ attempt 
 to roof a foundationless house. — If, therefore, 
 
190 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 one would enjoy the fz//wess of God's salvation, 
 he must first have “¢asted and seen that the 
 Lord is gracious.” He cannot be consciously 
 sanctified unless he definitely and distinctly 
 seek for it and definitely and distinctly believe 
 for it. Thus seeking, and thus believing, he 
 will clearly and distinctly receive this grace. 
 
 4. The Comforter bears his witness to his 
 operations in the soul at every stage and in 
 every degree. I know there are many who 
 deny the witness of the Spirit to the complete 
 sanctification of the believer on the ground that 
 there is no direct Scripture testimony upon it. 
 It is here distinctly admitted that there is no 
 direct revelation upon this point. But the ana- 
 logical argument, sustained as it is, and has 
 been for a century or more, by the clear experi- 
 ence of many of the most eminent Christians, 
 is both clear and convincing. Now that the 
 Comforter cow/d as well bear witness to this 
 work when wrought in the soul as to the fact 
 of our justification will be readily admitted. 
 The only question is, W2// he do it? Does he 
 ever bear this witness? I have said that the 
 Comforter does witness to his own work, what- 
 ever that may be, in the human soul, For 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. IQ! 
 
 instance, he convinces the world of the un- 
 godly “of sin, righteousness, and judgment ’”— 
 that is, he so acts upon the soul of the sinner 
 as to produce a sense of sin, “ of bondage unto 
 fear.” In other words, he bears witness in his 
 soul, not only to his sinful character and con- 
 dition, but also to the multitude of his sins and 
 the necessary and fearful consequences outflow- 
 ing from them. When, thus awakened and 
 convinced, the sinner seeks for pardon, he is 
 justified freely and adopted into the family of 
 God, and the “Spirit bears witness with his 
 spirit that he is a child of God.” So, as we 
 have seen, the Spirit convinces the believer of 
 the remaining corruptions in his heart, and of 
 his need of purity—of holiness—and inclines 
 him to seek after it. Then, when by faith he 
 grasps the promised blessing, and the work 
 is actually accomplished, the Spirit bears his 
 witness to that work. Hence we see that from 
 the first movements of the Comforter upon the 
 soul, until he finishes his great work of grace, 
 his constant testimony is borne. To the sinner 
 he is “the Spirit of bondage again to fear.” To 
 the justified and adopted believer he is “the 
 Spirit of adoption.” And to the sanctified be- 
 
1Q2 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 liever he is “the Spirit of holiness.” To say 
 that the Holy Spirit only witnesses in the soul 
 to our adoption, is contrary to the express teach- 
 ing of the Word of God. The Saviour distinct- 
 ly promised, “He shall testify of me,” John 
 xv, 260; “ He shall glorify me: for he shall re- 
 ceive of mine, and shall show it unto you,” John 
 xvl, 14. The Apostle Paul declares that the 
 Holy Ghost gave his attestation to his utterance 
 of burdened desire for the salvation of his 
 “brethren, his kinsmen according to the flesh.” 
 “TI say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my con- 
 science also bearing me witness in the Holy 
 Ghost.” Rom. ix, 1. And the beloved John de- 
 clares, “ Hereby we know that he abideth in us, 
 by the Spirit which he hath given us.” 1 John 
 il, 24. Of course, wherever this witness as () 
 will be corroborated by the testimony of our own 
 spirit, and ‘by the saintliness of the life of the 
 wholly sanctified one. The two witnesses—that 
 of the Spirit of God and of our own spirit—are 
 always conjoined, and thus the joint testimony 
 is indubitable. 
 
 It may be asked here, “If the Comforter has 
 wholly purified and hallowed the soul, is there 
 any further work for him to do?” Most cer- 
 
Lhe Misston of the Spirit. 193 
 
 tainly there is. In fact, the soul now, with all 
 its volitions, affections, and intellectual powers, 
 is so completely under his control that he can 
 lead it onward and upward, nearer and still 
 nearer to God in accelerated motion from day 
 to day. Disencumbered of its load of corrup- 
 tion, it rises to loftier altitudes of holiness and 
 love. The believer now “ walks with God.” 
 His communion with him is sweet and uninter- 
 rupted ; his peace is calm, deep, settled ; it is 
 “the peace of God,’ “perfect peace,” .and it 
 “keeps his heart and mind through Christ 
 Jesus.” Love now sits enthroned within his 
 soul, and sways its gentle scepter over all his 
 
 b) 
 
 “passions and his powers.” .Thus his upward 
 
 flight is steady, unspasmodic, and rapid. 
 
 “Changed from glory into glory, 
 Till in heaven he takes his place ; 
 
 Till he casts his crown before Thee, 
 Lost in wonder, love, and praise.” 
 
 13 
 
194 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 GTA PEREIRA: 
 
 THE COMFORTER RESISTED, QUENCHED, GRIEVED. 
 
 O truth is more clearly made known to 
 us in the word of God than that which 
 teaches us that man is the subject of Divine 
 influence. Two things are predicated of this: 
 First, that this fact is wszversal. ‘“ He shall 
 convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and 
 of judgment.” “That was the true Light which 
 lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” 
 John i, 9. “The grace [or gift] of God that 
 bringeth salvation hath appeared unto ai 
 men, teaching us,” etc. Titus il, 11, 12. Even 
 where the light of the Gospel does not shine, 
 and the institutions of the Gospel are not en- 
 joyed, there the Spirit acts directly upon man’s 
 heart and conscience, writes the law of God 
 upon his mind, gives him the sense of sin and 
 of the need of forgiveness. Hence, wherever 
 man, redeemed man, is, there the Comforter is 
 at work upon his heart and mind. 
 
Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 195 
 
 Second. This Divine influence is imparted 
 unconartionally and irresistibly. It is the free, 
 universal gift of God, secured by the atonement 
 of Christ and his mediation before the throne. 
 “The gifts and calling of God are without 
 repentance,” (Rom. xi, 29,) or any other condi- 
 tion whatsoever, on the part of man. Just as 
 soon as an immortal being opens his eyes to the 
 light of this world he is encompassed by the 
 gracious provisions of the atonement of Christ. 
 He exists as a redeemed creature, he lives in a 
 redeemed world, in a world where the Holy 
 Spirit is ever employed to bring man back to 
 his God; and, whether he desires it or not, 
 whether he is willing or unwilling, still the 
 Comforter comes to him with his heavenly illu- 
 mination, his divine influence, convincing him 
 of sin, and of his consequent need of the mercy 
 of God. May I not truly say that man really 
 has no choice in this matter as to whether he 
 will or will not have this divine influence upon 
 his soul? He ts, he must be, enlightened and 
 convinced “whether he will hear or forbear,” 
 whether he will be saved or damned. He can- 
 not prevent the entrance of the Spirit into his 
 heart. 
 
{96 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 But now, these points being settled, the 
 question arises, “ How far will the Holy Spirit 
 exert his sovereign power for the purpose of 
 saving him?” ‘That he is unconditionally and 
 irresistibly convinced of sin we have already 
 seen; but will he be unconditionally and irre- 
 sistibly saved? <A full answer to this would 
 involve the whole question of the freedom of 
 the human will, which would carry me very far 
 beyond the purpose of this work. There are 
 some points, however, which lie directly in my 
 path, and I proceed to consider them. 
 
 1. The precise point where divine agency 
 ends and human agency begins can never be 
 seen by the human eye or expressed in human 
 language. The acutest intellects have ex- 
 pended their utmost strength upon these ques- 
 tions during the by-gone centuries, and the 
 results of ‘their efforts have been unsatisfactory 
 to themselves and to others. There are diffi- 
 culties involved in all such investigations which 
 can never be fully overcome. While the gen- 
 eral statements of the word of God are clear 
 and explicit, yet there are facts in human ex- 
 perience which baffle our chosen theories, and 
 humble our pride into the very dust. It is by 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 197 
 
 no means infrequent that persons trained under 
 the influence of Arminianism tell us of a period 
 when “they were so wrought upon by the Spirit 
 of God that they could not resist his power,” 
 that it was “impossible for them to shake off 
 the influence which had seized hold upon 
 them ;” and in the language of the hymn so 
 frequently used, 
 
 “The more I strove against its power 
 I felt its weight and guilt the more,” 
 
 have expressed their conscious inability to get 
 rid of their burden. Persons in many instances, 
 and in various conditions and circumstances of 
 life, have thus been seized upon, and not only 
 when they have least thought upon the ques- 
 tion of their salvation, but also when they have 
 seemed to be the farthest away from God. 
 Their subsequent life of devotion to Christ has 
 given clearest demonstration of the reality of 
 the work wrought in them. On the other hand, 
 the experience of a majority of Christians teaches 
 that, when convinced of sin by the Holy Spirit, 
 they had the consciousness of a power by which 
 they might have resisted this influence, but 
 which they did not will to exercise, but that 
 
198 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 rather they were ‘nclined to yield to this divine 
 influence and be saved. 
 
 Now I ask, Could the first class of persons 
 referred to have resisted the Spirit? Could 
 they have so resisted him that they would not 
 have been saved? Is their language in the 
 relation of their experience to be taken accord- 
 ing to its literal meaning, or as merely express- 
 ive of their deep conviction of sin, combined 
 with a willingness on their part to yield to 
 Christ? Who can so answer these questions 
 as to relieve the mind of all doubt concerning 
 them? There is yet another question here, 
 If some men have these deep and overpower- 
 ing convictions, why do not a// men have them? 
 That there is a difference of operations we all 
 know, but why is one irresistibly drawn to 
 Christ, and another able to resist so far that he 
 ultimately perishes in his sin and guilt? Vol- 
 umes have been written in reply to these ques- 
 tions, and the mind is very far from being clear 
 in its conclusions upon them. Where we can- 
 not penetrate it is better for us to bow down 
 and adore. 
 
 2. While very many questions which might 
 be asked are thus vailed in obscurity, God’s 
 
The Mission of the Sptrit. 199 
 
 word clearly and distinctly informs us that 
 multitudes of persons have resisted, quenched, 
 or grieved the Spirit, so that they have ulti- 
 mately perished ; and thus we learn that the 
 sovereign, eternal, almighty Spirit may be so 
 resisted or quenched or grieved that the design 
 of his operations will be unaccomplished, and 
 man, the subject of these influences, be aban- 
 doned by him to endless destruction. Now 
 very early in the history of the world, in 
 fact in its very infancy, God most clearly an- 
 nounced this truth to man: “My Spirit shall 
 not always s/rive with man.” Gen. vi, 3. Nev- 
 ertheless one hundred and twenty years of res- 
 pite and effort were enjoyed by the antedilu- 
 vians before the final destruction came. During 
 all that period Noah preached, and the Spirit 
 strove with man; but never were efforts for the 
 good of the race more persistently or more uni- 
 versally resisted, until finally “the flood came 
 and took them all away.” 1 Pet. iii, r8~20. 
 How many of those who struggled and were 
 swallowed up in the seething waters were 
 saved, if any, I have no means of knowing. 
 The Prophet Isaiah deciared of the Jewish 
 people, “ But they rebelled, and vexed his Holy 
 
200 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their ene- 
 my, and he fought against them.” Isa. Ixiii, ro. 
 Again, Zechariah says of the same people, 
 “Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant 
 stone, lest they should hear the law, and the 
 words which the Lord of Hosts hath sent in 
 his Spirit.” Zech. vii, 12. The martyr Stephen 
 also charges them with the same thing in his 
 address before the Sanhedrim, “ Ye stiff-necked 
 and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do al- 
 ways resist the Holy Ghost : as your fathers did, 
 so do ye.” Acts vii, 51. The same truth is 
 taught in the following exhortations of the 
 apostle: “Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, 
 whereby ye are sealed to the day of redemp- 
 tion.” Eph. iv, 30. “Quench not the Spirit.” 
 1 Thess. v, 19. There can be no doubt that 
 when the Spirit sheds his light upon the mind, 
 and exerts his power upon the soul, it is for the 
 purpose of man’s salvation. Without such di- 
 vine operation he could not be saved, with it he 
 may be saved ; but if man resists this influence, 
 and just as long as he does so, he will remain 
 unsaved. If during the whole period of his pro- 
 bation he continues to resist, he will, he szzs¢, 
 perish ; but if he perish at last he will be left 
 
Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 201 
 
 without excuse, because all the aid essential for 
 his salvation was imparted to him by the Holy 
 Spirit. 
 
 3. There is no portion of the word of God 
 which, if properly understood, teaches that man 
 well be so irresistibly wrought upon by the Ffoly 
 Spirit that he will necessarily be saved. Those 
 portions usually relied upon in proof of such a 
 position really teach no such thing. This lan- 
 guage, which, however, is not in the Bible, is 
 often used as a quotation from the word of God 
 to sustain this necessitarian view: “ My people 
 shall be sade willing in the day of my power.” 
 This is a misquotation. The language is, shy: 
 people shall be willing in the day of thy power.” 
 Psa. cx, 3. The words implying compulsion 
 are inserted in the passage by the advocates of 
 this view ; but suppose they were there, it says 
 nothing about szzzers being made willing to be 
 saved, but simply, “Thy people shall be willing.” 
 The Hebrew word employed here, niat3, signi- 
 fies “free-will offerings,’ and is the most ex- 
 pressive word in its root and in its various 
 branches of voluntary sacrifice and service in 
 all the language. So it is used in the following 
 passages : Judg. v, 2, 9;. Exod. xxv, 2; xxv, 21; 
 
202 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 29; Neh. xi, 2; 1 Chron. xxix, 5, 6; Psa. cxix; 
 108. Again, the language of the Saviour is 
 often quoted for the same purpose: “ All that 
 the Father giveth me shall come to me.” 
 John vi, 37. There can be no doubt of this: 
 But the question is, Who hath the Father given 
 to the Son? Is it not those whom the Father 
 foreknew as believing on his name? And all 
 who believe on him do and will come to him. 
 Again, Christ says, ‘“‘ No man can come to me, 
 except the Father which hath sent me draw 
 him.” John vi, 44. But this does not imply 
 that he will be irresistibly dvagged unto him, 
 Yet another passage is quoted to sustain the 
 view now opposed : “ Work out your own sal- 
 vation with fear and trembling: for it is God 
 which worketh in you both to will and to do 
 of his good pleasure.” Phil. ii, 12, 13. From 
 this it is argued that God so irresistibly works 
 upon man’s will that he is necessitated to per- 
 form his good pleasure. But certainly the apos- 
 tle teaches no such thing. He is urging the 
 Philippian Christians to work out their salva- 
 tion, and for the purpose of encouraging them 
 he assures them that God is working in them 
 “to will and to do.of his good pleasure.” The 
 
Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 203 
 
 natural and legitimate idea is, God gives us the 
 power to will in the direction of our salvation ; 
 but it is for us to exercise that power. He 
 gives us the power to do his good pleasure, but 
 we are to employ that power. Just as he gives 
 us the power to see, to walk, and to hear, while 
 all these faculties are to be exercised by us. 
 We reach, then, the conclusion, that while the 
 Spirit of God strives with every man, yet that 
 there is in man the fearful power of resistance, 
 which he, in very many instances, employs, and 
 that he may so employ it as to render of no 
 salutary effect all the efforts which he makes 
 for his salvation. 
 
204 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 Orig UE RXV 
 
 THE SIN AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST, 
 
 Wis find in the word of God several import- 
 
 ant and startling announcements, which, 
 while differing in their forms of expression and 
 in their application to individual character, yet 
 evidently refer to the same sinful acts, their 
 unpardonableness and their irredeemableness. 
 The first is as follows : “ Wherefore I say unto 
 you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be 
 forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against 
 the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. 
 And whosoever speaketh a word against the 
 Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but who- 
 soever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall 
 not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nei- 
 ther in the world to come.” Matt. xii, 31, 32; 
 (Mark iii, 28, 30; Luke xii, 10.) The passage 
 in St. Mark is similar, but adds to the threat- 
 ened impossibility of forgiveness, “Is in danger 
 of eternal damnation ;” and a sentence of ex- 
 
Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 205 
 
 planation, “ Because they said, He hath an un- 
 clean spirit.” The apostle, writing to the Ephe- 
 sians, says of some, “ Who being past feeling, 
 have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, 
 to work all uncleanness with greediness.” Eph. 
 iv, 19. Again, to Timothy he says of certain 
 ones, “ Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood 
 Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men 
 of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the 
 faith.” 2 Tim. iii, 8. The same is said of apos- 
 tates: “Tor it is impossible for those who were 
 once enlightened, and have tasted of the heav- 
 enly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy 
 Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, 
 and the powers of the world to come, if they 
 shall fall away, to renew them again unto repent- 
 ance; seeing they crucify to themselves the 
 Son of God afresh, and put him to an open 
 shame.” Heb. vi, 4-6. Again, in the same 
 epistle he says, “For if we sin willfully, after that 
 we have received the knowledge of the truth, 
 there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but 
 a certain fearful looking for of judgment and 
 fiery indignation, which shall devour the adver- 
 Bames. eleb. x; 20,527 
 
 The Apostle John evidently refers to the 
 
e386) Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 same sin when he says, “If any man see his 
 brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he 
 shall ask, and he shall give him life for them 
 that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto 
 death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. 
 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin 
 not unto death.” 1 John v, 16,17. Jude seems 
 to regard the same character when he writes, 
 
 “For there are certain men crept in unawares, 
 
 who were before of old ordained to this con- 
 demnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of 
 God into lasciviousness, and denying the only 
 Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ... . 
 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when 
 they feast with you, feeding themselves with- 
 out fear: clouds they are without water, car- 
 ried about of winds; trees whose fruit wither- 
 eth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by 
 the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming 
 out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom 
 ‘is reserved the blackness of aarkness forever.” 
 Jadetv, 12,713: 
 
 Some of these passages have, doubtless, a 
 reference to total apostasy from the faith of 
 Christ, and from a state of regeneracy, and 
 others to those who, although unregenerate, yet 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 207 
 
 have rejected the clearest evidences of the truth 
 of Christianity, and by determined and persist- 
 ent unbelief have placed themselves in a con- 
 dition beyond the reach of mercy and salvation. 
 It is important that we have, if possible, a cor- 
 rect view of the classes of persons to whom 
 these Scriptures refer. For want of this many 
 have been driven into the deepest wretchedness 
 and gloom, some have been driven into despair 
 ‘and insanity, and some to suicide. Various 
 theories have been entertained of this sin. 
 Irenzeus regarded it as the rejection of the Gos- 
 pel of Christ, and applied it to the Gnostics ; 
 Athanasius believed that it consisted in a de. 
 nial of the divinity of Christ; Origen thought 
 that it was any mortal sin committed after bap- 
 tism ; Augustine applied it to every one who 
 died impenitently. 
 
 The most commonly received opinion of mod- 
 ern times is, that this sin consists in attribut- 
 ing the miracles wrought by Christ to Satanic 
 agency, when, according to their own belief, the 
 casting out of devils could. only be accomplished 
 by the Spirit of God. This opinion seems to 
 have some foundation in the following language. 
 Our Saviour on the occasion now referred to 
 
208 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 had just cast out a devil, blind and dumb. At 
 this marvelous manifestation of power the 
 people were amazed, and inquired, “Is not this 
 the son of David?” “But when the Pharisees 
 heard it, they said, This fellow doth not 
 cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince 
 of the devils.’ In replying to this our Sav- 
 iour said: “If I by Beelzebub cast out devils, 
 by whom do your children cast them out? 
 therefore they shall be your judges. But if 
 I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then 
 the kingdom of God is come unto you.” Matt. 
 Xli, 24, 27, 28. Now it is evident from this lan- 
 guage that the Saviour did primarily declare 
 that the Pharisees on this occasion had com- 
 mitted this sin, 
 
 1. Before this time they—the Pharisees—had 
 taken some interest to inquire as to his charac- 
 ter and his mission. At a very early stage of 
 his ministry they were anxious to learn who and 
 what he was. But their carnal expectations of 
 a Messiah were not met in him. In their pride 
 they had looked for one who should come in 
 power and great glory, in all “the pomp and 
 circumstance” of an earthly conqueror, and 
 that the outcome of his appearing would be 
 
 en 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 209 
 
 their disinthrallment from the bondage of Rome, 
 and their establishment as the rulers of the 
 world. This idea had been ingrained in the 
 very heart of the Jewish nation. Even the dis- 
 ciples of our Lord clung to it until after his res- 
 urrection from the dead, and it was only burned 
 out of them by the pentecostal fires. Thus, 
 while the Pharisees might have been willing to 
 receive him as a great teacher, or even as a 
 great prophet, they would not receive him as 
 the divine Messiah. Had his great power been 
 exerted in behalf of their temporal aggrandize- 
 ment they might, and probably would, have 
 hailed him as their king. But he made it plain 
 to them that he would not do this—that this 
 was not his purpose—and, consequently, they 
 rejected him. Now, having as a body resolved 
 upon rejecting him, their course, or line of con- 
 duct, was marked out; they would by some 
 means, sooner or later, compass his death. 
 
 ea their Mirst peftorts’ were *to-.bew directed 
 against the influence of his miraculous works. 
 It isa remarkable fact that the first attack of 
 the enemies of Christ in all the ages has been 
 against those miracles which furnish a demon- 
 
 stration of his divinity. That he did wonderful 
 14 | 
 
210 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 works, all acknowledged. The people saw these 
 works, and believed that they were wrought by 
 the power of God. The Pharisees reasoned, 
 therefore, that the people must be induced to 
 take a different view of them or they would 
 never be able to succeed in their sanguinary 
 purpose. The occasion for making a demon- 
 stration in this direction soon occurred. A man 
 was brought to Jesus who was blind and dumb, 
 and he healed him. The people at once were 
 impressed that Christ was indeed “the Son of 
 David.” The Pharisees, as we have seen, heard 
 this inquiry. Now wastheir time. They there- 
 fore said to the people aside, “ He casteth out 
 devils by Beelzebub, (or Beelzebul,) the prince 
 of the devils.” In other words, He is in league 
 with Satan to deceive the people. 
 
 But the omniscient Jesus, although they had 
 said this aside when they thought that he did 
 not hear them or know what was in their 
 thoughts, proceeded to answer their vain, un- 
 founded, and wicked assumptions. Now it was 
 in view of this state of things that Jesus said to 
 them, “ Wherefore”—in answer to what you 
 have said, and asa result of your saying—“I say 
 unto you,” etc. 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 211 
 
 3. It is evident that this was no sudden ebul- 
 lition of feeling on the part of the Pharisees. 
 It was not uttered in a moment of excitement, 
 but it was a premeditated thing, and undertaken 
 with the design of undermining the authority 
 of Christ among the people. They had made 
 up their minds deliberately to reject him—to 
 put him to death. But they wanted the people 
 with them. From the very first the masses 
 had heard him gladly. They had followed him 
 in vast throngs to the mountain, the sea-shore, 
 and the desert ; they had hung upon his lips as 
 he uttered his loving words, and had stood in 
 wonderment and awe in the presence of his stu- 
 pendous miracles. It would seem, therefore, 
 that the Pharisees had resolved on one of those 
 three expedients, or upon all of them: Either 
 they must turn the people against him, or they 
 must put him to death privately, or they must 
 so involve him with the Roman government as 
 to insure his death as a traitor to that govern- 
 ment. They were now trying the first of these 
 expedients, and hence they came out thus 
 boldly and blasphemously. 
 
 4. I do not think that they committed the 
 unpardonable sin by merely saying what they 
 
212 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 said. But the utterance of their lips was only 
 the outward evidence of the state of their 
 hearts. It was in their hearts before it passed 
 their lips. They had determined upon saying 
 this as soon as the occasion should arise; and 
 just as soon as that occasion arrived they said 
 it coolly and deliberately, and, I may add, ma- 
 liciously. It was not, then, the isolated utter- 
 ance which brought upon them this terrible 
 announcement ; it was not this’ alone which 
 sealed their doom: it was their willful and de- 
 termined rejection of Christ, which, ere their 
 lips had uttered these blasphemous words, had 
 cut them off from all hope of salvation. The 
 utterance was only the outcropping of their 
 unbelief and wickedness—only the legitimate 
 fruitage of their corrupt hearts. It was the 
 outward demonstration of their deep and damn- 
 ing depravity. Hence Christ immediately adds: 
 “ Hither make the tree good, and his fruit good ; 
 or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit cor- 
 rupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.”. And 
 again: “QO generation of vipers, how can ye, 
 being evil, speak good things? for out of the 
 abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” 
 Matt. xii, 33, 34. It is a very slight and shallow 
 
The Mission of the Sprrit. 213 
 
 view of this question which many take, that the 
 unpardonable sin consisted in the outward act 
 alone. No, their unpardonableness and conse- 
 quent future damnation were the result of their 
 rejection of the Son of God. 
 
 5. Now, then, as the immediate result of 
 their change of attitude toward Christ, his 
 course was changed toward them. He soon 
 speaks to them in parables, which they, in their 
 blindness, would not, and could not, understand ; 
 which he knew they would not understand, and, 
 may I not add, which he designed they should 
 not understand. How terrible is the signifi- 
 cance of the language of Christ against them in 
 private to his disciples when explaining to them 
 his parables! “Therefore speak I to them in 
 parables: because they seeing see, not; and 
 hearing they hear not, neither do they under- 
 stand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy 
 of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear. 
 and shall not understand ; and seeing ye shall 
 see, and shall not perceive: For this people's 
 heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of 
 hearing, and their eyes they have closed ; lest 
 at any time they should see with their eyes, and 
 hear with their ears, and should understand 
 
214 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 with their heart, and should be converted, and 
 I should heal them.” Matt. xiii, 13-15. 
 
 All his subsequent utterances to the Phari- 
 sees were in threatenings, denunciations, and 
 woes, while they in their willful and confirmed 
 unbelief were hurrying on to meet their final 
 and irrevocable doom. They had taken their 
 position. Christ must die. And failing to get 
 the people with them, and fearing to put him to 
 death themselves, they involved him by for- 
 sworn witnesses with the Roman authority, 
 and by wild and persistent clamors they in- 
 duced a weak and wicked Roman Governor to 
 deliver him to be crucified. A few short years 
 only passed away, and the wrath came upon 
 them to the uttermost. Their city was taken, 
 their temple destroyed, and the blood of the 
 murdered Christ, which in their fearful impre- 
 cations they had invoked upon themselves and 
 upon their children, was visited on them until 
 more than a million of the Jewish people per- 
 ished, and the historian tells us that more were 
 condemned to be crucified than they could ob- . 
 tain crosses to place them on. As they had 
 willfully rejected Christ there was no further 
 sacrifice for their sin, and only a “ fearful look 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 215 
 
 ing for of judgment and fiery indignation.” 
 Hebi, 27. 
 
 But the question arises here, /s zt possible 
 for any one now to commit a sin that is unpar- 
 donable, and that will place him beyond the reach 
 of hope and mercy? 1 answer, Undoubtedly 
 it is. But let it be remembered that this 1s 
 not a sin which stands out isolated and inde- 
 pendent of all other actions, but which is rooted 
 deep in pre-existing depravity, unbelief, and sin. 
 It is, indéed, the culminating act of a series of 
 transgressions rashly persisted in for a longer 
 or shorter period. It is a final act, which links 
 itself to a long chain, and completes the work 
 by which the soul binds itself to an endless 
 perdition and irredeemable woe. “The princi- 
 pal misunderstanding of this passage has arisen 
 from the prejudice which possessés men’s minds 
 owing to the use of the words, ‘ The szz against 
 the Holy Ghost.’ It is not one particular act 
 of sin which is here condemned, but a state of 
 sin, and that state a willful and determined op- 
 position to the present power of the Holy 
 Spirit::.* 
 
 Before proceeding further it is well now to 
 
 * Alford z loco. 
 
216 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 determine the meaning and force of the word 
 “blasphemy” in the passage under considera- 
 tion. “When the word,” says Mr. Webster, 
 “is used in reference to men it signifies inju- 
 rious and calumnious speaking, reproachful 
 speeches made against them. When it is ap- 
 plied to God it signifies not only reproaches 
 uttered against him, but also a denial of the at- 
 tributes and excellences he possesses, and in- 
 cludes always the idea of willful and rebellious 
 enmity.” Lange, in his exhaustive commen- 
 tary, says, “It is open and full Opposition to 
 conversion, and hence to forgiveness. The 
 Holy Spirit, who is here spoken of in distinct 
 terms, is the last and highest manifestation of 
 the Spirit of God, who completes’ and perfects 
 the revelation of God, and in that capacity 
 manifests himself in the human consciousness. 
 Blasphemously to rebel in Opposition to one’s 
 better knowledge and conscience against this 
 manifestation and influence of the Holy Spirit 
 is to commit moral suicide, and to destroy one’s 
 religious and moral susceptibility.” * 
 
 In view of these definitions and explanations 
 I am now prepared to say, 
 
 * Lange zx doco, 
 
The Mission of the Sprrit. 2t7 
 
 1, That this sin has been committed by mul- 
 titudes of persons since the day of Christ, and 
 that it is committed from day to day at the 
 present time. From the Scriptures previously 
 quoted it is evident that persons who had never 
 seen Christ or beheld his miracles, persons who 
 had enjoyed very great advantages and who 
 had been made partakers of rich blessings, had 
 placed themselves in a condition in which par- 
 don was impossible, and in which “death” 
 would result inevitably and necessarily. They 
 did not sin as the Pharisees and priests who 
 saw Christ and beheld the wonders which he 
 wrought, but they sinned under the influence 
 of the same spirit of unbelief and rebellion 
 which ruined them. The Pharisees and priests 
 rejected the testimony of the Holy Ghost to 
 the divinity of Christ’s character and mission. 
 That testimony was then furnished by miracles, 
 which they declared were wrought by Satanic 
 agency, and not by the Spirit of God. The 
 testimony of the Holy Ghost is now given in 
 the word, and by his operations in the human 
 soul. The sin of the world, the sin against the 
 Holy Ghost, 7s the willful, persistent rejection of 
 the testimony which he bears to Christ. The 
 
218 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 great design of his bestowment was to convince 
 the world “of sin because they believed not” 
 on Christ. Now if this conviction is unyielded 
 to and determinedly rejected, involving as it 
 does the denial of his claims, the refusal to ac- 
 cept of his atoning sacrifice, the trampling of 
 his blood under their feet as an unhallowed or 
 as a useless and valueless thing, there is cer- 
 tainly no more sacrifice for sin, there is no 
 possibility of repentance, there can be no exer- 
 cise of saving faith, and consequently no for- 
 giveness. Now in all the ages persons have 
 been doing these very things, aud they are 
 doing them now. Men are now abandoned of 
 God. They now reach a point where they are 
 “past feeling,’ where the fearful “tokens of 
 
 b) 
 
 perdition” gather thick upon them, and their 
 doom is almost legibly written upcn their 
 brows. Let no one flatter himself, then, that 
 this sin cannot be committed now. Take the 
 following illustration from a book of rare inter- 
 est which has recently appeared: “ During an 
 extensive revival in an American college some 
 years ago a company of students met, and, as 
 if led on by Satan himself, pierced veins in each 
 
 other’s arms, mingled their blood, and with it 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 210 
 
 signed a formal resolve that they would resist 
 forever God’s Spirit end the religion of Christ. 
 Their convictions ceased, though the religious 
 interest for a time continued. Not one of the 
 number referred to was converted. Subse- 
 quently one by one they died in despair, with 
 the gloom of future and eternal ruin hanging 
 over them. The crime of these young men 
 was probably blasphemy against the Holy 
 
 Ghost. They sinned knowingly—despised evi- 
 dences of the truth knowingly. It was malice 
 prepense. They made their own record, took 
 great pains to make a sure record, and in 
 this they approached the awful point of de- 
 parture.’* 
 
 2. This sin is not unpardonable because the 
 infinite mercy of God in Christ Jesus cannot 
 pardon any and every sin, but because the per- 
 son committing tt places himself voluntarily in 
 a condition tn which he cannot perform the re- 
 guirements which are essential to pardon. Upon 
 what principles God’s moral government will 
 deal with those who have never heard of Christ 
 we do not fully know—how they will be saved, 
 if saved, or damned, if damned. But one thing 
 
 * Credo, p. 386. 
 
220 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 is certain, that in Christendom, where men have 
 heard of Christ, and know, of the gracious influ- 
 ences of the Spirit of God, they cannot be 
 saved without voluntarily yielding to the con- 
 victions of the Spirit and believing in the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. And yet we know there are 
 many, very many, who have pierced the Saviour 
 of men “a thousand thousand times,” and have 
 grieved the Holy Spirit in innumerable in- 
 stances. Now these repeated acts of resistance 
 and rejection render the heart insensible, and 
 ultimately make it ¢vcapadle of religion. Every 
 one knows that the continued neglect or per- 
 sistent abuse of any faculty will, sooner or 
 later, render it incapable of action or exercise. 
 This is true of our physical and mental powers, 
 and it is also true of our moral powers. The 
 moral powers become so benumbed, so hard- 
 ened, so dead, that repentance and faith are im- 
 possible. O if their rocky hearts could only 
 feel, if their blinded eyes could see, if the deep 
 of their spirits could be stirred, and repentant 
 tears could flow, then there would be hope! 
 But as salvation from sin is conditioned upon 
 repentance and faith, and as these, in view of 
 the abandoned condition of the sinner, cannot 
 
The Mission of the Spirvt. 22% 
 
 be exercised, there is, consequently, no forgive- 
 ness. This state is reached, as we have seen, 
 usually through a long series of resistances, of 
 quenching the Spirit, and grieving him away ; 
 and the doomed man passes on unconsciously, 
 or indifferently, from one degree of sin to 
 another, until the final crisis is reached. ‘There 
 are other instances, and they not a few, where 
 the process has been more clearly marked and 
 known—instances where the crisis has been 
 consciously reached, where the Divine Spirit has 
 deeply impressed it upon the soul that this was 
 his last call, and that if now resisted he would 
 never return again. And yet, with all that con- 
 scious conviction, the Spirit has been grieved, 
 and the terrible results have followed. In some 
 instances years have passed away since that 
 fearful act was performed, and the sinner has 
 lived on upon the earth; and yet the heart 
 has remained unfeeling as adamant, and un- 
 moved as the stony brow of the mountain. 
 There are those who have reached this state by 
 voluntarily embracing erroneous doctrines or 
 infidel theories; who have denied the atone- 
 ment of Christ as well as his divinity, and the 
 personality and work of the Holy Spirit. They 
 
222 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 are those of whom the Apostle speaks who 
 have trodden under foot the Son of God, and 
 have counted the blood of the covenant, where- 
 with we are sanctified, an unholy thing, and 
 have done despite unto the Spirit of grace, 
 (Heb. x, 29.) Others have totally apostatized, 
 after having known Christ experimentally. 
 “They have crucified the Son of God afresh, 
 and put him to an open shame.” On the one 
 hand, “there remaineth nothing but a fearful 
 looking for of judgment and of fiery indignation 
 which shall devour the adversaries,” (Heb. 
 X, 27 ;) and on the other, it is impossible for 
 them to be “renewed to repentance,” and their 
 “end is to be burned.” They have sinned 
 “unto death.” (Heb. vi, 4-8.) The Spirit has de- 
 parted from them never to return ; the atone- 
 ment no more avails for them; heaven is barred 
 against them forever, and hell’s deep abyss is 
 yawning to receive them into its fathomless 
 waves of woe. | 
 
 3. From what has preceded, it will have been 
 probably suggested to the reader that, where 
 persons are really concerned and troubled about 
 their condition, fearing that, mayhap, they have 
 committed this sin, they give clear evidence that 
 
 ae i i me 
 
 — 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 223 
 
 such is not the case. The very facts that they 
 are still anxious about their souls, that they 
 tremble under the apprehensions of approaching 
 judgment, that they would fain come to Christ 
 and enjoy the favor of God, that they regard 
 his forgiveness and his favor as the most desira- 
 ble things in the universe—all give evidence 
 that they may be forgiven. True, their sins may 
 be great; they may have often resisted the 
 Spirit ; their transgressions may be multiplied 
 _and aggravated ; but if they deszre forgiveness, 
 that evinces that the Spirit of God is still influ- 
 encing their hearts and inclining them toward 
 Christ. And just as long as the Holy Spirit 
 remains with the sinner he may be saved. 
 Those who have committed this sin have no 
 more feeling or concern about their souls. They 
 are “past feeling.” The darkness has become 
 so dense that the light of the Spirit fails to pen- 
 etrate it. Conscience has become so seared 
 that it is unreached by the agencies of redemp- 
 tion, and its voice no longer thunders down 
 through the avenues of the soul in tones of 
 warning and alarm, and the heart is so in- 
 crusted in ungodliness and unbelief that noth- 
 ing affects or moves it. Let me say, then, dear 
 
224 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 reader, if still you weep, and feel, and pray, 
 whatever other sins you may be guilty of, they 
 are not unpardonable. There 7s forgiveness 
 for you. It is wonderful that God can forgive 
 
 > . . : 
 such a sinner; but he caz and he well forgive 
 
 you tf you will now heartily accept of Christ. 
 
 4. While the tokens of perdition may be ap- 
 parent in some persons, yet it would be difficult, 
 and, indeed, impossible, for us to say of any one 
 that he is guilty of the unpardonable sin. There 
 may be in our minds an awful fear that such sin 
 has been committed by some person or persons 
 whom we may know; our vitals sometimes al- 
 most freeze with horror as we think of such a 
 possibility in their case; but we cannot say 
 with certainty that such zs the case. God does 
 not place the flaming seal of his condemnation 
 upon the brow of the doomed man so visibly in 
 this world that mortal eyes can clearly discern 
 it. We may have thought that we could almost 
 trace the fiery characters written there, and yet 
 some of whom we have thus thought have sub- 
 sequently had the name of the Lord written 
 there. And there may be others, for whom we 
 are fondly cherishing hope, who are going about 
 with their doom written upon their souls. One 
 
 tit ——-.- <r e 
 
The Mission of the Sprrit. 225 
 
 thing is clearly evident, namely, that every time 
 the Spirit is quenched or grieved, man takes 
 another step toward this fearful state. Every 
 time, in fact, that he resists the gracious influ- 
 ences which are brought to bear upon him for 
 his salvation he is hastening the fatal catas- 
 trophe. He may, by timely repentance, avoid 
 the fatal crisis ; he may reach it ere he is aware. 
 Every unconverted man should tremble and 
 stand in awe in view of the fearful peril of his 
 position. He stands in jeopardy every hour, 
 not only of death, but of what is worse than a 
 thousand deaths—abandonment of God. 
 
 It is impossible for any finite being to know 
 precisely how or when this crisis may be reached, 
 or to see definitely where lies the boundary line 
 between mercy available for pardon and salva- 
 tion and the wrath of God; from which there is 
 no escape. There can be no doubt, however, 
 that God does all he can do, consistently with 
 his character and man’s moral agency, for the 
 salvation of each individual soul, and that no 
 one goes down to the abodes of sorrow and de- 
 spair until Infinite Wisdom clearly foresees that 
 any further effort for his salvation would be 
 
 utterly unavailing. It is then that the ever- 
 15 
 
226 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 deepening darkness of an endless night—-star- 
 less, rayless, hopeless—settles down upon the 
 deathless soul, now forever abandoned of God. 
 No words can express this more fully than the 
 following lines, written by Dr. Alexander: 
 
 ** There is a ¢z7e, we know not when, 
 A point, we know not where, 
 That marks the destiny of man 
 
 To glory or despair. 
 
 ‘« There is a /éze, by us unseen, 
 Which crosses every path ; 
 
 The hidden boundary between 
 _God’s patience and his wrath. 
 
 ““To pass that limit is fo de ; 
 To die as if by stealth ; 
 
 It does not quench the beaming eye, 
 Or pale the glow of health. 
 
 “The conscience may be still at ease, 
 The spirits light and gay ; 
 , That which is pleasing still may please, 
 And care be thrown away ; 
 
 ** But on that forehead God has set 
 Indelibly a mark, 
 
 Unseen by man, for man as yet 
 Is blind and in the dark. 
 
 ** And yet the doomed man’s path below 
 Like Eden may haye bloomed ; 
 
 He did not, does not,-will not, know 
 Or fee? that he is doomed, 
 
 a 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 227 
 
 ‘* He knows, he feels, that all is well, 
 And every fear is calmed ; 
 
 He lives, he dies, he sinks to hell, 
 Not only doomed, but damned. 
 
 ‘*O where is this mysterious bourne 
 By which our path is crossed— 
 
 Beyond which God himself hath sworn 
 That he who goes is lost ? 
 
 “* How far may we go on in sin? 
 How long will God forbear ? 
 Where does hope end ? and where begin 
 The confines of despair ? 
 
 ** An answer from the skies is sent, 
 ‘Ye that fron: God depart, 
 
 While it is called to-day repent, 
 And harden not your heart !’” 
 
‘* AWAKE, thou Spirit, who of old 
 Didst fire the watchmen of the Church’s youth, 
 Who faced the foe, unshrinking, bold, 
 Who witnessed day and night the eternal truth; 
 Whose voices through the world are ringing still, 
 And bringing hosts to know and do thy will ! 
 
 **Oh that thy fire were kindled soon, 
 That swift from land to land its flame might leap! 
 Lord, give us but this priceless boon 
 Of faithful servants, fit for thee to reap 
 The harvest of the soul: look down and view 
 How great the harvest, yet the laborers few. 
 
 **Oh haste to help ere we are lost ! 
 Send forth evangelists, in spirit strong, 
 Armed with Thy Word—a dauntless host, 
 Bold'to attack the rule of ancient wrong ; 
 And let them all the earth for Thee reclaim, 
 To be Thy kingdom, and to know Thy name.” 
 BOGATZKY, 1690. 
 
Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 229 
 
 1S PEA EER Vals 
 
 THE COMFORTER AND THE MINISTRY. 
 
 T is said that the Prussian embassador at 
 the Court of St. James, during the reign of 
 Frederick the Great, wrote to his royal master 
 complaining that, while other ministers rode to 
 court in their carriages, and with liveried serv- 
 ants, he was obliged, in view of the smallness 
 of his salary, to ride in a hackney-coach. To 
 this the king, who was parsimonious in every 
 thing else except his army, replied, “ Never 
 mind ; when Cousin James sees you coming, he 
 always thinks he sees me just behind you with 
 a hundred thousand of my Prussians.” 
 
 The idea present to the mind of the king 
 was, that however poor, and even shabby, the 
 external circumstances of his embassador might 
 be, he was backed up by a power which no 
 earthly government would care to provoke. 
 Without such a power vain were splendid 
 coaches, liveried servants, and all the insignia 
 
230 lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 of embassadorial rank. With such a power all 
 these things sank into comparative insignifi- 
 cance. 
 
 This suggests to us the true point of view 
 from which we are to regard the Christian min- 
 istry. Without the presence and power of the 
 Almighty Comforter, vain are all merely external 
 aids and appliances. With this power, they 
 may not only bid defiance to earth and hell, 
 but may succeed grandly in their great work. 
 While the feet of the Lord Jesus were still 
 pressing the brow of Olivet, ere he had begun 
 his “great ascent,” he said to his wondering 
 disciples, “ A// power is given unto me in heaven 
 and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all na- 
 tions.” Matt. xxviii, 18, 19. It was in view of 
 this that he declared unto them, “Ye shall be 
 baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days 
 hence.” And again, “ Ye shall receive power, 
 after that the Holy Ghost has come upon 
 you. Acts i, 5, 8. It was in view of this, also, 
 that they were commanded to tarry in the city 
 of Jerusalem until they were “endued with 
 power from on high.” Luke xxiv, 49. Without 
 this power he knew that they were nothing, 
 and that they could do nothing ; with it they 
 
The Mission of the Spirtt. 231 
 
 were to shake the world, and “turn it upside 
 down.” This power was not natural to them, 
 nor inherent in them; it was supernatural, su- 
 perhuman, superangelic ; it was divine. It is 
 evident, therefore, that the ministry of the 
 Church are utterly powerless in the accom- 
 plishment of their great work unless called to, 
 and qualified for, and mightily aided in it by 
 the presence and power of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 1. The call of the Comforter is essential to 
 warrant any person to undertake this work. No 
 man has the right to take upon himself this 
 office and work unless he be thus called by the 
 Holy Ghost. No one can make choice of the 
 ministry as he would of a trade, or of the profes- 
 sion of medicine, of law, of science, or of arms. 
 The ministry is not really a profession; it is a 
 calling. Many, doubtless, regard it and enter 
 upon it as a profession ; but this is a perversion 
 of the design of the great Head of the Church. 
 Men who thus enter the ministry will never do 
 much in the accomplishment of its great work. 
 They may go through its round of duties per- 
 functorily, but they will never really build up 
 the Church, or bring souls to Christ. God has 
 
 never delegated the work of choosing his min- 
 
232 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 isters to any man or any company or class of 
 men in the world. He calls his own ministers, 
 he appoints his own embassadors ; and these 
 are, very frequently, the persons whom the wise 
 and prudent of this world would pass by. It 
 was not the rulers in Israel—the rich, the wise, 
 the mighty—that the Son of God called to be 
 his apostles, but the humble fishermen of Galj- 
 lee. And the greatest reformers, the brightest 
 luminaries of the Church, have had a humble 
 origin: Luther, the son of a forgeman ; Melanch- 
 thon, coming forth from an armorer’s shop ; 
 Calvin, not the son of wealthy, although of re- 
 spectable, parents ; Whitefield, the son of a 
 poor innkeeper ; and the Wesleys, the sons of 
 a poor minister of the Church of England. 
 Thus it has always been; so it is now. But 
 the humbleness of their origin, the unpropitious- 
 ness of their circumstances, the deficiencies, in 
 some instances, of mental culture, and the rude- 
 ness of the speech of some, have been more 
 than compensated for by this mighty endow- 
 ment. Splendid natural gifts, Superior elocu- 
 tlonary powers, the silver tongue of eloquence, 
 the graces of oratory, the vast and varied stores 
 of learning, are all well ; they are all to be de- 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 233 
 
 sired, under certain conditions. But neither of 
 them, nor all of them combined, will go to make 
 up a minister of Christ, nor for Christ. “Not 
 many wise men after the flesh, not many 
 mighty, not many noble, are called: [“ call 
 you.” —McKnight:| but God hath chosen the 
 foolish things of the world to confound the 
 wise ; and God hath chosen the weak things of 
 the world to confound the things which are 
 mighty; and base things of the world, and 
 things which are despised, hath God chosen, 
 yea, and things which are not, to bring to 
 naught things that are.” And why is all this? 
 “That no flesh should glory in his presence.” 
 1 Cor. i, 26-29. Nor is it sufficient, even, that 
 a man is a Christian, and in the enjoyment of 
 the grace of God in his soul, although this is 
 indispensable for the one who is called into this 
 work. But it is not every Christian whom God 
 calls to the higher ministries of his Church. 
 Every Christian, it is true, is called upon to tes- 
 tify for Christ, to bear witness in honor of his 
 name ; and, in the New Testament sense, every 
 Christian is a prophet or a preacher; but all 
 are not called to devote themselves exclusively 
 to this work. 
 
234 Lhe Mission of the Spirtt. 
 
 This is a point which cannot be too carefully 
 guarded at this time. Now when the laity of 
 the Church are awakening to a sense of their 
 duties and responsibilities; when the obliga- 
 tions to speak for Christ seem to weigh heavily 
 upon many hearts ; when the spirit of testimony 
 is given to multitudes of the servants and hand- 
 maids of the Lord, care should be taken lest 
 they should, in the heat of their zeal, attempt 
 to obliterate the distinctive call of the Com- 
 forter to the office and work of the ministry— 
 lest they should say, with Korah, Dathan, and 
 Abiram, “Ye take too much upon you, seeing 
 all the congregation are holy, every one of them, 
 and the Lord is among them.” Num. xvi, 3. 
 Although all the people of the Lord in a sense 
 are holy, yet all are not called to this responsible 
 work. The Church may appoint its officers, its 
 Sunday-school teachers, and other helpers ; but 
 she has no right to set apart any man to the 
 work of the ministry, unless he is especially 
 moved by the Holy Ghost. It may be said that, 
 doubtless, many persons are mistaken in their 
 convictions about a call to the ministry. This 
 may be so, but they need not be mistaken. 
 The inward call to this work stands not alone : 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 235 
 
 it is always confirmed by corroborative testi- 
 mony which need leave no room for doubt. If 
 there zs room for reasonable doubt on this mat- 
 ter, a man shotld hesitate long before he takes 
 upon himself this office, if, indeed, he is war- 
 ranted at all to take it upon him. But where 
 there are good natural gifts, where there is un- 
 doubted piety, where the Holy Spirit puts his 
 seal upon the incipient efforts of the one who 
 feels that he is called to this work, where the 
 eye of the Church recognizes these things, and 
 her voice calls him to devote himself to preach- 
 ing the Gospel—he who thus enters upon this 
 life-work may be well assured that he has not 
 run before he was sent. If all these things 
 combine to call him to this work, then “ woe is 
 unto him if he preach not the Gospel.” If, 
 however, he lacks the inward call, and the out- 
 ward corroborative testimony, let him abide in 
 his calling, whatever it may be, and there work 
 and speak and live for Christ. 
 
 2. But when a man is thus called by the 
 Comforter to engage in this work he will realize 
 that his continued presence and power are es- 
 sential, not only to give him a /é¢ness for it, but 
 also success in it. It has been well said by 
 
236 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 Mr. Arthur, “If the preaching of the Gospel is 
 to exercise a great power over mankind, it must 
 be either by enlisting extraordinary men, or by 
 the endowing of ordinary men with extraordi- 
 nary power.* It is ever to be borne in mind 
 that the great design of the Christian ministry 
 is twofold: first, to bring lost men, perishing 
 and dying men, to Christ ; and, secondly, when 
 they have come to Christ and have been saved 
 by his grace, to build them up in holiness, and 
 love, and faith. Now unless these designs are 
 realized by the professed minister of Christ, 
 and in so far as they fail of being realized, just 
 so far forth is his ministry a failure ; a failure, 
 mayhap, not for want of sincerity, not for want 
 of culture, not for want of labor, and not even 
 for want of both mental and physical energy ; 
 but a failure for the want of power, of spiritual, 
 divine power. The “midnight oil” may be ex- 
 pended in the elaboration of his sermons ; ail 
 the stores of knowledge within his reach may 
 be ransacked to enrich and adorn his produc- 
 tions ; he may be earnest in his delivery, cogent 
 in his reasonings, and splendid in his imagin- 
 ings ; and yet his sermons, although “faultily 
 
 * Tongue of Fire, p. 97. 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. ZR? 
 
 faultless” and “icily regular,” may, in their 
 moral effects, be “splendidly null.” “We may 
 stand and gaze,” saysan eminent writer, “ upon 
 the Aurora Borealis, as it spreads over the 
 heavens pure as the blushes upon an angel's 
 face, and yet we grow cold as we gaze.”* So 
 many a heart grows cold toward God and 
 Christ, as the flashes of intellect or genius daz- 
 zle the imagination or please the fancy. 
 
 And, right here, I would ask in all honesty 
 and sincerity, Are not many of our Churches at 
 the present day making a great mistake in their 
 hot haste after men of genius, star-gazers, flash- 
 ing meteors, who shall, by their oratorical pow- 
 ers, their oddities and eccentricities, or mental 
 aberrations, attract a gaping crowd, fill empty 
 pews, and stuff empty contribution boxes? 
 “Verily ” such Churches “have their reward.” 
 Is it not true that any Church, under ordinary 
 circumstances, may be crowded, and any minis- 
 try made successful, if that ministry is baptized 
 with the Holy Ghost, and that Church is in 
 earnest in its great work? Is it not to be 
 feared that such ministers as I have referred to 
 are sought for the purpose of supplementing the 
 
 * Dr. Todd. 
 
238 The Mission of the Spirtt. 
 
 declining liberality and the withheld labor of a 
 cold and frozen Church? And is it not true 
 that, under the given conditions, all the seeming 
 growth and prosperity of such Churches is only 
 seeming, without any real foundation, and ut- 
 terly at the mercy of certain adventitious cir- 
 cumstances ? 
 
 But on the other hand, where the ministry 
 are anointed with the Holy Ghost, and the 
 Churches are earnestly co-operating with them, 
 there will be real prosperity, substantial growth. 
 There the people will say, “God is with you of 
 a truth.” This anointing, or endowment, or 
 baptism, of the Comforter will not make men 
 great in the ordinary and accepted sense ; but 
 it will make them good, it will make them men 
 of power, of usefulness, and of great efficiency 
 in the kingdom of God. O it is one thing to 
 preach the Gospel without the Holy Ghost, and 
 another thing to preach it “with the Holy 
 Ghost sent down from heaven!” Look at the 
 great difference in the disciples of our Lord 
 
 after they had received this baptism. While — 
 
 the Master was with them, there was not any 
 thing very remarkable which they either said 
 or did. When he was arrested, they all forsook 
 
 ¢ 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 239 
 
 him and fled. Peter was cowed before a serv- 
 ant-maid, and his countenance was blanched 
 _with fear as he muttered oaths and curses in 
 his denial of Him whom he had promised only a 
 few hours before to follow even to prison and to 
 death. But only fifty days have passed, and be- 
 hold the change! Right in the midst of the 
 city of Jerusalem, right in the face of the Jew- 
 ish Sanhedrim, right in the face too of impris- 
 onment and death, they boldly preach “Jesus 
 and the resurrection.” And Peter, who had 
 been the cowardliest of them all, charges the 
 Jews with the murder of the Son of God, while 
 he offers them life and salvation through his 
 blood. And see, while he speaks, while he 
 quotes one Scripture after another, every eye is 
 fixed, every tongue, for the while, is silent! 
 Then a tremor of horror runs through their 
 veins as the conviction that they have crucified 
 the Son of God flashes upon their minds. 
 Then their bosoms begin to swell and heave 
 with sorrow as the heavens grow black with 
 wrath over their guilty heads, and the terrible- 
 ness of their sin is revealed to them. At length 
 they can restrain their pent-up feelings no more, 
 and a wild, piercing cry, a wail bursts forth sim- 
 
240 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 ultaneously from thousands of immortal beings, 
 “Men and brethren, what must we do ?” 
 
 Now I would not say that results of equal 
 magnitude will always accompany the gifts of 
 the Comforter. The Church, strictly speaking, 
 has never had but one Pentecost. The same 
 conditions do not always exist, and, indeed, 
 these conditions under which the Gospel is 
 preached are always varying; but I do say 
 that similar results in their character will, zzs7, 
 follow such a divine baptism. No instance of 
 failure is on record. The number of the saved 
 may be greater or less, but some will be saved. 
 How some ministers can go on from year to 
 year in a dull routine of duty, and yet see no 
 results of their labors, is a marvel to heaven 
 and a triumph for hell. How they can be sat- 
 isfied, how they can rest by day or by night, 
 how they can five, is more than we can compre- 
 hend. Then, again, there are some ministers 
 who are keenly alive to their duties and re- 
 sponsibilities. They have entered the work of 
 the ministry from the purest of motives, and 
 under a deep, all-absorbing consciousness of a 
 divine call. They are earnest men; they preach 
 with their might ; they study long and hard ; 
 
 ee 
 
 ee 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 241 
 
 they are diligent in their pastoral work, and of 
 course they have measurable success ; but they 
 are conscious of a great lack somewhere in their 
 ministry. They are not the men of power that 
 they want to be. Their usefulness is very far 
 below what they feel it ought to be. They 
 often ask themselves, “Why is it so? I study, 
 I labor, preach, visit, pray, and the Lord of the 
 vineyard knoweth that I am sincere, that I want 
 to glorify him only ;” but they ask, with many 
 groans and tears, “Why am [ not more use- 
 ful? Why do I not bring more souls to 
 Christ?” Their closets are vocal with their 
 sighs and groans, and bedewed with their tears. 
 What shall they do? They can study with no 
 more earnestness than they have, they can em- 
 ploy no more physical energy than they have 
 done, for perhaps even now they are worn and 
 wasted by their exhausting efforts. In their 
 
 agony, at times, they would that the Master 
 would release them from their work either by 
 calling them home, or by allowing them to en- 
 gage in some secular employ. 
 
 To such a one I would say, “ My distressed 
 brother, your condition calls forth my most 
 
 hearty sympathies ; but allow me kindly to call 
 16 
 
242 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 your attention to the very thing which you lack, 
 giving you credit, as I most certainly do, for all 
 honesty and sincerity of purpose, and fidelity in 
 labor ; yet one thing thou lackest.” Do you ask 
 me, “What is that?” I answer, “The fud/ bap- 
 tesm of the Holy Comforter.’ 1 do not mean to 
 say that you have not the Comforter. You 
 have him with you. He bears witness with 
 your spirit that you are a child of God, and his 
 comfort, peace, and joy are yours. Nor can I 
 doubt that you have been called by him to this 
 work ; but, mayhap, for the want of a clear ap- 
 preciation of your privilege, for the want of an 
 appropriating faith—or, to come still closer 
 home, from an unwillingness to pay the price 
 and to accept the responsibilities connected 
 with this gift—you are not in the enjoyment of 
 such an endowment of power as it is your priv- 
 ilege to possess. This is what you want, and 
 this is a7 you want. And this you may have 
 to-day, zow. Even now the Divine Comforter 
 is hovering over you; even now the divine bap- 
 tism is ready to descend. Are you ready to 
 comply with the conditions ? to put yourself in 
 an attitude to receive it? Do you ask, “ What 
 must I do?” TI answer, “Make a complete 
 
 ——— ee ee 
 
 ae — 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 243 
 
 surrender of yourself, your will, your reputa- 
 tion, your ambition, your all to Christ. Conse- 
 crate all to him forever, and then believe that 
 your heaven-ascended, glorified Christ zwz// be- 
 stow upon you this gift; that it is his good 
 pleasure to do it, and that he will do it now.” 
 “ And will he do it? Yes, blessed be his name! 
 he will.” 
 
 But it must be remembered that this gift will 
 not be bestowed upon any one for his personal 
 gratification, or to satisfy his ambition, or to 
 make it appear that he is something great. If 
 it is bestowed it is to make us personally holy— 
 to make us useful to others ; while all shall see 
 that it is not a power, or a strength of our own 
 by which the results following are realized, but 
 that “the excellency of the power is of God.” 
 O if we would only put ourselves into connec- 
 tion with this power, how mightily God would 
 work inusand by us! And if all the ministers 
 of the Lord Jesus were thus anointed they 
 would shake all the continents and islands of 
 this globe! A moral resurrection would stir 
 and startle this whole valley of death, and an 
 exceeding great army would be raised up for the 
 service of the Lord our God. And is it not the 
 
244 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 will of God that a// his ministers should be thus 
 endowed? Is there any thing lacking in the 
 provision for this gift? Is there any limitation 
 in the promise? Is there any thing in either 
 the provision or the promise that would hinder 
 any of us from receiving the gift now? If not, 
 the hinderances, the barriers, must be all in us. 
 But we may remove them all by the aid of di- 
 vine grace. Let them, then, be removed, and 
 the living fire will descend, is pent-up waters 
 will flow freely. 
 
 In the possession of this power what wonder- 
 ful results have already been realized in the 
 history of this world! The day of Pentecost 
 and the city of Jerusalem were not the only 
 time and place when and where these great 
 results have been witnessed. In Rome and 
 Corinth, in Philippi and Thessalonica, in Eph- 
 esus and Galatia, similar effects were produced, 
 until the triumphs had become so general, so 
 uniform, and so widespread, that the apostles 
 joined in one grand pean: “Now thanks be 
 unto God, which always causeth us to triumph 
 in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor (odor) 
 of his knowledge by us in every place.” 2 Cor. 
 li, 14. The whole Roman empire felt the im- 
 
 ee ee 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 245 
 
 pulse of this moral movement ; the idolatries 
 of Egypt, Greece, and Rome were swept away 
 before its onward progress. Mooned Ashtaroth 
 was vailed, and Osiris was heard no more in 
 Memphian groves. 
 
 ‘*Peor and Baalim 
 
 Forsook their altars dim ;”’ 
 The mount of gods was shaken as by an earth- 
 quake; the thunder fell from the powerless 
 hands of Jupiter ; the helmet fell from the brow 
 of Mars ; the trident dropped from the dripping 
 hand of Neptune, and the charms of Venus 
 faded away forever. Even the oracles of Delphi 
 and Dodona were struck dumb. It was in view 
 of this that Milton sang: 
 
 ‘‘ The oracles are dumb ; 
 No voice or hideous hum 
 Runs through the arched roof in words deceiving ; 
 Apollo from his shrine ; 
 Can now no more divine, 
 With hollow shriek the steep, of Delphos cleaving. 
 No nightly trance or breathéd spell 
 Inspires the pale-eyed priest in his prophetic cell.” 
 
 But these were only external manifestations 
 of this divine power which was moving upon 
 
 the hearts of millions. The apostles of our 
 Lord were not personally and directly icono- 
 
246 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 clasts. They did not go with ax and sledge- 
 hammer to the temples of idols, and hew or 
 break them down from their thrones or their 
 pedestals ; but, aided and empowered by the 
 Comforter, they did go directly to human hearts 
 and consciences ; and when idolaters were con- 
 verted and saved they first deserted, and after- 
 ward destroyed, the idols which they had 
 formerly worshiped. And where are now the 
 thirty thousand divinities of Egypt, Greece, and 
 Rome? Where, indeed, have they been for the 
 last fifteen centuries ? They have literally “per- 
 ished from off the face of the earth.” A'nd they 
 have so perished that they could never be restored, 
 nor their worship and service revived. All the 
 power of Julian the Apostate was not sufficient 
 _to restore the speech of the oracle at Delphi, or 
 to uprear the fallen systems of idolatry which 
 thes preaching of the Gospel, with the Holy 
 Ghost sent down from heaven,” had destroyed, 
 
 The reformers in the sixteenth century were 
 endowed in like manner, and, consequently, 
 their triumphs were great. It was not in their 
 own strength that Huss and Jerome were ena- 
 bled to “witness a good confession,” and that the 
 last-named went to the stake singing, “ Sa/ve 
 
The Mission of the Spirtt. 247, 
 
 feste dies !”—“ Hail, festal day!” It was 
 not by his own might that Luther stood like a 
 «‘ Tower impregnable to earth and hell.” 
 
 It was the power of the blessed Comforter which 
 nerved the sweet, gentle Melanchthon to stand 
 up amid the fiery storm of persecution, scatter- 
 ing the rays of heavenly truth around him while 
 he lived, and in his dying moments to reply, 
 when asked if he wanted any thing more, 
 “ Nihil, nisi celum”—“Nothing, unless it be 
 heaven.” This upheld Calvin in the midst of 
 his persecutions, and of all the herculean labors 
 which he performed for Christ's cause. This 
 made John Knox more terrible to Queen Mary 
 than an army with banners. And was it not 
 this which winged the fiery logic of John Wes- 
 ley with irresistible power, and inspired the 
 sweet poetic strains of his brother Charles? 
 And was it not this which melted the heart of 
 Whitefield with sorrow and love, and enabled 
 him to bring thousands down into the dust at 
 the feet of Jesus? The co-laborers of these 
 saintly men, and multitudes of their successors, 
 have been animated, inspired, and empowered 
 by the same Almighty Agency. 
 
 All the men of superior wisdom and might 
 
248 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 under the Old Testament dispensation, who did 
 great things for God and his cause, were said 
 to be animated and inspired with the Holy 
 Spirit. It was he who dwelt in Joseph, giving 
 him illumination and understanding ; that up- 
 held and directed Moses in the difficult and 
 ofttimes embarrassing positions which he occu- 
 pied, and who rested upon the seventy elders, 
 so that they also prophesied. He inspired Bez- 
 aleel to construct the tabernacle, and Solo- 
 mon to build the temple. Joshua was “ full of 
 the spirit of wisdom;” Othniel and Gideon, 
 Amasai and Zechariah were “clothed with the 
 spirit ;” David, Elijah and Elisha, Jahazael and 
 Jehoiada, Isaiah and Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Dan- 
 iel, and all the prophets, were inspired by his 
 divine influence. “So that we have,” says a 
 recent writer, “more than eighty distinct notices 
 of the presence and power of the One Eternal 
 Spirit before the evangelical effusion of the 
 Holy Ghost.” * 
 
 Now the word of God warrants us to believe 
 that the Comforter is even now ready to pro- 
 duce equal, and even grander, results than have 
 ever yet been accomplished, if we will only use 
 
 * Spirit of Life, p. 23. 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 249 
 
 the ordained means to secure his sovereign 
 agency. There is, there can be, no lack of 
 power in the Comforter. Nor is there any lack 
 of wzllingness on his part to reproduce these 
 triumphs upon an enlarged scale, and with 
 mightier demonstrations. ‘This is, emphatically, 
 his dispensation, and we are living at what 
 would seem to be the culminating period of 
 this dispensation. And can we suppose that 
 there is to be any lack of energy or of efficiency 
 in his operations? On the other hand, are we 
 not warranted to believe that there will be more 
 wonderful forth-puttings of his power? Is not 
 the page of revelation luminous with the glow- 
 ing prophecies and promises of the glory of 
 these latter days? Is not the Comforter ready 
 to come down upon his ministers and his Church 
 in richer, fuller, deeper baptisms than have ever 
 yet been received? O then we are not strait- 
 ened in him, but we are straitened in ourselves! 
 Our views are narrow, puerile, and unworthy. 
 We act from motives unworthy of our high vo- 
 cation. We too often seek to please men, when 
 we should be in an agony to save them. We 
 “court a smile, or woo a grin, when we should 
 save a soul.” We do not pray for great things ; 
 
250 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 we do not believe for great things, or expect great 
 things. And “according to our faith, so it is 
 unto us.” Many are pigmies when they might 
 be giants. We are weak as other men, when 
 we ought to be shaking down, bending, and 
 breaking the very pillars of Satan’s kingdom. 
 O that all the Christian ministers of America, 
 and of the world, were clothed with the same 
 spirit that the old prophets were clothed with, 
 that the apostles were clothed with, and that 
 our fathers possessed! If, then, ye ministers 
 of the Lord Jesus, it is your privilege to have 
 this Spirit, and to strive with the hosts of hell 
 “according to his power who worketh mightily ” 
 in the believer, is it not your duty to enjoy this 
 gift, this divineendowment? If you are remiss 
 when you know what is your privilege and your 
 duty, will you not be accountable for your re- 
 missness? The question comes home now to 
 the heart of every minister, “Are you willing 
 to pay the cost of such a baptism? Are you 
 willing to accept the responsibility of receiving 
 such a baptism? There is not, I believe, a 
 minister in the land but who would be willing 
 to have this power ; yea, farther, who is not 
 desirous to have it. But are you wi lling, ye 
 
The Mission of the Sprrit. 251 
 
 consecrated sons of Levi, to have this gift in 
 God’s appointed way? True, our heavenly 
 Father gives the Holy Spirit to them that ask ; 
 but how are we to ask? In faith, certainly. 
 But we know well that the exercise of faith is 
 conditioned upon the pre-existing state of the 
 mind and heart. or instance, Jesus said, 
 “How can ye believe that receive honor one 
 from another, and not the honor which cometh 
 from God only ?” How, indeed, can we believe 
 if we cherish any darling idol which we refuse 
 to surrender ; whether it be self, pride, reputa- 
 tion, ease, honors, family, position, or whatever 
 it may be? There must be a complete sur- 
 render of our all, an entire submission to God, 
 and a willingness to be any thing that he would 
 have us be. I would not say that we are to be 
 willing to be nothing. Alas! too many are will- 
 ing, in a sense, to be nothing—nothing, that is, 
 either great or good in the kingdom of God. 
 We would be great in the estimation of our 
 fellow-men. We want to occupy great positions. 
 We want to preach great sermons. And there 
 are some, it may be, who would willingly have 
 this power if it would advance their interests 
 in these directions. But all this must be given 
 
252 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 up, and the soul must come down into the dust 
 of the deepest self-abasement, and the lowest 
 humiliation before God, if we would have this 
 baptism of power. Yes, we must “ask in faith, 
 nothing doubting.” That faith must recognize 
 our deep, pressing need of this baptism ; a need 
 so seen, so felt, that we shall cry mightily unto 
 God for it, and never rest until the gift is ours. 
 This faith must also recognize that it is the will 
 of the Father, and of the Son, that we should 
 have the gift, and have it zozw. We know that 
 the Father is ready, that the Son is ready, that 
 the Spirit is ready, and that the promise is ready. 
 My brethren in the ministry, ave we ready ? 
 Suppose that the rushing fires of another Pente-_ 
 cost should now come upon us, are we prepared 
 to accept the responsibility which that Pentecost 
 baptism would bring with it? God does not 
 squander his gifts. Now, this baptism of the 
 Spirit enables a man Zo de what otherwise he 
 could not be, zo do what he could not do without 
 it, and to think and speak as nothing else could 
 enable him to do. There comes, then, with this 
 Supernatural endowment a vastly increased 
 responsibility to think and speak and do as 
 God would have us. There is, indeed, a con- 
 
The Mtssion of the Spirit. 253 
 
 sciousness within the soul of this power, and 
 along with that comes the divine requirement 
 to act up to the full measure of our acquired 
 ability. 
 
 It was so with Isaiah when the living flame 
 brought by the seraphim had “touched his lips, 
 and taken away his iniquity, and purged his 
 sin.” Instantly he hears the voice of the Lord 
 saying, “ Whom shall I send? and who will go 
 for us?” And immediately he replied, “ Here 
 am I,; send me.’ And never was there prophet 
 or minister sent upon a more fearful mission. 
 « And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye 
 indeed, but understand not ; and see ye indeed, 
 but perceive not. Make the heart of this peo- 
 ple fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut 
 their eyes ; lest they see with their eyes, and 
 hear with their ears, and understand with their 
 heart, and convert, and be healed.” Isa. vi, 9, 10. 
 Without a moment’s hesitation he went, and 
 the recorded result of lis mission made by him- 
 self is, “ All day long have I stretched out my 
 hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying peo- 
 
 ple. 
 mission, after having uttered God’s message in 
 
 ” 
 
 And then, after having completed his 
 
 sweetest and sublimest words, he was sawn 
 
254 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 asunder, and his seraphic spirit winged its 
 flight to the realms of endless day. He did 
 not begin to comprehend, when the vision of 
 the glory of the Lord burst upon him in the 
 temple, what was the design of God with refer- 
 ence to him, what he was to do, and what he 
 was to suffer; but he readily accepted the di- 
 vine commission with all its fearful responsibili- 
 ties. We might be willing to accept this en- 
 dowment of the Comforter if we knew that it 
 would lead us to a career of great prosperity 
 and usefulness, and thus increase both our effi- 
 clency and our prominence; but to go forth 
 and labor without great, visible, tangible re- 
 sults, to be persecuted and despised, to be little 
 and unknown, to suffer, mayhap fo die, for the 
 Lord Jesus—it is from such results that we 
 shrink. Perhaps even now, coming, as some 
 one may, to the very threshold of this baptism, 
 he is ready to shrink. His mind is suggesting 
 innumerable difficulties, and Satan is near to 
 magnify those difficulties to the uttermost. He 
 is standing, halting, trembling, doubting, fear- 
 ing. But I would say to that one, Let the 
 question now be settled. It has been the ques- 
 tion of your religious, your ministerial, life. 
 
 a “ae AO te 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 255 
 
 Now then say, “ At whatever cost of sacrifice 
 and suffering, whatever responsibility this bap- 
 tism may bring with it, I will, 7 must have it.” 
 There is only step more. Believe, and the 
 promised gift is yours, the power is yours ; the 
 Comforter comes, and not only is every avenue 
 of the soul made luminous with his glory, but 
 its every power is girded with his strength. 
 Do you ask, “ What am I to do with this gift ?” 
 I answer, “Use it, use it freely, use it con- 
 stantly.” The source whence it comes will 
 never fail you, for it is infinite, it is inexhausti- 
 ble. It has been well said that “The natural 
 effect of such a blessing would be moral strength, 
 certainty, courage.” It makes the “righteous 
 man as bold as a lion.” It “sets his face like a 
 flint.” And if this power is in the soul it will 
 be seen and felt in its wonderful effects. Not 
 only will its possessor be conscious of its pres- 
 ence, but those to whom he ministers will see 
 and feel that “God is with him of a truth.” 
 And here, dear ministers of the Lord Jesus, is 
 what the Church wants, and what the perishing 
 world around us imperatively demands. 
 
 There is no doubt of the general correctness 
 of the old adage that “Truth is mighty and will 
 
256 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 prevail.” But God has promised and pledged 
 a power to accompany the truth, to give it 
 demonstration and efficiency in the accomplish- 
 ment of his great designs. This gives to the 
 truth its effect upon human souls in convincing, 
 regenerating, and sanctifying them. This, this 
 is absolutely necessary for this work, and this 
 we may have in all its richness and fullness 
 even to-day. Shall we have it ? 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 257 
 
 CHAPTER YX Viti: 
 
 THE COMFORTER AND THE CHURCH. 
 
 F the one hundred and twenty who re- ° 
 ceived the pentecostal baptism only 
 twelve, including Matthias, were apostles; the 
 rest were brethren and sisters; but the “cloven 
 tongues sat upon each of them,” and “they were 
 all filled with the Holy Ghost.” So with those 
 assembled at the house of Cornelius, when they 
 believed the word which was spoken by Peter : 
 “The Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard 
 the word.” Acts x, 44. And in the narration 
 of this event which the apostle made in the 
 Council at Jerusalem he says, “The Holy 
 Ghost fell on them as on us at the beginning.” 
 Acts xi, 15. Thus it was every-where. Be- 
  lievers of every condition in life, and of every 
 grade of intelligence, received the wonderful 
 gift. The promise of the Comforter is unlim- 
 ited to any age, or country, or clime, or condi- 
 
 tion inlife. Itis to “even as many as the Lord 
 17 
 
258 The Mission of the Spirtt. 
 
 our God shall call.” Acts ii, 39. It is to us and 
 our children as much as to those who were 
 present in the upper room, or who were present 
 in Jerusalem at Pentecost. If, therefore, any 
 one is destitute of this gift it is either because 
 of the want of a clear appreciation of his privi- 
 lege, or of an earnest, believing effort to enjoy 
 it. No language could possibly be clearer or 
 more explicit than that in which this promise 
 comes to us, and we are living at a period of 
 the world’s history when the Church may con- 
 fidently expect more abundant outpourings of 
 the Spirit than at any former period of its his- 
 tory. It is in these last days that the Spirit 
 is to be poured out upon all flesh; that our sons 
 and daughters are to prophesy, our young men 
 to see visions, and our old men to dream dreams ; 
 that the Spirit is to be poured out upon the 
 servants and handmaids of the Church, that 
 they may prophesy. (Acts ii, 17, 18.) 
 
 In the early Church all possessed this gift to 
 a greater or less degree; but the gifts of the 
 Spirit—his extraordinary gifts—were not alike 
 in all. “There are diversities of gifts, but the 
 same Spirit.” 1 Cor. xii, 4, 11. All even then 
 did not have “the gift of healing,” all did not 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 259 
 
 “speak with tongues,” all did not “ work mira- 
 cles,” all did not “interpret ;’ but all were “filled 
 with the Holy Ghost.” It was this which con- 
 stituted them living members of the body of 
 Christ, living branches of the living vine ; it 
 was this which made them laborers together 
 with God, and which gave their labors such 
 wonderful success ; it was this which enabled 
 the Church to shake the world, and “turn it 
 _ upside down.” But when error blinded its sight, 
 and a mass of forms and ceremonies stifled its 
 breath, and a rush of worldliness paralyzed its 
 energies, then it was bereft of its supernatural 
 strength, and, like the shorn Samson, both fee- 
 ble and blind, it became the sport and the prey 
 of its enemies. Like a wire disconnected from 
 the battery, or the wheel, with the stream turned 
 away, or shut off, from its buckets, or the train 
 loosed from the engine, or the body separated 
 from the soul, so the Church, separated from 
 the Source of its power, became not only in- 
 adapted to its work, but, also, incapacitated for 
 its performance. Here and there individual 
 souls maintained the connection, and expe- 
 rienced and manifested the power derived 
 therefrom ; but the body at length became a 
 
260 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 ‘putrefying mass, a rotten carcass, over which 
 the eagles of destruction swooped, and deep 
 into which they plunged their curved beaks. 
 The Reformation era witnessed the re-awak- 
 ening of men’s minds to the great, although 
 long unknown, truths of God’s word. Then 
 there was a trumpet-blast which rang out clear 
 and strong among the Alps, the Pyrenees, 
 and the Appenines, and reverberated from the 
 chalky cliffs of Britain’s isle, calling upon the 
 nations to arise and shake off the blinding dust 
 of the ages from their brows, and to snap the 
 fetters which had so long bound them in civil 
 and ecclesiastical bondage. The nations, re- 
 sponsive to the call, “leaped to loose their 
 chains.” The light of the truth, which had 
 been concealed by the thick, massy clouds of 
 superstition, ignorance, and error, again burst 
 forth, and the nations exultingly shouted as they 
 beheld its radiance. Just as the inhabitants of 
 hyperborean regions, when a night of many 
 months is about to pass away, assemble upon 
 some mountain-summit, ready to hail with joy 
 the first appearance of the sun’s disk emerging 
 from the wintry night above the horizon, as the 
 first faint rays betokening his approach are 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 261 
 
 seen, send up a loud shout which is caught up 
 over all the realms where darkness had so long 
 held unbroken sway ; so the nations, when they 
 saw the first rays of eternal truth, hailed them 
 with rapturous joy as the harbingers of an ap- 
 proaching day of brightness and glory. But 
 great and glorious as was the work accom- 
 plished by. Luther and his co-laborers, it was 
 not, after all, a revival of pure, spiritual religion. 
 It brought out clearly some of the great truths 
 of God’s word, and especially that of justifica- 
 tion by faith. It furnished the great basal 
 truths to the masses which were afterward to 
 be employed in the revival of a pure, spiritual 
 Christianity ; but it was hindered by fearful 
 conflicts with the civil powers, by wranglings 
 about mere words, and forms, and ceremonies, 
 by an alliance with the State, and by retaining 
 many things which still had “ the smell of Rome 
 upon them.” It was not until after a two-cen- 
 tury baptism of fire, and blood, and death, that 
 some of the ministry and laity of the Church 
 began to see clearly the need of a revival of spir- 
 itual religion. The “Holy Club” at Oxford, 
 while prayerfully studying that Bible which was 
 henceforth to be their “one book,’ saw their 
 
262 lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 privilege in Christ Jesus, saw the promises at 
 first dimly; but after fasting and praying and 
 struggling for weary days and months, the clear 
 light shone upon their souls, and another Pen- 
 tecost came upon Europe and America. The 
 people were now taught, as they had not been 
 since the apostolic days, that every one who be- 
 freved should receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, 
 regenerating their souls, bearing witness to 
 their sonship and heirship, sanctifying them 
 wholly, and transforming them after the image 
 of the heavenly and the divine. Soon the pul- 
 sations of a new life began to beat and throb 
 among the masses, and a revival of spiritual re- 
 ligion was begun, which is still going on, and 
 which will continue until millennial glory bursts 
 upon the world. 
 
 And yet, after all, while the results of that 
 revival have been of the most glorious charac- 
 ter, the Church, asa body, does not understand, 
 or measure up to its privilege. What now I 
 would say to every Christian is, “ You may re- 
 ceive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enjoy his 
 agency in the complete salvation of your soul, 
 and in a full “ preparation for every good work ” 
 This is your blood-bought privilege, your heav- 
 
he Mission of the Spirit. 263 
 
 enly birthright, the ascension gift of your 
 Lord.” More willing—how much more an arch- 
 angel could not tell—than evil, earthly parents 
 are to give good gifts unto their children, is he 
 to give this blessed Comforter to you, and to 
 give him to you now. Are you ready now to 
 open your hearts and receive the heavenly Mes- 
 senger? He will only come to dwell in your 
 hearts when you feel the need of him, and ear- 
 nestly ask him to come. He will only abide 
 with you if you will not quench his light, or 
 grieve him, so as to cause him to take his de- 
 parture. 
 
 1. It is clearly evident now that the condition 
 of the whole Church imperatively calls for this 
 gift of the Comforter. While great things have 
 been accomplished during the past century 
 under the new Pentecost which came upon the 
 Church at its dawn, all earnest Christians are 
 deeply impressed with the need that its mem- 
 bers have of aiming at a higher position, and 
 occupying a higher platform of spiritual experi- 
 ence and of spiritual power. This is the great- 
 est present need of the Church. This can in 
 no sense and to no extent be supplemented by 
 the multiplication of material agencies ; nor can 
 
264 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 they substitute this gift. A large increase of 
 wealth, of numbers, of church edifices, of insti- 
 tutions of learning, is a great cause of rejoicing, 
 if it is looked to only as a means and not as an 
 end. But if we look upon these things with a 
 self-satisfied complacency, and look no farther 
 and no higher, then decline, decay, and death 
 will fasten upon the very vitals of the Church. 
 A mighty politico-ecclesiastical institution, like 
 the Roman Catholic Church, may be consoli- 
 dated and perpetuated by superstition, by ap- 
 peals to the prejudices and passions of men, and 
 by keeping their minds in bondage. But the 
 destruction of such an institution is only a 
 question of time. It is only “the word of the 
 Lord which endureth forever.” « And this 
 is the word which by the Gospel is preached 
 unto the people.” A long career of prosperity 
 in the Protestant Churches of Christendom has 
 given to them wealth, numbers, social position, 
 civil power, and world-wide respectability. And 
 in many instances these things have acted fear- 
 fully against them. Wealth has given rise to 
 pride, luxury, fashion, worldly-mindedness, COv- 
 etousness, love of forms and ceremonies ; and 
 these have, in some instances, smothered, and 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 265 
 
 in others eaten out, the very life of the Church. 
 Many so-called Christian Churches are the very 
 centers of fashion ; in fact, they take delight in 
 being known as “fashionable Churches.” The 
 assemblies which gather in them on the Sab- 
 bath present rather the appearance of a “ dress 
 parade” than of companies of Christian wor- 
 shipers. Mammon, fashion, lust, are worshiped 
 by the thoughtless, giddy, flirting throng. The 
 idea of a spiritual religion is scouted by the pul- 
 pit and the pew as the very essence of fanati- 
 cism and folly. There is only now and then a 
 minister so far gone toward rationalism or Rome 
 as to denounce “ Protestantism as a failure,” but 
 instances of this kind have not been wanting. 
 I admit that the cases referred to above are 
 exceptional, but that they exist none can doubt ; 
 and they are fearful, wicked caricatures of the 
 religion of the Lord Jesus. But, I ask, is it not 
 true that in very many of our Churches these 
 worldly influences are exerting their power? 
 Has not this mania for dress, and fashion, and 
 show, seized upon many of the people professing 
 godliness? Are not vast sums, incalculable in 
 their amount, annually expended for the gratifi- 
 cation of this passion? Are not the mouths 
 
266 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 of many ministers closed upon this subject for 
 fear of giving offense to their rich and fashiona- 
 ble members? Now what is to check, ay, and 
 roll back, this in-rushing tide of worldliness ? 
 This enemy to spiritual religion is “coming in 
 like a flood.” What, or who, but “the Spirit of 
 the Lord can lift up a standard against him ?” 
 But not only so. While the very life of many 
 of our Churches is being assailed in this way, 
 Romanism on the one hand, and infidelity in 
 its thousand forms on the other, stand ready to 
 assault, and hope to carry our works, and to 
 sweep the Church of Christ from the earth. 
 Yea, more. While we are dallying with our 
 Delilahs, and parleying traitorously with our 
 enemies, immortal souls, treading with rapid 
 and fearful strides the broad and beaten high- 
 
 way to hell, are leaping from its fearful preci-— 
 
 pices into the rayless darkness of an eternal 
 night. Surely, then, we cannot doubt the ne- 
 cessity of a marked and wonderful outpouring 
 of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 2. This is also needed, not only that we may 
 maintain our present status of benevolent. and 
 evangelistic efforts, and our contributions to- 
 ward the various enterprises of the Church, but, 
 
 : 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 267 
 
 also, that we may go forward to meet the de- 
 mands which are so urgently pressing upon us. 
 Under the revival influences of the last century 
 the liberality of the Church has increased more 
 than a thousandfold. In fact, during the last 
 half century most of the benevolent enterprises 
 of the Church have been born and carried for- 
 ward to their present gigantic proportions ; but 
 the providence of God is opening up new fields 
 of enlarged dimensions, and is calling upon 
 the Church to lift up its eyes and see them 
 white already to the harvest, and waving to the 
 sickle of the reaper. Now a religion which 
 utterly ignores all creature merit, no matter of 
 what sort it may be, can never call forth for any 
 length of time large benefactions, unless it is 
 actuated by the spirit of Christ and inspired by 
 his bright and lustrous example. If man can 
 be made to think that his contributions and his 
 works will entitle him to eternal life, and will give 
 him indulgence to live as he lists in the present 
 life, then he will give his money without stint 
 or measure. This is the grand lever by which 
 the Romish Church lifts such vast sums of 
 money for the purpose of carrying on her oper- 
 ations. This has given her the control at various 
 
268 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 periods of the moneys and estates of nations 
 and of kingdoms. But Protestantism presents 
 no such plea; it desires to present no such 
 plea. Its claims are based upon Christ’s com- 
 mands, his promises, and his example, and it re- 
 gards and teaches that the love of Christ is the 
 strongest motive and most controlling principle 
 which can call forth the liberality and the labors 
 of his people. 
 
 But if this love decline, if the throne where 
 Christ should reign unrivaled is usurped by the 
 world, then the heart will shrivel under the new 
 reign, its warmth will be chilled and congealed, 
 its views will become warped and narrowed, 
 and the cause of Christ will be permitted to 
 languish and decline. Thus we see that the 
 presence and power of the Comforter are not 
 only needed for our spiritual life, peace, and joy, 
 that we may be enabled to live a holy life, that 
 we may instrumentally bring souls to Christ ; 
 but, also, that the spirit of liberality may be 
 maintained and greatly enlarged, until every 
 human habitation has been visited with the 
 light of the Gospel, and every human heart has 
 tasted and tested its power. 
 
 3. The promised presence of the Comforter 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 269 
 
 is needed in our Churches, that their members 
 may be able to furnish a /2ving exemplification 
 of the religion of Christ. The Church is “ the 
 light of the world,” “a city set upona hill,’ to be 
 seen by, and to give light to, all that are around. 
 It exists for the illumination and salvation of 
 the world. The preaching of the Gospel, the 
 circulation of the Scriptures, the instruction of 
 the people in religion both publicly and pri- 
 vately, are valuable and ordained means for the 
 upbuilding of the kingdom of Christ ; but noth- 
 ing can compare in its efficiency to the prac- 
 tical, living demonstration of a holy life to con- 
 vince the gainsayer, and to show to the world that 
 there is a divine reality in the religion of Christ. 
 The world does not go to the Bible, or to insti- 
 tutes of theology, or to any of the mighty tomes 
 which have been written in defense of Chris- 
 tianity, to learn what religion is ; but it expects 
 that every one who professes to be a Christian 
 shall furnish a specimen of what it is, and of 
 what it can do for an immortal being ; and it 
 has a right to expect this. The great Teacher 
 himself has said, “ By their fruits ye shall know 
 them.” “Men do not gather grapes of thorns, 
 nor figs of thistles.” So the great apostle to 
 
270 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 the Gentiles acknowledges the fact and the 
 value of such evidence when he says, “ Do we 
 begin again to commend ourselves? or need 
 we, as some others, epistles of commendation 
 to you, or letters of commendation from you? 
 Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known 
 and read of all men: forasmuch as ye are 
 manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ 
 ministered by us, written not with ink, but with 
 the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of 
 stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.” 2 Cor. 
 lll, I-3. Every Christian then should be an 
 epistle of Christ, known and read by men, and 
 declaring to all what the religion of Jesus can 
 do for a poor, fallen, ruined, and guilty sinner. 
 The great purpose of constituting the Church 
 of Christ in the world is that its “light may so 
 shine before men that they may see its good 
 works, and thus be led to glorify our Father 
 who is in heaven.” If men profess to be Chris- 
 tians, and live like other men—are as vain, 
 proud, ambitious, covetous, over-reaching in 
 business, or dishonest in their dealings—then 
 the natural, the legitimate, result will be that 
 the world will not only disbelieve in religion, 
 but will come ultimately to despise its very 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 271 
 
 name. Of all the arguments which infidelity 
 has adduced in its conflicts against the truth 
 of God, none have been so difficult to deal with, 
 and none have been plied with a greater effi- 
 ciency and a more alarming success, than the 
 one arising from the inconsistent, irregular, and 
 often hypocritical conduct of many of its pro- 
 fessors. 
 
 Nothing has so much power to shut the 
 brawling mouth of infidelity as the consistent, 
 devoted life of the follower of Christ. A holy 
 life is an irresistible and unanswerable argument 
 for the truth and reality of the religion of Christ. 
 Such a life cannot be manifested unless it be as 
 a result of the mighty transforming and sancti- 
 fying grace of the Comforter ; but if it were 
 generally exhibited to the eye of the world it 
 would effectually stay the floods of Rationalism, 
 Pantheism, Socialism, and the thousand kin- 
 dred antagonisms of our holy Christianity. 
 With this power the Church could resist them 
 all, as the rocky cliff resists the rushing, roar- 
 ing waves of the sea, and breaks them into 
 foam at its feet. This is a living, visible tes- 
 timony, which all the negations of skepticism 
 and its bitter hatred of truth are incapable 
 
272 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 of resisting. There are some men who will 
 scoff and sneer at Churches, and creeds, and 
 Christians in general, but the mere mention of 
 a father’s prayers, and of a mother’s counsels, 
 tears, and devoted piety, will hush their clamors, 
 and bring burdened tears to their eyes. But 
 without the indwelling Comforter men cannot 
 live this life of devotion to Christ, and exem- 
 plify the principles and the power of his holy 
 religion. They may endeavor to imitate it, 
 they may strive to galvanize their dead souls 
 into something resembling this divine life, but 
 all their efforts will prove abortive, and result 
 only in their confusion and disgrace. And while 
 this cannot be successfully imitated, neither can 
 it be compensated. Christ’s kingdom is not of 
 this world. It is a divine, a spiritual kingdom ; 
 it is “righteousness, and peace, and joy in the 
 Holy Ghost.” Such a kingdom can only be 
 maintained and extended by spiritual agencies. 
 Physical agencies, “ bodily exercise,” gorgeous 
 rituals and ceremonials, may help to maintain a 
 sensuous religion ; but only the Holy Ghost can 
 make living Christians, and through them bring 
 this redeemed world to Christ. 
 
 4. Lhes ts all which the Church now needs to 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 273 
 
 complete tts grand mission in the world. 1 have 
 said that this baptism of the Comforter is all 
 that the Church needs; I now say that it has 
 this in a measure. What is wanted is the full- 
 ness of this grace and power. The machinery 
 of the Church, all its means and apphances, is 
 well-nigh perfect. The strategic points which 
 have been seized upon in the great battle- 
 ground of the world are all that could be de- 
 sired. There is wealth enough and there are 
 numbers enough to speedily conquer this world 
 for Christ ; and, added to all this, are the grand 
 preparations which Providence has been making 
 during the roll of the centuries in leveling the 
 mountains, exalting the valleys, smoothing the 
 rough places, and straightening its crooked 
 ways, so that now the whole world is open to 
 the Gospel. Even Rome, the Eternal City, so 
 long barred against the entrance of the truth, 
 has now been opened in God’s providence ; the 
 scepter of temporal sovereignty has fallen from 
 the feeble hands of the aged Pontiff, and the 
 complete destruction of the system of which he 
 is the head is not far distant. Now, also, the 
 Bible, that wonderful two-edged sword which 
 
 proceedeth out of the mouth of the Son of God, 
 18 
 
274 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 is translated into more than two hundred of 
 the languages and dialects of the world, and is 
 ready to exert its power upon a thousand mill- 
 ions of its population. Besides this, the “ends 
 of the world” have evidently come upon us. 
 In this period, the lines of prophecy seem to be 
 converging, and the blush of the dawn of the 
 ~ millennial morning is already upon the face of the 
 sky. What is wanted, then, for the grand con- 
 summation of our work in the world ? Nothing, 
 I say nothing, but this mighty baptism of the Com- 
 forter. “O Christians, is there such a doctrine in 
 our creed as the doctrine of divine influence? Is 
 there such an agent in the Church as the Al- 
 mighty Spirit of God? Is he among us ex- 
 pressly to testify of Christ? to be the great 
 animating Spirit of his missionary witness—the 
 Church ? and is it true that his unlimited aid 
 can be obtained by prayer; that we can be 
 baptized with the Holy Ghost, and with fire? 
 O ye that preach, believe the promise of the 
 Spirit, and be saved! Ye that love the Lord, 
 keep not silence, send up a loud, long, united, 
 and unsparing entreaty for his promised aid! 
 This, this is what we want, and this is all we 
 want. Tull this be obtained all the angelic 
 
The Misston of the Spirit. 275 
 
 agency of heaven will avail us nothing, and 
 when it is obtained all that agency will be un- 
 equal to the celebration of our triumph.” * 
 
 And this divine, almighty agency which we 
 need, is at our doors, is even now hovering over 
 us. He is waiting, willing, ready now to give 
 to his people such an endowment of power as 
 will completely equip them for this last strug- 
 gle and prepare them for a final and glorious 
 victory. There is no lack, then, in our ma- 
 chinery, nor is there any want of power in the 
 Comforter. What is needed is that his al- 
 mighty power should be connected with this 
 machinery. It is not enough that the engine 
 be perfect in its construction, that the steel- 
 plates and brass mountings be well polished, 
 that the furnace be well filled with fuel and the 
 boiler with water. All these conditions might 
 exist forever, and not a motion of the machinery 
 be made. There is another condition yet nec- 
 essary — absolutely essential, and that, is fire. 
 When that is present all the other conditions 
 begin to be employed. Steam is rapidly gen- 
 erated, and the whole attached train is drawn 
 to its destination, even over the breadth of a 
 
 *** Church in Earnest,” by J. A. James, p. 267. 
 
276 The Mission of the Spirtt. 
 
 whole continent. So the poles for the telegraphic 
 wires may be properly set, and the wires be 
 stretched over mountain and valley, hill and 
 plain, or the cable be laid down in the ocean’s 
 depths, and yet no message be borne over them 
 forever ; but now let the battery be attached, 
 let the electric current be brought to bear upon 
 these wires, and messages will be flashed with 
 lightning speed over all the land, down through 
 the coral coffins of the sea, among the sporting 
 monsters of the deep, and over buried argosies, 
 ‘until the whole world is brought into almost 
 instantaneous communication. So now let the 
 connection be formed between the Eternal 
 Spirit and the machinery of the Church, and 
 the whole will be set in motion, and messages 
 of mercy and of salvation will be borne over 
 all lands and over all seas. Still further let me 
 illustrate this in the terse language of an ear- 
 nest living preacher: “Go into a room where 
 there is a galvanic battery. You see it with its 
 cups and plates and coils and wires apparently 
 perfect. You propose to try its power upon 
 your own person, and so you lay hold of those 
 two shining balls, one with either hand, and 
 wait for the shock; but you do not feel it. 
 
Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 277 
 
 Then for a moment you imagine you feel its 
 current thrilling your frame, but sober reason 
 says it is not so. You press the balls the 
 harder, as though the vigor of your grasp might 
 give them power, but no answering thrill comes, 
 and you throw them down and seek for the 
 cause of the failure ; when right there in the 
 heart of the machine, where the power should 
 be concentrated, there is no coil, hence no 
 power.’ * But now let the essential coil be put 
 in its place, let the current be applied, and then 
 take hold of the balls, and every nerve and 
 muscle and fiber of your being will quiver un- 
 der the power of the battery ; so when these 
 currents of divine influence are brought to bear 
 upon dead souls, ay, when they shall be brought | 
 to bear fully upon the whole valley of death, 
 there will be a stir, a noise, a coming together 
 of bone to bone, and a great moral resurrection 
 will be the result. Take one more illustration 
 from the author of the Tongue of Fire: “ Sup- 
 pose we saw an army sitting down before a 
 granite fort, and they told us that they in- 
 tended to batter it down, we might ask them, 
 
 * Rey. W. H. Boole before the New York State Methodist 
 Convention. 
 
278 The Mission of the Spirtt. 
 
 ‘How?’ They point to a cannon-ball. Well, 
 but there is no power in that; it is heavy, but 
 not more than half a hundred, or perhaps a 
 hundred weight. If all the men in the army 
 hurled it against the fort they would make no 
 impression. They say, ‘No, but look at the 
 cannon. Well, there is no power in that. A 
 child may ride upon it, a bird may perch in its 
 mouth: it is a machine, and nothing more. 
 ‘But look at the powder. Well, there is no 
 power in that; a child may spill it, a sparrow 
 may peck it, yet this powerless powder and power- 
 less ball are put into the powerless cannon ; one 
 spark of fire enters it, and then in the twinkling 
 of an eye that powder is a flash of lightning, 
 and that ball a thunderbolt which smites as if 
 it had been sent from heaven. So is it with our 
 Church machinery at this day. We have all 
 the instruments necessary for pulling down 
 stronghoids, and O for the baptism of fire !”— 
 PS 301: 
 
 And why should not this baptism of fire now 
 fall upon the Church? Why should all these 
 agencies and means and appliances stand com- 
 paratively powerless? Why should not this 
 dead world even now be quivering and shaking 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 279 
 
 with the throes of a new birth, and, bursting its 
 sepulchral womb, come forth into the life, the 
 brightness and glory of the long-promised mil- 
 lennium? It is for the Church to answer why ; 
 and although the answer would, doubtless, re- 
 veal its sin and shame, it had better be made 
 speedily. Yes, we will answer now: “ We have 
 failed to understand our privilege and our duty, 
 or, when we have known our duty, we have 
 either criminally neglected to obtain this gift 
 of power, or, by erecting barriers in the way, 
 we have hindered the application of the power 
 of the Holy Ghost.” 
 
 5. Without this baptism of the Comforter the 
 Church will prove itself to be a failure in the 
 sight of angels, devils, and men. Let me ask, 
 Why was the Church instituted? For what 
 purpose does it exist in the world? What is 
 its mission? Is it not zo evangelize and save 
 the world? The last command of Christ, ere 
 “the chariots of God” bore him upward to his 
 everlasting throne was, “Go ye into all the 
 world, and preach the Gospel to every crea- 
 ture ;’ to “teach all nations,” or, literally, to 
 make disciples of all nations. And this is not 
 merely or solely the duty of the ministry, but 
 
280 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 also, of the whole membership of the Church. 
 Every added member, whether old or middle- 
 aged or young, rich or poor, bond or free, is to 
 bea “light-bringer and a light-bearer,” a preacher 
 of the Gospel, a messenger of mercy to this 
 world. There is, there can be, no exception to 
 this rule. In some way, in some sphere, every 
 one is commanded to labor during the brief day 
 of life’s probation in the Lord’s vineyard. _ The 
 Church, then, is designed to be a soul-saving 
 institution, and every Christian is to be a soul- 
 saver ; not, of course, efficiently, but instru- 
 mentally. The order of the great Head of the 
 Church is universal, exceptionless, differing in 
 its application as widely as are the diversities 
 of character, position, and relation in life, and 
 yet all are to work on in harmony toward the 
 same grand result. Just as in a large cotton 
 factory, there are wheels of almost every size 
 and in almost every position, some nearer to 
 the source of power and some more remote, 
 some more and some less prominent, some visi- 
 ble to the eye of the visitor and others invisi- 
 ble ; but amid all the whirl, the confusion, and 
 the noise, there is not one wheel, or spindle, or 
 hand, but which lends to the production of the 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 281 
 
 designed fabric. So, in the Church, diversities 
 of gifts and operations there are, but it is the 
 same Spirit working in all and through all for 
 the accomplishment of his glorious purposes. 
 Who can doubt this? And yet, if it is true, 
 how very far have its members come from an- 
 swering this design? The activities of the 
 Church in almost every place are confined to 
 the few; the mass of its members are idlers. 
 “ The harvest truly is plenteous, but the /ador- 
 ers are few.” When we ought to be shaking 
 the world, or turning it upside down, we are, 
 too many of us, settled down into idleness and 
 indifference. We are mere pigmies when we 
 ought to be giants; we are dwarfed, stunted, 
 powerless, when we ought to be “mighty 
 through God for the pulling down of the 
 strongholds of sin and Satan.” O how long 
 shall this state of things be continued! What 
 can, what will, wake us up from our slumber- 
 ings and engage us earnestly in the,work to 
 which we are called! Will God permit an out- 
 burst of persecution to arouse the Church, or _ 
 will there come down upon its whole length 
 and breadth a mighty effusion of the Comforter ? 
 Something must be done, and that right early. 
 
282 The Mussion of the Spirit. 
 
 And if the Church fails to answer the design of 
 its existence it becomes only a weak, shriveled, 
 powerless thing. When the living flames ex- 
 pire from its altars, then there will be substi- 
 tuted in their place, for a season, a merely sen- 
 suous religion, a merely formal and outward 
 show, and sooner or later will come on a sad 
 degeneracy into error, superstition, strife, divis- 
 ions, decay, and death. “ Christianity, then, 
 would sacrifice its divinity if it abandoned its 
 missionary character and became a mere edu- 
 cational institution. Surely this article of con- 
 version is the true articulus stantis aut cadentis 
 ecclesi@. ‘Nhen the power of reclaiming the 
 lost dies out of the Church it ceases to be the 
 Church. It may remain a useful institution, 
 though it is most likely to become an immoral 
 and mischievous one. Where the power re- 
 mains, there, whatever is wanting, it may still 
 be said that ‘the tabernacle of God is with 
 
 ment ree 
 * Ecce Homo, p. 278. 
 
The Mission of the Spurit. 283 
 
 OLE DPE Rae 
 
 THE DISPENSATION OF THE COMFORTER THE 
 MOST GLORIOUS AND THE LAST. 
 
 URING the four thousand years preceding 
 
 the Christian era, two dispensations flour- 
 ished, decayed, and vanished away. Each was 
 preparatory to, and explanatory of, the other. 
 The first was the patriarchal, all dim and shad- 
 owy, but adapted to the infancy of the human 
 race. While it lasted, “ God revealed himself at 
 sundry times and in divers ways.” In two 
 marked instances he revealed his “ wrath against 
 the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.” 
 In the one he destroyed the race by a flood ; in 
 the other he swept the cities of the plain with 
 a storm of fire. There was also revealed to 
 men the existence of another higher and purer 
 state of existence. Men heard the rustle of 
 angels’ wings, saw their bright forms, not only 
 in vision, but actually descending from the 
 heavens, and then returning thither again ; but 
 they learned even more of the existence of that 
 
284. Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 higher state of being than this. They probably 
 saw the deathless patriarch go up to the heav- 
 ens in a chariot of fire, and they knew then 
 that the world whence the angels had come 
 was not only for them, but for men; for the 
 good, the pure, the holy, such as they knew 
 Enoch had been. But above all this, they 
 knew that, although the race was fallen, wicked, 
 and exposed to God’s wrath, there was a Re- 
 deemer, a Saviour provided, through whom “all 
 the families of the earth should be blessed.” 
 The most explicit promises of Him were given 
 to Adam, and repeated to Abraham, Isaac, and 
 Jacob. The coming of “ Shiloh,” to whom “the | 
 gathering of the people should be,” was re- 
 garded as a certainty, and looked forward to 
 with delight and rejoicing. Thus in the gray 
 dawn of the world’s history, the light of God 
 shone upon the pathway of man, revealing him- 
 self, his relation to his creatures as their Al- 
 mighty Sovereign, rewarding the righteous and 
 punishing the wicked, and opening up before 
 his wondering eyes another and a future world. 
 
 The prophetical, or Mosaic, dispensation was 
 formally inaugurated upon Mount Sinai in the 
 giving of the law, amid the most terrible and 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 285 
 
 sublime accompaniments. The tabernacle and 
 its worship were formally instituted, and sacri- 
 fices, rites, and ceremonies were ordained by 
 the direct command of God. A new and a 
 brighter era had now dawned upon the world. 
 There was now furnished to man not merely a 
 traditional revelation of God, but what was far 
 better for his understanding and use, a wre¢ten 
 one, with all the great truths which he had 
 taught man along the line of the past centuries 
 formally gathered up and recorded in “the book 
 of the law.” During the fifteen centuries which 
 followed, a succession of prophets not only fore- 
 told the advent of the Messiah, but also the 
 establishment, extension, and glory of his king- 
 dom. And yet, glorious as was this dispensa- 
 tion in all of its external forms, many intimations 
 were given that it was only temporary, that an- 
 other and a more glorious one was to dawn, ere- 
 long, upon the world, and that amid its bright- 
 ening glories the mists and the shadows were 
 all to pass away. The prophets referred to that 
 on-coming period as “that day,” “ the last days,” 
 “the day of the Lord.” At length the tones of 
 the prophetic harp were hushed, and a night of 
 centuries came down upon the Jewish Church, in 
 
286 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 which no voice of God was heard, and no angelic 
 messengers were seen by man. At the dawn of 
 the morning which followed, and which was ulti- 
 mately to culminate in the glories of the millen- 
 nium day, “a voice was heard in the wilderness” 
 uttering the heraldic cry, “ Prepare ye the way of 
 the Lord.” “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven 
 is at hand.” “ He is coming whose shoe-latchets 
 I am not worthy to unloose.” “ He shall bap- 
 tize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” 
 He came. His advent was attended by the 
 most remarkable demonstrations on the part of 
 the heavenly hosts, who had in countless num- 
 bers sung over Bethlehem’s plains, “Glory to 
 God in the highest!” until the very air trem- 
 bled with the burden of their song, and heaven’s 
 high courts were resonant with their exultant 
 shouts. Then, after a few brief notices of him, 
 he is seen no more until he is “thirty years old.” 
 At that time we behold him standing upon 
 the banks of the Jordan, ready to be initiated 
 into the office of a priest by one regularly de- 
 scended from the tribe of Levi, in order “to 
 fulfill all righteousness.” The work is done, by 
 what precise form we know not, and then “ the 
 heavens are opened, and the Spirit of God, 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 287 
 
 dove-like, descends upon him, while a voice 
 from the opened heavens says, “This is my 
 beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 
 Here, then, we behold the whole Trinity—the 
 Son, in human flesh, the Spirit like a dove 
 hovering over him, and the Father speaking 
 from the heavens, bearing his testimony to his 
 incarnate Son. Wonderful scene! Grand in- 
 auguration of the Son of God into his priestly 
 and prophetical offices ! 
 
 His great life-work is now fairly begun, and 
 after forty days of fasting in the wilderness he 
 is brought into immediate conflict with the 
 prince of darkness. Thrice assaulted by him, 
 he is in each assault the victor; the thunder- 
 scarred head of the arch-fiend is bruised by his 
 conqueror, and he receives the premonitions of 
 his final and complete subjugation. Three 
 years of unceasing teaching and miracle-work- 
 ing follow. At length his departure from earth 
 is at hand. Intimations of this fill the hearts 
 of his disciples with sorrow and grief; but he 
 assurcs them of the coming of “another Com- 
 forter, who shall abide with them forever.” 
 Then he is taken by his enemies, and “by 
 wicked hands is crucified and slain.” But he 
 
288 Lhe Mission of the Spirtt. 
 
 rises again, and for forty days he appears at in- 
 tervals to give assurance of his resurrection to 
 his disciples. Then he ascends to his Father 
 and our Father, to his God and our God. He 
 sits down upon his regal and mediatorial throne, 
 
 the joy of all heaven, the center of its bliss. 
 
 But he does not forget his disciples who are 
 waiting and longing for the fulfillment of his 
 promise. And when the day of Pentecost has 
 fully come, he sends down the Comforter with 
 all his gifts, his grace, and power. 
 
 The new, the Christian dispensation, is now 
 inaugurated. The ceremonial law has evan- 
 ished, and the moral law exists no more as the 
 ground of man’s acceptance with God. The “do 
 this and “ve” economy has passed away, and 
 the “ delzeve and be saved”’ dispensation is now 
 in force: Panoplied with the might and power 
 of the Divine Comforter, the infant Church 
 sprang at once into the very midst of the arena 
 of conflict with the philosophies, the mytholo- 
 gies, the idolatries, the superstitions, and the 
 wrongs of the world, and with its mighty spirit- 
 ual weapons began to pull down the strongholds 
 of the kingdom of darkness. Persecuted, hated, 
 imprisoned, butchered, as were its members, yet 
 
 ny 
 
 7 aes 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 289 
 
 their numbers increased, and “the word of God 
 mightily grew and prevailed.” “ But if the min- 
 istration of death, written and engraven in stones, 
 was glorious, so that the children of Israel could 
 not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the 
 glory of his countenance ; which glory was to 
 be done away; how shall not the ministration 
 of the spirit be rather glorious ?” 2 Cor. iii, 7, 8. 
 But great and glorious as were the triumphs of 
 the early Church, the present day is witnessing 
 scenes which are only equaled, but scarcely sur- 
 passed, by them. The dawn of the nineteenth 
 century witnessed the most enlarged prepara- 
 tions for the speedy conversion of the world to 
 Christ. Organizations began to be multiplied 
 for the concentration of the piety, the benefi- 
 cence, and the labors of the Church. And as 
 its operations were enlarged, and its convictions 
 of duty were intensified, Divine Providence was 
 opening one door after another before its won- 
 dering eyes, until now the whole world is open 
 to the messengers of the Gospel. These organ- 
 izations, as we have seen, were born in the midst 
 of the revival which began in the eighteenth cent- 
 ury, and were baptized with the same Spirit who 
 inspired the triumphs of the apostolicage. And 
 
290 The Mission of the Sprrit. 
 
 under these mighty agencies which have been 
 called into requisition, whole districts of the 
 earth have been evangelized and Christianized. 
 The inhabitants of the Sandwich Islands have 
 been reclaimed from superstition and barbarism, 
 and the last relics of their former idols and idol- 
 atrous practices have almost totally disappeared. 
 
 Their large and flourishing Churches have not , 
 only become independent and self-supporting, 
 but, in turn, are sending out missionaries for 
 the conversion of the islands of the sea to 
 Christ. The Fiji Islanders, from idolatry, bru- 
 tality, and cannibal'sm, have been brought un- 
 der the influence of the Gospel, and have sat 
 down at the feet of Jesus, “clothed, and in their 
 right mind.” More recently still, the island of 
 Madagascar, where hundreds of the followers of 
 Jesus formerly sealed their testimony with their 
 blood, and had furnished a martyrology which, 
 in many instances, was equal to that of the 
 early years of the Church, has been brought 
 under the power of the Gospel. Its idols have 
 been publicly burned, its bloody altars have 
 been overthrown, its temples have either been 
 deserted and destroyed, or else converted into 
 houses for Christian worship, and its queen has 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 291 
 
 become, in a sense at least, a nursing mother to 
 the Church. In hyperborean regions, as well 
 as on the banks of the Ganges and the Irrawaddy ; 
 in Africa and in China, in Turkey and in Hin- 
 dostan, and, indeed, in most of the languages 
 and dialects of the world, there are tongues 
 which speak the Saviour’s praise. But not only 
 so; while this mighty baptism has been upon 
 the Church, and its forward movements have 
 been crowned with such signal success, directly 
 or indirectly traceable to the same influence is the 
 great work which has been wrought in the cause 
 of human liberty. England has emancipated 
 the millions of her slaves ; Russia has lifted up 
 thirty millions of serfs from their degraded and 
 enslaved condition ; and America, in the midst 
 of a baptism of blood and tears, struck the man- 
 acles from the limbs of four millions of slaves, 
 and has since asserted their manhood, and 
 granted to them the elective franchise. 
 
 ‘¢ The light ! the light ! it breaks ; 
 Light on the chain of the slave, 
 
 The light of God on the laborer’s home, 
 Light on the martyr’s grave !” 
 
 If this is the last and most glorious dispensa- 
 tion, certainly we are beginning to see the cul- 
 
292 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 mination of its glories. Much as has been said 
 of the activities and energies of this age, “the 
 half has never yet been told.” There is no man 
 living who is fully capable of grasping in his 
 mind, no matter how enlarged its powers may 
 be, the mighty influences which are at work, 
 and the mighty changes which are, even now, 
 going on in human society. The rapid disap- 
 pearance of great wrongs which had for ages 
 rooted themselves in the constitutions and gov- 
 ernments of the world ; the fading away of idol- 
 atrous systems; the recent overthrow of the 
 temporal power of the Beast, which will be fol- 
 lowed ere long by the destruction of the power 
 of the False Prophet ; the multiplication of fa- 
 cilities for the evangelization of the world; the 
 rapid increase of agencies for this work ; the 
 binding of continents together by rails of iron 
 and steel; the union of oceans by canals, and 
 the girdling of the earth with telegraphic wires, 
 are all events which in their magnitude and 
 significance are above the comprehension of 
 mere finite intelligences. And yet, grand and 
 glorious as these events are, they do not begin 
 to answer the prophetical descriptions of the 
 full glory of this dispensation of the Comforter. 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 293 
 
 What we now see is only the dawn of the morn- 
 ing; what the prophets saw in vision was 
 the full glory of the meridian of a day which 
 will fill all earth and heaven with hosannas and 
 halleluias. 
 
 This is God’s last dispensation of mercy to- 
 ward our world, and this is rapidly drawing 
 toward its close. The Father has worked, and 
 the Son has worked, and now, for ages, the 
 Holy Ghost has been working. We have not 
 discerned his agency or felt his power as we 
 might have done. But his work, in connection 
 with the redemption of our world, is now being 
 better understood, more fully appreciated, and 
 more heartily trusted in, than at any former 
 period. It only wants that the Church, the 
 whole Church, should cry more mightily to 
 God for the fuller manifestation of the Com- 
 forter, and it will be realized in a manner hith- 
 erto unknown. ‘“ Whatever increase Christ’s 
 kingdom has received from the beginning down 
 to these times, it has received through the 
 power of the Comforter ; and if it is receiving’ 
 any at this day, if we find reason to bless God 
 for the manner in which the heathen in any 
 part of the earth are now coming into his king- 
 
2904 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 dom, our especial thanksgiving and praise are 
 due to the Comforter, who is still working his 
 - threefold conviction, and casting down the 
 abominations of idolatry thereby.” * 
 
 And are we not warranted to expect results 
 upon a grander scale than any that have yet 
 been realized? Is it not apparent, from what 
 he has already wrought, that the Comforter “is 
 able to do exceeding abundantly above all that 
 we ask or think, according to the power 
 that worketh in us?” Eph. iii, 20. As yet 
 we have only seen and known a part of his 
 ways; but the fullness, the thunder of his 
 power, who can understand? He has but ina 
 partial manner, and in a few places, displayed 
 his power, and we have lifted up our hands in as- 
 tonishment and exclaimed, “ Wonderful! Won- 
 derful!” But if our faith properly appreciated 
 the work of the Comforter we should not only 
 expect to see these, but also far greater things. 
 O, the time hastens when he will lift the vail from 
 the long blinded mind of the Jewish people, and 
 they shall look upon him whom they have 
 pierced and mourn, “as one mourneth for an 
 only son!” The Beast and the False Prophet 
 
 ° The Mission of the Comforter. Hare, p. 181. 
 
 ~ 
 —— 
 
The Mission of the Sprrit. 205 
 
 shall be overthrown and cast into the lake of 
 fire. Idolatry, which, in one form or another, 
 has cursed and crushed millions of the world’s 
 population for thousands of years, shall be de- 
 stroyed, with all its fearful train of superstitions 
 and abominations, its lusts, and its crimes. In- 
 temperance, the vile monster, which has by its 
 arts degraded and ruined millions during the 
 past centuries, shall come to an end, and its 
 power shall be completely destroyed. All forms 
 of vice and iniquity shall be banished from the 
 world, and “righteousness and joy and peace” 
 shall reign for ever and ever. Then “the earth 
 shall be full of the knowledge of the glory of 
 the Lord as the waters cover the sea.’ No one 
 shall have to say to his neighbor, “ Know the 
 Lord: for all shall know him from the least 
 even unto the greatest.” Then the luminous 
 and sublime predictions of David, Isaiah, Jere- 
 miah, and Daniel will be fully realized, and the 
 glowing utterances of the Apocalypse will have 
 their glorious completion. 
 
 I am not, by any means, unaware of the great 
 and formidable difficulties which lie in the way 
 of the accomplishment of these results. But 
 what are difficulties in the presence of the 
 
296 Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 Almighty, the Eternal Spirit? If the promise 
 and the oath of God are pledged for their ac- 
 complishment, what else does our faith need to 
 rest upon? Our glorified Christ has provided 
 for the full and complete redemption of our hu- 
 manity and our world, and “he will not fail 
 nor be discouraged” until this work is done. 
 In harmony with this provision, ay, as an in- 
 tegral part of this provision, the Comforter has 
 come forth to complete and consummate this 
 work. And this he has been and still is doing 
 gloriously. Invisible to the human eye; hess 
 acting directly upon human souls, bowing them 
 down by his power, illuminating them with his 
 light, lifting them up from their degradation and 
 ruin, transforming them by his grace, restrain- 
 ing often, even where he does not renew, and 
 checking where he does not convert ; cease- 
 lessly active by day and by night, in all coun- 
 tries and in all climes, never losing sight for one 
 moment of his great purpose, and never relaxing 
 his omnipotent energies. And now, even now, 
 he is ready to come down upon the whole 
 Church and the whole world, and to bring the 
 millions of the world down into the dust at the 
 feet of Jesus. 
 
Lhe Mission of the Spirit. 207. 
 
 One thing we must remember here—that all 
 the while he is doing this work he does not tes- 
 tify of himself. Thus the Saviour declared, 
 “He shall not speak of himself; but what he 
 shall hear, that shall he speak.” He testifies 
 of Christ. He is drawing the attention of the 
 world to Christ. And there never was the time 
 when all classes of men were so busily engaged 
 in looking at him. Men cannot keep their eyes 
 off him. He is hated and despised by multi- 
 tudes ; his divinity and authority are denied, 
 and yet they keep looking at him and his cross. 
 Strauss and Renan, Parker and Emerson, and 
 a host of other names, have called the attention 
 of millions to his claims, who otherwise might 
 not have thought of them. Their utterances 
 are listened to by the world, but when they have 
 died away the name of Jesus is plowed deeper 
 into the hearts of men than ever before. Just 
 as, during the prevalence of the storm, the sun 
 is obscured by heavy masses of clouds, but 
 when the storm is over we forget the blackened 
 sky, the clouds, and the tempest, and see only 
 the sun enthroned in the heavens and flooding 
 the world with his glory ; so men rage against 
 Christ, and sometimes, for a season, may ob- 
 
208 The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 scure his glory by their sophistries or their 
 wrath ; but the storm passes over, the clouds 
 are brushed away, and we see Jesus sitting 
 upon the throne of the universe, and on “his 
 head are many crowns.” Or, as on the Mount 
 of Transfiguration, when the cloud came down 
 upon its brow, the disciples feared as they 
 entered into it, and there was a voice sounding 
 out from the excellent glory, and Moses and 
 Elijah were manifested; but when the cloud 
 was lifted up “they saw no man, save Fesus 
 only.” So the Comforter will exalt Jesus before 
 the world, and even the whole universe. For 
 “unto him every knee shall bow, and every 
 tongue confess that he is Lord, to the glory 
 of God the Father.” He is now convincing the 
 world more fully than at any previous time 
 that its great,sin is unbelief in Christ ; that the 
 source of its righteousness is only to be found in 
 Christ, and that Christ is to be the final judge 
 of all its inhabitants. And not only so; he is 
 taking of the things of Christ and showing them 
 to his people as never before. He is uncover- 
 ing the depths of their corruptions in order to 
 lead them to the fountain of his blood, where all 
 may be washed away. He is opening up their 
 
The Mission of the Sprrit. 209 
 
 eyes to see the length and breadth and height 
 of Christ’s redeeming love. Under his inspiring 
 presence and power they are awakening to gird 
 themselves with his own divine strength, and 
 to robe themselves in the beautiful, spotless 
 garments of the Redeemer’s righteousness. 
 And when they shall be thus girded and thus 
 robed, they will radiate the world with his re- 
 flected glory, and shake it to its very center by 
 his imparted power. One only condition is es- 
 sential in order to realize this wonderful gift of 
 the Comforter for the production of these grand 
 results, and that is, deléewing prayer. O yeserv- 
 ants and handmaids of the Lord, “keep not si- 
 lence, and give the Lord no rest until he estab- 
 lish, and until he make Jerusalem a praise in 
 the earth!” God is now moving wonderfully 
 among the nations. Thrones of tyranny and 
 oppression are crumbling into the dust ; hoary 
 systems of error and superstition are passing. 
 away ; a mighty upheaval is now going on ; all 
 men are looking on, and wondering what will 
 come next. O blessed, Holy Comforter, finish 
 speedily thy great work in this world! Amen, 
 and Amen ! 
 
VENISCREATOR@SELRIEGE SS: 
 
 IF 
 
 Veni, Creator Spiritus, 
 Mentes tuorum visita, 
 Imple superna gratia, 
 Quee tu creasti pectora. 
 
 Li 
 
 Qui Paraclitus diceris 
 Donum Dei altissimi, 
 Fons vivus, ignis, charitas, 
 Et spiritalis unctio. 
 
 III. 
 
 Tu septiformis munere, 
 Dextrze Dei tu digitus, 
 Tu rite promissum Patris, 
 Sermone ditans guttura. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Accende lumen sensibus, 
 Infunde amorem cordibus, 
 Infirma nostri. corporis, 
 Virtute firmans perpeti. 
 
VENI CREATOR SPIRITUS. 
 
 TRANSLATED BY ABRAHAM COLES, M. D., PH. D. 
 
 i 
 Creator, Spirit, Guest Divine, 
 Come, visit and inhabit Thine ; 
 Enter the mind’s most holy place, 
 And breasts Thou madest fill with grace. 
 
 ile 
 Thou who art called the Paraclete, 
 Of God Most High the Gift Complete, 
 The living Fount, the Fire, the Love, 
 And Holy Unction from above. 
 
 its 
 
 Sevenfold the gifts at Thy command, 
 Finger of God's supreme right hand, 
 The promise of the Father, who 
 
 Dost throats enrich with utt’rance new. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Kindle the senses, light impart ; 
 Infuse Thy love in every heart ; 
 Weaken our body’s bent to wrong ; 
 In lasting virtue making strong. 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 
 
 Vis 
 
 Hoftem repellas longius, 
 Pacemque dones protinus ; 
 Ductore sic te przvio 
 Vitemus omne noxium. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Per te sciamus da Patrem 
 Noscamus atque Filium, 
 Teque utriusque Spiritum 
 Credamus omni tempore. 
 
 Vil. 
 
 Deo Patri fit gloria 
 
 Et Filio, qui a mortuis 
 Surrexit, ac Paraclito 
 In szeculorum szcula. 
 
 CAROLUS MAGNUS. 
 
 ——— a 
 
The Mission of the Spirit. 303 
 
 V. 
 Drive farther off the hellish foe, 
 And constant peace henceforth bestow. 
 May we—Thou, Leader in the way— 
 All evil shun, nor go astray. 
 
 VI. 
 Grant we may know in verity 
 The Father and the Son through Thee ; 
 And in all time may Thee believe 
 Spirit of Both, and so receive. 
 
 VII. 
 Be God the Father glorified, 
 And God the Son who for us died 
 And rose, and God the Paraclete, 
 Ages on ages infinite. } 
 
 CHARLEMAGNE, (beginning of ninth century.) 
 
 THE END. 
 
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