THE SPIRIT OF GOD:–
ITS – OFFICES AND MANIFESTATIONS, TO THE END OF THE CHRISTIAN AGE.
BY ELD. J. H.
WAGGONER. 1877
CHAPTER I.
THE HOLY SPIRIT OF PROMISE
“And I will
pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide
with you forever.” John 14:16.
There is not a subject presented in all the
Scriptures which is of greater interest and importance than that of the gospel
gifts and manifestations of the Spirit of God. In the words of the above text, the Spirit is the Comforter to the pilgrim who finds his life one of
warfare, and who is told that in the world he shall have tribulation. It is the
Guide to lead us “into all truth;” to aid us to
escape from the darkness of this wicked world and to find the light of life. It
is the Sanctifier, in connection with “belief of the truth,”
to impress that truth upon our hearts, and to soften our hearts that we may
appreciate, and with humble reverence receive, the word of truth. And its
influence extends to “the world,” to whom it is a Reprover of sin.
The subject is a very solemn one; it is not to
be approached in a light and irreverent manner. Jesus, the holy Son of God, who
claimed divine honors, who said that “all should honor the Son even as they
honor the Father,” also said:—
“Whosoever speaketh a word against the Son
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of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever
speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this
world, neither in the world to come.” Matt. 12:32.
The solemn importance of these words is
increased by the consideration that they were uttered as a rebuke to the
Pharisees, who ascribed the works of
Christ to the power of Satan instead of to the Spirit of God. They did not
speak of the Spirit at all directly;
they even may have felt the most becoming reverence for that Spirit in name. But their condemnation rested in
this, that they rejected that which proceeded from the Spirit of God, without a
patient, careful, submissive, and prayerful consideration of its nature and its
claims. How careful, then, should we be in our investigations of this subject,
and in our actions in reference to it. For, to ascribe the works of Satan to
the Spirit of God, is to debase the Spirit, and to exalt the power of the
adversary to divine honor. And to ascribe the gifts and works of the Spirit of
God to Satan, is to blaspheme so as to have no forgiveness forever. May the Spirit itself guide us into all
truth, and save us from both deception and presumption.
There is one question, which has been much
controverted in the theological world upon which we have never presumed to
enter. It is that of the personality of the Spirit of God. Prevailing ideas of person are very diverse, often crude, and the
word is differently understood; so that unity of opinion on this point cannot
be expected until all shall be able to define precisely what they mean by the
word, or until all shall agree upon one particular sense in which the word
shall be used. But as this agreement does not exist, it
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seems
that a discussion of the subject cannot be profitable, especially as it is not
a question of direct revelation. We have a right to be positive in our faith
and our statements only when the words of Scripture are so direct as to bring
the subject within the range of positive proof.
We are not only willing but anxious to leave it
just where the word of God leaves it. From it we learn that the Spirit of God
is that awful and mysterious power which proceeds from the throne of the
universe, and which is the efficient actor of the work of creation and of
redemption.
When
the earth was just spoken into existence, while yet all was desolate and void,—
“The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” Gen. 1:2.
The original word for moved has the sense of hovering
or brooding, and does not mean moving,
merely. It evidently refers to a process of
formation, by the power of the Spirit of God, which immediately followed
the act of creation.
That the same power is active in the work of
redemption is largely shown in that the incarnation of the Saviour, his
teachings, miracles, and resurrection; the reproving and conviction of sinners;
the enlightening, comforting, and sanctifying of believers; and, finally, the
resurrection of the just, are all ascribed to the Spirit of God. No tongue can
tell—no heart can conceive, how greatly we are indebted for its operations in
our behalf.
It is the Representative
of the Saviour during his absence from the church. When Jesus told the
disciples he was going to leave them, their hearts were sad. But he gave them a
two-fold consolation; 1. He promised to come
again and
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receive them unto himself. And from that hour
to the day of their death they longed and prayed for his second advent to the earth. As pilgrims yet
“in an enemy’s land,” we pray with them, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
2. He said he would not leave them as orphans,
or comfortless, in this world of tribulation; he would pray the Father, and he
would send them another Comforter. And as Christ came in the name of the
Father, John 5:43, and therefore represented the Father, insomuch that they who
had seen him had seen the Father, because the Father was in him and did the
works which he did, John 14:9, 10, so the Spirit is come in the name of Jesus;
verse 26. It is to us as truly a representative of Christ, as he was of the
Father. He that received not Christ received not the Father; 1 John 2:23. Even
so, he that hath not the Spirit hath rejected the Son— “he is none of his.”
Rom. 8:9. And because the Father sends the Spirit in the name of the Son, and
the Son purchased the gift for us, it proceeds from both to us, and is called
both the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ. Compare 1 Pet. 1:10, 11, and 2
Pet. 1:21.
The Spirit is to abide with the disciples of
Christ till his return, for the word forever
has this extent in the promise. The Saviour lived but a few years upon the
earth; his ministry covered a period of only three and a half years. But the
presence of the Spirit as a Guide and Comforter shall be during the entire
dispensation—the gospel age.
A most important truth is taught in Luke 11.
Though the Spirit is to “reprove the world,” it does not act as a Comforter and
Sanctifier to any
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unless they voluntarily receive it. Jesus was
in the world, and was “the light of the world,” but the world rejected the
light. But, “as many as received him, to
them gave he power to become the sons of God” John 1:12. And, though the Spirit
is sent into the world to abide in the world to fulfill its various offices, Jesus taught us that we should pray for it.
The teaching of many in this degenerate age is contrary to this; but to this
refers directly the oft quoted injunction:—
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye
shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”
After giving illustrations of the readiness of
parents to give needed things to their children, he continued:—
“If ye,
then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more
shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him.” Luke 11:9-13.
Therefore
we conclude that if we do not believe the Spirit should be prayed for, or if,
for any cause, we neglect to ask for it, we cannot expect to receive it.
But an objection is raised against this truth.
It is said, There is danger of being deceived; there are “seducing spirits” in
the world; 1 Tim. 4:1; and men are liable to be led by these, while they think
they are led by the Spirit of God; and the danger is very great, as Satan
transforms himself to an angel of light.
There is much truth in this objection; not only
is there danger of being deceived, but thousands are deceived, and led on, by
the deception, to their destruction. And therefore we should be all the more
careful in our walk and in our
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prayers. But let us examine our Saviour’s
illustrations.
“If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is
a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish
give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?”
Luke 11:12.
Now if a son is so blinded, or his senses so
benumbed, that he cannot tell the difference between bread and a stone, or a
fish and a serpent, or an egg and a scorpion, then is his case, indeed,
deplorable. And if he is so far from his father, and so little acquainted with
him, that, when he asks for bread, a deceiver steps in, and, pretending to be
his father, gives him a stone instead, and he does not know the difference, his
case may be regarded as desperate.
But what would the objector think or say,
should he see a son refuse to take bread from the willing hand of a kind father
because stones were so numerous in the land? Should such a course be pursued by
any one we could only expect that death by starvation would be the result.
The apostle James gives important instruction
on this point. If we “ask amiss,” either in lack of faith or to gratify our
selfishness, we shall not receive. God’s
will and glory must be kept in view. Self must be denied and crucified. Our consecration to God must be complete. Our
submission to his will and pleasure must be perfect, so that we are ready to
bear any cross, to accept any truth, or to take any advance step in the work of
faith; in short, we must abide in him and have his word abiding in us, and then
we
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may ask
what we will and it shall be done. John 15:7.
Many fail to receive the gracious influence of
the Spirit, or receiving it, abuse it, and so shut up the way of further
blessings, by receiving it as the end of Christian effort instead of as a means. When such are
blessed of Heaven they consider that the object of religious effort has been
accomplished; and they sit down to enjoy themselves, or to congratulate
themselves over their gifts and graces. A greater mistake could not be made. So
does the gormandizer take his food as the means of self-gratification, and this
is the end of his efforts. But the man who realizes the responsibilities of
life, and who has a true interest in the faithful discharge of life’s duties,
accepts his food as the means of gathering strength for future labor and
usefulness. The Spirit will be given to
all who ask for it as a means of renewing their strength that they may engage
more successfully in the Christian warfare, and gain new victories to the glory
of the Captain of our salvation.
Paul speaks of “those who, by reason of use,
have their senses exercised to discern both
good and evil.” Heb. 5:14. It is unfortunate that so many lack this
discernment; they have never so used their senses as to have them available to
any practical benefit. In gifts of the Spirit they discern only evil. Every
object is to them a stone, a serpent, or a scorpion. Humility, self-denying, cross-bearing, and earnest prayer would
enable them to see unnumbered blessings, great and precious, clustering along
their pathway, where all is now dark, dreary, and forbidding.
The objections which these offer against
accepting
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the manifestations of the Spirit will hold
equally good against uniting with any church; because, while the church of
Christ is a unit (for “there is one body”), there are many and diverse churches
in the world, and therefore the chances are that we shall unite with a wrong
one, and so be led astray. But the objector readily replies, We must choose
that one which bears the divine impress; which presents the characteristics of
the true church according to the New Testament. That is right. And so also with
regard to the Holy Spirit and its manifestations. We must compare all with the
divine standard, and receive that which will bear all the tests of the word of
God, and reject all which are condemned by that infallible rule. It is to be
regretted that so little attention is paid to this important subject; that so
little is known in general, concerning the promises, the operations, and the
gifts of the Spirit of God. It is that of here is one office of the Spirit
which is not only ignored, but denied by many at the present time.
It is that of
Reprover. Jesus said:—
“And when he is come he will reprove the world
of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” John 16:8.
They who deny the exercise of this office to
the Spirit say that the promise of the direct presence of the Spirit is only to
the church, as a Comforter; that they only who are members of the church can
receive the influence of the Spirit in any manner; and that they who receive it
do so, not as an evidence of that
membership, but because of that
membership. The world is reproved, they say, only
by the word which the Spirit has indited; and the threatenings of the
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word are the only method of reproof, the Spirit
itself not being present at all.
But this does not accord with the words of the
Saviour, that the Spirit comes into the world to reprove the world. It plainly
appears that the Spirit of God was striving with man in the days of Noah. Gen.
6:3. Stephen accused the Jews of resisting it. Acts 7:51. And if it is
allowable to assume that the Spirit strives with and reproves men only by means of the threatenings and reproofs
of the word, we may with equal propriety assume that it comforts the saints only by the promises of the word. And then we
have the Spirit banished entirely, as far as actual presence is concerned, and
the promise of the Saviour is destroyed. We claim, and we think with good
reason, that to deny its presence in comforting the saints is doing no greater
violence to the Scriptures than to deny its presence in reproving sinners. And
if there be no real presence of the Spirit in these works we may in vain ask
the Father to give us the Spirit, notwithstanding the Saviour’s instructions in
Luke 11:9-13. Nor can it then be true, as promised in our text, John 14:16,
that the Spirit will abide with us
forever, no, nor even visit us at all.
We
ought to consider ourselves responsible for every conclusion which may
logically be drawn from our position. Therefore men ought to fear greatly when
they take such a position as that which we now call in question, because it
really removes the Spirit from the work of the gospel, as a Comforter as well
as a Reprover. We fear that such positions are taken because men are too easily
satisfied with a nominal religion, destitute of the Spirit’s power.
To
be continued…..God willing.
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