THE HOLY GHOST

XXII.

The Holy Ghost

'And because ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father.'—Gal. iv. 6.

TPHE great gift of the Father, through whom J- He obtained salvation and brought it near to us, is the Son. On the other hand, the great gift of the Son, whom He sends to us from the Father, to apply to us an inner and effectual salvation, is the Holy Spirit.ⁱ As the Son if*■ⁱ^ $ reveals and glorifies the Father, so the Spirit fS^A. uf' reveals and glorifies the Son.² The Spirit is in »jot>_n xT. M,

° ^r _xvl. H, I6; i

us to transfer to us the life and the salvation Jp^* * "* that are prepared in Jesus, and to make them wholly ours.⁸ Jesus who is in heaven is made vj& present in us, dwells in us, by the Spirit. We 5£*^k-^aLa have seen that in order to become partaker of Jesus there are always two things necessary: the knowledge of the sin that is in us, and of the redemption that is in Him. It is the Holy Spirit who continually promotes this double work in believers. He reproves and comforts, He convinces of sin and He glorifies Christ.⁴ J *>hn m. $, The Spirit convinces of sin. He is the light i0i

and the fire of God, through whom sin is unveiled and consumed. He is 'the Spirit of judgment and of burning,' by whom God purifies His nm. It. 4; people.ⁱ To the anxious soul who complains ii^Mitt m. _th_at h_e <j_oes _no^ £_eel hi_{s s}i_n deeply enough, we

must often say that there is no limit as to how deep his repentance must be. He must come daily just as he is; the deepest conviction oftentimes comes after conversion. To the young convert we have simply to say: let the Spirit who is in you convince you always of sin. Sin, which formerly you knew but by name, He will make you hate. Sin, which you had not seen in the hidden depths of your heart, He will make you know, and with shame confess. Sin, of which you fancied that it was not with you, and which you had judged severely in others, He will ^i* j*Ddi.7. point out to you in yourself.² And He will teach R?m. yo^{u w}i^tn repentance and self-condemnation to u.'i5. ⁱ⁰' ^v' cast yourself upon grace as entirely sinful, in order to be thereby redeemed and purified from it.

Beloved brother, the Holy Spirit is in you as the light and fire of God to unveil and to consume sin. The temple of God is holy, and this temple you are. Let the Holy Spirit in you £Sii_J?.^U23?^s' ^nave mastery to point out and expel sin.⁸ cof: "t i7-1 After He makes you know sin, He will at every

Cor. ill. i7. vL .

» turn make you know Jesus as your life and your

sanctification.

And then shall the Spirit who rebukes also

comfort. He will glorify Jesus in you, will take what is in Jesus and make it known to you. He will give you knowledge concerning the power of Jesus' blood to cleanse,ⁱ and the power ^J⁰ⁱ*"'¹ of Jesus' indwelling to keep.² He will make you ³ John xlr. 2i,

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see how literally, how completely, how certainly ^ttL *,

Jesus is with you every moment, to do Himself

all his own Jesus-work in you. Yea, in the

Holy Spirit, the living, almighty, and ever-present

Jesus shall be your portion; you shall also know

this, and have the full enjoyment of it. The

Holy Spirit will teach you to bring all your sin

and sinfulness to Jesus, and to know Jcjus with

His complete redemption from sin as your own.

As the Spirit of sanctification, He will drive out

sin in order that He may cause Jesus to dwell

in you.⁸ >n<im. 14. T.

* 6, viiL S, IS; i

Beloved young Christian, take time to under-^Petl-^t stand and to become filled with the truth: the Holy Spirit is in you. Eeview all the assurances of God's word that this is so.4 Pray, think not yi⁰TMfor a moment of living as a Christian without ariufsji

. 1.i3

the indwelling of the Spirit . Take pains to have your heart filled with the faith that the Spirit dwells in you, and will do His mighty work, for through faith the Spirit comes and works.⁶ «cw. mm Have a great reverence for the work of the Spirit in you. Seek Him every day to believe, to obey, to trust, and He will take and make known to you all that there is in Jesus. He will make Jesus very glorious to you and in you.

0 my Father, I thank Thee for this gift which Jesus sent me from Thee, the Father. I thank Thee that I am now the temple of Thy Spirit, and that He dwells in me.

Lord, teach me to believe this with the whole heart, and to live in the world as one who knows that the Spirit of God is in him to lead him. Teach me to think with deep reverence and filial awe on this, that God is in me. Lord, in that faith I have the power to be holy.

Holy Spirit, reveal to me all that sin is in me. Holy Spirit, reveal to me all that Jesus is in me. Amen.

7. The knowledge of the person and the work of the Holy Spirit le for us of just as much importance as the knowledge of the person and the work of Christ.

2 Concerning the Holy Spirit, we must endeaoour especially to hold fast the truth that He is gioen as the fruit of the work of Jesus for us, that He is the power of the life of Jesus in us, and that through Him, Jesus Himself, with His full saloation, dwells in us.

3. in order to enjoy all this, we must be filled with the Spirit. This simply means, emptied of all else and full of Jesus. To deny ourseloes, to take up the cross, to follow Jesus; this is the way to be filled with the Spirit of Jesus. Or rather, this is the way in which the Spirit leads us to His fulness. No one has the power to enter fully into the death of Jesus but he who is led by the Spirit. But He takes him that desires this by the hand and brings him.

4. As the whole of saloation, the whole of the new life is by faith, so ls this also true of the gift and the working of the Holy Spirit . By faith, not by works—not in feeling, do l receioe Him, am l led by Him, am l fitted With Him.

5. As clear and definite as my faith is in the work that Jesus only and alone finished for me, so clear and definite must faith be in the work that the Holy Spirit accomplishes in me, to work in me the willing and the performing of all that lt necessary for my saloation.