CHAPTER XVI.
THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE WORLD.
1. These things have I spoken unto you, that
you should not be offended. "These things" may refer generally to
all that the Lord has spoken in these discourses, as some have urged,
but, in my judgment, refers more particularly to what he has stated
in the last chapter about the hatred of the world, a subject that he
now continues by pointing out how this hatred will manifest itself.
The reader must keep in mind that there was no break in the Savior's
discourse between the 15th and 16th chapters and the same subject is
continued without change. "These things" the Lord spoke that they should
be forewarned, expectant, and hence should not be made to stumble (offended).
The word "offended," or, more properly, "stumble," points out the danger
of falling during persecution. The weak in faith are likely to give
way before the storm, to fancy that the odds are too great, that it
is useless for a small minority to contend against mankind. Hence the
Lord reveals to his disciples that there is an irrepressible conflict
between the sinful world and himself, points out the issues and shows
how it will involve his followers, in order that they may expect it,
be prepared for it, and when it comes only see in it the fulfillment
of his prediction.
2. They shall put you out of the synagogues.
The first persecutions shall come from the Jews, and hence the Lord
speaks of these. The first punishment shall be excommunication. I have
pointed out (chapter 9:22, note) the
nature of this punishment. It was more than spiritual. It made its subject
outcasts. Hence Paul, in speaking of the sufferings of the saints, declares
they are made outcasts. But this is not all, for the time cometh
that whosoever killeth you will think he doeth God service. No language
could describe more forcibly the most intense fanaticism. Yet "the hour"
was coming and close at hand when murder would be sanctified in the
eyes of the murderer. Even Saul of Tarsus, as he afterwards confessed,
thought he was doing God's service when he sought to kill the saints.
In the Rabbinical books is found a proverb: "Whoever sheds the blood
of the impious does the same as if he offered a sacrifice," and the
Jews held that those who accepted Christianity were traitors to God.
The same spirit has been often manifested in religious persecutions.
The cruel crusades of the French kings against the Albigenses were conducted
in the name of religion; the Pope of Rome celebrated a Te Deum when
the news of the barbarous massacre of St. Bartholomew reached him, the
"Holy Inquisition" tortured men, broke them upon the rack or [239]
wheel in the name of religion, or burned them in Auto de Fes,
as "Acts of Faith." Madame Roland, about to die on the scaffold, exclaimed,
"Oh, Liberty, what crimes are perpetrated in thy name!" So many a martyr
might have exclaimed of Religion.
3. These things they will do . . . because
they have not known the Father or me. This ignorance of God and
Christ lies at the root of all spirit of persecution. Could the tender
love of God as revealed in the Son, his long suffering and compassion,
be known, it would end all intolerance. The hard-hearted, cruel and
exacting, whatever they may pretend, do not believe in the true God
and the Son. They may believe in some being whom they call God, but
it is not the God who "so loved the world that he sent his only begotten
Son to save the world." They may believe in a being they call Christ,
but it is not the tender, loving and compassionate Savior who taught,
"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." All intolerance
is born of spiritual pride, selfishness and self-worship. The Pharisees,
the most bigoted and self-righteous sect of the Jewish nation, were
the bitterest opposers of Christ. The Papal church, which has held that
salvation was only found within its fold, has always been a persecuting
body wherever it was in power.
4. These things have I told you . . . that
ye may remember. When the hour of trial would come there would come
also the remembrance that the Lord had foreseen it from the beginning,
had promised to be with them, and even to give to them what they should
say to their accusers. These things I said not in the beginning because
I was with you. His instructions had been lesson by lesson as they
were prepared to receive it. Only gradually had he unfolded to them
the dark, rugged and bloody pathway that they should be called to tread.
In the beginning of his ministry he did not teach of these things, in
the second year of his ministry he began to present the lesson, but
only in the hour of departure does he fully reveal the trials before
his disciples. The greatest of all their trials, unless the promised
Comforter came, would be the departure of the Lord. While he was upon
the earth the bolts of hatred would strike him instead of his followers;
but when he was gone and they represented him on the earth these bolts
would strike them.
5, 6. Now I go my way to him that sent me.
To the Father, by way of the Cross, the Sepulcher, the Resurrection
and the Ascension. None of you asketh me, Whither goest thou?
They had asked this question, but in the stupefaction of [240]
their sorrow they had ceased to ask. Their thoughts were fixed
more upon their own disappointment and bereavement than upon what was
before their departing Lord. He desires to turn their thoughts to the
grand results that are to be accomplished "because he goes to the Father."
They had, however, failed to look into these matters because sorrow
had filled their heart.
7. It is expedient for you that I go away.
What seemed then a crushing sorrow was a real blessing. His mission
could never be accomplished unless he went away. These same apostles
who were now so overwhelmed with sorrow, forty days later, saw the Lord
depart, and a cloud receive him from their sight, and yet "they returned
to Jerusalem with great joy" (Luke 24:52). How often the "dark clouds
break in blessings on our heads!" For if I go not away, the Comforter
will not come. By the Comforter is meant the Holy Spirit, which
was first shed forth on the day of Pentecost. The Greek word (Paraclete)
is also rendered Advocate, or Helper. The Holy Spirit fills all these
offices. This Spirit, given only to a few inspired men, under the Jewish
dispensation, was now to become the heritage of the church that Christ
would soon establish on the earth. While Christ was present in person,
in bodily form, the Holy Spirit, the representative of the Godhead,
could not come. Christ, as King, must send it, and on the day of Pentecost
Peter declared, "He hath shed forth the things ye do see and hear."
For a universal kingdom, in which the King should everywhere manifest
his presence by abiding in his subjects, it was needful that be go away
in person and send, instead of his personal presence, the "omnipresent
Spirit." Hence, ten days after his ascension, the saints, "waiting for
the promise of the Father, that they should be endued with power from
on high," enjoyed the fulfillment in the outpouring of Pentecost.
8. Will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness,
and of judgment. The Revision more correctly renders, "Will convict
the world of sin." There are three points concerning which the world
would be convicted, concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment. The
Holy Spirit would effect these important results through some means.
If we would understand its methods we have only to turn over to the
fulfillment of these predictions recorded in the Acts of the Apostles.
In Acts 2:38, the Holy Spirit fell upon the eleven apostles and they
spoke as "it gave them utterance." The words that they spoke were the
words of the Holy Spirit. In the record of what it said by the mouth
of Peter we find that it convicted (1) of sin, in that those who heard
had rejected the Lord of life and glory; (2) of righteousness, in that
it was demonstrated by the manifestations of that hour that God had
exalted the Lord whom they had condemned to his own right hand, of which
they had the proof in that "he had shed forth" what they saw and heard;
(3) of judgment, in that they were assured of the "wrath to come" and
warned to "save themselves from this untoward generation." Thus has
the [241] Holy Spirit, in every age, convicted;
by the words of Holy Writ that it has spoken, or by the earnest stirring
words of the saints, either spoken or written. It "convicts" by acting
through those into whose hearts it is sent, "because they are the sons
of God."
9. Of sin, because they believe not on me.
In naming sin, the chief of all sins is singled out. All sin springs
from unbelief. There was a lurking unbelief in the heart of Judas when
he sold his Master; in Peter's when he denied him; in that of Ananias
when he lied to the Holy Spirit. It was unbelief that rejected Christ
and nailed him to the cross; unbelief that rejects him still; unbelief
that fills the land with vice. To destroy sin, the heart of man must
be pierced with the sword of the Spirit. Hence the aim of the Spirit
on Pentecost, and always, is to destroy unbelief. When the three thousand,
convicted before their consciences of unbelief, cried, "Men and brethren,
what shall we do?" then the answer of the Holy Spirit was ready, "Repent
and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for
the remission of sins."
10. Of righteousness, because I go to my Father.
Human tribunals convicted him of blasphemy because he said he was the
Son of God, and put him to death. God exalted him to a throne, thereby
showing that the condemnation was wrong and that he was righteous. Of
this the Holy Spirit bore witness in words and by miracles. Hence, when
they "saw him no more," the Holy Spirit "convicted of righteousness."
Now, all the world, Saint and sinner, believer and infidel, admit that
he was the sinless One.
11. Of judgment, because the prince of this
world is judged. In chapter 14:30, he declared, "the prince of this
world cometh." It was the prince of this world, the spirit of the world,
Satan as the ruler of the world, who slew him. When he rose from the
dead and all power was given into his hands, this was a judgment in
the court of the universe against the prince of the world, a decree
that he should be shorn of his power, and that all the kingdoms of the
earth should become the kingdoms of the Lord and his Christ.
12. I have yet many things to say . . but ye
cannot bear them now. All wise teachers give out truth as the minds
of people are prepared for it. Jesus did not at once announce himself
as the Christ, nor that he would be crucified. He added new lessons
as the minds were prepared. Even yet there were lessons, after three
and a half years teaching, that his apostles could not bear.
13. When the Spirit of truth is come, he will
guide you into all truth. He is about to [242]
go away and his own personal teachings will be ended, but those
things that he desires them to know will be taught them still. The Spirit
of truth will guide them into all truth; the Holy Spirit will not be
sent to testify of himself, but to represent Christ, as he represented
the Father, and to continue his work. He will speak, not only what he
has heard about Christ and his work, but of things to come. In
the Acts, Epistles and Revelation we have recorded those things which
the Spirit of truth taught the apostles, and to which Christ referred.
Through John, especially, he showed "things to come" in Revelation.
14, 15. He shall glorify me. "All things
that the Father hath are mine," and the Spirit "shall receive of mine
and shew it to you." "These three are one;" a striking illustration
of the unity of the Godhead. They are so united that what proceeds from
one proceeds from all.
16, 17. A little while, and ye shall not see
me: again, a little while, and ye shall see me. On the morrow he
would die at the ninth hour; that evening he would be buried, and for
"a little while," three days and nights, they would not see him; then
he would rise, and for another "little while," a space of forty days
before "he went to his Father," they would see him, while he remained
on the earth. When he ascended to his Father they, in a spiritual sense,
would "see him coming in the kingdom of God." This is all very plain
to us, but the apostles, to whom it was yet future, could not understand
it.
18, 19. What is this that he saith? They
were so awed and amazed by the mysteries that were gathering around
them that they hesitated to ask, but the Lord, observing their whispered
words, took up their question. [243]
20. Ye shall weep and lament, but the world
shall rejoice. This was, in a few hours, fulfilled. How sad were
the broken-hearted disciples, as they wept at the tomb! "We trusted
that he would restore the kingdom to Israel," is the wail of buried
hopes. At the same time their enemies were gloating over their triumph.
Soon all was changed, for your sorrow, shall be turned into joy.
The glad news came, "The Lord is risen." Then they heard that "all power
was his," then they saw him ascend into heaven, then they "returned
to Jerusalem in great joy." Their sorrow was turned into joy.
21. A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow,
. . . for joy that a man is born. The figure of a woman in travail
is one of frequent occurrence in the Old Testament to illustrate sudden
sorrow and great anguish (Isa. 21:3; Hosea 13:13; Micah 4:9). The Lord
gives the figure a new application by showing that joy is born out of
the pangs of travail. Thus the bitter anguish that his disciples will
experience on account of the crucifixion and burial of their Lord will
be followed by the greatest joy when they behold him risen and triumphant.
While this is the apparent, many interpreters, notably Olshausen, hold
that it has a deeper meaning. According to this view there is a reference
to that which caused the sorrow of the disciples, the sufferings of
Christ, a painful act of travail on the part of humanity as represented
in the second Adam, as the result of which the new man in Christ Jesus
is born into the world, a source of eternal joy to all, even to the
angels who rejoice more over one sinner that repenteth than over ninety
and nine just persons who need no repentance. "Thus the death of Christ
becomes a fact in the history of the world, which everything before
it was intended to usher in, and from which the entire development of
succeeding ages is matured. This state of perfect joy and complete satisfaction
is indicated by the words, 'Ye shall ask me nothing."--Olshausen.
"The death of Christ is the agonizing travail of humanity, from which
labor the God-Man issues, glorified, to the eternal joy of the whole
body of mankind."--Lange. "The words are applicable also to the
travails of the church in bringing forth children to God. Yet we should
not overlook the immediate reference. A touching and comforting proof
of the Savior's tender sympathy with woman's deepest trial."--Schaff.
22. Ye now therefore have sorrow. It was
because the hour had come. The "therefore" shows that there was something
in their position analogous to that of a suffering mother, something
more than the mere change from [244] sorrow
to joy. The figure is that of suffering endured and comforted by the
thought that it is the needful pathway to joy. The time of that transition
state, of travail with their Master, was now come. This, therefore,
was the hour of sorrow, but when new life for humanity was born into
the world as Christ burst the bonds of death, then rejoicing would come.
I will see you again. The Lord refers here to his own appearance
to them after his sufferings, which would turn their sorrow into joy.
That joy would be stable, permanent. Their enemies might assail them,
but "no man could take it" away. This began to be realized as soon as
they knew their Lord was not holden of the pangs of death, but was fully
consummated only when they were "endued with power from on high" on
the day of Pentecost.
23. In that day ye shall ask me nothing.
When the new revelation is fully realized and they enjoy the fulness
of the Lord's glorified presence. "That day" refers directly to Pentecost
when the new era of joy began. "Ye shall ask me nothing" does not refer
to prayer, for the apostles always continued to pray, but means they
shall ask him no questions because of their ignorance and misunderstanding.
While attending his earthly instruction they were dull of comprehension
and often ask questions because they did not understand him, but when
the Comforter was come he would teach the apostles all things (14:26).
Enigmas would be solved, mysteries would be clear. Or the passage may
mean that they shall not ask directly of Jesus, as while he was on earth,
but of the Father in his name. Either interpretation is in harmony with
the context and the teachings of our Lord. All prayer now is to be offered
in the name of Christ, and the answer is given in his name. I believe
that both meanings are involved. In verse 17, the disciples ask a question
in bewilderment, and the Savior in his reply declares that in "that
day" you will have no need to ask for explanations, and then he adds,
that dispensation will be one of great power in prayer; "whatsoever
you ask in my name of the Father, he will give it you."
24. Hitherto ye have asked nothing in my name.
When he taught his disciples what we are wont to style the Lord's Prayer,
he did not direct that the petition should be in his name, for his relation
to the Father was not yet unfolded. It was only as the end of his earthly
sojourn approached that he directed prayer in his name. When he ascended
on high he became our Divine Mediator, "our Advocate with the Father,"
our "High Priest who maketh intercession for us." His is not only the
"only name whereby we must be saved," but through which we have access
to the Father. Hence, if our petitions would carry any recommendation
they must ascend in the name of the Son. Indeed "whatever we do, all
must be done in the name of the Lord [245] Jesus."
See also Eph. 1:21 and Phil. 2:9, 10. God has determined that his name
shall be exalted above every name.
25. These things have I spoken to you in proverbs.
All that he said from the beginning of chapter XV. The term translated
"proverbs" would be more correctly rendered "figures." The revelations
had been partly veiled in figures, such as that of the True Vine, and
the Woman in travail. A deeper meaning lay beneath his words than they
could yet understand. All that he had spoken since the discourse began
was in part enigmatical to his disciples, but the time would come when
there would be no more enigmas, no more half understood sayings, but
when he would "shew them plainly of the Father." The reference is still
to that Spirit which he would send who would guide them into all truth.
There is a kind of summary in what follows to the end of the chapter
of all he has before promised.
26. At that day, the day when they were
baptized with the Holy Spirit, Pentecost, and from that time on, ye
shall ask in my name. This fulness of knowledge is connected with
fulness of prayer. For days before the descent of the Holy Spirit "the
apostles, disciples and brethren of the Lord, continued with one accord
in prayer, with the women." The apostolic church founded on Pentecost
"continued steadfastly in the apostles' teaching, and the fellowship,
and the breaking of bread and prayers." Those filled with the Holy Spirit
engage in bolder petitions in Christ's name. I say not . . that
I will pray the Father for you. Their relation to the Father, who
"has sent his Spirit into their hearts because they are sons," making
them temples of God in which the Father dwells, as well as the Son,
is so intimate that they may approach him themselves, and he does not
need to say that he will pray the Father for them.
27. For the Father himself loveth you.
This declares the reason why it is not needful for him to pray the Father
for them, and should be read in immediate connection with the preceding
verse. It must be borne in mind that Christ does not say that he will
not pray the Father, but teaches that no intercession is needed to win
the love of the Father. Christ elsewhere teaches that he is our Intercessor.
Because ye have loved me and have believed, etc. This is the
reason why the Father loves us. It is true that he loved the world even
while in sin so well as to send his Son to save, but the fulness and
sweetness of his love cannot be bestowed upon those who reject his love
as manifested in his Son. Those can only enjoy its full fruition who
by faith in, and love of, Christ enter into the adoption of the children
of God. The love of the father [246] to the
prodigal in a far-off country, wasting his substance in riotous living,
is very different from the love of the Father to the penitent, broken-hearted
sinner who returns to confess his sins and ask forgiveness.
28. I came from the Father, . . . into the
world; . . go to the Father. Meyer says that this verse contains
"a simple and grand summary of Christ's entire life, his incarnation,
and his destiny." The disciples now fully believed that he came from
the Father. In order to awaken their hopes he declares that he returns
to his abode on high from whence he came. His near departure is only
a return home.
29. His disciples . . . now speakest thou plainly.
The last words uttered seemed to the disciples plain and simple. They
thought that they gave the key to all the "proverbs" before spoken.
He had come from God, into the world, now he would leave the world,
and return to God. That seemed plain. Yet the disciples did not understand
so well as they supposed. Their stumbling while the Lord was in the
hands of his enemies, and their fear, and their despair while he lay
in the tomb, shows that they did not understand. Augustine says: "They
so little understood that they did not even understand that they did
not understand. For they were babes."
30. Now are we sure that thou knowest all things.
A little before he had read their thoughts and interpreted them (verse
18). The fact that he had discerned them and answered their questionings
so plainly as in verse 28, confirmed their faith and they declare, "by
this we believe that thou comest forth from God."
31, 32. Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now
come. The answer of the Lord shows that he recognized the incompleteness
of the faith of his disciples. The words, "Do ye now believe?" question
the power of the faith they had just affirmed. In the very hour that
was now at hand it would be tried. Instead of clinging to him they would
be scattered, every one would look out for himself, and would leave
him alone in the hands of his enemies. For the fulfillment, read all
the accounts of the arrest, trial and crucifixion of the Savior. Yet
I am not alone. Though men might desert him he would not be left
alone, for be would have the Father's help. [247]
33. These things have I spoken. All the
preceding discourse, especially from the beginning of chapter XIV.,
was spoken to the end that they might have peace. "In this world ye
have tribulation: but be of good cheer." Though the world may afflict
them it will only be for a season, for the world in a conquered foe.
Christ has overcome it. When he died in the conflict with the world
on the cross he sapped the very foundations of its empire. Hence his
disciples may carry on the warfare with hearts full of cheer and by
faith they shall overcome the world. As Christ overcame the world by
dying, so, too, the faith of the martyrs is often the faith that gains
the victory.
PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS.
1. Often our sorrows are big with blessings. They
that sow in tears, reap in joy. The sorrow of the heart-broken disciples
was soon turned into joy.
2. Often we do not know what is best. The disciples
thought it a great misfortune for Christ to die. But it behooved him
to die and to rise again from the dead. His rising was the burst of
sunrise on a world dark with the shadow of death.
3. It would be a delightful thought that by going
to Palestine we could look upon the face of Christ. It is a far sweeter
thought that he is with us, wherever we are; "abides" with us. It was
needful that he go away that all in every land might have his presence
by the Spirit.
4. The Spirit is not only a Comforter, but a Conqueror.
The Sword, by which he subdues, convicts and conquers to Christ, is
"the Word of God." Every preacher, teacher and Christian should pray
for the presence of the Spirit and that he may speak through him with
power, as he tries to impart the word to sinners. Paul may plant, Apollos
water, but God gives the increase. The words of the preacher need to
be "in the Spirit" to have power.
5. "Resist not the Spirit." He who does, fights
against God. The Spirit is resisted when idle and rebellious ears are
turned to the words of the Spirit. When the preacher pleads with you
to accept the Redeemer, it is the Spirit's voice, for he impelled him
to speak. The Holy Spirit still by the word and testimony "convicts
of sin, and righteousness, and judgment."
6. As the body without the spirit is dead, so
a church, or a professor of religion, without the Spirit is dead. The
prayer should ascend, all over the land, from the inert, lifeless churches
and Christians, that they may be endued with power from on high. Then,
and then only, can they have power to convert men to Christ.
7. Death is often the travail from whence victory
is born. Arnold Winkelreid swept ten spears within grasp at the battle
of Sempach and as he died made a breach by which victory was won. Christ
on the cross received into his bosom the weapons of the world's hate
and won a victory for us. [248] The victory
is won. The blows of death and hell fall upon him in vain. In spite
of all he overcame death in the grave and rose triumphant. He fought
the battle for all in him, and for all such the victory is won. "He
that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death."
THE HOLY SPIRIT.
In the three preceding chapters Christ presents
the fullest delineation of the work of the Holy Spirit, or Comforter,
that is found in the Bible. It will be profitable to recapitulate and
systematize the teaching he presents upon this important and imperfectly
understood subject. And, first, I wish to present the fact that while
the Fourth Gospel has much more to say of the Holy Spirit than the three
preceding, they are by no means silent upon the subject. Not to enter
into a summary of passages that speak of his work I note these items:
That Luke declares that the miraculous conception was due to the Holy
Spirit; the other Gospels declare that Christ shall baptize in the Holy
Spirit; they point out sin against the Holy Spirit as the sin that hath
no forgiveness; they allude to the promise of the Holy Spirit, which
was fulfilled at Pentecost, give the great Commission which commanded
to "baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit," and leave the disciples waiting in Jerusalem "until they are
endued with power from on high." In addition we have the significant
and wonderful circumstance of the Holy Spirit descending upon the Savior
at his baptism, and also the fact that he commands his disciples to
pray for the Holy Spirit as God's good gift to his children.
Nor is the doctrine of the Holy Spirit peculiar
to the New Testament. Though more prominent as the period for the dispensation
of the Holy Spirit, dating from Pentecost, approached, it is as old
as the revelation of God; nay, as old as Creation. When first the darkness
begins to lift from the chaos in which the original created matter first
appears, "the Spirit of God is moving upon the face of the waters,"
and just before the Deluge God declares, "My Spirit shall not always
strive with man." Frequent mention is made by the Old Testament writers
of the "Spirit of God," "the Spirit of Jehovah," and the doctrine is
fundamental in the Jewish Scriptures that "Holy men spake as they were
moved by the Holy Spirit."
It is, however, in the Gospel of John that the
work of the Spirit is first fully outlined, while in Acts and the Epistles
we see the influence and work of the Spirit as he dwells in the church
and through it displays his power, and testifies to the world. Those
who have followed the teachings of the Savior in these chapters have
found, 1. That while the Holy Spirit might have seized upon and influenced
certain ones chosen to present God's will in past times, he had never
been imparted to the people of God in general before the Savior's ascension,
as the heritage of all the children of God. Not even the Apostles enjoyed
his influence, nor could they while Christ remained upon the earth.
2. It was needful that he go away in order that this permanent and universal
manifestation of God should come. He would be "sent from the Father;"
the Savior would "shed him forth;" he should be the possession [249]
of every heart prepared by faith, love and obedience;
he should be an indwelling of the Father and the Son in the soul; his
work in the heart of the believer would be to cheer, console, strengthen,
to aid in bearing witness for Christ, and in bearing the fruits which
glorify him, and prove that his followers enjoy his presence, while
to the Apostles themselves, as witnesses of the resurrection of Christ,
he should have an extraordinary operation, "teaching all things," "guiding
them into all truth," and "bearing witness through them," "with signs
and wonders" to Christ. 3. The time when this beneficent manifestation
should begin is named as "that day," and the time is pointed out so
unmistakably that it can never be overlooked. On the day of Pentecost
the saints "received the promise of the Father," "were endued with power
from on high," "baptized in the Holy Spirit," and from that epoch the
dispensation of the Spirit began; from that time is dated the promise
made to all who repent and are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ,
"Ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
"God who spoke at sundry times and in divers manners
unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken by
his Son." It was needful, however, that the Son should cease to speak
in person, and go away in order that the Comforter might come. As Christ
is a manifestation of the Father, so the Holy Spirit is the presence
in the heart of the believer, the temple of God, of the Father and the
Son (14:23). Nor will he dwell in any temple until it is prepared for
his presence by love of Christ and an entire surrender to his will.
The enjoyment of the Spirit is confined to the disciples of the Lord.
"The world cannot receive or know him." He has no home in unconverted
hearts, and yet he has an important office to effect upon the world
itself. That office is fully pointed out in chapter XVI., 7-15. His
work towards the world divides itself into two parts; he shall convict
it of sin, establish the righteousness of Christ, and arraign it for
judgment; he shall also testify of Christ. In the light thrown upon
this passage by the rest of the Scriptures it is of easy interpretation.
The Spirit does not act upon the world as a mysterious, abstract influence,
but through the saints in whom he dwells and by whom he exerts his power.
"That day" of the descent of the Holy Spirit illustrates his mode of
acting upon the world. The saints on the day of Pentecost were "filled
with the Holy Spirit," and then the Apostles "began to speak as the
Spirit gave them utterance." As the result of the testimony of the Holy
Spirit spoken by men in words that he dictated, three thousand men of
the world were "convicted of sin., "were convinced of the "righteousness"
of Christ, and of the danger of "judgment," and hence sought to "save
themselves from that untoward generation." Thus, by the words spoken
by the Holy Spirit and recorded, by the word of preaching and exhortation
that saints are moved to speak, by the pure lives and kind words and
deeds of those to whom the Spirit is a helper, he convicts the world,
and testifies to it of Christ. It should never be lost sight of that
the Holy Spirit testifies by words that are spoken and thus became a
joint witness with the Apostles to the exaltation of Christ. See Acts
5:32, Heb. 10:15, 16, and Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 29; Rev. 3:6, 13, 22. He
still bears witness in the word of God that has come down to us in the
Holy Scriptures, and those who resist this word "resist the Spirit."
[250] While he aids in the conquest of the world
for Christ, the weapon that he uses, "the sword of the Spirit, is the
WORD or GOD."
It only remains to ask what are the proofs of
the Spirit's presence? Not loud claims, nor fleshly feelings. "Spiritual
things are spiritually discerned." The tree is known by its fruits.
Whoever enjoys the indwelling of the Spirit will exhibit its fruits
(Gal. 5:22) and will mind the things which the Spirit has commanded
(Rom. 8:5). The test that Paul enjoins in 1 Cor. 14:37, is the one by
which the claims of every man who asserts that he is "spiritual," or
enjoys the presence of the Spirit, must be tried: "Let him acknowledge
that the things I write unto you are the commandments of God." The person
who ignores God's ordinances, sets them aside, and does not "mind the
things of the Spirit," or bear its fruits, deceives himself if he thinks
he has the presence of the Comforter.
[NTC3 239-251]
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