<? Ct n ivc rs i I v o t Cbi c a-ijo
GIFT OF
Disciples' Divinity House
9
' * ''
'
.
the STUDY
of the HOLY
SPIRIT & &
WILLIAM EDWARD BIED&RWOLF
Author of "The White Life"; "Christian Science,
Tested by Philosophy, Medicine and
Religion"? "Hell Why-What
and How Long", etc.
Second Edition.
(lim b Disciple?/ Dr.rhUy ^Ir^
Introduction by
William G. MooreKead, D. O.
Boston:
James H. Earl (Q Company
178 "WasHington Street
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Copyright, 1903.
By fAMES H. EARLE & COMPANY.
All rights reserved.
This Book is Inscribed in Remembrance
-OF-
GEORGE TYBOUT PURVES
In becoming admiration for his high scholarship and his
fidelity to the Wotd of God ; in loving testimony to his
Christian manhood and his public service and with
a grateful sense of his personal kindness,
By one who knew him, learned of him,
and loved him
THE AUTHOR.
CONTENTS.
Page
J The Name of the Spirit - - - - 17
2 The Advent of the Spirit - ... 23
3 The Personality of the Spirit ... 29
4 The Deity of the Spirit ... - 33
5 The Sealing of the Spirit ... - 36
6 The Anointing of the Spirit ... 4J
7 The Communion of the Spirit ... 46
8 The Fruits of the Spirit .... 55
9 The Baptism of the Spirit . - 72
JO The Filling of the Spirit - 92
JJ The Emblems of the Spirit - J39
Fire -------
Wind -------
Water -------
Seal
Oil -------
Dove -------
J2 The Resistance of the Spirit - - - - 153
Resisting the Spirit - - - -
Grieving the Spirit -
Quenching the Spirit -
Tempting the Spirit -
Defiling the Temple of the Spirit
Despising the Spirit -
Blaspheming the Spirit - - -
Bibliography J92
INTRODUCTION.
Our age is distinguished for its earnestness of study
in the doctrine of the EDoly Spirit The last quarter
of a century has been remarkable for the productive-
ness of books on this great subject Naturally, there
is considerable diversity as to the relative value of
works on the person, and the functions of the spirit.
Some confine themselves to a single phase of the
Spirit's activity, while others treat of Him both as to
His person and work. In all, however, there is ap-
parent the desire to be true to the Scripture, which
must always remain the one unchanging source of
knowledge on this as on all other parts of revealed
truth. There is manifest likewise the honest effort
to be helpful to Christians who long to know more
of the gracious Spirit without whose presence and
assistance they feel themselves powerless as witnesses
for Christ
However copiously treated 1 , the great theme is not
exhausted, nor can it be. For it is with one of the
Persons of the Godhead we are dealing, hence the
theme ig an infinite one. Accordingly, fresh studies on
it are always in place. No one book nor all books
combined have here spoken the last word. This mine
of truth will be as productive for the generations to
eome as it has been in the ages past. Since the Spirit
8 Introduction
is the Author of that mighty change <in men com-
monly called regeneration, since He is the fountain
of all I'rue holiness of life in the saved, since it is
He who baptizes believers into the one Body, and is
Himself the gracious Habitant of the body, fitting it
by His presence and His grace for its glorious destiny,
every new effort to shed light on His blessed work
should be welcomed with gladness by the people of
God.
It is with sincere pleasure that this book by the
Rev. W. E. Biederwolf is commended to Christian
people. Certain features in it are noteworthy. First,
it is conservative. By this is not meant that it deals
only with those phases of the Spirit's work that are
universally recognized and accepted, while those more
recondite and difficult are passed over in silence, for
the author grapples with some of the most mysterious
and abstruse features of the great problem. "What
is meant is, that the author is ruled by a wise caution
an his treatment of the theme, and particularly in his
expositions. He brings his views and the views of
others also to the word of God as the arbiter and final
test. There are no rash statements to be found' in it,
and no fanciful or extreme positions are assumed.
While not ignoring Christian experience touching the
presence and influence of the Spirit in individual be-
lievers, the author observes 1 on this profound and
Introduction
mysterious point a commendable reserve, and speaks
with the hesitancy that must ever become the reverent
inquirer in this field. And this is praiseworthy; for
after all, blessed as Christian experience is, it is not
nor can be the ultimate court of appeal in determining
the divine action of the Spirit, nor can general deduc-
tions be drawn therefrom as to how he operates and
why. Our Lord spoke a very profound word, when,
speaking of the Comforter, He said, "He shall not
ppeak from Himself; He shall glorify Me." Rarely
does the Spirit invite our attention to His own pres-
ence and work in the soul; rather, He uniformly turns
our thoughts and affections to the Lord Jesus, the
object of our faith, the center and sum of our
hope. We have long been convinced that to study
the presence and work of the Spirit in the believer
apart from the word is a mistake if not a perilous
experiment. Even His witness with our spirit that
we are the children of God (Rom. VIII: 16) is not
apart from the word, nor yet from the glory of Christ
in whom alone we are brought into the filial relation
(Jno. 1: 12.) Scripture holds the supreme place, and
the author of this book uniformally turns to it for
light and guidance.
Another thing is, these studies are reverential.
jThere is everywhere manifest complete subjection to
th authority of Scripture, and confidence in its un-
10 Introduction
erring teaching. This is refreshing, particularly in
these degenerate times, when too many, alas, seem
disposed to sit in judgment on the word, or bend it
into conformity with their theories and presupposi-
tions. Loyalty to God's truth is fast becoming the
burning question of our day, even among evangelical
churshes. Because of its unquestioning loyalty, this
book will prove helpful and stimulating.
Still another interesting feature of it is, its excel-
lent bibliography. Most of that which has been pub-
lished on the Holy Spirit since John Owen's book finds
a place in this well-selected list.
That God may use these studies relating to the per-
son and work of His Divine Spirit for the furtherance
of His cause and the good of His people is the prayer
of the writer.
WILLIAM G. MOOREHEAD,
Xenia Theological Seminary.
BY WAY OF EXPLANATION.
This Mttte book is the outgrowth of the writer's own
perplexity. This age is the dispensation of the third
Person of the Trinity. For nineteen hundred years
we have been saying, "I believe in the Holy Ghost,"
but how much do we believe in HSm, and what is it we
believe about Him? The method of His operation
must forever remain an inscrutable mystery to finite
minds, and subtle metaphysical distinctions are as
useless here as they are presumptuous; but when once
we realize that every relationship to the Father and
the Son is brought about, and every treasure of their
infinite love is made over to us through that opera-
tion, it will not seem strange that such great emphasis
should be laid upon the necessity of an appreciation
of what those relationships and treasures are in order
to His Presence and power within us, such as God's
plan for our Christian experience involves.
The surprising thing is, that this emphasis has been
so long delayed; indeed, the past nineteen years have
seen more literature on this subject issue from the
press than all the rest of the nineteen hundred to-
gether. The "Bibliotheca" for forty-six years from
the date of its first publication, 1844, contains not
one article on the Holy Spirit; for more than forty
12 By Way of Explanation
years, from 1839, the "Methodist Quarterly"" con-
tained but one article; the "Princeton Review," in
fifty-six years, from 1838, only one, and the same
thing is true of all other theological magazines. Dr.
Charles Hodge gave us three ponderous volumes of
Systematic Theology, containing two thousand and
three hundred pages, and of this number only twelve
pages were devoted to the subject of the Holy Spirit;
and here, as well as in all other such literature, the
question, as a matter of course, has been treated
wholly as a theological dogma, with but little meaning
for the life and experience of the believer.
Surely in this day of spiritism this emphasis upon
the relationship to the human soul of The Spirit, who
as to "guide into all truth," is timely and fortunate.
Would we but be guided by Hds gentle whisperings,
what absurdities of belief and denials of Him of whom
He came to witness might be spared. Yet not alone
for this, but for what it is the privilege and the duty
of a Spirit-indwelt man to be and do, is not this re-
vival of interest in the teaching of the Scriptures
concerning the Person and work of the Holy Spirit
of God and of His Son Christ Jesus a matter of great
rejoicing?
It is hoped this little volume will commend itself,
not as an earlier or later view simply clothed in new
language, nor yet as another opinion on this so vitally
By Way of Explanation 13
important subject; human opinion is a worthless thing
if only Scripture hath spoken plainly. Nor has it been
meant in any way as controversal. The writer in his
own anxiety to appreciate his privilege as a child of
the Almighty has been left in confusion and uncer-
tainty by at least seemingly contradictory statements
of different teachers upon the relationship of this
blessed Spirit of God to Efts children. For instance,
when Dr. James Gray ("The Holy Spirit and the Be-
liever," page 16), says, "The filling of the Spirit is for
holiness," and Dr. Torrey ("The Baptism of the Holy
Ghost," page 6) says, "The baptism of the Spirit has
nothing to do directly with cleansing from sin, but Is
connected with service," and when Dr. Gray (same
page) says, "The anointing is for service," and Camp-
bell Morgan ("Spirit of God," page 194) saysi, "The
anointing which is on the child of God is that which
was received at regeneration, and is not an experience
after such a time," and when Dr. Chapman ("Received
ye the Goly Ghost," page 75) says, "It is unscriptural
for the Christian to be talking about the baptism of
the Holy Ghost," and MacNeil ("Spirit-filled Life,"
page 38) says, "It surely cannot be unscriptural for a
believer to pray, 'Lord Jesus, baptise me with the
Holy Ghost;' " when these and many other such state-
ments of apparent contradiction confront us we won-
der whether the brethren! are disagreeing about
14 By Way of Explanation
experiences which are vitally important to every
earnest child of God, or whether it is merely a differ-
ence in nomenclature which amounts to nothing; and
we have longed for some one to bring harmony, if
possible, out of this apparent confusion. It is with
this in view the writer has gone into ! a careful and,
he hopes, an impartial exegesis of every passage in
the Old and New Scriptures where mention is made of
the Holy Spirit. It is his earnest desire mat these
pages be received in the spirit they have been pro-
duced, not as a challenge to any man's teaching, but
as a sincere effort to get such teaching before us
alongside the Word of God in such a way that the
earnest inquirer may come out of what to many bas
been a state of perplexity, to an appreciation of his
spiritual privilege such as will commend itself to his
own soul.
To this end and that the student may gain a com-
prehensive view of the present-day teaching, this
teaching has been taken in quotation from the various
volumes, the exact reference being noted in each in-
stance by the page where it is written, and when
alongside has been brought all of such Scripture as
will bear upon the teaching in question, an endeavor
has been made to help the reader to what we believe
should commend itself to him as a safe 'and impartial
explanation of such Scripture, and consequently the
By Vvay of Explanation 15
Scriptural way of viewing the matter under consider-
ation.
The multiplication of words naff been studiously
avoided; little thought is paid to style, other than
to make it too plain for any misconstruction to be
placed upon its meaning. A Bibliography has been
added for those wishing to prosecute more thoroughly
this important study.
With earnest prayer that the blessing of Him of
whom it so unworthily speaks may rest upon this
humble effort to the edification and comfort of those
in whom He dwells, it is sent forth upon its mission.
W. E. B,
CHAPTER I.
THE NAME OF THE SPIRIT.
>N the Old Testament are found!
ninety distinct references to the
Holy 'Spirit, among which are
eighteen different designations; in
the New Testament, two> hundred
and sixty-four references and thirty-
nine different designations; five of
these are common to both, thus
leaving fifty-two designations in the
entire Word; expressive of His relation to God,
seventeen; to the Son, five; to man, nineteen; of
His own character, seven, and of His essential
deity, five. For an exhaustive tabulation of
these designations see 'Macgregor, "Things of
the Spirit," page 17, or Gumming, "Through the
Eternal Spirit," page 48. In the above fifty-two
instances, four times He is called the Comforter,
forty-three times the Spirit, in some one of His
relations, the remaining five being descriptive
phrases of the same Person. We have then two
'.4 By Way of Explanation
experiences which are vitally important to every
earnest cMId of God. or whether it is merely a differ-
ence ir nomenclature which amounts to nothing; and
we nave longed for some one to bring harmony, if
possible, out of this apparent confnsion. It is with
;ii I; view tie "writer has gone into a careful and,
ie hcr^s. an impartial exegesis of every passage in
tie Old ^c. New Scriptures where mention is made of
tie- Holy Spirit. It is his earnest desire taat these
pa^es be received in the spirit they have been pro-
c-j:-el not as a challenge to any man's teaching, but
.is a sincere effort to get such teaching before us
alongside the Word of God in such a way that the
earnest inquirer may come out of what to many has
been a state of perplexity, to an appreciation of his
spiritual privilege such as will commend itself to his
own sonl
To this end and that the student may gain a com-
prehensive view of the present-day teaching, this
teaching has been taken in quotation from the various
vo^tnnes, the exact reference being noted in each in-
stance "by the page where it is written, and when
alongside has been brought all of such Scripture as
srill bear upon the teaching in question, an endeavor
has been made to help the reader to what we believe
should commend itself to him as a safe and impartial
explanation of such Scripture, and consequently the
By Way of Explanation 15
Scriptural way of viewing the matter under consider-
ation.
The multiplication of words has been studiously
avoided; little thought is paid to style, other than
to make it too plain for any misconstruction to be
placed upon its meaning. A Bibliography has been
added for those wishing to prosecute more thoroughly
this important study.
With earnest prayer that the blessing of Him of
whom it so unworthily speaks may rest upon this
humble effort to the edification and comfort of those
in whom He dwells, It is sent forth upon its mission.
W. E. B,
CHAPTER I.
THE NAME OF THE SPIRIT.
the Old Testament are found!
ninety distinct references to the
Holy Spirit, among which are
eighteen different designations; in
the New Testament, two hundred
and sixty-four references and thirty-
nine different designations; five of
these are common to both, thus
leaving fifty-two designations in the
entire Word; expressive of His relation to God,
seventeen; to the Son, five; to man, nineteen; of
His own character, seven, and of His essential
deity, five. For an exhaustive tabulation of
these designations see Macgregor, "Things of
the Spirit," page 17, or Gumming, "Through the
Eternal Spirit," page 48. In the above fifty-^two
instances, four times He is called the Comforter,
forty-three times the Spirit, in some one of His
relations, the remaining five being descriptive
phrases of the same Person. We have then two
18 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
names applied to the third Person of the Trinity,
namely, the Holy Spirit and the Comforter.
"Spiritus" is the Latin word synonymous with
the Greek word "Pn;euma," both literally signify-
ing "breath" or "wind." As applied to the Divine
essence there can be no allusion to their original
meaning, which is but the imagery representa-
tive of the Holy Spirit's presence and approach
to men. The Holy Spirit is called the "breath
of God" with reference to> His mode of sub-
sistence, proceeding from God as the breath from
the mouth. Notice the characteristic action of
Jesus in John 20: 22. In referring to the breath
or spirit of man the old English used the word
".ghost," giving up the ghost; and so of the
breath of God was used the expression "Holy
Ghost," and 1 while the weird associations of the
word ghost in its present-day signification are all
forgotten when this blessed Personality is so
designated, yet since the Latin "Spirit" has so
truly become a part of the English language it
would seem to be the more preferable designa-
tion of the two, which the American Revised
The Name of the Spirit 19
Version has accordingly adopted. The Holy
Spirit is not therefore called Spirit on account
of the spirituality of His essence, for this is like-
wise to be predicated of the Father and of the
Son. Heither is He called Holy with reference
to the holiness of His nature, for He is no more
so than either of the other Persons of the
Trinity; it has reference to His official charac-
ter ; He is the author of all holiness.
The other designation of this Holy Personage
is the "Comforter," so called four times by Jesus
in His farewell discourse, John 14: 1, 26; 15: 26,
and 16: 7. This is the only single appellation
suggestive of the (Spirit's character and work.
The Greek word is "Parakletos." Given by
Jesus as descriptive of "another" one like Him-
self, rich in meaning as is the word itself, as a
name for this divine Person whose relation to
the Christian is so intimate, it ought to com-
mend itself strongly and tenderly to the heart of
every child of God. Because no word in the
English language can furnish us with a transla-
tion co-extensive with the infinite stretches of
20 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
meaning in this word Paraclete, why, instead of
crippling it with inadequate translations, is it not
better to Anglicize it into Paraclete and! so> retain
it both in Scripture and in usage?
The same word in I John 2: I, referring to
Christ, is translated 1 "Advocate," and Meyer,
Godet, Westcott and many others so translate it
in the Gospel, while Alford, Schaff and as 1 many
others retain the translation "Comforter." Phil-
ologically "parakletos" can no' more be rendered
"comforter" than can "kletos" be rendered
"caller"; this last must be "called," and, there-
fore, "parakletos," "called to aid"; hence advo-
cate, which accords with Greek usage where
friends or agents stood before the judge to plead
the cause of another. :
The verb from which it comes is always, save
in Acts 28: 20, used in the sense of "to comfort,"
but this active sense is easily contained in the
idea of an advocate as involved! in the passive
"called to aid." An advocate is one who stands
by (Beistand-DeWette), not only as an inter-
cessor but as a helper, comforter and consoler.
The Name of the Spirit 21
Furthermore, the noun was evidently imported
irrespective of its derivation from the then
current judicial phraseology, and this observa-
tion has all the more weight, inasmuch as John,
the only one who uses the noun Parakletos, is
precisely the one who never uses the verb from
which it is derived ; , and which is elsewhere so
common in the New Testament. To this add the
express use of "Advocate" in I John 2: i, and it
would! seem that such must have been; the idea
in the mind of Jesus as interpreted by John.
Hence, if the word Paraclete is not to be
retained, then of the two translations under
consideration, "Advocate" as the more gram-
matical and the more inclusive should be given
preference; but it must be remembered that com-
forting and aiding is an important part of a real
advocate's work; yet as the thought of pleading
is so prominently and almost exclusively as-
sociated with the word advocate in this day we
are more than ever impressed with the wisdom
of retaining the original word Paraclete, called
to aid.
22 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
How muidhtihey wouldlneed such an one; Jesus
had indeed been a Paraclete unto them. One
upon whom they had leaned in every perplexity
and trial; but now He was going away; welcome
indeed then must have been His words falling
in rich promise upon their waiting hearts. They
were not to be deserted, but "another" Para-
clete, such an one as Jesus was and yet another,
was toi come; indeed the Coming One was to be
no other than Christ Himself "I will not leave
you orphans; I will come unto you." Not only
was the Paraclete to take the place of the Christ
they knew and loved and leaned upon in human
form, but in His coming was to be returned to
them, in presence invisible their then exalted
and glorified Friend by whose loss they were
now about to be bereaved.
CHAPTER II.
THE- ADVENT OF THE SPIRIT.
HE Holy Spirit has ever been omni-
present, but He is here today in a
sense which was not always true of
Him. Three distinct periods of His
operation are witnessed in the
Word.
I. From creation to Christ; He
shared the creative work, Gen. i : 2.
He came upon men in the Old Tes-
tament, I Sam. 10 : 6; He entered into them,
Ez. 2: 2; He filled them, Ex. 28: 3; He strove
with men, Gen. 6: 3, and spoke to them, Ezk.
2: 2.
II. From Christ to Pentecost. He filled
John the Baptist, Luke i: 15; Elizabeth, Luke
i: 41; Zacharias, Luke i: 67, and the Saviour.
The Saviour
(a) Was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
Matt, i : 1 8, 20; Lu. i : 35.
(b) Was anointed by the Holy Spirit, 'Matt.
24 A Help to the Stuay of the Holy Spirit
3: 10, 17; Mk. i: 10, ii ; Lu. 3: 21, 22;
4: 18, and John 1 : 32, 33.
(c) Was led by the Holy Spirit, Matt. 4: i;
Mk. i: 12; Lu. 4: i.
(d) Was taught by the Holy Spirit, Acts
1:2; John 14: 10, 24.
(e) Wrought miracles by the Holy Spirit,
Ma.it. 12: 28; Lu. n: 20.
(f) Offered Himself up through the Holy
Spirit, Heb. 9: 14.
(g) Was raised by the Holy Spirit, Rom.
8: ii and
III. From Pentecost to Parousia. Pentecost
has been called by Augustine the "dies natalis"
of the Holy Spirit. That the Holy Spirit came
to us in this world shortly after the Saviour's
ascension in a new and permanent capacity,
the word's 1 of John 7: 39, make; evident, which
coming 1 was in fulfillment both of Old Testament
prophecy, Joel 2: 28, with Acts 2: 39, and of the
Saviour's promise in John 14: 16 and 15: 26. Siee
also Acts 2: 33. In one sense always here, but
in another His abode before Pentecost was with
the 'Father. Strictly speaking, there can be no
localization of an omnipresent being since His
omnipresence relates to His essence and! His
The Advent of the Spirit 25
comings and goings are accommodations to
finite conception.
The chief differences between His relation to
the first and third (periods designated' are:
1. In the first He came occasionally. "A
transient visitor" Augustine; in the
third He came to "abide" forever, John
14: 16.
2. In the first He equipped a few men foi
the accomplishment of a special work;
in the third He, offers Himself in ful-
ness to all, Acts 2: 39.
Notice also that in the first He was
not revealed to the saints as a personal-
ity distinct from God; God was known
and! worshipped in His unity; the Trin-
ity though implied was not clearly
revealed.
The time of the Spirit's coming to take up His
permanent abode in the church was fifty days
after the Saviour's resurrection, and called Pen-
tecost, which in itself has no suggestion of ful-
ness or outpouring, but is simply a designation
of time meaning "fiftieth." The entire arrange-
ment was definitely foreshadowed in Old Testa-
ment rites, Lev. 23: 11-16.
26 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
I. The slaying of the paschal lamb typified
the sacrifice of the Saviour foretelling the day
of its occurrence.
'II. "On the morrow after the Sabbath" was
the sheaf of first fruits to be waved before the
Lord, foretelling the resurrection on the first
day of the week.
III. Then "seven Sabbaths shall be com-
pleted even unto the morrow after the seventh
Sabbath shall ye number fifty days," foretelling
the time of the Spirit's advent.
The disciples were told to tarry, Luke 24: 49,
and they would be filled with the Spirit; they
tarried ten days and the filling came. How often
are they represented as wondering during these
ten days why the filling did not come, and pos-
sibly they did; but when it is said it was a waiting
consequent upon the necessity of their first being
emptied, we lose sight altogether of the dispen-
sational character of the arrangement. They
waited ten days for no other reason save that it
was yet ten days until the fiftieth day would
come. If the disciples did not at first divine this,
The Advent of the Spirit 27
as the days passed without the promise fulfilled,
it would certainly have dawned upon them as the
fiftieth day drew near.
I. The time of the Spirit's advent was deter-
mined by the Saviour's glorification, John 7: 39,
and this finds explanation in that the office of
the Spirit is to communicate to the church and
to realize in the church the benefits of Christ's
work, and only when this work was completed,
when He had died for our sins, risen again for
our justification, ascended to glory, there to be
loiur /Intercessor* with the VFather^ only then
could the Holy Spirit have a finished image to
complete in the soul. "The Divine Artist could
not fitly descend to make the copy before the
original had been provided." Archer Butler.
II. Pentecost inaugurated 1 the mystical
Church of Christ. The disciples who fol-
lowed Jesus were no longer a mere number of
individuals concurring in sentiment concerning
their Master, but were merged into a living vital
unity, a temple indwelt of God through the
Spirit, Eph. 2: 21, 22; I Cor. 3: 16.
28 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
III. Pentecost was the Installation day of the
Holy Spirit as Administrator of the affairs of the
church "until He come."
IV. Pentecost can no more be repeated than
can Bethlehem, Calvary, or the resurrection.
CHAPTER HI.
THE PERSONALITY OF THE SPIRIT.
the Holy Spirit an influence, a vir-
tue, an emanation from or manifes-
tation of the divine, a mere imper-
sonal force, or is the Holy Spirit a
person intelligent and active? That
the latter is true and not the former
the following considerations will
make apparent.
I. The essential parts of person-
ality are four: Understanding, will, affection
and appreciation of the moral. All these are
predicated of the Holy Spirit.
(a) He is said to know the things of God,
I Cor. 2: 10, ii.
(b) He -distributes His gifts to every man
as He will, I Cor. 12: n.
(c) He loves and may be grieved, II Tim.
i: 7 and Eph. 4: 30.
(On the Love of the Spirit, see Gum-
ming, "Through the Eternal Spirit,"
175-)
30 A Help to the Study, of the Holy Spirit
(d) He reproves of sin, Jno. 16: 9, and
guides into truth, Jno. 16: 13.
II. Functions not ascribable to an influence,
or to au'ght save a person are attributed to the
Holy Spirit. He hears, Jno. 16: 13. He speaks,
Acts 10: 19; 13: 2, 8; 8: 29; Jno*. 16: 13; Mark
13: n; Heb. 3: 7. He prays, Rom. 8: 26. He
teaches, Luke 12: 12; Jno. 14: 26. He forbids,
Acts 16: 6, 7. He comforts, Acts 9: 31. He
guides, Jno. 16: 13. He reveals, Jno. 16: 14, 15;
Luke 2: 26. He witnesses, Rom. 8: 16. He
strives with men, Gen. 6: 3. He quickens the
memory, Jno. 14: 26. He performs miracles,
Acts 2: 4; 8: 39. He calls to the ministry, Acts
13: 2, and sets pastors over churches, Acts
20: 28.
III. M : en sustain relations toward the Holy
Spirit such as are possible only toward a person.
They grieve Him, Bph. 4: 30; they resist Him,
Acts 7: 51; they sin against Him, Matt. 12: 31;
Mark 3: 29; they invoke His communion, II
Cor. 13: 14; they are baptized into His name,
Matt. 28: 19; they lie to Him, Acts 5: 3; they
The Personality of the Spirit 31
rebel against Him, Isa. 63: 10; they insult Him,
Heb. 10: 29.
IV. The name given to the Holy Spirit and
the pronouns used in reference to Him are dis-
tinct proofs of His personality.
(a) Jesus calls Him Paraclete, or one who
comforts or stands by to aid.
(b) Jesus uses the masculine pronoun,
"When He, the Spirit, is come, He,"
etc. Even in John 14; 26, where the
neuter relative agrees with the noun
Spirit, the following pronoun, which
naturally would be neuter, is mascu-
line.
V. That the Holy Spirit is a personality dis-
tinct from the Father and the Son is evident from
the fact that He is said to be the Spirit of God,
Matt. 3: 16; I Cor. 6: n; H Cor. 3: 3; I Peter
4: 4; and the Spirit of Christ, Rom. 8: 9; Phil.
1:2; Acts 16: 7. He proceed'eth from God,
John 16: 26; He is sent by the Father, John 14:
26, and by the Sion, John 16: 26. They could not
send themselves. Jesus says He will send an-
other Paraclete, namely, one distinct from Him-
self, and in Romans 1 8: 26, the Spirit is said to
32 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
make intercession; certainly the Father could
not make intercession to Himself. Htow the idea
of the Holy Spirit as a distinct personality could
be more clearly set forth than is donte in the
Word of God is impossible for an unbiased mind
to conceive.
CHAPTER IV.
THE DEITY OF THE SPIRIT.
HE names of Divinity are ascribed
to Him. In Isa. 6: 8, Isaiah
says, "I heard the voice of Je-
hovah saying, etc." In Acts 28: 5J
Paul, quoting the passage, says,
'"Well spake the Holy Spirit by
Isaiah." In Jer. 31: 31, it is said,
"Behold the days come saith Jeho-
vah, etc. In Heb. 10: 15, it is said,
referring to the same passage, "The Holy
Spirit after that He said, etc." In Acts 5: 4,
He is expressly called God. Peter said
Satan had inspired Ananias to lie to the Holy
Spirit, and them he added, "Thou hast not lied
unto men but unto God" See also II Cor.
3: 17, 18 (A. R. V.), where He is called the Lord.
See also Eph. 2: 22; I Cor. 6: 19; Rom. 8: 9, 10.
II. The perfections of Divinity are ascribed
to the Holy Spirit. The attributes of God are
the attributes of the Holy Spirit.
30 A Help to the Study, of the Holy Spirit
(d) He reproves of sin, Jno. 16: 9, and
guides into truth, Jno. 16: 13.
II. Functions not ascribable to an influence,
or to au'ght save a person are attributed to the
Holy Spirit. He hears, Jno. 16: 13. He speaks,
Acts 10: 19; 13: 2, 8; 8; 29; Jno; 16: 13; Mark
13: n; Heb. 3: 7. He prays, Rom. 8: 26. He
teaches, Luke 12: 12; Jno. 14: 26. He forbids,
Acts 16: 6, 7. He comforts, Acts 9: 31. He
guides, Jno. 16: 13. He reveals, Jno. 16: 14, 15;
Luke 2: 26. He witnesses, Rom. 8: 16. He
strives with men, Gen. 6: 3. He quickens the
memory, Jno. 14: 26. He .performs miracles,
Acts 2: 4; 8: 39. He calls to the ministry, Acts
13: 2, and sets pastors over churches, Acts
20: 28.
III. M : en sustain relations toward the Holy
Spirit such as are possible only toward a person.
They grieve Him', Bph. 4: 30; they resist Him,
Acts 7: 51; they sin against Him, Matt. 12: 31;
Mark 3: 29; they invoke His communion, II
Cor. 13: i 4; they are baptized into His name,
Matt. 28: 19; they lie to Him, Acts 5: 3; they
The Personality of the Spirit 31
rebel against Him, Isa. 63: 10; they insult Him,
Heb. 10: 29.
IV. The name given to the Holy Spirit and
the pronouns used in reference to Him are dis-
tinct proofs of His personality.
(a) Jesus calls Him Paraclete, or one who
comforts or stands by to aid.
(b) Jesus uses the masculine pronoun,
"When He, the Spirit, is come, He,"
etc. Even in John 14; 26, where the
neuter relative agrees with the noun
Spirit, the following pronoun, which
naturally would be neuter, is mascu-
line.
V. That the Holy Spirit is a personality dis-
tinct from the Father and the Son is evident from
the fact that He is said to be the Spirit of God,
Matt. 3: 16; I Cor. 6: n; II Cor. 3: 3; I Peter
4: 4; and the Spirit of Christ, Rom. 8: 9; Phil,
i: 2; Acts 16: 7. He proceed'eth from God,
John 16: 26; He is sent by the Father, John 14:
26, and by the iSbn, John 16: 26. They could not
send themselves. Jesus says He will send an-
other Paraclete, namely, one distinct from Him-
self, and in Romans 1 8: 26, the Spirit is said to
32 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
make intercession; certainly the Father could
not make intercession to Himself. How the idea
of the H'oly Spirit as a distinct personality could
be more clearly set forth than is dome in tfie
Word of God is impossible for an unbiased mind
to conceive.
CHAPTER IV.
THE DEITY OF THE SPIRIT.
HE names of Divinity are ascribed
to Him. In Isa. 6: 8, Isaiah
says, "I heard the voice of Je-
hovah saying', etc." In Acts 28: 5,"
Paul, quoting the passage, says,
"Well spake the Holy Spirit by
Isaiah." In Jer. 31: 31, it is said,
"Behold the days come saith Jeho-
vah, etc. In Heb. 10: 15, it is said,
referring to the same passage, "The Holy
Spirit after that He said, etc." In Acts 5: 4,
He is expressly called God. Peter said
Satan had inspired Ananias to lie to the Holy
Spirit, and them he added, "Thou hast not lied
unto men but unto God" See also II Cor.
3: 17, 18 (A. R. V.), where He is called the Lord.
See also Eph. 2: 22; I Cor. 6: 19; Rom. 8: 9, 10.
II. The perfections of Divinity are ascribed
to the Holy Spirit. The attributes of God are
the attributes of the Holy Spirit.
34 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
(a) Eternity, Heb. 9: 14. Unto Him as unto
Jehovah can the lofty praise of Ps. 90: 2,
be ascribed.
(b) Omniscience, I Cor. 2: 10, n; Isa.
40: 13-
(c) Omnipotence, Micah 3: 8. Proven by
His works. (See III.)
(d) Omnipresence, Ps. 139: 7, 10. Same
idea in reference to God, Jer. 23: 24.
III. The works of Divinity are ascribed to
the Holy Spirit.
(a) The work of creation is His. Gen. 1:2;
Job 26: 13; Ps. 33: 6; Job 33: 4.
(b) The work of providence is His, Ps.
104: 30.
(c) The work of regeneration and resurrec-
tion are His, Jno. 3: 5, and Rom. 8: n.
He is in fact the source of the miracu-
lous, Matt. 12: 28; I Cor. 12: 9, u.
IV. The worship of Divinity is given to 1 Him.
(a) We are baptized into the name of the
Holy Spirit as well as that of the Father
and the Son, thus setting forth an equal-
ity of dignity among the three.
(b) Seven times in Rev. obedience to His
admonition is enjoined upon us.
(c) While there is no mention of direct
prayer to Him] it is involved in His
name (Paraclete one called to aid) and
also in the Apostolic benediction, II Cor.
The Deity of the Spirit 35
13: 14, and the invocation of John, Rev.
i:4,5-
(d) :He may be sinned against in fact the
only sin that can never be pardoned is
directed against the Holy Spirit, Matt.
12: 31, 32, in view of which His Godhead
must certainly be recognized.
CHAPTER V.
THE SEALING OF THE SPIRIT.
HE idea of a seal is twofold, that of
authentication and ownership or
security. In John 6: 37, God's seal
upon Christ is made to consist in
the miracles .wrought by Christ
through the power of the Spirit
given to Him without measure,
that is authentication.
In Eph. 1:13, believers are sealed!
with the promised iSpirit, promised by God
through Joel. i
Every genuine believer is sealed. The sealing
is "next after faith," says Prof. Smeaton.
Logically and theologically this is true, but
chronologically they are practically simultane-
ous, "upon believing we are sealed." Believ-
ing is essential to and the foundation of seal-
ing. The literal reading of Eph. 1 : 13, is "having
believed," not "after that ye believed, ye were
sealed." Campbell Morgan is therefore right
The Sealing of the Spirit 37
when he says, "The Sealing of the Spirit is iden-
tical w'ith regeneration" ("Spirit of God'," page
192.) He in fact makes it identical with the
baptism of the Spirit, but in his mind this last is
the same with regeneration.
Moule refers the sealing to such experiences
as Acts 8: 17 and 10: 44. 'M'acNeil ("Spirit-
filled. Life," page 45), says it is the same as the
baptism of the Spirit, by which he means a
definite post-regenerative experience, and that
Paul in Eph. i: 13, had in mind the incident of
Acts 19: 1-7, which, however, is altogether
gratuitous. Gordon, ("Ministry of the Spjirit,"
pages 88 and 99), and Gumming, ("Through
the Eternal Spirit," page 112), have likewise so
construed its meaning. Each of these last three
writers conceives of the Filling of the Spirit and
the Baptism of the Spirit and the Enduement
of the Spirit as a later experience than regenera-
tion, and make these and the sealing equivalent
to one and the same thing; and unless Dr. John
Owen, who has written so exhaustively on this
subject ("Discourse Concerning the Spirit/'
38 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
pages 406, 407), is to be quoted in support of
the same position, his language at this point is
not without ambiguity; all of which is very sur-
prising.
Such experiences as the above mentioned are
seals in the sense of God's approval and con-
firmation, but either to thus limit the idea of a
seal or to make such its primal reference is
grammatically out of harmony with every New
Testament passage which refers to the believer's
sealing, as well as the only reference it can pos-
sibly bear so far as the idea of ownership and
security is involved in the word, which idea in
this passage, Eph. i : 13, as in others similar to it,
is God's ownership and securing of His people,
of all believers. So teach Meyer, Ellicott,
Hodge, Riddle and Smeaton. Of course God
demands holiness, II Tim. 2: 19, but it is faith
that saves, and to make God's ownership depend!
on the filling of the Spirit is to make it, accord-
ing to the construction of those with whom we
are now taking issue, depend on something sub-
sequent to regeneration. It is sad that all Chris-
The Sealing of the Spirit 39
tians are not filled with the Spirit; it would' be
sadder still to think that all who are not thus
filled will be disowned in the day of redemption
"unto" which we are sealed. See Eph. 4: 30.
Every Christian is sealed and has the "earnest of
the Spirit," which is the Spirit Himself.
There is one other passage, II Cor. 1 : 21, 22,
"Now he which established 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." Here 'Hodge, Olshausen,
Smeaton andi others refer the "us" in the two last
instances not alone to Paul andi Timothy, but to
all Christians as well. /Meyer and Lange say,
Paul designedly distinguishes between "us with
you" and "us," and referred the anointing and
sealing to teachers only; they, however, admit
that even their interpretation would not deny
the anointing and sealing to all believers, and
quote Eph. i: 13, and 4: 30, in substantiation.
Yes, every child of God is sealed, and at the
cominfg of the Lord He shall know us by the
sign we bear.
40 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
"The allusion to the seal as a pledge of pur-
chase would be peculiarly intelligible to the
Ephesians, for Ephesus was a maritime city and
an extensive trade in timber was carried on there
by the ship masters of the neighboring ports.
The method of purchase was this: The mer-
chant, after selecting his timber, stamped it with
his own signet, which was an acknowledged
sign of ownership. He often did not carry off
his possession at the time; it was left in the har-
bor with other floats of timber; but it was
chosen, bought and stamped, and in due time the
merchant sent a trusty agent with the, signet,
who, finding that timber which bore a corres
ponding impress, claimed and brought it away
for the master's use. Thus the Holy Spirit im-
presses on the soul now the image of Jesus
Christ and this is the sure pledge of everlasting
inheritance." Bickersteth, "The Spirit of Life."
CHAPTER VI.
THE ANOINTING OF THE SPIRIT.
N Luke 4: 1 8, Jesus says He was
"anointed," doubtless referring to
His experience at baptism, and in
Acts 4: 27, and 10: 38, the same
thing is referred to. In the Old
Testament priests, prophets and
kings were anointed to signify their
separation and consecration to
office, and the passages above re-
ferred to contain the same idea. The Anointing,
as the Seal, is the Holy Spirit.
Jesus as conceived by the Spirit, Luke i : 35,
>and like John the Baptist, was certainly filled
with the Spirit from His mother's womb. As a
child we know He was filled, Luke 2: 40. The
reception of the Holy Spirit at His Incarnation
may certainly with propriety be called His first
anointing, and may in a sense be considered as
His only one. While as regards the baptismal
anointing the immediate connection and refer-
42 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
ence is to the manifest and visible resting upon
Jesus of the Spirit at His baptism, yet it is not
to be thought of as implying another andl dis-
tinct reception of the Spirit, but the rather that
the Spirit already in Him in fulness manifested
Himself in a way annunciatory of Christ's offi-
cial capacity. Smeaton, page 21, speaks of three
degrees in Christ's anointing: at Incarnation, at
Baptism and at Glorification.
"In the New Testament, says Hodge, "official
anointing is spoken of only in relation to Christ
and never in relation to the Apostles or others."
This is true, unless II Cor. 1 : 21, is an exception
and this we are not inclined to believe. Now in
I John 2: 20, the anointing is predicated of all
believers; so likewise in II Cor. i: 21. There
are those who speak of receiving an anointing
for each particular service, (referring of course to
a special filling for such special work), but
such a use of the word anointing is without
Scriptural warrant. Others draw such inference
from (the supposed analogy between iQirist, the
Anointed One, and Christians, but this is, after
The Anointing of the Spirit 43
all, a supposition which receives no encourage-
ment from the reasonable inference of God's
dealings with the perfect pattern and its imper-
fect imitations. Mbrgan, page 194, has rightly
said, "The anointing which is on the child of
God is that which was received at regeneration."
Gordon says, "Sealing and anointing and en-
duement, (and by 'enduement,' he means the
Baptism of the Spirit which in his mind is the
same with the Filling of the Spirit) are
one and the same experience." But if the
seal is the sign of ownership, then those
without this seal or special enduement are
not God's property and the question will
arise, how much of an enduement, of a fill-
ing, or baptism of the Spirit must one have in
order to be owned? As priests and kings were
anointed so Christians receiving an anointing
from the Holy One in the moment of regenera-
tion, are conformably to Scripture (Rev. i: 6;
5: 10), called "priests and kings unto God"; but
of this glory, according to the idea now in re-
44 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
view, all are deprived who are without this spec-
ial post-regenerative experience.
One Christian has or can have no more of an
anointing than another; the anointing is the
Holy. Spirit, and the expression, "the same
anointing teacheth you all things," is but a call-
ing to remembrance of what the same writer had
said in his Gospel, John 16: 13, "Howbeit when
He the Spirit of truth is come He will guide you
into all truth."
It is well to bear in mind, however, that al-
though there is no Scriptural mention of the
word anointing from which to draw a warrant
for applying such a term to any experience of
the believer apart from his regeneration, yet
'there can be no reasonable objection to the use
of such a term in connection with a post-
regenerative experience if only we are care-
ful to distinguish what is meant by it. If the
search be one of words, once regenerated, there
is no other anointing; if it be one of experience,
call it what you will so long as the above cau-
tion be observed. The Holy Spirit taking up
The Anointing of the Spirit 45
His abode in the individual seals him by that very
act and also, according to Scriptural usage, anoints
him; then once within He endues the soul with
power according to the freedom given Him and the
needs of the occasion. This it will shortly appear is
the filling of the Spirit, but when that occasion is
the going forth to service this preparation of the
servant may with no impropriety, be called an anoint-
ing, if it be borne in mind that it is nothing other
than the Spirit's filling for the special service at
hand.
CHAPTER VII.
THE COMMUNION OF THE SPIRIT.
N II Cor. 13: 14, Paul invokes for
the Corinthian Christians the "com-
munion of the Holy Spirit." It is
impossible to tell precisely what
Paul meant by the) word 1 translated
communion, and to be arbitrary or
over-positive in the exposition of
such Scripture is simply to set your
mind against the minds of countless
other scholars toward' whom the impartial
student must have respect. Not that we
can wholly miss Paul's meaning, but that
of the various shades of meaning belonging
to any particular word it is not at all
times possible to know just to which one the
writer had reference. The Greek word is Koino-
nia and is in both versions translated "commun-
ion." It occurs in its various forms in the Sep-
tuagint fifteen times, and in the New Testament
eighty-two times. Of the New Testament men-
The Communion of the Spirit 47
tion it is fifty-five times variously translated
"communion," "fellowship," "participation,
"communication," and twenty-seven times in the
sense of "common" or "unclean." In three of the
fifty-five instances it is the eommunion of a per-
son, IT Cor. 13: 14; Phil. 2: i; I Cor. 1:9. To
these we wish to direct attention. The thought
embodied 1 in them, however, can more accurately
be discovered after the following observations.
The word is used in the following senses :
I. To be a partaker of a thing (I Tim. 5 : 22,
etc^ eleven times.
II. To be a participator in a thing (Phil. 4:
14, etc.), nine times.
'In each instance there is a "with some person,"
understood fourteen times, expressed by the
(preposition "with" five times, and by "of them"
once.
TIL To have fellowship with a person (I Jno.
1:3, etc.), five times; in each case there is an "in
something," understood four times, and men-
tioned once (Phil. 4:15.) In the first twenty (IJI)
the thing in which was mentioned, and the per-
48 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
son with whom understood'; in the last five -just
(the reverse; thus in all the twenty-five the
thought is that of Koinonia with a person in a
thing, andi this same thought will, we believe,
be seen to underlie every other use of the ex-
pression. II Cor. 6: 14, light (personified) hav-
ing fellowship with darkness (personified), that
is, in the deeds of darkness, Eph. 5: n, fellow-
ship, with evil men or the Evil One or with
darkness (personified), in unfruitful works.
IV. Five times it is a contribution, I Tim. 6:
18; Rom. 15: 26; 12: 13; Heb. 13: 16; 1 Cor
9= 13-
V. Once it is a contributor, I Tim, 6: 18.
VI. Once it is the act of contributing, Gal.
6: 6.
Ini these last seven the same idea is involved
persons and things. What is fellowship but a
union or communion of possessions? There can
be no real communion without a sharing of what
belongs to us whether it be a crust of bread, the
interchange of thought, of affection or sympathy.
VII. Four times it is said they had a com-
The Communion of the Spirit 49
munity of things, Acts 2: 44; 4: 32; Tit. 1:4;
Jude 3; the above applies likewise to these.
VIII. Twice it is to have a partner, II Cor.
8: 23; Phile. 17.
IX. Once it is to be a partner with someone,
Luke 5 : 10.
X. Twice it is to be a partner of someone,
I Cor. 10 : 20; Heb. 10: 33. What is the thought
in these last five but sharers with each other,
hence fellowship, communion, in something.
XI. Gal. 2: 9, To share with them in the
Gospel.
XII. I Cor. 10: 18, To be a partaker of the
altar, that is, of the blessing for which the altar
stood, through God's sharing such blessings with
them or furnishing them to them, the result of
which of course is comimuniom with God by "such
partaking.
XIII. Acts 2: 42, Fellowship with each other
in religious sympathies, service, community of
goods, etc.
XIV. Phile. 6, A difficult passage, "The faith
which you have in common with the rest of us,"
50 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
being possibly the best of many explanations, in
which case it would belong to those references'
of "a community of things." On any of the pro-
posed explanations, however, it is in harmony
with the general idea which we have -seen to be
resident in the expression, Koinonia with some
one in something.
Now to the three passages in question. An
explanation of one will suffice for all. In II Cor.
13: 14, Paul invokes for them the "communion of
the Holy Spirit" Notice it does not say with
the Holy Spirit, although the force of the preposi-
tion we feel has been unduly pressed, for in I
Cor. i : 9, we read that we are called into the
fellowship of the Son, and in I John i : 3, it is said
our fellowship is with the Son. There is a dis-
tinction, but the ideas are interdependent, and to
press the "of" relation to the exclusion of the
"with" relation in the passage under considera-
tion is hardly in keeping with impartial exegesis.
Dr. Gumming, (Through the Eternal Spirit,
page 185), adheres to the usually accepted
meaning of communing or having fellow-
The Communion of the Spirit 51
ship with the Holy Spirit Himself. This
thought of special intimacy with the Third Per-
son of the Trinity is certainly very, attractive
and is in keeping with the general tenor of Scrip-
ture. It is, however, nowhere explicitly taught,
and though involved in what Paul here says, can
hardly be considered the primary idea.
Now the eleven instances where "of" is used
all contain the idea of "participation in," and
owing to such analogy it is impossible to dispute
with Meyer, Lange, Riddle, who here make the
meaning "participation in the Holy Spirit," but
in the eleven instances mentioned the participa-
tion is in a thing; here Paul sipeaks of a person,
and as the preposition "of" in this clause is of
precisely the same grammatical .force as the "of"
in the other two clauses of the verse, the grace of
Chirst and the love of God being the grace and
love of which they are the authors, so in the
third clause it seems proper to make the Koino-
nia that of which the Holy Spirit is the author,
namely, the spiritual riches which He furnishes.
To the above reasons we may add that as we
52 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
have already seen and as all authority admits,
such rendering is not in the least at variance with
the linguistic usage of the word itself.
In this pregnant truth there is involved a three-
fold relationship which may in order be ex-
pressed as the "of" relation, the "in" relation,
and the "with" relation, any one of which must
by the very nature of the idea include all the
others. The "of" relation, the one of chief em-
phasis here, refers to Koinonia as the spiritual
riches communicated, that is, communications;
the "in" relation refers to our participation in the
things communicated, and the "with" relation to
the communion (fellowship) with the Holy Spirit
Himself in such participation, the whole of which
of course proceeds upon the supposition of ?.,
previous participation in the Holy Spirit as the
basic principle of all spiritual Koinonia.
As before mentioned, 'fellowship with a person
is impossible save through a participation in
something which has become a common posses-
sion through the gift of one or the other or mu-
tually of both, and as one thus; participates he
The Communion of the Spirit 53
can but have communion with the furnisher of
(the blessings at his disposal.
What a depth of meaning to the word when
thus construed; all the inexhaustible treasures
that are hid in Christ, the very fulness of God!
Himself to be ours through the H'oly Spirit, the
Great Communicator, beginning with the very
life that regenerates and ending with the glory
that transfigures. There came from the press
some years ago a strange book representing a
man who had lived through a trance to a period
a hundred years after it came upon him. So-
ciety had made marvelous advances and every-
where the man turned he was met with new reve-
lations of grandeur and glory ; they were so many
it took him months to comprehend them all, and
oftentimes he would sit down to contemplate and
to wonder at the marvelous things to which he
had fallen heir. It is so with the study of the
Holy Spirit. At every step we find some new
treasure, some rich experience, to which we have
become heirs through the "communion of the
Holy Spirit," until long before we have compre-
54 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
bended the half of our inheritance we are simply
compelled to sit and wonder how it ever could be
so. What are some of these treasures, these
communications? Paul in another place has
referred to them as "the fruit of the Spirit," and
this chapter may properly be completed in an-
other.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT.
N the few pages immediately follow-
ing will be found the results of a
careful effort to count up our treas-
ures which are hid for us in Christ
and made over to us through the
Communion of the Holy Spirit. To
have these things in overflowing
abundance is the privilege of the
Spirit-filled believer. How rich that
heritage is may the following summary
help us to appreciate. Of these graces, these
communications, all of which are the fruit of the
Spirit, we find distinct mention of no less than
fifty-seven.
I. In Gal. 5 : 22, Paul enumerates the follow-
ing:
(a) Love, general inner disposition.
(b) Joy, because conscious of divine love.
(c) Peace, inner tranquility.
(d) Long-suffering, patience under trial.
56 A Help to the Stuay of the Holy Spirit
(e) Kindness, kindly disposed' to others.
(f) Goodness, beneficence, kindness in ac-
tion.
(g) Faithfulness, fidelity, trustworthi-
ness.
(h) Meekness, mildness andi submissive-
ness,
(i) Temperance, self-control.
II. Peter also has a list, faith being pre-
supposed as a foundation upon which they must
rest, II Peter 1 : 5-8.
(a) Diligence, earnest use of energies.
(b) Virtue, manly courageousness in con-
duct.
(c) Knowledge, recognition of the dutiful
and appropriate.
(d) Temperance, self-control.
(e) Patience, perseverance in abuse and
temptation.
(f) Godliness, reverence for God and ac-
tion accordingly.
(g) Love of brethren, that .k, of Chris-
tians.
(h) Love for all.
This list differs in arrangement and constitu-
ents from Paul's. Paul begins with love; Peter
ends with it. Paul begins with love as the spring
of all other graces because he is drawing a pic-
The 'Fruits of the Spirit 57
ture of the spiritual character in contrast to the
works of the flesh. Peter is concerned here with
the growth of spiritual character and so presup-
poses faith as the foundation upon which by
means of these varied virtues the superstructure
is reared.
The fruit of the Spirit as mentioned elsewhere.
I. Faith.
(a) I Cor. 12: 13, "Calling Jesus Lord by
the Spirit," that is, justifying, saving
faith.
(b) II Cor. 4: 13, Spirit of faith, referring
not so much here to justifying faith as
to confidence in God in the midst of af-
fliction.
(c) I Cor. 12: 9, Gift of faith a high de-
gree of the ordinary grace, especially
for miraculous manifestation; this seems
to have been a gift designed es-
pecially and probably only for the early
church.
II. Regeneration.
(a) John 3: 5, 6, Born of the Spirit.
(b) Titus 3: 5, Renewing by the Spirit.
Lange refers this to a continued process,
and while the word in itself so means, yet
in this case the thought in question and
the past tense of the verb "saved"
58 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
(Meyer and Riddle) best refer it to the
renewing of the soul at regeneration.
III. Spiritual life. John 6: 63, the originator
and supplier; also Rom. 8: 2. Rom. 8: 6, in ful-
ness now and of course hereafter where it cul-
minates in the perfect life.
IV. Self-dedication to God. I Cor. 6: n. The
word "sanctify" is in the middle voice and not
the passive, as the Revised Version makes it, and
denotes properly the setting apart of oneself as
holy unto God.
V. Sarictification.
(a) I Cor. 6: n, Washed by the Spirit; the
verb is middle and hence indicates our
own effort united with that of the
Spirit.
(b) I Cor. 6: n, Made righteous by the
Spirit; this seems a solitary use of this
verb in this sense; it is the verb's sim-
plest sense. Most retain the usual sense
of "declare just," but the order hardly
permits this. (See Meyer.)
(c) I Peter i: 2, and II Thes. 2: 1.3, In the
sanctification of the Spirit. Whether
this word denotes the process or the
result of the Spirit's working it is in
either case a fruit of the Spirit. It is
The Fruits of the Spirit ' 59
the sphere in which our election and
choice to salvation is realized.
(d) II Cor. 3: 18, Growth into the Christ
image.
(e) Rpm. 14: 17, Righteousness, that is, in-
ner, Meyer, Godet; Lange, Hodge,
Mioule, say imputed. The former is fa-
vored by the context, by the practical
nature of the discourse and by verses 16,
18; 19, and also by the primary meaning
of the word. Paul's general usage fa-
vors the second view. See also Rom.
8: 4.
(f) Rom. 15: 1 6, Sanctified by the Holy
Spirit.
VI. Victory over sin.
(a) Gal. 5: 17; also Rom. 8: 2, if this refers
to sanctification, which we are inclined
to believe, though Dr. Hodge opposes
such reference.
(b) Rom. 8: 13, 'Mortifying the deeds of the
body through the Spirit.
VII. New power Sor spiritual conflict. Eph.
6: 10.
VIII. Likeness to Christ. Eph. 3: 19, "filled
with all the fulness of God" which is contained in
Christ (Coi. i: 19, and 2: 9.) Though not called
a fruit of the Spirit, one cannot analyze the
60 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
prayer in Eph. 3: 16-19, without seeing that such
is the evident result of being strengthened
through the Spirit. As Christ in Col. i : 19, is
said to contain all the pleroma of God, so here
such is the prayer for us, the pleroma being that
with which God is 'filled, ithe divine perfections;
and notice he says all the pleroma, His love,
His knowledge, His power, His goodness, His
holiness, etc.
IX. Knowledge of divine truth. I Cor. 2:
10, 14.
(a) Eph. 1:17, "Wisdom" here refers to a
general continued condition of illum-
ination and "revelation," to an advance
on wisdom, that is, the more special
gift of insight.
(b) John 16: 13, "Into all truth," full
knowledge of the truth as it is in Christ;
the whole truth of God.
(c) John 14: 26, "Teach all things," refer-
ring to a right and complete understand-
ing- of the truth as it is in Christ.
(d) I Cor. 2: 15, "All ^ things;" pre-
eminently the deep things of God,
verse 10, with a probable secondary
reference to the affairs of life, that is,
judgment and discretion in daily duty,
etc.
The Fruits of the Spirit 61
The following seems to have been limited to
special agents, Apostolic.
(a) John 16: 13, "Things to come," refer-
ring not alone to eschatological revela-
tions, but to the whole career of the
church militant after the Spirit's com-
ing. The destiny of the church.
(b) Eph. 3 : 3, 5, The purpose of God as it
is in Christ with a probable primal ref-
erence to the inclusion of the Gentiles.
(c) I Peter i: n, 12, Christ in them as the
Revealer.
Examples Acts 1 1 : 28, Agabus prophesying.
Acts 13: 2, Told to appoint to office; same ideai
in 20: 28.
Acts 20: 23, Revealed coming afflictions to
Paul.
Acts 21 : 4, Revealed coming afflictions to dis-
ciples.
Acts 21 : n, Revealed coming afflictions to
Agabus.
X. Assurance of Sonship. Gal. 4: 6, here
'the Holy -Spirit cries; Rom. 8: 15,here the
human spirit cries; the idea is the same, because
as Meyer says, "The Spirit is so completely the
62 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
author of the Abba invocation that the man who
invokes appears only as the organ of the Spirit."
Here also belong Rom. 8: 16; Eph. i: 13; 4: 30;
II Cor. i: 21, 22.
XL Led by the Spirit. Gal. 5: 18; also Rom.
8: 14, 1:4.
(a) Gal. 5: 1 6, Walking about in the midst
of daily duties.
(b) Gal. 5: 25, A careful, studied walk,
being the use of a different verb from
S: 16.
(c) Inward intimation, Acts 8: 29; n: 12;
13: 4; also Acts 16: 6, 7.
Some, Gumming, (Through the Eter-
nal Spirit, page 196) notice a shade
of meaning between the "forbid" of
vs. 6 and the "suffer not" of vs. 7,'
the latter leading of the Spirit not being
so clear; the 5 first would not allow them,
the second simply gave no permission.
(d) Acts 19: 21, Purposed in the Spirit,
the Holy Spirit, Gloag, Gumming; his
own spirit, Meyer, Riddle, Racket,
R. V. Even in the latter case it would
be under the impulse of the Holy Spirit.
(e) Acts 10. 9, Led 1 by a vision the call to
Macedonia, 23: n, the visit to Rome
confirmed ; Acts 10, Led up to pray, that
is, given a vision and told to go.
The Fruits of the Spirit 63
(e) II Cor. 12: 18, Guided by the Spirit.
iSimeon led by the Spirit, Lu. 2: 27.
Jesus, Lu. i : 4, "led." The Holy Spirit,
His ruling and guiding principle, in-
duced Him to go, acting on His soul
for that purpose; (en, with the dative.)
Matt. 4: i, "Led up," the external
idea more emphasized Actual guid-
ance, (hupo, with the genitive.) MJk.
i: 12, "Driveth," east out; the sense
of urgency, compulsion. "Not that
Jesus resisted but that His pure soul
abhorred the personal contact with the
Evil One."
XII. Power for service.
(a) II Tim. i : 7, Power in general, with a
possible particular reference to cour-
ageousness.
. (b) I Peter i: 12, I Thes. 1:5;! Cor. 2: 4,
Power in preaching.
(c) Acts i: 8, Power in witnessing, refer-
ring here to every needed qualification
equipment in general.
XIII. Confidence and assurance in preach-
ing. I Thes. i: 5 (Meyer and Lange.) This is
the preferred interpretation rather than that the
hearers receive the Gospel with assurance, as
Riddle and others say.
64 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
XIV. Calls, appoints and qualifies for office,
Acts 20: 28.
XV. Love of the brethren. Rom. 15: 30;
II Cor. 6:8; Col. i : 8, and II Tim. i : 7. In this
last reference Meyer, Olshausen, Bengel, Shiea-
ton and Cumming say the reference is to the
Holy Spirit; however we look at the passage it
virtually amounts to this, for such a spirit we
could not receive save through the Holy Spirit
imparted to us who Himself has these character-
istics.
XVI. Gives consciousness of God's love.
Rom. 5:5; Cumming's idea of the Spirit loving
us is certainly beautiful and legitimate; it does
not rest so much on exegetical ground' as in that
it must be really so. The Spirit cannot produce
love in us unless He Himself is loving and loves.
This is true of all the fruit of the Spirit.
XVII. A comprehension and appreciation of
Christ's love. Eph. 3: 18, 19.
XVIII. Peace, -peace in general; peace with
God, with man, and inner peace; also Rom. 8: 6.
Gal. 5: 22, refers to inner peace solely.
The Fruits of the Spirit 65
XIX. Holy joy. Acts 13: 52; Rom. 14: 7.
(a) ph, 5: 19, A heart of melody.
(b) I Thes. i : 6, Joy in affliction.
Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit; so rendered
by the best MBS.
XX. Hope. Rom. 15: 13.
XXL Meekness. Gal. 6: i, and I Cor. 4: 21.
Meyer, Hodge and Smeaton read here the Holy
Spirit, while Riddle, Ellicott, Alford, Lange,
Lightfoot and others, say it is best to read
"spirit of meekness," referring to the human
spirit, so read the authorized and 1 revised" ver-
sions, and this is the more probable, although
Meyer and Hodge say, and there is strength in
the assertion, that when spirit is used with an
abstract noun in the genitive it always means
Holy Spirit, as Spirit of truth, John 15: 26; 16:
13; I John 4: 6, of adoption, Rom. 8: 15, of faith,
II Cor. 4: 13, of wisdom, Bph. i: 17; of power,
II Tim. 1:7.
XXII. Comfort. Acts 9: 31, Meyer, Alford,
Lange, Gloag, Riddle, make the word mean ex-
hortation; Hackett renders it "aid," referring it
66 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
either to consolatory exhortation by the disciples
inspired by the Spirit, or the people being moved
by the Spirit's inward exhortation; but the idea
of comfort is in the word, and is so used in the
Ntew Testament, John 14: 16, 17, and to be so
rendered suits well the context, the circum-
stance of the church; so also Gumming, page 170.
XXIII. Liberty. II Cor. 3: 17, The liberty
which comes from a change of state and relation-
ship, such as pertains to justification.
XXIV. Thanksgiving for all things. Eph.
5: 20.
XXV. A submissive heart. Eph. 5:21; Phil.
2:3.
(a) Wives submitting to husbands, Eph.
5: 22.
(b) Husbands loving wives, 5: 25.
(c) Children obeying fathers, 6: I.
(d) Fathers not provoking children, 6: 4.
(e) Servants obeying masters, 6: 5.
(f) Masters forbearing toward servants,
6:9.
XXVI. Aid in trouble. Phil. 1 : 19, especially
in Paul's case, comfort and courage.
The Fruits of the Spirit 67
XXVII. Unity.
(a) Eph. 2 : 22, For the sake of strength.
(b) Eph. 4: 3, In the church and among in-
dividuals.
XXVIII. Access to. God. Eph. 2: 18, that is,
led up to God by the Spirit.
XXIX. Aid in prayer.
(a) Jude 20 and Rom. 8: 26. The Holy
Spirit discovers to us our poverty and
the value of spiritual things, promotes
the substance of all true prayer and in-
cites to true faith.
(b) Eph. 6: 18, Personal prayer and inter-
cession; it will not do with Cumming,
(Through the Eternal Spirit, page 240,)
to say that intercession is here the
special thing. See also Eph. 2: 18;
and if prayer is implied in Gal. 4: 6, and
Rora 8: 26, these passages also belong
here.
XXX. Worship by the Spirit. Phil. 3:3. He
prompts, animates and directs it; singing, pray-
ing, and all forms of worship are included,
though Paul significantly chose the word used
to describe Jewish worship by ritual and cere-
68 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
mony; even in these outward forms the Spirit
was to be recognized.
XXXI. Communion. II Cor. 13: 14.
Though the thought of fellowship in the sense of
communion with the Holy Spirit is not the pri-
mary one, such thought is necessarily involved in
the word. See preceding chapter. Here also be-
longs, Phil. 2: i.
XXXII. Discipline. II Tim. i: 7. The
word implies more than self-control, having an
active signification, and describes a quality cal-
culated to bring others to soberness and sound-
ness of mind.
XXXIII. Faithfulness in duty. II Tim. i:
14, Guarding one's trust; probably in Timothy's
case the Gospel and his ministry.
XXXIV. II Cor. 6: 6. Just what relation
"by (en) the Holy Spirit" bears to the rest of
the discourse is uncertain ; not in so many words
is it said those graces are fruits of the Spirit, but
if Paul here introduces the Spirit as the source
of them then we have a list of fruits as follows:
(a Patience.
The Fruits of the Spirit 69
(b) Pureness, both moral sincerity and
chastity.
(c) Knowledge, evangelical, that is, of
God's moral will.
(d) Kindness.
(e) Love of the brethren.
XXXV. Patient waiting for future redemp-
tion. Gal. 5: 5.
XXXVI. First fruits of the Spirit. Rom. 8:
23. Olshausen, DeWette and Meyer refer this
to the early Christians receiving the Spirit in
contrast to all Christians receiving* 'Him now and
later, that is, a partitive genitive being used.
Riddle says what we now possess is but first
fruits of what we shall receive in glory; also parti-
tive genitive. Hodge, Godet and Lange say the
Holy Spirit is the "first fruits," as in Eph. 1:14,
an earnest of what we shall be: appositional geni-
tive. The second and third views are exactly
alike in consequence, and as the word "first
fruits" is always used with a partitive genitive we
prefer Riddle's view.
XXXVII. Redemption of the body at the
resurrection. Rom. 8: n. Jesus so raised, Rom.
70 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
8: ii ; also I Peter 3: 18, according to Smeaton,
Gumming and the authorized version, but
strongly opposed by Meyer, Riddle and the re-
vised version.
XXXVIH. Eternal life in glory. Gal 6: 8.
Meyer would put Rom. 8: 6, here also, but the
reference is hardly to be so limited, referring the
rather to eternal life, spiritual here, and con-
sequently hereafter of course.
XXXIX. Inspiration. II Peter i: 21, The
word is "borne on" the figure of a ship before
the wind,
XL. Christ was justified in the Spirit. I Tim.
3: 16.
(a) In His miracles, (b) In His spotless
life, (c) In His resurrection.
(a)' Our justification by the Spirit is seen by
Hodge, Lange and Alford in I Cor. 6: n,
but, as noted above, it has seemed pref-
erable to take the word as ''Meyer does
in its sense of sanctification.
(b) Rom. 14: 17, The above three authori-
ties take righteousness in this verse also
in the sense of justification, though
neither of them connect it with "in the
Spirit"; this last phrase, however, is bet-
The Fruits of the Spirit 71
ter connected with all three of the pre-
ceding word's and "righteousness" taken
in the sense of holiness (Meyer and
Godet.)
XLI. I Cor. 12: 8, 9, 10, Tfcese we are in-
clined to believe are apostolic.
CHAPTER IX.
THE BAPTISM OF THE SPIRIT.
HE -word baptism in connection with
the name of the Holy Spirit is men-
tioned seven times in the New Tes-
tament, Matt. 3: ii ; 'Mark i: 8;
Luke 3: 16; John i: 33, each refer-
ring to John's testimony that the
Coming One was to baptize with
the Holy Spirit. In Acts i : 5, the
risen Christ promises it; in Acts
ii : 16, Peter quotes the promise as having
been fulfilled in the case of Cornelius, and
in I Cor. 12: 13, we are said to be
baptized "en" one spirit into* one body. The
preposition following the word baptize is in each
case "en" save once, Mark i : 8, where it is omit-
ted, the Holy Spirit, however, in each instance
being in the same grammatical form dative, va-
riously translated in, with and by. With Pente-
The Baptism of the Spirit 73
cost came the fulfillment of the promised bap-
tism. These disciples we know were:
1. Baptized with the Holy Spirit, Acts 1:5.
2. Endued, clothed upon, -Revised Ver-
sion, with power from on high, Lu.
24: 49.
3. Filled with the Spirit, Acts 2: 4, "Pletho,"
same word used in John 19: 24.
In their case at least the words, "baptism,"
"enduement," "filling," referred to one and the
same experience. This experience was accom-
panied by certain miraculous manifestations,
"sound as of rushing wind," "tongues of fire,"
and followed by certain miraculous results, such
as "speaking in foreign tongues."
This was fitting, first, as the inaugural of a
new dispensation; second, because the disciples
were in need of the miraculous how very much
one can easily imagine. We are to bear in mind
that the miracles were the accompaniments and the
results of the baptism.
The chief purpose of this baptism was quali-
fication for the best possible service.
74 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
The results i case of the disciples we're:
(a) Miraculous powers, Acts 2: 4.
(b) Witnessing, (i) With boldness, Acts
2: 4. (2) With power, Acts i: 8; 2: 41;
and no doubt to each of them was given
other gifts not then recorded, Acts 19: 6;
I Cor. 12: i, 12.
Was this baptism their regeneration or were
the disciples regenerated men before Pentecost?
Rev. G. Campbell Morgan takes the former view
'("The Spirit of God," pages 132 and 174.) Even
were his conception true it would by no means
be a necessary deduction therefrom that regen-
eration was the thing of chief import at Pente-
cost. We are forced 1 to feel that Dr. Morgan
has emphasized the wrong thing. Certainly a
believer after Pentecost would be a broader
visioned and deeper experienced individual
than one before. He would in some respects be
a new man. Christ means immeasurably more
to the 'Christian of today that He could possibly
mean to the disciples in the period of his incar-
nation. Regeneration is by an almost unani-
mous opinion considered to be an act resulting in
The Baptism of the Spirit 75
the instantaneous change from spiritual death to
spiritual life. Its metaphysical nature must for-
ever remain a mystery, and) before thinking of
the disciples as unregenerated one must rather
thoroughly understand the nature of this mys-
terious and divinely inwrought work and rather
thoroughly appreciate the scope of the change
resulting therefrom. Says Andrew Murray, page
323, "To the disciples the Baptism of the Spirit
was very distinctly not His first bestowal for
regeneration but the definite communication of
the Presence in power of their glorified Lord."
Certainly the disciples had received the Holy
Spirit before Pentecost; if not, how interpret
John 20: 22? "He breathed on them and said
receive ye the 'Holy Spirit." This Dr. M'organ
calls a "prophetic breathing," a "typical act,"
page 108, and Dr. Gumming also concurs in
this, saying the disciples here received nothing;
but, first, the aorist imperative of the verb "re-
ceive" argues against such a conception; second,
the thought embodied in the verb "send" argues
against it; third, the act of breathing is against
76 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
it. (Same verb used in Gen. 2: 7.) Fourth, if
nothing were received it would be only a repeti-
tion of the Saviour's promise in 1 his farewell dis-
course.
Some argue the omission of the article before
the Holy Spirit, making it refer not to the per-
sonal Holy Spirit, but to His influence only, but
such omission is of little or no import. Entirely
too much stress has been laid upon every slight
variation of expression. Seemingly unmindful
that under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit the
writer was not a machine, there have always been
critics who could see the hand of several writers
in one treatise or build an inverted pyramid of
manuscript in defense of a theory resting upon
the slightest grammatical deviation from the
author's established style. (For a most excellent
exposition on the use of the article in the New
Testament see Gumming, "Through the Eternal
Spirit," page 281.) Scofield says, "They first
received the Holy Spirit here." ("Plain Papers
on the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit," page 35.)
With Bengle, Calvin, Olshausen, Stier, Alford,
The Baptism of the Spirit 77
Godet, Meyer and others we see in the passage
in question an impartation of the Hloly Spirit,
not so full and complete as at Pentecost, but
quantitative at least, an impartation already to
regenerate men or at least an impartation which
effected that regeneration. (See Swete in Hast-
ings' "Dictionary of the Bible" Article on
"Holy Spirit." In Kuyper's recent studied work
on the Holy Spirit, he gives a threefold relation
of the Holy Spirit to the disciples.
(1) Regeneration and subsequent illumina-
tion, SMath. 16: 17.
(2) Reception as official gift qualifying them
for apostolic office, John 20: 22.
(3) Pentecost.
Torrey "Baptism of the Holy Spirit," page 6,
refers to John 13: 10; 15: 13, "ye are clean," as
witnessing the disciples' regeneration. With him
is nearly all critical authority. Cumming, page
98, speaking of the disciples at Pentecost, says,
"They were new men, not in the sense of being
born again, for assuredly they had all known
that change before."
78 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
We repeat, however, that even were this sub-
jective change first wrought at Pentecost this
would in no way militate against the fact that
the distinctive feature of that occasion was not re-
generation, but enduement for service. We must
confess that the startling! thing about Dr. Mor-
gan's book, "The Spirit of God," is the bold
maneuver in exegesis by which he undertakes
to substantiate the claim he has made. We have
looked for his authority and have failed to find it.
It is always inspiring to see a man who dares to
differ from centuries of authority. However, in
coming to safe views of 'Scriptural truths, we
must have respect to what others have thought
before us. In the attempt to establish a theory
all men are susceptible to bias and the comfort-
ing thing to the student in the critical exegesis of
Scripture upon the subject is that he is coming
in contact with the opinions of scholars who for
the most part, and certainly so> far as this subject
is concerned, were seeking to establish no theory,
but searching from an independent viewpoint
what things the Scripture really said.
The Baptism of the Spirit 79
Dr. Morgan, in support of his view, has sur-
prisingly quoted a great number of baptismal
passages in the 'New Testament as referring to
the. baptism of the Holy Spirit. He quotes Rom.
6: 3, 4. tWe have not found it possible to agree
with such an interpretation of this passage. It is
not the purpose of these pages to be controver-
sial nor will their limits admit of extended argu-
ment, but in consideration of what has just been
said of exegetical opinion it is desired simply to
say that the reverend scholar's position is taken
in the face of overwhelming authority if such a
thing there can be. This passage in Romans is
taken to mean "water baptism," by Bengel, Cal-
vin, Tholuck, Ruckert, Lightfoot, Lange, Meyer,
Barnes, Stuart, Shedd, Schaff, Conybeare and
Howson, Webster and Wilkinson, Hodge, Elli-
Moule in his recent volume, Marvin R. Vincent
in his Word Studies (just published) and all others
consulted.
"Baptism into" means baptism' in reference to
and the phrase in no way teaches baptismal re-
generation. As clear-viewed, Calvin said, "We
80 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
ought in baptism to recognize a spiritual law; we
ought in it to embrace a witness to the remission
of sins and a pledge of our renewal, and yet so to
leave both to Christ and the Holy; Spirit the
honor that is theirs as that no part of the salva-
tion be transferred to the sign."
Gal. 3: 27; I Peter 3: 21, and Eph. 4: 5, are
other passages quoted in face of the same array
of authority. In Matt. 28: 19, among the last
words of Jesus was the command to the disciples
that they should "teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit." In Mark 16: 16, among
His last words are, "He that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved." This last Dr. Morgan
calls the Baptism of the Holy Spirit (Spirit of
God, page 118); the passage in Matthew cannot
of course be so construed and what worthy rea-
sons exist for considering the passage in Mark
any different does not appear.
Scofield says (Plain Papers on the Doctrine of
the Spirit page 41) that from Pentecost to
the case of Cornelius, Acts 10, opening the door
The Baptism of the Spirit 81
to the Gentiles, two -peculiarities mark the im-
partation of the iSlpirit to believers, one of which
was that "commonly an interval of time elapsed
between the receiving of Christ by faith and the
baptism of the Spirit." Beginning 1 with chapter
ten he says the baptism came at the moment
of regeneration. This is true in the case
of Cornelius (Acts 10: 44 and n: 15), but was it
the same kind of Baptism that came at Pen-
tecost? If so, then although it came practically
simultaneous with regeneration, it must have
been something different from regeneration and
conditioned by it. That the baptism in chapter
ten was the same as that which the disciples and
all others since Pentecost had received is evi-
denced 1 by the miraculous gifts which) came with
it and by Peter's account of it in the next chap-
ter.
What has thus far been said has been offered
in the defence of the view that the disciples at
Pentecost were not necessarily unregenerate,
and more particularly that the Baptism of the
82 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit they and all others (recorded) re-
ceived, was not identical with regeneration.
We now come to what has been our common
error the old failure of definition; Scofield,
(Plain Papers on the Doctrine of the Slpirit,
page 42) beginning with Acts 10 as a starting
point, (where, as we have seen, mention! is made
of a Baptism of the Holy Spirit identical with
that of Pentecost,) seeks to establish the fact that
all believers are now and have been from that
time, Acts 10, regenerated and baptized by the
Spirit at one and the same time, and adduces in
defence of such position the exceeding difficult
passage in I Cor. 12: 13. This passage Morgan,
(Spirit of God, page 174), also quotes as proof
that regeneration and Spirit Baptism are identi-
cal. If I Cor. 12: 13, refers to the Bap-
tism of the Holy Spirit, it is identical with regen-
eration, but do we not at once see that as such it
is an altogether different kind of baptism from
that of the Holy Spirit in Acts 10, or any time
previous; in other words, if this baptism in I
The Baptism of the Spirit 83
Cor. 12: 13, is that of the Spirit, it is different
from every other experience in the Word of God
bearing that name.
Granting t now for the moment that the word
"baptism" in I Cor. 12: 13, has no reference to
water, but refers solely to the regenerative work
of the Spirit, we would have, in view of the above
discussion and the present concession:
(1) A Baptism of the Holy Spirit beginning
at Pentecost (and ending, so far as the name is
concerned, at Acts 10,) differing from regenera-
tion, whatever may be the interpretation given to
practically simultaneous with regeneration (Acts
10) though conditioned by it. This baptism
was a special enduement or filling of the Holy
Spirit for service.
(2) A Baptism of the Holy Spirit simulta-
neous and identical with regeneration, a spiritual
baptismal regeneration, which belongs not only
to every believer since Acts 10, but has occurred
in the case of every individual ever regenerated.
Not every treatise has made this distinction clear.
It is in fact the distinction noted by Cumming,
84 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
page 117, between Christ baptizing men with the
Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit baptizing men
into Christ. The first might properly be called
the Baptism with the Holy Spirit, and the second
the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. The first is
Christ's baptism; the second is the Spirit's bap-
tism. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is there-
fore, properly speaking, the same as regenera-
tion, whatever may be the interpretation given to
I Cor. 12: 13, and even though there be in the
Scripture no specific mention of it in the exact
phraseology we are using. In speaking, there-
fore, of the post-regenerative experience under
discussion the reader will note that through
the remainder of these remarks the expres-
sion, "Baptism 'with the Holy Spirit" is used.
Nlow concerning I Cor. 12: 13; "For with one
Spirit we were all baptized into one body." The
Revised Version reads, "in one Spirit," but as
it is the same preposition as is used in every
other case, we see no reason for reading other
than "with" (as expressive of the agent) in this
The Baptism of the Spirit 85
instance, especially if it means baptism in the
sense above granted.
Does it refer to water baptism or to the regen-
erative impartation of the. Holy Spirit? The
question is a difficult one, and no man can decide
it and as the translator of Kling has said,
"It will continue to be determined in accordance
with the feeling and original preferences of differ-
ent individuals." Authority, which preponder-
ates in favor of the first, is divided so far as we
have discovered as follows : For water baptism,
Bengel, Meyer, Alford, DeWette, Kling, Ruck-
ert, Luther, Beza, Calvin, Henry, Scott, Gum-
ming, Vincent. For the regenerative baptism of
the Holy Ghost apart altogether from water
baptism, Hodge, Chapman, Scofield, Morgan,
MacNeil.
In Gal. 3: 27, and Bph. 4: 5, where the refer-
ence as we have taken it is to water baptism, Paul
says we are "baptized into Christ," and here he
says, "we are baptized into Christ 'en' the Holy
Spirit," and as it is not plain that he anvwhere
else speaks of the regenerative act as a baptism
86 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
it would seem the part of consistent exegesis to
see a reference to water baptism here.
This baptism is then either "in" the Holy Spirit
as the element into which the baptized have been
transferred and in which they are ever after ex-
pected to live (the E. R. V. rendering seems to
favor this as in every other instance where the
same preposition is used "with" is given as the
preferred meaning); or it is "with" or "by" the
Holy Spirit in the sense that the Holy Spirit is
the agent of the faith which is the necessary ac-
companiment of every baptism into 'Christ. This
is the explanation of Gumming (Through the
Eternal Spirit, page 117.)
Impossible to come to an unquestioned)
decision, we must content ourselves with a
preference. That preference is for the explana-
tion of Gumming. In the word "baptism" there-
fore, in this verse is to be found an immediate
reference to water baptism. This brings the con-
clusion that as a regenerative act the baptism of
the Holy Spirit is nowhere mentioned in the
Scripture. Hodge says, "any communication of
The Baptism of the Spirit 87
the Spirit may be called a baptism whether in his
regenerating, sanctifying or inspiring 1 influ-
ences." This is true, but his regenerating 1 in-
fluence is not so called in Scripture and what we
must in our now current discussions avoid is a
confusion of terms.
The Holy Spirit does baptize us into Christ
whether so mentioned in Scripture or not, but
this experience in reality is prior to that of which
Paul speaks in I Cor. 12: 13, inasmuch as when
a man comes to the baptismal place he is sup-
posed to be already a regenerated individual ; he
is then on the ground of his faith, previously pro-
duced by the Holy Spirit, baptized into, that is,
in respect to Christ. The other view which must
also be worthily considered maintains that Paul
here has no reference to water and speaks solely
of the regenerative baptism by the Holy Spirit
into Christ, which of course is experienced by
everyone who believes.
Our discussion has so far thus resolved itself:
i. Every believer has had one Baptism of the
Spirit (regenerative) whether the particular
88 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
phraseology be so used in Scripture or not.
2. If i Cor. 12: 13, refers immediately to regen-
eration there is at least one express mention of
this baptism in the Word. 3. To the apostles
r!
and early Christians was granted a Baptism with
jthe Spirit (post-regenerative) filling them with
power and preparing them for every emergency
in Christian experience.
Mow comes the other question, Is there such a
thing as Christ baptizing men with the Holy
Spirit today? May we be baptized as were the
apostles? As far as the phrasing of that experi-
ence is concerned, it nowhere in Scripture says
we may; but it is the writer's opinion based upon
his own experience that many an anxious one
(has been led into confusion about this most im-
portant matter bv expressions of different writers
seemingly antagonistic because of an indiscrim-
inating use of terms or a lack of explanation as
to the exact meaning involved. For example,
note the following:
(i) "The believer may ask and expect what
The Baptism of the Spirit 89
may be termed a Baptism of the .Spirit," Murray,
Spirit of Christ, page 323.
(2) "The Baptism is not like the filliner pre-
sented to us as a blessing for which the Christian
is to seek," Moule, Veni Creator, page 222.
(3) "Neither is there any gift He is more
willing to bestow upon believers than this Divine
Baptism"; Mahan, 'Baptism of the Holy
Ghost, pages 48 and 49.
(4) "It is not right that Christian people
should profess to be waiting for the Baptism of
the Spirit" ; Morgan The Spirit of God page
176. i
(5) "The Baptism of the Spirit is the begin-
ning of the full life of Christian experience":
dimming Through the Eternal Spirit page
119.
(6) "It is unscriptural for the Christian to be
talking about the Baptism of the Holv Ghost":
Chapman Received ye the Holy Ghost page
75-
(7) "It surely cannot be unscriptural for a
believer to pray, Lord Jesus baiptize me with the
90 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit"; MacNeil Spirit-filled Life-^page
38.
(8) "It does not follow that every believer has
received this Baptism of the Spirit"; Gordon
The Ministry of the Spirit page 75. He goes
on to show they may.
(9) "And she (a Christian woman) received
the Baptism of the Holy Ghost inside of ten min-
utes"; Torrey, Baptism with the Holy Ghost,
page 19.
The experience which we are discussing is of
vital importance to every believer, and anxious to
know that he may have a thoughtful appreciation
of the thing he is told to seek, is it any wonder
he finds himself somewhat bewildered in the pres-
ence of so many statements, some actually con-
flicting, others apparently so, though a different
experience is being described by the same name.
Is there a "Baptism with the Holy Spirit" for the
believer today? We have already said that in this
particular phraseology, Scripture does not say
there is; but may we have the experience belong-
ing to it? Paul said in Eph. 5: 18, "Be filled with
The Baptism of the Spirit 91
the Spirit." Before attempting an answer to the
above question let us endeavor to see something
of what Paul meant by the experience to which he
exhorts MS in the words, "Be filled with the
Spirit."
CHAPTER X.
THE FILLING OF THE SPIRIT.
N the chapter on the advent of the
Spirit were noted three distinct
periods of the Spirit's presence and
operation. In each of these men
were filled with the Spirit:
I. In the Old Testament, Bezaleel,
Ex. 28: 3; 31: 3; 35: 31. See also
Deut. 34: 9. Eight times in the Old
Testament the Spirit is said 1 to' be in
men, twenty-seven times upon men, and three
times to be clothed with men. These different
expressions make no difference in the resulting
experience.
II, From the Incarnation to Pentecost, John
the Baptist, Luke i: 5; Elizabeth, Luke 1:4;
Zacharias, Luke 1 : 67. In all 1 these instances the
same Greek word, "pletho" (to fill) or its Hebrew
equivalent, "male," as in the case of Bezaleel, is
used, and in each case, according to the Spirit's
The Filling of the Spirit 93
economy prior to Pentecost, was the equipment
of a special individual to do a special work.
III. Pentecost and after. At Pentecost the
disciples were baptized, Acts i: 5, endued with
power, Luke 24: 49; and filled, Acts 2: 4; all in
one and the same experience. This filling was
accompanied by miraculous signs and followed
by miraculous effects, but there was nothing
miraculous about the filling itself. The writer
means in this sense for instance, supposing
Paul's regeneration to have occurred on his way
to Damascus, there was nothing more miracu-
lous about it than about yours or mine, the
miracle (the blazing light, etc.), was the accom-
paniment. These spiritual processes or acts are
always in a sense miraculous, but the actual fill-
ing and the actual regenerating were according
to the regular method of operation, and if there
is such an experience for the believer today, it
will be the same kind of fi'llinig, given by the
same method which the 1 disciples received by
whatever name it may be called.
In Acts 4: 8, Peter was filled again, and again
94 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
with all the disciples, in 4: 31. Paul was filled in
Acts 9: 17, and once more in 13: 9. We now call
attention to the fact that Stephen in Acts 6: 37,
and 7: 55, and Barnabas in Acts n: 24, are said
to be men "full of the Holy Spirit," the adjective
(irXtjpys) being used, whereas in the above-noted
fillings, when used as a qualifying clause, the past
participle (TrX^fleis) is employed as designative
of something definitely done. Some have ac-
cordingly found a distinction here which to a
certain extent is a worthy one, though it
sounds very strange to speak of a dif-
ference between! being "full of the' Spirit" and
being 1 "filled with the Spirit." The first refers
more properly to the habitual fullness of the
Spirit as a somewhat permanent state of the soul;
the second to occasional experiences for special
purposes.
We remark, (i) It is not difficult to conceive
of the distinction. We speak of a man well
known for his godliness and spiritual power as
being full of the Holy Spirit, without implying
that he is filled to the utmost reach of his capacity
The Filling of the Spirit 95
for fulness as may be needful for him on some
particular occasion. Peter was filled more than
once and certainly after Pentecost he was, even
as Barnabas and Stephen, a man "full of the Holy
Spirit," though this particular expression is
nowhere used of him in Scripture. And may
we not think of Barnabas and Stephen, men full
of the Spirit, Acts n: 24; 6: 5; 7: 55, being on
some special occasion -filled with the Spirit for
some special purpose. Says F. B. Meyer, "A
Castaway," page 100, "You may be a man full of
the Holy Ghost in your family, but before enter-
ing your pulpit, be sure that you are especially
equipped by a new reception of the Holy Ghost."
The filling then with this distinction in mind
would correspond! more nearly to what most
people understand as the anointing the special
equipment for a special purpose. Such was Acts
2:4;4:8;i3:9, etc., while the fulness would find
its reference to the more ordinary condition of
every godly character to what Gumming calls,
page 230, "the habit of the soul."
(2) The distinction, if accepted, we are in-
96 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
dined to think is one altogether of degree; the
occasional filling being simply an increased
supply of the same power already in pos-
session such as the exigency of the occasion
demands. It presupposes the need with which it
comes and with which it departs ; it presupposes,
of course, the fulness as the more habitual pos-
session and is received upon exactly the same
(conditions with it.
What then was this experience which came to
the disciples when in fulfillment of the promise
that they should "be baptized with the Holy
Spirit not many days hence" it is said in Scrip-
ture, Acts 2 : 4, "They were all filled with the Holy
Spirit?" What happened to the disciples when
thus filled? It is not the name of an experience
we are trying to establish, but its nature we would
so far as possible understand. Have we not gone
to unwarranted lengths in seeking to establish a
difference in import in the meaning of "in,"
"with" and "by," and various other modes of ex-
pression by which in Scripture it is evidently de-
sired to convey the same thought? In the case
The Filling of the Spirit 97
of the household of Cornelius, Peter describes
the one experience by "poured out," "fell upon,"
"received," "baptized" and)' "gave," and then said
it was like Pentecost which therefore was also an
"enduement" and a "nllimg."
But when the disciples were filled at Pentecost
iwhat we do know is that the Holy Spirit as a
diivine personal Presence, so wrought upon or
exercised Himself within them or so influenced
them that the inner subjective change resultant
therefrom fitted them for service and of course
for holy living also, although note this last is
never mentioned as a result of the filling re-
ceived by the Apostles. The Holy Spirit
then for the first time manifested Himself
in fulness in the men of God and filled
them for the particular service of the hour; had
it been some great spiritual conflict through
which they were to pass the filling which they
received would! have been appropriate and ade-
quate to that; had it been to endure martyrdom
or suffer otherwise the filling would have been
given for that, for although the occasion made
98 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
equipment for service the prominent need it is
not our thought that the filling of the Spirit is
to be thus limited 1 .
Now when Paul tells us in Eph. 5: 18, to "Be
filled with the Spirit," it is doubtless with more
immediate reference to that habitual fulness
which ought to characterize the life of every be-
liever. What he meant was "live the Spirit-filled
life." But if the Spirit-filled life is held before us
as a possible attainment, certainly the special
filling needful at crisal moments in Christian ex-
perience, which, after all, though the above dis-
tinction be thoroughly appreciated, is the more
ordinary fulness carried up to its highest mani-
festation, will not be denied us if in the time of
need we put ourselves in a condition to receive it,
and what other could the Pentecostal experience
and the special fillings that came to the Disciples
be than a high degree of the same power which
is necessarily associated with that fulness of the
Spirit (Eph. 5: 18) which is the normal or healthy
condition of soul and which ought to character-
ize the life of every believer.
The Filling of the Spirit 99
It is an experience wrought upon our very in-
most self. Its metaphysical nature is beyond
finite comprehension. It is God Himself in the
presence and Person of His Holy Spirit enter-
ing into the throne room of a believer's being,
ruling there with power for the perfection of life
and commanding for the advancement of His
kingdom the now divinely energized faculties of
a God-possessed and God-empowered soul.
In view of this it certainly will not be missing
the truth if it is said with Gumming ("Through
the Eternal Spirit," page 114), that for the
Christian of today "in addition to the gift
of the Spirit received at conversion there is
another blessing corresponding in its sign and
effects to the blessing received by the apostles
at Pentecost," or with Boardman, ("In the Power
of the Spirit," paige 2), that "All of every age who
have shown by their fruits that they have had the
apostolic enduement' of spiritual power, came
into it by an experimental reception of the Holy
Spirit not essentially different from that of the
apostles and evangelists."
100 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
If this filling received by the disciple today is
not essentially different from the experience ac-
corded to the early disciples by what name shall
we call it? As learned Dr. 'Hodge has reminded
us, any impartation of the Holy Spirit is a bap-
tism, and certainly, apart from biblical phrase-
ology, a filling with the Spirit may be called a
baptism with the Spirit. Again since a not essen-
tially different experience in the case of the. disci-
ples is called a baptism would it not seem to be of
Scriptural warrant, to call this filling also a bap-
tism? But since Scripture does not use the term
baptism, in the sense in which we are now speak-
ing, when referring to this experience, in that
portion of God's Word especially designed for the
saints of this day the Epistles but does exhort
the Christian to be filled with the Spirit, many
have argued, especially since there is a question
in the minds of some as to the similarity of these
experiences, that it would be best to adhere in
present-day terminology to the word "filling";
but if the use of such a term is calculated to mag-
nify a difference which does not exist, such a dis-
The Filling of the Spirit 101
tinction in choice of words had better be aban-
doned. What is there, therefore, but to conclude
with Andrew Murray, "Spirit of Christ," page
23, that the believer may come into an experi-
ence of "what may be termed a baptism with the
Holy Spirit."
Possible objections to the above conclusion:
i. It has been objected that the word bap-
tism is not used in this connection with reference
to believers in any of the Epistles. It is true
the New Testament writers were very choice in
their use of words, but this very fact cripples the
objection, since Luke has made use of so many
different expressions to describe the one experi-
ence under consideration. Since also the term
"filling" is used interchangeably with "baptism"
in the Acts, and the mere fact that this was an ex-
perience for the disciples is no reason in itself
why it may not be ours, and since, after all, the
point of discussion is an experience and not a
word, the above objection is of insufficient force
for any invalidation of the position we have
assumed
102 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
2. It has been objected that a feature of the
early baptism with the Spirit was the miraculous.
The miraculous was not, however, essential to the
thing itself; it was the accompaniment and a
method of manifestation according 1 to the econ-
omy of that iday. If it is the miraculous that
determines the experience, then it is heartily con-
ceded that there is no> baptism for the believer
today, but a filling differing from the baptism in
this particular. But the miraculous does not be-
long to the nature of the filling, and with no dif-
ference in the experience that comes to a Spirit-
filled man today God could, if He chose, use him
in setting the miraculous before the world, the
subjective condition of the man being in no wise
different from that which characterized the
saints of earlier days.
That the filling is not accompanied by miracu-
lous manifestations today is true; that it is not
followed by them is also true. Some of our rec-
ognized teachers upon this subject have affirmed
the opposite concerning the miraculous results
of this experience; they claim to have witnessed
The Filling of the Spirit 103
such results. Possibly, they have failed in close
discrimination between the miraculous and the
working of natural law.
'Neither their conviction nor their veracity is
called in question, but the writer finds himself
simply unable to believe it; he does believe the
prayer of faith shall save the sick; he does believe
in the physiological effect of faith and in the power
of mental states over physical conditions; but
when a man, Spirit-filled though he be, goes with
me to the side of a mutilated, flesh-corroded leper
or any person suffering with an organic ailment,
and lifts him at once into the vigor of health, he
will find another ardent believer of the genuinely
miraculous result of the experience under consid-
eration.
Bishop Taylor, according to Rev. Mr. Godbey,
tells of a young lady, who, in three months,
preached fluently to a nation of whose language
she had been utterly ignorant. This Mr. Godbey
calls the "Gift of Tongues." A Spirit-filled per-
son can learn a great deal in three months by
hard work, but the disciples spoke not only in
104 A Help to the Stuay of the Holy Spirit
one but in many tongues in less time than that.
That such miraculous power did attend the gift
of the Holy Spirit in the early church, Paul's
letters render plain, I Cor. 12: 1-12. Whether
the church has lost them through her unfaithful-
ness or whether, which is more probable, as Dr.
Meyer suggests, "special gifts being given for
special purposes they are now withdrawn," is a
question without a place in the purpose of this
discussion.
3. It has been objected that the filling en-
joined by Paul in Eph. 5: 18, had for its' chief
aim the development of character, while that of
apostolic times was always connected with ser-
vice. But in recording the growth of the church
service would naturally be the point of emphasis
though certainly a holy character must have been
presupposed; while Paul in his thought for the
Ephesian Christians would naturally emphasize
that which is the foundation of all service. Luke
was writing of the church; Paul was writing to
the church; the purpose and consequent nature
of the writings satisfactorily account for this dif-
The Filling of the Spirit 105
ference. If this be kept in mind, together with
the explanation as given in the beginning of this
chapter, the above objection in no sense invali-
dates the argument set forth in these pages.
4. It has been objected that the conditions of
these experiences are different; to be filled with
the Spirit, as understood today, calls for the full-
est surrender and the most thorough consecra-
tion, while in apostolic times it was granted to
those who were evidently the most ordinary
Christians. In answer to this it may be said:
(a) There is no clear evidence that the three
thousand at Pentecost were thus filled.
(b) It has been thought that at such an ini-
tial time, to lend the kingdom all possi-
ble advance it may have seemed wise
to the Head of the Church to bestow
this gift on less stringent conditions.
(c) The better answer, however, is that the
objection involves an unwarranted as-
sumption; there is no evidence that
those filled were other than they who
were of the required character for this
experience.
In view of the first three objections, should
any consider them formidable, there is no bap-
tism with the Spirit for the believer today, but
106 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
as already explained, the name and the miracle,
as the point of emphasis, have no part in the
nature of the act or process, for it is both, and
if this last is not essentially different in either
case, then the experience itself is virtually the
same. If the Spirit's operations are essen-
tially the same both in the baptism and the filling
the name is of small importance; it is not ai ques-
tion of nomenclature, but of a spiritual act and:
process which remain in nature unchanged by
whatever term it may be designated.
We observe then:
(i) There are many fillings. Two instances
of Paul's filling have been noted, Acts 9: 17, and
13: 9; the disciples were filled, Acts 2: 4, and
again, 4: 31; and Peter, a third time, Acts 4: 8,
each being an experience similar to Pentecost,
says Kuyper, only weaker. These repeated fill-
ings were all in view of service to be performed.
That it was because these men had "passed into
a realm of fear and trembling," Morgan, (Spirit
of God, page '189), that such filling must again
be renewed we cannot with certainty affirm; it is
The Filling of the Spirit 107
not so difficult to conceive of being always "full
of the Spirit" as the normal condition or habit of
the soul, but that any one, even Peter or Paul,
should, despite the limitations of the human na-
ture, remain continually in the overflowing con-
dition, at the utmost height of spiritual power
and attainment, should at every minute of life be
filled with the Spirit to the measure which at
some particular crisis is necessary to the highest
glory of God is hardly possible to conceive. Such
filling is, however, for us at whatever moment
we need it and are ready to receive it.
The Filling of the Spirit and what some have
chosen to call and we have conceded may be
called, the Baptism with the Spirit, being there-
fore one and the same kind! of experience we fail
to see the ground for saying, as does Gumming,
(Through the Eternal Spirit, page 119), that
there is but one baptism and many fillings, and
that "the baptism is something not to be repeated
in the experience of the man who receives it."
MacNeil, (Spirit-filled Life, page 37), says, "The
filling may be and ought to be repeated over and
108 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
over and over again; the baptism need be but
once"; and again he says, page 39, "He
must not continue praying for the baptism,
for that cannot be repeated; whereas, he may
ask and obtain a fresh filling, a refilling with the
Holy Spirit every day of his life." Erdman, Mor-
gan, Chapman, Carson, all say, "one baptism
and many fillings"; so also do Gumming and
MacNeil.
This is the oft-quoted formula of Dr. Erdman;
but notice the above-mentioned writers do not all
mean alike; the first group refer the baptism to
regeneration, I Cor. 12: 13, for which there is
reason, as already seen, and if admitted, the for-
mula is true; Gumming and Mac-Neil, however,
use the same formula and refer the baptism to
the special experience after regeneration, in
which case the distinction is not a worthy one.
They say the baptism is the beginning of the
full experience, and there can be only one be-
ginning and therefore one baptism; but this
makes no distinction in the experience. Cer-
tainly there can be but one first, so also is there
The Filling df the Spirit 109
but one second, and along the line of Dr. Gum-
ming'^ argument, with which we have in the main
agreed, we find no room for saying the baptism
of the Spirit can never be repeated.
These baptisms, these fillings, by whatever
name they are called are all alike save in measure,
and the last one may be greater than the first.
We have all heard of the Second Blessing, count-
ing regeneration the first, but someone has wisely
said, "I believe not only in a second but in a
forty-second blessing."
(2) This experience, this filling or baptism, is
subsequent to regeneration. It may be received
for the first time on the same occasion with our
regeneration, but never in the same moment.
Both logically and chronologically it is a subse-
quent operation of the Spirit. "The reason,"
says William Kelly in his lectures on the "New
Testament Doctrine of the Holy Spirit," page
161, "is quite simple, for it is grounded on the
fact that we are sons by faith in Christ, believers
resting on redemption in Him."
Between the regeneration of the disciples and
110 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
their filling some time elapsed, Acts 2:4; it was
so in the case of Paul, Acts 9: 17. If Paul's
conversion occurred in the house of Judas, as
Morgan would have us believe, and the filling
likewise, still the latter would be subsequent to
and dependent upon the former ; if he were born
of the Spirit on the way to Damascus, as is prob-
able, and which Morgan does not vehemently
oppose, then how, according to Morgan, could
the filling be simultaneous with the regeneration?
(The Spirit of God, page 187.)
The same thing was true in the case of the
Samaritan Christians, Acts 8: 12-17. They be-
lieved and were baptized in the name of Jesus
under the preaching of a Spirit-filled man like
Philip, and yet Dr. Morgan says none of them
were converted or regenerated, reasoning that
Simon Magus also> believed, but was not truly
regenerated; but his case proves nothing as to
the real condition of the others; the trouble with
Simon Miagus was' his "heart was not right," and
Peter told him so, but this argues nothing as to
the heart condition of the others. The gospel
The Filling of the Spirit 111
Philip preached was certainly as pure as that
which fell from the lips of Peter, and we can see
no legitimate ground for not calling these people
Christians, and yet they were given the blessing
of which we speak as a later experience.
The same thing is true of the believers in Acts
19: 1-6. Scofield, page 47, and Morgan, page 180,
says, "These people were not Christians."
Most authorities hold differently. What we
know is that they were disciples of John the Bap-
tist, and in a certain sense it may be said they
were not Christians. In which case neither were
the disciples Christians before Pentecost, which
position we have seen to be untenable. It is best
to see in these people, whom Luke calls "dis-
ciples" and "believers," certain ones whose spir-
itual status warranted Paul holding before them
the experience under consideration, to which as
yet they were strangers and which, as we have
seen, comes subsequent to regeneration.
Im the case of Cornelius, however, Acts 10:
45-46 and n: 15, the regeneration and 1 baptism
were on the same occasion, practically simul-
1 12 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
taneous, although even here the logical order, as
well as the chronological by accurate distinction
must have been first regeneration and then bap-
tism, as was also the case of the Bphesian dis-
ciples, Acts 19: 1-6, even though we think of their
conversion in connection with the experience
brought to them by Paul ; for they, first believing
what Paul said, were baptized in the. name of
Jesus, presupposing regeneration of course, and
in this act a reception of the Spirit, Rom. 8:9;
and then Paul laid his hands upon them, all of
which took a few moments at least, and then they
received the Holy Spirit in the sense of this dis-
cussion.
At the self-same time of a man's conversion
he may be given a special filling or baptism to
meet some particular demand of the hour, but
into the Spirit-filled condition in the sense of the
more ordinary fullness (Eph. 5: 18) he not only
may enter at conversion, but God expects of him
that he shall do so; these both, however, rest
upon the fact that he is already botn of the
Spirit.
The Filling of the Spirit 113
(3) Is this condition the normal (healthy) and
a possible continuous one? This is not a hard
question. In the immediate sense of Eph. 5: 18
(the more ordinary fullness) the answer is, Yes.
In the sense of the special filling for a special
purpose the answer is, No. Cumming (Through
the Eternal Spirit, page 115), after likening
this experience to the filling of the disciples, says,
"It is only from want of faith that subsequent
outpourings of the Holy Spirit become needful."
But if the filling has respect to equipment for
some particular purpose, certainly a special out-
pouring or filling for the particular thing at hand
is the original purpose of God. We can under-
stand how the "fullness of the Spirit" as
a habit of the soul is the normal and
more continuous condition, as with Barnabas and
Stephen, and believe we know some today of
whom it may be said they are "full of the Holy
Spirit," but between this and the more specific
filling a difference of degree has already been
noted. Says Morgan, page 186, "When a man is
born of the Spirit he is baptized with the Spirit
114 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
and is filled with the Spirit." That when a man
is born of the Spirit he has the Spirit is- true, else
She is none of His, Rom. 8:9; that he may then
be filled with the Spirit is also true, as we have
seen, but that he is then filled with the Spirit
either in the sense of the fulness of the Spirit, as
a habit of the soul, or in the sense: of being filled
with the Spirit after the fashion now engaging
our attention, we can find no warrant either in
Scripture or in the possible conception of our
own mind.
(4) What is this filling of the Spirit? It
is nothing less than the very presence of
God Himself working His unhindered will in
the human soul, in which is experienced His
power of mastery over the sin principle and what-
ever of the divine energy is necessary for the
highest results in service or suffering. Power,
energy, force are to be appreciated, not defined.
There is power in fire; watch its unconquer-
able march over a proud city whose mighty
buildings of brick and stone and iron are melted
at its touch.
The Filling of the Spirit 115
There is power in wind, driving the mighty
ship across the seas, tearing deep-rooted forests
from the earth, hurling huge buildings through
space and sweeping whole cities into splintered
ruin.
There is power in water, the power of a flood,
who can estimate it?
Yet, if these could speak, they could not tell
you what power is; but these are in Scripture
made emblems of the Holy Spirit; the super-
natural power of the Spirit is symbolized but
only symbolized in the mighty dynamics of these
natural elements. Undefinable as their energy
is, much less can the Divine potency be
explained.
What is power? "God hath spoken once, yes,
twice have I heard this that power belongeth
unto God." Nor can it be divorced from God;
nor can any man obtain it save as God Himself
comes with it, and the "filling of the Holy Spirit"
is the very self of God, already indwelling the
human soul through regeneration, working out His
unhindered will in and through the now divinely
116 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
controlled faculties in the fullest manifestation
of all that man can be and do.
The human will has allowed Him undisputed
sway over the entire being so hallowed by His
presence, and in turn with every other faculty
of the inner man is energized with the very life
of God Himself for the accomplishment in char-
acter and service of that for which it hath pleased
the Almighty to bestow them.
Just here is, after all, the great difference in
present-day teaching; much of other discussion
springs, as has been noted, from a confusion in
nomenclature. The difficult question and the
one, after all, to which it is impossible to give
an absolute and unqualified answer is this: (i)
Is this experience the working of the Spirit al-
ready within the believer; or (2) Is it another
and special reception of the Spirit Himself; or
(3) Is it both? To attempt such an answer as just
indicated is for the finite to presume a knowledge
sufficient to clarify the most infinite mystery,
the omnipresence of a divine Personality. That
it is the second apart from the first we believe to
The Filling of the Spirit 117
be wholly unscriptttral. That it is the first apart
from the second is in a sense certainly true; as
a divine Personality it is not in part but in His
entirety that the Spirit of God 1 dwells in the be-
liever; it is upon this view we are strongly in-
clined to believe the chief emphasis should rest.
We may have more of the Spirit's filling, that is,
more of His power, more of His influence,
more of the fruit of the .Spirit; but to speak of
having more of the Spirit Himself, as does An-
drew Murray, ("Spirit of Christ," page 321), is to
come dangerously near to a species of mysticism
hardly consistent with the accredited religious
thought of the day.
'However, the third of the above views, namely,
the first two considered together, is not without
argument in its favor. This is the view of An-
drew Murray. He says, "Spirit of Christ," page
320, "That there is a great deal of prayer in
which the presence of the Spirit is forgotten, is
ignored, I admit and deplore; and yet it would
be falling into the other extreme, if, because God
has given and: we have received the Spirit, we
118 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
were no longer to pray for more of Him." F. B.
Meyer also says, "Before undertaking any defin-
ite work for God be sure you are equipped by a
new reception of the Hbly Ghost." ("A Cast-
away," page 100.)
Mbule, commenting on Eph. 1:17, says, "We
are not to think of the 'giving' of the Spirit as
an isolated deposit of what, once given, is now
locally in possession." This is true, as is also
Murray's statement that "God has not given His
Spirit in the sense of parting with Him."
The Spirit is in heaven as well as in the be-
liever, and He is at the same time in every be-
liever, yet in speaking of a personality as we are,
we have found ourselves unable to appreciate
Mr. Murray's comparison of the desire for the
Spirit's filling to the fingers crying to the heart
for more blood, the branch crying to the vine for
more sap, and the lungs crying to the air for
more breath.
There is in this mode of speaking the danger
just referred to and the liability of leaving with
the less thoughtful reader the impression of an
The Filling of the Spirit 119
influence rather than a personality. To define,
especially in a theological sense, is always easier
than to appreciate the subject of the definition
as defined. Nowhere is this more true than in
the case before us ; how much easier to define the
Holy Spirit as a person than to think of the Holy
Spirit as such when we are thinking of omni-
presence or of soul experiences which we know
are from God; and the very fact that this is so,
together with the fact that so many, even am on.;
those who may have the most correct definition,
have accustomed themselves to think thus care-
lessly about this blessed Presence, should guard
us carefully against any mode of expression that
might in any way seem to favor such impression.
We have thought long here, but have been left
always as at the outset The subject deals with
Infinity, and while many have made statements
conformable as they believe to Scripture, it is
satisfying to note that not in a single volume
is any attempt made to deal with this inscrutable
mystery with a view to making it wholly intelli-
gible to the finite mind; we are in the presence
120 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
of the Infinite, and it becomes us to say, "'Speak
Lord, for thy servant heareth," and to be satis-
fied with what He says.
This most precious bestowal we have been ac-
customed to exiplain by figurative expressions;
indeed, we have been taught in this by the in-
spired writers themselves. Even baptism and
filling are figurative as touching any relation the
Holy Spirit can bear to an individual. We speak,
as indeed does the Word, of His filling us, cloth-
ing us, being poured upon us, etc.; all of which
are accommodations to the finite. All the defini-
tions in the world can never explain what God is,
and no more can any amount of philosophizing
explain how by His Spirit He enters into man,
regenerates him or operates within him; this is a.
mystery more infinite than life itself, but we have
not only the postulates of reason that it may be
so, but the Word of God and our own experience
(that it is so, which is more powerful evidence
than anything metaphysics could ever bring to
us.
The Filling of the Spirit 121
(5) Is it a definite, conscious, once-for-all ex-
perience?
Note the following expressions:
"It is a crisis done definitely, done once for
all." J. F. Carson, Evangelistic Work, Jan.,
IQOO.
"The baptism of the Spirit is the beginning of
the full Christian experience and that can never
be repeated." Cumming, "Through the Eternal
Spirit," page 119.
"He must not continue praying for the bap-
tism for that cannot be repeated." MacNeil,
"Spirit-filled Life," page 39.
"It is a definite experience of which a person
may know whether or not he has it." Torrey,
"Baptism with the Spirit."
These are but a few of the many similar ex-
pressions that might be quoted from writers,
all of whom are speaking of an experience sub-
sequent to regeneration, such as is under consid-
eration.
Certainly it is definite, an actual occurrence
definitely brought to pass, else nothing to be ap-
122 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
predated. Definiteness does not, however, nec-
essarily imply consciousness. The act of self-
dedication, the committal to God for this filling
are both definite and conscious in the believer's
experience, but the filling consequent thereon
may not at the moment be realized in his con-
sciousness; the filling is a reality within him,
nevertheless.
'How then, it is asked, does he come into the
consciousness of it. In two ways, in three ways
it may be said 1 . I know at once this filling is
mine; having met the conditions as best I can,
I receive the promise of the Spirit by faith, Gal.
3: 14. I have taken God at Hlis word and I
know. This may be called one way, but note the
distinction between knowledge and conscious-
ness as here used. I know in the above sense
and yet I may not have come into the conscious-
ness of it as a realized possession, and into' this
consciousness I come in two> ways, the more
usual of which, certainly the more satisfactory,
is by H'is own manifestation in me and through
me. As F. B. Meyer says, "Reckoning that God
The Filling of the Spirit 123
has kept His word with you dare to believe it,
though you may not be conscious of any emo-
tion, and you will find when you come to work or
to suffer or to meet temptation that there will be
in you the consciousness of a power which you
have never known before, and which will indi-
cate the filling of the Spirit."
This by no means excludes the possibility of
an immediate consciousness. The fiery tongues,
the sound and the shaken house are no< more;
the "electric waves" that seemed to go through
Finney, and all such peculiar experiences are
largely, if not wholly, matters of temperament;
no matter how Spirit-filled some men might be-
come, they never could approach unto anything:
of such character, but may, nevertheless, have
the more silent, quiet witness of a feeling within
as deep, as sure, as self-satisfying.
It is not our thought to speak in doubtful terms
about the reality of this or the more extraordi-
nary experiences of men like Finney, but only to
affirm that such are not essential to the "filling"
124 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
itself, and that the more usual way, into the con-
sciousness of it is as above denoted.
Is then this experience once for all?
Whether it be the filling in the sense of the
sudden, decisive experience for some specific
purpose, or whether it be the more habitual ful-
ness of the Spirit, the answer in either case is a
decid'edi No. The fact that 'Scripture records'
many fillings in the former sense ought to be an
answer sufficiently definite in the negative so far
as it is concerned. All who have claimed a dis-
tinction between the first so-catted, never-to-be-
repeated experience and later fillings, have ut-
terly failed to show wherein the distinction con-
sists.
That the fulness of the Spirit as the more
permanent condition, of the soul is a varying
quantity no one for a moment doubts; this be-
longs to the rationale of the thing we are dis-
cussing. The first departs with the occasion and
its need; the second varies according as we com-
mit to God or assume for ourselves the control
of our life. And yet we hear of a "crisis," of
The Fitting of the Spirit 125
something "taking place once for all," and often
the bewildered inquirer finds himself confronted
with a certain day of the year as marking the
exact time of this "never-to-be-repeated experi-
ence."
Gumming, whose distinction between the bap-
tism and the filling of the Spirit, is by no means
a clear one, speaks of a "first time," (Through
the Eternal Spirit, page 114.) Is not this, after
all, the explanation? There was a time when they
first consciously made what they conceived
to be a definite and full surrender to God. In
a very certain sense suchi a moment did
mark a crisis. That popular surrender can,
of course, never be repeated, nor ought there
ever 1 to be occasion for any other like it, but the
resulting experience to the soul was not the "fill-
ing" in the more specific sense of equipment for
some special purpose, but the "fulness" which
must be presupposed in case of the former and
which comes and goes according to the con-
stancy of our abiding truly in Him.
We deplore the tendency which would gather
126 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
about the teacher bands of earnest inquirers
who look upon him as having had some strange
never-to-be-repeated experience, the lack of
which has been crippling their own ministry, and
who, when asking how to get it, are told to do
so and so; and many of them will say, "All this
have we done, and yet were never conscious of
this experience of which you speak," and go
away in uncertainty and sorrow, while the truth
may be that many of them may have been in
the possession of that very something, possibly
in a greater degree than the one whose experi-
ence they fain would know.
The point of discussion is, as to what occurred
at the time of this definite surrender, and that
is the fulness of the Spirit exactly such as he
may get many times later and exactly such as
he may have had in less measure in times of
lesser consecration before this crisis.
This filling of the Spirit, however, it be viewed,
is a matter of degree. Almost every Christian,
shall we say every Christian, (yes, we must), is
to a degree filled with the Spirit a degree that
The Filling of the Spirit 127
in some alas many is inappreciable; that de-
gree increases according to our committal of
ourselves to God 1 , and in moments of such deep
definite conscious surrender as have been under
consideration it leaps into fulness unmeasured,
gives to the Christian the mastery over self, and
sends him forth in the hour of service with a
power that none can stay.
This experience then viewed in either light is
not a once-for-all occurrence. That there may
be a crisis, a turning point in a man's spiritual
life coming at the time of this first definite sur-
render is true, but the fulness of the Holy Spirit
which comes to him then is certainly no different
in nature from, what to a certain though prob-
ably slight degree was always his, nor necessarily
different in degree from that which will come
to him whenever he puts himself in a condition
to receive it.
We need the continual fulness of the Spirit,
and there is but one way to get it, and but one
way to keep it. Should we wander away from
God and lose this priceless blessing, well-nigh
128 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
altogether it may be, we will get it again if we
seek it in the self-same way as before. We need
also the refilling) of the Spirit for service as
much as ever did the apostles, and we will get it
in the same way whenever the occasion calls for
it.
Furthermore, as there are those who do not
know the day of their regeneration, so there are
those, to whose Spirit-filled condition their holy
lives and works lend evidence as undeniable as
ever any man showed forth, whose testimony is
that they have grown into the realization of this
blessed Spirit-filled condition coming to them in
accordance with the same rule without their re-
membering any such definite, never-to-be-
repeated crisis in their lives.
(6) And now we come to what is, after all,
the important question. Paul said, "Be filled
with the Spirit." As already explained, Paul's
more immediate reference here was to living in
the Spirit-filled condition, but the conditions
governing the reception of the Spirit's fulness
in this sense are likewise the underlying re-
The Filling of the Spirit 129
quirements for the occasional special fillings in
view of some specific service to be performed.
But how may I obtain this filling of the Spirit?
There is one supreme condition already sug-
gested There are, however, certain pre-
requisites to this condition and which in the va-
rious answers given to the above question have
likewise, and not without warrant, been called
conditions. We prefer, however, to call them
prerequisites, especially as they are necessarily
involved in the one supreme condition to which
we shall shortly refer. Two of these pre-
requisites refer to the disposition of the soul, and
the third to the state of the soul, while what we
shall call the one condition refers to an act of
the soul.
I. The first of these prerequisites is an In-
tense, unselfish desire to be thus filled. iSiee Isa.
44: 3, where the "water" and the '.Spirit" are
synonymous. It is a blessing to be earnestly
desired. But note this desire must be an un-
selfish one. "It is no part of the Spirit's work
to glorify us ; His great work is to glorify
130 A Help to the Stuay of the Holy Sfint
Christ" Macgregor, "A Holy Life," page 136.
The desire to be used may be an accursed
ambition ; it is only when, a deep, earnest desire
for the honor and glory of Jesus marks the dis-
position of him who covets this experience that
he is coming into the place where it may be
realized.
II. The second of these prerequisites, refer-
ring also 1 to the disposition of the soul, is Faith.
This is not the appropriating faith of Gal. 3: 14,
but faith as John F. Carson has said, "to believe
it is possible for you" ; faith to believe that God
will do it for you because He has promised it;
faith, as Stofield says, (Plain Papers on the Doc-
trine of the Spirit, page 65) "to believe that
the risen and glorified Christ is able and willing
to bestow the fulness of the Spirit," and will
bestow it. Faith in the appropriating sense
though involved! in this former can be exercised
only as the filling is accomplished. See Scofield,
page 65, for a clear statement of this distinction.
III. The third prerequisite, the one referring
to the state of the soul, is Emptiness the neces-
The Filling of the Spirit 131
sary state of any vessel that is to be filled. We
have been told to be consistent, to give up sin,
to be emptied, but these are the very things no
man can do, but they are the very things the
Holy Spirit filling a man enables him to do, and
it would be quite as pertinent to ask, "How may
I be emptied?" A man is no farther along when
he has been told of this necessary state of the
soul than he was before.
With these prerequisites clearly before us it
is now in order to consider the one supireme, and
what may be called, inasmuch as it refers neither
to a disposition or a state, but to* an act of the
soul, the only condition of thus receiving the
Holy Spirit in the sense of infilling. This is
what has been variously called "yieldedness"
(Scofield), "abandonment" (M'organ), "full sur-
render" (Chapman), "consecration" (MacNeil).
These are all excellent and expressive terms. It
is a whole-hearted, absolute, unqualified, com-
mittal an unconditional surrender of ourselves
to God. Of course this act is definite, and as
concerns the will, final, irreversible, and never
132 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
to be repeated, and it is God's idea that there
should never be an occasion for any other like
it, but the mistake must not be made of reading
the ideal into the real. When Paul says, "yield
yourselves," Rom. 6: 13, and "present your
bodies a living sacrifice," Rom. 12: i, he uses
the aorist it was to be done once for all, and
this certainly is what every believer does or wills
to d<o and thinks he does when he thus deliber-
ately gives himself to God, but that any man ever
so gave himself to God 1 as to leave no necessity
for a further giving in all his life is to the writer
a thing altogether inconceivable.
Such a definite, irrevocable committal one is
supposed to make in the. first glad hour of his
surrender to Christ; in fact, he says he makes it;
he means it, and upon such avowal he is received
into church fellowship, but as he grows in the
knowledge of God he discovers that true sur-
render involves sacrifice which his earlier meager
experience could not reveal to him, and so
"from step to step>, from strength to strength,
from faith to faith, the life goes on growing 'hum-
The Filling of the Spirit 733
bier, sweeter, more surrendered, and yet ever
more filled! with the Holy Spirit." Gumming,
"Through the Eternal Spirit," page 241.
And there is one thing else to be considered.
True, as Scofield says, (page 61), "A sacrificer
under the dispensation of the law never dreamed
of reasserting authority over a creature once
brought to the priest," but in all such typifi ca-
tions there was involved and necessarily the
ideal of that which was to be, even as Paul
expresses the same kind of an act by the aorist
tense. Indeed, some have declared it a thing
altogether impossible for man to make such an
ideal surrender, seeing in it nothing less than
the ill-disguised teaching of perfectionism, but
even admitting the possibility of surrendering
in this ideal way we must distinguish between a
perfect life and a perfect surrender.
The surrender is ideal, in intent at least, but as
before noted, that no man, be his surrender ever
so perfect came into a condition of life thereby in
which he never found anything else to be surren-
dered, so no man, no matter how perfect his sur-
134 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
render, has ever been removed thereby from
the possibility of the neglect of duty in some
later period of his life ; and to make the surrender
by which a man comes into the experience under
consideration something never to be repeated is
practically to make it permanent, to 1 ignore our
frailty and our failures and to make no provision
for the wanderer who must comei back to God!
and receive the coveted blessing on a condition
identical with that which governed its reception
at the time of his first surrender.
Dr. Scofield, page 63, deplores "the practice of
continually repeated consecrations (so> called),"
proving, as he thinks, the lack of this definite,
once-for-all surrender. Certainly it is not God's
idea that we should continually be doing a thing
that should be done once for all, as the root
meaning of consecration implies, and while pos-
sibly another word might take its place, yet since
in every human nature there is still what Dr. Van
Dyke in his "Gospel for an Age of Sin," calls the
"radical twist" so productive of "crooked re-
sults," and since every sin is practically a taking
The Filling of the Spirit 135
the gift of ourselves from the altar, asserting the
control of self, it is necessary whenever one is
conscious of so having 1 done, to come to God in
renewed consecration!; whether it be an unholy
thought, a display of temper or some grosser
displeasure to God' it is only a difference in de-
gree after all.
These remarks are not intended to deny that a
man may have such a crisis marking day in his
life from which he dates the first .great rilling of
the Spirit, but to affirm that such a surrender is
what we are supposed to make when we give our-
selves to Christ, what in fact every really con-
verted man wills to do and says he does, but
which, alas for his weakness he finds he has not
done, and must either by an ever-increasing spir-
itual growth which involves surrender all along
the way arrive, and yet be ever arriving at what
is termed the "surrendered life," without the re-
[meoibrance of any one particular crisal experi-
ence step into the "surrendered life," and 1 conse-
quently intoi such a fulness of the Spirit as he
had never before realized, the filling of the Spirit
136 A Help to the Stuay of the Holy Spirit
which he then received, let it be repeated, differ-
ing only in degree from what was his in previous
times; for certainly a minister who looks with
rich satisfaction and! rightly upon some such
hour, possibly twenty years after he took upon
himself the ordination vow, which in itself in-
volves such a surrender, would not repudiate all
his past life as being in no wise Spirit led, his
preaching in no wise Spirit empowered, his
earnest striving after holiness in no wise Spirit
helped.
The filling of the Spirit we again remark is a
matter of degree. Some have asked, "How much
of the Spirit may I have?"
We feel like answering, "You may have all
there is of Him no more and no less," but refer
the reader to the discussion elsewhere (page 93).
But to have the Spirit is not to have Bis filling.
The degree pertains Ito the filling; it is "evermore
surrendered and evermore filled with the Holy
Spirit."
What now does such surrender involve? As
to service, "anything, any time, anywhere/' but
The Filling of the Spirit 137
something else must come first the emptiness, a
heart emptied of sin and surrender implies the
desire to have the heart emptied, and an effort
on our part to bring it about. This effort is not,
however, to be made alone as such it were
fruitless but the Holy Spirit already within is
there to help, and as the vessel is mad'e empty
and cleansed is the filling of the Spirit made pos-
sible. As Dr. Chapman ("Received ye the Holy
Ghost," page 85) has said, "To give up ninety-
nine parts of the nature and withhold! the hun-
dredth is to put a hindrance in the way of the
blessing." After all it seems that M'r. Boys was
right, "If we were asked very briefly the true
meaning of being filled with the Spirit we should
say that it involved not our having more of the
Spirit but rather the Spirit having more of us."
("Filled with the Spirit," page 29.)
Some have made faith (Gal. 3:4,) a condition
of the filling; this, of course, is involved' in the
faith already mentioned, as faith to believe He
will give on a certain condition involves faith to
138 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
believe that He has given when that condition
is met.
This is the faith that appropriates: having met
the condition, reckon the thing done; wait not
for any sound or coronet of flame, but .go forth
to live and work not trying- to feel filled, but
daring to believe that you are filled and that
filling will become to you an experience more
real than which there is none in all the universe.
Being thus filled with the Spirit the varying
measure of this condition is our faithfulness; as
Morgan has said, page 231, "The filling of the
Spirit is retained by abiding in Christ." Acts
5:32 and' John 3:24, is the Bible rule for this
retention. Yet we need for each separate ser-
vice a new and additional equipment of power;
not that all the filling has been lost, but that such
equipment comes only as occasion demands;
then in humble acknowledgement of any thing
which may not have been as He would have it,
by faith as before reckon the needed filling yours
and going forth to duty let Him prove Himself
unto you in power.
CHAPTER XI.
THE EMBE.BMS OF THE SPIRIT.
ORBS are often but lame vehicles in
the conveyance of truth. Often-
times at their best they but "half
reveal and half conceal" the hidden
depths of thought. To say the Holy
Sipirit is like the wind is to express
more than many volumes can con-
tain, and possibly just because this
is so, God has chosen the use of
many symbols to illustrate what otherwise, be-
cause of the poverty of our language, we could
never know.
There are in the Scriptures six emblems of the
Holy Spirit.
I. FIRE.
In Isa. 4:4, He is called the "Spirit of burn-
ing," where the reference is to the purging of
Jerusalem from defilement.
In Matt. 3: n, and Luke 3: 16, of Jesus it is
140 A Help to the -Study of the Holy Spirit
said, "He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit
and fire." To what does the "fire" refer?
(1) Hell-fire. So Meyer, Lange, DeWette,
Gess, Keim, Hengstenberg, Osterzee, and many
others.
(2) Suffering with view of purification.
Cumming.
(3) Holy Spirit under the emblem of fire.
(a) For fiery boldness and zeal. Farrar.
(b) (For purification Godet, Calvin, Bengle,
Olshausen, Riddle, Alford, Schaff, Andrew
Miurray, Scofield, M'o'rgan and many others.
Both the first and third! views have much to
support them. The arguments are too lengthy
to be here in place. We are inclined to' that
which makes it an emblem of the Holy Spirit.
It is hardly possible that the reference in John's
words can be to the "tongues of fire" at Pente-
cost, though the same divine principle has for its
emblem there a visible manifestation of what is
here expressed in word. If such reference: were
in mind, the primary signification of the emblem
as here used would at least be changed 1 , for, cer-
The Emblems of the Spirit 141
tainly apart from such reference, if the emblem
refer at all to the Holy Spirit, the primary
thought as conceived 1 by nearly all expositors
must be to His purifying influences. Fire is a
separator a purifier; we are counselled to buy
gold refined by fire, Rev. 3:18, so the Holy
Spirit, the fire of God, purifies the soul by con-
suming everything in it out of harmony with the
divine kingdom.
(4) In Luke 12:49, Jesus says, "I came to
cast fire upon the earth." Morgan, supported by
abundant critical authority, refers the fire in this
passage to the pentecostal effusion of the Holy
Spirit.
The 'desire of the Son of Godl following the
statement would seem to confirm this view; how-
ever, the immediate reference to division, the
natural and wise avoidance of imported mean-
ing, and the equally consistent interpretation of
the desire would seem' to favor the opinion of
Meyer, Alford, Lange, and others, that the
thought in mind was the spiritual excitement and
142 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
discordi consequent upon the proclamation of the
Gospel. *
(5) In Acts 2:3, it is recorded that there
appeared! unto them "tongues like as of fire."
While the tongue had immediate reference to
the instrument of service to be employed, the
fiery appearance is taken by common consent as
emblematic of the Spirit with distinct reference
to His inspirational work and 1 consequent zeal
and ardor of the disciples in the undertaking
before them.
II. WIND.
The Holy Spirit is so revealed in three different
places.
(1) In Ezk. 37:7-10, occurs the reanimation
of the dry bones through the agency of the Spirit
of God where chiefly His vivifying power is set
forth.
(2) Jno. 3 : 8, with reference to His regenera-
tive work as indicative of! H!is mysterious, inde-
pendent, irresistible, penetrating, vivifying and
purifying influence.
The Emblems of the Spirit 143
(3) In Acts 2: 2, "a sound as of the rushing
of a mighty wind" filled! the house indicative
here of His mighty unseen power. The tongues
were seen, the wind was heard, but neither was
felt. Neither flame nor wind was a reality. The
tongue of light resembled fire; the sound was
only compared to that of a mighty rushing wind.
Notice also that the house in Acts 4:3.11 ,was
shaken.
in. WATER.
(1) In Ex. 17:6, we see Moses in obedience
to divine instruction smiting a rock in the wilder-
ness, and out of it came flowing water pure
and fresh, of which the thirsty Israelites drank
and were satisfied. That rock was Christ, I Cor.
10:4, smitten for us, and that water life-giving
and refreshing, the Spirit, poured out on the
ground of his accomplished work.
(2) In Ezk. 36:25-27, the people are to be
sprinkled with clean water, a new heart and spirit
given unto them and His, Spirit put within them;
the reality of that which was typified in Num. 19,
144 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
and referring beyond doubt to the converting
and sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit.
(3) In Ezk. 47: i, the prophet in a vision sees
a river of water flowing out from the temple
running through the desert carrying life
wherever it goes andl healing: at length the
waters of the sea whither it flows. With this
connect I Cor. 6: 19 and Jno. 7: 38-39.
(4) In Jno. 3 : 5 is mentioned the birth "of
water and of the Sipirit." Here again water is
symbolic of the Spirit. No matter whether the
water be referred to .Old Testament washings
('Smeaton, Lampe); to John's baptism or to
Christian baptism these all have the same under-
lying 1 idea, they are symbolic representations of
purification from, sin. So also Tit. 3 : 5.
(5) In Jno. 4: 14, the Holy Spirit, according
to Smeaton, Riddle, Lange, Calvin, Luthardt,
Keil, is promised as a well of water springing up
into everlasting life. This p ( hrase is referred by
Justin and Cyprian to baptism; by Olshausen to
Jesus Himself; by Meyer to the truth; by Tho-
luck and Weiss to the word of salvation; by Gro-
The Emblems of the Spirit 145
tius to the evangelical doctrine; by Lucke to
faith; by Westcott and Godet to eternal life itself.
(6) In Jno. 7:38-39, it is said, "If any man
thirst let him, come to me and drink," and that
out of the believer should flow "rivers of living
water," and while it is not said the Holy Spirit
is the river, but only that such remarks were
made with reference to the Holy Spirit ("this
spake he of the Spirit") that is, the Holy Spirit
was the agent and principle of the great outflow-
ing streams of Christian influence and testi-
mony, yet as the Holy Spirit is the inner fountain
there is full propriety in finding in the passage an
emblematic reference to> Him as a satisfying,
transforming and 1 life-giving power.
IV. SEAL.
He is thus revealed three times. See chapter
on the "Sealing of the Spirit." The Holy Spirit
as a seal makes the believer secure as the prop-
erty of God, works an assurance of such security
in the believer's heart, Rom. 8: 16, bringing to
him a consequent comfort and feeling of rest,
transforming him into the likeness of Jesus,
146 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
whose very image is om the seal and making this
life a heaven, for as an earnest He has given
Himself to us here with all that He brings as a
foretaste of the coming inheritance of glory.
V. OIL.
Two hundred and two times in the Word the
anointing with oil is referred to, in eighty-eight
of which references the word oil in some form is
mentioned. In addition to this, the word oil
occurs ninety-nine times and the word ointment
thirty-one times. We must be warned 1 , however,
against endeavoring to see in every such usage
a prefiguration of the Holy Spirit and His work,
as some without warrant do. .Of many of these
passages such reference is true; the immediate
references in Scripture to the Holy Spirit as oil
must, however, be gathered from the five pas-
sages in which He is spoken of as anointing
three of these, Luke 4:18; Acts 4:27; 10:38,
refer to the anointing of Jesus, and the other two,
I John 2:20, 27 and II Cor. 1:21, referring to
the Holy Spirit as an anointing for the believer.
There are four Scriptural uses of anointing:
The Emblems of the Spirit 147
(i) Anointing the guest, Eccl. 7:1; 9: 8; Prov.
27:9; Luke 7:46. (2) Anointing for burial,
Matt. 26:12; Jno. 12:3, 7. (3) Anointing for
healing, Isa. i: 6; Jer. 8: 22; Luke 10: 34; Hark
6:13; Jas. 5:14. (4) Anointing for separation
unto a holy calling, Ex. 29: 7; 30: 23, 33. Every
believer is a king and priest unto God, and for
his holy life and vocation is set apart by the
anointing received' at regeneration. The oint-
ment was always charged with a sweet perfume;
the odor of Mary's ointment filled all the room,
and when the High Priest came forth his gar-
ments anointed with holy oil, shed a rich fra-
grance all about him. 'When describing the
beauty of the character of Jesus, the inspired
poet said, "All thy garments smell of Myrrh and
Aloes and Cassia," and so the Christian who has
the anointing from the Holy One is to be recog-
nized by the sweet fragrance of holy character,
the life that is redolent with holy and heavenly
influence.
There are eleven passages in the Bible con-
necting oil with light, Ex. 25:6; 27:20; 35:8,
148 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
14, 28; 39:37; Nkrni. 4:9, 16; Lev. 24:2; Zecli.
4:2-12; Matt. 25:3-6. The first eight are plain
statements concerning the oil for the tabernacle
light which is according to Old' Testament typol-
ogy taken by an almost common consent as a
prefiguration of the Holy Spirit.
In Zech. 4: 2-12, Zerubbabel confronted with a
mountain of hindrance is taught by the vision of
a candle-stick fed by two inexhaustible ducts of
oil from living olive trees, that the hindrance
should be removed by the Spirit of the Lord; so
the church is a bearer of light whose function is
that of illumination for which it depends wholly
upon its supply of oil from -God which is His
Spirit. , ;
In Matt. 25: 3-6, the oil in the lamps, as Stier
(Words of Jesus, Vol. 3, page 311), has said, "is
according to the general symbology of Scripture
the Holy Spirit who nourishes the flame of life
in the heart which without Him holds merely a
dry extinguished wick in the bowl." Such refer-
ence of the oil, as here used, to the Holy Spirit,
is in accordance with the common consensus of
The Emblems of the Spirit 149
opinion. Oil is an illuminator and so is the flame
of spiritual life kindled within and kept burning
by the oil of the Spirit illuminating the con-
science and dispelling the moral darkness of the
heart, shining out into the world through the
light of Christian character unto the glory of the
Christian's Father, Matt. 5 : 16.
The Oil of Joy.
This expression in Isa. 61 : 3, derives its signifi-
cance from the custom of festive anointings at en-
tertainments, Ps. 23 : 5, and on occasions of great
rejoicing. So in Ps. 104: 15, we read of "oil to
make the face shine," but whether oil in such
connection is ever used with figurative reference
to the Holy Spirit is a question admitting of no
certain solution. There is one passage in Heb.
i : 9, declaring that Jesus was "anointed with the
oil of gladness above his fellows"; this "oil of
gladness" Smeaton, Gumming, Chapman, refer
to the Holy Spirit, but this is in no wise certain.
It refers to his exaltation, joy, the anointing
being the setting apart to Has kingly office (Stew-
art), or, which is more to be preferred, the crown-
150 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
ing of the Sovereign with joy as at a royal ban-
quet (Westcott, Olshausen) and by scarcely a
modern exegete is referred to the Holy Spirit,
while many stoutly combat any such allusion ; for
instance, 'Meyer says, "The sense of the author is'
departed from when the fathers and early exposi-
tors interpret the expression of the anointing of
the Son by the Holy Spirit"; and Olshausen says,
"The anointing with oil of joy is not to be under-
stood! of the anointing to the office of king or
prophet, or even of the anointing with the Holy
Sipirit in general, but the figurative expression is
derived from the well-known custom of anointing
the head at festivals."
We do know that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit
of joy, Gal. 5:22; Eph. 5:18, 19; I Thes. i:6;
and the author of all spiritual gladness and no
figure could be more appropriately applied to
Him than the "oil of gladness," but that such is
the reference in the passage before us is hardly
to be maintained.
VI. DiOVE.
The Holy Spirit is so revealed once. In each
The Emblems of the Spirit 151
of the gospels, Matt. 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke
3:22; Jno. 1:32, it is mentioned that the Holy
Spirit in bodily shape, like a dove descended from
Heaven and sat upon Jesus while He was pray-
ing. Whether before the time of Christ the dove
was regarded as a symbol of the Holy Spirit is a
question of much interest. The dove of Noah's
ark and of Solomon's Song are conceived to be
types of the church ; among the Syrians the dove
was considered as emblem of the fructifying
powers of nature, and accordingly we find the
Talmud translating in Gen. 1 : 2, "The Spirit of
God like a dove brooded over the waters." In
Cant. 2 : 12, it is said, "The voice of the dove is
the voice of the Spirit." But at the Lord's bap-
tism the Holy Spirit by descending-, in bodily
shape, like a dove upon Jesus, established that
gentle creature ever after as an emblem of Him-
self.
Think of the many beautiful characteristics of
a dove. *How lovely was the character of Jesus
because of those dove-like traits, sweet-tempered
and gentle, yet just like Him may we be. There
152 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
is gentleness, tenderness, loveliness, innocence,
mildness, peace, purity, patience all this and
more for him in whose heart is made a place for
the dove-like Spirit to nestle.
CHAPTER XII.
THE RESISTANCE OF THE SPIRIT.
NDER the above phrase standing as
the title of this chapter it has
seemed wise to class all the sins
against the Holy Spirit. We make
a mistake in limiting the scope of a
word by a solitary use of it in Scrip-
ture. Ai true theory must above all
represent a consistent philosophy.
Dr. Chapman ("Life of Blessing,"
page 79), and Dr. tMbrgan ("Spirit of God,"
page 237), have said that only the unre-
generate resist the Holy Spirit, presumably
because the only mention of resisting the Holy
Spirit, where the word resist is used', refers to
the unregenerate; but certainly there is no way
to sin against the Holy Spirit either by the Chris-
tian or the unbeliever, save by resisting Him.
So it is said only the Christian can grieve Him,
presumably because the only mention of griev-
154 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
ing the Holy Spirit, where the word grieve is
used, refers to the believer; but surely the tender,
loving heart of God is grieved by the stubborn
resistance of the unregenerate. It is hardly wise
to go through Scripture on such straight lines
making divisions and: establishing theories on
the shiigle use of an individual word. With this
precaution the several phrases setting forth the
sins against the Holy Spirit may now be exam-
ined.
i. Resisting the Spirit. Used only once
and of unregenerate persons, Acts 7: 51. It con-
sists in the resistance of the will to the purpose
of the Spirit of God as manifested! in His influ-
ence and His work. "There is an element," says
Gumming, page 270, "even in a Christian, which
often, if not always, is found in the same attitude
against the Holy Spirit." He quotes, and rightly,
Gal. 5:17. It is impossible to divorce the Ego
from the sinful principle still within the Chris-
tian, and whenever this struggle goes on, even
before the better side has gained the victory, and
especially when, alas, the evil side does, there is
The Resistance of the Spirit 155
certainly a resistance to the will and work of the
Holy Spirit.
2. Grieving the Spirit. Used only once and
of Christians, Eph. 4:30. It means "to make
sorrowful," discovers His personality and reveals
His tenderness. "It is not strange," says Sco-
field, (Plain Papers on the Doctrine of the Spirit,
page 54,) "that some have found here the
mother part of the divine love." The immediate
reference is to corrupt speech, as is shown by the
context and the close connecting Greek particle
"and," but of course the truth must admit of a
wider reference, "Whenever He is thwarted,"
says Morgan, (Spirit of God, page 242,) "when-
ever He is disobeyed, whenever He gives some
new revelation of the Christ which brings no
response, He is grieved." In Isa. 63: 10, the
Holy Spirit is said to have been "vexed," as if he
had become angry and this thought, Gumming,
(Through the Eternal Spirit, page 271), prefers
as that embodied in the original. Indeed, the
Septuagint renders it "made angry." Ps. 78: 40,
(however, can hardly be quoted (Gumming) in
156 A Help to the Study of the Holy .Spirit
confirmation of above rendering, if we keep in
mind the personality of the Holy Spirit as dis-
tinct from God.
Although anger is closely connected with the
thought resident in the word, as in Gen. 34:7,
the form of the verb in Isa. 63 : 10 (Piel), de-
mands the meaning "to cause acute pain," in
which there is prominent the thought of "griev-
ing," I Ki. 1:6; I Chron. 4: 10, and in fact the
Revised Version so translates. If the idea of
vexing in the sense of making angry be excluded
from the word as used in the passage before us
it is noteworthy that nowhere in the Word is
such a frame of disposition ascribed to the Holy
Spirit; tender and loving-, He may be grieved,
but not angered. Can He be grieved away? By
the unregenerate He can in the sense that the
Holy Spirit forever ceases to plead with him for
a place in his heart. It is then that a man has
passed beyond the limit of resistance, that unseen
line whichi Dr. J. Addis on Alexander has called
"The hidden boundary between God's patience
The Resistance of the Spirit 15?
and His wrath." But the regenerate He never
leaves,
3. Quenching the Spirit, I Thes. 5: 19, used
only once and of Christians. It is a metaphorical
expression for putting out a fire. It is impossible
by candid exegesis to confine this to any one
manifestation of the Holy Spirit. The most prob-
able reference is to "prophesying," a ! s noted 1 in
the verse following, that is, to the gift for service.
We quench Him when we refuse to do His bid-
ding; when we attempt service without waiting
upon Him; when timidity keeps us from speaking
the truth in response to His bidding. We can-
not, however, thus limit the meaning of the in-
junction as does Dr. iMIorgan, (Spirit of God,
page 244.) Of this particular reference in I
Thes., exegesis makes us nowise certain, and
even if it did, the phrase would not necessarily
be limited thereby. The "tongue of fire," Acts
2: 3, was the symbol of power for service, but
there was also a "baptism of fire," Matt. 3: n,
conceived by many as the Holy Spirit given for
purification, and in Isa. 4:4, as conceived by
158 A Help to the Stuay of the Holy Spirit
many, (Smeaton, the "Doctrine of the Holy
Spirit," page 32; Scofield, Plain Papers on the
Doctrine of the Spirit, page 57,) He is
called the "Spirit of burning," as a purifier,
and both power for service and purity of
life are effected by the presence and effort of
the Hbly Spirit within us. This would all be
true even were no such figures used in the word.
"To quench the Spirit, therefore, is to resist this
twofold work of purification and of use," Sco-
field, page 57. The quenching of the Spirit may
properly be said to be an offence limited to the
Christian.
4. Tempting the Spirit. The word "tempt"
in this passage is better translated "try" or
"test." It comes from 1 "pe'irazo" and has a two-
fold meaning.
(I). To try, to put to the test.
(a) God tests men, 'Heb. u: 17.
(b) Men test God, Acts 15: 10 and 5: 9.
(c) -Men test themselves, II Cor. 13: 5.
(d) M'en test each other.
(II.) To tempt to sin. This is the work of
The Resistance of the Spirit 159
the Evil One. God tempts no man, neither can
He be tempted, Jas. i: 13. Peter said Ananias
lied to the Holy Spirit, Acts 5 : 3. He also says
in the ninth verse they agreed to "test" the Holy
Spirit. Now without any thought of the Holy
Spirit they may have agreed to lie to Peter, and
Peter filled with the Holy Spirit, being His bearer
and organ, rightly interpreted the attempted de-
ception as practised not upon himself but upon
the Spirit.
But since Peter, in verse nine, says they agreed
together to test the Holy Spirit and such concep-
tion implies a conscious act and deliberate pur-
pose, and since so manifest was the Spirit's pres-
ence and power through the gift of discernment
and tongues and physical manifestations, that the
most thoughtless could not but be aware of His
presence and of His power as resting especially
upon the apostles, and the possibility of His dis-
covering to them, the proposed deception would
therefore naturally occur to them; it is certainly
the more probable solution of the occurrence,
however, Peter's statement may be explained, to
160 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
conclude that with the primal purpose of possibly
(gaining an enviable reputation or securing a
maintenance (what it was must be conjectured)
they planned to deceive Peter, which thing in-
volved a testing of the Holy Spirit to which
they deliberately gave themselves. Gumming,
(Through the Eternal Spirit, page 273,) says
they tempted the Holy (Spirit "to desert the
church as His dwelling place and resign His
task," but hardly in this sense can the Holy Spirit
be tempted.
'Nowhere is it said that we tempt the Holy
Spirit as that expression is construed by lan-
guage or usage. There is mentioned, however,
ithe sin of testing the Holy Spirit or God, dis-
trusting His infinite perfections and putting Him
to the test by our dispositions and actions. In
the case of Ananias and Sapphira it consisted
primarily in testing His omniscience and His
operation whether He would know of the decep-
tion! and reveal it to Peter. Can the Christian
test the Holy Spirit?
Ananias doubted His punishment (whether
The Resistance of the Spirit 161
the Holy Spirit would discover the deception or
do anything if He did); Christians have dis-
trusted Hlis readiness to bless. Ananias tested
the former, which was a sinful thing to do; Chris-
tians test the latter, which is certainly a good
thing to do. Prove Me, test Me, He says. Test
/then has a two-fold meaning. It is doubtful
whether a Christian ever tests God in the evil
sense. Were Ananias and Sapphira Christians?
Augustine and a multitude of others say, Yes.
As many more say, No. Nobody knows, but if
they were, their case could hardly argue anything
for Christian experience today, as spiritual mani-
festations do not today furnish the same oppor-
tunity. The unregenerate test Him always,
chiefly by distrusting His warning to leave them,
upon continued resistance, in the hands of God
for punishment, thus counting upon the long for-
bearance of God that He will save them in spite
of their sin.
From the above it is plain there is a difference
between lying to the Holy iSipirit and testing the
Holy Spirit, though both may belong to the same
162 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
act. We may be said to lie to the Holy Spirit in
a sense similar to that of Ananias in so much as
we practise deception upon the church or upon
the believer indwelt as they are by the Spirit.
Though to the Christian it may not at the time
so appear nor be thought of as intentionally
directed against the Holy Spirit, yet in reality
his sin has been not so much against the Spirit
filled 1 man, as it has been against the Spirit filling
the man. Certainly the Holy Spirit is grieved
by all such resistance to His holy will.
5. Defiling the temple of the Spirit. A
temple classically means "the dwelling place of a
D'eity." The word is used twice in connection
with the Holy Spirit, I Cor. 3: 16, 17, and 6: 19,
the former referring to the church to Christians
in their organized capacity and the latter to the
Christian in his individual capacity. As by the
Shechinah God dwelt in and sanctified the Jewish
temple so by His Spirit He indwells and sancti-
fies the Christian temple.
The word "defile," I Cor. 3: 16, is the same as
"destroy" in the same verse, and means "to bring
The Resistance of the Spirit 163
into a worse state/' "to mar," "to injure" and
then "destroy." In the old Testament any neg-
lect of the temple, any desecration of it was con-
sidered as destroying it. We defile the temple
'of the Holy Spirit in its organized capacity (the
church), in all the church strife and division,
(this is the primal reference in this third chapter
of I Gor.), and in any perversion from its God
intended use. In 6: 19, "fornication" as a sin
against the body is under consideration!, which
body Paul calls a "temple of the Holy iSpirit,"
inasmuch! as the body is the vehicle and taber-
nacle of the human spirit which is indwelt by the
Spirit of God. We sin against the body as God's
temple through every form of bodily abuse. In
both these instances we are resisting and griev-
ing the Holy Spirit.
As the lie, Acts 5 : 3, need not necessarily be
construed as directed deliberately against the
Holy Spirit (it is impossible to analyze the minds
of the sinning pair), so may the sins against the
temple be likewise considered. But as Peter,
because filled with the Holy Spirit and acting
164 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
for the Holy Spirit, construed the lie not. as to
him but in reality to the Holy Spirit, so sin
against the Spirit inhabited, temple (church or
believer), may be called 1 , in fact must be, a sin
against the Holy Spirit, even though, as in the
case of the lie, the offending one may not have
consciously so directed it.
6. Despising the Spirit, H'eb. 10:29. A sin
described by a word not elsewhere found in the
New Testament. Literally, it means to insult.
It is used here as designating that insult and out-
rage offered to that blessed Spirit through whom
all divine influences are conveyed to men. It
here, Heb. 10 : 29, refers to the sin of apostasy
and is used in connection with the disposition
and actions of those who, as elsewhere described,
Heb. 6:4, 5, were once enlightened, and made
partakers of the Holy Ghost, tasted of the
heavenly gift, of the good word of God and the
Ipowers of the age to come.
By many scholars this sin has been made iden-
tical with the blasphemy against the Spirit as set
forth in the Gospels. In a certain sense this is
The Resistance of the Spirit 165
true, both arising from the same disposition of
soul and both referring to a high degree of in-
solent and! determined opposition to the won-
drous unfolding and most manifest working of
the Holy Spirit's power. A difference, however
appears in the character of the sinning subjects,
the sin described in the Gospels being that of
those who from the beginning had malignantly
; set themselves to oppose the divine power as
manifested in the Son of God, the latter, as we
have seen, being that of those who had to a high
degree received His grace and acknowledged the
truth of the Spirit's teaching. While the former,
as often observed, is more malignant in its mani-
festation; the latter, considering the position and
knowledge to which they had attained and the
divine influences they had enjoyed, seems scarcely
less diabolical. How solemn then is the warning
of the apostle against the commission of this
awful crime, with which he brings the paragraph
to a close, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the
hands of the living God 1 ."
7. Blasphemy of the Spirit. The Unpardon-
166 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
able Sin. What is it? Who shall 'presume to
say? Did not the Master leave it shrouded in
certain mystery? We present herewith in clear
outline the different opinions and such evidence
as would seem to justify what to the writer ap-
pears the safest interpretation of Scripture as it
bears on the solemn investigation before us.
In Matt. 12: 31, 32, the Saviour says, "Where-
fore I say unto you every sin and blasphemy
shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy
against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven unto
men. And whosoever speaketh a word against
the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him, but
whosoever speaketh against the Holy Spirit it
shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world
nor in the world to come." In Mark 3 : 28-30, it
is also written, "Verily I say unto you, All sins
shall be forgiven unto the sons of men and the
blasphemies wherewithsoever they blaspheme;
but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy
Spirit hath never forgiveness but is guilty of
eternal sin; because they said, He hath an un-
clean Spirit"; and in Luke 12: 10, is found, "And
The Resistance of the Spirit 167
whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of
Man it shall be forgiven him; but unto him that
blasphemeth against the Holy Spirit it shall not
be forgiven."
Before adverting to the different interpreta-
tions certain helpful observations and distinc-
tions may properly and with profit be noticed
here.
(1) Every sin is a sin against the Holy Spirit
though far from approaching the nature of this
one inexpiable sin which Jesus calls blasphemy
against the Spirit. The name "Sin against the
Spirit" is therefore open to misunderstanding
and should give place to the proper designation
used by Jesus.
(2) The word translated "blasphemy (either
from /3Aa7rr<o, to injure, and ^M speech; or
from /3Xa, braggart, stupid, and <j>rj[M] speech),
originally means malicious speaking! against
sacred things, and is used of different degrees
of sinning, up to the blasphemy of Jehovah in the
Old Testament and the Holy Spirit in the New.
(3) Jesus evidently had in mind the unpardon-
168 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
able offense of the Old Testament dispensation
where in Lev. 24:16, it is stated (R. V.), "He
that blasphemeth the name of the Lord shall
surely be put to death." Under this law Stephen
was stoned, but by so much is the grace of the
New Testament dispensation superior that blas-
phemy against God shall be forgiven, yea, He
even goes on to say that he who "speaketh
against" the Son of Man shall be forgiven, but
the speaking against the Holy Spirit such blas-
phemy but sounds the sinner's eternal doom.
We see no objection, therefore, to Olshausen's
distinction of three degrees in the sin of blas-
phemy; that against the Father, against the Son
and against the Holy Spirit. But to find! the
ground for such gradation in -the relative rank of
the three persons in the Godhead is entirely with-
out warrant. By such arrangement the Father
would stand the lowest in the Trinity. The ag-
gravation of the crime is determined not by the
rank of the object blasphemed, but by the added
clearness of the revelation of God given to man
through the revelation of the Spirit, in propor-
The Resistance of the Spirit 169
tion to which the sin is all the more conscious
and determined.
It is safe to say the view which makes this sin
ipossible only when Christ was visibly present
among men (Menken, Jerome, Chrysostom), has
little, if anything, in its favor. Saul was a blas-
iphemer, I Tim. 1:13, and the Jews crucified
Jesus after the resurrection of Lazarus, but they
did it in the ignorance of unbelief. Saul was par-
doned and of the Jews Jesus said, "Father, for-
give them, they know not what they do"; but the
more comprehensive and convincing the "greater
works," John 14: 12, of this day, the more power-
ful the convictions of the Spirit who was to come
in such capacity after Christ, the less possible
does the plea of ignorance become and the more
possible the terrible crime in question. The un-
pardonable sin, Stier has well said, is "pre-
eminently the sin of the last time."
With these observations before us we now
inquire into the nature of the sin itself.
The various explanations, while differing much
in their specific interpretation, are, after all, as
170 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
we hope to make clear, but the emphasis 1 of dif-
ferent sides of the same truth. They may be
arranged under two general heads.
1. Those which make it some definite thing
the sinner has done.
2. Those which make it a state of soul to
which he has arrived. Let us now analyze these
two views. The first may again be conveniently
divided as follows:
(i) Those making it one particular sin, as
ascribing the miracle of Jesus to Satan. That
this is the sin, Wesley declares "nothing is more
clear in the Bible." Since the days of miracles
are past, says Broadus, therefore the unpardon-
able sin can no longer be committed. Christ,
however, did not say the Pharisees had' com-
mitted this sin, and the most that can be posi-
tively argued is that their conduct proved them
well on the way toward it. M : ark 3: 30 does not
necessarily impute the sin unto them. "Because
they said He had an unclean Spirit," may be
simply the ground on which He based the warn-
ing. However, though this be true, we are in-
The Resistance of the Spirit 171
clined to believe with Meyer, Broadus, Delitzsch
and others, that they did commit the sin in ques-
tion, though this, of course, must remain doubt-
ful. That they could be warned against it is to
some (Stier, Lange, Chadwick), argument they
had not committed it; but could not those solemn
words have sounded their doom as well as
warned them of impending' d'anger? To some
Christ's prayer on the cross argues they had not
committed it ; it is said that if the crucifiers with
all their evidence from a three years' ministry
knew not what they were doing, scarcely could
these who thus far had only eighteen months of
it. It does not appear, and yet the instance before
us had its peculiar aggravations, while even
Christ's last prayer could have its general refer-
ence without including, some, even many, who
stood within the sound of it. However, if this
allegation of the Pharisees was an instance of the
sin in question, how does it follow with Wesley
that it can be "this and nothing more?" iMight
this not have been but one instance of it? The
occasion) made this utterance the natural expres-
172 A Help te the Study of the Holy Spirit
sion of their wicked hearts, but could not. the
same sinful disposition have prompted and
prompt today other utterances just as heinous,
and so leave the soul subject to the same fearful
condemnation? The blasphemous utterance
was the occasion of the Saviour's fearful declara-
tion; it was, we are strongly inclined to believe,
an instance of this most fearful of crimes, but
that such crime must be confined to this one par-
ticular ascription we can gather no semblance
of worthy proof from the pages of Scripture.
(2) Another shade of opinion under this same
general view is that the sin consists in any blas-
phemous utterance of sufficient malignity and
heinousness to deserve the condemnation given
it by the Saviour. This is certainly an advance
over the preceding opinion; it has not only in its
favor equally with the other the derivative mean-
ing of blasphemy (a malicious verbal utterance),
but also the almost universal concession that
blasphemy against the Spirit is not something
directed against the Spirit personally. The Jews
had no thought of malice against the Holy Spirit ;
The Resistance of the Spirit 1 73
it was all directed against Christ. Why should
it be any more harmful to speak a word against
the Spirit than to speak against either of the
other persons of the Godhead? It is not the
rank of the Person, but the increased clearness
of revelation as furnished by the Spirit, in the
face of which a man knowingly and wilfully sins
that aggravates the crime and makes it unpar-
donable. Blasphemy against God and the Son
of Man is pardonable, but blasphemy against the
Father or the Son is also unpardonable, if com-
mitted under the. above noticed 1 conditions, for
by that very fact it becomes blasphemy against
the Spirit.
That the blasphemy must, however, according
to the etymology of the word, manifest itself in
some verbal expression is the distinguishing
characteristic of the present opinion, and the
condition which J. J. Owen and others have
made imperative to its correct interpretation.
(3) There is yet a third shade of opinion be-
longing to this same general view, namely, that
this sin is any act verbal or otherwise of equal
174 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit .
malignity and heinousness with such utterances
as have been under consideration. This has the
etymology of the word blasphemy against it. The
Saviour said it was injurious speaking against
the Spirit that was unpardonable, and a rigid con-
sistency with the letter would compel us at once
to reject the opinion now before us. It is not
unreasonable to suppose that every malicious and
wilful opposer of Christ will manifest his opposi-
tion in verbal expression, and all other cases of
unpardonable sinning noted in the Word may,
we believe, be seen at least to include such mani-
festation; but is such strict adherence to the
letter either necessary or Wise? Certainly deeds
are as damnable as words and dispositions as
contemptible as verbal expressions, and with
certain propriety we may speak of a man's con-
duct being blasphemous as well as anything he
might say. Thus we hear Whedon, Oettinger
and others declaring that blasphemy may as truly
be committed in thought or in act as in speech,
and may rather be defined as the offering a pre-
sumptuous insult to God.
The Resistance of the Spirit 175
The arguments in favor of the first general
view are:
I. The Saviour's words undoubtedly had par-
ticular reference to something the Pharisees did.
II. He expressly said that doing something
(speaking against the Holy Spirit), was the Un-
pardonable Sin.
III. In a very certain sense it is a thing done,
a word expressed, a deed committed, a thought
entertained that must be subject or not to divine
clemency. If by a state expositors mean a con-
dition of soul, this God would have remedied but
not forgiven.
If now the first general view be accepted, the
first shade of opinion under it we decidedly reject;
the second is favored by the etymology of the
word; the third, which includes the other two, is
favored by the very nature of sin in general, by
the spirit rather than the letter of the term blas-
phemy and by reasonable inference from: all
other Scripture bearing upon the sin in question.
If the sin, therefore, be understood as something
done, the last mentioned opinion is decidedly
176 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
preferable. A final conclusion, however, must
be reserved until we have examined the other
general view, namely, that the blasphemy of the
Holy Spirit is a state of soul to which the man
by repeated sinning has arrived. Here mention
should be made of the opinion of Augustin who
made the sin in question to be "Final Indepen-
dence." This was the view also of Guthrie and
of Chalmers, and is held by a few today. With
this view Prof. Smeaton of Edinburg coincides.
It is, however, strenuously opposed by the vast
majority of modern scholars. What is it but
the substitution of 1 a foregone conclusion for the
disposition that made it inevitable?
To this second general class belongs Calvin,
and following him. almost uniformly the Re-
formed divines who make this state to be one
of wilful and malicious opposition to the most
convincing evidence as furnished by the Holy
Spirit. A few of the definitions that may prop-
erly be classed here are as follows: Riddle, "A
state of wilful determined opposition in the pres-
ence of light to the power of the Holy Spirit, vir-
The Resistance of the Spirit 177
tually a moral suicide, a killing of the conscience
so that the human spirit is absolutely insuscep-
tible to the influences of the Holy Spirit." Oos-
terzee, '"Conscious and stubborn hatred against
God and that which is divine as it exists in its
highest development." Stier, "We regard the
Unpardonable Sin, of which Christ was led to
speak from a special occasion so that He charac-
terized it according to one of its expressions
not merely in this or that other of its manifold
expressions, but in its deepest ground it is the
rejection of the perfectly known, immediate tes-
timony of the Spirit developed in a human being
till it brings him to the same nature with Satan."
Qettingen, ."Perpetual impenitence and incre-
dulity even to the end, which from a rebellious
and mo'st obstinate repudiation of the testimony
of the Holy Spirit manifesting Himself in the
Gospel and. working in the hearts of men confess
to light set forth through word and deed in blas-
jpiheming the Holy Spirit."
Now what is meant by the state of the soul?
We have used the term soul as the more general
178 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
and designative of the psychical man to which
the powers of the mind and heart appertain. We
speak of the state of a man's health; the state of
his body, sound or unsound; and so we speak
of the state of a man's soul as being 1 one of spirit-
ual insusceptibility, dead and incapable of spirit-
ual impression. This state or condition of ll.v
soul may properly be distinguished from the
principle of sin within the man; it is resultant
condition of the unrestrained operation of that
principle, and like the principle is not subject to
divine pardon. God never forgives principles;
He never forgives a state as just conceived; it
must be subject to cure rather thao to pardon.
The principle of sin (sin in its root) in a man
manifests itself first in simple indifference to the
claims and strivings of the Spirit (what Nitzsch
calls "passive neutrality"); this might be called
the defensive attitude, simply resisting the Spirit.
In some cases certain elements and conditions
contrive to change this indifference into an ac-
tive opposition; the principle of sin no longer
merely resists but begins to oppose; it takes up
The Resistance of the Spirit 179
an offensive attitude and as this active antagon-
ism increases, growing more confirmed and more
hateful with advancing years, the soul hardens
and as a consequence of it loses its religious sus-
ceptibility, which condition marks the limit to-
ward which every unconverted man is tending
and beyond which he can not go* and be in a
savable condition. It is that
" , bourne by us unseen,
By which each path is crossed,
Beyond which God Himself hath sworn
That he who goes is lost."
Herein is one way of conceiving of the state
of the soul, but may we not with equal propriety
conceive of this condition as productive of the
outward expression whereby the inner disposi-
tion becomes manifest to the world? In fact, so
most expositors speak of it. Attempt has been
made to distinguish between the state of the soul
as a condition and a disposition. This may be
done, but it tends rather to obscure than to
clarify and involves the inquirer himself in a
180 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
state of psychological confusion. In the last
analysis the hardened condition of the soul is
nothing less nor more than the disposition of
confirmed obdurateness. It is the hardened
mind that antagonizes, the hardened 1 heart that
hates what is divine, and when we speak of reli-
gious insusceptibility, we can properly mean
nothing more than one characteristic of the inner
man to whom such state of soul pertains. It at
once becomes evident therefore that whether we
speak of the Unpardonable Sin as an act or as a
state of sin it is but one or the other of two ways
of referring to the same thing. The former de-
fines the sin in terms of the fruit of the tree; the
latter defines it in terms of the tree itself. (Matt.
12: 33> 34-)
Although in Christ's solemn declaration there
may have been and doubtless was the intentional
reference to an individual actual sin, it is plain
that as such it could not exist save as the veriest
acme of a sinful development of what Julius
Muller calls "an accumulated degeneracy of the
moral condition," for certainly says this same
The Resistance of the Spirit 181
scholar in. his profound; work on the "Christian
Doctrine of Sin," page 476, Vol. II, "this sin is
not a merely outward act, as if by the secret
magic of certain words which do not emanate
i
from the depths of the heart, one could commit
the worst sin and consign himself immediately
to eternal perdition."
In view of all which, it must be clear that it is
the condition of the man rather than any action
that makes his case hopeless, and that therefore
it must be in respect to this crime as all others, as
Stier has well said, "the internal sin as such that
is judged, though apprehended and convicted in
its expression." The above distinction is of
course necessary in any attempted analysis of
the sin in question, or any other sin, but that in
definition it should result in defining the sin in
one aspect to the exclusion of the other is not
only unnecessary, but unfortunate and unwise.
Delitzsch has expressed himself in a way that
ought to meet with entire approval. He says,
"It is not the individual word of blasphemy
itself, or the individual deed of blasphemous op-
182 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
position, but these taken in connection with the
disposition of mind which is manifested in them,
that constitutes the Unpardonable Sin."
Whether forgiveness would be denied, if
craved, is a useless inquiry, since the sin is un-
pardonable not on God's account, but on the sin-
ner's account, for he is, as Riddle says, "virtually
a moral suicide," having forever killed his con-
science and destroyed his religious susceptibility
and removed himself from the possibility of ever
asking forgiveness. Repientance is the gift of
God and the unpardonable sinner has driven
from him the only person who could ever work
repentance in his heart.
Another question of the present investigation
pertains to the more exact nature of the disposi-
tion which drew upon it the fearful judgment of
Christ. It was not only that of confirmed re-
sistance to the Spirit as we have tried to show,
but a malicious and hateful antagonism of the
Spirit, (Muller, Stier, Grashof, Calvin.) Such
certainly is to be gathered from all othjer pas-
sages descriptive of the sin, and such certainly
The Resistance of the Spirit 183
was the disposition of the blaspheming Jews in
the Gospels. It was as Stier has said, "the coii-
summated sin of the d'evil." Their repudiation
of the Christ was made in the presence of the
clearest light; but to have acknowledged this
man to be the Christ would have been to repu-
diate their past and to have sacrificed their cause,
and this with diabolical meanness they resolved
they would not do. They will escape the neces-
sity of believing; deny the fact (the cure) they
cannot; interpret it they will; they will ascribe it
to the power of the devil. False and absurd,
frateful and hellish, but what matter, let Judaism
be saved be the consequence what it may! ! ! !
It was an opposition that was conscious, deter-
mined, prolonged, hateful a voluntary closing
their eyes to the most abundant light and this
with most malicious intent.
Grasping the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit,
therefore, for its complete characterization both
in the tree and the fruit thereof, Matt. 12: 33, 34,
and still in harmony with Christ's apprehension
of it in one of its expressions, we would define
184 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
the Unpardonable Sin as the blasphemous mani-
festation in word or deed of an internal state of
soul to which a man has arrived by a continued
resistance and increasing opposition to the clear-
est and most undoubted revelation of God's
Spirit, which state when once attained, is one of
contemptuous and malicious hatred 1 of all that
pertains to the Son of God and which by its very
nature is bound to manifest itself as such.
With this we believe a fair exegesis of all other
passages relating to this sin will agree. Since
the Saviour said that all other sins but this were
pardonable, it is at once evident that all other
cases of fatal sinning mentioned in the word must
be identical and harmonious with the one of
which the Saviour speaks (so most authority),
I John 5: 16; II Tim. 3: 8; Jude 12: 13; Heb.
6: 4-8; 10: 26-31.
Two questions remain for brief notice. The
first is, Who commits the blasphemy against the
Holy Spirit? Some answer, "The regenerate
only." But if the Jews to whom Jesus spoke
concerning this sin were guilty of it, as we are
The Resistance of the Spirit 185
inclined to believe, to what a destructive enerva-
tion of the idea contained in the new birth must
ithis opinion lead. Even if they did not commit it,
the mere fact that as unregenerate men they
could be warned as well on the way toward it is
entirely subversive of the opinion just expressed.
Others, while admitting what is beyond doubt
the fact, that the unregenerate commit the sin,
also urge the opinion that it may be committed
by the regenerate, and employ in defense of their
position the passages in Heb. 6: 4-8; 10: 26-31,
as descriptive of the once regenerate. These pas-
sages in Hebrews refer to apostasy, the way to 1
which lay through the sin we have been dis-
cussing; this we may maintain beyond a reason-
able doubt, but as to the former character of the
persons described we find ourselves confronted!
with the never-to-be-settled question! so long dis-
puted by the chief schools of theological
thought ; the Calvinistic on the one side and the
Lutheran and Armenian on the other. Into this
question it is not the purpose of these pages to
enter. The unregenerate, and we are inclined to
186 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
think only the unregenerate, may commit the
Unpardonable Sin.
The other question is, Will a proper under-
standing! of the blasphemy against the Holy
Spirit, the alone unpardonable sin, permit of its
identification with the grieving away of the
Spirit through a simple indifference to His
claims and strivings as is so often represented in
the preaching of today?
There is manifestly a difference between a
state of confirmed indifference and one of ma-
licious and hateful antagonism, though both are
evidently phases of the same moral obliquity,
and in harmony with the discussion of this sub-
ject as set forth in the preceding pages, a nega-
tive answer we feel should be given to the above
question.
Gurlitt characterizes the blasphemy against
the Holy Spirit as "contemptuous indifference
to what is divine and holy." Just wherein lies
the exact point of transition between sin of lesser
culpability and the blasphemy against the Spirit
no mortal mind can ever tell, but contemptu-
The Resistance of the Spirit 187
ously declaring in the face of the clearest and
most convincing light, the redemption of Christ,
the things of the Spirit to be matters of indiffer-
ence, to be, in fact, foolishness who will say
that such a thing is not of sufficient culpability in
itself to merit the judgment of blasphemy against
the Holy Spirit? But this is different from that
.simple indifference to the claims of the Spirit,
which continues increasingly in the lives of so
many about us until they, are at last seemingly
lost to all impression.
That a high degree of spiritual enlightenment
is necessary to the commital of the blasphemy
against the Spirit we have already seen, which
fact is clearly set forth by such Scriptural pas-
sages as are descriptive of it, and some have
argued, and not without force, that under such
circumstances simple indifference is impossible;
a clear conception of moral good implies an im-
perative; to be convicted of the truth, they say,
demands its acceptance or its wilful and scornful
rejection.
Again, others have stoutly contended against
188 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
the thought that a man through simple indiffer-
ence can ever become completely insensible to
spiritual impression. To whom is it given to
say? But that simple indifference may so cul-
minate, seems to be reasonable, merely as the
result of natural law in the spiritual world. That
law is, if a man will not see, he 'shall not see.
The neglect to use a faculty for its God-given
purpose means its final atrophy. One need not
break his arm to destroy its powers; simply tie
it to the side and leave it there long enough;
bandage the eye long enough and it will lose
forever its power to see; stop the ears long
enough and they will become soundless forever;
harden the heart long enough and it will lose
forever its capacity to feel. If this is true and
a man becomes "past feeling," Bph. 4: 19,
through continued indifference, although his
condition would be equally hopeless with that of
the blasphemer of the Spirit (and for this reason
so many have identified them), the distinguishing
feature would be not alone in the nature of the
states in question, but that the blasphemy
The Resistance of the Spirit 189
against the Spirit, as seen in the case of the blas-
pheming Jews, is characterized in its outward
expression as the fruit of a malicious disposition,
while this other has its reference solely to the
condition of the man himself.
It is evident whether we identify or distinguish
the two forms of sinfulness under discussion that
one is equally as fatal as the other, and it is cer-
tainly true that sinful derelopment in the case
of every sinner must, unless arrested by Re-
demption, complete itself in such a condition of
soul as forever settles the sinner's doom.
"There is a time, we know not when,
A place we know not where,
That marks the destiny of men,
For glory or despair.
There is a line by us unseen,
That crosses every path;
The hidden boundary between
God's patience and His wrath.
To pass that limit is to die,
To die as if by stealth;
190 A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
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 thrust 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 still the doomed man's path below
May bloom as Eden bloomed
He did not, does not, will not know,
Or feel that he is doomed.
He knows, he feels that all ds well,
And every fear is calmed;
He lives, he dies, he wakes in hell,
Not only doomed but damned*
Oh, where is thisi mysterious bourne
By which our path is crossed:
Beyond which God Himself hath sworn,
That he who goes is lost?
The Resistance of the Spirit 191
How far may men go on in sin?
How long win God forbear?
Where does hope end and where begin
The confines of despair?
An answer from the skies is sent:
'Ye that from God depart,
While it is called today, repent,
And harden not your heart!' "
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
For those desiring to enter more thoroughly
into this important study the following catalogue
of those works which have come under the writ-
er's notice andi which he has found helpful in the
prosecution of his own study is appended. The
year of issue is given as indicative of the more
recent opinion. Books marked with a star (*)
are specially helpful for those who do not care
for the more extended study: of the subject.
1674. On the Holy Spirit Owen.
1814. A practical Treatise on the Ordinary Opera-
tions of the Holy Spirit S. S. Faber.
1847. The Office and Work of the Holy Spirit-
James Buchanan.
1849. The Work of the Holy Spirit W. H. Stowell.
1854. The Mission of the Comforter. J. G. Hare.
1856. The Tongue of Fire. William Arthur.
1856. Inquiry on the Work of the Holy Spirit
Winslow.
1865. The Scripture Testimony to the Holy Spirit
James Morgan.
1866. The Temporal Mission of the Spirit. H. B.
Manning.
Bibliography 193
1869. The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Walker.
1875. The Paraclete. Joseph Parker.
1882. The Work of the Holy Spirit in Man. G.
Tophel.
1882. The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Smeaton.
1883. Emblems of the Holy Ghost. Philip Norton.
1885. Ethics of the Holy Ghost Philip Norton.
1886. The Holy Spirit in Man. McMillan.
1888. The Spirit of Christ. Andrew Murray.
1890. Power from on High. Mills.
1892. The Greatest Need of the Church. B. F.
Meyer.
1S92. Seven Lamps of Fire. Philip Norton.
1892. The Filling of the Spirit. B. F. Meyer.
1898. The Holy Ghost Dispensation. D. Clark.
The Holy Spirit. J. H. Brooks.
1894. *The Ministry of the Holy Spirit. A. J. Gor-
dan.
1894. Received ye the Holy Ghost.-J. W. Chap-
man.
1895. The Baptism of the Holy Ghost. R. A. Tor-
rey.
1896. The Spirit's Seal. Moore.
1896. The Spirit-filled Life. MacNeil.
1896. *Through the Eternal Spirit Gumming.
1896. The Holy Spirit in New Testament Scrip-
tures. Scofield.
194 Bibliography
1897. A Holy Life. Macgregor.
1897. Another Comforter. McC/lure.
Pray for the Holy Spirit William Scribner.
*Be Filled with the Spirit E^ Boys.
The Baptism of the Holy Ghost Mahan.
In. the Power of the Spirit Boardman.
Veni Creator. H. G. C. Moule.
1897. The Spirit's Seal. E. W. Moore.
1897. *The Threefold Secret of the Holy Spirit.-
J. H. McConkey.
1898. Acts of the Holy Spirit A. T. Peirson.
1898. The Things of the Spirit. Macgregor.
1899. *Plain Papers on the Doctrine of the Holy
Spirit. Scofield.
1899. The Spirit and the incarnation.-W. L.
Wjalker.
1900. *The Spirit of God. Campbell Morgan.
1900. The Holy Spirit and the Believer.-James M.
Gray.
1900. The work of the Holy Spirit Kuyper.
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit Vaughan.
The Holy Spirit, the Paraclete. Robsons.
Vox Dei. Bedford.
Emblems of the Holy Spirit. F. E. Marsh.
1902. Holy Spirit H. B. Swete, in Hastings Bible
Dictionary.
In the Power of the Spirit. Boardman.
Bibliography 195
Personality and Offices of the Comforter. Heber.
Person and Work of the Holy Ghost Hutch'ings.
Person and Office of the Holy Spirit. Webb.
Work of the Holy Spirit. Candlish.
Administration of the Holy Spirit in the Body of
Christ. Moberly.
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