There has been much discussion of this subject recently, and the many and great differences show that by many it is greatly misunderstood. It is certain we can know nothing about it, except as it is revealed in the word of God; and it is not a bad rule for us in such matters, to express ourselves in the very words of the Bible. If we will do this, and be careful to draw no conclusion from the text except what its words necessarily imply we may learn much.

      Once at Jerusalem, at one of the great annual feasts, on the last day of the feast--the great day--[p. 115] Jesus stood and cried saying, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water," and in the next verse John explains his meaning by saying, "This spake he of the Spirit, which they that believed on him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given; because Jesus was not yet glorified." (John 7:37-39)

      Notice the universality of this promise: "If any man thirst," let him come and drink: "He that believeth on me"--that is, every one that believeth on me--"out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." And John says: "This spake he of the Spirit, which they that believed on him" were to receive--that is all the believers were to receive. This passage seems to me to teach clearly that all believers were to receive the Holy Spirit. It certainly cannot be limited to the apostles. It also teaches that, after the glorification of Jesus--that is, after his ascension and coronation at the right hand of God--the Spirit was to be given as he had never been before. This cannot refer to miracle working power from the Spirit for no greater or more astounding miracles were done after the ascension of Jesus then had been wrought by prophets and apostles before. The following passages seem to me to show clearly that, while the Holy Spirit had been with men before and had put forth miraculous power in and through them, he did not dwell in them, as he was to do after the glorification of Jesus.

      On the night of his arrest Jesus said to his apostles: "If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth: whom the world cannot receive; for it beholdeth him not, neither knoweth him: ye know him; for he abideth with, and shall be in you. I will not leave you desolate; I come unto you." (John 14:15-17.) Here Jesus teaches the apostles that the Spirit had been, and then was, with them; but that he should afterwards be in them. He further teaches that the world cannot receive the Spirit, because it neither sees him nor knows him; but he tells the apostles they know him and shall receive him. Jesus was about to leave them, but he would not leave them comfortless; he would send them another Comforter, the Spirit of truth. "I will not leave you desolate; I come unto you." Manifestly, he means in the person of the Spirit he will come to them; for, in verse 23, he says, " If a man love me, he will keep my word; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him;" and in Eph. 2:21, 22, Christians are represented as being framed together "into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit." It seems that, as God's representative on earth during the wanderings of the children of Israel (see Ex. 23:20-23 and 32:34) was an angel, so now it is the Holy Spirit. "Know ye not that ye are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (1 Cor. 3:16); "or know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have from God? And ye are not your own." Thus God and Christ dwell with those who love Jesus and keep his commandments.

      As Jesus had promised, the Comforter came on the day of Pentecost, entered into the apostles and filled them (see Acts 2:1-4); and in the conclusion of his argument Peter said to convicted souls: "Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto him."

      Remember now, Jesus had foretold that if any man should thirst and should come to him and drink, from him should flow rivers of living water; and that John explained this by saying, "This spake he of the Spirit, which they that believeth on him were to receive;" remember, also, Paul told the Corinthians, "The Spirit of God dwelleth in you;" "Your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you;" and the promise of Peter to the baptized penitents, "Ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost," is easily understood. They were to receive the divine Comforter, whom Jesus had promised to all who should believe on him, whom the world could not receive. They were to receive the "gift of the Holy Ghost;" wrought in them faith and repentance they were to be baptized; and then, and not till then, they were to receive the "the gift of the Holy Ghost," and, in harmony with this idea, at Acts 5:32, Peter speaks of "the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him." From this it is manifest that the Spirit is given to the true believer, to him whose faith has been "made perfect" by works; not to the man of the world, who, Jesus says, cannot receive him; but to the child of God. Hence Paul says (Gal. 4:6): "Because ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father." The indwelling of the Spirit seems to be a peculiarity of the new covenant, as the apostles themselves who were with Jesus for more than three years, eagerly receiving his words and working mighty miracles in his name, had the Spirit "with" them, but did not have him to abide "in" them till after the ascension of Jesus and the opening of the new covenant.

      "But," asks one, "does not the Holy Spirit dwell in the word, and when one receives the word does he not also receive the Spirit?" The Holy Spirit dwells in his words, so far as I know, only as Daniel Webster dwells in his words. [p. 116] Words are impregnated by ideas; human words by human ideas, divine words by divine ideas; as a divine being is infinitely superior to a human being, so the divine ideas and words are infinitely superior to the human. The idea is that which gives power to the word; if human, human power; if spiritual, spiritual power. Man's words are human; God's words are spirit and life. So far as I know, the Bible nowhere teaches, either expressely or by necessary implication, that the Holy Spirit dwells in the word. If it does not, no man is under any obligation to say it or believe it, but he is expressely represented in passages already quoted as dwelling in Christians, in the church, the body of Christ. This we must believe and affirm.

      "But," says another, "I do not see how the Holy Spirit can dwell in many Christians at the same time." Do you see how the sap of the vine can dwell in all of its branches at the same time, or do you see how the electric current can go out from one power house over a single wire and be distributed to many wires, run dozens and scores of heavily laden cars through the streets? It is as easy for me to see how the Spirit can dwell in different persons as to see how he can dwell in different words.

      The electric current goes only into those wires that are connected with the engine at the power house; the sap, only into those branches that are connected vitally with the vine; so the Spirit goes only into those persons who are vitally connected with Jesus Christ, the True Vine, and thus with the Father, the source of all spiritual power. Jesus say, "The Spirit of truth proceedeth from the Father." The celestial city is the great power house, and the great Father is the engine of the universe. The following passage, in light of what has been here presented, seems to me to be very strong and clear: "Ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. But if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, he that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall quicken also your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwelleth in you." (Rom. 8:9-11) From this passage it is evident that Christ dwells in the Christian by the Spirit; that he who has not the Spirit is not a Christian; and that God will also quicken our mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwells in us. It is evident also that by "spirit" here is not meant "a Christlike disposition," for no sort of disposition can quicken a dead body. It requires a living being with divine power to do that.

      Paul says: "And in like manner the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity; for we know not how to pray as we ought; but the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered; and he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God." (Rom. 8:26, 27.) The Spirit helps our infirmity. What that means it is probable we will not fully understand till we come before the judgment seat of Christ: but some that are included in its meaning, I think, are clear. One great defect of man, even after the life of Christ on earth, was lack of knowledge of divine things. The Spirit has certainly helped our infirmity at the point by giving to us, through apostles and prophets, the perfect law of liberty: and he has thus furnished us "completely unto every good work." We need expect nothing more in this line this side of the second coming of Christ. It remains for us to use well the knowledge the Spirit furnishes in the word of God: but after we have studied it diligently, we feel our infirmity in calling it up in memory and in presenting it clearly, when we endeavor to teach it to others. The feeling of weakness is expressed in almost every prayer that is delivered just before a sermon. Some one prays God to bless our brother with a "ready recollection of the things he has learned from thy word and the ability to make them plain, that sinners may be converted and saints edified:" or, "to grant to our brother strength of body and mind, that he may do well the work that is before him:" or, "to help him to speak the very words we need to hear, in the most effectual way." To the apostles Jesus said of the Spirit, (1) he shall "bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you;" and (2) "he shall guide you into all truth." We have in the word of God "all the truth" we need, but we feel the need of, and are apt to express the desire for, help to remember it and to use it most effectually when we come to teach it to others; and it is comforting to remember that the Spirit helps our infirmity. We want to be guided where we can do the most good, to find favor with the people that we may benefit them, and to be strengthened and blessed in every way God sees best; and to me it is a great source of confidence and comfort to remember that the Holy Spirit is on earth, dwelling in the children of God, that he is our Comforter, that he helps our infirmity, and that "he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God." In the great commission Jesus says: "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." But it has already been shown that Jesus dwells with us in the person of the Spirit. In speaking of the Father, at John 14:16, he says: "He shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth." These are strong expressions, "forever," "even unto the end of the world." The Holy Spirit came [p. 117] from heaven on the day of Pentecost and abides here still, and will remain "even unto the end of the world." The devil is on the earth, too, and will be when Christ comes, and then he will be cast into the abyss. These mighty opposing forces are not here in idleness: they are doubtless, the greatest workers on the earth.

      In answer to this, Jesus says: "And he, when he is to come, will convict the world in respect of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and ye behold me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged." (John 16:8-11.)

      So we see the Holy Spirit's work is to convict, so far as the world is concerned: to convict them of their sin of unbelief in rejecting Jesus; of the righteousness of Jesus by demonstrating his resurrection and ascension; of the judgment to come, inasmuch as Satan had met Christ again and again in battle and had been overcome, and from him the power of death had been taken (Heb. 2:14), and the keys of death and Hades. (Rev. 1:18.)

      He does not convict, as some suppose, by a mysterious, miraculous, and irresistible power injected immediately into the heart; no, he dwells in God's children and puts forth his power through them. Through them the word of God was first spoken, and then written. Of the Comforter (or Advocate) Jesus said: "He shall bear witness of me; and ye also bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning." (John 15:26, 27.) "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he shall guide you into all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself but what things soever he shall hear, these he shall speak; and he shall declare unto you the things that are to come." (John 16:13.) To the apostles Jesus said: "For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you." (Matt. 10:20.) And Paul says: "For who among men knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of the man which is in him? even so the things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God. But we received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us by God. Which things also we speak, not in words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Spirit teacheth; comparing [or combining] spiritual things with spiritual." (1 Cor. 2:11-13.) That is, the apostles were guided, not only as the things which they should say, but as to the words in which they should say them. They combined (marginal reading) spiritual ideas with spiritual words.

      So the Spirit convicts in respect of these three great facts--sin, righteousness, and judgment--by testifying. He testifies by speaking, and he speaks through apostles and prophets. Not only was the divine truth revealed to these messengers of God, but he also gave them the skill to use the truth. Jesus said to his disciples: "I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to withstand or to gainsay." (Luke 21:15.) And of the opponents of Stephen, it was said: "They were not able to withstand the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spake." (Acts 6:10.) We need no new truth. That is not a part of our infirmity. All of it that we need or shall need till Christ comes again, is in the book of God, and any man can get it as he needs it who will devote the time and thought to it that it ought to receive. God does not do for us what we can and ought to do for ourselves: but the wisdom and the skill to use this knowledge so as to produce the best possible results, we do need as much as did the apostles and prophets. So the word of the Lord teaches thus: "If any of you lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting: for he that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord; a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." (James 1:5-8). In prophesying of Jesus, Isaiah says, "The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord." (Isa. 11:2.) And Jesus says: "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" (Luke 11:13.) Thus wisdom comes. The Galatians received the Spirit by faith. (See Gal. 3:2 and 14.) Faith comes by hearing the word of God, and the Spirit comes by the faith thus obtained.

      It seems to me that the working of the Spirit can be further illustrated by the electric current. The motorman turns his crank two or three points, a slight stream of electricity flows through the machinery, and the car begins to move slowly through the crowded street; when he reaches the less crowded throughfares he turns the crank several points farther, and the car bounds forward under the impulse of a stronger current; presently he comes to a very steep hill, and he turns on the full current, and you feel plainly the throbbing of the mighty power under you as it drives the heavily loaded car up the steep hill. In speaking of Jesus, John the Baptist says: "He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for he giveth not the Spirit by measure. The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into his hand." (John [p. 118] 3:34, 35.) From this it seems that Jesus received the Spirit without measure; the full current flowed in him; all the gifts and all the powers of the Spirit were at all times at his command but not so with others. Paul spake with tongues more than all the Corinthians, but to them the Spirit gave to one, one gift; to another, another; and so on, giving each for the benefit of all. At times the apostles seemed to have only such a slight measure of the Spirit as was necessary for ordinary occasions; but, when the need arose, God "turned on," as it were, a "stronger current," and they were "filled with the Spirit," and sparkled and flashed like stars of the first magnitude. For illustrations of this, see Luke 1:15; Acts 4:8; Acts 9:19; Acts 13:9; Acts 4:31. When the inflow of the Spirit was so great that their spirit were completely possessed and overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit, they were baptized in the Holy Ghost. So were the apostles on Pentecost and Cornelius. This was the greatest measure of the Spirit ever given by Christ to any; and, to this time, so far as we know, has been granted only in the two cases referred to; but I believe it will be granted to all the righteous in the everlasting kingdom of God, as the baptism of fire will be administered to all the wicked at the close of the judgment day.

      In conclusion, I desire to call attention to two points concerning this passage, which reads thus: "And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all that are a far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto him."

      1. That "the gift of the Holy Ghost" signifies the Holy Ghost himself, the Holy Ghost as a gift presented by God "to them that obey him," the passages already quoted in this article prove clearly, leaving no room for a reasonable doubt; but for the benefit of those that read this who may not be as "reasonable" as they ought to be, this additional proof is given from Acts 10:44, 45: "While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all of them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were amazed, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost." This is the other place where the phrase "the gift of the Holy Ghost" is used, and here it manifestly means the Holy Ghost, which Christ foretold they that believed on him should receive, and which John explained would be given, after Christ was glorified, to believers. On Pentecost Peter announced that Christ had been glorified, and told the people how they might now obtain the gift which Christ had promised, "the gift of the Holy Ghost."

      2. In the light of all that has been quoted, it appears clear to me that this gift of the Spirit was not always manifest in miraculous manifestations. Miraculous powers and knowledge were sometimes displayed by those whom the Spirit did not dwell, who were bad and under the wrath of God, as in the cases of Judas Iscariot (see Matt. 10:1-8), Caiaphas (John 11:47-51), and Balaam (see Numbers 22-24); while the great majority of the children of God, in every one of whom the Spirit dwells, never display any miraculous powers, or inspired knowledge, except that knowledge which they get from the word of God. It seems clear to me that the gift promised at Acts 2:38 was not a gift of miraculous powers, as it is expressly said to be for all Christians; as Peter put it: "For to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto him." God help us all to study this subject reverently, and give due weight to every passage bearing upon it. As usual the quotations are from the Revised Version.