HERE is no subject more important in religion than that of the Holy Spirit. Unless this be properly understood, a large portion of the Bible, and especially of the New Testament, must remain unintelligible. On the other hand, a just view of it will do more than a knowledge of any other particular topic to give harmony, clearness, and consistency to what may be learned of all other matters presented in the Word of God. That Word has been itself dictated by the Spirit, and the better our knowledge of the Author, the more correct will be our comprehension of the entire volume. That the subject is, from its very nature, difficult and mysterious in many respects, is freely admitted; but it is equally true that, so far as it is treated at all in Scripture, it is a legitimate subject of human inquiry, and an essential portion of religious truth. [11]

      In the Old Testament the Spirit is introduced in the very beginning of the material creation, as 'moving upon,' or brooding over, "the face of the waters." When mentioned, he is usually termed the "Spirit of Jehovah," the "Holy Spirit of Jehovah," Ps. li: 11; the "Spirit of God" or the "Good Spirit of Jehovah," Ps. cxliii: 10; Neh. ix: 20. He is spoken of as the source, giver and sustainer of life, Job xxvii: 3; xxxiii: 4; Gen. ii: 7; as the source of Divine intelligence, Gen. xli: 38; Deut. xxxiv: 9; of mechanical skill, xxviii: 3, etc.; of supernatural gifts, Numb. xxiv: 2, etc. He is again referred to as "changing the heart" of Saul--i. e., as bestowing upon him prophetic inspiration--1 Sam. x: 10. His departure from one to whom he had imparted any special grace is called the departure of God, 1 Sam. xvi: 14; and his presence is called the presence of God, 1 Sam. xvi: 13, etc. The references to the Spirit, however, in the Old Testament, are comparatively few, and we will defer to a future occasion what we have to say as to the nature of his office prior to the advent of Christ. It will suffice to remark here, that it was chiefly in the inspiration of the prophets, and in the miraculous powers conferred upon them, that the agency of the Spirit was then recognized. The ordinary gifts or fruits of the Spirit, however, which were to be more fully displayed under the Christian Institution, are referred to by Isaiah, xi: 1-5; lxi.

      As it is in the New Testament that this subject is chiefly developed, it will be proper to direct to this [12] our first and principal attention. Here we find that, just as the Holy Spirit is introduced in the beginning of the material creation, so is he introduced also in the beginning of the new or spiritual creation. He appears, in the Old Testament, as the active agent in the genesis of the heavens and of the earth; and in the very first chapter of the New Testament this same Divine Spirit is presented to our view in the genesis of Christ. "The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee," said the angel to Mary, "and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." Elsewhere he is termed "the first-born of every creature,"¹ "the Alpha and the Omega," "the Amen, the faithful and true Witness," "the Beginning of the creation of God," "the Word that in the beginning was with God and was God," and "by whom all things were created that are in heaven and that are in earth, whether visible or invisible," material or spiritual. Col. i: 16. [13] It was to this "Head of all principality and power," this Word, now "made flesh," that the prophet foretold a special and plenary impartation of the Spirit for the work of the new creation. "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, and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord; and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins." Isa. xi: 1-5. And again, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified." Isa. lxi: 1-3. It was after Jesus had been anointed with the Holy Spirit, and had returned to Nazareth, [14] that, standing up, as usual, to read in the synagogue, he received from the minister the book of the prophet Isaiah, and, having opened it and found the above passage, he thus announced its application: "This day," said he, "is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears." Luke iv: 21.

      The approach of the "Sun of righteousness," however, had not been unheralded. The morning star had already appeared to the nation of Israel as his Harbinger. John had already borne his testimony to Jesus, saying: "This was he of whom I spake. He that cometh after me is preferred before me, for he was before me." And, in harmony with the declaration of the ancient prophet, he had introduced him as one who was to "proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord," as well as "the day of vengeance of our God," when he said to the people, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear, he shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather the wheat into the garner, but will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Matt. iii: 11, 12.

      It had thus not only been foretold by the prophet that the Spirit of the Lord should rest on the expected Messiah, but it was now announced by John, as a special and distinguishing function of this coming One, that he would himself "baptize in the Holy Spirit." Furthermore, in order that John might be enabled certainly to recognize the Person thus [15] commissioned, there was given to him a sign. "I knew him not," said he, "but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing in water. And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not; but he that sent me to baptize in water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth in the Holy Spirit. And I saw and bare record that this is the Son of God." Jno. i: 31, 34. Thus was fulfilled what Isaiah had said: "The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him," and what he had himself uttered by the mouth of Isaiah, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings [gospel] unto the meek," etc., and this fulfillment is thus narrated by Luke: "It came to pass that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased." iii: 21, 22. Thus also had it been announced by Isaiah: "Behold my Servant whom I uphold, mine Elect in whom my soul delighteth: I have put my Spirit upon him; he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles." xlii: 1.

      Both the Father and the Holy Spirit are thus here presented to us as associated with Christ and with his work. He is sent by the Father, who announces him from the heavens, and by whom he is [16] anointed with the Holy Spirit, in order that he might fulfill the great purposes of his mission. The Spirit appears as the immediately effective power in Christ, who does not enter upon his public ministry until this gift is imparted. He was then about thirty years of age, and we are informed that the Spirit was given to him "not by measure." It was imparted in all its fullness to him, in whom it pleased the Father that all fullness should dwell, even "the fullness of the godhead bodily." Col. i: 19; ii: 9.² From the moment of, its reception, the life of Christ is characterized as under the immediate direction of the Spirit. He is at once "led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil." Subsequently, "he returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee." Luke iv: 14. He 'cast out devils, by the Spirit of God,' and all the mighty works which he performed, as well, as the precious teachings which he uttered, he attributed to that Divine power ever within him. "The Father that dwelleth in me," said he "he doeth the works." Jno. xiv: 10. Again, "He whom [17] God hath sent, speaketh the words of God, for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him." Jno. iii: 34. The entire work of redemption, indeed, is, in a certain sense, represented as accomplished by the Spirit. It was by the Spirit that "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself." "By an eternal Spirit" Christ "offered himself without spot to God." "He was put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit," etc.

      Christ, however, not only thus accomplished the works of him that sent him, in signs and wonders and revelations of the truth, but also in the dispensation of the Holy Spirit to believers, which, as we have seen above, was committed to him. He was specially revealed to John the Baptist as "he that baptizeth in the Holy Spirit." From the manner in which this is announced, the vast importance evidently attached to it, and the fact that it is made a distinguishing characteristic of the ministry of Christ, it can not justly be supposed that this great function was fulfilled in the bestowment of the temporary and partial, spiritual gifts of the apostolic age. Miraculous powers had been conferred before, and largely exercised, even under the Jewish Institution; but this was, evidently, from the very manner of its annunciation, something never yet vouchsafed to men--a ministration which belonged peculiarly to Christ--a function which was to be exercised in reference to an entire class, without any intimation of limit or restriction, as to its duration or its universality.

      It was prior to his identification of Jesus that John, [18] impressed with the superior dignity and glory of the coming One, cried out to the multitude in the remarkable words already quoted: "I indeed baptize you in water unto repentance, but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; he shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire: whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather the wheat into the garner; but will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Having before him, on this occasion, the Pharisees and Sadducees, who had come to his baptism for certain selfish ends, and aware that the Messiah was not only "to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord," but also "the day of vengeance of our God," he very naturally extends his views to that future judgment of the impenitent, and, denouncing them as "a generation of vipers," he inquires, in cutting irony, "Who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" He then exposes their vain reliance upon mere Abrahamic descent, and admonishes them that the time was at hand when 'every tree which did not bring forth good fruit would be hewn down and cast into the fire.' In perfect harmony now with the circumstances and the entire connection of thought, he announces that the "mightier" One, whose advent he heralded, would, on the one hand, bless the righteous by the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and, on the other, punish the wicked by a baptism in fire--carrying out the distinction and the contrast still further in the following verse, where he compares him [19] to the husbandman separating the chaff from the wheat, and, while gathering the former "into the garner," burning the latter "with unquenchable fire." The baptism in the Spirit is thus here placed in direct opposition to the baptism in fire--the former involving the salvation and blessedness of the redeemed, as an entire class, and the latter indicating the punishment--prepared for the ungodly. Christ, himself, subsequently, employed similar language to that of John, in reference to the scribes and Pharisees: "Ye serpents," said he, "ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?" Matt. xxiii: 33.³ [20]

      According to the view here taken of Christ's function in relation to the Holy spirit, one of his appropriate designations might be, "He that baptizeth in [21] the Holy Spirit," just as we have, "He that cometh" (o ercomenoV), or "He that liveth," or "He that hath the seven Spirits of God." This baptism also is to be regarded as applicable to the entire class of [22] believers without exception, since there is nothing whatever in its announcement restricting it to a limited number or to a particular time. On the contrary, the manner of its announcement forbids any such restriction, and leaves it just as universal and as permanent, on the one hand, as the punishment of the wicked remains upon the other. As to the particular force of the expression, "baptize in the Holy Spirit," this will be considered more appropriately hereafter. It will be sufficient to say, at present, that it is regarded as referring simply to that impartation or communication of the Holy Spirit to believers which is equally true of all, since "if a man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his," and that it is hence a function which can terminate only with the close of the Christian dispensation Christ is thus appropriately represented as the dispenser of this Divine gift to the Church, of which he is the head, throughout all the ages; while, on the other hand, as "all judgment is committed unto the Son," the punishing of the wicked, the baptism in fire, is, with equal propriety, assigned to him. "Behold," said the Lord by Malachi, in reference to this very ministry of John and of Jesus, "I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming, and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire [23] and like fuller's soap; and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them, as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness."--"For, behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, and it shall leave them neither root nor branch."

      Taking for granted, then, what will be more fully shown hereafter, that it was one of the great distinguishing functions of Christ to "baptize in the Holy Spirit," or, in other words, to impart the Holy Spirit to believers, we would naturally expect to find that, during his ministry, this particular matter would occupy prominently his attention. Even in advance of the period of its accomplishment, we would expect him, in his teachings, to dwell upon this great end or purpose of his mission. Conscious of its vast importance, he could not fail to direct the attention of his auditors to it as the essential matter in his ministry, and to seek to impress it upon them with peculiar earnestness. Accordingly, we find, upon even a cursory survey of his recorded instructions; that this subject presents itself with marked distinctness, and with a frequency and an earnestness entirely consonant with the view above given. In the most affectionate and impressive manner, he admonishes and exhorts his disciples, in anticipation of the appointed period when the Spirit was to be given, to ask, that they might receive; to seek, that [24] they might find; to knock, that it might be opened to them. "If a son shall ask bread," said he, "of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he, for a fish, give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 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 xi: 11-13. The Holy Spirit is, of course, in all cases, the gift of God, and we have here an assurance of its impartation to his children not less remarkable for its simple beauty and emphatic earnestness than for its universality. There is to be no exception whatever. If evil men can give good gifts to their children, much more shall the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who are his children. They are, therefore, counseled to seek it diligently and perseveringly until their request be granted, as exemplified in the parable just preceding, verses 5-8. On another occasion he, in the most positive terms, assures the Jewish ruler that "the flesh profiteth nothing," and that "it is the Spirit that quickeneth." Again, seated by a well, in conversation with the woman of Samaria, he takes occasion to say that if she knew "the gift of God," and who it was who said to her, "Give me to drink," she would have asked of him, and he would have given her "living water." Standing, subsequently, amidst the concourse, on the great day of one of the national feasts, and with the purpose of his mission resting on his heart, he was moved to [25] cry aloud, "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. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive. For the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)" Jno. vii: 37-39. A similar pressing sense of the sacredness and transcendent importance of the work of the Spirit, seems to have induced him to pronounce that strong condemnation of those who blasphemed the Holy Spirit, Matt. xii: 31, which, in every age, has aroused the consciences of men and stimulated to earnest inquiry.

      It is, however, in his last interviews with his disciples, prior to his sufferings, when he was about to leave them, that, with a peculiar tenderness of feeling, he reveals to them, in explicit terms, his unity with the Father, and informs them that he will not leave them desolate, but will send them another Comforter or Paraclete, to abide with them forever. He assures them that he will thus come to them, and that, in receiving this promised Comforter, they would themselves realize that unity of which he had spoken, and know "that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you." This promise he conditions directly upon that obedience to his commandments which alone could evince love to God, and secure, in turn, the love of God, and that manifestation of the Spirit of which he had spoken. When asked by one of the disciples how he would manifest himself to them, and not unto the world, he reiterates in [26] still plainer language: "If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him." Jno. xiv: 15-23. Again and again, in this touching farewell discourse to his disciples, does he assure them, as the special source of consolation, that he will send to them this Paraclete, "which is," said he, "the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name." xiv: 26.⁴ "When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the [27] Father, he shall testify of me." xv: 26. Finding that sorrow filled their hearts at the thought of his departure, he says again: "Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you." xvi: 7.

      It was after giving these assurances and consolations to his disciples that, in their hearing and presence, Christ offered up the remarkable prayer recorded in Jno. xvii, which was the closing act of his ministry anterior to his betrayal in Gethsemane. As this prayer has special relation to our subject, and as its scope and real purport seem to be scarcely at all understood by the religious community, it will now claim our particular attention. [28]

[OHS 11-28]