HERE are not a few materialists and skeptics of the sensuistic school, and some who even profess a form of Christianity, who doubt or deny the possibility and reality of the gift of the Holy Spirit. With these reasoners, every thing must be subordinated to the forms of the mere logician, and they refuse credence to any thing which they are unable to verify by sensible perception or to comprehend by feeble reason. How, they ask, can the Divine Spirit dwell literally inhuman beings? How can he be present at the same time in each member of the church? Or, if really present, why is not this presence realized in sensible evidences or in miraculous powers as claimed for the early ages of the church?

      As spiritual blessings come through faith and not by human philosophy, natural, intellectual, or moral, it were useless to enter upon any serious discussion with objectors whose narrow premises admit only a [68] certain class of facts, and who willfully close "the eyes of their understanding "against every ray of light which emanates from the spiritual system. These materialists, in their gross conceptions, fail to make just discriminations, and leave altogether out of view the essential fact that spirit is quite different from body, and not subject to the laws which govern material things. "A spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have," said Jesus. A spirit must hence be conceived of as an intelligent entity or being, wholly distinct from material organization, and, though capable of association or connection with such an organization, just as capable of separation from it, having in itself a nature, different, independent, and peculiar. So very different, indeed, is this nature, that while spirit may and does readily connect itself with that which is material, and dwell in the realm of nature, it is impossible for flesh and blood to inherit the kingdom of God. The material frame can not dwell within the realm of the spiritual kingdom, but must be raised a "spiritual body," or changed at the sound of the last trump into that which is altogether different, and alone fitted for the realms of light. How absurd, then, it is for men to apply to spirit those ideas of space and time, and those qualities of things with which they have become acquainted through sensible perception! How presumptuous to decide dogmatically what may be, or what may not be, within the natural capacity of a spiritual being of which so little can now be known! How mysterious and incomprehensible the mode in [69] which the human spirit dwells in the body, imparting to it harmony, unity, and power, and not only controlling its own material abode, but possessing also the wondrous power of self-superintendence; yet itself, meanwhile, wholly secure from all sensible observation and revealing itself only in its workings! Nay, how impossible it would be for materialistic objectors to furnish a clear exposition of the nature even of matter, apart from its properties! How utterly unable would they be to give an explanation or cognition of the essential nature of matter, such as they absurdly ask in regard to spirit!¹ Socinian rationalists and skeptical sciolists have yet to learn that the original facts in regard to matter as well as in relation to spirit must be taken upon trust, and that they are both, in the widest sense, to be recognized as revelations. Wonderful and vast as are the powers conferred on man, it becomes him, at a certain stage of his investigations, to confess himself an ignorant and a finite being, and to repose in humility [70] and reverence upon the truths made known to him, through various channels, by the Infinite Intelligence.

      It is, certainly, not without a design to afford to "men in the flesh," a certain degree of enlightenment as to the capacities and habitudes of spiritual beings, that the Bible presents to us, as no other volume does, detailed accounts of the doings of supernatural visitants. Especially, is the record of those demoniacal possessions which were permitted at the introduction of Christianity, calculated to reveal the wondrous facility possessed by spiritual beings to enter into and take possession of animal bodies. There is not, indeed, the slightest hint of any difficulty or obstruction here, unless what arises from the inhibition of Divine power, or, in man, from the resistance of the will. The unclean spirit could say, "I will return to my house." He could take with him seven other spirits, and all could enter in and dwell there. Seven demons could dwell together in Mary Magdalene, and a legion of them in another individual, from whom Christ elicited that remarkable reply, (both elicited and recorded for special reasons,) "My name is Legion, for we are many." How utterly incapable here seems to be the grammatical language of earth, how futile human logic or science, to convey any comprehensible ideas of the real nature and mysterious powers of the inhabitants of the spirit-world! What a strange petition and singular permission to enter into the herd of swine! What a clear and omnipotent Divine command to the dumb [71] and deaf spirit: "I charge thee come out of him and enter no more into him!"² What evident possibilities of spiritual inhabitation do these facts unfold, and how constantly is man's susceptibility to unseen spiritual agency manifested in every age by the Satanic influences operating upon human hearts, in evil thoughts suggested, unholy passions awakened, or motives perverted and debased! He who sought to have the primitive disciples in his power that he "might sift them as wheat;" he who entered into Judas to nerve him for the betrayal of the innocent; he who put it into the hearts of Ananias and Sapphira to lie to the Holy Spirit, still knows how to maintain his control over the children of disobedience, and is [72] never more successful than when he can persuade them that he has himself no real existence. It is in view, indeed, of the most obvious facts of human experience, that man should tremble at his feebleness and earnestly seek, amidst the perils which surround him from unseen spiritual foes, the countervailing aid of that Divine Presence which 'strengthens with might the inner man' and sustains the soul against the power of the Enemy. Happy the wise and thoughtful ones, who, realizing how little man can know of that mysterious world into which he shall one day enter, and of the real nature of the difficulties and snares which beset his earthly pathway, cherish the more the precious revelations afforded them by an infallible Teacher, and rest in humble faith upon the Divine promises!

      It is surprising, indeed, that intelligent persons should have any difficulty in fully accepting the Scripture teaching in regard to spiritual indwelling. The association of a spirit with a material organization is one of the most familiar facts in nature. We see it verified every-where around us. Each one experiences it in himself. It is strange that the doctrine of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the believer should, nevertheless, at once excite ideas of wonder, of miracle, or of some sensuous impression or manifestation. What evidence is there to show that such an indwelling is not perfectly harmonious with all we know of the relations established between matter and spirit? How naturally and gently, so to speak, does the human spirit dwell in the body! Diverse [73] as body and spirit are in nature, how sweetly are they blended into one being, acting and reacting upon each other in a pleasing companionship! How quickly and with what facility does the human spirit resume its functions when these are temporarily suspended by repose, accident or disease! How perfect its control over the bodily mechanism to a certain extent, and yet how strictly it observes those boundaries which separate its realm from that of the mere organic life! Again, self-poised and independent, how it contemplates calmly its own nature and that of its abode, and pursues its own cogitations as though wholly disconnected with any material organization! In these cases, indeed, we see but its capacity to inhabit and to exert its powers in such an organization, so far as vital laws permit, but even when separated, the possibility of its return is shown, as in the case of Jairus' daughter when, at the command of Jesus, "her spirit came again," or in that of Lazarus when, after a four days absence, it at once regained its powers. Nothing, indeed, attributed in Scripture to that mysterious nature--the human soul, over which men can exert no power though they may kill the body, can be at all regarded as contrary to human experience, however far the revelations may advance beyond the region within which human science is confined, and no one has a right to deprive these revelations of their meaning and force, in order to reduce them to a level with human ignorance. However mysterious and inscrutable the facts presented to us upon this subject, one conclusion at [74] least may safely be drawn, that if the human spirit and malignant spirits may, with such facility, enter and re-enter into the human organism, and there exert their influence and control, certainly there is no room for doubt but that the Good Spirit of God can find a ready access to the hearts of his people.

      We may not affirm, however, that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the believer, does not differ in various respects from that of the human spirit in the human body. It is true that the latter is represented as a "tabernacle" in which the soul or immaterial principle resides, or as a "vesture" with which it is clothed, but these metaphors do not express the whole of the literal fact or exhibit that actual union, that natural and connate interdependence and affiliation which exist between soul and body, as God has of them constituted one sentient and rational being. On the other hand, the body is termed the temple of the Holy Spirit, and his presence is expressed by various terms signifying to "remain," to "inhabit," to "dwell." He is imparted, however, as a gift, superadded to the natural and ordinary spiritual nature of man, as a Divine Helper and present Intercessor. There is not here union, as in the case of the body and the human spirit, but communion. There is not constraint, but freedom. There is not an alliance, absolute and necessary, but relative and contingent.

      The indwelling of the Spirit is hence to be distinguished from an incarnation or manifestation of God in the flesh, such as existed in the person of [75] Jesus of Nazareth. Here the entire and perfect human nature, consisting of body, soul, and spirit, became united with the Divine nature, constituting one person, perfect both as to his humanity and his Divinity--one with man as the Son of man, and one with the Father as the Son of God. The "Word that was in the beginning with God and that was God" was here "made flesh," and was found "in fashion as a man." This was the second man created such by an immediate exercise of Divine power. The first was formed directly from the earth; the second was "made of a woman," as to his humanity, but as to his Divine nature, was "the Lord from heaven." In the first creation, woman was taken out of man; in the second, man, by direct Divine power, from woman. That which had been last was made first, and the first, last. "A virgin shall conceive and bear a son," said the Prophet, "and thou shalt call his name Immanuel." Here the Divine and human natures were united. In the first Adam, the Divine image was impressed upon humanity; in the second, the human nature was added to the Divine. In the first, that which was earthly and human, became chief and distinctive; in the second, that which was Divine predominated, for "in Him dwelt all the fullness of the godhead bodily"--in bodily form. This mysterious union of humanity with Deity was complete in Jesus before he received the gift of the Holy Spirit at his baptism. It was as the Son of God that he received this gift, just as believers become, in regeneration, the adopted children [76] of God, and receive afterward the gift of the Holy Spirit. "Because ye are sons," says Paul to the Galatians, "God hath sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts," iv: 6. The gift or indwelling of the Holy Spirit is hence quite different and distinguishable from any union of the human and Divine natures, whether this be actual or potential, absolute or relative. The Word was made flesh, and, in an analogy sufficiently obvious, we are told that God begets his children "by the word of truth"--by that word which is "Spirit and life," that "incorruptible seed of the word, which liveth and abideth forever," and which, received into the heart, becomes, as it were, clothed with that humanity through which it manifests itself. It is after individuals become, through faith, the adopted children of God, and because they "are sons," that God sends "the Spirit of his Son" into their hearts whereby they are enabled fully to realize this relationship, and, in filial love, to cry, "Abba, Father." Hence Paul says to the Romans, "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God," viii: 16.

      This indwelling of the Spirit, again, is to be distinguished from what is called the "omnipresence" of God. In a certain sense, the presence of the Infinite One is every-where. "Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?" asks the Psalmist, "or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there." Ps. cxxxix: 7, 8. As [77] Creator, Upholder, and Preserver of all things, he pervades the universe, and "in him we live and move and have our being." In this sense, he is equally present with all beings good and evil, with matter and spirit, with things animate and inanimate; sustaining all, maintaining the order of nature, exercising supervision and government over all. Here he may be conceived as present with, and in, the organism of nature, and, in a special sense, he may be also regarded as present every-where by his Providence, in which he so directs the operations of nature as to supply special wants or to accomplish the purposes of moral government. The elements of material nature, or its secret forces, he may cause to form the malaria of disease or the contagion of the pestilence. The stormy wind, the waves of the sea, the flames of fire, may become his ministers and fulfill his commands. "The young lions do roar and seek their meat from God." "He watereth the hills from his chambers." "He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle and herb for the service of man, that he may bring good out of the earth." What he gives, they gather. When he opens his hand, they are "filled with good;" when he hides his face, "they are troubled." All living things wait upon him, that he may "give them their meat in due season." Without him, not a sparrow falleth to the ground, and he guideth the affairs of men and nations so that his purposes are accomplished in their punishment or their deliverance, and he becomes the avenger of the injured and "the Savior of all men," [78] through the innumerable instrumentalities ever at his disposal.

      All this, however, is quite distinct from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It was in a special and peculiar sense that Jesus said of the man who would keep his words: "My Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him." It was as a distinct manifestation of God, that the Paraclete was imparted to believers. It was the Holy Spirit who now came to dwell on earth in human hearts as a Divine and confirmatory seal of faith, and an earnest or pledge in kind of that spiritual inheritance which was to be the eternal possession of the righteous. It was Christ in men, bringing forth in them the fruitage of goodness, righteousness and truth, exhibiting the glory of the Divine character and securing for them an everlasting blessedness. It was a gift--a manifestation of the Divine presence, peculiar to the gospel dispensation, confined entirely to believers, and specially appertaining to that final and complete development of the mysteries of redemption which the gospel alone presents. It is hence to be distinguished, also, from that special presence of God recognized in miracles. These were common to all dispensations, revealing God in his power as Creator and Ruler, or in his wisdom as Counselor, Instructor, and prescient Monitor, accomplishing their purposes, equally through agencies rational or irrational, sentient or unconscious. But the Paraclete--the Holy Spirit of the Christian Institution--is God's missionary to men's hearts; it is [79] God enthroned in man's moral nature, renewing and sanctifying the affections, and transforming humanity into the Divine image by the graces it imparts and through the "engrafted word" which it has introduced into the heart, and now ever preserves green in the memory and fruitful in the life.

      Before leaving the particular subject of the present chapter, it may be well to add a few words in relation to the propriety of the term "Guest," which some employ in relation to the Holy Spirit as dwelling in the believer. Christ says, (Rev. iii: 20,) "I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him." This, if taken as referring to the Spirit, certainly suggests the idea of a guest. What immediately follows, however, "and he shall sup with me," reverses this, and presents him in the capacity of a host. Upon the whole, while, in a certain point of view, the term "Guest" might be allowable, it is not well to employ a word never so used in Scripture, and one which indicates a relation merely casual and transitory. This, as respects the Spirit and the believer, would not be accordant with fact, since his sojourn is permanent--"he shall abide with you forever"--a constant Guardian, Helper and Guide. It is the obsoleteness of the word "Ghost" in the common version, which has evidently given rise to the substitution of "Guest." "Ghost" was a proper representative of pneuma when the common version was made. Since then, however, this word has, in common use, been restricted to one of the meanings [80] which it has in common with pneuma, viz., to a supposed apparition of a deceased person, and the expression tends to convey a wrong idea to the minds of the uninstructed. Some have hence fallen into the habit of substituting "Guest" for "Ghost" as if it were an equivalent. But this is far from correct. "Guest" is from the Saxon gæest or gest, a guest, a man, a human being, being allied to the verb gan, gangan (whence the Scottish gang) to go. "Ghost," on the other hand, is from gast, the breath, a spirit, etc., (whence the English gas, etc), and though it be true that both these words may have probably the same radical sense, viz., to go, to move, to rush, they had nevertheless, at the period when the common version was made, acquired quite independent and different meanings, so that, of the two, "Ghost" alone was then a proper representative of the Greek pneuma, now correctly rendering Spirit in modern English.

      It may be proper to notice here also, a much more common error, where the indwelling of the Spirit is confounded with that of the word. Because Christ says of his words in a peculiar sense, as to their import and the results which proceed from them, that they are "spirit and life," and Paul exhorts Christians to let "the word of Christ dwell in them richly," some have hastily adopted the conclusion that the indwelling of the Spirit is nothing more than the presence of the word in the mind or memory. These philosophers go on accordingly to attribute the entire results of Christianity, as evolved in the life, to the natural influence a£ "words and arguments" [81] addressed to the intellect. They do not believe in any actual impartation of the Spirit as such, but the New Testament is with them tantamount to "the gift of the Holy Spirit." This view prevailed at one time to a considerable extent in the Church of England, both Bishop Heber and Bishop Warburton having entertained it, as well as a large number of the inferior clergy.³ Stillingfleet, too, held with those just mentioned, that the promise of the Holy Spirit was fulfilled in the extraordinary gifts of the apostolic age, and that the New Testament, containing the result of these in the development and confirmation of the gospel, has been, since that period, equivalent to the presence of the Spirit. Unitarians, Socinians and Pelagians take substantially the same ground, though differing as to the inspiration of the Sacred Volume, and denying altogether the personal existence of the Holy Spirit, which they regard as merely an "influence."

      It will not be necessary to enter here upon a formal examination of the doctrine that the word is the Spirit, or that the New Testament is the substitute for the Holy Spirit of apostolic times, since this [82] entire treatise has an immediate bearing on this question. It will be sufficient to say here, that while this notion is plausible from the partial truth which it contains, and flattering to human pride from the position and efficacy which it assigns to the mere rational and moral faculties of men, it is altogether incompatible with Scripture teaching and with the facts of history. That the New Testament furnishes an authentic and sufficient record of the supernatural revelations and attestations to the truth of the gospel which were given in the beginning, and that these miraculous manifestations ceased when their purpose was accomplished is true. It is correct to say, therefore, that the New Testament replaces these, and that no such illuminations or miraculous demonstrations are now to be expected. It is to take, however, a most inadequate and superficial view of the office of the Holy Spirit and of Christ's promise of the Paraclete, to suppose these limited merely to the miraculous powers of the apostolic age. Miracles were then performed and revelations given by the Holy Spirit, as they had been during Christ's personal ministry, and in preceding ages, for special purposes, but were far from constituting the chief and prominent object of the mission of the Comforter. It should be remembered that the disciples, to whom Christ gave the promise that he would send them another Comforter, had already possessed and exercised miraculous powers, and had, moreover, already received the gospel presented to them in the teachings of Christ, and that they were, notwithstanding, entirely [83] destitute of that peculiar manifestation of the Spirit which was to be imparted only after the glorification of Christ, and in which he was to come to them and to continue with them to the end of the world. As Christ had been to the disciples a Comforter--a personal Helper and Guardian, he promises to them another Comforter who should be, not with them merely, as he had been, but in them and who was thus to abide with them forever. The word and the miraculous works of the Spirit were manifestations to the world, but the promise of Christ was that he would manifest himself to the disciple differently, viz., by coming to him and making his abode with him. And this promise was based upon his keeping the words of Christ already communicated. To confound the word with the Spirit, is to assert that the world is capable of receiving the Spirit, in direct contradiction to the declaration of Christ, since the world can receive the gospel commanded to be preached to every creature. The word is indeed the instrument which the Spirit employs both in converting the world and in sanctifying saints, but it is a singular confusion of thought which mistakes the instrument for the agent, and leads men to the absurdity of making the word, the Spirit, or the author of the Spirit; while, at the same time, they speak of the Spirit as the author of the word!

      Much of the rationalism and skepticism which exists, in relation to the indwelling of the Spirit, arises from the tendency which men have to demand positive definitions and palpable demonstrations in [84] regard to matters wholly beyond the provinces of reason and sensation, and to refuse credence to every thing which may not be actually submitted to sensible perception, or made plain to the ordinary understanding. In their vain endeavors to express what God is, in forms of human speech, metaphysical theologists presume to dogmatize and decide in regard to themes upon which the human mind should simply meditate in humble adoration. Sensuous religionists, on the other hand, soon learn to invest their gross conceptions in the habiliments of superstition, and the cherished idol of the brain becomes the material image of the shrine. Their convictions must rest upon sensible impressions, and unless they can see and feel the evidences presented, they will not believe. The unimpassioned rationalist amuses himself with the notion that he has resolved all the mysteries of the Holy Spirit, when he has persuaded himself that this Spirit is merely a visible and tangible New Testament; while the ardent sensuist imagines himself to have realized the presence of the Spirit in some emotional excitement, some brilliant vision, or some audible revelation. Meanwhile, both agree to disregard and explain away the plainest teachings of the true Spirit of God in the Sacred Record; and while, on the one hand, they rely upon human reason, and, on the other, seek for sensible proof, the gentle movements of the Comforter in keeping the heart and mind, and perfecting the fruits of the Christian life, are doubted and denied. In every age, sense has thus sought the victory over faith, and mere [85] external forms or corporeal ministries have superseded the unseen but beneficent workings of Divine grace.

      In regard to this whole subject of the Divine manifestations, the student of the Bible can not have failed to notice the marked distinction therein made as it speaks of the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit. The Father, the God of the universe, is represented as in Heaven; as there "dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto," the blessed and only Potentate (DumasthV) whom no man hath seen or can see, and as forever surrounded with all the appropriate insignia of supreme dominion, or as revealing from heaven the majesty of his power. The Son, on the other hand is revealed as the Creator of the worlds, as "the Angel of Jehovah" (Gen. xxii: 11, 12; xxxi: 11, 13, etc.,) as the Manifester and Revealer of God to men, having to them a special and peculiar relation. He is the Word made flesh, dwelling among men on earth, and thence exalted to the "right hand of the throne of the Majesty (megalwsunhV) in the heavens;" the "Prince of the kings of earth;" the "Image of the Invisible God;" the "Judge of quick and dead," etc. It is noteworthy, however, that the Spirit is not spoken of in any way which would lead the mind to connect with it the idea of fixed locality or circumscribed presence. On the contrary, what is said of the Spirit impresses the mind with the thought of a nature, diffusive, distributable, capable of exercising its powers any where and every-where, as one all-seeing and all-comprehending Intelligence and Omnipotent Energy. [86] "Uphold me," says David, "with thy Free Spirit." Again, "Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?" or "whither shall I flee from thy presence?" It is in harmony with the conception of such a nature, that the Spirit is understood as imparted in various measures and for various purposes, in the different dispensations. Thus, "Moses," we are told, "gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people and set them round about the tabernacle, and the Lord came down in a cloud and spoke unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him and gave it unto the seventy elders; and it came to pass that when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied and did not cease. But there remained two of the men in the camp, and the spirit rested upon them, and they prophesied in the camp." Numb. xi: 24-26. Paul, again, in an analogous case, says: "All these worketh that one and self-same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will." 1 Cor. xii. Thus, the Spirit is represented as resting upon men, and imparting to them supernatural powers; as dwelling in them, in various measures or degrees, and for various purposes, maintaining, nevertheless, its own mysterious unity, and establishing it likewise in regard to all who receive it in the particular sphere in which its influence is exerted. [87]

[OHS 68-87]