S the presence of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the believer, not only evolves the fruits of the Christian life, but is to him the means of spiritual unity, the seal of his acceptance, and the earnest of his inheritance, it becomes a question of the utmost importance how this Divine gift may be obtained and preserved. The conditions of its enjoyment have, indeed, been already incidentally noticed to some extent, but will merit here a more particular consideration. They may be briefly stated as faith, obedience, and prayer. It is the believer only, as we have seen, who can at all receive the Spirit; his faith must be a true, that is, an active or living faith, and he is expected to ask that he may receive; to seek, that he may find; to knock, that it may be opened to him. "For if ye, being evil," says Christ, "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: 13. [209]

      Our Lord himself, who is the great exemplar or archetype for his people, presents to us, in his own case, the character, as well as the proper order of sequence of the events which establish and perfect, in human nature, that Divine unity proposed by the gospel. We read that, "when all the people were baptized, and 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, and it abode upon him." It appears, thus, that the Holy Spirit was given to Jesus after his immersion in the Jordan--after his submission to this institution, divinely appointed under the ministry of John. We learn, further, that the first act of Jesus, upon coming up out of the water, was to pray, and that immediately consequent upon this, the Spirit was imparted. This incident, which has not received the attention it merits, is significant and instructive, showing how perfectly in accordance was the life of Jesus with his teaching, "Ask and ye shall receive;" nor is it less worthy of note here how carefully the Scripture supplies every link in the chain of events, furnishing every thing necessary for human guidance. It gives no details that are not necessary, and nothing given can safely be omitted; because the simple fact of its being recorded is sufficient to show that Omniscience judged it needed, or foresaw that it would be needed, in some future aspect or state of the question to which the information related. It is thus here stated that, "Jesus coming up out of the water and praying," the Holy Spirit was imparted. [210] Important fact! appropriate order! precious exemplification of human duty!--often passed by unnoticed, yet revealing great truths, confirming Divine arrangements, and imparting harmony and, consistency to the sayings and the doings, the obedience and the blessings, which the Scriptural Record presents for the enlightenment and salvation of men.

      The connection of prayer with the obtaining of the Holy Spirit, is shown again in Christ's language to the woman of Samaria: "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that with to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water." That gift of God, as well as that spiritual instruction, through which the great blessing of the gospel might be obtained, mere to be asked for and sought; and would be earnestly thus sought by those who recognized or knew their value. Again, our Lord informs the disciples that he would himself pray to the Father, on their behalf, for this Comforter, of whose office and nature they themselves must, at the time, have possessed a very inadequate idea, and for which Christ alone, the Shepherd of the little flock, might then appropriately and intelligently pray. But after his resurrection, and when he had, for forty days, explained to them more fully the things pertaining to his kingdom, we find the disciples, with one accord in prayer and supplication, until the Spirit is sent to them on Pentecost. Nor may we say that there had not been, in the case of Cornelius, earnest prayer for the spiritual blessings of God's kingdom. For the angel said to [211] him as he fasted, "Cornelius, thy prayer is heard;" and we are informed by Peter that he was not unacquainted with the wonderful occurrences of the preceding years, relating to the mission of Christ and of the apostles, which had taken place in Judea and Samaria; nor may we suppose that he had failed to make these matters special subjects of meditation and prayer.

      In this case, indeed, the Spirit was given before baptism, but not before faith. And, as formerly shown, it was given before baptism, out of the usual order, for the special purpose of convincing the Jews, that God had really, and contrary to their expectations and prejudices, "granted to the Gentiles repentance unto life." Neither the plain declarations of Christ, as in Luke xiii: 29; John x: 16, etc., nor the clear predictions of the ancient Jewish prophets, nor even the special revelation given to Peter, in his vision on the housetop at Joppa, were sufficient to overmaster the intensity of that Jewish separatism, cherished, not without a basis of Divine authority, during the past centuries of national existence. There was needed, accordingly, an opposed and insurmountable fact, to change the current of Jewish thought, and to divert it into a broader channel. This startling fact was the manifest impartation of the Holy Spirit, out of the usual order of events, and in advance of that public obedience to the gospel on which it had heretofore been conditioned. But this circumstance interfered not with any thing essential in the established order of things. It presented [212] itself in the interval between that which was essential and that which was formal, and found its perfect vindication in that preparedness recognized by Omniscience as involving what was essential--the purification of the heart by faith. Hence, while it was effective, as revealing to the Jewish believers that the Gentiles were brought into spiritual unity with Christ, it could form no precedent, in the ordinary ministration of the gospel, for men who could judge the state of the heart only by outward and formal acts of obedience, and, who could not, consistently with the order of the gospel committed to them, either expect or pray that the Spirit would be given to any one anterior to the usual public manifestation of faith in Jesus.

      In all the other cases recorded in the New Testament, therefore, the invariable order is observed, as announced by Peter on the day of Pentecost to those who believed: "Repent, and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." This gift was thus last in order, and not first as modern Theology teaches. So completely has "the gift of the Spirit" been confounded with conversion, and with the popular notions of regeneration, that the entire process of salvation, as given in the primitive gospel, has been reversed. The "gift of the Spirit" is made to precede both faith and obedience. The unbeliever is informed that it is he who must receive the Holy Spirit in order to the production of faith, while the believer, doubtful [213] of possessing it, submits his "experience" to the arbitrament of others as fallible as himself. The assurance of pardon now wholly dissociated from that 'baptism into Christ' to which it originally and appropriately appertained, is now placed before baptism, and is made to rest on emotions or mental impressions, instead of on the obedience of faith. Thus it is, that the entire order of the primitive gospel is broken up, and the special design of its various parts changed and perverted by theological theories; so that obedience to the commandments of men has largely replaced that obedience to the simple gospel with which, in primitive times, the "gift of the Spirit" uses directly and positively connected.

      It would be hard to tell to what extent these corruptions of the gospel have deprived the modern church of the presence of the Spirit of Christ, or replaced this by the spirit of partyism; but it is to be feared that the existing evils in religious society are very largely attributable to these departures from the natural and proper order originally established among the different particulars or requirements of the gospel. It is, at least, lamentably true that the whole frame-work of the gospel preached by the apostles has been remodeled to suit the views of theorists; and that the "form of sound words," which still bears witness to the truth in the New Testament, is so modified in the religious systems of the day, as scarcely to be recognized. Salvation is a process, or progressive work, consisting of various successive steps or stages, and the order which God has [214] established among these, and their proper relations to each other, are certainly important to be observed, as well as the things themselves. As in nature, we have, first, the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear, so, in the process of conversion, God has appointed a certain succession or order of things which is most conducive, if not essential, to the proper result. The "gift of the Holy Spirit" is, as we have seen, the last of these in the Divine arrangement. All other things are preparatory. This is the completion of that system of things through which man is to be renewed "after the image of him that created him." In the Divine order relating to man, we have--1. The word of God, or gospel; 2. Hearing; 3. Faith; 4. Repentance; 5. Baptism; 6. Remission of sins; 7. The gift of the Holy Spirit. All, preceding the last, are but means of attaining to this "fellowship of the Spirit," the great end or purpose of all, and without which all forms and professions and ordinances are alike nugatory and vain. And while it may, perhaps, be conceded that a certain degree of inversion or confusion in the Divine order of sequence, through ignorance or mistake, may not wholly frustrate the grace of God, or deprive his ordinances of their proper efficacy, it yet remains true that the Divine purposes will be best accomplished, and the fullness of the blessing of the gospel be best attained, by a strict and scrupulous observance of that order of sequence which God has appointed. That the order given above is the true one, will be sufficiently plain to any one, who will receive the evidence of the [215] Scripture upon the subject; since, wherever the various requirements and promises of the gospel are distinctly enumerated, they constantly occur in this order, as indeed is most appropriate and necessary, from the very nature of the things themselves.¹ "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God," says Paul, Rom. x: 17. Reason and fact confirm the necessity of this order, since, where the gospel is not announced, there can be, and is, no believer. "Repent," said Peter to those who believed, "and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." "Arise," said Ananias to the believing and penitent Paul, "and be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." "In whom ye also trusted," says Paul to the Ephesians (i: 13) "after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise."² [216]

      Such is the delicacy of the relations which exist between man and the spiritual system, and such the facility with which Satan may interpose hindrances to fellowship between God and the human soul, that it is impossible to be too observant in regard to the method or plan, which God himself has ordained, in order to the enjoyment of this Divine fellowship. It is true, indeed, that the mere observance of a particular order can never of itself secure this. A superficial, mechanical, mercenary view of obedience, however just the order of that obedience, will leave the heart of the formalist as spiritually empty and as unsanctified as at first, though filled with false confidence and Pharisaic pride. So ingenious are the devices of the wicked one, that he may succeed in replacing true faith and love by the low and groveling motives of a commercial selfishness, which is the direct opposite of the true principle of gospel obedience. Or he may induce a failure by [217] vitiating faith itself, and establishing in the mind those Socinian philosophies, which produce an utter skepticism in regard to the indwelling of the Spirit, and leave the heart to a vain dependence upon mere intellection. Deceived by specious glosses imposed upon the plainest declarations of Scripture, and persuaded that the gospel comes now "in word only," these pseudo-reformers may well be supposed devoid of the Spirit, since their principles forbid them to 'seek, that they may find;' and to 'ask, that they may receive.' It is by means of this rationalism that Satan has contrived to render to a large degree unfruitful, the best and truest efforts for the restoration of the primitive gospel, which, when thus shorn of its strength, is presented only to provoke derision by its feebleness, since it is in letter only, but not in Spirit; in principle, but not in practice. Such failures and aberrations, however, detract not, in the slightest degree, from the plea for a return to the simplicity and order of the primitive gospel. This was itself corrupted in the beginning, and, in the very period of its power, failed to secure, in all cases, its beneficial ends. The record of its wondrous effect upon the many who believed in Jerusalem, but introduces the story of Ananias and Sapphira; its triumphs in Samaria herald the mercenary proposition of Simon Magus, and the impressible and zealous Galatians were soon turned away from the truth by those who perverted the gospel of Christ. These things but serve to reveal the dangers which ever beset the pathway of truth, and serve only to inspire the faithful with greater watchfulness and diligence. [218]

      The Holy Spirit is also termed the "Spirit of Truth," and he who is controlled by it can not do otherwise than labor for the advancement of the truth. To rescue the gospel from modern corruptions of it, and to present it to the world in its primitive simplicity and purity, is a great and good work, dictated by the Spirit of God. This movement is now in progress, and its success thus far, amidst all its hindrances, has been remarkable. It is impossible to estimate the benefit resulting to religious society from that emancipation from priestly rule and the intolerance of party spirit, which it has conferred. The greater liberality of religious feeling; the increased desire for Christian union; the changes and modifications in denominational peculiarities, are evidently largely due to that bold and earnest advocacy of a return to primitive Christianity, which, within the last half century, has compelled the attention of the public. But Satan may be expected to use his utmost efforts to frustrate the purposes designed, and disappoint the hopes of those who labor for the restoration of the gospel in its primitive power; and there is hence demanded, on their part, the utmost vigilance, and a firm, uncompromising adherence to the plain teaching of the Scriptures. They must realize that their mission is not accomplished until the gospel is restored in "Spirit" as well as in "letter;" in "practice" as well as in "principle;" and should labor to expose every error which tends to prevent so desirable a consummation. [219]

      In order, then, to the enjoyment of "the fullness of the blessing of Christ," it is necessary both to believe and to obey the truth; to preserve, unchanged, the Divine order of the gospel, and to employ diligently every means necessary to secure the Divine promises. Among these means, in connection with prayer, there is nothing more important than meditation and self-examination. Amidst the dangerous delusions of the hour, safety may be found only in the constant exercise of that self-superintendence, those heart-searchings, those earnest longings for spiritual fellowship, those watchings and fastings, and that self-abnegation which the crisis demands. The heart must be purified from the lusts and ambitions of the world, and be emptied of every false and deceitful trust. It must be unveiled before the scrutiny of Conscience enlightened by truth; and, in an humble sense of his own insufficiency, the believer must make his appeal to a higher judicature and cry with the Psalmist: "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." A nearness to God, heretofore unattained, must be sought by those who would reform the world. The Church of Christ must be extricated from the materialism and worldly conformity by which it is oppressed, and be lifted into a higher plane of spirituality and power, in order to the accomplishment of the blessed ends for which it was established.

      This is to be done only by a larger measure of the [220] Spirit of Christ. And this, as we have seen, is to be sought through faith, and purity, and prayer; through a faithful obedience to the Divine commandments; through the healing of religious divisions; through a direct return to the simple gospel preached by the apostles, and a strict observance of the Divine order of its various requirements, in order that every thing may have its due place, and all things be conformed to the will of God. The final end and purpose of the entire gospel, we again repeat, is the renewal of the believer by the Holy Spirit, through which alone can be produced the proper fruits of Christianity, either in the individual member or in the church itself. To the individual, this gift, the Divine seal or attestation of sonship, imparts new energies and powers. "He which stablisheth us with you, in Christ," says Paul, "and hath anointed us, is God; who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." 2 Cor, i: 21, 22. The Apostle here, to impress the fact most strongly, accumulates those terms which indicate the office of the Spirit, in reference to the believer. It "stablisheth," that is, confirms and assures the believer that he is in Christ. It is the "anointing," the Christing; the "unction" of which John speaks when he says, "Ye have an unction from the Holy One;" and of which Peter speaks to Cornelius, Acts x: 38, in declaring that "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power." It is also the "seal," the final attestation, the necessary confirmation or token of ownership and of appropriation, by which they that are Christ's [221] are themselves assured, and are to be known and recognized. Finally, it is the "earnest of our inheritance"--an earnest, not merely in the sense of a pledge or assurance, but of partial anticipation or enjoyment of the inheritance, implying not merely security, but identity in kind, though not in degree, and the unbroken continuity of that eternal life which the Christian enjoys in Christ; "he that hath the Son," being already a participant of this life, (1 John v: 12.) It was the prayer of Paul for the Ephesians that they might be "strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;" and that Christ might "dwell in their hearts by faith,"--faith being ever the recipient means through which alone the Spirit could be recognized or enjoyed. And the object of this indwelling of Christ by the Spirit, was that, being "rooted and grounded in love," the great principle which was the chief of the Spirit's fruits, they might be enabled to have a suitable comprehension of the wondrous things of redemption, and of Christ's love, which, nevertheless, in its boundless depths transcended the grasp of human knowledge; and this, in order that finally they "might be filled with all the fullness of God," in thus having Christ fully formed in them, imparting to them those Spiritual perfections, and that Divine blessedness of which God's children were to be made partakers. Eph. iii: 14-19.

      Thus, as Christ prayed for the gift of the Spirit for his disciples, Paul also prays for the impartation of its blessings to the believers at Ephesus, as the [222] efficient means of attaining Christian perfection and realizing the ultimate ends of the gospel. Throughout the Scriptures, indeed, this matter is continually referred to, and pressed upon the attention in the most earnest manner, showing the vast importance attached to the full realization of the promise, and stating and exemplifying the means through which it was to be enjoyed.

      And now, when we contemplate the religious world, as at present, in its divided and distracted state; when we consider the Church in its present struggles with the world; or the individual Christian, feeble and fainting amidst his trials; when we see the apostasies, the worldly policies, the corrupted forms of religion, the plausible schemes of infidelity, and the various and innumerable evils which every-where threaten the very existence of Christianity, to what source may the necessary appeal be made for help? Through what means may the Church be renovated and prepared to meet the impending danger, and to fulfill her mission as the pillar and support of the truth? Shall it be by any mere ecclesiastical union? Shall it be by any scheme of church organization? Will a strict adherence to ritualistic forms secure it? Will it follow from any loose and sinful compromise of Divine truth--from any plan of "open communion" or of "close communion?" These are, indeed, some of the poor expedients by which weak mortals are now seeking to effect deliverance; but such superficial appliances reach not the true seat of ailment. It is not by human contrivings or artificial arrangements; by compromises with [223] the world, or any sacrifice of truth, that a vital Christianity is to be restored to the world; but by seeking the old paths; by prayer and supplication; by returning to the primitive faith and love; by doing the first works, and by a manifestation in the life of those fruits of the Spirit which alone reveal the verity of religion, and demonstrate to the world the Divine mission of Jesus.

      But, in order to the manifestation of the fruits of the Spirit, the presence of the Spirit himself is necessary. In vain do men weary themselves and the world with plans of reformation; with systems of belief; with schemes of union based on human wisdom. In vain do they imagine themselves to have discovered the secret of the power of the primitive church in its freedom from priestly rule; or in its supernatural gifts; or in any other exterior characteristic. That power was, indeed, wondrous. It was truly a secret, because an interior power, and its secret was the indwelling of the Spirit of God, giving unity, imparting energy, evolving the glorious fruits of Christianity, and presenting to the world, in every disciple, an illustration of the life of Christ--a life of love, and of labor, and of sacrifice for humanity. It is the presence now of this blessed Spirit, in a fuller measure, that is the true want of the Church; but, in order to its attainment, the demons of bigotry and of denominationalism must first be exorcised. The religious world must come and sit at the feet of Jesus, freed from its legion of theologies, and in its right mind, before it can receive his teachings. Men must return to the [224] simple faith of primitive times, and cease forever from those discords and dissensions which, in banishing peace, and substituting human speculations for Divine truth, have largely banished the Holy Spirit from the hearts of religious professors.

      But "the hour of redemption draweth nigh." The Lord will deliver his people and revive his work. Zion shall be raised from the dust and clothed with the beautiful garments of righteousness. In that day shall the church have indeed occasion to say: "O Lord, I will praise thee; though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion; for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee." Isa. xii. [225]

[OHS 209-225]