CHAPTER II. The Holy Spirit in New Testament Times-A General View. It is important to note in the Old Testament times that the prophets looked for an age in which the Spirit should do a greater work, indeed a complete work. I introduce the words of Isaiah, which manifestly refer to the Anointed of God, but appropriate here nevertheless: "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., 61: 1-3)." Joel speaks in the same strain, but with more fulness: And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour but my spirit, and I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come; and it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call (Joel, 2:28-32).” As in the Old Testament times, the mind must deal with the message rather than the Messenger- the Spirit. The mind can pass upon the message but who can comprehend the Messenger? We begin with the results, fruits, and trace them up to their Divine and glorious source. Jesus came into the world to establish a kingdom. This was predicted by the prophet: "In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever (Dan., 2:44)." The seed of this kingdom is the word of God (Luke, 8:11). The "ministration of the Spirit" may be deep, it may be mysterious, it may be incomprehensible, and in a sense it is all of these, but of one thing we may be certain, absolutely certain, that no theory of the Kingdom of God on earth that eliminates the word of God, the seed of the Kingdom, can be true. A man who desires to raise wheat must sow wheat; the man who would make the Kingdom come and grow must sow its own peculiar seed - the living word of the living God. This is the whole trend of New Testament teaching. It is constantly, persistently affirmed that the word, the gospel, the truth, is God's power, God's sword. Therefore, before beginning to speak in detail of what the Spirit is or who the Spirit is, let us look at the instrument - the word. John the Baptist is the first reformer whose name appears on the pages of the New Testament; although strictly speaking he belonged to the old dispensation, for it did not end until the crucifixion. The angel who predicted his birth said: "He shall be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb (Luke 1:13-15)." This is truly extraordinary, but it shows the drift of things as we approach the new dispensation. Filled with the Holy Spirit, and this from his birth or before! Who can analyze this? Who can comprehend it? Surely he must have been one of God's chosen ones! Was it for himself personally, or was it for his work's sake? It could not have been for his personal benefit, for God does not make such distinctions in His children, and in this respect he stands peerless and alone - no other human being was ever filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb. It must have been on the account of his work. I have previously shown that when God designed to do a great work He endowed a man for it and the Spirit worked through him. I mentioned among warriors, Othinel and Samson; I mentioned among leaders and prophets, Moses, Joshua, Isaiah, Zechariah. John was a prophet (Matt., 11:9-11) and reformer. He was God's last messenger to Israel before the Messiah: "There was a man sent from God whose name was John (Jno., 1: 6)." His work was the subject of prophecy. Hear Isaiah, who describes John's work in detail: "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God; every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. The voice said, Cry, and he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, and the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass; the grass withereth, the flower fadeth but the word of our God shall stand forever (Isa., 40: 3-8)." Malachi also prophesied of John: "Behold, 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. (Mal., 3:1)." Again: "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse (Mal., 4: 5,6).” We see in this the stern, inexorable and resistless reformer. Here is another prediction made by an angel a short time before his birth: "And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord (Luke 1:17).” Elijah - John! Great in courage, great in power, they stand unique in history. Elijah turned a nation back to God. So did John: "As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face which shall prepare thy way before thee; the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, and there went out unto him all the land of Judea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins (Mark, 1:2-5)." This was a mighty revolution. How is it accounted for? John was a great prophet, but he was more; he was a great reformer with the power — inspiration of God in and back of him, and the power in him and back of him made his message one of mighty power as he cried: "The word of God shall stand forever!" In this case, as with the ancient prophets, God sent the Spirit in mighty power on the preacher and through him into the message, and through it into the hearts and lives of the people. John was endowed-inspired — in a superlative sense. Jesus followed John; indeed, their ministries were for a time parallel. He was a mighty man; yea, the mighty Son of the mighty God. Hear Matthew: "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and lo, the heavens were opened unto him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: and lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Matt., 3:16-17)." Jesus came to earth with a great message, the secret of that message is inherent as well as in the Great Spirit lying back of the message. John the Baptist lays this great tribute at His feet: "He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all; and what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony; he that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true: for he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand: he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him (Jno., 3: 31-36)." Spirit, Personality, Message the human mind can not fully encompass or comprehend either, but the message is addressed to the human mind. Let us look into it and then if possible find an explanation of the phenomena that will not destroy either the force of the message or eliminate the Spirit behind it. The Holy Spirit descended visibly on Jesus; this is certain. The Holy Spirit was not measured out to Him." He speaketh the words of God." His enemies. paid Him this great tribute: "Never man spake like this man (Jno., 7:46)." His Father — our Father - paid him this tribute: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him (Matt., 17:5)." Let Him speak for Himself: "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock; and every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell and great was the fall of it. And it came to pass when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one having - |