The Superlative Excellence Of The Holy Spirit
DELIVERED ON SUNDAY MORNING, JUNE 12, 1864, BY THE REV. C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"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." John 16:7.
THE saints of God may very justly reckon their losses among their
greatest gains. The adversities of Believers minister much to their
prosperity. Although we know this, through the infirmity of the flesh
we tremble at soul-enriching afflictions and dread to see those black
ships which bring us such freights of golden treasure. When the Holy
Spirit sanctifies the furnace, the flame refines our gold and consumes
our dross, yet the dull ore of our nature likes not the glowing coals
and had rather lie quiet in the dark mines of earth. As silly children
cry because they are called to drink the medicine which will heal their
sicknesses, even so do we.
Our gracious Savior, however, loves us too wisely to spare us the
trouble because of our childish fears. He foresees the advantage which
will spring from our griefs and therefore thrusts us into them out of
wisdom and true affection. It was a very great trouble to these first
Apostles to lose their Teacher and Friend. Sorrow had filled their
hearts at the thought that He should depart, but yet His departure was
to give them the greater blessing of the Holy Spirit. And therefore
their entreaties and tears cannot avert the dreaded separation. Christ
will not gratify their wishes at so vast an expense as the withholding
of the Spirit. Mourn as they may under the severe trial, Jesus will not
remain with them because His departure is in the highest degree
expedient.
Beloved, let us expect to be subject to the same loving discipline. Let
us reckon upon losing happy frames and choice enjoyments when Jesus
knows that the loss will be better for us than the enjoyment. God has
given two great gifts to His people–the first is His Son for us. The
second is His Spirit to us. After He had given His Son for us, to
become Incarnate, to work righteousness, and to offer an
Atonement–after that gift had been fully bestowed there remained no
more to be conferred in that respect. "It is finished!" proclaimed the
completion of Atonement and His Resurrection showed the perfection of
Justification. It was not, therefore, necessary that Christ should
remain any longer upon earth since His work below is forever finished.
Now is the season for the second gift, the descent of the Holy Spirit.
This could not be bestowed until Christ had ascended, because this
choice favor was reserved to grace, with highest honor, the triumphant
ascension of the great Redeemer. "When He ascended up on high, He led
captivity captive and gave gifts unto men." This was, as Peter tells
us, the great promise which Jesus received of His Father. "Therefore
being by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the
Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has shed forth this, which
you now see and hear." That His triumphal entrance into Heaven might be
stamped with signal Glory, the gifts of the Spirit of God could not be
scattered among the sons of men until the Lord had gone up with a
shout, even the Lord with the sound of trumpet.
The first gift being completed, it became necessary that He, whose
Person and work make up that priceless gift, should withdraw Himself
that He might have power to distribute the second benefit by which
alone the first gift becomes of any service to us. Christ Crucified is
of no practical value to us without the work of the Holy Spirit. And
the Atonement which Jesus worked can never save a single soul unless
the blessed Spirit of God shall apply it to the heart and conscience.
Jesus is never seen until the Holy Spirit opens the eyes–the water
from the Well of Life is never received until the Holy Spirit has drawn
it from the depths.
As medicine unused for want of the physician's word. As sweets untasted
because out of reach. As treasure unvalued because hidden in the
earth–such is Jesus the Savior–until the Holy Spirit teaches us to
know Him and applies His blood to our souls. It is to the honor of the
Holy Spirit that I desire to speak this morning and O, may the same
hallowed flame which of old sat upon the Apostles now rest upon the
preacher and may the Word come with power to our hearts!
I. We shall commence our discourse by the remark that THE BODILY
PRESENCE OF CHRIST MUST HAVE BEEN EXCEEDINGLY PRECIOUS. How precious
those alone can tell who much love Christ. Love always desires to be in
the company of the thing beloved and absence causes grief. What is
fully meant by the expression, "Sorrow has filled your heart," those
only can know who anticipate a like painful bereavement. Jesus had
become the Joy of their eyes, the Sun of their days, the Star of their
nights–like the spouse, as she came up from the wilderness–they
leaned upon their Beloved. They were as little children and now that
their Lord and Master was going, they felt they should be left orphans.
Well might they have great sorrow of heart! So much love, so much
sorrow, when the object of love is withdrawn. Judge, my Brethren, the
joy which the bodily Presence of Christ would give to us this morning,
and then you can tell how precious it must be. Have we not, some of us,
been looking for years for the personal advent of Christ? We have
lifted up our eyes in the morning and we have said, "Perhaps He will
come this day." And when the day has closed we have continued our
watching in our sleepless hours and renewed our hopes with the rising
of the sun. We longingly expect Him according to His promise. And like
men who watch for their Lord, we stand with loins girt about waiting
for His appearing.
We are looking for and hastening unto the Day of the Lord. This is the
bright hope which cheers the Christian, the hope that the Savior shall
descend to reign among His people gloriously. Suppose Him to appear
suddenly on this platform now–how would you clap your hands! Why, the
lame among you would, at the joy of His appearance, leap like a hart
and even the dumb might sing for joy! The Presence of the Master! What
rapture! Come quickly! Come quickly, Lord Jesus!
It must be, indeed, a precious thing to enjoy the corporeal Presence of
Christ. Think of the advantage it would be in the instruction of His
people. No mystery need puzzle us if we could refer all to Him. The
disputes of the Christian Church would soon be ended for He would tell
us what His Word meant beyond dispute. There would be no discouragement
to the Church in her work of faith and labor of love, for the Presence
of Christ would be the end of all difficulties and insure conquest over
all enemies. We should not have to mourn as we now do over our
forgetfulness of Jesus, for we should sometimes catch a look at Him.
And a sight of Him would give us a store ofjoy so that like the Prophet
of Horeb we could go forty days in the strength of that meat!
It were a delightful thing to know that Christ was somewhere upon
earth, for then He would take the personal supervision of His universal
Church. He could warn us of apostates. He could reject the hypocrites.
He would comfort the feeble-minded and rebuke the erring. How
delightful would it be to see Him walking among the golden
candlesticks, holding the stars in His right hand! Churches need not,
then, be subdivided and rent with evil passions. Christ would create
unity. Schism would cease to be and heresy would be rooted out. The
Presence of Jesus, whose countenance is as the sun shining in his
strength, would ripen all the fruits of our garden, consume all the
weeds, and quicken every plant!
The two-edged sword of His mouth would slay His foes and His eyes of
fire would kindle the holy passions of His friends. But I shall not
enlarge upon that point because it is one in which fancy exercises
itself at the expense ofjudgment. I question whether the pleasure,
which the thought of Christ's being here in the flesh has given us just
now, may not have had a leaven of carnality in it. I question whether
the Church is yet prepared to enjoy the corporeal Presence of her
Savior without falling into the error of knowing Him after the flesh.
It may be it shall need centuries of education before the Church is fit
to see her Savior in the flesh on earth again, because I see in my own
self–and I suppose it is so in you– that much of the delight which I
expect from the company of Christ is according to the sight of the eyes
and the judgment of the mind. And sight is ever the mark and symbol of
the flesh.
II. However, leaving that point, we come to the second, which is THAT
THE PRESENCE OF THE COMFORTER,
AS WE HAVE IT UPON EARTH, IS VERY MUCH BETTER THAN THE BODILY PRESENCE
OF CHRIST. We have fancied that the bodily Presence of Christ would
make us blessed and confer innumerable benefits. But according to our
text the Presence of the Holy Spirit working in the Church is more
expedient for the Church. I think this will be clear to you, if you
think for a moment, that the bodily Presence of Christ on earth,
however good it might be for the Church, would in our present condition
involve many inconveniences which are avoided by His Presence through
the Holy Spirit.
Christ, being most truly Man, must as to His Manhood inhabit a certain
place and in order to get to Christ, it would be necessary for us to
travel to His place of residence. Conceive all men compelled to travel
from the ends of the earth to visit the Lord Jesus Christ, dwelling
upon Mount Zion, or in the city of Jerusalem. What a lengthened voyage
would that be for those who live in the far-off ends of the world!
Doubtless they would joyfully undertake it and as pence would be
universal and poverty be banished, men might not be restrained from
taking such a journey, but might all be able to accomplish it? As they
could not all live where they could every morning see Christ, they must
be content with every now and then getting a glimpse of Him. But see,
my Brethren, the Holy Spirit, the vicar of Christ, dwells everywhere!
And if we wish to apply to the Holy Spirit, we have no need to move an
inch. In the closet we can find Him, or in the streets we can talk with
Him. Jesus Christ could not be present in this congregation after the
flesh and yet present in a neighboring Church, much less present in
America and in Australia and in Europe and in Africa, at the same time.
But the Holy Spirit is everywhere! And through that Holy Spirit Christ
keeps His promise, "Where two or three are met together in My name,
there am I in the midst of them." He could not keep that promise
according to the flesh–at least we are quite unable to conceive of His
so doing. But through the Holy Spirit we sweetly enjoy His Presence and
hope to do so to the world's end. Think again–access to Christ–if He
were here in His corporeal Personality, would not be very easy to all
Believers. There are only twenty-four hours in the day and if our Lord
never slept, if, as a Man, He could still live and, like the saints
above, rest not day nor night, yet there are only the twenty-four
hours. And what were twenty-four hours for the supervision of a Church
which we trust will cover the whole earth?
How could a thousand millions of Believers all receive immediate
personal comfort either from His lips or the smiles of His face? Even
at the present moment there are some millions of true saints upon
earth–what could one man do by his personal presence–even though that
one man were Incarnate Deity? What could He do in one day for the
comfort of all of these? Why, we could not possibly expect each one of
us to see Him every day–no, we could scarcely expect to have our turn
once in the year!
But, Beloved, we can now see Jesus every hour and every moment of every
hour! So often as you bow the knee, His Spirit, who represents Him, can
commune with you and bless you. No matter whether it is in the dead of
night that your cry goes up, or under the blaze of burning noon–there
is the Spirit waiting to be gracious and your sighs and cries climb up
to Christ in Heaven and return with answers of peace. These
difficulties did not occur to you, perhaps, in your first thoughts. But
if you meditate awhile you will see that the Presence of the Spirit,
avoiding that difficulty, makes Christ accessible to every saint at all
times. Not to a few choice favorites, but to every believing man and
woman the Holy Spirit is accessible and thus the whole body of the
faithful can enjoy present and perpetual communion with Christ.
We ought to consider yet once more that Christ's Presence in the flesh
upon earth, for any other purpose than that of ending the present
dispensation, would involve another difficulty. Of course every Word
which Christ had spoken from the time of the Apostles until now would
have been Inspired. Being Inspired it would have been a thousand pities
that it should fall to the ground. Busy scribes would therefore be
always taking down Christ's Words. And, my Brethren, if in the short
course of three years our Savior managed to do and to say so much that
one of the Evangelists informs us that if all had been written the
world itself could not have contained the books which would have been
written–I ask you to imagine what a mass of literature the Christian
Church would have acquired if she had preserved the Words of Christ
throughout these one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four years!
Certainly we should not have had the Word of God in the simple compact
form of a pocket Bible–it would have consisted of innumerable volumes
of the sayings and deeds of the Lord Jesus Christ! Only the studious,
no, not even the studious could have read all the Lord's teachings! And
the poor and the illiterate must ever have been at a great
disadvantage. But now we have a Book which is finished within a narrow
compass with not another line to be added to it. The canon of
Revelation is sealed up forever and the poorest man in England,
believing in Christ, going with a humble soul to that Book and looking
up to Jesus Christ who is present through His Spirit, though not after
the flesh, may, in a short time comprehend the Doctrines of Grace and
understand with all saints what are the heights and depths and know the
love of Christ which passes knowledge.
So then, on the score of inconvenience, precious as the corporeal
Presence of Christ might be, it is infinitely better for the Church's
good that, until the day of her Millennial Glory, Christ should be
present by His Spirit and not in the flesh. Yet more, my Brethren! If
Jesus Christ were still present with His Church in the flesh, the life
of faith would not have such room for its display as it now has. The
more there is visible to the eyes, the less room for faith–the least
faith, the most show. The Romish Church, which has little enough of
true faith, provides everything to work upon the senses– your nostrils
are regaled with incense and your ears are delighted with sweet sounds.
The more faith grows, the less it needs outward helps. And when faith
shows her true character and is clean divorced from sense and sight,
then she wants absolutely nothing to rest upon but the invisible power
of God!
She then has learned to hang as the world hangs–upon no seen support!
Just as the eternal arch of yon blue sky springs right up without
props, so faith rests upon the invisible pillars of God's Truth and
faithfulness, needing nothing to shore or buttress her. The Presence of
Christ Jesus here in bodily flesh and the knowing of Him according to
the flesh, would be the bringing back of the saints to a life of sight
and in a measure spoil the simplicity of naked trust. You remember the
Apostle Paul says, "We now know no man after the flesh. Yes," says he,
"though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now after the flesh
know we Him no more." To the skeptic, who should ask us, "Why do you
believe in Christ?" if Jesus had remained upon the earth, we could
always give an easy answer–"There He is–there is the Man. Behold Him
as He continues still to work miracles."
There would be very little room for faith's holy adherence to the bare
Word of God and no opportunity for her to glorify God, trusting where
she cannot trace. But now, Beloved, the fact that we have nothing
visible to point to which carnal minds can understand–this very fact
makes the path of faith more truly congenial with its noble character–
"Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees, And looks to that alone," which
she could hardly do, if she could look upon the visible Person of a
present Savior. Happy day will it be for us when faith enjoys the full
fruition of her hopes in the triumphant advent of her Lord! But His
absence, alone, can train and educate her to the needed point of
spiritual refinement.
Furthermore, the Presence of Jesus Christ on earth would materially
affect the character of God's great battle against error and sin.
Suppose that Christ were to destroy the preachers of error by miracle.
Suppose that persecuting monarchs had their arms dried up, or that all
men who would oppose Christ were suddenly devoured by fire. Why then it
would be more a battle between physical greatness and moral evil, than
a warfare in which only spiritual force is employed on the side of
right. But now that Christ has gone, the fight is all between Spirit
and spirit–between God the Holy Spirit and Satan–between Truth and
error. It is between the earnestness of believing men and the
infatuation of unbelieving men. Now the fight is fair.
We have no miracles on our side–we do not want them–the Holy Spirit
is enough! We call no fire from Heaven– no earthquake shakes the
ground beneath our foemen's feet. Korah is not swallowed up. Dathan
does not go down alive into the pit. Physical force is left to our
enemies–we do not ask for it. Why? Because by the Divine working we
can vanquish error without it. In the name of the Holy One of Israel,
in whose cause we have been enlisted–by His might we are enough–no
need for miracles and signs and wonders. If Christ were here still
working miracles, the battle were not so spiritual as it now is. But
the absence of the corporeal Savior makes it a spiritual conflict of
Spirit of the noblest and most sublime order.
Again, dear Friends, the Holy Spirit is more valuable to the Church in
her present militant state than the Presence of Christ could be
conceived to be, because Christ must be here in one of two ways–either
He must be here suffering, or not suffering. If Christ were here
suffering, then how could we conclude that His Atonement was finished?
Is it not much better for our faith that our blessed Lord, having once
and for all made expiation for sin, should sit at the right hand of the
Father? Is it not much better, I ask, than to see Him still struggling
and suffering here below? "Oh, but," you say, "perhaps He would not
suffer!" Then I pray you, do not wish to have Him here till our warfare
is accomplished, for to see an unsuffering Christ in the midst of His
suffering people–to see His face calm and clear when yours and mine
are wrinkled with grief–to see Him smiling when we are weeping, this
were intolerable! No, it could not be! Brethren, if He is a suffering
Christ in our sight, then we should suspect that He had not finished
His work.
And, on the other hand, if He is an unsuffering Christ, then it would
look as if He were not a faithful High Priest made like unto His
Brethren. These two difficulties throw us back into a state of
thankfulness to God that we have not the dilemma to answer, but that
the Spirit of God, who is Christ present on earth, relieves us from
these difficulties and gives us all the advantage we could expect from
Christ's Presence in a tenfold degree. Only this one further remark,
that the personal Presence of Christ, much as we think of it, did not
produce very great results in His disciples until the Spirit was poured
forth from on high.
Christ was their Teacher–how much did they learn? Why, there is
Philip–Christ has to say to him, "Have I been so long time with you
and yet have you not known Me, Philip?" They were puzzled by questions
which little children can now answer! You can see that at the end of
their three years course of training with Christ, they had made but
slender progress. Christ is not only their Teacher, but their
Comforter–yet how frequently Christ failed to console them because of
their unbelief. After He had uttered that delightful discourse which we
have been reading, He found them sleeping for sorrow. In this very
chapter, when He is trying to comfort them, He adds, "But because I
have said these things unto you, sorrow has filled your heart."
Christ's object was to foster the Graces of His disciples–but where
were their Graces? Here is Peter–he has not even the Grace of courage
and consistency, but denies his Master while the rest of them forsake
Him and flee. There was not even the Spirit of Christ infused into
them! Their zeal was not tempered with love, for they wanted fire from
Heaven to consume His adversaries and Peter drew a sword to cut off the
High Priest's servant's ear. They scarcely knew the Truths which their
Master taught and they were far enough from imbibing His heavenly
Spirit. Even their endowments were slender. It is true they once worked
miracles and preached, but with what success?
Do you ever hear of Peter winning three thousand sinners under a sermon
till the Holy Spirit came? Do you find any of them able to edify others
and build up the Church of Christ? No, the ministry of our Lord Jesus
Christ, considered only as to its immediate fruits, was not to be
compared with ministries after the descent of the Spirit. "He came unto
His own and His own received Him not." His great work as a Redeemer was
a complete triumph from beginning to end. But as a Teacher, since the
Spirit of God was only upon Him and not upon the people, His words were
rejected, His entreaties were despised and His warnings unheeded by the
great multitude of the people.
The mighty blessing came when the words of Joel were fulfilled, "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 out My
Spirit." That was the blessing and a blessing which, we venture to say
again, was so rich and so rare that it was, indeed, expedient that
Jesus Christ should go, that the Holy Spirit might descend.
III. I now pass on to the third point of the subject with brevity. We
have come thus far–the Presence of Christ admitted to be precious, but
the Presence of the Holy Spirit most clearly shown to be of more
practical value to the Church of God than the corporeal Presence of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Advance, then, to the third point, THE PRESENCE OF
THE COMFORTER IS SUPERLATIVELY VALUABLE. We may gather this, first,
from the effects which were seen upon the day of Pentecost. On the day
of Pentecost the heavenly Wind sounded the alarm of war. The soldiers
were ill prepared for it. They were a slender band, having only this
virtue–they were content to wait until power was given to them.
They sat still in the upper room. That mighty sound was heard across
Jerusalem. The forceful Whirlwind travels on until it reaches the
chosen spot. It fills the place where they are sitting. Here was an
omen of what the Spirit of God is to be to the Church! It is to come
mysteriously upon the Church according to the Sovereign will of God.
But when He comes like the Wind, it is to purge the moral atmosphere
and to quicken the pulse of all who spiritually breathe. This is a
blessing, indeed! A gift which the Church greatly wants–I would that
this rushing mighty Wind would come upon this Church with an
irresistible force which should carry everything before it–the force
of Truth, but of more than Truth– the force of God driving His Truth
home upon the heart and conscience of men!
I would that you and I could breathe this Wind and receive its
invigorating influence that we might be made champions of God and of
His Truth. O that it would drive away our mists of doubt and clouds of
error! Come, Sacred Wind, England needs You–the whole earth requires
You! The foul gases which brood in this deadly calm would fly if Your
Divine lightning enlightened the world and set the moral atmosphere in
commotion. Come, Holy Spirit, come. We can do nothing without You! If
we have Your Wind, we spread our sails and speed onward towards Glory!
Then the Spirit came as fire. A fire-shower accompanied the rushing
mighty Wind. What a blessing is this to the Church! The Church wants
fire to quicken her ministers, to give zeal and energy to all her
members. Having this fire, she burns her way to success! The world
meets her with the fire of firewood, but she confronts the world with
the fire of kindling spirits and of souls aglow with the love of Jesus
Christ. She trusts not to the wit and eloquence and wisdom of her
preachers, but to the Divine Fire which clothes them with energy. She
knows that men are irresistible when they are filled with hallowed
enthusiasm sent from God. She trusts, therefore, in this and her cry
is, "Come, Holy Fire, abide upon our pastors and teachers! Rest upon
every one of us!" This Fire is a blessing Christ did not bring us in
Person, but which He now gives through His Spirit to the Church.
Then there came from the fire-shower a descent of tongues. This, too,
is the privilege of the Church. When the Lord gave the Apostles
different tongues, He did, as it were, give them the keys of the
various kingdoms. "Go," says He, "Judea is not My only dominion. Go and
unlock the gates of every empire. Here are the keys, you can speak
every language." Dear Friends, though we can no longer speak with every
man in his own tongue, yet we have the keys of the whole world swinging
at our girdle if we have the Spirit of God with us. You have the keys
of human hearts if the Spirit of God speaks through you. I have this
day the keys of the hearts of the multitudes here if the Holy Spirit
wills to use them!
There is an efficacy about the Gospel, when the Spirit is with us,
little dreamed of by those who call it the foolishness of men. I am
persuaded that the results which have followed ministry in our lifetime
are trivial and insignificant compared with what they would be if the
Spirit of God were more mightily at work in our midst. There is no
reason in the nature of the Gospel or the power of the Spirit why a
whole congregation should not be converted under one sermon! There is
no reason in God's Nature why a nation should not be born in a day and
why, within a single twelve months, a dozen ministers preaching
throughout the world might not be the means of converting every elect
son and daughter of Adam to a knowledge of the Truth of God. The Spirit
of God is perfectly Irresistible when He puts forth His full power!
His power is so Divinely Omnipotent that the moment He goes forth the
work is achieved, The great prophetic event, we see, occurred on the
day of Pentecost. The success given was only the first
fruits–Pentecost is not the harvest. We have been accustomed to look
on Pentecost as a great and wonderful display of Divine power not at
all to be equaled in modern times. Brethren, it is to be exceeded! I
stand not upon Pentecost as upon a towering mountain, wondering at my
height, but I look at Pentecost as a little rising knoll from which I
am to look up to mountains far loftier! I look not to Pentecost as the
shouting of our harvest home and the bringing in of the sheaves into
the garner. No! But as an offering of the first wave sheaf before the
altar of God!
You must expect greater things, pray for greater things, long for
greater things! Here is this England of ours, sunk in stolid ignorance
of the Gospel. Weighing like a nightmare upon her bosom we have
baptismal regeneration supported by a horde of priests who either
believe that dogma, or hold their benefices by subscribing to a lie.
How is this incubus to be shaken off from the living bosom of England?
"Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord." There is
France cursed with infidelity, fickle, gay, given up to pleasure–how
is she to be made sober and sanctified unto God? "Not by might, but by
My Spirit, says the Lord." Yonder is Germany, with her metaphysical
skepticism, her half-Romanism, that is to say, Lutheranism–and her
abounding Popery! How is she to arise? "Not by might, nor by power, but
by My Spirit, says the Lord." Away there in Italy sits old Rome, the
harlot of the seven hills, still reigning queen triumphant over the
great part of the earth! How is she to die? Where is the sword which
shall find out her heart? "Not by might, nor by power, but by My
Spirit, says the Lord."
The one thing, then, which we need, is the Spirit of God! Do not say
that we need money–we shall have it soon enough when the Spirit
touches men's hearts. Do not say that we need buildings, Churches,
edifices–all these may be very well in subservience–but the main need
of the Church is the Spirit and men into whom the Spirit may be poured!
If there were only one prayer which I might pray before I died, it
should be this: "Lord, send to Your Church men filled with the Holy
Spirit and with fire." Give to any denomination such men and its
progress must be mighty–keep back such men, send them college
gentlemen of great refinement and profound learning, but of little fire
and Grace–dumb dogs which cannot bark–and straightway that
denomination must decline. Let the Spirit come and the preacher may be
rustic, simple, rough, unmannered–but the Holy Spirit being upon
him–none of his adversaries shall stand against him! His word shall be
with power to the shaking of the gates of Hell!
Beloved, did I not say well when I said that the Spirit of God is of
superlative importance to the Church and that the day of Pentecost
seems to tell us this? Remember, Brethren, and here is another thought
which should make the Spirit very dear to you–without the Holy Spirit
no good thing ever did or ever can come into any of your hearts–no
sigh of penitence! No cry of faith! No glance of love! No tear of
hallowed sorrow! Your heart can never palpitate with Divine life except
through the Spirit! You are not capable of the smallest degree of
spiritual emotion, much less spiritual action, apart from the Holy
Spirit! Dead you lie, living only for evil, and absolutely dead for God
until the Holy Spirit comes and raises you from the grave!
There is nothing good in you today, my Brothers and Sisters, which was
not put there. The flowers of Christ are all exotics–"In me, that is,
in my flesh, dwells no good thing." Who can bring a clean thing out of
an unclean? No one! Everything must come from Christ and Christ gives
nothing to men except through the Spirit of all Grace. Prize, then, the
Spirit as the channel of all good which comes into you. And further, no
good thing can come out of you apart from the Spirit. Let it be in you,
yet it lies dormant except God works in you to will and to do of His
own good pleasure. Do you desire to preach? How can you unless the Holy
Spirit touches your tongue? Do you desire to pray? Alas, what dull work
it is unless the Spirit makes intercession for you! Do you desire to
subdue sin? Would you be holy? Would you imitate your Master? Do you
desire to rise to superlative heights of spirituality? Are you wanting
to be made like the angels of God, full of zeal and ardor for the
Master's cause? You cannot without the Spirit–"Without Me you can do
nothing."
O branch of the vine, you can have no fruit without the sap! O child of
God, you have no life within you apart from the life which God gives
you through His Spirit! Said I not well, then, that the Holy Spirit is
superlatively precious, so that even the Presence of Christ after the
flesh is not to be compared to His Presence for glory and for power?
IV. This brings us to the conclusion, which is a practical point.
Brethren, if these things are so, let us, who are believers in Christ,
view the mysterious Spirit with deep awe and reverence. Let us so
reverence Him as not to grieve Him or provoke Him to anger by our sins.
Let us not quench Him in one of His faintest motions in our soul. Let
us foster every suggestion and be ready to obey every prompting. If the
Holy Spirit is, indeed, so mighty, let us do nothing without Him. Let
us begin no project and carry on no enterprise and conclude no
transaction without imploring His blessing. Let us pay Him the due
homage of feeling our entire weakness apart from Him, and then
depending alone upon Him, having this for our prayer, "Open my heart
and my whole being to Your incoming and uphold me with Your free Spirit
when I shall have received that Spirit in my inward parts."
You who are unconverted, let me beseech you, whatever you do, never
despise the Spirit of God. Remember, there is a special honor put upon
Him in Scripture–"All manner of sin and of blasphemy shall be forgiven
unto men, but the sin against the Holy Spirit shall never be forgiven,
neither in this world nor in that which is to come." Remember, "If a
man speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him. But
if he speaks a word against the Holy Spirit, it shall never be forgiven
him." This is the sin which is unto death, of which even the loving
John says–"I do not say that you shall pray for it." Tremble,
therefore, in His Presence! Take your shoes off, for when His name is
mentioned, the place where you stand is holy ground. Let the Spirit be
treated with reverence.
In the next place, as a practical remark, let us, viewing the might of
the Spirit, take courage today. We know, Brethren, that we, as a body
of people seeking to adhere closely to Scripture and to practice the
ordinances and hold the doctrines as we have received them from the
Lord Himself, are but poor and despised. And when we look at the great
ones of the earth, we see them on the side of the false and not of the
true. Where are the kings and the nobles? Where are the princes, and
where are the mighty men?
Are they not against the Lord of Hosts. Where is the gold? Where is the
silver? Where is the architecture? Where is the wisdom? Where is the
eloquence? Is it not banded against the Lord of Hosts? What? Shall we,
then, be discouraged? Our fathers were not! They bore their testimony
in the stocks and in the prison, but they feared not for the good old
cause! As John Bunyan, they learned to rot in dungeons, but they
learned not to play the coward. They suffered and they testified that
they were not discouraged. Why? Because they knew (not that Truth is
mighty and will prevail, for Truth is not mighty and will not prevail
in this world until men are different from what they are), but they
knew that the Spirit of God is mighty and will prevail!
Better to have a small Church of poor men and the Spirit of God with
them, than to have a hierarchy of nobles, to have an army of titled
princes and prelates without the Holy Spirit! For this is not merely
the sinew of strength, but it is strength itself! Where the Spirit of
God is–there is liberty and power! Courage then, Brethren! We have
only to seek for that which God has promised to give and we can do
wonders. He will give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him. Wake up,
members of this Church, to earnest prayer. And all Believers throughout
the world, cry aloud unto God to let His bare arm be seen. Wake,
children of God, for you know the power ofprayer!
Give the Covenant angel no rest till he speaks the word and the Spirit
works mightily among the sons of men. Prayer is work adapted to each of
you who are in Christ. You cannot preach, you cannot teach, but you can
pray! And your private prayer, unknown by men, shall be registered in
Heaven, Those silent but earnest cries of yours shall bring down a
blessing. The other morning, when we were holding special prayer, there
were some Brethren present who kept saying during the prayer to
themselves, scarcely loud enough to be heard, "Do Lord! Do! Grant it!
Hear it!" That is a kind of praying which I love in Prayer Meetings!
I would not care for the loud shouts of some of our Methodist Brethren,
though if they like they are welcome to it. But I do like to hear
friends praying with the groaning which cannot be uttered, "Lord, send
the Spirit! Send the Spirit, Lord! Work! Work! Work!" During sermon
time it is what numbers of Churches should be doing, crying out to God
in their hearts. As you walk the streets when you see sin you should
pray, "Lord, put it down by Your Spirit!" And when you mark a
struggling Brother striving to do good, you should cry, "Lord, help
him! Help him by Your Spirit." I am persuaded we only need more prayer
and there is no limit to the blessing! You may evangelize England, you
may evangelize Europe, you may Christianize the world–if you do but
know how to pray.
Prayer can get anything of God, prayer can get everything–God denies
nothing to the man who knows how to ask. The Lord never shuts His
storehouse till you shut your mouth! God will never stop His arm till
you stop your tongue. Cry aloud and spare not! Give Him no rest till He
sends forth His Spirit once again to stir the waters and to brood over
this dark world till light and life shall come! Cry day and night, O
you elect of God, for He will avenge you speedily. The time of battle
draws near! Rome sharpens her sword for the fight! The men of error
gnash their teeth in rage! Now for the sword of the Lord and of Gideon!
Now for the old might and majesty of the ancient days! Now for the
shaking of the walls of Jericho, even though we have no better weapons
than rams' horns! Now for the driving out of the heathen, and for the
establishment of God's Israel in the land! Now for the coming of the
Holy Spirit with such might and power that as Noah's flood covered the
mountaintops, Jehovah's flood of Glory shall cover the highest summits
of sin and iniquity and the whole world over, the Lord God Omnipotent
shall reign!
You who have not the Spirit pray for it. May He prompt you to pray this
morning! Unconverted Sinners, may the Spirit give you faith! Remember
that the Holy Spirit tells you to trust Christ. If you honor the Holy
Spirit, trust Christ. I know you must be regenerate, for the man who
trusts Christ is regenerate. You must repent, you must be holy, but the
man who trusts Christ shall repent and shall be made holy. The germs of
repentance and holiness are in him already. Trust Christ, Sinner! It is
the Holy Spirit's mandate to you this morning. May He constrain you to
trust Him and He shall have the Glory, world without end. Amen.