The Indwelling and Outflowing of the Holy Spirit

DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, MAY 28, 1882,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"He that believes on Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly
shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spoke He of the Spirit,
which they that believe on Him should receive: for the Holy Spirit was
not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified)." John
7:38,39.

"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.

IT is essential, dear Friends, that we should worship the living and
true God. It will be ill for us if it can be said, "You worship you
know not what." "You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall
you serve." The heathens err from this command by multiplying gods and
making this and that image to be the object of their adoration. Their
excess runs to gross superstition and idolatry. I fear that sometimes
we who, "profess and call ourselves Christians," err in exactly the
opposite direction. Instead of worshipping more than God, I fear we
worship less than God. This appears when we forget to pay due adoration
to the Holy Spirit of God. The true God is triune–Father Son, and Holy
Spirit– and though there is but one God, yet that one God has
manifested Himself to us in the trinity of His sacred Persons.

If, then, I worship the Father and the Son, but forget or neglect to
adore the Holy Spirit, I worship less than God. While the poor heathen,
in his ignorance, goes far beyond and transgresses, I must take care
lest I fall short and fail, also. What a grievous thing it will be if
we do not pay that loving homage and reverence to the Holy Spirit which
is so justly His due. May it not be the fact that we enjoy less of His
power and see less of His working in the world because the Church of
God has not been sufficiently mindful of Him? It is a blessed thing to
preach the work of Jesus Christ, but it is an evil thing to omit the
work of the Holy Spirit–for the work of the Lord Jesus, itself, is no
blessing to that man who does not know the work of the Holy Spirit!

There is the ransom price, but it is only through the Spirit that we
know the redemption! There is the precious blood, but it is as though
the fountain had never been filled unless the Spirit of God leads us
with repenting faith to wash therein! The bandage is soft and the
ointment is effectual, but the wound will never be healed till the Holy
Spirit shall apply that which the great Physician has provided. Let us
not, therefore, be found neglectful of the work of the Divine Spirit,
lest we incur guilt and inflict upon ourselves serious damage. You that
are Believers have the most forcible reasons to hold the Holy Spirit in
the highest esteem, for what are you now without Him? What were you and
what would you still have been if it had not been for His gracious work
upon you?

He quickened you, otherwise you had not been in the living family of
God today. He gave you understanding that you might know the Truth of
God, otherwise would you have been as ignorant as the carnal world is
at this hour! It was He that awakened your conscience, convincing you
of sin! It was He that gave you abhorrence of sin and led you to
repent–it was He that taught you to believe and made you see that
glorious Person who is to be believed, even Jesus, the Son of God! The
Spirit has worked in you your faith, love, hope and every other Grace
of God! There is not a jewel upon the neck of your soul which He did
not place there–

"For every virtue we possess, And every victory won, And every thought
of holiness, Are His and His alone."

What have we learned, if we have learned aright, except by the teaching
of the Holy Spirit? What can we say either in prayer to God or in
teaching to men that shall be acceptable unless we receive the unction
of the Holy One of Israel?

Brothers and Sisters, who is it that has comforted us in our
distresses; directed us in our perplexities; strengthened us in our
weaknesses and helped our infirmities in ten thousand ways? Is it not
the Comforter whom the Father has sent in Jesus' name? Can I speak too
highly of the riches of His Grace toward us? Can I too much extol the
love of the Spirit? I know I cannot and you that know what He has
worked in you delight to hear Him highly spoken of and His work and
offices set forth! We are bound by a thousand ties to seek His honor
who has worked in us our salvation! Let us never grieve Him by our
ingratitude, but let us endeavor to extol Him.

For my part, it shall be the labor of this morning to impress upon you
the necessity for His work and the superlative value of it. Beloved
Brothers and Sisters, notwithstanding all that the Spirit of God has
already done in us, it is very possible that we have missed a large
part of the blessing which He is willing to give, for He is able to "do
exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think." We have already
come to Jesus and we have drunk of the life-giving stream–our thirst
is quenched and we are made to live in Him. Is this all? Now that we
are living in Him and rejoicing to do so, have we come to the end of
the matter?

Assuredly not! We have reached as far as that first exhortation of the
Master, "If any man thirsts, let him come unto Me and drink." But do
you think that the generality of the Church of God have ever advanced
to the next–"He that believes on Me, as the Scripture has said, out of
his belly shall flow rivers of living water"? I think I am not going
beyond the grievous truth if I say that only here and there will you
find men and women who have believed up to that point. Their thirst is
quenched, as I have said, and they live–and because Jesus lives they
shall live also–but health and vigor they have not! They have life,
but they have not life more abundantly. They have little life with
which to act upon oth-ers–they have no energy welling up and
overflowing to go streaming out of them like rivers!

They have not thought it possible, perhaps, or thinking it possible,
they have not imagined it possible to themselves. Or believing it
possible to themselves they have not aspired to it, but they have
stopped short of the fullest blessing. Their wading in to the sacred
river has contented them and they know nothing of "waters to swim in."
Like the Israelites of old, they are slow to possess all the land of
promise, but rather sit down when the war has hardly begun! Brothers
and Sisters, let us go in to get of God all that God will give us! Let
us set our heart upon this, that we mean to have, by God's help, all
that the infinite goodness of God is ready to bestow! Let us not be
satisfied with the sip that saves, but let us go on to the Baptism
which buries the flesh and raises us in the likeness of the risen
Lord–even that Baptism into the Holy Spirit and into fire which makes
us spiritual and sets us all on flame with zeal for the Glory of God
and eagerness for usefulness by which that Glory may be increased among
the sons of men!

Thus I introduce you to my texts and by their guidance we will enter
upon the further consideration of the operations of the Holy Spirit,
especially of those to which we would aspire.

I. We will commence with the remark that THE WORK OF THE SPIRIT IS
INTIMATELY CONNECTED WITH THE WORK OF CHRIST. It is a great pity when
persons preach the Holy Spirit's work so as to obscure the work of
Christ. I have known some do that, for they have held up before the
sinner's eyes the inward experience of Believers, instead of lifting
up, first and foremost, the crucified Savior to whom we must look and
live! The Gospel is not, "Behold the Spirit of God," but, "Behold the
Lamb of God." It is an equal pity when Christ is so preached that the
Holy Spirit is ignored–as if faith in Jesus prevented the necessity of
the new birth–and imputed righteousness rendered imparted
righteousness needless.

Have I not often reminded you that in the third chapter of John, where
Jesus taught Nicodemus the doctrine, "Except a man is born again of
water and of the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of Heaven," we also
read those blessed words, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up: that whoever
believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so
loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life"? The
necessity for regeneration by the Spirit is put very clearly, there,
and so is the free promise that those who trust in Jesus shall be
saved. This is what we ought to do–we must take care to let both these
Truths of God stand out most distinctly with equal prominence!

They are intertwined with each other and are necessary each to
each–what God has joined together let no man put asunder. They are so
joined together that, first of all, the Holy Spirit was not given until
Jesus had been glorified. Carefully note our first text–it is a very
striking one–"This spoke He of the Spirit which they that believe on
Him should receive: for the Holy Spirit was not yet." The word,
"given," is not in the original–it is inserted by the translators to

help explain the sense and they were, perhaps, wise in making such an
addition, but the words are more forcible by themselves.

How strong the statement, "For the Holy Spirit was not yet." Of course,
we, none of us, dream that the Holy Spirit was not yet existing, for He
is eternal and self-existent, being most truly God. But He was not yet
in fellowship with man to the full extent in which He now is since
Jesus Christ is glorified. The near and dear communion of God with man
which is expressed by the indwelling of the Spirit could not take place
till the redeeming work was done and the Redeemer was exalted! As far
as men and the fullness of the blessing were concerned, indicated by
the outflowing rivers of living water, the Spirit of God was not yet.

"Oh," you say," but was not the Spirit of God in the Church in the
wilderness and with the saints of God in all former ages?" I answer,
Certainly, but not in the manner in which the Spirit of God now resides
in the Church of Jesus Christ. You read of the Prophets and of one and
another gracious man, that the Spirit of God came upon them, seized
them, moved them, spoke by them–but He did not dwell in them. His
operations upon men were a coming and a going–they were carried away
by the Spirit of God and came under His power–but the Spirit of God
did not rest upon them or abide in them.

Occasionally the sacred endowment of the Spirit of God came upon them,
but they knew not "the communion of the Holy Spirit." As a French
pastor very sweetly puts it, "He appeared unto men. He did not
incarnate Himself in man. His action was intermittent–He went and came
like the dove which Noah sent forth from the ark and which went to and
fro, finding no rest–while in the new dispensation He dwells, He
abides in the heart, as the dove, His emblem, which John the Baptist
saw descending and alighting upon the head of Jesus. Affianced of the
soul, the Spirit went off to see His betrothed, but was not yet one
with her. The marriage was not consummated until Pentecost, after the
glorification of Jesus Christ."

You know how our Lord puts it, "He dwells with you and shall be in
you." That indwelling is another thing from being with us. The Holy
Spirit was with the Apostles in the days when Jesus was with them, but
He was not in them in the sense in which He filled them at and after
the Day of Pentecost. The operations of the Spirit of God before our
Lord's Ascension were not according to the full measure of the Gospel.
But now the Spirit of God has been poured upon us from on high! Now He
has descended and now He abides in the midst of the Church. And now we
enter into Him and are baptized into the Holy Spirit, while He enters
into us and makes our bodies to be His temples. Jesus said, "I will
send you another Comforter which shall abide with you forever"–not
coming and going–but remaining in the midst of the

Church!

This shows how intimately the gift of the Holy Spirit is connected with
our Lord Jesus Christ, inasmuch as in the fullest sense of His
indwelling, the Holy Spirit could not be with us until Christ had been
glorified. It has been well observed that our Lord sent out 70
evangelists to preach the Gospel, even as He had before sent out the
12–and no doubt they preached with great zeal and produced much
stir–but the Holy Spirit never took the trouble to preserve one of
their sermons, or even the notes of one! I have not the slightest doubt
that they were very crude and incomplete, showing more of human zeal
than of Divine unction and, therefore, they are forgotten! But no
sooner had the Holy Spirit fallen, than Peter's first sermon is
recorded–and from then on we have frequent notes of the utterances of
Apostles, deacons and evangelists! There was an abiding fullness and an
overflowing of blessing out of the souls of the saints, after the Lord
was glorified, which was not existing among men before that time!

Observe, too, that the Holy Spirit was given after the ascent of our
Divine Lord into His Glory, partly to make that ascent the more
renowned. When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive and
gave gifts to men. These gifts were men, in whom the Holy Spirit dwelt,
who preached the Gospel unto the nations. The shedding of the Holy
Spirit upon the assembled disciples on that memorable day was the
glorification of the risen Christ upon the earth! I know not in what
way the Father could have made the Glory of Heaven so effectually to
flow from the heights of the New Jerusalem and to come streaming down
among the sons of men as by giving that chief of all Gifts, the gift of
the Holy Spirit when the Lord had risen and gone into His Glory!

With emphasis, may I say of the Spirit at Pentecost that He glorified
Christ by descending at such a time. What grander celebration could
there have been? Heaven rang with Hosannas and earth echoed the joy!
The descending Spirit is the noblest testimony among men to the Glory
of the ascended Redeemer! Was not the Spirit of God also sent at that

time as an evidence of our Divine Master's acceptance? Did not the
Father thus say to the Church, "My Son has finished the work and has
fully entered into His Glory. Therefore I give you the Holy Spirit"? If
you would know what a harvest is to come of the sowing of the bloody
sweat and of the death wounds, see the first fruits! Behold how the
Holy Spirit is given, Himself, to be the first fruits, the earnest of
the Glory which shall yet be revealed in us! I need no better
attestation from God of the finished work of Jesus than this blazing,
flaming seal of tongues of fire upon the heads of the disciples! He
must have done His work, or such a gift as this would not have come
from it.

Moreover, if you desire to see how the work of the Spirit comes to us
in connection with the work of Christ, recollect that it is the
Spirit's work to bear witness of Jesus Christ. He does not take of a
thousand different matters and show them to us, but He shall take, "of
Mine," says Christ, "and He shall show them unto you." The Spirit of
God is engaged in a service in which the Lord Jesus Christ is the
beginning and the end. He comes to men that they may come to Jesus.
Hence He comes to convince us of sin that He may reveal the great
Sacrifice of sin–He comes to convince us of righteousness that we may
see the Righteousness of Christ–and of judgment that we may be
prepared to meet Him when He shall come to judge the quick and dead.

Do not think that the Spirit of God has come or ever will come among us
to teach us a new Gospel, or something other than is written in the
Scriptures. Men come to me with their stories and fancies and tell me
that they were revealed to them by the Holy Spirit. I abhor their
blasphemous impertinence and refuse to listen to them for a minute!
They tell me this and that absurdity–and then father it upon the
Spirit of Wisdom! It is enough to try our patience to hear their
foolish ravings, but to find the Holy Spirit charged with them is more
than we can bear! We have tests and judgments by which to know whether
they who claim to speak by the Holy Spirit do so or not–for the
testimony of the Spirit is always most honorable to our Lord Jesus
Christ–and does not concern itself with the trifles of time and the
follies of the

flesh.

It is by the Gospel of Jesus Christ that the Spirit of God works in the
hearts of men. "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of
God"–the Holy Spirit uses the hearing of the Word of God for the
conviction, conversion, consolation and sanctification of men. His
usual and ordinary method of operation is to fasten upon the mind the
things of God and to put life and force into the consideration of them.
He revives in men's memories things that have long been forgotten and
He frequently makes these the means of affecting the heart and
conscience. The men can hardly remember hearing these Truths of God,
but still, they were heard by them at some time or other! Saving Truths
are such matters as are contained in their substance in the Word of God
and lie within the range of the teaching, or the Person, or work, or
offices of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the Spirit's one business here
below to reveal Christ to us and in us–and to that work He steadily
adheres.

Moreover, the Holy Spirit's work is to conform us to the likeness of
Jesus Christ. He is not working us to this or that human ideal, but He
is working us into the likeness of Christ that He may be the First-Born
among many brethren. Jesus Christ is that standard and model to which
the Spirit of God, by His sanctifying processes, is bringing us till
Christ is formed in us the hope of Glory. It is for the Glory of Jesus
that the Spirit of God always works. He works not for the Glory of a
Church or of a community–He works not for the honor of a man or for
the distinction of a sect–His one great objective is to glorify
Christ! "He shall glorify Me," is our Savior's declaration, and when He
takes of the things of Christ and shows them to us, we are led more and
more to reverence and love and to adore our blessed Lord Jesus Christ.

I will not detain you longer with this. You will see how the works of
Jesus and of the Spirit are joined together indis-solubly, so that we
may neither set the work of Jesus before the work of the Spirit nor the
work of the Spirit before the work of Jesus. But we are glad to joy in
both and to make much of them. As we delight in the Father's love and
the Grace of our Lord Jesus, so do we equally rejoice in the communion
of the Holy Spirit and, therefore, these Three agree in One.

II. We will now advance another step and here we shall need our second
text. THE OPERATIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ARE OF INCOMPARABLE VALUE. They
are of such incomparable value that the very best things we can think
of are not thought to be so precious as these are. Our Lord Himself
says, "It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away,
the Comforter will not come unto you." Beloved Friends, the Presence of
Jesus Christ was of inestimable value to His disciples and yet it was
not such an advantage to His servants as the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit! Is not this a wonderful statement? Well might our Lord preface
it by saying, "Now I tell you the truth," as if He felt that they would
find it a hard saying, for a hard saying it is!

Consider for a moment what Christ was to His disciples while He was
here–and then see what must be the value of the Spirit's operations
when it is expedient that they should lose all that blessing in order
to receive the Spirit of God! Our Lord Jesus Christ was to them their
Teacher. They had learned everything from His lips. He was their
Leader–they had never to ask what to do–they had only to follow in
His footsteps. He was their Defender–whenever the Pharisees or
Sadducees assailed them, He was like a brazen wall to them! He was
their Comforter–in all times of grief they resorted to Him and His
dear sympathetic heart poured out floods of comfort at once. What if I
were to say that the Lord Jesus Christ was everything to them, their
All in All? What a father is to his children, yes, what a mother is to
her suckling, that was Jesus Christ to His disciples! And yet the
Spirit of God's abiding in the Church is better, even, than all this!

Now take another thought. What would you think if Jesus Christ were to
come among us now, as in the days of His flesh? I mean not as He will
come, but as He appeared at His first advent. What joy it would give
you! Oh, the delights, the heavenly joys, to hear that Jesus Christ of
Nazareth was on earth, again, a Man among men! Should we not clap our
hands for joy? Our one question would be, "Master, where do You dwell?"
for we should all long to live just where He lived. We could then
sympathize with the Negroes when they flocked into Washington in large
numbers to take up their residence there. Why, do you think, did they
come to live in that city? Because Massa Abraham Lincoln, who had set
them free, lived there! And they thought it would be glorious to live
as near as possible to their great friend!

If Jesus lived anywhere, it would not matter where! If it were in the
desert or on the bleakest of mountains, there would be a rush to the
place! How would the spot be crowded! What rents they would pay for the
worst of tenements if Jesus was but in the neighborhood! But don't you
see the difficulty? We could not all get near Him in any literal or
corporeal fashion. Now that the Church is multiplied into millions of
Believers, some of the Lord's followers would never be able to see
Him–and the most could only hope to speak with Him now and then! In
the days of His flesh the 12 might see Him every day and so might the
little company of disciples–but the case is altered, now that
multitudes are trusting in His name.

If our Lord were at this time living in the United States, we should be
much grieved to have an ocean between us and our Leader–all the
companies that could be formed would not be able to run enough boats to
carry us over. If the Master personally came here to this little
island, it would not hold all the vast company of the faithful who
would flock to it. It is much better to have the Holy Spirit, because
He is dwelling with us and in us! The difficulties of the bodily
Presence are too great and so, though we would be thankful, like the
Apostles, if we had known Christ after the flesh, yet we do not marvel
that they expressed little sorrow when they said that after the flesh
they knew Him no more. The Comforter had filled the void caused by His
absence and made them rejoice because the Lord had gone unto His
Father!

Are we not apt to think that if our Lord Jesus were here it would give
unspeakable strength to the Church? Would not the enemy be convinced if
they saw Him? No, they would not! If they heard not Moses and the
Prophets, neither would they be converted though one rose from the
dead! Jesus rose, but they did not, therefore, believe. If our Lord had
lingered here all this while, His Presence would not have converted
unbelievers, for nothing can do that but the power of the Holy Spirit!
"But," you say, "surely it would thrill the Church with enthusiasm.
Fancy the Lord Himself standing on this platform this morning in the
same garb as when He was upon earth. Oh, what rapturous worship! What
burning zeal! What enthusiasm! We should go home in such a state of
excitement as we never were in before!"

Yes, it is even so, but then the Lord is not going to carry on His
Kingdom by the force of mere mental excitement– not even by such
enthusiasm as would follow the sight of His Person. The work of the
Holy Spirit is a truer work, a deeper work, a surer work and will more
effectually achieve the purposes of God than even would the enthusiasm
to which we should be stirred by the bodily Presence of our
well-beloved Savior. The work is to be spiritual and, therefore, the
visible Presence has departed. It is better that it should be so. We
must walk by faith and by faith alone! How could we do this if we could
see the Lord with these mortal eyes? This is the dispensation of the
unseen Spirit, in which we render Glory to God by trusting in His Word
and relying upon the unseen energy.

Now, faith works and faith triumphs though the world sees not the
foundation upon which faith is built, for the Spirit who works in us
cannot be discerned by carnal minds. The world sees Him not, neither
knows Him. Thus, you see that the operations of the Holy Spirit must be
inestimably precious. There is no calculating their value, since it is
expedient that we lose the bodily Presence of Christ rather than remain
without the indwelling of the Spirit of God.

III. Now go back to my first text, again, and follow me in the third
head. Those operations of the Spirit of God, of which I am afraid some
Christians are almost ignorant, are of wondrous power. The text says,
"He that believes on Me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water." THESE OPERATIONS ARE OF MARVELOUS POWER. Brothers and Sisters,
do you understand my text? Do rivers of living water flow out of you?

Notice, first, that this is to be an inward work–the rivers of living
water are to flow out of the midst of the man. The words, are,
according to our version, "Out of his belly"–that is, from his heart
and soul. The rivers do not flow out of his mouth–the promised power
is not oratory. We have had plenty of words, floods of words–but this
is heart work. The source of the rivers is found in the inner life. It
is an inward work at its fountainhead. It is not a work of talent and
ability, show, glitter and glare–it is altogether an inward work. The
life-flood is to come out of the man's inmost self– out of the heart
and essential being of the man. Homage is shown too generally to
outward form and external observance, though these soon lose their
interest and power. But when the Spirit of God rests within a man, it
exercises a home rule within him and he gives great attention to what
an old divine was known to call, "the home department." Alas, many
neglect the realm within which is the chief province under our care. O
my Brothers and Sisters in Christ, if you would be useful, begin with
yourself! It is out of your very soul that a blessing must come. It
cannot come out of you if it is not in you! And it cannot be in you
unless God the Holy Spirit places it there.

Next, it is life-giving work. Out of the heart of the man, out of the
center of his life, are to flow rivers of living water. That is to say,
he is instrumentally to communicate to others the Divine life. When he
speaks; when he prays; when he acts, he shall so speak and pray and act
that there shall be going out of him an emanation which is full of the
life of Grace and godliness. He shall be a light by which others shall
see! His life shall be the means of kindling life in other men's
bosoms. "Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." Note the
plenitude of it. The figure would have been a surprising one if it had
said, "Out of him shall flow a river of living water." But it is not
so–it says rivers.

Have you ever stood by the side of a very abundant spring? We have some
such not far from London. You see the water bubbling up from many
little mouths. Observe the sand dancing as the water forces its way
from the bottom and there, just across the road, a mill is turned by
the stream which has just been created by the spring! And when the
water-wheel is turned, you see a veritable river flowing forward to
supply Father Thames. Yet this is only one river! What would you think
if you saw a spring yielding such supplies that a river flowed from it
to the north and a river to the south, a river to the east and a river
to the west? This is the figure before us–rivers of living water
flowing out of the living man in all directions!

"Ah," you say, "I have not reached to that." A point is gained when you
know, confess and deplore your failure. If you say, "I have all things
and abound," I am afraid you will never reach the fullness of the
blessing. But if you know something of your failure, the Lord will lead
you further. It may be that the Spirit of Life which comes forth for
you is but a trickling brooklet, or even a few tiny drops. Then be sure
to confess it and you will be on the way to a fuller blessing! What a
Word of God is this! Rivers of living water!! Oh that all professing
Christians were such fountains! See how spontaneous it is–"Out of his
belly shall flow." No pumping is required! Nothing is said about
machinery and hydraulics! The man does not need exciting and stirring
up, but, just as he is, influence of the best kind quietly flows out of
him!

Did you ever hear a great hubbub in the morning, a great outcry, a
sounding of trumpets and drums? And did you ever ask, "What is it?" Did
a voice reply, "The sun is about to rise and he is making this noise
that all may be aware of it"? No, he shines, but he has nothing to say
about it! Even so, the genuine Christian just goes about flooding the
world with blessings and, so far from claiming attention for himself,
it may be that he is unconscious of what he is effecting! God so
blesses him that his leaf does not wither and whatever he does is
prospering, for he is like a tree planted by the rivers of water that
bring forth its fruit in its season–his verdure and fruit are the
natural outcome of his vigorous life. Oh, the blessed spontaneity of
the work of Grace when a man gets into the fullness of it, for then he
seems to eat and drink and sleep eternal life! And he spreads a savor
of salvation all round! And this is to be perpetual–not like
intermittent springs which burst forth and flow in torrents and then
cease–but it is to be an everyday gushing out!

In summer and winter, by day and by night, wherever the man is, he
shall be a blessing. As he breathes, he shall breathe benedictions! As
he thinks, his mind shall be devising generous things. And when he
acts, his acts shall be as though the hand of God were working by the
hand of man! I hope I hear many sighs rising up in the place! I hope I
hear friends saying, "Oh that I could get to that." I want you to
attain the fullness of the favor! I pray that we may all get it

because Jesus Christ is glorified! Therefore the Holy Spirit is given
in this fashion, given more largely to those in the kingdom of Heaven
than to all those holy men before the Lord's ascent to His Glory.

God gives no stinted blessing to celebrate the triumph of His Son! God
gives not the Spirit by measure unto Him. On such an occasion Heaven's
grandest liberality was displayed. Christ is glorified in Heaven above
and God would have Him glorified in the Church below by vouchsafing a
Baptism of the Holy Spirit to each of us. So I close by this, which I
hope will be a very comforting and inspiriting reflection.

IV. THESE OPERATIONS OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD ARE EASILY TO BE OBTAINED BY
THE LORD'S CHILDREN. Did you say you had not received them? They are to
be had! They are to be had at once! First, they are to be had by
believing in Jesus. "This spoke He of the Spirit, which they that
believe on Him should receive." Do you not see that it is faith which
gives us the first drink and causes us to live? And this second, more
abundant blessing of being, ourselves, made fountains from which rivers
flow, comes in the same way! Believe in Christ, for the blessing is to
be obtained not by the works of the Law, nor by so much fasting,
striving, or effort–but by belief in the Lord Jesus!

With Him is the residue of the Spirit. He is prepared to give this to
you, yes, to every one of you who believe on His name. He will not, of
course, make all of you preachers–for who, then, would be hearers? If
all were preachers, the other works of the Church would be neglected.
But He will give you this favor–that out of you there shall stream a
Divine influence all round you to bless your children, to bless your
servants, to bless the workmen in the house where you are employed and
to bless the street you live! In proportion as God gives you
opportunity, these rivers of living water will flow in this channel and
in that–and they will be pouring forth from you at all times–if you
believe in Jesus for the full blessing and can, by faith, receive it.

But there is another thing to be done as well, and that is to pray. And
here I want to remind you of those blessed Words of the Master,
"Everyone that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that
knocks it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that
is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask for a fish, will
he, for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask for an egg, will
he offer him a scorpion? If you, then, being evil, know how to give
good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father
give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?" You see, there is a
distinct promise to the children of God that their heavenly Father will
give them the Holy Spirit if they ask for His power–and that promise
is made to be exceedingly strong by the instances joined to it. If
there is a promise that God can break (which there is not), this is not
the promise, for God has put it in the most forcible and binding way.

I know not how to show you its wonderful force! Did you ever hear of a
man who, when his child asked for bread, gave him a stone? Go to the
worst part of London and will you find a man of that kind? You shall,
if you like, get among pirates and murderers, and when a little child
cries, "Father, give me a bit of bread and meat," does the most wicked
father fill his own little one's mouth with stones? Yet the Lord seems
to say that this is what He would be doing if He were to deny us the
Holy Spirit when we ask Him for His necessary working–He would be like
one that gave his children stones instead of bread! Do you think the
Lord will ever bring Himself down to that? He says, "How much more
shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?"

He makes it a stronger case than that of an ordinary parent! The Lord
must give us the Spirit when we ask Him, for He has, herein, bound
Himself by no ordinary pledge. He has used a simile which would bring
dishonor on His name and that of the very grossest kind, if He did not
give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him! Oh, then, let us ask Him at
once with all our hearts! Am I not so happy as to have in this audience
some who will immediately ask? I pray that some who have never received
the Holy Spirit at all may now be led, while I am speaking, to pray,
"Blessed Spirit, visit me! Lead me to Jesus." But especially those of
you that are the children of God–to you is this promise especially
made! Ask God to make you all that the Spirit of God can make you–not
only a satisfied Believer who has drunk for himself–but a useful
Believer who overflows the neighborhood with blessing!

I see here a number of friends from the country who have come to spend
their holiday in London. What a blessing it would be if they went back
to their respective Churches overflowing! There are numbers of Churches
that need flooding! They are dry as a barn floor and little dew falls
on them. Oh that they might be flooded! What a wonderful thing a flood
is! Go down to the river; look over the bridge and see the barges and
other crafts lying in the mud. All the king's horses and all the king's
men cannot tug them out to sea! There they lie, dead and motionless as
the mud, itself! What shall we do with them? What machinery can move
them? Have we a great engineer among us who will devise a scheme for
lifting

these vessels and bearing them down to the river's mouth? No, it cannot
be done! Wait till the tide comes in! What a change! Each vessel walks
the water like a thing of life! What a difference between the low tide
and the high tide! You cannot stir the boats when the water is gone,
but when the tide is at the full, see how readily they move–a little
child may push them with his hand!

Oh, for a flood of Divine Grace! May the Lord send to all our Churches
a great springtide! Then the indolent will be active enough and those
who were half dead will be full of energy. I know that in this
particular dock several vessels are lying that I should like to float,
but I cannot stir them. They neither work for God nor come out to the
Prayer Meetings! They do not give of their substance to spread the
Gospel. If the flood would come, you would see what they are capable
of–they would be active, fervent, generous, abounding in every good
word and work! So may it be! So may it be! May springs begin to flow in
all our Churches and may all of you who hear me this day get your share
of the streams!

Oh that the Lord may now fill you and then send you home bearing a
flood of Grace with you! It sounds odd to speak of a man's carrying
home a flood within him and yet I hope it will be so–and that out of
you shall flow rivers of living water! So may God grant it for Jesus'
sake. Amen.
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The True Gospel Is No Hidden Gospel