Luther paraphrases this verse thus : " He that cometh to me shall be so furnished with the Holy Ghost, that he shall not only be quickened and refreshed himself and delivered from thirst, but he shall also be a strong stone vessel, from which the Holy Ghost in all His gifts shall flow to others, refreshing, comforting, and strengthening them, even as he was refreshed by me. So St. Peter on the day of Pentecost, by one sermon, as by a rush of water, delivered three thousand men from the devil's kingdom, washing them in an hour from sin, death, and Satan." Hengstenberg, after quoting this, adds, " That was only the first exhibition of a glorious peculiarity which dis- tinguishes the Church of the New Testament from the Church of Hie Old. She has a living impulse which will diffuse the life within her, even to the ends of the earth."
89. — [But this spake. ..of the Spirit.'] This verse is one of those explanatory comments which are so common in St. John's Gospel. The opening words would be more literally rendered, "He spake this concerning the Spirit."
Let it be noted that here, at any rate, there can be no doubt that " water" does not mean "baptism," but the Holy Spirit. — St. John himself says so in unmistakable language.
[Which they. ..believe. ..should receive.'] This means, "Which believers in Him were about to receive." There is an insepa- rable connection between faith in Christ aud receiving the Holy Ghost. If anv man has faith he has the Spirit. If any man has not the Spirit he has no saving faith in Christ. The effectual work of the second and third Persons in the Trinity is never divided.
Rupertus think that our Lord had specially in view that mighty outpouring of the Spirit on the Gentile world, which was to take place after His own ascension into heaven, and the going forth of the Apostles into the world to preach the Gospel.
[For the Holy Ghost. ..not yet given, etc.] This sentence means that the Holy Ghost was not yet poured on believers in all His fulness, because our Lord had not yet finished His work by dying, rising again, and ascending into heaven for us. It was not till He was "glorified " by going up into heaven and taking His seat at the right hand of God, that the Holy Ghost was sent down in full influence on the Church. Then was fulfilled Psalm lxviii. 18, — "Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive : thou hast received gifts for man : yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them." — Before our Lord died and rose again and ascended, the Holy Ghost was, and had been from all eternity, one with the Father and the Son, a distinct Person, of equal power and authority, very and eternal God. But He had not revealed Himself so fully to those whose hearts He dwelt in as He did after the ascension; and He had not come down in person on
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the Gentile world, or sent forth the Gospel to all mankind with rivers of blessing, as He did when Paul and Barnabas were " sent forth by the Holy Ghost." (Acts xiii. 4.) In a word, the dispensation of the Spirit had not yet begun.
The expression " the Holy Ghost was not yet given," would be more literally rendered, " the Holy Ghost was not." This cannot of course mean that the Holy Ghost did not exist, and was in no sense present with believers in the Old Testament dispensation. On the contrary, the Spirit strove with the men of Noah's day, — David spake by the Holy Ghost,— Isaiah spake of the Holy Spirit,— and John the Baptist, now dead, was filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb. (Gen. vi. 3 ; Mark xii. 36; Isa. lxiii. 10, 11 ; Luke i. 15.)
What the expression does mean is this. The Holy Ghost was not yet with men in such fulness of influence on their minds, hearts, and understandings, as the Spirit of adoption and reve- lation, as He was after our Lord ascended up into heaven. It is clear as daylight, from our Lord's language about the Spirit, in John xiv. 16, 17, 26; xv. 26; xvi. 7—15, that believers were meant to receive a far more full and complete outpouring of the Holy Spirit after His ascension than they had received before. It is a simple matter of fact, indeed, that after the ascension the Apostles were quite different men from what they had been before. They both saw, and spoke, and acted like men grown up; while before the ascension they had been like children. It was this increased light and knowledge and decision that made them such a blessing to the world, far more than any miraculous gifts. The possession of the gifts of the Spirit, it is evident, in the early Church was quite compatible with an ungodly heart. A man might speak with tongues, and yet be like salt that had lost its savour. The possession of the fulness of the graces of the Spirit, on the contrary, was that which made any man a blessing to the world.
Alford says : "St. John does not say that the words were a prophecy of what happened on the day of Pentecost; but of the Spirit which the believers were about to receive. Their first reception of Him must not be illogically put in the place of all His indwelling and working, which are here intended."
I am quite aware that most commentators hold, that the out- pouring of the Spirit at Pentecost was specially meant by St. John in this passage. But after carefully considering the matter, I cannot subscribe to this opinion. To confine this verse to the day of Pentecost appears to me to cramp and nar- row its meaning, — to deprive many believers of their interest in a most precious promise, — and to overlook all the special language about the inward teaching of the Comforter as a thing to come on believers, which our Lord used the night before His crucifixion.
Bengel remarks that the use of " to be " instead of "to be 3
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