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by a clearer vision of eternal things, by a more vivid consciousness of sin, by mightier energies of holiness, by a diviner dynamic of spiritual love. In the might of inward spiritual force men and women are to occupy the heavenly places with Christ. To this end they must be endued with new power, with a vaster momentum of spiritual energy.
There need be no hesitation in affirming that the communica- tion of inward spiritual power is the fundamental office of the Holy Spirit of the New Covenant. It is through this new influx of spiritual power that the new illumination is given. " The spiritual man judgeth all things, but he himself is judged of no man." At Pentecost and throughout the records of the Apostolic Church, the ministry of the Holy Spirit is fundamentally the giving of holy power. The keynote of the Spirit's presence is given by our Saviour in such words as these : " Tarry ye in the city, until ye be clothed with power from on high." "But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Ghost is come upon you." This is the new spiritual power demanded by the new revelation. For, in view of the reception of this power, the Lord continued : "And ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."
^ " Te shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming on you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me." The copula links together the power and the witness-bearing. Few facts of history are more convincing, as to the need of the Holy Ghost's power for Christian service, than that these first disciples, who had lived in our Lord's immediate society for three years and more, were yet not equipped by that long intimacy of fellowship and observation for the great task which He intended them to carry out. No. They had to tarry in the city of Jerusalem till they had been " endued with power from on high " ; until they had received Him who was designated by the great title: "the promise of the Father." From this we may learn that a distinct gift, other than personal knowledge of Christ, and experience of His wonderful ways, confidence in His grace and power, remembrance of His words and works, and much besides, which these men possessed, is needed if we are to bear an effective witness for our loved and trusted Master.^
^ R. C. Joynt, Liturgy avd Life, 208.
152 THE GIVING OF THE COMFORTER
iii. The Abiding.
1. The Comforter is to abide with us for ever. He is the instrument whereby the glory of Christ is communicated to His members, and so His Presence with the Church is coextensive in duration with the glory of Christ the Head. The ministry of humiliation was to cease. The ministry of righteousness was to be an eternal glory.
2. The Presence, the ever-continued assistance of the Holy Ghost, unearthly as it is, is yet a thing of the immediate present — of the present shaping and improvement of life, of present growth in depth and reality, and elevation of character. If ever we rise above what is of tlie earth, earthy ; above what is of time, transitory; above what is of this world, fugitive, , unsatisfying, corruptible — it is to Him that we shall owe it.
3. Two phrases, significant in variety, are used to describe the relation of the Spirit of truth to believers. First, that relation is spoken of as a Fellowship — " He abideth with you " ; and next, it is represented as an Indwelling — " and shall be in you."
^ Webster once said : " The greatest thought that ever entered my mind was that of my personal responsibility to a personal God." A great thought truly, and yet a greater is beneath it : my personal relation to a personal God.^
(1) Fellowship. — "He abideth with you." While Jesus was with His disciples below, the Holy Ghost dwelt with them in His person. They saw in Him the presence of the Divine Spirit. His mighty works, His wonderful words, His perfect holiness and charity and self-denial and truth, all these things, daily witnessed by them and profoundly reverenced, were results of the Spirit given to Him not by measure. Though He was very God, yet He acted below within the limits (as it were) of a perfectly inspired humanity. It was of the essence of His humiliation, that He lived and acted, spoke and wrought, during His earthly sojourn, as though He were only a Man full of the Holy Ghost. Thus, when He dwelt with them, the Holy Spirit dwelt with them; dwelt with them in a sense and with a fulness never realized in ^ Bishop A. Pearson, The Claims qj the Faith, 24.
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the case of any others. And the Spirit who was in Jesus kept them also in the truth by virtue of a controlling influence put forth upon them from Him. "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name."
This fellowship of the Spirit is ours also. The Comforter dwells with us in Church ordinances. Every time that we meet for worship there is a coexistence with us of the Holy Ghost. And He dwells with us in the haunts of common life. He dwells with us in Christian lives ; in the daily sight and hearing of the conduct and language, of the acts and the words, of true Christian people