their subjects, unusual frames of mind and special inspi- rations, but some of tliem speak the ordinary language of private devotion. The Kphesian converts, therefore, must obviously have meant that they did not expect for themselves what they were entirely familiar with in past history as the privilege of a few favored individuals, or, at most, that they did not look for an immediate fulfil- ment of the Baptist's announcement concerning the Spir- it, of which probably they had as yet oidy very inade- quate a()preciation. Their experience then and after tills was, of course, similar to that of their fellow-Chris- tians.
3. We come, therefore, to the difficult task of discrim- inating the perpetual from the transient manifestations of this precious gift of Christ to his Church in its bear- ing upon onlinary religious experience. We must clear the way for the discussion by a few preliminary consid- erations, which we will treat with as little metaphysical abstraction as possible.
All the functions of the Holy Spirit are in one sense preternatural — that is, they are outside of, and superior to, our natural faculties; and the spiritual capabilities with which they invest us are in that sense supernat- ural. But a miracle is more than this. It is not only beyond and above nature, but still within the realm of nature. The gift or gifts of the Holy Spirit to which we now allude are not op|iosed to our essenti,il nature, but the}' come from beyond its sphere, yet often become supplemental, auxiliary, or recuperative to it. This is ill accord with another important truth which we are apt to overlook. Our Lord, in his discourse to Nico- dem us, declared that as "the wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth : so is every one that is born of the Spirit" (John iii, 8). The operations of the Spirit are inscrutable, even to the sub- ject of them, as to tiieir mode of action; consciousness reveals to us only the_/«c^ not the manner nor the ori- gin, of our religions experiences. These last we must learn from some other criterion or source. The apostle, therefore, very properly exhorts us to " try the spirits [both in ourselves and in others, by means of the written Word and their fruits] whether they are of God" (I John iv. 1). If we had, like the apostles, the inspired gift of "discerning spirits," perhaps we might, to some extent, dispense with these accessory tests. Now the reason why we are unable to distinguish by any infal- lible internal mark or (luality the author or tendency of our cognitions, impulses, or emotions, even when they are really due to the influence of the Holy Spirit, is be- cause these divine influences, however genuine or pow- erful, all lie in the plane of our own proper mental facul- ties, appearing to the consciousness as of subjective ori- gin. They, in fact, use these faculties as their channel or vehicle, just as the electric current runs along the tel- egraphic wire precisely the same whether the thunder- storm or the magnetic machine give the impidse. and whether the telegram be from friend or foe, a truth or a lie. It is a great and dangerous error, alike unscript- ural and nnphiloso])liical, to assume for any one that he is directly conscioiig of any divine influence as such. Whether it is God himself or Satan that is operating the wires in his soul, he can only tell for a certainty by a comparison of the character and bearing of the mes- sage with some external rule or standard.
It follows from this law that, aside from the miracu- lously insjiired experience of prophets strictly so called — which no sound Christian now claims, and of which we could only speak theoretically — we are to expect no ecstatic, frenzie<l, or extravagant demonstration as the essence, concomitant, or mark of llie s|iiritual endow- ment which we are considering. We say this not from any svmjiathy with such a Quietism as Ujiham has learned from Madame (juyon, which teaches that no influence of the Holy S|)irit tends to flutter, disturb, or agitate the soul. Unquestionably some terribly dis- quieting convictions often reach the bosom of the peui-
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tent, niul main- (iistressing emotions sometimes invade the i>eaie even of the believer; and we are far from di:'S.xiaiinj; (Joil's Spirit from these. We only mean that fantasy, rhajisody, and sjiiritual transocndentalism are no more siirns of the reliiiious endowment wliicli we are consiilerin.i; than is catalepsy, voeiferalion, or s,'lee. All these may thrill the nerves; and so may music or poetrv or a landscape. It is only when (iod plays upon the kev-lH.ard that the divine harmony is wakened, and onlv when he speaks that tlic sacred whispers of soul respond. It is said that some of Mr. Wesley's most im- pressive sermons were delivered with wonderful calm- ness. There was more power because more pathos in the "still, small voice" which s[H>ke to the despondent prophet at Ilorel) than in all the "thiniders and lij^ht- iiiuifs and a thick cloud" at Sinai. Both in physical e.\irava;j:ancies and mental transports licatlien devotees have often excelled, and Mohammedan dervishes are adepts in these unprotitable bodily exercises.
4. But we must fjive a positive, and not merely a neg- ative, statement of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This involves a somewhat close analysis of rclii^'ious states and processes, in the fnrmidaiion of which Cliristian denom- inations are not fully at one, tlniui;li the ai^rcement may be more nearly complete than it sometimes seems.