II. But we must now glance for a moment at our second weighty fact. God the Holy Ghost has come down to this earth. It is now over eighteen long centuries since the blessed Spirit descended from heaven; and He has been here ever since. This is a stupendous fact. There is a divine Person on this earth; and His presence--like the absence of Jesus--has a double bearing: it has a bearing upon the world, and a bearing upon the church--upon the world as a whole, and upon every man, woman and child therein; upon the church as a whole, and upon every individual member thereof in particular. As regards the world, this august witness descended from heaven to convict it of the terrible crime of rejecting and crucifying the Son of God. As regards the church, He came as the blessed Comforter, to take the place of the absent Jesus, and comfort by His presence and ministry the hearts of His people. Thus, to the world, the Holy Ghost is a powerful _Convicter_; to the church he is a precious _Comforter_.
A passage or two of holy Scripture will establish these points in the heart and mind of the pious reader who bows in lowly reverence to the authority of the divine word. Let us turn to chapter xvi. of John's Gospel. "But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. 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. And when he is come, he will _convict_ (ελεγξει) the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. Of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged" (verses 5-11).
Again in John xiv. we read, "If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you" (verses 15-19).
These quotations prove the double bearing of the presence of the Holy Ghost. We cannot attempt to dwell upon this subject in this brief introduction; but we trust the reader may be led to study it for himself, in the light of holy Scripture; and we are persuaded that the more he thus studies it, the more deeply he will feel its interest and immense practical importance. Alas! that it should be so little understood; that Christians should so little see what is involved in the personal presence of the eternal Spirit, God the Holy Ghost, on this earth--its solemn consequences as regards the world, and its precious results as regards the assembly as a whole, and each individual member in particular.
Oh! that God's people everywhere may be led into a deeper understanding of these things; that they may consider what is due to that divine Person who dwells in them and with them; that they may have a jealous care not to "grieve" Him in their private walk, or "quench" Him in their public assemblies!
We shall, if God permit, enter, in our next paper, upon the third fact, which is the immediate subject of the series of papers which we propose to write, namely: The coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. May God the Spirit open this most glorious subject in living power and freshness to our souls, so that we may, in truth and reality, be waiting for God's Son from heaven.