Twenty-fifth Sunday.
READ:
PROVERBS viii .12, to end;
St. JOHN xiv. 15, to end.
THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
“If I go not away , the Comforter will not come unto you.”
– JOHN xvi.
WE have been taught since childhood to express our belief not only in God the Father Almighty, and in Jesus Christ His only begotten Son, our Lord, but also in the Holy Ghost. Nevertheless, there is perhaps no truth of equal importance which is so commonly overlooked, as that we are now living under the dispensation of the Holy Spirit. The Fatherhood of God and the redemption by Christ, occupy central places in the teaching of the Church, and in the conscious apprehension of Christian people; but there is not an equally vivid realisation of the presence and power of the Holy Ghost.
This may appear the more wonderful, when we recall the position which the gift of the Holy Spirit occupies in Scripture. For the outpouring of the Holy Ghost was the subject of prophecy in the Old Testament, and that He would baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire, was the distinctive feature of the ministry of Christ, as proclaimed by John the Baptist. So valuable was this gift of the Holy Ghost that our Lord said it was expedient that He Himself should depart, in order that the Comforter might come. The coming of the Holy Ghost was at once the sign and the result of His own ascension and glorification. The Acts of the Apostles may be regarded as the very gospel of the Holy Ghost, for it is the glowing narrative of His power and presence in the Church. The Apostolic Church was recognised as being the Temple of the Holy Ghost. Through the acknowledged influence of the Spirit were the varied ministries of the Church appointed, and the apostles were sent forth to one country, and “forbidden of the Holy Ghost” to enter another. The graces and gifts of the Spirit were the visible adornment of all believers. The all-conquering force, the sanctity and enthusiasm which possessed these men and women, and made them “mighty to the pulling down of strongholds,” proceeded from the in-dwelling of the Holy Ghost. This was “the unspeak- able gift” for which they rendered continual thanksgiving. The gospel which was preached was effectual because it was preached “with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven,” and “in demonstration of the Spirit and in power.” ...