Chapter 204—Given on Condition
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but
they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Romans 8:5
.
Christ promised the gift of the Holy Spirit to His church, and the promise
belongs as much to us as to the first disciples. But like every other promise,
it is given on conditions. There are many who profess to believe and claim
the Lord’s promises; they talk about Christ and the Holy Spirit; yet they
receive no benefit, because they do not surrender their souls to the guidance
and control of divine agencies.
We cannot use the Holy Spirit; the Spirit is to use us. Through the Spirit,
God works in His people “to will and to do of his good pleasure” (
Philippians
2:13
). But many will not submit to be led. They want to manage themselves.
This is why they do not receive the heavenly gift. Only to those who wait
humbly upon God, who watch for His guidance and grace, is the Spirit given.
The promised blessing, claimed by faith, brings all other blessings in its train.
It is given according to the riches of the grace of Christ, and He is ready to
supply every soul according to the capacity to receive.
The impartation of the Spirit is the impartation of the life of Christ. Those
only who are thus taught of God, those only who possess the inward working
of the Spirit, and in whose life the Christ-life is manifested, can stand as true
representatives of the Saviour....
Christ promised that the Holy Spirit should abide with those who wrestle
for victory over sin, to demonstrate the power of divine might by endowing
the human agent with supernatural strength and instructing the ignorant in
the mysteries of the kingdom of God....
When one is fully emptied of self, when every false god is cast out of the
soul, the vacuum is filled by the inflowing of the Spirit of Christ. Such a one
has the faith that purifies the soul from defilement. He is conformed to the
Spirit, and he minds the things of the Spirit. He has no confidence in self.
Christ is all and in all.
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