Gift of the Spirit
33
Holy Spirit that, in His work of guiding men into all truth, “He shall
not speak of Himself.”
John 15:26
;
16:13
.
[52]
The nature of the Holy Spirit is a mystery. Men cannot explain
it, because the Lord has not revealed it to them. Men having fanciful
views may bring together passages of Scripture and put a human con-
struction on them, but the acceptance of these views will not strengthen
the church. Regarding such mysteries, which are too deep for human
understanding, silence is golden.
The office of the Holy Spirit is distinctly specified in the words of
Christ: “When He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of
righteousness, and of judgment.”
John 16:8
. It is the Holy Spirit that
convicts of sin. If the sinner responds to the quickening influence of the
Spirit, he will be brought to repentance and aroused to the importance
of obeying the divine requirements.
To the repentant sinner, hungering and thirsting for righteousness,
the Holy Spirit reveals the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of
the world. “He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you,”
Christ said. “He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your
remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”
John 16:14
;
14:26
.
The Spirit is given as a regenerating agency, to make effectual
the salvation wrought by the death of our Redeemer. The Spirit is
constantly seeking to draw the attention of men to the great offering
that was made on the cross of Calvary, to unfold to the world the love
of God, and to open to the convicted soul the precious things of the
Scriptures.
Having brought conviction of sin, and presented before the mind
the standard of righteousness, the Holy Spirit withdraws the affections
[53]
from the things of this earth and fills the soul with a desire for holiness.
“He will guide you into all truth” (
John 16:13
), the Saviour declared.
If men are willing to be molded, there will be brought about a sanctifi-
cation of the whole being. The Spirit will take the things of God and
stamp them on the soul. By His power the way of life will be made so
plain that none need err therein.
From the beginning, God has been working by His Holy Spirit
through human instrumentalities for the accomplishment of His pur-
pose in behalf of the fallen race. This was manifest in the lives of the
patriarchs. To the church in the wilderness also, in the time of Moses,
God gave His “good Spirit to instruct them.”
Nehemiah 9:20
. And in