Chapter 188—Christ’s Representative
Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.
Matthew
28:20
.
When Christ ascended to the Father, He did not leave His followers
without help. The Holy Spirit, as His representative, and the heavenly angels,
as ministering spirits, are sent forth to aid those who against great odds are
fighting the good fight of faith. Ever remember that Jesus is your helper. No
one understands as well as He your peculiarities of character. He is watching
over you, and if you are willing to be guided by Him, He will throw around
you influences for good that will enable you to accomplish all His will for
you.
The Christian life is a warfare. But “we wrestle not against flesh
and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of
the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places”
(
Ephesians 6:12
). In this conflict of righteousness against unrighteousness
we can be successful only by divine aid. Our finite will must be brought into
submission to the will of the Infinite; the human will must be blended with
the divine. This will bring the Holy Spirit to our aid....
The Lord Jesus acts through the Holy Spirit; for it is His representative.
Through it He infuses spiritual life into the soul, quickening its energies
for good, cleansing it from moral defilement, and giving it a fitness for His
kingdom. Jesus has large blessings to bestow, rich gifts to distribute among
men. He is the wonderful Counselor, infinite in wisdom and strength; and
if we will acknowledge the power of His Spirit, and submit to be molded
by it, we shall stand complete in Him. What a thought is this! In Christ
“dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him”
(
Colossians 2:9, 10
). Never will the human heart know happiness until it
is submitted to be molded by the Spirit of God. The Spirit conforms the
renewed soul to the model, Jesus Christ. Through the influence of the Spirit,
enmity against God is changed into faith and love, and pride into humility.
The soul perceives the beauty of truth, and Christ is honored in excellence
and perfection of character. As these changes are effected, angels break out
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