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The Desire of Ages
the value of the scriptures Christ presented. Many of His lessons
seemed almost lost upon them. Jesus saw that they did not lay hold of
the real meaning of His words. He compassionately promised that the
Holy Spirit should recall these sayings to their minds. And He had left
unsaid many things that could not be comprehended by the disciples.
These also would be opened to them by the Spirit. The Spirit was to
quicken their understanding, that they might have an appreciation of
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heavenly things. “When He, the Spirit of truth, is come,” said Jesus,
“He will guide you into all truth.”
The Comforter is called “the Spirit of truth.” His work is to define
and maintain the truth. He first dwells in the heart as the Spirit of
truth, and thus He becomes the Comforter. There is comfort and peace
in the truth, but no real peace or comfort can be found in falsehood.
It is through false theories and traditions that Satan gains his power
over the mind. By directing men to false standards, he misshapes the
character. Through the Scriptures the Holy Spirit speaks to the mind,
and impresses truth upon the heart. Thus He exposes error, and expels
it from the soul. It is by the Spirit of truth, working through the word
of God, that Christ subdues His chosen people to Himself.
In describing to His disciples the office work of the Holy Spirit,
Jesus sought to inspire them with the joy and hope that inspired His
own heart. He rejoiced because of the abundant help He had provided
for His church. The Holy Spirit was the highest of all gifts that He
could solicit from His Father for the exaltation of His people. The
Spirit was to be given as a regenerating agent, and without this the
sacrifice of Christ would have been of no avail. The power of evil had
been strengthening for centuries, and the submission of men to this
satanic captivity was amazing. Sin could be resisted and overcome
only through the mighty agency of the Third Person of the Godhead,
who would come with no modified energy, but in the fullness of divine
power. It is the Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought
out by the world’s Redeemer. It is by the Spirit that the heart is made
pure. Through the Spirit the believer becomes a partaker of the divine
nature. Christ has given His Spirit as a divine power to overcome all
hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to impress His own
character upon His church.
Of the Spirit Jesus said, “He shall glorify Me.” The Saviour came
to glorify the Father by the demonstration of His love; so the Spirit