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Sketches from the Life of Paul
a blessing to the world. “The entrance of Thy words giveth light; it
giveth understanding unto the simple.”
A mere intellectual knowledge of religious truth is not enough.
There are today many as ignorant as those men of Ephesus of the Holy
Spirit’s work upon the heart. Yet no truth is more clearly taught in
the word of God. Prophets and apostles have dwelt upon this theme.
Christ himself calls our attention to the growth of the vegetable world
to illustrate the agency of his Spirit in sustaining religious life.
The juices of the vine, ascending from the root, are diffused to
the branches sustaining growth, and producing blossoms and fruit.
So the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit, proceeding from Christ,
and imparted to every disciple, pervades the soul, renews the motives
and affections, and even the most secret thoughts, and brings forth the
precious fruit of holy deeds. The life attests the union with the true
and living Vine.
The Author of this spiritual life is unseen, and the precise method
by which it is imparted and sustained is beyond the power of human
philosophy to explain. It is the mystery of godliness. Yet the operations
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of the Spirit are always in harmony with the written word. As in the
natural, so in the spiritual world. Human life is preserved, moment by
moment, by divine power; yet it is not sustained by a direct miracle,
but through the use of blessings placed within our reach. So the life of
the Christian is sustained by the use of those means which Providence
has supplied. He must eat of the bread of life, and drink of the waters
of salvation. He must watch, he must pray, he must work, in all things
giving heed to the instructions of the word of God, if he would “grow
up to the full measure of the stature of a man in Christ Jesus.”
There is still another lesson for us in the experience of those Jew-
ish converts. When they received baptism at the hand of John, they
were holding serious errors. But with clearer light they gladly ac-
cepted Christ as their Redeemer; and with this advance step came a
change in their obligations. As they received a purer faith, there was
a corresponding change in their life and character. In token of this
change, and as an acknowledgment of their faith in Christ, they were
rebaptized, in the name of Jesus.
Many a sincere follower of Christ has had a similar experience. A
clearer understanding of God’s will, places man in a new relation to
him. New duties are revealed. Much which before appeared innocent,