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The Holy Spirit, Christ’s Special Gift, April 28
But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
Therefore it is said, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”
Ephesians 4:7, 8
, R.S.V.
Jesus the Son of God humbled Himself for us, endured temptation for us,
overcame in our behalf, to show us how we may overcome....
The Holy Spirit was promised to be with those who were wrestling for victory,
in demonstration of all mightiness, endowing the human agent with supernatural
powers, and instructing the ignorant in the mysteries of the kingdom of God. That
the Holy Spirit is to be the grand helper is a wonderful promise....
The imparted Holy Spirit enabled His disciples, the apostles, to stand firmly
against every species of idolatry and to exalt the Lord and Him alone. Who,
but Jesus Christ by His Spirit and divine power, guided the pens of the sacred
historians that to the world might be presented the precious record of the sayings
and work of Jesus Christ?
The promised Holy Spirit, that He would send after He ascended to His Father,
is constantly at work to draw the attention to the great official sacrifice upon the
cross of Calvary, and to unfold to the world the love of God to man, and to open to
the convicted soul the precious things in the Scriptures, and to open to darkened
minds the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness, the truths that make their
hearts burn within them with the awakened intelligence of the truths of eternity.
Who but the Holy Spirit presents before the mind the moral standard of righ-
teousness and convinces of sin, and produces godly sorrow which worketh repen-
tance that needeth not to be repented of, and inspires the exercise of faith in Him
who alone can save from all sin? ...
The life of Christ is to be carefully meditated upon, and to be constantly
studied with a desire to understand the reason why He had to come at all. We
can only form our conclusions by searching the Scriptures as Christ has enjoined
upon us to do, for He says, “They testify of me.” We may find by searching the
Word the virtues of obedience in contrast with the sinfulness of disobedience. “As
by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one
shall many be made righteous.”
The garden of Eden, with its foul blot of disobedience, is to be carefully studied
and compared with the garden of Gethsemane, where the world’s Redeemer
suffered superhuman agony when the sins of the whole world were rolled upon
Him.—
Manuscript 1, 1892
.
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