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Christ’s Representative, January 5
Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away:
for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I
depart, I will send him unto you.
John 16:7
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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 on His church.—
The Review and
Herald, November 19, 1908
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