God’s Desire To Be With Man

     In every period of his existence man has had the opportunity to experience the very presence of God. Endnote From Adam till now this potential was available, and is now a principal feature of the Kingdom of Christ. Endnote

      In Eden this privilege was direct and personal. Adam and Eve walked and talked with God. (The song, “And he walks with me and he talks with me, and he tells me I am his own” is rejected by many song leaders and congregational leaders.)

      The Patriarchs enjoyed the same privilege. We read:

Ge 5:22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: . . . Ge 5:24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

Ge 6:9 . . . Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

Ge 17:1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. . . . Ge 48:15 And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, . . .”

Note: perfect is from a Hebrew word meaning: without blemish (44 times), perfect (18), upright (8), without spot (6), uprightly (4), whole (4), sincerely (2), complete (1), full (1), misc (3; total 91). (Aren’t we urged, even commanded, to “be holy?”

God On Mount Sinai

      The Record says that “in the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai” (19:1),

“And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel” (vs 3-6).

This is not a “negotiated” agreement, such as men might make with his fellow man, but an offering that can only be accepted or rejected. There is a difference between God’s offerings and man’s negotiations.

“7 And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him. 8 And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.”

Note that God will speak to all the people.

9 ¶ And the LORD said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the LORD.

The people now prepare themselves:

10 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, 11 And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai. . . . 16 ¶ And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. 17 And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether (lowest) part of the mount. 18 And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. 19 And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. 20 And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.

We note a series of steps preparatory to the giving of the ten commandments.

21 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish. 22 And let the priests also, which come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them. 23 And Moses said unto the LORD, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it. 24 And the LORD said unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the LORD, lest he break forth upon them. 25 So Moses went down unto the people, and spake unto them.

And now we have the Record of the giving of the Commandments. But, as becomes human nature, the people did not appreciate the presence of God in his awesome power. Hebrews is later to record, “It is a fearful (terrifying, dreadful) thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (10:31)

18 ¶ And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. 19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. 20 And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. 21 And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.

At the conclusion of God giving Moses the law that he was to give to the people, God says:

Exo 23:20 ¶ Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. 21 Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him. 22 But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries. 23 For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off. 24 Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images. 25 And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee. 26 There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil. 27 I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee. 28 And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee. 29 I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee. 30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land. 31 And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee. 32 Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. 33 They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.

God further commands Moses:

Exo 24:1 ¶ And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off. 2 And Moses alone shall come near the LORD: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him. 3 And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do. 4 And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD. 6 And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient.

8 And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.

9 ¶ Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: 10 And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. 11 And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.

The Lord Is To Give The Two Tablets of Stone With The 10 Commandments:

12 ¶ And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them. 13 And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God. 14 And he said unto the elders, Tarry ye here for us, until we come again unto you: and, behold, Aaron and Hur are with you: if any man have any matters to do, let him come unto them. 15 And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount. 16 And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17 And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel. 18 And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.

Meeting God In Worship And Sacrifice

      God continues to give Moses the Law that will govern the Israelites for the next 1500 years. He wants the people to obey Him, and he wants them to honor and serve him, and he wants them to know that He is among them. During these days man was assured of the presence of God in sacrifice. Under the Mosaical system there were more visible and demonstrative evidences of his presence than were seen during the Patriarchal age. In this Period God came nearer to man; for he then talked with Moses “face to face,” and through him gave the Israelites His guidance and His protection.

Exo 24:12 And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them. . . . Exo 25:22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.

Exo 29:42 This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD: where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee. 43 And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory. 44 And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to me in the priest’s office. And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God.

      Still, the relationship that man enjoyed with the Creator under these developments did not reach, in nearness and fullness, that of man’s original state, nor that which God has now planned for his people under Christ. This resulted from the simple fact that the system of redemption and reconciliation which God had instituted was but partially developed. When this system reaches its stage of perfect development, then the primitive and perfect relation of man to God and God to man will be attained.

      When Miriam and Aaron rebelled against Moses because of the Cushite (Ethiopian) woman he had married, God rebuked them severely with these words,

“Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house: with him will I speak mouth to mouth (face to face), even apparently (openly, clearly, plainly), and not in dark speeches (sayings, riddles); and the similitude (form) of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” (Num 12:1-8).

Reconciliation

      The essential feature of a perfectly developed Reconciliation System consists of two prominent features: (1) the forgiveness of sins that had separated man from God (Psa 5:4,5; Isa 59:1,2; Hab 1:13; etc.),

“For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: Evil shall not sojourn (dwell) with thee. The arrogant shall not stand in thy sight: Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou wilt destroy them that speak lies: Jehovah abhorreth the blood-thirsty and deceitful man” (Psa 5:4-6).

“Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things. No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments and speak lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil” (Isa 59:1-4).

“How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, "Violence!" but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted. . . . Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?” (Hab 1:1-13),

and,

(2) the personal presence of God in the person of His Holy Spirit that gives life. (Consider all statements concerning the source of life and eternal life.)

      Stated in other words, sin was the cause of the rupture of man’s original fellowship with God, and when the penalty for sin is removed, the primitive relationship is restored. Christ on the cross made Reconciliation to God possible, therefore Christ became the essential (perfect and full) propitiation (atonement) to accomplish God’s plan of redemption. Paul says:

Rom 3:25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation (an appeasing) through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

1Jo 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

1Jo 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Paul references his work as a “ministry of reconciliation:”

2Co 5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; . . . 2Co 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. . . . Col 1:21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled,

Perfect Reconciliation restores to man his natural and primitive relation in Eden, where he enjoyed the personal presence and direct communion of God. (Spiritual life and relationship is not “special” but only natural. Man was created in the image of God, and after his likeness.)

Saved By His “Life”

Rom 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

      All intelligently competent mankind understands that when a child is safely born, he is now alive. Endnote But, unless he is preserved and nourished he will surely soon die. We understand this as a basic truism. Does a sinner who comes to a knowledge of the truth, believes that Jesus is the answer for sin, is born of the water, need also to be “born of the spirit?” Does the Savior bring us into spiritual life from spiritual death, and leave us to die again? Not likely! Endnote

The Kingdom of Christ

      The Lord God Almighty has no afterthoughts. He planned the end from the very beginning. “Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world” (Act 15:18). The announcement of a plan of reconciliation was made in the very condemnation experience of Adam and Eve in the garden.(Gen. 3:15.) The prophets referred to God’s intentions repeatedly as the plan unfolded. Jeremiah stated it specifically in Chapters 30 and 31.

Jer 31:31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: 33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

      The Jewish system was beginning to end with the mission of John the Baptist (Immerser, baptizer).

Mat 3:1 ¶ In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, 2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. . . . 11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit, and with fire: 12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Mar 1:1 ¶ The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; 2 As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. . . . 7 And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. 8 I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Luk 1:15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. 17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

John 1:6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. . . . 15 ¶ John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. 16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. 18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. 19 ¶ And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? 20 And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. 21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. 22 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? 23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.

      His preparatory work ended with his imprisonment. But as many who repented of their sins and became faithful as required by the Law of Moses regained once again the privilege of the blessings offered in the worship and sacrifice of the Jewish system.

The Work Of Jesus Under The Law

      The main task of preparing a people for the coming Kingdom began when Christ began to preach in Judea; for, from that time faith in Him unto salvation was preached in his name. “Except ye believe that I am he,” he told the Pharisees, “ye shall die in your sins” (John 8:24).

      And while Jesus was on earth, those who received him as the Christ enjoyed in and through him the personal presence and communion of God. He told the questioning Philip, “Have I been so long time with you, and dost thou not know me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; how sayest thou, Show us the Father? (John 14:9).

      When he ascended to heaven, he provided that his disciples should not be left in the world as “orphans,” with no divine power to protect them, and no divine presence to comfort them. Their Eden relation was restored so far as it regarded the remission of sins, but not as it regarded death. In heaven the last barrier is destroyed, and man is then, as regards both body and spirit, in union and communion again with God, such as he enjoyed in Eden. As regards man's spiritual relation with God, Eden is restored by the “gift of the Holy Spirit” (Act 2:38); but as regards both his spiritual and bodily relations, the fullness and perfection of Eden are realized only in Everlasting Life. “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1CO 15:21,22).

Before The Cross

      On the last evening that our Lord spent with his disciples before he suffered, he spoke plainly to them of his departure. When he told them that he must leave them, no doubt a deep sadness settled in their hearts. The future no doubt looked grim; hopes and expectations were crushed. Would the thought that the many months of following Him now going to waste? Did the thought cross their minds that maybe, just maybe, they would like to go back to where they were before Jesus called them? Such as the children of Israel experienced when they faced the harsh realities of the wilderness?

      Probably, Jesus knew their hearts all too well. “Let not your hearts be troubled,” he said. “You believe in God, believe also in me." Little doubt but that their heavy hearts were lifted. “I will not leave you orphans — I will pray the Father, and he will send you another comforter, and he shall abide with you forever."

      The gift of inspiration (John 14:26) must not be confused with the gift of the Holy Spirit Himself to the redeemed ones; which regrettably is frequently done, often innocently, but suspiciously deliberately, when it seems to serve the speaker or writer’s purposes. Inspiration was essential until the written Word was completed, therefore temporary; possessing the Holy Spirit is essential for continued salvation until the end of time, therefore unending.

      The language of the two promises would seem to be plain. To the apostles Jesus says,

“But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: (15:26) . . . 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. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you” (16:7:15).

      On the day of Pentecost, when Peter and the others of the apostles received the answer to Jesus’ prayer, this promise was fulfilled. The Comforter, the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, came to the disciples on that day – as recorded in Acts 2. The Holy Spirit was with them in Christ's stead – the presence and communion of Jesus preserved and continued. Endnote Peter explained the miraculous events of that day as the fulfillment of the promise of Christ and also as the fulfillment of the promise of God by the Prophet Joel (2:28-32). These promises had special reference to the Spirit's work of inspiration. There was no other work contemplated in the promise made by Joel. It had sole reference to the work of inspiration, as is evident from the language of the prophecy.

The Promise To The Redeemed

      George Whitefield was an 18th century religious leader in England. He states correctly (by my judgment) “Nothing has rendered the cross of Christ of less effect; nothing has been a greater stumbling-block and rock of offense to weak minds, that a supposition, now current among us, that most of what is contained in the gospel of Jesus Christ, was designed only for our Lord's first and immediate followers.” The implication is obviously, “but not for us today!”

     Robert Richardson was a son-in-law of Alexander Campbell, and a Restoration Period scholar of excellent reputation. He states: “THERE is no subject more important in religion than that of the Holy Spirit. (Rom 8:9.) Unless this be properly understood, a large portion of the Bible, and especially of the New Covenant, must remain unintelligible. On the other hand, an accurate view of it will do more than a knowledge of most any other particular topic to give harmony, clearness, and consistency to what may be learned of many other matters presented in the Word of God. That Word has been itself dictated by the Spirit, and the better our knowledge of the Author, the more correct will be our comprehension of the entire volume.”

      With both of these statements we must concur.

      The promise of the “gift of the Holy Spirit,” which Peter makes in his discourse on that day (v.38), had been made by God at various times through various prophets, especially through those we refer to as the “major prophets.” These promises contemplated the gift of the Holy Spirit as a person. It was not a gift which the Spirit would bestow, but the gift of the Divine Person known as the Holy Spirit.

      If it were the gifts from the Spirit that were promised by the Father through Christ, and not the Holy Spirit himself, then it must follow that no one has ever enjoyed the promise made by Peter, who has not been, or is not inspired. And since the gifts of inspiration have obviously long since disappeared from the saints, what becomes of the promise of Christ that the Spirit should abide with his disciples forever? If the work of the Spirit was all that was contemplated as the gift of the Spirit, then there is no personal relation existing between the obedient believer and the Holy Spirit today. But if the gift is the Spirit Himself in person, then we enjoy both his presence and his work. There can be no doubt that the gift of the Holy Spirit in person exhausts the promises of Christ and of Peter, that to every obedient believer the Holy Spirit becomes personally related; that the promise designed that the Holy Spirit in person should continue to abide forever with the redeemed.

      The work of conversion and instruction he accomplishes through men; at the first by inspired men, and since then by men spreading the truth uttered by them; and the preservation of the disciples from evil, he effects by his providences, as God has always done. When he ceased to inspire men, the canon of Scripture was closed; the whole mind of God concerning man's condition and salvation was declared; and that which inspired men have left on record, is all the means that men have now of knowing the will of God — the only means of conversion and instruction in righteousness.

      The apostle Peter writes: “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2Pe 1:19-21).

      If men are not now converted to God, and instructed in all things that pertain to life and godliness by the inspired word of God — by the word of truth — then there are no means for man's conversion and instruction. The means by which men are enlightened, and their hearts influenced to turn to God, is the word of truth which inspired men have spoken and written, and this word alone. All the moral changes effected in man's character — all the generous impulses which he may feel urging him to works of piety and humanity — all the aspirations his soul may cherish for things heavenly and divine — all the ardent and holy zeal he may feel in the cause of Christ, everything pertaining to the Christian character, all the fruits of the Spirit, have for their immediate cause the word of truth. All these are effected by the inspired truth, and by this alone. It is the only power God has ordained for the moral renovation of man. It is in this, and only this, that we have the mind and will of God expressed, and consequently it is only through this expression that his mind and will can be known. This is true, whether he speaks in reference to his conversion or his "instruction in righteousness." It is only through this word that his infinite love and mercy are known, those mighty powers which turn the soul away from sin, and bring it back to God; only here that we can know that this love and mercy speak to us in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Spirit Given ONLY To Baptized Believers

      It must be remembered that the promise of the “gift of the Holy Spirit” is made to those “pricked in their hearts” by the knowledge of sin, and subsequently immersed into Christ for the remission thereof, who receive this precious gift. We may say, to the already converted — and not to the recalcitrant who may well be “almost persuaded.” The gift can have no reference, therefore, to their conversion, but may certainly have to their future instruction in righteousness."

      Jesus told his select eleven (now minus Judas) that the promised Spirit would guide them into all truth. (John 15:13). This special promise applied alone to the apostles. Paul states to the Corinthians,

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we (i.e., the apostles) might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we (again, the apostles) speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Spirit teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (1Co 2:12,13).

      The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, says:

"For this cause, I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, which is given me for you, how that by revelation he made known to me the mystery, as 1 wrote before in a few words, whereby, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it is now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit" (Eph 3:3,4).

But in a general sense the Holy Spirit guides all of his people into the truth. This is not done by inspiration, as in the case of the apostles, but by the word the inspired men have spoken or written. If the Christian cannot learn the mind of God as regards his duties and obligations as a Christian from the inspired word, he cannot know it at all. The disciple of Christ, then, of necessity, must derive all his knowledge of "all things that pertain to life and godliness" from the written word. This, of course, speaks of the necessity of study, to show oneself approved of God.

      And as to the power of this word thus spoken or written to accomplish for man all that God desires, the same apostle leaves us no room to doubt: he declares, as an inspired man that

"all Scripture given by inspiration of God is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished for all good work" (2Ti 3:15).

The power of the written word — the mind of God expressed in human language — to instruct the mind and comfort the heart, was not so lightly esteemed by Christ and his apostles as by modern theologians. Hear them: "The words that I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life:" "If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love:" " These I have spoken that your joy may be full:" "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you may ask what you will, and it shall be done to you:" "For, whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning, that we, through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope."

      In that Word the inspired writers have expressed all that God had to communicate to men; presented all the motives which infinite wisdom could suggest capable of properly and effectually influencing the heart. It – the Word – has fully exposed to view every terror and threatening that can spur the conscience onward to a life of righteousness, piety, and holiness. In that Word, heaven stands exalted with every power, influence, motive, and consideration by which men may be won away from sin, and brought back through Christ to the full enjoyment of the favor and communion of God.

      In view of what has been said about the Word, the question may be asked, for what, then, is the purpose of the Holy Spirit to indwell the disciples? What more is there for him to do, that the Word can not do? If the conversion of sinners, and the instruction in righteousness of the saints, are accomplished through the inspired word, what need was there for the Spirit after the whole counsel of God was declared? What more has he to do than he did by the apostles? An answer to these questions will be found in the important and necessary work which the condition of man in this world requires of God. Apparently there are some things that the Creator and Savior of man understands can not be effected through the agency of the inspired word alone. And so, the all knowing and all loving God has made provision for all the wants and needs of man, which are not met by the inspired word, to be met by other means. And, these means are as thoroughly adapted to the accomplishment of their special tasks as the inspired Word is to conversion and instruction in righteousness. As the needs to be realized are distinct, so are the means, and as the needs do not conflict, neither do the means! The needs are so distinct and dissimilar, that the means by which the one class is realized, will utterly fail if applied to the accomplishment of the other. The Holy Spirit did not cure the physically afflicted by preaching "Christ and him crucified;" but he saved the soul from sin by this means; nor did he enlighten the mind, and awaken the conscience, and cultivate the heart by the exertion of his physical power. The inspired Word influences the mind and will. The indwelling Spirit is the power needed to produce the “fruit of the spirit” (Gal. 5:22,23; Eph. 5:9; etc.)must be exercised to work a miracle.

      The providential work of the Spirit Endnote embraces the care of all the interests of Christ's cause on earth. Wherever these interests call him, there is the Spirit found, laboring for Christ. He influences not for himself; all he does is for the honor and glory of Christ. Sometimes he labors for the conversion of men, by pricking the hearts of disciples to “go everywhere preaching the Word.” Sometimes he goads disciples to seek for deeper and richer instruction. And yes, the Spirit helps God’s children by aiding their preservation from evil. The Spirit helps we easily-tempted ones to “avoid the very appearance of evil” (1Th 5:22), and “put (ye) on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Rom 13:14). Not the least is that “we provoke one another to love and good works” (Heb 10:24) and “do all things unto edification” (1Co 14:26) and “let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification” (Rom 15:2).

 

 

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