THE HOLY SPIRIT
and other spirits 

PART I.—THE HOLY SPIRIT

Benefits of the Holy Spirit

  While the Holy Spirit is omnipresent and fills all space, we may each enjoy all His fullness; and while His universal work is so great, His personal and practical benefits to each individual in whom He dwells are many. He is the third person in the Trinity, and a part of the universal God; He leads and guides each and every Christian and dwells in the heart of every sanctified man and woman.

  In former chapters we have considered the Holy Spirit mostly in a general way, but we will now turn our attention, for a short time, to some of His practical and personal benefits. Among the many other things the Holy Spirit blesses us with is:

  POWER. "Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means hurt you." Luke 10:19. "Power over all the power of the enemy." How much more could we need or ask? When Jesus ascended on high and left His disciples to contend with the powers of darkness and sin He did not leave them comfortless and powerless; "but," says He, "ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Acts 1:8. How often in daily life do we need the power of the Holy Spirit to sustain us and strengthen us in being a witness for Jesus! Dear reader, do you feel the need of more power with God? If so, you can obtain it only by the help of the Holy Spirit. He it is who strengthens us in the hour of temptation and trial. "He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength." Isa. 40:29. Through His gracious assistance the weak can say, "I am strong"; and the weary traveler can mount up with wings as an eagle.

  BOLDNESS. "The wicked flee when no man pursueth; but the righteous are bold as a lion." Prov. 28:1. The righteous are bold because they have nothing to make them afraid, and nothing of which to be ashamed. To do right is commendable, and to follow Jesus is honorable; but sometimes Satan would try to intimidate us and keep us from doing our duty. It means much to be bold enough to acknowledge Jesus under all circumstances. [93] It is easy enough to own Him when circumstances are favorable; but it takes boldness to do so when we know it will bring censure. Many who profess to know Jesus would be ashamed to mention His goodness to the unsaved, except in a religious meeting, and some would blush to do so even then.

"Ashamed of Jesus! sooner far,
Let evening blush to own a star;
He shed the beams of light divine,
O'er this once darkened soul of mine.

"Ashamed of Jesus! just as soon,
Let midnight be ashamed of noon;
'Twas midnight with my soul till He—
Bright morning star, bid darkness flee."

  I know no better example of the boldness imparted at the reception of the Holy Spirit than that manifest in the case of Peter. Before the day of Pentecost, when he had not as yet received the Holy Spirit, Jesus told him that he would soon deny Him; but Peter, thinking himself able to stand, asserted that he was willing to follow Jesus even to death. But after a while the test came, and when a little maid asked him if he were Jesus' disciple, he denied his Lord. This he did because he lacked the fearless fortitude with which he was afterward endued. The next time we see Peter in public is at the notable scene of Pentecost. Here before devout men out of every nation under heaven, Peter proclaims Jesus to be the Son of God, and further than this, he accuses them of slaying Him by cruel and wicked hands. Mark the difference in the once timid and fearful Peter. Why is he now so bold and fearless? He has now received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which has banished his timidity and made him "bold as a lion"; he has now come in possession of perfect love which "casteth out fear."

  Mother Sarah Smith, who lives at Trombley, Ohio, in testimony of what God had done for her in giving her the Holy Spirit once said, "When God sanctified me He took all the shrink and all the fear of death and hell, men and devils, out of me. I received the boldness of a lion and the meekness of a lamb."

  WISDOM.—When we are in possession of power and boldness, to use them we need much wisdom. Many people have boldness, of a certain character, and yet lack wisdom; but when we become in possession of the Holy Spirit we have power from God, holy [94] boldness, and divine wisdom equally balanced. When the Holy Spirit comes in with power we receive the baptism of fire, which illuminates our entire spiritual being and sheds abroad the blessed light of purity. "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth." John 16:13. The Holy Spirit illuminates our minds and leads us to understand and know the truth, and in combating the spirits of the devil, He gives us wisdom and prudence, shows us when and how to deal the death blow to all ungodliness and come off more than conquerors through Christ.

  He also shows us how to escape the wiles of the wicked one, leading us to the strong fortress of the name of Jesus and stationing us behind the walls of salvation. He assists us in using the sword, which is the Word of God, in such a way as to ward off every foe. Paul calls the Word of God "the sword of the Spirit." Eph. 6:17.

  This world by wisdom cannot find out or understand God. If this had been possible surely the wisdom of the Greeks would have found Him long before the Holy Spirit revealed Him. Thank God! the least child of God in possession of the Holy Spirit can put to shame the wisdom of Plato, Demosthenes, or Cicero, in spiritual things. As it is written, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." 1 Cor. 2:9,10

  Oh, the wisdom and knowledge of God which we behold when the Holy Spirit floods our hearts and minds with His eternal fire! The wise men of this world may boast of their knowledge; and sages may climb to the heights of honor, and carve there what men call an immortal name: but "as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" and delight ourselves in the wisdom of God. Many suppose that we never know much of God in this world; but God reveals to us through His Spirit that which has never entered the heart of man; that which his eyes have never beheld, nor his ears heard. Praise God for the wisdom revealed through the Holy Spirit! Oh, how sweet it is to bask in the sunlight of the glory of God and drink from the fountain of wisdom things unheard of by natural ears!

  The wisdom imparted by the Holy Spirit is not an outward manifestation of human knowledge, but an inward illumination, revealing the deep things of God. Paul says, "And my speech [95] and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power." 1 Cor. 2:4. The Holy Spirit does not send us to some theological school to learn this wisdom, but leads us to God and His Son Jesus Christ, "in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Col. 2:3.

þ"For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth." Eph. 5:9. The fruits of the Spirit we are unable to bear without the tree upon which they grow; viz., the Holy Spirit. A man to grow apples must have an apple tree; and a man to grow peaches must of necessity have a peach tree. So with the spiritual fruits—to grow them we must have the tree on which they grow. For a man to try to produce the fruit of the Spirit would be like trying to gather grapes from a bramble bush, or figs from thistles. We are in our natural state corrupt; and "a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit" (Matt. 7:18), hence in our natural state we cannot bring forth the fruit of the Spirit, which "is in all goodness and righteousness and truth."

  Being destitute of any means whereby we might come into possession of the Spirit, God uses the grafting process, by which we are grafted into the true and fruitful vine, Jesus Christ. "I am the true vine." John 15:1. There is a peculiarity about this grafting, in which it differs from natural grafting. Paul says concerning it: "For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild (sinful) by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?" Romans 11:24.

  "Contrary to nature." To understand this we must first understand the natural law which governs grafting. In natural grafting the fruit is always according to the nature of the scion, and not according to the root or stock. In spiritual grafting we are grafted into Christ, and, "contrary to nature," we bear the fruit of the Spirit, or the fruit of the true vine, Jesus Christ. Christ says, "I am holy" (1 Pet. 1:16); and Paul says, "If the root (Christ) be holy, so are the branches (His people)." Again Christ says, "I am the root." Rev. 22:16.

  Here is formed a syllogism which proves conclusively, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that we may become holy, and be enabled to bear the fruit of the Spirit. "If the root be holy, so are the branches." Rom. 11:16. Christ the root is holy (Rev. 22:16; 1 Pet. 1:16), and men in him are the branches (John 15:6); consequently men who are in Christ are holy. [96]           

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