The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-02-15

but if 1 depart 1 will send Him unto
you And in the 18th verse: .'Howbeir
when He. the Spirit Of Truth, is come
lie Will guide you unto all truth"
For the purpose of this paper these
Quotations from Christ show two things
Ihat the advent of the Holy Spirit had
not taken place before Christ's time. and
tnat He did not come until Christ wen;
10 His Father He did not come there
fore, until after Christ assembled
Let US now proceed to determine the
definite time of the beginning of the spe-
cal permanent ministry of the Spirit.
just before Christ's ascension He said.
as recorded by Luke: And behold I
send the promise OF my Father upon
you; but tarry ye in the city of Jerusa
lem, until We be endued with power from
on hlgh The following last four verses
or Luke's gospel tell us that He led
them out as far as Bethany, and He lift
ed up His hands and blessed them And
1t came to pass while He blessed them,
He was parted from them and carried up
INTO heaven and they worshiped Him ana
returned to Jerusalem with great Joy:
and were continually in the temple prais-
Ing and blessing Cod
Why this great joy when their great
Ieacher, to whom they We're attached
as none We're ever attached to n teacher
pefore. had just left them? They now
| understood and believed His promise
that He would send them the Holy Spir-
hty HOH DtHeVed tndt tneV should
receive power to carry out the great
commission to 'go into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature
iThey understood thai that power would
come upon them after they would receive
| the Holy Spirit For Luke in Acts IS
quotes Christ as saying, just before His
ascension: But We shall receive power,
after that the Holy Ghost is come upon
you"
They tarried in Jerusalem as command
ed, with one accord in prayer and sup
piication.' They had not been told the
time nor the manner of the coming of
the Holy Spirit upon them. But they
| had to tarry only 10 days; for when
the day of Pentecost was fully come,
they were all with one accord in one
place. And suddenly there came a sound
from heaven as of rushing, mighty
wind, and it filled all the house where
they were sitting. And there appeared
unto them cloven tongues like as of fire.
and 1t sat upon each Of them And they
We're all filled with the Holy Ghost"
and began to speak with other tongues,
as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts
21-40 Thus the Holy Spirit makes His
advent just as magnificently and mracu-
iously as did our Savior.
That this was the permanent gift of
the Holy Spirit to minister until the COM
/ ing again of Christ, a gift not to be
taken away but to abide with the church
until the evangelization of the whole
! "OIlu. II SllONH by s words lG-
corded by Luke, Acts Is: "Ye shall re-
ceive power. after that the Holy Ghost
/ is come upon you: and We shall be wit
nesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in
all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the
uttermoSt parts of the earth.' This is
| therefore, different from any mission or
work of the Holy Spirit in Old Testament
times We do not wonder that Augustine
calls Pentecost the birthday of the
Spirit" And he further says: There
fore. the Holy Ghost this day-Pen.e-
cost-deScended into the temple of HIS
Himself. a shower of sanctification,
appearing no more as transient visitor,
but as a perpetual Comforter and as an
eternal inhabitant." !
We need not ask, therefore, that the
Holy Spirit come today, but most ear
nestly should we pray instead that we
may place ourselves fully under His
mighty power to be used of Him; pray
that we may be emptied of self that we
may be filled with the blessed Holy
Spirit.
CONDITIONS OF THE GIFT.
"And now. as briefly as possible, what
are the conditions upon which the indi-
vidual may receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit? Is there a definite time at which
the Holy Spirit takes up his abode in the
Individual? Or is it a matter of uncer-
tainty? If there are conditions, are these
conditions made plain?
Peter says in Acts 5:32: And We are
witnesses of these things: and so is also
the Holy Ghost whom God hath given
to them that obey Him" On what au-
thority did Peter assert this? Jesus had
taught him that fact. He said: IF We
love me keep my commandments. And
will pray the Father. and He shall give !
you another Comforter And when one !
of the disciples wondered how Christ |
would manifest Himself unto them and |
not unto the world, He replied: IF Il |
man love me. he will keep my words; !
and my Father will love him. and We |
will come unto Him and make our abode |
with Him. He that loveth me not keep |
eth not my sayings.
From this teaching of Christ Peter /
learned that obedience resulting from !
sincere love was a necessary qualification /
to the reception of the Holy Spirit. But |
this is natural, for God has always hon /
ored the obedient and dishonored the dis 4
obedient, for disobedience is rebellion. /
and God cannot brook rebellion nor bless [
the rebellious. So Gods whole scheme
of redemption is planned with the object
in view of overcoming rebellion in order
that His great heart may pour out bless
ings. The blessing of the Holy Spirit.
therefore. cannot be given save To those
who obey, as Peter informs us. But who
and what must be obeyed?
OBEY THE COMMANDMENTS
At the TRANSPORTATION the voice out of
the cloud said: This is my beloved Son,
in whom 1 am well pleased; hear ye
Him. Christ, then, is our authority In
that ever glorious and precious discourse
of comfort and assurance the night be- /,
fore His crucifixion, He repeatedly as
serts the necessity of obeying His COM
mandments and keeping His words. Con
spicuously John 1i:15; q, %. "a; 10 lO.
And in giving the commission He told
His disciples that all authority had been
given unto Him.
So there is no question to whom we
are TO yield obedience. But obedience ,
implies law as well as a lawgiver, and F,
definite clear law at that; law that is
NOT ambiguous; for law that can be read
ana fairly understood from its construc-
lion. in more senses than one, is invalid
and becomes imperative.
II is logical. therefore, to assume mat
Christ gave a definite statement OF the