Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1903-07-08
CHRISTIAN ENDEAvoR.
rspfe For the Week BEGINNING Jul
12-Comment by Rev. s. H. Doyle.

12-Comment by Rev. s. H. Doyle.
Topic--whst the Holy Spirit can do for
xne-John xvi. sis.
The Holy Spirit is the third person Of
the Trinity and as such has a distinc-
tive work to perform The Father
planned the only method Of salvation,
the Son executed il by His death upon
the cross, and it is the mission Of the
Holy Spirit to apply it. The Father is
specially manifested in the Old Tesla
ment dispeasation, the Son in the Cos
pels and from the day of Pentecost we
have been living in the dispensation Of
the Spirit. He came as a result OF
Christs going from earth. 1T is cx-
pedient that | go away; for if go not
away the Comforter will not come
unto you, but il | depart Twill send
him unto you" Christ in the flesh was
TO be replaced by Christ in the spirit
in the flesh Christ could be in but one
place at the same time, but in the
spirit He could be everywhere, per-
forming His work: hence the expe-
diency Of Christ's going away that the
Spirit might come.
Having come, what is the work of
the Spirit in applying the redemption
purchased by Christ? Several phases
Of the Spirits work in the world are
here suggested by Christ:
/. The Spirit convinces the world of
sin. And when He is come He will
convince the world of sin and OF right
eousness and Of judgment" The peo-
pie Of the world were loath TO believe
in Christ, but the Spirit would COLI
vince them of their unbelief and would
show that righteousness could be OBJ
tanned in Christ and that Christ had
Judged and condemned Satan. the
prince of this world. Conviction of
sin is the first step in the salvation of
the soul. No one will cry olt What
must | do to be saved:'' until he feels
that he is a sinner and therefore needs
salvation. This conviction is the work
of the Spirit, and then He leads to re-
pentance and faith and complete ap-
prehension of the mercy of God in
Christ This is the Spirits work for
the sinner, and if unsayed He is the
only one Who can do it for US.
2. The Spirit guides into spiritual
truth. Christ taught the disciples many
things, and yet they Were often igno-
rant and full of misunderstanding.
But after Pentecost this was not true
OF them. Their faith was strong and
their knowledge certain. because they
were guided into the truth by the
Spirit This also is a part of His word
In relation TO the Christian. When
He, the Spirit of Truth. is come He
will guide you into all truth and the
truth which He teaches is the truth as
It is in Jesus. for He shall not speak
of Himself, but whatsoever He shall
hear that shall He speak, and He shall
show you things to come" And in
John XIV, &c. Jesus says. He shall tes-
ufy of Me" The truth OF God as re-
vealed in His word is the work OF His
Spirit. Holy men spake as they were
moved by the Holy Ghost" And in
addition to that, the Holy Spirit en-
lightens the mind that it may eompre-
hend the truth as it is In Jesus In
all Bible study we should earnestly
and prayerfuIly seek the personal guild
ance Of the Spirit He wrote the Bible,
and no one like Him can help US to I'M
derstand IT,
8. The Spirit glorifes Christ. He
shall glorify Me, for He shall receive
of mine and show it unto you" The
method of gIorifcation is by the mani
festation of the truth. To one who
knows the truth Christ cannot but be
glorified.
BIBLE READINGS.
Neh tx, 30; lisa. xi. 10; Zech- Nv, 8;
John iii, 1-16; xiv, 16, II; XIV, 70, "a;
Acts ii, IA; xiii, 1-3; XIV, 1928; ROM
XIV, 10, 16; Cor. xii. Ill.