The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-09-11
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seSs3SSIw~\
a SERMON ~ GO
pY ThE REV., AxNsK
fMMhENDEeS0NW"
Subject: Receiving the Spirit.

Holy Spirit"
He said: The reception of the Holy
Spirit in the inner sanctuary OF o
human heart is the condition OF n
trance into the kingdom of God. The
possibility of the immediate and pres
ent incoming and welcoming OF the
Spirit is reason enough for us to be-
! lieYe that the kingdom begins in this
| life and at once, if you will. The fact
that the coming Of the Spirit into n
heart is contemporaneous with the
entrance of the individual into the
privileges of divine citizenship Is sui
fcient demonstration that spiritual
ity is the key to, and the essence OF,
and the first requirement OF admis-
, sion to the kingdom. The one and
only way to participate in the joys
and blessings Of the Spirit filled life
is to cease from hardness OF heart;
! and from intellectual self-gloriication
and self-trust, and to become as lit
| tie children in humility and receptive
ity to truth. Spirituality and divine
citizenship are n and the same
thing. Growth in spirituality is the
test of efficient citizenship. The man
who has stopped depending upon his
own strength, his w wisdom, and
has opened his heart and eyes and
ears and mind to the influences and
manifestations Of the Spirit in his
life Is ready to receive, and in all
conscience will get, the papers and
rights of a citizen of the kingdom OF
the God of Jesus Christ. And that
soul only Is being sanctifed unto God
likeness and fashioned into the i'm
age of Jesus Christ who is growing
daily, hourly, momently, in the
gifts and graces of the spiritual life.
To be spiritual Is to become child
like. To attain spiritual develop,
ment Is the aim and the calling Of
those who are Christ's.
The Holy Spirit, the personal, pu-
rifying, propelling presence Of God
in the life of man, is the means unto
the ~spiritualizing of human natures
according to the divine DEGREES. The
entrance of the Spirit spells death to
sin. The yielding of self to the gen.
tie ministrations of the Holy Ghost is
the first step toward individual trans
formation. The communion Of the
spirit of man with the Spirit of God
brings peace, contentment, rest and
a wisdom and energy which are more
than sufficient to meet the demands
and the opposition Of the world. No
mere impersonal, unreal, unattain-
BILE something is this Spirit which
Christ babe His disciples receive, and
of which at a later time they received
a fuller measure. It Is the real, help
full, personal presence of God in the
life. The spirit Of man is a prey to
all sin save the Spirit of God as a
constructive, controlling force comes
in. The TRANSMISSION Of the soul with
the vitality of the Spirit fills the dy-
ing heart of man with. life.
There are three characteristics Of
the Holy Spirit to which / wish to di-
rect your thought. The Holy Spirit
is a constant presence in the life of
the world, a controlling energy, a
soul satisfying comforter.
The Holy Spirit is a constant pres
ence and factor in the life Of the
world. The entire list of graces and
gifts and blessings which are ours at
the hands of our heavenly Father are
constant. The gift of the Spirit is no
exception to the rule. When God
promises tt men the presence and
uplift of the Holy Spirit upon the
fulfilment of certain conditions upon
their part He means just what He
says. Our Father is not tickle or
changeable or inconstant. He is the
same to-day. yesterday and forever.
And His Spirit, which is His W
real, personal presence in the hearts
of men, is as constant as is all else
with which He has anything to do.
When we were far away from duty
and were serving sin the Spirit Of the
living God was knocking eve at u
hearts. And though we hated our
selves and the depth of our OWL in
iquity, though the world may have
despised us and forsaken us, though
everything in life may have held us
as "unclean" with the leprosy Of sin,
still the Spirit of the living, loving
Father Of us all stood waiting to re-
veal to US the wealth and beauty OF
the love of God and to revive our
dying souls with the ~fullness of power
unto eternal life.
The constancy Of the Spirit as a
factor In life is nowhere better Illus
trated than in the experience of
Christian men who have given them
selves up. in less or greater measure,
to His dominion. What a JOY, what
a comfort, what a stay it IS to know
that whenever and w~heresoever we
may turn to the Spirit for the portion
of refreshment that our souls 81
sorely need we shall always find Him
ready to supply our wants.
There is no. sense and no reason in
much of u constant petitions to
God to infll US with His Spirit. The
influences of types of thought and of
PRAYER are hardly escapable. We
have grown so accustomed to ask
God to fill us with His Spirit Of
power. But l submit, would We not
pray better and more to the point
If we thanked our Father for the
favors Of His love and acknowledge
to Him in person, what He already
knows, our shortcomings and u
lack of appropriation Of the gift of
His Spirit. The showers of spiritual
blessings are forever falling free, full
and sufficient upon human souls
everywhere. Our prayers should be
not of petition that God may give US
showers, but rather Of thanksgiving
for past, present and future blessings
and Of dedication of self, through the
riches of His grace and powers to a
finer and more fruitful life for Him.
The presence and influence OF the
Holy Spirit in the life Of the world is
a constant gratuity. If you are not
the deeply grounded spiritual man
that you should be the fault lies not
with the Spirit, of whom there is
abundance unto all mems necessity,
but with you who have refused that
wealth of spiritual power which, un-