River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1913-04-24

IMM9 4gzEZsxsgs 80 thing to be dis
ciple, and another
thing to receive the Holy Ghost"
This brings up the whole question as
to the relation of the Holy Spirit to
the disciple. or the believer in
Christ.
|. The personality of the Holy
Spirit. We should keep in mind that
the Holy Spirit is divine person.
Personality consists in self-conscious-
ness and free will, and that the Holy
Spirit possesses personality in this
sense is evident from three things:
"a He has the attributes Of person
atty; (b) He does the works of per-
sonality; tc) He has the names Of
q personality. Speaking of his at
tributes, there is one which, more
than any other. helps to realization
of his personality. His attribute of
love, which is referred to only in
Romans 1880. DO you know that the
Holy Spirit loves you, as believer in
Christ, with a love in some sense dis
tinct from that either of the Father
or the Son? How marvelously near
that brings him to our hearts! The
Fathers love manifested itself in the
giving Of his Son; the Sons love in
the offering of himself upon the cross,
and the Holy Spirits love in taking up
his abode in US
2. The indWelling of tho Holy Spirit
This brings US to the second thought,
viz, tho indWelling IF the Holy Spirit
That indWelIing was promised in John
14:16-17. He had dwelt with" the dis.
ciples therefore, but he was to dwell
in them" by and by. He had been
as a power acting on them from with
out, but thereafter he was to infiu
ence them from within. The prom
ise was renewed again in Acts
1:4-5, where the indWelling was
spoken cS as the baptism" of the
Holy Spirit. The realization came on
the day Of Pentecost, when the dis.
ciplcs were indWelt, baptized and in.
filed with the Holy Spirit at one and
the same time.
his transaction, however, as fer
as the first two terms are concern
ed, was not limited to the church as.
y,
the whole church since. Such woulh
seem to be suggested by |. Corin-
thians, 12:12-14, where 20 years after
Pentecost we are taught that as be-
levers we were all baptized by one
Spirit into one body" What body"
is means if not the body of Christ. the
church? And what baptism if not
that "one baptism" on the day of Pen
tecost? Is it not in consideration of
this fast that Paul is able to say to
this same church, in another place,
What? Know We not that your bod
les are the temples of the Holy
Ghost?"
3. The filing OF the Holy Spirit.
But while the first two terms of that
transaction on the day of Pentecost,
the indwelling and the baptism (Which
are one) were for the whole church
potentially, and for all time, yet the
same does not apply to the third, the
filling of the Holy Spirit There is
but one indwelling. but man, filings.
We gather this from Acts 5:31, where
the same persons who were filled"
on the day of Pentecost were re-
filed on a subsequent occasion. And
Again, in Acts 6, when men are to
be chosen to the office of deacon it
must be by those who are full Of
the Holy Spirit" as if some were thus
spiritually equipped while others were
not. 1t is something corresponding
to this. therefore, which Paul has in
mind in our text, when he said: Have
ye received the Holy Ghost since We
believed? The reception of the Holy
Ghost on their part resulted in an en-
duement of power, but in other places
of the Acts, notably the fourth chap
ter, it is seen to have resulted not
only in the spirit of power. but of
unity and love. 1t is his that we min
listers, evangelists and Christian work
ers need and that the whole church
needs in order to accomplish her mis-
sion for Jesus Christ on earth.
How may the filings OF the Holy
Spirit be received by the believer on
the Lord Jesus Christ? Prayer. ODE
dience and faith seem to be the only
conditions, if they may be called con-
ditions. Speaking of faith. there is a
sense in which the gift of the HOLY
Spirit. i. e., the filling Of the Holy
Spirit. should be received by as def.
rite an act on our part as that
by which we laid hold of salvation
through Jesus Christ; hut this faith
is not likely to be experienced where
obedience is not present. God giyeth
tie Holy Ghost to them that obey
him" Pier says (Acts W. and this
agrees perfectly with the teaching of
the Old Testament in Proverbs l.:
Turn We at my reproof, behold, will
pour out my spirit unto you" Nor is
this obedience merely occasional with
some great thing but it is 10 be usual
and common in the little things. The
Christian whose habit it is to please
God after the examples of his we'll
beloved Son, is one to whom the HOLY
Spirit is not given by measure. Nav
God in his grace teach rs this les
son.