New York, with a bundle in her arms. She has been sent on an errand, and
wants to get across the street. But the electric cars are whizzing past
in both directions, and wagons, and carriages, and omnibuses, and horses
jam the street from curb to curb, and she cannot get across. She stands
there gripping her bundle, watching eagerly for a chance, and yet afraid
to venture. But the jam seems endless, and she grows very tired, and by
and by the corners of her mouth begin to twitch down suspiciously, and a
big tear is just starting in each eye. Just then a big policeman steps
up, one of the finest, six feet tall, and heavy and broad. He seems like
a giant to her. He stoops down. Would you imagine he had such a gentle
voice? "What's the matter?" "Can't--get--'cross." Oh! is that all; he'll
fix that. And he takes her little hand in his with a reassuring "come
along." And along she goes, past cars, under horses' heads, close up to
big wheels. She is just as small as before, and just as weak. But
though her eyes stay pretty big, the tears are gone, and there is an air
of confidence, because this big, kind-hearted giant by her side is
walking across the street as though he owned the whole place, _and he is
devoting his entire attention to her_. That policeman is a comforter in
the strict meaning of the word.
Here is a boy in school, head down close to the desk, puzzling over a
"sum." It won't "come out." He figures away, and his brow is all knitted
up, and a worried look is coming into his face for he is a conscientious
little fellow. But he cannot seem to get it right and the clouds gather
thicker. By and by the teacher comes up and sits down by his side. It
awes him a little to have her quite so close. But her kindliness of
manner mellows the awe. "How are you getting along?" "Won't come out
right"--in a very despondent tone. "Let me see, did you subtract
that...?" "Oh-h-h! I forgot that," and a little light seems to break, as
he scratches away for a few moments; then pauses. "And this figure here,
should it be...." "Oh-h-h, I see." More scratching, and a soft sigh of
relief, and the knitting brows unravel, and the face brightens. The
teacher did not do the problem for him. She did better. She let him feel
her kindly interest first of all, and gave just the light, experienced
touch that showed him the way out, and yet allowed him the peculiar
pleasure of getting through himself. _That is what "Comforter" means._
One summer a friend suggested to me spending a week on Lake Chautauqua.
I did not have the money to spare, and so told him I was not sure I
could arrange to get away. But he seemed to divine the basis of my
objection, and insisted on my going along. We went. I had very little
money with me. I got on the train without a ticket, took a seat in the
parlor car, stopped at the best hotel, had a choice room on the ground
floor, patronized the well-ordered dining-room regularly, and made free
use of the place. And all the time I had practically no money with me.
But would you believe me I was not a particle concerned about paying for
those privileges. Never felt less concern about anything in my life. You
know why. _I had a trustworthy friend, with me who was concerned for
me._
Now these are simple suggestions, illustrating _partly_ the meaning of
that marvelous name Jesus gave to the Holy Spirit. I will send another
Comforter, one who will be right by your side to help, sympathetic,
experienced, strong; and He will stay with you all the time. In the
kitchen, in the sitting-room, the sick-room, with the children, when
work piles up, when things jangle or threaten to, when the baby's cross,
and the patching and sweeping and baking, and all the rest of it seem
endless, on the street, in the office, on the campus, in the store, when
tempted--almost slipped, when opportunity opens for a quiet personal
word, everywhere, every time, in every circumstance, one alongside to
help. Is not that wonderful?
A Pictorial Illustration.
There is one bother about illustrations: they never do tell all the
truth. They never are as vivid, nor as good as the truth, that is when
you are talking about our Master, or His arrangements. The very best
illustrations of Bible truth are Bible illustrations. Now there is a
striking pictorial illustration back in the Old Testament of the meaning
of this name of the Holy Spirit. It is in the story of a most remarkable
journey from Egypt to the border line of Palestine. The journey was
remarkable for two things. First, for the sort of country it was
through. It is a trackless waste of sand, that spreads over thousands of
square miles. It was infested with venomous serpents and scorpions, and
is described as "all that great and terrible wilderness," "a waste
howling wilderness," and "a land of deserts and pits, of drought and of
the shadow of death, that none passed through, and where no man dwelt."
Think of taking a trip through a country like that! But it was even more
remarkable because of the transformation that took place in the
travelers. For a mob of four millions of people was changed into a
well-organized nation. The explanation given is fully as remarkable as
the trip, and the transformation. It must strike very strangely on the
cold, matter-of-fact ears of this materialistic world we dwell in. It is
this: that the Lord God Himself actually went with them in person, and
lived with them, and took immediate charge of everything. He had
promised Moses, their leader, that He would do this. Just how definite
or indefinite a thing that meant to Moses' mind we cannot know. But it
became very definite and tangible that memorable night of departure from
the iron furnace of Egypt. For there was a real physical evidence of His
presence. There appeared a column or pillar of fleecy-like cloud which
came down close to the ground, and which every one could plainly see. At
night time it shone and flamed as a pillar full of partly concealed
fire. God's voice spake out of it in their hearing. And that
presence-cloud never left them. In spite of complaints, and criticisms,
and rebellions of the most mean and exasperating kind, it never left
them until they had safely arrived at the border line of the promised
Palestine.
Now it is extremely fascinating in tracing that journey to notice just
what that cloud came to mean to them. If you will run rapidly through
the three wilderness books, Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, you will find
there twenty distinct incidents[6] which illustrate how God's actual
presence in that cloud was made very real to them in practical affairs.
In those incidents there are ten different ways in which they were made
to feel that powerful Presence.
At the outset it is mentioned that the chief purpose was "to lead them
the way," and, by night "to give them light." Five incidents speak of
bodily nourishment, including fresh food daily, with occasional extras,
and a full supply of pure living water. Five speak of protection from
bodily harm. Two tell of the defeat of an enemy. Once there is chiding
for ingratitude. Six times rebuke or punishment for sin. In four they
are held back when dead-set on a very wrong course. Twice there is
instruction in their leader's plan for them. Three times a fuller
manifestation of Himself, and each time this is preceded by obedience on
their part in some particular matter. Once there is a special plan
suggested for relief in managing the nation's affairs. And then the fact
is stated that whenever Moses went apart to talk with God the cloud
descended lower, that is, _God came nearer_ when Moses desired to talk
with Him. So you see, the cloud meant guidance through that trackless
desert, food supplies, protection, defeat for the enemy, chiding,
restraint, punishment, instruction, help in business matters, a more
intimate manifestation of the glorious personality of their Guide, and a
gracious coming nearer whenever desired. Was not that a real practical
presence of the great God with them all those days?
Now that is the Bible's own graphic illustration of the meaning of that
new name given to the Holy Spirit, by Him who knew Him best,
_Comforter--one alongside to help_.
On a Higher Level.
Before we leave that illustration we must notice a very significant
thing which is no small part of the truth illustrated. Though the cloud
appeared the very night of that sudden going out of Egypt, and was never
absent from them, by day or by night, yet a full year afterwards there
was a new experience. By God's direction a special tent was made and set
up in which He said He would dwell. It was known as God's dwelling
place, the tent of meeting, the tabernacle, the tent of testimony. When
everything concerning its setting up had been fully done as specified
then there was an experience the most remarkable they had yet had with
God. It was a new manifestation of the glorious presence of their unseen
Friend-Guide. It is twice said that the tent was "_filled_" with His
glory. And this nearer disclosure, which God gave of Himself, was so
marvelously glorious and overpowering that even Moses, who had spent
almost twelve weeks in that mount with God, in closer intimacy than any
one else--even Moses was not able to enter into the tent, so over-awing
was that Presence.
Now it is of intensest interest to mark four things about that
experience. _First_ of all, before it came, there was _obedience_ to
God's instructions. Eighteen times within the narrow limits of the last
two pages of the Exodus record, it is said that Moses and the people did
everything, in every particular, just exactly as "the Lord commanded
Moses." There was explicit obedience before anything else. _Then_
followed the wondrous _infilling_ of the tent with God's presence. The
_third_ thing is particularized very carefully: all their movements were
directed and controlled by that Presence. Clearly the only safe rule for
living in that terrible desert, was to plan to live a planless life so
far as their own planning was concerned. Besides the last two verses of
Exodus which emphasize this, I find that in my revised Oxford edition
forty-five lines in the ninth chapter of Numbers are given to telling
how exactly they were guided, and how explicitly they followed their
Guide. It seems almost at first reading as though there was a decidedly
needless repetition. You seem to understand the thing easily enough
without that. But as one reads it again, and yet again, slowly, it
begins to dawn upon the mind that the purpose is to put marked emphasis
on this feature of their new life in the wilderness. The people would
rise in the morning, and probably the first thing done was to look out
toward the cloud to learn if there was to be any change that day. And so
during the day there would come to be an instinctive habit of watching
that cloud. They might remain in a new camping place for months, or only
for a few weeks, or, possibly only for a few days. They never knew a day
ahead. They lived literally a day at a time. It was certainly a
hand-to-mouth existence so far as the daily manna was concerned. But
then it was from _His_ hand to _their_ mouths and that made a great
difference. It was equally so in their movements and in all of their new
life. When, one morning as thousands of heads peep out, the cloud is
seen to have lifted up from over the tent, the next question was--which
direction? It might be toward the west, or it might be just the
opposite, toward the east. Both the time of going, and the direction,
and the pace were regulated by the presence of their Friend in that
cloud. Their life was a life of obedience to the will of their wise,
loving Companion.
The _fourth_ thing was intimacy of intercourse. It is a little
unfortunate that in reading our Bibles we sometimes allow the gaps that
come in the printing to break the continuity of thought. There is a
break for instance between the last verse of Exodus and the first verse
of Leviticus. The reading is meant to be continuous, and shows that
after the infilling, and the explanation about guidance, that God
"_called_" Moses to Him and _commenced talking about their new life_.
Now in connection with that call, and all their after talks, notice a
remarkable statement in the last verse of that long seventh chapter of
Numbers. It explains just _how_ God talked with Moses. Listen: "Whenever
Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with Him, _then he heard
the voice_ speaking unto him from above the mercy-seat that was upon the
ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim; and _He_ speaketh
unto him." There was the living, loving voice of their Companion-God,
which Moses could plainly hear, and which others heard, talking
familiarly and intimately about all their affairs. Several times when in
doubt what to do Moses promptly went off into the tent, then the cloud
would come down nearer, and Moses would state his difficulty, and back
would come that clear distinct voice with an answer. Group up those four
things--obedience; the never-to-be-forgotten infilling; the controlling
guidance; and intimate companionship.
That is the very best illustration I can find of the meaning of that
word which Jesus now chooses out and uses as the new name which would
most vividly tell what the Holy Spirit was to be to all believers after
His own departure. All that the presence of God in that pillar was to
those people, and to Moses personally, all that the Holy Spirit will be
to you. And my own conviction is that Jesus had that Old Testament scene
in His mind. For if you will turn again to that last night's talk you
will find a striking repetition of the steps or peculiarities of that
wilderness experience. Though here the whole experience is on a much
higher, finer plane. There is a closeness of personal regard, a depth of
that deepest of all loves, friendship love, that is not found in the Old
Testament story, except perhaps between Moses himself and God.
But now read the twenty-first verse of the fourteenth chapter of John:
"He that hath My commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth
Me; and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father and I will love
him, and _will manifest Myself unto him_." And the twenty-third verse
adds to it: "If a man love Me, he will keep My word: and My Father will
love him, and _We will come unto him and make Our abiding place with
him_." Notice: there is obedience; it is accepted as an evidence of
love: there is a return love--a new, higher, reciprocal love: then there
is a revealing of Himself; and, constant abiding. Now run your eye
through the remaining part of that evening's conversation and you can
quickly pick out these words: "teach," "bring to your remembrance,"
"guide," "bear witness of me," "tell you coming things," "tell you about
me."
Does that not parallel remarkably the wilderness experience? Only it is
all put on such a higher plane. There is a fullness, and richness, and
tenderness, of personal intimacy here. The Presence in the wilderness
was for the national life: here it is peculiarly for the personal life.
There He dwelt actually in the heart of the nation. Here He dwells
actually in one's own very person. And then, too, now He can do so much
more _in_ us because so much more has been done for us through the
person of Jesus.
How to Find the Meaning.
May I say right here plainly: there seems to be even yet in some
quarters a hazy idea about the Holy Spirit being a person. It is
extremely common, even among people of excellent christian training, to
find Him referred to, both in prayer and speech as _it_. Could anything
be more disrespectful or insulting, if it were intentional instead of
being thoughtless or, in ignorance, as I am sure it really is. Imagine
my speaking of the pastor of this church in that way. "_It_ is a good
preacher. _It_ is a helpful pastor." You smile, and he smiles. But if I
said it repeatedly, and in sober earnest, you know how insulted he would
be. I suppose that the use of the word "itself" for the Holy Spirit in
the eighth chapter of Romans is largely responsible for this. The
revisers have properly substituted the word "himself." That very usage
so common has doubtless accustomed many persons to a vague idea of the
personality of the Spirit. And yet apart from that, there is without
doubt much mistiness, and uncertainty, in some minds, because of the
difficulty of thinking of a person without a form. It seems impossible
for our minds to grasp the idea of existence without bodily shape, yet
of course we believe in a personal God. Probably another reason is that
the Holy Spirit's work is not to speak of Himself but of Another--of
Jesus. He is Jesus' representative, and is constantly absorbed in
filling us with thoughts of His Chief. And when our minds are most
deeply stirred with thoughts of Jesus then it is that in that very fact
of being so stirred we have clearest evidence of the Holy Spirit's
presence within us. His very faithfulness to His mission has led to
Himself suffering depreciation at our hands, through our ignorance.
I am sure it must help us all decidedly in getting a clear-cut, sharply
defined idea of His personality to notice the language Jesus uses in
speaking of Him that night. For instance, notice that in our English
version the personal pronouns "he," "whom," "him," "which" (used in the
sense of who as is common with the British translators), occur
twenty-four times. A study of the actual words used would prove helpful
and interesting. One of them, used several times, is peculiarly
emphatic, its meaning being equivalent to the expression "that person
there."
And then notice the words used to describe what this person will do: "He
shall teach," "bring to your remembrance," "bear witness of Me,"
"convict the world of" three distinct things, "shall guide," "shall
hear," "shall speak," "shall declare," "shall glorify Me," "shall take
of Mine and declare it unto you." Everyone of these ten different
expressions imply intelligence and discrimination, and therefore of
course personality. And then added to this is the name given to Him here
of which so much has been said.
May we take just another look at that name--_The Comforter_--as we close
our talk together? I wish with my whole heart, and I pray, that a vivid
sense of the meaning of that name may be one result of this evening's
meeting. I was traveling alone in Germany one hot July day on a train
going down to the city of Worms. It was quite hot and I was very tired,
and my head aching, I distinctly remember. The conductor came along and
objected to my ticket. Before leaving this country, I thought I knew a
_little_ of German, enough to worry through on. My ideas on that subject
changed a trifle over there, however. That day my tired ears refused to
recognize any familiar sounds on the conductor's lips, and my tired
tongue refused to utter anything satisfactory to him. And there I was, a
complete stranger in a strange land too tired to think or have any
mental resources, not knowing but I might be put off at the next
station. In fact just tired enough for fine worrying. It looked blue for
a few moments. But not for long. A young man by my side, a Jew, spoke to
me in excellent English. Was any sound ever so welcome! He straightened
the conductor out, and then we fell to talking together. He proved to be
a very intelligent, agreeable companion. I found his home was in the
city where I was going. So we got off there together, and he simply
devoted himself to me for the day. He took me up to a good hotel, and
while I was eating dinner, went and got his brother who had been in
America, and who entertained me while I ate. Then he took me to his
father's home, a large old mansion, overlooking the famous Luther
monument where I rested a while. And then a quick run to a few
interesting points, and finally when leaving time came, he insisted on
accompanying me to the station, and making sure I had a good seat, and
then bade me a gracious good-bye.
That day lingers in my memory as one of the green spots of that trip. It
touched me to think that my Master graciously sent one of His own
despised race to be my friend. Do you not think that that man,
experienced where I was ignorant, and so sympathetic, was a living
illustration to me of Jesus' name for the Holy Spirit--_one called
alongside to help_?
One day recently, riding on a Lake Shore train in Ohio, I chanced to
notice the conductor stopping to speak to a little girl sitting behind
me. Then I noticed that she was alone and crying a little, quietly. She
did not answer his questions, but he must have been a father, I thought,
because he seemed to understand so well. Speaking to a kind-faced
motherly looking woman in the next seat he had the little girl go back
and sit beside her, next the window. They did not talk much, if any, I
noticed. But the girl was snuggled up close, and I knew from her face
that she felt the warm sympathy of that friendly presence, and that the
terrible feeling of loneliness had gone. Is not that woman another
illustration of that name Comforter? Her mere presence was all that was
needed to clear the skies and change the atmosphere for the little lone
and lonely traveler.
But Jesus Himself has a very striking way of making clear just what He
meant, by coupling another word with that new name the first time He
used it. He says, "I will send _another_ Comforter." The comparison is
with Himself. He is one comforter. The Holy Spirit another one. The only
other time this word is used is by John in his first epistle, and is
translated by our word advocate, and refers to Jesus. Jesus practically
says: "You know what I have been to you these months past." And they
would think through, the close intimacy of nearly two years. How He had
spoken with unmistakable plainness when they were in the wrong, but also
how loving with a strong love He had been, how patient, and gentle, and
resourceful, and how He seemed to yearn over them that they might grow
into His ideal for them. "Now," He says, "I am going away, but I will
send you _another_ one who will be to you all that I have been--_and
more_." _And more!_ That comparative more, either spoken or implied,
runs all through this last long confidential talk. "More, much more,
_because I go unto the Father_." Jesus crucified, risen, glorified can
do much more by far in us by His other self, the Holy Spirit, than He
could in person on the earth those years. And the wondrous meaning of
that "another comforter" to you and me, my friends, to-night is simply
this: it is the same as though the Lord Jesus had actually come back
again and _you had Him all to yourself--and more_.
But I cannot tell you the meaning of that wonderful name. Nor yet the
wondrous charm of Him who, for our sakes, embodies it. You may put
together all these illustrations in the attempt to get a real, close-up,
idea of what Jesus meant in that love-gift of His to you. And then you
will not know. There is really only one way to gain that knowledge. It
is this: take the step which belongs to _your_ side of the transaction
between you and the Master. Surrender yourself to Him to be changed and
cleansed and used as He may choose. Then _He_ will begin at once working
out the side that belongs to Him. _You shall be filled with His
presence._ Then you will _begin_ to know. Then you can sing--
"I have a wonderful guest,
Who speeds my feet, who moves my hands,
Who strengthens, comforts, guides, commands,
Whose presence gives me rest.
"He dwells within my soul,
He swept away the filth and gloom;
He garnished fair the empty room,
And now pervades the whole."
And you shall go on knowing more and better until the day dawn and the
shadows flee away.
FOOTNOTES:
[6] See note at the end.[A]
[Transcriber's Note A: The note in question follows immediately below, as
the footnote was moved to the end.]
Of the twenty incidents referred to three do not directly
mention the cloud, and in two others it is over the mount, with
its characteristics much intensified. The references are given
for those who will want to get closer up to this famous
illustration.
Guidance: Ex. xiii: 21-22, with Numbers xiv: 14.
Bodily nourishment. Ex. xv: 25; xvi: 13-14, 45; xvii: 6.
Numbers xi: 31-32. xx: 1-12.
Protection from bodily harm: The nation--Ex. xiv: 19-20. The
leaders--Num. xiv: 10 and on. xvi: 19 and on. xvi: 42 and on.
xx: 1-12.
Defeat of an enemy: Ex. xiv: 24-31, xvii: 8-16.
Chiding: Ex. xvi: 4-7, 10-12.
Rebuke or punishment for sin: Numbers xi: 33; xii: 1-10; xiv:
10 and on; xvi: 19 and on; 42 and on; xx: 1-12.