"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon
you."
On that last eventful evening in the upper room, just after the
Passover feast, Jesus spoke to His disciples about His departure,
and, having commanded them to love one another, He besought them
not to be troubled in heart, but to hold fast their faith in Him,
assuring them that, though He was to die and leave them, He was
but going to the Father's many-mansioned house to prepare a place
for them.
But already they were troubled, for what could this death and
departure mean but the destruction of all their hopes, of all
their cherished plans? Jesus had drawn them away from their
fishing-boats, their places of custom and daily employment, and
inspired them with high personal and patriotic ambitions, and
encouraged them to believe that He was the Seed of David, the
promised Messiah; and they hoped that He would cast out Pilate
and his hated Roman garrison, restore the kingdom to Israel, and
sit on David's throne, a King, reigning in righteousness and
undisputed power and majesty for ever. And then, were they not to
be His Ministers of State and chief men in His Kingdom?
He was their Leader, directing their labours; their Teacher,
instructing their ignorance and solving their doubts and all
their puzzling problems; their Defence, stilling the stormy sea
and answering for them when questioned by wise and wily enemies.
They were poor and unlearned and weak. In Him was all their help,
and what would they do, what could they do, without Him? They
were without social standing, without financial prestige, without
learning or intellectual equipment, without political or military
power. He was their All, and without Him they were as helpless as
little children, as defenceless as lambs in the midst of wolves.
How could their poor hearts be otherwise than troubled?
But then He gave them a strange, wonderful, reassuring promise:
He said, "If ye love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray
the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may
abide with you for ever" (John xiv. 15, 16). I am going away, but
Another shall come, who will fill My place. He shall not go away,
but abide with you for ever, and He "shall be in you." And later
He added: "It is expedient for you"--that is, better for you--"that
I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come."
Who is this other One--this Comforter? He must be some august
Divine Person, and not a mere influence or impersonal force, for
how else could He take and fill the place of Jesus? How else
could it be said that it was better to have Him than to have
Jesus remaining in the flesh? He must be strong and wise, and
tender and true, to take the place of the Blessed One who is to
die and depart. Who is He?
John, writing in the Greek language, calls Him "Paraclete," but
we in English call Him Comforter. But Paraclete means more, much
more than Comforter. It means "one called in to help: an
advocate, a helper." The same word is used of Jesus in i John ii.
i: "We have an Advocate," a Paraclete, a Helper, "with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." Just as Jesus had gone to be
the disciples' Advocate, their Helper in the Heavens, so this
other Paraclete was to be their Advocate, their Helper on earth.
He would be their Comforter when comfort was needed; but He would
be more; He would be also their Teacher, Guide, Strengthener, as
Jesus had been. At every point of need there would He be as an
ever-present and all-wise, almighty Helper. He would meet their
need with His sufficiency; their weakness with His strength;
their foolishness with His wisdom; their ignorance with His
knowledge; their blindness and short-sightedness with His
perfect, all-embracing vision. Hallelujah! What a Comforter! Why
should they be troubled?
They were weak, but He would strengthen them with might in the
inner man (Eph. iii. 16). They were to give the world the words
of Jesus, and teach all nations (Matthew xxviii. 19, 20); and He
would teach them all things, and bring to their remembrance
whatsoever Jesus had said to them (John xiv. 26).
They were to guide their converts in the right way, and He was to
guide them into all truth (John xvi. 13). They were to attack
hoary systems of evil, and inbred and actively intrenched sin, in
every human heart; but He was to go before them, preparing the
way for conquest, by convincing the world of sin, of righteousness,
and of judgment (John xvi. 8). They were to bear heavy burdens and
face superhuman tasks, but He was to give them power (Acts i. 8).
Indeed, He was to be a Comforter, a Strengthener, a Helper.
Jesus had been external to them. Often they missed Him. Sometimes
He was asleep when they felt they sorely needed Him. Sometimes He
was on the mountains, while they were in the valley vainly trying
to cast out stubborn devils, or wearily toiling on the tumultuous,
wind-tossed sea. Sometimes He was surrounded by vast crowds, and
He entered into high disputes with the doctors of the law, and
they had to wait till He was alone to seek explanations of His
teachings. But they were never to lose this other Helper in the
crowd, nor be separated for an instant from Him, for no human
being, nor untoward circumstance, nor physical necessity, could
ever come between Him and them, for, said Jesus, "He shall be in
you."
From the words used to declare the sayings, the doings, the
offices and works of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, we are
forced to conclude that He is a Divine Person. Out of the
multitude of Scriptures which might be quoted, note this passage,
which, as nearly as is possible with human language, reveals to
us His personality: "Now there were in the Church that was at
Antioch certain prophets and teachers... As they ministered to
the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate Me Barnabas
and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they
had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent
them away. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed
into Seleucia" (Acts xiii. 1-4).
Further on we read that they "were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to
preach the word in Asia"; and when they would have gone into
Bithynia, "the Spirit suffered them not" (Acts xvi. 6, 7).
Again, when the messengers of Cornelius, the Roman centurion,
were seeking Peter, "the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men
seek thee. Arise, therefore, and get thee down, and go with them,
doubting nothing: for I have sent them" (Acts x. 19, 20).
These are but a few of the passages of Scripture that might be
quoted to establish the fact of His personality--His power to
think, to will, to act, to speak; and if His personality is not
made plain in these Scriptures, then it is impossible for human
language to make it so.
Indeed, I am persuaded that if an intelligent heathen, who had
never seen the Bible, should for the first time read the four
Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, he would say that the
personality of the Holy Spirit is as clearly revealed in the Acts
as is the personality of Jesus Christ in the Gospels. In truth,
the Acts of the Apostles are in a large measure the acts of the
Holy Spirit, and the disciples were not more certainly under the
immediate direction of Jesus during the three years of His
earthly ministry than they were under the direct leadership of
the Spirit after Pentecost.
But, while there are those that admit His personality, yet in
their loyalty to the Divine Unity they deny the Trinity, and
maintain that the Holy Spirit is only the Father manifesting
Himself as Spirit, without any distinction in personality. But
this view cannot be harmonised with certain Scriptures. While the
Bible and reason plainly declare that there is but one God, yet
the Scriptures as clearly reveal that there are three Persons in
the Godhead--Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
The form of Paul's benediction to the Corinthians proves the
doctrine:--
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the
communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen" (2 Cor. xiii.
14).
Again, it is taught in the promise of Jesus, already quoted, "And
I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter...
the Spirit of Truth" (John xiv. 16, 17). Here the three Persons of
the Godhead are clearly revealed. The Son prays; the Father
answers; the Spirit comes.
The Holy Spirit is "another Comforter," a second Comforter
succeeding the first, who was Jesus, and both were given by the
Father.
Do you say, "I cannot understand it"? Neither do I. Who can
understand it? God does not expect us to understand it. Nor would
He have us puzzle our heads and trouble our hearts in attempting
to understand it or harmonise it with our knowledge of arithmetic.
Note this: it is only the _fact_ that is revealed;
_how_ there can be three Persons in one Godhead is not
revealed.
The _how_ is a mystery, and is not a matter of faith at all;
but the _fact_ is a matter of revelation, and therefore a
matter of faith. I myself am a mysterious trinity of body, mind,
and spirit. The fact I believe, but the _how_ is not a thing
to believe. It is at this point that many puzzle and perplex
themselves needlessly.
In the ordinary affairs of life we grasp facts, and hold them
fast, without puzzling ourselves over the _how_ of things.
Who can explain _how_ food sustains life; how light reveals
material objects, how sound conveys ideas to our minds? It is the
fact we know and believe, but the _how_ we pass by as a
mystery unrevealed. What God has revealed, we believe. We cannot
understand _how_ Jesus turned water into wine; _how_ He
multiplied a few loaves and fishes and fed thousands; _how_
He stilled the stormy sea; _how_ He opened blind eyes, healed
lepers, and raised the dead by a word. But the facts we believe.
Wireless telegraphic messages are sent over the vast wastes of
ocean. That is a fact, and we believe it. But _how_ they go we
do not know. That is not something to believe. It is a matter of
pure speculation, and is unexplained.
An old servant of God has pointed out that it is the fact of the
Trinity, and not the _manner_ of it, which God has revealed,
and made a subject for our faith.
But while the Scriptures reveal to us the fact of the personality
of the Holy Spirit, and it is a subject for our faith, to those
in whom He dwells this fact may become a matter of sacred
knowledge, of blessed experience.
How else can we account for the positive and assured way in which
the Apostles and disciples spoke of the Holy Ghost on and after
the day of Pentecost, if they did not know Him? Immediately after
the fiery baptism, with its blessed filling, Peter stood before
the people, and said: "This is that which was spoken by the
prophet Joel: And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith
God, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh"; then he exhorted
the people and assured them that if they would meet certain
simple conditions they should "receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost." He said to Ananias, "Why hath Satan filled thine heart to
lie to the Holy Ghost?" He declared to the High Priest and
Council that he and his fellow-Apostles were witnesses of the
resurrection of Jesus: and added, "And so is also the Holy Ghost,
whom God hath given to them that obey Him." Without any apology
or explanation, or "think so" or "hope so," they speak of being
"filled" (not simply with some new, strange experience or
emotion, but) "with the Holy Ghost." Certainly they must have
known Him. And if they knew Him, may not we?
Paul says: "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world,
but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things
that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak,
not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy
Ghost teacheth" (I Cor. ii. 12, 13). And if we know the words,
may we not know the Teacher of the words?