By Heny Albert Erdmann

Chapter 11

THE HOLY SPIRIT MAKING THE GOSPEL EFFECTIVE

I Timothy 3:16

16. And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

Romans 1:4

4. And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.

John 15:26

26. But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me.

II Timothy 3:16

16. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

II Peter 1:20,21

20. Knowing this first, that Do prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

21. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

I Timothy 4:1

1. Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.

II Timothy 1:6,7, 14

6. Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.

7. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

14. That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.

In these Scriptures we have brought before us five important works of the Holy Spirit, all of which are vital in the plan of human redemption. We shall notice these in their logical order. The Holy Spirit has an important part in every phase of our salvation. This is no doubt largely the reason why the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost can never be forgiven. How sad the fact that many people consider Him only as a sort of "hitchhiker."

THE HOLY SPIRIT IN RELATION TO THE PERSON AND WORK OF JESUS CHRIST

"Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit."

The reference here is, no doubt, to the witness of the Holy Spirit to the incarnate Son of God. At the time when Jesus was baptized by John, the Holy Spirit witnessed to the fact that He was the Son of God. This announcement was also made by the Holy Spirit even before the birth of Jesus. But at the time of His baptism the Spirit publicly descended upon Him, bore witness to Christ's divine Sonship, and united Himself with His person. Henceforth the Holy Spirit continually bore witness to Jesus Christ by manifesting the power of God in His words and work. It was not justification from sin that Jesus needed, but He was justified in the sense of being approved by the Holy Spirit. Descending upon Him in the form of a heavenly dove, the Holy Spirit spoke aloud: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," thus fitting Him for the great work of preaching His Gospel to the world

It is through the Spirit that Christ spoke His messages, and made them mighty to the tearing down of the false teachings and concepts of that day. It was through the Spirit that He cast out demons and healed the sick. It was through the Spirit that He overcame the power of Satan, not only in the wilderness, but in the final conflict. It was through the Spirit that He offered Himself without spot to God and was victorious in the suffering of the cross. It was through the Spirit that He presented His perfect sacrifice at the throne of His Father. It was through the Spirit that He arose from the dead. "Declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead."

So the first great step in making the Gospel effective was .the Spirit's work in establishing beyond all doubt that Jesus was the Son of God. The fact that Jesus was and is the Son of God must always he the first concept in all Christian experience. Al! of our hopes are centered in Him. If this truth is not clearly fixed in our minds and adhered to in our lives there can be no salvation.

THE HOLY SPIRIT IN RELATION TO THE SCRIPTURES (II Timothy 3:16, II Peter 1:20, 21)

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God," is more literally translated, "All scripture is God-breathed." God breathed it forth and the Holy Spirit directed it to the minds of the writers so that it could be given to men. Thus we have the Holy Spirit directly connected with the Gospel. It is His own Word, carried from the Father, and wherever it goes, the Holy Spirit witnesses to it and honors it. He who knows the Holy Spirit best will know his Bible best, will love it, will live upon it, and will ever use it as a weapon with which to overcome sin and Satan. Every Scripture is God-breathed and is therefore profitable for our study. Just as you breathe upon the windowpane, and the vapor clouds it, so God has breathed upon the page, and lo, His very thought and heart are there, not as dead letters, but as the living message of His love. Thus the Bible is not only a volume of valuable historical records, ethical principles, and sublime poetry; but is a direct message from heaven, speaking to man with the authority of his Lord. And as we so receive it does it become profitable to us.

In the first instance the Word is profitable for doctrine, for teaching -- for giving us the true Views of God's will for mankind. How sad the fact that in many churches the Word of God is not taught as it should be. Much time is spent in modern pulpits in teaching politics, science, literature, social ethics, etc. It is a sad fact that many of the ministers are not able to teach the Word because they have not experienced its power in their own lives. In visiting with the pastor of a large church, the conversation drifted to the thought of a "know-so" salvation. And in the conversation the pastor said to this writer, "Do you mean to tell me that a person can know he is saved?" That pastor was supposed to tell the people how to be saved, yet he himself did not know he was saved, and had serious doubts that one could know. But, thank God, salvation is not such a vague and uncertain thing as that. "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God" (Rom. 8:16).

The Word is also profitable for conviction. One definition for Word is "Conscience." It shows us where we are wrong. Then it becomes the word of correction, or direction -- not only making us conscious of the wrong way we are pursuing, but showing us how to enter the right way.

Finally, the Word is our source of instruction in righteousness. It teaches us what is right and how to achieve the right.

All this is made plain to us by the Holy Spirit. It is through the Word He teaches us, He convicts us, and He shows us the right way to follow in this world. And He keeps on instructing us and strengthening our souls through the Word. Then let us honor the Scriptures, study them, feed upon them, incorporate them into our lives. Let us use them as the weapons of our warfare against Satan. Only as we do so shall we be able to defeat the devil. We can put him to flight by heeding "thus saith the Lord."

THE HOLY SPIRIT'S MESSAGE FOR OUR OWN TIMES (I Tim. 4:1)

All the Word is the Spirit's message; but He has given some messages especially for our times. And so we read in First Timothy 4:1, "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils." This is more elaborated in the Second Epistle, chapter 3:1-5. This is the Holy Spirit's emphatic, italicized, capital-lettered message to men and women in this twentieth century. He "speaketh expressly." It is His message to us, to those of the human race who live now, in this day. It is not a rose-colored message, but a solemn warning of danger which should incite in us holy fear. It does not tell us of times of universal liberty, etc., but that as the days hasten to their close, they will become darker and more dangerous still. They will not be glorious times but "perilous times."

The Holy Spirit speaks of times of "seducing spirits." These seducing spirits will so blind and delude many who profess to be followers of Christ that they will not be able to see any harm in many things that Satan has employed to deceive millions. They will see no harm in this and no harm in that, although it robs them of victory and the realization of a God-consciousness. The Spirit says expressly that this will be a time of strong delusions, that people will believe a lie rather than the truth. This also includes false doctrines, of which there are many rampant in the world today. The sinning-religion doctrine is one of many which are prevalent today. Demons are always on hand to stand behind the minister and inspire him to preach false doctrines, for they are the doctrines of devils.

The Holy Spirit also speaks of times when the light within men will become darkness. And "how great is that darkness!" The person who has once been in touch with God, who has had a real experience of salvation, and then listens to the delusions of the devil and preachers of the "no harm in sin" doctrine, will go into a darkness that is far denser than that of Egypt at the time of the Plagues.

The Holy Spirit warns of times when the most dangerous elements will be found in the very church of Christ. Those persons who are "dangerous" have a form of godliness, going through all the motions of a truly religious exercise while they proclaim themselves as the representatives of Christ -- yet they have no power.

These dark days are upon us already -- time is closing in with lurid clouds on every side. Human government is an utter failure. The best of our kingdoms and empires are as clay. God is letting us see the utter incapacity of man to rule this earth, and the utter need of the coming of the Prince of Peace, the Mighty King.

THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE CHRISTIAN'S ENDUEMENT FOR LIFE AND SERVICE (II Tim. 1:6,7)

Here we have, first, a distinct recognition of the Holy Spirit definitely given -- "god hath . . . given," etc. This is written in the aorist, or emphatic, tense, which expresses an act that has occurred at a particular time in the past. It is not something gradual, but is done at once. And the Holy Spirit is received in a definite moment in the life of an individual. Beloved, have you thus received Him? Many promises you have claimed, but has THE PROMISE been made real to you?

Again we notice that even after one receives the Holy Spirit there is much for him to do. So Timothy is entreated to "stir up" the gift of God which is in him. "Stir up," rekindle the sinking fire -- and with some it is sinking low, for they are dull in prayer, in testimony, in pressing the cause of God, in giving.

Let us stir up the gift of God in us. Let us take away the ashes from the declining fire; and put on the fuel of living truth. Let us put on the draught of prayer, and permit it to burn until it produces great warmth and light, in holy service.

We have represented in the text we are now considering, the four-fold fulness of the Holy Spirit. He is not the Spirit of fear -- which is another way of saying, He is the Spirit of courage, (but not foolhardiness) . Unless we have courage we shall never be able to press on in the holy way. We must have courage to deny ourselves, and sometimes say No to our wills. We must have courage to go forward and obey God's bidding.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of power. If we possessed courage without power we would but throw our lives away. But courage combined with power will make us invincible.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of love. Courage without power would be ineffectual frenzy. Courage and power without love would be despotic, monstrous cruelty. But love, which is given us by the Holy Spirit, turns all our purposes into benedictions.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of wisdom (a sound mind) . This is the Spirit that holds all our powers in equilibrium. It keeps us in balance. However, the wisdom of which we speak, is not of ourselves. It is not what is called common sense. Nor is it what men call level-headedness. It is a faculty of mind produced by the indwelling Holy Spirit, training, disciplining, restraining and educating us to understand Him, to follow His leadings, and to walk in His will.

The essence of this enduement consists in the proportion of all its parts. It is not courage alone, nor power alone, nor love alone, nor wisdom alone. Mere wisdom would make us hard and cold, but wisdom set on fire with love and enriched by power will enable us to bless the world. With such divine provision, why should we be afraid or feeble? Why should we fail?

FINALLY WE HAVE THE HOLY SPIRIT REPRESENTED AS THE POWER WHO WILL ENABLE US TO KEEP OUR SACRED TRUST (II Tim. 1:14).

"That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us." It is that "good thing" deposited in thee. There are two deposits. There is the one which we have put in the keeping of Christ, and we know He is able to keep (defend) it. It is ourselves; it is our eternal future -- the momentous interests of our life beyond. But the Holy Spirit has also made a deposit in us. God has invested a trust in us that is as dear to Him as the trust that we have committed to His keeping. It is His glory -- his testimony -- his Kingdom on earth.

Shall we keep this trust and hand it back untarnished and glorious when we meet Him? Will He approve of our stewardship? Thank God, the Holy Spirit is given us to enable us to keep "that good thing." Not only does He take care of His end, but He comes to help us take care of ours.