Excerpt:
DO WE BELIEVE IN THE HOLY GHOST?
The Apostles' Creed contains ten articles on the Person and Work of Christ, and only one
on the Holy Spirit. The proportion of ten to one about represents the interest in the doctrine of the
Spirit in the history of Christian thought. No doctrine of the Christian faith has been so neglected.
Sermons and hymns are singularly barren on this subject, and the last great book on the Spirit was
written in 1674. This is all the more remarkable when we remember that the Holy Spirit is the
ultimate fact of Revelation and the unique force in Redemption. No other religion has anything
corresponding to the Christian doctrine of the Spirit, and in the Christian religion there is nothing
so vital, pervasive, and effective. John Owen speaks of it as the touchstone of faith; the one article
by which the Church stands or falls. Thomas Arnold said it is "the very main thing of all. We are
living under the dispensation of the Spirit; in that character God now reveals Himself to His
people. He who does not know God the Holy Ghost cannot know God at all."
The Holy Scriptures declare Him to be the revealer of all truth, the active agent in all
works of redemption, and from first to last the instrument of Grace in the experience of salvation.
In Him, and through Him, and by Him, is the power that saves. Illumination and Conviction,
Repentance and Regeneration, Assurance and Sanctification, are all the work of God the eternal
Spirit. To the Church He is the Source and Supply of wisdom and power. The Church is the Body
of Christ, indwelt and controlled by the Spirit. He directs, energizes, and controls. From first to
last this Dispensation is the Dispensation of the Spirit.
The Fruit of Neglect
The Church affirms its faith in the Holy Ghost every time it repeats its Creed, but does the
Church really believe its belief? Modern writers are contending that the name is nothing more than
a figure of speech for spiritual atmosphere. They regard it as one of the misfortunes of the
Christian religion that Personality has been claimed for the Spirit. The life of the Church witnesses
to the same attitude. The things of the Spirit are ignored as of no account. Atmosphere is valued.
Religious assemblies of a certain order give a large place to silent pauses which produce
emotional excitement When our fathers glowed with fires kindled in the soul, they gave vent in
noise. The modern way is to be still. Spirituality and silence are as wedded as were revivalism
and rowdiness. Both types are emotional, but revivalists did believe their work was of the Spirit;
the Quietists cultivate psychological influence. They speak of the Spirit with a different content
from that of the Creeds.
The blunders and disasters of the Church are largely, if not entirely, accounted for by the
neglect of the Spirit's Ministry and Mission. The morass of speculation about the Bible takes no
account of the Holy Spirit. It regards inspiration as negligible, and insists upon interpreting
Revealed Truth by no standards save those of history and literature. Miracles are condemned
without trial. Prophesy is dismissed without inquiry. Revelation is ignored without reason. Under
the plea of breadth, all truth is thrust into uniform ruts. Our Lord spoke of the Spirit as the Spirit of
Truth, and promised that He would guide His people into all Truth. He spake by the Prophets.
There were many writers, but He is the Author, and the Bible can neither be accounted for nor
interpreted but by His guidance, He holds the key; He is the Key. Revealed Truth can be known
only through the Revealer, Ignoring this. scholars and historians, grammarians and antiquarians,
critics and agnostics, are blind in the midst of light. The same result is seen in the belief about our
Lord Jesus Christ, the Experience of Grace, and the Doctrine of the Church. No man can say Jesus
is Lord save by the Holy Ghost, but men are seeking to interpret the Christ in terms of reason,
history, and philosophy. The Christian religion begins in a New Birth in the power of the Spirit. It
is developed under His guidance, and sustained by His presence; but ignoring the Spirit, it
becomes a matter of education and evolution. The Church is the Body of Christ begotten, unified,
and indwelt by the Spirit, but forgetting the Spirit, men wrangle over limbs, functions, and orders.
The Christian religion is hopeless without the Holy Ghost.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1: Do We Believe in the Holy Ghost?
DO WE BELIEVE IN THE HOLY GHOST?
The Apostles' Creed contains ten articles on the Person and Work of Christ, and only one
on the Holy Spirit. The proportion of ten to one about represents the interest in the doctrine of the
Spirit in the history of Christian thought. No doctrine of the Christian faith has been so neglected.
Sermons and hymns are singularly barren on this subject, and the last great book on the Spirit was
written in 1674. This is all the more remarkable when we remember that the Holy Spirit is the
ultimate fact of Revelation and the unique force in Redemption. No other religion has anything
corresponding to the Christian doctrine of the Spirit, and in the Christian religion there is nothing
so vital, pervasive, and effective. John Owen speaks of it as the touchstone of faith; the one article
by which the Church stands or falls. Thomas Arnold said it is "the very main thing of all. We are
living under the dispensation of the Spirit; in that character God now reveals Himself to His
people. He who does not know God the Holy Ghost cannot know God at all."
The Holy Scriptures declare Him to be the revealer of all truth, the active agent in all
works of redemption, and from first to last the instrument of Grace in the experience of salvation.
In Him, and through Him, and by Him, is the power that saves. Illumination and Conviction,
Repentance and Regeneration, Assurance and Sanctification, are all the work of God the eternal
Spirit. To the Church He is the Source and Supply of wisdom and power. The Church is the Body
of Christ, indwelt and controlled by the Spirit. He directs, energizes, and controls. From first to
last this Dispensation is the Dispensation of the Spirit.
The Fruit of Neglect
The Church affirms its faith in the Holy Ghost every time it repeats its Creed, but does the
Church really believe its belief? Modern writers are contending that the name is nothing more than
a figure of speech for spiritual atmosphere. They regard it as one of the misfortunes of the
Christian religion that Personality has been claimed for the Spirit. The life of the Church witnesses
to the same attitude. The things of the Spirit are ignored as of no account. Atmosphere is valued.
Religious assemblies of a certain order give a large place to silent pauses which produce
emotional excitement When our fathers glowed with fires kindled in the soul, they gave vent in
noise. The modern way is to be still. Spirituality and silence are as wedded as were revivalism
and rowdiness. Both types are emotional, but revivalists did believe their work was of the Spirit;
the Quietists cultivate psychological influence. They speak of the Spirit with a different content
from that of the Creeds.
The blunders and disasters of the Church are largely, if not entirely, accounted for by the
neglect of the Spirit's Ministry and Mission. The morass of speculation about the Bible takes no
account of the Holy Spirit. It regards inspiration as negligible, and insists upon interpreting
Revealed Truth by no standards save those of history and literature. Miracles are condemned
without trial. Prophesy is dismissed without inquiry. Revelation is ignored without reason. Under
the plea of breadth, all truth is thrust into uniform ruts. Our Lord spoke of the Spirit as the Spirit of
Truth, and promised that He would guide His people into all Truth. He spake by the Prophets.
There were many writers, but He is the Author, and the Bible can neither be accounted for nor
interpreted but by His guidance, He holds the key; He is the Key. Revealed Truth can be known
only through the Revealer, Ignoring this. scholars and historians, grammarians and antiquarians,
critics and agnostics, are blind in the midst of light. The same result is seen in the belief about our
Lord Jesus Christ, the Experience of Grace, and the Doctrine of the Church. No man can say Jesus
is Lord save by the Holy Ghost, but men are seeking to interpret the Christ in terms of reason,
history, and philosophy. The Christian religion begins in a New Birth in the power of the Spirit. It
is developed under His guidance, and sustained by His presence; but ignoring the Spirit, it
becomes a matter of education and evolution. The Church is the Body of Christ begotten, unified,
and indwelt by the Spirit, but forgetting the Spirit, men wrangle over limbs, functions, and orders.
The Christian religion is hopeless without the Holy Ghost.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1: Do We Believe in the Holy Ghost?
2: The Church Without the Spirit
3: The Spirit of Promise
4: Pentecost
5: The Gift of the Holy Ghost
6: The Pentecostal Life
7: The Indwelling Spirit
8: The Communion of the Holy Ghost
9: The Spirit of Christ
10: The Spirit of Power
11: The Spirit of Life
12: The Spirit of Truth
13: The Spirit of Holiness
14: The Spirit of Love
15: The Spirit of Fire
16: The Fruit of the Spirit
17: The Gifts of the Spirit
18: The Law of the Spirit
19: The Challenge of Pentecost
20: The Way into the Blessing