Review – Plus Conditions for Receiving The Holy
Spirit
by
J. Wilfred
Johnson
Review—Plus Conditions for Receiving The Holy
Spirit
by
J. Wilfred Johnson
Jan. 28th, 1976
Transcribed from C/Ds #23 and #24
September 16, 2012 thru Sept. 22,2012
by
Steven Pond and Mary Savoy
Now, last
week we were dealing with the Everlasting Covenant and specifically with the
provision the Lord made for the salvation of His people through the eternal sacrifice
of Christ, which involved the availability of the full abundance of the Holy
Spirit. And we noted that the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is actually the ghost
of Christ, the image of Christ, the soul of His eternal life. Which is equal to Christ in a sense. That is, when it says
that Christ will come to dwell with us it means that the Holy Spirit is going
to come to dwell with us. And I think we gave evidence of that. So when we are
speaking about the Holy Spirit or the Holy Ghost we are actually speaking about
the divinity of Christ, the divine nature of Christ, His eternal life, which He
has made available for us.
Now this
thought is probably a little difficult to define detail and I don’t think we
should attempt to do it. But I think we need to accept what the Bible says and
what The Spirit of Prophesy says whether we really understand all the
details or not. Christ made it very plain that He had to go away or else the
comforter would not come. He said that Himself. And it is impossible for Christ
in the human body to be everywhere at once, And only through the agency of the
Holy Spirit – Holy Ghost can He perform that promise of being with each one of
us individually. Prior to His coming to this world this agency of the Godhead
was Christ’s procession. And when Christ created the world it was through the
agency of the Holy Ghost that the connections were made, it was the Holy Ghost
– The Holy Spirit that moved upon the face of the waters at creation.
These little
keys are given in the Bible; we find little keys here, there, and everywhere
that if we will pick them up we’ll get the thought. And pretty soon the thing
unfolds and we see it. I suppose there will some questions in some of your
minds yet concerning that thought but if you go into your Bibles now and into The
Spirit of Prophesy you’re going to come across things that you never
understood before, but you understand them now, in the light of what we’ve
discussed. I’m going to take time to refer to maybe a few of these to show you
what I mean.
In I
Corinthians 12:11 – 13 I think we will find one. Paul says here, 11 “But
all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit,” ....
He’s being talking about these different gifts, wisdom, knowledge, and faith,
and gifts of healing and prophesying and miracles and discerning of Spirits,
and diverse kinds of tongues
and interpretation of tongues, .... “But all these worketh that
one and the selfsame Spirit dividing to every man severally as he will.” 12
“For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one
body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.” ....
Now, there is something profound in that statement itself. Christ, all
inclusive, the head and the body, its all one Christ,
Christ in you, Christ in Jesus. Do you see the point? He gave His life to be
divided among His saints. .... 13 “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into” .... How many bodies? .... “one
body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been
all made to” .... What? .... drink into one Spirit.” .... Does that remind you of
something?
(A man in the
audience) The last supper.
(Wilfred)
Yes. This is the New Testament in my blood. And what was His blood?
(A man in the
audience) His life.
(Wilfred) His life. And the New
Testament was what?
(A man in the audience) The New Covenant.
(Wilfred) The New Covenant. And it made provision for the release of
this spirit for the impartation to His people. And it says that the impartation
of the Spirit is the impartation of what?
(A man in the audience) The life of Christ.
(Wilfred) The life of Christ. We read that last week. 14 “For the body is not one member, but many. 15 If the foot
shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the
body, is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it
therefore not of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? 18 But now hath God set the members every
one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. 19 And if they were all one
member,” .... All the same kind. .... “where were
the body? 20 But now are they many members, yet but one body.”.... And in other
places he tells us that, more specifically that this
is the body of Christ. And that the Holy Spirit is the unifying agent, that it
is the blood, that it is the life that flows
throughout the whole body.
All right. Here’s another thought I picked up from Jeremiah
31:3, 3 He says, “Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love:” .... How long does this love last?
(A man in the
audience) Forever.
Wilfred) How
long does the Covenant last?
(A man in the
audience) It’s everlasting.
(Wilfred) Can
you tie that love with the Covenant?
(A man in the
audience) His love is life, His life is love.
(Wilfred)
That’s it! We read about it last week. When the Spirit comes what does it
bring? Love, The love of God. That’s the very first
one. And we read that the life of Christ is His love. The life of God is His
love. So that when you receive the Spirit, you are receiving the life of God.
And the Life of God is His love, Love is an emotional force, it is a form of
energy. It is power, it will drive people; energize them, so that they can
function. And Jesus said that He had come to give us life and to give it to us
more abundantly, so when He gives us the added power we can implement decisions
and we won’t flunk out. The Spirit is given as a power to keep us from sinning,
but it won’t do it without our decision. Our decision is the key that taps into
the power; it’s the plug that you put into the socket, to tap in. But the Lord
isn’t going to turn the power on until we are ready to function in the right
direction.
I had planned
tonight to say a few things about the conditions for receiving the Spirit. But
I’ll run through these first. Let me finish this one. 3 ........yea, I have
loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness
have I” .... pushed thee. No.
.... “drawn thee.” .... That’s the only power God
uses, the drawing power of Love. And He’s going to go all out to deliver the
totality of His Spirit to us in the outpouring of the latter rain. And when
that has been done there is no other resource in Heaven to save a man. Those
who are not saved under that influence will not be saved. He’s got nothing else
to do it with. He’s been gradually unfolding more and more of the resources
that His Father made available to Him to prove to us that there is no love greater
than the love of God in the whole universe. And we will receive our greatest
joy and happiness in loving Him. Remember that statement? He’s gradually
unfolding these resources to us and the final outpouring of the Spirit is His
last effort. And we will find out tonight what we should do in order to get it.
It hasn’t come and it should have come a long time ago, it hasn’t come. But it
is coming.
And here is
another one, Hebrews 13:20, 21, One of you folks brought this to my
attention. There are quite a number of them in here. But I thought we would
share it with everybody.
Hebrews 13 verse 20, “Now the God of peace, that brought again
from the dead our Lord Jesus, .... I hope you don’t
mind me stopping quite often to draw out the points, I
don’t want you to miss them. Who brought the Lord from the dead?
(Several
voices in the audience) God.
(Wilfred) And
what does the Bible say?
(Several
voices talking at once) Unintelligible
(Wilfred) It
says the God of peace. It says that God did it and there are quite a few places
in the New Testament where it says that it was God who raised Jesus from the
dead.
So here you
have one of those contradictions, one of those paradoxes in which you have to use
both eyes to look at them, to fuse them to get a more realistic image of the
thought.
(A woman in
the audience) The way it states that God did it explains itself
.........
(Wilfred) Ok.
“That great shepherd of the sheep,” .... Who’s that
talking about? Jesus. .... “through the blood of the
everlasting covenant,” .... Now, does that refer to bringing Him again from the
dead, or does it refer to what comes next? “Make you perfect in every good
work”?
(A woman in
the audience) Both.
(Wilfred)
Good for you. The Bible is full of this. This multiple
meaning, this multiple application. One person will see a thought one
way and somebody else will see it another direction and Sister White says, that’s the way the Word is. And no mind can see the whole
thing. But we have to be willing to open our mind to accept what is in there.
It was through the blood of the Everlasting Covenant that God raised Jesus from
the dead and it is also through the blood of the Everlasting Covenant that we
will be made .... “perfect in
every good work to do His will working in you that which is well-pleasing in
his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever
and ever. Amen.”
Now, what was
this blood of the Everlasting Covenant again?
(A man in the
audience) His spirit.
(Wilfred) His Spirit. Can you see that the spirit of life of Christ
was the agency that brought Him from the tomb? Where was that Spirit of His
life when He was in the tomb?
(A woman in
the audience) With the Father.
(Wilfred) With the Father. Who’s was it?
(A man in the
audience) Christ’s
(Wilfred)
His, it was Christ’s. Was it within Himself?
(Many voices
in the audience) Unintelligible
(Wilfred)
Here we are touching on a mystery now that we will have to be cautious with.
There were not
two Christs, there was only one. But the divine
nature of Christ did not die. She says, it cannot die.
But the human nature of Christ died. And in His humanity He was totally
unconscious, and He had relinquished His former life so the life that exists in
the Holy Ghost is the ghost of the life of Christ, so to speak, is the ghost of
Christ. Christ Jesus is not conscious in Heaven when He is in the tomb. Do you
understand? He is asleep. So Jesus in the tomb cannot make a decision to decide
that He is coming out of the tomb. That’s obvious.
(A woman in
the audience) The angels.................
(Wilfred)
Your Father calls. You see? But the arraignment had been made in the
Everlasting Covenant in the terms. Christ had set down the terms, and the
Father was the administrator who carried out His wishes. And it was the life
that was within His self that the Father had given Him that He had returned to
the Father that had brought Him forth from the tomb. Now do you see it?
(A woman in
the Audience) Well, does our everlasting life go back to the Father?
(Wilfred) We
do not have everlasting life in ourselves.
(Same woman
in the Audience) But won’t we get it?
(Wilfred)
Yes. But it will be Christ’s that we get, not ours.
(Same woman
in the Audience) Well, did that actually stay with Him or did He give it up.
What He had when He was honored, did that actually go back?...........
(Wilfred)
Remember what He said...........
(Same woman
in the Audience) Unintelligible
(Wilfred)
Yes. That’s right. And another thing He said at the cross, My God, My God, why
have thou forsaken me? He was left in His humanity to die the death of a
sinner. Well, again I say we are dealing with something we cannot get all the
details on. But we can state the facts as given in the Bible and The Spirit of
Prophesy. And from there on we better not speculate because we might get into
trouble.
(Same woman
in the Audience) One more question, The eternal life
that He was given from his Father as He came of age and got older and older,
did that go back to His Father as He was dying on the cross? Or was that still
inside of Him.
(Wilfred) I
thought we just answered that, didn’t we?
(Same woman
in the Audience) Well, I guess I didn’t get it.
(Wilfred) Into
His Father hands He commended His Spirit.
(Same woman
in the Audience) So, He did get it back.
(Wilfred)
Yes, but this can apply to His physical spirit, too. His
human life. Where it said He gave up the ghost in the Bible. It’s a
lower case letter it’s not capitalized. But He relinquished the totality of His
eternal life before He ever came to this world.
(Same woman
in the Audience) Unintelligible
(Wilfred)
That was His first death. The death of sleep. When He went unconscious. When He was in Mary’s womb His was
unconscious, When He was in the cradle there He was conscience, but just very
little, you know, as the baby begins to dawn into consciousness. He certainly
had none of the powers of His former body. He had no power to make a decision
to decide whether He wanted it or not. This was all taken care of in the terms
of the covenant that the Father was working out according to the Sons volunteer
plan. Do you understand?
(Same woman
in the Audience) Unintelligible
(Wilfred) If
He were He could not have died.
(Same woman
in the Audience) Before He gave it up was He alive?
(Wilfred) In Heaven?
(Same woman
in the Audience) Before He gave it up on the cross.
(Wilfred)
That question is a little difficult because you see, He was dual, He was humanity
and divinity combined. In His humanity He was mortal,
in His divinity He was immortal. Let me put it this way, by a decision of the
will He could have used His immortal power to withstand disease and the
inroads, she has a statement on that. And He could have used that power in His
own behalf against the devil and to overcome sin and temptation. He could have
done that by a decision, because it was His, but He did not do it. He used only
the strength or power that was delivered to Him by God, without Christ taking
it, do you understand?
(A man in the
audience) She says, He used only that power which is
freely available to us.
(Wilfred)
Yes. And she also says that He overcame in the strength given Him from God. She
says that.
Now, is there any questions on that or is it still hazy?
(Same woman
in the Audience) Unintelligible
(Wilfred) His divinity. See, you get half your inheritance from your
father and half from your mother you know. And I don’t understand that combination
and Mrs. White says that it is a mystery. That’s not to say that the Lord can’t
reveal that mystery. But he hasn’t revealed it to me. And I don’t understand
that, maybe somebody else does. All I know is that here are two natures and we
can have those same two natures, I know that too, because she said so. And
unless we do have those two natures we’ll never overcome sin because the only
way we can overcome sin is to partake of the divine nature, She
says it in so many words. And it’s the same Spirit, the eternal life Spirit of
Christ, the very soul of the life of Christ that God will deliver to you and me
in response to our prayer and the added intersession of Jesus, she says it. And
that’s how we get the anointing of the Holy Ghost and the power to get rid of
sin. All the decisions we make in the world to get rid of sin will never do
it. It’s true she says the expulsion of
sin is an act of the soul itself. That’s right, it is
because God isn’t going to sin. He’s not going to make a decision to sin. We
made the decision to sin, the only one to make the decision not to sin is us,
but we haven’t that power to implement that decision, until we receive it.
(A man in the
Audience) This will make it plain, from Desire of Ages, page 466.4, She says, “The expulsion of sin is the act of the soul
itself. True, we have no power to free ourselves from Satan's control; but when
we desire to be set free from sin, and in our great need cry out for a power
out of and above ourselves, the powers of the soul are imbued with the divine
energy of the Holy Spirit, and they obey the dictates of the will in fulfilling
the will of God.”
(Wilfred)
Perfect. That was exactly what I was trying to say.
(A man in the
Audience) You did say that.
(Wilfred) Did
I? Good. Now, here is another one, Hebrews 10:19 & 20. I just want
to show you two or three of these so you’ll get the idea of how the Bible can
open up with renewed understanding when you get the key. And this is one of the
major keys to understanding the gospel. Hebrews 10 starting at 19, maybe
18, He’s talking here about the New Covenant, did you notice? 16 “This is the
covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will
put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; 17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. 18
Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. 19 Having
therefore, brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, .... Oh, I don’t think I want to get sidetracked on this
but. What does it mean to enter into holiest?
(A man in the audience) ...........where he met with His people.
(Wilfred) Where He met with His people. And what happens in that
holiest apartment?
(A man in the
audience) That’s where the cleansing took place.
(Wilfred)
That’s where the cleansing took place. Did you get that? Now he says, “We can
therefore enter boldly to the holiest by what?”
(A man in the
audience) By the blood of Jesus.
(Wilfred) Do
you see the connection? The blood of Jesus is the cleansing stream whereby we
are washed.
(A man in the
audience) This is what cleanses the sanctuary.
(Wilfred) And
what is it?
(A man in the
audience) The Holy Spirit.
(Wilfred) The Holy Spirit, the very life of Christ the creative power.
And she tells us that it is the same creative power that was used at the
creation of this world, which has to recreate the image of God in the soul. So
we enter by the blood of Jesus. .... 20 “By a new and living way, which he hath
consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;” .... And that is another one. He talks about the flesh and
the blood, remember? The way to get into the Holiest is through the veil. And
what is the veil? The veil is His flesh. That’s what it says doesn’t it? Do you
understand that?
(A man in the
audience) We enter that heritage that He laid down before He came to this
world.
(A woman in
the audience) It could also mean the word which is the Bible. ***
(Wilfred)
Shall I explain something here; I don’t think I have done it before. Before
Christ laid down His life in the Heavenly sanctuary court prior to coming to
this world He delivered to His Old Testament prophets the word of truth. It’s
buried in there. The Old Testament contains the content of truth that was in
the body of Christ. His brain contained a record of everything that ever happened, nothing escaped Him; all truth was recorded in
that body it was ingrained into the computer mechanism of that body, into those
cells, whatever they were made of. And it was permanent He had an eternal
memory. Do you go along with that? So, He was the record of all truth, wasn’t
He? Then He could say, I am the truth, couldn’t He, in more senses than one.
Now, that body was going to be disintegrated, physically. He was no longer
going to live in it, right? He’s not in it now, is He?
(A man in the
audience) He came to live in a human body forever she said,
(Wilfred) Right. And what is going to replace that body, as the
totality of Christ? The bodies of His saints. He is
the head they are the members in particular. I just read you part of that.
(A man in the
audience) But He retains His human form forever.
(Wilfred) He
retains His human form, but in the mystical body, He is the head.
(A man in the
audience) Right, in the mystical body.
(Wilfred) In the mystical body. That’s what I am talking about, see.
Now, What I want to point out is that the truth recorded in that body and the
powers of that body, the omnipresence, omnipotence and
so on, the different powers of that body are to be divided and given to His
people. And the word of God that He delivered through the Spirit to the Old
Testament prophets contains the ingredients which if they were put into our
physical brains, that same spirit that gave life to that body back there can
come in to our brains and give life to that truth. I can read you statements to
verify that. If you don’t have that truth in there to start with the Spirit
will have nothing to work on. It’s the Spirit that makes the word of God alive.
Not in the book, in the brain. Don’t you see that? You can read the book and
get the ingredients into the brain but you may not understand what you are
reading, not until the Spirit comes to give life to that word. Do you see it?
So there is an allegorical pattern of the body of Christ and the fact that it
is His word. Now I said the Old Testament because up to that point because that
was as far as Christ was able to do it. Because from there on
He laid down His life. The last words He ever gave to His prophet are in
the last verses of Malachi.
The next
thing that happens is the Holy Ghost begins to function, and there is the
miraculous birth and there is a human brain and there is a Spirit that comes.
But that human brain was versed in the scriptures and the Spirit came and into
that brain came back the knowledge of truth that He recorded in the first
place. That was recorded in that body in the first place. And He spoke those
words of life and His disciples picked them up and the people picked them up
and the same Spirit came to those minds of those disciples and they wrote. And
then Paul came along, and he wrote, and we have the New Testament.
(A man in the
Audience) And the Word became flesh
(Wilfred) And dwelt among us. So now we have the two Testaments, the
two Covenants, and we have the self same Spirit that them both to reproduce
them in our minds. And no mind is going to have the whole totality of that
reproduced in it. The human brain does not have the capacity at the present
time to contain that.
(A woman in
the audience) That’s why we see it from a different angle.
(Wilfred) One reason.
(A man in the
audience) It takes a hundred and forty four thousand to contain that totality.
(Wilfred) Right. When you take the collective ingredients of the
hundred and forty four thousand brains connected with the brain of Christ you
have the restoration of the body of Christ. He said, destroy this temple and in
three days I will raise it up. And that has more than one meaning. Because one
day with the Lord is as a thousand years just as the history of this world, it
parallels the creation week. Six thousand years and incidentally I have a host
of statements at home from the White Estate now on the six thousand years that
Sister has pointed out, and I’ll bring them to you when get through with this
other material.
(A woman in
the audience) Well isn’t Christ on the ....... any more then.
(Wilfred)
Each day is for and thousand years and in three days he said He would raise it
up now as His physical body went in to the tomb and on third day it was raised.
So you have the laying down of the body of Christ and on the third day it will
be raised, and that is now. The third thousand years, it is in the midst of the
week that Messiah was cut off. That gives us the key as to when Jesus or Christ
laid down His life in the Heavenly sanctuary. And for several hundred years
there are no prophecies until Jesus showed up in Bethlehem.
Well, it all
fits, the parallel is there. And it doesn’t matter whether you believe it or
not. It’s just there, that’s all. Now, you had a question and you had a
question.
(A woman in
the audience) If Christ gave up those powers which would be the omnipresence
and omniscience and the rest of that and those powers will go to the saints,
then His doesn’t have to powers He had before.
(Wilfred)
That’s right.
(A man in the
audience) Didn’t He say that He wouldn’t drink of this cup.
(Wilfred) At
Gethsemane He made the final decision, there was no turning back from here on
in; He was going through with the plan.
(A woman in
the audience) Your saying then that when we get to
Heaven we will be equal with Christ being the body.
(Wilfred) No.
We are the body He is the head. In Him dwellest all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. But we will have a portion of that blood that He had in His original
body, that eternal life Spirit. That’s the only way we can get eternal life we
will have a portion of that. That’s what He did; He gave each of them a part,
didn’t He? When He broke the body He gave each of them a
part. They didn’t each take the whole thing. But He is the head; He has
been reinstated with the unanimous approval of everyone. And not until He is
married to the body, which takes place before the close of probation, is the
unit restored and completed. But then there will be the mystical union between
Christ and His saints, it will be restored just as same as your brain has a
connection with your toe. And if you want to wiggle that toe, you make a
decision and the toe wiggles. So, this is important now, I hope you get this
now, and don’t get it twisted. So, when the head makes a decision that He would
like to have something done, He is not going to dictate to the toe, that’s the
one difference. It’s not a dictation it’s a council. He becomes the councilor,
that’s what the Bible says. No force. But if He wants the toe to wiggle in this
big mystical body, and of course that could mean anything, not just the
wiggling of the toe in the physical sense. You understand what I’m getting at.
But He wants who ever is the
toe in that body He wants him to do some particular thing for Him. He has that
inter connection by the Spirit, the still small voice of the Spirit that will
connect with the mind of that toe and it will be a request in the mind of that
person that will not come as a request, it will come as an instinctive desire, that I would like to do this. And he will follow the
dictates of his own will and in doing it he’s fulfilling the will of Christ.
Now, that’s not my words, those are the words of our prophet. She didn’t talk
about the toe; it’s that second part I’m talking about. His ruler-ship will be
an internal thing, the Kingdom of God is within you and in following your own
dictates the your mind will be so united with the mind of Christ that following
your own will you are following the will of Christ.
(A man in the
audience) May I read it brother?
(Wilfred) Ok,
read it that’s good.
(A man in the
audience) And if we consent, He will so identify Himself with our thoughts and
our aims, so blend our hearts and minds into conformity to His will, that when
obeying Him we shall be but carrying out our own impulses. Desire of Ages
page 668.3.
(Wilfred) Can
you think of any better form of government than that? Today we want to do the
things that are not in harmony with God’s will and we have to discipline
ourselves to do His will constantly. I’m I right? Why is that? Because our hearts are not in tune with his. We have not yet
got into the union with the head. He has not yet cleansed the sanctuary, the
temple, His body from sin. But that’s the work of the Heavenly sanctuary. And
while that’s going on there is a parallel work going on here on earth. There is
to be a cleansing of the soul temple here, and it will be done by the agency of
the Holy Spirit, He is going to condemn sin in the flesh not only as He did it
back there, it says He condemned sin in the flesh, didn’t it? He’s going to
come and condemn sin in the flesh of every member of His body. By His blood He is going to cleanse the soul
temple from sin. So, our temple will be a pure and holy temple for the
indwelling of the Spirit and an habitation for God
through the eternal Spirit, it says. And that Spirit will be the connecting
link between us and the Head. Like the nerves of the body, and it will also be
like the blood stream, bringing the life, the nutrients for the spiritual body.
Got the picture? Well, it’s not my picture; it’s the picture that’s in here. If
you want to read it, just read your Bible, it’s all in there and you will see
it.
(A man in the
audience) Was the Holy Spirit functional before Christ’s death?
(Wilfred)
Yes.
(Same man in the audience) And if it was His
eternal Spirit He could divorce himself of that Spirit gradually at birth but
He couldn’t do it while He was still here?
(Wilfred) Oh
yes.
(Same man in
the audience) Because He said, unless I go away the Spirit cannot come
(Wilfred) To you.
(Same man in
the audience) But it was in Him?
(Wilfred) But
only that which God gave Him, only that which God will
also give us. But prior to His coming here, that was His life in Himself that
God had given Him, it was His possession. It would never be taken away from
Him. It was His own.
(A man in the
audience) And He voluntarily laid........
(Wilfred) He
voluntarily laid it down. Yes. She makes that very plain. And when Christ was
at creation there, you never hear about the Spirit as a separate Godhead, do
you? Can you find any place in the Old Testament where you have a separate
spirit? It is the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of God, which is the Spirit of
Christ. And through that Spirit Christ performed all these functions. When He
laid down that Spirit he went to sleep, because it was His Spirit of life. And
when you breathe into the nostrils the breath of life, man is made in His image
don’t forget, when you breathe into his nostrils the breath of life he becomes
a living soul. But the Spirit that was in the body of Christ, as Sister White
says, His Spirit is in His word, which is the symbol of the body of Christ. The
Spirit that was in the body of Christ was the eternal Spirit of God, the life
in Himself, the self-generating life, and He relinquished that. But He was
given a measure of that during His earthly ministry. He could have by His own
decision tapped into the whole thing.
(A man in the
audience) And deserted the human race.
(Wilfred) And deserted the human race. And gone back, He could have done
that. But He emptied Himself. That’s the very words she uses. He emptied
Himself. And He accepted what God gave Him. Of himself He could do nothing. For
our sakes He did that so that we would have an example to see that it could be
done. And as we have faith in that plan God can fulfill it our lives. And if
you don’t believe it you can and I am sad to say that there are people in our
Church today who don’t believe it. They don’t believe that God can perfect
them, until He changes their bodies at the second coming.
(A man in the
audience) But the Bible and The Spirit of Prophesy are plain that we
must have our characters perfected prior to the close of probation because then
we have to live in the sight of a holy God without an intercessor.
(Wilfred) That’s
right. Now we understand of course that the body will not be changed until the
second coming. We understand that. So, if you mean by perfection, the total
perfection of the body then that is correct. God could do it, but He isn’t
going to do it. Why isn’t He going to do it? Because He wants to demonstrate
that the devil is wrong. He wants to prove that in the most degenerate body of
the human cycle as we have it today, in that very body
it is possible for a human being through connection to the divine nature to
live without sin. And with all the temptations that the devil can throw at him,
it can be done. Ok Ted.
(A man in the
audience) She said, “The conditions of eternal life, under grace, are just what
they were in Eden--perfect righteousness, harmony with God, perfect conformity
to the principles of His law. .... “This standard is not one to which we cannot
attain.” Thoughts from the Mount of
Blessing page 76
(Wilfred) Right. That is right. There are quite a few statements
saying the same thing.
(A woman in
the audience) Well, was he saying that the Holy Spirit didn’t come to the
disciples in its fullness? Was His Spirit with Him and on the earth when He was
living but not in its fullness?
(Wilfred) For
some reason the Father could not bestow the fullness of the Spirit on the
Saints until Jesus had gone through with His ratification of the Covenant.
That’s right.
(Same woman
in the audience) I think I understand that too. But then what power was it that
the disciples cast out the devils?
(Wilfred)
That was the Holy Spirit.
(A man in the
audience) It wasn’t the full outpouring.
(Wilfred) It
wasn’t the full outpouring, No.
(A woman in
the audience) I was thinking that we had to have the Holy Spirit in order to
even understand what He was even............
(Wilfred)
That’s true, they do. The Spirit comes by measure. But in the latter rain it’s
going to come without measure.
(A man in the
audience) Brother Johnson, it appears to me that the ministry of holy angels
has everything to do with the delivering of the Holy Spirit to us upon earth.
Because we know that it was by the power of the Holy Spirit that these miracles
were wrought. Yet in another place it says in Desire of Ages (DA 143.1},
All the miracles of Christ were wrought by the agency of the angels. And if you
will study in the indexes under the ministry of angels, and then if you will
study under the Holy Spirit you’ll see that the work seems to be parallel in
almost every aspect.
(Wilfred) Thanks
for bringing that in John, I had thought to bring it in. But the thought had
passed my mind that I shouldn’t because it may complicate it. But I’m glad you
brought it. That’s an indication that I should have brought too. So, let me
just point this out. The miracles of Christ and the disciples were performed by
the power of God through the agency of the angels.
(A man in the
audience) Unintelligible
(Wilfred) The
power of God is through the Spirit; the Holy Spirit is the agency that operates
all the functions. Whatever He hears, He does or says. He is the administrative
agent. He is the part of the Godhead that can reach
...........
(A man in the
audience) Is He an agent for the Father and the Son? Or, is He just an agent
for the Son? And wasn’t it through the power of the Son which life within himself, because of this power He was able to cast out and
it was the imparting of this power to His disciples that gave them in turn
power. Or did this power while He was here on earth, of course this is getting
picky and maybe this is the spot we mustn’t venture but it’s just curiosity and
maybe we will not be satisfied. Was it power ordained from above or was within
Christ and then imparted to His disciples. And if the Holy Spirit was taken
away from Him which He gave up of Himself, prior to His birth because as you
have indicated, there is no thought there in the embryo then at birth, life
started to function and as you indicated the holy Spirit is given in part was
that impartation then given to Christ as a babe and developed because of his
receptiveness and might there just be this suggestion that this might in part
be the function of the angel to determine because they are the ones who keep
the records. As to the receptiveness of our hearts to the impulses, the
principles of Heaven and the more we be receptive the more we are following the
more we desire to follow then the more power can be turned on.
(Wilfred) Ok.
Now, you brought up several points there and I was trying to keep them
straight. We have covered that. I think you were absent. But I’m going to just
repeat it. It may not be on the tape because some things we have discussed that
didn’t get on the tapes. We ran out. So, let me answer it. Unless
everybody is satisfied? Ok. We can only say, or a
least I can only say with a clear conscience what I find in here. And beyond
that I’ll tell you this is my idea. But I’m telling you what’s in here now. If
the angels, if the miracles of Christ were preformed
by the power of God through the agency of the angels it is very obvious to me
that Christ made the decision, God responded through the agency of the Holy
Spirit through the angel.
Now, we think
about the woman who touched the hem of His garment and He felt virtue go out of
Him. All right? Now there is a case where the power
came through the angel to Jesus to the patient. And I have documentation for
that in my files from the physical world on how the devil does it, and the
devil is an angel. He can impart power to a human being and that human being can
impart that power to someone else and heal them. And you can feel it and you
can measure it with instruments.
Now your
third point. Well before I leave that one. He emptied himself and depended on
the power given Him from God. And the angels are sent forth as ministers to
minister to those who will be heirs of salvation. He placed Himself in the same
position as we are in. That there was no power that He used
that we cannot have. And He says, Greater things than these shall ye do.
Remember that? Now, it won’t be us that does them it
will be the power of God through the agency of the angels that does them. Now,
beyond that maybe we should discuss it afterwards or privately so I don’t get
completely off my track here tonight. I didn’t intend to take all this time on
these. But that’s all right. I mean it’s good. I think that we are getting
something. And you may want to think about that brother. And I can point out
the statements to you so that you can mull them over. And in the final analysis
I’m not so sure that it does make an awful lot of difference, just what the
details of the technique are.
(A man in the
audience) The only way the Spirit can be transmitted to the human is via the
angel; they’re ministering Spirits that has to be the way it has to come......
(Wilfred) I
don’t think so. We were talking about the power that heals at that point
weren’t we?
(Same man in
the audience) The Spirit lighted on Christ when He was baptized, right?
(Wilfred)
Yes.
(Same man in
the audience) That wasn’t an angel.
(Wilfred) No.
(Same man in
the audience) It came down in the form of a dove,
(Wilfred) Right.
(Same man in
the audience) See? The Spirit therefore must be a.... I don’t mean to be inquisitive,
curious, or anything, I’m just trying to think this thing through. If it can be
transmitted in the form of a dove, was it transmitted by an angel or can it be
sent directly from the Father? If he so elects, of course I don’t know if this
is a very important point but it’s something I can’t put my finger on.
(Wilfred) Ok.
Now. I don’t know whether the dove was associated with
an angel or was it associated directly with the manifestation of the outpouring
of the Spirit by the Father. I don’t know that.
(Same man in
the audience) Doesn’t say that the Heavens opened and the Spirit....
(Wilfred) And
the voice of the Father was heard. And there again, maybe it was spoken through
someone else. We really don’t know. At least I don’t know. But the fact is that
Jesus did not accept any power for Himself that cannot come to us the same way.
We can say that much.
(Same man in
the audience) Right, If we conform to this point, see this is again if we
conform totally as Christ conformed then there is no reason why the power
switch can’t be turned all the way, like a thermostat, like these rheostats,
like these lights here, we can throw them on full, there is were
I kind of see the function of the angel, He can determine by our daily acts and
motives and they can read our minds and say they can not.
And if it is in our hearts to do right then they can turn up the thermostat.
This is the way I think about.
(Wilfred)
Well I don’t think there is ant harm in thinking of
it that way. I don’t really know the mechanics of it completely. But, I have
read a lot of reports on things that are going on that the devil is doing. And I certainly got a lot of ideas on how this
thing functions and he is an angel and he is functioning as an angel. And if he
can do it, the good angels can do the same type of thing. And when I read
statements in The Spirit of Prophesy and in the Bible the thing just
clicks as far as I’m concerned. I can see how it can be done.
(Same man in
the audience) I was just wondering whether it could be short-circuiting and
directly from the Father if He so elects.
(Wilfred) I
would say yes. Very definitely, But you made a statement at the end there that
I think is significant , “If He so elects”. Now what
does the Father do? He did nothing accept through His Son, right?
(Same man in
the audience) But you see, He poured out His Spirit in the form of a dove to
His Son........
(Wilfred)
Now, I’m going a little beyond that now. I’m going right to creation.
(Same man in
the audience) All right.
(Wilfred) How
does the Father function?
(Another man
in the audience) Through the Son.
(Wilfred)
Everything was done through the Son. Nothing was created accept through the
Son. That’s His normal way of functioning. Now, when the Son gave up His life, when
He gave that up and it was to be delivered to us. It would seem to me that from
here on in He’s going to do it through His created beings. At least they are
going to share in it. Now, when Christ was on earth He was the first example of
this new body He was the head, the first born of ever creature, the first
begotten from the dead. He was the first one that became union of divinity and
humanity.
(A man in the
audience) The only one at that point.
(Wilfred) At
that point, Yes. The only one. Now it’s my own
personal opinion, and I’m giving my opinion, I’m very suspicious that
everything that God did was through the angels. These are the ministering
spirits though whom He functions to work out the plan of salvation in His
people. I’m suspicious of that.
What about
revelation of truth? Does the Spirit first reveal it to your guardian angel and
he relays it? For instance, when Gabriel came to Daniel, who was it that
delivered the truth to him? It was the angel. And John the revelator, and
Sister White, But now, suppose they don’t come in an actual person. You don’t
see them but you get the inspiration of the Spirit. Would you say that that
direct from the spirit? Or would you say there might be an angel involved? I
cannot point my finger to any direct proof at the moment. I don’t have a
conclusion on it and I haven’t really worried about it.
(Another man
in the audience) It comes through the Spirit, but just ....
(Wilfred)
Whether it comes directly or through, that’s the point. But I don’t know
whether it matters that much, at least it hasn’t become an issue with me yet.
(A man in the
audience) It says, “The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave unto Him to
show unto His servants things which must shortly come
to pass and He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John.” So
here it seems that God gave it to His Son in Heaven who signified it to the
angel who took it to John. There’s the four, the Father, the Son, the angel,
the human agent. And John was a prophet who showed it to us. And that self same
Spirit then comes to us to help us understand it.
(Wilfred) Right. But does He come directly or through an angel?
(A man in the
audience) I think through an angel.
(A woman in
the audience) What about the angel descending on the latter?
(Wilfred) Oh,
good for you. You know she says that in the closing up of this work there is
going to be constant communication between Heaven and earth through the angels.
She also says that the angel carry your prayer to Jesus, your prayer does not
go to Him directly, it goes through the angel.
(A man in the
audience) That picture is in Revelation were the angel with the censer.
(Wilfred)
That’s right.
(A man in the
audience) It does say, that even our most earnest
prayers coming through the corrupt channel of humanity could not ascend before
the Father if not purified by the blood of Christ.
(Wilfred)
Which is again?
(A man in the
audience) The Holy Spirit.
(Wilfred) The Holy Spirit. Ted, you had a question?
(Ted)
Unintelligible
(Wilfred) But
there again, the Fathers direct presence is though the agency of the Hoy
Spirit.
Ok! Let’s
move on. Here’s one in Revelation 12:11 I think it is. Well, I better read it.
I don’t have a quote on and I don’t want to make a mistake. 11 “And they
overcame him” .... That is the serpent, the devil.
.... “by the blood of the Lamb,” .... Do you understand that now? .... “and by the word of
their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” .... Well, I
just wanted to show the application there. Here you can read this text now.
They over came him by the blood of the lamb. I never
understood that text.
(The end of C/D #23 and the beginning of C/D #24)
Well, I just
wanted to show the application there. Here you can read this text now. They over came him by the blood of the lamb and I never
understood that text. How do you overcome by the blood of the lamb? Tell me. I
have never heard anybody explain it to me. In any manner that made sense to me.
(A man in the
audience) It says His life is the Holy Spirit.
Wilfred)
Well, that explains it. That makes sense to me.
(A woman in
the audience) What does “by the word of their testimony” mean?
(Wilfred)
What do you think it means?
(Several
voices in the audience) Unintelligible
(Wilfred) The
word of their testimony would be the revelation that they gained through the
influence of the Spirit of the word. So the word their testimony is going to be
just like I was going to illustrating here that when they read the word they
have the understanding. That is, they can explain that they overcame by the
blood of the lamb, which means they overcame by the power of the Spirit. Now, I
think there is another slant to, “the word of their testimony. Do you remember
what Brother Vendon dug out of Steps to Christ?
What were the steps?
(A man in the
audience) Study, pray, and witnessing.
(Wilfred)
Study, pray, and witnessing. Now, there is something about sharing, witnessing,
that cuts the grooves a little deeper here, and gives you a more positive
ability to implement your decision. There may be that slant to it too. Yes?
(A man in the
audience) Well, there’s a great deal in The Spirit of Prophesy about
testimony meanings and us telling what God has done for us. Here’s one
statement in Desire of Ages 340. It say, “If we have been following
Jesus step by step, we shall have something right to the point to tell
concerning the way in which He has led us. We can tell how we have tested His
promise, and found the promise true. We can bear witness to what we have known
of the grace of Christ. This is the witness for which our Lord calls, and for
want of which the world is perishing.” .... She says
the whole world is perishing because this word of the testimony of Christians
is lacking. And Brother, could I just bring a text on this very point you were
just bringing up about the blood of the Lamb?
(Wilfred)
Yes.
(A man in the
audience) It’s in Revelation 1:5, and it talks about
Jesus. It says, “And from Jesus
Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and
the prince of the kings of the earth.” .... And this
is what I wanted us to notice. ....
“Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,”
(Wilfred)
Yes, Washed in the blood of the Lamb.
(A man in the
audience) So, it is the Holy Spirit that cleanses us from our sins.
(Wilfred)
That’s right. It has to be, because it says that it is the Spirit that does the
transforming. Now, I could read you other statements, we went over this in the
last series last year. But it is the two things, The Word and the Spirit,
remember that? It is by the Word that we are transformed and it is by the
Spirit we are transformed. But the two are together, because the Word without
the Spirit is dead. So, eventually the life giving power that does the job is
the Spirit, but it does it though the Word, we are sanctified by the truth, thy
Word is truth. Remember that? So, we mustn’t get too narrow, we must leave our
minds open to take the whole thing in.
(A man in the
audience) That’s where the study part comes in.
(Wilfred)
That’s where the study part comes in. Yes. Well, I’ll be through with these in
just a minute here.
“The Church
on earth composed of those who are faithful and loyal to God is the true
tabernacle wherein the Redeemer is the minister.” ....
John read that to us I think a week or two ago. “God and not man pitched this
tabernacle on a high elevated platform. This tabernacle is Christ’s body.” .... Does that identify it? .... “And from north, south,
east, and west He gathers those who shall help to compose it. A holy tabernacle
is built up of those who receive Christ as their personal Savior. Christ is the
minister of the true tabernacle, the High Priest of all who believe in Him as a
personal Savior.” That was printed in The Signs of the Times Feb. 24th
1900. And reprinted in volume 7 of the Bible Commentary,
page 931. Then if we are the tabernacle, the true
temple that is to be cleansed of sin. Don’t you see where the parallel
work comes in? What’s He doing now? He cleansing the sanctuary from sin, He’s
in the holy of holies.
(A man in the
audience) The holiest of all.
(Wilfred) The holiest of all. All right, and He’s administering what? The blood. What does it mean to administer the blood?
(A man in the
audience) To send the Holy Spirit.
(Wilfred) To send the Holy Spirit. What for? To give the power to
implement the decision to cease from sin and cause the creative change in the
patterns that are in there that need to get out so you
will now love to do the law of God instead of pushing yourself to do it.
(A man in the
audience) Something just came to my mind. I need to ask you a question.
(Wilfred) Ok.
(Same man in
the audience) Going back to the sanctuary services of the Jewish tabernacle
where they took blood and put it on the horns of the alter
and the blood of the lamb, these are all the symbol of the work of the Holy
Spirit then.
(Wilfred)
That is right!
(Same man in
the audience) And if we go back and study the Jewish economy we will understand
more of God’s work for us.
(Wilfred) Do
you realize what she says? She says, that there are
many things in that old Jewish economy that are not yet understood, but the
gospel is the key that unlocks the mystery. And what is the gospel? The gospel
is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” And what is “Christ in you, the hope of
glory?”
(Same man in
the audience) The Holy Spirit.
(Wilfred) The Holy Spirit. What is the gospel? The gospel is, He will
forgive us our sins and give us power to live without sin. How does that come? By the Holy Spirit. Do you see the key? The
sacrifice of Christ. She also says that we will understand the
incarnation of Christ and He sacrifice and His
mediatorial work far better than we do. I could read you that. We haven’t
understood that. Do you see? But now the work is to be completed. And the Bible
says that God will do nothing except He does what?
(Several
voices in the audience) But he revealeth his secret
unto his servants the prophets.
(Wilfred) Ok.
So we are gaining a little more insight into it. Right?
So, do you see that Joel chapter two is being fulfilled, right here? Do
you see that? We’ve preached it, we’ve said it’s going to happen, it’s got to
happen, and it’s happening in other places.
(A woman in
the audience) Who is administering the Holy Spirit God or Jesus?
(Wilfred)
Jesus.
(A woman in
the audience) I always thought the God was the administrator of the will.
(Wilfred)
That’s right. Jesus is the intercessor. It’s in the hands of the Father.
(A woman in
the audience) Then how could Jesus be the intercessor?
(Wilfred)
Well, why not?
(A man in the
audience) It says that the Father gave all the treasures of Heaven into the
hands of Christ.
(Another man
in the audience) That’s when He in, He wouldn’t accept the worship of Mary, He
said, detain me not because I have not yet ascended to the Father. And when He
got up there all the angels of God and He waved them back until He went in. And
it says He was guided by a light and He desire was,
not only for Himself but would the Father accept the sacrifice in behalf of
everybody and there is the complete ratification. And at that time the Father
gave it all into His hands.
(Wilfred) Right. Well, He does it by intersession, He prays the
Father. That’s what He said. I will pray the Father and He will give you
another comforter, even the Holy Ghost. See? The Father is hesitant to
administer the Holy Ghost until the Son is willing to accept the consequences,
because He is responsible, He has pledged Himself to be my surety forever. And
it’s for Him to decide when the Holy Spirit is to be given to me. When He sees
that I am ready. I have fulfilled the conditions and He is willing to take a
chance on me at that point, He says, Father, sent it to Wilf
Johnson. In that sense He is administering it. Isn’t He?
You want me
to repeat that?
(A man in the
audience) No, I think I got.
(Wilfred)
It’s on the tape.
And here it
says in Hebrews 10:14 “For by one offering He hath perfected for ever
them that are sanctified.” And I won’t comment on that. But it is a tremendous
statement. Then in the next verse it says, that the Holy Ghost is a witness to
us regarding the New Covenant. I don’t think that is exactly the quote but its in there.
And here is
another one, Patriarchs and Prophets page 372. “The same law that was
engraved upon the tables of stone is written by the Holy Spirit upon the tables
of the heart.” .... What law was written on the tables
of stone? The ten commandment law. What law is written
in the tables of the heart? The law of self-denying love.
She says that it’s the same law. The ten commandments
would not have to be given if they had remained in contact with the Lord as
they were supposed to do, she says. The real law is the law of self-renouncing
love. The ten commandments are how it is spelled out
to people who have fallen quite a ways down the road and they need some
guidance. But you see, the ten commandment law under conditions of sinfulness
in a sinful environment some times have to be broken,
and I say that advisedly. You do not keep the ten commandment law 100%. The thing that determines whether you are keeping the spiritual law
or not is the motivation. If you are doing something of faith knowing it
is the right thing to do according to the law of love. You are keeping the law,
even though you may be transgressing a literal commandment. Want me to prove
that? I’ve done it before. The devil is right when he says the Lord did not
keep His own commandments. His commandments says thou
shall not kill, and He told the people to go on in there and kill. His people, go on in there and kill. So, He did not keep His own
commandment. Do you see my point? But He kept His own law,
The ten
commandment law was a temporary expedient under those circumstances. Do you
know where those ten commandments are going to be in
heaven? They are going to be in the ark and they are going to be closed,
face-to-face, and lid going to be shut. What does that represent?
(A man in the
audience) The mercy seat.
(Wilfred) In the heart, in the heart. You won’t kill; you won’t have
to kill. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my
holy mountain; there won’t be any sin there. But you can’t help killing in this
world. You can’t even walk down the sidewalk without stepping on a spider or an
ant, can you? But I must add this, all things are lawful to me says Paul, but
all things are not expedient. Whatsoever is not of faith is sin. Be very
careful that you don’t use liberty to indulge in license. See? If you don’t have
a clear conscience, beware. Paul said, in all things he strives to have a clear
conscience before God and before man. Have I got the thought across?
Listen, I
don’t want to lose your attention here, I want to get these things across to
you. This may be my last chance to do this particular part of it. Again in Hebrews
7:25 it says that Jesus .... ever
lives to make intercession for us. He ever lives to make intercession for us. I
repeat, He ever lives to make intercession for us. Now
what is this about His intercessory work closing at the close of probation?
(A man in the
audience) Unintelligible
(Wilfred)
Good for you. That’s right, He lays down His
robes.......
(Another man
in the audience) Because His people are sealed in their
foreheads.
(Wilfred) His
people are sealed and He doesn’t need to do it. He’s now going to let them
prove that He doesn’t need to let them do it. And if He didn’t put the robes
down He could be accused of still standing between. Right?
So, He sets them down. But He is always going to be our high priest, forever.
We never need fear that if we should ever fall into sin we’re going to get the
ax. That has been changed. Jesus died once for the sins of the world, and has
committed Himself for eternity under the terms of the everlasting covenant, to
forever stand good for those He accepts. You will never be cast out of the
family of God from here on in. If there is anybody who is going to suffer for
renewed transgression it’s going to be Jesus. And there will be the deterring
factor, the deterring factor; which will guarantee that sin will never again
arise is our adoration for your savior, the love of Jesus. The love of Christ
in your heart will constrain you throughout eternity never to sin again. If
ever you are tempted, you will never do it, you can’t do it, because you know
the character of Christ, and you know what it does to Him. See that there is no
compulsion now, do you see that? And do you see the position He placed Himself
in? Think of what He had to decide there in Gethsemane. Can you see that?
That’s want He decided right there, that He would forever accept the sins of
His people. And if the Father refused to honor the terms of the Everlasting
Covenant and give you the Holy Spirit you could never get out of sin. And He had
to trust His Father that He would do it. He faced eternal death on that cross,
do you get that now? So far as he was concerned, if it hadn’t been for His
faith in His father He was a goner, eternal suffering that was His lot. That is
what the devil threatens people with today, eternal suffering, that’s the kind
of God you got, he says. You better come in or else. Your going to hell fire forever and you are going to
sizzle. The devil knows what he is talking about but he misplaces it. He knows
what kind of a God we’ve got. And we know it. Why don’t we respond? What’s the
matter with us?
(A woman in
the audience) I don’t quite understand, I can see His physical suffering on the
cross but I don’t understand, we talk about Him being
crucified afresh and suffering now for things that we do wrong, just how is He
suffering?
(Wilfred) Would you believe it if we read it to you?
(Same woman
in the audience) Oh, I believe He is, I just want to
know how He is suffering.
(Wilfred)
Again you are asking for details.
(Several
voices speaking at once) Unintelligible
(Wilfred) All
right, Linda, I’ll repeat it, I’ve said it more than once in the past but I
realize that I’m saying thousands of different things and we can’t expect a
100% to stick. I’ve taught long enough to know that. So, I’ll repeat again. Within a short time. I was going to get to that tonight but
I’m not now, because I haven’t got the time.
The Sword of
the Lord is going to come out and come upon His people and they are going to
enter a period of sharing the suffering of Christ in a way that they have never
shared it before. So that they are going to get a personal experience of what
He went through. They will know first hand the kind
of suffering and until you get that kind experience there is
no way I can describe it. But the cross, she says, is a revelation to our dull
senses, and mine are dull too, notice I said too. I’m sorry Linda. To our dull
senses of the pain that entered the heart of God at the inception of sin. In
other words, what was the cross for? Was that the be
all end all for Christ’s suffering? Oh, it represented something more then that. It was a terrible thing to face, it was, It was a terrible thing to face. But it represents something
that has been taking place since sin began. And she goes on to say, and it
doesn’t end there, it continues on, until we quite
sinning. You see, He has bound Himself to His people. He doesn’t suffer
directly for the sins of the world anymore, He suffered once for the sins of
the world on the cross, but He suffers directly for the sins of all those who
accept Him as their personal savior. He then takes them into His family, they
become His child and everything they do wrong, hits Him. Just like it does a parent, and you understand that. And until we get rid
of that He’s going to continue to suffer and you are going to find out exactly
what kind of suffering that is when this great and dreadful day of the Lord
bursts upon you. Which it is going to do very soon.
That’s the reason I’m here, to tell you that it’s coming, all
the signs are there. To show you the message of preparation
which I have been doing my best to give you. And after that that’s all I
can do. It’s up to you. And when it comes you will either swim or sink, and
that’s up to you. If you make the necessary preparation, as we have been
warned, and warned, and warn to do, you will survive. If you don’t you will go
down with Isaiah 57:1 and 2, I think it is. Or, you will be completely
lost, depending on whether you give up the Lord or not. And that again is your
decision.
Well, John has a statement here in Education
page 263, and I won’t read it again, I’ll read the last part. “Every departure
from the right, every deed of cruelty, every failure of humanity to reach His
ideal, brings grief to Him.” .... That’s one form of suffering and grief.
Now, I think that’s all I’m going to do on these
and that sure took a lot longer than I expected. But that’s all right. What we
don’t get done tonight we will get done next time.
Now there are two avenues I could move into or and
you may want to just leave them all to next week and use the rest of the time
for discussion. What have we left here, about thirty-five minutes for the two
hour session. Would you want to just discuss or would
you want me to go in and give you the conditions for receiving the Spirit? I
don’t think I’ll tackle The Sword of the Lord tonight it will be a little too
long. I’ll do whatever you want.
(A man in the audience) Brother Johnson maybe we
could explore that a little more, maybe we can get it even a little clearer, I
think this is a point that maybe we could spend a little time..........
(Wilfred) The sufferings of
Christ?
(Same man in the audience) Yes,
and how we wound Him again by our daily misconducts.
(Wilfred) I don’t think I can explain it any
further than I have already done. Until I go through The Sword of the Lord.
This stuff all ties in you know, like the rungs of a spider web. After I have
gone through that then I think I could explain it a little better.
(A woman in the audience) What we have to do is get
the word into our mind and then the Lord will work with us to understand these
things through patience.
(Wilfred) Yes. When the Holy Spirit begins to start
flowing out and gushing out, you will be seeing things you have seen before and
the things will take on a new meaning for you and you will become settled into
the truth so that nothing can move you. But you won’t get the Spirit unless you
fulfill the conditions. Do you want those? I thought you would.
Well, I’m starting with Gospel Workers page
284. There is a whole chapter here, if you have the book I recommend that you
read the whole chapter.
(For your convenience we have included the entire
chapter starting on
page 37)
I will just
make some extracts from it. Near the bottom of the page she says this, “Christ
promised the gift of the Holy Spirit to His church and the promise belongs as
much to us as to the first disciples. But like every other promise, it is given
on conditions. There are many who profess to believe and claim the Lord's
promises; they talk about Christ and the Holy Spirit; yet they receive no
benefit,” .... Listen. .... “because they do not
surrender their souls to the guidance and control of divine agencies.” So, What’s the first condition?
(A man in the
audience) Surrender.
(Wilfred)
Surrender their souls to what?
(A man in the
audience) Control.
(Wilfred) The guidance and control of divine agencies.
We cannot use
the Holy Spirit; the Spirit is to use us. Through the Spirit, God works in His
people "to will and to do of His good pleasure." But many will not
submit to be led. They want to manage themselves. This is why they do not
receive the heavenly gift. Only to those who wait humbly upon God, who watch
for His guidance and grace, is the Spirit given.” ....
All right, let’s get that one now. Only to those who wait humbly upon God. You
don’t command God, you wait humbly for His timing.
“Who watch for His guidance” .... You keep an eye out.
Watch for His guidance and grace. Grace means forgiveness, favor. Only for
those who watch for this is the Spirit given. .... “This promised blessing,
claimed by faith,” .... All right, you have to claim
it. And by faith you have to believe He will fulfill it. Claimed
by faith. .... “brings all other blessings in
its train.” .... When the Spirit comes” .... What do
you get? All the other blessings. That’s right. ....
”It is given according to the riches of the grace of Christ, and He is ready to
supply every soul according to the capacity to receive.” ....
So who sets the limits?
(Several
voices speaking at once) Unintelligible
(Wilfred) The
soul does. She goes on to say, “The impartation of the Spirit is the
impartation of the life of Christ.”
(A man in the
audience) Reference?
(Wilfred)
This is Gospel Workers page 284 and 285. “Those only who are thus taught
of God, those only who possess the inward working of the Spirit, and in whose
life the Christ life is manifested, can stand as true representatives of the
Saviour.”.... And what is it that we have to do in this final generation? We
have to stand as true representatives of the Savior. But we can’t do it unless
we fulfill this. .... “Those only who are thus taught of God, those only who
possess the inward working of the Spirit and in who’s
life the Christ’s life is manifested can stand as true representatives of the
Savior.”
286 “Christ
promised that the Holy Spirit should abide with those” ....
Ok, get this now. .... “who wrestle for
victory over sin.” .... What do they do?
(A man in the audience) Wrestle.
(Wilfred) Do
you know what wrestling means? It’s setting right back
and taking it easy and saying, “Ok, Lord you do it.” Is that right? Well, I’ve
heard that expressed and there is a certain amount of truth to it. But we
mustn’t get one sided, we’ve got to take both sides of the question. There is a
wrestling for victory over sin involved. And, unless we do that, we don’t get
the Holy Spirit. Did you get that point? Now I’ve told you this before, and
here I’m reading to you the verification of it. And why?
....“to demonstrate the power of divine might by endowing the human agent with
supernatural strength” .... So what happens when the
Spirit comes on top of the wrestling? You are endowed with supernatural
strength. .... “and instructing the ignorant in the
mysteries of the kingdom of God.” .... What else does he do? He instructs the
ignorant in the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. .... “Of what avail would it
be to us that the only begotten Son of God humbled Himself, endured the
temptations of the wily foe, and died, the just for the unjust, if the Spirit
had not been given as a constant, working, regenerating agent, to make
effectual in each individual case what has been wrought out by the world's
Redeemer?” .... And she says that in another place too. That it is the Spirit
that comes to make effectual what Christ has wrought out in His sacrifice. And
there is more than one thing He wrought, you see. I’m going to have to skip
some of this. “Today this Spirit is constantly at work, seeking to draw the
attention of men to the great sacrifice made upon the cross of Calvary, to
unfold to the world the love of God to man, and to open to the convicted soul
the promises of the Scriptures.” .... Well that’s the Spirit’s job. .... “It is
the Spirit that causes to shine into darkened minds the bright beams of the Sun
of Righteousness; that makes men's hearts burn within them with an awakened
realization of the truths of eternity;” .... Have you had that experience?
Where Sun of Righteousness come in with His bright beams and makes your heart
burn with an awakened realization of the truths of eternity. .... “that
presents before the mind the great standard of righteousness, and convinces of
sin; that inspires faith in Him who alone can save from sin; that works to
transform character by withdrawing the affections of men from those things
which are temporal and perishable, and fixing them upon the eternal
inheritance.” .... What is the job of the Spirit there? To transform a
character, to withdraw our affections, that is our likes, our loves, from those
things which are temporal and perishable, In other words, the things of the
world. and fixing them upon the eternal inheritance.
Now if we haven’t had that experience it’s because we haven’t received the
outpouring of the Spirit in sufficient measure. .... “The Spirit recreates,
refines, and sanctifies human beings, fitting them to become members of the
royal family, children of the heavenly King.” ....
Now, we become members of the royal family and children of the heavenly king
even before we are fitted but the Spirit comes to make us fit.
She says in
another place, that the imputed righteousness gives us our title to Heaven and
the imparted righteousness, which is what we have been talking about, gives us
our fitness for heaven. And here it ties in again. .... “When one is fully
emptied of self, when every false god is cast out of the soul, the vacuum is
filled by the inflowing of the Spirit of Christ.” ....
Ok, there is another condition. We have to empty ourselves, get rid of
every false god out of the Soul. Then the vacuum is filled by the inflowing of
the Spirit of Christ. .... “Such a one has the faith that purifies the soul
from defilement. He is conformed to the Spirit, and he minds the things of the
Spirit. He has no confidence in self. Christ is all and in all. He receives
with meekness the truth that is constantly being unfolded, and gives the Lord
all the glory, saying, "God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit." .... Do you see the attitude? .... “The Spirit that
reveals also works in him the fruits of righteousness. Christ is in him,” .... There again we have the identification of Christ with
the Spirit. Don’t we? He says, the Spirit that reveals
also works in him the fruits of righteous. Then the very next
sentence says, Christ is in him. ....
"a well of water
springing up into everlasting life." .... So again she identifies the
Spirit and Christ. .... “He is a branch of the True Vine,”
.... Talking about the person. .... “and bears rich clusters of fruit to the glory of God. What
is the character of the fruit borne? -- The fruit of the Spirit is
"love," not hatred; "joy," not discontent and mourning;
"peace," not irritation, anxiety, and manufactured trials. .... You know we have the ability to
manufactured trials, and agility as a matter of fact. .... “It is "long
suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." The love of
Christ is the force and power of every message for God that ever fell from
human lips. Day after day is passing into eternity, bringing us nearer to the
close of probation. As never before we must pray for the Holy Spirit” .... What’s the next condition? Pray. .... “to be more abundantly bestowed upon us, .... That recognizes
that it is already bestowed, doesn’t it? But it is the more abundant outpouring
we need. .... “and we must look for its sanctifying
influence” ....We must look for this. .... ‘to come
upon the workers, that those for whom they labor may know that they have been
with Jesus and have learned of Him. Those who are under the influence of the
Spirit of God will not be fanatical,” .... Watch that.
It happens so often that when someone gets a new experience and gets to see new
things he goes completely overbroad and becomes fanatical. They will not be
fanatical “but calm and steadfast, free from extravagance in thought, word, or
deed.” .... That’s an important statement. .... “Amid
the confusion of delusive doctrines, the Spirit of God will be a guide and a
shield to those who have not resisted the evidences of truth,”
.... But don’t you know, those
who resist the evidences of truth, even thought the evidence is there they
still resist, then what does this imply? That the Spirit will not be a guide
and shield to those who have not resisted the evidences of truth He will be a
guide and a shield. .... “silencing every other voice except that which comes
from Him who is the truth.’ .... In other words, the soul is protected against
the delusions that come from the devil. All the false voices and the false
spirits, He is protected from that by the Spirit.
Thanks.
“We are
living in the last days, when error of a most deceptive character is accepted
and believed, while truth is discarded.” .... “Well,
you know that don’t you? People believe anything now days. .... The Lord will
hold both ministers and people responsible for the light shining upon them. He
calls upon us to work diligently in gathering up the jewels of truth,” .... How are these jewels of truth going to be gathered? By working diligently. And what are we to do with them? She
goes on to say, .... “and
placing them in the framework of the gospel.” .... Now that’s what we have been
doing I hope you’ve noticed. That the things we talk about have all come to
have a relationship from salvation from sin. They all have zeroed in on that.
Christ’s Object Lessons page 133, I wanted to just
take tie out to read that, with reference to the
gospel there. “The significance of the Jewish economy is not yet fully
comprehended.” .... Isn’t that what we talked about a
few minutes ago? ....“Truths vast and profound are shadowed forth in its rites
and symbols.” .... What kind of truths? Vast and profound. .... “The gospel is the key that unlocks
its mysteries. .... In other words, the Jewish economy cannot be understood
unless it is understood in relation to the gospel, the plan of salvation. ....
“Through a knowledge of the plan of redemption, its
truths are opened to the understanding.”
.... Now get this. .... ”Far more than we do, it is our privilege to
understand these wonderful themes. We are to comprehend the deep things of God.
Angels desire to look into the truths that are revealed to the people who with
contrite hearts are searching the word of God, and praying for greater lengths
and breadths and depths and heights of the knowledge which He alone can give.
.... She goes on to say, .... “As we near the close of
this world's history, the prophecies relating to the last days especially
demand our study.” .... And that is what we’ve been
studying about, hopefully. .... “The last book of the New Testament scriptures
is full of truth that we need to understand.” .... And
we’ve studied about that in our Sabbath school lesson not to
long ago. .... “There is nothing lost of that which comes from God. When we are
endowed with the Spirit and we take hold of faith by faith in infinite power
nothing will be lost. The Savior of the world sends His messages to the soul
that darkness of error may be dispelled. The work of the Spirit is immeasurably
great, it is from this source that power and
efficiency come to the worker for God.”
All right. I’ll be through here in just a minute I hope. Let
me read now some statements directly from some of the other writings that are
very specific. Here’s one from Early Writings page 71, “I saw that many
were neglecting the preparation so needful and were looking to the time of
"refreshing" and the "latter rain" to fit them to stand in
the day of the Lord and to live in His sight.” .... Does that apply to you
right now? Is that what your
looking for? Looking for the latter rain to fit you to stand in the day of the
Lord? Listen to what she says, .... “Oh, how many I
saw in the time of trouble without a shelter! They had neglected the needful preparation;
therefore they could not receive the refreshing that all must have to fit them
to live in the sight of a holy God.” .... “I saw that
none could share the "refreshing" unless they obtain the victory over
every besetment,” .... Is it sinking in? .... “I saw
that none could share the "refreshing" unless they obtain the victory
over every besetment, over pride, selfishness, love of the world, and over
every wrong word and action.” .... Wow, Are you looking for the latter rain? Can you see why it hasn’t
come? .... “We should, therefore, be drawing nearer and nearer to the Lord and
be earnestly seeking that preparation necessary to enable us to stand in the
battle in the day of the Lord. Let all remember that God is holy and that none
but holy beings can ever dwell in His presence. Don’t get discouraged yet,
cheer up.
First Testimonies
for the Church page 619, “I was shown that if God's people make no efforts
on their part, but wait for the refreshing to come upon them and remove their
wrongs and correct their errors; if they depend upon that to cleanse them from
filthiness of the flesh and spirit, and fit them to engage in the loud cry of
the third angel, they will be found wanting. The refreshing or power of God
comes only on those who have prepared themselves for it by doing the work
which God bids them, namely, cleansing themselves” ....
Cleansing who? Themselves. Who’s doing it? They are.
.... “from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit,
perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” .... Perfecting holiness
in the fear of God. Only those people are going to share in the
refreshing, she says.
One more here
from 5 Testimonies for the Church, page 214, “Not one of us will ever
receive the seal of God while our characters have one spot or stain upon them.” .... I’d better say wow, again. “Not one of us will ever
receive the seal of God while our characters have one spot or stain upon them.” .... Well, you say ok, but the Spirit is going to help us
straighten out. Let me read on. .... “It
is left with us to remedy the defects in our characters,”
.... To whom is it left? To us to remedy the defects
in our characters. .... “to cleanse the soul
temple of every defilement.” .... I thought it was Christ who was going to
cleanse the soul temple, didn’t you? And we said we can’t do it. Now we’re
stuck, aren’t we? We’re up a dead end street. Listen, I’m going to read some
more now. To cleanse the soul temple of every defilement.
.... “Then the latter rain will fall upon us as the early rain fell upon the
disciples on the Day of Pentecost.” .... Then and not until then. Now, have we got a job to do?
(A man in the
audience) Yes.
(Wilfred) It
looks like we have a job to do. But I want to read some other statements now
because I don’t wan to leave you like that or you’ll
go home with a handkerchief in one hand and tears in the other.
Desire of Ages, page 97, “No man can of himself cast out the evil
throng that have taken possession of the heart. Only
Christ can cleanse the soul temple. But He will not force an entrance. He comes
not into the heart as to the temple of old; but He says, "Behold, I stand
at the door, and knock:” .... Remember where that comes from?
(A man in the
audience) Revelation.
(Wilfred) And
the message is to whom?
(A man in the
audience) To Laodicea.
(Wilfred) To us.
"Behold,
I stand at the door, and knock:” .... ”if any man hear my voice, and open the
door, I will come in to him." .... Now, what is
He going to do when He comes in? Cleanse the temple. Can you reconcile those
statements?
I want to
read another one. Christ’s Object lessons page 94, This
is the old edition, “In all who will submit themselves to the Holy Spirit a new
principle of life is to be implanted; the lost image of God is to be restored
in humanity.”
“But man
cannot transform himself by the exercise of his will. He possesses no power by
which this change can be effected.” .... “The renewing
energy must come from God. The change can be made only by the Holy Spirit. All
who would be saved, high or low, rich or poor must submit to the working of
this power. As the leaven, when mingled with the meal, works from within
outward, so it is by the renewing of the heart that the grace of God works to
transform the life. No mere external change is sufficient to bring us into
harmony with God. There are many, who try to reform by correcting this or that
bad habit, and they hope in this way to become Christians, but they are
beginning in the wrong place. Our first work is with the heart”
The heart
must be converted and sanctified. The man who attempts to keep the commandments
of God from a sense of obligation merely--because he is required to do so--will
never enter into the joy of obedience. He does not obey. When the requirements
of God are accounted a burden because they cut across human inclination, we may
know that the life is not a Christian life. True obedience is the outworking of
a principle within. It springs from the love of righteousness, the love of the
law of God. The essence of all righteousness is loyalty to our Redeemer. This
will lead us to do right because it is right--because right doing is pleasing
to God.” .... Now, there you’ve got it.
I’ve got to
cleanse my own soul temple from every defilement, and I can’t do it before I
get the Holy Spirit in the latter rain, and I can’t do it. Can you reconcile
those two statements?
(A man in the
audience) I can reach a decision that that’s what I want.
(Wilfred)
That’s right. And you can go beyond that.
(Another man in
the audience) I can move in that direction as far as I am able.
(Wilfred)
That’s right. That is your part in cleansing the soul temple. And it is
possible, under the influence of the former rain to obey every commandment of
God. And that is as far as you can cleanse your soul temple. You cannot
transform the heart, I read it to you, you cannot
transform the heart any more than a leopard can change his spots. So, the
farthest you can go is the keep God’s commandments, even though they go against
your grain, even though there is resistance, you have to buck it, you’ve got
wrestle to overcome, didn’t I read that tonight? That’s your part. And you’ve
got to over come those sins to qualify for the latter
rain. Because the Lord is not going to transform that heart and give you the
power that Adam had and that Lucifer had until He knows that you are not going
to abuse it like they did. And you’ve got to prove to the universe that He is
justified in giving it to you, and you prove it by your obedience. I can read
it from the Bible. in Acts, “The Holy Spirit is given
to those that obey Him.” That’s what Peter said.
(A woman in
the audience) If I am struggling to overcome something and I just can’t do it
and I try, and I try, and I try. Am I not trying hard enough or do I not have
the power?
(Wilfred) You
don’t have the power.
(A woman in
the audience) Then it’s not my fault.
(Wilfred) In
a sense, that’s right. But are you fulfilling all the other conditions for the
reception of the spirit? That we read tonight.
(A woman in
the audience) If I want to overcome that sin more than anything and I strive
day after day, after day, after day, and I just fall down
.............
(Wilfred) Ok.
Then you go to god and you say, Lord, you’ve seen what I have been trying to
do. And you like Jacob did, and you may not agree with me on this point but I
believe that the time of Jacob’s trouble starts before probation closes, his
trouble was he wanted the assurance of forgiveness of sins and the power to get
rid of his guilt so he could face his brother who was to come to kill him. And
we can get into that same predicament can’t we?
(A man in the
audience) Yes.
(Wilfred) And
what did he do? He wrestled with God. He pleaded with God. He would let Him go
until He blessed him. Try it.
(A man in the
audience) He had to forsake all known sins this is
............
(Wilfred) But
she is talking about the one she is trying to forsake and can’t.
I had two ice
cream popsicles today, one right after the other, they were in the fridge
there, and I saw them, they looked good.
Yes, brother?
(A man in the
audience) Doesn’t God let us struggle on a little bit to recognize our
weakness?
(Wilfred) Why
sure! And when we are good and sure that we can’t do it we turn to Him. And if He
doesn’t give it to us right away we think, what kind
of a God is He anyway? Why doesn’t He fulfill His promises? And we get a little
animosity sometimes. Don’t we?
(A woman in
the audience) When He is sure He can trust us He’ll give it us.
(Wilfred) Yes.
He’s, again, trying to develop the right characteristics in us through this
experience of struggling with sin. That’s what He trying to do. We have got to
develop total surrender, patience, humility, and I read these things here
tonight.
(A woman in
the audience) Define “Surrender”.
(Wilfred)
Define “Surrender’? Ok. For the tenth time. But you
may not have been with me when I said it ten times.
Surrender, is
doing God’s will instead of your own. When God says, don’t eat two popsicles,
in a row, I haven’t found where He says that but He says something that gives
me the idea that maybe that’s what He meant. When He says, don’t eat two
popsicles in a row, when you don’t need them. There might be a time when that
will be necessary. Now I can feature a time when that might be a litigable
thing to do. But when He says that and that is what I want to do, I want to eat
two popsicles in a row, and God says don’t eat to popsicles in a row, surrender means don’t eat two popsicles in a row.
(A woman in
the audience) But that requires power.
(Wilfred) Will power. And she says, you don’t
yet appreciate the power of your will. Do you know that there is power in your
will to obey every one of God’s commandments? I know that because she says that
any commandment contains within itself the power to do it.
(A woman in
the audience) So we are going to have the power all the time to do it.
(Wilfred)
That’s right. That applies not only to you Sister, but applies to everyone of
us,
(A man in the
audience) Can you give us the quotation on that?
(Wilfred)
What quotation was that?
(A man in the
audience) She says every commandment has the power needed
........
(Wilfred)
I’ll have to look it up.
(A man in the
audience) Well, here’s one, a paraphrase, It says, All of his biddings are
enabling.
(Wilfred)
That’s right.
(A man in the
audience) Really, the problem is lack of faith, we don’t have faith that God
has given us that power to implement the ...............
(Wilfred) She
says it exactly that way. She says we have not laid hold of the power by faith.
She says just that. That’s exactly what she says.
(A man in the
audience) It’s a lack of faith that causes us to stumble and fall.
(Wilfred)
Ted’s got something for us.
(Many voices)
Unintelligible
(Wilfred)
Yes, Love is the power.
(Ted) It’s
been reassuring what you’ve been talking about. She says, If you will seek the
Lord and be converted every day; if you will of your own spiritual choice be
free and joyous in God; if with gladsome consent of heart to His gracious call
you come wearing the yoke of Christ,--the yoke of obedience and service,--all
your murmurings will be stilled, all your difficulties will be removed, all the
perplexing problems that now confront you will be solved. Thoughts from the
Mount of Blessings, page 101.
(A woman in
the audience) That’s why I asked you awhile ago what it was that Christ was
doing for me because I know if I can just get a vision of that love He’s got
for me that will make me stop sinning. I don’t want anything to come between
us. I need to know.
(Wilfred)
We’re going to go over that next week. If all goes well, that’s what I plan to
do next week. The Sword of the Lord. Which is going to give you a vision of Christ you are going to see
His love in a way that you’ve seen it before. But you’ve got to be
prepared to go into that experience or it will knock you for a loop. You’re
going to be baptized with the baptism and you’re going to drink the cup. But
when you go through that experience you’re going to find out what He did. And
that’s going to open up to you a revelation of His tremendous love. How could
He do it? And if He did that for me how could I sin against Him? And Love will
start simmering in your heart, and love is the power of the gospel. When you
love somebody enough, you will do anything for them, even die for them. Does
that make sense?
Well, I think
I have said enough for one day. It’s just about two hours. So, I’m ready to
quit. If you want to continue to discuss something, find. If you want to go,
that’s fine with me. If you want, John, we can dismiss with prayer. Then
anybody who wants to leave can leave and if there is anybody who wants to
continue discussing something that could be mutually arraigned I suppose.
(The end of this two C/D series on the Review, Plus Conditions for
Receiving The Holy Spirit)
The Holy Spirit
By Ellen White
Gospel Workers, 1915 edition
"When
He, the Spirit of truth, is come," "He will reprove the world of sin,
and of righteousness, and of judgment." John 16:13, p. 284, Para. 1,
[GW15].
The preaching
of the word is of no avail without the presence and aid of the Holy Spirit; for
this Spirit is the only effectual teacher of divine truth. Only when the truth
is accompanied to the heart by the Spirit, will it quicken the conscience or
transform the life. A minister may be able to present the letter of the word of
God; he may be familiar with all its commands and promises; but his sowing of
the gospel seed will not be successful unless this seed is quickened into life
by the dew of heaven. Without the co-operation of the Spirit of God, no amount
of education, no advantages, however great, can make one a channel of light.
Before one book of the New Testament had been written, before one gospel sermon
had been preached after Christ's ascension, the Holy Spirit came upon the
praying disciples. Then the testimony of their enemies was, "Ye have
filled Jerusalem with your doctrine." Acts 5:28. p. 284, Para. 2, [GW15].
God's
Promises Subject to Conditions--Christ promised the gift of the Holy Spirit to
His church and the promise belongs as much to us as to the first disciples. But
like every other promise, it is given on conditions. There are many who profess
to believe and claim the Lord's promises; they talk about Christ and the Holy
Spirit; yet they receive no benefit, because they do not surrender their souls
to the guidance and control of divine agencies. p. 284, Para.
3, [GW15].
We cannot use
the Holy Spirit; the Spirit is to use us. Through the Spirit, God works in His
people "to will and to do of His good pleasure." Phil. 2:13. But many
will not submit to be led. They want to manage themselves. This is why they do
not receive the heavenly gift. Only to those who wait humbly upon God, who
watch for His guidance and grace, is the Spirit given. This promised blessing,
claimed by faith, brings all other blessings in its train. It is given
according to the riches of the grace of Christ, and He is ready to supply every
soul according to the capacity to receive. p. 285, Para.
1, [GW15].
The
impartation of the Spirit is the impartation of the life of Christ. Those only
who are thus taught of God, those only who possess the inward working of the
Spirit, and in whose life the Christ life is manifested, can stand as true
representatives of the Saviour. p. 285, Para. 2, [GW15].
The Holy
Spirit as an Educator--God takes men as they are, and educates them for His
service, if they will yield themselves to Him. The Spirit of God, received into
the soul, quickens all its faculties. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit,
the mind that is devoted unreservedly to God, develops harmoniously, and is
strengthened to comprehend and fulfil the
requirements of God. The weak, vacillating character becomes changed to one of
strength and steadfastness. Continual devotion establishes so close a relation
between Jesus and His disciples that the Christian becomes like his Master in
character. He has clearer,
broader views. His discernment is more penetrative, his
judgment better balanced. So quickened is he by the life giving power of the
Sun of Righteousness, that he is enabled to bear much fruit to the glory of
God. p. 285, Para. 3, [GW15].
Christ
promised that the Holy Spirit should abide with those who wrestle for victory
over sin, to demonstrate the power of divine might by endowing the human agent
with supernatural strength and instructing the ignorant in the mysteries of the
kingdom of God. Of what avail would it be to us that the only begotten Son of
God humbled Himself, endured the temptations of the wily foe, and died, the
just for the unjust, if the Spirit had not been given as a constant, working,
regenerating agent, to make effectual in each individual case what has been
wrought out by the world's Redeemer? p. 286, Para. 1, [GW15].
The Holy
Spirit enabled the disciples to exalt the Lord alone, and guided the pens of
the sacred historians, that the record of the words and works of Christ might
be given to the world. Today this Spirit is constantly at work, seeking to draw
the attention of men to the great sacrifice made upon the cross of Calvary, to
unfold to the world the love of God to man, and to open to the convicted soul
the promises of the Scriptures. p. 286, Para. 2, [GW15].
It is the
Spirit that causes to shine into darkened minds the bright beams of the Sun of
Righteousness; that makes men's hearts burn within them with an awakened realization
of the truths of eternity; that presents before the mind the great standard of
righteousness, and convinces of sin; that inspires faith in Him who alone can
save from sin; that works to transform character by withdrawing the affections
of men from those things which are temporal and perishable, and fixing them
upon the eternal inheritance. The Spirit recreates, refines, and sanctifies
human beings, fitting them to become members of the royal family,
children of the heavenly King. p. 286,
Para. 3, [GW15].
Effect of
Receiving the Spirit--When one is fully emptied of self, when every false god
is cast out of the soul, the vacuum is filled by the inflowing of the Spirit of
Christ. Such a one has the faith that purifies the soul from defilement. He is
conformed to the Spirit, and he minds the things of the Spirit. He has no
confidence in self. Christ is all and in all. He receives with meekness the
truth that is constantly being unfolded, and gives the Lord all the glory,
saying, "God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit." "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." 1 Cor.
2:10, 12. p. 287, Para. 1, [GW15].
The Spirit
that reveals, also works in him the fruits of
righteousness. Christ is in him, "a well of water springing up into
everlasting life." John 4:14. He is a branch of the True Vine, and bears
rich clusters of fruit to the glory of God. What is the character of the fruit
borne?--The fruit of the Spirit is "love," not hatred;
"joy," not discontent and mourning; "peace," not
irritation, anxiety, and manufactured trials. It is "long suffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." Gal. 5:22, 23. p. 287, Para. 2, [GW15].
Those who
have this Spirit are earnest workers together with God; the heavenly
intelligences co-operate with them, and they go weighted with the spirit of the
message that they bear. They speak words of solid sense, and from the treasury
of the heart bring forth pure, sacred things, after the example of Christ. p. 288, Para. 1, [GW15].
The message
that we have to bear is not one that we need cringe to declare. Its advocates
are not to seek to cover it, to conceal its origin and purpose. As those who
have made solemn vows to God, and who have been commissioned as the messengers
of Christ, as stewards of the mysteries of grace, we are under obligation to
declare faithfully the whole counsel of God. p. 288, Para.
2, [GW15].
We are not to
make less prominent the special truths that have separated us from the world,
and made us what we are; for they are fraught with eternal interests. God has
given us light in regard to the things that are now taking place,
and with pen and voice we are to proclaim the truth to
the world. But it is the life of Christ in the soul,
it is the active principle of love imparted by the Holy Spirit, that alone will
make our words fruitful. The love of Christ is the force and power of every
message for God that ever fell from human lips. p. 288, Para.
3, [GW15].
Nearing the
End--Day after day is passing into eternity, bringing us nearer to the close of
probation. As never before we must pray for the Holy Spirit to be more
abundantly bestowed upon us, and we must look for its
sanctifying influence to come upon the workers, that those for whom they labor
may know that they have been with Jesus and have learned of Him. p. 288, Para. 4, [GW15].
We need
spiritual eyesight, that we may see the designs of the enemy, and as faithful
watchmen proclaim the danger. We need power from above, that we may understand,
as far as the human mind can, the great themes of Christianity and
their far-reaching principles. p. 289,
Para. 1, [GW15].
Those who are
under the influence of the Spirit of God will not be fanatical, but calm and
steadfast, free from extravagance in thought, word, or deed. Amid the confusion
of delusive doctrines, the Spirit of God will be a guide and a shield to those
who have not resisted the evidences of truth, silencing every other voice but
that which comes from Him who is the truth. p. 289, Para.
2, [GW15].
We are living
in the last days, when error of a most deceptive character is accepted and
believed, while truth is discarded. The Lord will hold both ministers and
people responsible for the light shining upon them. He calls upon us to work
diligently in gathering up the jewels of truth, and placing them in the
framework of the gospel. In all their divine beauty they are to shine forth in
the moral darkness of the world. This cannot be accomplished without the aid of
the Holy Spirit, but with this aid we can do all things. When we are endowed
with the Spirit, we take hold by faith of infinite power. There is nothing lost
of that which comes from God. The Saviour of the world sends His messages to
the soul, that the darkness of error may be dispelled. The work of the Spirit
is immeasurably great. It is from this source that power and efficiency come to
the worker for God. p. 289, Para. 3,
[GW15].
May you be richly blessed
by this book, is our prayer