The Doctrine of the holy spirit—iii - Chambers, Oswald
The greatest day yet
And when the day of pentecost was now come [was being fulfilled, mg]. . . . Acts 2:1 (RV )
What an unspeakably wonderful day the day of pentecost was! There is only one Bethlehem, one Calvary, one pentecost; these are the landmarks of time and eternity, everything and everyone is judged by them.
Beware of thinking of pentecost in the light of personal experience only. The descent of the holy ghost can never be experimental, it is historical. The reception of the holy ghost into our hearts is experimental. Those who insist on the experimental line are in danger of forgetting the revelation and of put- ting all the emphasis on experience, while those who emphasise the revelation are in danger of forgetting the practical experience. In the new testament the two are one; the experimental must be based on and regulated by the revelation. We imagine that we have the monopoly of the teaching about the holy spirit when we deal with his work in individual lives, viz. , his power to transform men on the inside the most important phase to us, but in gods book the tiniest phase of the work of the mighty spirit of god.
1. The accomplishment of the promise of the son
( john 14:26; 15:16; 16:715; cf. Matthew 3:11)
These verses are the testimony of Jesus to the holy ghost, whom he calls the comforter, the paraclete. Our lord told his disciples that it was expe- dient for them that he should go away because the paraclete would not come until his work was completed. . . . If i go, i will send him unto you (rv ). We know the holy spirit first of all through the testimony of Jesus to him, and then through the conscious enjoyment of his indwelling presencefor he abideth with you, and shall be in you (rv).
John 20:22 (. . . He breathed on them, and saith unto them, receive ye the holy ghost) and acts 2:33 (being therefore by the right hand of god exalted, and having received of the father the promise of the
Holy ghost, he hath poured forth this, which ye see and hear rv) do not refer to the same thing. When Jesus breathed on the disciples what they received was the quickening of new life from the risen lord: pentecost stands for something unrepeatable in the history of the world, viz. , the personal descent of the paraclete. The holy ghost came into this world on the day of pentecost, and he has been here ever since. He is here, but indiscernible, as Jesus was saying to the few who had the revelation that he was god incarnate. Have we received the revelation of who the holy ghost is? Howbeit when he, the spirit of truth is come, . . . He shall glorify me. We lose the marvel of the indwell- ing of the holy spirit by thinking of him as some power that does things. The most rarely recognised aspect of the holy spirits work is that he causes us to do honour to our lord. The human spirit uninspired by the holy spirit only honours Jesus if he does things. It is easier to dishonour jesus than we are apt to think because he never insists on being honoured. The holy ghost is the one who hon- ours jesus, and therein lies the essential necessity of receiving him. He shall glorify me, said Jesus. The holy spirit does not glorify Christ-likeness, because Christ-likeness can be imitated; he glorifies christ. It is impossible to imitate Jesus Christ.
2. The accomplishment of the promise of the father (luke 24:49; acts 1:8)
And behold, i send forth the promise of my father upon you. (RV) do you say i am waiting for my pentecost? Who told you to wait? Oh, i am waiting as the disciples did in the upper room. Not all the waiting on earth will ever gain you the baptism with the holy ghost. The baptism with the holy ghost is the infallible sign that Jesus has ascended to the right hand of god and has received of the father the promise of the holy ghost. We too often divorce what the new testament never divorces: the baptism with the holy ghost is not an experience apart from Christ, it is the evidence that he has ascended. It is not the baptism with the holy ghost that changes men, it is the power of the ascended Christ coming into mens lives by the holy ghost that changes them. . . . But tarry ye in the city, until ye be clothed with power from on high (RV ).
Power from on high the words have a fascinating sound in the ears of men; but this power is not a magical power, not the power to work miracles; it is the power that trans- forms character, that sanctifies faculties. But ye shall receive power, when the holy ghost is come upon you (rv), said Jesus to the disciples, and they did the power that made them like their lord (acts 4:13). It is easy to have the idea that we receive the holy spirit as a sort of magical power all to ourselves; the reception of the holy spirit is for the purpose of quickening us into identification with our lord. We live in utter unadulterated loyalty to the son of god by reason of the fact that we have received his testimony regarding the holy ghost and have received him into our hearts. People come piously together and ask god to baptise them with the holy ghost, but they forget that the first thing the holy ghost does is to illuminate the cross of Christ. The emphasis in the new testament is always on the cross. The cross is the secret of the heart of god, the secret of the person of the son of god, the secret of the holy ghosts work. It is the cross alone that made it pos- sible for god to give us the gift of eternal life, and to usher in the great era in which we live the dispensation of the holy ghost.
. . . And ye shall be my witnesses (rv ). The historic pentecost made these men the incarnation of the holy ghost. The apostles became written epistles, i. E. , the expression of what they preached. When a man experiences salvation the note of testimony is what Jesus has done for him; when he is baptised with the holy ghost he becomes a witness, which means much more than a testifier to blessings received. A witness means that just as Jesus was made broken bread and poured-out wine for our salvation, so we are to be broken bread and poured-out wine in sacrificial service. The baptism with the holy ghost is Jesus putting the final seal on his work in you, his seal on your regenerated and entirely sanctified soul, and is your inauguration into service for him. The holy spirit always works through human instrumentality, and there is never any possibility of pride when the holy spirit uses us. We are empowered into union with Christ by the holy ghost.
