The Ministry of the Comforter
The teaching of Jesus Christ respecting the ministry of the Holy Ghost is so pecuHar as to raise the inquiry, Where was the Holy Ghost during the earthly ministry of the Son of man? Throughout the Old Testament there are the clearest testimonies as to His personal service in the ancient church, and” yet Jesus Christ speaks of the* descent of the Spirit as a new and special gift: for example — “I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter;” “the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name;” If I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto )ou.” All this is strange, almost startling indeed, after reading the Old Tes -anient. Where was the Spirit that had moved on the face of the waters, that had garnished the heavens, that had striven with antediluvian man, that had been poured out upon Israel? Was His ministry suspended? It may be suggested that the fulness of the Spirit had not been realised in the ancient church, which is undoubLedly true; yet though true it is insufficient to account for the treatment of His. descent as a new visitation and benediction of God. The answer would seem rather to be, that the Holy Ghost was ill Jesus Christ Himself, and could not be given to the church as a distuictively Christian gift until the first period of the incarnation had been consummated in “the Ascension of the Son of man, — “If I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart I will send Him unto )ou.” Jesus Christ was Himself the New Testament: whatever happened aforetime was but preparative and typical: from His coming the world was to date its* regeneration and the church was to reckon its birth. “In Him dwelt all the fulness of the godhead bodily;” and when the influence of that godhead was poured out upon the church, it came as if from the very heart of Christ, and was impregnated with all the elements which made up the mystery and beneficence of the Incarnation.
Jesus Christ gives a specific definition of the work of the Holy Ghost. That His work admitted of definition is itself a significant circumstance; and that the Son of Mary should have presumed to define it is a marvellous instance of His spiritual dominion, if it be not a covert yet daring blasphemy. At this point Jesus Christ seems to pass from the theatre within which He had dazzled the eyes of curiosity by the number and splendour of His miracles, and to enter into the holy of holies, the secret place of the Most High, and to seat Himself there as the donor of spiritual riches. It is a withdrawment (even if considered merely as a conception) which invests the Man with peculiar awe. He savs He will do mightier works than ever; He will touch the life, the will, the love, of the world; He will ascend above principalities and powers, and subject all hosts and forces to ‘spiritual control, invisible and almighty. Daring, truly, was this Jon of Mary! The very idea of putting the spiritual above the material, and consequently of preferring a thought to a miracle, is the sublimity which seems narrowly to escape the charge of insanity. Let us now see with what simplicity and decisiveness Jesus Christ defines and limits the functions of the Holy Ghost: —
1. He shall not speak of Himself.
2. He shall glorify Me.
3. He will guide you into all truth.
4. He will show you things to come.
Besides the work of comfort within the church, He has a Qfreat work of conviction to do in the world at large: “When He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” It will be convenient to study primarily the function of comfort which is assigned to the Holy Ghost, and then to discuss the ministry of conviction which He is to conduct in the hearts of all men.
I. ‘’He shall not speak of Himself.’’ Why not? Because He would be speaking an unknown tongue. We cannot understand the purely spiritual. Whatever we know of it must come through mediums which lie nearer our own nature. ‘The ministry of the Holy Ghost, therefore, is limited only because we ourselves are-4imited. 1 The whole ministry of
The Ministry of iJie Comforter. 99
God is an accommodation to human weakness. Wdien He would teach truth He must needs set it in the form oi fact: when He would show Himself, it must be through the tabernacle of our own flesh; when He would reveal heaven, He must illustrate His meaning by the fragments of light and beauty which are scattered on the higher side of our own inferior world. Every.vhere, could we but see it, He has set up a ladder by which we may reach the skies. God would have talked to us without any intervention, but we could not have known the meaning of utterances which were not bounded and illustrated by things lower than ourselves; therefore hath He set His tabernacle in the sun, and made manifest His invisible kingdom and power by the wonderful works of His hands. We must begin with His hand, or we cannot know His heart. The doubting disciple said of Jesus Christ, that only the print of the nails and the wound of the spear could convince him of the identity of the Lord: and at best are we not all, by the pitifulness of the great mercy of God, allowed to begin with the divine hand instead of going at once into the sanctuary of the divine heart? The Holy Ghost does riot speak of Himself, because there must be a common ground upon which He can invite the attention of mankind. Where or what is that common ground?
2. ‘’ He shall glorify Me’’ The common ground is the work of the man Christ Jesus. What is meant by glorifying Christ Jesus y We know what
1 53206
lOO The Paraclete.
is meant by the sun glorifying the earth. Let us famiharise ourselves with that process, as it most, completely represents the spiritual idea now under consideration. The sun does not create the landscape. The mountain and the sea are just as high and as wide in the grey cold dawn as at noonday. The sun adds nothing to the acreage of the meadows or the stature of the rocks. Yet how wonderful is the work of th:e sun! Look upon the earth in the pale dawn, and watch the ministry of the sun from hour to hour. How the light strikes the hill, burnishes the sea, flushes the trembling dew, and makes the blossoming bush burn as if with the presence of God! Everything was there before, yet how transfigured by the ministry of light! The commonest things are made almost beautiful by that benien service, and as for the hioher forms of culture it would seem as if one more flash of sunslijne would make them as the angels of God. In this respect, what light is to the earth, the Holy Ghost is to Jesus Christ. The Saviour is glorified by the Spirit. The work of the Spirit is revelation, not creation. He does not npake Christ, He explains Him. The sun in doing all his wonderful work does not speak of himself; he will not, indeed, allow us to look at him. If we turn our eyes upon him the rebuke is prompt and intolerable: the language of that rebuke is — Look at the earth, not at me; see the opportunity for service and culture which is given you; do not intrude upon my t;il)(:rnacle, but work within your own sphere while
The Ministry of the Comforter, loi
It is called day. The Holy Ghost, in like manner, does not speak of Himself. He will not answer all our inquiries respecting His personality. We cannot venture with impunity beyond a well-defined line. To the very last men will inquire, What is the .Holy Ghost? showing that all attempts at exliaustive definition have ended in failure and disappointment. Yet whilst He Himself is the eternal secret. His work is open and glorious. His text is Christ. From that theme He never strays. To the individual consciousness He reveals the mystery of the beauty of Christ. The Christian student sees a Christ which he did not see twenty years ago, — the same, yet not the same; larger, grander, tenderer, every day; a new music in His spee<:h, an ampler sufficiency in His grace; a deeper humiliation in His cradle; a keener agony in His cross. This increasing revelation is the work of the H(ily Ghost, and is the fulfilment of Jesus Christ’s own promise. That the Son of Mary should have claimed the Holy Ghost as His interpreter! Observe this as an incidental contribution towards the completeness and harmony of the mystery that is embodied In Christ Jesus. Regarded in this light it is very wonderful. The beginning and the end are the same, — equal in mystery. In condescension, in solemn grandeur. Thus: “That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost,” — this is the beginning; “He shall not speak of Himself, He shall glorify Me;” — this is the end: arc the tones discordant? The incarnation of the Son of God was the work of the Holy Ghost; how natural that the explana Hon of the Son of God should be the work of the same minister! As He was before the visible Christ, so He was to be after Him, and thus the whole mystery never passed from His own control. The life of the Son of man, as written in. the gospels, needs to be glorified! He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief: He had not where to lay His head: He gave His back to the smiters, and His cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: He made Himself of no reputation; He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross: He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor: upon all this chasm, so deep, so grim, we need a light above the brightness of the sun. When that light comes, the root out of a dr)- ground will be as the flower of Jesse and the plant of renown, and the face marred more than any man’s will be .fairest anions ten thousand and altogether lovely. Such is the wizardry of light!
This claim to be glorified by the Holy Ghost is without precedent In human history. That is a fact which ought to have some value attached to it. It is the kind of claim which could be tested promptly and thoroughly by the consciousness of Christianised mankind, and presumptively, on that very account, the kind of claim which an impostor would have avoided. Besides, for such a man, or for any man indeetl, to have had such an idea Is most marvellous. Had He merely committed His case to the care of time and the judgment of posterity, He would have taken the course of ordinary sagacity; but instead of the general appeal which is commonly made to the arbitrament of God and good men, He expressly stated that the Holy Ghost would glorify His person and complete His mediation on the earth. The work of the Holy Ghost was to be infinitely more than a work of mere explanation: it was to move forward to the very point of glory, even the glory which the Son of Man had with His Father before the world besfan. This statement came from the lips of Jesus Christ Himself, and therefore It leaves Him a blasphemer without excuse if He was merely a virtuous and courageous teacher. On the other hand, taking our Lord’s word as true, there is now going forward in human thinking a spiritual process which is identified with no other name than His own, and which will culminate in splendour ineffable and eternal. The prayer of our Lord to be “glorified” is peculiarly affecting: “I have glorified Thee... now, O Father, glorify Thou Me;” — “glorify Thy Son,” as if the full bitterness of His humiliation had been realised, and He could defer the resumption of His glory no longer. He distinctly speaks of it as a resumption and not as an unknown experience: — “Glorify Me with Thine own self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.” A fierce hunger seized His heart, a home-yearning of which every child knows something.
104 The Paiaclete.
Having spo!:en of the ministry of the Holy Ghost in relation to Himself, our Lord proceeds to speak of it in relation to His disciples: —
3. “He will gitide you into all inith!’ Not, “He lwill add to the number of miracles which you have seen at Liv hands,” but “He will guide you into all truth:” “I am the Truth; He will glorify Me; He will show you all My riches.” Our Lord Himself did not guide His disciples into all truth, nor have men even yet been so far guided; they are travel7 ling the upward road, but the summits are still beyond. Truth is an infinite quantity. At first it may seem to be compassable, but it recedes as it is approached;’ yet it throws the warm rays of promise upon every honest and loving pilgrim to its shrine. The hiorhest orrace of manhood is the truth-lovinij;- spirit: it purifies like fire; it throws a strange ard holy majesty upon life, yet makes men tender and charitable. Our Lord’s expression is comprehensive, — “into all truth;” not only into truth that is distinctively theological, but into all truth, scientific, political, social, religious. Is truth not larger than the formal church? Is not the physicist under the tuition of the Spirit as well as the theologian? Our Lord does not divide men into hostile tribes; He does not open one department of truth and refuse the key of others. His is a universal speech, — He speaks of “triilh” as indivisible and complete, and of the Spirit as the one Guide. It is not to be supposed that any one man is to be
The J I in is try of the Comforter. 105
g-iiided Into all truth. Some possessions are put into the custody of the whole race. Paul did not claim to have known truth in its entirety; nor did Peter; nor did James. No single star holds all the light. No single flower is endowed with all the beauty. What man is there who knows all things? It is proverbial that the wisest men are the humblest, and that those who have seen the fullest disclosures of truth are assured that the supreme glory is yet concealed. Has not every honest student some portion of truth that is in a sense his own? Does not every eye see at least a tint which no other vision has seen so clearly as itself? It is important to consider these questionings well, because they point towards the mutual trust and the mutual honour without which society would be disorganized and debased. Men make up Man, churches make up the Church, truths make up Truth, and it is oidy by a complete combination of the parts that the majesty and lustre of the whole can be secured.
It should be observed that in this connection the Holy Ghost is designated by our Lord as “the Spirit of truth “{to lived fxa Ti/s- aXifielm), and as such He is to “guide into all truth” {jaa-av riji’ f aliyOeiav) those who are under PI Is tuition. Observe! the quantity — ‘all truth:” observe the method — “He will guide,” The quantity is unlimited; the method assumes consent and co-operation on the part of man. A reference to Old Testament history will throw seme light upon the scope of the Spirit’s ministry, and show how grave is the error which limits it to thlnkino’ and service which are supposed to be purely theological. It may indeed (and we believe it will) show that “theology” is actually the all-inclusive term, holding within its meaning all the ^lighest aspects and suggestions both of speculative and practical science. The theologian is entitled to claim astronomy, geology, botany, agriculture, and chemistry, as sections of theology. If he trifle with this claim he will not only surrender his best weapon as a controversialist, but mistake brethren and friends for rivals and enemies.
Can anything be farther from theology, as popularly understood, than stone-cutting or wood-carving? Can any two spheres be niuch more widely sundered than those of the preacher of the gospel and the artificer in iron and brass? Apparently not. But the biblical testimony sets the inquiry at rest: “I have called Bezaleel, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship” (Exod, xxxi. 2-5). Bezaleel was an inspired theologian. More than this, and apparently still farther away from the theological line: — “I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work,” Then, intermediately at least, may stand the agriculturist, of whose treatment of the earth is said: — “This also cometh forth from the Lord of hosts, who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working.” The rulers and soldiers of Israel were qualified for their work by the Spirit of the Lord. “The Spirit of the Lord came upon Othniel, and he judged Israel and went out to war.” The ministration of the Spirit is various: by it Moses was made wise, Bezaleel was made skilful, and Samson was made strong. “All these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will” (i Cor. xii. 11). Wonderful is this inclusiveness of the Spirit’s work. “Hie Spiritus Sanctus omnium viventum anima, ita larofitate sua se omnibus abundanter infundit, ut habeant omnia rationabilia et Irrationabilia secun* dum genus suum ex eo quod sunt et quod in suo ordine suce naturae competentia agunt.” A thorough persuasion of this inclusiveness will put an end to the needless hostility between what is distinctively known as science oh the one hand and theology on the other. All things are theological primarily and ultimately, though certain intermediate points in their processes and relationships may seem to be without the higher light. There is a common teacher — “the Spirit of truth;” there is a common end — “all truth;” there should be a common bond — mutual trust.
But what if the fact of the Spirit’s ministry be d*enied on the one hand? Denial proves nothing against the case as it is now put. God works even where He is unknown. There are truths which lie below our very consciousness. Men have denied nol only the work of God, but the very existence of God, yet their denial has not destroyed the divine supremacy. “He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust,”^ — and this not only in a material but in a spiritual sense; He has servants who have signed no covenant, and messengers who do His errands in their own name. Nor does He blight them for their ingratitude, or put them to open shame, — “He is kind unto the unthankful and the evil,” and not willing that any should perish. The worshippers of Intellect may not know that they are worshippers of God under another name. Our spirit may not be equal to our work: we may profane the name of God in the very act of building a cathedral for His praise. We may, then, venture to speak a Avorcl of caution to the men who deily the ministry of the Holy Ghost, and in doing so to suggest whether after all there may not be mysteries in their life which they have not altogether explored and comprehended. They will not ruthlessly resist the hand that would bring them into the inner sanctuary on whose outer walls they have wrought so much exquisite and invaluable decoration. Upon the church itself this promise of guidance into all truth should exert a healthful influence, especially in the direction of enlarging and refining its charity. The danger is that the church should be content with a limited range of dogma and purpose Vxhcn it is invited to the mastery and enjoyment of a kingdom that cannot be measured. The church should not be anxious about uniformity ot stature and countenance, when God has made it so evident that He Himself delights in variety and contrast. Men of the most inquisitive and even sceptical mind should be encouraged by the church to lead the van of inquiry, and subject every doctrine and every spirit to a cross-examination which to minds of an opposite type may become wearisome and even vexatious. The church should extend to its adventurous sons who go out to shores far away and to lands unmapped and unclaimed, the most ardent and loving recognition. Even when they return with hopes unfulfilled and with banners torn by angry winds, proving the abortiveness of their chivalry or the mistake of their method, they should be hailed with a still tenderer love. The pain in their own hearts is keen enough. In secrecy they have known the very bitterness of death. To such men the promise of being guided into all truth becomes a personal torture. They yearn for its fulfilment: they are straitened until it be accomplished. Other men can wait, but their waiting is a grace rather than a virtue.. Enthusiasm is unknown by them. Temperamentally they know nothing about time; and there is no future to them because they have no idea of the suspense and occasional anguish of expectation. Such men are sure to have a kind of advantajje over those who are made impatient by a great promise, because, having themselves risked nothing, they may thoughtlessly in no The Paraclete.
diilge self-felicitation at the expense of men whose shoe latchcts they are not. worthy to unloose. Martyrdom thus comes without the tragic surroundings which bring with them their own alleviation: it is inward agony, often, unconfessed, but terrible as the pains of hell. Little enough is known about such martyrdoms, and perhaps the less the better, because theirs is a sufferinsf which would be aeeravated by the very touch of unsympathetic hands.
4. ‘^ He zvill show yon things to come’’ The word translated “He will show” is avayyeXe’i, He will announce to you; the word in the Vulgate is anmiiiciabit. Such a promise would seem to imply that secret communications about the future will be made to the church; yet this construction of the promise must be admitted with extreme caution, if admitted at all, because of the dangerous uses to which it may be put. Men would in some cases mistake prejudices and frenzies for inspiration, and in others they would inflict needless trouble upon themselves and upon society at large. Limited to the immediate hearers of our Lord, of course the promise is exhausted and the resul]:s are to some extent recorded in apostolic history; but it cannot be so limited without impairing the worth of the promise by taking it away from the category of assurances which are to enrich and stimulate the church through all time. Merely to “show things to come” in the sense of prevision is a blessing greater in appearance than in reality; but to prepare the 77iind for things to come — to show the rnuid how to deal with new and perplexing circumstances — to give the perception which sees God everywhere and the affection which thankfully accepts His discipline — is an advantage which cannot be expressed in human terms. Whatever the promised “announcement” may include, it must involve this supernatural preparedness of mind and heart or it will merely excite and bewilder the church.
That the Holy Spirit did “show things to come” in a prophetic sense is proved by instances circumstantially reported in the New Testament: for example, — “The Holy Ghost witnesseth In evry city, sa’Ing that bonds and afflictions abide me;” “Agabus took Paul’s girdle and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles;” “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that In the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and to doctrines of devils.” In* one case this is purely personal; in the other it is almost vacfue. Seeincj, however, that the Comforter is to abide with the church “for ever,” and seeing that as a matter of fact the church is not gifted with prevision, we are thrown back upon the gracious and all-sufficient assurance, that whatever may come, and with what violence soever its coming may be attended, the church will be prepared to withstand every shock and surmount every dlfficully.
Out of this assurance comes rest; the future is no longer a trouble; the clouds that lie upon the remote horizon will be scattered by the brightness of the image of God.
We have thus pointed out four aspects of the ministry of the Holy Ghost, which may be described as universal. There is a fifth aspect which belonged to the disciples alone, which is yet of supreme consequence to ourselves: “He shall bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” There is an inspiration of memory. Readers of the gospels must have been surprised by the minuteness of recollection which is shown in their pages. Conversations are reported; little turns of dialogue* which seem to be merely artistic 2.re not omitted; recor“ds of occasions on which the disciples wer*e actually not present, and of which thty could only have heard from the lips of the Lord himself, are presented with much particularity and vividness: how, then, was this done, and especially done by riien who certainly wer-e not conspicuous for the kind of learning which is needful for the making of literaiy statements? The explanation of this artless art, and this tenacious memory, is in the promise of our Lord — “He shall bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you: you shall live it all over again: the scene of which I have been the centre shall be set before you in vivid detail, and you slrall be so taught how to Gather up the fracrments that nothino- of all its minuteness shall be lost.”