Exposition of the Apostles Creed by James Dodds
page 83 of 136 (61%)
page 83 of 136 (61%)
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Incarnation and Passion fail to affect us if we have not our share in
the Spirit's sanctification. There is a sense in which the Holy Ghost comes nearer to us, if we may so speak, than the other Persons of the Godhead. If we are true believers, the Holy Ghost is enthroned in our hearts. "He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."[176] Our bodies become the temples of the Holy Ghost.[177] It is through Him that the Father and the Son come and make their abode in the faithful.[178] We are made "an habitation of God through the Spirit."[179] "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."[180] When we consider the work He carries on in convicting men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, and in converting, guiding, and comforting those whom He influences, we can understand that it was expedient for us that Christ should go away, in order that the Comforter might come.[181] If we are receiving and resting on Jesus as our Saviour, then His Spirit is within us as the earnest of our inheritance.[182] His presence imparts power such as no spiritual enemy can resist. How different were the Apostles before and after they had received the gift of the Spirit! One of them who, before, denied Christ when challenged by a maid, afterwards proclaimed boldly in the presence of the hostile Jewish council, "We ought to obey God rather than men."[183] Those who, when He was apprehended, had forsaken Him and fled, gathered courage to brave kings and rulers as they preached salvation through Him. The disciples, who, in accordance with Christ's injunction, awaited the descent of the Spirit, were on the day of Pentecost clothed with power before which bigotry and selfishness passed into faith and charity and self-surrender; and there was won on that day for the Church a triumph such as the might of God alone could have secured--a triumph which the ministry of the Spirit, whenever it is recognised and accepted, is always powerful to repeat and to surpass. |
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