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Manifestation Of

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 30, 1915

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 92, No. 64.

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Manifestation Of

By ELBRIDGE M. ADAMS

The Holy Spirit — No. 4

Manifestation Of

ELBRIDGE M. ADAMS
BOTH in the Bible and in the writings of the spirit of prophecy the Lord has made it very plain that the Holy Spirit is essential to us. A little attention to its history will suffice to show that its manifestations are varied. Paul speaks of the “diversities of gifts,” but by “the same Spirit.”
There are, at least, three ways that men are led by the Spirit — impressions, dreams, and visions. Of Nathanael it is said:—
“He prayed that if the one announced by John was the deliverer, it might be made known to him, and the Holy Spirit rested upon him with assurance that God had visited his people and raised up a horn of salvation for them. . . .The message, ‘We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write,’ seemed to Nathanael a direct answer to his prayer. . . . Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! ‘In surprise, Nathanael exclaimed, ‘Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.’
“It was enough. The divine Spirit that had borne witness to Nathanael in his solitary prayer under the fig tree, now spoke to him in the words of Jesus.”
How many humble followers of Christ have almost, at times, doubted their acceptance, wishing that God might speak personally to them, not knowing that through his representative, the Holy Spirit, he is speaking to them individually in every good impression. Here Nathanael was longing to know the truth about the Messiah, and in answer to his earnest request that “it might be made known to him, . . . the Holy Spirit rested upon him with assurance.”
The dreams of Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar are fresh in our minds. Of the former it is said, “God hath showed Pharaoh what he is about to do.” And the explanation of the latter is very similar: “But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days.” The wise men were “warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod.” In the same way God told Joseph to take Jesus into Egypt. Still others have been blessed with visions.
We are aware, doubtless, that Satan has counterfeited God's blessings to man. He can speak by impressions, dreams, and visions. And, therefore, we must not be led contrary to God's revealed word in the Bible and the Testimonies. These God has given to safeguard us from all the delusions of the devil.
As the Spirit leads in different ways, so it affects in different ways. Paul's conversion was accompanied with a bright, shining light and an audible voice. No one would question, however, the genuineness of the conversion of the eunuch to whom the angel of the Lord sent Philip, but who experienced no great demonstration, simply a moving of the Spirit through the written Word of God, and its explanation by Philip, God's minister.
“The wind is heard among the branches of the trees, rustling the leaves and flowers; yet it is invisible, and no man knows whence it comes, or whither it goes. So with the work of the Holy Spirit upon the heart. It can no more be explained than can the movements of the wind. A person may not be able to tell the exact time or place, or to trace all the circumstances in the process of conversion; but this does not prove him to be unconverted. By an agency as unseen as the wind, Christ is constantly working upon the heart. Little by little, perhaps unconsciously to the receiver, impressions are made that tend to draw the soul to Christ. These may be received through meditating upon him, through reading the Scriptures, or through hearing the word from the living preacher. Suddenly, as the Spirit comes with more direct appeal, the soul gladly surrenders itself to Jesus. By many this is called sudden conversion; but it is the result of long wooing by the Spirit of God — a patient, protracted process.”
At the time of Pentecost the sound of the Spirit was as of a “rushing mighty wind,” while to Elijah on the mount it came as a “still small voice.” When it rested upon Jesus after his baptism, its form was that of a dove, but upon his disciples its appearance was “cloven tongues like as of fire.”
It is recorded of Samson: “The Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he rent him [the lion] as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand. . . . And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil. . . . And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands. And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.” Dorcas, whose life had been so full of good deeds that God saw fit to raise her from the dead, was moved by the same Spirit to work quietly with her needle in making coats and garments for the poor. On the kind of work required of us the following comforting words bear directly:—
“Those who are trying to purify their souls through obedience to the truth, yet who have had no opportunity of making special efforts and sacrifices for Christ and his cause, should find consolation in the thought that it is not necessarily the self-surrender of the martyr that is the most acceptable to God; it may not be the missionary whose life has been one of trial and endurance that stands highest in heaven's record; but that the Christian who is such in his private life, in his daily struggle with self, in the control of his passions, in cleanness of purpose, in purity of thought, in patience, meekness, and long-suffering under the test of provocation, in piety, in devotion, in holy faith and trust in God, in faithfulness in little things, representing in the home life the character of Jesus,—that such a one may be more precious in the sight of God than the man who goes as a missionary to heathen lands, or ascends the scaffold to die for his faith.”
When Jesus was baptized, he “was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted of the devil.” And again: “Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.” As Jesus was led at one time to trial and at another by the same Spirit to honor and glory, so may we be.
It is very evident, with these facts before us, that the Holy Spirit is not given to be used by us, but to use us as it deems fit under all circumstances. This means a complete surrender of our wills, ways, and wishes to this divine agency.
“Christ has promised the gift of the Holy Spirit to his church, and the promise belongs to us as much as to the first disciples. But like every other promise, it is given on conditions. There are many who believe and profess to claim the Lord's promise; they talk about Christ and about the Holy Spirit, yet receive no benefit. They do not surrender the soul to be guided and controlled by the 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 this. 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. The power of God awaits their demand and reception. 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.”