Names and Emblems by G. B. Thompson

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 13, 1913

Names and Emblems

By G. B. Thompson

The Holy Spirit—No. 9

Names and Emblems

G. B. THOMPSON

It is quite impossible for any one name, emblem, or figure to set forth fully the character and work of Christ. Many different names, therefore, are given to Christ. He is also represented by figures or symbols in the Scriptures, each of which reveals to us a new picture of our Redeemer. He is the Son of God and the Son of man, the Lamb and the Lion, the Branch and the Vine, the Bread and the Rock, the Servant of all, and the King of kings; like a refiner’s fire and fullers’ soap. He is Immanuel, the Shepherd, the Star, a Sun, and a Shield. Many more titles and appellations are used, each giving us additional light concerning his work as the world’s Redeemer.

The same is true concerning the Holy Spirit. Different names, titles, and emblems are used in the Bible to designate the exalted nature and office of the Spirit, and throw light upon his work in the world in behalf of a lost race.

Each of these names has a deep significance, and a study of them helps us in understanding more fully the mysterious work of the Holy Spirit. We shall notice a few of these names:—

1. He is called the Spirit. With this name we shall readily associate such other titles as the “Spirit of life” (Rom. 8: 2),

“eternal Spirit” (Heb. 9: 14), “the Spirit of truth” (John 14: 17), “the Spirit of holiness” (Rom. 1: 4), “the Spirit of judgment” (Isa. 4: 4), “the Spirit of wisdom and understanding” (Isa. 11: 2), “the Spirit of Christ” (1 Peter 1: 11), “the Spirit of the living God” (2 Cor. 3: 3), and others, all of which have a distinct meaning. This name suggests life. He is called the “Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.” “The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.” Job 33: 4. “The Spirit is life because of righteousness.” Rom. 8: 10. This is the figure used in John 20: 22, where Jesus “breathed” on his disciples, and “saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” The church is a “habitation of God through the Spirit.” Eph. 2: 22. To receive the Spirit is to receive the very life of God, to have him dwell with us, live in us, and impart unto us his own spiritual life and power. It is the taking away of the carnal mind and the giving to us of his own mind, setting us free from the law of sin and death.

And further, he is not simply called the Spirit, but the Holy Spirit. This title is frequently used in the Word of God. We shall do well to weigh thoughtfully and prayerfully its meaning. God is holy. The unnumbered millions of powerful angels around his throne are holy, and continually cry, “Holy, holy, holy.” Christ is holy. The Spirit of God represents a holy being, and a kingdom of holiness. This is a solemn thought. To invite such a Being to dwell with us means much. We can be assured that the Holy Spirit will have no communion, or fellowship, with unholy sin, nor dwell in an unclean, defiled temple. Verily has God said, “If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” 1 Cor. 3: 17. We pray for the Spirit to come and dwell with us. But what will he find when he comes? Will he find selfishness, impurity, uncleanness, worldliness, pride, sin? If so, are we willing to yield all these things, allowing him to cleanse the temple and control our lives? He will cleanse, if permitted, the very denizens of the underworld, and help the infirmities of us all. But we must be willing. He kindly knocks at every heart; if welcomed, he enters; if not, dove-like and gentle, he retires and patiently waits.

2. Another emblem is that of a dove. “And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him.” Luke 3: 22. How appropriate that such a beautiful emblem should be seen in connection with the Saviour. No need here of a symbol of fire or wind, but gentleness. The Spirit found perfect communion with Jesus, and it “abode” upon him. What purity, peace, gentleness, kindness, and love are suggested by this symbol! We think at once of the olive branch of peace. How retiring is the dove, and clean in life. She will not intrude. If received kindly she will abide; if not, she will retire, and mournfully watch and wait, seeking a resting-place place where she may abide in gentleness and love. How careful we should be that we do not by rude, unkind, uncultured, sinful acts, grieve from our hearts the dove-like influence of the Holy Spirit.

3. Another emblem used is fire. The Word speaks of the “Spirit of burning.” Isa. 4: 4. On the day of Pentecost “there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.” Acts 2: 3. The figure is a strong and impressive one, though blessed, when understood. God is a “consuming fire.” There are things which neither water nor anything else, save fire, can cleanse. Fire consumes the dross and purifies the gold. It tests metal as well. So we, like silver or gold, need to be “refined,” purified, and tested. The Holy Spirit is like a fire in the heart, consuming sin and illuminating and purifying the life. When Isaiah in holy vision saw the Lord of hosts in all his glory, and felt undone because of his sins, a seraph “having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar,” laid it upon Isaiah’s mouth, and said, “Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.” Isa. 6: 6, 7. It is by this emblem of fire, searching and sometimes painful in its operation, that we enjoy the blessed and holy “communion” of the Spirit.

4. Another emblem is that of a seal. “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.” Eph. 1: 13. This was a familiar figure to the Ephesians. Ephesus was a maritime port, with an extensive trade in timber. After purchasing timber the merchant stamped it with his own signet, or seal, which was the acknowledged sign of ownership. The seal of the Spirit means the certainty of the promise of God. It indicates security, as none can break the seal of God. It suggests holiness, for it is the earnest, or pledge, of “our inheritance.” It is, as it were, the very beginning, or foretaste, of heaven to us when received.

5. Another emblem is that of the wind. “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” John 3: 8. The Revised Versions, however, using the marginal rendering, read, “The Spirit breatheth where it will,” etc.

The Holy Spirit is not the wind, but in some of its workings is like the wind. The emblem is a striking and impressive one. It indicates mysteriousness. None can understand the operation of the wind. It is everywhere. Where does it come from? Where does it go? So with the Spirit of God. This Person is veiled in impenetrable and unsearchable mystery. But in every place, under all conditions and circumstances, somehow, in some way, he is visiting hearts and transforming lives.

Then the wind is sovereign in its operations. It “bloweth where it listeth.” It is beyond our dictation, or control. We can not change atmospheric conditions, nor determine the point of the compass from which the breezes shall blow, or whether they shall be hot or cold. So with the Spirit. He, too, is sovereign. He divides “to every man severally as he will.” 1 Cor. 12: 11. It remains for us to yield to his power, and come into harmony with the laws which govern his operations.

Again, the wind is irresistible. Think of its power. Who can stop it? See it stir and lash the mighty ocean into violent fury until its crested waves lift up like mountains. See it tear the forest in pieces, uprooting great and mighty trees. See it wreck and ruin the proudest and most enduring works of man. Recently, while traveling in Canada, I passed over the track of an awful tornado. A beautiful city was in ruins; great buildings were removed like toys. The hospitals were crowded, and the funeral trains moved mournfully to the city of the dead, while the mourners went about the streets. The ruin was awful and indescribable. Though invisible, the power of this material agency was irresistible, and the effects visible.

It is even so with the Holy Spirit. Though he is invisible, we see his operations, great and irresistible, making effective the gospel in human hearts. Nations have sought to stop his work; their lawmakers have passed decrees: these nations have passed into the tomb of time; their senators are dead and the decrees forgotten. But the work of the Spirit continues, and millions know the transforming effect in their own and others’ lives. Truly we can not use the Spirit; the Spirit is to use us.

“Some quiet Sabbath day you visit a church. Everything about the outward appointments of the church are all that could be desired. There is an attractive meeting-house, an expensive organ, a gifted choir, a scholarly preacher. The service is well arranged, but you have not been long at the gathering before you are forced to see that there is no life, that it is all form, and that there is nothing really being accomplished for God or for man. You go away with a heavy heart.

“Months afterward you have occasion to visit the church again, the outward appointments of the church are much as they were before, but the service has not proceeded far before you note a great difference. There is a new power in the singing, a new spirit in the prayer, a new grip in the preaching, everything about the church is teeming with the life of God. What has happened? The Wind of God has blown upon that church; the Holy Spirit, the Holy Wind, has come.

“You go some day to hear a preacher of whose abilities you have heard great reports. As he stands up to preach, you soon learn that nothing too much has been said in praise of his abilities from the merely intellectual and rhetorical standpoint. His diction is faultless, his style beautiful, his logic unimpeachable, his orthodoxy beyond criticism. It is

an intellectual treat to listen to him, and yet, after all, as he preaches you can not avoid a feeling of sadness, for there is no real grip, no real power, indeed no reality of any kind, in the man’s preaching. You go away with a heavy heart at the thought of this waste of magnificent abilities.

“Months, perhaps years, pass by, and you again find yourself listening to this celebrated preacher, but what a change! The same faultless diction, the same beautiful style, the same unimpeachable logic, the same skilful elocution, the same sound orthodoxy, but now there is something more; there is reality, life, grip, power in the preaching. Men and women sit breathless as he speaks, sinners bow with tears of contrition, pricked to their hearts with conviction of sin; men and women and boys and girls renounce their selfishness and their sin and their worldliness, and accept Jesus Christ, and surrender their lives to him. What has happened? The Wind of God has blown upon that man.”—“The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit,” pages 45–47.