p. 172 | The Advent of the Spirit by G. B. Thompson

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 20, 1913

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 90, No. 8.

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The Advent of the Spirit

By G. B. Thompson

The Holy Spirit—No. 6.

The Advent of the Spirit

G. B. THOMPSON

“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever.” John 14: 16.

Will “give you another Comforter.” Another implies that they had with them a comforter, or helper. He was now to leave them; but “another” would take his place in their midst, that they might not be left comfortless.

And more than this is conveyed to us by the words “another comforter.” The usual meaning of such language would seem to carry the idea that the other one who was to come was not simply the influence of himself, but another person who would come and take his seat in the church with his followers till the end of church history. Another would imply that there were two. I am leaving you, but another is coming who will take my place. This thought is further emphasized in the words, “I will not leave you orphans: I will come to you.” John 14: 18, margin. An orphan is one who

has been bereaved of a parent. Jesus had been a helper, a protector, a parent, so to speak, to them. Now he was going away. But he said, I will not leave you bereaved, with none to care for you, but will pray the Father and he will send another Helper, who will take my place, and be the personal companion and counselor of each and all till the end.

Again he says, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.” John 16: 7. “If I depart, I will send him.” Jesus has taken his departure, and just as surely as the one Comforter ascended, shall the other Comforter descended. Just as surely as the one Comforter is with the Father on his throne, the other Comforter is with the church on earth.

This promise to send another Comforter was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, when with one accord the disciples were all together in one place. “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Acts 2: 1-4.

The coming of the promised Comforter was a glorious hour for the church. “As the manger of Bethlehem was the cradle of the Son of God, so was the upper room the cradle of the Spirit of God; as the advent of ‘the Holy Child’ was a testimony that God had ‘visited and redeemed his people,’ so was the coming of the Holy Ghost. The fact that the Comforter is here is proof that the Advocate is there in the presence of the Father. Boldly Peter and the other apostles now confront the rulers with their testimony: ‘Whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.’ As the sound of the golden bells upon the high priest’s garments within the holiest gave evidence that he was alive, so the sound of the Holy Ghost, proceeding from heaven and heard in that upper chamber, was an incontestable witness that the great High Priest whom they had just seen passing through the cloud curtain, entering within the veil, was still living for them in the presence of the Father.”—“Ministry of the Spirit,” pages 39, 40.

Peter, in explanation of the marvelous manifestation of the Holy Spirit seen at Pentecost, which was not comprehended by the people, said: “This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.” Acts 2: 32, 33. To this Dr. A. T. Pierson adds the following comment:—

“This language, which occurs only here, is too marked to pass unnoticed. The Holy Spirit was God’s ascension gift to Christ, and his ascension gift to his church. Hence Christ had said, ‘And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you.’ This was the promised gift of the Father to the Son, and the Son’s promised gift to his believing people. How easy now to reconcile the apparent contradiction of Christ’s earlier and later words: ‘I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Paraclete;’ and then, afterward: ‘If I depart, I will send him unto you.’ The Spirit was the Father’s answer to the prayer of his Son; and so the gift was transferred by him to the mystical body of which he is the head.”

Notice the expression, “It sat upon each of them.” When Christ had “purged our sins,” he “sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” This indicates permanence of position and condition. In like manner the other Comforter, the Holy Spirit, took his place in the church. It became henceforth his abiding place, to be his seat, his holy see, so to speak, over which he would preside as the vicar of the Son of God.

The coming of the Holy Spirit means much to the church. Notice the following from the spirit of prophecy:—

“The Holy Spirit was the highest of all gifts that he could solicit from his Father for the exaltation of his people. The Spirit was to be given as a regenerating agent, and without this the sacrifice of Christ would have been of no avail. The power of evil had been strengthening for centuries, and the submission of men to this satanic captivity was amazing. Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the third person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fulness of divine power. It is the Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought out by the world’s Redeemer.”—“Desire of Ages,” page 671.

In harmony with the above, the following clear exposition from the pen of another will be read with profit:—

“Jesus Christ is the revelation that our sins are forgiven, that God has taken them on himself; his death on the cross is the evidence that all their consequences have been borne. The Holy Spirit convinces us of sin, and makes us feel the need of forgiveness; and convinces us of righteousness, and makes us trust the forgiveness through Christ. Of what benefit would it have been to man that a sacrifice had been offered to take away sin, if he had not felt the need of such an offering, or if, feeling the need, he had not been able to trust it? What good would it have done to man that the Holy Spirit had convicted him of sin, if he had not known also of the forgiveness of sins, and the means by which he might secure that forgiveness? ‘In the Christian life Jesus Christ is its rule, the Holy Spirit its power. What would be the benefit of a rule that we had no power of following, or of a power that we did not know how to direct? The example of Jesus Christ is in all respects so perfect that when it is set before us we can but feel how hopeless it is for us to try to imitate it. But the Holy Spirit is promised to those who faithfully seek to follow that example, to teach them how to apply it to their own position, and to give them strength to carry it out in their lives. On the other hand, the Holy Spirit alone, separated from the revelation of life, which has come through Jesus Christ, would impel men to a vague striving after a holiness for the attainment of which they would have no guide. The case would never really occur; but some men have fancied themselves to be so guided by the Holy Spirit that they have no need of the Word to direct them. They have become a law unto themselves, with the result of losing all holiness of life.”