p. 1 | The Holy Spirit by Mrs. M. E. Steward

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 7, 1912

The Holy Spirit

By Mrs. M. E. Steward

MRS. M. E. STEWARD

Work of the Holy Spirit. John 16: 8

The Holy Spirit convicts of sin, and also reveals the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. The Spirit withdraws the affections from the things of earth. If one is willing to be molded, there will be brought about a sanctification of the whole being. See “Acts of the Apostles,” pages 50, 51.

Results of Work of the Holy Spirit. 2 Tim. 1: 7

“The Spirit of God, received into the soul, will quicken all its faculties. . . . Continual devotion establishes so close a relation between Jesus and his disciple that the Christian becomes like him in mind and character. Through a connection with Christ he will have clearer and broader views. His discernment will be more penetrative, his judgment better balanced.”—Desire of Ages, page 251.

“His Spirit will develop in man all that will ennoble the character and dignify the nature.”—Id., page 341. Sin can be resisted and overcome only through the third person of the Godhead. “No amount of education, no advantages, however great, can make one a channel of light without the cooperation of the Spirit of God.”—Id., page 672.

How to Receive the Holy Spirit. Luke 13

“The Holy Spirit is waiting our demand, if we will demand it with that intensity of purpose which is proportionate to the value of the object we seek.”—Testimonies for the Church, Vol. VI, page 175.

Pray that the mighty energies of the Holy Spirit, with all their quickening, recuperative, transforming power may fall like an electric shock on the palsy-stricken soul, causing every nerve to thrill with new life, restoring the whole man from his dead, earthly, sensual state to spiritual soundness.

“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.”—Desire of Ages, page 672.

Resisting or Neglecting the Holy Spirit. Eph. 4: 30

To reject the Holy Spirit, through whose power we conquer the forces of evil, is the sin that surpasses all others; for it cuts us off from the source of our power, from Christ, and from communion with him.

If Christians do not seek the Holy Spirit, they will be continually falling back into some form of selfish life. They may not return to the practise of their old sins, but they will let in the old self-life under new forms, and even under religious aspects. They will not think so much of serving Christ, as of having Christ serve them. They are mainly worried about getting to heaven, for they want the best chances everywhere.

The Holy Spirit strives to make uppermost the claims of God, but men pay heed only for a moment, and turn their minds to other things. Satan catches away the seeds of truth; the gracious influence of the Spirit is effectually resisted. Thus many are grieving away the Holy Spirit for the last time, and they know it not.

Proof of Presence and Work of Holy Spirit. Phil. 2: 13

Whenever we long for a better life, it is because the Spirit is drawing, and we are yielding to it. Whenever men make an effort to reform, from a sincere desire to do right, it is the power of Christ that is drawing them. “Wherever there is an impulse of love and sympathy, wherever the heart reaches out to bless and uplift others, there is revealed the working of God’s Holy Spirit.”—Christ’s Object Lessons, page 385.