The Work of the Holy Spirit
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
WHAT will the Spirit do for us when we receive him?—He will do everything. “He will guide you into all truth,” “and he will show you things to come.” John 16:13. He is the sevenfold Spirit of God—“the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.” Isa. 11:2. “There is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.” Job 32:8. Every gift of God to man comes by the Spirit. The chief of the blessings that come by the Spirit is wisdom and knowledge, and this knowledge—the knowledge of God—is life eternal. When the soul becomes separated from sin, it comes into connection with the Intelligence of the universe. “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” “Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.” 1 John 2:20. “We know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.” 1 John 5:20. The knowledge given by the Holy Spirit is of such a kind that even the world acknowledges its reality. This is seen in the immediate results of the reception of the Spirit on Pentecost. The disciples began to speak with other tongues. The reason why this particular phase of knowledge was imparted at that time was that there were thousands of people present from every nation under heaven, all of whom needed to hear the gospel. Whatever one needs in order to do the work of the Lord, that the Spirit gives as soon as one is ready to receive it, and will make the right use of it. But this does not mean that the Spirit relieves one of the necessity for study; far from it. God has no sympathy with laziness, and he does not give his Spirit for the purpose of pandering to it. Be sure that God will not impart the gift of tongues to a man who has not enough interest in the work of giving the gospel as a witness to all nations, to impel him to use all the means in his power to fit himself by study to engage in that work. Everything is a free gift from God, and all is by his power; but we must, nevertheless, be willing to work, and must expect that the reception of the Spirit will bring more active service than ever before.