A General View by WM. COVERT

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 10, 1907

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 84, No. 2.

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A General View

By WM. COVERT

The Spirit of God—No. 1

A General View

WM. COVERT

1. In what various ways has God spoken to men?

“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son.” Heb. 1:1, 2.

2. What definite statement is made with reference to all prophets?

“Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.” Num. 12:6.

3. Through what agency have the minds of prophets always been effected?

“No prophecy ever came by the will of man: but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2 Peter 1:21, R. V.

4. How did the Spirit of God use the faculties of David?

“The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.” 2 Sam. 23:2.

5. What latter-day promise did the Lord make to his people through his prophet Joel?

“It shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.” Joel 2:28-32.

6. By what remarkable occurrence was the beginning of these things marked?

“This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: and I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke: the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come.” Acts 2:16-20.

7. What extended period of time is to be covered by this outpouring of God’s Spirit.

“Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” Acts 2:38, 39.

8. What per cent of the church-membership is to enjoy the manifestation of the Spirit?

“The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.” I Cor. 12:7.

9. How many Spirits operate in the truth?

“There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.” I Cor. 12:4.

10. Name some of these gifts.

“To one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom; and to another the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit: to another faith, in the same Spirit; and to another gifts of healings, in the one Spirit; and to another workings of miracles; and to another divers kinds of tongues; and to another the interpretation of tongues: but all these worketh the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one severally even as he will.” I Cor. 12:8-11, R. V.

11. What is said about different classes of helpers in church organization and church work?

“And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, divers kinds of tongues.” I Cor. 12:28, R. V.

12. How great a work is to be wrought for the church through the services of these officers and helpers?

“He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ: till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a full-grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” Eph. 4:11-13, R. V.

13. What kind of church or people will the Spirit and gifts of God eventually produce?

“That we may be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error; but speaking truth in love, may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, even Christ; from whom all the body fitly framed and knit together through that which every joint supplieth, according to the working in due measure of each several part, maketh the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love.” Eph. 4:14-16, R. V.

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