The Outpouring of the Spirit
Is It the Second Coming of Christ?
THE outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the early days of the Christian age was a wonderful event. It had been predicted by ancient prophet. One of the great blessings of the land of Palestine—the early rain—had been used to prefigure its coming and influence. The very times demanded its abundant outpouring. This does not mean that God’s Spirit had not been in the earth before; for it had. As the articles on the Spirit, by Mr. Corliss, have clearly shown, that mighty power was upon earth in its beginning, brooding over the chaos of darkness, and transforming it into a cosmos of light and beauty. David pleads, “Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.” Again he sings, “The Spirit of Jehovah spake by me, and His word was upon my tongue.” Through Isaiah the Lord promises, “I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and streams upon the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring.” There is an abundance of testimony to the same effect. But the promised Seed had not yet come. God’s wonderful love had not yet been manifest in its highest concrete form. That Seed of the woman, that Life from above, Divinity in Humanity, a perfect Conqueror over sin, had not yet been disclosed. When Christ came, when God’s Spirit in Him became triumphant in human flesh over sin, it marked a new step in God’s progressive revelation. Henceforth that power was the tested and proved Spirit of God, Spirit of Christ, in and through glorified and triumphant Humanity. That Spirit can do more for humanity than could the personal presence of Jesus. Therefore spoke the Master: “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.” John 16:7. The personal Jesus could be in but one place at one time; and His disciples could not by faith grasp His power apart from His presence. “Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died,” wailed the sorrowing sisters of Lazarus. The Roman centurion, with greater faith, pleaded, “Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed.” The disciples needed such faith, faith to grasp Christ’s power when He was absent. Therefore for their good He must go away; but He would not leave them comfortless. He would pour out His great life through the channels of His holy law, with which they were in perfect accord. That Spirit would be everywhere present in and among and with the children of God, and it would also have the power of making personally present to each one the blessed conquering Christ. That Spirit comes through the Word of God (John 6:63), direct from the throne, as on the Day of Pentecost, to every believer, baptizing all into one body, and binding all in the bundle of God’s life. It comes through angels and holy men by silent influence, by spoken word. It is manifest in conversion and other mighty miracles. But the manifestation of the Spirit is not Christ’s second coming; for when He comes He will come in all the blazing, sin-consuming, righteousness-immortalizing glory of heaven. Praise God for the presence of our Lord through His Spirit; praise God that Christ is coming again in His own personal presence, when we shall see Him as He is. Let His Spirit now prepare us for His soon coming.