GOD WORKS BY HIS SPIRIT.
By Wm. Covert
The mysteries associated with the operations of God’s Spirit are numberless as the sands upon the seashore, yet its results may be studied with profit. The power of God’s Spirit has wrought in every good thing in both heaven and earth. As stated of Christ when personated under the figure of wisdom, so may the Spirit say: “The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. . . . When he prepared the heavens, I was there.” Our senses can not take hold of a time when the Spirit of God was not present. With regard to duration the apostle calls it “the eternal Spirit.” See Heb. 9:14. The Biblical account of creation shows that as God in the beginning made our world, his “Spirit was brooding upon the face of the waters.” Gen. 1:2, margin Revised Version. In these moments God was through his Spirit giving form and imparting life to all that was brought into being. Not only was the Spirit force and life manifested in creating our world and all that related to it, but one, in writing of the works of the Lord, says, “By his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens.” Job 26:13. The glory, the brilliancy, and the life, which are seen beaming forth from every twinkling star, and smiling through every shining orb, are a visible testimony plainly revealed through all the meadows of heaven, declaring that God is perpetually working by his Spirit. The fact that all worlds keep their proper places, and follow precisely their appointed rounds, shows that the strength of creation has never slackened its hold upon that which grew into being by the power of this life. The potency of this eternal Spirit is seen in the workings of the forces which men term nature’s laws. That which the scientist claims for the laws of nature the Scripture teaches is done “by the word of his power.” Heb. 1:3. In speaking of the sustaining force which upholds the worlds the prophet says to mankind:— “Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number; he calleth them all by names, by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.” Isa. 40:26.
In the twelfth and thirteenth verses of the above-mentioned chapter the writer shows that the Lord by his Spirit has measured the waters, and weighed the mountains, and computed the dust of the earth in measure. Through the same agency he has also calculated the distances and meted out the spaces for the ceaseless journey of all the host of suns, moons, and planets which traverse the plains of heaven. By his infinite power and wisdom he controls countless systems of worlds in their relation one with another, so that not a mistake nor crash has taken place among them from the days of eternity. Of the Lord’s might the psalmist writes, saying: “I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.” Ps. 135: 5, 6. In harmony with these thoughts David elsewhere queries with himself, saying: “Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.” Ps. 139:7-10. The thought is here expressed that no place can be found where God’s Spirit does not reach. Should the sinner attempt to flee from the presence of God’s Spirit, he would only try in vain. The heavens nor the earth will give no hiding place, and even the grave, with all its darkness, affords no retreat from the searchings of God’s Spirit. From thence all must come to face the issues of life. Therefore the only safety lies in being directed by the Spirit of God day by day, and step by step, right on forever.