The Spirit and the Word.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
— “He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God; for he giveth not the Spirit by measure.” John 3:34, R. V. In the common version the words “unto him” are added, although they are not in the original, as is indicated by their being in Italics. However, it makes really no difference whether they are in or not, for the meaning is the same either way. The plainly expressed idea is that God gives the Spirit without measure unto the one whom he sends, and who fulfills his mission by speaking the words of God. Of course there is no question but that this refers primarily to Christ. God “sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 1 John 4:10. God had said to Moses concerning Christ, “I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.” Deut. 18:18. So Jesus said, “Whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.” John 12:50. And again, “The word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.” John 14:24. It was “through the eternal Spirit” that Jesus offered himself to God. Heb. 9:14. It was by the Spirit, therefore, that he spoke. But the word was not simply in his mouth but in his heart. The testimony of Christ was, “I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart. I have preached righteousness in the great congregation; lo, I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, thou knowest.” Ps. 40:8, 9. The word being in his heart, it guided all his acts as well as his speech; so that Jesus both lived and spoke the words of God. And the Spirit was with him without measure, both to speak and to do whatever the Father required of him. But Jesus said of his disciples, “As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.” John 13:18. He said also, “I have given them thy word.” Verse 14. Because he whom God has sent is sent to speak the word of God. This word of testimony can not be truly spoken except by the Spirit; for “no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.” 1 Cor. 12:3. THE word of truth can not be spoken unless it fills the heart; “for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” Matt. 12:34. See also Deut. 6:6, 7. Therefore it is evident that he who truly speaks the word of God, lives the word of God. Such an one lives “by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” He does not slight one precept. NOW COMES in the fullness of the promise that he who fulfills the mission on which he is sent, namely, to speak the word of God, will have the Spirit without measure. It is for this special purpose that the Spirit was promised and given. Jesus said, “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Acts 1:8. THE Spirit was manifest in the church without limit, as long as the church held forth the word of God. It was only when the professed people of God turned from the mission on which they were sent, leaving the word of God for fables, that the powerful manifestations of the Spirit disappeared. Would you have to the full the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Give yourself wholly to the word of God, to hold it forth in its wholeness and perfection, and the Spirit will be given without measure. E. J. W.