THE OFFICE OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD.
By H. F. Phelps
WE are subject to many infirmities, and these infirmities have so far weakened us that we can not know what we most need. And not knowing what we need, we do not know what to pray for as we ought. And so we read: "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which can not be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God." Rom. 8:26, 27. May the Lord help each, reader and writer, to be thus in earnest in our own behalf. Reproves of Sin, of Righteousness, and of Judgment.
From the earliest period of the history of the race the Holy Spirit has striven with men because of sin. "My Spirit shall not always strive with man," were the words written against the ungodly antediluvians. It was the Spirit of Christ in righteous Noah warning that race of a judgment, preaching righteousness; Christ in Noah preaching to those who are now in the prison-house of Satan, the grave. 1 Peter 3:18, 20. In place of his own bodily presence Christ made promise of the Spirit in the hearts of his disciples, and said: "And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment; of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged." John 16:8-11. During these ages the Holy Spirit has been the active agent in working upon the hearts of men, striving to lead them to see God and recognize him in all things. But in the days of Noah men put off the day of repentance, plunged deeper and deeper in sin, and defied the Spirit of God till that Spirit forsook them, to be filled with their own ways, and they drank of the waters of the flood. There have even been times when whole cities and nations cut themselves off from its influences, and were left to drink the cup of their own choosing to the very dregs. When Christ wept over the city of Jerusalem and pronounced the sad words, "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate" (Luke 13:35), the angel of mercy was in the very act of folding her wings to depart forever from that city. And when that people cried, "His blood be on us, and on our children," and filled up the cup of their iniquity by the crucifixion of the Son of God, then it was that, as a nation, they forever separated themselves from the brooding, wooing influences of the Holy Spirit, and have been left to drink of the cup of their own choosing. No more as a nation, but only as individuals, will they seek God. History Repeating Itself.
"For as it was in the days of Noah," "as it was in the days of Lot," "they ate, they drank, they planted, they builded," and "they knew not till the flood came and took them all away." Why did they not know?—The Spirit of God through righteous Noah told them, but they did not believe. Unbelief was the cause of their not knowing. No man can fail to recognize the fact that the history of the terrible record of sin and crime of to-day is but a repetition of former days. Men are intent upon the gratification of self at the expense of things eternal. Soon they will drink the cup of their own choice. It is just as clearly to be seen that as the church in former days formed an adulterous union with the world and put the Son of God to death in the person of his saints, so now the church is again uniting with the world and crucifying Christ afresh in the persecution of his people. But all this time the Spirit of God is doing its work of brooding, wooing, inviting, pleading, with men to yield to God. Yet, even as it was in the days of Christ, the angel of mercy was folding her wings to depart from that city, so to-day is the angel of mercy folding her wings to depart—not from one city, nor from one nation, but from all the earth; not to continue her work with individuals, but to leave every one to drink of the cup of their own choosing, and to be filled with their own devices, which will leave them in their everlasting ruin. Still the Spirit of God lingers a little longer, loath to depart as long as there is one soul to save. But soon it will bid an everlasting adieu to this generation. Yet it lingers; it pleads; it is yet brooding over the souls of men. Reader, does it still plead with you? Is it yet inviting you to come now? Then yield to-day. Give your heart to God before it is forever too late. Now is the accepted time. In Yielding There Is Comfort.
In submission there is peace, peace with God, and comfort in the Spirit, for the Spirit is a "Comforter." That men need some comforter in this world of sin, in the midst of all their trials and sufferings in this life, is evident to all men. But as surely as they need a comforter, so surely do men go in every direction seeking comfort, except in the right way. But as surely as they go in the wrong direction, so surely there is a right one, and the comfort needed is provided in the comfort of the Spirit of God; and that Spirit is nigh unto every one of us, even in our hearts and minds; for God has placed it there. It is a continual reprover of sin. Receive it and it will be the Comforter. When the Saviour told the disciples that he was going away, sorrow filled their hearts. But he said: "I will not leave you comfortless;" "I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world can not receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." John 14:16-18.