eChurch Blog

Today I received a CD from the Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones Recording Trust in my continuing quest to reserach mental illness from a Christian perspective.

As often is the case I also received their latest news update and was struck by the following comment written by the director of the trust D Paul Mitchell:-

‘It is becoming very apparent that the society in which we now live is increasingly hostile to the Gospel, and, sadly, I believe much of the reason for this hostility is the result of an inconsistency between what we as Christians profess and what in fact practice. God hates hypocrisy and Jesus made that very clear in his encounters with the Jewish religious leaders during the days of his earthly ministry.

We are called to be a Royal Priesthood and a Holy Nation; that means living a very different lifestyle from those who are without Christ. The authentic Christian lifestyle can never be truly lived when we exist in a state of denial concerning our sins, or give in to the same old temptations, time and time again.’

Very hard hitting words and maybe a powerful reality check. I was quite surprised to read this and when I mentioned it to my wife I was even more surprised when she said, ‘Fair enough!’

Just a few verses in the Bible from our God to encourage us to be strong in Him, especially when times are tough.

Ephesians 6:10
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

2 Chronicles 32:7
Be strong and courageous

Isaiah 35:4
Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, With the recompense of God; He will come and save you.

Matthew 11:12
And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.

Daniel 11:32
but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits

Isaiah 50:10
Who walks in darkness And has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD And rely upon his God

Job 13:15
Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him

More words of much needed encouragement from William Gurnall:-

‘As part of Christ’s army, you march in the ranks of gallant spirits. Every one of your fellow soldiers is the child of a King. Some, like you, are in the midst of the battle, besieged on every side by afflictions and temptation.

Others, after many assaults, repulses and rallyings of their faith, are already standing upon the wall of heaven as conquerors. From there they look down and urge you, their comrades on earth, to march up the hill after them. This is their cry: “Fight to the death and the city is your own, and now is ours! For the waging of a few days conflict, you will be rewarded with Heaven’s glory. One moment of this celestial joy will dry up all your tears, heal all your wounds, and erase the sharpness of the fight with the joy of your permanent victory”

In a word – God, angels and the saints already with the Lord are spectators, watching how you conduct yourself as a child of the Most High. The crowd of witnesses shouts joyfully from the celestial sidelines every time you defeat temptation, scale a difficulty, or regain lost ground from your enemies.

And if the fight should be too much for you, your dear Saviour stands by with reserves for your relief at a moments notice. His very heart leaps within Him to see the proof of your love and zeal for Him in all your combats. He will not forget your faithfulness. And when you come off the field, He will receive you as joyously as the Father received Him upon His return to Heaven.’

‘The subject of this treatise is solemn: A war between the Saint and Satan. And it is such a bloody one that the cruelest war ever fought by men will be seen as but sport and child’s play compared to this. It is a spiritual war that you shall read of; not a history of what was fought many ages past and is now over, but of a war now going on – the tragedy is present with us. And it is not taking place at the farthest end of the world; it concerns you and everyone who reads of it. The stage on which this war is fought is every man’s soul. There are no neutrals in this war. The whole world is engaged in the quarrel, either for God against Satan, or for Satan against God.’

“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will
send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things
to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”-
John 14:26.

GOOD old Simeon called Jesus the consolation of Israel; and so he was.
Before his actual appearance, his name was the Day-Star; cheering the
darkness, and prophetic of the rising sun. To him they looked with the
same hope which cheers the nightly watcher, when from the lonely castletop
he sees the fairest of the stars, and hails her as the usher of the morn.

When he was on earth, he must have been the consolation of all those who
were privileged to be his companions. We can imagine how readily the
disciples would run to Christ to tell him of their-griefs, and how sweetly
with that matchless intonation of his voice, he would speak to them and bid
their fears be gone. Like children, they would consider him as their Father;
and to him every want, every groan, every sorrow, every agony, would at
once be carried, and he, like a wise physician, had a balm for every wound;
he had mingled a cordial for their every care; and readily did he dispense
some mighty remedy to allay all the fever of their troubles.

Oh! it must
have been sweet to have lived with Christ. Surely sorrows then were but
joys in masks because they gave an opportunity to go to Jesus to have
them removed. Oh! would to God, some of us may say, that we could have
lain our weary heads upon the bosom of Jesus, and that our birth had been
in that happy era, when we might have heard his kind voice, and seen his
kind look, when he said “Let the weary ones come unto me.”
But now he was about to die. Great prophecies were to be fulfilled, and
great purposes were to be answered; and therefore Jesus must go. It
behoved him to suffer, that he might be made a propitiation for our sins. It
behoved him to slumber in the dust awhile, that he might perfume the
chamber of the grave to make it-

“No more a charnel house to fence
The relics of lost innocence.”

It behoved him to have a resurrection, that we who shall one day be the
dead in Christ, might rise first, and in glorious bodies stand upon earth.
And it behoved him that he should ascend up on high, that he might lead
captivity captive; that he might chain the fiends of hell; that he might lash
them to his chariot wheels and drag them up high heaven’s hill, to make
them feel a second overthrow from his right arm when he should dash them
from the pinnacles of heaven down to deeper depths beneath. “It is right I
should go away from you,” said Jesus, “for if I go not away, the Comforter
will not come.” Jesus must go. Weep ye disciples. Jesus must be gone.
Mourn ye poor ones who are to be left without a Comforter. But hear how
kindly Jesus speaks: “I will not leave you comfortless, I will pray the
Father, and he shall send you another Comforter, who shall be with you,
and shall dwell in you for ever.” He would not leave those few poor sheep
alone in the wilderness; he would not desert his children and leave them
fatherless. Albeit that he had a mighty mission which did fill his heart and
hand; albeit that he had so much to perform that we might have thought
that even his gigantic intellect would be overburdened albeit he had so
much to suffer, that we might suppose his whole soul to be concentrated
upon the thought of the sufferings to be endured, yet it was not so; before
he left, he gave soothing words of comfort; like the good Samaritan, he
poured in oil and wine; and we see what he promised: “I will send you
another Comforter-one who shall be just what I have been, yea even more;
who shall console you in your sorrows, remove your doubts, comfort you
in your afflictions, and stand as my vicar on earth, to do that which I would
have done, had I tarried with you.”

Before I discourse of the Holy Ghost as the Comforter, I must make one or
two remarks on the different translations of the word rendered
“Comforter.” The Flemish translation, which you are aware is adopted by
Roman Catholics, has left the word untranslated, and gives it “Paraclete.”
“But the Paraclete which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in
my name, he shall teach you all things.” This is the original Greek word,
and it has some other meanings besides “Comforter.” Sometimes it means
the monitor or instructor: “I will send you another monitor, another
teacher.” Frequently it means “Advocate;” but the most common meaning
of the word is that which we have here: “I will send you another
Comforter.” However, we cannot pass over those other two interpretations
without saying something upon them.

“I will send you another teacher.” Jesus Christ had been the official teacher
or his saints whilst on earth. They called no man Rabbi except Christ. They
sat at no men’s feet to learn their doctrines; but they had them direct from
the lips of him who “spake as never man spake.” “And now,” says he,
“when I am gone, where shall you find the great infallible teacher? Shall I
set you up a Pope at Rome, to whom you shall go, and who shall be your
infallible oracle? Shall I give you the councils of the church to be held to
decide all knotty points?” Christ said no such thing. “I am the infallible
paraclete or teacher, and when I am gone, I will send you another teacher
and he shall be the person who is to explain Scripture; he shall be the
authoritative oracle of God, who shall make all dark things light, who shall
unravel mysteries, who shall unravel mysteries, who shall untwist all knots
of revelation, and shall make you understand what you could not discover,
had it not been for his influence.” And beloved, no man ever learns
anything aright, unless he is taught of the Spirit. You may learn election,
and you may know it so that you shall be damned by it, if you are not
taught of the Holy Ghost; for I have known some who have learned
election to their soul’s destruction; they have learned it, so that they said
they were of the elect, whereas they had no marks, no evidences and no
work of the Holy Ghost in their souls. There is a way of learning truth in
Satan’s college, and holding it in licentiousness; but if so, it shall be to your
souls as poison to your veins, and prove your everlasting ruin. No man can
know Jesus Christ unless he is taught of God. There is no doctrine of the
Bible which can be safely, thoroughly, and truly learned, except by the
agency of the one authoritative teacher.

Ah! tell me not of systems of
divinity, tell me not of schemes of theology; tell me not of infallible
commentators, or most learned and most arrogant doctors; but tell me of
the Great Teacher, who shall instruct us, the sons of God, and shall make
us wise to understand all things. He is the Teacher; it matters not what this
or that man says; I rest on no man’s boasting authority, nor will you. Ye
are not to be carried away with the craftiness of men, nor sleighs of words;
this is the authoritative oracle, the Holy Ghost resting in the hearts of his
children.

The other translation is advocate. Have you ever thought how the Holy
Ghost can be said to be an advocate? You know Jesus Christ is called the
wonderful, the counsellor, and mighty God; but how can the Holy Ghost
be said to be an advocate? I suppose it is thus: he is an advocate on earth
to plead against the enemies of the cross. How was it that Paul could so
ably plead before Felix and Agrippa? How was it that the Apostles stood
unawed before the magistrates and confessed their Lord? How has it come
to pass that in all times God’s ministers have been made fearless as lions,
and their brows have been firmer than brass, their hearts sterner than steel,
and their words like the language of God? Why, it is simply for this reason,
that it was not the man who pleaded, but it was God the Holy Ghost
pleading through him.

Have you never seen an earnest minister, with hands
uplifted and eyes dropping tears, pleading with the sons of men? Have you
never admired that portrait from the hand of old John Bunyan? A grave
person with eyes uplifted to heaven, the best of books in his hand, the law
of truth written on his lips, the world behind his back, standing as if he
pleaded with men, and a crown of gold hanging over his head. Who gave
that minister so blessed a manner and such goodly matter? Whence came
his skill? Did he acquire it in the college? Did he learn it in the seminary?
Ah! no; he learned it of the God of Jacob; he learned it of the Holy Ghost;
for the Holy Ghost is the great counsellor who teaches us how to advocate
his cause aright.

But, besides this, the Holy Ghost is the advocate in men’s hearts. Ah! I
have known men reject a doctrine until the Holy Ghost began to illumine
them. We who are the advocates of the truth are often very poor pleaders;
we spoil our cause by the words we use; but it is a mercy that the brief is in
the hand of a special pleader, who will advocate successfully and overcome
the sinner’s opposition. Did you ever know him fail once? Brethen, I speak
to your souls has not God in old times convinced you of sin? Did not the
Holy Ghost come and prove that you were guilty, although no minister
could ever get you out of your self-righteousness? Did he not advocate
Christ’s righteousness? Did he not stand and tell you that your works were
filthy rags? and when you had well-nigh still refused to listen to his voice,
did he not fetch hell’s drum and make it sound about your ears, bidding
you look through the vista of future years and see the throne set, and the
books open, and the sword brandished, and hell burning, and fiends
howling, and the damned shrieking for ever? and did he not thus convince
you of the judgment to come? He is a mighty advocate when he pleads in
the soul-of sin, of righteousness, and of the judgment to come. Blessed
advocate! plead in my heart, plead with my conscience. When I sin, make
conscience bold to tell me of it; when I err, make conscience speak at once;
and when I turn aside to crooked ways, then advocate the cause of
righteousness, and bid me sit down in confusion, knowing my guiltiness in
the sight of God.

But there is yet another sense in which the Holy Ghost advocates, and that
is, he advocates our cause with Jesus Christ, with groanings that cannot be
uttered. O my soul, thou art ready to burst within me! O my heart, thou art
swelled with grief; the hot tide of my emotion would well-nigh overflow
the channels of my veins. I long to speak, but the very desire chains my
tongue. I wish to pray, but the fervency of my feeling curbs my language.
There is a groaning within that cannot be uttered. Do you know who can
utter that groaning, who can understand it, and who can put it into
heavenly language and utter it in O celestial tongue, so that Christ can hear
it? Oh! yes; it is God the Holy Spirit; he advocates our cause with Christ
and then Christ advocates it with his Father. He is the advocate, who
maketh intercession for us, with groanings that cannot be uttered.
Having thus explained the Spirit’s office as teacher and advocate, we come
now to the translation of our version-the Comforter; and here I shall have
three divisions. First, the comforter; secondly, the comfort; and thirdly, the
comforted.

I. First, then, the COMFORTER. Briefly let me run over in my mind and in
your minds too, the characteristics of this glorious Comforter. Let me tell
you some of the attributes of his comfort, so that you may understand how
well adapted he is to your case.

And first, we will remark that God the Holy Ghost is a very loving
Comforter. I am in distress and want consolation. Some passer-by hears of
my sorrow, and he steps within, sits down and essays to cheer me; he
speaks soothing words; but he loves me not, he is a stranger, he knows me
not at all, he has only come in to try his skill; and what is the consequence?
his words run over me like oil upon a slab of marble-they are like the
pattering rain upon the rock; they do not break my grief; it stands unmoved
as adamant, because he has no love for me. But let someone who loves me
dearly as his own life come and plead with me, then truly his words are
music; they taste like honey; he knows the pass-word of the doors of my
heart, and my ear is attentive to every word, I catch the intonation of each
syllable as it falls, for it is like the harmony of the harps of heaven Oh!
there is a voice in love, it speaks a language which is its own, it is a idiom
and an accent which none can mimic; wisdom cannot imitate it, oratory
cannot attain unto it; it is love alone which can reach the mourning heart;
love is the only handkerchief which can wipe the mourner’s tears away.

And is not the Holy Ghost a loving Comforter? Dost thou know, O saint,
how much the Holy Spirit loves thee; Canst thou measure the love of the
Spirit. Dost thou know how great is the affection of his soul towards thee?
Go, measure heaven with thy span; go, weigh the mountains in the scales;
go, take the ocean’s water, and tell each drop; go count the sand upon the
sea’s wide shore, and when thou hast accomplished this, thou canst tell
how much he loveth thee. He has loved thee long, he has loved thee well;
he loved thee ever and he still shall love thee. Surely he is the person to
comfort thee, because he loves. Admit him, then, to your heart, O
Christian, that he may comfort you in your distress.

But next he is a faithful Comforter. Love sometimes proves unfaithful.
“Oh! sharper than a serpent’s tooth “is an unfaithful friend! Oh! far more
bitter than the gall of bitterness, to have a friend to turn from me in my
distress! Oh! woe of woes, to have one who loves me in my prosperity
forsake me in the dark day of my trouble. Sad indeed but such is not God’s
Spirit. He ever loves, and loves even to the end-a faithful Comforter. Child
of God you are in trouble. A little while ago you found him a sweet and
loving Comforter; you obtained relief from him when others were but
broken cisterns; he sheltered you in his bosom, and carried you in his arms.
Oh, wherefore dost thou distrust him now? Away with thy fears! for he is a
faithful Comforter. “Ah! but “thou sayest, “I fear I shall be sick and shall be
deprived of his ordinances.” Nevertheless, he shall visit thee on thy sick
bed, and sit by thy side to give the consolation. “Ah! but I have distresses
greater than you can conceive of, wave upon wave rolleth over me; deep
calleth unto deep at the noise of the Eternal’s waterspouts.” Nevertheless,
he will be faithful to his promise. “Ah! but I have sinned.” So thou hast, but
sin cannot sever thee from his love; he loves thee still.

Think not, O poor downcast child of God, because the scars of thine old sins have marred thy beauty, that he loves thee less because of that blemish. Oh, no! He loved thee when he foreknew thy sin; he loved thee with the knowledge of what the aggregate of thy wickedness would be; and he does not love the less now. Come to him in all boldness of faith; tell him thou hast grieved him, and he will forget thy wandering, and will receive thee again; the kisses of his love shall be bestowed upon thee, and the arms of his grace shall embrace thee. He is faithful: trust him; he will never deceive you; trust him; he will never leave you.

Again, he is an unwearied Comforter. I have sometimes tried to comfort
persons that have been tried. You now and then meet with the case of a
nervous person. You ask, “What is your trouble?” You are told, and you
essay, if possible, to remove it, but while you are preparing your artillery to
batter the trouble, you find that it has shifted its quarters, and is occupying
quite a different position. You change your argument and begin again; but
lo, it is again gone, and you are bewildered. You feel like Hercules cutting
off the ever-growing heads of the Hydra, and you give up your task in
despair. You meet with persons whom it is impossible to comfort,
reminding me of the man who locked himself up in fetters and threw the
key away, so that nobody could unlock him. I have found some in the
fetters of despair. “O, I am the man,” say they, “that has seen affliction;
pity me, pity me, O my friends;” and the more you try to comfort such
people, the worse they get; and therefore, out of all heart, we leave them to
wander alone among the tombs of their former joys. But the Holy Ghost is
never out of heart with those whom he wishes to comfort. He attempts to
comfort us and we run away from the sweet cordial; he gives some sweet
draught to cure us, and we will not drink it; he gives some wondrous
potion to charm away all our troubles, and we put it away from us. Still he
pursues us; and though we say that we will not be comforted, he says we
shall be, and when he has said, he does it, he is not to be wearied by all our
sins, not by all our murmurings.

And oh, how wise a Comforter is the Holy Ghost. Job had comforters, and
I think he spoke the truth when he said, “Miserable comforters are ye all.”
But I dare say they esteemed themselves wise; and when the young man
Elihu rose to speak, they thought he had a world of impudence. Were they
not “grave and reverend seniors?” Did not they comprehend his grief and
sorrow? If they could not comfort him, who could? But they did not find
out the cause. They thought he was not really a child of God, that he was
self-righteous; and they have him the wrong physic. It is a bad case when
the doctor mistakes the disease and gives a wrong prescription, and so,
perhaps, kills the patient. Sometimes, when we go and visit people we
mistake their disease, we want to comfort them on this point, whereas they
do not require any such comfort at all, and they would be better left alone
than spoiled by such unwise comforters as we are. But oh! how wise the
Holy Spirit is! he takes the soul, lays it on the table, and dissects it in a
moment; he finds out the root of the matter, he sees where the complaint
is, and then he applies the knife where something is required to be taken
away, or puts a plaster where the sore is; and he never mistakes. Oh! how
wise, the blessed Holy Ghost! from every comforter I turn and leave them
all, for thou art he who alone givest the wisest consolation.

Then mark how safe a Comforter the Holy Ghost is. All comfort is not
safe; mark that. There is a young man over there very melancholy. You
know how he became so. He stepped into the house of God and heard a
powerful preacher, and the word was blessed and convinced him of sin.
When he went home, his father and the rest found there was something
different about him, “Oh,” they said, “John is mad; he is crazy,” and what
said his mother? “Send him into the country for a week, let him go to the
ball or to the theater.” John! Did you find any comfort there? “Ah no; they
made me worse, for while I was there, I thought hell might open and
swallow me up.” Did you find any relief in the gaities of the world? “No,”
say you, “I thought it was idle waste of time.” Alas! this is miserable
comfort, but it is the comfort of the worldling; and when a Christian gets
into distress, how many will recommend him this remedy and the other.
“Go and hear Mr. So-and-so preach; have a few friends at your house; read
such-and-such a consoling volume; “and very likely it is the most unsafe
advice in the world.

The devil will sometimes come to men’s souls as a
false comforter, and he will say to the soul, “What need is there to make all
this ado about repentance? you are no worse than other people,” and he
will try to make the soul believe that what is presumption is the real
assurance of the Holy Ghost; thus he deceives many by false comfort. Ah,
there have been many, like infants, destroyed by elixirs given to lull them to
sleep; many have been ruined by the cry of “peace, peace,” when there is
no peace, hearing gentle things when they ought to be stirred to the quick.
Cleopatra’s asp was brought in a basket of flowers; and men’s ruin often
lurks in fair and sweet speeches. But the Holy Ghost’s comfort is safe, and
you may rest on it. Let him speak the word, and there is a reality about it;
let him give the cup of consolation, and you may drink it to the bottom, for
in its depths there are no dregs, nothing to intoxicate or ruin, it is all safe.

Moreover, the Holy Ghost is an active Comforter: he does not comfort by
words, but by deeds. Some comfort by “Be ye warmed and be ye filled,
giving nothing.” But the Holy Ghost gives, he intercedes with Jesus; he
gives us promises, he gives us grace, and so he comforts us. Mark again,
he is always a successful Comforter; he never attempts what he cannot
accomplish.

Then to close up, he is an ever-present Comforter, so that you never have
to send for him. Your God is always near you, and when you need comfort
in your distress, behold, the word is nigh thee, it is in thy mouth, and in thy
heart; he is an ever-present help in time of trouble. I wish I had time to
expand these thoughts; but I cannot.

II. The second thing is the COMFORT. Now there are some persons who
make a great mistake about the influence of the Holy Spirit. A foolish man,
who had fancy to preach in a certain pulpit, though in truth he was quite
incapable of the duty, called upon the minister, and assured him solemnly
that it had been revealed to him by the Holy Ghost, that he was to preach
in his pulpit. “Very well,” said the minister, “I suppose I must not doubt
your assertion, but as it has not been revealed to me that I am to let you
preach, you must go your way until it is.” I have heard many fanatical
persons say the Holy Spirit revealed this and that to them. Now that is very
generally revealed nonsense. The Holy Ghost does not reveal anything
fresh now. He brings old things to our remembrance. “He shall teach you
all things, and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have told
you.”

The canon of revelation is closed; there is no more to be added. God does not give a fresh revelation, but he rivets the old one. When it has been forgotten, and laid in the dusty chamber of our memory, he fetches it out and cleans the picture, but does not paint a new one. There are no new
doctrines, but the old ones are often revived. It is not, I say, by any new
revelation that the Spirit comforts. He does so by telling us old things over
again; he brings a fresh lamp to manifest the treasures hidden in Scripture;
he unlocks the strong chests in which the truth had long lain, and he points
to secret chambers filled with untold riches; but he comes no more, for
enough is done. Believer! there is enough in the Bible for thee to live upon
for ever. If thou shouldst outnumber the years of Methusaleh, there would
be no need for a fresh revelation; if thou shouldst live till Christ should
come upon the earth, there would be no necessity for the addition of a
single word; if thou shouldst go down as deep as Jonah, or even descend as
David said he did, into the belly of hell, still there would be enough in the
Bible to comfort thee without a supplementary sentence. But Christ says,
“He shall take of mine and shall show it unto you.” Now let me just tell
you briefly what it is the Holy Ghost tells us.

Ah! does he not whisper to the heart, “Saint, be of good cheer; there is one
who died for thee; look to Calvary; behold his wounds; see the torrent
gushing from his side; there is thy purchaser, and thou art secure. He loves
thee with an everlasting love, and this chastisement is meant for thy good;
each stroke is working thy healing; by the blueness of the wound thy soul is
made better. “Whom he loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son
whom he receiveth.” Doubt not his grace, because of thy tribulation, but
believe that he loveth thee as much in seasons of trouble as in times of
happiness.” And then, moreover, he says, “What is all thy suffering
compared with that of thy Lord’s or what, when weighed in the scales of
Jesu’s agonies, is all thy distress?” And especially at times does the Holy
Ghost take back the veil of heaven, and lets the soul behold the glory of the
upper world! then it is that the saint can say, “Oh, thou art a Comforter to
me!”

“Let cares like a wild deluge come,
And storms of sorrow fall;
May I but safely reach my home,
My God, my heaven, my all.”

Some of you could follow, were I to tell of manifestations of heaven. You
too have left sun, moon, and stars, at your feet, while in your flight,
outstripping the tardy lightning, you have seemed to enter the gates of
pearl, and tread the golden streets, borne aloft on wings of the Spirit. But
here we must not trust ourselves, lest, lost in reverie, we forget our theme.

III. And now thirdly, who are the COMFORTED persons! I like, you know
at the end of my sermon to cry out “Divide! divide!” There are two parties
here-some who are the comforted, and others who are the comfortless
ones- some who have received the consolation of the Holy Ghost, and
some who have not. Now let us try and sift you, and see which is the chaff;
and which is the wheat; and may God grant that some of the chaff may this
night be transformed into his wheat.

You may say, “How am I to know whether I am a recipient of the comfort
of the Holy Ghost?” You may know it by one rule. If you have received
one blessing from God, you will receive all other blessings too. Let me
explain myself: If I could come here as an auctioneer, and sell the gospel
off in lots, I should dispose of it all. If I could say here is justification
through the blood of Christ, free, giving away, gratis; many a one would
say, “I will have justification: give it me; I wish to be justified, I wish to be
pardoned.” Suppose I took sanctification, the giving up of all sin, a
thorough change of heart, leaving off drunkenness and swearing, many
would say, “I don’t want that; I should like to go to heaven, but I do not
want that holiness; I should like to be saved at last, but I should like to
have my drink still; I should like to enter glory, but then I must have an
oath or two on the road.” Nay, but sinner, if thou hast one blessing, thou
shalt have all. God will never divide the gospel. He will not give
justification to that man, and sanctification to another; pardon to one and
holiness to another. No, it all goes together.

Whom he calls them he
justifies; whom he justifies, them he sanctifies; and whom he sanctifies,
them he also glorifies. Oh; if I could lay down nothing but the comforts of
the gospel, ye would fly to them as flies do to honey. When ye come to be
ill, ye send for the clergyman. Ah! you all want your minister then to come
and give you consoling words. But if he be an honest man, he will not give
some of you a particle of consolation. He will not commence pouring oil
when the knife would be better. I want to make a man feel his sins before I
dare tell him anything about Christ. I want to probe into his soul and make
him feel that he is lost before I tell him anything about the purchased
blessing. It is the ruin of many to tell them, “Now just believe on Christ,
and that is all you have to do.” If, instead of dying they get better, they rise
up whitewashed hypocrites-that is all. I have heard of a city missionary
who kept a record of two thousand persons who were supposed to be on
their death-bed, but recovered, and whom he should have put down as
converted persons had they died, and how many do you think lived a
Christian life afterwards out of the two-thousand! Not two! Positively he
could only find one who was found to live afterwards in the fear of God. Is
it not horrible that when men and women come to die, they should cry,
“Comfort, comfort?” and that hence their friends conclude that they are
children of God, while after all they have no right to consolation, but are
intruders upon the enclosed grounds of the blessed God. O God! may these
people ever be kept from having comfort when they have no right to it!

Have you the other blessings? Have you had conviction of sin? Have you
ever felt your guilt before God? Have your souls been humbled at Jesus’
feet? And have you been made to look to Calvary alone for – your refuge?
If not, you have no right to consolation. Do not take an atom of it. The
Spirit is a Convincer before he is a Comforter; and you must have the other
operations of the Holy Spirit before you can derive anything from this.

And now I have done. You have heard what this babbler hath said once
more. What has it been? Something about the Comforter. But let me ask
you, before you go, what do you know about the Comforter? Each one of
you before descending the steps of this chapel, let this solemn question
thrill through your souls-What do you know of the Comforter? Oh! poor
souls, if ye know not the Comforter, I will tell you what you shall know-
You shall know the Judge! If ye know not the Comforter on earth, ye shall
know the Condemner in the next world, who shall cry, “Depart ye cursed
into everlasting fire in hell.” Well might Whitfield call out, “O earth, earth,
earth, hear the Word of the Lord! “If we were to live here for ever, ye
might slight the gospel; if ye had a lease of your lives, ye might despise the
Comforter. But sirs, ye must die.

Since last we met together, probably
some have gone to their long last home; and ere we meet again in this
sanctuary, some here will be amongst the glorified above, or amongst the
damned below. Which will it be? Let your soul answer. If to-night you fell
down dead in your pews, or where you are standing in the gallery, where
would you be? in heaven or in hell? Ah! deceive not yourselves; let
conscience have its perfect work; and if, in the sight of God, you are
obliged to say, “I tremble and fear lest my portion should be with
unbelievers,” listen one moment, and then I have done with thee. “He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be
damned.” Weary sinner, hellish sinner, thou who art the devil’s castaway,
reprobate, profligate, harlot, robber, thief, adulterer, fornicator, drunkard,
swearer, Sabbath-breaker-list! I speak to thee as well as the rest. I exempt
no man. God hath said there is no exemption here.

“Whosoever believeth in
the name of Jesus Christ shall be saved.”

Sin is no barrier: thy guilt is no
obstacle. Whosoever-though he were as black as Satan, though he were
filthy as a fiend-whosoever this night believes, shall have every sin
forgiven, shall have every crime effaced, shall have every iniquity blotted
out; shall be saved in the Lord Jesus Christ, and shall stand in heaven safe
and secure. That is the glorious gospel. God apply it home to your hearts,
and give you faith in Jesus!

“We have listened to the preacher-
Truth by him has now been shown;
But we want a GREATER TEACHER,
From the everlasting throne:
APPLICATION Is the work of God alone.”

I just had this image of a church notice board emailed to me and I just have to share it with you it really cheered me up:-

This post has now been removed from this blog.

“And 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 cannot 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, 17

You will be surprised to hear me announce that I do not intend this
morning to say anything about the Holy Spirit as the Comforter. I propose
to reserve that for a special Sermon this evening. In
this discourse I shall endeavor to explain and enforce certain other
doctrines which I believe are plainly taught in this text and which I hope
God the Holy Ghost may make profitable to our souls.

Old John Newton
once said that there were some books which he could not read, they were
good and sound enough; but, said he, “they are books of halfpence; — you
have to take so much in quantity before you have any value; there are other
books of silver, and others of gold, but I have one book that is a book of
bank notes; and every leaf is a bank note of immense value.” So I found
with this text: that I had a bank note of so large a sum, that I could not tell
it out all this morning. I should have to keep you several hours, before I
could unfold to you the whole value of this precious promise — one of the
last which Christ gave to his people.

I invite your attention to this passage, because we shall find in it some
instruction on four points, first, concerning the true and proper personality
of the Holy Ghost; secondly, concerning the united agency of the glorious
Three Persons in the work of our salvation; thirdly, we shall find
something to establish the doctrine of the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in
the souls of all believers; and fourthly, we shall find out the reason why the
carnal mind rejects the Holy Ghost.

I. First of all, we shall have some little instruction concerning the proper
PERSONALITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. We are so much accustomed to talk
about the influence of the Holy Ghost, and his sacred operations and
graces, that we are apt to forget that the Holy Spirit is truly and actually a
person — that he is a subsistence — an existence; or as we Trinitarians
usually say, one person in the essence of the Godhead. I am afraid that,
though we do not know it, we have acquired the habit of regarding the
Holy Ghost as an emanation flowing from the Father and the Son, but not
as being actually a person himself.

I know it is not easy to carry about in
our mind the idea of the Holy Spirit as a person. I can think of the Father
as a person, because his acts are such as I can understand. I see him hang
the world in ether; I behold him swaddling a new-born sea in bands of
darkness; I know it is he who formed the drops of hail, who leadeth forth
the stars by their hosts, and calleth them by their name, I can conceive of
Him as a person, because I behold his operations. I can realize Jesus, the
Son of Man, as a real person, because he is bone of my bone and flesh of
my flesh. It takes no great stretch of my imagination to picture the babe in
Bethlehem, or to behold the “Men of sorrows and acquainted with grief;”
of the King of martyrs, as he was persecuted in Pilate’s hall, or nailed to
the accursed tree for our sins. Nor do I find it difficult at times to realize
the person of my Jesus sitting on his throne in heaven; or girt with clouds
and wearing the diadem of all creation, calling the earth to judgment, and
summoning us to hear our final sentence. But when I come to deal with the
Holy Ghost, his operations are so mysterious, his doings are so secret, his
acts are so removed from everything that is of sense, and of the body, that
I cannot so easily get the idea of his being a person; but a person he is.

God
the Holy Ghost is not an influence, an emanation, a stream of something
flowing from the Father, but he is as much an actual person as either God
the Son, or God the Father. I shall attempt this morning a little to establish
the doctrine, and to show you the truth of it — that God the Holy Spirit is
actually a person.

The first proof we shall gather from the pool of holy baptism Let me take
you down, as I have taken others, into the pool, now concealed, but which
I wish were always open to your view. Let me take you to the baptismal
font, where believers put on the name of the Lord Jesus, and you shall hear
me pronounce the solemn words, “I baptize thee in the name,” — mark, “in
the name,” not names, — “of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost.” Every one who is baptized according to the true form laid down in
Scripture, must be a Trinitarian: otherwise his baptism is a farce and a lie,
and he himself is found a deceiver and a hypocrite before God.

As the
Father is mentioned, and as the Son is mentioned, so is the Holy Ghost,
and the whole is summed up as being a Trinity in unity, by its being said,
not the names, but the “name” the glorious name, the Jehovah name, “of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.” Let me remind you that
the same thing occurs each time you are dismissed from this house of
prayer. In pronouncing the solemn closing benediction, we invoke on your
behalf the love of Jesus Christ, the grace of the Father, and the fellowship
of the Holy Spirit, and thus, according to the apostolick manner, we make
a manifest distinction between the persons showing that we believe the
Father to be a person, the Son to be a person, and the Holy Ghost to be a
person. Were there no other proofs in Scripture, I think these would be
sufficient for every sensible man. He would see that if the Holy Spirit were
a mere influence, he would not be mentioned in conjunction with two
whom we all confess to be actual and proper persons.

A second argument arises from the fact, that the Holy Ghost has actually
made different appearances on earth. The Great Spirit has manifested
himself to man; he has put on a form, so that whilst he has not been beheld
by mortal men, he has been so veiled in appearance that he was seen, so far
as that appearance was concerned, by the eyes of all beholders. See you
Jesus Christ our Savior? There is the river Jordan, with its shelving banks,
and its willows weeping at its stale. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, descends
into the stream, and the holy Baptist, John, plunges him into the waves.
The doors of heaven are opened; a miraculous appearance presents itself, a
bright light shineth from the sky, brighter than the sun in all its grandeur,
and down in a flood of glory descends something which you recognize to
be a dove. It rests on Jesus — it sits upon his sacred head, and as the old
painters put a halo round the brow of Jesus, so did the Holy Ghost shed a
resplendence around the face of him who came to fulfill all Righteousness,
and therefore commenced with the ordinances of baptism.

The Holy Ghost
was seen as a dove, to mark his purity and his gentleness, and he came
down like a dove from heaven to show that it is from heaven alone that he
descendeth. Nor is this the only time when the Holy Ghost has been
manifest in a visible shape. You notice that company of disciples gathered
together in an upper room, they are waiting for some promised blessing,
by-and-by it shall come. Hark! there is a sound as of a rushing mighty
wind, it fills all the house where they are sitting, and astonished, they look
around them, wondering what will come next. Soon a bright light appears,
shining upon the beads of each: cloven tongues of fire sat upon them.

What
were these marvellous appearances of wind and flame but a display of the
Holy Ghost in his proper person? I say the fact of an appearance manifests
that he must be a person. An influence could not appear — an attribute
could not appear: we cannot see attributes — we cannot behold influences.
The Holy Ghost must then have been a person; since he was beheld by
mortal eyes, and came under the cognizance of mortal sense.

Another proof is from the fact, that personal qualities are, in Scripture,
ascribed to the Holy Ghost. First, let me read to you a text in which the
Holy Ghost is spoken of as having understanding. In the 1st Epistle to the
Corinthians, chap ii., you will read, “But as it is written, eye hath not seen,
nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, the things
which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed
them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep
things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit
of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but
the Spirit of God.” Here you see an understanding — a power of
knowledge is ascribed to the Holy Ghost. Now, if there be any persons
here whose minds are of so preposterous a complexion that they would
ascribe one attribute to another, and would speak of a mere influence
having understanding, then I give up all the argument. But I believe every
rational man will admit, that when anything is spoken of as having an
understanding it must be an existence — it must, in fact, be a person.

In the
12th chap., 11th verse of the same Epistle, you will find a will ascribed to
the Holy Spirit. “But all these worketh that one and the self same Spirit,
dividing to every man severally as he will.” So it is plain the Spirit has a
will. He does not come from God simply at God’s will, but he has a will of
his own, which is always in keeping with the will of the infinite Jehovah,
but is, nevertheless, distinct and separate; therefore, I say he is a person. In
another text power is ascribed to the Holy Ghost, and power is a thing
which can only be ascribed to an existence. In Romans xv., 13, it is written,
“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye
may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost.” I need not
insist upon it, because it is self-evident, that wherever you find
understanding, will, and power, you must also find an existence; it cannot
be a mere attribute, it cannot be a metaphor, it cannot be a personified
influence; but it must be a person.

But I have a proof which, perhaps, will be more telling upon you than any other. Acts and deeds are ascribed to the Holy Ghost; therefore he must be a person. You read in the first chapter of the Book of Genesis, that the Spirit brooded over the surface of the earth, when it was as yet all disorder and confusion. This world was once a mass of chaotic matter; there was noorder; it was like the valley of darkness and of the shadow of death. God the Holy Ghost spread his wings over it; he sowed the seeds of life in it; the germs from which all beings sprang were implanted by him; he impregnated the earth so that it became capable of life. Now it must have been a person who brought order out of confusion; it must have been an existence who hovered over this world and made it what it now is. But do we not read in Scripture something more of the Holy Ghost? Yes, we are told that “holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” When Moses penned the Pentateuch, the Holy Ghost moved his hand, when David wrote the Psalms, and discoursed sweet music on his harp, it was the Holy Spirit that gave his fingers their Seraphic motion; when Solomon dropped from his lips the words of the Proverbs of wisdom, or when he hymned the Canticles of love it was the Holy Ghost who gave him words of knowledgeand hymns of rapture. Ah! and what fire was that which touched the lips ofthe eloquent Isaiah? What hand was that which came upon Daniel? Whatmight was that which made Jeremiah so plaintive in his grief? or what wasthat which winged Ezekiel, and made him like an eagle, soar into mysteriesaloft, and see the mighty unknown beyond our reach? Who was it thatmade Amos, the herdsman, a prophet? Who taught the rough Haggai topronounce his thundering sentences? Who showed Habbakuk the horses ofJehovah marching through the waters? or who kindled the burning eloquence of Nahum? Who cause Malachi to close up the book with the muttering of the word curse? Who was in each of these, save the Holy Ghost? And must it not have been a person who spake in and through these ancient witnesses? We must believe it. We cannot avoid believing it, when we recall that “holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

And when has the Holy Ghost ceased to have an influence upon men? We
find that still he deals with his ministers and with all his saints. Turn to the
Acts, and you will find that the Holy Ghost said, “Separate me Paul and
Barnabas for the work.” I never heard of an attribute saying such a thing.
The Holy Spirit said to Peter, “Go to the centurion, and what I have
cleansed, that call not thou common. The Holy Ghost caught away Philip
after he had baptised thee unuch, and carried him to another place; and the
Holy Ghost said to Paul, “Thou shalt not go into that city, but shalt turn
into another.” And we know that the Holy Ghost was lied unto by Ananias
and Sapphira, when it was said, “Thou hast not lied unto man, but unto
God.” Again, that power which we feel every day who are called to preach
— that wondrous spell which makes our lips so potent — that power
which gives us thoughts which are like birds from a far-off region, not the
natives of our soul — that influence which I sometimes strangely feel,
which, if it does not give me poetry and eloquence, gives me a might I
never felt before, and lifts me above my fellow-man — that majesty with
which he clothes his ministers, till in the midst of the battle they cry, aha!
like the war-horse of Job, and move themselves like leviathans in the water
— that power which gives us might over men, and causes them to sit and
listen as if their ears were chained, as if they were entranced by the power
of some magician’s wand — that power must come from a person, it must
come from the Holy Ghost.

But is it not said in Scripture, and do we not feel it, dear brethren, that it is
the Holy Ghost who regenerates the soul? It is the Holy Ghost who
quickens us. “You hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and
sins.” It is the Holy Spirit who imparts the first germ of life, convincing us
of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment to come. And is it not the Holy
Spirit who after that flame is kindled, still fans it with the breath of his
mouth and keeps it alive? Its author is its preserver. Oh! can it be said that
it is the Holy Ghost who strives in men’s souls, that it is the Holy Ghost
who brings them to the foot of Sinai, and then guides them into the sweet
place that is called Calvary — can it be said that he does all these things,
and yet is not a person?

It may be said, but it must be said by fools; for he
never can be a wise man who can consider that these things can be done by
any other than a glorious person — a divine existence.

Allow me to give you one more proof, and I shall have done. Certain
feelings are ascribed to the Holy Ghost, which can only be understood
upon the supposition that he is actually a person. In the 4th chapter of
Ephesians, verse 30th, it is said that the Holy Ghost can be grieved:
“Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of
redemption.” In Isaiah, chap. 63:5-10 it is said that the Holy Ghost can be
vexed: “But they rebelled, and vexed his Holy Spirit, therefore he was
turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.” In Acts, chap. 7:51,
you read that the Holy Ghost can be resisted: “Ye stiff-necked and
uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; as
your fathers did, so do ye.” And in the 5th chapter, 9th verse of the same
book, you will find that the Holy Ghost may be tempted. We are there
informed that Peter said to Ananias and Sapphira, “How is it that ye have
agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord?” Now, these things could
not be emotions which might be ascribed to a quality or an emanation they
must be understood to relate to a person; an influence could not be
grieved; it must be a person who can be grieved, vexed, or resisted.

And now, dear brethren, I think I have fully established the point of the
personality of the Holy Ghost; allow me now, most earnestly, to impress
upon you the absolute necessity of being sound unto the doctrine of the
Trinity. I knew a man, a good minister of Jesus Christ he is now, and I
believe he was before he turned aside unto heresy — he began to doubt the
glorious divinity of our blessed Lord, and for years did he preach the
heterodox doctrine, until one day he happened to hear a very eccentric old
minister preaching from the text, “But there the glorious Lord shall be unto
us a place of broad rivers and streams, wherein shall go no galley with
oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. Thy tacklings are loosed: they
could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail.”
“Now,” said the old minister, “you give up the Trinity, and your tacklings
are loosed, you cannot strengthen your masts. Once give up the doctrine of
three persons, and your tacklings are all gone your mast, which ought to be
a support to your vessel, is a ricketty one, and shakes.” A gospel without a
Trinity! — it is a pyramid built upon its apex. A gospel without the Trinity!
— it is a rope of sand that cannot hold together. A gospel without the
Trinity! — then, indeed, Satan can overturn it. But, give me a gospel with
the Trinity, and the might of hell cannot prevail against it; no man can any
more overthrow it, than a bubble could split a rock, or a feather break in
halves a mountain. Get the thought of the three persons, and you have the
marrow of all divinity. Only know the Father, and know the Son, and know
the Holy Ghost to be One, and all things will appear clear. This is the
golden key to the secrets of nature; this is the silken clue of the labyrinths
of mystery, and he who understands this, will soon understand as much as
mortals ever can know.

II. Now for the second point — the UNITED AGENCY of the three persons
in the work of our salvation. Look at the text, and you will find all the
three persons mentioned. “I,” — that is the Son — “will pray the Father,
and he shall give you another Comforter.” There are the three persons
mentioned, all of them doing something for our salvation. “I will pray,”
says the Son. “I will send,” says the Father. “I will comfort,” says the Holy
Ghost. Now, let us for a few moments discourse upon this wonderous
theme — the unity of the Three Persons with regard to the great purpose
of the salvation of the elect. When God first made man, he said, “Let us
make man,” not let me, but “Let us make man in our own image.” The
covenant Elohim said to each other, “Let us unitedly become the Creator
of man.” So, when in ages far gone by in eternity, they said, “Let us save
man.” It was not the Father who said, “Let me save man,” but the three
persons conjointly said with one consent, “Let us save man.” It is to me a
source of sweet comfort, to think that it is not one person of the Trinity
that is engaged for my salvation; it is not simply one person of the
Godhead who vows that he will redeem me, but it is a glorious trio of
Godlike ones, and the three declare, unitedly, “We will save man.”

Now, observe here, that each person is spoken of as performing a separate
office. “I will pray,” says the Son — that is intercession. “I will send,” says
the Father — that is donation “I will comfort,” says the Holy Spirit — that
is supernatural influence. Oh! if it were possible for us to see the three
persons of the Godhead, we should behold one of them standing before the
throne with outstretched hands crying day and night, “O Lord, how long?”
We should see one girt with Urim and Thummin, precious stones, on which
are written the twelve names of the tribes of Israel; we should behold him
crying unto his Father, “Forget not thy promises, forget not thy covenant,”
we should hear him make mention of our sorrows, and tell forth our griefs
on our behalf, for he is our intercessor. And could we behold the Father,
we should not see him a listless and idle spectator of the intercession of the
Son, but we should see him with attentive ear listening to every word of
Jesus, and granting every petition. Where is the Holy Spirit all the while? Is
he lying idle? Oh no, he is floating over the earth, and when he sees a
weary soul, he says, “Come to Jesus, he will give you rest.” When he
beholds an eye filled with tears, he wipes away the tears, and bids the
mourner look for comfort on the cross. When he sees the tempest-tost
believer, he takes the helm of his soul and speaks the word of consolation,
he helpeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds; and ever on
his mission of mercy, he flies around the world, being everywhere present.
Behold how the three persons work together. Do not then say, “I am
grateful to the Son,” — so you ought to be, but God the Son no more
saves you than God the Father. Do not imagine that God the Father is a
great tyrant, and that God the Son had to die to make him merciful. It was
not to make the Father’s love flow towards his people. Oh, no. One loves
as much as the other; the three are conjoined in the great purpose of
rescuing the elect from damnation.

But you must notice another thing in my text, which will show the blessed
unity of the three — the one person promises to the other. The Son says, “I
will pray the Father.” “Very well,” the disciples may have said, “We can
trust you for that.” “And he will send you.” You see here is the Son signing
a bond on behalf of the Father. “He will send you another Comforter.”
There is a bond on behalf of the Holy Spirit, too. “And he will abide with
you forever.” One person speaks for the other, and how could they if there
were any disagreement between them? If one wished to save, and the other
not, they could not promise on one another’s behalf. But whatever the Son
says, the Father listens to, whatever the Father promises, the Holy Ghost
works, and whatever the Holy Ghost injects into the soul, that God the
Father fulfils. So the three together mutually promise on one another’s
behalf. There is a bond with three names appended, — Father Son and
Holy Ghost. By three immutable things, as well as by two, the Christian is
secured beyond the reach of death and hell. A Trinity of Securities, because
there is a trinity of God.

III. Our third point is the INDWELLING of the Holy Ghost in believers.
Now beloved, these first two things have been matters of pure doctrine,
this is the subject of experience. The indwelling of the Holy Ghost is a
subject so profound, and so having to do with the inner man, that no soul
will be able truly and really to comprehend what I say, unless it has been
taught of God. I have heard of an old minister, who told a Fellow of one of
the Cambridge Colleges, that he understood a language that he never learnt
in all his life. “I have not,” he said, “even a smattering of Greek, and I
know no Latin, but thank God I can talk the language of Canaan, and that
is more than you can.” So, beloved, I shall now have to talk a little of the
language of Canaan. If you cannot comprehend me, I am much afraid it is
because you are not of Israelitish extraction, you are not a child of God nor
an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven.

We are told in the text, that Jesus would send the Comforter, who would
abide in the saints for ever; who would dwell with them and be in them.
Old Ignatius, the martyr, used to call himself Theophorus, or the Godbearer,
“because,” said he, “I bear about with me the Holy Ghost.” And
truly every Christian is a God-bearer. Know ye not that ye are temples of
the Holy Ghost? for he dwelleth in you. That man is no Christian who is
not the subject of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit; he may talk well, he
may understand theology and be a sound Calvinist; he will be the child of
nature finely dressed, but not the living child. He may be a man of so
profound an intellect, so gigantic a soul, so comprehensive a mind, and so
lofty an imagination, that he may dive into all the secrets of nature; may
know the path which the eagle’s eye hath not seen, and go into depths
where the ken of mortals reacheth not; but he shall not be a Christian with
all his knowledge, he shall not be a son of God with all his researches,
unless he understands what it is to have the Holy Ghost dwelling in him,
and abiding in him, yea, and that for ever.

Some people call this fanaticism, and they say, “You are a Quaker why not
follow George Fox?” Well we would not mind that much, we would follow
any one who followed the Holy Ghost. Even he, with all his eccentricities, I
doubt not, was, in many cases, actually inspired by the Holy Spirit; and
whenever I find a man in whom there rests the Spirit of God, the Spirit
within me leaps to hear the Spirit within him, and he feels that we are one.
The Spirit of God in one Christian soul recognizes the Spirit in another. I
recollect talking with a good man, as I believe he was, who was insisting
that it was impossible for us to know whether we had the Holy Spirit
within us or not. I should like him to be here this morning, because I would
read this verse to him: “But ye know him, for he dwelleth with you, and
shall be in you.” Ah! you think you cannot tell whether you have the Holy
Spirit or not. Can I tell whether I am alive or not? If I were touched by
electricity, could I tell whether I was or not? I suppose I should; the shock
would be strong enough to make me know where I stood. So, if I have
God within me — if I have Deity tabernacling in my breast — if I have
God the Holy Ghost resting in my heart, and making a temple of my body,
do you think I shall know it? Call ye it fanaticism if ye will; but I trust that
there are some of us who know what it is to be always, or generally, under
the influence of the Holy Spirit — always in one sense, generally in
another.

When we have difficulties we ask the direction of the Holy Ghost.
When we do not understand a portion of Holy Scripture, we ask God the
Holy Ghost to shine upon us. When we are depressed, the Holy Ghost
comforts us. You cannot tell what the wondrous power of the indwelling
of the Holy Ghost is: how it pulls back the hand of the saint when he would
touch the forbidden thing; how it prompts him to make a covenant with his
eyes; how it binds his feet, lest they should fall in a slippery way, how it
restrains his heart, and keeps him from temptation. O ye who know nothing
of the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, despise it not. O despise not the Holy
Ghost, for it is the unpardonable sin. “He that speaketh a word against the
Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him, but he that speaketh against the Holy
Ghost, it shall never be forgiven him, either in this life, or that which is to
come.” So saith the Word of God. Therefore, tremble, lest in anything ye
despise the influences of the Holy Spirit.

But before closing this point, there is one little word which pleases me very
much, that is, “forever.” You knew I should not miss that; you were certain
I could not let it go without observation. “Abide with you for ever.” I wish
I could get an Arminian here to finish my sermon. I fancy I see him taking
that word, “for ever.” He would say, “for — for ever;” he would have to
stammer and stutter; for he never could get it out all at once. He might
stand and pull it about, and at last he would have to say, “the translation is
wrong.” And then I suppose the poor man would have to prove that the
original was wrong too. Ah! but blessed be God, we can read it — “ He
shall abide with you for ever.” Once give me the Holy Ghost, and I shall
never lose him till “for ever” has run out; till eternity has spun its
everlasting rounds.

IV. Now we have to close up with a brief remark on the reason why the
world rejects the Holy Ghost. It is said, “Whom the world cannot receive,
because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him.” You know what is
sometimes meant by “the world,” — those whom God, in his wondrous
sovereignty, passed over when he chose his people: the preterite ones;
those passed over in God’s wondrous preterition — not the reprobates
who were condemned to damnation by some awful decree, but those
passed over by God, when he chose out his elect. These cannot receive the
Spirit. Again, it means all in a carnal state are not able to procure
themselves this divine influence; and thus it is true, “Whom the world
cannot receive.”

The unregenerate world of sinners despises the Holy Ghost, “because it
seeth him not.” Yes, I believe this is the great secret why many laugh at the
idea of the existence of the Holy Ghost — because they see him not. You
tell the worldling, “I have the Holy Ghost within me.” He says, “I cannot
see it.” He wants it to be something tangible: a thing he can recognize with
his senses. Have you ever heard the argument used by a good old Christian
against an infidel doctor? The doctor said there was no soul, and he asked,
“Did you ever see a soul?” “No,” said the Christian. “Did you ever hear a
soul?” “No.” “Did you ever smell a soul?” No.” “Did you ever taste a
soul?” “No.” “Did you ever feel a soul?” “Yes,” said the man — “I feel I
have one within me.” “Well,” said the doctor, “there are four senses against
one: you have only one on your side.” “Very well,” said the Christian, “Did
you ever see a pain?” “No.” “Did you ever hear a pain?” “No.” “Did you
ever smell a pain?” “No.” “Did you ever taste a pain?” “No.” “Did you
ever feel a pain?” “Yes,” “And that is quite enough, I suppose, to prove
there is a pain?” “Yes.” So the worldling says there is no Holy Ghost,
because he cannot see it. Well, but we feel it. You say that is fanaticism,
and that we never felt it. Suppose you tell me that honey is bitter, I reply
“No, I am sure you cannot have tasted it; taste it, and try.” So with the
Holy Ghost, if you did but feel his influence, you would no longer say there
is no Holy Spirit, because you cannot see it. Are there not many things,
even in nature, which we cannot see? Did you ever see the wind? No; but
ye know there is wind, when ye behold the hurricane tossing the waves
about and rending down the habitations of men; or when in the soft
evening zephyr it kisses the flowers, and maketh dewdrops hang in pearly
coronets around the rose. Did ye ever see electricity? No, but ye know
there is such a thing, for it travels along the wires for thousands of miles,
and carries our messages, though you cannot see the thing itself, you know
there is such a thing. So you must believe there is a Holy Ghost working in
us, both to will and to do, even though it is beyond our senses.

But the last reason why worldly men laugh at the doctrine of the Holy
Spirit, is because they do not know it. If they knew it by heart-felt
experience, and if they recognized its agency in the soul; if they had ever
been touched by it; if they had been made to tremble under a sense of sin; if
they had had their hearts melted; they would never have doubted the
existence of the Holy Ghost.

And now, beloved, it says, “He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” We
will close up with that sweet recollection — the Holy Ghost dwells in all
believers, and shall be with them.

One word of comment and advice to the saints of God, and to sinners, and
I have done. Saints of the Lord! ye have this morning heard that God the
Holy Ghost is a person; ye have had it proved to your souls. What follows
from this? Why, it followeth how earnest ye should be-in prayer to the
Holy Spirit, as well as for the Holy Spirit. Let me say that this is an
inference that you should lift up your prayers to the Holy Ghost, that you
should cry earnestly unto him, for he is able to do exceeding abundantly
above all you can ask or think. See this mass of people; what is to convert
it? See this crowd; who is to make my influence permeate through the
mass? You know this place has now a mighty influence, and God blessing
us, it will have an influence, not only upon this city but upon England at
large, for we now enjoy the press as well as the pulpit, and certainly, I
should say before the close of the year, more than two hundred thousand
of my productions will be scattered through the land — words uttered by
my lips, or written by my pen. But how can this influence he rendered for
good? How shall God’s glory be promoted by it? Only by incessant prayer
for the Holy Spirit; by constantly calling down the influence of the Holy
Ghost upon us; we want him to rest upon every page that is printed, and
upon every word that is uttered. Let us then be doubly earnest in pleading
with the Holy Ghost, that he would come and own our labors, that the
whole church at large may be revived thereby, and not ourselves only, but
the whole world share in the benefit.

Then to the ungodly, I have this one closing word to say. Ever be careful
how you speak of the Holy Ghost. I do not know what the unpardonable
sin is, and I do not think any man understands it; but it is something like
this: “He that speaketh a word against the Holy Ghost, it shall never be
forgiven him.” I do not know what that means: but tread carefully! There is
danger; there is a pit which our ignorance has covered by sand, tread
carefully! you may be in it before the next hour. If there is any strife in your
heart to-day, perhaps you will go to the ale-house and forget it. Perhaps
there is some voice speaking in your soul, and you will put it away. I do
not tell you you will be resisting the Holy Ghost and committing the
unpardonable sin; but it is somewhere there. Be very careful. Oh ! there is
no crime on earth so black as the crime against the Holy Spirit. Ye may
blaspheme the Father, and ye shall be damned for it unless ye repent, ye
may blaspheme the Son, and hell shall be your portion, unless ye are
forgiven; but blaspheme the Holy Ghost, and thus saith the Lord, “There is
no forgiveness, neither in this world, nor in the world which is to come.” I
cannot tell you what it is, I do not profess to understand it; but there it is.
It is the danger signal, stop! man, stop! If thou hast despised the Holy
Spirit, if thou hast laughed at his revelations, and scorned what Christians
call his influence, I beseech thee, stop! this morning seriously deliberate.
Perhaps some of you have actually committed the unpardonable sin; stop!
Let fear stop you; sit down. Do not drive on so rashly as you have done,
Jehu! Oh! slacken your reins! Thou who art such a profligate in sin, thou
who hast uttered such hard words against the Trinity, stop! Ah, it makes us
all stop. It makes us all draw up and say, “Have I not perhaps so done?”
Let us think of this, and let us not at any time trifle either with the words,
or the acts, of God the Holy Ghost.