THE PROMISE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. - No. 1 PROF. W. W. PRESCOTT. AT 7:00 o'clock P. M., Prof. Prescott commenced his discourse upon the promise of the Holy Spirit. He read as a foundation Luke 11:5-13. He said: The study we are to take up is the study of the Holy Spirit. Ever since this subject was assigned to me, I have been thinking about it, how it could be studied in a way most practical. It will be my plan to move along by easy steps to receiving the Spirit, and when the Spirit is received it will teach us more about itself that we can learn in any other way. I shall not take up any theory, for it would be all wrong. It is not theory we want so much as experience. This scripture I have read says if we knew how to give good gifts unto our children how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him. We do know that it is a pleasure for us to do that. And he is not only as willing to give his Spirit, but he is much more willing to give it to those who ask him. You think how much joy it gives you to bestow good gifts to your children, and then remember that God is much more willing to give the gift of the Spirit to you. Why do we not have it? Let us see if we can find the reason. Prof. Prescott then read John 14:14: "If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it." Notice the expression "in my name." (Read verse 26) "The Comforter which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name." The Comforter is sent in Christ's name. We read also in John 15:16, "that whatever ye shall ask of the Father in my name it shall be given you." Whatever we ask in Christ's name we shall receive. What then is it to ask in Christ's name, if all our petitions are to be presented thus? Let the following from Steps to Christ, 117, answer:-- "Jesus said, 'Ye shall ask in my name: and I say unto you that I will pray the Father for you, for the Father himself loveth you.' 'I have chosen you, ... that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.' But to pray in the name of Jesus is something more than a mere mention of that name at the beginning and the ending of a prayer. It is to pray in the mind and Spirit of Jesus, while we believe his promises, rely upon his grace, and work in his works." Now we see what is meant by asking in Christ's name. It is to pray in the mind and the Spirit of Christ, while you believe in his promises and rely upon his grace to work in his works. When we have this mind in us, we expect what we ask we shall receive. Then suppose we ask and our request has not been granted to us? What then? We should go back to the word and ask in his name, in the mind and in the Spirit of Jesus, while we believe his promises and work in his works. We must do it while believing his promises; must ask in living faith, the faith that makes every word of God a living reality to us. That will make us living representatives of God: that makes Christ take us and do the works through us. Those who thus believe on him have that grace which is an active agency that works in us. To ask, then, on this basis means that Christ must dwell in us. We can truly ask in the name of Christ only when he dwells in us. Faith is the gift of God, and grace is the gift of God, and it can only be wrought in us when Christ dwells in us and works the works of God. Everyone who asks according to the true meaning in the expression receives the Holy Spirit. If we have asked and have not received it, there is a reason on our part, and not on God's part. We should find out what is in the way of the pentecostal season, and then we want to remove it. This is the most important thing before us. There is nothing that my soul longs for more than that the baptism of the Spirit shall rest upon the services of God at this time. Let us address ourselves to find out what it is that hinders, and then by the help of God remove it. This will not come to us in our way. It will not come to us in any easy, passive manner. We must have experiences like removing right eyes and cutting off right hands. Everyone who wants that experience, wants to be ready to give everything, even life itself, to God. [Murmurs of Amen.] And we should remember that it is easier to say Amen than it is to do what God says. Let us now look for the reason: We read in Revelation 7 that there are to be 144,000 who will have the seal of the living God. The same company are again brought to view in Revelation 14, and it is said of them in verse 5, they are without fault before the throne of God. The same expression is again used in 1 Peter 1:19, without blemish. Again in Jude 24, faultless. And again in Colossians 1:22, it is unblamable. The thought is that as Christ is without blemish so we are to be. Prof. Prescott then read Revelation 18:1. We all understand that this refers to the closing work of the third angel's message, when it will go with a loud cry. And now I will read from an article from Sister White in the REVIEW of Nov. 22, 1892:-- "Let everyone who claims to believe that the Lord is soon coming, search the Scriptures as never before; for Satan is determined to try every device possible to keep souls in darkness, and blind the mind to the perils of the times in which we are living. Let every believer take up his Bible with earnest prayer, that he may be enlightened by the Holy Spirit as to what is truth, that he may know more of God and of Jesus Christ whom he hath sent. Search for the truth as for hidden treasures, and disappoint the enemy. The time of test is just upon us, for the loud cry of the third angel has already begun in the revelation of the righteousness of Christ, the sin pardoning Redeemer. This is the beginning of the light of the angel whose glory shall fill the whole earth." Now that angel of Revelation 18 is the angel that is to join the third angel and swell the message into a loud cry. And this message from Sister White says it has already begun to shine. What, then, is our duty at this time? It is to go out and give the LOUD cry of the message to the world. Prof. Prescott then read from "Historical Sketches of Foreign Missions," p.155. "Our only safeguard against the wiles of Satan is to diligently study the Scriptures; to have an intelligent understanding of the reasons of our faith; and to faithfully perform every known duty. The indulgence of one known sin will cause weakness and darkness, and subject us to fierce temptation. ... Are our supplications ascending to God in living faith? Are we opening the door of the heart to Jesus, and closing every means of entrance to Satan? Are we daily obtaining clearer light and greater strength, that we may stand in Christ's righteousness? Are we emptying our hearts of all selfishness, and cleansing them, preparatory to receiving the latter rain from heaven?" We must overcome the disposition to sin or we cannot receive the latter rain. The light that is to lighten the earth with its glory has already begun to shine. What does this mean to us practically? It means that the shaking time is here and that God is going to make a separation in his own people, and those who do not have Jesus living in them will not be permitted to take any part in the work of God when it swells into a loud cry. To my mind God has begun to deal with his people in dead earnest. It is no time to dally with God; no time to spend in idleness. If ever God's people should walk carefully and softly before him it is now. His people at this time should wait for the power of God. Revelation 3:18. What is the counsel of the faithful and true witness? It is to be either cold or hot. God wants us to be something. He wants us to be one thing or the other. The gold tried in the fire is the faith and love; the clothing is the righteousness of Christ, and the anointing is the unction of the Holy Spirit. The preaching of this will cause the shaking among God's people. Standing this side of events that have taken place the last four years we ask, Has it been fulfilled? Some think they do not need the righteousness of Christ, and others oppose it. As many as he loves he rebukes and chastens. Last year at the week of prayer the especial testimony to us was, "Be zealous, therefore, and repent." Many more people than we imagine are longing for Jesus Christ. The loud cry and the latter rain go together. As the time has come for the loud cry it has also come for the latter rain, and we are to ask for it. The first work of the Spirit of God is to convince us of sin, and it will be the same here. If we do not say yes when the Spirit convinces us of sin, it will not convince us of righteousness. The Lord has long been waiting to give us his Spirit. He is even now impatiently waiting that he may bestow it upon us. How much longer shall he have to wait? Now we have been accustomed to turn to pentecost as the time when the Lord did the greatest work he ever did for his people. But now a work that will be greater than pentecost has begun, and there are those here who will see it. It is here, it is now we are to be fitted for the work. We have not a moment to lose; not a moment to waste. THE PROMISE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. - No. 2. W. W. PRESCOTT Hebrews 1:9: "Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity: therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." This scripture of course refers to Christ, and we wish to note one or two things about it before we take the general meaning. "Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity." This word iniquity is the same word that is in 1 John 3:4, -- transgression of the law -- "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law," or iniquity, or lawlessness. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated the transgression of the law, or hated lawlessness; "therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." Fellows. This word "fellows" is found in the seventh verse of the fifth chapter of Luke where it is translated partners. "And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship." Their partners. Now I will read the verse a little different. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated sin, iniquity, transgression of the law, "therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy partners." Who are the partners? Why, we are the partners; we are workers together with God, we are laborers together with him, we are God's fellow-workers. Now turn if you please, to Acts 10:37, 38: "That word, I say ye know, which was published throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him." You will remember the testimony that was borne about Jesus by Nicodemus, as recorded in the third chapter of John and the second verse. "For no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him." Read in Mark 16:17, 18: "And these signs shall follow them that believe: in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." Now it is said of Christ, "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost, and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him." This is the anointing spoken of in the first text. "God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." It is very easy to see without taking any length of time to explain it, why this is spoken of in this way. That anointing oil with which the priests were consecrated we find here, and why it is called the oil of gladness, we learn from Romans 14:17, "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." So it is called anointing with the oil of gladness. But the objective point that I want to note is the reason why he was anointed with the "oil of gladness," above others, his partners, his fellow workers, his fellow laborers. The reason is because he loved righteousness and hated sin, hated iniquity, and hated every thing different from God. That was the reason. He loved righteousness and hated sin, hated iniquity. And hating iniquity, as it is spoken of in this text, means more than a mere passing dislike for it, feeling a little uncomfortable under it. A perfect hatred for sin! And in this very fact is seen a wondrous trait in the character of Christ. So in the work that he did for us here, although he hated sin with a perfect hatred, hated, yet he gathered to himself all the results of sin; put himself right in the place of the sinner, to bear the results of every sin; and not simply that way, but he took those things right to his very soul; and he endured, in taking upon himself the consequences of sin, what we cannot possibly comprehend, because we cannot understand the perfect hatred with which he regarded sin. The fact is, our minds have become blunted and dull, and we have become accustomed to sin, and sin has left its impression upon our minds. Sin is a perfect horror of blackness; sin is the horror of great darkness, and yet we have become so accustomed to it that it makes little impression upon our minds. We cannot understand, we cannot appreciate the feeling with which Christ regarded sin. Sin is being contrary to God. Now when Christ, who had been one with the Father, one in every thought and purpose, in every work, thus voluntarily put himself in that attitude where he must suffer the consequences of sin, put himself in the place of those who were out of harmony with God, he voluntarily put himself out of harmony with God, by taking this sin; although he hated iniquity and loved righteousness, he came to this world, put himself right in the sinner's place for our sakes; (and we cannot begin to appreciate what this meant to him) -- all this was done that we may appreciate how God looks upon sin. Sin is not simply doing a thing; it is being in that condition. Sin in the character, is being out of harmony with God, is being different from God. Now, Christ voluntarily put himself there, although there was that perfect union between him and the Father, and since that perfect union was the same in thoughts, purposes, and plans, yet he put himself where of necessity God must treat him as though he was out of harmony with him; and it was that experience that brought out that cry of anguish: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" But for this experience here upon earth, because he loved righteousness and hated iniquity, God anointed him with the oil of gladness above his fellows, or above his partners. The same idea is expressed in different words in John 3:34: "For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the spirit by measure unto him." A bountiful pouring out of it, no measure at all, a perfect, bountiful pouring out of it and anointing above his fellows. Why? Because he loved righteousness and hated iniquity; because he spoke the words of God. That is why God dealt with him in that way. So in John 6:27, we have the expression "Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed." God anointed him with the oil of gladness," -- a simple figure of expression for the giving of the Spirit to him, and the figure of anointing the priests with the oil. He gave the spirit to him by no measure, because he spoke the words of God, because God dwelt in him, and he yielded himself to God that He himself might appear in him, and that his character might also appear, and so had God the Father sealed him. Now I do not intend to undertake to take up at any length the idea of what it is to be sealed, but just refer to two or three scriptures, and leave that subject till later. Ephesians 1:13, and also 4:30, "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." 2 Corinthians 1:22, "Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." It is evidently in connection with this sealing work, and we read some scriptures last night in regard to this sealing, receiving the seal of God in the forehead, and the number that was sealed, and how that the four winds were held while this sealing work was going on, that the Holy Spirit must appear in this way, and that it is that by which we are sealed to the day of redemption. So God sealed his Son by giving to him the Holy Spirit. Now, the Holy Spirit is given in a greater or less degree to every one because it is the agency through which God works and draws us to himself, to work with us in this way. But you understand that our study just now is upon the special outpouring of the Spirit; more than the ordinary outpouring of the Spirit -- the special outpouring of the Spirit, and the task to which we have applied ourselves, is to find out what hinders it, and so remove it. Not that the Spirit of God has not been given in any degree to his people, here and elsewhere, for which we are all thankful, but it is time for more than the ordinary display of his power, it is time for the special outpouring. Now, we want to know what hinders its taking place immediately. Now we want to know what hinders that it does not take place right here. In the first text that I read, we find, because "Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity." That is why God gave Christ the Spirit without measure, and I say that the presence of sin and the practice of iniquity is what hinders it. Now I want to show you that it is the mercy of God that this special outpouring of his Spirit does not come upon those who are cherishing sin. I want you to note that point when praying for the outpouring of the Spirit, and I want you to see that it is the special mercy of God that he does not directly answer these prayers to any one of us who are cherishing sins. In the twelfth chapter of Heb., and the twenty-ninth verse, the statement is made, "For our God is a consuming fire," and you remember in the record of Exodus 19 when God came down upon Mt. Sinai, the strict commands concerning the people's approaching near the mount, and we read in verse 18, "And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace and the whole mount quaked greatly." In Exodus 24:17, we read "And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel," and you remember how the people were frightened, and the explicit commands given them by God that they should not step beyond a certain line, and that they should not come into his immediate presence, and that if they did, they would be destroyed at once. When Moses came down from the mount, the people could not look at his countenance in their sinful condition. Turning to Acts 2:2-4, we read concerning the special display of the outpouring of the Spirit of God, "And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting, and there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." Now, what was the experience they had preparatory to that day of Pentecost, before receiving the Holy Spirit? We read in John 20:22, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost." That was several days before this experience. But the day of Pentecost was the time for the special presence of God, and the outpouring of his Spirit. His special power was manifested in the forked flames of fire. Those darting tongues of fire appeared there, and sat upon them. Now those disciples would have been consumed by that very display, and so would you and I, if this same experience came to us with sin about us. I say, it is a very solemn thing in more ways than one to ask God for the special outpouring of his Spirit as on the day of Pentecost. Everyone who asks for this and is cherishing known sins, is asking for his own destruction, as Ananias and Sapphira were destroyed. It is the great long-suffering of God that such prayers are not immediately answered, and He waits that they may be answered without destroying us. God's purpose is that sin should be destroyed, and his presence, unveiled, destroys sin always and everywhere. Sin cannot come into the presence of God. It is entirely impossible that it should do so; and with whomsoever sin is found in the presence of God, in destroying that sin, the person himself is destroyed, because sin is through and through him; it is his very being, from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet, and throughout. Now it is utterly impossible for us to separate sin from ourselves. God can do that thing; God can take sin from us, but he will not take that from us contrary to our will. When he tells us that that is sin, and that He wants to remove it, we must consent to it, or it will not be removed. When fire and brimstone is called down from heaven, it will be simply the glory of God's presence that will destroy sinners. They cannot stand before him. Read Isaiah 33:13-16, and see what experience is necessary in order that we may stand in such circumstances: "Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might. The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; he shall dwell on high: his place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks; bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure." Now that experience is necessary. What was the experience of the disciples as a preparation for this outpouring? Let us read a brief statement concerning it:- "For ten days the disciples prayed before the Pentecostal blessing came. Then it required all that time to bring them to an understanding of what it meant to offer effectual prayer, drawing nearer and nearer to God, confessing their sins, humbling their hearts before God, and by faith beholding Jesus, and becoming changed into his image." -- Special Test., No. 2, p.19. Now I want you to think of this. Those disciples had been with Christ for three and a half years, had seen him after his resurrection, sat and spoke with him, but had not yet received the Holy Ghost, and even after his ascension, before this special blessing could come upon them, it required ten days of confession and repentance in order not to be consumed by that blessing. Now, if that was the case with them, what shall we say of ourselves? To my mind, the worst feature of the whole situation is just what the Laodicean message says, and the worst is we don't see it. Now, if we don't see it, let us take the word of God as it is, and say it is so, let us so continue. We have sinned and done iniquity, and there is no good thing in us. Day by day let us draw near to God by repentance and confession, and God will draw near to us with mercy and forgiveness. Now that is the point that I want to dwell specially upon, that the reason why the special outpouring of the Spirit of God does not come upon his people, is that they must repent, else they would be consumed by it. Let me read just a word here to show the relation of repentance and confession and the removal of sin to this outpouring of the Spirit:-- "Not one of us will ever receive the seal of God while our characters have one spot or stain upon them. It is left with us to remedy the defects in our characters, to cleanse the soul-temple of every defilement. Then the latter rain will fall upon us as the early rain fell upon the disciples on the day of Pentecost." -- Test. 31, p.210. Now, there is the whole matter in a few words; and I say we must face this now. It is no use to let these things slide easily. Now, these things are for me, and these things are for every one here, as the solemn message of God to his soul. Not one of us will ever receive the seal of God while our characters have one spot or stain upon them. Thou hast anointed him with the oil of gladness above his fellows. Why? -- Because he loved righteousness and hated iniquity. "It is left with us to remedy the defects in our characters, to cleanse the soul-temple of every defilement." And there is no question about it. "Then the latter rain will fall upon us as the early rain fell upon the disciples on the day of Pentecost." Now, that is just as simple and plain a statement as can be. What is the thing for us to do? It seems to me, for me personally, and for every one who desires this experience, that it is to begin to confess our sinfulness to God with humility of soul, with deep contrition before God to be zealous and repent. Now, that is the only message that I can bring to-night. It is just that. Now the question as to whether there is any need of it. Suppose we say we do not see anything to confess at all. That does not touch the matter in any way. When God sends us word that we are sinful, it is for us to say we are so, whether we can see it or not. That should be our experience. We feel rich and increased in goods, and know not that we are wretched and miserable and blind and naked. This is just our condition exactly, whether we can see it or not. When God sends us a message and tells us to believe it, it is time for us to be about it. When he sends out these instructions, it is time that we should confess our sins, and set about to remove them, and to see how long a time it will take, just notice this example in 2 Samuel 12, where the Lord sent the prophet Nathaniel to David, who said "Thou art the man." In verse 13 we read, "And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord hath also put away thy sin; thou shalt not die." Now, that is the length of time that it requires. But, until we come to that point where we can say personally, "I have sinned against the Lord," he will not put away the sin, because, in the order of his plan, he will not remove sin from us contrary to our acknowledgment; all that he asks of us is to acknowledge sin. Notice this in Jeremiah 3:13: "Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God." Read also verse 12: "Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger forever." Simply acknowledge the iniquity, the sin; that is what he asks, and, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Now we have come to this time when the light has begun to shine, that is, the light which is to light the earth with its glory; and the angel has descended to unite with the third angel to swell this "loud cry." We found last night that only those would be permitted to take a part in this work during the "loud cry" who have resisted temptation in the strength of the Mighty One; and that is simply another expression for those who have cleansed their souls from defilement; that is, they have repented of their sins, and God has removed them. I don't know what it will take, I am sure, but it seems to me sometimes that there will be something to awaken us to the way that God looks at sin, and the way he looks at us. But we have refused the warning of the Spirit, and the instruction that he has sent, and the testimonies that he has sent us again and again right on this point: "Repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place." For years this has been the warning, repent! repent! repent! But we have not heeded this testimony, but have come to that point where we say: "I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing." And yet I say that if ever there was a needy company, it is this company. Now God has made it just as plain as can be, just as plain as that two and two are four, and this instruction is not one that has come to us a long while ago, either. Let me read:-- "I have been shown that impure practices, pride, selfishness, self-glorying have closed the door of the heart, even of those who teach the truth to others, so that the frown of God is upon them. Cannot some renovating power take hold of them? Have they fallen a prey to a moral disease which is incurable because they themselves refused to be cured?" That is the point; God can cure it, unless we refuse to allow him to take hold of the case. Read further on:-- "O that every one who labors in word and doctrine would heed the words of Paul, 'I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.'" Again, under an article of the same date:-- "We have been asked why there is so little efficiency among our teachers. The answer is that it is because known sin in various forms is cherished among the professed followers of Christ, and the conscience becomes hardened by long violation." Notice that it is not sins of ignorance. It is because, in spite of all the light that has come to us, all the reproof and instruction, we cherish known sins. I say, we do that and yet are praying for the special outpouring of his Spirit upon us when it would mean death to us. Now, I say it is a solemn thing, and we stand in a solemn place. There is sin cherished among us; there is no question about it. We are cherishing known sins. Now, we may go on cherishing these known sins, and if God heard our prayers and made this special outpouring of his Spirit as upon the day of Pentecost upon us, it would bring death upon every one who is in that condition. If we go on without that special outpouring and without that Spirit, and still cherish those known sins, the glory of God when he comes would cause our death then, just the same, to say nothing about the second death. Now, if we are ready to die to-night, we may live in Christ Jesus. But those who persist to hold to sin, they shall surely die a little later, and that involves the second death also. Now I am perfectly aware that I am speaking with great plainness, and I do not speak this without thought and prayer. I speak what I believe to be the message of God to our souls, mine and yours. I say that it is time for us to be zealous and repent that God's special outpouring of his Spirit may come upon us without destroying us. If we don't make this matter a matter of earnest prayer, I say it simply means death to you and to me. And it seems to me, that the laborer who would go out from this Conference without a special experience in the blessing and power of God through repentance and acceptance of Christ, and the special presence of God with him, would as it were, go to his very death then, because the power of Satan is to be manifested in a wonderful manner. We are beginning to see that that is so. Now the only thing that preserves any one who goes out in the glorious cause of truth, is the special power of God manifested in his behalf, to keep him physically I mean, from calamity and destruction, because Satan aims to destroy every one who would attempt to enlighten the people at this time. As we are now just at the close of time, and the light has come to enlighten the world, Satan's purpose is to destroy physically, and cause the death of every messenger of the cause who goes out to give light. And it is just because the angels of God are commissioned to take care of these messengers of truth, that they are not destroyed; and when we go out to give the light with the special protection and power of God with us, we may stand against the power of Satan. Another feature: That is, the ones who have gone out in this work have obtained power. There is no question about that. Now no one can go out with the message, to meet that power which springs up from beneath, unless they have received the new light and life and power which has descended from on high, and taken possession of God's people who are not dead, as many now are, in trespasses and sins. I say, we might just as well look the matter right in the face, and do as the disciples of old did, tarry till we are imbued with power from on high. It is no use to go this way any longer, and my advice is most solemnly to every one who cannot go out now imbued with power from on high and bear this light from heaven, and to do the work that God has to be done now, stay at home. Now I know that this is very severe. But I tell you, brethren, something must come to us, something must take hold of us; we cannot linger any longer or go on in a careless, easy-going manner. We cannot come to this assembly, this institute and Conference and go day after day in an easy-going manner. It is time for every one to be trembling in earnest for his own soul's salvation. Now just see what the instruction is; it was given and printed ten years ago. "We should pray as earnestly for the descent of the Holy Spirit as the disciples prayed on the day of Pentecost." Note what constituted prayer on that day of Pentecost. "It required all that time to bring them to an understanding of what it meant to offer effectual prayer, drawing nearer and nearer to God, confessing their sins, humbling their hearts before God, and by faith beholding Jesus, and becoming changed into his image." Now I do not think that his great blessing will come to you and me individually, except we listen to this instruction. There is an individual work for every one of us to do in connection with this gathering, and that means solemn heart-searching before God, taking his word and repenting, that we may receive this power. Now, to my mind, it does not mean that we can come here and go on as usual: get up in the morning, after breakfast have a social chat, come to this service and listen to it, talk and visit, come down at 2:30 and hear some more, and at 7:00 come and hear more; and come back and do the same thing again the next day. I tell you that will not bring it. It will not do it. God is sending a special call to his people at this time. It is: Be zealous and repent, "or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place." Now, that is the simple situation that faces you and me to-night. The question is, What are we to do about it? What are you and I going to do about it, right here, now, at this Conference? That is the practical question, and the whole purpose of this instruction is to bring us face to face with that question. Again I say, What are we going to do about it? We do not need new instruction so much as we do to act on the instruction that has already been given. I enjoy the seasons of coming together, and of listening to these instructions, and the explanation of God's word. This I enjoy very much. But I tell you, we might come and go here, week in and week out, year in and year out, and yet not meet the mind of God concerning this time. Take this word:-- "O, how we need the divine presence! For the baptism of the Holy Spirit, every worker should be breathing out his prayers to God. Companies should be gathered together to call upon God, for special help, for heavenly wisdom, that the people of God may know how to plan and devise and execute the work. Especially should men pray that the Lord will choose his agents, and baptize his missionaries with the Holy Spirit." -- Special Testimony, No. 2, page 19. Now here is the simple statement of it. At this time we expect to select men for various fields of labor, to send them out to the ends of the earth, to carry what? To carry the "loud cry" of the "third angel's message." It is no use for them to go, unless they have a message with the power of God's Spirit to go with them. The word is, that God's people should be meeting together in companies, calling upon him for special help, power, for the outpouring of his Spirit, as the disciples did on the day of Pentecost. Are we doing it? How long has this instruction been given us? It has been over six months (July 15, 1892), and I would like to know how many have taken this and acted upon it who are now at this Conference. I say it is no use trying to get ourselves into the notion that we may call upon God for his Holy Spirit while we neglect the plain instruction given as to how to prepare for it. Let us look this right in the face. This is not a mere sentiment nor feeling; God wants to do this work right here and now, and he has sent us his instruction in every particular to tell us just how we may prepare for the outpouring of his Spirit. We do not need so much new instruction given us as we do to act upon the instruction that we already have. I say it is time for us to begin now on these things. There is not a day to lose. Companies should be meeting together. We have not an hour to spend in visiting. God has not given us these privileges to use in that way. He has called us here together for a special thing, and he wants to bestow his Holy Spirit upon this people, as he did upon the disciples; and as it began at Jerusalem first, so he wants Battle Creek to receive the outpouring of his Spirit during the Institute and the Conference. And it is for you and me to say whether it shall be so or not. That is the plain statement of the case, and the lesson that I want to enforce. And it is a fact that because known sins are cherished by you and me that the power of God's Spirit cannot come upon this people. God is calling upon us to confess those sins and to yield up these sinful desires, that he may remove them from us, even though it is like tearing the right hand from us. This is the experience that God is waiting for us to have. Hebrews 10:26, 27, "For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries." Dr. Young translated it, "For if we sin wilfully, after that we have received the full knowledge of the truth." If we sin wilfully, then comes this experience. Let us see how this compares with the testimony dated Aug. 20, 1892:-- "My brethren, we are living in a most solemn period of this earth's history. There is never a time to sin; it is always perilous to continue in transgression; but in a special sense is this true at the present time. We are now upon the very borders of the eternal world, and stand in a more solemn relation to time and to eternity than ever before." -- Special Testimony, p.6. While we stand here in the blaze of the light of the Spirit that God is sending us, it is a heinous thing in his sight to indulge in known sin, and even more so than before, because of the opportunity and the light that he is giving us. Again:- "Now let every person search his own heart, and plead for the bright beams of the Sun of righteousness to expel all spiritual darkness and cleanse from defilement. 'If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.'" Well, it is simply a question of time, and, although I had a great deal more to present, I might as well stop here. But brethren, think about these things, pray about these things, let us do some serious, solemn work before God. THE PROMISE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. -- No. 3. PROF. W. W. PRESCOTT Luke 18:9-14: "And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased: and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." I wonder in how many minds the feeling would rise, But that was the prayer of the publican, and we are not publicans! That is just exactly what the other Pharisee thanked God for, -- that he was not. That is just what the Pharisee said, -- he thanked God that he was not that way. "I thank thee that I am not as this publican." The prayer of the publican was: "God be merciful to me a sinner." That is all. And the Saviour says: "I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other." Why? Because he was a sinner, and he knew it; God knew it, and they agreed together that it was so. When he asked God to be merciful to him, the only way that God could be merciful to him was to forgive the sin, is to make one righteous instead of sinful. God wanted this man to be made righteous, and he himself wanted it, and they could agree on that, and thus it was so. Take the case of Paul as he states it in his first letter to his son Timothy: "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners: of whom I am chief." (1 Timothy 1:15) Now, I say this should be the experience of every one of us: "God be merciful to me a sinner." Now, Paul does not say that he was the chief of sinners before he was converted. He simply says, in the most emphatic way, in the present tense: "I am chief of sinners." What will give to anyone, whether it be Paul the apostle or whether it be you, any one of us, that view of ourselves, that we will be ready to say that, not simply as a form of words, but from the heart? What only can do it? The very same thing that wrought that experience in the apostle Paul, and it works that experience in everyone who knows it, when one sees Jesus Christ. Now, I cannot abhor myself by looking at myself, and you cannot hate sin and be troubled at your sinful condition by looking at yourselves. Not at all. To attempt to do this, would be just like this: Suppose all the lights here were at once put out. Who could say then whether his neighbor was good-looking or bad-looking? Who then, by holding up his hand before him, could tell whether it was white or black? -- There is no light, everything is the same, there is no chance to tell anything about it. The reason why we don"t see these things, is because Satan has put his own hellish shadow over us, and has brought darkness over us. And it is only as light from God shines into our hearts, that we can have any idea of our own sinfulness before God, and our need of him. When Paul was on his way to Damascus, what were his feelings? He describes them to us in Philippians 3, "A Pharisee of the Pharisees, an Hebrew of the Hebrews, of the tribe of Benjamin, circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel," etc. He had everything to congratulate himself for. But, when Paul, Saul of Tarsus, even that satisfied man, who would have put to death at that very moment, every Christian, met the Lord in the way, he said: "Lord what wilt thou have me to do?" He was converted, and acknowledged the very thing he had been fighting, and yielded up the whole thing right there. The moment he said "Lord," he acknowledged Jesus Christ, the very one whose disciples he was on his way to Damascus to persecute. Now concerning his conversion, we read: "But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother"s womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen: immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood." (Galatians 1:15, 16) It was after this experience, and after this Son had been revealed to him, that he wrote to his son Timothy: "I am the chief." It was the same experience in Job"s case. In Job 42:1-6, we read, "Then Job answered the Lord and said, I know that thou canst do everything, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understand not; things too wonderful for me which I knew not. Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth thee: wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." Now, I say, that will be the experience of everyone, and it is not an experience simply once in a life-time. It is not simply the experience that comes at conversion: but every time that one catches a glimpse of the glory and purity of Jesus Christ, he can but abhor himself. I am really troubled to know how to find words to express these things. It is necessary to present before our minds the need of self-abhorrence for those who stand in the presence of God. There is nothing that I can say that can help the matter, but it must be with us just as it was with those on the day of Pentecost. They really did not have any appreciation of what Jesus Christ was; but while Peter was talking to them in a plain and simple manner about the Spirit, the Holy Spirit told them about Jesus Christ: the Holy Spirit revealed Jesus Christ to them -- a man they had never seen before -- and instead of seeing him merely as he had been reported to them, as a wine-bibber, as one who ate and drank with sinners, as an imposter, they saw Jesus Christ as the sin-pardoning Saviour. They saw something of the purity of his character, and they saw him, of course, in a true light. It is only as the Spirit teaches you and me something about Jesus Christ, that we can have any idea of how we stand before God. A good lesson on this matter is found in the ninth chapter of Ezra. In his prayer, Ezra says: "O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up into the heavens." I do not know what to say. When a servant of God like Ezra comes before God with such a statement as that, what shall we say, what shall we do? That was the prayer of a man who saw something of the sinfulness of sin, -- who saw something of what it meant to be out of harmony with God. Now, we are taught that the servants of God are to "weep between the porch and the altar and cry, Spare thy people, Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach." But it seems to me, in considering this question, that before we can do that, we ought to weep for ourselves. Look over the record of the past three or four years and see what God has been doing for us, and then see where we stand now. God has been dealing with his people in a very remarkable manner, and God is dealing with his people still in a very remarkable manner. God has been waiting for the co-operation of human agents in his work. That word he has sent to us again and again: but the last word is that God is waiting impatiently. It is a wonder to me, that instead of impatiently waiting, he does not sweep us out of his sight, and take a people that will be ready to co-operate with him. What shall we do when God sends us word right here and now that he is waiting impatiently for us? How long did he wait for the fruit on the tree? He waited three years did he not? Then was he going to cut it down? No. He said just wait one more year, then if it does not bear fruit, let it go. How long has it been since God in a special manner began to send this light and this instruction and this reproof for you and me? Reckon it up. Four years. It is the fourth year since Minneapolis, and going on the fifth. Now, I say, these things are terribly solemn for us to face, and I know not what to say. But from my soul I can only say that we have come to a terrible, solemn time for us. God has waited and sent reproof, and waited and sent reproof -- four years. Notice the special force of the expression found in the first appeal that was sent out to ministers and Conference committees, p.34:-- "Will you exchange your hope of heaven for worldly gain? Many are doing this very thing. Satan has held out his tempting bribe, and they have accepted his terms. Should the tree be cut down, it would lie prone to the earth, -- lost, lost, eternally lost!" What is the meaning of this? When you put that with your own experience you can see what it means. It means that it is time to bear fruit, or to cut down the tree. I have no disposition to try to crowd anyone, but I feel that it is my duty to present these things in the plainest manner possible, and to let the Spirit of God do its own work upon our hearts. That is all I can do. Just take a few words, to show how we are to take a view of Christ, and that we are not to look to ourselves to see whether we are wrong, but to the light from God, in Christ. "One ray of the glory of God, one beam of the purity of Christ, pervading the soul, makes every spot of defilement painfully distinct." Why, I tell you the simple fact when I say that if God would to-night let some additional rays of his Spirit shine in our hearts, we could not go home and rest easy, and sleep quietly, and take matters the same as usual. I tell you, it is a terrible thing to be wilfully sinning against God, and it is a terrible thing to be cherishing sin against him. Words simply fail to express my horror of such a situation. Here we are, and this message is to be given with a "loud cry," and who can say in the spirit of it: "Here am I, send me to give that loud cry"? God must visit his people. God must enlighten our minds and give us some new views of Jesus Christ. I pray he may do it right early. It is only his Spirit that can do this. We have had these words before our minds for years and years, but God"s Spirit must teach us what they mean. God"s Spirit must really teach us what the purity of Jesus Christ is. We are utterly unable to comprehend it, to understand it. There is another phase of this matter that I want to speak about, and that is, What are we going to confess? Now, I apprehend that many would say: "If there is anything sinful about me, I want to confess it:" and many confess to God just that way, and say: "Lord, if I have sinned, I am sorry for it." Now, when God sends us word that we have sinned, it is an insult to high heaven to come to him and say: "If I have sinned." Well, if I have not sinned, He is a liar, because He has sent word to me that I have. How is it? Shall I come to God and say: "If I have sinned, I hope you will forgive me"? You see it is impossible to say it. There is no if about it. He tells us that it is so, and it is time for us to confess it without any "ifs" in the matter. You do not find any such confession of sin as that in the Scripture. You don"t find Daniel, the one greatly beloved, to whom the Lord sent that special word, "Thou art greatly beloved," confessing sin with an "if" in it. Not at all. Notice his confession, the way it reads: "We have sinned and committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets." I will just stop there a moment and consider that. "Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets." How is that? "Some criticize the message and the messengers. They dare even to reject the words of reproof sent to them from God through his Holy Spirit." -- Danger in Adopting Worldly Policy, p.8. Now Daniel says: "Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets." The fact is, as it seems to me, that we have become so accustomed to the idea of regarding or disregarding these things, as our interests are at stake, that we have utterly lost the sense of the sanctity of God"s Word and of his message. It is a fearful thing to disregard God"s word and message; yet we have become so accustomed to do this. Why? Because sin is there, and because God does not immediately send evils upon us, we disregard these warnings. We do not appreciate what a terrible thing it is in the sight of God to disregard the plain statement of his Word, and the plain reproofs of his Spirit. We have been doing this for years and years, and this should be our prayer: "God be merciful to us, and save us." That must come from hearts that appreciate the situation. Notice these words:-- "Those who are carnally minded now, notwithstanding the warnings given of God in his word and through the testimonies of his Spirit, will never unite with the holy family of the redeemed." -- Special Testimony, p.39. Someone asks, Well what shall we confess? Let me read this statement found in Gospel Workers, 83. I do not want you to lose this thought:-- "We are just as accountable for evils that we might have checked in others, by reproof, by warning, by exercise of parental or pastoral authority, as if we were guilty of the acts ourselves." That statement almost took me out of my chair when I read it. If God does not have mercy upon us what will become of us? I want to read that statement again, to see whether we have any need of making a confession, or whether there is anything in our past experience that is not just right. "We are just as accountable for evils that we might have checked in others, by reproof, by warning, by exercise of parental or pastoral authority, as if we were guilty of the acts ourselves." What shall we say other than "We have sinned and done wickedly in thy sight"? What shall we say before God? Will it not be true that we shall be obliged with Ezra to say: "I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God"? Do you think I am overdrawing the picture just for the sake of a little temporary effect, or to work up a sensation? There are the simple statements in the matter. Now, if God"s word has any effect upon our hearts, if the testimony of his Spirit meets with any response from us, we shall not have to ask any more: "What is there for me to confess?" Take another phase of it as presented in the following familiar scripture, which I will not take time to read, but will simply bring the thought before your minds. Mark 7:21, "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts." Verse 20: "That which cometh out of the man, defileth the man." We are to purify that which comes out of the heart. It is that which is evil, it is the foundation that is defiled. Now, one may address himself with all earnestness, and with all the will-power at his command, to make his outward acts perfect, and he may even be able to do it as far as his outward actions are concerned; and yet every one of them be tainted with evil, because that which cometh out of the heart of man defileth and is evil. The heart must be changed by the power of God, and until that is the case, every action is evil. Now, what is the power, -- how do we link ourselves to the power that purifies? It is by faith. "Purifying their hearts by faith." (Acts 15:9) Let us see how this connects with this thought:-- "A living faith in Christ will bring every action of the life and every emotion of the soul into harmony with God"s truth and righteousness." -- Gospel Workers, 23. That is simply another way of saying: bringing into perfect harmony with the law of God, -- with the character of God. That is the living faith that brings us into perfect harmony with God. Well, can we see the reason of that statement, "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin"? Now, faith is not simply a thing that comes at conversion, and then we are through with it. Faith must be a living, active principle in us. That is the living faith that brings us into harmony with God. Faith is that power which brings the divine light into the soul, it is the only thing that brings us into harmony with God, the only thing that prevents every action from being sin. But "whatsoever is not of faith is sin," because it is faith and faith only that purifies the heart and that sanctifies its motives, so that the spring of action may be right; and unless that is so, the outward action cannot be right in God"s sight. That is the teaching of the Saviour about obeying the commandments. He says "he that hates his brother is a murderer." Last summer when I was attending the Indiana camp-meeting, I was invited to speak in the woman"s prison. I think there were eighty three women in this prison. They told me that ten of them were under life sentence for murder. Well, some of the brethren afterward asked me if they were not a pretty hard-looking company to speak to, whether they were not a pretty hard set. I tell you in my soul, I felt they were not any worse than many of the people I had spoken to at the camp-meeting: and if all the murderers in the world were shut up in jail, there would not be people enough left to guard them. Now, you see God does not look at these things as we do. A man that walks up and down the street and hates his brother, is a murderer in the sight of God. We can"t deal with that, but God does deal with that. Now, it seems to me that that alienation, that hard feeling and suspicion among brethren, is a most terrible thing in God"s sight. That is simply murder in one degree: this is murder in another degree, that is all. God has been sending us special instruction upon that point, putting away differences. (We have been talking, you know, about what it is that hinders the Holy Spirit"s coming in.) Notice this statement in Gospel Workers, 370:-- "It is our privilege to take God at his word. As Jesus was about to leave his disciples, to ascend into heaven, he commissioned them to bear the gospel message to all nations, tongues and peoples. He told them to tarry in Jerusalem till they were endued with power from on high. This was essential to their success. The holy unction must come upon the servants of God. All who were fully identified as disciples of Christ and associated with the apostles as evangelists, assembled together at Jerusalem. They put away all differences." And the instruction that was for them is for us now, for we want the same experience, the same experience that they had: and what we are trying to find out, is what hinders it, that it may be removed, and that that experience may be ours. "They removed all differences." And has not the instruction come to us that companies should be gathered together, and pray for the descent of the Holy Spirit, pray for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, more than the ordinary workings and the ordinary outpouring of the Spirit, -- the abundance of it? "They continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, that they might receive the fulfillment of the promise of the Holy Spirit." And have we not got to do that very thing, if we do anything at all? If we do it at all, we have. "They continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, that they might receive the fulfillment of the promise of the Holy Spirit: for they were to preach the gospel in the demonstration of the Spirit and in the power of God. It was a time of great danger to the followers of Christ. They were as sheep in the midst of wolves, yet they were of good courage, because Christ had risen from the dead, and had revealed himself to them, and had promised them a special blessing which would qualify them to go forth to preach his gospel to the world. They were waiting in expectation of the fulfillment of his promise, and were praying with special fervency. "This is the very course that should be pursued by those who act a part in the work of proclaiming the coming of the Lord in the clouds of heaven: for a people are to be prepared to stand in the great day of God. Although Christ had given the promise that they should receive the Holy Spirit, this did not remove the necessity of prayer. They prayed all the more earnestly: they continued in prayer with one accord. Those who are now engaged in the solemn work of preparing a people for the coming of the Lord, should also continue in prayer. The early disciples were of one accord. They had no speculations, no curious theory to advance as to how the promised blessing was to come. They were one in faith and spirit. They were agreed. "Put away all doubt. Dismiss your fears, obtain the experience that Paul had when he exclaimed, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Surrender everything to Christ, and let your life be hid with Christ in God. Then you will be a power for good. One shall chase a thousand, and two shall put ten thousand to flight." -- Gospel Workers, 370. If you have noticed in the record of the Acts, this idea of agreement is repeated. The book of Acts is specially for our study now. Acts 1:14: "These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren." Acts 2:1: "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place." Acts 2:46: "And they continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart." There are other references also, containing this same idea of their being of one accord. One is found in the fifteenth chapter, verse 28: "For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us." Now why did it seem good to the Holy Ghost and to them? Why was it? what was the reason for this? They were of one accord, and the Holy Ghost was right there with them, to instruct them, to teach them, to lead them; and that same experience is for us. But has not God been sending his Holy Spirit as a witness, as a seal to alienations, to any hardness, to any evil course persisted in, to those despising this instruction and refusing to give up sins wilfully cherished, to any known sin? Has God not been doing this? He has been sending his Spirit to convince of sin. Whether we see it or not, there needs to be confession, restitution. Notice this word again:- "I know that a work must be done for the people, or many will not be prepared to receive the light of the angel sent down from heaven to lighten the whole earth with his glory." -- "Danger of Adopting Worldly Policy," p.11. Well, perhaps you will say: "Why, when that comes, there will be no resistance, every one will see that, and those who have stood out will have to give in when they see this light and glory and power." Let me ask you: Did they give up when Christ was here with this light and power? Was there light? Why, look and see what the record says about the light. Did it convince those who would not believe? No. They rejected Jesus Christ and then put him to death, because he did not come and meet their ideas, their own plan and interpretation of the prophecies, and because he did not meet their ideas and did not conform to their plan, they rejected him and put him to death. In the same way, Jesus Christ is being rejected to-day, and crucified afresh. There is another point that I want to touch (I am not coming back to this again, and harp upon this string. I shall leave it with you and God. I had a few things that I wanted to say, and I want to finish this.) Now, some will begin to ask: How are we going to tell whether sins of the past are brought up to our minds by the Holy Spirit, or by the devil? Unless my experience leads me astray, there are many who have made this inquiry in their own minds, How are we going to tell whether sins that are brought up to our minds are brought up by the Holy Spirit, or by the devil? Now, let me ask you a question. Suppose you were to come into the vestibule, and you were standing out there now when somebody inside was talking, and suppose a stranger should come in with you, and he should ask: "Who is speaking?" Could you tell him? Why? (voice: "you would hear the voice.") But he would hear the voice too, would he not? (voice: "you would know the voice.") Now, how are you going to know whether the Lord is talking to you, or whether the devil is? Let us take this word: "And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice." (John 10:4) Now, I say to those who have been in the ministry, and who have been teaching Christ to the people and to-night can"t tell the difference between the voice of Christ and the voice of the devil, it is time for us to stop and learn the voice of God. Now, if any one who has been a teacher of the people, raises that question in his mind, let him know that the very fact that that question is raised in his mind, is the evidence that he wants to learn Jesus Christ. But, you still ask: "How will they know his voice?" I can"t tell you, and if I could, it would not do any good. He says: "They shall know his voice," and you will have to take his word for it, not mine. And if you take his word for it, he will see that his word is true; but I can"t tell you how. I know it is true, and I know he makes it true to those who believe. But, to those who stand off as did the Jews, those will never know anything about it. On that basis, they never can and never will; and if we wait to have it all explained, we will not know anything about it, and I cannot tell you, and shall not try to tell you. I can tell you this: he says: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." (John 10:27) Here is a word that will help us on that perhaps, and notice how we have instruction upon every point in this way: "Amid the confusion of innumerable doctrines, the Spirit of God will be our guide and shield to those who have not resisted the evidences of truth." Now, how are you to know his voice? Because he silences every other voice. If we yield to him, we will know the voice; "my sheep know my voice, and they follow me." Why, I tell you, brethren, we are coming to times when we can"t sit down week in and week out, and hear God"s side of the question, and wait, and consider, and see how Brother A. goes on, and Brother B. goes on, or what this one or that one says. We must know the truth because the Spirit of truth is in us. That is the reason. We will just as surely, you and I, in spite of all the light we have had under this work, be led astray. The fact is, we will change leaders and not know it, unless we have the Spirit of God with us. That is the simple fact. We will change leaders and not know it. We have been told so, and I can show it to you in so many words. I want to read a word about it:-- "Every soul that is not fully surrendered to God, and kept by divine power, will form an alliance with Satan against heaven, and join in battle against the Ruler of the universe." -- "Danger in Adopting Worldly Policy," p.7. You and I will do it, unless we are fully surrendered to God and kept by his divine power, and we will array ourselves against this work, against the truth of God, and will join with Satan and fight God"s work, unless we are kept by the power of God. It is time for us to begin to mistrust self and to flee to God for his keeping power. It must be so. Now, as I said, I will not come back to this point unless the Lord leads me back, (and I presume some have already thought I have dwelt too long upon it), but I have felt that I wanted to say some of these things in the plainest manner possible. But, if this instruction is from God, I say it is time for us to receive it, and act upon it, and I leave it with you, and for the Spirit of God to lead you. THE PROMISE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. -- No. 4. PROF. W. W. PRESCOTT Men do not usually put out danger signals unless in their minds at least there is danger, and God does not deal any the less honestly with his people. And when God puts out a danger signal, it is time to note the time and place and to remember that there is danger there. When the signal is repeated, the sense of danger should be impressed upon our minds; and when the danger signal -- the warning -- is repeated again and again, it is to stir the hearts with the solemnity of fear, as in the very presence of the actual danger. I wish to bring the situation just as briefly as I can before you with reference to the warnings that have been sent to us very recently, all in one line, and I will select some extracts to show how the warning has been repeated and repeated again. From the Special Testimony, "Appeal to Ministers and Conference Committees," page 9:-- "Unless you watch, and keep your garments unspotted from the world, Satan will stand as your captain. It is no time now to hide your colors, no time to turn traitor, when the battle presses sore. ... It is no time now to lax our efforts, to become tame and spiritless. ... Every power is to be employed wholly and entirely for God. Maintain your allegiance, bearing testimony for God and for truth. Be not turned aside by any suggestions the world may make. We can make no compromise. ... "When the days come, as they surely will, in which the law of God is made void, the zeal of the true and loyal should rise with the emergency, and should be the more warm and decided, and their testimony should be more positive and unflinching. But we are to do nothing in a defiant spirit, and we shall not if our hearts are fully surrendered to God. ... "God has no place in his heart for half-hearted men and women, those who are neither cold nor hot. Christ says, 'I will spew thee out of my mouth.' God calls for men who are whole-hearted. ... Let his truth be received into the heart, that you may be spiritualized by its living, sanctifying power. Then let the distinct message for this time be sent from watchman to watchman on the walls of Zion. ... "By many, the words which the Lord sent, will be rejected, and the words that man may speak will be received as light and truth. Human wisdom will lead away from self-denial, from consecration, and will devise many things to tend to make of no effect God's messages. We cannot with any safety rely upon men who are not in close connection with God. They accept the opinions of men, but cannot discern the voice of the True Shepherd, and their influence will lead many astray, though evidence is piled upon evidence before their eyes, testifying to the truth that God's people will have for this time. ... "As the end approaches, the testimonies of God's people will become more decided and more powerful, flashing the light of truth upon the systems of error and oppression that have so long held the supremacy." Again from "Danger of Adopting Worldly Policy," beginning on page 4, I read:-- "We must obey the orders that come from above. We are not to hear the counsel or follow the plans suggested by unbelievers. Suggestions made by those who know not the work that God is doing for this time, will be such as to weaken the power of the instrumentalities of God. By accepting such suggestions, the counsel of Christ is set at naught. ... "Those who are self-sufficient, who do not feel the necessity of constant prayer and watchfulness, will be ensnared. Through living faith and earnest prayer the sentinels of God must become partakers of the divine nature, or they well be found professedly working for God, but in reality giving their service to the prince of darkness. Because their eyes are not anointed with the heavenly eye-salve, their understanding will be blinded, and they will be ignorant of the wonderfully specious devices of the enemy. Their vision will be perverted through their dependence on human wisdom, which is foolishness in the sight of God. ... "Those who believe the truth must be as faithful sentinels on the watch-tower, or Satan will suggest specious reasonings to them, and they will give utterance to opinions that will betray sacred, holy trusts. The enmity of Satan against good will be manifested more and more, as he brings his forces into activity in his last work of rebellion, and every soul that is not fully surrendered to God and kept by divine power, will form an alliance with Satan against heaven, and join in the battle against the Ruler of the universe. ... "The message we have to bear is not a message that men need cringe to declare. They are not to seek to cover it, to conceal its origin and purpose. Its advocates must be men who will not hold their peace day nor night. ... God has given us light in regard to the things that are now taking place in the last remnant of time, and with pen and voice we are to proclaim the truth to the world, not in a tame spiritless way, but in demonstration of the Spirit and the power of God. ... "To-day the world is full of flatterers and dissemblers; but God forbid that those who claim to be guardians of sacred trusts, shall betray the interests of God's cause through the insinuating suggestions and devices of the enemy of all righteousness. "There is no time now to range ourselves on the side of the transgressors of God's law, to see with their eyes, to hear with their ears, and to understand with their perverted senses. We must press together. We must labor to become a unit, to be holy in life and pure in character. Let those who profess to be servants of the living God no longer bow down to the idol of men's opinions, no longer be slaves to any shameful lust, no longer bring a polluted offering to the Lord, a sin-stained soul." Now as though that were not sufficient, I want to call your attention to the instruction that has come very recently, and I will read from articles by Sister White in REVIEW of Jan. 31, and Feb. 7, 1893:-- "There will be among us those who will so blind their eyes that they will fail to perceive the most wonderful and important truths for this time." Who knows whether that means me or not? I think we had better, every one, take it as belonging to "myself." "Those who have not a daily experience in the things of God will not move wisely. ... "Scores of men have preached the word when they themselves had not faith in it, and did not obey its teachings. They were unconverted, unsanctified, unholy. ... No longer question your need of a personal Saviour. ... "Many accept the theory of truth, and compromise with the world, the flesh, and the devil. ... We are to feel, to act, as one with Christ. ... "Christ says to his followers, 'Ye are the light of the world.' Shall we envelop our light in a thick covering of worldly policy? Shall we seek for scientific measurement of how much light shall emanate from us to the world? God help us to live under the direct rays of the Sun of Righteousness, that we may be channels of light to the world. ... "There are men of the world who will volunteer to be our guides; they regard their course as wise, but they are of the class who, professing to be wise, need to become fools in order to become wise in God's wisdom. They lead away from the path where the voice of Jesus is heard, saying, 'This is the way; walk ye in it.' They are false teachers, blind leaders of the blind. They divert the attention from the very work to be done in this period of the world's history." Now mark the following:-- "But those who follow the leader step by step, will hear and recognize the voice of the True Shepherd. ... "The people of the world will try to induce us to soften down our message, to suppress some of its more distinctive features. They say, 'Why do you make the Seventh-day Sabbath so prominent in your teaching? This difference is always thrust before us. We could harmonize with you if you would not say so much on this point. Let arguments in the Sentinel be free from mention of the Seventh-day Sabbath, and we will give it our influence and support.' This is their invitation to compromise, and there has been a disposition on the part of some of our workers to adopt this policy. But those who favor this action, entertain deceptive sentiments, are bound by false modesty and caution, and manifest a disposition to withhold the confession of faith. Seventh-day Adventists have discussed the feasibility of conceding to these demands; but shall we permit the world to shape the messages that God has given us to bear to them? Shall we entertain the proposal of Satan, and thereby entangle our souls, and the souls of others, for the sake of policy? Shall we betray sacred trusts? If the world are in error and delusion, breaking the law of God, is it not our duty to show them their sin and danger? We must proclaim the third angel's message. "What is the Sentinel for? It is to be as the voice of the watchman on the walls of Zion, ready to sound the danger signal. We should cry aloud, and spare not, and show the people their transgressions. We are not to cringe, and beg pardon of the world for telling them the truth. We should scorn concealment. Unfurl your true colors to the gaze of men and angels. Let it be understood that the Seventh-day Adventists can make no compromise. In our opinions and faith there must not be the least appearance of wavering. The world has a right to expect something of us, and will look upon us as dishonest, as hiding our real sentiments and principles out of policy, if we present even the semblance of being uncommitted. "We are not to voice the sentiment of the world. ... Shall we be time-servers? Now, before we advance another step, let us look carefully to see what are our feelings, our aims, and purposes." I will now leave these extracts, and read from the REVIEW of Feb. 7:-- "Those who are more desirous of securing promotion and a good name in the world, than of maintaining right principles, will betray sacred trusts. They will cripple their own influence, they will darken counsel by their words, and make false reasoning to look sound and right. All the success and patronage that can be secured by policy plans will serve only as a snare to those who work on this principle. "Some are flattering themselves that a more auspicious time is coming, when God will vindicate his honor by lifting up his holy law. Many who now look upon the cross as too heavy to bear, think they will then obey the truth, and triumph with it. But in maintaining the right, it is not safe, because of circumstances, to yield in any degree firm adherence to duty, or to teach others that they may yield with comparative safety. ... To place ourselves in a position where we have an appearance of yielding, is a new position for this people. ... Many who claim to believe the truth have rested in the theory, and have not felt the necessity of maintaining vital connection with the pure, sacred springs from which they must derive their life and inspiration. When they should have been earnestly praying to heaven, humbling their hearts before God, they have been busy with human calculations, human imaginings, have been exalting self in place of exalting the Lord. Yet they seemed unaware of their danger of leaving the precious principles of truth. We need to pray continually that God will help us to abide in the truth, and not be swayed from the principles by those who are not sanctified to God, or allow the principles of worldlings to mould our institutions. ... This is the work now to be done on earth. Those who are living in the transgression of the holy law of God, will not find the truth palatable. When it is made plain that Sunday is a spurious Sabbath, founded in the power of the man of sin, they will say in language too plain to be misunderstood, 'We want not a knowledge of thy ways, O Lord.' Others will say as did Pharaoh, 'Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice?' But in the face of all opposition, we must hold aloft the banner of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. It takes both of these to make up the burden of the message to the world. ... We should be alarmed at the least manifestation of a disposition to hush the voices that proclaim the third angel's message. That angel represents the people of God, who give the last warning to the world. Let not the fear of man, the desire for patronage, be allowed to obscure a ray of heaven's light. Should the sentinels of truth now fail to sound the warning, they would be unworthy of their position as light-bearers to the world; but should the standard fall from their hands, the Lord would raise up others who would be faithful and loyal." Now, that is so, brethren, and it seems to me, as never before, that we have come right up to the time when God wants to know who is going to be faithful and loyal, that he may know who is going to do this work. "It will require moral courage to do God's work unflinchingly. Those who do this can give no place to self-love, to selfish considerations, ambition, love of ease, or desire to shun the cross. We are commanded to 'cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet!' Shall we labor to make the name of God a praise in the earth? Shall we obey his voice, or shall we listen to the soothing voice of the evil one, and be rocked to a fatal slumber just on the eve of eternal realities? The truth is everything to us, or it is nothing. Let those who want to make a name in the world, go with the world; but let those who would serve God, obey God, and not man. Now, what does that mean just at this time? It means, we, you and I, need the warning to take our orders from God, and be where we can recognize the voice of the True Shepherd. How can we receive orders from above and obey them unless the channels of communication are open between our souls and God? Now there are two ways of compromising: one is that one compromises and don't know it; the other is that one compromises because he has not the moral courage to do otherwise. And, there is just one cure for both difficulties. Let us read it; turn with me to Isa. the eleventh chap., and I will read three verses: "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots: And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord: And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears." The special point that I want to make there is this, that one who is endowed with the Spirit of God does not depend upon what he hears with his ears, or sees with his eyes. Notice the marginal reading of "he shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord." The Hebrew is "quick of scent or smell." It seems to me that the idea there, is a kind of instinct, but that is not the word: it is the kind of perception that comes outside of the senses, and gives it the thought of an immediate consciousness of the situation. The idea is that it does not come through what I see or hear, but when the channels of the soul are open to God, there is immediate consciousness of the situation, even perhaps against the sight of the eyes and the hearing of the ears. There will be plans suggested in the work of God that you cannot find any fault with, that is outwardly, I mean: but anyone that is connected with God will say, They are wrong. You may be put in that place, but if you are connected with God, you will say, I cannot follow them, because we are not to judge after the sight of the eyes nor the hearing of the ears: "It is very hard for self to occupy a subordinate place. It lifts up itself in many ways, runs without Christ, works without prayer and consecration. Man's wisdom is foolishness: but many do not yet know this. They form connections with persons no more pious or consecrated than themselves. They counsel and plan with them, and if their devising is accepted, it will surely lead away from the right path. Their self-sufficiency is great, they do not feel the necessity of prayer at every step. They judge after the sight of the eyes, and the hearing of the ears, but they have not the discernment that God gives, which would enable them to look beneath the surface." Not to enlarge upon that point, the only thing that can save us from changing leaders and not knowing it, is that the spirit of perception shall come by the inflowing of the Spirit of God into the soul. That is certainly so. Our only safety, then, in this time, when the specious devices of Satan will be brought to bear, when Satan, who is manifested as an angel of light, shall work himself in through every possible channel to suggest plans that will soften down the message, to turn us away from the one thing that God is giving us to declare at this time, I say the only safety for us, for you, for me, is that the Spirit of discernment, which comes only through the indwelling of the Spirit of God, shall take possession of us and save us from those things. Now the other side. The other way of compromising is through lack of sufficient moral courage to do otherwise, and the only cure is the same cure. It is no use whatever for you and me to say now, even in our hearts, I know what I am about. You never will catch me betraying the third angel's message. I stand firm. Let me whisper in your ear, "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." And let me say, that our only safety is in saying continually, "Lord, save, or I perish." We are now in the perils of the last days. Now Satan will work with all signs and lying wonders. Now he will begin to increase the power with which he works until it will reach the climax in his actual personal presence here, to work himself, visibly. A little while ago, one who had formerly been connected with this people was advertised to speak in this city. One came to me and said, "I would like to go and hear him. Of course I know he has not the truth, but I never heard him, and I would like to go and hear what he has to say. I do not think it will hurt me. I do not think he will turn me from the truth." And I said in reply: "The time will come when the announcement will be made, 'A wonderful being of light and splendor is here working miracles, speaking the same tones which Jesus spake when he was here preaching to the people.' I wonder how many Seventh-day Adventists will say, 'Now I never saw the devil, I never heard him preach. Of course I know he has not the truth but really I would like to go and hear what he has to say against it?' I want to tell you that one spirit is just of a piece with the other. What have we to do with chasing after those who we know have not the truth? There is one who says, "I am the truth." We had better spend our time and efforts going to hear what he has to say to us. Now I say, the only thing that will keep us, is the presence of the Spirit of God. It is not will-power. It is not a determination to stand firm. That is our greatest weakness, if we put it in that light. If we put it in the light of our determination to stand firm and our will-power, there is our very weakness. Our strength is in saying, "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." Our strength is in our weakness, because "my strength is made perfect in weakness." Now I wish in the brief time remaining to me to call attention to the lesson which to me applies with great force at this time. We have now come to the time of the second fulfillment -- and that in large measure -- of the outpouring of the Spirit of God, and I wish to speak of the effect of the outpouring of the Spirit of God on the disciples. You know how those disciples, everyone of them, forsook Christ and fled; you know how they denied that they would leave him, and Peter said: "Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended," and they all said they would not deny him. And that very night everyone left him. Their weakness was in the fact that they refused to believe what he told them. When he said, "You are going to fall," they said, "No, we are not going to fall," and they fell. If, when he told them they were going to fall, they had said, "Lord, save us from it," they would have had a different experience. But it was their determination that they would not fall, and that they did not need any such warning and instruction, that led them into that experience. Let us come to the experience after the outpouring of the Spirit. I will hastily sketch some of the facts brought out in the book of Acts. This book is a wonderful book to study at this time. What was the one thing which to declare at that time would rouse up the opposition and the passions of men, more than anything else? It was to tell them, that Jesus was the Christ, and "You crucified him." That was the thing that did it. In the face of what consequences was it? In the face of the law which forbade any new religion, and the penalty of which was death to one of the common rank. And these men were all Galileans, of the common rank. So when they went out proclaiming that religion they went with their lives in their hands, and they knew it. What was the burden of the message that they were all declaring? That they were witnesses of his resurrection. They were to go out and tell the story to those rulers, the religious leaders, that they had taken Jesus Christ the Son of God and had put him to death; that he was risen from the dead; that he had ascended to heaven, and that only through him was there salvation for anyone, -- for the leaders, the managers, the rank and file of the Jews, for anyone. The only hope of salvation was in that Christ whom they had taken and crucified. That was the message they were to go out and declare, and that in the face of the law which said, "Death." When the Spirit was poured upon them, the very first day that Peter stood up, what was the message? Read Acts 2:22, 23: "Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain." What was it? He charged them face to face with murder. That was what it was. God's Spirit witnessed to this word, and to those who were ready to receive light and truth, conviction came, and three thousand souls were converted that day. Then Peter and John went up into the temple to pray, and they saw a lame man there and healed him. Then the people came together to know about it, and Peter said: "Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; and killed the Prince of Life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses." Then the managers began to be stirred. The people began to be converted under this sort of a message, and the rulers were "grieved," and they laid hold on them and put them in prison, saying that they would examine them on that matter, with the firm determination, however, that nothing should be said about Christ. They wanted nothing to do with that. So they asked them in the first place, What about this lame man that you healed yesterday? We do not want to know anything about your religion, however. Then Peter, "filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel." And notice the way in which he said it. Here were these poor despised men, the despised of the despised, brought in before that array of official authority, and this man, who, you will remember, a short time before was scared almost out of his senses by the simple inquiry, "Are you not one of this man's followers?" -- and who had replied, No; I am not. I do not know anything about him. -- Now in the face of the law whose violation was death, and in the presence of the dignitaries and rulers of the nation, when asked about that lame man whom they had healed, said:-- "Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This was the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which has become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:8-12) Did they declare the message that was given them to declare? Indeed they did. Did they dare to stand in the presence of the officials and those high in authority and say, You put him to death, you murdered him? They did. Did they tone down the message any and say that because of some laxness in some official capacity, this man was taken by parties to us unknown, and as near as we can find out some violence was done to him, for which we are very sorry? Oh, think of it! You murdered him. That was the word. You took him and by wicked hands crucified him. That was the charge. And those unlearned men, whom these rulers thought they could scare by their official authority, stood right there and said: You men of Israel, and rulers and elders of the people, This is the man you crucified. -- You put him to death. You are the murderers. What was the consequence? "When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. I hope they will take knowledge of us in the same way. I do, indeed. Well, they thought this thing must be stopped in some way, but here was the man, healed, and they could not say anything against that, and so they thought they would command them, and threaten them, and let them go. But when they had commanded them to speak no more in this name, Peter and John said, "Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye." I tell you, those men had a message that was like fire shut up in the bones. It would come out. And when it came out in that way, it had converting power in it. And the power was not in them as men, but they were filled with the Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit is a cure for cowardice. The Holy Spirit is the cure for cringing before men. But I tell you it makes a man humble before God. Well, when they had threatened them and let them go, what did they do? "Being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is. [Do you not see that their trust was in the Creator as their Redeemer?] Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak the word." (Acts 4:25-29) They did not say, Let us stay at home, because there is great danger ahead. The Holy Spirit is a cure for moral cowardice. The Holy Spirit inspires men to declare the message of God without cringing, and that in the face of death. Now I say in all sincerity that we might as well make up our minds here and now, before we go a step farther, to face death and down it. That is true. I understand, just as well as you, that it is a great deal easier to talk about that in a warm, comfortable room, lighted by electricity, with a nice carpet on the floor, than it is to say it when we come up to the point where we have to give up our lives. But I want to tell you that that is an actual fact, and unless we stand right there at this moment, and say that we will give up friends, homes, and that nothing shall separate us from the Love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord, we might as well stop now. That is a fact. It is a simple statement of the fact, and it is an awfully solemn fact to me. I will touch on one other point. I will briefly sketch the experience of Paul and Silas. You will remember the commission of Paul to go to the Gentiles, and that as he and Silas preached they were forbidden by the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia. Then "a vision appeared to Paul in the night; there stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us." Then they started right away to go over. The first place at which they stopped any time was Philippi, and after a few days there, what was their experience? They were put in jail and whipped, and their feet placed in the stocks. Listen, and hear the conversation that passed between them. "Well, Paul," said Silas, "are you sure that that was a vision that said, Come over into Macedonia and help us? Are you sure that you were led by the Spirit of God when we came over here? Don't you see, about the first thing we are in jail, and my back is awful sore. Paul, what do you think about it? Do you not think we would better go back?" "And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God." "Now, Silas," said Paul, "what do you think? Would we better pray?" "Well, I think we would better have silent prayer. There is a rough crowd of people around here, and if we pray, we would better have silent prayer." "And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them." Yes. They did not hear that other conversation you have heard. They heard them praying and singing praises to God, and the Holy Ghost came and shook the place and opened the doors. Do you not see in that a lesson to us? Come over into Macedonia and help. What do you think? Was it the Spirit of God that called you? "Those who follow the Leader step by step, will hear and recognize the voice of the True Shepherd." And they will not go back on it, even though their backs are beaten, and their feet are put in the stocks, and they themselves in jail. The endowment of the Spirit of God is a wonderful cure for moral cowardice. It makes men bold in the Lord, yet humble in the Lord. Then, there are two ways in which we may compromise the truth. The Spirit of God gives that discernment that goes below the surface and shows us these things, so that we do not judge after the sight of the eyes, nor hear after the hearing of the ears, and the Spirit of God confers upon us the moral courage. I will close by reading a paragraph from that little article, "The Holy Spirit Awaits Our Demand and Reception":-- "The Christian must build all the foundation if he would build a strong symmetrical character, if he would be well balanced in his religious experience. It is in this way that the man will be prepared to meet the demands of truth and righteousness, as they are represented in the Bible; for he will be sustained and energized by the Holy Spirit of God. He who is a true Christian combines great tenderness of feeling with great firmness of purpose, with unswerving fidelity to God; he will in no case become the betrayer of sacred trusts. He who is endowed with the Holy Spirit has great capacities of heart and intellect, with strength of will and purpose that is unconquerable." You may put him to death. That does not touch the strength of will and purpose that comes through the endowment of the Spirit of God. THE PROMISE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. -- No. 5. PROF. W. W. PRESCOTT It seems as though we were learning from day to day how much instruction there is for us in the experience of the apostles as they were commissioned to go forth to their work, and as they were endowed with the power for the work. Going on with the thought that was suggested last evening, notice how striking is the parallel between the condition of that time and the condition of the present time under which the work of the message is to be done. The apostles were few in number, -- men who had no standing in the world at that time, and they were forced, under the very circumstances of the case, to depend upon some power, -- some influence outside of themselves. Think of it for a moment. They had no institutions of learning. They had no publishing houses. In a certain sense they had nothing. And yet they had that without which you may have institutions of learning, you may have publishing houses, you may have organizations unnumbered, and yet be utterly unable to do the work of God. They had the power of the Spirit. Notice what they had to meet. The whole power of the world was against them. There was no government at that time under which they could begin their work under favorable circumstances, and then branch out into countries less favorable. There was one power that ruled the world, and that power was opposed to any religion the tendency of which was to stir up men's minds, or to turn them in any way from the worship of the gods recognized by the State. And to have a company of men, comparatively unknown, with but few followers, come out with a new religion, the tendency of which was most decidedly to stir men's minds and turn them away from the established religion, -- to have them not only profess this religion, and teach this religion, but claim the right to profess it and teach it, and claim the right in the face of the law to disregard the State religion and to turn just as many as possible against it -- nothing could be more exasperating to an arbitrary power than just that position. And that was the position taken by the apostles. In the face of a law whose penalty to men of their rank was death; in the face of the law not to teach any new religion, nor to turn men's minds away from the religion recognized by the State, they went out, and that, too, under the express command of Jesus Christ, to preach that gospel to every creature. Now some power must attend them, greater than the power of the State; and that power came to them on the day of Pentecost. And so they were told to tarry in the city of Jerusalem, to wait for the promise of the Father, that they should receive power after that the Holy Ghost was come upon them. How is it to-day? Here is a people of no particular standing in the world, a people that can make no boast of learned men; a people that as compared with other denominations can make no boast of institutions of any sort; no ground of this kind upon which to rest any claim to attention in the world. Although we may think that we have educational institutions, and publishing houses, and sanitariums, and all that, yet anyone who knows the situation, knows that when you compare these facilities with those possessed by other denominations, there is nothing upon which to rest any claim of attention before the world. And now we stand with every earthly power against this work, our own government having turned in such a way that religious liberty is really at an end. The principle of religious liberty has been abolished now. And yet the command comes to-day with greater power than ever to this people, Go and give this message. Go everywhere and give this message, and that, too, as I read last evening, in the face of all opposition. There is to be no compromise. There is not to be even the appearance of wavering. The message is not to be softened down in the least, but in the plainest manner, truths unpalatable are to be taught. In the time of the apostles the one truth which was the most unpalatable was to say to the people that they had crucified Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory. Now the one truth most unpalatable is to say, that the image to the beast has been made in this country, and that those who now, with the facts plainly before them, intelligently choose the Sunday institution are receiving the mark of the beast in doing so. And it is our business to tell them so now. Now that is an unpalatable truth. Not only that, but as a matter of fact, the time will soon be here when it will be practically as unpalatable a truth to tell them that there is life and salvation only in Jesus Christ; to tell them that they do not know anything about justification by faith. And how shall we tell it unless we know the truth concerning it? I say that it will be just as unpalatable to them to tell them that truth as to tell them that in receiving the Sunday institution they are receiving the mark of the beast. So the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus will be equally unpalatable to teach in every nation. Perhaps some have thought we have now found a doctrine upon which we shall have clear sailing, and that we can always preach justification by faith, and people will agree with us. It is not so. That is to say, it is not so if the genuine Protestant doctrine of justification by faith is preached, and not the papal doctrine of justification by faith, and it will be received as a favorable message, just as we can preach the papal doctrine of the sabbath, and it will be received. But if the Protestant -- the true Christian -- doctrine of the Sabbath is taught, and likewise if the true Christian doctrine of justification by faith is taught, the time is near at hand when one will be just as unpalatable as the other, and both will meet with the same opposition. And yet we are taught that we have a message that we are not to cringe to declare, and we are not to beg the pardon of the people for telling them the truth. Now I thought possibly some might draw the conclusion from my other remarks -- perhaps more from the way in which the matter was said than anything else -- that the way to approach people was to go out and say, You did it. That is, as though the apostles went out before these men and audiences with fierceness of spirit declaring to them, You are murderers. I want to tell you, it is in no such way that the message will go with power, because the power will not be in the fierce spirit of denunciation, but in the tenderness of love. But how shall we preach such a message as that in the tenderness of love, unless we have the mind of Jesus Christ? How can we go to people who are directing every effort to unjustly oppress us, to drive us from our homes, to bring the heavy hand of the civil law upon us, and tell them just what they are doing, in the spirit of love and tenderness, unless he who is love and who is tenderness dwells in our hearts? There is no other way. It is not natural for us to love people that are doing all they can to injure us. And our bearing a particular denominational name does not put love in the heart. The example of Christ in his teaching is then to be ever before us. Remember his denunciations of the Scribes and Pharisees, as he called them hypocrites; but remember that when he uttered those scathing denunciations it was in the spirit of the utmost tenderness. When we read those words we cannot see the tears that flowed from his eyes; but it is nevertheless true that such was the case. So it was when he wept over Jerusalem, the place where he was treated as in no other place, saying, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem!" It was with the most earnest longing that they might receive him, and with no spirit of hardness because they rejected him. He had only the deepest sorrow, because when they rejected him they were bringing death and destruction upon themselves. That was the spirit of it. Let me read a few sentences from the manuscript of the forthcoming new "Life of Christ":-- "Jesus did not repress one word of truth. But in his intercourse with the people he exercised the greatest tact and thoughtful attention. He was never rude; never heedlessly spoke a severe word; never gave needless pain to a sensitive soul. He did not censure human weakness. He spoke the truth, but always in love. He denounced hypocrisy, unbelief, and iniquity, but tears were in his eyes as he uttered his scathing rebukes." [I tell you, nothing short of that same spirit dwelling in our hearts will enable us to follow that example in the plain message which we have to give]. "He wept over Jerusalem, the city he loved, who refused to receive him, the way, the truth, and the life. They had rejected him, the Saviour, but he regarded them with pitying tenderness and sorrow so deep that it broke his heart. His life was one of self-denial and constant care for others. He never made truth cruel, but manifested a wonderful tenderness for humanity. Every soul was precious in his eyes. He always bore himself with divine dignity, yet he stooped with the tenderest compassion and regard to every member of the family of God. In all he saw fallen souls whom it was his mission to save." Remember that we are to follow the example of Christ in his teachings, but the only way that we can do this, as it is true that the only way we can manifest his character in anything, is that he shall dwell in us, and do the teaching in us, and manifest his own character through us. It is utterly impossible for us to address ourselves to the task of manifesting the character and the Spirit of Christ. How can a man show that which he does not possess? How can love be the ruling motive of the heart, and show itself in every action of the life, if that love has never been shed abroad in the heart? for love comes only from God. "We love, because he first loved us." Love is of God, and the power that is to be in the teaching now, -- the power for which we are to look, is to manifest itself in such a way as to be perfectly evident to every one that the power is of God, and not of any man. When Peter and John stood with that holy boldness before that council and declared that it was in the name of Jesus that the man was healed; when they had put them aside and conferred a little, do you remember the conclusion to which they came? It was, that they had been with Jesus. Now two things follow from that. First, the power was manifested in such a way, and these men gave glory to God in such a way, that even their enemies were forced to confess, much against their will, that the power was of God through Jesus Christ, and so the glory went to him. And, second, after they had thus confessed that these men had been with Jesus, and therefore that the power was the power of Jesus Christ, when they opposed it they confessedly opposed Jesus Christ, and not the men. So it must be in this work. It must be apparent that the power is of God in Christ, and not in the human instrument. And it must be so apparent that even the enemies will be forced to confess it, and then their opposition will be confessedly not against the human instrument, but against God in Christ, who is the power in them. So, eloquence will not win this battle. Strategy will not win this battle. Human plans will not win this battle. Advice volunteered by men wise in the world will not, when followed, win this battle. God will manifest his power in this work in such a way as to make it perfectly evident to all that it is the power of God, and that no one shall glory in flesh. And the power is to be in the deep love. That is the power of God. It is satanic to compel people. When Satan can hold persons in his service by the allurements of the world, he holds them in that way. When those allurements fail to hold, then he begins to bring the pressure to bear upon them, and pressure of any kind, to force the will, is satanic. And therefore laws that are made to force the will in things of religion are the very essence of the spirit of Satan. God wins by love, and when love fails to win, he does not use force. I have sometimes stood almost overwhelmed in the presence of this thought. The very God of the universe, who creates all things by his word, who upholds all things by the word of his power, holds himself in abeyance at the command of the human will. And God, whose power is such that by the mere breath of his mouth we should all fail and be destroyed, ... Nay, more; God, whose power keeps us in life, even though we are rebelling against him whose power sustains us and gives us the very power which we use against him; that very God stands and holds his power in abeyance, waiting the consent of the human will. God holds out every inducement. His love draws; but when any man says No, and continues to say No, he controls the situation. The time will come, to be sure, when God will manifest his power, and when those who have persisted in rebellion will be destroyed; but during this time of probation God waits on the human will in matters of religion. To compel the conscience is satanic. To win a loyal, loving service is God-like. Now when we go out to carry the message of God for all people in the world, the idea of compulsion should be left out, and the winning power of love should be displayed. And before it can be displayed through the instrument, it must be displayed in the instrument. Well, what has this to do with the outpouring of the Spirit? Simply this. What is the first fruit of the Spirit? Love. More than that. Read with me Romans 5:1-5: "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost [Holy Spirit] which is given unto us." It is worth noticing that the word here rendered "shed abroad" is the very word that is used in Peter's discourse, quoting from Joel in Acts 2:17: "And it shall come to pass in the last days, said God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh." And as the Spirit poured out, so love is poured out in the heart, and the measure of the freeness of the gift of the Spirit is the measure of love in the heart. So when there comes the outpouring of the Spirit into any individual's heart, there comes with it a flood-tide of love, and in that love is the power for the message. You will remember in this connection Jeremiah 31:3: "The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee." I will read Galatians 3:1: "O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you." Paul had had such an experience himself in crucifixion with Jesus Christ that when he preached that truth to the Galatians it came to them with the same force as though the crucifixion had actually taken place in their presence. Who can describe a shipwreck like the one who has been shipwrecked? Who can describe a crucifixion like one who has been crucified? And said Paul: "I am crucified with Christ." Now when one has been crucified with Christ in his own experience, he can tell people of the love of that Saviour who was crucified for them, in a way that brings the matter before their minds as though the event actually occurred in their presence; and when that is presented, as it can be only by one who has himself been crucified, if people are not moved by the love of God in the gift of his Son, and the love of Christ in his death for them, there is no power under heaven that can move them. And in my very heart I have had the utmost pity for anyone whose heart was not melted by that exhibition of the love of God in Christ. It seems as though a heart of stone would melt before it. But the laborer with God cannot present by any words of his, by any command of language which he may possess, that picture to other minds, as it is in his mind. Words cannot convey the thing itself. Words make the picture, but it is only the Spirit of God that can present that to other minds. You know how that is in our own experience. You read a familiar text of Scripture. How much does it mean to the different ones in a congregation of two thousand persons? It means just what that text has been in actual experience to the individual. Just that. When you preach to people to whom these thoughts are new, whose hearts have not been touched with these things, how can you preach to them in a way to reach hearts? It must be just as it was in the days of the apostles. It was not the words that were used, but it was because the Holy Spirit took those words and made the impression upon the heart itself. So when those simple words were spoken there, the people who heard, saw the picture of Jesus Christ as he actually was. This is because the Spirit of God knows the mind of Jesus Christ, knows the love of Christ, and can present it as it really is. When we present these truths our only hope is that the Spirit of God, in the heart of the listener, co-operating with the spirit in us presenting these truths will make the impression, will present the truth in its fullness and will give those who are in darkness such pictures of the light of God, such pictures of the love of Christ, as will win them. It is not in the power of eloquent words, it is not in the power of personal magnetism to do it. Nothing but the Spirit of God with the laborer, poured upon the people as he speaks to them, will do the work. Just as the Holy Ghost fell on the people when Peter spoke, so it must when we speak. You remember the discourse of Stephen in the seventh chapter of Acts. When he was going over that very familiar history in such a simple way, what was the Holy Ghost doing? The Holy Ghost was with the people, and saying to them, Do you not see that means you? Do you not see what he is coming to? Stephen was not telling them that. Stephen was simply repeating the facts of history that were familiar to all of them, but as he worked along in his discourse the Holy Spirit kept working with that people, saying, Don't you see how that means you? Don't you see what he is coming to? Don't you see that condemns you every step of the way? And before he could finish the discourse and make the application himself, the Spirit had gone away beyond him, and they were ready to put him to death for a conclusion which he had not drawn himself, but which the Spirit had been impressing on their hearts. They were ahead of him in his discourse. That is the power of the Spirit in itself. There is another thought that I would like to speak of in the remainder of the hour. How are we to distinguish between the power that will attend this message, and the power that will attend the false message? because there is to be a power, Nay, there is now a power attending falsehood and its proclamation. Why, I want to say to you that unless we have the power of God to meet it, we will be swamped as certain as the world. This is certainly so. It is of no use for a man knowingly to go and butt his head against a solid stone wall. But it is just as sensible for a man to do that as for one now in the face of the testimony that a new life and power has come up from beneath, and is taking hold of all Satan's agencies; -- it is just as much lacking in sense and good judgment for one to go out now from this Conference knowingly to meet that power unless he is assured that God is with him, as it would be to run his head squarely against a stone wall. That is the truth. That power of the opposition is real, and we shall know it. How then are we to distinguish between the power that is to be in this message and the power that is to be in the false message? Let me read a brief extract from Early Writings, 46, 47. The general subject is the end of the 2300 days. After describing the trouble of the Advent people at that time, at the end of the 2300 days, and their relation to others about them, who refused the light and turned from it, the writer says:-- "I saw the Father rise from the throne, and in a flaming chariot go into the holy of holies within the vail, and sit down. Then Jesus rose up from the throne, and the most of those who were bowed down arose with him. I did not see one ray of light pass from Jesus to the careless multitudes after he arose, and they were left in perfect darkness. Those who arose when Jesus did, kept their eyes fixed on him as he left the throne and led them out a little way. Then he raised his right arm and we heard his lovely voice (recognized the voice of the True Shepherd, it is a lovely voice) saying, 'Wait here; I am going to my Father to receive the kingdom; keep your garments spotless (buy the white raiment), and in a little while I will return from the wedding and receive you to myself.' Then the cloudy chariot, with wheels like flaming fire, surrounded by angels, came where Jesus was. He stepped into the chariot and was borne to the holiest where the Father sat. There I beheld Jesus, a great High Priest, standing before the Father. On the hem of his garment was a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate. Those who rose up with Jesus would send up their faith to him in the holiest, and pray, 'My father, give us thy Spirit.' Then Jesus would breathe upon them the Holy Ghost. In that breath was light, power, and much love, joy, and peace. "I turned to look at the company who were still bowed before the throne; they did not know that Jesus had left it. Satan appeared to be by the throne, trying to carry on the work of God. I saw them look up to the throne, and pray, 'Father, give us thy Spirit.' Satan would then breathe upon them an unholy influence; in it there was light and much power, but no sweet love, joy, and peace." What is this lesson? The faith that finds Jesus finds him in the Holiest now. What was the message to the churches? "Behold I have set before thee an open door and no man can shut it," and those who look for the light of glory in the face of Jesus Christ, must look to him through that open door in the holiest. Those who are still looking at the same place as of old to find him, are prepared to receive the deception. Now the thought is, that in this influence which Christ breathes, there is light, and power, and much love, joy, peace. In the influence that comes from Satan, -- and that influence is now here in a special manner, there will be light, -- and no wonder, for he fashioneth himself as an angel of light. You will remember the lesson we had on Sabbath on that question of light; there will be light and much power, but no sweet love, joy, peace. That is to say, the power will be the satanic power of compulsion. The power in the true message will be the winning power of love. That must be the difference; that is the difference. So if we have the message for this time in power, it will be with much love, joy, peace; and that in spite of the oppressive laws, -- yea, in spite of threats of loss of life itself, -- there will be much joy and peace in it all. See how nicely these things come together. I will read two or three verses. John 20:21, 22: "Then said Jesus unto them again, Peace be unto you; as my Father has sent me even so send I you," [and those words are for us to day.] "And when he had said this he breathed on them and saith to them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost." Now what was coupled right with it? "Peace be unto you." So he said to his disciples, "My peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled." They were to go forward with joy in the Lord, and were to have holy joy and holy peace all the time. He is our peace, and if we possess him we shall possess peace in its fullness. He is my beloved. If we possess him we shall possess love in its fullness. Read Romans 14:17, "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost." Romans 15:13, "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." You see how it all fits together; the Holy Ghost will have light and power in it for us. It will also have much love, joy, peace; and in that way it will differ from the power that will attend the false message; and that love, that joy, that peace can only be possessed by those in whom Jesus Christ himself dwells. "Strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your heart." I spoke of the necessity of the Holy Spirit making the picture before the mind of the people, and in conclusion will read an illustration:-- "Some of you have seen the great picture that was painted by Muncakszy of the Christ. That picture was being exhibited in Canada, at Toronto, I think, and there came a rude, rough, wicked sailor to see it. He entered the room at the time of day when there were no others there; and paying his money to the woman who sat inside the door, he came in and stood for a moment, looking at the canvas as though he would glance at it and go away. But as he looked he could not turn. He stood there with his eyes fixed on that central figure of majesty and love. In a few moments, he took off his hat and let it fall upon the floor. After a few moments more he sat down upon a seat, and then he reached down and picked up a book that described the picture, and began to read; and every few seconds his eyes would turn toward the canvass and toward the figure of Christ. The lady who sat by the door saw him lift up his hand and wipe away some tears. Still he sat; five, ten, fifteen sixty minutes went by, and still the man sat there as though he could not stir. At last he rose, and coming softly and reverently toward the door, he hesitated, to take one last look, and said to the woman who sat there: 'Madam; I am a rough, wicked sailor; I have never believed in Christ; I have never used His name except in an oath; but I have a Christian mother, and my old mother begged me to-day before I went back to sea, to go and look at the picture of the Christ. To oblige her I said I would come, and I have come. I did not believe that anybody believed in Christ; but as I have looked at that form and that face I have thought that some man must have believed in Him, I am going out from this time to be a believer in Jesus Christ and a follower of His.' Oh beloved, as I heard that story, the tears came unbidden to my eyes, and my heart glowed with a mighty longing. I thought if a poor, weak man, living himself in a godless land, could take his brush and preach on canvass, and cause our Christ to glow upon it, until a rough, rude, wicked, licentious man should be won to believe him, what might not my God do if he might paint Christ in me -- nay, if he might reproduce Christ in a human life, that the life might be Christ's and that men might come to believe on Him." THE PROMISE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. -- No. 6. PROF. W. W. PRESCOTT The Scriptures are the Scriptures of the Holy Ghost. "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." (2 Peter 1:21) So we read in Acts 28:25: "Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers." We learn also from John 14:26, that the "Comforter "is the Holy Ghost. There are several important conclusions that follow from this simple statement that the Scriptures are the Scriptures of the Holy Ghost, and that the Holy Ghost is the Comforter. "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope." (Romans 15:4) The comfort of the scriptures consists in the fact that they are the scriptures of the Comforter. We read also in verse 13: "Now the God of all hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost." And in the 19th verse, speaking of his work, Paul says: "Through mighty signs and wonders by the power of the Spirit of God." Christ is the power of God. This power is manifested through the Spirit of God, and the scriptures, being the scriptures of the Holy Ghost are scriptures of power, words of power. Now bearing in mind the fact that the scriptures are the scriptures of the Holy Ghost I wish to take a very familiar scripture for the basis of study this evening: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." (2 Timothy 3:16, 17) Dr. Young's translation of the same scripture is as follows: "Every writing is God-breathed and is profitable for teaching, for conviction, for setting aright; for instruction that is in righteousness, that the man of God may be fitted for every good work, having been completed." I like the expression concerning the scriptures that they are "God-breathed." Let us take two or three scriptures in connection with this and see the force of this statement. Genesis 2:7. "And the Lord formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul." That which gave life and activity to the man was the fact that God breathed into him the breath of life, and then he became a living soul. Previous to that time he was dead, inactive; now he is living, active. But that is exactly the description used by the word of God in Hebrews 4:12. "For the word of God is living and active." [Revised Version.] Language in itself is dead. It has no power in itself any more than the man had power when he was formed of the dust of the ground, but when God breathed into him the breath of life, he became both living and active. He then became a living entity. He became one who could perform works through the power that was in him; so language is of itself dead, but when God breathes into it, it becomes living and active; it is then a living entity. It can then be said to accomplish the work just as one sends a man or living being to accomplish the work. This is clearly the meaning of the scripture when it says: "He sent his word and healed them." We read also in 1 Corinthians 15:45: "For so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul." The Revised Version reads: "became a living soul." He became a living soul because the breath of life was breathed into him. "The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit." The first Adam became a living soul; the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit. Now put this with John 20:22. "And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost." Now just as God breathed the breath into that which he had formed of the dust of the ground and man became a living soul, just as God gives to the language his breath and it becomes living, active, so Christ breathed on the disciples and said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost." And they, and we, under the same experience, are to become living and active, whereas before we were dead. So the scripture is "God-breathed," and he has breathed into the scriptures the very same thing that he breathed into man whom he formed of the dust of the ground, and that was the breath of life, which is the Spirit of God. So the scriptures are the scriptures of the Holy Ghost. Now it is stated in this text in Timothy that the scripture thus given is profitable, and it says for what purpose. It is profitable for doctrine. This is the same word that we find in John 14:26. Speaking of the office of the Holy Spirit it says: "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." It is profitable for doctrine; profitable for teaching, because being the scriptures of the Holy Ghost, and the Holy Ghost being the teacher, the scriptures are therefore profitable for teaching. This is the same word that is used in Romans 15:4, where it says that, "whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning." Now we read that the scriptures are profitable for teaching, and the way in which they become profitable for teaching is that they are scriptures of the Holy Ghost, and the Spirit itself is the actual teacher. When the words of God are taken and without the aid of the genuine teacher, the Holy Spirit, an attempt is made to use them as doctrine, there is no profit; because they are the scriptures of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit must be the teacher to bring forth the meaning and to unfold the scripture to us. When this is true, they are profitable for doctrine, for teaching. Again the scriptures are profitable for reproof, or as Dr. Young's translation has it, "for conviction." We read the expression in John 16:8: "And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin," the margin translates it "convince." Another translation reads "convict." That is all true. The office of the Holy Spirit is to convince of, to convict of, to reprove sins. The scriptures,-meaning the scriptures of the Holy Ghost,-are profitable for conviction because the Spirit of God, the convicting power, is in the word. If the scriptures are used, not as the scriptures of the Holy Spirit, but merely as the words of man, there is no convicting power in them. They must be used as the scriptures of the Holy Ghost, and the Holy Ghost must be recognized in them and work in them if they are profitable for conviction and reproof. Notice several verses where this same idea is brought out, although not always with the same words as our English translation: "And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him." (Hebrews 12:5) The expression "rebuked of him," uses the same word. While passing, let us notice this thought; "ye have forgotten the exhortation that speaketh unto you." To my mind there is such a close connection between these things that in some places the connection seems to be lost by our English version using different words, while the original is the same. The word "exhortation," is the same word although not necessarily in the same form, as the word used for "comforter," and the thought in it is this: In the exhortation of the Lord in which he reproves us, there is, after all, comfort. Why? Because the Comforter is the reprover. This is the comfort in his word. Just as the scriptures of the Comforter bring reproof and conviction for the sinner. But there is comfort in the reproving of the Lord. So we might get this thought in this way: "Ye have forgotten the comforting word which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when convicted of him;" that is, when you are convicted or convinced of sin; because the Comforter is the agency by which this conviction of sin is brought. Again let us read 2 Timothy 4:2. Speaking of the duty of the gospel minister, it says, "Preach the word [proclaim the word]; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort." Now to my mind those last three words have a peculiar and special meaning. Notice the words used there: "reprove, rebuke, exhort." The word "reprove" is the same word translated reproof in the experience, profitable for reproof. The word "exhort," the last word, is the same word that we just had in Hebrews 12:5. The other word is a peculiar word, and might be paraphrased in this way. "Reprove, convict of sin. It is the Comforter that does that. Estimate the guilt; comfort with the Holy Spirit." So this is the work of the gospel minister; to reprove, to convict of sin, and that by the Spirit of God using his own words. In this way alone can he proclaim the word. When he properly proclaims the word, there will be conviction of sin, because the scriptures are the scriptures of the Comforter, which convince or convict of sin. Then estimate the guilt; put a value upon the guilt, and then exhort; that is the comfort. You remember that the office of the Holy Spirit is "when he is come he will convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment." Now to proclaim the word is the duty of the gospel minister. But the word is the word of God, the scriptures of truth, the scriptures of the Holy Ghost. And when the word is proclaimed as the word of God, the scriptures of the Holy Ghost, it will do the work perfectly, it will convince of sin, it will show the enormity of sin, it will bring comfort. So we read in Titus 1:9. Speaking of the duty of a bishop, the apostle says: "Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers." Paraphrasing it, I understand the meaning to be this: "Holding fast the faithful word, according to the teaching, that he may be able to comfort by sound teaching, and to convince those who speak againt his word." But what is the agency by which that is to be done? Holding fast the faithful word according to your teaching, as he has been taught. Now the faithful word when held fast to as the word of God and the Holy Ghost, and proclaimed as such, will be a comfort to the believers in the soundness of teaching, and it will convince those who speak against it; but it will only do this as it is the word of God, as the scriptures are taken to be the scriptures of the Holy Ghost, and the Holy Ghost depended upon to do the work. That is, the power is in the word, and not in the minister. It is to be preached as the word of God. We read again in the 15th verse of Titus 2: "These things speak and exhort, and rebuke with all authority." Christ gave himself for our sins. Speak those things. "That he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." Again the scriptures are profitable for correction. The idea of correction is to set straight, to put into a straight path. This is exactly the same idea that we find in Hebrews 12:13: "Make straight paths for your feet." It is not the idea here, as we use it, of correcting one by punishing; but it is to set him straight. Now how is it that the Scriptures will set one straight and will make straight paths for his feet? It is because they are the scriptures of the Holy Spirit. Read Isaiah 30:20, 21: "And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left." Now we are to make straight paths for our feet. Supposing that we get into the straight path and turn to the right hand. The Spirit speaks to us, This is the way, walk ye in it. How does it speak to us? By the Spirit of God. Supposing we make a move to turn to the left. The Spirit says, This is the way, and sets us straight, speaking through the holy Scriptures, which are the Scriptures of the Holy Ghost. So when the Scriptures are taken to be the Scriptures of the Holy Spirit and we recognize God's voice speaking to us in his word, that word will keep us in the straight path, when we attempt to turn either to the right hand or to the left. Again the Scriptures are said to be profitable for instruction in righteousness. This word for instruction, is rather an unusual word. In Hebrews 12:5, it is translated "chastening." "Ye have forgotten the work of comfort, the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My Son, despise thou not the chastening of the Lord." The same word is used in the seventh verse. The eleventh verse also reads: "Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous." We have the same word in Ephesians 6:4, "And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Perhaps the word that could be used in all these cases to convey the meaning is our word discipline. Let the Scriptures be profitable for discipline that is in righteousness. Recurring now to that text which we have had heretofore, Joel 2:23, we will read it with the marginal reading: "Be glad, then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he hath given you a teacher of righteousness, according to righteousness." That is the former rain, and the same thing is the latter rain, the teacher of righteousness which is according to righteousness. The Scriptures are profitable for discipline that is according to righteousness; for nurture that is according to righteousness; for chastening that is according to righteousness, because they are the Scriptures of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the teacher of righteousness according to righteousness. But you see every step of the way it depends upon understanding, and not merely understanding, but in taking them as the Scriptures of the Holy Spirit, as the voice of God. Then they become all this to those who receive them. That the man of God may be perfected is the purpose of all his work. Dr. Young says, "That the man of God may be fitted; "and that is the idea. And the idea of fitting is just as you would fit two things together, just as a carpenter fits two pieces together. He takes one piece and fits it to another. Then he lays it aside. That is fitted, you say. Then he takes another piece and fits that. That is the meaning of this word fitted, as you would prepare a piece of wood for its place in the building, as you prepare a piece of stone for its place. Now the purpose of the Scriptures is that by teaching, by reproof, by keeping in the right way, by discipline that is according to righteousness, the man of God may be fitted. Fitted for what? "In whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also, are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." Ephesians 2:21, 22. "To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ye also, as lively [better "living"] stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 2:4, 5) A house is built out of dead material. But the spiritual temple of God, which he is preparing for his dwelling place, is built of living material, living stones. Now these stones are first taken from the quarry as any stones would be. I read from the Testimony, "Danger of Adopting a Worldly Policy in the Work of God," page 6: "The mighty cleaver of truth has taken them [the people of God in these last days] out of the world as rough stones that are to be hewed, and squared, and polished for the heavenly building." Now the mighty cleaver of truth takes us out of the world as rough stones are taken out of the quarry, but it is God's purpose to build us up for a habitation of God, a spiritual temple, a heavenly building. What is the agency by which this work is to be done? The Scriptures of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God works through his word, convincing of sin, teaching, instructing in every way to make the man fitted for his place in the heavenly temple. So we read in Hosea 6:4, 5: "O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away. Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets." He hews them by the prophets, reproves, rebukes, instructs, disciplines, to fit them for the place in the heavenly building. Now there is a very important lesson to learn right here from the way in which the original temple was built. "And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord. And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor ax nor any kind of tool or iron heard in the house, while it was building." 1 Kings 6:1, 7. That is, before the material was put together to form the literal temple, it had been all fitted, every stone was ready for its place, polished, hewed, and tested. When the material was brought to the place where the temple was to be erected, all that was necessary to do was to put each one in the place for which it had been prepared, and then the whole temple grew up, a shapely, beautiful structure. How is it with the other? This work of preparing the living stones for the heavenly temple is now going on, and all that work will be done before they are put together to form that temple, and when they are thus put together there will be no hewing, no fitting, no polishing. That is to say, the work of character building will all be done here; now is the time for reproving, for rebuking, for convincing of sin; the whole work of fitting us for heaven will be done here during the time of probation, which is the meaning of all of those expressions so familiar to us, if we are to be saints above, we must first have been saints on the earth. When Christ comes he does not change character, but merely fixes character. Hence the absolute necessity of submitting to the Spirit here; because unless the hewing, the polishing, the fitting is all done here, the stone will be rejected, because this building is to go together without the sound of any tool, as the one of old. In this connection read Amos 9:11: "In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old." At the Conference held at Jerusalem, James, speaking under the direction of the Holy Spirit, said: "Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up." Acts 15:14-16. That meant that the Gospel was to go to the Gentiles and a people was to be called out from them; thus was the tabernacle to be built again as of old. Now let me read from "Historical Sketches of Foreign Missions," pages 136, 137:-- "The Jewish temple was built of hewn stones quarried out of the. mountains; and every stone was fitted for its place in the temple, hewed, polished, and tested, before it was brought to Jerusalem. And when all were brought to the ground, the building went together without the sound of ax or hammer. This building represents God's spiritual temple, which is composed of material gathered out every nation, and tongue, and people, of all grades, high and low, rich an d poor, learned and unlearned. These are not dead substances, to be fitted by hammer and chisel. They are living stones, quarried out from the world by the truth; and the great Master-Builder the Lord of the temple, is now hewing and polishing them, and fitting them for their respective places in the spiritual temple. When completed this temple will be perfect in all its parts, the admiration of angels and of men: for its builder and maker is God. "Let no one think that there need not be a stroke placed upon him. There is no person, no nation, that is perfect in every habit and thought. One must learn of another. Therefore God wants the different nationalities to mingle together, to be one in judgment, one in purpose. Then the union that there is in Christ will be exemplified." That throws light upon the scripture in Amos. It applies to the Gentiles. It is the building of the temple as of old, and God gathers the material for this temple out of every nation, and places them together in the oneness of the Spirit, to the building of a spiritual temple. Now I will read again: "They must be hewed by the prophets with reproof, warning, admonition, and advice, that they may be fashioned after the divine Pattern; this is the specified work of the Comforter, to transform heart and character, that men may keep the way of the Lord." But what has this to do with the promise of the Spirit? In Ephesians 6:17 it is stated that, the word of God is the sword of the Spirit. Whose sword is it? The sword of the Spirit. Who then is to use the sword? Why, he whose sword it is I if then, this sword is to be used, the Spirit is to use it, because it is his sword. If then we are to go out to carry the word of. God as the word of God in the power of the Spirit; if the word of God is to be a weapon of power, do you not see that there will be actual danger to us to try to use it ourselves, to say nothing of its being unprofitable? Notice the lesson in 1 Samuel 17:38, 39: "And Saul armed David with his armor, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head: also he armed him with a coat of mail. And David girded his sword upon his armor, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him." He had never used them, and did not know how to use them. If we attempt to use the sword of the Spirit, not only shall we find that we cannot use it, just as David found that he could not use the sword of Saul, but there is actual danger in trying to use it. Now I solemnly believe that from this time forth in this message the word of God is to be a word of power as never before. It is to be as it never has been before in this message, the sword of the: Spirit. And the Spirit is the only one who can use his own sword both with safety and profit. Then if the word of God,-the sword of the Spirit is to be used with safety and profit by us or through us, it must be the Spirit dwelling in us, using his own sword. Now, I candidly believe that there will be danger. You will remember an illustration of this. Certain men, who had seen Paul in his preaching, and had heard him call the name of Jesus over those possessed of evil spirits and had seen the spirits driven out, attempted to do the same thing. They called the name of Jesus over an evil spirit, and what happened to them? The spirit said, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are ye?" And he fell on them and wounded them. Now when we go out, as we know we are to go, to meet such powerful opposition as we know has come up in this message,-because a new light and power is springing up from beneath and taking hold of all of Satan's agencies,-what shall we do? Are we to go out with merely the theory of the truth? with merely the theory of the work and use it against the power that is against us? I fear the same experience will be repeated. ". Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are ye? "That is, it is not the spirit in us using his own sword, but it is the vain attempt of our own selves to use the sword of the Spirit. It will be without profit, to say the least; and to my mind it will be with actual danger to those who try it. Does it not show so plainly that it must be Christ in us using his own sword? There is to my mind a wonderful thought about this using the Word as the sword of the Spirit, by. Christ in his temptation. The devil came to him and tempted him upon the three points that he presents to every individual of the human race; appetite, presumption, and covetousness. First he said, "If thou be the Son of God command that these stones be made bread." Was he not the Son of God? Certainly. What harm would there be, then, if he should command the stones, and they should be made bread? Christ had come to this earth and had emptied himself. His temptation all through his experience here was the same that we have, that is, to show self. If Christ had shown self, it would have been divine; but if he had come here with the purpose not to show self, it would have been wrong. If we show self, it is humanity and sin. He did not come here to show self, although self was divine in him. He came here to show us how to empty self, and live wholly by another. So he would not show self in that temptation; and when the devil said to him, Now if you are the Son of God, just command these stones that they be made bread, could he not have done it? Yes, sir. But he would have defeated the very purpose of his coming here. And just as he showed us that we should not let self appear in us, he also showed us the way how to live by another: "He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Who spoke that very word? Did not Christ speak it? And when he came here, his humanity seized upon the word of God spoken by himself as the mouthpiece of God, and laid hold of that very word as his security against the devil in his humanity. He used the sword of the Spirit. And he used it, you will remember, in those three instances with an effectiveness that drove the devil away. And angels came and ministered unto him. God wants Christ to dwell in our hearts by faith, and. to use the sword of the Spirit now against all the power of the enemy just as effectually as he did then. But he must be the one to use it now as then, because it is the sword of the Spirit. And the Spirit must use his own sword, if it is to be used with safety and with profit. Then to my mind the lesson of this hour is a very important one, and impresses upon our minds the actual necessity that if we are to go out to use the word of God with power in convicting of sin, in correcting evil, in discipline, which is according to righteousness, that the Spirit of God must dwell in us, that is, Christ in us by his Spirit with a presence which is more personal than when he was here upon the earth in the flesh. He is to dwell in our hearts in that way and use the sword himself, if it is to be used, as he is the one to use it with power. THE PROMISE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. -- No. 7. PROF. W. W. PRESCOTT In the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth, chapters of John we have instruction that was given to his disciples by our Saviour just before he left them; and in these chapters we find some most precious lessons. The promise is the gift of the Spirit. I will first sketch through these chapters somewhat briefly, and then take up more particularly some of the instruction given in them. In the early part of the fourteenth chapter our Saviour spoke of his going away, and of his promise to return again. Then he spoke of the fact that those who saw him, really saw the character of his Father in him, and that they were to believe him for the very work's sake. Beginning with the fifteenth verse, I read, "If ye love me keep my commandments, and I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever." That is, I will ask the Father, I will make a request of him; and there is the promise, "he shall give you another Comforter." Christ is speaking to them of a second, or another Comforter. Who was the first Comforter? If there was to be another, there must have been a first one. There is, perhaps, a general misapprehension as to the real meaning of this word Comforter. It is not simply one who comforts in distress, although he does all that. The idea is more that of a helper. So the Revised Version suggests as a rendering, this word, "helper." "I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, another helper, another advocate." The same word exactly is found in this scripture: "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." 1 John 2:1. We have an Advocate, we have a Comforter, we have a Helper with the Father. Now this was written after Christ had ascended, but it was after the gift of the Spirit in that special way, after the Comforter had come to the disciples on the earth. The idea of a counselor, a helper, on adviser, is all in this word, and you may look at it in this way: that Christ sitteth at the right hand of the Father; he is an Advocate, or Helper, or Comforter there. The Spirit is with us here. That is our Comforter, Helper, Advocate here. If we take up the legal figure of an advocate; "he ever liveth to make intercession for us." Not in the sense that his work is to incline the Father to be favorable to us when he otherwise would be unfavorable, but he ever liveth at the right hand of the Father as our Advocate, our Helper, our Comforter, to talk with the Father about us. That is the idea of it. But we have an adversary who is talking also. He says, How can you save such sinful creatures as these are? they are all covered with sin. We do not deny the charge; we cannot do that; but we trust in Christ and his blood to cleanse. When the adversary stands in the presence of God and makes that charge, as represented in the third chapter of Zachariah, when Joshua stood before God clothed with filthy garments, and Satan stood there to accuse him, and oppose him, -- when Satan makes that charge in the presence of the angels, we have an advocate there who speaks just as our advocate speaks, "The blood of Christ cleanseth. "He speaks that word to us when Satan opposes here. When Satan opposes us there, we have an advocate who ever liveth and talks with the Father about us; and when the adversary says, How can you save such sinful creatures? they have sinned, they have rebelled, they have disobeyed, the advocate says, True, but, My blood! my blood! my blood! So we have an advocate there, a counselor who is always at court, who is always watching, as it were, to see whether the enemy would suddenly bring up our case and cause it to go against us. We have an advocate right there who ever liveth to speak to the Father about our cases when they come up. But besides that, we have, as it were, an advocate right with us, a kind of confidential counselor who stays right by us, who speaks the same words of comfort, the same words of hope, the same words of instruc -- to us as are spoken in our behalf in the heavenly courts, when our cases are considered there. So the promise is, He shall give you another comforter, another helper, another advocate, another counselor, that he may abide with you forever; that he may be with you forever. It is interesting to notice that this is just the promise of Christ before he went away: "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." He shall give you another Comforter that he may remain with you, abide with you, be with you forever. Christ is going away, but the Comforter that he sends to take his place, to be the other Comforter, the other advocate, the other helper, was not to go away. He was to be with us forever, to the "end of the age," all the time; "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. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." The better word is, I am coming. We use our present tense in that way -- I am coming; it gives a more emphatic idea of the suddenness or nearness of the thing. So, we might say, I will not leave you comfortless; I will not leave you bereft of a Comforter, a helper, an advocate, a counselor; I am coming to you. "Yet a little while and the world seeth me no more: but ye see me; because I live, ye shall live also. At that time ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me and I in you." Verses 19, 20. Now that is the union by the Spirit of Christ. When that comes you will know that I and the Father are one, and you will know that you and I are one. I noticed an illustration the other day which seemed to me very striking for a simple one, how it was that we can be in Christ and Christ in us at the same time. It was this: You fill a bottle with sea-water and drop it in the sea. The bottle is filled with the sea, and the sea is in the bottle, and the bottle is in the sea; but the sea that is in the bottle and the bottle and all are buried in the sea, and there is room for lots of bottles full in the sea. Of course you do not want to carry that figure too far and say, Bottle it up and keep it there. The idea is simply, Christ in us, and we in him, and all lost in him, so to speak; he in us, and we in him; that closeness of union. "He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me; and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will live in him, and will manifest myself in him." (Verse 21) We can render it this way: I am about to manifest myself, or I am going to manifest myself to them. "Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?" You see he had been with them in the world, and the world could see him just as plainly as the disciples could see him. Now he says, I am going away; but I am coming again, and I will manifest myself to you, and the world shall not see me. That was a very natural question for one who did not understand the spiritual meaning of it. How is that going to be? how is it that he will manifest himself to us and others cannot see him? "Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my word: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me." (Verses 23, 24) Notice, through all that the idea s that the Spirit is in his word and the word is Christ and "he that loveth me and keepeth my words, and I come; "and then the word of Christ dwells in him richly in all wisdom. "These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you; but the Comforter, [the helper, the counselor,] which is the Holy Ghost [Holy Spirit], whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance whatever I have said unto you." "The Father was to send another Comforter. Christ has been a comfort, a help, a counselor and a friend to his disciples. Now he would send the Holy Ghost, another Comforter. Christ is still an advocate, a helper, a counselor right now; and he shall teach you, shall instruct in all things, and bring to your remembrance all things whatsoever I have said unto you. Now notice that the characteristic of the Spirit that I spoke of the other evening begins to come in here as a natural result of the promise of the Spirit. You will remember that when Christ had passed into the holiest, and the faith of those who were looking for him there, reached him, they prayed, "My father give us thy Spirit. Then Jesus would breathe upon them the Holy Ghost. In that breath was life, power, and much love, joy and peace." Having given the promise of the Spirit, he begins to tell right away what would be the consequences of receiving it. There would be peace and joy. "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." Now understand this principle that pervades the whole Scripture, that what Christ says to his diciples, he says to every disciple of his from that time to the present. When he spoke to his disciples, he saw all of his disciples, to the very last one. So he saw us. Hence his words to them are just as much to you and me as to them. So he says, Peace, and this comes when we receive the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, etc. And he says: "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Ye have, heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence." Now comes in the instruction with reference to the union of Christ and his disciples, that wonderful lesson based upon the vine and the branches. But that union is the natural result of the Spirit. These chapters really all deal with the gift of the Spirit and the result of receiving it, and these explanations that come in between the passages where the Spirit is spoken of are only showing the results of its reception. Therefore, these lessons are upon the union of the disciples with him. This same Spirit which brings a union between the disciples and him brings a union also between the disciples themselves. On this point I read from this little "Testimony to Ministers," page 32:-- "The people of God can be united only through the power of the Holy Ghost, and this is the union which will stand the test." You see we are dissimilar in tastes and purposes, and thoughts, and all that. And the meaning of this is, that it brings us into harmony. There must be the power of the Holy Ghost which unites us to Christ, which brings his mind, his likeness to us, and which brings us near together, into union and harmony one with another. "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my father's commandments, and abide in his love." (Verse 10, chapter 15) The first fruit of the Spirit is love, and so he is speaking about abiding in love. "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." Verse 11. You will remember that with the manifestation of the Spirit there is not only light and power, but much joy, much love, much peace. So then this comes in naturally about this instruction concerning the gift of the Spirit and its offices. "This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." (Verses 12-14) "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." Verses 18, 19. Why does this instruction about the world hating one come in here? To my mind the reason is this: The gift of the Spirit separates one from the world; gives him a character entirely different from the character of the world. Now the one thing that stirs up a feeling against the Christian more than anything else is that he shall manifest the character of Christ. The devil does not care how much we profess Christianity: in fact, he likes to have a goodly number merely professing Christianity; he likes to have them nominally accept the Sabbath and this message, because they do more harm in that way than as though they rejected Christ. But one who really receives Christ and his Spirit in his heart becomes at once an aggressive disciple of Christ; and an aggressive disciple of Christ will stir up opposition always. It does not mean that he goes out in a fierce, defiant spirit; but there is this controversy between light and darkness, between Christ and Satan, and just as soon as anyone manifests any zeal in behalf of Christ, just that moment the opposition is stirred against him. So when one receives the Spirit of Christ, and is endowed with it, and goes out as an aggressive disciple of Christ, he will at once meet with opposition, and the world will hate him; hence this instruction. This is true of all genuine disciples of Christ. "The friendship of the world is enmity with God." "Ye cannot serve God and mammon." It is to "come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing," -- sin in any form. Then there will be a mark of distinction, and the world and the flesh and the devil will hate such an aggressive disciple of Christ, who is endowed with the Spirit. "Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me." Verses 20, 21. "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me." Verse 26. Then the servant of Christ, in whom the Spirit dwells will have just one theme, and that is to testify of Christ, to preach Christ. That will be his whole theme, because when that Comforter is come "He shall testify of me." He will testify to us of Christ, and then through us he will testify to others of Christ. He will bear witness of Christ. "And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning." Verse 27. Do you bear witness also? He shall bear witness of me; he shall instruct you about me. Now when he instructs you about me, and he dwells in you, Do you also bear witness of me, because you have been with me from the beginning? "These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended." "They shall put you out of the synagogues [the church]: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he death God service." They shall be put to death unless they yield obedience to the beast and to his image; and they will think that in doing that they are doing God service. "And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me." (John 16:1-3) "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." (Verse 7) That is, it is for your advantage that I go away, so that the Comforter, the helper, the counselor, the advocate, should come. "And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment;" or, He will convince the world concerning sin, and concerning righteousness, and concerning 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. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come." (Verses 8-13) You will remember that Christ did not speak of himself: "As the Father said unto me, so I speak." "For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me." "He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you." (Verse 14) Now notice that these are definite promises to you and to me. We have read these scriptures over too easily altogether, and now we want to get them as definite, personal promises. Is he showing us things to come? "All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you. A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father." Verses 15, 16. Then they began to make inquiry of him and ask questions; and he answered them and told them that he was going away, and the last words of this chapter are:" These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (Verse 33) Be of good cheer; be of good comfort; cheer up! cheer up! Almost his last words with them were, I am going away; ye shall have tribulation; but, cheer up! It's all right; be of good courage. Do not let your heart be troubled. I am your comfort. I am with you always. Go on! Then comes this remarkable prayer of the seventeenth chapter. I will not take time to read it all. You are familiar with it. I begin at the twentieth verse: "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word." I want to think, every time I read that prayer, that Christ prayed for me just as much as he did for those disciples, and had me in mind just as much as those disciples who heard him in prayer, and that, I can take the comfort to myself that Christ prayed for me, and that that prayer is still for me. He prayed not alone for them, but for all, "That they all may be one as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." Verse 21. That is the result of receiving the Spirit. It brings unity. He gave gifts unto men. It was that they might get into the unity of the faith. There is a bond of union in the Spirit that binds together as nothing else will do. And this prayer of Christ for us, -- for you and me, was that we might be one, just as he and the Father were one. If that were so, brethren, there would not be the least bit of bickering, there would not be the least bit of suspicion about one another. What a blessed condition of things that would be that oneness between brethren that was between Christ and the Father. Why! He delighted to do his Father's will. They were one in thought; one in purpose; one in act; theirs was the perfection of union. He said to Philip, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." Their characters were the same exactly. He manifested the character of God. Now we are to manifest the character of Christ for he said to his disciples:" As the Father hath sent me, even so send I you," and the Spirit of Christ the mind of Christ, dwelling in the hearts of the believers draws them together and binds them together in the bond of Christian love and fellowship God wants all estrangement, all alienation, all suspicion, all questioning, all bickering, and everything of that kind to be put aside. That is not the fruit of the Spirit; it is the very opposite of it. It is the devil working to bring in strife, to bring in difference; it is the devil working to bring in anything and everything that will turn us away from Christ, and what Christ is for us. And anyone, and I say it plainly, who allows himself to be used to speak words of suspicion, words of estrangement, words of accusation, words of alienation, is simply a mouthpiece for the devil. That is just what he is. And it is ever so much worse for one to do that who has known God and the pardoning love of Christ. It is worse in; him, and the results are worse. Let us not do it any more. Now let us go back a little, because these chapters bear a very close and careful study Chapter 14:16 The first promise is," I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever." Now let us see in this study that the promise of the Spirit is the promise of Christ himself; that it is through the Spirit that' Christ is with us. Remember that expression in "Early Writings "to which I call attention again, that when the Spirit was given, that is, when Christ breathed the Holy Ghost, there was much love, joy, and peace with it. These are the fruits of the Spirit Turn with me now to Steps to Christ, 84. Speaking of the disciples after the ascension of Christ and of their bringing their requests in the name of the Father, we read.:-- "And Pentecost brought them the presence of the Comforter, of whom Christ had said, 'he shall be in you,' And be had further said, It Is expedient for you that I go away; for If I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but If I depart I will send film unto you.' Henceforth through the Spirit, Christ was to abide continually in the hearts of his children." Let us read Ephesians 3:16, 17. "That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be Strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith." With that scripture put this thought: Henceforth through the Spirit Christ was to abide continually in the hearts of his children. Their union with him was closer than when he was personally with them. Have you ever thought that if you could have lived when Christ was here upon earth it would have been a very easy thing to believe on him? and it would have been a wonderful experience if you could have seen right there with him; but if we only receive him through the Spirit the union is closer now than it was then. The truth is, we do not believe that it is so and that is the reason why it is not fulfilled to us. The way to believe that is to thank God that it is true, and then we can rejoice in it. Let us read the next sentence in this Testimony: "The light, and love, and power of the indwelling Christ shone out through them, so that men, beholding, marveled." The light, and love, and power is the Spirit that is to be given to us. There was to be much light and power in it, and also much love, joy, peace. Here it says: "The light, and love, and power of the indwelling Christ shone out through them." This is true, and the union is to be closer than when he was upon the earth. Now is that so in our experience? Is he with us always? We do not have to go to Jerusalem to see if he will come to the feast. He is at this feast; he is with you at home and abroad; no matter where I am, he is with me. Now that is a beautiful theory, but what we want to do in order for it to benefit us, is to open the door and let him in, and believe he is there and does abide with us continually. Then his indwelling presence will appear in our lives. When he comes to dwell with us he wants to make use of us as instruments of righteousness. He is not the minister of sin. Every word that is spoken should be a word of Christ; every 'act that is performed should be an act of Christ. O, well, then, you say, we are to be infallible, and that is fanatical, and so I cannot go with you on that theory. I do not want you to go with me on that theory; I want you to go with me on that practice. You just let the Lord take care of that, and see how nicely he will do it. It is a fact, now, that we stand and wait for every thing to be explained, when it cannot be explained. It is utterly useless for me to take time to try to explain these things. "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God," "because they are spiritually discerned." The only way to learn these things is by experience, and that experience comes by believing them before we understand them; and the way to understand them is to believe them; it is the only way that his ever been known. You find a person who has known the spiritual life and experience, the blessed experience of Christ's dwelling in him, and he is not around asking you how it can be so. No. He is around praising the Lord that it is so; it is a great deal better experience to praise the Lord that it is true. Do not ask how these things can be so. I cannot understand it, do not try to understand it; let Christ come in himself. You will remember that the Tabernacle did not have any windows at all, and the covering outside looked black, almost ugly. Suppose someone had come along in the wilderness and seen the Tabernacle, and said, What a homely, dark object that is, I would not think the priests would like it. But, when they went inside it was all filled with light and beauty. Come inside, brethren, it is all light, beauty, joy, glory inside. But, if we stand outside and look at it, it does not look that way. Don't stand outside; come inside. There are mysteries connected with the indwelling of Christ in the heart that we shall study to all eternity, and we shall just praise God to all eternity for the wonders of his grace. Yet, so far as this is concerned it is just as simple us that two and two are four, because we enjoy the experience when we cannot explain it when we are not called upon to explain it. Why, if we were obliged to explain everything which we enjoy before we enjoy it, we should never enjoy many things, because when we come right down to try to explain to a man how it is that when, he puts bread and grains, fruit and milk, and other articles in the mouth, and they become flesh, bone, etc., he could not do it. When you come to me and say you will not eat again until you understand how that is, it will be very inexpensive board for you, brethren, for some time to come. It is the same thing with the spiritual. Why should anyone stand outside, and refuse to receive the light and power and blessing of Christ dwelling in him, because he cannot explain that power and cannot answer every objection to it. Go right on eating, even if you cannot explain everything. Christ dwells within by the Spirit that comes to us. We can have enough in that one promise that we took up there, to make our hearts glad to air eternity. It has seemed to me as we have taken up this study, that some of us were waiting for something beyond, without taking the blessings that are right here. They are just as full of light and glory and power as they can be, Now, the Lord wants us to receive his Spirit right, now; he wants our hearts open all the time to receive it. The heart is opened by confession and repentance of our sins, by a spirit of contrition, by a permanent sense of unworthiness, and not being lifted up when he gives us of his grace and his power. And we are to receive the Spirit in that fullness that we are to rejoice in the Lord all the time. "My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad." "He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him." I can say that all the time; if anyone askes me, Have you lived so many years without sin? I will lay hold of the Lord: "He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him." "Be strong in the Lord." "Rejoice in the Lord." Everything is in the Lord. Let us receive the light and receive everything in the Lord. THE PROMISE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. -- No. 8. PROF. W. W. PRESCOTT I am free to say that I begin to feel seriously anxious over our work now. You will remember that we have been studying these things together now for nearly four weeks. And the very first theme we considered was what hindered our receiving an unusual degree of the outpouring of the Spirit of God. Very close testimonies were borne and were heard here and they seemed to make a deep impression upon our minds and hearts. I have since felt there is almost a reaction from that, and that this work seems to move along rather easy with us now. I want to say for myself I shall not be at all satisfied if this Conference passes without a greater outpouring of the Spirit of God than we have experienced yet. Although I appreciate very much the blessing that we have had together, and the presence of God and his Spirit with us, helping us in our work, yet I shall be greatly disappointed if this meeting closes without a fuller outpouring of the Spirit of God than we have experienced yet. And I want that we should take simply and fully the lessons that we are having now as applied directly to us and to our condition, and get the most possible benefit from them. When the Saviour promised the disciples that he would pray the Father, and he would send them another Comforter to abide with them forever, the disciples believed that promise. They simply took that promise as a fact and believed it; and when after his crucifixion and resurrection he said to them, as recorded in Acts 1:4, 5: "And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence," they simply believed that that was so. They believed that they were to be baptized with the Holy Ghost in a very few days. Again he said to them, "Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you." They believed that also; yet that did not prevent their earnestly seeking it. Day after day they most earnestly sought for the very blessing that had been promised them, and which the Saviour said was only a few days away. Now remember all the time that the same promise is ours just as much as theirs; and in a special sense it seem to me that now is the time to take this promise: "Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence." We are taught that we ought to be praying just as earnestly for the descent of the Holy Ghost as they did. Now what I want to say is just this, Are we doing it? That is all. I understand that God will give special blessings of his Spirit in an unusual manner, and that is what we are speaking about especially in these lessons; not simply the usual operations of the Spirit, although that is all right properly considered; but it is a special thing that we are considering, and that is the promise of the. Spirit in an unusual way. I do not understand that the Lord proposes to force this blessing upon a single soul. I do not understand that he expects to be dictated as to how that blessing will come in any way. But he has given, and is now giving us the very plainest instruction about it. And what I wish to know now especially is, How many of us are carrying out this instruction? Now we must not expect the fulfillment of the promise when we do not fulfill the conditions of it. The Lord wants this blessing to come upon this people now. He has told us what to do in order that it may come. Now I want to know, How many are doing it? That is the simple question. We are told that we ought to pray just as earnestly for the descent of the Holy Ghost as did the disciples. Are we doing it? We are told that companies ought to be gathered, and in a special manner ought to be praying for this blessing, this outpouring of the Spirit. Are we doing it? In spite of the fact that Christ had promised this blessing, the disciples prayed ten days continuously. It took them all that time to get prepared for the blessing. Now if we are prepared for the outpouring of the Spirit to-night, God wants to give it to us tonight. That is so. We are not to try to get the Lord ready to do something for us that he does not want to do. He is waiting for us to get ready so that he can do what he wanted to do. Now to my mind it is a simple proposition that the Lord desires that this people shall receive a blessing from him. We are not to try to get him favorable so that he will give it to us. That is not the object of this work. The object is simply to learn how to relate ourselves to him so that it will be possible for him to do that. You remember that we have had that idea in our lessons that it is through God's mercy that he does not pour out his Spirit. The Spirit would be to sinners and those who were persisting in opposition to God, just as it was to the Israelites -- a fire that would consume. God is a consuming fire to those who knowingly cherish sin, and they cannot be in the near presence of God. But when the blessing of the Spirit comes in that manner, it is necessary that we should be free from unrighteousness; for we shall be in a holy place as was Moses at the burning bush, and Joshua with the commander of the Lord's hosts, and the disciples with Christ in the Mount. It has seemed to me that it would help us in this matter to realize in a special way the idea of the personal presence of the Saviour. I want to feel in my experience that the Saviour is with me just as he was with his disciples, and that the question of my seeing him with the natural eyes does not enter into it at all. I simply take his promise that he is with me. Now after he had been with his disciples in his personal presence, after he had walked with them, and talked with them, and eaten with them, and instructed them, and they had seen his works, -- then they could believe in his actual presence. And when out of sight he was to them, as it were, no farther away than as though he had gone up stairs into an upper room. The idea that they had a personal, living Saviour was just as real to them as though they had seen him go into an upper chamber. He had simply gone away out of their sight, but the sense of having a living personal Saviour was just as real to them as when he stood right beside them and they saw him. The idea that he was in the presence of God, identified with their humanity; that he was there, in their behalf, making intercession for them, as their friend, their counselor, their advocate, their helper, was just as real to them as though they had him walking with him. Now I want to think about my Saviour in exactly the same way. I do not want think of him simply as there, I want to think of him as being here. I do think of him as here. Not simply, I want him, but I have him. It seems to me that it would help us to talk of these matters reverently, seriously. I believe it would do away with any inclination to a spirit of lightness, chaffiness, or anything of the kind; that spirit of commonness, of jesting, of joking. I believe that will all be removed when we realize that we stand in the presence of Jesus Christ as a living individual Saviour, and one who is with us all the time. I think it ought to be that way all the time; not as a task, but as a delight. When the Saviour went away, he sent them the promise of the Father, as Peter said in his sermon in Acts 2: "This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which we how see and hear." (Verses 32, 33) Now the Saviour is a great deal more interested that this work should go on than we are. He was interested enough in it to give his life for it, and now living, he is giving his whole service to it. "He ever liveth to make intercession "for us. Not only that, but all heaven is interested. I want you to take this as a literal thing. Our Saviour identifies himself with us and all humanity, and all the the hosts of heaven are intently watching this work. They are intently watching you and me to see whether we will sense the situation; whether we will co-operate with them in the work. Considering the point to which we have come; -- the law of God is made void; a power is taking hold of all of Satan's agencies to oppose this work: apparently Satan and his hosts are about to triumph, -- it would seem that way, looking at it from the outward view. Is God going to allow anything of that kind? No, Satan is not to triumph. Evil is not to triumph. God will rise and show himself strong in behalf of right and his word. The Creator of heaven and earth is now being put to a public shame, as it were. His law is openly disregarded and trampled upon. His law is taken by man and interpreted as against him, and in favor of Satan who leads all the hosts of rebellion; and what in the world is the reason that the Lord does not rise and show himself strong and put his enemies to confusion, and justify himself in the face of the universe? It is going to be done, and that right early, lest the very character of God be compromised. But he has been waiting with a wonderful degree of patience. I cannot understand how he can be waiting for us who are representing his work now in the earth. What is he waiting for? Waiting for us to be willing to give up these things that hinder his work; waiting for us to accept the righteousness of Christ; waiting for us that he may use us in this work. Now the solemn thought to my mind is that he is getting impatient, and will not wait very much longer for you and me. I want you to see that plainly. It is a most solemn thought to my mind in connection with our work, and I cannot get away from the idea that now is a most critical time with us personally. It is more so than we realize. It seems to me that right now we are making choices that will determine whether we shall go on with this work through the loud cry and be translated, or whether we shall be deceived by the devices of Satan and be left out in darkness, and the work go on without us. Now it appears to me that that is just where we stand. I have felt that way all through this Conference and so I say again, I am extremely anxious over this situation; because the time is passing, and the days go easily one after the other. In a certain sense it is much more critical to us personally than to God's work. Let us not question about God's work. There is, however, a large question about us individually, and our relation to the work. Now see what the offer is. God offers to become partners with me, and he will be the one who will furnish all the strength and all the power if I will submit to him. He will work wonderful works through me. He will magnify his law and carry forward his work to the confusion of his adversaries. I cannot find words to express such a situation, when there is such a hesitancy on our part, and we are told directly by a message from the Lord that he is getting impatient in waiting so long. I think it is time for us to look this situation very seriously in the face. I do not dictate to any one, but something must be done, something different must come to us than has come in this Conference yet, that is sure. When the disciples received this outpouring of the Spirit after ten days earnest seeking, by confession of sin, by humbling their hearts before God, by viewing steadily Jesus Christ, and being changed into his image, then they had the power for the work which the Saviour had committed to them. You will remember the lesson last week, how they went out with power; how multitudes were converted in a day; how they had power over evil spirits and diseases; they healed the sick and God wrought many wonders right in the face of opposition, and took them out of prison. Now those things do not want to be looked at as a sort of fairy tale, that interests us simply as entertaining matter. Why? We are to repeat the very same experience! Now I want you to take that as something real and literal; not as something to be talked about as happening way back there. I want to tell you that there are persons right in this house that will go through those very experiences; they will be taken out of prison by the angel of the Lord to go and proclaim the message; they will heal the sick, and raise the dead, too. Now that will happen right in this message. What are we going to do? Are we going to become scared and hold back with certain reserve? No! a thousand times, No. We must become just like little children. We must believe these things as simply as a little child believes them. There is to be no question or opposition of any kind; but we are to take the message in the simplicity with which God gives it to us. But you will remember as the work went on, and even in Paul's day changes were to come in. He says: "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." So the apostasy came in, -- the falling away, and the man of sin was revealed. As that manifestation gained ground, what became of that large degree of the Spirit that rested upon the disciples in the early church? You remember when they went out to preach, the Spirit fell upon the people while they were preaching. When Peter went to the Gentiles, and was in the house of Cornelius, the Holy Ghost fell on them, and in relating the matter when called to account, he said, "The Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning." (Acts 11:15) It was a regular outpouring. Then they of the circumcision were astonished, as many as came with Peter, and glorified God because that to the Gentiles he had granted repentance unto life. The Spirit fell on them, -- was poured out. It was the gift of the Holy Ghost. The expressions are the same; they received it in its freeness and fulness. And that was in the private house where Peter had gone to preach to those who were gathered together. Then when they heard that, it fell on the Gentiles as on them at the beginning; that settled the matter, because the Spirit set his own seal to the work, that it was accepted of God. But as this apostasy came in, the power of the Spirit began to leave them. If you trace that down, you will see how the man of sin was revealed and ruled, and the Spirit seemed almost entirely withdrawn through that terrible period called the Dark Ages. Then in the Reformation, in the early part of the sixteenth century, when men began to turn to God again and to his word instead of to the man of sin, there was greater display of the power of God's Spirit. But since that time it has been going back again, and religion is running into formalism, into ceremonialism, and true Protestantism has merged into false Protestantism, which is nothing but the papacy under another name; the principle is the same. Now at this time God sends forth a message and is urging it upon us. What is it? Why, it is the righteousness of Christ. Why does he send this? Because he is preparing a people for translation. Now what will be the condition of that people who are translated? The same as described in Revelation 14:5. "And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God." This refers to the 144,000 that stood on Mount Zion. They are without fault; they are blameless; they are just like Christ, -- without spot or blemish. Now God is at work to prepare a people for that condition. What will prepare a people that they may be without fault and unblameable? Righteousness. And nothing else will do it. They must have the character of Christ. No other character is without blemish and without fault. So he is sending now with special urgency this message. Just have the white raiment now, -- the righteousness of Christ. But what is the connection between that and the outpouring of the Spirit. Let me read two or three scriptures: "He came to his own, and his own received him not." "But to as many as received him, to them gave he power to become sons of God, even to them that believed on his name." "Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." Now to those that believe him, and receive him, so that he is in them, Christ the hope of glory, Christ formed within, so that he dwells in their hearts, -- he gives the right -- notice it is a gift -- to become sons of God. Now because they are sons God sends forth the Spirit of his Son into their hearts. So we read: "And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us." (1 John 3:24) "Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit." (1 John 4:13) Now when we are sons and he gives us the Spirit, what is the office of the Spirit? "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also after that ye believed ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise." (Ephesians 1:13) "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." (Chapter 4:30) "Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." (2 Corinthians 1:22) Now the Spirit is given as a seal of the work that is wrought in us when we accept Christ. On this point let us read Galatians 3:13, 14. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth upon a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." There are two things that come as the result of being redeemed from the curse of the law through Christ. We are to receive the blessing of Abraham; that is righteousness by faith. Now we receive that, in order that we may receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. And receiving the promise of the Spirit through faith, that seals the righteousness which we receive. It is a seal of righteousness. You will at once notice the connection. Then the measure of righteousness that we receive is the measure of the Spirit that we receive. That is why we are urging you to accept the righteousness, because the Spirit will be there. Do you not see? The first thing is righteousness. That is why that is the message now. That is why that is to be preached now. We are to have righteousness, and that is the righteousness of Christ. The Spirit will come with that, because they are linked right together. We are to have the blessing of Abraham, that we may receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. See how it was in Christ's experience. "For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God, for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him." The idea seems to be that God did not give it out of a measure, as though he gave a little at a time. He wants to pour it right out. He would not stop to measure it, you see. We have the thought in Hebrews 1:9: "Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." So Peter, when he' was speaking to the company with Cornelius, spoke of "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost." Why was it that the Spirit was given him without measure, and was not doled out in small portions, but poured right out, and he was anointed with the oil of gladness above all his partners? Because in him was manifested the character of God; and according to the measure of his righteousness and the fullness of his righteousness was the fullness of the Spirit as a seal. Thus we read in John 6:27, "For him hath God the Father sealed." That is, by the full and free gift of the Spirit. But God wants a people now prepared to be sealed. Let us read on the point:" And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, not on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God; and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads." Revelation 7:1-3. Put right with that the ninth of Ezekiel, where those who were sealed escaped the general destruction. But who will he sealed? Those who have the character of God in Christ, the righteousness of Christ, and only those. That is why the message is so urgent now, to receive the righteousness of Christ. Because only those who have that righteousness will be sealed, and the sealing time is here. It is time to have these things decided for the sealing work. The Spirit is the seal and it seems to be the agency by which the work is done. An illustration: Some one places a piece of paper in a seal, and presses down the lever; the paper is taken out and here is an impression. Now there is a certain agency that does that work. After it is done a certain impression remains. Now the Spirit is the agency in the sealing work. What is the impression that remains? It is the image of God restored in the soul. Who is that image of God? Christ. Then it will be Christ in you, the hope of glory. It all comes right back to that. And the work of the Spirit is to prepare us for, and impress that image upon us. On this point I will read a few words from the REVIEW of Nov. 1, 1892:-- "As the wax takes the impression of the seal, so the soul is to take the impression of the Spirit of God and retain the moral Image of Christ." But we have always been told that the Sabbath is the seal. Now I just want to indicate a line of study for you. I am not going to bring it out. I have not the time. But I desire to have you study it, and will suggest it in this way: You will remember in our talk some time since about the Sabbath, we tried to show that in the Sabbath, from every standpoint and on every side, Christ appeared: Christ the creator; Christ the one who makes holy; Christ the sanctifier; Christ the one who blesses us and in whom we are blessed. No one can really and truly keep the Sabbath in whom Christ does not dwell; and the Sabbath is the seal in so far as Christ is recognized in it. Just that far and no farther. It will not seal anyone simply to observe the Sabbath in a formal way, as an outward ceremony. To keep Saturday does not seal anyone any more than to keep Sunday or Monday, in that sense; but only in so far as Christ is seen in the Sabbath is the Sabbath a seal. But the Spirit is the agency by which we are transformed by the renewing of our minds, that Christ may be formed within. Now when the Sabbath is recognized as the institution of Christ, and that Christ is the very essence of the Sabbath, do you not see that when the Sabbath is properly and really kept in the spirit of it, that it is when Christ is received in his fullness. That is to say, you cannot keep the Sabbath without receiving the righteousness of Christ. The fact is, you cannot do anything without receiving it. You may view it on every side, but' you will come back to that one point where everything centers, that you must have the righteousness of Christ; you must have Christ dwelling in you. You see from that what a field of study there is for us. I wish we might enter upon it, for we are to make it clear to the world that the righteousness of Christ and the Sabbath are inseparable. God wants to seal a people for the kingdom: but the people who are sealed for this kingdom and who are ready for translation, must be those in whom Christ dwells; must be those that receive the righteousness and the character of Christ. But when we receive the righteousness of Christ in its fullness, just as God wants us to receive it, right with that comes the fullness of the Spirit, and there is the outpouring of the Spirit. Now, it is of no use whatever for us to pray and pray for the outpouring of the Spirit apart from the righteousness and character of Christ. Think how this matter has stood here for three or four years, and what we have been doing all this time! God wanted to pour out his Spirit on his people years ago; but we cannot help that now: do not add another day to that time. What can I say about this matter? Here we are together. These things are just as plain as A, B, C, that righteousness is the gift of God; that all in the world he asks us to do is to submit to the receiving of it, to open the door. How? By confession and repentance, by closing every door to Satan, and opening the door wide to Christ, and accepting him in simplicity. Now, it does not make any difference about our age or our standing: whether we are ministers or not; whether we are licentiates or not; we are all on the same level. You and I are to receive this in the same way, just as little children, and just thank God for it all the time, and rejoice in it all the time. What I want to get at is, What hinders it now? What we are after is the righteousness of Christ. When we receive that in its fullness, the Spirit comes with it. We shall not have to receive the righteousness of Christ in its fullness and then agonize for the Spirit. We are to receive Christ in his fullness, and it all comes together. Now, do you know any reason why we should not know something about that to-night? I have been thinking about it somewhat in this way; If we were just to stop all questioning about one another, about Brother A. and Brother B., and whether he has accepted it or opposed it, and stop hunting around, and sit right down here in the simplicity of it just as a child, so glad to know that it is so, we could take it. Suppose there were persons here to-night who had never heard anything about it at all: I should count it a privilege to go before an audience that had never heard anything about it, and sit down and tell them in the simplest way that Christ had come here, and had made provision that he would give them his character, and righteousness, and spirit, with all his power and love, and that they could have it, if they wanted it, by just receiving it. It seems to me that it would be a pleasure to be before such persons who had never heard about it in all their lives: and I can imagine the light and joy and peace that would come to their countenances, and I can imagine them saying: "Isn't that good? ""I will take that now." Brethren, what is to hinder us from accepting it now in that way? Nothing. Then let us praise the Lord and say, I have it now. Why is it that we come together as ministers, as brethren and sisters in the Lord, and in some way, -- I do not know exactly how, -- place ourselves somewhere out of reach of it all? Perhaps we are expecting some one to come along with a mighty force and say, Receive this. It will never be done in that way. Let us take it right now. Let us make such a submission to God as we have never made before; in a practical way as we never have done before. Let us make a submission that includes all that we have, in every way. Let us submit all that we know about and all that we do not know about; all of our friends and all of our relatives, our property, our hopes, our life, everything and say: Now Lord, you take it all. Take me just as I am. Come brethren, let us go together. Will he not do that? No language can describe the earnest desire of Christ to dwell within every one of us; to cleanse us fully from sin; to deliver us fully from the power of sin and the devil, and to bind our hearts close to his every moment of the time. That is all he wants to do. Can we not in some way get right down to that and do it? Just drop helpless at the feet of Christ and say, Now, Lord, here I am, and everything that pertains to me; you do with me just as you please; it will be a blessed privilege that will be conferred upon me if I can go anywhere or do anything with you. Then there will not be any trouble as to how and where we labor. There will not be any trouble if one brother is put before another, and receives more attention; there will not be any trouble at all. There will not be any trouble if one is promoted; but we shall rejoice that he is promoted. We are not to esteem ourselves better than others. Let us get right down to the simplicity of this thing. You will remember that our attention was called last night to this latter rain and to this loud cry. This is the message, -- the righteousness of Christ, -- and it all comes from heaven. We find it in no other place. We are to receive it by opening our hearts to it and saying, Lord, give it to me in your own way. And this means service. This means that we are to go out and carry the message; and it will be a glorious service. The servants of God under this message will go out with faces lighted up with a holy joy and holy consecration. I want to see these brethren go out in that way; I want to see their faces lighted up as did that of Stephen when he was in the council. That is what God wants to do for us. And as we go out there can be only one statement made of us and that is, They have been with Jesus. That is the way the Lord wants it to be, and we should be glad of the privilege of having it that way. And the Lord wants it to be that way now. What do you say? Let it be so But here is the instruction. He has promised this blessing, and he wants to give it to us. His disciples prayed earnestly ten days for it continuously, with confession of sin, repentance, looking to Christ all the time. Now why should we not get it in the same way? We only have about ten days left in the Conference. Now brethren, isn't it time to begin on that very thing? Are not these things all clear to every mind, what righteousness is, and what the Lord wants to do for us at this Conference? Are we not now within ten days of the time, and ought we not to seek the Lord as we never have sought him before? Let me read one more scripture: "Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you." (Hosea 10:12) I wish to leave this with you, and to repeat it over and over again. "It is time to seek the Lord till he come and rain righteousness upon you" When he rains righteousness, you need not have any fear about the outpouring of the Spirit. It is there. It comes with the same shower. It is time to seek the Lord until he rain righteousness. Brethren, let us do that very thing. THE PROMISE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. -- No. 9. PROF. W.W. PRESCOTT Four weeks ago this evening we began this special series of lessons on the promise of the Spirit; and if you recall it, among the very first things studied was that we wanted to learn what stood in the way of receiving the Spirit, because when that was learned and that difficulty removed, and the Spirit came in, the Spirit itself would teach us more about itself in a very short time than we could learn as a matter of theory in an indefinite time. We have been trying to work on that line, not only in this series of lessons, but in every lesson that has been given; and I thought in some measure we were learning just a little what that meant last Friday night. Now is it not so, that everyone whose heart was opened then to receive the Spirit learned more about what the actual work of the Spirit is, so that he knew himself what that was, and when anyone speaks about it he knows what it means, in a different way than he ever knew before? That is so, isn't it? Yes. Well, that is just the starting point; that is the beginning of it. But that is simply in the line on which we have been working, that the way might be cleared so that the Spirit itself might come and tell us about itself, that we might know from our own experience what the movings of the Spirit are, and what the Spirit does when it comes to us. I am more thankful than I can tell, that it is the beginning to teach us about these things itself. I thought we could perhaps profitably consider this evening something that the Scriptures speak of, and put that right beside the experience that God has given us already, and in this way be prepared to recognize the work of the Spirit. It is so easy for us to get wrong ideas about these things, and in that way we ourselves be deceived about it. I have thought that some would have a wrong idea about what is meant when we say that we must go forth in the power of the Spirit, and that we must have power when we go forth. I do not understand that to mean that we are to come here to be consciously loaded up, so that when we go from this place we have a certain feeling of a conscious power in our own selves that has been given to us, and that we have it, and carry it with us, and can handle it, as it were, and measure it, and look at it, and. when we need it take it out and use it. "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore. ... Lo, I am with you." The power is in Christ, not in us, and the having the power is the personal presence of Christ in us; and that does not necessarily mean in the sense of a thrill of power in us all the time; but it means an abiding faith that Christ is in us. And then when we go out, no matter what the difficulties are, we are not appalled by them; because of the conscious faith that Christ is with us, and he is all powerful. Well, when he is with us in the fullness of his power, our faith grasps him continually. It is not a question of feeling the power, it is a question of knowing the power; and if we take counsel with our feelings when difficulties arise, we will certainly be overthrown. It is not a question of our feelings, or of our power; it is a question that he abides in our hearts by faith, and he is the power. I will read you the following very familiar scripture:-- "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; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. 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 unto my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth; for he shall not speak of himself: but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you." (John 16:7-14) Notice how positively the work of the Spirit is stated. The Spirit is to do a certain work, and what it is to do is in a positive, unwavering manner; and just as here it is stated distinctly and positively what he will do, it is just as true that the one who is imbued with the Spirit will also bear the positive, unwavering testimony. It is as true when the Spirit works now through the one who gives the testimony as in that case. How many are the statements and admonitions that have come of late with reference to giving the positive, earnest testimony; it is not now time to hesitate, to question, but the watchman is to give the trumpet a certain sound. If one does not give the trumpet a certain sound, who will prepare himself for the battle? It is time that the positive, earnest testimony be given in a positive, earnest manner. Those who go out with the message are to know what the message is, and then they are to carry it as though they believed the message with all their souls, and put their whole life right into it. If there is any mental reservation, or anything of that kind, it will be a death-trap to them, as well as to others. There is no other way now than to be positive in the work of God as never before. If we have ever been wavering or hesitating, it is time for that to be put away. But that does not mean for us to be defiant. It is a very, very different thing to go forth and declare the message of God with positiveness, without wavering, and going out in a defiant spirit. Remember that Christ never showed that defiant spirit in all his teachings. Now we see what the positive testimony of the Comforter will do. He will convince the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. He will convince of sin in our own hearts, and he will show to us more and more God's idea of sin, not our idea of sin. You know there is a very wide difference. The Spirit is to convince us of God's idea and God's view, of what sin is. I notice that many here have from time to time asked the Lord to show them themselves just as he saw them; and I suppose that is one petition that the Lord saw best not to grant us. And I don't believe we ought to ask him to do it. Now you see what the effect is apt to be when he begins to show us ourselves; we begin to question right off whether the Lord loves us or not, and whether the Lord can save us or not, and whether the Lord can take any one of such a character as that and fit him for his kingdom; I had no idea of my character. Well, the Lord probably has not begun to show us ourselves as he sees us; I do not suppose we have any idea; or any conception at all, of the way we look in God's sight; if we had, I suppose we would wonder more and more that he ever thought he could make anything out of us fit for his kingdom. But let him have his own way about that, and do it in his own way, and in his own time. Just let him do that as he thinks best. He wants that we should be fitted for his kingdom; he wants that everything that is unlike Christ shall be removed from us; and he will take the very best way to do it, if we will just let him. Now, how is it that we are convinced of sin our selves? It is when we see Jesus Christ. There is nothing about sin by which looking at sin convinces us of the enormity of sin; we are not convinced about it in that way. We are convinced of the character of sin, and the enormity of sin, when we look at righteousness -- just the opposite. It is by the contrast between sin and righteousness that we get an idea of what sin is. Sin cannot be explained; if it could be explained, there would be excuse for it. It cannot be explained. The way to tell about it, as to what it is, is to contemplate the character of Jesus Christ -- the righteousness of Jesus Christ. God's Spirit is to convince us in respect of sin in several ways. It does not stop by convincing us of the enormity of sin. Now the Spirit of God convinces us of sin; and Satan brings past sins to us. God's Spirit never brings up a sin to us, and convinces us in respect of that sin, when once it has been heartily confessed and forgiven; but the devil never brings up any other kind. What is the purpose that God has in bringing up sin to us? It is that he may forgive it and remove it from us. That is so. So the Spirit is the Comforter all the time; it is the Comforter that convinces us in respect of sin. But when that is done, and the sin is forgiven, then what? Then the devil takes hold of that case; then he begins to tell us about that sin, and he says, What a sinner you are. He did not say that before. Didn't he know it before? Why certainly. But he did not want us to know it. He did not want us to think anything about it. His very purpose is to keep us right there. Now God's purpose is to bring us out of that condition, and he wants us to co-operate with him in that work -- that is always the case in any work he does with us and for us -- God says, See that sin, I want to take it away. We say, That is so, I see that sin; take it. He wants to take it, and we give it to him, and he takes it and puts it as far from us as the east is from the west; he put it behind his back; he puts it into the depths of the sea. Then the devil says, Look at that sin, do you see that sin? Now what are we going to say? [Congregation: "No."] He says, Don't you see it right there? Well, if you will always say "no," and that it is not there, he will not catch you on that point. But he says, Do n't you see that sin? Then perhaps you say, Where? He says, Right there in front of you, do n't you see it? Well, I thought that sin had been taken away. Well, do n't you see it is not? Well, I declare, I was taught to believe that the Lord would take away my sins. Well, don't you see he has not. Now, every time you answer him back you begin to hesitate more and more, and pretty soon you think the sin is right there, and you will agree with him; and then what? Then that sin is present; just so fur as your experience is concerned, it is right there; is that not so? What does he bring it up for? Because he wants to try and convince you and me that the Lord does not forgive it, and he starts right in on that same old line that he did at first. What was it he said? Cannot you eat of the fruit in tins garden? The answer was, We can eat of every fruit in the garden but that one tree; we cannot touch that. Why not? Because if we do we will die. How do you know you will die? God said so. That is not so. God knows that the day you eat thereof you will become as gods, and know good and evil. Well, I guess that is so. You will remember the instructions how we can recognize the voice of the true Shepherd; and if it is not the Shepherd's voice we know whose voice it is talking that way. We have the authority of the Scripture to say to him every day and every night, and every hour of the day and night, You are a liar. [Congregation: "Amen."] That is not very polite language, but it is my candid opinion that he does not deserve any great courtesy when he comes to us in that way. I do not think we want to treat him so well that he will want to stay around. I should say, get up and call him a liar, and say to him, "Get out of here." Now we have a promise that he will go out, -- if we resist the devil he will flee from us. Now I tell you that the devil himself really feels that every soul who grasps the word of God, and has faith in Jesus Christ, can hurl anything and everything at him, and he will be perfectly helpless. You remember the word that we read here yesterday, where it says the devil looks at the saints of God who are taking hold of this truth in this way as an impregnable fortress, and it is incomprehensible to him. That is just the way the Lord wants it to be. The Lord does not want his children to be down all the time, to be overcome by Satan; he wants them to be victorious all the time. [Congregation: "Amen."] And victory now does not consist of a flight of feeling; victory consists in the faith that grasps the victory all the time, no matter whether it be darkness or light; no matter what it is. In spite of everything, it says, Victory, Victory; Thanks be unto God which always causeth us to triumph in Christ. Then we are not to take counsel of others; we are not to take counsel of our friends; we are to take counsel only of Christ Jesus. He has the power and he wants each his of children to be victorious all time. The Spirit convinces us of sin as a Comforter; and while it will perhaps give us views of sin -- just so far as we are able to bear -- it does not stop there. The devil shows us these things for the purpose of discouraging us and holding us in sin; but the Spirit of God shows us these things for the purpose of bringing us out. And so it brings words of comfort, words of life, words of cheer right with the sin. Now those who know what it is to be reproved by the Spirit of God in a special way and to accept that reproof and yield to it have known some of the most comforting experiences of their lives right in that. We say we can hardly understand how that can be; but it is so. The Spirit that convinces of sin is the Comforter. But while the Spirit convinces us in respect of sin and that we have need to be relieved of sin; it also convinces us in just as positive a manner, if we will accept the same testimony, of the forgiveness of sin; just as positive that the sin has been forgiven as that it was there in the first place. And we want to step right along with this instruction of the Spirit, so that when it convinces us with respect of sin that we are sinful, we are to know by the same convincing power that God forgives those sins. So, when he says to us, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness," we are to be just as sure of that as we were sure that we were sinful. That is where many in their practical experience rest under a cloud all the time. They are perfectly willing to acknowledge that the Spirit speaks to them when it reproves them of sin and tells them they are sinners. But when the Spirit brings also the word of forgiveness, they hesitate and question, and doubt over that. You know many persons who have had the same experience. When you have gone out to labor you have found those who have been professed Christians for years and years, and you have worked perhaps half an hour to get them, to say positively and plainly, just the simple statement, I know that my sins are forgiven. Why, you know how that, is without referring to some cases where you have labored, don't you? [Voices: Yes.] We used to think it was presumption to say we knew our sins were forgiven. It was all right to say we knew we were sinners. The Lord was right when he told us that but when he told us that he had forgiven the sin and that we were made righteous by the power of his word speaking righteousness to us, then we doubted that, and we thought it was presumption to say that. Well, God has been teaching us that all that he says to us is true, and that we are to say Amen to what he says and take it just as he says it for all that he says. That is what he wants us to do. He will take care of his truth. When we just stick to what the Word of God says, there is no trouble. If you cannot explain it, do not try to explain it. Keep saying over what ho says. You cannot go wrong then. If you do not understand it, and cannot see light in it, you keep right on saying what he says. I was troubled over that for some time. I did not dare to say anything else than what he says, and because I did not know what there was in it I was very careful to use exactly the words that he used, for I feared if I should use any other language a different meaning than the right one would be given to it. It helped me just to believe the very words, and so I kept on saying them, being careful not to turn them or twist them in the least, and after a while I began to see what they meant. And the experience of those words came to my life and I began to be more and more thankful for them, although I could not understand what I was saying when I preached them. It is safe always to say just what the Lord says. He will convince of sin, and then convince that that sin is forgiven. You will remember when the apostles went out to preach, and the Spirit came down upon them. You know what a simple story they told, -- about Jesus and him crucified, and how the Lord raised him up from the dead, and thus the Scriptures were fulfilled in him. Right after that they were convicted of sin. What was it that convicted them? That story has been told thousands and thousands of times since in every land, sometimes with apparently no effect, and sometimes with much of the same effect as at that time. What was it that gave the effect, that convicted them of sin? so that they said, "What shall we do?" It was the Spirit convicting them of sin. "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." (Acts 2:38) And there were three thousand that received the further conviction of righteousness. Now notice, Peter told them of circumstances with the outward nature of which they were perfectly familiar. It was no news in Jerusalem to tell them that Christ had been crucified. The circumstances were perfectly familiar to them. But it was the Spirit that brought this thing before their minds in such a way that they saw what they had done when they crucified Jesus Christ. The Spirit knows these things. "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." You let one be telling that simple story, and it may be that it means a great deal more to some one who hears it than to the one who tells it. It is very possible for that to be so. The Spirit works with the one who hears, and presents to him the real picture. The words draw the attention of the mind to a certain line of thought, but it is the Spirit that repeats that in its fullness to the mind, and when it does that with the power of the Spirit, and the real picture is presented; the real Christ is presented the real righteousness of Christ is presented, then comes with it the conviction of how far we are different from that. Sin is the transgression of the law. Sin is the being different from God; being out of harmony with him. Now when the real picture of Christ is presented, and the Spirit interprets the character of Christ, there comes a perfectly overwhelming consciousness of how different we are from that, and along with it is awakened the desire to be like that. You see the Spirit is not to discourage us by showing us the difference, and to encourage in our hearts the desire to be like Christ, to have the same character. So the Spirit convinces us of win. But it convinces us of righteousness. That is, as already brought out, the Spirit gives us a true idea of righteousness. Whose righteousness? Christ's, to be sure, Now the Spirit convinces in respect of sin, "because they believe not on me." "Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins." "There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become sons of God: even to them that believe on his name." It was through faith in his name that the lame man was healed. It is through faith in his name that we are healed. And it is the only escape from sin, and those who do not believe on Christ are still in their sins. It does not make any difference about the profession. It is a question of actual experience. No one can know God except the one to whom the Son revealeth him. Now if Christ is rejected, there is no channel through which God can be revealed to the man, and so all he will know about God will be his own idea of God. And the veriest heathen that makes a wooden image, sets it up as his idea of God, and worships it, is no more an idolater than is the most highly educated and civilized man in the world who tries to worship a God he does not know, except by the mental image he has set up in his mind. There is no difference in the principle of it. It is only by seeing Christ that God can be revealed to anyone. "No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him." Matthew 11:27. God is revealed to the world in Jesus Christ, and when Jesus Christ is refused, and rejected, there is no way that a man can learn God and what he is. Now he convinces us of the righteousness of God in Christ, -- the righteousness of Christ. And he convinces us that that is a wonderfully desirable thing to have, and then he goes on and says that we can have it, and from that he convinces us that we have it, if we follow him. He proves to us that the righteousness of Christ, -- the character of God in Christ, -- is wonderfully attractive. And he will convince us that there was never any other righteousness; that there can never be any other righteousness. Then away goes all thought of our own righteousness. We have no righteousness! The very contrast you see between his righteousness and ours convinces us that ours is all wrong. What a contrast between that garment woven in the loom of heaven, in which there is not a single thread of human invention, and our garments! We see right off that our garments are nothing but filthy rags, -- nothing else. That is righteousness; it is the only righteousness; it is the righteousness that we must have. But he says he will convince of righteousness, "because I go unto the Father, and ye see me no more." When Christ was here in this world he was interpreting to the world the righteousness of God. Now you see at once that the righteousness of God is not a theory. It is a living experience, and he was presenting to the world in himself the righteousness of God; he was interpreting to the world what the righteousness of God is. Nothing can separate the righteousness from the life. Righteousness is not a theory that is to be held separate from the life. The righteousness of God in Christ was the life of Christ. But he has gone away. He is not here before the world presenting the righteousness of God in person, but he says that when he goes he will send the Comforter to do that work. He will send the Spirit that will still interpret the character of God; because the Spirit brings the personal presence of Christ just as before. He will manifest himself to us as he does not to the world, and the personal presence of Christ by the Spirit will show us the righteousness of God just the same. The difference is in our favor; because the union is closer than when he was personally present with his disciples. Then he was to convince of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. [Here a lady in the audience arose and said that she praised the Lord because he convinced her of righteousness; to which the speaker replied: "He does convince you of righteousness? Praise the Lord. I hope he is convincing many hearts of righteousness right here."] I will read on this point of judgment: "For God sent not his Son into this world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned." Now what is the proof as to whether we are condemned or not? He that believeth on him is not condemned. That is what the Lord says to us. "He that believeth not is condemned already; because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God; and this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." (John 3:17-19) On this point also read further: "I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not; for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my word, hath one that judgeth him; the word that 1 have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. (John 12:46-48) The word "judge" used here is the same word as used in the third chapter "condemn," and in the sixteenth chapter as "judgment," and "judge." It is utterly impossible for me, and I have been thinking about this scripture for years, to see a half or a quarter of what is in it. But some thoughts that have come to me on this question of condemnation have helped me, and I will give them to you if they may possibly aid you in the study of the subject. He will convince you concerning condemnation. Now the purpose of the Spirit in revealing sin to us, and in revealing the righteousness of God to us is not to bring condemnation upon us, but to save us from condemnation. The purpose is not, I will convince you that you are a sinner, and then convince you that you are condemned. No, the work of the Spirit is to convince us that that condemnation has been taken away. Sin means death. "Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin and so death passed upon all men." (Romans 5:12) As though my name were written on this page, and right opposite is my condemnation. The very deeds that I do are my condemnation; my life is my condemnation. Now I accept Jesus Christ and his righteousness by faith. By faith I say, All that is wiped out. By faith I say The life of Chist: write that in place of it; for there is no condemnation in him. Now the Spirit convinces me that that condemnation is taken away; that the sentence stands no more; and that my name is entered in the book of the life of the Lamb. I notice that it says, He convinces of judgment or condemnation, because, "The prince of this world is judged." The revised version says, "hath been judged." On this point let me read: "Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die." (John 12:30-33) Now you see that the judgment of this world and the casting forth of Satan are connected with the death on the cross. "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." (Hebrews 2:14, 15) The thought is that the death of Christ on the cross is what takes away our condemnation, and seals the condemnation of Satan. Now the two want to go together; it takes away our condemnation, but it forever fixes the condemnation of Satan, Satan knew that. And did he not make every effort possible to defeat it? To prevent it, you see, would have a double meaning for him. It meant preventing our being saved, and preventing his death being eternal. Now the Spirit convinces us concerning condemnation; because the prince of this world hath been judged or condemned. What was it that condemned the prince of this world and forever sealed his case? It was the death of Christ. What is it that takes away our condemnation, and gives us life, and peace, and joy? The same death of Christ. The cross estimates what sin is; and sin can only be understood in the light of the cross. The cross estimates the value of eternal life, and eternal life can only be properly appreciated and valued in the light of the cross of Jesus Christ. Everything gathers right there, in Christ and him crucified. So Paul said he was to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified. Notice this thought. When Christ was on the cross, they reviled him. Then they said, If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross; ... he saved others, himself he cannot save." Yet, that very moment of his deepest humiliation, was the hour of his greatest victory. It was then he made sure our escape from condemnation. Looking at it in another way, It was then that he saved both himself and us. They reviled him, saying that he could neither save himself nor others. But in his refusing to listen to their revilings and come down from the cross, he saved both himself and us. It is a wonderful thought to me that after Christ had come here to this earth and taken on him our nature, then he put himself right where we are. The only way back to heaven for us is by way of the cross. The only way back to heaven for him was by the way of the cross. Then comes in that wondrous thought that when he was in heaven and was sure of all heaven, and we were lost and deserved to be lost, he put himself where he himself risked the loss of heaven, in order that he might share heaven with you and me. That is the love of God in Jesus Christ. Now the Spirit comes and convinces of sin; it convinces of righteousness; and then it convinces that the condemnation has passed away, and witnesses that we are the sons of God. Now, I say, let us welcome such an offer from God as that. Just open wide the heart and let it come in. Just let. it. And let it convince of sin; for when the Comforter convinces of sin there is comfort in it. There is a purpose in it. It is a very different thing when the devil convinces of sin. Let the Spirit come in and convince us of just what we need to be convinced of. But do not forget that while it convinces of sin, the same Spirit convinces of righteousness, and that the righteousness of Christ. And it convinces us in respect of condemnation; that the condemnation of sin; and Satan is fixed; that our release from condemnation is complete. Then we can thank God for the Spirit. THE PROMISE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. -- No. 10. PROF. W. W. PRESCOTT There are a few more thoughts to which I will call your attention in the scripture that was read last evening, then we will pass to another part of the subject. "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you." (John 16:12, 13, 14) The Saviour said that he had other things that he wanted to tell them about, and he would not hesitate from doing it while he was present with them, but they could not bear them, and that they were not where they could properly consider the matter at that time. The promise was that the spirit of truth would come, -- the Spirit of truth, -- the spirit of truth. That means to my mind this: The Spirit that discerns truth because it is the truth. There is a great difference between that, and hearing a long argument on one side and the other, and weighing the reasons for and against, and finally deciding that the balance of argument is in favor of this view, or this thought, or this doctrine, therefore I accept that as truth. It is that Spirit that decides that a thing is truth because it is truth. It is that Spirit which does not have to hear any other side, -- that recognizes truth as truth, and error as error; because of the presence of the Spirit of truth. That Spirit is greatly needed just at this time, because there will be every wind of doctrine blowing, every effort made to bring in -- not in an open way, but in an underhanded way, in a way that we shall not recognize of our own wisdom -- principles that really involve the whole question. They will, of course, be brought up in some way so as to deceive if possible. No one who has any wisdom sufficient to lead him to try to deceive, would make the deception so plain that every one would recognize it as a deception; but the effort will be made to bring it in as the truth, and to cloak it under the garment of truth, and yet, putting it in such a way that it will involve the whole question, and bring us to compromise with error without our knowing it. The Spirit of truth is necessary, to prevent that. Our wisdom and our discernment and our perception, when we are left to ourselves, without the special enlightening influence of the Spirit, will not be sufficient to guard us against the specious devices that Satan will bring into this work at this time. Now comes the crisis; now comes the time when every effort will be made to mislead, to deceive, and to cover up the truth, to keep it from the people and to turn them away from it. And so the effort will be made, which we in all our wisdom will be unable to perceive. I cannot tell you how it will come. You do not know how it will come; but it will probably come from a quarter least expected. When we are watching one point, thinking perhaps there is where the deception will come from, that that is the channel through which it will be manifested, it will come in some other way. It will take more wisdom and more discernment than we possess to perceive the way from which it will come, and be ready to recognize it as soon as it comes. We do not want a principle of error to come in, in a suspicious way, to lead us off from the principles of truth and righteousness, the way cast up for the ransomed of the Lord to walk in. But he will lead us, he will guide us, he will direct us in the way of all truth. "He shall not speak of himself." Christ did not speak of himself; he spoke the words that the Father gave him. The Spirit did not speak of himself, "but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you." Christ glorified the Father when he was here, and in the following chapter, he says, "I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work that thou gavest me to do." We might read it: I have glorified thee on the earth by finishing the work thou gavest me to do. What was he given to do? His work was to represent God to the world in the flesh, to interpret to the world the character of God. He came into the world to do that, to make plain to the world the character of God. It was to glorify the Father. So we read: "Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit." (John 15:8) We are to be filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God. That will glorify him through our instrumentality just as Christ glorified him when he, was here. The Spirit is to glorify Christ. That is, he is to reveal Christ to us and in us. He is to bring to us the presence of Christ and what he really is; to enlighten our minds as to the true character of Christ, and then to reveal that character in us. That will glorify Christ. That will interpret Christ to the world. Then when the Spirit comes in its fullness, do you not see that Christ will be glorified and magnified as never before? That Christ will be the topic, Christ will be the thought, his righteousness will be everywhere? One theme will occupy every mind, How we can best represent Christ and his righteousness. Allow me to read a few words on this point: "He shall glorify me." This is life eternal that they might know thee -- the only true God, and Christ whom he has sent! The Holy Spirit glorifies God by so revealing his character to his people that he becomes the object of supreme affection. They see clearly that there was never any righteousness in the world but his, -- no excellency in the world but that derived from him. When the Spirit was poured out from on high, the church was filled with light, but Christ was the source of that light. His name was on every tongue, his love filled every heart. So it will be when the angel that comes down from heaven having great power shall "lighten the earth with his glory." Now we want to take that as an actual experience that is to come now. We do not want to consider this as a question, as to how it will be sometime, or somewhere, or how it was in the apostle's days, but it seems to me that our minds want to be held to this point all the time; -- This is present experience. We want to understand this for ourselves and we want to believe for these very experiences now. True, they were experiences of olden days, but they are to be repeated, and even with greater power and fullness in our day; and there are to be those right here, as I have said before, who are to see these things for themselves. I pray God that I may be one of them. I want to see these things. I want to live in these things. It is what we have been looking forward to for years. I praise God that it is here. I want to see it; and not only that, I want to be right in it and have a part in it. We will further consider this evening some thoughts brought out in the twelfth chapter of First Corinthians where it speaks of the gifts. I can only consider these briefly. "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of opinions, but it is the same God which worketh all in all." (Verses 4-6) Notice these three verses. In the fourth it is the "same Spirit," in the fifth it is the "same Lord," and in the sixth it is the "same God." "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith, by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: but all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will." (1 Corinthians 12:7-11) The first thought I want to call your attention to in connection with this general subject is this: That it is the same Spirit, the same Lord, and the same God in all, and that these gifts are but the manifestations of the same Spirit. Notice how this Spirit is spoken of in the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, where some of the characteristics of the Spirit are given. "And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. And he shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears." (Verses 2, 3) Now in whom were these gifts fully manifested? [Ans. Christ.] You will remember that when Christ was here the Spirit was not measured out to him, and all these gifts were manifested through Christ, in whom was the fulness of the God-head bodily who was anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows, who was anointed with the Holy Spirit. Let us notice these gifts: The word of wisdom: They said, Never man spake like this man. They were astonished at his words and said, Whence hath this man such wisdom? Isn't he the son of Joseph? Isn't this the carpenter? Are not his brothers and his sisters right here with us? He received that Spirit of wisdom from above. So we might go through all the list and speak of the faith in his life, of healing, and the work of miracles, of prophecies, and the discerning of spirits, etc., etc. The gift of tongues was given to the disciples on the day of Pentecost. But it was given them for use right then, so that those of all the different nationalities might hear the gospel in the language which they could understand. So it did not need any interpretation of tongues there. Follow the experience of the disciples and see how these gifts were manifested at once. Here was the gift of tongues manifested in the very outpouring of the Spirit of God. The gift of healing was seen in the case of the lame man at the gate of the temple. Then the Spirit came when Peter and John were called before the council, and they took knowledge of them that they had been with Christ. They knew they were unlearned and ignorant men. You may follow the whole record through and find instances. Peter was filled with the Spirit of wisdom so that he understood the whole matter about Ananias and Sapphira, that they lied to the Holy Ghost and proposed to keep back part of the money. And then in the case of Stephen when he was brought before the council, "They were unable to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake." Acts 6:10. It was the gift. It was not any unusual thing for one to prophesy, or for the Spirit to be manifested in vision. That was continually happening. When the gospel was to go to the Gentiles, Cornelius had a vision. He obeyed it. Peter had a vision to prepare him for the mission he was to perform. The Spirit told him that the men were down at the door waiting for him, and further instructed him to go with them, nothing doubting. He went and preached, and the Holy Spirit fell upon him. We read in the tenth chapter that when the Holy Spirit fell on them, "they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God" The gift of tongues was manifested right there. When Paul went on his way preaching, he asked some of the disciples if they had received the Holy Ghost since they believed. The revised version says, "did ye receive the Holy Ghost when ye believed." They said that they had not heard about it in that way, and then "they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied." (Acts 19:5, 6) So all through the records the gifts accompanied the outpouring of the Spirit. You well know that there is no record of the withdrawal of those gifts from the church. The point is that the Spirit was withdrawn because of the turning away from God and refusing to submit to him; because the mystery of iniquity worked, and the man of sin came in; because self was set up in place of God. Then the Spirit was withdrawn. But now in the closing work of God, he wants that Spirit to be manifested again, and the gifts in the church to reappear. The gifts will reappear in the church. And God does not intend, as it seems to me, that these gifts are to be confined just to one here, or perhaps one there, and that it shall be a rare thing that any special gift shall be manifested in any church. I believe that in this closing work, with the outpouring of the Spirit will come back in their fulness the gifts to the church just as in the early church. So that there will be the gift of wisdom, the gift of knowledge by this Spirit; gifts of healing; working of miracles; prophesyings; interpretation of tongues; -- all these things will be manifested again in the church. Such an experience is spoken of in 1 Corinthians 1:5-7: "That in everything ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: so that ye come behind in no gift, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." That is to be the experience of the church waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, -- every gift of the Spirit is to be manifested. There are to be diverse gifts -- diverse operations, but the same Spirit, the same Lord. There is to be perfect unity all the way through. Following in the same chapter is the wonderful illustration of the human body. You see how this illustrates the idea of perfect unity in the church, that there should be no divisions, no schisms. Suppose one foot decided to go over here, and the other foot decided to go over there; of course there would be a tearing apart of the body. Suppose you decided to go home tonight, and your feet decided not to go; if you left them there would be a tearing asunder of the body. Suppose one hand says, No, I am not going, I will stay here; there would be a tearing asunder of the body. Now just in that way we are all members of one body, the church. The body is Christ; and whenever the body is to move, and one hand takes hold of something, and says, No, I am going to stop here, there is a tearing asunder, -- there is a marring of the body of Christ, just as though your hand took hold of this post and you went on without it. The tearing asunder of any member causes suffering. When any member does not perform the work assigned to it properly, all suffer; and so there should be that spirit of unity in the church that the whole church will be governed by one mind and one will, just the same as all the members of the body are under the control of one mind and one will; and in the church, that mind must be the mind of Christ. Then there is no tearing asunder; then there are no members left behind to cause a marred body, but each member fills its place under the direction of one mind and one Spirit. That is the unity that Christ wants in his church. To one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom. The promise, which we are to take especially for this time, is found in Luke 21. Speaking of those who shall be brought into strait places, and before governors and kings to give their testimony: "Settle it therefore in your hearts not to meditate before what ye shall answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay or resist." Verses 14, 15. Now that is the promise to be relied upon specially at this time. He will give you a mouth and wisdom that none of your adversaries shall be able to gainsay or resist. But this means to rely perfectly on the word of God, and to have a perfect confidence in God, to step right out in a practical way upon that promise. There are those here that will be brought into that place, and we have had instruction that the time is very near when we shall be brought to give our testimony before the rulers of the earth. Now when we are brought there, on whom are we to depend? The Spirit of God, and the promise, "I will give you a mouth and wisdom that none of your adversaries shall be able to gainsay or resist." But you see, we have got to take that promise and act upon it in order that the promise shall be fulfilled to us. It will not be that we will depend upon our own wisdom and then the Lord will make that wisdom; but he will actually give you a mouth and wisdom. It is just the same as it was in the case of Jeremiah, as recorded in the first chapter. The Lord called him, and he said:-- "Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee and whatsoever I shall command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant." (Jeremiah 1:6-10) In connection with this you will remember the experience of Moses, as set forth in Exodus 4: The Lord said unto him, "Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say" (Verse 12) Now just take that as a practical promise. Remember that when the Lord said that to Moses and sent him to deliver the people, he said it to every servant of his from that time and on, whom he sends on a similar errand. It is not necessary to send one to the country of Egypt, but every one of his servants to whom he gives a message or word for the delivering of his people, to every one of them he speaks that word and light at that time. Just go; I will be with you, and I will teach you what you shall say. But in order to get the benefit of that promise we are to stand on that promise, and act upon it. It will be fulfilled to us as in Isaiah 50:4. "The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth my ear to hear as the learned." Now when the Spirit is given to his disciples, and to his followers -- to those that will be ministers of the manifold graces of God -- when he gives his Spirit in this way, all these scriptures are to be fulfilled to us. Is n't this a glorious thought? to think of these things as being simple and real, and that the Lord was speaking just as much to you and me, when he spoke that, as to Moses. We are to take it that way, and we ought to be just as simple as children about it -- simple enough to believe that the Lord means exactly what he says, and then act upon it. Any other attitude than that spoils the whole thing. Let me read on that: "Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool that he may be wise." (1 Corinthians 3:18) Now the first step in order to become wise in the eyes of the Lord is to become a fool. That is to be perfectly simple; not to be demented, not to be an idiot, that isn't it; but to be perfectly simple, and to know continually that we know nothing as we ought to know it; but always to be in the attitude of receiving light and wisdom from him. You will remember the words of Paul concerning this when he preached. "Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the prince of this world that cometh to naught: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory." (1 Corinthians 2:6, 7) Now it is true that the salient facts of Christianity are perfectly simple and plain as facts, and it is true that it is perfectly easy for anyone who will, to receive them unto salvation as living experiences in his own daily life; but it is also true that there is a science of Christianity. We have spoken continually of a chain of truth. Now I believe that the time will come, as these things are revealed, when there will be a perfect chain of truth. A perfect chain, link after link, and I believe that that chain will unite us to the hope which we have, which is like an anchor of the soul, "both sure and steadfast, and which enters into that within the veil;" and that there will be a perfect chain of truth that will unite our souls to Christ within the veil. There is a perfect science, I say, of Christianity that only the Spirit of God can open up to us, and only under the direction of his teaching shall we be able to bring it out. And in my experience there is nothing, shall I say, from an intellectual standpoint, that appeals so strongly to my mind. There is nothing that possesses a greater fascination to my mind than the working after this truth. There is something about it that draws one out all the time, and he is conscious all the time of more to which he is to reach forward. We think to-day that it is a glorious truth; and to-morrow we see more, and we reach a little farther, and a little farther, and all the time we are conscious that there is something greater beyond. It was illustrated to me in an experience that I had with a gentleman who was describing to me a silver mine, and the experience in developing it. He said they had been cutting a tunnel into the mountain, and as they worked along towards the deposits, they found that they were near a grand pocket of ore. He said that now they were working for that pocket, and just as soon as they struck that pocket, the stock would go up. But now we are right near a pocket of rich truth. No one knows when we are going to strike it, and we are liable to strike it any day. We are just finding these veins of truth, and we are strictly safe in saying that there is a great pocket near at hand; the indications are to that effect. And when will we strike it? Why, almost any day. We are just ready to break into that perfect pocket of wisdom, light and glory in the word of God. Well, let us keep digging, and cutting the vein, and working for it. To one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge; to another faith; to another the gift of healing; to another the working of miracles. The same working of miracles will recur as in the early church. The servants of God will go out, their faces will be lighted up with the Spirit of God resting upon them and with a holy consecration to the work, and these will follow them. Then will be fulfilled in a larger sense the scripture, "These signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils" etc., etc. It will come to us, thank God. Unto him be all the glory. Now when I think that for four years we have been in the time of the latter rain, and that God has wanted to pour out his Spirit that these gifts might be restored, that his work might go with power; and that he wishes us to join gladly in the work and co-operate with him with the whole heart, it occurs to me that we have been the hands that have been holding on and the feet that wouldn't go; and rather than tear the whole body to pieces the body has waited. So we are told that we are years behind; and if some of the hands had not held on, and some of the feet had not refused to go, so that the body could not move without tearing it to pieces, the body would have gone right along these four years. But rather than tear out a limb and leave it by the wayside -- that means you and me -- and so this four years' course be marked all the way by these parts of the body scattered along over the course, -- rather than do that, the Lord in great mercy has let the body wait, so that we should not be torn out and be left by the wayside. But the body is going on now; and I say, Let every hand, and every foot, and every member be ready to go, that the body be not torn asunder. That is what the Lord wants to do, and he is going to do it now: and he has warned us and told us of it for four years. To another he gave the gift of prophecy. It was a characteristic of Christ that he was the spokesman for God. It was prophesied of him before he came. You will remember the prophecy in Deuteronomy 18:18: "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." And just as he finished his work here, he said to the Father: "I have given them the word which thou gavest me." Now to prophesy, in its broadest sense, as it seems to me, is to be a spokesman for God, whether you are to talk about the past, present, or future. It is to be a mouthpiece for God. Christ was a perfect mouthpiece for God. He should not speak of himself at all; and let me say, his followers are to be such perfect mouthpieces for Christ by the Spirit, that every word that is spoken shall be the word of Christ. And away will go all lightness, and chaffiness, and common talk, and jesting, and everything of that kind. It will go to the four winds. You do not find anything like that in the character of Christ. And when the Spirit of God rests upon man, he does not have any inclination to do that at all. A different spirit and a different mind takes possession of him. It is time for this Spirit, and we are told to look for it. The last discourse that Christ gave was on the Spirit. The thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth chapters of John are parts of one discourse on the Spirit, and how it manifests itself. Now is the time for us to discourse, as we have not been doing, on the Spirit, and believe for it. I wish to bring in another thought right here. "Quench not the Spirit." (1 Thessalonians 5:19) The same phrase is used exactly as when we say, Quench not a fire, Do not put out the fire. We say the fire was quenched by pouring water upon it. Quench not the Spirit. I have sometimes wondered what the force and meaning of that was. Put this scripture with it, and see if it does not throw light upon it: "Is not my word like as a fire? " (Jeremiah 23:29) The Spirit of God dwells in his word, and it is through his word that all these blessings and graces come. Now we are told to Quench not the Spirit; do not put it out. "Our God is a consuming fire." "Is not my word like as a fire?" Then you see how naturally followed the inquiry made by the disciples: "And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the Scriptures?" (Luke 24:32) It says their heart burned as he talked to them of the Scriptures. As he opened the Scriptures the word was like a fire and they did n't quench it. Now when it is like that, and the message is like a fire shut up in the bones, it will come out. And when it comes out there will be light and power in it. Quench not the Spirit. It is the Spirit of God in his word that gives it power, and it is by that Spirit through his word -- because all these things came through the word, -- that all these gifts and graces come to us. Now in closing, just a word. We have been talking for these evenings on this question of the Spirit, and how to receive it, and what it will do for us. But this subject does not want to stop here, or be left here. It seems as though almost the last word ought to be the same as almost the first word, and that is: The Spirit received is the thing that teaches us about the Spirit. That is what we want. And these promises are to be taken as belonging to us just exactly as much as they did to the disciples, and in the same sense; that the Saviour was speaking to you and to me; and that this word is just as much to us and is spoken just as much for us now as though he spoke to us in person; because his word goes right on speaking all the way down to the very last. Then just let the Spirit come into our hearts, and let that be the theme.