The supreme leader : a study of the nature and work of the Holy Spirit

Front matter

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Preface

This volume is the outcome of studies undertaken to solve problems which arose in connection with my duties as ateacher. In attempting to learn something respecting the extraordinary work of the Holy Spirit in the inspiration of the Old Testament prophets, I came to see the necessity of learning first the ordinary operations of the Holy Spirit. The study of this latter subject has shown me that our common life is filled with a glory half-veiled from our unseeing eyes. We need not ascend to heaven to bring the Spirit down, nor descend into the abyss to bring him up; he is nigh in Scripture, still giving it life, and yet more, he is in all human life and relations, giving them all the power and value which they have. 7

A special reason for writing this volume lies in the fact that the Spirit’s leadership is often connected with only a few striking forms of evangelistic work. It is hoped that souls who have been led to regard the ‘“‘power” of an evangelist as the one desirable form of the Spirit’s leadership may come to see how many other gifts come from him, and that they may come to see that

other and desirable gifts are actually in their hands waiting to be used.

In these days we are hoping and longing for some great increase in the power of the Gospel. New knowl-

Vi PREFACE

* edge of the truth and new insight into it have encouraged us to look for some great advance on the part of the Church of Christ. Our greatest need is that of the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit in the daily life of Christians. When we shall give ourselves up unreservedly to the use of the sanctifying grace which he offers, the Church cannot but make an advance.

I should have been helped in the preparation of this volume, if I could have studied some books which have appeared since the manuscript went to the printers. Worthy of especial mention are Walker’s 7he Spirzt and the Incarnation, Starbuck’s Psychology of Religion, Clark’s The Paraclete, and Inge’s Christian Mysticism. Clearness of thought is assisted by sharp-cut statements in the last work such as “The purpose of the incarnation was to reveal the Father,’ “The purpose of the mission of the Comforter was to reveal ¢he Son.” Robertson’s Holy Spirit and Christian Service is an attractive title and the exposition is a helpful one.

That this volume may help toward more efficient service of the Master is the prayer of the writer.

EPABEE OF CONTENES

Introduction

> LUDYAT

THE BIBLICAL TEACHING RESPECTING THE SPIRIT OF GOD CHAPTER I. THE OLD TESTAMENT TEACHING Il. THe INTERMEDIATE LITERATURE

III. THE TEACHING OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

SEU IOVOE

WHAT CHRISTIANS HAVE LEARNED FROM THOUGHT AND EXPERIENCE

Chapter I. Development Of Thought Until 400 A. D

Ie GHEE PERIOD 400 TO. 140004 Ds II]. THe PERIOD OF TRANSITION, 1400 TO Loo CAD: IV. THE CENTURY OF THE REFORMATION V. PERVERSIONS OF THE TRUTH .

VI. PURITAN FAITH IN ENGLAND, 1600-1700 VII. THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT, 1700 TO 1800

VII. THE NINETEENTH CENTURY ©.

PAGE xI

58 64

100 106

Vill TABLE OF CONTENTS

SFUDY. III THE WORK AND THE PERSON OF THE HOLY SPIRIT CHAPTER J. THE Hoy Spirit as Gop IMMANENT IN THE WORLD

Il. THe Hoty SPIRIT AS THE AGENT MAK- ING EFFECTUAL THE PRIESTLY WORK

OF JESUS CHRIST

Ill.: THeE,- Hoty, SPIRIT “AS. THE AGENT: CAR=

RYING ON THE PROPHETIC WORK OF

JESUS CHRIST

IV. THE Hoty Sprrit As THE AGENT CAR- RYING ON THE KINGLY WORK OF JESUS CHRIST.

Vo - THe” Horry -SpPrrif | aA’ PERSON . IN)’ THE

DEITY

SEU Cae THE HOLY SPIRIT AND CHRISTIAN LIFE AND SERVICE

CHAPTER I. NEED OF THE HOLY SPIRIT FOR EFFECT-

IVE CHRISTIAN SERVICE

II. THe MopEs IN WHICH THE HOLY SPIRIT MAKES CHRISTIAN SERVICE EFFECTIVE

AND THE VALUE OF THESE MODES

Ill. THE EVIDENCE OF THE PRESENCE OF THE Hoy SpirRIT IN HUMAN LIFE ACCORD- ING TO THE CAPACITY AND NEEDS OF

A PERSON

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1X

CHAPTERIV. THE CONDITIONS WHICH MUST BE FUL- FILLED IN ORDER THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT MAY BECOME OPERATIVE IN A HUMAN LIFE ACCORDING TO THE NEEDS

AND CAPACITY OF THE INDIVIDUAL . 226 APPENDIX . ; ; : : : _MZSO

INDEX : ‘ : : : ae

INTRODUCTION

So far as the writer of this volume has any knowledge, the thoughtful reader of a book dealing with the subject of the Holy Spirit lays that volume down with a sense of disappointment. There is reason why this should be the case. It is a fact that Christians commonly have a general impression that their religious life is dependent upon the Holy Spirit, but they have little knowledge which can be called precise. They do not press on to learn the meaning of the teaching of Scripture by making the Spirit so thoroughly regnant in their lives that they can have the experience necessary for real knowledge. Therefore Christian experience in general is not sufficiently Christlike to enable those. who write upon the subject to set forth a fully developed doctrine of the Holy Spirit.

When the standard of life and thought in the disciples of our Lord shall have become more like his own, when Christians shall have attained more complete knowledge of their experience by means of prolonged and patient reflection upon the facts of the entire sphere of man’s inner life, then a more adequate statement of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit

Xl INTRODUCTION may be written. Until that time the discussions of the subject may help to open the eyes of Christians to the nature of their privileges and the conditions of these privileges, and also help to prepare the way for a discussion more worthy of the theme.

It would be unjust to belittle the work of the past. The writings of the Greek and Latin Fathers of the fourth and fifth centuries must always remain a mine of wealth for him who would study the doctrine of the person of the Holy Spirit. The chief discussions on the subject begin with the letters of Athanasius to Serapion, and continue in the writings of: Basil the Great, Gregory Nazianzen, Didymus, Hilary of Poitiers, Ambrose and Augustine. Since the Reformation the important writings on the Holy Spirit have concerned his works or offices more than his person, Valuable suggestions of truth are scattered through the writings of the Reformers of the sixteenth century. In the seventeenth century the treatises of the Puritans, John Owen and John Goodwin, are the chief formal discussions of the great theme. Within the _ present century, ‘notably during the past thirty years, many small volumes have been published, and valuable discussions are to be found in reviews and cyclopedias.?

A little reading on the subject eOnKE the fact that one should approach it from several sides, and that he who would learn the conditions of obtaining the constant guidance of the Supreme Leader of the

INTRODUCTION X11

Church of Christ and of every individual Christian, must gain his knowledge of that Leader from every source whence it may be derived.

In the study of the subject we quickly find four questions of chief importance:

I. What does the Bible teach about the Holy Spirit ?

II. What have Christians learned from the teachings of the Bible and their own experience ?

III. What may be regarded as the Christian view of the work and person of the Holy Spirit?

IV. What is the practical significance of the truths brought to light in the answers to the preceding questions?

Man has no adequate knowledge of God save through the revelation recorded in the Holy Scriptures; and he is unable correctly to interpret his own spiritual life except by the same aid. Thus it is evident that all knowledge of the Holy Spirit is dependent upon the revelation recorded in the Scriptures. It is the fact that during the history of the Christian Church Christians have discerned the meaning of those revelations with more or less clearness. It is also true that the facts all need to be carefully interpreted by reflection from the standpoint of a person to whom the life molded by the Spirit is a reality.

These four questions are made the subjects of four -

XIV INTRODUCTION |

Studies, and the record of the investigation to which they have led is designedly brief. It is hoped that many questions left untouched may be suggested to the reader. No discussion of miracles is attempted. No hypothesis of inspiration is suggested, yet it is hoped that the chief elements of an adequate doctrine have been brought to light in the investigation. It is believed that the facts pointed out give room for any criticism of the Scriptures, literary or historical, in which the unfettered investigation of the Christian scholar may. engage. The question, ‘‘ What is the sin against the Holy Spirit?’ is left to others to answer.

TLHESOUPK EME: LEADER

~

SE CHD AYE

WHAT DO THE SCRIPTURES TEACH CONCERNING...

In the attempt to find the answer to this question one finds that it was only by a gradual development that the Biblical writers attained the full Scriptural conception of the Spirit of God. This development is found within the Old Testament writings, and becomes especially manifest in those of the New Testament. The material gained in the investigation readily falls under the following topics:

I. The Old Testament idea of the Spirit of God. A. The idea expressed by the word spirit. B. The idea of holiness.

C. The Old. Testament. conception-of the Spirit olzGod.

II. The ideas found in the extra-Biblical Jewish literature. ; III. The New Testament teaching about the Holy Spirit. fA. The work of the Holy Spirit.

Do Lhe personal conception.) of; the oly, Spirit:

CHAPTE Rel

THE OLD TESTAMENT IDEA‘OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD

A. The idea expressed by the word spirit

The word spirit in its common Biblical use expresses an idea which is the last of a series of ideas connected with the word, and the successive ideas of the series mark stages of experience and thought. In this respect the word is like all words which relate to the inner life of man. As man passes from the childlike and outward apprehension of his experience to maturer knowledge he comes to believe in the existence of some realities which his physical senses cannot perceive. These newly recognized realities are suggested through his experience. In this experience the newly recognized reality is associated with something already perceived by the physical senses. The name given to the object formerly perceived is now applied to the new reality. Thus it is that the words which relate to the inner life of man originally designated something belonging to his outer» life which he perceived by his physical senses. This idea of the outer physical object as the beginning of the development has well been called a physical or intuitive substratum of language.

The words ruach, pneuma and spiritus are excellent illustrations of the development of the spiritual idea from its intuitive substratum. They are each — derived from a root meaning to breathe, or to blow.

Thought easily passes from breath in man to the life which is present so long as he breathes and which ceases when breath ceases. In the phrase ruach chayyim, breath of life (Gen. 6:17; 7:15), the two ideas are associated. The phrase is elaborated yet more in n7shmath ruach chayyim, breath of the breath (spirit) of life (Gen. 7:22). Here the ruach is at least passing from the percept of breath cognizable by the senses to the concept of life, a reality present in a being wherever the breath is perceptible. An illustration of the use of the word with the meaning life is seen in Job 10:12; here rach denotes the principle of life in man which is preserved by God. In Job 17:1, this same life-principle is enfeebled in its action. A similar use of the word is found in Judg. 15:9; 1 Sam.30:,125 Ps, B76) In at Kethoss 5o2:Chron, 402 4, the meaning passes from the life-principle to the feeling of life. The queen of Sheba saw the splendor and state of Solomon’s court “and there was no longer spirit in her; ” her sense of self-mastery and reticence which ordinary etiquette and royal dignity demanded vanished, and she burst forth into speeches of wonder and admiration. Here the meaning of rwach has come to the border of the physical life and touches that of the spiritual life- :

Through the idea of the consciousness of life the ~ mind easily passes to the idea of consciousness ine.

general, and then to that of knowledge. heresies also another channel by which the mind may pass from the physical breath to mental states and dispositions. Some change in a person's breathing is one of the most noticeable indications of his feelings. The dilated nostril with hasty breath—even snorting—_=is ‘a*signof anger. On ‘the? other hand a restraining of breath is an indication of fear or anxiety. Thus rack comes to express feeling.

The processes of thought which have just been illustrated were continued until rwzach, breath, life or the principle of all human life, came to denote every form of energy of man’s higher life for which we have no better term than spiritual life. Hence ruach denotes man’s intelligence (Is. 29:24); his feelings, aeerages (uda.mon 63 Ahr. 16°32; 29:11), courage Gosh 2: 11),.desite (Iss 20. 9); his general disposition, (Ps! 32:2); his-moral nature®-(Pr.\16- 18), and even his volitions (Ps. 78:8; Num. 14:24).

When man conceived himself as made in the image of God and thought of his own personal nature as breathed into him by God, he inevitably applied the terms describing his own nature to God. Thus God's ruach easily came to signify a breeze, wind or storm; then it could mean the living energy of God manifesting itself in the physical world (Ex. 15:8; Hos. 13:15), and in man, and finally the divine intelligence, affections or will.

B. The Biblical idea of holiness 4

In the New Testament the proper name of the Spirit of God is Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament the common name is Spirit of God or of Jehovah. There is, however, a slight preparation for the New Testament usage in the Old Testament. Three times 6 Ps4254 1 1; ws). 03 210; 11) the fame is Azs, or thy holy Spirtt. What is the nature of this idea which is attached to the Spirit of Jehovah in such a manner that it should have become essential to his name in the New Testament?

The words which express the idea of holiness, godhesh, gadhosh, gadhash, present one of the most interesting linguistic problems of the Old Testament. It must be believed that these words, like ruach, originally meant something perceptible to the physical senses. “The truth is, that these words are nowhere found save in a religious sense, and the attempt to ascertain the physical conception on which this use is based is generally abandoned by modern scholars as hopeless. There is, however, a certain probability that the primary idea is that of ‘separation’ or ‘cutting off. Although this view is not capable of demonstration, it may be adopted

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- provisionally as one which fits in remarkably well with Old Testament usage.”2 Another suggestion which fits in with Old Testament usage is that of ‘unapproachableness.”? This view also has strong support.

Since there is so little knowledge regarding the primary idea of this root, nothing better can be done ~ than to ascertain as exactly as possible the religious sense of the word.

Israel probably found the word already in use in a religious sense, and at the beginning it is likely that they used it precisely as their neighbors did. There are passagés which seem to indicate that in the earliest use of the word for a religious purpose it meant cleanliness (Ex. 19:10, 11) of body and of clothing as a condition for coming before Jehovah for worship. It is likely that a more common idea of holiness was much like what is commonly called taboo, 7.€., “a custom universal among primitive peoples, according to which man’s free use of natural objects, etc., was restrained by fear of supernatural penalties.’

At some period in the history of Israel, earlier than the writing of the Old Testament narratives, the idea of holiness had come to be that of ownership by Jehovah, 7. e., things were holy because they belonged to Jehovah and were set apart for his pleasure. This statement of the meaning of holiness gives little help when we seek an answer to the question what holiness meant when it was affirmed of Jehovah.

The idea of the holiness of Jehovah may be

IO THE SUPREME LEADER derived from either of the primary ideas suggested above, “separation ” or “ unapproachableness.” Jehovah abhorred impurity, 7. ¢., he shrank from it as though sensitive to the contact (Lev. 19:25, 26,45 ; Ezek. 43:7, 9). From the idea of separation would easily come the idea of physical purity, and then moral purity. From the idea of unapproachableness would easily come the idea of high moral character and perfection. Many writers on Old Testament subjects seem fettered by the etymological conceptions given above, so that they fail to rise to the wealth of thought which some of the prophets and psalmists put into their idea of God’s holiness. Usus norma loquendt. The prophets use the term to denote the ethical perfection of Jehovah. Therefore, holiness means the richest ethical conception to which the prophets. could attain. This conception of God’s holiness is that characteristic which distinguishes the Old Testament religion from the religions of the neighbors of Israel.

For Amos, Jehovah’s oath by his holiness (4: 2) is apparently equivalent to the oath by himself CORBIS 72: e., by his own being. For Amos, Jehovah’s essential character was righteousness, hence, for him, Jehovah’s holiness, righteousness and being are one and the same thing. Isaiah (5: 16) regarded judgments which were the expressions of Jehovah's righteousness as also manifestations of his holiness. Further, the holiness of God is closely connected with his redemptive interpositions on behalf of Israel, i.

TIIE OLD TESTAMENT IDEA AiR or with his manifestations of grace to Israel (Ps. 22: eg TO e eed eo bee aan TATRA 12026) With the prophets holiness means “everything which God has disclosed of an ethical nature, wrath, vengeance, fiery zeal of retribution, his lawgiving word, his grace, love, compassion, all are proof of one and the same fundamental energy in him, namely, the vindication of his ethical purity and perfection in the contest against everything which antagonizes him and his holiness, and its purpose is the upbuilding of the kingdom of the pure and the good.’ Holiness is thus manifested alike in the negative antagonism to evil and in the positive impartation of new divine life. Where the evil is vanquished and “the full self-impartation of God can enter, there culminates the revelation of God in the concept of God as [a being] of love, as the Father.”?

It is this mature conception presented in. the prophets which is made the attribute of the Spirit of Jehovah. Even ifit were possible to interpret the word holiness as simply equivalent to the word divine, the context forbids us to take it in that sense inlet Sis where ts deseribes”- the spirie-as tire source of moral purity in the life of the psalmist.

The Old Testament idea of God’s holiness is very nearly as mature as that in the New Testament thus described by Stevens: ‘We may sum up our results thus: In the absolute sense God alone is holy, and his holiness is the ground of the requirement of holiness in his creatures (1 Pet. 1: 16). Holiness is the attribute of God, according to which he wills and does only that which is morally good, In other words, it is the perfect harmony of his will with his perfect ethical nature. But the divine holiness is not to be thought of as a mere passive, quiescent state. It is an active impulse, a forthgoing energy. In God’s holiness, that is, in the expression of his per- ‘fect ethical nature, his self-revelation is grounded. Nay, creation itself, as well as redemption, would be inconceivable apart from the divine holiness, the energizing of God’s absolutely good will.

«By some theologians holiness and love are identified. More commonly they are sharply distinguished—holiness being regarded as being the selfpreservative or retributive attribute of God, and love as his beneficent, self-imparting attribute. To discuss this subject here would carry us too far. ‘It seems clear, at least, from our investigation, that holiness and love represent closely kindred conceptions, and that there is an inner harmony between them. They are the two words which best express God’s moral perfection, and the difference between them seems rather formal than real.’”4

The Bible presents no conception of God’s character so comprehensive as that of his holiness, and to this fact it is probably due that the Spirit of Jehovah is called his Holy Spirit, and this phrase became his settled name in the New Testament.

C. The Spirit of God

We are now prepared to learn as exactly as we may the idea expressed in the Old Testament by the phrase Spirit of God:

tlie Cosmic:Spirit

The book of Genesis opens thus: “In the begin-. ning God created the heavens and earth. And the earth. was waste and empty, and darkness was upon the ocean, and the spirit of God was hovering (or brooding) over the waters.” “Spirit of God” apparently expresses a definite meaning well known to the writer and to those for whom he wrote. The functions of this Spirit were appropriate to his purpose in this particular connection.

The action of the Spirit is expresséd by the participle and is, therefore, continuous. The verb itself is used nowhere else in the same conjugation except in Deut. 32: 11, where it means the hovering, protecting motion of the mother eagle over her young. Here the Spirit hovers over the chaos, therefore it is conceived as being external to it. The hovering or brooding denotes the impartation of something by the Spirit and this something imparted is, according to the subsequent context, energy which springs into operation with the various commands, “ Let there be ieht,.: etc:

At the beginning there was an unorganized fluid, something which we call chaos; at the end it has become a cosmos. ‘The only operative energy is the Spirit of God in connection with the utterance of God’s will. It is not too much to say that in the mind of the Hebrew writer all the energy operating in the various stages of development is due to the Spirit of God. From that Spirit comes the energy which appears first as order shown by light and the separation of land and water, next as life in plants and animals.

This conception of the Spirit of God as the origin _ of the life in the world appears also in Ps. 104: 29, 30:

«¢ Thou gatherest in their spirit, they expire, And to their dust they return.

Thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created, And thou renewest the face of the ground.”

Here all living creatures and the plants are conceived as dependent upon God’s Spirit for their existence.

It is evident that man owes not only his physical life (Job 27: 3), but also his intellectual and moral capacity to the Spirit of God, Job 32: 8:

«« But it is the spirit in man, Even the breath of the Almighty Which giveth understanding.”

Here the understanding of man is attributed to the breath, mshamah, of God. In Gen. 2: 7 man’s personal life is regarded as having the same origin. Like teaching is found in Job 33: 3, 4.

THE OLD TES¥YAMENT TDEA ae

Vet more pointedsaren xe 26) 2 Bagg 1 3e sae where not only the natural endowments of Bezaleel, but his acquired mechanical skill are attributed to God’s Spirit. These various passages show that to the Hebrew mind all forms of physical life, of mental power and artistic skill were alike due to this one divine energy operating in a manifold variety of forms. The Spirit of God as divine energy operating in the universe gave each class of created objects or beings its own peculiar form, whether mineral, plant, animal or personal; and in persons the same energy was manifest, distributing to them their varied capacities.

Gen. 6: 3: “ And Jehovah said, my Spirit will not forever be humbled in man. In their wandering he is flesh.” .-The: Spirit of. Jehovah -here- denotes, by reason of contrast with flesh (the perishable being, man), the principle of life. It is humbled or thwarted so as to faik of its normal development in men because of their sinful life. This implies that the normal development of the energy in man which constitutes him a person is toward anolyte, Even if the -translatiom = @we/l or rule be preferable fo ‘be humbled,” it is still true that the Old Testament idea is that the energy which constitutes man a person will, in its normal -development, secure holy conduct as well as the mechanical skill of a Bezaleel.

Here is no Trinity and no suggestion of a Trinity.

The doctrine of the Trinity needs not to look to the Old Testament for any positive support. The results thus far gained have a constructive value which is not found in the Bible aside from this Old Testament idea of God’s Spirit. This Old Testament conception of the Spirit of God has well been called the mightiest vehicle of the monotheistic view of the world which the Old Testament contains. In naturereligions the manifold forms of life and activity in the world are attributed to many and different agencies, partially divine. This idea of the Spirit of God as the primeval energy in all nature unifies all physical, vital and sentient development and leaves no room for polytheism.

This energy was not only present at the origin of the world, but it is constantly manifested in the changes of the physical world and in human history. The Old Testament writers assume a dualism of matter and spirit and entertain no thought of antagonism. The Spirit of God is a constant factor in the existing development of the world. This idea that the Spirit is in all forces and operations, coordinating and directing them, is a real recognition of the divine immanence and leaves n@ room for deistic thinking. It does not follow that the significance of this great formative principle was recognized. It found a place in the Hebrew mind and molded thought, even though slowly. The earlier expressions of the thought were crude, but this crudity is

THE-OLDY TESTAMENT: IDEA Le unavoidable in the expression of the rudimentary conceptions of any great fact. The phrase Cosmic Spirit is an excellent designation of this conception of the Spirit of God.

2. The Charismatic or Redemptive Spirit

The Spirit of God, or more often of Jehovah, was also the source of other powers than those already mentioned. When all the ordinary powers of-men are due to the Spirit of God, when the differences among men in their natural endowments are due to the Spirit’s distribution of power, there is abundant room for special gifts of power. 3

There are passages where the Spirit of Jehovah is said to bestow upon men energies which are more or less temporary additions to their ordinary powers. Just as the Cosmic Spirit differentiates between men in the various forms of power which are imparted, so the Spirit of Jehovah made at times a real differentiation between a man and his ordinary self. This was done by bestowing upon men gifts which were for the purpose of qualifying them to perform some special service on behalf of the Israelite commonwealth or religion.

The impartation of this gift is expressed by various figures of speech. The Spirit came upon Othniel (Judg. 3:10) so that he judged Israel and led to war. In the same way Jephthah, Samson, Saul and David were said to receive special preparation for service, Thus were Jahaziel (2 Chron. 20: 14) and Azariah (15:1) qualified to utter divine messages. This Spirit might depart from a man, as from Saul (1 Sam. 16:14), leaving him disqualified for the duties which he had once performed.

The Spirit “put.on” Gideon (Judg. 6:34), or clothed itself with him as a garment, arousing him to a great work. The same expression is used in 1 Chron. 12:18, where Amasa was moved to express choice of David as king; and in 2 Chron. 24:20, where Zachariah was qualified to utter a message from God. In all these cases the presence of the Spirit is conceived as imparting extraordinary power, making the man capable of extraordinary performances. It was the same power which enabled Ezekiel to utter his. prophecies«( P-2geki2 i293 5245 77125):

An examination of this class of passages thus far mentioned shows that sometimes the operation of the Spirit was thought to be an. external impulse coming or falling upon a man, and sometimes to be an internal power, as when it clothed itself with a man or entered.into him. This gift was a qualification of the prophets for declaring the mind of God ( Mic.’ 3 83%. 1S ?48 716.5 Zech -7 4-124 en ag 30s or in general for any service (Is. 30:1; Hag. 2:5; Lech?ss:65 Nehno. 20;).

Important characteristics of this gift were:

First, it was a gift by measure; it did not presuppose a perfect character, é. ¢., Gideon, Samson,