A Significant Name.
Do you remember that heart-to-heart talk that Jesus had with the eleven disciples that last night they spent together in the upper room? John tells us about it in chapters thirteen to sixteen. The Master talks a great deal that night, about some One else, who was coming to take His place with them. They did not understand what He meant till afterwards. He packs more into that one evening's talk about this coming One than all He had said before put together. Notice that now He gives a name, a new name, to this person, repeated four times that night. It is an intensely significant name—the Comforter. Will you remember, and keep constantly in mind, the actual meaning of that new name? it is simply this: one called alongside to help.
Let me attempt to suggest a little of its practical meaning.
Here is a little girl standing on the curbstone down town on Broadway in New York, with a bundle in her arms. She has been sent on an errand, and wants to get across the street. But the electric cars are whizzing past in both directions, and wagons, and carriages, and omnibuses, and horses jam the street from curb to curb, and she cannot get across. She stands there gripping her bundle, watching eagerly for a chance, and yet afraid to venture. But the jam seems endless, and she grows very tired, and by and by the corners of her mouth begin to twitch down suspiciously, and a big tear is just starting in each eye. Just then a big policeman steps up, one of the finest, six feet tall, and heavy and broad. He seems like a giant to her. He stoops down. Would you imagine he had such a gentle voice? "What's the matter?" "Can't—get—'cross." Oh! is that all; he'll fix that. And he takes her little hand in his with a reassuring "come along." And along she goes, past cars, under horses' heads, close up to big wheels. She is just as small as before, and just as weak. But though her eyes stay pretty big, the tears are gone, and there is an air of confidence, because this big, kind-hearted giant by her side is walking across the street as though he owned the whole place, and he is devoting his entire attention to her. That policeman is a comforter in the strict meaning of the word.
Here is a boy in school, head down close to the desk, puzzling over a "sum." It won't "come out." He figures away, and his brow is all knitted up, and a worried look is coming into his face for he is a conscientious little fellow. But he cannot seem to get it right and the clouds gather thicker. By and by the teacher comes up and sits down by his side. It awes him a little to have her quite so close. But her kindliness of manner mellows the awe. "How are you getting along?" "Won't come out right"—in a very despondent tone. "Let me see, did you subtract that...?" "Oh-h-h! I forgot that," and a little light seems to break, as he scratches away for a few moments; then pauses. "And this figure here, should it be...." "Oh-h-h, I see." More scratching, and a soft sigh of relief, and the knitting brows unravel, and the face brightens. The teacher did not do the problem for him. She did better. She let him feel her kindly interest first of all, and gave just the light, experienced touch that showed him the way out, and yet allowed him the peculiar pleasure of getting through himself. That is what "Comforter" means.
One summer a friend suggested to me spending a week on Lake Chautauqua. I did not have the money to spare, and so told him I was not sure I could arrange to get away. But he seemed to divine the basis of my objection, and insisted on my going along. We went. I had very little money with me. I got on the train without a ticket, took a seat in the parlor car, stopped at the best hotel, had a choice room on the ground floor, patronized the well-ordered dining-room regularly, and made free use of the place. And all the time I had practically no money with me. But would you believe me I was not a particle concerned about paying for those privileges. Never felt less concern about anything in my life. You know why. I had a trustworthy friend, with me who was concerned for me.
Now these are simple suggestions, illustrating partly the meaning of that marvelous name Jesus gave to the Holy Spirit. I will send another Comforter, one who will be right by your side to help, sympathetic, experienced, strong; and He will stay with you all the time. In the kitchen, in the sitting-room, the sick-room, with the children, when work piles up, when things jangle or threaten to, when the baby's cross, and the patching and sweeping and baking, and all the rest of it seem endless, on the street, in the office, on the campus, in the store, when tempted—almost slipped, when opportunity opens for a quiet personal word, everywhere, every time, in every circumstance, one alongside to help. Is not that wonderful?
A Pictorial Illustration.
There is one bother about illustrations: they never do tell all the truth. They never are as vivid, nor as good as the truth, that is when you are talking about our Master, or His arrangements. The very best illustrations of Bible truth are Bible illustrations. Now there is a striking pictorial illustration back in the Old Testament of the meaning of this name of the Holy Spirit. It is in the story of a most remarkable journey from Egypt to the border line of Palestine. The journey was remarkable for two things. First, for the sort of country it was through. It is a trackless waste of sand, that spreads over thousands of square miles. It was infested with venomous serpents and scorpions, and is described as "all that great and terrible wilderness," "a waste howling wilderness," and "a land of deserts and pits, of drought and of the shadow of death, that none passed through, and where no man dwelt." Think of taking a trip through a country like that! But it was even more remarkable because of the transformation that took place in the travelers. For a mob of four millions of people was changed into a well-organized nation. The explanation given is fully as remarkable as the trip, and the transformation. It must strike very strangely on the cold, matter-of-fact ears of this materialistic world we dwell in. It is this: that the Lord God Himself actually went with them in person, and lived with them, and took immediate charge of everything. He had promised Moses, their leader, that He would do this. Just how definite or indefinite a thing that meant to Moses' mind we cannot know. But it became very definite and tangible that memorable night of departure from the iron furnace of Egypt. For there was a real physical evidence of His presence. There appeared a column or pillar of fleecy-like cloud which came down close to the ground, and which every one could plainly see. At night time it shone and flamed as a pillar full of partly concealed fire. God's voice spake out of it in their hearing. And that presence-cloud never left them. In spite of complaints, and criticisms, and rebellions of the most mean and exasperating kind, it never left them until they had safely arrived at the border line of the promised Palestine.
[6] See note [at the end].
Now it is extremely fascinating in tracing that journey to notice just what that cloud came to mean to them. If you will run rapidly through the three wilderness books, Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, you will find there twenty distinct incidents[6] which illustrate how God's actual presence in that cloud was made very real to them in practical affairs. In those incidents there are ten different ways in which they were made to feel that powerful Presence.
At the outset it is mentioned that the chief purpose was "to lead them the way," and, by night "to give them light." Five incidents speak of bodily nourishment, including fresh food daily, with occasional extras, and a full supply of pure living water. Five speak of protection from bodily harm. Two tell of the defeat of an enemy. Once there is chiding for ingratitude. Six times rebuke or punishment for sin. In four they are held back when dead-set on a very wrong course. Twice there is instruction in their leader's plan for them. Three times a fuller manifestation of Himself, and each time this is preceded by obedience on their part in some particular matter. Once there is a special plan suggested for relief in managing the nation's affairs. And then the fact is stated that whenever Moses went apart to talk with God the cloud descended lower, that is, God came nearer when Moses desired to talk with Him. So you see, the cloud meant guidance through that trackless desert, food supplies, protection, defeat for the enemy, chiding, restraint, punishment, instruction, help in business matters, a more intimate manifestation of the glorious personality of their Guide, and a gracious coming nearer whenever desired. Was not that a real practical presence of the great God with them all those days?
Now that is the Bible's own graphic illustration of the meaning of that new name given to the Holy Spirit, by Him who knew Him best, Comforter—one alongside to help.
On a Higher Level.
Before we leave that illustration we must notice a very significant thing which is no small part of the truth illustrated. Though the cloud appeared the very night of that sudden going out of Egypt, and was never absent from them, by day or by night, yet a full year afterwards there was a new experience. By God's direction a special tent was made and set up in which He said He would dwell. It was known as God's dwelling place, the tent of meeting, the tabernacle, the tent of testimony. When everything concerning its setting up had been fully done as specified then there was an experience the most remarkable they had yet had with God. It was a new manifestation of the glorious presence of their unseen Friend-Guide. It is twice said that the tent was "filled" with His glory. And this nearer disclosure, which God gave of Himself, was so marvelously glorious and overpowering that even Moses, who had spent almost twelve weeks in that mount with God, in closer intimacy than any one else—even Moses was not able to enter into the tent, so over-awing was that Presence.
Now it is of intensest interest to mark four things about that experience. First of all, before it came, there was obedience to God's instructions. Eighteen times within the narrow limits of the last two pages of the Exodus record, it is said that Moses and the people did everything, in every particular, just exactly as "the Lord commanded Moses." There was explicit obedience before anything else. Then followed the wondrous infilling of the tent with God's presence. The third thing is particularized very carefully: all their movements were directed and controlled by that Presence. Clearly the only safe rule for living in that terrible desert, was to plan to live a planless life so far as their own planning was concerned. Besides the last two verses of Exodus which emphasize this, I find that in my revised Oxford edition forty-five lines in the ninth chapter of Numbers are given to telling how exactly they were guided, and how explicitly they followed their Guide. It seems almost at first reading as though there was a decidedly needless repetition. You seem to understand the thing easily enough without that. But as one reads it again, and yet again, slowly, it begins to dawn upon the mind that the purpose is to put marked emphasis on this feature of their new life in the wilderness. The people would rise in the morning, and probably the first thing done was to look out toward the cloud to learn if there was to be any change that day. And so during the day there would come to be an instinctive habit of watching that cloud. They might remain in a new camping place for months, or only for a few weeks, or, possibly only for a few days. They never knew a day ahead. They lived literally a day at a time. It was certainly a hand-to-mouth existence so far as the daily manna was concerned. But then it was from His hand to their mouths and that made a great difference. It was equally so in their movements and in all of their new life. When, one morning as thousands of heads peep out, the cloud is seen to have lifted up from over the tent, the next question was—which direction? It might be toward the west, or it might be just the opposite, toward the east. Both the time of going, and the direction, and the pace were regulated by the presence of their Friend in that cloud. Their life was a life of obedience to the will of their wise, loving Companion.
The fourth thing was intimacy of intercourse. It is a little unfortunate that in reading our Bibles we sometimes allow the gaps that come in the printing to break the continuity of thought. There is a break for instance between the last verse of Exodus and the first verse of Leviticus. The reading is meant to be continuous, and shows that after the infilling, and the explanation about guidance, that God "called" Moses to Him and commenced talking about their new life. Now in connection with that call, and all their after talks, notice a remarkable statement in the last verse of that long seventh chapter of Numbers. It explains just how God talked with Moses. Listen: "Whenever Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with Him, then he heard the voice speaking unto him from above the mercy-seat that was upon the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim; and He speaketh unto him." There was the living, loving voice of their Companion-God, which Moses could plainly hear, and which others heard, talking familiarly and intimately about all their affairs. Several times when in doubt what to do Moses promptly went off into the tent, then the cloud would come down nearer, and Moses would state his difficulty, and back would come that clear distinct voice with an answer. Group up those four things—obedience; the never-to-be-forgotten infilling; the controlling guidance; and intimate companionship.
That is the very best illustration I can find of the meaning of that word which Jesus now chooses out and uses as the new name which would most vividly tell what the Holy Spirit was to be to all believers after His own departure. All that the presence of God in that pillar was to those people, and to Moses personally, all that the Holy Spirit will be to you. And my own conviction is that Jesus had that Old Testament scene in His mind. For if you will turn again to that last night's talk you will find a striking repetition of the steps or peculiarities of that wilderness experience. Though here the whole experience is on a much higher, finer plane. There is a closeness of personal regard, a depth of that deepest of all loves, friendship love, that is not found in the Old Testament story, except perhaps between Moses himself and God.
But now read the twenty-first verse of the fourteenth chapter of John: "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 love him, and will manifest Myself unto him." And the twenty-third verse adds to it: "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 abiding place with him." Notice: there is obedience; it is accepted as an evidence of love: there is a return love—a new, higher, reciprocal love: then there is a revealing of Himself; and, constant abiding. Now run your eye through the remaining part of that evening's conversation and you can quickly pick out these words: "teach," "bring to your remembrance," "guide," "bear witness of me," "tell you coming things," "tell you about me."
Does that not parallel remarkably the wilderness experience? Only it is all put on such a higher plane. There is a fullness, and richness, and tenderness, of personal intimacy here. The Presence in the wilderness was for the national life: here it is peculiarly for the personal life. There He dwelt actually in the heart of the nation. Here He dwells actually in one's own very person. And then, too, now He can do so much more in us because so much more has been done for us through the person of Jesus.
How to Find the Meaning.
May I say right here plainly: there seems to be even yet in some quarters a hazy idea about the Holy Spirit being a person. It is extremely common, even among people of excellent christian training, to find Him referred to, both in prayer and speech as it. Could anything be more disrespectful or insulting, if it were intentional instead of being thoughtless or, in ignorance, as I am sure it really is. Imagine my speaking of the pastor of this church in that way. "It is a good preacher. It is a helpful pastor." You smile, and he smiles. But if I said it repeatedly, and in sober earnest, you know how insulted he would be. I suppose that the use of the word "itself" for the Holy Spirit in the eighth chapter of Romans is largely responsible for this. The revisers have properly substituted the word "himself." That very usage so common has doubtless accustomed many persons to a vague idea of the personality of the Spirit. And yet apart from that, there is without doubt much mistiness, and uncertainty, in some minds, because of the difficulty of thinking of a person without a form. It seems impossible for our minds to grasp the idea of existence without bodily shape, yet of course we believe in a personal God. Probably another reason is that the Holy Spirit's work is not to speak of Himself but of Another—of Jesus. He is Jesus' representative, and is constantly absorbed in filling us with thoughts of His Chief. And when our minds are most deeply stirred with thoughts of Jesus then it is that in that very fact of being so stirred we have clearest evidence of the Holy Spirit's presence within us. His very faithfulness to His mission has led to Himself suffering depreciation at our hands, through our ignorance.
I am sure it must help us all decidedly in getting a clear-cut, sharply defined idea of His personality to notice the language Jesus uses in speaking of Him that night. For instance, notice that in our English version the personal pronouns "he," "whom," "him," "which" (used in the sense of who as is common with the British translators), occur twenty-four times. A study of the actual words used would prove helpful and interesting. One of them, used several times, is peculiarly emphatic, its meaning being equivalent to the expression "that person there."
And then notice the words used to describe what this person will do: "He shall teach," "bring to your remembrance," "bear witness of Me," "convict the world of" three distinct things, "shall guide," "shall hear," "shall speak," "shall declare," "shall glorify Me," "shall take of Mine and declare it unto you." Everyone of these ten different expressions imply intelligence and discrimination, and therefore of course personality. And then added to this is the name given to Him here of which so much has been said.
May we take just another look at that name—The Comforter—as we close our talk together? I wish with my whole heart, and I pray, that a vivid sense of the meaning of that name may be one result of this evening's meeting. I was traveling alone in Germany one hot July day on a train going down to the city of Worms. It was quite hot and I was very tired, and my head aching, I distinctly remember. The conductor came along and objected to my ticket. Before leaving this country, I thought I knew a little of German, enough to worry through on. My ideas on that subject changed a trifle over there, however. That day my tired ears refused to recognize any familiar sounds on the conductor's lips, and my tired tongue refused to utter anything satisfactory to him. And there I was, a complete stranger in a strange land too tired to think or have any mental resources, not knowing but I might be put off at the next station. In fact just tired enough for fine worrying. It looked blue for a few moments. But not for long. A young man by my side, a Jew, spoke to me in excellent English. Was any sound ever so welcome! He straightened the conductor out, and then we fell to talking together. He proved to be a very intelligent, agreeable companion. I found his home was in the city where I was going. So we got off there together, and he simply devoted himself to me for the day. He took me up to a good hotel, and while I was eating dinner, went and got his brother who had been in America, and who entertained me while I ate. Then he took me to his father's home, a large old mansion, overlooking the famous Luther monument where I rested a while. And then a quick run to a few interesting points, and finally when leaving time came, he insisted on accompanying me to the station, and making sure I had a good seat, and then bade me a gracious good-bye.
That day lingers in my memory as one of the green spots of that trip. It touched me to think that my Master graciously sent one of His own despised race to be my friend. Do you not think that that man, experienced where I was ignorant, and so sympathetic, was a living illustration to me of Jesus' name for the Holy Spirit—one called alongside to help?
One day recently, riding on a Lake Shore train in Ohio, I chanced to notice the conductor stopping to speak to a little girl sitting behind me. Then I noticed that she was alone and crying a little, quietly. She did not answer his questions, but he must have been a father, I thought, because he seemed to understand so well. Speaking to a kind-faced motherly looking woman in the next seat he had the little girl go back and sit beside her, next the window. They did not talk much, if any, I noticed. But the girl was snuggled up close, and I knew from her face that she felt the warm sympathy of that friendly presence, and that the terrible feeling of loneliness had gone. Is not that woman another illustration of that name Comforter? Her mere presence was all that was needed to clear the skies and change the atmosphere for the little lone and lonely traveler.
But Jesus Himself has a very striking way of making clear just what He meant, by coupling another word with that new name the first time He used it. He says, "I will send another Comforter." The comparison is with Himself. He is one comforter. The Holy Spirit another one. The only other time this word is used is by John in his first epistle, and is translated by our word advocate, and refers to Jesus. Jesus practically says: "You know what I have been to you these months past." And they would think through, the close intimacy of nearly two years. How He had spoken with unmistakable plainness when they were in the wrong, but also how loving with a strong love He had been, how patient, and gentle, and resourceful, and how He seemed to yearn over them that they might grow into His ideal for them. "Now," He says, "I am going away, but I will send you another one who will be to you all that I have been—and more." And more! That comparative more, either spoken or implied, runs all through this last long confidential talk. "More, much more, because I go unto the Father." Jesus crucified, risen, glorified can do much more by far in us by His other self, the Holy Spirit, than He could in person on the earth those years. And the wondrous meaning of that "another comforter" to you and me, my friends, to-night is simply this: it is the same as though the Lord Jesus had actually come back again and you had Him all to yourself—and more.
But I cannot tell you the meaning of that wonderful name. Nor yet the wondrous charm of Him who, for our sakes, embodies it. You may put together all these illustrations in the attempt to get a real, close-up, idea of what Jesus meant in that love-gift of His to you. And then you will not know. There is really only one way to gain that knowledge. It is this: take the step which belongs to your side of the transaction between you and the Master. Surrender yourself to Him to be changed and cleansed and used as He may choose. Then He will begin at once working out the side that belongs to Him. You shall be filled with His presence. Then you will begin to know. Then you can sing—
"I have a wonderful guest,
Who speeds my feet, who moves my hands,
Who strengthens, comforts, guides, commands,
Whose presence gives me rest.
"He dwells within my soul,
He swept away the filth and gloom;
He garnished fair the empty room,
And now pervades the whole."
And you shall go on knowing more and better until the day dawn and the shadows flee away.
Of the twenty incidents referred to three do not directly mention the cloud, and in two others it is over the mount, with its characteristics much intensified. The references are given for those who will want to get closer up to this famous illustration.
Guidance: Ex. xiii: 21-22, with Numbers xiv: 14.
Bodily nourishment. Ex. xv: 25; xvi: 13-14, 45; xvii: 6. Numbers xi: 31-32. xx: 1-12.
Protection from bodily harm: The nation—Ex. xiv: 19-20. The leaders—Num. xiv: 10 and on. xvi: 19 and on. xvi: 42 and on. xx: 1-12.
Defeat of an enemy: Ex. xiv: 24-31, xvii: 8-16.
Chiding: Ex. xvi: 4-7, 10-12.
Rebuke or punishment for sin: Numbers xi: 33; xii: 1-10; xiv: 10 and on; xvi: 19 and on; 42 and on; xx: 1-12.
Held back from wrong: Numbers xiv: 10 and on; xvi: 19 and on; 42 and on; xx: 1-12.
Instruction and training: Ex. xix: 9, 16 and on; xxiv: 15-18.
Fuller manifestation: Ex. xxxiv: 5 and on; xi: 34-38. Lev. ix: 6, 23.
Special plan of relief in managment: Numbers xi: 16, 17, 25.
Coming nearer: Ex. xxxiii: 7-11, revised version.