And then it was—an abiding coming. When the Holy Spirit came down upon the Church of Christ, on the day of Pentecost, he did not come to remain for a little while, and then go back to heaven. No! but he came to stay. When Jesus spoke to the disciples about the coming of the Holy Ghost, he used these words: “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever.” St. John xiv: 16.
It was not for the help and comfort of the apostles and early Christians only that the Holy Spirit came. No; but it was for the help and comfort of all the people of Christ, down to the end of the world. The coming of the Spirit, which took place on the day of Pentecost was intended to be an abiding coming. He has never left the church from that day. But he may be present, without putting forth his power and making his presence felt. What we need to pray for is not that the Holy Spirit may come into our churches; for he is there; but that he may make his power and presence felt. What we want above all things, in our hearts, in our homes, in our Sunday Schools, and in our churches, is to feel the power and presence of that Spirit, who came on the day of Pentecost, and whose coming was to be an abiding coming.
And so, when we would show the manner of the Spirit’s coming to the early church, we may say that it was an expected coming—a sudden coming—a startling coming—and an abiding coming.
And now, the only other thing to notice, is—The—purpose—of the Spirit’s coming.
And if we wish to understand clearly the meaning of this part of the subject, there are these two things for us to consider; viz., what the Holy Spirit is; and what the Holy Spirit does.
And in order to understand satisfactorily what the Holy Spirit is—we must find out what the scriptures call him; and how the scriptures speak of him. Here are some of the titles given to the Holy Spirit in the scriptures, or the names by which he is called.
The great names, Jehovah, Lord, and God are all given to the Spirit. He is called—the Most High—the Holy Spirit—the Holy Ghost—the Free Spirit—the Good Spirit—the Spirit of Life—the Spirit of Truth—the Spirit of Grace—the Spirit of Adoption—the Spirit of Wisdom—the Spirit of Counsel—the Spirit of Might—the Spirit of Knowledge—the Spirit of the fear of the Lord—the Spirit of Promise—the Eternal Spirit—the Power of the Highest—the Comforter—the Guide—the Teacher.
And the giving of such names as these to the Holy Spirit proves two things about him, one is that he is a real person; and the other is that he is God. He is a divine person, equal to God the Father and to God the Son.
And this is proved, not only by the names given to him, but also by the way in which the scriptures speak of him. Let us look at one or two illustrations of the way in which they do this. When the prophet Isaiah is speaking of Christ, the Messiah, he represents him, as saying of himself—“And now, the Lord God and his Spirit hath sent me.” Is. xlviii: 16. Here we see the three persons of the Holy Trinity—God the Father—God the Son—and God the Holy Spirit are spoken of as all working together. God the Son is sent, and God the Father and God the Spirit are the ones who send him.
We see them uniting together again, in the same way, on the occasion of our Saviour’s baptism. Thus we read, “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water, and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him; And lo, a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” St. Matt. iii: 16, 17. Here we see the three Persons of the blessed Trinity acting together. God the Son has taken our nature upon him, and is baptized, as a man, in the river Jordan. God the Spirit comes down from heaven in the form of a dove, and rests upon him; while God the Father speaks from heaven, in a voice that was heard by those who were attending that baptism. This proves to us that there are three Persons, in the One God whom we worship; and that the Holy Spirit, who came down upon the church on the day of Pentecost, is the third Person in this Trinity. He is a divine Person, equal to the Father and the Son. It is impossible to explain, satisfactorily, what took place at the baptism of our Saviour in any other way. And in this way, we get a clear view of the first thing, important for us to know, in order to understand the meaning of the Spirit’s coming. We see now what the Holy Spirit is. He is a divine Person—united with the Father and the Son in the great work of our salvation, and equal to them both.