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No.-

THE INDWELLING

SPIRIT

THE

INDWELLING

SPIRIT

BY

W.

T.

DAVISON,

M.A., D.D.

PRINCIPAL OF RICHMOND COLLEGE, SURREY

MEMBER OF THE FACULTY OF THEOLOGY AND EXAMINER

IN DIVINITY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON

HODDER AND STOUGHTON

LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO

PREFACE
THE

following pages obviously do not contain a

systematic treatment of the Christian doctrine of the
Holy Spirit. They contain suggestions only, not a

comprehensive survey of a great properly speaking,

an illimitable subject. Greater completeness in the
study of this topic is indeed most desirable, but
perhaps completeness of plan and systematic outline
are not the chief requisites in an attempt to describe
the influence upon the human spirit of that Divine
Breath which bloweth where it listeth, and whose
it is to surpass human
thought
Complaints have been frequently
the lack of adequate treatment of this

chief characteristic

and expectation.

made

as to

central doctrine of Christianity, a deficiency largely

remedied of late by works such as are named in the

selected

list

of

books that follows.

Spirit is God imparting Himself directly

consciousness and experience of men. Hence

The Holy
to the

the subject

is

approached

in

this

volume from the

side of experience, rather than of dogma; of Biblical

exposition, rather than of philosophical discussion ;
of life

and

tion.

An

show

practice, rather than of theological specula

attempt is, however, indirectly made to

that the Christian doctrine of the

Holy

Spirit

meets the needs and claims of modern religious life

better than certain philosophico-religious
theorizings
vii

PREFACE

viii

that ignore or disparage the teaching of the New

The connection between the various

Testament.

chapters which compose the book, though not logic

ally close, is real and vital and it will be seen that
some of the chief aspects of the work of the Spirit
;

that are of present-day importance have been either

The writer s deep con

directly or indirectly treated.
viction is, that greater emphasis needs to be laid
upon God s work in man, the presence of Christ, by
and through the Holy Spirit, in the hearts and lives
of Christians, even
questions of

esting

if

it

be at the expense of inter

doctrine

that

are

of

necessity

largely speculative.

The substance of Chapters XII, XIII and XIV has

been delivered in the form of sermons on special
occasions, and the style of spoken address has not
been altered. Part of Chapter XV was given at a
meeting of the National Free Church Council, whilst
Chapter XVI originally appeared as an article in the
I am indebted to the
Editor for permission to re-publish
it.
All these portions of the book are reproduced
at the instance of those who had previously heard
The bearing of the doctrine of the
or read them.

London Quarterly Review, and

courtesy of the

Spirit upon the myriad forms of mystical

religion, referred to in the last chapter, has, of neces

Holy

sity,

been

careful

only

touched

in

passing.

and continuous treatment.

Richmond,
February^ 1911.

It

deserves

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Basil the Great,

De

Spiritu Sancto, 376 A.D.

John Owen, Pneumatologia, Works, Ed. Goold, 1869.

John Goodwin, Piero ma to Pneumatikon; or A Being filled with
the Spirit, 1670; Reprinted 1867.
C. Hare, Mission of the Comforter, 1846.
Smeaton, Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, 1882.

J.

P. Dickson, St. PauVs Use of the Terms Flesh and Spirit, 1883.
Gunkel, Die Wirkungen des heiligen Geistes, 1899.

W.

Lechler, Die Biblische Lehre des //. G., 1899.

Weinel, Die Wirkungen des Geistes,

Kuyper, The

Work of

the

Holy

6-v., 1899.
Spirit, Translated

by De

Vries,

Holy

Spirit,

1900.

Walker, The Spirit and the Incarnation,

Swete, The Holy Spirit in the

New

899.

Testament, 1909.

Downer, The Mission and Administration of

the

1909.

Denio, The Supreme Leader, Boston, 1910.

Irving Wood, The Spirit of God in Biblical Literature, 1904.
Arthur, Tongue of Fire, 1856.
Selby, The Holy Spirit and Christian Privilege, 1894.
Welldon, The Revelation of the Spirit, 1902.
J.

R.

Illingworth,

Personality

Human and

Divine,

1894,

and

Divine Immanence, 1898.

Inge, Christian Mysticism, 1900.
Hiigel, Mystical Element in Religion, 1908.

Von

Rufus Jones, Studies in Mystical Religion, 1909.

James Burns, Revivals, their Laws and Leaders, 1909.

Rudolph Eucken, The Life of the Spirit, 1909, Translated by
F. L. Pogson
Christianity and the New Idealism, Translated
by L. J. and W. R. Boyce Gibson, 1909.
;

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Also, the related portions of the works of Oehler, Schultz, and

A. B. Davidson on Old Testament Theology ; and those of

Beyschlag and G. B. Stevens on New Testament Theology.

in Encyclopaedia
Aso Schmiedel s article on
Spiritual Gifts
"

Biblica, Swete s
of the Bible, and

on

"

"Holy

Cremer s

Spirit"

article

Hauck s Real-Encyklopadie.

"

in

Hastings Dictionary
Geist" in
Herzog-

Heiliger

CONTENTS

,,....

BIBLIOGRAPHY

DIVINE IMMANENCE

II

THE HOLY

SPIRIT IN

THE NEW TESTAMENT

27

III

THE

SPIRIT IN

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF

ST.

PAUL

57

IV
THE

GIFTS OF

THE

SPIRIT

79

V
THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

97

VI
SPIRITUAL FREEDOM

19

VII

,.

PRAYER IN THE SPIRIT

xi

135

CONTENTS

xii

PAGE

VIII

THE SPIRIT OF HOLINESS

151

IX
THE TIDES OF THE

SPIRIT

171

X
THE HOLY

SPIRIT

AND CHRISTIAN MISSIONS

193

.213

XI
THE

SPIRIT OF

TRUTH

TEACHER OF TEACHERS

XII

THE PLENITUDE OF THE

SPIRIT

233

XIII
A SPIRIT-FILLED CHURCH

253

XIV
THE INDWELLING CHRIST

267

XV
THE HIDDEN LIFE

295

XVI
MYSTICAL RELIGION

^1

DIVINE IMMANENCE

"

Whither

-hall I

Or whither
"God

is

go from Thy Spirit?

from Thy presence?"

shall I flee

Spirit

...

in essence simple,

in

Ps. cxxxix.

7.

powers various,

wholly present in each and being -wliolly everyivhere;

shared without loss of ceasing to be entire, after the likeness
.

sunbeam, whose kindly light falls on him

land and sea and mingles with the
illumines
yet
of the

"

To

find

nothing but

who
air"

picture to
I shape no

I only

for

RUYSBROEK.

"No

know

my

aid I call,

image
in

in

Him

is

my

prayer;

all

Of life, light, beauty everywhere,

Eternal Goodness here, and there."

enjoys it,
BASIL.

God everywhere, you must everywhere seek

Him."

WHITTIER.

DIVINE IMMANENCE

WHAT

God and the world,

God continually
which
especially
maintains to the world which He has brought into
being ? An Atheist finds no meaning in the ques
tion, because he denies the existence of God; an
is

the Christian view of

of

the

relation

Agnostic asserts that

if

such a Being

exists,

it

is

impossible that man should know anything about

Him. In practice, an Atheist may mean only to

deny that the evidence

is

existence of the Theist s

strong enough to prove the

God; and Agnosticism

in

the person of Herbert Spencer, one of its best repre

sentatives, admits so much in relation to that Infinite

and Eternal Energy from which all things proceed,

that his exposition might include a considerable part
of natural theology.

Still,

it

is

vain to discuss with

between "God"
and the world, when there is so small a measure of
agreement as to the very meaning of the word.
Dualism and Polytheism, as forms of religious

atheist or agnostic the exact relation

belief,

hardly exist
to

among

civilized

nations to-day.

them the ultimate Ground

of Reality
universe is either Two or Many. The Zoroastrian holds that the facts of the physical and moral
worlds point to rival ultimate powers of life and
The Pagan does not pass
death, good and evil.
the
idea
of
beyond
many Divine powers, amongst

According
in the

which some measure of subordination, or CD-Ordina

ls
3

DIVINE IMMANENCE

may be discernible, but the Manifold refuses to

be entirely brought into relation with the One, or
under its control. These forms of belief belong to
ancient rather than to modern history, or to existing
nations and tribes that have come least under the
tion,

influences of

modern Western

civilization.

Whether

be made of the doctrine of

philosophical Pluralism advocated by Professor W.
James need not be at the moment discussed. Broadly
speaking, it may be said that thinkers of the modern

an exception ought

to

age are prepared to accept unity as the basis of reality,

though the methods of harmonizing the One in

whom, or in which, they believe with the Manifold,

obvious to the senses and the understanding, vary
almost indefinitely with the philosophical or religious
systems adopted.
A prevailing tendency in the thought of the time
is to emphasize unity in the universe at the expense
of multiplicity.
Pantheism, indigenous in the East,
in
be
set
not
terms accepted as a creed by many
may
Western thinkers, but Pantheistic tendencies, philo
rather
than religious
for
Pantheism,
sophical
is
more
than
properly speaking,
philosophical
diverse quarters. Monism
covers fundamentally different
These agree in the doctrine of One only
creeds.
substance in the universe; be it matter, or spirit, or
T
hether Monism,
one stuff" with double aspect.
with
is
Theism may be
compatible
strictly speaking,
in the words
Theism,
Understanding
by
questioned.
of one of its best modern exponents, a belief in
religious
is

prevail in

many

name which

"

"a

personal self-existent Being, infinite in power and

wisdom and perfect in holiness and goodness, the
Maker of heaven and earth," it is opposed both to
materialistic

and

idealistic

Monism.

But the preva-

DIVINE IMMANENCE

lence of these latter systems in our time brings the

Theist face to face with the question raised at the

One living personal God,

be admitted, what is His continuous
relation to the universe He has brought into being ?

outset.

If

creator of

the existence of

all,

The chief conflict of Theism in the

not against rival religions, but against
which either dispense with

religion

West

to-day

is

"world-views"

altogether,

or

provide a substitute for it, or use the word

attempt
It is of
in a sense which the Theist cannot accept.
no use to denounce these alternative theories, or to
ignore them as unworthy of the consideration of a
religious man it must be shown that Theism accounts
more completely for the facts of life, and is itself a
to

more living and potent force in the thought of our

time than any other hypothesis of world-existence.
This can hardly be done without a clear understand
ing of what is meant by the phrase which is now
before us the Immanence of God in His own
universe.

Naturalism, as one prevailing method of regarding

come to be called, identifies reality
with nature, nature with science, and science with
physical science.
By nature is to be understood the
the universe has

whole of things viewed from the standpoint of

mechanical causation. Allied to Positivism in main
taining the doctrine that nothing is knowable except
phenomena, Naturalism meets the prevailing desire
for a unity of principle pervading the cosmos as a
whole, makes man the creature of conditions, the
product of evolutionary forces, and so far as it contains

a doctrine of man, emphasizes the importance of his

DIVINE

IMMANENCE

own energy and activity, not his dependence on a

higher power. One important side of life as we know
undeniably represented by this doctrine, but the
is whether justice is done to the whole, and
especially the higher, part of it. When Naturalism is
examined it is found to bean abstraction its victories
many, great and abiding have been gained because,
it

is

question

for the sake of investigating "nature" thoroughly,

certain leading factors of actual existence have been
for the

time eliminated, in order that the work of

might be the better done. The "laws of
"

"science"

science are symbols only, shorthand notes, abstract

formulas, admirably calculated for the purpose for

which they have been framed, but representing only

certain aspects of the many-sided reality which man
Naturalism fails to
seeks to study and understand.
of
the
relation
its
science
as a whole to
recognize
and
those
freedom,
consciousness,
higher instincts
and capacities which are at least as much a part of
as the unquestionable facts on which it
"nature"
insists.

An opposite tendency, sometimes known by the

vague and ambiguous name of Idealism, makes the
intellect dominant in the interpretation of God and
the world, and with Hegel holds that Thought is
Reality and Reality is Thought. All is subordinate to
the development of the Idea, a process of systemthe standpoint of thought, which takes

making from

account of the external, except as material out

to furnish forth an abstract plan which alone
possesses reality and abides. In essence Idealism is
opposed to Naturalism, yet the two are found some
times in strange, yet quite intelligible, combination.
Joined together in a period of high culture, they con
stitute Humanism, which treats the world of nature
iittle

of

which

DIVINE IMMANENCE

and thought, of which man forms a

part, as the whole

and crown.
as
centre
man
himself
with
of things,
Humanism denies the existence of a world beyond
our own, a life beyond the grave, and a reality beyond
phenomena so far as our faculties can take us, and

therefore
is

the

it

denies the relevancy of the question, What

between God and the world? For

relation

professedly theistic and often uses the word

not regarded as over the world, or overthe
or other than the world only as
world,
against
God is
the whole viewed from a given standpoint.

though it
God, He

is

is

an idea, says one such modern writer,

to generalize

and

idealize all the values

"which

serves

one knows

"

word involves a living process, law, or movement,

in the working of which human needs are satisfied,
justice and truth established, and distant ideals
"the

attained."

Room

is

left

in

this

doctrine

for

the

emphasis which some would lay on the greatness of

the individual, or for the supreme claim which others
make for society and the race but in either case man
becomes a god to himself, or else the whole of which
man forms the crowning element is worshipped, if
any place be found for worship at all.
Hence a growing and deepening world-weariness.
The unsatisfying character of much of the most
"advanced"
teaching of our time is notorious, and
it is due to the fact that
religion has so far lost its
;

power. Sir John Seeley s Natural Religion,

though published many years ago, remains still one

real

of the best representatives of a current quasi-theistic

world-view characteristic of the later nineteenth and

opening twentieth century.

It is because Eucken, as
a philosopher and quite apajrt from Christian ortho
doxy, has pointed out this failure with so much
clearness and power, that
many are turning to him as

DIVINE IMMANENCE

a teacher of promise and inspiration. He says, "A

weariness of the world and a deep dislike to its limita

becoming more and more general. We feel

must forfeit all meaning and value if man
not
strive
towards some lofty goal in dependence
may
on a Power that is higher than man, and, as he reaches
forward, realize himself more fully than he could ever
do under the conditions of sense-experience. Cut off
from the larger life of the universe, and shut up in a
sphere of his own, he is condemned to an unbearably
narrow and paltry existence, and the deeps of his own
tions are

that

life

nature are locked

away from

him."

It is his

which so often puts the man

looking
out of his place, and therefore out of gear.
at life

way

of

of culture

He

is

not

but dependent. The race as a

whole is not its own end, is not really isolated, but
bound up with a higher Order. The individual is
not transient, but immortal; God has "put eternity in
Modern attempts, such as Seeley s, to
his heart."
really self-sufficing,

awe

nature, and the

race for true worship of, and
communion with, the living God, have proved unavail
The conception of human nature thus implied
ing.
substitute

solidarity of the

in

the

presence of

human

is faulty and deficient; and that

deficiency, only too
manifest in some of the highest and best thought of
our generation, Theism professes to supply.

II

The

introduction of the term "worship" begs a

large question which it is not our object now to dis
cuss.
The position here taken is that religion neces

an adequate object of worship, that for

a personal being such as man a personal object is

sarily implies
1

Meaning and Value

of Life, pp. 57, 58.

DIVINE

IMMANENCE

needed, and that, rightly speaking, neither Pantheism,

nor Monism of any type, materialistic or idealistic,
It is fundamental with the
leaves room for worship.

Theist to maintain the existence of Another than man,

Highest of

all,

is

obligation
the Source,
existence.

on

whom we

depend, to

whom

moral

due, and who forms at the same time

the Sustainer, and the Goal of all

some
beyond our answering as to
the relation between a personal God and nature as we
know it. The Theist sums up his reply to these ques
tions by the use of two words, Transcendence and
Immanence, which must be combined in order to define
The immanence of God implies that
the full relation.
God is everywhere and always present in the universe,
It is

of

that
is

not denied that difficult questions arise

them probably

far

from no conceivable corner of it is He absent, nor

separated from its life, but that He informs,

He

pervades, as well as sustains and holds

whole. His transcendence implies, not
the
together,
that He is outside the universe, but that He is not
inhabits,

Whilst He informs
it, not limited by it.
He infinitely surpasses it, and while always
He is always independent of it, and able
it,

shut up within
nature,

within
with infinite power and

which

He

sustains in

There

wisdom

to

act

upon

that

Himself has brought into being and ever

all its

parts

and operations.

no contradiction between the two attributes

thus defined, though it may not always be easy to
is

maintain them together and observe a just proportion

in their mutual relations.
The word, however, which
calls for special study, and on
is laid to-day, is Immanence.

Why

which special emphasis

Why is it made promi

nent?
has it largely taken the place of Omni
presence as a Divine attribute ? Does its frequent use

DIVINE IMMANENCE

10

imply any change in the prevalent ideas of religion,

or in the relation of God to the world around us and
within us? And, especially in view of "new
theologies," which are to be "re-articulated in terms of
the

Immanence

of

God,"

are there

any dangers

in the

use of the word which must be avoided, any limits

which must be laid down, if the teaching of the
doctrine is not to slide imperceptibly into Pantheism ?
The reason for the prevalence of the word in this
century is not far to seek. Undue insistence on
Divine transcendence puts God too far away from His
own universe. Judaism, especially later Judaism, in

unfolding the majesty of God, magnified His tran

scendence.
Islam follows on similar lines. The

Deism of the eighteenth century virtually proclaimed

an absentee Deity, one mighty enough to bring worlds
into existence, wise enough to lay down laws for their
regulation, and then cold and careless enough to leave
them to the working of the secondary laws He had
established, vouchsafing
will, still less

no special revelation of His

providing a Saviour for a sinning and

suffering race. The God of the Deist was a mighty

Architect, a great Lawgiver, a sovereign Ruler, an
all-wise

Judge

the world

is

the

work

the product of His creative energy.

universe He is represented only by
and by the principles of beneficent
the actual working of the world the

of His hands,
But within the
law and order,

government;
living

in

God has

disappeared, and the one thing men in the eighteenth

century could not believe was that God is "not far
one of us." The
i.e. most near to
from"
"every
a
God
of
such
was,
indeed, in theory
Omnipresence
that
taught, but, as Dr. Martineau expresses it,
Divine infinitude there is a death-like coldness; so
"in

long as

it is

only a passive, though

it

be an observant

DIVINE IMMANENCE

11

presence brooding over every field of thought, it is

but Space with eyes, that can never leave us within
or without, yet will never help us, or so much as
return a whisper to our cry." 1
In the nineteenth century a great change passed
all Western thought in these high matters.
Nature ceased to be a machine, and was understood
to be an organism.
Further, if the name God was
to have any meaning at all, it was felt that nature
must be the organized expression of His indwelling
will, not a mere remote product of His almighty fiat.
"From no part of its space, from no moment of its
time, is His living agency withdrawn, or less intensely
present than in any crisis fitly called creative."

over

at the opening of the century, antici

as
pated,
poets are used to do, results more slowly
reached by science. He taught the earlier nineteenth
century how to discern

Wordsworth,

"A

presence that disturbs

me

with the joy

Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime

Of something far more deeply interposed,

Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,

And the round ocean and the living air,
And the blue sky, and in the mind of man;

motion and a

spirit,

that impels

All thinking things, all objects of all thought,

And

rolls

through

all things."

Before the end of the century the idea of the reign

had spread, and order had been traced every
where until men could no longer entertain the idea of
a God who manifested Himself only at exceptional
crises, who was manifest mainly in "gaps" and
breaks and exceptions. For the religious man nature
had come to be a living robe of God indeed, con
of law

"

tinually

"

depending upon and upheld by the living

Him, without whose informing energy and

presence of

Study of Religion, Vol.

II, p.

171.

DIVINE IMMANENCE

12

wisdom

the whole

would collapse and disappear. By

was clearly understood not

the end of last century it

only that all things were

Him

all

made by Him, but

that in

things consist.

Ill

This position indicates a clear advance in religious

thought and feeling. True Theists cried out, not for
less of God, but for more they refused to be satisfied
without a God of whom it might be said He in all
and all in Him. But in what sense? For confusion
;

is easy, and just discrimination very

Wordsworth was by some accounted a Pan
and Tennyson was not afraid to profess a

of thought here
difficult.

theist,

Some, like Dr. Allanson

"Christian
with
Pantheism"
what
Picton, began
ever such a paradoxical phrase might mean but,
naturally enough, ere long dropped the epithet and
professed the Pantheistic creed entire. Pantheism is
not so much an abyss into which men fall without
intending it, as an atmosphere which encompasses
them, and which they breathe without knowing it.
It has been said that "Christianity, if it is to triumph
over Pantheism, must absorb
but what if Pan
theism absorbs Christianity in the process ? It is
possible, though not always easy, to preserve the
Pantheism of the best mystics and the mediaeval
hymn, "Intra cuncta nee inclusus, Extra cuncta nee
exclusus, Extra totus complectendo, Intra totus es
Immanence may be maintained without
implendo."
"Higher

Pantheism."

it,"

teaching either that

all

is

God and

identifying the

God is all, that

being
He has no being above and beyond the universe.
But confusion has arisen in the use of the word,
of the creature with His, or that

DIVINE IMMANENCE

13

partly through not sufficiently distinguishing between

God

s relation to

and sentient
His relation

inorganic nature and to organized

on the one hand, and, on the other,

life

to the higher, voluntary life of man.

Further, the essential difference between the relation
of God to man in nature and in grace must never be
lost sight of, if His indwelling in humanity is to be
adequately understood.
But the chief line of cleavage lies between spiritual

and non-spiritual

who
in

is

His

existence.

The

relation

of

God

Spirit to creatures whom He has made spirits

own likeness is obviously different from any

He can entertain to inorganic creation or the

lower organic creatures around. There are schools of
thought that reject the very idea of spirit in the life
of man, and with these we are not now concerned.
But it is unquestionably difficult in our time to
preserve this central landmark clear and firm amidst
the inrolling tides of naturalistic world-views. Eucken
is surely right when he urges that one main
struggle
that

of the present generation is "that which we have to

wage for a spiritual centre for our civilization and

a perception of the meaning and value of life." It

essentially a new kind of life when spirit appears

is

on the scene, and

within, with

"its

construction of a world from

own

particular contents, value and

It
order, can never be the work of man by himself.
is only to be understood as a movement of the whole
its

which surrounds man, takes hold

1
him and drives him
Not only does man

of reality itself

on."

of

as

spirit distinguish the I from the not-I, he is able to

transcend these distinctions and pass to a higher unity
which transcends all "nature."
It is obvious that the problem of Immanence arises
1

Spirit of Life, pp. 17, 18.

DIVINE IMMANENCE

14

God is in nature, not spatially, but

specially here.
as Spirit, directing and controlling, the Source of all,
Sustainer of all, moving and impelling to a goal which
nature knows not, which He only knows. Only a
part of the Divine nature

if the expression
may be
be operative and manifested in this
Power, Wisdom, Beneficence can be dis
region.
played, but no conscious response on the part of
the creature is possible.
The world viewed as a
mechanical product is one thing, as the nursery of
a world of spirits it is quite another. Religion tells
of such a world of spirits, dependent on God for
existence as are other finite creatures, but each pos
sessing, because He has bestowed it, a nature which
separates him from nature and allies him to God
which enables him to say, Thou and I. Hence
arises conscious dependence, the possibility of com

allowed

can

munion and

of alienation, obligation from without,

from
within, the power of resistance, recon
compliance
renewal.
The world of spirits is the training
ciliation,
of
the
moral
creation.
ground
If the Immanence of God be asserted here, where
most of all it is needed, it must be with all due regard
to the conditions of the case.

the world of finite spirits

in

metaphors, and

How

is

God

related to

men

are apt to think

even philosophers would teach in
?

All

metaphors drawn from nature, which may confuse

Analogies taken from the sun
and its rays, from fountain and stream, from root,
stem and branches, must be strictly limited in their

rather than illumine.

application to personal

Divine Immanence

life.

in the

human

spirit is not of

thought, or intellect, alone, as Spinoza and Hegel, and

to some extent T. H. Green, taught, each in his own
fashion. Neither is it one of feeling alone, as Schleier-

DIVINE IMMANENCE

15

macher was understood to maintain. It is not one of

will alone, as Kant would seem to intimate in his
doctrine of the Practical Reason, resolving religion
into morality and the right conduct of life in obedience
The whole of human nature must
to the Divine will.
be included

in

its

various relations to that Divine

not mere Intelligence, mere Power, mere

but
the Highest Life of all, the only real
Beneficence,
and complete Personality in the universe. He pos
sesses a personal life in its unimaginable perfection and
has entrusted His high gift in a measure to some of His

Being who

creatures,

towards

is

that they may continually press forward

The Divine Spirit is at
realization.

its fuller

same time God over all human spirits, around

them and within them each word to be maintained
with equal weight and strenuousness. To apprehend,
maintain, enjoy and extend that many-sided relation
the

constitutes the true

its

life

of the finite spirit

through

all

history.

This implies a human self, a world of

But what is to be understood by the word ?

"selves."

It

cannot

mean

the subjective experience of the passing moment,

and the principle of continuity is not easy to describe.
Do we as yet "possess our souls," or are we in process

of

them? The differing translations of

xxi. 19 suggest a distinction which may, or
may

"acquiring"

Luke

not, be implied in the Greek, but

it

must never be

lost sight of in the study of humanity.

Every "self
in the finite creation is, as Aristotle expressed it, Si^ajut?
"

passing into ei^y/aa, a capacity developed into a

of activity through assimilation and conquest.
life of the spirit implies a
"being for self," but

mode
The
by

its

very constitution it implies something more. Eucken

has nobly vindicated this fundamental position, but it

may be

questioned whether he allows sufficiently for

DIVINE IMMANENCE

16

the individuality which forms the germ of growth

He contends that it is in virtue of

and development.

that each man possesses the capacity of un

bounded assimilation in the spiritual world. But he
passes rapidly on to urge that this "selfhood" is a
is
"point of view" from which the whole universe
in
self
that
universe
action
and
without
apprehended,
hood has no meaning. It is personal action on which
he insists, so that his system is most distinctively
"spirit"

The principle of personality with

a mere state of personal experience which
exists in entire indifference to objective fact, but a life
of action which includes and envelops an objectivity
within itself, and transfigures it in so doing." l
When the relation of the human spirit to the Divine

styled Activism.

him

is

is

"not

considered, a refuge from difficulties is often found

it as
in character.
Into the
"mystical
"

by describing

much abused word it is

more may be found upon
Chapter XVI. But it must imply that

various senses of that

necessary here to enter

not
the

the
subject in
individual spirit is brought into immediate contact
with the Infinite Spirit, that being the very kernel of
And true Theism, not to say
mystical doctrine.
Christianity, steers a middle course between a mere
external action of the Divine discerned by certain
effects of

grace in the

and an absorption

human spirit on the one hand,

human in the Divine upon

of the

the other, in such wise that the innermost centre of the

soul becomes Divine.
Vital union implies a

human

close relation in which, the finite creatureliness of the

soul being never forgotten, and its distinct, though

not independent, existence being preserved, God can

infuse true life into the soul from within in varying
degrees according to the capacity of each soul to
1

Gibson, Rudolf Eucken

Philosophy of Life,

p. 94.

DIVINE IMMANENCE

17

using the measure of Divine

Presence already vouchsafed. Such union and com
munion is made closer and more intimate by the con
scious, willing, eager surrender of the finite to the
Infinite Spirit, this very surrender being maintained

receive,

and

its fidelity in

by the communicated strength of all-encompassing

Divine energy. But communion is not absorption.

Immanence is not identity. Rapture is not extinction

Rather is the true nature of each
of individual being.
distinct Finite Self more and more fully realized as
experiences the Divine indwelling. As Browning
says, "man is not Man as yet"; the inchoate self
becomes the Self by union with the Divine.
it

"

Our
Our

wills are ours, we know not

wills are ours, to make them

how,
Thine."

Communion implies two beings, however lofty the

one and insignificant the other. There may be com
in speech, but com
or
the
distinctive
be,
glory which
God has given the highest creature known on earth
Man does not rise in the scale of being by
is lost.

munion
munion

in

silence as well as

there

must

approximating

to the passive

and unconscious from

The inspiration of the

when
he is compared to
highest

the consciously active state.

prophet is not at its

an unconscious lyre struck by the fingers of the
musician; still less if he should undergo an utter loss
of identity, as when a drop of water disappears in the
ocean.
But the Divine communion which implies

human spirit is quite con

Divine action within, as well as without,
the soul
a Divine energizing which "wells up" in
consciousness, as the sap in the tree, the source and
supply of all its life.
In the natural world the force which impels the
sap
the highest exercise of the

sistent with

DIVINE IMMANENCE

18

upwards

acts counter to gravitation

"capillary

attrac

tion
may be described, but not explained. The
power in the roots and stems and twigs of the grow
ing plant or tree to draw moisture upwards may be
described as "surface tension," or "cohesion acting as
a force at insensible distances," but such phraseology
covers our ignorance of the principle by which life is
maintained in a million trees of the forest, as in the
cattle on a thousand hills.
Physical illustrations
distance
when
used to expound
a
short
very
carry
"

It is enough
that God, who
were a hand-breadth off to give room
for the newly-made to live," does also so abide in the
human spirit if it will unfold itself to His presence,
that the new life, distinct but not separate from the
life of God, may be lived from Him, in Him and unto

personal
"stands

Him

relations.

as

it

increasingly for ever.

IV
Thus far religious philosophy, but what of the
Christian position ?
Religion may be viewed as
as embodied in ceremonial
a
law
for
conduct,
giving
worship, as a creed for the intellect and for faith or
as implying a certain significance, purpose and goal
in the scheme and history of the world.
It is from
the last point of view that we have now to regard
;

It is unquestionably a religion, not to

Christianity.
say the religion, of redemption. The idea of a com

renewal of nature as necessary for all men lies

very root. The possibility of such renewal is
taught in its characteristic doctrine of Incarnation,
the method of renewal in the doctrines of Atonement,
plete
at its

Justification

and

Sanctification,

the

climax

being

DIVINE IMMANENCE

19

a proclamation of Resurrection and Life

Everlasting.
The part of Christian teaching with which we are
now concerned, however, is the mode in which Divine
Redeeming Energy is exerted in the human spirit.
A Mediator is implied. In the twentieth century
such a doctrine is not popular. Men are so engrossed
with "the course of this world," research into nature

found

in

and control

of its resources, the

mutual relations

of

society in political, industrial, commercial and inter

national life, they are so anxious to exploit their own

powers, and those of others, in the development of

materials within their reach, that they resent the idea
of Salvation through Another, the need of revelation,
mediation, vicarious suffering and redemption. If the
gaze must be turned back at all two thousand years,
it is
enough to find. a great Exemplar always reserv

ing the rights and powers of the present generation

but not a Saviour. There can, however, be no ques
tion, if Christianity be true, that a Saviour is needed,
that one has appeared in history, and signs are not

wanting that the characteristic self-sufficiency of our

age is in certain directions being broken down, and
the need of Christ as a Saviour for the world is
increasingly
Be that as

and acknowledged.
may, such is the burden

felt

of the Chris
new relation of the individual to
Gospel.
God and a new order of the world are necessary.
This work must be carried on here and now in re
it

tian

newed
nature

No new

personalities.

substance of

human

existing substance is not evil,

but its bias, tendency, scope and aim are bent and
dwarfed, and man s powers can only be renewed as
his relations to God and his fellows are rectified.
Hence mere Theistic doctrine does not suffice for
c

is

necessary,

its

DIVINE IMMANENCE

20

world-renewal, but Theism with a special revelation

The work

culminating in Christ.

of

reconciliation

already effected, the message is declared, "to wit

that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto
is

Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them."

But the meaning and power of this can only be
realized by faith on man s part and the energizing of
The believer is
the Holy Spirit on God s part.

brought into closer relation with God than

to

any other human being, a

is

possible

relation described as the

Spirit s indwelling rather than Divine immanence,

the latter phrase being postulated of creation as a

whole and especially of mankind as the highest crea

ture on the face of the earth.
No man is, or can be,
outside the reach of these general influences of the
Holy Spirit. But He is now manifested as the Spirit
of Christ, with special characteristics and operations
realizable only by faith in Christ.
Under these con

ditions

the

of

"indwelling

the

Spirit"

acquires a

meaning which cannot be understood outside Christian

experience, and that experience finds its consumma
not in some Nirvana or
tion in the present life
;

absorption into Deity, but in that state of "entire

which means nothing more, and
sanctification
than
perfect love to God and man.
nothing less,
Under what conditions is this process of renewal
of the human spirit in communion with the Divine
possible? The Christian answer is through God the
"

spoken of as the third Person in the

This
may seem to be explaining the obscure
Trinity.
and it has sometimes been so
more
the
obscure,
by
than illumine a sacred
rather
to
darken
as
taught
The
theme. But let us examine it more closely.
doctrine of the Trinity is described as a "mystery,"
and such it undoubtedly is if the word be rightly

Holy

Spirit,

DIVINE IMMANENCE
understood in the

mean

New Testament

which

that

in

itself

is

21
It

does not

unintelligible,

or self-

sense.

contradictory, or irrational, but that which has been

only partly revealed, or is only partially understood,

because of the imperfect capacity of those who receive

As a revelation from God to man, a mystery is
it.
that which can be apprehended, though not compre
hended that which for a while was for good reasons
;

hidden, or which, when made known, appeals only to

those who are prepared by their own training and
experience to receive it. The Trinity is a "mystery,"
as the Personality of God held by the Theist is a
mystery, or it might even be said as the personality
of man held by the man in the street is a mystery.
For he who understands the "flower in the crannied

and

wall,

root

what

God and man

The attempt

all,

and

all

in

all,"

may

understand

is.

conceive Absolute Personality is

metaphysical, emotional,
moral. If there is an absolute Subject, this would
seem to imply a corresponding eternal Object even
Aristotle asks what God contemplates, and answers
Himself. So with love and all other moral relations.
Tf these belong in any real sense to the eternal essence
Dr. Marof the Godhead, they require an object.
tineau would find such an object in an eternal uni

surrounded by

to

difficulties

verse, but this would interfere with the

self-existence of the Godhead and make

fundamental

Him

as

much

dependent on the universe as the universe is on Him.

It is more reasonable
understanding by reason the
human spirit exercising itself on high themes largely
beyond its ken to suppose that these moral and
emotional relations are interior to the Godhead, that
the Deity

the

is

not a bare, solitary unit, as set forth by

the Unitarian Theist, but Him-

Mohammedan and

DIVINE IMMANENCE

22
self

home

puts

it,

He

"in

mode

Illingworth

which the family,

the created and faint
of

human society, is
... A person is as

the unit of
reflection.

As Dr.

of social relations.
exists

essentially a social,

an individual, being; he cannot be realized,

he cannot become his true self, apart from society
as he

is

and personality having this plural implication, soli

As
tary personality is a contradiction in terms."
another writer has expressed it "The question of
theology was

God

What

is

God ?

And

the answer

was

a fellowship, a communion of persons."

Dr.
I am not sure that
far
to
so
as
say,
Moberly goes
is

"

one thing in respect of Divine Person

which we can with most unfailing certainty be
have a real intellectual grasp. We see not
an inherent mutuality is authoritatively
that
merely
this is not the

ality of
said to

We

can see that it is intellectually

implied or revealed.
it should be otherwise.
that
can see
impossible
that Eternal Personality, without mutual relation in

We

1
could not be Eternal Personality after
The words now used in the orthodox creeds to express
this truth may, or may not, be the best to convey the
all."

itself,

Words change their meaning in process of time

idea.
and no translation can convey the exact meaning of the
The doctrine of "Three Persons" suggests
original.
to the English mind the idea of Tritheism, and "one
might savour of materialism. The timehonoured phrase, admirably devised when it was

substance"

coined, "neither confusing the Persons, nor dividing

the Substance," conveys little meaning to the nonIf
are individuals,
"persons"
theological mind.
mutually exclusive, the word is not applicable to the
Deity. But a Personal God for the Trinitarian means
Illingworth, Doctrine of the Trinity, pp.
Moberly, Atonement and Personality, p. 165.
1

143,

144,

256;

DIVINE IMMANENCE
One
that

23

indivisible Personality so much richer than ours

to find in others He finds in Him

what we need

The

self.

three

"hypostases"

in

the

Godhead

are

three aspects, more than three characteristic

functions, of one personality they are three subsist
ences, the position and function of each of which pre

more than

supposes the position and function of each of the

members of one organic whole. Each is
necessary to the other and indissolubly blended in a
Unity ineffably higher than the organic unity of the
individual, as that is indescribably higher than the
unity constituted by each plant or animal around us.
The Father is the Source and Origin of all. He
does not reveal Himself immediately, either in creation
The
or redemption, but always through the Son.
Son is the revealing principle of the Divine existence,
others as

the organ and medium of all creation. From within

He is the x aP aKT ^iP 771 J vjroarda-cwy, the impress of the
substance
of the Father, and in revelation He is the
"

"

and the end

and redemption. The position and
the Spirit, with which we are now espe

effulgence of His glory, the beginning

in

mediation

function of

is not that of ultimate source, nor

the
does
accomplishment of the actual work
imply
of redemption, but He is throughout the "formative

concerned,

cially

it

and glorifying
in the

Incarnation, in

in

Creation, in History,
Redemption, in the formation

principle,"

and development of the individual Christian and the

Church, in the accomplishment of all Divine designs
for the whole world.
The will is of the Father, ac
cepted and revealed by the Son, fulfilled by the Spirit
God over us, God for us, God in us. The Spirit is
the executing

power

of the

He

Godhead;

"by

His imma

unfolds and brings forth into

realization and progressively to complete manifestanent plastic activity

DIVINE IMMANENCE

24

tion the Divine idea of the

the natural

and

l
ethical,"

kingdoms

of the universe,

in nature,

providence and

In all realms it is through the Holy Spirit that

grace.
possibilities in the creature become realities, so that

each

is

to

be brought through processes of growth and

development

may

It

to

"wind

to ultimate perfection

and glory.

be that in such speculations we are trying

ourselves too high for sinful man below

that of the interior relations of the Godhead

we can think nothing, understand nothing, imagine
nothing. But surely, if we use the name of God at all,
it is more reasonable to conceive of the Author of ali
personal beings as personal than as impersonal. And,

the

sky"

trying to conceive of His personality, it is reason

able to think of it as higher and richer than ours,
perfect where ours is imperfect.
Surely also we have

in

ground enough in our own existence to discern unity

in multiplicity and multiplicity in unity.
The higher
the unity, the more easily and completely is the mani
fold taken
ness.

up

The

into itself, without impairing

its

one

Christian revelation enables us thus to

think of God. As Dorner phrases it "This principle

of union in the organism of the absolute Life we call
:

The principle of union pre

but distinctions presuppose in
turn the principle of union, for God could not part
Himself unless He were sure of the principle of union.
the

Holy

Spirit.

supposes distinctions

Thus

tem

is

Self-origination

mediation of the third

reducit"

possible

by means of the
ad unita-

trinitas dualitatem

Absoluteness in the Infinite, rightly understood,

does not mean that which is utterly out of relation
with the finite, neither does it imply comprehension,
1

Gerhart, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Vol.

of Christian Doctrine, Vol. I, p. 421.

System

I,

p. 309.

DIVINE IMMANENCE
or absorption of the finite; but a

25

"fulness

which

is

master and conscious of itself," and which at the same

time informs and sustains the creature in all its rela
In the case of
tions, both creaturely and Divine.
man this relation has been impaired and broken. It
is to be renewed in and through Christ, Son of God
Incarnate, and that restoration is being carried out
by the power of the Holy Spirit, partially now, but
to be realized completely at the last, when all God s

purposes are accomplished.

The life of the spirit means, therefore, for man the
process by which the human spirit, already possessed
of certain capacities, attains gradually its growth and
development in union with the Spirit of God. It is
from the Christian point of view that this spirit-life
is here regarded; and it may safely be said, with all

and theosophical speculations of the

no higher, or more practically
on
this subject has been known in
teaching

the theological

ages

in

view,

effective,

that

history. The "law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus"

means the Christian way of attaining this high goal.
It

does

"make

free

The redemption

in

from the law of sin and

Christ,

death."

ministered by the Holy

Spirit and apprehended by receptive faith, raises man

above himself as no other power has ever raised him.
The process by which "Paracelsus attains in Brown
"

ing

poem

is

nobly expressed,

but

it

represents

aspiration, rather than achievement.

"The

secret of the world

was mine.

knew, I felt (perception unexpressed,

Uncomprehended by our narrow thought,
But somehow felt and known in every shift
And change in the spirit, nay, in every pore
Of the body, even) what God is, what we are,
I

What

life is

how God

In infinite ways

From whom

all

tastes an infinite joy

one everlasting bliss,
emanates, all power

DIVINE IMMANENCE

26
Proceeds

Yet

in

whom

is life for

whom

evermore,

existence in its lowest form

Includes; where dwells enjoyment, there
.

is

He.

God renews
Thus He dwells

His ancient rapture.

in all
From life s minute beginnings, up at last
To man the consummation of this scheme

Of
Of

being, the completion of this sphere

life.

For these things tend still upward, progress

The law of life, man is not Man as yet."

is

Prognostics in creation told man s near approach

so in man as he is there are august anticipations of
what he will be, "types of dim splendour in that
Not Divine Power alone,
eternal circle life pursues."
Divine Love is needed "love preceding power, and
with such power always more love." And yet all is
:

not told, the whole lesson of love is not yet learned.

has attained is still pressing forward.

He who

I stoop
"If
Into a dark tremendous sea of cloud,
It is but for a time; I press God s lamp
Close to my breast its splendour, soon or late,
I shall emerge one day."
Will pierce the gloom
;

These are man

highest hopes and strivings, indicat

ing at least capacity and hope.

upward rise is contained in the

The

real secret of the

words, Your life is hid

with Christ in God. The power by which the glori
ous summit is to be attained is expressed in another
well-known phrase of St. Paul "strengthened with

Some steps
Spirit in the inward man."
climb up this world s great altar-stairs to the
very presence and glory of God, sustained and animated
by His indwelling Spirit, are now to be traced in the
might by His
in the

light of Christian revelation.

THE HOLY

SPIRIT IN

THE NEW TESTAMENT

"

The Father shall give you another Comforter. ... He

me."
JOHN xiv. 16; xvi. 14.

shall

glorify
"

We

call

the

new

life

which came

into

the

world

the

the unstinted self-devotion, the infinite compas

sion, the sweet and beautiful innocence, the high ambition to
spend and be spent for God we call all this the fruits of

burning

love,

In more exact words, all has flowed from the

R. W. CHURCH.

Christianity.

great gift of

Pentecost."

"T/ie
belief in the Holy Spirit as a Divine Person living,
acting, quickening, elevating, sanctifying is the key to the
solution of many spiritual problems, or at least to the temper

in

which alone

it is

possible to think of solving

them."

J.

E. C.

WELLDON.
Christians profess to believe in the Holy Ghost.
Had
Christians so believed, and lived up to their belief, they
would all have been mystics, and there would have been no
"All

only

all

mysticism."

R. C. MOBERLY.

II

THE HOLY

SPIRIT IN

THE NEW TESTAMENT

IT is frequently said that the history of mankind

includes three dispensations, or periods of Divine selfFirst is that of the Father, from the
manifestation.
Creation to the Incarnation; the second is that of

the Son, during the life of Christ upon the earth

while the third is that of the Holy Spirit, extend

ing from Pentecost

world.

till

now and

to the

end of the

Truth

is, no doubt, implied in such a statement, but

not accurate, and may easily be misleading.
There is but one Triune God, continually operative
in the history of humanity, who controls and orders
it

is

generations, age linked with age, and preparing for

ages yet to come. In this long history occurred the
great epoch of the Incarnation, during which the Son

all

perfectly revealed the Father-God to man in human

form and fashion. Since Christ left the earth, the
Spirit whom He promised has been carrying on the
work for the consummation of His Kingdom, and

during these two thousand years of Christian history

it is the Holy Spirit, as the Spirit of Christ, who has
been the one operative agent in the Church and in the
world to bring fallen men into fellowship with the
Father through the Son of His love.
But, if that is true, the Church has largely failed to
realize the

We

importance of the work of the Holy Spirit.

hear and read far more of the Fatherhood of

29

God

THE HOLY

30

SPIRIT IN

of the Person and Work of Jesus Christ our

Lord, than of the operations of the Spirit. Not that
God is One.
this is necessarily ground of complaint.
Father, Son and Spirit are distinctions within the
unity of the one only and true God. To glorify the
Son is to glorify the Father and that men may do

and

either rightly, the Holy Spirit must glorify the Son,

But if the full chord of
as Christ said He should do.

Christian music is to be rightly struck, due emphasis

must be given to each note. When the work of the
Holy Spirit is insufficiently considered, the missing
note is the immediate Presence and Indwelling and

Inworking of God
(3)

the

Church

in

(i)

Creation;

(4) the mediatorial

(2)

Humanity;

Kingdom

of Christ

and the world

The

at large.
reasons for such

comparative neglect are toler

which
is spiritual is vague and
obvious.
That
ably
indefinite, while the actual life of Christ on the earth,
the words He spoke and the work He did, are concrete

and

historical.

Again, the work of the Holy Spirit

human

hearts lies on the border-line between the

Divine and human, and it is only natural to emphasize
in

the human side, the activities and manifestations of

human life, rather than the Divine energy which

prompts and animates the whole. Again, while lack

of spiritual experience is a drawback in the study of
of theology, it is absolutely fatal here.
discuss
Christology from the point of view
may
of history or or of literature but, when they come to
deal with the work of the Holy Spirit, without

any department
Critics

far at a loss that they

with
a
sneer
at its futility.
attempt
give up
Whilst, on the other hand, those who possess spiritual

spiritual

knowledge they are so

the

knowledge through their own experience do not find

it easy to convey such knowledge in words.
For who

THE NEW TESTAMENT

31

among men knoweth the things of a man save the

And the deeper
in him ?
spirit of the man which is
are so dimly
teaches
God
of
things which the Spirit
apprehended that when they are expressed they are
condemned as mystical and unreal.
The more reason, therefore, that from time to time

often

attempts should be made to redress the balance. The

Society of Friends in the seventeenth century, the
Methodists in the eighteenth, drew attention it may
be with somewhat disproportionate emphasis to
truths which the generations were in danger of forget
There are indications that the twentieth century
ting.
its own message to give and its
But if we would learn them
lessons to learn.
aright we must turn to the fountain-head. The litera

has in this matter

own

New Testament is, for evangelical churches

normal and normative on this, as on all other

ture of the
at least,

If the infallibility and

topics of Christian doctrine.
writers
of
on all subjects of
the
Scripture
inerrancy

human knowledge are not now insisted

documents are now studied with freedom

on, if the
as well as

with reverence, these sacred books are felt to be the

more, not the less, full of inspiration and authority
for the Christian.
Guidance is here furnished for
those who trust not the letter which killeth, but the
record of facts, an enun
Spirit who makes alive.

fundamental principles, are there to be

found, which are of permanent import and the ques
tion has to be asked, How was the work of the Holy
Spirit understood and realized in the earliest days ?
What modifications, if any, has the passage of time
effected?
How far is the Church following on the
lines laid down in the New Testament?
How far

ciation

of

may
the

the

modern Church expect

measure of the

to reach, or to surpass,
therein
described? What is
gift

THE HOLY

32

SPIRIT IN

the significance of the work of the Spirit in successive

ages of the Church, and how is it to be understood
These are large questions.
for the needs of fo-day?

A wise man will think himself happy if he is able here

and there to suggest a fraction of an answer to them.
The work of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament
has furnished material for more than one ample
volume all that can be given in a few pages is some
illustration of the way in which the New Testament
may be studied so as to solve some of these perpetually
;

recurring problems.

The working of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testa

ment cannot be ignored, and it explains much that
would otherwise be unintelligible in the manifestations
St. Peter s address on the day of Pente
of the New.
cost points back to the prophet Joel, and the strange
upliftings of that memorable day were not wholly
new or alien to Jewish thought. From the first
chapter of Genesis to the, last page of the prophetic
volume, the Spirit is never forgotten. He appears
last and midst, often in unlikely places, and
with increasing significance as time goes on.
Not,
indeed, as "The Third Person in the Trinity," nor as
distinguished from other "Persons" in the Godhead.
first,

The

Spirit of

world.

The

God

is
"

"breath

in active operation

God

God Himself at work

God indicates the life

of

in the

of

God

quickening, moving, energizing

said to have eyes to see, ears to hear,

an arm to work, so also He sends forth His Spirit,
Himself the living God and the great quickener of

so that as

life

is

everywhere.
In nature, He broods over chaos dark and rude, to

THE NEW TESTAMENT

33

bring out order and peace. The origin of life in man

is that Divine breath which God breathed into his
nostrils, and it is when He sends forth His Spirit that
the face of the earth is renewed. In art, Bezaleel and
Aholiab devise cunning works in gold and silver, in
brass and embroidery, because they are filled with the
Spirit of God. In government, His presence is needed.
the greatest of human tasks to rule well; and if
midst of anarchy the Judges introduced order,

It is

in the

it was because they were inspired of God to do so;

and Solomon was endued with the Spirit to perceive
and do the right as God s vice-regent in the land. The

inspiration of the prophets is of various types.

Spirit of God came upon Elijah to dare and act,
Ezekiel to write, and upon Daniel to dream, as it

The
upon
came

upon Isaiah the son of Amos to fill a great place as

statesman, and his later namesake to anticipate the
ages and preach a gospel of comfort to the exiled and
All moral and religious life was
disconsolate people.
under the special direction of the Spirit of God. His
Spirit gives man understanding, and the spirit of man
is the candle of the Lord, searching the inmost parts
of his being.

In the latest utterances of

all,

that

name

occasionally used which in later days was to become

so sacredly familiar, and a tenderer tone breathes
through the words, "They turned and grieved His
Holy Spirit," and "Take not Thy Holy Spirit from
is

The prophets drew largely on this source in

me."
the outline of their promises for the future, they had
their message concerning the Anointed One yet to
appear,
these

but no gracious forecasts were richer than

will pour my Spirit upon thy seed and my

"I

blessing upon thine

offspring";

"Your

young men

visions, and your old men shall dream

the
servants even and the handmaidens shall
dreams,
shall

see

THE HOLY

34

prophesy, for

will

SPIRIT IN

pour out

my

Spirit

upon

all

flesh."

Without this preparation under the Old Covenant

the richer grace of the New could hardly have been
conferred.
Only a people trained like Israel could
have received and appreciated the revelation that was
granted in the latter days. This training had deeply
impressed on their minds the close relation of God
to His people, the Divine influence never far from
them, the tenderness which did not utterly forsake
them even when unfaithful, the intimate communion
ever possible, save when shut out from God by the
Israel, before the coming of Christ,
had travelled a considerable way towards learning
what was uttered later in sublime words for all time
"God is a Spirit, and
they that worship Him must
worship Him in spirit and in truth."

barrier of sin.

II

Turn

to the

New

Testament, and the doctrine

how changed

is

the

Mark

the increasing fre

quency of the mention of the Spirit He appears now
on every page. Mark further, that, while there is no

same, yet

mention of the word Trinity, the relation of the Spirit

to the

Father and the Son indicates a fuller revelation

of the being and nature of

only the Spirit of God, He

Christ, of

God

Son.

And

The Spirit is not

the Spirit of Jesus, of
the change of emphasis

God.
is

It is no
implies virtually a new doctrine.
exaggera
tion to say that in the New Testament the Holy Spirit
Dr. W. L. Walker,
is everywhere, in all things.
who has made this subject his own, says, "The Spirit
is the great thing in Christianity"; "The essential
thing in the Christian religion"; this is "the dis-

THE NEW TESTAMENT

35

tinctive doctrine, vital, fundamental and permanent." 1

Speaking of St. Paul and Paulinism, Dr. Moffatt says,
"The

most

vital

and

central doctrine

Spirit, in relation to the

Christian

experience."

is

that of the

person of Christ
This is not to

and

to the

disparage

doctrines concerning the Father and the Son, for these

are the very truths which the Holy Spirit takes up
and works out it is the power and grace of both that
;

applies and brings home to the hearts of men.

The Son appears in His own glory just in proportion
as He reveals and glorifies the Father; so the Holy
He shall
Spirit does not speak from Himself, but
All things that the Father hath are
glorify Me.
Mine, therefore said I that He shall take of Mine and
I am
shall show them unto you."
leaving you, said

He

"

the Saviour, yet only going

nearer to you than ever; for

away

He

so that

shall be

coming whom the

So He spoke, and so
of the New Testament
is

Father will send in My name.

All the latter part
it was done.
is a commentary on these words.

Christ s promise

fulfilled, and these books, written between A.D.

50-100 teem with influences of the Holy Spirit, which
breathe forth from the pages to-day, as they have done

was

any day

The

for these

two thousand years.

during the

operations of the Spirit

life

of Christ

on the earth are described in detail, especially by St.

Luke, from the birth and infancy and growth of Jesus,
His baptism and temptation, down to His Cross,
where He offered His all-availing sacrifice "through
the eternal Spirit
and His resurrection, when He
was declared to be the Son of God with power "accord
ing to the Spirit of holiness." The latter two passages
are instructive, though the primary reference in them
is probably not to the
Holy Spirit directly. It is
"

D2

The

Spirit

and the Incarnation, passim.

THE HOLY

36

SPIRIT IN

generally recognized that during the life of Christ on

earth the Spirit "was not yet," and that a great epoch

was made and marked on the day of Pentecost, when

Church of Christ was born. What happened on
that great and notable day, and what changes came
about to justify the previous expectation and the
the

subsequent apostolic ministry?

In the narrative of Acts ii symbolism unquestion
ably has a large place. On this subject Dr. Sanday
broad recognition of the extent of symbolism
says,
is necessary in any process of adjusting our modern
he
ways of looking at things with the ancient ways
"A

"

system of equivalence," so that

speaks further of
the critical method at one stage shall correspond to
"a

the exegetical at another, the paraphrastic at a third,

and the symbolical at a fourth. "But the change is

only in the mode of presentation the essence of that

which is presented is unchanged.
need to remind
ourselves from time to time that the way in which a
thing appears to us does not affect the underlying
1
In studying the events of the Day of
reality."
Pentecost it is not altogether easy for us to translate
the account into modern language and answer the
question, Wliat happened then ? so as to produce the
same impression on the modern mind that the second
chapter of Acts produced on those for whom it was
;

We

written.
of

fire,

St.

&4>Q

Luke say

rl crai

that tongues

appeared

oxret TTU/OOJ,

(as in a vision).

like as

Wind and

Fire were already fully recognized in the Old Testa

ment as symbols of the presence of God, and the
prophecy of John the Baptist in Matt. iii. 11 goes to
show that the baptism of the Holy Ghost would be

a baptism of

fire.

flicker in the air,

1

Lambent

jets of

and distribution

flame appeared to

of the gift to each

Ancient
and
Christologies
Modern, pp. 221, 227.

THE NEW TESTAMENT

is

made emphatic.

On

the nature of the

37

"gift"

of

IV.
tongues something further will be said in Chapter
the
nature
of
the
Whatever
accompanying pheno

mena, the important

with the

Holy

fact is that

Spirit."

"they

were

all filled

The Divine power which

on the Apostles wrought a veritable revolution

how? If we compare the disciples as they were a
few weeks before, during the time of Christ s ministry,
Even at the time of the
the change is hardly credible.
Ascension their naive question, "Lord, wilt Thou at
shows
this time restore the kingdom unto Israel ?
how far they were from understanding the person and
rested

"

The great change wrought at

not explicable by any ordinary experi
ences, yet there is nothing in it contrary to the teach
ing of a sound psychology. What happened is in
harmony with principles now generally recognized,
though they are illustrated in an unparalleled and
work

of their Master.

Pentecost

is

The full results were discernible

even
at
the
later, though
moment, as Peter s sermon
a
notable
had
taken place. The address
shows,
change
which is not to be read as if it were a shorthand
report exhibits an early stage of apostolic training

supernatural degree.

and preaching. The following

are very marked.

features,

among

others,

(i) An illumination of mind to understand much

concerning the Person and work of Christ that hitherto
had been dark and unintelligible. It included a clear
perception of the Messiahship of Jesus, an acceptance
of His death, not as an overthrow, but as ordered
by
Divine Providence for a great end, the view of His
resurrection being specially illuminative. Now, adds

St. Peter, after the

"

prayer,

and

He

hear."

appointed period of waiting and

hath poured forth this which ye now see
"This "which the
Apostles themselves

THE HOLY

38

SPIRIT IN

did not fully understand, but which made them to be

beside themselves with rapture, and the dawning per
ception of inconceivable spiritual glory yet to come.
or rather, to
(2) The po\ver to express themselves,

proclaim the new truth as a message,

llapprjaria

indi

cates subjectively confidence, objectively courage. The

Apostles displayed both; they proved that at least

had taken place to

bravely and powerfully.
(3) The power to impress others implied a still
fuller endowment. The impression produced was
doubtless due to other characteristics besides speech.
Even in speech it is what a man is, not what he says,
that speaks loudest; and unconsciously to themselves
the Holy Spirit had so changed these men that they
could speak with a "demonstration" which only He
could effect. He who spoke in them was working
also in the hearts of their hearers, hence the wonderful
sufficient

assimilation

enable them to utter

it

of

truth

freely,

immediate impression produced.

(4)

the

All points to Christ.

He is the one theme of
Christian sermon, Peter has nothing else to

first

is not the Spirit of God,

generally and
that
the
abstractly,
speaks, though
prophecy of Joel
was fulfilled and the Divine character of the afflatus is

declare.

It

taken for granted. It is God-in-Christ who is pro

claimed and glorified. As in the solar spectrum the
dark lines prove the presence in the sun s atmosphere
of incandescent sodium or magnesium, carbon or

hydrogen, so the messenger of God testifies not only

Divine truth in general, but to some special message
burned in by experience upon his soul. There is no
question what the special Divine truth was which
shone through all Apostolic preaching it was not
they, but the very Spirit of Christ that spoke in them.
(5) Others are to receive this Divine gift in their

to

THE NEW TESTAMENT

The

turn.

remission of sins was the

39

first

blessing

bestowed upon those who believed they must take

on them the name of Christ, enter the circle of His
disciples by baptism, be acknowledged as His, and
afterwards they should receive the Holy Spirit. This
was, however, only the beginning of what was to be
enjoyed; one main characteristic of the "outpouring"
being that all shared in it, young and old, high and
low, educated and uneducated, leaders and followers,
each in his measure, according to the power of each
to receive and the work given to each to do.
Whether three thousand persons were actually bap
tized and enrolled in one day, or not, is a small
matter. Acts ii. 42 is not a statistical return of Church
;

membership made upon the evening

Pentecost.
first

The

of the

day of

writer records that, as a result of that

address, not hundreds but thousands were con

and on the high road to salvation.

victed, converted

The significance of
phenomena recorded

not in

the exact

in half-a-dozen lines

which we

the

day

lies

can only approximately interpret, but in the splendid

fulfilment of the promise of the Master, that when His
physical presence was removed, not only should His
spiritual presence remain, but much more than this.
Work was to be done such as He Himself could not

accomplish in His lifetime. A closer relationship to

Him began, deeper, more intelligent, more abiding,
than anything they had known before. And the most
remarkable feature of all was the quickening influence
which unconsciously went forth From them, streaming
through them as through a divinely appointed
channel. For the promise, "He that believeth on Me,
from his inmost being shall flow rivers of living
water
could not be fulfilled till Jesus was glorified
"

and the

Spirit outpoured.

THE HOLY

40

SPIRIT IN

Enough that a new epoch had dawned, continuous

with the old, yet rising distinctly above it, and indicat
ive of a higher and more glorious one still to come.
So with the water in the lock upon the river; the lock
fills slowly, drop by drop, trickling stream by trickling
stream, the boat rises gradually upward and upward,
when

moment

is; reached, the

floodgates
the
water rushes through,
accord,
open
and a higher level is attained for the vessel, never to
be lost again. Preparation was made before the day

till,

the crucial

of their

own

of Pentecost, long subsequent processes followed, but

the hour in which the new level of life was reached

was momentous.

Or one may

think of the launching

The vessel is in dry dock,

of a great ocean liner.
there is a ponderous apparatus of struts and stays until
the time of launching arrives. Then the cradle and
sliding \vays are put in place, and at the right
moment the locking arrangement is sharply removed,

and the great vessel slides down to the water. But

what no hydraulic machinery could do is accomplished
with golden ease as the tide rises and bears the great
keel out into the river and the ocean, ready to sail
round the world, laden with argosies for the very ends
of the earth.
Pentecost marked a tidal movement, the
end of which has as yet hardly dawned upon human
vision.

A new type of life begins from henceforth, the

outward conditions and circumstances remaining the
It was new because it was animated from
same.
new indwelling energy, the Spirit of
The most prosaic records of history are

within by a
Christ.

to prove this. Let any man underline in the

Acts of the Apostles all the references to the Holy
Spirit and watch the result; or let him strike out from
St. Paul s Epistles all that speaks of, and
points to,

enough

THE NEW TESTAMENT

41

and see how much is left. The religion of

Testament is a religion of the Holy Spirit,
and the Christianity of subsequent times that would
realize the New Testament type under new conditions
Most of the
must also be a religion of the Spirit.
declensions which have marked the religious life of
Christendom have been due to forgetfulness of this
fundamental fact, and all striking revivals of Christian
life and power have sprung from its recollection and
the Spirit,

the

New

reinforcement.
Ill
It is

hardly needful to show that the Holy Spirit

is

New

Testament clearly and emphatic

spoken
was shown by several of the
This
as
Personal.
ally
in the fourth century, and
Basil
Fathers, notably by
of in the

in
his line of exposition is valid to-day. The "Spirit
the Old Testament is personal because it represents
"

God in action, and the God of the Old Testament is

described as personal, even to the verge of anthropo
But in the New Testament the per
morphism.
sonal action ascribed to the Holy Spirit in distinction
from the Father and the Son is so marked as to form
a

new and impressive feature. This fact does not

now an inquiry into the eternal personality

necessitate

of the Spirit in the Godhead, or into the doctrine of

the Trinity, often misrepresented by non-Christians,
and often misunderstood by Christians themselves.

But when rightly expounded

New Testament

it

makes the specific

work of the

doctrine of the personal

Spirit intelligible and appropriate, as otherwise

could hardly be. But this aspect of doctrine may
now be left on one side.

Holy
it

The most
in

Christ s

on the subject is found

discourses concerning the Paraclete in

explicit teaching

THE HOLY

42

SPIRIT IN

If these stood alone they might be

represented as a comparatively late reflection of earlier
doctrine peculiar to St. John.
But St. Paul s Epistles
are among the earliest New Testament documents, and
Rom. viii. is equally emphatic on the personal char
acteristics
thought, feeling and action ascribed to
the Holy Spirit throughout.
What we find in that

John xiv.-xvi.

well-known chapter

is

not grammatical personification,

not subjective hypostatizing, but it implies a way of

regarding God s working within us as personal, just
as is the Father s care over us and the Saviour s work

The name napd/cA^ros, Paraclete, is

as
Kcmjyopo? the Accuser of man is personal,
personal ;
so is the Spirit as our Helper and Defender.
He is

for our salvation.

champion and advocate, One who

than consoles, though all kinds of
rather
strengthens
and
succour
spiritual
invigoration are ascribed to Him.
present

as

He is another than the Father and the Son. A self

cannot pray the self to send another self from himself,
as Christ prays the Father to send the other Com
John xiv. 26. It is the Spirit who in xiv. 20
makes the disciples to know that the Son is in the
Father, and that believers are in Christ and Christ
in them.
His it is to bring to remembrance the words
of Christ, to teach them anew, with an understanding
forter in

meaning never enjoyed before. Jesus is the

the Spirit is the Way-Guide, who will lead
them into all the truth, as only a living Divine Lord
can guide the children of men personally through
of their

Way,

And the promise concerning Him is that

the ages.
He will not only be juerd, in company \vith them, napd
abiding evermore in the inmost
by their side, but

hearts of

all

true disciples.

In St. Paul s Epistles, though the same words are

seldom used, the same idea is presented. The leading

THE NEW TESTAMENT

Rom.

of the Spirit in

viii.

13 carries us

43

beyond the

The intercession in
points out the way.
viii. 26 brings vividly before us the Divine Advocate
within, the personal communion implied in the inward
witness of viii. 15 is very close. Joining this verse
with Gal. iv. 6, we find now that it is the child of
God who cries Abba, Father; now, the Spirit in him.
Grieve not the Holy Spirit, urges the Apostle, for
He can be grieved; quench not this Divine fire, for
guide who

coldness and carelessness may cause Him not only

to mourn, but to depart.
His is the power to
strengthen in the inward man, and when He is
so inwardly present,

Christ dwells in the heart by

The Holy Spirit is the

(Eph. iii. 16, 17).
earnest of redemption, heaven begun below; and when
this state is realized Christ is in you, the hope of
Thus does St. Paul from his own character
glory.
istic point of view corroborate the teaching of St.
faith

John and whilst emphasizing a personal Father-God,

and a personal Saviour and a personal Holy Spirit,
he shows, without seeming to show, that the Three
are One.
;

It

may

be said that there

morphism,

that
"

"hypostatizing

all

that

is

danger here of anthropo

is

of the Spirit.

intended

Danger

is

strong

of this kind

is in all our language

concerning God, but we
must not therefore be silent. The personal language

there

of the Bible brings us nearer to reality, nearer to the

living God, than the abstract language of the philo

sopher. The danger in our time, especially among

the educated, lies in the opposite direction.
To
explain evil as an abstraction is to explain it away.
So it is easier to think of Christ as a man than as

God Incarnate, easier to think of the Holy Spirit as

an influence than as a personal indwelling presence.

THE HOLY

44

SPIRIT IN

But simply for lack of this personal realization many

nominal Christians are living without God in the
The Father is afar, none has seen or can
world.
see Him the Son lived on the earth long ago, but the
;

records are scanty, uncertain, perhaps mistaken

while if unbelievers ask, Where is now thy God?
there is no living, present, operating Deity, whose
personal existence and power they realize, even more
;

own.
was made to rest," says
the thought of two, and two only,
luminously self-evident beings, myself

fully than their

Newman,

"I

"in

supreme and
and my Creator

but what men need to know in

personal experience is not so much the existence of
God afar off as Creator and Ruler, but God here and
now as an indwelling Spirit.
"

not the denial of this doctrine

among Christians
it.
Such a habit is
but
the
serious,
ignoring
If
in harmony with other tendencies of the time.
the personality of man be loosely held, all hold of a
personal God is loosened also. And in proportion as
It is

that

is

feelings are made dependent on the

as
body,
psychology is resolved into a department of
physiology, so that thoughts and emotions are

the

mind and

functions of the material organism the brain, the

nervous system and other organs we cannot wonder
the very meaning of personal life dissolves and
disappears. Whatever be thought of some forms of
Idealism as philosophy adequate to the facts of life,
undoubtedly the assertion of the main principle of
Idealism during the last three or four decades has been
of essential service to religious thought in this country.
if

For of the soul the body form doth take,

For soul is form, and doth the body make.
Is soul "form," impress, stamp, or a mere transient,
ephemeral product of antecedent forces? The ques-

THE NEW TESTAMENT

45

tion is a fundamental one, and bound up with the

answer to it is our hold on the personality of man
and our belief in a personal God as something more
than the shadow of a. dream. Current tendencies are
only too strong which go to undervalue the import

ance of individual personal

fact that
feels,

it

loves

is

the

is

life,

to loosen the root-

himself, he

who

thinks and

rejoices, who is
that nothing else matters.

and hopes, grieves and

The

all-important.

What

man

man

fact

profited

become superfluous

if

is,

the question has surely not

he gain the whole world and

lose himself?
Spirit alone abides, though it needs a
tenacious faith in the unseen to realize it.
So God is personal Spirit, and as personal Spirit not

only has

He

He

brought personal

establishes union

spirits into being,

but

and communion with those who

and obey Him, by that personal Spirit who abides

within them if they will make room for Him. Belief
in a personal God preserves the dignity of man, his
moral freedom and responsibility and his personal
immortality. "God is Soul, souls I and thou, souls
should with souls have place." Belief in a personal
indwelling Spirit is the very nerve of experimental
trust

So

was

in primitive Christianity.
Its
creed, not in ritual, nor even in
conduct, but in a certain new Spirit of life which
resulted from a new sense of the Divine Spirit within

religion.

power lay not

man and

it

in

a realization of this affecting the whole life.

power of primitive Christianity is to be renewed
it must be
along these lines. The real presence of
Christ among His people is not in the consecrated
wafer, nor in the hands of communicants, though
sacred beyond words is the Table of the Lord and
His presence there. But the living Christ can only
be present in the power of the Holy Spirit, whose
If

the

THE HOLY

46

very

name

is

hardly mentioned in some sacramental

to end.
The soul athirst for the

offices

from end

living

God

God

within

is

SPIRIT IN

finds in all ages that

"the

kingdom

of

you."

IV
of New Testament teaching is that
Spirit takes the initiative with man, operates
in all men, has a function in the world as well as in

Another feature

the

Holy

the Church.

Still

creation,

the beginning

"in

it

is

true in history, as at the

first

He comes

first

as Creator, as Preserver

God."

though

in the preservation

co-operate with Him and as

comes first, not we.
love, because
of life

we

Redeemer He

We

He first loved
As renewing Power, also, He is primary; men
are to work out their own salvation because God
works in them to will and to work. The technical
theological term "prevenient grace" may be seldom
us.

used, but that for which it stands remains, or the

It means that the God
world would fall to pieces.

whom

Christians believe is in all that is good

and
always
everywhere the Origin. His operations
are not to be enclosed within the bounds of eternal
in

decrees on the one hand, or appointed sacraments on

He is a God of free spontaneous goodness,

the other

undeserved and unbounded grace. God in and

through the Spirit ever moves within, as well as over
of

and around, every man; and

all

good

in

man

s heart

the result of the brooding of that Spirit over

The ocean of grace
dark and troubled waters.
is

its

is

continually laving and cleansing all the coasts of

our sordid and unworthy nature; grace is the very
atmosphere in and by which alone men can live and
act. "Every human heart is human," but what makes

THE NEW TESTAMENT

it

human

in

the

best

sense

is

Divine.

47
Desires,

capacities, energies such as belong to men are open

from the very first, and always, to the working and
sway of the Spirit of God, who made men for Himself

and therefore makes men

restless

till

they find rest in

Scripture, conscience, experience, history, com

bine to prove the truth of this. "To draw, redeem
and seal is Thine." Man is never without the leadings
and strivings of the Spirit, though so often he dis

Him.

regards and not seldom stubbornly resists them. No

interpreter has the key to the New Testament doctrine
of the Spirit who neglects to take account of this
vital truth.

Hence what is called conviction of sin is part of

the office of the Spirit in the world. Whence comes
it
that men should ever be brought to pronounce
themselves and their whole

life wrong, to sit in judg

ment upon themselves, prompted by a standard
It is easy
utterly and entirely above themselves ?
to account for some kinds of self-condemnation as the

reflection of the

man

judgment

of the State,

of society,

but such self-denunciation as

amounts to conviction of sin implies a perverted
relation to God of the whole nature and the whole
life, as well as an utter inability to set it right by
self-reformation. God in Christ represents the highest
standard of life man has yet known, and the Spirit

or of

s better self,

of Christ

it

the

life

true

is

who
of

brings this

home

to the heart as

which he has come so miserably

Man cannot raise this sense of guilt in his own

heart, nor remedy it by his own effort; he might as
well try to rise without assistance in the air superior

short.

power of gravitation.
power from above is
necessary, and in Christianity it has a special char
acter, set forth in well-known words.
to the

48

THE HOLY

SPIRIT IN

In John xvi. 8-u the word &cyx.civ has been differ

ently translated by "convince" and "convict," the

two words indicating a difference of method, rather

than of nature, in the Spirit s work. To convince
has reference to truth, to convict concerns character

and condition ; t\e<y\Lv would mean, therefore, either

to bring home truths otherwise doubted or discarded,
or to bring home charges made against the conduct
life.
The Holy Spirit does both, though the latter
meaning is intended here. But it is based on the
Spirit s work of convincing men of spiritual truth, as
described in John xiv. 26. Men do not know what
sin, righteousness and judgment really mean and as

of

Westcott says

in his note

on the

idea of
conviction is complex.
It involves the conceptions
of authoritative examination, of unquestionable proof,
of decisive

judgment,

of

place,

primitive

"the

power."

None

but the Holy Spirit can make this plain to the man
himself and be a witness to him from within. The

message may, and must, come from without; the

Spirit s work is done within the walls, within the very
citadel of man s own nature, causing him, however
reluctantly, to acquiesce, to take up the
acknowledge, assimilate and make it his

new

truth,

own. The
Marcus
Aurelius,
Emperor,

philosophy of a Roman
may do this after a fashion the searching parable of
a prophet, Nathan, with its application "Thou art the
a David;
man," may find an echo in the conscience of
but sin implies error in personal relation to God, and
conviction of sin in the Christian sense can only be
;

wrought by the Spirit of Christ.

Christ Himself is the supreme test of character.
What think ye of Him as the supreme revelation of
the Divine ? is the question which searches men most
deeply and sifts them most thoroughly. In this light

THE NEW TESTAMENT

49

seen to be not merely a breach of command

ment, but a grieving of love, an offence against the
Be
highest power of goodness within human ken.
if a man cannot, or
cause they believe not on Me
will not, acknowledge the Divineness of Christ and
sin

is

"

"

so see his
cries out,

own

deficiency,

What must

definitely entered

the
is

do

failure
to

and

be saved

that he
he has not

sin,
?

upon the upward way.

But only

Spirit can accomplish this work, though it

in connection with "the Word," the message of

Holy

Christ s Gospel, that

power

of

He

does

Gospel preaching

is

it.

And

the primitive

only to be realized by

faithful recognition of this primitive truth

He will
convict the world in respect of sin because they believe
"

not on

Me."

Conviction in respect of righteousness is the com

Does it mean the showing what
plement of this.
Divine righteousness really is ? or convincing men
that this ruling principle of Divine government will
win supremacy sooner or later ? Or the making clear
how true righteousness is to be attained among men,
that it is supremely incumbent upon each to attain
it, and that there is only one way in which it can be
done? Probably all these are included in the preg
nant phrase used. One feature of Christ s work is
selected as the basis of this conviction, perhaps not
one that His disciples would have chosen because I

go to the Father and ye behold Me no more. The

connection of thought may be thus explained: (i)
The example of righteousness in the life of Christ
could only be rightly understood when He was taken
away from the earth. (2) The power of righteousness
could only be shown when His work was done, death

and the resurrection preparing the way for His depar

ture to the Father.
(3) He who is no longer visible
E

THE HOLY

50

SPIRIT IN

He has gone to the Father thereby

as
from the right hand of God, that
gives assurance,
He has established and will consummate the kingdom

on earth because

The interpreter may choose among

these meanings, or attempt to combine them together,
but the message which brings home the fact of sin
of righteousness.

men

to

hearts

of

is

no use without the further

message of righteousness. It is characteristic of the

Gospel that both are proclaimed in one breath and a

new meaning given

my

to the

watchword

the

Lord

is

righteousness.

These things take place within. But outside the

circle of believers the world continues to run its own
course. Other principles exist, will continue to exist,

human

but they shall not ultimately rule. The

judged, its true nature shown, its inferiority
its
evil made plain, the verdict on it has been
patent,
uttered and the sentence pronounced.
Though it is
not yet fully carried out, the process of execution has
begun. The world has never been quite the same
When brought into
as it was before Christ came.
the searching light He caused to shine, the shadows
in the picture were deepened, as well as the lights
heightened; one process is impossible without the
It had been said, Thou shalt not murder
other.
Christ said, Thou shalt not hate. It had been said,
in

world

life,

is

Thou
knew they ought
men of the new time were to
to love their brethren
learn to love their enemies. Never hitherto had the

Thou

shalt not

shalt not lust.

commit adultery

Christ said,

of old time

They

prince of this world

marked and branded,
convict is to do much
home the truth to the
the condemnation

been thus

known,
"judged"
what he truly is. But to
more than this. It is to bring
world itself, however complete
for

implied.

Only

the

Holy

Spirit

THE NEW TESTAMENT

51

has been done to a great extent

Church had been more faithful
in discharging its duty the work would have been
by now effectively accomplished. But it must be
contritely confessed
many Christians have sadly
marred this work of Christ, obliterated the outlines,
dimmed the colours, blunted the sharp edge of
truth, hampered and hindered the operations of the
His power abides, but it must be distinctly
Spirit.
recognized if it is to be effective. The great Invisible
Ally must be enlisted on the side of the feeble human
forces, and the direction and control of the work be
As soon as the power in sermons
given to Him.
becomes merely human, merely human work will be
done by them. To convict the world in respect of
can do

this.

already,

and

It

if

the

righteousness and of judgment is absolutely

necessary if the new heavens and the new earth are
ever to become a great reality. Only the Divine Spirit
can accomplish this superhuman task, and it is pre
which
cisely here that so much modern preaching
sin, of

according to literary and critical standards is probably

better than ever it was
He
ignominiously fails.
who would see Divine work acomplished must himself
be the channel of the Divine Spirit.

is more characteristic of
Christianity than
teaching concerning the need for every man of an
entirely new life, beginning with a new birth.
For
the most part it has been common
amongst nonChristians to sneer at the very idea, after the fashion
of Nicodemus, but of late, since Professor W.
James
and other philosophers have recognized the

Nothing

its

and

possibility

reality of

such a change from the point of view

THE HOLY

52

of psychology,

some

SPIRIT IN

have been silenced.

iii., must be
whether the word means u from above," or
twice-born
"anew," or whether the doctrine of the

The change,

as

is

of these cavils

recognized in John

&v(*>0tv

"

be implicitly contained in

it.

"Flesh"

"

is flesh,

how

ever improved or refined, and that which is born of

it remains flesh.
Take human nature only as a stan
make
man
the
measure of all things, and only
dard,

human

results will be obtained.

Those who

refuse

higher power than nature cannot climb

above the natural level. To realize a new life a man
must indeed be born of the Spirit.
It is not always sufficiently recognized that this
implies a new personal relation between man and God,
brought about by the Personal Spirit inhabiting a
newly fashioned nature. This fact supplies a real
to recognize a

link

between the old and the new

life,

and shows how

a radical change is psychologically possible.

The
sneer at sudden conversions is from one point of view

and

unfortunately the unreality and

so-called
conversions have brought
many
natural, though undeserved, discredit on the doctrine.
But personality has a power of its own. If close and
intelligible,
futility of

intimate

relations

between human

spirits

are con

hardly possible to set limits to the renew

ing power of personal influence thus exerted. Many a
sot has been raised out of the gutter and established
in a new life, not by preaching, but by the uplifting
power of a pure and strong and gracious personality.
If ye, being evil
might not the words be fitly so
to help one another, how much
thus
?
able
are
applied
the
more shall
Holy Spirit of God work a great
If
there
be a living God, if His Spirit can
?
renewal
the human heart, who shall
inhabit
indeed
will
and
stituted,

it is

assign limits to His working?

The experience

of

THE NEW TESTAMENT

53

show that moral miracles

have been wrought generation after generation which
can only be described by the words, "born again of
millions of Christians goes to

the

Spirit."

But the change

The study given

is

to

supernatural, not contra-natural.

psychology during the

last half

century ought to be of great religious value. The

more that can be discovered and understood of the

normal workings of the human soul, the better. If

further light can be cast upon the obscure realm of
or subliminal consciousness, it
be
of
great service every way, in the educa
ought
tion of children, in the shaping of character, and not
Meanwhile, how
least, in its bearing on religion.
and
caution
is
ever,
necessary,
they are not wise who
are trying to solve obscure phenomena by others yet
the

sub-conscious,
to

more obscure.

Whilst some

amongst whom, strange

to say, Dr. Sanday would appear to be counted

find
in the sub-conscious realm the abode of the Divine,

others regard this subterranean region as a world of

more than half animal desires, surging and chaotic,

which need

to

be tamed and yoked and harnessed by

a directing will before they can form the material for

a stable character.
The phenomena of adolescence

which have of late been closely studied shed some

1
The chief
light upon an admittedly difficult subject.
lesson which it seems necessary to inculcate at the

moment is that those teachers are least to be trusted

who confidently dogmatize concerning the limitations
and possibilities of human nature. The more we
learn of what man is and may become, the more
does it become clear that regeneration, conversion or
whatever name be given to the renewal wrought by
the Spirit of Christ in the nature of one who is born
1

See Chapter IX.

THE HOLY

54
again

is

SPIRIT IN

not a magical and unnatural change, but

the supernatural use, along the line of highest develop

ment, of material lying ready to hand for transforma
tion.

This

is

not to say that a

"scientific"

explanation
s heavenly
a
that
basis
be
laid
for every
wind,
physical
may
But
as
our
Lord
s
miracles
spiritual operation.
observed laws of their own and in no sense violated
the order of nature, though they transcended all its
known powers, so with the work of the Spirit, which
while it uses human material, is in regeneration wholly
Divine.
The book called Broken Earthenware has
is

found of the breathings of God

to be

only given point to lessons which were already written

so that he might run who read them.
Myriads of
similar facts were well known, and conclusions had
been drawn from them long before that book was

But many will learn from fiction founded on

what they are slow to believe when published

written.
fact

in the reports of a Gospel mission.

change in every man is needed at the very fount
and spring of being. Christianity promises that it

shall be effected,

abundantly

new
of

and claims

that the promise has been

is "in Christ" is a

He who

fulfilled.

creation, because the personal indwelling Spirit

rules, directing and controlling his own spirit,

God

new

indeed begins. This is one reason

the early Methodists insisted on
would seem is the obsolescent doctrine of the

so that a

life

why Wesley and

what it
Witness of the Spirit. This emphasizes the privilege
and possibility of personal intercourse between the
human spirit and the Divine at the very outset of the
of our own spirit" is
be
real
distinguished from
of
the
of
witness
direct
the
God, described in
Spirit

Christian

life.

The

"testimony

and valuable, but

it

is

to

THE NEW TESTAMENT

Rom.
7,

10;

55

viii. 16 and perhaps referred to in i John v.

and the clearness with which this doctrine was

taught in the Evangelical revival of the eighteenth

century went far to make the religion of the time

more vivid and practically effective. Other times,

modes of speech. But no change in modes of
speech can alter spiritual realities. And if the power
of New Testament religion is to be realized in these
other

latter days, the

and favour

conscious realization of the presence

God through His

indwelling Spirit must

be the mightiest preachers
in the future, as they have been in the past, who are
able with greatest power to testify of this truth for
themselves and bring others to a knowledge of it.
of

be renewed.

Those

will

Banned

as enthusiastic, scoffed at as mystical,

experience lies at the very heart of evangelical

this
reli

gion. If one generation loses it, the next must re

discover it, if the Kingdom of Christ and the work
of His Spirit is to be maintained in the earth.
Such is a brief outline of the doctrine of the Holy
Spirit in the New Testament, in some of its salient
Others will appear later. Enough, how
features.
ever, has been said to

show

that in the records of the

early Church lies a perpetually fresh source of inspira

tion for the Church of subsequent ages; not because

the early Christians were wiser, or more experienced,

or more numerous than their successors, but because
they were "all filled with the Holy Spirit."

THE

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF
ST. PAUL

SPIRIT IN

"

We

which

received not

is

of

God."

the spirit of

COR.

ii.

the world,

"but

the Spirit

12.

"In
seeking myself, I lost both me and Thee; In seeking
AUGUSTINE.
Thee, I found both Thee and myself.
1

"The

true reality that

is,

and ought

to be, is

not matter and

the living Spirit of God and the world

They only are the
of personal spirits whom He has created.
place in which Good and good things exist." LOTZE.
is still less

Idea, but

"

is

Held our eyes no sunny sheen,

could sunlight e er be seen?
Dwelt no power Divine within us,
How could God s Divineness win us?"
GOETHE, Xenien.

How

"All

our

life

is

ourselves, to the

and

to

whom we

a progress, through the world and through

God from whom we come,

tend."

E. CAIRD.

in

whom we

are

Ill

THE SPIRIT

IN

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF

ST.

PAUL

IN studying the New Testament teaching concern

ing the work of the Holy Spirit in the individual
man, His methods and processes in the training of
each soul for God, we naturally turn to St. Paul.
He has made this subject his own. Other writers
have touched upon it, he has developed it and led
the theological thought of the Christian Church in
In the Gospels of St.
reference to it for centuries.

Matthew and St. Mark there are only passing refer

ences to the work of the Spirit, while St. Luke directly
traces His operation in the life and ministry of our
Lord from

first to last.

Only

in St.

John do we find

a full account of Christ s utterances concerning the

Paraclete, and these describe the work of the Com
forter

only in general terms.

In the Acts

it

is

the

influence of the Spirit upon the community which

engages the writer s attention and had the New
;

Testament ended with that book, the human spirit,

longing for Divine guidance, would have been largely
St. Paul, whilst he
left to grope out its own way.
shows himself quite familiar with the special pheno

mena

described as the

the Churches

"workings"

of the Spirit in

an examination of which will be under

taken in the next chapter

nevertheless realized the

pre-eminent importance of the ethical side of His

work in the personal life of the individual. In such
great, vital chapters as Rom. viii., Gal. iv. and v.
t

59

THE

60

SPIRIT IN

i Cor. ii. he has laid down lines of

thought which
have helped to change the spiritual history of the

and

world.
In order rightly to interpret St. Paul s teaching, it
appears desirable to examine somewhat carefully the
words which he employs to describe the characteristics
What were St. Paul s views of the
of spiritual life.
constitution of

human

God, and of the way

nature apart from the Spirit of

which the indwelling of the

in

Spirit affects the living

man ?
I

And first, what may we expect to find on such a

subject in St. Paul s Epistles, whence did he draw
his doctrine, and how far has he any special
psychology of his own ?
It must be remembered that

St. Paul has left no

systematic treatise of any kind, nor were his Epistles
formal compositions, technically claiming a place in

Deissmann may have gone somewhat

when he says that the result of an examination
them "can be nothing more than a sketch of the

"literature."

too far
of

character of Paul the letter-writer, and not the system

of Paul the epistolographer; what speaks to us in the
*
But in the
letters is his faith, not his dogmatics."

view

main

this point of

ally

accepted now

is

that

the right one.

the

language

It is

of

gener

the

New

Testament, the KOLVTJ of the Levant, was not, properly

speaking, the language of literature, but of common
Paul, in dictating to his amanuensis
of exhortation to the Churches, is not
to be interpreted as if he were an arm-chair philo-

speech.

St.

glowing words

Bible Studies (Eng. Trans.), p. 58.

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF

ST.

PAUL

61

sopher finely choosing his diction, accurately distin

guishing synonyms and building up a complete
But neither, on the other
scheme of psychology.
hand, does he write carelessly or confusedly. The

spoken Greek of his day was susceptible of fine

literary use; St. Paul himself had a highly trained
mind and a power of weighty expression. The great
topics of religion on which he wrote had been familiar
to him from childhood; he was himself one of the
noblest early products of the

which had begun

to

new

religious energy

transform the world; he was, as

guided by the Spirit of

words the new thoughts
and feelings which, like new wine, were mightily
fermenting in the new communities called Christian;
and in him we find a new powerful embodiment of
them which must not be lightly treated as merely
all

his letters prove, specially

of Christ to put into

God and

casual

utterances.

The

fact

that they are

not the

systematic product of late after-reflection should be

no drawback to their influence, but rather greatly

enhance

it.

From what

sources, then, did St. Paul draw in the

to express the working of the

words which he uses

(i) The Old Testament, in

Spirit of God in man?
the original Hebrew and notably in the Greek version.
Brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, a Hebrew of

Hebrews, he knew the Scriptures from a child, and

shows in many ways the influence of careful Jewish,
sometimes Rabbinical, training. His quotations from
law and prophets, still more the allusions, direct and
indirect, to their contents, show that his mind was
saturated with Old Testament knowledge, that he
thought very largely in terms of the Old Covenant.
(2) At the same time, St. Paul had enjoyed the benefit
He was
of some of the best culture of his day.

THE

62

SPIRIT IN

familiar with the Hellenism of Alexandria, which had

permeated the world of "the Dispersion," he had been

more or

less familiar

education

a Roman
Roman law

in the capital of

brought up

his

with

sensitive

province, was
itself a liberal

and susceptible mind was

quite capable of assimilating ideas which were "in

rather than definitely formulated, and his
the air
"

intense Judaism had been to

probably not deeply, influenced
of

ture

his

time.

(3)

some

extent, though
by the current litera
Above all, he had passed

through a deep, searching, transforming spiritual

He was a "fusile Apostle," melted to
experience.
take a new mould as by a flash of lightning.
In him
old material was metamorphosed by new thoughts
and aims acquired from a new point of view by
a

tempered

finely
issues.

human

touched

spirit

to

fine

May we expect, then, to find in St. Paul s Epistles

a true Biblical psychology? The answer depends on
shall not find,
what is understood by the phrase.

We

on the one hand, the precision of a systematic treatise,

nor, on the other, the confused talk of the man in the
We shall find the product of a trained mind,
street.
an eager spirit, a great teacher, using material such
as has just been described in order to express the
characteristics of a

new

spiritual

life,

intensely realized

in his own personal history and rapidly becoming

reproduced in thousands of other lives. These were

being newly shaped by a new spiritual power, the

very nature of which was as yet but partially under
stood.
then, to our immediate subject, we find
Paul using the word ww^a (Spirit) in the follow

Coming,
St.

ing senses
i.

The

Spirit of

God, as

in the

Old Testament.

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF
2.

The

3.

and revealing Him.

This Spirit at work

PAUL

ST.

Spirit of Christ, as specially sent

in

63

by Christ

the Churches as

com

munities, manifested by certain notable pheno

mena.
4.

The same Spirit in His normal work upon the

human spirit, producing subjective changes,
transforming the character and conduct of the
individual Christian.

The
to

last is the subject of

which

St. Paul,

if

present inquiry, the theme

we may judge from

his writings,

gave the larger proportion of his thoughts and which

he esteemed most important. In order to understand

language and the exact bearing of his phraseology

concerning the action of the Divine Spirit upon the
human, it will be necessary to sketch in as back
ground some account of what may be called his
psychology, his use of such terms as flesh, mind,
his

heart, body, soul

and

spirit.

II

In

the

Old Testament three words are used to

man nephesh, neshamah and

describe the soul-life of

ruach, the first corresponding to soul, the third to

spirit, whilst the second occupies a kind of middle
position.

The

first

more than 750 times

is

the most frequent, occurring

the second is

in different senses

quite subordinate, being found but some 25 times in

all; whilst the third word, ruach, or spirit, occurs more
than 370 times, if its use to denote the natural mind

and supernatural
spirit,

influences,

be included. 1

It

as well as the

would be a mistake

human

to expect

1
See Prof. H. W. Robinson s paper in Mansfield College
Hebrew Psychology in relation
Essays, pp. 267-286, entitled,
*
to Pauline Anthropology.
"

THE

64

SPIRIT IN

Hebrew writings of some centuries before Christ

the preservation of exact distinction of synonyms such
as obtained in Greek long afterwards.
But a dis

in

tinction between ncphesh (soul) and ruach (spirit) is

found and may be considered fairly established in a
number of cases. According to Dr. Laidlaw, one of

the best

modern

"nephesh is the subject

the principle of life," or
constituted in the creature as distinguished from

or bearer of
"life

life,

authorities,

ruach

is

bestowed by the Creator." Or, again, "the usage

for the
practically uniform which puts
spirit
or
soul,
animating principle, and
living soul,
for the animated result." 1
The usage which made
to mean the entire human being as a con

life
is

"soul"

stituted

life,

and

to

"spirit"

mean

the life-principle

as belonging to God and bestowed by Him on man,

undoubtedly influenced the New Testament writers

generally and St. Paul in particular. When, how

ever, soul or spirit on the one hand was opposed to
body or the flesh on the other the immaterial as
opposed to the material side the distinction between
the two tends to disappear,

and they

are used almost

interchangeably.
The term "flesh" occurs in the Old Testament
more than 260 times, to denote the corporeal element
in human nature, in various shades of meaning.

Sometimes
sometimes

the
its

material

frail

substance

is

emphasized,

and perishable character, some

times the sensuous, rather than the sensual, element

in humanity, as opposed to the Divine nature in its

abiding spiritual essence. But the idea of flesh as

Old Testament
essentially evil does not belong to the
at all, nor is the darker use of the word, with its
deepening tinge of moral evil, characteristic of Old
1
Bible Doctrine of Man, p. 88.

ST.

PAUL

not

so

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF
Testament

usage.

"Body"

but the

found,

and

pairs
are
spirit,"

of

is

words,

"body

65

frequently

and

soul,"

employed to point the contrast

and
the immaterial parts of man.
between the material
two
Whether these
phrases can be distinguished
"Soul
and
Dr. Laidlaw says,
not so clear.
is
"flesh

links

body
flesh

which
of

and
life

life."

the

individual
links the

with

the

organism

earthly substance in
inheres with the divine spark or principle
spirit

Old Testament word,

which the word is employed
psychologically not including many in which the
bodily organ is literally intended. But it is used, by
a natural metaphor, to describe the central power of
man s immaterial nature. As the blood which is the
life issues from and returns to the physical heart, so
"Heart"

the 850

is

a characteristic

instances

in

the heart indicates the centre of

man

s personality as

Sometimes the emotions are intended hope

or fear, sorrow or joy
sometimes the intellectual
powers, as in i Kings iii. 9, and in many passages
where technical skill is implied. But especially is the
whole.

will referred to as the

very citadel of the soul of man,

and it is out of the heart, in this sense,

come forth all the issues of man s life.
"Mind"

is

not a characteristic

that there

Hebrew word;

it

might even be said hardly to exist in the language

as an abstract term.
Novs occurs occasionally in the
either
but
it
stands
for "heart" or
LXX,
"spirit."

On

the other hand, the products of mind, as repre

sented by thoughts and reflections, are often spoken

binah ("understanding") includes the power of

moral rather than of intellectual perception, the two
being, indeed, constantly blended in Hebrew.

of;

Op.

cit., p.

112.

THE

66

Gathering up

LXX

Kapbia,

SPIRIT IN

results,

irvevfjia

Dr. Hatch

and

^x

says that in the

are largely inter

changeable as translations of the same Hebrew words,

and that the lines of distinction between them are not
most com
sharply drawn, but that /ca/odfo (heart)
will
of
and
used
of
intention,
appetite
monly
It is, on the whole, more satisfactory,
arid desire."
"is

tyvx>i

following Beck whose conclusion is styled by Laidclear and intelligible result which justifies
law to be
to under
itself throughout the whole Scripture
stand that "spirit represents the principle of life, soul
the subject of life, and heart the organ of life; defi
"a

"

which will be found to apply accurately to all

the three constituent lives which the human being can
lead (a) the physical, (b) the mental and moral,

nitions

(c)

the spiritual and

religious."

Ill

How does St. Paul use these materials? For the

most part he builds upon the Old Testament founda
tion, with hardly any modifications derived from what
might be considered the prevailing influences of con
temporary life. But the Apostle s Christian experi
ence, with the strong lights and shadows thrown by
it upon the whole field of human life, leads him to
use the familiar words with deeply intensified mean
not easy to represent this change in a
since the varying shades of significance
attaching to the words in different connections intro
It
ing.
sentence,

is

duce an element of complexity. But it may perhaps

be said very briefly that a new significance attaches
to St. Paul s use of ww^a as the highest part of
human nature akin to the Divine that \jsvxij (soul),
:

Essays

in Biblical Greek, p. 108.

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF

ST.

PAUL

67

employed in its old sense, takes a lower

and
is sometimes even opposed to
position,
spirit";
whilst the word "flesh
acquires a darker ethical con
whilst often

"

"

notation, though never in St. Paul s writings is man s

material nature made the seat or source of evil.
"

Heart

in its

"

used in the

is

Old Testament

New

sense,

Testament practically
and the same is true of

except in a very few passages. The former

two words is as important in the psychology
of the New Testament as the latter is unimportant
and rare.
"mind,"

of these

represented by nephesh in the Old Testa

in the New Testament, is a word

"Soul,"

ment and psuche

not often on St. Paul s lips; he uses it only a dozen

times or so altogether. In half these instances it
stands for
and has no ethical significance; but
"life,"

where

has, it stands, very appropriately, for the

lower part of man s immaterial nature, the seat of the
it

emotions and desires.

These are too often prompted

and
are
by bodily
habitually opposed to the
intellectual aspects of a life controlled by reason and
its volitional aspects, which may be assumed to be
under the direction of a well-trained will, ruling and
states,

subordinating the sensuous impulses of a nature

without any higher principle to control it. Hence,
as in i Cor. ii., the adjective "psychic" is opposed
the former being the "natural
to "pneumatic
man
"

";

whose

life is

governed by the

"

"soul

as the principle

emotional and earthly life, contrasted with the

spiritual man, all the elements of whose life are under
of

the control of the God-given principle of

"spirit."

used by St. Paul between 90 and 100

times, but only in about one-third of these is the
It is in interpreting these
ethical sense predominant.
that
are least agreed as to
modern
scholars
passages
"Flesh"

r 2

is

THE

68

SPIRIT IN

the exact shade of

meaning intended. Some, includ

ing Pfleiderer and Holsten, seek to show that for St.
Paul the fleshly nature of man was more than the
channel of temptation, and they point to Rom. vii. ,18
as proving that it is the very source of evil.
Others,
with whom Wendt and Professor Dickson 1 may be
in the Hebrew sense
classed, would understand o-ap
as concrete man in his creaturely capacity.
Wernle
says, "The Pauline conception of flesh seems to be
a
tertium quid
something intermediate between
Dr. Bruce considers
Hellenism and Hebrewism."
that Paul himself is obscure.
But a satisfactory
interpretation of the various shades of meaning found
in St. Paul s Epistles is easily reached if we under
to mean in the first instance
stand the word flesh
the frail, perishable, creaturely nature of man viewed
in itself and apart from Divine power and grace
thence, easily acquiring a tinge of moral frailty and
1 *

"

weakness and sometimes of positive evil, handed on

through the channel of the mortal body, but never
reaching the Hellenic and Eastern conception of the
To the present writer, at all
events, it seems clear that St. Paul, who believed in
the reality of Christ s body of flesh but held Him to
have been essentially without sin, can never have
intended to imply that the flesh, as such, was the
essential evil of matter.

But

equally certain that man, left

weak as a creature, not only
frail and mortal, but wayward and disobedient, selfish
and evil, and it is not difficult to see how the milder
meaning of "flesh passed into a morally darker one.
St. Paul is not concerned with philosophical theories

seat of sin.

it

is

to himself, is not only

"

he
1

and

describing actual experiences, and mankind at

See his monograph on
Paul s Use of the Terms Flesh
is

"St.

"

Spirit

in the

Baird Lectures for 1883.

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF

ST.

PAUL

69

large has accepted some of his descriptions as chapters

out of the life of every man. The flesh is not essen

good but a good will, and

nothing is essentially bad but a bad one. It is, how
ever, weak, and, left to itself, easily becomes evil,
and in it, as so constituted, there dwells no good
In this sense "flesh lusts against spirit and
thing.
spirit against flesh," and in this sense also every man
tially evil, for

who

is

Christ s

affections
"

nothing

Heart

and
"

is

has

is

"crucified

the flesh

with

its

lusts."

used by St. Paul about 50 times, follow

It
ing the Old Testament usage above described.
stands for the centre of man s life, intellectual,
emotional and volitional. It must not be narrowed
it often is
by English readers, to mean the
as
opposed to the reasoning powers. Paul s
feelings,
"mind"
is perhaps the clearest example of a
of
use

down, as

modification of

Hebrew usage

in

favour of the Greek.

employed more than 20 times

to denote, not, as
the
Greek,
understanding only, but the
reason
as
practical
judging on moral questions.
we
shall
as
see, an ethical connotation attaches
Hence,
It is

in classical

it which the English word hardly permits.

But the word of highest importance in our present
inquiry is Trvtv^a (spirit), which occurs nearly 150

to

times in St. Paul, though in only about 30 of these

does it denote the immaterial nature of man in its

higher aspects. These may be further subdivided,

according to whether "spirit" means, as in the Old
Testament, the God-given principle of life in every
man, or his nature as regenerated by the power of
God in Christ by the Holy Spirit. Accurate classi

becomes impossible here, since several pas

sages occupy a kind of borderland, in which no one

fication

can dogmatically say that the reference

is

to the Spirit

THE

70

SPIRIT IN

of God alone, or to the regenerated spirit of man

alore, or to the natural faculty in which the Divine
It must be said, however
in
Spirit deigns to dwell.

opposition to some highly respected authorities, in

cluding Delitzsch, Neander and others that there is
no ground for the view that the irvtvpa in St. Paul
is a faculty of which the natural man is destitute,

and which

only imparted in regeneration. It is

in many cases where regenera
"flesh
tion has not taken place; it is used in connection
with such words as disobedience and cowardice; and
its occurrence in 2 Cor. vii. i, "Let us cleanse our
is

contrasted with

"

selves from all filthiness of flesh

and

spirit,"

shows

that both parts of man s nature have been stained

with sin, and that both may be cleansed and renewed

by grace.
of

Into the controversy concerning the tripartite nature

man it is not convenient here to enter. The prefer

able view, now very generally adopted, would seem

to be that spirit, soul and flesh are in St. Paul, as
elsewhere in the Bible, not three natures, but man s

nature viewed in three aspects. The spirit is the

self-conscious life-principle given by God, in virtue
The soul
of which man thinks and feels and wills.
is

of

the personal being so constituted, and is descriptive

man s natural, earthly life; while man, as flesh,

inherits a frail, perishable body, which represents him

on the outer and lower and material side. The whole
man body, soul and spirit is redeemed by Christ,
and is to be completely sanctified by the renewing
power of the indwelling Spirit of God,

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF

PAUL

ST.

71

IV
In the light of what has been said, what is St.
s teaching on the mode in which this renewal

Paul

takes place, on the relation between the Divine Spirit,

the human spirit and the complex constitution of

human

nature as a whole

No

analysis of St. Paul s

possible here, but an examination of a few

Epistles
leading passages in his writings will guide us to an
is

outline of his thought.

1. Where the Spirit of

God or of Christ is expressly

so named, or where the phrase, the Holy Spirit, is
found, there can be no ambiguity. But -nvtv^a with
the article, the Spirit, though not expressly termed
Divine,
ii.

10.

may also have this meaning,

Some grammarians have laid

as in
it

down

Cor.
that

without the article only a Divine influence, not the

Third Person

in the Trinity, is intended, as in John

xx. 21, "Receive ye Holy Spirit." But this is very
doubtful, ayiov irv^v^a being one of those phrases in
which the specification of the article is not necessary.
It is true, however, that the Holy Spirit is Himself
both Giver and Gift, both Work and Worker, so that

in

some instances

it

is

the inwrought grace of the

Spirit assimilated by man that it is intended, rather

than the Person of the Divine Agent operating.
spirit as a faculty of human nature, selfconscious, allied to God, but not as regenerated
2.

The

by

the Spirit of Christ, is to be understood in such pas

sages as i Cor. ii. 11, "What man knoweth the things
of a

man, but the

spirit of

man

that

Cor. v. 5; xvi. 18, etc.

Also
But
in a large number of cases
3.

is

in

him

"

the highest part of

man

s nature,

"spirit"

means

renewed by grace,

THE

72

SPIRIT IN

made

the dwelling-place of the Divine Spirit and

constituted the organ of the new life. Thus we read
in Rom. viii. 10,
Christ be in you, the body is
"If

dead because of

sin,

righteousness";

and

but the
in

viii.

spirit is life

15

we

find

because of

mentioned

the direct witness of the Spirit of God conjoined with

the witness of the human spirit, which He inhabits

and informs with new filial life.

4. Sometimes the word is found with a dependent
genitive, as in such phrases as "the spirit of life in
Christ Jesus," "the spirit of adoption," "the spirit of
wisdom,"

spirit of

"the

power, love and

discipline."

we must not be misled into interpreting

Such expressions
St. Paul by modern phraseology.
do not mean a mere disposition, or frame of mind,
In this case

or tendency, as in the expression, "the spirit of his

speech was admirable." In many cases the allusion
to the
all

Holy

instances

intended.
this in

Spirit

some

It is

tolerably obvious, and in nearly

indirect effect of His working is

is

impossible, however, always to

English, though we observe

that in 2

show
Tim.

Dr. Weymouth translates "For the Spirit which

has
God
given us is not a spirit of cowardice, but one
This
of power and of love and of sound judgment."
i.

7,

rendering well brings out the direct operation of the

Spirit and the resulting spiritual state of the
believer in whom He dwells.

Holy

V
It remains only to show by an examination of a
few passages the nature of the borderland between
Divine and human indicated by the somewhat am

biguous use of

"spirit"

in St.

Paul.

These passages

are valuable in their present form because they

show

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF

ST,

PAUL

73

so clearly that the Apostle is describing an experience,

not analyzing a mental process. He writes, not as a
schoolman, but as a Christian.

The eighth chapter

of

In verse

Romans would

furnish

many

example, the Spirit of

God is definitely named and His indwelling specific
The believer, however, is said to live,
ally stated.
not
the flesh," that is, in a sphere or region of
the spirit," that is, under
fleshly influences, but
the
Revisers showing the
higher spiritual influence,
illustrations.

9, for

"in

"in

distinction

by

their use of the capital letter.

latter part of the verse,

"Spirit

of

Christ"

In the
is

often

erroneously explained as if it were the spirit, or dis

position, or frame of mind characteristic of Christ.
The direct reference to the Holy Spirit must not be
missed.
In i Cor.

ii. 10, 13, the Divine

Spirit must unques
be
but
the
revelation
intended,
tionably
granted must
be assimilated by the believer, who thus alone can re

ceive spiritual truth.

things with

The

spiritual,"

phrase,

shows

"comparing spiritual
that such revelation may

sometimes extend to the very words used, so that, in

contrast with phraseology marked by human wisdom,
the spiritual man "matches" spiritual words with the
he seeks to express. Two passages
from the same Epistle which describe the indwelling

spiritual realities

Holy Spirit are iii. 16 and vi. 19. Of these

the former, "Ye are a temple of God and the Spirit
of God dwelleth in you," should be understood col

of the

lectively of the Church; the latter,

temple of the Holy Spirit," should

"Your

body

is

be interpreted of
The thought frequently
the individual Christian.
recurs in St. Paul s Epistles, and the emphasis lies

now upon

the individual, now upon the Church col

habitation of God in the Spirit." But,

lectively, as

"a

THE

74

SPIRIT IN

obviously, neither of these two interpretations need

exclude the other, the two being, indeed, mutually
supplementary. The use of "spirit in the paragraph
2 Cor. iii. 3-8 illustrates the
blending of the human
and the Divine from another side. The living epistles
"

by the ringer of God Himself, "the

Spirit of the living God," though on "tablets that are
hearts of flesh." The spirit that giveth life, however,
are written as

contrasted with the letter that killeth, is the result of

the Divine operation, and "the ministration of the
refers to the spiritually vivifying apostolic
spirit
"

ministry, in contrast with the hardness, rigidity

condemnatory character of the Mosaic law.

A
2

real

Cor.

Paul

and

difficulty occurs in the interpretation of

This is the only place in St.
17, 18.

iii.

writings in which we find what has been called

between Christ and the Spirit. These

"confusion"

verses appear to identify the two whom St. Paul is

usually careful to distinguish. But the identification
The interpolated
is one of function, not of existence.
"The Lord is the Spirit," means that "turn
phrase,

ing to the Lord" in verse 16 implies a turning to the

true freedom engendered wherever His Spirit is at
work. The last clause of verse 18, "even as from the

Lord the Spirit" (Revised Version margin,

must be understood in
Spirit which is the Lord
the same way. The transformation into the image of
the Lord, accomplished by beholding and reflecting
His glory, is essentially a spiritual operation. Only
Yet the whole process
the Holy Spirit can effect it.
"the

"),

so essentially that of Christ the Lord, whom the

that the subtle and
Spirit is glorifying in the believer,
is

paradoxical expression, "as from the Lord

the Spirit," or "the Spirit who is the Lord,"
missible.

It

is

readily

who
is

is

per

understood by the devout

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF
heart, while

may be open

it

ST.

PAUL

75

to the cavils of the critical

mind.

The
ground

Epistle to the
for the student

furnishes

Galatians

who would

ample

follow St. Paul s

exposition of the things of the Spirit. The Revisers

are no doubt right in rendering iii. 3, "having begun
in the Spirit," i. e. a life originated and maintained

though the latter clause, "per

fected in the flesh," might seem to require the mean
ing, "having begun with the principles of a truly
spiritual religion."
Similarly in the fifth chapter we

by the Holy

Spirit,

should support the direct reference to the Holy Spirit

in passages sometimes understood as referring to the
spiritual

the

example,
regenerate

God
text,

man.

In

verses

counter-influences

man who

is

not yet

16
at

and
work

17,

for

in

the

entirely sanctified

be both human, his own spirit and

being "contrary the one to the other." But that
s Spirit is intended seems clear from the con

might seem
flesh

in

life

"walk

Spirit,"

in

resolve the

to

by

the

Spirit,"

in

16,

and

"led

by the

The tendency of modern times is to

Divine into the human, and many inter

18.

preters understand

"walk
by the spirit" as indicating
not
a
a
fleshly, habit of life, and "led
merely spiritual,
renewed
the
as
the
principle of life adopted
spirit
by
"

This would seem, however, to

be a shallow exegesis of St. Paul s deep mystical
utterances. The Revisers are certainly right in their

by the renewed man.

If we live by the Spirit, St.

use of capital letters.
Paul would say, as Christians certainly profess to do
;

if

let

we draw our very

existence from His inspiration,

us walk accordingly, and let our actual conduct,

as well as the principle of our life, be determined by

Him. For He is not only the source of our life and
its

living principle, but

its

motive energy.

We

are

THE

76

SPIRIT IN

to be led by the same Spirit

raised, wafted and borne
on our way by His indwelling energy, and the steps
of our earthly journey made easy and delightful,
because ordered by Divine wisdom and animated by
Divine might.
Over the rich and varied teaching of the Epistle to
But in ii. 18 the
the Ephesians we must not linger.
Him
e.
Christ) "we have access
(i.
phrase, "through
in one Spirit unto the Father," whilst it might mean,
as some have said, access in one common disposition
of prayer characteristic of Jew and Gentile, can to a
careful student of St. Paul only mean access by virtue
of our common vital union in and with the one Holy
The fact, however, that this inter
Spirit of God.
not
is
pretation
universally accepted shows how
in
Paul
s diction are the human and
united
closely
the Divine elements of the spiritual life in the renewed
man and the renewed Church. The interpretation of
"

Eph. iv. 3, 4, "the unity of the Spirit," etc., follows

on the same lines. In iv. 23, on the other hand, the
human side predominates. Be renewed in the spirit of
your mind must be understood in the light of Rom.
"

"

xii. 2, "transformed by the

vovs, or mind, itself is

The

renewing of your
neutral

it

mind."

stands for the

in moral action,
which may be rightly or wrongly guided. St. Paul
would say, whereas hitherto the intents and purposes
of your actions have been guided by your own desires
and these have repeatedly deceived you, let a new

principle of

principle,

judgment or

spiritual

in

its

volition

character,

be established,

and perpetually renewed, so that you may prove in

and yourselves be
practice what is God s perfect will,
His
to
in
character
restored
image of righteousness
holiness.
true
and
What God has joined together, man must not put

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF

ST.

PAUL

77

The gracious ambiguity of some of St.

expressions can deceive no one. The reason

asunder.

Paul

why

in

some passages
working

it

is difficult

to say

whether

of the Spirit of God is in

tended, or the result of His operation reflected in the
human spirit, is that these two are strangely and

the immediate

We

are in the Spirit if He is in us.

deeply one.
And without the Spirit of Christ Himself at workwithin us we can do nothing.

THE

GIFTS OF

THE

SPIRIT

there are diversities of gifts, but the

"Now
i

COR.

same

Spirit."

xii. 4.

had rather speak five words with

than ten thousand words in a tongue."
"7

my
i

understanding
Cor. xiv.

19.

The great conception of the New Testament

that in
the action of the personal Spirit there is a manifestation of the
divine freedom, whether in the form of the miracles which
"

were wrought by our Lord Himself

in the power of the Spirit,

f
or in supernatural gifts, or in the ethical and spiritual changes
which are the result of the work of the Spirit in the higher life

of

man."

"

R.

W.

DALE.

When tongues shall cease, and power

And knowledge empty prove,
Do thou thy trembling servants stay
With

faith,

with hope, with

love."

decay,

REGINALD HEBER.

IV
THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT

THE
The

earliest Christian

community was

Spirit-filled.

phrase could only be

meaning
brought out by examination of the passages in the
Acts and Epistles which describe the phenomenon.
exact

of this

The variety of operations of the Spirit in the world,

as described in the Old Testament, is paralleled by
the variety of His operations in the Church, as de
scribed in the

same
It

is

Spirit,

New.

But the agent

is

one and the

dividing to each severally as

that

Father,
noteworthy
associated together in i Cor.
being One; but the executive

He

will.

Son and

Spirit are

xii.

the

4-7,

power

is

Three

the Spirit,

discernible amidst all diversities of workings.

The general impression left is clear. The early

history of the Church recorded in the Acts is a kind
of extended Pentecost. On that day a pellucid spring
of new life is seen pouring forth from the mountain
side, and the first years of the Church show us the
course of the stream, in its pristine freshness and
purity, the first effervescence of what can only be
described as a Vita Nuova, a New Life. The Spirit
is the name given to the animating
energy of that
new life, the sum of all the celestial influences at
work to follow up and deeply impress the new revela

tion of God made in Jesus

who belonged to the new

Christ His Son. Those

as it came to be
"Way,"

81

THE

82

GIFTS OF

THE

SPIRIT

were marked by new views, new tempers, new

aims, but especially by a new spirit of unity and a
fresh access of courage. In Acts iv. 31, 32 the being
filled with the
Holy Ghost is synonymous with
called,

speaking the word of God with boldness and with a

cementing power in the multitude which made them
to be of one heart and of one soul.
Intense spiritual
energy was needed thus to fuse and thus to inspire
the obscure and ignorant men who were to conquer

Von

the world.
the time,

"

communion

Dobschlitz says in his picture of

in the full sense of the word a
of the Spirit which consisted in a con

It

was

tinuous and incredibly intensified enthusiasm, in an

inspiration which exalted every faculty to the mani
festation of miracle even in the natural domain.
To
this Spirit nothing was impossible.
He found utter
ance in ecstatic speech, imparted hidden mysteries,
and made prophets and teachers of the uncultured.
He inspired every sort of manifestation of ministering
love, of guiding wisdom, of self-sacrificing devotion.
He performed miracles, healed diseasbs, moved
mountains, and transformed men, who felt them
selves miserable and oppressed, into a cloud of wit
nesses overflowing with strength and courage." 1

The characteristic word for

w as \ap La-para, gifts of

tions

these various manifesta

"

"

spiritual gifts
grace,
which were indeed earnestly to be coveted. Gunkel s
definition of the workings of the Holy Spirit as

mysterious powers operating in the range

and which belong only to
of men
such as are not unworthy of a connection with God
"certain

of the

life

"

Christian Life in the Primitive Church, E. T., pp.

15, 16.

THE
is

too vague

GIFTS OF

and

loose.

THE

SPIRIT

83

Instead of beginning with a

definition, it will be well to examine the illustrations

features they
given in Acts and Epistles and see what

common.
They have been

possess in

and classified.
has been drawn between

variously

stated

Sometimes a distinction
natural and supernatural gifts, or between gifts
transient and permanent, or between those which
heightened the intellectual faculties and those which
Such distinctions be
elevated the moral character.
long to a later period; they may help to a right
understanding of the phenomena, or may be only
misleading. The history recorded in the Acts sup
plies a commentary upon such lists as St. Paul gives
On the whole the parallels are close,
in i Cor. xii.
there is to be found a puzzling dis
here
and
though
crepancy. But both history and lists of gifts imply
a picture of a new type of life, with little sense of
such a distinction between natural and supernatural
as would appear to a modern observer to be funda
mental.

The

habit of

mind

of the

early

Church

we plume our
from ours in this regard
selves on our superior discrimination, how far legiti
mately may be questioned. The early Christians had
not, of course, a modern knowledge of the order of
nature, and herein we are better informed than they.
They had, however, a vivid sense of the presence and
differed

God

in their midst, a sense of the naturalas

Carlyle would call it, which is in
supernatural,
no way inconsistent with a knowledge of the reign of
law, and which it would be an immense gain if the

of

power

modern world could recapture.

in

Classification of gifts will not help much. Schmiedel,

his article on the subject in the Encyclopedia

Biblica,

suggests a division into

"three

great cate-

THE

84
gories,"

biCLKoviai

as in

GIFIS OF
Cor.

ministries

THE

SPIRIT

x a P^ r JLara charisms,
erepy^/iara works, and his

xii.

and

4-5,

details, as suggested by St. Paul s

But sharp distinctions, and
words, deserve study.
hard and fast lines of classification, are to be depre
In any arrangement some will be found to
cated.
lie on the border-lines, unless violence is used to fit
them in with principles adopted a priori.

remarks upon

We

find,

however, the following distinctions more

or less clearly appearing

1. Gifts which would

now be described as super

natural: Prophecy. Tongues; interpretation
of tongues and, perhaps, discerning of spirits.
Healings. Miracles, generally.
Gifts which might be described as extraordinary
;

2.

endowments,

such

Wonder-working
3.

Gifts

as

which were granted

service,

such

Wisdom.

Visions.

Faith.

as

for

the purpose of

Helps.

Governments.

Ministries.
4.

would now be called graces of

character, imparted in an extraordinary de
gree, but of an ethical and spiritual kind, due
to the faithful use of natural gifts and
faculties.
Such were the joy and unity and
of
which mention has been made,
courage
and which constituted such a distinguishing

Gifts such as

feature of the

first

generation of Christians.

II

In subsequent days tendencies have appeared, now

and now to under-estimate, the mean
these gifts of grace. Language is
and
value
of
ing
sometimes used as if only in this first generation of
to over-estimate,

GIFTS OF

THE

THE

SPIRIT

85

a high-water
Christianity were the true golden days,

be reached again by degenerate Chris

miraculous
tians, a period distinguished especially by
from
overflow
kind
of
a
powers, which constituted
God
of
the time when the Son
wrought many mighty
But this rests upon a false understanding
works.

mark never

to

Signs in the sense of portents to make

wonder Christ always refused to work.
and
men gape
Himself first, though He added, "Or
in
faith
set
He
for the very work s sake," as He had
Me
believe
else
of miracles.

said,

"That

may know

ye

power on earth

So the

"

"works

that the

and

"healings"

Son

of

Man

Arise and

to forgive sins,

hath

Walk."

of the Apostles

were

not prodigies, but were all of them wrought "through

faith in His name," the great object being to set forth
the power of the One Name given under heaven for
salvation, when rightly used by those who owned

Powers of this kind as existing in

allegiance to it.
the primitive Church are recognized both in the Acts
and in the Epistles, but in neither are they markedly
prominent.

On

the other hand, the prevailing disposition of late

has been to under-estimate the miraculous element,

explaining

it

away if possible, or bringing

unknown law. The extreme

the category of

it

under

rational

ism which denies utterly the possibility of miracle,

attributing the otherwise inexplicable to hallucination
or credulity, is not scientific, and it would prevent
the advance of science

if

the

same

spirit

were carried

example. But the

which claims that the law of

into the region of psychology, for

truly

scientific spirit,

parsimony should be applied to all stories of pro

fessedly miraculous events, and which demands in
every instance as satisfactory evidence as the case
permits,

is

now

characteristic of all careful inquiries,

THE GIFTS OF THE

86

scientific or theological.

SPIRIT

The important

point

is

to

one Divine kingdom,

preserve the unity
under
one Head. The line
natural and supernatural,
these
two
between
of demarcation
great provinces of
not
is
God s kingdom
always easy to draw. As the
of

the

generations pass the boundary line is not always to

be found in the same place. Its course is largely
determined by our knowledge of what can, and what
cannot, be explained by means of known facts, laws
and principles. God s manifestation of Himself, so
far* as this can be conveyed in the detailed order
unfolded by science, is not the whole of life.
The
natural order serves rather as a frame for a picture,
a background against which stand out the more
significant lines of personal revelation, which in itself
is not out of order, but is not explicable by the laws
which determine phenomena in the lower sphere.

How much

human spirit under the

Divine ? The wise man will
answer, I do not know and cannot draw a boundary
He will add, however, that he does recognize
line.
certain limits which God Himself appears to have
is

possible to the

direct influence of the

for His own action, that these will not

that men
be
not of one age only
overpassed,
lightly
are often credulous and superstitious.
He recog
nizes that it is a mistake to multiply unnecessarily
instances of the miraculous, and that the Church has
suffered before this by having to bear as a burden
laid

down

imposed upon

faith the task of

maintaining the truth

which there was no sufficient evidence.

in i Cor. xii.,
Paul, in his two lists of "gifts

of miracles for

But

St.

"

does not hint for a moment that some are

and that others again are beyond nature.

"

"natural

His com

ment is, The same Lord worketh all, in all.

Those which would be styled supernatural

in

THE GIFTS OF THE

SPIRIT

87

modern times are prophecies, tongues and healings;

though in the treatment of these it will be seen that
the working of natural laws is not to be excluded.
"Prophecy"

New

in the

Testament, as

in the

Old,

is

not mainly prediction and not necessarily "super

natural."
Prophecy is not to be confused with
mantic, the art of the diviner, the ecstatic utterance
Weinel s parallels,
of a soothsayer beside himself.
in
the
from
drawn
early and middle ages
history

down

to

the

the

Irvingites of

nineteenth

century,

illustrate rather the gift of "tongues."

"Healings"
appear to imply miracle, unless indeed the psycho

therapy of modern times be erected into a science and

be considered capable of "explaining" what the
wisest do not as yet profess to understand the
action

and reaction

upon body.

It

may

of

body upon mind and mind

be said

treatment of this subject

illustration

of the

in

in

passing that the whole

our generation is an

danger of drawing

arbitrary lines of distinction between

"supernatural"

artificial

"natural"

and
and

phenomena.
Ill

The

Gift of Tongues requires separate handling.

accounts have come down to us, one by St.
Luke in Acts ii., the other by St. Paul in i Corinth
ians. Between these there appears to be
discrepancy.
The usual method now is to take St. Paul s account
as guide, since it is at the same time more
direct,
fuller and more
intelligible than the brief reference

Two

in the Acts.

From i Cor. xiv. we learn that the utterances

known by the name "Tongues" were not with the
or

understanding of the speaker

which was

THE

88
"

unfruitful*

the

and
an

that they were not intelligible to

interpreter

speaker might himself be

in

SPIRIT

The
being necessary.
as one who had
a spiritual ecstasy, but no edification was

hearers,

been

THE

GIFTS OF

edified,

The utterance was not of the

nature of ordinary prayer, or praise, addressed to
God, or of prophecy addressed to man
yet the
speaker might be said to "speak to himself and to
or praise with the
God," and the speaker might pray
The
spirit, or with the understanding, or w ith both.
was contrasted with revelation, knowledge
"tongue"
conveyed to others.

and teaching; the great drawback

to its exercise

was

that it did not contain these important elements of

education. Paul desires to pray, to sing and to bless or
voi with the understanding as well
give thanks
as tv -nvev^oLTL in the spirit; and while the power of
r<3

utterance had been granted to him in the

preferred the ability to
five
that
words
but
might benefit others to ten
speak
thousand words that were of no use to any but
ecstatic

highest known measure, he

himself.

The question has often been asked whether these

utterances were mere inarticulate noises, or words in
no

intelligible order, or pious

tions, or whether there be

but incoherent ejacula

any room

for the idea that

foreign languages were spoken. The last alternative,

suggested by the account in Acts of the day of
Pentecost, receives no support from i Cor. xiv. The
"interpretation of tongues" appears to have no con
nection with translation from a foreign language.
The parallels from the history of Montanism, of the
Camisards in the seventeenth century, of Methodism

eighteenth century and Irvingism in the nine

would indicate that these voices may have been
partially intelligible sounds poured out under intense
in the

teenth,

THE

GIFTS OF

THE

SPIRIT

89

Those nearest our own time,

Church in 1832, were, according

spiritual excitement.
in

Edward Irving
Mr. Oliphant

account, not utterly unintelligible,

but they certainly contained no intrinsic evidence of
supernatural, or divine, origin. Irving s own account
was that when "the power" fell the speaker was
moved to sighs and tears and unutterable groanings,
to

to joy and mirth and exultation, and that his utter

ance was
regularly formed, well-proportioned dis
which
evidently wanteth only the ear of him
course,
whose native tongue it is to make it a very master
"a

The specimens given

discourse."
known tongues are only passionate

piece of powerful
of utterances in

religious ejaculations, though all agree that the tones

of these "passionate cadences and wild raptures of

were most impressive, always

and
sometimes
thrilling
overawing the hearers.
It has often been argued that the account in Acts
"

prophetic repetition

is

As they
Some would

inconsistent with the account in Paul.

stand

it

is difficult

to reconcile the two.

ii. 4 as an interpolation.
Others
of
on
the
miracle
Pentecost
the
as one
day
interpret
of hearing rather than of speech.
According to this
view the Apostles had not miraculously conferred

delete erepat? in Acts

upon them the power to speak in other languages,

but just as the deaf may learn a lip-language and be
enabled to understand a speaker by his use of eye
and face and gesture, so the Apostles hearers had
special power of perception and comprehension be
stowed upon them. This, however, is far-fetched and
hardly warranted by St. Luke s phraseology. It is

much more probable

ments we have two

two separate docu

accounts from diverse
points of view of what was at best a strange pheno

menon.

There

is

that in these
distinct

no trustworthy indication from any

THE GIFTS OF THE

90

SPIRIT

other quarter of a miraculous power to speak in a

foreign language being granted to an Apostle or to
Such a gift is not in harmony with
any one else.

New

Testament miracles, and if it had actually

been given it must have left a distinct mark in the
records of the Church. This is not the kind of miracle
that the Holy Spirit grants to men carrying His
message, who in every age must toil and study, if
the

they are to preach to men of other tongues.

But it does not follow that St. Luke s account is
wholly mistaken. The fact of interpretation points
to some kind of intelligible meaning attaching to the
words, when heard with sympathy and insight, such

Gunkel adduces the cry "Abba,

as the Spirit gave.
Father as an illustration of an outpouring partly in
"

Aramaic and partly in Greek, and the two watch

words mentioned in i Cor. xii. 3, Christ is Lord
and Christ be Anathema may be specimens of con

densed utterances freely uttered in great religious

shall probably be not far from the
mark if we understand the tongues to have been
ecstatic outpourings, in which men were led them
excitement.

We

selves very near to God by the power of the Spirit,

but their expressions were so incoherent when they

were thus beside themselves, that the help of others

to translate them into terms which could
be understood by those who did not share the spiritual
Nothing in later history warrants the idea
rapture.
St. Paul s
of any continuance of this charism.
account shows why it was comparatively useless.
What he himself saw in ecstasy, as in 2 Cor. xii., he

was needed

did not attempt to repeat. Rapture is not inspiration.

Ecstasy, as is shown in the history of Catherine,
Teresa and many another saint in the Roman
calendar, injures the body, disturbs the mental

THE

GIFTS OF

THE

SPIRIT

91

balance and, as in St. Paul s case, may tend to a state

of spiritual self-confidence which requires a thorn in
the flesh to prevent it from being morally mischiev
Yet rapture has its place in the worship of the
ous.
individual

and the Church,

prophets are subject to the

if

"the

spirits

of

the

prophets."

IV
It is characteristic of the gift of prophecy that it is
distinguished from the gift of wisdom on the one
hand and of tongues on the other. The vovs, as we

should say the intellect, is engaged, but its operation

in examination and reflection is not the main factor
in

prophecy.

description in

careful reading of the graphic

Cor. xiv. shows that St. Paul means

by prophecy the power

immediate and more or

to preach under the direct,

less overpowering influence

so as mightily to convince the hearers,

Spirit
lay bare the secrets of their hearts, to teach, exhort
and comfort, the prophet being swayed by a power
of the

not his own, which yet did not use him as a mere
passive instrument or vehicle. The seer of the Old
Testament had powers of perception into spiritual
truth, sometimes of conditionally declaring the future,
the power of utterance so as to move and sway his
hearers, perhaps imagination sufficient to see and
record visions of great practical import, and through

out to speak as a

man

with a message, not

"from

The New Testament prophet, about whom

we have much less information though the Apo
himself."

calypse forms one striking example of his gift was

apparently a worthy successor of the same order.
The element of revelation, not necessarily of entirely
new truth, entered into his speech, which might some-

THE

92

GIFTS OF

THE

SPIRIT

it was not
came
and
was
spontaneous
power
let
St.
man
Peter,
speak, says
any
were oracles of God. The utterance

times be ecstatic, though

usually so. The

from above. If
him speak as it

was recognizable
the
unassisted
powers of
beyond
by
man. Dr. Lindsay describes the prophets as "men
of spiritual insight and magnetic speech." Such they
were, but undoubtedly they were more than this,
the hearers as

unless by magnetic we understand something higher

than the sacred eloquence which will now inexplicably
These men spoke under
thrill and move the hearers.
such an immediate, personal afflatus of the Holy
Spirit that the gift was not communicable, transmis
sible; it was one of the first to disappear from the
False prophets counterfeited the true, or
Church.
forth
such a faint echo of the sonorous tones of
gave
the original that their message sounded like a parody.
Lingering traces of the gift are found in Irena^us and
Tertullian, but long before their time the teacher
presbyter had taken the place of the prophet.

and

The

by which the youthful Church had

attended
too soon faded into the light
way
of common day. Had the Church been more faithful,
the light of common day would have been the most
vision splendid

been on

its

splendid of

The

all.

gift of

discerning spirits

sympathetically by Schmiedel

is

in

handled not very

his article already

He says that
involves in principle a
referred to.
complete abandonment of belief in suggestion of the
Holy Spirit." It would seem, however, to indicate
naturally enough another mode of operation of the
One Divine Leader. When all kinds of spiritual in
fluences were at work, many men claiming Divine
power and guidance, good men differing sometimes
"it

in their

judgment as

to

what the voice

of the Spirit

THE GIFTS OF THE

SPIRIT

93

judgment, of insight, of fine

would be needed by all and granted in
An example of such
special measure to some.
is found in i John iv. 1-3, where
cerning of spirits
a practical test of doctrine is suggested which is,
indeed, a kind of echo of St. Paul s distinction in
i
Cor. xii. 3, the criterion between false and true
really said, the gift of

discrimination,

"dis

"

Christ is come
"Jesus
Simon Magus is not the only man in
the Church who has desired power for

being the acknowledgment that

in the

flesh."

the history of
power s sake.

He has gained an evil notoriety be

cause he sought to purchase a gift with money, but
the usual weakness of the ecclesiastic is to covet too
and cling too tenaciously to spiritual power
which he uses often for his own ends in the Lord s
name.
There is needed in the modern as in the
ancient Church the power to discern spirits, and there
is no mode of gaining it but by the unconditional
acknowledgment of the sovereignty of Christ and
under the immediate direction of the Holy Spirit.

earnestly

V
One

of the

most interesting parts of

this study
reasons impossible here to pursue
The heightening of the ordinary faculties
in detail.
for the service of the Church is indicated by the
mental gifts of "wisdom" and "knowledge," the
it

is

for several

power

of

working

in

"

"faith

faculty of administration in

and

"healings,"

"helps,"

and the

"governments"

and "ministries."
Each one of these words would repay careful ex
amination. Some of them take us back to the list of
seven gifts of the Spirit in Isa.
scion of the dynasty of

David

it

xi.
is

Of

the Messianic

there said that the

THE GIFTS OF THE

94
spirit of

Jahweh

shall rest

SPIRIT

upon him and he

draw

"

shall

his breath in quick delight

as he lives in the
Six gifts are to be his, arranged in
fear of the Lord.
"

three pairs

Wisdom and

understanding, moral and intellectual.

Good counsel beforehand, and brave execution in act.

Direct knowledge of the God he serves, and awe
struck but cheerful readiness in

Him.
The "wisdom" and

"revelation"

all

things to obey

spoken of by

St.

Paul, while they do not shut out the need of effort

and acquisition on the part of man, emphasize the

inwrought grace of God which prepares teachers by

gift of an insight that no study can impart.
"Faith," on the other hand, is more closely associated
the

with the will.

It

indicates the

characteristic of a

man who

mighty spiritual energy

trusts with all his soul.

In human history there has been no power like it.

Mountains have been removed by it and sycamine
trees plucked up and cast into the sea. Men of culture
and education too often lack it, though there is no
reason why it should not be theirs but wherever it is
found pure, nothing is impossible to it. Stephen, as
a man full alike of faith and the Holy Ghost, was not
;

only a Christian protomartyr, but a prototype of such

faith as the Church needs to-day, for unless this
channel of the Holy Spirit s operation be clear, His
presence and energy remain ineffective.
"Ministries"

are,

or

may

Ecclesiastical administration

be,

spiritual

gifts.

so often unspiritual
that it is refreshing to think of helps and governments
under this highest control of all. Doles and charities
is

be means of proselytizing; sanitation and social

may be utilized in partisan politics;
"governments" may be another name for the worst

may

reformation

THE

GIFTS OF

THE

SPIRIT

95

who presume
and His Church. But
when giving and helping, organizing and arranging,
indwell
leading and planning are the outflow of one
and
Christ
of
the
love
itself
inspired by
ing energy,
kind of tyranny, the autocracy of those

to rule in the

name

of Christ

of the Spirit, there are few gifts that can

these.
surpass
It is well worth asking whether the Church of to

the

power

day has learned all that she needs to know from the
chapters which tell us of the gifts of the Spirit in the
primitive Church. Granted that some of these, bril
liant at the time, were transient, and intended to be
so, is the level along which the Church should move
under the leadership of the Spirit sufficiently main
tained ? The Spirit of prophesying, is it extinct ? and
ought it to be so? The complex organization of
modern times with its graded courts, its votes and
majorities, its multiplied offices and officers, is it under
the control of the only Power that can enable it to do
its work ?
And in the life of the individual Christian,
was the standard of the Church in Corinth in A.D. 58
abnormally high as regards wisdom and revelation,
knowledge and discernment of spirits, the power to
believe and the power to teach ?
Might it not be
expected that the standard of a Christian country in
the twentieth century after Christ would be indefi
These are questions easier to ask
nitely higher?
than to answer. But one thing is certain. If there
be any failure or deficiency it does not lie either in
the

without whom
but
in whom and
strong, nothing holy,
the Church can achieve all things.

power or the
is

nothing
with whom

will of that Spirit

THE FRUIT OF THE

SPIRIT

"The

fruit of

the Spirit

is

love,

kindness,

goodness,
trustfulness,
GAL.
against such there is no law.
1

"

Take Love, wherewith thou

peace, longsuffering,

joy,

meekness,
v.

wilt ever

self-control

22, 23.

go

lightly, attentively, swiftly, enlightenedly,

straightly, exactly,

without error, with

out guide and without the means of other creatures; since love
unto itself to do all things without fear or weariness,
so that martyrdom itself appears to it a joy." CATHERINE OF
sufficeth

GENOA.
"

Be good

those

at the depths of you, and you will discover that

will be good at the same depths."

who surround you

M. MAETERLINCK.
every virtue we possess,
And every victory won,
And every thought of holiness,

"And

Are His

alone."

H. AUBER.

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

"

COVET

"and

yet

earnestly the best

show

The

gifts,"

said St. Paul,

unto you a more excellent

way."

are

the

wisdom, revelation,
Spirit
gifts
the fruit of
miracles,
helps,
governments;
prophecy,
of

the Spirit

is

love.

Though

know

all

mysteries and

speak with the tongues of

men and of angels, though I bestow all my goods to
feed the poor, but have not love, I am nothing.
Why? The answer to such a simple question reveals

all

knowledge, though

the characteristic attitude of Christ and His chief

not always that of Christendom. As
Apostle, alas
!

we review the centuries of Christian history, it seems

as if it had proved impossible for the Church to pre
serve this original standpoint of our religion and its
standard as soaring above not only ordinary practice,
but ordinary standards of life and conduct. Creed,
ritual

and

ethics are three central

themes of religion,

but no one of them rightly represents the Christian

spirit and characteristic attitude towards life, which
should embrace all, keeping each in its right place.
Christianity ought to mean in every man a reconstitution of his whole nature in relation to God and
his fellows, and this means the renewal of his inmost
This is the
spirit by the indwelling of the Divine.
central reality then thought, worship, regulation of
conduct, social relations, will all be rightly ordered,
the stream flowing purely forth from a purified foun;

H2

99

THE FRUIT OF THE

100
tain.

But whenever metaphysical

SPIRIT
definitions of doc

trine, theories of church government, codes of moral

casuistry, or schemes of social reform usurp the chief

place in Christian thought and effort, true relations

are perverted, and the result is as sounding brass,
as clanging cymbals.
"Make the tree good and its

said the Master; the tree is the human

renewed
spirit
by the Divine Spirit, and the fruit is
love, joy, peace and the golden cluster of ripened
graces, "against which there is no law"!
fruit

good,"

Christian ethics has a fundamental character of its

own. This will appear from the contrast between the
Four Cardinal or Classical Virtues of Paganism, and
the Three Theological Virtues of Scholastic Ethics.

Wisdom, courage, temperance, justice represent the

four points of the moral compass among the Greeks.
These will secure the harmony and health of the soul,
wisdom being the highest, and justice in a sense the

sum and

substance of the four. Christianity under

values none of these. There has been indeed a false
wisdom, a knowledge in name only, which has puffed
up men of the Greek type in all times and countries,
a Gnosis which ends in Gnosticism, mischievous in
all

centuries from the second to the twentieth.

True

wisdom is one of the Spirit s best gifts, and Christ

is made both to Jew and Greek the very wisdom of
God. Courage ? Where has it been more robustly
shown than in the valour of Paul the Christian hero ?

God gave

us not a spirit of cowardice, he

cries,

but

power and love and discipline. The last word is

substantially the same as that for the third cardinal
true sanity and self-control, such as every
virtue
of

THE FRUIT OF THE

real

man

SPIRIT

101

which only the Chris

desires to gain, but of

As for justice if one

tian possesses the full secret.
word
to
serve
as a key to the
a
for
single
sought
whole of St. Paul s life and teaching, (^/caiocrwr;, right
eousness, would certainly be chosen as its character
istic theme.
The ethical difference in Christianity is not one of
words, or order, or emphasis, but of fundamental
conception and ideal.

It

is

a question of the centre

of gravity of character, of the central orb in the stellar

system, the pole-star of mind and heart. Aristotle

makes man, Jesus and Paul make God, the centre of

human existence. As the Greek philosopher phrased
re Ao?, the end,
it, everything in ethics turns upon the
the aim, the ruling purpose. Nature can only be dis
covered when the goal is reached; potential capacity
and right determination form the subject-matter of
ethics.
What the nature and end of man were in
the scheme of Aristotle are still studied in classic

phrases which are likely to last as long as humanity

itself because of the masterly grasp of the subject they
exhibit, from the writer s characteristic point of view.
the chief end of man ? The answer of the
Shorter Catechism is also classical in its way To

What

glorify

is

God and

to

enjoy

Him

due

for ever.

The term

schoolmen, and
modern ears the title is not a happy one. But
Thomas Aquinas shows the reason^ why the epithet
was given because "virtues" in the Christian reli
"theological

virtues"

is

to the

in

gion have God for their object, bring man into true
relation with God, and are imparted by God alone.
What man ought to be depends on what man is
capable of becoming and on how he sets about attain
ing his ends. On these fundamental points Pagan

and Christian

utterly

differ,

and as they

face

in

THE FRUIT OF THE

102

SPIRIT

different directions, so, with many ideas in

they none the less tread different paths.

common,

The three Theological Virtues, Faith, Hope and

Love, are not virtues, neither are they theological. They
represent rather three states or three aspects of one
state
which determine the very springs of action and
lie at the root of all conduct.
"They are not merely
personal graces," says Dr. T. B. Strong in his Bampton Lectures, "but they force every one who possesses
them into relation with a wider end than any which
can fall within the sphere of a single life. All three
of them have their real importance in the fact that
they connect man with God and with a spiritual
If the
order in which man s life finds its place." 1
it
be
Christian
term three
used,
points to an
graces
Him spring
relation
to
from
our
undeserved gift
God,
Here, as
ing out of His gracious relation to us.
elsewhere in Christianity, it is not we who plan and
originate and devise, but He first, both for us and
in us.

Revelation comes first, then our reception of it;

inspiration first, then our response to the new stim
As
ulus; God s love first, then man s in return.
Christmas Evans used to say, God s love is an ocean,
man s response a dewdrop, and that dewdrop stained
by sin. Faith, Hope and Love are, all and each of
them, a response. Faith opens the whole nature

God

as revealed in Christ,

Hope points to high

holds out, and Love is the
possibilities
means of securing them. But it would be a mistake
to

which

He

take St. Paul s "first three" mentioned at the

climax of his hymn to love in i Cor. xiii. as if these
were logically exhaustive of the Christian life. Nor
are the lists of virtues contained in Gal. v., Col. iii.

to

Christian Ethics, p. 85.

THE FRUIT OF THE

SPIRIT

103

and Phil. iv. drawn up as with plane and T-square,

a geometrical diagram of excellence. The words are
not carelessly or arbitrarily chosen, but neither are
It
they arranged in logically systematized order.
serve as an epigram to say that faith founded
the Church, hope has sustained it, and it remains for
Bftt the three great names might
love to reform it.
be reduced to two, hope being considered a form of
faith working by love
faith, or even to one, for it is

may

"

"

that avails.
II

point for the moment is to consider what

meant by the lovely group of Christian graces
mentioned together in Gal. v. 22, 23 as the fruit of
the Spirit. A contrast is drawn with the "works of
Flesh means here human nature in its
the flesh."
what
frailty and corruption, viewed apart from God
man is by nature, together with the darker pos
sibilities that loom in the future apart from God and
His grace. These works" make a black list, nine
teen in number though the number might have been

The ma4n

is

"

either reduced or extended, the series is grimly repre

sentative, (i) Sensuality and uncleanness in all their

enticing and debasing forms;

up

all evils

place of
coarse,

which

God;
rank

(2) idolatry,

as

summing

from putting anything in the

selfishness as root producing a

arise

(3)

crop

of

"enmities,

strife,

jealousies,

what
wraths, factions, divisions, parties, envy ings
section of society does not know these disturbers of
the peace, and who could not add to their number ?
"

Intemperance standing for all kinds of self-indul

gence, to which many a man who would scorn the
charge of drunkenness succumbs ignominiously every
(4)

day.

THE FRUIT OF THE

104

SPIRIT

Works of the flesh ? Some of these seem to be

the products of the world and the course of this world
in human society; others of the devil, who is always
busy with

others are of the

spiritual temptations
sense of the sensual side of human nature
;

flesh, in the

yielding to such temptations and becoming corrupted

accordingly. After nearly twenty centuries of Chris
tianity the power of these evil forces is not broken
in

human

life

and

civilization, the

wheel of their mis

The British
chievous progress
barely scotched.
if
it
be
not
the foremost, is certainly not
Empire,
the most backward state in Christian civilization, yet
is

how predominant in it still are many of these works

The brutal image of the Bull-god in
of the flesh
the British Museum is made by D. G. Rossetti to
stand for the country in which it now stands, not that
!

from which
"

it

came.

Those heavy wings spread high,

So sure of flight, which do not fly
That set gaze never on the sky
Those scriptured flanks it cannot see;
Its crown a brow-contracting load,
Its planted feet which trust the sod.
:

Thine

Who

Nineveh, was this thy God,

also,

mighty

Nineveh?"

can forget Watts picture of

of gold coins, the money
bags in its lap, crushing into the mire the vigour of
youth and the charm of fresh sweet womanhood ? But
that has seen

Mammon,

with

its

it

crown

is the huge, immovable, intolerable weight of the

whole brutish figure which stamps it as the very embodi

it

ment

of the flesh

and

all

its

works, a coarse, cruel,

impregnable monster of iniquity, by its very presence

blocking the way against all true life of the Spirit.
It is almost necessary to sketch in this dark back-

THE FRUIT OF THE

SPIRIT

105

do justice to St. Paul s exquisite

contrasted picture.
Love, joy, peace, gentleness,
goodness these are fair blossoms and fruit of a fair
tree, the gracious outcome of new celestially implanted
life; if these lovely clusters do not grow upon this
The branches in the
tree, they cannot appear at all.
true Vine must and will bloom in flowers that must
and will end in fruit.
But all is from and through the indwelling Spirit.
in order to

ground

Philosophers are jealous of the introduction of religion

into ethics, but history and experience confirm St.
Paul s natural history of the Christian graces. When
the human spirit alone encounters the flesh, it is con
Not perhaps at first, or obviously
stantly worsted.
and
for a time may be gained, but
kind
a
of
victory
the human spirit by itself has no sufficient power of
leverage, and if it be not entirely overcome by the
;

But
it is apt to lose its strength and beauty.
with the new point of origin, the new aims and new
motive-power that are gained when the soul is rooted
and grounded in the love of God, energy is furnished
for better things. Here also is provided a resting and
flesh

rallying place on which the discouraged spirit may fall

back when discouraged by failure or overwhelmed by
defeat.

It

Unseen

is

reanimated,

Allies, chariots

reinvigorated by mighty

and horses

of fire

"they

be with us are more than they that be with

Spontaneity
character.

It

is
is

that

them."

necessary for beauty and power of

a well-grounded objection against

the virtues of the moral philosopher that they are so

difficult to obtain, and when attained by much effort,
are so

stiff

and beauty.

and artificial as to be without true grace

These are not the outflow of life, but

Nature has not learned the

the products of design.
secret of that supernatural beauty.

THE FRUIT OF THE

106
"I

SPIRIT

felt it once
but where?
not yet the gauge of time,
Nor wore the manacles of space;
felt it in some other clime,
I saw it in some other place.

saw,

knew

Twas when the heavenly house I

And lay upon the breast of God."

The

trod,

Spirit who breathes where He lists alone can

that beauty from the skies to the earth. The

charm

He informs
man to attain

Spirit upholds, inspires, animates, because

from within, and

He

alone can enable

the spontaneity of free and gracious service under

conditions so unfavourable as the life of frail mortal

man

in the

midst of the world.

serene outflow of
is not the result
when a Higher

spiritual
only possible when it
of self-centred, toilsome effort, but
life is

Spirit within originates

and maintains

it;

when His

light shines through, His stream of inspiration pours

forth and His life is manifested even through the

hampering and disfiguring garments which swathe

the limbs and impede the movements. Life is there
if

the Spirit

is

there.

Fruit from such

life is

inevitable,

imperishable, inexhaustible.
Ill

The

Spirk is Love. This one word in

a thousand meanings, and in no
has
to
cover
English
shade of meaning can it be fully adequate for its
fruit of the

purpose.

The

instinctive love of bird

and animal,

the tender affection of close family union, the passion

ate ardour of youth and maid, the pure disinterested
ness of friendship the same word that includes all

these

good
ment

meanings is profaned to describe the ease of

nature, the gloating of lust, the tepid develop
of liking, and the amor intellectualis of Spinoza,

THE FRUIT OF THE

SPIRIT

107

dry and sublime, an affection wherewith man

may regard the One Substance God, not expecting
What wonder that when
any regard in return
Christians began to speak of love they found a new
word necessary dya7r?j, which, however, the Church
has not been able to preserve pure amidst the stains
and smirches of the smoke-grimed cities of men. Yet
love shines on, bringing its own light; "from heaven
it came, to heaven returneth," but not before it has
cold,

and gladdened the homes

purified the hearts

of all

give it welcome amid the sin and sorrow

of the world.
love because He first loved us.
Hope makes
not ashamed because God s love is poured abroad in
the heart by the Holy Spirit given unto us. The order
must be observed. God is love in fount and origin;

who would

We

from His love as a Father flow forth

all

the rays of

God
light that illuminate and gladden the universe.
is love in fullest manifestation
His only Son in utter
;

show the length and

breadth and depth and height of a love that passes
knowledge. God is love also in gracious diffusion and
self-impartation only the Holy Spirit taking of the
things of love to show to the unloving children of men
can pour abroad in their hearts the streams of grace
that will make human life a watered garden. The fruit
most

self-sacrifice

alone can

of the Spirit

is

love.

we

Here most of
habits, modes of

action, but of

as will bring the

human

all

see the need,

not of virtues,

deep abiding

life,

spirit into right relation

such
with

God and keep

it there.
Often a measure of spiritual
but
it
does
not possess sufficient motive
life is present,
it does not rise to a
or
sufficiently high level
power
or it is not sufficiently assimilated^ it is worn as a
;

garment which hardly

fits

the

man

himself; or

is

not

THE FRUIT OF THE

108

SPIRIT

uniformly and adequately maintained. The reason in

cases is the same. Only love to God can maintain

all

the steady outflow of spiritual life in any man only

God s love in Christ can suffice to arouse and sustain
;

that love in

man

s heart;

only the power of the Holy

human fire from the

In Rom. v. 6 the figure is
flame of the heavenly.
not that of the animating flame, but of the refreshing
streams which can revivify even a desert. The foun
of the landscape.
tain in the East is the
In
millions of families pure affection is the spring of joy
Spirit

is

sufficient to kindle the

"eye"

which makes
skies.

And

life

tolerable in a dull house under grey

realm of the higher ethics love is

in the

the one thing the world lacks and the one thing it
cannot supply. As a milligramme of radium will sus
tain its temperature for years, so the heart which is
made the home of the Divine Paraclete, pouring forth
continually the power of Divine pity and mercy to
melt hardness, subdue selfishness and quicken service,
can manifest continually joy, peace, gentleness, good
ness all the gracious currents of the one pure stream.

For the

Why

fruit of the Spirit is love.

last in
it come first ?

does

Why

Cor.

xiii. 13 ?

The same answer

serves for both questions. Love is

the origin, as it is the goal the essence of salvation
now and itself the blessedness of glory for ever. It is
the fulfilling of the law, all the precepts of all the
The wise man in
codes summed up in a word.
Proverbs had a glimpse of the truth "love covers all

Even
certain lawyer" acknow
when
Master announced as
the
ledged
the first commandments in the law, Thou shalt love.
St. Paul and St. John vie in extolling its power, but
alike they point to the Holy Spirit as the Source and
Spring of all. Men praise knowledge and power, but
transgressions."
its

excellence

"a

THE FKUIT OF THE

SPIRIT

neither of these suffices for the structure of

109

life.

Know

Knowledge can be
ledge puffs up, love builds up.
shared by few, it raises more questions and difficulties
than it solves, and when it is successful it inflates
with such a sense of self-importance that in its work
among men it cannot build up the structure of society.
The demons have their share of knowledge, and it
causes them to shudder. But man is made for better
things. Browning, who seemed by nature a poet of
knowledge, has made himself the poet of love.
let

"So

But

And

us say not Since we know, we love,

Since we love, we know enough."

rather,

again, in almost his last words

"I

have faith such end shall be:

From

the

first,

Power was

knew;

clear to me
That, strive but for closer view,
Love were as plain to see.

Life has

made

see? When there dawns a day,

not on the homely earth,
Then yonder, worlds away,
Where the strange and new have birth,

When
If

And Power comes

full

in

play."

to wait and dream, but

needs love here on the homely earth, and there
When heavenly love
is only one perennial fountain.
in quest of heavenly beauty flows forth from the one

The poet may be content

man

indwelling Spirit of Love,

Paul
love

hymn

all

in its praise in

includes

the rest follows.

Cor.

all

xiii.

graces longsuflering,
humility, patience, hope; for
with

kindness,

or woe,
believe the aged friend
Is just our chance of the prize of learning love,
What love has been, may be indeed, and is."
"Life,

Or

all it yields of joy,

hope, or fear

St.

shows how

THE FRUIT OF THE

110

SPIRIT

The definition of hell is a place from which love is

shut out. And when the firstfruits of the Spirit are
seen in love, heaven is begun below.

IV
Joy and peace come next another indication that
Paul is not compiling a list of virtues. These
are two subjective states which may make for happi
ness, but can hardly find a place among enjoined duties
unless at last we come to see that the Christian con
St.

ception of duty is the enjoyment and use of privilege,

and that the possibility of privilege brings duty in
its

train.

Joy and Peace

these tw o sisters are closely related,

7

more animated expression

and more exuberant energy the other with more tran
quil and self-controlled benignity, benediction in her
very glance. They are two stones most precious Joy
the one with brighter eye,

with the warm glow of ruby or jasper, Peace with

the radiant purity of pearl or sapphire.
Grades of

enjoyment are known amongst men, that

rise

one above

another like the steps of a celestial staircase (i)

pleasure; (2) happiness; (3) joy; (4) blessedness. The
lower or the higher name is appropriate according to
whether the emotion be temporary or permanent,
according to the part of man s nature that is gratified,

according to the degree in which his happiness depends

upon circumstances and conditions outside him, or
from a perennial fount of joy within.
Joy is mentioned in Gal. v. 22 as a fruit of the Spirit.
The law of happiness
It cannot be gained by effort.
if we seek it, it flies, and
is a well-known paradox
;

only come when unsought.

never be won by striving. It is a

it

will

Christian joy can

gift of the indwell-

THE FRUIT OF THE

SPIRIT

111

ing Spirit, enjoyed sometimes under most unlikely

circumstances "having received the word in much
affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost
(i Thess. i. 6),
"

kingdom of God is righteousness and peace and

Holy Ghost (Rom. xiv. 17). Here is found
a boon which belongs to the present life, the only
balm for a heart s bitterness, the only cure for a world s
woes. That it is a visitor from another world, how
ever, seems clear from the fact that even the Church
"the

"

joy in the

has so

little

assimilated

gladness and

"with

words imply

bosom

One

it.

of the earliest Christians

characteristic feature

was

that they ate their bread

The two
simplicity of heart."

an exhilaration of spirit, w hen "the

lightly on his throne," an exultation
7

first,

s lord sits

above the depression and dulness of ordin

and then an ease and smoothness of spiritual
movement, an absence of inward friction, which is as
rare as it is delightful.
Clearly such a state must
come spontaneously or not at all. Effort cannot secure

which
ary

lifts

life,

a light heart, a clear conscience, a sunny outlook it

must come as an inwrought grace of an indwelling
Spirit, and thus another Old Covenant ideal will be
;

New Covenant power

realized in

Lord

"the

joy of the

is

your strength."
Peace also must be deep-seated

if it is to be real.
"no
with
condemnation,"
begins
"peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ," and as it deepens

It

and grows

becomes the

characteristic

atmosphere of
be spiritually minded
is life and peace."
The power inwardly to be still, to
keep still, "central peace subsisting at the heart of
outward agitation," to preserve a tranquillity which is
not the inertia of feebleness, but the exertion of per
fectly balanced energies, is clearly not amongst the
elementary, but the very highest blessings of the

those

who

it

live

by the

Spirit

"to

THE FRUIT OF THE

112

SPIRIT

it is not attainable
by effort.
absence from many Christian lives
is that they know so little of the inward Comforter.
The overmastering joy of the Man of Sorrows, the calm
of Him who said, "My peace I give unto you, in this
world ye shall have tribulation, but in Me ye have
cannot be understood except through the
peace,"
presence of that Comforter, who is another Christ in

Clearly also

Gospel.

The reason

of

its

the heart.

These two words joy and peace furnish the colour

life.
The prevailing hue of most lives

of the Christian
it

cannot be called colour

The

is

grey, well,

if

it

be

which a wreath of
is
the
whole landscape
light
continually transfiguring
favourable
than
to
more
climates
that of Great
belong
not drab.

clear skies out of

The deep glow of sunset, rich in purple,

crimson
and amethystine hues that have no
orange,
names, appears but seldom and is soon gone. In a
sense this is to be expected of spiritual life in a naughty
Britain.

The moods

of the soul are sure to change, and

more
monotonous
or exhausting than the
nothing
of
a
But
uninterrupted glare
pitiless Eastern sun.

world.

is

life that has no colour has lost the secret of

and
charm, and perhaps there is no feature in
beauty
the Christian religion that would do more to convince

religious

a weary, cynical blase generation of the supernatural

power of the grace of God than the fadeless colour it
can infuse into a Christian life by the joy and peace
which are a fruit of the Divine Spirit.

LongsufTering, gentleness, goodness, trustfulness,

meekness, self-control so runs on St. Paul s list, a
row of pearls in one gracious string. Closely akin are

THE FRUIT OF THE

the

first

three.

injury inflicted

SPIRIT

113

the patient endurance of

of protracted hardship nobly borne

Ma/cpo0u//ia,

and

XpTjoro rrjs, the kindly disposition which prepares a

man to meet his neighbour pleasantly more than half

way, the readiness to help which is sometimes better

than help itself ayatfoxm^, the active exercise of bene
ficence according to opportunity, the doing good unto
all men made a habit of life
these three graces are
three facets of one diamond. The fourth
which be
in
same
to
the
the
Authorized
was
marts,
longs
group
Version translated
in the Revised Version
"faithfulness," and it may seem bold to suggest that
"faith,"

neither translation
faith in Christ

That
quite gives the meaning.
is the foundation of Christian

which

character would not be found in the middle of this list,

and on the other hand it is questionable whether in
the New Testament TTLOTLS ever means fidelity to duty.

Trustworthiness might seem nearer the mark, but

in

probability trustfulness gives St. Paul s meaning

better than any other English word.
It means the

all

freedom from suspicion and grudging, the hoping

always for the best in men, the finding good in all
men and helping it to grow, which is proverbially an
unworldly virtue. It condenses into a word the mean
ing of the clause

when
their

"Love believeth all

things," and
Church and the world have made this grace
own the new heavens and the new earth cannot

the

be very far
It is

off.

often easiest to define

by opposites.

The un

lovely counterparts of these four graces are (i) im

patience, resentment that is never far below the surface

and always ready

to leap out on slightest provocation

cross-grained surliness of habit and
demeanour; (3) selfish preoccupation with all that
may tend to personal comfort and
(2)

crabbed,

aggrandizement;

THE FRUIT OF THE

114

SPIRIT

suspicion, uncharitable construction, readiness to

believe the worst of men, rejoicing not in the truth,

(4)

but in iniquity. Love is the only cure for these evils,

and only such love as the indwelling Spirit can bestow.
For it is clear that the four fruits which grow here
in one cluster are not natural endowments, not acquired
habits, but Divine gifts. Some men have a measure
of some of them by nature, other men may attain to
a semblance of them by effort, but their real manifesta
This is not to disparage
tion comes through grace.
natural virtues, which may often surpass the visible
excellencies of many Christians. But the actual attain
ments of average Christians are not now in question.
To be always strong, patient, gentle, kind, good and

world

trustful in a

like ours is not "average" excel

the character has only been perfectly
illustrated once in history. But the Spirit brings fruit

lence at

all

within reach of which all may taste and long for more.
As kindness and its congeners belong to a man s
relation to others, so "meekness" and "temperance"
refer chiefly to self. They illustrate two kinds of self-

mastery.

more

The

The English word

"meekness"

does no

does tovTrojjLovri.
justice toirpavTrjs than "patience
absence of self-seeking and self-assertion, the

readiness to subordinate one

"

own

interests, especially

under injustice and provocation, is not the mark of a

weakling.
Military heroes have acknowledged that
is he that ruleth his
"greater
spirit than he that taketh
a city." The power to capture and subdue the
strong
citadel of a masterful heart,

the walls of pride and

armoured ramparts of envy and jealousy,
and keep them in assured subjection, requires strength
which is all too rare. Moses, styled the model of
"meekness," was not a milksop, but a
mighty leader
of men. One who could lead the rabble-rout of serfs

prejudice, the

THE FRUIT OF THE

SPIRIT

115

out of Egypt and make of them a nation is not to be

confused with a spiritless creature who can hardly
apologize sufficiently for his own existence and has
not energy enough to claim his own just rights.
Nietzsche is never weary of denouncing the abjectness
of Christian virtues, but he does not see that his
Superman is a bragging and blustering boy when set
beside the man who has learned Paul s lessons of

meekness and patience.

To commend

"

"pushfulness

not necessary in the twentieth century, the quality

as common as it is unlovely.
Paul learned his
lesson of lowliness at the feet of a greater Moses,
is

is

meekest of the children, and strongest and most

stalwart of the sons of God.
The last word in St. Paul s list, cyKparem, implies
especially as regards the use of the
Its opposite is
senses, the appetites and the desires.
self-indulgence, the luxiiria which figures among the

self-restraint,

seven deadly sins of the mediaeval church, the selfso contrary to the mind of
pleasing of Rom. xv i, 2,
Him who "pleased not Himself." It is easy to under
stand that those who in 2 Tim. iii. 2 are spoken of
as "lovers of self" are at the same time
lovers of
rather
and
than
of
lovers
this
because
God,"
pleasure
.

they are also "without self-control." Temperance in this

noble sense may be found in poor, or rich, or in the
comfortable middle-class folk who are glad that they
have neither poverty nor riches. "He denied himself
is
nothing that he craved, provided he could get
a description of a man who is assuredly preparing a
hell for himself of unsatisfied desire.
it,"

"

Who
And

keeps no guard upon himself is slack,

nothing at the next great thaw,"

rots to

says George Herbert.

I

Spenser sings the prowess of

THE FRUIT OF THE

116

Sir Guion,

SPIRIT

and Holbein draws a picture

of the Faithful

Knight, who

in every line of his figure, every muscle

of his body, every detail of his mien and armour
bespeaks the man that is fit to rule others because he

can rule himself.

list, not because
is

bond

the

Self-control
it

comes

last in St.

Paul

or lowest, but because it

Many men attain a good

is least,

of all the rest.

and none can gain

and constant. But
he who would master himself completely and maintain
is
his control to the end finds that this "temperance
Te sopra te corono e mitrio
a gift of the Spirit.
"Thee o er thyself I crown and mitre," said Virgil to
Dante, but only when he had triumphantly passed the
measure

of self-control

by

effort,

the grace without effort, strenuous

"

seven terraces of Purgatory. Man need not wait till

then for such high coronation, but the only man who
can conquer himself is he in whom the Divine Spirit
exercises complete control

and sway.

VI
"Against

of St.

Paul

such there
s

irony?

is

no

The

an example
be read as a

law."

Is this

clause

may

supreme example of ironical speech. Rather perhaps

it is added to show the Christian s true relation to
law, the victory which the Spirit gains just because
the law

not painfully toiled after, not punctiliously

performed, but easily and supremely transcended.

The

is

by Judaizers, were beingbondage by ceremonies and restric

Galatians, led astray

again into

brought
tions, and were

fast losing the secret of Christian free

not only cannot condemn these fruits of
the Spirit, it cannot produce anything of the kind,
any more than a machine could fashion a lily.

dom.

Law

History has pointed very sharply the lesson of this

THE FRUIT OF THE

SPIRIT

117

and grace. Stoicism in the early

exhibited a lofty ethical standard,

contrast between law

Roman Empire

combined with poor and low achievement. It had no

message for the multitude at all, and in the few it
produced some noble traits of character, together with
much that was lovely neither in the sight of gods or
men. Roman austerity, settling into hardness; Greek
cheerfulness, passing into levity and instability; Ger
manic honesty, combined with stolidity such were
some of the virtues recognized in the world of the first
century A.D. Has Christendom proved its superiority
over these heathen excellencies of character ? Broadly
speaking, yes. But perhaps in Christianity more than
in any other religion is to be found the combination
of lofty theory with scant realization Christians more
than most men exhibit a great chasm between creed
and conduct, and the very nobility of their profession
makes more marked and more inexcusable the un;

worthiness of their practice. If failure there has been

in some ages, in some Churches, in far too many
individuals, many ingenious explanations of it might
be given. But the root-reason of all has generally
been an attempt to secure by determination and effort
traits of character which can only grow as the fruit
of the indwelling, all-controlling, all purifying Spirit
of God.

SPIRITUAL FREEDOM

"

iii.

Where

the Spirit of the

Lord

is,

there

is

liberty."

COR.

17.

His

"And

will is our peace; this is the sea

To which

is

moving onward whatsoever

It doth create,

and

all

that nature

makes."

DANTE, Paradiso.
is

"Love

watchful; and sleeping, slumbers not;

it is not tired; though hampered,

Though weary,

it

is

not

hampered;

Though alarmed,

it is

burning torch

"

There

devil,

will

is

not affrighted; but as a lively flame and

its way up and passes through."
T. A KEMPIS.

forces

evil, or the cause of evil, to either man or

will; there is nothing good in itself but the

nothing

but his

o]

it

God."

own

W. LAW.

VI
SPIRITUAL FREEDOM

THE Holy Spirit is the great Emancipator. The

seven lamps of fire burning before the great white
Throne, which are the seven spirits of God, symbolize
that radiant, quenchless, seventy times sevenfold
energy of His which without ceasing is at work over
men, around them, and especially within them.
Seven lamps, seven eyes, says Zechariah so the
;

Spirit searcheth, kindleth, quickeneth all things.

For every need of man the Holy Spirit is not so

much

at hand with spiritual supply, as already pro

The Christian thinks of
viding it in anticipation.
Him emphatically as the great Deliverer. Bondage,
of one kind or another, is so common among men,
true freedom so rare. The Christian has, indeed, left
behind him the time when he passed through the

struggle of Romans
do not, the evil that

vii.,
I

"the

would

good
not,

Through Christ he has risen above

the dawn of the sunshine described
condemnation

to

them

that

that

would

practise."

that level, seen

in viii.

that are in Christ

Jesus,"

i,

"no

whom

"the law of the

spirit of life in Christ has made free
from the law of sin and death." He has known what
is to be released from
it
Egyptian bondage and
started on his journey to the land of promise.
But
If the whole truth were
the wilderness lies between.
told, how many, after the first joys of pardon were
over, have been disappointed with their enfranchise-

121

SPIRITUAL FREEDOM

122

The city of Destruction has been left behind,

ment
but the pilgrims way to the City that hath founda
tions is not only long, but wearing.
Still they toil
and aspire and strive to attain, but are sorely hindered
!

way, and the one thing they have not, as they

expected to have, is freedom. Rousseau opened his
Contrat Social with the famous words, "Man is born
free and everywhere he is in chains."
The Christian s
inheritance is real and substantial, but to some it
seems to be so encumbered with debts and mortgages
in the

that they fail to enjoy and to benefit by it.

The
name, the style, the title, the status of Christ s freed-

men

are

all

theirs,

but only the Searcher of hearts

knows how many worshippers

in the

Churches groan

within themselves

waiting, striving, panting for a

deliverance promised that never comes.
"Ransomed,

hymn,

who

healed, restored, forgiven," says the

thee His praise should sing?"

like

Base indeed would be the ingratitude of the slave

who refused to sing the praise of Him who has

brought him out of darkness into His marvellous
But if He who struck off the fetters which
light.
pinioned the body would but strike

from hands and

feet

off

He who opened

If

the chains

the doors

would also release from the first and

the second ward and make the great iron gate that
leads out to the city swing open on its hinges of its
of the prison cell

own
It

accord, that the prisoner might go free indeed

stands so in the charter and may be so in the life

for

where the Spirit of the Lord

is,

there

is

liberty.

Few words have been more abused

Madame Roland s often quoted
liberty.

than that of
exclamation,

SPIRITUAL FREEDOM

123

Liberty, what crimes have been committed in thy

may really have run, as we are now told,
"How thou hast been played with!" (comment on
"O

name

"

Both words are true. And even worse

jouee!).
than playing fast and loose with a sacred name is
that its very meaning is so continually misunder

Va

stood.

Often
at the

it

implies absence of restraint from without,

of some state or community, or of some

hands

lord or master, or in relation to certain regulations

and restrictions. The civil and religious liberty for

which men have had sometimes so long and so
earnestly to contend means the removal of all unjust
citizens as regards their beliefs or
can think of no other "liberty" than
The chains to which Rousseau referred were

restraints

actions.
this.

upon

Many

those of unrighteous laws, of injurious privilege, of

proud oppression, or the artificial restraints of an
iniquitously constituted social order, and he pleaded
with enthusiastic rhetoric that these might be re

moved, and then the primeval reign of liberty would

return.
The men of the French Revolution of 1789
believed him, and shouted, "Liberty, Equality, Fra
find themselves under the dominion
ternity," only to
of a harder tyrant than ever.

Such freedom should never be undervalued. Its

is worth many a sore conflict, and those
martyr souls deserve immortal honour who have lived
and died to obtain it for their successors, if not for
themselves. But when this liberty has been obtained,
man has not yet begun to live. All just opportunity
has been provided for each to think and act for him

attainment

self,

so far as state or society can provide it no more.

will a man do with that "free hand" he has

What

been so anxious to secure?

Does he understand by

SPIRITUAL FREEDOM

124

it
liberty to do as he likes, provided he does no harm
Is it his chief desire to cast off authority
to others ?

as that

which would cabin,

crib, confine energies that

?
The boy at

crave fuller and unfettered exercise

school, the youth at college, the man in business,

the woman in society, are apt to think, If I could
but be free to do as I will, instead of being chafed
fretted by rules and customs and proprieties
there were given to me the power of Emperor,
Sultan or Czar, with such abundance of wealth and

and

If

dignity as to be lifted above even the law of the land,

with none to consult but my own will, I should be
free indeed
!

So many honestly

and the opportunity

seldom comes, that men are not
Yet a small measure
easily convinced of its untruth.
of human experience might have taught them better.
If that principle be acted on in nursery, school or
home, what comes of it ? Children so brought up are
not only a nuisance in the family, and avoided as
believe this,

to realize the idea so

spoiled children by friends outside, but they are

miserable themselves, though they cannot understand
why. Children of a larger growth might have learned
that this path, the acquiring liberty merely by free
dom from restraint, leads down a blind alley, marked

Even
thoroughfare," for the instructed spirit.
they enjoy unusual immunity from folly, mistake
and wrongdoing, they say with Wordsworth, "Me

"No

if

this

unchartered freedom

tires."

colloquially phrased, "What

to do exactly as you like,

Or, as

it

has been

is

the use of being able

if

you don

like

it?"

Ability to follow the impulse of the moment will not

bring freedom or happiness for a single day, still
less a course of true liberty and success through a
lifetime.

SPIRITUAL FREEDOM

125

II

What man
is

power

really wants in his craving for

liberty
power for himself as a living creature with
"

certain faculties to be himself

in

"

thought, word and

deed to work out his own nature without let or hin

drance. Power to be himself, but what is himself?
Each man has so many selves. It is sometimes said
that in each is a higher and lower self, but if we think

moods and changes, the varying conditions

without and within, of one individual life, it is hard
of the

to say

what the

real self is.

If full

scope

is

given to

become of the higher?

Hence arises an inner conflict, of which every son of
man knows something, and the best know most.
lower impulses,

what

is

to

When

Racine read his play of Esther" to Louis

Quatorze, and came to the passage which describes
la guerre cruelle, the cruel civil war between higher
and lower natures within the soul, the Grand
Monarque interrupted him, I know that war very
well."
Epictetus, the crippled slave, stood in an
of the school of humanity in which kings
form
upper
and sages have often proved themselves dunces and
"

"

dullards.

To realize the highest

men have dreamed!

this were but as easy

needs must love the
but we soon find how impos
highest when we see
It is not a question
sible it is to make it our own.
of law and authority, or their absence not a question
That man
of the indulgence of tastes and impulses.
alone is truly free who has the power to realize all

as

Self

if

"We

it,"

and highest capacities of his nature. The

not formed yet, only forming, and freedom
means the power to form it in noblest and most

the best
Self

is

SPIRITUAL FREEDOM

126

The only thing

generous fashion.

man

in this life is that

every
was intended to be.

But who

more how
One word has thus

to reach

is, still

far

God.
tionally omitted
of the calculation that so

that matters for

he should be what he
is

to tell

him what

that

it ?

been obviously and inten

is because He is left out

It

in

many

their search for

happiness, and others in their endeavours after selfDirect attempts to secure

realization, utterly fail.
The only way to secure
these high ends always fail.

happiness

not to strive after

is

own sake, but

the path where it

for its

it

to take the course that leads to

it,

always come in by the way. The only way to

secure true realization of Self is not to concentrate
thought upon self in attaining the great ends of being.
God, who is Spirit, has created spirits in His own

will

image, and we are so made that true self-realization

possible only through harmony with Him who has
made us and the Order of which He is the centre and
is

the goal.

The first step towards freedom lies, therefore, in

reconciliation with God on the part of one who has

The removal of the load

for self.
imposed by an unworthy and evil past the rolling
away of the burden of guilt for offences against a
righteous and gracious God the taking away of the
garment of shame for culpable failures and errors
relief from the impotence caused by long enslavement
this is the beginning of a freedom which
to evil habit
man desires and cannot of himself secure. He that
committeth sin is the bondslave of sin, said Christ,
and emancipation, except through Him, the Son who
makes free indeed, is beyond man s reach.
hitherto lived

So much

the Christian learns at the outset.

shall deliver

me from

this

body

of death ?

Who
thank

SPIRITUAL FREEDOM
God through

He

Jesus Christ our Lord.

moreover, that only in

127
has learned,

and through the Holy

work on man

Spirit

behalf be appropriated
and assimilated. The truth of the Gospel is made
known, the message uttered and reiterated, it may be
with eloquent lips, but it is of no avail till the Holy
Spirit brings it home to the heart and enables the

can Christ

penitent believer to make it his own.

moment which makes the epoch in a
"

in the old-fashioned
"

finds

Christ,"

or

Beecher describes

"

phraseology,

enters into

Thus

it

is

that

as the soul,
finds peace," or
life,

Henry Ward

liberty."

a passage of autobiography "that

blessed morning in May when I found out that it is
God s nature to love man in his sin for the purpose
of helping him out of it, as my mother loved me when
I was in trouble that she might help me out of it.
Then I found God." Nothing else matters in a soul s
history compared with this, and every one who has
in

passed through the experience knows that

it

is

the

Holy Spirit. For where He is, He brings

from
liberty
guilt and fear, from doubt and shame,
from the law of sin and death and all its hateful

work

of the

bondage.
Ill

The pity is that the brightness of the morning fades

away so soon. However it may be in natural life, in
the

life

spiritual "Heaven lies

and the youth, who

way

attended,"

"fade

it

so

about us

in

our infancy."
is on his

the vision splendid

too often ere

into the light of

Church found

The

"by

manhood comes finds it

The infant
day."

common

when Pentecostal joys were over.

member of the Christian

religion of the average

Church to-day

is

far

removed from the simple,

child-

SPIRITUAL FREEDOM

128
like

the unfettered

the spontaneous activities,

glee,

exercise of powers in sheer hilarious delight, of those

who ate their bread in gladness and singleness of

God and having favour with all the

Compared with much in modern Christen
dom, Acts ii. 46 reads like a satire. Modern religion
heart, praising

people.

and conventional, or anxious and

implies the continual asking of ques
tions, pondering of problems, contending with diffi
culties, toiling in duties, the being harassed by tempta
is

largely formal

perturbed;

tions,

it

it would seem as
had resolved itself

till

religion

if

and core of
husk and shell, its

the pith

into

inner fragrance lost in the over-cultivation of the wood

and leaves, or at best of the petals of the flower.

Bushnell gave to his sermon on

have somewhat
left
because
thou
hast
thee,
thy first love," the
against
Problem
Christian
hold
of
"The
Experience"
title,
a
aim
it
well
the
of
to
maintain
that
be
lifetime
may
ing
the freshness and power of the first rapture of Chris
tian experience undimmed and undiminished till the
"I

end.

When
in

the early liberty of the enfranchised soul is

danger of being lost, is not one reason that men

lose the keen sense that they are not under the law,
but under grace ? Having begun in the Spirit, they
would fain be perfected in the flesh. At the moment
of first forgiveness it was the astonishing and over
whelming sense of undeserved grace that transformed
Later on, the message of grace
the whole landscape.
too
to
be true. The fact is, it is too
seem
good
may
it is God in Christ with
because
be
not
to
true,
good

whom we

are dealing,

liberty.

Law

Law

brings

God
into

the Spirit

who brings

bondage,

love

restrains, prescribes, prohibits; love

drances,

prompts, impels,

into

delivers.

spurns hin

renews, exhilarates; one

SPIRITUAL FREEDOM

129

animating and dominating energy gives the secret of

all glad effort to those who are freed from law and
constrained by grace. Such servants of God are sons
indeed; they do not toil in walking but fly straight to
their

mark

like the eagles

and the angels.

"The

lover

says Thomas a Kempis;

"he
is freed and cannot be held.
Love feels no
burden
counts no pains, exerts itself beyond its
strength; talks not of impossibility, for it thinks all
flies,

runs and

rejoices,"

things possible and all permitted."

St. Paul, in 2 Cor. iii., contrasts two dispensations
the one of law, of the letter, of condemnation, of death
the other of grace, of the Spirit, of justification, of life.
Who could hesitate in his choice ? Yet the Jews and
:

Judaizing Christians were rejecting love to cling to

law, and the explanation is given that a veil was upon
their heart, as a veil hung before the face of Moses.
When they should turn to the Lord the veil would
be taken away. A veil is over every heart as regards
the message of the Gospel, a black, heavy pall, darken
ing the sky and overshadowing the life, unless the Holy
As we read elsewhere, the mind of
Spirit remove it.
the flesh

peace.
nection

mind of the Spirit is life and

meant by
mind" in this con
St. Paul means to care for, attend to, be
in and strive after, mainly and chiefly.
A

is

death, the

What
?

interested

is

"to

thousand things may be cared for in their place, but

what has the chief place? A thousand things may
be interesting by the way, but what constitutes the
great End? Omnipotence itself cannot compel a man
to enjoy that which he refuses to care for and strive
The help which the great Deliverer effects is
after.
to
those who place themselves in His hands and
given
let Him work His own gracious will
especially His
work of bringing home the meaning of Christ s work.
K

SPIRITUAL FREEDOM

130

passion nor pride

cross can abide,
melt in the fountain that streams from
"Neither

Thy

But

Law

Thy

side."

not abrogated nor abolished, but abundantly

transcended, when the love of God in Jesus Christ our
Lord does its work. "Love and do as you like," the
is

propounded by Luther, sounds dangerous

enough, and the maxim has often been shamefully
abused. But it is the safest of all doctrines, the only
abidingly safe doctrine, provided the love is pure and
supreme. He who loves is free. Then shall I run
doctrine

Thy commandments, when Thou

the

way

my

heart at liberty.

of

shalt set

IV
All

this

is

measure of
is

that

inconsistent

with a considerable
would miss its

conflict, else the doctrine

hold of actual
it

not
life.

So

far

from being inconsistent,

and through conflict that liberty is reached,

power is realized, developed, increased. It is in
in

conflict that the lessons of love are learned, the mean

ing of love understood, the capacities of love unfolded,

Conflict may be sharp and pain

and
welcomed
because of its results; conflict
ful,
yet
becomes joy when enemies are base and triumph is

applied, multiplied.

assured.

Temptation

"Kept

Who

But

it

itself, like

quiet like the snake neath Michael

stands calm, just because he feels it

is

well to face the facts.

may

unbelief,
s

be

foot,

writhe."

A man who

walks

by the Spirit is not freed entirely from the tremendous

power of past habits. Partly hereditary influences,

own

past actions, their effects perhaps in

grained through years, a pressure of circumstances

partly his

SPIRITUAL FREEDOM

131

from without which he cannot control, may entail a

bondage of a deadly sort, quite opposed to the spon
taneity and joy of life in the Spirit.
A man who walks by the Spirit is not freed entirely
from the conflict of desires, recognized in Gal. v. 17
a verse which contains a graphic description of many
a Christian

life.

The

desires of the flesh are not

necessarily sensuous, though some of them probably

They are desires of human nature, left to itself

are.

and outside God

a constant current setting in against

the Spirit, as the Spirit of God, working through the
spirit of man, counteracts these desires, condemns and
fain annihilate them
so that in either case the
Christian does not, and cannot do, what he would
Some
accomplish if there were no inner conflict.

would

desires are
all

from the body, some

and tend

disturb the feelings

affect the intellect,

to

warp the

will

wanderings, vagrant affections, strange,

poisonous airs which it is fatal to breathe long.
It is said that they who are Christ s have crucified the
That is true as
flesh with its passions and desires.

spiritual

subtle,

regards resolve and purpose, more and more resolute

determination, but life is not over yet, and as long as
it lasts the "motions of sins," sinful, passionate move
ments, are found stirring within, often when least
expected.
Self is the long, low, ugly taproot out of which
Desires that are
nearly all these Upas-leaves spring.

harmless, or even laudable, change their character

Relations with others
self-love.

when perverted by

remain pure and sweet till self sours or embitters them,

changing friendly regard and healthy emulation into
envy, jealousy, hatred and all uncharitableness. Self
creeps into churches and changes worship into idol
atry, drawing its slimy streak over sermons, hymns,
K 2

SPIRITUAL FREEDOM

132

church work and philanthropic effort, till religion itself

becomes odious instead of attractive. Many tempta
tions come from without, but the chief cause of conflict
is within, in the unmastered self-will,
seeking its own
ends, or what are called God s ends, by its own means.

One

single false strain in the character may be of

bring into bondage the whole of an

itself sufficient to

otherwise emancipated
to earth

St.

It is

life.

by only one band.

James

says,

"If

It

man keep

offend in one point, he

is

possible to be held

may sound hard when

the whole law

and

yet

But put it
guilty of all."
course of disobedience be

way how if one

show the hidden
enough
another

mischief that is at work

and bring all the rest of the life to ruin ? One quiver
ing tongue of flame is enough to show that the house
is on fire.
One spot of tubercle in the lung frightens
the physician and the patient.
One crack in the wall
to

of the reservoir

may

let

loose a flood that will sweep

train.
Lancelot, so noble
all
that was pure and
fault,

away whole villages in its

and chivalrous, fell by one
good

in
"

him clinging

Round that one sin, until the wholesome flower

And poisonous, grew together, each to each,
Not

to be

And when

all

into account,

it

plucked

asunder."

the facts of our difficult

might seem as

if

life

are taken

spiritual freedom were

impossible.

Liberty

As many
law.
So

is

attainable only through the Holy Spirit.

by the Spirit are not under the
comes to pass in the course of Christian

as are led
it

experience, as at

its

happy beginning, a Breath comes

SPIRITUAL FREEDOM

133

from above which we can hear, but not see, and does
its own work of enfranchisement in the
struggling
soul.
The breath of our own spirit is not nearer or
surer, but with an infinite energy which mocks our
puny endeavours the Divine Power lifts, wafts, bears
the spirit on and up, far beyond the regions of con
flicting desire and the cramping fetters of inveterate
self-love.
Sinful movements and stirrings may be

present, but they are not

is
it

In

scorned.

felt,

or their paltry feebleness

Wesley phrase, sin may remain, but

does not reign, and in the presence of the Spirit it

will

have hard work to remain

"Give

Then

strength, O God of power,

winds blow, or thunders roar,

me Thy
let

Thy
Tis

faithful witness will I be;

I can do all
fixed
through

Thee."

If these things are so, it might be asked, why should

a Christian ever be defeated in spiritual conflict ?

With such resources at their disposal, why are good

men overcome so often and so easily, why are not all
Is there some deception in a description
free indeed ?
where all seems so easy, while the practice
remains so hard and triumph is still so distant ? The
answer is that there is no question concerning the
amplitude of spiritual resource, but Christians fail
of this kind,

Of what use is it that all

to realize their privileges.
provision is made for a great campaign ammunition,
arms, accoutrements, down to the last button on the
all the plans of a Von Moltke skil
soldiers uniform
it is clear that the
enemy has
been outwitted, outnumbered, out-generalled, if all the
time the rank and file of the army are discouraged,
supine, inert, or half sympathize with the enemy?
we live by the Spirit," runs the timely apostolic

fully elaborated, so that

"If

134

SPIRITUAL FREEDOM

counsel, "by the Spirit also let us walk." Stand fast

in the liberty wherewith Christ has set you free :

So victory
stand fast first, and then go forward.
shall be realized here and now in a bloodless war, and
perfect triumph be reached at last
law
"The ultimate, angels
Indulging- every instinct of the soul
There where law, life, joy, impulse are one

thing."

PRAYER

IN

THE

SPIRIT

"Likewise
viii.

the

also

Spirit

helpeth

our

ROM.

infirmity."

26.

11

Nor prayer is made on earth alone;

The Holy Spirit pleads;
And Jesus on the eternal throne
For sinners

intercedes."

JAS.

"Nothing

pathos of
*

but

human

Infinite
life."

J.

Pity

is

MONTGOMERY.

sufficient

for

the

infinite

H. SHORTHOUSE.

we

are rivers running to Thy sea,

ripples all derived from Thee;
nothing we should have, a nothing be

Lord,

Our waves and

Except for Thee.

Sweet are the waters

Make

of

Thy

shoreless sea,

sweet our waters that make haste to Thee;

Pour in Thy sweetness that ourselves may be
Sweetness to Thee."
CHRISTINA G. ROSSETTI.

VII
PRAYER IN THE SPIRIT

REAL prayer is the deepest act of the human soul.

The mere saying of prayers has more meaning than is
an acknowledgment
and the suppliant s own heart,
and necessary thing to pray. But

it
often assigned to it
before God, before men
:

is at least

it is a rational
say one s prayers

that

is separated from true prayer by

a practically infinite gulf, and never does the human
soul find itself at so great a depth as when thus
It would seem then that earnest prayer
engaged.
a
man
be
s own act, and that if it be not this, it
must

to

worthless.

is

Yet

it

one of the paradoxes of

is

religion, at least of the Christian religion, that a

is most himself when he rightly loses himself,

the

same

my own
the

true of prayer.

is

deepest supplication

Holy

Spirit in

me ?

How
is

can

man
and

be true that
not mine, but that of

To answer

it

this question is

master one of the central truths concerning the

Indwelling Spirit, and it claims separate attention.

to

Prayer

is

used in a narrower and a wider sense

as

asking of definite blessings from God,

and as communion, including all intercourse with
God on man s side. It is always well that the former
should be merged in the latter. True prayer includes
petition, the

PRAYER

138

IN

THE

SPIRIT

adoration, the reverent contemplation of

praise, the triumphant recognition of

thanksgiving, the acknowledgment of

what God

God
all

is

s glory

blessings

confession, the humble recogni

directly bestowed
tion of what he who prays has been and is in the sight
and many other elements besides direct sup
of God
plication for oneself

But throughout

and intercession

all

for others.

the personal element must pre

prayer must be

adoration, my thanks
as every angel and
giving,
there are no two angels alike, no two even of the same
and every child of man, is called
species, says Dante

My

vail.

my own

tribute,

my

just

to contribute his own characteristic note to the

When Gabriel praised
great diapason of worship.
God in place of Theocrite, the angel would not serve
in place of the boy, and He who sat on the throne
miss my little human praise." For His ear
said,

on

"I

whole chorus of creation

detects
If

it

and mourns

does

not suffice;

He

any single voice be silent.

be said that the hymn of the congregation
if

is

not the same as bowing the knee and can hardly be

called true prayer, the answer is that in devotion,
praise

and

petition can hardly be separated.

ancient saint, that

in supplication, said an
be the longer in praise.

Be

brief

you may
But the soul in communion
with God passes imperceptibly from one to the other,
and there are moods, not infrequent, when a man
knows not whether he is glorifying God for what He
is, thanking Him for what He has given, or longing
and pleading for more in the present and the future.
Whatever mood predominate, however, the whole
strength of the soul should be thrown into the act of
prayer, if its true significance is to be realized and its
great end attained. One main reason why so much
asking from God is futile is the lack of this essential

PRAYER
element

IN

THE

SPIRIT

139

the petitioner s whole force is not put forth

Angel of Life and gain the mastery.

to wrestle with the

not so easy a thing to mean all that is said in

In human intercourse it is rare to find
prayer.
It is

what they
do not mean and always mean all they say. But in
speaking to God, where sincerity is most important
and insincerity most futile, a large amount of un
sincerity such that the speakers never say

reality prevails.

frequently due
other cause.
will

ought
most of

Lack

of success in active life

deficient

to

In prayer

to be

it

dormant.

is

more

will-power than to any

might seem as

if

the

human

On

the other hand, here it

Not man s will as opposed to

needed.
but whatever energy of character is pos
sessed must be put forth in prayer, and here it is
most of all required, provided it be of the right kind
is

God

all

s will,

and rightly used.

For true prayer
which the demand

a demand, and the energy with

made is the measure of success.

is
is

True, the claim of the suppliant

definite conditions, or

But

it

is

not a

it is

common

is

put forward under

as presumption.

condemned

fault to

put too

much

strength

into petition, unless indeed it be in asking for those

material blessings in regard to which we are least

sure that they are according to God s will or really

good for ourselves. The utmost power of the whole

nature put into the quest for the highest ends that
is the only secret of success in public life and in
"Gird
private prayer.
up the loins of your minds"
is an exhortation much needed by those who would
hope perfectly and those who would ask effect
remains still
ually. The "sin of each frustrate ghost
"

the unlit lamp, of eager desire and the ungirt loin of

resolute endeavour. The sleepless watching in stead
fast

and unwearied

persistence,

which

is

implied in

PRAYER

140

IN

the Greek words used in

of our

Lord

THE

Eph.

SPIRIT

vi. 18, is

only an echo

exhortations to importunity in prayer.

should men be urged to ask and seek and knock,
the door is already open and the King on the throne
s

Why
if

is

more willing

to

his

proffer

than the humble petitioner

to give

request

admirable in the friend

What

who

is

or

there

is
lovely
disturbs a family at mid

night, or the widow whose tiresome pertinacity breaks

down the callousness of a selfish and unrighteous

judge?

Why

should

men be urged

not to

"faint"

become exhausted and

in prayer,
spiritless
literally
man
to guard
chief
has
that
this
is
the
danger
except
?
the
commonest
cause
of
failure
and
If ever
against

the whole

man

needed, the putting forth of heart,

it must be when the
highest

is

mind, soul and strength,

is to be attained through
ible

making urgent and irresist

demands upon God, who is indeed defined as a

liberal Giver, but who does not give in response to

a languid plea, because it proves that the asker is
man with a
unable to receive and use the boon.

may ask for an ocean of love, not

what
he
says, or that a shellful would drown
knowing
him. "More things are wrought by prayer than this
the italics are not in the poem,
world dreams of
but the word needs to be made emphatic. Prayer is,
or ought to be, work. The supplication of a righteous
nutshell of a heart

"

man

exceeding strong in its working, says St.

James. That is, if he puts his strength into it. For
if he who is to enjoy the
blessing does not throw
himself into the effort to secure it, who can help him ?
is

II
It is just
it

is

wont

here that Christian teaching comes in, as

moment of man s uttermost

to do, at the

PRAYER
need.
to be,
to be.

IN

THE

SPIRIT

Christ takes each man as he is, not as he ought

and thus only can he become what he ought
There are few commoner complaints, even
of inability to pray.
a man who does not

among good people, than that

It may be the utter inability of
care,

141

though he knows he ought

to care;

more

fre

one who does not

quently it is
a
blessed
What
care enough.
thing it is to be really
have been obliged
who
known
to
those
hungry is only
of satiety. One
nausea
in
the
food
from
to turn away
and
earliest
s
God
of
greatest blessings to His
children is to make them want so keenly that they
That is the
will perish, rather than fail to obtain.
kind of hunger for righteousness which always ends
the partial inability of

being filled. And that gift, like every other

perfect boon, comes from the indwelling Spirit.
Salvation, says St. Paul in Rom. viii. 24 and we
may read the words with a certain surprise is always
in

a matter of expectation, it comes by way of hope,

rather than of attainment.
However far a man has

advanced
to

come

always so much more

in this road, there is

that

airoKapaboKid,

his

attitude

continually that of
the outstretching of head and neck in

eager anticipation.
firstfruits of the

is

Those who already have

"

Spirit

know

that

"the

is

only firstdeliverance, as nature

it

and they "groan for full

groans and travails for complete realization, deliver
ance from that measure of purposelessness to which
creation is still subjected.
Nature longs, Christians
neither
but
knows
long,
exactly why, or for what
and man, like nature, is largely inarticulate in his
yearnings, unable to translate them into the earth"

fruits

and-heaven-shaking petitions that

their

own

fulfilment.

as

will

bring about

the Christian, in the

person of St. Paul, put forth as his chief need the
It is

if

PRAYER

142

IN

THE

SPIRIT

very power to understand his own needs, the power

to express them in fitting words and then urge his
petition with all his power on an unreluctant God, so
that his life of prayer should be a life of perpetual
conquest and attainment.
Thus also does the indwelling Spirit long and yearn.
If a difficult passage in St. James has come down to
us in its right form, "the Spirit which dwelleth within
us longs and yearns for us, even unto jealous envy
As alas there are few feelings among men
ing."
that have so keen an edge as unworthy jealousy over
others good, so no expression can be stronger than
that the Spirit of God jealously yearns for our
advancement. And therefore it is that He "helps us
in our weakness
literally, takes firm hold at the side,
or over against, so as to support us and joins His
might with our feebleness. What greater help could
be given than that of One who will do this, not from
without but from within, at the very fount and spring
of our nature, strengthening us rightly to desire and
ask. For we do not know what we ought to pray for,
nor how we ought to pray for it both statements are
true, and either is a permissible translation of the
Greek. For how can form and matter be separated
in prayer ?
Sometimes it is the very substance of the
petition that is lacking, sometimes its appropriate ex
!

"

But when fit expression fails the deficiency

generally due to lack of knowledge. The inarticu
late longings which are so common at prayer-time are
but another form of the vague restlessness of the sick
pression.
is

child,

who wants many

of that

things, but most of all an

still all his crav

which would

understanding
Yet he cannot ask, for he cannot speak; and
ing.
tries to make signs, he can only be under
if he
stood by the sympathy of the mother or the nurse

PRAYER

IN

who understands him

THE

better

SPIRIT

than

143

he understands

himself.

language may well be lacking when we think

what prayer means. Man cannot pray as he
ought, if the Omniscience of God is considered, for
He cannot
there can be no concealment from Him.
if the real relation between God
he
as
ought,
pray
and man is considered, including man s entire depend
ence on God, yet power to secure from God accord
ing to His gracious covenant. He cannot pray as he
Fit

of

ought, if his own actual feelings were adequately

expressed, still more if those needs were recognized
which are so much more important than his feelings
Nor can he pray as he ought, if he
at the moment.
successfully to plead with the kind of prayer that
cannot but prevail. Yet if a man cannot do these
is

things for himself, what a helpless babe he must be

requiring to be fed, but not knowing what food will
suit

him

Therefore the

"

Spirit

makes

intercession."

He

goes out to meet the helpless creature

vTTcpcvTvyx&vet
for the purposes of intercourse and consultation, then
intervenes by taking up his cause and pleading on his
behalf it is the work of a true Paraclete. The Son

God

We

is such an Advocate on high.

can hear
pray for both inner and outer circles of His
disciples in John xvii., and now that He has entered
upon the glory which He had with the Father before
the world was, we can imagine, and trust to, His yet
more efficacious High-priestly work on our behalf

of

Him

yonder. But He is far away, and the wings of faith

and imagination are weak and often fail us. What
is needed is a
Helper within, one who not so much
for
as
us,
prays
prays in us. If men had invented
such a phrase for themselves it would be laughed at

PRAYER

144

THE

IN

SPIRIT

as an impossibility, or rejected as blasphemy; surely

a man must do his own praying to the God who is

But a

over him.
is

characteristic feature of Christianity

God over us with the God in us,

the oneness of the

and the Spirit Himself undertakes our cause with

yearnings that can find no words. At first no words
are forthcoming, afterwards they

But whether

abundantly.

may

be poured forth
whether

this is so or not,

the words are articulate but insufficient, or inarticulate

and therefore ill understood, He who is over all knows
the

of

meaning

what

He

half-instructed child has

will of

cated

God
the

by

has Himself inspired and his

his own. It is the very

made

that needs interpreting; this

Holy Spirit and assimilated

is

communi

by the

saint

weakness and struggles for expression. When

prayer is thus offered, the great Hearer knows, and
understands and answers.
in his

Ill

work of man, or of the Spirit of God?

In the combination of the Divine and the

Is this the

Both.

human

lies

life

when

power and significance of Christian

a description of a whole Christian
Paul bids men work out their own salva

the

experience.

It is

St.

tion with tremulous earnestness, but with all confid

ence, because it is God who works in them to will and

When God Himself works in man to will

to work.
and to pray, shall not prayer succeed ?
At the opening of the Christian life the cry of the
newborn child is Abba, Father. Whose is the cry ?
It would appear that there can be only one answer,
"We cry"
(Rom. viii. 15). But another answer is
given in Gal.

His Son

iv. 6,

to enter

"He

has sent forth the Spirit of

Abba, our

your hearts and cry,

PRAYER
Father
the

IN

THE

The co-witnessing

"

human

spirit

SPIRIT

of the

Holy

145
Spirit

and

at the outset of the Christian

begins

and never ceases till the end. To be strengthened

with might by the Spirit in the inward man is neces
sary for the realization of privilege, for growth in
grace, for victory over temptation, and not less for
the
successful and effectual prayer.
"Praying in
life,

Spirit with all perseverance

Eph.

vi.

18;

"

is

the

in

"praying

the expression used in

Holy Spirit" is the

phrase found in Jude 20. Or are we rather to under

stand that the Holy Spirit is praying in us? These
two can no more be opposed than our Lord s "Abide
The
in me and I in you": each implies the other.

branch draws strength from the Vine, the Vine pours

strength into the branch the branch cannot exist apart
from the Vine, the Vine finds its own realization of
itself, not in the short bare stock or stem, but in the
;

spreading branches, the luxuriant leaves and especially

the abundant fruit. If the Holy Spirit is as the atmo
sphere which the Christian breathes, we pray in the
Spirit;

if

He

be the inspirer who stimulates to prayer

in it, He prays in and through us.

and sustains us

The

no illustration,
suffices here.
illustration,
personal
fact is that

especially no im
The closely unit

ing affections of the best beloved afford the nearest

of approach to an understanding of what can
never be expressed in words but human spirits at best
line

are mutually exclusive, however closely they may be

entwined in tenderest regard. The I and Thou remain

and must remain. Though the bar be broken twixt

life and life, "one near one is too
Love may
far."

conjoin in human relationships, but it cannot identify.

It is the marvel of the union between God and man
that a closer than

Him, though
L

any human relation is possible with

there is no fusion, no absorption.

still

PRAYER

146

THE

IN

SPIRIT

and of the dreaming East

if the Christian doctrine
be
must
avoided,
generally
He
of the Holy Spirit is to be rightly understood.
who is the Root and Ground of our being works in

The

error of the mystic

without interference with our own willing;

the very Inspiration of our life yearns in
us to pray, without overruling or overriding our own
prayer. It is His, yet ours; ours, because His in us.
us to

will,

He who

is

The mother

teaches the child to pray, and at first the

mother s alone, but the child learns to
the
prayer
while
and sustained by the mother s
prompted
join,
is

He who prays in the Spirit finds himself in

perfect harmony with the music of the spheres, and
He that searcheth the hearts hears the echo of the

prayer.

human harp and the vibration of its chords

under the sway of the Spirit, who pleads in and for
the saints according to the will of God.
So when, in the very closing words of the New
Testament, the Church longingly cries, "Come, Lord
the prayer is that of the Bride eager for the
Jesus
Bridegroom. But it is the Spirit and the Bride, the
Spirit in the Bride who calls, else the yearning is not
lowliest

"

enough and the cry

not penetrating enough.

modern Church is not
found intensely longing for the coming of her Lord,
after the fashion of Rev. xxii. 17, 20, because she,
rather than the Spirit in her, is looking for the great
intense

May

it

is

not be said that the

consummation

What

the

individual

needs

for

what the Christian Church as a whole

growth
needs more than anything else for the realization of
the coming kingdom, is prayer in the Spirit.
in grace,

PRAYER

IN

THE

SPIRIT

147

IV
But what can such prayer do? How do petitions
thus offered differ from the cry of the child left to
the Spirit," words "not which
himself? Access
man s wisdom teacheth, but which the Spirit teacheth,
what are
comparing spiritual things with spiritual
"in

"

these

Self-knowledge
help in prayer.

is

gained, or increased an immense

difficulties of introspection are

The

Every psychologist recognizes them, even

is searching by the cold, dry light of intel
lect and no feelings are concerned. But the difficulties
are greater when emotions are aroused and their fumes
and vapours, their shimmering lights and shadows,
obscure the vision. To such an extent is this the case
great.

when he

little confidence is given to a man who is able to

observe and analyze his own affections. The process

that

becomes more

come

difficult

still

when

evil

and wrong

darken the sky, the foul smoke of base

desires obscures and baffles altogether the vision of
the watcher in the spiritual observatory. The power
of keen discrimination is lost, and with it the power
in to

to assign values, to

approve and to condemn.

Man

needs a higher power than his own to show him what

sin means, what God means, truly to feel sin as it
ought to be felt in the presence of God. A higher
power than his own is needed to prompt him to that
confession which offenders are proverbially slow
It is the last and sorest stab of the
surgeon s knife that brings relief, and it is the con

full

to

render.

recognition of ultimate sinfulness as a part of

the very self which brings the joy of pardon.
This
contrition a man cannot gain by himself, yet it is of
L 2
trite

PRAYER

148

IN

supremest spiritual value.

cede forgiveness, yet

THE

SPIRIT

True repentance must pre

how can

man

repent without

Spirit ? Probably no adequate repentance is

possible on this side of the grave, but the nearest
approach to it comes after long experience of the life

the

Holy

Then the disciple, having learned more

of sonship.
and more of the mind of Christ, can see evil as it
really

is,

and the

light of the Spirit enables

him

to

know

himself in a fashion which makes all the

analysis of a Socrates and all the research of an experi

mental psychologist to seem as mere child s play.

Prayer in the Spirit opens up the blessings and
privileges of the Gospel as otherwise they could never
be seen. Even after these centuries of Christian ex
perience men are slow to believe in grace. Law they

know, order they know; justice, punishment, revenge,

apathy, neglect and scorn; but kindness undeserved,
unexpected, unrestrained, even to the unlovable and
ungrateful, is so unusual in human and earthly rela
tions that when it does appear it brings unwonted
That such grace, unmerited and
tears to the eyes.
the
is
mind
and heart of God, is a truth not
free,
very
so easy to believe, or, when believed, to understand
and appreciate. Therefore it is not superfluous to
be enlightened,
the hope of their
the riches of the glory of God s

pray that the eyes of the heart

that Christians

may know what

may
is

calling and what

inheritance in the saints.

The history of the Church,

than of the individual, shows how much of the
unsearchable riches of wisdom and knowledge in
Christ are as yet hidden. And there are no moments
no

less

of insight into these treasures like those

when

it

is

found possible to pray in the Spirit.

Other features of this inward revelation can only be
lightly touched,

(i)

It

quickens spiritual desires, the

PRAYER

IN

THE

SPIRIT

149

sense of deficiency deepening in proportion as the

knowledge of privileges and possibilities heightens.
So does perpetually recurring keen appetite make
possible the repeated enjoyment and assimilation of
more food. (2) It develops new ideas and a true con
ception of the right methods of realizing them. As
the inquirer who is always occupied with practical
problems concerning mechanical ends and the best
of attaining them
locomotion, water-supply,
road-making, traction and construction has quick

imans

perceptions of how things may best be done, and

leaps to conclusions that would never have suggested
themselves to the untrained eye, so the human spirit
that occupies itself in prayer with the great practical
problems of the spiritual life sees them in a fuller
and clearer light and goes forth from the inner chamber

ready for wise and prompt action. (3) It enlarges

the sympathies, which means partly an enlargement of
partly of the feelings which these ought to
inspire. An illustration of this is ready to hand in the
admission of the Gentiles into the primitive Church.
ideas,

was a

"

"

hardly to be credited that Gentiles

should be fellow-heirs, fellow-members of the body,
fellow-partakers of the promise with the Jews.
Away
with such a fellow from the earth it is not fit that he
should live," was the cry which greeted the preacher
of the Gospel of Christ when he uttered the word
It

mystery

"

11

It is so easy to see the

Gentiles."
folly of the pre
judices of other men, of other countries and other
centuries, so hard to pierce through the

blinding
mists of our own. If there be one
thing more certain
than another with regard to the Church of Christ in
the twentieth century, it is that it is the will of God
that race-prejudice and international
jealousy and

strife

should be broken down and done

away.

It

PRAYER

150

IN

THE

SPIRIT

remains to be seen how far the eyes of the Church

are enlightened to perceive this and act upon it, and
it is quite certain that if the Church is to be lifted
level of its natural vision and enabled to
beyond the party-walls which circumscribe its
sympathies and activities, it must be by its yielding
more fully to the guidance of the indwelling Spirit.

above the

see

In a word, only such prayer can adequately preserve

Church life, the thought and the

the ideal element in

illimitable future.
The gift of the Spirit
appaftuv the firstfruits of what a harvest,
the earnest of what a possession
The possibilities of
the Christian calling are unexpressed, inexpressible.

hope

is

of

an

aTrapxn,

no word can promise more

things
ye are Christ s as Christ is God s; and
yours,"
the Holy Spirit is the power of God working within
"

"All

are

things

"all

if

the capacity to inherit all things. How thin and

poor are most human petitions in comparison with
the prospects thus opening up in
vistas

men

never-ending

It remains that Christians learn

of hope.
to pray in the Spirit
"Breaking

Befit our

more

the narrow prayers that

may
narrow hearts, away

In His broad, loving

will."

fully

THE

SPIRIT OF HOLINESS

"Called

"That

to be saints.

11

ROM.

i.

7;

habitual disposition of soul

COR.

which

i.

2.

in the sacred writ

ings is termed holiness; and which directly implies the being

cleansed from sin from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit;
and by consequence, the being endued with those virtues which
t

were

in

Christ Jesus; the being so renewed in the image of

to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect."

our mind as

JOHN WESLEY.
"Teach

That

May

me Thy

love to know;
new light, which now I see
the work and Workman show;

this

both

Then by a sunbeam

I will climb to Thee. 19

GEO. HERBERT.
// God had wished to make of the creature merely an imper
sonal plaything, not an object of His love, then undoubtedly
it need not have passed through the discipline
ROTHE,
of evil."
"

Stille

Stunden.
he who would be born again indeed
Must wake his soul unnumbered times a day,
And urge himself to life with holy greed;
Now ope his bosom to the Wind s free play,
And now with patience forceful, hard, lie still,
Submiss and ready to the making Will,
Athirst and empty for God s Breath to
G. MACDONALD.

"But

fill."

VIII

THE SPIRIT OF HOLINESS

THE

characteristic

name

of the Spirit in the

New

Holy. His characteristic work is that

of sanctification, making holy the Church of Christ.

Testament

The

is

characteristic

Church

title

of those

who belong

to that

It is, therefore, above

saints, holy ones.
all things necessary that Christians should understand
what is meant by that word and in what sense it is
is

applicable in actual

life

to the followers

of

Christ

to-day.

The meaning

in the Old Testa

ment bears closely on the subject, because from the
Old Covenant both the word and the idea were derived.
It is of no use to search in classical Greek for the
meaning of ayios, when amongst the Greeks the very
idea of the quality was lacking, and if the thought had
been preserved, it would have been repudiated as an
The conception came from Israel, to
ideal in life.
whom so many nations have had to go to school for

of the

word

"

"holy

And in that specially chosen

lessons in religion.
dawned but gradually,
of
holiness
the
idea
people
only by a slow and difficult process was the nation
taught the full meaning of the words they had been

accustomed to employ.
It has been more or less customary among scholars
153

THE

154
to

derive

meaning

SPIRIT OF HOLINESS

Hebrew word Qadosh from

the

"separate,

apart,"

and

to

root

mean
apply
Thus God was
this

ing to the word from the first.

esteemed holy because of His ethical uniqueness, His

whilst men and places

utter aloofness from all evil
and objects were esteemed holy because they were set
apart and consecrated to His service. Considerable
doubt, however, attaches to the etymology, and usage
;

hardly bears out this line of exposition. It is usual

now to understand that "holy" was originally prac
tically synonymous with divine, that among Semites
generally it meant that which belonged to the gods,
with no particular quality attaching to the word which

Dr. Davidson says

Introduction to Ezekiel (p. xxxix.) that "the
term was so far appropriated to the divine that when
coupled with the word god or gods it became a
mere otiose epithet, the holy gods meaning nothing

would cover the whole ground.

in his

more than

the gods
Theology of the

(Dan.

iv.

8,

9,

etc.)."

And

Old Testament, whilst stating

that the early history of the name is very obscure and
one on which diverse views have prevailed, he points
in his

out that

holy

and

is

among

"a

Phoenicians, for example, the term

mere epitheton ornans, having no

original use
to
God or to
either
applied
that in

its

among
men,

it

force,"

the Jews, "when

does not express

Even

so, however, an
(p. 145).
the
transcendent
on
majesty and glory
emphasis
true
God
above
all men and
the
as
which set Jehovah
and
all heathen divinities;
similarly men, places, times
as
set apart and inviolable,
are
viewed
and objects

a moral

quality"

is

laid

because appropriated to the service or worship of the

One Divine Being. Hence "holy" is opposed to
"

"common

evil

or

"profane,"

or unworthiness

of

not necessarily as implying

any kind, but rather the

THE

SPIRIT OF HOLINESS

155

absence of any restriction which would hallow" for

specially religious purposes.
It may be true that in the earlier stages of Hebrew
history the character of the God thus honoured and
adored was not prominent in the thoughts of the
people; the modern view is that it was to the earlier
"

writing prophets that Israel owed the full apprehen

It is more probable that the
sion of this thought.
ethical idea of Jehovah was present in the religion, but
not sufficiently emphasized, and that Hosea, Amos
and the rest recalled the people to its importance and
1
In some representations the righteousness
necessity.
of God in the moral government of men predominated,

especially the fact that

dign punishment.
is

He

visits the

wicked with con

The

refrain of Ps. xcvii., "Holy

carried with it this connotation.

He,"
certainly
Isaiah had pointed the

same lesson long before

his
shows
greatness by judgment"
"Jahweh
i. e.
just decisions and apportionment in human
"and the
affairs
holy God proves Himself holy by
A higher sense still is found
righteousness" (v. 16).
in Hab. i. 13, where the intrinsic purity of God is
of hosts

described as

such

that

presence of evil; and in

uncleanness attaching to
round him makes him,
service, to be unworthy

He

cannot bear the

very

the deep sense of

the prophet and the people
Isa.

vi.

though devoted to God s

His message or
out
His
will.
Dr.
Skinner, in Hastings
carrying
Bible Dictionary, says that the word holy "never
appears detached from the underlying thought of
majesty and power," but unquestionably the ethical
and spiritual associations of the word are brought so
far to the front in the later writings of the Old Testa
ment, that the idea of moral uniqueness, flawless and
1

of bearing

See Robertson, Early Religion of Israel, Chapter V.

THE

156
ineffable

SPIRIT OF HOLINESS
came

purity

attribute of the

God

to prevail
of Israel.

as the

distinctive

Consequently the idea of holiness among men was

and a new meaning attached to the com

purified also,

mand, "Be ye holy, for I am holy." The lesson was

a hard one to learn only after generations of train
;

ing, repeated punishments for sin, and continually

reiterated warnings and promises through prophetic
messengers, was Israel taught how rightly to fill out

the concept of

as the consummation of the

nation came to regard a holy

"

"holiness

The

Divine attributes.

God

as including the idea of a righteous God, together

with as much deeper meaning in addition as the
word holiness transcends righteousness in its modern

acceptation.
In Greek, the

Testament

word

"holy"

ayios corresponds to the Old

at its highest, and is then corre

spondingly raised and purified by the superior spiritu

ality of the later dispensation.
used in the
Testament,

The

adjective

is

freely

New

and fills a place of its

be distinguished from fe/oos (sacred),

own. It is to
which denotes an external relation to God from oo-tos
(pious), which points to the one observance of religious
rites and all reverent and godly habits of life; from
a-cpvos, which means all that deserves reverence, all
;

true dignity of character, commanding respect, or even

veneration from ayvos, pure, chaste, free from carnal
sins; from bUcuos, the name of the just man, who
;

the relationships of earthly life

ceremonially, then morally,
from some other words of high and honour

righteously

from
clean

fulfils

KaOapos,
;

and

i.

e.

first

able significance. As Dr. Stevens well expresses it,

"Ayios
(holy) is more positive, more comprehensive,
more elevated, more purely ethical and spiritual. It
is characteristically Godlikeness, and in the Christian

THE

SPIRIT OF HOLINESS

157

system Godlikeness signifies completeness of

Sometimes in history a raised ethical standard has
given rise to higher conceptions of God, sometimes
higher views of God have raised the standard of human
relations.
In Christianity the latter has been the
life."

course of thought. The perfect life of Christ, His

revelation of the love of the Father, and the atmo

sphere of Divine grace substituted for that of righteous

law, gave new meaning to old words till they became
new ones aytos among them.
The family of words grouped around this stem
deserves more attention than can here be given to it.
The verb
sanctify and the three associated nouns
indicating respectively the process, the quality and
"

"to

the state of holiness should be pondered for other than

An echo of
etymological and expository purposes.
Isa. vi.

is

found

in

Rev.

iv. 8,

with added meaning

and
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty
Christ, in His mediatorial prayer, addresses not only
the "righteous," but the "holy" Father (John xvii.
"

"

He

Himself was the Holy Son and Servant,

harmony with the Father s will of righteous
goodness, discerned by His disciples to be
Holy
One of God." So marked and characteristic did the
name become that Holy Spirit is the normal expres
sion for God at work among men, having for His main

n, 25).
in perfect

"the

"

"

object the manifestation of the highest conceivable

spiritual excellence and the transformation of men
into

His adorable

likeness.

II

The
title

phrase,

holiness," which stands as the

been variously understood. It
the New Testament, viz. in Rom.

"spirit

of this study has

occurs once only in

of

THE

158
i.

4,

SPIRIT OF HOLINESS

where Christ

is

said to have been

"declared

the

God with power, according to the spirit of

The interpretation of this phrase directly
holiness."
Son

of

Holy Spirit is hardly tenable. St. Paul says

that as Christ on the side of His human flesh was of

of the

the seed of David, so was

God in the most potent

of

He marked out as the Son

and impressive way by the

Resurrection, in accordance with the operation of the

(human) spirit which inhabited that flesh, one dis

and unique pos

spirit was fitted and
work by the Divine Spirit is un

tinguished by holiness as
session.

That

this

its

specific

human

equipped for its

doubtedly stated, or implied, in many passages, but
does not come into full view here. The phrase would
seem, however, to imply that it was the whole object
of Christ to impart the "spirit of holiness" to men in
and through the presence of His holy and sanctifying
Spirit.
If

we

are guided

by

the

New

Testament, the whole

Christian life is one process of "sanctification." It is to

be regretted that this word has for many modern ears
a formal sound and not altogether attractive associa
tions.

The term

rehabilitated.

It

"saint"

needs to be redeemed and

forms, in the apostolic salutations to

It
the earliest Churches, a definition of a Christian.
describes what the believers in Rome or Corinth were

by way of status and privilege it sets forth what they

ought to be, what every one of them in Christ might
;

does not mean that they were wholly righteous

sense of fully discharging all their duties; it
does not point to an essential goodness and kindliness
of disposition, nor to their character as believers in
Christ and faithful in their allegiance to Him but it

be.

It

in the

does describe an ideal which they were to

Briefly stated

it

is this.

Every member

of

make real.
the Church

THE

SPIRIT OF HOLINESS

159

ayios (holy or a saint), in the sense that, having

been redeemed by Christ and brought into a new
relation wiih God in Christ by faith, his whole inner
character has been changed; he is a consecrated man,
His whole life is maintained
living a dedicated life.
he
is
trust
and
love;
being made like Him to whom
by
he owes his natural and his regenerated being, renewed
not only in external relations and actions, but in
thought, purpose and aim, so that he follows the

is

example of Christ and

These men are "called

reflects

to

be

image of God.
more exactly,

the

saints,"

of calling"; that is, are designated

high purpose which it is their privilege
to carry out, called with a high calling of which they
are trying to walk worthily.
St. Paul s earliest Epistles show how vital this truth

"saints

by God

was
u

by way
for a

in his teaching.
is the will of

He

says to the Thessalonians,

This

God, even your sanctification";

"God chose you from the
beginning in sanctification
of the Spirit."
No more central passage to describe
the scope and nature of the Christian life is to be
found than the paragraph Rom. vi. 16-23, in which
the one aim is to present to God the whole self, "your

members

as servants to righteousness," so as to secure

The Christian is a man
"sanctification."

the one end,

free

from

sin,

a servant to

God who has

unto sanctification and the end eternal

who
the

sanctifies,

work

without

is

men

yet
Divine, but

human

life."

his

"fruit

It is

God

are to sanctify themselves

it

cannot be accomplished

co-operation.

St.

John presses the

same thought home continually under

his character

phraseology concerning life, light and love. No

better synonyms for holiness can be found than these
three cardinal words.
God is light, and the Christian
must walk in light if he is to have fellowship with the
istic

THE

160

SPIRIT OF HOLINESS

Father and the Son by the Spirit.

The whole of
is
in
summed
the
up
Christianity
suggestive phrase
in which our Lord describes His own life and that of
His followers, "For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that
they also may be sanctified in truth."
The point of view in the Epistle to the Hebrews is
somewhat different, but the meaning is the same.
"They

that are

sanctified"

is

a standing expression

which contemplates primarily a worshipping people,

fitted by God under the new covenant to stand in near
relation to Himself, moving, as it were, in His pre
sence, priests in His temple, consecrated to His service
in all things.
This great work has been accomplished
in
sacrifice offered once for all.
Christ
His
"He
by
that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified
in other
words, the Saviour and the saved are all of one
Christ is made like to His brethren that His brethren
may be made like to Him. He and they are alike
Sons of God. By one offering He is Himself per
fected as a Saviour and has perfectly accomplished
the work necessary to bring men into right relation
with God under the new covenant. It is not ethical
"

perfection of character that is prominent before this

writer s mind, but a certain relation to God in Christ;
for

if

this

be rightly attained

all

the rest will follow.

But for the author of "Hebrews," as for all other New

Testament writers, God s training of His people has
for its end that they should be "made partakers of His
holiness," and the aim and object of daily pursuit is
to attain peace and the "sanctification without which
no man shall see the Lord."

THE

SPIRIT OF HOLINESS

161

III

no part of our present object

It is

word

of the

New

"saint"

and the idea

Testament times onwards.

to trace the history

of sainthood

from

how
and some know

The

history,

a very instructive one,

it
is necessary if the ideas of the New
ledge
Testament are to be made available for the guidance
is

ever,

of

of to-day.

There were strikingly various types of

Apostolic days.

Barnabas

more

ayioi

in

Peter, John, Stephen, Paul, James,

diverse types and temperaments

could hardly be imagined.

Alexandria, Jerusalem,
Ephesus, Rome for what various forms of Christian
devotion these names stood in the structure of the

Church

early

hearted

The

Philippians,

fickle

the

Galatians,

the

warm

gifted and eloquent but

and undisciplined Corinthians, the eager

and unstable Thessalonians Churches formed from
factious

among
elect

these elements were

and

faithful,

all

followers of Christ,

all

but no two were precisely alike, or

received the stamp of saintship in precisely the same

Seven Churches are addressed in the Roman

fashion.

province of Asia by the Lord speaking through the

mouth of the seer; but, though quite contiguous and
formed from the same material, they receive each its
own markedly distinctive message, which could not
be transferred to another. It is doubtful whether in

government or worship the Churches of the

Testament preserved the same uniform model,
as moderns understand uniformity, but theirs was one
Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one calling to be
with one glorious hope to crown it at the
creed,

New

"saints,"

last.

THE

162

SPIRIT OF HOLINESS

The conditions of Christian service during the

Apostolic period were not long maintained. As the
years and the centuries passed, the definition of
rendered into the language of succeeding
saint,"
"

generations, changed its form very often. Rules were

laid down by the Church for the ordering of life, and

was the man who kept them most assiduously.

came to prevail within, as
well as outside, the Christian communities, and the
saint was the man who withdrew from Church and
world alike to worship God in the desert. Time came
and it has not yet passed when
religious" were
those, and those only, who made and kept the monastic
vows of poverty, obedience and chastity the last word
meaning, of course, celibacy. At length canonization
was reduced to a science, and the roll of saints in the
Church of Rome came to be regulated by a complicated
process, which might well be surrounded by elaborate

the saint

The

influence of the world

"the

safeguards, for those who pass through it are "elevated

and commended to the perpetual venera
to the altars
tion and invocation of pious Roman Catholics in all
In Roman hagiology there are three degrees
lands.
known by the names of Venerable,
of sanctity
"

Blessed and Saint.

XIV laid it down that

God must have practised

Benedict

for canonization, a servant of

and heroic degree, and it must

two miracles have been wrought
through the intercession of the "Blessed" one since

virtues in an eminent

be proved that

at least

beatification.

The Church

of

Rome

has frequently

Church of
Does it produce saints? The challenge is a
one, and may well be accepted by those outside

put forth the challenge as one test of a true

Christ,
fair

her pale, provided that first a satisfactory definition

of a true saint be agreed upon.
It would not be difficult to show that the interpreta-

THE

SPIRIT OF HOLINESS

163

word
throughout the history of
Christendom has been affected by many influences
from outside Christendom, since the time when
tion of the

"holy"

made St. Simeon Stylites to be a

uttermost
devotion.
The Puritan pro
pattern
moted, as he thought, saintliness of life by "preciseness of dress and demeanour, by secularizing Christ
mas Day, and keeping "the Sabbath" with a more
than Judaic rigidity.
Many types of Christians
Oriental asceticism
of

"

through the centuries have disregarded the warnings

of St. Paul denouncing as doctrines of demons those
who should come "forbidding to marry and command
ing to abstain from meats which God created to be
received with thanksgiving by them that believe and
know the truth." The "things which have a show of

wisdom

in will-worship and humility and severity to

the body, but are not of any value against the indulg
ence of the flesh
have appeared and reappeared in
"

And even to-day, according to the read

ing of history which commends itself to some, the
periods of special sanctity have been precisely those in
the Church.

which these beggarly "rudiments of the world" have

been most prevalent in the Church.
But it is easier to criticize than to construct. Periods
of reformation are supposed to inaugurate moral and
spiritual improvement, and it happens that each of the
last four centuries has made its own characteristic
contribution to the meaning of true holiness. Let us
take the eighteenth and nineteenth, marked respect
ively by the Evangelical and the Tractarian Revival

movement.

Christians of

all

types

may

agree without

much

difficulty that John Wesley and John Henry

Newman were saints of the great Church Catholic, and
that each in his own fashion set about the tremendous

task of reviving true holiness in the

Church and the

THE

164

SPIRIT OF HOLINESS

Each furnished definitions from time to time

what he understood the holiness of the New Testa
ment to mean and how it was to be resuscitated in his
nation.

of

own

day. It is instructive to consider the witness of

each of these eminent religious leaders, and it will be
convenient to take Newman in his pre-Catholic days
first, because he illustrates the type of sanctity which

Wesley professed

to seek in his earlier life

wards discarded as mistaken and

Newman

and

after

insufficient.

out in his description of the

that
the religion of the New Testa
Spiritual
a very different mode of obedience from any
ment
which natural reason and conscience tell us of dif
points

Mind

"is

not in

ferent,

its

nature,

but in

its

excellence and

much more than

honesty, justice and

After
temperance."
dwelling upon the fundamentals
"We must have a
of Christianity, he goes on to say
peculiarity

deep sense of our guilt and of the difficulty of securing

heaven we must live as in Christ s presence, daily
pleading His cross and passion, thinking of His holy
commandments, imitating His sinless pattern, and
depending on the gracious aids of His Spirit; that we
may really and truly be servants of Father, Son and
Holy Ghost, in whose name we were baptized.
Further, we must, for His sake, aim at a noble and
unusual strictness of life, perfecting holiness in His
fear, destroying our sins, mastering our whole soul
and bringing it into captivity to His law, denying
ourselves lawful things in order to do Him service,
exercising a profound humility and an unbounded,
never-failing love, giving away much of our substance
in religious and charitable works, and discountenanc
This is to be a
ing and shunning irreligious men.
in a few words,
and
a
described
Christian;
gift easily
but attainable only with fear and much trembling
;

THE

SPIRIT OF HOLINESS

165

promised indeed, and in a measure accorded at once

one who asks for it, but not secured till after
*
many years, and never in this life fully realized."
Wesley, in his Oxford days and down to 1738,
would probably have accepted as his own this view
to every

"one attainable
only with fear,"
but "not till after many years," and "never in this life
He says later that from these
to be fully realized."
I bless
his earlier sentiments and zeal for the Church
God He has now delivered me." Further, in describ
ing Methodism, he pleads that it is not a new religion,
but the old religion, the religion of the Bible and of
It is "no other than love, the
the primitive Church.
love of God and of all mankind; the loving God with
all our heart and mind and soul and strength, as
having first loved us as the fountain of all the good
we have received and of all we ever hope to enjoy
and the loving every soul which God hath made, every

of the Christian life as

"

man on

earth as our

own

soul.

and joy and peace has its seat

but is ever showing itself by its
love

This religion of
inmost soul

in the

continually
innocence for love
fruits,

springing up, not only in all

worketh no ill to his neighbour but likewise in every
kind of beneficence spreading virtue and happiness
to

all

around

From some

2
it."

standpoints

they

do not so greatly differ, these two great saints of

God, whose lives covered between them practically
the whole of two centuries and whose works live
And yet they do differ essentially, as the
after them.
of
fear
and trembling differs from the religion
religion
of faith working by love.
Christians can never dis
pense with the
1

spirit

of

lowly fear,

Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol.

Earnest Appeal to
Works, Vol. VII, p. 423.
"

Men

of

I,

p.

Reason and

but they are

80.
Religion."

See

THE

166

SPIRIT OF HOLINESS

never Christians indeed

perfect love has cast out

till

fear.

Sainthood

means

undoubtedly

Christian

ordinary

It

the

life

differs

of

the

from the

perfected.
ordinary, not in kind, but in degree. M. Joly, in his
Psychology of the Saints, goes further than this.
Great men and little, we are all of us formed out of
the same clay and the same spirit is breathed into each
"

one of us. ... The

saint, though he is a man of

and
a man who has under the
God,
influence of grace developed and raised himself not
alone in the direction of the supernatural and eternity.
is

a man,

still

When

the interior heart

is filled

of Christ, exterior action flows

source, and sometimes

from

it

with the spirit

as from

its

true

one direction, sometimes in

the
field
fertilizes
of this world s activities,
another,
The Church has not
for the benefit of mankind.
side
canonized
monks,
by side with dukes,
only
in

duchesses, kings, queens, emperors and empresses,

but also merchants, school-masters, gardeners, work

men, shepherds and shepherdesses, lawyers, doctors,

a

publicans,

retired

public

executioner,

jailors,

domestic servants,
artisans, shoemakers, carpenters, blacksmiths and
fishermen
Signs are not wanting that a larger and
richer catholicity than that of Roman Catholicism may
mark the course of the twentieth century, and that
saints of the marts and busy streets, saints of the
squalid lanes," are taking their place with "saints of
treasurers,

magistrates, beggars,

"

"

the cloistered Middle Age and saints of the modern

home," so that not in mere theory, but in actual life, it
in mind that there are diversities
same God, who worketh all things

may be always borne

of workings, but the
in all.

THE

SPIRIT OF HOLINESS

167

IV
The point? however, which it is desired in this place
especially to emphasize is that a more complete recog
nition is desirable of the direct operation of the Holy
Spirit as Himself the great Agent in all true processes
of sanctification.
Attention has too often been con

centrated upon methods and results, rather than upon

and essence of holiness. Nothing but

the true source

the personal recognition of the Spirit s personal work

will suffice to preserve men from formalism, asceticism

and the many dangers that beset them when they set
about the work of sanctifying themselves.
The work of the Spirit on the heart in sanctification
is twofold.
Negatively, He purifies from evil; posi
tively, He fills with purest thoughts and hallows to
Neither in contending against
highest service.
in
to God can strenuous
nor
consecration
temptation
the
will
be
the
of
on
effort
dispensed with, but in
part
For one thing, the very
neither work is it sufficient.
sense of effort interferes with the steady flow of pure
thought and feeling; holiness as a state is attained
when effort is no longer needed. The soul is freed
from purgatory when the ascent of the steep, heavenpointing hill is as easy as its descent. Another reason
why only the Spirit can purify is that the most subtle
forms of evil escape even the Christian s notice without
Another frequent cause
the gift of Divine eyesight.
of failure on the part of a man who is only striving to
purify himself from all filthiness of flesh and spirit,
instead of looking to the Holy Spirit to direct and
crown his endeavours, is the attempt to secure a
spiritual end by the adoption of habits, the multiplica
tion of rules and the observance of external standards,
excellent in themselves, but useful only as

means

in a

THE

168

SPIRIT OF HOLINESS

Only Divine inspiration can so

cleanse the thoughts of the heart that men may, in
the time-honoured phrase, "perfectly love God and
subordinate sense.

worthily magnify His holy name."

It is the beauty of holiness that is lacking in the
most elaborate and comparatively successful efforts of
men.
Do you not wish you were a Christian ? said
"

"

a sour-visaged Church

means

to feel as

member

you look

Tom

Hood.
it
was the answer of
the same time a moralist
to

"If

no,"

the humorist, who was at

and a true Christian. When Milton described

"how

awful goodness is and virtue in her shape how lovely,"

he joined together the two qualities which impress the
All that wins and
idea of saintliness on the world.
charms combined with all that commands veneration
the two qualities are often contrasted, but they blend
easily together in the life of one whose heart has
learned the secret of Christ. This serene summit of
experience can only be attained by the indwelling of
the Spirit, who at the same time softens the hardness

and asperity of a self-occupied nature, and raises to a

dignity and sublimity of its own all that is narrow and
unworthy in a mean nature. "There is no remedy
for a bad heart and no substitute for a good one,"
wrote J. C. Morison and if there be no Holy Spirit,
it can
hardly be denied that his words are true. No
;

fashioning of a laboriously purified character

can impart the spontaneity, grace and beauty of a holy
Holiness is not virtue, nor an assemblage of
one.
virtues, but a new spirit breathed into a man, and
therefore easily and naturally breathed forth from him.
And this Spirit comes only from above and dwells

artificial

only in the humble and contrite heart.

Complaints abound of the Church s "worldliness

in these latter days, and the evil complained of is

"

THE

SPIRIT OF HOLINESS

169

recognized as a very serious and very subtle one.

But

the chief difficulty in dealing with it is to detect its in

most essence. Card-playing and theatre-going are not
worldliness knows well how to wear the
its only marks
;

semblance of sanctity, and

it has often clothed itself

with ecclesiastical zeal as with a cloak. Worldliness in
a Church is not easily expelled, and some methods of
driving out the evil spirit have ended in the introduc
tion of seven others, worse than the first.
It is at

least

important that the Church should

worldliness means,

and

this

may show

know what
way to its

the

Wiser words on the subject have seldom been

written than those which lay on Dr. R.
Dale s
desk when he died the last words he ever wrote,

cure.

W.

middle of a sentence. "Unworldmost rigid and conscien

tious observance of any external rules of conduct, but

broken

off in the

liness does not consist in the

and temper, and in the habit of living,

by the vision of God, by constant fellowship
with Him, by a personal and vivid experience of the
greatness of the Christian redemption, by the settled
in the spirit

created

purpose to do the will of

all costs,

God

and by the power

always, in

of the great

all

things, at
the full

hope

that after our mortal years are spent, there

The great
fuller, richer life in
preacher, whose hand was thus arrested by death, has
inherited now that larger and fuller life, in the hope

assurance
is

of

a larger,

which the Church militant

toils

and struggles

in the

midst of an evil world. But those who study the

above weighty definition carefully will find the pith
and core of it in one of its middle clauses, which we
The only secret for holiness of
have underlined.
heart and

life is found in the closing words of the

Apostolic benediction "May the fellowship of the
Holy Spirit be with you always
"

THE TIDES OF THE

SPIRIT

"

He

giveth not the Spirit by

measure."

JOHN

iii.

34.

is not dumb that He should speak no more;

thou hast wanderings in the wilderness
And findest not Sinai, tis thy soul is poor. 11
], R. LOWELL.

"God

If

while the tired waves, vainly breaking f

here no painful inch to gain,
Far back, through creeks and inlets making,

"For

Seem

Comes

silent,

flooding in, the

main."

A.
"

One accent of the Holy Ghost

This heedless world hath never

H. CLOUGH.

lost."

EMERSON.
"

Whatever God

is

in Himself,

His manifestations

to

us do

before us in the sleep of a frozen sea; they break out

of this motionless eternity, they sweep in mighty tides of nature
and have the changing voice oj many
and of history

not

lie still

waters."

JAS.

MARTINEAU.

IX
THE TIDES OF THE SPIRIT
IN a noble sermon with the above title Dr. Martineau
comments on the fact that "Jesus, as His custom was,
went into the synagogue on the sabbath day," vin
dicating what he calls the "Christian habit of seasonal
local worship," finding in "the occasionalism of
The
piety, not its shame, but its distinctive glory."
a
he
is
adds,
sign,
intermittency of devout affections,

and

not of poverty or weakness, but of their intrinsic

grandeur and "their accurate accordance with what is
highest in God s realities." In one of the apt meta

phors which are characteristic of Dr. Martineau s style,

he says, "God has so arranged the chronometry of
our spirits that there shall be thousands of silent
moments between the striking hours."
If the thought be once admitted, it seems desirable,
The mystic
or even necessary, to follow it further.
seeks to raise

all

moods

to the level of the highest,

to live in the very Holy of holies.

The
man distrusts the very attitude of contem

and always
worldly

and finds a level path by immersing

business and pleasure and leaving the
element of worship out of his life. If both of these
are wrong for different reasons, some kind of tidal
action must be traced in the workings of the Spirit.
Twice in twenty-four hours there may be high and
low water spring-tides and neap-tides are marked as

plative dreaming,

himself in

months go round; now the wind drives the rising

waves shoreward, now, blowing backward from the
the

THE TIDES OF THE

174

SPIRIT

The wind itself who can

Yet mutable and unfettered as
are the air-currents, science is reducing some of them
Trade-winds and monsoons blow steadily, in
to order.
winter from the north-east, during half the year from
the south-west, bringing welcome rains. Study of the
movements of the earth, of the action of high mountain

land,

it

retards their progress.

measure and predict

ranges, of the different temperature of continents, of

the currents that pass from land to sea, from sea to
lessons of regularity where
found
hitherto
only caprice.
When the Divine breath of morning moves, no man
can tell whence it comes, or whither it goes the Holy
But surely
Spirit quickens where and as He lists.
none will say that His movements are without order
land,

has taught

many

men have

or

meaning

Law

is

traced in physics, in biology, in

phenomena, but
psychology, varying
order of some kind is discernible throughout nature.
It is less easy to discern and calculate as the scale of
being rises, least of all is it to be readily traced in
in character with

man. But nowhere are prin

and reverent search delights
to trace them in the workings of the spirit of man as
well as of his mind and body. That they are no less
present in the relations between the Divine and the
human spirit may well be accepted by faith, and it

the complex history of

ciples of order lacking,

increasingly becoming matter of

knowledge. Nothing but good can come from reverent
inquiry into the order and methods of working of the
Spirit of God among men, if we keep clear of the
danger of setting bounds to the Divine grace and the

may

be said that

it is

foolish pride of supposing that our feeble general

izations are more than tentative guesses at the methods
of

Him w ho

own

will.

worketh

all

things after the counsel of His

THE TIDES OF THE

SPIRIT

175

we

are compelled to recognize

night, summer and winter,
periodicity.
and
sickness
and
health, constitute succes
age,
youth
sive conditions of human existence. None can evade

In individual

life

Day and

and spiritual life is in its own way

by them. Epochs occur in every life when

or ignore them,
affected

physiological processes are completed or when mental

development culminates there are periods when moral
;

habits

become

new stages

fixed, or

when

new

start is

made and

journey are undertaken. Spirit has

its history, as well as mind and body, though it is not
confined within the same limits, nor subject to the same
It is impossible to draw an artificial line be
forces.
tween judgment, conscience, imagination, faith; and
if in some of these regions what
may be called tidal
movements are recognizable, this implies no inter
ference with spiritual freedom, but it does show that
laws of spiritual growth are discernible in the midst
of the

complex and often quite inexplicable history.

Changing moods what forms a more fruitful theme

of a

of moralizing than the rapid, startling, unaccountable

succession of these in every life? Some are directly

more or

less obscure physical conditions.

nervous temperament forms a recogniz
able type, yet even instability has its own laws and con
ditions which the physician at least partly understands.
The influence of the crowd on the individual, of the
individual on the crowd, the incidence of panic and the

attributable to

The

"

unstable

"

control of its storms, the swaying of gusts of passion,

the rise of waves of enthusiasm are all these to be

marked merely as paroxysms forming

irreducible

exceptions to a regular observable order ? No student

of human nature supposes for a moment that they

176

THE TIDES OF THE

SPIRIT

merely disorderly, arbitrary or unaccountable,

though their occurrence raises questions more than
can be accounted for in his philosophy. All that may
be known concerning them is unquestionably of im
are

portance in a study of the workings of the Spirit of

God upon human

life, whether in the individual, the

the
nation
or the race.
community,
attention
has
been
Special
given of late years to the
of
adolescence.
The results of study as
phenomena

given by Professor Stanley Hall and others are most

instructive in their bearing upon the whole life, and
not least the life of religion.
Professor William
James s Varieties of Religious Experience is one of
the best-known contributions to a fruitful field of study,
and it gives the sanction of an eminent name to a
mode of treatment which a generation ago would have
been considered beneath the dignity, or beyond the
The psychology of religion has
sphere, of science.
advanced rapidly within the last two decades.

now
human

Religious instincts are

essential furniture of

and manifestation are

recognized as part of the

nature, their development

better understood, and an in

ductive study of the phenomena of religious experience

has opened up a new field in which already ordered

paths are beginning to be made.

Dr. Starbuck, an American scholar

who

is

largely

quoted by William James, says in one of his books,

"Conversion belongs almost exclusively to the years
between ten and twenty-five it is a distinctively
To some the statement
adolescent phenomenon." 1
it
profane. But
epigrammatic form by saying that
experience shows that a radical, abiding change of

may sound
if

absurd, others might call

we modify

its

religious nature rarely occurs before twelve years of

1
Psychology of Religion, p. 28.

THE TIDES OF THE

SPIRIT

177

most frequent from the fourteenth to the

twentieth year, that it is rare after the age of thirty,
and that
conversion has not occurred before twenty
the chances are small that it will ever be experienced,"
we are moving in a region of undoubted facts which
most people can confirm, and which bear an important
moral lesson. Narrow down the inquiry still further,
and it will be found that the years just before and
Tables of
after sixteen are in many respects crucial.
is

age,

"if

usually misleading, and in a subject like

only within very narrow limits.
Dr. Starbuck s curves and squares are not diagrams
in a proposition of Euclid.
Some of his phraseology
Instead of saying with him,
jars upon the reader.
"We may safely lay it down as a law," it would be
better to say that some investigation tends to show
that in women "there are two tidal waves of religious
awakening at about thirteen and sixteen, followed by a
while among the
less significant period at eighteen
males the great wave is at about sixteen, preceded by a
wavelet at twelve, and followed by a surging-up at

statistics are

this they are useful

1
And it would be more appro
eighteen or nineteen."
priate to say that the normal period for a deep and

radical spiritual change in man lies somewhere between

the innocence of childhood and the fixed habits of
is still impressible and
for
a
certain
capacity
spiritual insight which,
preserves
if then unused,
tends in later life to diminish and

maturity, whilst the nature

disappear.

The objections which arise to what may seem to be

a determination of religion by statistics are obvious,
but they do not apply to an inquiry carefully con
It is of course true that tables of
ducted.
averages
form no guide

to individual cases.

Of course

also true that no such careful observations in

1

op.

tit., p.

34.

it

is

human

178

THE TIDES OF THE

psychology

SPIRIT

operations of the Spirit of God.

fetter the

may also be admitted that in one sense these figures

contain nothing new that every one knew long ago
that childhood and youth form the plastic period
during which all impressions ought to be made that
are intended to be deep and lifelong.
The objection
is raised from another quarter that it is a dangerous
It

thing to make the processes of mind dependent upon

physiological processes, and to attempt to connect
the highest thoughts and aspirations of the human
spirit with the natural stages of puberty.
It spite of all objections it remains true that the
careful study of childhood and youth made by experts
like Professor Stanley Hall has not only been of the
highest value in education, but that it has an import
ant bearing on religion. It is not scientific to make
mental processes dependent on bodily functions, or to
resolve the spiritual side of man s nature into the
physical. But that the two are connected is certain,
and it is pure gain to know as much as we may about
the working of both that the relation between them
may be more clearly understood. Adolescence is a
crisis in the history of the human organism which has
many aspects and bearings, intellectual and moral and
aesthetic, as well as physical
why should it be sup
that
the
nature
is entirely unaffected ?
spiritual
posed
Conversion is not a matter of chronology, but all that
affects the history and growth of a man concerns those
;

who

are chiefly interested in his highest development,

it
especially concerns the religious teacher to
understand all that may be known of the mutual

and

and reaction
feeling and will.

action

of body,

mind and

spirit,

thought,

Especially may help thus be gained to understand

of the tidal movements in the life of religion.

some

THE TIDES OF THE

SPIRIT

179

The Spirit of God is always brooding over the world of

human spirits, drawing, striving, seeking most of all
when mind and heart are most susceptible. It is im
possible to exaggerate the importance of these facts for
parents, teachers, pastors and all who have young life
in their charge, that certain tides of life should be
rightly caught and used and carried up to high-water
in the formation of noble characters and useful

mark

lives.

But adolescence

Some

is

only one phase

form landmarks

of

one period.

marriage, the
birth of children, sickness, bereavement, figure in the
lives of all, and none of them leave us just as they
events in

life

found us.
The most important epochs cannot be
named and timed. Periods of doubt, of deep dis
turbance of faith

periods of enlargement of outlook

periods when the mental and moral
strength is rapidly and mightily knitted and devel
oped; periods of the advent of power in character

and sympathy

who can define these, or

and how they pass ? Yet

describe

when they came

they are as real as the pas

sage of callow youth into mature manhood, and some

of them are much more significant. If these had been
more carefully studied, more would have been learned
concerning the tidal movements of mental and spirit
ual life. It is enough for the moment to say that all
changes, great and small, subtle and patent, are great
opportunities that the Divine Spirit will use them if
;

human spirits are awake to

or may not be correct to
found

in Ps. Iv. 19

therefore

common

their significance.

"Because

they fear not

experience that

It

may

render the obscure words

they have no changes,

but it is matter of

God,"

God is most easily forgotten

unbroken
round of prosperous, com
regular,
fortable existence.
The wine that settles on its lees

in a

THE TIDES OF THE

180

and

SPIRIT

not emptied from vessel to vessel preserves its

and flavour unweakened. This process
sometimes be useful for producing a fine vintage,

is

original taste

may

in man or nation it is usually no commendation to

say that "his taste remaineth in him and his scent is
However unwelcome the process,
not changed."

but

is necessary, and the refining produced by

pouring from jar to jar, but the stage is a critical one
and needs skilful handling.
Changes in human life are not chance occurrences,
but whether they are blessings or curses depends on
the use made of them. The Divine Spirit is always
at hand to make them minister to growth and advance
ment; intermittent epochs are to be expected in His

straining

training of individual human nature, subject as it

necessarily is to the law of periods. If the sails of the
boat are set to catch the propitious breeze when it

blows,

all

is

well

but

it

may

sigh idly through un

prepared rigging and pass unused away.

nificant that in the well-worn quotation

It is

sig

from Shak-

spere the part which describes the "tide in the affairs

men, which, taken at the flood," is so familiar, while
the latter part

of

"Omitted,

Is

bound

all

the voyage of their

in shallows

and

in

life

miseries,"

is the more frequently illustrated in fact, should

be by general consent forgotten. The loss of oppor
tunities can only be remedied by the quickening Spirit
of God, who can bind all winds and times and tides

which

humble ministration,
desired haven.
in

to

bring the vessel to her

II

The

sacred words

"Ye

Holy Ghost dwelleth

in

are a temple of God, and the

are true both of the
you
"

THE TIDES OF THE

SPIRIT

181

and the community. But in both cases the

gracious inhabiting described is a dynamic, not a
it
static, condition
implies the ever fresh incoming of
a new energy, and no man can say by what steps it
will proceed, or what will be its history, course and
individual

As

the principle of periodicity is discernible

growth and development of the individual, so
assuredly has it been present in the history of the
issues.
in the

community.

But

to

trace its operation

is

no light

task.

Pentecost was a great event. The records in the

Acts are so scanty that we cannot study its signifi
But the narrative
cance and its sequels in detail.
makes it clear that in a short period there was a

change in the disciples of Christ corresponding to

in the individual, and
the change called "conversion
that they were endued with the power of the Spirit in
"

a very special sense. What has been the subsequent

It cannot be described as
history of the Church ?

mere degeneration,

it

has certainly not been one of

What we

uninterrupted progress.

actually find

is

life,
chequered history
fascination, advance
failure
and
with
alternating
disappointment. The

full

of

made way for the min

As the age of persecutions

ministry of charismatic gifts

istry of appointed officers.

passed away, the Church developed her regular order,

her ecclesiastical codes, her more or less elaborate ritual.
The process may be described as one of consolidation,
and without such organization probably the Church
could not have survived; but it brought its own
dangers and difficulties with it. Ere long a protest

became necessary against the growing ecclesiasticism

and the substitution of form for substance, of letter
for spirit, which is always the peril of
prosperity.
Montanism was anything but a satisfactory protest,

THE TIDES OF THE

182

and

in

any case

it

was

SPIRIT

The slowly

ineffectual.

devel

oped history of the primitive, the mediaeval and the

modern Church is full of suggestion as to the actual
workings of the Spirit of God in Christian communi
It exhibits neither unbroken progress nor steady
decadence, but progress on the whole, though in
The advance is that of the in
unexpected ways.
coming tide, with flux and reflux of individual waves
and periods of apparent stagnation. Or it may be
more fitly compared to a spiral curve, which winds
round and round to almost the same point again, yet is

ties.

marked by a

real, though very gradual, rise upwards.

perhaps truer still to say that the curves of pro
gress have hardly any distinguishable law to deter
mine them, but that they do possess a significance
which the lapse of centuries is slowly making more
It is

and more intelligible. The working of the Spirit in

movement.
the Church is in any case a "tidal
Such periodicity
If it be, we cannot be surprised.
in
life
and
human history
wherever
is manifest
exists,
"

similar

phenomena attend

the progress of civilization

and decay of nations.

Intellectual
and
advance is marked by intermittent dark ages, with
bright gleams preparing for the dawn of brighter
days. Moral progress is discernible, but society after
each new advance sinks back, if not to its previous
level, still exhibiting a measure of decadence in com
the

rise

parison with a recent zenith of attainment.

history of religion is

marked by

similar

If

the

phenomena,

but what might be expected as we watch the

Divine Spirit at work with frail and mutable human
And if we ask at one stage,
this
material.
it

is

Why

mighty quickening? the answer

is

that

God

s Spirit

has been energetically at work. And if again, Why

not steady advance under such Divine dynamic? the

THE TIDES OF THE

SPIRIT

183

answer is, Because the human material takes the

Divine impress imperfectly, or retains it feebly, or
generations rapidly succeeding one another prevent
the gain in moral and spiritual power from being

Such

permanent.
St.

John

nation.
tells

is

the description briefly given by

from the Creation to the Incar

of the period

The

us in the

light shines in the midst of darkness, he

first chapter of his gospel, the darkness

cannot wholly overcome it, but neither does the light

wholly banish the gloom, which seems alternately to
gather and recede, though gradually its dusky veil
is being withdrawn before the dawn of victorious
day.
The very phrase "religious movement" is sugges
The word "revival" speaks for itself of a life
tive.
which seems continually to need renewing. Christ
came to earth at His first Advent, He will return to
earth a second time for judgment, but how often does

He

"come"

was

to

Spirit
there have been

His people meanwhile? The Holy

out"
on the day of Pentecost;

"poured

"

many "visitations of the Spirit since,

and will be many more until the consummation of the
But why should these be isolated, with long
ages.
weary intervals ? Why, as Jeremiah pleaded, should
"the
hope of Israel be as a sojourner in the land, as a
wayfaring man that turns aside to tarry for a night ?
The answer is returned for the modern Church, as for
"

the ancient congregation, that the Lord s arm is not

shortened, not His ear heavy, nor His love wavering
and uncertain, but that His people s sin and unfaith

fulness prevent Him from granting what they ask,

but are not in a condition to receive. The worst evil
of all in the history of Church and nation is when the

prophet has to declare in the name of God who

ready to give waters in the wilderness and rivers

is

in

THE TIDES OF THE

184

SPIRIT

"thou hast been

weary of me,
Plethora brings surfeit

the desert,

lamp

"A

Israel."

death when, replete with oil, it chokes;

s when, surcharged with food, it starves."

A stomach

Abundance of religious knowledge and privilege and

grace, when unused or abused, brings a state of dark
ness and deadness beyond all others dangerous.
Hence

the sharp

messages
churches, Repent and do the

to
first

some

of

works, or

the
I

seven

will take

thy candlestick out of its place. The capacity of the

Church to receive is the measure of God s ability to
bestow at the moment. Only when the times were
ripe could Christ come as a babe born in Bethlehem
only in the fulness of the times can He come a second
time in glory at the consummation of the ages surely
the periods between, as the seasons are ripening, are
similarly ruled and ordered ? It becomes then impera
;

tive to ask,

way
Here

How much

is

being done meanwhile by

hastening the period of spiritual harvest?

lies the great problem of the Church in
every

of

age.
Ill

Can anything

like

in the history of the

a law of periodicity be discerned

Churches

What

are

some of
and

the signs and causes of the alternating advance

retrogression of Christ s kingdom in the earth ?

To

give a few hints as to observed sequences is all that

Even to attempt so much within the
is possible here.
a
of
few
compass
pages may well seem bold and
But a glance along the line of history shows
futile.

some such successive pictures as these.

(i) The growth and advance of a church brings
prosperity,

creates the need of careful construction

THE TIDES OF THE

order

in

to

conserve

the

SPIRIT

increase

follows a not unnatural dependence

realized.

185

Then

on external order

and machinery; formalism

sets in, with a correspond

ing diminution of spiritual energy and deterioration

of spiritual character.

The environment

of the world is always present,

most powerfully felt, not in times of persecu
tion, but when the world is most favourably inclined
towards the
Church.
increases
the
Prosperity
(2)

and

is

numbers of the Church and lowers the level of earnest

ness and devotion. Spiritual energy begins to fail at
the source; there is not power enough to work the
elaborate machinery.
(3)

period of languor follows, of lukewarmness

comparative apathy concern

in spiritual affections, of

ing the highest things. The Church holds its own

for a while in status and numbers, but progress is
arrested.
No decadence is very markedly visible, but
life
is perishing within
regiments are not being
renewed, and the army is sinking into a mere force
;

on paper.
(4) But

if

the

Church have any

life

at all,

there

be many who cannot bear that this state of things

should continue. The first sign of real change is the
dawn of a spirit of deep contrition and humility.
will

The Church

who frankly face

out
the
mischief.
fearlessly point
They
be called prophets of evil, but like Jeremiah

the facts

may

s best friends are those

and

during

the

Bunyan

"Mr.
like
Recorder"
in
captivity,
of Mansoul, the unpopular preacher

town

the messenger of life.

(5) There follows secret and importunate prayer on
the part of the faithful few. The story of Malachi iii.
is

is

repeated, and they that fear the Lord speak often

In a local church the whole turn of
to another.

one

THE TIDES OF THE

186

the tide has

humble Christian

the

who from

land,"

In religion, at

all

one poor

to

in a garret

the

the time of the

onwards have proved themselves

earth.

now

been traced before

invalid, or
in

SPIRIT

to

events,

it

"quiet

Psalmist

be the salt of the

has been shown
not from above,

again and again that "progress is

but from below." A return to first principles follows,

and

that

means

the

germ

new

of

Secretly the

life.

contagion of goodness spreads, and the ground is

being made ready for new seed.
(6) At this stage possibly a great leader may arise.
It is difficult to exaggerate the value of a great person
Bernard,
Savonarola,
Luther,
Augustine,
Loyola, Knox, Wesley, Newman, are but specimens
of names emblazoned in history, whilst a crowd of
undistinguished but faithful men have been as influ

ality.

ential in their

and

passing

own
it

places for keeping the torch alight

unextinguished to the next

on

generation.
(7)

Often there has followed the formation of a

Church within a Church.

In

order to leaven the

whole mass, a morsel of leaven must be concentrated

Such was the moving principle in
to do its work.
monasticism at the beginning; such the real signifi
cance of the societies of the fourteenth and fifteenth

Reformers
before
the
and
the
Brethren
Beghards,
Beguines

Reformation,

centuries,

of the

Common

Such were the

Lot, the Brethren of the Free Spirit.
Mendicant Friars at their first institution, though the
ideals of Francis

die

down almost

and Dominic had begun

before their

own

lives

to fade

and

were ended.

the Society of Friends in the seventeenth

Covenanters in Scotland, the Camisards
the
century,
in France, the Methodists in England before the time

Such were

when they began

to spread over the

whole world.

In

THE TIDES OF THE

these

SPIRIT

187

movements some new doctrines may have been

broached, more usually new power has been infused

St. Paul has been re-discovered in
into old beliefs.

every great revival of Christianity; again and again

has been sounded.
watchword "Back to Christ
If only men had rightly understood to what Christ
"

the

they were professing to return

crowds

have

gathered; after
been awakened, a large ingathering
secured; after enthusiasm has been aroused and the
public mind been stirred, too often an inexplicable
change has come. The rising flame has been
checked and hindered and begun to die down, first
zeal has not proved lasting, a falling away begins,
and men exclaim, sometimes with a sigh, sometimes
with ill-concealed delight, that another religious
movement has spent its strength and run its course.
Much may have been gained meanwhile. Drunken
ness has passed into sobriety; a general reformation
of habits has taken place; generous contributions
have proved the genuineness of inward renewal envy,
jealousy and slander have given way before the spirit
of mutual forgiveness and tenderness; all are pre
pared to acknowledge that a mighty power for good
But declension follows revival,
has been at work.
(8)

Then,

interest

after

has

and the hearts of good men are made sad, as if God

had forgotten His people and the Spirit of grace had
taken His departure.

IV
But

this

current interpretation of history

is

not

adequate. Nothing is more remarkable in the history

of the Christian religion than its vitality in the midst
of serious, and,

it

might have been thought,

fatal,

THE TIDES OF THE

188

SPIRIT

and its perennial and unquenchable

Renewal. There can be only one explana
tion of this.
Christianity is an abstraction and can
Christians are frail and erring
not renew itself.

corruptions

power

of

The power of self-quickening, even in the

very midst of decay and death, which has marked the
history of Christendom, is to be traced to the change
mortals.

less, tireless working of the Spirit of Christ, who is

the Spirit of the ever-living, ever-working Almighty
God. To the wandering children of men there is a

voice that says

"One

band ye cannot break

And grasps your

Yours

is

the force that clip

circles to the central light ;

the prodigal comet

long

ellipse,

Self-exiled to the farthest verge of night,

Yet strives with you no less that inward
No sin hath e er imbruted

might

"

and those who have

felt

the constraining influence

of the Spirit who brings home to the human heart the

power of uttermost Divine self-sacrifice on the Cross,

can understand

how again and again when man

wilfulness and rebellion, his blind folly, his selfish

lust and hate and greed, his formalism and apathy,
to have extinguished the Divine spark in the
world, and well-nigh in the Church, the Spirit of
Christ has wrought a new miracle, and not only
healed the sick but raised the dead. There is always

seem

to the question
Can
Thou knowest. He who

one answer

his fists

these bones live

divinely ready to breathe on these slain

may

holds the winds in

knows that the breath from the four winds is

Lord,

that

they

live.

The word "revival," like so many other noble ones,

has been degraded. In many minds it is associated
with a brief series of excited meetings, fiery exhorta-

THE TIDES OF THE

SPIRIT

189

and hysterical responses, producing a commo

town or village for a few short months,
accompanied by transient reformation on the part of
many, and real and abiding good wrought in the
hearts of a few to be followed by reaction, relapse
and retrogression. The word revival should have a
broad and deep significance. It is well to leave watch
ing the fuss and foam of a few waves in a corner creek
to trace the ebb and flow of the broad sea. A movement
in a Christian nation, or in the Church as a whole,
which perceptibly renews the springs of religious life
and leaves the level of moral and spiritual life per
ceptibly higher than it had been before is a move
ment of revival, and its rise and progress can be
tions
tion

in

traced.

Some have

limited

its

utmost duration

to half-

a-century, others consider that if it lasts a generation

of five-and-twenty or thirty years it is all that can

be expected.

No

arithmetic can

make

the calculation.

But the

lifetime of a great leader is limited, and in

thirty years or so one generation of mankind passes,
and another, trained under different influences, suc

ceeds; so that, unless the self-propagating power of

the new spiritual life be vigorous, decline in energy

be expected. But amongst the multitude of

Church historians none has yet been found com
petent to trace out the working of a "law of revivals."
Nothing of the kind is to be attempted here. The
natural impatience of the human mind with what it
considers to be the slowness and irregularity of the
Divine methods should, however, be checked by the
thought that Order is even to our vision discernible
amidst the welter and confusion of human history.
The history of the Church is not exempt from the
apparent confusion, and in it is to be discerned the
same gracious Order. But "short views" will not

may

THE TIDES OF THE

190

And

suffice.

in the

SPIRIT

attempt to survey long periods

and use large maps, much will still have to be left

in uncertainty, and faith will often have to take the

One principle, however, will carry

place of sight.
the devout student a long way. When King Arthur s

Round Table is dissolved and its good knights find

no successors, and its prince and leader is about to
pass away, it is natural for Sir Bedivere to cry that
true old times are dead," and that he goes
"the
forth companionless, as the days and years darken
round him. He finds it hard to believe that one
good custom should ever corrupt the world. But it is
customs that do corrupt men. As soon as the valuable
use and habit, toilsomely acquired and strenuously
maintained, has settled down into a mere mechanical
movement of the soul, it dies and needs to be dissolved,
God fulfils
that from its ashes new life may spring.
Himself, not in one way, but in many ways. He still

speaks

fashions.

KOL 7roAvrpo7ro)y,in

many parts, by many

Though He has spoken once in His Son,

iroXv[jipG>s

though the Spirit of His Son is one throughout the

ages, the languages of men are so many that the
Divine voices need to be multiplied if all are to be

One

generation hardly understands the

dialect of
predecessor, and those who mourn the
and customs may take heart among
times
old
of
decay
"new men, strange faces, other minds," that the city
reached.

its

the Spirit of God, who in the

over
brooded
chaos, can replace the old
beginning
was
which
good, by the new, which alone can
order,
of

God remaineth and

suffice for

new

A study of

no single type

method
some fear

of

needs.

will

movements

shows that
no
uniform
type
preserved,
succeed. Conviction of sin and whole

revival

of leader

in the past

is

of retribution are necessary as well as the

THE TIDES OF THE

SPIRIT

191

preaching of grace and a gospel of forgiveness. Francis

and Dominic differed, as Luther and Calvin differed,
and as Wesley and Whitefield agreed to differ, in
theology, in temperament, in utterance. Wyclif was a
forerunner of Knox, but Knox did not follow in the
lines of Wyclif. Any student of a reformation must find

room for an Erasmus before the movement begins,

and for a Melanchthon when it is over, if the whole
story is to be told. And he must not forget that when
the history of one reformation is over, a counterreformation which points in a different direction may
begin, and both may be necessary if those mighty
plans and processes are to be carried out that are to
prepare for the restitution of all things.
It is easier to study the past than to understand
the present, and it is impossible to forecast the future.
God s people are generally agreed that a revival is
needed, and there are times when it would seem to be
very nearly imminent. The darkest hour is before
the dawn, but it must be remembered that the dawn
is not the noontide.
Those who profess to under
stand the signs of our own times have been telling us
u
that
the next revival must be ethical."
That is
either a truism or an impossibility.
No religious
quickening is worth anything which does not bring

moral improvement
moral improvement

in

its

train.

But no amount

of

will

produce religious quicken

ing, though, as in the work of John the Baptist, it
may prepare the way. So with the social reforms
that are preached as a panacea. Improvement in the
organization and habits of society is a result, not a
cause, the fruit of a good tree, not its trunk or root.
Fuller light upon history has shown our generation
the

need of more than individual renewal, if the

of God is to come indeed. But it is revival

kingdom

THE TIDES OF THE

192

SPIRIT

of religion that is needed, not revival of interest in

sanitation.
The last step men are inclined to take is
the first that is needed the recognition of radical evil
in the

set

it

heart and earnest seeking after God to

chief cause of decline in religion

human

The

right.

the neglect of regard for the direct work of the

Holy Spirit. The invariable sign that renewal is at
is

hand

is to be found in a contrite, importunate, per

sistent seeking after His quickening power.
It is this fact which often delays the hoped-for

day. Men in the Church as well as in the world

shrink from confession and shun humiliation and

The self-reproach, self-denial and selfdiscipline which prepare the way for self-renewal
are not pleasant or easy processes.
It is proverbially
contrition.

harder to raise a decaying Church than to start a

new one. Vested interests are the chief enemies of
In Church life, as in
civil and political reforms.
society, "custom lies upon us with a weight, heavy
as frost and deep almost as life."
It would seem as
if
open sin were easier to cure than religious
formalism. Christ reserved His severest denuncia
tions for the religion falsely so called which was

development of new and vigorous

Paul strove hard to reach the
hearts of his countrymen and kinsfolk
according to the flesh, but again and again in the
synagogues he was compelled to cry, Since ye thrust
from you the new spiritual truth and the quickening
hindering
religious
fossilized

spiritual

the

St.

life.

life,

unpardonable

lo

we

sin

turn to the Gentiles.

The only

is

wilful,
deliberate, persistent
Spirit. For the individual, the
the nation, that will leave room for
to

resistance to the

Holy

Him
Church,
do His own work, all things are possible and all
things will soon become new.

THE HOLY

SPIRIT

AND CHRISTIAN

MISSIONS

And

"And the
Spirit and the Bride say, Come.
that heareth say, Come."
REV. xxii. 17.

"

Only

let

him

like souls I see the folk thereunder,

slaves who should be kings,

one hope with an empty wonder,
Sadly contented in a show of things;
Then with a rush the intolerable craving
Shivers throughout me like a trumpet-call,
Oh to save these! to perish for their saving,
Die for their life, be offered for them all!

Bound who should conquer,

Hearing

their

"

MYERS,
"

tell

is nigh thee, He is with thee,

thee, Lucilius, there is a holy Spirit

God

the observer

and the guardian

of all the

St. Paul.

He is within thee. I
who sits within us all,
good and evil we

do."

SENECA.
"

That God which ever

lives

and

loves,

One God, one law, one element,

And one far-off Divine event
To which the whole creation moves."
TENNYSON.

X
THE HOLY
IT

is

not by

SPIRIT

AND CHRISTIAN MISSIONS

accident

that

just

before

the

first

missionary journey of the first great Christian mis

sionary was undertaken, we read, "As they ministered
to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate
me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have
Nor is it a mere form of speech that
called them."
he says that the Apostles went
uses
when
Luke
St.
and
Galatia, "having been forbidden
through Phrygia

Holy Ghost to speak the word in Asia," and

when they attempted to go into Bithynia,

of the

that

"the

them not," but that thus guided

and
heard the voice of a man of
came
to
Troas,
they
Macedonia calling, Come over and help us. True,
there are modes of explaining away this language,
familiar enough to the present generation.
But the
believer in the New Testament account of the origins
of Christianity asks himself what this guidance of the
Holy Spirit really meant at the time, and what, if there
be one, is its modern counterpart.
For a deeply significant view of life underlies this
phraseology which applies to all aggressive efforts on
the part of the Church of Christ.
By "Missions w e
Spirit of Jesus suffered

"

understand attempts to evangelize, at home or abroad

and such attempts may be made with or without direct
Divine impulse and guidance. The human view of
mission work perfectly sound as far as it goes is
concerned with the truth that is preached, the men
;

02

195

THE HOLY

196

SPIRIT

AND

chosen to carry the message, the study of languages

necessary for preaching, the organization of "native"
Churches, and a long series of similar processes. It
is conceivable that all this work might be carried on
under the control of secondary Divine laws, the natural
results following upon the earnest propaganda of the
Christian Gospel for mankind. Prayer to Almighty

God and

recognition of entire dependence

upon Him

would, of course, be an essential part of the process,

but direct operations of the Holy Spirit might be and
at certain periods of the Church has been
regarded
as a doctrine of
enthusiasm," a belief in the super
natural worthy only of fanatics.
"

very suggestive passage occurs in the Report of

to the Edinburgh Conference, on
"The
missionary message in relation to non-Christian
Dr. Cairns says "Much labour has been
religions."

Commission IV

expended
the

life

on the place of the Spirit in

But we still wait for any under

in discussion

of

God.

standing of the place of the Spirit in the

life

of

man.

Have we

fully realized the immeasurable value

of the idea of the Holy Spirit in the light which
.

Com

parative Religion, and in particular in the light which

India, casts on the inner nature of the religious
aspiration of man ?
What difference would be
"

if

the view of the writer of

made
"Acts"

in actual

be

true,

w orking
r

and the

Holy Spirit be regarded not

only as a reality, but as the chief reality in all mission
work ? For there have been periods in Church history
direct operation of the

since

take the early mediaeval missions for example

There have been com
this was the case.

when

munities, like the Moravians, and numberless indi

vidual missionaries, like David Hill of China or
1
Report of World Missionary Conference, Vol. IV, p. 255.

CHRISTIAN MISSIONS

197

Gilmour of Mongolia, whose every step was dominated

and directed by this great conception. Theoretically,
every Christian accepts the doctrine of the guidance
of the Spirit, but in this department of Christian
service, as in others, the realization of the immediate
personal working of God the Holy Spirit is apt to be

How would foreign missionary

and weak.
work, for example, the tremendous importance of
which is now being appreciated by the Churches, be
affected by a mighty revivifying of the conscious
faint

presence of the Holy Spirit

in their

midst?

It

either

works
earth.

is

or

God
man on the face of the
that God leaves not Himself

not true that the Spirit of

is

in the heart of every

It is

or

is

without witness

not true
in

every heart, that there

is

a light

which lighteth every man, that the nations which have

not "the law," or "revelation," as generally under
stood, have the law or revelation written on their
hearts.

It

either

is

or

is

not true that

when

truth, as

Jesus, is faithfully preached, the Holy Spirit

convicts the world of sin, of righteousness and of

truth

is in

judgment. And if these things are true, according to

New Testament conceptions, the scattering of the seed
of the Kingdom throughout the whole is sowing in a
prepared field. To hold these things is to do more
all ages
than believe that
human
heart
is human,
"Every
"in

That in even savage bosoms

There are longings, yearnings, strivings,
For the good they comprehend not;
That the feeble hands and helpless,
Groping blindly in the darkness,
Touch God s right hand in that darkness,
And are lifted up and strengthened."

THE HOLY

198

AND

SPIRIT

It implies a belief in an active agency of that Right

Hand, that the yearning^ and strivings of which the
poet speaks are not mere human strivings, but move
ments of the Spirit of God Himself. It means that a

missionary, not only in India, but in Patagonia, not

only among Buddhists, but among Fijians, orders his
speech as to those in whom God the Holy Spirit has
already been at work, and that there is, and can be,
no man of whom that is not true. St. Paul believed
it

and preached accordingly.

To

the Jews he

became

as a Jew, and to those who were without law he became

as without law, that he might by all means save some.

At Antioch

in

Pisidia he pleaded in the

synagogue

out of the Scriptures, so that many Jews and devout

proselytes followed him. At Athens in the Areopagus
he pleaded with his "unusually religious" 1 hearers
that

God

is

not far from every one of us, and that his

to interpret the mind of that Deity of

message was

whom
When

We

are his offspring.

their own poets had said,
Tertullian spoke of the human soul as by nature
Christian, he meant that there is no race, no nation,

no man under God s sun to whom Christian truth

cannot be made to appeal under some aspect, when
rightly presented.

Holy Spirit implies more than

implies a living link between all human
the same Divine Spirit speaks to all.
spirits, because
in Edinburgh, when charitable
widow
Irish
s
Carlyle
relief for herself and her children had been refused,
But a

this.

belief in the

It

proved her sisterhood to those w ho disowned her,

when the typhus fever, of which she died, spread and
killed seventeen others in the neighbourhood. There
r

1
This must be the connotation of $i<n$ai/j.oveffTfpoi here. St.
Paul surely never began an address by striking his audience in

the face

and calling them

"superstitious."

CHRISTIAN MISSIONS
are

many ways

of

199

proving the solidarity of the

race,

but one of the soundest and most abiding is the fact

that under the strangest disguises the human heart
has the same needs, the same kinship to the Divine,

and

is

more

or less effectively taught

by the same

Divine Spirit.

abound. A fresh sheaf of very interest

ing comparisons has been gathered by Canon Robin
son of the S.P.G. in his volume on The Interpretation
of the Character of Christ to Non-Christian Races.
He shows how the ideals and goals which the Hindu,
Illustrations

the Buddhist, the Confucian, the Moslem respectively

set before themselves have much in common, much

which can only be realized by the methods of Christ

and the Gospel. True, the ideals are not entirely the
same, and the sceptical conclusion that
religions
are substantially the same
which is drawn by some
"all

"

students of Comparative Religion is not justified by

There is much in the character of Christ
the facts.
which does not directly appeal to the non-Christian

But the argument is, that which the Mussul

man, or the Buddhist, seeks for in mistaken fashion,
Christ provides in the only satisfactory way.
He is
mind.

the true Bread, the true Light, because, amidst the

blindness and hunger of humanity, He only can
bestow eyesight for the mind and food which can
permanently comfort and satisfy the heart of man.

These statements are now happily amongst the com

But to grope
monplaces of missionary literature.
amongst abstract doctrines for points of contact and
correspondence is one thing, and to realize that the
same Spirit of Christ who is guiding the thought of
the missionary as he teaches has been, and is, guiding
the feeble gropings of the heathen who listen and has
not been absent from the subtle speculations of

THE HOLY

200

SPIRIT

AND

Hellenic and

One

Brahminical sages, is quite another.

touch of that Spirit makes the whole world

kin.

II
It might be thought that Churches and Societies,
when undertaking foreign missionary work, would
always recognize the immediate operation of the Holy

To a large extent they undoubtedly do, and

few
have any right to judge them.
But all
very
Spirit.

human

agencies and organizations are human, and

one ineradicable infirmity of human nature is to
become so occupied in the details of processes as to
forget unseen causes, and in laboriously perfecting
The
the means to lose sight of the End of ends.
engineer must concentrate his attention upon the

machinery because it is his business to see that that

is in order, and for many who are engaged in Church
If
work the important feature is its machinery.
money has to be raised, the best efforts of the Church
If the train
are apt to be centred on money-raising.
ing of agents, the maintenance of schools, the organ
ization of effort in the mission field, be the immediate

work

in

ru ns

hand, it is not in human nature as the phrase

avoid being so absorbed in the details of the

to

process as more or less to lose sight of the operation

Power on which all the rest depends. The best

workers are often in the most danger of such undue
concentration, and without a measure of it the work
would never be done at all.
It is not inconsistent with this to say that these
tendencies need from time to time to be counter
of that

balanced by higher considerations, and that the real

success of all aggressive effort depends upon the

CHRISTIAN MISSIONS
measure

in

201

which they are counterbalanced by

It
recognition of the direct work of the Holy Spirit.
It seemed
is well when any Church Council can say,
notable illus
good to the Holy Ghost and to us."
"

tration of this

was furnished

in the

Edinburgh Mis

sionary Conference of 1910. A gathering in which

human effort had been put forth to the utmost, in pre
paration for which incredible toil and pains had been
spent and organization elaborated almost to a fault,
found itself in a sacred Presence which banished all
these elements into the background, almost as if they
did not exist. God is in His holy temple, let all the
When God speaks,
earth keep silence before Him.
men are instinctively silent, and in Edinburgh, men,
hearing His voice, were the more silent that He might
this feature which
from a
Conference
particular
distinguished
hundred excellent conventions in which everything has
been admirably ordered, and from which men have
gone away commenting on the perfect way in which
everything has been managed. Talent works, genius
All the efforts man can put forth for the
creates.
extension of the Kingdom are needed, but it is the
touch of the Divine which inspires, transforms,
vivifies.
Any overpowering force which would com

speak the more powerfully.

It

was

that

pel all Christians always to put

spiritual work would revive the

first

things

first

in

Church to-day and

regenerate the world to-morrow.

This may be seen if we think out the direct opera
tion of the Spirit in relation to (i) religious convic
tions,

(2)

Christian motives, and (3) the spirit and

So many of the

temper of Christian enterprise.

religious ideas that are current to-day are not deep

So
convictions, and they need to be made such.
many genuine convictions are held in reserve in the

202

background

THE HOLY

SPIRIT

of the mind,

and they need

active,

AND
to

be made

Christian motives

fiery, penetrative.
It might not
operate, but languidly and imperfectly.
be necessary to go far in order to find a congregation
that would hardly respond to the plea "for Christ s
that would nevertheless gather in crowds to
sake,"

living,

hear a foreigner in outlandish costume tell strange

broken English. The very phrase, "love
of Christ," whilst to every Christian it is a real force,

stories in

very often found acting intermittently, irregularly,

A motive ought to move men. A
motive
move them mightily. A con
should
strong
motive
should move them irre
straining, compelling
But
of
the
motive
power which is all that
sistibly.
some modern Churches can boast, none of these things
are true.
Further, if Christ s Kingdom is to come,
not only must Christian truth be taught and Christian
actions performed, but the teaching must be given
and the work done in a Christian way. Lack of Chris
tian spirit and temper is a cause of failure in Christian
enterprise, perhaps more frequently than lack of sound
and accurate Christian doctrine.
If it be said that these faults are freely recognized
is

at best feebly.

and generally deplored, the answer is that the one

remedy is within reach, but the Church seems to have
No power can deeply root
lost the secret of its use.
it a conviction and fill
truth
to
make
so
as
religious
it with a fervour that will make it glow and burn,
except the living Spirit of God. None can energize
the motive power of the Church and make it adequate

complex machinery but the Holy Spirit.

Therefore it is that the prayer is offered to Him to
"come with all His quickening powers, to shed abroad
the Saviour s love and thus to kindle ours." Finally,
no power that man can summon to his aid can endue
to drive her

CHRISTIAN MISSIONS

203

him with the Christian spirit and temper but the Spirit
Himself at work in the inner chamber of the heart.
One word spoken under His direction will accomplish
what human eloquence toils in vain to achieve. If it
be said that these things are truisms, there is but one
Only the Divine Spirit Himself can so stir
reply.
and shake the Church to its very depths that truisms

may be

translated into truths that will prove mighty

down of strongholds and the bringing

to the pulling

of every thought into captivity to the obedience of

Christ.
Ill

Barnabas and Saul were called to their work, and

came to them before the same voice called to
the prophets and Church at Antioch.
The Voice
that then spoke is not now silent, but it is more
the call

hear it amidst the contending voices of

The chief difficulty, however, is
these latter days.
caused not by the voices that oppose, but by those
difficult to

The tempter who bids men to throw

that compete.
duty to the winds that inclination may be followed is
to be a tempter, but when duties seem to con
and duties and inclinations are curiously and
inextricably mingled together, the servant of God
often strains his ears in vain to distinguish the one
calm, clear voice that points out the one pathway in
which he ought to walk. And, unless the habit of

known
flict,

listening has been cultivated, the obedient heart cannot

readily single out the note of the One Supreme Leader

of

men even when

the

Church

it is

heard.

of Christ

Yet

it

seems clear

that,

not only to live but to lead

men, if it claims to bring men into the one truth that
can adequately illumine and the one shelter that is
if

is

THE HOLY

204

man

SPIRIT

AND

to be the means of conveying

and
stimulus to an erring or a
religious inspiration
it
must
be itself quickened and
slumbering world,

s true

home,

if it is

guided by a living voice. No "dead facts stranded

will suffice
no
on the shore of the oblivious years
order however admirable, no government however
strong and uniform, will serve. Men will hear and
heed those who are following at first hand the voice
"

living God; tenth-hand and twentieth-hand

knowledge is common enough, and known to be
hollow and vain.
In the Church of Christ where service is concerned

of the

surely a voice that all can hear. The special

the elect soul for special kinds of service will
not, and cannot, rightly come except in the midst of
a community accustomed to listen for themselves.
there

is

call to

Lord gave the law from Sinai, He

wondrously with His voice," says the
Shemoth Rabba, a Rabbinic commentary on Exodus.
"And each one in Israel heard it
according to his
old
men
and
and
capacity
youths
boys and suck
and
women
the
voice
was
to
each one as he
lings
had power to receive
As with the law of Moses,
still more with the Spirit of Christ.
If the Gospel
of Christ is to fill and sway the world, every Christian
must hear the voice of the Spirit calling him to spread
it.
"Every Moslem merchant is a missionary," said
a speaker at the Edinburgh Conference, who was
describing from his own experience the rapid exten
sion of Islam in the interior of North Africa. Where
as a worker of experience amongst Orientals in this
the

"When

wrought

it."

is a notorious fact
country has recently stated that
that Oriental men who have come under Christian
"it

influence in their Asiatic

homes have definitely been

was considered to be

sent to England, because this

CHRISTIAN MISSIONS
method

the surest

to check

205

any tendencies towards

Christianity."

The young convert as a rule does hear it clearly,

and tries his best to obey it. But the world is strong,
and the flesh is weak, and too often the Church does
not help him. Thus he becomes silent, and becomes,
if not deaf and dumb, slow of speech and hard of
hearing. But the indwelling Spirit is not silent, and
from time to time the call for service rings forth
sonorous. Through a student s volunteer movement
it
may sound in the University, that little world in
which are so many ringing voices, full of vitality and
youth. Through an American layman s missionary
movement it may even sound in the midst of the
world of business, asserting it to be the noblest and

best business of every Christian man to play his part

in the evangelization and salvation of a world.
But

must be the voice within that sum

lip to lip, and when
voices join in chorus the music is fuller and more
far-reaching, but each man, woman and child must
hear the voice within and recognize it for what it is,
the call of the Spirit of God for work in the service of
man.
The word
is often reserved for the
clergy.
If they claim it as specially theirs, it is the more im
portant that they should show how distinctively and
in

each case

mons.

it

The sound may pass from

"call"

It is one
emphatically God has summoned them.
thing to be of those who were fascinated by the pure
and heavenly speech of Jesus the prophet of Nazareth,
another to be of those who, "when they had brought
their boats to land, left all and followed Him."
It
is

one thing to enter an honourable and learned pro

which may rank with law and medicine, or

fession,

East and West, January 1911,

p.

14.

THE HOLY

206

SPIRIT

AND

even compete in attractiveness with the army, and

quite another to be ready to carry the message of the
Cross wherever lie who once bore it for men bids His
servant to carry it as a banner to victory.
Few short treatises are more needed than one which
should deal adequately with the "call to the ministry,"
as well as with the after-call which guides a minister
But who
as to where God would have him labour.

What intimate knowledge of the

what absolute readiness to obey it,
what long experience of its accents and of the secrets
learned by obedience must he have who undertakes
to say how God speaks in the inner circle of His
dare

write

it ?

Divine voice,

chosen ones

None

the less

it

is

certain that in pro

portion as the w hole Church is charismatic filled

with the gifts and graces of the Spirit all kinds of
7

men will hear this special call to missionary

home and abroad who now are not likely to

at

service

hear

it,

because they never dream of expecting it. Especially

must this be so if world-evangelization is contem
It is easy to count up the millions to whom
plated.
the Gospel has not been preached, but if they are to
be effectively reached the messengers must not be
reckoned by units, but by thousands. Till the whole
Church of Christ is moved it is vain to expect a move
ment Christwards through the whole world.
Side by side with the interior call of the man who,
when about to be ordained, declares that he "trusts
that he is inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost to take

upon him
of

this

office
call

of

and
the

ministry,"

Church."

it

is

usual to

Undoubtedly
there are many qualifications for service of which a
man cannot judge himself, and with regard to which
he is ready to be guided by the judgment of others.
On some of these points spiritual discernment is unspeak

"the

CHRISTIAN MISSIONS

207

medical examination, a literary ex

even a Biblical examination, may be
conducted by general principles that all can under
stand. But the ultimate judgment must be spiritual,
or it will be vain. Not pseudo-spiritual, for the hollow
echoes of real voices are sometimes mistaken for the
It is a solemn
true by the superficial and unwary.
necessary.
amination,

question for every Church to answer How is the

final decision as to admission into the ranks of the
ministry, at home or abroad, definitively reached?
It may be the bishop, with the help of his chaplains
or

the

presbytery and

the pastoral Conference

General

the

or the rank

Assembly or
and file of a

autonomous community but the decision is so

momentous that every corporate body calling itself a
Christian Church is bound as in God s sight to see
that that work is well and truly done by the direct
local

operation of the Divine Spirit, or ruin follows.

vast congregation in a cathedral may chant Veni
Creator Spiritus, or a handful of godly men in a

country village

may

be choosing a pastor, but unless

man and the same Spirit

the
Church
the
whole
procedure is little
guiding
better than a mockery.
And when evangelists are
needed, not for familiar home spheres, but for foreign
God

the

Holy

Spirit calls the

is

lands, to do pioneer work, to stand alone, to control

large areas of enterprise, to enter into the thoughts of

an alien people, to touch w^;h prompt and manysided sympathies the hearts of multitudes belonging
to another race
then it is absolutely necessary for
the Church to make the right choice. And no power
can guide

it
aright but the voice of the Spirit speaking
from the very shrine of that spiritual house which is
the very temple of the living God.

THE HOLY

208

SPIRIT

AND

IV
The Holy

Spirit alone furnishes the secret of true

Unity in the ranks of the Christian army as

unity.

goes forth to bloodless victory; unity amongst the

kingdoms of this world when at last they become the
kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. Christians
at least profess always to be seeking for unity, but a
it

large proportion steadfastly refuse to adopt the only

promised means for obtaining it.

The New Testament Churches were

at

one because

unity of the Spirit"; they were

they enjoyed
bidden not to make it, but to keep it (Eph. iv. 3).
"the

Paul obviously meant a oneness which the Holy

Spirit Himself effected by His indwelling, the "one
mentioned in the next verse. It is true he
Spirit
mentions "one body/ and the mystical body of Christ
cannot be multiplied or divided. But it is the living
Head who makes it one, and the indwelling Breath
of God that keeps it one. St. Paul would never have
separated the two halves of Irenasus* sentence,
"Where the Spirit is, there the Church is; and where
St.

"

Church is L there the Spirit is and all true liberty."

But if he had been compelled to take either alone, he
would have chosen the former half the root which
would bring the fruits, not the fruit which is unable
If the Church was truly
to exist without the roots.
one at first, it was not in virtue of a uniformly defined
the

creed, or a universally accepted code, or an exactly

identical mode of government in all the Churches,

acknowledged one Father, one Lord

the very bond of fellowship
Spirit
with the Father and the Son and the bond of union
in the members one with another.
but because

and one

all

who was

CHRISTIAN MISSIONS
The

"unhappy

209

which separate Chris

divisions"

There are many

tians to-day are only too familiar.
of
methods
remedying them, but they all
proposed
on one or other of two contrasted principles. One
and depends upon the letter of a common
confession and the order of a common hierarchy the
other is internal and depends upon the welding in
fluence of a common faith, a common hope and, above
The two
all, the fellowship in common of one Spirit.
are not necessarily opposed to one another, but in

rest
is

external

practice men are obliged to lay the chief emphasis

upon either one or the other. Unfortunately the larger

part of Christendom to-day agrees to lay stress

external union rather than upon internal unity.
in

persist

should be

mistranslating
in

"flock,"

that unless there

is

one

Augustine led the way

iroi^vr]

"fold,"

upon

They
when it

being quite sure

there
cannot
be one flock.
fold,

John

x.

16,

in substituting ovile for

in the Church of

grex
has
y

Rome

and the Vulgate, which

the authority of the sacred original, has fixed the

meaning of Christ s promise in the same sense. But
fold, even under a would-be-infallible head, can
not constitute the unity, even of a flock of sheep. The

one

living

body

only be

of

many members under one Head

can

made

one, or kept one, by one indwelling

And if the Spirit of Christ in the unrolling
Spirit.
of the centuries manifests Himself by the bestowment

and fruit," such as are in accordance

"grace, gifts
with the mind of Christ and prove the presence of
Christ, often in unexpected ways and quarters, the
unity of the future can only be realized by following
His guidance.
The history of foreign missions which on the

of

world-scale

and

is

is

likely

only

more

now commencing
fully

to

prove

it.

proves

The

this,

older

THE HOLY

210

AND

SPIRIT

countries, inheriting an older civilization, are more or

less under the domination of venerable tradition based
on the gravely erroneous ideal of mediaeval times.

Hildebrand

dream was shared

for centuries

by some

of the noblest spirits of Christendom. Unity as uni

formity was the principle which shaped Acts of

vSupremacy

and

Uniformity,

ecclesiastical

uniformity

is

Five-Mile

The

venticle Acts in this country.

fast

Con

and

cast-iron theory of

breaking to pieces

The new w-ine is once

wine-skins. The Holy Spirit s

under the stress of new forces.

again bursting the old
faintest breath is mightier

cemented structures

than

the

of ecclesiastics.

most firmly

The missionary

enterprises of the nineteenth century have been pre

paring a new outlook for the churches of the twentieth.

Not

to be expected, or
of Christen
churches
great
dom, the Roman and the Greek, were not represented
at the World Missionary Conference in 1910, and the
delegates of the Anglican Church could only be
But those who
present under special reservations.
were present were constrained to recognize a mighty

that

any sudden changes are

are even desirable.

Two

unifying Power in the presence of which ecclesiastical

theories were as tow touched

by

living flame.

one present would have been so foolish as

to

No

under

value ecclesiastical theories, or consider them unim

portant in their place; the great feature of the Con
ference was that they were made to keep their place.
No crude and flimsy resolutions on the subject of
were dreamed of, but a passing
union"
"organic
Vision illumined the assembly, and the very faces of
many of the speakers, as it was given them afresh
to see how a Divine Unity will one day flood the
Churches, so that lines of separation, which may for
a time have their value^ shall no longer be barriers

CHRISTIAN MISSIONS
to the influx

and

irresistible afflatus of the

211

One

the Lord, the Life-giver.

So with the ingathering of the nations.

Spirit,

They

are

from north and south, from east and west,

very slowly as yet. But within the -last decade it has
been possible to perceive their possible lines of travel,

coming

in

Movements in India and Japan, in

China and Korea, have shown us the unchanging
East beginning to change as the heavy pack-ice in the
Arctic zone yields in the opening springtime a
change which means not a revolt, but a revolution.
As the process of evangelization goes on and Christ
wins those victories which every Christian firmly
as never before.

believes that sooner or later

He

will gain,

how

will

unity be reached and maintained? Is it to be sup

posed that when old races become new nationalities
inspired by a new faith, they will all keep exactly the
old moulds of creed and government that were
fashioned in Europe a thousand years before ?
Already they are saying, "Your denominationalism
is it likely, or desirable, that it
does not interest us
should? It is quite true that the spirit of independ
ence in mission-churches may develop too rapidly for
health and safety, that Japan and China may be dis
posed to tell the European missionary too soon that
it is his business to "open the door and
get out of the
But
the
child
doorway."
though
may sometimes be
in too great a hurry to become a man, a man he will
become if he lives, and the privileges of manhood
"

must accompany

its fully developed powers.

prophesy, but it is foolish not to mark
and learn from the signs of the times. A spiritual
Church carrying the message of a spiritual Gospel,
and being instrumental in founding spiritual com
munities in lands awakening from the sleep of

It is idle to

p 2

THE HOLY

212

SPIRIT

must expect them to enjoy and use their

This will result not in a formal,
freedom.
spiritual
mechanical uniformity, but in that unity which only
Then
the Spirit of God can inspire and maintain.
it will be the turn of the churches at home to learn
lessons from their children abroad and when the

centuries,

"

"other
fold,"

"one

sheep

all will

flock,

are gathered

in, "which

hear together the

one

Shepherd."

are not of this

One Voice and become

THE

SPIRIT OF

TRUTH TEACHER OF

TEACHERS

"

When He,

the Spirit of truth,

into all the truth.

JOHN

xvi.

is

come,

He

shall guide

you

13.

is in her \Wisdorri\ a spirit quick of understanding,

alone in kind, manifold
all-powerful, all-surveying
and penetrating through all spirits that are quick of under
For she is a breath of the power of God and a
standing.
and from
clear effluence of the glory of the Almighty
"There

holy,

generation

men

to

friends of

generation passing into holy souls she maketh

God and

prophets."

WISDOM

vii.

22-27.

It was only through the successive breathings of the Lifegiving Spirit of the Truth throughout the ages that the Lifegiving Lord should yield for human use the virtue of this one
and abiding life." F. J. A. HORT.
"

"Scarcely

I catch the

words

of

His revealing,

Hardly I hear Him, dimly understand;

Only the Power that is within me pealing
Lives on my lips and beckons to my hand.

Whoso hath

felt the Spirit of the Highest

Cannot confound, nor doubt Him, nor deny;
Yea, with one voice, O world, though thou deniest,
Stand thou on that side, for on this am
F. W. MYERS.
/."

XI
THE

SPIRIT

OF TRUTH

TEACHER OF TEACHERS

FOR every Christian the Lord Jesus Christ is the

Truth, as well as the Way and the Life. But Christ
Himself gave the most suggestive comment on His
declaration by adding, "When He, the Spirit of
Truth, is come, He will guide you into all the truth."
The Church of Christ has hardly yet assimilated this
doctrine. What is the connection between the teach
ing of the Master in the days of His flesh, and the

own

teaching of the Spirit who throughout the centuries

to guide succeeding generations in the right under
standing and application of His words?
great
body of Christian teachers is continually at work
attempting to unfold Christian truth who is to teach
is

them, and how ? With the words of Christ on record,

with the Apostolic interpretation of His Person and
work as primary direction, with the traditions of two
millenniums of Fathers and Doctors handed faithfully

down, those who teach living men to-day the doctrine

still need to have a living Guide for
themselves. What is meant by the statement that the
of a living Christ

Holy

Spirit guides Christ s disciples

truth, and
fulfilled?

The

how may they

office of the

now

into all the

expect the promise to be

Comforter has, naturally enough

for the multitude, taken precedence of the work of the

But teachers of all men, to-day of
Spirit of Wisdom.

THE

216

TRUTH

SPIRIT OF

days, need assured guidance into truth. And it

interesting to note that in post-Apostolic times, and
especially among the Greek Fathers, the Spirit is
all
is

identified with

Wisdom.

The

first

use of the word

found in Theoand it runs in this

in Christian literature is

"Trinity"

philus of Antioch about A.D. 180,

like manner also the three days

unexpected form
which were before the luminaries, are types of the
Trinity of God, His word and His wisdom," where
"In

wisdom

is

clearly a

name

of the

Holy

Spirit.

Else

where he says, "He then being Spirit of God and

governing principle and wisdom and power of the
Highest, came down upon the prophets," and
Irenaeus identifies the

Holy

Spirit with the

wisdom

God mentioned in the Old Testament together with

the word of God as creating, preserving and control

of

ling

all

things.

Doubtless the ante-Nicene Fathers are not found

using words with the ordered precision of later days,
or

making

the subtle metaphysical distinctions which

are characteristic of the later fourth century.

But
were
careful
not
to
let
the
of
the
they
slip
teaching

Old Testament,

that

Wisdom was

with

God from

the beginning as a Master-workman, that the Spirit

of God is the source of all wisdom, and that all wisdom
in

the spirit of

man

is

drawn

directly

from the

in

breathing of the Divine Spirit. Some of them were

familiar with the teaching of Philo, who identified
the Divine Logos and Wisdom and all of them knew
;

well

the

book called

"The

Wisdom

of

Solomon,"

own

fashion combined the best that was

in
the
Hebraism and Hellenism of the
found
to be
time. "For wisdom is more mobile than any motion
nothing defiled can find entrance into her. For she

which

is

in its

an effulgence from everlasting

light,

an unspotted

TEACHER OF TEACHERS
mirror of the working of
goodness."

The

great

217

God and an image

leaders of the

of His
Alexandrian

much to shape Christian theology,

Clement, Origen, Athanasius and the rest, never for
got that Christ is not only the power of God, but the
school

who

wisdom

of

did so

God, and

the value of the

it

is

difficult

work they did

to over-estimate

in consolidating the

Christian thought of their own time and handing on

a weighty and well-considered system of teaching to
those who came after them.

But it is quite possible to follow these masterteachers in the letter rather than in the spirit. They
were the able guides they proved to be because they
were led in the fourth century by the Spirit of Christ,

who is the Spirit of truth; and teachers of the

twentieth century are to be guided by Him rather
than by them. The faith once for all delivered to the
needed interpretation for the Christians of
Alexandria and Rome and Constantinople in the days
of the Great Councils, and so much is to be learned
even yet from the creeds and expositions of those days
that no wise Christian thinker of to-day despises or
disparages them. But the Spirit of truth who guided
the Fathers let it be admitted, amidst many mistakes
and failures, from which no human seekers after truth
is needed to-day as much as ever
are exempt
we
may be forgiven for thinking, more than ever. Surely
His guidance is to be expected. How? By what
saints

chemistry are old truths and new to be com

bined so that all that is precious in both may be

celestial

What did Christ mean by His pregnant

words concerning the Spirit He shall glorify Me:
He shall take of Mine and shall declare it unto you
retained?

He

shall

show you things

who promised

to

to

come

His Apostles that

Has

the Saviour,

in time of

need

THE

218

and

stress

Holy

"the

TRUTH

SPIRIT OF

Spirit shall teach

you

in that

very hour what ye ought to say," deserted His mes

sengers in the latter years? He foresaw the need of
guidance for those who should believe on Me through
their word," and a study of His teaching may show
how He intended that that guidance should be sought
"

and given.
II

What,

for example, did our

who was

Lord mean by the

scribe

a disciple unto the kingdom of

heaven bringing out of his treasure things new and
old ? Perhaps we cannot be sure of the exact scope
of the figure employed in Matt. xiii. 52. Is the house
holder providing food for the multitude, various pro
visions for various needs, "all manner of precious
"made

"

new and old" (Song vii. 13), new confections

and old wine that is far better than the crude must

fruits,

of yesterday ?

Or

is

he, as is

common

in the East,

unfolding the resources of a rich wardrobe, so

changes

of raiment,

brand-new fabrics

many

of latest style,

and gold-embroidered garments possessing

dignity and historic interest? Or rather, jewels and
furniture of diverse history and value, heirlooms from
a distant past, bright new ornaments, carved chests
from the stores of ancient kings? It does not matter.

old laces

We

spoil

the illustration

by narrowing

it

down

to

original breadth and general

out
forth
of his treasure things new
he
"bringeth
ity
and old." The application to our own time, a period

detail

in

let it

stand in

which so much

knowledge,

may

is

its

said of the old faith

well prove to be fruitful

and the new

and instruc

tive.

Every teacher must be

first

a learner, every real

TEACHER OF TEACHERS

219

learner ought to become in his own measure a teacher.

This is true in all departments of life we cannot teach
;

what we do not know, we cannot know without learn

ing by the methods proper to the subject. The learned

man

is

called

a scholar because he

acknowledge ignorance,
the feet of those

who

to

content to

is

open his mind and

are wiser than he.

sit at

In science

we must

observe, collect instances, experiment, verify.

In metaphysics we analyze, discriminate, reason, con
firm.
In art students open their eyes and heart to

receive lessons of beauty, patiently toil over technical

processes, submitting to laws which it is painful to
in order to communicate delight which it is a
joy to impart. The successful manufacturer and the
skilled artisan, the craftsman and the labourer of all
types, are not exempt from laws which apply to all

obey

human

acquisitions and achievements.

Not least is this the case in the sphere of religion.
Those who carried God s message of old time were
men who had been taught of God. The prophet who
would speak a word in season to him who is weary
must be one who has learned divine lessons, who has
been awakened morning by morning to be taught the

highest love. The ready tongue can only be inspired

by the willing and waiting heart. The priest who was
to help in the work of revealing God to man and
bringing man near to God needed long and careful

who taught in proverbs

be educated in society, the
possessor of a shrewd eye and a ready wit, but he,
more, perhaps, than other teachers, had learned the

training.

The

"wise

might be supposed

man"

to

lesson that the fear of the

wisdom, and that the

that fear

Lord

is

secret of the

the beginning of

Lord

is

with them

Him.

In later times another type of teacher had

come

to

THE

220

SPIRIT OF

TRUTH

the front, and in the time of Christ he was known as

the "scribe."
He spent his time in mastering the
details of an ecclesiastical code, becoming familiar

with traditional precedents and decisions, that he

might hand them on and add to their numbers a
doctor, a lawyer, a rabbi, a teacher of the schools.

He is not lovely in our eyes. But it must be remem

bered that he had conscientiously taken much trouble
to master what was esteemed the highest knowledge
attainable
he had studied, arranged, codified and
made the subject his own he built a hedge round the
law and a hedge round that hedge, his whole object
:

being
the

to

name

keep
of

God

commandments

Him who had

and

inviolate

given them sacred, as in a

very holy of holies.

Then had come One who taught

as the
His words carried their own weight, were
stamped with their own credentials, proclaimed their
own authority. None could hear them unmoved and
their main teaching was concerning God. The Father
was made known by the Son as never before the
"not

scribes."

truth revealed concerning Him lived, palpitated and

glowed in the very utterance; it was brought home
with immediate directness to men s business and

bosoms

the

kingdom

of

which others had had much

say took on new meaning and character, it was

not to come with "observation" the craning of the

to

neck into the distance to watch for an unimaginable

portent it was in their very midst.
Christ proclaimed a new spiritual order, to attain
which there was no need to climb the heaven or cross
the sea men had but to look within and search around
them. No new God was declared, yet the new light
shed on the nature of Him, whom the fathers had
known and worshipped, gave an altogether new idea
;

TEACHER OF TEACHERS

221

His mind and will, and altogether new conceptions

was meant by His tabernacling among men
and the establishment of His dominion upon earth.
The message came, Repent, change both mind and
habit from the old hard, selfish, conventional ways;
be born again, become as little children with simple,
wondering, trustful and obedient hearts; be baptized,
not only with water to cleanse from the evil of the

of

of what

past, but with the

Holy

and with

Spirit

from within and inform with new

fire to

celestial

purify
energy.

Above all, Love; love God with heart and mind and
and strength, love man as man, whether friendly
or hostile, generous or ungrateful so shall new rela
tions between God and men usher in a new heaven
and a new earth, a new social organism of renovated
spirits, a kingdom whose full coming shall mean that
soul

the will of

God

done on earth as

is

it is

in

heaven.

Ill

Hence arose a new w orld,

7

is

"

the centre.

Him

phrase with
the two
this.

mean

You

the

My
than

"

disciple

shall learn,

master-spirit

beyond

life."

which Christ Himself

is a more frequent

"disciple

same thing.

He

books and manuscripts.

to despise a

of

of the kingdom," but

new sort of scribism,

says, not necessarily from

that there is any need

Not

precious life-blood
good book,
embalmed and treasured up to a
"the

of a
life

You

of the schools.

shall learn, not necessarily dogmas

Not that men should decry healthy

doctrine, the best thoughts on the most sacred subjects

framed in the best words attainable. You shall learn,

not necessarily from carefully compiled ethical codes.

Not that any wise man will slight or disregard these,

precepts of highest sanction and most sacred obliga-

THE

222

SPIRIT OF

duty which may be the "stern

God," but which also means

tion, the behests of a

of the voice of

daughter
"the

TRUTH

Godhead

most benignant

grace."

Doctrines, traditions, laws, principles are inculcated

but alive, not dead; no fossils, but instinct with

energy. The school of this kingdom is one of

spiritual experience its training is not one of poring
over musty tomes, or repeating parrot-like phrases
which are only half-understood and wholly uncared
for.
A man cannot enter the kingdom, cannot even
see it, without a new nature wise men may miss it,
while babes enjoy it. Learn of Me, says the Teacher,
vital

and meekness, throwing aside prejudice,

and hardness of heart, opening wide the
affection and trustfulness, gaining fuller in

in simplicity

selfishness

doors of

sight into the will of

His voice when heard

God by

unfailing obedience to

any man

willeth to do His
he shall know of the doctrine." For all is em
bodied in Him who is the way, the truth and the life.
"if

will,

Whoever seeks to embody living truths in abstract

propositions and no true teacher ever does Jesus
Christ does not make disciples thus. He came to be
the truth, not simply to declare it.
Only the Son
can reveal the Father, the nature of the kingdom can
only be seen in its King. His are words which are
spirit

and

life,

indeed,

and

in

redeeming energy enabling men

ing in action.

and

Learn

of

Him

is

a fountain of

to realize their

Me, says

He who

mean
is

the

lowliest
masters; drink not from
the pool, not from the cistern, not from the reservoir,
but from the fountain of life indeed.

the loftiest of

all

it and
generations of
Those who have learned of
Him have had placed in their hands a talisman, with
its secret watchword, opening up mountain-caves close

So

the

first

disciples

Christ s followers since.

found

TEACHER OF TEACHERS
by

their side, rich in treasure, a

key

to the

223

knowledge

man and God.

of nature,
Jesus said nothing about
nature in the modern senses of the word, but the whole
world was His, as all our science cannot make it ours.

He knew man perfectly, the best as well as the worst

human nature; none exposed more sternly than
He the evil of hardness and hypocrisy, none more
tenderly pitied man s weakness and waywardness,

of

yearning after the

lost

and giving Himself

uttermost in order to reclaim them.

nature because He knew God.

and
wonder and dream; He knows.
guess

man and

to

the

Christ understood

Others

Where

other religious teachers scatter a few clouds from the

lower firmament of the spiritual sky He shoots up a
straight shaft of access into the farthest azure, and a
vision of glory appears indeed, such as can never be
When a "scribe" is made a dis
forgotten or lost.

kingdom and knows God and man and

he has found a new
ear
hears not, and which
such
as
sees
world
not,
eye
cannot otherwise enter into the heart of man.
He Bids all His followers still to receive His Holy
Spirit into their hearts, and to let Him do His work

ciple of this

nature as Christ makes him,

renewing and purifying to the uttermost.

to His disciples, Abide in me and I in
says
Ask what ye will and it shall be done
and
then,
you
unto you. If ye abide in My word, then are ye truly
My disciples; and you shall know the truth and the
truth shall make you free.
It is a
"Have ye understood all these things?"

of cleansing,

He

still

searching question. It is only too easy for men reli

giously educated, professing and calling themselves
Christians, having known the Bible all their lives and
accepting an orthodox creed, to fail to understand these
things because in the inner springs of their nature they

THE

224

SPIRIT OF

TRUTH

have not yet been made disciples to the kingdom of

heaven. But all may become disciples if they will;
the way is open and the grace is free. The blind from
birth may have eyesight given him
the half-cured
who see men as trees walking, by an added touch
may be enabled clearly to scan the horizon far and
near. Those whose eyes have thus been opened will
easily follow on to explore.
;

IV
The abundance of the householder s store is ex
pressed by a notable phrase, "things new and old."
is it used ?
does not Jesus say things

Why

Why

great and small, things useful

suitable for rich and poor, old

and beautiful, things

and young, wise and

simple ? The form may be proverbial, or it may be

considered generally suitable in describing a store
house. But it probably contains a deeper significance.
Jesus as a teacher had often to face this question of
old and new in the realm of truth and to declare what
was his attitude to both in a time of transition. The
Jews were particularly tenacious of tradition, and in
all ages religious people have been naturally conserva
tive.
They are usually disturbed, if not alarmed, by
the cry "Thou bringest certain strange things to our
ears."

It is,

future that

therefore, the relation between past and

the mind of the Master when He uses

is in

mature
and
the
the
one
on
fresh, vigorous,
hand,
experience
earnest thought of the moment on the other; the
relation of successive generations to one another, the
perennial contest between the laudator temporis acti,
this phrase; the relative claims of venerable,

the tenacious upholder of the customary ideas of the

and clamorpast, and the eager young life full of hope

TEACHER OF TEACHERS

225

ous for the satisfaction of the pressing needs of to-day.

Hence our Lord describes the resources of a true
disciple of the kingdom as sufficient for all emerg
encies. The supply in His treasure-house is adequate
of things new and old.
does the doctrine of the kingdom preserve the
unity of these two ? The arguments of those who
plead the claims of either old or new taken separately
are well known.
Apart from that shallowest and
laziest of all pleas which obstructs all progress because
"what was good enough for our fathers is good enough
for
the better part of human nature is rightly
enlisted in defence of truth already assimilated and
positions already attained. In religion especially the
value of existing grounds of trust causes men rightly
to cling to revelations already made and to contend
earnestly for the forms in which they have been deliv
Further protection for the sacred truth is
ered.

and abundant, both

How

us,"

afforded by ethical precepts or religious ceremonies;

these in turn become sacro-sanct, and further doctrine
is formulated to secure them in their place.
Thus
the process of overlaying the original deposit of truth
is continued till the very significance of the original
is lost and the Jewish scribes, who most honoured the

law,

made

it

void through their tradition.

On

the other hand, the intellectually restless and

eager are represented by the vivacious and versatile

Athenians,
either to

who

tell

may become

their time in

"spent

or to hear
in itself

some new

nothing

else

but

Novelty
an excellence, and accepted truth
thing."

be discarded merely because it is familiar. The

para
doxical is considered in itself admirable because it
stimulates the intellectually jaded palate. The world
of ideas changes for some thinkers like the book of
fashions in dress; last season s garb is considered
ugly
Q

THE

226

TRUTH

SPIRIT OF

simply because it is no longer worn. For them the

stigma of dulness attaches to all that is based on
precedent and authority; prejudice is raised against
the old, since by its very definition it has had its day,

and
if

is fit

only to make way for something

else.

In true religion each of these tendencies is wrong

it be taken alone.
There must be a reasoned rela

between the abiding and the transient; no religion

can meet the needs of man which does not on the one
tion

hand preserve unchanged the eternal principles of

right and wrong, both human and divine, and on the
other take full account of new conditions, new know
ledge, and new requirements, as the generations suc
ceed one another in unending procession. In Chris
tianity the unity between these conflicting elements
may always be preserved by men who are made dis
ciples to the kingdom that cannot be moved. There
may be a removing of those things that are shaken,
as of things that have been made; but the things
which cannot be shaken will remain. These house
holders bring forth from their treasure things new and
old, both equally valuable and easily and harmoni
ously blended.
Christ Himself furnishes the supreme example of

We

this.

know how,

objection was raised:

"

ing
that

or

How,

He came

tittle

early
"What

His ministry,

in
is

this

new

the

teach

in the Sermon on the Mount, He said

not to destroy but to fulfil that no jot

of the law should fail

till it

had been

fulfilled.

In the brief parable of Luke v. 39, Christ laid stress

on the value of the old, as such, and more than once
He upheld the judgments of those who spoke from

Moses* seat because of the place from which the words

were spoken. Yet He protested against pouring new
wine into old wine-skins. He superseded that which

TEACHER OF TEACHERS
had been said
word

"to

them

of old

time"

227

by His authori

say unto you," for a greater than

than Solomon, a greater than Moses,
a
greater
Jonah,
Without breaking with the past, He vin
is here.
dicated the rights and the duties of the present with
tative

"I

out proclaiming a revolution, He accomplished one;

while upholding the law and the prophets, He showed
how the gospel realized and surpassed both. If ever

was a teacher who brought

treasure things new and old, it was
there

to

forth

from His

He who

speaks

us in the Gospels,

The

servant was to be even as his lord. Christ

who followed Him would be

declares here that those

in their blending of old faith and new know

The best-known example is that of the
Apostle Paul who more completely than he realized

like

Him

ledge.

combination ? Brought up as a Pharisee, he

When he
never lost his zeal for righteousness.

this

preached Christ crucified, it was only that that end

should be attained for w hich the law had striven but
had not been strong enough to secure. He pleads
is written," yet is so convinced of the
continually,
7

"It

paramount importance of the message entrusted to

him that if an angel from heaven should preach any
So
other gospel than this, he must be anathema.
with the other apostles from Pentecost onward they
followed their Lord faithfully and closely, but not
;

did not put fojth a replica of the

Mount, though echoes of it are found

slavishly.

They

Sermon on

the

in the epistles of

Peter and James.

But they were

enlightened by the promised Spirit to understand the

supreme importance of the Person and the Work of
Q2

THE

228

TRUTH

SPIRIT OF

Christ on earth and

its

consummation

in

heaven

and

they rightly put this in the forefront of their message.

There were various types of apostolic teaching. The
writers of the

New Testament

do not mechanically

copy or imitate one another. The early sermons in

the Acts are, in some respects, unlike the teaching
that went before and that which followed afterward.
Peter, James, John, Stephen, Paul, the writer of
Hebrews and of the Apocalypse how various are
these, yet how true, every one of them, to the great
central principles of Christ and His kingdom

We

need not go beyond the covers of the

New

Testament

to find striking illustration of how possible it

the Christian householder to bring out of the

is

for

same

rich gospel treasure-house things new and old.

The history of Christendom is a running com

mentary on the same text. What a manifold and

complex development has been that of the Christian

how difficult
religion
O
essential character
;

its

it

is at

so

as

this
to

moment

include

to define

its

forms and manifestations

almost

There
have been periods in its history when a clinging to old
and stereotyped forms has endangered the very life of
its spirit, as well as periods during which a readiness
to change the form of faith has well-nigh caused the
substance to disappear. But, on the whole, it has
infinitely various

preserved its continuity while spreading into all

regions of the world and translating its message into
alien climes and other tongues.
The curve described by the development of Chris
tian truth may be said to be determined by two foci
(i) belief in Jesus Christ, Son of God and son of man,
:

and the

historical revelation given in

Him

(2)

the

gift of the Holy Spirit whose work it is to glorify

Christ, to take of the things that are His, bring them

TEACHER OF TEACHERS

229

remembrance, and so to teach them to the Church

it may assimilate, adapt and apply to new needs
truth is in Jesus." The process has not
the truth,
been without its dangers. Serious mistakes have been
made, as all must acknowledge except those who
consider the Church, as such, to be infallible. But,
taking a broad view of Christianity through the
centuries, it is remarkable how the two extremes have
been avoided. On the one hand, the danger of
restricting its development as Islam is fossilized by
the dead hand of the Koran on the other, the snap
ping of those sacred links of continuity which bind
to

that

"as

together all who call themselves Christians in loyal

allegiance to Him whose name they bear.

Doctrines have changed their form while preserv

ing their substance. It took three centuries to frame
creed of Nicaea, and some important articles of
the"

faith,

were
these,

on sin and grace, atonement and justification,

Some of
more gradually wrought out.
if
need
are
to
be made
perhaps,
reminting
they

still

current coin for the circulation of to-day. The ethical

principles laid down in the New Testament are con
tinually receiving
tions which may

new

illustration

and new applica

sometimes seem to make the old

But as Jesus drew from the old law the
obsolete.
two great commandments on which He sought to base
the conduct of His followers, so the great moral prin

New Testament, tenaciously held by the

Church as beyond change and repeal, are brought
freshly to bear upon a perpetually changing civiliza

ciples of the

tion.

New

the position

problems affecting the family, slavery,

of

woman,

or

international

and fresh appeal

continually arising,
being made to the disciples of the
solution.

These do not profess

to

is

wars,

are

continually

kingdom

for their

be able to answer

THE

230

SPIRIT OF

TRUTH

questions, to remove all difficulties; but it is part

of their work in the world to show how those who

all

have learnt in Christ s school can bring the old truth,

which they assuredly believe, to bear upon hitherto
unanticipated problems and practically revolution
ized conditions of society.
It is in this way that

the

kingdom

itself

is

to

come among men.

come; the Church

For the kingdom is coming, not

is making, not made.
Christen
dom is, in a sense, a word of the past; its history
may be traced out and written down. In a sense it
is a word of the present, representing a mighty living
Still more is it a word of the future,
force to-day.
for as yet we have not been able to see what
He was right who, in
Christianity
fully means.
answer to the question, Is the Christian religion
"

"

out"?
replied, It has not yet been tried.
disciples of the kingdom are, as yet, far from
having exhausted the resources of the treasure-house

"played

The

entrusted to their care.

Ours

is an age of transition.
Every age forms a
that
which
between
precedes and that which
bridge
follows it, but to our own seems to be entrusted a

specially difficult task of assimilating

new knowledge,

meeting new

conditions, abandoning old forms and

truths.
old
Those on whom such work
revivifying
is specially incumbent need not be discouraged
those
who see the process going on around them need not
;

The Christ of the New Testament is for

despair.
us the way, the truth and the life; not the Christ
of the Sermon on the Mount, still less the shadowy

who

is all that remains when certain critics

have eliminated from the text whatever
does not satisfy their ideas of what probably took

personage

of the gospels

place.

The

Christ of the

New

Testament, as the

TEACHER OF TEACHERS
Redeemer
Spirit

of

men,

whom He

is

the treasure-house,

231

and the Holy

make

promised enables us to

contents our own.

He

its

the way-guide into all the

we
need for the journey of
that
old,
is

new and
Forms of dogma which have commended them
selves to the Church in past centuries may change,
but Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to-day and
The gospel of salvation in Him is sufficient
for ever.
truth,

life.

for the individual, the nation

and the race

it

need

not be changed, and it cannot be given up without

darkening the hope of the world. But the task of
bringing it to bear with new power upon new genera
tions and new intellectual and social conditions is
continually laid upon Christ s Church it is one of
which she must not complain and must not grow
weary. In accomplishing it, Christ s disciples fulfil
;

the design of their Master and work out at the same

time their own salvation and that of the world whom
He came to save.
"

Spirit, who makest all things new,

Thou leadest onward we pursue
The heavenly march sublime.
Neath Thy renewing" fire we glow,
And still from strength to strength we
From height to height we climb.
:

"To

We

Thee we rise, in Thee we rest;

stay at home, we go in quest,

Still Thou
The rapture

art our abode.

swells, the wonder

grows,
on us new life still flows
From our unchanging God."

As

full

go,

THE PLENITUDE OF THE

SPIRIT

"

Be

filled

with the

Spirit."-

Ern.

v.

18.

Be ye filled with the Spirit that is, let the Spirit advance
His presence and power in you as far and to what degree and
height Himself pleaseth; do not obstruct Him in His progress,
but comport with Him in all His applications unto you; and
do not think you have enough of Him, until you be filled even
to the brim and the receptacles of your soul will hold no more."
"

JOHN GOODWIN.

saw also that there was an Ocean of darkness and death;

but an infinite Ocean of light and love which flowed over the
ocean of darkness. In that also I saw the infinite love of
"/

God, and I had great

"

When

Then

openings."

found
I found

GEO. Fox.

Him in my bosom,
Him everywhere,

In the bud and in the blossom,

In the earth and in the air;
And He spake to me with clearness

From

the silent stars that say,

As ye find

Ye

Him

shall find

in

His nearness,

Him

far

away."-

WALTER

C. SMITH.

XII
THE PLENITUDE OF THE SPIRIT
ST. PAUL,

who preached

to the nations the

Gospel

proclaimed also the Gospel of the Holy

The two are one. They may be distin

of Christ,
Spirit.

guished, but they should never be separated; they

Through
supplement and illuminate one another.
Christ we know God, through the Spirit we know
The Gospel of Christ brings the message
Christ.
which alone can save the world, but only through the
A
Spirit do we understand it and make it our own.
doctrine of God without Christ is a face without an
eye; a doctrine of Christ without the Holy Spirit is a
body without a hand, or a body possessing hands
and arms complete, but without life to quicken them

and energy to move them. The Apostle who cries

out in holy passion, "Though an angel from heaven
should preach any other Gospel than this, let him be
anathema!" declares also that "none can say that
Jesus is Lord but in the Holy Spirit," and
any
man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His."
No letter of St. Paul goes forth without a testimony
on this head. The first extant pleads with the Thessalonians that they "quench not the Spirit"; the last
beseeches Timothy to guard the trust committed to
"If

him through the Holy

"Romans,"

Spirit that dwelleth in us. In

and throughout his teach

"Galatians,"

ing Paul shows that only in and through the Spirit

can the Christian possess life or enjoy liberty; he
presses home the exhortation, If we profess to live by
the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk; and some235

THE PLENITUDE OF THE

236

SPIRIT

times in intense indignation he appeals with terrible

irony, Having begun in the Spirit are you for being
perfected in the flesh? So in "Ephesians," which
contains some of his richest and ripest teaching, he

prays that the Church may be "clothed with might

by the Spirit in the inward man," and it is here that
we find the poignant plea which pierces every careless
Christian s heart, "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God,
in whom ye are sealed to the day of redemption
Such teaching finds its climax in the words,
Another rendering is possible,
filled with the Spirit."
The
found in Revised Version margin,
spirit."
in
filled
the
or
means
of
latter
sphere
region
your
"

"be

"in

"be

own

spiritual nature," the former by the operation of

the indwelling Spirit of God. It would be tedious to
give the reasons which make it fairly certain that this
was St. Paul s meaning. In either case "be filled"

does not denote

is

"become full

of,"

as an

empty

vessel

new

contents, but "find your

the true realization and fulfilment of your

replenished with

fulness,"

highest being, by and through the inworking of the

Holy Spirit. As in iii. 19, the climax of a series of
lofty petitions, "that ye may be filled with all the
fulness of

God"

means

that

own highest capacity up

of God s purpose and will
so

here

the

Church

is

to

for

you may

realize

your

the complete measure

you and

bidden

to

for all

attain

men,

complete

Holy Spirit, for here and here

the true pleroma, or fulness of a God-given
As the effect of wine is to give a kind of
nature.
freedom to the weary and exhausted man from (i) the
cares and anxieties of life, (2) the bonds of custom
self-fulfilment in the

alone

is

and convention,

(3) the fetters of a hampering self,

loosens the restraint of the higher centres
of the brain and gives free scope to the lower, so

because

it

THE PLENITUDE OF THE

SPIRIT

237

excess in wine represents precisely the way in which

the Christian is not to seek freer and fuller life. True
freedom lies only in the mastery of lower currents by
the steadily increasing might of the higher; and it is
of
fully to be attained in the spirit as the highest part
of
the
the
nature, through
Highest
presence

human

of

Being

all,

the plenary indwelling of the Spirit of

God Himself.
The real scope

of the injunction seems then to be,

to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope ; turn to
the fountain-head, ye travellers on the journey of life.

Turn

satisfied with the stream which flows by the

with earth in its turbid flow; still
contaminated
way,
less with the reservoirs, always stagnant and soon
drained dry; least of all, with broken cisterns, mere
fragments, potsherds holding a few drops of brackish
water, which is all that the world and some Churches
possess. Return to the Lord the Life-Giver, the im

Be not

measurable, the illimitable, the inexhaustible, whose

energy pulsates through all the life of the uni

tireless

verse, who, as the Spirit of Christ, is the very spring

Return again, and again and
of life to the Church.

draw fresh inspiration from Him whose

yet again
breath originated and whose indwelling maintains
and reinforces all the spiritual life the world has ever
If to preserve sound doctrine it is
known. Return
;

necessary to reiterate the watchword,

so in experience, in effort, in service,
tinually to urge,

again

God

as frail

Back

to the

Holy

Back
it

is

Spirit

to Christ

needful con

Again and

people need thus to return, not so much

and meagre vessels soon emptied; rather as
s

living, growing organisms, tested by the one type

and woven of all Christian life, renewed by the one
restoring and reviving energy, that they may rise to
the full height of their God-given capacity and find

238

THE PLENITUDE OF THE

SPIRIT

and possibilities of service in the con

which they are called upon to
new
conditions
tinually
meet, to satisfy, and to transcend.
larger issues

What do Methodists, for example, need at this hour

more than anything else ? There are, happily, no
differences

doctrinal

between us; our opinions on

Church government vary, though not very seriously

we are fairly well agreed as to the scope and work of
Methodism in its relation to the world. We are agreed
;

not only as to the central verities of Christianity, the

Being of God and the Person and Work of Christ;
but also on the Gospel privileges of believers, the

paramount importance

of

Christian experience,

the

need of true spiritual fellowship among the members

of the Church.
meet to consider the bearings of
these great truths on the conditions of our own time

We

to consult together how in these days we may best

assimilate afresh for ourselves, and bring home to the

hearts

of

believed

others, the
among us.

most surely

things that are

What lack we yet ? What note of all others needs to

be resolutely struck at the opening of this Assembly, 1
till its resonant vibration penetrates
every single heart ?
The answer goes up from all of you, almost before the
revival of true religion,"
question is asked
fresh baptism of the Holy Ghost." Alas those words
have been so often repeated that they have come to
savour of cant, i. e. sacred words only half understood,
only half felt, and more than half misapplied. What
is meant by being filled with the Spirit ?
A score of
sermons could not answer adequately. The Greek
"a

"a

text consists of three words,

treatise

based on

while John Goodwin s

them contains more than three

1
This sermon was preached at the opening of the Methodist
Assembly which met in City Road Chapel, October 1909.

THE PLENITUDE OF THE

SPIRIT

239

is not a mere
never
deserts his
he
specimen
does
he
find it.
and
various
vast
so
great subject,
But do not Methodists, and all Christians at this
particular juncture, need of all things else, first to
understand, and then to enjoy this fulness ? There is

hundred thousand.

Yet

his

of Puritan prolixity

volume
;

and more glorious work for these

in the future.
But whether the
Methodism we know and love can and will accomplish
it depends, not on its numbers, its
buildings, its funds,
its ministers, its institutes, its enterprises, but on the
measure of its spiritual power. It is not merely the
a

far

greater

Churches

to

do

presence of the Holy

we have by His grace

Spirit that

is necessary
that
but His fulness. The mere
tenure of Christian life will not suffice, the bare main
tenance of spiritual existence amidst dangers and
losses in the presence of an indifferent or hostile world.
are called to more abundant life, to exuberant

We

vigour, triumphant victory. It is the gift of the Holy

Spirit without stint or measure which saves and renews
the life, whether of individual Christian, local
society,
or widely ramifying Church. Nothing short of it will
suffice,

pitiably,

success.

and

if

we

are

deficient

here

we

shall

fail

even in the midst of what the world calls

What is meant by the Plenitude of the

Spirit ?

The phrase occurs in a command or exhortation the

Apostle makes use of the imperative mood.
are
bidden to do, or to be a demand is made
upon us.
Yet the verb is passive in form, and it is natural to
;

We

object that the process described is God s work, not

ours.
That august Breath of God blows when and
where He lists; we can neither originate nor control

THE PLENITUDE OF THE

240

Divine influence.
11

outpouring of the

The

"baptism

Spirit,"

the

do not denote action on our

an essentially Divine -.gift.

SPIRIT

of the

"descent

Spirit,"

of the

the

Spirit,"

but the reception of

read of the
filled with the
Primitive Church that they were
part,

When we
"all

Holy

or that Stephen or Barnabas was "full

Ghost," the impression conveyed is one

Ghost,"

of the

Holy

of supernatural

inspiration

is

power resting on these men.

Self-

To issue a command that men

what God alone can confer might seem

absurd.

should acquire
imply eijl^r a blunder or a blasphemy.
For the difficulty is not merely verbal, it does not
depend on the turn of a phrase. It is the standing
difficulty of the individual and the Church in every
generation. The one thing we need, Divine inspira
tion, is the one thing that no human effort can ever

to

produce. The superiority of the Primitive Church

over later days did not lie in knowledge; in many
things we are far wiser than they. Nor in means and
appliances, in organization and institutions, for in
these the original community was conspicuously de
ficient.
They were filled with the Spirit; are we? If
the Re
not, w hy not ? So with subsequent periods
formation of the sixteenth century, the Evangelical
Revival in the eighteenth it is a proverbial sneer of
the world that the earliest part of a religious move
r

ment

is

always the

best,

full of

spontaneous Divine

energy, that declension soon follows, reaction sets in,

and no earthly power can regain

lost inspiration.

cannot kindle when we

The fire which in the heart resides;
The spirit bloweth and is still,

"We

In mystery our soul

abides."

Canute laughed at his courtiers when they tried to

persuade him that he could bid the ocean retire from

THE PLENITUDE OF THE

SPIRIT

241

before his royal chair placed on the sand; would he

have been any less of a fool if he had commanded the
sea to flood the shore

when

it

was

down

settling

to

low ebb ? Who can sway the tides of the Spirit who
can measure, who command, the tidal movements of
;

God

in history?
Decline in spiritual power

may

not imply anything

It may, for man is

actually sinful in the Church.
and
are
weak,
many. Envy and jealousy
temptations

who ought

in

honour

to prefer one another; party spirit

divide Christian comrades who ought to travel

may

may

alienate Christian brethren

and

strife

hand in
ambition
and
shoulder;

hand and march shoulder to

love of power may work their mischief among ecclesi
astical, as well as civil, leaders formalism and worldliness may eat away the heart out of religious life. But
there may be no sin chargeable, the primal impetus
which seems spent may have changed its form, found
a new course, dug a new channel. The strength of the
Church may be employed in consolidation, in organ
ization, which it would be folly to disparage in any
age, most of all in ours, for hardly anything can be
done without it. And yet if the Church be found de
;

clining to a lower level of life, so that instead of the

breath from the four winds of heaven there is to be
heard little but the rattle of ecclesiastical machinery;
and if amidst a thousand schemes for raising money,

organizing enterprises, promoting social and philan

thropic reform, it should be found that all is present
except sufficient animating and driving power? All
elements of success except the highest. A hundred
blameless, laudable characteristics, but the charm and
grace and winsomeness, the potency and mighty sway
of the early morning
gone !
of Ephesus that the message

It

was

was

to the
"

sent,

Church

know thy

242

THE PLENITUDE OF THE

SPIRIT

works, thy toil and patience, but I have somewhat

against thee, that thou hast left thy first love." And
how can a man, or a Church, recover that? When
conscious that he has fallen back on the second best,
or the twentieth best, the temptation comes to make a

spasmodic effort of his own to regain the highest, to

"work up a revival
a ghastly mockery of the reality
which makes spectators shudder, the attempted gal
"

vanization of a corpse, the pretended reanimation of

a body in which the highest life of all has been allowed
to dwindle down or die out.

II

The remedy
injunction

is

"be

found

filled"

in

St.

means

Paul

words.

we may, we

that

The
can,

and therefore we ought

"Ye must
to play our part.
that
we
can
be
so
be born again
born, and
implies
then a glorious possibility of privilege becomes a
sacred duty. The relation between the Divine and
the human is not that of an alien supernatural power
"

energizing passive clay into fresh life. That is a

heathenish notion of inspiration which would regard
the Holy Spirit as a magical, external power which
must be invoked in the fashion of the prophets of
Baal, who cut themselves with knives to procure the
boon of supernatural fire from heaven. The Spirit

oh how He waits
is here, waiting
He is unspeak
ably near to every heart of man longing, wooing,
drawing, striving, filling each soul as far as He can
!

room to receive Him, quickening

movement of response makes it
possible for Him to infuse new life; or as a favouring
wind to fill the sails of the soul still further, and
carry the frail vessel on its forward, homeward way.
whenever there

when

the

is

faintest

THE PLENITUDE OF THE

SPIRIT

243

But that
It

is not precisely the thought of the text.

addressed not to mankind at large, but to the

is

Church. It refers not to the vague indefinable

Divine Spirit of the Pantheist or the Mystic, but to
the

Spirit

loved,

Christ.

of

understood,

originated the

new

who

Spirit

obeyed;

who
the

is

known,

Spirit

who

in the heart of every member,

who is in Christ a new creation

life

and made each man

the Spirit

The

and

operates in us every moment, though

scanty measure because of our meagre faith and

lukewarm love the Spirit who at every moment
at this moment, waits, longing to raise, inspire,
purify, and empower us as He has never done before.
We are directed to find our fulness in Him, and
in Him alone.
That does not mean the cessation of
effort till a Higher Power shall quicken us.
Nor
does it mean a feverish and anxious occupation in
good works and religious ordinances, as if we could
kindle loftier affection by sedulous attention to
detailed duties.
It means that we are to
go back to
the Fountain-head at once, and
always with a direct
ness and immediacy that takes no denial that
every
Church and every member is to be in his own place
an organ of a Higher Will, intelligently and
earnestly
co-operating with a Power which informs and sustains
and animates the whole. The work that was done at
first was not done
by us, but by a Higher Power in
us and through us; decline begins when men
forget
this and concentrate attention
upon their own efforts.
Renewal implies a requickening from the primal
in

source the love of God in Christ

poured abroad in
the heart of the
unto us.
Holy Spirit

Work

given

out your

own

salvation, for God worketh in

you. Find your fulness in the inspiring Deity. If
only by the inspiration of genius can the

highest

THE PLENITUDE OF THE

244

work be done
is

in literature

and

art,

SPIRIT

how much more

The truth must

inspiration needed in religion

I it, if it is to accomplish
!

possess me, not

end
it,

in
if

my

message.

the best

work

its great
use me, not I

The Power must

is

to be done.

we never climb so high

whither we are going. That
that

as
is

Cromwell said

when we know

not

because Another

is

We

are never so mighty as when we

raising us.
hide behind a truth too big for us to master, too lofty
for us to compass
when we tremble in the grasp of
a Power which possesses us, seizes, sways, and wields
us for its own high end. This inspiration is not
intended for a few elect seers, but for every Chris
Be filled with the Spirit means, Look for imme
tian.

diate inspiration from on high, yield to it,, realize

your own highest capacity in and through this power,
let all around see and feel its reality.
For they know
whether that Spirit is at work or not. His work is
spontaneous, ours is laboured and futile; His work

and elastic, ours is toilsome, slavish, and life

His work is various, ours rigid and conven
He works
tional, bound by routine and prescription
from within, welling up outwards, we toil mechanic
ally from without inwards; His work is full of joy,
of wonder, simplicity, and gladness, filling the heart
with a rare delight which flows abroad into every
channel of daily life. And all is to be realized in and
through the Lord Jesus Christ, whom the Spirit
exalts and glorifies.
If Christ dwells in the heart of
is

free

less.

faith,

we strengthened with might by the

inward man. Thus it is that the Church

then are

Spirit in the

becomes, as Ignatius said in writing

Ephesian Church, a God-bearing,
Spirit-bearing

Ghost.

community

filled

later to the

same

Christ-bearing,
with the Holy

THE PLENITUDE OF THE

SPIRIT

245

III

This principle of closest union between the Divine

and the human may be illustrated both from prayer
and work. It is usual to draw a distinction between
prayer, as emphasizing our dependence upon God, and
work, as embodying our own efforts. The distinction
has significance, but from a higher point of view it
disappears.

Prayer should be both human and Divine, or it will

never be effectual. In order to be either aright, it
must be both. Prayer is the putting forth of the
utmost energy of character in earnest desire, making
fullest

and strongest demand upon God.

It

is

the

absence of this energy of personal character, of will

as well as faith and longing, which is the cause of so
much feebleness and futility in prayer the whole man
is not behind it, putting forth utmost pressure upon
the storehouse of Divine energy.
Prayer needs the
whole energy of man, but at the same moment his
whole nature must be sustained, pervaded, animated
by the Divine Spirit, who Himself fills man with
His own energy. This is prayer in the Holy Ghost,
who helps our infirmity and intercedes for us with
groanings which find no words. If we would under
stand what is meant by being filled with the Spirit,
we should think of those comparatively rare moments
;

in the inner life of prayer when the whole

energy of
our nature was thus exercised, and its very capacity
to put forth strength increased by that Divine
power
within us, enabling us to wrestle with God and to
prevail, so that the very kingdom of heaven suffers

violence, and the violent take

ence of all-conquering prayer

it

is

by

force.

The

experi

one mode of comply,

ing with the injunction of the text.

THE PLENITUDE OF THE

246

SPIRIT

But the words are not to be understood merely of

prayer and ecstasy; if this "fulness" is not realized
also in effort, the raptures of inward communion will
prove deceptive and misleading. It is the whole man

who

to be

wholly filled, his intellect wholly illumin

wholly cheered and comforted, his will
steadied
and strengthened not in religious
wholly
exercises alone, but in the whole life. "Fill every part
of me with praise," says the hymn every part is to be
filled with prayer, and praise, and fitness for service,
because every part is filled with the Spirit.
The heart that would be Spirit-filled must first be
is

ated, his heart

Empty, that is, of everything that would

prevent the Spirit from doing His characteristic work.
For there is no necessary antagonism between the
operation of the Spirit of God and a thousand varied
empty.

aims for which the Church legitimately strives, a

thousand interests in the world which she seeks to
promote. Distinguish between a true and a false
Not by withdrawing the leaven from the
spirituality.
mass of meal can the lump be leavened, but by the
potency of a ferment mighty enough to quicken the
whole. Still it is clear that the Holy Spirit of God
cannot fill as He would an already full vessel, and
there simply is not room enough for the Spirit to

work in some Churches that are calling loudly for

His presence, in many hearts that are praying
earnestly for His indwelling. Apart from subtle
forms of sin, with which we are not now concerned,
r

the pathways of the soul may be blocked, the Divine

channel may be obstructed, the soil of the heart
of thorns and weeds, and thus
not the entrance, but the plenary work of the Spirit
be effectually hindered.

choked with a tangle

THE PLENITUDE OF THE

SPIRIT

247

IV
a crucial question for the Churches of to-day,
all others which we should
in
face
this
resolutely
Assembly. Does the Holy
It is

perhaps the question of

His plenary power animate our

Social, literary, political interests have
a place in the kingdom of God most assuredly. But
these and a hundred other aims are for the Christian
Church means only, not ends, and it is no easy task
Spirit

Church

rule,

does

life ?

supreme End that all secondary

and subordinate aims shall be kept in due subjection.
There is no commoner cause of declension in Church
so to pursue the great

life than the settling down upon second-bests, upon

aims that are admissible, or laudable, but are not the
May these aims be pursued ? Certainly,
highest.
so many of them as can be raised by indwelling
spiritual energy to the highest level and maintained
there. But if the End for which the means have been
employed should be overlaid, buried, lost sight of, in

pursuit of the lower objects, the searching question of

Paul needs

be pressed

to

home

Having begun

in

It
the Spirit, are ye being perfected in the flesh ?
matters not whether the temptation come upon the

side of ritual and religious ceremonies, or on the

side of philanthropic endeavour to ameliorate the con
ditions of social life; if the Church seeks first those

other tilings which the Father knows we have need

of, she must not complain if the kingdom of God in
its

purity and power

Church

is

not added unto her.

The

planted in the midst of the world, not to

do the world s work, but to accomplish the highest
purposes of all if Christ s own followers are not con
trolled, swayed, dominated, filled to the utmost with
is

THE PLENITUDE OF THE

248

the Spirit of God,

what hope

is

SPIRIT

there for the world

at large ?
It

may

be asked whether these words are intended

to the individual or the

to

apply
answer is,

to both; neither aspect

community. The
must be slighted
sometimes difficult

In i Corinthians it is
whether the Church or the individual heart is
spoken of as the temple of the Holy Ghost. The

or ignored.
to tell

ambiguity is significant, for the Holy Spirit inhabits

both, and He will not fully dwell among men unless
both are thus quickened and sanctified. Be filled with
the Spirit, each

member

the assembly the

own hearth. Be

warmth

of the

Church, and carry to

on thine

of the fire kindled

in united
filled with the Spirit,
will
burn
for
flames
not
life,
separate
long
nor will they be able, while single and dis

Church
apart,

joined, to kindle that great conflagration to which

the whole world at last shall be but fuel.

The one

not to wait for the many, nor the many

But it is in the individual heart that
God s work for the Church as a whole begins, the
In all genera
single heart alone, with Him alone.
tions it has been the voice of the solitary inspired
prophet that has aroused a slumbering Church and
quickened a dying world. What" is needed now is a
succession of such Spirit-filled men and women,
instinct with prophetic fire. The man who stands in
the pulpit, cleric or layman, who is sent by God,
ought to be a veritable messenger from God; the
leader of the society class upon whom others are
is

for the one.

depending for soul-quickening or soul-healing; the

teacher in class or school, who is called to the sacred
task of infusing into young hearts love of the
highest. How can these do their work unless SpiritBut those whose work is "secular," no less
filled?

THE PLENITUDE OF THE

SPIRIT

the steward, the treasurer, the trustee

with the Spirit, whilst the minister,

may
alas

be

249
filled

is

only
touched by the Spirit. The obscure member who has
hardly power to pray in public, may be a very organ
of the

Holy One, whilst the pulpit orator, alas

thinking of his own eloquence, or the scholar of

is

his

superior learning, or the prominent ecclesiastic of his

and influence and the opportunity to secure

position
his

own way.

Oh, that

all

the

Lord

prophets indeed
Every single
lighted immediately from above.
"

people were
is to be

altar-fire

But

Heaven doth with us, as we with torches do,

Not light them for themselves for if our virtues
Did not go forth of us, twere all alike
As if we had them not. Spirits are not finely touched,
But to fine issues."
;

Every man

in every Church is to make it easier

other
to realize the Divine presence, and to
every
the
plenitude of the Spirit whereas, in fact, we
enjoy
too often help to shut one another out from the

for

Divine atmosphere and make it hard for others to

perceive how near God is. Some Christians lower
the spiritual temperature of every society they enter,
while others instinctively kindle the decaying embers
of religious life wherever they go, as when a dying
match is plunged in a jar of oxygen. Let none wait
for the rest, and the work will be done.
The story
has often been told of the Colonel who desired volun
teers from his regiment for a dangerous expedition.
He addressed his men, and asked any who were
willing to go to take a step forward in advance of the
rest.
After withdrawing for a minute to give the men
time to resolve, he turned to find all in line as before.
"What, no single volunteer to offer himself?"
"Sir,
they all stepped forward together
"

250

THE PLENITUDE OF THE

SPIRIT

word must be said as to the repeated or con

which the present tense here used

tinuous

implies.

"filling"

The

is

process enjoined

done and then over.

Why ?

not an act, once

Does

imply some

it

thing essentially wrong with the constitution of the

Church, or in human nature, that this replenishment
of the Spirit is an endlessly repeated process, never
complete ? Nay, the repetition is normal, because we
live
full,

and grow.

or not full

and when once

vessel of earth or gold

filled

it

is

either

remains so.

But a living body spends its powers continually, and

needs to recoup and renew them. The organism lives
and grows by virtue of the action and reaction between
it and its environment, its
capacity increases with its
and
to
development,
spiritual development there is no
limit.
So far from reproaching ourselves for con
tinually needing to

supply, we ought

come

to

to

God

for fresh spiritual

be terribly afraid when we

feel

no such need. To be satisfied here is fatal. God has

an ever-advancing work for His individual servants
and His Church; He provides for both an everincreasing supply of His own life and likeness, and
an ever-growing capacity to receive and use it, both
being ministered continually by
Himself both Gift and Giver.
Before leaving the subject let
the emphasis lies on the word
stage, plenitude. The one thing

that Spirit

who

is

us understand that

At every
needful in spiritual

fulness.

is at every stage of development

existing
be completely filled by Divine supply;
should
capacity
the one thing to be guarded against is that half-and-

growth that

half spirituality

which

is

the despair of Christ

and the

THE PLENITUDE OF THE

delight of the devil.

that

"He

SPIRIT

not with

is

251

Me,"

says

our Master,
against Me"; "he that loveth father
I
or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me
is
hot."
or
cold
were
would ye
pos
Nothing great
sible in this life without that white-heat of enthusiasm
which makes the world consider the saints mad.
"is

"

"

Moderatism in the Church is supposed to possess

some advantages; Montanism, with its excesses, is
open to serious dangers. But Methodism can never
It was for their
hesitate in making her choice.
that Methodists were mocked and
"enthusiasm"
persecuted at first, and if the lack of scoffs and perse
cution in later days be due to the loss of enthusiastic
It was no
devotion, the exchange is a poor one.
but a Cambridge professor of
cobbler,"
"inspired
sceptical turn,

who

wrote

not passionate, no virtue

"No

heart

is

pure that

is

not enthusi
astic."
Why? Because without the ardent glow of
passionate devotion righteousness will never be able
to do its work in a world where there is so much

green fuel, so
Master s voice

and oh

that

it

little
"I

is

safe that

pure flame.

am come

is

Again, we hear the

on the earth,

to send fire

were even now kindled

and in the
be burned out, and there

in the heart of the Christian

Church needs to
consuming and cleansing ardour.
kindle

all

can make

The

So much

"

life
is

fire

of the

so

little

that will

the whole burnt-offering is the only one that

it acceptable for the Divine altar, fit to be

offered in Divine sacrifice.

"O

that in

me

the sacred

fire

Might now begin to glow,

Burn up the dross of base desire,
And make the mountains flow
O that it now from heaven might fall,
And all my sins consume
Come, Holy Ghost, for Thee I call,
Spirit of burning, come
!

"

SPIRIT-FILLED

CHURCH

"Know

Spirit of

ye not that ye are a temple of God, and that the

God du elleth

in

you?"

COR.

16.

iii.

Behold, said the Prince to Mansoul,

my love and care
towards you. I have added to all that is past this mercy, to
appoint you preachers and the most noble Secretary to teach
Take heed that you do not
yon in all sublime mysteries.
"

grieve this Minister, for if you do, He may fight against you,
and that will distress you more than if twelve legions should
be sent

from

my

Father

s court to

make war upon

"

you."

BUN YAM, Holy War.

Come

"

then,

my

God, mark out thine

heir,

Of heaven a larger earnest give;

With clearer light Thy witness bear,
More sensibly within me live;
Let

all

my

powers Thine entrance

And deeper stamp Thyself

the

feel,

seal."

C.

WESLEY.

Believe me, count as lost each day that you have not spent
in loving

God."

BROTHER LAWRENCE.

XIII
A SPIRIT-FILLED

CHURCH

ABSTRACT

generalizations concerning the Holy

remain
for the most part in the air, high-sound
Spirit
but
ineffective; they need to be translated into
ing,
How can a truly Spiritthe language of actual life.
filled Church be realized in the concrete life of to-day ?
How may the difficulties of present-day Church life be
overcome by rendering abstract principles into prac
tice ?

It

is

impossible

to

briefly

summarize

the

answers to these questions, but a few key-words such

as these
Holiness, Truth, Power, Love, Joy would
with five Lamps of Spiritual Architecture
us
provide
which can only shine with their true lustre in a Spiritfilled life.
I

The

side of religion

emphasized by the doctrine of

personal experience the kind of experi

ence emphasized is holiness of personal character.
The importance of experimental religion is happily
appreciated in the opening of the twentieth century,
as neither the eighteenth nor the nineteenth under
stood it.
Philosophers and thinkers, as well as
Methodist preachers, are now insisting that while
creed and worship, ritual and dogma, have their place
the Spirit

is

experience is the spring and fount of all

But Methodism has her own special testi
bear on this subject, and we should be rightly

in religion,

the rest.

mony

to

255

256

SPIRIT-FILLED

CHURCH

jealous lest with our high traditions we should be

found behind other Churches and teachers in impress

ing our

own

The

characteristic doctrines.

witness of

the Spirit, direct and indirect, the conscious enjoy

ment of the love of God in the heart through the Holy
entire

Spirit,

consecration

of

personal

character

through the indwelling of the Spirit these used to

be Methodist watchwords
how far are they being
sounded forth from Methodist pulpits to-day ?
:

Preaching these doctrines does not mean insistence

upon mere words, formulae or phrases that have lost

much of their original meaning and power, but upon
the truths they represent.
Holiness, for example,

we

is a word that
to be resus
needs
vitality."
citated.
It is not a narrow word, though its noble
amplitude has often been narrowed down by those who
have used it. The term "saint will never come by its

lost its

"has

are told,

If so,

it

"

we remember how many types of true saint

are, and how often those who have best
deserved the name have been men and women least

own

till

hood there

anxious to wear the garb of sanctity in the sight of

The
men, and least recognized on earth as saints.
holiness Christians aim at must be sane, healthy,
practical, in closest touch with actual life.
Why
should the words "brave, true, pure, noble" represent
ideals

which

attract

men

them?

while the words

"holy"

and

The

repel
"saintly"
fully-orbed character
which belongs to the Spirit-filled life will shut out
the narrow, one-sided, recluse, unreal holiness which
has usurped a splendid name. The type which the

on must be pre-eminently

Church

insists

Dale

name has been

associated

ethical. Dr.
with a criticism

passed on the Evangelical Revival of the eighteenth

century that it was imperfectly ethical. If that be a

SPIRIT-FILLED

CHURCH

257

sooner and the more completely evangelical

teaching is ethicized, the better. Discredit will neces
sarily attach to the very name holiness unless the
ethical standard maintained by the Church is not only
equal to that recognized in the world of morality, but
fact, the

incomparably above and beyond it.

For the highest morality is not holiness. The
utmost uprightness of character and conduct will not
make a man pure as Christians understand the word,
and it is at our peril if we lower the standard to suit
the tastes and habits of a moral world around us. One

who

writes, not as a religious man, but as a highminded thinker and statesman Lord Morley, says
is not the same as duty; still less is it
of holiness,
It is a name for an inner
the same as religious belief.
of
an
of
instinct
the soul, by which the
nature,
grace
in
dwells
living, patient, and confident com
spirit
munion with the seen and unseen Good." l This is
"It

possible only to the

man who

is filled

with the Spirit

Lord Morley speaks of the human spirit as

purifying itself and communing not with God, but
with abstract goodness. The cleansing we need if this
high and rare character is to be realized cannot be
attained by man s own effort; it must be wrought in
him from above.
The special testimony of Methodism on this point
God.

of

can only be furnished by fidelity to the spirit of the

Filled with the Spirit; not showing traces,
text.
streaks, of spiritual influence here and there, but the
whole man dominated and controlled by the Spirit of
God. Entire consecration does not mean sinlessness
or faultlessness, but the whole nature with its char
acteristic imperfections permeated by the one Spirit
1

The whole passage from Lord Morley s Miscellanies (1908)

It is more fully quoted in Ch. XV, p. 305.

deserves study.
S

A SPIRIT-FILLED CHURCH

258

This has been expressed in the homely

not take much of a man to be a
does
phrase,
all there is of him, all the time."
it
takes
but
Christian,

of holiness.

"It

That

it

is,

is

not his abilities, his gifts, the range of

his faculties that matter, though all he has will be

pressed into service, but his spirit which yet is not
his, but the Spirit of Christ that dwells in him. What

might not the Methodist section

of Christ be fitted to

of

accomplish

men and women wholly

filled

of the great
if it

Church

were a company

with the Spirit

II

Where He
Spirit is the Spirit of truth.
is present there is illumination of mind from within,
such as no culture from without can ever secure.
The Holy

has been a reproach cast

light,"
from
the
beginning. It was not true
upon Methodists
He
was
as remarkable for the clear,
of John Wesley.
"Much

heat,

dry light of his

little

intellect as for the fervour of his spirit.

Few

religious leaders have paid as much attention as

he to the conveyance of clear, definite, accurate in

struction of the mind.

If

some

of his followers have

of his standard, that was not his fault.

In
every religious movement there is danger of mistaking
noise for power and excitement for inspiration.

come short

Methodists have perhaps had special temptations and

been specially prone to err in this direction. But the
point I would make for the moment is that the plenary
gift of the Holy Spirit implies mental illumination of
a special kind, light such as is specially needed for the

Church
Love

ment";

ledge of

is

work to-day.
to abound

"in

the Christian

His

is

knowledge and

to

be

will in all spiritual

all

discern

know
wisdom and under-

"filled

with the

A
standing
he himself

259

man "judgeth all things, and

man
those who have
judged
from the Holy One know all things," for the

";

anointing

CHURCH

SPIRIT-FILLED

the spiritual

is

of

no

"

"an

will guide into all the truth we need

know in the way to eternal life. This truth makes
free. The letter kills, the Spirit emancipates. Slavish

promised Spirit
to

bondage

common

to the letter is as

as licence

and

anarchy without it; what is wanted in the intellectual

realm of religion to-day is that service of the Spirit
which is perfect freedom.
I must not attempt to apply this to vexed questions
of modern Biblical criticism, but here is one region
in

which Methodism, living

in the spirit of this text,

may render service to Christianity generally. If the

best results of modern scholarship are to be rightly
appreciated and used; if mistaken traditions of ecclesi
astical dogmatism are to be relinquished, without our
falling into the vague unbelief of extreme rationalism
;

if

in this generation

any restatement

not reconstruc
doctrine is to be

of time-honoured Christian
undertaken if in these things there is to be liberty
without laxity, authority without bondage, it can only
be secured when the Church, and especially its intel
lectual leaders, are filled with the influence of the everliving, all-illumining Spirit, who, amidst dangers,
doubts, and difficulties innumerable will not suffer

tion

them

to stray.

Ill

The word Power was from

the

first

associated with

The dis
the presence and operations of the Spirit.
was
the
Church
before
were
to
wait till
formed,
ciples,
they were endued with power from on high. The
Pentecost and subsequent visitations was to

effect of
S 2

260

SPIRIT-FILLED

CHURCH

impress friends and foes alike with the spiritual power

The whole Church was

characteristic of Christians.

empowered
(1)

for service

and
(2)

To win men from

To

the

kingdom

of darkness

and carry on a new

order, in the

evil,

establish

kingdom of righteousness.
But especially was this shown in those who spoke,
preached,

or

Christ

"prophesied."

said

that

His

Spirit should convict the world in respect of sin, of

righteousness, and of judgment; St. Paul said that

w hen men prophesied in the Church the unbeliever

entering in was convicted, was judged, fell on his face
and worshipped, declaring that God was among them
indeed. And this, not by way of exceptional, miracu
r

lous

endowment, but

in the

ordinary worship, because

the ordinary worshippers were filled with the Spirit.

What is more needed to-day ? The time came in
the history of the Church when the "charismatic"

ministry passed into the official ministry, and though

its character was
all power was not lost,
largely
The danger implied in this change is
changed.
It is so easy to learn to rely on oratorical
perennial.

and persuasive will, "enticing words of man s wis

on unimpeachable orthodoxy, the accurate
dom
reproduction of the formulae of faith; on scholarly
accuracy, literary finish and the charm of style or on
";

the very absence of these things, when a man plumes

himself on not being cultured, but relies on his power
All
of popular appeal and rough, homely eloquence.

these gifts are valuable, but none of them can confer

the power to grip and hold the con
spiritual power
science, to influence the will, to sway the spirit so that
in
it is brought under the influence of the Divine,

change

of heart

and renewal

of

life.

SPIRIT-FILLED

No human

CHURCH

261

can gain such power; only the

it.
Conviction of sin can
never fully take place except by the Divine Spirit
under the preaching of the Gospel of Christ. Hence
the importance of the "evangelistic not$," and a decay
of the sense of sin in proportion as that note is absent
from the pulpit. If any in the Church need to be filled
with the Spirit, surely those need it most who are
Spirit of

effort

God

ca^n

confer

commissioned to preach the Gospel. Unction not

unctuousness \vhat is meant by it, how is it gained?
Glow how far is it present in the preaching of to-day ?
A thousand other gifts which we rightly prize in the
modern Church might be readily relinquished for such
a plenitude of the Spirit as would enable God s mes
sengers always to preach with power, "such as may
every conscience reach and sound the unbelieving
heart."

IV
The word Power must

not be employed in this con

and explanatory word,

Paul spoke operates in

nection without the kindred

Love.

The

Spirit of

whom

Love is the first in the list of fruits

love, or not at all.
of the Spirit
God s command, the
first, last, middle
Church s joy, the world s simple and effectual test of

The measure

of the claim to be filled with

estimated by the power to
receive, enjoy, and manifest love.
are not called now to distinguish the prismatic
colours in this solar spectrum, the rainbow hues into

character.

the Spirit of Christ

is

We

which the single ray of white light may be dispersed.

Love to God and love to man love in the Church and
;

in the

world; brotherliness among believers, largehearted charity for enemies and outcasts; gentleness,
kindness, forgiveness, generosity, and

all

the cluster

262

SPIRIT-FILLED

CHURCH

growing from this one fertile

But may we not learn a lesson in relation to
what is called the unity of Christian Churches ? The
bond which bound the Early Church together was
of ripe golden fruits

stem.

essentially spiritual, "outwardly loose, inwardly firm."

This is the precise opposite of the unity which man
eulogizes and sets himself to secure the external
uniformity of one organization under pope, or bishop,

or presbyter, such as is supposed by some to constitute

the true unity of the Church of Christ.

Do we

believe that uniformity of creed, of code, of

government, of ritual, is the end chiefly to be desired
and aimed at, or the keeping of the unity of the Spirit
in the

bond

of the text

of peace

The acceptance

of the principle

would relegate external considerations

to

own

important, but entirely subordinate level,

in order to concentrate attention on the main question,
Do these Christians love one another ? Do they care

their

for

one another, take

interest in others,

desire their

prosperity, help them so far as they may, and always

recognize them as brothers in Christ ? If not, what
If they do,
is the use of schemes for external union ?
in
outward
form
and
order
and
methods
approximation
of working \vill come about easily, sooner or later, as
the interests of the work of God demand it.
But the malady of the world and to some extent
is cold.
The great need, if unity and
of the Church

concord are

to

be secured

among

nations or Churches,

heat of ardent care for others which

the
Spirit of Christ can adequately supply. The
only
is

that vital

selfishness, isolation, jealousy,

real divisive elements

form the

and

and resentment which

among men

in the life

Churches cannot be banished by

orthodoxy, by episcopal government or Methodist
Conferences, by ritual or orderly worship, or by any
of nations

of

CHURCH

SPIRIT-FILLED

263

human power or plan, only by the plenary energy of

the indwelling Spirit of God.

V
be thought that Joy hardly deserves a place
primary forces and excellences.
It may be considered as only a state of feeling, per
sonal happiness, desirable, but not fundamental. Yet
St. Paul puts it second in his list, and knew what he
was doing. The Book of Acts constantly lays stress
on the fact that when the Church was filled with the
Spirit they were not only of one accord, but were filled
with a glad confidence which enabled them to speak
and act with the freedom which springs from inward
joy. "Joy in the Holy Ghost" is a standing charac
It

may

in this short list of

teristic of early Christianity.

glad

Spirit,"

says Hernias,

"The

"for

Holy

every glad

Spirit

man

is

does

good and thinks what is good." Such joy is

not a superficial and transient pleasure, but a sign
and source of moral and spiritual energy.
Is it disappearing from modern Church life ?
said
"Praising, we plough; and singing, we
Clement, in the second century, and the Primitive
Church was marked by an exuberance of sacred glad

what

is

sail,"

ness such as Paul here

commends

in his reference to

psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, the outpour

ing of a melody which must first exist in the heart in
It is not a mere coincidence that
the form of joy.
associates Methodism with singing; there is a deep
psychological reason for that well-known characteristic

Renewed life manifests itself in

of our Church life.
music. As a bird in spring-time, or at the opening
day, pours out its gladness in full-throated song, so
the renewed heart

is

the joyful heart,

and He who

A SPIRIT-FILLED CHURCH

264

regenerates the spirit puts a new song into the mouth.

But is it possible for the song-bird, or the soul, to
recapture the first fine careless rapture ? Is it pos

"

"

keep the heart of the boy in the life of the

and
never to lose the wonder, the simplicity, the
man,
buoyant gladness of childhood through the anxieties
of maturity and the melancholy of age?
In nature,
sible to

Senile decay is impossible to

grace, Yes.
those with whom the joy of perpetual youth is an open
secret, because they are ever being filled afresh with

No;

in

the Spirit of glory and of God.

It may be said that the picture thus presented is
only an ideal lofty, pure, inspiring, but an unrealiz

Even if that were

we should still toil and strive for its attainment.
Ideals mould the actual, and the highest and best life
we know is found in the endeavour to realize our

able dream, an unattainable vision.

true,

dreams.

"Great

is

the glory, for the strife

is

hard."

each stage of development

the organism be evolved, the child
grow, the man find out what true manhood means.
No Christian need miss the privilege and none can
be exempted from the duty of being filled with the

Only by rightly
as it comes can

fulfilling

Spirit according to his measure and capacity, passing

from one grade and range of life to another, receiving
grace for grace, changed from glory to glory, as by

the Lord, the Spirit.

But whilst these words represent an ideal, they
describe what at each successive period of life-history
is

gloriously within our reach. The Holy Spirit is

within us, and every Christian man, every Chris

God
tian

Church,

may

at

every step of onward progress

Whether we do so or
are not
not depends on the measure of our fidelity.
straitened in God, but in ourselves. If the Methodist
realize fulness of spiritual life.

We

A SPIRIT-FILLED CHURCH

265

Churches of to-day are to be worthy of the great oppor

which confront them, attain the spiritual
nature which God intends for them, and accomplish
all the purposes for which He raised them up, it must
be through a mightier influx of power within to meet
the strenuous claims continually pressing from with
tunities

In vain we look around, or grope within, for

out.
the needed energy, it can only come from above.
As
the traveller in south-eastern France climbed a height

from which he was told that he could see the Alps

seventy miles away, but looked vainly into the mists
gathering from the plains below, till they bade him
Look higher and then far up in the air towered and
!

gleamed the snow-white peaks, so the word comes to

Sursum cor da, lift up your
us, Lift up your eyes
Our eyes are up unto the hills from whence
hearts
cometh our help. Our help is in the Lord our God,
who is not far from every one of us, but who waits to
fill the hearts of His people with His Spirit that the
whole earth may be filled with His glory. To Him
!

be our ceaseless prayer, to

praise

Him

shall be our ceaseless

THE INDWELLING CHRIST

in

"Christ

COL.

i.

27,

the

you,

hope of glory;

whom we

preach."-

28.

wonder of the two blessed unions! In the personal

pleased God to assume and unite our nature to the
In the spiritual and mystical union it pleases God to
Deity.
unite every believer to the Son of God." BISHOP HALL.
"0

union

the
it

"Deep

strike

Thy

roots,

heavenly Vine,

Within our earthly sod;

Most human and yet most Divine,

The flower of man and God.
"O

O Life! Our faith and

Thy presence maketh one;

Love!

As through transfigured clouds

We trace the noonday Sun."

sight

of white

WHITTIER.
"Heaven

is

One, wherein

BEHMEN.

nothing but the manifestation of the Eternal

worketh and willeth in quiet love." JACOB

all

XIV
THE INDWELLING CHRIST
IT

is

Christ,"

the business, of
to

"preach

it

mean

stood since

to the

Apostles?

And what

Church

What

is

to

"proclaim

the

and often abused, phrase

of this often used,

did

the

Christ."

is its

How

has

it

meaning

What

been under

real significance for us

That is a question we must never weary of

to-day
and
answering if Christ is to be for every
asking
of
men a living and a present Saviour.
generation
?

In

Col.

i.

St.

Paul

deals

with

this

subject,

and he describes the theme as a "mystery," but he

means by the word a message of revealed truth. It
is not something dark, inscrutable, unintelligible
not
;

a secret concealed, buried, a treasure hoarded, kept

close and meagrely doled out. It is "manifested," and
its magnificence dazzles
the sight
Hidden from
former ages in the past, still unperceived by many,
never fully discerned except by prepared eyes, it is
!

now God

good pleasure

to

make

it

known.

You

Colossians, he says, can see and know its surpassing

glory, what vast wealth of spiritual treasure there is
for

you and

for all nations in this

message

Christ in

the midst of you, within your hearts and

pervading
your lives the hope of glory, a resplendent blaze of

and all-illuminating light.

It enlightens
the intellect, doubtless, but it quickens the
imagina269
unveiled

THE INDWELLING CHRIST

270

kindles the affections, reinforces the will, and

whole nature. If it be true that the only

tion,

vitalizes the

wealth
It is

is life,

my

here

riches indeed

is

duty, says the great Apostle of the Gentiles,

It is a great trust, dis

proclaim this message.
not
without
and
cost, as I fill up what
pain
charged
ever is lacking in Christ s sufferings, the measure of
affliction belonging to the members of the once-sufferxng Head. But, what is the unspeakable joy of such
A revelation has come to me and to you
pain
through me, the first glimpse of which intoxicates
and bewilders, and as yet it is not wholly seen in order
that all may in due time search it out and find its full
scope. As when, in the early morning of a glorious
summer day, the wreathing mists hide the mountain
slopes and cover the valleys beneath, then, under the
breath of the freshening wind, gradually lift and open,

to

some giant mountain top lost in the sky

and rocks on the hillsides, a ravishing vista
of varied landscape, delighting the eyes and stimulat
ing the imagination, showing that what was at first
seen was cloud-like appearance only, and making
manifest the solid realities and dawning splendours
behind and beyond so a glimpse has been granted

revealing
or woods

to us of the great purpose of God, seen in Christ, but

only so far seen as to hint at unimagined reaches
St. Paul
beyond Christ in you, the hope of glory
can hardly control his feelings as he approaches this
theme. You have watched a smouldering match when
plunged into a jar of oxygen burst into bright flame.
So, when this messenger of Christ breathes the atmo
sphere of this Gospel, he flames forth in its celebra
!

tion
I,

"preached in all

Paul, was

made a

creation under heaven, whereof

minister

There speaks the joy found

a great truth.

Have we

"

in the

apprehension of
In youth we

lost the secret?

THE INDWELLING CHRIST

271

that strange beating of the heart, as of some

watcher in the skies when a new planet swims into his
ken has it been left behind with the visions and the

knew
;

the
glamour of early days? Has the Church lost
or
?
God
her
earliest
of
and
forbid,
thrill
years
glow
never can it proclaim Christ aright. There are always
new truths and new aspects of old truths to be dis
cerned, and unless we see them afresh for ourselves
with an inexpressible rapture of the heart, our mes

sage will lose its characteristic power. In the history

of poetry the early period of the nineteenth century
has been described as "The Renascence of Wonder
is not such new birth needed in theology and in
"

preaching? If wonder and rapture are lost, quicken

ing power will soon follow. Those who would follow
Paul in preaching Christ as in verse 28 must be able
to share with

him

his exultation in the wealth of the

glory of the message in verse 27.

On this theme I have, greatly daring, undertaken
I have no claim, fathers and brethren, to
to speak.
address you on this, or any topic, except your friendly
and much-esteemed invitation. 1 I certainly do not

stand here to instruct, or to exhort, men who know

more about this central topic of the Christian religion
than the preacher can tell them. It is the vital im
portance, the urgent need of closely grappling with
the subject, that has made me select it.
The whole

and the Methodist portion of it in

needs
to
ask itself how this paramount
particular,
and
is
duty
privilege
being discharged amongst the
intellectual difficulties and the moral and spiritual

Church

of Christ,

temptations of these eager, crowded, and exciting

latter days.
May the Spirit of Christ be our guide
and our inspiration
!

This sermon was preached before the United Methodist

Conference in Nottingham, July 1910.

THE INDWELLING CHRIST

272

II

The theme is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

But we are not to understand that the whole mystery
and message are here condensed into half-a-dozen
One central aspect of truth is chosen and
words.
emphasized advisedly other aspects are not excluded
because they are not named. The phrase "Christ in
means within, in your hearts; it may
you" probably
mean
simply
among you, in your midst. In either
case it is closely connected with the doctrine of Christ
for us, in His redeeming work on our behalf, dealt
with in verses 20 and 21. The reconciliation through
the cross is carried out in order that the meaning of
union and communion may be rightly understood and
enjoyed. But the link of connection between Christ
for us and Christ in us is a matter of too great im
portance to be lightly passed by, if "preaching
is to be properly understood.
Christ
They are two
and
neither
one
element must
of
whole,
organic
parts
be under-estimated or over-estimated.
No follower of St. Paul can under-estimate the im
portance of Christ s work for us, if he W ould preach
the doctrine of Christ in us. Verses 13 and 14 show
in Christ
needs to be trans
this. A man who is not
He is under the power of darkness, and needs
lated."
to be emancipated from that black bondage before he
can enter the Kingdom of the Son of His love. Re
;

"

"

"

"

demption is necessary that forgiveness of sins, for

which men toil and strive in vain, yet without which
they can never be brought into true union with Christ
at all.

How can any man be in Christ, or have Christ in

him, unless he enter by this door? He holy, spotless,
undefined; we evil and careless, headstrong and dis-

THE INDWELLING CHRIST

273

obedient, or hardened and obstinate stains cleaving

even to our best nature, selfishness and unworthiness
darkly patent as fit for intercourse with the Most
;

as a cruel

Holy

and

lustful idolater for a

pure and

radiant shrine, or as a sot from the gutter to sit down

The feast is open, and the out
at a marriage feast.
cast may come in, but surely he must get ready, and
he will not seek to enter without a wedding robe.

Yet,

if

we

listen to the facile ethics of

many modern

teachers, there is no need of the Cross of Christ except

as an example of the way in which men should bear

pain and show self-sacrifice.

is

no

real barrier

Sin according to them

between God and

man

or, at least,

remove it. The

enough
blot is on the surface, a little water will wash it away;
the stain is not deep, and it may quite properly be
ignored or forgotten. Any man may not only have
Christ in him he is himself a Christ so runs the
a

word

of repentance

is

to

presumptuous phrase did he but know it. The death

upon the cross has no efficacy for his conscience,
because his conscience acquits him of sin as an offence
against God; it is only a form of selfishness which he
will give up, and then all will be well.
Is this the

enlightened teaching of specially

illu

minated men, or does it rather belong to that darkness

of which St. John says, If we say that we have no sin,
we walk in darkness, we lie, we deceive ourselves,
and the truth is not in us. A man who can pass
muster in a crowd in the twilight may well shrink
from being brought out to stand alone, focused in
the white blaze of the Divine Holiness.
The cross
of Christ shows what sin means, what it implies, what
it comes to, what it ends in.
It shows what is needed
if

the real significance of sin in human

history is to
in upon the conscience, and what is

be stamped

THE INDWELLING CHRIST

274

needed of Divine love in uttermost self-sacrifice if the

Rivers of oil and
guilty conscience is to be freed.
seas of blood cannot wash that foul conscience clean,
and a man who presumes to be in true communion
with a Holy God, unless his conscience, tender to the
least approach of sin, is purged and cleansed, only
shows that he has yet to learn the first elements of the
Christian religion, and that he has not yet understood
the Lord Jesus Christ at all. Are there men preaching
Christ to-day who have little or nothing to say of all
this and of what Christ has done to make the way into
the Holiest open for the \vorst of sinners ? If so, no

wonder

their preaching

is

vain.

Ill

But these great truths must not be over-estimated

This is the door,
if they were the whole Gospel.
not the house; the porch, not the abiding home of
the soul. Christian in Bunyan is not at the end of his
as

journey when his burden falls away

disencumbered in order that he

is

at the

may

Cross; he

travel.
u

To

and for
thought the prepositions
is a serious error, and no one who reads Rom. iii. and
vi. together can charge it upon St. Paul.
To take
without
implies a failure to understand
the gulf which separates the sinner from God and
"

separate in

"

"in

"for"

"in"

of bridging it. To take

with
implies a failure to understand the aim and
object of Christ s work on our behalf, the attainment
It is to
of abiding purity in union with Himself.
claim the discharge of a debt without understanding
the meaning of the ransom, to wish to escape the

Christ
out

method

"for"

"in"

consequences of wrong-doing without entering the

THE INDWELLING CHRIST

sharp and cleansing

fires of self-destruction

A man who

275

and

self-

has not learned that to be

in
devotion.
Christ is another name for the only salvation which
can give him a self worth having has not learned

Christ, as truth
first

and he must go back

to

principles again.

Men who
own

in Jesus,

is

hearts

remember

preach Christ must burn this in on their

and the hearts of their hearers. You

Paul s bold metaphor in Gal. iv., "My

St.

children, of whom I travail in birth again,

Christ be formed in you." Keen pangs of travail
are necessary before this marvellous new birth can
be accomplished. For it is not the birth of a babe in
little

till

but of grown
because Christ Himself

Christ,

men and women,

perfected

wholly in them and they in

Him. The late Bishop King said in a touching letter
have
written to his people just before his death,
is

"I

tried to

make you
agony

Christ-like

Christians."

But what

wrestling and

of soul are necessary if that high

be
end
attained, especially on the part of a pastor
who knows that he is far from being a Christ-like
It would make a searching test
Christian himself
for many a Christian community to-day to ask, Does
it produce Christ-like Christians ?
They may be ortho
is to

dox,

orderly, harmless, respectable, and respected

of a Christian Church, but in so far as their

members

them has failed to enable them to

Christ in them they have missed
and
manifest
to
enjoy
What scope for the preaching of Christ,
their way.
to occupants both of pulpit and pew, does the applica
trust in Christ for

tion of this all-searching criterion afford

May it not
quicken our sense of the inestimable importance of
!

proclaiming the doctrine of "Christ in you," to re

member that that touchstone will oe applied to all our
work one day ?
T 2

THE INDWELLING CHRIST

276

IV
But perhaps that is unduly to anticipate. The
meaning of this great phrase is as yet most imper
fectly realized in Christian life.
if at all, not as an achievement
full

and
as

ning,
energy.

Christ

on our

within us,
part, not as a
is

blessing on His part, but as a begin

a potency, as a capacity, as a budding
As a great yearning, with the prospect and

final

much more than

the

ultimate attainment.

prospect,

This

is

the

assurance

implied by

of

the phrase

the potentiality of glory,

with the confident expectation of its realization.
"the

hope of

Glory
so

much

glory,"

i. e.

manifested excellence; light shining, not

from without as lit up from within. It means
is

inherent brightness, recognized, radiant, resplendent.

Perhaps hardly enough stress is laid on this aspect of
the indwelling Christ, either in the theology or the
religion of the day. The doctrine contained in it pro
ceeds upon the basis that religion for the Christian

man

germinal and germinating; that, while we can

not fully understand the beginning or the course of
the Christian life without seeing the end, it is as yet
quite impossible that we should see the end. Hence
is

Christ in the individual heart, Christ in the Church s

life, Christ in the nation s life, is at present to be
viewed mainly as a great possibility. This is not, of
course, to deny the glory of the reality already within
reach, but to set it in its right relation to a larger

whole.

That larger whole men must ever keep it in view

His kingdom
they would rightly preach Christ.
and work among men are an unfinished symphony,
music of which the structure and composition may
in the main be understood and enjoyed, but only
if

THE INDWELLING CHRIST

277

movements are as yet complete. For the rest

onward and forward. Some bars of the melody
from the harp, some notes of the great chord

certain

look
float

upon the organ may be heard, but they suggest

Of that we dream and
infinitely more yet to come.
hope, but as men who already possess such security
the complete fulfilment, the "restitution of all
that for its coming we are content to wait.
things,"
for

V
But what a theme to preach! "The key to the
riddle of the world is God, the key to the riddle of
God is Christ." That is what St. Paul means when
he says
to the

(ii.

open

God

about

"

2)

that

secret

"the

which

mystery of
tells

the key

God"

we need

all

to

know

"

is Christ."

say the acknowledgment of

God

in Christ,

Accepted by thy reason, solves for thee

All problems in this earth and out of it,
And hath so far advanced thee to be wise."

Solves

problems ? Perhaps not, in the way ex

it answers some
questions outright, shows
the direction in which the solution of other problems
lies, and leaves us content that the rest should remain
unanswered for a while. The assured ideals are to
be realized, but they are His, not ours, and His is
the way by which the great goal is to be attained.
It is impossible to linger over and illustrate a theme
all

pected, but

when

the bare statement of

it

It runs thus
far suggestions.
The fact of Christ in history

was, that the

God-Man

is

fraught with such

that such a

lived,

died, and rose again as He did ;

fact of Christ in experience

The

Man

ever

taught, suffered,

that the Lord

Jesus Christ has done for me, and for millions,

THE INDWELLING CHRIST

278

which I can testify as a new creation, life

from the dead;
warrant unspeakably glorious conclusions for
My own, your own, individual life the character
that is being formed, the spirit that is being
fashioned, even the body, the vehicle of the spirit,
and all the relationships into which your and my
that of

individual

life will

The Church, which

enter;
the Lamb s wife,

is

whom He

has loved and will cherish, having given Him

self up for it till His work for it is fully wrought,
and it is made a glorious Church without spot, or
wrinkle, or any such thing.

The

world, for which the Church is to live, and toil,

suffer, as Christ has lived and suffered for
her; till the love wherewith the Father has loved

and

the Son is in them, and Christ in them, and the

music of the symphony, finished at last, pours
from the lips of the multitude of the redeemed on

high.
a theme to preach
breathe, without these far horizons.

What

We

cannot
"Tis

live,

or

not what

does that exalts him, but what man would do

That may or may not be true; but it is quite certain
that it is not what Christ has already accomplished
for the sons of men which show s His highest exalta
tion, but what He will do, when that which hinders
is taken out of the way and all His full designs are

man

"

accomplished.
Christ is our hope as well as our trust, and our
love, and our Lord, and our Life of lives. The hope
of the Gospel is an integral part of the Gospel. The
see not yet all things put under
dignity of man ?

We

him, but we see Jesus; manhood as yet is crowned

in Him alone. St. Paul looked out at the dawn of the
new day of Christendom, and his heart throbbed high

THE INDWELLING CHRIST

279

within him, when Christ had been preached among

men for only thirty years, because he saw Christ
among the nations as already the first-fruits of a great
harvest. We live in a later day, when two thousand

years of the Christian Church have brought about

triumphs of which no one then could dream. But
they have also brought disappointments, and these
prevail in the thoughts of many to-day.
They sing
with dolour, "The world is very evil, the times are

waxing
waxes cold.

late,"

iniquity abounds, and the love of many

is not the note for a Christian of

This

A man who would preach Christ fully must

understand that the Christ that is in the hearts of
believers is but a faint foreshadowing of the Christ
that is to be. He must hear already the bells ringing
out the old, ringing in the new, though well he knows

any age.

that the fulness of the

be

among

those
"

Rowing hard against

See

all

And do

Nay,

is

He must

not yet.

the stream,

the gates of

Eden gleam,

not dream

is

it

dream."

not a dream, for the glory of

illumines both the beginning and the course

are certain that

End

the

new glory

who

it is

kingdom of God upon earth. The End is

coming when He shall have put down all rule and
authority and power, when the Son Himself shall be
subject to Him that subjected all things unto Him,

of the

that

God may be

all in all.

vision as dazzling in

prospect as it is certain of realization by one who

has learned the meaning of the words, "Christ in

you, the hope of

glory."

VI
Is not this a Gospel,
to

be done with it?

and

proclaim

it

if

indeed

Believe

always.

it

it

Some

What

be true?

first,

obey

it

believe

is

second,
without

THE INDWELLING CHRIST

280

proclaiming whilst, in listening to some speakers,

one would think that they proclaim without believing.
;

large number of so-called Christians in this land

neither believe nor proclaim for if every one in the
Church of Christ did both, the world would soon be
;

converted.

The word

"preach"
suggests a pulpit and one
announcement
of
kind
by a duly-appointed
particular
kind
That
of
promulgation should not be
person.
a
preacher of the Gospel may well
disparaged;

magnify his office. The word "preach" is not in

good odour with the world. "Defamed by every
charlatan, and soiled with all ignoble use," it still
remains supreme in its own order, and there is no
lever for turning the world right side
Lord s own ordinance of preaching.

up
All

like

that

the
is

that the preacher should illustrate more

utterances what the Lord meant when He
in
his
fully
sent forth His first messengers to preach the Gospel.

needed

is

The word

a wider area, a more

"proclaim" suggests
resonant voice, a more general and effective declara
tion, not on the part of a professional advocate, but of
the Church as a whole.
Karayye AAeiz; includes three
ideas to publish, to celebrate, to commend; in other
it
implies something given, the speaker s
delight in singing the praises of his message and his
earnest commendation of his theme as needed by all

words,

and

sufficient for all their needs. These were realized

together in early Christian community, described in
i Thess. i. 8, "From
you hath sounded forth as from
a trumpet the word of the Lord ... so that we need
not to speak anything."
need to hear the echoes
of that trumpet voice in the Churches of to-day.
Think of the Apostolic preaching. The Apostles

We

did not argue, though they could reason with cogency,

THE INDWELLING CHRIST

281

necessary;, they did not denounce, they did not

discuss, they did not declaim.
They brought a mes
in
which
trusted
as
for
life itself and for
sage
they
if

made life worth having, and that message they

abroad
spread
by every means in their power. "As
it is written, I believed, and therefore have I
spoken,
all

that

we also believe and therefore speak."

The Apostle was not a Rabbi, or a learned com
mentator, with saws and maxims, traditions and
precedents, authorities carefully cited, and modern
we can hear Rabbis and
parallels ingeniously drawn
read commentators enough to-day. The Apostle was
not a Critic, with his abstract rationalistic processes,
his purely intellectual tests, his microscopical examin
ation of details, his hair s-breadth distinctions and dis

crepancies combined with a strange tendency to miss

the broad features patent to the naked eye with no
microscope to aid it we can find critics in abundance

when we want them. The Apostle was not an Apolo

gist, who has a whole armoury of carefully furbished
arguments, who declares that he is free from bias and
pursues a neutral inquiry, ready to prove to every
candid mind what must certainly be accepted as most
reasonable, if meanwhile the audience have not melted
away. In the twentieth century an apologist may be
engaged any day if he is needed. And I for one am
far from hinting that commentator, critic, and apolo
Preachers cannot possibly
gist are utterly useless.
their
aid.
with
dispense
Every one of them may do
admirable work in his own time and place.
The preacher has another task. What the Church
wants, and the world must have, is proclaiming and
preaching Christ. Burning words from men whom
zeal for Christ has eaten up, and who have found their
true vocation in commending to others what they have

THE INDWELLING CHRIST

282

found, and abundantly proved, for themselves.

The

occupant of the pulpit, in the first instance, is to be

and do what every Christian in his measure is to be
and do in proclaiming Christ, and the result will
depend upon the way in which the pulpit leads

pew and

the

the

pew

follows

and

reinforces

the

pulpit.

How much

which fires
found to-day in the Christian
Church? "Preach the Gospel and put down enthusi
asm," said an Archbishop of Canterbury in his charge
to a Bishop of Calcutta when he was going out to
A ConfucianIndia. What a combination of ideas
until

it

of the true religious zeal,

consumes,

is

know not how many

memory
thousand characters representing many tens of thou
ist

will

commit

to

sands of words of his Chinese classics; a Buddhist is

content to be absorbed for half a lifetime in profound
meditation on the "Way" which leads to deliverance
of the soul
many a Mohammedan can repeat the
whole Koran he will allow nothing to interfere with
his five prayer-hours each day, and is found proselytiz
ing in the interior of Africa with fanatical intensity.
Theirs may be zeal without knowledge, but knowledge
without zeal will never convert the world. Christians
may well ask themselves how many out of the four
million sermons preached on Sundays alone in this
;

country in the course of the year are the outpouring of

souls penetrated through and through with the glory
of a message that has saved the preacher and can
save every child of man. If the Christian does not
believe, or does not think, or does not know, or does
And if he does not
not care, he will not preach.
preach the hope of the world is gone, for how shall
they call on Him in whom they have not believed?
And how shall they believe in Him whom they have

THE INDWELLING CHRIST

not

heard?

preacher
sent

And how shall

And how shall they

283

they hear without a

preach unless they be

The Queen

of the

earth to hear the

South came from the ends of the

wisdom

of

Solomon, though Solomon

could only speak of the cedar of Lebanon and the

hyssop on the wall, of the words of the wise and their
dark sayings. Men are eager now for scientific know
ledge; they scorn delights and live laborious days, to
learn the truths of science, the story of organisms and
their development, of atoms and molecules, of the
But
strata of the rocks, and the orbits of the stars.

surely a greater than Solomon, a greater than the man

of science who is deservedly counted great, is here.

Where

is

in those to

the corresponding fervour of proclamation

whom is committed the message, Christ in

you, the hope of glory

Methodism

is

said to be

Christianity in earnest, Methodist preachers are sup

posed to be ordinary preachers on fire.

sapless,
savourless preacher does discredit to his Master, to his
message, and himself. Let him take heed that at last
the very blood of his hearers is not required of the
unfaithful

watchman

hand.

VII

We

may kindle waning lamps again at that "thrice

celestial fire," as we are reminded of the
Fount,
Holy
great Subject of Christian preaching. The mode of
proclamation depends upon the subject. Some theses
have to be argued out, some traditions must be ex
plained, some propositions must be criticized. But the
theme of the Christian preacher is a Person

WHOM

we preach.
tion is

In other words A the subject of proclama

THE INDWELLING CHRIST

284

Not a theology.
theology

is in

How
its

important,

own

place,

how

essential, a

need hardly say.

Connected and ordered thought upon the highest

subjects that can occupy the mind of man, surely
every one values. How can a teacher possibly
dispense

thought
speaks ?

with clearly and

in the

background

steadfastly
of his mind

ordered

when he

But a preacher of Christ does not preach

theology.
Not a moral code. Laws and principles for conduct
are as necessary as well-ordered thought for the
mind, perhaps more so. In a world where so little
is to be known, so much is to be done, and so little
is given to do it in, careful instruction as to
duty and the conduct of life can never be absent
from Christian teaching. But to preach Christ
does not mean to repeat the Sermon on the
Mount, or any modern ethical code based upon it.

time

Not the performance of any ritual, the compliance

with any ceremonies, however beautiful or help
ful to the spiritual life. Worship is, or should be,
a home of the soul, and all symbols which aid
imagination and support faith are invaluable in a
world where the seen easily dominates the unseen,
and the temporal rapidly ousts the eternal from
the mind. But no ceremonies or sacraments, no
observances well-pleasing to God, helpful to our
selves, or impressive to others, are ends in them
selves.
They are at best means to a higher end,
and sometimes prove obstacles rather than aids
A preacher is not a
to the life of the spirit.
it is at his peril that he
but
a
and
priest,
prophet,
substitutes the performance of a rite for the
quickening word of inspired truth.
Not social reformation and philanthropic enterprise,

THE INDWELLING CHRIST

285

deeply interested as every Christian must be in

the promotion of such efforts. These follow, not
precede; they are fruits, not roots; they prove
adequate and permanent only as they spring from

a preliminary work which it is the business of the

preacher of Christ to carry out in his Master s

name.

The theme
for us

of Christian preaching is a Person,

"persons"

nothing

is

and

so lofty, so quickening,

so fruitful as personal life. Philosophy, science, art,

literature are all excellent, but that which comes right
home to the heart of every man, which satisfies the

varied needs of all men, and remains an inexhaustible

fount of suggestion and inspiration when other
streams run dry, is a living Person, provided he have
in himself the fulness of supply necessary. In this case
it

is

ence

the Jesus of history who is the Christ of experi

neither without the other. The facts of history,

together with an interpretation of them, which have

resulted in that moulding of heart and life which we

Christian experience and the Lord Jesus Christ as

sum and centre of the whole. The facts which
unfold the mind and heart and will of God the facts

call

the

which prove the possibilities and potencies of the spirit

of man, when swayed and controlled by a Divine
But a revelation, not contained in a
revelation.
formula, not to be expressed in a creed, rinding its full
expression only in a living Saviour. Christ not as
Teacher, not as Pattern, not as Ideal, but as Saviour;
did a great work for man, and who con
on and carries out that same work of
redemption in man. He it was whom the Apostles
preached, and whom the followers of the Apostles

One who once

tinually carries

must proclaim to-day.

THE INDWELLING CHRIST

286

There are so many Christs.

There is the romantic

the
the
rationalistic
Christ,
mystic Christ,
Christ, the
socialist Christ
there is the Gallic Christ in Renan,
;

Germanic Christ from Reimarus

the

to Wrede, the
Hellenic Christ of the fourth century, the Byzantine
Christ of the seventh century, and the Archetypal man
of the twentieth century. It is the Christ of the New
Testament whom we preach. Not the Christ of the

three Synoptic Gospels, or of the Gospel of Mark as

the first of the three, or of such portion of Mark as the

modern

critic

may

vouchsafe to accept

not the Christ

Paul, or of John, or of Stephen, or of

though all these are inexpressibly precious
of

"They

are but broken lights of Thee,

And Thou,
It is

Peter,

Lord, art more than

the whole Christ of the whole

they."

New

Testament,

a once suffering, now glorious risen and living Lord,

whom, having not seen, we love; in whom, though

now we

see

Him

not, yet believing,

full of glory.

we

rejoice with

joy unspeakable and

not the Christ-Idea that we preach an abstract

thought in the mind; not the Christ-Principle, an
It is

operating thought in the life. Both these flow from

Theodore Parker said that he
the Christ-Person.
could accept the teaching of Jesus as well if it came
from a Catiline or a Borgia, showing that he under
stood neither the sacred Speaker nor His \vords. It
is not true that we can be saved by the idea of

God

stooping to help man, or the principle of selfIt is the Saviour who has
sacrifice, "Die to live."
work
for
us on the cross, who is
a
great
wrought

now
all

the living conquering Spirit in the hearts of

His followers, whom we preach, and none else

will suffice.

THE INDWELLING CHRIST

287

other Lamb, none other Name,

None other hope in heaven or earth or sea,
None other hiding-place from guilt and shame,
None beside Thee."

"None

proclaim this Person implies much more than

believing in Him it implies a belief that in this mes
sage is all that the world needs. Three things that
were central with St. Paul were being denied at
Colossae, and it is to be feared they are still far from
being accepted in many a Christian country.
First, the complete sufficiency of Christ and Chris

But

to

tianity for all the spiritual

individual

requirements of the

man.

Second, the universality of His scope and mission,

the inclusion of all races, varieties, and types of
men, so as to shut out all rivals, all alternatives,
all

supplementary helpers and saviours.

Third, the finality of the religion thus established,

so that men can never get beyond it, can never
exhaust its significance, never need imagine it

superseded or obsolete.

VIII
St.

Paul asserted

at the outset,

all

these claims most vigorously

of the intervening

and the experience

The capacities of
the Christian religion, so far from being exhausted,
It is still so
are only beginning to be understood.

centuries has confirmed the claim.

far in front of the standards, as well as the attain

ments, of humanity that one of the chief complaints

concerning Christianity is that it is too good to be

As Max
true, and too lofty to be put in practice.
Miiller said, we seem to be living two thousand years
B.C., rather than A.D., so far are we from having made

THE INDWELLING CHRIST

288

the teaching of Christ, and the example of Christ,

the salvation of Christ, fully our own.

and

The

greater need of true preachers.

If, that is,
are
of
the
kind
and
can
rise to the
preachers
right

height of this great argument, proving themselves

adequate to the lofty scope of the message they carry.
The only answer to the often-suggested question
whether the power of the pulpit is diminished is that
of the old Scotchwoman,
depends on wha s in
The one thing that never can be admitted is that the
man who seeks to fulfil this one aim of preaching
Christ has a narrow, meagre, one-sided, insufficient
"It

it."

to expound.
Narrow? There is not one
preacher in ten thousand who is himself broad enough
to understand the true length and breadth and height
and depth of this theme. All heaven and earth is in

subject

human life, hopes and fears, joys and sorrows,

and remedies, failures and capacities
all I
want is there." Nothing is commoner than the use of
that phrase, nothing rarer than the power to prove
it,

all

sins

"all,

And

the standing problem for the preacher

get nearer and nearer to this power,

it

true.

is

how he may

so that every hearer of his shall be made to feel the

all-sufficiency of the one message for his own needs,

which, as he truly thinks, are in themselves infinite.

St. Paul, in the opening of i Corinthians, propounded
the one theme of his preaching in terms which might
seem to forecast a narrowly restricted, rather than a
generously comprehensive ministry nothing else but
Christ and Him crucified. Yet before he has finished
this one Epistle he has soared to the heights of Divine
wisdom in chapter ii., he has dealt in fullest detail with
social problems at Corinth in chapter vii., he has laid
down far-reaching principles of Christian giving in
chapter ix., has sung an immortal hymn of love in

THE INDWELLING CHRIST

289

chapter xiii., has shown the value of gifts and graces

in chapters xii. and xiv., has penned lines of comfort
and inspiration in chapter xv. that have solaced
mourners and relieved doubters for centuries yet all
this has sprung with gracious and golden ease from
the simple creed propounded in it
How that Christ
"

died for our sins and rose again according to the

Scriptures."

It is true that St.

we

are but rank

preachers.

Paul was an inspired Apostle, and

and

file

men

But the theme

is

in the great company of

the same, an enrichment

of its detailed application has been going on for cen

turies in the history of Christendom, the Holy Spirit

who guides and quickens

tions are wider

is the same, and His opera

and more diverse than in the first

century; therefore why should the preacher of to-day

or despair ? All that is necessary is that he should
be among those
whom God is pleased to make

fail

"to

known what is the riches of the glory of

among the nations," the eyes of their
enlightened that they may know what

this

mystery

hearts being
is the riches

of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

the power to expound what they kilow. If

and have

men

will

turn from the centre to the circumference, from the

infinitely great to the infinitely little, from the glory
of the Gospel to their own ingenuities concerning
events whose interest lasts as long as the posters on
the walls that advertise them, they know what to
expect.
Recently there might be found among the

announcements
single

and

Sunday

in

one town of sermons preached on a

"God

Nationality,"

"The

and the

Trees,"

Wonders

"Immigration

of Memory,"

"Does

a man s social position give him moral absolution?"

while at other churches a sacred concert was to be
man
given on Sunday evening instead of a sermon.

THE INDWELLING CHRIST

290

give up the organ for a penny whistle, because he

finds the latter easier to play.
But if preachers and
full
are
of
the
people
organ-music of "Christ in you,

may

and adequately proclaim that one

and variety, they will never
be tempted to leave it, and they may be quite sure the
world will listen and follow the immortal strain.
the hope of

theme

glory,"

in all its richness

IX
Paul adds the clauses,

St.

"Admonishing every

man, teaching every man, that every man may become

perfect by union with Christ." Surely, if any linger
ing doubt existed as to the richness and comprehen
siveness of the one theme, these closing phrases would
dissipate

it.

man" means
urging "none but
that
due
admonitions
no alternative be
plying
admitted to the one Saviour, no adulterations be toler

"Warning

this

every

"

ated of the truth as it is in Jesus. The exhortation,

"Neither is there salvation in any other," given within
a few days of Pentecost, has been needed in the

Church and round the Church ever

men

since.

What

is it

Let the preacher always see that the

answer to that question is made plain in his proclama
tion, and that he warns men not to be satisfied without
it.
Many topics will comfort men, soothe them, inter
that saves

them, stimulate them, or perhaps lull them into a

They need to be saved, and that is
~
radical work, strenuous work, terribly search
6 and
must
blunt
Christ
not
who
He
work.
preaches
testing
the sharp edge of truth, must not rake with the teeth
est

welcome slumber.

upwards. He is probably not doing his duty if some

do not wince and shrink from his teaching; perhaps

THE INDWELLING CHRIST

291

It is no kindness to
openly complain and rebel.
element
of
without
warning, and some of
preach
the feebleness, not to say flabbiness, of current Chris
tianity may be ascribed to the fact that preachers too
seldom warn men, or seem conscious that there is
"an

anything very dangerous to warn them against.

"Teaching in all wisdom" reminds us how many
are the grades in the school of Christ,
the difference between the infant class

how

great

is

and the sixth

the
how
are
form,
subjects taught, and how
many
manifold are their applications to the complex life of
man. If any man who sets out to preach Christ thinks

is limited to the A B C of religion, the sooner

he corrects his mistake the better. That some are still
occupied with the alphabet may be very true, but it is
their own fault. The Gospel is milk for babes, but it

that he

is

also strong

meat

for

grown men,

too strong for the

There is
spiritual digestion of many weaklings.
danger of lingering over the primer and words of one
syllable,

because the higher stages of knowledge need

possible for Christian teachers to run in

It is

effort.

smooth and easy grooves, worn so as to fit their own

wheels, in a kind of mill-horse round of doctrine which
knows of no real progress. But that is not the fault
of the Gospel. A few lines further on in this Epistle
we read, u ln Christ are all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge hidden." The true preacher is the
man who has found some of those treasures and who
knows where the rest lie in their rocky bed, who can
bring out of his treasure-house things new and old,
and guide his people to search and find for themselves.
But let no man say whose duty is to teach himself and
others

"in

narrow a

all

for his powers.

wisdom"

in Christ,

that he has too

a scope
he exhaust an infinitesimal fraction

field for his energies, too restricted

If

THE INDWELLING CHRIST

292
of

it

in a lifetime

he will find enough to

and those who hear him

"That

make

himself

rich for ever.

we may present every man

perfect in Christ

reminds us that the Christian teacher is not

concerned with speculative doctrine, but with truth of
so vital and practical a kind that the end of all is the
shaping of character. Not the shaping of outward
conduct only, that does not go deep enough. It is
the man that is to be perfected, not one faculty or
one department of human nature, but Christian man
"

Jesus

hood as such.
ists

men

The Church is not to

enough to shape

clever

turn out special

a pin-head, but
not mere thinkers, or

unable to sharpen a pin-point

mere practical men, but each man fully fashioned for
all that becomes a man, in virtue of his union with the

Lord Jesus Christ, the One Perfect Man and Perfecter

of all men. We may admit that it is a fair test of a
Church whether it turns out saints, provided the term
saint be used in its own glorious breadth and height.
The end of all proclaiming Christ is to fashion fullyformed Christians, not unworthy of Him whose name
they bear. And it is an end for which every Christian
toil through a lifetime, or a thousand
he had them.
Toil is needed. St. Paul is not likely to forget that.
He does not, however, here exhort others to expend
their powers, but says most suggestively that he finds
the need of putting forth all his own as in verse 29,
labour and agonize." Everything worth having
and worth doing in this world needs to be toiled after.
The reason is obvious, for it is the toiling and striving,

may

gladly

lifetimes

if

"I

as well as the possessing, which helps to make the

But the toil and strife, which would be as

man.

futile as
left

to

they are painful, if Paul or any man were

alone, prove delightful and triumphant

toil

THE INDWELLING CHRIST

because the measure of them is another Power,
worketh in me mightily." "According to the

293
"which

power"

that the precise proportion of true work to this

which I put forth is measured by the proportion

means
end

of the indwelling
"Live
use.

and

might

of

God which

appropriate

said John Foster; of no

true than of the man who

mightily,"

one should this be more

attempts to preach Christ. And the only security for
the fulfilment of so lofty and so exacting a precept is
the welling up within us of the exceeding greatness
of the

might

of PI is

power.

Who

is

sufficient for these

things ? Our sufficiency is from God, who also made

us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant, according
to the working of that, power whereby He is able to
subdue all things unto Himself.

THE HIDDEN LIFE

"

Your

hid with Christ in

life is

God."

COL.

in. 3.

We must therefore invoke God Himself, not with external

when we approach by
speech, but with the soul itself
ourselves alone to the Alone." FLOTINUS.
"

There

A
Say

is

in God,

some say

deep, but dazzling darkness; as

it

is late

See not

here

all clear.

for that

Might

men

and dusky, because they

live

Night! where I with Him

invisible and dim!"
H. VAUGHAN.

XV
l

THE HIDDEN LIFE

IT

is

busy week should

well that the meetings of a

The melody should end upon

close with devotion.

the keynote. Whilst devotion has never been absent

from the gatherings of this Council, we remind one

another in this closing session that whilst we may be

lawfully careful about many things, yet one thing is
needful.

That means that we emphasize

cultivation

of

in

this

hour the

Inner Life. By this it is not

a life of contemplation as dis

the

intended to laud
tinguished from a life of activity, or some particular
which is to prevail over all
type of "saintliness
the Inner Life means that
of
Cultivation
others.
"

whatever duties we are called on

to fulfil

in the study,

business, politics, or societywhatever be our temperament and type of individual

service, there is for each of us an inner central
chamber of the heart which contains the ruling,
guiding, driving power of the whole and that, whilst
health and soundness of every part of our nature is
the pastorate,

in

in

important,

here
of

is

all

the spring,
the

rest.

the source

The

and the

condition

of this
the question of questions for every man.
Is sufficient attention paid to it?
No fear need be

inspiration
Inner Life

is

entertained as to the interest of

1

An

more concrete and

address delivered at the Free Church Council held in

Swansea, March 1909.

297

THE HIDDEN LIFE

298

exciting topics. An ecclesiastical council is sure of

a crowd when social, political, and some theological
questions are being discussed. But many shrink

from any reference

to the deepest

themes of

all,

as

if

upon these the less said the better. It is not well

that the Church should countenance the habit of the
world and agree to shelve the things that matter
most.
I

This innermost

life

is

the one reality.

Poets and

Maeter
philosophers teach this in their own way.
linck tells us of the threshold of "the third enclosure,"
behind which

the

of life.
Browning, in his
expounds the doctrine of the
in ascending order of
three souls in man which
What Does, what
importance make up one soul
Knows, what Is, three souls, one man." M. Arnold
has written words about the "Buried Life" which
can never be forgotten by those who know them, as
"Death

in the

is

life

Desert,"

"

he tells of those rare moments when a "bolt is shot

back somewhere in our breast, the eye sinks inward
and the heart lies plain, and what we mean we say,
and what we would, we know." Carlyle, in a wellNot what I have, but
known passage, declares
what I do is my kingdom." That is hardly true.
Not what I have is my kingdom we have learned that
a man s life consists not in the abundance of the
Not what I know is my
things that he possesses.
so
soon
does
knowledge become antiquated
kingdom,
and obsolete not what I say in w ords always inade
quate and often unreal is my kingdom nor even in
what I do, so little can I accomplish of what I would
"

fain achieve,

No; what

and

am

my reach so far exceeds my grasp.

my kingdom; and then the ques-

is

THE HIDDEN LIFE

299

We turn from philosophy

tion presses, What am I ?
and poetry to religion, and especially to the Christian
religion, and we are reminded of the "inward man,"
the "hidden man of the heart," and hear the memor
able words,

"Your

life

is

hid with Christ in

God."

the one thing that counts for each one

life
of us, and that alone.
Grant at once that it is in and through the outward
that the inward is realized; there must be no false

That

is

What we know streams in and helps to

make us what we are what we are streams out in
what we do and is modified by it; what we say, and
even what we have, are elements in character of great
antithesis.

importance. Still it is the fashioning of the man, the

inmost individual being, that determines all the rest,
and in our days the close study of this side of religion
at a discount.
is
It is
disparaged by some as
Quietism, Mysticism, Individualism, and these names
are supposed to be synonymous with the unpractical,
the ineffective, the selfish.
Doubtless differences of
that
Christians
on this matter
opinion
appear among
are not so deep-seated as might be thought the ques
tion is not one of principle, but of precedence, of
emphasis.
Every Christian believes that the inner
life must be manifested in the outward, and that
;

external activities cannot be rightly maintained with

out purity and power in the inward springs of life.
It

may

be open to question whether, at this moment,

stress needs chiefly to be laid upon the inward or the

outward aspect of Christian life and character,

though to my own mind the signs of the times are

Of the supreme value of the Hidden
patent enough.
Life there can be no doubt whatever.

THE HIDDEN

300

LIFE

II

What

has been occupying the attention of the

during the last few days? Theological
questions have arisen, religious unrest has been
admitted, and we have been reminded of the para
mount importance of Christian experience as evidence
Council

and the ground

ence

Where

amount

is

ultimate appeal.

of
it,

who has

and what weight

to,

of

it,

What

experi

how much does

argument

will

it

bear

it

to experience must possess a

rich inner life of their own behind their words, or they

Churches that appeal

will

appeal in vain.

Church organization has been much

Or

in

evidence in

and
Congregationalists
a
word
which
disclaim
the
use
of
applies
Baptists
more properly to the highly organized Presbyterian
and Methodist communities, the multitudinous meet
our

discussions.

if

all Churches point the same

comes
Whence
the driving power that keeps

ings and activities of

lesson.
all

task

this
?

Is it adequate to the
?
Christian
Without any lack of
entirely
be
of
much
ecclesiastical
said
business
may

machinery going?
Is

charity it
that there

it

is in it little

that

is

distinctively Christian.

Non-Christian, or even anti-Christian, considerations

too readily rush in to fill up a deficiency of Christconstrained spiritual energy.

And

serious doubt has

many minds of late whether the spiritual

force of the Churches behind all these manifold
activities is keeping pace with the demand made upon
is called on to accomplish.
It is
it, and the work it
arisen in

not a question as to whether a Christian man should

take his part in social and political life; every Church
member should discharge these duties according to

THE HIDDEN

LIFE

301

the measure of his capacities and opportunities.

if he does so, it must be as a Christian.
His

inward

life

must be mighty enough

to

But

own

enable his

Christianity to prevail, so that his influence and action

may be distinguished from those of the mere politician

and philanthropist. A Christian is called on to pro

mote the advancement of the kingdom of God, not
the mere amelioration of the kingdoms of this world.
The two aims may to some degree overlap, but if
the distinctively Christian element is to prevail, the
tides of spiritual life within the Churches and their

members

individual

must

be

potent,

adequate,

irresistible.

Cultivation of the hidden

Our

life is

fathers understood

necessary

if it is

to

cultivation, the
practice of earnest prayer, reverent study of the Bible
flourish.

by

and devotional books, with meditation and endeavour

to make their own by faith the life that is hid with
Christ in God. Their fathers before them for nearly
two thousand years used similar methods. Have we
outgrown them ? Are these amongst the old-fashioned
ways which we style "early Victorian," and, confident
our maturity, are prepared to leave behind us ?
Bible is it read, known, loved, thought and
prayed and wrestled over till its deepest religious
teaching is afresh assimilated? The chief interest
excited concerning it to-day is aroused by criticism,
in

The

which in some directions is doing excellent service.

But the Bible is essentially a book of religion, not a
collection of literary documents. There is a time and
place for examination into the details of its composi
tion, but it is as food for the hidden man of the heart
that it is all-important, and it is a question whether
the

coming generation

in

any stratum

the Bible well or appreciates

its

of society

knows

value for the world.

THE HIDDEN LIFE

302

Every Christian prays; but how? One who would

know the hidden world of prayer must be a familiar
denizen of it; hasty and occasional visits will teach
him nothing. Whilst Sir Oliver Lodge is urging the
power in the spiritual world of filial communion and
those aspirations and petitions which "exert an influ
ence far beyond their conscious
tians,

who ought

range,"

some Chris

know

better, plead that work is

that social reform is of more importance

to

worship, and
These things, there
than "pietistic communings."
and
not to leave the
to
have
fore, ought ye
done,
other undone.
Besides, the

life

of prayer

itself

a lofty and arduous

experience
only a means to an end, the rooting
and grounding of personal life in God Himself, God
revealed in Christ and indwelling by the Holy Spirit.
It is the health, the vigour, the abundance of that
is

individuals and Churches which is the test of

prosperity, as it is the spring of all external

life in

real

and power. Prayer has its grades, steps

upon
pathway stretching towards
shining
tablelands to which our God Himself is moon and
influence

the

"the

Teresa, following earlier mystics, compared

the four stages of advancement in prayer to (i) the
toilsome drawing of water from the well ; (2) receiving
it from a revolving wheel; (3) opening the sluice of
sun."

a running stream
taneous rain from
;

labour of our

own

and

(4)

heaven.
effort to

drinking in of the spon

In the first stage the
gain a blessing is felt,

At the next, the toil of the soul is

else.
by the grace of God; at the third stage,
grace does most of the work, though effort is per
ceptible; whilst at the last, the highest and best, the
soul is bathed as in a Divine atmosphere, and its
strength renewed without any beating and striving
and

little

relieved

THE HIDDEN LIFE

303

of the soul s wings, any labour of spiritual ascent.

Prayer is a means to an end, but of many travellers
on the roacTcOO few reach the goal. Tennyson calls

mystery where God-in-man is one with manin-God," and its life is maintained by the alternate
systole and diastole of the devout heart contracting
it

"that

in eager, active, human aspiration, and dilating to

receive the sustaining and vitalizing influence of
But the end of communion is union. Not
grace.

absorption, not passivity, not the loss or diminution

of personal life or power, but its interpenetration and

transformation by the Divine indwelling.

In modern psychology the unit of conscious life
is not thought alone, or feeling alone, or \vill alone,
but all three in movement, the will being primal
in

personal

life.

Another

well-known

feature

of

modern psychological teaching, though surrounded

as yet with some obscurity, is the existence of a
subliminal consciousness, or a sub-conscious self as
constituting a kind of raw material of character, gradu
ally

shaped

experience

it

and fashioned, as in the course of

emerges in conscious activity. If these

thought are followed, they suggest a large

field for prayer.
Prayer implies an effort
of will to bring the whole nature within the operation
of the Divine Spirit, an energizing of the whole nature
lines of

and various

for the attainment of the soul s highest desires. But

in Christian prayer stress is laid upon the
operation

of the Spirit of God, not only from above,

raising
and purifying the human spirit, but from beneath in

the depths of the soul behind consciousness, as

He

helps our infirmities and pleads for us in yearnings

that can find no words.
The truest prayer is
"in

the

Holy

This

is

Ghost."

hard work.

Here, as

in

every department

THE HIDDEN

304
of

life,

achievement

is

LIFE

proportioned

to

energy.

the phraseology of James v. 16 means that

the prayer of the righteous man is "inwrought" by

Whether

to a high end
avail
can
much in
prayer
may
only
it
as
is
both
and
proportion
energizing. It
energized
is the psychologist William James, not a preacher,
who describes this energy "the conscious person as
continuous with a wider self through which saving
experiences come," our small wheel being "linked
up with the Pow er House of the universe." The
metaphor is mechanical, but the philosopher, though
he hesitates to use the name God, holds that this
"positive content of religious experience is literally

the Spirit or itself

be debated

"

works

effectually"

and objectively

true as far as

it

six

in the twentieth century do not

hours out of the twenty-four in

Catherine of Genoa did, or

five,

as

Men and

goes."

women

was

spend

their

prayer, as
the custom of

Bishop Andrewes; some are well

satisfied with five

not a question of length of time, but
desire of heart, concentra
of the energy of the soul
and the
tion of mind, strenuous exertion of the will

minutes.

It is

the powers of man are thrown into

Here is
active co-operation with the will of God.
the secret fount of that life which is hid with Christ

extent to which

in

all

God, the source and spring and strength of

all

the rest.

Ill

The

effect

upon outward

inward springs

is

life

manifest.

of this

nourishment of

The manifold

activities

people are not the steady outflow of a

fully formed character; they rather represent jets and
of

many good

THE HIDDEN

LIFE

305

spurts of irregular energy and are correspondingly

The restlessness of
uninfluential and ineffective.

fragmentary efforts and piecemeal enterprises produces

an altogether different impression from the steadfast
maintenance in all relationships of one course, deter
mined by the flow ot one spirit. Such a life can only
be fed and fashioned by the continuous indwelling
of the Divine Spirit, and this higher note is not

Church life of to-day.

In an impressive passage in his recently published
Miscellanies, Lord Morley says :
By holiness do
we not mean something different from virtue ? It is

characteristic of the average

"

same as duty, as religious belief. Holiness

name for an inner grace of nature, an instinct
the soul, by which, though knowing of earthly

not the
is

of

the

and worldly passions, the

from these and independent of

appetites

spirit,

itself

all

purifying

reason, argu
ments, and fierce struggles of the will, dwells in living,
patient, and confident communion with the seen and

unseen

good."

adds the writer, with a certain pathos of his

are being drawn into matters too high for
He will not use the name of God, still less the
word Christ, but that which Lord Morley describes
is, as he acknowledges, the atmosphere of the saint,
not the philosopher, of the Imitatio, not the Nicomachean Ethics. Flowers spring from hidden seed,
no ingenious machinery can produce them. The sim
"But,"

own,

"we

us."

plicity and spontaneousness, the fragrance and charm

of such spiritual blossoms can only be attained with

out effort by Christians, the roots of whose hidden life

strike deep in no earthly soil the fruit of the Spirit
;

grows only in the garden of God.

For the Christian, the Cross is the key to all the
open secrets of the hidden life. St. Paul makes this

THE HIDDEN LIFE

306

when he says, u Ye
The word
hidden."
clear

died,

"died"

is

and your

(real) life is

a strong one, far too

strong for the prevailing habit of mind to-day, too

strong for any except those who understand what a
foe sin is, and that the warfare with such an adversary
is one of life and death.
Moralists of the twentieth

century deprecate violence, and would have men begin

gradually and go forward gently in the process of
reducing the amount of evil in the heart and in the
world, for after all, they say, evil is a necessary con
dition for the existence of good.
Paul an over
estimated theologian in the view of many of our
contemporaries will have none of this. Continue in
sin, parley or compromise with Christ s arch-foe ?
How can we w ho died to sin, died in and with Christ,
continue any longer therein ? The new life we enjoy
began in the death of the old nature, it is preserved
and flourishes now only by the continuous use of that
7

cross on which the old desires were crucified and by

which they must still be mortified right on to the very
last, when the body itself is put off and earthly tempta
The inner life is one of continual joyful
tions cease.
self-crucifixion,

the

doing

to

death

of

all

that

in

tendency threatens the supremacy of the higher and

The power of the Cross alone can free
better self.

from the guilt and stain of the past, as in it alone is

found the secret of a new, sacred, ineffable life, named
in St. John s Gospel "eternal," in one of Paul s
Epistles
It is

"life

indeed."

named again

life

"in

Christ."

Bishop West-

the labours of the Revisers for ten

in nothing but the liberating and
resulted
had
years
exhibiting of the New Testament phrase cv xpfa, the
time and labour would have been well spent. But the

cott said that

phrase

"I

in

if all

Christ"

must be balanced by

that other

THE HIDDEN LIFE

307

Christ in me," if we would understand

Paul and St. John and Christ Himself aright.
Abide in me" goes hand in hand with "and I in
It is, happily, no part of my duty to expound
you."
the meaning of the Unio Mystica between the believer
and his Lord.
But I hold that Professor H. R.
Mackintosh is abundantly justified when in a recent
issue of the Expositor he pleads for the word
as indicating a deeper and closer union
"mystical"
than the word "moral." The believer s union with
Christ is "initiated on His side and sustained at every
point by Plis power." Our connection with Christ
does not consist in, nor is it exhausted by, "the con
scious feelings and motives which pass through our
Christ holds me when I cannot consciously
minds."
realize His presence, and "regeneration makes a man
Christ s in a deeper fashion than he may ever dream."
But the life initiated and sustained by the Lord must
be cultivated and assimilated by the believer, or it
Here is the weakness
dies down, and may die out.
sacred phrase,

"

St.
"

much which to-day goes by the name of religion.

For without constant care and continuous effort that
Divine Presence, which is one with, yet higher than,
our own consciousness, and its uplifting power as it
penetrates and transfigures without absorbing our own
personality, cannot be realized, and it easily comes to
be spoken and thought of as an empty dream. Nay,
it is unreal and vain for all except those who have been
initiated into the Master s secret, and these, be it ever
remembered, are for the most part not the wise and
prudent, but the babes who are wiser than they.

of

THE HIDDEN LIFE

308

IV

Some may be

impatient of the ideas here imperfectly

described, and represent them as

abstract and un
no
actual, tangible results. They
practical, producing
are greatly mistaken.
As well might they describe
nerve-action as fanciful and useless because it is not
muscular. The shaping of the whole inner man is the
first product of the inner life, and this is the one thing
that will abide

The

when

all

things earthly are fled away.

between Christ and the believer

secret

follow after, if that I

here,
me."
seized
The new
Christ
"I

lies partly

seize that for

may
name

that

He

which

gives,

i. e.

He is forming, forms the inscription

on the white stone which is the pledge of His personal
friendship, and none knows what that is but he who
the

new

receives
follow.

self that

it.

New

Dante

mediaeval saints
of the new life.
God is seen in
as

He

new
the

when he speaks
For
all

sees them.

revolution

thought,

embodies
all

light,

thought
of

things are

things,

What

and

God
now

all

new

vision

of

many

as the mirror

seen in God,
things are seen

a revelation and what a

Other results follow that I am not called upon to

But the same acts wear an altogether different
aspect, according as they are done by a man of this

trace.

world, or by a

God.

man whose

The Father who

life is

hid with Christ

sees in secret has

in

many ways

His children openly which they them

know. It is the unconscious shining of
Moses face after his sojourn on the Mount which
produces a brilliance that others can neither under
stand nor imitate. There are many kinds of light, all
valuable in their place but what the world wants from
of rewarding
selves do not

THE HIDDEN LIFE

the Christian

upon moral,

is a..distinctive,

social,

and high

309
political

higher kind of light, such as

questions
never was on sea or land, which the true Christian
If the Church neglects
alone can shed upon them.
her highest function for the sake of adding one more
to the multitudinous cries vociferated round us in the

the world will be impoverished and the

Divine purpose unaccomplished.
Where real life exists manifestation will take care
The underground river, fed from hidden
of itself.
will
emerge in due time as a clear, full stream,
springs,

modern Babel,

The coral polyp

at which the nations may drink.
builds steadily on under the water amidst the ceaseless
beating of the surf, and ere long there appears above
the surface the atoll reef with its waving palms and
lagoon. Realities have their own way of assert
even in a world of shadows often
themselves,
ing
mistaken for realities. The hidden life is the most
potent life, even amidst the half-lights of earth, and
the time will come when the day will break and the
still

"When Christ, who is our life,

flee away.
be manifested, then shall we also with Him be
manifested in glory."

shadows
shall

MYSTICAL RELIGION

We all, with unveiled face reflecting as a mirror the glory

of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory
"

to glory,

even as from the Lord, the

Spirit."

COR.

iii.

18.

looke at last up to that Soveraine Light,

pure beams al perfect beauty springs
That kindleth love in every godly spright,

"And

From whose

Even the love of God, which loathing brings

Of this vile world and these gay-seeming things,
With whose sweet pleasures being so possest

Thy

11
straying thoughts henceforth for ever rest.
SPENSER.

We begin by degrees to perceive that there are but two

beings in the whole universe, our own soul and the God who
"

made

it."

J.

H. NEWMAN.

Till your spirit fillcth the whole world, and the stars are
your jewels; till you are as familiar with the ways of God in
all ages as with your walk and table
till you
delight in
God for being good to all you never enjoy the world. The
world is a mirror of infinite beauty, yet no man sees it. It is
the Temple of Majesty, yet no man regards it.
It is a reign
It is the place
of Light and Peace, did not men disquiet it.
"

of angels

and the gate

of Heaven."

TRAHERNE.

XVI
MYSTICAL RELIGION

MAETERLINCK
us,

one of his

in

notable passage,

earlier essays says in a

spiritual epoch is perhaps upon

to which certain analogies are found in
"A

an epoch
For there are periods recorded when the soul
obedience to unknown laws seemed to rise to the

history.
in

very surface of humanity, whence it gave clearest

evidence of its existence and its power. There are
centuries in which the soul lies

undisturbed

but to-day

dormant and slumbers

it

is

clearly

making a

mighty effort, and it would seem as though humanity

were on the point of struggling from beneath the
crushing burden of matter that weighs it down."
Some readers of these words would say that in them
the wish was father to the thought, and the hope they
express too good to be realized. Materialism in fact,
if not in theory, is, we are often told, in possession of
the field; it beclouds our vision, clogs our aspirations
and hampers our best activities. The soul of man, it

might rather seem, in the beginning of the twentieth

century, is still heavy with sleep, and though at times
tossing uneasily in its slumbers, it is unable fully to
open its eyes, or lift itself to face the light of day.
Broad generalizations on either side as to the spirit
of the age are usually to be distrusted, but one sig
nificant fact will not be lost sight of by the careful

observer
It is

the striking revival of interest in Mysticism.

keep the word out of current dis-

as difficult to

3*3

MYSTICAL RELIGION

314

cussions on religion as to keep the word Socialism out

of politics.
Twenty years ago in this country both

names seemed

belong to the kingdom of the air,

But as
practical Englishmen had little use for either.
to

we

are all Socialists now," so now we are all supposed

understand that Mysticism is of the very essence of
religion.
"Every one is something of a mystic; no
one is nothing but a mystic," wrote Father Tyrrell in
what was probably his last essay, published only since
"

to

The

ideas of vague speculation and dreamy

had attached to the name have now given
keen appreciation of its vitality and import

his death.

futility that

place to
ance. Special attention

is paid to any
living voices
that can speak with authority on the subject, while
there is a growing desire to know more of the history of

Mystical religion in the past and forecast

its

prospects

for the future.

Thus
topics

pendulum of popular opinion on great

swings to and fro generation after generation,
the

and refuses

at

any stage

to

remain

still

in a position

But the curiosity of to-day is

than
the apathy or contempt
more
intelligent
hardly
still
too little understood.
of yesterday.
is
Mysticism
even
Confusion prevails
among experts on the subject,
a
who
would
student
so that
begin by defining his
of central equilibrium.

variance.

Noack,

the

almost hopelessly at
author of one of the best

treatises in

German on

the mysticism of the Middle

terms

his

finds

authorities

and R. A.
best-known writers on the subject
in this country, defines it as "that form of error which
mistakes for a Divine manifestation the operations
Ages, defines

Vaughan, one

it

as

"formless speculation,"

of the

of merely human faculties."

Again, whilst Troilo s
of
is
definition
pallid fluctuating phan
mysticism
tasmagoria which takes the place of reality," Pfleiderer
"a

MYSTICAL RELIGION

315

but the fundamental feeling

life at its very heart and
With him stands Edward Caird surely no
centre."
visionary who speaks of it as "religion in its most
concentrated and exclusive form, that attitude of man
in which all other relations are swallowed up in the
If this be true, we are
relation of the soul to God."
not surprised to find another writer describing "dog
matic as the skeleton," mysticism as the "life-blood
whilst Dr. Inge thinks the
of the Christian body
shortest definition ever suggested one of the best
describes

as

it

of religion

"nothing

the religious

"

"Mysticism is
It

the love of

would appear

Pattison

is

God."

after all that Professor

Pringle-

mark amidst

chaos of

nearest the

this

when he says

in the Encyclopedia Britanphase of thought, perhaps rather

of feeling, which from its very nature is hardly sus

opinions

nica, "Mysticism is a

ceptible of exact

definition."

But

from which that sentence

in

the excellent

taken, an article
worth many longer treatises, the writer shows that it
He describes
is exact definition alone that is lacking.
Mysticism on its philosophical or speculative side as
article

"the

endeavour of the human mind

essence or the ultimate reality of

is

to

grasp the Divine

while on

things";

its religious and practical side it is "the enjoyment

and blessedness of actual communion with the High
The words that follow are most illuminating,
and in our opinion touch the very heart of the subject
"The
thought that is most intensely present with
the mystic is that of a supreme, all-pervading and
indwelling power in which all things are one." The
fact is that in English one word is made to cover
est."

several meanings.
1

Abb

It is

In

German Mystik

is

used

in a

attributed by Joly in his Psycholopv of the Saints to

See pp. 37, 38.

Huvelin.

MYSTICAL RELIGION

316

to indicate the legitimate share which feel

ing possesses in the constitution of the religious life,

good sense

while Mysticismus denotes the one-sided and excessive

development of a religious principle in itself sound

enough.

It
if

is

clear

one name

that
is

careful

discrimination

to include

is

Montanists and

necessary
Methodists pseudo-Dionysius and George Fox St.
Francis, Meister Eckhart, and Swedenborg Scotus

Erigena, Jacob Bohme, William Law, and William

Blake; and if Neo-Platonists, Anabaptists, and

Moravians are

all

alike

to

find

shelter

under the

comprehensive hospitality of this one roof.

The questions thus raised are not merely historical

and academic. Scholars may be left to discuss the

most appropriate classification of thinkers in the past.

The

Christian minister of to-day wishes to know how

to pass that the same convenient name of
is given to preachers so different from one
"mystic"
it

comes

another as Alexander \Vhyte and R. J. Campbell

whether both are right or both are wrong; or, if one
be right and the other wrong, how far the mysticism
:

A
is responsible for the result, and why.
is
these
not
to
to
answer
brief
questions
easy
gain.
Many books have been published on the subject during
the last decade, of which two are specially noteworthy.
Baron von Hiigel s treatise on The Mystical Element
of Religion runs to nearly a thousand closely printed
pages and is largely concerned with Catherine of
Genoa, whilst the learned and exceedingly able
analysis of mystical processes which concludes his
second volume is written in so involved and technical
of either

a style that the average reader can hardly be expected

Professor Rufus Jones s Studies
to toil through it.
in

Mystical

Religion

surveys the movements

are
in

mainly

historical.

He

the Christian Church, which

MYSTICAL RELIGION

317

may properly be described as mystical, from primitive

times to the seventeenth century, though the treatment
Reformation period is avowedly scanty, in view
companion volumes subsequently to appear. Dr.
Inge whose volume of Bampton Lectures of 1899
remains on the whole the most useful guide for the

of the

of

English student of Christian Mysticism has in his

Margaret Lectures of 1906 described a few English
mystics in a popular, but not superficial, fashion. His
list includes Juliana of Norwich, Walter Hylton, and
William Law, together with chapters on Wordsworth
and Browning. The introductory Lecture on the

Psychology of Mysticism
volume.

is

the

most valuable

in the

Our

present object is briefly to indicate some of the

widely differing tendencies which go under the general
name of Mysticism, to discriminate between them,

they have in common and where

they diverge, criticizing each according to the direc
tion, desirable or otherwise, in which they respectively
move. It will be convenient to begin by delimitating
inquiring

how much

the subject.
In its widest sense the

name Mysticism

is

employed

sense of the Infinite, of a relation to a

within,
above, and around us the transcen
Being
dental element which belongs to philosophy, literature,
and art as well as to religion so far as this is realized
to describe the

Hence Mysticism has been

Spinoza and Hegel, Burne-Jones and Hoiman Hunt, as well as in Augustine and John of the
Harnack says of Neo-Platonism, "The in
Cross.
stinctive certainty that there is an eternal highest good

in

personal experience.

found

in

MYSTICAL RELIGION

318
lying beyond

all

outer experience, and yet not an

this feeling and the accompanying

intelligible good
conviction of the entire worthlessness of all earthly

things, were produced and fostered by Neo-Platonism.

... It begot the consciousness that the only blessed

ness which can satisfy the heart must be found else

where than in the sphere of the reason. That man does
not live by bread alone, is a truth that was known
before Neo-Platonism but it proclaimed the deeper
truth, which the earlier philosophy had failed to recog
;

man does not live by knowledge alone."

Neo-Platonism was mystical. It was not con
tent to abide by the Arabian distinction between Abul
Khain the mystic and Abu AH Seena the philosopher.
When these conferred together, on parting the philo
sopher said, "All that he sees, I know," and the mystic
The true mystic
said, "All that he knows, I see."
much more than any philosopher can
claims to "see
But Neo-Platonism "led nowhere."
"know."
It
exalted feeling at the expense of thought, and its
disciples were lost in a sea of vague emotion, whilst
Spinoza and Hegel identify thought with reality and
may be described as rationalists rather than mystics.
1

nize, that

So

far

"

Only

in a general sense

can the term be applied

to

Spenser and Wordsworth, to the suggestive

symbolism of the artist Watts, or to transcendental
moralists like Emerson.
Mysticism is properly religious. By this we mean
poets like

that neither art nor philosophy nor literature can fill

out the proper connotation of the term. The mystic
does not merely reach forth towards the transcen
dental; he has been brought into immediate contact

with
1

it

by personal

experience,

Dogmen-Geschichte, Vol.

P- 344. 345-

I,

p.

and
725.

to the Infinite

Eng. Trans., Vol.

he
I,

MYSTICAL RELIGION

319

gives the name God. True, that sacred term may

be very differently interpreted. It is very variously
understood by the Pantheist of the Vedanta, the Sufist
of Persia,

and the Buddhist seeker

That which

all

after the Way.

in common
possess
mystical religionists
is a reaction of the soul against ceremonialism and
dogmatism, and a pressing after direct communion

with the great Object of all worship. The mystic

professes to find where others only seek, to enjoy and
appropriate by direct communion that which ordinary
men are acquainted with only by the hearing of the
ear.

The

Christian

systems strive
completeness.
of the hints

what other religious

Christianity alone attains in its
not concerned to deny the value

believes that

after,

He

is

and suggestions given by poets and philo

sophers; he recognizes that in the religions of the

world God has not left Himself without witness, but
has "made of one every nation of men for to dwell on
that they should seek God,
all the face of the earth
.

haply they might feel after Him and find Him";

but that in and through Christ vital union with the
only true God is made possible for all, even for the
if

disobedient and

evil.

The

Christian student prefers

by history. He
what Mysticism ought at its best
to be, not the unworthy vagaries in which professed
votaries have indulged under cover of a noble name.

in this instance to define

by

type, not

takes the ideal of

As

in

attempting to define religion, we are

lost

if

we

seek to include under one general term all the historical

manifestations that have claimed the name.
It is
nature" of religion as
preferable to ask what is the
indicated by its highest capacities and potentialities,
disregarding the excesses and extravagances by which
"

ignorant and fanatical disciples have often disgraced

MYSTICAL RELIGION

320

From this point of

religious character.
direct communion with God is possible and has
the

view
been

partially attained by many, the true way of full-orbed

realization, free both from excess and defect, being

found

in Christ

and Christianity.

"

It is

Moberly says,
or,

Hence Dr. R. C.

who

is

the true mystic

of expression be preferred, it is He
has realized all that Mysticism and the mystics

if

who

Christ

the

mode

have aimed

at.

...

In

Him

means a harmony, a sanity, a

The real truth
pleteness.
.

this perfect realization

fitly

proportioned

of Christian

com

Mysticism

the doctrine, or rather the experience, of the

Ghost. It is the realization of human person

is in fact

Holy

ality as characterized by, and consummated in, the

indwelling reality of the Spirit of Christ, which is
God."

But as some definitions have proved too wide, others

The term is employed by
have been too narrow.
Roman and Anglo-Catholics of "mystical theology"
and "mystical interpretation of Scripture." The
former is sometimes identified with ascetical theology,
the science which treats of virtues and perfections and
The
the means by which these are to be attained.
experimental side of the subject deals, says a high
Roman Catholic authority, with
pure knowledge
of God which the soul ordinarily receives in a luminous
darkness or obscure light of sublime contemplation,
together with an experimental love so intimate that
the soul, losing itself altogether, is united to God
"a

and transformed into Him."

science which considers "the

Mystical Theology

is

acts of the experimental,

the Scriptures and the
of
the
authority
according to
contemplative saints, giving practical guidance for
1
Atonement and Personality, pp. 312, 314.
altered the order of the sentences.

We

have slightly

MYSTICAL RELIGION
those on the

321

to attain

high contemplation." It
Catholicism here assumes that
which it is our chief object to examine and understand.
By the mystical interpretation of Scripture is to be
This kind
understood the system of allegorizing.
is

clear that

way

Roman

"

"

literal"
from the
distinguishes the
to
and
of
Scripture
professes
"spiritual"
meaning
and
to
of
names
husk
the
symbols
penetrate through
an inner kernel of spiritual realities. But the method
"

of

exegesis

is in itself so doubtful, and in some of its results

the treatment of the Song of Songs, for example so
mischievous, that it should be considered apart.

Disregarding, then, for the present the side-currents

of tendencies in ancient and modern philosophy on
the one

hand and on the other the extravagances

into

which Christian mysticism has too often been be

trayed, we may fasten attention on its main feature as

The mystic
described by Professor Pringle-Pattison
of
direct
the
intercourse
with
maintains
possibility
external
not
media
of
such
this Being
through
beings
"

as historical revelation, oracles, answers to prayer and

the like, but by a species of ecstatic transformation or
identification in

truth

which the individual becomes

in

very

God ceases to
partaker of the Divine nature.
an
and
becomes
him
to
experience."
Or,
object

be an
as Dr. Inge puts it, "Mysticism is an attempt to realize
the presence of the living God in the soul and in
nature; or, more generally, the attempt to realize in
thought and feeling the immanence of the temporal
in

the eternal,

and

of the eternal in the

temporal."

Professor Rufus Jones somewhat more happily phrases

it as "that type of religion which puts emphasis on
immediate awareness of relation with God, on direct

and intimate consciousness of the Divine presence.

It is religion in its most acute, intense, and living

MYSTICAL RELIGION

322

It is especially,

stage."

we may add, a search

for the

Divine within us, guided by an inward light of God

in the soul, rather than a revelation from without in
nature or in history. This knowledge being obviously

Mysticism largely uses symbols

meaning. These, however, only too

difficult to express,

to set forth its

and may be
and
mechanically
unintelligently employed. The type
easily lose their original significance

devout feeling thus indicated is, when sound, the

pith an d core of all true religion and pre-eminently
of Christianity, but as it is capable of perversion and
of

we proceed

abuse,

application and

its

to

inquire as to

its

legitimate

healthy and harmonious

realization.

II

The

Baron von Hiigel s work apart

erudite investigation into the life and teach
ing of Catherine of Genoa lies in the analysis of
religion given by the author and the place assigned to

from

chief value of

its

In a philosophical intro
in relation to it.
duction and again at the close of the whole investiga
Baron von Hu gel
tion
see I. 51 foil, and II. 387
describes three great forces of the soul, with three
great elements of religion corresponding to them.

Mysticism

These are (i) sense and memory, by which we picture

and remember sights and scenes and symbols to
express thoughts and feelings supplied by society,
With this corresponds
tradition, and environment.
the external, authoritative, historical, traditional and
institutional side and function of religion.
(2) The
force by which we rationalize, analyze, and syn
thesize by which we weigh, compare, and combine
details and harmonize them in an intelligible whole.
With this correspond the critical-historical and syn;

MYSTICAL RELIGION

323

thetic-philosophical elements of religion, resulting in

and dogmatic theology. (3) Last and highest

come intuition, feeling, and volition. In this region,
by means of a dim but direct sense and feeling, we
positive

gain an immediate experience of Objective Reality,

the Infinite and Abiding Spirit which penetrates and
works within the finite spirit and in the world at large.
are thus brought to the Mystical and directly
the Experimental.
operative element of religion
Each of these three elements of religion is capable

We

and of this the history of

furnishes
abundant
examples. An exagger
religion
ated insistence on the first leads to a preponderance
of the objective, institutional ecclesiastical element, as
of being carried to excess,

Judaism, heathen Rome, Eastern Christianity and

especially the sacerdotalism and sacramentalism of the
Church of Rome. The second element when per
in

verted issues in Rationalism, as illustrated by the

in the time of Christ, and the Aufkldrung

Sadducees

of the eighteenth century, in the critical processes of

which the heart of religion was eaten out and its

deepest essence destroyed. But the third element also

is capable of perversion, when it becomes Emotional

Fanaticism

sometimes

illustrated

in

an

extreme

asceticism as in the Fathers of the Desert, sometimes

in excesses and immoralities, as in the case of the

Anabaptists of Munster.
ever, are always
tion there is no
;

alone.

The

found more or

example

Von Hugel

three elements,

of either,

traces the

how

combina
taken purely and

less fully in

development of each

man

childhood, youth, and

in
as the Latin and the
various
such
races,
maturity;
Teutonic; in the leading historical religions, which
in

the various ages of

show sometimes one element predominating, some

times another. The treatment given to this part of
Y

MYSTICAL RELIGION

324

the subject is for the most part excellent, though

of the illustrations are strained and fanciful.

some

But it is clear that the soul can only attain full

development when due proportion is observed in the
characteristics
Institutional
social,

and

"

of

its

If

religion.

element possesses
if

political history;

the

"Historical-

affinities

with legal,

the "Critical-Specula

"

element is cognate with philosophical insight

general intellectual advance; the "MysticalOperative element utilizes chiefly the emotional and
tive

and

"

volitional gifts peculiar to certain ages and peoples

special stress on experience and character.

and lays
It

vindicates the importance of direct experience of

as against mere traditional orthodoxies and

God

religious habits and ceremonies which in themselves

are but means of grace.
So also it lays stress on
as
personal experience
against mere intellectual

data which can only result in

generalizations and cannot reach to the

reasoning on

human
Infinite.

finite

None

the less

it

is

dangerous

to rely

on

separate, individual, self-supported personal experi

Von Hugel calls this Exclusive Mysticism,
ence.
"

"

and shows how one-sided and misleading

it

becomes

through ignoring other important elements of soulHe shows, in unnecessarily technical lan
nature.
how
the individual souls depends for the ful
guage,
ness and healthiness of even the most purely mystical

and states upon

past and present contacts
with the Contingent, Temporal, and Spacial, and with
social facts and elements," as well as upon its inward
concentration and direct contact with the Infinite
within and around it.
Only thus does Mysticism
acts

attain to

"its

its

full significance

consists in being,

and

real

power.

in

"

but something in

This

any one soul,

everything
man
and in its
of
soul
every

"not

MYSTICAL RELIGION
amplest development

presents in specially gifted

is present in

it

some degree and form

human soul. Thus

natures what in

every truly

325

Mysticism,

"Pure"

Von Hugel

not very happily styles it, becomes false

Partial
or "Inclusive
whilst
Mysticism
Mysticism,
retains the strength and avoids the weaknesses and
dangers of the "Exclusive" type by maintaining
as

"

"

"

man

alliance with all parts of a

sides of his

Without accepting
exhaustive,

nature and

all

the

life.

we may

this analysis as

much from

learn

it.

adequate and
It would be

perhaps more satisfactory to describe Mysticism proper

as the experience of the Soul or Self as a whole, with
intellectual, emotional, and volitional elements, each
needing to be kept in its place. The same may be
said of Von Hiigel s "seven pairs of weaknesses and
which he considers to be characteristic of
strength,"
mystical religion.

He shows how

the mystic

is

strong

in his inward, contemplative life and weak

in his neglect of the absolutely necessary contact of

and joyful

mind and

will

with the things of sense

how he

approximates most nearly to

Simultaneity and Eternity," but is apt to be defective
delights

in

"all

that

and unsatisfactory in his attention

and temporal presented by history.

to the successive

Under

five other

similar pairs of categories the author works out his

ideas in an interesting and highly elaborate way.

We

attempt in humbler and simpler fashion to point

out some of the dangers, as well as the inestimable
value, of the Mystical Element in religion.

may

Ill

One

notable danger

is

Corruptio optimi pessima.

on the side of Pantheism.

The higher

that

man

tries

MYSTICAL RELIGION

326

the greater is his danger if he fall. The

mystic who seeks to attain direct communion and close
union with the Deity must beware; the waxen wings
to climb,

of Icarus melt long before he approaches the glowing

splendours of the sun. If the danger of full-fledged

Pantheism

is

real

one,

constantly

recurring

in

danger of Pantheistical tendencies is still

Serious mischief may be done without
greater.
accepting Pantheism in its logical completeness and
vigour; the sweep of the dliter currents of a whirlpool
history, the

may

away and drown a swimmer who is

down and overwhelmed in its very vortex.

easily carry

not sucked

Such

truth as lies in the heart of Pantheism a genuine

Theist must ever seek to maintain. He believes in
the Divine immanence in nature and in man, as well

as the possibility of direct unmediated

communion

with the Godhead, but he must beware lest he "strive

to wind himself too high for sinful man beneath the
The Pantheist boldly asserts that God is All
sky."
and All is God. These two statements are not iden
tical.

They imply

respectively (i) that

God

is

the

Whole, the Substance of which all finite beings are

particulars; and (2) that every part of the universe
belongs to the essence of God, who is equally mani
fested in all details.

The Theist may

stop far short

extreme position and yet be in danger of error.

The mystic always rests on the fundamental position
that "God s all, man s nought," without sufficiently
of this

considering that
"Also

Man

God, whose pleasure brought

into being, stands away

were a handbreadth off, to give
Room for the newly made to live,
And look at Him from a place apart,
And use his gifts of brain and heart,
Given indeed, but to keep for ever."

As

it

MYSTICAL RELIGION
It

the lack of belief in a personal

is

stitutes the essence of

Pantheism, and

327

God
in

our

that con

own day
God

the difficulty ot realizing the true personality of

by many very keenly. "Any philosophy," says

Dr. Flint, a high authority on Theism, "which is in
thorough earnest to show that God is the Ground of
all existence must find it difficult to retain a firm grasp
of the personality and transcendence of the Divine."
is felt

So,
the

we may add, any

end

religious
of religion to be, not the

man who

considers

knowing God, fear

and
ing, trusting
obeying Him, but the being able
transcendent
experience to enjoy immediate and
by
union
with
the Source of all knowledge and
complete
must
find
it
difficult
to preserve a due sense of
grace,
man s apartness and alienation from God, all relations
seeming to him poor and distant compared with a
present realization of ineffable union with Him who is
the Ground and Goal of all being.
Hence we are not surprised to find in the history of
even Christians that a strong Pantheistical current has

been present throughout, flowing from Neo-Platonism, through the pseudo-Dionysius into the mediaeval
Church, very marked in Scotus Erigena and appear
ing more faintly in Eckhart and Tauler. The mystic
longing for unity easily loses sight of the transcend
ence of God in His immanence insisting on the death
of self, he finds his consummation in absorption into
;

Deity; believing that it is possible for him to slip the

fetters of space and time, his world-view tends to
obliterate

the

creature.

A man may

distinction

between

go as

God and

the

far as this in practice

full Pantheistic position.

The
indeed, so far from being exceptionally religious,
strictly speaking, destructive of religion. Rauwen-

without accepting the

latter,
is,

hoff says,

"Only

in

name

is

Pantheism a religious

MYSTICAL RELIGION

328

a simple view of the world, not a

Professor Wallace in his
religious conception."
Gifford Lectures puts the matter thus "The
religious
man aims at a growing and increasing divinity or
position at

all,

it is

likeness to

God; if this likeness reach its ideal limit

with the Divine nature, then it is no longer
be entitled religion." He who begins by
God
He
all, ends by making Him nothing.
making
who strives to rise above reason shall find himself fall
outside of reason; he who would raise human nature
in identity
strictly to

above itself to make it divine, will find that he has

only lowered the Divine to the human level. Eckhart,
whom Dr. Inge calls "the greatest of all speculative
a conspicuous offender in the use of dan
gerous phraseology, which yet falls short of theoretical
Pantheism. In his view the Godhead is the abiding
mystics,"

is

potentiality of being, containing in itself all distinc

tions as yet undeveloped.
As all the phenomenal

world comes from God, so all goes back to Him again.

The human soul is a microcosm which in a manner
all things.
"At the
apex of the mind there
a Divine scintilla, or spark, which is so closely akin
to God that it is one with Him and not merely united
This is the organ by which our personality
to Him."
holds communion with the Divine Being, so that "the
eye with which I see God is the same as that with

contains
is

which He sees me." Dr. Inge says that this "un

is really the same as the
created spark
grace of God,
but the change of phrase indicates a changed point of
view in Eckhart the grace of God is God Himself
"

Thus Teresa says,

the beginning I did
know that God is present in all things.
Un
learned men used to tell me that He was present only
acting.

not

"In

I could not believe that.

A most
by His grace.
learned Dominican told me that He was present Him-

MYSTICAL RELIGION
self
ii.

this

was a great comfort

me

to

"

(see

829

Von Hugel,

324).

The language

of true Christian religion is not

that is, it does not
Panentheistic
but
Pantheistic,
obliterate the distinction between the Divine and the
human, but emphasizes the reality and intimacy of
the Divine indwelling where the necessary conditions
;

duly complied with. Even this doctrine, says

Dr. Inge, which is an integral part of Christianity,
may be so taught as to lead to error. "In proportion
are

as the indwelling of God, or Christ, or the Holy

Spirit, in the heart of man is regarded as an opus
operatum, or as a complete substitution of the Divine

human, we are in danger of a self-deification

which resembles the maddest phases of Pantheism."

for the

IV

A kindred danger of Mysticism is that of dispensing

with all mediators and mediation. The Society of
Friends reject sacraments and lay slight stress on the
use of Scriptures. But some mediaeval mystics would
dispense with Christ Himself as Mediator, or at least
would pass beyond Him to the Absolute, using Him
as a mere step to a higher grade of spiritual attain
ment. Christians of this type dwell much on the
doctrine of the Spirit an excellent feature in any
But at
theology, when it is not carried to excess.
the time of the Reformation dangers were rife at
Of Sebastian Frank, Luther said
this very point.
in

his

will not even

uncompromising fashion,
I despise them too much.
If my
"I

answer such men,

nose does not deceive me, he is an enthusiast or

spiritualist, who is content with nothing but spirit,
spirit, spirit, and cares not at all for Bible, Sacrament
or Preaching." Some of the best mystics dwell upon

MYSTICAL RELIGION

330

the doctrine of Christ in us rather than Christ for

us so emphatically that they find little need of Christ

When
except as a pattern of self-sacrifice.
men
should
rise
writes,
Ruysbroek
"Contemplative
above reason and distinction, beyond their created
substance and gaze perpetually by the aid of their
inborn light, so that they become transformed, and
one with the same light by means of which they see,
and which they see," it is clear that as a Christian
at

all

out of his depth and is in danger of being

submerged in a sea of religiosity. The thought of
the sinner saved by grace alone has vanished out
of sight. But the history of Christendom shows only

he

is

too clearly and painfully that the one safeguard of

holiness in heart and life is to preserve this

true

central truth of evangelical Christianity

the end.

supreme unto

Two opposite tendencies were present in mediaeval

Mysticism which have been called subjective and
The subjective type became "entangled in
objective.
theories which sublimate matter till only a shadow
remains," whilst objective Mysticism emphasizes and
finds chief delight in palpable supernatural manifesta
tions.
Curiously enough these strongly contrasted

tendencies which led men to the most widely separ

ated extremes of thought resulted in similar evils in
practice.
Just as the earlier Gnosticism led in one
to extreme asceticism and in another to
unbridled self-indulgence, so mystical teaching may

direction

lead either to contempt of the world by the pathway

of pure contemplation, or may result in excessive

and ceremonies as the vehicles

whereby higher spiritual knowledge and experience
Both are seen in the monasticism
are to be attained.
The unio mystica of the monk
of the Middle Ages.
attention

to

rites

MYSTICAL RELIGION

331

God that the eye

implied such immediate vision of
must be closed to the phenomenal world, the intellect
and will must be laid asleep and the world of nature
and of man was viewed as full of evil, tempting the
"The
soul away from God.
beauty of nature was
was a snare and a
woman
the
of
ignored,
beauty
of higher know
main
sources
hence
two
temptation
of rising to
methods
chief
were
two
closed,
ledge
intercourse with Infinite love and goodness were shut
out as in themselves dangerous and evil. The God
;

"

The highest

of such a devotee is a blank.

condition
soul,"

described as

is

detachment from

The

plete.

are well

by Molinos,

all

known and

of words, of desires,

and

and highest the mind

is

to the

is

so

com

as taught
form the theme of
soul,"

These

of thoughts.

are,

the silence

"In

the last

God alone speaks

w hen man seeks thus

a blank and

In point of

soul."

to abstract himself

earthly light

s sonnets.

spiritual

obscure night of the

silences of the

"three

one of Longfellow

"The

fact,

from appointed sources

of Divine
a
at
he
hears
voice
it
is
often not
all,
knowledge,
Fenelon guarded
that of God, but of the devil.
against the practical dangers implied in some of the
teaching of Catherine of Genoa and Madame Guyon,
though at the expense of his own logical consistency.
if

He had

the

good sense and the piety to perceive that

plummet of logic could not sound the

the line and

depths of the ocean of the Divine love, or even man s

apprehension and enjoyment of that love in its length
and breadth and depth and height.
The mystic of another type is prone to sacramentalism.

which

He
to

lays excessive stress upon the symbols

are sacred vehicles of Divine grace and

him

channels of Divine

Paul and

St.

life.

Dr. Inge finds even in St.

of "that psycho-physical

John traces

MYSTICAL RELIGION

332

theory which demands that the laws of the spiritual

world shall have their analogous manifestations in the
world of phenomena." This connection between the

and the material is, according to the mystic,

not arbitrary or accidental, it is based on the life
that is within life. The "correspondences
of Swedenborg form a conspicuous illustration of this doctrine.
spiritual

"

dangers are as obvious as its beauty and suggestBut the field opened up by the use and
abuse of symbols is far too wide to be entered upon
Its

iveness.

here.

Mysticism be preserved from these and other

perversions and aberrations, it seems impossible to
lay too great stress on its value and importance.
Even to enumerate its services to religious thought
and life would need considerable space. For (i) it
If

It finds the
lays stress upon personal experience.
essense of religion, not in knowledge, not in feeling,
not in mere conduct, but in direct contact with spirit
ual realities.
(2) It constitutes the vital principle of
all spiritual religion,

and has again and again shown

inherent power of accomplishing a reformation in

times of religious decadence and degeneration. Even
when alloyed with serious faults, as in the case of
Montanism, it has uttered an effective protest against
the numbing influences of formalism and ecclesiThe sixteenth and eighteenth are not the
asticism.
only centuries in which an evangelical revival has
found its life and energy in the principles of
its

"mystical,"

mental,"

or, as

religion.

transcendental.

many would
(3)

It

prefer to say, "experi

vindicates the sphere of the

The World beyond

the

world so

MYSTICAL RELIGION

333

is too much with

assure themselves
there is nothing beyond it, and the Church has often
lost the sense of its true vocation as a witness to the
Life which is above life. Thirty or forty years ago

easily fades
us,"

so

from view.

much with

"The

us that

world

men

witness of this kind was laughed to scorn by many

and nearly all men of science. The
philosophers
present generation has experienced a wholesome
reaction against the tyranny of materialism.
The
influence of such men as Professor William James
and Sir Oliver Lodge has reached where sermons and
all
"

"

avowedly religious lectures would be powerless.

That glimpses into a higher region than that of space
and time are possible for men here and now has been
testified to in hundreds of instances, of which the
recorded experiences of Tennyson and J. A. Symonds
notable examples. Mystics of all creeds unite
here; and the strong and sane vindication of the
reality and paramount importance of the spiritual

are

world which these have furnished

of the times

is

one notable sign

outside, as well as inside the pale of

the Churches.

But (4) the immense practical energy which mystics

have infused into the Church must never be forgotten.
General Gordon was described as
practical
but he by no means stands alone. If real
mystic,"
service to the world be considered, rather than the
kind of service which the world as such desires,
practical mystics must be accounted the rule, not the
"a

exception.

Professor Rufus Jones well says,

"Far

from being the unpractical, dreamy persons they are

too often conceived to have been, mystics have
weathered storms, endured conflicts, and lived through
waterspouts which would have overwhelmed souls
whose anchor did not reach beyond the veil.
.

MYSTICAL RELIGION

334

They have been spiritual leaders, they are the

persons who shifted the levels of life for the
This heightening of power for service can only come
race."

from above to those whose souls are prepared for

supernal influences. Where ability to serve in some
capacity or other is not increased by communion with
the Highest, the reality of such communion may be
questioned. For the proof of this we should not
point so much to those rare, choice spirits who have
been finely touched for finest issues, but rather to the

working of true experimental religion in average men

and women. The healing of the world lies in the hands
of

its

"There

nameless saints.
are multitudes of

As Professor Jones says.

men and women in out-of-

in backwoods, towns and uneventful

farms, who are the salt of the earth and the light of
the world in their communities, because they have

the-way places,

had experiences which revealed to them Realities

that their neighbours missed, and powers to live by
which the mere church-goers failed to find." The
chief mistake of Professor James s fruitful volume on
*

Varieties of Religious Experience is that the

author builds so largely on the morbid experiences
of exceptional persons the hysterical and neurotic,
To understand the work
the fanatical and eccentric.

the

ing of any force, its ordinary, not its extraordinary,

In this case particu
operations must be examined.
larly it is necessary to ask, What heightening of the
powers, if any, is produced by the inward experi
ences of mystical religion, when there is no excep
tional genius to work upon on the one hand, nor any
ill-balanced and nervously excitable temperament on
the other ? The whole case may safely be rested on
the answer to this question. That sense of partaking
in a higher life, of being flooded by waves of broader

MYSTICAL RELIGION
influence from beyond,
tion

"

of the- artist,

335

which marks the

belongs

in

still

"inspira

loftier

degree

When

the self as a whole, including

mind and body, feeling and will, is pressed into the
service of a Higher Self who pervades and sustains
and uplifts the whole nature of a man, it were a

to the mystic.

marvel

if

spiritual

generated.
perish," or

energy

"Where
"cast

off

were not
no vision, the people

in practical life

there

is

restraint,"

says the wise man.

spiritual insight furnishes both stimulus and

orderly control. The spirits of the prophets should
always be subject to the prophets; and when that is

For

the case other spirits are subject to

them

also.

in hours of insight willed

be in hours of gloom fulfilled."

"Tasks

May

False mysticism may produce disorder, true mystical

religion develops a divinely controlled and ordered
energy which becomes a very fount and spring of
beneficent service.

VI

Few

whole subject, with

blending of light and shade, could be found than
those connected with the life and work of John
better illustrations of the

its

Wesley. With a brief reference to examples familiar

to the memories of many of our readers this article

may well be brought to a close. The spiritual crisis

which changed the current of Wesley s religious life
determined, as has often been pointed out, the char
acter of Methodism.
This word, when first used as a
nickname at Oxford, bore a very different meaning.
It was given to the members of the
Holy Club
because they laid so much stress on means and
methods, the externals of religion. And whilst

MYSTICAL RELIGION

336

and

Wesley
divinely

his

moved from

mission

in

companions were undoubtedly

the first and the activities of the
were

Georgia

prompted

by

earnest

religious feeling, Wesley so far changed his views

after the experiences of 1738 that he questioned

whether he were indeed a true Christian before then.

The religion which he taught his followers and
which so mightily moved the people wherever he went
was not the rigid asceticism and laboured obedience
of

his

earliest

ministry,

but the

mystical

religion

which took its rise in the room in Aldersgate Street.

He was influenced, as he himself has told us, by
a Kempis and Taylor, Behmen and Spenser, and
But it was the teaching
especially by William Law.
of the Moravians that moved him most deeply and
changed him most effectually. Humanly speaking,
if he had not met Peter Bohler the stream of his life
would have flowed down a different channel. In the
eyes of the historian, as well as of the casual observer,
Wesley s Methodism is one of the best examples of

Mysticism known.

Yet we find Wesley inveighing against the mystics

in vehement terms.
They are of all enemies to
"They stab it in
Christianity the most dangerous.
the vitals." The whole of Behmenism is "sublime
inimitable

nonsense,
paralleled."
christ."

Luther

Protestant

bombast,

The mystic
s

Galatians,
is

religion,

not

fustian

writers are

to

be

great anti
a classic of

"one

esteemed

condemned by Wesley

as

and

because it is
confused,"
"shallow,
muddy
and
hence often
tinctured
with
Mysticism
"deeply

Here

is a clear illustration of
our
terms.
first defining
Wesley was
charged by the sober-minded Anglicans of his time
with "enthusiasm," an accusation which he indig-

dangerously
the need of

wrong."

MYSTICAL RELIGION

337

nantly repudiated; he passed on the indictment and

in still more emphatic terms denounced now Zinzendorf

and

his followers,

now

the

"

French

prophets,"

now Luther and now Behmen, as if their mystical

enthusiasm made them to be worse than infidels. If
Antinomianism, or
Mysticism meant Quietism,
fanaticism of any kind, Wesley would give it no
quarter. But if it is understood to mean immediate,
experimental knowledge of God and Divine things
obtained through Christ and the operation of the

Holy Spirit
Wesley s

of

in the heart,

religion

was the very

it

and the

life-blood

secret of his success as

The Christian Library in fifty

evangelist.
volumes, which represents Wesley s chosen anthology
from Christian divines of all ages, is rich in mystical
It
from F6nelon,
treatises.
contains
selections
Molinos, and William Law, whilst Wesley himself
published a Life of Madame Guyon and often quotes
writers of her school approvingly.
He aimed, as he
his
at
in
one
of
letters,
retaining the good that
says
an

them

is in

"without

useless, but

the dross,

dangerous."

self-controlled,

and

which

Wesley
mind

practical

often not only

eminently sane,
was not attracted
is

by the emotional extravagances which

often

dis

figured genuinely evangelical Mysticism, whilst his

passion for righteousness, for thorough Scriptural

holiness of heart and life, prompted him to denounce
in unmeasured terms the Antinomian errors which in
his
sin

judgment were making Christ the minister of

and turning the vti y grace of God into lascivi-

ousness.

But Wesley
His definition

Methodism

is

mystical to the core.

of saving faith and the stress which

he himself always laid upon the crisis of May 1738

prove that in his judgment the essence of religion

z

MYSTICAL RELIGION

338

lay not in creed, not in worship, not in conduct, but

inward personal experience. For better, for worse,
That this
his followers have followed him in this.
in

was in the main right, true, and both worldand

world-purifying, history has proved.
healing
That it also carries in its train dangers against which
principle

the utmost watchfulness can with difficulty prevail,

But the dangers which
history has also proved.

attended the movement in Wesley s lifetime and since

do not attach to the doctrine as he taught it. The
way in which he preached Christian perfection is a
proof of this.
cautions

So many

are the safeguards, fences,

which Wesley surrounds his

state
and the way to reach it, that
of
the
description
of
his
opponents say that, whilst explaining,
many
he has explained it away. This is not really the case,

and

with

as every candid student of Wesley s teaching con

cerning this loftiest of attainable Christian experi

But there is prima facie ground

and the whole of Wesley s "Plain
Account furnishes an instructive example of the way
in which a great Christian mystic set to work to prune
a too luxuriant plant of leaves and branches which
in his judgment were deleterious to the growth and
highest productiveness of a fruitful vine. That his
teaching has been misrepresented in controversy and
ences must admit.

for the objection,

"

is not surprising, but no

saner enthusiasm, no more practical Mysticism, is to
be found in the whole history of mystical religion
than that of John Wesley.
The result of our brief examination into the mean
ing of a much-abused word has been to demonstrate
the difficulty, if not impossibility, of defining exactly
so elastic a term, so protean a spirit, as that of

often perverted in practice

Mysticism.

Professor

W.

James

"four

marks"

MYSTICAL RELIGION

noetic quality, transciency and passivity

or no better than the "marks" of other

ineffability,

prove

339

little

To

that the mystical sense defies

states of knowledge, which,
implies
expression
however, speedily pass away; and that it includes the
obedience of the will to a superior power which
grasps and sways it, does not leave us with a very
writers.

say

that

what the essence

clear idea of

The reason

is.

it

for this

of mystical experiences
is that Professor

vagueness

James desires to make his definition widely com

prehensive and not distinctively religious. Lectures
1 6
and 17 in his Varieties of Religious Experience
deserve and will repay careful study, but they illus
trate

the

wisdom

of

Pringle-Pattison s

refusal

to

frame an exact definition of Mysticism which we

quoted earlier in this article. A critic who has a
passion for accurate definition must first subdivide
mystical doctrines and movements into their several
classes and then provide each with its appropriate
label.

No

one form of words can

suffice

to char

acterize the almost infinite variety of mystical teachers

and movements to be found in the history of

Christianity alone.

Perhaps

this

elasticity,

dies.

There

or variety of
Mysticism never

versatility,

adaptation furnishes one reason

why

"

nothing of it that doth fade, but

doth suffer a sea-change into something rich and
is

Mystical utterances possess, as W. James

phrases it, "an eternal unanimity which ought to
make a critic stop and think, and which
brings it
about that the mystical classics have, as has been
said, neither birthday nor native land.
Perpetually
telling of the unity of man with God, their speech
antedates languages and they do not
grow old." In

strange."

the

"infirmaries

of the

human

soul,

where

all

thoughts

MYSTICAL RELIGION

340

come day by day

to

die,"

not find a single mystic

and

says Maeterlinck,
thought."

The

"you

will

true mystic

acts sub specie eternitatis

; he "feels
shoots
of everthrough
earthly dress, bright
It
which
is
these
his
life and
preserve
lastingness."
from
the
and
influence
with
teaching
perishing
chang
ing years. Hence his words

thinks, lives

all this

"have power to make

Our noisy years seem moments in the being
Of the Eternal Silence truths that wake
To perish never;
Which neither listlessness, nor mad endeavour,
Nor Man nor Boy,
;

Nor

Can

He
of
"is

that is at enmity with joy,

utterly abolish or destroy

all

"

who, in the phrase of that quintessential volume

Christian Mysticism, the Theologia Germanica,
to the Eternal Goodness what his hand is to a

need fear no touch of change, no disintegration

of decay. To him the Eternal is as time and time is
as Eternity. For here and always he enjoys that life
man,"

which begins, and has no end, in God. For him the

light of true mystical union with the Abiding One
has dawned in its tranquil splendour, and the shadows
cast by the transient, the imperfect, and the unworthy
have passed away for ever.

THE END

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DATE DU-