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CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS 



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THE 



WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 



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THE 

WORK OF THE SPIRIT: 

OR, 

SDoctrinal ani ^xattical MtbitatumB 

ON THE 

NATURE AND WORK OF THE HOLY GHOST 



BY THE 

REV. SAMUEL CUTLER, 

AUTHOR OF "the NAMB ABOVB XVBRY NAMB." 



PUBLISHED BY THE 

AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

219 Washington Street, Boston. 

KURD AND HOUGHTON, 13 Astor Placb, N. Y. 

The Riv*r»kl* Press, Cambridge, MM>. 

1873- 



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Entered, 2vcconiui& to Act gf Co^p^tg, is the j^o^r x373rby 

The American Tract Society, 
in the 0£Sce of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



RIVBRSIDB, CAM^mpGB: 

STBKBOTYPBD AND PRINTED BY 

H. O. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY. 



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PREFACE. 



HE author of these meditation^ pre- 
pared, a few years since, a hand- 
book for Christians, which was 
published under the title of, " The Name 
above Every Name," containing a text for 
every day, with a meditation, and selected 
poetry for every week in the year, on the 
Scriptural titles of our Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ. 

The favor with which this work was re- 
ceived, and the impression that what may 
be regarded as a supplement to it, on a 
similar plan, relating to the nature and 
office of the Holy Spirit, might supply a 
want in the religious literature of the day, 
has led to the preparation of this second 
handbook for Christians. 

It is sent forth with earnest prayer that 
God will bless the publication, and that 



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vi Preface. 

all who read may depend more and more 
on the blessed agency of the heavenly 
Comforter for that wisdom and holiness 
which comes from, and which makes its 
possessor Hke God. 



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TOPICAL INDEX. 










WBBK 


PAGE 1 


I. 


The Holy Ghost our Creator . 


3- 


II. 


The Holy Ghost our Teacher 


7 


III. 


The Holy Ghost our Comforter 


II 


IV. 


The Holy Ghost is the Spirit of God 


15 


V. 


The Holy Ghost is the Spirit of the 






Father 


19 


VI. 


The Holy Ghost is the Spirit of 






Christ 


23 


VII. 


The Holy Ghost is a Person . 


27 


VIII. 


The Holy Ghost is Omnipotent . 


31 


IX. 


The Holy Ghost is Omniscient 


35 


X. 


The Holy Ghost is Omnipresent 


39 


XL 


The Holy Ghost convinces of Sin 


43 


XII. 


The Holy Ghost convinces of Right- 






eousness 


47 


XIII. 


The Holy Ghost convinces of Judg- 






ment 


SI 


XIV. 


The Holy Ghost our Jusiifier 


55 


XV. 


The Holy Ghost our Sanctifier 


59 


XVI. 


The Holy Ghost our Glorifier 


63 


XVII. 


The Holy Ghost is the Maker of Mir- 






acles 


67 


XVIII. 


The Holy Ghost inspired the Proph- 






ets 


77 


XIX. 


The Holy Ghost the Source of Holi- 






ness . ... 


75 


XX. 


The Holy Ghost dwells in the Be- 






liever 


79 



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viii 


Topical Index, 




XXI. 


The Holy Ghost unites the Be- 






liever TO Christ .... 


83 


XXII. 


The Holy Ghost assures the Be- 






liever OF SONSHIP 


87 


XXIII. 


TtiE l^oLY Ghost is the Source of 






Power 


92 


XXIV. 


The Holy Ghost is the Bestower 






OF Power . . . . . 


96 


XXV. 


The Holy Ghost is the Source of 






Joy 


99 


XXVI. 


The Holy Ghost worketh Peace 


106 


XXVII. 


The Holy Ghost the Source and 






DISPENSER of Light 


no 


XXVIII. 


The Holy Gho^t the Source of 






Love ...... 


"5 


XXIX. 


The Holy Ghost the Helper in 






Prayer 


116 


XXX. 


The Holy Ghost rested upon Jesus 






AND aided Him in his Work . 


124 


XXXI. 


The Holy Ghost se>jt forth and 






taught John Bapti^ . 


129 


XXXII. 


The Holy Ghosi' the efficient 
Agency in the Incarnation of 






Christ 


134 


XXXIII. 


The Holy Ghost honoring the 






LAW 


139 


XXXIV. 


The Holy Ghost guided Jesus in 






his Troth 


144 


. XXXV. 


The Holy Ghost anOintMD Jesus 






IN his Baptism . , . . 


149 


XXXVI. 


The Holy Ghost was with Jesus 






IN HIS Temptation 


154 


XXXVII. 


The Holy Ghost was with Jesus 






IN his Ministry .... 


159 


XXXVIII. 


The Holy Ghosi' was with Jesus 






IN his Death .... 


164 



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Topical Index, 



IX 



XXXIX. 

XL. 

XLI. 

XLII. 

XLIII. 

XLIV. 

XLV. 

XLVI. 

XLVII. 

XLVIII. 
XLIX. 

L. 

LI. 

LIL 



The Holy Ghost was with Jesus 

IN HIS RESURRECriON . . . I69 

The Holy Ghost with Jesus in 
Glory 174 

The Holy Ghost guided the Apos- 
tles 179 

The Holy Ghost sends forth Min- 
isters 184 

The Holy Ghost gives Efficacy to 
the Word 189 

The Holy Ghost guides and gov- 
erns the Church . . .194 

The Holy Ghost comforts and 
BUILDS UP the Church . . 199 

The Holy Ghost releases from 
Ceremonials 204 

The Holy Ghost the Regenera- 
tor 209 

The Holy Ghost may be resisted. 214 

The Holy Ghost the Agent in 
Revivals 219 

The Holy Ghost will perfect the 
Believer in the Resurrecfion . 224 

The Holy Ghost will perfect the 
WHOLE Body of Christ at his 
coming 229 

The Holy Ghost will bring the 
ELECT Church to the promised 
Inheritance 234 



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THE WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 




THE HOLY GHOST OUR CREATOR. 
January 1. 
N the beginning God created the heaven 
and the earth. And the earth was with- 
out form, and void; and darkness was 
upon the fece of the deep : and the Spirit of 
God moved upon the fece of the waters. Gen. i. i, 2. 

January 2. 

Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of 

his hand, and meted out heaven with the span ? 

.... Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or 

being his counselor hath taught Him ? Isa, xl. 12, 13. 

January 3. 
And God said, Let us make man in our image, 
after our likeness; .... so God created man in 
his own image. Gen, i. 26, 27. 

January 4. 
By the word of the Lord were the heavens made ; 
and all the host of them by the breath (or Spirit) of 
his mouth. Psalm xxxiii. 6. 

January 5. 
The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath 
of the Almighty hath given me life. Job xxxiii. 4. 



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yanuary, — First Week, 



January 6. 
By his Spirit He hath garnished the heavens ; his 
hand hath formed the crooked serpent. Job xxvi. 13. 

January 7. 
Know ye that the Lord He is God i it is He that 
hath made us, and not we ourselves ; we are his 
people, and the sheep of his pasture. Psalm cl. 3. 

God has revealed Himself to us as one 
God. ** Hear, O Israel : the Lord our God 
is one Lord." Deut, vi. 4. But He has 
also revealed Himself under the names or 
titles of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
He has taught us that in his nature or es- 
sence He is one, but in his work and offices 
He manifests Himself as God the Father, 
as God the Son, and as God the Holy 
Ghost — three infinite agencies, yet not so 
distinct as to hinder a simultaneous co- 
operation in their work. God, as the Fa- 
ther, no man hath seen ; He is a spirit and 
invisible to mortal eye. God, as the Son, 
was manifest to the world in human form 
in the person of Jesus Christ, and now 
lives and acts in his glorified humanity in 
heaven. God, as the Holy Ghost, now 
dispenses in the Church and the world, his 
revealing, new-creating, sanctifying, and 
saving power. 



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yanuary, — First Week, 



The great want of the Church, as we ap- 
prehend, is the presence of the Holy Spirit, 
in larger measure, in his converting and 
sanctifying influences ; and if Christians 
can be led to a daily and prayerful contem- 
plation of what is revealed to us of the na- 
ture and the work of this divine agent, and 
to a more entire dependence upon this 
grace of God which bringeth salvation, 
may we not hope this want would be sup- 
plied ? 

We are living under the dispensation 
OF THE Holy Spirit. By his Spirit gov- 
erning, guiding, and comforting his Church, 
God now fulfills the Saviour's parting prom- 
ise, " Lo, I am with you alway, even unto 
the end of the world." Matt, xxviiL 20. 

The Holy Ghost, as God, now works in 
perfect unity with the Father, and the Son, 
in the new creation of the human soul, even 
as He wrought in the creation of the world. 
As the Spirit of the Father, and the Son, 
He moves upon the dark and troubled wa- 
ters of unbelief, and sin in man, and gives 
light and life and peace. He restores the 
Divine image which was lost, and, in the 
gracious and mighty work, God is glorified 
in unity ; and the Father, and the Son, 



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yanuary, — First Week, 



with the Holy Ghost, are glorified in their 
personality, John xvi. 14, 15. 

Thus, being born of the Spirit, we are 
born of God. We are new creatures in 
Christ. Has this change been wrought in 
me } For except a man be born again, 
born from above, born of the Spirit, he can- 
not enter into the Kingdom of God. John 
iii. 3-5. 

Come, Holy Ghost I Creator, come, 

Inspire these souls of thine ; 
Till every heart which thou hast made 

Be filled with grace divine. 

Enlighten our dark souls, till they 

Thy sacred love embrace j 
Assist our minds, by nature frail, 

With thy celestial grace. 

Drive far fi-om us the mortal foe. 

And give us peace within, 
That, by thy guidance blest, we may 

Escape the snares of sin. 

Teach us the Father to confess. 

And Son, from death revived, • 

And thee, with both, O Holy Ghost, 

Who art from both derived. 



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^econti Wtth* 



m 



THE HOLY GHOST OUR TEACHER. 

January 8. 

(|ND it shall come to pass afterward, that I 
will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh ; 
and your sons and your daughters shall 
prophesy, your old men shall dream 
dreams, your young men shall see visions : and 
also upon the servants, and upon the handmaids 
in those days will I pour out my Spirit J^oel ii. 
28, 29, etc. 

January 9. 

For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same 
hour (t/iat your enemies accuse you) what ye ought 
to say. Luke xii. 12. 

January 10. 
And behold, I send the promise of my Father 
upon you ; but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, 
until ye be endued with power from on high. Luke 
xxiv. 49. 

January U. 

Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost 
is come upon you ; and ye shall be witnesses unto 
me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in 
Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 
Acts i. 8. 

January 12. 

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, 
whom the Father will send in my name. He shall 



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8 yanuary, — Second Week, 

teach you all things, and bring all things to your 
remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. 
yohn xiv. 26. 

Jantiary 13. 

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, 
but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know 
the things which are freely given to us of God, . . . 
things, which the Holy Ghost teacheth. See i Cor, 
ii. 10-13. 

Jantiary 14. 

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit 
saith unto the churches. Rev, ii. 7, 11, 17, etc. 

It is the work of the Holy Ghost not 
only to reveal God to us, in his true char- 
acter and relation, but also to reveal us to 
ourselves. No man knoweth God, or the 
the things of God, but the Spirit of God 
knoweth them. No man knows himself 
until God the Spirit teaches him. The 
Apostles, and early followers of Jesus who 
had been blessed with personal intercourse, 
and who heard Him speak as never man 
spake, were ignorant of the meaning of his 
teachings, and unprepared to do his work, 
until the Spirit was poured upon them, on 
the day of Pentecost. They needed, as we 
all need, God's enlightening influence to 
dispel the natural darkness of the mind, to 
reveal Himself, and to draw us to Him. 



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yajiuary, — Second Week, 



And so God has provided, in the gift, 
and the dispensation of the Holy Ghost, 
the agency to supply the want. 

He so loved the world that He gave his 
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth 
in Him should not perish, but have ever- 
lasting life : and He has sent his Holy 
Spirit that all may believe. Thus the Holy 
Ghosty whom the Father sends in Christ's 
name, teaches, quickens, and draws sinners 
from sin to God. God works in us by his 
Holy Spirit. We receive power through 
the Holy Spirit to work out our salvation, 
because God works in us. The persons in 
the Trinity are each represented as en- 
gaged in this work. The Spirit proceedeth 
from the Father and the Son. Salvation 
is the work of God. God draws men to 
Him. Christ is the head of the Church 
and the object of faith. To his Church and 
people Christ manifests himself by his Holy 
Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who takes of 
the words of Christ, as they are revealed 
in the Bible, and through them teaches us 
those things necessary for us to know. 
Thus the promise is fulfilled, "He shall 
receive of mine, and shall show it unto 
you." yohn xvi. 14. Our blessed Lord is 



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lO January, — Second Week, 

glorified as the Spirit carries forward the 
mighty work which He began. By his 
Spirit Christ now, in a spiritual sense, 
abides with his true disciples, and in every 
holy and consistent member of his visible 
Church He is gtorified. 

May my ears be open to hear what the 
Spirit saith to the churches. May I learn 
the will of God to believe in Jesus whom 
He hath sent, and to do more and more 
according to his will, that thus I may know 
and understand the doctrines pertaining to 
his divine attributes, and be filled with his 
fullness. 

Come, Gracious Spirft, heavenly Dove, 
With light and comfort from above, 

Be thou our guardian, thou our guid^, 
O'er every thought and step preside. 

The light of truth to us display, 
And make us know and choose thy way ; 

Plant holy fear in every heart. 
That we from God may ne*er depart 

Lead us to holiness, the road 
That we must take to dwell with GOD ; 

Lead us to Christ, the living way, 
Nor let us from his pastures stray. 

Lead us to God, our final rest. 

In his enjoyment to be blessed ; 
Lead us to heaven, the seat of bliss, 

Where pleasure in perfection is. 



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€{)trti Wtth. 




THE HOLY GHOST OUR COMFORTER. 
January 15. * 
WILL pray the Father, and He shall 
give you another Comforter, that He may 
abide with you forever ; even the Spirit 
of truth. yoAn xiv. i6, 17. 

January 16. 
I will not leave you comfortless (or orphans), I 
will come to you. yoAn xiv. 18. 

January 17. 
If a man love me, he will keep my words : and 
my Father will love him, and we will come unto 
him, and make our abode with him. yoAn xiv. 23. 

January 18. 
But when the Comforter is come, whom I will 
send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of 
truth, who proceedeth from the Father, he shall tes- 
tify of me. yohn xv. 26. 

January 19. 
Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is expe- 
dient for you that I go away : for if I go not away, 
the Comforter will not come unto you ; but if I de- 
part, I will send Him unto you. J^ohn xvi. 7. 

January 20. 

This Jesus hath God raised up Therefore 

being by the right hand of God exalted, and having 



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1 2 January, — Third Week, 

received of the Father the promise of the Holy 
Ghost, He hath shed forth this which ye now see 
and hear. Acts ii. 32, 33. 

January 21. 

Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God 
of all comfort ; who comforted us in all our tribu- 
lation ; ... for as the sufferings of Christ abound 
in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. 
2 Cor, i. 3-5. 

" No prophecy of Scripture is of private 
interpretation." Scripture needs to be com- 
pared with Scripture if we would learn the 
mind of the Spirit. Holy men spake and 
wrote as they were moved by the Holy 
Ghost, and it is by studying and compar- 
ing the teachings of these men, as aided 
by the same Divine Spirit, that we come to 
a knowledge of the truth. 

If, e, g,, we compare the language of the 
texts which precede this meditation, we 
shall find such a connection in the work 
of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, 
as the abiding Comforter with the Church, 
as to confirm our faith in the doctrine of the 
Divine Unity, as one in essence, but as 
manifest in diversity of operations. Thus 
Jesus, in view of his departure, comforts 
his disciples with the promise of another 



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yanuary, — Third Week, 13 

Comforter to be forever with his Church. 
By, or through this Comforter, He says, 
I will come to you. And He also says, 
" My Father and I will love the man who 
loves me — and we — my Father and I 
— will come unto him, and make our abode 
with him." And further He says, "The 
Comforter, L e,^ the Spirit of Truth, 
proceedeth from the Father, but it is ex- 
pedient I should go from you, to send this 
Comforter to you. We also gather, that 
God is« the source of all comfort, and that 
the Father sends the Spirit in the name 
of Christ ; and Christ sends in his own 
name ; and the Spirit, proceeding from 
the Father and the Son, in the mysterious 
unity of the one essence, and as one of the 
Trinity of persons, a manifestation of God, 
dwells with the Church to convert, and to 
sanctify the soul. 

Thus God, as revealed in Jesus Christ, 
is " the God of all Comfort." 2 Cor. i. 

1-3. . 

But, the Holy Ghost is the Comforter. 
yokn iv. 26. 

Therefore the Holy Ghost is God. 

And so God abides with his Church. So 
the promise of Jesus is fulfilled : " Lo, I 



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14 yanuary, — Third Week, 



am with you alway." Here is the hidden 
spring from whence those ready to perish 
may draw living water. Like the fountain 
opened to Hagar in the desert, it aflTords the 
needed relief to the comfortless, and re- 
dounds to the glory of God. 

The love of Grod is manifested in sending 
the Comforter. It is one of the links in 
the golden chain of means let down from 
heaven to draw men thither. Jesus dies, 
and rises, and ascends, and intercedes^ and 
this holy dove of peace and comfort is 
let out by the hand of Jesus from the ark 
of covenant mercy within the veil ! Nor is 
the gift more glorious than it is free. Does 
the word, the look, of a suffering child get 
the eye, and the heart of an earthly father ? 
" If ye then, being evil, know how to give 
good gifts unto your children : how much 
more shall your heavenly Father give the 
Holy Spirit to them that ask Him." Luke 
xi. 13. 

Creator Spirit I by whose aid 
The world's foundations first were laid, 

Come visit every waiting mind ; 
Come pour thy joys on human kind. 

Make us eternal truths receive, 

And practice all that we believe ; 
Give us thyself, that we may see 

The Father, and the Son, by thee. 

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f outtl) Wcch. 




THE HOLY GHOST IS THE SPIRIT OF GOD. 
January 22. 
|ND the Lord (Jehovah) said, My Spirit 
shall not always strive with man, for that 
he also is flesh ; yet his da3rs shall be an 
hundred and twenty years. Gen, vi. 3. 

January 23. 

And the Spirit of the Lord (Jehovah) shall rest 
upon him (/. e., upon Christ, the Rod out of the stem 
of Jesse), the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, 
the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowl- 
edge and of the fear of the Lord. Isa. xi. 2. 

January 24. ' 
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me ; because 
the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings 
unto the meek; He hath sent me to bind up the 
broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, 
and the opening of the prison to them that are 
bound. Isa, Ixi. i. 

January 25. 

And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up 

straightway out of the water ; and lo, the heavens 

were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of 

God descending like a dove and lighting upon Him. 

AfaU, iii. 16. 

January 26. 

And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape 
like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from 



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1 6 yannary, — Fourth Week. 



Heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son ; in 
thee I am well pleased. Luke iii. 22. 

January 27. 

Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so 

be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Rom, 

viii. 9. 

January 28. 

God hath revealed — the things prepared for his 
people — by his Spirit : for the Spirit searcheth all 
things, yea, the deep things of God. i Cor, ii. 9, 10. 

The question has been asked, How were 
the minds of good men influenced under 
former dispensations in view of the declara- 
tion in John vii; 39, " The Holy Ghost was 
not yet, because that Jesus was not yet 
glorified," and that the dispensation of the 
Spirit began on the day of Pentecost ? See 
Acts ii. 4, 17. 

We read that in divers ways God spake 
to the fathers by the Prophets before Christ's 
coming in the flesh. Heb, i. 2. But how 
did God speak } He now speaks to us by 
his Son. Heb, i. 2. Then He spoke, as 
one of his ways of communicating truth, 
by, or through, holy men of God, speaking 
his message as moved by the Holy Ghost. 
2 Pet, i. 21. Thus, e. g.y David among his 
'• last words," said, " The Spirit of the Lord 
spake by me, and his word was in my 



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Jaiiuaiy. — Fourth Week. 1 7 



tongue/* 2 Sam, xxiii. 2. See also -^^/x i. 
16; iii. 18. To this agrees the testimony 
of Paul to Timothy : " All Scripture is given 
by inspiration of God." 2 Tim, iii. 16. 
It was the Spirit of God who strove with 
man before the flood, while God waited in 
the days of Noah. Gen, vi. 3. And so, 
after the flood, " Israel rebelled and vexed 
God's Holy Spirit, therefore He was turned 
to be their enemy." Isa, Ixiii. 10. Ste- 
phen, the first who, under the Gospel, sealed 
his testimony for Christ with blood ; and 
in view of the glory opening to him, charged 
the rulers of the Jews, as the representa- 
tives of the nation, as always resisting the 
Holy Ghost, even as their fathers did. Acts 
vii. 51. The Spirit of God was in Joseph, 
Gen. xli. 38 ; in Joshua, Num, xxvii. 18 ; 
in David, Matt, xxii. 43 ; in Daniel, Dan, iv. 
8, 9, 18, and in all the prophets. ' 

No one, indeed, can carefully study the 
Old and New Testament and not find the 
record of a mighty, mysterious Being, called 
"The Spirit of God," or " The Spirit of the 
Lord " (Jehovah) or the '' Eternal Spirit," 
who has exerted and who is ever exerting 
an agency in the government of God. And 
as God is unchangeable, *' The same yester- 



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1 8 yanuary. — Fourth Week, 



day, to-day, and forever ; " the same Holy 
Spirit who wrought before the Saviour's ad- 
vent works now. 

The meaning, therefore, of the declara- 
tion in yohn vii. 37 : " The Holy Ghost was 
not yet, because that Jesus was not yet glo- 
rified," we think is briefly and correctly 
given by Dr. Scott, who says : " All believ- 
ers in every age had been sanctified and 
comforted by the Holy Ghost," but "the 
ministration of the Spirit " was not at that 
time fully introduced ; the pouring out of 
the Holy Ghost either in his miraculous or 
his sanctifying influences, had not yet taken 
place, for that signal event was reserved 
to grace the Redeemer s triumphs, and lo 
attest his resurrection and ascension to 
heavenly glory." 

Come, Holy Ghost, who, ever One, 
Art with the Father and the Son ; 
Come, Holy Ghost, our souls possess 
With thy full flood of holiness. 

In word and deed, by heart and tongue. 
With all our powers, thy praise be sung. 
May love enwrap our mortal frame 
And others catch the living flame. 

Almighty Father hear our cry, 
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord most High, 
Who, with the Holy Ghost and thee, 
Doth live and reign eternally. 



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f iftlj Wcth. 




THE HOLY GHOST IS THE SPIRIT OF THE 
FATHER. 

January 29. 
OR it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit 
of your Father which speaketh in you. 
MaU. X. 20. 

January 30. 
Behold my servant whom I uphold ; mine elect, 
in whom my soul delighteth ; I have put my Spirit 
upon him ; he shall bring forth judgment to the 
Gentiles. Isa. xlii. i. 

January 31. 
For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, 
and floods upon the dry ground ; I will pour my 
Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine 
offspring. Isa. xliv. 3. 

February 1. 
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage 
again to fear ; but ye have received the Spirit of 
adoption, whereby we cry Abba, Father. I^om, 
viii. 15. 

February 2. 

Now He which establisheth us with you in Christ, 
. and hath anointed us, is God ; who hath also sealed 
us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our 
hearts. 2 Cor. i. 21, 22. 



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20 February, — Fifth Week. 



February 3. 
Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in 
the bond of peace. There is one body, and one 
Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your 
calling ; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God 
and Father of all, who is above all, and through 
all, and in you all. Eph, iv. ^, 6. 

February 4. 

Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God, 
even our Father, who hath loved us, and hath given 
us everlasting consolation, and good hope through 
grace, comfort your hearts, and establish you in 
every good word and work. 2 Thess, ii. i6, 17. 

Our blessed Lord distinctly declares in 
yohn XV. 26, that the Comforter, even, the 
Spirit of truth, whom He promised to send 
to his disciples from the Father, to testify 
of Him — Jesus — proceedeth from the Fa- 
ther. Consequently the Holy Ghost must 
be the Spirit of the Father. Whatever con- 
troversy there may have been touching the 
procession of the Holy Ghost from the Son, 
the Scripture is too plain that the Spirit of 
the Father came, as the Comforter and 
guide of the Church, after the ascension of 
the Son, to admit of controversy. 

Now it is a blessed truth for the comfort 
of every one who is willing to go to God in 
earnest prayer, that our Saviour has assured 



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February. — Fifth Week. 2 1 

us that our Heavenly Father is more will- 
ing to give his Holy Spirit to them that ask 
Him, than earthly parents are to provide 
for the wants of their children. Luke xi. 

13- 

As our Father, by creation, and especially 
as his by adoption, God would have us go 
to Him with the confidence of obedient 
children to a loving earthly parent. How 
encouraging his invitations, how full his 
promises. Having sent the Holy Spirit 
to be with the Church, as " another Com- 
forter *' in the place of Jesus, and having 
throughout the New Testament invited 
men to turn from sin and live, the record 
closes with the words of Jesus, who also 
proceeded from God the Father, yohn viii. 
42 ; xvi. 28 : " The Spirit and the bride 
say come. And let him that heareth say 
come. And let him that is athirst come. 
And whosoever will, let him take the 
water of life freely." Rev, xxii. 17. 

And so being influenced and guided by 
the Holy Spirit, and going humbly, ear- 
nestly, and believingly to our heavenly 
Father in prayer, He will bestow all good 
things upon us. In the spirit of love com- 
mitting all our interests to God, and sepa- 



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22 



Febrtiary. — Fifth Week. 



rating ourselves from the pollutions of the 
world, we may joyfully rest in the assur- 
ance : " I will receive you, and will be a 
Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons 
and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.* 
2 Cor. vi. 17, 18. 

Father in whom we live, 

In whom we are and move, 
The glory, power, and praise receive. 

Of thy creating love. 

Incarnate Deity ; 

Let all the ransomed race 
Render in thanks their lives to thee. 

For thy redeeming grace. 

Spirit of Holiness ; 

Let all thy saints adore 
Thy sacred energy and bliss. 

Thy heart-renewing power. 

Eternal, Triune Lord ; 

Let all the hosts above, 
Let all the sons of men record 

And dwell upon thy love. 



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^ixtfy tOuh. 




THE HOLY GHOST IS THE SPIRIT OF 
CHRIST. 

February 5. 

OR He said, surely they are my people, 
children that will not lie ; so He was their 

Saviour But they rebelled and 

vexed his Holy Spirit ; therefore He was 
turned to be their enemy, and He fought against 
them. Isa. Ixiii. 8, lo. 

(See the context as referring to Christ) 

FebnUEury 6. 
For He whom God hath sent speaketh the words 
of God ; for God giveth not the Spirit by measure 
unto Him. yoAn iii. 34. 

February 7. 
And because ye are sons, Gofl hath sent forth 
the Spirit of his Son into your heart, crying, Abba, 
Father. Gal. iv. 6. 

February 8. 
For through Him we both have access by one 
Spirit unto the Father. £pA. ii. 18. 

February 9. 
I rejoice that Christ is preached; for I know 
that this shall turn to my salvation through your 
prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus 
Christ PAil. i. 18, 19. 



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24 February, — Sixth Week. 



February 10. 
If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is 
none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is 
dead because of sin ; but the Spirit is life because 
of righteousness. Rom, viii. 9, 10. 

February 11. 
The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy. 
Rev, xix. 10. 

Although it is not so definitely de- 
clared, in Scripture, that the Holy Ghost 
proceedeth from the Son, as from the 
Father, yet the substance of the declara- 
tion is to be found there. For the Holy 
Ghost is as plainly said to be the Spirit of 
the Son as the Spirit of the Father ; and 
the Spirit of Christ, as the Spirit of God. 
It is only necessary to direct our attention 
to the passages of Scripture which are pre- 
fixed to this article, and to examine them 
in connection with their contexts, to learn 
that the Holy Spirit spoken of was the 
Spirit of God the Son, who was sent from 
God the Father, to give life unto the world. 
Thus God sends forth the Spirit of his Son 
into the hearts of men, converting and sanc- 
tifying them, so that they cry, Abba Father. 
Gal, iv. 6. 

It is still further evident that the Holy 



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February, — Sixth Week. 25 



Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, in view of his 
promise to his disciples. " I will send the 
Comforter unto you from the Father, even 
the Spirit of truth." John xv. 26. For 
He could not send what He did not pos- 
sess, or could not in some way control. 
And we are therefore led to the conclusion 
that He, Jesus, had the power and right, 
with the Father, to send the " One Spirit," 
whom He promised to send from the Fa- 
ther, and whom, moreover, the Father would 
send in Christ's name. John xiv. 26. And 
thus would be fulfilled his promise : " If a 
man love me he will keep my words ; and 
my Father will love him, and we will come 
unto him, and make our abode with him/' 
John xiv. 23. 

Thus the Father, and the Son, being of 
the same Divine essence, communicate 
thereof to the Holy Ghost, and the Holy 
Ghost in his Divine personality, and yet in 
perfect unity with the Father, and the Son, 
is now dispensing the gifts of God's grace 
to the Church and the world, and so this 
grace " is threefold and yet one, one and 
yet threefold." Or as the doctrine was set 
forth in the early Church : " That as the 
Son is God of God by being of the Father, 



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26 February, — Sixtk Week, 

so the Holy Ghost is God of God by being 
of the Father and the Son, as receiving that 
infinite and eternal essence from them 
both." And this agrees with the revealed 
fact that Christ dwells in us, and that our 
bodies are the temples of the Holy Ghost. 
What manner of persons therefore ought 
Christians to be in all holy conversation, 
lest they should defile this temple. 

Come, Holy Ghost, Creator blest, 
Vouchsafe within our souls to rest ; 
Come with thy grace and heavenly aid, 
And fill the hearts which thou hast made. 

O Comforter, to thee we cry ; 
Thou heavenly gift of God most high ; 
Thou Fount of life, and Fire of love, 
And sweet Anointing from above. 

O Finger of the Hand divine, 
The sevenfold gifts of grace are thine ; 
The promise of the Father, thou 
Who doth the tongue with power endow. 

O Holy Ghost, through thee alone 
We know the Father and the Son ; 
Be this our never-changing creed, 
That thou dost from them both proceed. 

Praise we the Father and the Son, 
And Holy SpiRrr with them One ; 
And may the Son on us bestow 
The gifts that from the Father flow. 



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^ebcittl^ Wcth. 




THE HOLY GHOST IS A PERSON. 

February 12. 

UT Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan 

filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghosts 

and to keep back part of the price of the 

land ? . . . Thou hast not lied unto men, 

but unto God. Ac^s v. 3, 4. 

February 13. 
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, 
that we are the children of God : and if children, 
then heirs : heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ ; 
if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be 
also glorified together. J^om, viii. 16, 17. 

February 14. 
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and 
that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you ? If any man 
defile the temple of God, him shall Gk)d destroy ; 
for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. 
I Cor, iii. 16, 17. 

February 15. 
Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same 
Spirit. And there are differences of administra- 
tions, but the same Lord. And there are diversi- 
ties of operations, but it is the same God which 
worketh all in alL 1 Cor, xii. 4, 6. 



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2S February. — Seventh Week, 

February 16. 
But after that the kindness, and love of God our 

Saviour toward man appeared He saved us 

by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of 
the Holy Ghost ; which He shed on us abundantly, 
through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Titus iii. i, 6. 

February 17. 
Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall 
he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot 
the Son of God .... and hath done despite to the 
Spirit of grace. Heb. x. 29. 

February 18. 
But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your 
most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep 
yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy 
of uur Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Jude 
20, 21. 

It is an undisputed doctrine among all 
Christians that there is but one God. This 
truth was announced by Moses, and reaf- 
firmed by our Lord Himself : " Hear, O 
Israel ; the Lord our God is one Lord." 
Deut, vi. 4 ; Mark xii. 29. Those who be- 
lieve in a Trinity of Divine Persons in the 
Godhead are as agreed touching the unity 
of God, in his 7taturey as are they who deny 
that the Son and the Holy Ghost are of the 
same Divine essence as the Father : very 
and eternal God. They believe that it is 



_ 



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February. — Seventh Week, 29 

the one God, Jehovah, who ruleth over all ; 
that there is none like Him ; and that He 
only is worthy of worship. 

But they find on a careful reading of the 
Bible, and especially the New Testament, 
that this one God, who demands our love 
and worship, has revealed Himself to us as 
existing under the three names of Father, 
Son, and Holy Ghost, and that personality 
is a characteristic of each. Some things 
are ascribed to God as the Father, which 
are not appropriate to God as the Son, and 
God as the Holy Ghost ; and some ascribed 
to God as the Son, not belonging to the 
Father and the Holy Ghost ; and some to 
the Holy Ghost, not given to the Father 
and the Son. 

In the baptism of yesus, e, £",, the distinc- 
tion of persons, and of operations, is mani- 
fest in the personal presence of J^esiis ; in 
the descent of the Spirit, in the form of a 
dove ; and the voice of the Father^ saying, 
this is my beloved Son, 

This distinction is also seen in the fact 
that the Holy Ghost proceedeth from the 
Father, yohn xv. 16, that He is sent by 
the Father and the Son, and that his 
coming depended upon the going away of 
the Son. yohn xvi. 7. 

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30 February, — Seventh Week, 



On the other hand, the persons of the 
Trinity are represented as specially engaged 
in the same work. Thus, for example, in 
the baptismal formula : '* Go, make disci- 
ples, baptizing them in the name of the 
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Ghost," and in the Apostolic benediction. 

Examine also the contexts in proof of the 
tmity of God in his essence, and of diversity 
in his manifestations to man. To objectors 
we say ; great is this mystery of godliness. 
I Tim, iii. i6. We receive it, and believe 
it, not because reason grasps it, but because 
God has revealed it. 

Come Holy Ghost, our souls inspire. 
And lighten with celestial fire ; 
Thou the anointing Spirit art, 
Who dost thy sevenfold gifts impart. 

Thy blessed unction from above 
Is comfort, life, and fire of love ; 
Enable with perpetual light 
The dullness of our blinded sight 

Keep far our foes, keep peace at home ; 
Where thou art guide, no ill can come ; 
Teach us to know the Father, Son, 
And thee of both to be but one. 

That through the ages all along 
This may be our endless song ; 
Praise to thy eternal merit, 
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, 



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<(Si0{)tI) Wttk. 




THE HOLY GHOST IS OMNIPOTENT. 
February 19. 
JOD that made the world, and all things 
therein, .... giveth to all life and breath 
and all things. Acts xvii. 24, 25. 

February 20. 
Thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created : 
and thou renewest the face of the earth. Psa, civ. 30. 

February 21. 
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth : because 
the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. Isa, xl. 7. 

.February 22. 
The Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip that 
the eunuch saw him no more. Acts viii. 39. 

February 23. 

How shall not the ministration of the Spirit be 
rather glorious ? For if the ministration of con- 
demnation be glory, much more doth the ministra- 
tion of righteousness exceed in glory. 2 Cor, iii. 
8,9. 

February 24. 

My speech and my preaching, was .... in dem- 
onstration of the Spirit, and of power ; that your 
faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but 
in the power of God. 1 Gtt. ii. 4, 5. 



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32 February, — Eighth Week, 



February 25. 

The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every 
man to profit withal. For to one is given by the 
Spirit the word of wisdom ; to another .... 
knowledge .... faith, etc. See i Cor, xii. 7, ii. 

" He that built all things is God ! " Heb, 
iii. 4. But it is Jehovah, as He has re- 
vealed Himself to us, — the Father, the 
Son, and the Holy Ghost — who is the Cre- 
ator of all. Hence the prophet Zechariah 
(iv. 6), in contrasting Almighty power with 
created forces, says : " Not by might, nor 
by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord 
of Hosts." 

We have proof of this in the fact that 
the Holy Ghost was associated with the 
Father and the Son in the Creation. Gen, 
i. 2 ; yob xxvi. 13. We have proof also in 
the new creation of the soul which de- 
mands Omnipotent power but which is ex- 
pressly declared, by our Saviour, to be the 
work of the Spirit, yohn iii. 5. 

Further proof of the Omnipotence of the 
Holy Ghost (and consequently of his per- 
sonality) may be gathered from an exam- 
ination of the texts connected with this 
meditation. Thus, God only who created 
all things, and giveth life and breath to 



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FebrtMty. — Eighth Week. 33 



man, and to all sentient beings, has power 
to destroy, and to renew. And yet, it is by 
the immediate agency of the Holy Ghost, 
— by the sending forth of his Spirit, — 
this is done. Yea, that even in the annual 
decay, and renewal of vegetable life, the 
Spirit is the agent. 

And so it is, through the ministrations of 
the Spirit, that Christians are directed and 
instructed. Acts x. 19, 20. He convinces 
of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. 
yohn xvi. 8, II. He teaches and guides 
into all truth. jFohii xiv. 26. He gives 
power to the word, i Cor. ii. 4, 5. And 
all the fruits of godliness in man, and in 
the world are the result of the manifes- 
tation of the "One and self-same Spirit, 
dividing to every man, severally as he 
will.*' I Cor. xii. 7, ir. In view, then, of 
this brief, but, we think, conclusive argu- 
ment for the Omnipotence of the Holy 
Ghost, we can rejoice in the fact that an 
Almighty Spirit is revealed, whose office 
it is to minister to our wants. That He 
will guide us from sin to holiness, if we re- 
sist not his influences. That, as a com- 
forter, He will be with us in our trials ; and 
3 



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34 Februaiy. — Eighth Week, 

if we dwell in Him, and He in us, will 
conduct us home to glory. 

And what better can we ask for our- 
selves, or for others, than the Apostolic 
prayer or benediction : " The grace of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, 
and the communion of the Holy Ghost be 
with you all. Amen." 2 Cor, xiii. 14. 

O God of life, whose power benign 
Doth o*er the world in mercy shine, 
Accept our praise, for we are thine. 

O Father, all creating Lord, 

Be thou by every tongue implored, 

Be thou by every heart adored. 

O Son of God, for sinners slain. 

We bless thee. Lord, whose dying pain 

For us did endless life regain. 

O Holy Ghost, whose guardian care 
Doth us for heavenly joys prepare, 
May we in thy communion share. 



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^intl) Wttfi. 




THE HOLY GHOST IS OMNISCIENT. 

February 26. 

HEN they shall lead you, and deliver you 
up, take no thought beforehand what ye 
shall speak, neither do ye premeditate : 
but whatsoever shall be given you in that 

hour, that speak ye : for it is not ye that speak, but 

the Holy Ghost Mark xii. ii. 

Febraary 27. 

This scripture must needs have been fulfilled 
which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake 
before concerning Judas, which was guide to them 
that took Jesus. Acts i. i6. See Ps, xli. 9. ^o^H 
xiii. 18. 

February 28. 

There stood , up a prophet named Agabus, and 
signified by the Spirit, that there should be great 
dearth throughout all the world : which came to 
pass in the days of Claudius Csesar. Acts xi. 28. 

Mardi 1. 

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the 
latter times some shall depart fi-om the feiith, giving 
heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils. 
I Tim. iv. I. 

March 2. 
I (John) was in the Spirit (moved by the Holy 
Spirit of prophecy) on the Lord^s day, and heard 
behind me a great voice, etc. Pev, i. la 



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36 March, — Nvith Week. 



March 3. 

And with great power (being taught by the Hcly 
Spirit, verse 31) gave the Apostles witness of the 
resurrection of the Lord Jesus : and great grace 
was upon them all. Acts iv. 33. 

March 4. 

The natural man neceiveth not the things of the 
Spirit of God : for they are foolishness unto him : 
neither can he know them, because they are spirit- 
ually discerned, i Cor, ii. 14. 

The Holy Ghost is revealed to us as 
possessing all knowledge, as well as all 
power. He is Omniscient as having the 
quality of knowing all things at the same 
time ; as well as Omnipotent, in having 
the power to do all things after the coun- 
sels of his own will. He knows what is 
past, and what is to come. Things which 
are not yet, but which are to be, are to 
Him as though they were. Rom, iv. 17. 
For as the Infinite Creator, who is Himself 
without beginning, there is no past, there 
is no future with Jehovah. 

What we know of the, to us, eternity 
past, and the eternity to come, God has 
revealed to us by his Spirit ; " for the 
Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep 
things of God." I Cor, ii. 10. 



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March, — Ninth Week, 37 

Hence, as possessing all knowledge of 
the nature of God, and of the nature and 
wants of man, He imparts of this Infinite 
wisdom to those who under a sense of ig- 
norance and want go to God for it. Thus 
God by his Spirit spake to and by David 
(2 Sam, xxiii. 2) and Daniel (Dan. iv. 8) 
and the prophets. Luke xxiv. 27. And to 
the Holy Ghost, in view of other scriptures 
(see 2 Pet. i. 21), we are justified in ap- 
plying the language of Daniel ii. 22, where 
he says, " He revealeth the deep and secret 
things : He knoweth what is in the dark- 
ness, and the light dwelleth with Him." 

Infinite knowledge, therefore, is an at- 
tribute of the Holy Ghost, as it is of the 
Father and the Son. 

In this aspect we perceive, that, in his 
Divine personality, the Holy Ghost was 
qualified to teach, and move the prophets 
to write what they have written in relation 
to what has been, and what is to be ; and 
that the purpose of their writing is for our 
instruction in truth and righteousness. 

We perceive, moreover, that it is God, 
the Holy Ghost, who knoweth the thoughts 
and intents of every heart. He knew the 
heart of Ananias. Acts v. 4, 9. See also 
the preceding texts. 

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38 March. — Ninth Week. 



How mindful, then, should we be of his 
presence, and of the danger lest by thought 
or word, we should grieve the Holy Spirit 
of God. Eph, iv. 30. 

Nor let us be unmindful of the necessity 
of his aid in order to a right apprehension 
of the truth as it is revealed, and of our 
natural inability and unwillingness to re- 
ceive the things of the Spirit of God. 1 
Cor, ii. 14. 

Possessing all knowledge and all power. 
He can guide us into all truth. Oh, let 
none refuse to seek his aid. Let none by 
indifference or procrastination grieve the 
Spirit of God. But to-day, while heavenly 
influences are drawing the soul heaven- 
ward, let love — God's love for us — con- 
strain to a return of love, i yohn iv. 19. 

O Holy Spirit, Lord of grace, 

Eternal fount of love. 
Inflame, we pray, our inmost hearts. 

With fire from heaven above. 

As thou in bond of love dost join 

The Fathfr and the S«»n, 
So fill us all with mutual love. 

And knit our hearts in one. 

All glory to the Fxthkr be, 

All glory to the Son 
All glory to the Hi»ly Ghost, 

While endless ages run. 



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CentI) Wcth. 




THE HOLY GHOST IS OMNIPRESENT. 

March 5. 

HITHER shall I go from thy Spirit ? or 
whither shall I flee from thy presence ? 
Ps, cxxxix. 7. 

March 6. 

I (the Lord) will take of the Spirit which is upon 
thee (Moses), and will put it upon them (the seventy 
elders). 

And the Lord .... took of the Spirit that was 
upon him (MosesX and gave it unto the seventy el- 
ders. JVum. xi. 17, 25. 

March?. 

Where is He that put his Holy Spirit within him ? 

That led them by the right hand of Moses 

The Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest. /r. Ixiii. 

32-34. 

March 8. 

Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct them 
(Israel). Nek. ix. 20. 

My Spirit remaineth among you (Israel) ; fear ye 
not. Hag, ii. 5. 

March 9. 

But ye know Him (the Comforter, the Spirit of 
truth), for He dwelleth with you and shall be in yoli. 
^oAn xiv. 17. 



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40 March. — Tenth Week, 



March 10. 

But he (Stephen), being full of the Holy Ghost, 
looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory 
of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of 
God. Acts vii. 55. 

March U. 
Can any man forbid water, that these should not 
be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost 
as well as we ? Acts x. 47. 

Everywhere present, at the same time. 
This is an attribute which belongs only to 
the Almighty Creator and Ruler over all. 
Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Omnipres- 
ence comprise a trinity of infinitudes which 
are applicable to the One God, and to the 
Trinity of persons in the Godhead. 

We have seen that all power and all 
knowledge are ascribed to the Holy Ghost 
as one of the persons in the Trinity. We 
now learn in the Scriptures which precede 
these remarks, that in his personality, and 
as guiding all minds, if his influence is not 
resisted, and all events. He is also every- 
where present. 

We know but little of what is meant by 
a purely spiritual presence. And yet we 
know that as a spiritual, personal God, the 
Holy Ghost is invisible to human sight, is 



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March. — Tenth Week. 41 



about our path. We know it from the tes- 
timony of the Bible. Many of God's chil- 
dren know it from the testimony of their 
own experience in his providences toward 
them. 

No man indeed can hide himself from 
God's presence any more than could Adam, 
when, in his guilt, he tried the experiment. 
However men may yield to temptation as 
though God did not see them, or however 
thoughtless they may be in neglecting the 
means through which God would make them 
holy, by union and communion with Him- 
self, the time will come when the knowledge 
of a personal and present God will be to 
every one a reality. 

Though in a primary and enlarged sense 
God, as a spirit, is everywhere, yet there 
is a sense in which He is more specially 
present with those who trust in Him. He 
giveth grace to the lowly. He dwells with 
the humble and contrite spirit. Is, Ivii. 15. 
He revives the spirit of the humble, and 
the heart of the contrite. Consequently He 
may, and does withdraw his Spirit from 
individuals and from churches when they 
rebel against Him. 

If we apprehend our position, the great 



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42 March, — Tetith Week, 



want of the Church now lies in the outpour- 
ing of God's Spirit for the quickening of the 
professing disciples of Christ, and, through 
their instrumentality, for the conversion of 
the impenitent. 

And as a means to this end I would urge 
upon every one who loves the Saviour, and 
who desires a revival of his work, a renewed 
personal consecration of himself, and his all 
to God. Let the work begin at Jerusalem ! 
Let the supplication go forth : " O Lord, 
revive thy work ! " " Oh give us the com- 
fort of thy help again!" "Oh take not 
thy Holy Spirit from us ! " 

The Spirit, by his heavenly breath, 

New life creates within ; 
lie raises sinners from the death 

Of trespasses and sin. 

The things of Christ the Spirit takes, 

And shows them unto men ; 
The humble soul his temple makes, 

God's image stamps again. 

Come Holy Spirit, from above, 

With thy celestial fire ; 
Oh come ! with holy zeal and love 

Each heart and tongue inspire. 



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<£Ictnttf) Wtth. 




THE HOLV GHOST CONVINCES OF SIN. 

March 12. 

HEN He (the Comforter) is come, He will 
reprove (or convince, margin) the world of 
sin, .... because they believe not on me 
(Jesus), yo/in xiv. 8, 9. 

March 13. 

It is the Spirit that quickeneth ; the flesh prof- 
ile th nothing : the words that I (Jesus) speak unto 
you, they are spirit, and they are life. J^oM iv. 63. 

March 14. 

When they heard (that Jesus whom they had cru- 
cified, was Lord and Christ), they were pricked in 
their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of 
the Apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do ? 
Acts ii. 37. 

March 15. 

But ye. denied the Holy One and the just 

Repent ye, therefore, and be converted. Acts iii. 

14-19. 

March 16. 

I (Paul) rejoice that ye sorrowed to repentance. 
.... For godly sorrow worketh repentance to sal- 
vation not to be repented of; but the sorrow of 
the world worketh death. 2 Cor, vii. 9, 10. 



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44 March, — Eleventh Week, 

March 17. 

For they that are after the flesh, do mind the things 
of the flesh : but they that are after the Spirit, the 
things of the Spirit Rom, viii. 5. 

March 18. 

And I (Saul) said, What shall I do, Lord ? Acts 
xxii. 10. 

And (the jailer at Philippi) came trembling, and 
fell down before Paul and Silas, .... and said : 
Sirs, what must I do to be saved ? And they said, 
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be 
saved, and thy house. Acts xvi. 29-31. 

It is a great work to convince unregener- 
ate man that he is as bad in the sight of 
God as the Bible represents him. Man is 
naturally proud and self-confident. He 
thinks better of himself than his neighbors 
do. He claims to be moral, and to do " about 
what is right," when, in his very soul, he 
knows that he does not fulfill the Divine 
and Supreme law, " Thou shalt love the 
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy 
neighbor as thyself." 

In the light of the Gospel his sin is ag- 
gravated in view of God's love in sending 
his only begotten Son as a Saviour, and of 
his unbelief in rejecting Him. ** He has no 
cloak (or excuse) for his sin." yohn xv. 22. 

Now it is the office or work of the Holy 



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March, — Eleventh Week, 45 



Spirit to convince man of his ignorance 
of himself ; and to show him • that he may 
find in Jesus that knowledge which will 
make him wise unto salvation. 

God never has left Himself without wit- 
ness of his love and interest for man in doing 
him good. Acts xiv. 17. He has from the 
beginning brooded over, and influenced him 
for the right. His Spirit strove with him 
before the Flood. The souls of prophets 
were open to its influence from the days of 
Noah, and by it they trusted in the coming 
Saviour. Since his advent, the Spirit 
has been more abundantly " poured out " 
from on high. Every reader of this medi- 
tation has been the subject of this Divine 
influence. Nor is it presumptuous to say 
that every reader has, to some extent, been 
convicted of sin by the Spirit. For many 
a person has been convicted to his present, 
and alas to his eternal condemnation ; while 
others have been so convinced of the need 
of pardon and holiness, as to result in a 
perfected salvation. " Felix trembled ! " 
Acts xxiv. 25. Agrippa was almost per- 
suaded ! Acts xxvi. 28. Both, by the power 
of the Spirit, were convicted. We have no 
reason to suppose either were converted. 



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46 March. — Eleventh Week, 



On the other hand, Saul of Tarsus yielded 
to the Spirit's influence. He confessed 
his sins. He trusted in the Lord Jesus 
Christ — whom he had hated, and whose 
disciples he was persecuting — as his 
Saviour, and he was saved. So with Pe- 
ter ; his was a godly sorrow, working re- 
pentance unto salvation. Matt, xxiv. 75. 

The Holy Spirit is thus daily fulfilling 
his word in convincing men of sin. As evil 
and good are set before us. He says, Refuse 
the evil and choose the good. He draws 
us heavenward by an influence above, and 
not of, the world. He reveals to us the 
blessedness of those who love, and the 
misery of those who despise the grace of 
God which is offered us in Him. In a 
word, it is the Holy Spirit who so con- 
vinces the soul of its sin, that an uncon- 
ditional and perpetual surrender is made to 
Christ. Hence the exhortation of the Apos- 
tle, " Take heed, lest there be in any of you 
an evil heart of unbelief." Heb, iii. 12. 

Hence the prayer of David : " Create 
in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a 
right (a constant) spirit within me. Cast 
me not away from thy presence ; and take 
not thy Holy Spirit from me." Ps. li. 10, 1 1. 



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Z\sitm ^cth. 




THE HOLY GHOST CONVINCES OF RIGHT- 
EOUSNESS. 

March 19. 

HEN He (the Comforter) is come, He will 

reprove (or convince, margin) the world 

of righteousness, .... because I (Jesus) 

go to my Father, and ye see me no more. 

yo/in xvi. 8, 10. 

March 20. 

For therein (in the Gospel of Christ) is the right- 
eousness of God revealed from faith to faith : as it 
is written : The just shall live by faith. liom, i. 1 7. 

March 21. 

Of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is 
made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanc- 
tification, and redempti6n, that, according as it is 
written. He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. 
I Cor, i. 30, 31. 

March 22. 

The righteousness of God, which is by faith of 
Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all them that be- 
lieve. J^om, iii. 22. 

March 23. 

For He hath made Him (Christ) to be sin (a sin 
oflfering) for us, who knew no sin ; that we might 
be made the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Cor. 
V. 21. 



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48 March. — Tivelfth Week, 



March 24. 
Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying 
the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of 
the brethren, see that ye love one another with a 
pure heart, fervently, i Pet. i. 22. 

March 25. 

Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in 
us, because He hath given us of his Spirit, i John 
iv. 13. 

Man being convinced that he is verily 
guilty of, and condemned for sin in the 
sight of God, and that by an external obe- 
dience to the law of works he cannot be 
saved, is prepared to listen to the voice of 
God's Spirit, and to confess his need of a 
righteousness which, by nature, he has not. 

Now it is the work of the Holy Ghost to 
quicken the spiritually dead soul to a new 
relationship with God. It is his work not 
only to convict and convince of sin, but 
also of the need of righteousness, and a 
righteousness including pardon and holi- 
ness. 

For in searching the Scriptures to learn 
God's plan of saving sinners, we find that 
the term righteousness has reference to 
what is called, i. The righteousness of 
justification, by which we are reckoned as 



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March. — Twelfth Week, 49 



righteous because of our faith in the Lord 
Jesus Christ, who is revealed to us as, The 
Lord our Righteousness, yer. xxiii. 6. 
Arid 2. The righteousness of Sanctifica- 
tion, or the indwelling of the Holy Spirit 
in our hearts, by which we are made 
righteous or holy. The one is God's work 
without us. The other is God's work 
within us. The one has reference to the 
beginning of the Christian life. The other 
to \\.^ progress. The one denotes a change 
of state or relation. The other a moral 
change. The one delivers the soul from 
the penalty of sin. The other from the 
power or dominion of sin. 

It is of this twofold righteousness that 
the Holy Spirit convinces the awakened 
and enlightened mind of its need. The 
beginning of both is when the convicted 
sinner makes a full surrender of himself 
to Christ, as his Saviour. It is through faith 
in Him, as "• Our Righteousness," that we 
are justified from all things {Acts xiii. 39) ; 
because, " Christ hath merited righteous- 
ness for as many as are found in Him " 
(Hooker). "Christ is the end of the law 
for righteousness to every one that believ- 
ethr Rom, x. 4. Faith is the hand by 
4 



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so 



March. — Twelfth Week, 



which the awakened soul takes hold of 
Christ as its righteousness. It looks, and 
lives. It believes, and is justified. 

And connected with this exercise ' of 
faith, is the incorporation of the soul with 
God, through the inhabitation of the Holy 
Ghost. God dwells in the believer, and the 
believer in God. Through the Spirit he 
has access to the Father. Eph, ii. i8. He 
is builded for a habitation of God through 
the Spirit. Eph, ii. 22. 

And now, my dear reader. Is this two- 
fold righteousness yours } Have you been 
to Jesus 2syouY Saviour.^ Have you peace 
in Him } Is it your prayer and effort to 
know, so that you may do his will } And 
do you hope, at His coming, to have part 
with Him in the resurrection to eternal 
life.? 

If so, while you offer the tribute of praise 
for the revelation of God's righteousness 
to you, oh be diligent in seeking more 
grace, that you may glory in the Lord (i 
Cor, i. 31) and find increasing evidence that 
the Spirit is working in you, and with you. 



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€I)!rteent{) Wtth. 




THE HOLY GHOST CONVINCES OF JUDG- 
MENT. 

March 26. 

HEN He (the Comforter) is come, He will 
reprove (or convince, margin) the world 
of judgment, and because the prince oi 
this world is judged. yoAn xvi. 8-11. 

March 27. 

Ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of 
Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but 
with the Spirit of the living God ; not in tables of 
stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart 2 Cor. iii. 3, 

March 28. 

He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my 
words, hath one that judgeth him : the word that 
I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last 
day. yokn xii. 48. 

March 29. 

Behold my servant, whom I have chosen ; my 
beloved, ia whom my soul is well pleased : I will 
put my Spirit upon him, and he shall show judg- 
ment to the Gentiles. AfaU. xii. 18. 

March 30. 

We must all appear before the judgment-seat of 
Christ ; that every one may receive the things done 
in his body, according to that he hath done, whether 
it be good or bad. 2 Cor, v. 10. 



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52 



March, — Thirteenth Week, 



March 31. 
The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out 
of temptation, and to reserve the unjust unto the 
day of judgment to be punished. 2 Pet, ii. 9. 

April 1. 

Why dost thou judge thy brother .? or why dost 
thou set at naught thy brother ? for we shall all 

stand before the judgment-seat of Christ 

Every one of us shall. give account of himself to 
God. Rom. xiv. 10, 12. 

The fact of an "eternal judgment" is 
classed among the " principles " or elements, 
of "the doctrine of Christ." Heb, vi. i, 2. 
The devil, however, so blinds the minds of 
a large proportion of those to whom the 
word of salvation has been sent, that this 
doctrine of future punishment fails in pro- 
ducing its proper influence. 

As the " prince of this world," Satan holds 
in bondage the souls of men, and they be- 
lieve his lies, as did Eve, when he said : 
" Ye shall not surely die." 

It is the work of the Holy Ghost to con- 
vince men of the reality of this " eternal 
judgment ; " that Satan is a liar ; that he 
is already judged and condemned by the 
teachings of God's word ; and that although 
he now has a limited control in the world, 
hereafter he shall be cast out. 



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March. — Thirteenth Week, 



S3 



Through the instrumentality of Truth, 
as it is revealed to us in the Bible, the 
Holy Ghost acts upon the mind. He moves 
the affections. He influences the will. 
Yea, He works with us when we have the 
will to work out our own salvation {Phil, 
ii. 12) ; when, in answer to all the assaults 
of Satan, we firmly say : ** Get thee behind 
me." Luke iv. 8. 

We need that our convictions as to our 
dangers, and the certainty of a coming 
judgment, should be deep and abiding. To 
this end the Spirit of truth must guide us 
into all truth, yohn xvi. 12. Our blessed 
Lord, in order to endure his conflicts with 
Satan in the wilderness and in other times 
of trial, was full of the Holy Ghost, teaching 
his people that, if they would be conquer- 
ors over the great enemy, they too must 
be endued with this Divine power. 

Hence the need of building up ourselves 
in the faith of Christ ; of praying in the 
Holy Ghost ; looking for eternal life in our 
Lord Jesus Christ, yude 20. 

Jesus is ordained of God to be the Judge 
of quick and dead. Acts x. 42. The day 
is appointed when this righteous judgment 
will take place {Acts xvii. 31) ; and when 



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54 March. — Thirteenth Week, 

each and all shall give account to God. 
Rom, xiv. 12. 

And how important is the practical les- 
son the Apostle would teach us, from the 
fact that we shall all stand before the judg- 
ment-seat of Christ {Rom, xiv. lo) ; namely, 
the avoidance of censorious judgment, or 
a low estimate of our Christian brother, 
whose motives, in the sight of God, may 
be as pure and acceptable as our own. 

Let us not, therefore, judge one another 
any more; but judge this rather that no. 
man put a stumbling-blocK or an occasion to 
fall, in his brother's way. Rom, xiv. 13-19. 

Thou Judge of quick and dead, 

Before whose bar severe 
With holy joy, or guilty dread. 

We all shall soon appear ; 

Our wakened souls prepare 

For that tremendous Day, 
And fill us now with watchful care. 

And stir us up to pray. 

To pray and wait the hour, 

The solemn hour unknown, 
When, robed in majesty and power. 

Thou shalt from heaven come down. 

The immortal Son of Man, . 

To judge the human race, 
With all thy Father's dazzlinp: train. 

With all thy i lorious grace. 



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f ourtccntlj Week. 

THE HOLY GHOST OUR JUSTIFIER. 

April 2. 
|HEREFORE I give you to understand, 
that no man speaking by the Spirit of 
God calleth Jesus accursed ; and that no 
man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by 
the Holy Ghost, i Cor, xii. 3. 

April 3. 

In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus 
stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him 
come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on 
me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall 
flow rivers of living water. (But this spake He of 
the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should 
receive, for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, be- 
cause that Jesus was not yet glorified.) J^o/in vii. 
37-39- 

April 4. 

Then said Peter unto them; Repent, and be bap- 
tized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, 
for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the 
gift of the Holy Ghost. ,Aas ii. 38. 

April 5. 
Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no 
flesh be justified in his sight ; for by the law is the 
knowledge of sin. J^om. iii. 20. 



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56 April, — Fourteenth Week. 



April 6. 
Being justified freely by his grace, through the 
redemption that is in Christ Jesus : whom God 
hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in 
his blood to declare his righteousness for the re- 
mission of sins that are past, through the forbear- 
ance of God. Rom, iii. 24, 25. 

April. 7. 

And hope maketh not ashamed ; because the 
love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the 
Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. Rom. v. 5. 

April 8. 

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they 
are the sons of God. Rom, viii. 14. 

We are said to be justified by faith 
{Rom, V.) ; but faith is only the instrument 
or hand which leads us to Christ, who is 
made to us righteousness ox justification, i 
Cor. i. 30. Strictly speaking, God (the Holy 
Ghost) is our justifier. " For it is God who 
justifieth." Rom. viii. 33. Salvation is the 
work of the Holy Spirit. The new crea- 
tion of man's spiritual nature is wrought 
by the Spirit. Man must be born of the 
Spirit, or he cannot enter the kingdom of 
heaven, yohn iii. 3-5. Thus the Holy 
Spirit is represented in the Bible as the 
a-^ent in the Christian's new birth. He 



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April, — Fotirteenth Week, 5 7 



prepares the heart. He opens the way. 
He applies the truth. And the mind 
awakened, and led by the Spirit, and co- 
operating with the Spirit, finds in Jesus a 
Saviour. The soul is purified in obeying 
the truth through the Spirit.. Christians 
are born again of the incorruptible seed of 
God's word, i Pet, i. 22, 23. Man does 
not renew and sanctify himself. By na- 
ture he is opposed, not merely indifferent, 
but hostile to, the change. Left wholly 
to himself, to his own will, he would al- 
ways die unchanged. " The flesh lusteth 
against the Spirit, and the Spirit against 
the flesh, and these are contrary the one to 
the other. GaL\, 17. 

But man is not to regard himself as a 
mere passive recipient of the grace of God. 
He has something to do in working out his 
salvation, while God works in him, and be- 
cause God works in him. The Holy Ghost 
is the justifier, not simply of the hearer but 
of the believer of the Gospel. " Christ is 
the end of the law for righteousness to every 
one that believeth." Rom. x. 4. It is for us 
to follow the guidance of the Spirit in the 
beginning, and through all the progress of 
the Christian life. It is for us, in the first 



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58 



April. — Fojtrieenth Week, 



instance of Christian awakening, of anx- 
iety, or of interest, to remember that God 
the Holy Ghost is the justifier of the be- 
liever's soul ; that Jesus is set before us as 
the only object of a true Christian faith, 
and that " no man can say,*' in an enlight- 
ened. Scriptural, and saving sense, " that 
Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." 
I Cor, xii. 3. 

Jesus is now glorified to give repentance 
and remission of sins, and if we are led by 
the Spirit, and resist not th^ Spirit, we 
shall be justified in the sight of God from 
all things from which we cannot be justi- 
fied by the law of Moses. Acts xiii. 39. 
For it is the office of the Spirit to glorify 
Christ in showing to us the way of life 
through Him, and thus to justify him who 
believes in Jesus. Rom. iii. 26. 

Come, Holy Spirit, come ; 

Let thy bright beams arise ; 
Di-ipel the sorrow from our minds, 

The darkness from our eyes. 

Convince us of our sin ; 

Then lead to Jesus' blood, 
And to our wondering view reveal 

The mercies of our God. 



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f iftccntl) Wcth, 

THE HOLY GHOST OUR SANCTIFIER. 
April 9. 
AUL, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ 
through the will of God, and Sosthenes 
our brother, unto the Church of God 
which is at Corinth, to them that are 
sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with 
all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus 
Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours, i Cor, i, 2. 

April 10. 
Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more 
boldly unto you in some sort, as putting you in 
mind, because of the grace that is given to me of God, 
that I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the 
Gentiles, ministering the Gospel of God, that the 
offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, be- 
ing sanctified by the Holy Ghost. J^om. xv. 15, 16. 

April U. 

But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love 
wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in 
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. For 
by grace are ye saved through faith ; and that not 
of yourselves ; it is the gift of God. Eph, ii. 4, 5, 8. 
April 12. 

But we are bound to give thanks alway to Go:l 
for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God 
hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation 



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6o April, — Fifteenth Week. 

through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of 
the truth. 2 Thess, ii. 13. 

April 13. 
For both He that sanctifieth, and they who are 
sanctified, are all of one : for which cause He is not 
ashamed to call them brethren. Heb, ii. 11. 

Apnl 14. 

Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the 

Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto 

obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus 

Christ : grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied. 

I Pet. \. 2. 

Apnl 15. 

Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of 
James, to them that are sanctified by God the 
Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called. 
Jude I. • 

Jesus is made unto us Sanctification, 
but the Holy Ghost is our Sanctifier, The 
more, in the light of Scripture, we com- 
pare the attributes and work of the dif- 
ferent persons in the Godhead, the more 
do we discern their entire unity, as con- 
nected with the revealed diversities of their 
operations. In setting forth the fact that 
the Holy Spirit is our Sanctifier, we find, 
e. g,, as this doctrine is illustrated in the 
Scriptures which precede these remarks, 
that the Father and the Son are engaged 
in the same great work. Thus God, Jeho- 



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April — Fifteenth Week. 6i 



vah, the One God, chooses and quickens, 
and saves guilty man, through Sanctifica- 
tion of the Spirit and belief of the truth, 
unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood 
of Christ. 

The work is one, the essential power is 
one, but it engages the mind and includes 
the plan of a triunity from eternity. God 
is holy, and man, to enjoy his presence, 
must also be holy. But man lost this re- 
lationship to his Creator through his un- 
belief and sin. He is now by nature un- 
holy, and consequently far from God. Nor 
can he restore himself to his original 
purity. This work is indeed so great as 
to demand the same divine power as was 
exerted in the beginning, when Jehovah 
said, " Let us make man in our image." 
And so Christ having been manifest in 
the flesh to fulfill the law for man, and 
having died to atone for human guilt, has, 
with the Father, sent the Spirit as the 
dispenser of heavenly gifts, to make man 
holy, and to do this by the union and co- 
operation of God in the soul. 

Sanctified by the Spirit, we are also 
sanctified by God the Father, yude i. 

Sanctified by the Spirit, Christians also 



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62 



April, — Fifteenth Week. 



are sanctified by Christ Jesus, i Cor. i. 
I, 2. Thus the Holy Spirit of the Father 
and the Son, working in us, frees us not 
only from the condenmation of sin, but also 
from the power or dominion of sin. We are 
holy, in and through the Spirit helping us. 
And so, the Holy Spirit of God, or God, is 
the renewer and sanctifier of the soul of 
man. Hence the necessity of the Dispen- 
sation of the Holy Spirit. Hence the force 
of our Saviour's declaration, " It is expe- 
dient for you that I go away." yohn xvi. 7. 
Oh for grace to cherish all holy influences, 
so that, being justified and sanctified, we may 
be glorified with the Saviour at his coming. 

Spirit, poured on Pentecost, 
Paraclete and Holy Ghost, 
Resting on the Eternal Son, 
Holy, Uncreated One ! 
Breath of life ! thine aid impart. 
Waken every slumbering heart. 
Every groveling soul refine. 
With thy power and grace divine. 

Sanctifier ! seal our hearts 
With the truth thy word imparts ; 
Sacred truths and themes instill. 
And thy pleasure all fulfill ; 
There let Christ replace his throne, 
And possess us for his own, 
Till our bodies all shall be 
Temples to thy Deity ! 



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^ijctcaitt) WctU. 

THE HOLY GHOST OUR GLORIFIER. 

April 16. 

IF the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus 
from the dead dwell in you, He that 
raised up Christ from the dead shall also 
quicken your mortal bodies by (or because 
of) his Spirit that dwelleth in you. I^om. viii. ii. 

AprU 17. 
If we have been planted together in the likeness 
of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his 
resurrection. I^om. vi. 5. 

AprU 18. 
Know ye not that your body is the temple of the 
Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, 
and ye are not your own ? For ye are bought with 
a price ; therefore glorify God in your body, and in 
your spirit, which are God's, i Cor, vi. 19, 20; 

April 19. 
Knowing that He which raised up the Lord Jesus 
shall raise us up also by Jesus, and shall present 
us with you. 2 Cor, iv. 14. 

April 20. 
We all with open face beholding as in a glass 
the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same 
image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit 
of the Lord. 2 Cor, iii. 8. 



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64 



April. — Sixteenth Week, 



April 21. 

If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy 
are ye ; for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth 
on you. On their part He is evil spoken of, but 
on your part He is glorified, i Pet, iv. 14. 

AprU 22s. 

He that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap 
corruption ; but he that soweth to the Spirit, shall 
of the Spirit reap life everlasting. Gal, vi. 8. 

The Holy Ghost is revealed to us as our 
Gtonfier, as well as our yustifier and Sane- 
tifier. For whom God calls and justifies, 
He also glorifies. Rom. viii. 30. The 
work oi justification y and of sanctification, 
has reference to the life that now is. The 
work of glorification, to the life to come. 
To the justified, however, and specially to 
one who has, through grace, attained a high 
degree of holiness, to one who is sanc- 
tified in body, soul, and spirit, and who is 
waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus 
Christ (i Tkess. v. 23), there is often granted 
bright and brighter prospects of sharing in 
the glory of the ascended and coming Sav- 
iour. 

It was the promise of our Lord with ref- 
erence to the office of the Comforter : " He 



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April. — Sixteenth Week. 



65. 



will show you things to come." John xvi. 
13. A promise not limited to those to 
whom He spake, though fulfilled to them in 
large measure in gifts of prophecy and rev- 
elations, for the future good of his Church. 
For it is true of every one who is born of 
the Spirit, that he has access to God, and 
can rejoice in hope of future glory. Rom. 
V. I, 2. There are some who, through the 
power of the Holy Ghost, abound in hope. 
Rom, XV. 13. And to them that love Him, 
God reveals by his Spirit the deep things 
of God ; things which, without a direct reve- 
lation, could not have been conceived by 
man. i Cor. ii. 9-1 1. Hence, being jus- 
tified and sanctified by the power of the 
Holy Ghost, the Christian, relying on God's 
promises, can say with the beloved John, 
" We know that when He shall appear, we 
shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as 
He is." I yohi iii. 2. It is in " the resur- 
rection of the just," therefore (Luke xiv. 
14), we are to look for the consummation 
of the believer's glory. 

The Holy Ghost is the Agent who will 

quicken and raise the mortal body. It was 

the Spirit of God, the Spirit of the Father. 

and the Son, who raised Jesus from the 

5 



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(£ 



April, — Sixteenth Week, 



tomb of Joseph, and it is the same Spirit 
dwelling in the believer, by which his body 
shall be raised when the corruptible shall 
put on incorruption, and the mortal immor- 
tality. I Cor, XV. 

The barrier to a glorious resurrection is 
sin. By sin came death ! Sin unrepented 
of ends in the second death ! But Christ 
has pujt away the sin of the believer. He 
shall live, though he die. The temple of 
his body shall be raised, rebuilt, and glori- 
fied ; yea, it shall be fashioned like unto 
the Saviour's glorious body, according to 
the working whereby He is able to subdue 
all things unto Himself. Phil, iii. 21. 

In^ view, therefore, of this blessed hope, 
how carefully ought we to watch against 
sin, and to strive after holiness. Oh, let 
ours be the prayer of the Apostle, that 
the God of peace may sanctify ns wholly, 
I Thess, V. 23. May we sow to the Spirit, 
and of the Spirit reap life everlasting. GaL 
vi. 8. 

Holy Spirft, Lord of light, 
From thy clear celestial height, 

Thy pure beaming radiance give. 
Come, thou Father of the poor. 
Come with treasures which endure, 

Come, thou Light of all that live ! 



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^ct3ctitccntt) Week. 




THE HOLY GHOST IS THE WORKER OF 
MIRACLES. 

April 23. 
UT while he thought on these things, 
behold, the angel of the Lord appeared 
unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou 
son of David, fear not to take unto thee 
Mary thy wife : for that which is conceived in her 
is of the Holy Ghost MaU. i. 20. 

April 24. 

But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then 

the kingdom of God is come unto you. Maff. xii. 

28. 

April 25. 

And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost, returned 
from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the 
wilderness. And Jesus returned in the power of 
the Spirit into Galilee ; and there went out a fame 
of Him through all the region round about. Luke 
V. I, 14. 

April 26. 

And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, 
and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit 
[ ave them utterance. Acts ii. 4. 

April 27. 
And they of the circumcision which believed, 
were astonished, as many as came with Peter, be- 



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68 April, — Sevefiteenth Week, 

cause that on the Gentiles also was poured out the 
gift of the Holy Ghost. Acts x. 45. 

Ai»ril 28. 

Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power 
of the Spirit of God ; so that from Jerusalem, and 
round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached 
the Gospel of Christ. Rom. xv. 19. 
April 29. 

God also bearing them witness, both with signs 
and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of 
the Holy Ghost, according to his own will. Heb. 
ii. 4. 

A BELIEF in miracles includes a belief in 
a personal Deity, and a belief that He has 
made a revelation of his will in the Scrip- 
tures of the Old and New Testaments. 
To the atheist, a miracle is an impossibility. 
If there is no God, there is no miracle. If 
there is no God, there are no laws above 
what are called natural laws. If there is 
no God, there is no moral government of 
the world by a Supreme Intelligence ; and 
so the miracle will be rejected by the deist, 
who denies that the Bible is from God, but 
who follows the light of nature and of rea- 
son ; but to the Christian, miracles are one 
of the grand pillars on which rest the truth 
of revelation, and which give support to 
the fact that God is, and that He is the 



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April, — Seventeenth Week. 



69 



moral governor of the world, and the uni- 
verse of worlds. But we find in our study 
of the Bible, that it is God, the Holy Ghosts 
who is the great worker of miracles. It was 
by his miraculous power, that in the begin- 
ning of history, earth rose from chaos {Gen. 
i. 2), and man was endued with spiritual life. 
Gen. ii. 7. It was by his miraculous influ- 
ence on the minds of good men, that the 
books of the Old Testament Scriptures 
were penned ; for they spake (and wrote) as 
they were moved by the Holy Ghost. 2 
Pet, i. 21. And if we examine the texts 
prefixed to this meditation, we have other 
illustrations of our position that it is the 
Holy Ghost who is the effective agent in the 
Holy Trinity, and who works in a manner 
above human comprehension in the Divine 
government. Thus the conception of Jesus 
Christ in the womb of the Virgin Mary, 
was a miracle wrought by the power of the 
Highest, i, e.y the Holy Ghost. 

The fast of our Lord for forty days was 
borne because He was miraculously sus- 
tained by the Holy Spirit, by whom He 
was led into the wilderness to be tempted 
of the devil. It was, moreover, by the 
Spirit of God that He cast out devils, and 



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70 



ApriL — Seventeenth Week, 



did so many mighty works. And it was 
'the Holy Ghost working that great miracle 
on the day of Pentecost, and who continued 
with the Apostles, through which God testi- 
fied they were sent to do their Master's 
work. 

Thus God, the Holy Ghost, interposes in 
a manner beyond human reason or concep- 
tion for a moral purpose. He carries on 
his Divine government in an outer circle 
of influences, which includes the innercircle 
of what we call natural law. In his own 
eternal nature He has worked, and is work- 
ing all things after the counsels of his own 
will, for the highest good of his Church. 
The ministration of the Holy Spirit giveth 
life. It is higher and more glorious than the 
ministration of the law. See 2 Cor. iii. 6-10. 

Oh that we may be moved, and saved by 
this blessed ministration, and share its full- 
ness of glory ! Amen. 

Lord God, the Holy Ghost ! 

In this accepced hour, 
As in the day of Pentecost, 

Descend in all thy power. 

The young, the old inspire 

With wisdom from above ; 
And give us hearts and tongues of fire 
To pray, and praise, and love. 



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iCig^ttnitl) Wtth. 




THE HOLY GHOST INSPIRED THE 
PROPHETS. 

Apra 30. 
FOR David himself said by the Holy Ghost, 
the Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on my 
right hand, till I make thine enemies thy 
' footstool. Mark xii. 36. 
May 1. 
They departed, after that Paul had spoken one 
word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the 
prophet unto our fathers, saying, Go unto this people 
and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not under- 
stand ; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive. 
Acts xxviii. 25, 26. 

May 2. 
Which things also we speak, not in the words 
which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy 
Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with 
spiritual, i Cor. ii. 13. 

May 3. 

Which in other ages was not made known unto 
the sons of man, as it is now revealed unto his holy 
apostles and prophets by the Spirit, that the Gentiles 
should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and 
partakers of his promise in Christ by the Gospel. 
EpA. iii. 5, 6. 

May 4. 

Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, To-dpy, if 



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May, — Eighteenth Wtek. 



ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. 

Heb. ill. 7, 8. 

May 5. 

Of which salvation the prophets have inquired. 
.... Searching what or what manner of time the 
Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, 
when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, 
and the glory that should follow, i Pet, i. lo, ii. 

May 6. 

For the prophecy came not in old time (or at any 
time) by the will of man ; but holy men God spake 
as they were moved by \he Holy Ghost. 2 Pet. i. 21. 

God the Holy Ghost spake by the proph- 
ets, and inspired the prophets. This is 
true of all God's prophets, at all periods of 
history. It is true of the Old Testament 
Scriptures, concerning which Josephus, 
the celebrated historian of the Jews, says, 
" They only were prophets that have writ- 
ten the original and earliest accounts of 
things, as they learned them of God Himself 
by inspiration." We have also the testi- 
mony of one greater than Josephus, to the 
verity of the Old Testament Scriptures as 
the word of God, when, after his resurrection, 
He said to his disciples, "All things must 
be fulfilled which were written in the law 
of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the 
Psalms, concerning me." Luke xxiv. 44. 



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May, — Eighteenth Week. 73 



It is also true that the same Divine Spirit 
who breathed into the ancient prophets was 
the teacher of the Apostles and evangelists, 
enlightening their minds, and bringing to 
their remembrance all those things which 
the Saviour had taught them and guiding 
them into all truth, yohn xiv. 26 ; xvi. 13,14. 

Hence in the whole Bible we have the 
words which the Holy Ghost teacheth. i 
Cor, ii. 13. He spake by Moses to Israel, 
and through the record of Moses He speaks 
to us. Ex, iii. 6. And so by David and the 
later prophets. So, by the same Spirit, the 
revelation was made to the Apostles of our 
Lord, which they have transmitted to us. 
" Men spake, and thus the words retain all 
the individual characteristics of those who 
uttered them ; but the inspiring breath was 
that of the Holy Ghost, and thus their ut- 
terances are nothing less than the oracles 
of the living God." 

The Scriptures as at first written were 
free from all error. But in copying ancient 
manuscripts, and translating into different 
languages, perfect uniformity may not now 
be found. And yet the Bible now, as in 
the completion of the record, is essentially 
perfect. It is fulfilling its design as the 



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74 



May, — Eighteenth Week, 



sword of the Spirit in converting the soul, 
in making wise the simple, in rejoicing 
the heart, and in bringing many sons and 
daughters to glory. Ps, xix. 7-9. 

If miracles are one of the grand pillars 
upon which rests the verity and inspiration 
of the Bible, prophecy and its fulfillment is 
another. "The Bible is God speaking to 
man in man's language. And as the Incar- 
nate Word was subject to the innocent in- 
firmities of humanity, though absolutely and 
perfectly without sin, so the written word 
is the mind of God, couched in the feeble 
symbolism of human speech, but yet is pure, 
perfect, and infallible. This glorious pos- 
session — this choicest heir-lo6m of the fam- 
ily of man — we owe to the inspiration of 
the Holy Ghost." 

O Holy Ghost, thy sacred word ! 
What light and joy does it afford 

To souls in deep distress ! 
Thy precepts guide our doubtful way, 
Thy fear forbids our feet to stray, 

Thy promise leads to rest. 

Thy threatenings wake our slumbering eyes, 
And warn us where our danger lies ; 

But *tis thy precious word 
That makes the guilty conscience clean, 
Converts the soul, and conquers sin. 

And gives a free reward. 



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jpiiitrcntl) Deceit. 




THE HOLY GHOST THE SOURCE OF HOLI- 

NESS. 

May 7. 
HAT which is born of the flesh is flesh : 
and that which is born of the Spirit is 
spirit John iii. 6. 
Mays. 
There is therefore now no condemnatioa to them 
which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the 
flesh, but after the Spirit. Ram, viii. i. 

May 9. 

Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who 
was made of the seed of David according to the 
flesh and declared to be the Son of God with power, 
according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrec- 
tion from the dead. Rom, i. 3, 4. 

.May 10. 
This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall 
not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth 
against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh ; 
and these are contrary the one to the ether." Gal. 
V. 16, 17. 

May 11. 

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit 
the kingdom of God .^ and such were some of you ; 
but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are 
justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the 
Spirit of our G:id." i Cor, vi. 9, u. 



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76 May, -^ Nineteenth Week. 



May 12. 

How much more shall the blood of Christ, who 

through the Eternal Spirit offered Himself without 

spot (or fault, margin) to God, purge your conscience 

from dead works to serve the living God ? Heb. ix. 

14. 

May 13. 

For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the 
just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, 
being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by 
the Spirit, i Pet. iii. 18. 

God is perfectly holy. Angels and 
Archangels, and all the company of heaven 
are represented as bowing in adoration be- 
fore Him, and saying: "Holy, Holy, Holy 
Lord God of hosts, heaven and earth are full 
of thy glory." But man, though sinless 
when he came from the hand of God, has 
lost the life he then had in God, and is now 
under the condemnation of the Divine law, 
as a sinner. The law of selfishness now 
reigns, and has dominion over him. There 
is an antagonism between him and God, 
and therefore, in order to happiness, the con- 
sequent of holiness, man must be changed. 
God foresaw this contingency, and has 
sent the Holy Ghost to teach, to induce, and 
to enable men to turn from sin, and to regain 
thj Divine image in which he was originally 



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May. — Nineteenth Week. jj 



created, and so the Holy Ghost teaches, 
that man being born of the flesh, and in- 
heriting the fallen* nature of the first Adam, 
must be born again of the Spirit that he 
may live the life and reap the benefits re- 
sulting from the mission of the second 
Adam ; that, condemned by the Law, as 
guilty of breaking its holy precepts, he must 
find in the Gospel the fi-eedom from its 
penalty which is made sure to the believer 
in Jesus Christ, and that having no good 
hope beyond the grave, so long as sin has 
dominion over him, he must look for the 
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to redeem 
the souls of his people, and in an obedient 
walking in his steps bring forth the fruits 
of the Spirit, to the glory and praise of God. 
Does the Christian mourn that he comes 
so far short of the holiness which is set be- 
fore him as the standard to which he may 
and ought to come ? Let him bear in mind 
that the Holy Ghost is revealed to us as the 
source of holiness ; and let him go to this 
source daily, yea, momentarily, for a supply. 
Oh, let us never forget we are under the 
Dispensation of the Spirit, He is sent by 
the Father and the Son. It is the Sav- 
iour's promise. " He will guide you into 



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78 May, — Nineteenth Week, 

all truth." John xvi. 13. " He shall glo- 
rify me ; for he shall receive of mine, and 
shall show it unto you." yohn xiv. 14. 

And let none be insensible to the truth 
that the great work which God purposes in 
the mission of Christ and the gift of the 
Holy Ghost, is to make men holy. It was 
not simply to pardon them in view of their 
awful condemnation, but to fit them for the 
enjoyment of Himself. Hence the neces- 
sity of holiness. Hence the command, " Be 
ye holy, for I am holy ! " Hence the great 
work of the Holy Ghost and its necessity. 

Gracious Spirit, Love Divine, 
Let thy light within me shine ; 
All my guilty fears remove ; 
Fill me full of heaven and love. 

Speak thy pardoning grace to me ; 
Set the burdened sinner free ; 
Lead me to the Lamb of God ; 
Wash me in his precious blood. 

Life and peace to me impart. 
Seal salvation on my heart ! 
Breathe thyself within my breast 
Earnest of immortal rest 

Let me never from thee stray ; 
Keep me in the narrow way ; 
Fill my soul with joy divine, 
Keep me,. Lord, forever thine. 



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CtDciitictl) Wcth. 




THE HOLY GHOST DWELLS IN THE BE- 
LIEVER. 

May 14. 

N whom all the building fitly framed to- 
gether, groweth unto a holy temple in the 
Lord. In whom ye also are builded to- 
gether, for a habitation of God through 
the Spirit. ICpk, ii. 21, 22. 

May 15. 

Ye also, as lively stones, are built (be ye built, 
margin) up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to 
offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by 
Jesus Christ i Pet, ii. 5. 

May 16. 

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbe- 
lievers ; for what fellowship hath righteousness 
with unrighteousness ? and what communion hath 
light with darkness ? and what concord hath it with 
Belial ? or what part hath he that believeth, with an 
infidel ? i Cor, vi. 14, 15. 

May 17. 

What agreement hath the temple of God with 
idols ? for ye are the temple of the living God : as 
God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in 
them ; and I will be their God, and they shall be 
my people. . 2 Cor, vi. 16. 



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8o May, — Twentieth Week. 



May 18. 

If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, 
if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the 
Spirit, if any bowels of mercies, fulfill ye my joy, 
that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being 
of one accord, of one mind. PhiL vii. 12. 

May 19. 

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works 
of darkness, but rather reprove them. Eph, ii. 11. 

May 20. 

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of 
God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost be 
with you all. Amen. 2 Cor, xiii. 14. 

The doctrine of the presence of God 
with man is exceedingly practical. Man 
naturally dislikes to retain God. in his 
knowledge. Rom, i. 28. As a sinner, he 
is disposed to hide himself from God. Gen, 
iii. 10. He.is willing to think of Him in a 
general sense, as God the Creator, but as 
God the governor and judge, as God dy- 
ing for man's redemption, as God dwelling 
in us, and commanding us to keep our 
bodies as fit temples for his presence ; 
these are thoughts against which man's 
heart rebels. And yet unless we do thus 
think of God, and are persuaded of the 
necessity of a vital, personal union with 
Him, in order to salvation, we shall fail in 



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May. — Twentieth Week, 8 1 



securing the great purpose for which Christ 
died. We must have the spirit of Christ, 
or we are none of his. Rom, viii. 9. 

Christians are represented as a spiritual 
house. Their bodies are said to be temples 
of the Holy Ghost who dwells in them, i 
Cor. vi. 19. They are temples of the living 
God. 2 Cor, vi. 16. Before Christ came, 
and before the Spirit was poured out on 
the day of Pentecost, the Jews worshipped 
at Jerusalem, and the Samaritans at Ger« 
izim. Gorgeous temples, material altars^ 
and a Levitical priesthood, were marked 
features in their worship ; types of some- 
thing better. Christianity is a more spirit- 
ual religion. God is now revealed to us as 
an ever present Spirit, and ready to hear the 
** two or three," wherever believing prayer 
and praise ascend to Him in Jesus' name. 

The Temple of Solomon, and the second 
temple, with all their solid masonry, and 
glorious adornments, were types of the spir- 
itual temple of Christ's body. The mate- 
rial altar was a type of a believing heart. 
And the Levitical priesthood was a type of 
the universal priesthood of all who through 
Jesus our great High-priest offer the sac- 
rifice of prayer and praise to God. 
6 

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82 May, — Twentieth Week, 



God through the Holy Ghost, dwells in 
this purified temple. Born again of the 
Holy Ghost, the Christian is a partaker of 
the divine nature. And the Holy Ghost 
being the source of all holiness, daily sup- 
plies of his grace are given to the Chris- 
tian. Hence under the Gospel we have 
not a material, but a spiritual temple ! It 
is built of living stones ! It is ministered 
by the holy priesthood of all those who offer 
spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by 
Jesus Christ, i Pet, il 5. 

And thus the lesson which is enforced 
by a consideration of this doctrine is two- 
fold : First, the Holy Ghost calls upon us, 
as sinners, to hear his voice of invitation, 
and not to resist his drawings of love, but 
to turn at once from sin by fleeing to Jesus 
that we may have life ; and second, having 
this life, to have it more abundantly. To 
this end to heed the exhortation, " Be ye 
holy ! '* " Come out " from an idolatrous 
world " and be ye separate," saith the Lord, 
** and touch not the unclean thing ; and I 
will receive you ; and will be a father unto 
you, and ye shall be my sons and daugh- 
ters, saith the Lord Almighty." 2 Cor, vi, 
17, 18. 



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Clnciitp-firiBEt Wtth. 

THE HOLY GHOST UNITES THE BELIEVER 

TO CHRIST. 

May 21. 

HAT they all may be one ; as thou, Fa- 
ther, art in me, and I in thee, that they 
also may be one in us : that the world 
may believe that . thou hast sent me. 
^oAn xvii. 21. 

May 22. 

For we are members of his body, of his flesh, 
and of his bones. This is a great mystery ; but I 
speak concerning Christ and the church. Epk. 
V. 30-32. 

May 23. 

As we have many members in one body, .... so 
we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every 
one members one of another. liom, xii. 4, 5. 

May 24. 

For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one 
body .... and have been all made to drink into 
one Spirit, i Cor. xii. 13. 

May 25. 

He that is joined unto the Lord is one Spirit, i 
Cor, vi. 17. 

May 26. 

For as many of you as have been baptized into 



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84 Twenty-first Week, 



i Christ, have put on Christ. There is neither Jew 
nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is 
\ neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ 
! Jesus. Gal. iii. 27, 28. 

May 27. 

! And he that keepeth his commandments dwell- 

s eth in Him, and He in him. And hereby we know 
that He abideth in us by the Spirit which He hath 
^ given us. i John iii. 24. 

\ 

There is essential unity among all those 
\ who have a personal faith in the Lord 
Jesus Christ as a Divine Saviour. Al- 
^ though there are great diversities in the 
forms of church government, in the modes 
of worship, and the wording of creeds, yet 
where the ground of the Christian hope is 
honestly compared by any who are born 
again of the Holy Spirit, a wonderful unity 
in what is essential to salvation is found to 
subsist. 

There is unity in the faith of the one 
God and Father of all. Unity in the one 
Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as a 
personal Saviour. Unity in the baptism of 
the one Holy Spirit, by whom we are all 
baptized into one body. There is unity in 
the belief of man's sinfulness, of his need 
of spiritual regeneration, of the forgiveness 



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May, — Twenty-first Week, 85 

of sins, of justification by faith in Christ, 
of sanctification by the Spirit, of the resur- 
rection of the dead, and a future judgment. 

But this unity is far from being devel- 
oped as it ought to be. Christians, in their 
unfortunate, and in many cases their un- 
necessary divisions, are wont so to mag- 
nify those things which are the mere scaf- 
folding of the spiritual temple, as to hinder 
the progress and mar the beauty of the 
temple itself. Like everything in this 
world with which man has anything to do, 
even the Church is imperfect. The tares 
are still growing with the wheat ; nor can 
the separation be made until the Son of 
Man shall come to send his reapers and 
gather the harvest. 

Then the union between Christ the head, 
and all the members of his mystical body 
will be manifest. His prayer will not for- 
ever remain unanswered, that all his disci- 
ples may be united as He and his Father 
are. and, as a consequence, that the world 
may believe in Him. yohn xvii. 21. 

In the mean time — and how long or 
short that time may be we know not — let 
Christians of every name cultivate the 
spirit of unity by Christian intercourse. 



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86 May, — Twenty-first Week, 

and by reciprocating Christian offices of 
love. Let each esteem others to be as 
honest, as intelligent, and Christ-like as 
themselves ; and let them act upon the 
principle that all truth and virtue is not 
confined within any denominational bound- 
aries. 

If Christians are one in Christ, why 
should they be at variance, and speak evil 
one of another because of minor differ- 
ences .^ Rather let us rejoice as brethren 
in the saving truths in which we are 
agreed, and with one mind strive together 
for the faith of the Gospel. 

Spirit of Peace ! celestial Dove ! 

How excellent thy praise ! 
No richer gift than Christian love 

Thy gracious power displays. 

Sweet as the dew on herb and flower. 

That silently distils, 
At evening's soft and balmy hour. 

On Zion's fruitful hills : 

So, with mild influence from above. 
Shall promised grace descend, 

Till universal peace and love 
O'er all the earth extend. 



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THE HOLY GHOST ASSURES THE BELIEVER 
OF SONSHIP. 

May 2a 
JOWBEIT, when He, the Spirit of truth is 
come, He will guide you into all truth, for 
He shall not speak of Himself: but what- 
soever He shall hear, that shall He speak ; 
and He will show you things to come. yoAn xvi. 

13. 

May 29. 

In whom also, after that ye believed, ye were 
sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the 
earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of 
the purchased possession, unto the praise of his 
glory. EpA. L 13, 14. 

May 30. 
For the earnest expectation of the creature 
waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 
/^om. viii. 19. 

Ma;^ 31. 

And not only they, but ourselves also, who have 

the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves 

groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, 

to wit, the redemption of our body, /^om, viii. 23. 

June 1. 
For we know that if our earthly house of this 
tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of 



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88 yune, — Twenty-second Week, 



God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the 
heavens. 2 Cor* v. 2. 

June 2. 

Now, He that hath wrought us for the self same 
thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earn- 
est of the Spirit 2 Cor, v. 5. 

June 3. 
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth 
not yet appear what we shall be; but we know, 
that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him : 
for we shall see Him as He is. i John iii. 2. 

The religion of Christ while fulfilling the 
promise of blessedness to its possessor in 
the present life, assures him of a far higher 
state of blessedness in the life beyond. 

It is a life of faith in which he is called 
to walk. It is by faith that the Holy 
Ghost shows him things to come. It is as 
a son of God, and as heir with Christ to a 
heavenly inheritance, that, in view of the 
dissolution of the earthly tabernacle, God 
gives to him the earnest of the Spirit, or 
the assured hope of immortal glory in the 
resurrection with Christ, when He shall 
come to gather his people, and they shall 
be like Him, and shall see Him, in his glori- 
fied humanity. 

God's paternal love to us, in adopting us 



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June. — Twenty-second Week. 8^ 



as sons and daughters, includes an heir- 
ship with Christ in his kingdom. " If 
children, then heirs ; heirs of God and joint 
heirs with Christ ; if so be that we suffer 
with Him, that we may be also glorified to- 
gether." Rom, viii. 17. 

Now it is the work of the Holy Ghost 
to assure us of this adoption, and this res- 
ervation. " Because ye are sons, God hath 
sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your 
hearts, crying Abba, Father." GaL iv. 6. 
For He who anointed us is God, who hath 
also sealed us, and given the earnest of Xht 
Spirit in our hearts. 2 Cor. i. 20, 22. 

And this sealing by the Holy Spirit 
until the redemption of the purchased pos- 
session, and this earnest^ or assurance which 
God gives to tlie Christian of something 
better, and more abundant hereafter, should 
animate him in the Christian conflict, and 
call forth expressions of gratitude for all 
these tokens of God's love. They are but 
" the first-fruits of the Spirit," and yet they 
may be regarded as the pledge of an abun- 
dant and glorious harvest in the future. 

Have we then the hope of sonship and 
heirship as God's children by adoption } 
Oh let us never forget that this relationship 



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90 yune. — Twenty-second Week* 



includes eternal peace, and glory with our 
blessed Lord in his coming kingdom ; and 
that it involves the duty of Christian watch- 
fulness, and fidelity in all that He calls us 
to do for our growth in holiness, and for 
the promotion of Christian unity and peace 
on earth. 

The hope that is set before us, as chil- 
dren of God who have been born again of 
the incorruptible seed of truth, is produc- 
tive of holiness. " For every man that 
hath this hope in him purifieth himself, 
even as He is pure." i yohn iii. 3. While 
therefore waiting for the coming of our 
Lord, and for the redemption of the body 
from the grave, and seeking for the needed 
aid of the Holy Spirit, let us purify our- 
selves from the defilements of the flesh and 
spirit, so that, being justified and sancti- 
fied, we may be glorified with Him at his 
appearing at his kingdom. 2 Tim, iv. i. 

Holy Ghost, the Infinite 
Shine upon our nature's night 
With thy blessed inward light. 
Comforter Divine ! 

We are sinful ; cleanse us, Lord ; 
We are faint, thy strength afford ; 
Lost, until by thee restored. 
Comforter Divine ! 



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ytme, — Twenty-second Week. 91 



Like the dew, thy peace distill, 

Guide, subdue our wayward will 

Things of Christ unfolding still, 

Comforter Divine ! 

In us, for us, intercede, 

And with voiceless groanings plead 

Our unutterable need, 

Comforter Divine I 

In us, " Abba, Father," cry — 
Earnest of our bliss on high. 
Seal of immortality. 

Comforter Divine ! 

Search for us the depths of God ; 
Bear us up the starry road 
To the height of thine abode, 
Comforter Divine 1 



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Ctocntp-ttjirH IDceft. 



THE HOLY GHOST IS THE SOURCE OF 
POWER. 

June 4. 

N that day shall the branch of the Lord 
be beautiful and glorious : . . . . and it 
shall come to pass, that he that is left in 
Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, 
shall be called holy, .... when the Lord shall 
have purged the blood of Jerusalem, .... by the 
Spirit of judgment, and by the Spirit of burning. 
Isa. iv. 2-4. 

June 5. 
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance ; 
but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, 
whose shoes I am not worthy to bear : He shall 
baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. 
Matt iii. 11. 

June 6. 

And when they had prayed, .... they all were 
filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word 
of God with boldness. Acts iv. 31. 

June?. 

The Apostles prayed for them (/. e.^ for the con- 
verts in Samaria) that they might receive the Holy 
Ghost : . . . . then laid they their hands on them 
and they received the Holy Ghost Acts viii. 15-17. 



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yune, — Twenty-third Week. 93 



June 8. 
And Ananias .... said, Brother Saul, the Lord 
.... hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy 
sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. Acts ix. 
17-20. 

June 9. 
In all things approving ourselves as the ministers 
of God, by the Holy Ghost. 2 Cor. vi. 4, 6. 

June 10. 
For our Gospel came not unto you in word only, 
but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in 
much assurance ; as ye know what manner of men 
we were among you for your sake, i Thess, i. 5. 

The Holy Ghost has always been the 
fountain from whence everything that is 
good has flowed forth, for the comfort and 
salvation of men. Although under the 
Gospel God has given us clearer manifesta- 
tions of his love and power in the one 
baptism of the Holy Ghost, than before the 
Gospel, and has sent his ministers to make 
known his willingness to save whosoever 
believeth in Jesus Christ, yet, from the be- 
ginning. He strove with men, and espe- 
cially with Israel, as his covenant people, 
by the Holy Ghost, whom they resisted. 

Nay, even to those to whom pertained 
not the covenant which God made with 
Abraham, He did not leave Himself with- 



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94 yune. — Twenty- third Week, 



out witness, so that as an able author has 
said : " To the Spirit of the living God 
striving with men everywhere, and always, 
must be traced whatever moral goodness 
and holy truth sprung up in the ungenial 
soil of ancient paganism." 

And again, "The Holy Ghost, that 
touched the soul of Hebrew prophets and 
teachers, also brooded over the spiritual 
chaos of the old pagan world, so that 
gleams of divine light flashed many times 
across the deep of ignorance and moral 
evil." 

But under the Gospel this Source of 
Power is manifest in a far higher degree 
than it was, or is to the heathen, or to 
those who sought or seek salvation by the 
law of Moses. 

It was in consequence of the descent of 
the Holy Ghost on Pentecost that the wait- 
ing Apostles and brethren "were endued 
with power from on high," and went forth 
on their mission " preaching Jesus and the 
resurrection," with such wonderful success. 
And what the Church now needs is this 
baptism of the Holy Ghost, to give power 
and success to its ministries. It is not 
wealth, or learning, or mere human endow- 



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yune, — Twenty-third Week. 95 



ments, however great ; it is not gorgeous 
churches or philosophical or sensational 
preaching ; it is not an imposing ceremo- 
nial in worship, or a fashionable congrega- 
tion ; but it is the presence of the Holy 
Ghost with those who minister, and with 
those for whom the ministry is provided. 

Is not this great want of the Church 
unfelt ? How seldom, as compared with 
other themes, do we hear the personality, 
the nature, and the work of the Holy Ghost 
presented in the pulpit. And yet if we 
would glorify Christ, we must set forth the 
Holy Ghost as the glorifier. yohn xvi. 14. 
My Christian reader, let us pray for a new 
baptism of the Spirit, so that, being en- 
lightened and sanctified more and more, 
we may gain cumulative power from this 
ever flowing fountain ; and being refreshed 
ourselves, maybe made instruments of bless- 
ing others. 

Eternal Spirit, we confess 
And sing the wonders of thy grace ; 
Thy power conveys our blessings down 
From God the Father and the Son. 

Enlightened by thy heavenly ray, 
Our shades and darkness turn to day ; 
Thine inward teachings make us know 
Our danger, and or.r refuge too. 



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96 yune, — Twenty-third Week. 



Thy power and glory work withki, 
And break the chains of reigning sin ; 
All our imperious lusts subdue, 
And form our wretched hearts anew. 

The troubled conscience knows thy voice, 
Thy cheering words awake our joys ; 
Thy words allay the stormy wind, 
And calm the surges of the. mind. 



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CtDciitp-fourt!) Wtck. 

THE HOLY GHOST IS THE BESTOWER OF 
POWER. 

June 11. 
RULY I am full of power by the Spirit of 
the Lord, and of judgment, and of might,, 
to declare unto Jacob his transgression,, 
and to Israel his sin. Micah iii. 8. 

June 12. 

For John truly baptized with water ; but ye shall 
be baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many days 
hence. Actsx,^. 

June 13. 
And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith 
God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh ; and 
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy ; . . . . 
and on my servants and on my hand-maidens I will 
pour out in those days of my Spirit ; and they shall 
prophesy. Acts\\, 17, 18. 

June 14. 

How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the 
Holy Ghost and with power ; who went about 
doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of 
the devil ; for God was with Him. Acts x. 38. 
7 



I 

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98 yune, — Twenty 'fourth Week. 

June 15. 
While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy 
Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. Acts 

X. 44. 

June 16. 

And as I (Peter) began to speak, the Holy Ghost 
fell on them, as on us at the beginning. Then re- 
membered I the word of the Lord, how that He 
«aid, John indeed baptized with water ; but ye shall 
be baptized with the Holy Ghost. Acts xi. 15, 16. 

June 17. 
When Paul had laid his hands upon them, the 
Holy Ghost came on them ; and they spake with 
•tongues, and prophesied. Acts xix. 6. 

Power is an attribute or perfection of 
God. By his power He can do his own 
purposes, or He can hinder the purposes 
of his enemies. " Thine is the power ! " is 
the ground of assurance on which we are 
taught to pray, "Thy kingdom come!" 
" Thy will be done ! " So, Jesus, as God, 
" hath power to forgive sins." Matt, ix. 6. 
•" So, the Holy Ghost, as God, has power in 
beginning and carrying forward the work of 
grace in man. Eph, i. 17-20. 

We have spoken of the Holy Ghost as 
the source of power ; but He is also the be- 
stower of power. We can conceive of latent 
ipower or of power misapplied, but in the 



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June, — Twenty-fourth Week. 99 

great work which the Holy Ghost is work- 
ing for us there are ever flowing from the 
fountain living streams, which like the gen- 
tle and refreshing rain, make glad the other- 
wise parched and barren soil. 

Christian power is cumulative ! Jesus 
anointed by the Holy Ghost with power, 
grew in grace, and went about doing good. 
Acts X. 38. 

It was after the descent of the Spirit on 
Pentecost, that, through the added power 
they then received, the Apostles were so 
bold, and so blessed in their ministry. And 
it was after the baptism of the Holy Ghost, 
that the first followers and the early disci- 
ples of the Saviour were so ready to minis- 
ter of their abundance, or their penury, to 
the common wants of all. Acts iv. 

But in order to the bestowal of this power 
there is something for the Church, some- 
thing for Christians to do. Although a 
gratuity from God, it is, notwithstanding, 
to be earnestly and perseveringly sought. 
Jesus prayed, yea, He spent nights in ear- 
nest supplication. The Apostles and breth- 
ren continued with one accord, for ten days, 
in prayer and supplication, while waiting 
for the promise of the Comforter. 



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100 yune. — Twenty-fourth Week. 

God is willing to give his Holy Spirit, 
but He will be inquired of. Prayer is one 
of the conditions. He waits to put forth 
his sanctifying power toward his people in 
larger measure, and his converting power 
toward sinners, if prayer, earnest, united, 
believing, persevering, shall go up to Him. 

Let every believer in God's promises, 
therefore, pray that he may be endued with 
power from on high. Let him pray as did 
the prophet, in view of the wants of the 
Church, " O Lord, revive thy work in the 
midst of the years ; .... in wrath remem- 
ber mercy." Hah. iii. 2. 

Thus may we gain power by waiting be- 
fore the throne of God, and praying for, and 
longing for, and looking for the baptism of 
the Holy Ghost. May we all thus wait, and 
thus believe and feel the cumulative power 
which the Holy Ghost bestows. 

Holy Ghost ! with light divine, 
Shine upon this heart of mine ; 
Chase the shades of night away, 
Turn my darkness into day. 

Holy Ghost ! with POWER divine, 
Cleanse this guilty heart of mine ; 
Long hath sin, without control. 
Held dominion o^er my soul 



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Ju7ie. — Twenty-fourth Week. 1 01 

Holy Ghost ! with joy divine, 
Cheer this saddened heart of mine. 
Bid my many woes depart. 
Heal my wounded, bleeding heart. 

Holy Ghost ! thou Lord divine. 
Dwell within this heart of mine ; 
Cast down every idol throne, 
Reign supreme, and reign alone. 



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€tocntp-fifirt) Wttk, 

THE HOLY GHOST IS THE SOURCE OF JOY. 
June 18. 
ND ye became followers of us, and of the 
Lord, having received the word in much 
affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost. 
I Thess. i. 6. 

June 19. 
The fruit of the Spirit is joy. GaL v. 22. 
And the disciples were filled with joy, and with 
the Holy Ghost. Acts xiii. 52. 

June 20. 

And they departed from the presence of the coun- 
cil, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suf- 
fer shame for his name. Acts v. 41. 

June 2L 

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and 
peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, 
through the power of the Holy Ghost. Rom, xv. 

13. 

June 22. 

Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy ; for be- 
hold, your reward is great in heaven : for in the 
like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. 
Luke vi. 23. 

June 23. 

For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and 
took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing 



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yune, — Twenty-fifth Week, 103 

in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and 
an enduring substance. Heb. x. 34. 

June 24. 
And ye now therefore have sorrow : but I will 
see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and 
your joy no man taketh from you. John xvi. 22. 

Sorrow and Joy are ever alternating in 
the pathway from the cradle to the grave. 
Man is born to trouble, because sin is the 
source of trouble, and sin finds its inlets 
into every avenue through which we tread. 

Human joys are, at the best, but tran- 
sient. For so many are the causes which 
produce disquiet that the most permanent 
and satisfying of earthly possessions are as 
a guest which tarrieth for a night. 

Even the Christian must through tribu- 
lation enter the kingdom, and inasmuch as 
in his experience sorrow and joy are 
blended, he can only look for the fullness of 
joy when he shall come to the rest, and the 
inheritance of the saints. 

He needs, therefore, a source of consola- 
tion higher, and broader, and deeper than 
the world can offer. As the stream can 
never rise higher than its source, so the 
life of man can never be developed beyond 
its source. If of the flesh, it will be low 



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104 yune, — Twmty-fifth Week. 



and sensual, 
spiritual. 



If of the Spirit, heavenly and 



Joy is a fruit that will not grow 

In nature's barren soil ; 
All we can boast till Christ we know. 

Is vanity and toil. 

Now, God has revealed Himself to us 
as the source of joy. He comes to us a$ 
the heavenly Comforter, and the more we 
realize and cherish his kindly drawings, 
the more shall we joy in the Lord, what- 
ever may be the trials through which He 
l^ads us. We shall joy in the sense of 
pardoned sin. We shall joy in the sense 
of sin subdued. We shall joy in the hope 
of a perfected salvation from all sin at the 
resurrection of the just. We shall be 
ready to sing, even in tb^ night of sorrow, 
our song of 

Praises to Him who sheds abroad 
Within our hearts the love of God, 
The Spirit of all truth and peace. 
The source of Joy and holiness. 

And how desirable that Christians should 
so draw from this heavenly Fountain as to 
be joyful in the Lord, and to joy in the 
Holy Ghost.- The Church wants, and the 
world wants those who are filled with the 
Spirit of Christ, as ever, to rejoice in the 



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yune, — Twenty-fifth Week, 105 



blessed hope of eternal life : to be so fille J 
with the Spirit, as to labor for the conver- 
sion of sinners, and for a higher Christian 
life in God's people. 

Cheerful, happy Christians, who are at 
the same time consistent Christians, are a 
great blessing in our world of sin and sor- 
row. That we may dispense this blessing, 
let us so live by faith, and in love, that our 
joy may be full. 

Come ye that love the Lord, 

And let your joys be known ; 
Join in a song with sweet accord, 

And thus surround the throne. 

Let those refuse to sing 

That never knew our God ; 
But children of the heavenly king 

May speak their joys abroad. 

Children of grace have found 

Glory begun below : 
Celestial fruits on earthly ground, 

From faith and hope may grow. 

The hill of Zion yields 

A thousand sacred sweets, 
Before we reach the heavenly fields. 

Or walk the golden streets. 

Then let our songs abound, 

And every tear be dry ; 
We're travelling through Immanuel's ground, 

To fairer worlds on high. 



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Ctoentp-iSijrtl) Wttk. 




THE HOLY GHOST WORKETH PEACE. 
June 25. 
RACE, mercy, and peace, from God the 
Father, and Christ Jesus our Lord. 2 Ttm. 
L 2. 
That good thing which was committed 
unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth 
in us. 2 Tim, i. 14. 

June 26. 
For He (Christ) is our peace, who hath made both 
(Jews and Gentiles) one. jE^h, ii. 14. 

For through Him we both have access by one 
Spirit unto the Father. EpA, ii. 18. 

June 27. 
The fruit of tlie Spirit is peace. Ga/. v. 22. 

June 28. 
Now the Lord of peace Himself give you peace 
always by all means. 2 Thess. ii. 16. 

June 20. 

Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of 
good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace ; and 
the God of love and peace shall be with you. 2 Cor. 
xiii. II. 

June 30. 

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly : 
and I pray God your whole spirit, and soul, and 



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yune, — Tiventy-sixth Week, 107 



body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our 
Lord Jesus Christ i Thess. iv. 23. 

Julyl. 
For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, 
but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy 
Ghost Rom. xiv. 17. 

Grace, mercy, and peace proceed from 
God the Father, and from Christ Jesus our 
Lord, through the Divine operation of the 
Holy Ghost. 2 Tim, i. 2-14. The Holy 
Spirit dwelleth in God's adopted children. 
Their bodies are the temples of the Holy 
Ghost. I Cor, vi. 9. It is the Holy Ghost 
who sanctifieth the people of God ; and as 
the Apostle calls upon the ** God of peace " 
to work this work of holiness, the logical 
sequence is that the Holy Ghost is the God 
of peace, i Thess. iv. 23. 

Now, although there is unity in the source 
through which peace flows to the believer, 
it being the work, in one aspect, of the 
Trinity in unity, as we examine the Scrip- 
tures we find a distinction in the manner 
in which the persons in the Trinity are said 
to work. As a person it is the office of 
the Holy Ghost to apply to, or to work in 
the believer, the blessings of peace. Peace 
is the effect of the Holy Spirit's agency or 



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io8 yune, — Twenty-sixth Week. 

work in us. But the Father and the Son 
are represented as the source from whence 
proceed the graces of mercy and peace. 
And as we profess our belief that the Holy 
Spirit Himself, as a person, proceedeth from 
the Father and the Son, and is not a mere 
emanation from, or breath of God ; so peace, 
the legacy which the Saviour bequeathed 
to his Church (yohn xiv. 27), comes through 
the Comforter who is sent by the Father, in 
the name of the Son, and equally sent by 
God the Son, to teach and to comfort his 
people. John xiv. 26. As He worketh holi- 
ness in us, so He worketh peace in us. 
T\\t fruit of his indwelling is peace. If sin 
has dominion, there is no room, nor desire 
in the unregenerate soul for the peace which 
flows from a sense of pardoned sin. " The 
wicked are like the troubled sea." But the 
Holy Spirit, taking up his abode in the re- 
newed heart and dwelling there, worketh 
peace, which comforts and satisfies the 
higher aspirations as nothing earthly can. 

This peace, moreover, as wrought by the 
Holy Ghost, is manifest in the blessings of 
unity among Christians. Strife, and the 
evils attendant thereon, are not of the Holy 
Ghost, but from the remains of sin even 



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yune, — Twenty-sixth Week. 109 

among those who are regenerate. And 
therefore all Christians ought not only to 
pray for the peace of Jerusalem, but to act 
for the promotion of Christian fellowship, 
so that having access by One Spirit unto 
the Father, they may be built up together in 
Christ. 

" Let us therefore follow after the things 
which make for peace, and things where- 
with one may edify another." Rom. xiv. 
19. So shall we be fitted for the perfected 
peace to be consummated at the coming of 
our Lord Jesus Christ in his kingdom. 

Sure the blest Comforter is nigh ; 

'Tis He sustains my hunting heart : 
Else would my hope forever die, 

And every cheering ray depart. 

Whene'er to call the Saviour mine, 
With ardent wish my heart aspires, 

Can it be less than power divme 
That animates these strong desires ? 

And when my cheerful hope can say 
I love my God, and taste his grace, 

Lord, is it not thy blissful ray 
Which brings this dawn of sacred peace ? 

Let thy kind Spirit in my heart 

Forever dwell, O God of love ; 
And light, and heavenly peace impart, 

Sweet earnest of the joys above. 



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€ti}cntti-jBre\>att^ D^eelt. 



THE HOLY GHOST THE SOURCE AND DIS- 
PENSER OF LIGHT. 

July 2. 

E (Paul) said unfo them, Have ye received 

the Holy Ghost since ye beh'eved ? And 

they said unto him, We have not so mucii 

as heard whether there be any Holy 

Ghost Ac^ xix. 2. 

July 3. 
And this is the condemnation, that light is come 
into the world, and men loved darkness rather than 
light, because their deeds were evil. yoAn iii. 19. 

July 4. 
Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am 
the light of the world : he that followeth me shall 
not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. 
yoAn viii. 12. 

July 6. 
For what man knoweth the things of a man, save 
the spirit of man which is in him ? Even so the 
things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of 
God. I Cor, ii. 1 1. 

July 6. 
For God who commanded the light to shine out 
of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the 
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the 
face of Jesus Christ. 2 Cor, iv. 6. 



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yuly, — Ttventy-seventh Week, ill 

July 7. 

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priest- 
hood, a holy nation, a peculiar people ; that ye 
should show forth the praises of Him who hath 
called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 
I Peter ii. 9. 

July 8. 

For ye were sometime darkness, but now are ye 
light in the Lord ; walk as children of light, for the 
fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, and righteous- 
ness, and truth. Eph, v. 8, 9. 

In the Bible the term Light, as applied 
to God, is put for infinite wisdom, holiness, 
truth, etc., as opposed to' darkness or ig- 
norance, sin, falsehood, etc. Thus, e. g., 
I yohn i. 5, we read, " God is Light, and in 
Him is no darkness at all." Or, God is an 
all-pervading, perfect spiritual Being, so 
high and so holy as to be beyond human 
comprehension. 

In contemplating what is revealed of the 
agency of the Holy Ghost as the source and 
dispenser of light, there is a two-fold as- 
pect suggested. Thus as God the Creator, 
the Holy Ghost in unity with the Father 
and the Son is the source of light. For in 
the beginnning, " God said. Let there be 
light, and there was light." Gen, i. 3. But 
as the third person in the trinity of persons 



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1 1 2 ynly, — Twenty-seventh Week, 



in the Godhead, it is his office to dispense 
the light. Jesus Christ in his life and 
teaching is revealed to us as the manifesta- 
tion of light. John the Baptist came as his 
forerunner, to bear witness that Jesus, the 
son of Mary, was the promised Messiah, 
the true light from heaven, which lighteth 
every man that cometh into the world. 
yohn i. 6-9. This light, therefore, is from 
God in his unity : the Father, the Son, 
and the Spirit, as its fountain. Jesus was 
sent by the Father as the Light, yohn v. 
23. And as the Son was sent by the 
Father as the manifestation of Light, so the 
Holy Ghost is sent by the Father and the 
Son as the dispenser of Light, yohn xiv. 
26 ; XV. 26. 

Now, in this brief Scripture statement 
is presented the distinction, ever to be 
borne in mind, if we would understand the 
teachings of the Bible, between the nature 
of God, as one God, and the offices or work 
of God for man, as three persons, or mani- 
festations of the one God. The Father 
sends the Son. And the Father and the 
Son send the Holy Ghost. And, with ref- 
erence to the present subject of our medi- 
tations, the Holy Ghost is sent by the 



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yuly. — Twenty-seventh Week, 113 

Father and the Son, to show forth and to 
apply the light of the Gospel to the dark- 
ened mind. 

And let no one be unmindful of the 
necessity of this Divine agency, in view of 
the fact that the world lieth in darkness, 
that men love darkness and that it is the 
work of the Holy Ghost to enlighten and 
save. Oh, let none forget that "the god 
of this world " blinds the mind, and shuts 
out the light of the glorious Gospel of 
Christ from them who believe not 2 Cor^ 
iv. 4, and hence the need of One stronger 
than he to cast him out Luke xi. 20, 22. 

And let the Christian be encouraged to 
wait and watch for increasing light until 
the Lord comes in his glorious Epiphany, 
' to make manifest the counsels of the hearts, 
and every man shall have praise of God. 
I Cor. iv. 5. 

Come, Holy Ghost, our hearts inspire ; 

Let us thine influence prove ; 
Source of the old prophetic fire, 

Fountain of life and love. 

Come, Holy Ghost, for moved by thee 

The prophets wrote and spoke ; 
Unlock the truth, thyself the key, 

Unseal the sacred book. 
8 



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114 yuly. — Tweniy-sevenih Week. 



Expand thy wings, Celestial Dovei 

Brood o'er our nature's night, 
On our disordered spirits move, 

And let there now be light. 

God, through Himself, we then shall know, 

If thou within us shine ; 
And sound with all thy saints below 

The depths of loVe divine. 



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Ctoentp-eigfttl) Week. 

THE HOLY GHOST THE SOURCE OF LOVE. 
July 9. 

IHE fruit of the Spirit is love. Ga/, v. 22. 
We love Him because He first loved us. 
yoAn iv. 19. 

July 10. 
The Lord passed by, but not in the wind, .... 
not in the earthquake, .... not in the fire, .... 
but in a still small voice, i Kings xix. 11, 12. 

JulylL 
This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, 
saying, not by might (or army) nor by power, but by 
my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Zech. iv. 6. 

July 12. 

For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision avail- 
eth anything, nor uncircumcision ; but faith which 
worketh by love. GaL v. 6. 

July 13. 
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He 
loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation 
for our sins, i John iv. 10. 

July 14. 
Hereby know ye the Spirit of God : every spirit 
that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the 
flesh, is of God. i John iv. 2. 



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1 16 y^ly. — Twenty-eighth Week, 

July 15. 

We give thanks to God, .... since we heard of 
your feith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye 
have to all the saints ; . . . . who also declared 
unto us your love in the Spirit. CoL i. 3, 4, 8. 

" God is love ! " If there is one of the 
Divine attributes which has a higher place 
than another, it is Love. While there is 
perfect symmetry in the Divine character, 
while the truth and justice and unchange- 
ableness of God are such as belong only to 
the Infinite, so, especially, is the love of 
God ; an infinite depth which can only be 
sounded by infinity. 

Human love is a natural emotion which 
inclines us to delight in a person. It is the 
source of human happiness. Divine love is 
wrought in us by a Divine influence. And 
until we have a sense of the love of God to 
us, we come short of the joy and peace 
which is the portion of the sons of God. 

Or the thought is thus expressed by an- 
other : " All the joy of human life is from 
human love. But he has never tasted Di- 
vine joy who has not tasted Divine love. 
Now when being justified by faith, we have 
peace with God through our Lord Jesus 
Christ, *the love of God is shed abroad 



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July. — Twenty-eighth Week. \\^ 

in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is 
given unto us/ Rom. v. 5. * We love Him 
because He first loved us.* i yohn iv. 19. 
Our love is the repercussion of the beams of 
his love. It may be very faint and feeble 
at first, but it is true ; and the believer is 
henceforth enrolled among the glorious com- 
pany of those who love God." 

The Christian need not be reminded that 
the special manifestation of God's love is in 
Jesus Christ. " For God so loved the world, 
that He gave his only begotten Son, that 
whosoever believeth in Him should not per- 
ish, but have everlasting life." yohn iii. 16. 

And this love which is bestovyed upon us 
through the blessed though silent monitions 
of the Divine Spirit, is while free, yet sov- 
ereign and eternal. How wonderfully has 
its power been seen in the history of the 
Church ! How did the love of God, as per- 
vading the hearts of Apostles and martyrs 
for Christ, lead them joyfully to endure all 
things to which God called them. And 
how has this love sustained God's adopted 
ones, in all the ages that have gone. 

Oh that this Divine principle may so fill 
the writer and the reader of these pages, as 
to constrain to a renewed consecration of 



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1 1 8 yuly, — Twenty-eighth Week, 

ourselves and all to Him who so loved us. 
Let us cherish all holy influences I Let us 
heed the still small voice ! If we listen, and 
comprehend, and obey its teachings, we shall 
grow in wisdom and in love. Christ will 
dwell in our hearts. We shall be made 
stronger by the presence of the indwelling 
Spirit, and at length we shall be filled with 
all the fullness of God. Eph, iii. 16-19. 

Come, Holy Ghost, — in love 
Shed on us from above 

Thine own bright ray ! 
Divinely good thou art ; 
Thy sacred gifts impart 
To gladden each sad heart ; 

Oh, come to-day I 

Come, Light serene, and still 
Our inmost bosoms fill ; 

Dwell in each breast 
We know no dawn but thine ; 
Send forth thy beams divine 
On our dark souls to shine. 

And make us blest I 

Come, all the faithful bless, 
Let all who Christ confess 

His praise employ : 
Give virtues rich reward ; 
Victorious death accord, 
And with our glorious Lord 

Eternal joy I 



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€tocntp-nbitl> Week. 



THE HOLY GHOST THE HELPER IN PRAYER. 

Jtdy 16. 
AST me not away from thy presence ; and 
take not thine Holy Spirit from me. Re- 
store unto me the joy of thy salvation ; 
and uphold me with thy free Spirit. Ps, 
li. II, 12. 

July 17. 

I will pour upon the house of David, and upon 
the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and 
*of supplications. Zeck, xii. lo. 

I have poured out my Spirit upon the house of 
Israel, saith the Lord God. Ezek. xxxix. 29. 

July 18. 
We know not what we should pray for as we 
ought : but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for 
us with groanings which cannot be uttered. I^om, 
viii. 26. 

July 19. 

I will pour out my Spirit unto you. I will make 
known my words unto you. Prov, i. 23. 

July 20. 

I will pray with the Spirit (/. ^., by the gift of the 
Holy Spirit), and I will pray with the understanding 
also : I will sing with the Spirit, and I will sing 
with the understanding also, i Cor, xvi. 15. 



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I20 yuly: — Twrnty-ninth Week. 

July 21. 

Be filled with the Spirit : Speaking to yourselves 
in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing 
and making melody in your heart to the Lord. 
Eph, V. 1 8, 19. 

July 22. 
• Praying always with all prayer and supplication 
in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all per- 
severance and supplication for all saints. Eph, vi. 
f8. 

Prayer is desire. Prayer is the reach- 
ing out of the soul for spiritual sustenance. 
Prayer is the expression of our wants to 
God, in the name of Jesus Christ, and by 
the help of the Holy Ghost. 

We go to God in prayer because we be- 
lieve in his power, and his willingness to 
aid us. We go as lost sinners needing 
pardon, to ask for it ; as needing holiness, 
that it may be wrought in us. In our ig- 
norance we know not, indeed, what we 
should pray for as we ought, and hence, 
for our encouragement, the revelation is 
made to us that the Holy Ghost, in unison 
with our ascended Saviour, acts as our in- 
tercessor and enlightener and guide. Rom, 
viii. 27-34. 

It is the Spirit dwelling in the believer 
through which he ofiers acceptable and 



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\jfidy,-^Tw€nty-nimh Week. 121 

efiectual prayer to God. We pray with 
the Spirit, because the Spirit teaches us 
what to pray for, and how to pray. And 
so the body of the Christian being the 
temple of the Holy Ghost, he prays "with 
all prayer and supplication in the Spirit ; " 
or, by the aid of the Spirit dwelling in him. 

In all our approaches, therefore, to God, 
let us bear in mind our need of the Spirit's 
help, and let us plead the fulfillment of the 
promise, "I will pour out my Spirit unto 
you." 

In seasons of trial, or if overcome by 
temptation, while, with the Psalmist, we 
pray, " Cast me not away from thy pres- 
ence ; and take not thy Holy Spirit from 
me:" let us find encouragement in the 
assurance of God's willingness to forgive, 
and in the love of Jesus, who was tempted 
as we are. 

Or when rejoicing in the Lord, as ex- 
periencing his loving-kindness towards us, 
let us watch "with all perseverance, and 
all supplication," for larger measures of 
grace, so that being " filled with the Holy 
Ghost," as was Jesus, and as were the 
Apostles {Acts iv. 31), we may continue 
in prayer, and realize the Divine presence 



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122 yuly, — Twenty-ninth Week. 



and blessing in our successful labors for 
the extension of the Redeemer's kingdom. 

And under all circumstances; let us 
learn submissively to wait on God in all 
the ways of his appointment, for more of 
the power of the Holy Spirit to rest upon 
us, and to fill the soul with satisfying 
consolations. As the disciples of Jesus, let 
all who have been baptized in his name, 
all who have tasted of his love, reconsecrate 
themselves to Him. In view of Zion's 
wants let us be more importunate and 
persevering in prayer ; ** praying in the 
Holy Ghost." Jude 20. " Until the Spirit 
be poured upon us from on high, and the 
wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruit- 
ful field be counted for a forest." Isa. 
xxxii. 15. 

Lord, teach us how to pray aright, 
With reverence and with fear ; 

Though dust and ashes in thy sight, 
We may, we must draw near. 

Give deep humility ; the sense 

Of godly sorrow give ; 
A strong desiring confidence 

To hear thy voice and live. 

Patience to watch, and wait, and weep, 
Though mercy long delay ; 



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yuly. — Twenty-ninth Week, 1 23 

Courage our fainting souls to keep. 
And trust thee, though thou slay. 

Give these, and then thy will be done ; 

Thus, strengthened with all might. 
We, through thy Spirit, and thy Son, 

Shall pray, and pray aright. 



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Cfiirtietli With. 




THE HOLY GHOST RESTED UPON JESUS, 

AND AIDED HIM IN HIS WORK. 

July 23. 

OME ye near unto me, hear ye this ; I 
have not spoken in secret from the begin- 
ning ; from the time that it was, there am 
I : and now the Lord God, and his Spirit 

hath sent me (or, the Lord God hath sent me, and 

his Spirit). Isa. xlviii. i6. 

July 24. 
Jesus was baptized of John in Jordan ; . . . . and 
the heavens were opened (or cloven, or rent, mar- 
gin), and the Spirit like a dove descended upon Him. 
And there came a voice from heaven, saying. Thou 
art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 

Mark i. 9-1 1. 

July 25. 

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He 
hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor ; 
He hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to 
preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering 
of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are 
bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 
Luke iv. 18, 19. Compare Isa. Ixi. i. 

July 26. 

And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit 
descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode 



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yuly, — Thirtieth Week. 125 



upon Him. And I knew Him not : but He that 
sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto 
me, upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descend- 
ing and remaining on Him, the same is He which 
baptizeth witli the Holy Ghost. John i. 32, 33. 

July 27. 

Jesus said to his disciples, peace be unto you : as 

my Father hath sent me even so send I you 

Receive ye the Holy Ghost. John xx. 21, 22. 

July 28. 
God (as dwelling in the man Christ Jesus) was 
justjfied in the Spirit, i Tim, iii. 6. 

Jidy 29. 
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, all 
power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 
Matt, xxviii. 18. 

One of the mysteries of the Divine na- 
ture which impress the mind on a careful 
comparison of Scripture with Scripture, is 
the wonderful blending in perfect unity of 
purpose) and diversity in operation, of the 
work of God, as that work is revealed to us 
in the personal agency of the Father, the 
Son, and the Holy Ghost. 

We are ever reminded, if we attempt by 
'mere human reason to fathom the being 
of God, that the finite cannot comprehend 
the Infinite, and that as children, or as 



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126 July, — Thirtieth Week. 



learners in the school of Christ, we are to 
receive what God has revealed, not because 
we can understand the mode of his exist- 
ence, and the combinations by which He 
works, but because He is God, the Creator 
and the Ruler over all. 

We have, in the Scriptures above cited, 
an illustration of this blending of God's 
work in his plan for man's salvation. An 
outline of the thought thus presented is 
all that our limits allow. 

I. The Lord God, the Father, sends his 
Son Jesus Christ, upon whom He has put 
his Spirit ; and thus the mind of God is 
revealed to the Gentiles. Isa, xlviii. i6 ; 
Ixvi. I ; Luke iv. i8. 

n. In the baptism of Jesus by John, in 
Jordan, we have : i. Jesus in person^ as 
God manifest in the flesh ; 2. The Holy 
Spirit under the form of a Dove ; 3. The 
voice of the Father from heaven. Mark i. 
9-1 1. Matt. iii. 16, 17. 

HI. Jesus having been baptized with the 
Holy Ghost also dispensed the Holy Ghost 
to others, yohn i. 32, 33 ; xx. 21, 22. 

IV. Through the Holy Ghost Jesus in- 
structed, and sent forth the Apostles for 
their work. Acts i. i, 2. And He also 



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July,— Thirtieth Week, 127 



promised to send them the Holy Ghost 
{yphn XV. 26), and did send Him after his 
Ascension. Acts ii. 4. 

V. Jesus, as God manifested in the flesh, 
was justified in the Spirit, i Tim, iii. 16. 

Now we may learn from these texts, and 
especially if we will compare these with 
other texts referred to in the margin of 
our Bibles, that there is a wonderful and 
mysterious union between the Father, the 
Son, and the Holy Ghost, only to be rec- 
onciled on the theory of equality of the 
persons in the Divine Unity. 

We may learn that the Holy Ghost 
aided or influenced the Saviour, that He 
received, gifts for men, and prepared the 
way for the Spirit to dwell among men. 
Psa, Ixviii. 18. He received that He might 
impart to others. And He continues to 
dispense his gifts to those who need and 
ask. Eph. iv, 8. 

And there is a practical lesson which 
the Christian ought not to overlook, namely, 
that as the Saviour received to dispense, 
so, as his disciple, the Christian should 
also give according to his ability, and the 
necessities of others, both in temporal and 
spiritual gifts, as God hath prospered him. 



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128 July.— Thirtieth Week, 

Great One in Three, great Three in One ! 

Thy wondrous name we sound abroad ; 
Prostrate we fell before thy throne, 

O holy, holy, holy Lord ! 

Thee, Holy Father, we confess ; 

Thee, Holy Saviour, we adore : 
And Thee, O Holy Ghost, we bless, 

And praise and worship evermore. 

Thou art by heaven and earth adored ; 

Thy universe is full of thee, 
O holy, holy, holy Lord \ 

Great Three in One, great One in Three I 



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Cfiirtp-Itriaft Wtth. 

THE HOLY GHOST SENT FORTH, AND 
TAUGHT JOHN THE BAPTIST. 

July 30. 

i|HERE was a man sent from God, whose 

name was John. The same came for a 

witness, to bear witness of the Light, that 

all men through him might believe, yo^n 

I 6, 7. 

July 31. 

And an angel of the Lord said unto him, Fear 
not, Zacharias ; for thy prayer is heard ; and thy 
wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt 
call his name John. Luke i. 11-13. 
Aufirust 1. 

He (John) shall be great in the sight of the Lord, 
and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink ; and 
he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from 
his mother's womb. Luke\, 15. 
August 2. 

And Zacharias (the father of John) was filled with 
the Holy Ghost. Luke i. ()T, 

And Elisabeth (the mother of John) was filled 
with the Holy Ghost. Luke i, 41. 

August 3. 
And the child was born (Luke i. 57), and grew, 
and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts 
till the day of his showing unto Israel. Luke i. 80. 
9 



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I30 August. — Thirty-first Week. 

Auffost 4. 

The word of God came unto John, the son of 
Zacharias, in the wilderness. And he came into 
all the country about Jordan, preaching the bap- 
tism of repentance, for the remission of sins. Luke 
iii. 2, 3. 

Auffost 6. 

Verily, I say unto you, Among them that are bom 
of women, there hath not risen a greater than John 
•the Baptist: notwithstanding, he that is least in 
the kingdom of heaven, is greater than he. Matt, 
xi. II. 

John the Baptist, in the fulfillment of 
the prophetical predictions of Isaiah xl. 3, 
and of Malachi iii. \, came as a herald, or 
messenger from God, to announce to the 
world the coming of One so far superior 
to himself that, important as was his mis- 
sion, he was not, in his own estimation, 
worthy to unloose the sandals of Him he 
heralded. Mark i. 7. 

Supernatural events attended the birth 
of John", as is manifest in the Scriptures 
upon which these remarks are based. Be- 
fore his birth an angel, called Gabriel, an- 
nounced to his father Zacharias the com- 
ing event, and connected therewith the 
promise of the Holy Ghost to be with him 
even from his birth. And, as preparatory 



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August. — Thirty 'first Week. 131 

to this sanctification from the womb, his 
mother before his birth, and his father, if 
not before, yet on the eighth day after, 
when in obedience to the law he openly 
dedicated him to God, were both "filled 
with the Holy Ghost." Thus he was sent 
from God and he was taught of God. But 
does it not appear as we examine the his- 
tory of his birth and life, that the Holy 
Ghost, as dwelling with his parents and 
with him, was the agent through which he 
was greater than any who had preceded 
him ? 

God had a work for John preparatory 
to the work of Jesus as the Prophet and 
Priest of his Church. John was a con- 
necting link between the old and the new 
dispensations. He stood between the Law 
and the Gospel. His early life, and until, 
at about the age of thirty years, he ap- 
peared as a prophet of God to preach the 
doctrine of the baptism of repentance, was 
passed in seclusion among the deserts and 
mountain passes of eastern Judea. 

But the Holy Ghost was with him, and 
was teaching him, and fitting him for pre- 
paring the way for the fuller revelation of 
grace through Jesus Christ. 



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132 August. — Thirty 'first Week, 



And so, when like Elijah, clad in his 
rough gfarments, and with the austerity of 
a Nazarite, he addressed the crowds who 
flocked to hear hin\, and when he pointed 
them to Jesus, as the Lamb of God, who 
alone could take away their sin, and who 
would baptize them with the Holy Ghost, 
can we doubt that it was the Holy Ghost 
who sent, and who revealed to John that 
Jesus was the promised Saviour. John i. 
30. Can we doubt that God, the Holy 
Ghost, was with him all his life ; yea, that 
He sustained him in the last conflict, when, 
for his fidelity to truth, the axe of Herod's 
executioner sent his ransomed spirit back 
to God. 

And has not God a work for all his peo- 
ple ! Are not our bodies, if we are Chris- 
tians, temples of the Holy Ghost } Have 
we not a commission to prepare the way 
of the Lord 'i Oh can we not, as did John, 
point souls to Jesus, and say: "Behold 
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the 
sin of the world } " yohn i. 29. And will 
not the Christian thus wax strong in spirit, 
and glorify God } 



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August. — Thirty-first Week. 133 



Twice, in her season of decay, 
The fallen Church hath felt Elijah's eye 

Dart from the wild its piercing ray ; 
Not keener bums, in the chill morning sky 
The herald star, 
Whose torch afar 
Shadows and boding night-birds ily. 

Methinks we need him once again. 
That favored seer ; but where shall he be found ? 

By Cherith's side we seek in vain, 
In vain on CarmeFs green and lonely mound ; 
Angels no more 
From Sinai soar, 
On his celestial errands bound. 

Where is the love the Baptist taught, 
The soul unswerving, and the fearless tongue ? 

The much-enduring wisdom sought 
By lonely prayer the haunted rocks among ? 
Who counts it gain 
His light should wane. 
So the whole world to Jesus throng ? 



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THE HOLY GHOST THE EFFICIENT AGENCY 
IN THE INCARNATION OF CHRIST. 

August 6. 

ND the Lord God said unto the serpent, 

.... I will put enmity between thee 

and the woman, and between thy seed 

and her seed ; it shall bruise thy head 

and thou shalt bruise his heeL Gen, iii. 14, 15. 

August?. 
Thou art the Lord, the God, who didst choose 
Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the 
Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham. 
Neh. ix. 7. 

Augusts. 
The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David ; He 
will not turn from it ; of the fruit of thy body will 
I set upon thy throne. Ps. cxxxii. 11. 

Augusts. 
Hear ye now, O house of David ; .... the 
Lord Himself shall give you a sign ; behold, a 
virgin shall bear a son, and shall call his name 
Immanuel. Isa, vii. 13, 14. 

August 10. 
And the angel said, Fear not, Mary ; .... be- 
hold thou shalt bring forth a son, and shalt caU 
his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be 



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August,— Thirty-second Week, 135 

called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God 
shall give unto Him the throne of his &ther David. 
Luke i. 30-32. 

Auffost 11. 

And the angel said to Mary, The Holy Ghost 
shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest 
shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy 
thing which shall be bom of thee shall be called 
the Son of God. Luke i. 35. See also Matt, i. 18. 

AuffUBt 12. 
Nathanael answered and said unto Him, Rabbi, 
thou art the Son of God ; thou art the King of Is- 
rael. John L 49. 

It was the purpose of God from eternity 
to manifest Himself to the world, in the 
person of his only begotten Son, Jesus 
Christ, to counteract the effects of man's 
fall, to hinder, and finally to subdue the 
power of Satan. Hence, even before Adam 
and Eve had been driven from Paradise, 
we have the blessed promise, "The seed 
of the woman shall bruise the head of the 
serpent" Gen, iii. 14, 15. Hence, God 
called Abraham as the father, not only of 
the Jews, as a covenant people, but also of 
a spiritual seed from among all nations ; 
so, as the Apostle teaches, "they which be 
of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham." 
Gal, iii. 9. 



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136 August, — Thirty-second Week* 



Hence, He chose David as the progeni- 
tor of Christ after the flesh ; and through 
a long line of prophets foretold that He 
would come as a Deliverer and Saviour. 

And then in fulfillment of his promises, 
for they are all yea and amen, in the full- 
ness of the time predicted, " God sent forth 
his Son, made of a woman, made under 
the law to redeem them that were under 
the law, that we might receive the adop- 
tion of sons/* Gal, iv. 4, 5. 

Jesus therefore is the Son of God, and 
He is the sou of David. He " was con- 
ceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the 
Virgin Mary." {Apostles' Creed) Or, 
" He was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of 
the Virgin Mary." (Nicene Creed) Thus, 
the Holy Ghost was the efficient agency 
in the superhuman event ; the actual crea- 
tion of the human body of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. 

Confessedly mysterious as is the work, 
it is manifestly the carrying out of God's 
purposes for man's redemption. Under 
the light of the Gospel, can we not discern 
his purposes through all the Old Testa- 
ment history ? Who was this " seed of a 
woman ? " Who this Immanuel, God with 



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August, — Thirty-second Week, 137 



us, to.be bom of a virgin ? Who this won- 
derful Messiah foretold by all the prophets ? 

We may rejoice, and we do rejoice in 
this great mystery. We would not at- 
tempt, we do not de3ire to explain it. 
Hereafter, if we are born again of the 
Holy Ghost, and this is the great and es- 
sential work which every one needs to have 
wrought, and which the Holy Ghost is 
engaged to perform in us, we shall know, 
as we cannot now, the love of the Father 
in sending his only begotten Son to die 
for us, and the love of the Eather and the 
Son in sending the Spirit to work the 
works of God in us and for us. 

Oh that this same Spirit, in his Divine 
personality and power, may enlighten, jus- 
tify, and sanctify us now ; then we shall be 
glorified with Christ at his coming. 



Of the Father's love begotten, 
Ere the world began to be, 

He is Alpha and Omega, 
He the source, the ending He, 

Of the things that are, that have been, 
And that future years shall see, 
Evermore and evermore ! 

O that birth forever blessed, 
When the Virgin, full of grace, 



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138 August — Thirty-second Week 



By the Holy Ghost conceivings 
Bare the Saviour of our race ; 

And the babe, the world's Redeemer, 
First revealed his sacred face, 
Evermore and evermore 1 

O jt heights of heaven adore Him, 
Angel hosts his praises sing ; 

All dominions bow before Him, 
And extol our God and King ; 

Let no tongue on earth be silent, 
Every voice in concert ring ; 
Evermore and evermore I 

Thee let old men, thee let young men, 
Thee let boys in chorus sing ; 

Matrons, virgins, little maidens. 
With glad voices answering ; 

Let their guileless songs reecho, 
And the heart its praises bring, 
Evermore and evermore I 



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THE HOLY GHOST HONORING THE LAW. 

August 13. 

ND he that is eight days old shall be cir- 
cumcised among you, every man-child in 
your generations. Gen, xvii. 12. 

August 14. 
And my covenant shall be in your flesh for an 
everlasting covenant Gen. xvii. 13. 

August 15. 
And when eight days were accomplished for the 
circumcising of the child, his name was called 
Jesus, which was so named of the angel before He 
was conceived in the womb. Luke ii. 21. 

August 16. 
And when the days of her purification according 
to the law of Moses were accomplished, they 
brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the 
Lord. Luke ii. 22. 

August 17. 

And behold there was a man in Jerusalem whose 
name was Simeon ; and the same man was just and 
devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel : and 
the Holy Ghost was upon him. Luke ii. 25. 

And he came by the Spirit into the temple. Luke 
ii. 27. 



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140 August — Thirty 'third Week, 

August 18. 

For what the law could not do, in that it was 

weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son 

in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin (or by a 

sacrifice for sin, margin) condemned sin in the flesh. 

Rom, viii. 3. 

August 19. 

Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedi- 
ence by the things which He suffered. Heb, v. 8. 

Under the Law of Moses there is de- 
manded of Jewish parents two observances 
relating to the setting apart, or dedicating 
their children to God, as a token of the 
covenant which God made with Abraham, 
and, through him, with his posterity. He 
instituted the rite of circumcision as a 
token or sign of the covenant This seal 
was to be affixed to the male infant on the 
eighth day from its birth. And on the 
fortieth day from the birth of a man-child, 
the mother was required to bring it, with 
an offering, to the Temple, or Tabernacle, 
which the priest was to offer as an atone- 
ment. Lev, xii. 2-4. 

It was in obedience to these require- 
ments, and under the guidance of the 
Spirit, that Joseph and Mary presented 
the infant Saviour to be circumcised on 
the eighth day from his birth ; and on the 



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August, — Thirty-third Week, 141 



fortieth day they brought Him to Jerusa- 
lem to present him to the Lord. 

But Joseph and Mary were not alone in 
this holy work. The Holy Spirit had 
taught a good old man by the name of 
Simeon, who was waiting for " the conso- 
lation of Israel.;" and by the Spirit he was 
led to the Temple, to see and to own the in- 
fant Jesus as the promised Saviour. And 
so, an aged prophetess, named Anna, re- 
nowned for her devotions and holiness of 
life, was also led at the same time to the 
Temple to give thanks unto the Lord, and 
to proclaim the Saviour's advent to those 
who were looking for redemption. 

Thus in the circumcision of Jesus, and 
in his presentation in the Temple, the 
Holy Ghost gave honor to the Law, and 
also in connection with the teachings of 
the Gospel, left us lessons which ought 
not to be neglected, or falsely interpreted. 

Among these lessons we learn : — 

L That the first Adam, as our represen- 
tative, broke the Law, and that we, inherit- 
ing his fallen nature, are also transgres- 
sors ; but that Jesus, as the second Adam, 
fulfilled the Law for his people, and they 
may be restored through Him. 



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142 August — Thirty-third Week, 



II. That in obeying the law of circum- 
cision, the Saviour was declared to be the 
Son of Abraham ; that He took upon Him 
our flesh, and that He was truly man, as 
well as " God manifest in the flesh " 

III. That Jesus did not undergo a spirit- 
ual or moral change in this rite. He was 
perfectly holy, and needed no such change. 
Circumcision was a sign of this purity. In 
his case, as in that of adult believers in 
baptism, the sign is the sequence of that 
which is signified. 

IV. Jesus by this rite was put in cove- 
nant relation, as a member of the Jewish 
Church. This was necessary in order to 
his admission to any synagogue or temple, 
and to the prosecution of his ministry. He 
fulfilled the Law from love to his people. 

V. What his people need, and shall all 
have, is the true circumcision of the Spirit, 
the cutting off of all that is defiling, and 
this from a sense of the wondrous love of 
Christ for them, which sense is itself a 
covenant work of the Spirit. 

VI. As the Saviour was obedient to the 
Law for us, let us strive to be obedient, 
loving followers of Him ; honoring the law 
in its leading us to Christ. 



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August, — Thirty-third Week. 143 

The ancient law departs, 

And all its terrors cease ; 
For Jesus makes with faithful hearts 

A covenant of peace. 

The Light of light divine, 

True brightness undefiled, 
He bears for us the shame of sin, 

A holy, spotless child. 

His infimt body now 

Begins our pain to feel : 
Those precious drops of blood that flow^ 

For death the victim seal 

To-day the name is thine 
At which we bend the knee ; 

They call thee Jesus, child divine ; 
Our Jesus deign to be. 



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€||irtp-fourt|) Wtth. 




THE HOLY GHOST GUIDED JESUS IN HIS 
YOUTH. 

Aogutt 20. 

ND it came to pass, as the angels were 
gone away from them into heaven, the 
shepherds said one to another, Let us now 
go even unto Bethlehem, and see this 

thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath 

made known unto us. Luk^ ii. 15. 

August 21. 
There came wise men from the 5^ast to Jerusa- 
lem, saying, Where is He that is born King of the 
Jews ? for we have seen his star in the East, and 
are come to worship Him. MaU, ii. i, 2. 

August 22. 
And when they (the wise men) were departed, 
behold the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph 
in a dream, saying, Arise and take the young child 
and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou 
there until I bring thee word ; for Herod will seek 
the young child to destroy Him. Ma//, ii. 13. 

August 23. 
When Herod was dead, behold an angel of the 
Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, say- 
ing. Arise and take the young child and his mother, 
and go into the land of Israel And he came 



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August — Thirty-fourth Week, 145 



and dwelt in a city called Nazareth. Matt, ii. 19, 
20, 23. 

August 24. 

And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit, 

filled with wisdom ; and the grace of God was upon 

him. Luke ii. 40. 

August 25. 

Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year 
at the feast of the Passover. And when He was 
twelve years old they went up to Jerusalem, after 
the custom of the feast. Luke ii. 41, 42. 

August 26. 

And all that heard Him were astonished at his 
understanding and answers. Luke ii. 47. 

And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature (or 
age, margin), and in favor with God and man. Luke 
ii. 52. 

The Scriptures quoted make known to 
us about all we know of the life of our 
blessed Lord, until He entered upon his 
ministry as the great Prophet sent from 
God. By his Holy Spirit God made known 
to the shepherds that the Saviour prom- 
ised was born. He made known to the 
wise men from Arabia, or Mesopotamia, 
by an unmistakable sign, the advent of 
the promised King. By the secretly mys- 
terious influence of dreams. He sent the 
wise men home in opposition to Herod's 
command ; and Joseph, with Mary and 
10 



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146 August. — Thirty-fourth Week. 

Jesus, to Egypt, thence to Judea, and 
thence to Nazareth. A decade of years 
passes, and then we have a glimpse of the 
grace that was upon Him in his boyhood, 
when He went with Joseph and Mary to 
Jerusalem at the Passover. It was then and 
there He astonished all that heard Him, 
as He listened to, made inquiries of, and 
answered the learned men in the Temple, 
as to the purposes of his Father. Even 
then, as the Son of God, He must be about 
his Father's business ; although as the Son 
of Man, He was subject to his earthly guar- 
dians. 

From his birth He was anointed with 
the Holy Ghost. Psa. ii. 2. God had pre- 
pared a body for his Eternal Son. Heb. 
X. 5. The Word was made flesh and 
dwelt among us, ... . full of grace and 
truth, yohn i. 14. The same grace which 
dwelt in Him as the only begotten Son of 
God incorporeally, dwelt in Him after his 
incarnation. His human nature was not 
only negatively sinless, but it was positively 
full of grace. True this grace was not 
fully developed during his childhood and 
early manhood. But it was in Him. It 
pervaded his whole nature. And, as the 



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August, —r Thirty-fourth Week, 147 

faculties of his human mind and reason- 
able soul expanded, so was this grace more 
and more manifest. Hence the twofold 
record that the child grew and waxed 
strong in spirit (Luke ii. 40), before He 
went to Jerusalem at the Passover ; and 
that Jesus increased in wisdom after that 
period. Luke ii. 52. 

" And yet," to use the language of one 
whose, thoughts I have condensed in , the 
last paragraph,- " we can assign no period 
however early in the life of the incarnate 
Son, when the words were not true of Him. 
* The Father giveth not the Spirit by meas- 
ure unto Him.' John iii. 34. The rod 
came forth from the stem of Jesse, and the 
branch grew out of his roots, growing up 
before Jehovah as a tender plant, and as a 
root out of a dry ground, and from the 
very beginning the Spirit of the Lord 
rested upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom 
and understanding, the Spirit of counsel 
and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of 
the fear of the Lord ; and (even as He grew 
in bodily and mental power) made Him of 
quick understanding in the fear of the 
Lord. The plant grew up in seclusion, 
but its virtue could not be hid." Isa, xi. 
1-3 ; liii. 2. 



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148 August, — Thirty-fourth Week. 



O Holy Lord» content to dwell 
In a poor home, a lowly child, 

With meek obedience noting well 
Each bidding of thy mother mild ; 

Lead every child that bears thy name 
To walk in thy pure upright way, 

To shun the paths of sin and shame. 
And humbly, like thyself, obey. 

Gather thy lambs within thine arm, 
And gently in thy bosom bear ; 

Protect them still from hurt and harm. 
And bid them rest forever there. 

So shall they, waiting here below. 
Like thee, their Lord, a little span. 

In wisdom and in stature grow, 
And favor both with God and man. 



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THE HOLY GHOST ANOINTED JESUS IN HIS 
BAPTISM. 

August 27. 

flow, when all the people were baptized, 
it came to pass, that Jesus also being bap- 
tized, and pra)ring, the heaven was opened, 
and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily 
shape like a dove upon him. Luke iii. 21, 22. 

August 28. 
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the 
rulers take counsel together, against the Lord (Jeho- 
vah), and against his anointed. Psa, ii. 2. ' 

August 29. 
He (Andrew) first findeth his own brother Simon, 
and saith unto him. We have found the Messias : 
which is, being interpreted, the Christ (or the 
Anointed, margin), ^ohn i. 41. 

August £ 
Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wicked- 
ness : therefore God (or, O God, margin), (Messiah), 
thy God (Jehovah), hath anointed thee with the oil 
of gladness above thy fellows. Psa, xlv. 7. 

August 3L 
For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom 
thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pi- 



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150 August, — Thirty-fifth Week, 



late, with the Gentiles, and the children of Israel, 
were gathered together. Acts iv. 27. 

September 1. 
Unto the Son He saith, .... Thou hast loved 
righteousness, and hated iniquity : therefore God, 
even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of 
gladness above thy fellows. Heb, i. 8, 9. 

September 2. 

Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among 
you, by miracles, and wonders, and signs, which 
God did by Him in the midst of you as ye your- 
selves also know. Acts ii. 22. 

The anointing of Jesus Christ by the 
Holy Spirit, for his mediatorial work, was 
among the purposes of Jehovah from all 
eternity. In his human nature, as we have 
seen. He was set apart, or anointed from 
the first. " He was conceived by the Holy 
Ghost." In his boyhood, though subject 
to Joseph and Mary, He was engaged in 
the work which his Heavenly Father had 
given Him to do. And now, before en- 
• tering upon his public ministry, as the 
Prophet sent from God, the anointing grace 
of the Spirit was openly attested, when at 
his baptism by John, "the heaven was 
opened and the Holy Ghost descended in a 
bodily shape like a dove upon Him." Luke 
iii. 22. 



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August, — Thirty 'fifth Week. 151 

Let us not suppose, however, that any 
special change took place in the nature or 
person of our Lord by this act. Baptism, 
in his case, was a fulfilling of the law of 
righteousness for us, not for Himself. It 
was a sign^ as water baptism now is, of 
something purer and better: a sign of a 
preexisting spiritual presence, or anointing 
of the Holy Ghost. 

The custom of anointing was common 
among the Jews and other Oriental na- 
tions. Kings, priests, and prophets were 
anointed with oil at their inauguration, or 
consecration, as indicative of the power 
already belonging to them, or of their be- 
ing set apart to the service of God. And 
even the utensils used in the Temple were 
thus consecrated. The anointing was only 
a sigftf and consequently could not be the 
thing which it signified. 

The anointing of Jesus by Mary, in the 
house of Simon in Bethany, with costly 
ointment, was a prefiguring of his death 
and burial. Matt. xxvi. 6-12 ; yohn xii. 
3-8. 

And is there not a lesson for the Church 
in this anointing work of the Holy Ghost ? 
Are there not some Christians who place 



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152 August — Thirty-Jifth Week, 

too high an estimate upon the sign to the 
undervaluing of that which it signifies? 
who attempt to grasp the shadow, and lose 
the substance ? 

Water baptism, e. g. is a sign of regener- 
ation, or the new birth of the Spirit, but 
it is not the new birth. The Lord's Supper 
is a sign, or showing forth of the sacrifice 
of the death of Christ, and of the love 
which Christians ought to have one for 
another ; but it is not a sacrifice. Christ 
made the one offering of Himself on Cal- 
vary ; and in the Lord's Supper we com- 
memorate that sacrifice. Nor do all who 
partake of the bread and wine fulfill the 
great law of love. 

While, therefore, the Christian may look 
for more grace in the devout observance 
of these sacraments, let him not rest in 
them as if through them a moral and 
spiritual change was wrought. This is 
the work of the Holy Ghost ! A man 
though baptized with • water, must be bap- 
tized with the Spirit, or he cannot enter 
the heavenly kingdom. The bread and 
wine in the Lord's Supper must be received 
with faith, or they will not strengthen and 
refresh the soul. 



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August, — Thirty-fifth Week. 153 

Let the Christian therefore pray for the 
anointing of the Holy Spirit in his own 
experience, that, with Jesus, he may be 
approved of God, and bless the world. 

Now be my heart inspired to sing 
The glories of my Saviour King ; 
Jesus, the Lord, how heavenly feir 
His form ! how bright his beauties are ! 

Thy throne, O God, forever stands ! 
Grace is the sceptre in thy hands : 
Thy laws and works are just and right ; 
Justice and grace are thy delight 

God, thine own God, has richly shed 
His oil of gladness on thy head ; 
And with his kacred Spirft blest 
His first-bom Son above the rest 



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atjirtp-jefijrtti i©relt, 




THE HOLY GHOST WAS WITH JESUS IN 
HIS TEMPTATION. 



September 3. 

HEN was Jesus led up of the Spirit into 
the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 
MatL iv. I. 



September 4. 

And immediately the Spirit driveth Him into 
the wilderness. And He was there in the wilder- 
ness forty days tempted of Satan ; and was with 
the wild beasts ; and the angels ministered unto 
Him. Mark i. 12, 13. 

September 6. 
Now the serpent was more subtile than any 
beast of the field which the Lord God had made ; 
.... and the serpent said unto the woman, Ye 
shall not surely die. Gen, iii. 1-4. 

September 6. 

And the devil said to Jesus, All these things 
will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship 
me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, 
Satan : for it is written. Thou shalt worship the 
Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve. 
Matt, iv. 9, 10. 

September 7. 

For in that He Himself hath suffered, being 



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September, — Thirty -sixth Week, 155 

tempted, He is able to succor them that are 
tempted. Heb, ii. 18. 

September 8. 

For we have not a high-priest which cannot be 
touched with the feeling of our infirmities : but was 
in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 
Heb. iv. 15. 

September 9. 

And the great dragon was cast out, that old ser- 
pent, called the devil, and Satan, which deceiveth 
the whole world : he was cast out into the earth, 
and his angels were cast out with him. Rev. xii. 

9- 

It was immediately after his baptism 
that Jesus was led up of, or sent forth by, 
the Holy Spirit into the wilderness of 
Judea, or of Sinai where Moses and Elijah 
before Him had fasted forty days and 
nights, to be tempted of the devil. 

Nor was it without a purpose that He 
was thus led, or driven into this place of 
seclusion. Anointed by the Holy Ghost 
with divine power, which was openly at- 
tested in his baptism, He went forth to do 
battle in the great spiritual conflict with 
" the God of this world." Forty days and 
nights Satan, as an invisible tempter, tried 
Him as now He is permitted to try his 
followers. But, as we infer from the lan- 



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156 September. — Thirty -sixth Week, 

guage of the record, at the end of the forty 
days Satan assumed a visible form, per- 
haps as an angel of light, and by the 
promise of giving to Christ the kingdoms 
of the world (of which he is in a subordi- 
nate sense the ruler), he would persuade 
Him to tempt God, by acknowledging his 
authority. 

But Jesus resisted every temptation. 
Thrice was He beset with all the cunning 
of the great Adversary ; and thrice by the 
Word of God, as the wielded sword of the 
Spirit, was he repulsed. " It is written ; " 
was the shield which warded oflF the poi- 
soned arrors of distrust, of presumption, 
and of ambition. 

Satan had successfully tempted the " first 
Adam " in ^^garden^ but he was foiled by 
the "second Adam" in the wildentess. 
And when Jesus triumphantly overcame 
all the fiery assaults of the Adversary, and 
said to him : ** Get thee hence, Satan : " 
and when angels came to minister to Him, 
who can doubt that the richest consolations 
of the Holy Spirit rested on Him ! 

And is there not a lesson for the minis- 
ter of Christ, yea, for all his followers, to be 
gathered from the record of his temptation ? 



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September, — Thirty-sixth Week, 157 



' He was led by the Spirit to endure this 
great conflict. And if we are the sons of 
God, then let us not think some strange 
thing has befallen us if we are tempted. 
Through tribulation we must enter the 
kingdom. God permits his children to 
be tried, and they fall into divers tempta* 
tions. yas, i. 2. They come in ten thou- 
sand shapes, and they come when we are 
not always prepared to meet them. 

What shall we do when tried ? Have 
we so grievously sinned as to restrain 
prayer because ashamed to bow before 
Him ; or lest we should seem to mock 
Him } Oh then, let us remember that Jesus 
was tempted as we are, and that through 
Him we may, and ought to go boldly unto 
the throne of grace, resting on the assur- 
ance of obtaining mercy, and finding grace 
to help in our time of need. Heb, iv. 15, 16. 
Let us take the Word of God as our guide, 
and resist all that is contrary thereto, as 
did Jesus, by " It is writteti ; " " Get thee 
behind me, Satan ! " 

Then, in the power of the Spirit, shall 
we be delivered out of all our trials ; we 
shall be conquerors in the strength of 
Jesus ; for when Satan and his angels are 



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IS8 September, — Thirty-sixth Week, 

cast out, God will give us the Crown of 
Life. Rev. xii. 9 ; ii. 10. 

Forty days and forty nights 
Thou wast fasting in the wild ; 
Forty days and forty nights 
Tempted, and yet undefiled. 

And if Satan, vexing sore, 
Flesh or spirit should assail, 
Thou, his Vanquisher before. 
Grant we may not faint or fail. 

So shall we have peace divine ; 
Holier gladness ours shall be ; 
Round us, too, shall angels shine. 
Such as ministered to thee. 

Keep, O keep us, Saviour dear, 
By thy Spirit, at thy side ; 
That with thee we may appear 
On the blessed Eastertide. 



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€f|ittp-jefe\)ent|) H^ccft- 

THE HOLY GHOST WITH JESUS IN HIS MIN- 
ISTRY. 

September 10. 

JHE Lord God (Jehovah) hath given me 
(Messiah) the tongue of the learned, that 
I should know how to speak a word to 
him that is weary. Is, L 4. 
Come unto me, all ye that labor, and are heavy 
laden, and I will give you rest. Matt, xi^ 28. 

September IL 
When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the 
Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against 
him. And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and 
unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, 
saith the Lord. Is, lix. 19, 20. 

September 12. 
And so all Israel shall be saved : as it is written. 
There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer,* and 
shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. Rom, 
xi. 26. 

September 13. 

And Jesus (after his temptation in the wilder- 
ness) returned in the power of the Spirit into Gali- 
lee ; ... . and He taught in their synagogues, 
being glorified of all. Luke iv. 14, 15. 



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i6o September, — Thirty-seventh Week, 

September 14. 
And He came to Nazareth, .... and as his 
custom was (He read and expounded the Scriptures, 
in the synagogue, on the Sabbath). And all bare 
Him witness and wondered at the gracious words 
which proceeded out of his mouth. Luke iv. i6- 

22. 

September 15. 
And He came down to Capernaum, a city of 
Galilee, and taught them on the Sabbath days. 
And they were astonished at his doctrine : for his 
word was with power. Luke iv. 31, 32. 

September 16. 
Many believed in his name, when they saw the 
miracles which He did. But Jesus did not commit 
Himself unto them, because He knew all men, and 
needed not that any should testify of man : for He 
knew what was in man. John ii. 23-25. 

Isaiah had predicted that the Spirit of 
Jehovah should rest on the Messiah, as 
the great Prophet sent from God, and that 
He should not fail, nor be discouraged in 
his work until He should establish truth 
and righteousness in the earth, as the 
result of his sacrifices. Is, xlii. 1-4. 

In the sixty-first chapter of the same 
prophecy, the Messiah Himself is the 
speaker ; and He sets forth the general 
purposes and results of his personal minis- 



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September. — Thirth-seventh Week, i6i 

try. The Spirit of God was upon Him to 
anoint Him as Man to preach the Gospel. 
Is, Ixi. 1-3. And to this anointing or con- 
secration He referred, when in the syna- 
gogue at Nazareth He told his hearers 
that the prophecy was fulfilled in Him. 
Lukeiv, 16-20. 

As the Redeemer promised, He came to 
proclaim God's willingness to save through 
Him. He came to call the weary and 
heavy laden to Him for rest Regardless of 
his own ease, or even the comforts of life, 
under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, He 
was ever ministering to the wants of others ; 
binding up the broken hearted, proclaim- 
ing liberty to the slaves of sin, and opening 
the prison doors for those long bound. 
That blessed ministry, though compara- 
tively productive of small results, when 
reckoned by the number of his real fol- 
lowers before his death, accomplished what 
God purposed it should. It was the seed 
from which the after growth sprung up. 
It was when Jesus was glorified in his As- 
cension, and the Holy Spirit came to be 
with the Church, that the result of his 
earthly ministry was manifest in the con- 
version of sinners ; and it is in the har- 
II 



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1 62 September, — Tkirty-seuenth Week, 



vest yet to be garnered, that the final 
result is to be looked for. 

In his ministry He was approved by 
miracles which God did by Him. Acts ii. 
22. He was anointed with the Holy Ghost 
and with power. Acts x. 38. Hence He 
knew all hearts, yohn ii. 23. Hence 
He taught with authority. Matt, vii. 29. 
Hence He spake as never man spake. 
yohn vii. 46. 

In the ministry of Jesus, therefore, let 
us recognize the Divine presence of the 
Father and the Spirit. For it was by the 
Spirit of God He cast out devils, and did 
his mighty works. Matt. xii. 28. 

And let us bear in mind that it is by 
the same Holy Spirit that the ministers of 
Christ are now called, and sent forth, and 
upon his anointing are they dependent for 
the spiritual results of their prayers and 
labors. While they plant and water, the 
increase must come from God. 

And let all who are called to labor in 
the Master's vineyard do their work in 
humble dependence on the grace of God, 
but resting in the blessed promise : " Verily, 
verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on 
me, the works that I do shall he do also ; 



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September. — Thirty -seventh Week, 163 

and greater works than these shall he do ; 
because I go unto my Father." yohn xiv. 
12. 

Come, thou Almighty King, 
Help us thy name to sing, 

Help us to praise 1 
Father all glorious. 
O'er all victorious, 
Come and reign over us. 

Ancient of days. 

Come, thou incarnate Word, 
Gird on thy mighty sword ; 

Our prayer attend ; 
Come, and thy people bless. 
Come, give thy word success ; 
Spirit of holiness. 

On us descendi 

Come, holy Comforter, 
Thy sacred witness bear 

In this glad hour. 
Thou who Almighty art. 
Now rule in every heart, 
And ne'er from us depart^ 

Spirit of power. 



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€f|trtp-ei0|)t|) Wtth. 




THE HOLY GHOST WITH JESUS IN HIS 
DEATH. 

September 17. 

i|EVENTY weeks are determined upon thy 
people and upon thy holy city, .... to 
seal up the vision and prophecy, and to 
anoint the Most Holy. .... And after 
threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off^ 
but not for Himself. Daniel ix. 24, 26. 

September 18. 
Christ being come an high-priest of good things to 
come, .... by his own blood He entered in once 
into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemp- 
tion for us. Heb,\Ti. i\^ 17., 

September 19. 
And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, 
and hath given Himself for us, an offering and a 
sacrifice to God, for a sweet smelling savor. Eph, 
V. 2. 

September 20. 

For by one offering He hath perfected forever them 
that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also 
is a witness to us. Heb. x. 14, 15. 

September 2L 
Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all 
the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you 



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September. — Thirty-eighth Week, 165 

overseers, to feed the Church of God, which He hath 
purchased with his own blood. Acts 20, 28. 

September 22. 
In whom (Jesus Christ, the Beloved) we have re- 
demption through his blood. Eph, i. 7. 

September 23. 
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who 
through the Eternal Spirit offered Himself without 
spot (or fault) to God, purge your conscience from 
dead works to serve the living God ? Heb, ix. 14. 

At the close of his earthly ministry, as 
the great Prophet sent from God to make 
known to the ignorant the way of salvation, 
our blessed Lord in giving Himself as an 
atoning sacrifice on the cross of Calvary, 
was also "a faithful Priest," fulfilling the 
twofold work as the offerer^ and as the sac- 
rifice. By the one oblation of Himself, He 
perfected the work of reconciliation between 
God and man. He made a propitiation for 
the sins of the whole world. There is now 
no priesthood, and there needs none, in the 
Christian Church, to offer sacrifice upon 
human altars ; for God asks no other sac- 
rifice from us than that which flows from 
loving and believing hearts. We are re- 
deemed with the precious blood of Christ, 
as of a lamb without blemish and without 
spot. I Pet, i. 19. 

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1 66 September, — Thirty-eighth Week, 



But in this atoning work — this mystery, 
into which angels cannot penetrate (i Pet, 
i. 12), Jesus was not alone, though the light 
of his Father's countenance was for a time 
withdrawn. Matt, xxvii. 46. For we read 

that THROUGH THE ETERNAL SPIRIT He 

offered Himself without spot (or fault) to 
God. Heb. ix. 14. And the Holy Ghost is 
also said to be a witness of the efficacy of 
the one offering of the body of Christ, by 
which they who believe in Him are sancti- 
fied. Heb, X. 10-15. And the Spirit of 
Christ having predicted by the Prophets 
the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that 
should follow (i Pet, i. 10, 11), >yas, by his 
anointing presence, with Him when He 
made the sacrifice. " He died as He lived, 
full of the Holy Ghost." 

It is indeed revealed to us, that each and 
all the persons in the Godhead were en- 
gaged in this great mystery of redemption. 
Thus, God is said to have purchased the 
Church with his own blood. Acts xx. 28. 
Then, we have redemption through the 
blood of Jesus Christ. Eph, i. 7. 

And through the Eternal Spirit, Christ 
offered Himself as the mediator of the New 
Testament, or Covenant, that they which 



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September, — Thirty-eighth Week, 167 



are called might receive the promise of 
eternal inheritance, Heb, ix. 14, 15. 

Now what can we gather from these 
revelations, if not that, in the crucifixion, 
the love and the power of God, as the 
Father^ the Son, and the Holy Ghost, was 
manifested ? And this exposition is in 
unison with the declaration that " God 
WAS IN Christ reconciling the world 
UNTO Himself." 2 Cor, v. 19. 

Here the whole Deity is known ; 

Nor dares a creature guess 
Which of the glories brightest shone, 

The justice, or the grace. 

All heaven was in sympathy when the 
sun was darkened, and the great earth- 
quake rent the veil of the Temple, and 
shook the earth, and opened the graves of 
saints. Jesus was upheld in his agony by 
the Eternal Spirit, when he said, '* Father, 
into thy hands I commend my spirit." Ltike 
xxiii. 46. " It is finished." yokn xix. 30. 

Hear then, disciple of Jesus, the exhorta- 
tion of the beloved Apostle when contem- 
plating this wonderful revelation of God's 
love in sending his Son to be the propitia- 
tion for our sins. " Beloved, if God so 



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1 68 September. — Thirty-eighth Week, 



loved us, we ought also to love one an- 
other." I yohn iv. 9-1 1. 

Love Divine, how sweet thou art I 
When shall I find my willing heart 

All taken up by thee ? 

1 thirst, [ faint, I die to prove 

The greatness of redeeming love, — 
The love of Christ to me. 

God only knows the love of God ; 
Oh that it now were shed abroad 

In this poor, stony heart I 
For love I sigh, for love I pine ; 
This only portion, Lord, be mine — 

De mine this better part. 

Oh that I could forever sit 

In transport at my Saviour's feet I 

Be this my happy choice ; 
My only care, delight, and bliss. 
My joy, my heaven on earth, be this. 

To hear my Saviour's voice. 



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Cfjirtp-nmtlj Wcth. 




THE HOLY GHOST WITH JESUS IN HIS 
RESURRECTION. 

September 24. 
ESUS of Nazareth, whom God hath raised 
up, having loosed the pains of death ; be- 
cause it was not possible that He should 
be holden of it. Ac^s ii. 22, 23. 
September 25. 
And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will 
also raise up us by his own power, i Cor. vi. 14. 

September 26. 
Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay 
down my life, that I might take it again. No man 
taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I 
have power to lay it down, and I have power to take 
it again. yoAn x. 17, 18. 

September 27. 
Jesus said unto the Jews : Destroy this temple, 

and in three days I will raise it up But He 

spake of the temple of his body. yoAn ii. 19, 21. 

September 28. 

If the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from 

the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ 

from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies 

by (or because of) his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 

* J^om, viii. 1 1. 



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I/O September. — Thirty-ninth Week. 



September 29. 
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the 
just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, 
being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by 
the Spirit i Pet, iii. i8. 

September 30. 
Until the day in which He was taken up, after 
that He, through the Holy Ghost, had given com- 
mandments unto the Apostles whom He had chosen. 
Acts i. 2. 

The presence and power of God in his 
divine Unity was manifest in the persons 
of the eternal Trinity on several marked 
occasions ; as, for example, in the baptism 
of Jesus by John, where the voice of the 
Father was heard, and the Holy Ghost de- 
scended and rested upon Jesus. Luke iii. 
22. So, in the death of Christ, " God pur- 
chased the Church with his own blood.*' 
Acts XX. 28. And " through the Eternal 
Spirit, Christ offered Himself" Heb. ix. 14. 

This presence and power of the Trinity 
in unity, is also taught us in the baptismal 
formula. Matt, xxviii. 19. And in the 
Apostolic benediction. 2 Cor. xiii. 14. 

In unison with these revelations of the 
work of God for man, we have in the resur- 
rection of our Lord a manifestation of the 
perfect unity which subsists in the divine 



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September, — Thirty-ninth Week, 171 



operations. As, in his death, Jesus offered 
Himself to God, through the Eternal Spirit, 
so in his resurrection, through the same 
divine power, He took again the life which 
was sacrificed. (Compare and study the 
texts preceding.) 

" For the righteous Saviour having been 
** put to death in the flesh " in respect of 
his human nature, was speedily " quick- 
ened or raised from the dead by the power 
of the Holy Spirit, and thus declared to be 
the Son of God, as He had avowed He was. 
The resurrection of Christ is sometimes 
ascribed to God or the Father, sometimes 
to Christ Himself and sometimes to the Holy 
Spirit. This is very easy and natural, if 
Father, Son, and Spirit are one God : but 
how can it be explained on any other prin- 
ciple .> " (Dr. Scott on i Pet, iii. 17, 18.) 

And so, being raised through this mys- 
terious agency, and ministering to his dis- 
ciples during the forty days in which He 
showed Himself alive before He ascended 
into heaven, we read that He through 
THE Holy Ghost gave commandments to 
the Apostles. Acts i. 1-3. And conse- 
quently, all power being his, we have the 
great Apostolic commission : " Go teach and 



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1/2 September, — Thirty-ninth Week, 

baptize," and the blessed promise, " Lo, I 
am with you always." Matt, xxviii. 18-20. 

Well then might the Apostles go forth, 
when the same Spirit " endued them with 
power from on high," preaching "Jesus 
AND THE Resurrection." Well may the 
disciple of Jesus rejoice in the power of his 
resurrection. For " God raised Him from 
the dead." Acts xiii. 30. And by the same 
Almighty power our mortal bodies shall be 
quickened if his Spirit dwelleth in us. 2 
Cor. iv. 14. 

Such is the blessed hope which is set 
before the Christian. May it be as an 
anchor to the soul of every reader, reach- 
ing within the veil. 

Blest Trinity, from mortal sight 
Veiled in thine own Eternal Light, 
We thee confess, in thee believe, 
To thee with loving hearts we cleave. 

O Father, thou most Holy One 1 
O God of God, Eternal Son ! 
O Holy Ghost, thou Love Divine I 
To join them both is ever thine ! 

The Father is in God the Son, 
And with the Father, He is one, 
In both the Spirit doth abide. 
And with them both is glorified. 



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September, — Thirty-ninth Week. 173 



Such as the Father, such the Son, 
And such the Spirit, Three in One ; 
The Three one perfect verity. 
The Three one perfect charity. 



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jpottiett) Weth. 

THE HOLY GHOST WITH JESUS IN GLORY. 

October 1. 

?|E (the Spirit of Truth) shall glorify me : for 
He shall receive of mine, and shall show 
it unto you. yoAn xvi. 14. 

October 2. 

The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities And 

He that search eth the hearts knoweth what is the 
mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession 
for the saints, according to the will of God. /^om. 
viii. 26, 27. 

Octobers. 
Who is he that condemneth ? It is Christ that 
died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at 
the right hand of God, who also maketh interces- 
sion for us. J^om. viii. 34. 

October 4. 
Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led cap- 
tivity captive : thou hast received gifts for men ; 
yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might 
dwell among them. Psa, Ixviii. 18. 

October 5. 
Unto every one of us is given grace according to 
the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore He 
saith, when He ascended up on high, He led cap- 



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October. — Fortieth Week. 175 

tivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. Eph, iv. 

7,8. 

October 6. 
Thy throne, O God (Messiah), is for ever and 
ever ; the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. 
Psa. xlv. 6. 

October 7. 

Thou hast put all things in subjection under his 
feet. Heb. ii. 8. 

He is able to save them to the uttermost that 
come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to 
make intercession for them. Heb. vii, 25. 

Our bkssed Lord finished the work of 
atonement on Calvary. He rose from the 
dead in proof of his Messiahship. And He 
ascended into heaven to exercise for man 
his office of intercessor. He led captivity 
captive, and He received, so that He might 
disperse, the richest gifts of God's grace, 
through the Holy Ghost, not only to his 
people, but to his enemies. 

During his earthly ministry, He cried, 
" If any man thirst, let him come unto me, 
and drink." yohn vii. 37. But the invita- 
tion had more special reference to the dis- 
pensation of the Spirit after his ascension, 
than to the time when spoken. For He 
spake of the Spirit which they that believe 
on Him should receive, on and after Pente- 



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176 October, — Fortieth Week, 



cost, yohn vii, 39. And it was in order 
to the effusion of the Holy Spirit that it 
was expedient, yea, essential, that Jesus 
should return to heaven, to send the Com- 
forter from heaven, yohn xvi. 7. 

The work of Christ, as man, in his glori- 
fied human nature at the right hand of the 
Father, is that of an Advocate, a Mediator, 
an Intercessor. The work of the Holy 
Spirit on earth is to receive from the full- 
ness of Christ, and to reveal his glory to us. 
John xvi. 14. For spiritual things are 
spiritually discerned. The Holy Spirit is 
with Jesus in heaven ; and Jesus sends the 
Holy Spirit to strive with the world, and 
to convert and sanctify his people. Jesus, 
as the Messiah, now reigns on his Media- 
torial throne, anticipatory of his reign, ac- 
cording to the promise of Gabriel, on the 
throne of David at his second coming. 
Luke i. 32. For his throne is forever. Heb, 
i. 8. He shall have the heathen for his 
inheritance ; the earth for his possession. 
Psa, ii. 7, 8. 

Now the union and communion between 
Jesus and his disciples, is through the Holy 
Ghost. It is through the Holy Ghost as 
Omnipresent — which in the flesh Jesus 



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October, — Fortieth Week, 177 



could not be — that He fulfills the promise, 
" Lo, I am with you always," and thus He 
disperses the gifts He receives for men. 

And so in all the history of Jesus, as the 
Son of man, from his birth in Bethlehem 
to his glory in heaven, we see how God 
anointed Him with the Holy Ghost, and 
with power. Oh I that the same divine 
agent may anoint the writer and the reader 
to know more and more of Christ, and of 
the great salvation which is in Him. So 
shall we be prepared to lift up our heads 
with rejoicing, when from heaven He shall 
come to gather his saints, and to receive his 
kingdom. 

Ruler of the hosts of light, 
Death hath yielded to thy might ; 
And thy blood hath marked a road 
Which will lead us back to God. 

From thy dwelling-place above. 
From thy Father's throne of love, 
With thy look of mercy bless 
Those without thee comfortless. 

Now in glory thou dost reign, 
Won by all thy toil and pain ; 
Thence the promised Spirit send. 
While our prayers to thee ascend. 
12 



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178 October,— Fortieth Week, 

Jesus, praise to thee be given. 
With the Father high in heaven ; 
Holy Spirit, praise to thee, 
Now and through eternity. 



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jpottp-fitiSt Wtth. 




THE HOLY GHOST GUIDED THE APOSTLES 

October 8. 

LL things that the Father hath are mine : 
therefore said I, that He shall take of 
mine, and shall show it unto you. J^oAn 
xvi, 15. 

October 9. 
Peter said, Silver and gold have I none ; but 
such as I have give I thee : In the name of Jesus 
Qirist of Nazareth, rise up and walk. Ac^s iii, 6. 

October 10. 
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said, 
.... Be it known unto you all; and to all the 
people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ 
whom ye crucified, whom God raised fi*om the 
dead, even by Him doth this man stand here be- 
fore you whole. Ac^s iv. 8-10. 

October IL 

They marveled ; and took knowledge of them 
(Peter and John), that they had been with Jesus. 
Actsvf. 13. 

October 12. 

Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven 
men of honest report, fiill of the Holy Ghost and 
wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. 
Acts vi. 3. 



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i8o October. — Forty -first Week. 

October 13. 

He (Saul) is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my 
name before the Gentiles and kings, and the chil- 
dren of Israel Acts ix. 15. 

October 14. 

Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, 
and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth 
fruit, and that your fruit should remain : that what- 
soever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, He 
may give it you. John xv. 16. 

Among the links in the golden chain let 
down from heaven to draw us thither, is 
the aid given by the Holy Spirit to the 
Apostles on and after Pentecost. 

Their Lord and Master had promised 
that the Father would send the Comforter 
to be with them, to bring his instructions 
to their remembrance, and to guide them 
into all truth, yohn xvi. 13. Nor was 
this promise void. The precious gifts im- 
parted to them by the Holy Spirit were 
received from Him. yohn xvi. 15. The 
Comforter came and wrought a wonderful 
change in their minds. Before, they were 
timid, self-distrustful, and disconsolate, but 
receiving the baptism of the Spirit they 
were bold, courageous, and full of hope. 
They went forth preaching the word with 
such zeal and success as to give evidence 



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October. — Forty -first Week, i8i 



of their fellowship with Jesus, through the 
mighty power of the Holy Ghost. 

They realized that their ascended Lord 
knew their wants, and how to supply them, 
and they felt the force of his declaration, 
" It is expedient for you that I go away." 
John xvi. 7, 

They saw, as we now see, that the de- 
parture of Jesus was a blessing — that 
what at the time seemed so great a loss, 
even to the burial of their hope in Him as 
the Messiah, was for the highest good of 
themselves personally, and also of the 
Church in all coming time. For in the 
spiritual presence of the Divine Spirit, God 
comes nearer to men than He did in the 
personal presence of Jesus. In the one 
case it was a local influence. The Saviour 
as incarnate, could not be in difierent places 
at the same time. In the other, the Omni- 
present power of the Spirit is given to 
every one to profit withal ; for no man can 
say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the 
Holy Ghost, i Cor, xii. 4-7. 

Thus by the Spirit Jesus comes to each 
and to all to whom the Gospel is preached, 
or his Word is known. He manifests Him- 
self to those who love Him, and with the 



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1 82 October, — Forty -first Week. 



Father makes his abode with them, yohn 
xiv. 23. For it is the Spirit of the Father 
and the Son who, through the writings of 
the Apostles, now teaches the Church what- 
ever is true. 

It is the Spirit who glorifies Christ in 
the continuous and progressive work of 
showing to the human mind the way of 
salvation, as depending upon the atonement, 
the intercession, and the power of Christ. 

While, therefore, we recognize the work 
of the Spirit in guiding the Apostles com- 
missioned and sent by Jesus, let it be our 
earnest supplication for ourselves, and for 
all the professed followers of the Saviour, 
that the same Civine Comforter may fill 
our souls with his blessed presence, use us 
as instruments for his glory, and bring us 
to the heavenly kingdom. 

The eternal gifts of Christ the King, 
The Apostle's glory, let us sing ; 
And all, with hearts of gladness, raise 
Due hymns of thankful love and praise. 

Theirs is the steadfast faith of saints, 
And hope that never yields nor faints, 
And love of Christ in perfect glow, 
That lays the prince of this world low. 



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October. — Forty-first Week, 183 



.a. 



In them the Father's glory shone, 
In them the will of God the Son, 
In them exults the Holy Ghost, 
Through them rejoice the heavenly host. 

To thee, Redeemer, now we cry, 
That thOu wouldst join to them on high 
Thy servants, who this grace implore. 
For ever and for evermore. Amen. 



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THE HOLY GHOST SENDS FORTH MINIS- 
TERS. 

October 16, 

ND God hath set some in the Church, first 
apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly 
teachers, i Cor* xii. 28. 

October 16. 
And He gave some, apostles ; and some, proph- 
ets ; and some, evangelists ; and some, pastors and 
teachers ; for the perfecting of the saints, for the 
work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body 
of Christ EpA, iv. 11, 12. 

October 17. 

As they (certain prophets and teachers) minis- 
tered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, 
Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work where- 

unto I have called them So they being sent 

forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia. 

Acts xiii. 2, 4. 

October 18. 

They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of 
the Holy Ghost, and Philip (and others), whom they 
set before the Apostles, and when they had prayed, 
they laid their hands on them. Ac^ vi. 5, 6. 

October 19. 

The Spirit said unto Peter, Behold, three men 
seek thee. Acts x. 19. 



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October, — Forty-second Week. 185 

And the Spirit bade me go with them, nothing 
doubting. Acts xi. 12. 

October 20. 

A jew, named Apollos, bom at Alexandria, an 

eloquent man, and mighty in the Scriptures, came 

to Ephesus. This man was instructed in the way 

of the Lord : and being fervent in the Spirit, he 

spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, 

knowing only the baptism of John. Acts xviii. 24, 

25. 

October 21. 

Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, 
with the Church that is in their house, i Cor, xvi. 

As in all the works of God there is unity 
in diversity, so in the calling and sending 
forth of ministers and stewards of the Gos- 
pel. The ministry is ordained of God. He 
is the sender forth of faithful men, and He 
giveth the increase. But the three persons 
in the Trinity are each (in the Scriptures 
above quoted) spoken of as separating and 
sending different orders of persons to do 
the work of preaching the Gospel. There 
is unity in diversity, in the agency sending ; 
and there is unity in diversity in the instru- 
ments employed. 

Our blessed Lord having been exalted to 
the glory of his mediatorial throne, in uni- 



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1 86 October. — Forty-second Week. 



son with the Father, sent the Holy Spirit 
on the Apostles He had before chosen, that, 
through them, his Church might be estab- 
lished, and its government regulated. 

He also qualified and sent forth prophets 
and evangelists, and pastors and teachers, 
to carry on the work of the ministry as in- 
struments in the conversion of men, and 
for the perfecting of the converted in knowl- 
edge and holiness. And this ministry was 
designed for the edifying of the " Body of 
Christ " — the Church — so that his people 
should be unitedzxiA built up into the fullness 
of the Christian stature. Eph. iv. 11-13. 

In this diversity of Christian teachers, 
moreover, is included not only those set 
apart by the laying on of the hands of the 
Apostles, and prayer ; but of men and 
women like ApoUos, Aquila, and his wife 
Priscilla, sent forth by the Holy Ghost, 
whose ministry was owned by the Apostles, 
and blessed of God. 

Indeed, when we carefully study the New 
Testament, and find that no special form of 
church government, or of ordination, is left 
for the guidance of the Church — for the 
fact that so many different opinions and 
forms are held by men equally learned and 



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October, — Forty-second Week. 187 

good, and that God blesses the ministry of 
each, is an evidence that no one can claim 
an infallible interpretation for themselves — 
it seems very strange there are so many 
who lay so great stress upon a ceremonial 
not essential to salvation. 

How much better if all who love the 
Saviour would rejoice together in the es- 
sential truths in which they agree, and 
would cultivate the spirit of charity in 
these non-essentials, which are the prolific 
source of division among those who in 
heart are one. 

When John said to Jesus, Master, we 
saw one casting out devils in thy name ; 
and we forbade him, because he foUoweth 
not with us : Jesus said. Forbid him not : 
for he that is not against us, is for us. 
Luke ix. 49, 50. 

And even under the Law, when Joshua 
requested Moses to forbid Eldad and Me- 
dad, upon whom the Spirit rested, from 
prophesying, he said, " Enviest them for my 
sake } Would God that all the Lord's peo- 
ple were prophets, and that the Lord would 
put his Spirit upon them." Num, xi. 27- 
29. 



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1 88 October, — Forty-second Week. 

O Guardian of the Church divine, 
The sevenfold gifts of grace are thine. 
And kindled by thy hidden fires 
The soul to highest aims aspires. 

Spiri r of Truth, on us bestow 
The faith in all its power to know ; 
That with the saints of ages gone 
And those to come, we may be one. 

Protect thy Church from every foe, 
And peace, the firuit of love, bestow ; 
Convert the world, make all confess 
The glories of thy righteousness. 

All praise to God, the Father be. 
All praise Eternal Son, to thee, 
When with the Spirit we adore, 
For ever and for evermore. 



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jportp-tftirti Wtth. 

THE HOLY GHOST GIVES EFFICACY TO 
THE WORD. 

' October 22. 
flOR the promise (of the Holy Ghost) is 
unto you, and to your children, and to all 
that are afar off, even as many as the 
Lord our God shall call. Ac^s ii. 38, 39. 

October 23. 

Then they that gladly received his word, were 
baptized : *and the same day there were added unto 
them about three thousand souls. Ac/s ii. 41. 

And the Lord added to the Church daily such as 
should be saved. Acts ii. 47. 

October 24. 
And Jesus said, Go ye into all the world, and 

preach the Gospel to every creature And 

they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord 
working with them, and confirming the word with 
signs following. Mark xvi. 15, 20. 

October 26. 
And the word of God increased, and the number 
of disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly ; and a 
great company of the priests were obedient to the 
faith. Acts vi. 7. 

October 26. 
For he (Barnabas) was a good man, and full of 



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190 October. — Forty-third Week, 



the Holy Ghost, and of feith : and much people 
was added unto the Lord. Acts xi. 24. 

October 27. 

And God, which knoweth the hearts, bear them 
(the Gentiles) witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, 
even as He did unto us (the Jews). Acts xv. 8. 

October 28. 
I (Paul) have planted, Apollos watered : but God 
gave the increase. So then neither is he that plant- 
eth anything, neither he that watereth, but God that 
giveth the increase, i Car, iii. 6, 7. 

The preaching of the Gospel has been 
called "The right hand of the Spirit in 
wielding the sword of the Word." It is 
the same holy Spirit which inspired the 
Prophets, under the old Testament dispen- 
sation — which taught and sent forth the 
Baptist as the forerunner of Jesus — which, 
in the preaching of Jesus, prepared his dis- 
ciples, after his resurrection, to receive Him 
as the Messiah which gave power to the 
Word as they ministered it and which 
now blesses the same truths they uttered, 
when read and heard by the prayerful 
seeker after truth. 

As the Holy Ghost inspired the ancient 
prophets to reveal the mind of God, and 
taught the Apostles all things God thought 



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October. — Forty -third Week, 191 

necessary to make known to the world of 
the teachings of Jesus, it is reasonable to 
suppose, yea, it is certain, that He will not 
suffer this revelation to be lost. 

Sinners are begotten again by the Word 
OF Truth as the instrumentality. It is 
the Truth, through which the soul is 
turned from sin, and grows in holiness. 
God never saves men by error. We are 
**born again, not of corruptible seed, but 
of incorruptible, by the Word of God, 
which liveth and abideth forever." i Pet. 
i. 23. 

Now, the preaching which saves, deals 
with truth. Profitable preaching, laying 
hold of all the counsel of God, rightly 
divides the word of truth. It holds up the 
love of God to man, as seen in the suffer- 
ing Saviour, as a sacrifice for sin, and in 
offering pardon and salvation to every one 
that believeth in Him. And from this 
central truth radiates all other gospel truth. 

Still the truth may be faithfully preached, 
and prove only a savor of death. The good 
seed may be sown broadcast and yet so 
choked by the cares and pleasures and 
riches of time, as to bring forth no fruit for 
eternity 



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192 October, — Forty -third Week. 

Hence we are to bear in mind that the 
efficacy of the most faithful and earnest 
presentation of gospel truth depends, not 
upon the learning or eloquence of the 
preacher, but upon the Spirit of God, who, 
acting upon the mind, so enlightens it, that 
the hearer or reader discerns the meaning, 
and rests in the power of truth. 

Such is the lesson we gather from the 
uniform history of the Church in the Acts 
of the Apostles, a book which, as has been 
said, might be called " The gospel of the 
Spirit," or " The work of the Holy Spirit/' 

And so, although the Apostles were full 
of the Holy Ghost and faith, yet, with Paul, 
their uniform testimony is, " Neither is he 
that planteth or watereth anything, but 
God that giveth the increase. 

While therefore ministers of the Gospel 
should earnestly seek and pray for the 
guidance of the Holy Spirit to lead them 
into all truth. Christians ought as earnestly 
to pray for ministers that they may so 
teach, in humble dependence upon the 
Spirit, that the Word of the Lord may 
have free course and be glorified. 2 Thess, 
iii. I. 



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October, — Forty-third Week. 193 

There is a Book, who runs may read, 

Which heavenly truth imparts, 
And all the lore its scholars need, 

Pure eyes and Christian hearts. 

The works of God above, below, 

Within CIS and around. 
Are pages in that Book to show 

How God Himself is found. 

One Name above all glorious names. 

With its ten thousand tongues 
The everlasting sea proclaims. 

Echoing angelic songs. 

The raging fire, the waving wind. 

Thy boundless power display ; 
But in the gentle breeze we find 

Thy Spirit's viewless way. 

Thou who hast given me eyes to see, 

And love this sight so fair, 
Give me a heart to find out thee, 

And read thee everywhere. 



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f ortp-foujtt!) H^eeit. 

THE HOLY GHOST GUIDES AND GOVERNS 
THE CHURCH. 

October 29. 
ND He is the head of the body, the 
Church : who is the beginning, the first- 
born from the dead : that in all things (or 
among all) He might have the preemi- 
nence. Col. i. 1 8. 

Gotober 30. 

In whom (Christ) we also (the saints) have ob- 
tained an inheritance. Eph, i. ii. 

And (God the Father) hath put all things under 
his (Christ's) feet, and gave Him to be the head over 
all to the Church, which is his body, the fullness of 
Him that filleth all in all. Eph. i. 22, 23. 

October 31. 
(Jesus), being assembled together with them (the 
Apostles) commanded them that they should not 
depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of 
the Father (the baptism of the Holy Spirit) which, 
saith He, ye have heard of me. Acts i. 4. 

November 1. 
(Paul and Timoth}) were forbidden of the Holy 
Ghost to preach the Word in Asia. After they 
were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into 
Bythynia ; but the Spirit suffered them not. Acts 
xvi. 6, 7. 



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November. -^Forty-fourth Week. 195 



November 2. 
I (Paul) go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem, 
not knowing the things that shall befall me there ; 
save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, 
saying, that bonds of afflictions abide (or wait for) 
me. Acts xx. 22, 23. 

November 3. 
Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at 
Jerusalem bind th$ man (Paul) that owneth this 
girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the 
Gentiles. Act5-x£\* 11. 

November 4, 
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit 
saith unto the churches. Rev, iii. 22. 

The Church Universal, the company of 
all true believers, "the saints and faithful 
brethren in Christ" {Col. i. 2), is "the 
body of Christ." Or, " the holy Catholic 
Church," is "the communion of saints." 
Christ is the head. They who are born 
again of the Holy Spirit, are the members. 
Eph. iv. 15. Or, Christ is the corner-stone, 
and Christians are builded together on 
this comer-stone for a habitation of God 
through the Spirit. Eph. ii. 21, 22. 

The Church, which the Holy Ghost 
guides and governs, is, in its essence, a 
spiritual and invisible society. It is not 
the Church of Rome, or the Greek Church, 



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196 November. — Farty-fourth Week. 

or any one, or all of the many so-called 
Protestant churches, though it no doubt 
includes persons belonging to each of these 
branches of the visible Church, The one 
Catholic and Apostolic Church is beyond 
measure more comprehensive than any 
fractional part of it can be. 

God's promises to be with his Church, 
and that the powers of the world, and of 
hell shall not prevail against it, are not 
made to any visible organized body, called 
a church, as the Church of England, or the 
Church of Scotland, or the Churches of 
America, but to faithful men ; to true be- 
lievers in, and followers of the Lord Jesus 
Christ ; to men " born of God." This is 
evident if we remember the history of the 
seven churches of Asia Minor. They were 
Apostolic in their origin, doctrine, and gov- 
ernment, and yet God removed their can- 
dlestick, their light grew dim, and was put 
out. 

" The Church of God which He hath pur- 
chased with his own blood " {Acts xx. 28), is 
not a mere visible human society. It is 
composed of living members. One by one 
God has called, and taken them out of the 
world ; and, by his Spirit, He dwells in them. 



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November, — Forty-fourth Week, 197 

and they in Him. Hence the language of 
St. Paul to the Corinthians, " Know ye not 
that ye are the temple of God, and that the 
Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" i Cur, 
iii. 16. " What ! know ye not that your body 
is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in 
you, which ye have of God, and ye are not 
your own ? " i Cor, vi. 19. 

In this aspect how strong is the argu- 
ment for Christian unity and Christian 
love, among all who are born again of the 
Holy Ghost, and who desire the coming 
and glory of Christ's kingdom. 

Would that all Christians were not only 
earnest and persevering in prayer, but 
willing, if need be, to give up some unes- 
sential usage or doctrine, that the time 
may be hastened when the desire of the 
Saviour shall be fulfilled, that all his disci- 
ples may be one, and that the world may 
believe, yohn xvii. 21. 

The Church's one foundation 

Is Jesus Christ her Lord ; 
She is his new creation 

By the Spirit and the Word. 
From heaven He came and sought her 

To be his holy Bride ; 
With his own blood He bought her, 

And for her life He died. 



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198 November, — Forty-fourth Week. 



Elect from every nation. 

Yet one o*er all the earth. 
Her charter of salvation 

One Lord, one ^th, one birth. 
One holy name she blesses, 

Partakes one holy food. 
And to one hope she presses. 

With every grace endued. 

Mid toil and tribulation, 

And tumult of her war. 
She waits the consummation 

Of peace for evermore ; 
Till, with the vision glorious. 

Her loving eyes are blest. 
And the great Church victorious. 

Shall be the Church at rest 



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THE HOLY GHOST COMFORTS AND BUILDS 
UP THE CHURCH. 

November 5. 
OMFORT ye, comfort ye my people, saith 
your God. Speak ye comfortably to Je- 
rusalem, and cry unto her, that her war- 
fare is accomplished, that her iniquity is 
pardoned, /sa, xl. i, 2. 

November 6. 

The redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come 
with singing unto Zion ; and everlasting joy shall 
be upon their head ; they shall obtain gladness and 
joy ; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away, /sa, 
H. II. 

November 7. 

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me (Christ) 
.... to give unto them that mourn in Zion beauty 
for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment 
of praise for the spirit of heaviness, /sa. Ixi. i, 3. 

November 8. 

The Lord doth build up Jerusalem ; He gathereth 
together the outcasts of Israel. Ps. cxlvii. 2. 

When the Lord shall build up Zion, He shall ap- 
pear in his glory. Ps, cii. 16. 

November 9. 
And he (Paul) went through Syria and Cilicia 
confirming the churches And so were the 



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200 November. — Forty-fifth Week, 



churches established in the £uth, and increased in 
number daily. Acts xv. 41 ; xvi. 5. 

November 10. 
Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea, 
and Galilee, and Samaria, and were edified : and 
walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort 
of the Holy Ghost were multiplied. Acts ix. 31. 

November 11. 

The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let 
him that heareth say. Come. And let him that is 
athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take 
the water of life freely. Rev, xxii. 17. 

The true Church of God as including 
those, and only those, who have been taken 
out of the world, by being bom again of 
the Spirit, is, as seen by his Omniscient 
eye, perfect in its materials, its proportions, 
its unity. "The Spirit divideth to every 
man severally as he will.*' i Cor, xii. 11. 

But as men with the eye of sense take a 
partial view of what they call the Church, 
it seems to be composed of those whose 
opinions are diverse and conflicting, as rent 
by schisms, and kept from union by essen- 
tial differences. 

This antagonism between the judgment 
of God and men arises from misapprehen- 
sion of the nature of the true Church of 
God. Men look at the professors of Ch^s- 



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November, — Forty-fifth Week. 201 



tianity and forget the distinction which 
exists between the Church as a visible 
society, containing the bad as well as the 
good, and the Church mystical, or super- 
natural, which is composed only of those 
who are born again of the Holy Ghost and 
are thus made the children of God by 
adoption ; heirs of God, and joint heirs 
with Christ, to a heavenly inheritance. 

Now it is not the visible society, or cor- 
poration, but the invisible and spiritual 
body which is built up and comforted of 
God. It is to Christ's true disciples that 
the promises pertain, and not merely to 
those who have been baptized in his name. 
The human organization, which is designed 
for the extension of Christ's kingdom, is 
doubtless blessed of God, but it is a great 
hinderance to the progress of the Gospel 
when the visible and human is substituted 
for, or in any measure hides the invisible 
and spiritual. 

The Church which the Holy Ghost com- 
forts and builds up, is not a structure of 
man's devising. It is not to be confounded 
with the grand cathedral, or the modest 
chapel. It is not a corporation. It is 
not even an assembly of professed wor- 



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202 November. — Forty-fifth Week, 



shippers, but it is " God's faithful people." 
And this people are separately called, and 
justified, and sanctified, and built up, and 
comforted by the power of the Holy Ghost 
enlightening their minds, and drawing them 
heavenward. 

Let us not forget, then, in our estimate 
of character, that in the visible Church, 

" The wheat and tares together grow.*' 

Let us remember, too, that within the 
churches of various names are to be found 
for the most part " the saints and faithful 
brethren who are in Christ ; " that God is 
now building up this spiritual temple, and 
that all the promises of its glorious comple- 
tion are to be consummated when the Lord 
Jesus shall come again in his glory. Ps, 

cii. 1 6. 

God of all consolation, 

The Holy Ghost thou art ; 
Thy secret inspiration 

Hath told it to my heart ; 
The blessing I inherit, 

Through Jesus' prayer bestowed, 
The Comforter, the Spirit, 

The true eternal God. 

With God the Son and Saviour, 

With God the Father one, 
The tokens of His favor 

Are now to man made known ; 



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November, — Forty-fifth Week, 203 



l. 



An antepast of heaven 
Thou dost in me reveal. 

Attest my sins forgiven, 
And my salvation seal. 

Th' indubitable witness 

Of thy own Deity, 
Thou giv'st my soul its fitness 

Thy glorious face to see ; 
Thy comforts, gifts, and graces, 

My largest thoughts transcend. 
And challenge endless praises, 

When faith in sight shall end. 



J 



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f ortp-iflrtjctl) Wttk. 



THE HOLY GHOST RELEASES FROM CERE- 
MONIALS. 

November 12, 

j|HESE words (the moral law) the Lord 
spake unto all your assembly in the 
mount, out of the midst of the fire, of 
the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with 
a great voice ; and he added no more. Deut v. 22. 

November 13. 
It (the law) was added (to the Abrahamic cove- 
nant) because of transgressions, till the seed (Christ) 
should come to whom the promise was made. Gal, 
iii. 19. 

November 14. 

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in 
drink (for eating and drinking) or in respect of an 
holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath ; 
which are a shadow of things to come; but the 
body is of Christ. Coi. ii. 16, 17. 

November 15. 
It seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to 
lay upon you no greater burden than these neces- 
sary things ; that ye abstain from meats offered to 
idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, 
and from fornication. Acls xv. 28, 29. 



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November. — Forty-sixth Week, 205 



November 16. 
The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into 
the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while 
as the first tabernacle was yet standing : which was 
a figure for the time then present. Heb, ix. 8, 9. 

November 17. 
Then said He, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. 
He taketh away the first (the sacrifices under the 
law) that He may establish the second (the one ex- 
piation) of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 

Heb, X. 9, 10. 

November 18. 

Having therefore, brethren, boldness (or liberty) 
to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, .... 
let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance 
of faith. Heb, x. 19, 22. 

Under the dispensation of the Holy 
Ghost, the types and shadows of preceding 
centuries which pointed forward to one who 
should come and make an efficacious offer- 
ing for sin, are no longer necessary. 

When God called Abraham and cove- 
nanted with him, the seed promised was 
Christ. Gal. iii. 16. Four hundred and 
thirty years after this, because of Israel's 
transgressions, the moral law of the ten 
commandments was promulgated from 
Sinai. Deut. v. 22. 

Then, still further to keep his people 
from idolatry, God added the ceremonial 



J 



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2o6 November. — Forty-sixth Week, 

law to the moral, as the moral had been to 
the covenant made with Abraham. GaL 
iii. 19. 

The moral law is of universal and eter- 
nal obligation. The ceremonial law is not 
obligatory under the Christian Dispensa- 
tion. For this law was only a shadowing 
forth of better things under the Gospel. 
Heb, X. I. And yet there are in portions of 
the Chrstian Church those who approximate 
to some of the ceremonials, and are influ- 
enced by opinions which belong to Judaism. 
There are some who teach that there is a 
sacrificing priesthood in the Christian min- 
istry ; who call and regard the communion 
table an altar ; and the bread and wine, 
when it has been manipulated by priestly 
hands, and offered with priestly interces- 
sion, a true and continued sacrifice of Christ 
And as the consequence of this teaching, 
peculiar habits are introduced which sym- 
bolize a continuance of the priestly oflSce. 

Now all this is contrary to the teachings 
of our Saviour and his Apostles. There 
is nothing in the New Testament which 
sanctions the notion of a priesthood^ an 
altar or a sacrifice in the Christian Church. 
Every believer may oflfer the sacrifice of 



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November. — Forty-sixth Week, 207 

prayer and praise ; and in this sense the 
head of every Christian family may be a 
priest in his own house ; but when our 
blessed Saviour as the sacrificer and the 
offering gave Himself for us, all the sacri- 
fices of Judaism, which were nothing but 
types of his one offering of Himself, were 
done away. 

We may find in Saul of Tarsus, the big- 
oted Pharisee, as changed by the grace of 
God into Paul the chosen Apostle to the 
Gentiles, an illustration or type of the 
change which the sinner undergoes when, 
from a blind reliance on himself, or the law 
of works, he is, by the Spirit, made a new 
man in Christ. 

The change wrought in Saul led him to 
trust only in Christ as his Saviour. He re- 
nounced the law and all its ceremonials 
as utterly useless as the way of salvation. 
Christ and Christ crucified was his only 
hope. 

So let it be with us. He is our great 
High-priest who ever liveth in heaven to 
intercede for us, and therefore let us not 
try to get to heaven by the observance of 
days and fastings and ritual observances, 
but by personal consecration and union 
with Jesus, the only Saviour of the lost. 

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2o8 November, — Forty-sixth Week. 



Not all the outward forms on earth, 
Nor rites that God has given, 

Nor will of man, nor blood, nor birth. 
Can raise a soul to heaven. 

The sovereign will of God alone 
Creates us heirs of grace ; 

Born in the image of his Son, 
A new, peculiar race. 

The Spirit like some heavenly wind, 
Blows on the sons of flesh. 

New-models all the carnal mind, 
And forms the man afresh. 

Our quickened souls awake and rise 
From their long sleep of death ; 

On heavenly things we fix our eyes. 
And praise employs our breath. 



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f ojctp i0?e\jtntft Wcth. 




THE HOLY GHOST THE REGENERATOR. 
November 10. 
(John) indeed baptize you with water; 
but one mightier than I cometh, the 
latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy 
to unloose: He shall baptize you with 
the Holy Ghost, and with fire. LuJte iii. i6. 

November 20. 

Jesus said, Except a man be born again (from 
above, margin), he cannot see the kingdom of God. 
J^oAn iii. 3. 

Except a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, 

he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. ^ohn 

iii 5. 

November 21. 

Being bom again, not of corruptible seed, but of 
incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and 
abideth forever. 1 Pef. i. 23. 

November 22. 
The sons of God were bom, not of blood, nor of 
the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of 
God. yo/tn i. 12, 13. 

November 23. 
Of his own will begat He us with the word of 
truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his 
creatures. James \, 18. 
H 



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2IO November. — Forty-seventh Week. 



Norember S4, 

Grcumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is 
nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of 
God. I Cor, vii. 19. 

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth 

anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. 

Gal, vi. 1$. 

Korembar 26. 

Where (in Christ) there is neither Greek nor Jew, 
^circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scjrth- 
ian, bond nor free : but Christ is all, and in alL 
Col. iit II. 

In comparing the texts above quoted, 
who can fail to observe the importance 
which is given to the regeneration of the 
soul by the Holy Spirit, and the non-im- 
.portance to the outward ordinance, which 
represents the inward purifying. 

John baptized with water. 

Jesus baptized with the Holy Ghost. 

Under the law there were " divers wash- 
ings and carnal ordinances." Heb, ix. "10. 
The Jews admitted proselytes from hea- 
thenism to Judaism, by circumcision and 
baptism. Their zeal in making converts 
to the ceremonials of their religion without 
caring for the purification of the heart, was 
often rebuked by our Saviour. Matt, xxiii. 
IS ; Rom, ii. 28, 29. 



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November, — Forty-seventh Week. 211 

There was also the washing, or baptism, 
of various vessels to denote their separation 
for holy purposes, and the necessity of 
spiritual purification. 

Nicodemus, as a member of, and a teacher 
in the Jewish Church, was not ignorant of 
these customs when he came to Jesus to 
learn of Him, but he did not understand 
the spiritual import of the ceremonies. 

Hence the language of our Saviour to 
him, " Except a man be bom from above — 
born of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot 
enter into the kingdom of God." 

Now in the light of the Jewish ritual 
and of the blindness of Nicodemus to spir- 
itual things, we understand our Saviour as 
saying to him : Except you have the bap- 
tism of the Holy Spirit y your water baptism 
will not gain your admittance to heaven. 
Born of the flesh, you must be born again 
of the Spirit. The outward washing with 
water is the sign of your regeneration. 
The baptism of the Spirit is essential. The 
baptism by water is a confession of your 
need of the inward purification. 

From this stand-point, look at the follow- 
ing Scriptures of the New Testament, as to 
the relative importance given to the sign^ 
and to that which is signified. 

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212 November, — Forty-seventh Week. 

1. Jesus did not baptize with water. 
yohn iv. 2. 

2. Jesus did baptize with the Holy Ghost. 
Acts, i. 5 ; ii. 4. 

3. Paul was sent, not to baptize, but 
preach, i Cor, i. 17. 

4. The Truth, not Baptism, is the means 
of conversion, or regeneration, yamesx, 18. 

5. The outward sign, whether circum- 
cision or water baptism, is of itself noth- 
ing. It is the inward Spirit which God re- 
gards. Gal, iv. 15 ; Rom. ii. 25-29. 

6. " There is one baptism for the remis- 
sion of sins." "There is one Lord, one 
faith, one baptism." Eph, iv. 5. And this 
is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the spirit- 
ual, essential change, of which water is the 
sign. 

We may learn from these Scriptures the 
preciousness of that great work which is 
wrought by the Holy Ghost when He 
turns us from sin to holiness, and makes 
us new creatures in Christ Jesus. 

And we may rejoice in hope, that the 
same Divine Spirit who hath begun the 
work in the believer will perfect it until the 
day when the Son of man shall be revealed. 



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November, — Forty-seventh Week, 213 



One sole baptismal sign, 

One Lord, below, above, 
One faith, one hope divine. 

One only watchword — L»ve ! 
From many temples though it rise, 
One song ascendeth to the skies. 

Our sacrifice is one ; 

One Priest before the throne ; 
The slain, the risen Son, 

Redeemer, Lord, alone ! 
And sighs from contrite hearts that spring, 
Our chief, our choicest offering. 

Head of thy Church beneath ! 

The catholic, the true, 
On all her members breathe, 

Her broken frame renew 1 
Then shall thy perfect will be done. 
When Christians love and live as one. 



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THE HOLY GHOST MAY BE RESISTED. 
« Koyember 26. 

UT they rebelled, and vexed his Holy 
Spirit: therefore He was turned to be 
their enemy, and He fought against them. 
/sa. Iziii. lo. 

November 27. 
Ye stiff-necked, and uncircumcised in heart and 
ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost : as your 
Withers did, so do ye. Acts vii. 51. 

November 28. 

And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby 

ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. EpA. 

iv. 39. 

November 29. 

Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, 
lest they should hear the law, and the words which 
the Lord of hosts hath sent in his Spirit by the 
former prophets: therefore came a great wrath 
from the Lord of hosts. ZccA. vii. 12. 

November 30. 
Whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of 
man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever 
speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be 
forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the 
world to come. MaU, xii. 32. 



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.November, — Forty-eighth Week, 215 

December 1. 
What concord hath Christ with Belial ? or what 
part hath he that believeth with an infidel ? 2 Cor, 
vi. 15. 

December 2. 
There is a sin unto death : I do not say that he 
shall pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin : and 
th^e is a sin not unto death, i John v. 16, 17. 

The power of choosing and refusing in- 
volves the freedom of the will. Many have 
found a difficulty in reconciling God*s sov- 
reignty with man's free agency. Under 
the guidance of mere human reason, they 
have an impression that both cannot be 
true, while they learn that both are set 
forth in the Bible as facts. They find that 
God as a Sovereign, and as the Father of 
all, by his Spirit, works in us to will and 
to do of his good pleasure ; and therefore 
He calls upon us to exercise the power He 
has given us, by cooperating with Him, in 
working out our own salvation. Phil, ii. 
12, 13. 

In a word, God gives us the power of 
putting the soul in unison with Him ; and 
we have the power of resisting the kindly 
drawings of the Holy Spirit. 

God is a Sovereign ! man is free ! Both 



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2i6 November. — Forty-eighth Week, . 



statements are true. Both are in unison 
with Christian experience. The fact is all 
important. The philosophy is not so. 

Now we find that it is the office of the 
Holy Ghost to convince the world of sin, 
of righteousness, and of judgment (John 
xvi. 8-1 1 ) ; but men resist their convictions. 

The "god of this world*' blinds the 
mind, and hardens the heart to the motions 
of the Divine Spirit. Was the soul opened 
to these holy influences, were these Divine 
monitions cherished ; was there a sincere 
desire for heavenly wisdom ; did the earnest 
prayer go forth. Oh take not thy Holy 
Spirit from me, — how different would be 
the result in ten thousands of cases from 
what it now is. 

For how many now, as under the Law, 
harden their hearts, and resist the Holy 
Spirit by their continuance in unbelief, 
notwithstanding the gracious influences by 
which God would save them. 

Shoqld any reader of these pages be of 
the number, oh let him hear, and heed 
the warning: "As the Holy Ghost saith. 
To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not 
your hearts." Heb, iii. 7, 8. Cherish all 
holy influences. Cooperate with the Holy 



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November. — Forty-eighth Week, 2 1 7 



Spirit for your highest good ; and He will 
guide you to peace and joy here, and to 
glory hereafter. 

And should any professing to be a 
Christian be led to meditate upon his own 
position in view of the danger of grieving 
the Holy Spirit by lukewarmness or world- 
liness, let him not forget that as the Spirit 
speaks to the churches, so He speaks to 
every Christian as a member of the body, 
to be watchful and faithful unto death. 

The true Church of God is an aggregate 
of units. The Christian is taken out of the 
world. One by one they who are united to 
Christ by faith, God called and justified, 
and sanctified by the Holy Ghost. They 
heard and obeyed the call, and so God 
worked in them and with them, as He 
will with us, if we also are obedient to his 
voice, and trust in Him. 

*Tis God the Spirft leads 

In paths before unknown ; 
The work to be performed is ours, 

The strength is all his own. 

Supported by his grace 

We still pursue our way ; 
And hope at last to reach the prize, 

Secure in endless day. 



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2l8 November. — Forty-eighth Week. 

'Tis He that works to will, 
Tis He that works to do ; 

His is the power by which we act. 
His be the glory too. 



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fortp-ninrt) Wtth. 



THE HOLY GHOST THE AGENT IN 
REVIVALS. 

Deoember 3. 

LORD, revive thy work in the midst of 
the years, in the midst of the years make 
known ; in wrath remember mercy. Had. 
iii. 2. 

December 4. 

Wilt thou not revive us again that thy people 
may rejoice in thee ? Ps, Ixxxv. 6. 

Deoember 5. 
Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt 
revive me : thou shalt stretch forth thine hand 
against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right 
hand shall save me. Ps, cxxxviii. 7. 

Deoember 6. 

Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth 
eternity, whose name is Holy ; I dwell in the high 
and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite 
and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, 
and to revive the heart of the contrite ones, /sa, 
Ivii. 15. 

December 7. 

I will be as the dew unto Israel .... They shall 
revive as the corn, and grow (or blossom) as the 
vine : the scent (or memorial) shall be as the wine 
of Lebanon. Has, xiv. 5-7. 



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220 December. — Forty-ninth Week. 

December 8. 
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good 
gifts unto your children : how much more shall your 
heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that 
ask Him ? Luke xi. 13. 

December 9. 
Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of 
Zion ! when the Lord bringeth back the captivity 
of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall 
be glad. Ps, xiv. 7. 

A REVIVAL of religion is an awakened 
interest in the great subject of salvation. 
It is a manifestation, or experience, in 
larger measure, to the believer, of the 
power of the Holy Ghost. God, the Spirit, 
is the almighty agent in the renovation and 
sanctification of all who are born of God. 

But the progress of the Christian life is 
not uniformly progressive in the soul : nor 
is the state of the Church, as a body of be- 
lievers, always alike. It is sometimes de- 
pressed, sometimes revived. 

It is so in things pertaining to this life. 
In the arts and sciences there are periods 
of progress and of decline. And nature 
is ever presenting illustrations of the same 
truth. 

As we look at the history of the Church, 
we mark these periods of depression and of 



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December, — Forty -ninth Week, 221 



revival. Under the Old Testament, David, 
and other of the prophets, mourned when 
deprived of God's presence, prayed for 
the quickening power of the Spirit, and 
rejoiced in the revival of religion. 

From the day of Pentecost, and during 
the lives of the Apostles, there was, in 
the Christian Church, a simplicity of pur- 
pose, and a consecration to God, which, 
through the anointing agency of the Holy 
Ghost, led to great results in the conver- 
sion of sinners, and the extension of the 
infant Church. 

Then, after centuries of superstition and 
formalism, God called Luther, and the Con- 
tinental and English reformers, as instru- 
ments in the great revival in the sixteenth 
century. But the churches again relaps- 
ing into formalism, God sent forth his 
Spirit, and in what is known as the " Great 
Awakening," which dates from the year 
1740, evangelical religion was extensively 
revived in England and America. 

And again, about the beginning of the 
present century, there was manifest, espe- 
cially in New England, " one of the most 
blessed revivals with which the churches 
have ever been favored." 



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222 December. — Forty-ninth Week, 

Now, in view of the past, as thus briefly 
sketched, and of the prevailing coldness 
and worldliness of the great body of those 
professing to be Christian, and of the infi- 
delity, intemperance, extravagance in liv- 
ing, licentiousness, and irreligion in its 
many forms, is not the great want of the 
Church and the world a revival of pure 
religion ? And if so, do we not perceive, — 
ought we not to feel, — the necessity of lift- 
ing up our eyes unto the hills, from whence 
alone our needed help must come. Ps. 
cxxi. I. 

Oh let every one who loves the Saviour 
pray for the descent of the Holy Ghost to 
arouse the Church from its growing con- 
formity to the world ; to arrest the wicked 
in their downward course ; to take out 
of the world a people for God ; and thus 
to hasten the coming of our Lord and 
Saviour. Let our supplication be that of 
the Prophet : " O Lord, revive thy work ; " 
and the longing of our soul with the Psalm- 
ist : " Wilt thou not revive us again : that 
thy people may rejoice in thee } " 

Oh help us, Lord ; each hour of need 

Thy Holy Spirft give ; 
Help us in thoughts and word and deed. 

Each hour on earth we live. 



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December. — Forty-ninth Week. 223 



Oh help us when our spirits bleed 
With contrite anguish sore ; 

And when our hearts are cold and dead, 
Oh help us, Lord, the more. 

Oh help us through the prayer of faith, 

More firmly to believe ; 
For still the more the servant hath 

The more shall he receive. 

Oh help us, Jesus, firom on high. 
We know no help but thee ; 

Oh help us so to live and die. 
As thine in heaven to be. 



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fiftieth Wcth. 




THE HOLY GHOST WILL PERFECT THE BE- 
LIEVER IN THE RESURRECTION. 

December 10. 

ND the ransomed of the Lord shall return, 
and come to Zion with songs and ever- 
lasting joy upon their heads : they shall 
obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and 
sighing shall flee away. Isa. xxxv. lo. 

December 11. 
That I may know Him (Christ) and the power 

of his resurrection If by any means I might 

attain unto the resurrection of the dead. P/it7. iii. 

10, II. 

December 12. 

Who shall change our vile body (our body of hu- 
miliation), that it may be fashioned like unto his 
glorious body, according to the working whereby 
He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself. 
Pktl. iii. 21. 

December 13. 

I go to prepare a place for you. And .... I 
will come again and receive you unto myself ; that 
where I am, there ye may be also, ^o/in xiv. 2, 3. 

December 14. 

Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given 
me be with me where I am ; that they may behold 



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December. — Fiftieth Week. 225 



my glory which thou hast given me. John xvii. 

24. 

December 15. 

Waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ : 
who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye 
may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus 
Christ 1 Cor. i. 7, 8. 

Deoember 16. 

So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is 
sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 
. . . . It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spirit- 
ual body. I Cor, xv. 42, 44. 

Among the final results of the work of 
the Holy Ghost, in the perfection of the 
believer, is the quickening or redemption 
of his body from the grave. 

Jesus is made unto us wisdom and right- 
eousness, and sanctification and redemp- 
tion ; but the perfected redemption will 
depend upon the reunion of the glorified 
resurrection body with the sanctified spirit. 
The great and blessed promises of the 
Gospel conveys, for their consummation, 
toward the resurrection of the righteous 
dead. The Apostles went forth preaching 
"Jesus and the resurrection" {Acts xvii. 
18), as the important message committed to 
them. They set forth, not merely the fact 
that Jesus had risen, as He said : but also 

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226 December, — Fiftieth Week, 

the resurrection from the dead "at his 
appearing, and his kingdom/' of all in 
whom the Spirit dwells. Hence the lan- 
guage of the Apostle : " If the Spirit of 
Him that raised up Jesus from the dead 
dwell in you, He that raised up Christ 
from the dead shall also quicken your mor- 
tal bodies by (or, because of, margin) his 
Spirit that dwelleth in you." Rom, viii. ii. 

The resurrection of the dead is one of 
the principles or elements of the doctrine 
of Christ. Heb, vi. i, 2. But, as a care- 
ful study of the Bible will show, it is not 
merely a resurrection of all the dead by 
the power of God, when each and all shall 
be judged, but it is the resurrection of the 
righteous dead, at the coming of their Lord, 
and by virtue of their spiritual and vital 
union with Him, through the indwelling 
Spirit, of which the New Testament Scrip- 
tures so often speak. 

The believer is begotten again to a lively 
hope of his own resurrection (i Pet, i. 3), 
because Christ, his Lord, has risen ; and 
because, as a living member of his mystical 
body, he has the assurance that he also 
shall be raised, and made like unto Him. 

Hence, we read of " the resurrection of 



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December, — Fiftieth Week. 227 

the just" {Luke xiv. 14); of "the resur- 
rection of life " as contrasted with that of 
damnation {yohn v. 29) ; of " a better 
resurrection" {Heb, xi. 35); and of "the 
first resurrection " {Rev, xx. 5). 

There is also a distinction between a 
resurrection of the dead, including the 
wicked {Acts xxiv. 15), and the resurrec- 
tion /r(^/« the dead, the portion of the right- 
eous. Acts iv. 2 ; Rom, i. 4. And as 
* Christ, the first-fruits," was raised from 
the dead, so, at his second coming, they 
that are his shall be raised, i Cor, xv. 22, 
23. Then, in their own resurrection, they 
shall know Christ, and the power of his 
resurrection. He shall change, and make 
their mortal bodies like his own immortal 
body, and they shall be forever with Him. 
They shall be satisfied when they awake in 
his likeness. Ps, xvii. 15. 

Such will be the result of the great and 
blessed work of the Spirit, begun here in 
the regeneration of our fallen nature, and 
perfected in soul, body, and spirit, when 
the Saviour shall come again to receive his 
people to Himself 

How impressive and persuasive, in this 
aspect, is the exhortation to those bought 



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228 December, — Fiftieth Week. 

with the price of Jesus' blood to glorify 
God in their body, which is destined to a 
resurrection so full of glory and honor and 
immortality, i Cor. vi. 19, 20. 

Come see the place where Jesus lay. 
And hear angelic watchers say. 

He lives, who once was slain. 
Why seek the living 'midst the dead ? 
Remember how the Saviour said 

That He would rise again. 

The First-begotten of the dead, 
For us He rose, our glorious Head, 

Immortal life to bring. 
What though the saints like Him shall die, 
They share their Leader's victory, 

And triumph with their King. 

No more they tremble at the grave, 
For Jesus will their spirits save, 

And raise their slumbering dust. 
O risen Lord, in thee we live. 
To thee our ransomed souls we give. 

To thee our bodies trust. 



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fKtp-am Wttk. 




THE HOLY GHOST WILL PERFECT THE 
WHOLE BODY OF CHRIST AT HIS SEC- 
OND COMING. 

December 17. 

]HEY shall see the Son of man coming 

in the clouds And he shall send 

his angels, .... and they shaU gather 
his elect from the four winds, from one 
end of heaven to the other. MaU, xxiv. 30, 31, 

December 18. 
The high-priest prophesied that Jesus .... 
should gather together in one the children of God 
that were scattered abroad, yo/tn xi. 51, 52. 

December 19. 
I bow my knees unto tlie Father of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven 
and earth is named. ^>^. iii. 14,15. 

December 20. 

Christ gave Himself for the Church, .... that 

He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, 

not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing ; but 

that it should be holy and without blemish. Ep/i, 

V. 25-27. 

December 21. 

Ye are come .... to the general assembly and 
ChurcTA of the first-born which are written in heaven 



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230 Decefnber. — Fifty-first Week, 

and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of 

just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator 

of the new covenant (or testament). Heb, xii. 22- 

24. 

December 22. 

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive 
power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and 
honor, and glory, and blessing. Rev, v. 12. 

December 23. 

And he saith unto me. Write, Blessed are they 
which are called unto the marriage supper of the 
Lamb. Rev, xix. 9. 

The dispensation of the Spirit as minis- 
tering to the wants of the Church and of 
the world, will not close until our ascended 
Saviour shall again come in the clouds. 
Acts i. 1 1. And his feet shall stand on Oli- 
vet. Zeck, ^iv. 4. The holy supper which, 
on the night of his betrayal, our Lord insti- 
tuted, shall stand as a memorial to show 
forth his death " till He come." i Cor, xi. 
26. 

From the creation of man God has been, 
and is now, building up a spiritual kingdom, 
the extent and gloiy of which is very feebly 
comprehended by the human intellect ; but 
which, in its issues, will be worthy of God. 
This work, as we have seen, is wrought 
through the agency of the Holy Ghost. 



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December, — Fifty-first Week, 231 

Its issue will be the binding together, in 
one, of all the children of God in the 
blessed inheritance which the Saviour has 
gone to prepare ; and which is reserved in 
heaven for those who are kept by the 
power of God, through faith unto salvation. 
I PetX 4, 5. 

The taking out of the world an elect 
Church, is part of the Spirit's preparatory 
work for this blessed consummation. As 
every stone in the Temple at Jerusalem 
was quarried, and fitted for its place before 
it was brought to Mount Zion, so every one 
of the saved, as a living stone in Christ's 
spiritual temple, is prepared for its place in 
this life, being builded for an habitation of 
God through the Spirit. Eph/ii. 22. But 
the completed, glorious Church, will be 
composed of the aggregate of all these liv- 
ing Stones. 

At his coming the Son of man shall 
gather his elect. Not one of the redeemed 
shall be wanting. His kingdom will be 
established. It shall be holy, and without 
blemish. All its earthly imperfections shall 
be blotted out, and Jesus shall see of the 
travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied. 
Isa, liii. II. 



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232 December. — Fifty-first Week, 



And in this consummation we shall un- 
derstand, as never before, the meaning of 
the prediction that Jesus shall " gather to- 
gether in one" God*s scattered children; 
and the real unity which is meant in the 
" one Body,** and " one Spirit,*' which also 
distinguishes the true disciples of the one 
Lord and Saviour. Eph. iv. 4. 

Let it be our purpose to promote this 
unity in all our intercourse with Christians, 
of every name, who rest their hope of par- 
don and salvation on Jesus, as one who is 
willing and mighty to save. If at his 
coming all who love Him shall be one, oh 
why should we not now act together in 
love for the furtherance of his cause ? To 
this end, let it be our prayer and eflfort, 
that we may receive and hold fast the faith 
of the people in the unity of the Spirit, and 
in the bond of peace. 

A living stream, as crystal clear. 

Welling from out the throne 
Of God, and of the Lamb on high. 

The Lord to man hath shown. 

Eye hath not seen, nor ear hath heard. 
Nor to man's heart hath come, 

What for those loving thee in truth 
Thou hast in love's own home. 



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December. — Fifty-first Week. 233 

But by his Spirit He to us 

The secret doth reveal ! 
Faith sees and hears ; but oh for wings 

To touch, and taste, and feel. 

Wings like a dove to waft us on 

High o*er the flood of sin ! 
Lord, of the ark, put forth thine hand, 

And take thy wanderers in. 



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fiftp-^tcmt^ Week. 




THE HOLY GHOST WILL BRING THE ELECT 
CHURCH TO THE PROMISED INHERIT- 
ANCE. 

December 24. 

EHOLD, a King shall reign in righteous- 
ness. Isa, xxxii. i. 

The Spirit (shall) be poured upon us 
from on high, and the wilderness (shall) 
be a fruitful field. Isa, xxxii. 15. 

December 26. 

My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, 
and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting-places. 
Isa. xxxii. 18. 

December 26. 

The Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said 
unto me. Speak ; thus saith the Lord ; .... I will 
gather you, .... and I will give them one heart, 
and I will put a new spirit within you. £zek. xi. 

5» 17, 19. 

December 27. 

And the Lord shall be King over all the earth : 
in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name 
one. Zec/t. xiv. 9. 

December 28. 

That in the dispensation of the fullness of times 
He might gather together in one all things in 
Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on 
earth ; even in Him. E^A, i. 10. 



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December, — Fifty-second Week, 235 

December 29. 
For behold, I create new heavens and a new 
earth : and the former shall not be remembered, 
nor come into mind. Isa, Ixv. 17. 

December 30. 

For as the new heavens and tl^e new earth, which 
I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, 
so shall your seed and your name remain. Isa, Ixvi. 
22. 

December 31. 

Surely I come quickly : Amen. Even so, come, 
Lord Jesus. Rev, xxii. 20. 

Jesus came from heaven in humility, 
to make known the acceptable year of the 
Lord. He will come again in glory, to 
declare the judgment and the love of God. 
Isa, Ixi. 2. This twofold purpose, of glory 
to his saints, and of wrath to his enemies, 
is very clearly revealed to us as among the 
purposes of his second advent. 

The Saviour, as king over all the earth, 
shall reign in righteousness. Isa. xxxii. i. 
The earth shall be filled with the knowl- 
edge of the glory of the Lord. Hab, ii. 14. 
Of the increase of his government there 
shall be no end, upon the throne of David. 
Isa, ix. 7. The promise of Gabriel shall be 
fulfilled. The Lord God shall give unto 
Him the throne of his father David. Luke 
i. 32. 

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236 December. — Fifty -second Week, 

At his coming, his saints shall be raised. 
I Cor. XV. 23. His people shall be with 
Him. yohn xiv. 3. They shall possess 
the kingdom. Dan. vii. 18. They shall 
reign with Him as kings and priests. Rev. 
i. 6. And with Him shall be united in 
the judgment of men and angels, i Cor. 
vi. 2, 3. 

God will gather his people in a peace- 
able habitation, even in the new earth, 
wherein dwelleth righteousness. i Pet. 
iii. 13. The righteous shall inherit the 
land, and dwell therein forever. Ps. xxxviL 
29. All that are in Christ will be gathered 
in one. Eph. i. 10. There will be one 
Lord, one faith, one baptism, then blessedly 
realized, as it is now the felt want of those 
who are longing and laboring for Christian 
unity among the professed followers of Je- 
sus. Every knee shall bow at his adorable 
name, and all shall confess that He is Lord, 
to the glory of God the Father. Phil. ii. 
10, II. 

The groans of creation shall have an 
end. Rom.\\\\. 2\,22. And the" result of 
the Spirit's work in the new creation will 
be manifest in the songs of the innumera- 
ble multitude of the redeemed who have 



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December. — Fifty-second Week, 237 

washed their robes, and made them white 
in the blood of the Lamb. Rev. vii. 14. 

The blessings of the covenant which 
belong to all who trust in Jesus as their 
God and Saviour, shall be fully realized. 
What we know not now of the breadth 
and length and depth and heighth of the 
love of Christ, shall then be known ; and 
we shall be filled with all the fullness of 
God. Eph. iii. 18, 19. 

For this blessed consummation, may 
every reader of these meditations watch 
and wait. May the Spirit glorify Christ in 
enlightening our minds to know, and our 
hearts to embrace the truth as it is in 
Jesus. The time is short ! And by his 
Spirit, Jesus says : " What I say unto you, 
I say unto all. Watch." Mark xiii. 37. 

"And the Spirit and the bride say, 
Come. And let him that heareth say. 
Come. And let him that is athirst come. 
And whosoever will, let him take the water 
of life freely." Rev, xxii. 17. 

"The grace of our Lord Jesus 
Christ be with you all. Amen." R^. 
xxii. 21. 



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238 December. — Fifty-second Week. 

Creator of the starry height, 

Thy people's everlasting Light, 

Jesus, Redeemer of us all, 

Hear thou thy servants when they call. 

At thy great Name exalted now, 
All knees in lowly homage bow ; 
All things in heaven and earth adore, 
And own thee King for evermore. 

To thee, O Holy One, we pray. 
Thy Holy Spirit guide our way ; 
Ward offi while yet we dwell below. 
The weapons of our crafty foe. 

To God the Father, God the Son, 
And God the Spirit, Three in One, 
Praise, honor, might, and glory be. 
From aye to aye eternally. Amen. 



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FIRST LINES OF POETRY. 



A living stream as crystal clear . 

Blest Trinity, from mortal sight 

Come, Gracious Spirit, heavenly Dove 

Come, Holy Ghost, Creator blest 

Come, Holy Ghost 1 Creator, come . 

Come. Holy Ghost, — in love 

Come, Holy Ghost, our hearts inspire 

Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire 

Come, Holy Ghost, who, ever One 

Come, Holy Spirit, come 

Come see the place where Jesus lay 

Come, thou Almighty King . 

Come ye that love the Lord 

Creator of the starry height . 

Creator Spirit I by whose aid 

Eternal Spirit, we confess 

Father in whom we live 

Forty dajrs and forty nights . 

God of all consolation . 

Gracious Spirit, Love Divine . 

Great one in Three, great Three in One ! 

Holy Ghost, the Infinite . 

Holy Ghost ! with light divine . 

Holy Spirit, Lord of light 

Lord God, the Holy Ghost . 

Lord, teach us how to pray aright 

Not all the outward forms on earth 

Now be my heart inspired to sing 

Of the Father's love begotten . 

O God of life, whose power benign 



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240 



First Lines of Poetry. 



O Guardian of the Church divine 
Oh help us, Lord, each hour of need 
O Holy Ghost, thy sacred word 
O Holy Lord, content to dwell . 
O Holy Spirit, Lord of grace . 
O Love Divine, how sweet thou art ! 
One sole baptismal sign . 
Ruler of the hosts of light . 
Spirit of Peace ! Celestial Dove ! . 
Spirit, poured on Pentecost . 
Sure the blest Comforter is nigh . 
The andent law departs . . . 
The Church's one foundation . 
The eternal gifts of Christ the King 
There is a book, who runs may read 
The Spirit by his heavenly breath 
Thou Judge of quick and dead 
Tis God the Spirit leads . 
Twice in her season of decay 



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54 

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133 



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