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Jesus’ Crowning Gift, May 24
Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go
away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you;
but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
John 16:7
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Christ declared that after His ascension, He would send to His church,
as His crowning gift, the Comforter, who was to take His place. This
Comforter is the Holy Spirit—the soul of His life, the efficacy of His
church, the light and life of the world....
In the gift of the Spirit, Jesus gave to man the highest good that heaven
could bestow.... It is the Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought
out by the world’s Redeemer. It is by the Spirit that the heart is made pure.
Through the Spirit the believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature.
Christ has given His Spirit as a divine power to overcome all hereditary
and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to impress His own character upon
the church.... It is the privilege of every son and daughter of God to have
the indwelling of the Spirit.
Let every church member kneel before God, and pray earnestly for
the impartation of the Spirit. Cry, “Lord, increase my faith. Make me to
understand thy word; for the entrance of thy word giveth light. Refresh
me by thy presence. Fill my heart with thy Spirit”....
When a man is filled with the Spirit, the more severely he is tested and
tried, the more clearly he proves that he is a representative of Christ. The
peace that dwells in the soul is seen on the countenance. The words and
actions express the love of the Saviour.... Self is renounced. The name of
Jesus is written on all that is said and done.
We may talk of the blessings of the Holy Spirit, but unless we prepare
ourselves for its reception, of what avail are our works? Are we striving
with all our power to attain to the stature of men and women in Christ?
Are we seeking for His fullness, ever pressing toward the mark set before
us—the perfection of His character? When the Lord’s people reach this
mark, they will be sealed in their foreheads. Filled with the Spirit, they
will be complete in Christ, and the recording angel will declare, “It is
finished.”
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