THE FORGOTTEN ONE

John 14:26

Morning Meditation 12/14/14

“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”

In neglecting or denying the deity of Christ the Liberals have committed a tragic blunder, for it leaves them nothing but an imperfect Christ whose death was a mere martyrdom and whose resurrection is a myth. They who follow a merely human Saviour follow no Saviour at all, but an ideal only, and one furthermore that can do no more than mock their weaknesses and sins. If Mary's son was not the Son of God in a sense no other man is, then there can be no more hope for the human race.

While the Liberal denies the deity of Christ, the Holy Spirit has become the forgotten One to us. The doctrine of the Holy Spirit has practical value to us only as far as it is prominent in our thoughts and makes a difference in our lives. In most Christian Churches the Holy Spirit is entirely overlooked.

The Christian doctrine of the Trinity boldly declares the equality of the Three Persons and the right of the Holy Spirit to be worshipped and glorified. Anything less than this is something less than Trinitarianism.

Someone has said, “When He gets into the thinking of the teachers He will get into the expectation of the hearers.” When the Holy Spirit ceases to be incidental and again becomes fundamental the power of the Spirit will be asserted once more among Christians.

There is a fear among Christians to preach on this subject because of the abuse of its teaching among fanatics.

There is a vast difference in knowing about and knowing. It is like knowing about food and actually eating it. A man can die of starvation knowing all about bread, and a man can remain spiritually dead while knowing all the Biblical facts about the Holy Spirit. Creeds are good and we need them. But adopting a creed will not change ones life. Christianity is filled with the power of the Holy Spirit so that it is not just what the Christian believes but what He is able to practice that sets him apart.

There is an illustration that will help us understand. We place a piece of iron in a fire and blow up the coals. At first we have two distinct substances, iron and fire. When we insert the iron in the fire we achieve the penetration of the iron into the fire. Soon the fire begins to penetrate the iron and we have not only the iron in the fire but the fire in the iron as well. They are two distinct substances, but they have co-mingled and interpenetrated to a point where the two have become one.

In some such manner the Holy Spirit penetrates our spirits. In the whole experience we remain ourselves. There is not destruction of the substance. Each remains a separate being as before; the difference that now the Spirit penetrates and fills our personalities and we are experientially one with God.

The Fathers who composed the Nicene Creed testified in a passage of great beauty to their faith in the deity of the Spirit:

And I believe in the Holy Ghost,

The Lord and Giver of Life,

Who proceedeth from the Father and the Son;

Who with the Father and Son together

Is worshipped and glorified.

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White