I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.
- The Nicene Creed

I believe in the Holy Spirit:  There is much appeal to the Holy Spirit in the Christianity of our day.  Yet we are caused to enquire as to whether this is founded on a sound understanding of the third Person of the Trinity or is it due to the moving of the Spirit among us in a special way?  Whenever God works there is always the occurrence of phenomena that are bogus and which take developments to an extreme.  In his sovereign freedom God may work in ways and at times that are unexpected and new surges of life among the people of God can be upsetting to narrowness of mind and rigidity of form among believers, and more so to those who are purely nominal.  And yet the modern day allegation that the Spirit has been absent and unrecognized through large tracts of past history does not seem to be true.  Many believers and leaders of the historic church in all generations have had a very lively sense of the Holy Spirit and leaned upon him consciously and heavily.  This is proven by the creeds and confessional statements of the church, and the theological, devotional, spiritual, and sermonic records bequeathed to us from the past.  There is a rich heritage of vital faith in the Holy Spirit and much personal knowledge of him in personal life and witness.

There are also disturbing accounts of “ultra spiritual” cults, sects, and individuals that claimed the possession and guidance of the Spirit but their thought and behaviour has proved otherwise under the scrutiny of their belief and practice which has not proved holy or helpful.  Fanaticism, formerly referred to as enthusiasm, has often presented itself under the guise of orthodoxy.  Sometimes the Spirit is viewed as an added extra granted to special people of spiritual superiority and ability.  The complex oneness of God is overlooked and the Spirit seems to exist and operate in a detached kind of way.  He is seen as the agent, free agent, of novel truth and the one who adds extra verve to the life of the special Christian.  This is to remove the Holy Spirit from the ground of his being in the divine Trinity.  In substance he is God, and it seems to suggest that the Spirit can float above divine revelation in Scripture and suggest new ideas to those who are keen to listen to his promptings.  So often he is identified with human emotions, feelings, whims and wishes that arise from natural desire and willing.  It is a spiritual skill granted by God to discern the influences of the Lord and the impulses of the human Spirit.  Perhaps when God is moving us most we are least aware and most normal in our psychological state and frame of mind so that we do not mangle his purposes or take credit for his working.  The Spirit has come to shine the spotlight on the Lord Jesus and teach us of him, not to elevate us to special attention and importance, or to make us outstanding among our fellows.

The Spirit is Lord, one with the Father and the Son in perfect harmony and fulfilling agreed goals.  One in nature, each person in the Godhead never departs from the eternal, inevitable policy of teamwork.  God is diverse (plural) but not divided.  The Spirit is the donor of life, natural and spiritual.  He is God in fellowship with his creation sustaining it, blessing it, renewing it.  Life continues and multiplies because he breathes upon all creatures, and he breathes new life into the elect through the Gospel.  He generates and regenerates.  When a human soul is reborn he is baptized in the Spirit, possesses the Spirit, is indwelt by the Spirit who is no “added extra” but the source and substance of the eternal life that has newly begun.  The Spirit unifies the true people of God as their “common” energy and experience.  They cannot exist or function without him.  He distributes various gifts among them.  They may be deficient in their compliance with the Spirit through distraction, carelessness, and neglect, but there is no special class among Christians.  All are enlivened and inhabited by the Holy Spirit in varying degrees of conformity to his will.

The Spirit brings no new revelation but illuminates the one that has been given.  For reasons of gratification, licence, and hubris many have claimed access to special disclosures of the Spirit that are extra-biblical or even in conflict with the Word of God written.  Hence their thoughts and promptings become superior to the biblical text and warrants for irregular or irrational action.  Our creed issues a safeguard against fantastic and false notions.  The Spirit has spoken through the Prophets.  Holy Scripture is his voice to which he opens our ear as we read, meditate, and listen to the testimony of prophets and apostles.  The Spirit will never reverse that which has been recorded in the inspired canon, and he will never contradict or relax the revealed will of the Lord.  He teaches through the Scriptures, grants understanding and insight, and enables application and obedience.

The greatest gifts of the Spirit are new life, understanding of truth, boldness to declare it, and perseverance in maintaining it, with protection from those forces that would tempt us to abandon or deny truth.  The greatest evidence of the Spirit for us and within us is love and adoration for Christ of whom he came to testify and instruct, and the seal of his internal activity is the manifestation of Christ-likeness in character.

As God in our world, our lives, our minds and hearts, uniting his people with the Father, the Spirit is God in closest contact with us showing forth his saving love in Jesus Christ and enabling us to trust and delight in the Redeemer.  Through the Spirit we believe and pray, and commune with Father and Son and as connecting link the Spirit ensures that we are in fellowship with the society of the Holy Trinity, lost in wonderment, filled with gratitude, gazing at a smiling Father, in mutual embrace with the Son, revelling in the life of the Spirit.  Father and Son give themselves to us in the presence of the Spirit.  He gives us link and likeness to God.  For all his power and mercy we worship and glorify him.  Our affection and adoration for God is threefold, equally rendered to the Father who decrees his purposes, the Son who does his will in creation and redemption, and the Spirit who delivers all divine blessings and gifts to us.

This wondrous privilege and companionship is enjoyed by all believers if only they would rise to full appreciation of it:  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.  May this One God be with us all evermore.

RJS

Psalm 119
Coverdale Translation

Verse 67:     Before I was troubled, I went wrong: but now I have kept thy word.

In the life of the believer affliction comes as a corrective.  Trouble prompts us to think and test our ways.  It is the application of the divine brakes in our wayward lives.  Over-confidence, presumption, arrogance, and impulsiveness can be characteristics of the Christian when times are smooth and gratifying, and especially in early experience.  The young author of the psalm is learning with what ease we stray from God in our false optimism and ambition.  Blessing from God can make us boastful and also belittling of others.  It is so easy to become puffed up and incautious, and to think our thoughts always run parallel to God’s.  Self-confidence makes us susceptible to Satan’s subtle suggestions.  The word has ceased to influence and guide us.  Troubles are used by God to turn us back, especially when we do not realize we are on the wrong track.  But now things are better for the writer.  He has begun again to keep the word and finds that the word keeps him.


Verse 73:  Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: O give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments.

Humility is the fruit of affliction in the truly Christian heart.  Our folly is recognized and deeply rued.  We are the handiwork of God, obviously in the material sense, but also in the conversion of the heart that senses its stupidity, cupidity, and the need to be curbed.  Therefore, self-will is silly.  We must look continually to our Maker for a well regulated life and thought pattern.  Trouble reveals how headstrong we can be and that we are skilled in whimsy but not wisdom.  Our supposed smartness is artless and we are bound to see ourselves after chastisement as learners – always and forever in this life.


Verse 74:    They that fear thee will be glad when they see me: because I have put my trust in thy word.

There is always a mutual concern among believers: not a patronizing, controlling or critical attitude but a general delight in our common spiritual wellbeing.  When divine discipline sobers the mind of a brother or sister in the Lord’s family there is generous rejoicing in the expression of beatitudes.  A friend has been restored and is once again a source of blessing to others through his or her maturation.  The more we communally trust and teach the word the more all are encouraged and confirmed in faith.


Verse 75:     I know, O Lord that thy judgments are right: and that thou of very faithfulness hast caused me to be troubled.

Deliverance from divinely sent trouble corrects flawed opinions and attitudes and vindicates the wisdom of the Lord in providence and the moral and spiritual spheres.  He proves himself to us, convincing us that he is right and faithful in all dealings.  But only grace gives us this perception and enables its reception.  “O Lord, correct me, but with judgment; not in thy anger, lest thou bring me to nothing” (Jeremiah 10:24. Psalm 6:1. BCP Introductory Sentences).


Verse 76:     O let thy merciful kindness be my comfort: according to thy word unto thy servant.

Mercy is deeply appreciated after a season of affliction.  It is seen to be just that - mercy! undeserved pity and infinite compassion.  Affliction renders us appreciative.  To find comfort in God is the ultimate good.  It is granted to us in the word of his promise.  “According to the word” is our life style, strength, and confidence.  Everything we are and all that God is, meets in the place of holy rendezvous – the Scared Scriptures.


Verse 77:     O let thy loving mercies come unto me, that I may live: for thy law is my delight.

Whenever God turns us around he affords us fresh views of his favourable aspects.  It is better to taste of his goodness than feel the terrors of his disapproval.  His loving overtures and embrace of those who stray are addictive and the essence of life and means of protection.  Again, it is the word of God in guidance and guarantee that sustains the heart in gladness.


Verse 78:    Let the proud be confounded, for they go wickedly about to destroy me: but I will be occupied in thy commandments.

Pride is the most objectionable thing in human nature.  It haunts us and hangs around continually and it sickens the sanctified soul in the secrets of their own hearts.  Overt pride that is fully indulged is the characteristic of the rebel and it repels the Lord.  It makes people overbearing and exploitative.  It is repugnant and rude.  The young man of the psalm has his rivals and detractors.  They may envy his potential and ridicule his faith which makes him modest and non-compliant with wickedness.  Still, he will not regard them but preoccupy himself with God’s revelation, prescriptive and descriptive.


Verse 79:     Let such as fear thee, and have known thy testimonies: be turned unto me.

The psalmist requests the fellowship of those who like-mindedly love the Lord through his word.  Let him share his discoveries with them to mutual edification.


Verse 80:     O let my heart be sound in thy statutes: that I be not ashamed.

The wanderer wants stability.  He wants true and stabilizing understanding so that he will not be put to shame by sin and senseless behaviour.

RJS