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The
Holy Spirit Of Promise
Far back over the ages of time, when man
knew but little of the Holy Spirit, God gave him a promise
that the day would come when all could know the Lord.
"But this shall be the covenant that I will make with
the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I
will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in
their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my
people. And they shall teach no more every man his
neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the
Lord; for they shall all know me, from the least of them
unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will
forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no
more." Jer. 31:33, 4.
The old covenant being written on
tables of stone, only the priests who had access to the
tables could know the law, and only the prophets to whom
God spoke could know the Spirit. "They shall all know
me " by no means refers to every individual, for
there are many in this dispensation who know not God: but
all God's people "know him, from the least of them
unto the great of them."
This was impossible under the Old
Testament, as God did not speak to all, but to the
prophets only. Many were then God's people who knew
nothing of Him from personal knowledge. But now, thank
God! "he having provided some better thing for
us" (Heb. 11:40) we can each know the Lord, not only
intellectually but also experimentally.
The sublime hope of an individual
knowledge of God through the Spirit, entertained the
solemn thoughts of patriarchs, inspired the prophets, and
attracted the attention of angels. Through the dark scenes
of ages past when the vail of bondage, persecution,
famine, nakedness, and peril hung over the people of God,
and even when the seers were wholly confounded, the Lord
would reserve to Himself in Israel seven thousand men who
had not bowed the knee to Baal, nor kissed him. And time
after time did God revive the spirit of prophecy to
encourage His people by pointing ahead to the hope of
knowing God through the Spirit.
Through the mist and fog of
superstition which reigned from Abraham to Christ, the
promise of the Spirit shone out like a star in the
darkness of night, inspiring and encouraging the weary
travelers to hope on.
THE PROMISE TO ABRAHAM—There were
two separate and distinct promises made to Abraham, one of
which he received. "And so, after he had patiently
endured, he obtained the promise." Heb. 6:15. The
other promise Abraham never received in his literal seed.
"These all (Abraham and his offspring) died in faith,
not having received the promises, but having seen them
afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them,
and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the
earth." Heb. 11:13.
First, God promised Abraham a
numerous progeny and the literal land of Canaan.
(a) A numerous progeny. "And
when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord
appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty
God; walk before me and be thou perfect. And I will make
my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee
exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked
with him, saying, As for me, behold my covenant is with
thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither
shalt thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name
shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made
thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will
make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of
thee." Gen. 17:1-6. God repeated the same promise to
Abraham in the twenty second chapter of Genesis and the
seventeenth verse.
(b) The literal land of Canaan.
"In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram,
saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land from the
river of Egypt unto the great river, the river
Euphrates." Gen. 15:18.
This literal promise in both of its
phases, Abraham and his literal seed received, for a great
and mighty nation came of him, "so many as the stars
of the sky in multitude and as the sand which is by the
seashore innumerable" (Heb. 1l:l2) were his
offspring. And the seed of Abraham after the flesh did
possess the literal land of Canaan. Josh. 18:1-7.
Second, God promised Abraham that
through his seed all nations should be blest. "And in
thee shall all families of the earth be blest." Gen.
12:3. "And in thy seed shall the nations of the earth
be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice." Gen.
22:18. This promise the literal seed of Abraham could not
receive; for it was to outstretch their borders and reach
not only the Jewish nation, but "all nations."
These promises were repeated both
to Isaac and Jacob. Gen. 26:4; 28:14. The literal promise
to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was only a dim shadow of the
promise to "all nations." While the promise of a
blessing to all nations directly referred to the person of
Christ (Gal. 3:16), it is perfectly proper to say that God
promised Abraham the Spirit. In fact, the apostles
understood it in this way, as is obvious from the
following text: "Then Peter said unto them, Repent,
and be baptized 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. For the PROMISE is unto you, and
to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as
many as the Lord our God shall call." Acts 2:38, 39.
Paul declares us to be Abraham's
seed and heirs according to the promise. "And the
scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen
through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham,
saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they
which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham."
Gal. 3:8, 9. "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye
Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."
Gal. 3:29. Jesus speaks of the baptism of the Holy Spirit
as "The promise of the Father" (Acts 1:4,5),
doubtless referring to God's promise to Abraham.
SIGN OF THE COVENANT OF
PROMISE—"This is my covenant, which ye shall keep,
between me and you and thy seed after thee: Every man
child among you shall be circumcised." Gen. 17:10.
Circumcision was the sign of the literal promise God made
to Abraham, and so is it the sign of the spiritual
promise. "In whom also ye are circumcised with the
circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body
of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of
Christ." Col 2:11.
THE PROMISE TO THE PROPHETS—Lest
man should forges the promise of the Spirit, God continued
to repeat it to him at different times to refresh his
courage and brighten his hope.
1. To Isaiah. "So shall they
fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory
from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in
like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a
standard against him." Isa. 59:19.
2. To Ezekiel. "Then will I
sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from
all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I
cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new
spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the
stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart
of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you. and cause
You to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my
judgments, and do them." Ezek. 36:25-27.
3. To Daniel. "Seventy weeks
are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to
finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and
to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in
everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and
prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy." Dan. 9:24.
"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 10:38.
4. To Joel. "And 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." Joel 2:28,
29.
5. To Zechariah. "Then he
answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of
the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by
power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts."
Zech. 4:6.
6. To John the Baptist. "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. 3:11.
JESUS PROMISED THE HOLY SPIRIT TO
HIS FOLLOWERS— "And, being assembled together with
them, commanded them that they should not depart from
Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which,
saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized
with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost
not many days hence." Acts 1:4, 5.
THE PROMISE FULFILLED—"And
when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all
with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a
sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it
filled all the house where they were sitting. And there
appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it
sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the
Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the
Spirit gave them utterance." Acts 2:1-4. "But
this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 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 your young men shall
see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: and on
my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy." Acts 2:16-18. "And
when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were
assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy
Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness."
Acts 4:31.
Today is the promise fulfilled unto
us and we enjoy the "better things" prepared for
us, even an inwrought work of redeeming grace accomplished
by the Holy Spirit of God; which things were longed for by
patriarchs and prophets, and which things the angels
desired to look into. "For verily I say unto you,
That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see
the things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to
hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard
them." Matt. 13:17. "For he (Abraham) looked for
a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is
God." Heb. 11:10 "Of which salvation the
prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who
prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
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. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto
themselves, but unto us they did minister the things,
which are now reported unto you by them that have preached
the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from
heaven; which things the angels desire to look into."
1 Pet. 1:10-12.
Paul in Eph. 1:13 speaking of the
Holy Spirit calls him "that Holy Spirit of
promise," giving us to understand that the Holy
Spirit was the fulfillment of the promise made to our
forefathers.
TO WHOM WAS THE PROMISE MADE?
Abraham understood that the promise of the Spirit was to
be fulfilled in the future, although he looked and longed
for its fulfillment. In fact it would seem from the
following text that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all
understood that the promise was not to them, nor to their
immediate offspring: "These all died in faith, not
having received the promises, but having seen them afar
off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and
confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the
earth." Heb. 11:13. "Unto whom it was revealed,
that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister
the things which are now reported unto you." 1 Peter
1:12.
One promise, as we have before
noted, was to Abraham and his immediate offspring. The
promise of the Spirit was not to him, but unto us. And we
are the happy recipients of the most glorious promise ever
made. "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises
made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of
one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. That the blessings
of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus
Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit
through faith." Gal. 3:16, 14. "For the promise
is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are
afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall
call." Acts 2:39.
We being the sons of promise,
inherit the blessing contained in the promise, which is
salvation from all sin—a pure heart.
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