The life of those who dwell in the secret place of the Most High may be called a Hidden Life, because the animating principle, the vital or operative element, is not so much in itself as in another. It is a life grafted into another life. It is the life of the soul, incorporated into the life of Christ; and in such a way, that, while it has a distinct vitality, it has so very much in the sense, in which the branch of a tree may be said to have a distinct vitality from the root.

Friday, March 4, 2016

Filled With the Holy Spirit

The object of the dispensation of the Holy Ghost, will not be completely realized, till all Christians are filled with the presence and the operations of this Divine Agent.

And why should not Christians of the present day experience this great inward result, as well as those of the primitive ages?  It was said of John the Baptist, even before his birth, "and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost." It is related both of his mother Elizabeth and of his father Zachariah, that they were filled with the Holy Ghost." The apostle Peter and the martyr Stephen are described as being in like manner "full of the Holy Ghost." The disciples on the day of Pentecost are said to have been "filled with the Holy Ghost." Similar language is applied to the Savior. And Jesus, "being full of the Holy Ghost," returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. The Baptism of the Holy Ghost, which is repeatedly spoken of, probably means, in some places if not in all, the same thing with being filled with the Holy Ghost.

— edited from The Interior or Hidden Life (2nd Edition, 1844) Part 3, Chapter 1.

No comments:

Post a Comment