Christ was standing in the shadow of the cross, with a full realization of the load of guilt that was to rest upon Him as the Sin Bearer, when He instructed His disciples regarding a most essential gift He was to bestow on His followers. “I will pray the Father,” He said, “and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth; ... for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” John 14:16, 17. The evil that had been accumulating for centuries was to be resisted by the divine power of the Holy Spirit.
(TT 27.1)
What was the result of the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost? The glad tidings of a risen Saviour were carried to the uttermost parts of the world. Converts flocked to the church from all directions. Some who had been the bitterest opponents of the gospel became its champions. One interest prevailed—to reveal the likeness of Christ’s character and to labor for the enlargement of His kingdom.
(TT 27.2)
“With great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.” Acts 4:33. Chosen men consecrated their lives to the work of giving to others the hope that filled their hearts with peace and joy. They could not be restrained or intimidated. As they went from place to place, the poor had the gospel preached to them, and miracles of divine grace were wrought.
(TT 27.3)
From the Day of Pentecost to the present, the Comforter has been sent to all who have yielded themselves to the Lord and to His service. The Holy Spirit has come as a counselor, sanctifier, guide, and witness. The men and women who through the long centuries of persecution enjoyed the presence of the Spirit in their lives, have stood as signs and wonders in the world. They have revealed the transforming power of redeeming love.
(TT 27.4)
Those who at Pentecost were endued with power, were not thereby freed from further temptation. They were repeatedly assailed by the enemy, who sought to rob them of their Christian experience. They were compelled to strive with all their God-given powers to reach the stature of men and women in Christ. Daily they prayed that they might reach still higher toward perfection. Even the weakest learned to improve their entrusted powers and to become sanctified, refined, and ennobled. As in humility they submitted to the molding influence of the Holy Spirit, they were fashioned in the likeness of the divine.
(TT 28.1)
The lapse of time has made no change in Christ’s promise to send the Holy Spirit. If the fulfillment is not seen, it is because the promise is not appreciated as it should be. Wherever the Holy Spirit is little thought of, there is seen spiritual drought, spiritual darkness, and spiritual death. When minor matters occupy the attention, the divine power necessary for the growth and prosperity of the church is lacking.
(TT 28.2)
Why do we not hunger and thirst for the Spirit? The Lord is more willing to give the Spirit than parents are to give good gifts to their children. For the daily baptism of the Spirit every worker should petition God. The presence of the Spirit with God’s workers will give the proclamation of truth a power that not all the glory of the world could give.
(TT 28.3)
The words spoken to the disciples are spoken also to us. The Comforter is ours as well as theirs. The Spirit furnishes the strength that sustains wrestling souls in every emergency, amidst the hatred of the world and the realization of their own failures. When the outlook seems dark and the future perplexing, and we feel helpless and alone, the Holy Spirit brings comfort to the heart.
(TT 28.4)
Holiness is living by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. It is trusting God in darkness as well as in the light, walking by faith and not by sight.
(TT 29.1)
The nature of the Holy Spirit is a mystery. Men may bring together passages of Scripture and put a human construction on them, but the acceptance of fanciful views will not strengthen the church. Regarding mysteries which are too deep for human understanding, silence is golden.
(TT 29.2)
The Holy Spirit convicts of sin. See John 16:8. If the sinner responds, he will be brought to repentance and aroused to the importance of obeying the divine requirements. To the repentant sinner, the Holy Spirit reveals the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. Christ said, “He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” John 14:26.
(TT 29.3)
The Spirit is given as a regenerating agency, to make effectual the salvation wrought by the death of our Redeemer. The Spirit is constantly seeking to draw attention to the cross of Calvary, to unfold the love of God, and to open to the convicted soul the precious things of the Scriptures. Having brought conviction of sin, the Holy Spirit withdraws the affections from the things of this earth and fills the soul with a desire for holiness. “He will guide you into all truth.” John 16:13. The Spirit will take the things of God and stamp them on the soul.
(TT 29.4)
From the beginning, God has been working by His Holy Spirit through human instrumentalities. In the days of the apostles He worked mightily for His church through the Holy Spirit. The same power that sustained the patriarchs, that gave Caleb and Joshua faith and courage, and that made the work of the apostolic church effective has upheld God’s faithful children in every succeeding age. Through the Holy Spirit during the Dark Ages the Waldensian Christians helped prepare the way for the Reformation. The same power made successful the efforts of noble men and women who pioneered the way for modern missions and for the translation of the Bible into the languages of all nations.
(TT 29.5)
And today the heralds of the cross are going from land to land, preparing the way for the second advent of Christ. God’s law is being exalted. The Spirit is moving on men’s hearts, and those who respond become witnesses for God’s truth. Consecrated men and women communicate the light that has made plain the way of salvation through Christ. And as they continue to let their light shine, they receive still more of the Spirit’s power. Thus the earth is to be lightened with the glory of God.
(TT 30.1)
On the other hand, some are idly waiting for some spiritual refreshing by which their ability to enlighten others will be greatly increased. They allow their light to burn dim, while they look to a time when, without any effort on their part, they will be transformed and fitted for service.
(TT 30.2)
It is true that when God’s work in the earth is closing, earnest efforts by consecrated believers are to be accompanied by special tokens of divine favor. Under the figure of the early and latter rains that fall in Eastern lands at seedtime and harvest, the prophets foretold the outpouring of the Spirit. The outpouring in the days of the apostles was the early, or former, rain, and glorious was the result.
(TT 30.3)
But near the close of earth’s harvest a special bestowal is promised to prepare the church for the coming of the Son of man. This outpouring is the latter rain, and for this added power Christians are to send their petitions to the Lord of the harvest “in the time of the latter rain.” In response, “the Lord shall ... give them showers of rain.”“He will cause to come down ... the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain.” Zechariah 10:1; Joel 2:23. But only those who constantly receive fresh supplies of grace will have ability to use that power. Daily they are improving the opportunities for service that lie within their reach, witnessing wherever they may be, in the home or in a public field of usefulness.
(TT 30.4)
Even Christ during His life on earth sought His Father daily for fresh supplies of grace. The Son of God bowed in prayer to His Father! He strengthened His faith by prayer and gathered to Himself power to resist evil and to minister to men.
(TT 31.1)
The Elder Brother of our race knows the necessities of those who live in a world of sin and temptation. The messengers whom He sees fit to send are weak and erring, but to all who give themselves to His service He promises divine aid. His own example is an assurance that faith and unreserved consecration to His work will bring the Holy Spirit’s aid in the battle against sin.
(TT 31.2)
Morning by morning, as the heralds of the gospel renew their vows of consecration to the Lord, He will grant them His Spirit, with its reviving, sanctifying power. As they go forth to the day’s duties, the unseen agency of the Holy Spirit enables them to be “laborers together with God.”
(TT 31.3)