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one who tarried only for a night. He was to be no stranger friend, no mere visitor for an occasion, but a true resident—a constant guest. Oh, who of us knows this as we might, or duly marvels at the grace and love it displays!

The highest thought which some believers have of the Holy Ghost is, that He deals with them from afar, or that He works upon them from heaven. But no, it is not said, He shall abide in heaven, though He is in heaven, but "He shall abide with you;" nay, that "He shall be in you." The Lord's words show that there was to be, as it were, an exchange of places-that He who had been here was going to the Father, and that the Spirit, who was with the Father, was to take His place here with the Church, which exchange did occur at the ascension, and at Pentecost. Is it not in utter ignorance of this that not a few Christians are ever looking for some undefined impulse, or influence, or baptism, to come from afar-from heaven shall we say, supposing the Holy Ghost to be still there, not knowing or living in the power of the blessed words, "He shall be with you, and in you;" and again, "He shall abide with you for ever.

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Let us not be misunderstood. With the Church in the wilderness, and even after, as in the days of David, Solomon, and others, the Holy Ghost did so descend. The scene of His operations, as it is now with the ascended Lord, was in heaven. From heaven, therefore, He wrought His mighty deeds and wonders in the time of old. It was by the power of the Spirit that Sampson carried away the gates of Gaza; by the the same power David slew the lion and the bear. It was by the Spirit of God that Solomon had his wisdom; David, also, and all the prophets. But this promise brings in a new thing regarding the Spirit. The Lord, in person, was going away; the Spirit, in person, would come. The Lord, in person, was going to pre

pare a home for his absent ones in the Father's house; the Spirit would come here and possess a dwelling for Himself in the saints. The Lord knew His absence would be, or ought to be, a sorrow; the Spirit would abide with them, and be in them a Comforter. Oh ! let me ask you, do we know Him as such? Does it give you sorrow that the Lord is now absent, and does it comfort you to have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you, that other Comforter, who is to abide with us for ever? Alas! many of us seem as if in this sense of Him we have scarcely heard if there be a Holy Ghost. Else why stand we gazing up into heaven, when the blessed ONE promised is already with us, and shall be in us?

But, a step further. I need scarcely say, that these words are not now simply promise; they have been fulfilled, and have accordingly become fact. Our natural normal state as saints is, that, whether we know it or not, we have the Spirit, and are to have Him for ever; that He is with us, and shall be in us; that since His descent He has never been withdrawn, but is, and will be, always with us. As with a thousand other things, we may be but ill instructed in it, but the truth is so, and cannot be changed. As I have intimated, the knowledge of the dying thief on the cross must have been very limited. He knew not how to distinguish between the coming kingdom and paradise, yet was he a saved sinner, a child of God-nay, he was a son and heir; and on dying entered paradise, for which, in a moment of time, independent of all his own attainments, he was perfectly and eternally meet. Thus is it with many truly saved souls, who, alas! but imperfectly have thought of what Christ, in heaven, is doing for them, or what the blessed Paraclete, here, is doing in them. They are anxious, it may be, they strive, they labour, they groan. Yet may the striving, and the groaning be not self-born, but of the Spirit who is in them. The life in them which mourns over evil—

from destruction. Thus is it with many Christians; they do know God's love to them as sinners. They

can say―

"The dying thief rejoiced to see

That fountain in his day;

And there have I, though vile as he,
Wash'd all my sins away."

They are saved-that is, they have escaped the doom they had dreaded, and deserved; which surely is much; but there is far more than mere exemption; there is actual elevation, infinite blessing. Not only are we saved, but we are blessed with all spiritual blessings, in Christ Jesus, in heavenly places. Such, plainly, do not see the Father's love. But what do I mean by the Father's love? I will tell you what I mean. As Son, Christ is a divine person. In the first chapter of John we read, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." There is the eternity of Jesus Christ. Blessed be God! blessed for ever! eternity sits enthroned in Him! And He could not have been eternal had He not been God. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him." And John goes on to say, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among Mark this now," And we beheld His glory." Not now His glory as son of Adam, as son of Abraham, as son of David; but we beheld His own glory, the glory He has as Son. As in the seventeenth of John, "The glory which I had with thee before the world was." The Lord Jesus had a glory which was above all dispensational glory, His own glory. He will have glory as the Son of man; He will have glory as the Son of Abraham-for all Israel will be saved; He will have glory as the Son of David-for He must reign. But He has a glory independent of redemption.

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witness; He witnessed to them of the truth of what Jesus had said—viz., "I go to my Father, and if I go, I will send the Comforter." So when the Spirit came, He was a witness that Jesus had gone to the Father. He is, in fact, the great witness we have down here that Jesus has, in reality, gone to, and has been received by, His Father. How else, after such promise, do we know that He went to His Father? We cannot see inside the gates of Paradise; but this we know, Jesus had said, "If I depart, I will send the Comforter." The Comforter came; and when He came, He was a witness that Jesus had gone to the Father, that the atonement was accepted, that complete and perfect satisfaction for our sins had been made, and that now, in righteousness, along with Christ, "we have liberty to enter into the holiest by His blood," as He said, He shall convince you of righteousness, because I go to my Father. The fact that we have the Spirit, shows that He is now with the Father; but He could not be there, except in righteousness. The Spirit tells us He is there, therefore in righteous

ness.

But further, He came as an unction. In the Levitical dispensation the most beautiful spices, myrrh, cinnamon, and cassia were bruised, and mixed together with oil, to form a holy anointing oil, which, when made, was poured on Aaron's head and came down to the very skirts of his garments, and the perfume, or pleasure-shall I say joy-filled the place. Witness the joy of Pentecost when the Spirit, the unction from the Head, came down on the members. They, the saints, were filled with joy, so much so that it was said, "They were full of new wine." They had the anointing of the Head flowing down on, and into the newly formed body of the Church; they had the Holy Ghost, the promise of the Father, the Paraclete.

He came as a guest. He who then came to the

body, now dwells in the body. It is not to say, He may dwell in it; He does dwell in it. Any new member added to the body makes no difference. Raise a house (to change the metaphor) another story higher, it is the same life dwelling in it. Each stone conscious, or not, is but part of the habitation for the same life. So with the Spirit and the Church. If the body be of a thousand, or of a thousand million members, it is all the same. They are the habitation of God through the Spirit. He dwells in Christ, and in them. The Head and body form one new man. The Spirit it is who brings the fulness of the Head down into the body.

He came as a seal, God putting His own mark on the young Church, as if to say, This is the body of Christ; these are members, of which He is Head. It was God owning the Church, setting His own seal on it. Says Paul," Ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise;" and again, speaking of the Spirit, "Whereby ye are sealed to the day of redemption."

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And further: He came as a Teacher. "He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance;" and truly, He had much, through the word, to reveal; as Paul says, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him; but God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit, for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." The deep thingsChrist for us and in us, the gift of God's eternal and unchangeable love to us as sinners; His love as Father, loving us with the same love with which, from eternity, He has loved His Son; God's estimate of sin, its evil, its doom, as seen in the cross; God Himself, as seen in the death of His Son; His grace, holiness, justice, love; our own rank as sons and heirs, our inheritance with Christ, our hope of coming glory. What things are these!

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