Chapter 10: The Holy Spirit

What was Christ's favorite subject?
          "Christ, the Great Teacher, had an infinite variety of subjects from which to
      choose, but the one upon which He dwelt most largely was the endowment of the Holy 
      Spirit" (1SM 156).

In God's plan for our redemption, how important is the
gift of His Spirit?
          "In the gift of the Spirit, Jesus gave to man the highest good that heaven
      could bestow" (OHC 150).
          "Before offering Himself as the sacrificial victim, Christ sought for the
      most essential and complete gift to bestow upon His followers, a gift that
      would bring within their reach the boundless resources of grace. 'I will pray
      the Father,' He said, 'and He shall give you another Comforter'" (DA 668, 669).
          "The Holy Spirit was the highest of all gifts that He could solicit from 
      His Father for the exaltation of His people.  The Spirit was to be given as 
      a regenerating agent, and without this the sacrifice of Christ would have been
      of no avail" (ibid. 671).
          "Only to those who wait humbly upon God, who watch for His guidance and 
      grace, is the Spirit given.  The power of God awaits their demand and reception.
      This promised blessing, claimed by faith, brings all other blessings in its 
      train" (ibid. 672).

Do we appreciate this promised Gift as we should?
          "Just prior to His leaving His disciples for the heavenly
      courts, Jesus encouraged them with the promise of the Holy Spirit.  This 
      promise belongs as much to us as it did to them, and yet how rarely it is 
      presented before the people, and its reception spoken of in the church.  In
      consequence of this silence upon this most important theme, what promise do 
      we know less about by its practical fulfillment than this rich promise of the
      gift of the Holy Spirit, whereby efficiency is to be given to all our spiritual 
      labor?  The promise of the Holy Spirit is casually brought into our discourses,
      is incidentally touched upon, and that is all.  Prophecies have been dwelt 
      upon, doctrines have been expounded; but that which is essential to the church 
      in order that they may grow in spiritual strength and efficiency, in order 
      that the preaching may carry conviction with it, and souls be converted to 
      God, has been largely left out of ministerial effort" (TM 174 [see also 8T 21]).

Do we have to put away all of our sins before we receive the Holy Spirit,
or does the Holy Spirit help us to put away our sins?
          "Without the divine working, man could do no good thing.  God
      calls every man to repentance, yet man cannot even repent unless the Holy
      Spirit works upon his heart" (8T 64).
          "It is the Spirit that convinces of sin, and, with the consent of the 
      human being, expels sin from the heart" (OHC 152).
          "The Lord Jesus acts through the Holy Spirit, for it is His representative.
      Through it He infuses spiritual life into the soul, quickening its energies
      for good, cleansing from moral defilement, and giving it a fitness for His
      kingdom" (ibid. 152).

How does the miracle of the new birth take place?
          "There is a death to self and sin, and a new life altogether.  
      This change can be brought about only by the effectual working of the Holy 
      Spirit" (DA 172).
          "The work of the Holy Spirit upon the heart" "can no more be explained
      than can the movements of the wind.  A person may not be able to tell the
      exact time or place, or to trace all the circumstances in the process of
      conversion; but this does not prove him to be unconverted.  By an agency
      as unseen as the wind, Christ is constantly working upon the heart.  Little
      by little, perhaps unconsciously to the receiver, impressions are made that
      tend to draw the soul to Christ.  These may be received through meditating
      upon Him, through reading the Scriptures, or through hearing the Word from
      the living preacher.  Suddenly, as the Spirit comes with more direct appeal,
      the soul gladly surrenders itself to Jesus.  By many this is called sudden
      conversion; but it is the result of long wooing by the Spirit of God, a 
      patient, protracted process" (ibid. 172).
          "When the Spirit of God takes possession of the heart, it transforms 
      the life..The blessing comes when by faith the soul surrenders itself to 
      God.  Then that power which no human eye can see creates a new being in
      the image of God" (ibid. 173).
          "It is through the Spirit that Christ dwells in us; and the Spirit of
      God, received into the heart by faith, is the beginning of the life eternal"
      (ibid. 388).