then, He died for me. You cannot get over that fact. And the theorists may theorize, and you can stand on Olivet, and look and say: There is Gethsemane where the sweat was as great blood-drops. There is Calvary, where the Master died, and "He ever liveth to make intercession for us" (Heb. vii. 25).

Well, then, what is true about the doctrine we love, is also true about our idea of Heaven. Abraham, the Father of the Faithful, his idea of Heaven was a land flowing with milk and honey. It was given him. He was taken so far, and no farther; because, I think it was Lord Bacon who said, very well," Prosperity was the reward of the Old Covenant." And so his idea

was that. What are we looking for? We are looking for "a better country, that is an heavenly" (Heb. xi. 16). "An house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens (2 Cor. v. 1). So far we can lead you. Do you want anything more? The Saviour comes to us, and says: "I go to prepare a place for you... that where I am, there ye may be also" (S. John xiv. 2). That is right. He has gone up into Heaven to prepare a place that you may be with Him for ever. Well, now, will that do for you? Would you like it formulated? Do you want this cut and dried? Shall I tell you exactly where Heaven is? What it is? How you will get there? Shall I belittle the aspirations of the soul with human ideas and words? it won't do. The subject is too vast, and too great. It is enough. He leads us so far, and no farther. We look out into the infinite after Him who filleth all things. But, from our sight He has gone, except we see "Him who is invisible" (Heb. xi. 27). That is the teaching of the "so far."

P

No,

"I live for those who love me,

For those who know me true;
For the Heaven that smiles above me
And waits my coming to;

For the cause that needs assistance,
For the wrong that needs resistance,
For the future in the distance,
For the good that I may do."

THE HOLY GHOST

"I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever."-S. John xiv. 16.

DEVOUT men waited for the consolation of Israel; then the Lord came suddenly into the temple, and those that waited saw it-they saw their salvation. Again, devout men waited, not for the consolation that had come, but for the Consoler. They waited, not as the others had done in the temple-the glory of the temple with its golden domes and minarets had passed away, the great Sacrifice had been offered, and there was no more the great slaughter of animal life which never could take away sin, the veil of the temple had been torn asunder, and the Holy of Holies exposed-they were in a little upper room, only a little upper room, where they waited for the promise of the Lord. And, suddenly-for the visitations of God, mark you, dear brethren, will always come suddenly to man-and suddenly He came as a mighty wind which filled the whole house in which they were sitting, as tongues of fire which rested on each of them, and they were filled with the Holy Ghostthat is Pentecost.

Now this morning there are just two considerations: Who is the Holy Ghost? and what is the method of His operation?

To put it as plainly as I possibly can, let me say this: We speak of God the Son; of the Son of God; and God the Son-our Lord. We say in our creed that He is "co-equal "-" co-eternal" with the Father, "incomprehensible," "not made, nor created, but begotten"-being the Son. We say of the Holy Ghost that He is the Spirit of God and is God the Spirit "co-eternal," "co-equal" with the Father, "incomprehensible,' not made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding," and in the procession or the proceeding of the Holy Ghost from the Father and the Son is the whole mystery and creation of heaven and earth and everything that is in it. It has all proceeded from the Father and the Son.

Well now, I want you to notice this, that the Holy Spirit has never been manifested. The Son was manifested-God manifested His Son, and God so loved the world that He sent His Son that all that believe in Him should never die. And the Son coming revealed the Father, and that tore open the heart of the Father, so that you can understand how the Eternal Father could love, in the accommodation of human thought, and that His love was as strong as death and as deep. So the Son manifested the Father. And the Holy Ghost manifested the Son, for He takes the things of creation and shows them to us, and none of us can say that Jesus is Christ except the Holy Ghost is in our heart and on our lips. But the Son has manifested the Father, and the Holy Ghost has manifested the Son. The Spirit of God has never been manifested, and He is only known by His operation. He does not speak of Himself. The Holy Spirit never speaks of Himself, and He is known only by the

method of His operation. The Father is known by manifestation; the Son by Incarnation; but the Holy Ghost only in His operation. The creation of the whole world, and of the heavens above, is all the Holy Ghost in operation. Of the Father we say, Maker of Heaven and earth; of the Son, by Whom were all things made; of the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of the Lord moved and chaos became cosmos. So you see when we address Him we say Veni Creator. We call Him the Creator. He moved upon the face of the waters; by Him were all things made-Veni Creator, the Spirit of the Lord filleth the whole earth. Any flower that is made in its perfection is His work; every snowflake is His work, every body made of things celestial and things terrestrial, the bodies of birds and fishes, of beasts and of men, is the Holy Spirit of God moving in creation. God giveth it a body as it hath pleased Him." 1

And so, too, in redemption: By the operation of the Holy Ghost the body of the Lord Jesus was formed in the Womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. By the operation of the Holy Ghost, by His Spirit, He offered Himself upon Calvary. By the operation of the Holy Ghost, He was raised from the dead. "If the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you." And so, too, at the end, do you notice that at the very end, the Bible says: "The Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. . . . Even so, come, Lord Jesus"? 3