The Holy Ghost Does Not Create Neutralities, Character Without Force, Colourless and Impotent.
A spirit of fearfulness would have no 'go,' no impressiveness, no decision.
It's Strength would be Drained Away by its own Timidities.
That is not the character of a man filled with the Holy Ghost.
What then is He like?
What is the spirit of man like when filled with the fullness of GOD!
1. It is a spirit of Power. Power is the first characteristic of the man who is full of the Holy Ghost.
What is this, but to say that the Holy-Ghost creates force of character?
In every life there is an Executive Government which may be either Vigorous or Limp.
That executive government is the will.
If the will be like a Weak galvanic battery, then all my conduct will be Wanting in Brightness and Decision.
But if my will be like a battery Well Charged with Power, then all my conduct will be characterized by Intensity and Precision.
Force of character is proportioned to strength of will.
The life of Jesus thrills with Positive Power.
There is nothing pliable about it.
It is strong, decided and bold, moving along with irresistible force, turned neither to the right hand nor to the left, neither frightened by the stones of the world, nor allured by its crowns.
It is 'a Spirit of Power.'
That is one of the gifts offered to men by the grace of GOD.
We can have our wills recharged from the super-abundant energy of the strong Son of GOD.
The Holy Ghost will 'take of the things of Christ' and give them unto us.
The Holy Ghost, working in man, works both 'to will and to do,' changing weak, Wavering wills into Steadfast ones, and the spirit of fear into the Spirit of Power.
2. But that would not be enough. Bad men have often great force of character.
There is nothing more perilous than blind power.
The Spirit of Power must be allied with something else, or we may drive into a terrible ditch.
So the Spirit of Power must be allied with the Spirit of Love.
The Spirit of Love is the organ of vision.
The finest knowledge is gained by the finest feeling.
Sympathy is the great interpreter of secrets.
Love is sight. It is only the loveless who are blind.
The loveless do not see the beauties of Nature.
It is only when love is enthroned that there is 'a new heaven and a new earth,' and that 'all things become new.'
The loveless do not see the truth of humanity.
It is Love who sees the wickedness of the city, and weeps over it.
It is Love who sees the lingering beauty in a Magdalene, and yearns over it.
The capacity of love is the capacity to judge.
If we are to Know the Truth of things, we need the Spirit of Love.
And my text tells me that this again is the gift of the Spirit of Love.
He who gives the will to do the truth, will also give the love to know it.
He strengthens the will, and gives men force of character.
He enriches the heart, and gives men power to see and know the truth.
3. 'A Sound Mind.' That is the third characteristic endowment of a man filled with the Holy ghost.
Now a Sound Mind is a healthy mind, a mind which delights in the things which are pure, which passionately enjoys them, and which turns away from the impure with strong revulsion and disgust.
The 'Sound Mind' abhors 'that which is evil'; it relishes that which is good.
So that a sound mind is just a healthy moral palate, a taste for the things of GOD.
This, again, is the gift of the Holy Ghost, creating in man a moral sanity which enables him to sing, 'How sweet are Thy words unto my taste!'
Now, sum it all up.
The man filled with the Holy Ghost has a 'Spirit Of Power'-capacity to Do the Truth; a 'Spirit Of Love'-capacity to Know the Truth; and 'A Sound Mind'-capacity to Love the Truth.
~John Henry Jowett~
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