Chapter XXII

  The Work of the Holy Spirit In Jesus Christ.

 

Jesus Christ Himself is the one perfect manifestation¹ in history of the complete work of the Holy Spirit in man.

 

1. Jesus Christ was begotten² of the Holy Spirit. We read in Luke i. 35, R. V., “And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee; and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: wherefore also that which is to be born shall be called holy, the Son of God.” As we have already seen, in regeneration the believer is begotten of God, but Jesus Christ was begotten of God in His original generation. He is the only begotten Son of God (John iii. 16). It was entirely³ by the Spirit's power working in Mary that the Son of God was formed within her. The regenerated⁴ man has a carnal nature received from his earthly father and a new nature imparted by God. Jesus Christ had only the one holy nature, that which in man is called the new nature. Nevertheless, He was a real man as He had a human mother.

 

2. Jesus Christ led a holy and spotless life and offered Himself without spot to God through the working of the Holy Spirit. We read in Heb. ix. 14, “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal [pg 258] Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge⁵ your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” Jesus Christ met and overcame temptations as other men may meet and overcome them, in the power of the Holy Spirit. He was tempted⁶ and suffered through temptation (Heb. iii. 18), He was tempted in all points like as we are (Heb. iv. 15), but never once in any way did He yield to temptation. He was tempted entirely apart from sin (Heb. iv. 15), but He won His victories in a way that is open for all of us to win victory, in the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

3. Jesus Christ was anointed and fitted for service by the Holy Spirit. We read in Acts x. 38, “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him.” In a prophetic vision of the coming Messiah in the Old Testament⁷ we read in Isa. lxi. 1, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek⁸; He hath sent me to bind⁹ up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.” In Luke's record of the earthly life of our Lord in Luke iv. 14, we read “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and there went out a fame of Him through all the region round about.” In a similar way Jesus said of Himself when speaking in the synagogue in Nazareth, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the poor; He hath sent Me to proclaim release to the [pg 259] captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised¹⁰, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke iv. 18, 19, R. V.). All these passages contain the one lesson, that it was by the especial anointing with the Holy Spirit that Jesus Christ was qualified¹¹ for the service to which God had called Him. As He stood in the Jordan after His baptism, “The Holy Ghost descended¹² in a bodily shape like a dove upon Him,” and it was then and there that He was anointed with the Holy Spirit, baptized with the Holy Spirit, and equipped for the service that lay before Him. Jesus Christ received His equipment for service in the same way that we receive ours by a definite baptism with the Holy Spirit.

 

4. Jesus Christ was led by the Holy Spirit in His movements here upon earth. We read in Luke iv. 1, R. V., “And Jesus full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness¹³.” Living as a man here upon earth and setting an example for us, each step of His life was under the Holy Spirit's guidance.

 

5. Jesus Christ was taught by the Spirit who rested upon Him. The Spirit of God was the source of His wisdom in the days of His flesh. In the Old Testament prophecy of the coming Messiah we read in Isa. xi. 2, 3, “And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. And shall make Him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after [pg 260] the hearing of His ears.” Further on in Isa. xlii. 1, R. V., we read, “Behold My servant, whom I uphold; My chosen in whom My soul delighteth; I have put My Spirit upon Him; He shall bring forth¹⁴ judgment¹⁵ to the Gentiles, etc.” Matthew tells us in Matt. xii. 17, 18, that this prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth.

 

6. The Holy Spirit abode¹⁶ upon Jesus in all His fullness and the words He spoke¹⁷ in consequence were the very words of God. We read in John iii. 34, R. V., “For He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for He giveth not the Spirit by measure.”

 

7. After His resurrection, Jesus Christ gave commandment unto His Apostles whom He had chosen through the Holy Spirit. We read in Acts i. 2, “Until the day in which He was taken up, after that He through the Holy Ghost had given commandment unto the Apostles whom He had chosen.” This relates to the time after His resurrection and so we see Jesus still working in the power of the Holy Spirit even after His resurrection from the dead.

 

8. Jesus Christ wrought¹⁸ His miracles here on earth in the power of the Holy Spirit. In Matt. xii. 28, we read, “I cast out devils by the power of the Spirit of God.” It is through the Spirit that miracle working power was given to some in the church after our Lord's departure from this earth (1 Cor. xii. 9, 10), and in the power of the same Spirit, Jesus Christ wrought His miracles.

 

9. It was by the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. We read in Rom. [pg 261] viii. 11, “But 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.”

 

The same Spirit who is to quicken our mortal bodies and is to raise us up in some future day raised up Jesus.

 

Several things are plainly evident from this study of the work of the Holy Spirit in Jesus Christ:

 

First of all, we see the completeness of His humanity. He lived and He thought, He worked, He taught, He conquered sin and won victories for God in the power of that very same Spirit whom it is our privilege also to have.

 

In the second place, we see our own utter dependence¹⁹ upon the Holy Spirit. If it was in the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, lived and worked, achieved and triumphed, how much more dependent are we upon Him at every turn of life and in every phase of service and every experience of conflict with Satan and sin.

 

The third thing that is evident is the wondrous²⁰ world of privilege, blessing²¹ and victory and conquest that is open to us. The same Spirit by which Jesus was originally begotten, is at our disposal for us to be begotten again of Him. The same Spirit by which Jesus offered Himself without spot to God is at our disposal that we also may offer ourselves without spot to Him. The same Spirit by which Jesus was anointed for service is at our disposal that we may be anointed for service. The same Spirit who led Jesus Christ in [pg 262] His movements here on earth is ready to lead us to-day. The same Spirit who taught Jesus and imparted to Him wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, and knowledge and the fear of the Lord is here to teach us. Jesus Christ is our pattern (1 John ii. 6), “the first born among many brethren” (Rom. viii. 29). Whatever He realized through the Holy Spirit is for us to realize also to-day.

The End
 

1 manifestation   

n.表现形式；表明；现象

参考例句：

• Her smile is a manifestation of joy.她的微笑是她快乐的表现。
• What we call mass is only another manifestation of energy.我们称之为质量的东西只是能量的另一种表现形态。

2 begotten   

v.为…之生父( beget的过去分词 )；产生，引起

参考例句：

• The fact that he had begotten a child made him vain. 想起自己也生过孩子，他得意了。 来自辞典例句
• In due course she bore the son begotten on her by Thyestes. 过了一定的时候，她生下了堤厄斯式斯使她怀上的儿子。 来自辞典例句

3 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

4 regenerated   

v.新生，再生( regenerate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They are regarded as being enveloped in regenerated gneisses. 它们被认为包围在再生的片麻岩之中。 来自辞典例句
• The party soon regenerated under her leadership. 该党在她的领导下很快焕然一新。 来自辞典例句

5 purge   

n.整肃，清除，泻药，净化；vt.净化，清除，摆脱；vi.清除，通便，腹泻，变得清洁

参考例句：

• The new president carried out a purge of disloyal army officers.新总统对不忠诚的军官进行了清洗。
• The mayoral candidate has promised to purge the police department.市长候选人答应清洗警察部门。

6 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。

7 testament   

n.遗嘱；证明

参考例句：

• This is his last will and testament.这是他的遗愿和遗嘱。
• It is a testament to the power of political mythology.这说明，编造政治神话可以产生多大的威力。

8 meek   

adj.温顺的，逆来顺受的

参考例句：

• He expects his wife to be meek and submissive.他期望妻子温顺而且听他摆布。
• The little girl is as meek as a lamb.那个小姑娘像羔羊一般温顺。

9 bind   

vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬

参考例句：

• I will let the waiter bind up the parcel for you.我让服务生帮你把包裹包起来。
• He wants a shirt that does not bind him.他要一件不使他觉得过紧的衬衫。

10 bruised   

[医]青肿的，瘀紫的

参考例句：

• his bruised and bloodied nose 他沾满血的青肿的鼻子
• She had slipped and badly bruised her face. 她滑了一跤，摔得鼻青脸肿。

11 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

12 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

13 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

14 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

15 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

16 abode   

n.住处，住所

参考例句：

• It was ten months before my father discovered his abode.父亲花了十个月的功夫，才好不容易打听到他的住处。
• Welcome to our humble abode!欢迎光临寒舍！

17 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

18 wrought   

v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的

参考例句：

• Events in Paris wrought a change in British opinion towards France and Germany.巴黎发生的事件改变了英国对法国和德国的看法。
• It's a walking stick with a gold head wrought in the form of a flower.那是一个金质花形包头的拐杖。

19 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

20 wondrous   

adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地

参考例句：

• The internal structure of the Department is wondrous to behold.看一下国务院的内部结构是很有意思的。
• We were driven across this wondrous vast land of lakes and forests.我们乘车穿越这片有着湖泊及森林的广袤而神奇的土地。

21 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。