"And if our gospel be hidden (or fail) it is hidden to them that are lost (perishing), in whom the god of this world (the devil) hath blinded the minds of them vyho believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine upon them." This is precisely why the Holy Spir it came into the world. Satan is anxious to blindfold men and wo men when it comes to the glory of Christ. He seeks to veil their minds from the truth. The Holy Spirit removes that veil when a person truly believes in the Lord and in his finished work of re demption on the cross. To open blind eyes which are spiritually blind, letting them see Christ for the first time, is what the Holy Spirit is able to do in a life that has trusted the Saviour (II Corin thians 3:14). Otherwise that soul remains in spiritual darkness (II Corinthians 2:14). In our study we have seen that the work of the Holy Spirit in the Gospels follows the Old Testa ment pattern. What He does is always individual and sovereign throughout the Bible. The same is true in the accounts recorded in the first four books of the New Testament. In fact, there are only five people mentioned in the Gos pel records as having been filled with the Holy Spirit. They are John the Baptist, Elizabeth (John's moth er), Zacharias (Luke 1:67), Simeon (Luke 2:25), and Mary, the mother of Jesus (Luke 1:35). The reason for this is that the Gospels are a con tinuation of the ministry of the Holy Spirit revealed throughout the Old Testament. The Son of God and the Holy Spirit were certainly not strangers to each other. They always were,
considers the Ephesian believers as being surrounded by the darkness of heathenism and supernatural foes. He prays that they might be strengthened with power through the Holy Spirit in the inward man. Throughout the Old Testament we find the Holy Spirit involved with prophetic utterance (Numbers 11:25). Here were men who were guided by this divine personality to write of things to come (II Peter 1:21). There is not one line or even one word in the Bible that was not wholly inspired by the Holy Spirit. May our hearts rejoice in His con tinued endeavors on our behalf throughout all our days. THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST We must never lose sight of the fact that the Holy Spirit is a Per son. In this study we see Him as the Spirit of Christ. This is one of His designated titles. In our Lord's earthly life it was in the power of the Holy Spirit that He wrought His messianic ministry. According to Christ's own statements it was the business of the Holy Spirit to glorify the Saviour. Revealing the redemptive glories of Cod's own Son is the outstanding feature of the Holy Spirit's ministry. In this manner conviction is brought to hearts of unbelievers. The crowning condemnation in the sight of God is not that we are sick from sin, but that we have re jected the only remedy for that fatal illness that will exact eternal condemnation. Certainly, Jesus Christ deserves to be glorified. It is the Holy Spirit who makes the Lord altogether lovely and desir able to people in our world. This is how we came to know salva tions reality. In II Corinthians 4:3, 4 we read,
Page 56
Made with FlippingBook HTML5