June, 1940
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
204
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W HAT did the Lord Jesus mean when He spoke of “the fin ger of God” ? He had just cast tongue which had been tied was loosed. Questions arose in the minds of the curious crowd as to the power by which the Saviour had wrought this miracle. He, knowing their thought, replied by saying, “If I with the finger of God cast out demons, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you” (Lk. 11:20, R.V.). What was the meaning of the expres sion, “the finger of God” ? Matthew supplies the answer: “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you” (12:28; cf. R.V.). The finger of God is the Spirit of God. It is an interesting [This message, which was delivered at a commencement service at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, comes from one whose ministry of twenty-two years in a single pastorate (First Baptist Church, Tucson, Ariz.) has been marked by the Holy Spirit's working. A t least fifteen young people froyt Dr. Beal’s church have come to Biola for training. " When these young people have come to me saying they felt led of God to enter the Bible Institute of Los Angeles in preparation for their life work," the speaker said, “ I have felt in my soul a sense of real satisfac tion, and 1 have thanked1God that there was such a training venter as this on the Pacific Coast. . . . You now are to be congratulated not only upon the completion of a required course of study in spiritual things, but also because of the deeply spiritual school from which you are being graduated." — E ditor .]
the living God. What may be said of God and of Christ may be spoken of the Holy Spirit. He is a living part of a living whole. The attributes and' characters of the Godhead are one. Personality may be ascribed to the Spirit even, as we ascribe it to the other members of the Holy Trinity. To think of this One in any other way is to dishonor and to disown Him. It amounts to a denial of the Trinity and an accep tance of Unitarianism. Such disbelief as this has far-reaching consequences in the experience of men. If the Holy Spirit is naught but an influence or some impersonal power, can He take the things of Christ and show them to us? Can He guide us into the truth? He could not, since He would not exist to do so, if He were not the glorious Person the Word claims Him to be. Power to create is to be thought of in relation to the Spirit. It is a pre rogative of God. I invite your attention to the exactness of Scripture in this re spect. In Psalm 8:3, 4 we read: "When I consider thj^heavens, the work of thy fingers, the paoon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him ?” And again, Job 25:13, “By his Spirit he hath gar nished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.’ Then we face the direct statement concerning Him in Psalm 104:30, which reads, “Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.” It is not hard to see that every at tribute we ascribe to God may be rightly and Scripturally ascribed to the Holy Spirit. In all instances He is referred to in the Bible as a personality, is defi nitely called God, and is so recognized by our Lord in His earthly ministry.
a demon out of a poor fellow, and the
figure of speech which the Lord uses concerning the Third Person of the Trin ity. It is the figure of condescension. God condescended to liken Himself to His creation to the end that His crea tures might be able to understand and comprehend Him. The Finger of God: ,His Deity Sometimes in using the figure of the human body, the Scriptures set forth God as being the heart, the fountain of life. Christ is likened to the head which rules and governs the body. Then the Spirit is represented by' the hand or finger as in'the case- of iny text. The power of the body is executed by the finger, hand, or arm. It is the hand that ministers to all of the body and performs the work of the body. This explains the reason that the Lord Jesus speaks of casting out demons by the finger of God. Let us notice as we begin this anal ogy that the finger is an integral part of the hand. What may be said of the hand may be uttered of the finger be cause the life of one is the life of the other. The blood, the bone, the flesh, and the life of the hand is that of the finger. Both are of the same nature and substance. Thus it Is with the Spirit of
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