The Person and Work of The Holy SpiritTorrey, R. A. (Reuben Archer)
Religion
The Person and Work of The Holy Spirit
Torrey, R. A. (Reuben Archer)
Holy Spirit
2. The thought of the Holy Spirit as “the Wind” is brought out in John
iii. 6-8, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is
born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be
born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound
thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is
every one that is born of the Spirit.” In the Greek, it is the same word
that is translated in one part of this passage “Spirit” and the other part
of the passage “wind.” And it would seem as if the word ought to be
translated the same way in both parts of the passage. It would then read,
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the
‘Wind’ is wind. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
The wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof, but
canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth: so is every one that
is born of the ‘Wind.’ ” The full significance of this name as applied to
the Holy Spirit (or Holy Wind) it may be beyond us to fathom, but we can
see at least this much of its meaning:
(1) The Spirit like the wind is _sovereign_. “The wind bloweth where it
listeth” (John iii. 8). You cannot dictate to the wind. It does as it
wills. Just so with the Holy Spirit—He is sovereign—we cannot dictate to
Him. He “divides to each man” severally even “_as He will_” (1 Cor. xii.
11, R. V.). When the wind is blowing from the north you may long to have
it blow from the south, but cry as clamorously as you may to the wind,
“Blow from the south” it will keep right on blowing from the north. But
while you cannot dictate to the wind, while it blows as it will, you may
learn the laws that govern the wind’s motions and by bringing yourself
into harmony with those laws, you can get the wind to do your work. You
can erect your windmill so that whichever way the wind blows from the
wheels will turn and the wind will grind your grain, or pump your water.
Just so, while we cannot dictate to the Holy Spirit we can learn the laws
of His operations and by bringing ourselves into harmony with those laws,
above all by submitting our wills absolutely to His sovereign will, the
sovereign Spirit of God will work through us and accomplish His own
glorious work by our instrumentality.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account