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THE WORK OF THE SPIRIT
Spurgeon, "Gleanings Among the Sheaves"
Let us ever remember that Christ on the cross is
of no value to us, apart from the Holy Spirit in us.
In vain that blood is flowing, unless the finger of the Spirit
applies the blood to our conscience; in vain is that garment
of righteousness wrought out, unless the Holy Spirit wraps
it around us and arrays us in its costly folds.
The river of the water of life cannot quench our thirst,
till the Spirit presents the goblet and lifts it to our lips.
All the things which are in the paradise of God could never be
blissful to us, so long as we are dead souls -- and dead we are,
until that heavenly wind comes and breathes upon us, that we
may live.
We do not hesitate to say that we owe as much to God the Holy
Spirit as we do to God the Son. Indeed, it were a high sin and
misdemeanor to attempt to put one person of the divine Trinity
before another.
You, O Father, are the source of all grace,
all love and all mercy towards us.
You, O Son, are the channel of Your Father's mercy,
and without You Your Father's love could never flow to us.
And You, O Spirit, are He who enables us to receive that divine
virtue which flows from the fountainhead, the Father, through
Christ the channel, and which, by Your means, enters into our
heart and there abides, bringing forth its glorious fruit.
Magnify, then, the Spirit.
There never yet was a heavenly thought, a hallowed deed,
or a consecrated act, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ,
which was not worked in us by the Holy Spirit.
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