In Luke 11:13 our Lord says: "If ye then, being evil, know how
to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly
Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" This passage may be
disposed of by saying that in the original it is _a holy spirit_ and
does not refer to _the Holy Spirit_ at all. It represents God's
willingness to give _a holy disposition_. Matthew explains it in the
words "good gifts to them that ask him." In John 7:38, 39 we have
recorded another promise: "He that believeth on me, as the scripture
hath said, from within him shall flow rivers of living water. But this
spake he of the Spirit, which they that believed on him were to receive:
for the Spirit was not yet given; because Jesus was not yet glorified."
This is evidently a supernatural gift, as he represents the recipient of
it as a fountain from which flows rivers of living water. This is
obviously not true of us to-day. Our Saviour also dates the bestowal as
following his glorification, or on the day of Pentecost. In Mark
16:16-18: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that
disbelieveth shall be condemned. And these signs shall accompany them
that believe: in my name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak
with new tongues; they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any
deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them; they shall lay hands on the
sick, and they shall recover.
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