2:4). "Doth the spirit which he made to dwell in
us long unto envying?" (Jas. 4:5). "Ye have an anointing from the Holy
One" (1 John 2: 20). "The anointing which ye received of him abideth in
you" (1 John 2:27). "He hath given us of his Spirit" (1 John 4:13).
All the above Scriptures become clear if we understand them to apply to
a people through whom God was manifesting his presence by supernatural
demonstrations, but many of them lack meaning when applied to people of
God who no longer exhibit these supernatural powers.
VIII
THE SPIRIT AND THE WORLD
Hitherto we have been treating the Holy Spirit in terms of the past, but
now we come to the present tense. Is the Holy Spirit a power in the
present age? If so, what kind of a power? Is he making an issue with men
as a direct power and working upon them immediately, or is he working
through an instrumentality, and, if so, what is the instrumentality?
The Spirit is undoubtedly dealing with two classes of persons in his
work to-day.
First, those who are not believers, and therefore unconverted and
"aliens from the commonwealth of Israel."
Second, those who have believed and obeyed the gospel, and are therefore
children of God.
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