All Christians Should Be Filled with the Holy Spirit
In the times of the Apostles, miraculous powers were connected with the descent and the fullness of the Spirit's operations. The gift of these powers seems to have had special reference to the circumstances of the times, and to have been temporary. But the infinitely greater blessing, the crowning work of the Holy Spirit, that of imparting to the soul the grace of assured or perfect faith and the attendant grace of perfect love, still remains.
Now; if the Holy Ghost came into the world to dwell with men, to take up his abode with them and to teach them, if he came to inspire within them the highest possible faith and love, and to procure to them the highest possible purity and peace, then it seems to me, that the object of the dispensation of the Holy Ghost is not, and cannot be completely realized, till it can be said of all Christians, as it was said anciently, that they are men full of the Holy Ghost. Till this is done, there is a resistance in the heart proceeding from the remaining life of self and from the inspiration and artifices of Satan, which ought not to be.
The Holy Spirit is ready, not only to advance, but entirely to accomplish the inward work, whenever the people of God are prepared, with childlike simplicity of spirit and without any reservation, to undergo his sharply searching and purifying agency. It is the spirit of SELF, showing itself in the forms of distrust and resistance, which obstructs this faithful, but friendly operation; which grieves the Spirit; and prevents his purifying the heart with the waters of the interior baptism.— Let the followers of Christ ponder well these important truths. Let them strive to keep in mind, that they can do nothing well, in the moral and religious sense of the terms, which is not prompted by the presence and suggestions of the Holy Spirit. And certainly that they cannot do ALL things well, bringing every emotion and passion into subjection, and walking always in the commandment of faith and love, without being "filled," as the Scriptures express it, with his efficacious agency.
— edited from The Interior or Hidden Life (2nd edition, 1844) Part 3, Chapter 1 by Thomas Cogswell Upham. You can find more of his work at the blog, The Hidden Life, managed by Craig L Adams at: http://thomascupham.blogspot.com
In the times of the Apostles, miraculous powers were connected with the descent and the fullness of the Spirit's operations. The gift of these powers seems to have had special reference to the circumstances of the times, and to have been temporary. But the infinitely greater blessing, the crowning work of the Holy Spirit, that of imparting to the soul the grace of assured or perfect faith and the attendant grace of perfect love, still remains.
Now; if the Holy Ghost came into the world to dwell with men, to take up his abode with them and to teach them, if he came to inspire within them the highest possible faith and love, and to procure to them the highest possible purity and peace, then it seems to me, that the object of the dispensation of the Holy Ghost is not, and cannot be completely realized, till it can be said of all Christians, as it was said anciently, that they are men full of the Holy Ghost. Till this is done, there is a resistance in the heart proceeding from the remaining life of self and from the inspiration and artifices of Satan, which ought not to be.
The Holy Spirit is ready, not only to advance, but entirely to accomplish the inward work, whenever the people of God are prepared, with childlike simplicity of spirit and without any reservation, to undergo his sharply searching and purifying agency. It is the spirit of SELF, showing itself in the forms of distrust and resistance, which obstructs this faithful, but friendly operation; which grieves the Spirit; and prevents his purifying the heart with the waters of the interior baptism.— Let the followers of Christ ponder well these important truths. Let them strive to keep in mind, that they can do nothing well, in the moral and religious sense of the terms, which is not prompted by the presence and suggestions of the Holy Spirit. And certainly that they cannot do ALL things well, bringing every emotion and passion into subjection, and walking always in the commandment of faith and love, without being "filled," as the Scriptures express it, with his efficacious agency.
— edited from The Interior or Hidden Life (2nd edition, 1844) Part 3, Chapter 1 by Thomas Cogswell Upham. You can find more of his work at the blog, The Hidden Life, managed by Craig L Adams at: http://thomascupham.blogspot.com
