'I will follow upon mine enemies, and overtake them: neither will I turn again till I have destroyed them.' 'For in Thee I shall discomfit an host of men: and with the help of my God I shall leap over the wall.'1 (4) Our mind is to be enlightened, our conscience quickened, and our will strengthened by the Spirit of God; our affections likewise are to be purified and elevated. Under His guidance we are to learn to love and hate, to hope and fear, to joy and grieve aright, our affections being in each case rightly directed and vigorously inspired. In particular we need His help in lifting up our hearts to God in prayer. Here we come upon a special application of the title Paraclete, which in general we have translated Helper. The word is the Greek equivalent of the Latin 'advocate,' which means one who is called to our side to plead our cause. So S. Paul speaks of the Holy Spirit's function as our Advocate. 'In like manner the Spirit helpeth our infirmity: for we know not how to pray as we ought; but the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered; and He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of 1 Psalm xviii. 37, 29. the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.'1 2 Amid all our weakness and vacillation, there is in the members of Christ (who are styled 'saints,' as being made members of His Body and partakers of the Holy Spirit) a lifting up of the heart to God in yearnings and aspirations which they often cannot express in words, which is due to the presence of the Holy Spirit inciting and inspiring them. In like manner S. Jude bids us pray in the Holy Spirit.' We are to seek His aid to steady our attention, to direct our affections, to suggest to us prayers which are according to the will of God, such as He will be pleased to hear, such as befit His children and Christ's members. As our Lord, our Elder Brother and great High Priest, is represented as pleading for us at God's right hand, so the blessed Spirit is imparted from Him the Head to us His members to plead in us (not as our substitute here, any more than in His operation on our mind, our conscience, or our will), communicating to us the mind of Christ,' that we may indeed pray with Him, and that His longings for His people may find an echo in their own hearts.5 6 1 Rom. viii. 26, 27. 31 S. John v. 14; S. John xvi. 23, 24. 2 S. Jude 20. 5 I Cor. ii. 16. Thus is the Holy Ghost the Paraclete, our Helper. His help is bestowed within, to quicken and enable the faculties of our nature. His presence is pledged to us from our Confirmation. We are continually to call forth His power, to stir up the gift that is in us.1 CHAPTER XII THE SEAL OF THE SPIRIT "THE Seal' was one of the most common terms in the early Church for Confirmation. The term has direct scriptural authority. It seems to have been used in somewhat different but harmonious senses. 1. A seal may be stamped on anything as a claim of ownership. 2. A seal is added to a signature in formal documents for further sanction and greater security. Thus the baptized were sealed with the sign of the cross as belonging to the crucified Lord. And the bishop laid his hand on them in blessing, ratifying the previous rites of initiation into the Christian society which had generally been performed by ministers of lower rank. In our office the solemn signing with the cross is distinctly an adjunct of Baptism. The blessing by the chief pastor of those who have been baptized by the parochial clergy is the distinctive M rite of Confirmation. Thus our Baptism is recognised, and we are admitted to the full privileges and responsibilities of membership in the Christian society. So far the outward significance of the sealing. But the term has a deeper spiritual meaning corresponding with the external rites. 6 (1) The Spirit of God it is Who really seals us as Christians, members of Christ and children of God. We are to be known as belonging to Christ, not merely by bearing the mark of His cross on the forehead, but by being conformed to His likeness in our own disciplined lives. They that are Christ's crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts.' We are to be made, and not merely called, God's children by the communication to us of our Father's moral character, 'partakers of the divine nature,' of God's love and truth and purity.2 1 This sealing is effected by the Holy Spirit of God, Who proceeds from the Father and the Son. It is His work. Christ our Lord breathes forth on us His Spirit, as He did on the first disciples on 1 Gal. v. 24; comp. Rom. vi. 6. The aorist tense refers to the time of their becoming members of Christ in Baptism (Bishop Lightfoot). Then they were, so to speak, fastened to the cross of our Lord, all unruly passions and desires being condemned to the slow death of crucifixion. 2 1 S. John iii. 2; 2 S. Peter i. 4. |