"Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."-Eph. 4:30.

There is often much confusion in the minds of Christians with respect to the Spirit's guiding; not only in individual walk, but in meetings. Let us, then, look into the Word together as to the divine fact. And first, as to the personality of the Holy Ghost.

Are we-are you, beloved-in the faith as to this :that the Holy Spirit is God in power, not an influence ; but a person as real as we ourselves are persons ? And are we consciously in the faith as to His dwelling in us individually ? Now this must be the starting-point. We are not prepared to take a step together in our proposed investigation until we can answer these questions promptly, cheerfully, conscientiously, in the affirmative. "God is a Spirit" (John 4:24). "When he, the Spirit of truth, is come"-"HE shall glorify Me" – "HE shall not speak of himself"-"HE shall guide you into all truth"-"he shall be in you"-"HE shall teach you" (John 14:16, 17, and 26, and John 16:13-15). Here is personality-indwelling, guiding, teaching. And the apostle says," Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His" (Rom. 8:9). Here we get the two sides of the question." But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His."The human side is called " the flesh."The divine side is called " the Spirit; " and it is not the physical organism, the members of the body, but the active principle of self-will and hist in man, called ''the carnal mind."

Let us read from the seventh verse:-"Because the carnal mind is enmity against God [margin, the minding of the flesh], is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God"-governed and controlled by the principle of self-will and lust. Thus saith the Lord by the prophet:"I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people " (2 Cor. 6:16).This is the divine fact which constitutes Christianity. "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own ?For ye are bought with a price :therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's" (i Cor. 6:19).

It is a divine fact, then, that the Holy Ghost, God the Spirit, dwells in every child of God. " Because ye are sons [children], God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father " (Gal. 4:6).

The practical realization and the blessed experiences flowing out from this divine fact are quite another thing, and dependent upon faith; and faith is dependent upon intimacy of communion and fellowship with God; and communion is dependent upon prayer, confession, and self-judgment. Let us take up these points in their reverse order.

Self-judgment is really genuine repentance. It is that "godly sorrow which worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of" (2 Cor. 7:10). It is to meet God about ourselves and our sins, in the light of His holiness ; and to take sides with God against ourselves in everything in us, of us, and about us, in word, thought, and deed, which is unlike to Christ.
And the difference between consecration and self-judgment is this :that consecration is a sort of piling up of all our good things before God; while self-judgment is casting off all the best, as well as the worst, as filthy rags, at His feet-"all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags" (Isa. 64:6). "All our righteousnesses." What are our righteousnesses? Are they not our best things? "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ" (Phil. 3:7, 8). And beloved, Paul was not out of communion when he gives us the basis, or ground, of his self-judgment; but it was the blessed result of having met "the God of glory," "the man Christ Jesus," not only to see that all his sin and badness was judged in His cross, but also that all his goodness was judged also in the light of His holiness. The thief in the twenty-third of Luke confesses the just judgment of God upon his badness. Paul confesses the just judgment of God upon his goodness. And this is confession not only before God but before men, and the basis of a proper self-judgment, and the true ground-work of a spirit of prayer. And with this we have the "continuing instant in prayer," and "praying without ceasing," because there will be always the deep and abiding sense of need which is a continual prayer and the true spirit of dependence, which is to "pray without ceasing." And if this be not the true spirit and atmosphere of our hearts, we shall not be profited by looking further into His word.

Standing, then, in the faith of these divine facts, we are prepared for the next step, which will be, first of all, to give Christ His right place. "No man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed:and no one can say that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost" (i Cor. 12:3).

This presents the vital distinction between fleshly intelligence and spiritual intelligence, fleshly discernment and spiritual discernment, fleshly wisdom and spiritual understanding. The one-fleshly-can own, or acknowledge, His titles ; and the devils can do that:but it is only by the indwelling Holy Ghost that any can give Him His proper place. For when He is properly enthroned in the heart, He will be properly recognized as enthroned in the heavens, where God has set Him. And only in the measure that He is enthroned in the heart, as Lord of all, will He be confessed by us. " If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead" (Rom. 10:9). You see, it is owning Him as Lord, and giving Him His proper place as exalted to be "both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36).

"And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father " (Phil, 2:ii). And it is in this that the theology of the present day is so sadly deficient. Men have come to have so much confidence in themselves, that they have but little confidence in God, and less confidence in the revelation which He has made of Himself in Jesus Christ. The sin question is ignored, and the blood of His cross is counted as an unholy thing; and doctrines dishonoring to Christ creep forth from many of the renowned universities of the land. I do not need to name them; they are legion. But it may be asked, What is the test ?How shall we who are ignorant and unlearned detect these evil doctrines ?How did Peter, John, and Paul ?By the indwelling Spirit. Is that all ?No ;for we have seen already that the indwelling Spirit is one thing ; the practical realization and the blessed experiences which flow out, are quite another; and these are the result of intimacy of communion, practical walking with God, and the spirit ungrieved. And it is the Spirit ungrieved who gives us "the mind of Christ," and, through the Word, God's thoughts about all these things. So that if we are in the Spirit as to practical walk, we are never at a loss as to that which is of "the flesh" and that which is of the Spirit, and Christ will always have His right place, as there can be no genuine faith in God apart from that which gives Christ the supreme place. From this standpoint, we see that the reason why so many are being led astray by the evil doctrines of "Christian Science," "Annihilation," and "Future Probation," is, that they know nothing of a practical walk with God, and have never given the Lord Jesus His right place. C. E. H.

(To be continued.)