THE GOSPEL OF GOD

If you study the early part of the Acts of the apostles, you will see that the great object in the preaching was that those who believed might receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. What gave occasion to the first preaching was the descent of the Holy Spirit; they had to account for it. So, too, in Samaria. The apostles went down when they heard that Samaria had received the word of God, and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. So, too, Cornelius. Peter spoke words whereby they might be saved. While he yet spoke, the Holy Spirit fell on them. The point was that they might receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. So, too, at Ephesus. They had believed, and when Paul came down he laid his hands on them, and the Holy Spirit came on them. The gift of the Holy Spirit is the great end of the gospel.

There are two parts in John’s gospel – the personal work of Christ, and the coming of the Comforter. Christ removed what hindered the coming of the Holy Spirit.

The great end in preaching has been being saved. The great end, according to Scripture, is the gift of the Holy Spirit.

In Romans 8 we find the functions, the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer. It is to place us in relation to God according to the pattern of the Man who has entered in – the Forerunner. This involves the most amazing change in us – the transformation of saints from the earthly to the heavenly order. You must be constituted of that order. Christ, the second Man, is the pattern, and the Holy Spirit works according to that pattern. The end will be that we shall bear the image of the heavenly. This could not be unfolded to us if the Holy Spirit had not come.

F. E. Raven NS Vol.20 p.282

Edited and published monthly by Alistair Brown and Paul Martin

Additional copies are available, free of charge, by emailing

notesofministry@virginmedia.com or paul@nofm.co.uk

27 Grange View Linlithgow EH49 7HY

Printed by Crystal Print, 22 Western Road, Billericay, Essex CM12 9DZ