What is a move of the Holy Spirit?

The fact of the Holy Spirit being here convicts the world before God, for why is God's Son not here? The world stands guilty. If the Lord Jesus as a divine person while speaking to Nicodemus could say, "the Son of man which is in heaven," the Holy Spirit as a divine person, though gone to heaven, will nevertheless be operating here converting souls. Whenever a soul is born again it is the work of the Holy Spirit — the Spirit of God using the word of God. It may be through the lips of an unconverted man — words spoken in mockery. Balaam and Caiaphas, for instance, God in His wisdom saw good to use in prophesying. In every dispensation, if there has been a work of grace in any soul, it has been by the operation of the Spirit of God through His word.

In the Spirit of God is living energy and activity that produces marvellous results. This is seen magnificently in the first reference to Him in Scripture, "the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light, and there was light" (Gen. 1:2-3). Here is great power in sustained movement, for light must travel at a speed of 186,000 miles per second. And this is a picture of the working of the Spirit of God in bringing to repentance and faith one who has before been in the darkness of sin and unbelief. Light dawns upon his soul, with its living, vibrant energy of sustained movement.

In the Spirit of God is living energy and activity that produces marvellous results. This is seen magnificently in the first reference to Him in Scripture, “the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light. And there was light” (Gen. 1:2-3). Here is great power in sustained movement, for light must travel at a speed of 186,000 miles per second. And this is a picture of the working of the Spirit of God in bringing to repentance and faith one who has before been in the darkness of sin and unbelief. Light dawns upon his soul, with its living, vibrant energy of sustained movement.

In the Spirit of God is living energy and activity that produces marvellous results. This is seen magnificently in the first reference to Him in Scripture, "the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light. And there was light" (Gen. 1:2‑3). Here is great power in sustained movement, for light must travel at a speed of 186,000 miles per second. And this is a picture of the working of the Spirit of God in bringing to repentance and faith one who has before been in the darkness of sin and unbelief. Light dawns upon his soul, with its living, vibrant energy of sustained movement.

The truth of God is applied in convicting power by the Spirit of God to the consciences and hearts of men, for just as He moved upon the face of the waters in the days of creation, so He moves now upon the souls of men to bring form out of chaos, to make the light shine where the darkness has reigned, and to bring life out of death. He is the untiring Servant of God in this gracious work, and happy is the man who yields to His influence and power.

The truth of God is applied in convicting power by the Spirit of God, for just as He brooded over the face of the waters in the days of creation, so He moves now upon the souls of men to bring form out of chaos, to make the light shine where the darkness has reigned, and to bring life out of death. He is the untiring Servant of God in this gracious work, and happy is the man who yields to His influence and power.

The Spirit of God lays bare and exposes man to himself. We do not say that this action of the Holy Spirit is His quickening power. Conviction is not conversion. A criminal may be convicted of his crime, but in no sense be turned from his guilt; a sinner may be made to feel by the word used by the Holy Ghost what he is, and yet not be turned to God. The hearers of Stephen were "cut to the heart," yet they added sin to sin, and stoned to death the witness to their souls. But the making us feel in ourselves what we are, is a frequent accompaniment of life. When the soil begins to be upheaved over the spot where the seed is laid, we say the seed shows signs of life. Where God is dealing with the heart, we find the conscience laid bare, and, as a consequence, repentance — turning from sin and turning to God.

The first work of the Spirit which is effectual for salvation is the conviction of sin. There is a remarkable passage which so clearly presents this work of conviction by the Spirit, that we must examine it with some care. Our Lord, in His closing address to His disciples, to which we have already referred more than once, after telling them (John 16:7) that it was expedient (to their advantage) that He should leave them and go to the Father, in order that He might send them the Spirit, describes the work of this blessed Person in the world and in saints. As to the saints, we will take that up at another time, merely noticing as we pass that the great work is to guide them into all truth. But as to conviction of the world we will notice how complete it is. I quote the entire passage.

There is a difference between regeneration by the Spirit and the presence of the Spirit as a seal. A person must have believed, for God to be able to put His seal on him; the Spirit may act before this, as for instance, in breaking up the heart; but it is not as a seal. Sometimes the power of the Spirit produces fruits in us; at other times it humbles us, making us sensible of good and evil; but this is not joy. The fact is, that this work is even more precious than the joy itself, because there are sometimes things in us which are not judged before God on account of the very joy. When God has given us the enjoyment of the true object which we ought to enjoy, He begins to break up the heart in order that the work may be deeper. The Spirit makes us sensible of the things which are not according to God, and this knowledge of one's self is necessary, in order that we may know God. I do not say that, if we were to walk exactly as God would have us, this work could not be carried on without the loss of the joy; but it is not generally so with the Christian. It becomes needful for God to turn us toward Himself, and to work inwardly, that we may discover what our carelessness has prevented us from seeing. Often this exhilarating joy of a Christian is found in one who has not judged things that ought to be judged in the presence of God. The wants and the desires which the Holy Spirit produces by regeneration are not the seal of the Spirit, any more than the joy which flows from the affections being occupied with a new and divine object, nor even the fruits which the Holy Spirit may produce when He dwells in us. The seal is the Holy Spirit Himself, given to that faith which is in Him who is our righteousness, and is the answer to all our wants; and then we have peace and joy. It is the Spirit in us who is the seal.

But we must distinguish between His work and indwelling — His quickening and His sealing. The very first dawn of conviction in the soul is the fruit of the Spirit's work. It is His blessed operation that leads to all true repentance, and this is not joyful work; it is very good, very needful, absolutely essential; but it is not joy, nay, it is deep sorrow. But when, through grace, we are enabled to believe in a risen and glorified Saviour, then the Holy Ghost comes and takes up His abode in us, as the seal of our acceptance and the earnest of our inheritance.

Now this fills us with joy unspeakable and full of glory; and being thus filled ourselves, we become channels of blessing to others. "He that believes on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive; for the Holy Ghost was not yet; because that Jesus was not yet glorified." The Spirit is the spring of power and joy in the heart of the believer. He fits, fills and uses us as His vessels in ministering to poor thirsty, needy souls around us. He links us with the Man in the glory, maintains us in living communion with Him, and enables us to be, in our feeble measure, the expression of what He is. Every movement of the Christian should be redolent with the fragrance of Christ. For one who professes to be a Christian to exhibit unholy tempers, selfish ways, a grasping, covetous, worldly spirit, envy and jealousy, pride and ambition, is to belie his profession, dishonour the holy Name of Christ, and bring reproach upon that glorious Christianity which he professes, and of which we have the lovely type in the feast of weeks — a feast pre-eminently characterised by a joy which had its source in the goodness of God, and which flowed out far and wide, and embraced in its hallowed circle every object of need: "Thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, thou and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you."