The person and work of the Holy Spirit

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(J.C. Ryle, 1884)
"For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare himself for battle?" 1 Corinthians 14:8

We need a more certain sound about the person and work of the Holy Spirit.

There is a great quantity of teaching, I am afraid, in which there is no place left for the Third Person of the Trinity. His presence in the hearts of professing Christians is taken for granted. They think that they possess Him as a matter of course--because they are baptized, or because they belong to the Church, or because they are communicants! In short, many would say, like the Ephesians of old, "We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit!" Acts 19:2

But surely this is not Apostolic teaching. People need to be told now as much as they were told eighteen centuries ago, that the fruits of the Spirit are the only evidence of having the Spirit, and that those fruits must be seen--that we must be . . .
  born of the Spirit,
  led by the Spirit,
  sanctified by the Spirit, and
  experience the operations of the Spirit.

"If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ--he does not belong to Christ." Romans 8:9

There is far more heresy concerning the Holy Spirit in the present time, than most people suppose.

"Ask for the old paths, where the good way is--and walk in it. Then you will find rest for your souls." Jeremiah 6:16

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