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The Person of the Holy Spirit The WORK of the Holy Spirit David J. Engelsma Herman Hanko Published by the British Reformed Fellowship, 2010 www.britishreformedfellowship.org.uk Printed in Muskegon, MI, USA Scripture quotations are taken from the Authorized (King James) Version Quotations from the ecumenical creeds, the Three Forms of Unity (except for the Rejection of Errors sections of the Canons of Dordt) and the Westminster Confession are taken from Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom, 3 vols. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1966) Distributed by: Covenant Protestant Reformed Church 7 Lislunnan Road, Kells Ballymena, N. Ireland BT42 3NR Phone: (028) 25 891851 Website: www.cprc.co.uk E-mail: [email protected] South Holland Protestant Reformed Church 1777 East Richton Road Crete, IL 60417 USA Phone: (708) 333-1314 Website: www.southhollandprc.org E-mail: [email protected] Faith Protestant Reformed Church 7194 20th Avenue Jenison, MI 49418 USA Phone: (616) 457-5848 Website: www.faithprc.org Email: [email protected] Contents Foreword v PART I Chapter 1: The Person of the Holy Spirit 1 Chapter 2: The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit 27 Chapter 3: The Holy Spirit and the Covenant of Grace 41 Chapter 4: The Spirit as the Spirit of Truth 69 Chapter 5: The Holy Spirit and Assurance 84 Chapter 6: The Holy Spirit and the Church 131 PART II Chapter 7: The Out-Flowing Spirit of Jesus 147 Chapter 8: The Bride’s Prayer for the Bridegroom’s Coming 161 APPENDIX About the British Reformed Fellowship 174 iii Foreword “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work,” Jesus once declared to the unbelieving Jews at a feast in Jerusalem ( John 5:17). Every- thing that the Father works, He works through the Son. In fact, the Father always works through the Son and in the Holy Spirit. This is the glory and beauty of the Triune God, always at peace and rest, and always working. This book, The Work of the Holy Spirit, develops a worthy theme. In the Bible, we read of the Spirit working from the very first chapter (Gen. 1:2) to the very last (Rev. 22:17). He wrought the creation (Gen. 1:2) and He has been working “hitherto” (cf. John 5:17). Before the world was or, more accurately, in the timeless Trinitar- ian God, the “eternal Spirit” (Heb. 9:17) is the perfect, personal bond of love between the Father and the Son. To the Holy Ghost is ascribed the blessed work of searching “the deep things of [the Triune] God” (I Cor. 2:10). The hidden wisdom of God in Jesus Christ (I Cor. 2:5-10) is now “revealed” to us by the Spirit (v. 10; cf. vv. 11-16) in the Scrip- tures God breathed forth by the Spirit (II Tim. 3:16). Moreover, “the Spirit of truth” ( John 14:17) is active in faithful saints and churches illuminating us so that we understand the Word by faith (Eph. 3:17-18). Nothing, and no one, less than the Holy Spirit Himself has been working through the preparing and delivering of the eight speeches on the Holy Spirit’s work which are now the eight v Foreword chapters of this book. Here is biblical, creedal and soul-refreshing teaching that honours the Holy Spirit who glorifies Jesus Christ and, thereby, the Triune God ( John 16:13-15). May the Spirit bless to the hearts of the readers this book which explains and applies the biblical truth of His work! A word about the origin of this book. Part I contains the six main lectures by Profs. David Engelsma and Herman Hanko at the tenth biennial British Reformed Fellowship (BRF) Family Con- ference at the Share Centre on Upper Lough Erne in Co. Fer- managh, N. Ireland (August, 2008). Part II consists of the two Lord’s Day sermons at this conference by the same two brethren. The members of the BRF decided to include these two addresses in this book because they further develop aspects of the Holy Spirit and His work. One of the chapters is significantly longer than the rest: “The Holy Spirit and Assurance.” Given the erroneous and harmful teaching of many conservative Presbyterian and Reformed men, past and present, Prof. Engelsma developed and expanded this lecture for the written page. This more detailed and polemical chapter adds to the value of the book and, we trust, will bring many to greater consolation in the gospel of Christ through the work of the Comforter! Thus we send forthThe Work of the Holy Spirit to the reading pub- lic. It is a worthy addition to the two previous BRF publications by Profs. Hanko and Engelsma: Keeping God’s Covenant (2006) and The Five Points of Calvinism (2008).1 The special lecture on “Charismaticism” which I gave at the BRF Conference on “The Work of the Holy Spirit” will be published, God-willing, in a future issue of the British Reformed Journal (BRJ). For information about the BRJ (and the BRF), see the Appendix, “About the British Reformed Fellowship.” 1 These books and many others are available from the Covenant Protestant Re- formed Church Bookstore (www. cprf.co.uk/bookstore). vi Foreword “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen” (II Cor. 13:14). Rev. Angus Stewart BRF Chairman vii PA RT 1 C h a p t e r 1 The Person of the Holy Spirit Prof. David J. Engelsma Scripture: John 15:26-16:16 Introduction The subject of the Holy Spirit and His work is especially timely and worthwhile. There is a great deal of interest today in many Christian circles in spirituality and spiritual experience. Much of what passes for spirituality and spiritual experience is, in fact, mysticism—one of the great, perennial threats to true Christian- ity. The Holy Spirit is God dwelling in us and the Spirit of Jesus Christ working salvation in us, so that all genuine spirituality and all real spiritual experience are due to the Spirit. In this book, we teach a genuine spirituality and spiritual experience. This is the spirituality and spiritual experience caused by the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus calls the “Comforter” in John 14-16. Another reason why the subject of the Holy Spirit is timely and worthwhile is that we live in a time when a false and dangerous teaching and practice concerning the Holy Spirit and His pres- ence and operations are popular: the neo-Pentecostal or Charis- matic movement, which lately has taken form as the movement of “signs and wonders.”1 1 For a description and critique of the neo-Pentecostal or Charismatic move- ment, see David J. Engelsma, “Try the Spirits: A Reformed Look at Pentecos- 1 The Work of the Holy Spirit The Charismatic movement exerts a powerful appeal upon churches and individual Christians, as is evident from its enor- mous popularity, worldwide. The movement allures Reformed churches and Christians. A number of Presbyterian and Re- formed churches in North America have taken decisions that the extraordinary gifts have not ceased (as the Reformation had de- clared!) and have approved the Charismatic movement as being a genuine work of God in the last days. In Grand Rapids, Michi- gan in the United States, historically a centre of the Reformed faith, thousands of Dutch Reformed people, old and young, have left the Reformed churches and abandoned the Reformed faith for large, growing Charismatic churches. The appeal of the Charismatic movement is its promise of life, power, excitement and feeling, in contrast, the movement charges, with the lifelessness, the powerlessness, the monotony and the coldness of the historic Protestant denominations, particularly the Reformed churches. It is the need of the hour, not only to expose and condemn the neo-Pentecostal or Charismatic movement, but also to assure be- lievers and their children concerning genuine spiritual life, power, joy and experience. Still another reason why a concentrated study of the Holy Spirit and His work is timely and worthwhile is that it is possible that there is a neglect of the Holy Spirit and His work among us. Reformed people then can be deceived by the Charismatic life, power, excitement and feeling because they are ignorant of the real spiritual life, power and experience. They open themselves up to the spirit of the Charismatic movement because they do not know the Spirit of Christ as they should. talism” (South Holland, IL: South Holland Protestant Reformed Evangelism Committee, 2001); David J. Engelsma, Wilbur Bruinsma and Charles Terpstra, “Pentecostalism: Spirit-Filled Blessing … or Dangerous Heresy?” (Holland, MI: Evangelism Committee of the First Protestant Reformed Church of Holland, 2001). 2 The Person of the Holy Spirit I am quick to add that there is a perfectly proper lack of attention paid to the Holy Spirit. Jesus taught that the Spirit He would send on Pentecost would not call attention to Himself, but to Jesus. “He shall testify of me” ( John 15:26). “The Spirit of truth … shall glorify me” ( John 16:13-14). One sure proof that the neo-Pentecostal movement is false is that its spirit calls attention to itself, consigning Jesus Christ to the background. Nevertheless, without at all obscuring Jesus Christ, Scripture says much about the Spirit and His work. If we ignore this teaching about the Spirit, or even neglect it, so emphasizing in our preach- ing, study and meditation the Father and His work of election and the Son and His work of redemption as to minimize the Spirit and His work of sanctification, the consequences will be a lack of spirituality, of healthy Christian experience and of power to live a holy life.
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