When the Holy Ghost is Come | Page 2

to hope that his
words will make it plain to some of them that the highest intercourse
with the Divine is their privilege; that the special province of the Holy
Ghost is to lead men into the truest devotion to God, and to the

advancement of His Kingdom on earth, even while they are carrying on
the common avocations associated with earning their daily bread.
The only purpose of God having a practical bearing on our lives is His
purpose to save men from sin and its awful consequences, and make
them conform to His will in this world as in the next. The work of the
Holy Spirit is to help us to achieve that purpose. Without His help we
are unable to overcome the difficulties that are in the way, whether we
consider them from the standpoint of the world or of the individual. If
anyone could have looked at the state of the world at the time of our
Lord's death he would surely have regarded the work which the
Apostles were commissioned to attempt as the most utterly wild and
impracticable enterprise that the human mind could conceive. And it
was so, but for one fact. That fact was the promise of the Comforter,
the Holy Spirit, to be the great Helper in the undertaking.
And equally in the work of uniting the individual soul with God's
purpose that Spirit is our Helper. In the work of righteousness He is a
Partner with us. In the life of faith and prayer He is our unwavering
Prompter and Guide. In the submission of our wills to God and the
chastening of our spirits He is the great Co-worker with us. In the
bearing of burdens and the enduring of trial and sorrow He joins hands
with us to lead us on. In the purifying of every power from the taint of
sin He is our Sanctifier.
All this is practical. It has to do with to-day--with every bit of to-day.
In fact, so far from the sphere of the Holy Spirit being limited to the
pulpit or the platform, or to the inward experiences of the religious life,
He is just as truly and properly concerned with the affairs of the shop
and the street, the nursery and the kitchen, the chamber of suffering and
the home of penury, as with preaching the Gospel or healing the sick.
Now it is to lead its readers to a personal experience of all this that this
book has been written. No mere intellectual assent to the truth it sets
forth can satisfy its author, any more than it can benefit his readers.
What he seeks, and what I join him in devoutly asking of God, is that
you, dear friend, who may take this little volume into your hands, may
see what an infinite privilege is yours, and may begin to act with God
the Holy Ghost, and to open your whole being to Him, that He may
work with you.
BRAMWELL BOOTH. LONDON, January, 1909.

I.
WHO IS HE?
"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you."
On that last eventful evening in the upper room, just after the Passover
feast, Jesus spoke to His disciples about His departure, and, having
commanded them to love one another, He besought them not to be
troubled in heart, but to hold fast their faith in Him, assuring them that,
though He was to die and leave them, He was but going to the Father's
many-mansioned house to prepare a place for them.
But already they were troubled, for what could this death and departure
mean but the destruction of all their hopes, of all their cherished plans?
Jesus had drawn them away from their fishing-boats, their places of
custom and daily employment, and inspired them with high personal
and patriotic ambitions, and encouraged them to believe that He was
the Seed of David, the promised Messiah; and they hoped that He
would cast out Pilate and his hated Roman garrison, restore the
kingdom to Israel, and sit on David's throne, a King, reigning in
righteousness and undisputed power and majesty for ever. And then,
were they not to be His Ministers of State and chief men in His
Kingdom?
He was their Leader, directing their labours; their Teacher, instructing
their ignorance and solving their doubts and all their puzzling problems;
their Defence, stilling the stormy sea and answering for them when
questioned by wise and wily enemies.
They were poor and unlearned and weak. In Him was all their help, and
what would they do, what could they do, without Him? They were
without social standing, without financial prestige, without learning or
intellectual equipment, without political or military power. He was
their All, and without Him they