The work of the Holy Spirit - pagina 53

—

III.

The

Indwelling-

and Outgoing "And

all

the host of

of His

The thorough and

Works mouth."

of God.

them by the breath Psalm xxxiii. 6.

clear-headed theologians of the most flourish-

ing periods of the Church used to distinguish between the indwelling and outgoing works of God.

The same

distinction exists to

some extent

in nature.

The

lion

watching his prey differs widely from the lion resting among his whelps. See the blazing eye, the lifted head, the strained muscles and panting breath. One can see that the crouching lion is laboring intensely. Yet the act is now only in contemplation. The heat and the ferment, the nerve-tension are

all

within.

A terrible

deed is about to be done, but it is still under restraint, until he pounces with thundering roar upon his unsuspecting victim, burying his fangs deep into the quivering flesh. We find the same distinction in finer form among men. When a storm has raged at sea, and the fate of the absent fishing-smacks that are expected to return with the tide is uncertain, a fisher-

man's awe-stricken wife sits on the brow of the sand-hill watching and waiting in speechless suspense. As she waits, her heart and soul labor in prayer; the nerves are tense, the blood runs fast, and breathing is almost suspended. Yet there is no outward act; only labor within. But on the safe return of the smacks, when she sees her own, her burdened heart finds relief in a cry of joy. Or, taking examples from the more ordinary walks of life, compare the student, the scholar, the inventor thinking out his

new

invention, the architect forming his plans, the general studying his opportunities, the sturdy sailor nimbly climbing the

mast of his yonder blacksmith raising the sledge to strike the glowing iron upon the anvil with concentrated muscular force. Judging superficially, one would say the blacksmith and sailor work, but ship, or

the

men

of learning are idle.

Yet he that looks beneath the sur-

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