The work of the Holy Spirit - pagina 93

;

THE CHURCH BEFORE AND AFTER CHRIST

53

Not that the revelation of old did not contain a large element had a different sense and purpose for them from what it has Before Christ, the entire service of types and shadows had for us. To consignificance which it lost immediately after the Advent. tinue it after the Advent would be equivalent to a denial and repuOne's shadow goes before him; when he diation of His coming. Hence the Holy Spirit steps into the light the shadow disappears. performed a special work for the saints of God by giving them a temporary service of types and shadows. That this service overshadowed all their life made its impression all the stronger. This shadow lay upon Israel's entire history was outlined in all their men from Abraham to John the Baptist; fell upon the judicial and political systems, and more heavily upon the social and domestic life and in purest images lay upon the servHence the Old Testament passages which refer to ice of worship. this service have not the meaning for us which they had for them, Every feature of it had a binding force for them. On the contrary, that

;

we do not

circumcise our boys, but baptize our children

;

we do not

eat the Passover, nor observe the Feast of Tabernacles, nor sacrifice

the blood of bulls or heifers, as every discriminating reader of the

Old Testament understands.

And

they

who

in the

New

Testament

Dispensation seek to reintroduce tithing, or to restore the kingdom

and the judiciary of the days of the Old

Testanie?it,

undertake, ac-

cording to past experience, a hopeless task: their efforts show poor

and their whole attitude proves that they do not enjoy the measure of the liberty of the children of God. Actually all Christians agree in this, acknowledging that the relation which we sustain toward the law of Moses is altogether different from that

success, full

of ancient Israel.

The Decalogue

alone

is

occasionally cause of contention, espe-

Fourth Commandment. There are still Christians who allow no difference between that which has a passing, ceremonial character and that which is perpetually ethical, and who seek to substitute the last day of the week for the Day of the Lord. However, leaving these serious differences alone, we repeat that the Holy Spirit had a special work in the days before Christ, which was intended for the saints of those days, but which has lost for us all its former significance. Not, however, that we may therefore discard this work of the Holy Spirit, and that the books containing these things may be left cially the

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