Table of Contents
Biederwolf A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit surveys, names of the Spirit, advent, personality, deity, sealing by, anointing of, fruits, baptism of, filling of, emblems, resistance of the Spirit. Biederwolf Help Study Holy Spirit
Biederwolf-A Help to the Study of the Holy Spirit
A HELP to is the STUDY of the HOLY SPIRIT
William Edward Biederwolf
Author of “The White Life”; “Christian Science,Tested by Philosophy, Medicine and Religion”; “Hell—Why—What-and How Long”, etc. Second Edition. Introduction by William G. Moorehead, D. D.
Boston:James H. Earle & Company
178 Washington Street
Copyright 1903
Table of Contents of Biederwolf Help Study Holy Spirit
CONTENTS. p12
1. The Name of the Spirit – 17
2. The Advent of the Spirit – 23
3. The Personality of the Spirit – 29
4. The Deity of the Spirit – 33
5. The Sealing of the Spirit – 36
6. The Anointing of the Spirit – 41
7. The Communion of the Spirit – 46
8. The Fruits of the Spirit – 55
9. The Baptism of the Spirit – 72
10. The Filling of the Spirit – 92
11. The Emblems of the Spirit – 139
Fire | Wind | Water | Seal | Oil | Dove
12. The Resistance of the Spirit – 153
-Resisting the Spirit
-Grieving the Spirit
-Quenching the Spirit
-Tempting the Spirit
-Defiling the Temple of the Spirit
-Despising the Spirit
-Blaspheming the Spirit
Bibliography 192
INTRODUCTION.
Our age is distinguished for its earnestness of study in the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. The last quarter of a century has been remarkable for the productiveness of books on this great subject. Naturally, there is considerable diversity as to the relative value of works on the person and the functions of the spirit. Some confine themselves to a single phase of the Spirit’s activity, while others treat of Him both as to His person and work. In all, however, there is ap parent the desire to be true to the Scripture, which must always remain the one unchanging source of knowledge on this as on all other parts of revealed truth. There is manifest likewise the honest effort to be helpful to Christians who long to know more of the gracious Spirit without whose presence and assistance they feel themselves powerless as witnesses for Christ.
However copiously treated, the great theme is not exhausted, nor can it be. For it is with one of the Persons of the Godhead we are dealing, hence the theme is an infinite one. Accordingly, fresh studies on it are always in place. No one book nor all books combined have here spoken the last word. This mine of truth will be as productive for the generations to come as it has been in the ages past. Since the Spirit
8 Introduction
is the Author of that mighty change in men commonly called regeneration, since He is the fountain of all true holiness of life in the saved, since it is He who baptizes believers into the one Body, and is Himself the gracious Habitant of the body, fitting it by His presence and His grace for its glorious destiny, every new effort to shed light on His blessed work should be welcomed with gladness by the people of God. It is with sincere pleasure that this book by the Rev. W. E. Biederwolf is commended to Christian people. Certain features in it are noteworthy. First, it is conservative. By this is not meant that it deals only with those phases of the Spirit’s work that are universally recognized and accepted, while those more recondite and difficult are passed over in silence, for the author grapples with some of the most mysterious and abstruse features of the great problem. What is meant is, that the author is ruled by a wise caution in his treatment of the theme, and particularly in his expositions. He brings his views and the views of others also to the Word of God as the arbiter and final test. There are no rash statements to be found in it, and no fanciful or extreme positions are assumed. While not ignoring Christian experience touching the presence and influence of the Spirit in individual believers, the author observes on this profound and
8 Introduction
is the Author of that mighty change in men commonly called regeneration, since He is the fountain of all true holiness of life in the saved, since it is He who baptizes believers into the one Body, and is Himself the gracious Habitant of the body, fitting it by His presence and His grace for its glorious destiny, every new effort to shed light on His blessed work should be welcomed with gladness by the people of God.It is with sincere pleasure that this book by the Rev. W. E. Biederwolf is commended to Christian people. Certain features in it are noteworthy. First, it is conservative. By this is not meant that it deals only with those phases of the Spirit’s work that are universally recognized and accepted, while those more recondite and difficult are passed over in silence, for the author grapples with some of the most mysterious and abstruse features of the great problem. What is meant is, that the author is ruled by a wise caution in his treatment of the theme, and particularly in his expositions. He brings his views and the views of others also to the Word of God as the arbiter and final test. There are no rash statements to be found in it, and no fanciful or extreme positions are assumed. While not ignoring Christian experience touching the presence and influence of the Spirit in individual believers, the author observes on this profound and
Introduction 9
mysterious point a commendable reserve, and speaks with the hesitancy that must ever become the reverent inquirer in this field. And this is praiseworthy; for after all, blessed as Christian experience is, it is not nor can be the ultimate court of appeal in determining the divine action of the Spirit, nor can general deductions be drawn therefrom as to how he operates and why. Our Lord spoke a very profound word, when, speaking of the Comforter, He said, “He shall not speak from Himself; He shall glorify Me.” Rarely does the Spirit invite our attention to His own presence and work in the soul; rather, He uniformly turns Our thoughts and affections to the Lord Jesus, the object of our faith, the center and Sup) of our hope. We have long been convinced that to study the presence and work of the Spirit in the believer apart from the word is a mistake if not a perilous experiment. Even His witness with our spirit that we are the children of God (Rom. 8:16) is not apart from the word, nor yet from the glory of Christ in whom alone we are brought into the filial relation (Jn. 1: 12.) Scripture holds the supreme place, and the author of this book uniformally turns to it for light and guidance.Another thing is, these studies are reverential. There is everywhere manifest complete subjection to the authority of Scripture, and confidence in its un
10 Introduction -Biederwolf Help Study Holy Spirit
erring teaching. This is refreshing, particularly in these degenerate times, when too many, alas, seem disposed to sit in judgment on the word, or bend it into conformity with their theories and presuppositions. Loyalty to God’s truth is fast becoming the burning question of our day, even among evangelical churches. Because of its unquestioning loyalty, this book will prove helpful and stimulating.
Still another interesting feature of it is, its excel lent bibliography. Most of that which has been published on the Holy Spirit since John Owen’s book finds a place in this well-selected list.
That God may use these studies relating to the per son and work of His Divine Spirit for the furtherance of His cause and the good of His people is the prayer of the Writer.
WILLIAM G. MOOREHEAD,
Åenia Theological Seminary.
By Way of Explanation
This little book is the outgrowth of the writer’s own perplexity. This age is the dispensation of the third Person of the Trinity. For nineteen hundred years we have been saying, “I believe in the Holy Ghost,” but how much do we believe in Him, and what is it we believe about Him? The method of His operation must forever remain an inscrutable mystery to finite minds, and subtle metaphysical distinctions are as useless here as they are presumptuous; but when once we realize that every relationship to the Father and the Son is brought about, and every treasure of their infinite love is made over to us through that operation, it will not seem strange that such great emphasis should be laid upon the necessity of an appreciation of what those relationships and treasures are in order to His Presence and power within us, such as God’s plan for our Christian experience involves.
The surprising thing is, that this emphasis has been So long delayed; indeed, the past nineteen years have Seen more literature on this subject issue from the press than all the rest of the nineteen hundred together. The “Bibliotheca.” for forty-six years from the date of its first publication, 1844, contains not one article on the Holy Spirit; for more than forty
12 By Way of Explanation – Biederwolf Help Study Holy Spirit
years, from 1839, the “Methodist Quarterly” contained but one article; the “Princeton Review,” in fifty-six years, from 1838, only one, and the same thing is true of all other theological magazines. Dr. Charles Hodge gave us three ponderous volumes of Systematic Theology, containing two thousand and three hundred pages, and of this number only twelve pages were devoted to the subject of the Holy Spirit; and here, as well as in all other such literature, the question, as a matter of course, has been treated wholly as a theological dogma, with but little meaning for the life and experience of the believer.Surely in this day of spiritism this emphasis upon the relationship to the human soul of The Spirit, who is to “guide into all truth,” is timely and fortunate. Would we but be guided by His gentle whisperings, what absurdities of belief and denials of Him of whom He came to witness might be spared. Yet not alone for this, but for what it is the privilege and the duty of a Spirit-indwelt man to be and do, is not this revival of interest in the teaching of the Scriptures concerning the Person and work of the Holy Spirit of God and of His Son Christ Jesus a matter of great rejoicing?It is hoped this little volume will commend itself, not as an earlier or later view simply clothed in new language, nor yet as another opinion on this so vitally
By Way of Explanation 13
important subject; human opinion is a worthless thing if only Scripture hath spoken plainly. Nor has it been meant in any way as controversal. The writer in his own anxiety to appreciate his privilege as a child of the Almighty has been left in confusion and uncertainty by at least seemingly contradictory statements of different teachers upon the relationship of this blessed Spirit of God to His children. For instance, when Dr. James Gray (“The Holy Spirit and the Believer,” page 16), says, “The filling of the Spirit is for holiness,” and Dr. Torrey (“The Baptism of the Holy Ghost,” page 6) says, “The baptism of the Spirit has nothing to do directly with cleansing from sin, but is connected with service,” and when Dr. Gray (same page) says, “The anointing is for service,” and Camp bell Morgan (“Spirit of God,” page 194) says, “The anointing which is on the child of God is that which was received at regeneration, and is not an experience after such a time,” and when Dr. Chapman (“Received ve the Holy Ghost,” page 75) says, “It is unscriptural for the Christian to be talking about the baptism of the Holy Ghost,” and MacNeil (“Spirit-filled Life,” page 38) says, “It surely cannot be unscriptural for a believer to pray, ‘Lord Jesus, baptize me with the Holy Ghost:’” when these and many other such statements of apparent contradiction confront us we wonder whether the brethren are disagreeing about
By Way of Explanation 15 – Biederwolf Help Study Holy Spirit
Scriptural way of viewing the matter under consideration. The multiplication of words has been studiously avoided; little thought is paid to style, other than to make it too plain for any misconstruction to be placed upon its meaning. A Bibliography has been added for those wishing to prosecute more thoroughly this important study.With earnest prayer that the blessing of Him of whom it so unworthily speaks may rest upon this humble effort to the edification and comfort of those in whom He dwells, it is sent forth upon its mission. W. E. B.
Holy Spirit Menu
These are the subcategories under the Holy Spirit Category:Baptism in or of the Holy Spirit | Deity of the Holy Spirit | Filling of the Holy Spirit | Gifts of the Holy Spirit | Grieving the Holy Spirit | Names of the Holy Spirit | Speaking in Tongues | Symbols of the Holy Spirit | The Personality of the Holy Spirit | Work and Functions of the Holy Spirit
Help Page: Clarification on the central Focus of the Holy SpiritYouth and education
W. E. Biederwolf was born in Monticello, Indiana, the son of German immigrants. At the age of eighteen, while teaching at a public school in White County, Biederwolf made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ and joined the local Presbyterian church.[1] After attending Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana, for a year, Biederwolf moved on to Princeton College where he earned a B.A. in 1892 and an M.A. in 1894. He graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1895. Much to his father's displeasure, Biederwolf also played football during his years at Princeton.[2] During the summers Biederwolf worked at rescue missions in the Bowery and in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and after graduation from seminary, he worked for a year with evangelist B. Fay Mills.[3] After marrying his childhood friend Ida Casad in 1896, Biederwolf spent eighteen months studying at the University of Berlin and the University of Erlangen in Germany and at the Sorbonne in Paris. While in Berlin he also preached at the American Church.[4]
Evangelism
Biederwolf returned to the United States in 1897 and was called as pastor of the Broadway Presbyterian Church in Logansport, Indiana, serving a year before the Spanish–American War and three years afterward. During the war, he was commissioned as a chaplain with the 161st Indiana Volunteers, which served in Cuba for six months. (Biederwolf himself wrote an exhaustive regimental history.)[5] His military experience suggested how social service might be melded with evangelism.[6] In 1900, Biederwolf left the pastorate for professional evangelism, first apprenticing under Presbyterian evangelist J. Wilbur Chapman, then striking out on his own by 1906. Although he never achieved the extraordinary popularity of Billy Sunday, Biederwolf was in the first rank of contemporary evangelists along with such men as Chapman, Gypsy Smith, and R. A. Torrey. By the 1910s he was holding evangelistic campaigns in small cities such as Fall River, Massachusetts; Watertown, New York; and Allentown, Pennsylvania.[7] Like Sunday, Biederwolf emphasized prohibition and tended to meld patriotism with religion, calling the "flag of the saloon" the "dirty red flag" of socialism. Yet Biederwolf, a staunch theological conservative, also promoted civic reform and played a prominent role in the Men and Religion Forward Movement of 1911–12, which tenuously mingled soul winning with the Social Gospel.[8] In his early years, at least, Biederwolf was not above using parades, athletic feats, and magic tricks to win over audiences. Also like his colleagues, Biederwolf gave sermons on "booze," motherhood, and purity (though, as was typical of the period, the latter was given to men only).[9] Later Biederwolf winced at evangelists who had promotional photographs taken of themselves in ridiculous poses, admitting that although he himself had "been foolishly guilty with his brethren," he had "put away the things of a fool."[10] While Biederwolf stressed the significance of the Holy Spirit in producing conversions, he also did not shy away from noting the importance of the evangelist's "personal magnetism."[11] Eager to improve evangelistic method and the reputation of evangelists, Biederwolf served as a president of the Interdenominational Association of Evangelists, which he helped to found in 1904. From 1914 to 1917 Biederwolf also served as executive director of the Federal Council of Churches' commission on evangelism.[12] In 1923–1924 Biederwolf conducted campaigns in Australia and Asia; and in Korea, moved by the suffering of lepers, he established and supported a leper colony in Reisui and became the director of the American Mission to Lepers.[13]
Other interests
In 1909 he established the Family Altar League to promote family devotions, and for many years he served as its president. He also served as the director of the Winona Lake Bible Conference. From 1923 until 1933 he was director of the Winona Lake School of Theology, and in 1933 he became its president. During the last ten years of his life he was the seasonal pastor of the Royal Poinciana Chapel in Palm Beach, Florida, a nondenominational congregation of 1,500 members, many of whom were very wealthy.[14] Biederwolf wrote more than thirty books including The Millennium Bible, a commentary on the eschatological passages of the Scripture (still in print at the end of the 20th century),[15] as well as treatises on evangelism, volumes of sermons, and even Illustrations from Mythology (1927) and Illustrations from Art (1927).[16] Personality and importance Ever a student, Biederwolf was a firm believer in serious reading and regularly carried a book under his arm to make use of otherwise wasted moments. His sermons were written out word-for-word and memorized, but his delivery was so fluent that listeners were unaware of his preparation. Biederwolf enjoyed athletics (in later life, tennis and golf), and he was a collector of small gemstones, which he prized for their color and light rather than for their intrinsic value.[17] Biederwolf died at his home in Monticello in 1939. The fundamentalist Bob Jones Jr., who as a boy knew and admired Biederwolf, thought him a man whose "scholarship was broad" and whose use of the English language was "concise, accurate, and powerful."[18] A recent biographer considered Biederwolf an "excellent administrator, an inspiring preacher, a popular author, and a highly successful evangelist, [who] did much to help shape the methods and message of revivalism during the first thirty years of the twentieth century."[19] See more at Wikipedia.org
Biderwolf-A-Help-to-the-Study-of-the-Holy-Spirit.gbk_.twm
Version: 1
Advertisement
How to insert the full text of a verse reference into any program with two clicks, and without leaving that program.