Devotion on Hymns, “Come, Holy Ghost, with God the Son” # 160, 3 February 2015 Anno Domini
“If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” (John 14:15-21)
The subject of today’s hymn selection is not as often raised, as a matter of discussion, in the writings of the Reformers as we find among modern charismatics and evangelicals. What is the reason for this disparity of emphasis? In my opinion, the Reformers, readily admitting the efficacy of the Holy Ghost, nonetheless failed to find cause for a constant mention of the Holy Ghost since His primary role was not to lift Himself up, but to point, ALWAYS, to the Lord Jesus Christ! In some modern churches today, that role is reversed to the point that one would believe that Christ came for the purpose of extolling the Holy Ghost. “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” (John 14:26) “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.” (John 15:26-27)
We can readily distinguish the difference in roles between the Holy ghost and the only Begotten son of God. Though Father, So, and Holy Ghost are each fully God and share precisely the same purpose and Mind, they do differ in roles of execution of the will of God. The Holy Ghost is our personal Comforter and Teacher. He helps us to recall the truth of Holy Scripture which we have studied but may not understand or remember. Jesus, however, fulfilled the role as Redeemer, Savior, and Lamb of God. It was by His Blood by which we were purchased. So a major role of the Holy Ghost is always to point to Christ and His Gospel, not to magnify Himself.
The words are translated from the Latin by John Mason Neale. Musical score composition is Wareham, Vetter, Nunc Sancte nobis Spiritus, Jam lucis.
Come, Holy Ghost, with God the Son
Come Holy Ghost, with God the Son
and God the Father, ever one.
Shed forth thy grace within our breast,
and dwell with us a ready guest.
By every power, by heart and tongue,
by act and deed, thy praise be sung;
inflame with perfect love each sense,
that others’ souls may kindle thence.
O Father, that we ask be done,
through Jesus Christ, thine only Son,
who, with the Holy Ghost and thee,
shall live and reign eternally.
The Lord Jesus Christ is at the right hand of the Father and He possesses a bodily form, though a glorified body. There is no possibility that the Lord is physically present during the Holy communion in the elements of Bread and Wine; however, He is present spiritually in the Communion and wherever two or three are gathered together in His Name. The Roman church attempts to exalt her priesthood to the level of magicians in their sacerdotal ruse of converting the elements into the actual body and blood of Christ during the prayers of consecration, but Christ’s Body has once been sacrificed, and that sacrifice was once and sufficient for all time and eternity.
“Come Holy Ghost, with God the Son and God the Father, ever one. Shed forth thy grace within our breast, and dwell with us a ready guest.” The Christian heart is truly the Temple of God. Wherever the Son dwells, there is the Oneness of the Father, son, and Holy Ghost. The Voice of Christ is heard through the Voice of the Holy Ghost just as the Voice of God the Father was heard through the Voice of Jesus the Son. I take exception to the term “ready guest” in this hymn for Christ does not come to visit our hearts but rather comes to ABIDE there forever.
“By every power, by heart and tongue, by act and deed, thy praise be sung; inflame with perfect love each sense, that others’ souls may kindle thence.” Yes, the praise of God uttered by the Holy Ghost is proclaimed by every agency of our being, if we are God’s people – heart, tongue, every actions, and even song. The heart of the believer does not possess a casual love, but rather a heart inflamed by that perfect love imputed by God. Every sense is endowed with that invigorating love. A fire never burns alone when in contact with other fuels. If we are aflame for Christ, that fire will spread to adjacent hearts that are possessed of the fuel of faith and belief.
“O Father, that we ask be done, through Jesus Christ, thine only Son, who, with the Holy Ghost and thee, shall live and reign eternally.” This creedal benediction seals the whole of faith in the same way the Gloria or the Doxology. It testifies to the Triune nature of the Godhead – Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. This is the God that has existed from Eternity Past and shall exist and reign in Eternity Present and Future.
Do you know Him?
THE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore. Amen.
