The Descent of the Dove

THE DESCENT OF THE DOVE

Charles Williams wrote "A Short History of the Holy Spirit in the Church" [c 1939]. It has been reprinted by Regent College, Vancouver, BC. He was an Englishman and wrote from that point of view. It is my wish to express his thoughts from my American point of view. R.D.Ice.

1. God’s Act to Redeem the World.

Dear Church of God at Corinth, Ephesus, Jerusalem, and everywhere in the world. The beginning of the Kingdom is at a point before Time. But the spiritual trigonometry finds it among Spiritual Secrets. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, .."

Draw a line from Bethany along the Ascending of the Christ in the clouds, and draw another from Jerusalem against the Descent of the Paraclete (Holy Spirit). This is the measurement of Eternity in operation, of the bright cloud and the rushing wind - God in Action.

History looks at an operation or action. We see the Holy Spirit act towards Christ under the conditions of our humanity. [He came as the Son of Man to set us free.] It was our humanity that gave the signal for God’s Act In Christ To Redeem The World. The visible birth of the church is at Pentecost - but that is only a result. The actual beginning - and climax - is in heaven.

2. Jesus - we believe in You!

The Spirit manifested before the nations. Those from the parts of Lybia about Cyrene, strangers of Rome, and the rest. Dispersed thousand that day caught something of the vision and heard something of the doctrine. Perhaps 100,000 (before persecution scattered them) returned to their own lands, if not as missionaries, as witnesses. The Holy Spirit took His own means to set up and spread the Church of God before a single apostolic step left Jerusalem. Mankind was to be generated anew.

They had one FACT - Christ had come, and been killed! And Risen! All had been "dead in trespasses and sins" - and now they were NOT! They were re-generated, and so might everyone be! "The promise," they shouted to the great number at Pentecost "is to you and to your children, and to all that are afar off." "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the Holy Ghost." They had believed in Jesus of Nazareth, without very clearly understanding Him. His Resurrection seemed to justify their belief. But much more now they were justified before God, or rather HE was justified by raising from death. This thing had happened in real time. In every kind of way it was true that the God of Israel would not leave their souls in hell nor allow His Holy One to see corruption.

3. Battle for the souls of mankind.

The Apostles had to proceed with the operational campaign which The Holy Ghost had initiated. But the operation had to deal with conditions (which the Confuser tried to turn to their destruction). The sign on the cross was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. Jewish religion, Roman order, Greek intellect. Christ had been Himself a Jew, but a Jew put to death for Jewish blasphemy. He said He was the Son of God. Matt. 26:63-65.