January 8

Does the heavenly Guest abide?


“I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one” (John 17:23).
“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” (1 Cor. 6:19).

If you had knocked at the door of my heart any time before my conversion, and had asked, who dwells in here, I would have answered that no one dwells here but Martin Luther! And if I had opened the door, and you had come in, you would have seen a raw-headed monk, with a shaven crown and a hair shirt, with two tables of stone under his pillow and a knotted scourge hanging beside his bed. But if you were to knock at the door of my heart tonight, I would answer that Martin Luther no longer lives here; Jesus Christ alone lives here!
—Martin Luther.


A friend of mine said recently, “I like the term, ‘Holy Ghost,’ for the word Ghost in the old Saxon was the same as the word for Guest.” Whether that be so or not, it may certainly be said that the Holy Ghost is the Holy Guest. He has come into the world and visits every heart seeking admittance as a guest. He may come to the soul unbidden, but He will not come in unbidden. He may be refused admission and turned away. But He comes. He is in the world like Noah’s dove, looking for an abiding place. He comes as a Guest, but as an abiding one, if received. He forces Himself upon no one. He waits for the open door and the invitation.
He comes gently. He comes in love. He comes on a mission of infinite goodwill, of mercy and peace and helpfulness and joy. He is the Advocate of the Father and of the Son to us men. He represents and executes the redemptive plans and purposes of the Triune God. As my old teacher, Daniel Steele, wrote, “He is the Executive of the Godhead.”—Samuel Logan Brengle.

When Ignatius was on his trial at Rome, he was asked by the Emperor, “What is the meaning of your name, Theophorus?” (God-bearer). He promptly replied, “He who has Christ in his breast.” And all Christians are God-bearers, whether they realize it or not. The unspeakably glorious mystery of an indwelling Holy Ghost is the possession of even the weakest and most failing child of God.
(From New Testament Holiness by Thomas Cook. Used by permission of the Epworth Press.)

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