THE  FREEDOM  OF  THE  SPIRIT.  67

Nor  is  the  freedom  which  He  sheds  abroad  in  Chris
tendom  a  poor  reproduction  of  the  restless,  volatile,
self-asserting,  sceptical  temper  of  Pagan  Greek  life,
adapted  to  the  forms  and  thoughts  of  modern  civili
zation,  and  awkwardly  expressing  itself  in  Christian
phraseology.  No  :  He  gives  liberty  in  the  broad,
deep  sense  of  the  word.  At  His  bidding  the  inmost
soul  of  man  has  free  play  ;  it  moves  hither  and
thither  ;  it  rises  heavenward,  like  the  lark,  as  if  with
a  buoyant  sense  of  unfettered  life  and  power.  This
liberty  conies  with  the  gift  of  truth  P  ;  it  comes  along
with  that  gift  of  which  in  its  fulness  the  Eternal
Spirit  is  the  only  Giver  <*.  He  gives  freedom  from
error  for  the  reason  ;  freedom  from  constraint  for  the
affections ;  freedom  for  the  will  from  the  tyranny  of
sinful  and  human  wills.  Often  has  human  nature
imagined  for  itself  such  a  freedom  as  this  ;  it  has
sketched  the  outlines  more  or  less  accurately  ;  it  has
sighed  in  vain  for  the  reality.  Such  freedom  is,  in
fact,  a  creation  of  grace  :  the  sons  of  God  alone  enjoy
it.  "  Where  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is,  there  is  liberty."
On  this  day  "the  Holy  Church  throughout  the
world  doth"  specially  "  acknowledge"  and  adore  "  the
Holy  Ghost  the  Comforter,"  as  the  Peer  and  Equal,  in
His  Divine  Personality,  of  the  Only-Begotten  Son,
and  of  the  Everlasting  Father.  To-day  especially  we
remember  how  in  His  condescension  He  became  a
gift  to  man,  in  order  that  through  His  blessed  Pre
sence  we  might  be  free.  May  He  deign  to  enable
us  to  dwell  reverently  and  truthfully  on  that  freedom
which  He  bestows,  as  an  essential  feature  of  our
Pentecostal  heritage  !  May  we  learn  to  prize  highly

P  St.  John  viii.  32.  Q  St.  John  xiv.  26.
