of the waters" (Gen. 1:2). "By his Spirit the heavens are
garnished; his hand hath pierced the swift serpent" (Job 26:13). "By the
word of Jehovah were the heavens made, And all the host of them by the
breath of his mouth" (Ps. 33:6). "The Spirit of God hath made me, And
the breath of the Almighty giveth me life" (Job 33:4).

(2) The work of _providence_. "Thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are
created; and thou renewest the face of the ground" (Ps. 104:30).

(3) The work of _regeneration_ and resurrection. "Jesus answered,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born of water and the
Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). "But if
the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, he
that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall give life also to your
mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwelleth in you" (Rom. 8:11).

(4) He is the source of the _miraculous._ "But if I by the Spirit of God
cast out demons, then is the kingdom of God come upon you" (Matt.
12:28). "To another faith, in the same Spirit; and to another gifts of
healing, in the one Spirit; ... but all these worketh the one and the
same Spirit, dividing to each one severally even as he will" (1 Cor.
12:9, 11).

Thus in his works, his characteristics, the things he suffers, his
attributes and his achievements, we have a fivefold cord of testimony
that clearly demonstrates the Spirit's personality and divinity.

IV

THE SPIRIT AND JOHN THE BAPTIST

The first mention of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament is in
connection with John the Baptist: "There was in the days of Herod, king
of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abijah: and
he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. And
they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and
ordinances of the Lord blameless" (Luke 1:5, 6).

This Zacharias was taking his turn in the temple service, and an angel
appeared unto him and announced that in answer to his prayer his wife
Elisabeth should bear a son whose name should be called John; that he
should be great, and should drink no wine nor strong drink, and (Luke
1:15) "he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's
womb"; and "his father Zacharias was _filled with the Holy Spirit_, and
prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; for he hath
visited and wrought redemption for his people" (Luke 1:67, 68