In this world of lots of troubles there are people who let their life be guided by an unseen Spirit.

Christadelphians are people who believe all human beings are one under the skin. No matter where people live on earth, we are all alike as to body, although of a different skin colour. Christadelphians believe we are all made in the image of God.

God the Divine Creator started off mankind from just the “one man,” Adam. This first man’s wife, Eve, drew Adam into the mind of wanting to know as much as God, which led them to go against God's command and eat from the Tree of Knowledge. This disobedience and doubt of God's righteousness soured them, as they were cast out of the Garden of Eden and had to vouch for everything from then on.

But God did not leave them alone. His Spirit and His Voice was all the time round them and their offspring. The Ghost or Spirit which was with them is the Power of God which provides for everything man needs.

Also for today, Christadelphians believe God's Spirit or His Power is available here on earth for all those who want to receive Him. It is that Spirit Which unites Christadelphians, them being one with Christ and one with God, the same way as Jesus Christ is one with all his followers and one with his heavenly Father, Jehovah the God of gods. Christadelphian people believe the Spirit of God gives them insight but also the power to continue in this life and to withstand this age or system of things.

"GHOST" ought to have been translated in every case "Spirit", as it is in the Revised Version. The Holy Spirit is the means by which God performs His Will, as is evidenced by Luke i. 35, where we read:

"The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee".

Again, in Acts x. 38,

"God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power".

Because it is coeternal with the Father, in fact, as one writer well puts it, the Sun and the light of the Sun are one, therefore the Holy Spirit is personified, and hence it is well termed by Jesus

"The Comforter".

See John xiv. 16, 26; xv. 26; xvi. 7; Acts ii. 4; v.31, 32; Heb. ii. 4.

F. G. J.

“And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter,
that He may abide with you for ever"” (Joh 14:16 KJ21)

Examination of this verse (John xiv. 16) in its context quickly discloses that there is no support in it for the popular theory that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity.

The Bible teaches that God is One, the Father, and Jesus Christ His Son (Ephes. 1. 3), who was filled with God's power, which enabled him to demonstrate his claims (Acts ii. 22).

“"Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man approved of God among you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did through Him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know—” (Ac 2:22 KJ21)

This chapter confirms this teaching. Christ is presented preparing his disciples for his departure; verses 10-12 draw attention to God's work through him, then comes the promise that, through him, they should accomplish similar works, although he was going to leave them.

“10 And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said unto me,
‘Arise and go into Damascus, and there it shall be told thee of all the things which are appointed for thee to do.’
11 And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus.
12 "And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, of good report among all the Jews who dwelt there,” (Ac 22:10-12 KJ21)

“Then I shall request the Father and He will give you apostles another Helper, so that it may be with you apostles throughout all future periods of time–” (Joh 14:16 mhm)

“For the One The God sent forth is speaking the Sayings of The God, because He does not give the Pneuma by measure.” (Joh 3:34 mhm)

The means he calls a "comforter" (verse16), something to make up for his absence. In verse 26 this is called the "Holy Ghost" (more correctly "spirit"), that which He had without measure (John iii. 34).

Though "he" is used in the text, the teaching is unaltered; is merely the construction of the original language poorly translated. "Comforter", being masculine, requires following pronouns of the same gender. A similar construction is found in Acts xii. 10. Because "his" is used here does not make "gate" a person.

“Then they went past the first guard and then the second, and as they came to the iron gate leading into the city it opened by itself before them. Now as they left and went down one street, instantly the angel left him.” (Ac 12:10 mhm)

E. W. Evans

(Bible quotes added by the Belgian Christadelphian office)

Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the only sin for which no repentance will be of any avail, and for which no forgiveness is possible; for the Lord has said:

"All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men, but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven unto men" (Matt. xii. 31).

This sin consisted, apparently, in rejecting the ocular demonstration of the Truth referred to in Hebrews ii. 3, which reads:

"How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs arid wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?"

Therefore, to reject the Truth in such circumstances was to reject the testimony of the Spirit.

Apparently there is a want of harmony between what is written in Joel ii. 28-32 and Peter's application of the prophecy as recorded in Acts ii. 16-20; but, in view of the fact that Peter was inspired (Acts i. 8), and that he distinctly said that what happened on the day of Pentecost was a fulfilment of Joel's prophecy (Acts ii. 16); we must find harmony in the records; and the better, if not the only explanation of the difficulty, is to assume that the prophecy was to have a double fulfilment, like many other prophecies (Hos. xi. 1, and Matt. ii. 15; Isa. liii. 4, and Matt. viii. 17).

Since every now and again the question comes forward, it is well for us to state once more our position in the matter. Briefly, we hold:

(1) that the Holy Spirit in the First Century was given in open and recognisable fashion;

(2) that it was given to true believers only;

(3) that its possession was attested by miraculous powers;

(4) that, with the completion of their purpose, the cessation of these gifts was foretold, and the Spirit's presence ceased to be evident;

(5) that at the present time the Holy Spirit is not given to man.

Acts ii. 4-6; xi. 15-17; xix. 2; Gal. iii. 5; Ephes. i. 13,14; Heb. vi. 4; 1 Cor. xii. 4-11; xiii. 1; xiv. 18; 2 Tim.i. 6; Acts viii. 13-17; 2 Tim. ii. 2; 1 Pet. iv. 11; 1 Cor.xiii. 8; 2 Thess. ii. 8-11; 1 Cor. xiv. 32; 1 Tim. iv. 1;2 Tim. i. 6; Heb. vi. 4-8; 1 Cor. iii. 6-9; Acts xvi. 14;Amos iii. 8; viii. 11; Luke xxi. 15; Matt. x. 20; Lukexii. 12; Gal. i. 12; 1 Cor. xiv. 30; Gal. i. 8, 9; 1 Cor.xiii. 8; 1 Cor. xiii. 2.

W. J. Young

As to when, and why, the Holy Spirit was withdrawn, the following from the pens of Dr. Thomas and Brother Roberts is to the point:

"It was necessary, as a confirmation of the word preached (Heb. ii. 4; Acts v. 82; iv. 29, 30, 33), and for the upbuilding of the community of believers (1Cor. xii. 28; Ephes. iv. 11-16). When this purpose was served, the manifestation of the Spirit subsided with the death of those possessing it". Dr. John Thomas.

"There is no manifestation of the Spirit in these days. The power of continuing the manifestation doubtless died with the Apostles. Not that God could not have transferred it to others, but that He selected them as the channels of its bestowment in their age, and never, so far as we have any evidence, appointed successors ". Robert Roberts

Paul, in his exhorting the believers in Thessalonica to "Quench not the Spirit" (1 Thess. v. 19), was referring to the gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. xii. 1), which were in the possession of First-Century Christians for a specific purpose (1 Cor. xii. 4-12; Eph. iv. 11-14). The gift of the Spirit was more or less subject to the one gifted (1 Cor. xiv. 32), and an abuse or misuse of the gift would result in the quenching thereof, just as a receiving of the Truth not in the love of it (2 Thess. ii.10) would end in its removal, and a vain delusion being substituted in lieu thereof (2 Thess. ii. 11).

From the Lord's comparison of flesh and spirit, in John iii., it is evident that to be "born of spirit"(verses 7 and 8) is what the Apostle Paul speaks of when he refers to the change of nature of those accounted worthy of life eternal. He says (1 Cor. xv. 50-54):

"Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.. . . Behold, I show you a mystery. . . . We shal lall be changed. . . . This corruptible must put on incorruption. . . . Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up invictory" ".

The capabilities of spirit-born beings are hinted at by the Lord in John iii. 8 and practically demonstrated in Luke xxiv. 16, 81.

F. G. J.

“7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born anew. 8 The wind bloweth where it will, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” (Joh 3:7-8 ASV)