Spirit

The Scriptures tell us that “God is a Spirit” (John iv. 24); that His dwelling-place is “in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and power everlasting” (1 Tim. vi. 16): that His throne is in the heavens. And from the testimony we learn that, by his free Spirit, He is present everywhere: Filling the boundless immensity of space, taking cognizance of the most minute as well as the largest and grandest objects of His creation—the falling of a sparrow to the ground (Matt. x. 29), or the falling of great and mighty empires upon the earth (Dan. iv.).

In recognition of this universal supervision of the Father by His omniscient Spirit the Psalmist says: > “The Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.” > “He fashioneth their hearts alike: he considereth all their works.”

With this, an especial element of comfort to the believer, is expressed in these words: > “Behold the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy” (Psa. xxxiii.).

It is written that “No man hath seen God at any time” (John i. 18). Moses alone was permitted to behold His “Similitude”—the similitude of form, though not of the face of Deity. His dwelling-place is far away from us; yet that “he is everywhere present by his Spirit” the Psalmist shows when he says: > “Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in (‘Sheol’), behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me; and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me: even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee: but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee” (Psa. cxxxix.).

“All this is equivalent to saying that the Father-power is omnipresent by His Spirit” (Phanerosis p. 19). The apostle Paul, in his discourse to the Athenians, says that God is “not far from everyone of us: for in him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts xvii. 27, 28). It is the vast ocean of His free Spirit that gives and sustains the life of all created things. According to the word of the Psalmist, as he saith: > “Thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.” > “By his Spirit, he hath garnished the heavens” (Job xxvi. 13). > “There is one God the Father, out of whom are all things” (1 Cor. viii. 6).

This testimony gives rise to the following quotation, “Out of Deity, all things have proceeded: His free, radiant Spirit is the substratum of every existing thing, from the star of the first magnitude to the smallest insect of the air” (Eureka Vol. I., p. 97).