to its power to produce in the hearts of men an
effect wholly different from that of the Law: it is accompanied by
the Holy Spirit and it creates a new heart. Man, driven into fear and
anxiety by the preaching of the Law, hears this Gospel message,
which, instead of reminding him of God's demands, tells him what God
has done for him. It points not to man's works, but to the works of
Christ, and bids him confidently believe that for the sake of his Son
God will forgive his sins and accept him as his child. And this
message, when received in faith, immediately cheers and comforts the
heart. The heart will no longer flee from God; rather it turns to
him. Finding grace with God and experiencing his mercy, the heart
feels drawn to him. It commences to call upon him and to treat and
revere him as its beloved God. In proportion as such faith and solace
grow, also love for the commandments will grow and obedience to them
will be man's delight. Therefore, God would have his Gospel message
urged unceasingly as the means of awakening man's heart to discern
his state and recall the great grace and lovingkindness of God, with
the result that the power of the Holy Spirit is increased constantly.
Note, no influence of the Law, no work of man is present here. The
force is a new and heavenly one--the power of the Holy Spirit. He
impresses upon the heart Christ and his works, making of it a true
book which does not consist in the tracery of mere letters and words,
but in true life and action.

30. God promised of old, in Joel 2, 28 and other passages, to give
the Spirit through the new message, the Gospel. And he has verified
his promise by public manifestations in connection with the preaching
of that Gospel, as on the day of Pentecost and again later. When the
apostles, Peter and others, began to preach, the Holy Spirit
descended visibly from heaven upon their hearts. Acts 8, 17; 10, 44.
Up to that time, throughout the period the Law was preached, no one
had heard or seen such manifestation. The fact could not but be
grasped that this was a vastly different message from that of the Law
when such mighty results followed in its train. And yet its substance
was no more than what Paul declared (Acts 13, 38-39): "Through this
man is proclaimed unto you remission of sins: and by him every one
that believeth is justified from all things, from which ye could not
be justified by the law of Moses."

31. In this teaching you see no more the em