Now "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (or Christ)"

(Rom.x.17). So it is evident that the parent sin of unbelief has to do with man's attitude

to the written and living Word of God. This is absolutely basic, and it is because of this

drift away from believing the Word of God and the Christ of that Word that we see the

apostasy deepening today with all the terrible problems that accompany it. It was not for

nothing that one of the Apostle Paul's last commands to Timothy was to "Proclaim

(preach) the Word" (II Tim. 4: 2), and there is certainly no substitute for this if we wish

to see the truth progressing and darkness being banished.

As regards salvation, man can do nothing to achieve this, and it is for this reason that

all has already been done for man by the Lord Jesus Christ. His last words were "It is

finished (completed)" (John 19: 30) and a completed work needs no additions. This is a

hard lesson for man to learn, for he believes that he can and must do something, and all

the false religions are agreed on this one fact, however much they may differ among

themselves. But the truth is that God has done everything that is needful, leaving the

individual with only the one issue, believing or not believing what He has done. The true

gospel does not present something for the unsaved to do. Rather it presents something

for them to believe, and the Holy Spirit's work is to convict the lost about the character

and extent of the sin that "they believe not on Me (Christ)" (John 16: 9) and then points

them to the Saviour, "Who can save to the uttermost" (Heb. 7: 25).

The second characteristic of the Holy Spirit's present work in relation to the world is

"of righteousness, because I go to My Father" the Lord declared (John 16: 10). Without

doubt, this is Christ's righteousness and upon this glorious fact the whole of redemption

rests. If the Lord was not perfectly holy in thought, word and deed from the cradle to the

grave, then He would have needed a Saviour Himself. He could not have been a Saviour

of others and how could a sinner and a blasphemer have been raised from the dead and

exalted to the glory of heaven's holiest of all with everything under His feet? His going

to the Father in resurrection and ascension was the fitting consummation of His perfect

work on earth and a triumphant vindication of His righteousness so that He can be the

Saviour of the world. This the Holy Spirit reveals in measure to the convicted sinner.

The third characteristic is found in the Lord's statement "of judgment, because the

prince of this world is judge". Here we have the usurper, Satan, whose one object is to

take God's place and exercise his dominion. At the moment while God is overall the

world system is not being run by Him, but rather by the deceiver who has "blinded the

minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, Who is

the image of God, should shine unto them" (II Cor. 4: 4). Satan aspires to the very titles

of Christ. It was Satan who offered the kingdoms of this world to the Lord in the

wilderness. For the moment Satan has usurped them and the Lord did not deny this. He

is the false prince or ruler of this world (John 14: 30) just as Christ is the true One

(Revelation 1: 5). Satan is the false God of this age and the Word of God does not

hesitate to describe him as such (II Cor. 4: 4), but it is the Lord Jesus Christ Who is the

true One (John 1: 1). But, thank God, the enemy has been judged. The victory of Calvary

means his defeat and final overthrow. The sentence has not been carried out yet, but the