This series on the Holy Spirit was given as part of the General Conference meetings of 1893. At the time Prescott was President of Battle Creek College.
"The first work of the Spirit of God is to convince us of sin, and it will be the same here. If we do not say yes when the Spirit convinces us of sin, it will not convince us of righteousness."
"As we are now just at the close of time, and the light has come to enlighten the world, Satan’s purpose is to destroy physically, and cause the death of every messenger of the cause who goes out to give light. And it is just because the angels of God are commissioned to take care of these messengers of truth, that they are not destroyed; and when we go out to give the light with the special protection and power of God with us, we may stand against the power of Satan. Another feature: That is, the ones who have gone out in this work have obtained power. There is no question about that. Now no one can go out with the message, to meet that power which springs up from beneath, unless they have received the new light and life and power which has descended from on high, and taken possession of God’s people who are not dead, as many now are, in trespasses and sins. I say, we might just as well look the matter right in the face, and do as the disciples of old did, tarry till we are imbued with power from on high. It is no use to go this way any longer, and my advice is most solemnly to every one who cannot go out now imbued with power from on high and bear this light from heaven, and to do the work that God has to be done now, stay at home."
"Now, I say to those who have been in the ministry, and who have been teaching Christ to the people and to-night can’t tell the difference between the voice of Christ and the voice of the devil, it is time for us to stop and learn the voice of God. Now, if any one who has been a teacher of the people, raises that question in his mind, let him know that the very fact that that question is raised in his mind, is the evidence that he wants to learn Jesus Christ. But, you still ask: “How will they know his voice?” I can’t tell you, and if I could, it would not do any good. He says: “They shall know his voice,” and you will have to take his word for it, not mine. And if you take his word for it, he will see that his word is true; but I can’t tell you how. I know it is true, and I know he makes it true to those who believe. But, to those who stand off as did the Jews, those will never know anything about it. On that basis, they never can and never will; and if we wait to have it all explained, we will not know anything about it, and I cannot tell you, and shall not try to tell you. I can tell you this: he says: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27."
"Those who are self-sufficient, who do not feel the necessity of constant prayer and watchfulness, will be ensnared. Through living faith and earnest prayer the sentinels of God must become partakers of the divine nature, or they well be found professedly working for God, but in reality giving their service to the prince of darkness. Because their eyes are not anointed with the heavenly eye-salve, their understanding will be blinded, and they will be ignorant of the wonderfully specious devices of the enemy. Their vision will be perverted through their dependence on human wisdom, which is foolishness in the sight of God.... “Those who believe the truth must be as faithful sentinels on the watch-tower, or Satan will suggest specious reasonings to them, and they will give utterance to opinions that will betray sacred, holy trusts. The enmity of Satan against good will be manifested more and more, as he brings his forces into activity in his last work of rebellion, and every soul that is not fully surrendered to God and kept by divine power, will form an alliance with Satan against heaven, and join in the battle against the Ruler of the universe...."—Quoted from the writings of Mrs. E. G. White
"It must be apparent that the power is of God in Christ, and not in the human instrument. And it must be so apparent that even the enemies will be forced to confess it, and then their opposition will be confessedly not against the human instrument, but against God in Christ, who is the power in them. So, eloquence will not win this battle. Strategy will not win this battle. Human plans will not win this battle. Advice volunteered by men wise in the world will not, when followed, win this battle. God will manifest his power in this work in such a way as to make it perfectly evident to all that it is the power of God, and that no one shall glory in flesh. And the power is to be in the deep love. That is the power of God. It is satanic to compel people. When Satan can hold persons in his service by the allurements of the world, he holds them in that way. When those allurements fail to hold, then he begins to bring the pressure to bear upon them, and pressure of any kind, to force the will, is satanic. And therefore laws that are made to force the will in things of religion are the very essence of the spirit of Satan. God wins by love, and when love fails to win, he does not use force. I have sometimes stood almost overwhelmed in the presence of this thought. The very God of the universe, who creates all things by his word, who upholds all things by the word of his power, holds himself in abeyance at the command of the human will. And God, whose power is such that by the mere breath of his mouth we should all fail and be destroyed, . . . Nay, more; God, whose power keeps us in life, even though we are rebelling against him whose power sustains us and gives us the very power which we use against him; that very God stands and holds his power in abeyance, waiting the consent of the human will."
"God wants Christ to dwell in our hearts by faith, and to use the sword of the Spirit now against all the power of the enemy just as effectually as he did then. But he must be the one to use it now as then, because it is the sword of the Spirit. And the Spirit must use his own sword, if it is to be used with safety and with profit. Then to my mind the lesson of this hour is a very important one, and impresses upon our minds the actual necessity that if we are to go out to use the word of God with power in convicting of sin, in correcting evil, in discipline, which is according to righteousness, that the Spirit of God must dwell in us, that is, Christ in us by his Spirit with a presence which is more personal than when he was here upon the earth in the flesh. He is to dwell in our hearts in that way and use the sword himself, if it is to be used, as he is the one to use it with power."
"Now we are to manifest the character of Christ for he said to his disciples:” As the Father hath sent me, even so send I you,” and the Spirit of Christ the mind of Christ, dwelling in the hearts of the believers draws them together and binds them together in the bond of Christian love and fellowship God wants all estrangement, all alienation, all suspicion, all questioning, all bickering, and everything of that kind to be put aside. That is not the fruit of the Spirit; it is the very opposite of it. It is the devil working to bring in strife, to bring in difference; it is the devil working to bring in anything and everything that will turn us away from Christ, and what Christ is for us. And anyone, and I say it plainly, who allows himself to be used to speak words of suspicion, words of estrangement, words of accusation, words of alienation, is simply a mouthpiece for the devil. That is just what he is. And it is ever so much worse for one to do that who has known God and the pardoning love of Christ. It is worse in; him, and the results are worse. Let us not do it any more."
"We are taught that we ought to be praying just as earnestly for the descent of the Holy Ghost as they did. Now what I want to say is just this, Are we doing it? That is all. I understand that God will give special blessings of his Spirit in an unusual manner, and that is what we are speaking about especially in these lessons; not simply the usual operations of the Spirit, although that is all right properly considered; but it is a special thing that we are considering, and that is the promise of the. Spirit in an unusual way. I do not understand that the Lord proposes to force this blessing upon a single soul. I do not understand that he expects to be dictated as to how that blessing will come in any way. But he has given, and is now giving us the very plainest instruction about it. And what I wish to know now especially is, How many of us are carrying out this instruction? Now we must not expect the fulfillment of the promise when we do not fulfill the conditions of it. The Lord wants this blessing to come upon this people now. He has told us what to do in order that it may come. Now I want to know, How many are doing it? That is the simple question. We are told that we ought to pray just as earnestly for the descent of the Holy Ghost as did the disciples. Are we doing it? We are told that companies ought to be gathered, and in a special manner ought to be praying for this blessing, this outpouring of the Spirit. Are we doing it?"
"I have thought that some would have a wrong idea about what is meant when we say that we must go forth in the power of the Spirit, and that we must have power when we go forth. I do not understand that to mean that we are to come here to be consciously loaded up, so that when we go from this place we have a certain feeling of a conscious power in our own selves that has been given to us, and that we have it, and carry it with us, and can handle it, as it were, and measure it, and look at it, and. when we need it take it out and use it. “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore.... Lo, I am with you.” The power is in Christ, not in us, and the having the power is the personal presence of Christ in us; and that does not necessarily mean in the sense of a thrill of power in us all the time; but it means an abiding faith that Christ is in us. And then when we go out, no matter what the difficulties are, we are not appalled by them; because of the conscious faith that Christ is with us, and he is all powerful. Well, when he is with us in the fullness of his power, our faith grasps him continually. It is not a question of feelingthe power, it is a question of knowingthe power; and if we take counsel with our feelings when difficulties arise, we will certainly be overthrown. It is not a question of our feelings, or of our power; it is a question that he abides in our hearts by faith, and he is the power."
"Now the first step in order to become wise in the eyes of the Lord is to become a fool. That is to be perfectly simple; not to be demented, not to be an idiot, that isn’t it; but to be perfectly simple, and to know continually that we know nothing as we ought to know it; but always to be in the attitude of receiving light and wisdom from him. You will remember the words of Paul concerning this when he preached. “Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the prince of this world that cometh to naught: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory.” 1 Corinthians 2:6, 7. Now it is true that the salient facts of Christianity are perfectly simple and plain as facts, and it is true that it is perfectly easy for anyone who will, to receive them unto salvation as living experiences in his own daily life; but it is also true that there is a science of Christianity."