OUR

CHAPTER V.

THE HOLY SPIRIT.

UR reverent thought must now be directed to the Third Person of the ever-blessed Trinity. The Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, is to be adored and loved, together with the Father and the Son, in the unity of the Divine Nature.

There is abundant evidence that the Holy Spirit is spoken of in the Scriptures as a Person, and that the phrase does not intimate merely an influence exerted by God. The baptismal formula, which has been already considered, may be appealed to as a striking proof of this :- Go ye, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost' (Matt. xxviii. 19). It is unquestionable that the Father and the Son are Persons; and it would be in the highest degree incongruous to interpret the Holy Ghost as an influence put forth by the Father. Personal acts, too, are ascribed to the Holy Spirit. This is especially the case.in our Lord's address to His Apostles before He suffered; and the manner in which He speaks of the Paraclete, the Comforter, whose coming would more than compensate for the withdrawal of His own visible presence, clearly recognises Him as a Person. 'I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth: whom the world cannot receive; for it beholdeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: ye know Him; for He abideth with you, and shall be in you' (John xiv. 16, 17). These things have I spoken to you, while yet abiding with you. But the Comforter, even the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send

in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you' (John xiv. 25, 26). But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall bear witness of Me' (John xv. 26), 'Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I go, I will send Him unto you' (John xvi. 7). Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He shall guide you into all the truth; for He shall not speak from Himself; but what things oever He shall hear, these shall He speak; and He shall declare unto you the things that are to come. He shall glorify Me: for He shall take of Mine, and shall declare it unto you' (John xvi. 13, 14).

These words of our Lord are so clear and explicit on the point before us, that it is needless to adduce many passages from the writings of the Apostles. It will suffice to refer to St. Paul's first address to the Jews with whom he conversed on his arrival at Rome as a prisoner, and to his remarkable words when writing to the Church at Corinth. To the former he said, 'Well spake the Holy Ghost by Isaiah the prophet unto your fathers, saying, Go thou unto this people, and say, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall in no wise understand; and seeing ye shall see and shall in no wise perceive' (Acts xxviii. 26). In his first Epistle to the Corinthians, after referring to the ample disclosures of truth and privilege vouchsafed to believers under the Christian economy, he says, ' But unto us God revealed them through the Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For who among men knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of the man, which is in him? even so the things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God' (1 Cor. ii. 10, 11. See also ver. 12—14). It will be obvious, that many of the passages now referred to, while they evince the personality of the Holy Ghost, imply also His true and proper Deity. We may refer, especially, to the baptismal formula,-to the promise of our Lord, that the

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Spirit should not only be near to all His people to succour and comfort them, but should even be in them,—and to the reasoning of St. Paul in the passage last cited. Other Scriptural evidences of this truth readily suggest themselves. The address of St. Peter to Ananias clearly implies the Divinity of the Holy Ghost. 'Ananias, why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? . . . Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God' (Acts v. 3—5). And while the Apostle Peter writes, For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Ghost' (2 Peter i. 21), St. Paul, adverting to the same topic, says, 'Every Scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness: that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work' (2 Tim. iii. 16, 17).

Into the profoundly mysterious subject of the internal relations of the Divine Nature it is not for us curiously to inquire: we can only accept and ponder the intimations conveyed in the expressions found in Holy Scripture. We are again and again taught, that the Second Person of the ever-blessed Trinity is the Son of the Father,-God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; and we are taught, too, that the Holy Spirit proceedeth from the Father. For the words of our Lord recorded by St. John, which speak of the procession of the Spirit, have been properly understood by the Church in every age as referring, not to His coming into this world, as the Agent and Representative of the Lord Jesus,-for this is referred to in a separate clause,-but to His relation to the Father in the Triune Godhead. But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall bear witness of Me.' We accept, too, the doctrine held by Western Christendom, in opposition to the view of the Eastern, or Greek, Church, that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. For although there is no distinct and

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explicit statement to this effect in Holy Scripture, yet the Spirit is so emphatically spoken of as the Spirit of Christ,' 'the Spirit of the Son,' that we may properly regard this as suggested and implied.

This is not the place to speak at length of the work of the Holy Spirit in carrying out the purposes of the economy of redemption. That subject will naturally engage our attention, when we have to dwell on the mediatorial scheme and the blessings of the Christian salvation. But we cannot close these meditations on the Holy Trinity, without a devout recognition of the blessed Spirit, as moving on our hearts to lead us in penitence and faith to Christ,-as imparting to us, when we embrace the Saviour, the peace and joy of sonship to God, and that inward life which enables us to obey the Divine will,-as succouring and comforting us under the conflicts and changes of this probationary life, and as forming the earnest of our perfect and consummated glory. His gracious influence is to be cherished by us with reverence and gratitude; and we should ever bear in mind the charge of the Apostle, 'Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom ye were sealed unto the day of redemption' (Ephes. iv. 30).

THE

CHAPTER VI.

THE PROVIDENTIAL GOVERNMENT OF GOD.

HE Christian revelation amply confirms the truth which Natural Theology suggests, that God is the Ruler of the Universe which He has brought into existence, and the arrangements of which evince His power and wisdom. He sits upon the throne; while all other beings wait upon Him, accomplish His purposes, or are controlled by His power.

The government of God embraces His providential oversight and care of His creatures, and the moral administration which He exercises over all intelligent and moral beings. It is to the former of these subjects that our attention must now be directed.

In contemplating the providential government of God, we have first to regard Him as sustaining the Universe which He has formed, and upholding in life all animated beings. It is declared of the Eternal Son, by whom the Father made the worlds, that 'He upholdeth all things by the word of His power.' In the address of St. Paul to the assembled Athenians, we have the impressive declaration, that God, the universal Creator and Lord, giveth to all life, and breath, and all things' (Acts xvii. 25). His presence fills immensity, and His agency is everywhere put forth, our own continued life and all our powers being derived from Him. 'He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live, and move, and have our being' (v. 27).

The providence of God is also seen in the supply of the wants of the unintelligent creation. The eyes of all wait upon Thee;

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