There is, however, a First Word, who is from the beginning, who in the fullness of time became incarnate, and there is another Word, called "living Epistles," with each of whom, also, the blessed Spirit has entered into close and vital relations. There is, besides, a correspondence between such relations, and those He sustains toward the written Word, which is, to us, the source of all spiritual knowledge of things past, present, and to come. With each, the Incarnate Word, the living Epistles of Christ, and the written Scriptures, is the Holy Spirit organically connected, therefore vitally related. It was He who prepared that Temple of our Lord's body, which concealed, yet revealed, the glory of the only-begotten Son of God. It was He, who, in dove-like appearance, descended upon Jesus on the banks of the Jordan, and abode upon Him. Thus He came, as the Father's seal of divine authentication, upon the Beloved Son. Priests and prophets He visited, endowed, inspired, but with none of them could it be said that He abode. And, so, throughout our Lord's earthly life, in preparation for His unique mission, He was anointed of the Spirit, led of the Spirit, empowered by the Spirit, comforted through the Spirit, He offered Himself a sacrifice for sin by the same Spirit, yea, was finally raised from the dead by Himwho is the quickening Spirit.

Again, observe the very intimate relations which the Holy Spirit holds to the believer. For the Christian is one born of the Spirit, sealed with the Spirit, led of the Spirit, empowered by the Spirit, quickened by the Spirit, first in his inner life, and finally in his resurrection from the dead.

Thus, also, do we perceive like relations between the letter of Scripture, and the living Spirit. May we not say truly that it is born of the Spirit, it has been baptized with the Spirit, its genuineness is attested by this divine

seal upon it? It is anointed with the Spirit, it is made quick and powerful, a living resurrection word, by the same Spirit. As Jesus was author and finisher of His own personal faith, so is He, the Spirit, author and finisher of that "word of faith," which is our warrant of faith, our ground of faith, our instructor in faith, our incentive to faith, and our rule of faith.

I. First proposition: THE HOLY SPIRIT IS SOLE AUTHOR OF HOLY SCRIPTURE.

1. He is the author of revelation in its totality. The Bible is not of man, neither by men, even as the stream is not of the river channel. Yet as channel and stream are closely related, and identified one with another, so are the human writers and the writings in close identity. But only forth from the fountain mind of the Eternal Spirit, who is independent, sovereign, original, and originating, have these Scripture streams descended through their human channels to us.

2. The Holy Spirit is the author of Scripture in its thoughts and words. We do not indeed attribute to Him every recorded utterance. There are phrases in the book entirely alien to the Spirit of God. The words of Satan words of demons-words of heathen poets-words of scribes, pharisees, hypocrites--words of bad men, and mistakes of good men, are not divine words. It suited the purpose of the Spirit, however, to have them recorded; and He accordingly inspired holy men to write them, "for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God might be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."

The mission and office of the Spirit was thus announced by Jesus: "Howbeit when He the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak and He will show you things to come " (John xvi,

13). The Holy Spirit must make use of human language, not because of His impotence, but because of our infirmities. "He shall speak." He gave the writers words, which words are, the original Scriptures. It has been frequently stated that the Holy Spirit had for the object of His mysterious inspiration, not the writers, but the writings. The writers were fallible men; the writings infallible communications. The words employed by the Spirit are human words, and may form the vehicle of ordinary human intelligence, but when selected by the Spirit to convey divine revelations they become divine words. Therefore, in this relation are they called the words of the Spirit. "Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth."

As the body of the primal man was made out of the earth, into which God breathed the breath of life, and man became a living soul; so the Holy Spirit has taken the earthly words of human language out of which He forms the body of Scripture, and into which He breathes the living thought, and thereby the Book becomes a Book of Life. "Every Scripture is God-breathed."

Let us consider the testimony of Jesus on this point. In Mark xii. 36, our Lord's words are recorded, where He quotes from Ps. cx. Not accidentally does He refer to the author of that Psalm, when rebuking the secularized scribes of the temple, in the words, "David himself SAID BY THE HOLY GHOST." The Psalm is the language of David. David himself said it, for David was mouthpiece, or penman. But it is emphatically the language of the Holy Ghost who spake through David, and whose word was on his tongue (2 Sam. xxiii. 2).

Again, when Peter, in Acts i. 16, refers to the fortyfirst Psalm, prophetic of Judas Iscariot, he makes this ap plication of it: "Men and brethren, this Scripture must

needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost BY THE MOUTH OF DAVID SPAKE before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus." Thus does Peter attribute the authorship of the words of the Psalm to the Holy Spirit of God. Nay, more, it is His own testimony to Himself, through Peter, as the original source of sacred Scripture.

So also in Acts iv. 25, the language is most expressive, "Who by the mouth of Thy servant David HAST SAID." Paul, likewise having been taught the source of that wonderful communication to Isaiah recorded in chap. vi., declares, "WELL SPAKE THE HOLY GHOST through Isaiah the prophet." Nor must we forget that climacteric statement of Peter who was inspired to write, "No prophecy ever came by the will of man; but MEN SPAKE from God, being moved by the Holy Ghost."

How misleading, therefore, is any theory of Inspiration which allows the admixture of human mistakes with divine communications; the mistakes of human speech coupled to divine thought. And how flattering to hu man pride that intellect, intuition, or consciousness shall determine which is truth and which is fable. No true lover of God's Word will permit the majesty of that Word to be thus degraded, in order that the perverted, distorted, and corrupted reason of man shall be exalted. Nor will any Christian believer having due reverence toward the Holy Spirit entertain such rationalistic and unscriptural doctrine. The higher critics and the lower critics would not manifest their dislike of the complete inspiration of the words of Scripture, were it not for the insane passion of the natural man to regard reason as the touchstone and test of revelation. Calmly and wisely has Professor Gaussen written of the Bible: "Its first line and its last, with all the instruction (whether understood or not) which it contains, are by the same Author. Whatever the sacred

penmen may have been-whatever their circumstances, their impressions, their comprehension of what they wrote, and the measure of their individuality brought into operation by this divine and mysterious power-they have all, with a faithful and directed hand, written in the same volume, under the guidance of the same Master, in whose estimation' a thousand years are as one day,' and the result is-the Bible. Let us not lose our time, then, in vain questioning, but study the Book. It is the word of Moses, of Amos, of John, and of Paul, but it is the thought of God, and the word of God. It is therefore erroneous language to say, Certain passages of the Bible are those of man, and others those of God. No; every verse therein, without exception, is of man, and they are also all, without exception, those of God." Even so. The humble, devont believer recognizes the divine Author in every verse and word of Scripture, and values it as an integral part of the great volume of Revelation, stamped from Genesis to Apocalypse with the impress of divine life, and light, and power, even as the thoughtful natu ralist sees in every trembling leaf the mark of intelligent design, and understands its relation to the whole forest.

II. Second proposition: THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRIT AND OF THE WORD IS A CO-ORDINATE MINISTRY. He who is the author of the word is pleased to use it as the instru ment of His diversified operations in this dispensation of the Spirit.

1. The identity of the Spirit and Word is recognized in the names given to each. As for instance: "Spirit of God," "word of God"; "Spirit of truth," "word of truth": "Spirit of grace," "word of His grace"; "Spirit of life," "word of life"; "Spirit of wisdom," "word of wisdom"; "Spirit of Christ," "word of Christ"; "Spirit of power," "word of power"; "The good Spirit," "the