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not an agent? No, we presume not by any one. But was the Holy Ghost a person, or an agent? This then is the question we wish to settle, and we think it will soon be settled in the mind of every candid reader, that there is the same evidence of the personality of the Holy Spirit, that there is of the Son, or the Father. Did Paul invoke the blessing of the Supreme God, and of a creature and of an attribute of the Supreme God, to rest upon these saints? When Christ was baptized in the Jordanthe Father, speaking from heaven, and the Holy Spirit descending like a dove, and lighting upon him, was there no proof of the personality of the Holy Spirit? And when the body of our Savior is divinely said to have been conceived by the Holy Ghost, is there no evidence that the Holy Spirit was a person, an agent? We most solemnly conceive, that the reason that some see no evidence of the personality of the Holy Ghost, is because they will not see it. If then the personality of the Holy Spirit is sustained, the Unitarian notion that HE is only a." power" falls, and all the appendages of this notion must fall with it. We will soon conclude this chapter, after most devoutly saying with Dr. Watts

"Come Holy Spirit, heavenly Dove,
With all thy quick'ning powers,
Come shed abroad a Savior's love,
And that shall kindle ours."

Again, in proof of the personality of the Holy Spirit, we will only remark, that the Holy Spirit is

represented as having a mind. "And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the SPIRIT, because HE maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God." Rom. 8:

27. Here we have it expressly declared, that he that searches the hearts knows what is the MIND OF THE SPIRIT. Here is an active, efficient agent brought to view, possessed of a mind and called the Spirit. This proves his personality beyond a doubt, if we doubt not the personality of the Father. It also shows a distinction between the Holy Spirit and the Father, and this we term personality, because we can find no word that will better convey the idea we wish to convey, than the word 66 person." We do not pretend to be competent to fathom the manner of this distinction in the Godhead, any more than we do to comprehend the uncreated existence of Jehovah, yet we admit it as a fact firmly based ou the authority of Divine Revelation.

CHAPTER XII.

The Number of Persons in the Godhead are
Three.

IN proof of this position, we shall show that the same attributes and works are applied to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that these attributes and works are those which belong to God alone.

1. Eternity. Father. "The eternal God is thy refuge." Deut. 33:27. Isa. 40:28.

Son. "Before all things." "The beginning and the end." Col. 1:17. Rev. 1:8.

14.

Spirit. "Through the eternal Spirit." Heb. 9:

2. Omnipresence. Father. "Do not I fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord." Jer. 23:24.

Son. "The Son of Man which is in heaven." John 3:13.

Spirit.

Ps. 139:7.

"Whither shall I fly from thy Spirit."

8. Infinite knowledge. Father. "Thou only

knowest the hearts of all the children of men." 1 Kings 8:39.

Son. "He knew all men

man."

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Spirit. The Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 1 Cor. 2:10.

4. Almighty power. Father. "Power belong

eth unto God."

"Thine is the kingdom, the powèr, and the glory." Ps. 62:11. Mat. 6:13.

Son. Christ the power of God and the wisdom of

God."
"All power in heaven
into my hands." 1 Cor.1:24.
Spirit. "Abound in hope
the Holy Ghost." Rom. 15:13.
the Spirit of God." Verse 19.

and earth is given Mat. 28:18. through the power of "By the power

of

5. Creation. Father. "Hast thou not heard, hast thou not known that the everlasting God, the Lord,* the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary." Isa. 40:28.

Son. "By him were all things created which are in heaven and in earth, visible and invisible." Col. 1:16.

Spirit. "The Spirit of God hath made me."

Job 33:4.

6. Each of these persons inhabits the same temple. Father. "Ye are the temple of the living God. God hath said I will dwell in them and walk in them." 2 Cor. 6:16.

Son. "That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith: Christ is in you except you be reprobates." Eph. 3:17. 2 Cor. 13:5.

Spirit. Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost." 1 Cor. 6:19, and 13:13.

7. Each person possesses, and gives life.† Father.

* Here the Creator seems to be spoken of in the person of the Father.

+No being possesses life inherently, and of himself, but God.

"The Lord thy God, he is thy life." Deut. 30:

20.

Son. "He that hath the Son, hath life. In him was life." "This is the true God and eternal life." John 5:12, 1:3. 1 John 5:20.

Spirit. "The Spirit is life." Rom. 8:10.

8. Each is said to raise the dead. Father. "God quickeneth the dead." Rom. 4:17.

Son. "The Son quickeneth whom HE will." John 5:21. "I have power to lay down my life and to take it again." John 10:18. "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." John 2:19. “He raised Lazarus, a daughter, and a widow's son."

Spirit. "It is the Spirit that quickeneth." John 6:63. "Jesus Christ quickened by the Spirit." 1 Pet. 3:18.

We may add, that from the Old Testament we have abundant proof of a plurality of persons in the Godhead, and in the New Testament, we find the number limited to three. This is evident from the doxologies to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and as we have already seen from the baptismal formula.

We would ask, in view of the attributes and works, which are ascribed by the word of inspiration to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, if there is not a distinction in the Godhead? We are aware that this distinction is clearly sustained, and that it is not a distinction of the attributes of one person, but that each of these distinctions has attributes which

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