SECTION V. ON THE CONTEMPLATION OF GOD IN REDEMPTION.- Hence WHEN the Lord Jesus was on the point of quitting the sphere of his humiliation, and of returning to the glory of his Father, he gave his last commission to his disciples—“Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."1 we cannot fail to learn, that the Holy Ghost is no mere influence or quality, but an equal object, with the Father and the Son, of the Christian's faith and allegiance. As such, he is frequently alluded to in the New Testament. The source of all true virtue and happiness among men, he claims our perpetual reverence; and to blaspheme against him, is declared to be an unpardonable transgression. "All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme; but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation." 2 The Holy Ghost is the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of Christ 3-He is sent of the Father, and sent of the Son. 5 Yet it cannot be denied that the authority and dignity which are thus ascribed to him, belong to the Supreme Being himself; and equally clear is it, that God alone can perform the works of the Spirit. To search, illuminate, and cleanse, the soul; to breathe into it the breath of the true life; to inspire the Lord's servants; to distribute, according to his own will, those manifold gifts by which the church is edified--are the peculiar offices of the Spirit; and who shall deny that they are offices of deity? "God is a Spirit;" invisible and spiritual in his nature, he fills his own works; he exercises over them an unseen and powerful influence; he dwells and operates in the hearts of men. Nor can we deny the truth of the converse of the proposition-that the Spirit who fills the works of the Creator, who exercises over them an unseen and powerful influence, who dwells and operates in the hearts of men, is God. “The LORD is that SPIRIT." 6 Since then the Spirit is God, it plainly follows that he is also love; for "God is love;" and nothing can be more inseparable from the nature of the Deity, than this pervading attribute. When Paul beseeches his brethren to strive with him in prayer, 4 John xiv, 26. 26. 3 Rom. viii, 9. 5 John xv, • 2 Cor. iii, 17. See Essays on Christianity, 3rd edition, vii, p. 143. for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for (the sake of) the love of the Spirit, we may best understand him as speaking, not of our love to the Spirit, but of the Spirit's love to us. 7 It was through the agency of the Holy Ghost that the Son of God became incarnate, and was afterwards anointed for all his gracious offices. Immeasurably gifted for his work and station, by the influences of the Spirit, Jesus became both the prophet and the king of his people. "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me," says the Messiah, "because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek."8 Again, the psalmist, worshipping him, says "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre ; thou lovest righteousness and hatest wickedness; therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows."9 Jesus was also the Christ, i. e. the Anointed-one, in his priestly character. The precious ointment which was poured forth upon the head of Aaron, and ran down to the skirts of his garment, was probably a type of that unlimited effusion of the Holy Ghost, through which the Saviour offered on the cross, one all-sufficient sacrifice for the sins of mankind. "Through the 7 Rom. xv, 30. διὰ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν, Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ διὰ τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ Πνεύματος. 8 Isa. lxi, 1; comp. ch. xi, 2, and John iii, 34. 9 Ps. xlv, 6, 7; comp. ii 2. H ETERNAL SPIRIT," he "offered HIMSELF, without spot, to God."1 The boundless communications made to the Lord Jesus of a spiritual influence, are to be regarded, not merely as divine gifts bestowed on his human nature, but as a necessary result of that perfect oneness of design and operation, which subsists in the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, for the redemption of the world. Very distinct were the tokens given of this joint purpose and action, on that memorable occasion, when the heavens were opened upon Jesus, and the Spirit of God descended like a dove, and lighted upon him; while the voice of the Father was heard, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."2 Who then can doubt that heaven's vast design for man's salvation, is to be ascribed to the love of the Spirit, as well as to that of the Father and the Son? But let us mark the gracious dealings of the Holy Ghost, in applying this scheme of mercy, to our own benefit. The Spirit who co-operated with Christ in his sacrifice on the cross, is, through that sacrifice, himself bestowed on mankind, to enlighten, teach, regenerate, purify, console, and ripen for heaven. May we not rest assured that he performs all these offices, in the most ardent, tender, and persevering love? 1. No one will deny, that there went forth a command of benevolence as well as power, when God said, "Let there be light;" for without light, in the natural world, all would be confusion and danger to his living and sensitive creatures. Now the state of man in the fall, with respect to a right knowledge of God and of his law, is like that of the world in the obscurity of chaos. Not only is he dead in trespasses and sins; but he is "under the power of darkness; "3 he is sitting "in darkness and in the shadow of death; "4 and from this melancholy condition he can be delivered only through the agency of the Holy Spirit. Since this is the clear doctrine of Scripture, it appears to follow, that whatsoever can be found among our species, in any age or country, of true moral and spiritual light-be it fainter or brighter-must be ascribed, not to the natural reason of man, but directly or indirectly, to that divine Spirit. This remark is not without its just application, as I conceive, to the ancient philosophers of Greece and Rome; for we can scarcely deny, that some beams of heavenly light shot across the darkness of their own speculations. But where would have been the preaching of Noah, of Abraham, and of Job; where the precepts of Moses; where the fervent admonitions, and luminous discoveries, of the prophets; where the |