3. That in this text there is no other opposition, but of God the Holy Ghost to the apostles; and accordingly the sense is very plain and natural, which is as though the apostle had said, Thou hast endeavoured to deceive me, who am under the immediate inspiration of the Holy Ghost, which is a greater crime than if thou hadst only lied to me, at another time, when this honour was not conferred upon me; for herein thou hast committed a double crime, inasmuch as thou hast not only lied to me, which thou oughtest not to have done, but thou hast lied to the Holy Ghost, and, in so doing, hast not lied unto men, but unto God; or, as it is expressed, in ver. 9. thatAnanias and his wife had agreed together to tempt the Holy Ghost. Which is called alying to him, in one verse, is styled atempting himin the other; this therefore seems to be a plain and easy sense of the words, which any unprejudiced reader would be inclined to give into; and since the scripture is written to instruct the most injudicious Christians, as well as others, I cannot conceive that such modes of speaking would have been made use of therein, which have a tendency to lead persons out of the way, by deviating from the common sense of words, (especially in a matter of so great importance as this is) whereby some, at least, would be inclined, as we are, by adhering to the most proper sense thereof, to acknowledge the Holy Ghost to be God, if he were not so.
There is another scripture, in which the Holy Ghost is calledThe God and the Rock of Israel, in 2 Sam. xxiii. 3. Now it seems very evident, that this is applied to him, by comparing it with the foregoing and following words; in which it is said, the Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue; and then we have an account of what be said, namely,He that ruleth over man, must be just, &c. It cannot, with any colour of reason, be supposed that there is more than one Person here intended, who imparted this to the prophet; and inasmuch as this Person is not only called the God, but also the Rock of Israel, that is a plain intimation that he is the almighty God of Israel, which is the sense of the metaphor, taken from a rock, when applied to God in other scriptures.
Again, it is said, in 1 Cor. iii. 16.Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you.Here it must be observed, that their being called the temple of God, who is said to dwell in them, denotes the inhabitant to be a divine Person, since a temple, according to the known acceptation of the word, always connotes a deity; and so it is called the house of God. Now he that dwelt in them, upon which account they are called his temple, is expressly said to be the Spirit of God, which is agreeable to what is said concerning him elsewhere, in chap. vi. 19.Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which, or who,is in you?
(2.) He is calledLord; this seems very evident, from Isa. vi. 8, 9.And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I, send me. And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye, indeed, but understand not, &c. where we observe, that the person sending speaks both in the singular number and the plural,Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?by the former expression,Whom shall I send, he evinces his divinity, as having a right to give a commission to the prophets, to declare his mind and will to man, which, as will be observed under a fol-head, none but a divine Person has a right to do; by the latter,Who shall go for us, he includes himself among the Persons in the Godhead, as it has before been observed[177];viz.that when God is represented, as speaking in the plural number, a Trinity of Persons seems to be intended thereby.
But that which we shall principally consider is, that the Holy Ghost is here calledLord, which appears from what the apostle says, in Acts xxviii. 25, 26.Well spake the Holy Ghost, by Esaias the prophet, unto our fathers, saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing, ye shall hear, and shall not understand, &c.
It cannot be reasonably objected to this, that the apostle only refers to the book of Isaiah, and not to this particular part thereof; for though, indeed, these words,Thus saith the Holy Ghost, might be used, as a preface to any quotation from scripture, as all scripture is given by his inspiration; yet this message, referred to by the apostle, was not only transmitted by Esaias to the church, but it is distinguished from all those other things, which the Spirit of the Lord spake by him; and therefore it cannot be supposed that the apostle means, when referring to this scripture, any other than the Holy Ghost’s giving him this commission, when he says,Well spake the Holy Ghost by him; and consequently he that gave this commission, or spake thus to him, is the Holy Ghost, who is, in the foregoing words, calledthe Lord.
Moreover, there is another scripture, in 2 Cor. iii. 18. where it is said,We are changed from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord; or, as it is observed in the margin,As by the Lord the Spirit; which reading is certainly as proper asany other, and is preferred, by some, to it; and therefore it contains, at least, a probable argument that the Spirit is expressly calledLord.[178]
2. The Holy Ghost appears to be God, from those divine attributes that are ascribed to him. Accordingly,
(1.) He is said to be eternal, in Heb. ix. 24. Christ,through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God. I am sensible, many think this eternal Spirit signifies Christ’s eternal Godhead; which is so called, because of the spirituality of its nature; and that, in this place, it is designed to set forth the infinite value, which the oblation that he made of himself, in his human nature to God, received from the divine nature, to which it was united; which, though it be a very great truth, yet there does not seem to be so great a propriety in the expression, when we suppose the eternal Spirit is taken for the divine nature, as if it be understood of the Holy Ghost: and Christ may be said, by him, to have offered himself, without spot, to God, as implying, that the unction, which he received from the Holy Ghost, was the means to preserve him from all sinful defilement, upon which account his oblation was without blemish; and, indeed, it was no less necessary, in order to its being accepted, that it should be spotless, than that it should be of infinite value; therefore I must conclude, that it is the Holy Ghost who is here called the eternal Spirit.
Moreover, his eternity may be evinced from his having created all things, as he that made the world, and all finite things, wherewith time began, must be before them, and consequently from everlasting; by which the eternity of Christ was proved, under a foregoing head; and that the Holy Ghost made all things, will be proved under our next argument.
(2.) His immensity or omnipresence, is a farther proof of his deity; and this seems to be plainly contained in Psal. cxxxix. 7.Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?q. d.there is no place where the Spirit is not; and it is allowed by all, that the divine immensity is here described in a very elegant manner; though, it is true, it is objected, that one part of this verse is exegetical of the other, and therefore the Psalmist, by theSpirit, intends nothing else but the presence of God; but it is equally, if not more probable, that the Spirit is distinguished from the presence of God, and consequently that he is a distinct Person in the Godhead; and this does not contain any strain upon the sense of the words, since the Spirit is so often spoken of in scripture as a Person, as has been before observed;[179]andtherefore it is not strange that he should be mentioned as such in this text; and, if he be spoken of as a Person, it is beyond dispute that he is there proved to be a divine Person.
(3.) He is said to be omniscient in 1 Cor. ii. 10.The Spirit searcheth all things; yea, the deep things of God.To search, indeed, is a word used in condescension to our common mode of speaking, as we arrive to the knowledge of things by searching, or enquiry, though this idea is to be abstracted from the word, when applied to God; for him to search, is to know all things; and, in this sense, it is used, in Psal. cxxxix. 23, 24.Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, &c. It does not imply the manner of his knowing, but the exquisiteness of his knowledge; and so we must understand it in this scripture, when applied to the Spirit’s searching all things, in which we have an account of the objects of his knowledge, namely,the deep things of God: thus he knows all those things, which were hid in the divine mind from all eternity, and the infinite perfections of the divine nature, which are incomprehensible to a creature, and which none can,by searching, find out to perfection, Job xi. 7. in which respect the highest creatures,viz.the angels, are said tobe charged with folly, whose knowledge is comparatively imperfect, chap. iv. 18. Moreover, we may observe, that the manner of the Spirit’s knowing all things, is not like ours, that is by inferring consequences from premises, in a way of reasoning; for it is said, in the verse immediately following, thathe knows the things of God, in such a way, asa man knoweth the things of a man, that is, his own thoughts, by an internal principle of knowledge, not by revelation, or any external discovery: thus the Spirit knows the divine nature, as having it; therefore his omniscience is a plain proof of his Deity.
3. The Deity of the Holy Ghost may be farther evinced, from his performing those works which are proper to God alone. And,
(1.) He is said to have created all things: thus, in Gen. i. 2.The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters; where, by theSpirit of God, cannot be meant, as some suppose, the air or the wind; for that was not created till the second day, when God made the firmament. Again, it is said, in Job xxvi. 13.By his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens; and, in chap. xxiii. 4.The Spirit of God hath made me.Some of the Arians are so sensible that the Spirit is represented as the Creator of all things as well as the Son; that they suppose him to be an instrument to the Son in the creation thereof; which is as much as to say, he is an instrument of an instrument; and, indeed, to say the Son created all things, as an instrument, hasbeen considered as an indefensible notion;[180]but this is much more so.
(2.) Extraordinary or miraculous works, which are equivalent to creation, have been performed by the Spirit; thus the apostle, speaking concerning extraordinary gifts, subservient to the propagation of the gospel, in the first preaching thereof, attributes them to the Spirit, which he largely insists on, in 1 Cor. xii. and when he says, ver. 4, 5, 6. thatthere are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord; and there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God, which worketh all in all; which many who defend the doctrine of the Trinity, take for granted, that it signifies all the Persons in the Godhead, that our Saviour is called Lord, and the father God, therein; and some of the Anti-trinitarians, from hence, would argue, that the Spirit is not God, because he is distinguished from the Father, whom they suppose to be there called God, I cannot but from hence conclude, that the Holy Spirit is set forth under all these three names; and the works attributed to him, notwithstanding the variety of expressions, are the same, and included in that general term of spiritual gifts. And so I take the meaning of the text to be this, there are diversities of gifts, or extraordinary operations, which some were enabled to put forth in the exercise of their ministry, which are all from the same Spirit, who is called Lord and God, who has an infinite sovereignty, and bestows these blessings as he pleases, as becomes a divine Person; and this agrees very well with what is said, in ver. 11.All these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
(3.) The Spirit of God commissioned and qualified ministers to preach the gospel, and thereby to gather and build up churches, determining that their ministry should be exercised in one place, and not in another; which is a peculiar branch of the divine glory, and no one has a right to do it, but a divine Person. A creature may as well pretend to command the sun to shine, or stop its course in the heavens at his pleasure, as he can commission a minister to preach the gospel, or restrain the preaching thereof. And here we may observe, that the Holy Ghost is plainly said to have called and appointed the apostles to exercise their ministry in the first preaching of the gospel, after he had, by conferring extraordinary gifts upon them, qualified them for it; and accordingly he speaks in a style truly divine, in Acts xiii. 2.The Holy Ghost said, separate me Barnabas and Saul, for the work whereunto I have called them; and, in Acts xx. 28. the apostle tells the elders, or ministers of the church at Ephesus, thatthe Holy Ghost had made them overseers.We read also of the Spirit’s determining where they should exercise their ministry; thus he commanded Philip to go and preach the gospel to the eunuch, in Acts viii. 29.Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot; and, at another time, the Spirit bade Peter to go and preach the gospel to Cornelius, when he doubted whether it were lawful for him to do it or no, in Acts x. 19, 20.The Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee; therefore get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them; and, at another time, it is said, in Acts xvi. 6, 7.They were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia; and thatthey assayed to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit suffered them not; and, in ver. 9, 10. the apostle Paul was ordered, in a vision, to go to Macedonia; which command he obeyed,assuredly gathering that the Lord, that is, the Spirit,had called him to preach the gospel unto them. Nothing can be a greater argument of the sovereignty of the Holy Ghost, in what respects this matter, which was of the highest importance; therefore it is an evident proof of his divinity. But to this we may add,
(4.) That his divinity farther appears from the unction, which he conferred on our Saviour, to perform the work of a Mediator in his human nature: thus it is said, in Isa. lxi. 1.The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek, &c. And this is particularly referred to, as signifying our Saviour’s unction by the Holy Ghost, in Luke iv. 18, 19.The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me, &c. And, indeed, it is not denied that this is spoken of the Holy Ghost, even by those who do not infer his deity from it; accordingly it is inserted, by a late writer, among those scriptures that speak particularly of the Holy Ghost;[181]and it would be a great strain on the sense of the text, to suppose thathe hath anointed me, refers to the Father, and not to the Spirit. As to the meaning of the wordunction, it is borrowed from the ceremonial law, under which the prophets, priests, and kings were publickly anointed with oil, as used to signify the warrant, or commission, they had received from God, to execute these offices, together with the qualifications which were to be expected for the discharge thereof. In this sense our Saviour is said to have been anointed by the Holy Ghost, to wit, in his human nature, in which he was obliged to yield obedience and subjection to God, and accordingly he was authorized and qualified to perform this obedience by the Holy Ghost; so that, how difficult soever it was, it might be discharged by him, without the least failure or defect therein, as we observed before, that it wasowing hereunto, that his oblation was without spot: the work was certainly extraordinary, and consequently the glory redounding to the Holy Ghost from hence, is such as proves him to be a divine Person.
(5.) He farther appears to be so, inasmuch as the work of grace, both as to the beginning, progress, and completing of it, in the souls of believers, is ascribed to him, as well as to the Father and the Son. That this is a work of God’s almighty power, and consequently too great to be performed by any creature; and that the Holy Ghost is, in particular, the author thereof, we shall here take for granted, without attempting to prove it, which would not be a just method of reasoning, were we not led to insist on this subject, under some following answers, in which this will be more particularly proved.[182]And if the work appears to be the effect of the exceeding greatness of the power of God, whereby we are regenerate and sanctified, and enabled to overcome all the opposition which attends it, till we are brought to glory, then he, who is the author hereof, will evidently appear to be the God of all grace; and therefore we shall proceed to consider,
4. That the Holy Ghost appears to be God, inasmuch as he has a right to divine worship. That none but a divine Person has a right hereunto, has been already proved; and that the Spirit has a right to it, might be evinced, from his having those divine perfections, which, as has been before observed, are ascribed to him in scripture; since he has the perfections of the divine nature, which are the objects of adoration, then it follows, that he is to be adored; and if he has performed those works, which argue him to be the proprietor of all things, this must be acknowledged; and if all that grace, which is necessary to make us meet for the heavenly blessedness, be his work and gift, it follows from hence, that he is to be sought to for it, which is a great branch of religious worship. But this being only an improvement of, or a deduction from those foregoing arguments, laid down to prove his Deity, we shall enquire whether we have not something that contains in it the obligation of a command, or whether there are not some examples, which are equivalent thereunto, which will farther warrant our giving divine worship to him. Some suppose, that that prayer is directed to the Holy Ghost, which is mentioned in Acts i. 24, 25.Thou, Lord, which knoweth the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen, that he may take part of this ministry and apostleship; and the reason of this supposition is, because the designation of persons to the exercise of their ministry, as well as the extraordinary gifts with which they were furnished, is peculiarly applied to theHoly Ghost in this book; therefore, it is supposed, they prayed to the Holy Ghost, that he would signify whom he had chosen to the apostleship, in the room of Judas, of those two that were nominated by them; but this being, at most, but a probable argument, I shall lay no stress upon it.
But, I humbly conceive, that we have a more evident example of prayer made to the Holy Ghost, in 2 Thess. iii. 5.The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ; it seems more than probable that the Holy Ghost, who is here called Lord, is prayed to; for he is distinguished from the Father and Son; and the apostle prays to him that he would direct them into the love of the Father, and enable them patiently, to wait for the Son.
Again, there is another instance hereof, in 1 Thess. iii. 12, 13.The Lord make you to increase and abound in love one towards another, to the end, that he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; where the Holy Ghost seems to be the person prayed to; and is plainly distinguished from the Father and Son, inasmuch as what is prayed to him for, is their being holy before the Father, at the coming of the Son.
There is another scripture, in which it is still more evident, that the apostle prays to the Holy Ghost, together with the Father and Son,viz.Cor. xiii. 14.The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all, amen; where, in that part of this prayer, which respects the Holy Ghost, is contained an humble supplication, that he would be pleased to manifest himself to them, or that he would communicate to them those graces which they stood in need of; that so, as the church is said elsewhere, in John i. 3. to havefellowship with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ; here the apostle prays that they may have fellowship with the Holy Ghost; and how can this blessing be prayed for, without supposing him addressing himself herein to the Holy Ghost? Whenever any thing is desired, or prayed for, that can be considered no otherwise than as an effect, produced by a free agent, this prayer, or desire, is supposed more immediately to be directed to him: As suppose a person should use this mode of speaking, in presence of a disobliged friend; Oh that he would look upon me, that he would converse with me, or that he would discover his wonted love to me! though, according to the form of expression, it seems not be directed to him, yet every one would suppose it to be equivalent to an immediate address made to him to that purpose; wherefore, for the apostle to desire that the Holy Ghost would have communion with, that is, converse with, and manifest himself to them, in performing all those works, which were necessary for theiredification and salvation, this desire cannot contain less than a prayer to him.
We shall now proceed to consider some objections, brought by the Anti-trinitarians, against the deity of the Holy Ghost.
Object.A divine Person cannot be the gift of God, for that supposes him to be at his disposal, and inferior to him; but the Spirit is said to be given by him, in Neh. ix. 20.Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct them; and, in Acts xi. 17.God gave them the like gift, meaning the Spirit,that he did unto us; and, in Luke xi. 13.God, the Father, is saidto give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him. Again, the Spirit is said to besent, and that either by the Father, as in John xiv. 26.The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name; or by the Son, as in chap. xvi. 7.If I depart, I will send him unto you.Again, he is said to receive what he communicates from another, in John xvi. 14.He shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you; which is inconsistent with the character of a divine Person, who is never said to receive what he imparts to others, as the apostle speaks concerning God, in Rom. xi. 35.Who hath first given to him?Again, he is said not to speak of himself, but what he hears, when he shews things to come, John xvi. 13. Accordingly he did not know that which he was to communicate before he heard it. Again, he is said to have a mind distinct from God, unless we suppose that there are a plurality of gods, and so more distinct divine minds than one; for this, they bring that scripture, in Rom. viii. 27.He that searcheth the heart, knoweth the mind of the Spirit.Again, he is represented as making intercession, which is an act of worship, and consequently he cannot be the object thereof; ver. 26.The Spirit itself maketh intercession for us, &c. this also argues that he is not possessed of the blessings which he intercedes for. Again, he is not only said to be resisted and grieved, which expressions, it is true, are sometimes applied to God, though in an improper sense, speaking after the manner of men; but the Spirit is said to be quenched, or extinguished: thus, 1 Thess. v. 19. this, together with what has been before said concerning him, is not applicable to a divine Person. These are the most material objections that are brought against the doctrine which we have been endeavouring to maintain, and the sum of them all is this; that it is inconsistent with the character of a divine Person to be thus dependent on, and subjected to the will of another, as the Spirit is supposed, by them, to be.
Answ.That we may defend the Godhead of the Holy Ghost, against such-like objections as these, we shall first premise something relating to all those scriptures which speak of the Spirit, as given or sent by the Father, and then apply it to thesense of those in particular which are brought to support the objections, as before-mentioned.
1. It may be easily observed, that in several places of scripture, especially in the New Testament, the Holy Ghost is often taken for the gifts or graces of the Spirit; and more particularly for that extraordinary dispensation, in which the apostles were endowed with those spiritual gifts, which were necessary for the propagation and success of the gospel: these, by aMetonymy, are called theSpirit; and, I humbly conceive, all those scriptures, which speak of the Spirit’sbeing poured forth, as in Prov. i. 23. and Joel ii. 28. compared with Acts ii. 17. and elsewhere, are to be understood in this sense; and thus it is explained, in Acts x. 44, 45.The Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word; upon which occasion it is said, thatupon the Gentiles was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. Thus we are to understand that scripture, in Acts xix. 2.We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost; and another in John vii. 39.the Holy Ghost was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified; the wordgivenis supplied by our translators, probably, to fence against a weak argument of some Anti-trinitarians, taken from that text, to overthrow the eternity of the Spirit; but whether the word be supplied or no, the sense of the text is plainly this, that the gifts of the Holy Ghost were not conferred before Christ’s ascension into heaven; which is a farther confirmation of this acceptation of the word, or of this figurative way of speaking, being used in this, and several other places of scripture, to the same purpose.
2. All those scriptures which seem to represent the Holy Ghost, as inferior to the Father and Son, some of which are contained in the objection, may be understood as denoting the subserviency of the works of the Spirit, which are also called theHoly Ghost, to those works which are said to be performed by the Father and Son: Now it is certain that the subserviency of one work unto another, performed by different persons, does not necessarily infer the inferiority of one person to the other: accordingly we must distinguish between the Spirit, as subsisting, and as acting; in the former sense, he is a divine Person, equal with the Father and Son; in the latter, he may be said to be subservient to them.
But now we shall proceed to consider the sense of those scriptures, brought to support the objection, in consistency with what has been premised. The first scripture mentioned, is that in which it is said,Thou gavest them thy good Spirit to instruct them; where the Holy Ghost is described with a personal character, and probably it is not to be understood metonymically for his gifts and graces; accordingly the meaning of it seems to be this; that the Spirit’s efficiency, in guidingand instructing them, was a special gift of God conferred upon them; and, in this respect, though he was a sovereign Agent, yet he is said to act by the will of the Father, which is the same with his own will: for though the Persons in the Godhead are distinct, yet they have not distinct wills; and it is no improper way of speaking to say, that when a divine Person displays his glory, and therein confers a blessing upon men, that this is given; as when God is said to give himself to his people, when he promises to be a God to them. There is, indeed, in this mode of speaking, a discriminating act of favour conferred on men, upon which account it is called a gift; but this does not militate against the divinity of the Holy Ghost, though he is said to be given to them.
As for the other scripture, in which it is said,God gave them the like gift, as he gave to us, meaning the Holy Ghost, that is plainly taken for the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, the conferring whereof is called, in the foregoing words, a beingbaptized with the Holy Ghost; as it is particularly explained in that scripture, referred to, in Acts x. 45, 46. where it is said, thaton the Gentiles was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost; what this gift is, we may learn from the following words,They spake with tongues, and magnified God.
Again, when it is said, in Luke xi. 13. thatyour heavenly Father shall give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him; this is explained by another evangelist, in Matt. vii. 11. where it is taken for good things in general, and so includes the graces of the Spirit, that accompany salvation, when it is said, your Father, that is in heaven, shall givegood thingsto them that ask him; so that here the Spirit is taken for all those blessings which he bestows upon his people, in answer of prayer.
As for those scriptures before mentioned, in which the Spirit is said to be sent, either by the Father, or the Son, they are not, indeed, to be understood in the same sense, as when the Son is said to be sent in his human nature, appearing in the form of a servant, to fulfil the will of God; but when God is said to send his Spirit, the word is to be taken in a metaphorical sense; in which, sending imports as much as giving; and when the Spirit is said to be given, it has a peculiar reference to the grace which he was to bestow upon them. If we enquire into the reason of this metaphorical way of speaking, it may probably be this; that we may understand hereby that the Spirit, which was to produce these effects, was a divine Person, and that the effects themselves were subservient to those works which were performed, by which the Personal glories of the Father and Son were demonstrated.
Again, when it is farther said by our Saviour, in John xvi. 14. thatthe Spirit shall receive of mine, and shew it unto you;this plainly intends the Spirit’s applying to them those blessings which Christ had purchased by his blood, which tended to his glory; and still it signifies only the subserviency of the Spirit to the Son, in working, as the application of redemption tends to render the purchase thereof effectual, to answer its designed end.
As to the next scripture, before mentioned, in John xvi. 13. wherethe Spiritis saidnot to speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak; this does not argue, in the least, that the Spirit receives what he communicates, as dependent on the Father, for the knowledge of those things he is to impart, or that he has ideas impressed on his mind, as creatures are said to have; for that is inconsistent with what has been before proved from scripture,viz.That the Spirit knoweth the deep things of God, even as the spirit of a man knoweth the things of a man; or, as an intelligent being, is conscious of his own thoughts, or actions, not by information, but by an immediate internal perception. The sense therefore of this text is this; that the Spirit shall communicate no other doctrines, or give no other laws, but what Christ had before given in the gospel; or that what he revealeth, is the same that Christ had given them ground to expect: accordingly, it is so far from militating against the Spirit’s divinity, that it proves the harmony and consent of what is suggested by one divine Person, with what had been before delivered by another; and as to the mode of expression here used, concerning the Spirit’s speaking what he had heard; this is spoken after the manner of men, and is no more inconsistent with his divine omniscience, or the independence thereof, than when God is said, in other scriptures, to know things by searching them, or, as it were, by enquiry, as hath been before observed, in considering omniscience, as attributed to the Holy Ghost. These, and suchlike expressions, by which God is represented, by words, accommodated to our usual way of speaking, when applied to men, are to be understood, notwithstanding, in a way agreeable to the divine perfections, by abstracting from them every thing that argues the least imperfection in him, when applied to the Holy Ghost; as when some expressions, agreeable to human modes of speaking, are elsewhere used, with a particular application to the Father, without detracting from his divine glory.
Again, when it is objected, that the Spirit hath a distinct mind from God, as when it is said,God knoweth the mind of the Spirit; and, as though he were represented as engaged in an act of worship, he is, in the following words, described, aspraying, or,making intercession for us, according to the will of God; as, in Rom. viii. 26, 27. it is plain, that, by themindof the Spirit, we are to understand those secret desires in prayer, which are wrought in believers by the Spirit, when they want words to express them; instead of which, they address themselves to God, as it is said,with groanings that cannot be uttered, which are from the Spirit, as the Author of these secret desires, which are only known to the heart-searching God, who knows the meaning of them, what it is we want, in which respect, this is called the mind of the Spirit, as the Author thereof, though it is subjectively our own mind or desires, which we want words to express; and when the Spirit is said to make intercession for us, it implies nothing else but his enabling us, whether in more or less proper modes of speaking, to plead with God for ourselves.
Lastly, As to those expressions, by which the Spirit is represented, asquenched, orextinguished, these are to be understood in the same sense as when by ametonymy, as before mentioned, the gifts of the Spirit; as when those extraordinary gifts were first promised, they were led to expect that they should bebaptized with the Holy Ghost, and with fire, that is, they should have the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost conferred upon them, which were to be signified by the emblem offiery tongues, that sat on them, in Acts ii. 3. the reason of which emblem might probably be this; that as a necessary qualification from their preaching the gospel, they should be filled with an holy flame of love to God, and zeal for his glory, as well as with the gift of tongues, by which they might communicate his mind to the world. This privilege, which they had received, the apostle exhorts them not to forfeit, abuse, or provoke the Holy Ghost to take from them, which is called a quenching the Spirit; therefore this metaphorical way of speaking, accommodated hereunto, must not be supposed to be inconsistent with his divinity.
I shall conclude with some inferences, which more especially respect the practical improvement of the doctrine of the Trinity. And,
1. We may take occasion, from hence, to observe the difference that there is between natural and revealed religion. As the former respects the knowledge of God so far, as it may be attained without the help of divine revelation, and that worship, which the heathen, who have nothing else to guide them but the light of nature, are obliged to give to the divine Being; the latter, which is founded on scripture, contains a display of the Personal glory of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, which is necessary to be known and believed, as being the foundation of all revealed religion; so that the sum of Christianity consists in our subjection to, and adoring the Godhead, as subsisting in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
2. As this doctrine is eminently displayed in the work of redemption, it is necessary for us to consider how it is accommodated to, and demonstrated by all the branches thereof. The price that was given, by our great Redeemer, has a value put upon it, in proportion to the dignity of his Person, and lays a sure foundation for our hope of being accepted in the sight of God, on account of his obedience and sacrifice, which was of infinite value: and the application of redemption being a work which the Spirit, who is a divine Person, has undertaken to perform, encourages us to expect that it shall be brought to perfection; so that they, who are the objects of redeeming love and sanctifying grace, shall, in the end, be completely saved.
3. As it is necessary for us to adore and magnify the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for the hope which we have of this inestimable privilege in the gospel; so we must observe the distinct glory that is to be given to each of these divine Persons for this work; to the Father, in that whatever is done by the Mediator, to procure this privilege for us, is considered, in scripture, as taking its rise from him, 1 Cor. i. 30.Of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us, wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: And whatever was done in the human nature, or by God incarnate; that is, in a peculiar manner, the work of the Son, and a revenue of glory is due to him for it, who gave his life a ransom for many, and herein expressed the highest instance of condescension, which is enhanced by the infinite dignity of his Person. Moreover, whatever work is performed in subserviency to the Mediator’s glory, whereby the Spirit demonstrates his distinct Personal glory; this gives us occasion to adore him, in all the displays of his power, in beginning, carrying on, and completing the work of grace in the souls of men.
4. As to what respects that fellowship or communion, which believers have with the Father, Son, and Spirit, this depends on the account we have, in scripture, of the distinct methods, in which their Personal glory is set forth therein: Thus we have access to God the Father, through the Mediation of the Son, by the powerful influence of the Holy Spirit, as the apostle says, in Eph. ii. 18.Through him we have an access, by one Spirit unto the Father; and our hope of blessedness proceeds this way, as it is the gift of the Father, who has prepared an inheritance for us, the purchase of the Son, on whose death it is founded, and the work of the Holy Ghost, as bringing us to and putting us into the possession of it.
5. This directs us as to the way of performing the great duty of self-dedication, to the Father, Son, and Spirit; to the Father, as our covenant God in Christ; to the Son, as the Mediator, Head, and Surety of this covenant; and to the Spirit,by whom we are made partakers of the blessings promised therein; in all these, and many other respects, we are to have a particular regard to the persons in the Godhead, in such a way, as their Personal glory is set forth in scripture.
6. Since the Father, Son, and Spirit, are one, though we distinguish them as Persons, yet we must consider them as having the same divine perfections, the same divine understanding and will, lest, while we give glory to each of the Persons in the Godhead, we should suppose that there are more Gods than one; therefore, though the Person of the Father is distinct from that of the Son and the Holy Ghost, we are not to suppose the power, wisdom, goodness, and faithfulness, or any other divine perfections, belong, in a more or less proper sense, to one Person than another.
7. This doctrine is of use to direct us how we are to address ourselves to God in prayer: thus, when therein we call him our Father, we are not to consider him in the same sense, as when he is represented as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; but we address ourselves to him, as the Author of our being, the God of all grace, and the Fountain of blessedness; in which respect, the Son and the Holy Ghost are not to be excluded, especially unless we consider him as our Father in Christ, and so express our faith with respect to his distinct Personality, from that of the Son and the Spirit. And though only one divine Person be particularly mentioned in prayer, the blessed Trinity is to be adored; or whatever Personal glory we ascribe to one, as subsisting distinctly from the other, we must, notwithstanding, consider the Father, Son, and Spirit, as the one only living and true God.
Thus we have gone through this great and important subject, and therein have taken occasion, particularly, to insist on the chief matters in controversy relating to the doctrine of the ever-blessed Trinity, and consider the various methods taken to oppose it both by the Socinians and Arians, and endeavoured, not only to defend the Deity of our Saviour, and the Holy Ghost by enquiring into the sense of those many scriptures, in which our faith therein is founded, but to answer the most material objections that are brought against it; and our enlarging more on it, than we shall do on several following answers, cannot be reckoned a needless work, inasmuch as a great deal hath been written in opposition to it, whereby the faith of some has not only been shaken, but overthrown. I would never attempt to speak of this doctrine, or any of the divine perfections, without being sensible of the difficulty of the subject, it being such as is not to be comprehended by a finite mind. I hope nothing will appear to have been suggested inconsistent with the essential, or Personal glory of the Father, Son, orSpirit; and it may reasonably be expected that there should be allowances made for great defects, since it is but a little of God that can be known by us; therefore, when we pretend to speak concerning him, it will not be thought strange if we give occasion to any to say, that we have the greatest reason to acknowledge, that, in many instances, we cannot order our words, by reason of darkness.