"built unto the name of Jehovah," " the sanctuary " of Jehovah,”m "a glorious high throne;" and in a temple religious worship is performed to God alone." Nor is there any ground for the objection, that it is only metaphorically that believers are called a temple; for although that were true, the analogy must still be preserved. As therefore the house erected by Solomon was a temple on account of the indwelling of the Divinity, which the Hebrews call Shechinah, so believers are the temple of the Spirit, because he is in them and inhabits them as God. But in truth, believers are a temple in a far more strict and proper sense than the temple of Jerusalem; as that was merely a figure, of which the substance is primarily in Christ, and secondarily in believers.P XXXIII. We must not overlook, in fine, the religious obedience which the Apostle urges us to render to the Holy Spirit. "Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, "To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your "hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of tempta"tion in the wilderness, when your fathers tempted "me," &c. The Spirit of God was justly offended, because that sacred obedience which was an honour due to his Majesty, had not been rendered to him. But we find also that a certain sin is mentioned in sacred writ, which is in a peculiar manner committed against the Spirit and his office, and which is so heinous in the sight of God that it is declared unpardonable above every other sin. Now, if the Holy Spirit שכינה * 1 1 Kings v. 3, 4. n Jer. xvii. 12. Ephes. ii. 21, 22. Heb. x. 26, 29. m Is. lxiii. 18. • Ps. xxix. 9. a Heb. iii. 7, 8, 9. be not the Supreme God, what reason can be assigned why a sin committed against him should be held so dreadful and atrocious? From this, however, we are not to infer, that the Holy Spirit is a greater Divine person, or entitled to higher honour, than the Father or the Son. That he is truly God, we justly conclude, because it is possible to sin against him peculiarly and signally. That he is greater than the Father or the Son, we cannot infer, as the infinitude of the godhead excludes all disparity. That the sin committed against him is never forgiven, is not owing to his being worthy of higher honour than the Father or the Son, but to the nature of the sin, by which that grace of God without which there is no salvation, although exhibited, known, and acknowledged, is wantonly and pertinaciously rejected; and resistance is maliciously given to those operations of the Holy Spirit, by which only he brings sinners into a state of saving relation to God.57 XXXIV. And thus, we think, we have abundantly confirmed the Supreme Deity of the Holy Ghost. It now remains to show, that he is a Divine person, DISTINCT from the Father and the Son. This appears, 1st, From the distinct mention of these adorable persons. Haggai ii. 4, 5, "I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts, with the WORD,-and my SPIRIT remaineth among you.s 58 2dly, From the enumeration of Three that bear record in heaven.t 3dly, From an express term of distinction: "I will pray the Father, "and he shall give you ANOTHER Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever, even the Spirit of "truth." To this learned men refer also an expres 'See also Mat. xxviii. 19. 2 Cor. xiii. 14. sion in Zechariah, which they thus render; Even today will I restore unto thee another Teacher or Revealer. The Holy Spirit may be called a Revealer, because it is his office to disclose deep mysteries ;" and another Revealer, to distinguish him from Christ, who was sent before him, and who is mentioned in a preceding verse. He may be said to be restored, partly because the extraordinary mission of the Holy Spirit was suspended from the times of Zechariah to Christ; partly because he was to be given in the room of Christ, who is gone to the Father. The distinguishing properties of the Holy Spirit, are as follows. 1st, Passive procession from the Father and the Son. 2dly, The third place in the order of subsistence. 3dly, The third place in the order of operation. Compare what is said on this topic in the Seventh Dissertation. XXXV. These truths relating to the Spirit ought to be rightly known, and most devoutly acknowledged. Something more, however, is included in that faith in the Holy Ghost of which we make a profession in the Creed. This faith doth not rest satisfied with a frigid contemplation of his Divine Person, but goes forward to consider his mysterious indwelling in believers, and the secret efficacy which he exerts in their hearts. It will now be proper for us to discourse a little further on these points, that we may penetrate to the marrow and the kernel of the doctrine before us. It is the privilege of believers, then, that they have received the Spirit from God, and enjoy his presence as a much loved Inhabitant in the innermost chambers of their .12 .Ch. ix גם היום מגיד משנה אשיב לך' souls. Now we have received not the spirit of the "world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might "know the things which are freely given to us of "God." And so universally doth this hold, that, "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none " of his."z As many of us, too, as are made partakers of the Spirit, should be solicitous to know that he dwelleth in us. "What! Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in 66 you, which ye have of God?"a Whilst we remain ignorant of this, it is impossible for us to be sure that we have that union with God and Christ, which is the hinge on which the whole of our salvation turns. "Hereby know we that we dwell in him and he in us, " because he hath given us of his Spirit." Now there is no way in which this can be known with greater certainty, than by carefully observing those operations, by which the Spirit manifests himself to the conscience, as the Spirit of grace, and the Spirit of Christ. Thus also we shall learn the unspeakable excellence and value of this gift of God. XXXVI. Those operations of the Spirit to which we have alluded, are chiefly the following. As by moving on the waters at the beginning of the world, he infused into them the principles of a new life, whence the regular vicissitudes of nature, and the diversified species of creatures proceeded; so, after having entered the minds of the elect, he becomes in them the author of a new, spiritual, and divine life. "It is the Spirit "that quickeneth." The beginning of this life seems to be a new light kindled by the Spirit in the mind,d by which we know ourselves with all the atrocity of our sins and the guilt which they involve,-the vanity of the world lying in wickedness, and the insufficiency of all creatures to make us happy,-the divine certainty of the truths revealed by the Gospel,-and what is of the first importance, the universal sufficiency of the Lord Jesus Christ to perfect our salvation,—the amiableness of God in Christ,-and in fine, the inexpressible beauty of holiness, which is the image of God. But as there is a very intimate connexion betwixt the understanding and the will, the same Spirit by his gracious agency excites motions in the will corresponding to those ideas of the understanding. He excites, in particular, deep self-abasement before God, sorrow for the offences we have done as opposite to the divine holiness, contempt of the world, a holy despair of happiness from ourselves and from all creatures, a living faith of the Gospel, hunger and thirst after Christ and that grace which is in Christ alone, a vehement love to God in Christ, and an ardent desire of holiness, that we may as closely as possible resemble God. All these fruits of the Spirit, too, while they exert their influence in the mind, cannot fail to communicate their virtue even to the members of the body; which present themselves as instruments and servants of righteousness unto holiness. And thus, so to speak, a new world of grace is produced by the Holy Spirit in the man, who, henceforth governed by more excellent rules of conduct, and full of vital vigour, discovers by his pure and heavenly deportment, that he is led by the Spirit of God.f |