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 Patterson, George 
 The doctrine of the trinity 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2022 with funding from 
 Princeton Theological Seminary Library 
 
 https://archive.org/details/doctrineoftrinit0Opatt 
 
THE 
 
 DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY 
 
 UNDERLYING THE 
 
 REVELATION OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. GEORGE PATTERSON, 
 
 PASTOR OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CONGREGATION, GREENHILL, PICTOU, N.S. ; 
 AUTHOR OF ‘MEMOIR OF JAMES M‘GREGOR, D.D.,’ ‘LIVES OF 
 JOHNSTON AND MATHESON,’ ETC. ETC. 
 
 EDINBURGH: W. OLIPHANT & CO. 
 PICTOU, N.S.: J. MLEAN & CO. 
 NEW GLASGOW, N.S.: W. L. CAMPBELL. 
 1870. 
 
. MURRAY AND GIBB, EDINBURGH, 
 PRINTERS TO HER MAJESTY’S STATIONERY OFFICE. 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 ES 
 
 PAGE 
 
 INTRODUCTORY, : 1 
 
 PART: 1: 
 THE OLD TESTAMENT; OR, THE MANIFESTATION 
 OF THE FATHER. 
 
 1. EARLY INDICATIONS OF A TRINITY, . ‘ ; 17 
 Il, THE COMPLETED REVELATION OF THE OLD COVENANT, 36 
 FART=If, 
 THE GOSPELS; OR, THE MANIFESTATION OF THE 
 SON, 
 INTRODUCTORY, : . : ; i 65 
 THE INCARNATION, 5 : : ‘ ; 68 
 THE MINISTRY OF THE FORERUNNER, . ; , 70 
 OPENING OF OUR LORD’S MINISTRY, j 2 74 
 OUR LORD’S PUBLIC MINISTRY, . : : ‘ 79 
 AFTER THE RESURRECTION, : ; ‘ ae 85 
 PART III. 
 THE APOSTLES ; OR, THE MANIFESTATION OF THE 
 HOLY GHOST. 
 
 I, THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, . : tL 
 
1V CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 II. THE EARLIER EPISTLES OF PAUL, : 5 : 97 
 THE EPISTLES TO THE THESSALONIANS, : ; 100 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS, . : : 105 
 
 THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, . " 110 
 
 THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, 4 122 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS, ‘ : : 128 
 
 III. THE LATER EPISTLES OF PAUL, ; : : 145 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS, . : ; 145 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS, . : ‘ 146 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS, . : : 151 
 
 IV. THE LATEST EPISTLES OF PAUL, ; : : 173 
 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES, . ab es : 173 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS, 4 2 174 
 
 Vv. THE CATHOLIC EPISTLES, : , ; ; 179 
 THE EPISTLES OF PETER, . , : : 179 
 
 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN, : : ; 187 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF JUDE, : ; 5 ; 199 
 
 VI. THE APOCALYPSE, ; : : 4 : 201 
 
 CONCLUSION, . , ; : 3 , 218 
 
PREFACE, 
 
 HE circumstances in which the following trea- 
 tise originated may be briefly stated. In 
 
 the course of the writer’s study of the’ Scriptures, 
 for personal improvement or pulpit preparation, he 
 had observed passages which, though not directly 
 teaching the doctrine of the Trinity, and not usually 
 quoted in discussions on that subject, yet afforded 
 incidental evidence of its truth, by the manner in 
 which they recognised the existence and operation 
 of three divine persons in our salvation. When, 
 therefore, during the past winter, he was invited to 
 deliver one of a course of lectures to the students 
 attending the Presbyterian College, Halifax, he 
 thought, after some consultation with brethren, 
 that it might be useful to ‘the young men, the 
 sons of the prophets, to collect and examine a 
 
 number of these passages, and thus show how the 
 
v1 PREFACE. 
 
 doctrine of the Trinity was assumed throughout the 
 Scriptures. This led him into a fuller examination 
 of the subject; and, in prosecuting his investiga- | 
 tions, he found the field much wider than he had 
 conceived, so that he was able to traverse only 
 a portion of it in the lecture which he delivered 
 as one of the course referred to. A desire having 
 been expressed by parties who heard it read, that 
 he should complete the course of inquiry on which 
 he had entered, he has rewritten and enlarged what 
 he had then prepared, and cast it into the form of a 
 systematic treatise, which he now ventures to lay 
 upon the altar as a humble offering to the cause 
 of Christian truth. 
 
 In the preparation of his work, he has consulted 
 all the commentaries and theological works bearing 
 on the subject within his reach; but, he must say, 
 commonly with small results for the immediate » 
 object he had in view. The path he has traversed, 
 though indicated by other writers, has not, so far as 
 he is aware, been fully explored by any. He has 
 thus been left to prosecute his researches with the 
 aid, in his particular line of inquiry, only of occa- 
 
 sional hints from authors who wrote for other 
 
PREFACE. vil 
 
 purposes. He must, however, acknowledge special 
 obligations to the New Testaments of Webster and 
 Wilkinson, Alford and Wordsworth; to the com- 
 mentaries of Eadie, Ellicott, Hodge, Alexander, 
 Lange, Olshausen, Hengstenberg, Keil and Delitzsch; 
 to Liddon’s Bampton Lectures on the Divinity of 
 our Lord; and in a less degree to others, whom he 
 cannot more particularly specify. 
 
 He cannot but feel as if he were guilty of pre- 
 sumption in offering any new discussion on a 
 subject which has employed ‘the tongues and pens 
 of so many of the greatest minds in the Church 
 during long centuries. But he knows of no work 
 in which the line of thought he has adopted is fully 
 followed out; and the decided opinion of friends, on 
 whose judgment he relies, that the work was fitted 
 to be useful, has finally determined him to offer to 
 the Christian public this his first published attempt 
 at theological inquiry. Grateful and happy will he 
 be if he should prove the means of bringing to light, 
 from the inexhaustible mines of God’s word, some 
 hid treasure which may serve to adorn the temple 
 of truth, and enrich the experience of God’s children. 
 At all events, he has the satisfaction of good Bishop 
 
Vili PREFACE. 
 
 Horne regarding his Commentary on the Psalms, 
 that the work has been its own reward. Most 
 devoutly does he bless God for the impressions 
 made on his mind and heart, by the close examina- 
 tion of the Scriptures to which he has been led in 
 the preparation of these pages. 
 
 May his service for Jerusalem be accepted of the 
 saints; and, above all, may the God of all grace 
 render it subservient to the united yet distinctive 
 clory of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost! 
 
 GEORGE PATTERSON. 
 
 GREENHILL, Pictou, N.S., 
 April 1870. 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 he 
 
 (HE doctrine of the Trinity is one of the truths 
 most surely believed among us. Everywhere 
 and at all times the Church of Christ has with one 
 heart believed, and with one mouth confessed, that 
 in the one undivided Godhead there are three per- 
 sons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the same in 
 essence, equal in power and glory. The rise of 
 heresies on the subject, while obliging her to define 
 the doctrine more sharply, has led her at the same 
 time to appreciate it more highly ; and thus the 
 storms of discussion which they have evoked, have 
 ended in rooting it more firmly in the faith and the 
 affections of the children of God. 
 
 Nor has the earnestness with which she has con- 
 tended for this truth been beyond its importance. 
 It can only be to the grossest ignorance, or the most 
 superficial inquiry, that it can ever appear a doc- 
 trine of mere abstract speculation, and having but 
 
 a slight connection with man’s duties or his hopes. 
 A 
 
0 vee INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 According to the word of God, the whole system 
 of divine administration throughout the universe is 
 founded on it. Even in regard to the natural world, 
 the Scriptures do not simply recognise God abso- 
 lutely, but ascribe to each of the three persons in the 
 Godhead their respective offices in its creation and 
 order, its preservation and government, representing 
 the Father as the source, the Son as the channel, 
 and the Spirit as the agent in all divine works." As 
 Calvin expresses it: ‘To the Father is to be ascribed 
 the origin of working, and the source and fountain 
 of all things; to the Son, wisdom, counsel, and the 
 administration; but to the Spirit, the efficiency in 
 operation. ” 
 
 It is, however, in the arrangements and issues of 
 the economy of our salvation that this doctrine ap- 
 pears especially luminous. In that glorious scheme 
 each of the Three is represented as discharging His 
 appropriate office, and performing His distinctive 
 work; but the order of operation among them is in 
 accordance with the original order of subsistence 
 between them from eternity, and the relation in 
 
 1 See, among many others, such passages as Gen. i. 1, 2; Job xxvii. 
 8, xxxiii. 4; Ps. civ. 29, 30; Johni, 3; Col. i. 16, 17. 
 
 2 «Patri principium agendi, rerumque omnium fons et scaturigo 
 attribuitur ; Filio sapientia, consilium, ipsaque in rebus agendis dis- 
 pensatio, at Spiritui virtus et efficacia assignatur actionis.’—Jnsé. 1. 
 xiii. 18. 
 
INTRODUCTORY. S 
 
 which they stand to man and to each other, in the 
 work of redemption, is based upon the personal and 
 internal relation of the members of the Godhead 
 each to the other. The Father is represented as 
 sending the Son, and throughout the whole sustain- 
 ing the honours of Deity, both in maintaining its 
 prerogatives and bestowing its favours; but this is 
 based upon His original relation to the others, as the 
 Fons Trinitatis, the eternal fountain of the Triune 
 Godhead. The Son is exhibited as sent by the 
 Father, commissioned by Him, and doing His will in 
 redeeming lost sinners by His humiliation and death; 
 but in so doing He acts according to His original 
 relation of Sonship to the Father. And then, as 
 the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, He 
 is represented as sent forth by the Father and the 
 _ Son to complete the work in the world, by revealing 
 the infinite love of the Father, the infinite grace of 
 the Son, and the condescension of the Spirit, by 
 quickening the spiritually dead to newness of life, 
 and by carrying on the work both in the individual 
 soul and in the Church at large, till they arrive at 
 ‘the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.’ 
 
 Lying thus at the basis of redemption, every doc- 
 trine of the Christian salvation is closely connected 
 with it, and rests upon it as its foundation. By it, 
 too, must our duties to the Supreme be determined. 
 
4 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 As Bishop Waterland remarks: ‘If God be Father, 
 Son, and Holy Ghost, the duties owing to God will 
 be duties under that triune distinction, which must 
 be paid accordingly ; and whoever leaves any of the 
 three out of his idea of God, comes so far short of 
 honouring God perfectly, and of serving Him in pro- 
 portion to the manifestation made of Him. Sup- 
 posing our doctrine true, there will be duties proper 
 to be paid to the Father as Father, and to the Son 
 as Son, and to the Holy Ghost as the Eternal Spirit 
 of both ; duties correspondent to their distinct offices 
 and personalities, besides the duties common to all 
 three considered as one God.’ Hence all our obliga- — 
 tions are exhibited by our being baptized ‘into the 
 name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
 Holy Ghost.’ 
 
 But if this doctrine thus determines our duties, 
 so does it establish our hopes. Were it not true, , 
 there were no Son to redeem us; the love of the 
 Father must have remained ‘a fountain sealed, its 
 purposes unexecuted, there being no Eternal Word 
 to say, ‘Lo, I come to do Thy will. Were this doc- 
 trine not true, there were no Eternal Spirit, to enter 
 into communion with our spirits, to form in them 
 a new principle of life, and to transform them into 
 the image of God. In a word, there were no salva- 
 tion for the lost. 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 5 
 
 And if all our hopes are thus orounded on this 
 truth, so by it alone is their extent and glory 
 measured ; for all the fulness of blessing to which 
 the saved are to attain, is summed up in our en- 
 joying the completeness of divine working, in the 
 manifestation of each of the three Persons in the 
 Godhead, in His special grace for man’s well-being. 
 ‘The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love 
 of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be 
 with you all’ 
 
 This being the position which the doctrine holds 
 in the Christian system, it will always be worthy of 
 our attentive study, both as Christians and theolo- 
 gians, that by acquaintance with its evidence, we 
 may be established in our convictions of its truth ; 
 that by clear and accurate conceptions, we may be 
 preserved from error; and that by the study of its 
 bearings, we may be able to apply it for our profit 
 and salvation. Indeed, in every age the remark of 
 - Augustine will be justified, that ‘nowhere is error 
 more dangerous, investigation more difficult, or dis- 
 covery more fruitful? 
 
 The positive Scripture testimony in favour of this 
 doctrine may be summed up as follows :—The Scrip- 
 tures frequently and strongly assert that God is one. 
 
 1 Nec periculosius alicubi erratur, nec laboriosius aliquid queretur, 
 nec fructuosius aliquid invenitur.—De Trinitate, i. 3. 
 
6 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 But, at the same time, they in a large number of 
 places, besides the Father, represent the Lord Jesus 
 Christ as God, by ascribing to Him divine names, 
 divine titles, divine attributes, and divine works, 
 and by rendering to Him divine worship. So in 
 like manner do they represent the Holy Ghost as 
 a divine person. And then, while thus each indi- 
 vidually is God, the three are combined in a manner 
 implying equality, as in the baptismal formula and 
 the apostolic benediction. 
 
 The evidence we regard as overwhelming in 
 amount, and irrefragable in character. And yet to 
 it may be added much evidence of an incidental 
 nature—less direct, but scarcely less convincing. 
 Liddon, in his Bampton Lectures on the Divinity of 
 our Lord, remarks regarding the writings of Paul: 
 ‘It would be a considerable error to recognise the 
 doctrine of our Lord’s divinity only in those passages 
 of St. Paul’s writings which distinctly assert it. 
 The indirect evidence of the apostle’s hold upon 
 the doctrine, is much wider and deeper than to 
 admit of its being exhibited in a given number of 
 isolated texts; since the doctrine colours, underlies, 
 interpenetrates the most characteristic features of 
 his thought and teaching. The proof of this might 
 be extended almost indefinitely. Accordingly, the 
 writer has built up one of the most solid defences 
 
INTRODUCTORY. : 3 
 
 of the truth of our Lord’s divinity in our language, 
 not merely by adducing direct proofs of the doc- 
 trine, but by showing how it is interwoven with 
 the whole texture of the sacred writings. In thus 
 establishing the divinity of the Son, the main posi- 
 tion in regard to the doctrine of the Trinity is 
 gained. Similar testimony as to the Holy Ghost 
 might be adduced; and we have only, as before, to 
 combine these two facts with what the Scriptures 
 teach regarding the unity of God, to arrive at the 
 full idea of the Trinity. 
 
 But a close examination of the word of God will , 
 not only enable us by this process to arrive at the 
 doctrine of the Tri-personality of God, but also afford 
 us a large amount of incidental evidence of the 
 same kind directly in favour of the doctrine, and 
 enable us to establish it by the shorter process of 
 showing how it is assumed in the exhibitions which 
 Scripture has given of the plan of mercy for fallen 
 man. This redemption is the central subject of re- 
 velation ; and just as it. is unfolded, so, we believe, 
 there will be found taken for granted the distinct 
 personality of the three members of the Godhead, 
 and their concurrent yet distinctive action in the 
 economy of man’s salvation. This is the point to 
 which our inquiries will be directed in the present 
 treatise. 
 
8 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 Taking a general view of the word of God, we 
 may observe on tlie face of it, that it may be divided 
 into three parts, distinct in their character, and 
 having a relation to each of the three persons in 
 the Godhead respectively, in the order of their sub- 
 ‘sistence and operation. Even from a cursory view 
 of the Old Testament, every intelligent reader must 
 have been struck with the fact that its leading prin- 
 ciple throughout is the unity of God: ‘Hear, O 
 Israel, Jehovah our God, one Jehovah? was pro- 
 claimed to God’s chosen as a sort of oracular an- 
 nouncement of the essential basis of their religious 
 faith and national polity. Their separation from the 
 other nations of the earth was in order to their being 
 a standing protest against the various systems of 
 polytheism prevalent around. Their legislation, for 
 the proclamation of which the ‘ Almighty bowed the 
 heavens and. came down, had as a first design to 
 guard that fundamental law of their civil and ecclesi- 
 astical constitution, ‘ Thou shalt have no other gods 
 before me’ The providential dealings of God with 
 them as a nation through long ages, and with other 
 nations in relation to them, as related in their sacred 
 records, all bore upon the one object of proclaiming 
 Him as the Most High, who ruleth among the chil- 
 dren of men, and who will not give His glory to 
 another. All their sacred writings are redolent of 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 9 
 
 the same truth. In them God is everywhere seen 
 proclaiming, in word and deed, against the gods 
 many of the heathen: ‘I am the Lord, and there is 
 none else; there is no God beside me ;’ and against 
 every form of dualism, which would recognise two 
 independent principles of good and evil: ‘I am the 
 Lord, and there is none else. I form the light and 
 ereate darkness; I make peace and create evil; I 
 the Lord do all these things. To exhibit His in- 
 comparable excellences they regard as their appro- 
 priate function and their especial glory, so that their 
 pervading spirit may be expressed in the words of 
 the Psalmist, ‘Who in the heaven can be compared 
 unto the Lord? who among the sons of the mighty 
 can be likened unto the Lord?’ If they speak of 
 the natural world,—and nowhere have we such magni- 
 ficent descriptions of the glories of the heavens and 
 the earth,—it is only as the handiwork of God, and 
 as telling of His perfections. Even when they speak 
 of a coming redemption, it is as God’s great work 
 in which He is to be glorified. If they speak of a 
 coming Deliverer distinct from the Father, it is as 
 His righteous servant—His agent in accomplishing 
 the work. So that, on every subject and in every. 
 variety of form, their teaching concentrates upon 
 the honour of the one living and true God; while In- 
 spiration reaches an elevation, beyond which human 
 
10 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 thought and human language can never soar, 10 
 the utterances of prophets and of the sweet singers 
 of Israel, as they describe His undivided supremacy 
 in heaven and earth, His infinite perfections, and 
 His unrivalled glories. But what is all this but the 
 manifestation of the Father in His office, as repre- 
 senting God absolutely, and upholding the honours 
 of Deity? So that the whole teaching of the Old 
 Testament centres in the principle of the apostle, 
 that ‘there is but one God, THE FATHER, of whom 
 are all things, and we in Him’ (1 Cor. viii. 6). 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to point out that the 
 second portion of revelation, which includes the 
 Gospels, is the manifestation of THE Son in His 
 special department of the work of our redemption. 
 This forms the whole subject of these delightful 
 portions of the word of God. They commence with 
 His incarnation, and, after exhibiting His divine 
 life and teaching, close with His death, resurrection, 
 and ascension; so’ that, in a peculiar sense, He is 
 their Alpha and their Omega, their beginning and 
 their ending. | 
 
 But equally apparent is the fact, that the re- 
 maining portion of the word of God is specially the 
 manifestation of. the Holy Ghost. It commences 
 with an account of the outpouring of His influ- 
 ences, by which the new creation was established, 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 11 
 
 and a history of His early working in the progress 
 and extension of the Church then founded. The 
 Epistles which follow, were not only written under 
 -His inspiration, but are all related to that work 
 which He was carrying on in the world, and con- 
 tain His instructions for the guidance, to the latest 
 ages, of that holy society which He had founded ; 
 while the closing book of the canon exhibits, in 
 mysterious symbols, the vicissitudes of His Church 
 on all her voyages over the stormy sea of time, till 
 she reaches the eternal haven. If in these writings 
 we have the Son’s work in all its bearings more 
 fully unfolded than in the previous portions of 
 Revelation, it is still by the Spirit that this is done, 
 as part of His distinctive work, according to the 
 saying of our Saviour, ‘He shall testify of me.’ 
 ‘He shall glorify me; for He shall receive of mine, 
 and shall show it unto you.’ 
 
 From this brief review it will be seen that the 
 whole word of God naturally divides into three 
 parts, clustering round the three persons in the 
 Godhead respectively ; and thus the doctrine of the 
 Trinity actually underlies the whole revelation of | 
 God’s purpose of grace to man. 
 
 But on examining each of these portions sepa- 
 rately, not only does it exhibit the special glories of 
 one of the persons in the Trinity, but it presents 
 
EG. INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 Him in His relation to the others, both essentially 
 and economically ; and it will now be our object, 
 taking up each of these in order, to show that just 
 as they unfold the plan of redemption, the working 
 of a Triune God will be found at its foundation. 
 In prosecuting our inquiries, we shall limit our- 
 selves to the consideration of passages in which 
 the three Divine Persons are mentioned in connec- 
 tion with the formation and execution of the scheme 
 of human salvation. It will be understood that, in 
 so doing, we leave out of view all that might be 
 deduced from representations given of the nature 
 and work of any of the persons of the Godhead 
 singly, or even of two of them in connection, not 
 because we regard these as unimportant, but because 
 it is necessary, in present circumstances, to confine 
 ourselves to.a single view of the subject. The 
 order we shall pursue will be the historical, con- 
 sidering the sacred writings mainly according to the 
 time of their production. ; 
 Before entering upon our inquiry, it may be proper 
 to make an explanation, to guard against misappre- 
 hension. We shall have occasion to speak of the 
 proper work of each of the three persons of the God- 
 head in our salvation ; but we must beware of any 
 such idea, as that any act of the Godhead should be 
 the act of one without the concurrence of the others. 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 13 
 
 Sometimes there is an indistinct notion on the part 
 of Christians, as if the Father did some works, the 
 Son did some, and the Spirit did others, each work- 
 ing separately from the others; and language has 
 been used by evangelical writers on the subject, 
 which is incautious and dangerous. The tendency 
 of such a view is inevitably to Tritheism. All 
 sound divines hold that, as the nature of the God- 
 head is one and undivided, so all the works of the 
 Trinity are undivided, and that in every divine act 
 all three co-operate, according to the old Latin 
 maxim, Opera Trinitatis ad extra sunt indivisa. 
 The works of the Trinity, external to themselves, 
 are undivided. We notice this to guard against 
 wrong impressions ; but it still remains true that, in 
 all divine operations, while all three concur, distinct 
 places of working are assigned to each. 
 
PARE TE 
 
 THE OLD TESTAMENT; 
 
 THE REVELATION OF THE FATHER. 
 
 ‘To us there is but one God, THE FATHER, of whom are all things, 
 and we in Him,’—1 Cor. VIII. 6. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 EARLY INDICATIONS OF A TRINITY. 
 
 ()* entering upon our examination of the Old 
 
 Testament we must observe that, as already 
 remarked, the primary design of that dispensation 
 was to establish among men the doctrine of one 
 living and true God, in opposition to all the forms 
 of polytheism prevalent among the nations, or, in 
 other words, to reveal the Father; and, therefore, that 
 any allusions in its records to any distinction of 
 personality in the Godhead should be few, and, as 
 compared with later revelations, indistinct, is only 
 what we would have a right to expect. One of the 
 Fathers well remarks, that a gradual revealing of 
 God was necessary in consequence of human frailty, 
 just as the gradual progress of the light of day is 
 necessary to the human eye, which, after the dark- 
 ness of night, and unaccustomed to the light of the 
 sun, would be blinded by the sudden outflashing of 
 his noontide power.’ Moreover, the redemption 
 
 1Gradatim enim et per incrementa fragilitas humana nutriri 
 B 
 
18 THE REVELATION OF THE FATHER. 
 
 afterward to be achieved, was only dimly revealed, 
 through obscure prophecies and veiled symbols, to 
 the faith and hope of the expecting Church. This 
 was the case more especially in the earlier periods 
 of that economy. The revelation of the working of 
 a Triune God in the arrangements of mercy for 
 man’s salvation must have been proportionally ob- 
 _scure. 
 
 But on closer examination we believe that it will 
 be manifest, that in the very earliest communica- 
 tions of God’s will, there were clear indications of a 
 plurality of persons in the one divine essence, and 
 less distinct indications of a Trinity; that as the 
 light of revelation advanced toward the perfect day, 
 the intimations of tri-personality became more dis- 
 tinct; and that when it reached what may be re- 
 garded as its noonday brightness under that dispen- 
 sation, in the writings of the prophets from the 
 reion of Uzziah to the close of the Hebrew canon in 
 the days of Malachi, the three divine persons are 
 prominently exhibited, and that in connection with 
 the approaching redemption, in a manner which 
 almost anticipates the clearness of New Testament 
 revelation. 
 
 debet . . . periculosa enim sunt que magna sunt, si repentina sunt. 
 Nam etiam lux solis subita post tenebras splendore nimio insuetis 
 oculis non ostendet diem, sed potius faciet ceecitatem.—NOVATIAN, 
 De Trin. c. xxvi., quoted by Liddon. 
 
EARLY INDICATIONS OF A TRINITY. 19 
 
 Looking, then, at this revelation in its earlier 
 periods, we find at the outset the singular circum- 
 stance of the title of God in the original being 
 plural, but joined with a singular verb. This is, 
 the case in the very first verse of Genesis, ‘ In the 
 beginning God (£lohim in the plural) created the 
 heavens and the earth’ ‘Language, says Liddon, 
 ‘it would seem, thus submits to a violent anomaly, 
 that she may the better hint at the mystery of 
 several powers or persons, who not merely act to- 
 gether, but who ‘constitute a single agent. The 
 Hebrew language could have described God by sin- 
 gular forms, such as El, Hloah, and no question 
 would have been raised as to the strictly monothe- 
 istic force of those words. The Hebrew language 
 might have “amplified” the idea of God thus con- 
 veyed, by less dangerous processes than the employ- 
 ment of a plural form. Would it not have done so, 
 unless the plural form had been really necessary, in 
 order to hint at the complex mystery of God’s inner 
 life, until that mystery should be more clearly un- 
 veiled by the explicit revelations of a later day ?’* 
 
 The singular term Eloah is sometimes used: to denote God, but 
 most commonly the Hebrew Scriptures employ the plural form 
 Elohim. This is used to denote (1) The true God ; (2) Heathen 
 gods, Ex. xii. 12; Gen. xxxy. 2, 4; Josh. xxiv. 15, etc. ; (3) Judges 
 or magistrates, as under the Jewish theocracy representing God, 
 Ps, Ixxxii. 1, 6; Ex. xxi. 6, xxii. 7, 8. (In Deut. xix, 17, ina 
 
2.0 THE REVELATION OF THE FATHER. 
 
 All attempts to explain this away, as the plural 
 of majesty, are refuted by the language of other pas- 
 sages, which clearly imply a plurality of persons. 
 Thus in Gen. i. 26 it is said, ‘And God said, Let US 
 make man in our image, after our likeness.’ Here 
 the persons are plural, but the likeness is one, point- 
 ing to personal distinctions in one undivided essence. 
 Again, it is said in reference to the building of the 
 tower of Babel (ch. xi. 7), ‘Jehovah said, Go to, let 
 us go down;’ and still more expressively it is said 
 of man, after he had fallen (ch. iii. 22), ‘The Lord 
 God said, The man is become as one of us;’ in all of 
 which passages the language implies distinction of 
 persons and equality of rank between the speaker 
 and those addressed. 
 
 Some writers, however, consider that we have in 
 the account of the creation, in the first chapter of 
 Genesis, still more distinet references to a Trinity. 
 First we have God creating the heavens and the 
 earth; secondly, we have His Spirit moving upon 
 the waters; and thirdly, in the language, ‘ God said, 
 parallel case, the parties are represented as ‘standing before Je- 
 hovah.’) In addition, some have contended that it means angels 
 or other superhuman creatures, as in such passages as Ps. xevii. 7, 
 exxxviil. 1. But this is strenuously denied by Gesenius and other 
 eminent Hebrew scholars. At all events it remains certain, and 
 the fact we deem of importance, that in no instance is the plural 
 
 form used with a singular verb, except in reference to the one 
 Supreme Being. 
 
EARLY INDICATIONS OF A TRINITY. 21 
 
 applied to each step of the process, compared with 
 the statements ‘of the New Testament, that all was 
 created by the Son, who is described as the Novos, or 
 Word, these writers suppose that there is an allu- 
 sion to the personal Word of God. The language of 
 the Psalmist (Ps. xxxii. 6) on this subject, ‘ By the 
 Word of the Lord were the heavens mede, and all 
 the host of them by the breath, or Spirit, ‘of His 
 mouth,’ seems to suggest the same idea. Alexander 
 on this passage well remarks, that there is in the 
 verse an obvious allusion to the history of the crea- 
 tion in Genesis, and that the words convey the idea 
 of the ease with which God can create a world. At 
 the same time, he adds, it is not a mere fortuitous 
 coincidence that these two words are used in Scrip- 
 ture to designate the second and third persons in 
 the Godhead. 
 
 Very early we find God represented in a manner 
 indicating that the distinction was threefold. Thus 
 the dying patriarch Jacob, speaking under the influ- 
 ence of the Spirit of God, in blessing his grandsons, 
 says (Gen. xlvii. 15, 16), ‘God, before whom my 
 fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob did walk, the God 
 which fed me, or shepherded me, ‘all my life long 
 unto this day, the Angel which redeemed me from 
 all evil, bless the lads.’ Upon this passage Delitzsch 
 remarks : ‘ This triple reference to God, in which the 
 
oe THE REVELATION OF THE FATHER. 
 
 angel, who is placed on an equality with Ha-elohim, 
 cannot possibly be a created angel, but must be the 
 angel of God, «ce. God manifested in the form of the 
 angel of Jehovah, or ‘the angel of His face’ (Isa. 
 lxiii. 9), contains a foreshadowing of the Trinity, 
 though only God and the angel are distinguished, 
 not three persons of the divine nature. The God 
 before whom Abraham and Isaac walked had proved 
 Himself to Jacob to be the ‘God which fed’ and 
 ‘the angel which redeemed, 7.e. according to the more 
 fully developed revelation of the New Testament, 
 6 @cos and 6 Aoyos, Shepherd and Redeemer. By the 
 singular 722° (bless), the triple mention of God is 
 resolved into the unity of the divine nature. ‘Non 
 dicit benedicant, pluraliter, nec repetit, sed conjungit 
 in uno opere benedicendi tres personas, Deum patrum, 
 Deum pastorem et Angelum. Sunt igitur hi tres 
 unus Deus et unus benedictor Idem opus facit Angelus 
 quod pastor et Deus Patrum.—LZuther. ‘He does 
 not say, Let them bless, in the plural, nor does he 
 repeat (viz. the act of blessing to each), but he joins 
 in one act of blessing three persons, the God of his 
 fathers, God the Shepherd, and the angel. These 
 three therefore are one God, and one blesser. The 
 angel does the same work as the Shepherd and the 
 God of his fathers.’ 
 
 That a distinction of persons between God and 
 
EARLY INDICATIONS OF A TRINITY. 23 
 
 the angel is implied in this passage is generally 
 admitted. It is also plain, that by their being 
 united as one in blessing, the unity of the divine 
 nature is represented. But we cannot help thinking 
 that the words shadow forth the threefold distinction 
 of persons in the Godhead, and their special opera- 
 tions for man’s salvation. It is acknowledged by all 
 that the phrase, ‘The God before whom my fathers 
 Abraham and Isaac did walk, describes the Father, 
 as has been said, ‘who is the Author of salvation, 
 the Judge, who dispenses justice and mercy, the 
 Father, before whom the adopted and regenerate 
 child walks.’ That by the angel is meant the 
 second person in the Trinity, we shall have occasion 
 to show presently. The description of Him, as hav- 
 ing redeemed the patriarch from all evil, accords 
 with the Son’s work, as unfolded afterward. Whether 
 the remaining phrase, ‘The God who fed me all my 
 life long unto this day,’ refers to the Spirit, is not so 
 clear. The Spirit, we know, did work in the early 
 Church. ‘God, says Nehemiah, ‘gave His good 
 Spirit unto them;’ and the nature of His work ap- 
 pears in the prayer of the Psalmist, ‘Uphold me 
 with Thy free Spirit. ‘Thy Spirit is good, lead me 
 to the land of uprightness.’ This seems to accord 
 with the description given in this clause, which will 
 ? Murphy on Genesis. 
 
24 THE REVELATION OF THE FATHER. 
 
 describe Him who is ‘the upholder of life, the 
 quickener and sanctifier, the potential agent, who 
 works both to will and to do in the soul’* If this 
 be correct, the passage will shadow forth, it may 
 be dimly, the gracious working of a three-one 
 God. 
 
 But the threefold distinction is still more clearly 
 manifested in the priestly blessing (Num. vi. 23-27). 
 The priest was here commanded to pronounce the 
 name of God thrice. Even the Jewish rabbins re- 
 marked this threefold repetition of the divine name, 
 and they read it in Hebrew each time with a different 
 accent, regarding it as involving a mystery in the 
 divine nature. This threefold blessing is represented 
 as putting His name upon the people of Israel. 
 Had there been no design of teaching some other 
 important truth, we are safe in saying, that it would 
 have been more in accordance with the purpose of 
 that dispensation, of establishing a pure monotheism 
 among a people needing to learn it themselves, in 
 order to make it known to a world in which it had 
 been nearly lost, to have pronounced the name but 
 once. But this is not all. In examining the three 
 parts of the blessing particularly, we can scarcely fail 
 to see, that they express the work of the three persons 
 of the Trinity in the order of their subsistence, and 
 
 1 Murphy on Genesis. 3 
 
EARLY INDICATIONS OF A TRINITY. 25 
 
 of their operation for man’s salvation. 1. ‘Jehovah 
 bless thee and keep thee, referring to God generally 
 as the source of all good, and the protector from all 
 evil; as our Saviour prays, ‘ Holy Father, keep through 
 Thine own name those whom Thou hast given me ;’ 
 ‘IT pray that Thou shouldest keep them from the 
 evil.” 2. ‘Jehovah make His face shine on thee and 
 give thee peace, expressive of God as manifesting 
 His favour as reconciled through Christ. 3. ‘ Jehovah 
 lift up His countenance and give thee peace, ex- 
 pressive of God, as He inwardly unites Himself with 
 His own, filling them with peace and joy by the. 
 application of salvation by the Spirit. In fact, we 
 have only to read the words in connection with the 
 apostolic benediction, placing the different parts in 
 the same order, to see their entire accordance: ‘The 
 love of God, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and 
 the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all.’ 
 In truth, this seems to be the original, and the model 
 of this and other forms of blessing in the New 
 Testament. 
 
 It is added (ver. 27), ‘Thou shalt put my name 
 upon them, and I will bless them. By His name is - 
 meant His revealed nature; and this promise, con- 
 nected with the preceding words, teaches that in — 
 thus receiving of the gracious manifestation of the 
 three, His people shall be completely blessed with 
 
26 THE REVELATION OF THE FATHER. 
 
 the whole fulness of the divine being, revealed as 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
 
 The revelations of God’s will in the earlier periods 
 of the Old Covenant were usually made by theo- 
 phanies, that is, divine appearances, either in bodily 
 form or immediate vision. By these God made 
 known His nature and purposes. When God ap- 
 peared to our first parents, or at first to Abraham, 
 it is not stated in what form He revealed Himself. 
 But the attentive reader of the Old Testament can- 
 not but have observed, how generally subsequent 
 appearances of God were in and by the person 
 known as the Maleach Jehovah, the Angel of the 
 Lord, or, as some would render it, the Angel of 
 Jehovah. He is called Jehovah and God, and 
 divine works of judgment and mercy are attributed 
 to Him, and yet at other times He is represented as 
 distinct from Him. Thus He speaks sometimes in 
 His own name and sometimes for thé Supreme 
 (Gen. xvii. 1-18). When Jehovah appeared to 
 Abraham, ‘lo, three men stood by him’ (Gen. xviii. 
 1-3). One is the spokesman, to whom Abraham 
 addresses himself, who is called Jehovah (vers. 13, 
 17), and who promises that Sarah shall have a son, 
 and that in Abraham’s seed all the families of the 
 earth shall be blessed, with whom Abraham inter- 
 cedes for Sodom, who executes judgment upon that 
 
EARLY INDICATIONS OF A TRINITY. 27 
 
 guilty city, and who yet is in the act distinguished 
 from Jehovah (ch. xix. 24): ‘Jehovah rained fire 
 and brimstone from Jehovah out of heaven. He 
 appeared to Hagar, and speaks as the agent of 
 God, saying, ‘The Lord hath heard thine affliction ; 
 and yet He promises as in His own name, saying, 
 ‘T will multiply thy seed exceedingly; and in re- 
 turn she called the name of the Lord that spake 
 with her, ‘Thou God seest me’ (Gen. xvi. 10- 
 13). He appeared to Jacob in a dream, and an- 
 nounced Himself as ‘the God of Bethel, where thou 
 anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow 
 unto me;’ so that He was the Lord, who stood 
 above the ladder and said, ‘I am the Lord God 
 of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac’ 
 (Gen. xxxi. 11, 13, with xxvii, 13). With Him 
 Jacob wrestled all night, and he said, ‘I have 
 seen God face to face’ In the desert of Midian, 
 He appeared to Moses ‘in a flame of fire out of 
 the midst of the bush’ The bush was miracu- 
 lously unconsumed. ‘Jehovah saw that He turned 
 aside to see’ ‘God called unto Moses out of the 
 bush’ The speaker announces Himself as ‘The 
 God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” ‘ Moses hid 
 his face; for he was afraid to look upon God; 
 but receives further communications of God's will 
 from Him who was in the bush, who claims the 
 
28 THE REVELATION OF THE FATHER. 
 
 perogatives of the Most High, even to being the 
 great I Am (Ex. in. 1-16). When the chil- 
 dren of Israel came out of Egypt, He was their 
 leader, and they were commanded to obey Him, 
 ~ and not provoke Him, because Jehovah’s ‘name was 
 in Him’ (Ex. xxui. 21). He is expressly called 
 the Angel of God’s presence (Ex. xxxill 14, with 
 Isa. dscit 90) A number of other passages of the 
 same kind might be adduced,’ but these are suffi- 
 cient to show that God revealed Himself to the early 
 Church through one who,’though distinct in person- 
 ality from the Father, was yet entitled to receive the 
 incommunicable name, and was possessed of divine 
 attributes—who, in short, was divine. The more 
 closely such passages are examined, and compared 
 with later revelations, the more reason we will find 
 to be convinced of the truth of the old doctrine, 
 that in the Angel of the Lord was represented to. the 
 Old Testament Church the second person of the 
 Trinity, the only medium. of divine manifestation to 
 man. 
 
 At the same time the early Scriptures present: to 
 us the Spirit, in terms implying His divinity. He 
 it was who first brooded over the face of the deep 
 (Gen. i. 2); who is the author of life (Job xxvii. 3, 
 
 'See, for example, Gen. xxii. 11, 12; Josh. v. 14, with vi. 2; 
 Judg. ii. 1-5, vi. 11-22, xiii, 6-22. 
 
EARLY INDICATIONS OF A TRINITY. 29 
 
 xxxiii, 4, xxvii 13; Ps. civ. 30), and of the 
 special mental gifts bestowed upon men (Gen. xii. 
 38; Ex. xxxi. 3, xxxv. 31), and particularly of those 
 qualifications by which men were fitted for high 
 services before God (Num. xi. 26, 29; Judg. i. 10, 
 vi. 34, xi 29, xiii 25, xiv. 6). He it is who 
 strives with the wickedness of men (Gen. vi. 3), 
 and who was given to instruct and guide God's 
 people (Neh. ix. 20; Isa. xii. 14). 
 
 Whether these early writers understood the per- 
 sonality of the Spirit, we cannot positively assert, 
 but their language implies the idea; and it is plain 
 that in these revelations of Him, particularly by the 
 Angel of the Lord, God was partially revealing His 
 triune nature, and preparing for a clearer exhibition 
 of the truth in after ages. 
 
 The age of David and Solomon makes an im- 
 portant advance in the revelation of redemption. 
 The glories of the kingdom of Israel gave a new 
 colouring and form to the prophecies and expecta- 
 tions regarding the coming Deliverer. Instead of 
 the seed of the woman, or the seed of Abraham, or 
 the Prophet like unto Moses, the Church was now 
 taught to look for Him as a glorious, yea, a divine 
 King. In the Messianic Psalms we have Him 
 represented as distinct from God, and yet His Son, 
 essentially and truly God, while the Spirit is re- 
 
30 THE REVELATION OF THE FATHER. 
 
 ferred to, though less distinctly. The most pro- 
 minent of these we now proceed to notice. 
 
 In the 2d Psalm, the nations are represented in 
 rebellion against the Lord and His anointed Son. 
 The Son is. exalted as King, but He is so conjoined 
 with the Father that the revolt is against them 
 both. God, however, maintains Him in His au- 
 thority, so that all must submit to Him or perish; 
 all heathendom is to be included in His inherit- 
 ance, and all who trust in Him are blessed. But 
 
 we have specially to notice His being exhibited as 
 - God’s Son, and that, as we believe, essentially (ver. 
 7): ‘Jehovah hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; 
 this day have I begotten Thee.’ Upon this verse 
 Alexander remarks: ‘No explanation of the terms 
 will meet the requisitions of the context, except one, 
 which supposes the relation here described as mani- 
 fest in time to rest on one essential and eternal. 
 This alone accounts for the identification of the 
 persons as possessing a common interest, and reign- 
 
 ing with and in each other. This profound sense of ° 
 
 the passage is no more excluded by the phrase this 
 day, implying something recent, than the universality 
 of Christ’s dominion is excluded by the local re- 
 ference to Zion. The point of time, like the point 
 of space, is the finite centre of an infinite circle. 
 Besides, the mere form of the declaration is a part 
 
EARLY INDICATIONS OF A TRINITY. 31 
 
 of the dramatic scenery or costume with which 
 the truth is here invested. . . . The essential 
 meaning of the phrase, “I have begotten Thee,” is 
 simply this, I am Thy Father. The antithesis is 
 perfectly identical with that in 2 Sam. vu. 14, “I 
 will be his father, and he shall be my son.’ Had 
 the same form of expression been used here, “ This 
 day am I Thy Father,’ no reader would have under- 
 stood “this day” as limiting the mutual relation of 
 the parties, however it might limit, to a certain 
 point of time, the formal recognition of it.’ 
 
 But the title ‘ Anointed, or Messiah, points out 
 the gifts of the Spirit. Under the Old Testament, 
 anointing with oil was used in the case of setting 
 apart prophets, priests, and kings (1 Kings xix. 16; 
 Ley. viii. 12; 1 Kings i. 31); and was not only a 
 sign of consecration to office, but was a symbol of 
 those spiritual influences by which the recipient 
 was qualified and designated for his work. ‘This is 
 evident from 1 Sam. x. 1-6 and xvi. 13, where, in 
 the case of both Saul and David, the connection of 
 the communication of the Spirit with the anointing 
 with the oil, shows that the one was a type and 
 pledge of the other. The same view is given in the © 
 New Testament (Acts iv. 27, x. 38; 2 Cor.1 21; 
 1 John ii. 20, 27). 
 
 We have thus presented to us here the Divine 
 
35 THE REVELATION OF THE FATHER. 
 
 Father and the Divine Son explicitly, but the third 
 person of the Trinity by implication. 
 
 We have a similar view of the Saviour in the 
 45th Psalm. There the Messiah is represented as 
 a divine King, of more than human beauty, whose 
 lips overflow with grace. He is directly addressed 
 as God, and as seated on an everlasting throne 
 (ver. 6): ‘Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: 
 a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of Thy king- 
 dom. We have then God, as His Father, anointing 
 Him with the oil of joy (ver. 7): ‘Thou lovest right- 
 eousness and hatest wickedness; therefore God, Thy 
 God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness 
 above Thy fellows. From what has just been said 
 
 > 
 
 regarding anointing with oil, as an emblem of the 
 gifts of the Spirit, it is evident that His work upon 
 the Mediator is here referred to, though He is not 
 named. The joy and gladness may be, first, the 
 spiritual comforts of the Redeemer’s soul; but as 
 the joy set before Him was the seeing of the travail 
 of His soul in the salvation of sinners, as in Isaiah 
 lxi. 1-3, His anointing is with special reference to 
 His comforting the mourning children of men; and 
 as the verses immediately following describe the 
 source of His joy, in nations brought to Him, 
 represented as kings’ daughters, we take the words 
 
 as pointing out the time of His dispensing the | 
 
 a a re 
 
 a 
 _“— a — = oo 
 
EARLY INDICATIONS OF A TRINITY. 39 
 
 Spirit, received from the Father, begun on the day 
 of Pentecost. This we regard as indeed ‘the day of 
 His espousals, the day of the gladness of His heart’ 
 (Song ii. 11). 
 
 We have a very similar representation in Psalm 
 lxxxix. 20, 21; but we do not deem it necessary to 
 dwell upon it. 
 
 In the 72d Psalm, Solomon, at the height of his 
 glory, pictures a super-human King, receiving His 
 authority from the Father. His dominion is to be 
 co-extensive with the world, and enduring as all 
 time. He is immortal; omniscient, for He can hear 
 every human cry; and omnipotent, for He can 
 relieve all human wants. Through Him the richest 
 blessings are to be abundantly diffused among men. 
 But from the imagery of Scripture, we are convinced 
 that the description points to the agency of the 
 Holy Spirit. ‘He shall come down like rain upon 
 _ the mown grass; as showers that water the earth’ 
 (ver. 6). Water, and particularly as coming down 
 in showers, is a Scripture emblem of the Spirit. 
 ‘I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and 
 floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my Spirit ’ 
 upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine off- 
 spring’ (Isa. xliv. 3). 
 
 Thus in these Psalms we see not only the first 
 
 and second persons of the Trinity distinctly brought 
 C 
 
Bie THE REVELATION OF THE FATHER. 
 
 before us, but we have, in their types and figures, 
 reference also to the third. 
 
 Some writers have regarded the threefold rhythm 
 sometimes employed in the Psalter in the praise of 
 God, as indicative of the trinity of persons in the 
 Godhead. We do find instances in which the ordi- 
 nary parallelism of Hebrew poetry is sacrificed in | 
 this way, and it may be with the design of express- 
 ing the inner mysteries of the divine nature. A : 
 
 few examples may be given. 
 
 ‘O sing unto JEHOVAH, a new song ; 
 Sing unto JEHOVAH, all the earth. . 
 Sing unto Jenovau, bless His name’ (Ps. xcvi. 1, 2). 
 
 ‘ Give unto JEHOVAH, O ye kindreds of the people, 
 Give unto JenovaH, glory and strength ; | 
 Give unto JEHOVAH, the glory due unto His name. : 
 Bring an offering, and come into His courts’ (Ps. > <o's a ) 
 
 ‘Let Israel now say, that His mercy endureth for ever ; 
 Let the house of Aaron now say, that His mercy endureth for ever ; 
 Let them now that fear the Lord say, that His mercy endureth 
 for ever’ (Ps. exviii. 2-4). 
 
 « All nations compassed me about : 
 But in the name of JeHovauH will I destroy them. ; 
 
 They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about : 
 But in the name of JEHovaH J will destroy them. | 
 They compassed me about like bees ; : 
 They are quenched as the fire of thorns: 
 For in the name of JeHovan will I destroy them’ (Ps. exviil. 
 10-12). ' 
 
 ‘The right hand of Jenovau doeth valiantly ; 
 The right hand of JEHovAH is exalted ; 
 The right hand of JEHOVAH is exalted’ (Ps. exviii. 15, 16). 
 
 Ee ee ae ee 
 
EARLY INDICATIONS OF A TRINITY. 35 
 
 To us it appears, however, that the instances of 
 this kind are not so numerous as to warrant us to 
 lay much stress upon them. But we think that 
 the Psalmist, in the introductory words of his last 
 
 prophecy,, clearly expresses the unity in trinity of 
 the Almighty : 
 
 ‘The Spirit of Jenovaun spake by me, 
 And His word was in my tongue. 
 The God of Israel said, 
 Phe Rock of Israel spake to me’ (2 Sam, xxiii. 2, 3). 
 
CHAPTER IL 
 THE COMPLETED REVELATION OF THE OLD COVENANT. 
 
 W* have already observed, that as the revela- 
 
 tion of God’s will under the Old Testament 
 reached its culmination in the prophecies of the 
 later ages of the Jewish kingdom,—that as then the 
 redemption to be achieved was as much more clearly 
 
 unfolded, and the Redeemer as vividly depicted, — 
 
 tions of the doctrine of the Trinity appear. pro- 
 portionally distinct, and approach almost to the 
 clearness of the New Testament. We therefore 
 now proceed to consider some of those passages 
 in the later writings of the Old Testament canon, 
 which to us seem most clearly to indicate the 
 Trinity working out man’s salvation. 
 
 Here, of course, our attention is first called to 
 the prophecies of Isaiah, the richness and clearness 
 of whose exhibitions of gospel truth have caused 
 him to be named the Evangelical Prophet. In the 
 forefront of them stands the vision in which he 
 
 : 
 7 
 , 
 7 
 ‘ 
 
THE COMPLETED REVELATION, 37 
 
 was invested with his office (ch. vi. 1-3): ‘I saw 
 the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, 
 and His train filled the temple. Above it stood the 
 seraphims. . . . And one cried to another, and 
 said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts: the 
 whole earth is full of His glory.’ In this 7rishagion, 
 as it is commonly called, or ascription of holiness 
 three times, most writers have found an allusion to 
 the Trinity. Thus Jerome says, ‘that they show 
 the mystery of the Trinity ‘in one Godhead, and 
 declare not the Jewish temple as previously, but 
 the whole earth to be full of His:glory’* Then the 
 difference of number between the verb and the pro- 
 noun in the words (ver. 8), ‘Whom shall J send, 
 and who will go for us?’ can only be explained by 
 reference to the doctrine of a Trinity ; or, at least, 
 the language implies a plurality of persons in the 
 Godhead. But, looking to the New Testament, we 
 are not left in any uncertainty on the subject. 
 While the prophet was deeply humbled, seeing the 
 King, the Lord of hosts, the Evangelist John repre- 
 sents the whole as a vision of Christ. ‘These 
 things said Esaias when he saw Christ’s glory’ 
 (John xu. 41). And yet the words spoken to the 
 
 1¢*Ut mysterium Trinitatis in uno Divinitate demonstrant et 
 nequaquam templum Judaicum sicut prius, sed omnem terram illius 
 _ giloriz plenam esse testentur.’ 
 
38 THE REVELATION OF THE FATHER. 
 
 prophet on the occasion are by Paul ascribed to 
 the Holy Ghost (Acts xxvill. 25, 26): ‘Well spake 
 the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our 
 fathers, saying, Go unto this people, ete. 
 
 We would next point out the doctrine of the 
 Trinity, as implied in the prophet’s description of 
 the person of the coming Redeemer. He distinctly de- 
 clares Him to be God (Isa. vii. 14, ix. 6) ; while, with 
 
 the other prophets, he frequently describes Him in © 
 
 terms which imply His divinity ; and the Holy Ghost 
 is represented in a similar manner. But the passages 
 to which we wish to advert at present, are those 
 in which the three persons are exhibited as meeting 
 in Him who was to be the anointed Saviour. 
 
 Thus in Isaiah xlii. 1 it is said, ‘Behold my 
 servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my 
 soul delighteth: I will put my Spirit upon him; he 
 shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles’ We 
 need not spend time in proving that this passage 
 refers to the Messiah. The frequent quotation of 
 it in the New Testament with this application is 
 sufficient to establish the point. We have it thus 
 applied in the words of the Father Himself at the 
 
 baptism of Christ, and at His transfiguration, the 
 
 word Son being substituted for servant. The title 
 Servant of God is given car’ é£oynv, by pre-eminence; 
 and the title Son, substituted for it in the New 
 
 er see Se ee 
 
 er 
 
THE COMPLETED REVELATION. 39 
 
 Testament, still more strongly expresses His personal 
 dignity. Upon this Alexander well remarks: ‘The 
 connecting link between the Servant of Isaiah and 
 the Son of Matthew is afforded by the zrais of the 
 Septuagint, which includes both ideas. He adds 
 that ‘(vids) Son is neither a translation of the 
 Hebrew ebed, nor a perversion of its meaning, but 
 a clearer designation of the subject of the prophecy,’ 
 This person thus described is next represented as 
 receiving the Spirit in all its fulness, and under His 
 influence, and through a course of meekness and 
 lowliness, establishing righteousness upon the earth, 
 and bringing the whole Gentile world into subjec- 
 tion. ‘I will put my Spirit upon him, and he shall 
 bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. . . . He shall 
 . not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment 
 on the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.’ 
 We have the same ideas in somewhat different 
 language in Isaiah lxi. 1: ‘The Spirit of the Lord 
 God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed 
 me to preach good tidings unto the meek: He hath 
 sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim . 
 liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison 
 to them that are bound, ete. As in chapter xlu. 1 
 Jehovah had said, ‘I have put my Spirit upon him, 
 so here he says of himself, ‘The Spirit of the Lord 
 God is upon me.” But in the next clause he repre- 
 
40 THE REVELATION OF THE FATHER. 
 
 sents his influences as bestowed by. God: ‘ Because 
 the Lord hath anointed me.” Anointing with oil, 
 as we have already seen, was not only a sign of 
 consecration to office, but was a symbol of those 
 spiritual influences by which the recipient was both 
 qualified and designated for his work. Thus we 
 have the Son, who assumes the offices of prophet, 
 priest, and king for His people; the Spirit, through 
 whose influence He was fitted for His work; and the 
 Father, by whom the Spirit is bestowed. Then 
 follows a glowing description of the changes to be 
 effected in human society as the result of His 
 mission. 
 The representation of Isaiah xi. 1, 2 is very similar: 
 ‘There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of 
 Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: 
 and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the 
 spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of 
 counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of 
 the fear of the Lord’ This sevenfold description of 
 the Spirit in His influences seems to correspond with 
 the title given to Him in the New Testament as the 
 seven Spirits of God (Rev. i. 4). As we have here 
 first the Spirit of Jehovah generally, and then His 
 gifts arranged in three pairs, the description seems 
 also to correspond with the shaft of the seven-lighted 
 candlestick, and the three pairs of branches from it. 
 
 a. —_— ao oo” Sean 
 
 2 ye 
 
THE COMPLETED REVELATION. 41 
 
 For ‘the seven lamps of fire burning before the 
 throne are the seven, Spirits of God’ (Rev. iv. 5). 
 The attributes here ascribed to the Spirit are not 
 personal qualities, but the effects of His working. 
 He is not here described as Himself wise, but as 
 the author of wisdom. The language describes such 
 a fulness of His gifts—such wisdom, theoretical and 
 practical, such capacity to plan and power to exe- 
 cute, and such piety toward God, as was only 
 realized in the Lord Jesus Christ, ‘whose wisdom, 
 as Alexander remarks, ‘ displayed itself in early life, 
 and is expressly ascribed to a special divine in- 
 fluence; who proved Himself a discerner of the 
 thoughts and intents of the heart; whose ministry 
 was not only characterized by fortitude and bold- 
 ness, but attested by miracles and mighty deeds; 
 whose knowledge of divine things far surpassed that 
 of all other men; and who was Himself a living 
 model of all piety’ In the verses following (3—5) 
 is described the result upon the Messiah in an in- 
 fallible capacity of judging. But then follows the 
 issue to the world, in such an outflowing of the 
 influences of the Spirit from Him, as will totally 
 change its moral character, causing the wolf to dwell 
 with the lamb, the leopard to lie down with the kid, 
 and the whole earth to be full of the knowledge of 
 the Lord as the waters cover the sea ;—in which 
 
42, THE REVELATION OF THE FATHER. 
 
 description may be also included that transformation 
 of the natural world, by which even the physical 
 creation shall be delivered from ‘ corruption into the 
 glorious liberty of the children of God’ (Rom. viii. 
 21). 
 
 Thus in each of these three passages we have the 
 three divine persons brought before us, and in the 
 same relations: the Father, who sends the Deliverer, 
 and who imparts the Spirit in the fulness of His 
 gifts ; the Spirit, who qualifies the Mediator for His 
 work; and the Son, who assumes that office, who re- 
 celves the Spirit, and that without measure. And 
 in each we have the glorious result of His mission 
 in the salvation of the world. This last fact alone 
 would be sufficient to prove the divinity of the 
 Deliverer, because the pouring out of the Spirit 
 upon -Him without measure, so that He could thus 
 baptize with the Holy Ghost, and so that, in conse- 
 quence of the outflowing from Him of His fulness of 
 spiritual gifts, a fallen world should be regenerated, 
 implies a capacity without human or created limits ; 
 while the prophet had further described Him as born 
 of a virgin, and as thus Emmanuel, God with us, the 
 mighty God, and the everlasting Father, or Father 
 of eternity. Thus we have a Trinity implied in the 
 description of the person of the incarnate Mediator. 
 But this will fall again under our notice when we 
 
THE COMPLETED REVELATION. 43 
 
 come to consider the teaching of the New Testament _ 
 on the subject. 
 
 To us it appears, though but little attention has 
 
 been given to the subject, that the practice so com- 
 
 mon in the prophecies of Isaiah, of speaking of God 
 
 under a triple title, has its foundation in the in- 
 ternal distinction in the Godhead of three persons, 
 
 and their respective offices in redemption. 
 
 Let us 
 
 notice a few examples :— 
 
 Isa. xl. 
 bide d f= 
 Tebe. daha 
 ‘yg J Eas 
 
 Peep aT 
 pee KLIRE, 
 
 bat xiv? 
 MaLxliv, 
 
 baal KEV 
 reap dicate 
 
 », Xlviil. 
 
 eee XIX. 
 Np abe'd 
 
 Syeliv: 
 
 28. 
 14. 
 Ih 
 
 3. 
 
 4. 
 15. 
 
 ‘God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the 
 earth.’ 
 
 ‘The Lord and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of 
 Israel.’ 
 
 ‘The Lord, He that created thee, that formed thee, 
 O Israel.’ 
 
 ‘The Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel thy 
 Saviour.’ 
 
 ‘The Lord, your Redteiner, the Holy One of Tsrael,* 
 
 ‘The Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, 
 your King.’ 
 
 . ‘The Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, 
 
 the Lord of hosts.’ 
 
 ‘The Lord, thy Redeemer, and He that formed 
 thee from the womb.’ 
 
 ‘The Lord, the Holy One of Israel, ahi his Maker.’ 
 
 . ‘Our Redeemer, the Lord of Hosts is His name, the 
 
 Holy One of Israel.’ 
 
 . ‘The Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.’ 
 . ‘The Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy 
 
 One.’ 
 
 . ‘I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the 
 
 mighty One of Jacob.’ 
 
 . ‘Thy Maker is thy husband, the Lord of hosts is 
 
 His name, and thy Redeemer the Holy One of 
 Israel.’ 
 
44 THE REVELATION OF THE FATHER. 
 
 Tsa. lx. 17. ‘I the Lord am thy Saviour, and thy Redeemer, the 
 mighty One of Jacob.’ 
 
 These and such triplets apphed to the Supreme, 
 as He appears for the deliverance of His chosen 
 people, we think do hint at the Trinity, afterwards 
 more clearly revealed. We cannot but notice how 
 frequently we have ‘ Redeemer’ or God as a second 
 title. It suggested to the Israelite the ideas of a 
 near kinsman, and a deliverer by the payment of a 
 ransom. But this at once brings before us the 
 second person of the Trinity, though the Old Testa- 
 ment saints may have understood it only as an 
 additional title of the one God, and may not have 
 understood the distinction of persons implied. That 
 the title is sometimes exchanged for another, such 
 as Creator, does not contradict this view. . It only 
 teaches the additional fact that He who is the — 
 Redeemer is also the Creator. We cannot but 
 observe, too, how well the title, ‘the Holy One, so 
 often given as a third, corresponds with the usual 
 name in the New Testament of the third person of 
 the Trinity, the Holy Ghost, or, as it is in some 
 instances expressed in the original, ‘the Spirit, the 
 Holy One’ (Eph. i. 13; 1 Thess. iv. 8), or simply 
 the Holy One (1 John iit. 20). That this is ex- 
 changed for such a title as ‘the mighty One of 
 Jacob, is in accordance with the New Testament 
 
THE COMPLETED REVELATION. 45 
 
 representations of Him as the power of God in 
 working, especially in His moral and spiritual king- 
 dom (Luke xxiv. 49; Acts 1.8; Luke i. 35; Mark 
 ix. 1; 1 Thess.i.5; 1 Cor. 4, 5). That the order 
 differs, is only what we see in the New Testament, 
 where the Son is sometimes put before the Father, 
 as in the apostolic benediction, 2 Cor. xin. 14; or 
 the Spirit before the Son, as in Rev. 1. 4, 5. 
 
 We shall now consider some passages referring 
 to the redemption itself by the mission of the Son, 
 which show the doctrine of the Trinity underlying 
 their teaching. The first of these we shall notice is 
 Isa. xlviii. 16: ‘ From the time that it was, there am 
 I: and now the Lord God, and His Spirit, hath sent 
 me. Here we have the three persons in the God- 
 head particularly mentioned, though the exact mean- 
 ing of part of the words is disputed. The order of 
 the words as they stand in the original is, ‘The 
 Lord God hath sent me and His Spirit.’ The ac- 
 cordance of the first clause, in which the Father is 
 represented as sending the Son, and the Son as sent 
 by Him, with many passages of the Old and New 
 Testaments, 1s so obvious as to require no elucida- 
 ‘tion; but it is doubtful whether the Spirit is added 
 as connected with the subject or the object of the 
 verb,—that is, whether He is to be joined with the 
 Father in sending, or with the Son as sent. The 
 
46 THE REVELATION OF THE FATHER. 
 
 original will bear either interpretation, and the 
 Septuagint presents the same obscurity. The Eng- 
 
 lish and the Vulgate remove the ambiguity by » 
 
 changing the order of the words. Interpreters are 
 about equally divided on the subject. Calvin and 
 a number of German writers follow the arrangement 
 of our version ; while Vitringa, Henderson, Delitzsch, 
 and others, prefer the opposite view. In either 
 case ‘the Spirit’ must be regarded as not holding its 
 regular position in the sentence, but as introduced 
 by a sort of afterthought, and it might be joined with 
 either the Father or the Son; so that we must judge 
 of the meaning on other grounds than the gramma- 
 tical construction. We prefer the interpretation 
 which regards the Spirit as sent with the Son. It 
 is certainly unusual, and we think unparalleled, to 
 find the Spirit jomed with the Father in the actual 
 sending of the Son. Even when the Spirit is joined 
 
 with the Father in reference to the Son’s work, the - 
 
 Spirit is not exhibited as sending the Son, but as 
 Himself sent or given by the Father, in order to 
 qualify Him for His work. Further, as in the pas- 
 sage the speaker is represented in His mediatorial 
 capacity as carrying out the scheme of redemption, 
 it seems to us more in accordance with the other 
 portions of the word of God to regard the words as 
 teaching, that it is by the agency of the Spirit, sent 
 
 : . . F 
 
THE COMPLETED REVELATION, 47 
 
 forth by the Father, that His successes are achieved. 
 Perhaps, as Alexander suggests, the ambiguity was 
 intended to suggest either meaning. 
 
 But whichever way the words be read, the pas- 
 sage will apply to our present purpose. According 
 to both interpretations, we have here the three per- 
 sons in the Godhead: One who speaks of himself 
 in language similar to that in which the personified 
 Wisdom of God speaks in Proy. viii., and who intro- 
 duces the others. ‘From the time of its being, or 
 ‘that all these things happened, I was there ; but 
 now, at the turning point of salvation, the time of 
 actual accomplishment of redemption, ‘the Lord 
 God hath sent me and His Spirit. There is here 
 the Father sending the Son, the Son sent, and the 
 Spirit the agent, either in qualifying the Son, or in 
 carrying out His redemption by its application to 
 the hearts of men. 
 
 In Isaiah lx. 19-21 we have another clear 
 prophecy of the redemption for God’s Church, in 
 which the three are represented as concurring in the 
 work. In the first clause of verse 19 is described 
 the future extension of the Church: ‘So shall they 
 fear the name of the Lord from the west, and His 
 glory from the rising of the sun.’ And if our 
 translation be correct, the last clause ascribes this 
 result to the agency of the Spirit: ‘When the enemy 
 
48 THE REVELATION OF THE FATHER. 
 
 comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall 
 lift up a standard against him.’ At all events the 
 two following verses, the last of the chapter, exhibit 
 the three as engaged in those great transactions 
 which are to issue in the millennial glory of the 
 Church, as described in the following chapter. 
 First, we have in verse 20 the goel, our kinsman 
 Redeemer, coming for His Church, which had re- 
 mained faithful, along with those who, converted 
 from previous apostasy, shall be brought into union 
 with her: ‘And the Redeemer shall come for Zion, 
 and for those who turn from transgression in Jacob, 
 saith the Lord’ Then we have, secondly, God the 
 Father manifesting His grace in entering into cove- 
 nant with them, expressed in the same terms as 
 are employed in reference to His engagement with 
 Abraham (ver. 21): ‘As for me, this is my covenant 
 with them, saith the Lord’ And thirdly, we have 
 the Spirit, the great promise of the New Testament, 
 descending and permanently abiding upon them, ex- 
 erting His influence by means of the truth, which 
 they are the instruments of proclaiming, and giving 
 effect to 1t, so as to make them the light of the world 
 
 ‘The clause, as Alexander remarks, ‘has been a famous subject 
 of dispute among interpreters, who differ more or less in reference 
 to every word, as well as to the general meaning of the whole ;’ and 
 therefore we have not pressed it. 
 
 eee a ae, ee 
 
 ee ee ee Oe ees a eS ye ee 
 
 CS ee ee eee ae eee ee ee 
 
 ee a oe Ol ee ee ee ee eee Se 
 
 ae renee 
 
THE COMPLETED REVELATION. aa 
 
 and the reclaimed of nations: ‘ My Spirit that is upon 
 thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth’ 
 (not merely in thine ear to receive, but in thy 
 mouth to proclaim), ‘shall ‘not depart out of thy 
 mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out 
 of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the Lord, 
 from henceforth and for ever.’ 
 
 We have already referred to the person so often 
 mentioned in the Old Testament as the angel of the 
 Lord, or the angel Jehovah, showing that in him 
 was represented to the Church, under that dispensa- 
 tion, the second person of the Trinity, through whom 
 God held gracious communications with men. The 
 two passages we are now to consider will further 
 illustrate this. In both,—the first describing the 
 typical redemption from Egypt, and the second, the 
 antitype, or the redemption of men from the guilt 
 and bondage of sin.—this angel is set between the 
 Father and the Spirit in terms implying his divinity, 
 and not only as concurring with them in the work, 
 but as the actual Redeemer. 
 
 The first is Isa. ]xiii. 7-10. Here we have God, 
 in His love and compassion, acting as their Saviour 
 (vers. 7,8): ‘I will mention the loving-kindnesses of 
 the Lord, and the praises of the Lord, according to 
 all that the Lord hath bestowed on us’ (is this three- 
 
 fold repetition of the name Jehovah of no account ”), 
 D 
 
50 THE REVELATION OF THE FATHER. 
 
 ‘and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, 
 which He hath bestowed on them, according to His 
 mercies, and according to the multitude of His loving- 
 kindnesses. For He said, Surely (or only) they are 
 my people, children that will not lie: so He was 
 their Saviour. 
 
 But verse 9 shows the manner in which He was 
 in actual reality their Saviour, viz. by the agency 
 of the angel referred to: ‘In all their afflictions He 
 was afflicted, and the ANGEL OF HIS PRESENCE saved 
 them: in His love and in His pity He redeemed 
 them; and He bare them, and carried them all the 
 days of old’ The title ‘angel of His presence, or 
 ‘angel of His face, expresses not merely the angel 
 
 who sees His face, but one who is His face, or in — 
 
 whom His face is represented. But this clearly 
 points out Him who, in New Testament language, is 
 described as ‘the image of the invisible God’ (Col. 
 i.15); ‘the brightness of His Father’s glory, and the 
 express image of His person’ (Heb. 1. 3) ; ‘the image 
 of God’ (2 Cor. iv. 4); and ‘in whom dwelt all the 
 fulness of the Godhead bodily’ (Col. ii. 9). 
 
 In emphatic contrast with God’s goodness, how- 
 ever, Israel’s conduct is set forth (ver. 10): ‘ But 
 they rebelled, and vexed His Holy Spirit: therefore 
 He was turned to be their enemy, and fought against 
 them. The working of God’s Spirit with Israel in 
 
 a ee ee ee ee ee a ee eS ee aa IE a lis os li et ah he ie 
 
THE COMPLETED REVELATION. 5h 
 
 their early history is plainly affirmed. ‘God, says 
 Nehemiah (ch. ix. 20), ‘gave His good Spirit unto 
 them. ‘As the beast goeth down into the valley, 
 says Isaiah (ver. 14), ‘so the Spirit of the Lord caused 
 him to rest. As the angel is a person, so must the 
 Spirit be, as is plain from the word ‘vexed, which 
 can only apply to a person feeling grief. (Eph. iv. 30.) 
 
 Thus in the redemption of Israel, prefigurative of 
 the greater redemption by God’s Son, we have un- 
 mistakeable indication of a Trinity, which is revealed 
 more fully in its New Testament antitype. 
 
 The verses immediately following, as they stand 
 in our version, seem to contain a further recognition 
 of the Trinity (vers. 11-14): ‘Where is He that 
 brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd 
 of the flock? where is He that put His Holy Spirit 
 within him?’ We cannot but observe the resem- 
 blance of the first part of the verse to Heb. xiii, 20: 
 ‘The God of peace, that brought again from the dead 
 the great Shepherd of the sheep;’ and if there be 
 the same application here, we have the Father and 
 the Son, and in addition, in the last clause, God 
 working by His Spirit. But as the meaning of the 
 verse is disputed, and even the true reading of the 
 original is unsettled, we do not press it. 
 
 The other passage is in the prophecies of Zechariah 
 
 ee 808 
 
52 THE REVELATION OF THE FATHER. 
 
 only in immediate succession, but closely connected. 
 Let us notice them in their order, and observe 
 whether we do not find the three persons of the God- 
 head, each in His appropriate office for the Church. 
 - In the second chapter——after the vision of a man with 
 a.measuring line going forth to measure Jerusalem, 
 indicating the great Head of the Church as enlarging 
 and exactly defining her future boundaries, in con- 
 sequence of her area being too limited,—the angel 
 interpreter announces to the prophet God’s rich 
 promises of good in store for her. These promises 
 involve, first, her great extension. ‘ Jerusalem shall 
 be inhabited as towns without walls, or shall inhabit 
 the open country, ‘for the multitude of men and 
 cattle therein’ (ver. 4). It shall no longer be en- 
 circled by close walls, but shall extend into the 
 plains beyond, filling them with open towns and vil- 
 lages, in consequence of the abundance with which 
 God has blessed her. The narrow walls of Judaic 
 forms shall be thrown down, and the blessings of 
 
 salvation extended beyond the boundaries of the . 
 
 Jewish people. Secondly, her perfect safety, not- 
 withstanding the absence of such outward protection, 
 through the power of God, who will also fill her 
 with His glory. ‘For I, saith the Lord, will be unto 
 her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory 
 in the midst of her’ (ver. 5). Thirdly, the subjuga- 
 
 — ee 
 
 2 ee ee eo 
 
 ¥ ‘ 
 ens .* 2 ~~ a z af e . 
 ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ae ae ee a 
 
THE COMPLETED REVELATION. 53 
 
 tion of her enemies. ‘After the glory hath He sent 
 me unto the nations which spoiled you; for he that 
 toucheth you toucheth the apple of His eye. For, 
 behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and . 
 they shall be a spoil to their servants’ (vers. 8, 9). 
 But especially God’s coming to dwell in her by the 
 special manifestations of power and grace. ‘Sing 
 and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, 
 and I will dwellin the midst of thee, saith the Lord’ 
 (ver. 10). And in connection with this the bringing 
 in of the Gentiles. ‘And many nations shall be 
 joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people ; 
 and I will dwell in the midst of thee’ (ver. 11). 
 But this exhibition of God the Father, as recon- 
 ciled and dwelling in His Church, is immediately 
 followed * in the third chapter by a vision, showing 
 this as secured through the purging away of her sins 
 by the interposition of the angel of the Lord, the 
 same divine person already considered. Here Joshua 
 the high priest, as the representative of Israel, ap- 
 pears standing before the angel of the Lord, ‘clad in 
 filthy garments?—-emblem of the sinful condition of 
 the people-—and Satan, ‘the accuser of the brethren, 
 
 1 Hengstenberg well remarks: ‘The future with vaw conversive 
 connects this vision closely with the one which precedes it, and 
 shows that it constitutes one link in the series of visions, which 
 were all seen by the prophet in one night.’—Christol. iii. 317, Clark’s 
 Translation. 
 
54 THE REVELATION OF THE FATHER. 
 
 standing at his right hand, objecting to the bestowal 
 of these blessings, on account of the guilt of those 
 represented by the high priest. And then the angel, 
 called also Jehovah, and placed on an equality with 
 Him, but who is at the same time distinguished from 
 Him, interposes, pleading God’s electing and saving 
 erace (ver. 2): ‘JEHOVAH said unto Satan, Jehovah 
 rebuke thee, O Satan ; even Jehovah that hath chosen 
 Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked 
 out of the fire ?’—a people exposed to destruction 
 by the fires of divine wrath, but delivered, though 
 with difficulty, by the hand of another. As the re- 
 sult of his interposition, the command is given by 
 the divine angel to his higher servants, the angels 
 who stand by, that the filthy garments, emblems of 
 sinfulness, should be taken away,— expressive of 
 forgiveness of the sins of the nation in him,—and 
 festal robes put on him,—a symbol of the pure 
 righteousness in which they are justified.. In further 
 token of divine favour, at the prophet’s request, a 
 ‘clean mitre is set upon his head,—emblem of his 
 restoration to office, in which he was permitted to 
 appear in the immediate presence of God. This is 
 done not only by command of the divine angel, but 
 ‘He stands by’ superintending the proceedings. 
 Then follows a call to Joshua, and those associated 
 with him in the priesthood, to listen with profound 
 
 7 
 a eee es ey ee ey ee 
 
THE COMPLETED REVELATION. 55 
 
 attention to the promise of the Messiah. ‘ Hear 
 now, O Joshua the high priest, thou and thy fellows 
 that sit before thee: I will bring forth my servant 
 The BRANCH,’ The Old Testament saints might 
 not have understood that this was the same person 
 with the angel; but to us, under the light of the 
 New Testament, the matter is clear, from our know- 
 ledge of the union of the divine and human natures 
 in Christ. As the result of His coming, God shall 
 prepare His kingdom, Zion shall be polished and 
 engraved as a beautiful and costly stone, fitted to 
 promote His glory; but in order to this, by the 
 agency of the servant the Branch, there is complete 
 atonement. ‘I will remove the iniquity of that 
 land in one day,—describing the perfection of His 
 sacrifice, so that it needs no repetition. As Paul 
 says, ‘By one offering He hath perfected for ever 
 them that are sanctified’ And by the wiping away 
 of iniquity a state of blessed repose and prosperity 
 will ensue to the purified Church of God. ‘In that 
 day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall ye call every 
 - man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig 
 tree. Who can fail to see in all this a representa- 
 tion of the Son’s work for the salvation of His 
 people ? 
 
 Then follows in chapter iv. the third vision. 
 ‘Under the figure of the candlestick, with its seven 
 
56 THE REVELATION OF THE FATHER. 
 
 lamps, is represented the Church as a light shining 
 in the dark night of this world (Matt. v. 14; Phil. 
 ii 15; Rev. i. 12-20). The light is maintained by 
 two olive trees—living and permanent sources of 
 supply—distilling the oil which they drew from the 
 earth, through the seven pipes, into the seven lamps. 
 From passages already quoted, we would have no 
 difficulty in understanding this vision as denoting 
 the influences of the Spirit, by whose supplies of 
 grace the Church is enabled to shine as a light in | 
 the world, diffusing knowledge, holiness, and happi- 
 ness among mankind. But we are not left thus~to 
 seek the meaning of the symbol, for it was immedi- 
 ately explained by the angel interpreter (vers. 4-6) : 
 ‘So I answered and spake to the angel that talked 
 with me, saying, What are these, my-lord? Then 
 the angel that talked with me answered and said, 
 Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, 
 my lord. Then he answered and spake unto me, 
 saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, 
 saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my 
 Spirit, saith the Lord’ As the result of this, the 
 mightiest obstacles to the progress of the Church 
 shall be levelled ; and, changing the figure, the great 
 spiritual temple will go on to completion, till ‘the 
 top-stone’ shall be brought forth with shoutings, 
 crying Grace, grace unto it.’ 
 
THE COMPLETED REVELATION. 57 
 
 Thus, in these three visions, so closely connected, 
 which were all vouchsafed to the prophet in a single 
 night, we have exhibited in succession the abound- 
 ing grace of the Father, the mediatorial work of the 
 Son, and the efficient agency of the Spirit, in the 
 founding, progress, and ultimate glory of the Church. 
 
 In the twelfth chapter of the same prophecy, 
 from the 10th verse onward, we have another pro- 
 phecy of gospel times, in which the three persons 
 of the Godhead are again introduced. The passage 
 is particularly descriptive of the conversion of the 
 Jews, as it was begun on the day of Pentecost, and 
 as it will be completed in their yet future restora- 
 tion to the Church: ‘I will pour upon the house of 
 David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit 
 of grace and of supplications; and they shall look 
 upon ME, whom they have pierced, and shall mourn 
 for Him (observe the change of person here) as one 
 mourneth for an only son’ Whatever view we 
 take of the title ‘Spirit of grace;, whether as ex- 
 pressive of the gracious nature of the third person | 
 of the Trinity, or of His action on the heart of man — 
 as producing gracious affections, we have in this 
 passage God the Father pouring out the Spirit, and 
 the Spirit as poured out, and the result the repent- 
 ance of the people; but this effected through faith 
 in a third divine person, pierced for our transgres- 
 
58 THE REVELATION OF THE FATHER. 
 
 sions, so that through Him, as is declared in chapter 
 xiii. 1, ‘a fountain is opened for sin and for unclean- 
 ness. He is God, for Jehovah says, ‘They shall look 
 upon ME, whom they have pierced ;’ but there is an 
 immediate change in the next clause to the third 
 person, ‘They shall mourn for Him) indicating that 
 He is one with the Father, yet distinct. But who 
 He is, we are not left to conjecture ; for at the con- 
 clusion it is said (ch. xiii. 7): ‘Awake, O sword, 
 against my Shepherd, and against the man that is 
 my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts’ Anes 
 
 In the prophecies of Haggai (ch. ii. 4-6) there 
 is a passage which is quoted by many of the old 
 divines in support of the doctrine of the Trinity: 
 ‘IT am with you, saith the Lord. According to the 
 word that I covenanted with you when ye came out 
 of Egypt, so my Spirit remaineth among you: fear 
 ye not’ The words ‘according to’ are a supple- 
 ment, and are not found in a number of versions, 
 and are now regarded as uncalled for and unneces- 
 sary. The original is simply, ‘The word which I 
 covenanted with you, etc. The construction is 
 somewhat unusual; but. all the more recent autho- 
 rities agree that ‘the word’ is to be taken in the 
 nominative, and conjoined with the Spirit as also 
 abiding with them. Now, it is certainly remark- 
 able, that we have here the Word placed between 
 
9 
 
 Cor 
 
 THE COMPLETED REVELATION. 
 
 the Father and the Spirit, and joined with them in 
 one gracious promise of presence for good. We 
 know, too, that the title is given in the New Testa- 
 ment as a name of the second person of the Trinity. 
 Moreover, by understanding the language as re- 
 ferring to the personal Word, the remaining part of 
 that clause, ‘which I covenanted with you when 
 ye came out of Egypt, would be brought into exact 
 correspondence with other passages, in which He 
 is described as the angel of the covenant, by 
 whom God brought His people out of Egypt (Mal. 
 i 1; Isa. bx. 9; Exod. xxii. 20,32, 34). This 
 view is also in accordance with the connection of 
 this clause with the previous one, as dependent 
 upon it: ‘I am with thee, the Word, ete. God was 
 with them by the angel of His presence, whom we 
 have seen to be the Son of God, and also by His 
 Spirit working mightily among them, and so He 
 continued. ‘The language might not have suggested 
 to the Old Testament saints the idea of the Word as 
 a personal being. But yet we cannot help thinking 
 that it was used designedly, and that to us it 
 properly suggests Him who is the Word of the 
 Lord. ‘Taking the passage thus, it obscurely but 
 really points to a Trinity. 
 
 A number of other passages might be adduced, 
 which teach at least a plurality of persons in the 
 
60 THE REVELATION OF THE FATHER. 
 
 Godhead, and less distinctly the working of the 
 three divine persons; but these are sufficient to 
 show that, in reality, the doctrine was underlying 
 God’s revelation to man in the preparatory economy. 
 
 Fully to appreciate, however, the force of the 
 teaching of the Old Testament on this subject, we 
 must keep in view, what has been already said 
 regarding the dominant principle of that dispensa- 
 tion, that ‘There is one God, the Father’ Against 
 all recognition of any other, the Mosaic legislation 
 was directed at every point, and the history of the 
 chosen people under that dispensation was a solemn 
 testimony from God against all forms of worship to 
 any other but the one living and true God. In 
 every part of their sacred books is prominently 
 presented the unapproachable majesty, and the in- 
 communicable glory, of the one God; and every form 
 of address—tender entreaty and solemn denunciation, 
 cutting irony and biting sarcasm, and even what 
 they condescend to employ on no other subject, 
 playful raillery—is employed to excite loathing for 
 all other gods as abominations, or contempt for them 
 as vanity. | 
 
 How, then, are we to explain these indications of 
 a plurality of persons—of others beside the one 
 God, assuming divine prerogatives, and receiving 
 divine honours? How was the Old Testament 
 
THE COMPLETED REVELATION. OL: 
 
 loyal to its own ruling purpose, unless, in the unity 
 of the divine essence, there were three personal 
 distinctions? If it were intended to teach a mono- 
 theism without any such distinctions, does not the 
 Koran answer the purpose better than it does ? 
 Can we regard it as either consistent with itself, 
 or worthy of divine wisdom, unless we understand 
 it,— while fully unfolding its own special principle of 
 revealing the Father, and maintaining His unrivalled 
 honours, as representing the Godhead,—yet at the 
 same time as containing the germs of a fuller reve- 
 lation ; and unless we receive the inspired utterances 
 of the sweet Psalmist of Israel, and the Evangelical 
 Prophet, as, in their pregnant simplicity, containing 
 deeper truths, which were to be fully expanded in 
 the teaching of the great Apostle of the Gentiles, 
 and of the beloved disciple, appropriately designated 
 ‘the divine ? 
 O Father Almighty, to Thee be addressed, 
 With Christ and the Spirit, one God ever blest, 
 
 All glory and worship, from earth and from heaven, 
 As was, and is now, and shall ever be given. 
 
b Aa ke 
 
 THE GOSPELS: 
 
 THE REVELATION OF THE SON. 
 
 ‘ “Lo us there is one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and 
 we by Him.’—1 Cor. vu. 6. 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 “Ne New Testament, it is scarcely necessary to 
 
 remark, contains the completed revelation of 
 God's will. What was only dimly indicated in the 
 institutions and prophecies of the preparatory dis- 
 pensation, is there so clearly unfolded, that it may 
 be truly said, ‘The darkness is past, and the true 
 light now shineth.’ 
 
 From an early period the New Testament was 
 divided, according to its contents, into two parts, 
 known as Gospel and Apostle, which, as formerly 
 observed, represent respectively the special mani- 
 festation of the second and third persons of the 
 Godhead. Upon the consideration of the first of 
 these we are now to enter. It consists of four 
 narratives of the life of our Lord, each having its 
 distinctive features, and presenting a special aspect 
 of His person and work, but yet, after all, together 
 forming one history, in which these representations 
 are blended into one harmonious image. 
 
 _ But we have only to glance at the opening por- 
 E 
 
66 THE REVELATION OF THE SON. 
 
 tions of each of the four, to see that their avowed 
 design was to exhibit the manifestation of the second 
 person of the Trinity in the flesh. Matthew begins 
 his Gospel with the human genealogy, and birth 
 from a virgin, of Him who—he is careful to show 
 from Old Testament prophecy—is yet ‘ Emmanuel, 
 God with us’ Mark commences his Gospel by the 
 simple announcement, ‘ The beginning of the gospel 
 of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; while Luke’s 
 history begins with a more detailed account of His 
 incarnation, which we shall consider more fully 
 presently, but which, we remark here, represents 
 ‘Him as essentially the Son of God. But John rises 
 still higher. His beginning was not at His human 
 birth, or the commencement of His ministry, but 
 before time. ‘Then was the Word. He was with 
 God, not merely along with God, Tapa TO Oc@, 
 but mpos Tov Ocov, holding permanent and intimate 
 intercommunion with Him, with face directed, as it 
 were, to His face. But He is not represented as an 
 independent being, existing externally to Him. The 
 idea of such a being before creation would be 
 entirely contrary to the unity of God. Hence He 
 is absolute God. ‘The Word was God’ But this 
 Word, whose eternal existence, distinct personality, 
 and absolute Godhead are here so explicitly declared, 
 appears in human flesh, and in it makes the Father 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 67 
 
 obvious to man, pouring the rays of His glory 
 through the veil of His earthly tabernacle. ‘The 
 Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us; and we 
 beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten 
 of the Father.’ But this Word is also the eternal, 
 only begotten Son of God. ‘No man hath seen 
 God at any time: the only begotten Son, which is 
 in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.? 
 
 Thus the opening of each of the Gospels shows 
 that the design of the whole was to present before 
 us the manifestation of the second person of the 
 Trinity, and the most superficial view of them will 
 show that their whole contents coincide with this 
 idea, But our design leads us to consider rather 
 the relation of the three persons, as unfolded by 
 Him ; and we trust to be able to show, looking at 
 the four Gospels as a whole, and as forming one 
 history, that the representation of the Saviour which 
 they contain assumes the doctrine of the Trinity, 
 and that His teaching and work, as there exhibited, 
 are based upon it. 
 
 * We cannot help remarking in passing, that the manner in which 
 the Godhead and incarnation of Christ stand in the very forefront 
 of all the Gospel narratives, shows how radically and inherently 
 vicious are all those attempts, such as Ecce Homo, to describe the 
 life and mission of the Son,—which ignore these truths and acknow- 
 
 ledge only His humanity, —however eloquent they may be, or what- 
 ever mixture of partial truth they may contain. 
 
68 THE REVELATION OF THE SON. 
 
 THE INCARNATION. 
 
 At the very commencement of the Gospel history 
 the germs of the doctrine which appear in the Old 
 Testament are taken up, and begin to expand. The 
 coming birth of the Saviour is announced as the in- 
 carnation of a divine person, according to the terms 
 of ancient prophecy (Matt. i. 23): ‘A virgin shall 
 conceive and bring forth a son, and they shall call 
 his name Emmanuel, which is, being interpreted, 
 God with us’ But further,—as we have seen promi- 
 nently brought forward in Old Testament predictions 
 the concern of the divine Three in the person of the 
 coming Redeemer,—so, when he is actually produced, 
 it is in a manner strikingly proclaiming the working 
 of a Triune ‘God. In these terms is his birth 
 announced to the virgin mother (Luke i. 31-35): 
 ‘Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring 
 forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He 
 shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the 
 Highest... . The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, 
 and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: 
 therefore also that holy thing, that shall be born of 
 thee, shall be called the Son of Ged?’ 
 
THE INCARNATION. 69 
 
 In this passage we have God the Highest, whose 
 son (in whatever sense we understand that expression) 
 is to appear. We have then the Spirit, by whose 
 agency the human nature of that son was to be pro- 
 duced. The parallel phrase, ‘power of God, shows 
 him to be divine, and is used to express God as 
 working by the Spirit (Luke xxiv. 49). And then 
 we have the son himself, who is conceived of the 
 virgin. We cannot fully investigate the question as 
 to why the title ‘Son of God’ is given to the son of 
 Mary. But two remarks may be made. First, the 
 expression ‘he shall be called” is not synonymous 
 with ‘he shall be.” It properly means that he shall 
 be revealed, manifested, or shown to be the Son of 
 God. And secondly, the original being without the 
 ~ article—Son of God, not the Son of God—the title 
 expresses relationship. The meaning of the whole, 
 therefore, we take to be, that the pure humanity 
 produced by the Holy Ghost, according to the 
 Father's will, was a fit instrument for the exhibi- 
 tion to man—the manifestation in flesh—of him who 
 stands in relation actually to God as His son. We 
 do not suppose that Mary understood that her pre- 
 dicted offspring was divine, though we believe that 
 this is taught in the words; and we can see that 
 it might have been concealed from her in wisdom, 
 otherwise she would not have been fitted to bring up 
 
70 THE REVELATION OF THE SON. 
 
 the child. She knew enough to excite reverential 
 respect, but not enough to interfere with her recelv- 
 ing his filial submission. But with the fuller light 
 which we now have, there can be no difficulty in 
 recognising him, as here set forth, as ret Eternal Son 
 of God (Matt. xxvii. 43 ; Heb. i. 2, 5,8; John x. 36). 
 In other passages the resea lar 1s aie to each 
 of the three persons in the Godhead respectively. 
 It is ascribed to the Father: ‘ A body hast Thou pre- 
 pared me;’ to the Son: ‘ Forasmuch as the children 
 are partakers of flesh and blood, He also took part 
 of the same;’ and to the Holy Ghost: ‘That which 
 is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. But 
 from the above examination of the passage before 
 us, we see that in it the whole three divine persons 
 are brought together in the production of the human 
 nature of Christ, and its mysterious union with the 
 divine in His incarnation. 
 
 THE MINISTRY OF THE FORERUNNER. 
 
 Thirty years later our Lord entered upon His 
 public ministry; and, as in prophecy He had been 
 represented as qualified for His work by the agency 
 of the Spirit, given by the Father, this was fully 
 realized on His receiving baptism at the hands of 
 
THE MINISTRY OF THE FORERUNNER. vig 
 
 John the Baptist (Matt. ii. 16, 17): ‘Jesus, when 
 He was baptized, went up straightway out of the 
 water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, 
 and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a 
 dove, and lighting upon Him: and, lo, a voice from 
 heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I 
 am well pleased” (See also Mark i. 10, 11; Luke 
 il. 22.) Here, in accordance with the passages 
 quoted from the Old Testament (Isa. xi. 2, xhi. 1, 
 Ixi. 1; Ps. xlv. 6, 7), we have exhibited the three- 
 fold personality in the divine essence: the Father 
 audibly addressing the Son, and recognising Him as 
 His Son in a sense altogether peculiar—His Son by 
 nature ; and the Spirit visibly descending on Him, 
 as He commences the work of His Messianic office ; 
 so that one of the Fathers well observes, ‘I ad 
 Jordanum, et videbis Trinitatem,—Go to Jordan, 
 and you will see Trinity. 
 
 John speaks of the same event in a manner 
 which shows that in it he recognised the three 
 divine persons. ‘John bare record, saying, I saw 
 the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and 
 it abode upon Him. And I knew Him not; but He 
 that sent me to baptize with water, the same said 
 unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit 
 descending, and remaining on Him, the same is He 
 which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, 
 
2 THE REVELATION OF THE SON. 
 
 and bare record that this is the Son of God’ (John 
 i. 82-34). This testimony of the Baptist brings out 
 two particulars in addition to what we had in the 
 accounts of the other Evangelists. First, we have 
 the idea of the Spirit ‘abiding, or remaining upon 
 the Son, corresponding to the prophet’s representa- 
 tion of it as ‘resting’ upon Him (Isa. xi. 2); and, 
 secondly, we have His being baptized of the Spirit 
 represented as the basis of His baptizing others with 
 the same influence, which could only be done by a 
 divine person. Thus the three are here recognised 
 ‘in the same manner as by the other Evangelists, 
 with only a fuller exhibition of the divinity of the 
 Son. | 
 
 - But in the closing notice which the Evangelist 
 John has given of the Baptist’s ministry, we have 
 the completed testimony of the latter to the Son, 
 in terms which, perhaps, still more clearly exhibit 
 the three divine persons as conjoined in the mission 
 of our Lord. ‘He that cometh from above is above 
 all; he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh 
 of the earth: He that cometh from heaven is above 
 all. And what He hath seen and heard, that He 
 testifieth ; and no man receiveth His testimony. He 
 that hath received His testimony hath set to his seal 
 that God is true. For He whom Gop hath sent 
 speaketh the words of God; for God giveth not the 
 
 ’ 
 
THE MINISTRY OF THE FORERUNNER. vo 
 
 Sprrir by measure wnto Him. The Faruer loveth 
 the Son, and hath given all things into His hand. He 
 that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and 
 he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but 
 the wrath of God abideth on him’ (John iii. 31-36). 
 
 In this passage we have a very full exhibition of 
 the offices and relations of each of the three persons 
 of the Godhead. There is presented to us, first, 
 the Father, who loveth the Son, who sends Him | 
 into the world, who imparts to Him the Spirit in all 
 His fulness, and who hath given all things into His 
 hands. There is, secondly, the Son, who came from 
 heaven, and who is above all, in opposition even to 
 the highest of human teachers, who are of the earth, 
 and have only a temporary mission; who testifies 
 what He has seen and heard, and not merely, as 
 the forerunner, what He had received by revelation ; 
 who is sent of God and speaks His words, because 
 He has received from Him the Spirit without mea- 
 sure, which no mere created intelligence could do; 
 for they can only receive Him to the extent of their 
 limited powers, but He into the infinite capacities of 
 His divine nature; who is loved of the Father, and 
 has received all power from Him, so that through 
 Him alone is salvation enjoyed by the children of 
 men. And, thirdly, the Spirit given, and abiding 
 with Him (giveth in the present tense), without 
 
74 THE REVELATION OF THE SON. 
 
 measure ; so that, under His influence, the incarnate 
 Son becomes the full revealer of God, and com- 
 pletely fitted for His Messianic work. 
 
 How clearly, then, does a Trinity appear in the 
 preparatory ministry of the forerunner! But in the 
 passages referred to, the three are presented to us 
 especially in relation to the person of the Mediator. 
 But onward we must trace the doctrine as bearing 
 upon His work for man. 
 
 OPENING OF OUR LORD'S MINISTRY. 
 
 Shortly after His baptism, our Lord entered upon 
 His public ministry, by going up to Jerusalem, the 
 seat of the Jewish theocracy, and there asserting 
 His divine commission in the presence of the heads 
 and representatives of the chosen nation, by purging 
 the temple and reproving the wickedness of the 
 rulers, who permitted His Father’s house to be made 
 a house of merchandise. When asked for a sign, 
 He replied by a parable, indicating the future events 
 of His life, and the ends to be accomplished by 
 His mission. ‘Destroy this temple, and in three 
 days I will raise it up.” He, however, did work 
 miracles, which were the means of inducing in some 
 a belief that He was the Messiah; but their faith 
 
 ; 
 . 
 
OPENING OF OUR LORD’S MINISTRY. Td 
 
 resting merely on such exhibitions of His power, and 
 not on any spiritual perception of their wants, or of 
 His character as the Saviour, He did not commit 
 Himself to them. (John ii. 24, 25.) But,’ during 
 this visit to Jerusalem, there came to Him one in 
 whom He saw the germ of faith, and a susceptibility 
 of instruction ; and to whom, therefore, our Lord un- 
 folded fully the nature of His work and kingdom. 
 This was Nicodemus, a ruler of the Pharisees; and 
 our Lord’s discourse with him, recorded in the 
 third chapter of John’s Gospel, stands in the fore- 
 front of our Lord’s teaching, and forms one of the 
 clearest and most comprehensive exhibitions of the 
 mysteries of His kingdom to be found in the whole 
 New Testament, presenting the whole sum and 
 substance of the doctrine of Him who came down 
 from heaven. We shall, however, notice our Lord’s 
 statements on this occasion only as they bear on the 
 doctrine of the Trinity ; and we are mistaken if the 
 doctrine of three divine persons severally working 
 in our salvation, will not be found at the basis of 
 the whole discussion, determining its arrangement. 
 Our Lord begins by announcing to Nicodemus the 
 great change required in the heart of every man in 
 
 1 The particle 3:, which connects John iii. 1 with the last verse 
 of the preceding chapter, is unnoticed by our translators. It 
 expresses the contrast between Nicodemus and those previously 
 mentioned, and might be rendered ‘ but.’ 
 
76 THE REVELATION OF THE SON. 
 
 order to admission to His kingdom; but this He 
 is careful to point out as the work of the Spirit 
 (John iii. 5, 6): ‘Except a man be born of water and 
 of the Sprrit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of 
 God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and 
 that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.’ And, im 
 reply to the astonished inquiry of His hearer at this 
 demand, He exhibits, by a comparison of the wind, 
 
 the free self-determination of the Spirit, and His ~ 
 
 powerful yet mysterious operations on the heart of 
 man. ‘The wind bloweth where it listeth, and 
 thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell 
 whence it cometh or whither it goeth: so is every 
 one that is born of the Spirit’ Thus, beginning 
 with the work as in the heart of man, He exhibits 
 just the work of the third person of the Trinity in 
 our salvation. 
 
 But to the inquiry of Nicodemus, ‘ How can these 
 things be 2? oar Lord—after reproving his ignorance 
 of divine truth, while possessed of such high privi- 
 leges—leads him back from the work of the Spirit to 
 that of the Son, by exhibiting His divinity, incar- 
 nation, and atonement, as the basis of the work of 
 the Spirit just described (ver. 13): ‘No man hath 
 ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from 
 heaven, even the Son of man, which is in heaven’ 
 These words plainly imply divinity. We might only 
 
OPENING OF OUR LORD’S MINISTRY. 77 
 
 -in proof of this refer to Prov. xxx. 4,—a passage 
 the close resemblance of which to the present we 
 cannot but notice: ‘Who hath ascended up into 
 heaven or descended? who hath gathered the wind 
 in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a gar- 
 ment? who hath established all the ends of the 
 earth ? what is his name, and what is his son’s name, 
 if thou canst tell?’ Not only is He described as 
 having come down from heaven—an expression used 
 in the Old Testament for God alone, and in accord- 
 ance with the description of His original dignity, as 
 ‘with God’? (John i. 1, 2),—but He is described as 
 in heaven while here, and as again to ascend to the 
 same state. As Hengstenberg remarks: ‘ All three 
 designations imply the same dignity. Each of itself 
 leads to the conception of full divinity, which makes 
 itself known in the past, the present, and the future 
 of the Son of God. 
 
 But while thus divine, and in a subsequent verse 
 called the Son of God, He is next described as the 
 Son of man, and as in that nature making atonement 
 (vers. 14, 15): ‘And as Moses lifted up the ser- 
 pent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of 
 man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in Him 
 should not perish, but have eternal life. Thus, in 
 explanation to Nicodemus of the work of the Spirit, 
 
 1 rpdg vay Osdv, not 7 tpt. 
 
78 THE REVELATION OF THE SON. © 
 
 our Saviour begins to unfold heavenly things, by 
 exhibiting His own divinity and atonement in our 
 nature, as the basis on which it rests. 
 
 But from this account of the work of the second 
 person of the Trinity in our salvation, the Saviour 
 leads back to the Father, as the source and fountain 
 of the whole (ver. 16): ‘ For God (plainly the Father, 
 as contrasted with the Son) so loved the world, that 
 He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever be- 
 lieveth on Him should not perish, but have ever- 
 lasting life’ The words at the close of verses 15 
 and 16, ‘ that whosoever believeth on Him, are the 
 same verbatim in both; but it will be seen that 
 in the one case they are applied to the Son, as ex- 
 pressing the object of His work, and in the other to 
 the Father. 
 
 Thus the whole passage presents not only three 
 divine persons concurring in man’s salvation, but in- 
 dicates their official relation to each other in that 
 work, and to those for whom they interposed. Be- 
 - ginning with the work of the Spirit upon the heart, 
 the Saviour traces it back to the work of the Son in. 
 descending from heaven, assuming human nature, 
 and dying as an atonement for sin; and then He 
 traces the work of the Son back to the love of the 
 Father as its original source. In this, then, the first 
 full announcement of the heavenly things which He 
 
7 
 
 OUR LORD’S PUBLIC MINISTRY. 19 
 
 came down from heaven to reveal—the key-note of 
 His whole teaching, unfolding the central mystery 
 of His kingdom, and containing the very marrow 
 of His glad tidings,—how plainly does the doctrine 
 of the Trinity form the foundation of the whole 
 structure ! 
 
 OUR LORD’S PUBLIC MINISTRY. 
 
 In now proceeding to consider the life and teach- 
 ing of our Lord during His public ministry, we must 
 observe that the first three Evangelists, exhibiting 
 especially the human side of Christ, do not so pro- 
 minently bring forward either His divinity or the 
 relations, internal or official, of the three persons in 
 the Trinity. But the Gospel by John was plainly 
 intended, among other designs, to be supplementary 
 to them, and especially to exhibit the person of 
 Christ as God incarnate. ‘These are written that 
 ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of 
 God, and that believing ye might have life through 
 His name’ (ch. xx. 31). With this view, both in 
 the description given of His works, and in the reports 
 of His discourses, he portrays Him, not in any of 
 His aspects as human, but as the manifestation of 
 a divine person in human form,—in fact, as one in 
 
80 THE REVELATION OF THE SON. | 
 
 nature with the Father, but at the same time occupy- 
 ing a place of official subordination to Him. He does, 
 indeed, abundantly teach His manhood, and exhibit 
 it in aspects which, but for his gospel, would be 
 comparatively in the shade. But yet almost every 
 step of his narrative indicates a special design to set 
 forth Christ in His original divine personality, as 
 the Eternal Word and the only begotten Son of God ; 
 not merely in the sense of God having no other 
 such Son, but in the sense of His being partaker of 
 the divine essence, and thus distinct from all created 
 existence (ch. v. 18, x. 30-36, etc.). Hence He is 
 represented as having a perfect knowledge of the 
 Father (ch. viii. 55, x. 15), as well as knowing the 
 hearts of men (ch. 1, 24, 25). His works are the 
 works of God (ch. x. 37, xiv. 10). Whoever had 
 seen Him had seen the Father (ch. xiv. 9). Men 
 are to honour Him as they honour the Father (ch. 
 vy. 23); and whosoever hates and rejects Him, hates 
 and rejects the Father (ch. xv. 23, 24). But while 
 thus one with the Father, He is, throughout the 
 game discourses, represented as occupying a place of 
 official subordination to Him in the economy of our 
 redemption (ch. iii, 16, 17, v. 43, vi. 37-40, viii. 
 42, xii. 49). The synoptists, though in the main 
 exhibiting Christ’s humanity, yet present it as the 
 humanity of Him who was really the Son of God 
 
OUR LORD’S PUBLIC MINISTRY. 81 
 
 (Matt. 11. 17, xi, 27, xvii. 5;:Mark i. 1,11, ix. 7, 
 x. 6, etc.), and agree with John in teaching His 
 ‘divinity. For example, no passage even in John’s 
 Gospel teaches this truth more strongly than the 
 declaration of our Saviour, as given by the first and 
 ‘third Evangelists (Matt. xi. 27; Luke x. 22): ‘No 
 man knoweth who the Son is but the Father, and 
 who the Father is but the Son, and he to whom the 
 Son will reveal Him! 
 
 But at the same time there are hints, in connec- 
 tion with the working of the Father and the Son, of 
 the agency of the Spirit ;—as when the miracles of 
 our Lord are described as by the finger of God, and 
 in the parallel passage as by the Spirit of God 
 (Matt. xii. 28, with Luke xi. 20);:—as when the 
 Saviour promises the Spirit to them that ask Him 
 (Luke xi. 20) ;—but especially when our Saviour 
 promises living water, which, the Evangelist says, 
 “He spake of the Spirit, which was not yet given, 
 for Jesus was not yet glorified’ (John vii. 38, 39) ; 
 and again, when warning those who blasphemed 
 His miracles, He pointed them forward to the time 
 when the dispensation of the Spirit, the last person 
 of the Trinity, should begin, and when, if they should 
 continue to resist, their destruction would be in- 
 evitable (Matt. xii. 28-31; Luke xi. 13-20). 
 
 Our Lord having during His ministry, especially 
 F 
 
82 THE REVELATION OF THE SON. 
 
 as exhibited by John, represented His relations to 
 the Father as essentially one with Him, but in His 
 mission to our world subordinate to Him, began, as 
 He approached the termination of His work on earth, 
 more fully to unfold the relation of the Spirit to the 
 Father and the Son, both essential and economical. 
 Especially in His farewell discourses He exhibits 
 the third person of the Trinity personally as pro- 
 ceeding from the first and second ; and in His official 
 character, as given by the Father and dispensed by 
 the Son, as the result of His departure to the Father 
 by His death and resurrection, and as carrying out the 
 work of the Son by applying it to the minds and 
 hearts of men. The passages on this subject are 
 so clear and distinct that they belong rather to the 
 direct evidence for the Trinity, and we need do little 
 more than quote them. 
 
 ‘JT will pray the Fatuer, and He shall give you ~ 
 another Comforter, that He may abide with you for 
 ever ; even the SPIRIT of truth ; whom the world can- 
 not receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth 
 Him: but ye know Him ; for He dwelleth with you, 
 and shall be in you’ (John xiv. 16,17). ‘ But the 
 Comforter, which is the Hoty Guost, ‘whom the — 
 Father will send in my name, He shall teach you © 
 all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, 
 whatsoever I have said unto you’ (ver. 26). ‘ But 
 
OUR LORD’S PUBLIC MINISTRY. 83 
 
 when the CoMFoRTER is come, whom I will send unto 
 you from the Faruer, He shall testify of me’ (ch. 
 xv. 26). ‘It is expedient for you that I go away: for 
 if I go not away, the Comforter will not come ; but 
 if I depart, I will send Him unto you. And when 
 He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and 
 of righteousness, and of judgment. . . . ‘I have yet 
 many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear 
 them now. 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... . ‘All things that the Father 
 hath are mine: therefore said I, that He shall take 
 of mine, and shall show it unto you’ (ch. xvi. 7-1 5). 
 
 We need not enter into any discussion as to the 
 | proper meaning of the term translated ‘Comforter, 
 It is sufficient to notice the general teaching of all 
 these passages. They represent the place of the 
 three divine persons in the actual carrying out of 
 the plan of mercy in the world. First, we have the 
 Spirit as the great agent, leading. men into all truth, 
 testifying of the Son, receiving of the Son’s and 
 showing it unto men, convincing the world of sin, 
 ete., dwelling in believers, and, through a preached 
 gospel, producing moral changes, which are, in 
 reality, greater works than the miracles of the 
 
84 - THE REVELATION OF THE SON. 
 
 Saviour. Secondly, we have all attributed to the 
 Father as the original source. ‘The Father will 
 give ;’ ‘Whom the Father will send, etc.. And then, 
 thirdly, we have the Son, as the great medium 
 through whom the Spirit’s influences are obtained, 
 and who dispenses them as the agent of the Father. 
 ‘The Father will send in my name; ‘I will pray © 
 the Father, and He shall give? ‘Whom I will send 
 unto you from the Father. 
 
 Now, the order pursued in the Gospel history, as 
 completed by John, in treating of the respective 
 relations and offices in redemption of the Father, 
 and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, is exactly that 
 which would be adopted by a Trinitarian professor 
 of systematic theology. Were he discussing the 
 part of each of the three persons of the Trinity in 
 our salvation, would he not first treat of the person 
 and work of the Son in obtaining redemption ; and 
 in considering’ this, would he not speak of the Father 
 as the source of all—as sending the Son, and as He 
 to whom the Son holds in redemption a position of 
 official subordination; of the Son, in His undertak- 
 ing the work, becoming the servant of the Father, 
 and laying down His life for the sheep; and perhaps 
 incidentally refer to the Spirit? And then, would 
 he not, as the second great division of his subject, 
 treat fully of the application of the work by the 
 
AFTER THE RESURRECTION, 85 
 
 Spirit, first, in His mission as given by the Father, 
 and dispensed by the Son; and, secondly, in His 
 powerful agency, by which men are brought to the 
 enjoyment of the redemption purchased? IE s0, 
 how entirely accordant is the evangelical scheme 
 _ with the representation given in the Gospel history 
 of the person, life, and teaching of the Son of God! 
 
 AFTER THE RESURRECTION. 
 
 Our Lord, after His resurrection, renewed the 
 promise of the Spirit in similar terms, giving to 
 each of the three the same position as in the words 
 already quoted (Luke xxiv. 49): ‘ Behold, I send the 
 promise of the Father upon you: but tarry ye in 
 the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with 
 power from on high.” This promise of the Father, 
 both from the passages last quoted, and from Acts 
 i. 4, 5, where it is exactly defined, is abundantly 
 shown to be the influences of the Holy Ghost. As 
 a prelude and earnest of this, our Lord, as His prac- 
 tice was, gave the beginning and first-fruits on earth 
 of what He was afterward fully to give from heaven 
 (John xx. 21, 22): ‘Then said Jesus to them again, 
 Peace be unto you: as my Farner hath sent mn, 
 even so send I you. And when He had said this, 
 He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive 
 
86 THE REVELATION OF THE SON. 
 
 ye the Hoty Guost” The Father appears as 
 supreme, and sending the Son. The Son is repre- 
 sented as sending the apostles, in the same manner 
 as the Father had sent Him, implying equal autho- 
 rity ; but in addition, in the act of breathing upon 
 them, He is exhibited as placing Himself in the 
 ‘same relation to the new spiritual world which 
 Jehovah Elohim held in the formation of the 
 material world, and the living creatures upon it, 
 but especially as to the life of man. ‘By the word 
 of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host 
 of them by the breath of His mouth’ (Ps. xxxiil. 6). 
 ‘The Spirit of the Lord hath made me, and the 
 breath of the Almighty hath given me life’ (Job . 
 xxxiii. 4). As, at first, Jehovah breathed into man’s 
 nostrils the breath of life, and formed him in the 
 divine image ; so now Jesus, at the founding of the 
 new spiritual world, breathes upon the apostles, as 
 the representatives of the Church, thus exhibiting 
 the infusion of the new life in them by the Spirit, 
 as well as in those who should afterward believe on 
 Him through their word. By the first breathing, 
 the first Adam became a living soul; but in the 
 last, the second Adam appears as a quickening 
 Spirit, the source of life to all the members of His 
 body, a position implying fulness of divinity. This 
 breathing in connection with the Greek title of the 
 
AFTER THE RESURRECTION. a oe 
 
 Spirit (wvedua), as meaning breath, seems also to 
 express the original relation of the Spirit to the Son 
 as proceeding from Him. And thus we have the 
 three persons of the Trinity brought before us in 
 this preliminary communication of the Spirit, in 
 their essential divinity and official relations. 
 Having thus qualified His apostles for their work 
 or given them an earnest of all needed qualifications 
 He gave them His parting commission, constituting 
 
 > 
 
 them His agents to reclaim an apostate world to its 
 rightful Sovereign. But in this commission all the 
 germs of the doctrine of the Trinity, which had 
 previously only partially expanded, burst into full 
 efflorescence. All the faith which, as reclaimed, 
 men are called to profess, all the obligations which 
 they are bound to assume, and all the privileges 
 which they are permitted to enjoy, are ‘summarily 
 comprehended’ in their consecration to, and union 
 with, the Triune God, as revealed in the gospel 
 (Matt. xxviii. 19): ‘Go ye therefore, and disciple all 
 nations, baptizing them into’ (not ‘in’) ‘the name’ 
 (not names, but in the singular, the name—the 
 revealed relation) ‘of THE FATHER, AND OF THE Son, 
 AND OF THE HOLY Guost,’ 
 
 To God the Father, God the Son, 
 And God the Spirit, three in one, 
 Be honour, praise, and glory given, 
 By all on earth, and all in heaven. 
 
| Sega: ed Sd Lega eg 
 
 —— 
 
 THE APOSTLES; 
 OR, 
 
 THE REVELATION OF .THE SPIRIT. 
 
 ‘All these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to 
 every man severally as He will.? —1 Cor. x11. 11. 
 
CHAPTER IL. 
 THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 E now proceed to consider the third great 
 division of the word of God, which con- 
 
 tains the manifestation of the Holy Ghost. The 
 remaining portions of the sacred volume represent 
 the completion of redemption by His agency, com- 
 menced on the day of Pentecost, and completed in 
 final glory. Here our attention is first called to the 
 second treatise of Luke, usually known as the Acts 
 of the Apostles, which is a history of the fulfilment 
 of the promise of the Spirit, first by His effusion 
 upon the apostles, and then, secondly, through 
 means of them, as thus qualified, by His working 
 upon mankind in the order appointed by divine 
 wisdom, upon the Jew first and afterwards upon 
 the Gentiles, until the gospel had taken root in 
 certain great centres of the old world, beginning 
 at Jerusalem and ending at Rome. Now, in both 
 these aspects of the Spirit’s work, the writer recog- 
 _ nises the three persons in the Godhead in the same 
 
92 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 manner as is done in the Gospel history. The 
 beginning of the first chapter is linked to the con- 
 clusion of his former treatise. At the conclusion 
 of his Gospel it was said, ‘Behold, I send the pro- 
 mise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the 
 city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power 
 from on high’ (Luke xxiv. 49). And he commences 
 his second treatise with the same fact: ‘ Being 
 assembled together with them, He commanded them 
 that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but 
 wait for the promise of the FATHER, which, saith 
 He, ye have heard of mg. For John truly baptized 
 with water; but ye shall be baptized with the 
 Hoty Guost not many days hence’ (Acts i. 4, 5). 
 Thus, by the agency of the Spirit promised by the 
 Father, and now to be actually given by Him, but 
 dispensed through the Son, they were to be quali- 
 fied as His agents for the establishment of His 
 kingdom throughout the world. Accordingly, at 
 His parting from them to return to the Father, 
 which was necessary in order to open the way for 
 the effusion of the Spirit, He said (ver. 8), ‘ Ye shall 
 receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come 
 upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both 
 in Jerusalem, and in Judea, and in Samaria, and 
 unto the uttermost parts of the earth.’ | 
 Accordingly, on the day of Pentecost, when the 
 
THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. vo 
 
 Spirit was poured out from on high with such glori- 
 
 ~ ous effects, the Apostle Peter fully explains the 
 
 phenomenon, if we may be allowed the expression, 
 by describing the action of the three persons in 
 the Godhead in what had just transpired. First, 
 he refers it all to God the Father as its original 
 source, now fulfilling His promise by the prophets: 
 ‘This is that which was spoken by the prophet 
 Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, 
 saith Gop, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh ; 
 and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, 
 and your young men shall see visions, and your 
 old men shall dream dreams: and on my servants, 
 and on my handmaidens, I will pour out of my 
 Spirit; and they shall prophesy’ (Acts ii. 16, 17). 
 Secondly, he considers the ground of it, viz. the 
 humiliation and death, and the consequent resurrec- 
 tion and exaltation, of the Son, whose work, however, 
 is still of the F ather, who hath both delivered Him 
 up to death, and raised Him again from the dead: 
 ‘Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of 
 Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by 
 miracles, and wonders, and signs, which God did 
 by Him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also 
 know: Him being delivered by the determinate 
 counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, 
 and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: 
 
94 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains 
 of death: because it was not possible that He 
 should be holden of it’ (vers. 22-24). And then, 
 thirdly, as the result, he describes the giving of 
 the Spirit by the Father, and the effusion of His 
 influences by the Son, as the actual cause of that 
 remarkable manifestation of which they had just 
 been witnesses: ‘ Therefore being by the right hand 
 of God exalted, and having received of the FATHER 
 the promise of the Hoty Guost, He (Christ) hath 
 shed forth this, which ye now see and _ hear’ 
 (ver. 33). The same pouring out is here ascribed 
 to Christ, which is in the 17th verse ascribed to 
 God, and we have already remarked that such a 
 power requires divinity for its exercise. It will 
 thus be seen that the foundation of the infant 
 Church was laid, and the work of evangelizing the 
 world begun, in accordance with the promise of 
 the Saviour, by the concurrence of the Father, the 
 Son, and the Holy Ghost. 
 
 The work as thus begun was, according to the 
 order appointed by divine wisdom, at first carried 
 on specially among the Jews, to whom the first 
 offer of salvation was made; but when the next 
 great step in carrying out the counsels of eternal 
 love was to be taken, by the evangelization of the 
 Gentiles, the commencement of the work was sig- 
 
THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 95 
 
 nalized in a similar manner. God made choice 
 among the apostles that the Gentiles by the mouth 
 of Peter should hear the word of the gospel and 
 believe (Acts xv. 7). Accordingly, at Czesarea, he 
 preached to Cornelius, and those in his house, Jesus 
 Christ and Him crucified ; and it is to be noted that 
 in doing so he teaches the agency of the Blessed 
 Three in the person and qualifications of the God- 
 man Mediator, in the same manner as we haye seen 
 done by prophets and evangelists: ‘Gop anointed 
 JESUS of Nazareth with the HoLy Guost and with 
 power’ (ch. x. 38). As the apostle went on to 
 preach salvation through faith in Him, the Holy 
 Ghost fell on those assembled, as originally upon 
 the disciples on the day of Pentecost. Describ- 
 ing the scene that ensued, Peter acknowledges the 
 agency of the whole three persons of the Godhead 
 in terms similar to those in which he describes the 
 first effusion: ‘As I began to speak, the Holy Ghost 
 fell on them, as on us at the beginning. Then 
 remembered I the word of the Lord, how that He 
 said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall 
 be baptized with the Hoty Guost. Forasmuch then 
 as GOD gave them the like gift as He did unto us, 
 who believed on the Lorp Jrsus, what was I that 
 I should withstand God ?’ (ch. xi. 15-17.) 
 
 Thus the work now begun, of evangelizing the 
 
96 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 Gentiles, as formerly in the case of the Jews, is 
 recognised, as by the agency of the Holy Ghost, 
 given by the Father, and by implication, if not 
 directly expressed, through the medium of the Son. 
 These events form the key-notes of the two great 
 divisions of the book, which is simply the record 
 of the primitive successful preaching of the gospel 
 among Jews and Gentiles successively, as, the result 
 of the effusion of the Spirit upon both classes, in 
 the manner described, as begun on these two occa- 
 sions. The early Church, as thus planted among 
 Jews and Gentiles, and whose progress from Jeru- 
 salem to Rome is traced in this book, was the first- 
 fruits of the harvest of the world; and thus the 
 representation given of the foundation of the work, 
 in its two great divisions, exhibits the whole process 
 of gathering souls into the New Testament Church 
 till the end of time, as by the concurrent action of 
 the adorable Three, in the order and relation pre- 
 
 dicted by our Saviour during His earthly ministry— 
 
 the Spirit, as the great agent in the work; the Son, 
 as securing His influences by His death and resurrec- 
 tion, and actually dispensing them; and the Father, 
 as the great source of all, who imparts them as the 
 reward of the work of the Son. 
 
 NN EE Se a. ce ee ee 
 
CHAPTER IL 
 THE EARLIER EPISTLES OF PAUL. 
 
 UR Saviour taught His disciples the truth as 
 they were able to bear it. But even up to 
 the time of His departure to the Father, they were 
 not prepared to receive the full revelation of God’s 
 will, which He designed to communicate. ‘I have 
 yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot 
 bear them now. Accordingly, the Spirit was pro- 
 mised, and after His resurrection imparted, to guide 
 His disciples into all truth. We must therefore 
 look for the ripest fruits of inspiration in the writ- 
 ings of the apostles. Among these the Epistles of 
 Paul occupy a prominent place, and deserve our first 
 consideration. 
 
 Before proceeding to consider the doctrine of the 
 Trinity, as underlying Paul’s teaching of salvation, 
 we must make two preliminary remarks. First, We 
 must notice, as a peculiarity of his style, the length 
 to which he sometimes. draws out his sentences, 
 
 In the fulness of his heart, thought succeeds thought, 
 G 
 
98 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 clause is added to clause, and one parenthesis fol- 
 lows another, till the apostle pauses, as it were, to 
 take breath. When we examine such passages more 
 closely, as Alford remarks, ‘depths under depths 
 disclose themselves, wonderful systems of parallel 
 allusion, frequent and complicated underplots ;’ but, 
 as he also adds, ‘ every word, the more we search, 
 approves itself as set in its exact logical place ; we 
 see every phrase contributing, by its own organiza- 
 tion and articulation, to the carrying out of the 
 organic whole’ Yet, to ascertain the general design, 
 the interpreter must often glance over a passage of 
 considerable length, and, by seizing the salient points, 
 endeavour to catch the leading thoughts; and after 
 that, the various subsidiary clauses, both as to the 
 truths they teach, and their relation to each other 
 and to the apostle’s general argument, will remain 
 as a rich field of inquiry. In the present investi- 
 gation, as we will be endeavouring to unravel some- 
 thing like what Alford calls ‘an underplot, we shall 
 only be able to trace the general course of thought 
 in the passages to be considered; and in doing so, 
 we hope to exhibit the working of a Triune God 
 often appearing as a sort of undertone, which, amid 
 the richness and harmony of the leading voices, is 
 apt to be overlooked. 
 
 The other general remark we have to make is, 
 
THE EARLIER EPISTLES OF PAUL. 99 
 
 that while, in the writings of John, the usual titles 
 of the Trinity are Father, Son, and Spirit ; in Paul’s 
 they are God, Lord, and Spirit. We do not say 
 that this is always the case, but it certainly is the 
 prevailing usage of both writers. We presume to 
 think that this simple fact has an important bearing 
 on theological questions, which are agitated at the 
 present day, and that it is not without design that 
 John was raised up specially to exhibit the paternal 
 character and paternal relation of God, and that Paul 
 should have been raised up to exhibit Him more in His 
 rectoral relation to His creatures—as their Lawgiver 
 and Ruler. This is, however, beside our subject, and 
 we merely wish to notice here the general practice 
 of the Apostle of the Gentiles. With him the title 
 God is used to denote the Father, or God absolutely. 
 It is the equivalent of the Hebrew Elohim, and very 
 often has connected with it such titles as ‘the Father, 
 or “the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ? That he 
 commonly used the title Lord, or Kyrios, again, to 
 denote the Son, is admitted by all commentators. 
 So generally is this the case, that we are never 
 without good reason to ascribe it to any other; and, 
 as it is the title used in the Septuagint as the 
 equivalent of Jehovah, its use is a clear testimony 
 to our Lord’s divinity. We make the remark re- 
 garding these titles now, that we may not have to 
 
100 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 discuss them in reference to each particular passage 
 that may come under review. 
 
 Keeping these remarks in view, we proceed to 
 consider the Epistles of Paul in the order in which 
 they were written. | 
 
 THE EPISTLES TO THE THESSALONIANS. 
 
 The earliest of Paul’s epistles, the first to the 
 Thessalonians, commences with thanksgiving for 
 their faith, hope, and love. ‘We give thanks to 
 God always for you all; making mention of you in 
 our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work 
 of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope’ 
 (vers. 2, 3). But he immediately connects their - 
 present privileges with the three persons of the 
 Trinity, in their respective relations to the sinner’s 
 salvation,—first, as enjoyed in union with the Son: 
 ‘In our Lorp Jesus Christ, in the sight of Gop the 
 FATHER ;’ but, secondly, as originating in their elec- 
 tion by the Father: ‘ Knowing, brethren beloved, your 
 election of Gop ;’ and then, thirdly, as manifested 
 by the working of the Spirit: ‘ For our gospel came 
 not unto you in word only, but also in power, and 
 in the Hoty Guost, and in much assurance. We 
 may notice in this passage, what we shall see again, 
 
THE EPISTLES TO THE THESSALONIANS. 101 
 
 the mention of the three cardinal graces, faith, hope, 
 and love, in connection with the mention of the three 
 adorable names. Here they are all referred to the 
 Son, as the object of them, but before God the F ather, 
 with a view to Him, or with reference to His glory. 
 
 It is worthy of mention, that in the verses imme- 
 diately following, in which the apostle enlarges on 
 the fruits of the gospel among the Thessalonians, 
 and, as a proof of their election, exhibits their 
 character, he describes it in relation to the three 
 persons of the Trinity (vers. 6-9): ‘And ye became 
 followers of us, and of the Lorb, having received the 
 word in much affliction, with joy of the Hoty 
 Guost; so that . . . in every place your faith to 
 Gop-ward is spread abroad; . . . and how ye turned 
 to God from idols, to serve the living and the true 
 God, and to wait for His Son from heaven ;’ showing 
 by the relation to the Son, that it is the F ather who 
 is spoken of in the previous clause. The reference 
 here to the Trinity is not so distinct ag in many 
 other passages ; but the mention of the three per- 
 sons successively j is worthy of our attention. 
 
 In the second epistle we have a similar expression 
 of thanksgiving (ch, ii, 13, 14): < We’ (ae. the mini- 
 sters of the gospel) ‘are bound to give thanks oe 
 to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord,’ i 
 contrast with those under antichristian dated 
 
102: _ THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 mentioned in the previous verses, ‘ because Gop hath 
 from the beginning chosen you to salvation through 
 sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth: 
 whereunto He called you by our gospel, to the 
 obtaining of the glory of our Lorp JESUS CHRIST.’ 
 In thus describing the grounds of his thanksgiving, 
 the apostle mentions, first, their election, ascribed te 
 God ;—but it is the Father who sustains the honours 
 of Deity, and in particular to Him is ascribed the 
 sovereignty of election, however the other members 
 of the Godhead may concur in it: ‘Even so, Father, 
 for so it seemed good in Thy sight ;’—then, secondly, 
 sanctification by the Holy Ghost: ‘Through’ or ‘in 
 sanctification of the Spirit, the great agent in renew- 
 ing the soul ;—and thirdly, their ultimate salvation : 
 ‘To the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ. The glory here is the glory which He 
 originally possessed with the Father, ere ever the 
 world was, and with which He is now glorified. In 
 this passage the work of the Son as to our present 
 salvation is not so distinctly mentioned as elsewhere, 
 although allusion is made to it in the expression, 
 ‘Belief of the truth;’ yet the apostle, in his ascrip- 
 tion of praise, embraces the three, by referring to the 
 ultimate condition of God’s children, as associated 
 with Him in His glory (John xvii. 24; Rom. viii. 
 17). Thus we have election by the Father, sancti- 
 
THE EPISTLES TO THE THESSALONIANS. 103 
 
 fication by the Spirit, and glorification with the 
 Son. 
 
 Reverting to the practical part of the first epistle, 
 we may notice one or two passages in which the 
 three are associated with Christian duty. In the 
 fourth chapter the apostle exhorts his readers against 
 certain gross sins as inconsistent with the purity 
 of a Christian profession; but the apostle’s strong 
 ground of appeal is the relation in which the three 
 divine persons respectively stand to them in the 
 work of their salvation (vers. 6-8): ‘Because that 
 THE Lorp is the avenger of all such, as we have 
 forewarned you, and testified’ Taking the term 
 ‘Lord’ to denote Christ, as it usually does in Paul’s 
 writings, the apostle’s first appeal to them is on the 
 ground of His appointment to judge and punish 
 iniquity. But he adds as a second, their calling by 
 the Father (ver. 7): ‘For Gop hath not called us unto 
 uncleanness, but unto holiness’ Thus in sinning 
 they despise God, who hath called them, and who, 
 in the person of Christ, is the judge (ver. 8): ‘He 
 therefore that despiseth, despiseth not men, but God? 
 And then he adds, as a third consideration, by which 
 their guilt was intensified, and which forms the 
 climax of his appeal, ‘Who also hath given unto us 
 the Hoty Spirit, or, as the words stand in the 
 original, ‘His own Spirit, the Holy One, expressing 
 
104 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 itl ereat sone! and solemnity the character and 
 work of Him whose attribute is holiness, and whose 
 it is to sanctify all the servants of God. ‘Observe _ 
 that the whole passage agrees with and supports the — 
 doctrine of the Trinity—the Lord (Jesus), God (the 
 _ Father who calleth, Rom. vii. 30), and the Holy 
 Spirit, being each represented as acting distinctly, 
 and collectively spoken of as God.’ ! 
 
 The fifth chapter contains a number of exhorta- 
 tions seemingly detached ; but yet a line of connec- 
 tion: may be traced, even where they seem most 
 disconnected. In examining these, it is interesting 
 to observe that when he treats of religious worship, 
 he exhibits it in relation to the three members of 
 the Godhead (vers. 16-19): ‘ Rejoice evermore. 
 Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: 
 for this is the will of GoD in Curist Jesus.” The 
 word ‘this’ (rodro) in the last clause seems properly 
 to refer to the whole exercises just mentioned, the 
 rejoicing, praying, and giving thanks, which have 
 God as their object, and which, he adds, are His 
 appointment to His creatures, but ‘in Christ, the 
 only medium of manifestation on His part, and of 
 acceptable approach on ours. This naturally leads 
 to the actual source of these gifts, the enkindling 
 flame of the third person of the Godhead; and 
 
 1 Webster and Wilkinson in loco. 
 
THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 105 
 
 accordingly he adds (ver. 19): ‘Quench not the 
 SPIRIT, —check not nor restrain His influences, as 
 He awakens those feelings of gratitude and earnest 
 desire which find their natural expression in praise 
 to God, the author of the gospel, and the source of 
 all blessings; but, according to God’s will, as He is 
 in Christ Jesus, give free vent to all such feelings. 
 The words thus seem closely connected with what 
 precedes, as well as with what follows; so that we 
 have the three divine persons associated in the 
 apostle’s mind with his spiritual exercises, as their 
 object, their medium, and their author. 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS.! 
 
 The Epistle to the Galatians was occasioned by 
 the successful efforts of certain Jewish teachers to 
 subvert the faith of that Church, by persuading 
 them that the observance of the Mosaic ritual was 
 necessary to salvation. As they thus contradicted 
 Paul’s teaching, they laboured at the same time to 
 undermine his apostolic authority, and succeeded in 
 _ turning the affections of the people from him. In 
 
 1 It is still a matter of discussion among scholars whether the 
 Epistle to the Galatians was written before or after those to the 
 Corinthians, but the prevailing opinion at the present day is that 
 it was the first written. . 
 
106 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 writing to them, therefore, the apostle first vindicates 
 his office as an apostle. This he does in the form 
 of an autobiographical narrative (ch. 1. and 11). 
 Secondly, in opposition to false teachers, he estab- 
 lishes the truth of the fundamental doctrines, that 
 justification is by faith and not by the deeds of the 
 law, and that, as a consequence, they alone who are 
 of faith are the children of God, and inheritors of 
 the promises made to Abraham (ch. iu. and iv.). 
 And~ then, thirdly, he concludes with practical ex- 
 hortations and appeals (ch. v. and vi.). 
 
 Turning to the second portion, which, as teaching 
 the way of salvation, specially bears on our subject, 
 a careful examination will show the doctrine of the 
 Trinity at the basis of the apostle’s argument. In 
 showing that justification is by faith, he, in the be- 
 ginning of the third chapter, rests his argument on 
 one question, viz. in what manner had they received 
 the Spirit? ‘ This only would I learn of you,—it 
 is sufficient to settle the question——‘ Received ye 
 the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing 
 of faith?’ (ch. mi. 2.) Or, to put the question in 
 another view, how had the Spirit been given or sup- 
 plied? ‘He therefore that ministereth to you’ (or 
 is bestowing the Spirit upon you, viz. God), ‘ doeth 
 He it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of 
 faith ?’ (ver. 5.) 
 
THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 107 
 
 To this question the paragraph from the 6th to 
 the 14th verse is an answer. The scope of the 
 whole is to show that the bestowment of the Spirit 
 by God, and the receiving of it by us, are the result 
 of justification, and that justification is through faith 
 and not through legal obedience ; and it may be re- 
 garded as one of the most exactly logical in the whole 
 of the apostle’s writings. There are three stages 
 in his argument. First, he shows that God justified 
 Abraham by faith (ver. 6): ‘Even as Abraham be- 
 lieved God, and it was counted to him for righteous- 
 ness. This, however, was as a type or example of 
 the manner in which the saved of all ages and 
 nations shall enjoy the same blessing (vers. 7-9): 
 “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, 
 the same are the children of Abraham. And the 
 Seripture, foreseeing that Gop would justify the 
 heathen through faith, preached before the gospel 
 unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be 
 blessed, etc. The second step in his argument is to 
 show that the meritorious ground of this blessing is 
 the work of Christ. This he does by showing, first 
 negatively, that it cannot be our own obedience to 
 the law, for, by its principles, we are under con- 
 demnation (vers. 10-12); and then positively, by 
 showing that it is through the Son enduring the curse 
 for us (ver. 13): ‘ Christ hath redeemed us from the 
 
108 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is 
 written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 
 that the blessing of Abraham, a free justification, 
 ‘might come upon the Gentiles through faith” And 
 then the third step is, that, as the result of this, we 
 obtain the Spirit promised by the Father (ver. 14): 
 ‘That we might receive the promise of THE SPIRIT 
 through faith.’ 
 
 It will thus be seen that we have here the work 
 of the blessed Three set forth in order, in exact 
 accordance with the evangelical scheme: God the 
 Father justifying and bestowing the Spirit; God the 
 Son redeeming us from the curse of the law, and 
 thus opening the way for the effusion of the Spirit ; 
 and God the Spirit promised by the Father, and, as 
 the result of Christ’s redeeming work, bestowed upon 
 the children of men, and working out their salvation. 
 
 Following our redemption and justification comes 
 
 adoption, and this the apostle connects with the. 
 
 three persons of the Trinity (ch. iv. 4-6): ‘ But when 
 
 the fulness of the time was come, GoD sent forth . 
 
 His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to 
 redeem them that were under the law, that we might 
 receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are 
 sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into 
 your hearts, crying, Abba, Father,’ 
 
 Here we have, first, God the Father, as is evident 
 
THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 109 
 
 from His being so addressed in verse 6, and also 
 from His relation to the Son as sending Him forth. 
 We have, secondly, the Son who is sent forth,— 
 language implying that He was already the Son 
 (John iii, 16;-1 John iv. 14),—-and who is here 
 represented as ‘becoming’ human, and being made 
 under the law, that He might deliver us from its 
 penalty by enduring it Himself, and thus introduce 
 us into the privileges of God’s children, The estab- 
 lishment of the filial relation necessarily involves 
 the completion of the filial character ; and hence we 
 have, thirdly, the Spirit sent forth ni our hearts,— 
 the same word, ‘sent forth, being used with refer- 
 ence to the Spirit as to the Son, implying the person- 
 ality of the one as well as of the other. ‘There is thus 
 triune operation—Father, Son, and Spirit—in pro- 
 viding, securing, and enjoying this adoption’ —Zadie. 
 The conclusion of the whole is stated in verse ia 
 
 “So, then, thou art no more a servant, but a son ; 
 
 and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ,’ 
 
 It must be observed that the Alexandrine and Vatican 
 Codices, instead of @cod Sid Xpwicrod, ‘ of God through 
 Christ, read simply 8a cod, ‘through God.” This 
 is also the reading of the Vulgate and other ancient 
 versions; and it is approved by Tischendorf, and 
 other modern critical authorities, If this reading be 
 adopted, the apostle will in this verse ascribe to God 
 
110 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 the whole of what in the separate parts he had 
 ascribed to the three persons in the Trinity. As 
 Windischman, quoted by Alford, says, ‘Asa Ocod, 
 through God, combines, on behalf of our race, the 
 whole before-mentioned agency of the blessed Trinity. 
 The Father has sent the Son and the Spirit, the Son 
 has freed us from the law, the Spirit has completed 
 our sonship; and thus the redeemed are heirs 
 through the Triune God Himself, not through the | 
 law, nor through fleshly descent.’ 
 
 THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 
 
 The Epistles to the Corinthians are mainly prac- 
 tical. In them the apostle is not engaged in dis- 
 cussing formally any of the fundamental doctrines 
 of Christianity., He is entering into the active life 
 of a local church, correcting its irregularities, and 
 giving directions to its members in regard to several 
 of their most important relations, ecclesiastical and 
 social; and, under the guidance of divine wisdom, 
 is laying down principles of universal application, 
 for the regulation of the practical working of the 
 Church in all ages. Yet in these, throughout, the 
 apostle exhibits the Son in a manner irreconcilable 
 with His being a mere creature; and, in various 
 
\ 
 
 \ 
 
 THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 1] LL 
 
 passages, speaks of the Holy Ghost in terms which 
 imply His personality and divinity, and thus clearly 
 establishes the doctrine of a Triune God. But by 
 our plan we notice only those passages in which the 
 three are mentioned in connection. 
 
 At the beginning of the first epistle, in conse- 
 quence of objections that had arisen among some 
 members of the church against the apostle, he 
 defends his preaching both as to its matter and 
 manner ; and it is interesting to observe how, in a 
 way that we might consider fortuitous, only that 
 we believe that there is nothing in the language or 
 structure of the word of God but what was designed 
 in infinite wisdom, he brings in the three persons 
 in order. Thus, at the beginning of the second 
 chapter, describing his manner of preaching, he says 
 (ch. i, 1-5): « And I, brethren, when I came to you, 
 came not with excellency of speech, or of wisdom, 
 declaring unto you the testimony of Gop. For I 
 determined not to know anything among you, save 
 JESUS CHRIST, and Him crucified... . And my 
 speech and my preaching was not with enticing 
 words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of 
 THE SPIRIT and of power; that your faith might not 
 stand in the wisdom of man, but in the power of 
 God’ Here we have, first, the great subject of the 
 _apostle’s preachine—‘ the testimony of God;’ either 
 
j 
 
 / 
 
 y 
 
 / 
 
 112 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 the testimony about God, or, as we think more likely, 
 the testimony which God has given regarding His 
 Son (1 John v. 9); in other words, the revelation of 
 the plan of salvation through Him. Then, secondly, 
 we have the matter of his preaching—‘ Christ and 
 Him crucified’—connected with the previous verse by 
 ‘for’ It is God’s testimony, because this, and this 
 alone, was the apostle’s great theme. And then, thirdly, 
 we hayé the agent by which this truth is rendered 
 effectual—the Spirit of God, so that its efficacy was 
 of divine power: ‘That your faith might not stand 
 in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God’ 
 Now, this passage does not assert a Trinity, nor 
 does it assert that each or either of the three persons 
 is God. But it will be seen how entirely it accords 
 with the evangelical scheme. Here are the three 
 persons mentioned, and not only so, but referred to 
 in terms which imply at least unrivalled honour ; 
 Christ Himself the central subject, the apostle’s whole 
 philosophy, and His whole gospel; and the Spirit 
 securing His success, so that it is accomplished not 
 by human power, but is actually a divine work. 
 Having in his previous argument strongly repre- 
 sented the vanity of human wisdom, it might have 
 . been objected that the gospel was opposed to science, 
 and even to that wisdom which is so commended in 
 the Old Testament. The apostle obviates this in 
 
THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 113 
 
 the verses following, by showing that the system 
 which he preached was indeed the wisdom of God, 
 and so regarded by those who were competent to 
 appreciate it (ver. 6): ‘We speak wisdom among 
 them that are perfect? But it is interesting to 
 observe how again the apostle exhibits it in relation 
 to the three persons in the Godhead. First, the 
 Father had appointed it for bringing us to glory, but 
 still in His sovereignty kept it long concealed, while 
 to the wise of this world it is still unknown (ver. 7): 
 ‘We speak the wisdom of Gop in a mystery, even the 
 hidden, which God ordained before the world to our 
 glory ; which none of the princes of this world knew? 
 Their ignorance appears in their treatment of the 
 Son, who is next set forth as the great subject and 
 substance of this divine revelation (ver. 8): ‘For 
 had they known it, they would not have crucified 
 the Lorp oF Grory,—a title which we need not 
 say implies His divinity. Then, after a quotation 
 showing their ignorance of His glory, he, in the 
 third place, introduces as the agent by whom the 
 truth is actually revealed to us, the Spirit, who 
 knows God in all the profoundest depths of His 
 being, counsel, and operation (ver. 10): ‘But God 
 hath revealed them unto us by His Sprrir; for the 
 Spirit searcheth, or explores, ‘all things, yea, the 
 deep things of God? an expression, we need scarcely 
 H 
 
ee THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 remark, strongly expressive of His personality, as 
 well as of His supreme divinity. 
 
 The apostle then goes on to describe the condition 
 of believers, as thus spiritually enlightened; and 
 still again, in the course of his illustration, refers to 
 the sacred Three. He acknowledges the Spirit as 
 the great agent in producing this light, but as pro- 
 ceeding from God, the source of all spiritual gifts 
 (ver. 12): ‘Now we have received, not the spirit of 
 the world, but the Spirit which is of Gop; that 
 we may know the things that are freely given us 
 of God’ And thus, in contrast with the natural 
 man, they are capable of judging in spiritual things, 
 and others are incapable of judging them, because 
 they have the mind of Christ, the Jehovah of the 
 Old Testament (ver. 16): ‘For who hath known the 
 mind of the Lorp, that he may instruct Him? But 
 we have the mind of Christ.’ 
 
 Could such references to the Three in their mutual 
 relations, and in their respective working for man’s 
 salvation, come from any mind except one not only 
 believing in the doctrine of the Trinity, but whose 
 whole religious feelings and exercises were moulded 
 by it ? 
 
 In the third chapter, referring to the divisions 
 among them, under the names of certain teachers, 
 he shows the real position of himself and other 
 
THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 115 
 
 labourers in the Church, as builders in the house of 
 God. This leads him to speak of the Church as a 
 building ; and in doing so, he describes it in its rela- 
 tion to the three persons in the Godhead. First, 
 God the Father is the owner, the originator, and the 
 real builder (ver. 9): ‘Ye are Gop’s husbandry, ye 
 are God’s building” Then he points out Christ as 
 the only foundation (ver. 11): ‘For other foundation 
 can no man lay than that is laid, which is Cupisr 
 JESUS. His person and work form the only ground 
 of confidence for the salvation of men, and thus the 
 only basis on which the Church stands. After 
 showing the great responsibility resting upon those 
 who are employed as fellow-workers with God, in 
 the erection of this building, on account of its being 
 God’s building, and Christ being the only foundation, 
 he next describes its sacred character by represent- 
 ing it as a temple consecrated to God, through the | 
 inhabitation of the Spirit (ver. 16): ‘Know ye not 
 that ye are the temple of God, and that the Sprrir 
 of God dwelleth in you ?’—a passage directly teach- 
 ing the divinity of the Holy Ghost. This being the 
 character of the Church, he warns his readers against 
 dishonouring it, either by unholiness, or reliance on 
 human wisdom ;—and then he leads back again to 
 the second person of the Trinity, and from Him to 
 the first. All teachers, all institutions, and all 
 
116 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 events, are for the sake of the Church, and subserve 
 her interests (ver. 21): ‘Therefore let no one glory 
 in men: for all things are yours; whether Paul, or 
 Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or 
 things present, or things to come; all are yours.’ 
 - But this is as they belong to Christ, having been pur- 
 chased by His blood, to whom they are subject, and 
 through whom they are possessors of all things : 
 ‘And ye are Christ’s’ Yet even He is in subor- 
 dination to the Father, to whose glory through Him 
 all things tend: ‘And Christ is God’s’ Thus in 
 this passage, describing the Church as a building, he 
 begins with its source as from the Father, ‘ of whom 
 are all things” and traces it downward, through the 
 work of the Son in laying its foundation, to the 
 work of the Spirit. But he then, as it were, retraces 
 his course, and, ascending upward, connects the work 
 _ of building the Church, in all its machinery of means 
 and agencies, with the Son, as the head of all, and 
 through Him with the Father, ‘of whom are all | 
 things.’ 
 
 In the sixth chapter there is a strong and beauti- 
 ful appeal on behalf of Christian purity, and a careful 
 examination will show this great doctrine underlying 
 the whole of the apostle’s argument. In verse 11 
 he says, ‘Ye are washed, ye are sanctified, ye are 
 justified in the name of the Lorp Jesus, and by the 
 
THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 117 
 
 SPIRIT of our Gop. For our present purpose, it is 
 not necessary to enter into a discussion as to the 
 precise meaning of the terms translated “ washed,’ 
 etc. It is sufficient that the general meaning is 
 admitted to be, that we are freed both from guilt 
 and pollution. The point which we have to notice 
 is, that here again the three persons in the Trinity 
 are represented as engaged in the production of this 
 great change. It is through the medium of the Son: 
 “In the name of the-Lord Jesus ;—it is effected by 
 the Holy Ghost : ‘And by the Spirit of our God? 
 But the Father is referred to, not only as He is 
 the author of justification, but directly in these last 
 words, ‘Spirit of our God ;’ that is, our reconciled 
 God and Father, whose is the Spirit, and who sends 
 Him according to His promise. 3 
 
 The remaining part of the chapter is devoted to a 
 warning against the abuse of the doctrine of Christian 
 liberty, particularly by the perversion of the body 
 to impure purposes. We need not go over the 
 apostle’s statements in detail, but will select the 
 salient points of his reasoning, which will show that 
 his appeals are grounded on the relation in which 
 Christians stand, even as to their bodies, to the 
 members of the Godhead respectively. First, our 
 bodies are for Christ, and for them as well as for 
 our souls He was constituted the Saviour (ver. 13): 
 
118 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 ‘The body is for the Lord, and the Lord for the 
 body” By His blood they have been redeemed 
 (ver. 20): ‘Ye are bought with a price;’ and they 
 are now united to Him, as members of His body, 
 and consequently are one in spirit with Him. How 
 inconsistent with such a relation is all uncleanness 
 (vers. 15-17)! ‘Know ye not that your bodies are 
 the members of Christ? Shall I then take the 
 members of Christ, and make them the members of 
 an harlot? What! know ye not that he which is 
 joined to an harlot is one body? For two, saith He, 
 shall be one flesh. But he that is joined to the 
 Lord is one spirit. But, secondly, they are the 
 subjects of the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, whose 
 presence consecrates them as a temple to the Lord ; 
 and with this high and holy relation, such a vice is 
 equally inconsistent (ver. 19): ‘Know ye not that 
 your body is the temple of the Hoty Guost, which 
 is in you? And then, thirdly, all this is from and 
 to God the Father. He it is who will raise up the 
 body (ver. 14): ‘God hath both raised up the Lord, 
 and will also raise up.us by His own power. He 
 it is that dispenses the Spirit (ver 19), ‘which is 
 in you, which ye have of God.’ And as He has thus 
 redeemed us by the blood of His Son, and taken 
 possession of us by His Spirit, we are bound to 
 hold ourselves devoted to His glory, with which all 
 
THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 119 
 
 sensual indulgence is utterly irreconcilable (vers. 19, 
 20): ‘The Holy Ghost in you, which ye have of 
 God; and ye are not your own, for ye are bought 
 with a price : therefore glorify God in your bodies, 
 —and if the concluding clause be genuine, which 
 is doubtful, it is added — in your spirits, which are 
 God’s.’ 
 
 What an ineffable grandeur is thus given to an 
 appeal against the indulgence. of sensual appetites, 
 by the relation in which we are brought in redemp- 
 tion to each of the three persons in the Godhead ; and 
 how exalted is Christianity above every other system 
 of religion, and the evangelical scheme above every 
 pretended form of Christianity, as an agent for secur- 
 ing holiness, by the awful sublimity of its motives, 
 and the overpowering majesty of its appeals ! 
 
 In the twelfth chapter the apostle discusses the 
 - Spiritual gifts bestowed on the Church ; but he views 
 them mainly as they are related to the three persons 
 of the Godhead. ~Whatever variety might be among 
 them, he asserts that, as gifts or graces, they were 
 wrought by the one Spirit; as ministrations or ser- 
 vices, they were by the authority of the one Lord ; 
 and as to their origin, they were all from the Father 
 (vers. 4-6): ‘ Now there are diversities of gifts, but 
 the same Sprrir. And there are diversities of ad- 
 ministrations, but the same Lorp. And there are 
 
L20 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 diversities of operations, but it is the same Gop that 
 worketh all in all’ 
 
 ‘Thus we have? says Alford, ‘Gop THE FATHER, 
 the first source of all spiritual influence in all; Gop 
 THE Son, the ordainer in His Church of all mini- 
 stries, by which this influence may be legitimately 
 brought out for edification ; Gop THE HoLy Guost, 
 dwelling and working in the Church, and effectuating 
 in each man such measures of His gifts as He sees 
 fit’? ‘Once? says Wordsworth, ‘are these three 
 known thus solemnly to have met at the creation of 
 the world; once again at the baptism, at the new 
 creating it. And here now, the third time, at the 
 baptism of the Church with the Holy Ghost. Where, 
 as the manner is at all baptisms, each bestows a 
 several gift or largess on the party baptized, that is, 
 on the Church, for whom and for whose good the 
 
 world itself was: created, and the Holy Ghost visibly ° 
 
 sent down.’ 
 
 This passage is frequently quoted as proof of the 
 doctrine of the Trinity, and we need not dwell upon 
 it, as it may be regarded as rather affording direct 
 testimony on the subject. But it has not been 
 generally noticed, that in the remaining part of the 
 chapter, in which the apostle discusses the whole 
 question of spiritual gifts, he considers them in their 
 relation to each of the three divine persons succes- 
 
THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 121 
 
 sively, in the same order as above stated ; and, more- 
 over, that his arguments are simply an illustration 
 and confirmation of the three propositions which he 
 had just laid down. First he shows, in the para- 
 oraph from the 7th to the 11th verse, that ‘ there 
 are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit’ He 
 describes the various gifts bestowed upon the mem- 
 bers of the Church (vers. 8-10): ‘To one is given 
 by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the 
 word of knowledge by the same Spirit, etc. And 
 then he adds (ver. 11), ‘But all these worketh that 
 one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to every man 
 severally as He will.’ 
 
 Then, secondly, he treats of their relation to the 
 Son, showing, in the paragraph from the 12th to the 
 27th verse, that while ‘there are diversities of mini- 
 strations, itis the same Lord.’ He is the head of the 
 ~ one body, of which all believers are members (ver. 
 12): ‘For as the body is one, and hath many mem- 
 bers, and all the members of that body, being many, 
 are one body ; so also is Christ. And then he shows, 
 that as in the natural body each member has its own 
 office, and that, with all the variety among them as 
 to their uses and their importance, each one is neces- 
 sary, each belongs to the body, and serves its pur- 
 pose for the good of the whole; so in the Church, 
 each member, however humble his position, has his 
 
122 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 place in the body of Christ, is necessary to the sym- 
 metry and proper working of the whole, and in his 
 own place serves an important end for the welfare 
 of the body, and thus ministers to Christ its head ; 
 _so that, as he says to them (ver. 27), ‘they are the 
 body of Christ, and members in particular.’ 
 
 And then, thirdly, he considers their relation to 
 the Father, showing, from the 28th to the 30th 
 verse, that ‘there are diversities of operations, but it 
 is the same God that worketh all in all’ Allis by 
 the sovereign appointment of the Father, who has 
 appointed the various offices, through which these 
 gifts are exercised. ‘And God hath set some in 
 the Church, first, apostles; secondarily, prophets ; 
 thirdly, teachers ; after that miracles, ete. 
 
 Thus the whole chapter contains a discussion of 
 the relation of spiritual gifts to each of the three 
 persons in the Trinity in order, as produced by the 
 Spirit, ministered by the Son, and appointed by the 
 Father. 
 
 THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 
 Turning to the second epistle, we notice, at chapter 
 
 i. 21, 22, a beautiful passage, in which the doctrine 
 of the Trinity is implied. The subject is the estab- 
 
THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 123 
 
 lishment and confirmation of believers in the faith. 
 In the verse immediately preceding, the apostle had 
 represented Christ as the truth and substance of 
 the divine promises (ver. 20): ‘All the promises of 
 God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the 
 glory of God by. us. However numerous, or how- 
 ever glorious, through Him they are rendered ab- 
 solutely certain, and their fulfilment secured. But 
 in the following verses, he ascribes the work in 
 us, by which we are established in the firm con- 
 viction of the truth of God’s promises and the assur- 
 ance of our interest in them, to the blessed Three, 
 each performing His appropriate work. ‘Now He 
 which stablisheth us with you in CurisT, and hath 
 anointed. us, is GoD; who hath also sealed us, and 
 given the earnest of the Sprrir in our hearts.’ 
 Here, as usual, all is traced to God the Father as 
 its source: ‘He which stablisheth us with you is 
 God. But this is ‘in Christ, in reference to Him, 
 in union with Him, in whom all the divine pro- 
 mises are confirmed (ver. 20). And, lastly, the agent 
 by whom this is effected is the Spirit: ‘Who also 
 hath given to us the earnest of the Spirit’ His 
 work is also described in the phrase ‘anointed us, 
 as we know from other passages (Luke iv. 18, with 
 Isa. lxi. 1; Acts iv. 27, x. 38, etc). It is by Him 
 also that we are sealed (Eph. 1. 13, 14, iv. 30). 
 
124 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 Indeed, the concluding clause, ‘hath given us the 
 earnest of the Spirit? is but exegetical or explana- 
 tory of the sealing; so that the confirmation of the 
 believer is effected by the power of the whole 
 blessed Three, working in the same order, and in the 
 same relation as in the other parts of our salvation. 
 
 It is worthy of notice, that in passages of less 
 importance, and teaching no great doctrinal truth, 
 the apostle sometimes introduces the three persons 
 in the Godhead, as if his mind in all its movements 
 was constantly recurring to the idea of a Triune God 
 working in all things. Thus, speaking of the success 
 of his ministry among the Corinthians, he says 
 (ch. iii. 3): ‘Ye are manifestly declared to be the 
 epistle of CHRIST, ministered by us, written not with 
 ink, but with the Spirit of the living Gop ;’ thus recog- 
 nising Christ as the author of the change in them—a 
 divine work wrought through the instrumentality of 
 the apostle, and by the agency of the Spirit, who is 
 of the Father, here styled the living God. 
 
 In the following verses the apostle describes his 
 qualifications as a minister of the gospel, but he 
 refers them expressly to the first and second persons 
 of the Godhead, and by implication to the third. 
 Such was his confidence in the divinity and glory 
 of his mission, and his efficiency for the apostle- 
 ship, that he was not ashamed in the presence of 
 
 - a aul ‘ ce * Pe Fig ; . 
 ee NE yer a ee ee a ae ee Ph a a ee ans 
 
THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 125 
 
 God, much less before his opposers in Corinth ; 
 but this confidence was: ‘through Christ, by whom 
 he had been called, whom he served, and by whom 
 were dispensed all the needed qualifications for 
 success (ver. 4): ‘Such trust have we through 
 Curist to God-ward. But all his sufficiency was 
 derived from God the Father as its source (ver. 5): 
 ‘Not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to think 
 anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of 
 Gop, who, he adds (ver. 6), ‘hath made us able 
 ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, 
 but of the sprrir: for the letter killeth, but the 
 spirit giveth life’ The primary reference of the 
 word ‘spirit’ here seems to be to the New Testament 
 dispensation ; but it is to it as the dispensation: of 
 the Spirit, preached by men endowed with the 
 ‘Holy Ghost sent down from heaven’ (1 Pet. 1 
 12),—-especially as, after the glorification of the 
 Saviour, the Spirit was poured out in copious 
 measure, rendering the gospel triumphantly suc- 
 cessful; so that its ministers, unlike those of the 
 Old Testament, had to do, not so much with the 
 presenting an objective law, but with the working 
 of a divine agent upon the hearts of men. Hence 
 the apostle, in his reasoning onward, passes natu- 
 rally to the Spirit, as under the New Testament so 
 gloriously diffusing life and light. 
 
126 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 We would not wish to press an argument from 
 the mere fact of the three persons of the Godhead 
 being placed in juxtaposition in any part of the 
 apostle’s writings. It must be admitted that pas- 
 sages of this kind do not so distinctly indicate a 
 Trinity, as those in which the three are introduced 
 in the same sentence, or the same paragraph, in 
 relation to one another, or as severally working out 
 man’s salvation. But even such a collocation, if we 
 may use the term, of the three names is not without 
 design. Passages of this kind are of interest, and 
 we think have some bearing upon our subject, 
 though not so direct, nor so forcible as others, such 
 as we have been considering. There is a beautiful 
 passage of this kind in the fifth chapter. Speaking 
 of the hopes of believers beyond the present life, 
 and their groaning under present burdens, with the 
 earnest desire after future glory, he describes our 
 relation to it by a reference to the concern which 
 the three persons in the Godhead had in it. First, 
 the Father has prepared us for it (ver. 5): ‘Now 
 He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is 
 Gop. To Him is to be traced the whole process of 
 renovation, through which we obtain everlasting 
 happiness. Secondly, the Spirit is the present 
 pledge of it: ‘Who also hath given unto us the 
 earnest of the Spirit” And, thirdly, the comple- 
 
THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. | L2¢ 
 
 tion of this happiness is in the enjoyment of the 
 Son Himself (vers. 6, 8): ‘We are always confident, 
 knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, 
 we are absent from the LORD: we are confident, I 
 say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, 
 and to be present with the Lord’ It may not have 
 been intended in this passage to express a relation 
 among the members of the Godhead, as to the future 
 glory of believers. But it is interesting to observe 
 how; in treating this subject, the apostle refers to 
 the Three individually ; and surely the mere colloca- 
 tion of them in this manner is not without design, 
 nor without importance. 
 
 The whole epistle concludes with what is the 
 most solemn, the most regular, and the most com- 
 plete of all Paul’s forms of benediction ; and accord- 
 ingly universally selected as the one to be used 
 by the Church in its worship. In this, commonly 
 known as the Apostolic Benediction, the distinct 
 personality and divinity of the Three are so clearly 
 assumed, that the passage is commonly and justly 
 quoted as affording direct evidence of the Trinity, 
 and therefore we need not dwell upon it. 
 
 ‘THE GRACE OF THE LoRD JESUS CHRIST, AND THE 
 LOVE OF GOD, AND THE COMMUNION OF THE HOLY 
 GHOST, BE WITH YOU ALL. AMEN.’ 
 
128 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 On turning to what may be regarded as the 
 greatest, and which is certainly the most systematic 
 
 of all Paul’s epistles, that to the Romans, we. 
 
 observe in the introduction a passage, which at all 
 events has an important bearing on the relation of 
 the three persons in the Godhead (ch. 1. 1-4): 
 ‘Paul, called to be an apostle, separated unto the 
 gospel of Gop, concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our 
 Lord, which was made of the seed of David accord- 
 ing to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God 
 with power, according to the Sprrit oF HoLINEss, by 
 the resurrection from the dead’ Here we _ have, 
 first, God as the author of the gospel,—plainly the 
 Father, as appears from the relation in which He 
 stands to the Son; secondly, the subject of it, ‘Con- 
 cerning His Son, Jesus Christ ;’ and then we have 
 - what at first sight appears to be, and what 1s re- 
 garded by a number of interpreters as the third 
 person of the Trinity, spoken of as the ‘Spirit of 
 Holiness. The majority of interpreters, however, at 
 least in modern times, understand this phrase as 
 denoting His divine nature. Their reason for this 
 is its seeming to stand in contrast with the flesh 
 in the previous member of the sentence, both being 
 
 Oe SS ee ee ee ee es 
 
THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 129 
 
 preceded by the preposition xard, according to. It 
 appears natural to say that He is of the seed of 
 David according to His human nature, and the Son 
 of God according to His divine. Were there any 
 instance in which the word vebdua, translated 
 Spirit, undoubtedly signifies the divine nature, and 
 were there simply the two clauses in contrast, we 
 should be prepared at once to adopt this interpre- 
 tation. But in the other passages (1 Tim. iii. 16; 
 Heb. ix. 14; 1 Pet. iii. 18) in which the word 
 is supposed to denote Christ’s divine nature, the 
 meaning is at least questionable. Moreover, look- 
 ing closely at the passage, we may observe that 
 it does not present a simple antithesis of the two 
 clauses. -The title, ‘Spirit of holiness,” is connected 
 with two other phrases, ‘in power, and ‘by the 
 resurrection from the dead, with which it must be 
 explained. Now, though the words translated ‘ with 
 power” may mean powerfully, yet undoubtedly the 
 prevailing, if not the universal, use of the term is to 
 express the efficiency of a living agent, and not the 
 logical force of evidence; and it is. especially used 
 to denote the working of the Holy Ghost (Luke 
 xxiv. 49; Acts i 8; Mark ix. 1; 1 Cor ii 4, 5, 
 etc.). Further, how Christ was declared to be or 
 established as the Son of God in His divine nature 
 
 by His resurrection, is not clear; but when we re- 
 I 
 
130 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 member the connection of His resurrection (in which 
 term frequently His whole exaltation 1s implied) 
 with the giving of the Spirit, and the powerful 
 working which followed, we are inclined to adopt 
 the interpretation of those who regard the passage 
 as expressing a contrast between His earthly or 
 fleshly condition and His present exaltation, and 
 who understand the words as meaning that He was 
 declared or proved to be the Son of God, by the 
 powerful operation of the Spirit of holiness, after 
 and through His resurrection from the dead. This 
 is certainly in accordance with the teachings both of 
 the Old and New Testaments regarding the exalta- 
 tion of the Son, and its connection with the out- 
 pouring of the Spirit. Undoubtedly, the extraordi- 
 nary outpouring of the Spirit, m consequence of 
 His resurrection and ascension, is among the highest 
 and most gloridus demonstrations that He was truly 
 the Son of God. If this view were accepted, we 
 would have in the passage a recognition of the three 
 persons in the Trinity ; but as the stream of modern 
 interpreters is against us, we do not press it. 
 
 The body of the epistle, from ch. i, 16 to the 
 end of ch. xi, may be regarded as a systematic 
 treatise on the plan of salvation through the media- 
 tion of Christ, and that in its application to Jews 
 and Gentiles. ‘The theme is in ch. i. 17, ‘The 
 
THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 131 
 
 gospel is the power of God unto salvation, unto 
 every one that believeth, to the Jew first, and also 
 to the Greek ;’ and it is accordingly exhibited suc- 
 cessively as the power of God for justification, for 
 sanctification, and for glorification, while a subsidi- 
 ary discussion follows, showing the relation of these 
 blessings to Jew and Gentile. But we here find the 
 doctrine of the Trinity, not so much underlying 
 single passages, as really forming the substratum of 
 the argument of the apostle. 
 
 Thus, in the first portion, from ch. i. 17 till 
 nearly the end of ch. iii, we have God the Father, as 
 the lawgiver, condemning the guilty ; whose ‘ wrath 
 is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness 
 and ungodliness of men ;’ but who has yet sent His 
 Son as a propitiation, through whose righteousness 
 He justifies Jew and Gentile, as the equal Father of 
 both. Then, in the second section, from ch. iii, 20 
 to the end of ch. v., we have the Son, the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, who is our propitiation; who, by a 
 work of righteousness beyond any human or created 
 power, restores the rightful relations of man to God, 
 and through whom eternal life is freely bestowed 
 upon the children of men. And then, in the third 
 section, from the beginning of ch. vi. to the end of 
 ch. vill, we have the work of the Spirit in our 
 deliverance from the dominion of sin, and our in- 
 
tet THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 troduction into a state of gracious service, ending in 
 the complete renovation of our nature, and the full 
 enjoyment of His glory hereafter. In this section 
 the agency of the third person of the Trinity is 
 exhibited, first in its relation to the work of the 
 second, and then, secondly, in its actual exercise 
 upon the souls of men, so that we ‘ walk in the Spirit,’ 
 ‘are led by the Spirit, ‘have the Spirit dwelling in 
 us, etc.,—all ending in our final glorification. 
 
 Let the reader glance over the portion of the 
 epistle thus reviewed, embracing the body of the 
 apostle’s doctrinal statements, and endeavour to 
 seize its salient points, and we think that he cannot 
 but observe the special offices of the three persons 
 of the Godhead for man’s salvation, set forth in the 
 order of their subsistence and operation. Let him 
 separate it into three sections according to the 
 arrangement mentioned; and, on considering them 
 singly, we are mistaken if he will not find in each, 
 with many comprehensive statements and far-reach- 
 ing exhibitions of truth, a line of ‘thought connecting 
 thé whole with one member of the Godhead in His 
 relation to the others, and in His work for our 
 redemption. It is further interesting to observe 
 how each section rises at its close to exhibit the 
 work of the one to whose honour it is devoted, in 
 strains of elevated grandeur, such as are rarely 
 
 ~<a 
 
THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 138 
 
 equalled, and perhaps not surpassed, even in the 
 pages of inspiration. Thus the first section con- 
 cludes, in ch. iii. 21-31, by exhibiting the Father, in 
 His grace, in providing the propitiation and bestow- 
 ing His salvation upon Jew and Gentile, in a pas- 
 sage which has always formed one of the most solid 
 foundations for the Church’s hope, and one of her 
 most precious sources of consolation, and will con- 
 tinue to be such till the end of time. Probably 
 nowhere else have we such a comprehensive exhibi- 
 tion of the Son’s work for man as at the close of 
 the second section in ch. v.; while the third section 
 culminates in ch. viii. by describing the work of the 
 Spirit on the heart till its consummation in glory, 
 in a passage which, in grandeur of thought, power 
 of argument, and loftiness of expression, is perhaps 
 not surpassed even in the writings of this apostle. 
 Thus the doctrine of the Trinity—three divine per- 
 sons severally performing their parts in the work of 
 man’s salvation, in distinctly defined order—is inter- 
 woven with the whole course of the apostle’s argu- 
 ment in this epistle, justly pronounced by a modern 
 writer ‘the most profound work in existence.’ 
 
 But besides this, the Three are brought together 
 in single passages in several places ; and it may be 
 observed that these are what may be regarded as 
 turning points in the course of his reasoning. Thus, 
 
134 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 at the beginning of the fifth chapter, when he passes 
 to the consideration of our becoming possessors of the 
 blessings of Christ’s purchase, he bases our restored 
 relations to God on the work of the Son, and con- 
 nects the actual enjoyment of present and the hope 
 of future blessings with the working of the Spirit 
 (vers. 1-5): ‘Therefore, being justified by faith, we 
 have peace with Gop, through our Lorp JESUS 
 CHRIST GS its, eee and hope maketh not ashamed ; 
 because the love of God is shed abroad in our 
 hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us.’ 
 Again, in the third section, at the conclusion of 
 his argument, to show that our deliverance from the 
 penalty of sin in our justification is necessary in 
 order to our deliverance from the bondage of cor- 
 ruption, and that our enjoyment of the first neces- 
 sarily secures the latter, when he passes on to 
 describe our eondition in consequence, as partakers 
 of the Spirit and under His influence, he again 
 brings the Three together, exhibiting their mutual 
 relations in our salvation (ch. viii. 2-4): ‘The law 
 of the Sprrir of life in Christ Jesus hath made me 
 free from the law of sin and death. For what the 
 law could not do, in that it was weak through the 
 flesh, Gop sending His own Son in the likeness of 
 sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh ; 
 that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled 
 
THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 135 
 
 in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the 
 Spirit.’ The law or method of the Spirit of life, 
 that is, of the Spirit, the author of life, delivers us 
 from corruption, and secures our sanctification. This 
 is effected through the satisfaction which the Son 
 has rendered to the law, having ‘for sin, or by a 
 sin-offering, ‘condemned sin in the flesh, which it 
 was impossible for the law to do;’ but all this 
 originated in the will of the F ather, who sent His 
 Son to secure these ends. Thus, at the close of the 
 apostle’s argument, to show that the gospel is the 
 power of God unto sanctification, he brings together 
 the three divine persons, as meeting in the accom- 
 plishment of the work. 
 
 Thus justified and sanctified, their ultimate safety 
 is secured (ver. 1): ‘There is no condemnation to 
 them ; for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ 
 Jesus hath made them free from the law of sin and 
 death’: And the remainder of the chapter is de- 
 voted to the proofs that their salvation will be com- 
 pleted. In the verses immediately following those 
 just considered (vers. 5-11), he shows the certainty 
 of this from the indwelling of the Spirit. The 
 carnal mind is death ; but the opposite, the spiritual 
 mind, is life, and the possession of it necessarily 
 involves the completion of their sanctification, and 
 that in a body suited to the completely renewed 
 
136 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 soul. But in describing this consummation of the 
 work, he again brings the Three together (ver. 11) : 
 ‘Tf the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the 
 dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from 
 the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by 
 
 5 
 
 His Spirit that dwelleth in you ;’ or, on account of 
 His Spirit that dwelleth in you. 
 
 The expression, ‘He that raised up Jesus from 
 the dead, is a periphrasis for God. The reason for 
 using such a form of expression is, that the force of 
 his arguments, at least in some measure, depends 
 on the fact stated. In this case the raising of 
 Christ from the dead is the ground and pledge of 
 the resurrection of believers. But this is further 
 assured by the working of the Spirit. Because our 
 souls are sanctified by the Spirit, they shall live in 
 
 happiness and glory; and because our bodies are- 
 
 temples of the Holy Ghost, they shall also be raised. 
 Thus the completion of the work of salvation-in the 
 believer, by the resurrection of the body, is ascribed 
 to the three persons of the Trinity. It is from the 
 Father, as its origin ; meritoriously secured by the 
 
 Son ; but further pledged by the working of the Spirit. 
 
 in them, as the completed result of His work, and, if 
 the present reading be retained, actually effected by 
 His agency. 
 
 In the next paragraph the apostle further argues 
 
THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 1h Ve 
 
 the certainty of believers’ ultimate salvation from 
 their adoption, as evidenced by the working of the 
 Spirit in rendering them holy (ver. 13): ‘If ye live 
 after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the 
 Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall 
 live’ And why? Because this working of the 
 Spirit proved their sonship (vers. 14, 15): ‘For as 
 many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the 
 sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit 
 of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the 
 Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father,’ 
 But if they are sons, their title to the inheritance 
 is secure (vers. 16, 17): ‘The Sprrir itself beareth 
 witness with our spirit, that we are the children 
 of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, 
 and joint-heirs with Curist; if so be that we suffer 
 with Him, that we may be also glorified together, 
 Such is the course of argument. But it is important 
 to observe that it is here taught that this security 
 is enjoyed in fellowship with each of the three 
 persons in the Godhead. It is to the Father that 
 we are sons, and from whom we receive the privi- 
 leges of that relation; it is by the Spirit that we 
 are formed to the character of sons, and have the 
 evidence in us of sonship; and it is in union with 
 the Son, as ‘joint-heirs with Him, that our inherit- 
 ance is obtained, our ultimate glory being of the same 
 
138 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 kind with His, and our title to it secured, as was 
 His, by His mediatorial sufferings, in consequence 
 of which He was constituted ‘the heir of all things’ 
 (Heb. 1. 2). 
 
 It is proper to observe regarding the magnificent 
 doxology in ch. xi. 33-36, with which the apostle 
 concludes his doctrinal discussion, that the last sen- 
 tence is by many excellent interpreters regarded as 
 referring to the three persons of the Godhead dis- 
 tinctively : ‘Of Him, that is, by the agency of the 
 Holy Ghost,—‘ through Him, by the mediation of 
 the Son,—‘ and to Him, for the glory of the Father, 
 ‘are all things’ We cannot say, however, that this 
 
 view approves itself to our mind. ‘The words seem 
 to us to refer rather to the undivided Godhead as 
 the great source, the efficient agent, and the last 
 end of all things. | 
 In the practical part of the epistle we notice 
 some passages in which the apostle brings together 
 the three persons of the Godhead, in a manner 
 which shows how the doctrine permeated his spiri- 
 tual experience, and coloured the expression of it. 
 In the fourteenth chapter the apostle urges the 
 duty of forbearance regarding such matters as the 
 distinction of meats and the observance of days, 
 prescribed by the Mosaic law; and in the 17th 
 and 18th verses he argues for it on the ground 
 
THE EPISTLE: TO THE ROMANS. 139 
 
 that these things were not among the essentials 
 of religion, and that Christianity does not consist 
 in anything external: ‘For the kingdom of God is 
 not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, 
 and joy in the Hoty Guost; for he that in these 
 things serveth Curist is acceptable to Gop, and 
 approved of men. The righteousness here men- 
 tioned seems to refer to our justification; and the 
 verse seems based on ch. v. 1-5, where the bless- 
 ings enjoyed by the believer, and their connection 
 with the Spirit, are more fully described. But the 
 point which we are called on to notice is, that the 
 apostle describes our condition of privilege by its 
 relation to the three persons in the Trinity. It is, 
 as Alford remarks, ‘in connection with, and under 
 the indwelling and influence of? the Holy Spirit, 
 our life is a service to Christ, who is thus repre- 
 sented as Lord of the conscience, and receives the 
 approval of God, to whom all must give account, 
 and therefore should commend itself to our fellow- 
 men. 
 
 In the next chapter is a passage (vers. 5-13) in 
 which a reference to the Trinity is not at first sight 
 apparent, but which, when carefully examined as a 
 whole, will, we think, be found to imply the work- 
 ing of a Triune God. At verses 5-6 the apostle 
 prays for the union and harmony of those whom 
 
140 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 he addressed, as follows: ‘The God of patience and 
 consolation grant you to be like-minded one toward 
 another, according to Christ Jesus, that ye may 
 with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even 
 THE FaTHeR of our Lord Jesus Christ. In these 
 verses the Father is spoken of as the source of the 
 good sought, and their union is sought as the means 
 of advancing His glory. The Son is also referred 
 to as the medium through whom we receive bless- 
 ings and offer our services. But in the following 
 verses he pleads for this unity in their practice, 
 specially on the ground of His work in receiving 
 both Jews and Gentiles into fellowship with Him- 
 self (ver. 7): ‘Wherefore receive ye one another, as 
 Curist hath received us, to the glory of God’ In 
 illustration of this, he shows that Christ had been 
 the agent of the Father in bringing both to Him- 
 self, by fulfilling the promises made to Israel, and 
 thus opening the way for the exercise of His mercy 
 to the Gentiles (vers. 8,9). Having confirmed this by 
 several quotations from the prophecies (vers. 9-12), 
 he prays that the blessings desired may be fully 
 realized to them by the working of the Holy Spirit 
 (ver. 13): ‘Now the God of hope fill you with all 
 joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound 
 in hope, through the power of the Hoty Guosr.’ 
 Thus the union and harmony of the Church is here 
 
THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 141 
 
 sought, first, as the great means of glorifying the 
 Father ; secondly, as a duty to the Son from grati- 
 tude for His redeeming love to all classes alike ; 
 and thirdly, as the work of the Holy Spirit, who 
 alone produces peace with God, peace in the con- 
 science, and concord among men, and thus fills their 
 hearts with joy and hope. 
 
 Again, at the 16th verse of the same chapter it is 
 said, ‘That I should be the minister of Jesus Curist 
 to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of Gop, that 
 the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, 
 being sanctified by the Hoty Guosr’ In preaching 
 the gospel to the Gentiles, he was the ministrant of 
 Christ, presenting as a priest, not holocausts of ani- 
 mals, but nations—not as a propitiation for sin, but 
 as a living sacrifice—not prepared for the altar, as 
 the Old Testament sacrifices were by water, but 
 rendered holy by the energy of the third person of 
 the Trinity on their hearts. If we understand the 
 passage as referring to Christ in His priestly office, 
 it will present Him as the medium of access to the 
 Father; it will present the Father as representing 
 the Godhead, to whom the Gentiles were an offer- 
 ing, and the Holy Ghost as the agent by whom 
 they were purified, and rendered meet to be pre- 
 sented before the heart-searching God. If the allu- 
 sion be to Christ in His kingly office, referring to 
 
142 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 His superhuman power, and describing Paul as His 
 deputy or agent, the meaning of the verse will be 
 slightly different, but the reference to the divine 
 Three will be no less distinct. The original language 
 of the verse! inclines us to the first view. 
 
 The following verses, however, in which the 
 apostle speaks of the successful manner in which 
 he had fulfilled his ministry, and in which he 
 attributes all his success to the power of Christ, 
 certainly refer to Him in His exaltation to the 
 throne of mediatorial power. And it will be ob- 
 served how again in this passage he describes his 
 work by a reference to the three persons in the 
 Trinity (ver. 17): ‘I have therefore whereof I may 
 glory through Jesus Curist in those things which 
 pertain to Gop.’ His ministry had reference to God 
 the Father, havihg for its object the restoration of 
 the real worship and service of God in the hearts 
 of men. But all was ‘through Jesus Christ, by the 
 exercise of His power, so that in Him alone he had 
 confidence and ground of boasting as to the accom- 
 plishment of his work (ver. 18): ‘For I will not 
 dare to speak of any of those things which Christ 
 hath not wrought by me. He was only an instru- 
 ment; the real power was in the Redeemer. But 
 His working was by the agency of the Holy Spirit 
 
 1 Aesroupyav ‘Ingou Xpiorov tis ra edvn, ispoupyouyea, etc. 
 
THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 143 
 
 (vers. 18, 19): ‘To make the Gentiles obedient, by 
 word and deed, through mighty signs and wonders, 
 by the-power of the Spirit of God’ It was in this 
 way that Christ rendered the apostle’s labours suc- 
 cessful, partly through the instrumentality of miracles, 
 but chiefly by the production of anew spiritual life 
 in them, both, however, by the operation of the Holy 
 Ghost. The exercise of such power by Christ, both 
 in the external world and the hearts of men, clearly 
 proves Him divine; and the whole passage repre- 
 sents the three persons of the Trinity in their 
 respective offices, in bringing men to the enjoyment 
 of salvation. Taking these verses with those imme- 
 diately preceding, which we have just considered, 
 the passage exhibits God the Father, in reference to 
 whose glory the apostle laboured, and to whom con- 
 verted souls were presented as an offering; God the 
 Son, through whom, as King and Head of universal 
 power, his labours were successful, and the Priest, in 
 virtue of whose merits they were acceptable in the 
 sight of the Most High; and God the Holy Ghost, 
 the great agent in producing a change of heart, and 
 thus rendering even polluted Gentiles a sacrifice well- 
 pleasing unto God. 
 
 Again, at ver. 30 of the same chapter, the 
 apostle says: ‘Now I beseech you, brethren, for 
 the Lorp Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of 
 
144 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 the Sprrit, that ye strive together with me in your 
 prayers to Gop for me.’ Here the three persons are 
 as distinctly recognised as in the apostolic benedic- 
 tion, in both passages the name of God being used to 
 designate the Father, while the divinity of the Son 
 and Spirit is implied in their sacred association with 
 God, and in the use of an expression having the 
 solemnity of an adjuration. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE LATER EPISTLES OF PAUL. 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS. 
 
 N now proceeding to consider the writings of the 
 apostle during his first imprisonment, we may 
 remark that the Epistle to the Philippians contains 
 no systematic exhibition of doctrine, and no orderly 
 exposition of duty. It bears the character of a 
 familiar and friendly letter to a church with which 
 the apostle’s relations had always been of a gratify- 
 ing nature ; whose freedom from doctrinal error and 
 from practical irregularity called for no censure ; and 
 whose faithfulness to the Saviour, and whose kind- 
 ness to himself, drew forth his warmest commenda- 
 tions. Hence, while the epistle, both as to matter 
 and style, is deeply interesting and instructive, it 
 presents little that bears upon our present object. 
 The only passage we notice which may be con- 
 sidered as presenting the divine Three in their re- 
 
 spective relations to our salvation, is ch. iii 3: 
 
 K 
 
146 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 ‘We are the circumcision, who worship GoD in’ (or 
 by) ‘the Sprrir, and rejoice in CHRIST JESUS, and 
 have no confidence in the flesh. This verse, if the 
 reading of the received text be maintained, presents 
 us with God the Father as the object of worship, 
 the Spirit as the agent under whose influence we 
 offer our services, and the Son in whom, and not in 
 anything outward, we have confidence in our ap- 
 proaches. The reading, however, is disputed; some 
 critics rejecting the word ‘God’ altogether; others 
 reading it, ‘of God, in the genitive, connected with 
 the Spirit, and rendering the passage, ‘In the Spirit 
 of God serve, ete. But as the word translated serve, 
 in the New Testament at least, always denotes re- 
 ligious service, the meaning is substantially the 
 same, whatever reading we adopt. 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 
 
 The Epistles to the Ephesians and the Colossians 
 are intimately connected. To a large extent they 
 discuss the same great truths, and often show a 
 remarkable correspondence in words and expressions. 
 They differ, however, in method, and in some re- 
 spects in their object. That to the Colossians 1s 
 polemic, and deals with certain Oriental forms of 
 
_ THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 147 
 
 theosophy, which degraded the Son of God to. the 
 rank of an archangel, or other superhuman creature. 
 That to the Ephesians is devotional and exposi- 
 tory, and, without reference to particular heretical 
 opinions, it treats in the loftiest strains of the 
 grandest themes of the Christian faith. 
 
 The. Epistle to the Colossians being specially 
 directed against serious errors regarding the person 
 of the Son, brings Him prominently before us in the 
 divinity of His person. In this way it contributes 
 largely to support the doctrine of the Trinity ; but, 
 for the same reason, it does not so fully exhibit the 
 other persons in the Godhead. Still we do find 
 all three brought together and recognised in their 
 essential and economical relations. Thus, in the 
 first chapter (vers. 3-8), we find them combined in 
 the thanksgiving with which the apostle introduces 
 his epistle ; and it is worthy of note that here the 
 three graces—faith, hope, and love—are, as in other 
 passages, associated with the three persons in the 
 Godhead. “We give thanks to Gop and’ (or even) 
 ‘THE FATHER OF OUR Lorp JESUS CuRIST, praying 
 _ always, since we heard of your fwith in Curist J ESUS, 
 and of the Jove which ye have to all the saints, for 
 the hope which is laid up for you, whereof ye heard 
 before in the word of the truth of the gospel... . . 
 As ye also learned of Epaphras, who also declared 
 
148 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 your love in the Sprrir’ Here, while the apostle 
 prays to the Father, and in thanksgiving acknow- 
 ledges Him as the great source of spiritual blessings, 
 he recognises these as enjoyed through faith in His 
 Son, as He is exhibited in the gospel; and then 
 describes their new character as produced by, or 
 rather in, the Spirit——the words expressing a new 
 state under His influence, in contrast with the un- 
 spiritual condition of those (év capxt) in the flesh. 
 Immediately following this recognition of their 
 state, as under the power of the Spirit, he bursts 
 forth into fervent prayer for their confirmation and 
 progress in the Christian life (vers. 9-11): ‘ For this 
 cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not 
 cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might 
 be filled with the knowledge of His will in all 
 wisdom and spiritual understanding, etc. All the 
 best interpreters agree that the word translated — 
 ‘spiritual’ in the New Testament, generally bears 
 the sense of being produced by the Spirit. Indeed 
 Alford goes the length of saying, that ‘in the New 
 Testament it always implies the working of the 
 Holy Spirit, never bearing the modern inaccurate 
 sense of spiritual as opposed to bodily;’ while 
 Eadie and Ellicott merely speak of this as ‘the pre- 
 vailing usage.” Undoubtedly here it expresses the 
 
 l ryeumarinn. 
 
THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 149 
 
 agency of the Holy Ghost, so that in this passage 
 He is represented as the author of the present and 
 prospective Christian attainments of those addressed. 
 The purpose and design of His working is expressed 
 in the following verses: ‘That ye might walk 
 worthy of the Lord’ (viz. Christ) ‘unto all pleasing, 
 being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in 
 the knowledge of God’ (the mention of Father and 
 Son here successively is worthy of note) ; ‘ strength- 
 ‘ened with all might, according to His glorious 
 power’ (in Eph. iii. 16 the equivalent expression is, 
 ‘strengthened with might by the Spirit’), ‘unto all 
 patience and long-suffering with joyfulness” We 
 have already seen that the terms power, and power 
 of God, are used to express the work of the Spirit, 
 and undoubtedly His agency is referred to here. 
 
 But this leads to the acknowledging of the Father 
 as the great original source of these blessings (vers. 
 (W 13): ‘Giving thanks unto the FarTHEr’ (the 
 words express the exercise of the Colossians), ‘ which 
 hath made us meet for the inheritance of the saints 
 in light: who hath delivered us from the power of 
 darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom 
 of His dear Son’ 
 
 And then he passes on to what is here his 
 special theme—the person and work of the Son (vers. 
 14-22): ‘In whom we have redemption through 
 
150 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 His blood, the forgiveness of sins: who is the image 
 of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature : 
 for by Him were all things created that are in 
 heaven, and that are in earth, whether they be 
 thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers ; 
 all things were created by Him, and for Him; and 
 He is before all things, and, by Him all things 
 POMSISL CLs sr, For it pleased the Father, that in 
 Him should all fulness dwell: and, having made 
 peace through the blood of the cross, by Him to 
 reconcile all things to Himself; by Him, I say, 
 whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. 
 And you, that were sometime alienated, and enemies 
 in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He 
 reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, 
 to present you holy, and unblameable, and unre- 
 proveable in His sight.’ 
 
 This passage contains one of the most exhaustive 
 assertions of our Lord’s divinity to be found in all 
 Paul’s writings. Indeed, in this respect, only two 
 or three passages In the New Testament can com- 
 pare with it. But we only notice it in the connec- 
 tion in which it stands in its bearing upon our 
 subject. The last clause brought in as the end and 
 result—‘ To present you holy, and unblameable, and 
 unreproveable in His sight ’——expresses, as we know 
 from other passages, properly the work of the Spirit, 
 
THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS, POL 
 
 which is the consequence of our reconciliation to 
 God through the death of the Son. But, independ- 
 ent of this, looking at the whole connection, it will 
 be seen that the apostle here recognises the three 
 divine persons in their distinctive yet concurrent 
 working in the salvation of men; that while the 
 person and work of the Son are specially prominent, 
 —while, indeed, His divinity and redemption are the 
 main theme of the paragraph, 
 
 yet, looking to the 
 immediately preceding context (vers. 9-1 1), they 
 are exhibited in connection with the other two—the 
 Spirit as the agent working in, and the Father as 
 the great source of, all spiritual good. 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 
 
 The Epistle to the Ephesians exhibits, perhaps, 
 more remarkably than any of the apostle’s other 
 writings, this doctrine as underlying its whole struc- 
 ture. We can do little more than notice the prin- 
 cipal passages in which this is the case, and -we are 
 mistaken if they will not be found more numerous 
 than has been generally observed. 
 
 After the usual salutation at the commencement, 
 he breaks out into an animated expression of praise 
 to God for the blessings of salvation enjoyed by 
 
eid leap THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 himself and his fellow-Christians (ch. i. 3-14). This 
 whole passage forms one long sentence, and, kéeping 
 in view what has been already said regarding the 
 length to which the apostle sometimes draws out 
 his sentences, we have only to separate it into its 
 component parts, to see that the whole of its preg- 
 nant utterances cluster round the adorable Three. 
 The third verse is general : ‘ Blessed be the Gop and 
 Fatuer of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed 
 us with all sprriruaL blessings in heavenly places 
 in Curist.” Keeping in view the remarks recently 
 made regarding the word translated ‘ spiritual’ in the 
 New Testament, as implying the working of the 
 Spirit of God, ‘spiritual blessings; here mentioned, 
 will mean blessings of the Spirit, or blessings pro- 
 duced by Him. And then we have the Three in- 
 cluded in the apostle’s ascriptions of praise,—God 
 the Father bestowing the Spirit, God the Son as the 
 medium through which He is bestowed, and God the 
 Spirit as the actual author of these blessings. 
 
 But in the following verses, as Alford beauti- 
 fully remarks, ‘the threefold cord, so to speak, is 
 unwrapped, and the part of each divine person 
 separately described.’ First, the Father is repre- 
 sented as having chosen us to holiness, predesti- 
 nated us to sonship, and accepted or bestowed grace 
 upon us (vers. 4, 5): ‘According as He hath chosen 
 
THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 153 
 
 us in Him before the foundation of the world, thav 
 we should be holy and without blame before Him 
 in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption 
 of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to 
 the good pleasure of His will’ It is added, as the 
 final end or purpose of the whole, ‘to the praise of 
 the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us 
 accepted in the Beloved’ (ver. 6). 
 
 In thus describing the work of the Father, he 
 notices that it is effected through the Son (vers. 5, 
 6); but he now proceeds, in the second place, more 
 particularly to describe the work of the latter. 
 Accordingly, in vers. 7-11, he represents Him as 
 redeeming us by His blood, revealing God’s will, 
 gathering all God’s holy creatures under one head, 
 and providing for His redeemed an inheritance of 
 glory: ‘In whom we have redemption through His 
 blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches 
 of His grace. . . . Having made known unto us the 
 mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure, 
 which He purposed in Himself: that, in the dis- 
 pensation of the fulness of times, He might gather 
 together in one all things in Curist, both which 
 are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in 
 Him: in whom also we have obtained an inherit- 
 ance, etc. And then, as before, the ultimate result 
 and final end is described (ver. 12): ‘That we should 
 
154 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in 
 Christ.’ 
 
 And, thirdly, comes the crown of this erace, in 
 the working of the Spirit, through the word, upon 
 our hearts, purifying our souls, and thus assuring 
 us of the fulfilment of our hopes (vers. 13, 14): ‘In 
 whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word 
 of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also, . 
 after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that 
 Hoty Spirit of promise’ (literally the Spirit of pro- 
 mise, the Holy One), ‘which is the earnest of our 
 inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased 
 possession.’ But as in its origin and progress, so 
 in this the final issue of the glorious scheme,—as 
 in all present blessings, so in all future good, even 
 to this its final consummation,—the last and highest 
 end is described as before, ‘UNTO THE PRAISE oF His 
 GLORY.’ ) 
 
 We have only thus to analyze the passage, and 
 arrange its parts in order, to observe that in this, 
 perhaps the most sublime of the apostle’s thanks- 
 givings (échillim, or praise songs, as David would 
 call them), he not only devoutly recognises God as 
 the great primal source of our salvation, but finds 
 in the specific work of each of the three persons of 
 the Trinity matter of special acknowledgment and 
 heartfelt thanksgiving, showing how the operation. 
 
THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 155 
 
 of the members of the Godhead respectively in our 
 salvation enters into the devotion of God’s children, 
 laying its foundation, and forming its very marrow. 
 It is beautiful and important to observe, further, how 
 the apostle, at the close of his account of the work 
 of each, brings in, as the refrain of some celestial 
 melody, ‘to the praise of His glory, expressive of 
 the grand end and glorious issue of the whole; that 
 the gracious working of the blessed Three, in their 
 separate functions in the work of our salvation, 
 might exhibit the glory of the undivided Godhead, 
 and thus afford, through eternity to all God’s intelli- 
 gent creatures, matter of highest wonder and most 
 exalted praise. 
 
 After praise, as Eadie remarks, comes prayer. 
 Immediately following the apostle’s thanksgiving 
 for the blessings enjoyed by all believers, he gives 
 his prayer for the Ephesians, that they might enjoy 
 the Spirit in increasing measure and advancing 
 forms of manifestation (vers. 15-17 ): ‘Wherefore 
 I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lorp 
 JESUS CHRIST, cease not to give thanks for you, 
 making mention of you in my prayers; that the 
 God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Farner of glory, 
 may give unto you the Spirir of wisdom and reve- 
 lation in the knowledge of Him.” In this prayer 
 the three divine persons are again recognised. We 
 
156 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 have, first, God the Father, as the object to whom 
 it is addressed. Secondly, we have described His 
 relation to the Son, not only personally, but officially, 
 sending Him as the Saviour, revealing Himself in 
 Him, and bestowing His blessings through Him: 
 “The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of 
 glory. And then, thirdly, we have the matter of 
 prayer expressed generally: ‘That He would give 
 unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation” We 
 take the word ‘ Spirit’ here, with all the most evan- 
 gelical interpreters, to denote the Holy Spirit. They 
 had already enjoyed Him as an earnest and seal. 
 But much yet remained to be known of God and 
 of the Saviour, and much to be felt of the Spirit’s 
 gracious’ power; and the apostle therefore prays 
 that He might be given to them in other forms 
 and in fuller measure, making known to them the 
 things of God—-revealing their excellence and glory 
 —that thus they might appreciate the blessedness 
 and grandeur of their hopes, and the wondrous dis- 
 play of omnipotence in their regeneration, of which 
 we have a glorious prototype in the resurrection 
 and exaltation of the Son, the head and representa- 
 tive of His Church (vers. 18-23), 
 
 Having thus looked at the subject, if we may 
 so speak, from the Godward side, the apostle pro- 
 ceeds, in the second chapter, to consider it from the 
 
' ‘THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 157 
 
 _human. Having described the blessings of salva-\, 
 tion as originating with the all-glorious Three in 
 eternity, he next proceeds to trace the same bless- 
 ings as they are enjoyed by men, both Jews and 
 Gentiles, in time. Accordingly, in this chapter, he 
 describes the former condition of both classes as 
 dead in trespasses and ‘sins, and the present state of 
 Christians of both classes as now made alive, and 
 united to form one glorious spiritual temple. But 
 in tracing this change, he, in the same exact order, 
 brings out the operation of the three persons in the 
 Godhead successively. First, all is traced to the 
 love of the Father, as its original source (vers. 4— 
 10): ‘God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love 
 wherewith He loved us, . . . hath quickened us 
 together with Christ; (by grace ye are saved;) and 
 hath raised us up together, and made us sit together 
 in heavenly places in Christ Jesus; that in the ages 
 to come He might show the exceeding riches of His 
 grace, in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 
 For by grace are ye saved through faith ; and that 
 not of yourselves: it is the gift of God... . For 
 we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus 
 unto good works, which God hath before ordained 
 that we should walk in them,’ 
 
 In this paragraph he had referred incidentally to 
 the Son, as the medium through whom the Father 
 
158 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 bestows His blessings; but he now proceeds, in the 
 second place, to show more fully and particularly, 
 how the change in the condition of those addressed — 
 was effected, viz. by the atonement of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, described as ‘ His blood, ‘ His flesh, 
 ‘His cross, by which the ceremonial law of Moses 
 had been abolished, and the middle wall of partition 
 broken down (vers. 13-17): ‘Now, in Christ Jesus, 
 ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by 
 the blood of Christ. For He is our peace us 
 having abolished in His flesh the enmity .. .; for 
 to make in Himself of twain one new man, so 
 making peace; and that He might reconcile both 
 unto God in one body by the cross,’ etc. 
 
 And then, in the concluding part of the chapter, 
 from ver. 18 to the end, he shows, in the third 
 place, that while the change is to be traced to God 
 the Father in its origin, and to God the Son as the 
 medium through whose vicarious sacrifice it has 
 been secured, yet it is effected by the actual working 
 of the Spirit. 
 
 This passage, however, calls for more particular 
 consideration, as it not only brings out prominently 
 the agency of the Holy Spirit, but describes the 
 new relation of the regenerate both to God and to 
 one another, and in each case by a reference to each 
 of the three persons of the Trinity, As to God, the 
 
THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 159 
 
 apostle says (ver. 18): ‘Through Him’ (2.e. CHRIST) 
 “we both have access by one Sprrrr unto the FAruEr’ 
 Here the triune relation is again brought out. We 
 have, or properly we are having, free approach or 
 introduction before God, whom we worship as the 
 Father without servile terror, through the Son, who, 
 as stated in the verses immediately preceding, has 
 reconciled us to God by His vicarious sufferings, 
 and by the Spirit, who fills our hearts, and lifts 
 them up to God. 
 
 Then, in relation to one another, he describes 
 Gentiles as with the Jews, by the Spirit dwelling 
 in them, formed into one spiritual temple (vers. 
 19-22): ‘Now therefore ye are no more strangers 
 and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and 
 of the household of Gon’ (plainly the F ather) ; ‘and 
 are built upon the foundation of the apostles and 
 prophets, Jesus Curist being the chief corner stone’ 
 (this temple, though still imperfect, is rising to com- 
 pletion) ; ‘in whom all the building, fitly framed to- 
 gether, groweth’ (describing a process still going on) 
 ‘unto an holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also 
 are builded’ (or are being builded) ‘ together for an 
 habitation of God through the Sprrrr? As Alford 
 excellently gives the sense of this passage, ‘It is 
 even now, in the state of imperfection, by the Spirit 
 dwelling in the hearts of believers, that God hag 
 
-160 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 His habitation in the Church; and then, when the 
 erowth and increase of that Church shall be com- 
 pleted, it will be still in and by the Holy Spirit, 
 fully penetrating and possessing the whdle glorified 
 Church, that the Father will dwell in it for ever. 
 Thus we have the true temple of the Father, built 
 in the Son, inhabited in the Spirit, the offices of the 
 three blessed persons being distinctly pointed out: 
 God the Faruer, in all His fulness, dwells in, fills 
 the Church; that Church is constituted an Holy 
 Temple to Him, in the Son; is inhabited by Him 
 in the ever-present indwelling of the Hony Sprrir.’ 
 
 In accordance with this view of the relation of 
 believers to one another, and unitedly to the three 
 persons in the Godhead, the apostle, at the 6th verse 
 of the following chapter, describes the Gentiles as 
 ‘fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and fellow-par-. 
 takers of the promise” In this description of our 
 privileges, the allusion to the three persons of the 
 Trinity is unmistakeable. We are fellow-heirs of 
 the Fatuer, of whom the whole family in heaven 
 and earth is named (vers. 14, 15); of the same body 
 with the Son (ch. ii. 14,15; 1 Cor. xii. 12); and 
 fellow-partakers of the gifts of the Spirrr, the great 
 
 promise of the New Testament (Joel ii. 28; Acts iG 4 | 
 
 4: Gal. iii. 2-14). 
 
 l cuyxrnpovoua, nal ciocupa, nul cummirorn Tis imayyenrins. 
 
 x 
 a aL nee © ie on ee 
 
THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 161 
 
 This bringing in of the Gentiles to the possession 
 of the same privileges with the Jews, was a mystery 
 —something hitherto concealed; but it was now to 
 be publicly proclaimed, and the apostle was selected 
 by God as an instrument for that purpose. And it 
 is worthy of notice, that in describing his office, as 
 receiving the revelation of this truth to communicate | 
 it to others, he refers to the three persons of the 
 Godhead, as if, while writing this epistle, his mind 
 was so occupied with the glories of the Trinity, that 
 whatever subject he touched, he must look at it in 
 its relation to each of the blessed three (ch. iii, 
 2-6): ‘The dispensation of the grace of Gop which 
 is given to me to you-ward: how that by revelation 
 He made known unto me the mystery; as I wrote 
 afore in few words ; whereby, when ye read, ye may 
 understand my knowledge in the mystery of Curist, 
 which in other ages was not made known unto the 
 sons of men, as it is now revealed unto His holy 
 apostles and prophets by the Srrrrr’ His apostle- 
 ship was a stewardship, graciously committed to him 
 by God, to make known the truth of the union of 
 Jews and Gentiles, in the enjoyment of equal privi- 
 leges,—a mystery or secret of Christ; either of Him 
 as the subject, or Himself the great mystery (Col. i. 
 27),—and revealed by the Spirit. 
 
 The chapter, and the doctrinal part of the epistle, 
 
 L 
 
LO THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 conclude with a prayer and a doxology, each of 
 which is based upon the doctrine we are now con- 
 
 sidering (vers. 14-21): ‘For this cause I bow my. 
 
 knees unto the FatHeEr of our Lord Jesus Christ’ 
 (a title expressive of the Father’s covenant relation 
 to believers), ‘of whom the whole family in heaven 
 and earth is named’ (in whom the true relation of 
 "Father exists essentially, so that as He is the true 
 Father of the eternal Son, He is also the true Father 
 of all who are called children—ch. iv. 5, 6), ‘ that 
 He would grant you, according to the riches of His 
 
 glory, to be strengthened with might by His Sprrit’ 
 
 (the great agent in all spiritual changes) ‘in the 
 inner man; that’ (or, so that, expressive of results) 
 ‘CHRIST may dwell in your hearts by faith’ (as the 
 
 source of our strength, and in whom we have our ~ 
 
 spiritual life); ‘that ye, being rooted and erounded 
 in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints 
 what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and 
 height.’ The sentence is incomplete. The apostle 
 seems to have had in view the great mystery of 
 salvation in general ; but, as he contemplates it, his 
 mind becomes filled with the idea of the love of Christ, 
 to which it is owing that he does not finish the 
 
 sentence he had begun, but exclaims, ‘ And to know — 
 
 the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye 
 
 might be filled with all the FULNESS OF GoD;’ or, as 
 
 ee ee ee oe 
 
THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 163 
 
 it is in the original, ‘wnto all the fulness of God, 
 marking the standard or ultimate point to be reached. 
 
 This is perhaps the sublimest of the apostle’s 
 recorded prayers; but its grandeur arises, in good 
 part at least, from the recognition of Trinity in 
 unity. The working of each of the blessed three is 
 sought ; and in thus partaking of each in his special 
 manifestation to the children of God, we reach to 
 the enjoyment of the plenitude pf the divine per- 
 fections, and realize in our experience the whole 
 communicable fulness of the Godhead. 
 
 ‘Paul’s prayer, says Dr. Hodge, ‘had apparently 
 reached a height, beyond which neither faith nor 
 hope nor even imagination could go, and yet he is 
 not satisfied. An immensity still lay beyond. God 
 was able to do not only what he had asked, but 
 infinitely more than he knew either to ask or think. 
 Having exhausted all the forms of prayer, he cast 
 himself on the infinitude of God, in full confidence 
 that He can and will do all that omnipotence itself 
 ean effect. This idea he weaves into a doxology, 
 which has in it more of heaven than of earth’ 
 
 But this, again, is based upon the working of the 
 three divine persons in our salvation, though the 
 third is not expressly named (vers. 20, 21): ‘Now 
 unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly 
 above all that we ask or think’ (plainly the Father), 
 
164 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 ‘according to the power that worketh in us’ (viz. 
 the Spirit, as he had just said in ver. 16), ‘ unto 
 Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus’ (that 
 is, In union and fellowship with Him), ‘ throughout 
 all ages, world without end. Amen ;’—an accumula- 
 tion of expressions in accordance with the unutter- 
 able aspirations to which his mind had now risen. 
 ‘The Trinity, says Eadie, ‘is here again brought 
 out to view. The power within us is that of the 
 Spirit, and glory in Christ is presented to the Father, 
 who answers prayer through the Son and by the 
 Spirit; and therefore to the Father, in the Son and 
 by the Spirit, is offered this glorious minstrelsy, as it 
 was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, 
 world without end. Amen.’ 
 
 ‘To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
 The God whom heaven’s triumphant host, 
 And saints on earth adore, 
 Be glory as in ages past, 
 As now it is, and so shall last, 
 When time shall be no more.’ 
 
 Such is a review of the doctrinal part of this 
 epistle; and it must be evident to every candid 
 inquirer, that the doctrine of the Trinity is inter- 
 woven with its whole structure. The fourth chapter 
 commences the practical part; and though in this 
 we would scarcely expect to meet with the doctrine 
 
 of the Trinity, yet, on close examination, we will, if 
 
~ 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 165 
 
 we mistake not, find the allusions to the Trinity as 
 distinct as in the doctrinal’ and devotional portions. 
 Following up the idea of the unity of believers, 
 the apostle, in the beginning of the chapter, exhorts 
 those whom he addressed to corresponding conduct— 
 to maintain and to cultivate unity by the manifesta- 
 tion of those Christian virtues which are productive 
 of peace :, ‘Endeavouring to keep the unity of the 
 Spirit in the bond of peace’ And then he states 
 its nature and grounds in the following terms (vers. 
 4—6): ‘There is one body, and one SPIRIT, even as 
 ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lorp, 
 one faith, one baptism, one GoD AND FarTueEr of all, 
 who is above all, and through all, and in you all’ 
 Here are seven points in which the unity of the 
 _ Church consists ; but it will be found, on close ex- 
 amination, that they cluster round the three adorable 
 names ; and that, commencing with the work of the 
 Spirit upon believers, the apostle rises upward to 
 describe their relation to the Son, and finally to the 
 Father as supreme. There is ONE Sprrir which 
 animates the one body (1 Cor. xii. 13), by whom 
 we are called, and through whom we thus become 
 partakers of the hope of the inheritance ; ONE Lorn, 
 the one divine object, on whom our faith rests, and 
 to the profession of whose name we were baptized 
 (Gal. iii. 27); and one Gop and Fatuer of all. 
 
166 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 Dr. Hodge on this passage well remarks: ‘ There 
 are many passages to which the doctrine of the 
 Trinity gives a sacred rhythm, though the doctrine 
 itself is not directly asserted. It is so here. There 
 is one Spirit, one Lord, one God, one Father. The 
 unity of the Church is founded on this doctrine. 
 It is one, because there is to us one God the Father, 
 one Lord, one Spirit. It is a truly mystical union, 
 not a mere union of opmion, of interest, or of feel- 
 ing, but something supernatural arising from a com- 
 mon principle of life. This life is not the national 
 life, which belongs to us as creatures, nor intellec- 
 tual which belongs to us as rational beings, but it 
 is spiritual, called elsewhere the life of God in the 
 soul. And as this life is common, on the one hand, 
 to Christ and all His members, and, on the other, 
 to Christ and God, this union of the Church is not 
 only with Christ, but with the Triune God,’ 
 
 Alford, Ellicott, Olshausen, and other modern 
 interpreters, following some of the fathers, regard 
 the last clause of ver. 6 as referring to the three 
 persons of the Trinity successively. They regard 
 the words ‘ over all’ as describing the Father in His 
 sovereignty ; ‘through all,” as Alford expresses it, 
 ‘in the co-extensiveness of redemption by Him, with 
 the whole nature of man, as in ver. 10; and ‘in 
 all,” referring to the Spirit, as indwelling in all 
 
THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 167 
 
 believers (ch. i. 21). But, as Eadie well remarks, 
 while ‘in various parts of the épistle triune relation 
 has been distinctly brought out, here the represen- 
 tation is different; for unity is the idea dwelt on, 
 and it is the one God and Father Himself, who 
 works through all, and dwells in all” These two 
 views we do not deem irreconcilable, but rather 
 think that both must be combined in order to get 
 the full meaning of the apostle. God the Father is 
 supreme, and the primal source of all divine working, 
 so that, while He is over all, that is, all believers, 
 He is through them all, but by the working of the 
 Son, ‘by whom all things consist, and in all, viz. 
 by the indwelling of the Spirit (see ch. ii. 21, 22). 
 As the apostle goes on to press upon those whom 
 he addressed, the avoidance of those vices to which 
 they had been addicted in their heathen state, and 
 the cultivation of the opposite Christian virtues, it 
 is interesting to observe how he draws his motives 
 from the part assigned to each of the blessed three 
 in.our salvation (ver. 30): ‘And grieve not the 
 Hoty Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto 
 the day of redemption” These words primarily 
 refer to the warnings of the previous verses, and 
 present a strong appeal against the practices there 
 condemned. SBut as, according to the apostle’s mode 
 of writing, the conclusion of one paragraph forms 
 
/ 
 
 168 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 the starting-point of the next, the appeal here 
 against grieving the Spirit is by most interpreters 
 referred forward to the exhortation of the follow- 
 ing verse. Grief arises from a loving heart being 
 wounded, and the ascription of this feeling to the 
 Spirit strongly expresses the love manifested in His 
 operations upon our hearts; but this naturally leads 
 the apostle to warn his readers against all malevolent 
 feelings and dispositions, as opposed to the loving 
 Spirit of holiness (ver. 31): ‘ Let all bitterness, and 
 wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil-speaking, 
 be put away from you, with all malice. But he 
 goes on to urge upon them the opposite virtues, and 
 he does so on the consideration of the grace of God 
 the Father, in freely forgiving all our sins through 
 Christ (ch. iv. 32; v. 1): ‘And be ye kind one to 
 another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even 
 as Gop for Clirist’s sake hath forgiven you. Be ye 
 therefore followers of God’ (or imitators of God, viz. 
 by forgiving one another), ‘as dear children’ And 
 then, to the same effect, he urges them to a life of 
 love, by the example of the love of the Son, who 
 ‘gave His life a ransom for many’ (ver. 2): ‘And 
 walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath 
 given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to 
 God for a sweet smelling savour,’ 
 
 Here, then, the exhortation to avoid all malevolent 
 
THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 169 
 
 dispositions and to cultivate the opposite virtues, 
 both in heart and life, is urged upon us by a refer- 
 ence to each of the three persons in the Godhead, 
 but a reference founded on the love of each, mani- 
 fested in His special part in the work of our salva- 
 tion. The ‘good Spirit’ will be grieved by every- 
 thing opposed to His own benevolent nature; the 
 Father has shown the riches of His grace in for- 
 giving our trespasses; and the Son has manifested 
 love greater than that of any man, in that He laid 
 down His life for the salvation, not of His friends, 
 but of His foes.? 
 
 In the verses immediately following, he solemnly 
 warns his readers against two vices, especially cha- 
 racteristic of heathenism, uncleanness in its various 
 forms, and covetousness ; and if the reading of the re- 
 ceived text be correct, he draws his motive from the 
 three persons in the Godhead successively (vers. 6-8): 
 ‘Let no man deceive you with vain words’ (finding 
 plausible pretexts for these vices): ‘for because of 
 these things cometh the wrath of Gop upon the 
 children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore par- 
 takers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, 
 but now are ye light in the Lorp: walk as children 
 of the light’ And having thus spoken of the Father 
 
 1This is one of those passages in which an unfortunate division 
 of chapters tends to obscure the meaning. 
 
170 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 and the Son, the apostle adds parenthetically, as if 
 he would not omit at the same time some reference 
 to the third person of the Godhead (ver. 9): ‘For 
 the fruit of the Sprrit is in all goodness, and right- 
 eousness, and truth ;’ and concludes the paragraph by 
 adding, ‘ proving what is acceptable to the Lord’ 
 
 If the reading of the received text be approved, 
 this passage will present an appeal against the vices 
 Just mentioned, on three grounds: first, that it is for 
 such sins that the wrath of God the Father is poured 
 out upon the ungodly ; secondly, that they are incon- 
 sistent with the believer’s relation to the Son as in 
 fellowship with Him, and should be avoided from a 
 desire to meet His approval; and, thirdly, that they 
 are contrary to the very nature of the work of the 
 Spirit. In this view, we would have the three 
 persons of the Godhead again recognised. It is 
 proper to observe, however, that the majority of edi- 
 tors substitute dwros (light) for tod mvedparos (the 
 Spirit), and read, ‘the fruit of light, on the authority 
 of the Vulgate, and what are considered the best Mss. 
 We do not consider the grounds sufficient, as the 
 Syriac, the majority of Mss., and two of the best Greek 
 commentators, Chrysostom and Theodoret, adopt the 
 reading of the text; but as the majority of critics 
 take a different view, we do not press this passage. 
 
 Again, at vers. 18-20 of the same chapter, in 
 
THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 171 
 
 exhibiting the great duty of praising God for His 
 mercies, the apostle says: ‘ Be filled with the Sprrir; 
 speaking to yourselves in psalms, and hymns, and 
 spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your 
 heart to the Lord’ (in the parallel passage in Colos- 
 sians it is ‘to God’); ‘giving thanks always unto 
 God and the FATHER’ (or even the Father) ‘in the 
 name of our LorD JESUS CHRIST. The duty is here 
 said to be performed under the influetice of the 
 Spirit, to God as the great object, and through the 
 mediation of the Son, through whom we have the 
 right to come, and through whom we are accepted. 
 We have already noticed that we sometimes find 
 the three persons of the Godhead mentioned in suc- 
 cession in passages which may not be considered as 
 exhibiting them in relation to one another, either 
 personally, or in the work of man’s salvation, but 
 which are worthy of notice as having some bearing 
 on the subject. A passage of this kind will be 
 found in the sixth chapter. In exhorting his readers 
 in reference to the Christian conflict, he says (vers. 
 10, 11): ‘Be strong in the Lorn, and in the power 
 of His might. Put on the whole armour of Gop, 
 that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of 
 the devil.’ And then, after describing their enemies, 
 and enumerating the various parts of the Christian 
 armour, he adds (ver. 18): ‘Praying always with 
 
12 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 all prayer and supplication in the Sprrit” Thus, in 
 order to their maintaining successfully the Christian 
 conflict, the apostle directs them to the assistance 
 of each of the three persons of the Trinity in suc- 
 cession. 
 
 Even if the last passage be omitted, said we not 
 rightly that this epistle is remarkable for the manner © 
 
 in which this doctrine is interwoven with its whole 
 structure 2? 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 LATEST EPISTLES OF PAUL. 
 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES, 
 
 HE pastoral epistles are generally occupied with 
 
 the consideration of matters connected with 
 
 the order and discipline of the Church, and it is only 
 incidentally that they treat of Christian doctrine. 
 But one passage in the Epistle to Titus is worthy of 
 special attention, as bearing on our present subject. 
 At ch. iii, 4-6 we have a comprehensive exhi- 
 bition of the whole plan of salvation, and that 
 in relation to the three persons in the Godhead: 
 ‘After that the kindness and love of Gop our 
 Saviour toward man (¢iAavOpwrla) appeared, not 
 by works of righteousness which we have done, but 
 _according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing 
 of regeneration, and the renewing of the Hoty Guost; 
 which He shed on us abundantly through JEsus 
 CHRIST our Saviour.” Here we have the same view 
 as in other passages of salvation, as originating in 
 
174 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 the benignity and love towards men of the Father, 
 who pours out His Spirit, the actual agent in. re- 
 newing the heart, and whose influences have been 
 secured through the merits of God’s Son. ‘All the 
 spiritual blessings of the new birth and of the new 
 life are therein represented as flowing down to us 
 from and out of the one fountain and well-spring of 
 the love of God the Father; and are all derived to 
 us through God the Son, God and man, who is the 
 sole channel of all grace to men; and are applied 
 to us personally by the agency of God the Holy 
 Ghost.’ | 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 
 
 There only remains to be considered of the writ- 
 ings ascribed to Paul, the Epistle to the Hebrews. 
 This, however,'need not detain us long. The great 
 object of the writer is to confirm the Jewish converts 
 to Christianity in the faith of the gospel, by show- 
 ing the superiority of the New Testament dispensa- 
 tion to the Old—the one being the shadow, and the 
 other the substance. Through a large portion of 
 the book, his argument on this point turns on the 
 dignity of Christ’s person, so that in no part of the 
 word of God have we clearer or more sublime exhi- 
 bitions of the divinity of our Saviour; and thus it 
 
THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 175 
 
 contributes largely to establish the doctrine of the 
 Trinity. But the work of the Spirit does not pro- 
 minently come into view. But still some passages 
 in which the three are referred to in conjunction 
 are worthy of notice. Thus in ch. ix. 14 it is said, 
 ‘How much more shall the blood of CHRIST, who 
 through the eternal Spirit offered Himself with- 
 out spot to Gop, purge your conscience from dead 
 works, to serve the living God ?’ 
 
 There has been considerable difference of opinion 
 regarding the meaning of the phrase ‘eternal Spirit’ 
 in this verse. Many excellent interpreters under- 
 stand it as denoting the third person of the Trinity. 
 This view gives to the whole passage a sense which 
 is In entire accordance with the teachings of the 
 word of God on the subject. Undoubtedly it was 
 by the agency of the Spirit upon Christ’s humanity, 
 both in actually forming it and in sanctifying it at 
 its original conception, that He became the spotless 
 victim ; and it was by the same Spirit maintaining 
 His holy character and inspiring that compassion 
 for man, that zeal for God’s glory, and that submis- 
 sion to His Father's will, which animated Him 
 through all His course of doing and suffering, that 
 His offering was not only without blemish, but so 
 meritorious and so acceptable in the sight of God. 
 If this view be correct, the passage will present the 
 
176 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 three persons in the Trinity co-operating in Christ's 
 sacrifice for the redemption of men. But many, 
 and perhaps the majority of modern interpreters, 
 understand the phrase ‘eternal Spirit’ as denoting 
 Christ’s divine nature; and as we do not wish to 
 ground a conclusion on a passage the meaning of 
 which is unsettled, though we think strong arguments 
 may be adduced in favour of the first interpretation, 
 we do not urge it further. 
 
 The practical exhortations interspersed through. 
 the apostle’s doctrinal discussions, are pressed upon 
 the attention of his readers in several passages by a 
 reference to the three persons in the Trinity. Thus, 
 having in the first chapter shown the superiority of 
 Christ to angels, by whose agency the Sinaitic cove- 
 nant was introduced, he, at the beginning of the 
 second chapter, earnestly presses home upon his 
 hearers the superior claims of the New Testament 
 revelation, and the danger of neglecting it (vers. 3, 4): 
 ‘How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salva- 
 tion; which at the first began to be spoken by the 
 Lorp, and was confirmed unto us by them that 
 heard Him; Gop also bearing witness, both with 
 signs, and wonders, and gifts of the Hoty GHost, 
 according to His own will?’ It will be seen here 
 that the ground on which the apostle rests our 
 obligation to receive the gospel is, that it comes to 
 
THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 177 
 
 us with the authority of each of the three persons 
 in the Godhead. What madness, wot to reject a 
 revelation so confirmed ! | 
 
 The warnings of this epistle are particularly 
 directed against apostasy; and we may notice two 
 passages in which his appeal is based on the work 
 of the three persons of the Godhead. In ch. vi. 
 4-6 it is said: ‘It is impossible for those who 
 were once enlightened, and have tasted of the 
 heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Hony 
 Guost, and have tasted the good word of Gop, and 
 the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall 
 away, to renew them again to repentance; seeing 
 ‘they crucify to themselves the Son or Gop afresh, 
 and put Him to an open shame’ This passage 
 describes the aggravated guilt and fearful danger of 
 the apostate, and this is represented by its being an 
 affront to the three persons of the Godhead. He 
 despises the influences of the Spirit, of which he 
 has been partaker; he crucifies the Son afresh, and 
 thus he dishonours the Father, whose Son he puts 
 to shame, and whose good word in the gospel he 
 tramples under foot. How awful his guilt! how 
 tremendous his condemnation ! 
 
 Again, in ch, x. 28, 29, he says: ‘He that 
 despised Moses’ law died under two or three wit- 
 
 nesses: of how much sorer punishment shall he be 
 M 
 
178 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the 
 Son of Gop, and hath counted the blood of the 
 covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy 
 thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of 
 grace?’ Here, again, to show the fearful doom of 
 the apostate, he exhibits his crime in relation to the 
 three persons in the Godhead. There are three 
 witnesses against him,—the Father, who has given 
 to him His Son; the Son, whose blood he tramples 
 under foot; and the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of grace, 
 to whom, in His gracious drawing, he does despite. 
 
 We have thus reviewed the writings of the great 
 Apostle of the Gentiles, which form so large and so 
 important a portion of the New Testament revelation; 
 and we venture to affirm that the examination, even 
 as thus imperfectly conducted, has been sufficient to 
 show that, if he does not present the doctrine to his 
 readers in the shape of a dogmatic formula, it both 
 formed the basis of his doctrinal system, and inspired 
 his whole religious life. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE CATHOLIC EPISTLES. 
 
 EPISTLES OF PETER. 
 
 [ N now proceeding to consider the catholic epistles, 
 
 it must be admitted that that of J ames, with 
 its earnest practical exhortations, though assuming 
 throughout the divinity of our Saviour, does not pre- 
 sent any passage directly bearing upon our present 
 purpose. But on turning to those of the other 
 apostles, whose object was more dogmatic, we shall 
 find that, in their discussion of the Christian salva- 
 tion, the doctrine of the Trinity holds the same 
 place as it does in those portions of the word of - 
 God already considered, 
 
 Thus, in regard to the writings of Peter, we have 
 only to glance at the first chapter of his first epistle, 
 to see that his teaching is as deeply imbued with 
 this truth, as that of his beloved brother Pauls) Hig 
 opening salutation assumes a Trinity, and exhibits 
 the concurrent action of the three persons in the 
 
180 ‘THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 salvation of men, just as represented in the evan- 
  gelical scheme (ver. 2): ‘Elect according to the 
 foreknowledge of God THE FATHER, through sancti- 
 fication of THE SprriIT, unto obedience and sprinkling 
 of the blood of Jesus Curist.” Here we have the 
 Father electing, the Spirit sanctifying, and the Son’s 
 blood applied or sprinkled. The order is somewhat 
 different from that observed in other passages. Here 
 the apostle begins with the electing love of the 
 Father, then refers to the work of the Spirit upon 
 the soul, and finally describes the enjoyment of the 
 efficacy of the atoning blood of the Son. This, 
 though not the actual order as to time of the opera- 
 tion of the three persons of the Trinity, in the 
 purchase and application of redemption, is the order 
 of actual enjoyment of its blessings by the indi- 
 vidual sinner: first, election ; secondly, sanctification 
 by the Spirit, including under that term all His 
 gracious operations, from His first gentle knockings 
 at the door of the heart; and then, thirdly, the 
 application or sprinkling of the blood of Christ. 
 ‘The apostle? says an old divine, ‘to endear the 
 heart of all saints he wrote to, unto these three 
 persons, singly shuts up their distinct agencies in 
 our great and common salvation, in as few words as 
 possible to utter them in. Salvation was the subject 
 he was to write them about; he in the front placeth 
 
THE EPISTLES OF PETER. 181 
 
 and sets up the coat of arms of these three Blessed 
 Ones, as the joint founders of our salvation, embla- 
 zoning what each did contribute thereunto.’ 
 
 Then follows a doxology, in which the apostle 
 recognises the first and second persons of the God- 
 head by name, and the third by implication : ‘ Blessed 
 be the God and Father of our Lord J esus Christ, 
 which, according to His abundant mercy, hath begot- 
 ten us again unto a lively hope, by the resurrection 
 of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance in- 
 corruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, 
 reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the 
 power of God through faith unto salvation’ From 
 the manner in which, as we have already seen, the 
 terms ‘power’ and ‘power of God’ are employed to 
 denote the working of the Spirit, and from the fact 
 that this keeping is His special work, we have reason 
 to believe that His agency is referred to in the 
 words in the 5th verse: < Kept by the power of God 
 through faith unto salvation’ If this be the case, 
 we shall have in this passage the operation of the 
 whole three in our salvation, distinctly acknow- 
 ledged. 
 
 The opening of the second epistle contains words 
 so similar, that we shall notice them here (ch. i. 
 2, 3): ‘Grace and peace be multiplied unto you 
 
 1 Goodwin vii. 535, Nichol’s Edition. 
 
182 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 through the knowledge of Gop, and of JESUS OUR 
 Lord, according as His DIVINE PowER hath given 
 unto us all things that pertain unto life and god- 
 liness’ The recognition of the first and second 
 
 persons here is apparent; but that the personifica-_ 
 
 tion of the divine power in the third verse denotes 
 the working of the Holy Spirit, is scarcely less 
 obvious. ! 
 
 While, ses we do i doubt in the least 
 that the Holy Spirit is referred to in the two pas- 
 sages just quoted, and in others of the same kind, it 
 must at once be admitted, that they have not the 
 same argumentative value as those in which He is 
 mentioned by name. The words themselves might 
 denote simply the exercise of the divine attribute of 
 power; and it is only by evidence drawn from other 
 
 sources, that we learn to recognise in such expres- 
 
 sions, the working of the third person in the Trinity. 
 But the devout disciple, comparing scripture with 
 scripture, will find in such passages additional con- 
 firmation of his faith in the doctrine of the Trinity, 
 and rich nutriment for his devotion, not only as 
 going forth to the absolute God, but as embracing 
 the working of the adorable Three in our salvation. 
 Reverting to the first chapter of the first epistle, 
 we have at the conclusion (vers. 17-23) an exhorta- 
 tion to holiness, based on the appropriate part which 
 
 5 x 
 eS a ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee _ i ee en ——— 
 
THE EPISTLES OF PETER. 183 
 
 each of the three persons in the Trinity bears in our 
 salvation ; and a very superficial examination of it 
 will show, that the beauty and force of the apostle’s 
 argument rest upon this doctrine. In vers. 15, 16, 
 he urges holiness upon them, by a consideration of 
 the character of God absolutely, and their relation 
 to Him: ‘As He which hath called you is holy, so 
 be ye holy in all manner of conversation ; because it 
 is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy” But as in 
 former cases, the threefold cord is there unwrapped, 
 and the apostle proceeds to make a particular appeal 
 on the ground of the relation of each of the three 
 persons of the Godhead to believers, and His special 
 work for their benefit. To show this, it will be 
 only necessary to separate the passage into its com- 
 ponent parts, arranging them under their respective 
 heads. 
 
 1. Tor Faturer.— And if ye call on the Faruer, 
 who without respect of persons judgeth according to 
 every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning 
 here in fear’ (ver. 17). 
 
 2. THE Son.—‘ Forasmuch as ye know that ye 
 were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver 
 and gold, from your vain conversation received by 
 tradition from your fathers; but with the precious 
 blood of CHRIST, as of a lamb without blemish and 
 without spot: who verily was fore-ordained before 
 
184 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 the foundation of the world, but was manifest in 
 these last times for you, who by Him do believe in 
 God, who raised Him up from the dead, and gave 
 Him glory; that your faith and hope might be in 
 God’ (vers. 18-21). 
 
 3. Tue Sprrit.— Seeing ye have purified your 
 souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto 
 unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one 
 another with a pure heart fervently: being born 
 again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, 
 by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for 
 ever’ (vers. 22, 23). 
 
 To us it appears surprising that commentators 
 have generally, if not universally, missed this simple 
 view of the passage. We submit whether it does 
 not afford a key which unlocks all the intricacies of 
 the connection, and so present the arguments of the 
 apostle in the clearest and most forcible light. 
 
 The other passages in the writings of this apostle, 
 in which there are references to a Triune Godhead, 
 ‘are neither so distinct, nor so important, but they 
 may be briefly noticed. 
 
 In the second chapter (vers. 4-6), we have a 
 
 representation of the Church as a temple, very simi- 
 
 lar to that of his beloved brother Paul (2 Cor. i. 
 
 16; Eph. ii. 21): ‘To whom coming, as unto a ~ 
 
 living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen | 
 
THE EPISTLES OF PETER. 185 
 
 of God, and precious, ye also, as lively stones, are 
 built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to 
 offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by 
 Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the 
 Scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner-stone; 
 ete. Taking the word avevparixos (spiritual) in its 
 proper New Testament sense, already pointed out, 
 —as denoting not merely a contrast with what is ex- 
 ternal, or material, but as expressing the operation of 
 the Spirit of God,—we have here not only the same 
 representation of the Church as a spiritual building, 
 but we have the Blessed Three exhibited in the same 
 relation to it as in the writings of the Apostle Paul: 
 God the Father, as the great object of worship, whose 
 is the temple, and to whom its religious services are 
 offered ; God the Son, who is both the foundation 
 and the corner-stone, through whom our sacrifices 
 are presented and accepted; and God the Spirit, 
 who by His work on the heart makes each believer 
 a living stone, through whose power we are enabled 
 to render such sacrifices, and who thus dwells in the 
 body as a spiritual temple. 
 
 In ch. ui. 18, according to the words of our 
 _ translation, the Three are brought together in the 
 work of Christ: ‘Curist also hath once suffered for 
 sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us 
 to Gop, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened 
 
186 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 by the Sprrir. But the meaning of the last clause 
 is so much disputed, that we do not dwell upon the | 
 passage. 
 
 In speaking of the sufferings of believers, the 
 apostle, in ch. iv. 13, 14, connects them with the 
 three persons of the Godhead: ‘ Rejoice, inasmuch 
 as ye are partakers of Curist’s sufferings; that, 
 when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad 
 also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for 
 the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the Sprrir of 
 glory and of Gop resteth on you. Such sufferings 
 are here represented as in the name of Christ, that 
 is, for the profession of Him as the Saviour; they 
 were also of the same kind with His; those who 
 endured them were under the influence of the Spirit, 
 here called the Spirit of glory, but this proceeding 
 from God, ‘the Spirit of glory and of God, that is, 
 the Spirit of glory, which is also the Spirit of God. 
 
 In the first chapter of the second epistle there is 
 a passage of deep interest, in which the apostle 
 describes the grounds of his assurance of the second 
 coming of Christ, which we may notice here from 
 the manner in which the three persons in the God- 
 head are introduced (vers. 17-21): ‘We have not 
 followed cunningly-devised fables, when we made 
 known to you the power and coming of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. And how did he know this? By 
 
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN. 187 
 
 the exhibition of His glory on the Mount of Trans- 
 figuration: ‘ But were eye-witnesses of His majesty, 
 And the Father, at the same time, gave testimony to 
 Him as His own Son: ‘For He received from God 
 the FATHER honour and glory, when there came 
 such a voice from the most excellent glory, This is 
 my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” But 
 in addition to this, we have the testimony of the 
 Holy Ghost: ‘We have a more sure word of pro- 
 phecy. . . . For prophecy came not in old time 
 by the will of man; but holy men of God spake 
 as they were moved by the Hoty Guost,” If the 
 long-disputed passage in the first epistle of John 
 (ch. v. 7) be not genuine, we have here at all events 
 “the three that bear record in heaven, the Father, 
 the Word, and the Holy Ghost.’ 
 
 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN. 
 
 The first epistle of John is a delightful exhibition 
 of the spirit of the beloved disciple, and of Him on 
 whose bosom-he leaned. But there has been much 
 discussion regarding its design and general scope, 
 and by some it has been regarded as without method, 
 or any connected train of thought. The difficulty 
 in discovering the plan of the epistle, we are per- 
 
188 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 suaded, however, arises from disregarding the apostle’s 
 own account of his object, as stated at ch. 1. 3, 4: 
 ‘That which we have seen and heard declare we 
 unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: 
 and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and 
 with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things write 
 we unto you, that our joy may be full’ Leaving 
 out of view other subjects that are introduced, rather 
 incidentally, in the course of the apostle’s reasoning, 
 and what we regard as a sort of side-strokes, dealt out 
 to opponents as he advances, we regard this fellow- 
 ship as the key-note of the epistle-——the word fellow- 
 ship, or communion, being understood in its proper 
 scriptural sense of joint participation. 
 
 Adopting this idea, Bengel sought to find in the 
 epistle a regular and systematic arrangement as 
 follows: (1) The exordium (ch. i, 1-4); (2) The 
 tractatio (ch. i. 5-v. 12); and (3) The conclusion 
 (ch. v. 13-21). The tractatio, or main body of the 
 epistle, he divided into a special and general part. 
 The special part he considered as treating—(1) Of 
 communion with God in light (ch. 1. 5-10); (2) Of 
 communion with the Son (ch. ii. 1-ii. 24); and (3) 
 Of the confirmation and fruit of His indwelling by 
 the Spirit (ch. iv. 1-21). The second part he re- 
 garded as corresponding with the first, and treating 
 ‘of the testimony of the Father, and Son, and Spirit.’ 
 
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN. 189 
 
 And lastly, he regarded the conclusion as correspond- 
 ing with the exordium, recapitulating and reasserting 
 the fellowship of the redeemed Church with the 
 Three-one God. According to this view, the, funda- 
 mental principle of the epistle is to assert and estab- 
 lish the communion of believers with the Three-one 
 God, through the mediation of Jesus Christ. If this 
 view were correct, we would have here a formal 
 exhibition of the Trinity in relation to believers. 
 And yet we presume to think that this arrange- 
 ment is not natural, and that it is difficult, if not 
 impossible, to find in the epistle such a systematic 
 discussion of the Trinity. 
 
 The folowing arrangement we think more natural, 
 and exhibiting more clearly the scope of the apostle’s 
 reasoning ; and we believe it will be found equally 
 to illustrate the doctrine we are considering. Re- 
 garding the first four verses as the exordium, show- 
 ing the design of the apostle in writing, the main 
 body of the epistle will be found to exhibit the 
 fellowship which believers have with God, and the 
 assurance they possess of its reality. It may be 
 arranged as follows: (1) From ch. i. 5—ii. 28, start- 
 ing with the principle that ‘God is light, he shows 
 that we have fellowship with Him by walking in 
 the light—holding and exemplifying the truth as it 
 is in Jesus. (2) From ch. ii. 29-y. 6, starting with 
 
190 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 the fundamental thought that ‘God is righteous, he 
 treats in a similar manner of our fellowship with 
 Him in righteousness. From His nature as right- 
 eous, he argues that ‘he that doeth righteousness is 
 born of God’ (ch. ii. 29), and shows the necessity of 
 a new birth, and a life of holiness, in order to this 
 fellowship. Not, however, that in these two sections 
 he always keeps these two views separate and dis- 
 tinct; on the contrary, he brings them together 
 at several points in both, showing in the first that 
 the knowledge of God and of the Son necessarily 
 involves the keeping of His commandments; and 
 in the second, that the righteousness of life described 
 is dependent upon the faith of the truth. But we 
 are satisfied that a close examination will show that 
 the leading thought of the first section is fellowship 
 in light, and of the second, fellowship in righteous- 
 ness. This second section may be divided into two 
 subordinate portions, the first describing our fellow- 
 ship with God in righteousness, in its purity, and 
 thus in its contrariety to a world lying in wicked- 
 ness; and the second describing its basis as love. 
 As God is love, so we have fellowship with Him 
 in love, and believing Him in His love, we keep 
 His commandments and overcome the world. And 
 then (3) in ch. v. 6-21, the writer shows the assurance 
 we have that we are of the truth, that Jesus Christ 
 
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN. 191 
 
 is the Son of God, and that we have eternal life 
 through Him.! 
 
 We cannot fully illustrate this view of the scope 
 of the epistle, but we believe that the more closely 
 we examine it, the more clearly it will appear, that 
 the above outline gives a correct view of its general 
 design. We have said this much in consequence of 
 its bearings on our present subject. As we look at 
 each section in order, we shall find that in each the 
 three persons in the Trinity are introduced in their 
 appropriate relations to the work of our salvation. 
 
 Thus in the first section (ch. i. 5-ii. 27), in which 
 our fellowship with God in light is described, besides 
 the references to the Father as light (ch. i. 5), the 
 object of intercession (ch. ii. 1), the great object of 
 spiritual knowledge (ch. ii. 13), and the Son as the 
 source of cleansing from sin (ch. i. 7), as our advo- 
 - cate (ch. 11. 1), and our propitiation (ch. ii. 2), the 
 writer, toward the conclusion, warning his readers 
 against the errors of false teachers, points out that 
 
 ‘Some would prefer stating the arrangement of this part of the 
 epistle in a slightly different manner. Instead of the first two sec- 
 tions, the latter divided into two sub-sections, they would make 
 three sections, exhibiting respectively fellowship with God in light, 
 fellowship with,Him in righteousness, and fellowship with Him in 
 love. For some time the writer hesitated which to adopt, but the 
 difference amounts to little more than a difference in the mode of 
 
 stating the matter. The fundamental thoughts and general scope 
 are the same both ways. 
 
192 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 their knowledge was by the teaching of the Holy 
 Ghost (ch. ii. 20): ‘Ye have an unction, or anoint- 
 ing, descriptive, as we have already seen, of the 
 Spirit’s influence, ‘from the Holy One, and know 
 all things” The ‘discussion in this part of the 
 subject he closes by connecting their spiritual en- 
 lightenment with each of the three persons of the 
 Godhead. It has God the Father as its great and 
 ultimate object; but all revelation of Him is through 
 the Son, and our enjoyment of the knowledge of the 
 former depends on the attitude of the soul to the 
 latter. So that, as he says (vers. 22, 23): ‘Who is 
 a liar, but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ ? 
 He is Antichrist that denieth the FATHER and the 
 Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath 
 not the Father; but he that acknowledgeth the Son 
 hath the Father also.’ But this knowledge 1s prac- 
 tically enjoyed only through the teaching of the 
 Spirit. Accordingly he adds (ver. 27): ‘But the 
 anointing which ye have received of Him abideth 
 in you; and ye need not that any man teach you: 
 but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, 
 and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught 
 you, ye shall abide in Him.’ Thus the fellowship 
 we have with God as light, is in connection with 
 the manifestation of Him through the Son, and by 
 the power of the Holy Spirit. 
 
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN. 193 
 
 In the second section, starting with the principle 
 that ‘God is righteous’ (ch. ii, 29), the apostle, in 
 the first half, insists on the necessity of our being 
 born to a new life of righteousness, in order to 
 fellowship with Him. Thus we form a contrast 
 with, and actually come into collision with, the 
 world lying in wickedness, whose influence we 
 overcome. But his argument culminates again in 
 presenting the subject in its relation to the three 
 persons in the Trinity. Born of God, thus doing 
 righteousness, and thus showing that we are of the 
 truth, our consciences testify to our uprightness, 
 and we have a rejoicing freedom of access to God 
 (ch. i. 19-22): ‘Hereby we know that we are of 
 the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. 
 . . . . Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then 
 have we confidence toward Gop, etc. That the Father 
 is specially referred to here is evident from the next 
 verse, where it is asserted that only by faith in 
 Him have we fellowship in righteousness with God 
 (ver. 23): ‘This is His commandment, That we 
 believe on the name of His Son Jesus Curist,’ ete. 
 But the actual enjoyment of such fellowship is 
 through the practical working of the Spirit upon 
 our hearts (ver. 24): ‘He that keepeth His com- 
 mandments dwelleth in Him, and He in him: and 
 
 hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Sprrir 
 N 
 
194 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 which He hath given us’ (€6w«ev),—words similar to 
 the promise, ‘whom the Father will give’ (John xiv. 
 16). We must observe the form of expression used 
 here. It is not ‘because of’ the Spirit, but ‘from’ 
 the Spirit. The expression points out not merely 
 that our knowledge of Christ abiding in us is from 
 the possession of the Spirit as an evidence, but from 
 His action in producing in us such a change of cha- 
 racter. Thus our fellowship with God in righteous- 
 ness is with the Father, through the Son, and by 
 the Spirit. 
 
 The next paragraph (ch. iv. 1-6) is generally re- 
 garded as parenthetical, but it simply guards those 
 addressed against mistake as to the work of the 
 Spirit; and points out tests by which His opera- 
 tions may be distinguished from the spirit of error, 
 such as confessing Christ another Spirit than that 
 of the world, and listening to God's truth. 
 
 In the second part of this section (ch. iv. 7—v. 5) 
 the apostle points out, as the ground of our fellow- 
 ship with Him in righteousness, our fellowship with 
 Him in love. Here again, starting with the idea . 
 that ‘God is love, he insists upon the idea that 
 we have communion with Him only by manifesting 
 love, and that thus we will keep His commandments 
 and overcome the world. But here again we have 
 the three persons of the Godhead united in the 
 
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN. 195 
 
 work of bringing us into this condition. God, out 
 of love, gave His Son to be the propitiation for our 
 sins (vers. 9, 10): ‘In this was manifested the love 
 of God toward us, because that God sent His only 
 begotten Son into the world, that we might live 
 through Him. Herein is love; not that we loved 
 God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be 
 the propitiation for our sins. God is unseen, but 
 if we manifest love, we have fellowship with Him 
 (ver. 12): ‘No man hath seen God at any time. 
 If we love one another, Gop dwelleth in us, and 
 His love is perfected in us.’ But the pledge and 
 _ sign of this is the Holy Spirit, who is the source of 
 all holy principles, whose first fruit is love, and who 
 is known by His fruits (ver. 13): ‘ Hereby know we 
 that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He 
 hath given us of His Spirit’ But this is only 
 through our recognising the Father’s love in sending 
 His Son, and by our confessing the Son as thus sent 
 of the Father (vers. 14, 15): ‘And we have seen, 
 and do testify, that the Father sent the Son to be 
 the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess 
 that Jesus is the Son or Gop, God dwelleth in him, 
 and he in God’ Thus our fellowship with God in 
 love originates with God the Father, is mediated by 
 the Son, and effected and evidenced by the gracious 
 operations of the Holy Spirit. 
 
196 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 There remains the conclusion (ch. v. 12-21), 
 which treats especially of the testimony, by which 
 we are assured of the truth as it is in Jesus, and of 
 our salvation by Him. This is ascribed to God 
 (ver. 9): ‘If we receive the testimony of men, the 
 testimony of God is greater; for this is the witness’ 
 - (or testimony, the original word being the same) 
 ‘of God which He hath testified of His Son” Then 
 we have the Son, as the great subject and substance 
 of the testimony (ver. 11): ‘This is the record’ (or 
 testimony), ‘that God hath given us eternal life; and 
 this life is in His Son” But at the same time we 
 have presented to us the Spirit as the great agent 
 in testifying (ver. 6): ‘It is the Spirit that beareth 
 witness, because the Spirit is the truth’ In this 
 view, the passage teaches important truth regarding 
 the connection of the three with our assurance of 
 the truth. 
 
 But we do not think that this exhausts the 
 meaning of the apostle. The genuineness of ver. 7, 
 according to all modern critics, must be given up ; 
 but yet a close examination of the whole passage 
 will show the three divine persons united in testi- 
 mony, so that in an important sense ‘there are three 
 that bear record in heaven. He commences with 
 the Son (ver. 6): ‘This is He that came by water 
 and blood; not by water only, but by water and 
 
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN. 197 
 
 blood.’ He is not only the subject of testimony, 
 as in vers. 9 and 11, but by these He actually 
 testifies, for it is added (ver. 8): ‘And there are 
 three that bear witness, the Spirit, the water, and 
 the blood.’ Whatever be the allusion in these last 
 words, they certainly refer to some portions of 
 Christ's work, which form a testimony to the truth 
 of His being the Son of God. There can be little 
 doubt that the reference is to His baptism and 
 death, the beginning and the end of His Messianic 
 work on earth—the one His initiation into His 
 public ministry, when, though sinless Himself, He 
 placed Himself in union with fallen man, to fulfil 
 all righteousness on their behalf, and when He was 
 attested as the Son of God by the Father's voice, 
 and the descent of the Spirit ;—the other, the com- 
 pletion of the whole. It is worthy of note, that 
 this same writer, in his Gospel, speaks of both these 
 as establishing the Sonship of Christ. At ch. i. 34 
 he represents the Baptist as saying from the scene 
 at His baptism: ‘I saw, and bare record that this is 
 the Son of God.” And again at the crucifixion, when 
 from Christ’s side, pierced by the spear, there flowed 
 blood and water, he says (ch. xix. 35): ‘He that 
 saw it bare record, and his record is true; and he 
 knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.’ 
 In the next place, the apostle refers to the Spirit 
 
198 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 as the agent who actually testifies in us (ver. 6): 
 ‘And it is the Sprrit that beareth witness, because 
 the Spirit is truth) absolute truth ; hence called by 
 our Lord the Spirit of truth. He is put forth pro- 
 minently as the witness—the living and, active 
 agent in establishing the truth in the hearts of men. 
 It is true that He is associated with the watér and 
 the blood, making the number required by the law 
 to render testimony valid: ‘There are three that 
 bear witness, the Spirit, and the water, and the 
 blood’ But they are not witnesses without Him. 
 Hence, as our Saviour taught, the world receives 
 not the Son, but by the Spirit testifying of Him: 
 ‘He shall testify of me’ (John xv. 26); ‘He shall 
 glorify me; for He shall receive of mine, and shall 
 show it unto you’ (xvi. 14). 
 
 But, in the last place, the apostle ascribes this 
 testimony to God the Father as the director of all, 
 —ags the source from which all proceeds (ver. 9): 
 ‘If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony 
 of God is greater” That God the Father is meant 
 
 here, is evident from His being immediately con- 
 
 trasted with the Son: ‘ For this is the witness’ (or 
 
 testimony) ‘of God, that He hath testified of His’ 
 
 Son” Thus, ‘he that believeth hath the witness 
 in himself? by his experience of the purifying and 
 reconciling influence of Christ’s work, and by the 
 
THE EPISTLE OF JUDE. 199 
 
 Spirit who works savingly in Him, and at the same 
 time evidences His own work. And thus the whole 
 result is, as stated in ver. 20: ‘And we know that 
 the Son of God is come, and hath given us an 
 understanding, that we may know Him that is true; 
 and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son 
 Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal 
 life.’ 
 
 _ Thus our assurance is from God originally as the 
 source of all; it is by the Son objectively in His 
 sanctifying and atoning power, indicated in His 
 baptism and death, and symbolized by the water 
 and blood from His side; and it is subjectively by 
 the Spirit. So that, in reality, we have here the 
 three that bear record in heaven. 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF JUDE. 
 
 Of the catholic epistles, it only remains to notice 
 that of Jude. In vers. 20, 21 we have the fol- 
 lowing words: ‘ But ye, beloved, building up your- 
 selves on your most holy faith, praying in the Hoty 
 Guost, keep yourselves in the love of Gop, looking 
 for the mercy of our Lorp Jesus CHRIST unto 
 eternal life’? As Bengel remarks on this passage, 
 ‘Jude mentions the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
 
200 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 Spirit ; he mentions faith, hope, and love.’ What- 
 ever be the relation of the clauses to each other, it 
 will be seen that the passage contains an express 
 reference to the three persons of the Godhead, and 
 the duty of Christians, in working out their own sal- 
 vation, to each.of them. We prefer taking the words 
 as they stand, and regard the first two clauses as 
 dependent. on each other : ‘ Building up yourselves on 
 your most holy faith, praymg in the Holy Ghost;’. 
 that is, by praying in the Holy Ghost, and by so 
 doing, ‘keep yourselves in the love of God ;’ continue 
 in the enjoyment of His complacential affection, 
 ever sustained by the prospect of the eternal reward, 
 ‘looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ 
 unto eternal life” Some, however, understand ‘the 
 love of God’ to mean our love to Him. In this 
 view, perhaps, the passage contains a still more im- 
 pressive exhibition of the doctrine of the Trinity. 
 As Liddon says, ‘ Their life is fashioned in devotion 
 to the blessed Trinity. It is a life of prayer; their 
 souls live in the Holy Spirit as in an atmosphere. 
 It is a life of persevering love, whereof the almighty 
 Father is the object. It is a life of expectation ; 
 they look forward to the indulgent merey which 
 the Lord Jesus will show them at His coming, and 
 the issue of His compassion is eternal life.’ ! 
 1 Lectures, p. 302. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 THE APOCALYPSE. 
 
 HERE only remains to be considered the bear- 
 ing of the Apocalypse on our subject. The 
 
 main body of the book is occupied with a series 
 of magnificent visions, in which is represented in 
 mysterious symbols the government of God over 
 the world in relation to His Church, as exercised 
 by the God-man Mediator, the Lamb slain, but now 
 elevated to the throne of universal power. Perhaps 
 in no part even of the word of God have we such 
 splendid descriptions of the Redeemer in His ex- 
 altation, exercising the delegated authority of the 
 Father, in ruling among the troubled elements of 
 human commotion for the good of His Church. It 
 must be admitted, however, that while the glories 
 of the Father and the Son are thus set forth in 
 a manner not to be found elsewhere, even within 
 the pages of inspiration, the Holy Ghost does not 
 come so prominently into view. Still there will be 
 enough to show that this wonderful book concurs 
 
202 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 with the rest of ‘the New Testament in ascribing 
 due honour to each of the Blessed Three. 
 
 At the outset, the authority of the book is” 
 ascribed to each of the persons in the Godhead. 
 Thus, while it is called ‘the Revelation of Jesus 
 Christ’ (ch. i. 1), and He is represented as the 
 witness who testifies (ver. 5), and whose testimony 
 John delivers (ver. 2), it is yet ascribed to God the 
 Father (ver. 1), ‘ which God gave unto him, and is 
 called ‘the word of God’ (ver. 2); and yet John 
 receives it under the influence of the Spirit (ver. 
 10; see also ch. iv. 2, xvii. 3, xxi. 10), and all the 
 churches (the seven as representing the various con- 
 ditions of the universal Church) are called on to 
 receive it as the words of the third person of the 
 Trinity (ch. ii. 7, etc.): ‘He that hath an ear, let 
 him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.’ 
 
 Then the book opens with a benediction, in which 
 the Three are as plainly noted as in the apostolic 
 benediction (ch. i 4, 5): ‘Grace be to you, and 
 peace, from Him which is, and which was, and which 
 is to come’ (or which comes. This title is equi- 
 valent to the term Jehovah, and is expressive of 
 ‘pure, absolute, and unchangeable being? and is 
 here plainly descriptive of the Father—see also ch. 
 
 iv. 8); ‘and from the seven Spirits before the ~ 4 
 
 throne. The number seven was used among the 
 
THE APOCALYPSE, 203 
 
 Jews to express the perfection of any quality (Job 
 v. 19; Ps. xi. 6; Prov. vi. 16; Matt. xii. 45; 
 Prov. xxvi. 19, ix. 1), and here expresses the ful- 
 ness and variety of the Spirit’s influences, which, 
 according to 1 Cor. xii. 4-7, are the manifestation 
 of one and the same Spirit; so that this same 
 writer, who in this and some other passages (ch. iii. 
 1, iv. 5, v. 6) speaks of Him as seven, again 
 describes Him as simply ‘the Spirit’ (ch. ii. 11, 
 xiv. 13, xxii. 17). Their being before the throne, 
 describes Him as being ready to be employed in the 
 service of the Church. ‘And from Jesus Christ, 
 who is the faithful Witness, and the first-begotten of 
 _ the dead, and the Prince of the kings of ‘the earth; 
 _——the great revealer of God, by His resurrection 
 the pledge of life to all in Him, and the sovereign 
 of the world—in other words, the Prophet, Priest, 
 and King of His Church. ‘The threefold From, 
 Hengstenberg remarks,—‘ from Him who is so, and 
 from the seven Spirits, and from Jesus Christ,—is 
 deserving of notice in this respect, that it involves 
 a portion of equality. This implies a certain inde- 
 pendence of the Spirit beside the Father and the 
 Son. The derivation of grace and peace from the 
 Spirit, not less than from the Father and the Son, 
 points to the adorable Trinity.’ 
 
 The prophetic visions of the rapt seer are intro- 
 
204 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 duced by one of the grandest of them all, in the 
 Ath and 5th chapters, in which God’s government 
 of the Church, and of the world in relation to her, 
 is presented in pictures of celestial magnificence. 
 First, a door is opened in heaven, and he sees a 
 throne, and One that sat upon it (ch. iv. 8-11). 
 That the person thus presented to his view is 
 divine, is evident from the fact that immediately 
 divine honours are given to Him. That the Father 
 is specially denoted, is evident from the fact that He 
 is distinguished from the Son (ch. vi. 16, vi. 10) and 
 from the Spirit (ver. 5). Besides, He is expressly 
 spoken of as ‘God that sitteth upon the throne’ 
 (ch. xix. 4); and the title is appropriate to Him, 
 because the kingdom was originally the Father's, 
 and continues His, though administered by the Son. 
 John adds (ch, iv. 5): ‘ And there were seven lamps 
 of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven 
 Spirits of God;’ as already explained, the Spirit of 
 God in the completeness of His gifts, which are 
 bestowed by the Father. 
 
 In the second part of the vision, in ch. v., we 
 have the Son presented to us, the Lion of the tribe 
 of Judah, the Lamb as it had been slain; but now, 
 in the midst of the throne, who is found competent 
 to unfold the divine purposes regarding the future of 
 His Church, which no other in heaven or earth could 
 
 ‘ 
 s + » z * 
 _—— Ore a wy ee ee er. 
 
THE APOCALYPSE. 205 
 
 accomplish. In this description we have no difficulty 
 in recognising Christ in His royal dignity, and again 
 in His sacrificial character, as the High Priest of His 
 Church. Accordingly, the saved from among men 
 ascribe all glory to Him as their Redeemer (ver. 9): 
 ‘Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by 
 Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and 
 people, and nation, etc. But to Him as well as 
 to the Father, and in conjunction with Him, are 
 immediately ascribed all divine honours from the 
 whole of God’s intelligent creation (ver. 13): ‘Every 
 creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and 
 under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and 
 all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and 
 honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that 
 sittéth upon the. throne, and unto the Lamb, for 
 ever and ever. But He also is represented as 
 having the Spirit to dispense unto the children of 
 men (ver. 6): ‘Having seven horns and seven eyes, 
 which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into 
 all the earth. This representation of the Spirit in 
 His relation to the Father and the Son, in the carry- 
 ing out of the scheme of redemption, is in beauti- 
 ful accordance with what we have already seen to | 
 be the teaching of the word of God in those por- 
 tions already considered. We have not entered into 
 a particular consideration of the vision itself ; but 
 
206 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 it will be thus seen that in the gorgeous picture 
 which it presents of the divine government of the 
 world, it recognises the three divine persons in the 
 Godhead,—the Father, as the supreme Governor of 
 the universe; the Son, as once slain, but now exalted 
 to the throne of mediatorial sovereignty; and the 
 Spirit, as sent forth by the Father and the Son to 
 carry into effect upon mankind the oracious purposes 
 of a three-one God. 
 
 In the body of the work, as we have already 
 mentioned, it is the Father and the Son who are 
 specially brought before us, but still the Spirit is 
 presented to us in accordance with His position 
 in the Trinity. How beautifully, for example, is 
 He introduced in ch. xiv. 12,13! Describing the 
 happy condition of those who, having faithfully 
 maintained God’s truth, and patiently suffered for 
 its ‘sake, shall witness the Church’s deliverance from 
 antichristian bondage, the apostle says: ‘Here are 
 they that keep the commandments of Gop, and the 
 faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven 
 saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which 
 die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the 
 Sprrit, that they may rest from their, labours ; and 
 their works do follow them, 
 
 The conclusion of the book (ch. xxi. 1—xxii. 5) 
 presents, as it were, the winding up of the great 
 
THE APOCALYPSE, 207 
 
 drama of time, in a picture of a new order of 
 things, free from all the commotions of our troubled 
 earth (ch. xxi. 1): ‘I saw a new heaven and a new 
 earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were 
 passed away; and there was no more sea.’ We 
 cannot lay much stress on an argument founded 
 on our interpretation of symbols, at least as against 
 gainsayers ; but where the word of God has indi- 
 cated their meaning, and we apply them under the 
 guidance of such infallible interpretation, they will 
 contribute largely to confirm, edify, and comfort 
 believers. It is therefore interesting to note, in the 
 apostle’s description of the glories of the New Jeru- 
 salem, that while the blessings and happiness of its 
 inhabitants are referred particularly to the Father 
 and the Son as their source and medium, in emblems 
 borrowed from the Old Testament worship, we find 
 the salvation, as actually enjoyed by the redeemed, 
 exhibited under the same figures, though cast. in 
 loftier moulds, which are employed, both in the Old 
 and New Testaments, to represent the beneficent 
 working of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 _ First, we have God the Father dwelling among 
 men, the full realization of what was prefigured to 
 Israel by God dwelling in the tabernacle in visible 
 symbol (ch. xxi. 3): ‘I heard a great voice out of 
 heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is 
 
208 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 with men, and He will dwell with them, and they 
 shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with 
 them, and be their God. 
 
 Then, after a further description of their happi- 
 ness, and also of the redeemed Church, described as 
 the Lamb’s wife, we have, secondly, the Son associ- 
 ated with the Father (ver. 22): ‘I saw no temple 
 therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb 
 ave the temple of it’ But the position of the Son 
 is more distinctly defined in the verse imniediately 
 following: ‘The city had no need of the sun, neither 
 of the moon, to shine in it; for the glory of God 
 did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof’ 
 The glory of God which is here spoken of, and 
 which is also mentioned in the 11th verse, where 
 the city is said to have ‘the glory of God, refers 
 to the Shekinah, so often called the glory of God, 
 the cloud of mingled light and darkness, which in 
 the tabernacle stood above the mercy-seat, between 
 the cherubims. This was the visible emblem of the 
 divine presence, through which He manifested Him- 
 self to the children of Israel: ‘There I will meet with 
 thee, and I will commune with thee from above the 
 mercy-seat, from between the two cherubims which 
 are upon the ark of the testimony. This pointed 
 forward to God manifesting Himself, through Christ, 
 in our nature, as is evident from John i. 14: ‘The 
 
THE APOCALYPSE, | 209 
 
 Word was made flesh, and dwelt’ (or shekinahed) 
 ‘among us; and we beheld His glory ;’ but its full 
 realization is in future glory, where, as is here 
 taught, while the blessedness of the redeemed con- 
 sists in the Father dwelling among them, this is 
 through the Son, who is the true Shekinah. He 
 is the true temple, in whom the Father manifests 
 Himself, and through whom the saved enjoy un- 
 interrupted fellowship with Him. 
 
 But it is added (ch. xxii. 1, 2): ‘He showed me 
 a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, pro- 
 ceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 
 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side 
 of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare 
 twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every 
 month: and the leaves of the tree were for the heal- 
 ing of the nations. Now the emblem of water, and 
 a river of water, is one of those most frequently 
 used, both in the Old and New Testaments, to de- 
 scribe the life-giving influence of the Spirit, as He 
 goes forth with the gospel to bless the world. Isa. 
 xliv. 3: ‘I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, 
 and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my 
 Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine 
 offspring” Zech. xiv. 8: ‘It shall be that living 
 waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them 
 
 toward the former sea, and half of them toward the 
 ; O 
 
210 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 hinder sea: in summer and winter shall it be’ 
 (See also Ps. xlvi. 4; Joel iii, 18.) Similar is the 
 vision of Ezekiel (ch. xlvii.), where a stream of 
 living water issues from under the threshold of the 
 temple, carrying life in its onward course, its banks 
 covered with unfading bloom, and blessed with trees 
 yielding fruit according to their months, and their 
 leaves for medicine. The representations of the New 
 Testament are exactly equivalent (John vi. 38, 39): 
 ‘He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, 
 out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 
 But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that 
 believe on Him should receive. 
 
 Now, when the same emblem, only sublimed to 
 meet the higher glories it is intended to express, is 
 here used, can we refuse to interpret it in the same 
 way as describing the Spirit of God as the source | 
 of those streams of life which bless the eternal city ? 
 When the first and second persons of the Trinity, as 
 manifested to the redeemed Church, are represented 
 by the same emblems by which their manifestation 
 to the Church on earth is represented, and when, im- 
 mediately after, we have an emblem which as in- 
 variably represents the operation of the third, can 
 we refuse it the same interpretation as elsewhere ? 
 The representation, too, of the river, as flowing from 
 the throne of God and of the Lamb, is in beautiful 
 
THE APOCALYPSE, 211 
 
 accordance with those other passages of Scripture 
 which represent the influences of the Spirit as pro- 
 ceeding from the Father and the Son. If this be 
 correct, we will then have the three persons in the 
 Godhead presented to us as concerned in the life, 
 salvation, and blessedness of the Church triumphant, 
 as they are of the Church militant below, — the 
 Father dwelling with His people, but manifesting 
 Himself, and communicating all good, through the 
 medium of the Son; and from them, by the agency 
 of the Spirit, rivers of pleasures flowing into the 
 souls of all the saved. | 
 
 We may remark that we have a very similar 
 description of the happiness of the redeemed in ch, 
 vu. 16, 17: ‘ They shall hunger no more, neither 
 thirst any more ; neither shall the sun light on them, 
 nor any heat. For the Lams which is in the midst of 
 the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto 
 living fountains of waters; and Gop shall Wipe away 
 all tears from their eyes,” The description given of 
 this white-robed company as having palms in their 
 hands, and the whole imagery of the vision, contain 
 an allusion to the Feast of Tabernacles, which the 
 children of Israel observed in the land of Canaan in 
 commemoration of their wandering in the wilder- 
 ness. The promises of freedom from hunger, thirst, 
 and the burning heat of the stn, and of corre- 
 
12 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 sponding supplies, have reference to the inconveni- 
 ences of their condition at that time. We have these 
 ascribed to God and to the Lamb; and as to the 
 living waters, we need only compare them with the 
 words of our Lord at the last Feast of Tabernacles 
 
 which He attended on earth, to see the allusion to . 
 
 the Holy Spirit (John vi. 38, 39). 
 
 As the apostle had at the beginning of the book 
 declared its authority, as from the Father, the Son, 
 and the Holy Ghost, so, as he concludes (ch. xxu. 
 6-17), he repeats this truth in the most emphatic 
 manner, and solemnly appeals to his readers, in the 
 name of each of the three, to receive its contents 
 and obey its voice (ver. 6): ‘The Lord God of the 
 holy prophets sent His angel to show unto His ser- 
 vants the things which must shortly be done. The 
 latest critical’ editors, instead of ‘God of the holy 
 prophets, read ‘ God of the spirits of the prophets ;’ 
 and according to 1 Cor. xiv. 32, the phrase, ‘ spirits 
 of the prophets, expresses the special gifts of inspira- 
 tion, in the prophets severally, according to the 
 varied working of the Holy Ghost. If this reading 
 be correct, the verse will recognise the Spirit as well 
 as the Father as the author of the sayings of this 
 book. At all events, he speaks of the Spirit almost 
 
 immediately afterwards (ver. 17). But it is added, 4 
 
 ‘I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you 
 
 aac _ os Ss we 
 a a ee ee ye eS 
 
THE APOCALYPSE. 213 
 
 these things in the churches” Thus the passage pre- 
 _ sents the agency of the three divine persons in making 
 known the wonderful revelations of this book, and it 
 thus, at the close as at the beginning, claims our at- 
 tention as sanctioned by Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
 And as this book was intended to close the volume 
 of inspired truth, the words may apply to the whole 
  Seripture, and thus give additional emphasis to the 
 warning with which it is sealed up (vers. 18, 19): 
 ‘If any man shall add unto these things, God shall 
 add unto him the plagues that are written in this 
 book, ete. 
 
 The concluding appeal, however, not only repre- 
 _ sents the book as from the authority of the three 
 persons in the Godhead, but is worthy of further 
 consideration, as presenting the adorable Three join- 
 ing in a last warning and invitation to men ere the 
 inspired volume is finally closed. As the book 
 commences with a benediction in the name of each 
 of the three persons in the Godhead, so it concludes 
 with a message of salvation from the same glorious 
 Three ; and it is worthy of remark, that this is done 
 under titles exactly corresponding in the two cases. 
 It has been a question with interpreters, whether 
 the passage from the 7th to the 13th verse refers 
 to the Father or the Son. But the title under 
 which He speaks, ‘I am Alpha and Omega, the first 
 
Mayes THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 and the last; is used in this book as a proper title 
 of the Father (see ch. i. 8, xxi. 6), though it may be 
 applied to the Son, as He is really and truly God. 
 It corresponds with the distinctive appellation of the 
 Father in the benediction (ch. i. 4, comp. ver. 8). 
 At first sight the words in the 12th verse, ‘ Behold, 
 I come quickly, and my reward is with me, would 
 rather seem to refer to Christ ; yet, after all, we must 
 regard the judgment as the Father's, though exer- 
 cised by the God-man Mediator, as His vicegerent. 
 Hence it is said (1 Peter i. 17): ‘The Father, who 
 without respect of persons judgeth every man accord- 
 ing to his works. As Hengstenberg observes, the 
 coming is the coming of God, though in the person 
 of His Son. For these reasons, we agree with those 
 interpreters who regard the words as referring to the 
 Father! At all events, it is admitted that it is God 
 the Father who is represented as speaking in the 
 6th verse: ‘The Lord God of the spirits of the pro- 
 phets hath sent His angel to show unto His servants 
 the things which must shortly come to pass. Then 
 hear His solemn warnings: ‘ Blessed is he that 
 keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book’ 
 ‘He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he 
 that is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that 1s 
 
 1The reader will find this subject fully discussed in Hengsten- 
 berg’s Commentary on’ this and corresponding passages. 
 
THE APOCALYPSE. 215 
 
 righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is 
 holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come 
 quickly ; and my reward is with me, to give every 
 man according as his work shall be” ‘ Blessed are 
 they that do His commandments’ (or, as some read, 
 “that wash their robes’), ‘ that they may have right 
 to the tree of life, and may enter in through the 
 gates into the city. For without are dogs, and 
 sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and 
 idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. 
 
 But what God the Father solemnly declares, God 
 the Son, the faithful and true witness, as He is 
 called in the opening benediction (ch. i. 5), testifies 
 to men for their warning and salvation. He, as 
 Mediator, is the agent through whom the Father 
 makes known His will; and yet He speaks to men 
 from His own independent claims (ver. 16): ‘I Jesus 
 have sent mine angel to testify unto you these 
 things in the churches. I am the root and the off- 
 spring of David, and the bright and morning star, 
 who usher in the glories of the eternal day. 
 
 But, not to end God’s revelation of mercy with 
 such awful denunciations, the last person of the 
 Trinity, the Spirit of grace, the last hope of 
 humanity, is heard interposing, in His own name 
 and through the Church inspired by Him, with the 
 most tender entreaty to men to partake of the 
 
216 THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 blessings of salvation ere it be too late (ver. 17): 
 ‘And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And 
 let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that 
 is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take 
 of the water of life freely 
 
 And shall any of the children of men neglect a 
 salvation on which the three persons of the Trinity 
 have been employed, and that from eternity, and 
 which they now separately and conjunctly press 
 upon our acceptance ? Will we not hear His voice 
 now? ‘Do you think to do ina trice what they 
 have been doing from eternity ? or do you think to 
 do it when you will? These three persons all do 
 and must concur in our salvation when it is effected. 
 And thinkest thou to have these states to come 
 together at thy beck and at thy call? Thou mayest 
 sooner think to order the great conjunction of the 
 stars and planets. Job xxxviil. 31-33: “Canst thou 
 bind the sweet influences of Pleiades? Canst thou 
 bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? Knowest 
 thou the ordinances of heaven? or, canst thou 
 set the dominion thereof in the earth ?”—that is, 
 canst thou order their motion; so as that their con- 
 junctions or meetings should fall out when thou 
 pleasest ? which, when they meet, have special in- 
 fluences upon this lower world. Canst thou set 
 that clock? And thinkest thou (that canst not 
 
THE APOCALYPSE. JAF 
 
 move a man’s heart on earth) to call the Trinity 
 together when thou pleasest, to despatch thy busi- 
 ness for thee? Be sure, therefore, that thou take 
 their time, when thou feelest the Spirit moving 
 thee; then all those wheels are a-moving, and then 
 take thy season.’ ? 
 
 If He be thwarted and grieved away, the sinner’s 
 last hope is gone. ‘As God has not another Son to 
 offer another sacrifice for sin,—so that he by whom 
 His sacrifice is despised can have none remaining 
 for him,—no more hath He another Spirit to make 
 that sacrifice effectual unto us, if the Holy Ghost, 
 in His work, be despised and rejected’? If He 
 depart, ‘there remaineth only a fearful looking for 
 of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall de- 
 vour the adversaries.’ 
 
 To FatHErR, Son, AND Hoty Guost, 
 THE GOD WHOM WE ADORE, 
 
 BE GLORY AS IT WAS, AND IS, 
 AND SHALL BE EVERMORE. 
 
 1 Goodwin, vii. 540, Nichol’s edition. 
 2 Owen, iii. 28, Goold’s edition. 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 E have thus reviewed that revelation in 
 which, by progressive steps, ‘at sundry 
 
 times and in divers manners, God has unfolded His 
 great plan of mercy to fallen men; and if we are 
 not entirely mistaken, the result of our inquiries 
 has been to show the working of a three-one God, 
 in the whole teachings of Scripture on the subject. 
 We have confined our investigation to those pas- 
 sages which distinctly recognise the three persons 
 of the Godhead. We have thus omitted a large 
 portion of the word of God strongly bearing in the 
 same direction. We have passed over not only 
 those passages which speak of one of the three in 
 terms implying divinity, or which show His working 
 in redemption, but also all those, in which two are 
 spoken of, in their relation to one another or their 
 co-operation for man’s salvation, as Father and Son, 
 Father and Spirit, or Son and Spirit. These (and 
 they are numerous) are scarcely less important in 
 their bearings upon this subject than those we have 
 
CONCLUSION. 219 
 
 been considering. Thus, for example, the constant 
 association of the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ 
 in prayer and benediction, as in the salutations of 
 the epistles, affords convincing evidence that both 
 are divine; and if two are admitted to be so, the 
 admission of a Trinity readily follows, for scarcely 
 any have held to a mere duality in the Godhead. 
 But there is another class of passages worthy of 
 more distinct notice. We allude to those in which 
 the two persons are named, and their respective 
 parts in man’s redemption described, while the work 
 of the third is referred to, though He is not named. 
 This may be observed particularly regarding the 
 work of the Spirit, which is not unfrequently 
 ascribed to the Father as the primal source of all 
 divine operations. These passages may not be as 
 strong as arguments against opponents as_ those 
 adduced; but to the humble believer they will be 
 nearly as forcible, not only because a mere duality 
 is scarcely pled for by any, but because, by compar- 
 ing scripture with scripture, he sees that the three 
 are implied if not expressed. We shall notice two 
 merely as samples. The first is Matt. xi. 25-27: 
 ‘At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank Thee, 
 O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou 
 hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and 
 hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father ; for 
 
220 CONCLUSION. 
 
 so it seemed good in Thy sight. All things are de- 
 livered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth 
 the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man 
 the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the 
 Son will reveal Him’ Here it is plain that the 
 Father and the Son are spoken of in terms implying 
 supreme divinity. But when the Father is spoken 
 of as revealing spiritual things to babes, we know 
 from the teaching of our Lord and His apostles, 
 that this is done by the agency of the Holy Ghost. 
 John xvi. 13: ‘When He, the Spirit of truth, is 
 come, He will lead you into all truth’ 1 Cor. ii. 
 10: ‘God hath revealed them unto us by His 
 Spirit.’ 3 
 
 The other passage is Heb. xiii. 20, 21: ‘ Now the 
 God of peace, that brought again from the dead 
 our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 
 through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 
 make you perfect in every good work to do His will, 
 working in you that which is well-pleasing in His 
 sight, through Jesus Christ.’ Here, as in the last 
 case, the Father and Jesus Christ, under the title of 
 Lord, are spoken of in terms implying that they are 
 both divine. But we know that the work ascribed 
 to the Father, ‘making us perfect in every good 
 work to do His will, etc., is effected by the agency 
 of the Spirit. So that, in these two passages, there 
 
CONCLUSION. 221 
 is an actual reference to the three persons of the 
 Godhead, though only two are named. 
 
 We may also notice that there are passages which 
 do not name the persons in the Godhead, but which 
 refer to their respective offices in a manner which 
 accords with the evangelical scheme, and thus affords 
 corroboratory evidence of its truth. As an example, 
 we may simply refer to the Lord’s Prayer. This 
 consists of six petitions, three of which refer to 
 God's honour, and three to man’s wants; but it 
 will be seen, on examination, that each of these 
 two divisions has reference to the three persons 
 of the Trinity in the order of their subsistence, 
 and in the order and relation of their offices in 
 redemption. Thus: 
 
 Hallowed be Thy Name, . : . To the FATHER. 
 Thy kingdom come, . ; ‘ . Through the Son. 
 Thy will be done on earth as it is done 
 
 in heaven, . - By the Sprrerr. 
 Give us this day our iit bieete - To the FaTuEr. 
 Forgive us our debts, as we forgive 
 
 our debtors, . : . Through the Son. 
 And lead us not into Rarpnbaniie: but 
 
 deliver us from evil, . : . By the Spirir. 
 
 Thus, as Tholuck remarks, ‘the attentive reader, 
 who has otherwise learned the doctrine of the Tri- 
 nity, will find a distinct reference to it in the 
 arrangement of this prayer. The first petition, in 
 each of the first and second portions of the prayer, 
 
RZD, CONCLUSION. 
 
 refers to God as the Creator and Preserver; the 
 second, to God as the Redeemer; and the third, to 
 God the Holy Spirit.’ , 
 
 We have thought that, in like manner, the angels’ 
 song (Luke i. 14), on which there has been con- 
 siderable discussion, and which, from the contrast 
 of the earth and the heaven, so many critics have 
 been anxious to read in two parallel clauses, might 
 be explained in the same way. May not the clauses 
 read as three, and refer to the three persons in the 
 Godhead, as follows ? 
 
 Glory to God in the highest, . : To the FATHER. 
 On earth peace, . 3 2 ‘ Through the Son, 
 Good-will to men, . ; : ; By the Sprrir. 
 
 While the first undoubtedly expresses the posi- 
 tion of the Father, the two latter, we think, do 
 express the respective works of the Son and. the 
 Spirit, peace being expressive of the reconciliation 
 between heaven and earth effected by the second 
 person of the Trinity, and the good-will to men 
 describing the manifestation of God’s kindness in 
 bringing men to the enjoyment of salvation by the 
 Spirit: 
 
 In our examination of the passages brought under 
 review, we have endeavoured to ascertain exactly 
 the mind of the Spirit of God. We have availed 
 ourselves of all helps within our reach, to ascertain 
 
CONCLUSION. 22 
 
 the precise meaning of the words, and the connec- , 
 tion in which they stand; but we cannot expect 
 that our conclusions in regard to all the passages 
 considered will be accepted by other minds. But 
 here the same remark is applicable that is made 
 by Paley in his Horw Pauline, regarding the unde- 
 signed coincidences, between Paul’s epistles and the 
 Acts of the Apostles, on which he grounds an arou- 
 ment for the authenticity of these writings, that 
 each instance stands on its own merits, and is 
 entirely independent of the others, so that if it 
 should be set aside as invalid, it would not affect 
 the value and force of any of the others. If any 
 reader thinks that any passage will not bear what 
 we have laid upon it, let him dismiss it. We 
 would indeed ask that such a conclusion be not 
 adopted till after careful inquiry, as closer. examina- 
 tion of the words of God often reveals beneath the 
 surface aspects of truth which are hidden from the 
 eye of the ordinary observer. Still, if the view we 
 have given of any passage be not admitted, or even 
 if a number should be set aside, the conclusions 
 - drawn from the others will remain unassailable, and 
 the abandonment of indefensible points will only 
 strengthen our main positions. 
 
 It must be admitted, too, that the truth is re- 
 flected, in these passages, with various degrees of 
 
WDA: CONCLUSION. 
 
 9 
 
 brilliancy. In some it is presented so dimly as 
 only to be observed by careful study, while in 
 others it is obvious to the most unobserving eye. 
 But our argument is not a chain of reasoning 
 which is destroyed if a single link be broken, and 
 which is no stronger than the weakest part. It is 
 eminently cumulative; and each passage, according 
 to its own weight, adds to the value and force of 
 the whole. Hach, according to its own light, rays 
 forth some aspect of the perfection and working of 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; and the whole forms 
 a cluster of jewels in the crown of Emmanuel, which 
 exhibits in full radiance the glory of the Three-one 
 God, 
 
 In proceeding now to notice the value of our 
 argument, we must remark at the outset that the 
 truth of the doetrine is not dependent on the view 
 we have presented. Independent of all our argu- 
 ments, the doctrine stands unshaken upon other 
 grounds. We have a sufficient amount of more 
 direct evidence of the divinity, and yet the unity 
 of the Blessed Three, to possess our souls in con- 
 fidence upon its certainty. If our argument be good, 
 there will be a large amount of confirmatory testi- 
 mony. But we must still remember that, inde- 
 pendent of this, the doctrine rests as immoveably as 
 ever on the foundation on which it has stood for 
 
CONCLUSION. 225 
 
 ages in the creed of Christendom and the hearts of 
 believers. 
 
 Keeping this in view, we remark regarding the 
 value of this evidence, that primarily it is confirma- 
 tory of what has been established on other grounds. 
 But this is not a matter of inferior moment. Every 
 judge and lawyer knows the benefit of the corro- 
 borating evidence of circumstances, even where the 
 direct proof is clear. In many instances positive 
 testimony would have doubt thrown upon it, if it ' 
 were not confirmed in this manner. Whatever be 
 the point to be established, it’ cannot have stood 
 alone. It must have been connected with other 
 incidents and other facts, and the absence of inci- 
 dental evidence of this kind tends to throw doubt 
 even upon the most direct testimony. But when 
 all the circumstances accord with and corroborate 
 the positive evidence, the last shadow of ground 
 for doubt is swept away, and assurance rendered 
 doubly sure. So is it in the present instance. 
 The doctrine of the Trinity stands on its own inde- 
 pendent and immoveable basis, in the distinct de- 
 clarations of the word of God; but the fact that we 
 find the doctrine permeating the whole of God’s 
 revelation of mercy, affords striking confirmatory 
 evidence of its truth and importance, to the joy 
 
 and comfort of the humble believer. 
 P 
 
226 CONCLUSION. 
 
 But we do not admit that the evidence afforded 
 in this way is only confirmatory. We believe that 
 it has all the value of positive testimony. We be- 
 lieve that what has been adduced, taken all together, 
 affords sufficient evidence of itself to establish the 
 doctrine, and affords so much additional testimony 
 in favour of a truth otherwise clearly revealed. 
 Referring again to evidence in a human court of 
 judicature, the circumstantial evidence may be so 
 clear and so complete as to enforce conviction as 
 decidedly as any direct testimony could do. Indeed, 
 when complete, it is held to be the best kind of 
 evidence; and in the present instance, we believe 
 that the manner in which incidentally, and as it 
 were undesignedly, the truth of the doctrine 1s 
 assumed, will to many minds be the most con- 
 vinecing form of testimony. Dr. Candlish, in his 
 remarks on the first chapter of Genesis, says: ‘ This 
 
 truth, indeed, is not so much directly stated in the © ig 
 
 Scriptures as it is all along assumed ; and we might 
 reasonably expect it to be so. God is not in the 
 written word introduced for the first time to men. 
 He speaks, and is spoken of, as one previously 
 
 known, because previously revealed. And if the a 
 doctrine of the Trinity be true, He must have been 
 
 known, more or less explicitly, as Father, Son, and os 
 
 Holy Ghost. An express and formal declaration, 
 
CONCLUSION. vp 
 
 then, of this mystery of His being was not needed ; 
 nor was it to be expected. he most natural and 
 convincing proof of it, in these circumstances, 7s to 
 trace it, as from the very first taken Jor granted and 
 recognised, in all that is said of the divine proceedings.’ 
 
 We do not know how far the doctrine was made 
 known previous to a written revelation; but the 
 above quotation, we believe, accurately presents the 
 state of the case, that the doctrine was understood 
 and implied in all God’s communications to man. 
 Such is the aspect in which the view we have taken 
 presents the matter. The passages adduced do not 
 generally assert the divinity of each or all of the 
 three persons in the Godhead, but they represent 
 the three in combination in a way in which they 
 never associate any creature with the Most High. 
 They ascribe to each works, such as they assign 
 only to God, or which imply divine power. ‘They 
 exhibit them in relations to each other, which are 
 never confounded, and to which no other can be 
 admitted. They exhibit their concurrent, yet dis- 
 tinctive working, especially in redemption, in a 
 manner irreconcilable with any other ‘supposition 
 than that of three divine persons in one undivided 
 essence. They thus, in fact, take for granted the 
 3 doctrine of the Trinity, much as they do the doctrine 
 of God’s existence. They assume it; but this con- 
 
228 CONCLUSION. 
 
 stant assuming it without proving it, will, to those 
 who examine the matter carefully, ever appear the 
 most convincing evidence of its truth, just as, in 
 never proving and scarcely stopping to assert the 
 existence of God, the Bible is the book of purest 
 Theism ever given to men. 
 
 As to the amount of evidence adduced, it must 
 be kept in view that it is only a portion even of 
 the kind of testimony we have been considering 
 that has been adduced. All those passages which 
 speak of one, or even two, of the persons of the 
 Godhead, in a manner which implies the same con- 
 clusion, have been omitted; and we have only con- 
 sidered those in which the whole three are either 
 named or referred to. But we submit whether the 
 amount is not all that was to be expected under the 
 circumstances, ind greater than is generally supposed. 
 It must be remembered, too, that the Old Testament 
 was especially designed to establish monotheism ; and | 
 that large portions of both Testaments are necessarily 
 occupied with much that does not directly touch upon 
 this doctrine, in teaching the practical ‘duties of life, 
 or in exhibiting the outward vicissitudes and internal 
 order of the Church. 
 
 But we cannot but observe how generally, as the 
 great central truths of salvation are described, they 
 are grouped round the three persons in the God- 
 
CONCLUSION. 229 
 
 head. As the great redemption was at first only — 
 dimly revealed, the doctrine of the Trinity appears 
 as if written with sympathetic ink, on the same 
 ground, to be brought out by the light of after reve- 
 lation, as it were, in illuminated capitals. And as 
 revelation progressed, like ‘the shining light, shining 
 more and more unto the perfect day, and God’s 
 great purposes of mercy were gradually unfolded, so 
 did the doctrine of a tri-personal Jehovah stand forth 
 prominently to the eye and faith of God’s believing 
 children, until, when the redemption was achieved, 
 and the light of revelation reached its noontide bril- 
 liancy in the fulness of apostolic inspiration, the 
 doctrine of the three divine persons concurring in 
 our salvation appears as if written with a sunbeam 
 on every page of God’s communications to man. 
 | Thus, while the Bible is the most monotheistic 
 book in existence, yet, from the first page of Genesis 
 to the last of Revelation, its monotheism is not the 
 cold and sterile monotheism of Mahomet or Socinus, 
 but one which admits three divine hypostases in 
 one infinite nature. 
 
 In taking a review of the passages we have con- 
 sidered, the candid reader cannot but observe how 
 uniformly the sacred writers introduce the agency 
 of the Blessed Three in reference to every part of 
 the Christian salvation. In the counsels of eternity, 
 
230 CONCLUSION. 
 
 in which the scheme was determined and arranged ; 
 in the creation of the world, as the theatre on which 
 redemption was: to be achieved ; in all its garniture, 
 and in the varied natural life, by which it was fitted 
 to be the abode of those who were to be the subjects 
 of saving mercy; in the preparing and furnishing 
 of the Mediator for His work; in the execution in 
 the fulness of time of the glorious plan, and in its 
 application to the hearts of sinners; in revealing 
 God’s will to men, and convincing them of the truth 
 of His word; in each blessing of the covenant, in 
 our justification, adoption, regeneration, and sanctifi- 
 cation; In our establishment in the faith; in the 
 motives and means of practical holiness, and of 
 each duty of a religious life; in the exercise of 
 devotion; in the comforts and privileges of the 
 children of God; in our support under trial, our 
 assurance of present and hope of future salvation ; 
 in our final perseverance; in the gifts of all the 
 members of the Church, in the administration and 
 success of all its ordinances, and in her building up 
 as a holy temple to the Lord; in the government 
 of the world; in the resurrection and final glory of 
 the redeemed,—in a word, in the great salvation as 
 a whole, and in each particular part thereof, and in 
 the arrangement of the universe in subserviency to 
 its accomplishment, we find everywhere, according 
 
CONCLUSION. 231 
 
 to the representation of the sacred writers, the © 
 threefold, yet united, action of Father, Son, and 
 Holy Ghost. 
 
 Or we may test the matter otherwise. Take the 
 writings of the most decided Trinitarian, of either 
 ancient or modern times, not where he is expressly 
 treating of this doctrine, but where he is expounding 
 the Christian system at large, and would we find 
 the Sacred Three so frequently referred to as they 
 are in the same space in the writings of the inspired 
 penmen of the New Testament? or would we find 
 their agency and relations so constantly introduced 
 in connection with every subject on which they 
 treat, whether doctrine or devotion, privilege or 
 practice? If not, then the sacred writers are more 
 Trinitarian than Evangelical Trinitarians, not in-. 
 deed in dogmatic assertion of the truth, but in the 
 manner in which it enters into their whole spiri- 
 tual life. 
 
 But is it asked, why has not God presented the 
 doctrine to us in exact and systematic formulas ? and 
 is it argued that this would have compelled the 
 assent of men? We answer, that it by no means 
 follows that if the doctrine were stated thus formally. 
 in the word of God, men would receive it implicitly. 
 Faith is the gift of God, and the same spirit which 
 refuses to see the divinity of Christ in the beginning 
 
237 CONCLUSION. 
 
 of John’s Gospel, would find grounds for rejecting 
 any statement of the truth that might be given. 
 
 But, further, it may be observed that the mode 
 adopted is in accordance with God’s. procedure in 
 other portions of His works, especially in nature 
 around us. Why, we might ask, has God not 
 arranged the rocks of the earth so as at once to 
 exhibit to men the principles of geology? Why 
 has He not distributed the plants of the earth in a 
 defined order, in accordance with a sound system of 
 botany? Why is it that He has left men to arrive 
 at the knowledge of scientific principles on these 
 and other subjects, only by the careful comparison 
 of facts collected from distant quarters and with 
 toilsome labour ? 
 
 But we may see wise reasons for the mode 
 adopted. Upon this we may quote the words of 
 a recent judicious writer :— 
 
 “There is another reason against the providing 
 in Scripture of a regular systematic statement of 
 Christian doctrine. Suppose such a summary of 
 gospel truths had been drawn up, and could have . 
 been contrived with such exquisite skill as to be 
 sufficient and well adapted for all of every age and 
 country, what would have been the probable result ? 
 It would have commanded the unhesitating assent 
 of all Christians, who would, with deep veneration, “y 
 
CONCLUSION, 233 
 
 have stored up the very words of it in their memory, 
 without any need of laboriously searching the rest of 
 the Seriptures to ascertain its agreement with them, 
 which is what we do (at least, are evidently called 
 on to do) with a human exposition of the faith; and 
 _ the absence of this labour, together with the tranquil 
 security as to the correctness of their belief, which 
 would have been thus generated, would have ended 
 in a careless and contented apathy. There would 
 have been . . . no call for vigilant attention in the 
 investigation of truth; none of that effort of mind 
 that is now requisite in comparing one passage with 
 another, and collecting instruction from the scattered, 
 oblique, and incidental references to various doctrines 
 in the existing Scriptures ; and, in consequence, none 
 of that excitement of the best feelings, and that im- 
 provement of the heart, which are the natural and, 
 doubtless, the designed result of a humble, diligent, 
 and sincere study of the Christian Scriptures. 
 
 “In fact, all study, properly so called, of the rest 
 of Scripture—all lively interest in its perusal— 
 would have nearly been superseded by such an 
 inspired compendium of doctrine; to which alone, 
 as by far the most convenient for that purpose, 
 habitual reference would have been made in any 
 question that might rise. Both would have been 
 regarded, indeed, as of divine authority; but the 
 
WOs CONCLUSION. 
 
 compendium as the fused and purified metal, the 
 other as the mine containing the crude ore. And 
 the compendium itself being not, like the existing 
 Scriptures, that from which the faith is to be learned, 
 but the very thing to be learned, would have come to 
 be regarded by most with an indolent, unthinking 
 veneration, which would have exercised little or no: 
 influence on the character. Their orthodoxy would 
 have been, as it were, petrified, like the bodies of 
 those animals we read of enclosed in the ice of the 
 Polar regions—firm, fixed indeed, and preserved un- 
 changeable, but cold, motionless, lifeless. It is only 
 when our energies are roused, and our faculties exer- 
 cised, and our attention kept awake by an ardent 
 pursuit of truth, and anxious watchfulness against 
 error,—when, in short, we feel ourselves to be doing 
 something towards acquiring or retaining or improv- 
 ing our knowledge,—it is then only that that know- 
 ledge makes the requisite practical impression on the 
 heart and on the conduct.’ * | 
 
 In regard to the doctrine which we have been 
 considering, compared with any human scheme of 
 teaching it, how much more delightful and _ profit- 
 able to trace it, as it is unfolded in the word of 
 God, by writers of every variety of temperament, 
 mental power and training, in every form of com- 
 
 | Cautions for the Times. 
 
CONCLUSION. 235 
 
 position, in the simple incidents of the great  bio- 
 graphy, in the ever fresh story of redeeming love, 
 in exalted poetry and logical argument, in practical 
 exhortation and the heart experience of God’s chil- 
 dren, in prayer and doxology, in benediction and 
 sacramental consecration, in the songs of angels, and 
 in the light which streams through the unbarred 
 gates of the celestial city! Surely the foolishness 
 of God is wiser than men; and to every objector 
 who would prefer God’s giving us the truth in the 
 exact formulas of systematic theology, we may reply 
 in the words of Elihu: ‘ Behold, in this thou art not 
 just: I will answer thee, that God is greater than 
 man. Why dost thou strive against Him? for He 
 giveth not account of any of His matters,’ 
 
 What a call to admiring wonder, devout gratitude, 
 and heartfelt praise does the Christian salvation pre- 
 sent, as we contemplate it in its relation to the glori- 
 ous Trinity! In the redemption of every lost soul 
 there is not only displayed the grace, the wisdom, 
 and the power of the Most High, but there is the 
 special working of each of the three persons of the 
 Godhead in His peculiar properties, and in His rela- 
 tions to the others. They were joined in counsel 
 when man was created (Gen. i. 26), foreseeing his 
 fall, and providing for his recovery. They are each 
 concerned, as we have seen, in every step of his 
 
236 CONCLUSION. 
 
 recovery, and they combine to crown Him with 
 everlasting glory. But more remains. To use the 
 words of another: ‘It is not merely that the three 
 persons of the Godhead are concerned and concur- 
 rent in the great salvation; it is not merely that 
 the first person of the Godhead gives the second to 
 redeem us, and that the third is given to quicken 
 us, and put us in possession of the redemption 
 wrought out; it is not merely that three persons, 
 each of them divine, together one in the substance, 
 power, and eternity of the undivided Godhead, unite 
 to effect our restoration to the favour and image and — 
 glory of God ;—not the three persons merely, but 
 the most profound and peculiar and mysterious 
 relations in which they stand toward each other, 
 and all that is contained in these relations: ¢his is 
 what is brought forward into action, and made, in 
 amazing love and wisdom, to yield various and 
 _ multiplied elements of gracious and glorious arrange- 
 ment and operation, combinedly uniting to achieve 
 a result most worthy of the marvellous purpose, 
 means, and causes that go to achieve it.’ 
 
 How exalted the honours of the children of God ! 
 To quote the same writer: ‘There is one tran- 
 scendent dignity that belongs to them, not merely 
 in their peculiarly near relation to God, but in the 
 
 1 For. and Evan. Review. 
 
CONCLUSION. 237 
 
 style, if we may so say, or tone of that spiritual 
 estate into which they have been formed or moulded, 
 in the perfecting of grace in their holy natures. 
 And it is this: they bear traces of the glory of God- 
 head’s tri-unity, such as unfallen, unredeemed beings 
 cannot bear. “ Who are these that are arrayed in 
 white robes ?” These are they who are where they 
 are, and who are what they are, only because there 
 is tri-unity in Godhead, and only because the Son 
 is eternally begotten of the Father, and the Spirit 
 eternally proceedeth from the Father and from the 
 Son. Other creatures may shine with the reflected 
 light of the attributes of God. To the ransomed of 
 the Lord it is given on the behalf of Christ, to shine 
 with the peculiar reflected glory of tri-unity of God- 
 head, and of all that the relations of the persons in 
 the Godhead involve of the deepest glories, and love, 
 and joy of their Lord. Yon bright seraph may be 
 a proof that God is good, and wise, and mighty, and 
 faithful, and holy, and full of love; but yon once 
 lost child of Adam, now a king ad a priest unto 
 his Father, is a living proof that “there are three 
 persons in the Godhead,—the Father, the Son, and 
 the Holy Ghost; that the Father is of none, neither 
 begotten nor proceeding; that the Son is eternally 
 begotten of the Father; and the Spirit eternally 
 proceeding from the Father and the Son.”’! | 
 
 1 For. and Evan. Review. 
 
238 CONCLUSION. 
 
 And then with what a grandeur does this invest 
 the scheme of man’s salvation, as thus the great 
 means by which God presents to His creatures the 
 profound and mysterious glories of the eternal 
 Trinity in unity! All God’s works praise Him. 
 The heavens declare His glory, and the earth is full 
 of His riches. They proclaim His perfections, espe- 
 cially His wisdom, power, and goodness. But even 
 these attributes are more illustriously displayed in 
 the scheme of redemption than in the natural world, 
 so that most strikingly does God’s glory shine in the 
 face of Jesus Christ. But from the review we have 
 taken, it will be seen that there is one feature in 
 which that scheme transcends all His other works, 
 at least as known to us; and that is, that it exhibits 
 the original inherent relations of the three persons 
 in the Godhead. We may not say that creation, or 
 
 ordinary providence, presents no reflection of God - 
 
 as Triune, for Son and Spirit are both represented as 
 concerned in the production even of the material 
 universe; but we may say that it is extremely little 
 we could learn from them of tri-personality in 
 Jehovah; and certainly all we know of the original 
 internal relations of the members of the Godhead 
 is by means of their operations externally in the 
 work of our redemption. All the arrangements of 
 the covenant exhibit in luminous array the being 
 
CONCLUSION. 239 
 
 and operation of three divine persons ; nay more, are 
 actually based upon the eternal relations subsisting 
 between them, doubtless with the special design of 
 bodying forth to men the original glory of God as 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Hence, when the 
 apostle, in the Epistle to the Ephesians, rising to the 
 loftiest heights of thought and devotion, so con- 
 stantly and in such elevated strains, exhibits the 
 relation of the Triune Jehovah to our salvation, he 
 proclaims, as the design of all, ‘To the intent that 
 now, unto the principalities and powers in heavenly 
 places, might be known by the Church.’ (as he had 
 Just shown, and as he again shows immediately 
 after, the product of the infinite grace and distinctive 
 energy of the three persons in the Godhead) ‘ the 
 manifold wisdom of God, as displayed in the com- 
 bined operation of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
 
 The redeemed Church will thus be ‘a crown of 
 glory and a diadem of beauty in the hands of her 
 God.’ In her shall be fulfilled the words, ‘ The 
 glory of the Lord shall endure for ever; the Lord 
 shall rejoice in His works’ Not the Son alone sees 
 of the labour of His soul and is satisfied. The 
 Father rejoices over the son, once lost but now 
 found, yea, as the shepherd rejoices over his one 
 sheep more than over the ninety and nine that went 
 not astray, and proclaims to His intelligent creation : 
 
240 CONCLUSION. 
 
 ‘Behold, I create new heavens, and a new earth. 
 But be ye glad and rejoice in that which I create: 
 for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her 
 people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and 
 joy in my people’ And ‘the good Spirit, so long 
 and so often ‘ grieved’ with the impurity and oppo- 
 sition even of the regenerate, shall find fulness of 
 joy in their completed holiness, exalted service, and 
 overflowing happiness, of which He is the author. 
 Having gathered in the great harvest of souls, the 
 fruit of the blood and tears of the Son, both sower 
 and reaper ‘shall rejoice together. And thus, in 
 the distinctive and peculiar, yet united, joys of each 
 of the all-glorious Three, arising from the contem- 
 plation of the happiness and holiness of the re- 
 deemed Church, — from the manifestation of the 
 divine glory through it to the intelligent creation, 
 especially of the profound mysteries of the internal 
 relations of the three members of the Godhead,— 
 and from the blessed intercommunion of which sal- 
 vation shall form the subject, the eternal undivided 
 Godhead will find the eternal repose of infinite and 
 ineffable satisfaction: ‘He will rejoice over thee 
 with joy; He WILL rest In His Love; He will joy 
 over thee with singing.’ 
 
 ‘What shall we say to these things?’ Here 
 truly we have reached a region ‘dark with excessive 
 
CONCLUSION. 241 
 
 brightness.’ Imagination becomes giddy on the 
 height to which we have climbed ; reason, vainly 
 endeavouring to penetrate the dark profound on the 
 verge of which we stand, hears, as it were, a voice 
 from heaven, saying, ‘ Hitherto shalt thou come, and 
 no farther ;’ and both recoil to grasp the hand of 
 piety, and join their voices in the strains in which 
 her emotions struggle for expression: ‘ O the depths 
 of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of 
 God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His 
 ways past finding out! For who hath known the 
 mind of the Lord? or who hath been His coun- 
 sellor? Or who hath first given to Him, and it 
 shall be recompensed unto him again? For of Him, 
 and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to 
 whom be glory for ever. Amen.’ 
 
 Praise God, from whom all blessings flow, 
 
 Praise Him, all creatures here below ; 
 
 Praise Him above, ye heavenly host, 
 Praise Father, Son; and Holy Ghost. 
 
BY THE.SAME AUTHOR. 
 
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 in Paris. 4. A Circle of Friends. 5. A Busy Bishop. 6. Farel a Wanderer. 7. A 
 New Field. 8. Mourning and Madness. 9. Farel’s Turning-point. 10. The Alpine 
 Schoolmaster. 11. The Romance of Preaching. 12. My Lords of Berne. 13. The 
 Huguenots Appear. 14. Laymen in the Field. 15. The Preachers atthe Inn. 16. 
 Froment’s Little Sermons. 17. Farel in his Element. 18, Calvin united with 
 Farel. 19. Peace to the Storms. 20. Farel’s Neighbourly Visits. 21. Old Life 
 with New Love. 22. The Call to Glory. 
 
 Recently published, 
 
 NOTES ON THE GOSPELS. By Melancthon W. Jacobus, 
 D.D., Professor of Theology in the Western Theological Seminary, Alleghany, 
 U.S. A New Issue, complete in Twelve Monthly Parts, at 6d. each; or in Three 
 Volumes, crown 8vo, at 2s. 6d. each. 
 
 Vol. I.—Matthew. Vol. Il.—Mark and Luke. Vol. III.—John. 
 
 These Notes, which have been most favourably received and widely used in 
 America, are admirably adapted as a help to Sabbath-school teachers and heads of 
 families in the work of Christian instruction. They are plain and brief, practical 
 as well as explanatory, embracing a Harmony of the Four Gospels, a valuable In- 
 troduction to each, and a full Commentary; and they convey, within a limited 
 compass, the results of extensive learning and research. 
 
 The price at which they are now announced is such as to place them within the 
 reach of all; the entire work being contained in Twelve Parts at Sixpence each. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE SPECIALLY ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 xvi. 7-13, 
 xviii. 1-18, . 
 xxxi. 11-13, 
 
 xviii. 15, 16, 
 
 ax, Hk 1-16... 
 Num. vi. 23-27, . 
 2 Sam. xxiii. 2, 3, 
 Ps. ii. 1-12, 
 XXx111; 6, 
 RiveOs fs, 
 ASK 
 Isa. vi. 1-8, 
 xi. 1-9, 
 xlii. 1-5, 
 xlvili. 16, 
 lix. 19-21, 
 lxi. 1-3, 
 lxiii. 7-10, . 
 lxiii. 11-14, . 
 
 | 27, 28 
 
 PAGE 
 19 
 28 
 
 Matt. iii. 16, 17, 
 vi. 10-15, . 
 xi. 25-27, 
 Xxvili. 19, 
 Luke i. 31-35, 
 ity14,\ 
 xxiv. 49, 
 John i. 1-18, 
 i. 14-18, 
 i. 32-34, 
 ili. 3-16, 
 ili. 31-36, 
 xiv. 16, 17, 
 xiv. 26, 
 
 ee ale oon « 
 Acts 1. 4, 5, 8, 
 li. 16-33, 
 Xv oo, t. 
 xi. 15-17, 
 Rom. v. 1-5, 
 viii. 2—4, 
 viii. 5-11, . 
 viii. 13-17, 
 xi. 33-36, 
 ab AW Aa Ee 
 xv. 5-13, . 
 XVieeL0,6163 
 
244 INDEX OF PASSAGES ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 PAGE PAGE 
 
 ' Rom. xv. 17-19, ed 42 1 Thess. Aveo M00 
 
 Xv) BOs eee As i) GeO Cee ia Seed 
 
 LiCor ii a5 aon Ritter Pl iv. 6-8. Berger LN: 
 
 ii. 7-10, . Sorel 1s v. 16-19, . 104 
 
 UTI Gee AL aes] PO Thess, 41.13, Tae aera 
 
 iii, 9-23, . Sass (8) Titus iii, 4-6, Dat 8x 
 
 Vivid : Oe LG Heb. .ii. 3, 4, P Penne WAS 
 
 vi. 12-20, are A vi. 4-6, ¢ ne ae 
 
 RL AB see TO ix) La Gee Mes 
 
 THe wed eT 08,90; sachin eae eg 
 
 2 Gor, i 27,9209) 2 99 xiii, 20, 21, . 220 
 
 Lil. ; cane at DAPebes es, a: ‘ a pobed 
 
 ili, 4-6, . 124, 125 i. 3-5, . brow ol | 
 
 AL eva hee Sawn tts Lg hoe Sake neem sega 
 
 pai EN EY eh Aras WY li. 4-6, . «7 484 
 
 Gal, ii. 6=14,7 %. re als Hid iii. 18, } 2, 2138 
 
 iv. 4-6, : oe WLOS 1¥.71 35014: Ree pia te1 
 
 Eph. i. 3-14, Q pe eey) 2 iPet iA S, : NeaELOL 
 
 Hie BEET Wa a Piee et 5935) 1 John ii. 20-27, Aye mad RL 
 
 ii. 4-18, .. Sou ESV iii. 19- 24, - ¥193 
 
 ii. 18, : . 159 iv. 9-15, . «» 9S 
 
 Ti TOD OMRE aan beat S Vi Sele maine eet OG 
 
 HL 2H6, 0 We 16T Side 20, 91) Seek een og 
 
 iii. 14-19, . Borcae ei, Rev. 1. 4, 5, , Mest ally 
 
 Era Un Ts aero nailenas Fy iv..6211, ee a Oe 
 
 iv. 4-6, 165 v. 5-14, : . 204 
 
 iv. 30-32, v. 1, 167 yiLol6, 17ee cae ee ort 
 
 v. 6-8, " a eeLGD XIV) oye . 206 
 
 v. 18- 20, : tal ZO xxi LOOT 
 
 vi. 10-18, : : 171 Rxbt 11-24-05 hao 
 
 ani ight bR nk , inc toh) WY 55 5 ab ss ee nd ae . 209 
 
 Colt ii..8-8, 55 , 147 xxii, 6-17, 5 ae 
 i, 9-22, : 148- 151 
 
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1 1012 01007 6877 
 
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