:mm. LIBRARY OF THE Theological Seminary, BX 9428 . B56 186T~v.2 Bethune, George Washington, ' 1805-1862. .Expository lectures on the Heidelbera catechism Book, L?^ V. . . Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in 2009 witii funding from Princeton Tlieological Seminary Library Iittp://www.arcliive.org/details/expositorylect02betli EXPOSITORY LECTURES HEIDELBERG CATECHISM. BY GEORGE W. BETHUNE, D. D. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. II. NEW YORK: SHELDON AND COMPANY. 335 BHOADWAY, COR. WORTH ST. 1864. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864, by Sheldon and Company, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for tlie Southern District of New York, O. A. AI.VOl:i). PKl.NTER. CONTENTS OF VOLUME II. LECTURE XXIir. PAGK THK JUDGMENT BY CHRIST ... . . 5 LECTUKH XXIV. THE DIVINITY, PEKSOXALITY, AND WOUK OF THE HO- LY GHOST . • ' • .19 LECTURE XXV. THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHUKCH, THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS 53 LECTURE XXVL THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 79 LECTURE XXVIL THE RESURRECTION OF THE IJODY .... 95 LECTURE XXVin. THE LIFE EVERLASTING ....... 123 LECTURE XXIX. JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH 147 LECTURE XXX. JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH DEFENDED; OR, THE DOC- TRINE OF GOOD WORKS . . . . . . 1G5 LECTURE XXXL FAITH FROM THE HOLY GHOST THROUGH TMi: W()I!I> AND THE SACRAMENTS 183 LECTURE XXXII. BAPTISM. ITS AUTHORITY AND DESIGN . . . 201 LECTURE XXXIIF. IJ.VPTISM. THE MODE ....... 223 iv CONTENTS. LECTURE XXXIV. PAGE BAPTISM. THE SUBJECTS 243 LECTURE XXXV THE SACRAMENT OF THE SUPPER. ITS INSTITUTION AND ITS MODE 261 t LECTURE XXXVL THE lord's SUPPER 289 LECTURE XXXVIL ' THE lord's supper. (SECOND LECTURE) . . . 309 LECTURE XXXVIIL AGAINST TRANSUBSTANTIATION 321 LECTURE XXXIX. THE POWER OF THE KEYS ...... 345 LECTURE XL. OF THANKFULNESS 3tJ3 LECTURE XLI. THE NATURE OF TRUE CONVERSION . . . .377 LECTURE XLII. THE NATURE OF GOOD WORKS 393 LECTURE XLIII. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 409 LECTURE XLIV. THE FIRST COMMANDMENT 425 LECTURE XLV. ON THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF IDOLATRY . . 443 LECTURE XLVI. ON PROFANE SWEARING 459 LECTURE XLVIL THE PUHPOSE OF THE SABBATH . . . . . ^77 LECTURE XXin. THE JUDGMENT BY CHRIST. NINETEENTH LQRD'S DAY. THE JUDGMENT BY CHRIST. He hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in right- eousness, by that man whom he hath ordained. — Ads xvii. 31. T^HE works of nature demonstrate the truth of the -*- revelation, that " God created tlie heavens and the earth." No power less than infihite, no skill less than all-wise, could produce from nothing, or maintain in its order, so vast, so varied, so harmonious a system. But when we search in the events of human life for evidences of God's moral government, the discovery is partial and even doubtful. Virtue is praised. There are systems and teachers of ethics. Religion is a sacred name. There is no land without temples, no nation without worshippers. Yet there are few who are nota- ble for virtue, none who are perfect. Religion fails to preserve the sanctity of truth, purity, and love. We cannot mistake the fact that men are governed by men more than by God. Their supposed interests, or at the best their natural affections, ramifying self, through family, friends, and humanity, decide for the most part the right and the wrong of every action. What con- fusion is the result ? The rich trample on the poor The poor conspire against the rich. The just man is persecuted because he is just. The vile, when success- ful, are flattered in their success. The calumniator stands erect upon the ashes of his victim. The tyrant grasps at other sceptres, and the blood-drenched earth (|uakes beneath artillery more destructive than heaven's 8 THE JUDGMENT BY CHRIST. [Lect. XXHI. thunders. Vice does often prove Its own punishment ! There are physical reasons why incautious excess should produce wretchedness, disease, and death. But does virtue escape ? It may be imperfect virtue, but has it immunity so far as it is virtue ? Is vice punished so far as it is vice ? Are rewards and punislmients 8o equally distributed as to show beyond a question that there is a power over all exact in justice ? We must go beyond this life and this world for the satisfaction of our anxious reason, and faith must be our guide. God alone can vindicate his ways to man. He has done so. The ages of heathen ignorance and dim Ju- daism have for us passed away. The voice of God calls aloud to our souls by the revelation of his son. '* Repent, ye children of men. No longer dream of se- curity in your sins, nor think because no fire at once descends to consume the wicked, that sin shall go un- punished. Though men may boast themselves without the fear of God, because one day is like another, and all things continue as they were ; though the hearts of the children of men are more fully set to do evil, because of long impunity, know this, that I, the Lord yo'ur God, your Creator and your Governor, am your Judge. I liave appointed a day in the which to judge the world in righteousness by that man whom I have ordained." My friends, careless and full of life and worldly hopes as we may be, every one of us must stand before the judgment-seat of God. We do not believe this. It cannot be that we realize it. If we did, this great thought would control our hearts, and press upon our minds, and rule our lives. But we forget it. The tre- mendous future is shut out from our view by tlie temp- Lect. XXIII.] THE JUDGMENT BY CHRIST. 9 tations of the present. O that God would by our holy text this day compel us to believe and tremble, that so we may come to believe and hope ! We have before us, The fact, tlie method, the person. First : Tlie fact. He has appointed a day in the which he will judge the world. Secondly : The method. He will judge the world in righteousness. Thirdly : The person. By that man whom he hath ordained. First: The fact. He yf'iW judge. Judgment signifies investigation of the conduct of a moral being, and the passing sentence upon him of reward or punishment, according to his merit or demerit. God alone is judge. He only has authority. None can judge him, for he is supreme, and his will is the law, and all other beings are his creatures, and there- fore his subjects. He does sometimes delegate his authority, as to parents or magistrates, but the judg- ment in his sight is void if it be not according to his law. He, therefore, is really the judge. It is, then, a most blasphemous thing to quarrel with God's doings, or to doubt the justice of his most holy law and right- eous sentences. It is a most presumptuous thing to sit in harsh judgment upon our fellow-men, our fellow- subjects and sinners ; for God has said, " Vengeance is mine, I will repay." God only is able to judge. None but he can discern the inner motives of the moral creature, and know his true character. None but he can discern the conse- 10 THE JUDGMENT BY CHRIST. [Lect. XXHI. quences of any moral act, or estimate its true goodness or evil. None but he can bestow reward, or execute wrath, after the decision is made. It is, then, a most silly and rebellious thing in us to try ourselves other- wise than by the divine will, or to form our conduct otherwise than by the divine rule. Rather let us ask him to search us and try us, and see if there be any evil way in us, and lead us in the way ever- lasting. God will judge his creatures. Judgment is an attribute of sovereignty. There would be no divine government, and the divine laws would be inoperative and void, if God were not to reward his obedient, and punish his "disobedient sub- jects. The Epicureans were justly considered no bet- ter than atheists for teaching that the divinity had no regard to the conduct of men ; and those in our time are as bad who strive to think that they may sin with- out God's taking note or vengeance. It is essential to his justice. For, as he is the Creator, so he is the teacher and pattern for all his intelligent creatures, whose only excellence is in being like him. But, if he never visits iniquity with wrath, or righteousness with favor, if the inequalities of this life are never to be compensated in another, his creatures cannot know from him which is the right or which the wrong. They can have no motive to do well, no determent from do- ing ill. Nay, his very nature is such that he is a con- suming fire to all that is evil, and the light of joy and peace to all that is good. So that tliey who deny a judgment, destroy all morals, and would abandon the world to a fearful and most destructive confusion of chance. Leot. XXIII.J THE JUDGMENT BY CHRIST. H God will judge the world. By " the world," we must understand men, as the only moral agents in it. Each man has a particular judgment when he passes into the eternal world by death. For then the spirit returns unto God who gave it, and cannot fail to meet his favor or condemnation. Thus, in the parable, we see Lazarus enjoying his reward in Abraham's bosom, but the rich man lifting up his eyes, being in torments. The penitent thief was promised immediate admission into Paradise. Paul desired to depart and to be with Christ. And Peter tells us that the spirits of the old world who despised the long-suffering of God in the days of Noah, are in prison. This should make us very solemn and pious in our pi-eparation for death, for at any moment death may come and usher us before God, after which no repentance can avail for our deliv- erance from the wrath of God, which burns unto the lowest hell. But this judgment is not the great judgment oi wiiich the apostle speaks. Nor will all the penalties of sin, nor all the rewards of righteousness, be dispensed until both soul and body shall receive them after the resurrection. Nor will the justice of God be mani- fested unto all men, except all men be present as wit- nesses of the judgment of all men. He will judge the world. The whole world shall be judged. Not one shall escape. Before him shall be gathered all nations. " Every one of us must appear before the judgment- seat of Christ." The rich and the poor, the bond and the free, the learned and the unlearned, the pious and the unbelieving. God will send forth his holy angels to compel every soul before him. His piercing eye shall 12 THE JUDGMENT BY CHRIST. [Lect. XXHI. detect every hiding fugitive. His flames shall bifrn the terror-stricken, wretched souls that would cover themselves under rocks and mountains. Yet the individuality of each sinner will not be lost in the vast multitude. Each will be as distinct, and know himself to be as distinct in the eye of the Judge, as though he stood alone and there were no sinner but he. The inquiry will be into all the actions of each, — his thoughts, his words, his deeds. For every evil thought and every idle word (Oh what a scrutiny !) will he bring each of us into judgment. Each man shall receive the reward of his own works, whether they be good or whether they be evil. As we have been instrumental in leading others to sin or to right- eousness, we shall share in their punishment or reward. But otherwise, no one will suffer for his neighbor, or can thrust his neighbor into his room. Our sins are our own acts ; we must bear them ourselves, unless by faith we have covered ourselves with the righteousness of Christ. In the sight of the whole world we shall be judged. God will bring every man's work into judgment. The evil thoughts of lust, dishonest longings, or envious meanness, which we had hidden in our hearts from our closest friends, will then be apparent. Our secret sins, at the detection of which we would now burn with shame, before the eyes of the good, the eyes of our evil companions, all will appear without cunning, pal- liation, or excuse. Each one's conscience will then be fearfully awake. We shall feel intensely our own shame. We shall see each one the shame of the rest. The sinner will condemn himself All sinners will condemn him. There will be no more a folse public Lect. XXin.] THE JUDGMENT BY CHRIST. 13 opinion ; no more conspiracies of hand joining in hand to make the wrong appear the right ; no more standing by friends to cover up iniquities. The whole world, condemned themselves, will condemn eacli sinner of the whole world. Oh what infamy for the sinner ! oh what illustrious' fame for the good! God hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world. His vengeance, though it delay, does not sleep. The day is fixed. His determination is made. He is now recording our every act, and word, and thought, against that day. So that even now our account is making up, our judgment is preparing. The day is fixed. It will come, and come in all its terrible truth. When that day shall come, no man knoweth. They profane the scriptures who dare to pronounce it. But the same scriptures teach that it will be at the end of the world. Not at the end of this dispensation, as some interpret the word. That is not the usual meaning of the word world in Scripture ; and we have no right to change a meaning the Holy Ghost has given, when the Holy Ghost does not change it. The judgment must be after the final resurrection, for all the dead will be there. It is to be followed immediately by the eternal punishment of the wicked, and the eternal life of the rio-hteous. It shall be when Christ comes in great glory, and all his holy angels with him, and he shall sit upon the throne of his glory. It shall be at the con- summation of the things of this world, or else the design of the judgment in vindicating all God's ways to man will not be met. Ah, my friends, whether that day be remote or near, the day of our death is near, and after death there can be no preparation made 14 THE JUDGMENT BY CHRIST. [Lect.XXHI. to meet it. Would that the time, wasted in curious questions about times and seasons, were spent in holy walking with God, and preaching and telling the story of Christ crucified. Secondly : The method of the judgment. He will judge the world in righteousness. In righteousness. Not in arbitrary severity. God will be angry with the wicked in that day. But the anger of God is not like the wrath of man, unjust and cruel. The wicked are his enemies, but he will, even in judging his enemies, lay "judgment to the line, and righteousness to the plummet." He will try them fairly, and only by the law he has given them, and the eternal principles of right from which that law pro- ceeded. Their own conscience, the conscience of all moral beings, shall confess him to be just. Nor will he judge partially or leniently. He has declared that he will by no means clear the guilty ; that every man shall receive the reward of his deeds ; that the wages of sin is death ; and that the wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment. That there will be degrees of wickedness in the persons judged, one cannot question ; and, consequently, there will be degrees of punishment ; but the judgment will be rigid, no weak sympathy for the criminal will melt the judge to pardon or reduce the penalty. Stern, unbending, perfect righteousness will determine all. But will there be no mercy ? Yes ; but mercy through righteousness. God will be as faithful to his promises as to his law. He has promised pardon to Christ for all his people, because Christ for them hath fulfilled the law and made it honorable ; carried their sorrows, and borne their sins upon the tree. There Lect. XXIII.] THE JUDGMENT BY CHRIST 15 was inercy in the provision of the atoning righteous- ness of the Son of God. There will be justice in acquitting for the sake of that righteousness all who, according to the promise, have trusted in Christ as their surety, their advocate, and redeemer. Thus, even while the sinner saved through Christ enters into eter- nal life, the justice of God will burn the more brightly, because he pardoned not without a ransom. Vain, therefore, are all the sinner's hopes of escape from the mere goodness or the mere justice of God. Goodness cannot save him. Justice will not let him escape. There is no safety from the righteousness of God, but under the covering wings of a Saviour's righteousness. Thirdly : The 'person of the judge. That man whom he hath ordained. This we know from other scriptures is Jesus Christ our Lord. He is the man ordained mediator in all God's dealings with fallen man ; ordained as the Sav- iour ; ordained as the advocate ; ordained as the king ; ordained as the judge. He is called that man, not because he is merely man, for he is also God, equal with God. For, indeed, who that is not God could bear the tremendous majesty that shall cover the judgment-throne? Who that is not God can exert the omniscient scrutiny essential to that judgment of righteousness ? Who that is not God (for if not God, he must be a creature and a servant) can judge the servants of the Most High ? But he is called " that man,'''' because, for reasons we shall soon discover, it is Christ, God incarnate as the > mediator, who shall execute the judgment of that great day. Christ is the eternal Word ; the Word that was God, and that was made flesh and dwelt among us, his glory 16 THE JUDGMENT BY CHRIST. [Lect. XXHI. being that of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. It is the office of the eternal Word to manifest the godhead. By him the woi'lds were made. By him all providence is administered, and by him the world will be judged. But it is the Word incarnate by whom God will judge the world. This is because Christ undertook in the covenant of redemption the full vindication of the law. Because of the intercession of Christ the judgment has been suspended. It is, therefore, due to eternal justice, and to the honor of the law, that Christ should adjudge the full penalty of that law upon all who, notwithstanding his atonement, have refused to repent and believe, that they might be saved through the righteousness of God in Christ. It is meet that the world should see that Christ is not the minis- ter of sin, but that even he who opened the way of righteous mercy should execute a righteous vengeance on the impenitent. Nay, his own honor, as the Avell- beloved of God, demands that he should be uplifted in glory and power, over all those who insulted and reviled and persecuted himself and his people. Christ, also, has redeemed his people. God has accepted the ransom price. .He has, therefore, given him his people, even all who believed upon his name. Therefore, to make his glory as a Saviour most fully manifest, the Father appoints him judge ; that with his own lips, those out of which went forth his atoning life, those from which have proceeded so many interces- sory prayers, he might pronounce the acquittal of his people ; and, with his own hands, that were nailed upon the cross, and so long stretched forth in petition, he might put upon their heads the crown of life. Lect. XXIIL] the judgment by CHRIST. 17 Thus the apostle declares that God has given assur- ance of Christ being the judge of the world, by raising him up from the dead, because in raising him from the dead, God the Father by the Eternal Spirit declared Christ's merit in the covenant complete, and his atone- ment finished. Here is great comfort for the believer. Sinner though he has been, and is, he shall meet no angry judge. The judge is he who once was his advocate, his elder brother, his sympathizing friend, his everlast- ing righteousness. Jesus sits upon the throne, — Jesus, who saves his people from their sins. But it is a hvige aggravation of terror to the impen- itent, that they shall see in their judge the Saviour they rejected and scorned. All hope will be at an end when the Saviour condemns. They then will be willing to give worlds, if they had them, for one of those gracious invitations, or of those hours of plead- ing mercy which they once scorned in such frequency. Then shall they be without excuse, for they would not believe and repent, until the very blood of the cross witnesses against them. Oh, how fierce the anger of love like Christ's turned into unpitying wrath ! APPLICATION. The wisdom of preparing for the judgment. We cannot avoid it. We cannot abide it. We cannot resist it. The method of preparing for the judgment. By meeting God now. In his word as the test and rule of our conduct. In prayer as in his searching presence. 18 THE JUDGMENT BY CHRIST. [Lect. XXHI. In Christ as the only righteousness. The folly of postponing the preparation. We may die. We may become hardened. We need all our time. lp:cture XXIV. THE DIVINITY, PERSONALITY, AND WOEK, THE HOLY GHOST. TWENTIETH LORD'S DAY. " I believe in the Holy Ghost." THE DIVINITY, PERSONALITY, AND WORK, OF THE HOLY GHOST. Quest. LIII. What dost thou heUeve concerning the YIoi^y Ghost? Ans. First, that he is true and eternal God with the Father and the Son; secondly, that he is also given me to make me by a true faith partaker of Christ and all his benefits, that he may comfort me and abide with me forever. 'T^HE lesson for to-day brings before us the doctrine -^ of scripture concerning the Third Person of the ever-blessed Trinity, the Holy Ghost ; and is divided into two parts : the first, asserting his true and proper divinity, coequal and coessential with the Father and the Son ; the second, his official work, or the gracious ben- efits conferred by his personal agency upon all believers. First : The true and proper divinity of the Holy Grhost. This is an essential article in the faith of the Catho- lic church from the beginning and ever since. Devout Christians of all ages have been unanimous in cherish- ing this belief, not only because it is clearly taught in the divine Word, but also because it is an especial source of religious comfort and strength. It is found universally, that, as they who deny the necessity and reality of tlie atonement, deny the divinity of Christ, so they who deny the necessity and reality of a new birth, deny the divinity of the Holy Ghost, and vice versa ; as they who deny the divinity of Christ, deny the atonement, so they, who deny the divinity of 22 THE DIVINITY, PERSONALITY, [Lect. XXIV. the Holy Ghost, deny the new birth or regenera- tion. Just as our sense of sin and guilt makes the divinity of Christ the Saviour precious to us, because no merit less than infinite can suffice for our justifi- cation with God, so our sense of ignorance, infirmity, and corruption makes the divinity of the Comforter precious, because none less than almighty energy can sufllice for our re-creation in the image of God unto eternal life. And as the evangelical Christian is never weary of meditating on the excellence of the atone- ment, and of him through whose vicarious righteous- ness it is accomplished, though the ti'uth be never so familiar to him, so does he delight to confirm, by re- peated examination of scripture testimony, his faith in the divine perfections of that gracious agent by whom he is brought out of darkness into light, and from the depths of sin to the heights of glory. Nor let any be impatient of this discussion, because, as they think, their faith in the article before us is settled, so that they need no further instruction on it ; for, in the first place, with all deference to the ordinary information of professing Christians, it may be questioned whether there are not at least some in every congregation who have not even glanced over the scriptural evidence of this doctrine ; or, if they have, are prepared to state it for the satisfaction of an inquirer, or defend it against a caviller, as they are bound to do, should occasion re- quire. Besides, it is the ofiice of the blessed Para- clete (Comforter), whose divine honor we celebrate, to teach us all things, and to bring all things to our remembrance ; nor can we hope to enjoy such great benefits, except we use the means by which he imparts them. Were the exhibition of Christian doctrine to Lect. XXIV.] AND WORK OF THE HOLY GHOST. 23 be suspended because most Christians are acquainted with it, the younger disciples would soon be found ignorant, and all forms of mischievous error would grow up in the church from the absence of teaching the con- trary. Nor are we without reason of fear that this par- ticular doctrine, fundamental and edifying as it is, has, especially of late, received too little consideration. It must be obvious to you, that, though the doctrine of the Holy Ghost pervades the whole Scriptures, it is not so formally or elaborately expressed as that con- cerning the mediator Christ Jesus ; and the reason is, that our Lord being presented to us in a human form, and being indeed man, there was greater need that his personal divinity should be assured ; and also, as the basis of our justification should be fully apprehended by us, there was greater need that his work should be thoroughly explained ; Avhile the purely spiritual nature of the Comforter, and the inexplicable character of the process through which he accomplishes his work in the hearts of men, render it necessary only that his agency and his office should be revealed. The Scripture answers no idle or curious questions, nor will open its living oracles for any who are not of a humble and childlike mind. Hence, a much larger portion of both the creed and the catechism is given to declarations respecting Christ than to those respecting the Holy Ghost. We may, however, regret (if an expression of the kind be allowable) that the church has not pro- vided us with more instruction on this subject ; but if the treatment be brief, it should be, as far as possible, clear and explicit. It must also be remembered that, while the doctrine of the Trinity is traceable by the liglit of the gospel. 24 THE DIVINITY, PERSONALITY, [Lect. XXIV. throughout the older Scriptures, it is empliatically a doctrine of the New Testament ; and that the titles of the three eternally distinct and coexistent persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, though descriptive (at least for aught we know) of the ineffable relations existing between them from eternity, are throughout the evangelical books descriptive of their several offices in the plan of redemption. With this preface let us now most reverentially con- sider under three heads the third adoi'able person of the ever-blessed Trinity. I. His name^ — The Holy Ghost. n. His Ahtmci jjersonality. in. His true divinity. I. His name : — The Holy Ghost. Gfhost and sjm^it are, in our English Scriptures, synonymous and interchangeable terms. Thus (Liike xxiii. 46) we read : " And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said. Father, into thy hands I com- mend my spirit ; and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.''' The original for both words is the same (com- pare the Greek of Matt, xxvii. 50, and of John xix. 30). Ghost is a purely English word ; spirit, a Latin word anglicized ; and both translate a Hebrew word (jyn ruah^, which, when applied to living beings, is, throughout the Old Testament, translated spirit. Both the Hebrew and Greek terms are figurative, the He- brew signifying primarily ivind, and the Latin breath, and both are intended to express the immaterial or unsubstantial nature of the class of being which we call spirit. In those languages, no nearer approach could be made to a designation of existence not bodily. The sound of the words shows their origin, — ruah Lect. XXIV.] AND WORK OF THE HOLY GHOST. 25 resembling that made by the wind ; spi-ritus that made by the breath. Our English word ghost seems to be radical and primary ; at least its etymology is now too obscure to be traceable. It is possible that it was adopted for the same reason of sound, ghos-t^ or gheis-t, though the conjecture is very doubtful, many English words, having no relation to wind or breath, having the same sibilant sound. Certain it is, that, while the He- bi-ew word is u'ind, and the Latin breathy the English ghost is never used but to signify either the spirit of man (and that after its separation, or at the moment of its separation, from the body) and the adorable Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost. Spirit is also used in both testaments for an extraordinary faculty, as a spirit of prophecy, or a spirit of divination, and as Daniel is said to have had " an excellent spirit " (compare Dan. v. 12, and vi. 3) ; and again for a prevailing temper or disposition, as a spirit of fear, or of bondage, or of the world, or of meekness, or of heaviness ; and there are other uses of the term, which need not be cited. No such use, however, is made of our word ghost, which has this advantage, that it not only translates the orig- inal, but gives the exact idea in the venerable name of the Holy Ghost. Still, as it is not the word in the original, we can avail ourselves of it only as an expli- cative. When, therefore, the Scriptures, or we, follow- ing the Scriptures, speak of the infinitely glorious Third Person of the Trinity as the Holy Ghost, or Spirit, it is expressive of his simple essence as a living, intelli- gent, active being, without body or material substance, as when our Lord says : " God is a spirit ; " and, again, when the disciples were affrighted on his appearance among them after his resurrection, " supposing thai 26 THE DIVINITY, PERSONALITY, [Lect. XXIV they had seen a spirit," " he said unto them : . . . Be- hold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me and see ; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have." But he is termed The Holy Spirit to distinguish him by that epithet emphatically from all created spirits, which, at their best estate, are infinitely below him in holiness, and capable of sin. He is infinitely, essentially, and unchangeably holy. But, as The Third Person has this infinitely holy spirituality of essence (or being) in common with the First and Second Persons, it may be asked : Why he is specially and only designated as The Holy Spikit or Ghost ? This may be at least partially (for there must be mysteries here into which Ave cannot enter) and satisfactorily answered from the character of the operations specially attributed to him, and particularly his work in believers ; of which we shall soon have occasion to speak more at large. The Father, throughout the development of the divine purposes, is exhibited as the representative of the godhead, direct- ing and acknowledging the several operations. It is his will, as the will of the godhead, which is through all ; but when the godhead speaks or visibly acts, it is ever by the Second Person or the Son ; who, for this reason, is called " the Word ; " " the bi'ightness (or shining forth) of his glory, and the express image (or open representation) of his person (or existence)." So, when the godhead acts silently, invisibly, and effi- ciently (that is carrying into effect or consummately) the divine purposes as manifested and operated by the Word, it is by the Holy Ghost, who acts wholly and solely in a purely spiritual manner. Especially, as we Lect. XXIV.] AND WORK OF THE HOLY GHOST. 27 said, is this the case with his divine work in tlie souls of behevers, and in their bodies as related to their souls in the Christian life. All his effects there (we say effects, for all his works are effects, not preparatory or instrumental processes) are noiseless and invisible, or purely spiritual, as "quickening," "converting," "con- vincing," " enlightening," " strengthening," " sanctify- ing." Hence is he made known unto us as the Spirit, the Holy Ghost. The name is also characteristic of the mode by which he proceeds from the Father. By the Son the Father speaks ; but the Holy Ghost, in answer to the prayer of the Son, is breathed or spirit- ually sent through the words and the works of the Son, to effect their purposes. Thus the Saviour not only spake to the disciples after his resurrection, but, by the mediatorial prerogative, Avhich was then his, " he breatlied upon them and saitli unto them. Receive ye the Holy Ghost." This breathing, however, was only a type or perceptible sign of the spiritual method by which the Holy Ghost is imparted, and for the con- vincing of the disciples not yet weaned from the habit of sensible manifestations under the old law ; so was also the shape of fire hovering and descending like a dove on the head of Christ, as he came up from his baptism by John, and " the rushing mighty wind " that " filled the place " where the disciples were sitting at the Pentecost, and the " cloven tongues like as of fire " that " sat upon each of them." For the Holy Ghost, being pure spirit, cannot be breath, or wind, or fire ; though each of those elements may be employed by divine pity of our weakness to represent in a lively manner his mysterious, mighty, and purifying influ- ences. And vou Avill observe that all the effects 28 THE DIVINITY, PERSONALITY, [Lect. XXIV. wrought simultaneously with those perceptible exhibi- tions, were spiritual. The baptism by fire was the anointment of our Lord's humanity with the spirit of wisdom and understanding, " the spirit of counsel and of might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord ; " according to Isaiah's prophecy. So with the gifts to the disciples at the Pentecost. Their tongues, or any of their corporeal faculties, were not altered ; but through the energies of the Holy Ghost within them, they had new spiritual faculties to use them in the divine service. There is but one work or effect of the Holy Ghost, which was not apparently of this purely spiritual character, and that was the conception of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Ghost ; but the mys teries of the incarnation are far beyond the limits of our inquiry. The effects wrought in physical nature by the Spirit of God at the beginning of oilr system, are to be regarded as a gigantic type of the new spirit- ual creation in Christ Jesus ; * and even in them the operation of the Spirit was in giving efficiency to the Will uttered by the Word; for, at each step of the process, we read that the Lord said. Let the thing be. There was a Trinity in the creation, as, indeed, the learned Jews failed not to pei'ceive, though they under- stood not the doctrine and had not the term, — the Will, the Word, and the Energy ; the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. But, as we observed in our preface, it is with reference to the plan of redemption that the names by which the three persons of the godhead are made known to us, are used in the evangelical writings. IL The distinct personalitt/ of the Holy Ghost. * In both cases it L^ giving lifn which is imiiaatei-iaL Lect. XXIV.] AND WORK OF THE HOLY GHOST. 29 The testimony of the Scriptures is of such a kind, that if we prove by it the distinct personahty of the Holy Ghost, his divinity must be acknowledged as a necessary consequence. Hence, those who object to the belief that the Holy Ghost is the third coequal person of the Trinity, are divided into two classes : one, like the Arians, considering that sacred name to signify a mere influence of God ; the other, like the Sabellians, considering it to be another title of the Father. Had we time, it would be well to examine and refute both these heresies in detail, but such par- ticularity is not required. It will appear from the use we shall make of Scripture-testimony, that the Holy Ghost is a beinc/, not an accident or quality or mode of being ; an agent, not an action, and an agent dis- tinct from the two other divine agents,* Father and Son ; and, also, that will, affection, action, and au- thority are predicated of (or ascribed to) him. Proof of these several points demonstrate his distinct person- ality. 1. In the first place, it is remarkable, that, while the Greek Tnei/xa, with its article and qualifying adjective TO aycov, is in the neuter gender, the pronouns and other relatives to it are in the masculine, showing, as any one acquainted with language knows, that -the Spirit referred to is a person and not a thing : " But the Com- forter, the Holy Ghost, whom the Father Avill send in my name, he shall teach you all things." Again, " If I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart I will send him unto you ; and when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin," etc. AvTov : 'E^etvos. Such language clearly designates, not * Heber's Banipton Lectures, Lect. I. p. 46. 30 THE DIVINITY, PERSONALITY, [Lect. XXIV. an influence or an effect, but a distinct, personal, intel- ligent agent ; besides which, Comforter is a personal appellation. 2. Personal properties are ascribed to him. a. Will. As in 1 Cor. xii. 4-11, where the apostle, having described the "diversities of gifts" and "ad- ministrations," says: "All these worketh (energizeth} that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will." h. Knowledge. As 1 Cor. ii. 10, 11 : " God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit ; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea the deep things of God ; for what man knovveth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him ? Even so, the things of God knoweth no man (no one) but the Spirit of God." So, also, our Lord (John xiv. 26) : " He shall teach you all things ; " therefore, he knows all things. c. Affections. Rom. xv. 30 : " Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit." d. Power. Rom. xv. 13 : " That ye may abound in hope and in the power of the Holy Ghost ; " and xix. 12, " through mighty signs and wonders by the power of the Holy Ghost." e. Liableness to offence and resistance. Matt. xii. 31, 32 : " All other sin and blasphemy (blasphemy is insult to God) may be forgiven unto men ; but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost (or blasphemy of the Spirit) shall not be forgiven unto men. And who- soever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him ; but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world nor in the world to come." And Acts v. 3, 4, Lect. XXIV.] AND WORK OF THE HOLY GHOST. 31 where Peter says to Ananias : " Why liath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost ? . . . . Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God." Again, 9th : " How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord ? " So, also, the martyr 'Stephen, vii. 51: "Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; as your fathers did, so do ye ; " and the apostle (Ephes. iv. 30) : " Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God ; where- by ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." 3. Personal acts are ascribed to him. Instances of this are very numerous, and it is impos- sible to make any candid reader of the Bible believe that the Holy Ghost is, in nearly every passage where his operations are referred to, spoken of otherwise than as a personal agent. " Moving," " striving," " quick- ening," " descending," " testifying," " convincing," " interceding," and many other actions that occur to your memory, all belong to a personal agent. Take two passages for examples : Acts xiii. 2, 4. " The Holy Ghost said : Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. ... So they, being sent of the Holy Ghost, departed." Acts viii. 39, in the account of the Ethiopian eunuch's conver- sion, we read that "the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip." But especially his personal agency is asserted in the principal divine works of our crea- tion and redemption. Gen. i. 2 : " In the beginning the Spirit of God moved on the face of the waters." In the incarnation he overshadowed the Virgin. At our Lord's entrance upon his official work, the Holy Ghost visibly descended upon him, as he came up from his baptism by John, according to the prophecy 32 THE DIVINITY, PERSONALITY, [Lect. XXIV of Isaiah that " the Spirit of the Lord " would anoint him as the Saviour. In his death (Heb. ix. 14) he, " through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God." In his resurrection, he was quickened by the power of the Spirit (Eph. i. 20 ; ii. 1), and was " declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness " (Rom. i. 4) ; see, also, 1 Peter iii. 18 ; 1 Cor. XV. 45. So, also, in the application of the benefits purchased by the Mediator to the souls of believers, which is everywhere ascribed to the Holy Ghost. In their regeneration or quickening with a divine life ; they are born of the Spirit, and quickened by the Spirit, (John iii. 3 ; Ephes. ii. 1.) In their adoption : " For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God," (Rom. viii. 14-17.) In their sanctification : " Ye are washed, ye are sanctified, ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God," (1 Cor. vi. 11.) " Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you ? " (iii. 16.) In their graces: Faitli, hope, love, strength, comfort, assurance, and all the blessed, hol}^ consequences flow- ing from them, which we know, without noAV citing texts sufficiently familiar, are all ascribed to the direct agency of the Holy Ghost, and are summed up in the apostolical benediction : " The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all;" "the communion of the Holy Ghost " there signifying participation in all the benefits of the Holy Ghost, promised to and be- stowed upon all believers. Lect. XXIV.] AND WORK OF THE HOLY GHOST. 33 4. Lest, however, some might yet, though in the face of all these proofs to the contrary, continue to assert that these many mentions of the Holy Ghost refer only to acts of God the almighty Father, and do not imply distinct personalities in the godhead, let us call to our minds several passages in which such distinctness is manifest. Thus, at the unction of our Lord, (Luke iii. 22,) we read: "And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven which said : Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased." Here is the Father speaking from heaven to the Son on earth, and the Holy Ghost descending from heaven on the Son. Ao-ain, in the divinely prescribed formula of baptism: "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," (th(» three present at the baptism of our Head.) Nothing but the extremest prejudice could bring one to believe that these several names belong to only a single person, and do not intend three distinct persons in the godhead. So with the apostolical benediction : " The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, (the grace of his purchase,) the love of God, (the Father representing the propitiated o-odhead,) and the communion of the Holy Ghost, (or participation in the energies of the Holy Ghost by whom the grace is applied to us, and " the love of God shed abroad in our hearts,") which is according to the interpretation given in Ephes. ii. 18: "For through him (our Lord Jesus) we have access by one Spn-it unto the Father." Thus our Lord (John xiv. 16) : " I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, (mark, not another Comfort, but another Comforter, 3 34 THE DIVINITY, PERSONALITY, [Lect. XXIV. an agent like himself,) that he may abide with you forever." Again, 26 : " The Comforter which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things." Here is the Son asking the Father that he would send another per- sonal Comforter. We might heap texts upon texts to prove the distinct personalit}^ of the Holy Ghost, but these specimens of the several classes of proofs are quite enough to establish the doctrine. III. His true divinity. This has, in reality, been asserted by many of the texts cited under the former heads, but is corroborated by several classes of scriptural proofs, some from each of which may be added. 1. There are many places where the name of God is used interchangeably with that of the Holy Grhost^ ■ or Spirit of God. Thus : — Isaiah vi. 8, 9, the prophet says : "I heard the voice of the Lord saying, .... Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed but understand not ; and see ye indeed but perceive not," &c. The apostle (Acts xxviii. 25) quoting this passage says : " Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, saying. Go unto this people and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and understand not ; and seeing ye shall see, and per- ceive not," &c. So the Psalmist, xcv. 8-11, speaks of the people tempting and proving the Lord ; and this is termed by the martyr Stephen a resisting of the Holy Ghost (Acts vii. 51) : " Ye stiff-necked, and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost ; as your fathers did so do ye." Lect. XXIV.] AND WORK OF THE HOLY GHOST. 35 Peter, in the condemnation of Ananias (Acts v. 3, 4), says first : " Why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Ghost ? " and then : " Thou hast not lied unto men but unto God." In the annunciation by the angel (Luke i. 35) : " The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee ; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God." The apostle Paul declares, (2 Tim. iii. 16,) " that all scripture is given by inspiration of God." The apostle Peter, (2 Pet. i. 21,) that "prophecy came not in the old time by the will of man ; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 2. Attributes transcendently divine are given to the Holy Ghost. The offices ascribed to him imply supreme perfec- tions. For how can he who " searcheth all things, even the deep things of God," be other than infinite ; or he who teacheth all things, otherwise than omniscient; or he who dwells at one and the same time in all be- lievers, otherwise than omnipresent ; or he who is the author of life and the worker of all miracles, otherwise than omnipotent ; or he who was before all things and continueth in heaven the sanctifier of the church, other- wise than eternal ? So we find him denominated em- phatically " the eternal Spirit," " the Spirit of wis- dom," " the Spirit of life," " the Spirit of power," " the Spirit of glory." The Epistle to the Ephesians, in its doctrinal portion, is wholly taken up with the "mighty working," or sovereign operations of the Holy Ghost, imder various appellations expressive of an all- pervading energy. 36 THE DIVINITY, PERSONALITY, [Lect. XXIV. 3. So with the names of God, which are given to him, as lias been shown in aforecited texts and manv others. 4. And divine homage is claimed for him.. Paul swears by him, or protests appealing to him as men do to God in a solemn oath. " I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost." Blasphemy is a term especially and only signifying insult to God ; yet, as we have seen, sin against the Holy Ghost is the worst kind of blas- phemy. The body inhabited by the Holy Ghost is a temple of God, to defile which is sin against the indwelling divinity. So with the formula of baptism, and the apostolical benediction. 5. The same consummated acts of God are ascribed to each of the three divine persons. As the incar- nation of Christ, who was sent of the Father, who came, and who was conceived by the Holy Ghost ; his crucifixion ; when " it pleased the Father to bruise him ; " when he " gave himself a ransom for many ; " and " offered himself through the eternal Spirit ; " his resurrection, when the Father raised him up, he rose, and was quickened by the Holy Ghost. So with the correspondent acts of divine grace to believers in Christ. In a word, unless we deny the personality of the Holy Ghost, which we have seen is to deny the Scripture, he must be considered a divine person, or God. Secondly : Tlie official loorh of the Holy Ghost ; or the benefits conferred by his 2^^>'sonal agency upon all believers. ^' That he is also given me to make me by a true Lect. XXIV.] OF GOD, THE HOLY GHOST. 37 faitli partaker of Chi'ist and all his benefits ; that he may comfort me, and abide with me forever." The operations of the Holy Ghost are distinguished by theologians as extraordinary and ordinary. The extraordinary are his operations on persons selected for special ministries in the church, who, therefore, need to be endowed with peculiar gifts : as the prophets, lead- ers, and teachers of ancient Israel, who were employed by the Holy Ghost, and certified by divine proofs, to make known the will of God ; so, the apostle Peter says : " The prophecy came not in the old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost : " and the apostles of the New Testament, who were employed and certified in like manner to make further revelations of the truth as it is in Jesus. The compilation of their writings, or such of them as God has seen fit to select, which we have in the sacred Scriptures, constitutes the word of God to us, — our sole and supreme and sufficient rule of faith and practice. The miraculous powers of the apostles and other eminent members of the primitive church, such as healing the sick, speaking with various tongues, were the signs that God was with them in their work of establishing Christianity, and are called " gifts of the Holy Ghost." When the canon of Scripture was complete, and the church fairly estab- lished, these extraordinary operations of the Holy Ghost ceased, there being no longer any need of them. The ordinary operations of the Holy Ghost are those which he performs toward men under the teaching of the gospel, but especially towards Christians. For, although the Catechism here speaks only of his work in believers, (because it is rather a catechism of Christian 38 OF GOD, THE HOLY GHOST. [Lect. XXIV. experience than one of systematic theology), there are offices of the Spirit accompanying the truth toward unregenerate men : such as causing them, in some degree, to feel the force of the truth, to see the wrong of sin, to dread the wratli of God, and to acknowledge the necessity of religion. This is called by several scriptures " the striving of the Holy Ghost " (" my Spirit shall not always strive with men "), because it is exerted upon those who resist his merciful influences. So the martj'r Stephen : " Ye stiff-necked and uncir- cumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost ; as your fathers did, so do ye ; " and the apostle Paul, using another figure : " Quench not the Spirit." These operations in men who, notwithstand- ing, reject the gospel, resemble those which he directs toward the elect, but differ in their effect, the latter being always efficient to salvation, the former efficient in greater condemnation ; as the design differs, in the one class being the full adoption of Christ's people, in tlie other being the vindication of the divine truth and justice. Hence they are sometimes described as the resistible and the irresistible graces of the Spirit. Our lesson confines us to the work of the Holy Ghost in those who are saved, which is stated in three particulars : 1, A participation of Christ and all his benefits. 2. Religious comfort. 3. Eternal indwell- ing. 1. A participation of Christ and all his benefits. The Holy Ghost, as has before been shown, is, according to the plan of redemption, the agent by whom the purpose of the Father, and the mediatorial work of the Son, are made efficient. Thus, it is the purpose of the Father (representing the Godhead) to Lect. XXIV.] OF GOD, THE HOLY GHOST. 39 save ; the Son, by his mediatorial work, provides the method of salvation, and the Holy Ghost effects the purpose of God by the application of the work of Christ to the sinner. a. The redemption proceeds upon a system of repre- sentation. The sinner must be covered by the Sav- iour's suretyship : until he is thus in Christ, he is exposed to the wrath of God and all its terrible evils, but when in Christ, he enjoys through Christ all that is necessary for everlasting life, as a member of the body of which Christ is the head. Union to Christ, therefore, must be first ; the benefits of grace are con- sequential. So the Catechism, " The Holy Ghost . . . is given me to make me by a true faith partaker of Christ." Here the parallel between the history of Christ and that of each of his people is remarkable. Christ was conceived of the Holy Ghost. The life of the Son of God in the flesh was begun by the efficient action of the Holy Ghost ; .the life of the Christian in Christ must be begun by the power of the Holy Ghost. " Except a man be born again," said our Lord to Nico- demus, " he cannot see the kingdom of God Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, 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." Of course this is figurative language, but most expressive. It implies that a new spiritual or moral or religious life is given to the soul whicli before was dead to all spiritual things, and that it is given or implanted by the gracious power of the Holy Ghost. This act of the Holy Ghost is, therefore, the beginning of our Christian life. Before the Holy Ghost thus acts upon our souls, we can, as regards spiritual things. 40 OF GOD, THE HOLY GHOST. [1 ect. XXIV. know nothing, foi" we are without perception ; feel nothing, for we are without sense ; do nothing, for we are without strength. Now the method of imparting this new life, which can come only through Christ, and be exercised only in Christ, is not arbitrary, but is by brinp-incf us to a union with Christ. Our Lord himself compares it to a grafting of a branch (living indeed, as we all live before regeneration, but in an evil life) upon a good stem, which speedily sends through it its own better life. Christ is the stem, we are the branches ; the Holy Ghost is the ingrafter. We cannot graft in ourselves, Christ does not graft us in, but the Holy Ghost, bringing us close to Christ, makes us partakers of Christ's life. Thus again, the instru- ment of regeneration by the Holy Ghost is the truth of Christ : " Being born again, not, of corruptible seed, but of incoi'ruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever." It may be asked if there be not a divine work on the soul itself necessary before the word can have an effect, inasmuch as we are utterly insensible to truth before the new life is given ? Doubtless we are so insensible, until by the Spirit we are regenerated ; but doubtless, also, the Holy Ghost works always as the Spirit of Christ, through whose merit alone the giving of the new life is justified ; nay, the life given is the life of Christ ; Christ's life in us ; " Christ in us the hope of glory ; " " Christ formed in us." We may not limit the sovereign power of the Holy Ghost ; and that he does sometimes sanctify children from the .womb, grafting them into Christ before they can understand the truth, we should not dare to deny ; but it is certain that the Holy Spirit, with persons of understanding, ever and Lect.XXIV.] of god, the HOLY GHOST. 41 (jiilv works by the truth. He prepares the soil for the seed, and the seed for the soil ; but the sowing and the preparation of the soil, so far as we can see, go together. Nay, there is a penetrating fitness in the word of God, whence it is called " the sword of the Spirit ; " and " tin- word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividmg asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and mar- row, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Hence, also, the necessity of " preaching the gospel to every creature," for it is when Christ is lifted up that " he "draws men unto him " by his Spirit. But tiie sword must be wielded and directed by the almighty hand of the Spirit. So the preaching of the irospel ever precedes the conversion of sinners. Then, on the other hand, the soul receives the gospel, and life through the gospel by faith ; and faith is a personal act, though a gift of God. So our Lord : " He that be- lie veth on the Son hath everlasting life ; " and again, " He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live ; " and several scriptures : " The just shall live by faith." Which, then, precedes in regen- eration : the quickening of the soul, in order to its faith, or the application of the gospel to the soul to draw forth its faith? Pardon me, my questioning friend, if I say that there is a curious inquisitiveness here that should be checked, because the Scripture has not explained the mystery to us. Contending theolo- gians have spent a Avorld of metaphysics on this sub- ject in vain, except to show the weakness of the strong- est. All generation is a mystery, — life in its begm- ning and its actings is ever a mystery. Why, then, should we ask respecting spiritual life, the regeneration 42 OF GOD, THE HOLY GHOST. [Lect. XXIV. uf the soul, " liow can these things be ? " It is enough for us to know that the Holy Ghost alone regenerates the sinner by uniting him to the life of Christ ; or, as our Catechism has it, by making us partakers of Christ ; and that the union is effected by faith, which is his work. " He makes me, by a true faith, partaker of Christ." For faith is the first acting of the new-born creature, even faith clingino- to Christ and drawino; from him the life he sends through the soul. h. Faith is the bond, if I may so speak, of the in- grafting, and the ingrafting is the work of the Holy Ghost ; but through faith also the Holy Ghost carries on the work of salvation which is by Christ. Christ, the stem, is the treasury of the Holy Spirit's grace, and in consequence of the ingrafting, the regenerated soul is made partaker -of Christ's benefits, that is, the ben- efits which Christ has purchased and extends to the believer. Christ was not only conceived of the Holy Ghost, but, also, when he publicly assumed his office of our representative, the Holy Ghost came down upon him, and the voice of the Father was heard from heaven, saying : " Tiiis is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'' Mark, he speaks not thus of the Son in his original divinity aloiife ; there were no need for such testimony ; but of the Son incarnate, as our head and elder brother and representative. He adopted, — or, if you like not the term, seeing that the human nature of our Lord was begotten by the Holy Ghost, — he acknowledged the man Christ Jesus as his Son, with t,he Son who had been ever from eternity his only begotten. So the first benefit we receive from our union to Lkct. XXIV.] OF GOD, THE HOLY GHOST. 43 Christ, is adoption of the Father, a participation of the sonship of Christ. How can it be otherwise, since the behever is in Christ, the Son, than that he must also be a son ? He is made one with Christ, a member of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones, deriving from Christ the same life Christ has, life derived from his sonship to God. Hence the Holy Ghost in this work is styled " the Spirit of adoption," and is said to be " in our hearts the Spirit of his Son, crying, ' Abba, Father.' '" We are permitted, nay, urged by the Spirit of Christ within us to go to God, asking and expecting to receive, as dear children, all the blessings which God loves to bestow upon Christ his Son, for those who are sons in him. Not only for this life, but infinitely more for, the life to come, may we look for these gracious participa- tions with Christ. Hear the apostle : " 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 ye cry, ' Abba, Father.' The Spirit itself bear- eth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God ; and if children, then heirs : heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." When Christ was on earth, he obeyed the Father through all temptation and suffering, deriving strength from his Father through prayer ; now that he is in glory, he lives in full satisfaction at the right hand of his Father. So, beloved brethren, if we have the evidence of being in Christ by the power of his Spirit in us, making us obedient through all trial, and prayerful in a constant dependence upon God, we have the evidence of our adoption by God, and the earnest of a participation in 44 OF GOD, THE HOLY GHOST. [Lect. XXTT. Christ's everlasting joy. Trial is but an evidence of our legitimacy, and of our Father's faithfulness educat- ing us to go up higher even to his holy presence among the angels. But of all the blessings of this adoption, time woidd fail us to speak. When the Father acknowledged our Lord to be his Son, he shed down upon him the Holy Ghost ; and this was in accordance with the prophecy : " 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." When that Spirit came down, it returned not again but rested upon Christ, entering as it were into his blessed person and abiding there, as the animating spirit of all, of each of his members. These, then, are the other inseparable benefits of union with Christ. " The spirit of wisdom and understanding." So the apostle prayed for his brethren, and for us, " that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, would give unto " them " the spirit of wisdom and rev- elation In the knowledge of him, (Christ,) the eyes of " their" understanding being enlightened, that "they" might know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints." Knowledoe of divine truth in Christ is snven unto us by participation with Christ the Word and the wisdom of God, and knowledge which we could not acquire until gifted with new sight, or see even with our openetl eyes unless it were presented to us by the Spirit of Christ. " He shall take," said the Master when prom- ising " the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost," " of the things of the Father and shew them unto you." Yet must this illumination come through Christ, for no Lect. XXIV.] OF GOD, THE HOLY GHOST. 45 man knowetli the Son, but the Father, neitlier knoweth any man the Father, save the Son and he to whomso- ever the Son shall reveal him." " The spirit of counsel and might." The apostle says that " the sons of God are led by the Spirit of God." Not only are they illuminated with all Christian doc- trine, but they are inspired with a holy prudence such as Christ showed in his life for all their Christian con- duct. As the steps, not only the way he was to walk in, but even the steps, each step he was to take, Avere ordered by the Lord, so do they who are united to Christ, animated by his spirit of sonship, and taught the meaning of his word, hold sweet communion with him by prayer, and receive " counsel " for all the duties required of them, whatever be their difficulties and trials. They follow Christ, nay, he walks with them, "reasoning with them out of the Scriptures of all things concerning himself," " till their hearts burn within them." Nor is it " counsel " only, but " might." The same Holy Spirit that upheld the humanity of Christ, while, walking according to the divine coun- sel, he bore the burden of our sins on toward his cross where he nailed them forever, is given to his people, dwelling in them as a power from on hio-h, pervading all their faculties, and, weak as they are, making them strong through Christ's strengthenincr them. So says the apostle in that aforecited prayer for the Ephesians, " That ye may know . . . what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own rio-ht hand in the heavenly ])laces." The same power that wrought in Christ, even the Holy Ghost, works in all those who 46 OF GOD, THE HOLY GHOST. [Lect. XXIV. are members of his blessed body, quickening them as he was quickened, strengthening them as he was strength- ened, until, like him, they are also brought safely and triumphantly to sit with him in the heavenly places. — (See the whole connection through the second chapter of Epliesians.) " The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord." Just in proportion as we know the truth, the hopes it sets before us, and the honorable duties it requires of us, will the Spirit of adoption make us, as Christ was, i-everent of our Father's will and constant presence. How shall they who are conscious of the Holy Spirit dwelling within them, pollute his temple ! How shall he, dwelling within them, not keep their thoughts in " a constant waiting for Christ? " " He that shith he abideth in Christ, ought himself so to walk even as he also walked ; " and the rule of the Saviour's life, as declared by the apostle at the Pentecost, was to " set the Lord alway before his face." Here, then, we see that, from their union with Christ by the grace of the Holy Ghost, behevers enjoy, with the benefits of adoption, ilhunination, and strength, a divine sanctijieation begun with their new birth, carried on through all their experience here, and sure to be made perfect where Christ is now perfect in his king- dom on high. And all this is the work of the Holy Ghost through Christ and by the word of Christ ; for the Holy Ghost comes to us only through Christ's meritorious intercession ; and he, though he knows all things, knows no other method of the Spirit's opera- tion but through the gospel. '' Sanctify them," prayed he to the Father, as he had promised his disciples that he would pray for the Comforter, — " sanctify them Lect. XXIV.] OF GOD, THE HOLY GHOST. 47 through thy truth, thy word is truth." The Spirit of Christ in the heart, and the Spirit of Christ in the word, unite to make the believer of the truth perfect in Christ Jesus. Two points remain for our handhng, Avhich shall be brief. 2. Religious comfort. , " The Holy Ghost is given me that he may com- fort me," says the believer in the 53rd answer of the Catechism. He must h.ave been but a careless reader of Scrip- ture, who has not seen how full it is of promises and revelations of comfort. " Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God ; speak ye comfortably to Jeru- salem ; " was the language of prophecy fulfilled in the gospel. And he must have had but little experience of the Christian life, who does not feel the need of constant comfort from his Father in heaven. The preaching of Christ was almost altogether made up of comfortable words ; his last sermon to his disciples at the supper was of nothing else ; and his apostolic suc- cessors followed his gracious example. So an eminent title of the Holy Ghost is " The Comforter " ; and, although the original term may have other meanings which we have now no time to look into, Comforter is a true, and not the least appropriate, signification. The believer needs comfort. He is here in a state, and under a process of discipline, chastened, and often sorely, by the faithful hand of his wise Father ; a chas- tening often compared to the passing of precious metals through the intense heat of a refiner's furnace ; nay, sometimes, to crucifixion itself. His Master was a man of sorrows, and he must drink of his Master's cup, and 18 OF GOD, THE HOLY GHOST. [Lect. XXIV. be baptized with his Master's baptism. Does he not need comfort ? He has to endure " tlie contradiction of sinners " against Christ and himself as a follower of Christ. His good name impeached, his motives perverted, his faith- fulness ridiculed and denied ; yes, his life's life sworn away by cruel, downright lies, as was Christ's. He sees the sius of men against his God, and " rivers of water run down his eyes, because men keep not God's law." He beholds Christ's cause wounded in the house of his friends by the inconsistencies of Christians, the teach- ings of error in doctrine and morals, until his heart bleeds with anguish. Does he not need comfort ? But most of all he is humbled and in agony because of his own sins ; the body of sin and death about him, the world that lies in wickedness around him, and the malicious tempter ever active in assailing or seducing, or entrapping him. His heart is still at times " an evil heart of unbelief," at all times " deceitful above all things." Does he not need comfort ? But he has it in Christ, and by the Holy Ghost through Christ, and our previous learning tells us how. He is united to Christ by a bond close, tender, and never to be broken. Every form of trouble he is called to know, Christ passed through, exce])t the con- sciousness of sin, and the Redeemer was sorely bur- dened with our imputed guilt. The Saviour has united him to himself He has Christ's sympathy. O blessed thought ! Christ knows all he suffers, knows what will relieve it, knows how to turn it to his profit. He has Christ's teachings — all his faithful word, all his precious promises, all his gracious directions. The Hoh'' Ghost brings them to him, enables him to read them, to un- Lect. XXIV.] OF GOD, THE HOLY GHOST. 49 derstand them, to make them his own. He has Christ's strength to uphold him. The strong right arm is thrown around liim, and in the darkest hour and through the deepest floods Christ is by his side, whis- pering in the feeble breathings of friend consoling his friend : " Fear not, I am with thee." " Let not thy heart be troubled." " My rod and my staff they shall comfort thee." And all this is by the power of the Holy Ghost uniting him to Christ, his living, divine glorified head. He is adopted of the Father. By his union to Christ, he is a child of him in whose hand are all things, who withholds from him nothing that is for his good, and counts all things his, as he sees he has need. His sufferings are not punishments but chastenings, all signs of a divine love and of a preparation for glory. So he looks up beyond his troubles, and sees his Father's loving, pitying eye, and says : " It is well ! " " Let him do what seemeth him good ! " Blessed be his name ! Only let my sufferings make me like him who suffered for me ; and from my cross take me. Lord, into thy kingdom ! He has the witness of the Spirit, and it is the ear- nest of his inheritance ; shedding by its sanctifying grace the sweet assurance of hope that there is a rest remain- ing for him ; an inheritance where shall be no more sorrow, nor pain, nor temptation, because there shall be no more sin. This is enough to turn his sorrow into joy, his shame into glory, his prayers into thanks. " For I reckon," says he, " that the sorrows of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us." Nor is his least comfort derived from that which our VOL. II. 4 50 OF GOD, THE HOLY GHOST. [Lect. XXIV. instructor makes a third particular of the Holy Spirit's blessinof : eternal indwellino;. " The Holy Ghost is given me that ... he may abide with me forever." What were he without the Holy Ghost ? without his grace keeping him united to Christ, shedding the boldness and reverence of the adoption through his heart, opening to him the sweet Scriptures, and opening his eyes to read them ; strength- ening his heart with an eternal life that sends love throbbing along all his veins ; nay, sanctifying his soul with holy thoughts and desires and purposes, the sure presages, the actual foretastes of heaven itself? What were he, if ever that Holy Spirit were taken from him ? if he were left to fall from Christ into his blindness and sin and death ? But the Spirit will not depart. The same faithful master who promised the Comforter, and has sent him according to his promise, said ; " He shall abide with you forever." " I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." As he abode in Christ, so will he abide in the Christian, until he follows Christ on and on through trial and conflict, down through the dark valley, and then into the glory. Nor then will the Comforter depart, for heaven is full of the Holy Ghost. Shall the Father delight in his perfect children, shall the Son rejoice as he sees his own likeness in all his sanctified brotherhood, and the Holy Ghost, who made the Father's purpose and the Son's work efficient, not have his peculiar satisfaction ? No ! He shall abide with them, in them forever ; for- ever opening new dejDths in their glorified faculties, and filling them with new revelations of God's infinite riches ; forever leading them to new methods of happy Lect. XXIV.] OF GOD, THE HOLY GHOST. 51 obedience, and inspiring new strength for the unprece- dented privileges of service above ; forever transform- ing into a closer likeness to God, and changing them into the same image from glory unto glory. Even as they walk among the trees of life, the clear waters of the river of life, which are the influences of the Holy Ghost, shall flow sparkling, deep and full for their taste and their bathing in bliss ; and as they draw near to cast their crowns at their master's' feet, and bask in the radiance of the Father's love, as together Father and Son sit on the throne, the Holy Ghost shall flow fortli in waters of joy and holiness and peace ; and the united Three receive his homage, his praises, and his thanks ! O blessed ai'e they who know that there is a Holy Ghost, thrice blessed they in whom he dwells ! Yea, blessed forever ! LECTURE XXV. THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH, THE COfflUNION OF SAINTS. TWENTY-FIRST LORD'S DAY. THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH, THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS. Quest. LIV. What believest ihou concerning the " Holy Catholic Church " of Christ f Ans. That the Son of God, from the beginning to the end of the world, gathers, defends, and preserves to himself by his Spirit and word, out of the whole Imman race, a church chosen to everlasting life, agreeing in true faith; and that I am, and forever shall remain, a living member thereof. Quest. LV. What do you understand by " the Communion of Saints '' ? ^ Ans. First, that all and every one who believes, being members of Christ, are, in common, partakers of him, and of all his riches and gifts; sec- ondly, that every one must know it to be his duty readily and cheer- fully to employ his gifts for the advantage and salvation of other members. I THE history of the Creed, especially before the close of the fourth century, is obscure ; but we may be- lieve that the more ancient copies ended with the arti- cle on the Holy Ghost, as it was evidently an en- largement of the formula prescribed for baptism : " In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." And, truly, as we have discovered from our previous studies, the true doctrine of God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, comprehends all that is essential to saving faith. Subsequently, to answer the questions of inquirers, and to rebuke error, it became expedient to add the four other articles which set forth the great blessings consequent upon faith in God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, viz: The establishment of the 56 THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH, [Lect. XXV. church and the communion of saints ; the forgiveness of sins ; the resurrection of the body ; and the hfe everlasting;. In the most ancient copy we have of the creed of the Roman church, we find neither " the communion of saints,'' nor " the life everlasting " ; but " the com- munion of saints " is, clearly, a further statement of " the church "; and " the life everlasting" of " the res- urrection." In some copies, the article on the church was placed at the end, and " the communion of saints " was inserted last of all. The ej)ithet " catholic," after " holy," before " chui'ch," was also of comparatively late date, not occurring in the oldest copy of the Roman symbol, and having been supplied to teach the unity of the true church, though divided into many particular churches, all holding the same faith. Finally, by general consent, the creed obtained its present order, which is the most proper ; for " the forgiveness of" our " sins " is assured to us on our union to Christ's true body, his church ; " the resurrection of the body" is the fulness of our personal adoption, and the heavenly " life " which follows our triumph over death and the 0;rave, is " everlastincr." It is also proper to note a variation of the creed, as we have it in the Catechism before us, from the copy in our communion service. There we read : " I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic church," etc. Here it is : " I believe in the Holy Ghost. I believe in the holy catholic church," etc., — "I believe in" being inserted before the church. The form, as it is in the communion service, is that of the Roman Breviary (where it is styled " the Apostles' Creed "), and has been adopted, with two exceptions, by all the Protes- Lect. XXV.] THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS. 57 tant cliurclies, especially by the Church of England, and the Presbyterian, following the Westminster As- sembly. The exceptions are the French and the Dutch Reformed churches. Both of these insert the additional " I believe," which is after the version of the Greek church; but neither of them have the word "in." They say, " I believe an holy catholic church." The preposition " in " seems to be wholly without authority, not being found in either the Dutch, German, or Latin copies ; and its presence here can be accounted for only by the criminal carelessness of the American translator or editor. Nay, it is in direct contradiction to many pious commentators on the creed, who solemnly call upon lis to mark the distinction between that faith which is in the three adorable persons of the Godhead, and that which simply recognizes the fact of the church and its covenanted blessings.* There is, perhaps, i;n- necessary stress laid upon this distinction, but it shows that the interpolation of our transcriber is censurable and should be removed. Let us now learn the doctrine which we are to re- ceive concerning the church, and this may be opened agreeably to the 54th Question and Answer under the several names by which it is described. 1. " The . . . church." 2. " The holy . . church." 3. " The holy catholic church." 1. " The church." Our word church is probably * Witsius in loc, sa3's: "Had the words run: '7 believe in the Holy GJwst, the holy catholic church,'' it would have been difficult to connect the words ' / believe ' with ' the holy catholic church,'' so as to suppress the par- ticle in. This, however, was necessary; for a faith is exercised with regard to the church in a manner veiy different from that in which it is exercised with regard to God. The church is a society of creatures in whom, whethet collectively or individually, it is criminal to repose the confidence of faith." 58 THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH, [Lect. XXV. first composed and then contracted from two Greek words, signifying, The House of the Lord (Kvpcov oIkos) ; but the word which it translates throughout the New Testament is eedesia (cKKA-i^crta), which is peculiar to the later Scriptures ; and the first use of it is in the Evangelist Matthew's version of our Lord's saying to Peter : " On this rock I will build my church " (xvi. 18). The Greek term was applied by the Athenians to signify an assembly of citizens (not the fifteenth part of the population) called out of the mass for civil func- tions by the herald or official crier. So the gospel is said to be proclaimed as by heralds sent of God, (x^p^o-- o-eLv, to preach,) Jesus himself being the first (Matt, viii. 17). Those who are truly chosen of God hear and obey the heavenly voice, (" Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice," John xviii. 37 ;) sepa- rating themselves from the world unto citizenship of the divine commonwealth or kingdom ; and hence are denominated eclect, or, as we take the term from the Latin, elect, that is, called out, selected from the rest of the world. Thus we read, (Rev. xvii. 14,) " They that are with him (the Lamb) are called (xXyjrot)^ chosen (eKK-AeK-roi,^, and faithful." They were more than " called," they were eclected. It is to this eclection of citizens that the apostle alludes, when, speaking of the Gentile believers, who, when " without Christ," were " aliens from the commonwealth (TroAtTcta?, citizenship) of Israel," he says : " Christ Jesus . . . came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that are nigh. . . . Now, therefore, ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens of the saints and of the household of God (oiKctot rot ^eov), (Ephes. lkct. xxv.j the communion of saints. 59 ii. 11-19). They had now a right to enter the assem- bly (^iKKXrjaLo) or chiirch. So our Catechism bids us say ; "'That the Son of God . . gathers . . to him- self by his Spirit and his word, out of the whole human race, a church chosen to everlasting life." All who are effectually called (that is, by the Spirit in their hearts, as well as by the word in their ears), and so obey the gospel as to separate themselves from the world unto God through Christ, belong to his church, which in several scriptures is, as you know, termed " his body," — that is, a body of which he is the head. It is evident that the bond of this citizenship, the cor- porating principle uniting each to Christ, and all to each other, must he faith, as the Catechism has it : "A church . . agreeing in true faith." They are " called " by the gospel, which is a proclamation of pardon and grace through Jesus Christ ; it is because they are " of the truth " that they hear and obey the divine call ; and, when brought into the (eKKXeo-ta) church, they ai'e ruled and estabhshed by the truth as it is in Jesus. Thus the apostle in the aforecited chapter of Ephe- sians : " Ye are fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God ; and are built upon the founda- tion of the apostles and prophets, (that is, the truth they testified to,) Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone." So, also, (1 Cor. i. 2, 3,) the apostle offers Christian salutation to " the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours." All who acknowledge Christ as their Lord (which no one can truly do but by the Holy Ghost, 1 Cor. xii. 3), and profess his doctrine as delivered b;y 60 THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH, [Lect. XXV. the apostles and prophets, belong to, and are united in, the church of Christ. Nor may we confine this church to those who have believed since the advent of Christ. The gospel had been declared, imper- fectly indeed, but with increasing light ever since the fall, when the first promise, that of " the seed of the woman," was given ; it was the " Spirit " of Christ which in Noah " preached " to the antediluvian sinners " while the ark was a-preparing " (compare 1 Pet. iii. 13, 14, and 2 Pet. ii. 5). The apostle (Gal. iii. 8, 17) says expressly that the gospel was preached unto Abra- ham " four hundred and thirt}' years " before the law ; the design of both the epistle to the Galatians and that to the Hebrews is to show that the gospel was couched in all the cei'emonies of the Levitical law. Jesus, our master, during his memorable walk with the two disci- ples to Emmaus, " beginning at Moses and all the prophets, expounded unto them in all the Scriptures, the things concerning himself; " and the writer to the Hebrews, in his eleventh chapter, combines in a com- mon, justifying faith all who believed those revelations of eternal life by a salvation promised. Hence were they of the Old Testament united by faith in the same doctrine with those of the New, as members of the true church. So our Catechism : " The Son of God from the beginning to the end of the world gathers . . to himself by his Spirit and word out of the whole human race, a chui'ch chosen to everlasting life, agreeing in true faith " You will have observed that this church is an assem- bly, a citizenship of believers, of whom Christ is the head, and that the bond of their union is the personal faith of each member in Christ ; so that the pretensions of the papists, and of kindred sectaries, who place the Lect. XXV.] THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS. 61 church in the clergy or other ecclesiastical officers, are most preposterous. Were there no clergy on earth, there would not be less a true church of all who believe in Christ. 2. " The holy . . church." Holy has two senses not inconsistent with each other : one, that of freedom from, or of superiority to, moral evil, — as the Holy Ghost ; the other, that of being set apart to God and his service, as were the vessels of the temple, the tem- ple itself, and the whole nation of Israel. When a moral creature sets himself apart to the divine service, he becomes morally holy in the degree that he is con- sistent with the dedication. So God says to us : " Be ye holy, for I am holy." Saint or sanctified is synon- ymous with holy, being the Latin form of the word. Thus our Lord says : " For their sakes I sanctify my- self (^. e. dedicate myself to God in my atoning work), that they also might be sanctified (i. e. set apart to God's service) through the truth." And the apostle speaks of those that are " sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints."" It is in this latter sense that the church of God is holy : it is sanctified or set apart, and belongs to God in Christ. The church is Christ's own ; by his choice, by his purchase, by his calling, by his sealing to his service : " Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquities, and purify unto himself a peculiar people (a people his oiV7i), zealous of good works." The church and each member of it is set apart to the service of the divine glory in Christ, and all his gracious operations toward and in the church, and each believer, are for that supreme end. So the Catechism : " The Son of God, from the begin- ning to the end of the world, gathers, defends, and pre- 62 THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH, [Lect. XXV- serves to liimself by his Spirit and word, out of the whole human race, a church chosen to everlasting life, agreeing in true faith." The truth, faith in which is the bond of its union, is the means of its sanctification ; whence, also, true faith is, from its very nature, fruitfid of holy living ; and no one, who does not sanctify him- self to the service of God in Christ, has evidence that he belongs to his holy church. Because of this eclection or grafting into Christ, the church is holy before God. Not that every or any member of it is pure and blameless in his own charac- ter, (for even Paul, after he had been long an apostle, confessed himself " chief of sinners,") but because the believer is washed from the guilt of his sins by the blood of Christ, and is so covered by the righteousness of Christ, his infinite surety, that God is well pleased with him for Christ's sake ; as the apostle says : " Be- ing justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ " ; and " There is now no con- demnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit." Thus to sanc- tify the church was the purpose of Christ's atonement. " Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it ; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of the word (i. e. the application of the gospel) ; that he might present it to himself, a glorious church not having spot or Avrinkle, or any such thing ; but that it should be holy and without blemish." As the individ- ual believer is perfect in Christ Jesus from the impu- tation of Christ's righteousness, so is the entire church. There is, besides, a real or actual sanctification of the church by the power of the Holy Ghost, which is the seal of its union with Christ. The sinner, on be- Lkct. XXV.] THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS. 63 coming by faith a member of Christ's body, is sepa- rat-ed from sinners not only in form but in principles of life. He has a " new heart " given to him, and' a " right spirit " put within him. The Holy Spirit, hav- ino; thus begun his moral transformation, carries it on sui'ely, though gradually, to perfection, enlightening his mind with the truth, sweetly constraining him by the love of God to obey the truth, strengthening him against temptation, and comforting him under all afflic- tions through the truth ; so that, at the great coming of the Lord Jesus, he is sanctified " wholly, body, soul, and spirit." What is true of the individual members is true of the whole church. " Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it ; that he might sanctify and cleanse with the washing of water hy the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing ; but that it should be holy, and without blemish." — Ephes. v. 25-27. The church, thus chosen and called of God in Christ, sanctified and upheld by God in Christ, is forever safe with God in Christ, ordained unto everlasting life. So the Catechism : " The Son of God . . gathers, de- fends, and preserves unto himself . . a church, chosen to everlasting life." 3. " The holy catholic church." Catholic is not a scriptural word, though, after a time, much used by ecclesiastical M-riters. It is compounded of two Greek words, signifying through all; and, among the few classics who employ it, has the exact sense of universal. After the Pentecost, we find all the " called of God" then living, assembled at Jerusalem. This company of believers, baptized and communicating in the break- 64 THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH, [Lect. XXV. ing of bread, was then tlie Christian church. But, as the gospel spread itself, and believers became not only very numerous but widely separated, it was necessary for Christians to organize themselves in smaller compa- nies ; whence, it is easy to see, the name of churches was given to such families of the faith : as the church at or of Antioch, Rome, Corinth, Ephesus, Thessalon- ica. These several churches, subject to one divine head, and to the apostles appointed by him, holding the same faith, and observing the same sacraments, and maintaining the same discipline, were otherwise inde- pendent, so far as authority was concerned, of each other, except as they Avere brought under the direction of a " presbytery" or combination of elders, distinct traces of which are discoverable in the apostolical writ- ings. Where there was need of more general consul- tation respecting some mooted point, a council was called ; but the purpose of such council was specific, and its organization temporary. However convenient, or, if you will, necessary, for greater usefulness such combinations as general synods, or general assemblies, or dioceses may be, they are merely conventional arrangements, such as the word of God leaves Christians to form as most expedient in the various exigencies that arise. The New Testament recognizes nothing but a church and a presbytery. There was, however, a vital bond uniting all true Christians and all minor churches, viz : '■'' faith in the common doctrine of Christ and the apostles." The church was not divided, but remained one body of Christ, though of many members. Hence the gradual adoption of a common symbol, or creed, or belief, by tiie mutual acknowledgment of which professing Chris- Lect. XXV.] THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS. Q5 tians might recognize each other throughout the world, however separated under their particular organizations. This creed set forth the main and essential doctrine of God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as declared to the church for salvation, but touched no matters about which Christians might, without fatal error, hold vari- ous opinions. The devil, however, soon was busy in distracting the church, and, under pretence of superior purity, excited harsh and pragmatical spirits to with- hold Christian communion from those who, tliough holding the great arti(*les of the faith, differed from them in less important particulars. This was especially the case with the Donatists, a body of Christians in Afi'ica, who, it is said (though too much credence should not be allowed to historians of the period), con- ceivincr themselves to be wronged in some matter of church government, withdrew themselves from fellow- ship with their opponents. This schism occurred in the earlier part of the fourth century, and it is thought that about the same time the word " catholic " was inserted after " holy " and before " church." The object of the interpolation was not, therefore, to set up exclusive claims for any particular sect or body of Christians, however numerous or powerful, but, on the contrary, as the word itself shows, to repudiate and oppose such bigotry by acknowledging all who receive the doctrine set forth in the Creed after the word of God as true members of the one church of Christ. The very cor- rupt, if not utterly spurious, Church of Rome, grasping after dominion over all Christendom, has usurped this epithet of " catholic," and denounces all who deny her impious pretensions as in damnable schism from the body of Christ. On this, Seeker, Archbisliop of Can- VOL. II. 5 Q6 THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH, [Lect. XXV. terbury, admirably observes : "It is no more than as if one diseased limb, perhaps the larger for being diseased, can be the whole body of a man ; and by attempting to exclude us, they take the direct way to exclude themselves ; unless God impute their uncharitable way of thinking and acting, as we hope he will, to excusa- ble ignorance and mistake. The Church of England pretends not to be the whole catholic church, but is undoubtedly a sound member of it ; so that we have much better ground to call ourselves catholics than they, were such names worth disputing about, which they are not." I quote these words of that eminent dignitary of the Episcopal church, to show that the ex- clusive pretensions, which have been and are daily so arrogantly flaunted in our faces by other members of his sect, make no part of their own church doctrines, but are as widely different from the Christian senti- ments of not a few of its most distinguished doctors, as they are from true charity and religious decency. The true catholic acknowledges all who acknowledge Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to be, by the appoint- ment of the Father, and the grace of the divine Spirit, their only Lord and Saviour. They who make the church more narrow than this, practically disown this article of the Creed. They have no right to repeat it ; but utter an untruth when they do so. Nay, they ex- clude themselves from the catholic church and from the communion of saints, as a branch, torn from the main stem, becomes not the tree, but only is separated from the life by which all the branches live. Beware, therefore, I charge you, before God and his Christ who is Lord of all, how you allow your sectarian pride to go so far as to disown any of Christ's true Lect. XXV.] THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS. 67 flock. The Scriptures, as we have seen, plainly teach that all who, by the power of the Holy Ghost, believe in Jesus Christ for the saving of their souls, and prove the sincerity of their ftiith by Christian practice, are members of his living body. They are as free from insisting upon entire conformity of doctrine and prac- tice to be essential, but on the contrary enjoin the ut- most charity and forbearance. The apostle Paul has a passage directly in point when (Rom. xiv. 1—18), speak- ing of some sharp contentions about matters quite as se- rious as some that divide Christians nowadays, he says : " Him that is weak in the faith, receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things ; another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not ; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth ; for God hath received him. Who art thou that judgest another man's servant ? To his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up, for God is able to make him stand. . . But why dost thou judge thy brother ? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother ? For we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ. For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. For he that in these things serveth Christ, is acceptable to God and approved of men." Therefore, (let me quote again from Archbishop Seeker,) " Christ's church is the whole number of those who believe on him. How much soever they may differ in some opin- ions or practices, yet are they one in all things essential. How wide soever they may be dispersed throughout the world, they shall at last be gathered unto him. We can only judge according to appearances, and, there- 68 THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH, [Lect. XXV. fore, to us, all must be members of Christ's church who make a visible profession of being Christians. But God sees every secret thought, and, in his eye, they alone belong truly to his church who serve him " in the hidden man of the heart, " that inward sincerity to human eye invisible." Happy, unspeakably happy, is he who can adopt with humble confidence the words of our Catechism, and say, " I believe that I am, and forever shall remain, a living member of" Christ's " holy, catholic church ! " You will have observed that throughout this discus- sion we have considex'ed the church in its spiritual character, not as to the external or visible form of it ; because such is the doctrine of the article. But it must not be overlooked, that God has required every believer in Christ's name to confess him before men, and all Christians to separate themselves from the World, and, hence, to constitute a visible body or king- dom of his servants for the publication of his truth, the celebration of his worship, and the performance of his commands. And as visible signs or rites are neces- sary for the outward manifestation of this church, he has appointed two sacraments : one, initiatory baptism, by which we are to declare ourselves, and be received as members of the church ; the other, confirmatory, the Lord's Supper, by which we are strengthened in the doctrines we profess, and which that sacrament sets forth. None, therefore, who do not unite them- selves to the visible chui'ch have a right to be consid- ered members of the church spiritual. Baptism and the Lord's Supper are the divinely appointed methods of making such open profession ; and, therefore, none Lect. XXV.] THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS. 69 who refuse to receive those sacraments act in conform- ity to Christ's requirements, or can be acknowledged as faithful Christians ; though tliis must not be carried so far as to exclude those who have no opportunity of compliance, or even those who through ignorance {as the Society of Friends) consider the inner baptism of the Spirit and edification through the truth, which the sacraments represent, to be all that is necessary. This last is a very grave error, but Ave would fain hope not sufficient to obviate the christianizing power of faith in Christ Jesus. These sacraments are, however, not in themselves of saving efficacy, and are of no value .; nay, they become gross insults to God, except as they are tlie outward signs of inward grace. The Lord Jesus, also, for wdse purjjoses, ordained that certain men should be set apart for the public ser- vice of the church, in the preaching of the gospel, the administration of the sacraments, the maintenance of discipline, the disposition of charity, and the govern- ment of the Lord's house. These offices are necessary for a church after the apostolic order ; but Christians have differed as to the mode and details of tlie ecclesiastical system most accoi'dant with the word of God ; and especially three kinds of government have had their strenuous advo- cates, viz : The democratical or Congregationalist, the monarchical or the Episcopalian, and the republican- representative, or the Presbyterian. This last, our church, in common with the larger portion of the reformed churches, holds to be the most scriptural ; but, while we believe that Presbyterianism is necessary to the 'perfection of a church, we should not think it 70 THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH, [Le'it. XXV. essential to the existence of a church, and cheerfully accord our Christian fellowship to all churches profess- ing the main doctrines of Christian faith, notwithstand- ing their differing from us on some points of external order. " Such, indeed, as obstinately deny the funda- mental doctrines, or transgress the fundamental pre- cepts of Christianity, ought to be rejected from Chris- tian communion. But to renounce communicating with any others who are willing to admit us on lawful terms, is the way to cut off ourselves, not them, from the body of Christ, who yet, we doubt not, will allow those on both sides to belong to his church, who through pardonable passions or mistakes will not allow one another to do so." * Indifference is a great sin, but "charity is the bond of perfectness." SECOND PART. As the perfection of holy obedience is love, and as it is the purpose of God that all his ransomed people shall be brought into a full and active harmony amidst the glory of heaven, we must look to see the recovery begun on earth. Hence we believe in " the communion of saints,'^ a cordial acknowledgment of which is es- sential to the creed and character of a Christian. This is not a separate article, but supplementary to the statement respecting " the holy Catholic church," and has already been somewhat treated of under those terras ; yet, is brought before us more specially by the 55th Question and Answer, which bid us say, '■'■First: That all and eveiy one, Avho believe, being members of Christ, are in common partakers of him and of all his riches and gifts. * Se