III. OF THE OFFICE OF THE SPIRIT, IN RELATION TO THE SCRIPTURES.

A consideration of the Office of the Holy Spirit in the economy of redemption, will lead us to the same results in respect to the nature and limitation of the prophetic office of Christ, and of the subordinate office of His messengers, the prophets of the Old, and the apostles of the New Testament. It is according to the teachings of Scripture, and according to the faith of the Church of God in all ages, that the three Persons of the Godhead subsisted eternally as persons, coequal in nature, and independently of all external works, manifestations, and relations towards creatures. And it is no less evident from the teachings of Scripture, its revelations, and its record of facts and events, in the progress of the Divine dispensations, and of the redemption, sanctification, and perpetuation of the Church, that those Persons entered into a covenant, prior to, and concerning the works of creation, providence, and grace, that is, all external works, as being foreördained before the foundation of the world, and centering in the chiefest of them, the work of redemption: and that on the basis of such covenant, and in reference to the execution of it, in and throughout all the ages of time, they assumed official relations towards each other, and towards the creatures that were to be brought into existence; so that, while they remain three Persons in one essence and one will, their acts towards the dependent universe are personal and official acts, arising from their official relations. Hence the

Scripture names and designations which refer exclusively to the Divine nature are common to them all, while each of them, in His official character and relations, is referred to by distinctive titles and appellations, not appropriated to the others. Thus the Father officially represents the will of the Godhead which is executed by the Son and the Spirit in respect to all the works in question. The Son is officially subordinate to the Father, the immediate Messenger of the covenant, the primary agent in the execution of the Father's will, and the accomplishment of those works. And the Spirit is officially subordinate to the Father and the Son, and is sent by them and either of them, as the Son is sent by the Father.

The office of the Spirit is therefore specific and limited, as that of a Messenger of the Father and the Son. It can not transcend that will of the Father which the Son was commissioned to reveal and execute, nor be otherwise than subordinate to the official prerogative of the Son. In a word, then, if the Son, as the Messenger of the Father, could do no act not prescribed by Him, and could utter no word not given or dictated by Him, and if He could not commission and send as His official messengers-the prophets and apostles-to do more than His own commission authorized, it follows clearly that the Spirit in executing His official agency, is limited by the same conditions as the Son.

In relation to the words of Scripture, therefore, He could utter, inspire into, speak by the mouth of, the prophetic and apostolic messengers of the Son, only the very words of the Father and the Son, as they were given to Him. He could no more assist or guide the

sacred writers to utter other words, whether relating to what they knew before or not, than the Son, as Mes senger of the Father, sent to speak only His words, could commission His subordinate ministerial instruments to speak or write other than the words which He put into their mouths. And if the sacred penmen actually wrote any other than the words put into their mouths immediately by the Son, or mediately, from the Father or the Son, by the Spirit speaking in and by them, such words were not the words of God, but merely the words of men. No conceivable assistance or guidance could transform them into the words of God, or bring them within the rule of official prescription and authorization. The servant is not greater than his master.

The official works of the Holy Spirit, in this great economy, may be classed under several distinct heads.

1. That of inspiring into the minds of the subordinate messengers, prophets, apostles, and evangelists the words of the Father and of the Son to be uttered, vocally and in writing by them. This official operation of the Holy Spirit is largely attested with reference to the Scriptures collectively. It is variously described as teaching the sacred writers, giving them what they were to utter, speaking in them and by them, revealing the truths of the Gospel to them.

2. That of quickening, regenerating, illuminating, sanctifying the souls of men. In this He employs as His instrument the word of God, and that only-the words of Scripture, of all and every part of Scripture—

the words which He Himself had spoken by the mouths of prophets and apostles. These are the preexistent seeds and germs which He plants in the heart and quickens into faith and life-the words by which faith cometh, the words of life, the sword of the Spirit, the word of God.

3. That of operating miraculously on physical and intellectual natures. Thus the Spirit of God came upon Saul and also upon his messengers, producing effects, apparently on their bodies and their minds. (1 Saml. 10.) Ezekiel says: "The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness," etc. The Spirit caught away Philip, after he had baptized the eunuch, and he was found at Azotus. (Acts 8.)

The miraculous gifts conferred on the apostles and on others on the day of Pentecost, and afterwards, for special purposes, and during a limited period, are to be classed under this head. The gifts of tongues, of interpreting tongues, of discerning spirits, and others, were peculiar to that period, and had no connection whatever with the origin, bestowment, or writing, of any part of the Scriptures.

The words of Christ are the words of the Father by Him as sent of the Father. The words of the Spirit which constitute the Scriptures, are the words of the Father and the Son, by Him, as sent by them. As communicated by God the Spirit, and written, they are the words of God in the same sense as the verbal discourses of God the Son were His words. It was the office of the Spirit as sent by the Father and the Son, to utter the words of Scripture in writing, through the

instrumentality of the sacred penmen; as it was the office of the Son, as sent of the Father, audibly to speak His words to the patriarchs, to Moses and others, under the former, and to His disciples and the Jewish people under the present dispensation.

It was to supply, to the disciples, the apostles, and the Church, the place of Christ's personal presence and teachings after His resurrection and ascension, that the official agency of the Spirit was promised and exerted, as it was vouchsafed and exerted towards the prophets and sacred penmen of the Old Testament. That official agency was as necessary, and as much a provision of the eternal covenant, to Enoch, Noah, the patriarchs, Moses, and all the prophets after him, as to the apostles and evangelists of the New Testament. It was a part of the works towards creatures, by which the will of the Father was executed. Therefore, when about to withdraw as to His local, personal presence and ministry, Christ said, "The Comforter," that is, the Paraclete, the Monitor, or Teacher, "which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance"-realize anew to your consciousness -“ whatsoever I have said unto you." แ When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of me. When He, the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak; and He shall show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto