|
48. "Be it so," it is rejoined, "but glory is by no means so
absolutely due to the Spirit as to require His exaltation by us in
doxologies." Whence then could we get demonstrations of the dignity
of the our Spirit, "passing all understanding," if His communion
with the Father and the Son were not reckoned by our opponents as good
for testimony of His rank? It is, at all events, possible for us to
arrive to a certain extent at intelligent apprehension of the sublimity
of His nature and of His unapproachable power, by looking at the
meaning of His title, and at the magnitude of His operations, and by
His good gifts bestowed on us or rather on all creation. He is called
Spirit, as "God is a Spirit," and "the breath of our nostrils,
the anointed of the Lord." He is called holy, as the Father is
holy, and the Son is holy, for to the creature holiness was brought
in from without, but to the Spirit holiness is the fulfilment of
nature, and it is for this reason that He is described not as being
sanctified, but as sanctifying. He is called good, as the Father is
good, and He who was begotten of the Good is good, and to the
Spirit His goodness is essence. He is called upright, as "the
Lord is upright," in that He is Himself truth, and is Himself
Righteousness, having no divergence nor leaning to one side or to the
other, on account of the immutability of His substance. He is called
Paraclete, like the Only begotten, as He Himself says," I will
ask the Father, and He will give you another comforter." Thus
names are borne by the Spirit in common with the Father and the Son,
and He gets these titles from His natural and close relationship.
From what other source could they be derived? Again He is called
royal, Spirit of truth, and Spirit of wisdom. "The Spirit of
God," it is said "hath made me," and God filled Bezaleel with
"the divine Spirit of wisdom and understanding and knowledge." Such
names as these are super-eminent and mighty, but they do not transcend
His glory.
49. And His operations, what are they? For majesty ineffable,
and for numbers innumerable. How shall we form a conception of what
extends beyond the ages? What were His operations before that
creation whereof we can conceive? How great the grace which He
conferred on creation? What the power exercised by Him over the ages
to come? He existed; He pre-existed; He co-existed with the
Father and the Son before the ages. It follows that, even if you
can conceive of anything beyond the ages, you will find the Spirit yet
further above and beyond. And if you think of the creation, the
powers of the heavens were established by the Spirit, the
establishment being understood to refer to disability to fall away from
good. For it is from the Spirit that the powers derive their close
relationship to God, their inability to change to evil, and their
continuance in blessedness. Is it Christ's advent? The Spirit is
forerunner. Is there the incarnate presence? The Spirit is
inseparable. Working of miracles, and gifts of healing are through
the Holy Spirit. Demons were driven out by the Spirit of God.
The devil was brought to naught by the presence of the Spirit.
Remission of Sins was by the gift of the Spirit, for "ye were
washed, ye were sanctified, ... in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and in the holy Spirit of our God." There is close
relationship with God through the Spirit, for "God hath sent forth
the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba, Father."
The resurrection from the dead is effected by the operation of the
Spirit, for "Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created; and
Thou renewest the face of the earth." If here creation may be taken
to mean the bringing of the departed to life again, how mighty is not
the operation of the Spirit, Who is to us the dispenser of the life
that follows on the resurrection, and attunes our souls to the
spiritual life beyond? Or if here by creation is meant the change to a
better condition of those who in this life have fallen into sin, (for
it is so understood according to the usage of Scripture, as in the
words of Paul "if any man be in Christ he is a new creature"), the
renewal which takes place in this life, and the transmutation from our
earthly and sensuous life to the heavenly conversation which takes place
in us through the Spirit, then our souls are exalted to the highest
pitch of admiration. With these thoughts before us are we to be afraid
of going beyond due bounds in the extravagance of the honour we pay?
Shall we not rather fear lest, even though we seem to give Him the
highest names which the thoughts of man can conceive or man's tongue
utter, we let our thoughts about Him fall too low?
It is the Spirit which says, as the Lord says, "Get thee down,
and go with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them." Are
these the words of an inferior, or of one in dread? "Separate me
Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." Does
a slave speak thus? And Isaiah, "The Lord God and His Spirit
hath sent me," and "the Spirit came down from the Lord and guided
them." And pray do not again understand by this guidance some humble
service, for the Word witnesses that it was the work of
God;--"Thou leddest thy people," it is said "like a flock,"
and "Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock," and "He led them on
safely, so that they feared not." Thus when yon hear that when the
Comforter is come, He will put you in remembrance, and "guide you
into all truth." do not misrepresent the meaning.
50. But, it is said that "He maketh intercession for us." It
follows then that, as the suppliant is inferior to the benefactor, so
far is the Spirit inferior in dignity to God. But have you never
heard concerning the Only-begotten that He "is at the right hand of
God, who also maketh intercession for us"? Do not, then, because
the Spirit is in you,--if indeed He is at all in you,--nor yet
because He teaches us who were blinded, and guides us to the choice of
what profits us,--do not for this reason allow yourself to be
deprived of the right and holy opinion concerning Him. For to make
the loving kindness of your benefactor a ground of ingratitude were
indeed a very extravagance of unfairness. "Grieve not the Holy
Spirit;" hear the words of Stephen, the first fruits of the
martyrs, when he reproaches the people for their rebellion and
disobedience; "you do always," he says, "resist the Holy
Ghost;" and again Isaiah,--"They vexed His Holy Spirit,
therefore He was turned to be their enemy;" and in another passage,
"the house of Jacob angered the Spirit of the Lord." Are not
these passages indicative of authoritative power? I leave it to the
judgment of my readers to determine what opinions we ought to hold when
we hear these passages; whether we are to regard the Spirit as an
instrument, a subject, of equal rank with the creature, and a fellow
servant of ourselves, or whether, on the contrary, to the ears of the
pious the mere whisper of this blasphemy is not most grievous. Do you
call the Spirit a servant? But, it is said, "the servant knoweth
not what his Lord doeth," and yet the Spirit knoweth the things of
God, as "the spirit of man that is in him."
|
|
