was exactly the same in God, as the spirit of a man is in a human being.

2d, Will is attributed to the Holy Spirit : -"He divideth to every one as he willeth." Compare with this, the following passage, (Rom. vi. 16, &c.) "Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked that ye were the servants of sin." The wages of sin is death." Here Sin is a person, and the personal pronoun whom applied to it. And not only has it will, but also keeps servants and pays wages!

3d, Grief:-" Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God." But not only is the Spirit grieved but the soul and the heart, in several passages, are grieved, (Jude x. 16. 1 Sam. i. 8.) and Daniel, also, was grieved in spirit, (Dan. vii. 15.) But no one will hence infer, that the soul of the Lord, the heart of Hannah and the spirit of Daniel were distinct persons?

4th, Anger:-" And they vexed his Holy Spirit." Samson's soul was vexed unto

death; and the very bones of David were sore vexed. (Judges xvi. 16. Psalm vi. 2.) 5th, Sense and speech. "What he shall hear he shall speak.' And the earth shall hear the corn and the wine and the oil," (Hosea ii. 22.)"O earth hear the word of the Lord," (Jer. xxii. 29.) And, "Ye dry bones hear the word of the Lord," (Ezek. xxxvii. 10.) Wisdom crieth," (Prov. i. 20.) "The deep utters his voice and lifts his hands, and mountains see." (Hab. iii. 10.) "The law speaketh," (Rom. iii. 19.) The heavens declare the glory of God," (Psalm exci.) " Anointing teacheth," (1 John ii. 27.)

witness," (John v. 8.)

"Blood beareth

"The rod of God

comforts," (Psalm xxiii. 4.)

A 6th argument, urged in proof of the personality of the Holy Spirit of God, is, that it is the object of our faith, worship' and obedience. That it is the object of our faith, we acknowledge and profess. That its commands are to be obeyed, we know, because they are the commands of God. But that it is to be the distinct object of our worship, we deny, and maintain that such an assertion is totally unwarranted by the scripture.

The first passage urged in proof of the assertion is Matt. xxviii. 19. " Go "Go ye and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit." This passage has already been once under our notice, as being supposed to teach three persons in one God. The observations, which were then made are applicable to its introduction in the present case. I shall merely add one or two

more.

1st. The word worship is not used at all. It is therefore merely by way of inference that you suppose it is implied or

meant.

2nd. It is not so mentioned as purposely to denote any thing distinct from the Father. The distinction is the following, The Son Jesus Christ is distinguished from God the Father. The Holy Spirit, or divine energy, which was exhibited in miracles, is distinguished from the Son

908

as not being his own naturally inherent power, nor resident in him alone, but likewise communicated: the apostles. Jad 3rd. Whether any thing distinct from the Father, or any object of worship, was

intended by the expression, may be judged of, by considering the principal prejudices of those to whom they were to preach and whom to baptize. Hitherto, their missions had extended only to their own countrymen the Jews. Now, they were commanded to go and teach all nations, that is, to carry the doctrines of Christianity to the Gentiles, who generally received the appellation of the nations.

What

were the apostles to teach them different from the opinions they before entertained? They had believed and paid adoration to a plurality of Gods. The apostles were to teach them to believe in the Father, an appellation which our Saviour was particularly fond of ascribing to the one God. Jehovah. I go to my Father and to your Father, to my God and to your God." Another prejudice to be overcome that this carpenter's son was indeed the Messiah, the sent of God. On this point ad on es therefore the apostles were to instruct them, that Jesus was the Son of God, the Christ. And, instead of ascribing the miraculous powers with which the apostles were vested, to Beelzebub the Prince of

was,

Dæmons, as did the Jews, they were to instruct, and to prove to, the Heathens, that they (the apostles) were guided and influenced by the Spirit of God himself. These were the grand prejudices of the Gentiles, and upon their declaration that they had overcome these prejudices and believed in these three points, the apostles were commanded to baptize them, to admit them to Christian communion.*

Once more, 4th. To shew that from this expression of baptizing into the Holy Spirit, no fair inference can be drawn, that it was intended to be an object of worship, I adduce the following passage, (1 Cor. x. 2.) St. Paul, speaking of the Israelites in their march through the wilderness, says, that they were all baptized into

Moses, in the cloud and in the sea."

Do

* "Besides, those who contend that this joining of the Spirit with the Father and the Son in baptism is a proof of its being a proper person, should consider, that in 1 John v. 8. it is said 'to bear witness with the water and the blood.' The nouns are all neuter, and no one believes the water and blood to be perHow much clearer then is the evidence of its impersonality, when joined with two other neuter nouns, than the evidence of its personality, when connected with two nouns of a different gender."

sons.

Marsom's Impersonality of the Holy Spirit, p.

37.