LECTURES ON THE CHURCH CATECHISM. 361 LECTURE XV. EIGHTH ARTICLE OF THE BELIEF; ACTS, XIX. 2. Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost, As the first part of the Creed contained all that was needful for us to know concerning GOD THE FATHER; So the last Lecture (which related to the second article) concluded all that was necessary for us to believe concerning God the Son, the Author and Finisher of our faith. Through the first Person in the adorable and undivided Trinity, as Creator, we have our being -by the second, we are redeemed from sin and death, and shall be finally judged and this eighth article of our Creed proposes to our faith what is necessary to be known and prefessed by us as Christians, concerning that di : vine Person in the mysterious union of the Godhead, distinguished in Scripture by the title of THE HOLY GHOST. Though the last in order, it is not the least in consequence, to the effecting our peace on earth, and happiness in heaven; it being through the influence of this blessed Spirit alone, that we can be rendered capable of a place among the society of the just made perfect. Now, the way to treat this very important subject, so that it may inform your understanding, and convince you of the absolute-necessity of as steadfast a faith in this, as in any of the former articles of the Belief, will be to consider distinctly, first, the divine nature of the Holy Ghost; secondly, his personality, or the reality of his person; and, thirdly, his peculiar office in the promoting of our salvation. We will begin, as I have done on some of the preceding subjects, with an inquiry into the meaning of the word. The name ghost, in the ancient Saxon language, signifies spirit; and by the title of the Spirit of God, the nature of the Holy Ghost is principally expressed. What is required of us to believe respecting the Holy Ghost, is not only that there is such a divine Person, but that he is the third Person in the ever blessed Trinity; and, as such, of the same divine nature with the Father and the Son. In regard to the existence of the Spirit of God, it is needless to endeavour to prove it, as the Scriptures do so fully testify thereof, which we shall have abundant occasion of observing in the course of this Lecture. There are some passages, however, which it may be useful to clear up, as they seem to contain doubts concerning this article, but which we shall easily perceive have no foundation sufficient to weaken our faith. The first is the expression in the text (Acts, xix. 2), of the disciples at Ephesus, who had not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. Now, if they were Gentiles, there is no wonder at this, because they never had that notion in their religion; and if they were Jews, as they seem to have been, because they were baptized with the baptism of John, the expression could not signify that they never heard of the Spirit of God, but only, that they had not (as yet) heard of the giving of it, of its being poured out upon men, or shed abroad in men's hearts. Secondly, In like manner we read in St. John (vii. 39), that the Holy Ghost was not yet given, which by no means denies the existence of the Spirit, but only the plentiful effusion of it. Now, it is impossible the Apostle could deny the existence of that Spirit before Christ was glorified, whose work was so fully declared even at Christ's conception; and to prove the great ignorance of the disciples who made the above declaration, he asks them, Unto what then were ye baptized? plainly showing, that if they were baptized according to the rule of Christ, they could not be ignorant that there is a Holy Ghost, because the Apostles were commanded to baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. But whatsoever the nature of the Spirit of God may be thought to be, it certainly works in an intellectual or spiritual substance or person, and is not merely an effect, but the cause of good. Of this we have the plainest testimony in the Holy Scriptures, by which alone we are capable of knowing any thing of these deep matters. Now, these sacred books most clearly speak of him, not only as a Person, but a divine Person, and that distinct both from the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We are not, therefore, left to guess at the nature of the Spirit of God; for the word of God, which came from that same Spirit, hath sufficiently enlightened our minds on this subject. First; such proper names are attributed to him, as belong only to a person. In Acts, v. 3, 4, he is styled GOD: Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. In 2 Cor. iii. 17, he is called LORD: Now the Lord is that Spirit. As a SPIRIT, he is clearly and strictly put in opposition to those evil spirits which are, and must be aoknowledged persons of a spiritual substance. This is evident from 1 Sam. xvi. 14, The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him; that is, the Lord permitted such a spirit to take possession of him, because he had disobeyed the voice of the Lord; and what those evil spirits were, is fully shown in 2 Chron. xviii. 20, 21, from the sad example of Ahab, concerning whom we read, There came out a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will entice him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets. And the Lord said, Thou shalt entice him, and thou shalt also prevail: go, and do even so. Hence it is evident these evil spirits, thus permitted by God to deceive wicked men, were even bad angels, to which the one good Spirit, as a person, is opposed. On the contrary, when the blessed Spirit is sent to any one, he is properly styled the COMFORTER. (John, xiv. 26.) But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things. Further, the New Testament describes the Holy Ghost by such personal properties or dispositions as afford full marks of his personality, and remove all doubt of his being equally a Person as the Father or the Son; for they ascribe unto him understanding (1 Cor. ii. 11); For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of a man that is in him? even so the |