of all (John, 16. 15. Matt. 11. 27. Luke, 10. 22. Acts, 10. 36); but to maintain as some do that he existed before the foundation of the world, and that he is co-eternal with the Father, is contrary to the scripture. The Son of God is Emmanuel, that is, God is one with him and is manifested in him to the faithful; and in this sense we interpret the words of Paul, who bears witness to Jesus, saying, ‘Of whom as concerning the flesh the Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever.' (Rom. 9. 5. Comp. John, 20. 28.) And again he says, 'Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us.' (Titus, 3. 13, 14). It is by knowing that the Son of God is Emmanuel, that we know him as God; for though we hold that he is essentially man, we believe that he is virtually God, because all the fulness of the Deity dwells in him bodily. We thus maintain the humanity of the Christ and the supremacy of Jehovah the Father of Eternity, for there is but one God, who is the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our God, for the head of the Christ is God. (1 Cor. 11. 3. Comp. Matt. 27. 46; John, 20. 17.) But as regards the union of the Father with the Son, it is a mystery like the union of the soul with the body, which escapes the most subtle analysis of the metaphysician and the physiologist; and it is no wonder, therefore, that the relation of the Father to the Son should be hidden from man, seeing that he is a mystery to himself. It is sufficient for us to see the Father in the Son, for in him we find him, and can come unto his throne. (Acts, 7. 55, 56.) Thus we give a reason for our faith in the Son of God, and are no more children tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of cunning men who lie in wait to deceive us. Having come to the knowledge of the Son of God as he is revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures, we shall now conclude with the exhortation

of the apostle Paul, 'As ye have received the Christ Jesus as the Lord, so walk ye in him, rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the elements of the world, and not after the Christ, for in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Deity bodily.' (Col. 2. 6-9)

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CHAPTER III.

THE HOLY SPIRIT.

And the Spirit of God moved on the face of the waters.'— GEN. 1. 2.

And the eternal God formed man of the dust of the earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.'-GEN. 2. 7.

I. GOD regenerates the souls of the elect, and moves his prophets by the Holy Spirit.

II. The Holy Spirit in the saints.

III. The various meanings of the word 'spirit.'

In order to understand the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, we must begin by defining the original meaning of the word spirit. Now we know that this word comes from the Latin 'spiritus,' which signifies 'breath,' which we shall therefore substitute for 'spirit,' in speaking of the regeneration of the souls of the elect, and of the inspiration of the prophets, both of which are the effects of God's power, which in the figurative language of the Scripture is called his Breath; for it is said that God imparted animal life to man when he created him by his Breath. And in the Psalms it is written that 'By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made;' that is, by his will, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.' (33. 6.) It is plain therefore that the breath of God signifies his power. And in this sense we understand how the Breath' which in Greek is 'to pneuma,'

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regenerates the souls of his elect, and imparts to them everlasting life, as the Lord testified when he said to Nicodemus, 'That which is begotten by the flesh is flesh,' that is to say, mortal; but that which is begotten by the Breath [of God] is breath' (John, 3. 6), that is to say, everlasting life; for it is the Breath [of God] or the power of God, that giveth life.' (John, 6. 63.) And by the same Breath whereby God moved his servants the prophets to speak in his name, he regenerates the souls of the elect, as Jesus testified to Nicodemus, saying, 'Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be begotten from above. The breath [of God] bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth; and so is every one that is begotten by the Breath' [of God]. (John, 3. 7, 8. Comp. John, 1. 12, 13; 3. 3.) The teacher of Israel confessed that Jesus was a prophet sent from God, and having heard his words he heard the voice of the Breath of God, that is to say, the voice which spoke by the power of God; and as God confers this power on whom he chooses, so does he in like manner regenerate by his Breath the souls of those whom he has elected to be his children according to the purpose of his own will before the foundation of the world. As a master of Israel Nicodemus was no doubt familiar with the doctrine of the Holy Breath as regarded the inspiration of the prophets, for he knew that Jehovah put his Breath on Moses and the seventy elders (Num. 11. 10-29. Comp. Isa. 63. 11; Acts, 7. 51), but he was ignorant of the promise that the saints should be made sons of God in this dispensation, which promise obviously implied their regeneration by the Breath of God, which is called holy, to distinguish it from the power of the flesh or of man; and Jesus calls the new birth of the elect and the gift of prophecy earthly things, for they are manifestations of God's power on earth, of which man is cognizant.

In the following scriptures, therefore, the word Breath,

L..

or 'Spirit,' as it is rendered in our translation, signifies the power of God by which he moved his prophets to speak in his name, and to perform miracles to authenticate their mission, namely, Matt. 12. 28. Acts, 1. 8; 10. 38. Rom. 15. 19. 1 Cor. 2. 4. Eph. 3. 5, which is conformable to the testimony of the prophet Ezekiel, who said when he saw visions of God that the hand of Jehovah was upon him. (Ezek. 1. 3.) 'And the Breath entered into me when he spake to me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake to me.' (Ezek. 2. 2.) And again, 'The Breath took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of Jehovah from his place.' (Ezek. 3. 12.) The Breath of God came on Balaam, and on Caiaphas, though they were unbelievers; and David was in fear lest he should be deprived of the Holy Breath on account of his sin, like his predecessor, Saul. (Ps. 51. 11.)

The Holy Breath came on the Son of God at his baptism, when God anointed him as a prophet. And in John, 3. 34, it is said that Jesus received the Breath of God without measure; and in Luke, 4. 1, 18; Isa. 61. 1, that he was filled with it, and that he returned in the power of the Breath into Galilee (Luke, 4. 14), that is, by divine inspiration. And in the everlasting Breath or power of God which was in him, he offered himself as a victim on the cross. (Heb. 9. 14. John, 10. 18.) And in it he gave his commandments to his apostles. (Acts, 1. 2. Comp. 10. 36.) And it was by the Holy Breath in which they were immersed that they revealed the will of the Lord and performed miracles, as his witnesses (Rom. 15. 19. 1 Cor. 2. 11. 1 Thess. 1.5); for while under the law they could not testify of the Son of man as the Christ, as they did not then know him as the Saviour of their souls, and the founder of a spiritual kingdom (Matt. 16. 20-23); and when that kingdom came, they could not witness for their Lord till he endued them with power