from on high.

But the

of

power

(Luke, 24. 49. Acts, 1. 8; 2. 1-4.) prophet was not always under the influence of the God to be in the Breath, therefore, signifies that the prophet was in the ecstatic state in which he received revelations from God, and could communicate his word as his infallible witness for the truth. For prophecy never

came at any time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Breath' (2 Pet. 1. 21. Comp. John, 16. 13), which is also called the Breath of holiness. (Rom. 1. 4.) When therefore it is said that the Breath of God speaks to the assemblies, the meaning is that the prophet speaks to them. (Rev. 1. 10. 1 Tim. 4. 1.) And when Peter said that the Christ was put to death in the flesh, and made to live in Breath, the meaning is that he was made to live in power (Comp. Rom. 1. 4; Matt. 28. 18), by which he went and preached to the souls who are now in prison; that is to say, God who was manifested in his Son, went by his power and announced the salvation of the elect and the judgment of the world by means of his prophet Noah. (1 Pet. 3. 18-20. Comp. 1 Pet. 1. 11. 1 Cor. 10. 4-9.)

The pouring-out of the Breath of God on Israel at the coming of the Messiah was announced by the prophet Isaiah, saying, 'I will pour my Breath upon thy posterity, and my blessing upon thine offspring.' (Isa. 44. 3.) And still more distinctly by the prophet Joel who said, 'Ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am Jehovah your God, and none else. And it shall come to pass afterwards that I will pour out my Breath upon all flesh' (Acts, 2. 1-4; 10. 46): 'and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: and also upon the slaves, men and women, will I pour out my Breath.' (Joel, 2. 27-29.) And accordingly, John the Baptiser testified of the Christ, saying, 'He shall immerse you in the Holy Breath, and in fire.' (Matt. 3. 2. Comp. Mark, 1. 8.) When, therefore,

the Lord announced his death and ascension into heaven, he said to the apostles, 'I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Defender, that he may abide with you for the age; even the Breath of truth, which the world cannot receive, because it seeth it not, neither knoweth it; but ye know it; for it dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you.' (John, 14. 16-18.)

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The Breath of truth, or the power of revealing God's word, was in Jesus, who was the word of God; but the world, that is, the Jewish nation, received it not, for it saw it not; but the apostles saw it, for they confessed that he was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people.' (Luke, 24. 19.) And the Lord promised that the Breath of truth which dwelt with them should be in them as their defender, and the defender of his disciples, who should not be left orphans; for they would receive power to communicate his word to the saints; by means of which he would remain with them till the end of the age. (Matt. 28. 20.) The power of prophecy, or of revealing my word, shall be in you, saith Jesus to the apostles, and thus he still speaks to us in their writings, in which we hear his word, which is the divine Paraclete that defends us against all the assaults of the enemies of the truth. The Holy Breath in which they were immersed guided the apostles into all truth; but it is not the Holy Breath that guides us into all truth, but the word of our Lord that came to the apostles by the Holy Breath. It is not the gift of inspiration, that remains with the saints as their defender; but the word of God that came by it, as he assured the apostles, saying, 'The Defender which is the Holy Breath, which the Father will send in my name, it shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you.' (John, 15. 26.) But when the defender is come, which I will send

unto you from the Father, even the Breath of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, it shall testify of me; and ye shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.' (John, 15, 26, 27. Comp. 1 John, 1. 2.) And again, Jesus said, 'It is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the Defender will not come unto you ; but if I depart, I will send it unto you. And when it is come, it will convince the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they have not believed on me; of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and ye see me no more; and of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.' (John, 16. 7-11.)

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The Holy Breath came from the Father through the Son, who is the Lord of all, and when immersed in it, the apostles received power to bear witness to the sin of the Jews who had denied Jesus as the Messiah, and put him to death as a false prophet (Acts, 2. 23, 36. Deut. 18. 15-18), and to the righteousness of God which is by faith in him to all nations (Acts, 2. 37, 38), and to the tribulation of Israel (Acts, 2. 40), and to the judgment of the unrighteous rulers of the nation at the last day, for God had overcome the powers of this world by raising Jesus from the dead. (Matt. 19. 28.) For we are witnesses,' said Peter, 'of these things;' and so is also the Holy Breath which God hath given to them that obey him. (Acts, 5. 31, 32. Comp. John, 14. 15-18, 26; Luke, 24. 49.) And of this gift the Lord further testified, saying, 'Howbeit when it, the Breath of truth, is come, it will guide you unto all truth: for it shall not speak of itself; but whatsoever it shall hear that shall it speak; and it will show you things to come.' (See 2 Pet. 1. 21). 'It shall glorify me: for it shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that it shall take of mine and show it unto you.' (John, 16. 13, 14. Comp. John, 15. 24-27.)

In obedience to the commandment of the Lord, the apostles tarried at Jerusalem till they were 'endued with power from on high' (Luke, 24. 49) as he had promised before he ascended into heaven, saying unto his beloved brethren who were to be his witnesses, 'John truly immersed in water; but ye shall be immersed in the Holy Breath not many days hence.' (Acts, 1. 4. Comp. Eph. 4. 8-10; Acts, 2. 27-33.) A gracious promise, which he fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, when the disciples were assembled with one accord in one place: When suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them separate tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were filled with the Holy Breath, and they began to speak in other languages, as the Breath gave them utterance.' (Acts, 2. 1-4. Comp. 9. 17; 10. 46; 19. 6.)

It was by the Holy Breath, which descended under the figure of a dove, that John knew Jesus at his baptism as the Christ, and by it the apostles witnessed for his resurrection from the dead. And hence it is written, 'Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Breath [of God] that beareth witness, because the Breath is truth. For there are three that bear witness, the Breath [of God], and the water, and the blood and these three agree in one' (1 John, 5. 5-8. Comp. Acts, 2.), that is, in bearing witness that Jesus is the Son of God.

In Eph. 3. 5, speaking of the mystery of the Christ which he announced to the nations, the apostle Paul says, which mystery'in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Breath.' And in 1 Cor. 12. 4-6, he testifies

of the power of God by which the apostles and prophets witnessed for the Christ, saying, 'Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Breath, and there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God that worketh all things in all.' 'But all these worketh the one and the selfsame Breath, dividing to every man as it wills' (1 Cor. 12. 4-6, 11), that is, as God wills. (Heb. 2. 4.)

It was by the Holy Breath that the apostles communicated the word of the Lord to the saints, and by it, also, they were guided in their acts, for when Paul and his companions came to Mysia, they essayed to go into Bithynia, 'but the Breath of Jesus suffered them not.' (Acts, 16. 7. Comp. Matt. 10. 19, 20. Acts, 4. 8; 6. 10; 13. 4; 15. 28; 19. 21; 20. 22; 21. 4-12; 23. 5. 2 Cor. 1. 17; 10. 2. Gal. 2. 1, 2.) And the prophets were guided under the law by the same power (1 Kings, 18. 11; 15. 29. Ezek. 3. 12, 14. Luke, 11. 27), which power was not confined to the apostles, for all who were immersed in the Holy Breath were endued with it (Acts, 6. 3; 8. 29, 39; 13. 1-4); and by the Breath of God the apostles foretold future events (John, 16. 13. Acts, 5. 9; 23. 3; 27. 10, 22), and performed miracles according to his promise. (John, 14. 11-14. Acts, 3. 6.) Hence, it is said, that to resist the testimony of the prophets is to resist the Holy Breath, or the power of God, by which they were moved to speak and act as his servants (Acts, 7. 51, 52. Isa. 59. 20, 21); and to tell a lie to a prophet was to lie against God. (Acts, 5. 1-11.) And Paul, speaking of himself as a prophet, uses the word 'pneuma,' or breath, to signify mind, in the first Epistle to the Corinthians, in which case it may be rendered by the word 'spirit,' for he says, it was by the Spirit or mind of God which was given to him, that he knew the secret things of God, for God hath revealed them to us by means of the Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep

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