XXIX. This, then, is what may be said by one
who admits the silence of Scripture. But now the swarm of
testimonies shall burst upon you from which the Deity of the Holy
Ghost Luke i. 35; iii. 22; iv. 1. shall be shewn to all who are not
excessively stupid, or else altogether enemies to the Spirit, to be
most clearly recognized in Scripture. Look at these
facts:—Christ is born; the Spirit is His Forerunner. He is
baptized; the Spirit bears witness. He is tempted; the Spirit
leads Him up. Luke iv. 1, 18. He works
miracles; the Spirit accompanies them. He ascends; the Spirit
takes His place. What great things are there in the idea of God
which are not in His power? Acts ii. 4. What titles
which belong to God are not applied to Him, except only Unbegotten and
Begotten? For it was needful that the distinctive properties of
the Father and the Son should remain peculiar to Them, lest there
should be confusion in the Godhead Which brings all things, even
disorder v. l. Yea, even
disorder. itself, into due
arrangement and good order. Indeed I tremble when I think of the
abundance of the titles, and how many Names they outrage who fall foul
of the Spirit. He is called the Spirit of God, the Spirit of
Christ, the Mind of Christ, the Spirit of The Lord, and Himself The
Lord, the Spirit of Adoption, of Truth, of Liberty; the Spirit of
Wisdom, of Understanding, of Counsel, of Might, of Knowledge, of
Godliness, of the Fear of God. For He is the Maker of all these,
filling all with His Essence, containing all things, filling the world
in His Essence, yet incapable of being comprehended in His power by the
world; good, upright, princely, by nature not by adoption; sanctifying,
not sanctified; measuring, not measured; shared, not sharing; filling,
not filled; containing, not contained; inherited, glorified, reckoned
with the Father and the Son; held out as a threat; Viz.:—where we
are told that Blasphemy against Him hath never forgiveness. the Finger of God; fire like God; to
manifest, as I take it, His consubstantiality); the Creator-Spirit, Who
by Baptism and by Resurrection creates anew; the Spirit That knoweth
all things, That teacheth, That bloweth where and to what extent He
listeth; That guideth, talketh, sendeth forth, separateth, is angry or
tempted; That revealeth, illumineth, quickeneth, or rather is the very
Light and Life; That maketh Temples; That deifieth; That perfecteth so
as even to anticipate Baptism, As in the case of the
Centurion Cornelius, Acts x.
9. yet after Baptism
to be sought as a separate gift; i.e. in
Confirmation. That doeth all
things that God doeth; divided into fiery tongues; dividing gifts;
making Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers;
understanding manifold, clear, piercing, undefiled, unhindered, which
is the same thing as Most wise and varied in His actions; and making
all things clear and plain; and of independent power, unchangeable,
Almighty, all-seeing, penetrating all spirits that are intelligent,
pure, most subtle (the Angel Hosts I think); and also all prophetic
spirits and apostolic in the same manner and not in the same places;
for they lived in different places; thus showing that He is
uncircumscript.