grief or joy, according as its tendency was right or wrong*: but also, that God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ †: that there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid that shall not be known. For God shall bring every work into judgement, and every secret thing; whether it be good, or whether it be evil §. Therefore, with respect to other persons, let us be charitable, and judge nothing needlessly before the time; until the Lord come, who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of all hearts ||. And with respect to ourselves, let us be easy under human censures, if we have given no occasion for them; for in that case, it is a small thing to be judged of man's judgement ¶ but let us carefully prepare for the divine sentence, by perfecting holiness in the fear of God **: and after all our care, let us be thoroughly humble for though we know nothing by ourselves, yet are we not hereby justified, if it be through partiality or forgetfulness, as possibly it may; but he that judgeth us, is the Lord tt. 5. As to the manner of the judgment, it will be with the greatest solemnity and awfulness, and with the greatest justice and equity. The Lord himself shall descend from heaven ‡‡, with his mighty angels, in flaming fire§§; and the trumpet shall sound, and all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and come forth ¶¶. Then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory***, and the books shall be opened, and they shall be judged out of those things, which are written * Matt. xii. 36, 37. 1 Cor. iv. 5. tt 1 Cor. iv. 4. 1 Cor. xv. 52. Rom. ii. 16. Matt. x. 26. § Eccl. xii. 14. ¶ 1 Cor. iv. 3. ‡‡ 1 Thess. iv. 16. ¶¶ John v. 28, 29. ** 2 Cor. vii. 1. §§ 2 Thess. i. 7, 8. Matt. xxv. 31. in the books, according to their works *. As many as have sinned without a revealed law, shall perish without a revealed law: and as many as have sinned in the law, whether Jewish or Christian, shall be judged by the law. Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom much is committed, of him will the more be asked. He which hath sowed sparingly, shall reap also sparingly: and he which hath sowed bountifully shall reap also bountifully §. Whatsoever a man hath sowed, that shall he also reap. What manner of persons ought we to be then in all holy conversation and godliness: looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God; wherein the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that we look for such things, be diligent, that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless: grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: to him be glory, both now and for ever. Amen¶. * Rev. xx. 12. § 2 Cor. ix. 6. + Rom. ii. 12. Luke xii. 48. LECTURE XIII. CREED. Article VIII. I believe in the Holy Ghost. THE former articles having expressed the belief of Christians concerning the two first persons of the sacred Trinity, the Father and the Son; our creed proceeds in this to the third object of our baptismal faith, the Holy Ghost. And to explain it properly there will be need to speak, first, of his nature: secondly, of his peculiar office in the work of our redemption: thirdly, of the duties owing to him: fourthly, of the sins, which we are liable to commit against him. I. Of the nature of the Holy Ghost, or Spirit. For Ghost, in the ancient use of our language, denoted the same thing, which Spirit doth now: a substance different from body or matter. Indeed we still use it, in expressing the departure of the spirit from the body, which we call, giving up the ghost: and in speaking of supposed apparitions of the spirits of persons after their decease. Hence also the catechism mentions ghostly dangers; and the communion service, ghostly counsels; meaning such dangers, and such counsels, as relate to our spiritual part. In like manner, the Holy Ghost is the Holy Spirit: concerning whose nature, we can know, as I told you before concerning that of the Son, only what results from the discoveries made to us in Scripture. And these, though they enlighten us but in part, are both credible and sufficient. For it is no objection against believing what God hath revealed in relation to any subjects, that many questions may be asked about what he hath not revealed, to which we can give no answer. And he will never expect us, in this or any matter, to apprehend more, than he hath afforded us the means of apprehending. Now the chief things, revealed in the present case, are the following. The Holy Ghost is not merely an attribute or power of the Father, but hath a real subsistence, distinct both from the Father and the Son. For the New Testament expressly and repeatedly uses the word he, concerning him*: which is never used in that manner of a mere attribute or power. It ascribes to him will and understanding †: it speaks of him as being sent by the Father, coming and acting on various occasions, relative both to the Son and to others; nay, as shewing himself in a bodily shape, like a dove ‡. Further the Holy Ghost is, truly and strictly speaking, God. For the language of Scripture concerning him is such, as cannot belong to any created being. He is there called, the eternal Spirit §, the Lord: said to quicken or give life; to be every where present with all good Christians **; to search all things, yea, the deep things of God, even as the things of a man are known by his own spirit, which is John xiv. 26. † Rom. viii. 27. Luke iii. 22. T1 Pet. iii. 18. xv. 26. xvi. 13. Heb. ii. 4. Comp. 1 Cor. xii. 11. § Heb. ix. 14. 2 Cor. iii. 17. in him*. Christ being conceived by him, became the Son of Godt. Christians, by his dwelling in them, become the temples of the Holy Ghost ‡, or, as another place expresses it, the temples of God. Ananias, by lying to him, lyed not unto men but unto God ||. He is said to distribute spiritual and miraculous gifts, dividing to every man severally, as he will ¶. And as the disciples ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them **. represented by our Saviour, as able fully to supply the want of his personal presence with the Apostles ††. And lastly, he is joined with the Father and the Son, on equal terms, both in the form of baptism, where his name and theirs are used alike‡‡; and in the solemn form of blessing where the fellowship of the Holy Ghost is placed on a level with the love of God, and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ §§. He is These, and many other Scripture expressions, are surely such, as cannot be used of any creature; but prove the Spirit, as others, already mentioned to you, prove the Son, to partake of the same authority and perfections, and therefore the same nature, with the Father. Yet we know, that though in holy writ men and angels are, sometimes on account of their extensive power, sometimes as representatives of the Deity, called gods, yet in literal propriety of speech there is but one God, and not either three supreme beings, or a superior and inferior object of adoration. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. Is there a God besides me? yea, there is no God: I know not 1 Cor. ii. 10, 11. + Luke i. 35. + 1 Cor. vi. 19. |