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 acknowledged 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

things of God knoweth no man, but the SPIRIT of God: and hence we derive this valuable instruction, that, to know the things of God, that is, to be pure and holy, we must partake of the Spirit of God in our hearts, and which is rendered still more certain by another personal property, and that is WILL; for (1 Cor. xii. 11), the Apostle also assures us, that the self-same Spirit worketh all these, dividing to every man severally as he WILL. Again, the Scriptures represent him as doing personal actions: he is sent-he cometh-goeth-heareth-teacheth. Jesus, when he was baptized, saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him. (Matt. xiv. 26.) He is said to be SENT by the Father in Christ's name. (John, xv. 26.) It is said, when the Comforter shall COME (xvi. 13); when the Spirit of Truth is come, he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever things he shall HEAR, that shall he speak. Again, he is said to be tempted, resisted, grieved he speaks, commands, and intercedes-he has not only such affections attributed to him as are truly personal (Eph. iv. 30), in that we are exhorted by the Apostle, not to grieve the Spirit of God; but he is described as doing what only can properly belong to a person; for (Rom. viii. 26), we are assured that the Spirit maketh intercession for us, with groanings that cannot be uttered: in short, he is joined in Scripture with those who are positively

allowed to be persons; viz. God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, as is manifest in the form of baptism (Matt. xxviii. 19): Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost-in St. Paul's devout wish for the Corinthians (2 Cor. xiii. 14), The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, &c.-and St. John's list of witnesses (1 Ep. v. 7), For there are Three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the HOLY GHOST; and these Three are ONE. By all these proofs, we may most undoubtedly rest assured that the blessed Spirit is truly and properly a PERSON.

The next object of our inquiry, in order to give weight to our faith in the Holy Spirit, is to consider his DIVINITY; and, in consequence thereof, that he is an UNcreated Person, distinct both from the Father and the Son. And here we must apply again to Scripture arguments in favour of the fact. No other or stronger proof can be adduced for this part of our faith, than was employed to show that the same description belonged to the SON HIMSELF.

First, we prove that the Holy Ghost is an UNcreated Person, by the argument founded on these words of the Apostle (1 Cor. ii. 11), that the things of God knoweth no man, but the SPIRIT of God. Now, it is certain that this Spirit is the Holy Ghost; and the Spirit of God cannot

be a creature, because it must have existed from everlasting, with the nature of God.

Secondly, it is declared in Scripture, that it is possible to sin against the Holy Ghost, and that this sin, in its strict sense, cannot be forgiven. Now, if he was not a Person, we could not be said to sin against him; and, if he were a created Person, the sin would not be past forgiveness: therefore he is both a Person, and uncreated. This argument is grounded on our Saviour's words (Matt. xii. 32): Whoso speaketh against the Son of man (that is, considering him only in his human nature), it shall be forgiven him; but whoso speaketh a word against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in the world to come; because this sin supposes us to attribute the works of the Spirit of God to the devil, and thereby is exalting Satan's power and denying God: and this further shows, that there is a sin against the Holy Ghost distinct from all other sins against God the Father, or the Son of God; and, also, that it hath a most dangerous consequence attending it. But, if the Holy Ghost is not a Person, the sin could not be distinct from those sins committed against HIM, whose Spirit he is; and if he was created, the sin could not properly exceed all other sins.

Thirdly, every created person was made by