This title expresses three things
This title expresses three things--
1. His divine nature, for "God is a Spirit," (John 4:24,) that is, as well expressed in the first of the 39 Articles, "Without body, parts, or passions," essentially a pure incorporeal Spirit as distinct from any material, divisible substance; and therefore, as eternally and intrinsically possessed of Godhead, the Holy Spirit is termed "a Spirit." But 2, it expresses the mode of his subsistence in the blessed Trinity, as proceeding from the Father and the Son in a mystical, incomprehensible manner by spiration, as the breath proceeds from our body. This is a deep mystery, above all comprehension, and therefore beyond all explanation; but as he is declared by our blessed Lord to proceed from the Father, (John 15:26,) is called "the Spirit of the Son," (Gal. 4:6,) and "the Spirit of Christ;" (Rom. 8:9;) and as sometimes the Father is said to send him and sometimes the Son, (John 14:26, 16:7,) faith gathers the conclusion that in a mysterious, inexplicable manner the blessed Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. As a type, therefore, and representation of this mode of his divine substance by spiration, or breathing, God, at the first creation of man, breathed into Adam's nostrils the breath of life; (Gen. 2:7;) and so our blessed Lord breathed on the Apostles when he said unto them, Receive the Holy Spirit." (John 20:22.) But he is called also "the Spirit," 3, to express his mode of operation on the hearts of the people of God, which is compared in scripture to a breath, or the movement of the wind--"Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain that they may live;" (Ezek. 37:9;) and so, on the day of Pentecost, in his miraculous descent on the Apostles, "suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing, mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting." (Acts 2:2.)
2. But as we shall have occasion to speak more upon this point hereafter, we pass on to another title given to him in the word of truth. He is, then, emphatically and by way of eminence called "the HOLY Spirit." This is his special title in the New Testament, though we find him so designated in the Old; as, "Take not your Holy Spirit from me;" (Psalm 51:11;) "But they rebelled and vexed his Holy Spirit;" and again, "Where is he who put his Holy Spirit within him?" (Isa. 62:10, 11.) But he bears this title chiefly for two reasons--1. First, to indicate the eternal and essential holiness of his nature, as opposed to and distinct from an unclean spirit; for as God absolutely is "Holy," and so declares of himself, "I the Lord your God am holy," (Lev. 19:2,) and as the Son is called "the Holy One of Israel," (Isa. 43:3, 14,) so is the blessed Spirit termed "Holy" in respect of the infinite holiness of his divine nature. Thus the seraphim in the temple, as seen in vision by the prophet, cried one unto another, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;" holy the Father, holy the Son, holy the Spirit; (Isa. 6:3;) their threefold ascription of holiness, designating the three Persons in the blessed Trinity, and the oneness of title, "the Lord Almighty," the Unity of the divine essence. But he is also called "the Holy Spirit," 2, as the source and fountain of all holiness, it being his peculiar covenant office and prerogative to communicate and breathe, operate and produce it in the hearts, lips, and lives of the people of God.
3. He is called also "the GOOD Spirit." "My Spirit is good." (Psalm 143:10.) "You gave also your good Spirit to instruct them." (Neh. 9:20.) This title expresses the supreme and essential clemency, benignity, kindness, tenderness, pity, compassion, and bounty of the blessed Spirit, all of which, as partaking of and sharing in all the perfections and attributes of Godhead, he possesses infinitely in himself. "Why do you call me good?" said the blessed Lord to one who called him, "good Master." "None is good, save one, that is God." (Luke 18:19.) Meaning, not that he was not himself God, but that God is infinitely, essentially, and supremely good, distinct from and above any goodness of man, such as the ruler took him to be. This "goodness" therefore of God, "leads to repentance;" (Rom. 2:4;) as touching the inmost springs of the heart, and melting the soul under a felt sense of his most undeserved clemency and loving kindness. So "the good Spirit," as essentially and supremely good, bends in love and pity over the family of God, and by his benevolent operations on their heart softens and melts them into contrition and love.
4. He is also called "the Spirit of TRUTH." Thrice is he so termed by the blessed Lord in his farewell discourse to his disciples, (John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13,) and he bears this title as supremely possessed of truth; as containing it in himself as a divine Fountain; as animating it in all his communications with his vital breath; as revealing it in the Scriptures; as applying it to the heart, and sealing it with his own gracious and most comforting, establishing witness on the conscience.
5. He is called also "the COMFORTER," as consoling the tried and tempted, distressed and afflicted children of God, by dropping words of peace into their bosom; as revealing to them the Son of God, in his beauty and blessedness, boundless grace, and heavenly glory; as applying the promises with unction and power to their wounded spirit; as taking of the things of Christ and showing them to their soul; as shedding the love of God abroad in their heart and sealing them to the day of redemption.
6. He is also called "the ADVOCATE," as the word translated Comforter may be rendered, being in this sense the "Paraclete," or inward Intercessor at the throne of grace; for "he helps their infirmities" and intercedes for them and in them "with groanings which cannot be uttered." (Rom. 8:26.)
Most of these titles will come again under consideration, and we shall therefore not dwell longer on this part of our subject, but proceed to two other points of deep and vital importance, namely, the Deity and Personality of the blessed Spirit. These two points are intimately connected, and fit, as it were, into each other; but we shall consider them separately.
II. The DEITY of the blessed Spirit is so connected with the Trinity, that it can hardly be separated from a consideration of that vital, that glorious truth. If he is God, he is such a Person in the Trinity; for there are not three Gods, though there are three Persons in the Godhead. We cannot be too clear, too precise, too decided here. Three distinct Persons in one undivided Godhead is a truth which so lies at the foundation of all divine revelation, whether external in the word or internal in the soul, is so the life of every doctrine, the substance of every promise, the force of every precept, the strength of all faith, the foundation of all hope, and the source and object of all love, that to be unsound there is to be unsound everywhere. It is, indeed, a heavenly mystery, and, as such, is beyond all understanding, and therefore beyond all explanation. It is, indeed, not contrary to reason, but above it; and therefore is to be apprehended by faith, not comprehended by sense; to be reverently adored, not curiously pried into; to be received from the testimony of God, not the tradition of men; to be felt, not reasoned about; to be realized, not speculated upon; to be enjoyed, not trifled with; to be fed upon, not looked at; to be cleaved unto as a matter of vital experience and personal salvation, not held as a mere doctrine or the leading article of a sound creed; to be daily lived upon as the life of the soul, not gazed at in the dim distance as a shadowy inexplicable mystery, of which we have heard by the hearing of the ear, but have never tasted nor handled for ourselves. The Trinity, therefore, assumes and involves both the Deity and the Personality of the Holy Spirit, for if a Person in the Trinity, he must be a divine Person, and if a divine Person, he has a substantial existence, and is not a mere covenant title, a shadowy name, a breath, an influence, an afflatus, or an emanation.
The SCRIPTURAL PROOFS of the Deity of the blessed Spirit may be thus arranged:
1. He is named in union with the Father and the Son , as one with them in power, authority, grace, and glory, and yet as distinct in his divine Personality. Thus, in the charge given by the blessed Lord to his disciples just previously to his ascension--"Go, therefore, and teach all, nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." (Matt. 28:19.) What can be more plain than this testimony to the Deity of the blessed Spirit? The solemn ordinance of baptism is commanded to be administered in the name of the Father, in the name of the Son, and in the name of the Holy Spirit. "The name," that is the authority and power (Acts 3:16; 4:7, 10) of Father, Son, and Spirit, is thus declared to be one, and therefore their nature and essence must be alike and equally one. Can we think for a single moment that any created being, however high, any angel or seraph, however bright and holy, or that any name inferior to Deity could have been associated by our Lord with the name of the Father and of the Son? Or can we believe that a mere title, a virtue, an influence, a passing, fleeting breath--could be ranked as of equal dignity and authority with the other two divine Persons of the sacred Trinity?
A similar argument may be drawn from the apostolic benediction--"the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen." (2 Cor. 13:14.) Grace, love, and fellowship! From what can these three precious gifts come but from three co-equal, co-eternal Persons in one undivided Essence? If the Son give grace, and the Father give love, and the Holy Spirit give communion, surely these three divine Persons must be equal in dignity and power, and yet are but one God.
So, at the baptism of our gracious Redeemer, the three Persons of the sacred Trinity all appeared in open manifestation—the Son in the water, the Father speaking with an audible voice from heaven, and the Holy Spirit descending in a bodily shape like a dove. (Luke 3:22.) Similar proofs, on which we need not now enlarge, may be drawn from Eph. 2:18; Col, 2:2; 2 Thess. 3:5; Rev. 1:4, 5; in all which passages express or implied mention is made of the three Persons in the holy Trinity.
2. The names given in the Scripture to the blessed Spirit afford another clear proof of his Deity. Thus he is termed "Jehovah," that peculiar, that incommunicable name, which belongs solely to the great and glorious "I AM." Who but the Lord, that is Jehovah, the Lord God of Israel, spoken by the prophets? "And he said, Hear now my words--If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream." (Num. 12:6.) "And the Lord spoke by his servants the prophets." (2 Kings 21:10.) But we are expressly told that "prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." (2 Pet. 1:21.) So David declared on his dying bed--"The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and his word was in my tongue." (2 Sam. 23:2.) Similarly the prophecies that went before of Judas, are declared by Peter to have been spoken by the Holy Spirit--"Men and brethren, this Scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit by the mouth of David spoke before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus." (Acts 1:16.) So in that solemn warning given in the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Apostle says, "Therefore as the Holy Spirit says, Today if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness." (Heb. 3:7, 8.) When Paul, too, would close his warning word to the Jews at Rome, he said, "The Holy Spirit was right when he said to our ancestors through Isaiah the prophet, 'Go and say to my people, You will hear my words, but you will not understand; you will see what I do, but you will not perceive its meaning." (Acts 28:25, 26.) But these were the words spoken by the Lord to Isaiah when he had that glorious vision of the Lord of hosts, to which we have already referred.