and priest, and Pliarisee and Sadducee, was another fulfil- ment.
The " proceeding " here spoken of, we must remember, does not merely mean that the Spirit is sent by the Father, and comes from the Father. All the best interpreters agree in thinking, that it means the eternal procession of the Holy Spirit.
We should carefully note in this verse the language which our Lord uses concerning the Holy Ghost. He is the " Com- forter," or rather the Advocate, as we have seen before. He is the " Spirit of truth," also, as we have seen before. But we should specially mark that Christ says, " 1 will send Him ; " and also says. He " proceedeth from the Father." The singu- lar number is used : " He proceedeth," not " will proceed." — This then is one of those texts which appears to supply evi- dence of the Holy Ghost proceeding both from the Father and from the Son, though not direct evidence. The whole Greek Church, however, denies the procession from the Son ; and it must be honestly conceded that the Scripture does not so dis- tinctly and directly assert it as the procession from the Father. Yet, on tlie other hand, it is hard to understand how the Son can send the Spirit, and the Spirit in no serxBe proceed from the Son. The subject is a deep and mysterious one, and we have not eyes to see everything about it. The difference between the Eastern and Western Churches may after all be more ap- parent than real ; and we must beware of denouncing men as heretics, whom perhaps God has received. But in any case the text before us is one which ought to be carefully noted, as one on which much of the controversy hinges. Let us take that care we ourselves have the Holy Spirit in our hearts ; and when we die we shall know all about the point in dispute.
One thing at any rate comes out very plainly here, and that is the personality of the Holy Ghost. In the Greek it stands out very prominently in the gender of the pronouns, which our English language cannot reach. The word we render " whom," in the Greek text is masculine ; — " which " is neuter ; — and " he " is masculine again.
27. — [And ye also shall tear witness.'] In this verse our Lord con- tinues the line of encouragement which He began in the pre- ceding verse. Notwithstanding all the hardness and unbelief of the Jews, even the disciples would be enabled to bear a tes- timony to their Lord's Divine mission, which none of their ene- mies would be able to gainsay or resist. How remarkably this was fulfilled we know from the first seven chapters of the Acts of the Apostles. For instance, the verse, " with great power gave the Apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Je- sus " (Acts iv. 32), is an exact accomplishment of the promise of the text. *
It is noteworthy that both the verbs in this verse are in the