I say, therefore, imto this part of cm* cause, as unto the other, that unless we will cast off all reverence of God, and, in a kind of atheism which, as I suppose, the prevailing wickedness of this age hath not yet anived unto, say that the Scriptures were written on purpose to deceive us, and to lead us into mistakes about, and misapprehensions of, what it proposeth unto us, we must acknowledge the Holy Ghost to be a substance, a person, God; yet distinct from the Father and the Son. For to tell us, that he will come unto us, that he v/ill be our comforter, that he will teach us, lead us, guide us; that he spake of old in and by the prophets, — that they were moved by him, acted
404 TilE DOCTRINE OF THE
by him ; that he " searcheth the deep things of God," works as he will ; that he appointeth to himself ministers in the church ; — in a word, to declare, in places innumerable, what he hath done, what he dothf what he will do, what he says and speaks, how he acts and proceeds, what his will is, and to warn us that we grieve him not, sin not against him, with things innumerable of the like nature; and all this while to oblige us to believe that he is not a person, a helper, a comforter, a searcher, a wilier, but a quality in some especial ope- rations of God, or his power and virtue in them, were to distract men, not to instruct them, and leave tliem no certain conclusion but this, that there is nothing certain in the whole book of God. And of no other tendency are these and the like imaginations of our adver- saries in this matter.
But let us briefly coijsider what is objected in general unto the truth we have confirmed : —
They say, then, " The Holy Spirit is said to be given, to be sent, to be bestowed on men, and to be promised unto them: and therefore it cannot be that he should be God; for how can any of these things be spoken of God V
I answer, First, As the expressions do not prove him to be God (nor did ever any produce them to that purpose), yet they undeniably prove him to be a person, or an intelligent, voluntary agent, con- cerning whom they are spoken and affirmed. For how can the power of God, or a qualit}'-, as they speak, be said to be sent, to be given, to be bestowed on men? So that these very expressions are de- structive to their imaginations.
Secondly. He who is God, equal in nature and being with the Father, may be promised, sent, and given, with respect unto the holy dispensation and condescension wherein he hath undertaken the office of being our comforter and sanctifier.
Thirdly. The communications, distributions, impartings, divisions of the Spirit, which they mention, as they respect the object of them, or those on whom they were or are bestowed, denote only works, gifts, operations, and effects of the Spirit ; the rule whereof is expressed, 1 Cor. xii. 11. He worketh them in whom he will, and as he will. And whether these and the like exceptionsj taken from actings and operations which are plainly interpreted and explained in sundry l)laces of Scripture, and evidently enough in the particular places whei'e they are used, are sufficient to impeach the truth of the reve- lation before declared, all who have a due reverence of God, his word, and truths, will easily understand and discern.
These things being declared in the Scripture concerning the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, it is, moreover, revealed, " And these three are one;" that is, one God, jointly to be worshipped, feared,
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adored, believed in, and obeyed, in order unto eternal life. For although this doth absolutely and necessarily follow from what is de- ciai'ed and hath been spoken concerning the one God, or oneness of the Deity, yet, for the confirmation of our faith, and that we may not, by the distinct consideration of the three be taken off from the one, it is particularly declared that " these three are one;" that one, the one and same God. But whereas, as was said before, this can no otherwise be, the testimonies given thereunto are not so frequently multiplied as they are unto those other heads of this truth, which, througli the craft of Satan, and the pride of men, might be more liable to exceptions. But yet they are clear, full, and distinctly suffi- cient for faith to acquiesce in immediately, without any other expo- sitions, interpretations, or arguments, beyond our understanding of the naked importance of the words. Such are they, of the Father [and] the Son, John x. SO, "I and my Father are one;" — Father, Son, and Spirit, 1 John v. 7, " There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost ; and these three are one." Matt, xxviii. 19, " Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." For if those into whose name we are baptized be not one in nature, we are by our baptism engaged in- to the service and worship of more gods than one. For, as being bap- tized, or sacredly initiated, into or in the name of any one, doth sacra- mentally bind us unto a holy and religious obedience unto him, and in all things to the avowins: of him as the God whose we are, and whom we serve, as here we are in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit ; so if they are not one God, the blasphemous consequence be- fore mentioned must unavoidably be admitted : which it also must upon the Socinian principle ; who, whilst of all others they seem to contend most for one God, are indeed direct polytheists, by owning others with religious respect, due to God alone, which are not so.