I have but one thing more to add concerning the being and per- sonality of the Holy Spirit; and this is, that in the order of sub- sistence, he is the third person in the holy Trinity. So it is expressed in the solemn numeration of them, where their order gives great direction unto gospel worship and obedience: Matt, xxviii. 19, "Bap- tizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." This order, I confess, in their numeration, because of the equality of the persons in the same nature, is sometimes varied So, Rev. i. 4, 5, '• Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and Avhich is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; and from Jesus Christ." The Holy Spirit, under the name of the seven Spirits before the throne of God, because of his various and perfect operations in and towards the church, is reckoned up in order before the Son, Jesus Christ, And so in Paul's euctical conclusion unto his epistles, the Son is placed before the Father: 2 Cor. xiii. 14, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all." And some think that the Holy Ghost is men- tioned in the first place, Col. ii. 2, " The acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ." In this expres- sion of them, therefore, we may use our liberty, they being all one, " God over all, blessed for ever." But in their true and natural order of subsistence, and consequently of operation, the Holy Spirit
92 PECULIAE WORKS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT [bOOK I.
is the tliird person ; for as to liis personal subsistence, he " pro- ceedeth from the Father and the Son," being equally the Spirit of them both, as hath been declared. This constitutes the natural order between the persons, which is unalterable. On this depends the order of his operation ; for his working is a consequent of the order of his subsistence. Thus the Father is said to send him, and so is the Son also, John xiv. 16, 26, xvi. 7. And he is thus said to ])e sent by the Father and the Son, because he is the Spirit of the Father and Son, proceeding from both, and is the next cause in the application of the Trinity unto external works. But as Ee is thus sent, so his own will is equally in and unto the work for which he is sent; as the Father is said to send the Son, and yet it was also his own love and grace to come unto us and to save us. And this ariseth from hence, that in the whole economy of the Trinity, as to the works that outwardly are of God, especially the works of grace, the order of the subsistence of the persons in the same nature is re- presented unto us, and they have the same dependence on each other in their operations as they have in their subsistence. The Father is the fountain of all, as in being and existence, so in operation. The Son is of the Father, begotten of him, and, therefore, as unto his work, is sent by him; but his own will is in and unto what he is sent about. The Holy Spirit proceedeth from the Father and the Son, and, therefore, is sent and given by them as to all the works which he immediately effecteth ; but yet his own will is the direct principle of all that he doth, — he divideth unto every one according to his own will. And thus much may suffice to be spoken about the being of the Holy Spirit, and the order of his subsistence in the blessed Trinity.
CHAPTER IV.
PECULIAR WORKS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE FIRST OR OLD CREATION. Things to be observed in divine operations — The works of God, how ascribed ab- solutely unto God, and how distinctly to each person — The reason hereof — Perfecting acts in divine works ascribed unto the Holy Spirit, and why — Pe- culiar works of the Spirit with respect unto the old creation — The parts of the old creation — Heaven and its host — What the host of heaven — The host of the earth — The host of heaven completed by the Spirit — And of the earth — His moving on the old creation, Ps. civ. 30 — The creation of man; the work of the Spirit therein — The work of the Spirit in the preservation of all things when created, natural and moral — Farther instances thereof, in and out of the church — Work of the Spirit of God in the old creation, why sparingly delivered.
Intending to treat of the operations of the Holy Ghost, or those which are peculiar unto him, some things must be premised concern-
CHAP. IV.] IN" THE FIEST OR OLD CREATION. 93
ing the operation of the Godhead in general, and the manner thereof; and they are such as are needful to guide us in many passages of the Scripture, and to direct us aright in the things in particular which now lie before us. I say, then, —