' " Gratias ago tibi clement issimc Deus, quia quod quECsivi mane prior ipse donasti." — Cjpr. de Baptism. Christi.
153 DISPENSATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, ETC. [BOOK II.
ra])ly above what they were in the creation of all things in the be- ginning. I say, therefore, in the contrivance, projection, production, carrying on, disposal, and accomplishment of this great work, God hath made the most eminent and glorious discovery of himself unto angels and men, EjdIi. iii. 8-10, 1 Pet. i. 10-12; that we may know, love, trust, honour, and obey him in all things as God, and accord- ing to his will. (4.) In particular, in this new creation he hath re- vealed himself in an especial manner as tlwee in one. There was no one more glorious mystery brought to liglit in and by Jesus Christ than that of the holy Trinity, or the subsistence of the three persons in the unity of the same divine nature. And this was done not so much in express propositions or verbal testimonies unto that pur- pose,— which yet is done also, as by the declaration of the mutual, divine, internal acts of the persons tov.-ards one another, and the distinct, immediate, divine, external actings of each person in the work which they did and do perform, — for God revealeth not himself unto us merely doctrinally and dogmatically, but by the declaration of what he doth for us, in us, and towards us, in the accomplishment of " the counsel of his own will;" see Eph. i. 4-12. And this revelation is made unto us, not that our minds might be possessed with the no- tions of it, but that we may know aright how to place our trust in him, how to obey him and live unto him, how to obtain and exer- cise communion with him, until we come to the enjoyment of him.
We may make application of these things unto, and exemplify them yet farther in, the work under consideration. Three things in general are in it proposed unto our faith: — 1. The supreme purpose, ■ design, contrivance, and disposal of it. 2. The purchasing and pro- curiuo- cause and means of the effects of that design, with its accom- plishment in itself s^;^^ with respect unto God. 3. The application of the supreme design and actual accomplishment of it, to make it effectual unto us.
The first of these is absolutely in the Scripture assigned unto the Father, and that uniformly and everywhere. His will, his counsel, his love, his grace, his authority, his purpose, his design, are con- stantly proposed as the foundation of the whole work, as those which were to be pursued, effected, accomplished: see Isa. xlii. 1-4; Ps. xl. 6-8; John iii. 16; Isa. liii. 10-12; Eph. i. 4-12, and other places innumerable. And on this account, because the Son undertook to effect whatever the Father had so designed and purposed, there were many acts of the will of the Father towards the Son, — [as] in sending, giving, appointing of him ; in preparing him a body ; in comforting and supporting him ; in rewarding and giving a people unto him, — which belong unto the Father, on the account of the authority, love, and wisdom, that were in them, their actual operation belonging par-
CHAP. III.] WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, ETC. 159
ticularly unto another person. And in these things is the person of the Father in the divine being j)roposed unto us to be known and adored. / Secondly, The Son condescendeth, conseutetli, and engageth to do and accomphsh in liis own person the whole work which, in the authority, counsel, and wisdom of the Father, was appointed for him, Phil. ii. 5-8. And in these divine operations is the person of the Son revealed unto us to be "honoured even as Ave honour the Father." Thirdly, The Holy Ghost doth immediately work and effect what- ever was to be done in reference unto the person of the Son or the / sons of men, for the perfecting and accomplishment of the Father's ' counsel and the Son's work, in an especial application of both unto their especial effects and ends. Hereby is he made known unto us, and hereby our faith concerning him and in him is directed.
And thus, in this great work of the new creation by Jesus Christ, doth God cause all his glory to pass before us, that we may both know him and worship him in a due manner. And what is the pe- culiar work of the Holy Ghost herein we shall now declare.
CHAPTER III.
WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WITH RESPECT UNTO THE HEAD OF THE NEW CREATION — THE HUMAN NATURE OF CHRIST.
The especial ^A'Ol•ks of the Holy Spirit in the new creation — His work on the human nature of Christ — How this work could be, considering the union of the human nature unto and in the person of the Son of God — Assumption of the human nature into union, the only act of the person of the Son towards it — Personal union the only necessary consequent of this assumption — All other actings of the person of the Son in and on the human nature voluntary — The Holy Spirit the immediate efficient cause of all divine operations — He is the Spirit of the Son or of the Father — How all the works of the Trinity are undivided — The body of Christ formed in the womb by the Holy Ghost, but of the substance of the blessed Virgin; why this was necessary — Christ not hence the Son of the Holy Ghost according to the human nature — Dif- ference between the assumption of the human nature by the Son and the creation of it by the Holy Ghost — The conception of Christ, how ascrilied to the Holy Ghost, and how to the blessed Virgin — Reasons of the espousal of the blessed Virgin to Joseph before the conception of Christ — The actual purity and holiness of the soul and body of Christ from his miraculous conception.