(3.) " Three Persons, and three onh', are associated also, both in the Old and New Testament, as objects of suiireiiie worshiii, and form the one divine ' name.' Thus the fact that, in the vision of Isaiah, the Lord of hosts, ■who spake luito tlie prophet, is, in Acts xxviii, 25, said to be the Holy (Jhost, while John declares that the glo- ry which Isaiah sa\v ^v-as the glory of Christ, proves in- disputably that each of the three Persons bears this au- gust appellation; it gives also the reason for the three- fold repetition, 'Holy, holy, holy!' and it exhibits the ])roplict and the very seraphs in deep and a-\vful adora- tion before the Triune Lord of hosts. Both the prophet and the seraphim were, therefore, worshi)ipers of the Holy Ghost and of the Son, at the very time and by the very acts in which they worshipped the Father."
3. In the Apostolical Benediction, " The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the com- munion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen." the Holy Ghost is ackno\vledged, etpially with the Father and the Son, " to be the som-ce of the highest spiritual blessings; while the benediction is, from its specific character, to be regarded as an act of prayer to each of the three Persons, and therefore is at once an acknowl- edgment of the di\inity and personality of each. The same remark applies to Rev. i, 4, 5 : ' Grace be imto you, and i)eace, from him which was, and ^vhich is, and ^\'llich is to come ; and from the seven spirits -which are before his throne' (an emblematical reference, probably, to the golden branch with its seven lamps), 'and from Jesus Christ.' The style of this book sufficiently accouiits for the Holy Spirit being called ' the seven spirits ;' but no created spirit or company of created spirits is ever spo- lien of under that appellation ; and the place assigned to the seven spirits, betAveen the mention of the Father and the Son, indicates with certainty that one of the sacred Three, so eminent, and so exclusively eminent in both dispensations, is intended.
4. " The form of baptism next presents itself with demonstrative evidence on the two points before us, the personality and divinity of the Holy Spirit. It is the form of covenant bv Avhich the sacred Three become
our one or only God, and we l)ecome his people: 'Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in tlie name of tiie Father, and of the Son, and of the IIolv (ihost.' In what maimer is this text to be disposed of if the personaUty of the Holy (iliost is denied? Is the form of baptism to be so understood as to implv that baptism is in tlie name of one God, one creature, and one attribute'? The grossness of this absurdity re- futes it, and proves that here, at least, there can be no liersonitication. If all the Three, therefore, arc persons, are we to have baptism in the name of one God and two creatures? This would be too near an approach to idolatry, or, rather, it would be idolatrj^ itself; for, con- sidering baptism as an act of dedication to (Jod, the ac- ceptance of God as our God, on our part, and the renun- ciation of all other deities and all other religions, what coidd a heathen convert conceive of the two creatures so distinguished from all other creatures in lieavcn and in earth, and so associated with (iod himself as to form together the one name, to which, by that act, he was devoted, and which he was henceforward to profess and honor, but that thej' were equally di\ine, unless special care was taken to instruct him that but one of the Three was God, and the two others but creatures? I5ut of this care, of this cautionary instruction, though so obvi- ously necessary upon this theory, no single instance can be given in all the writings of the apostles."
5. A fiurther argument is derived from the fact that the Spirit is " the subject of blasphemy : ' The blasphe- my against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men' (Matt, xii, 31). This blasphemy consisted in as- cribing his miraculous worlcs to Satan ; and that he is capable of being blasphemed proves him to be as much a person as the Son; and it proves him to be divine, because it shows that he maj' be sinned against, and so sinned against that the blasphemer shall not be forgiven. A person he must be, or he could not be blasphemed : a divine person he must be to constitute this blasphemy a sin against him in the proper sense, and of so malig- nant a kind as to place it beyond the reach of mercy. He is called God : ' Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie unto the Holy Ghost? Why hast thou conceived this in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God' (Acts v, 3, 4). Ananias is said to have lied particularly 'unto the Holy (Jhost,' because the apostles were mider his special direction in establishing the tem- porary regulation among Christians that they should have all things in common : tlic detection of the crime itself was a demonstration of the divinity of the Spirit, because it showed his omniscience, his knowledge of the most secret acts" (Watson, Thevl. ]t>stitiil<f. i, (')29 sq.).