CHAPTER IV.

THE HOLY GHOST SEALS REDEMPTION TO MAN.

THE same Third Person who wrought form and consistency in the physical universe, when the Second Person had created the material and ethereal atoms according to the eternal ideas in the First Person, must now be contemplated as consummating the plan of redemption which the Father has devised and the Son has actually exhibited. This Third Person is as essential for the consummation of redemption as for the completion of creation. The Second Person provides full redemption for all, but has not applied it to any; the Third Person takes the true meaning of this provision, and so works in the spirit of the lost sinner as to renew him in penitence and faith, whereby he is "sealed unto the day of redemption." The Son, having "obtained eternal redemption for us," "goes away," and then, "sent" of him and the Father, the Holy Ghost "comes," and consummates the work in the conviction, conversion, and sanctification of men, who may then be fully pardoned, and justified, and glorified.

Such is the depravity induced by the fall, that, notwithstanding all that Christ has done, no sinner will become reconciled to God, except by the special work of the Holy Spirit. The "going away" of the Son to the Father, and the "sending" of the Holy Ghost by the Son and the Father, inaugurate the new evangelical Dispensation of the Spirit, under which apostles and evangelists are fitted for their mission, and converted men are gathered into the church, and the church extended to the ends of the earth, until the coming again" of the Messiah, who then accomplishes the last things in the mediatorial kingdom. This Dispensation of the Spirit is exclusive of his work in physical creation, and inclusive only of his spiritual operation in the redemption of humanity.

SECTION I.

THE MANNER OF THE SPIRIT'S COMING.

ANTECEDENT to the incarnation, the Holy Spirit, as well as the Son, were each doing the work peculiar to his distinctive personality in the Godhead, in the moral as well as in the material world. In a similar way, and to the same end, the Spirit moved on human hearts in the Old Testament dispensation as in the New, and all the pious loyalty among men before the advent of Christ is to be ascribed to the Spirit's oper

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ation, as really as the piety in the race since Christ's death and resurrection. The Spirit's future coming and work were more difficult for human apprehension than even the coming and work of the promised Messiah; yet both were revealed in their respective offices for restoring lost men to Old Testament saints, and the more eminent and experienced among them. recognized, in good measure, the reality and importance of the presence of the Holy Ghost. David earnestly prayed, "Take not thy Holy Spirit from me.' 99 1 And Isaiah represents Moses and his people as remembered of God, saying, "Where is he that put his Holy Spirit within him?" 2

1. THE MOSAIC RITUAL PREFIGURED THE SPIRIT'S WORK. The sacrificial blood was in expiation for sin, and prefigured the atoning blood of Christ; while the ceremonial application of water was for purifying from sin, and foretokened the cleansing efficacy of the Spirit's influence. And this use of water in the Hebrew ritual is usually connected with the sacrifices, and rendered almost as conspicuous as the blood.

Thus, when Aaron and his sons were consecrated to the priesthood, connected with the sacrifices and the sprinkling of blood, they were to be "washed with water;" and the sacrificial ram was to be cut in pieces, and "the inwards of him washed;" and a brazen laver between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar was to be perpetually supplied with

1 Psalm li. 11.

2 Isa. lxiii. 11.

water for the priests' purifying in their daily ministra tions. And in a similar manner all the Levites were to be cleansed by "sprinkling the water of purifying upon them." And so with the sin-offering for defilement from varied sources; there were to be kept the burnt ashes of a red heifer that must be mingled in water, called "the water of separation," and which must be sprinkled upon the unclean for their purify ing. And the soldiers returning from war, and the spoils taken, were to have "the water of separation applied, and what spoils would not stand purifying by fire were to pass through water. And unclean vessels were to be "rinsed in water." 5

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These varied baptisms and purifications were extensively observed by the Jews at the coming of Christ.6

Ezekiel looked

2. IT WAS ANNOUNCED IN PROPHECY. forward to the evangelization of Israel, and recog nizes the Holy Spirit as the source of their cleansing, and author of a new heart and a new spirit within them: "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean;" "a new heart also will I give you;" "and I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them." And Jeremiah refers in prophecy to the same spiritual cleansing under the

Ex. xxix. 4-17, xxx. 18-21, xl. 12. 3 Lev. xi. 32; Num. xix. 9, 18, 19. 5 Lev. vi. 28, xv. 12.

7 Ezek. xxxvi. 25-29.

2 Num. viii. 7. Num. xxxi. 23. Mark vii. 3, 4; John ii. 6.

representation of a new covenant: "For behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house. of Judah;" "this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel in those days, saith the Lord: I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it on their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be my people." And especially Joel foretells the coming of the Spirit as securing inspira tion and piety, and which was quoted by Peter as then fulfilled when the Holy Ghost came: "It shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh;" "also upon the servants and handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit.” 2

3. THE HOLY SPIRIT WAS CIRCUMSTANTIALLY PROMISED TO HIS DISCIPLES BY JESUS CHRIST. — In that most tender scene on the night of the last passover with his disciples, when he let them know of his crucifixion just at hand, and his final departure from the world to the Father, among the most prominent and consolatory teachings was his promise of the coming Spirit, who should comfort, strengthen, and guide them to higher Christian experiences than they had yet attained. In various particulars, the results of this coming Spirit were presented for their consolation and encouragement. He would not depart from them. "I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever."3 He

1 Jer. xxxi. 31-34.

2 Joel ii. 28-32.

3 John xiv. 16.