and the Son, then we have the comforting assurance, that the experience of the truth in the heart, of which He is the Author, and we the subjects, is a supernatural work, the work of God the Holy Ghost. And this assurance gives stability to the soul. The doctrine of the Spirit's personal dignity also affords a pledge that the work thus commenced, shall be carried forward to a final and glorious completion. Because He is God, He will finish what he has begun. And, let it not be forgotten that the growth of the believer in the experience of the truth, is as much the work of the eternal Spirit as was the first production of Divine life in the soul. The dependence of the believer on the Spirit by no means ceases in conversion. There are after stages along which it is his office to conduct the believing soul. Deeper views of sin's exceeding sinfulness, a more thorough knowledge of self, more enlarged discoveries of Christ,-a more simple and habitual resting upon his finished work, increasing conformity to the Divine image,—the daily victory over indwelling sin, and a constant meetening for the inheritance of the saints in light, all these worketh the one and the selfsame Spirit, who first breathed into his soul the breath of spiritual life. Not a step can the believer advance without the Spirit. Not a victory can he achieve without the Spirit. -Not a moment can he exist without the Spirit. As he needed Him at the first, so he needs Him all his journey through. And so he will have him, until the soul passes over Jordan. To the last ebbing of life, the blessed Spirit will be his Teacher, his Comforter, and his Guide. To the last, he will testify of Jesus; to the last, he will apply the atoning blood; and to the very entrance of the happy saint into glory, the eternal Spirit of God —faithful, loving to the last-will be present to whisper words of pardon, assurance, and peace. Holy Spirit! build us up in the infinite dignity of thy person, and in the surpassing greatness and glory of thy work! - I cannot allow myself to close this chapter, without addressing a few solemn and earnest considerations to the denier of the personal dignity of the Spirit. Dear reader, you and I will soon stand at the bar of God. In view of that day, how solemn, how awful is your present position! If you have read the preceding pages with any degree of thought and candour, you must have closed the argument with the conviction that truly the Spirit is a distinct person in the Godhead, so full, so clear, and so conclusive is the testimony of the Divine Scriptures, to the truth of this doctrine. In rejecting the doctrine and in resisting the conviction of evidence, you assume responsibilities, and incur guilt of a fearful kind. In denying the Spirit's personal dignity, you deny God himself, and in refusing the evidence, you turn your back upon his revelation. his revelation. Can imagination conceive of a position more truly solemn? You may think lightly of experimental truth, - you may deride the religion of a man who hopes that he is "born of the Spirit," and has found pardon and acceptance through Christ, as the very wildness of enthusiasm—and you may press to your heart more closely and fondly than ever, your religion of nature, your form of godliness, your cold, lifeless, soulless creed; but, O remember, you have to do with a God who searches the heart and tries the reins of men, a God of spotless holiness and inflexible justice, with whom the form, without the power of godliness, is a mockery,—and to whom prayer, without the Spirit, is a sin! Be not deceived in a matter so momentous, and involving interests so precious and eternal. Think not to offer to God an acceptable oblation, while you refuse Divine honour, homage, and love to the third person in the glorious Trinity. Wonder not that the details of Christian experience of a child of God, are all a mystery, an enigma to you; - that, when he speaks of a broken heart-of a contrite spirit-of a mourning over sin—of regeneration of pardon-of acceptance—of the joys of God's salvation of the comfort of the Holy Ghost and of a good hope through grace of eternal glory, that he speaks to you of a kingdom whose splendours you have never seen, of a territory whose wealth you have never ransacked-of a world whose glories have never beamed upon you, whose odours have never been wafted to you, whose breezes have never fanned you, whose music has never fallen on your ears, and whose Spirit has never breathed into your heart. You deny the Holy Ghost: this is your sin, and your sin is your punishment. You deny the Author of Divine life, light, and revelation; -marvel not that all which appertains to experimental godliness is to you, mystery, darkness, and death. Without this blessed Spirit, you can never know yourself, nor Christ, nor God, nor heaven. Trifle no longer with this subject, refuse Him no longer Divine honour,-lay aside the prejudices of education and of creeds, and fall down and supplicate the teaching of this Spirit, whose personal dignity you have so long denied, whose word you have so long rejected, whose voice you have so long disregarded, and all whose influences you would, were it possible, this moment quench. Yet, He is faithful, kind, and forgiving. You have denied Him, but "He cannot deny himself”—though you believe not, yet "He abideth faithful." He can dissolve your heart, give you true contrition, and lead you to the atoning blood of Jesus for the pardon of your sin. But, if resolved to adhere to your present views, remember the awfully solemn words of our Lord and may they sink down into your ears, "Whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come." 4 CHAPTER II. THE SPIRIT, A QUICKENER. THE SOUL BEFORE CONVERSION. "It is the Spirit that quickeneth.”—John vi. 63. HAVING laid the basis of the Holy Spirit's work in his PERSONAL DIGNITY, it will now be an easy, and a more delightful, because less controversial, task to raise the superstructure. Commencing from such a foundation-the GODHEAD of the Spirit-what dignity and glory attach to his various offices and operations, as contained in the covenant of redemption, and as unfolded in the work of grace upon the heart! How important that we should enter upon its discussion deeply impressed with the spirituality of our theme, with its essential relation to the eternal happiness of the soul, and with fervent prayer for his own Divine illumination! It will be perceived that, in unfolding his work, we commence with the Spirit's first gracious and Divine act -The breathing of spiritual life in the soul. This must be regarded as an operation anterior to all others. The Spirit as a Quickener, must ever precede him as a Sanctifier and a Comforter. If we look for him in any of his offices before we have received him as the Author of Divine life in the soul, we reverse his own order, and cover ourselves with disappointment. We enter upon |