the last of which was the passion on the cross, by which the Lord finally laid down the merely natural life, together with all the infirmities incident to it, and thus entered into the purely divine life, yet in and with a Humanity perfectly Glorified and Divine.
The reciprocal unition of Divinity with Humanity, and of Humanity with Divinity, in which consisted the glorification of the Son, or his union with the Father, after temptation, is thus described by the Evangelist: "Jesus said, The hour is come, that the Son of Man should be glorified. Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again," John xii. 23, 27, 28. "When Judas was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him," John xiii. 51, 52. "Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee," John xvii. 1, 5. And to instruct us, that the great end and design of all the sufferings, which our Lord endured while on earth, was (not the pacification of any wrath in the Father, but) the glorification of his own Humanity, according to the eternal principles of divine order, he said to his disciples, "Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?" Luke xxiv. 26.
The glorification of the Humanity was the same thing also as the return of Jesus to the Father, or to the divine essence, from which he came forth. He therefore says, "I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father." John xvi. 28. Prior to, and during the progress of, his glorification, that is, while in his state of humiliation, the Lord was apparently distinct from the Father; for he prayed to him, and said, that the Father was greater than he, and that he came to do his will. In this state also he suffered temptations and crucifixion. But in his state of glorification he said, that he and the Father were one; that the Father was in him, and he in the Father; yea, that all things belonging to the Father were his; and in conclusion, after his resurrection, that all power was given unto him in heaven and in earth.
It follows, therefore, that after the descent of Jehovah God into the world, and during the time in which he was veiled with a Humanity visible to men, he sustained a character and title suited to the low condition and appearance assumed; but that, on his re-ascent, he again returned into that ineffable glory, which he had before all worlds, and which now, in consequence of the incarnation and glorification, shines in heaven with a seven-fold lustre, as it is expressed by the prophet: "The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be seven-fold, as the light of seven days, in the day that Jehovah bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound," Isa. xxx. 26.
The Holy Spirit, or Divine Operation,
X. The Holy Spirit, or Divine Operation.
THE great Jehovah having thus shewn himself to be not only the Creator, but also the Redeemer and Saviour, by means of the Humanity which he assumed in the world: and having returned to heaven, together with and in that Humanity glorified, it became necessary, on the removal of his personal presence from the church, to secure to it the presence of his Holy Spirit: and this is effected by the divine truth proceeding immediately out of the Lord's glorified body from the Father, or divine essence within him. Hence the Holy Spirit, called also the Spirit of truth, and the Comforter, becomes a new character of the Lord, arising out of the incarnation of himself, as divine truth, or as the Word, and his subsequent glorification: and hence it is written, "I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. When he the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself. He shall glorify me; for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath, are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you," John xvi. 7, 13 to 15. Again, "The Holy Spirit was not yet, because that Jesus was not yet glorified," John vii. 39. But after his glorification, "Jesus breathed on his disciples, and saith, Receive ye the Holy Spirit," John xx. 22.
In these passages the Holy Spirit, though apparently represented as a distinct person by himself, yet cannot in reality be considered as such; because it is expressly said of him, that he shall not speak of himself, but shall take of the Lord's; that there was no Holy Spirit until the glorification of Jesus; and lastly, that the breath, or divine truth, proceeding from him, after his glorification, is the Holy Spirit. It further appears from the circumstance of there having been no Holy Spirit until the glorification of Jesus, that in some respects it is to be distinguished from the Spirit of Jehovah, or even the Spirit of holiness, which existed prior to the incarnation. And it is remarkable, that in the original of the Old Testament the term Holy Spirit is not so much as once mentioned, though the phrase Spirit of holiness occurs three times, once in Ps. li. 11; and twice in Isa. lxiii. 10, 11. Neither is it said by any of the prophets, that they spake from the Holy Spirit, but from Jehovah. The difference between the one and the other may be seen in what follows.
By the Spirit of Jehovah is understood the divine truth proceeding from him, and operating through the medium of angels and spirits. This operation, passing through such a medium, though adequate to the wants and necessities of former ages prior to the incarnation, was at length, in consequence of the excessive accumulation of evil, found to be no longer effectual in promoting the reformation, regeneration, and salvation of mankind. It therefore became necessary, that the Lord should assume the Humanity, and by the divine truth proceeding immediately from himself, when glorified, as well as mediately through angels and spirits, restore to man the capacity of receiving new spiritual life. This divine truth, proceeding both mediately and immediately from the Lord, is what is emphatically called the Holy Spirit, because his Humanity, now glorified, is the only fountain and source of all holiness; as it is written, "Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy," Apoc. xv. 4. By the latter Spirit, that is, by the Holy Spirit, man is also enabled to comprehend spiritual things even in a natural and rational manner, and so to have a more full and satisfactory view of the great truths of revelation, especially of Him, from whom alone they proceed, of whom alone they treat, and to whom alone they continually lead.
In addition to these considerations we further learn, that the Lord himself is the Holy Spirit, since he, from whom any thing proceeds, must be essentially the same with it. but in a primary order and degree. On which account, after identifying himself with the Father, he proceeds to identify himself in like manner with the Comforter, or Spirit of truth, whom he promised to send after his personal departure out of the world, saying to his disciples, "I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you," John xiv. 18.
The Divine Trinity,
XI. The Divine Trinity.
HAVING in the preceding pages considered the Lord as the Father, as the Son, and as the Holy Spirit; and having identified these essentials as one undivided God; it follows, that there is a Divine Trinity in the person of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, similar to the human trinity of soul, body, and proceeding operation in every individual man. And as the three essentials,
