THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS WORK. ceeding from him also. For the order of the dispensa- tion of the divine persons towards us, ariseth from the order oftheir own subsistence in thesame divine essence. And if the Spirit did proceed only from the person of the Father, he could not be,promised, sent, or given by the San. Consider therefore the human nature of Christ in itselfand abstractedly, and the Spirit cannot be said to be the Spirit of Christ. For it was anointed and endowed with gifts and graces by him, as we shall shew. And if from hence he may be said to be the Spirit of Christ without respect unto his proceeding fr,r.n him as the Son of God, then he may be also said to be the Spirit of every believer who hath received the unction, or are anointed with his gifts and graces. For although believers are so as to measure and degree un- speakably beneath what Christ was, who received not the Spirit by measure; yet as he is the head, and they are the members of the same mystical body, their unc- tion by the Spirit is of the sane kind. But now the Spirit of God may not be said to be the Spirit of this or that man, who bath received of his gifts and graces: David prays, Take not thy Holy Spirit from me; not my holy spirit: and he is distinguished from our spi rits, even as they are sanctified by him, Rom. viii. 16. The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit; no more than can he be said to be the Spirit of Christ merely upon the account of his communications unto Mint, although in a degree above all others inconceiva- bly excellent. For, with respect hereunto, he is still called the Spirit of God, or the Father who sent him, and anointed the human nature of Christ with him. Sect. 15. It will be said, perhaps, that he is called the Spirit of Christ, because he is promised, given, and poured out by him. So Peter speaks, Acts ii. 55. tt Having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he bath shed forth this which ye now see and hear." But, in this regard, namely, as giv- en by Christ the Mediator, he is expressly called the Spirit of the Father; he was given as the promise of the Father; for so he is introdnced speaking, verse 15. " And it shall come to pass in the last days, (saith God)', I will pour ont ofmy Spirit on all flesh." And so our Saviour tells his disciples, that he would tt pray the Father, and he should give them another tt Comforter, even the Spirit oftruth," Johnxiv. 16, 17. Nor is he otherwise the Spirit of Christ originally and 29 formally, but as he is the Spirit of God, that is as Christ is God also. On this supposition, I grant, as before, that he may consequentially be called the Spirit of Christ, because promised and sent by hint, because do- ing his work, and communicating his grace, image, and likeness to the elect. Sect. 16. And this yet more plain; 1 Pet. i-10. 11. t Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and tt searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you; searching what, or what man- tt ner of time, the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify." And this Spirit is said absolutely to be the Holy Ghost; 2 Epist. i. 21. So then the spirit that was in the prophets of old in all ages since the world began, before the incarnation of the Son of God, is called the Spirit of Christ, that is of him who is so. Now this could not be, because he was anointed by that Spirit, or because he gave it afterwards to his disciples; for his human nature did not exist in the time of their prophesying. Those indeed who receive him after the . unction of the human nature of Christ, may be said in some sense to receive the Spirit dChrist, because they are made partakers of the same Spirit with him, to the same ends and purposes according to their measure. But this cannot be sowith respect unto them who lived and prophesied by him, and died long before his incar- nation. Wherefore it is pleaded by those who oppose both the deity of Christ and the Spirit, which are un- deniably here attested unto, that the Spirit here, where- by they cannot deny the Holy Ghost to be intended, is called the Spirit of Christ, because the prophets ofold, who opake by hint did principally prophecy concerning Christ, and his grace, and delivered great mysteries concerning them. So Christ is made, in this place, the object of the Spirit's teaching, and not the author of his sending. So Crell. Prolegom. p. 13, 14. But why then is he not called the Spirit of God also on this reason? because the prophets, that speak by him, treat. ed wholly of God, the things and the will of God. This they will not say, for they acknowledgehim to be the virtue and power of God inherent in him, and proceedingfrom him. But then, whereas God, even the Fathe, is a person, and Christ is a person, and the Spirit is said to be the Spirit of God, and the Spi- rit of Christ, whence doth it appear, that the same ex- pression most have different interpretations; and that
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