Imatges de pàgina
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shall say, for the Holy Spirit shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say" (Luke xii. 11, 12; Mark xiii. 11). "Thus saith Jehovah, My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth" (Isaiah lix. 21). "There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse ;-and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath [spirit] of his lips shall he slay the wicked; and righteousness shall be the girdle of his reins" (Isaiah xi. 1, 4, 5). "For my mouth, it hath commanded; and his spirit, it hath gathered them" (Isaiah xxxiv. 16). God is a spirit, and they who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (John iv. 24). "It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life" (John vi. 63). John said, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance; but he that cometh after me-shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire" (Matt. iii. 11; Mark i. 8; Luke iii. 16). To baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire, is to regenerate by the Divine Truth, which is of faith, and by the Divine Good, which is of love. "And Jesus when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water; and the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove" (Matt. iii. 16; Mark i. 10; Luke iii. 22; John i. 32, 33). A dove is a representative of purification and regeneration by divine truth.

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As by the Holy Spirit, when treating of the Lord, is meant his Divine Life, consequently himself, and in particular the life of his wisdom, which is called the Divine Truth; therefore by the spirit of the prophets, which is also called the Holy Spirit, is signified the Divine Truth from the Lord: as in the following passages: "The Spirit saith unto the churches" (Rev. ii. 7, 11, 29; iii. 1, 6, 13, 32). There were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God" (Rev. iv. 5). "In the midst of the elders stood a Lamb,-having seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth" (Rev. v. 6). Lamps of fire, and the eyes of the Lord, signify divine truths, and the number seven signifies what is holy. "Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours" (Rev. xiv. 13). "The Spirit and the Bride say, Come" (Rev. xxii. 17). "They made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which Jehovah of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets" (Zech. vii. 12). "The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha" (2 Kings ii. 15). "He [John] shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias" (Luke i. 17). "Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit" (Luke i. 41). "Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied" (Luke i. 67). "David said, by the Holy Spirit, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand" (Mark

xii. 36). "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" (Rev. xix. 10). Hence then we see why the offices of the Holy Spirit are said to be to enlighten, to teach, and to inspire, since by the Holy Spirit is specifically signified the Lord in respect to his Divine Wisdom, and thus as to Divine Truth.

52. VI. JEHOVAH HIMSELF, THAT IS, THE LORD, SPAKE THE WORD BY THE PROPHETS. We read of the prophets that they were in vision, and that Jehovah spake to them. When they were in vision they were not in the body, but in the spirit, in which state they saw such things as are in heaven; but when Jehovah spake with them, they were in the body, and heard him speaking. These two states of the prophets should be accurately distinguished. In their state of vision, the eyes of their spirits were open, and those of their bodies shut: at which time also they appeared to themselves to be carried from place to place, the body still remaining where it was. In this state, at times, were Ezekiel, Zechariah, and Daniel; as also John, when he wrote the Revelation; and it is then said, that they were in vision, or in the spirit. Ezekiel says, "The spirit lifted me up,—and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea to them of the captivity.-So the vision that I had seen went up from me" (xi. 1, 24). He says too, that the spirit took him up, and he heard behind him a voice of great rushing [or earthquake,] with other things (iii. 12, 14). Also, "The spirit lifted me up between the earth and heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem," where he saw their abominations (viii. 3). He was likewise in the vision of God, or in the spirit, when he saw the four living creatures, which were cherubs (i. and x.); also a new earth and a new temple, and an angel measuring it, as is related from chap. xl. to xlviii. That he was then in the visions of God, he says himself (xl. 2); and that the spirit took him up (xliii. 5). The like happened to Zechariah, who was accompanied by an angel, when he saw a man riding among the myrtle trees (Zech. i. 8). When he saw four horns, and afterwards a man who had a measuring line in his hand (i. 18; ii. 1). When he saw Joshua the hight priest (iii. 1, &c.). When he saw a candlestick, and two olive trees (iv. 2, 3). When he saw a flying roll and ephah (v. 1, 6). And when he saw four chariots coming out from between two mountains, with horses (vi. 1). In the same state was Daniel, when he saw four beasts ascend out of the sea (Dan vii. 3); and when he saw the battle between the ram and the he-goat (viii. 1, &c.) That he saw these things in visions, is stated in chap. vii. 1, 2, 7, 13; viii. 2; x. 1, 7, 8. It was also in vision that the angel Gabriel was seen by him, and spake with him (ix. 21. 22). The like happened to John, when he wrote the Revelation, who says, that he was in the spirit on the Lord's day (Rev. i. 10). That he was carried away in the spirit

into the wilderness (xvii. 3); also in the spirit to a high mountain (xxi. 10). That he saw horses in the vision (ix. 17). In other places he declares, that he saw those things which he describes; of course he must have been at the time in the spirit, or in vision as in chap i. 12; iv. 1; v. 1; vi. 1; and in each of the subsequent chapters.

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53. But in respect to the Word itself, it is never said, by the prophets, that they spake it from the Holy Spirit, but that they spake it from Jehovah, Jehovah of hosts, and the Lord Jehovih. Thus we continually find them saying, "The word of Jehovah came to me;" "Jehovah spake to me:" also, very often, "Thus saith Jehovah," and "The saying of Jehovah." Now as we have already shewn that the Lord is Jehovah, it follows that the whole Word was spoken by him. To remove all doubt on this subject, I will only point out those passages in Jeremiah alone, where it is said, "The word of Jehovah came unto me;" "Jehovah said unto me;" "Thus saith Jehovah ;" and "The saying of Jehovah ;" which are the following: chap. i. 4, 7, 11 -14, 19; ii. 1-5, 9, 19, 22, 29, 31; iii. 1, 6, 10, 12, 14, 16; iv. 1, 3, 9, 17, 27; v. 11, 14, 18, 22, 29; vi. 6, 9, 12, 15, 16, 21, 22; vii. 1, 3, 11, 13, 19-21; viii. 1, 3, 12, 13; ix. 3, 6, 7, 9, 12, 13, 15, 17, 22, 23, 25 ; x. 2, 18; xi. 1, 6, 9, 11, 18, 21, 22; xii. 14, 17; xiii. 1, 6, 9, 11—15, 25; xiv. 1, 10, 14, 15; xv. 1-3, 6, 11, 19, 20; xvi. 1, 3, 5, 9, 14, 16; xvii. 5, 19-21, 24; xviii. 1, 5, 6, 11, 13; xix. 1, 3, 6, 12, 15; xx. 4; xxi. 1, 4, 7, 8, 11, 12; xxii. 2, 3, 6, 11, 16, 18, 24, 29, 30; xxiii. 2, 5, 7, 11, 12, 15, 16, 24, 29, 31-33, 38; xxiv. 3, 5, 8; xxv. 1, 3, 7 -9, 15, 27-29, 32; xxvi. 1, 2, 18; xxvii. 1, 2, 4, 8, 11, 16, 19, 21, 22; xxviii. 2, 12, 14, 16; xxix. 4, 8, 9, 16, 19—21, 25, 30-32; xxx. 1-5, 8, 10-12, 17, 18; xxxi. 1, 2, 7, 10, 1517, 23, 27, 28, 31-38; xxxii. 1, 6, 14, 15, 25, 26, 28, 30, 36, 42, 44; xxxiii. 1, 2, 4, 10-13, 17, 19, 20, 23, 25; xxxiv. 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 13, 17, 22; xxxv. 1, 13, 17—19; xxxvi. 1, 6, 27, 29, 30; xxxvii. 6, 7, 9; xxxviii. 2, 3, 17; xxxix. 15–18; xl. 1; xlii. 7, 9, 15, 18, 19; xliii. 8, 10; xliv. 1, 2, 7, 11, 24—26, 30; xlv. 1, 2, 5; xlvi. 1, 23, 25, 28; xlvii. 1; xlviii. 1, 8, 12, 30, 35, 38, 40, 43, 44, 47; xlix. 2, 5-7, 12, 13, 16, 18, 26, 28, 30, 32, 35, 37-39; 1. 1, 4, 10, 18, 20, 21, 30, 31, 33, 35, 40; li. 25, 33, 36, 39, 52, 58. These instances occur in Jeremiah only. All the other prophets speak in the same manner, and none ever say that the Holy Spirit spoke to them, or that Jehovah spoke to them by the Holy Spirit.

54. These conclusions then follow from the whole: That Jehovah, who is the Lord from eternity, is he who spake by the prophets, and where the Holy Spirit is mentioned, it means and is himself: consequently, THAT GOD IS ONE IN ESSENCE AND IN PERSON, AND THAT GOD IS THE LORD.

THE DOCTRINE OF THE ATHANASIAN CREED AGREES WITH THE TRUTH, PROVIDED THE TRINITY OF PERSONS OF WHICH IT SPEAKS BE UNDERSTOOD TO MEAN A TRINITY OF PERSON, AND THAT THIS TRINITY IS IN THE LORD.

55. THE acknowledgment, by Christians, of three divine persons, and thus as it were of three gods, has arisen from there being in the Lord a Trine, one of which is called the Father, another the Son, and the third the Holy Spirit; and this Trine is mentioned in the Word under distinct names, just as, in common discourse, we speak by distinct names of the soul and body, and what proceeds from them, notwithstanding they are a One. Such also is the nature of the Word in its literal sense, that it distinguishes things which form a One, as if they were not so: hence Jehovah, who is the Lord from eternity, is in one place named in the Word Jehovah; in another, Jehovah of Hosts; in another, God; in another, the Lord; and at the same time he is called the Creator, Saviour, Redeemer, and Former, or Maker; also Shaddai: so, too, his Human, which he assumed in the world, is named Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, the Son of Man; and in the Word of the Old Testament, God, the Holy One of Israel, the Anointed of Jehovah, King, Prince, Counsellor, an Angel, and David. Now since the Word, in its literal sense, is of such a nature as to apply several names where but One Being is meant, therefore, Christians, who in the first ages were simple men, who understood everything according to the literal import of the words, came to distinguish the Divinity into three persons; and this, on account of their simplicity, was permitted; yet with this restriction, that they should believe THE SON to be Infinite, Uncreate, Almighty, God, and Lord, and altogether equal to the Father; and further, that they were not two or three, but one, in Essence, Majesty, and Glory, consequently in Divinity. Those who thus believe in simplicity according to the doctrine which is taught them, and do not confirm themselves in the notion of three gods, but consider the three as one, are, after their decease, instructed from the Lord by angels, that he himself is that One, and that Trine. This faith is received by all who enter into heaven: for no one can be admitted into heaven who has three gods in his thoughts, howsoever with his lips he may say that they are one: for the life of all heaven, and the wisdom of all the angels, is founded on the acknowledgment and consequent confession of one God, and on the faith that this one God is also a Man, and that the Lord, who is at once both God and Man, is he. Hence it appears, that the reception by Christians at first of the doctrine concerning three persons, was of divine permission, provided they accompanied it with the belief that the Lord was God, Infinite, Almighty, and Jehovah; for had they not received this belief also, the

church must have perished; since the church exists as such only from the Lord, and from him, and from no other, is the eternal life of all. That a church exists as such only from the Lord, may appear from this single fact, that the whole Word, from beginning to end, treats of him alone, as was shewn above; and also from the declaration that he must be believed in, and that he that believeth not in him shall not see life; nay, that the wrath of God abideth on him (John iii. 36). Now, since every one sees intuitively, that if God is one, HE MUST BE ONE BOTH IN PERSON AND IN ESSENCE, (for no one does or can think otherwise, whilst he thinks that God is one,) I will here cite the whole of the Athanasian Creed, and then demonstrate that all its contents are true, provided, instead of a trinity of persons, we understand a trinity of person.

56. THE CREED is as follows: "Whosoever will be saved, before all things, it is necessary that he hold the Catholic* Faith; which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the Catholic* Faith is this: That we worship One God in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the substance.† For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit; but the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, is all one, the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit. The Father uncreate, the Son uncreate, and the Holy Spirit uncreate. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible. The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal: and yet there are not three eternals, but One Eternal: as also there are not three incomprehensibles,§ nor three uncreates, but one uncreate, and one incomprehensible. So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Spirit almighty: and yet they are not three Almighties, but One Almighty. So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God: and yet they are not three gods, but One God. So-the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord: and yet they are not three lords, but One Lord. For like as we are com

pelled, by the Christian verity, to acknowledge every person by himself to be God and Lord, so we are forbidden, by the Catholic Religion, to say, there are three gods or three lords.** The Father is made of none, neither created, nor begotten:†t

* Some copies have in these places the word Christian.

Some copies have essence.

The Latin here is infinite.

§ Or infinites.

**Some copies have,

three gods or three lords."

"Still we cannot, according to the Christian faith, mention

In these places the Latin is born.

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