Nothing can be plainer, or more explicit, or more decisive, than this speech of Peter, of this whole subject. God the Father was the only agent in all that was miraculous in Christ, and the Holy Spirit is his power.

In the next place, we say, that the Holy Spirit is not a person, because it is used in Scripture to signify gifts and endowments, miraculously bestowed by God, of superhuman power, knowledge, wisdom and understanding. "I have filled him," saith God, of the chief workman of the Tabernacle, "with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship." "And the Lord said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy of the elders of Israel, and I will take of the Spirit which is upon thee and put it upon them. And the Lord came down in a cloud and spake unto him, and took of the Spirit which was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders. And it came to pass when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied."

Can this be a person, which God thus communicated to the elders of Israel? Is not the spirit of prophecy here communicated by God himself, instead of the Third Person in the Trinity? If there arise any doubt, let us hear what David says of himself in this very matter. "The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, his word was in my tongue. The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me; he that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God." No intermediate agent certainly was here, in the mind of David. No personality of the Spirit is even hinted. “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and the Spirit of

the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord." These are certainly miraculous gifts and power, not a Person.

Thus we perceive that we can detect not a shadow of evidence in the Old Testament, of the personality of the Holy Spirit. We now come down to the New. Every thing in the Hebrew Scriptures is directly opposed to this supposition. It is not to be supposed that any change took place in the Divine Nature at that time, so we are to interpret the language of the New Testament on this subject in accordance with the doctrine of the Old. And we find that as far as our Saviour is concerned, there is an exact coincidence between the new and the old dispensations. Jesus represents the Father as the only agent in all that was miraculous in his ministry. Much more frequent mention, however, is made of the Holy Spirit toward the latter part of his ministry than in the former, and through the Acts and Epistles, than in any other part of the Bible. This arises from the different manner in which the Gospel was set up in the world from the law. The Mosaic dispensation came with outward demonstration. External miracles, but slightly connected with persons, accompanied the Israelites for forty years, and demonstrated to them the divine origin of their law.

The Gospel, on the other hand, came not with observation or outward show. It was borne witness to by God, by the miraculous powers conferred on individuals. In the words of the Evangelist, "And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord work

ing with them, and confirming the word with signs following."

The whole evidence, on which the establishment of Christianity depended, was miraculous powers conferred on individuals. They were so operated upon by divine power, that from timid, obscure, and uneducated men, they became bold, eloquent and unembarrassed; they had a collectedness and a wisdom on sudden emergencies, to which, in their former lives, they had been strangers. They possessed, likewise, miraculous knowledge and power, could speak languages with which they were before unacquainted. They possessed the power of communicating these divine gifts to their converts, by the imposition of their hands and prayer. The possession of these gifts not only demonstrated to the world the verity of their commission, but likewise was a source of the greatest comfort and encouragement to themselves, as it made them confident in their cause, and certain of the presence and favor of God. These powers continued with the apostles during their lives. From this circumstance it is, that the Holy Spirit is so frequently mentioned in the apostolic writings, in the Acts, and in the Epistles.

But our inquiry is, whether it is represented and con sidered by the apostles as a person of the Trinity equal to God the Father. It is a dogma of the Church of England, recited in their litany, that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son. But even this dogma is expressly contradicted in Scripture. It does not appear that Christ, even in his glorified condition, after his resurrection from the dead, had the power to

send the Spirit; for he promises that he "will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter." In conformity to this, hear what Peter says in his first speech after the ascension. "This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses. Therefore, being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost," or the Holy Spirit, which he had promised, "he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear." Hear him on another occasion. "The God of our Fathers hath raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Ghost which" (not whom as our translators have with singular disingenuousness rendered it) "God hath given to those who obey him."

We deem these passages sufficient to show that the apostles considered God the Father to be the only agent in all their miraculous works, and if Christ is at any time represented as sending the Holy Spirit, it is to be understood, according to his own declaration, to be sent by God at his instance, or in confirmation of his mission, and the establishment of his Gospel. So are we to understand his promises of assistance that he would be with and assist them as long as they lived, or till Judaism was done away, and Christianity set up in its stead. God, by sending them a supernatural knowledge of their religion, and memory of what Christ had taught them, with the power of working miracles, supplied his

ing with them, and lowing."

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