06. Chapter V.

Chapter V.

Way and manner of the divine dispensation of the Holy Spirit.

Dispensation of the Spirit is to be learned from the Scripture only — General adjuncts of this — The administration of the Spirit and his own application of himself to his work, how it is expressed — The Spirit, how and in what sense he is given and received — What is included in giving the Spirit — What is included in receiving him — Privilege and advantage in receiving the Spirit — How God is said to send the Spirit — What is included in sending — How God ministers the Spirit — How God is said to put his Spirit on us — What is included in that expression — The Spirit, how he is poured out — What is included and intended in this — The ways the Spirit applies himself to his work — His proceeding from Father and Son explained — How he comes to us — His falling on men — His resting — How and in what sense he is said to depart from any person — Of the distributions of the Holy Ghost, Hebrews 2:4 — Their exposition vindicated.

Before we address the special operations, works, and effects of the Holy Ghost in and on the new creation, the order of things requires that we should first say something about the general nature of God’s dispensation of Him, and of God’s own application of himself to his actings and workings in this matter. For this is the foundation of all that he does; and for our edification, we are instructed in this by the Scriptures. We must diligently attend to these things in this whole discourse, for we are exercised in a subject for which we have no rule, no guide, nor anything to assist us, except pure revelation. And what I have to offer on the matter, concerning these things, consists solely in the explication of those passages of Scripture in which they are revealed. We must, therefore, consider — 1. What we are taught on the part of God the Father with respect to the Holy Spirit and his work; and, 2. What relates immediately to the Spirit.

I. God’s disposal of the Spirit to his work is expressed five ways in the Scripture. For God is said — 1. To give or bestow him; 2. To send him; 3. To minister him; 4. To pour him out; and 5. To put him on us.

II. The Spirit’s own application of himself to his work is likewise expressed five ways; for he is said — 1. To proceed; 2. To come, or come upon; 3. To fall on men; 4. To rest; and 5. To depart.191

I. Because they contain the general manner of his administration and dispensation, these things must be spoken to first.

1. The Spirit is said to be given by God; that is, by God the Father, who is said to give him in a special manner: Luke 11:13, "Your heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit to whose who ask him;" 1 John 3:24, "He has given the Spirit to us." John 14:16, "The Father will give you another Comforter;" "which is the Holy Ghost," verse 26. And in answer to this act of God, those on whom he is bestowed are said to receive him: John 7:39, "This he spoke of the Spirit, which those who believe on him should receive." 1 Corinthians 2:12, "We have received the Spirit which is of God." 2 Corinthians 11:4, "If you receive another Spirit, which you have not received;" where receiving the Spirit is made a matter common to all believers. So also Galatians 3:2; Acts 8:15; Acts 8:19; John 14:17; John 20:22. For these two things, giving and receiving, are related, the one supposing the other. And this expression of the dispensation of the Holy Ghost is irreconcilable with the opinion rejected before— namely, that he is nothing but a transient accident, or an occasional emanation of the power of God. For how, or in what sense, can an act of the power of God be given by him, or received by us? 192 Indeed, it can in no sense be either the object of God’s giving or our receiving, especially as this is explained in those other expressions laid down before, and that will be considered afterward. It must be something that has a subsistence of its own, to thus may be given and received. So the Lord Christ is frequently said to be given of God and received by us. It is true, we may be said in another sense to "receive the grace of God;" this is the exception of the Socinians to this consideration, and constant practice the use to evade the plain testimony of Scripture. For if they can find any words used in one verse that are used elsewhere in another sense, they suppose it is sufficient to contradict the plain design and proper meaning of those words in the other verse. Thus, they say, we are exhorted "not to receive the grace of God in vain," 2 Corinthians 6:1.

I answer, The grace of God may be considered in two ways:

1. Objectively, for the revelation or doctrine of grace; as in Tit 2.11, 12.193 So we are said to receive it when we believe and profess it, as opposed to those who oppose and reject it. And this is the same as receiving the word preached, so often mentioned in the Scripture (e.g., Acts 2:41, James 1:21).194 This receiving is by faith — to entertain it in our hearts. This is the meaning of that word as used in 2 Corinthians 6:1. Having taken the profession of the doctrine of grace upon us (that is, the profession of the gospel), we ought to express its power in our holiness and suitable obedience, without which it will be of no use or benefit to us. And the grace of God is sometimes taken,

2. Subjectively, as the grace which God is pleased to communicate to us, or the gracious qualities that he works in our souls by his Spirit. In this sense also, we are sometimes said to receive it:

1 Corinthians 4:7, "Who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive?"

Here the apostle is speaking both of the gifts and of the graces of the Spirit. The reason is because, in the communication of internal grace to us, we contribute nothing to its procurement, but we are merely capable recipients — we are subjects of that giving. And this grace is a quality or spiritual habit that is permanent and abiding in the soul. But in neither of these senses can we be said to receive the Spirit of God, nor is God said to give him, if the Spirit is only the power of God making an impression on our minds and spirits. That would be like saying a man receives the sunbeams falling on him, which cause him to be heated by their natural efficacy. Much less can giving and receiving the Spirit be interpreted that way considering what is said about his being sent and his own coming, with similar declarations of God’s dispensation of him — more of this afterward.

Now, because it is the act of the one by whom the Spirit is given, this giving of the Spirit denotes the giver’s authority, freedom, and bounty; and on the part of those who receive the Spirit, it denotes their privilege and advantage.

1. Authority. The one who gives anything has the authority to dispose of it. None can give what is not his own, and what in some sense, he has in his power. Now, the Father is said to give the Spirit, and that is upon our request, as in Luke 11.13.195 I acknowledge, this has some difficulty in its explication: for if the Holy Ghost is God himself, as has been declared, how can he be said to be given by the Father by way of authority, as it were? But keeping ourselves to the sacred rule of truth, we may solve this difficulty without intricacy or danger. Therefore —

(1.) The order of the subsistence of the three persons in the divine nature is to be regarded in this matter. For the Father, as has been shown, is the fountain and origin of the Trinity — the Son being from him, and the Spirit from them both. Hence, the Father is to be considered the principal author and cause of all those works which are immediately worked by either of them; for the one from whom the Son and Spirit have their essence, as to their personality, they have life and power of operation, John 5.19, 26.196 Therefore, when the Holy Spirit comes to anyone, the Father is said to give him, for he is the Spirit of the Father. And this authority of the Father immediately respects the work itself, and not the person who is working; but that person is said to be given for the work’s sake.

(2.) The economy of the blessed Trinity in the work of our redemption and salvation is also with respect to this order of things. The fountain of this lies in the love, wisdom, grace, and counsel of the Father. Whatever is done in pursuit of this, is originally the gift of the Father, because it is designed for no other end than to make his grace effectual.

Hence he is said to send and give his Son also. And the whole work of the Holy Ghost, as our sanctifier, guide, comforter, and advocate, is to make the love of the Father effectual to us, John 16.13, 14.197 As the Spirit has condescended to this out of his own love and care; and the fountain of it being in the love and purpose of the Father; and also, making them effectual being their end198 — the Spirit is rightly said to be given by the Father.

(3.) In the whole communication of the Spirit, it is with respect to his effects, or the ends for which he is given. What they are, will be declared afterward. Now, the authority of this giving principally respects the Spirit’s gifts and graces, which depend on the authority of the Father.

2. This "giving of the Spirit" denotes freedom. What is given might be withheld. This is the "gift of God" (as he is called in John 4:10) — not the purchase of our endeavors, nor the reward of our desert.199 Some men delight to talk of their purchasing grace and glory; but the one and the other are to be "bought without money and without price." 200 Even "eternal life" itself, the end of all our obedience, is the "gift of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord," Romans 6:23. The Scripture knows of no earnings that men can make, of themselves, except death. For as Austin says, "Whatever your sin is," the wages of sin is death. To whatever end or purpose the Spirit is bestowed upon us, whether it is to communicate grace or to distribute gifts, or for our consolation and refreshment, it is the mere gift of God, from his absolute and sovereign freedom.

Corresponding to this freedom, men are said to receive the Spirit; he is bestowed on them as a gift; as it is in the testimonies mentioned before. And in receiving him, two things are implied:

1. That we contribute nothing to this which would take away from the thing received being a gift. Receiving corresponds to giving, and that implies freedom in the giver.

2. That it is our privilege and advantage; for what a man receives, he receives for his own good.

First then, we have the Spirit freely, as a gift from God. For receiving him means, in general, to be made a partaker of him as to those ends for which he is given by God. Whatever those ends may be, it is in respect to them that those who receive the Spirit are said to be made partakers of him. Two things may be pleaded to take away the freedom of this gift and our reception of it, and place it on something that is necessary and required on our part: —

(1.) Our Savior tells us "that the world cannot receive him, because it does not see him, or know him," John 14:17. Now, if the "world" cannot receive him, then an ability and preparation is required in those who do, those who are "not of the world." John 17:16 And so the gift and communication of the Spirit depends on that qualification in us. But all men are naturally like the world, and of it. No one man by nature has more ability or strength in spiritual things than another, for all are equally "dead in trespasses and sins;" all are equally "children of wrath." Ephesians 2:1 It must therefore be inquired how some come to have this ability and power to receive the Spirit of God, which others do not have.

Now, as I will fully manifest afterward, this ability and power is only from the Holy Ghost himself and his grace, with respect being had in this only to the order of his operations in us — some being preparatory for and dispositive to others; one being instituted as the means to obtain another; and the whole being the effect of the free gift of God. For we do not make ourselves differ from others, nor do we have anything that we did not receive, 1 Corinthians 4:7. This is why receiving the Holy Ghost, as intended in that expression of our Savior with respect to which some men are able to receive him and some are not, is not absolute. Rather, it is with respect to some certain work and end; and this, as the context plainly shows, is receiving him as a comforter and a guide in spiritual truth. To this end, faith in Christ Jesus — which is also an effect and fruit of the same Spirit — is antecedently required.201 In this sense, therefore, believers alone can receive him, and are enabled to do so by the grace which they have received from the Spirit at their initial conversion to God. But,

(2.) It will be said that we are bound to pray for him before we receive him, and therefore bestowing him depends on a condition to be fulfilled by us. The promise is that "our heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him," Luke 11:13. But this does not prove that bestowing and receiving the Spirit is not absolutely free. Indeed, it proves the contrary. It is gratia indebita, "undeserved grace," and that is the proper object of prayer. And by these encouraging promises, God does not abridge the liberty of his own will, nor derogate from the freedom of his gifts and grace; but he only directs us into the way by which we may be made partakers of them, to his glory and our own advantage. And this also belongs to the order of the communication of the grace of the Spirit to us. This very praying for the Spirit is a duty which we cannot perform without his assistance; for "no man can call Jesus Lord, except by the Holy Ghost," 1 Corinthians 12:3. He helps us, as a Spirit of grace and supplication, to pray for him as a Spirit of joy and consolation.

3. This is such a gift that it proceeds from bounty in God; for God is said to give the Spirit to us "richly," Titus 3:6. This will be addressed in the fourth way of his communication to us.

I will only say at present that the greatness of a gift, the free mind of the giver, and the lack of desert or merit in the receiver, are what declare that God’s bounty is the spring and fountain of it; and all of these concur to the height in God’s giving of the Holy Ghost.

Again, on the part of those who receive this gift, privilege and advantage are intimated. They receive a gift, and that gift is from God, and that is a great and singular gift from divine bounty. Some indeed receive him (in a way) to some ends and purposes, without any final advantage to their own souls. This is what those do who "prophesy" and "cast out devils" by his power in the name of Christ; and yet, because they continue as "workers of iniquity," they are rejected at the last day, Mat 7.22-23.202 This is how it is with all those who receive only his gifts, without his grace to sanctify their persons and their gifts; and this is whether they are ordinary or extraordinary gifts; but this is only incidentally. There is no gift of the Holy Ghost that is not good in its own nature, tending to a good end, and proper for the good and advantage of those who receive it. The direct end of some of those gifts is not the spiritual good of those on whom they are bestowed, but the edification of others — for "the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit with," 1 Corinthians 12:7. Yet there is that excellence and worth in these gifts, and that use which may be made of them, as to greatly turn to the advantage of those who receive them. For although they are not grace, yet they serve to stir up and give an edge to grace, and draw it out to be exercised, by which it is strengthened and increased. And they have an influence into glory; for it is by the abilities which they give, that some are made wise and effectual instruments for "turning many to righteousness," who "shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and as the stars forever and ever," Daniel 12:3. But the unbelief, ingratitude, and lusts of men can spoil these, and any other good things whatsoever.

These things in particular will fall under our consideration afterward. In general, to be made a partaker of the Holy Ghost is an inestimable privilege and advantage, and it is proposed as such by our Savior in John 14.17.203

Secondly, God is said to send him: Psalms 104:30, "You send forth your Spirit;" John 14:26, "The Father will send the Holy Ghost in my name." This is also said of the Son: "I will send the Comforter to you from the Father," John 15:26; John 16:7. And in the accomplishment of that promise, it is said that he "shed him forth," Acts 2:33; Galatians 4:6, "God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts;" and the same expression is used in other places. Now as to sending him, it is the same as in giving him, arguing for the same authority, the same freedom, and the same bounty.

Only, the word naturally includes in its meaning, a respect to a local motion. The one who is sent is removed from the place where he was (from where he is sent), to a place where he was not (to where he was sent). Now, this cannot properly be spoken of the Holy Ghost — for being God by nature, he is naturally omnipresent; and an omnipresence is inconsistent with a local movement.204 So the Psalmist expressly says in Psalms 139:7-8, "Where will I go from your Spirit? or to where will I flee from your presence? If I ascend up to heaven," etc. A metaphor must therefore be allowed in this expression, but it is a metaphor which the Scripture makes familiar to us by its frequent use. Thus God is said to "come out of his place," to "bow the heavens and come down;" to "come down and see what is done in the earth," Isaiah 26:21; Psalms 144:5; Genesis 18:21. All men acknowledge that these things are not properly spoken of God, who is immense. But when God begins to work in any place, in any kind, where he did not do so before, he is said to come there; for we must do the same — we must come to a place before we can work in it. Thus, sending the Holy Ghost includes two things as added to his being:

1. It is given that he was not previously in or with that person, or among those persons, for that special work and end for which he is sent. He may be in them and with them in one respect, and afterward said to be sent to them in another respect. So our Lord Jesus Christ promises to send the Holy Ghost to his disciples as a comforter, whom they had received before as a sanctifier. "I will," he says, "send him to you; and you know him, for he dwells with you," John 14:17; John 16:7. He dwelt with them as a sanctifier before he came to them as a comforter. But in every coming of his, he is sent for one special work or another; and this sufficiently manifests that in his gifts and graces he is not common to all. A supposition of this would leave no place for this special act of sending him, which is done by the sender’s choice, for a distinct object. Much less is the Spirit a light which is always in all men, and which all men may be in if they please; for this neither is nor can it be absent in any sense from anyone at any time.205

2. It denotes a special work there or on them, where and on whom there was no work of that kind before. For this reason, he is said to be sent by the Father.206 No local motion then, is intended in this expression; there is only an allusion to this motion. For a creature cannot produce any effects where it is not present, until it is either sent there, or goes there of its own accord. So too, the Holy Ghost does not produce the blessed effects of his power and grace except in and towards those to whom he is given and sent by the Father.

How he is yet said to come himself, will be declared afterward. And it is the person of the Spirit which is thus said to be sent; for this belongs to that holy dispensation of the several persons of the Trinity in the work of our salvation. And in this, in all his operations, the Spirit is considered as sent by the Father, for the reasons often intimated before.

Thirdly, God is said to minister the Spirit (Gr. epichoregeo NT:2023):

Galatians 3:5, "He that ministers the Spirit to you."

— or, "He that gives you continual or abundant supplies of the Spirit." The word choregeo means "to give a sufficiency of anything;" but especially "a sufficiency of provision." The prefix "epi" (above or beyond) indicates an addition to this; and the communication of the Spirit is expressed by this very word:

Php 1:19," For I know that this will turn to my salvation through your prayers, and the additional supply (epichoregeo) of the Spirit of Jesus Christ."

Paul had received the Spirit and its assistance before, yet he stood in need of a further daily supply. And so the word is constantly used for adding one thing to another, or adding one degree more of the same thing: 2 Peter 1:5, "Add (epichoregeo) to your faith virtue;" or, "In your faith make an increase of virtue." Therefore, when God is thus said to "minister the Spirit," it intends his continual giving out of additional supplies of his grace by his Spirit; for the Holy Spirit is a voluntary agent, and he distributes to everyone as he will.1 Corinthians 12:11 Therefore, when he is given and sent to anyone, his operations are limited by his own will and the will of the One who sends him. And therefore we stand in need of supplies of the Spirit, and from the Spirit — which are the principal subject-matter of our prayers in this world.

Fourthly, God is said to put his Spirit in or upon men; and this also belongs to the manner of his dispensation:

Isaiah 42:1, "Behold my servant, whom I uphold; I have put my Spirit upon him." The word for "put" there, indeed, is the Heb. nathan (OT:05414 – give), "I have given my Spirit upon him." But because "upon him," is joined to it, it is rendered "put" in our translation. So in Ezekiel 37:14, where "in you," is added to it, it is rendered, "Put my Spirit in you." The same is plainly intended in Isaiah 63:11, "That put his Holy Spirit in the midst of them." Hence, "I have given," or "I will give," in Isaiah 42:1, is rendered in Matthew 12:18 : "I will put my Spirit upon him." The word nathan, used in this sense, does not denote granting or donating anything, but its actual bestowing. What is intended is the effectual acting of God in this matter. He not only gives and sends his Spirit to those to whom he designs so great a benefit and privilege, but he actually confers and bestows him upon them.207

He does not send the Spirit to them, and leave it in their wills and power whether they will receive him or not; but he so effectively confers and puts the Spirit in them, or upon them, that they will actually be made partakers of the Spirit. He efficaciously endows their hearts and minds with him, for the work and end for which the Spirit is designed. So Exodus 31:6, "I have put wisdom in [them]" is equivalent to, "I have filled them with wisdom." So then, where God intends the benefit of his Spirit to anyone, he will actually and effectively confer him upon them. He does not, indeed, always do this in the same manner. Sometimes he does it by surprise, as it were, when those who receive him are neither aware of it nor desire it. So the Spirit of the Lord, as a Spirit of prophecy, came upon Saul when his mind was remote and estranged from any such thoughts.1 Samuel 10:10 In like manner, the Spirit of God came upon Eldad and Medad in the camp, when the other elders went to the tabernacle to receive him, Numbers 11:27. And so the Spirit of prophecy came upon most of the prophets of old, without either expectation or preparation on their parts. So Amos gives an account of his call to his office:

Amos 7:14-15. "I was no prophet, nor was I a prophet’s son; but I was a herdsman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit: and the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said to me, Go, prophesy."

He was not brought up with any expectation of receiving this gift, he had no preparation for it; but God surprised him with his call and his gift as he followed the flock. Such also was the call of Jeremiah, Jer 1.5-7.208 So vain is the discourse of Maimonides 209 on this subject, in prescribing various natural and moral preparations for receiving this gift. But these things were extraordinary. Yet I in no way doubt that God still continues to work grace in many by such unexpected surprises; the manner of which will be inquired into afterward. But sometimes, as to some gifts and graces, God does bestow his Spirit where there is some preparation and cooperation on our part. But wherever he designs to put or place the Spirit, he does it effectively.

Fifthly, God is said to pour him out, and that is frequently: Proverbs 1:23, "Behold, I will pour out my Spirit to you." The Hebrew for "pour out" (naba, OT:05042) signifies "to bubble up like a fountain."210

Hence, the words are rendered by Theodotion, "I will cause my Spirit to spring out to you like a fountain." It is frequently applied to effusive speaking, as in Psa 78.2; 145.7.211 The Hebrew arah (OT:03332) — which some take to be the root of naba — conveys the same meaning. And that word has a double lively metaphor: for the proceeding of the Spirit from the Father is compared to the continual rising of the waters of a flowing spring; and the Spirit’s communication to us is compared to the over-flowing of those waters, yet guided by the will and wisdom of God:

Isaiah 32:15, "Until the Spirit is poured upon us (Heb. arah) from on high, and the wilderness is a fruitful field;"

Indeed, though arah sometimes means "to pour out," more properly and commonly, it means "to uncover," "to make bare," "to reveal;" — thus, "Until the Spirit is revealed from on high." Isaiah 32:15 There will be such a plentiful communication of the Spirit that he and his work will be made open, revealed, and plain; or the Spirit will be bared, as God is said to make his arm bare when he works mightily and effectively, Isaiah 52:10.

Isaiah 44:3, "I will pour my Spirit upon your seed, and my blessing upon your offspring." The Hebrew word for "pour" here is yatsaq (OT:03332); it means to pour a thing out so that it clings to and abides on whatever it is poured out upon — just as the Spirit of God abides with those to whom he is communicated.

Ezekiel 39:29, "I have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel,"

Here, "poured out" — shaphak (OT:08210) — is another Hebrew word which properly means to pour out in a plentiful way. It is the same word used in that great promise of Joel 2:28, which is rendered in Acts 2:17, by the Gr. ekcheo (NT:1632) — "I will pour out my Spirit." And the same thing is again expressed using that same word, in Acts 10:45, "On the Gentiles also was poured out (ekcheo) the gift of the Holy Ghost."

Let us, then, briefly consider the importance of this expression. One or two things may be observed concerning it in general; such as —

1. Wherever this expression is used, it directly respects the times of the gospel. Either it is a part of the promises concerning it, or part of the story of their accomplishment under it. But wherever it is mentioned, the time, state, and grace of the gospel are intended: for the Lord Christ was "in all things to have the pre-eminence," Colossians 1:18. Therefore, although God gave his Spirit in some measure before, he did not pour him out until Christ was first anointed with his fullness.212

2. There is a tacit comparison in it with some previous time and season, or some other act of God, in which, or by which, God gave his Spirit — but that was not in the same way and manner that God intended to bestow the Spirit now.

What this word signifies is that a larger measure of the Spirit is to be given now than before, or than is signified by any other expressions of the same gift. Three things are therefore comprised in this expression of pouring:

1. An eminent act of divine bounty. Pouring forth is the way by which bounty from an all-sufficing fullness is expressed; such as "The clouds, filled with a moist vapor, pour down rain," Job 36:27, until "it waters the ridges of the earth abundantly, settling its furrows, and making it soft with showers," Psalms 65:10. This, along with the things following in that passage, v. 11-13,213 are spoken allegorically of this pouring out of the Spirit of God from above. Hence, God is said to do this richly:

Titus 3:6, "The renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he has poured on us richly,"

— that is, on all believers who are converted to God — for the apostle is not speaking of the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost, which were then given forth in a plentiful manner, but of that grace of the Holy Ghost by which all who believe are regenerated, renewed, and converted to God. For so men were converted of old by a rich participation of the Holy Ghost; and so men must be converted still (whatever some may pretend), or else die in their sins. And the bounty of God is expressed in other things by the same word: "The living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy," 1 Timothy 6:17.

2. This pouring out respects the gifts and graces of the Spirit, and not his person: for where he is given, he is given absolutely, and not just more or less (as to himself). But his gifts and graces may be more plentifully and abundantly given at one time than another, or to some persons more than others. Therefore this expression is metonymical — what is spoken of the cause is proper to the effect: the Spirit is said to be poured forth, because his graces are poured forth.

3. Respect in this is to some special works of the Spirit. Such are the purifying or sanctifying works, and the comforting or refreshing of those on whom the Spirit is poured. With respect to the purifying effects, he is compared both to fire and to water; for both fire and water have purifying qualities in them, though towards different objects, and though working in a different manner. So, metals are purified and purged by fire from their dross and mixtures; and all other unclean and defiled things are cleansed and purified by water. Hence, the Lord Jesus Christ, in his work by his Spirit, is at the same time compared to both a "refiner’s fire" and to "fullers’ soap," Malachi 3:2-3 — this is because of the purging, purifying qualities that are in fire and water. And the Holy Ghost is expressly called a "Spirit of burning," Isaiah 4:4 — for the vessels of the house of God, made of gold and silver, are refined and purged by the Spirit; just as those that are made only of wood and stone are consumed. And when it is said about our Lord Jesus that he would "baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire," Luke 3:16, it is the same thing, but doubly expressed. And therefore mention is made only of the "Holy Ghost" in John 1.33.214 But the Holy Ghost was, in his dispensation, to purify and cleanse them as fire purifies gold and silver. On the same account he is compared to water, Ezekiel 36:25, "I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you will be clean;" which is expounded in verse 26 by, "A new spirit I will put within you;" which God calls his Spirit in verse 27. So our Savior calls the Spirit "rivers of water," John 7.38, 39.215 See also Isa 44.3.216 It is with regard to the Spirit’s purifying, cleansing, and sanctifying of our natures that he is thus called water. Therefore, in a special manner with respect to this, he is said to be poured out. So our apostle expressly declares in Tit 3.4-6.217

Again, it is with respect to his comforting and refreshing those on whom he is poured. Hence he is said to be poured down from above as rain that descends on the earth: Isaiah 44:3, "I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground," — that is, "I will pour my Spirit on your seed, and my blessing upon your offspring; and they will spring up as among the grass, like willows by the water courses," verse 4; see Isa 35.6-7.218 He comes upon the dry, parched, barren ground of the hearts of men, with his refreshing, fructifying virtue and blessing, causing them to spring up and bring forth fruits in holiness and righteousness to God, Heb 6.7.219 And with respect to the communication of his Spirit, the Lord Christ is said to "come down like rain upon the mown grass, as showers that water the earth," Psalms 72:6. May the good Lord always give us of these waters and refreshing showers! In general, these are the ways by which the dispensation of the Spirit from God is expressed, for whatever end or purpose it may be.

II. We come next to consider what is ascribed to the Spirit himself by way of compliance with those acts of God for which the Spirit is given and administered. Now, they are those things or actions that manifest he is a voluntary agent, not only as to what he acts out or does in men, but also as to the manner of his coming forth from God, and in his application of himself to his work. We must consider these as they are declared to us in the Scripture. The first and most general expression of this is that he proceeds from the Father. And being the Spirit of the Son, he proceeds from him also in the same way: John 15:26, "The Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, will testify of me."

There is a twofold "procession" of the Holy Ghost. The first is "natural" or "personal." This expresses his eternal relation to the persons of the Father and the Son. He is of them by an eternal emanation or procession.220 The manner of this to us, in this life, is incomprehensible; therefore it is rejected by some who will believe no more than what they can put their hands into the sides of.221 And yet are they forced, in things before their eyes, to admit many things which they cannot perfectly comprehend! But we live by faith, and not by sight.222 This is enough for us, that we admit nothing in this great mystery except what is revealed. And nothing is revealed to us that is inconsistent with the being and subsistence of God. For this procession or emanation includes no separation or division in or of the divine nature; it only expresses a distinction in subsistence, by a property that is specific to the Holy Spirit. But this is not what I intend at present. Its consideration belongs to the doctrine of the Trinity in general, and it has been handled elsewhere.223

Secondly, There is a "procession" of the Spirit, which is "dispensatory." This is the egress of the Spirit in his application of himself to his work. It is a voluntary act of his will, and not a necessary property of his person. And he is said to thus proceed from the Father, because he goes forth or proceeds in pursuit of the counsels and purposes of the Father, as sent by him, to put those counsels and purposes into execution, or to make them effectual. And in like manner he proceeds from the Son, sent by him to apply his grace to the souls of his elect, John 15:26. It is true, this proves his eternal relation to the Father and the Son as he proceeds from them, or receives his particular personal subsistence from them; for that is the ground of this order of operation. But it is his own personal voluntary acting that is intended in this expression of proceeding. And this is the general notation of the origin of the Spirit’s acting in all that he does: He proceeds or comes forth from the Father. If it had only been said that he was given and sent, it could not have been known that there was anything of his own will in what he did, because he is said to "divide to every man as he wills." But in proceeding of his own accord to his work, his own will and condescension are also asserted. And his proceeding from the Father is in compliance with the Father’s sending him to accomplish and make effectual the purposes of the Father’s will and the counsels of his grace.

Secondly, to the same purpose he is said to come: John 15:26, "When the Comforter has come." John 16:7, "If I do not go away, the Comforter will not come." Verse 8, "And when he has come." So he is said to "come upon" persons, and so we express it: 1 Chronicles 12:18, "The Spirit came upon Amasai" (Heb. labesh OT:03847 – clothe); or "the Spirit clothed Amasai;" he possessed his mind as a man’s clothes cling to him. Acts 19:6, "The Holy Ghost came on them, and they prophesied"— "to come" is the final destination, as it were, of "going forth" or "proceeding." For in these expressions there is an allusion to a local motion, of which these two words denote the beginning and the end. The first intends his voluntary application of himself to his work, and the other his progress in it. God makes use of such condescensions in declaring his divine actings, to accommodate them to our understandings, and to give us some kind of apprehension of them. The Spirit proceeds from the Father, as given by him; and he comes to us, as sent by him. The meaning of both is that the Holy Ghost, by his own will and consent, works in pursuit of the will of the Father — there and in that, where and for what, he did not work before.224 And because there is no local motion to be thought of in these things, it cannot in any tolerable sense be reconciled to the imagination, that the Spirit is only the inherent virtue or acting emanation and influence of the power of God. And hereby our faith and obedience are regulated in our dealing with God about the Spirit. For we may ask the Father both that he would give and send the Spirit to us, according to his promise; and we may also pray to the Spirit to come to us to sanctify and comfort us, according to the work and office that he has undertaken. This is what we are taught by this — for these revelations of God are for our instruction in the obedience of faith.Romans 16:26

Thirdly, He is said to fall on men: Acts 10:44, "While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all those who heard the word." So it is in Acts 11:15 where Peter, recounting that event, says, "The Holy Ghost fell on them, as he did on us at the beginning," — that is, at Pentecost in Acts 2:4. A great and sudden surprise is intended by this word; as when fire fell down from heaven (which was a type of the Spirit) upon the altar and sacrifice of Elijah. The people that saw it were amazed; falling on their faces they cried out, "The Lord he is the God!" 1Kng 18.38-39 When men in no way expect such a gift, or when they have a general expectation of it, but are suddenly surprised as to the particular timing, it is declared in this way. But wherever this word falling is used, some extraordinary effects evidencing the Spirit’s presence and power immediately ensue, as in Acts 10.44-46;225 and it was so at the beginning of the Spirit’s effusion in the New Testament, Acts 2:4; Acts 2:8; Acts 2:16.

Fourthly, having come, he is said to rest on the persons to whom he is given and sent: Isaiah 11:2, "And the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him." This is interpreted as "abiding" and "remaining," John 1:32-33. Numbers 11:25-26, "The Spirit of the Lord rested upon the elders." So the "spirit of Elijah rested on Elisha," 2Kng 2.15. 1 Peter 4:14, "The Spirit of glory and of God rests on you." Two things are included in this: 1. Contentment; 2. Permanency.

First, He is well-pleased in his work in which he rests. So where God is said to "rest in his love," he does it with "joy" and "singing," Zephaniah 3:17. So the Spirit rejoices where he rests.

Secondly, He abides where he rests. Under this notion, this abiding of the Spirit is promised by our Savior: "He will abide with you forever," John 14:16. He came only on some men by a sudden surprise, to act some particular work and duty in them and by them. To this end he only transiently affected their minds with his power; but where he is said to rest, as in the works of sanctification and consolation, he abides and continues there with contentment and delight.

Fifthly, He is said to depart from some persons. So it is said of Saul, 1 Samuel 16:14, "The Spirit of the Lord departed from him." And David prays that God would not "take his Holy Spirit from him," Psalms 51:11. And this is to be understood as corresponding to what we discussed before about his coming and his being sent. As he is said to come, so is he said to depart; and as he is said to be sent, so is he said to be taken away. His departure from men, therefore, is his ceasing to work in them and on them as he did formerly; and as far as this is penal,226 he is said to be taken away. So he departed and was taken away from Saul when he no longer helped him with that ability for kingly government which Saul previously had by the Spirit’s assistance. And this departure of the Holy Ghost from anyone is either total or only partial. Some on whom the Spirit has been bestowed — to work various gifts in them for the good of others, or with manifold convictions, or by light and general assistance for performing duties — he utterly deserts, and gives them over to themselves and their own hearts’ lusts. Examples of this are common in the world. Men have been made partakers of many "gifts of the Holy Ghost," and been enlightened in a special way; and been under the power of their convictions; and been carried out to profess the gospel, and perform many duties of religion. And yet, being entangled by temptations, and overcome by the power of their lusts, they relinquish all their beginnings and engagements, and turn wholly to sin and folly. The Holy Ghost utterly departs from such persons; all their gifts dry up and wither; their light goes out; and they have darkness instead of vision. The case of such persons is deplorable, for "it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them," 2 Peter 2:21. And some of these persons add despising and contempt for that whole work of the Spirit of God, of which they were made partakers, to their apostasy. The condition of such profligate227 sinners is, for the most part, irrecoverable, Hebrews 6:4-6; Hebrews 10:26-30. From some, the Spirit withdraws and departs only partially, and mostly that is only for a season; and this departure respects the grace, light, and consolation which he administers to believers, as to the degrees of these graces and the sense of them in their own souls. But he never utterly or totally departs from those on whom he is bestowed to work these things in a saving way. Our blessed Savior plainly promises this, and asserts it in John 4:14 : "Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him, will never thirst; but the water that I will give him will be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." Christ himself declares that this well of "living water" is his sanctifying Spirit, John 7.37-39.228 The one who has received him will never again thirst in total want and indigence. Besides, the Spirit is given to this end by virtue of the covenant of grace. And the promise is express in this: that he will "never depart from those" to whom he is given, Isaiah 59:21; Jeremiah 31:33; Jeremiah 32:39-40; Eze 11.19, 20.229 But now, as to the degrees and sensible effects of these operations, he may depart and withdraw from believers for a season. Hence they may be left to many spiritual decays and much weakness. The things of grace that remain in them are, as it were, "ready to die," Revelation 3:2; and they may apprehend that they have been deserted and forsaken by God — so did Zion, Isa 40.27, 49.14.230 For in this God "hides himself," or "forsakes his people for a small moment," Isaiah 54:7-8. He "hides himself, and is angry," Isaiah 57:17. These are the things which David so often and so bitterly complains of, and which with so much earnestness he contends and wrestles with God to be delivered from. These are those spiritual desertions which some of late have laden with reproach, contempt, and scorn. They would represent all the apprehensions and complaints of the people of God about them, as nothing but the idle imaginations of distempered brains, or the effects of some disorder in their blood and animal spirits.231

I could easily allow that men should despise and laugh at what is declared as the experience of professors at present. Their prejudice against such professors will not allow them to entertain any thoughts about them except what is suited to folly and hypocrisy. But I acknowledge that I stand amazed at this, because (1) these experiences are so plainly, fully, and frequently declared in the Scriptures, both as to the actings of God and his Holy Spirit in them, and as to the sense of those concerned about them; and (2) the whole of God’s dealings, and believers’ application of themselves to God in this matter, are so graphically exemplified in various holy saints of old, such as Job, David, Heman, and others; and (3) since great and plentiful provision is made in Scripture for the direction, recovery, healing, and consolation of souls in such a condition. And yet men who profess to be Christians, and who at least believe the word of God is not a fable, dare to cast such opprobrious reproaches on the ways and works of God. The end of these attempts can be nothing other than to decry all real intercourse between God and the souls of men, leaving only an outside form or shape of religion that is not one jot better than atheism. Nor is it only what concerns spiritual desertions, whose nature, causes, and remedies are professedly and at large handled by all the casuistic divines,232 even of the Roman church. But it is the whole work of the Spirit of God upon the hearts of men, with all the effects produced in them with respect to sin and grace, that some men endeavor to expose to contempt and scorn, by their odious and scurrilous expressions, S. P.,233 pp. 339-342. Whatever trouble befalls the minds of men on account of a sense of the guilt of sin — whatever darkness and disconsolation they may undergo through the displeasure of God, and his withdrawing of the usual influences of his grace, love, and favor towards them — whatever peace, comfort, or joy they may be made partakers of, by a sense of the love of God shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Ghost — it is all ascribed by these men, in most opprobrious language, to melancholy reeks and vapors, of which a certain and mechanical account may be given by those who understand the anatomy of the brain. To such a height of profane atheism has the daring pride and ignorance of some in our days arrived!

There yet remains one general adjunct of the dispensation and work of the Holy Ghost, which gives a further description of the manner of it, which I have left to a single consideration. This is what is mentioned in Hebrews 2:4 : "God bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with diverse miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to His own will." But the word "gifts" here (Gr. merismoi NT:3311) means "distributions" or "partitions;" and hence advantage is taken by some to argue against the Spirit’s very being. Thus Crellius contends that the Holy Ghost is to be taken passively here, or that the term for Him, Pneumatos hagion, is genetivus materiæ (possessed material). From this, he supposes it follows that the Holy Ghost himself may be divided into parts — so that one may have one part and parcel of him, and another may have another part. It is obvious how inconsistent this is with the truth of the Spirit’s being and personality. Yet Crellius cannot give any tolerable account of the division and partition of that power of God which he calls the "Holy Ghost," unless he makes the Holy Spirit a quality in us, and not in the divine nature (as Justin Martyr affirms Plato did),234 and so He may be divided. This interpretation of these words is wrested, perverse, and foolish; for the structure requires that the Holy Ghost be taken actively here, being the Author of the distribution mentioned. He gives out his gifts and powers to men in many parts, not all to one, not all at once, and not all in one way; rather he gives some to one, some to another, some at one time, some at another, and that is in great variety. The apostle therefore in this place declares that the Holy Spirit gave out various gifts to the first preachers of the gospel, for the confirmation of their doctrine, according to the promise of our Savior in John 15:26-27. The gifts he mentions in particular are, first, "signs;" that is, miraculous works, to signify the presence of God by his power with those who worked them, thus giving His approval of the doctrine they taught. Secondly, "prodigies" or "wonders," works that are beyond the power of nature or the energy of natural causes — worked to fill men with wonder and admiration, manifesting the divine, and surprising men with a sense of the presence of God. Thirdly, "mighty works" of several sorts, such as opening the eyes of the blind, raising the dead, and the like. These being mentioned, "gifts of the Holy Ghost" are then added in general. For the Holy Ghost worked and effected these and like things for the end mentioned. And these distributions are from him, just as the signs and wonders were — that is, these gifts were the effects of his power. Only, there is added an intimation of how they are all worked by him, which is by giving them power for their operation, variously dividing them among those on whom they were bestowed; and it is added that this was "according to his own will." This passage is so directly and fully expounded in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, that there is no room left for exception, even to the most obstinate. And that passage having been explained before, in the introduction to this discourse, I will not go over it again here. These merismoi are therefore his gifts which, as parts and parcels of his work, he gives out in great variety.235 His operations are described to the same purpose in Isaiah 11:2-3 : "The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord." He is first called "The Spirit of the Lord," to express his being and nature; and then he is termed "The Spirit of wisdom and of counsel," etc. — that is, the one who is the author of wisdom and counsel, and the rest of the graces mentioned, who divides and distributes them according to his own will. That variety of gifts and graces with which believers are endowed and adorned, are these merismoi, or "distributions" of the Holy Spirit. Hence, the principal respect that we immediately have to him in our worship of him under the New Testament, is as he is the author of these various gifts and graces. So John, saluting the churches of Asia, prays for grace for them from God the Father, and from "the seven Spirits which are before his throne," Revelation 1:4 — that is, from the Holy Spirit of God considered in his care of the church, and in his yielding supplies to it as the author of that perfection of gifts and graces which are, and are to be, bestowed on it. This is what the number "seven" denotes. And therefore, because our Lord Jesus Christ, as the foundation of his church, was anointed with all the gifts and graces of the Spirit in their perfection, it is said that upon that one stone there should be "seven eyes," Zechariah 3:9 — all the gifts of the seven Spirits of God, or of the Holy Spirit who is the author of them all.

Therefore, all that is pleaded from this passage, for the division of the Holy Ghost, is built on the supposition which we rejected before— namely, that he is not a divine person, but an arbitrary emanation of divine power. And yet the division of the Holy Ghost Crellius pleads for, cannot be maintained with any tolerable sense. Indeed, he says, "All divine inspirations may be considered as one whole, just as many waters make up one sea. In this respect the Holy Ghost is one — that is, one universal made up of many species." This is totum logicum – entirely logic. And by this, the Spirit may be divided into his subordinate species! But what ground or support is there for any such notions in the Scripture? Where is it said that all the gifts of the Holy Ghost constitute or make up one Holy Ghost? Or that the Holy Ghost is one in general, because many effects are ascribed to him? Or that the several gifts of the Spirit are so many distinct kinds of it? The contrary to all these is expressly taught in the Scripture — namely, that the one Holy Spirit works all these things as he pleases; so that all of them are external acts of his will and power. And it is pleaded by the same author, to as little purpose, that

"The Spirit is divided as a natural whole into its parts, because there is mention of a measure and portion of him: thus God is said not to give him to Jesus Christ ’by measure,’ John 3:34; and to every one of us grace is given ’according to the measure of the gift of Christ,’ Ephesians 4:7;"

— as though one measure of him were granted to one, and another measure to another! But this "measure" is plainly of his gifts and graces. These were bestowed on the Lord Christ in all their fullness, without any limitation, either as to kinds or degrees. They were poured into him according to the utmost extent and capacity of human nature, and that was done under an inconceivable advancement by its union to the Son of God. Others receive the Spirit’s gifts and graces in a limited proportion, both as to their kinds and degrees. To turn this into a division of the Spirit himself, is the greatest madness. And casting aside prejudices, there is no difficulty in understanding what God said to Moses, Numbers 11:17, "I will take of the Spirit which is upon you, and I will put it upon the elders;" for God is evidently speaking of the gifts of the Spirit, enabling men for rule and government, and not of the Spirit himself. Without any diminution of that Spirit in Moses — that is, any diminution of the gifts he had received — God gave to the elders, as if lighting their candle by his. So also, the "double portion of the spirit of Elijah," which Elisha requested for himself, was only a large and distinct measure of prophetic light, above what other prophets which Elijah left behind him had received, 2Kng 2.9.236 Elisha asked for "double." This expression is first used in Deu 21.17,237 where the double portion of the first-born is intended; so that what he desired was probably such a portion among the other prophets as the first-born had among the brethren of the same family: and so it came to pass. From this, he also had the rule and government of them.