reading of history leads me to believe that Jesus has exerted this redeeming power from the beginning; that it is he who has lifted the world out of the moral darkness and corruption of the Roman Enpire; that his word has had a beneficent effect a myriad times greater than the teaching of all the moralists and sages of the countries of the East, or of Greece and Rome. In reading the four Gospels, I am ever more and more impressed with this fact: That the language ascribed to Jesus not only occasionally asserts his possession of authority far above that of Hebrew prophets and Grecian philosophers, but that it very frequently, unconsciously, undesignedly, betrays his everpresent consciousness that God was dwelling in him, and giving him a dignity, authority, and power which had not, at that time, ever entered into any other heart to conceive. (Thomas Hill, D. D.)

Noah Webster, being asked if he could comprehend how Jesus Christ could be both God and man, replied, "No, sir," and added: "I should be ashamed to acknowledge him as my Savior if I could comprehend him he would be no greater than myself. Such is my sense of sin, and consciousness of my inability to save myself, that I feel I need a superhuman Savior-one so great and glorious that I can not comprehend him."

Among the last things which William Cullen Bryant ever wrote was an unfinished introduction to Dr. Alden's "Thoughts on the Religious Life." Here is one passage from it: "This character, of which Christ was the perfect model, is in itself so attractive, so 'altogether lovely,' that I can not describe in language the admiration with which I regard it; nor can I express the gratitude I feel for the dispensation which bestowed that example on mankind, for the truths which he taught, and the sufferings he endured for our sakes. I tremble to think what the world would be without him. Take away the blessing of the advent of his life, and the blessings purchased by his death, in what an abyss of guilt would man have been left! It would seem to be blotting the sun out of the heavensto leave our system of worlds in chaos, frost, and darkness. In my view of the life, the teachings, the labors, and the sufferings of the blessed Jesus, there can be no admiration too profound, no love of which the human heart is capable too warm, no gratitude too earnest and deep of which he is justly the object. It is with sorrow that my love for him is so cold, and my gratitude so inadequate. It is with sorrow that I see any attempt to put aside his teachings as a delusion, to turn men's eyes from his example, to meet with doubt and denial the story of his life. For my part, if I thought that the religion of

skepticism were to gather strength and prevail, and become the dominant view of mankind, I should despair of the fate of mankind in the years that are yet to come."

Jesus Christ was the incarnation, not merely of some parts or attributes of God, but of God himself. It was not merely the compassion of God that found expression in his character, but the severity of God as well. Even while he was here on earth he was not only Mediator, he was also Judge. Wherever he went, men parted, the sheep on the right hand, the goats on the left. As the old prophet said of him in his infancy, He was set for the fall, and the rising up of many; for the fall of some, and the lifting up of others-that the thoughts of many hearts might be revealed. Character was polarized whenever he appeared. "Now is the judgment of the world," he cried, at the moment when the wickedness of the world was beating in its wildest storm of madness and fury upon his unprotected head. "Never man spake like this man"-never man so graciously, never man so sternly. (Washington Gladden.)

THE HOLY GHOST.

WHO IS THE HOLY GHOST?

The Holy Ghost is God. God is "spirit" in his very nature, and is revealed as "The Spirit." The word "spirit" stands also for the inner, and especially for the higher, life of man, as derived from God, particularly when this life is renewed by the Spirit of God. We must distinguish between man's natural spirit, man's renewed spirit, and God's Spirit. The personal Holy Spirit, in and for man, accomplishes the work of redemption.

We must distinctly understand that it is God himself who works in us, but God in Spirit manifestation. "It is more than probable that the Indians in North America, when they pray to the Great Spirit, conceive by this of something more sensible and more alive than many of our preachers and writers of religious books, when they with great pathos style God a Spirit." (Ackermann.) "I conceive a man as always spoken to from behind, and unable to turn his head and see the speaker. In all the millions who have heard the voice, none ever saw the face. That well-known voice speaks in all languages, governs all men; and none ever caught a glimpse of its form. If the man will exactly obey it, it will adopt him, so that he shall not any longer separate it from himself in his thought; he shall seem to be it, he shall be it." (Emerson.) "He shall be in you.' In

you! a very little word, to be sure, but it characterizes a whole economy." (Guers.)

The Savior uniformly uses the personal pronouns, he, him, whom, himself, in designating the Comforter, or the Spirit of Truth—and although there are two or three passages in the English New Testament in which the neuter forms, itself and it, are employed in reference to the Spirit, yet everywhere in the Bible his personality is recognized and his Godhead asserted. "Why," said Peter to Ananias, "hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God." "Whereof," writes the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews," the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us; for after that he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord!" In the former of these quotations the terms "Holy Ghost" and "God," in the latter the terms " Holy Ghost" and "the Lord," are evidently used interchangeably to designate the same Almighty Being.

Mark how he is referred to in the following passages: "The Comforter, the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." (John xiv, 26.) "When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth, and he will show you things to come." (John xvi, 13.) "The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which can not be uttered." (Rom. viii, 26.) "The Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." (Eph. iv, 30.) Here he is designated as a Leader, a Guide, a Helper, and a Sealer, all active phases of work. 'They make too little account of the internal teacher, which is the Holy Spirit, and which does all in us. He is the soul of our soul; we could not form a good thought or desire but by him. To what purpose would be the external speaking of pastors, or even of the Scripture, if there were not an internal speaking of the Holy Spirit itself, which gives all its efficacy to the other? They reason upon every thing; they form to themselves principles of natural wisdom, and prudential methods for all those things, in which we might be better instructed by the way of simplicity, and a docility to the Spirit of God." (Fénelon.) Carefully observe and cherish the motions of the Spirit of God. If ever thy soul get above this earth, and get acquainted with this heavenly life, the Spirit of God must be to thee as the chariot of Elijah." (Baxter.) The Holy Ghost is also called the Spirit of Christ, and Christ. He inspired the writers

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of the Bible. He said to the Church at Antioch: " Separate me Barnabas and Saul, whereunto I have called them." He forbade Paul to preach the gospel in Asia, and suffered him not to go into Bithynia. He determined, for and with the first council at Jerusalem, what restrictions should be imposed on the Gentile converts. He is associated with the Father and the Son in the final commission to the disciples, "Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."

"Without the Holy Spirit one may have the appearance, the external show of Christianity, but he can not have its reality. With the Holy Spirit repentance is a holy pain, faith a conviction which seizes the whole being, charity a twofold flame leading us toward God and toward our brother; prayer is finally a sigh of the Spirit which descends from heaven and ascends again, bearing us with it." (Dhombres.)

"It is intensely desirable," says Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, "that we should seek more to be consciously filled with the Holy Spirit. We get easily contented with a little spiritual blessedness. Let us grow more covetous of the best gifts. Let us crave to be endued with the Holy Spirit, and to be baptized in the Holy Ghost and in fire. The more we get of him the more assurance we shall have of heaven for our peace, the more foretastes of heaven for our happiness, and the more preparation for heaven in lively hope."

PERSONALITY OF THE HOLY GHOST.

The Holy Ghost is a distinct personality. By personality is meant that which pertains to or constitutes a person, or distinguishes one person from another. It is said to be individuality existing in itself. A person is a self-conscious being, in whom resides intelligence, will, and affection. A person is capable of knowing, willing, and loving or hating. The Holy Spirit is such a being; hence, a person. "A person," says Locke, "is a thinking, intelligent being, that has reason and reflection." "By a person," says Dr. Isaac Barrow, "we are to understand a singular, subsistent, intellectual being." Boethius defines it as "an individual substance of a rational nature." J. Edmondson says: "Personality implies thought, reason, reflection, and an individual existence, distinct from that of all other existences; and, therefore, when we affirm that the Holy Ghost is a Person, we mean he has a distinct and individual existence as an intelligent and reflecting being."

Dr. Joseph Parker has well said that "the Biblical writers them

selves did, rightly or wrongly, believe in the proper personality of the Holy Ghost; and all the more so in the light of the further fact that precisely the same terms are applied to the Holy Spirit as are applied to the Father, so that the personality of the one stands or falls with the personality of the other."

The Holy Ghost, then, is not simply an influence from the Father, coming upon the soul when alone in holy meditation, nor an influence arising from the presence of many believing hearts congregated in one place. Like the Father and the Son in the ever-blessed Trinity, he is an intelligent, thinking being, in whose name baptism and blessing are to be administered, and against whom willful blasphemy is unpar donable. He is concerned for the welfare of Christians, may be seriously grieved, convinces men of sin, instructs them in all spiritual things, calls useful truth to happy remembrance, regenerates the heart, perfects the work of sanctification, witnesses with the saved soul, inspires to godly effort, and abides with Christ's followers forever.

We should speak of him as a personality, not as a thing. "In the Greek the word for Spirit, by the arbitrary law of language, is a word of the neuter gender, so that there follows it grammatically the neuter pronoun 'it.' But this is not always the case. In spite of the laws of a precise language, and violating its plainest rule, the inspired writers often refer to the Spirit with pronouns belonging to a person, as 'he,' 'him.' Our language has no such requirement, so that we may, and we should, honor Him with all expressions of personality. Honor the Holy Ghost. He shall guide you into all truth."

The Scriptures abundantly justify the ascription of absolute personality to the Holy Ghost. The Spirit speaks in a manner which can only be done by a person. Acts viii, 29: "The Spirit said to Philip, Go near and join thyself unto his chariot." Acts x, 19: "Then the Spirit said to Peter, Behold, three men seek thee." Rev. ii, 9: "Let him that hath an ear hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches." He witnesses as a person. "The Spirit himself beareth witness. with our spirit." Heb. ix, 8: "The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest." Heb. x, 15: "Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us." He prophesies only as a person can prophesy. John xvi, 13: "He [the Spirit] shall show you things to come." 1 Pet. i, 11: “ "Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow." The Spirit is said to strive with men,