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    from them would have been super * seded , and the conclusion that he must be an intelligent agent s would

    have been immediate and irresistible . This reasoning cannot , therefore , apply to any subject which is a matter < iif revelation , and in which we have that revelation for our guide . ,

    In order to prove that personal properties and personal acts are ascribed to the Holy Spirit , from which he infers its personality , Mr . Wardlaw cites * John xiv . 16—26 , xv . £ 6 , xvi . 7—14 . AH these passages relate to the promise of the Holy Spirit ,

    under the character of a comforter or advocate , and form a part of our Lord ' s last discourse'with ; -his disciples immediately before hi * sufferings and death , in which he emteavbufs to strengthen and' fortify their minds against the shock which that event would

    occasion . This he does by informing them , that though he Was going from them , yet that it was to prepare a place for them iii his Father ' s house ; arid by assuring them that he would fiot leave them comfortless or orphans , defenceless and without . support , but that he would cotne to them , and

    particularly , that he would pray the Father , and he should give them another comforter or advocate , which should abide with them for ever . This promise is contained in chap , xiv , 16 , 17 . The comforter * which our Lord here promises , he styles another

    comforter , evidently in reference to himself , who had been their comforter , instructor and guide , but was now about to leave them , from which they would naturally conclude that this comforter was to supply his place , and be to them what he had been . From

    this circumstance , and from the word comforter being a personal name , they might be led also to conclude that bur Lord meant by another comforter fc proper person like himself ; but what or whom he meant by the comforter , without further explanation

    they could not faave known . That he meant the Holy Spirit , they could not possibly suppose , because comforter \ h an appellation never given to the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures , except tit this'discourse ; and the passage under consideration is the first fn which it" occurs * Besides this , the miTii «« ma iiM ^ in'r tri ¦ ill ) i irV ' ' Vv ' tt' U ju j J It x r * Page 281 ¦ . :

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    name Holy Spirit is not a personaF name like that oi comforter . To pre * vent misconception then , and an expectation which would not be realized , our Lord proceeds , in the next verse , fully to explain what the nomforter , which he had promised them , would

    be , ** another comforter , which shall abide with you for ever : the spirit ( the breath , the inspiration ) of the truth . " That this is the meaning of the expression , will appear by comparing it with the words of our Lord in otTiet passages , where this promise is

    expressly referred to . After his resur ^ rection he reminds his disciples of this promise , * and directs them to wait for its fulfilment . " Behold , I send the promise of my Father upon you ! but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power front on

    high / ' . What was it with which they were to be endued , not with & person surely , but with power ? Powerthere-i fore * and not upersen , was the meaning of the term * comforter , the energy of that inspiration of the truth contained in the promise .

    Again , our Lord referring to the power and authority with which bis disciples were shortly to foe endued , said unto them , f *< As my Father hath sent me , even so send I you ; and when he had said this , he breathed oti

    them , find saith unto them , receive yg the holt / spirit , ' signifying by the ac-i tion he used , what the holy spirit wa $ which they were to receive , namely , the hohf breath . This , in another

    place , J he expresses by a mouth and wisdom . ** I will give you , " says he , * a month and wisdom , which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist . * Which would be to them

    an advocate , according to his promise , which should effectually plead their

    cause . - ¦ - ' Again , our Lord reminds them of the promise he had made of sending them the comforter or advocate , and commands them not to depart from

    Jerusalem till it was accomplished ; $ 44 Wait , " says he , for the promise of the Father which ye have heard of me . Ye shall be baptized with the holy wind not many days * hence . Ye shaH -. —i ~ i > ¦ ¦ ' ' ¦ ' ¦ '" " T * , . * , » n , i , ,. , . ; . „ , , > ¦ - ¦ ? Luke XJtir . 49 . * f Johi ^ xx . Hj in . t Luke xxi , i 4 j 15 . ' . - \ A ct * i . 4 ^ 6 ^ ! L- ' .. ¦ . .. w ...

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    Mr . Marsom on the&tity 6 ftheffoly Spirit . *—telter ^ K 109

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1818, page 109, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2473/page/29/