Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/d_000.lzh/D_097.TXT

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CHAP. ~XXVII.                      OF A PLURALITY IN THE GODHEAD, &c.                                                               97

tract from Christ his Son, Acts iv. 24, 27- none will
doubt; and that the divine Word, or Son of God, was
concerned in all this a question cannot be made of it,
when it is observed that it is said, All things were made
by him, and without him was not any thing made that is
made,, John i.S. And as for tHe Holy Spirit he is not
only said to move upon the face of the waters which
covered the earth, and brought that unformed chaos of
earth and water into a beantiful order, but to garnish the
heavens, to bespangle the firmament with stars of light,
and to form the crooked serpent, the Leviathan, which
being the greatest, is put for all the fishes of the sea; as
well as he is said to be sent forth yearly, and renews the
face of the earth at every returning spring; which is
little less than a creation, and is so called, Gen. i. 2. Job
xxvi. 13. Psalm civ. 30. and all three may be seen to-
gether in one text, Psalm xxxiii. 6. by the word oF the
Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them
by the breath of his mouth; where mention is made of
Jehovah, and his Word, the eternal' Logos, and of his
Spirit, the breath of his mouth, as all concerned in the
ma.king of the heavens, and all the host of them. And
as m the creation of man, in particular, a plurality has
been observed, this plurality was neither more nor fewer
than three; that God the Father is the maker of men,
will not be objetcted to; ttave we not all one father?
hath not one God created us? Mal. ii. 10. and the Son
of God, who is the husband of the church, and the
Redeemer of men, is expressly said to be their maker,
Isa. liv. 5: and of the Holy Spirit, Elihu in so many
words says, The Spirit of God hath made me, and the
breath of the almighty hath given me life, Job xxxiii. 4.
2. A Trinity of persons appears in the works of pro-
vidence. My father, says Christ, worketh hitherto and
I work, John v. 17. that is, ever since the works of crea-
lion were finished, in which both had an hand, they have
been jointly concerned in the works of providence, in
the government of the world, and in ordering and dis-
posing of all things in it; and not to the exclusion of the
holy Spirit, for, l/Vho hath directed the Spirit of the
Lord, or being his counsellor hath taught him ? that is,
in the affair of the government of the world, as follows;
With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him and
taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him
knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understand-
ing ? to manage the important concerns of the world,
to do every thing wisely and justly, and to overrule all
for the best ends and purposes; see Isa. xl. 13, 14. And
particularly the three divine persons appear in that re-
markable affair of providence, the deliverance of Israel
out of Egypt, and the protection and guidance of them
through the wilderness to the land of Canaan. Whoever
reads attentively lsa. lxiii. 7--14. will easily observe,
that mention is made of Jehovah, and of his mercy,
loving-kindness, and goodness to the children of Israel;
and then of the Angel of his presence, as distinct from
him, shewing love and pity to them, in saving, redeem-
ing, bearing, and carrying them all the days of old; and
next of Iris holy Spirit, whom they rebelled against, and
whom they vexed, and yet, though thus provoked, he led
them on through the wilderness, and caused them to rest
in the land of Canaan.
3. The three divine persons are to be discerned most

clearly in all the works of grace. The inspiration of the
sdriptures is a wonderful instance of the grace and good-
ness of God to men, which is the foundation and source
of spiritual knowledge, peace, and comfort; it is a divine
work: All scripture is given by inspiration of God,
2 Tim. iii. 16. of God, Father, Son, and Spirit; and
though it is particularly ascribed to the holy Spirit, holy
men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost, 2 Pet. i. 21. yet no one snrely will say, to tile
exclusion of the Father; nor is there any reason to shut
out the Son from a concern herein; and we find all three
dictating the writings David was the penman of: The
Spirit of the Lord spahe by me, and his word was in
tongue; the God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel s'pafce
to me, 2 Sam. xxiii. 2, 3. where, besides the Spirit of the
Lord, who spake by every inspired writer, there is the
Father, the God of Israel, as he is coinmonly styled,
and the Son, the Rock of lsrael, the Messiah, often
figuratively called the Rock; and in the same manner,
and by the same persons David was inspi,red, all the
other penmen of the scriptures were. Those writings
acquaint us with the covenant of grace, no other writings
do, made from everlasting before the world was; this
covenant was made by Jehovah the Father, and was
made with his Son, who condescended and agreed to be
the surety, mediator, and messenger of it; yea he is said
to be the covenant itself; and in which the holy Spirit
is promised, and whose part in it is, and to which he
agreed, to be the applier of the blessings and promises
of it to those interested therein; see Psalm lxxxix.
Isa. xlii. 6. Mal. iii. 1. Heb. vii. 22. and xii. 24. Ezek.
xxxvi. 27. John xvi. 14, 15. and they are all three men-
tioned together as concerned in this covenant, in Hag.
ii. 4, 5. where, for the encouragement of the people of
Israel to work in rebuilding the temple, it is said, For
am with you, saith the Lord of hosts, according to the
word that I covenanted with you; or rather, as Junius
renders it, with the Word by whom I covenanted with
you, when ye came out of Egypt, (at which time the
covenant .of. grace was more clearly and largely revealed ;)
so my spirit remaineth among you: where may be ob-
served, Jehovah the covenant-maker, and his Word, in,
by, and with whom he covenanted; and the Spirit stand-
ing, as it nlay be rendered, remaining aud abiding, to see
there was a performance and an application of all that
was promised. In the sacred writings, the economy of
man's salvation is clearly exhibited to us, in which we
find the three divine persons, by agreement and consent,
take their distinct parts; and it may be observed' that the
election of men to salvation is usually ascribed to the
Father; redemption, or the impetration of salvation,
to the Son; and sanctification, or the application of sal-
vation, to the Spirit; and they are all to be met with in
one passage, 1 Pet. i.2. Elect according to the foreknow-
ledge of God t]te Father, through sanct. ifica[i'on of the
Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus. The same may be observed in 2 Thess. ii. 1.3, 14.
where God the Father is said to choose men from the
beginning unto salvation; and the sanctification of the
Spirit, is the means through which they are chosen; and
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, the end to which
they are chosen and called: but no where are these acts
of grace more distinctly ascribed to each person than in
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