PERSONAL PRESENCE OF GOD THE HOLY GHOST:

Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Ohio,

Delivered at the Meeting of the Diocesan Convention, St. John Baptist's Day, June 26, 1874,

IN THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SPIRIT,

Gambier, Ohio.

Cleveland:

Office Standard of the Cross. 1874.

THE PERSONAL PRESENCE OF GOD THE HOLY GHOST: A TRUTH CORRECTIVE OF

ERRORS IN DOCTRINE AND WORSHIP

HIS PERSONAL PRESENCE.

REVEREND BRETHREN OF THE CLERGY:

This Primary Charge is addressed to you at a momentous period in the history of the Church; at a period of deep interest in the history of this Diocese. I feel a peculiar solemnity in approaching this duty, because it becomes a canonical obligation now for the first time, although our relations have already existed for more than fourteen years. Heretofore the obligation rested on one who was the ablest and wisest of teachers. His death imposes on me a duty, all the more difficult because the opportunity is also an exigency.

It is a period when thought in our Church is seriously disturbed. The restlessness of the age has reacted against our usual calmness and sobriety. All elements of discord, both in dogma and ritual observance, struggling to free themselves from law, are threatening change.

Brethren, beloved in the Lord, and bound to me by ties of sympathy and work, and many offices of kindly affection, I realize that this is probably the only occasion on which I shall address a Charge to you, as representing the whole of the Parishes in the State of Ohio. So well was the pioneering work done in this then Western State, by the Bishop who first entered it, and so ably was he seconded by the Bishop who has lately finished his course, that, in a little more than fifty years, the third Bishop of the Diocese finds a Church so extended, as to demand subdivision in order to its efficient superintendence. My Primary Charge to the clergy of the Diocese founded by Bishop CHASE, and built up by Bishop MclLVAINE, will also be the last! At such a moment I approach this solemn privilege.

An Episcopal Charge implies that a Bishop has something to say, important, weighty, and which must needs be said, and at the moment. I have long thought that the prominent evils which are increasing in our Church, and now threaten it, were due chiefly to neglect, or misapprehension, or failure to realize, the doctrine of the Personal Presence of God the Holy Ghost; and that the true and happiest corrective would be a revival of right doctrine, and a return to such an appreciation of it, as characterized the compilers of our Liturgy, and the Apostles of Christ. The time has come for me to speak; not as I have frequently done by sermons and addresses, nor only as has been attempted by the teachings which now surround us, in this Church of the Holy Spirit, consecrated as a memorial of faith in this doctrine; but now, speaking officially to the assembly of those, whom the Holy Ghost Himself has ordained to set forward the Truth, in the Church, in this Diocese. Many Bishops have lately pressed this doctrine of the Holy Spirit's power and influence; and the last Pastoral Letter of the House of Bishops gave a prominent place to it. But dogmas and practices, thoroughly incompatible with it, have lately thrust themselves into the Church; and there is danger lest, in the effort to rid ourselves of them, we should omit to use the true corrective, whilst appealing to some more summary, but less safe, process. The subject of this Charge, therefore, is,

THE PERSONAL PRESENCE OF THE HOLY GHOST.

My object is two-fold:

1st. To impress upon you that the true corrective for late developments of error as to the Sacraments, is to inculcate and maintain this doctrine.

2d. To impress upon you that the inculcation of this doctrine requires the maintenance of our Standards, not any general change in them.

In all ages of the Church, the most disastrous errors, next to those which concern the Person and Natures of our Lord Jesus Christ, have approached through deficient or wrong notions of the Divine personality, presence, and influence, of the Holy Spirit. Since the adoption of the Nicene Creed, cardinal controversies in the Church have turned upon the marks of the Church, the essential constitution of the Ministry, and the nature and efficacy of the Sacraments. Perhaps no more striking illustration can be given of the tendency to approach and settle deep spiritual questions, without referring to the presence and influence of the Holy Spirit, than that the celebrated Nicene Council did not define this article of our faith. The subsequent Council of Constantinople added to the Creed that article, because, within a few years, the necessity for that definition became apparent. It is familiar to you that great questions, concerning the constitution and power of the Church as an organized body, concerning the authority of the Ministry, and the nature of the Sacraments, hinge on the doctrine of the presence of the Holy Ghost in those - that is, in the Church, the Ministry, and the Sacraments - and on the manner in which that presence is obtained and effected. The doctrine of the "opus operatum" originates in a false conception of the authority conferred by the Holy Ghost on the Ministry, and a false idea of the mode by which He confers Himself on the recipient of Sacraments. A similar root nourishes widespread errors that belong to the idea of the Church as a close corporation, and that logical sequence which teaches infallibility in its earthly Head. The doctrine of the Mass, and its imitations, could never have prevailed, had men realized the Scriptural view of the Holy Spirit's presence in the Sacraments.

If, then, our Reformers have strictly interpreted Holy Scripture respecting the Holy Spirit's presence and influence in the constitution of the Church, and of its Ministry, in all Ordinances, and in both the Sacraments, not only are our Articles, Liturgy, and Ritual beyond the reach of just assault from those who hold similar views, but they remain, what they were intended to be, and have always been, the bulwark of Protestantism.

So large a subject can be treated only in part, on such an occasion. All I can hope to do is, so to illustrate the argument, that you may be convinced of the genuineness of this course of reasoning. I shall confine its application chiefly to the Sacraments; and my purpose is narrowed. I make no attempt to show what the Church, in past ages, has taught concerning the Holy Ghost, by Councils, Fathers or History. This has been ably done by others. My object is, to show that the teaching of this Church, on this subject, entirely harmonize with the instructions of our Lord, and the revelations of the Holy Ghost concerning Himself. The method is clear. We state those instructions, and illustrate them by the Prayer Book.

The glimpses of the Comforter, given in our Saviour's last discourse, are like golden fringes on a dark cloud at sunset. They are irradiations of gloom; flashes of hope amidst despair. The glories of Whitsuntide stream in upon that somberest hour of Passion; and even whilst parting with their loved and loving Lord, his promise of another Comforter binds up disciples' breaking hearts.

Five times our Saviour recurs to this thought - five times in this short conversation - five times, distinctly, emphatically, with a purpose, he checks the current of their sadness, by tidings that a Comforter shall come:

1st. "I will pray the Father, and he will give you a Comforter who shall abide with you forever."

2d. He names Him - the Holy Ghost, the Teacher: "My Father shall send him in my name."

3d. "I will send him unto you from the Father." He is the Spirit of Truth. He is the Witness. "He shall testify of me."

4th. Our Saviour makes the startling declaration, inexplicable to the disciples at that moment: "1 tell you the truth: it is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come."

And 5th. He gives a full revelation of the Holy Spirit's office, purpose and work. He shall be a Guide into all truth; not an originator of truth, but the Communicator. "He shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall he speak." The whole future of the Church is within His knowledge, for "He will show you things to come." His whole purpose will be to "glorify Me," and His work will be to "take of Mine, and show it unto you."

Several inferences are inevitable:

I. Our Saviour regarded this doctrine of the Holy Ghost as of prime value. It is the only point which He labored at, in His last discourse. Other instruction repeats what He had often said. This alone is new. It is not easily understood; therefore He explains it little by little. It is startling; therefore He approaches it gradually. It is of infinite importance; therefore He repeats it five times, each time more distinctly than before, and more emphatically.

II. The Holy Ghost is a Divine Person. In the order of Divine manifestation, as the Son proceeded from the Father, so the Holy Ghost proceeded from the Father. In the order of Divine mission, as the Son was sent by the Father, so the Holy Ghost was sent both by the Father and the Son. He is co-equal with the Son, and His mission is of equal value, for otherwise it could not have been expedient that He should become, nor could He have become, a substitute for Christ on earth.

III. He is Teacher, Guide, Witness, possessing all truth, communicating all truth. He is not an originator of truth, but only a remembrancer, revealer, communicator. What He hears, He speaks; what He receives, He gives; He is put in possession of the Gospel - "of mine," said our Saviour: "He shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you." "He shall not speak of Himself." He adds nothing to the Gospel. He reveals no new truth; He is simply the Communicator of that which was finished prior to Whitsunday.

IV. He alone brings that Gospel into effective contact with human souls. It is the work of the Holy Ghost to "convince the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment." So definite is this office, and indispensable this power, that our Saviour declares: "It is expedient for you that I go away, in order that He may come." And the moment the Communicator did descend, three thousand souls bowed, submissive and rejoicing, to the Saviour.

V. He is the only Teacher and Guide. "He shall take if mine, and shall show it unto you." There is no other. His instruction is immediate to the individual spirit. If He employs instrumentality, it is not to endow that instrumentality with power, or to transfer His influence to it, but merely, through it, to reach the soul Himself. He inspires the Bible with truth. He creates the Church, ordains the Ministry, employs the Sacraments, contrives ordinances, filling them all with grace. He does not make them substitutes for Himself, but He employs them as means by which He may impart Himself. The Word, and the Church, and the Ministry, and Sacraments, and the Ordinances, are comparatively useless - useless so far as relates to spiritual effects - unless the Holy Ghost moves through them. They become valid, that is, they avail, to produce their true and intended results, whenever the Holy Ghost employs them therefore. Each contains its part of the elements of the Gospel, but neither can produce salvation, except as the Holy Ghost uses them to bring Himself into spiritual contact with individual souls.

VI. This spiritual use of instrumentality which He has provided is unseen, mysterious, and not comprehended by the world. Our Church frequently uses the term "mystical" when alluding to it. The fact that it is not, and cannot be, comprehended by the world, is characteristic. Our Saviour said: "The world cannot receive Him, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him." The world recognizes nothing, and (as a rule) believes in nothing that it cannot see. For example, the world could understand "regeneration" if it were by water, and were nothing but what water could effect; for that it could see. The world could comprehend "communion with Christ," if the bread and wine were Christ, and if communion were nothing but a partaking of visible elements, for that it could see. But an unseen, spiritual regeneration, of which a washing is emblematical, and an unseen spiritual communion, of which a feast is symbolical - these cannot be understood by the world. Therefore, according to our Saviour's indisputable teaching, the Spirit's work consists in those - in that which is unseen, not in that which is seen; in that which is experienced, not in that which is looked at. A principle results from this teaching, which may be thus stated: in religion, or in the Church, whatever is merely an object of sensation, or purely the result of material instrumentality, on that very account, is not, specifically, the Spirit's work; is not the mysterious, not-comprehended work, which our Saviour ascribed to Him - the mystical work, concerning which our Church teaches. Sensational, intellectual or emotional effects are produced according to natural laws, and do not require the Holy Spirit's interposition. Spiritual effects are produced by Him alone.

VII. It follows, that in every religious act in which the Holy Spirit's work is implied, there are two parts, the outward and visible, and the inward and spiritual. Worship, preaching, prayer, ordination, ministrations, as well as the Sacraments, are each composed of these two parts; neither is complete without the presence of both - the outward act interpreting the inward purpose. Our Church renders this truth with remarkable distinctness in her admirable Catechism. Speaking of the Sacraments (a particular needing especial care in definition), these two parts are shown to be distinct; separable in idea, and yet inseparable in a perfect Sacrament. In the earlier portion of the Catechism, our Church refers to Baptism under the idea of a perfect Sacrament, according to this definition. The person who is declared to have been made "a member of Christ, the child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven," is one who has been thus baptized - one in whose case the Holy Spirit has worked invisibly that spiritual regeneration, of which the outward washing was the sign and seal. With the same purpose, our XXVth Article of Religion declares that, by the Sacraments, God "doth work invisibly in us." The two parts in religious acts are distinct, and to be distinguished; and that which is distinctively the Spirit's part is invisible, lies underneath the symbol, and is not in, or of, the symbol. His act is that which is unseen in communication, and internal in effect.

These foregoing principles are generally acknowledged among us. Partly, they are direct teachings of Christ; partly, they are just and necessary inferences from His teaching; all of them are approved by our religious experience, and all of them are in accordance with the language of our Standards.

Under their guidance, we now proceed to examine that particular phase of doctrine which is disturbing our Church. I state it fairly, but, of course, in an extreme form; for it is only in the extreme expression that it overpasses the liberty of the Gospel, or is the cause of anxiety. It would be easy so to modify this expression as that it should fall within the limits of allowable dogma. But we are not reasoning against allowable phases of doctrine concerning the Sacraments.

It is taught, that a rightly-ordained minister in our Church, in virtue of his ministerial authority, by the act of administering the Sacraments conveys spiritual blessings to the souls of recipients; in the one case, by the administration of Baptism, conveys regeneration by the Holy Ghost; and in the other, by the administration of the Lord's Supper, conveys a participation of Christ. This latter idea is rendered more intelligible, or at least more tangible, by re-stating an old error, that Christ is personally present in the Lord's Supper. The allowable term, a real presence of Christ at the Lord's Supper, which may mean a spiritual presence, is transformed into the objectionable term, a personal presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper, which is something different from spiritual presence, and which localizes and fixes it, in, or about, the consecrated elements, and determines that "the presence" is not in the heart of the believer, or by spiritual manifestation to the believer. Consequently, this personal presence may become an object of adoration.

But this statement cannot be true, if the principles already affirmed in this Charge are true. For,

1st. The Holy Ghost is Christ's substitute on earth. He is the Person of the Godhead present in the world, with the Church and with its members, during the absence of our Lord. Our Saviour declared: "1 go away." "But I will come again, and receive you unto myself." And at His Ascension, the angels, interpreting this declaration, affirmed: "This same Jesus shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven." The going away has passed. The coming is future. Consequently, meanwhile, Christ is personally absent, is "sitting at the right hand of power," waiting "until all enemies shall be put under His feet." So we are taught to pray, that, "as we do believe Thy only begotten Son to have ascended into the heavens, so we may also in heart and mind thither ascend, and with Him continually dwell." So we pray that we may be ready for the "last day, when he shall come in glorious majesty." So we believe that "he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father," "and from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead." And so, in our IVth Article of Religion, we affirm, with all particularity; "Christ took His body, with flesh, bones, and all things appertaining to the perfection of man's nature, wherewith He ascended into heaven, and there sitteth, until He return to judge all men at the last day." Christ was personally present when he said to his disciples: "Handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have." But in no sense understandable is Christ now personally present on earth, according to the doctrine of our Church, whilst we believe that He "took His body, with flesh, bones, and all things appertaining to the perfection of man's nature, into heaven, and there sitteth." So, on Ascension Day, in the very service of the Holy Communion, we profess that, in the sight of the Apostles, "He ascended up into heaven," "where He is."

Therefore, Christ is personally absent, and will not personally be present on earth until the last judgment.

But our Saviour declared: "1 will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of Truth." "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come," "there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost." And St. Peter, interpreting it, said: "This is that which was spoken... In the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh." "This Jesus, being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear." The Holy Ghost has personally come, and will abide here in Person, according to Christ's most true promise. And so, in our Whitsunday Collect, we give thanks to God for "the light of thy Holy Spirit," who was sent us as at this time; and in our Communion Preface for Whitsunday we recite the marvelous story, and recall our own obligations to the teaching of this present Spirit, in order to remind us of the truth, that He continually abides in the world, with the Church.

2d. The Holy Ghost is the Guide, Teacher and Ruler of the Church of Christ. Under Christ the Head, He is the Vicegerent, as He was so aptly and truly presented in the last Pastoral Letter of our House of Bishops. Said our Saviour: "He shall teach you all things." "He shall guide you into all truth." "He shall show you things to come," or shall lead you in the coming times - the times of the kingdom of Christ, the Church. Our Saviour implied this truth still more clearly in the words: "1 have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now; howbeit, when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you." And St. Luke, representing the facts, states that during the forty days subsequently to his resurrection, Christ occupied Himself much in speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God, the Church. But, discovering that His Apostles did not comprehend Him - that they mistook the "kingdom of God" for a "restoration of the kingdom to Israel," - He referred them to the Holy Ghost, and bade them wait for His teaching and His power. Consequently, the Apostles, after Pentecost, understood that the Holy Ghost was the Church's Guide and Ruler. "We are witnesses," they said, "and so is the Holy Ghost." When Philip was to carry the Gospel to the Treasurer of Ethiopia, the Spirit sent him. When Peter was to break through prejudices which were fettering the Church to a nation and a caste, the Spirit gave him interpretation of the vision. When hypocrisy was to be exposed, and falsehood punished, at a very crisis of the Church's history, St. Peter affirmed that Ananias' sin against the Church and God was a lie to the Holy Ghost. And the decision of the First Council was announced in terms that covered the whole truth: "It seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and" so "to us." In consequence, the Apostles considered themselves authorized to establish a form of Church polity, and considered it binding, under the influence of the Holy Ghost, as much so as if it had been consummated in the immediate personal presence of Christ. Their ordinations were transmittals of authority from the Holy Ghost. Accordingly, our Church, in a familiar Collect, recognizes this fundamental truth, by continually invoking, in her ecclesiastical assemblies, "Almighty God, who by Thy Spirit didst preside in the Councils of the Blessed Apostles."

The Ordinal is framed upon this truth. To the Deacon, the first question proposed is: "Do you trust that you are inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost?" Around the Priest, all gather to pray:

"Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire,

And lighten with celestial fire."

"Thou the Anointing Spirit art."

"Come, Holy Ghost, Eternal God,

Proceeding from above,

Both from the Father and the Son,

The God of peace and love!"

"Thou in Thy gifts art manifold,

By them Christ's Church doth stand."

At the ordination of a Bishop, as indeed for the services of each of the degrees, the burden of prayer is for the blessing of "Almighty God, Giver of all good things, who by the Holy Ghost hast appointed divers Orders in Thy Church." And authority is transmitted as from the Holy Ghost in every case. The "alternate phrases" both imply the same idea. They are expressions of sole dependence on the gracious influence and power of God the Holy Ghost; and transmit authority in submission to Him - authority which can come only from Him, the actual Vicegerent of Christ. Therefore, according to Scripture, and the teachings of our Church, the Holy Ghost is not only our Teacher, Guide and Comforter, but is the actual Governor, present Executive, and Vicegerent of Christ in the Church.

If so, then the Holy Ghost holds the door of admission to the true privileges, and limits the fellowship of the Church of Christ. I speak now of the Church as defined by our Church itself, in the holiest symbol of our faith: "very members incorporate in the mystical body of Thy Son, which is the blessed company of all faithful people." A human ministry may gather and bound a visible company; but only the Holy Ghost can present unto Christ that "holy fellowship," who are to be partakers of His everlasting kingdom. The participation in Sacraments, in the fullness of their blessing, is the most valuable privilege of this membership; for Sacraments are "ordained of Christ to be, not only badges or tokens of Christian men's profession (so our XXVth Article), but rather they be certain sure witnesses and effectual signs of grace;" and those who "duly receive" (as our Communion Service declares) are "assured" thereby of God's "favor and goodness." Consequently, the administration of Sacraments is the most important function of the Executive; for by them He admits to the fellowship of Christ, and maintains in fellowship those whom He is to present faultless in the end. And therefore the Holy Ghost administers the Sacraments to the "very members incorporate in the mystical body."

But, if the Holy Ghost administers the true Sacraments, then the valuable part of a Sacrament is that part which He administers, according to the principles already laid down - the invisible part, the thing signified; that part without the presence of which there is no true, effective, valid Sacrament. The reality of a Sacrament is included in its spiritual result, and that is administered by the Holy Ghost alone.

Thus Scripture teaches. Baptism is described as "the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost." The second term is expletive of the first. The first is figurative - the second is literal. The first is what is seen and symbolical - the second unseen and actual.

And thus our Church teaches. For, in our service of Baptism, little account is made of the external sign. All the energy of faith, all the earnestness of prayer, are directed towards that which cannot be seen: "We beseech Thee, of Thine infinite mercies, wash him and sanctify him with the Holy Ghost." "We call upon Thee, that he coming to Thy holy Baptism may receive remission of sins by spiritual regeneration." "Doubt ye not, therefore," is the exhortation. But there would be no room for doubt if the result hoped for were all included in what we could see -if the person so introduced into the outward fellowship had obtained all that we had prayed for. If the eye or the ear could compass all that was effected, doubt would have no excuse, faith no room for exercise. The thing prayed for, the thing hoped for, the thing believed in, is that which no one can see, and no one, save the Holy Ghost, can communicate - it is the spiritual renewal.

So, likewise, the reality of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is not feeding on bread and wine, but partaking spiritually, and by faith, of the benefits of Christ's blood-shedding. When Scripture represents the external uses of the Sacrament, it speaks of it "as showing forth the Lord's death until He come." All the world can see and appreciate that purpose of the sacred Feast. But when Scripture depicts the spiritual efficacy of the Sacrament, it uses other terms - terms which the world does not comprehend - "a communion of the Body and Blood of Christ." "Communion," or "spiritual fellowship," is always represented as the gift of God the Holy Ghost. He alone produces this participation of a believer's soul in the blessings purchased by the Redeemer's blood. In precise accordance with these Scriptural statements, our Church has constructed its service for the Holy Communion. In it we are taught to thank God for His mercy, that, in this Sacrament, our Saviour Jesus Christ is our "spiritual food and sustenance." We thank God that these "holy mysteries" have proved to be "spiritual food," and that, thereby, we have evidence (not that we belong to the visible Church, but) that we are "very members incorporate in the mystical body" of Christ, which is "the blessed company of all faithful people." And (without recalling familiar particulars) our Church affirms, most significantly, and as if for the purpose of closing all controversy on this vital point forever, that the spiritual part in the Lord's Supper is the only essence of this Sacrament. Weigh these following words of the Rubric: "If a man, by any just impediment, do not receive the Sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood, the minister shall instruct him, that, if he do truly repent him of his sins, and steadfastly believe that Jesus Christ hath suffered death upon the cross for him, and shed His blood for his redemption, earnestly remembering the benefits he hath thereby, and giving Him hearty thanks therefore, he doth eat and drink the Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ profitably to his soul's health, although he do not receive the Sacrament with his mouth." Without partaking of the symbols, he feeds on Christ! Without the bread and wine, he may eat and drink the Body and Blood! It would not be possible to put into English words a clearer affirmation of this truth, namely; the reality of the Sacrament lies in unseen spiritual communion of the soul with Christ.

Then, it is evident that the thing signified is separable from the sign of it. And it has already been proved that the Holy Ghost Himself alone administers "the thing signified." Consequently, ministers of Christ, acting under consecration and authority from the Holy Ghost, when administering a Sacrament, administer only the sign. However thoroughly endowed by Him, and completely acting under His sanction, they can do only that to which they are limited by their humanity. They administer the thing seen; and at that bound of the sign, their office stops.

Then, one foundation is removed from the claim that "a rightly-ordained minister in our Church, in virtue of his ministerial authority, by the act of administering the Sacraments, conveys spiritual blessings to the souls of recipients."

It remains to examine the other foundation for this claim:

It is sometimes said that some spiritual results follow, and are inseparable from the administration of the Sacraments, which are known by another nomenclature from that thus far employed in this Charge - namely, that from Baptism follows a participation in Christ's incarnation; and from the Holy Communion, a participation, or realization, of the actual Personal Presence of the Lord.

It is possible that I do not clearly understand the meaning of the language in which this claim is advanced. But, so far as I understand it, the principles already announced sufficiently undermine it.

It is said that a person, rightly baptized, thereby becomes partaker of Christ's incarnation, shares with Him in nature, and thereby becomes partner in His grace. I do not discover any ground in Holy Scripture for this statement; nor can I discern it in the Prayer Book. If it means anything else other than what Scripture and Prayer Book term "regeneration," and "spiritual renewal," what our Saviour termed being "born again," it is a change of nature or condition not taught by Scripture. And if there be any other spiritual result of Baptism than this which the Holy Ghost produces, then the Holy Ghost is robbed of the most vital function of His Vice-Royalty. He stands in vain to guard the door of Christ's Church; for one can enter without His spiritual renewal, by being incarnated with Christ.

But if the terms mean the same thing, as that which Scripture and the Prayer Book define as "Regeneration" and "Spiritual Renewal," then the claim has already been answered.

It is said, that, by the act of consecration of the elements in the Lord's Supper, a certain real, actual Presence of Christ is produced in the elements, or in the Sacrament, such as that it is proper to adore the Lord as personally present.

This presence must be either material or spiritual. If material, according to the principles already announced, it is not the work of the Spirit, because, in this dispensation, He works only that which the world cannot see. If it is a spiritual presence, then it is mere Iogomachy to describe it as any other than that spiritual manifestation of the benefits of Christ's sacrifice to a believer's soul, which has already been alluded to. And if it be any other spiritual presence than this, then it cannot be true; because it would deprive the Holy Ghost of His special work, and of the most valuable function of His Vice-Royalty, inasmuch as the spiritual results of a Sacrament might thus be administered without His participation. But the idea is without Scriptural warrant, and cannot be reasonably founded on any language of the Prayer Book.

The presence of Christ is described by some as a presence "in body, soul and divinity." By others, it is said to be "personal," "real," "actual," "in an ineffable and spiritual manner," but other than as God is truly declared to be everywhere present.

Now, the passage of Scripture which, more nearly than any other, lays a basis for such an idea, is the phrase: "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?" But a reasonable exegesis determines that, in this phrase "the cup" represents a "communion." Certainly, a communion of blood is not the drinking of blood, but is spiritual fellowship in spiritual blessings which the blood of Christ procured.

Again, Scripture declares: "As oft as ye eat this bread, ye do show forth the Lord's death until He come." Certainly, this memorial of an absent Lord cannot be a partaking of a present Lord - present precisely in the manner in which we are hoping that He will hereafter come, i.e. in person. The very object of the Sacrament is to testify that He is not here in Person.

In the Liturgy of our Communion, we are said to partake of "the Body and Blood" of Christ. It is evident, therefore, that the Church did not suppose it possible that Christ could be personally present; for, if so, His Body and Blood would imply a corporeal presence - an idea which is repudiated. But this is the only phrase, in the service for Communion, which can be tortured into an allusion to a personal presence of Christ. Therefore the Church does not believe in it.

On the contrary, Christ is absent. And, conclusively, the Holy Ghost is the present Person of the Godhead; present in this Sacrament, as in the other, as proved both by Scripture and the language of our Liturgy. His presence is real, and effective, and personal. He gives the spiritual benefits whereof we are then partakers. He enables us, in that Sacrament, to feed on Christ after a spiritual manner. And according to the facts herein recited, and the principles herein enunciated, He only, of the Persons of the adorable Godhead, is present personally when the Supper of the Lord is administered.

Then the other foundation of the error which we are examining is taken away. For, in neither Sacrament is there anything spiritual to be administered, except that which the Holy Ghost administers; and there is nothing symbolized in either Sacrament, except that which the presence of the Holy Ghost effects. And it is indisputable, that He, the Vicegerent of Jesus Christ, will allow no one to administer Him. He administers Himself, when, and as, He will.

This thought, now developed in parts, is all concluded in the words of our Saviour, by which He describes the office of the Holy Ghost in administering the Church, whether by ministry, by preaching, by ordinances of worship, or by sacraments. Those words are: "He shall take of mine and show it unto you." "Of mine," it is written, not of me. "Of mine;" necessarily of that which it is possible to communicate unto believers. Not of my Divine nature, as some feign to be the result of Baptism; for that is incommunicable. Not of my human nature, my actual body, as some pretend in the Lord's Supper; for that is inseparable from Christ's Person, and cannot be communicated. Not of Me, in any conceivable sense, as really, personally present in a Sacrament. For how could one Person of the Godhead be communicated by another, to a third person, and that third person a mortal? Let us look words in the face. Let us weigh them in just balances. Let us not compel them to carry unreasonable meanings. When our Saviour said, "the Holy Ghost shall take of Mine," He meant, "of whatever, belonging to our sovereign, loving Lord, can be communicated to men." The Holy Spirit shows to us the facts of Christ's work; the meaning of His atoning death; the full comprehension of His marvelous Gospel; the power of His love, and sympathy, and grace, and pardon, and peace - His spiritual qualities, the likeness to Jesus Christ, the image of glory into which we pass from glory to glory, so producing spiritual oneness and fellowship with our Lord.

Thus viewing the instructions of the Bible, as illustrated by our Liturgy, there are no germs of Romanism to be found in the Prayer Book, except as they may also be said to exist in Holy Writ. If, then, there be reasons for changing our standards of Faith and Ritual, they must be other than that they encourage false teaching as to the Sacraments. If it be charged that this view narrows the bounds of doctrinal opinion in our Church, the answer is, that it does not circumscribe them more than has been done by Scripture and our Standards. Our Church is comprehensive; necessarily so, because it is Scriptural; necessarily comprehensive, because, whilst it allows nothing to be held, or taught, or required to be believed, which has not certain warrant of Holy Scripture, it does allow all beliefs which prove their right to this certain warrant. But our Church assists the judgment of its members, as to the meaning of Holy Scripture, by definite statements of doctrine, and definite ritual usages. I trust that you are not prepared to abandon these formulas, for the sake of admitting a comprehensiveness inconsistent with them. Whatever opinions may be entertained within the safe limits established by our Articles and Liturgy are lawful. Within those bounds men may differ without reproof. But I charge you, my brethren, not to destroy those right limits for the sake of entertaining a liberty, which invariably passes into license; which, whenever it enters, and sways, is necessarily destructive. The idea of a visible Church, is incompatible with any such idea of liberty, as refuses to submit to certain limitations of thought, and expression, and action, agreed upon and assented to by the members of it. For self-preservation, its members must preserve and defend those limits.

Therefore, most earnestly I exhort you, beloved in the Lord, to defend the faith once delivered to the saints, as this Church hath received the same. And therefore, I have pressed upon you, in this Charge, the doctrine of the Personal Presence of the Holy Ghost, as this Church hath received it. It is the true corrective of the evils which oppress us, and the true prevention for greater evils which threaten. And I invoke the enlightening power of His grace, the convincing power of His illumination, the persuasive power of His love, to keep you steadfast in this faith.

THE PERSONAL PRESENCE OF THE HOLY GHOST;

EXPERIMENTAL AND PRACTICAL

We pass from theological aspects of this subject to an experimental and practical view of it. It is our duty to understand the doctrine of the Holy Ghost. Our views of Him will necessarily color all our views of Christ's religion, as well as shape our ecclesiastical system. Our thoughts are not mere theories. They are vital. They form eternal issues. They underlie all satisfactory religious experience. They work themselves out in all valuable practice of Christ's religion.

As individual Christians, we want to know how much of the Holy Spirit's presence we have realized in our communion with Christ, and how much of the Holy Spirit's presence we exhibit in our daily following of the example of Christ. If the Spirit dwells within us, we know it; for we know Him. If the Spirit manifests His power within us, all men see it; for such a life as He inspires cannot be hidden; and its loveliness and beauty, reflecting all the graces of His Divine character, will draw all men to admire the Christ whom He is exhibiting in the Christian. Here is the test of this indwelling, both experimental and practical.

It is an experimental test, because it is an experience - an experience of absolute trust in Christ, of love, of worship, of devotion, of consecration, of satisfaction, of peace, centering in Christ, resting on Christ, full-filled in Christ. Neither thoughts, nor hopes, nor wishes, wander from that center. If tempted for a moment, they return with redoubled contentment. So has the Spirit taken of the things of Christ and shown them unto us, that Christ has become infinitely precious, and nothing now has power to separate us from the love of Christ.

But the test is also practical. Religion is a life seen, as well as felt; a life which, if it beats unseen within the heart, yet sends its pulses thrilling through every artery, on messages of life to every muscle and every limb, to every changing feature of the countenance which reflects the Christ, to every blessed syllable and loving word that tells of Christ, to every beneficent deed and holy action that repeats the Christ. If the Spirit dwells within us, that sacred inmate breathes a sanctity through every chamber of our soul. What beautiful things spring up in every pathway where the Spirit treads! His touch is like the dew. His breath is like the breath of morn. His step is as glorious as the Easter. Everywhere is a rising from death. Shadows flee. Cold selfishness becomes genial with love. Every drop of sorrow is made radiant in the sunlight of heavenly charity. Peace, contentment, soberness, consideration, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, truth, patience, endurance, firmness, stability, honesty, purity - these are the flowers which spring up in every path where the Spirit walks abroad, manifesting the Christ which He has shown to the Christian.

For every sadness and every woe that shadows life, the presence of the Comforter brings a solace. That revelation of the coming of a Comforter was a new thought amongst religious ideas. The Fatherhood of God was not a novel idea. A sacrifice for sin, a redemption by blood, was no new thing. Altars had smoked with propitiations long before the flood, and sacrifices for sins were marking the hours of every passing day, among all nations, at the moment when the cross of Calvary was bearing its precious, all-atoning victim. But it was a new thought, that God Himself should condescend to comfort men; should minister friendly consolations; Himself bind up the broken heart; Himself pour balm into a wounded spirit; Himself strengthen a mourner; Himself whisper peace, and breathe a holy calmness over the soul that is tossed by bodily anguish, or has reached the borders of despair. This was the newest, as it was the latest revelation of religion. It was the complement of redeeming love. That God was a Father, all men knew. But that He was such a Father, no man knew, until the only-begotten Son had manifested His grace. That a sacrifice was needed for sin, all men felt; but that sin was so sinful, and redemption worth such a price, no man knew until the Incarnate Son of God had laid down His life, "the just for the unjust." And so, also, the complement of the Father's grace, and the Son's self-sacrifice, was this novel revelation of a Comforter, who should bring the mercy home to every needy soul; and by His own loving ministrations give practical effect to this charity of heaven, by restoring upon earth the lost likeness to God, and meliorating the miseries which sin had entailed. Every Refuge for the weary, every Home for the destitute, every Orphanage and Hospital, every House of Rest, is, therefore, an offspring of the Comforter's gentle thoughts.

The Holy Spirit teaches us blessed lessons by His own example.

For example - humility. He is God; yet He is content to be known only as a substitute for Christ. He is not a Saviour; but He is willing to expend the omnipotence of His Divine nature, in leading the Saviour's redeemed ones to the feet of their saving Lord.

Meekness. He is present, personally present, God, here, in the midst of men; yet never seen. He is represented by symbols; but not seen even in the symbols. His power is signified by the tongues of fire at Pentecost; but He is not in the fiery tongues. His love, and sweetness, and gentleness, that will not break a bruised reed, are like the dove descending on the head of Jesus of Nazareth; but He is not seen in the dove. Through all the ages, He has been working marvels in the name of Christ, instructing, guiding, guarding the Church of Christ; enlightening, converting, sanctifying the men of Christ; yet contented, through all these ages, to work unseen.

Reverence for revealed truth. The Holy Spirit, God Himself, the Teacher, through all these eighteen hundred years, has created no new truth. This fact is significant. As at the day of Pentecost, so now, He deals only with the truth that was finished at Calvary, at Easter, and at the Ascension. The Apostles understood Him. All their elaborations of this grand system of evangelical religion were only re-openings of what God had taught from the foundation of the world. Even the great pivot on which all the system turns - the doctrine of justification by faith - was as old as Abraham; and older than he, for he learned it from the fathers, and was taught it by the Spirit, before he expressed it by his life of faith. And I take it as one of the most significant lessons of the Spirit, for this age of change, - for men who are seeking after novelties, for Christians who are discontented with the old truths - that the Holy Ghost, the very Spirit of truth, never has revealed a new truth since the Gospel was finished.

Holy Scripture is ultimate authority. The whole office of the Spirit is to take of the things of Christ and show them unto men. What He receives, He delivers. Some men seem to imagine, that, when the Holy Spirit has imparted light, He has given them an independent power to become light. They fancy that thenceforth they are a light unto themselves. On the contrary, the light which the Holy Spirit gives, falls only on the pages of God's Word; and He reveals to no man any truth, but that which springs into light out of the page, under the rays of His illumination.

What love breathes out, in every motion of the Spirit's grace, towards us poor sinners! It was darkness with us once; now it is light! It was sadness with us once; now it is joy! Once we were far away from Christ; now we are nigh! We were separated from that pure and holy Saviour by our sins; we could not see the sins, we did not see the remedy. He showed us the cross, and its terrible meaning if sin be unforgiven; and its precious significance if we could separate from sin, and trust the atoning love. And He told us the story over and over again, and He bore with us, and He pictured the Saviour and salvation in every varied form and hue of heavenly beauty. And He did not leave us, until we became willing captives to the sovereignty of redeeming grace. It was a triumph of mercy. Since then, He has been our Guide; O how wise! our Teacher; O how patient! our Sanctifier; O how gentle! gentle, even when using the chastenings of Providence, and the discipline of grace, to bring our wills into conformity with God. Our Comforter; O how sweetly He distilled sustaining thoughts of Jesus' infinite compassion into our wearied hearts, when woe, and loss, and disappointment, and misrepresentation, and all the sadnesses which mar and checker life, gave bitterness to the cup which the Father bade us drink! The things of Christ, as the Holy Spirit has shown them to us, have been the very sustenance of our spirit, the strength of our life, the power of our growth, the animation of our energy and zeal. As children of God, by faith, our adoration rises rightly to the Holy Ghost; for we owe to His unwearying, patient love, all the access we have had to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and all the progress we have made in following His example, in the formation either of character or of habits.

This loving Holy Ghost is He whom some men misrepresent, as if He were a stern gate-keeper at the entrance of the way of life, holding the keys of conversion, and of faith, unwilling that any man should enter. This is He whom some men misrepresent, as if He came to human souls only in a day of power, and had bidden them wait for Him, until He should drive in upon their wills, on wheels of the whirlwind and the storm. This is He, whom some men misrepresent, as if He were far away, whose voice they never hear, whose winning call they never feel.

I pray you, dear brethren - if in this assembly I speak to any who have not known this Holy Ghost - study His character, and His methods of approaching men. You will find Him nearer to you than you think. He never rides upon the wind. He never comes in tumults and confusion. On Pentecost there was "a sound as of a rushing, mighty wind, and it filled the house," and woke all slumbering hearts to intensest expectation. But the Spirit was not in the wind. So, when He dealt with Elijah. The earthquake and the storm passed; but the Lord came in the "still, small voice." Thus at Pentecost there followed the startling sound, a dropping, of a likeness to tongues of fire, which sat on each Apostle's head; whilst unseen, and quietly, there entered each Apostle's heart a power that transformed them in a moment. And as they preached to the three thousand, the same unseen power went quietly from heart to heart, unlocking consciences, bending wills, opening fountains of repentance, nourishing into vigorous life the first seeds of faith in Christ. So it is to-day. The Spirit is in the motion of your heart towards Christ; the feeling of a wish that you were a Christian; the desire that you knew more of the grace of the Gospel; a longing to be like that holy Christ, whom, you read about and admire. That gentle voice which you have heard more than once: "It is time to awake out of sleep? that impression, which you have felt more than once: "He was wounded for our transgressions;" that sweet strain, which flows in and out of your memory, like the cadence of an old familiar song, like the recollection of a mother's prayer: "Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely," - that is the Spirit. It is the "still, small voice" of God, whispering of Jesus. So divine in its patience, so divine in its earnestness, so divine in its sweetness - it is no other than the voice of God the Holy Ghost! You need not wait for Him; He is waiting for you. You need not expect Him from afar; He is at your side, within your consciousness, stirring your emotions, to-day. Listen - determine -trust. Consent only to look, when He takes of the things of Christ, and shows them unto you; and so will your souls be ravished with the picture of a Saviour's love, that you will never again take your faith away from Him, nor cease your devotion to Him, in this life or in eternity.