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prophecies together we have, (1.) “Jehovah;" we have, (2.) a second person, the Messiah, who is "Jehovah our Righteousness;" and, (3.) resting upon him, we have the third person, "the Spirit of Jehovah." So that the three persons are clearly distinguished from each other.

In the forty-eighth chapter of this same prophecy, you will find these words :"Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called: I am he; I am the first, I also am the last. Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together. All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The Lord hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans. I, even I, have spoken; yea I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous. Creed, Art. ii. Raym. Mart. Pug. Fid. fol. 323. 398. 603. Iachiades in Dan. vii. 14. Note on Kimchi on Zech. iii. 8. Dr. M'Caul's Translation, p. 38. See also the Observations on ch. vi. 9-15, pp. 60-69 ; also, Maii Synops. Theol. Jud. Loc. viii. p. 118.

Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me. Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy one of Israel; I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go." The speaker in this passage is plainly distinguished from two other persons, who are as plainly distinguishable from each other. The speaker says of himself: "and now the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me." He that is sent, is not the same person, as he by whom he is sent. But here there are two persons by whom the speaker is sent, "the Lord God, and his Spirit." Who then is this speaker? He is one who claims to be the only living and true God, the first and the last, besides whom there is no God. Here is one who lays claim to the names and attributes of the eternal Creator of the universe. He is one who saith of himself,

"I am the first, I also am the last. Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens. When I call unto them, they stand up together." "Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy one of Israel; I am the Lord thy God." He is one that saith, "I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I'." Can any one doubt that he who speaks thus is God? and yet he saith, "The Lord and his Spirit hath sent me2."

1 Comp. ch. xlv. 18—22.

2 Vitringa, in his Commentary on this place, translates this clause, "Et nunc Dominus Jehova misit me The following quotation will "Hoc vero in casu

et Spiritum suum."

explain his view of its import. nostro cur mittendus cum SPIRITU? Nempe ut Ipse pro officio œconomico sibi mandato liberaret et vindicaret Ecclesiam ex Babylone: Spiritus S. eandem ecclesiam doceret, convinceret, purgaret, sanctificaret, consolaretur. Sic Haggæus, [ii. 4, 5.] ad populum reducum: Quia Eco vobiscum sum, ait Jehova Exercituum Dominus, cum VERBO ILLO, (Angelo Fœderis,) quod vobis fœdere condixi cum egrederemini ex Ægypto ; et SPIRITUS MEUS stat in medio vestrum: ne timeatis. Mystica loquutio est sanctis probe intellecta. Ecclesia indiget Liberatore, et Sanctificatore. Paracleto

The whole style of this speaker is that commonly adopted by God, to express the singularity of his eternal Godhead. And yet he declares, that he is sent by two other persons, "the Lord and his Spirit." I confess I cannot conceive how it is possible more distinctly, and more free from ambiguity, to teach the mystery of a plurality of three persons co-existing in the Unity of the divine nature. It may be objected, that the word Trinity does not occur in this passage. Neither does "Unity,"

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Eternity," "Omniscience," nor "Omnipotence." But I suppose it will not be doubted, that these attributes of God, are as clearly taught in these words, as if their theological names had been expressly enumerated. Yet, certainly, they are not a whit more clearly taught, than is the Catholic doctrine of the Trinity, in these remarkable words 1.

UNO, et Paracleto quoque aλλ ALIO. Agnoscis itaque ex hoc loco, ut ex tot et aliis, certissimam Fidei nostræ doctrinam Deo PATRE, FILIO, et SPIRITU S. in æternum glorificandis."

1

Comp. Zech. ii. 8—11. iv. 8, 9. vi. 12—15.

I shall lay before you but one instance more, taken from the sixty-third chapter of this same prophet. The passage begins with a threefold repetition of the name of God, "I will mention the loving kindnesses of the LORD, and the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his loving-kindnesses." There is then one person introduced, "For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Saviour." A second A second person is then named, "The Angel of his presence." "In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the Angel of his presence saved them in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them and carried them all the days of old." We have then a third person, "the Spirit of his Holiness." “But they rebelled, and vexed his Holy Spirit; therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them." Again the three persons

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