as distinct and as really sundered as it is possible for three things to be, yet bound together by one unity of consciousness. Now, we have distincter proof than even this that these things are three. The anatomist can tell you that the localities of these powers are dif ferent. He can point out the seat of the nerve of sensation; he can localize the feeling of affection, he can point to a nerve and say, "There resides the locality of thought."

There are three distinct localities for three distinct qualities, personalities, consciousnesses; yet all these three are one.

Once more, we will give proof even beyond all that. The act that a man does is done by one particular part of that man. You may say it was a work of his genius, or of his fancy; it may have been a manifestation of his love, or an exhibition of his courage; yet that work was the work of the whole man his courage, his intellect, his habits of perseverance, all helped towards the completion of that single work. Just in this way certain special works are attributed to certain personalities of the Deity; the work of redemption being attributed to one, the work of sanctification to another. And yet, just as the whole man was engaged in doing that work, so does the whole Deity perform that work which is attributed to one essential.

:

Once more, let us remember that principle which we expounded last Sunday, that it is the law of Being that in proportion as you rise from lower to higher life the parts are more distinctly developed, while yet the unity becomes more entire. You find, for exam ple, in the lowest forms of animal life one organ per

;

forms several functions, one organ being at the same time heart and brain and blood-vessels. But when you come to man, you find all these various functions existing in different organs, and every organ more distinctly developed; and yet the unity of a man is a higher unity than that of a limpet. When you come from the material world to the world immaterial, you find that the more society is cultivated-the more man is cultivated—the more marvellous is the power of developing distinct powers. In the savage life it is almost all one feeling; but in proportion as the higher education advances, and the higher life appears, every power and faculty develops and distinguishes itself, and becomes distinct and separate. And yet, just in proportion as in a nation every part is distinct, the unity is greater, and just in proportion as in an indi vidual every power is most complete, and stands out most distinct, just in that proportion has the man reached the entireness of his humanity.

Now, brethren, we apply all this to the mind of God. The Trinitarian maintains, against the Unitarian and the Sabellian, that the higher you ascend in the scale of being, the more distinct are the consciousnesses, and that the law of unity implies and demands a manifold unity. The doctrine of Sabellianism, for example, is this, that God is but one essence but one person under different manifestations; and that when He made the world He was called the Father, when He redeemed the world He was called the Son, and when He sanctified the world He was called the Holy Ghost. The Sabellian and the Unitarian maintain that the unity of God consists simply in a unity of person; and in oppo sition to this does the Trinitarian maintain that grand

1

ness, either in man or in God, must be a unity of manifoldness.

But we will enter into this more deeply. The first power or consciousness in which God is made known to us is as the Father, the Author of our being. It is written, "In Him we live, and move, and have our being." He is the Author of all life. In this sense He is not merely our Father as Christians, but the Father of mankind; and not merely the Father of mankind, but the Father of creation; and in this way the sublime language of the prophets may be taken as true, literally: "The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy;" and the language of the canticle, which belongs to our morning service

the deeps, the fountains, the wells, all unite in one hymn of praise, one everlasting hallelujah to God the Father, the Author of their being. In this respect, simply as the Author of life, merely as the Supreme Being, God has reference to us in relation to the body. He is the Lord of life; in Him we live, and move, and have our being. In this respect, God to us is as law — as the collected laws of the universe; and, therefore, to offend against law, and bring down the result of transgressing law, is said. in Scripture language, because applied to a person, to be provoking the wrath of God the Father.

In the next place, the second way through which the personality and consciousness of God has been revealed to us is as the Son. Brethren, we see in all those writers who have treated of the Trinity, that much stress is laid upon this eternal generation of the Son, the everlasting Sonship. It is this which we have in the Creed-the Creed which was read to-day

"God, of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds;" and, again, in the Nicene Creed, of that expression, which is often so wrongly read, "God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God," means absolutely nothing. There are two statements made there. The first is this, "The Son was God;” the second is this, "The Son was-of God," showing his derivation. And in that, brethren, we have one of the deepest and most blessed truths of revelation. The Unitarian maintains a divine humanity-a blessed, blessed truth. There is a truth more blessed still the humanity of Deity. Before the world was, there was that in the mind of God which we may call the humanity of His Divinity. It is called, in Scripture, the Word—the Son- the Form of God. It is in virtue of this that we have a right to attribute to Him our own feelings; it is in virtue of this that Scripture speaks of His wisdom, His justice, His love. Love in God is what love is in man; justice in God is what justice is in man; creative power in God is what creative power is in man; indignation in God is that which indignation is in man, barring only this, that the one is emotional, but the other is calm, and pure, and everlastingly still. It is through this humanity in the mind of God, if I may dare so to speak of Deity, that a revelation became possible to man. It was the Word that was made flesh; it was the Word that manifested Itself to man. It is in virtue of the connection between God and man, that God made man in His own image; that through a long line of prophets the human truth of God could be made known to man, till it came forth developed most entirely, and at large, in the incarna tion of the Redeemer. Now, in this respect, it will ha

observed that God stands connected with us in relation to the soul as the Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

Once more; there is a nearer, a closer, and a more enduring relation in which God stands to us-that is, the relation of the Spirit. It is to the writings of St. John that we have to turn, especially, if we desire to know the doctrines of the Spirit. You will remember the strange way in which he speaks of God. It would almost seem as if the external God has disappeared to him; nay, as if an external Christ were almost forgotten, because the internal Christ has been formed. He speaks of God as kindred with us; he speaks of Christ as Christ in us; and "if we love one another," he says, "God dwelleth in us." If a man keep the commandments, "God dwelleth in him, and he in God." So that the spiritual manifestation of God to us is that whereby He blends Himself with the soul of man.

These, then, my Christian brethren, are the three consciousnesses by which He becomes known to us. Three, we said, known to us. We do not dare to limit God; we do not presume to say that there are in God only three personalities, only three consciousnesses; all that we dare presume to say is this, that there are three in reference to us, and only three; that a fourth there is not; that, perchance, in the present state a fourth you cannot add to these - Creator, Redeemer, Sanctifier.

Lastly, let us turn to the relation which the trinity in unity bears to the triad in discord. It is intended for the entireness of our sanctification: "the very God of peace sanctify you wholly." Brethren, we dwell upon that expression "wholly." There is this