“The Holy Ghost, proceeding from the Father and the Son, is of one substance, majesty, and glory with the Father and the Son, very and eternal God.”—Article V.
The name Ghost, or Gast, in the ancient Saxon, signifies a spirit, to which the word holy is applied, as signifying a communication of the Divine holiness. Having been baptized “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,” we cannot say with the ignorant disciples, that “we have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost” (Acts xix. 2); we are therefore called upon to believe in the Holy Ghost as we do in the Father and the Son; and for our authority in considering him to be a person as well as the others, we have not only the analogy of faith, but sufficient evidence in holy writ.
First, he is plainly distinguishable from the others; from the Father, as proceeding from him, (John xv. 26,) and from the Father and the Son, in being sent by one from the other; “The Comforter, whom I,” says our Lord, “will send unto you from the Father;” “If I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart, I will send him unto you.” (John xv. 26; xvi. 7.) This was the Spirit promised before of the Father. (Isa. xliv. 3; Ezek. xxxvi. 25, with John xiv. 16; Acts i. 4; ii. 33.) He is sometimes termed “the Spirit of the Son,” as well as of the Father, (Gal. iv. 6,) and is given by the Father, (Eph. i. 17,) and sent in his Son’s name, (John xiv. 26,) as at other times by the Son. (John xv. 26; xvi. 7; xx. 21, 22.)
Secondly, such properties, attributes, and acts are ascribed to him as are only applicable to a person. He is spoken of in formal opposition to evil spirits, who are clearly represented as persons (1 Sam. xvi. 14; 2 Chron. xviii. 20, 21); and if expressions are used not exactly suitable to our conceptions of a person, this may well be allowed without its making him a mere quality or attribute. When God is said to “give” the Holy Ghost “to them that obey him,” (Acts v. 32,) it may be compared with similar passages respecting the Son: “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,” &c., (John iii. 16,) in conformity to the prophecy, “Unto us a Son is given.” (Isa. ix. 6.)
Thirdly, he is also truly God, as is proved from the titles given to him by fair implication, (Acts v. 3, 4; Luke i. 35; and see 2 Sam. xxiii. 2, 3,) and the attributes of God, (Job xxxiii. 4; Ps. cxxxix. 7; Isa. xlviii. 16; with Acts xiii. 2; xx. 28; Mark xiii. 11; Rom. viii. 14; xv. 13, 19; 1 Cor. ii. 11,) and he is in two grand instances united to the Father and the Son, in perfect equality,—the form of baptism, by which we are admitted into the Church of God, (Matt. xxviii. 19,) and the apostolic benediction, the common Christian salutation. (2 Cor. xiii. 14.)
As he is the Holy Spirit of God, “the Spirit of holiness,” (Rom. i. 4,) so is he the cause of all holiness in man. That as the Son, by his sacrifice, put us in the way of salvation, (John iii. 16,) so must the Holy Spirit co-operate in sealing “us unto the day of redemption,” through his “sanctification,” and “belief of the truth,” (Rom. viii. 16; 2 Cor. i. 22; v. 5; Gal. vi. 8; Eph. i. 13, 14; iv. 30; Phil. i. 19; 2 Thess. ii. 13; Tit. iii. 5,) according as he has been promised. (Deut. xxix. 4; Jer. xxxii. 40; Ezek. xxxvi. 27; John vi. 44.) And this he does by regenerating us at baptism, (Matt. iii. 11; John iii. 5; Gal. iv. 29; Tit. iii. 5,) and making us the “sons of God,” (Rom. viii. 14–16; Gal. iv. 6,) and thus uniting us to our “head,” (1 Cor. vi. 17; xii. 12, 13; Eph. iv. 4; 1 John iii. 24,) and by instructing us in our duty, (Prov. i. 23; Ps. clxiii. 10; Isa. lix. 21: 1 Cor. ii. 10, 11; xii. 3; 2 Cor. iii. 3; Gal. v. 16, 25,) illuminating the understanding, (Neh. ix. 20; Isa. xxxii. 15, 16; Ezek, xxxvi. 27; Micah iii. 8; Rom. viii. 2, 5; Eph. i. 17, 18; 1 John iii. 24; iv. 13,) disposing the will, (Heb. iii. 7, 8; 1 Pet. i. 2, 22,) settling us in the faith and love of God, (Rom. v. 5; 2 Cor. iv. 13; 2 Tim. i. 7,) giving us power to obey, (Zech. iv. 6; 2 Cor. iii. 17; Eph. iii. 16,) helping us in prayer, (Zech. xii. 10; Rom. viii. 26; 1 Cor. xiv. 15; Jude 20,) and sanctifying us. (Rom. xv. 16; 1 Cor. vi. 11; Gal. v. 16.) And as his very name, “the Comforter,” implies, he gives consolation and joy. (Acts ix. 31; Rom. xiv. 17; xv. 13; Gal. v. 22; 1 Thess. i. 6.)
It is necessary, then, that we believe in the Holy Ghost, as having been baptized to God in his name; and as we would receive the apostolic benediction, (2 Cor. xiii. 14; Phil. ii. 1,) and enjoy the kingdom of God on earth, which is “righteousness, and peace, and joy,” in him. (Rom. xiv. 17; Acts xiii. 52.)
HOLY TABLE, (ἅγια τράπεζα.) (See Altar.) The altar on which the appointed memorials of the death of Christ, namely, the bread and wine, are presented before God, as an oblation of thanksgiving, is called the Lord’s table, or the holy table; because his worshippers do there, as his guests, eat and drink these consecrated elements, in faith, to be thereby fed and nourished unto eternal life, by the spiritual food of his most precious body and blood.
HOLY THURSDAY. The day of our Lord’s ascension. (See Ascension Day.)
HOLY WATER. In the Romish Church, water blessed with an appropriate service by the priest, and placed in a shallow basin, called the holy water stoup, at the entrance of the Church. Its primary use was, that the hands of the worshippers might be washed, and “pure hands lifted up in prayer;” afterwards it symbolized their purification from defilement before engaging in prayer. The modern Romanists forget this, and, as if they thought that some intrinsic benefit resulted from the physical application of the holy water, independent of its mystic meaning, use it both on entering and leaving a church.