1. The sending the Spirit. Indeed, since there could be no grace and
silenced the reason of philosophers; it hath put to flight the armies of hell, and been celebrated by the songs of angels; no name was ever so glorious, no power ever so great.
The third thing I should come to is, III. The end of his glory. As his sufferings were necessary for us, so was his glory; as it was needful he should die to redeem us, so it was needful he should enter into glory to bless us. There are two great things accrue to us by Christ, acquisition of redemption, and application of redemption; the one is wrought by his death, the other by his life; the one by his elevation on the cross, the other by his advancement on his throne. It is there he hears us, and from thence he purifies us; had not Christ entered into glory, we had wanted the application of the fruits of his death, and so his incarnation and passion had been fruitless.
I shall name only two, one consequent upon the other.
1. The sending the Spirit. Indeed, since there could be no grace and sanctification without the Spirit, we must suppose that the Spirit was given before the coming of Christ. In the old world, the Spirit did strive with men, and the Spirit of God was in and upon the prophets, and the holy men in the Old Testament; but it was communicated in weaker measures, in scanty drops, not in that abundance till the instalment of Christ; it was then shed abundantly through Jesus
Christ, Titus 3:6, whence our Saviour is said, after his ascension, not to drop upon persons, but to 'fill all things,' viz., by his Spirit, Eph.
4:10. The Spirit was in the world before, as light was upon the face of the creation the three first days, but not so sparkling and darting out full beams till the fourth day of the creation of the world. The full effusion of the Holy Ghost was reserved for the time and honour of Christ. He was communicated to the Jews anciently for working miracles and uttering prophecies; but the Jews tell us, that after the death of Zechariah and Malachi, the Spirit of God departed from Israel, and went up. So that afterwards miracles were very rare
among them, and therefore, when the disciples at Ephesus, of the Jewish race, Acts 9:2, said they had not heard whether there were any Holy Ghost or no, it is not to be understood that they had not heard that there was such a person, for that they believed, but they knew not whether the Holy Ghost, which departed away after the death of Malachi, was restored again in the gift of prophecy and miracles. The golden shower of the Spirit for grace and gifts was not to be rained down upon the world in so full and sensible a manner till the coronation of Christ, as only at some public solemnities of princes the conduits use to run with wine. Hence Christ flatly tells his disciples, that it was expedient for him to go, that the Comforter might come, which was not to come till after his departure; and particularly by his mission: John 16:7, 'Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him to you;' and this he avers as a certain truth. Indeed, Christ received the Spirit for himself at the first inauguration and entrance into the exercise of his office at his baptism, but not fully to convey it to his people, but upon his coronation, and full investiture with all power.
Then he received 'the promise of the Spirit,' Acts 2:33, i.e. he obtained the full execution of the promise in the full effusion of the Holy Ghost, when he had entered into the sanctuary not made with hands. The purchase of it was a fruit of his death, but the mission of it was consequent upon his exaltation; by his death, in satisfying the justice of God, he removed that bar which had been upon those treasures, and broke the seal from the fountain, that the waters of divine grace might be poured out upon men; by his death he merited it, by his glory he possessed it, and then made the effusion of it, and that for the good of his people.* 'It is expedient for you:' it was not only for his honour that he went to heaven, but for our advantage, that our faith might be perfected, our hope elevated, and every grace strengthened and refined. Now the Spirit was sent to this end, to carry on the work of Christ in the world, and to apply the redemption he had wrought. He was to 'bring things to remembrance, whatsoever Christ had said to them,' John 14:26; he was 'not to speak of himself,' John 16:13. He was not to be the author of a new