Church of England -- Sermons; Sermons, English -- 19th century
And where is God the Father? Yes, where? The heaven, and the heaven of
heavens, cannot contain him, whom no man hath seen, or can see; who
dwells in the light, whom no man can approach unto. Only the only
begotten Son, who dwells in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared
him, and shown to men in his own perfect loveliness and goodness, what
their heavenly Father is. That was enough for St. John; let it be enough
for us. He who has seen Christ has seen the Father, as far as any
created being can see him. The Son Christ is merciful: therefore the
Father is merciful. The Son is just: therefore the Father is just. The
Son is faithful and true: therefore the Father is faithful and true. The
Son is almighty to save: therefore the Father is almighty to save. Let
that be enough for you and me.
But where is the Holy Spirit? There is no _where_ for spirits. All that
we can say is, that the Holy Spirit is proceeding for ever from the
Father and the Son; going forth for ever, to bring light and life,
righteousness and love, to all worlds, and to all hearts who will receive
him. The lamps of fire which St. John saw, the dove which came down at
Christ’s baptism, the cloven tongues of fire which sat on the
Apostles—these were signs and tokens of the Spirit; but they were not the
Spirit itself. Of him it is written, ‘He bloweth where he listeth, and
thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence he cometh or
whither he goeth.’
It is enough for us that he is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Holy
Father, and of the Holy Son; like them eternal, like them
incomprehensible, like them almighty, like them all-wise, all-just,
all-loving, merciful, faithful, and true for ever.
This is what St. John saw—Christ the crucified, Christ the Babe of
Bethlehem, in the glory which he had before all worlds, and shall have
for ever; with all the powers of this wondrous world crying to him for
ever, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to
come; and the souls of just men made perfect answering those mystic
animals, and joining their hymns of praise to the hymn which goes up for
ever from sun and stars, from earth and sea,—when they find out the
deepest of all wisdom—the lesson which all the wonders of this earth, and
all which ever has happened, or will happen, in space and time, is meant
to teach us:—
‘Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power; for
Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were
created.’
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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