rit to Christ, how is it yet
true that such a great advantage was to accrue to the church by the
departure of the Saviour and the consequent advent of the Spirit to
take his place? That it would be so is what is plainly affirmed in the
following text: "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 unto you" (John 16: 7).
If the Spirit is simply the measure of the Son, his sole work being to
communicate the work of the Son, what gain could there be in the
departure of the one in order to {41} the coming of the other? Would
it not be simply the exchange of Christ for Christ?--his visible
presence for his invisible?

To us the answer of this question is most obvious. It was not the
earthly Christ whom the Holy Ghost was to communicate to the church,
but the heavenly Christ,--the Christ re-invested with his eternal
power, re-clothed with the glory which he had with the Father before
the world was, and re-endowed with the infinite treasures of grace
which he had purchased by his death on the cross. It is as though--to
use a very inadequate illustration--a beloved father were to say to his
family: "My children, I have provided well for your needs; but your
condition is one of poverty compared with what it may become. By the
death of a kinsman in my native country I have become heir to an
immense estate. If you will only submit cheerfully to my leaving you
and crossing the sea, and entering into my inheritance, I will send you
back a thousand times more than you could have by my remaining with
you." Only in the instance we are considering, Christ is the
"testator" as well as the heir. By his death the inheritance becomes
available, and when he had ascended into heaven he sent down the Holy
Spirit to distribute the estate among those who were joint heirs with
him. What this estate is, may be best summarized in two beautiful
expressions of frequent recurrence in the {42} epistles of Paul, "The
riches of his grace" (Eph. 1: 7), and "The riches of his glory" (Eph.
3: 16). On the cross "the riches of his grace" was secured to us in
the forgiveness of sins; on the throne "the riches of his glory" was
secured to us in our being strengthened with all might by his Spirit in
the inner man; in the indwelling of Christ in our hearts by faith, and
in our infilling with all the fullness of God. The divine wealt