At length, in the fulness of time, that is, when all things had been fulfilled which were previously to take place, this divine spirit, which had appeared in creation, this divine word, or light, took flesh, (for, as St. John the Evangelist says, “the word was made flesh, and dwelled among us,”) and inhabited “the body which had been prepared for it;” or, in other words, it inhabited the body of the person Jesus; but with this difference, that whereas only a portion of this divine light or spirit had been given to Adam, and afterwards to the prophets, it was given without limit or measure to the man Jesus[8].  “For he whom God hath sent, says St. John, speaketh the words of God, for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him." And St. Paul says, [9] “In him the fulness of the Godhead dwelled bodily.”  In him, therefore, the promise given to Adam was accomplished, “that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head;” for we see in this case a human body, weak and infirm, and subject to passions, possessed or occupied, without limit or measure, by the spirit of God.  But if the man Jesus had the full spirit of God within him, he could not be otherwise than, perfectly holy.  And if so, sin never could have entered, and must therefore, as for as relates to him, have been entirely repelled.  Thus he answered the prophetic character which had been given of him, independently of his victory over sin by the sacrifice of himself, or by becoming afterwards a comforter to those in bondage, who should be willing to receive him.

[Footnote 8:  John 3:34]

[Footnote 9:  Col. 2:9]

After Jesus Christ came the Evangelists and Apostles.  Of the same spirit which he had possessed immeasurably, these had their several portions; and though these were[10] limited, and differed in degree front one another, they were sufficient to enable them to do their duty to God and men, to enjoy the presence of the Almighty, and to promote the purposes designed by him in the propagation of his gospel.

[Footnote 10:  2 Cor. 10. 18.]

CHAP.  II.

Except a man has a portion of the same spirit, which Jesus and the prophets and the apostles had, he can have no knowledge of God or spiritual things—­Doctrine of St. Paul on this subject—­This confirms the history of the human and divine spirit in man—­These spirits distinct in their kind—­This distinction farther elucidated by a comparison between the faculties of men and brutes—­Sentiments of Augustin—&s
hy;Luther—­Calvin—­Smith—­Taylor—­Cudworth.

The Quakers believe, that there can be no spiritual knowledge of God, but through the medium of his holy spirit; or, in other words, that if men have not a portion of the same spirit which the holy men of old, and which the Evangelists and Apostles, and which Jesus himself had, they can have no true or vital religion.