will, but he spoke from Q-od, and the prophet was
The Holy Spirit In Prophets and Apostles 251
been announced unto you through them that preached
the Gospel unto you by the Holy Ghost sent forth from
heaven ; which things angels desire to look into." These words make it plain that a Person in the
prophets, and independent of the prophets, and that
Person the Holy Spirit, revealed truth which was in-
dependent of their own thinking, which they did not
altogether understand themselves, and regarding which
it was necessary that they make diligent search and
study. Another Person than themselves was thinking and speaking and they were seeking to comprehend what He said.
4. No prophefs utterance was of the prophet's own
will, but he spoke from Q-od, and the prophet was
carried along in his utterance by the Holy Spirit. We read in 2 Peter i. 21, R. V., " For no prophecy ever came by the will of man : but men spake from God,
being moved by the Holy Ghost'
9 Clearly then, the
prophet was simply an instrument in the hands of an-
other, as the Spirit of God carried him along, so he
spoke.
5. It was the Holy Spirit who spoke in the pro-
phetic utterances. It was His word that was upon the
prophefs tongue. We read in Heb. iii. 7, "Wherefore as the Holy Ghost saith^ To-day if ye will hear His voice." Again we read in Heb. x. 15, 16, "Whereof the Holy Ghost
also is a witness to us : for after that He had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after
those days, saith the Lord. I will put My laws into
their hearts, and in their minds will I write them."