y unto you, He that believeth on
me the works that I do shall he do also; greater works than these shall
he do; _because I go unto the Father_" (John 14: 12). The earthly
Christ is equal only to himself thus conditioned; and if the Holy
Spirit shall communicate his power to his disciples, they will do the
same works that he does. But the heavenly Christ is co-equal with the
Father, therefore when he shall ascend to the Father, and the Spirit
shall take of his and communicate to his church, it will do greater
works than these. The stream of life, in other words, will have
greater power because of the higher source from which it proceeds.
Very deep are the mysteries here considered, and we can only speak of
them in the light which we get by comparing Scripture with Scripture.
Did the risen Christ breathe on his disciples and say to them: "Receive
ye the Holy Ghost"?[4] "It is enough, Lord, that we have received the
Spirit from thee," they might well have said. Yet it was not enough
for him to give; for looking on to the day of his enthronement, he
says: "But when the Paraclete is come, whom I will send unto you from
the Father, even the Spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father,
he shall testify of me" (John 15: 26). When Jesus hath ascended "on
high," then can the {45} Holy Ghost communicate "the power from on
high." Therefore it is expedient that he go away.

As with the power which Christ was to impart to his church through the
Paraclete, so with the righteousness which he was both to impute and to
impart; its highest source must be found in heaven: "And when he, the
Comforter, is come, he will convince the world of righteousness; . . .
of righteousness _because I go to my father_, and ye see me no more"
(John 16: 8-10). We may say truly that the righteousness of Christ was
not completely finished and authenticated till he sat down at the right
hand of the majesty on high. By his death he perfectly satisfied the
claims of a violated law, but this fact was not attested until the
grave gave back the certificate of discharge in his released and risen
body. By his resurrection he was "declared to be the Son of God in
power, according to the Spirit of holiness" (Rom. 1: 4). But the fact
was not fully verified till God had "set him at his own right hand in
the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might,
and dominion, and every name that is named" (Eph. 1: 20, 2l). Now in
his consumma