the Father doeth, and therefore the Spirit is sent forth by the
Father, and also the Son sends the Spirit.

But, on the other hand, we are not to regard that divine Spirit as
merely a Messenger sent by another. He 'proceeds from the Father.'
That word has been the battlefield of theological controversy, with
which I do not purpose to trouble you now. For I do not suppose that
in its use here it refers at all to the subject to which it has been
sometimes applied, nor contains any kind of revelation of the eternal
depths of the divine Nature and its relations to itself. What is
meant here is the historical coming forth into human life of that
divine Spirit. And, possibly, the word 'proceeds' is chosen in order
to contrast with the word 'sent,' and to give the idea of a voluntary
and personal action of the Messenger, who not only is _sent_ by the
Father, but of Himself _proceeds_ on the mighty work to which He is
destined.

Be that as it may, mark only, for the last thought here about the
details of this great promise, that wonderful phrase, twice repeated
in our Lord's words, and emphasised by its verbal repetition in the
two clauses, which in all other respects are so different--'from the
Father.' The word translated '_from_' is not the ordinary word so
rendered, but rather designates _a position at the side of_ than an
_origin from_, and suggests much rather the intimate and ineffable
union between Father, Son, and Spirit, than the source from which the
Spirit comes. I touch upon these things very lightly, and gather them
up into one sentence. Here, then, are the points. A Person who is
spoken of as 'He'--a divine Person whose home from of old has been
close by the Father's side--a Person whose instrument is the revealed
truth ensphered and in germ in the facts of Christ's incarnation and