not believe except they saw Signs and Wonders so the Holy Ghost himself represents such persons as worse than Harlots who did believe without Signs and Wonders Mat. 21.32 John came unto you in the way of righteousness and ye believed him not but the Publicans and Harlots believed him So likewise elsewhere the Holy Ghost adjudgeth such to be persons more degenerate from the nature and property of men than ordinary to be signally wicked and perverse that would not hearken to the Doctrine of such Teachers who were excellently righteous and holy And to add this as a close of this particular it is probable that the Apostles themselves wrought not Miracles but at their first coming to a place and that they did not make use of them in those places after any long stay in them The reason may be because at their first coming to a place Miracles might be an effectual means to awaken men whereas if they staid but any considerable time then they had the means and opportunities to observe their lives and conversations NOw this would do the same service in regard of the truth and for the confirmation of what they preached that Miracles could do The Apostle Paul when he came to Rome where he continued three years in preaching the things of God there is no mention of any Miracles that he wrought there because he had opportunity to give an account and sufficient confirmation of the truth of his Doctrine by the holiness and heavenliness of his life and conversation So that it is but a vain and empty pretense to talk of signs and Miracles now for the confirmation of the Doctrine of the Gospel for indeed in speaking such things and making such demands they demonstrate themselves to be as was even now said of the race of those that are called an Adulterous Generation by the Lord Christ who was not wont to slander men Another Pretense or Plea insisted upon by the persons under censure Sect. 17 for justification of themselves in their unchristian deportment in saying to the Ministry of the Gospel depart from us we desire thee not is this it is unto them but as salt that is infatuated and hath lost its savour we find no benefit by it we are not edified nor built up in our most holy Faith we have been oft rained upon by it and yet we do not flourish under it I reply first Though haply it be not meet to charge all those who are in the condemantion we speak of with alledging that which they do not only know is not truth but what they know to be contrary unto the truth as a ground of their practice Yet is it much to be feared that some of them pick the quarrel against the Ministry of the Gospel on a quite contrary ground because it hath too much savour and bites and gnaws and beareth hard upon their Consciences This I say is much to be feared is the true cause why many of them withdraw from it and are not able to bear the dread and terrour of it We saith the Apostle 2 Cor. 2.16 are unto those that perish the savour of death unto death The Gospel is so severe against those whose heart will not yield unto it that it kindles the savour and smell as it were of the fire and brimstone of hell in thier Consciences it makes them to know that they are a most cursed Generation of men and women the words thereof to wicked men are like the words of Michaiah unto Ahab 1 Kings 22.8 who hated him because he never prophesyed good unto him It suffers them to have no peace nor pleasure in their great Estates here in this present World So that it is much to be feared that many upon this account have turned their backs upon it that so they may be free from those gnawings and those kind of fiery doings which are ever and anon kindled in their inward parts by the means of it Secondly That the Ministry of the Gospel is not so effectual so mighty in operation upon those who take up this disparaging complaint against it doth not at all prove that either it is not effectual in it self or that it is not so unto others no nor yet that it is ineffectual unto them upon any such terms but that if they would remove that out of the way which maketh it ineffectual and which hindereth the efficacy of it which they might remove by the grace of God vouchsafed unto them it might become as effectual unto them as it is in it self and in its own nature and as it is unto many men in the World First That the Gospel is effectual in it self I think we need not question and more especially when opened like unto it self it is called The power of God or the Arm of God unto salvation Rom. 1.16 Heb. 4.12 The Word is said to be quick and powerful in operation it is a discerner of the thoughts and intentions of the hearts of men This my Brethren is the property of the Gospel and of the Ministry thereof when it is handled like it self and when it deserves the name of the Ministry of the Gospel But I confess the Word of God may be so handled that the edge and spiritfulness of it may be blunted and flatted as when they that preach it and undertake to open it know not how to bring forth the mind of God in it but substitute their own thoughts and apprehensions instead thereof The truth is that in such cases as these the Word of God is but like the word of men It is the Spirit of the Word that is so piercing and searching and which is the discerner of the thoughts and intentions of the hearts of men it is not the Letter of it though we should preach the jots and tittles of the Word but then put a false sense and interpretation on it that will not do that great and lively execution which is proper to it it will not rouse the Conscience nor awake the spirits of men but it is the mind of God the true sense and meaning of the Word conveyed and brought home to the Conciences and Understandings of men this is all spirit and all life The words which I speak saith Christ they are spirit and life meaning in their true sense and meaning So that it is a clear case that the Ministry of the Gospel is in it self a thing exceeding lively and penetrative and effectual it will take mens hearts out of their bodies and give them into their hands to see all that is within them many times it poureth out it self like a great flash of lightning and makes men to see hideous shapes of thoughts conceits opinions and apprehensions on the one hand and allureth on the other hand to waies of holiness and virtue by strong and potent Arguments or Motives Secondly Sect. 18 That it is also effectual unto others appears by the great and many wonders it hath wrought in
if you bring in the Spirit of God into your Soul you shall by one and the same Act as it were expel and drive out all that Retinue Even as Christ coming into the Temple drove out those that bought and sold and the Money Changers just thus will be the coming of the Spirit of God in Power and in Glory in your Souls he will chase away from before his face all that rabble of evil doers your unclean lusts and desires your foolish froward and proud dispositions and distempers of Soul Now consider a little of how great and sacred a consequence such a thing as this is to have the Temples of your hearts of your inner man thus purged and rid of such Polluters and Prophaners of their dignity excellency and peace My Brethren Men and women live as it were by the fulfilling and satisfying of their lusts and unclean desires they are afraid that they should not make a life of their continuance in the World and being in the body unless they take pleasure in such things and in such waies unless they satisfie such and such desires whereas alas were they but free from the inordinacy of their desires their satisfying and gratifications would be rather matter of burthen trouble and cumber to them than any otherwise As persons that have the itch it is a pleasure to them to scratch but when the distemper in the skin is taken away no man complains that he wanteth his former pleasure of scratching Even so whilst men and women are laden with Lusts Pride Covetousness Uncleaness and given to pleasure it is little less than a death to them to be kept from the fulfilling and gratifying these lusts and distempers but if these lusts were but healed and separated as they may be for they are not of the Essence of their souls they are no part of their Nature or Being no they are but strangers and aliens unto their souls If these I say were but separated from them if they were but mortified and gone these kind of waies whereby they were to be gratified would be altogether unsatisfying unto them and would have no tafte or relish at all The truth is they would not only find no relish nor any savour in them but they would be troublesome they would be matter of shame and confusion unto them And therefore it must needs be conceived as a matter of excellent high and blessed concernment unto men and women to be invested with such a heavenly priviledge as this is to have the inner man healed of all that unclean Retinue of Lusts and sinful distempers to have these removed and thrown out of the Soul There is a great deal more to be said to make these things very desirable in your eyes but we may have occasion to speak of this Point in the Progress of this Discourse Thus then you see that where men are filled with the Spirit of God the lusts of the flesh are like to have but small trading they are there but as if they were not they have no joy in such souls nor these souls much sorrow and trouble with them and the serious consideration of this we teach to be a very effectual means to raise such Covetings such earnest Desires such Longings and Breathings of heart after it as have been mentioned So great and excellent is that heavenly accommodation of being delivered from the troublesome and dangerous impotunity of fleshly and worldly lusts by being filled with the Spirit Secondly Sect. 10 Another thing that will attend and must needs be the consequence of a mans being filled with the Spirit is this viz. That a man hereby will become little sensible of impressions of Sorrow Grief and Trouble from the World and the cross workings and dealings of things unto him there His soul by means of being filled with the Spirit will be able to dwell amongst Lions even as Daniel did without fear or danger of being destroyed and devoured with them Those Afflictions Pressures and Trials which will grind the faces and break the bones of other men will not create any Grief Pain or Trouble unto him For to be filled with the Spirit is a kind of spiritual drunkenness as the Apostle implieth in the Text and indeed hath effects in its kind in a spiritual way answerable unto those of drunkenness litterally and proprerly so called such as those mentioned by Solomon Prov. 23.34 35. Thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the Sea or as he that lieth upon the top of a Mast They have stricken me shalt thou say and I was not sick they have beaten me and I felt it not Meaning that in fits of Drunkenness men are not sensible either of any danger though never so imminent and threatning whereunto they are exposed nor of pain or smart by blows or wounds given them In like manner when men or women are filled with the Spirit of God and so are in an intimous serious and affectionate converse with those glorious overtures of Comfort Peace and Joy and with those strong and high impulses and bearings upon their hearts and spirits unto waies and actions that are truly honourable and excellent and which take hold of Eternal Life which must be the portion of those that are filled with the Spirit they are not so much sensible of nor liable to much sorrow or trouble from the sad or hard occurrences of the World For when the strength of the heart and mind and soul of a man are drunk up with matters of a more sublime and glorious nature and consequence there is nothing left of him wherewith to become much capable or sensible of other things especially of those that are but of an inferiour concernment unto him For that Principle in man which renders him sensible or apprehensive of any thing relating unto him whether on the right hand or on the left whether good or evil is the native vigour of his mind and understanding Now then if this be intirely or intensly drawn forth busied and taken up with minding and considering things of one kind especially such whereon the mind is much set and delighted with a man is as it were in a Trance or half dead in respect of things of another nature and though they be of a very troublesome and afflicting nature in themselves yet do they little affect such a man As it was with our Saviour Joh. 4.8 31 32 c. His mind and soul being intensly bent and set upon the work he came about into the World which he calleth the doing of his Fathers Will meaning his Preaching of the Gospel he was not sensible of his corporal hunger or want of natural sustenance under which he was as appeareth verse 8. and 31. compared So the Apostle Paul being full of the Spirit though he was in sufferings abundantly yea I presume one of the greatest sufferers in the World for a long time together yet the things that he suffered took little hold
instinct and they do not depend upon the consent of the will or discourse of reason The latter kind of these lustings are such which have gained or gotten the consent of the will unto them and hereby they conceive as James speaketh Jam. 1.15 i. e. are made pregnant like a woman that is with Child so have such lustings as these the Act or Deed it self of sin in their womb or bowels Then when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished i.e. actually or externally perpetrated or committed bringeth forth death Then when lust hath conceived c. This clearly supposeth that there is or may be a lust or lusting which in this respect is Virgin like hath no corruption of the act of sin in it wherein the act of sin is not formed or shaped This kind of lust we speak of is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Greek word expresseth it the first motion or moving of nature in a man which is exerted or put forth before a man intends thinks or knows any thing of it This kind of lust may be troublesome unto a man and find him inward exercise and work more than enough to suppress it as it riseth that so the will and consent may not touch it or come at it yet this is not the lusting of the Flesh which doth much obstruct the Spirit in his way or prejudice the souls being filled with him Paul was a man that was abundantly filled with the Spirit and yet he saith that he knew that in him that is in his Flesh as he interprets dwelleth no good thing Rom. 7.18 And that he saw ver 23. i. e. discerned felt or perceived another Law in his members warring against the Law of his mind and bringing him into captivity i. e. endeavouring to bring him into captivity to the Law of sin which was in his members meaning unto it self by an Hebrew kind of Dialect which many times uses and repeats the Antecedent for the Relative I thank my God saith the Apostle Paul 1 Cor. 1.4 alwaies on your behalf for the grace of God not for his grace which is given unto you c. So again Eph. 4.16 From whom the whole body maketh encrease of the body meaning of it self See also Luke 3.19 Now the Apostle saying That in him i.e. in his flesh there dwelt no good thing meaning but abundance of that which is naught or dangerous according to the Rule often upon occasion delivered unto you viz. That Adverbs of denying signifie the contrary of these words with which they are joyned implies and signifies that the fleshly part of him which he calleth his members ver 23. i. e. his body was ever and anon occasioning his spirit or soul being so near in conjunction with it to bubble or put forth in some vain foolish or sinful desire or other which made him work without end partly in lamenting over himself by reason of them and their mingling themselves with all his services and spiritual actings and doings Partly in a solicitousness and careful watching over his heart or will lest they came to be confederate with them in respect of this turmoil he still had with his flesh and body ver 24. He crieth out O wretched or miserable man that I am who shall deliver me from this body or from a body of death i.e. From a body that worketh or createth all sorrow trouble and care to me I thank God saith he through Jesus Christ our Lord meaning that that deliverance from that body of death he speaks of which was procured unto him by Jesus Christ and which he had in his eye as coming apace towards him provoked him to a signal thankfulness unto God for his grace towards him in such a deliverance and so concludeth the Chapter So then with my mind I my self 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the same person I or he or that man that is I serve the Law of God but with my flesh the Law of sin With my mind I my self serve the Law of God that is yield obedience unto it with an intent and desire hereby to honour it with my mind I my self thus serve it In this Discourse Paul maketh a plain opposition between 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I and my self or between him and himself affirming that he did many things which he himself did not and was resolved not to do I man may be said in the general and common language to do whatsoever he doth upon any terms whatsoever viz. what he doth causelesly what he doth contrary to the desire of his soul and which he doth thorough violence of temptations c. But a man himself cannot in emphaticalness of expression be said to do any thing but what he doth with his heart and soul with a full and free consent of his will c. And so our Apostle who was very far from flattering himself yet acquits himself from that which was done by him contrary to the bent and frame of his heart and without consent of his will by casting it upon sin that dwelt in him i. e. that sinful weakness which kept possession of his Flesh Now if I do that which I would not it is no more I that do it but sin that dwelleth in me It is no more I meaning that all the while he did that which was evil and sinful for him to do with his entire will and full consent it was he himself that did it and not the sin or sinful weakness that dwelt in him but now saith he since the frame of my heart and bent of my will standeth against that which I do in this kind from hencesorth I may truly speaking Evangelically discharge my self from the doing of it and arraign that weakness which inseparably hangeth upon me as the Author and Actor of it I have stood somewhat the longer upon the opening of this passage of the Apostle because I desire with as much evidence and satisfaction as may be to make out this unto you that so you need not be discouraged in the course or way of your endeavours to be filled with the Spirit by such kind of lustings of the flesh within you as these we have spoken so much of though they should still haunt and follow you in as much as you have heard that he that was filled almost to the brim with the Spirit was notwithstanding obnoxious to such a lusting Such Lusts as these do not intoxicate bewitch or drink up your Reason Judgments or Understandings but they may remain whole and intire unto you them notwithstanding for any spiritual work or service and consequently for comporting with the Spirit of God in order to his filling you with himself But Secondly Those words of James Then when Lust hath conceived Sect. 14 it bringeth forth sin c. as plainly shew that Lust also may be so intreated and dealt with as to be made pregnant and big with the
for a reason or some short time only in the Ministry of John notwithstanding he was a light both 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 burning and shining He was a burning and a shining light and ye were willing to rejoyce in his light John is here by our Saviour described or commended by two properties which in a Minister are most like to retain and keep as well as to procure and gain the affections and approbations of men The first is That he was a burning light secondly That he was a shining light Zeal accompanied with an excellency of knowledge are two most excellent and worthy qualifications in the Ministers of the Gospel and a man would think a Minister who is provided with these should so endear the hearts of men and women whom he serveth in the work of the Ministry that he should so captivate their hearts and affections that neither life nor death nor things present nor things to come should be able to separate or to estrange such a man from the affections of his people Yet nevertheless this we see was John's case with the Jews he was a burning and shining light he had all the advantages that lightly could be found in a man to retain what he had gotten in the hearts and affections of his people and yet they who did mightly rejoyce in him for a season after a while saw no such matter in him John who was as an Angel of God for a season was but like another man soon after not that there was any alteration or change in John for doubtless he did not decline neither in his burning nor in his shining until the very day and hour of his death And therefore that there was such a change in the minds of the Jews towards him it proceeded from the levity of spirit and affection which was so incident unto them Ye were willing to rejoyce saith our Saviour the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth an excellent degree of rejoycing to dance and leap or spring for joy he doth not simply say that they did rejoyce but that they were willing to do it that they did it freely and of their own accord they were not importuned by any perswasion or prompting by any other man yet they had enough of John in a short time when once they had gone round about him and saw his gifts and abilities and what he was able to do when they had tasted thoroughly of his Doctrine they could as freely turn their backs upon him as upon any other man they would see whether there were any other Teacher that was of another spirit or of another method of Teaching or whose Doctrine or matter was of a higher and more sublime nature or consideration than his And so likewise it fared with the great Apostle Paul amongst the Corinthians and especially amongst the Galathians to the Corinthians 1 Cor. 9.2 He saith that though it were supposed that unto others he was not an Apostle yet to them he was meaning that however they might think that he did not acquit or approve himself as an Apostle amongst other people where he preached the Gospel as either by working signs or miracles amongst them or by the efficacy and success of his Doctrine in the Consciences of many yet certainly he had approved himself both these waies and every other way an Apostle unto them For saith he in the latter part of the verse the seal of mine Apostleship are ye in the Lord meaning that their being in Christ their conversion to the Faith was a seal i. e. a sure testimony and confirmation unto them that he had the Commission of an Apostle from Christ And elsewhere he saith 2 Cor. 12.12 that the signs of an Apostle were wrought amongst them meaning by himself As in all patience so in signs and wonders and mighty deeds Elsewhere he saith 1 Cor. 4.15 That in Christ Jesus he had begotten them through the Gospel In another place 2 Cor. 11.2 That he had espoused them to one Husband to present them a chaste Virgin unto Christ To pass by much more of like import Such things as these by which this people could not but be lifted up unto heaven as our Saviour speaks in the like case were sufficient in all likelihood of reason so to have endeared this Apostle unto them and to have engaged them unto him that he should have been in their hearts as he professeth they were in his even to die and to live together notwithstanding How soon was this Son of the Morning this glorious Apostle and heavenly Benefactor of this people fallen in their hearts and respects Other teachers who were not worthy to loose the lachets of his shooes coming in the way carried away the prize of their affections and esteem from him these were the men that were all in all with them Paul was but an underling in their thoughts a sorry fellow in comparison After al the Signs annd Wonders and mighty Works that he had wrought amongst them after all those gifts and heavenly endowments as of Wisdom Knowledge Utterance Tongues yet they sought a proof of Christ speaking in him 1 Cor. 13.3 They could not tell whether he was so much as a true Minister of Christ or no unless he should give them a good account of it It is somewhat strange to think how the generality of this People having such rational foundations to build themselves stable and steady upon should yet sink so low in their esteem of him But neither did this most worthy Person and Apostle speed any whit better amongst the Galatians than he had done amongst the Cerinthians he gained high respects and large affections he telleth them that at his first coming amongst them he was received by them as an Angel of God and as Jesus Christ they had such strong impressions upon them that they could have plucked out their eyes for him Gal. 4.14 15. but very quickly he became out of credit with them and his reputation was fallen in the dust they cared not they were Kings and reigned without Paul they knew how to want his Ministry and his counsel and direction they had found out men that pleased them better they had heaped up Teachers according to their humours they had itching ears and therefore they must have some that would scratch them and fall in with them and please their fansies and thus when they had met with such Preachers and Doctors Gal. 1.6 which were commensurable to their Notions or unto that Spirit which had now taken them these were the men now and the Heirs of Paul's Inheritance in their affections and in the respects which he received from them Yea the Lord Christ notwithstanding that as his Adversaries themselves bear him witness he spake as never man spake yea though for a time he so marvelously affected the People partly with his Miracles partly with his Doctrine that they were about to take him by force and make him a King Joh. 6.15 yet
Condemnation than the Gospel doth viz. They who shall determine the state of those men who hold that Christ died for all men that these cannot be in a state of Grace though this be a most plain and direct Doctrine of the Scripture and so they that teach and threaten men and women that they shall never receive Remission of sins and consequently shall not be saved unless they be twice baptized now herein they bind men over unto death upon such terms that the Gospel doth not allow of therefore such a Ministry which teacheth such things as these is a legal Ministry Again Sect. 14 Whereas the persons yet under reproof are wont to pretend likewise lowness and ordinariness of matter or of teaching in the Ministry which they have a mind to quit as one Reason of their withdrawing from it It is more than to be feared that they know not what the deficiency in a Ministry which they call lowness meaneth this being a more palpable pretense than either of the other For by lowness I suppose they mean the pressing and teaching of common and ordinary and known duties as of Love Mercy Patience Faith Temperance c. whereas the truth is that the teaching and pressing of these duties upon such terms as they may and ought to be taught and pressed upon the Consciences of men argues an excellency of power and of faithfulness in a Ministry yea is the glory of it For wherein can it reasonably be conceived that the worth and glory of a Ministry should consist but in repairing the decayed Image of God in men and in preparing and making men meet for a heavenly Kingdom Now wherein doth the Image of God we speak of in men stand but in the accomplishing and perfecting the Creature for all actions and services relating unto it and proper for it to perform As God is most absolutely and every way accomplished and that upon the highest terms of perfection for the acting of all things which are proper for him to do So likewise to put men into a rich and divine-like capacity this way that is to furnish them with all principles and dispositions and knowledge of all things fit for them to do so that nothing may lie between them and the performance of their duty but their own will this is to raise up the Image of God in men Or if you place this Image of God in men in righteousness and true holiness it cometh but to the same for that is a right Ministry indeed which hath force to raise men up unto these especially in such measures and degrees as they ought to be found in men and can qualifie men fully for their duty and service as the performance of these do for their reward and glory Therefore that Ministry which preacheth and presseth the duties of Faith Love Mercy Humility c. upon men so as really to enrich and fill the hearts and souls of men and women with them is no low Ministry but a Ministry of power and great glory And thus we have done with the second sort of Offenders against the Doctrine delivered under the second Head The folly of their Delinquency was that they turned their backs upon wholsome and sound teaching such wherein the Spirit of God delights to go forth and sate down under such teachings which do little more than beat the Air and which the Spirit of God knoweth not There is yet a third sort of Offenders against the Apostles Exhortation Sect. 15 and the Doctrine delivered from it who may be ranged also under the Second Head as being persons running a course not to be filled with the Spirit but on the contrary to be emptied of him These are such who refuse or neglect to be led by the Spirit who either do not mind or take knowledge of the leadings or motions of the Spirit do not bend the ear of the inward man to him when he secretly speaketh or else that which is as bad or rather worse when they do hear him or are sensible of his motions or leadings within them yet turn aside from him and go their own way Such undue and unworthy carriages as these in men towards the Spirit of God must of necessity grieve him and consequently occasion him to depart or withdraw himself from them For the former Are not the generality or far greater part of men and women altogether neglective of all that is acted or done by the Spirit of God within them Yea Are there not many that are ignorant whether there be any Holy Ghost any Spirit of God within them yea or no Yea many that have some belief it may be that the Spirit we now speak of may be in them who yet are ignorant and know not whether he doth any thing in one kind or other within them whether he moveth enclineth leadeth or perswadeth one way or other in them or no If you ask me But can the Spirit move or encline any person and yet this person not be moved or enclined by him Or if they be moved or enclined by him can they be ignorant of it must they not needs know it I reply First To the former of these questions That a Person may be said to be moved or enclined two waies or in a twofold sense First He may be said to be moved or enclined when that is done unto him which is apt and proper and sufficient to cause him to be moved and enclined whether he be actually moved or enclined or no. Secondly He may be said and that in the more obvious sense of the two to be moved when that force which is put to him to move and encline him prospereth to that end for which it is employed that is when the person moved doth as it were fall before the enclination and doth yield unto that which he is stirred and moved and enclined unto In the former sense a man or woman may be said to be moved perswaded or led by the Spirit this way or that unto this course or that and yet not be brought or prevailed with to walk in those waies Thus the goodness of God is said to lead men unto Repentance Rom. 2.4 who yet are not prevailed with to repent So when the Scriptures speaking of the Jews saith That they resisted the Holy Ghost it is plainly implied First That they were in a sense which must needs be the sense we now speak of led by the Spirit of God i. e. were perswaded moved and enclined by him unto waies and practices that were holy and good for otherwise how could they be said to have resisted him Resistance cannot be but only where there is some attempt or assault made therefore certainly when they did resist the Holy Ghost the Holy Ghost did attempt upon their hearts and consciences to perswade them unto that which was right and pleasing in the sight of God Again Secondly It implies that they were not perswaded I mean with success or so as
ordinarily it is uttered by the Mouth of the Conscience which is not wont to be wide opened unless it be in some broader or more known duties of the Second Table what the reason hereof is is not so proper for present consideration Secondly The Cares Lusts Thoughts Desires Fears and Apprehensions of things relating to this present World make a continual noise and hubbub in the hearts and inward parts of men and women generally So that in case any thing were spoken to the heart or inner man especially with a soft voice whilest these things are stirring in him it will not be heard or minded And therefore Thirdly The Holy Ghost being a Spirit of Wisdom will not speak at least ordinarily unto hearts so full of distractions and confusions Neither fourthly Do men that voluntarily make noise or suffer noises to be made about them desire to hear any man speak unto them Therefore fifthly and lastly It follows from these Premises that such persons who are earthly minded and continually filled with the Cares Lusts or Desires of this World are either in no capacity at all to hear or not at all care to hear any thing that the Spirit shall speak unto them Men that desire to hear the Spirit of God speaking in them must sequester and abstract themselves from the noise and tumults of this World For the voice of the Spirit of God in men that voice by which he suggests things in the Conscience is a still and low voice and therefore when men are in a hurry in their thoughts whilest the World is lifting up its voice within them there is no opportunity for him to speak When persons are full of the Cares of this Life and are making provision for the flesh to fulfil the Lusts thereof there is no opportunity for the Spirit to declare himself to them or to shew them his secrets I will hearken what the Lord will speak saith the Psalmist Psal 85.8 They that will listen to this still voice of the Spirit must muse must have all quiet within them lay their ears close unto what shall be spoken They that do not thus hearken unto the Spirit of God that do not thus listen and keep a perfect calm in their Spirits are not likely to hear what the Spirit speaketh in them And yet in the fourth place there are another sort of men and women worse than these and these are they that resist the Spirit Ye have resisted the Holy Ghost c. Acts 7. where Stephen chargeth them with that grievous charge that they resisted the Holy Ghost when he was striving to do them good and to acquaint them with the mind of God with true holiness and waies leading to Salvation They resisted him i. e. fortified themselves against him cast about with their Minds and Reasons and Understandings how they might discover and take hold of any pretense why they should not submit unto such and such Counsels such Doctrines such Truths wherein the Holy Ghost did from time to time speak unto them By this means men are said to resist the Holy Ghost and there is a Generation of men and women amongst us who dash their foot at this stone of death who when the Spirit of God either in the Word or in the Counsel or Application of Christian Friends unto them or otherwise presenteth them with such and such truths of God which bear upon their Consciences making it evident that it is for their good that they should submit themselves in the course of their lives and waies unto them and perswading them to abandon such and such waies to cast from them all such works which are contrary to those truths and sayings of God They I say who are well aware of these motions and suggestions of the Spirit to them and yet turn their backs upon them are of this second or worser sort who because they are desperately unwilling to be led out of their old waies loth to drink New Wine saying the Old is better therefore they withstand the Spirit of God even when he cometh with power and is about to bind the Understandings of men that they might not be able to move Now he is not to be resisted in such cases but with a high hand of rebellion and there must be abundance of enmity and disobedience against him otherwise men would be led away in a blessed captivity unto Jesus Christ This is the reason why men whom God hath had much to do with who have lived under a mighty and powerful Ministry either they are overcome and prove the best and holiest of men or otherwise they must arm themselves with such weapons of Rebellion which will prove them to be the most vile and most desperate sinners in the World A fifth and last sort of Offenders are such who neglect to sow unto the Spirit Sect. 17 we use the Phrase of the Apostle Gal. 6.8 He that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting We have opened heretofore what it is to sow to the Spirit It is to do such things to go forth in such waies and to be found frequent in such Actions and Practices which will turn to the praise and honour and glory of the Spirit of God and not only so but to do such things with an eye and intention that the Spirit of God should receive honour and reap praise by such their waies Now he properly soweth unto a man who doth intend that the man to whom he soweth should reap benefit thereby Even so a person is said to sow unto the Spirit of God who frequently is engaged in such waies and actions which he knows must of necessity turn unto the honour and praise of the Spirit of God Now if men and women shall rise up in their obedience unto God above the line and common road of the World if they shall walk in a more excellent way than their Neighbours more excellent than the common sort of Professors about them This must needs turn to the praise of the Spirit of God for the means by which they are advanced and gotten above their Neighbours and become more excellent than they this of course falleth and is ascribed by all to the honour and praise of the Spirit of God Men will conclude that surely the Spirit of God acteth and operateth in these men and teacheth them more excellent works and more heavenly curiosity than is found in the ordinary sort of men in the World Therefore they who refuse thus to sow unto the Spirit when the Spirit first soweth unto them that is when the Spirit suggesteth unto them and graciously stirreth up and tempteth their hearts and Consciences to do such Heroick Acts wherein there is a more than ordinary strain of goodness to be seen they do not consult the honour of the Spirit of God nor their own peace and enriching but on the contrary their own sorrow and poverty They I say that shall refuse thus to sow