and to obey he knows not why be the Properties of Christians see Rom. 12. 2. Ephes. 5. 8 9 10 11. Phil. 1. 10. 1 Thess. 5. 21. The other so far as was needful to preserve the Church in Truth and Peace was provided for in those Primitive Times whilst there was a real communication of extraordinary Gifts of the Spirit and so more occasion given to the false Pretence of them and more danger in being deceived by them by a peculiar Gift of discerning them bestowed on some amongst them 1 Cor. 12. 10. Discerning of Spirits is reckoned among the Gifts of the Spirit So had the Lord graciously provided for his Churches that some among them should be enabled in an extraordinary manner to discern and judg of them who pretended unto extraordinary actings of the Spirit And upon the ceasing of Extraordinary Gifts really given from God the Gift also of discerning Spirits ceased and we are left unto the Word alone for the tryal of any that shall pretend unto them Now this kind of Pretence was so common in those dayes that the Apostle Paul writing to the Thessalonians to caution them that they suffered not themselves to be deceived in their Expectation and Computations about the Time of the coming of Christ in the first place warns them not to be moved in it by Spirit 2 Thess. 2. 2. That is Persons pretending unto Spiritual Revelations Something also of this nature hath continued and broken out in succeeding Ages and that in Instances abominable and dreadful And the more eminent in any Season are the real Effusions of the Holy Spirit upon the Ministers of the Gospel and Disciples of Christ the more Diligence and Watchfulness against these Delusions are necessary For on such opportunities it is when the Use and Reputation of Spiritual Gifts is eminent that Satan doth lay hold to intrude under the colour of them his own deceitful Suggestions In the dark Times of the Papacy all Stories are full of Satanical Delusions in Phantastical Apparitions Horrors Spectrums and the like Effects of Darkness It was seldom or never that any falsly pretended to the Gifts and Graces of the Holy Spirit For these things were then of little use or request in the World But when God was pleased to renew really a fresh communication of Spiritual Gifts and Graces unto Men in and upon the Reformation the old Dreads and Terrors nightly Appearances tending unto Deeds of Darkness vanished and every where by Satans Instigation arose false Pretenders to the Spirit of God in which way of delusion he will still be more active and industrious as God shall increase the Gifts and Graces of his Spirit in his Churches though as yet in these latter Ages he hath not attained what he was arrived unto in the Primitive Times of the Gospel A full and clear Declaration from the Scripture of the Nature of the Holy Spirit and his Operations may through the blessing of God be of use to fortifie the Minds of Professors against Satanical Delusions counterfeiting his Actings and Inspirations For Directions unto this purpose are given us by the Holy Apostle who lived to see great havock made in the Churches by deluding Spirits Knowledg of the Truth trying of Spirits that go abroad by the Doctrines of the Scriptures Dependence on the Holy Spirit for his Teachings according to the Word are the Things which to this purpose he commends unto us Sect. 23 Thirdly There is in the Dayes wherein we live an Anti-Spirit set up and advanced against the Spirit of God in his Being and all his Operations in his whole Work and Use towards the Church of God For this new Spirit takes upon him whatever is promised to be effected by the good Spirit of God This is that which some Men call the Light within them though indeed it be nothing but a dark Product of Satan upon their own Imaginations or at best the Natural Light of Conscience which some of the Heathens also called a Spirit But hereunto do they trust as that which doth all for them leaving no room for the Promise of the Spirit of God nor any thing for him to do This teacheth them instructs them enlightens them to this they attend as the Samaritans to Simon Magus and as they say yield Obedience unto it And from hence with the Fruits of it do they expect Acceptation with God Justification and Blessedness hereafter And one of these two things these deluded Souls must fix upon namely that this Light whereof they speak is either the Holy Spirit of God or it is not If they say it is the Spirit it will be easie to demonstrate how by their so saying they utterly destroy the very Nature and Being of the Holy Ghost as will evidently appear in our Explication of them And if they say that it is not the Holy Spirit of God which they intend thereby it will be no less manifest that they utterly exclude him on the other side from his whole Work and substitute another yea an Enemy in his room For another God is a false God another Christ is a false Christ and another Spirit is a false Spirit the Spirit of Antichrist Now because this is a growing Evil amongst us many being led away and seduced our Duty unto Jesus Christ and Compassion for the Souls of Men do require that our utmost indeavour in the wayes of Christ's Appointment should be used to obviate this Evil which eateth as doth a Canker which also is propagated by prophane and vain bablings encreasing still unto more ungodliness Some I confess do unduly rage against the Persons of those who have imbibed these Imaginations falling upon them with violence and fury as they do also on others The Lord lay it not unto their charge Yet this hinders not but that by those Weapons of our Warfare which are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds casting down such like Imaginations and every high thing that exalteth it self against the Knowledg of God and bringing into Captivity every thought unto the Obedience of Christ We ought to attempt the destruction of their Errors and the breaking of the Snares of Satan by whom they are taken captive alive at his pleasure The course indeed of opposing Errors and false Spirits by Praying Preaching Writing is despised by them in whose furious and haughty minds Ure Seca Occide Burn Gût and Kill are alone of any signification that think Arise Peter kill and eat to be a Precept of more Use and Advantage unto them than all the Commands of Jesus Christ besides But the way proposed unto us by the Lord Jesus Christ himself walked in by his Holy Apostles and all the Ancient Holy Learned Writers of the Church is that which in these Matters we must and shall attend unto And that course which is particularly suited to obviate the Evil mentioned is to give a full plain evident Declaration from the Scripture of the
Righteousness or Obedience antecedent unto Vnion with Christ is no especial Effect of his Spirit Wherefore in this case we must purifie our selves without any Application of the Blood of Christ unto our Souls and we must sanctifie our selves without any Especial Work of the Spirit of God on our Nature Let them that can satisfie themselves with these things for my part I have no esteem or valuation of that Holiness as Holiness which is not the immediate Effect of the Spirit of Sanctification in us 2. It is granted that Ordinarily the Lord Christ by the Dispensation of his Word by Light and Convictions thence ensuing doth prepare the Souls of men in some measure for the Inhabitation of his Spirit The Way and Manner hereof hath been fully before declared 3. It is denyed that on this Supposition the Lord Christ doth unite impure or ungodly Sinners unto himself so as that they should be so united and continue impure and ungodly For in the same instant whereby any one is united unto Christ and by the same Act whereby he is so united he is really and habitually purified and sanctified For where the Spirit of God is there is Liberty and Purity and Holiness All Acts and Duties of Holiness are in order of Nature consequential hereunto but the Person is quickened purified and sanctified in its Vnion Whereas therefore the Spirit of Christ communicated from him for our Vnion with him is the Cause and Author of all Grace and Evangelical Holiness in us it is evident that we receive it directly from Christ himself which gives it the Difference from all other Habits and Acts pleaded for Sect. 68 2 The second Work of the Spirit is to communicate all Grace unto us from Christ by vertue of that Vnion I shall take it for granted untill all that hath been before discoursed about the Work of the Holy Spirit in our Regeneration and Sanctification be disproved that he is the Author of all Grace and Holiness and when that is disproved we may part with our Bibles also as Books which do openly and palpably mislead us And what he so works in us he doth it in pursuit of his first Communication unto us whereby we are united unto Christ even for the Edification Preservation and further Sanctification of the Mystical Body making every Member of it meet for the Inheritance of the Saints in Light And in those Supplyes of Grace which he so gives acted by us in all Duties of Obedience consists all the Holiness which I desire any acquaintance withall or a participation of Sect. 69 3 There is a mystical spiritual Body whereof Christ is the Head and his Church are the Members of it There is therefore an Union between them in things spiritual like unto that which is between the head and members of the Body of a Man in things natural And this the Scripture because of the Weight and Importance of it with its singular Use unto the Faith of Believers doth frequently express God hath given him to be the head over all things to the Church which is his Body the Fulness of him that filleth all in all Ephes. 1. 22 23. For as the Body is one and hath many Members and all the Members of that Body being many are one Body so also is Christ 1 Cor. 12. 12. Christ is the Head from whom the whole Body fitly joyned together and compacted by that which every Joynt supplyeth according to the ehe effectual working of every part maketh increase of the Body unto the edifying of it self in Love Ephes. 4. 15 16. And the same Apostle speaks again to the same purpose Col. 2. 19. Not holding the Head from which the Body by joynts and bands having nourishment ministred and knit together increaseth with the increase of God Now it hath been alwayes granted by all them who acknowledge the Divine Person of the Son of God or the Union of the Humane Nature unto the Divine in his Person that the Lord Jesus is the Head of his Church in the double sence of that word For he is the Political Head of it in a way of Rule and Government and he is the Really Spiritual Head as unto Vital Influences of Grace unto all his Members The Romanists indeed cast some disturbance on the former by interposing another immediate Ruling Governing Head between him and the Catholick Church yet do they not deny but that the Lord Christ in his own Person is yet the absolute supream King Head and Ruler of the Church And the latter the Socinians cannot grant for denying his Divine Person it is impossible to conceive how the Humane Nature subsisting alone by it self should be such an immense Fountain of Grace as from whence there should be an Emanation of it into all the Members of the mystical Body But by all other Christians this hath hitherto been acknowledged and therefore there is nothing belongs unto Gospel Grace or Holiness but what is Originally derived from the Person of Christ as he is the Head of the Church And this is most evidently expressed in the places before alleadged For 1 Cor. 12. 12. it is plainly affirmed that it is between Christ and the Church as it is between the Head and the Members of the same natural Body Now not only the whole Body hath guidance and direction in the disposal of it self from the Head but every Member in particular hath influences of Life actually and Strength from thence without which it can neither act nor move nor discharge its place or Duty in the Body So also is Christ saith the Apostle not only hath the whole mystical Body of the Church Guidance and Direction from him in his Laws Rules Doctrine and Precepts but spiritual Life and Motion also And so hath every Member thereof They all receive from him Grace for Holiness and Obedience without which they would be but withered and dead Members in the Body But he hath told us that because he liveth we shall live also Joh. 14. 19. For the Father having given him to have Life in himself Joh. 5. 26. whereon he quickeneth with spiritual Life whom he will v. 23. from that Fountain of spiritual Life which is in him supplyes of the same Life are given unto the Church and therefore because he liveth we live also that is a spiritual Life here without which we shall never live Eternally hereafter And Ephes. 4. 16. the Relation of Believers unto Christ being stated exactly to answer the Relation and Union of the Members of the Body unto the Head it is expressely affirmed that as in the Natural Body there are Supplyes of Nourishment and natural Spirits communicated from the Head unto the Members by the subserviency of all the parts of the Body designed unto that purpose to the Growth and Encrease of the whole in every part so from Christ the Head of the Church which he is in his Divine Person as God and Man there is a Supply of
are called Prophets and so in general of all the false Prophets mentioned in the Scripture Was it because they meerly pretended and counterfeited a Spirit of Prophesie or had they really any such I Answer that I no way doubt but that they were of both sorts These Prophets of Baal were such as worshipped the Sun after the manner of the Tyrians Herein they had invented many Hellish Mysteries Ceremonies and Sacrifices these they taught the People by whom they were hired Being thus engaged in the Service of the Devil he actually possessed their minds as a Spirit of Divination and enabled them to declare things unknown unto other Men. They in the mean time really finding themselves acted by a Power superior to them took and owned that to be the Power of their God and thereby became immediate Worshippers of the Devil This our Apostle declares 1 Cor. 10. 20. Whatever those who left the true God aimed at to worship the Devil interposed himself between that and them as the Object of their Adoration Hereby he became the God of this World 2 Cor. 4. 4. Him whom in all their Idols they worshipped and adored With a spirit of Divination from him were many of the false Prophets acted which they thought to be the Spirit of their God For they found themselves acted by a superior Power which they could neither excuse nor resist Others of them were meer Pretenders and Counterfeits that deceived the foolish Multitude with vain false Predictions Of these more will be spoken afterwards Sect. 18 Secondly Others there were who spake in the Name and as they falsly professed by the Inspiration of the Spirit of the Holy God With this sort of Men Jeremiah had great Contests For in that Apostatizing Age of the Church they had got such an Interest and Reputation among the Rulers and People as not only to confront his Prophesies with contrary Predictions Chap. 28. 2 3 4. but also to traduce him as a false Prophet and to urge his Punishment according to the Law Chap. 29. v. 25 26 27. And with the like confidence did Zedekiah the Son of Chenaanah carry it towards Micaiah 1 Kings 22. 26. for he scornfully asks him Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee That is whereas assuredly he speaketh in me how came he to inspire thee with a contrary Revelation Ezekiel at the same time with Jeremiah was exercised and perplexed with them Chap. 13 14. For this sort of Persons namely false Pretenders unto Divine extraordinary Revelations did of old usually abound in times of Danger and approaching Desolations The Devil stirred them up to fill men with vain hopes to keep them in Sin and Security that Destruction might seize upon them at unawares And whoever takes the same course in the time of deserved threatned impendent Judgments though they use not the same means yet they also do the Work of the Devil For whatever encourageth men to be secure in their sins is a false Divination Jer. 5. 30 31. And this sort of Men is characterized by the Prophet Jeremiah Chap. 23. from vers 9. to 33. where any one may read their Sin and Judgment And yet this false pretending unto the Spirit of Prophesie was very far from casting any contempt on the real Gift of the Holy Ghost therein nay it gave it the greater Glory and Lustre God never more honoured his true Prophets than when there were most false Ones Neither shall ever any false Pretence to the Spirit of Grace render him less dear unto those that are Partakers of him or his Gifts of less use unto the Church Sect. 19 It was thus also under the New Testament at the first preaching of the Gospel The Doctrine of it at first was declared from the immediate Revelation of the Spirit preached by the Assistance of the Spirit made effectual by his Work and Power was accompanied in many by outward miraculous Works and Effects of the Spirit whence the whole of what peculiarly belonged unto it in opposition to the Law was called the Ministration of the Spirit These things being owned and acknowledged by all those who had any false Opinions or Dotages of their own to broach or any other deceit to put upon Christians could think of no more expedite means for the compassing of their ends than by pretending to immediate Revelations of the Spirit For without some kind of credibility given them from hence they knew that their fond Imaginations would not be taken into the least consideration Hence the Apostle Peter having treated concerning the Revelation of God by his Spirit in Prophesie under the Old Testament and the New 2 Epist. chap. 1. v. 17 18 19 20 21. adds as an Inference from that Discourse a comparison between the false Prophets that were under the Old Testament and the false Teachers under the New Chap. 2. 1. But there were false Prophets also among the people even as there shall be false Teachers among you And the Reason of it is because that as they pretended to the Spirit of the Lord in their prophesies saying Thus saith the Lord when he sent them not so these ascribed all their abominable Heresies to the Inspiration of the Spirit by whom they were not assisted Sect. 20 Hence is that blessed Caution and Rule given us by the Apostle John who lived to see much mischief done in the Church by this Pretence 1 Epist. chap. 4. v. 1 2. Beloved beieve not every Spirit but try the Spirits whether they are of God because many false prophets are gone out into the World Hereby know we the Spirit of God every Spirit that confesseth that Jesus is come in the flesh is of God and every Spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God A two-fold Direction doth the Apostle here give unto all Believers The first by the way of Caution that they would not believe every Spirit that is not receive or give credit to every Doctrine that was proposed unto them as of immediate Revelation and Inspiration of the Spirit He intends the same with the Apostle Paul Ephâ—s 4. 14. who would not have us carried about with every wind of Doctrine like Vessels at Sea without Anchor or Helms by the sleight of Men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive For the craft and sleights intended are such as men use when they cast a mist as it were before the eyes of others whom they intend to cheat and deâ—raâ—d So dealt false Teachers with their Disciples by their Pretences of immediate Revelations His next Direction informs us how we may observe this Caution unto our Advantage and this is by trying the Spirits themselves This is the duty of all Believers on any such Pretences They are to try these Spirits and examine whether they are of God or no. For the observation of this Rule and discharge of this Duty the Church of Ephesus
is commended by our Lord Jesus Christ Rev. â— 2. Thou hast tryed them which say they are Apostles and are not and hast found them Lyers For those who said they were Apostles pretended thâ— rewithal to Apostolical Authority and Infallibility on the account of the immediate Inspirations which they received by the Holy Ghost In trying them they tryed the Spirits that came unto them And by this Warrant may we try the Spirit of the Church of Rome which in like manner pretends unto Apostolical Authority and Infallibility Sect. 21 Unto these two Directions the Apostle subjoyns the Reason of the present watchfulness required unto the discharge of this Duty For saith he many false Prophets are gone out into the World It is false Teachers as Peter calls them bringing in damnable Heresies concerning whom he speaks And he calleth them false Prophets partly in an Allusion unto the false Prophets under the Old Testament with whom they are ranked and compared by Peter and partly because as they fathered their Predictions on Divine Revelation so these falsly ascribed their Doctrines unto immediate Divine Inspiration And on this account also he calleth them Spirits Try the Spirits For as they pretended unto the Spirit of God so indeed for the most part they were acted by a Spirit of Error Lying and Delusion that is the Devil himself And therefore I no way doubt but that mostly those who made use of this Plea that they had their Doctrines which they taught by immediate Inspiration did also effect other extraordinary Operations or undiscoverable Appearances of them as lying Miracles by the Power of that Spirit whereby they were acted as Matth. 24. 24. Hence the Apostle doth not direct us to try their pretensions unto Inspiration by putting them on other extraordinary Works for their confirmation for these also they made a shew and appearance of and that in such a manner as that they were not to be detected by the generality of Christians but he gives unto all a blessed stable Rule which will never fail them in this case who diligently attend unto it And this is to try them by the Doctrine that they teach vers 2 3. Let their Doctrine be examined by the Scriptures and if it be found consonant thereunto it may be received without danger unto the Hearers whatever corrupt Affections the Teachers may be influenced by But if it be not consonant thereunto if it keep not up an harmony in the Analogie of Faith whatever Inspiration or Revelation be pleaded in its Justification it is to be rejected as they also are by whom it is declared This Rule the Apostle Paul confirms by the highest Instance imaginable Gal. 1. 8. If we or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel unto you then that which we have preached unto you let him be accursed And the Apostle shews that for our advantage in this tryal we are to make of Spirits it is good to have a clear conviction of and a constant adherence unto some fundamental Principles especially such as we have reason to think will be the most cunningly attaqued by Seducers Thus because in those dayes the principal design of Satan was to broach strange false Imaginations about the Person and Mediation of Christ endeavouring thereby to overthrow both the one and the other the Apostle adviseth Believers to try the Spirits by this one Fundamental Principle of Truth namely that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh which contains a confession both of his Person and Mediation This therefore Believers were to demand of all new Teachers and Pretenders unto Spiritual Revelations in the first place do you confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh and if they immediately made not this confession they never stood to consider their other Pretences but turned from them not bidding them God-speed 2 Joh. 7. 10 11. And I could easily manifest how many pernicious Heresies were obviated in those days by this short Confession of Faith For some of late as Grotius following Socinus and Sâ—lictingius interpreting this coming of Christ in the flesh of his outward mean Estate and Condition and not in the Pomp and Glory of an Earthly King do openly corrupt the Text. His coming in the flesh is the same with the Words being made flesh John 1. 14. or God being manifest in the flesh 1 Tim. 3. 16. That is the Son of God being made partaker of flesh and blood Heb. 2. 14. or taking on him the Seed of Abraham vers 14. That is his being made of a Woman Gal. 4. 4. or his being made of the Seed of David according to the flesh Rom. 1. 3. His being of the Fathers â—s to the flesh Rom 9. 5. And this was directly opposed unto those Heresies which were then risen whose Broachers contended that Jesus Christ was but a Phantasie an Appearance a manifestation of Divine Love and Power denying that the Son of God was really incarnate as the Antients generally testifie And well had it been for many in our dayes had they attended unto such Rules as this But through a neglect of it accompanied with an ungrounded boldness and curiosity they have hearkned in other things to deceiving Spirits and have been engaged beyond a recovery before they have considered that by their cogging deceits they have been cheated of all the principal Articles of their Faith by which if at first they had steadily tryed and examined them they might have been preserved from their Snares Sect. 22 The Jews say well that there was a double tryal of Prophets under the Old Testament the one by their Doctrine the other by their Predictions That by their Doctrine namely whether they seduced Men from the Worship of the true God unto Idolatry belonged unto all individual Persons of the Church Direction for this is given Deut. 13. 2 3. If the Prophet giveth a Sign or a Wonder and it come to pass effect any thing by a seeming presence of an extraordinary Power and say Let us go serve other Gods thou shalt not hearken unto him Let his Signs and Wonders be what they would the People were to try them by what they taught The Judgment upon Predictions was left unto the Sanhedrim for which Directions are given Deut. 18. 20 21 22. And by vertue hereof they falsly and cruelly endeavoured to take away the Life of Jeremiah because he foretold the Ruine of them and their City Chap. 26. v. 11. In the first place though his Sign Wonder or Prediction came to pass yet the Doctrine he sought to confirm by it being false he was to be rejected In the latter the fulfilling of his Sign acquitted him because he taught with it nothing in point of Doctrine that was false The first kind of tryal of the Spirits of Prophets is the Duty of all Believers under the Gospel And those who would deprive them of this Liberty would make Bruits of them instead of Christians unless to believe a Man knows not what
those to whom he wrote that in what was so preached unto them they had not followed cunningly devised Fables 2 Pet. 1. 16. For so were the Power and Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ then reported to be in the World What was preached concerning them was looked on as cunningly devised and artificially framed fables to inveagle and allure the People This the Apostle gives his Testimony against and withal appeals unto the Divine Assurance which they had of the Holy Truths delivered unto them v. 17 18 19 20. In like manner our Lord Jesus Christ himself having preached the Doctrine of Regeneration unto Nicodemus he calls it into Question as as thing incredible or unintelligible Joh. 3. 4. For whose Instruction and the Rebuke of his Ignorance he lets him know that he spake nothing but what he brought with him from Heaven from the Eternal Fountain of Goodness and Truth v. 11 12. 13. It is fallen out not much otherwise in this Matter Sect. 31 The Doctrine concerning the Spirit of God and his Work on the Souls of Men hath been preached in the World What he doth in convincing Men of Sin what in Working Godly Sorrow and Humiliation in them what is the exceeding Greatness of his Power which he puts forth in the Regeneration and Sanctification of the Souls of Men What are the supplys of Grace which he bestowes on them that do believe what Assistance he gives unto them as the Spirit of Grace and Supplications hath been preached taught and pressed on the minds of them that attend unto the Dispensation of the Word of the Gospel Answerable hereunto Men have been urged to try search examine them-selves as to what of this Work of the Holy Ghost they have found observed or had experience to have been effectually accomplished in or upon their own Souls And hereon they have been taught that the Great Concernments of their Peace Comfort and Assurance of their Communion among themselves as the Saints of God with many other Ends of their Holy Conversation do depend Nay it is and hath been constantly taught them that if there be not an effectual Work of the Holy Ghost upon their hearts that they cannot enter into the Kingdom of God Now these things and whatever is spoken in the Explication of them are by some called in Question if not utterly rejected Yea some look on them as cunningly devised Fables Things that some not long since invented and others have propagated for their Advantage Others say that what is delivered concerning them is hardly if at all to be understood by Rational Men being only empty Speculations about things wherein Christian Religion is little or not at all concerned Whereas therefore many very many have received these things as Sacred Truths and are perswaded that they have found them realized in their own Souls so that into their Experience of the work of the Holy Spirit of God in them and upon them according as it is declared in the Word all their Consolation and Peace with God is for the most part resolved as that which gives them the best Evidence of their Interest in him who is their Peace and whereas for the Present they do believe that unless these things are so in and with them they have no Foundation to build an Hope of Eternal Life upon it cannot but be of indispensible necessity unto them to examine and Search the Scripture diligently whether these things be so or no. For if there be no such Work of the Spirit of God upon the Hearts of Men and that indispensibly necessary to their Salvation if there are no such Assistances and supplys of Grace needful unto every Good Duty as wherein they have been instructed then in the whole course of their Profession they have only been seduced by cunningly devised Fables their deceived hearts have fed upon ashes and they are yet in their Sins It is then of no less consideration and Importance than the eternal welfare of their Souls immediately concerned therein can render it that they diligently trye examine and search into these things by the safe and infallible Touchstone and Rule of the Word whereon they may must and ought to venture their Eternal Condition I know indeed that most Believers are so far satisfyed in the Truth of these things and their own Experience of them that they will not be moved in the least by the Oppositions which are made unto them and the scorn that is cast upon them For he that beleiveth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself 1 Joh. 5. 10. But yet as Luke wrote his Gospel to Theophilus that he might know the certainty of those things wherein he had been instructed Luke 1. 4. that is to confirm him in the Truth by an Addition of new Degrees of Assurance unto him so it is our Duty to be so far excited by the Clamorous Oppositions that are made unto the Truths which we Profess and in whose being such we are as much concerned as our Souls are worth to compare them diligently with the Scripture that we may be the more fully confirmed and established in them And upon the Examination of the whole matter I shall leave them to their option as Elijah did of Old if Jehovah be God serve him and if Baal be God let him be worshipped If the things which the Generality of Professors do believe and acknowledg concerning the Spirit of God and his Work on their Hearts his Gifts and Graces in the Church with the manner of their Communication be for the substance of them wherein they all generally agree according to the Scripture taught and revealed therein on the same terms as by them received them may they abide in the Holy Profession of them and rejoyce in the Consolations they have received by them But if these things with those other which in the Application of them to the Souls of Men are directly and necessarily deduced and to be deduced from them are all but vain and useless Imaginations it is high time the Minds of Men were disburthened of them The Name and Titles of the HOLY SPIRIT CHAP. II. 1. Of the Name of the Holy Spirit 2. Various Uses of the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the Wind or any thing invisible with a sensible Agitation 3. Amos 4. 14. Mistakes of the Antients rectified by Hierom. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 metaphorically for vanity 6. Metonymically for the part or quarter of any thing 7. For our Vital Breath The Rational Soul The Affections Angels good and bad 8. Ambiguity from the Use of the Word how to be removed Rules concerning the Holy Spirit The Name Spirit how peculiar and appropriate unto him Why he is called the Holy Spirit Whence called the Good Spirit The Spirit of God The Spirit of the Son Acts 2. 33. 1 Pet. 1. 10 11. explained 1 John 4. 3. vindicated Sect. 1 BEfore we ingage into the consideration of the
Initiation into Covenant with God Mat. 28. 19. Our Lord Jesus Christ commands his Apostles to Disciple all Nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost This is the Foundation we lay of all our Obedience and Profession which are to be regulated by this initial Ingagement Now no Man will or doth deny but that the Father and the Son are distinct Persons Some indeed there are who deny the Son to be God but none are so mad as to deny him to be a Person though they would have him only to be a Man All grant him whether God and Man or only Man to be a distinct Person from the Father Now what confusion must this needs introduce to add to them and to joyn equally with them as to all the concerns of our Faith and Obedience the Holy Ghost if he be not a Divine Person even as they If as some fancy he be as Person indeed but not one that is Divine but a Creature then here is openly the same Honour assigned unto him who is no more as unto God himself This elsewhere the Scripture declares to be Idolatry to be detested Gal. 1. 8. Rom. 1. 25. And if he be not a Person but a Vertue and Quality in God and Emanation of Power from him concerning which our Adversaries 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 speak things portentous and unintelligible what sense can any Man apprehend in the Words Sect. 12 Besides whatever is ascribed unto the other Persons either with respect unto themselves or our Duty towards them is equally ascribed unto the Holy Ghost For whatsoever is intended by the Name of the Father and the Son he is equally with them concerned therein It is not the Name Father and the name Son but the Name of God that is of them both that is intended It is a Name common to them all and distinctly applyed unto them all but they have not in this sense distinct or divers Names And by the Name of God either his Being or his Authority is signified for other intention of it none have been able to invent Take the Name here in either sense and it is sufficient as to what we intend For if it be used in the first way then the Being of the Spirit must be acknowledged to be the same with that of the Father If in the latter he hath the same Divine Authority with him He who hath the Nature and Authority of God is God is a Divine Person Sect. 13 Our Argument then from hence is not meerly from his being joyned with the Father and the Son for so as to some Ends and Purposes any Creatures may be joyned with them This our Adversaries prove from Acts 20. 32. Ephes. 6. 10. Phil. 3. 10. 2 Thess. 1. 9. and might do it from other places innumerable although the first of these will not confirm what it is produced to give countenance unto Schlicting de Trinitat ad Meisner p. 605. But it is from the manner and end of his being conjoyned with the Father and the Son wherein their Name that is their Divine Nature and Authority are ascribed unto him that we argue Sect. 14 Again we are said to be baptized 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into his Name And no sense can be affixed unto these words but what doth unavoidably include his Personality For two things they may and do intend nor any thing else but what may be reduced unto them First Our Religious owning the Father Son and Holy Ghost in all our Divine Worship Faith and Obedience Now as we own and avow the One so we do the Other for we are alike baptized into their Name equally submitting to their Authority and equally taking the Profession of their Name upon us If then we avow and own the Father as a Distinct Person so we do the Holy Ghost Again by being baptized into the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost we are sacredly initiated and consecrated or dedicated unto the Service and Worship of the Father Son and Holy Ghost This we take upon us in our Baptism Herein lies the Foundation of all our Faith and Profession with that engagement of our selves unto God which constitutes our Christianity This is the Pledg of our entrance into Covenant with God and of our giving up our selves unto him in the solemn Bond of Religion Herein to conceive that any one who is not God as the Father is who is not a Person as he is also and the Son likewise is joyned with them for the ends and in the manner mentioned without the least note of Difference as to Deity or Personality is a strange fondness destructive of all Religion and leading the minds of men towards Polytheism And as we ingage into all Religious Obedience unto the Father and Son herein to believe in them trust fear honour and serve them so we do the same with respect unto the Holy Ghost which how we can do if he be not as they are no Man can understand We do not then in this Case from hence merely plead our being baptized into the Holy Ghost as some pretend Nor indeed are we said so to be Men may figuratively be said to be baptized into a Doctrine when their Baptism is a Pledg and Token of their Profession of it So the Disciples whom the Apostle Paul met withal at Ephesus Acts 19. 3. are said to be baptized 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into the baptism of John that is the Doctrine of Repentance for the forgiveness of sins whereof his Baptism was a Pledg So also the Israelites are said to be baptized 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into Moses 1 Cor. 10. 2. because he led and conducted them through the Sea when they were Sprinkled with the Waves of it is a token of their Initiation into the Rites and Ceremonies which he was to deliver unto them But we are said to be baptized into his Name which is the same with that of the Father and Son And certainly this Proposal of God as Father Son and Holy Ghost to be the Object of all our Faith and Worship and our ingagement hereunto required as the Foundation of all our present Religion and future Hopes being made unto us and that under one and the same Name if the Doctrine of a Trinity of Persons subsisting in the same individed Essence be not taught and declared in these words we may justly despair of ever having any Divine Mystery manifested unto us Sect. 15 2. His Appearance in and under a visible sign argues his Personal Existence This is related Matth. 3. 16. Luke 3. 22. John 1. 32. Luke speaks first in general that he descended 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in a Bodily shape or Appearance And they all agree that it was the shape of a Dove under which he appeared The words in Matthew are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He saw the Spirit of God descending like a Dove and lighting or
may be fashioned like unto his Glorious Body according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself Phil. 3. 21. And these are some of the principal Instances of the Operations of the Holy Spirit on the Humane Nature of the Head of the Church The whole of them all I confess is a Work that we can look but little into only what is plainly revealed we desire to receive and imbrace considering that if we are his we are predestinated to be made conformable in all things unto him and that by the powerful and effectual Operation of that Spirit which thus wrought all things in him to the Glory of God And as it is a matter of unspeakable consolation unto us to consider what hath been done in and upon our Nature by the Application of the Love and Grace of God through his Spirit unto it so it is of great Advantage in that it directs our Faith and Supplications in our Endeavours after Conformity with him which is our next End under the enjoyment of God in Glory What therefore in these Matters we apprehend we embrace and for the depth of them they are the Object of our Admiration and Praise Sect. 13 Secondly There is yet another Work of the Holy Spirit not immediately in and upon the Person of the Lord Christ but towards him and on his behalf with respect unto his Work and Office And it comprizeth the Head and Fountain of the whole Office of the Holy Spirit towards the Church This was his witness-bearing unto the Lord Christ namely that he was the Son of God the true Messiah and that the Work which he performed in the World was committed unto him by God the Father to accomplish And this same Work he continueth to attend unto unto this day and will do so to the consummation of all things It is known how the Lord Christ was reproached whilst he was in this World and how ignominiously he was sent out of it by Death Hereon a great contest ensued amongst mankind wherein Heaven and Hell were deeply ingaged The greatest part of the World the Princes Rulers and Wise Men of it affirmed that he was an Impostor a Seducer a Malefactor justly punished for his Evil Deeds He on the other side chose twelve Apostles to bear Testimony unto the Holiness of his Life the Truth and Purity of his Doctrine the Accomplishment of the Prophesies of the Old Testament in his Birth Life Work and Death and in especial unto his Resurrection from the Dead whereby he was justified and acquitted from all the Reproaches of Hell and the World and their Calumnies refelled But what could the Testimony of twelve poor Men though never so honest prevail against the confronting Suffrage of the World Wherefore this Work of bearing witness unto the Lord Christ was committed unto him who is above and over all who knoweth how and is able to make his Testimony prevalent John 15. 26. But when the Comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the Father even the Spirit of Truth which proceedeth from the Father he shall testifie of me Accordingly the Apostles plead his concurring Testimony Acts 5. 32. And we are his Witnesses of these things and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God hath given to them that obey him And how he thus gave his Testimony our Apostle declares Heb. 2. 4. God also bearing witness with them that is the Apostles both with Signs and Wonders and with divers Miracles and Gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his Will The first principal End why God gave the Holy Spirit to work all those miraculous Effects in them that believed in Jesus was to bear witness unto his Person that he was indeed the Son of God owned and exalted by him For no Man not utterly forsaken of all Reason and Understanding not utterly blinded would once imagine that the Holy Spirit of God would work such marvelous Operations in and by them who believed on him if he designed not to justifie his Person Work and Doctrine thereby And this in a short time together with that effectual Power which he put forth in and by the Preaching of the Word carried not only his Vindication against all the Machinations of Satan and his Instruments throughout the World but also subdued the generality of Mankind unto Faith in him and Obedience unto him 1 Cor. 10. 4 5. And upon this Testimony it is that there is real Faith in him yet maintained in the World This is that which he promised unto his Disciples whilst he was yet with them in the World when their hearts were solicitous how they should bear up against their Adversaries upon his absence I will saith he send the Comforter unto you and when he is come he will reprove the World of Sin and of Righteousness and of Judgment of sin because they believe not on me of Righteousness because I go to my Father and ye see me no more of Judgment because the Prince of this World is Judged John 16. 7 8 9 10 11. The Reason why the World believed not on Christ was because they believed not that he was sent of God John 9. 29. By his Testimony the Spirit was to reprove the World of their Infidelity and to convince them of it by evidencing the Truth of his Mission For hereon the whole issue of the Controversie between him and the World did depend Whether he were Righteous or a Deceiver was to be determined by his being sent or not sent of God and consequently God's Acceptance or Disapprobation of him That he was so sent so approved the Holy Spirit convinced the World by his Testimony manifesting that he went to the Father and was exalted by him for it was upon his Ascention and Exaltation that he received and poured out the Promise of the Spirit to this purpose Acts 2. 33. Moreover whilst he was in the World there was an unrighteous Judgment by the instigation of Satan passed upon him On this Testimony of the Spirit that Judgment was to be reversed and a contrary Sentence passed on the Author of it the Prince of this World For by the Gospel so testified unto was he Discovered Convicted Judged Condemned and cast out of that Power and Rule in the World which by the darkness of the Minds of Men within and Idolatry without he had obtained and exercised And that the Holy Spirit continueth to do the same Work though not absolutely by the same means unto this very day shall be afterwards declared And by these Considerations may we be led into that Knowledg of and Acquaintance with our Lord Jesus Christ which is so necessary so useful and so much recommended unto us in the Scripture And the utter neglect of Learning the Knowledg of Christ and of the Truth as it is in him is not more pernicious unto the Souls of Men than is the learning of it by undue means whereby false and mischievous Ideas
the use and exercise of all its rational Faculties Sect. 25 Some who look upon themselves almost so near to Advancements as to countenance them in Magisterial Dictates and scornful Reflections upon others tell us that by this Natural Man a Man given up to his Pleasures and guided by bruitish Affections and no other is intended one that gives himself up to the government of his Inferiour Faculties But no rational Man no one that will attend unto the Dictates of Reason is at all concerned in this Assertion But how is this proved If we are not content with bare affirmations we must at length be satisfied with railing and lying and all sorts of Reproaches But the Apostle in this Chapter distributes all Men living into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Spiritual and Natural He who is not a Spiritual Man be he who and what he will be he as rational as some either presume themselves to be or would beg of the World to believe that they are is a Natural Man The supposition of a middle state of Men is absolutely destructive of the whole Discourse of the Apostle as to its proper design Besides this of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the best and softest term that is given in the Scripture to unregenerate Men with respect untothâ—e Things of God and there is no reason why it should be thought only to express the worst sort of them thereby The Scripture terms not Men peculiarly captivated unto bruitish Affections 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 natural Men but rather 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Pet. 2. 12. natural bruit Beasts And Austin gives us a better account of this Exposition Tractat. 98. in Johan Animalis homo i. e. qui secundum hominem sapit animalis dictus ab anima carnalis a carne quia ex anima carne constat omnis homo non percipit ea quae sunt Spiritus Dei i. e. quid gratia credentibus conferat crux Christi And another Carnales dicimur quando totos nos voluptatibus damus Spirituales quando Spiritum Sanctum praevium sequimur id est cum ipso sapimus instruente ipso ducimur auctore Animales reor esse Philosophos qui proprios cogitatus putant esse Sapientiam de quibus recte dicitur animalis autem homo non recipit ea quae sunt Spiritus stultitia quippe est ei Hieronim Comment in Epist. ad Gal. cap. 5. And another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost. in 1 Cor. 2. 15. The Natural Man is he who ascribes all things to the Power of the Reasonings of the Mind and doth not think that he stands in need of Aid from Above which is madness For God hath given the Soul that it should learn and receive what he bestows or what is from him and not suppose that it is sufficient of it self or to it self Eyes are beautiful and profitable but if they would see without Light this Beauty and Power will not profit but hurt them And the Mind if it would see Spiritual Things without the Spirit of God it doth but ensnare it self And it is a sottish Supposition that there are a sort of unregenerate Rational Men who are not under the power of corrupt Affections in and about Spiritual Things seeing the carnal Mind is enmity against God This therefore is the Subject of the Apostle's Proposition namely a Natural Man every one that is so that is no more but so that is every one who is not a Spiritual Man is not one who hath received the Spirit of Christ v. 11 12. one that hath the Spirit of a Man enabling him to search and know the things of a Man or to attain Wisdom in things Natural Civil or Political Sect. 26 2ly There is in the words a supposition of the proposal of some things unto the Mind of this Natural Man For the Apostle speaks with respect unto the Dispensation and Preaching of the Gospel whereby that Proposal is made v. 4. 7. and these things are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the things of the Spirit of God which are variously expressed in this Chapter v. 7. They are called the Wisdom of God in a Mystery the hidden Wisdom that God hath ordained v. 12. The things that are freely given unto us of God v. 16. The mind of Christ. v. 2. Jesus Christ and him crucified And sundry other ways to the same purpose These are in the Gospel and belong to the preaching of it precepts innumerable concerning moral Duties to be observed towards God our selves and other Men. And all these have a Coincidence with and a suitableness unto the inbred Light of Nature because the principles of them all are indelibly ingrafted therein These things being in some sense the things of a man may be known by the Spirit of a Man that is in him v. 11. Howbeit they cannot be observed and practised according to the mind of God without the Aid and Assistance of the Holy Ghost But these are not the things peculiarly here intended but the Mysteries which depend on more sovereign Supernatural Revelation and that wholly Things that Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard nor have they entred into the heart of man to conceive v. 9. Things of God's Sovereign Counsel whereof there were no impressions in the Mind of Man in his First Creation see Ephes. 3. v. 8. 9 10 11. Sect. 27 3ly that which is affirmed of the Natural Man with respect unto these Spiritual things is doubly expressed 1 By 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he receiveth them not 2 By 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he cannot know them In this double Assertion 1 A Power of receiving Spiritual things is denyed he cannot know them He cannot receive them As Rom. 7. 8. The Carnal Mind is not Subject to the Law of God neither indeed can be and the reaâ—â—n hereof is subjoyned because they are Spiritually discerned a thing which such a Person hath no power to effect 2. a Will of rejecting them is implyed He receiveth them not for the Reason hereof is because they are foolishness unto him They are represented unto him under such a notion as that he will have nothing to do with them 3. Actually and that both because he cannot and because he will not he receives them not The Natural Man neither can nor will nor doth receive the things of the Spirit of God is altogether uncapable of giving them admission in the sense to be explained To clear and free this Assertion from Objections it must be observed Sect. 28 1. That it is not the meer Literal Sense of Doctrines or Propositions of Truth that is intended For instance that Jesus Christ was crucified mentioned by the Apostle v. 2. is a Proposition whose sense and importance any Natural Man may understand and assent unto its Truth and so be said to receive it And all the Doctrines of the Gospel may be taught and declared in Propositions and Discourses the
reason of the Darkness that it is under the Power of it can neither discern the Excellency of the Spiritual and Heavenly Things which are proposed unto it nor have any Affections whereunto they are proper and suited so that the Soul should go forth after them Hereby this Prejudice becomes invincible in their Souls They neither do nor can nor will admit of those things which are utterly inconsistent with all things wherein they hope or look for Satisfaction And Men do but please themselves with Dreams and Fancies who talk of such a reasonableness and excellency in Gospel-Truths as that the Mind of a Natural Man will discern such a suitableness in them unto it self so as thereon to receive and embrace them Nor do any for the most part give a greater Evidence of the Prevalency of the Darkness and Enmity that is in Carnal Minds against the Spiritual Things of the Gospel as to their Life and Power than those who most pride and please themselves in such Discourses Sect. 55 2dly The Mind by this Darkness is filled with Prejudices against the Mystery of the Gospel in a peculiar manner The hidden Spiritual Wisdom of God in it as Natural Men cannot receive so they do despise it and all the parts of its Declaration they look upon as empty and unintelligible Notions And this is that Prejudice whereby this Darkness prevails in the Minds of Men otherwise knowing and learned it hath done so in all Ages and in none more effectually than in that which is present But there is a Sacred Mysterious Spiritual Wisdom in the Gospel and the Doctrine of it This is Fanatical Chimerical and Foolish to the wisest in the World whilst they are under the Power of this Darkness To demonstrate the Truth hereof is the Design of the Apostle Paul 1 Cor. 1 2. For he directly affirms that the Doctrine of the Gospel is the Wisdom of God in a Mystery that this Wisdom cannot be discerned nor understood by the Wise and Learned Men of the World who have not received the Spirit of Christ and therefore that the things of it are weakness and foolishness unto them And that which is foolish is to be despised yea Folly is the only object of Contempt And hence we see that some with the greatest Pride Scorn and Contempt imaginable do despise the Purity Simplicity and whole Mystery of the Gospel who yet profess they believe it But to clear the whole Nature of this Prejudice some few Things may be distinctly observed Sect. 56 1. There are two sorts of Things declared in the Gospel First Such as are absolutely its own that are proper and peculiar unto it Such as have no footsteps in the Law or in the Light of Nature but are of a pure Revelation peculiar to the Gospel Of this Nature are all Things concerning the Love and Will of God in Christ Jesus The Mystery of his Incarnation of his Offices and whole Mediation of the Dispensation on the Spirit and our Participation thereof and our Union with Christ thereby our Adoption Justification and Effectual Sanctification thence proceeding in brief every thing that belongs unto the Purchase and Application of Saving-Grace is of this sort These things are purely and properly Evangelical peculiar to the Gospel alone Hence the Apostle Paul unto whom the Dispensation of it was committed puts that eminency upon them that in comparison he resolved to insist on nothing else in his Preaching 1 Cor. 2. 2. And to that purpose doth he describe his Ministry Ephes. 3. 7 8 9 10 11. Sect. 57 2. There are such Things declared and enjoyned in the Gospel as have their Foundation in the Law and Light of Nature Such are all the Moral Duties which are taught therein And two things may be observed concerning them 1. That they are in some measure known unto Men aliunde from other Principles The inbred concreated Light of Nature doth though obscurely teach and confirm them So the Apostle speaking of Mankind in general saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 1. 19. That which may be known of God is manifested in themselves The Essential Properties of God rendring our Moral Duty to him necessary are known by the Light of Nature And by the same Light are Men able to make a judgment of their Actions whether they be Good or Evil Rom. 2. 14 15. And this is all the Light which some boast of as they will one day find to their disappointment 2. There is on all Men an obligation unto Obedience answerable to their Light concerning these things The same Law and Light which discovereth these things doth also enjoyn their Observance Thus is it with all Men antecedently unto the Preaching of the Gospel unto them In this Estate of Gospel superadds two things unto the Minds of Men. 1. It directs us unto a right performance of these things from a right Principle by a right Rule and to a right End and Purpose so that they and we in them may obtain acceptance with God Hereby it gives them a new Nature and turns Moral Duties into Evangelical Obedience 2. By a communication of that Spirit which is annexed unto its Dispensation it supplies us with strength for their Performance in the manner it prescribes Sect. 58 Hence it follows that this is the Method of the Gospel First It proposeth and declareth things which are properly and peculiarly its own So the Apostle sets down the constant Entrance of his Preaching 1 Cor. 15. 3. It reveals its own Mysteries to lay them as the Foundation of Faith and Obedience It inlayes them in the Mind and thereby conforms the whole Soul unto them See Rom. 6. 17. Gal. 4. 19. Tit. 2. 11 12. 1 Cor. 3. 11. 2 Cor. 3. 18. This Foundation being laid without which it hath as it were nothing to do with the Souls of Men nor will proceed unto any other thing with them by whom this its first Work is refused it then grafts all Duties of Moral Obedience on this stock of Faith in Christ Jesus This is the Method of the Gospel which the Apostle Paul observeth in all his Epistles First He declares the Mysteries of Faith that are peculiar to the Gospel and then descends unto those Moral Duties which are regulated thereby But the Prejudice we mentioned inverts the Order of these things Those who are under the Power of it when on various accounts they give admittance unto the Gospel in general yet they fix their Minds firstly and principally on the things which have their Foundation in the Law and Light of Nature These they know and have some acquaintance with in themselves and therefore cry them up although not in their proper place nor to their proper end These they make the foundation according to the place which they held in the Law of Nature and Covenant of Works whereas the Gospel allows them to be only necessary Superstructions on the Foundation But resolving to give unto Moral Duties the
is a purging of Sin which consists in the Legal Expiation of it in making Attonement Heb. 1. 3. But the purging of a Sinner or of the Conscience is by Real Efficiency in Sanctification which is here declared to be one End of the Oblation of Christ. So where he is said to wash us from our Sins in his own Blood namely as shed and offered for us Rev. 1. 5. it is not only the Expiation of Guilt but the Purification of Filth that is intended Sect. 4 The Way and Manner how Holiness is Communicated unto us by vertue of the Death and Oblation of Christ I have shewed before at large and shall not therefore here again insist upon it I shall only observe that Holiness being one especial End for which Christ gave himself for us or Offered himself unto God for us without a Participation thereof it is impossible that we should have the least Evidence of an Interest in his Oblation as to any other End of it And as for those who are never made Holy Christ never dyed or Offered himself for them I cannot understand what Advantage it is unto Religion to affirm that the most of them for whom Christ dyed as a Priest or offered himself an Oblation to God shall have no Benefit thereby as to Grace or Glory and incomparably the most of them without any especial Fault of their own as never hearing of him Neither can I find in the Scripture a double Design of Christ in giving himself for Mankind towards some that they may be redeemed from all Iniquity and purified to be his peculiar Ones towards others that they may yet be left under the Guilt and Power of their Sins And it evacuates the force of the Motive unto the Necessity of Holiness from the Consideration of the Oblation of Christ where men are taught that Christ offered himself a Sacrifice for them who are never made Holy Wherefore I say no unholy person can have any certain Evidence that he hath an Interest in the Oblation of Christ seeing he gave himself to purifie them for whom he was Offered Sect. 5 The Intercession of Christ which is his second Sacerdotal Act hath also the same End and is Effectual to the same Purpose It is true he doth Intercede with God for the Pardon of Sin by vertue of his Oblation whence he is said to be our Advocate with God to comfort us in case of Surprizals by sin 1 John 1. 1 2. But this is not all he designeth therein He Intercedes also for Grace and supplyes of the Spirit that we may be made and kept Holy See John 17. 15 17. Sect. 6 Secondly As to the Prophetical Office of Christ the Church or Men alone are its immediate Object and of all the Acts and Duties of it He is therein Gods Legate and Ambassador his Apostle and Messenger unto us Whatever he doth as a Prophet he doth it with us and towards us in the Name of God And there are two Parts or Works of Christ in this Office relating onely to the Doctrine he taught 1 The Revelation of God in his Name and Love in the Mystery of his Grace and Goodness of Truth by his Promises that we may believe in him 2 The Revelation of God in his Will and Commands that we may obey him For the first wherein indeed his Prophetical Office was principally exercised see John 1. 18. Chap. 1. 2. John 17. 6. The Revelation of the Preceptive Will of God made by Jesus Christ may be considered two wayes 1. As he was peculiarly sent to the House of Israel the Minister of the Circumcision for the Truth of the Promises of God unto the Fathers Rom. 15. 8. 2 With respect unto the whole Church of all Ages 1 The first which took up much of his personal Ministry in the Flesh consisted in the Declarations Exposition and Vindication that he gave unto the Church of Divine Precepts for Obedience which had been given before God had from the Beginning and in especial Manner at the Promulgation of the Law on Sinai and the ensuing Expositions of it by the Prophets given Excellent Precepts for Holiness and Obedience But the People unto whom they were given being carnal they were not able to bear the spiritual Light and Sence of them which was therefore greatly Veyled under the Old Testament Not only the Promises but the Precepts also of the Law were then but obscurely apprehended Besides the Church being grown corrupted there were solemn Expositions of Gods Commands received amongst them whose sole Design was to accommodate them unto the Lusts and Sins of men or to exempt men if not totally yet in many Instances from an Obligation unto Obedience to them Our Blessed Saviour applyes himself in the Discharge of his Prophetical Office with respect unto the End of the Command which is our Holy Obedience unto both these in the Declaration of its Excellency and Efficacy Sect. 7 And first he declares the inward spiritual Nature of the Law with its respect unto the most secret Frames of our Hearts and Minds with the least Disorder or Irregularity of our Passions and Affections And then secondly he declares the true Sence of its Commands their Nature Signification and Extent vindicating them from all the corrupt and false Glosses which then passed current in the Church whereby there was an Abatement made of their Efficacy and an Indulgence granted unto the Lusts of Men. Thus they had by their Traditional Interpretation restrained the Sixth Commandment Thou shalt not Kill unto actual Murder and the Seventh Thou shalt not commit Adultery unto actual Vncleanness as some now would restrain the Second Commandment unto the Making of Images and Worshipping them excluding the primary Intent of the Precept restraining all Means and Manners of Worship unto Divine Institution How in his Doctrine he took off these Corruptions we may see Matth. 5. 21 22 27 28. Sect. 8 Thus he restored the Law to its pristine Crown as the Jews have a Tradition that it shall be done in the Dayes of the Messiah Herein did the Lord Christ place the Beginning of his Prophetical Office and Ministry Matth. 5. 6 7. He opened unveyled explained and vindicated the Preceptive part of the Will of God before Revealed to the End that by a Complyance therewith we should be Holy The full Revelation of the Mind and Will of God in the Perfection and Spirituality of the Command was reserved for Christ in the Discharge of his Office And he gave it unto us that we might have a perfect and compleat Rule of Holiness This therefore was the immediate End of this Work or Duty of the Office of Christ. And where we Answer it not we reject that great Prophet which God hath sent to which Excision is so severely threatned Sect. 9 2 The second part of this Office or the Discharge of it with respect unto the Church of all Ages which takes in the Ministry of the Apostles as
their Beginnings and Engagements and turn wholly unto Sin and Folly From such Persons the Holy Ghost utterly departs all their Gifts dry up and wither their Light goeth out and they have Darkness in stead of a Vision The Case of such is deplorable for it had been better for them not to have known the way of Righteousness than after they have known it to turn from the Holy Commandment delivered unto them 2 Pet. 2. 21. And some of these add despight and contempt of that whole Work of the Spirit of God whereof themselves were made Partakers unto their Apostasie And the condition of such profligate Sinners is for the most part irrecoverable Heb. 6. 4 5 6. Chap. 10. v. 26 27 28 29 30. From some He withdraweth and departeth partially only and that mostly but for a season And this Departure respects the Grace Light and Consolation which he administers unto Believers as to the degrees of them and the Sense of them in their own Souls On whom He is bestowed to work these things in a saving way from them he never utterly or totally departs This our Blessed Saviour plainly promiseth and asserteth John 4. 14. Whosoever drinketh of the Water that I shall give him shall never thirst but the Water that I shall give him shall be in him a Well of Water springing up into Everlasting Life That this Well of Living Water is his Sanctifying Spirit himself declares John 7. 37 38. He who hath received him shall never have a thirst of total Want and Indigence any more Besides He is given unto this end by vertue of the Covenant of Grace And the Promise is express therein that he shall never depart from them to whom he is given Isa. 59. 21. Jer. 31. 33. Chap. 32. 39 40. Ezek. 11. 19 20 But now as to the degrees and sensible Effects of these Operations He may depart and wiâ—hdraw from Believers for a Season Hence they may be left unto many Spiritual Decays and much weakeness the things of Grace that remain in them being as it were ready to die Revel 3. 2. and they may apprehend themselves deserted and forsaken of God So did Sion Isa. 40. 27. Chap. 49. 15. For therein doth God hide himself Isa. 44. 15. or forsake his People for a moment Chap. 54. 7. He hides himself and his wrath Chap. 57. 17. These are the things which David so often and so bitterly complaineth of and which with so much earnestness he contendeth and wrestleth with God to be delivered from These are those spiritual Desertions which some of late have laden with reproach contempt and scorn All the apprehensions and complaints of the People of God about them they would represent as nothing but the idle Imaginations of distempered Brains or the Effects of some disorder in their Blood and Animal Spirits I could indeed easily allow that Men should despise and laugh at what is declared as the Experience of Professors at present Their prejudice against their Persons will not allow them to entertain any thoughts of them but what are suited unto Folly and Hypocrisie But at this I acknowledg I stand amazed that whereas these things are so plainly so fully and frequently declared in the Scriptures both as to the actings of God and his Holy Spirit in them and as to the sense of those concerned about them whereas the whole of God's dealings and Believers application of themselves to him in this Matter are so graphically exemplified in sundry of the Holy Saints of old as Joh David Heman and others and great and plentiful Provision is made in the Scripture for the Direction Recovery Healing and Consolation of Souls in such a condition yet men professing themselves to be Christians and to believe the Word of God at least not to be a Fable should dare to cast such opprobrious Reproaches on the Wayes and and Works of God The end of these Attempts can be no other but to decry all real entercourse between God and the Souls of Men leaving only an outside form or shape of Religion not one jot better than Atheism Neither is it only what concerns Spiritual Desertions whose Nature Causes and Remedies are professedly and at large handled by all the Casuistical Divines even of the Roman Church but the whole Work of the Spirit of God upon the Hearts of Men with all the Effects produduced in them with respect unto Sin and Grace that some men by their odious and scurrilous Expressions endeavour to expose to contempt and scorn S. P. p. 339 340 341 342. Whatever trouble befals the minds of men upon the account of a sense of the guilt of Sin whatever Darkness and Disconsolation they may undergo through the displeasure of God and his withdrawing of the wonted influences of his Grace Love and Favour towards them whatever Peace Comfort or Joy they may be made Partakers of by a sense of the Love of God shed abroad in their Hearts by the Holy Ghost it is all ascribed in most opprobrious Language unto Melancholy reeks and vapours whereof a certain and mechanical account may be given by them who understand the Anatomy of the Brain To such an height of Profane Atheism is the daring Pride and Ignorance of some in our dayes arrived Sect. 20 There remaineth yet one general Adjunct of the Dispensation and Work of the Holy Ghost which gives a further Description of the manner of it which I have left unto a single Consideration This is that which is mentioend Heb. 2. 4. God witnessing unto them with Signs and Wonders with divers Miracles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Gifts say we of the Holy Ghost But 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are Distributions or Partitions And hence advantage is taken by some to argue against his very Being So Crellius contends that the Holy Ghost here is taken passively or that the Expression 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is Genitivus Materiae Wherefore he supposes that it followeth that the Holy Ghost himself may be divided into Parts so that one may have one Part and Parcel of him and another may have another Part. How inconsistent this is with the Truth of his Being and Personality is apparent But yet neither can he give any tolerable account of the Division and Partition of that Power of God which he calls the Holy Ghost unless he will make the Holy Spirit to be a Quality in us and not in the Divine Nature as Justin Martyr affirms Plato to have done and so to be divided And the Interpretation he useth of the words is wrested perverse and foolish For the Contexture of them requires that the Holy Ghost be here taken actively as the Author of the Distribution mentioned He gives out of his Gifts and Powers unto Men in many Parts not all to One not all at once not all in one way but some to one some to another some at one time some at another and that in great variety The Apostle therefore in this place
declares That the Holy Spirit gave out various Gifts unto the first Preachers of the Gospel for the confirmation of their Doctrine according to the Promise of our Saviour John 15. 26 27. Of these he mentions in particular First 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Signs That is Miraculous Works wrought to signifie the Presence of God by his Power with them that wrought them so giving out his Approbation of the Doctrine which they taught Secondly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Prodigies or Wonders Works beyond the Power of Nature or energie of Natural Causes wrought to fill Men with Wonder and Admiration manifesting 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and surprizing Men with a sense of the Presence of God Thirdly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mighty Works of several sorts such as opening of the Eyes of the Blind raising the Dead and the like These being mentioned there is added in general 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gifts of the Holy Ghost For these and other like things did the Holy Ghost work and effect to the end mentioned And these Distributions are from him as the Signs and Wonders were that is Effects of his Power only there is added an intimation how they are all wrought by him which is by giving them a power for their Operation variously dividing them amongst those on whom they were bestowed and that as it is added 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according unto his own Will And this place is so directly and fully expounded 1 Cor. 12. 7 8 9 10 11. that there is no room of exception left unto the most obstinate And that place having been opened before in the entrance of this Discourse I shall not here call it over again These 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 therefore are his Gifts which as Parts and Parcels of his Work he giveth out in great variety To the same purpose are his Operations described Isa. 11. 2 3. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding the Spirit of Counsel and of Might the Spirit of Knowledg and of the Fear of the Lord. He is first called the Spirit of the Lord to express his Being and Nature and then he is termed the Spirit of Wisdom and of Counsel c. That is He who is the Author of Wisdom and Counsel and the rest of the Graces mentioned who divides and distributes them according to his own Will That variety of Gifts and Graces wherewith Believers are endowed and adorned are these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Distributions of the Holy Spirit Hence the principal respect that we have unto him immediately in our Worship of him under the New Testament is as he is the Author of these various Gifts and Graces So John saluting the Churches of Asia prayeth for Grace for them from God the Father and the seven Spirits that are before his Throne Rev. 1. 4. That is the Holy Spirit of God considered in his care of the Church and his yielding supplies unto it as the Author of that Perfection of Gifts and Graces which are and are to be bestowed upon it So doth the number of Seven denote And therefore whereas our Lord Jesus Christ as the Foundation of his Church was anointed with all the Gifts and Graces of the Spirit in their Perfection it is said that upon that one Stone should be seven Eyes Zech. 3. 9. all the Gifts of the Seven Spirits of God or of that Holy Spirit which is the Author of them all Sect. 21 All therefore that is pleaded for the Division of the Holy Ghost from this place is built on the Supposition that we have before rejected namely that he is not a Divine Person but an Arbitrary Emanation of Divine Power and yet neither so can the division of the Holy Ghost pleaded for be with any tolerable sense maintained Crellius sayes indeed that all Divine Inspirations may be considered as one Whole as many Waters make up one Sea In this respect the Holy Ghost is One that is one Universal made up of many Species this is totum logicum And so He may be divided into his Subordinate Species But what Ground or Colour is there for any such Notions in the Scripture Where is it said that all the Gifts of the Holy Ghost do constitute or make up one Holy Ghost Or the Holy Ghost is one in general because many Effects are ascribed unto him Or that the several Gifts of the Spirit are so many distinct kinds of it The contrary unto all these is expresly taught namely that the One Holy Spirit worketh all these things as he pleaseth so that they are all of them external Acts of his Will and Power And it is to as little purpose pleaded by the same Author that he is divided as a Natural Whole into its Parts because there is mention of a Measure and Portion of him So God is said not to give him to Jesus Christ by Measure John 3. 34. And to every one of us is given Grace according to the Measure of the Gift of Christ as though one Measure of him were granted unto One and another Measure to another But this Measure is plainly of his Gifts and Graces These were bestowed on the Lord Christ in all their fulness without any limitation either as to Kinds or Degrees They were poured into him according unto the utmost extent and capacity of Humane Nature and that under an inconceivable advancement by its Union unto the Son of God Others receive his Gifts and Graces in limited proportion both as to their Kinds and Degrees To turn into a Division of the Spirit himself is the greatest madness And casting aside Prejudices there is no difficulty in the understanding of that saying of God to Moses Numb 11. 17. I will take of the Spirit that is on thee and put it on the Elders For it is evidently of the Gifts of the Spirit enabling Men for Rule and Government that God speaketh and not of the Spirit himself Without any diminution of that Spirit in him that is of the Gifts that He had received God gave unto them as lighting their Candle by his And so also the double Portion of the Spirit of Elijah which Elisha requested for himself was only a large and peculiar measure of Prophetical Light above what other Prophets which he left behind him had received 2 Kin. 2. 9. He asked 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 os duorum or duplex 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This Expression is first used Deut. 21. 17. where the double Portion of the First-Born is intended So that probably it was such a Portion among the other Prophets as the First-Born had among the Brethren of the same Family which he desired and so it came to pass whence also he had the Rule and Government of them BOOK II. Peculiar Operations OF THE HOLY SPIRIT UNDER THE Old Testament Preparatory for The NEW CHAP. I. 1. The Work of the