there is a purified soule for doe wee thinke that so pure a guest as the blessed Spirit is will come and take vp the lodging in a man or woman and not cast out the vncleane and impure spirits that he findes there at his comming It is not possible where that commeth and abideth the blinde diuell must out the proude deuill must out the impenitent out malicious out couetous out and all the Lucifers and Beelzebubs must auoyde the roome which he enters into and giue way vnto his purifying blasts Can the mists of ignorance the puddle of concupiscence and that foule legion of lusts which fight against the soule remaine vndispelled vndried vp vndriuen away where this winde bloweth No no when grace commeth light commeth and it cannot but giue light purity commeth and it cannot but cleanse fire commeth and it cannot but consume and burne vp our corruptions It pittieth my heart to think how people liue in their old sins and wallow in that same polluted bloud which they drew from their fathers which were Amorites from their mothers which were Hittites I meane from persons stayned with the guilt of Adams treason whom they imitate and follow also in the trade of transgression without the least part of mortification voyde of the meanest measure of Sanctification and yet thinke themselues to haue a share in the worke of Regeneration whose eyes I pray God open to see this delusion A needful caueat I do not speake of such a purging as is euery way perfect in this life as if none were breathed vpon by the Spirit but those that are purged fully from al reliques of ignorance rebellion corruption for then none should bee Saints but those that are in heauen For howsoeuer this worke be perfect in regard of the workeman the Spirit neuer doing any thing imperfectly yet in regard of the persons in whom it is wrought it is imperfect because mingled with corruption neither dare I say that those are in no degree purified that are not in the same degree purified with others but this I dare boldly affirme that that person who hath attained to no measure of this purging yea not to so much of it as doth cause him to long for and striue after the perfection of it the Spirit of grace hath not breathed vppon his soule Though the best exercised wits can but know in part the most faithfull heart but beleeue in part the most penitent soule but repent in part the most mortified and sanctified person but loue God godly men godlinesse in part desire Gods glory in part and but imperfectly set his heart vpon the best things yet he that hath no part of sauing knowledge no measure of sound faith no degrees of godly sorrow spirituall loue heauenly ioy holy desires he hath receiued no part of the Spirit and though happely he may haue some of the common gifts of the Spirit yet no portion hath hee of the regenerating breath of grace vntill the scales of ignorance the crustinesse of conscience the mire of concupiscence be driuen away and dried vp in some measure or other to the making of him a purified creature take this for the first note Secondly Signe 2. it is the property of the Winde to make the earth fruitfull for we see by experience when it cometh from the South it doth ordinarily bring raine with it which watreth the ground and causeth the grasse plants and graine to spring vp and bring forth fruit in their kinde euen so the Spirit of grace is very fructiferous and wheresoeuer it breatheth much fruit of holines righteousnes is brought forth neither indeed can the man who is endued with it be altogether barren of good workes inasmuch as wheresoeuer the Spirit is there is faith and faith sheweth it selfe by workes Hang a wet peece of linnen abroade in the ayre and the faster the winde dryeth it the whiter it will appeare and the more the Spirit drieth vp the spirituall moisture of filthinesse in the soule the more white and shining will the life be in holy fruits and in a blamelesse and vnrebukeable walking The y Ge. 5.22 vprightnesse of Enoch the z 2. Sam. 15.28 holinesse of Dauid the a Iob 1 21 patience of Iob the b Exo. 15.24.25 meeknesse of Moses the c Lu. 19.8 iustice of Zaccheus the d Act. 10.2 almes and deuotions of Cornelius the e Cap. 9.36 good workes of Dorcas and the diligence of the Apostles what doe all these shew but that when Grace is sowne in the heart holy and righteous fruits wil sprout vp and spread foorth in the life Wherefore wheresoeuer the fruites are like the vintage of Sodome vnsauoury vngodly and the workes the vnprofitable workes of darkenesse the heart must needes be empty of sauing grace And if any one be so vaine as to think a gracious heart and an vngodly life can stand together I referre him to the iudgement of that graue and diuine Apostle Galat. 5. where hee putteth a f Galat. 5.19.20.21.22.23 BVT a note of opposition betwixt adultery fornication lasciuiousnesse idolatry witchcraft variance drunkennesse reuellings c. which he calleth Workes of the flesh and betwixt Gentlenesse goodnesse fidelitie meeknesse peaceablenesse temperance c. which are workes of the Spirit Neuer flatter thy selfe then If thy conuersation be irreligious and thy carriage vnrighteous thou proclaimest a totall vacancie and absence of the regenerating Spirit the property whereof is to fructifie in an holy kinde wheresoeuer he bloweth that of Christ must needs be true g Iohn 15.5 Hee that abideth in me and I in him as euery regenerate one doth the same bringeth forth much fruit Thirdly 3 Sign of grace it is the property of the winde to driue forward Let a shippe saile with the winde vpon the sea it speedeth the faster Let a bird in the aire flee with the winde her course is the swifter Let a man vpon the ground walke that way which the winde driueth and hee can tell what an help to hasten him forward it is so when the bark of our liues is sayling towards heauen with the sail of good workes which is the place whither the spirit driueth this same winde of heauen will speed this barke of ours forward swiftly it will put life into our actions insomuch that whatsoeuer good duty we take in hand wee shall go about the same cheerfully and willingly being ready to euery good work of piety towards God of charity towards our brethren Hence it is that the Psalmist adjoyneth this Epithet h Ps 51.12 Vphould me with thy free spirit free to the spirit of God and wee vse to say in our vulgar Prouerb of him that is nimble actiue and full of metall He is all spirit When this winde of grace had breath'd vpon the Macedonians it made them so forward to minister to the poor Saints that as the Apostle testifieth of them i 2 Cor.
8.2.3.4 There was a willingnes in them aboue their power The people that contributed towards the building of the Temple that Dauid set vp k 1 Chro. 9.6 offred willingly and their hearts were to it as the Text sheweth And whence was it that there was this alacrity in them to further so commendable an action but from this that The holy Ghost had taken vp his lodging in the temple of their hearts When these gusts of grace blowe vpon the heart of a Minister they will make him so nimble in his Embassady that hee will preach the word of God l 2 Cor. 8 17 willingly When they breathe vpon the heart of a Magistrate hee will m Ier. 9.3 haue courage for the truth vpon the heart of an hearer he will be swift in n Iam 1.19 hearing the word of God This winde did driue Dauid forward so fast that o Ps 119 32 hee ranne the way of Gods commandements and Paul so swiftly that he did p Phil. 3.14 follow hard or press towards the mark for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Iesus What shall we say then of those that goe so murmuringly and vncheerfully about any good and godly exercise being as hardly drawne to it as a Beare to the stake so hard to be brought to a sermon especially if it bee vpon any other day but the Sabbath when the lawes of the Land awe them so hard to be perswaded to entertaine a good conceit of to afford a good word or to stand vp for the faithfull ministers and seruants of Christ Iesus so hard to be drawn to maintain the worship of God in the places where they liue to releeue the wants of the needy to breake the bread of life diligently to their people if they bee Ministers to administer the rules of justice duely if they bee Magistrates and to execute the duties which belong to their places What I say can bee thought of such certainly they giue shrewd suspicion that heauens blasts in the work of regeneration haue not as yet breathed vpon them for if they had ther would be more spirituall agility more heauenly alacrity and readiness to do good in them then there is The oyled door will open and shut without creaking and the heart that is oyled with grace will bee enlarged to what good is without grudging Doth a boat that hath a fair winde and a full streame stand in need of an haling line and doth the winde of heauen thinkest thou blowe vpon thee whē thou must haue so many haling lines to draw thee or else no good can bee wrung from thee Wilt thou not worship God but when the Sabbath cometh not giue to the poore but when the rate cometh nor bring forth better fruits of amendment but when death cometh or some extraordinary visitation when thou thinkest there is no remedy but thou needs must or else some inconuenience may ouertake thee and whatsoeuer thou dost is done vnwillingly and yet imagine that thou art endued with the Spirit How darest thou thus controule the truth of Gods word which cannot ly I confesse indeed A caution that the best of Gods seruants into whom the Lord hath breathed the greatest measure of grace doe sometimes feel themselues more lumpish drowsie and vncheerfull in holy seruices then they were wont to be as no doubt Dauid did after his fall but yet it is but at some times it is not alwaies so with them And I knowe also that the worke of grace hath need to be helped forward by the vse of means in those that excel in vertue in this vale of imperfection by reason of the remainder of corruption as the boat though hauing a fair winde by the help of oares in regard of som heauy burden that it may carry yet go forward they do by the vse of those holy means and they bewail their vntowardnes also But that man that hath no heart at any time vnto that which is good that laboureth not to ouercome his backwardnes that laments it not that striueth not that voweth not that praieth not against it vpon whom the preaching of the word the perswasion of friends cannot preuail to make him doe anie more then that which perforce is extorted and haled from him either by the rigour of mans law or the winde of vain glory it cannot be truly said that the treasures of sauing grace are bestowed vpon him for those that are borne of the Spirit will not onely bring forth the fruits of the Spirit but also with cheerfulnes and alacrity accounting it their felicity to be imploied in the seruices of their heauenly Master Again 4. Signe of regeneration The spirituall conflict the winde doth not onely driue forward but also it resists those things that stop the speedy passage of it so the Spirit of grace doth ordinarily resist whatsoeuer is contrary to its owne working in the soule which it regenerateth Which thing the Apostle euidently laieth down when hee saith q Gal. The spirit lusteth against the flesh Insomuch that by this wee see that another euidēce for the work of grace must bee fetched from the spirituall combate betwixt the flesh and the spirit For it beeing so that in the most regenerate there is corruption as well as grace there must needs be an holy strife in that person A Simile Wee see in the whirl-winde where there are but circular blasts that are indirectly contrary and laterally opposite to one another what a stirring of the dust what a whirring of the stubble or what euer else lieth where those blasts meet there is as if we should see two champions grappling and wrastling in that place How much more is it true that there must be a strange bickering and striuing in that soule where two such spirits doo meet as are not indirectly opposite but directly contrary to one another viz. the Spirit of God comming from heauen working grace and the spirit of Satan coming from hell hindering grace Vpon none of all the Apostles did this holy Spirit breathe more then vpon Paul whether wee consider the measure of his humiliation at his first conuersion or the measure of his zeal after his conuersion and yet he had this spirituall conflict in himself as may bee gathered from his owne complaint r Ro. 7.24 I see a law in my members warring against the law in my minde and leading me into captiuity to the law of sinne And what dry bouts Dauid a man after Gods owne minde had sometimes with distrust of Gods prouidence sometimes with despair of Gods assistance sometimes with carnall confidence sometimes with fretting at the prosperity of the wicked and the like the Book of the Psalms is a plentifull witnes What breathings of grace then trowe wee haue they attained vnto that neither euer were nor yet are at warre with their owne corruptions but in their own deluded opinion all is wel with them at peace with
burthen of sin wherewithall it findeth it self loaden secondly of the want and excellency of grace whereof it seeth it selfe destitute and void for wherefore should the will and desires encline to those spirituall motions to leaue that which is euill and to cleaue to that which is good but because it hath a sense of the vglinesse and burthen of the one of the want and beauty of the other The former feeling Dauid had r Ps 38.4 My sins haue taken such hold vpon me that I am not able to looke vp and are as an heauie burthen too heauie for mee The later the woman of Samaria had when she sayd Å¿ Ioh. 4.15 Lord giue me of this water this is excellent water indeede I neuer dranke of such water Secondly when working grace breatheth an actuall change in the soule the soule feeleth how miserable a thing it is to be out of Christ how sweet a thing it is to be in Christ how hard a thing it is to learne the way of obedience and how good a thing to haue an heart enlarged to keepe Gods Commandements how weake a man is of himselfe to shake off vnbeliefe distrust security to resist euill and what a blessed thing it is to be set free from the slauery of his lusts and from the bondage of those slauish terrors of hell and torment which hee was wont to be troubled withall Some such feeling as this is doth I say accompany working grace Thirdly when coworking grace breatheth there is a sense and experience of Gods hand holding him vp in the time of temptation preseruing him mightily against dangerous falls strengthening him graciously to exercise the fruits of mortification and sanctification raysing him vp when temptation hath foyled him whereupon he feeleth in the second place his loue to be encreased his zeale to be enflamed his edge to goe on in a righteous course to be sharpned as knowing the Lord is euer at hand ready to helpe and assist him and whatsoeuer it be that is a quench-cole to his zeale a cooler to his loue a blunting to his edge he is very sensible of it The Apostle Paul would neuer haue broken out into this speech and left it vpon record in his owne writings Through Christ I am able to doe all things and t 2. Tim. 4 17 the Lord strengthened mee if hee had not had a gracious sense and experience of Gods co-operating and corroborating grace strengthening him in the performance of the generall duties of Christianity and the weighty work of his Ministery Lastly when perfecting grace doth its office hee hath a taste and sight of the vnchangeablenesse of Gods loue assuring his conscience that the Lord will perfect the good worke which hee hath begunne in him Neither is hee vnsensible of those rubbes which hinder perseuerance and hee feeleth many bitter conflicts with temptations telling him that he shall not perseuere which when he ouercometh he reioyceth heartily and perswadeth himselfe assuredly that nothing shall plucke him from his Sauiour Christ Iesus For thus he reasoneth and this sound doth the winde of grace make in his soule Because the Lord hath giuen me a constant will and an earnest desire to stand in the grace whereunto by iustifying faith I had accesse Rom. 5.1 therefore Gods loue will neuer faile mee Such a sound and sense no doubt the Apostle heard and had when he broke out into this speech u Rom 8.38.39 I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor Angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate vs from the loue of God which is in Christ Iesus our Lord. And thus it is cleere what this sense and feeling is which the holy Ghost effecteth in the regenerate soule when it bloweth and worketh effectually in the same Sect. 3. How this sense is wrought The third circumstance in the Doctrine cometh now to be considered of viz. how or by what meanes this sense and sound is wrought and made This will be as manifest as the former if we doe but consider how the sound and noise of the winde commeth to be heard and compare our present matter in hand with that How the sound of the winde comes to be heard by man The winde bloweth in the ayre and maketh a noyse there the aire bringeth the noyse so made in it selfe to the eare the eare hauing by the curious skill of the great Workemaister an Hammer and an Anuile as it were in it selfe conueyeth that sound vnto the brayne where the originall and seate of the sense of hearing is and by this meanes the sound is heard by the creature The comparison Euen so the Spirit of grace breatheth the minde and voyce of God into the writings of the Old and New Testaments for al Scripture is giuen by inspiration w 2 Tim. 3.16 The holy men of God spake as they were moued by the holy Ghost x 2 Pet. 2.21 The Scriptures being truely opened and wisely applyed by Gods Embassadours and Ministers bring this minde and voice of God to the eare of the vnderstanding the vnderstanding by the operation she durst be bold to challenge Christ with his promise of easing loaden sinners and of satisfying Desires hunger longing after righteousnes After this there is a certaine whispering noyse heard as it were afarre off that there is a possibilitie of pardon for thee as well as for an other which sound at the first seemeth very doubtfull Therfore faith still hearkning to the sound that the Spirit bringeth to the vnderstanding through the ayre of the gospel commeth by degrees after many sharpe conflicts which it findeth in it selfe to heare a voyce much like that of our Sauiours to the man sicke of the palsey a Mat. 9.2 Sonne be of good cheere thy sinnes are forgiuen thee Or to the womans that cam to him in the Phases house b Lu. 7.50 Thy faith hath saued thee Vpon which the Gospel still doing its office in informing the iudgement The Spirit of God witnesseth with our spirit that we are the children of God c Ro. 8.16 Vppon this also ioy beginnneth to haue a kinde of spirituall life and feeling in it selfe and there is a great rauishment in the soule and an admiration at the vnspeakeable goodnesse of God to so wretched a creature as I was and it can not containe it selfe but it must burst it selfe foorth with the Song of the Church d Cant. 1.2 Thy loues are better then wine With this ioy next in order loue which is another of the affections apprehends that same sweete sound and she falls to bethink how or which way shee may shew herselfe thankefull for so great kindnesse then the soule burneth with the fire of zeale and wrastleth the Gospel and word of grace stil directing it with euery thing that may bee an hinderance of obedience to the