his Office so to do CHAP. II. General Adjuncts or Properties of the Office of a Comforter as exercised by the Holy Spirit TO evidence yet further the Nature of this Office and Work we may consider and enquire into the general Adjuncts of it as exercised by the Holy Spirit And they are Four FIRST Infinite Condescention This is among those Mysteries of the Divine Dispensation which we may admire but cannot comprehend And it is the Property of Faith alone to act and live upon incomprehensible Objects What Reason cannot comprehend it will neglect as that which it hath no concernment in nor can have Benefit by Faith is most satisfied and cherished with what is infinite and inconceivable as resting absolutely in Divine Revelation Such is this Condescention of the Holy Ghost He is by Nature over all God blessed for ever And it is a Condescention in the Divine Excellency to concern it self in a particular manner in any Creature whatever God humbleth himself to behold the things that are done in Heaven and in Earth Psal. 113. 5 6. How much more doth he do so in submitting himself unto the Discharge of an Office in the behalf of poor Worms here below THIS I confess is most astonishing and attended with the most incomprehensible Rays of Divine Wisdom and Goodness in the Condescention of the Son For he carried the Term of it unto the lowest and most abject Condition that a rational intelligent Nature is capable of So is it represented by the Apostle Phil. 2. 6 7 8. For he not only took our Nature into Personal Union with himself but became in it in his outward Condition as a Servant yea as a Worm and no Man a Reproach of Men and despised of the People and became subject to Death the Ignominious shameful Death of the Cross. Hence this Dispensation of God was filled up with Infinite Wisdom Goodness and Grace How this Exinanition of the Son of God was compensated with the Glory that did ensue we shall rejoyce in the Contemplation of unto all Eternity And then shall the Character of all Divine Excellencies be more gloriously conspicuous on this Condescention of the Son of God than ever they were on the Works of the whole Creation when this Goodly Fabrick of Heaven and Earth was brought by Divine Power and Wisdom through Darkness and Confusion out of nothing THE Condescention of the Holy Spirit unto his Work and Office is not indeed of the same kind as to the Terminus ad quem or the Object of it He assumes not our Nature he exposeth not himself unto the Injuries of an outward State and Condition But yet it is such as is more to be the Object of our Faith in Adoration than of our Reason in Disquisition Consider the thing in it self how one Person in the Holy Trinity subsisting in the Unity of the same Divine Nature should undertake to execute the Love and Grace of the other Persons and in their Names What do we understand of it This Holy Oeconomy in the distinct and subordinate Actings of the Divine Persons in these external Works is known only unto is understood only by themselves Our Wisdom it is to acquiesce in express Divine Revelation Nor have they scarcely more dangerously erred by whom these things are denyed than those have done who by a proud and conceited Subtilty of Mind pretend unto a Conception of them which they express in Words and Terms as they say precise and accurate indeed foolish and curious whether of other Men's coyning or their own finding out Faith keeps the Soul at an Holy Distance from these infinite Depths of the Divine Wisdom where it profits more by Reverence and Holy Fear than any can do by their utmost Attempt to draw nigh unto that inaccessable Light wherein these Glories of the Divine Nature do dwell BUT we may more steddily consider this Condescention with respect unto its Object the Holy Spirit thereby becomes a Comforter unto us poor miserable Worms of the Earth And what Heart can conceive the Glory of this Grace What Tongue can express it Especially will its Eminency appear if we consider the Ways and Means whereby he doth so comfort us and the Opposition from us which he meets withal therein whereof we must treat afterwards SECONDLY Unspeakable Love accompanieth the Susception and Discharge of this Office and that working by Tenderness and Compassion The Holy Spirit is said to be the Divine Eternal mutual Love of the Father and the Son And although I know that much Wariness is to be used in the Declaration of those Mysteries nor are Expressions concerning them to be ventured on not warranted by the Letter of the Scripture yet I judge that this Notion doth excellently express if not the distinct manner of Subsistence yet the mutual internal Operation of the Persons of the Blessed Trinity For we have no Term for nor Notion of that inessable Complacence and eternal Rest which is therein beyond this of Love Hence it is said that God is Love 1 John 4. 8 16. It doth not seem to be an essential Property of the Nature of God only that the Apostle doth intend For it is proposed unto us as a Motive unto mutual Love among our selves And this consists not simply in the Habit or Affection of Love but in the Actings of it in all its Fruits and Duties For so is God Love as that the Internal Actings of the Holy Persons which are in and by the Spirit are all the ineffable Actings of Love wherein the Nature of the Holy Spirit is expressed unto us The Apostle prays for the Presence of the Spirit with the Corinthians under the Name of the God of Love and Peace 2 Epist. 13. 11. And the Communication of the whole Love of God unto us is committed unto the Spirit for the Love of God is shed abroad in our Hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us Rom. 5. And hence the same Apostle distinctly mentioneth the Love of the Spirit conjoyning it with all the Effects of the Mediation of Christ Rom. 15. 30. I beseech you Brethren for the Lord Jesus Christ his sake and for the Love of the Spirit I do so on the Account of the respect you have unto Christ and all that he hath done for you which is a Motive irresistible unto Believers I do it also for the Love of the Spirit all that Love which he acts and communicates unto you Wherefore in all the Actings of the Holy Ghost towards us and especially in this of his Susception of an Office in the behalf of the Church which is the Foundation of them all his Love is principally to be considered and that he chuseth this way of acting and working towards us to express his peculiar personal Character as he is the Eternal Love of the Father and the Son And among all his Actings towards us which are all Acts of Love this is most conspicuous in those wherein he is a
in its proper Order If men be not first sanctified by him they can never be comforted by him And they will themselves prefer in their Troubles any natural or rational Reliefs before the best and highest of his Consolations For however they may be proposed unto them however they may be instructed in the Nature Wayes and Means of them yet they belong not unto them and why should they value that which is not theirs The World cannot receive him He worketh on the World for Conviction Joh. 16. 8. and on the Elect for Conversion Joh. 3. 8. But none can receive him as a Comforter but Believers Therefore is this whole Work of the Holy Spirit little taken notice of by the most and despised by many Yet is it never the less glorious in it self being fully declared in the Scripture nor the less usefull to the Church being testified unto by the Experience of them that truely believe THAT which remaineth for the full Declaration of this Office and Work of the Holy Ghost is the Consideration of those Acts of his which belong properly thereunto and of those Priviledges whereof Believers are made Partakers thereby And whereas many blessed Mysteries of Evangelical Truth are contained herein they would require much Time and Diligence in their Explanation But as to the most of them according unto the Measure of Light and Experience which I have attained I have prevented my self the handling of them in this place For I have spoken already unto most of them in two other Discourses the one concerning the Perseverance of True Believers and the other of our Communion with God and of the Holy Spirit in particular As therefore I shall be sparing in the Repetition of what is already in them proposed unto publick View so it is not much that I shall add thereunto Yet what is necessary unto our present Design must not be wholly omitted especially seeing I find that further Light and Evidence may be added unto our former Endeavours in this kind CHAP. IV. Inhabitation of the Spirit the first thing promised THE first thing which the Comforter is promised for unto Believers is that he should dwell in them which is their great Fundamental Priviledge and whereon all other do depend This therefore must in the first place be enquired into THE Inhabitation of the Spirit in Believers is among those things which we ought as to the Nature or Being of it firmly to believe but as to the Manner of it cannot fully conceive Nor can this be the least Impeachment of it's Truth unto any who assent unto the Gospel wherein we have sundry things proposed as Objects of our Faith which our Reason cannot comprehend We shall therefore assert no more in this matter but what the Scripture directly and expresly goeth before us in And where we have the express Letter of the Scripture for our Warrant we are eternally safe whilst we affix no Sence thereunto that is absolutely repugnant unto Reason or contrary unto more plain Testimonies in other places Wherefore to make plain what we intend herein the ensuing Observations must be premised FIRST This Personal Inhabitation of the Holy Spirit in Believers is distinct and different from his Essential Omnipresence whereby he is in all things Omnipresence is Essential Inhabitation is Personal Omnipresence is a necessary Property of his Nature and so not of him as a distinct Person in the Trinity but as God essentially one and the same in Being and Substance with the Father and the Son To be every where to fill all things to be present with them or indistant from them always equally existing in the Power of an Infinite Being is an inseparable Property of the Divine Nature as such But this Inhabitation is Personal or what belongs unto him distinctly as the Holy Ghost Besides it is voluntary and that which might not have been whence it is the Subject of a Free Promise of God and wholly depends on a Free Act of the Will of the Holy Spirit himself SECONDLY It is not a Presence by Vertue of a Metonymical Denomination or an Expression of the Cause for the Effect that is intended The meaning of this Promise The Spirit shall dwell in you is not He shall work graciously in you for this he can without any especial Presence Being essentially every where he can work where and how he pleaseth without any especial Presence But it is the Spirit himself that is promised and his Presence in an especial manner and an especial manner of that Presence he shall be in you and dwell in you as we shall see The only Enquiry in this matter is whether the Holy Spirit himself be promised unto Believers or only his Grace which we shall immediately enquire into THIRDLY The dwelling of the Person of the Holy Spirit in the Persons of Believers of what Nature soever it be doth not effect a Personal Union between them That which we call a Personal Union is the Union of Divers Natures in the same Person and there can be but one Person by Vertue of this Union Such is the Hypostatical Union in the Person of the Son of God It was our Nature he assumed and not the Person of any And it was impossible he should so assume any more but in one Individual Instance For if he could have assumed another Individual Being of our Nature then it must differ personally from that which he did assume For there is nothing that differs one Man from another but a distinct Personal Subsistence of each And it implies the highest Contradiction that the Son of God could be Hypostatically united unto more than one For if they are more than one they must be more Persons than one And many Persons cannot be Hypostatically united for that is to be one Person and no more There may be a manifold Union Mystical and Moral or divers of many Persons but a Personal Union there cannot be of any thing but of distinct Natures And as the Son of God could not assume many Persons so supposing that Humane Nature which he did unite to himself to have been a Person that is to have had a distinct Subsistence of it's own Antecedent unto it's Union and there could have been no Personal Union between it and the Son of God For the Son of God was a distinct Person and if the Humane Nature had been so too there would have been two Persons still and so no Personal Union Nor can it be said that although the Humane Nature of Christ was a Person in it self yet it ceased so to be upon its Union with the Divine and so two Persons were conjoyned and compounded into one For if ever Humane Nature have in any Instance a personal Subsistence of it's own it cannot be separated from it without the Destruction and Annihilation of the Individual For to suppose otherwise is to make it to continue what it was and not what it was for it is what it is distinct
with undeniable Efficacy but his Assumption into Heaven testified unto his Person with an astonishing Glory 2. IT was necessary with respect unto the Humane Nature it self that after all its Labours and Sufferings it might be crowned with Honour and Glory He was to suffer and enter into his Glory Luk. 24 26. Some dispute whether Christ in his Humane Nature merited any thing for himself or no but not to immix our selves in the Niceties of that Enquiry it is unquestionable that the highest Glory was due to him upon his accomplishment of the Work committed unto him in this World which he therefore lays claim to accordingly Joh. 17. 4 5. It was so 3. WITH respect unto the Glorious Administration of his Kingdom For as his Kingdom is not of this World so it is not only over this World or the whole Creation here below The Angels of Glory those Principalities and Powers above are subject unto him and belong unto his Dominion Eph. 1. 21. Phil. 2. 9 10. Among them attended with their ready Service and Obedience unto all his Commands doth he exercise the Powers of his glorious Kingdom And they would but degrade Him from his Glory without the least Advantage unto themselves who would have him forsake his high and glorious Throne in Heaven to come and reign among them on the Earth unless they suppose themselves more meet Attendants on his Regal Dignity than the Angels themselves who are mighty in Strength and Glory SECONDLY The Presence of the Humane Nature of Christ in Heaven was necessary with respect unto Us. The Remainder of his Work with God on our behalf was to be carried on by Intercession Heb. 7. 26 27. And whereas this Intercession consisteth in the Vertual Representation of his Oblation or of himself as a Lamb slain in Sacrifice it could not be done without his continual Appearing in the Presence of God Heb. 9. 24. The other Part of the Work of Christ respects the Church or Believers as its immediate Object So in particular doth his comforting and supporting of them This is that Work which in a peculiar manner is committed and entrusted unto the Holy Spirit after the Departure of the Humane Nature of Christ into Heaven But two things are to be observed concerning it 1. That whereas this whole Work consisteth in the Communication of Spiritual Light Grace and Joy to the Souls of Believers it was no less the immediate Work of the Holy Ghost whilst the Lord Christ was upon the Earth than it is now he is absent in Heaven Only during the time of his Conversation here below in the days of his Flesh his holy Disciples looked on him as the only Spring and Foundation of all their Consolation their only Support Guide and Protector as they had just Cause to do They had yet no insight into the Mystery of the Dispensation of the Spirit nor was he yet so given or poured out as to evidence himself and his Operation unto their Souls Wherefore they looked on themselves as utterly undone when their Lord and Master began to acquaint them with his leaving of them No sooner did he tell them of it but Sorrow filled their Hearts Joh. 16. 6. Wherefore he immediately lets them know that this great Work of relieving them from all their Sorrows and Fears of dispelling their Disconsolations and supporting them under their Trouble was committed to the Holy Ghost and would by him be performed in so eminent a manner as that his Departure from them would be unto their Advantage Ver. 7. Wherefore the Holy Spirit did not then first begin really and effectually to be the Comforter of Believers upon the Departure of Christ from his Disciples but he is then first promised so to be upon a double Account 1. Of the Fall Declaration and Manifestation of it So things are often said in the Scripture then to be when they do appear and are made manifest An eminent lustance hereof we have in this Case John 7. 38 39. The Disciples had hitherto looked for all immediately from Christ in the Flesh the Dispensation of the Spirit being hid from them But now this also was to be manifested unto them Hence the Apostle affirms that though we have known Christ after the flesh yet henceforth we know him no more 2 Cor. 1. 16. That is so as to look for Grace and Consolation immediately from him in the Flesh as it is evident the Apostles did before they were instructed in this unknown Office of the Holy Ghost 2. Of the full Exhibition and eminent Communication of Him unto this End This in every kind was reserved for the Exaltation of Christ when he received the Promise of the Spirit from the Father and poured it out upon his Disciples 2. THE Lord Christ doth not hereby cease to be the Comforter of his Church For what he doth by his Spirit he doth by himself He is with us unto the end of the World by his Spirit being with us and he dwelleth in us by the Spirit dwelling in us and whatever else is done by the Spirit is done by him And it is so upon a Three-fold Account For 1 The Lord Christ as Mediator is God and Man in One Person and the Divine Nature is to be consider'd in all his Mediatory Operations For he who worketh them is God and he worketh them all as God-Man whence they are Theandrical And this is proposed unto us in the greatest Acts of his Humiliation which the Divine Nature in it self is not formally capable of So God redeemed his Church with his own Blood Acts 20. 28. Inasmuch as he who was in the form of God and thought it no Robbery to be equal with God humbled himself and became obedient unto Death the Death of the Cross Phil. 2. 6 7 8. Now in this respect the Lord Christ and the Holy Spirit are one in Nature Essence Will and Power As he said of the Father I and my Father are one John 10. 30. So it is with the Spirit he and the Spirit are One. Hence all the Works of the Holy Spirit are his also as his Works were the Works of the Father and the Works of the Father were his All the Operations of the Holy Trinity as to things external unto their Divine Subsistence being individed So is the Work of the Holy Spirit in the Consolation of the Church his Work also 2 BECAUSE the Holy Spirit in this Condescention unto Office acts for Christ and in his Name So the Son acted for and in the Name of the Father where he every where ascribed what he did unto the Father in a peculiar manner The Word saith he which you hear is not mine but the Fathers which sent me John 14. 24. It is his originally and eminently because as spoken by the Lord Christ he was said by him to speak it So are those Acts of the Spirit whereby he comforteth Believers the Acts of Christ because the Spirit speaketh and acteth for
of his Disciples with their Relief therein that he is promised under this Name by our Saviour I will not saith he leave you Orphans Chap. 14. 18. Though I go away from you yet I will not leave you in a desolate and disconsolate Condition How shall that be prevented in his Absence who was the Life and Spring of all their Comforts Saith he I will pray the Father and he shall give you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ver. 16. that is Another to be your Comforter So he renews again his Promise of sending him under this Name because Sorrow had filled their Hearts upon the Apprehension of his Departure Chap. 16. 7 8. Wherefore he is principally considered as a Comforter And as we shall see further afterwards this his principal Work most suited unto his Nature as he is the Spirit of Peace Love and Joy For he who is the Eternal Essential Love of the Divine Being as existing in the distinct Persons of the Trinity is most meet to communicate a Sense of Divine Love with Delight and Joy unto the Souls of Believers Hereby he sets up the Kingdom of God in them which is Righteousness and Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost Rom. 14. 17. And in nothing doth he so evidence his Presence in the Hearts and Spirits of any as by the Disposal of them unto Spiritual Love and Joy For shedding abroad the Love of God in our Hearts as Rom. 5. 5. He produceth a Principle and Frame of Divine Love in our Souls and fills us with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory The Attribution therefore of this Name unto him the Comforter evidenceth that he performs this Work in the way of an Office NEITHER 2 Is the signification of an Advocate to be omitted seeing what he doth as such tendeth also to the Consolation of the Church And we must first observe that the Holy Spirit is not our Advocate with God This belongs alone unto Jesus Christ and is a part of his Office He is said indeed to make Intercession with Groans that cannot be uttered Rom. 8. 26. But this he doth not immediately nor in his own Person He no otherwise maketh Intercession for us but by enabling us to make Intercession according unto the Mind of God For to make Intercession formally is utterly inconsistent with the Divine Nature and his Person who hath no other Natare but that which is Divine He is therefore incapable of being our Advocate with God The Lord Christ is so alone and that on the Account of his precedent Propitiation made for us But he is an Advocate for the Church in with and against the World Such an Advocate is one that undertaketh the Protection and Defence of another as to any Cause wherein he is engaged The Cause wherein the Disciples of Christ are engaged in and against the World is the Truth of the Gospel the Power and Kingdom of their Lord and Master This they testify unto this is opposed by the World and this under various Forms Appearances and Pretences is that which they suffer Reproaches and Persecutions for in every Generation In this Cause the Holy Spirit is their Advocate justifying Jesus Christ and the Gospel against the World AND this he doth three ways 1 By suggesting unto and furnishing the Witnesses of Christ with Pleas and Arguments to the Conviction of Gainsayers So it is promised that should do Mat. 10. 18 19 20. And ye shall be brought before Governours and Kings for my sake for a Testimony against them and the Gentiles But when they deliver you up take no thought how or what ye shall speak for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak For it is not ye that speak but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you They were to be given up that is delivered up as Malefactors unto Kings and Rulers for their Faith in Christ and the Testimony they gave unto Him In this Condition the best of Men are apt to be solicitous about their Answers and the Plea they are to make in the Defence of themselves and their Cause Our Saviour therefore gives them Encouragement not only from the Truth and Goodness of their Cause but also from the Ability they should have in pleading for it unto the Conviction or Confusion of their Adversaries And this he tells them should come to pass not by any Power or Faculty in themselves but by the Aid and Supply they should receive from this Advocate who in them would speak by them This was that Mouth and Wisdom which he promised unto them which all their Adversaries should not be able to gainsay or resist Luke 21. 15. A present Supply of Courage Boldness and Liberty of Speech above and beyond their Natural Temper and Abilities immediately upon their receiving of the Holy Ghost And their very Enemies saw the Effects of it unto their Astonishment Upon the Plea they made before the Council at Jerusalem it is said That when they saw the Boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were ignorant and unlearned Men they marvailed Acts 4. 13. They saw their outward Condition that they were poor and of the meanest of the People yet carried it with Courage and Boldness before this great Sanhedrim with whose Authority and unusual Appearance in Grandure all Persons of that sort were wont to be abashed and tremble at them They found them ignorant and unlearned in that Skill and Learning which the World admired yet plead their Cause unto their Confusion They could not therefore but discern and acknowledge that there was a Divine Power present with them which acted above themselves their State their natural or acquired Abilities This was the Work of this Advocate in them who had undertaken the Defence of their Cause So when Paul pleaded the same Cause before Agrippa and Felix one of them confessed his Conviction and the other trembled in his Judgment-Seat NEITHER hath he been wanting unto the Defence of the same Cause in the same manner in succeeding Generations All the Story of the Church is filled with Instances of Persons mean in their outward Condition timerous by Nature and unaccustomed unto Dangers unlearned and low in their Natural Abilities who in the Face of Rulers and Potentates in the sight of Prisons Tortures Fires provided for their Destruction have pleaded the Cause of the Gospel with Courage and Success unto the Astonishment and Confusion of their Adversaries Neither shall any Disciple of Christ in the same case want the like Assistance in some due Measure and Proportion who expect it from him in a way of believing and depends upon it Examples we have hereof every Day in Persons acted above their own natural Temper and Ablities unto their own Admiration For being conscious unto themselves of their own Fears Despondencies and Disabilities it is a Surprizal unto them to find how all their Fears have disappeared and their Minds have been enlarged when they have been called
from all other Individuals by Vertue of it's Personality Wherefore upon this Inhabitation of the Spirit wherein soever it doth consist there is no Personal Union ensuing between him and Believers nor is it possible that any such thing should be For he and they are distinct Persons and must eternally abide so whilst their Natures are distinct It is only the Assumption of our Nature into Union with the Son of God antecedent unto any individual Personal Subsistence of it's own that can constitute such an Union FOURTHLY The Union and Relation that ensues on this Inhabitation of the Spirit is not immediate between him and Believers but between them and Jesus Christ. For he is sent to dwell in them by Christ in his Name as his Spirit to supply his Room in Love and Grace towards them making use of his things in all his Effects and Operations unto his Glory Hence I say is the Union of Believers with Christ by the Spirit and not with the Spirit himself For this Holy Spirit dwelling in the Humane Nature of Christ manifesting and acting himself in all Fulness therein as hath been declared being sent by him to dwell in like manner and act in a limited Measure in all Believers there is a mystical Union thence arising between them whereof the Spirit is the Bond and Vital Principle ON these Considerations I say it is the Person of the Holy Ghost that is promised unto Believers and not only the Effects of his Grace and Power and his Person it is that always dwelleth in them And as this on the one hand is an Argument of his Infinite Condescention in complying with this Part of his Office and Work to be sent by the Father and Son to dwell in Believers so it is an evident Demonstration of his Eternal Deity that the one and self-same Person should at the same time inhabit so many Thousands of distinct Persons as are or were at any time of Believers in the World which is Fondness to imagine concerning any one that is not absolutely infinite And therefore that which some oppose as unmeet for him and beneath his Glory namely this his Inhabitation in the Saints of God is a most illustrious and incontroulable Demonstration of his Eternal Glory For none but he who is absolutely immense in his Nature and Omnipresence can be so present with and indistant from all Believers in the World and none but he whose Person by Vertue of his Nature is infinite can personally equally inhabit in them all An Infinite Nature and Person is required hereunto And in the Consideration of the Incomprehensibility thereof are we to acquiesce as to the Manner of his Inhabitation which we cannot conceive 1. THERE are very many Promises in the Old Testament that God would thus give the Holy Spirit in and by Vertue of the New Covenant as Ezek. 36. 27. Isa. 59. 21. Prov. 1. 23. And in every place God calls this promised Spirit and as promised His Spirit my Spirit which precisely denotes the Person of the Spirit himself It is generally apprehended I confess that in these Promises the Holy Spirit is intended only as unto his gracious Effects and Operations but not as to any Personal Inhabitation And I should not much contend upon these Promises only although in some of them his Person as promised be expresly distinguished from all his gracious Effects But the Exposition which is given of them in their Accomplishment under the New Testament will not allow us so to judge of them For 2. WE are directed to pray for the Holy Spirit and assured that God will give him unto them that ask him of him in a due manner Heb. 11. 13. If these Words must be expounded metonymically and not properly it must be because either 1 They agree not in the Letter with other Testimonies of Scripture Or 2 Contain some Sence absurd and unreasonable Or 3 That which is contrary unto the Experience of them that believe The first cannot be said for other Testimonies innumerable concur with it Nor the Second as we shall shew And for the Third it is that whose contrary we prove What is it that Believers intend in that Request I suppose I may say that there is no one Petition wherein they are more intense and earnest nor which they more frequently insist upon As David prayed that God would not take his Holy Spirit from him Psal. 51. So do they that God would bestow him on them For this they do and ought to do even after they have received him His Continuance with them his evidencing and manifestation of himself in and to them are the design of their continued Supplications for him Is it meerly external Operations of the Spirit in Grace that they desire herein Do they not always pray for his ineffable Presence and Inhabitation Will any Thoughts of Grace or Mercy relieve or satisfie them if once they apprehend that the Holy Spirit is not in them or doth not dwell with them Although they are not able to form any Conceptions in their Minds of the manner of his Presence and Residence in them yet is it that which they pray for and without the Apprehension whereof by Faith they can have neither Peace nor Consolation The Promise hereof being confined unto Believers those that are truly and really so as we shewed before it is their Experience whereby its Accomplishment is to be judged and not the Presumption of such by whom both the Spirit himself and his whole Work is despised 3. AND this Inhabitation is that which principally our Lord Jesus Christ directeth his Disciples to expect in the Promise of him He dwelleth with you and shall be in you John 14. 17. He doth so who is the Comforter the Spirit of Truth Or as it is emphatically expressed Chap. 16. 13. He the Spirit of Truth He is promised unto and he inhabits them that do believe So it is expresly affirmed towards all that are Partakers of this Promise Rom. 8. 9. Ye are not in the Flesh but in the Spirit if so be the Spirit of God dwells in you Ver. 11. The Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the Dead dwelleth in you The Holy Spirit dwelleth in us 1 Tim. 3. 14. He that is in us is greater than he that is in the World 1 John 4. 4. And many other express Testimonies there are unto the same purpose And whereas the Subject of these Promises and Propositions is the Holy Ghost himself the Person of the Holy Ghost and that so expressed as not to leave any Pretence for any thing else and not his Person to be intended And whereas nothing is ascribed unto him that is unreasonable inconvenient unto him in the Discharge of his Office or inconsistent with any of his Divine Perfections but rather what is every way suitable unto his Work and evidently demonstrative of his Divine Nature and Subsistence It is both irrational and unsuitable unto the Oeconomy of Divine
is in it self that Spring from whence their secret Refreshments and Supportments do arise And there is none of them but upon Guidance and Instruction are able to conceive how their chiefest Joys and Comforts even those whereby they are supported in and against all their Troubles are resolved into that Spiritual Understanding which they have into the Mysteries of the Will Love and Grace of God in Christ with that ineffable Complacency and Satisfaction which they find in them whereby their Wills are engaged into an unconquerable Constancy in their Choice And there is no small Consolation in a due Apprehension of that Spiritual Dignity which ensues hereon For when they meet with the greatest Troubles and the most contemptuous Scorns in this World a due Apprehension of their Acceptance with God as being made Kings and Priests unto him yield them a Refreshment which the World knows nothing of and which themselves are not able to express CHAP. VI. The Spirit a Seal and How SECONDLY Another Effect of the Holy Spirit as the Comforter of the Church is that by him Believers are sealed 2 Cor. 1. 21 22. He who anointed us is God who hath also sealed us And how this is done the same Apostle declares Eph. 1. 13. In whom also after ye believed ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of Promise And Chap. 4. 30. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed to the Day of Redemption In the first place it is expresly said that we are sealed with the Spirit whereby the Spirit himself is expressed as this Seal and not any of his especial Operations as he is also directly said himself to be the Pledge of our Inheritance In the latter the Words are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in whom in and by the receiving of whom ye are sealed Wherefore no especial Act of the Spirit but only an especial Effect of his Communication unto us seems to be intended hereby THE common Exposition of this Sealing is taken from the Nature and Use of Sealing among Men. The Summ whereof is this Sealing may be considered as a Natural or Moral Action that is either with respect unto the Act of it as an Act or with respect unto its Use and End In the first way it is the Communication of the Character or Image that is on the Seal unto the thing that is Sealed or that the Impression of the Seal is set unto In answer hereunto the Sealing of the Spirit should consist in the Communication of his own Spiritual Nature and Likeness unto the Souls of Believers So this Sealing should materially be the same with our Sanctification The End and Use of Sealing among Men is two-fold 1 To give Security unto the Performance of Deeds Grants Promises Testaments and Wills or the like engaging Signification of our Minds And in answer hereunto we may be said to be Sealed when the Promises of God are confirmed and established unto our Souls and we are secured of them by the Holy Ghost But the Truth is this were to Seal the Promises of God and not Believers But it is Persons and not Promises that are said to be Sealed 2 It is for the safe-keeping or Preservation of that which a Seal is set upon So things precious and highly valuable are sealed up that they may be kept safe and inviolable So on the other hand when Job expressed his Apprehension that God would keep an everlasting Remembrance of his Sin that it should not be lost or out of the way he saith his Transgression was sealed up in a Bag Chap. 14. 17. And so it is that Power which the Holy Ghost puts forth in the Preservation of Believers which is intended And in this respect they are said to be Sealed unto the Day of Redemption THESE things have been spoken unto and enlarged on by many so that there is no need again to insist upon them And what is commonly delivered unto this purpose is good and useful in the Substance of it and I have on several occasions long since my self made use of them But upon renewed Thoughts and Consideration I cannot fully acquiesce in them For 1 I am not satisfied that there is such an Allusion herein unto the use of Sealing among Men as is pretended And if there be it will fall out as we see it hath done that there being so many Considerations of Seals and Sealing it will be hard to determine on any one Particular which is principally intended And if you take in more as the manner of the most is to take in all they can think of it will be unavoidable that Acts and Effects of various kinds will be assigned unto the Holy Ghost under the Term of Sealing and so we shall never come to know what is that one determinate Act and Priviledge which is intended therein 2 All things which are usually assigned as those wherein this Sealing doth consist are Acts or Effects of the Holy Ghost upon us whereby he Seals us whereas it is not said that the Holy Spirit Seals us but that we are Sealed with him He is God's Seal unto us ALL our Spiritual Priviledges as they are immediately communicated unto us by Christ so they consist wholly in a Participation of that Head Spring and Fulness of them which is in him And as they proceed from our Union with him so their principal End is Conformity unto him And in him in whom all things are conspicuous we may learn the Nature of those things which in lesser measure and much Darkness in our selves we are made Partakers of So do we learn our Unction in his So must we enquire into the Nature of our being Sealed by the Spirit in his Sealing also For as it is said that he who hath sealed us is God 2 Cor. 1. 21 22. so of him it is said emphatically For him hath God the Father Sealed Joh. 6. 27. And if we can learn aright how God the Father sealed Christ we shall learn how we are sealed in a Participation of the same Priviledge I confess there are variety of Apprehensions concerning the Act of God whereby Christ was sealed or what it is that is intended thereby Maldonate on the Place reckons up Ten several Expositions of the Words among the Fathers and yet embraceth no one of them It is not suited unto my Design to examine or refute the Expositions of others whereof a large and plain Field doth here open it self unto us I shall only give an Account of what I conceive to be the Mind of the Holy Ghost in that Expression And we may observe FIRST That this is not spoken of Christ with respect unto his Divine Nature He is indeed said to be the Character of the Person of the Father in his Divine Person as the Son because there are in him communicated unto him from the Father all the Essential Properties of the Divine Nature as the thing Sealed receiveth the Character or Image of the Seal
part of the Body of Christ of the Essence of it by the same quickning animating Spirit of Grace but one is an Eye another an Hand another a Foot in the Body by vertue of peculiar Gifts For unto every one of us is given Grace according to the measure of the Gift of Christ Eph. 4. 7. § 2. THESE Gifts are not saving sanctifying Graces those were not so in themselves which made the most glorious and astonishing appearance in the World and which were most eminently useful in the Foundation of the Church and propagation of the Gospel Such as were those that were Extraordinary and Miraculous There is something of the Divine Nature in the least Grace that is not in the most glorious Gift which is only so It will therefore be part of our work to shew wherein the Essential Difference between these Gifts and sanctifying Graces doth consist as also what is their Nature and Use must be enquired into For although they are not Grace yet they are that without which the Church cannot subsist in the World nor can Believers be useful unto one another and the rest of Mankind unto the Glory of Christ as they ought to be They are the powers of the World to come those effectual Operations of the power of Christ whereby his Kingdom was Erected and is preserved § 3. AND hereby is the Church state under the New Testament differenced from that under the Old There is indeed a great Difference between their Ordinances and ours theirs being suited unto the dark apprehensions which they had of Spiritual things ours accommodated unto the clearer Light of the Gospel more plainly and expresly representing Heavenly things unto us Heb. 10. 1. But our Ordinances with their Spirit would be carnal also The principal Difference lyes in the Administration of the Spirit for the due performance of Gospel Worship by vertue of these Gifts bestowed on Men for that very End Hence the whole of Evangelical Worship is called the Ministration of the Spirit and thence said to be glorious 2 Cor. 3. 8. And where they are neglected I see not the Advantage of the outward Worship and Ordinances of the Gospel above those of the Law For although their Institutions are accommodated unto that Administration of Grace and Truth which came by Jesus Christ yet they must lose their whole Glory Force and Efficacy if they be not dispensed and the Duties of them performed by vertue of these spiritual Gifts And therefore no sort of Men by whom they are neglected do or can content themselves with the pure and immixed Gospel Institutions in these things but do rest principally in the outward part of Divine Service in things of their own finding out For as Gospel Gifts are useless without attending unto Gospel Institutions so Gospel Institutions are found to be fruitless and unsatisfactory without the attaining and exercising of Gospel Gifts § 4. BE it so therefore that these Gifts we intend are not in themselves saving Graces yet are they not to be despised For they are as we shall shew The powers of the World to come by means whereof the Kingdom of Christ is preserved carried on and propagated in the World And although they are not Grace yet are they the great means whereby all Grace is ingenerated and exercised And although the spiritual Life of the Church doth not consist in them yet the Order and Edification of the Church depends wholly on them And therefore are they so frequently mentioned in the Scripture as the great priviledge of the New Testament Directions being multiplyed in the Writings of the Apostles about their nature and proper use And we are commanded earnestly to desire and labour after them especially those which are most useful and subservient unto Edification 1 Cor. 12. 31. And as the neglect of Internal saving Grace wherein the power of Godliness doth consist hath been the Bane of Christian Profession as to Obedience issuing in that Form of it which is consistent with all manner of Lusts so the neglect of these Gifts hath been the Ruin of the same Profession as to Worship and Order which hath thereon issued in fond Superstition § 5. THE great and signal promise of the Communication of these Gifts is recorded Psal. 68. 18. Thou hast ascended on high thou hast led Captivity Captive thou hast received Gifts for Men. For these words are applyed by the Apostle unto that Communication of spiritual Gifts from Christ whereby the Church was founded and edified Ephes. 4. 8. And whereas it is foretold in the Psalm that Christ should receive Gifts that is to give them unto Men as that Expression is Expounded by the Apostle so he did this by receiving of the Spirit the proper cause and immodiate Author of them all as Peter declares Acts 2. 23. Therefore being by the Right Hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the Promise of the Holy Ghost he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear speaking of the miraculous Gifts conferred on the Aposties at the Day of Pentecost For these Gifts are from Christ not as God absolutely but as Mediator in which Capacity he received all from the Father in a way of free Donation Thus therefore he received the Spirit as the Author of all spiritual Gifts And whereas all the powers of the World to come consisted in them and the whole work of the Building and Propagation of the Church depended on them the Apostles after all the Instructions they had received from Christ whilst he conversed with them in the Days of his Flesh and also after his Resurrection were commanded not to go about the great work which they had received Commission for until they had received power by the coming of the Holy Ghost upon them in the Communication of those Gifts Acts 1. 4 8. And as they neither might nor could do any thing in their peculiar work as to the laying of the Foundation of the Christian Church until they had actually received those extraordinary Gifts which gave them power so to do so if those who undertake in any Place Degree or Office to carry on the Edification of the Church do not receive those more ordinary Gifts which are continued unto that end they have neither Right to undertake that work nor Power to perform it in a due manner § 6. The things which we are to enquire into concerning these Gifts are 1. Their Name 2. Their Nature in general and therein how they agree with and differ from Saving Graces 3. Their Distinction 4. The particular Nature of them and 5. Their Use in the Church of God § 7. 1. THE general Name of those Spiritual Endowments which we intend is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so the Apostle renders 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eph. 4. 8. from Psal. 68. 18. Dona Gifts That is they are free and undeserved Effects of Divine Bounty In the Minds of Men on whom they are bestowed they are Spiritual Powers
fulness of him that filleth all in all Ephes. 1. 22 23. But this Church falls under a double Consideration First as it is Believing Secondly as it is Professing In the first respect absolutely it is invisible and as such is the peculiar subject of Saving Grace This is that Church which Christ loved and gave himself for it that he might sanctifie and cleanse it and present it unto himself a Glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be Holy and without Blemish Eph. 5. 26 27. This is the work of Saving Grace and by a participation thereof do Men become Members of this Church and not otherwise And hereby is the professing Church quickened and enabled unto Profession in an acceptable manner â—or the Elect receive Grace unto this end in this World that they may glorifie Christ and the Gospel in the Exercise of it Col. 1. 6. John 15. 8. But Gifts are bestowed on the professing Church to render it visible in such a way as whereby God is glorified Grace gives an invisible Life to the Church Gifts give it a visible Profession For hence doth the Church become Organical and disposed into that Order which is Beautiful and Comely Where any Church is Organized meerly by outward Rules perhaps of their own devising and makes Profession only in an attendance unto outward Order not following the leading of the Spirit in the Communication of his Gifts both as to Order and Discharge of the Duties of Profession it is but the Image of a Church wanting an animating Principle and Form That Profession which renders a Church visible according to the Mind of Christ is the orderly Exercise of the spiritual Gifts bestowed on it in a Conversation evidencing the invisible Principle of Saving Grace Now these Gifts are conferred on the Church in order unto the Edification of it self in Love Ephes. 4 16. as also the propagation of its Profession in the World as shall be declared afterwards Wherefore both of these sorts have in general the same end or are given by Christ unto the same purpose namely the Good and Benefit of the Church as they are respectively suited to promote them § 6. It may also be added that they agree herein that they have both the same respect unto the Bounty of Christ. Hence every Grace is a Gift that which is given and freely bestowed on them that have it Mat. 13. 11. Phil. 1. 29. And although on the other side every Gift be not a Grace yet proceeding from gracious Favour and Bounty they are so called Rom. 12. 6. Ephes. 4. 7. How in their due Exercise they are mutually helpful and assistant unto each other shall be declared afterwards § 7. SECONDLY We may consider wherein wherein the Difference lyes or doth consist which is between 〈◊〉 spiritual Gifts and sanctifying Graces And this may be seen in sundry Instances As 1. SAVING Graces are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Fruit or Fruits of the Spirit Gal. 5. 22. Ephes. 5. 9. Phil. 1. 11. Now Fruits proceed from an abiding Root and flock of whose Nature they do partake There must be a good Tree to bring forth good Fruit Mat. 12. 33. No external Watering or Applications unto the Earth will cause it to bring forth useful Fruits unless they are Roots from which they spring and are educed The Holy Spirit is as the Root unto these Fruits the Root which bears them and which they do not bear as Rom. 11. 18. Therefore in order of Nature is he given unto Men before the production of any of these Fruits Thereby are they ingrafted into the Olive are made such Branches in Christ the true Vine as derive Vital Juice Nourishment and Fructifying Vertue from him even by the Spirit So is he a Well of Water springing up unto Everlasting Life John 4. 14. He is a Spring in Believers and all saving Graces are but Waters arising from that Living overflowing Spring From him a Root or Spring as an internal Vertue Power or Principle do all these Fruits come To this end doth he dwell in them and abide with them according to the promise of our Lord Jesus Christ John 14. 17. Rom. 8. 11. 1 Cor. 3. 16. whereby the Lord Christ effecteth his purpose in ordaining his Disciples to bring forth Fruit that should remain John 15. 16. In the place of his Holy Residence he worketh these Effects freely according to his own will And there is nothing that hath the true Nature of saving Grace but what is so a Fruit of the Spirit We have not first these Graces and then by vertue of them receive the Spirit for whence should we have them of our selves but the Spirit bestowed on us worketh them in us and gives them a Spiritual Divine Nature in conformity unto his own § 8. With Gifts singly considered it is Otherwise They are indeed Works and Effects but not properly Fruits of the Spirit nor are any where so called They are effects of his operation upon Men not Fruits of his working in them And therefore many receive these Gifts who never receive the Spirit as to the principal ends for which he is promised They receive him not to sanctifie and make them Temples unto God though Metonymically with respect unto his outward Effects they may be said to be made partakers of him This renders them of a different Nature and kind from Saving Graces For whereas there is an Agreement and Coincidence between them in the respects before mentioned and whereas the Seat and Subject of them that is of Gifts absolutely and principally of Graces also is the Mind the difference of their Nature proceeds from the different manner of their Communication from the Holy Spirit § 9. Secondly Saving Grace proceeds from or is the effect and fruit of Electing Love This I have proved before in our Enquiry into the Nature of Holiness See it directly asserted Ephes. 1. 3 4. 2 Thes. 2. 13. Acts 2 41. Chap. 13. 48. Whom God graciously chuseth and designeth unto Eternal Life them he prepares for it by the Communication of the Means which are necessary unto that end Rom. 8. 28 29 30. Hereof Sanctification or the Communication of saving Grace is comprehensive for we are chosen unto Salvation through the Sanctification of the Spirit 2 Thes. 2. 13. For this is that whereby we are made meet for the Inheritance of the Saints in Light Col. 1. 12. The End of God in Election is the Sonship and Salvation of the Elect unto the praise of the Glory of his Grace Ephes. 1. 5 6. And this cannot be unless his Image be renewed in them in Holiness or Saving Graces These therefore he works in them in pursuit of his Eternal purpose therein But Gifts on the other hand which are no more but so and where they are solitary or alone are only the Effects of a temporary Election Thus God chuseth some Men into some Office in the Church or unto some
from External Causes and Considerations And 1 As to the different Subjects of them Spiritual Gifts are placed and seated in the Mind or Understanding only whether they are ordinary or extraordinary they have no other Hold nor Residence in the Soul And they are in the Mind as it is Notional and Theoretical rather than as it is practical They are Intellectual Abilities and no more I speak of them which have any Residence in us For some Gifts as Miracles and Tongues consisted only in a transient Operation of an extraordinary Power Of all others Illumination is the Foundation and Spiritual Light their Matter So the Apostle declares in his Order of Expression Heb. 6. 4. The Will and the Affections and the Conscience are unconcerned in them Wherefore they change not the Heart with Power although they may reform the Life by the Efficacy of Light And although God doth not ordinarily bestow them on flagitious Persons nor continue them with such as after the reception of them become flagitious yet they may be in those who were unrenewed and have nothing in them to preserve Men absolutely from the worst of Sins But Saving Grace possesseth the whole Soul Men are thereby sanctified throughout in the whole Spirit Soul and Body 1 Thes. 5. 17. as hath been at large declared Not the Mind only is savingly enlightened but there is a Principle of Spiritual Life infused into the whole Soul enabling it in all its Powers and Faculties to act Obedientially unto God whose Nature hath been fully explained elsewhere Hence 2. They differ in their Operations For Grace changeth and transformeth the whole Soul into its own Nature Isa. 11. 6 7 8. Rom. 6. 17. Chap. 12. 2. 2 Cor. 3. 18. It is a New a Divine Nature unto the Soul and is in it an Habit disposing inclining and enabling of it unto Obedience It acts it self in Faith Love and Holiness in all things But Gifts of themselves have not this Power nor these Operations They may and do in those who are possessed of them in and under their Exercise make great impression on their own Affections but they change not the Heart they renew not the Mind they transform not the Soul into the Image of God Hence where Grace is predominant every Notion of Light and Truth which is Communicated unto the Mind is immediately turned into practice by having the whole Soul cast into the Mould of it where only Gifts bear sway the use of it in Duties unto Edification is best whereunto it is designed 3. As to Effects or Consequents the great difference is that on the part of Christ Christ doth thereby dwell and reside in our Hearts when concerning many of those who have been made partakers of these other Spiritual Endowments he will say Depart from me I never knew you which he will not say of any one whose Soul he hath inhabited § 16. These are some of the principal Agreements and Differences between Saving Graces and Spiritual Gifts both sorts of them being wrought in Believers by that one and self-same Spirit which divideth to every one as he will And sor a close of this discourse I shall only add that where these Graces and Gifts in any Eminency or good Degree are bestowed on the same Persons they are exceedingly helpful unto each other A Soul sanctified by Saving Grace is the only proper Soil for Gifts to flourish in Grace Influenceth Gifts unto a due Exercise prevents their abuse stirs them up unto proper occasions keeps them from being a matter of Pride or Contention and subordinates them in all things unto the Glory of God When the actings of Grace and Gifts are inseparable as when in Prayer the Spirit is a Spirit of Grace and Supplication the Grace and Gift of it working together when utterance in other Duties is always accompanied with Faith and Love then is God glorified and our own Salvation promoted Then have Edifying Gifts a Beauty and Lustre upon them and generally are most successful when they are cloathed and adorned with Humility Meekness a Reverence of God and Compassion for the Souls of Men. Yea when there is no evidence no manifestation of their being accompanied with these and the like Graces they are but as a Parable or wise Saying in the Mouth of a Fool. Gifts on the other side excite and stir up Grace unto its proper Exercise and Operations How often is Faith Love and Delight in God excited and drawn forth unto especial Exercise in Believers by the use of their own Gifts And thus much may suffice as to the Nature of these Gifts in general we next consider them under their most general Distributions CHAP. III. Of Gifts and Offices Extraordinary And first of Offices § 1. THE Spiritual Gifts whereof we treat respect either Powers and Duties in the Church or Duties only Gifts that respect Powers and Duties are of two sorts or there have been or are at any time two sorts of such Powers and Duties The first whereof was Extraordinary the latter Ordinary and consequently the Gifts subservient unto them must be of two sorts also which must further be cleared § 2. Wherever Power is given by Christ unto his Churches and Duiies are required in the execution of that Power unto the Ends of his Spiritual Kingdom to be performed by vertue thereof there is an Office in the Church For an Ecclesiastical Office is an especial Power given by Christ unto any Person or Persons for the performance of especial Duties belonging unto the Edification of the Church in an especial manner And these Offices have been of two sorts 1. Extraordinary 2. Ordinary Some seem to deny that there was ever any such thing as Extraordinary Power or Extraordinary Offices in the Church For they do provide Successors unto all who are pleaded to have been of that kind and those such as look how far short they come of them in other things do exceed them in Power and Rule I shall not contend about words and shall therefore only enquire what it was that constituted them to be Officers of Christ in his Church whom thence we call Extraordinary and then if others can duely lay claim unto them they may be allowed to pass for their Successors § 3. THERE are four things which constitute an extraordinary Officer in the Church of God and consequently are required in and do constitute an extraordinary Office 1. An extraordinary Call unto an Office such as none other have or can have by virtue of any Law Order or Constitution whatever 2. An Extraordinary Power communicated unto Persons so called enabling them to act what they are so called unto wherein the Essence of any Office doth consist 3. Extraordinary Gifts for the Exercise and Discharge of that Power 4. Extraordinary Imployment as to its extent and measure requiring extraordinary Labour Travail Zeal and Self-denial All these do and must concur in that Office and unto those Offices which we call Extraordinary § 4.
allow in these Days such uncouth and bold Principles are continually advanced among us yet I suppose it will not in Words at least be denied by many but that Ministers have or ought to have Gifts for the due Discharge of their Office To some indeed the very Name and Word is a Derision because it is a Name and Notion peculiar to the Scripture Nothing is more contemptible unto them than the very mention of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost at present I deal not with such directly though what we shall prove will be sufficient for their Rebuke though not for their Conviction Wherefore our Enquiry is Whether the Spirit of God doth effectually collate on the Ministers of the Gospel Spiritual Gifts enabling them to perform and effect Evangelical Administrations according to the Power committed unto them and duly required of them unto the Glory of Christ and Edification of the Church It is moreover enquired whether the Endowmen of Men with these Spiritual Gifts in a Degree and Measure suited unto publick Edification be not that which doth materially constitute them Ministers of the Gospel as being Antecedently necessary unto their Call unto their Office These things I say are to be Enquired into because in opposition unto the first it is affirmed that these supposed Gifts are nothing but meer Natural Abilities attained by Diligence and improved by Exercise without any especial respect unto the working of the Holy Ghost at least otherwise than what is necessary unto the attaining of Skill and Ability in any Humane Art or Science which is the ordinary Blessing of God on Man's Honest Endeavours And to the other it is opposed that a Lawful ordinary outward Call is sufficient to constitute any Man a Lawful Minister whether he have received any such Gifts as those enquired after or no. Wherefore the substance of what we have to declare and confirm is that there is an especial Dispensation and Work of the Holy Ghost in providing able Ministers of the New Testament for the Edification of the Church wherein the Continuance of the Ministry and Being of the Church as to its outward Order doth depend and that herein he doth exert his Power and exercise his Authority in the Communication of Spiritual Gifts unto Men without a participation whereof no Man hath de jure any Lot or Portion in this Ministration Herein consists no small part of that Work of the Spirit which belongs unto his promised Dispensation in all Ages which to deny is to renounce all Faith in the Promise of Christ all regard unto his continued Love and Care towards the Church in the World or at least the principal pleadable Testimony given thereunto and under pretence of exalting and preserving the Church totally to overthrow it Now the Evidence which we shall give unto this Truth is contained in the ensuing Assertions with their Confirmation § 2. THE Lord Jesus Christ hath faithfully promised to be present with his Church unto the end of the World It is his Temple and his Tabernacle wherein he will dwell and walk continually And this presence of Christ is that which makes the Church to be what it is a Congregation Essentially distinct from all other Societies and Assemblies of Men. Let Men be formed into what Order you please according unto any outward Rules and Measures that are either given in the Scripture or found out by themselves let them derive Power and Authority by what Claim soever they shall think fit yet if Christ be not present with them they are no Church nor can all the Powers under Heaven make them so to be And where any Church loseth the especial presence of Christ it ceaseth so to be It is I suppose confessed with and among whom Christ is thus present or it may be easily proved See his Promises to this purpose Mat. 18. 20. Revel 21. 3. And those Churches do exceedingly mistake their Interest who are sollicitous about other things but make little Enquiry after the Evidences of the presence of Christ among them Some walk as if they supposed they had him sure enough as it were immured in their Walls whilst they keep up the Name of a Church and an outward Order that pleaseth and advantageth themselves But outward Order be it what it will is so far from being the only Evidence of the presence of Christ in a Church that where it is alone or when it is principally required it is none at all And therefore whereas Preaching of the Word and the right Administration of the Sacraments are assigned as the Notes of a true Church if the outward Acts and Order of them only be regarded there is nothing of Evidence unto this purpose in them § 3. 2dly THIS promised presence of Christ is by his Spirit This I have safficiently proved formerly so that here I shall be brief in its rehearsal though it be the next Foundation of what we have farther to offer in this Case We speak not of the Essential presence of Christ with respect unto the Immensity of his Divine Nature whereby he is equally present in or equally indistant from all places manifesting his Glory when where and how he pleaseth Nor doth it respect his Humane Nature for when he promised this his presence he told his Disciples that therein he must leave and depart from them John 16. 5 6 7 8. whereon they were filled with Sorrow and 〈◊〉 until they knew how he would make good the Promise of his Presence with them and who or that it was that should unto their Advantage supply his Bodily Absence And this he did in his viâ—â—â—â— Ascension when he was taken up and a Cloud 〈…〉 Him out of their sight Acts 1. 9. when also 〈…〉 given in charge unto them not to expect His return untill his coming unto Judgment ver 11. And accordingly Peter tells us That the Heavens 〈◊〉 receive him unto the time of the Restitution of all 〈◊〉 Acts 3. 21. when he will appear again in the Glory of his Father Mat. 16. 27. even 〈…〉 Glory which the Father gave him upon his 〈◊〉 2 Pet. 1. 17. joined unto that Glory which he had with him before the World was John 17. 5. In and upon this his Departure from them he taught his Disciples how they should understand his Promise of being present and abiding with them unto the End of the World And this was by sending of his Holy Spirit in his Name Place and Stead to do all to them and for them which he had yet to do with them and for them See John 14. 16 17 18 26 27 28. Chap. 15. 26. Chap. 16. 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14. And other Vicar in the Church Christ hath none nor doth stand in need of any nor can any Mortal Man supply that Charge and Office Nor was any such ever thought of in the World untill Men grew weary of the Conduct and Rule of the Holy Spirit by various ways taking his Work out