for us with God and then what kind of help should we receive from him But then Secondly The Spirit is said to make intercession for us with groans which cannot be uttered Now though we should grant that groaning may in a metaphorical sense and unproperly be attributed unto the Spirit yet how any groans or groaning of his should be unutterable unto him who is the Lord of all Language and Speech is not easie to conceive Thirdly Whereas the Argument insisteth so rigidly upon these words in the end of ver 27. The Spirit it self maketh intercession for us according to the will of God As if they argued a distinct will of the Spirit from the will of God I reply that the words do not signifie according to the Will of God here is no word which signifieth Will But according unto God and they answer these words by way of Antithesis in the former verse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as we ought Thus the Apostle had there granted that the Saints did not indeed of themselves know how to pray as they ought here he tells them for their comfort that the Spirit will enable them to pray as they ought i. e. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according unto God or the mind or will of God i. e. as they ought and as it becometh them to pray And here is a direct answer relating to those infirmities which our Apostle had expresly affirmed to be in the Saints Fourthly That the work of the Spirit on the behalf of the Saints doth not lie in this to pray for the Saints a part in heaven which is the sense of the Author of this Argument is evident from Joh. 14.16 where our Saviour saith that when he should go away he would pray the Father and he will give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever even the Spirit of truth c. So that the work which the Spirit hath to do for the Saints is not in heaven since the Ascension of Christ into Heaven Heaven is not the Stage or Theatre where the Holy Ghost acteth and bestirs himself on the behalf of the Saints but now he is come down upon the earth and his great business which he hath to do lieth in the earth even with the hearts minds understandings and wills of men stirring and moving there But Fifthly and lastly Remember the Rule that we delivered unto you in the former Argument which will fully give you the sense wherein the Holy Ghost is said to intercede with groans we gave you many instances when we delivered this for a Rule that in many places Actions are ascribed unto him that doth assist and direct and help men in the performance of them and not unto him that is the formal and immediate Agent So here the Holy Ghost doth intercede with groans because he doth fill the Saints with his Wisdom and Power and so putteth them into a posture to conceive inward groans and secret motions and desires in the Soul which the Creature indeed is not able to utter or come to God withal in his lips the Creature cannot utter it self when the heart is full of the Spirit of God yet such persons are acted beyond their own ability and very well may be because the Spirit is directing guiding and strengthening unto this work And this is the property of an Intercessor To intercede doth not alwaies signifie to plead for us but sometimes to plead with us against any Enemy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this word in the rigour of the Grammatical signification of it is not alwaies used for interceding for another which he seemeth to catch at as I judge from the Latine word which signifieth to go between two but sometimes to go in opposition to an Enemy and sometimes it signifieth to expostulate and debate things with another Acts 25. So that all things being considered it is a clear case that this Argument is wholly defective And it may be seen further Rom. 8.15 it is expresly said that by means of the Spirit we cry Abba Father meaning that by the assistance and impulse of the Spirit we are able to call God Father which implieth the whole duty and management of this great service of Prayer and Invocation on the name of God And in the last place Jam. 16. speaking of the Prayer of the righteous man we translate it the effectual Prayer but the word properly signifieth that which is acted within a person by a power which is superiour to that which is natural in it We call those persons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who are acted by an unclean Spirit as when any person is made to speak a Language which he never understood we use to say such a person is inspired acted and carried out by a power superiour to his own And so that Prayer which can do so much with God The effectual fervent prayer of the Righteous it properly signifieth such a Prayer which is full of the Holy Ghost which is inspired into man or whereunto a man is carried out and thrust forward by a Divine Power greater than his own So that these things considered it is a clear case that the true sense and meaning of the place is only this That the Spirit of God relieveth our infirmities in Prayer that when as we know not how to pray as we ought and when the flesh sometimes cometh in and directeth and leadeth into such a method of Prayer which we ought not the Spirit now interposing and directing and leading us to such a method and way that now we pray according to the mind and will of God Now concerning the business it self Sect. 19 I mean the Controversie I would only say this before I leave it that if you mind it or shall please to go round about the matters in Controversie and weigh both these Doctrines First that which denieth the Holy Ghost to be God go I say round it and take all the Arguments and grounds which the Maintainers thereof are pleased to bring forth and weigh and consider their tendencies and operations upon the hearts and consciences of men and you shall find them altogether barren and flat and no waies calculated for the nourishment of men neither is there any thing in it that is any waies apt to quicken the hearts of men to the Service of God comparable to that Doctrine which doth oppose it viz. That the Holy Ghost is God truly God In this Doctrine and in the Arguments by which it is proved there is spirit and life there is as it were great strength which cometh forth from it which bears upon the Judgments and Consciences of men It rules like a King upon his Throne Whereas those other Doctrines viz. that deny the Spirit and so likewise Christ to be God are but of a dull and flat import there is no manner of spiritual power and vigour in them It may possibly be the sense of some that the time wherein we have been
This is a second thing by the way Thirdly We may add that likewise by the way that in reference to many persons the question now under consideration is Sect. 3 upon the matter no question at all I mean in this respect because they are so manifestly and so apparently filled with an unclean Spirit one or more that there is no place left for any considerable enquiry whether they be filled with the Spirit of God or no The reason is because they do plainly discover themselves to be filled with the spirit of the World Of this sort of persons are all those who live whether in the secret or open practice of those sins whether one or more which the Holy Ghost in the Scriptures expresly declares to be inconsistent with an estate of Grace and with Salvation and for which the Holy Ghost excludeth them out of heaven We have a list of several of these kinds of persons drawn up by the Apostle 1 Cor. 6.9 10. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Be not deceived neither Idolaters nor Fornicators nor Adulterers nor Effeminate nor abusers of themselves with Mankind nor Thieves nor Covetous nor Drunkards nor Railers nor Extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God meaning if they continue such But you are washed c. Some of these with a clause of enlargement which taketh in more than are here named we have elsewhere mentioned by the same Apostle Eph. 5 5 6. For this ye know that no Whoremonger nor Vnclean person nor the Covetous man who is an Idolater hath any c. Let no man deceive you with vain words for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the Children of disobedience It seemeth that there was in the Apostles daies such a Generation of men like unto which we have in these daies who are called Rantors who bear men in hand being first deceived themselves they labour to deceive others also that for such things as these are even all manner of abominations though they commit them yet there is no such thing as the wrath of God coming upon them no but they can follow these wicked practices with the greatest liberty and that they understand their liberty to be such that they may do such things as these without any regret So that concerning such persons as these we need not spend time in debating the case whether they be filled with the Spirit of God or with some other Spirit contrary unto him The case is evident enough without debate As a man needs not a touchstone for a Chip or a piece of brown Paper to try whether these be good Gold or no these plainly enough discover themselves to be no Gold without the Touchstone every mans sense will inform him of it So that the Question propounded lately is chiefly or only to be managed between persons that have some colourable or plausible pretense to a being filled with the Spirit of God and such who have a real and substantial ground for such a claim Fourthly Sect. 4 That also is to be premised and remembred by the way that we do not intend to sift or examine the difference between a regenerate and an unregenerate estate nor make a discovery of those who have the sanctifying Spirit of God in any degree from amongst those who totally want it but only to search after and if it may be find out who they are that are really filled with the Spirit of God amongst those who pretend to such a fulness and how these may be manifested from the other Fifthly and lastly This also would be taken along with us Sect. 5 that the Spirit of God being a voluntary Agent doth not utter himself in all or every person whom he filleth with his presence in all the variety of his gifts And from hence it followeth that men may be filled with the Spirit of God in respect of some one of his operations and yet make no appearance of the fulness of the Spirit in some other 1 Cor. 12.8 9 10. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of Wisdom to another the word of Knowledge by the same Spirit c. Here we may clearly see that one and the self same Spirit of God is able to fill several men with variety of gifts with several kinds of filling One may be filled with the Spirit of God in respect of Knowledge another may be filled with the Spirit of God in respect of Wisdom and yet may not be filled with him in some other consideration But if you ask me the difference between Wisdom and Knowledge you may conceive it thus Wisdom implieth a heavenly dexterity a faculty and ability to apply general Rules or Sayings to particular Cases to be able to find out Rules whereby to resolve Questions and Cases which another man who wanteth the Spirit of Wisdom will not be able to see As for instance Our Saviour when he was put to it by the Scribes and Pharisees to justifie the Fact of his Disciples in plucking the Ears of Corn against their unjust Clamours if he had not had a rich anointing of this gift of the Spirit of Wisdom he would not have been able to find out a passage of Scripture to have justified this Practice of theirs but you know where he findeth it and to prove the lawfulness of what his Disciples did Have ye not read saith he Mat. 12.3 4. what David did and those with him when they were hungry how that they went to the House of God and eat the Shew-bread which was not lawful for them to do And so he gives another instance of the Priests Circumcising on the Sabbath day and yet they pollute not the Sabbath Here he by the Spirit of Wisdom findeth the grounds that are contained in these passages of Scriptures laid up somewhat close out of the way of the ordinary thoughts of men It is like not any of the Apostles had been able to make use of these to plead their own cause but the Lord Jesus Christ by reason of that Spirit of Wisdom did it effectually There is the like gift of the Spirit to a degree which is discernable to those that have eyes to discern Men that are but of competent Judgments may clearly see that in some men the Spirit of God doth put forth himself in this great and happy gift of Wisdom making them able to find out grounds and passages of Scripture for the clearing and unfolding of such questions and difficulties which other men and men that are more excellent in their way in some other gifts of the Spirit are not able to do Now Knowledge noteth an understanding of the general Rules themselves and the things themselves which are delivered and asserted in the Scriptures A man may have all Knowledge as the Scriptures speak he may be able to repeat the whole Scriptures from first to last by heart and give an account of the sense and meaning of
those Motives which were he intent upon would do the deed would amount to such a holy and sacred anointing as now we speak of your being filled with the Spirit of God whereby you would be made Priests of the Living God So much for the First Use of the Doctrine the Use of Instruction CHAP. XIII A Second Vse of the Doctrine being a Vse of Reproof unto all those who are Enemies unto this heavenly Exhortation and Counsel of the Holy Ghost administred unto men namely to be filled with the Spirit and who by any means obstruct the course of it A first sort are such who scoff at such a thing as a being filled with the Spirit of God A second sort of Offenders are such who perswade men that the Spirit which they are exhorted to be filled with is but a finite Spirit an Angel and not God Wherein many things are further argued proving the Holy Ghost to be the most High God THe second Use was a Use of Reproof Sect. 1 and this in the general of all those who are Enemies to this heavenly Exhortation this blessed Counsel administred by the Holy Ghost unto men of being filled with the Spirit of God who either by word or by deed or by both obstruct the course of it that it doth not run is not glorified in the World as it ought to be Of these kind of Offenders there are several Species or sorts highly censurable by the Divine Authority of the Doctrine and truth delivered The first are they who being strangers altogether to the Spirit of God the Spirit of which both the Text and and the Doctrine speaketh are full of the Spirit of the World or rather of the God of the World Sathan who instead of being full of the Spirit of God laugh at all Discourses of mens being filled with him yea or of so much as having the Spirit of God in them to scorn hearing from the mouths of faithful Ministers of God sometimes and it may be from the discourse of other Christians that the Saints and Servants of God such who truly believe in Jesus Christ are led by the Spirit of God and taught by him how to pray how to walk holily and soberly and righteously in the World they make a mock at it as some of the more ignorant and prophane Jews did at the Apostles being filled with the Spirit we speak of Acts 2.13 When they spake with strange Tongues Others mocking saith the Text said these men are full of New-wine When any thing of God or of the Spirit of God more than ordinary in one kind or other appeareth in any of the Saints or Servants of God they that are ignorant of God and of his waies will never own or acknowledge the procedure of it to be from God if they can but imagine any other cause though with never so slight appearance from whence there is the least probability that it may proceed yea if they can imagine any cause in this case which is worse than other and which is more disparaging unto the persons in whom that grace and power of God we speak of doth appear this shall be the cause unto which the excellent work of God in his Saints shall be imputed and ascribed How little reason or colour of reason was there to pretend or think that New Wine over-freely drank or taken by men should put them into a capacity of speaking with Tongues strange Tongues such as they never understood or were able to speak before They knew well enough many of the Company that were there or amongst them that every one that spake had a distinct knowledge of the Tongue of their own Nation We hear them speak all in our own Language said they Now I say let any sober and considering man think but a little of the business how impossible a thing it is that New Wine should invest men with a capacity and an ability to speak with strange Tongues in a strange language yet rather than they would acknowledge that the Spirit was the Author thereof they attribute it to New Wine New Wine may cause them to speak freely and at random but not in other Tongues they may indeed speak none-sense and not distinctly or else that which no man can understand but that it should enable and qualifie men for the speaking in strange Tongues distinctly and sensibly to the understanding of other men there is not the least colour or the lightest pretense thus to argue But ignorant persons and such as are prophane what will they not do to harden themselves though in the most irrational and senseless manner that may be And besides the things which the Apostles here spake and uttered and which were understood by those who so imputed the speaking of them in variety of Languages were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Magnalia the great and wonderful things of God If New Wine had been the inspirer these could not have been the great things of God that they had spoken but the great things of the Devil and of the World So when the Lord Christ cast out the unclean Spirit out of him that was possessed Mat. 12.24 it is said that the Pharisees presently charged this upon Sathan and upon his having to do with him because the Devil is a supernatural Agent in that sense which we usually take supernatural That is he is able to do things which are strange and out of the course of Nature therefore he is a kind of reserve for ignorant and wicked men when they meet with any thing of God and of the Spirit of God in the Saints they have the Devil in readiness to impute all these things unto As I remember I have read in the Story of Martyrs when any of the Martyrs shewed any invincible courage or patience in the midst of their torments the Priests that stood by would still perswade the People that the Devil had bereaved them of their senses and had distracted them before the fire came at them and by this kind of colour and feigned pretense they thought to way-lay and to stop the course of the apprehension of the common sort of People lest they should think that there was any great appearance of God in them So when the Lord Christ taught the People with so much wisdom and understanding that they were astonished and the greatest part of them began to admire how he that had not known a Letter should speak at such a rate as he did it is said they were offended at him Mat. 13.57 implying they thought that he came not by it lawfully but by the help of the Devil they could not make it out that he was a good man because they were ignorant of his gifts therefore they fall foul upon the Lord Christ So Paul in those high strains whether in teaching or rather in practice or acting in the World which the Corinthians could not comprehend nor reconcile with such Principles as they were acted by was
for a reason or some short time only in the Ministry of John notwithstanding he was a light both 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 burning and shining He was a burning and a shining light and ye were willing to rejoyce in his light John is here by our Saviour described or commended by two properties which in a Minister are most like to retain and keep as well as to procure and gain the affections and approbations of men The first is That he was a burning light secondly That he was a shining light Zeal accompanied with an excellency of knowledge are two most excellent and worthy qualifications in the Ministers of the Gospel and a man would think a Minister who is provided with these should so endear the hearts of men and women whom he serveth in the work of the Ministry that he should so captivate their hearts and affections that neither life nor death nor things present nor things to come should be able to separate or to estrange such a man from the affections of his people Yet nevertheless this we see was John's case with the Jews he was a burning and shining light he had all the advantages that lightly could be found in a man to retain what he had gotten in the hearts and affections of his people and yet they who did mightly rejoyce in him for a season after a while saw no such matter in him John who was as an Angel of God for a season was but like another man soon after not that there was any alteration or change in John for doubtless he did not decline neither in his burning nor in his shining until the very day and hour of his death And therefore that there was such a change in the minds of the Jews towards him it proceeded from the levity of spirit and affection which was so incident unto them Ye were willing to rejoyce saith our Saviour the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth an excellent degree of rejoycing to dance and leap or spring for joy he doth not simply say that they did rejoyce but that they were willing to do it that they did it freely and of their own accord they were not importuned by any perswasion or prompting by any other man yet they had enough of John in a short time when once they had gone round about him and saw his gifts and abilities and what he was able to do when they had tasted thoroughly of his Doctrine they could as freely turn their backs upon him as upon any other man they would see whether there were any other Teacher that was of another spirit or of another method of Teaching or whose Doctrine or matter was of a higher and more sublime nature or consideration than his And so likewise it fared with the great Apostle Paul amongst the Corinthians and especially amongst the Galathians to the Corinthians 1 Cor. 9.2 He saith that though it were supposed that unto others he was not an Apostle yet to them he was meaning that however they might think that he did not acquit or approve himself as an Apostle amongst other people where he preached the Gospel as either by working signs or miracles amongst them or by the efficacy and success of his Doctrine in the Consciences of many yet certainly he had approved himself both these waies and every other way an Apostle unto them For saith he in the latter part of the verse the seal of mine Apostleship are ye in the Lord meaning that their being in Christ their conversion to the Faith was a seal i. e. a sure testimony and confirmation unto them that he had the Commission of an Apostle from Christ And elsewhere he saith 2 Cor. 12.12 that the signs of an Apostle were wrought amongst them meaning by himself As in all patience so in signs and wonders and mighty deeds Elsewhere he saith 1 Cor. 4.15 That in Christ Jesus he had begotten them through the Gospel In another place 2 Cor. 11.2 That he had espoused them to one Husband to present them a chaste Virgin unto Christ To pass by much more of like import Such things as these by which this people could not but be lifted up unto heaven as our Saviour speaks in the like case were sufficient in all likelihood of reason so to have endeared this Apostle unto them and to have engaged them unto him that he should have been in their hearts as he professeth they were in his even to die and to live together notwithstanding How soon was this Son of the Morning this glorious Apostle and heavenly Benefactor of this people fallen in their hearts and respects Other teachers who were not worthy to loose the lachets of his shooes coming in the way carried away the prize of their affections and esteem from him these were the men that were all in all with them Paul was but an underling in their thoughts a sorry fellow in comparison After al the Signs annd Wonders and mighty Works that he had wrought amongst them after all those gifts and heavenly endowments as of Wisdom Knowledge Utterance Tongues yet they sought a proof of Christ speaking in him 1 Cor. 13.3 They could not tell whether he was so much as a true Minister of Christ or no unless he should give them a good account of it It is somewhat strange to think how the generality of this People having such rational foundations to build themselves stable and steady upon should yet sink so low in their esteem of him But neither did this most worthy Person and Apostle speed any whit better amongst the Galatians than he had done amongst the Cerinthians he gained high respects and large affections he telleth them that at his first coming amongst them he was received by them as an Angel of God and as Jesus Christ they had such strong impressions upon them that they could have plucked out their eyes for him Gal. 4.14 15. but very quickly he became out of credit with them and his reputation was fallen in the dust they cared not they were Kings and reigned without Paul they knew how to want his Ministry and his counsel and direction they had found out men that pleased them better they had heaped up Teachers according to their humours they had itching ears and therefore they must have some that would scratch them and fall in with them and please their fansies and thus when they had met with such Preachers and Doctors Gal. 1.6 which were commensurable to their Notions or unto that Spirit which had now taken them these were the men now and the Heirs of Paul's Inheritance in their affections and in the respects which he received from them Yea the Lord Christ notwithstanding that as his Adversaries themselves bear him witness he spake as never man spake yea though for a time he so marvelously affected the People partly with his Miracles partly with his Doctrine that they were about to take him by force and make him a King Joh. 6.15 yet
heart and spirit Psal 31.9 10. It makes men heavy lumpish and sad averse unto all action as if they had neither life nor soul as we use to say being like unto Davids Images That have hands and handle not feet and walk not c. Psal 115.7 And Jobs three Friends Job 2.13 cast themselves down with him upon the ground and for seven daies and seven nights together none of them speaking so much as a word unto him the reason is given because they saw that his grief was very great Meaning as Junius well interprets it That the greatness of that grief which they perceived had taken hold of the spirit and soul of their Friend so afflicted them and because that sympathy commiseration had wrought such a grief in them that they sate all this while as persons astonished and were not able to stir up themselves to comfort him by these instances you may see it is the nature of grief to contract the heart and to make men listless unto action In like manner the Spirit through the ungrateful disobedient and unworthy behaviour of men towards him is said to be grieved when by such means men have wrought him if we may so speak to the like listlessness of acting and putting forth the excellencie of his power in their hearts and souls as formerly he did and doth sometime in others On the other hand a man is never in a right posture for action or for the doing of any thing that is of any good or great concernment unto others but when he enjoyeth himself upon the highest and richest terms of satisfaction and contentment So then the Spirit of God is said to be grieved by men when they shall deal so unkindly with or by him as to reject and neglect his heavenly motions and inspirations by giving over such and such waies of honour Christian excellency and worth which they had sometime lift up their hearts and hands unto and walked with delight in them When men I say shall cease to go on in such waies as these and prefer the ignoble and base motions of the Flesh or of the World before those that come from him and which are all honourable and heavenly such a demeanour of men towards the Spirit of God grieveth him that is Maketh him listless unto action and causeth him to abate and to fall lower in his operations and to give out himself more faintly than before Whereas he had been active and ever and anon stirring and provoking them and this with efficacie and power unto this and that good way and work now he withdraweth by degrees and declineth these motions and operations upon which the soul of man becomes listless and dull to any thing of a spiritual concernment like a Ship becalmed on the Seas whose Sails a little before were filled with fresh and pleasant gales of wind carrying her amain to her desired Port. Now then if it be a duty lying upon Christians not to grieve the Spirit Then by the authority of both the Rules by which we found out the true sense of our former proof both of them being as proper and useful here it is their duty also to chear and delight the Spirit I mean to keep themselves in such a frame or posture both inwardly in heart and soul and outwardly in life and conversation that he may take delight in them And if it be the duty of Christians to be pleasing unto and compliant with the Spirit simply indefinitely and in any degree Then upon the grounds formerly argued and made good it is more their duty to endeavour with their whole heart and soul to please him in the highest Now when he taketh delight and pleasure in any man in more than an ordinary degree he will signifie not only his contentment in this kind but even the measure and degree of it also by a proportionable advancement of his gracious activity upon all occasions This is that we intend and hold forth in the Doctrine from the Apostles expression of being filled with the Spirit which also by warrant of the same authority we affirm to be a duty lying upon all Christians We shall insist only upon one proof more to confirm the truth of the Doctrine Sect. 11 Be kindly affectioned saith the Apostle one unto another c. Be not slothful in business but fervent in spirit serving the Lord Rom. 12.10 11. To be fervent in Spirit especially in the Service of God or of Christ requires a great presence or fulness of the Spirit of God in a man For the Spirit of a man acted only by it self or by its own strength wisdom or goodness will never rise so high in any true and real Service of god as fervency of spirit doth import Neither will an ordinary presence or assistance of the Spirit of God himself carry the heart of a man up unto any such pitch of devotion He that will have an ear to hearken to the voice of this Exhortation of being fervent in spirit in the Service of the Lord must find out a way how to engage and how to comport with the Spirit of God that he may vouchsafe unto him a measure of his presence heaped up to make him capable of so great and worthy an undertaking Yea men I suppose cannot be fervent in spirit in doing any thing which they call or judge to be the Service of God although it be a Service of their own fansie or genius or of some worse deity unless they be acted therein by a spirit more active than their own So then if it be a duty lying upon all Christians to be fervent in spirit serving the Lord then is it a duty that beareth with the same weight upon them to be filled with the Spirit Inasmuch as the performance of the former of these duties cannot stand but by the performance of the latter so that from hence it is evident that it is a duty incumbent upon all Christians to be filled with the Spirit Besides these Scriptures now argued we might if need were increase their number for the proof of our Doctrine by arguing in like manner all those Scriptures which require such things of men that cannot be performed by men without a being filled with the Spirit such passages of these which are not a few do clearly import that it is a duty yea a duty of duties such a duty without the performance whereof great numbers of other duties will suffer and never appear in their glory Texts of this import are these with their fellows Rom 8.13 Joh. 16.24 Luke 21.36 CHAP. II. The first Reason of the Doctrine propounded and argued viz That it is the duty of all persons especially of all the Professors of the Gospel or Christianity to be filled with the Holy Ghost or Spirit of God Because if men be not filled or in a way of being filled with the Spirit of God they will be filled with some evil Spirit one or other IT is
foreseen such a case or cases wherein a suspension of a just and good Law could be necessary it would not have been their wisdom nor for the interest of the people to make mention of it in their Law but to leave the regulation of such cases to that supreme Law we speak of In like manner when the Holy Ghost cometh in unto or falls upon any person man or woman on the sudden when they have been formerly and untill then vain loose and prophane it is upon some special and weighty occasion and of high importance for the benefit of the generallity of men not so much for the benefit of any single or particular person no but for matter of greater consequence and more comprehensive than the good or benefit of any one I say when ever God varies from a general Rule it is alwaies in order to the benefit and relief of the communities of men as for example for the preserving and keeping alive in the judgments and consciences of men some great principle of truth one or other which was ready to dye and so be lost in those parts of the world where his providence so acted Now to preserve and keep such a principle alive in the souls and consciences of men if God shall appear in an extraordinary manner or the Holy Ghost work out of course it is a sign that it was not likely to be preserved by any other means or however not by any means so proper or so well consistent with the wisdom of God as this For that is to be minded when there is any ordinary way or means to accomplish any end as to instance in our present case to preserve and keep alive any great truth then and in such cases God never betaketh himself to that which is extraordinary But as to the business in hand an instance may be in the Apostle Paul his Case he giveth this account of Gods going out of his ordinary way of Grace in bringing him unto himself viz. That it was for the benefit of men yea of such men who were not like to be wrought upon otherwise For this cause saith he I obtained mercy not so much for mine own sake principally but that in me Christ might shew forth all long-suffering for a pattern to them that should afterward believe on him to eternal life 1 Tim. 1.16 As if he should have said God in vouchsafing that extraordinary grace to me in my conversion in bringing me to the knowledge of Christ did not look so much on my salvation nor upon the great benefit that I should receive from it but was pleased to pitch upon me that he might shew forth all long-suffering for a pattern to them that should afterwards believe he speaks here of his own Countrymen the Jews that were called or to be called to believe on Christ And because God would give an advantage unto them for their believing being a stubborn and stiff-necked Generation a people that had desperately rebelled against the Gospel he was pleased to set this Apostle as a Pattern for them that when they had such a Pattern before them they might conceive thus with themselves There was a man every whit as wicked as we as unworthy as great an enemy to Christ and the Gospel as we yet he was called and with a high hand of acceptation received therefore doubtless we may trust in him and expect that if we will subject to him and come in and accept of mercy we shall be received into grace and favour also So now if there can be any such instance produced in our daies or in the places where we have conversed viz. That any extraordinary thing hath been done for men in a way of a real and through repentance and conversion for a seeming repentance and conversion may be in many where true repentance is seldom wrought but if I say there can be the truth and reality of any such unusual work of the Holy Ghost demonstrated doubtless there was or is some great principle one or other some important truth in a declining condition in those parts and places where any such extraordinary power of God and of his Spirit doth appear and it is to keep alive and in power and authority such a Doctrine As for instance it may be the free grace and mercy of God and that readiness in him to entertain and receive Sinners when-ever they shall return unto him this great truth I say may be so weakened in the judgments and minds of men that it may need more than an ordinary confirmation And so that men have no cause to be jealous of their former courses as if these having been so wretched and vile they might repent and yet be cast out from God Again That wicked men have as much right unto as much to do if not more with the Promises of the Gospel as Believers themselves and so that persons that have not been so or so humbled or terrified by the Law may as lawfully yea and as truly believe as those that have been in the greatest terrours of Conscience by means of it Now for the relieving and reviving of such Evangelical Principles and Conclusions as these and the like in the hearts and Consciences of men there may possibly be some extraordinary working of the Holy Ghost in and about the conversion of some man or some few Fourthly Sect. 15 When God beginneth or first entreth upon a new kind of Dispensation or series of Providence or Administrations in the world the first instance or example of such a kind of dispensation is not to be indeed in some particular Cases cannot be regulated by such Laws unto which the subsequent practice of the same Administrations are to be governed afterwards I say the first Dispensation in any kind cannot be a reasonable or perfect measure by which all other after Administrations are to be measured Men of reason and learning have delivered this for a Maxime Primum in unoquoque genere est excipiendum That the first of every kind of things is to be excepted meaning from the Common Law of the rest So that in this case God doth go along with men in their own manner of proceedings To make the observation clear When God gave being to the first man Adam intending by him the propagation of great numbers of men he did not observe the decrees or Laws of nature or natural production which he doth in giving life and being to other men So when he began that Church the members of which were afterwards numerous even the whole Nation of the Jews he appeared unto and called Abraham in somewhat an extraordinary manner This was the first beginning the head of that kind of dispensation in the world For God had not a peculiar Church raised out of any stock or generation in the world before it was to him the beginning of Churches No marvel then that he should begin this Church after another manner and in a method somewhat
necessary uses that they be not unfruitful he clearly supposeth that they who truly believe in God are in danger notwithstanding their Faith of being unfruitful and that to maintain the honour and necessity of good works by an exemplariness in the practice of them requireth a peculiar strain of wisdom and care over and besides a mans believing But this only by the way to shew that mens Works do not alwaies keep pace with their Faith but are very frequently much behind it Thirdly Sect. 10 There is the same consideration of the third thing mentioned which is the keeping of the Commands of God If we do this we shall do something like unto the Children of God and worthy the heirs Apparent of Heaven and of the glory of the world to come And indeed it becomes these to quit themselves like Princes in the World and to be Soveraign Benefactors to the Community of men For wherefore are they called the Sons of God more than other men if they be not like unto god in blessing the World in their capacity as he doth in his And yet neither shall they be in any capacity for this so honourable a work or imployment I mean to bless the World by keeping the Commands of God unless they be filled with the Spirit of God For my Brethren the Commands of God and so of Christ we know are spiritual The Law faith the Apostle is spiritual Rom. 7.14 and Believers themselves even they that believe in the highest the worthiest Believers under Heaven are carnal in a very great measure whilest they carry about them the body of flesh that will still be importuning them to take care and make provision for it yea for the inordinate desires and lusts of it in several kinds It will ever and anon be putting even the best men upon projecting and contriving its gratification in this pleasure and in that in this enjoyment and in that without end As the dunghil sendeth forth noysome and offensive vapours and stenches continually So the Flesh all the day long ceaseth nor to breath upon us in many unsavoury foolish troublesome and importune suggestions and motions still lusting as the Apostle expresseth it against the Spirit And doubtless it was an obnoxiousness in this kind that drew from him that sad complaint not only of his being carnal but even sold under sin Rom. 7.14 meaning that he was a man seldom free from some sinful insinuations or other from his flesh yea and that pathetical lamentation also Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death Ver. 24. Now these continual workings and movings of the flesh are of a strong antipathy against and next to an utter inconsistency with the keeping of the Commands of Jesus Christ For as we lately heard it lusteth against the Spirit and so fighteth against the soul 1 Pet. 2.11 And therefore the Apostle himself was fain to take order with his body to keep it under and teach it subjecton to the Spirit and Word of God 1 Cor. 9.27 So we should nurture it likewise and teach it to demand and require of us only things that are regular and agreeable to the mind of God and to be content with things that are requisite needful and comely for it And if the Flesh would but contain it self within this compass and not exceed in craving and desiring the bounds of that Law which God hath prescribed unto it it would not much interrupt us in our course of obedience unto Christ But now there is no mans flesh so well taught or nurtured or brought into any such subjection but that it will be importuning him for things that are inconvenient and be unreasonable in its motions as it alwaies is when it lusteth against the Spirit Sometimes and in some things it lusteth with the Spirit as when it requires I mean or doth without impatience or frowardness only such things as are convenient and meet for it as such meats and drinks such cloathing and harbour such rest c. which is for the support of it and without which the health and strength and serviceable activity and vigour of it cannot in a natural or ordinary way be maintained All this while it lusteth with the Spirit for the Spirit demands and requires such things of us for the flesh and outward man But now for the most part it lusteth against the Spirit as in seeking to be gratified in things contrary to the Spirit and the dictates hereof to those Laws of holiness and righteousness which God himself hath judged meet to prescribe unto it So that unless we be in a great measure spiritual which must be by being filled with the Spirit of God certain it is we shall ever and anon faulter and be broken in the course of our obedience and not carry on the great design of observing the Commands of God with that throughness with that evenness of tenour with that authority life and power which are very requisite and necessary to be found in those whose worth and goodness have ingaged them to attempt the Blessing of the World For if there shall be any breaches and empty places found in our obedience if we shall ever and anon fall foul upon any of the more remarkable Commands of Jesus Christ alas we shall endanger the repute and worth of the goodness of those other things wherein we shall obey and walk regularly they will lose much of their virtue and authority in the hearts and consciences of men if they shall be mated and coupled with actions and practices that are ignoble and base yea though it be but with omissions and neglects of such duties which the World knows we stand bound to perform as well as those which we do in their sight Therefore there is an eminent and clear necessity for the interposure of the Spirit of God both to enable and make us willing to nurture and keep under the flesh that it moves orderly and regularly so as not to be troublesome unto us with craving any thing that is sinful and inordinate or which intrencheth upon the glory of God and honour of the great Law-giver Jesus Christ or at least to make us resolute and peremptory to reject with indignation all dishonourable and unseemly motions that it shall make unto us and to hearken unto it in nothing in our condescension whereunto any of our great interests or spiritual concernments are like to suffer in the least Even this is an high and holy priviledge and not to be obtained or enjoyed by men without the high exertions and workings of the Spirit of God in them And by the careful and constant exercise and use hereof we spin such an even and strong thread of obedience to the Commands of God whereby we shall be able to draw the world unto him For as Christ said long since unto the Jews Joh. 4.48 Except ye see signs and wonders ye will not believe So the truth is that men
a greater presence of God and where he filleth the hearts and souls of men with his presence there he riseth and advanceth in a more excellent manner with greater accommodations teaching them how to pray meaning the manner how they should pray Now in that he is said to relieve our infirmities and to help our ignorances when we pray and so to teach the Saints to pray as they ought by making Intercession for them the meaning is that he teacheth them a prayer of a more excellent and of a more spiritual import and teacheth them how to present this Prayer of theirs upon terms of a richer and more high acceptation unto God And Gal. 4.6 it is said God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying Alba Father This is a Phrase or Figure of speakking wherein Actions are ascribed unto those who are the means or cause of them and not to the Actors themselves As for instance Charity is said to believe all things and to hope all things because it doth qualifie and dispose the Person where it is found thus to believe all things and to hope all things So here the Spirit is said to cry Abba Father and so to make intercession for the Saints because he doth teach enable and dispose them both to the one and to the other You had a taste of that formerly in Jude ver 20. praying in the Holy Ghost that is by or through the help and assistance of the Holy Ghost According to the same figure our Saviour's Saying unto his Apostles is to be understood Mar. 10.20 For it is not ye that speak but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you When they should come before Rulers and Governours he saith it was not they that should speak but the Holy Ghost that was within them his meaning is not that the Holy Ghost did speak the words but only because the Holy Ghost did furnish them with such and such things which they should speak So now they that be filled with the Spirit of God there is as it were a characteristical difference between the same kind of actions in them and that which proceedeth from other men who have not the same edge of spirit and life in them these are full of power and authority and heavenly lustre and beauty in their actions and doings whereas the like actions and performances of persons that do them without the Spirit have nothing of excellency in them Now of how great and blessed a consequence is it unto you to be enabled to pray effectually to carry things in Heaven richly and upon terms of highest acceptation If we could but weigh this one priviledge or advantage alone in the balance we should find it to weigh more than all the Silver and Gold in the World What To be able to pray yea to pray unto God with acceptation to pray so as to be able to prevail with God and that about great matters for States and Kingdoms as they may that have an interest in Heaven as such persons we speak of have Such men might carry the World before them they might pluck up States and Kingdoms they might be as great in Heaven as Nâ—buchadnezzar was here upon Earth whom he would he set up and whom he would he pulled down so had we interest in Heaven as we might have we might do likewise It is like we are at such a pass as the Disciples were at when it is said that they believed not for joy when Christ came first amongst them the consideration of his being rose again from the dead was a business of such a mighty consequence such a matter of joy that it became a stumbling-block in the way of their faith They believed not for joy i. e. they were not capable of the most demonstrative Arguments and Convictions as when he shewed them his hands and his feet and talked with them This is the case of this great Priviledge I speak of viz. of carrying matters in Heaven we are conscious to our selves that we are poor and weak men and women whom the men of this World are generally ready to to be treading and trampling under foot and to despise Oh my Brethren the things we speak of How incredible above measure are they Yet it is a most certain and an undoubted truth that if we be filled with the Spirit of God we might pray at such a rate and after such a manner that we might carry our Petitions in Heaven and even whatsoever we should ask in the Name of Jesus Christ according to the will of God And we need have no larger Rule than this we need not desire a larger Commission than the compass of the Will of God For all things are according to the Will of God which are necessary for the comforts and accommodation of men and women in the World round about Jâ—m 5.16 The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as all Greek Authors give out the proper signification of it is this It noteth a Person that is possessed or acted by a supernatural power whether it be of an holy or an unclean Spirit above their Sphere so now that prayer viz. the effectual fervent prayer c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is acted wrought and raised by a Spirit which is greater than the spirit of man and therefore of necessity by no other than the Spirit of God the Holy Ghost himself who thus raised and lifted up himself in might and power to enable them hereunto Eighthly and lastly By being filled with the Spirit of God Sect. 18 you shall by the mediation of the fruit and consequence of the particular last mentioned consult to your selves so much the better Resurrection and consequently the better Eternity I allude to that place in the latter end of Heb. 11. where the Author speaking of the Servants of God saith that they might obtain a better Resurrection where the Antecedent is put for the Consequent a better Resurrection for a better State in the Resurrection There are other waies and practices or at least may be upon which men may obtain the fatness of Heaven the best of the glory and great things of the World to come But there is none so certain or regular none within the reach of the Wisdom or Providence of men that a man may rely and reckon upon whereby to consult to himself a better Heaven but only that we speak of A being filled with the Spirit of God If you be made great in the Kingdom of Heaven in any other way or by any other means than that we speak of you must as well be beholding to the sin and wickedness of other men as to your own worth grace or faithfulness and there must be more than an ordinary hand in the Providence of God to bring it to pass For what other waies or means are there of obtaining a greater preeminence in glory than the
are under the Law as under the Law to them that are without the Law as without the Law to the weak I became weak I became all things to all that by all means I might win some Paul had gone so to work with himself that he had brought himself to a conformity to all occasions and kinds of services and could comply with all for their benefit When men shall see the carriage and deportment of a man and shall not be able to see what the natural temper and genius of the man is when they shall see him in such variety of action and all that which he doth to become him to have beauty and reason in it this is a sign that the man thus endued hath a very rich and glorious anointing of the Spirit of God in him But when mens natural tempers do encrease in them so as that these will have part and share in their actings it is a sign that Nature is not thoroughly broken nor wholly subdued but that there is somewhat yet more for the Spirit of God to do Elsewhere he demandeth of these Corinthians 1 Cor. 4.21 What will you Shall I come unto you with a rod or in love and in the Spirit of meekness From whence it appears that Paul could upon occasion both use the rod of Apostolical Authority where he saw cause and take vengeance on disobedience as he speaketh elsewhere And could likewise demean himself with gentleness towards Christians even as a Nurse cherisheth and is tender over her Children as he speaketh of himself 1 Thes 2.7 In matters of outward estate he knew as he saith both how to be abased i. e. to want and how to abound Phil. 4.12 Meaning that he was able and knew how to manage both estates Adversity and Prosperity according to such Rules by which these conditions ought to be managed respectively yea and may be managed to the glory of God and likewise to the comfort and contentment of men that partake in either And as he saith he knew how to be abased and how to abound so likewise in his deportment he knew how to stoop to the ground and to sit upon a Dunghil with those that were Poor and weak and of Low degree in the Church of Christ And he knew likewise how to be a Companion for Princes and to stand up with the highest and greatest of all with persons of greatest esteem Paul we know had a spirit that was able to resist even Peter himself one of the greatest Pillars of the Christian Faith then in the World and to withstand him to his face when there was just occasion so to do My Brethren He that knew how to do this must needs have a mighty command of himself For take him at another turn when the state of businesses was altered and when he was in the presence of poor and weak Saints he could act another part and quit himself like a poor and weak man as if he had nothing of the carriage or of the resolution of a man in him Thus Jesus Christ himself to whom the Spirit was given not by measure as John speaketh Joh. 3.34 is compared in Scripture as well to a Lamb as to a Lion and is presented unto the World under both these Denominations one while he is called the Lamb of God another while he is called The Lion of the Tribe of Judah to shew that he knows how to act the properties of both according as he judgeth seasonable and meet When he cometh to those who are poor in Spirit he blesseth and speaketh in a still voice unto them and when he hath to do with the Scribes and Pharisees then he pronounceth with a loud voice Woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees hyppocrites Now his Spirit was up on high and full of courage and undaunted resolution Yea now he is in heaven and ascended to the right hand of the Majesty on high Heb. 1.3 Yet doth he still retain the same qualifications or dispositions To many Persons he doth behave himself like a Lamb with much sweetness and great condescention and otherwhile he can roar like a Lion upon others and appear in judgment when he seeth his time and when the exigencies of the business which is before him requireth it Now the reason Sect. 8 why I conceive that such a sweet consorting of a mans spirit and behaviour to all variety of occasions which he can meet with from time to time must needs be a great Argument of a rich anointing of the Spirit is this partly because to distinguish exactly between the Exigencies of Occasions requireth a very excellent degree of Wisdom a much refined Understanding and partly also because it requireth a great command of a mans spirit a depressing or dissolution of a mans natural temper whatever it was to be able to apply himself only and conscienciously to all variety of occasions respectively both which argue a large and liberal presence of the Spirit of God in men partly also because it is so rare a sight to see a Person man or woman even amongst Believers themselves in whose Conversations and Deportments that savory wise and consciencious comportment with the various natures and Exigencies of occasions is to be found First I say to understand judgment as the Scripture Phrase is to know what is comely and worthy for a Christian to do at all times and cases requires a great spiritualness of understanding to apprehend how the feries and tenour of all a mans actions may be made spiritually harmonious when to rise and when to fall and when to keep a middle strain between high and low as every of these respective carriages may best accommodate the interest of God in the World I mean his honour and praise and the interest likewise of men this requireth an heart in some degree like unto Solomons which the Scriptures compare to the sands that are upon the Sea-shore 1 Kings 4.29 Now the heart of Solomon is said to be large like unto the sands of the Sea-shore which are not to be numbred because he had a world of notions and apprehensions in his mind or understanding by reason whereof he was able to understand most exactly how he ought to behave himself upon all occasions and how to sute himself with the Exigency of every affair he had all circumstances before him and he turned them and weighed them in his hand and therefore saith he Eccl. 3.1 2 c. There is a time for every purpose under the Sun A time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted a time to build and a time to break down a time to weep and a time to rejoyce a time to cast away stones and a time to gather c. Now he must be a wise man indeed as he speaketh Chap. 8.5 6. Whose heart discerneth time and judgment i. e. that is able to discern the time and season for one Action or one kind of deportment from that which is proper
how many pretenders have we to little less than a Prophetick Unction to mystical discoveries to a deep and further insight into the mind of God in the Scriptures and to the understanding of things there whose Notions notwithstanding the pretended fruits of such their high Anointings and Revelations being weighed in the Balance of the Sanctuary are found light and to have nothing of the mind of God or of Christ in them Therefore in the first place unless these discoveries which are pretended unto and held forth with the greatest confidence shall commend themselves for truth unto the judgments and understandings of sober and judicious men much versed and exercised in the Scriptures either from their own light or evidence or else shall be made out by light of Argument and Demonstation Whether from the Scriptures or clear Principles in reason to be real truths and such things that are every waies worthy the Wisdom Righteousness and Holiness of God they are not to be looked upon as proceeding from any fulness of the Spirit in their Authors but as the exertions and puttings forth of a Spirit of vanity and delusion in men For certainly God would not have sent Christ Jesus in the end of the World to seal vp Revelations and Prophesies and to set bounds unto the Children of men and afterward send these men to gather up what Jesus Christ hath scattered and to make perfect what he hath left imperfect Wko knoweth not that the New Testament is sealed with a Curse with dread and terrour unto the man or woman that shall either make any breach upon that which is there delivered by diminishing ought thereof and so likewise unto any that shall bring any new or further Revelation than what is already brought in there Secondly In case by the opportunity and advantage of Education Sect. 21 liberty for Study and searching into Authors and Writers or the advantage of pregnancy of Wit quickness of Apprehensions or the like any man shall attain unto a greater dexterity or ability to unfold the Scriptures and to bring many of the secrets thereof to light which have been hidden from the eyes of others this doth not necessarily argue a fulness of or a being filled with the Spirit at least in the sense wherein we have prosecuted the Doctrine hitherto i. e. a filling with the Spirit as sanctifying unless it shall appear by their lives and waies that they are really and throughly perswaded of the truth and certainty of these things which they hold forth from the Scriptures It is true many men may do great Services for the Christian World and for the Saints and that by opening the great Deeps or Fountains of the Scriptures and may cause many beams of light and Spiritual understanding to break forth and many waies of Wisdom there to appear and yet may not believe As it is with a fained Story though there may be some kind of rationality in it yet the rationality of it doth not therefore argue its truth and verity just so men may maintain the reasonableness of the Scriptures and consequently many great truths therein contained they may argue excellently and shew how one thing giveth light unto another and yet nevertheless at the bottom there may be nothing else but uncertainties and doubtings of the truth of all the Story and this hollowness and defection at the bottom and core and root of the heart is like to break out and bewray it self in such a kind of life and conversation which is unsutable unto the tenour of Scripture and unto the Genius Nature and light of the glorious Gospel which they declare or preach unto men The Reason of the Character or sign last mentioned Sect. 22 whereby to judge of any mans being filled with the Spirit is because it is the proper work of the Spirit to open and reveal unto men the Scriptures and the mind of God there so that when any person man or woman shall be found to excell in such a way upon the terms and with the cautions lately specified I mean to be richly acquainted with the mind of God in the Scripture it must needs argue a great measure of the Spirit of God in them For it is I say the property of the Spirit of God to reveal the mind of God in the Scriptures and to reveal such and such truths which have lain dormant in the bodies of the Scriptures wound up and unpublished For the Spirit of God hath reserved and set apart some particular portion of truth which is appropriate to every Age and Generation that cometh over the World which is to be opened unto it Some conceive that the seven Seals do respect several Ages and times wherein several truths are to be revealed as that in such an Age and Time when one Seal was broken up there was such a part of the mind of God let out and so at the breaking up of a second then cometh forth another part of the mind of God This is clear and experience teacheth us that every Generation and every Age have had some sealed or fallow ground of Scripture broken up unto them some considerable passage of Scripture that hath never seen the Sun that hath never been so generally understood or known by men as in the present Generation so that it being the proper work of the Spirit of God to take away the vail and covering which hath been upon the Scriptures when he findeth some person whom he doth much delight in he will single him out for this service 1 Cor. 2.10 11 c. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit for the Spirit searcheth all things yea the deep things of God That is according to Scripture Language teacheth men to search and to find out by searching the deep things of God i. e. such Counsels of his which do not lie in the surface of the Scriptures such things which cannot be seen at the first cast of a mans eye For what man knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of a man which is in him Even so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God Now the Notions which are bred in the Mind and in the Nature of God are of another sort of a quite different nature from those which are ingendred and conceived in the mind of men even as those impressions in bruit beasts are of a far other nature and kind from those which are in men and being of another nature and kind and also inferiour to those Notions or Impressions which are in man they cannot understand or comprehend those Notions or Impressions and those Principles of Action that are in men and by which they order and steere their course The Reason is because these Notions or Impressions that are in Men are of a superiour kind to those in Beasts and out of the reach of them or any other created being especially beneath themselves So that though it should be supposed that
Restauration shall be or that there shall be some or some considerable numbers of them to whom this excellency of knowledge shall be vouchsafed by God But that the generality of this People or the common sort of them shall be thus enriched by him The earth saith the Prophet Isaiah speaking of the Land of Judeah and the Inhabitants of it when the time spoken of shall come shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the Sea Isa 11.9 There shall be an universal deluge or overflowing of the knowledge of God over all the Land And elsewhere Thy people also shall be all righteous Isa 60.21 So then the Promise of the abundance of knowledge in the Scripture before us respecteth the Jews only in the sense which hath been declared there is no thing can be inferred from it by those that are not of this Nation but Gentiles as that they shall have the like abundance of knowledge given unto them But Secondly Suppose it should not be appropriable only to the Jews but equally appliable unto the Gentiles also yet neither upon this supposition will it follow that the time of the accomplishment of it either to the Jews or to the Gentiles is yet come First That the Jews have not yet attained the blessing promised therein who yet in all reason shall be first served though it should be supposed that the Gentiles shall sit down at the same Table with them is evident in that the generality of that Nation remaineth to this day in that blindness and ignorance which the Apostle Paul bewailed in them in his daies Secondly For the Gentiles the said Promises neither have been nor are performed as yet unto them is altogether as evident as the former the generality of these being so far from such a knowledge that they have no need that any should teach them that we know they stand in need to be taught the very first Principles or Foundations of Christian Religion Nor can it reasonably be here replied or said Sect. 7 that though the said Promise be not as yet fulfilled in the generality of the Gentiles yet it may be begun to be fulfilled in some of them and the fuller accomplishment of it may by degrees take place untill the times of the plenary and perfect fulfilling of it shall come for against this there are several Considerations 1. As you heard lately that the Promise is not made to the Gentiles but to the Jews 2. It hath not been made good no not in the sense now pleaded for unto the Jews themselves not so much as to a handful of them they generally remaining still in the hardness of thâ—â— hearts and in that blindness of their minds wherein they were in the Apostles daies they are so far from the knowledge of God and of the Gospel of his Son as ever they were and yet all or the most part of them will be first served and have the preeminency and first fruits of this glory 3. The Scriptures intimate as if this Promise were to be fulfilled suddenly and at once when it beginneth to be fulfilled Isa 66.7 8. It is made matter of high admiration Before she travelled she brought forth c. Shall the Earth be made to bring forth in one day Or shall a Nation be born at once c. The travel of Sion seemeth to note some such change and alteration in her condition which withall intimateth a strange and unexpected expedition and that she shall be raised and built up in a very short time unto a very glorious State and Nation and therefore the Prophet calls it the bringing forth of a Nation in one day So again Isa 60.22 I the Lord will hasten it in his time meaning that when the time should come then he would hasten it and would bring it into perfection very suddenly 4. If a few mens excelling in knowledge were the fulfilling of the said Prophesie and Promise then was it fulfilled in the Apostles daies for there were many 1 Cor. 1.5 That in every thing ye are enriched by him in all utterance and in all knowledge It seemeth that in this one Church there was a great floud of light insomuch that they had nothing now to learn but did wait for the full appearance of the Lord Christ and yet that these Promises of Christ were not fulfilled in those daies in the sense declared is evident because the Apostle pressed the duty of Preaching upon others and layeth a heavy curse upon himself Woe is me if I preach not the Gospel How many passages may we find in his Epistles of the same import 5. And lastly The persons themselves who do pretend this Promise and passage of Scripture to justifie them in their way do make use of somewhat like the Ministry and Preaching of the Gospel they have certain Methods which they pretend to edifie themselves by so that they do offer an affront to themselves and do condemn themselves in those things which they do allow And if they judge themselves capable of any benefit by these their meetings certainly there is a thousand times more reason why we should expect and look for more from the publick Ministry of the Gospel by such who have a competent anointing of the Spirit of God If they do interpret and give a sense of what they speak or affirm and produce from the Scriptures then as I say why should we not rather hearken unto the judgment and sense of them that attend upon the Word and Prayer as the Apostle speaks who are set apart as it were and who do separate themselves unto God and to his Service and of the Tabernacle That they should be likely to give out the mind and sense of the Holy Ghost in the Scriptures above others is reasonable to conceive The Eunuch was in all likelihood a great man and surely a man of more than ordinary parts and abilities and yet he professeth plainly unto Philip Acts 8.31 when he asked him if he understood what he read How saith he can I except some man should guide me or I have some one to interpret It is true it is one thing what the Spirit of God is able to do for men but it is another what he himself judgeth meet for him to do And certainly he doth not judge it meet to build with one hand and to pull down with the other hand which yet he should do having erected an Ordinance as he hath done giving some to be Pastors and Teachers for the work of the Ministry if these things might be gained otherwise I mean in an ordinary way and where the Ministry which Christ hath set on foot may be had and enjoyed But Thirdly and lastly To the Scripture before us although it should be granted to be already fulfilled yet it is not necessary to understand these Expressions They shall not teach every man his Neighbour and every man his Brother literally but figuratively by an Hyperbole A figure
any such terms which had set limits and bounds unto it and told them that it was good to such and such a degree but not further this had been apt to have diminished the esteem and reputation of it and consequently to have interrupted and checked the desires of it in the hearts of men Even so we may say concerning this great Priviledge of being filled with the Spirit if we could measure out unto you and were able to say that it is thus much and no more this were neither for your benefit or profit neither should we be found faithful or true Witnesses of those excellent and glorious things of God There is no question but that the Apostles in their daies did make large discoveries of the peace of God and spake many glorious things of it so much that might have enflamed the hearts of men to have desired it but yet there was more than all this in that Character whereby it is described viz. A peace that passeth all understanding So questionless many great and excellent things and that according to sobriety and truth may be spoken concerning this great and happy Priviledge yet if we should attempt any thing in this kind without giving knowledge that we do not speak limitedly or to confine your apprehensions as if there were nothing further or greater in it besides and above or beyond what we can express without some such intimation or â—aution as this is we should rather prejudice you and set you off than quicken you and set you up to look after it We have formerly as I remember acquainted you with several Royalties and blessed Contentments which do attend the state of a person that is filled with the Spirit 〈◊〉 God One thing was that they that are filled with the Spirit of God are like to be much imployed and set on work by God he deâ—ghteth not to imploy such persons about any great services which he hath 〈◊〉 do in the World that are streightened in their spirits whose anointing 〈◊〉 but scanty narrow and low God doth not care that much of his Work should pass thorough their hands because they will not quit themselves so as to answer the Majesty of God nor the excellency of such Services Whereas those that are filled with the Spirit look whatsoever they go about or put forth their hearts unto they will carry it on with the greatest authority and highest hand neither will they baulk this or that Truth of God nor in the least give in for any opposition or contradiction of Men. Now this is a great Priviledge if we had hearts to conceive aright of it for a man or woman to be much imployed or much set on work by God the Angels are as it were proud of his service Christ speaking of his little ones saith Their Angels do alwaies behold the face of my Father which is in heaven Mat. 18.10 They stand waiting to see if there be any service or imployment they strive who shall be most set on work and who shall have most put into their hands for this is their honour and their glory And doubtless my Brethren if we had but the true sense and resentment of the transcendent worth and desirableness of serving God and of being imployed by him in the world we should account of it and esteem it after another manner of rate than I fear generally we do Another thing was this they that are partakers of that blessedness are upon the matter out of the reach of all sorrows or troubles about any thing that can befall them in this present World those things which cut other men to the very heart and soul these men are secured from when the World riseth up and lieth down by them they know not they are in an heavenly extasie or a spiritual kind of drunkenness As Lot being drunk knew not when his Daughters rose up from him nor lay down by him men that are full of the Spirit are lifted up they are in the upper Region where no storms no tempests nor troublesome things come there is a perpetual serenity clearness and peaceableness of mind whilest the World generally and those that are strangers to this fulness of the Spirit are tossed to and fro tumbling up and down their thoughts disquieting and tormenting them continually And so again we shewed that they that are filled with the Spirit are to a degree freed from Temptations It is said of God He cannot be tempted with evil Jam. 1.13 Now such men are partakers of that blessedness of God himself as far as flesh and bloud is capable of drawing near unto him Resist the Devil and he will flee from you saith the Apostle James c. 4.7 Brethren Why should the Devil flee from him that resisteth him and giveth him a peremptory denial It is because that he hath much to do and but little time to do it in and he will not lose his time when he hath no hope to speed he is then as if he stood upon thorns as we use to say if he get no profit or advantage by his Suggestions it is so much out of the way of his miserable comfort and that solace which he is capable of during his present state and condition all his solace being this to draw men into communion and fellowship with himself in his misery and knowing by his own experience that the way thereunto lieth by the way of sin and doing wickedly therefore he laboureth to entice men to walk in such waies knowing if he can but draw men into these paths he will presently meet with them and that they will arrive at that place of endless misery and torment which he is gone unto But now this great and blessed Priviledge of being filled with the Spirit of God will make all the enticements and allurements all the baits and temptations to evil of no force they will be as Arrows shot against a brazen Wall that will recoyl and turn upon him that shooteth them So that we need not ask a question What the fulness of the Spirit meaneth You see it is worthy all your labours all your endeavours and layings out of your selves in one kind or other though you should prejudice your flesh never so much upon the account of it yet nevertheless there is no cause for you to complain for the Priviledge is so great that it will do a thousand times more than bear its own charge and it will recompense a thousand fold into your bosome whatsoever you expend of your pleasures and enjoyments in the World for the attaining of it Sixthly Sect. 6 To promote the interest of the Exhortation propounded in your hearts and souls and to make you desirous indeed to be filled with the Spirit of God you may please yet further to consider that your Minds Reasons and Understandings with whatsoever besides shall be necessary for you to imploy or lay out about this great and blessed undertaking cannot be disposed of or imployed by
it it hath by Commission from God And the very truth is that if we would examine the business we should find that as fear hath torment so there is nothing that hath torment in it but fear or nothing without fear all sicknesses and pains in the body if you could but divide fear from them they would not torment at all if a man did not fear the continuance of them they would not disquiet nor trouble him Now it is the effect of love that it doth remove from the hearts and souls of men whatsoever is of a disquieting import unto them The truth is that love would do so amongst men were it perfectly known or understood If I knew that this man did know that my heart was perfect with him and that I did entirely love him I would not fear that that man would willingly do me any harm So then this is one reason why love to God casteth out fear because that a man by this means is mightily perswaded concerning God that he is so good and gracious that he will not fall heavy upon his Friends those that love him Yea it is impossible that any such thought of God should enter into the heart of such a man to think that God should destroy any that do love him and seek his honour and glory or that he should not do them good and seek their peace and safety The Apostle takes this for a Principle that no man will gainsay That all things shall work together for good to those that love God Rom. 8.8 This is a Principle which we all agree in that Gods love is such to those that we cannot think but that all his Creatures and all his Providences shall be Tributaries to them In the second place then it is evident from the Premisses both latter and former that he that is filled with the Spirit cannot but know that he loves God Thirdly and lastly The third thing mentioned Sect. 13 which especially in conjunction with the two former must needs satisfie any man of his attonement with God is the direct and immediate Testimony of the Spirit of God himself in man testifying together with a mans own spirit i.e. with his heart soul and conscience that this attonement is made and he accepted by God this is the Apostles express Doctrine Rom. 8.16 The Spirit it self beareth witness with our spirits that we are the Children of God The Spirit it self or the Spirit himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Apostle by this Emphatical expression the Spirit himself seemeth To imply that the thing or act which he speaketh of is of a most worthy nature and import of a sacred consequence and such as well becometh him who is the Agent or Actor of it the Spirit of God himself But what is that worthy thing which the Apostle here attributes to so great an Agent as the Spirit of God It is a witnessing with our Spirits that we are the Children of God which signifies as much as that our Attonement is made and that we are at peace with him it signifies this I say and somewhat more Well out how are we to conceive of that act here ascribed unto the Holy Ghost his witnessing this to and with our Spirits that we are the Children of God The Expression of witnessing with our spirit plainly implies that it is but one and the same Act of witnessing or witness-bearing which is here joyntly or in common ascribed unto the Spirit of God and the spirit of men and that the Spirit of God doth not bear any such witness as that here mentioned apart from the Spirit of men or when this doth not witness also From whence it appears that the witnessing or joynt-witnessing of the Spirit here spoken of is only a fortifying strengthening raising and enriching of the Witness or Testimony of a mans own spirit So when the heart and soul and conscience of a man shall with more than ordinary strength power and authority testifie unto or perswade him that he is the Child of God Or rather thus when a man shall find himself perswaded and possessed upon these high terms with such an apprehension it is a sign that the Spirit is in this perswasion and that it is he that giveth the vigour and all that which is more than ordinary unto it As the stream and current of a River is doubled and trebbled in the swiftness of the motion and in the depth and breadth of it when the rain-water or the waters of a Land-floud joyn themselves in the same motion with it making together one and the same stream In like manner when the apprehension or perswasion in a man of his being a Child of God magnifies it self at a high rate against fears and doubtings and jealousies in every kind it argues a Conjunction of both Spirits the Spirit of God and the spirit of man himself and that which is so over bearing and over-ruling in this perswasion is appropriately from the Spirit of God according to that of our Apostle immediately preceding the words in hand But ye have received the Spirit of Adoption by which or whereby we cry Abba Father We cry 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. cry aloud or with all our might as we lately noted the proper import of the word Now to cry aloud Abba Father signifies the inner man calling of God Father or a mans addressing himself unto God as unto a Father with a good courage or Princelike confidence A mans own spirit I mean with such an assistance of the Spirit of God as the weakest Christian hath may whisper or secretly mutter Abba Father But by the way this is to be remembred First That when the Apostle saith that by the Spirit Sect. 14 which we have received by the Gospel we cry Abba Father he is not so to be understood as if he meant that every one who hath received of the Spirit of Adoption in any measure were in a capacity hereby to cry much less actually did cry aloud Abba Father upon the terms lately expressed but he means that that Spirit which was sent down from heaven to accompany the Gospel and the Ministry of it might be received entertained and entreated by men and women as that they might become enlarged and enabled by him to cry Abba Father Things use to be described and especially commended by the best and richest of their fruits and by what they are serviceable for when they are in their perfection and not by their mean or less considerable fruits and services As the Apostle commending and setting forth the excellency of love or Christian Charity saith 1 Cor. 13.5 7. among other things Charity doth not behave it self unseemly seeketh not her own is not easily provoked thinketh no evil And again Charity beareth all things believeth all things hopeth all things endureth all things c. His meaning in these descriptions and commendations of Charity is not to imply that Charity in any degree qualifies men for
that possesseth and filleth them with a windy confidence that they are the Children of God when indeed they are not because the Spirit of God is not wont to go forth nor to enter into the hearts and consciences of men but where the glorious Gospel of God is received in the truth of it We could instance in some particulars for there are as the Apostle telleth us 1 Cor. 8.5 in his daies in respect of Gods and Lords many that were Gods and Lords so called but saith he unto us there is but one c. So the truth is at this day there are amongst us and round about in this City and near to us Gospels many and Preachers many but in the mean time there is but one Gospel for us for those that know the truth as it is in Jesus And yet many of these Gospels we speak of have their spirits that do attend upon them and for the most part they do wait upon these very Gospels and Ministries that are the rankest of all others filling the Receivers of them with the greatest assurance and confidence that they are the Children of God and in the right way of worshipping and serving of him There is a Gospel which joyns Baptism with Faith in Christ by way of necessity to Justification and so to Salvation even as the Jewish Converts did Circumcision in the Apostles days of which Paul saith unto them Gal. 5.2 I say unto you if ye be circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing meaning if ye be Circumcised with an opinion of being justified thereby Christ shall profit you nothing There is another Gospel preached amongst us which teacheth you in effect and underhand yea by express and near-hand consequence that if you be elected how loosely wickedly prophanely and desperately soever ye shall live yet you are in no danger of perishing yea and that however you shall go to work God will bring you in one time or other and that he will so far change the state of affairs with you that you shall neither will nor chuse but to repent and so be saved together with several other Doctrines and Notions of like dangerous consequence and import Again thirdly Another Gospel so called ye have preached amongst you which calleth you from the Scriptures and the light of life which shineth there unto that which they call a light within them though that light be never so dark As if the Scriptures and the light within men so far as it is light and not darkness were at odds Or as if the conveying of Scripture light into the hearts and Judgments of men were like to obscure darken or obstruct and not rather to encrease brighten and perfect that light in men This kind of Gospel is of as dangerous consequence as any of the other A fourth Gospel preached abroad in the World is that all that ever will or shall be justified were justified from Eternity and that upon this account God seeth no sin in them Yea there is a Gospel which preacheth down all Preaching and denieth the usefulness thereof Many other Gospels there are so called in the World which though they be at great variance amongst themselves yet they all agree in enmity and opposition to the true Gospel of Christ like Sampson's Foxes But there is no end of enumerating these high and by kind of strains which men run into from day to day thinking thereby still to better their condition Godward As you find many in a lingring condition with sickness that think if they should but change into such a Room or into such a Bed they should be better So when men have not made a serious and consciencious improvement of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ whilest they did attend and live under the Ministry and Preaching of it but find themselves dissatisfied in their hearts and souls and not enjoying themselves upon terms of that content which they desire they think now that if they do but go forth into such other waies and walk in such other paths that then they shall be made great then they shall reign like Kings and Princes in the Profession of Jesus Christ Now the great Enemy of their Peace and of the Salvation of their souls lies in wait to meet with such occasions and advantages as these are and therefore if such Notions do but begin to bud and put forth in their first conceptions or that the hearts of men do but begin to hanker that way the Devil helps them with his perswasions to go on and then men are very apt to be perswaded that now the Spirit of God is come to them and that he doth procure them that great peace of God which they could never attain nor find from his hand before I cannot pass by that Expression though but lately handled in the Scriptures now opened 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it carrieth in it so pregnant a Testimony against that dangerous Doctrine which of late hath began to make head amongst us viz That the Holy Ghost is not God Now if it be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Spirit himself and not any other inferiour spirit subservient unto him who bears witness with the Spirits of the Saints all the World over that they are the Children of God then can he be no other than God himself who filleth all places with his presence Thus then we see a third thing Sect. 17 by means of which they that are filled with the Spirit must needs be possessed with an assurance of their attonement and peace made with God by Jesus Christ viz. they have the Spirit of Adoption within them testifying aloud and with authority with their spirits that they are the Children of God and consequently that their sins are fully attoned in his sight And this was the former particular of the two propounded by which men and women must needs be prepared and put into a rich capacity of enjoying free Communion with God We shall not need I suppose to add any thing to prove or shew that a clear assurance of a mans Attonement made with God opens an effectual door unto him for a free Communion with God This is lightsome and evident enough of it self especially if we take the word Attonement in a compleat signification I mean as it includes and carrieth with it grace and acceptation of a mans person with God For when God is actually reconciled unto a Creature and hath accepted an attonement for his sin He doth not only cease to be an Enemy unto him remaining still as a Stranger or as one from whose anger or displeasure the Person reconciled and attoned is indeed free but hath no further interest in him but upon this said reconciliation unto this Creature he becometh a most real Friend unto him and admits him into his special grace and favour Amongst men it is oft times otherwise a man doth not remain an Enemy after Attonement for that properly is imported in the word Attonement But
an activeness for God but only theirs who are filled with the Spirit of God what course soever they may take otherwise Now the truth is that both these in effect and by clearness of consequence have been proved already The former in those discussions wherein we made it appear that every of the said four Priviledges were respectively the natural and proper fruits and consequences of the signal intergrity of mens hearts and waies in the sight of God The latter in those passages wherein in like manner we evinced such an integrity of heart and life before God to be the genuine and appropriate effect of a being filled with the Spirit Therefore we shall here only vindicate and clear those discussions and passages from such difficulties or objections which may seem to encumber them and to weaken the truth or authority of them First then That men may attain to a freedom from all troublesome and tormenting cares and fears and whatever of this nature is apt to render the life of a man less comfortable less desirable without any such high engagements for God as were spoken of and so consequently without being filled with the Spirit appears from hence that many Heathen Philosophers and Wise men especially of the Sect of the Stoicks by study and dealing with themselves and their hearts effectually from such Principles and Considerations as the light of Nature afforded them did attain this atchievement they did absolutely deliver themselves from that bondage and subjection we speak of and did live in a constant tranquillity and serenity of mind and thoughts and did not feel any pricking Thorne or grieving Brier of any troublesome passion Yea more generally they of the Schole and Sect of Epicurus lived free from all cares and fears yea there are many amongst our selves who as our Proverb expresseth it set Cock on hoop and as they put the evil day far from them so together herewith they put away all care fear and all troublesome thoughts to the same distance therefore it seems at least one of the four Priviledges wherein you placed the desirableness of a mans life and condition in this World viz. a freedom from all troublesome and tormenting fears and cares may be obtained and enjoyed without a being filled with the Spirit I reply first concerning Heathen Philosophers these things First That as Painters use to do very frequently viz. flatter and give beauty and comliness in the artificial face where they are wanting in the natural So many Historians when they have a person of note or worth or of any great name to represent or describe they do not so much set or bend themselves to inform the Reader of the truth of things concerning them as to shew the rareness of their own genius and parts by making them the most accomplished persons in the World As Sophocles the Tragedian made reply to him who demanded a reason why contrary to his Fellow Euripides he made all Women that he personated in his Tragedies so excellently vertuous and good I saith he represent them such as they should be In like manner we have great cause to suspect that they who have reported such glorious things of some Philosophers and others worthy men like enough in their Sphere rather represented and reported them such as they should have been than such as they were as Paterculus a Roman Historian speaking of Cato saith of him that he was Virtuti similimus qui rectè nunquam fecit ut facere videretur sed quia aliter facere non poterat He was a man most like unto virtue it self who never did that which was right that he might appear to do it but because he could not do otherwise as if he were a man unchangeably perfect and good After some other high Characters of commendation he saith of him that he was Homo omnibus humanis vitiis immunis A man that was far from the insirmities of a man with more of the same strain Yet that which the same Author reports of Scipio Aemylianus is much more viz. That he was a man Qui nunquam nisi laudandum aut fecit aut dixit aut sensit who all his life long never spake nor did nor thought any thing but that which was good And elsewhere this is said of another Solem faâ—ilius e Coelo dimovendum c. That it was a more easie matter to turn the Sun out of his way than to turn him Therefore we are not bound to believe all that we have received by Tradition concerning the high Strains and Heroick attainments and Enjoyments of Heathen Philosophers and others famous for virtue although on the other hand there is little question to be made but that there were many of excellent Principles and deportments amongst them and such who shall rise up in Judgment against the common sort of Professors of Christianity amongst us and condemn them However there is no certainty of any such thing as absolute freedom from cares and fears enjoyed by and of them as that pretended in the Objection Secondly Suppose that as far as an estimate can be made Sect. 8 either by some passages of speech or discourse upon occasion uttered by some of them or else by many Sayings yet found in their Writings that they did some of them enjoy such a Priviledge as a freedom from cares and fears c. yet such an estimate as this is far from certainty or infallibility Though we should hear them utter sayings or speak of their security like that of Angels it doth not follow that they spaâ—e truth For as Aristotle speaking of many excellent Principles of Temperance and Sobriety saith of young men that they use to speak and discourse of these things but do not believe them In like manner men of Learning and Parts may hammer out many excellent Sayings and Strains of a very high nature and yet not believe them themselves David sometimes indeed said I believed and therefore I spake Psal 116.10 but the truth is that men may and frequently do speak and utter many things which they do not believe Our English Story reports of one John Cremâ—nsis who was sent over by the Pope to perswade the Priests from Marrying that the very next night after he had delivered his Message and in an eloquent Oration commended Chastity to the Clergy he was found in Adultery So that it is no great matter for men to write excellent things to talk of freedom from fears and cares but to get this into the heart and to make this real is another manner of thing Thirdly and lastly Though some of those we speak of might seem to enjoy such a Priviledge as that formerly described of a dreadless and fearless mind whilest either they were free from danger or under the arrest of some evil more tolerable and more easie to be born yet when they came to encounter with the King of Fears viz. Death their inward security and height of confidence and resolution was much