hereby animated and capable of all Vital Acts. Hence he could move eat see hear c. for the natural Effects of this Breath of Life are only intended in this Expression Thus the first Man Adam was made a Living Soul 1 Cor. 15. 45. This was the Creation of Man as unto the essentially constituting Principles of his Nature Sect. 11 With respect unto his Moral Condition and Principle of Obedience unto God it is expressed Gen. 1. 26 27. And God said Let us make Man in our own Image after our likeness and let them have dominion so God created Man in his own Image in the Image of God created he him He made him upright Eccles. 7. 29. perfect in his Condition every way compleat fit disposed and able to and for the Obedience required of him Without Weakness Distemper Disease contrariety of Principles Inclinations or Reasonings An universal Rectitude of Nature consisting in Light Power and Order in his Understanding Mind and Affections was the principal part of this Image of God wherein he was created And this appears as from the Nature of the thing it self so from the Description which the Apostle giveth us of the Renovation of that Image in us by the Grace of Christ Ephes. 4. 24. Col. 3. 10. And under both these Considerations we may weigh the especial Operations of the Spirit of God Sect. 12 First As to the Essential Principles of the Nature of Man it is not for nothing that God expresseth his Communication of a Spirit of Life by his breathing into him God breathed into his Nostrils the Breath of Life The Spirit of God and the Breath of God are the same onely the one Expression is proper the other metaphorical wherefore this breathing is the especial acting of the Spirit of God The Creation of the Humane Soul a Vital Immortal Principle and Being is the immeate Work of the Spirit of God Job 33. 4. The Spirit of God hath made me and the Breath of the Almighty hath given me Life Here indeed the Creation and Production of both the essential parts of Humane Nature Body and Soul are ascribed unto the same Author For the Spirit of God and the Breath of God are the same but several Effects being mentioned causeth a repetition of the same Cause under several names This Spirit of God first made Man or formed his Body of the Dust and then gave him that Breath of Life whereby he became a living Soul So then under this first Consideration the Creation of Man is assigned unto the Holy Spirit for Man was the Perfection of the Inferior Creation and in order unto the Glory of God by him were all other things Created Here therefore are his Operations distinctly declared to whom the perfecting and compleating of all Divine Works is peculiarly committed Sect. 14 Secondly We may consider the moral State and Condition of Man with the Furniture of his Mind and Soul in reference unto his Obedience to God and his enjoyment of him This was the principal part of that Image of God wherein he was created Three things were required to render Man idoneous or fit unto that Life to God for which he was made First An ability to discern the Mind and Will of God with respect unto all the Duty and Obedience that God required of him as also so far to know the Nature and Properties of God as to believe him the only proper Object of all Acts and Duties of Religious Obedience and an all-sufficient Satisfaction and Reward in this World and to Eternity Secondly A free uncontrolled unintangled disposition to every Duty of the Law of his Creation in order unto living unto God Thirdly An ability of Mind and Will with a readiness of complyance in his Affections for a due regular performance of all Duties and abstinence from all Sin These things belonged unto the integrity of his Nature with the uprightness of the State and Condition wherein he was made And all these things were the peculiar Effects of the immediate Operation of the Holy Ghost For although this Rectitude of his Nature be distinguishable and separable from the Faculties of the Soul of Man yet in his first Creation they were not actually distinguished from them nor superadded or infused into them when Created but were concreated with them that is his Soul was made meet and able to live to God as his Sovereign Lord Chiefest Good and Last End And so they were all from the Holy Ghost from whom the Soul was as hath been declared Yea suppose these Abilities to be superadded unto Man's Natural Faculties as Gifts supernatural which yet is not so they must be acknowledged in a peculiar manner to be from the Holy Spirit For in the Restauration of these Abilities unto our minds in our Renovation unto the Image of God in the Gospel it is plainly asserted that the Holy Ghost is the immediate Operator of them And he doth thereby restore his own Work and not take the Work of another out of his Hand For in the New Creation the Father in the way of Authority designs it and brings all things unto an head in Christ Ephes. 1. 10. which retrived his original peculiar Work and the Son gave unto all things a new consistency which belonged unto him from the beginning Col. 1. 16. So also the Holy Spirit renews in us the Image of God the original implantation whereof was his peculiar Work And thus Adam may be said to have had the Spirit of God in his Innocency He had him in these peculiar Effects of his Power and Goodness and he had him according to the Tenor of that Covenant whereby it was possible that he should utterly lose him as accordingly it came to pass He had him not by especial Inhabitation for the whole World was then the Temple of God In the Covenant of Grace founded in the Person and on the Mediation of Christ it is otherwise On whomsoever the Spirit of God is bestowed for the Renovation of the Image of God in him he abides with him for ever But in all Men from first to last all Goodness Righteousness and Truth are the Fruits of the Spirit Ephes. 5. 9. Sect. 15 The Works of God being thus finished and the whole frame of Nature set upon its Wheels it is not deserted by the Spirit of God For as the preservation continuance and acting of all things in the Universe according to their especial Nature and mutual Application of one unto another are all from the powerful and efficacious Influences of Divine Providence so there are particular Operations of the Holy Spirit âând about all things whether meerly Natural and Animal or also Rational and Moral An Instance in each kind may suffice For the first as we have shewed the Propagation of the succeeding Generations of Creatures and the annual Renovation of the Face of the Earth are ascribed unto him Psal. 104. 30. For as we would own the due and just Powers
to convert themselves no more than Arguments can prevail with a blind Man to see or with a dead Man to rise from the Grave or with a lame Man to walk steadily Wherefore the whole Description before given from the Scripture of the state of lapsed Nature must be disproved and removed out of the way before his Grace can be thought sufficient to be for the Regeneration and Conversion of Men in that Estate But some proceed on other Principles Men they say have by Nature certain Notions and Principles concerning God and the Obedience due unto him which are demonstrable by the Light of Reason and certain Abilities of Mind to make use of them unto their proper End But they grant at least some of them do that however these Principles may be improved and acted by those Abilities yet they are not sufficient or will not eventually be effectual to bring Men unto the Life of God or to enable them so to believe in him love him and obey him as that they may come at length unto the enjoyment of him at least they will not do this safely and easily but through much danger and confusion wherefore * God out of his Goodness and Love to Mankind hath made a further Revelation of himself by Jesus Christ in the Gospel with the especial way whereby his Anger against Sin is averted and Peace made for Sinners which Men had before only a confused Apprehension and Hope about How the things received proposed and prescribed in the Gospel are so good so rational so every way suited unto the Principles of our Beings the Nature of our intellectual Constitutions or the Reason of Men and those fortified with such rational and powerful Motives in the Promises and Threatnings of it representing unto us on the one hand the chiefest Good which our Nature is capable of and on the other the highest evil to be avoided that we are obnoxious unto that they can be refused or rejected by none but out of a bruitish love of Sin or the efficacy of depraved Habits contracted by a vitious course of living And herein consists the Grace of God towards Men especially as the Holy Ghost is pleased to make use of these things in the Dispensation of the Gospel by the Ministry of the Church For when the Reason of Men is by these means excited so far as to cast off Prejudice and enabled thereby to make a right Judgment of what is proposed unto it it prevails with them to convert to God to change their Lives and yield Obedience according to the Rule of the Gospel that they may be saved And no doubt this were a notable Systeme of Christian Doctrine especially as it is by some Rhetorically blended or Theatrically represented in feigned Stories and Apologues were it not defective in one or two things For first it is exclusive of a supposition of the fall of Man at least as unto the Depravation of our Nature which ensued thereon and Secondly of all real Effective Grace dispensed by Jesus Christ which render it a Phantastick Dream alien from the Design and Doctrine of the Gospel But it is a fond thing to discourse with Men about either Regeneration or Conversion unto God by whom these things are denyed Sect. 27 Such a Work of the Holy Spirit we must therefore enquire after as wherey the Mind is effectually renewed the Heart changed the Affections sanctified all actually and effectually or no Deliverance will be wrought obtained or ensue out of the Estate described For notwithstanding the utmost improvement of our Minds and Reasons that can be imagined and the most eminent proposal of the Truths of the Gospel accompanied with the most powerful enforcements of Duty and Obedience that the Nature of the things themselves will afford yet the Mind of Man in the state of Nature without a supernatural Elevation by Grace is not able so to apprehend them as that its Apprehension should be Spiritual Saving or Proper unto the Things apprehended And notwithstanding the Perception which the Mind may attain unto in the Truth of Gospel-Proposals and the Conviction it may have of the necessity of Obedience yet is not the Will able to apply it self unto any Spiritual Act thereof without an Ability wrought immediately in it by the Power of the Spirit of God or rather unless the Spirit of God by his Grace do effect the Act of willing in it Wherefore not to multiply Arguments we conclude That the most effectual use of outward means alone is not all the Grace that is necessary unto nor all that is actually put forth in the Regeneration of the Souls of Men. Sect. 28 Having thus evidenced wherein the Work of the Holy Spirit in the Regeneration of the Souls of Men doth not consist namely in a supposed congruous Perswasion of their Minds where it is alone 1. I shall proceed to shew wherein it doth consist and what is the true Nature of it And to this purpose I say 1. What-ever efficacy that Moral Operation which accompanies or is the Effect of the Preaching of the Word as blessed and used by the Holy Spirit is of or may be supposed to be of or is possible that it should be of in and towards them that are unregenerate we do willingly ascribe unto it We grant that in the Work of Regeneration the Holy Spirit towards those that are Adult doth make use of the Word both the Law and the Gospel and the Ministry of the Church in the Dispensation of it as the ordinary means thereof yea this is ordinarily the whole external means that is made use of in this Work and an efficacy proper unto it it is accompanied withal Whereas therefore some content that there is no more needful to the Conversion of Sinners but the Preaching of the Word unto them who are congruously disposed to receive it and that the whole of the Grace of God consists in the effectual Application of it unto the Minds and Affections of Men whereby they are enabled to comply with it and turn unto God by Faith and Repentance they do not ascribe a greater Power unto the Word than we do by whom this Administration of it is denied to be the total Cause of Conversion For we assign the same Power to the Word as they do and more also onely we affirm that there is an Effect to be wrought in this Work which all this Power if alone is insufficient for But in its own kind is it sufficient and effectual so far as that the effect of Regeneration or Conversion unto God is ascribed thereunto This we have declared before Sect. 29 2. There is not onely a Moral but a Physical immediate Operation of the Spirit by his Power and Grace or his powerful Grace upon the Minds or souls of Men in their Regeneration This is that which we must cleave to or all the Glory of God's Grace is lost and the Grace administred by Christ neglected
Nature and Operations of the Holy Spirit of God Hence will it be undeniable manifest what a stranger this pretended Light is unto the true Spirit of Christ how far it is from being of any real Use to the Souls of Men yea how it is set up in opposition unto Him and his Work by whom and by which alone we become accepted with God and are brought unto the enjoyment of him Sect. 24 Fourthly There are moreover many hurtful and noxious Opinions concerning the Holy Ghost gone abroad in the World and entertained by many to the Subversion of the Faith which they have professed Such are those whereby his Deity and Personality are denyed About these there have been many contests in the World some endeavouring with Diligence and subtilty to promote the perverse Opinions mentioned others contending according to their Duty for the Faith once delivered unto the Saints But these Disputations are for the most Part so managed that although the Truth be in some of them strenuously vindicated yet the minds of Believers generally are but little edified by them For the most are unacquainted with the ways and Terms of arguing which are suited to convince or stop the mouths of gain-sayers rather than to direct the Faith of others Besides our Knowledge of things is more by their operations and proper Effects than from their own Nature and formal Reason Especially is it so in Divine Things and particularly with respect unto God himself In his own Glorious Being he dwelleth in Light whereunto no Creature can approach In the Revelation that he hath made of himself by the Effects of his Will in his Word and Works are we to seek after him By them are the otherwise invisible things of God made known his Attributes declared and we come to a better Acquaintance with him than any we can attain by our most diligent speculations about his Nature it self immediately So is it with the Holy Ghost and his Personality He is in the Scripture proposed unto us to be known by his Properties and Works Adjuncts and Operations by our Duty towards him and our Offences against him The due consideration of these things is that which will lead us into that assured knowledg of his Being and Subsistence which is necessary for the guidance of our Faith and Obedience which is the end of all these Enquiries Col. 2. 2. Wherefore although I shall by the way explain confirm and vindicate the Testimonies that are given in the Scripture or some of them unto his Deity and Personality yet the principal means that I shall insist on for the establishing of our Faith in him is the due and just Exposition and Declaration of the Administrations and Operations that are ascribed unto him in the Scriptures which also will give great Light into the whole Mystery and Oeconomy of God in the work of our salvation by Jesus Christ. Sect. 25 Fifthly The Principal Cause and Occasion of our present Undertaking is the open and horrible opposition that is made unto the Spirit of God and his Work in the World There is no concernment of his that is not by many derided exploded and blasphemed The very name of the Spirit is grown to be a reproach nor do some think they can more despightfully expose any to scorn than by ascribing to them a Concern in the Spirit of God This indeed is a thing which I have often wondred at and do continue still so to doe For whereas in the Gospel every thing that is Good Holy Praise worthy in any Man is expresly assigned to the Spirit as the immediate Efficient Cause and Operator of it and whereas the Condition of Men without him not made Partakers of Him is described to be reprobate or rejected of God and forreign unto any Interest in Christ yet many pretending unto the Belief and Profession of the Gospel are so far from owning or desiring a Participation of this Spirit in their own Persons as that they deride and contemn them who dare plead or avow any concern in him or his Works Only I must grant that herein they have had some that have gone before them namely the old scoffing Heathens For so doth Lucian in his Philopatris speak in imitation of a Christian by way of scorn ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Speak out now receiving Power or Ability of speaking from the Spirit or by the Spirit Certainly an attendance to the old Caution Si non caste tamen Caute had been needful for some in this Matter Could they not bring their own hearts unto a due Reverence of the Spirit of God and an endeavour after a Participation of his Fruits and Effects yet the things that are spoken concerning him and his Work in the whole New Testament and also in Places almost innumerable in the Old might have put a check to their publick Contemptuous Reproaches and scornful Mockings whilst they own those writings to be of God But such was his Entertainment in the World upon his first Effusion Acts 2. 13. Many Pretences I know will be pleaded to give Countenance unto this Abomination For First They will say it is not the Spirit of God himself and his works but the Pretence of others unto him and them which they so reproach and scorn I fear this Plea or Excuse will prove too short and narrow to make a Covering unto their Profaneness It is dangerous venturing with Rudeness and Petulancy upon holy things and then framing of Excuses But in Reproaches of the Lord Christ and his Spirit Men will not want their Pretences Joh. 10. 32. And the things of the Spirit of God which they thus Reproach scorn in any are either such as are truely and really ascribed unto him and wrought by him in the Disciples of Jesus Christ or they are not If they are such as indeed are no Effects of the Spirit of Grace such as he is not promised for nor attested to work in them that do believe as vain Enthusiasmes extatical Raptures and Revelations certainly it more became Christians Men professing or at least pretending a Reverence unto God his Spirit and his Word to manifest and convince those of whom they treat that such things are not Fruits of the Spirit but Imaginatiocs of their own then to deride them under the name of the Spirit or his Gifts Operations Do Men consider with whom and what they make bold in these things But if they be things that are real Effects of the Spirit of Christ in them that believe or such as are undeniably assigned unto him in the Scripture which they despise what remains to give countenance unto this daring Prophaneness Yea but they say Secondly It is not the real true Operations of the Spirit themselves but the false Pretensions of others unto them which they traduce and expose But will this warrant the Course which it is manifest they steer in Matter and Manner The same Persons pretend to believe in Christ and the
Gospel and to be made Partakers of the Benefits of his Mediation And yet if they have not the Spirit of Christ they have no saving Interest in these things for if any Man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his If it be then onely their false pretending unto the Spirit of God and his Works which these Persons so revile and scorn why do they not deal with them in like manner with respect unto Christ and the Profession of the Gospel Why do they not say unto them you believe in Christ you believe in the Gospel and thereon expose them to Derision So plainly dealt the Jews with our Lord Jesus Christ. Psal. 22. 7 8. Math. 21. 39 43. It is therefore the things themselves and not the Pretences pretended that are the Objects of this contempt and Reproach Besides suppose those whom at present on other Occasions they hate or despise are not Partakers of the Spirit of God but are really strangers unto the things which hypocritically they profess Will they grant and allow that any other Christians in the World do so really partake of him as to be led guided directed by him to be quickned sanctified purified by him to be enabled unto Communion with God and all duties of Holy Obedience by him with those other Effects and Operations for which he is promised by Jesus Christ unto his Disciples If they will grant these things to be really effected and accomplished in Any let them not be offended with them who desire that they should be so in themselves and declare themselves to that purpose and Men would have more Charity for them under their petulant scoffing than otherwise they are able to exercise It will Thirdly Yet be pleaded that they grant as fully as any the Being of the Holy Ghost the Promise of him and his real Operations only they differ from others as to the sense and Exposition of those Phrases and Expressions that are used concerning these things in the Scripture which those others abuse in an unintelligible manner as making them proper which indeed are Metaphorical But is this the way which they like and choose to express their Notions and Apprehensions Namely openly to revile and scorne the very Naming and asserting the work of the Spirit of God in the words which himself hath taught A Boldness this is which as whereof the former Ages have not given us a President so we hope the future will not afford an Instance of any to follow the Example For their sense and Apprehension of these things they shall afterward be examined so far as they have dared to discover them In the mean time we know that the Socinians acknowledge a Trinity the Sacrifice of Christ the Expâation of sin made thereby and yet we have some differences with them about these things And so we have with these Men about the Spirit of God and his Dispensation under the Gospel though like them they would grant the things spoken of them to be true as Metaphorically to be interpreted But of these things we must treat more fully hereafter Sect. 26 I say it is so come to pass amongst many who profess they believe the Gospel to be true that the Name or Naming of the Spirit of God is become a Reproach So also is his whole work And the Promise of him made by Jesus Christ unto his Church is rendred useless and frustrated It was the main and upon the matter the only supportment which he left unto it in his Bodily Absence the only means of rendring the work of his Mediation effectual in them and among them For without him all others as the Word Ministry and Ordinances of Worship are Lifeless and Useless God is not Glorified by them nor the Souls of Men advantaged But it is now uncertain with some of what Use he is unto the Church yea as far as I can discern whether he be of any or no. Some have not trembled to say and contend that some things as plainly ascribed unto him in the Scripture as words can make an assignation of any thing are the cause of all the Troubles and Confusions in the World Let them have the Word or Tradition outwardly revealing the Will of God and what it is that he would have them do as the Jews have both to this day these being made use of by their own Reason and improved by their natural Abilites they make up the whole of Man all that is required to render the Persons or Duties of any accepted with God Of what use then is the Spirit of God in these things Of none at all it may be nor the Doctrine concerning him but only to fill the World with a buzze and noise and to trouble the minds of Men with unintelligible Notions Had not these things been spoken they should not have been repeated for Death lyeth at the Door in them So then Men may pray without him and preach without him and turn to God without him and perform all their Duties without him well enough For if any one shall plead the necessity of his Assistance for the due performance of these things and ascribe unto him all that is good and well done in them he shall hardly escape from being notably derided Yet all this while we would be esteemed Christians And what do such Persons think of the Prayers of the Antient Church and Christians unto him for the working of all Good in them and their Ascriptions of every good thing unto him And wherein have we any advantage of the Jews or wherein consists the preeminence of the Gospel They have the Word of God that part of it which was committed unto their Church and which in its kind is sufficient to direct their Faith and Obedience For so is the sure Word of Prophesie if diligently attended unto 2 Pet. 1. 19. And if Traditions be of any use they can outvie all the World Neither doth this sort of Men want their Wits and the Exercise of them Those who Converse with them in the things of this World do not use to say they are all Fools And for their Diligence in the Consideration of the letter of the Scripture and inquiring into it according to the best of their Understanding none will Question it but those unto whom they and their Concernments are unknown And yet after all this they are Jews still If we have the New Testament no otherwise then they have the Old have only the letter of it to Philosophize upon according to the best of our Reasons and Understandings without any Dispensation of the Spirit of God accompanying it to give us a Saving Light into the Mistery of it and to make it effectual unto our Souls I shall not fear to say but that as they call themselves Jews and are not but are the Synâgogue of Sathan Revel 2. 9. So we who pretend our selves to be Christians as to all the saving Ends of the Gospel shall not be
Spirit of God in the New Creation by some despised 2. Works under the Old Testament preparatory to the New Creation 3 4. Distribution of the Works of the Spirit 5. The Gift of Prophesie the Nature Use and End of it 6. The beginning of Prophesie 7. The Holy Spirit the only Author of it 8. The Name of a Prophet its signification and his Work 9. Prophesie by Inspiration whence so called 10. Prophets how acted by the Holy Ghost 11. The Adjuncts of Prophesie or distinct wayes of its Communication 12. Of Articulate Voices 13. Dreams 14. Visions 15. Adjuncts of Prophesie Symbolical Actions 16. Local Mutations 17. Whether unsanctified Persons might have the Gift of Prophesie The Case of Baalam 18. Answered 19. Of writing the Scriptures 20. Three things required thereunto 21. Of Miracles 22. Works of the Spirit of God in the improvement of the Natural Faculties of the Minds of Men in things Political 23. In things Moral 24. In things Corporeal 25. In things Intellectual and Artificial 26. In preaching of the Word Sect. 1 HAving passed through these general things which are of a necessary previous Consideration unto the especial Works of the Holy Ghost I now proceed unto that which is the principal Subject of our present Design And this is the Dispensation and Work of the Holy Spirit of God with respect unto the New Creation and the Recovery of Mankind or the Church of God thereby A Matter this is of the highest Importance unto them that sincerely believe but most violently and of late virulently opposed by all the Enemies of the Grace of God and our Lord Jesus Christ. The Weight and Concernment of the Doctrine hereof have in part been spoken unto before I shall at present add no farther Considerations to the same purpose but leave all that fear the Name of God to make a Judgment of it by what is revealed concerning it in the Scriptures and the Uses whereunto it is in them directed Many we know will not receive these things but whilst we keep our selves in the handling of them unto that Word whereby one day both we and they must either stand or fall we need not be moved at their Ignorance or Pride nor at the Fruits and Effects of them in Reproaches Contempt and scorn For ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Sect. 2 Now the Works of the Spirit in Reference unto the New-Creation are of two sorts First Such as were Preparatory unto it under the Old Testament For I reckon that the State of the Old-Creation as unto our Living unto God ended with the Entrance of Sin and giving the First Promise Whatever ensued thereon in a Way of Grace was preparatory for and unto the New 2dly Such as were actually wrought about it under the New Those Acts and Workings of his which are Common to both states of the Church as is his effectual Dispensation of sanctifying Grace towards the Elect of God I shall handle in Common under the Second Head Under the First I shall only reckon up those that were peculiar unto that State To make way hereunto I shall premise two general Positions Sect. 3 1. There is nothing Excellent amongst Men whether it be absolutely Extraordinary and every way above the Production of Natural Principles or whether it consist in an eminent and peculiar Improvement of those Principles and Abilities but it is ascribed unto the Holy Spirit of God as the immediate Operator and Efficient Cause of it This we shall afterwards confirm by Instances Of old he was All now some would have him nothing 2. Whatever the Holy Spirit wrought in an eminent manner under the Old Testament it had generally and for the most part if not absolutely and always a Respect unto our Lord Jesus Christ and the Gospel and so was preparatory unto the Compleating of the great Work of the New-Creation in and by Him And these Works of the Holy Spirit may be referred unto the two sorts mentioned Namely 1. Such as were Extraordinary and exceeding the whole compass of the Abilities of Nature however improved and advanced and 2. Those which consist in the Improving and Exaltation of those Abilities to answer the Occasions of Life and Use of the Church Those of the first sort may be reduced unto three Heads 1. Prophesy 2. Inditeing of the Scripture 3. Miracles Those of the other sort we shall find 1. In things Political as skill for Government and Rule amongst Men. 2. In things Moral as Fortitude and Courage 3. In things Natural as increase of Bodily strength 4. Gifts Intellectual 1. of things Sacred as to preach the Word of God 2. In things Artificial as in Bezaliel and Aholiab The Work of Grace on the Hearts of Men being more fully revealed under the New-Testament then before and of the same Kind and Nature in every state of the Church since the fall I shall treat of it once for all in its most proper Place Sect. 5 The First eminent Gift and Work of the Holy Ghost under the Old Testament and which had the most direct and immediate respect unto Jesus Christ was that of Prophecy For the Chief and Principal End hereof in the Church was to foresignify Him his Sufferings and the Glory that should ensue or to appoint such things to be observed in Divine Worship as might be Types and Representations of Him For the Chiefest Privelidg of the Church of Old was but to hear Tidings of the Things which we enjoy Isa. 33. 17. As Moses on the top of Pisgah saw the Land of Canaan and in Spirit the Beauties of Holiness to be erected therein which was his highest Attainment So the best of these Saints was to contemplate the King of Saints in the Land that was yet very far from them or Christ in the flesh And this Prospect which by Faith they obtained was their Chiefest Joy and Glory Joh. 8. 56 yet they all ended their Days as Moses did with respect unto the Type of the Gospel-state Deut. 3. 24 25. So did they Luke 10. 23. 24. God having provided some better thing for us that they without us should not be made perfect Heb. 11. 40. That this was the Principal End of the Gift of Prophecy Peter declares 1 Epist. Chap. 1. v. 9 10 11 12. Receiving the End of your Faith he Salvation of your Souls of which Salvation the Prophets have enquired and searched diligently who prophesyed of the Grace that should come unto you Searching what or what manner of Time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify when it testified before hand the sufferings of Christ and the Glory that should follow Unto whom it was revealed that not unto themselves but unto us they did minister the Things which are now reported unto you Some of the Ancients apprehended that some things were spoken obscurely by the Prophets and not to be understood without great search especially such as concerned the Rejection of the Jews lest they should have been
their Duties even bodily strength When that also was needful for the Work whereunto he called them Such was his Gift unto Sampson His bodily strength was supernatural a meer effect of the Power of the Spirit of God and therefore when he put it forth in his Calling it is said that the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him Judg. 14. 6. Chap. 15. 14. or wrought powerfully in him And he gave him this strength in the way of an Ordinance appointing the growing of his Hair to be the Sign and Pledg of it the Care whereof being violated by him he lost for a season the Gift it self Sect. 25 Fourthly He also communicated Gifts intellectual to be exercised in and about things Natural and Artificial So he endowed Bezaliel and Aholiab with Wisdom and Skill in all manner of curious Workmanship about all sorts of things for the building and beautifying of the Tabernacle Exod. 31. 2 3. Whether Bezaliel were a Man that had before given himself unto the Acquisition of those Arts and Sciences is altogether uncertain But certain it is that his present Endowments were extraordinary The Spirit of God heightned improved and strengthned the Natural Faculties of his Mind to a Perception and Understanding of all the curious Works mentioned in that place and unto a skill how to contrive and dispose of them into their Order deigned by God himself And therefore although the skill and wisdom mentioned differed not in the kind of it from that which others attained by industry yet he received it by an immediate Afflatus or Inspiration of the Holy Ghost as to that degree at least which he was made Partaker of Sect. 27 Lastly The Assistance given unto Holy Men for the Publishing and Preaching of the Word of God to others as to Noah who was a Preacher of Righteousness 2 Pet. 2. 5. for the Conviction of the Word and Conversion of the Elect wherein the Spirit of God strove with Men Gen. 6. 3. and preached unto them that were Disobedient 1 Pet. 3. 19 20. might here also be considered but that the Explanation of his whole Work in the Particular will occur unto us in a more proper place Sect. 28 And thus I have briefly passed through the Dispensation of the Spirit of God under the Old Testament Nor have I aimed therein to gather up his whole Work and all his Actings for then every thing that is praise-worthy in the Church must have been enquired into For all without him is Death and Darkness and Sin All Life Light and Power are from him alone And the instances of things expresly assigned unto him which we have insisted on are sufficient to manifest that the whole Being and Welfare of the Church depended solely on his Will and his Operation And this will yet be more evident when we have also considered those other Effects and Operations of his which being common to both States of the Church under the Old Testament and the New are purposely here omitted because the Nature of them is more fully cleared in the Gospel wherein also their Exemplifications are more illustrious From him therefore was the Word of Promise and the Gift of Prophesie whereon the Church was founded and whereby it was built From him was the Revelation and Institution of all the Ordinances of Religious Whorship from him was that Communication of Gifts and Gracious Abilities which any Persons received for the Edification Rule Protection and Deliverance of the Church All these things were wrought by that one and self-same Spirit which divideth to every Man severally as he will And if this were the state of things under the Old Testament a Judgment may thence be made how it is under the New The principal Advantage of the present State above that which is past next unto the coming of Christ in the Flesh consists in the pouring out of the Holy upon the Disciples of Christ in a larger manner than formerly And yet I know not how it is come to pass that some Men think that neither He nor his Work are of any great use unto us And whereas we find every thing that is good even under the Old Testament assigned unto him as the sole immediate Author of it it is hard to perswade with many that he continues now to do almost any good at all And what he is allowed to have any hand in it is sure to be so stated as that the principal praise of it may redound unto our selves So diverse yea so adverse are the thoughts of God and Men in these things where our Thoughts are not captivated unto the Obedience of Faith But we must shut up this Discourse It is a common saying among the Jewish Masters That the Gift of the Holy Ghost ceased under the second Temple or after the finishing of it Their meaning must be that it did so as to the Gifts of Ministerial Prophesie of Miracles and of Writing the Mind of God by Inspiration for the Use of the Church Otherwise there is no Truth in their Observation For there were afterwards especial Revelations of the Holy Ghost granted unto many as unto Simeon and Anna Luke 1. And others constantly received of his Gifts and Graces to enable them unto Obedience and fit them for their Employments For without a continuance of these supplies the Church it self must absolutely cease General Dispensation of the HOLY SPIRIT with respect unto the New Creation CHAP. II. 1. The Work of the Spirit of God in the New Creation proposed to Consideration The Importance of the Doctrine hereof 2. The plentiful Effusion of the Spirit the great Promise respecting the Times of the New Testament 3. Ministry of Gospel founded in the Promise of the Spirit 4. How this Promise is made unto all Believers 5. Injunction to all to pray for the Spirit of God 6. The solemn Promise of Christ to send his Spirit when he left the Word 7. The ends for which he promised him 8. The Work of the New Creation the principal means of the Revelation of God and his Glory 9. How this Revelation is made in particular herein Sect. 1 VVE are now arrived at that part of our Work which was principally intended in the Whole and that because our Faith and Obedience is principally therein concerned This is the Dispensation and Work of the Holy Ghost with respect to the Gospel or the New Creation of all things in and by Jesus Christ. And this if any thing in the Scripture is worthy of our most diligent Enquiry and Meditation nor is there any more important Principle and Head of that Religion which we do profess The Doctrine of Being and Unity of the Divine Nature is common to us with the rest of Mankind and hath been so from the Foundation of the World however some like bruit Beasts have herein also corrupted themselves The Doctrine of the Trinity or the Subsistence of three Persons in the one Divine Nature or Being was known to
all who enjoyed Divine Revelation even under the Old Testament though to us it be manifested with more Light and convincing Evidence The Incarnation of the Son of God was promised and expected from the first entrance of Sin and received its actual Accomplishment in the fulness of Time during the continuance of the Mosaical Paedagogie But this Dispensation of the Holy Ghost whereof we now proceed to treat is so peculiar unto the New Testament that the Evangelist speaking of it sayes The Holy Ghost was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified Joh. 7. 39. And they who were instructed in the Doctrine of John the Bapist only knew not whether there were any Holy Ghost Acts 19. 2. Both which saying concerned his Dispensation under the New Testament for his eternal Being and Existence they were not ignorant of nor did he then first begin to be as we have fully manifested in our foregoing Discourse To stir us up therefore unto diligence in this Enquiry unto what was in general laid down before I shall add some Considerations evidencing the Greatness and Necessity of this Duty and then proceed to the Matter it self that we have proposed to handle and explain Sect. 2 1. The plentiful Effusion of the Spirit is that which was principally prophesied of and foretold as the great Priviledg and Pre-eminence of the Gospel-Church State This was that good Wine which was kept until the last This all Prophets bear witness unto see Isa. 35. 7. Chap. 44. 3. Joel 2. 28. Ezek. 11. 19. Chap. 36. 27. with other places innumerable The great Promise of the Old Testament was that concerning the coming of Christ in the Flesh. But he was so to come as to put an end unto that whole Church-State wherein his coming was expected To prove this was the principal Design of the Apostle in his Epistle to the Hebrews But this Promise of the Spirit whose accomplishment was reserved for the Times of the Gospel was to be the Foundation of another Church-State and the means of its Continuance If therefore we have any interest in the Gospel it self or desire to have if we have either Part or Lot in this Matter or desire to be made Partakers of the Benefits which attend thereon which are no less than our Acceptation with God here and our Salvation hereafter it is our Duty to Search the Scriptures and enquire diligently into these things And let no Man deceive us with vain words as though the things spoken concerning the Spirit of God and his Work towards them that do believe are fanatical and unintelligible by rational Men for because of this contempt of him the Wrath of God will come on the Children of Disobedience And if the World in Wisdom and their Reason know him not nor can receive him yet they who believe do know him for he dwelleth with them and shall be in them John 14. 17. And the present practice of the World in despising and sleighting the Spirit of God and his Work gives Light and Evidence unto those words of our Saviour that the World cannot receive him And it cannot do so because it neither seeth him nor knoweth him or hath no Experience of his Work in them or of his Power and Grace Accordingly doth it is it come to pass Wherefore not to avow the Spirit of God in his Work is to be ashamed of the Gospel and of the Promise of Christ as if it were a thing not to be owned in the World Sect. 3 2. The Ministry of the Gospel whereby we are begotten again that we should be a kind of first Fruits of his Creatures unto God is from his promised Presence with it and Work in it called the Ministry of the Spirit even of the Spirit that giveth Life 2 Cor. 3. 6. And it is so in opposition to the ministration of the Law wherein yet there were a multitude of Ordinances of Worship and Glorious Ceremonies And he who knows no more of the Ministry of the Gospel but what consists in an attendance unto the Letter of Institutions and the manner of their performance knows nothing of it Nor yet is there any extraordinary Afflatus or Inspiration now intended or attended unto as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we pretend But there is that present of the Spirit of God with the Ministry of the Gospel in his Authority Assistance Communication of Gifts and Abilities Guidance and Direction as without which it will be useless and unprofitable in and unto all that take the Work thereof upon them This will be more fully declared afterwards For Sect. 4 3. The Promise and Gift of the Spirit under the Gospel is not made nor granted unto any peculiar sort of Persons only but unto all Believers as their Conditions and Occasions do require They are not therefore the especial Interest of a few but the common concern of all Christians The Papists grant that this Promise is continued but they would confine it to their Pope or their Councils things no where mentioned in the Scripture nor the Object of any one Gospel-Promise whatever It is all Believers in their Places and Stations Churches in their Order and Ministers in their Office unto whom the Promise of him is made and towards whom it is accomplished as shall be shown Others also grant the continuance of this Gift but understand no more by it but an ordnary blessing upon Mens rational endeavours common and exposed unto all alike This is no less than to overthrow his whole Work to take his Sovereignty out of his Hand and to deprive the Church of all especial Interest in the Promise of Christ concerning him In this enquiry therefore we look after what at present belongs unto our selves if so be we are Disciples of Christ and do expect the fulfilling of his Promises For whatever Men may pretend unto this day if they have not the Spirit of Christ they are none of his Rom. 8. 9. For our Lord Jesus Christ hath promised him as a Comforter to abide with his Disciples for ever Joh. 14. And by him it is that he is present with them and among them to the end of the World Mat. 28. 20. Chap. 18. 20. That we speak noâ as yet of his sanctifying Work whereby we are enabled to believe and are made Partakers of that Holiness without which no Man shall see God Wherefore without him all Religion is but a Body without a Soul a Carcase without an animating Spirit It is true in the continuation of his Work he ceaseth from putting forth those extraordinary Effects of his Power which were needful for the laying the Foundation of the Church in the World But the whole Work of his Grace according to the Promise of the Covenant is no less truly and really carried on at this day in and towards all the Elect of God than it was on the day of Pentecost and onwards and so is his communication of Gifts necessary for
Father John 5. 23. There yet remains the actual Application of all to the Souls of Men that they may be Partakers of the Grace designed in the Counsel of the Father and prepared in the Mediation of the Son And herein is the Holy Spirit to be manifested and glorified that He also together with the Father and the Son may be Known Adored Worshipped according unto his own Will This is the Work that he hath undertaken And hereon upon the solemn Initiation of any Person into the Covenant of God in answer unto this Design and Work he is Baptized into the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit Matth. 28. 18. And these things have been discoursed of before though necessarily here called over again Sect. 3 Secondly From the Nature and Order of this Work of God it is That after the Son was actually exhibited in the Flesh according to the Promise and had fulfilled what he had taken upon him to do in his own Person the great Promise of carrying on and finishing the whole Work of the Grace of God in our Salvation concerns the sending of the Holy Spirit to do and perform what he also had undertaken Thus when our Lord Jesus Christ was ascended into Heaven and began conspicuously and gloriously to carry on the building of his Church upon himself the Rock and Foundation of it it is said That being exalted by the Right Hand of God he received of the Father the Promise of the Holy Spirit Acts 2. 33. which must be a little opened Before he departed from his Disciples as hath been mentioned on several occasions he comforted and cheared their drooping Spirits with the Promise of sending him unto them which he often repeated and inculcated on their minds John 14. 15 16. And 2. when he was actually leaving of them after his Resurrection he gives them order to sit still and not to ingage in the publick Work of building the Church whereunto he had designed them until that Promise were actually accomplished towards them Acts 1. 4. Being assembled together with them he commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem but wait for the Promise of the Father and Vers. 8. Ye shall receive Power after the Holy Spirit is come upon you and ye shall be Witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the utmost parts of the Earth He would have them look neither for Assistance in their Work nor success unto it but from the promised Spirit alone and lets them know also that by his Aid they should be enabled to carry their Testimony of him to the uttermost parts of the Earth And herein lay and herein doth lie the Foundation of the Ministry of the Church as also its Continuance and Efficacy The Kingdom of Christ is Spiritual and in the animating Principles of it invisible If we fix our Minds only on outward Order we lose the Rise and Power of the whole it is not an outward visible Ordination by Men though that be necessary by Rule and Precept but Christ's Communication of that Spirit the Everlasting Promise whereof he received of the Father that gives Being Life Usefulness and success to the Ministry Wherefore also 3. upon his Ascention in the Accomplishment of the great Promises given unto the Church under the Old Testament Isa. 44. 3. Joel 1. 18. as also of his own newly given unto his Disciples he poured forth his Spirit on them This the Apostle Peter declares in this place Being exalted by the right Hand of God and having received of the Father the Promise of the Holy Spirit he shed forth what they then saw and heard in the Miraculous Operations and Effects of it And he is said then to receive the Promise of the Father because he then received the thing promised The Promise was not then first given unto him nor did he then receive it for himself For as the Promise was given long before so in his own Person he had received the fulness of the Spirit from his Incarnation as hath been declared But now he had Power given him actually to fulfil and accomplish the Promise in the Collation of the thing promised and is thence said to receive the Promise So Heb. 11. 13 39. it is said of all Believers under the Old Testament That they died in Faith having not received the Promise that is the thing promised was not actually exhibited in their dayes though they had the Promise of it as it is expresly said of Abraham Chap. 7. 6. The Promise therefore it self was given unto the Lord Christ and actually received by him in the Covenant of the Mediator when he undertook the great Work of the Restauration of all things to the Glory of God For herein had he the Ingagement of the Father that the Holy Spirit should be poured out on the Sons of Men to make effectual unto their Souls the whole Work of his Mediation wherefore he is said now to receive this Promise because on his account and by him as exalted it was now solemnly accomplished in and towards the Church In the same manner the same thing is described Psal. 68. 18. Thou hast ascended on High thou hast led Captivity captive thou hast received Gifts for Men which is rendred Ephes. 4. 8. Thou hast given Gifts unto Men for he received the Promise at this time only to give out the Spirit and his Gifts unto Men. And if any are so fond as to expect Strength and Assistance in the Work of the Ministry without him or such success in their Labours as shall find Acceptance with God they do but deceive their own Souls and others Sect. 4 Here lay the Foundation of the Christian Church The Lord Christ had called his Apostles to the great Work of building his Church and the propagation of his Gospel in the World Of themselves they were plainly and openly defective in all Qualifications and Abilities that might contribute any thing thereunto But whatever is wanting in themselves whether Light Wisdom Authority Knowledg Utterance or Courage he promiseth to supply them withal And this he would not do nor did any otherwise but by sending the Holy Spirit unto them on whose presence and assistance alone depended the whole success of their Ministry in the World It was through the Holy Ghost that he gave Commandments unto them Acts 1. 2. Those Commandments concern the whole Work in Preaching the Gospel and Founding of the Church and these he gives unto them through the acting of Divine Wisdom in the Humane Nature by the Holy Ghost And on their part without his Assistance he forbids them to attempt any thing v. 4 8 9. In this Promise then the Lord Christ founded the Church it self and by it he builded it up And this is the Hinge whereon the whole weight of it doth turn and depend unto this day Take it away suppose it to cease as unto a continual
these Threatnings are his who hath right to give them and power to execute them And with his Authority his Glorious Greatness and his Infinite Power come under consideration So also doth his Goodness and Love in an especial manner with many other things even all the known Properties of his Holy Nature all which concur in giving Weight Power and Efficacy unto these Motives and Arguments Sect. 14 3. Great Power and Efficacy is added hereunto from the management of these Motives in the preaching of the Word Herein by some the Rhetorical Faculty of them by whom it is dispensed is of great consideration For hereby are they able to prevail very much on the Minds of Men. Being acquainted with the Inclinations and Dispositions of all sorts of Persons the nature of their Affections and Prejudices with the Topicks or kinds and heads of Arguments meet to affect them and prevail with them as also the wayes of insinuating Perswasive Motives to their Minds they express the whole in words elegant proper expressive and suited to allure draw and ingage them unto the Wayes and Duties proposed unto them Herein do some place the principal Use and Efficacy of the Ministry in the dispensation of the Word with me it is of no consideration For our Apostle rejects it utterly from any place in his Ministry 1 Cor. 2. 4. My Speech and my Preaching was not with enticing words of Man's Wisdom but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of Power Some of late have put in faint and weak Exceptions unto the latter Clause as though not an evidence of the powerful presence of the Spirit of God in the Dispensation of the Gospel were intended therein but the power of working Miracles contrary to the whole scope of the place and consent of the best Expositors But that by the first Clause the Perswasive Act of Humane Oratory is excluded from Use and Efficacy in the preaching of the Gospel none as yet hath had the impudence to deny But let this also be esteemed to be as useful and efficacious in this Work as to the end of Preaching in the Conversion of the Souls of Men as any can imagine it shall be granted Only I shall take leave to resolve the Efficacy of Preaching into two other Causes Sect. 15 1. The Institution of God He hath appointed the Preaching of the Word to be the Means the only outward ordinary Means for the Conversion of the Souls of Men 1 Cor. 1. 17 18 19 20. Mar. 16. 15 16. Rom. 1. 16. And the Power or Efficacy of any thing that is used unto an End in Spiritual Matters depends solely on its Divine Appointment unto that End Sect. 16 2. The Especial Gifts that the Spirit of God doth furnish the Preachers of the Gospel withal to enable them unto an effectual discharge of their Work Ephes. 4. 11 12 13. whereof we shall treat afterwards All the Power therefore that these things are accompanied withal is resolved into the sovereignty of God For he hath chosen this way of Preaching for this End and he bestows these Gifts on whom he pleaseth From these things it is that the Perswasive Motives which the Word abounds withal unto Conversion oâ turning to God from Sin have that peculiar Efficacy on the Minds of Men which is proper unto them Sect. 17 4. We do not therefore in this Case suppose that the Motives of the Word are left unto a meer Natural Operation with respect unto the Ability of them by whom it is dispensed but moreover that it is blessed of God and accompanied with the Power of the Holy Spirit for the producing of its Effect and End upon the Souls of Men. Only the Operation of the Holy Ghost on the Minds and Wills of Men in and by these means is supposed to extend no further but unto Motives Arguments Reasons and Considerations proposed unto the Mind so to influence the Will and the Affections Hence his Operation is herein Moral and so Metaphorical not real proper and Physical Now concerning this whole Work I affirm these two things Sect. 18 1. That the Holy Spirit doth make use of it in the Regeneration or Conversion of all that are Adult and that either immediately in and by the Preaching of it or by some other Application of Light and Truth unto the Mind derived from the Word For by the Reasons Motives and Perswasive Arguments which the Word affords are our Minds affected and our Souls wrought upon in our Conversion unto God whence it becomes our reasonable Obedience And there are none ordinarily converted but they are able to give some account by what Considerations they were prevailed on thereunto But 2. We say that the whole Work or the whole of the Work of the Holy Ghost in our Conversion doth not consist herein but there is a real Physical Work whereby he infuseth a gracious Principle of Spiritual Life into all that are effectually Converted and really Regenerated and without which there is no Deliverance from the State of Sin and Death which we have described which among others may be proved by the ensuing Arguments Sect. 19 The principal Arguments in this Case will ensue in our Proofs from the Scriptures that there is a Real Physical Work of the Spirit on the Souls of Men in their Regeneration That all he doth consisteth not in this Moral Swasion the ensuing Reasons do sufficiently evince 1. If the Holy Spirit worketh no otherwise on Men in their Regeneration or Conversion but by proposing unto them and urging upon them Reasons Arguments and Motives to that purpose then after his whole Work and notwithstanding it the Will of Man remains absolutely indifferent whether it will admit of them or no or whether it will convert it self unto God upon them or no for the whole of this Work consists in proposing Objects unto the Will with respect whereunto it is left undertermined whether it will chuse and close with them or no. And indeed this is that which some plead for For they say That in all Men at least all unto whom the Gospel is Preached there is that Grace present or with them that they are able to comply with the Word if they please and so believe repent or do any Act of Obedience unto God according to his Will And if they will they can refuse to make use of this Assistance Aid Power or Grace and so continue in their Sins What this Grace is or whence Men have this Power and Ability by some is not declared Neither is it much to be doubted but that many do imagine that it is purely Natural only they will allow it to be called Grace because it is from God who made us Others acknowledg it to be the Work or Effect of Grace Internal wherein part of the difference lay between the Pelagians and Semi-pelagians of old But they all agree that it is absolutely in the Power of the Will of Man to make use of
and Expressions of the Scripture and the Notions of some Men among us There is not any thing that is good in us nothing that is done well by us in the way of Obedience but the Scripture expressely and frequently assigns it unto the immediate Operations of the Holy Spirit in us It doth so in general as to all gracious Actings whatever and not content therewith it proposeth every Grace and every Holy Duty distinctly affirming the Holy Ghost to be the immediate Author of them And when it comes to make mention of us it positively indeed prescribes our Duty to us but as plainly lets us know that we have no power in or from our selves to perform it But some men speak and preach and write utterly to another purpose The Freedom Liberty Power and Ability of our own Wills the Light Guidance and Direction of our own Minds Reasons and from all our own Performance of all the Duties of Faith and Obedience are the ãâã of their Discourses and that in Opposition unto what is aâââbed in the Scriptures unto the Immediate Operations of the Holy Ghost They are all for Grace Not I but Grace not I but Christ without him we can do nothing These are all for our Wills not Grace but our Wills doe all It is not more plainly affirmed in the Scripture that God created Heaven and Earth that he sustains and preserves all things by his Power than that he creates grace in the Hearts of Believers preserves it acts it and makes it effectual working all our Works for us and all our Duties in us But Evasions must be found out strange forced uncouth sences be put upon plain frequently repeated Expressions to secure the Honour of our Wills and to take care that all the Good we doe may not be assigned to the Grace of God To this purpose Distinctions are coyned Evasions invented and such an Explanation is given of all Divine Operations as renders them useless and insignificant Yea it is almost grown if not Criminal yet weak and ridiculous in the Judgement of some That any should assign those Works and Operations to the Spirit of God which the Scripture doth in the very words that the Scripture useth To lessen the Corruption and Depravation of our Nature by Sin to extoll the Integrity and Power of our Reasons to maintain the Freedom and Ability of our Wills in and unto things spiritually Good to resolve the Conversion of men unto God into their Natural good Dispositions Inclinations and the right use of their Reason to render Holiness to be only a Probity of Life or Honesty of Conversation upon rational Motives and Considerations are the things that men are now almost wearied with the Repetition of Scarce a Person that hath Confidence to commence for Reputation in the World but immediately he furnisheth himself with some new tinkling Ornaments for these old Pelagian Figments But whoever shall take an impartial View of the Design and constant Doctrine of the Scripture in this matter will not be easily carryed away with the plausible Pretences of men exalting their own Wills and Abilities in Opposition to the Spirit and Grace of God by Jesus Christ. Sect. 16 2 From what hath been discoursed a further discovery is made of the Nature of Gospel Obedience of all the Acts of our Souls therein and of the Duties that belong thereunto It is commonly granted that there is a great difference between the Acts and Duties that are truely gracious and those which are called by the same name that are not so as in any Duties of Faith of Prayer of Charity But this difference is supposed generally to be in the Adjuncts of those Duties in some properties of them but not in the kind nature or substance of the Acts of our minds in them Nay it is commonly said that whereas wicked men are said to believe and doe many things gladly in a way of Obedience what they so doe is for the substance of the Acts they perform the same with those of them who are truely Regenerate and Sanctified They may differ in their Principle and End but as to their Substance or Essence they are the same But there is no small mistake herein All gracious Actings of our Minds and Souls whether internal only in Faith Love or Delight or whether they go out unto external Duties required in the Gospel being wrought in us by the immediate Efficacy of the Spirit of Grace differ in their Kind in their Essence and substance of the Acts themselves from whatever is not so wrought or effected in us For whatever may be done by any one in any acting of common Grace or performance of any Duty of Obedience being educed out of the power of the Natural Faculties of men excited by Convictions as directed and enforced by Reasons and Exhortations or assisted by common Aids of what nature soever they are natural as to their kind and they have no other substance or Being but what is so But that which is wrought in us by the especial Grace of the Holy Ghost in the way mentioned is supernatural as being not educed out of the Powers of our natural Faculties but an immediate Effect of the Almighty supernatural Efficacy of the Grace of God And therefore the sole Reason why God accepts and rewards Duties of Obedience in them that are sanctified and regardeth not those which for the outward Matter and Manner of Performance are the same with them as unto Abel and his Offering he had respect but he had no respect unto Cain and his Offering Gen. 4. 4 5. is not taken from the State and Condition of the Persons that perform them only though that also have an influence thereinto but from the Nature of the Acts and Duties themselves also He never accepts and rejects Duties of the same Kind absolutely with respect unto the Persons that do perform them The Duties themselves are of a different Kind Those which he accepts are supernatural Effects of his own Spirit in us whereon he rewardeth and crowneth the Fruits of his own Grace And as for what he rejects whatever Appearance it may have of a Complyance with the outward Command it hath nothing in it that is supernaturally Gracious and so is not of the same Kind with what he doth accept CHAP. VIII Mortification of Sin the Nature and Causes of it 1 Mortification of Sin the Second Part of Sanctification 2 Frequently prescribed and enjoyned as a Duty 3 What the Name signifies with the Reason thereof 4 As also that of Crucifying Sin 5 The Nature of the Mortification of Sin explained 6 In-dwelling Sin in its Principle Operations and Effects the Object of Mortification 7 Contrariety between Sin and Grace 8 Mortification a Part-taking with the whole Interest of Grace against Sin 9 How Sin is Mortified and why the Subduing of it is so called 10 Directions for the right Discharge of this Duty 13 Nature of it unknown to many 15 The Holy Spirit
the Deeds of the Flesh. It is we that are to mortifie the Deeds of the Flesh it is our Duty but of our selves we cannot do it it must be done in or by the Spirit Whether we take the Spirit here for the Person of the Holy Ghost as the Context seems to require or take it for the gracious Principle of spiritual Life in the Renovation of our Nature not the Spirit himself but that which is born of the Spirit it is all one as to our purpose the Work is taken from our own Natural Power or Ability and resolved into the Grace of the Spirit Sect. 16 And that we go no further for the proof of our Assertion it may suffice to observe That the Confirmation of it is the principal Design of the Apostle from the second Verse of that Chapter unto the end of the 13 th That the Power and Reign of Sin its Interest and Prevalency in the Minds of Believers are weakened impaired and finally destroyed so as that all the pernicious Consequences of it shall be avoyded by the Holy Ghost and that these things could no otherwise be effected he both affirms and proves at large In the foregoing Chapter from the 7 th Verse unto the end he declares the Nature Properties and Efficacy of In-dwelling sin as the Remainders of it do still abide in Believers And whereas a two-fold Conclusion might be made from the Description he gives of the Power and Actings of this sin or a double Question arise unto the great Disconsolation of Believers he doth in this Chapter remove them both manifesting that there was no cause for such Conclusions or Exceptions from any thing by him delivered The first of these is that if such if this be the Power and Prevalency of In-dwelling sin if it so obstruct us in our doing that which is good and impetuously incline unto evil what will become of us in the End how shall we answer for all the Sin and Guilt which we have contracted thereby We must we shall therefore perish under the Guilt of it And the second Conclusion which is apt to arise from the same Consideration is that seeing the Power and Prevalency of Sin is so great and that we in our selves are no way able to make Resistance unto it much less to overcome it it cannot be but that at length it will absolutely prevail against us and bring us under its Dominion unto our everlasting Ruine Both these Conclusions the Apostle obviates in this Chapter or removes them if laid as Objections against what he had delivered And this he doth Sect. 17 1 By a Tacit Concession that they will both of them be found true towards all who live and dye under the Law without an Interest in Jesus Christ. For affirming that there is no condemnation unto them that are in Christ Jesus he grants that those who are not so cannot avoyd it Such is the Guilt of this sin and such are the Fruits of it in all in whomsoever it abides that it makes them obnoxious unto Condemnation But 2 There is a Deliverance from this Condemnation and from all liableness thereunto by free Justification in the Blood of Christ v. 1. For those who have an Interest in him and are made partakers thereof although sin may grieve them trouble and perplex them and by its Deceit and Violence cause them to contract much Guilt in their surprizals yet they need not despond or be utterly cast down there is a stable ground of Consolation provided for them in that there is no Condemnation unto them that are in Christ Jesus 3 That none may abuse this Consolation of the Gospel to countenance themselves unto a Continuance in the service of sin he gives a Limitation of the Subjects unto whom it doth belong namely all them and only them who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit v. 1. As for those who give up themselves unto the Conduct of this Principle of In-dwelling sin who comply with its Motions and Inclinations being acted wholly by its Power let them neither flatter nor deceive themselves there is nothing in Christ nor the Gospel to free them from Condemnation It is they only who give up themselves to the Conduct of the Spirit of Sanctification and Holiness that have an interest in this Priviledge 4 As to the other Conclusion taken from the Consideration of the Power and Prevalency of this Principle of sin he prevents or removes it by a full Discovery how and by what means that Power of it shall be so broken its strength abated its prevalency disappointed and its self destroyed as that we need not fear the Consequents of it before mentioned but rather may secure our selves that we shall be the death thereof and not that the death of our Souls Now this is saith he by the Law or Power of the Spirit of Life which is in Christ Jesus v. 2. And thereon he proceeds to declare that it is by the effectual working of this Spirit in us alone that we are enabled to overcome this spiritual Adversary This being sufficiently evident it remaineth only that we declare the Way and Manner how he produceth this Effect of his Grace Sect. 18 1 The Foundation of all Mortification of Sin is from the Inhabitation of the Spirit in us He dwells in the Persons of Believers as in his Temple and so he prepares it for himself Those Defilements or Pollutions which render the Souls of men unmeet Habitations for the Spirit of God do all of them consist in sin inherent and its Effects These therefore he will remove and subdue that he may dwell in us suitably unto his Holiness Rom. 8. 11. If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the Dead dwell in you he that raised up Christ from the Dead shall also quicken your mortal Bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you Our mortal Bodyes are our Bodies as obnoxious unto Death by reason of sin as v. 10. And the Quickening of these mortal Bodyes is their being freed from the Principle of Sin or Death and its Power by a contrary Principle of Life and Righteousness It is the freeing of us from being in the Flesh that we may be in the Spirit v. 9. And by what Means is this effected It is by the Spirit of him that raised Jesus from the Dead that is of the Father which also is called the Spirit of God the Spirit of Christ v. 9. For he is equally the Spirit of the Father and the Son And he is described by this Periphrasis both because there is a similitude between that Work as to its Greatness and Power which God wrought in Christ when he raised him from the Dead and what he worketh in Believers in their Sanctification Ephes. 1. 19 20. and because this Work is wrought in us by vertue of the Resurrection of Christ. But under what especial Consideration doth he effect this Work of mortifying sin in us It is as
Mistakes about Ability to comply with Gods Commands 544 20 Abuse of the best Duties Possible 398 13 Abuse of spiritual Gifts 1 1 Abuse of Eternal Love devilish 525 14 Acquaintance with the Pollution of Sin necessary 394 11 Every Gracious Act of the Will wrought by the Holy Spirit 470 10 Difference between the Act of the Spirit in forming the Humane Nature of Christ and the Act of the Son in assuming it 133 12 To be acted by the Spirit what it is 468 11 How the Holy Prophets were Acted by the Spirit 104 10 All Actings of the Person of the Son of God towards the Humane Nature voluntary 129 6 Actings of the Holy Spirit not ascribed unto him exclusively 130 9 Internal Actings of the blessed Trinity where one Person is the Object of the Love of another natural and necessary to the Being of God 45 5 External Actings of one Divine Person towards another of what sort 46 5 All Actions internal and external to be tryed by the Word 412 3 Internal Acts of the Holy Trinity how undivided 131 9 All Acts of Natural Life from God 465 6 No Vital Acts under the Power of Death Spiritual 246 21 Act of the Holy Ghost in forming the Body of Christ a Creating Act. 132 Two-fold Event of Mens falls into Actual Sins 291 292 7 8 Actual Sins how they spring from Original Sins 289 5 Actual supplyes of Grace necessary to the Mortification of Sin 486 23 Actual assistance of Grace necessary unto Obedience 548 27 Adam how he had the Spirit of God in the state of Innocency 76 14 Adam had many things revealed unto him 100 6 Adherence and Assimulation Effects of of Love 496 Adjuncts of Divine Inspiration 103 9 Admiration an effect of love 514 26 Administration of Grace not equal at all times 547 24 Advantage and Priviledge in the Participation of the Gifts of the Spirit 83 7 Advantage of the New Testament in our Access to God 155 2 Advantage of Duties vitiated in their Performance 249 28 Great Advantage of spiritual Experience 342 Affections wrought upon and excited by Convictions 200 18 Affections fixed by Grace on spiritual things 201 18 Affections when renewed work sensibly 353 Affections how depraved how sanctified 285 57 Affections the Means of Convictions 294 13 Afflictions how they purge away sin 391 9 Afflictions how sanctified and made usefull ibid. Various Aggravations of the Defilement of Sin 379 Aggravations of sin in them who have received a Principle of Grace 549 29 All personal Properties assigned unto the Holy Spirit in the Scripture 48 8 Alienation from the Life of God what it is 216 22 Alienation of the Minds of men from the Gospel on what Ground 233 54 Allusion unto Local Motion in sending of the Spirit whence taken 84 8 Angels Gods Host. 70 6 Ministry of Angels about the Body of Christ when dead 147 10 Anointing at the Inauguration of Governours what it signified 117 The Spirit of Antichrist what it is 41 17 An Anti-Spirit set up in Opposition to the Spirit of God 19 23 Apostasie of the Church in several Ages with respect unto the Persons of the Holy Trinity 24 27 Apostasie of Christian Churches in the Rejection of the Holy Spirit and his Work 25 27 Apostasie from beginnings of Conversion how brought on 300 24 Appellations or Titles of the Holy Spirit in the Scripture 34 9 Appearances of the Holy Spirit under visible Signs 52 15 Appearances of Persons in Divine Visions 108 14 All Apprehensions of Divine Operations to be tryed by the Rule of the Word 187 Apprehension of Eternal danger from the Law before Conversion 308 31 Application of the Blood of Christ for the Cleansing of Sin 371 1 Application to the Blood of Christ for the Cleansing of Sin and the Nature of it 387 388 389 s. 5. 400 405 Applications of the Death of Christ unto the subduing of Sin wherein it consists 494 495 36 Arguments in Prayer for the further Communications of the Spirit 359 4 Weak Arguments for Holiness prejudicial to it 498 2 Arguments to prove the Divine Personality of the Holy Ghost 47 48 c. 8 Articulate Voyces in Divine Revelations how formed 106 12 Internal Assistance of the Spirit of God necessary to every Act of Obedience 465 5 Assumption the only immediate Act of the Person of the Son towards the Humane Nature 129 4 Assurance accompanying Divine Revelations 104 10 Assurance of Success and final preservation an Encouragement to Duties of Holiness 529 21 Assurance of the End an Encouragement unto the use of the Means 530 23 Attonement or Satisfaction not required of Sinners 331 13 False Wayes of making Attonement the Ground of all Superstition ibid. Vain Attempts for the Mortification of Sin 478 8 Auricular Confession an Invention to accommodate the Inclinations of all Flesh 380 Authority in giving the Spirit respects his Gifts and Grace 81 4 Authority of God gives Efficacy to the Word 259 13 Authority of God to be alwayes considered in his Commands 537 10 Sense of the Authority of God to be carried into all our Occasions 542 17 B. Baalam how a Prophet and how a Sorcerer 110 17 Baptized into the Name of the Holy Spirit as into the Father and Son 51 14 Baptisme of Christ the time of his being anointed unto his Prophetical Office 139 140 5 Baptism is not Regeneration 179 15 All that are duely Baptized are not Regenerate 180 16 Baptism how it expresseth our Sanctification 371 2 Baptism washeth not away Sin virtute Operis operati 380 Beauty of the Soul in its Conformity unto God 376 5 Beginning and Ending of the Gift of Prophesie 100 6 Beginnings of Holiness small like seed 340 4 Beginning of Good from our selves a Pelagian Fiction 467 9 Believers alone receive the Spirit in what sense 82 5 Believers much unacquainted with the Nature of Holiness and their own interest therein 327 10 Believers the only Subject of Sanctification 356 6 Benefit and use of the Word Preached 341 5 Benignity and Charity the great Resemblances of God 515 28 Blasphemy of the Jewes against the Name of Jesus 3 3 Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost 64 29 Blindness of may about the Nature of Sin 479 11 The Blood of Christ how it cleanseth from sin 384 3 The Blood of Christ that purgeth sin is the Blood of his sacrifice 385 4 Blood in Sacrifice both Offered and Sprinkled 385 4 The Blood of Christs Sacrifice alwayes in the same condition as to Efficacy 386 Boasting and Despondency prevented by the same Means 345 6 Bodily strength given by the Spirit of God 118 24 Bodily Absence of Christ how supplyed by the Holy Spirit 161 6 Body of Christ formed of the substance of the Blessed Virgin Reasons thereof 132 The Body how depraved by Sin 366 The Body how sanctified 368 Bounty expressed in pouring forth the Spirit 87 13 The Spirit how called the Breath of Gods Mouth 39 13 How God Breathed into
man the Breath of Life 75 12 Burden of the Lord whence that Name was given to Prophesies 107 14 Burden and danger of Government 117 C. What it is to Call Jesus Lord 34 2 Calumny against the Doctrine of Justification refuted 365 6 Two-fold Capacity in the Mind with respect unto spiritual things 220 29 Carnal Mind in all Mankind by Nature 243 14 Causes of the Purification of Sin 382 1 Certainty of Outward Voyces from Internal Light 106 12 Secret Chambers where Christ is not what is intendedây them 152 15 Characters of Divine Truth on all Divine Inspirations 105 10 Cherishing and Acting the Principle of Holiness the great Means of Mortification of Sin 485 22 Childhood the Vanity thereof 289 4 To say Christ is the Lord what it includes and how we are enabled thereunto 5 3 Christ in no sense the Son of the Holy Spirit 133 11 Christ raised from the dead by the Holy Ghost 148 Christ how he is our Life 247 23 Christ not defiled with our defilements 406 16 Christ how he is made unto us Sanctification 445 c. Christ the exemplary Cause of our Holiness 447 54 Christ an Head of Influence unto the Church 451 64 Christ only to be heard if we would learn Obedience 559 11 Circumcision of the Heart wherein it consists 275 41. 418 11 Church of the Jewes first fell by Idolatry 25 27 Head of the Church first respected in the New Creation 128 1 Churches how at first founded and built by the Holy Ghost 6 6 Cleansing our selves from Sin our Duty 371 1 Cleansing from Sin how to be prayed for 372 3 Cleansing in Profession and Reality in Signification and Efficacy 380 No Cleansing of Sin meerly by our own Endeavours 398 13 Collation of the Spirit on Christ how a present and how a Continued Act 141 5 The commands of God how possible unto us 220 30 Commands of the Covenant respect the power administred in the Covenant 432 30 Commands of Duty when not grievous 446 53 Commands of Obedience belonging unto the Old Covenant and their Ends 534 3 Commands for Obedience how proportioned unto our Abilities 543 19 Commands for Holiness whence just and equal 550 31 Commands for Holiness multiplyed and why 551 34 Respect unto the Command the formal Reason of Obedience 533 2 How the Holy Spirit comes on men 89 90 16 Coming of Christ in the flesh the first and principal Promise of the Old Testament 8 9 Communication of spiritual things from Christ by the Spirit 161 6 Communication of the Vertue of the Blood of Christ unto our Souls by the Holy Spirit 390 6 Communication from God to his Creatures Two-fold 541 64 All Communications in a way of Grace through Christ 452 65 Communion with God by the Gospel the nature manner and way of it 163 6 Communion between God and Believers by real Operation of the Holy Ghost 164 6 Complaints of Sin in Prayer derided 491 30 Compleating Acts ascribed in all Divine Operations to the Holy Spirit 69 3 What comprehension Prophets had of Divine Revelations 103 10 Conception of Christ in the Womb Instantaneous 133 13 Conception of Christ how assigned to the Holy Spirit how to the Blessed Virgin 134 14 Conclusions to be made from the Doctrine of Election 531 25 Concupiscence gets strength by Age 290 6 Condition of all unregenerate Persons absolutely the same 178 12 Confluence of Trouble on the Lord Christ in the Course of his Ministry 142 Conformity unto God the Honour of the Soul 376 5 Conformity unto God wherein it consists 419 13 Conformity unto the Death of Christ wherein it consists 493 33 Conformity to God our onely Glory 503 10 Conscience how affected with Convictions 200 17 Consistency of Commands and Promises proved 336 14 Glorious Consequences of the Miraculous Conception of the Body of Christ 135 Consequences falsely charged on the Doctrine of the Gospel 507 16 Considerations of Grace and the true Spring of all spiritual Diligence 346 7 Considerations of the Nature and End of Sin subservient unto Mortification 496 39 Spiritual consolations unto whom they do belong 359 Consolation of Believers from the Eternal Continuance of Grace 329 11 Constancy in Holy Duties a necessary consequent of a Principle of Holiness 426 20 Constitution no excuse for sin 369 Contemplation an effect of Love 514 26 Contempt of the Gospel whence 224 37 Contempt of Regeneration in many 205 1 Contempt of the World from the Consideration of Electing Love 528 19 Contest in the World about the Lord Christ how managed on each side 149 13 Continuation of the Work of the Holy Ghost in the Church 123 4 Contrary Dispositions and Inclinations in Believers the Nature of them and whence they are 428 24 Difficulty of Conversion not onely from a Custom of sinning 253 1 Conversion to God not meerly an Act of our own Wills 262 20 Way and Means of Conversion according to the Old and New Pelagians 267 Work of the Spirit in Conversion how declared by some and derided by others 341 39 Conviction of Sin antecedaneous to Conversion 195 8 Convictions of Sin how they are lost 196 9 Wayes whereby Convictions are lost exââââ in Austin 296 15 16 The Nature of the Conviction of Sin 297 18 Convictions variously used and abused 364 Conviction of the Defilement of Sin necessary antecedently unto its Purification 387 5 Evidence of Duties proceeding onely from the Power of Convictions 426 20 Corruption of the Mind expressed by Darkness 209 11 Corruption of Nature working early in Infancy 288 3 Common Notions of Good and Evil remaining in Corrupted Nature and their use 293 11 Corrupted Reason depraves the whole Mystery of the Gospel 325 8 Creating of the Body of Christ out of the substance of the Virgin compared with the Creation of the first man out of the dust of the Earth 132 Creation assigned distinctly to each Person in the Trinity 69 1 Creation of Man the Parts and Degrees of it 74 75 10 New Creation how effected by the Holy Spirit 98 1 New Creation the work whereby God designed to glorifie himself principally in this World 126 8 New Creation how assigned unto the Father Son and Spirit distinctly 126 9 Old and New Creation compared 172 1 Creatures above and below why called Gods Host 71 6 New Creature what it is and wherein it consists 183 20 New Creature supported and acted by the Holy Spirit 466 7 Cure of Idolatry by the Captivity 25 27 Cyrus how Anoynted of God 77 15. 118 22 D. Danger of Mistakes about Regeneration 190 State of Darkness and Blindness by Nature 206 4 Spiritual Darkness the Nature of it 207 7 Darkness Objective and Subjective 208 8 Spiritual Darkness working by Enmity and its Effects 230 49 Dead Works what they are and whence so called 246 22 Men said to be Dead in Sin with respect to the Life we had in Adam 242 11 Work of the Spirit towards the Humane Nature
Christ in the Wombe 137 1 Humane Nature of Christ guided and supported by the Spirit in his Ministry 141 7 Humble walking with God Motives unto it 404 Humility promoted by thoughts of Sovereign Grace 526 16 I. Idolatry in Opposition to the Oneness of the Divine Nature and Monarchy the first Apostasie 24 27 Cure of Idolatry by the Captivity 25 27 Jesus Anathema how uttered by the Instigation of the Devil 3 2 Jesus confessed to be the Lord by unclean Spirits and how 4 2 Ignorance taken for simple Nescience how it may be ascribed to the Humane Nature of Christ. 138 3 Ignorance of the true Nature of Holiness and its Effects 421 Illumination previous to Conversion the Nature of it 193 6 Illumination how distinguished from meer Natural Knowledge 194 7 Image of God wherein it consisted 76 14 Image of God defaced by Sin 366 Image of God in us wherein it consisted 376 5 Imitation of Christ highly Necessary 449 59 Imperfect Obedience not taken into the Room of perfect Obedience by the New Covenant 413 4 Importance of the Doctrine concerning the Holy Spirit 10 10 Importance of the Doctrine of Sanctification 324 6 Imposition of Names by a Prophetical Spirit 100 6 Impotency of the Mind to receive spiritual things 210 13 Impotency of the Mind by Nature 218 27 Impotency of the Mind of Man by Nature Two-fold 224 39 Impotency from Spiritual Death the Nature of it 243 14 Natural Impotency and Enmity how taken away 278 46 Inclinations unto holy Actings predominant in a Gracious Soul 430 27 Inclinations of Sin alwayes to be watched against 479 11 Inconformity unto Gods Holiness the Nature of it 374 Reasons of Inconformity unto God 508 17 Incumbrances from Sloath in spiritual Duties 435 36 Individed Operations of the Divine Nature 69 2 Indulgence of any Sin hinders the progress of Holiness in general 354 Indwelling Sin three wayes to be considered 476 6 Infusion of a Principle of Divine Life in Regeneration 411 2 Inhabitation of the Spirit the Foundation of the Mortification of Sin 483 18 Inherent Righteousness what it is and wherein it consists 182 19 Actual Inherent Righteousness required unto Holiness 463 1 Ability of Adam in the State of Innocency 280 50 Inspiration the Original of Prophecye 101 7 Inspiration what it is and wherein it consists 102 8 Adjuncts of Divine Inspiration 103 9 Institutions of the Law could not purge the Defilements of sin 379 Instruction of the Mind the first End of preaching the Word 258 11 Intellectual Faculties of the Mind strengthened by the Holy Spirit 119 26 Intellectual Faculties impaired by Sin 206 5 Intellectual and Moral Habits short of Holiness 336 14 Intellectual Habits the Nature of them 415 8 Intension of Mind in attendance to the Outward Means of Conversion how Necessary and in our own power 192 3 Intercession of Christ how a Cause of our Holiness 444 5 Intercession of Christ its Influence unto Holiness 556 5 Interest of Faith and Obedience in Principles of Truth 43 1 Internal Actings of the blessed Trinity where one Person is the Object of the Love of another natural and necessary to the Being of God 45 5 Internal Acts of the Holy Trinity how undivided 131 9 Irregularity of our Natures the Cause of Shame 383 Judgement of Spirits the Duty of all Believers 18 22 Justification not for Obedience to Gospel Precepts 536 537 7 8 c. K. Killing of Sin what it is and whence it is so called 478 9 Kindness required towards Believers in an especial Manner 516 30 Kingly Power of Christ and its Influence unto our Holiness 562 18 Knowledge of Divine things in their Operations and Effects 20 24 L. Law written in the Heart what it is 278 47 The Law to be considered as it expresseth first the Authority of God and then his Holiness 374 Law and Rule of the Acceptance of New Obedience what it is 413 4 Power of the Law with respect unto Duties 534 4 Reasons why mens Minds are little influenced by Humane Laws 540 15 The Law expounded and vindicated by Christ. 556 6 Legacy left by our Lord Jesus Christ unto his sorrowfull Disciples 9 10 Legal Purifications Types of real Sanctification 371 2 Legal Institutions for Purification their Vse and End 399 Arguments from Legal Commands no Motives to Holiness 534 3 Letter of the Scripture profiteth not the Jewes whilest they have not the Spirit 24 26 Spiritual Leprosie by Nature 393 10 Liberty and Ability in the renewed Will. 433 33 The Life of God from which we are alienated by Nature wherein it consists 215 21 Life natural what it is and wherein it consists 239 3 c. Life spiritual what it is 240 6 Life unto God of Adam in Innocency ibid. Spiritual Life of Adam in Innocency 241 7 Christ how he is our Life 247 23 Spiritual Life wherein it consists 419 13 Life unto God consists principally in Duties internal 464 3 The Light within examined 19 23 Things against the Light of Nature not really enjoyned the Prophets 109 15 Saving Light attainable by the Gospel onely 208 9 Saving Light how communicated to the Mind 283 54 Light and Ability in the renewed Mind 432 31 Some things clear in the Light of Nature 560 13 Literal sence of Doctrines of Truth may be understood 219 28 Three things required to render man meet to live to God 76 14 No Local Motion in the sending of the Spirit 84 8 Local Mutations in Vision or Divine Revelations the Nature of them 109 16 The Spirit of the Lord is Jehova 65 31 Love abused by Superstition vain 125 6 Love the first Grace acted by Christ in the offering of himself 144 Spiritual Love how implanted on the Soul 284 56 Love to Man the Spring of Christs holy Obedience 449 58 Love derives Vertue from the Death of Christ and how 495 37 Love effectual to make us like unto God 513 25 Especial Effects of Divine Love 514 25 26 27. Eternal Love a powerfull Motive unto Holiness 525 14 Love towards all Saints promoted by thoughts of Eternal Love 517 18 Electing Love a Motive unto Holiness 529 20 Lustrations and Purgations whence in use among the Heathen 376 4 Lusts of the Mind from Darkness 231 51 Particular Lusts not the entire Objects of Mortification 481 14 M. Macedonian Heresie concerning the Holy Spirit 46 7 Man a middle Creature between Angels above and sensitive Animals below 75 10 Man the perfection of the Inferiour Creaation 75 12 The New Man what it is 184 21. 367 Outward Manner and Wayes of Divine Revelations 106 11 Manner of the secret growth of Grace 347 8 The Manner and Way how the Blood of Christ doth cleanse us from Sin 387 5 Manner of the Operation of the Spirit in the Mortification of Sin 484 21 Manner of teaching by the greatest Moralist compared with that of Christ. 561 16 Not the Matter only but the Words of Divine Revelations given by Inspiration
whence voluntary and meritorious 146 9 Obligation unto Holiness no less under the Gospel than under the Law 535 6 All Obstacles removed by effectual Grace 270 30 Obstinacy and Stubbornness of the Heart by Nature 277 45 Obstructions of the Growth of Holiness 350 10 Occasions of spiritual decays in Grace 354 How Christ Offered himself to God through the Eternal Spirit 143 8 Office of Witness-bearing unto the Lord Christ discharged by the Holy Spirit 149 13 One singular Spirit of God declared in the Scripture 33 8 The Holy Spirit One dividing as he pleaseth to others 94 21 Operations of the Spirit called the Spirit by a Metonymy 33 8 Divine Operations of all sorts ascribed to the Holy Spirit 59 24 All Divine Operations ascribed unto God absolutely 68 1 Operations of the Holy Spirit on the Humane Nature of Christ of two sorts 128 2 Operations of the Holy Spirit on the Humane Nature of Christ notwithstanding its personal Vnion with the Son 129 3 Operations of the Holy Spirit in Conversion suited unto the Powers of our Souls 270 31 Two-fold Operation of Christ as Three in One 162 Opening of the Heavens what it signifies 52 15 Opinions in the Primitive Church falsly fathered on spiritual Revelations 15 19 Opposition to the Spirit of God and his Works with the Grounds of it 21 25 Pretences of Opposition unto the Spirit of God examined 21 25 Oppositions against the Church suppressed by the Spirit of God 78 16 No Opposition between Gods Commands and his Grace 167 Vniversal Opposition between Sin and Grace 477 7 Order of Divine Dispensations dependeth on the Order of the subsistence of the Divine Persons 39 14 Order of subsistence of the Holy Spirit in the Blessed Trinity 66 33 Order of Operation depending on the Order of Subsistence not the Order of Promination ibid. Outward Order in the Church of no use without the Presence and Work of the Spirit 158 4 Order in Subsistence gives Order in Operation 162 Order of the Mind in its first Creation 212 15 Order of the Gospel inverted by Prejudices 235 58 Order of Precedency in the Acts of Sanctification 410 1 Skill in the Original Text necessary to the Exposition of the Scripture 30 4 Original of all things in their several kinds 73 9 Original of the Spirits Acting in all his Works towards the Church 89 15 Where Original Sin is denyed Regeneration cannot be effected 186 24 Original Order of our Souls wherein it consisted 568 6 Outward Manner and wayes of Divine Revelations 106 11 P. Pains of Death how loosed towards Christ. 147 11 Vanity of Papal Inventions for the Purification of Sin 379 380 Partial departure of the Spirit from any 91 19 Partial Works deceitfull 369 Two Parts of the Life of God 423 16 Particular good End not sufficient to render a Duty Good or Holy 441 44 Peace with God preserved by Sanctification 323 3 How God sanctifieth us as the God of Peace ibid. Pelagius his Artifices 177 9 Doctrine of Pelagius 183 20 Pelagianism renewed 255 5 Pelagianisme reduced unto its Head 256 7 Difference between Pelagians and Semi-Pelagians 262 19 Pelagian Grace inconsistent with Prayer 265 24 Pelagius his Prayer 266 25 Pelagian Grace rejected 458 73 Pen-men of the Scripture whether all holy 111 18 Pen-men of the Scripture not left unto the use of their own Natural Abilities 114 20 Sinless Perfection not attainable in this Life 547 25 Persecution of Erring Persons vain and fruitless 19 20 23 Person of the Spirit and his Operations distinguished 33 8 Third Person in the Trinity whence called the Spirit 34 9 Person of the Father the Fountain of the Trinity 38 13 Some things not proper to a Person assigned to the Holy Ghost in what sence 48 9 The Person of the Holy Spirit not poured out but his Gifts and Graces 87 13 Every Divine Person Author of the same Work 68 1 The Person of Christ how the Fountain of all Grace 455 The whole Person of a Believer the subject of Sanctification 365 Divine Persons succeeded not to each other in their Operations 70 3 Manifestation of the distinction of Persons in the Divine Nature a great End in the Work of the New Creation 155 2 All Personal Properties assigned unto the Holy Spirit in the Scripture 48 8 Personal Vnion or the Subsistence of both the Natures of Christ in one Person the necessary Consequent of Assumption 129 5 Personality of the Holy Spirit from John 14. 15 16. 60 61 25 Perswasive Efficacy of the Word Preached 258 12 Perswasion conferres no Strength 262 21 Perswasions enable not men to convert themselves 266 25 Perswasions of Perfection ruinous to Holiness 355 Pharisaical Confidence 397 12 Wise Philosophers of Old the greatest Despisers of the Gospel 221 222 Physical Operations of Grace proved 269 29 Pleas for Balaam answered 111 112 19 Pleas of Pelagians 263 21 Vain Pleas for the Power of Free-will in Opposition to the Aids of the Spirit 471 15 Pleas for Holiness by unholy persons uncomely and dangerous 498 2 Pleas for Moral Vertue examined 506 15 Pollution or spiritual Defilement in Sin 372 3 Pollution of Sin that property of it whereby it is opposed to the Holiness of God 374 4 Habitual Pollution inconsistent with any Holiness 378 Pouring forth of the Spirit 86 11 Pouring forth of the Spirit alwayes respects the times of the Gospel 87 12 Power ascribed unto the Holy Spirit 58 22 Powers and Operations of Secondary Causes to be owned 77 15 Power of the Mind with respect unto spiritual things examined 216 23 Power in the Mind by Nature to discern spiritual things 221 30 Power of spiritual Darkness 227 43 Power of Darkness in the Devil 228 45 Powers and Duties of the Mind 236 60 Power unto Obedience in the State of Innocency 241 8 Power in Natural men beyond what they do or will use 245 20 Power in the Faculties of Nature as Corrupted 250 29 Power of the Word to prevail on the Souls of Men whereon it depends 258 13 Spiritual Power in the Habit of Holiness 432 31 Commands of the Covenant respect the Power administred in the Covenant 432 30 Spiritual Power wherein it consists 432 31 No Power in Believers unto Duties of Holy Obedience without assistance of the Spirit 465 c. Power administred by Christ enabling us to be Holy 502 8 No Power given by one Covenant to fulfill the Commands of the other 544 20 All power unto Obedience from Grace 546 22 Two-fold power necessary unto Obedience 547 26 Practice of Moral Vertue not Gospel Holiness 459 77 Pravity of Sin with respect unto the Holiness of God Two-fold 377 6 Praying for the Spirit prescribed as our Duty 123 124 5 Difference between the Prayers of Wicked men and of Believers 164 6 Prayers of the Church prove Effectual Grace 265 24 Prayers for Grace and Holiness of what Nature 348 349 9 Prayer for the Holy Spirit in what sence 357 2
which no Man shall see God if the Scripture be a faithful Testimony And some have taken pains to prove That sundry things which are expresly assigned unto him in the Gospel as Effects of his Power and Grace are only filthy Enthusiasms or at least weak Imaginations of Distempered Minds Neither is there any end of Calumnious Imputations on them by whom his Work is avowed and his Grace professed Yea the department of many herein is such as that if it were not known how effectual the Efforts of Profaneness are upon the corrupted Minds of Men it would rather seem ridiculous and be despised than to deserve any serious notice For lât any avow or plead for the known Work of the Spirit of God and it is immediately apprehended a sufficient Ground to charge them with leaving the Rule of the Word to attend unto Revelations and Inspirations as also to forgo all thoughts of the necessity of the Duties of Obedience whereas no other Work of his is pleaded for but that only which no Man can either attend unto the Rule of the Scripture as he ought or perform any one Duty of Obedience unto God in a due manner And there are none of this Conspiracy so weak or unlearned but are able to scoff at the mention of him and to cast the very naming of him on others as a Reproach Yea it is well if some begin not to deal in like manner with the Person of Christ himself For Error and Profaneness if once countenanced are at all times fruitful and progressive and will be so whilst Darkness and Corruption abiding on the Minds of Men the great Adversary is able by his subtile malice to make impressions on them But in these things not a few do please themselves despise others and would count themselves injured if their Christianity should be called in question But what value is there in that Name or Title where the whole Mystery of the Gospel is excluded out of our Religion Take away the Dispensation of the Spirit and his effectual Operations in all the Entercourse that is between God and Man be ashamed to avow or profess the Work attributed unto him in the Gospel and Christianity is plucked up by the Roots Yea this practical contempt of the Work of the Holy Spirit being grown the only plausible Defiance of Religion is so also to be the most pernicious beyond all national Mistakes and Errors about the same things being constantly accompanied with profaneness and commonly issuing in Atheism The sense I intend is fully expressed in the ensuing complaint of a Learned Person published many years ago In seculo hodie tam perverso prorsus immersi vivimus miseri in quo Spiritus Sanctus omnino ferme pro ludibrio habetur imo in quo etiam sunt qui non tantum corde toto eum repudient ut factis negent sed quoque adeo blasphemi in eum exurgant ut penitas eundem ex orbe expulsum aut exulatum cupiant quum illi nullam in operationibus suis relinquant efficaciam ac propriis vanorum habituum suorum viribus ac rationis profanae liberrati carnalitatique suae omnem ascribant sapientiam fortitudinem in rebus agendis Unde tanta malignitas externae proterviae apud mortales cernitur Ideoque pernicies nostra nos jam ante fores expecta c. Herein lies the Rise and Spring of that stated Apostacy from the Power of Evangelical Truth wherein the World takes its liberty to immerge it self in all licentiousness of Life and Conversation the end whereof many cannot but expect with Dread and Terror To obviate these Evils in any measure to vindicate the Truth and Reality of Divine Spiritual Operations in the Church to avow what is believed and taught by them concerning the Holy Spirit and his Work who are most charged and reslected on for their Profession thereof and thereby to evince the Iniquity of those Calumnies under the darkness and shades whereof some seek to countenance themselves in their profane scoffing at his whole Dispensation to manifest in all Instances that what is ascribed unto him is not onely consistent with Religion but also that without which Religion cannot consist nor the Power of it be preserved is the principal Design of the ensuing Discoursâs Now whereas the Effectual Operation of the Blessed Spirit in the Regeneration or Conversion of Sinners is of all other parts of his Work most vielently by opposed and hath of late been virulently traduced I have the more largely insisted thereon And because it can neither be well understood nor duly explained without the Consideration of the State of Lapsed or Corrupted Nature I have taken in that also at large as judging it necessary so to do For whereas the knowledg of it lies at the bottom of all our Obedience unto God by Christ it hath alwayes been the Design of some and yet continueth so to be either wholly to deny it or to extenuate it unto the depression and almost annihilation of the Grace of the Gospel whereby alone our Nature can be repaired Designing therefore to treat expresly of the Reparation of our Nature by Grace it was all accounts necessary that we should treat of its Depravation by Sin also Moreover what is Discoursed on these things is suited unto the Edification of them that do believe and directed unto their furtherance in true Spiritual Obedience and Holiness or the Obedience of Faith Hence it may be some will judg that our Discourses on these Subjects are drawn out into a greater length than was needful âânvenient by that continual intermixture of Practical Applications which runs along in them all But if they shall be pleased to consider that my Design was not to handle thesâ things in a way of Controversie but declaring and confirming the truth concerning them to accommodate the Doctrines ãâã ânto Practice and that I dare not treat of things of this Nature any other way but such as may promote the Edification of the generality of Believers they will either be of my mind or it may be without much difficulty admit of my Excuse How-ever if these things are neglected or despised by some yea be they never so many there are yet others ãâã will judg their principal Concernment to lie in such Discourses as may direct and encourage them in the Holy Practice of their Duty And whereas tâe Way Manner and Method of the Holy Spirit in his Operations as to this Work of translating Sinners from Death unto Life from a State of Nature unto that of Grace have been variously handled by some and severely reslecled on with scorn by others I have endeavourered so to declare and assert what the Scripture manifestly teacheth concerning them confirming it with the Testimonies of some of the Ancient Writers of the Church as I no way doubt but it is suited unto the Experience of who have in their own Souls been made Partakers of that Blessed Work of the Holy
reject the true and real Operations of the Spirit of God the Principal Preservative against our being deceived by them we may as well reject the owning of God himself because the Devil hath imposed himself on Mankind as the Object of their Worship Wherefore as to Enthusiasms of any kind which might possibly give countenance unto any Diabolical Suggestions we are so far from affirming any Operations of the Holy Ghost to consist in them or in any thing like unto them that we allow no pretence of them to be consistent therewithal And we have a sure Rule to try all these things by which as we are bound in all such Cases precisely to attend unto so hath God promised the Assistance of his Spirit that they be not deceived unto them who do it in sincerity What some Men intend by Impulses I know not If it be especial Aids Assistances and Inclinations unto Duties acknowledged to be such and the Duties of Persons so assisted and inclined and that peculiarly incumbent on them in their present Circumstances it requires no small Caution that under an invidious Name we reject not those supplies of Grace which are promised unto us and which we are bound to pray for But if irrational Impressions or violent Inclinations unto Things or Actions which are not acknowledged Duties in themselves evidenced by the Word of Truth and so unto the Persons so affected in their present Condition and Circumstances are thus expressed as we utterly abandon them so no pretence is given unto them from any thing which we believe concerning the Holy Spirit and his Operations For the whole Work which we assign unto him is nothing but that whereby we are enabled to perform that Obedience unto God which is required in the Scripture in the way and manner wherein it is required And it is probably more out of Enimity unto him than us where the contrary is pretended The same may be said concerning Revelations They are of two sorts Objective and Subjective Those of the former sort whether they contain Doctrines contrary unto that of the Scripture or additional thereunto or seemingly confirmatory thereof they are all universally to be rejected the former being absolutely false the latter useless Neither have any of the Operations of the Spirit pleaded for the least respect unto them For he having finished the whole Work of External Revelation and closed it in the Scripture his whole internal Spiritual Work is suited and commensurate thereunto By Subjective Revelations nothing is intended but that Work of Spiritual Illumination whereby we are enabled to discern and understand the Mind of God in the Scripture which the Apostle prayes for in the behalf of all Believers Ephes. 1. 17 18 19. and whose Nature God assisting shall be fully explained hereafter So little pretence therefore there is for this Charge on them by whom the Efficacious Operations of the Spirit of God are asserted as that without them we have no absolute security that we shall be preserved from being imposed on by them or some of them But it may be it will be said at last that our whole Labour in declaring the Work of the Spirit of God in us and towards us as well as what we have now briefly spoken in the Vindication of it from these or the like Imputations is altogether vain seeing all we do or say herein is nothing but canting with unintelligible Expressions So some affirm indeed before they have produced their Charter wherein they are constituted the sole Judges of what Words what Expressions what way of Teaching is proper in things of this Nature But by any thing that yet appears they seem to be as unmeet for the Exercise of that Dictatorship herein which they pretend unto as any sort of Men that ever undertook the Declaration of Things Sacred and Spiritual Wherefore unless they come with better Authority than as yet they can pretend unto and give a better Example of their own Way and Manner of teaching such Things than as yet they have done we shall continue to make Scripture Phraseology our Rule and Patern in the Declaration of Spiritual Things and endeavour an Accommodation of all our Expressions thereunto whether to them intelligible or not and that for Reasons so easie to be conceived as that they need not here be pleaded An Advertisement unto the Readers BEing absent from the Press a good part of the time wherein this Treatise was Printed and being sometimes disinabled by Sickness from attending unto a perusal of the Sheets I find that sundry Errors and Mistakes have fallen out in some Copies of this Impression But whereas for the most part they are Literal Faults or in Pointing not so corrupting the Sense but that an understanding Reader may easily discern what is intended I do not judg it necessary scrupulously to collect or represent them Some few may be taken notice of in a way of Instance Page 239. line 28. read ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã P. 348. l. 46. r. Afflatus P. 350. l. 50. for weakned r. awaked P. 365. l. 6. for publick r. putid Ibid. l. 15. for fruitless r. frontless c. P. 495. l. 17. r. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã P. 510. l. 21. r. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã l. 22. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã l. 34. r. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã P. 535. for exclusively r. extensively P. 549. l. 8. for deceit r. defect P. 559. l. 28. for Cisterne r. Systeme And sundry other such Mistakes I have observed which need not to be mentioned in particular as not likely to give the least trouble unto an intelligent Reader The most of these also which I have here taken notice of are Corrected in some Copies sundry of them in the most BOOK I. General Principles Concerning the HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS WORK CHAP. I. 1. 1 Cor. 12. 1. opened ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã spiritual Gifts Their Grant unto Use and Abuse in that Church 2. Jesus how called Anathema impiety of the Jews How called Lord. The Foundation of Church-Order and Worship 3. In what sense we are enabled by the Spirit to call Jesus Lord. 4. The Holy Spirit the Author of all Gifts why called God and the Lord. 5. General Distribution of Spiritual Gifts 6. Proper End of their Communication 7. Nine sorts of Gifts Abuse of them in the Church Their tendency unto Peace and Order 8. General Design of the ensuing Discourse concerning the Spirit and his Dispensation 9. Importance of the Doctrine concerning the Spirit of God and his Operations Reasons hereof 10. Promise of the Spirit to supply the Absence of Christ as to his Humane Nature Concernment thereof 11. Work of the Spirit in the Ministration of the Gospel 12 13. All saving Good communicated unto us and wrought in us by Him 14. Sin against the Holy Ghost irremissible 15. False pretences unto the Spirit dangerous 16. Pretences unto the Spirit of Prophesie under the Old Testament 17. Two sorts of false Prophets the first
18. The second sort 19. Pretenders under the New Testament 20 21. The Rule for the Tryal of such Pretenders 1 John 4. 1 2 3. 22. Rules to this purpose under the Old and New Testament compared 23. A false Spirit set up against the Spirit of God examined 24. False and noxious Opinions concerning the Spirit and how to be obviated 25. Reproaches of the Spirit and his Work 26. Further declared 27. Principles and Occasions of the Apostasie of Churches under the Law and Gospel 28. Dispensation of the Spirit not confined to the first Ages of the Church 29 30 31. The great necessity of a diligent enquiry into the things taught concerning the Spirit of God and his Work Sect. 1 THE Apostle Paul in the 12th Chapter of his first Epistle to the Corinthians directs their Exercise of Spiritual Gifts concerning which amongst other Things and Emergencies they had made enquiry of him This the first words wherewith he prefaceth his whole Discourse declare vers 1. Now concerning Spiritual Gifts ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as his ensuing Declaration doth evince And the imagination of some concerning Spiritual Persons to be here intended contrary to the sense of all the Ancients is inconsistent with the Context For as it was about Spiritual Gifts and their Exercise that the Church had consulted with him so the whole series of his ensuing Discourse is directive therein And therefore in the close of it contracting the Design of the whole he doth it in that advice ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã covet the best Gifts namely among those which he proposed to treat of and had done so accordingly vers 31. The ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of vers 1. are the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of vers 31. as it is exprest chap. 14. 1. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã desire Spiritual Gifts whose Nature and Use you are now instructed in as at first was proposed Of these that Church had received an abundant measure especially of those that were Extraordinary and tended to the Conviction of Unbelievers For the Lord having much people in that City whom he intended to call to the Faith Acts 18. 9 10. not onely incouraged our Apostle against all fears and dangers to begin and carry on the Work of Preaching there wherein he continued an year and six months vers 11. but also furnished the first Converts with such eminent and some of them such miraculous Gifts as might be a prevalent means to the Conversion of many others For he will never be wanting to provide Instruments and suitable means for the effectual attaining of any End that he aimeth at In the Use Exercise and Management of these Spiritual Gifts that Church or sundry of the Principal Members of it had fallen into manifold disorders and abused them unto the matter of Emulation and Ambition whereon other Evils did ensue as the best of God's Gifts may be abused by the Lusts of Men and the purest Water may be tainted by the Earthen Vessels whereinto it is poured Upon the information of some who loving Truth Peace and Order were troubled at these Miscarriages chap. 1. 11. and in Answer unto a Letter of the whole Church written unto him about these and other Occurrences Chap. 7. 1. he gives them Counsel and Advice for the rectifying of these Abuses And first to prepare them aright with humility and thankfulness becoming them who were intrusted with such excellent Priviledges as they had abused and without which they could not receive the Instruction which he intended them he mindeth them of their former State and Condition before their Calling and Conversion to Christ vers 2. You know that you were Gentiles carried away with dumb Idols even as you were led ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Hurried with violent Impressions from the Devil into the service of Idols This he mentions not to reproach them but to let them know what frame of Mind and what fruit of Life might be justly expected from them who had received such an alteration in their Condition Particularly as he elsewhere tells them If they had not made themselves to differ from others if they had nothing but what they had received they should not boast nor exalt themselves above others as though they had not received chap. 4. v. 7. For it is a vain thing for a man to boast in himself of what he hath freely received of another and never deserved so to receive it as it is with all who have received either Gifts or Grace from God Sect. 2 This Alteration of their State and Condition he farther declares unto them by the Effects and Author of it vers 3. Wherefore I give you to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost The great Difference which was then in the World was concerning Jesus who was preached unto them all Unbelievers who were still carried with an impetus of Mind and Affections after dumb Idols being led and acted therein by the Spirit of the Devil blasphemed and said Jesus was Anathema or one accursed They looked on him as a Person to be detected and abominated as the common odium of their Gods and Men. Hence on the mention of him they used to say Jesus Anathema he is or let him be accursed detested destroyed And in this Blasphemy do the Jews continue to this day hiding their cursed Sentiments under a corrupt pronunciation of his Name For instead of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã they write and call him ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the initial Letters of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is Let his Name and Memory be blotted out the same with Jesus Anathema And this Blasphemy of pronouncing Jesus accursed was that wherewith the first Persecutors of the Church tryed the Faith of Christians as Pliny in his Epistle to Trajan and Justin Martyr with other Apologists agree And as the Apostle sayes Those who did thus did not so by the Spirit of God so he intends that they did it by the acting and instigation of the Devil the unclean Spirit which ruled in those Children of Disobedience And this was the Condition of these Corinthians themselves to whom he wrote whilst they also were carried away after dumb Idols On the other side those that believed called Jesus Lord or professed that he was the Lord and thereby avowed their Faith in him and Obedience unto him Principally they owned him to be Jehovah the Lord over all God blessed for ever For the Name ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is every where in the New-Testament expressed by ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã here used He who thus professeth Jesus to be the Lord in the first place acknowledgeth him to be the true God And then they professed him therewithal to be their Lord the Lord of their Souls and Consciences unto whom they owed all Subjection
the Lord vers 5. But as to their first Original and Fountain they are from God even the Father vers 6. And all these are one and the same But rather the Spirit alone is intended and hath this three-fold denomination given unto him For as he is particularly denoted by the Name of the Spirit which he useth that we may know whom it is that eminently he intendeth so he calls him both Lord and God as to manifest his Sovereign Authority in all his Works and Administrations so to ingenerate a due Reverence in their Hearts towards him with whom they had to do in this Matter And no more is intended in these three Verses but what is summed up vers 11. But all these worketh that one and the self same Spirit dividing to every Man severally as he will Sect. 5 Secondly With respect unto their general Nature The Apostle distributes them into Gifts ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã v. 4. Administrations ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã v. 5. Operations ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã v. 6. which Division with the Reasons of it will in our Progress be farther cleared Sect. 6 Thirdly He declares the general End of the Spirit of God in the Communication of them and the Use of them in the Church vers 7. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given unto every Man to profit withal ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Syr. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Revelation of the Spirit that is the Gifts whereby and in whose Exercise he manifests and reveals his own Presence Power and effectual Operation And the Spirit of God hath no other aim in granting these his enlightning Gifts wherein he manifests his care of the Church and declares the things of the Gospel unto any Man but that they should be used to the Profit Advantage and Edification of others They are not bestowed on Men to make their secular Gain or Advantage by them in Riches Honour or Reputation for which Ends Simon the Magician would have purchased them with his Money Acts 8. 19. No nor yet meerly for the good and benefit of the Souls of them that do receive them but for the Edification of the Church and the furtherance of Faith and Profession in others ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ad id quod expedit prodest For that which is expedient useful profitable namely to the Church 1 Cor. 6. 12. Chap. 10. 23. 2 Cor. 8. 10. Thus was the Foundation of the first Churches of the Gospel laid by the Holy Ghost and thus was the Work of their building unto perfection carried on by him How far present Churches do or ought to stand on the same bottom how far they are carried on upon the same Principles is worth our Enquiry and will in its proper Place fall under our Consideration Sect. 7 Fourthly The Apostle distributes the Spiritual Gifts then bestowed on the Church or some Members of it into nine Particular Heads or Instances As 1 Wisdom 2. Knowledg v. 8. or the Word of Wisdom and the Word of Knowledg 3. Faith 4 Healing vers 9. 5. Working of Miracles 6. Prophesy 7. Discerning of Spirits 8. Kinds of Tongues 9 Interpretation of Tongues v. 10. And all these were extraordinary Gifts in the manner of the Communication and Exercise which related unto the then present state of the Church What is yet continued anologous unto them or holding proportion with them must be farther enquired into when also their especial Nature will be unfolded But now if there be that great Diversity of Gifts in the Church if so much Difference in their Administrations how can it possibly be prevented but that Differences and Divisions will arise amongst them on whom they are bestowed and those amongst whom they are excercised It is true this may so fall out and sometimes doth so and de facto it did so in this Church of Corinth One Admired one Gift a second another of a different kind and so the third Accordingly among those who had received them one boasted of this or that Particular Gift and Ability and would be continually in its exercise to the exclusion and contempt of others bestowed no less for the edification of the Church than his own And so far were they transported with vain-Glory and a desire of self-Advancement as that they preferred the use of those Gifts in the Church which tended principally to beget Astonishment and Admiration in them which heard or beheld them before those which were peculiarly useful unto the Edification of the Church it self which Evil in particular the Apostle rebukes at large Chap. 14. By this means the Church came to be divided in it self and almost to be broken in Pieces Chap. 1. v. 11 12. So foolish oftimes are the minds of Men so liable to be imposed upon so common is it for their Lusts seduced and principled by the crafts of Satan to turn Judgment into Wormwood and to abuse the most useful Effects of Divine Grace and Bounty To prevent all these Evils for the future and to manifest how perfect an harmony there is in all these divers Gifts and different Administrations at what an Agreement they are among themselves in their Tendency unto the same Ends of the Union and Edification of the Church from what Fountain of Wisdom they do proceed and with what Care they ought to be used and improved the Apostle declares unto them both the Author of them and the Rule he proceedeth by in their Dispensation v. 11. All these saith he worketh that one and self-same Spirit dividing to every Man severally as he will Sect. 8 I shall not at present further open or insist upon these Words Frequent recourse must be had unto them in our Progress wherein they will be fully explicated as to what concerns the Person of the Spirit his Will and his Operations which are all asserted in them For my Purpose is through the Permission and Assistance of God to treat from hence of the Name Nature Existence and whole Work of the Holy Spirit with the Grace of God through Jesus Christ in the Communication of him unto the Sons of Men. A Work in it self too great and difficult for me to undertake and beyond my Ability to manage unto the Glory of God or the Edification of the Souls of them that do believe For who is sufficient for these things But yet I dare not utterly faint in it nor under it whilst I look unto him whose Work it is who giveth Wisdom to them that lack it and upbraideth them not Jam. 1. 5. Our Eys therefore are unto him alone who both supplieth seed to the Sower and when he hath done blesseth it with an encrease The present Necessity Importance and Usefulness of this work are the Things which alone have ingaged me into the undertaking of it These therefore I shall briefly represent in some general Considerations before I insist on the Things themselves whose especial Explanation is designed Sect. 9 First then we may consider That
the Church until it was accomplished towards them Acts 1. 4 5 8. They would have been again embracing his humane Nature and rejoycing in it But as he said unto Mary touch me not John 20 17. to wean her from any carnal consideration of him so he instructs them all now to look after and trust unto the Promise of the Holy Ghost Hence is that of our Apostle though we have known Christ after the flesh yet now henceforth know we him no more 2 Cor. 5. 16. For although it was a great Priviledg to have known Christ in this World after the flesh yet it was much greater to enjoy him in the Dispensation of the Spirit And this was spoken by the Apostle as the Ancients judge to rebuke the boasting of some about their seeing the Lord in the Flesh who were thereon called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã whom he directs unto a more excellent knowledg of him It is in vain pretended that it was the Apostles only and it may be some of the Primitive Christians who were concerned in this Promise For although the Holy Ghost was bestowed on them in a peculiar manner and for especial Ends yet the Promise in general belongs unto all Believers unto the End of the World For as to what concerns his Gracious Operations whatever the Lord Christ prayed for for them and so promised unto them as the Spirit was procured for them on his Prayer Joh. 17. 16 17. he prayed not for it for them alone but for them also which should believe on him through their word John 17. 20. And his Promise is to be with his always even unto the End of the World Math. 28. 20. As also that wherever two or three are gathered together in his Name there he would be in the midst of them Math. 18. 20 which he is no otherwise but by his Spirit For as for his Humane Nature the Heavens must receive him until the times of the Restitution of all things Acts 3. 21. And this one Consideration is sufficient to evince the importance of the Doctrine and things which concern the Holy Spirit For is it possible that any Christian should be so supinely negligent and careless so inconcerned in the Things whereon his Present Comforts and future Happiness do absolutely depend as not to think it his Duty to inquire with the greatest Care and Diligence into what our Lord Jesus Christ hath left unto us to supply his Absence and at length to bring us unto himself He by whom these things are despised hath neither Part nor Lot in Christ himself For if any Man hath not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his Rom. 8. 9. Sect. 11 Secondly The great work of the Holy Ghost in the Dispensation and Ministration of the Gospel unto all the Ends of it is another evidence unto the same Purpose Hence the Gospel it self is called the Ministration of the Spirit in opposition to that of the Law which is called the Ministration of the Letter and of Condemnation 2 Cor. 3. 8. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Ministry of the Spirit is either that Ministry which the Spirit makes effectual or that Ministry whereby the Spirit in his Gifts and Graces is communicated unto Men. And this is that which gives unto the Ministry of the Gospel both its Glory and its Efficacy Take away the Spirit from the Gospel and you render it a dead Letter and leave the New-Testament of no more use unto Christians than the Old-Testament is of unto the Jews It is therefore a mischievous imagination proceeding from Ignorance Blindness and Unbelief that there is no more in the Gospel but what is conteyned under any other Doctrine or Declaration of Truth that it is nothing but a Book for men to exercise their Reason in and upon and to improve the things of it by the same Faculty For this is to separate the Spirit or the Dispensation of the Spirit from it which is in Truth to destroy it And therewith is the Covenant of God rejected which is that his Word and Spirit shall go together Isa. 59. v. 20. 21. We shall therefore God assisting manifest in our Progress that the whole Ministry of the Gospel the whole Use and Efficacy of it do depend on that Ministration of the Spirit wherewith according to the Promise of God it is accompanied If therefore we have any concernment in or have ever received any benefit by the Gospel or the Ministration of it we have a signal Duty lying before us in the matter in hand Sect. 12 Thirdly There is not any Spiritual or Saving-Good from first to last communicated unto us or that we are from and by the Grace of God made Partakers of but it is revealed to us and bestowed on us by the Holy Ghost He who hath not an immediate and especial Work of the Spirit of God upon him and towards him did never receive any especial Love Grace or Mercy from God For how should he so do Whatever God works in us and upon us he doth it by his Spirit He therefore who hath no Work of the Spirit of God upon his heart did never receive either Mercy or Grace from God For God giveth them not but by his Spirit A disclamure therefore of any Work of the Spirit of God in us or upon us is a disclamure of all Interest in his Grace and Mercy And they may do well to consider it with whom the Work of the Spirit of God is a Reproach When they can tell us of any other way whereby a Man may be made Partaker of Mercy and Grace we will attend unto it in the mean time we shall prove from the Scripture this to be the way of God Sect. 13 Fourthly There is not any thing done in us or by us that is Holy and Acceptable unto God but it is an Effect of the Holy Spirit it is of his operation in us and by us Without him we can do nothing For without Christ we cannot Joh. 15. 5. And by him alone is the Grace of Christ communicated unto us and wrought in us By him we are Regenerated by him we are Sanctified by him are we Cleansed by him are we Assisted in and unto every Good Work Particular instances to this Purpose will be afterwards insisted on and proved And it is our unquestionable concernment to enquire into the Cause and Spring of all that is Good in us wherein also we shall have a true discovery of the Spring and Cause of all that is Evil without a competent knowledge of both which we can do nothing as we ought Sect. 14 Fiftly God lets us know that the only peculiarly remediless Sin and way of sinning under the Gospel is to sin in an especial manner against the Holy Ghost And this of it self is sufficient to convince us how needful it is for us to be well instructed in what concerns him For there is somewhat that doth so which is
accompanyed with irrecoverable and eternal Ruine And so is nothing else in the World So Mark 3. 28 29. All sins shall be forgiven unto the Sons of Men and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgivness Or He that speaketh against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven him neither in this World nor in the World to come Matth. 12. 32. There remains nothing for him who doth despite to the Spirit of Grace but a certain fearful looking-for of Judgment and fiery Indignation that shall devour the Adversaries Heb. 10. 27 29. This is that sin unto death whose remission is not to be prayed for 1 Joh. 5. 16 For He having taken upon him to make effectual unto us the great Remedy provided in the blood of Christ for the Pardon of our Sins if He in the Prosecution of that Work be dispised blasphemed despitefully used there neither is Relief nor can there be Pardon for that Sin For whence in that Case should they arise or Spring As God hath not another Son to offer another sacrifice for Sin so that he by whom his Sacrifice is despised can have none remaining for him no more hath he another Spirit to make that Sacrifice effectual unto us if the Holy Ghost in his work be despised and rejected This therefore is a tender Place We cannot use too much Holy Diligence in our Enquiries after what God hath revealed in his Word concerning his Spirit and his Work seeing there may be so fatal a miscarriage in an opposition unto him as the Nature of Man is incapable of in any other Instance And these Considerations belong unto the first Head of Reasons of the Importance Use and Necessity of the Doctrine proposed to be enquired into They are enough to manifest what is the Concernment of all Believers herein For on the Account of these things the Scripture plainly declares as we observed before that he who hath not the Spirit of Christ is none of his their Portion is not in him they shall have no benefit by his Mediation Men may please themselves with a Profession of being Christians and owning the Gospel whilst they dispise the Spirit of God both name and thing Their Condition we shall examine and judge by the Scripture before we come to the End of this Discourse And for the Scripture it self whoever reads the Books of the New-Testament besides the great and precious Promises that are given concerning him in the Old will find and conclude unless he be prepossessed with Prejudice that the whole of what is declared in those Writings turns on this only hinge Remove from them the consideration of the Spirit of God and his Work and it will be hard to find out what they aim at or tend unto Sect. 15 Secondly The great Deceit and Abuse that hath been in all Ages of the Church under the Pretence of the Name and Work of the Spirit make the through-consideration of what we are taught concerning them exceeding necessary Had not these things been Excellent in themselves and so acknowledged by all Christians they would never have been by so many falsely pretended unto Men do not seek to adorn themselves with Rags or to boast of what on its own account is under just contempt And according to the worth of things so are they liable to abuse And the more excellent any thing is the more vile and pernitious is an undue Pretence unto it Such have been the false Pretences of some in all Ages unto the Spirit of God and his work whose real Excellencies in themselves have made those pretences abominable and unspeakably dangerous For the better the things are which are counterfeited the worse always are the Ends they are employed unto In the whole World there is nothing so vile as that which pretendeth to be God and is not nor is any other thing capable of so pernicious an abuse Some Instances hereof I shall give both out of the Old Testament and the New Sect. 16 The most signal Gift of the Spirit of God for the Use of the Church under the Old Testament was that of Prophesy This therefore was deservedly in Honour and Reputation as having a great impression of the Authority of God upon it and in it of his Neerness unto Man Besides those in whom it was had justly the Conduct of the Minds and Consciences of others given up unto them For they spake in the Name of God and had his warranty for what they proposed which is the highest security of Obedience And these things caused many to pretend unto this Gift who were indeed never inspired by the Holy Spirit but were rather on the contrary acted by a Spirit of Lying and uncleanness For it is very probable that when Men falsly and in meer pretence took upon them to be Prophets divinely inspired without any antecedent Diabolical Enthusiasm that the Devil made use of them to compass his own Designs Being given up by the righteous Judgment of God unto all Delusions for belying his Spirit and holy Inspirations they were quickly possessed with a Spirit of Lying and unclean Divination So the false Prophets of Ahab who encouraged him to go up unto Ramoth Gilead foretelling his prosperous success 1 Kings 22. 6. seemed only to have complied deceitfully with the Inclinations of their Master and to have out-acted his other Courtiers in Flattery by gilding it with a pretence of Prophesy But when Micaiah came to lay open the Mystery of their Iniquity it appeared that a Lying Spirit by the permission of God had possessed their Minds and gave them Impressions which being Supernatural they were deceived as well as they did deceive v. 21 22 23. This they were justly given up unto pretending falsly unto the Inspiration of that Holy Spirit which they had not received And no otherwise hath it fallen out with some in our Days whom we have seen visibly acted by an extraordinary Power unduely pretending unto Supernatural Agitations from God they were really acted by the Devil a thing they neither desired nor looked after but being surprized by it were pleased with it for a while as it a was with sundry of the Quakers at their first appearance Sect. 17 Now these false Prophets of old were of two sorts both mentioned Deut. 18. 20. First such as professedly served other Gods directing all their Prophetick actings unto the Promotion of their Worship Such were the Prophets of Baal in whose name expresly they prophesied and whose Assistance they invocated They called on the name of Baal saying O Baal hear us 1 Kings 18 26 27 28. Many of these were slain by Elijah and the whole Race of them afterwards extirpated by Jehu 2 Kings 25 26 27 28. This put an End to his Diety for it is said he destroyed Baal out of Israel false Gods having no Existence but in the deceived Minds of their Worshippers It may be asked why these
are called Prophets and so in general of all the false Prophets mentioned in the Scripture Was it because they meerly pretended and counterfeited a Spirit of Prophesie or had they really any such I Answer that I no way doubt but that they were of both sorts These Prophets of Baal were such as worshipped the Sun after the manner of the Tyrians Herein they had invented many Hellish Mysteries Ceremonies and Sacrifices these they taught the People by whom they were hired Being thus engaged in the Service of the Devil he actually possessed their minds as a Spirit of Divination and enabled them to declare things unknown unto other Men. They in the mean time really finding themselves acted by a Power superior to them took and owned that to be the Power of their God and thereby became immediate Worshippers of the Devil This our Apostle declares 1 Cor. 10. 20. Whatever those who left the true God aimed at to worship the Devil interposed himself between that and them as the Object of their Adoration Hereby he became the God of this World 2 Cor. 4. 4. Him whom in all their Idols they worshipped and adored With a spirit of Divination from him were many of the false Prophets acted which they thought to be the Spirit of their God For they found themselves acted by a superior Power which they could neither excuse nor resist Others of them were meer Pretenders and Counterfeits that deceived the foolish Multitude with vain false Predictions Of these more will be spoken afterwards Sect. 18 Secondly Others there were who spake in the Name and as they falsly professed by the Inspiration of the Spirit of the Holy God With this sort of Men Jeremiah had great Contests For in that Apostatizing Age of the Church they had got such an Interest and Reputation among the Rulers and People as not only to confront his Prophesies with contrary Predictions Chap. 28. 2 3 4. but also to traduce him as a false Prophet and to urge his Punishment according to the Law Chap. 29. v. 25 26 27. And with the like confidence did Zedekiah the Son of Chenaanah carry it towards Micaiah 1 Kings 22. 26. for he scornfully asks him Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee That is whereas assuredly he speaketh in me how came he to inspire thee with a contrary Revelation Ezekiel at the same time with Jeremiah was exercised and perplexed with them Chap. 13 14. For this sort of Persons namely false Pretenders unto Divine extraordinary Revelations did of old usually abound in times of Danger and approaching Desolations The Devil stirred them up to fill men with vain hopes to keep them in Sin and Security that Destruction might seize upon them at unawares And whoever takes the same course in the time of deserved threatned impendent Judgments though they use not the same means yet they also do the Work of the Devil For whatever encourageth men to be secure in their sins is a false Divination Jer. 5. 30 31. And this sort of Men is characterized by the Prophet Jeremiah Chap. 23. from vers 9. to 33. where any one may read their Sin and Judgment And yet this false pretending unto the Spirit of Prophesie was very far from casting any contempt on the real Gift of the Holy Ghost therein nay it gave it the greater Glory and Lustre God never more honoured his true Prophets than when there were most false Ones Neither shall ever any false Pretence to the Spirit of Grace render him less dear unto those that are Partakers of him or his Gifts of less use unto the Church Sect. 19 It was thus also under the New Testament at the first preaching of the Gospel The Doctrine of it at first was declared from the immediate Revelation of the Spirit preached by the Assistance of the Spirit made effectual by his Work and Power was accompanied in many by outward miraculous Works and Effects of the Spirit whence the whole of what peculiarly belonged unto it in opposition to the Law was called the Ministration of the Spirit These things being owned and acknowledged by all those who had any false Opinions or Dotages of their own to broach or any other deceit to put upon Christians could think of no more expedite means for the compassing of their ends than by pretending to immediate Revelations of the Spirit For without some kind of credibility given them from hence they knew that their fond Imaginations would not be taken into the least consideration Hence the Apostle Peter having treated concerning the Revelation of God by his Spirit in Prophesie under the Old Testament and the New 2 Epist. chap. 1. v. 17 18 19 20 21. adds as an Inference from that Discourse a comparison between the false Prophets that were under the Old Testament and the false Teachers under the New Chap. 2. 1. But there were false Prophets also among the people even as there shall be false Teachers among you And the Reason of it is because that as they pretended to the Spirit of the Lord in their prophesies saying Thus saith the Lord when he sent them not so these ascribed all their abominable Heresies to the Inspiration of the Spirit by whom they were not assisted Sect. 20 Hence is that blessed Caution and Rule given us by the Apostle John who lived to see much mischief done in the Church by this Pretence 1 Epist. chap. 4. v. 1 2. Beloved beieve not every Spirit but try the Spirits whether they are of God because many false prophets are gone out into the World Hereby know we the Spirit of God every Spirit that confesseth that Jesus is come in the flesh is of God and every Spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God A two-fold Direction doth the Apostle here give unto all Believers The first by the way of Caution that they would not believe every Spirit that is not receive or give credit to every Doctrine that was proposed unto them as of immediate Revelation and Inspiration of the Spirit He intends the same with the Apostle Paul Ephâs 4. 14. who would not have us carried about with every wind of Doctrine like Vessels at Sea without Anchor or Helms by the sleight of Men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive For the craft and sleights intended are such as men use when they cast a mist as it were before the eyes of others whom they intend to cheat and deâraâd So dealt false Teachers with their Disciples by their Pretences of immediate Revelations His next Direction informs us how we may observe this Caution unto our Advantage and this is by trying the Spirits themselves This is the duty of all Believers on any such Pretences They are to try these Spirits and examine whether they are of God or no. For the observation of this Rule and discharge of this Duty the Church of Ephesus
is commended by our Lord Jesus Christ Rev. â 2. Thou hast tryed them which say they are Apostles and are not and hast found them Lyers For those who said they were Apostles pretended thâ rewithal to Apostolical Authority and Infallibility on the account of the immediate Inspirations which they received by the Holy Ghost In trying them they tryed the Spirits that came unto them And by this Warrant may we try the Spirit of the Church of Rome which in like manner pretends unto Apostolical Authority and Infallibility Sect. 21 Unto these two Directions the Apostle subjoyns the Reason of the present watchfulness required unto the discharge of this Duty For saith he many false Prophets are gone out into the World It is false Teachers as Peter calls them bringing in damnable Heresies concerning whom he speaks And he calleth them false Prophets partly in an Allusion unto the false Prophets under the Old Testament with whom they are ranked and compared by Peter and partly because as they fathered their Predictions on Divine Revelation so these falsly ascribed their Doctrines unto immediate Divine Inspiration And on this account also he calleth them Spirits Try the Spirits For as they pretended unto the Spirit of God so indeed for the most part they were acted by a Spirit of Error Lying and Delusion that is the Devil himself And therefore I no way doubt but that mostly those who made use of this Plea that they had their Doctrines which they taught by immediate Inspiration did also effect other extraordinary Operations or undiscoverable Appearances of them as lying Miracles by the Power of that Spirit whereby they were acted as Matth. 24. 24. Hence the Apostle doth not direct us to try their pretensions unto Inspiration by putting them on other extraordinary Works for their confirmation for these also they made a shew and appearance of and that in such a manner as that they were not to be detected by the generality of Christians but he gives unto all a blessed stable Rule which will never fail them in this case who diligently attend unto it And this is to try them by the Doctrine that they teach vers 2 3. Let their Doctrine be examined by the Scriptures and if it be found consonant thereunto it may be received without danger unto the Hearers whatever corrupt Affections the Teachers may be influenced by But if it be not consonant thereunto if it keep not up an harmony in the Analogie of Faith whatever Inspiration or Revelation be pleaded in its Justification it is to be rejected as they also are by whom it is declared This Rule the Apostle Paul confirms by the highest Instance imaginable Gal. 1. 8. If we or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel unto you then that which we have preached unto you let him be accursed And the Apostle shews that for our advantage in this tryal we are to make of Spirits it is good to have a clear conviction of and a constant adherence unto some fundamental Principles especially such as we have reason to think will be the most cunningly attaqued by Seducers Thus because in those dayes the principal design of Satan was to broach strange false Imaginations about the Person and Mediation of Christ endeavouring thereby to overthrow both the one and the other the Apostle adviseth Believers to try the Spirits by this one Fundamental Principle of Truth namely that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh which contains a confession both of his Person and Mediation This therefore Believers were to demand of all new Teachers and Pretenders unto Spiritual Revelations in the first place do you confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh and if they immediately made not this confession they never stood to consider their other Pretences but turned from them not bidding them God-speed 2 Joh. 7. 10 11. And I could easily manifest how many pernicious Heresies were obviated in those days by this short Confession of Faith For some of late as Grotius following Socinus and Sâlictingius interpreting this coming of Christ in the flesh of his outward mean Estate and Condition and not in the Pomp and Glory of an Earthly King do openly corrupt the Text. His coming in the flesh is the same with the Words being made flesh John 1. 14. or God being manifest in the flesh 1 Tim. 3. 16. That is the Son of God being made partaker of flesh and blood Heb. 2. 14. or taking on him the Seed of Abraham vers 14. That is his being made of a Woman Gal. 4. 4. or his being made of the Seed of David according to the flesh Rom. 1. 3. His being of the Fathers âs to the flesh Rom 9. 5. And this was directly opposed unto those Heresies which were then risen whose Broachers contended that Jesus Christ was but a Phantasie an Appearance a manifestation of Divine Love and Power denying that the Son of God was really incarnate as the Antients generally testifie And well had it been for many in our dayes had they attended unto such Rules as this But through a neglect of it accompanied with an ungrounded boldness and curiosity they have hearkned in other things to deceiving Spirits and have been engaged beyond a recovery before they have considered that by their cogging deceits they have been cheated of all the principal Articles of their Faith by which if at first they had steadily tryed and examined them they might have been preserved from their Snares Sect. 22 The Jews say well that there was a double tryal of Prophets under the Old Testament the one by their Doctrine the other by their Predictions That by their Doctrine namely whether they seduced Men from the Worship of the true God unto Idolatry belonged unto all individual Persons of the Church Direction for this is given Deut. 13. 2 3. If the Prophet giveth a Sign or a Wonder and it come to pass effect any thing by a seeming presence of an extraordinary Power and say Let us go serve other Gods thou shalt not hearken unto him Let his Signs and Wonders be what they would the People were to try them by what they taught The Judgment upon Predictions was left unto the Sanhedrim for which Directions are given Deut. 18. 20 21 22. And by vertue hereof they falsly and cruelly endeavoured to take away the Life of Jeremiah because he foretold the Ruine of them and their City Chap. 26. v. 11. In the first place though his Sign Wonder or Prediction came to pass yet the Doctrine he sought to confirm by it being false he was to be rejected In the latter the fulfilling of his Sign acquitted him because he taught with it nothing in point of Doctrine that was false The first kind of tryal of the Spirits of Prophets is the Duty of all Believers under the Gospel And those who would deprive them of this Liberty would make Bruits of them instead of Christians unless to believe a Man knows not what
and to obey he knows not why be the Properties of Christians see Rom. 12. 2. Ephes. 5. 8 9 10 11. Phil. 1. 10. 1 Thess. 5. 21. The other so far as was needful to preserve the Church in Truth and Peace was provided for in those Primitive Times whilst there was a real communication of extraordinary Gifts of the Spirit and so more occasion given to the false Pretence of them and more danger in being deceived by them by a peculiar Gift of discerning them bestowed on some amongst them 1 Cor. 12. 10. Discerning of Spirits is reckoned among the Gifts of the Spirit So had the Lord graciously provided for his Churches that some among them should be enabled in an extraordinary manner to discern and judg of them who pretended unto extraordinary actings of the Spirit And upon the ceasing of Extraordinary Gifts really given from God the Gift also of discerning Spirits ceased and we are left unto the Word alone for the tryal of any that shall pretend unto them Now this kind of Pretence was so common in those dayes that the Apostle Paul writing to the Thessalonians to caution them that they suffered not themselves to be deceived in their Expectation and Computations about the Time of the coming of Christ in the first place warns them not to be moved in it by Spirit 2 Thess. 2. 2. That is Persons pretending unto Spiritual Revelations Something also of this nature hath continued and broken out in succeeding Ages and that in Instances abominable and dreadful And the more eminent in any Season are the real Effusions of the Holy Spirit upon the Ministers of the Gospel and Disciples of Christ the more Diligence and Watchfulness against these Delusions are necessary For on such opportunities it is when the Use and Reputation of Spiritual Gifts is eminent that Satan doth lay hold to intrude under the colour of them his own deceitful Suggestions In the dark Times of the Papacy all Stories are full of Satanical Delusions in Phantastical Apparitions Horrors Spectrums and the like Effects of Darkness It was seldom or never that any falsly pretended to the Gifts and Graces of the Holy Spirit For these things were then of little use or request in the World But when God was pleased to renew really a fresh communication of Spiritual Gifts and Graces unto Men in and upon the Reformation the old Dreads and Terrors nightly Appearances tending unto Deeds of Darkness vanished and every where by Satans Instigation arose false Pretenders to the Spirit of God in which way of delusion he will still be more active and industrious as God shall increase the Gifts and Graces of his Spirit in his Churches though as yet in these latter Ages he hath not attained what he was arrived unto in the Primitive Times of the Gospel A full and clear Declaration from the Scripture of the Nature of the Holy Spirit and his Operations may through the blessing of God be of use to fortifie the Minds of Professors against Satanical Delusions counterfeiting his Actings and Inspirations For Directions unto this purpose are given us by the Holy Apostle who lived to see great havock made in the Churches by deluding Spirits Knowledg of the Truth trying of Spirits that go abroad by the Doctrines of the Scriptures Dependence on the Holy Spirit for his Teachings according to the Word are the Things which to this purpose he commends unto us Sect. 23 Thirdly There is in the Dayes wherein we live an Anti-Spirit set up and advanced against the Spirit of God in his Being and all his Operations in his whole Work and Use towards the Church of God For this new Spirit takes upon him whatever is promised to be effected by the good Spirit of God This is that which some Men call the Light within them though indeed it be nothing but a dark Product of Satan upon their own Imaginations or at best the Natural Light of Conscience which some of the Heathens also called a Spirit But hereunto do they trust as that which doth all for them leaving no room for the Promise of the Spirit of God nor any thing for him to do This teacheth them instructs them enlightens them to this they attend as the Samaritans to Simon Magus and as they say yield Obedience unto it And from hence with the Fruits of it do they expect Acceptation with God Justification and Blessedness hereafter And one of these two things these deluded Souls must fix upon namely that this Light whereof they speak is either the Holy Spirit of God or it is not If they say it is the Spirit it will be easie to demonstrate how by their so saying they utterly destroy the very Nature and Being of the Holy Ghost as will evidently appear in our Explication of them And if they say that it is not the Holy Spirit of God which they intend thereby it will be no less manifest that they utterly exclude him on the other side from his whole Work and substitute another yea an Enemy in his room For another God is a false God another Christ is a false Christ and another Spirit is a false Spirit the Spirit of Antichrist Now because this is a growing Evil amongst us many being led away and seduced our Duty unto Jesus Christ and Compassion for the Souls of Men do require that our utmost indeavour in the wayes of Christ's Appointment should be used to obviate this Evil which eateth as doth a Canker which also is propagated by prophane and vain bablings encreasing still unto more ungodliness Some I confess do unduly rage against the Persons of those who have imbibed these Imaginations falling upon them with violence and fury as they do also on others The Lord lay it not unto their charge Yet this hinders not but that by those Weapons of our Warfare which are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds casting down such like Imaginations and every high thing that exalteth it self against the Knowledg of God and bringing into Captivity every thought unto the Obedience of Christ We ought to attempt the destruction of their Errors and the breaking of the Snares of Satan by whom they are taken captive alive at his pleasure The course indeed of opposing Errors and false Spirits by Praying Preaching Writing is despised by them in whose furious and haughty minds Ure Seca Occide Burn Gût and Kill are alone of any signification that think Arise Peter kill and eat to be a Precept of more Use and Advantage unto them than all the Commands of Jesus Christ besides But the way proposed unto us by the Lord Jesus Christ himself walked in by his Holy Apostles and all the Ancient Holy Learned Writers of the Church is that which in these Matters we must and shall attend unto And that course which is particularly suited to obviate the Evil mentioned is to give a full plain evident Declaration from the Scripture of the
those to whom he wrote that in what was so preached unto them they had not followed cunningly devised Fables 2 Pet. 1. 16. For so were the Power and Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ then reported to be in the World What was preached concerning them was looked on as cunningly devised and artificially framed fables to inveagle and allure the People This the Apostle gives his Testimony against and withal appeals unto the Divine Assurance which they had of the Holy Truths delivered unto them v. 17 18 19 20. In like manner our Lord Jesus Christ himself having preached the Doctrine of Regeneration unto Nicodemus he calls it into Question as as thing incredible or unintelligible Joh. 3. 4. For whose Instruction and the Rebuke of his Ignorance he lets him know that he spake nothing but what he brought with him from Heaven from the Eternal Fountain of Goodness and Truth v. 11 12. 13. It is fallen out not much otherwise in this Matter Sect. 31 The Doctrine concerning the Spirit of God and his Work on the Souls of Men hath been preached in the World What he doth in convincing Men of Sin what in Working Godly Sorrow and Humiliation in them what is the exceeding Greatness of his Power which he puts forth in the Regeneration and Sanctification of the Souls of Men What are the supplys of Grace which he bestowes on them that do believe what Assistance he gives unto them as the Spirit of Grace and Supplications hath been preached taught and pressed on the minds of them that attend unto the Dispensation of the Word of the Gospel Answerable hereunto Men have been urged to try search examine them-selves as to what of this Work of the Holy Ghost they have found observed or had experience to have been effectually accomplished in or upon their own Souls And hereon they have been taught that the Great Concernments of their Peace Comfort and Assurance of their Communion among themselves as the Saints of God with many other Ends of their Holy Conversation do depend Nay it is and hath been constantly taught them that if there be not an effectual Work of the Holy Ghost upon their hearts that they cannot enter into the Kingdom of God Now these things and whatever is spoken in the Explication of them are by some called in Question if not utterly rejected Yea some look on them as cunningly devised Fables Things that some not long since invented and others have propagated for their Advantage Others say that what is delivered concerning them is hardly if at all to be understood by Rational Men being only empty Speculations about things wherein Christian Religion is little or not at all concerned Whereas therefore many very many have received these things as Sacred Truths and are perswaded that they have found them realized in their own Souls so that into their Experience of the work of the Holy Spirit of God in them and upon them according as it is declared in the Word all their Consolation and Peace with God is for the most part resolved as that which gives them the best Evidence of their Interest in him who is their Peace and whereas for the Present they do believe that unless these things are so in and with them they have no Foundation to build an Hope of Eternal Life upon it cannot but be of indispensible necessity unto them to examine and Search the Scripture diligently whether these things be so or no. For if there be no such Work of the Spirit of God upon the Hearts of Men and that indispensibly necessary to their Salvation if there are no such Assistances and supplys of Grace needful unto every Good Duty as wherein they have been instructed then in the whole course of their Profession they have only been seduced by cunningly devised Fables their deceived hearts have fed upon ashes and they are yet in their Sins It is then of no less consideration and Importance than the eternal welfare of their Souls immediately concerned therein can render it that they diligently trye examine and search into these things by the safe and infallible Touchstone and Rule of the Word whereon they may must and ought to venture their Eternal Condition I know indeed that most Believers are so far satisfyed in the Truth of these things and their own Experience of them that they will not be moved in the least by the Oppositions which are made unto them and the scorn that is cast upon them For he that beleiveth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself 1 Joh. 5. 10. But yet as Luke wrote his Gospel to Theophilus that he might know the certainty of those things wherein he had been instructed Luke 1. 4. that is to confirm him in the Truth by an Addition of new Degrees of Assurance unto him so it is our Duty to be so far excited by the Clamorous Oppositions that are made unto the Truths which we Profess and in whose being such we are as much concerned as our Souls are worth to compare them diligently with the Scripture that we may be the more fully confirmed and established in them And upon the Examination of the whole matter I shall leave them to their option as Elijah did of Old if Jehovah be God serve him and if Baal be God let him be worshipped If the things which the Generality of Professors do believe and acknowledg concerning the Spirit of God and his Work on their Hearts his Gifts and Graces in the Church with the manner of their Communication be for the substance of them wherein they all generally agree according to the Scripture taught and revealed therein on the same terms as by them received them may they abide in the Holy Profession of them and rejoyce in the Consolations they have received by them But if these things with those other which in the Application of them to the Souls of Men are directly and necessarily deduced and to be deduced from them are all but vain and useless Imaginations it is high time the Minds of Men were disburthened of them The Name and Titles of the HOLY SPIRIT CHAP. II. 1. Of the Name of the Holy Spirit 2. Various Uses of the words ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã for the Wind or any thing invisible with a sensible Agitation 3. Amos 4. 14. Mistakes of the Antients rectified by Hierom. 5. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã metaphorically for vanity 6. Metonymically for the part or quarter of any thing 7. For our Vital Breath The Rational Soul The Affections Angels good and bad 8. Ambiguity from the Use of the Word how to be removed Rules concerning the Holy Spirit The Name Spirit how peculiar and appropriate unto him Why he is called the Holy Spirit Whence called the Good Spirit The Spirit of God The Spirit of the Son Acts 2. 33. 1 Pet. 1. 10 11. explained 1 John 4. 3. vindicated Sect. 1 BEfore we ingage into the consideration of the
it appear that the same Expression must have different Interpretations and that the Spirit is called the Spirit of God because he is so and proceedeth from him but the Spirit of Christ because he is not so but only treateth of him The answer is ready namely because the Father is God but Christ is not and therefore could not give the Spirit when he was not This is an easie Answer namely to deny a Fundamental Truth and to set up that denyal in an Opposition unto a clear Testimony given unto it But the Truth is this pretended sense leaves no sense at all in the Words For if the Spirit which was in the Prophets be called the Spirit of Christ only because he did before-hand declare the things of Christ that is his suffering and the Glory that did ensue and that be the sole Reason of that Denomination then the sense or importance of the Words is this searching what or what manner of Time the Spirit which did signifie when it testified before hand the sufferings of Christ which was in them did signifie when he testified before hand the sufferings of Christ. For according to this Interpretation the Spirit of Christ is nothing but the Spirit as testifying before-hand of him and thence alone is he so called the Absurdity whereof is apparent unto all Sect. 17 But countenance is indeavoured unto this wresting of the Scripture from 1 Joh. 4. 3. Every Spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God and this is that of Antichrist whereof you have heard that it should come and even now already is it in the World For say some the Spirit of Antichrist is said to be in the World when Antichrist was not as yet come But the Spirit here intended is not called the Spirit of Antichrist because it declared and foretold the things of Antichrist before his coming On which account alone they allow the Spirit of God in the Prophets of Old to be called the Spirit of Christ. They have therefore no countenance from this Place which failes them in the Principal thing they would prove by it Again supposing those Words whereof you have heard that it should come and is now in the World are to be interpreted of the Spirit mentioned and not of Antichrist himself yet no more can be intended but that the false Teachers and Seducers which were then in the World acted with the same Spirit as Antichrist should do at his coming And so there is no Conformity between these Expressions Besides the Spirit of Antichrist was then in the World as was Antichrist himself so far as his Spirit was in the world so far was he so also For Antichrist and his Spirit cannot be separated Both he and it were then in the World in their forerunners who opposed the Truth of the Gospel about the Incarnation of the Son of God and his sufferings And indeed the Spirit of Antichrist in this Place is no more but his Doctrines Antichristian Doctrine which is to be tryed and rejected Neither is any singular Person intended by Antichrist but a Mysterious Opposition unto Christ and the Gospel signally Headed by a series of men in the latter days He therefore and his Spirit began to be together in the World in the Apostles Days when the Mystery of Iniquity began to work 2 Thessal 2. 7. There is therefore no countenance to be taken from these words unto the perverting and wresting of that other expression concerning the Spirit of Christ in the Prophets of old This therefore is the formal Reason of this Apellation The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of the Son and the Spirit of Christ upon the Account of his Procession or Emanation from his Person also Without respect hereunto he could not be called properly the Spirit of Christ but on that supposition he may be he is so denominated from that various Relation Respect that he hath unto him in his Work and Operations Thus is the Spirit called in the Scripture these are the Names whereby the Essence and Subsistence of the Third Person in the Holy Trinity are declared How he is called on the Account of his Offices and Operations will be manifested in our Progress Divine Nature and Personality of the HOLY SPIRIT Proved and Vindicated CHAP. III. 1. Ends of our consideration of the Dispensation of the Spirit 2. Principles premised thereunto 3. The Nature of God the Foundation of all Religion 4. Divine Revelation gives the Rule and Measure of Religious Worship 5. God hath revealed himself as Three in One. 6. Distinct Actings and Operations ascribed unto these Distinct Persons 7. Therefore the Holy Spirit a Divine Distinct Person 8. Double Opposition to the Holy Spirit 9. By some his Personality granted and his Deity denyed 10. His Personality denyed by the Socinians 11. Proved against them 12. The open vanity of their Pretences Matth. 28. 19. pleaded 13 14 15. Appearances of the Spirit under the shape of a Dove 16. Explained and Improved 17. His appearance as Fire opened 18. His Personal Subsistence proved 19. Personal Properties assigned unto him Understanding Argument from hence pleaded and vindicated 20. A Will Joh. 33. Jam. 3. 4. cleared 21. Exceptions removed 22. Power 23 24 c. Other Personal Ascriptions to him with Testimonies of them vindicated and explained Sect. 1 WE shall now proceed to the Matter it self designed unto Consideration namely the Dispensation of the Spirit of God unto the Church And I shall endeavour to six what I have to offer upon its proper Principles and from them to educe the whole Doctrine concerning it And this must be so done as to manifest the Interest of our Faith Obedience and Holy Worship in the whole and each Part of it For these are the immediate Ends of all Divine Revelations according to that Holy Maxime of our Blessed Saviour if you know these things happy are ye if you doe them To this End the Ensuing Principles are to be observed Sect. 2 1. The Nature and Being of God is the Foundation of all true Religion and holy Religious Worship in the World The great End for which we were made for which we were brought forth by the Power of God into this World is to Worship him and to give glory unto him For he made all things for himself or his own Glory Prov. 16. 4. to be rendred unto him according to the Abilities and Capacities that he hath furnished them withal Revel 4. 11. And that which makes this Worship indispensibly necessary unto us and from whence it is Holy or Religious is the Nature and Being of God himself There are indeed many Parts or Acts of Religious Worship which immediately respect as their Reason and Motive what God is unto us or what he hath done and doth for us But the Principal and Adaequate Reason of all Divine Worship and that which makes it such is what God is in himself Because he is
them where they are removed and taken away but they cannot teach without him unto the least Spiritual Advantage And those who pretend to be Teachers of others and yet despise his teaching Assistance will one day find that they undertook a Work which was none of theirs But as unto our use of this Assertion it is excepted that the Apostle affirms that Nature also teacheth us 1 Cor. 11. 14. Doth not even Nature it self teach you Now Nature is not a Person This is the way and manner of them with whom we have to do If any word in a Testimony produced by us have been any where used metaphorically though it be never so evident that it is so used in that place instantly it must have the same figurative Application in the Testimony excepted against although they can give no Reason why it should so signifie And if this course of excepting be allowed there will be nothing left intelligible in the Scripture nor in any other Author nor in common Conversation in the World For there is scarce any Word or Name of thing but one where or other is or hath been abused or used Metaphorically In particular Nature in this place of the Apostle is said to teach us objectively as the Heavens and Earth teach us in what we learn from them For it is said to teach us what we may learn from the customs and actings of them who live proceed and act according to the Principles Dictates and Inclinations of it Every one sees that here is no intimation of an active teaching by Instruction or a reall Communication of Knowledg but it is said figuratively to do what we do with respect unto it And not only in several places but in the same Sentence a word may be used properly with respect unto one thing and abusively with respect unto another As in that saying of the Poet Disce puer virtutem ex me verumque laborem Fortunam ex aliis For Vertue and Industry are to be learned properly but Fortune as they called it or prosperous Events are not so These things therefore are very different and their difference is obvious unto all But we insist not meerly on this or that particular Instance Let any Man not absolutely prepossessed with prejudice read over that Discourse of our Saviour unto his Disciples wherein he purposely instructs them in the Nature and Work of the Spirit of God on whom as it were he then devolved the care of them and the Gospel according unto the Promise John 14 15 16 Chap. and he will need no farther Instruction or Confirmation in this Matter He is there frequently called the Comforter the Name of a Person and that vested with an Office with respect unto the Work that he would do and another Comforter in answer and conformity unto the Lord Christ who was one Comforter and a Person as all grant Chap. 14. 16. If he be not so the intention of this Expression with these Circumstances must be to deceive us and not instruct us He tells them moreover that he is one whom the World neither sees nor knows but who abideth with and dwelleth in Believers v. 17. One whom the Father would send and who would come accordingly and that to teach them to lead and guide them and to bring things to their remembrance v. 26. A Comforter that should come and testifie or bear witness unto him Chap. 15. 26. One that should be sent of Him to reprove the world of Sin Righteousness and Judgment Chap. 16. 7 8. and abide with his Disciples to supply his own bodily absence So is he said to Speak Guide Teach Hear to receive of Christ and to shew it unto others v. 13 14. with sundry other things of the same Nature and Importance And these things are not spoken of him occasionally or in transitu but in a direct continued Discourse designed on purpose by our Lord Jesus Christ to acquaint his Disciples who he was and what he would do for them And if there were nothing spoken of him in the whole Scripture but what is here declared by our Saviour all unprejudiced Men must and would acknowledg him to be a Divine Person And it is a confidence swelling above all bounds of Modesty to suppose that because one or other of these things are or may be Metaphorically or Metaleptically ascribed unto this or that thing which are not Persons when the figurativeness of such an Ascription is plain and open that therefore they are all of them in like manner so ascribed unto the Holy Ghost in that Discourse of our Saviour unto his Disciples wherein he designed the Instruction of them as above declared Of the same Nature is that which we discoursed before concerning his searching of all things from 1 Cor. 2. 11. which as it proves him to be an understanding Agent so it undeniably denotes a Personal Action Such also are the things mentioned Rom. 8. 15 16 26. He helpeth our Infirmities he maketh intercession for us He himself beareth witness with our Spirits the particular meaning of all which Expressions shall be afterwards enquired into Here the only refuge of our Adversaries is to cry up a Prosopopaeia Schlicting p. 627. But how do they prove it Only by saying that these things belong properly to a Person which the Spirit is not Now this is nothing but to set up their own false Hypothesis against our Arguments and not being able to contend with the Premises to deny the Conclusion Sect. 26 There are two other places of this Nature both to the same purpose sufficient of themselves to confirm our Faith in the Truth pleaded for And these are Acts 13. 2 4. As they ministred unto the Lord and fasted the Holy Ghost said separate me Barnabas and Saul for the Work whereunto I have called them So they being sent forth by the Holy Ghost departed The other is Acts 20. 28. Take heed therefore unto your selves and to all the Flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you Overseers These places hold a good correspondence and what is reported in an extraordinary case as matter of Fact in the first is doctrinally applyed unto ordinary Cases in the latter And two things are remarkable in the first Place 1. The Holy Ghost's designation of Himself as the Person unto whom and whose Work Barnabas and Saul were to be separated and dedicated Saith he ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã not separate me as in our Translation making the Spirit onely the Author of the Command but separate unto me which proposeth him also as the Object of the Duty required and the Person whose Work was to be attended Who or what then is intended by that Pronoun Me Some Person is directed unto and signified thereby Nor can any Instance be given where it is so much as figuratively used unless it be in a professed Parable That remains therefore to be enquired into Who is intended in that word Me And the words are the words
and Operations of second Causes so we abhor that Atheism which ascribes unto them an Original and Independent Efficacy and Causality without a previous acting in by and upon them of the Power of God And this is here ascribed unto the Spirit whom God sendeth forth unto that End and Purpose As to rational and moral actions such as the great Affairs of the World do consist in and are disposed of by he hath in them also a peculiar Efficiency Thus those great Vertues of Wisdom Courage and Fortitude which have been used for the producing of great Effects in the World are of his especial Operation So when God stirred up Men to Rule and Govern his People of Old to fight against and to subdue their Enemies it is said the Spirit of God came upon them Jud. 3. 10. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Othniel and he judged Israel and went out to War The Spirit of God endued him with Wisdom for Government and with courage and skill in conduct for War So Judg. 6. 34. And although Instances hereof are given us principally among the People of God yet whereever Men in the World have been raised up to do great and wonderful things whereby God executeth his Judgments fulfilleth any of his Promises or his Threatnings even they also have received of the especial Gifts and Assistances of the Holy Spirit of God For this Reason is Cyrus expresly called God's Anointed Isa. 45. 1. Cyrus had by God's Designation a great and mighty Work to effect He was utterly to ruine and destroy the Great Antient Babylonian Monarchy God had a concern herein as to the avenging of the Quarrel of his People and therein the accomplishment of many Promises and Threatnings The Work it self was great arduous and insuperable to ordinary humane Abilities Wherefore God sends his Spirit to fill Cyrus with Wisdom Courage skill in all Military Affairs that he might go through with the Work whereunto in the Providence of God he was designed Hence is he called God's Anointed because the Unction of Kings of old was an instituted Sign of the Communication of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost for Government unto them see Isa. 45. 1 2 3 4 5. and other Instances of the like kind might be given Sect. 16 Thus when the Church was to have a blessed Restauration of the Worship of God after the return of the People from their Captivity Zerubbabel is in an especial manner called to begin and carry on this Work in the building of the Temple But the Difficulties he had to conflict withal were great and appeared insuperable The People were few and poor and the Oppositions made unto them and their Work great and many Especially what arose from the Power of the Persian Monarchy under whose Rule and Oppression they were For although they had Permission and Encouragement from Cyrus for their Work yet immediately upon his Death they were oppressed again and their Work caused to cease This Power they could no way conflict withal yet God tells them that all this Opposition shall be removed and conquered Who art thou saith he O great Mountain before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain Zech. 4. 7. All the hindrance that arose from that great Mountain of the Persian Empire shall be removed out of the way and the progress of Zerubbabel in his Work shall be made smooth plain and easie But how shall this be effected and brought about Not by an Army or by Might nor by Power but by my Spirit saith the Lord of Hosts v. 6. You would suppose that it must be done by Armies and open force which you are altogether insufficient for But this is not the way I will take in this matter My Spirit shall work in their Hearts Minds and Counsels that contrary to their fears they shall themselves further that work which hitherto they have impeded And he shall work in the Minds and Counsels of others to oppose them and entangle them where they would hinder it until they are destroyed and that great Mountain be fully removed as in the Event it came to pass So that the Providential Alterations that are wrought in the World are Effects of his Power and Efficacy also Sect. 17 And thus have we taken a short view of the Dispensation and Work of the Spirit of God in the first Creation But the Effect hereof being a State of things that quickly passed away and being of no advantage to the Church after the entrance of sin what belonged unto it is but sparingly delivered in the Scriptures the true sense of what is so delivered depending much on the Analogie of the following Works of God in Man's Renovation and Recovery But as to the New Creation which falls under our Consideration in the next place as that alone which is directly intended by us the Foundation building up and finishing the Church of God therein being the things whereon depends the principal manifestation of the Glory of God and wherein the great Concerns of all the Elect do lie they are more fully and directly declared in the Scripture And in reference unto them we shall find a full distinct Declaration of the whole Dispensation and Work of the Spirit of God Way and Manner of the Divine Dispensation of the HOLY SPIRIT CHAP. V. 1. Dispensation of the Spirit to be learned from the Scripture only general Adjuncts thereof 2. The Administration of the Spirit and his own Application of himself to his Work how expressed 3. The Spirit how and in what sense given and received 4. What is included in the giving of the Spirit 5. What in receiving of him 6 7. Priviledg and Advantage in receiving the Spirit 8. How God is said to SEND the Spirit what is included in sending 9. How God MINISTERS the Spirit 10. How God is said to PUT his Spirit on us What is included in that Expression 11. The Spirit how POURED out 12 13. What is included and intended herein 14. The wayes of the Spirits Application of himself unto his Work 15. His proceeding from Father and Son explained 16. How he cometh unto us 17. His falling on Men. 18. His resting 19. How and in what sense he is said to depart from any Person 20. Of the Divisions of the Holy Ghost Heb. 2. 3. 21. Exposition of them vindicated Sect. 1 BEfore we treat of the especial Operations Works and Effects of the Holy Ghost in and on the New Creation the Order of things requires that we should first speak somewhat of the General Nature of God's Dispensation of him and of his own Applications of himself unto his Actings and Workings in this Matter For this is the Foundation of all that he doth and this for our Edification we are instructed in by the Scriptures Unto them in this whole Discourse we must diligently attend for we are exercised in such a Subject as wherein we have no Rule nor Guide nor any thing to give us Assistance but pure Revelation And
designed unto no other End but to make his Grace effectual Hence is he said to send and give his Son also And the whole Work of the Holy Ghost as our Sanctifier Guide Comforter and Advocate is to make the Love of the Father effectual unto us Joh. 10. 13 14. As this out of his own Love and Care he hath Condescended unto so the Fountain of it being in the Love and Purpose of the Father and that also or the making them effectual being their End he is rightly said to be Given of him 3. In the whole Communication of the Spirit respect is had unto his Effects or the Ends for which he is given What they are shall be afterwards declared Now the Authority of this Giving respects principally his Gifts and Graces which depend on the Authority of the Father 2. This Expression denotes Freedom What is given might be withheld This is the Gift of God as he is called Joh. 4. 10 not the Purchase of our Indeavours nor the Reward of our Desert Some men delight to talk of their Purchasing Grace and Glory But the one and the other are to be bought without Money and without Price Even Eternal Life it self the End of all our Obedience is the Gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord Rom. 6. 23. The Scripture knows of no earnings that Men can make of themselves but Death For as Austin says Quicquid tuum est peccatum est and the Wages of Sin is death To what End or Purpose soever the Spirit is bestowed upon us whether it be for the Communication of Grace or the Distribution of Gifts or for Consolation and Refreshment it is of the Meer Gift of God from his absolute and Sovereign Freedom Sect. 5 Secondly In Answer hereunto they are said to Receive him on whom as a Gift he is bestowed as in the Testimonies before mentioned And in Receiving two things are implyed 1. That we contribute nothing thereunto which should take off from the thing Received as a Gift Receiving answers Giving and that implys freedom in the Giver 2. That it is their Priviledg and Advantage For what a Man Receives he doth it for his own Good First then we have him freely as a Gift of God For to Receive him in general is to be made Partaker of him as unto those Ends for which he is given of God Be those Ends what they will in respect of them they are said to Receive him who are made Partakers of him Two things may be pleaded to take off the Freedom of this Gift and of our Reception and to cast it on something necessary and required on our part For 1. our Saviour tells us that the World cannot Receive him because it seeth him not neither knoweth him Joh. 14. 17. Now if the World cannot Receive him there is required an Ability and Preparation in them that do so that are not in the World and so the Gift and Communication of the Spirit depends on that Qualification in us But all Men are Naturally alike the World and of it No One Man by Nature hath more Ability or strength in Spiritual things than another For all are equally dead in Trespasses and Sins all equally Children of Wrath. It must therefore be enquired how some come to have this Ability and Power to Receive the Spirit of God which others have not Now this as I shall fully manifest afterwards is merely from the Holy Ghost himself and his Grace respect being had herein only unto the Order of his Operations in us some being Preparatory for and dispositive unto other One being instituted as the means of obtaining another the whole being the Effect of the free Gift of God For we do not make our selves to differ from others nor have we any thing that we have not Received 1 Cor. 4. 7. Wherefore the Receiving of the Holy Ghost intended in that Expression of our Saviour with respect whereunto some are able to receive him some are not is not absolute but with respect unto some certain Work and End And this as is plain in the Context is the receiving of him as a Comforter and a Guide in Spiritual Truth Here-unto Faith in Christ Jesus which also is an effect and fruit of the same Spirit is antecedently required In this sense therefore Beleivers alone can receive him and are enabled so to do by the Grace which they have received from him in their first Conversion unto God But 2dly it will be said that we are bound to pray for him before we receive him and therefore the bestowing of him depends on a Condition to be by us fulfilled For the Promise is that our Heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit unto them that ask him Luke 11. 13. But this doth not prove the bestowing and receiving of him not to be absolutely free Nay it proves the Contrary It is Gratia indebita undeserved Grace that is the proper object of Prayer And God by these encouraging Promises doth not abridge the Liberty of his own Will nor derogate from the Freedom of his Gifts and Grace but only directs us into the way whereby we may be made Partakers of them unto his Glory and our own Advantage And this also belongs unto the Order of the Communication of the Grace of the Spirit unto us This very Praying for the Spirit is a Duty which we cannot perform without his Assistance For no man can call Jesus Lord but by the Holy Ghost 1 Cor. 12. 3. He helps us as a Spirit of Grace and Supplication to pray for him as a Spirit of Joy and Consolation Sect. 6 3. This is such a Gift as in God proceeds from Bounty For God is said to give him unto us richly Tit. 3. 6. This will be spoken unto in the fourth Way of his Communication Onely I say at present the greatness of a Gift the free Mind of the Giver and want of desert or merit in the Receiver are that which declare Bounty to be the spring and fountain of it And all these concur to the height in God's Giving of the Holy Ghost Sect. 7 Again on the part of them who receive this Gift Priviledg and Advantage are intimated They receive a Gift and that from God and that a great and singular Gift from Divine Bounty Some indeed receive him in a sort as to some Ends and Purposes without any advantage finally unto their own Souls So do they who prophesie and cast out Devils by his Power in the Name of Christ and yet continuing workers of Iniquity are rejected at the last day Matth. 7. 22 23. Thus it is with all who receive his Gifts only without his Grace to sanctifie their Persons and their Gifts and this whether they be ordinary or extraordinary But this is only by accident There is no Gift of the Holy Ghost but is good in its own Nature tending to a good End and is proper for the Good and Advantage of them by whom it is
declares That the Holy Spirit gave out various Gifts unto the first Preachers of the Gospel for the confirmation of their Doctrine according to the Promise of our Saviour John 15. 26 27. Of these he mentions in particular First ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Signs That is Miraculous Works wrought to signifie the Presence of God by his Power with them that wrought them so giving out his Approbation of the Doctrine which they taught Secondly ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Prodigies or Wonders Works beyond the Power of Nature or energie of Natural Causes wrought to fill Men with Wonder and Admiration manifesting ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and surprizing Men with a sense of the Presence of God Thirdly ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã mighty Works of several sorts such as opening of the Eyes of the Blind raising the Dead and the like These being mentioned there is added in general ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Gifts of the Holy Ghost For these and other like things did the Holy Ghost work and effect to the end mentioned And these Distributions are from him as the Signs and Wonders were that is Effects of his Power only there is added an intimation how they are all wrought by him which is by giving them a power for their Operation variously dividing them amongst those on whom they were bestowed and that as it is added ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã according unto his own Will And this place is so directly and fully expounded 1 Cor. 12. 7 8 9 10 11. that there is no room of exception left unto the most obstinate And that place having been opened before in the entrance of this Discourse I shall not here call it over again These ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã therefore are his Gifts which as Parts and Parcels of his Work he giveth out in great variety To the same purpose are his Operations described Isa. 11. 2 3. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding the Spirit of Counsel and of Might the Spirit of Knowledg and of the Fear of the Lord. He is first called the Spirit of the Lord to express his Being and Nature and then he is termed the Spirit of Wisdom and of Counsel c. That is He who is the Author of Wisdom and Counsel and the rest of the Graces mentioned who divides and distributes them according to his own Will That variety of Gifts and Graces wherewith Believers are endowed and adorned are these ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or Distributions of the Holy Spirit Hence the principal respect that we have unto him immediately in our Worship of him under the New Testament is as he is the Author of these various Gifts and Graces So John saluting the Churches of Asia prayeth for Grace for them from God the Father and the seven Spirits that are before his Throne Rev. 1. 4. That is the Holy Spirit of God considered in his care of the Church and his yielding supplies unto it as the Author of that Perfection of Gifts and Graces which are and are to be bestowed upon it So doth the number of Seven denote And therefore whereas our Lord Jesus Christ as the Foundation of his Church was anointed with all the Gifts and Graces of the Spirit in their Perfection it is said that upon that one Stone should be seven Eyes Zech. 3. 9. all the Gifts of the Seven Spirits of God or of that Holy Spirit which is the Author of them all Sect. 21 All therefore that is pleaded for the Division of the Holy Ghost from this place is built on the Supposition that we have before rejected namely that he is not a Divine Person but an Arbitrary Emanation of Divine Power and yet neither so can the division of the Holy Ghost pleaded for be with any tolerable sense maintained Crellius sayes indeed that all Divine Inspirations may be considered as one Whole as many Waters make up one Sea In this respect the Holy Ghost is One that is one Universal made up of many Species this is totum logicum And so He may be divided into his Subordinate Species But what Ground or Colour is there for any such Notions in the Scripture Where is it said that all the Gifts of the Holy Ghost do constitute or make up one Holy Ghost Or the Holy Ghost is one in general because many Effects are ascribed unto him Or that the several Gifts of the Spirit are so many distinct kinds of it The contrary unto all these is expresly taught namely that the One Holy Spirit worketh all these things as he pleaseth so that they are all of them external Acts of his Will and Power And it is to as little purpose pleaded by the same Author that he is divided as a Natural Whole into its Parts because there is mention of a Measure and Portion of him So God is said not to give him to Jesus Christ by Measure John 3. 34. And to every one of us is given Grace according to the Measure of the Gift of Christ as though one Measure of him were granted unto One and another Measure to another But this Measure is plainly of his Gifts and Graces These were bestowed on the Lord Christ in all their fulness without any limitation either as to Kinds or Degrees They were poured into him according unto the utmost extent and capacity of Humane Nature and that under an inconceivable advancement by its Union unto the Son of God Others receive his Gifts and Graces in limited proportion both as to their Kinds and Degrees To turn into a Division of the Spirit himself is the greatest madness And casting aside Prejudices there is no difficulty in the understanding of that saying of God to Moses Numb 11. 17. I will take of the Spirit that is on thee and put it on the Elders For it is evidently of the Gifts of the Spirit enabling Men for Rule and Government that God speaketh and not of the Spirit himself Without any diminution of that Spirit in him that is of the Gifts that He had received God gave unto them as lighting their Candle by his And so also the double Portion of the Spirit of Elijah which Elisha requested for himself was only a large and peculiar measure of Prophetical Light above what other Prophets which he left behind him had received 2 Kin. 2. 9. He asked ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã os duorum or duplex ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã This Expression is first used Deut. 21. 17. where the double Portion of the First-Born is intended So that probably it was such a Portion among the other Prophets as the First-Born had among the Brethren of the same Family which he desired and so it came to pass whence also he had the Rule and Government of them BOOK II. Peculiar Operations OF THE HOLY SPIRIT UNDER THE Old Testament Preparatory for The NEW CHAP. I. 1. The Work of the
provoked to abolish the Scripture it self But the Sum and Substance of the Prophetical Work under the Old Testament with the Light Design and Ministry of the Prophets themselves are declared in those Words The Work was to give Testimony unto the Truth of God in the first Promise concerning the Coming of the Blessing Seed This was God's Method First He gave Himself immediately that Promise which was the Foundation of the Church Gen. 3. 15. Then by Revelation unto the Prophets he confirmed that Promise after all which the Lord Christ was sent to make them all good unto the Church Rom. 15. 8. Herewithal they received fresh Revelations concerning his Person and his Sufferings with the Glory that was to ensue thereon and the Grace which was to come thereby unto the Church Whilst they were thus employed and acted by the Holy Ghost or the Spirit of Christ they diligently endeavoured to come to an Acquaintance with the Things themselves in their Nature and Efficacy which were revealed unto them yet so as considering that not Themselves but some Succeeding Generations should enjoy them in their actual Exhibition And whilst they were intent on these things they searched also as far as intimation was given thereof by the Spirit after the Time wherein all these things should be accomplished both when it should be and what Manner of time it should be or what would be the State and Condition of the People of God in those Days This was the Principal End of the Gift of Prophecy and this the principal Work and Employment of the Prophets The first Promise was given by God in the Person of the Son as I have proved elsewhere Gen. 3. 15. But the whole Explication Confirmation and Declaration of it was carryed on by the Gift of Prophecy Sect. 6 The Communication of this Gift began betimes in the World and continued without any known interruption in the Possession of some one or more in the Church at all times during its Preparatory or subservivient Estate After the finishing of the Canon of the Old Testament it ceased in the Judaical Church until it had a revival in John the Baptist who was therefore Greater than any Prophet that went before because he made the nearest Approach unto and the clearest Discovery of the Lord Jesus Christ the End of all Prophecys Thus God spake by the mouth of his Holy Prophets ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Luke 1. 70. that were from the Beginning of the World Adam himself had many things revealed unto him without which he could not have Worshipped God aright in that state and condition whereinto he was come For although his Natural Light was sufficient to direct Him unto all Religious Services required by the Law of Creation yet was it not so unto all Duties of that state whereinto he was brought by the giving of the Promise after the entrance of Sin So was he guided unto the Observance of such Ordinances of Worship as were needful for Him and accepted with God as were Sacrifices The Prophecy of Enoch in not only remembred but called over and recorded Jude 14. 15. And it s a matter neither curious nor difficult to demonstrate that all the Patriarchs of Old before the Flood were guided by a Prophetical Spirit in the Imposition of Names on those Children who were to succeed them in the sacred Line Concerning Abraham God expresly saith Himself that he was a Prophet Gen. 20. 7. that is One who used to receive Divine Revelations Sect. 7 Now this Gift of Prophecy was always the immediate Effect of the Operation of the Holy Spirit So it is both affirmed in general and in all the Particular Instances of it In the first way we have the Illustrious Testimony of the Apostle Peter 2 Epist. Chap. 1. v. 20 21. Knowing this first that no Prophecy of Scripture is of any Private Interpretation for the Prophecy came not in Old Time by the Will of Man but Holy Men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost This is a Principle among Beleivers this they grant and allow in the first Place as that which they resolve their Faith into Namely that the sure word of Prophecy which they in all Things take heed unto v. 19. was not a fruit of any Mens private conceptions nor was Subject to the Wills of Men so as to attain it or exercise it by their own Ability But it was given by Inspiration from God 2 Tim. 3. 16 For the Holy Ghost by acting moving guiding the Minds of Holy Men inabled them thereunto This was the sole Fountain and Cause of all true Divine Prophecy thatever was given or granted to the Use of the Church And in particular the Coming of the Spirit of God upon the Prophets enabling them unto their Work is frequently mentioned Micah declares in his own Instance how it was with them all Chap. 3. 8. But truly I am full of Power by the Spirit of the Lord and of Judgment and of Might to declare unto Jacob his Transgression and to Israel his Sin It was from the Spirit of God alone that he had all his Ability for the discharge of that Prophetical Office whereunto he was called And when God would endow Seventy Elders with a Gift of Prophecy he tells Moses that he would take of the Spirit that was upon him and give unto them for that Purpose that is he would communicate of the same Spirit unto them as was in Him And where it is said at any time that God spake by the Prophets or that the Word of God Came to them of God spake to them it is always intended that this was the immediate Work of the Holy Ghost So says David of Himself The Spirit of the Lord spake by Me or in me and his word was in my Tongue 2 Sam. 23. 2. Hence our Apostle repeating his words ascribes them directly to the Holy Ghost Heb. 3. 7. Wherefore as the Holy Ghost saith to day if you will hear his voice and Chap. 4. 7. Saying in David So the Words which are ascribed unto the Lord of Hosts Isa. 6. 9. are asserted to be the Words of the Holy Ghost Acts 28. 25. He spake to them or in them by his holy Inspirations and he spake by them in his effectual infallible guidance of them to utter declare and write what they received from Him without Mistake or Variation Sect. 8 And this Prophesy as to its Exercise is considered two ways First precisely for the Prediction or foretelling things to Come as the Greek word and the Latine traduced from thence do signify So Prophecy is a Divine Prediction of future things proceeding from Divine Revelation But the Hebrew ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã whence are ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a Prophet and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Prophesy is not confined unto any such signification although Predictions from supernatural Revelation are constantly expressed by it But in general âhe word signifies no
or Imagination 3. By pure Acts of the Understanding So God by three wayes revealed his Will unto the Prophets 1. By Objects of their Senses as by audible Voices 2. By Impressions on the Imagination in Dreams and Visions 3. By Illustration or enlightning of their Minds But as this last way expresseth Divine Inspiration I cannot acknowledg it as a distinct way of Revelation by it self For it was that which was absolutely necessary to give an infallible assurance of mind in the other wayes also And setting that aside there is none of them but are obnoxious to Delusion Sect. 12 First God sometimes made use of an Articulate Voice speaking out those things which he did intend to declare in words significant of them So he revealed Himself or his Mind unto Moses when he spake to him face to face as a Man speaketh unto his Friend Exod. 33. 11. Numb 12. 8. And as far as I can observe the whole Revelation made unto Moses was by outward audible articulate Voices whose Sense was impressed on his Mind by the Holy Spirit For an external Voice without an inward Elevation and Disposition of Mind is not sufficient to give security and assurance of Truth unto him that doth receive it So God spake to Elijah 1 Kings 19. 12 13 14. as also to Samuel and Jeremiah and it may be to all the rest of the Prophets at their first Calling and Entrance into their Ministry For words formed miraculously by God and conveighed sensibly unto the outward Ears of Men carry a great Majesty and Authority with them This was not the usual way of God's revealing his Mind nor is it signified by that Phrase of Speech The Word of the Lord came unto me whereby no more is intended but an immediate Revelation by what way or means soever it was granted Mostly this was by that Secret effectual Impression on their Minds which we have before described And these Voices were either immediately created by God himself as when he spake unto Moses wherein the eminency of the Revelation made unto him principally consisted or the Ministry of Angels was used in the Formation and Pronunciation of them But as we observed before the Divine Certainty of their Minds to whom they were spoken with their Abilities infallibly to declare them unto others was from an immediate internal Work of the Spirit of God upon them Without this the Prophets might have been imposed on by external audible Voices nor would they by themselves give their minds an infallible assurance Sect. 13 Secondly Dreams were made use of under the Old Testament to the same purpose and unto them also I refer all those Visions which they had in their sleep though not called Dreams And these in this Case were the immediate Operation of the Holy Ghost as to the Divine and Infallible Impressions they conveighed to the Minds of Men. Hence in the Promise of the Plentiful Pouring out of the Spirit or Communication of his Gifts mention is made of Dreams Acts 2. 17. I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh and your Sons and your Daughters shall Prophesie your young Men shall see Visions and your old Men shall dream Dreams Not that God intended much to make use of this way of Dreams and Nocturnal Visions under the New Testament but the intention of the words is to shew that there should be a plentiful Eââusion of that Spirit which acted by those various Wayes and Means then under the Old Only as to some particular Directions God did sometimes continue his Intimations by Visions in the Rest of the Night Such a Vision had Paul Acts 16. 10. But of old this was more frequent So God made a signal Revelation unto Abraham when the horrour of a deep sleep fell upon him Gen. 15. 12 13 14. And Daniel heard the Voice of the words of him that spake unto him when he was in a deep Sleep Dan. 10. 9. But this Sleep of theirs I look not on as Natural but as that which God sent and cast them into that therein he might represent the Image of things unto their Imaginations So of old he caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam Gen. 2. 21. The Jews distinguish between Dreams and those Visions in Sleep as they may be distinctly considered but I cast them together under one Head of Revelation in Sleep And this way of Revelation was so common that one who pretended to Prophesie would cry out ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã I have dreamed I have dreamed Jer. 23. And by the Devils imitation of God's dealing with his Church this became a way of Vaticination among the Heathen also Hom. Ili 1. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã A Dream is from Jupiter And when the reprobate Jews were deserted as to all Divine Revelations they pretended unto a singular skill in the Interpretation of Dreams on the account of their deceit wherein they were sufficiently infamous Qualiacumque voles Judaei somnia vendent Sect. 14 Thirdly God revealed himself in and by Visions or Representations of things to the inward or outward senses of the Prophets And this way was so frequent that it bare the Name for a Season of all Prophetical Revelations For so we observed before that a Prophet of old time was called a Seer And that because in their receiving of their Prophesies they saw Visions also So Isaiah terms his whole Glorious Prophesie ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Vision which he saw Chap. 1. 1. partly from the especial Representation of things that were made unto Him Chap. 6. 1 2 3. and partly it may be from the Evidence of the things revealed unto him which were cleared as fully to his Mind as if he had had an ocular inspection of them So from the Matter of them Prophesies began in common to be called the Burden of the Lord. For he burdened their Consciences with his Word and their Persons with its Execution But when false Prophets began to make frequent use and to serve themselves of this Expression it was forbidden Jer. 23. 33 36. And yet we find that there is mention hereof about the same Time it may be by Habbakuk Chap. 1. 1. as also after the return from the Captivity Zech. 9. 1. Mal. 1. 1. Either therefore this respected that onely season wherein false Prophets abounded whom God would thus deprive of their Pretence or indeed the People by Contempt and Scorn did use that Expression as that which was familiar unto the Prophets in their Denunciation of God's Judgments against them which God here rebukes them for and threatens to revenge But none of the Prophets had all their Revelations by Visions nor doth this concern the Communication of the Gift of Prophesie but it Exercise And their Visions are particularly recorded Such were those of Isa. 6. 1 2. Jer. 1. 11 14 15. Ezek. 1. and the like Now these Visions were of two sorts 1. Outward Representations of things unto the bodily Eyes of the Prophets 2.
and the using of them to his own Glory 6. The Case of Saul is plain The Spirit of the Lord who departed from him was the Spirit of Wisdom Moderation and Courage to fit him for Rule and Government that is the Gifts of the Holy Ghost unto that purpose which he withdrew from him And the Evil Spirit that was upon him proceeded no farther but to the stirring up Vexatious and disquieting Affections of Mind And notwithstanding this molestation and punishment inflicted on him the Spirit of God might at a season fall upon him so as to cast him into a Rapture or Extasie wherein his Mind was acted and exercised in an extraordinary manner and himself transported into Actions that were not at all according unto his own Inclinations So is this Case well resolved by Augustine And for the old Prophet at Bethel 1 Kings 13. although he appear to have been an evil Man yet he was one whom God made use of to reveal his Mind sometimes to that People nor is it probable that he was under Satanical Delusions like the Prophets of Baal for he is absolutely called a Prophet and the Word of the Lord did really come unto him v. 20 21. Sect. 19 The Writing of the Scripture was another Effect of the Holy Ghost which had its beginning under the Old Testament I reckon this as a distinct Gift from Prophesie in general or rather a distinct Species or kind of Prophesie For many Prophets there were Divinely Inspired who yet never wrote any of their Prophesies nor any thing else for the use of the Church And many Pen-men of the Scripture were no Prophets in the strict sence of that Name And the Apostle tells us that the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Scripture or Writing it self was by Inspiration from God 1 Tim. 3. 16. as David affirms that he had the Pattern of the Temple from the Spirit of God in Writing because of his guidance of him in putting its Description into Writing 1 Chron. 28. 19. Now this Ministry was first committed unto Moses who besides the Five Books of the Law probably also wrote the Story of Job Many Prophets there were before Him but he was the first who committed the Will of God to Writing after God himself who wrote the Law in Tables of Stone which was the Beginning and Pattern of the Scriptures The Writers of the Historical Books of the Old Testament before the Captivity are unknown The Jews call them ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the first or former Prophets Who they were in particular is not known but certain it is that they were of the Number of those Holy Men of God who of old Wrote and Spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost Hence are they called Prophets For although they wrote in an Historical manner as did Moses also concerning things past and gone in their Dayes or it may be presently acted in their own Times yet they did not Write them either from their own Memory nor from Tradition nor from the Rolls or Records of Times although they might be furnished with and skilled in these things but by the Inspiration Guidance and Direction of the Holy Ghost Hence are they called Prophets in such a Latitude as the Word may be used in to signifie any that are Divinely Inspired or receive immediate Revelations from God And thus was it with all the Pen-men of the Holy Scripture As their Minds were under that full assurance of Divine Inspiration which we before described so their words which they wrote were under the especial care of the same Spirit and were of his Suggestion or Inditing Sect. 20 There were therefore three things concurring in this Work 1. The Inspiration of the Minds of these Prophets with the Knowledg and Apprehension of the things communicated unto them 2. The Suggestion of words unto them to express what their Minds conceived 3. The guidance of their Hands in setting down the words suggested or of their Tongues in uttering them unto those by whom they were committed to Writing as Baruch wrote the Prophesie of Jeremiah from his Mouth Jer. 36. 3. 18. If either of these were wanting the Scripture could not be absolutely and every way Divine and Infallible For if the Pen-Men of it were left unto themselves in any thing wherein that Writing was concerned who can secure us that nihil Humani no Humane Imperfection mixed it self therewithal I know some think that the Matter and Substance of things only was communicated unto them but as for the words whereby it was to be expressed that was left unto themselves and their own Abilities And this they suppose is evident from that variety of Stile which according to their various Capacities Education and Abilities is found amongst them This argues as they say that the wording of their Revelations was left unto themselves and was the Product of their Natural Abilities This in general I have spoken unto elsewhere and manifested what mistakes sundry have run into about the Stile of the Holy Pen-Men of the Scripture Here I shall not take up what hath been argued and evinced in another place I only say that the variety intended ariseth mostly from the variety of the Subject Matters treated of nor is it such as will give any countenance to the prophaneness of this Opinion For the Holy Ghost in his Work on the Minds of Men doth not put a force upon them nor acts them any otherwise than they are in their own Natures and with their present Endowments and Qualifications meet to be acted and used He leads and conducts them in such Paths wherein they are able to walk The words therefore which he suggests unto them are such as they are accustomed unto and he causeth them to make use of such Expressions as were familiar unto themselves So he that useth divers Seals maketh different Impressions though the guidance of them all be equal and the same And he that toucheth skilfully several Musical Instruments variously tuned maketh several Notes of Musick We may also grant and do That they used their own Abilities of Mind and Understanding in the choice of Words and Expressions So the Preacher sought to find out acceptable words Eccles. 12. 10. But the Holy Spirit who is more intimate unto the Minds and Skill of Men than they are themselves did so guide act and operate in them as that the words they fixed upon were as directly and certainly from him as if they had been spoken to them by an audible Voice Hence that which was written was upright even Words of Truth as in that place This must be so or they could not speak as they moved by the Holy Ghost nor could their Writing be said to be of Divine Inspiration Hence oft-times in the Original great Senses and Significations depend on a single Letter as for instance in the change of the Name of Abraham And our Saviour affirms that every Apex and Iota of the Law is under the
11 12 13 14 15. and they were ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã inferior Officers before such as they had in Egypt who influenced the People by their Counsel and Arbritration Exod. 3. 16. Chap. 5. 6. Chap. 24. 1 9. Now they had a Supream Power in Judgment committed to them and were thence called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or Gods For these were they unto whom the Word of God came who were thence called Gods John 10. 34 35. Psal. 82. 6. and not the Prophets who had neither Power nor Rule And on them the Spirit of God that was in Moses rested that is wrought the same Abilities for Government in them as he had received That is Wisdom Righteousness Diligence Courage and the like that they might judge the People wisely and look to the Execution of the Law impartially Now when the Spirit of God thus rested on them it is said they Prophesied and ceased not v. 25 26. That is they sang or spake forth the Praises of God in such a way and manner as made it evident unto all that they were extraordinarily acted by the Holy Ghost So is that Word used 1 Sam. 10. 10. and elsewhere But this Gift and Work of Prophesie was not the especial End for which they were endowed by the Spirit for they were now called as hath been declared unto Rule and Government But because their Authority and Rule was new among the People God gave that visible Sign and Pledg of his calling them to their Office that they might have a due Veneration of their Persons and acquiesce in their Authority And hence from the Ambiguity of that word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which we render and ceased not they Prophesied and ceased not vers 25. which may signifie to add as well as to cease many of the Jews affirm that they so prophesied no more but that day only they prophesied then and added not that is to do so any more So when God would erect a Kingdom amongst them which was a new kind of Government unto them and designed Saul to be the Person that should Reign it is said that he gave him another heart 1 Sam. 10. 9. that is the Spirit of God came upon him as it is elsewhere expressed to endow him with that Wisdom and Magnanimity that might make him meet for Kingly Rule And because he was new called from a Low Condition unto Royal Dignity the Communication of the Spirit of God unto him was accompanied with a Visible sign and Token that the People might acquiesce in his Government who were ready to despise his Person For he had also an extraordinary Afflatus of the Spirit expressing it self in a Visible Rapture vers 10 11. And in like manner he dealt with others For this cause also he instituted the Ceremony of Anointing at their Inauguration for it was a Token of the Communication of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost unto them though respect were had therein to Jesus Christ who was to be anointed with all his fulness of whom they were Types unto that People Now these Gifts for Government are Natural and Moral Abilities of the Minds of Men such as are Prudence Righteousness Courage Zeal Clemency and the like And when the Holy Ghost fell upon any Persons to enable them for Political Rule and the Administration of Civil Power he did not Communicate Gifts and Abilities unto them quite of another kind but only gave them an extraordinary improvement of their own ordinary Abilities And indeed so great is the Burden wherewith a just and useful Government is attended so great and many are the Temptations which Power and a Confluence of Earthly Things will invite and draw towards them that without some especial Assistance of the Holy Spirit of God Men cannot chuse but either sink under the weight of it or wretchedly miscarry in its Exercise and Management This made Solomon when God in the beginning of his Reign gave him his option of all earthly desirable things to prefer Wisdom and Knowledg for Rule before them all 2 Chron. 1. 10 11 12. And this he received from him who is the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding Isa. 11. 3. And if the Rulers of the Earth would follow this Example and be earnest with God for such supplies of his Spirit as might enable them unto an Holy Righteous discharge of their Office it would in many places be better with them and the World than it is or can be where is the state of things described Hos. 7. 3 4 5. Now God of old did carry this Dispensation out of the Pale of the Church for the effecting of some especial Ends of his own and I no way question but that he continueth still so to do Thus he anointed Cyrus and calls him his Anointed accordingly Isa. 45. 1. For Cyrus had a double Work to do for God in both parts whereof he stood in need of his especial Assistance He was to execute his Judgements and Vengeance on Babylon as also to deliver his People that they might re-edifie the Temple For both these he stood in need and did receive especial Aid from the Spirit of God though he was in himself but a ravenous Bird of prey Isa. 46. 11. For the Gifts of this Holy One in this kind wrought no real Holiness in them on whom they were bestowed they were only given them for the good and benefit of others with their own success in what they attempted unto that purpose Yea and many on whom they are bestowed never consider the Author of them but sacrifice to their own Nets and Drags and look on themselves as the Springs of their own Wisdom and Ability But it is no wonder that all regard unto the Gifts of the Holy Ghost in the Government of the World is despised when his whole Work in and towards the Church it self is openly derided Sect. 23 Secondly We may add hereunto those especial Endowments with some Moral Vertues which he granted unto sundry Persons for the accomplishment of some especial Design So He came upon Gideon and upon Jeptha to anoint them unto the Work of delivering the People from their Adversaries in Battel Judg. 6. 34. Chap. 11. 29. It is said before of them both That they were Men of Valour Chap. 6. 12. Chap. 11. 1. This coming therefore of the Spirit of God upon them and cloathing of them was his especial Excitation of their Courage and his fortifying of their Minds against those Dangers they were to conflict withal And this he did by such an efficacious impression of his Power upon them as that both themselves received thereby a Confirmation of their Call and others might discern the presence of God with them Hence it is said that the Spirit of the Lord cloathed them they being warmed in themselves and known to others by his Gifts and Actings of them Sect. 24 Thirdly There are sundry Instances of his adding unto the Gifts of the Mind whereby he qualified Persons for
the edification of the Church Ephes. 4. 10 11 12 13. The owning therefore and avowing the Work of the Holy Ghost in the Hearts and on the Minds of Men according to the Tenor of the Convenant of Grace is the principal part of that Profession which at this day all Believers are called unto Sect. 5 4. We are taught in an especial manner to pray that God would give his Holy Spirit unto us that through his Aid and Assistance we may live unto God in that Holy Obedience which he requires at our hands Luk. 11. 9 10 12 13. Our Saviour enjoyning an importunity in our Supplications v. 9 10. and giving us encouragement that we shall succeed in our Requests v. 11 12. makes the Subject Matter of them to be the Holy Spirit Your Heavenly Father shall give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him v. 13. Which in the other Evangelists is good things Mat. 7. 11. because he is the Author of them all in us and to us Nor doth God bestow any good thing on us but by his Spirit Hence the Promise of bestowing the Spirit is accompanied with a Prescription of Duty unto us that we should ask him or pray for him which is included in every Promise where his sending giving or bestowing is mentioned He therefore is the great Subject Matter of all our Prayers And that signal Promise of our Blessed Saviour to send him as a Comforter to abide with us for ever is a Directory for the Prayers of the Church in all Generations Nor is there any Church in the World fallen under such a total Degeneracy but that in their Publick Offices there are Testimonies of their ancient Faith and Practice in praying for the coming of the Spirit unto them according to this Promise of Christ. And therefore our Apostle in all his most solemn Prayers for the Churches in his dayes makes this the chief Petition of them That God would give unto them and increase in them the Gifts and Graces of the Holy Spirit with the Spirit himself for sundry especial Effects and Operations whereof they stood in need Ephes. 1. 17. Chap. 3. 16. Col. 2. 2. And this is a full conviction of what importance the Consideration of the Spirit of God and his Work is unto us We must deal in this Matter with that confidence which the Truth instructs us unto and therefore say That he who prayeth not constantly and diligently for the Spirit of God that he may be made partaker of him for the Ends for which he is promised is a Stranger from Christ and his Gospel This we are to attend unto as that whereon our Eternal Happiness doth depend God knows our State and Condition and we may better learn our Wants from his Prescription of what we ought to pray for than from our own Sense and Experience For we are in the Dark unto our own Spiritual Concerns through the Power of our Corruptions and Temptations and know not what we should pray for as we ought Rom. 8. 26. But our Heavenly Father knows perfectly what we stand in need of And therefore whatever be our present Apprehensions concerning our selves which are to be examined by the Word our Prayers are to be regulated by what God hath enjoyned us to ask and what he hath promised for to bestow Sect. 6 5. What was before mentioned may here be called over again and farther improved yea it is necessary that so it should be This is the solemn Promise of Jesus Christ when he was to leave this World by Death And whereas he therein made and confirmed his Testament Heb. 9. 15 16 17 He bequeathed his Spirit as his great Legacy unto his Disciples And this he gave unto them as the great Pledg of their future Inheritance 2 Cor. 1. 22. which they were to live upon in this World All other good things he hath indeed bequeathed unto Believers as he speaks of Peace with God in particular Peace I leave with you my Peace I give unto you John 14. 27. But he gives particular Graces and Mercies for particular Ends and Purposes The Holy Spirit he bequeaths to supply his own Absence John 16. 17. that is for all the Ends of Spiritual and Eternal Life Let us therefore consider this Gift of the Spirit either formally under this Notion that he was the principal Legaoy left unto the Church by our dying Saviour or materially as to the Ends and Purposes for which he is so bequeathed and it will be evident what valuation we ought to have of Him and his Work How would some rejoice if they could possess any Relique of any thing that belonged unto our Saviour in the dayes of his Flesh though of no use or benefit unto them Yea how great a part of Men called Christians do boast in some pretended Parcels of the Tree whereon he suffered Love abused by Superstition lies at the bottom of this Vanity For they would embrace any thing left them by their dying Saviour But he left them no such things nor did ever bless and Sanctify them unto any holy or Sacred Ends. And therefore hath the abuse of them been punished with blindness and Idolatry But this is openly testified unto in the Gospel then when his Heart was overflowing with Love unto his Disciples and Care for them when he took an Holy Prospect of what would be their Condition their Work Duty and Temptations in the World and thereon made Provision of all that they could stand in need of he promiseth to leave and give unto them his Holy Spirit to abide with them for ever directing us to look unto Him for all our Comforts and Supplies According therefore unto our valuation and esteem of Him of our Satisfaction and Acquiescency in Him is our regard to the Love Care and Wisdom of our Blessed Saviour to be measured And indeed it is only in his Word and Spirit wherein we can either honour or despise him in this World In his own Person he is exalted at the Right Hand of God far above all Principalities and Powers So that nothing of ours can immediately reach him or affect him But it is in our regard to these that he makes a Tryal of our Faith Love and Obedience And it is a matter of Lamentation to consider the contempt and scorn that on various Pretences is cast upon this Holy Spirit and the Work whereunto he is sent by God the Father and by Jesus Christ. For there is included therein a contempt of them also Nor will a pretence of honouring God in their own way secure such Persons as shall contract the guilt of this Abomination For it is an Idol and not the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who doth not work effectually in the Elect by the Holy Ghost according to the Scriptures And 2. if we consider this Promise of the Spirit to be given unto us as to the Ends of it Then Sect. 7 6. He is promised and given as
22. Jesus of Nazareth a Man approved of God by Miracles and Wonders and Signs which God did by him For they are all immediate Effects of Divine Power So when he cast out Devils with a word of command he affirms that he did it by the Finger of God Luke 11. 20. that is the Infinite Divine Power of God but the Power of God acted in an especial manner by the Holy Spirit as is expresly declared in the other Evangelist Matth. 12. 28. And therefore on the Ascription of his Mighty Works unto Beelzebub the Prince of Devils he lets the Jews know that therein they blasphemed the Holy Spirit whose Works indeed they were v. 31 32. Hence these mighty Works are called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Powers because of the Power of the Spirit of God put forth for their working and effecting see Mark 6. 5. Chap. 9. 39. Luke 4. 36. 5. 17. 6. 19. 8. 46. 9. 1. And in the Exercise of this Power consisted the Testimony given unto him by the Spirit that he was the Son of God For this was necessary unto the Conviction of the Jews to when he was sent John 10. 37 38. Sect. 7 Sixthly By him was he guided directed comforted supported in the whole Course of his Ministry Temptations Obedience and Sufferings Some few Instances on this Head may suffice Presently after his Baptism when he was full of the Holy Ghost he was led by the Spirit into the Wilderness Luke 4. 1. The Holy Spirit guided him to begin his Contest and Conquest with the Devil Hereby he made an entrance into his Ministry and it teacheth us all what we must look for if we solemnly engage our selves to follow him in the Work of Preaching the Gospel The word used in Mark to this purpose hath occasioned some doubt what Spirit is intended in those words ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Chap. 1. 12. The Spirit driveth him into the Wilderness It is evident that the same Spirit and the same Act is intended in all the Evangelists here and Mat. 4. 1. Luke 4. 1. But now the Holy Spirit should be said ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to drive him is not so easie to be apprehended But the Word in Luke is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which denotes a guiding and rational Conduct And this cannot be ascribed unto any other Spirit with respect unto our Lord Jesus but onely the Spirit of God Matthew expresseth the same effect by ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Chap. 4. 1. he was carried or carried up or taken away from the midst of the People And this was ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of that Spirit namely which descended on him and rested on him immediately before Chap. 3. 17. And the Continuation of the Discourse in Luke will not admit that any other Spirit be intended And Jesus being full of the Holy Spirit returned from Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the Wilderness namely by that Spirit which he was full of By ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã therefore in Mark no more is intended but the sending of him forth by an high and strong impression of the Holy Spirit on his Mind Hence the same word is used with respect unto the sending of others by the powerful impression of the Spirit of God on their Hearts unto the Work of Preaching the Gospel Matth. 9. 38. Pray you therefore the Lord of the Harvest ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã So also Luk. 10. 2. that he would thrust forth Labourers into his Harvest namely by furnishing them with the Gifts of his Spirit and by the Power of his Grace constraining them to their Duty So did he enter upon his Preparation unto his Work under his Conduct And it were well if others would endeavour after a conformity unto them within the Rules of their Calling 2. By his assistance was he carried triumphantly through the course of his Temptations unto a perfect Conquest of his Adversary as to the present Conflict wherein he sought to divert him from his Work which afterwards he endeavoured by all wayes and means to oppose and hinder 3. The Temptation being finished he returned again out of the Wilderness to Preach the Gospel in the Power of the Spirit Luk. 4. 14. He returned ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in the Power of the Spirit into Galilee that is powerfully enabled by the Holy Spirit unto the discharge of his Work And thence is his first Sermon at Nazareth he took those Words of the Prophet for his Text The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because he hath anointed me to Preach the Gospel to the Poor Luke 4. 18. The issue was That they all bare him Witness and wondred at the gracious Words that proceeded out of his Mouth v. 22. And as he thus began his Ministry in the Power of the Spirit so having received him not by measure he continually on all occasions put forth his Wisdom Power Grace and Knowledg to the astonishment of all and the stopping of the Mouths of his Adversaries shutting them up in their Rage and Unbelief 4. By him was he directed strengthned and comforted in his whole Course in all his Temptations Troubles and Sufferings from first to last For we know that there was a confluence of all those upon him in his whole Way and Work a great part of that whereunto he humbled himself for our sakes consisting in these things In and under them he stood in need of mighty Supportment and strong Consolation This God promised unto him and this he expected Isa. 50. 7 8. 42. 4 6. 49. 5 6 7 8. Now all the voluntary Communications of the Divine Nature unto the Humane were as we have shewed by the Holy Spirit Sect. 8 Seventhly He offered himself up unto God through the Eternal Spirit Heb. 9. 14. I know many Learned Men do judge that by the Eternal Spirit in that place not the Third Person is intended but the Divine Nature of the Son himself And there is no doubt but that also may properly be called the Eternal Spirit There is also a Reason in the words themselves strongly inclining unto that sense and acceptation of them For the Apostle doth shew whence it was that the Sacrifices of the Lord Christ had an Efficacy beyond and above the Sacrifices of the Law and whence it would certainly produce that great Effect of purging our Consciences from dead Works And this was from the Dignity of his Person on the account of his Divine Nature It arose I say from the Dignity of his Person his Deity giving sustentation unto his Humane Nature in the Sacrifice of himself For by reason of the indissoluble Union of both his Natures his Person became the Principle of all his Mediatory Acts and from thence had they their Dignity and Efficacy Nor will I oppose this Exposition of the words But on the other side many Learned Persons both of the Ancient and Modern Divines do judg that it is the Person of the Holy Spirit
may be fashioned like unto his Glorious Body according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself Phil. 3. 21. And these are some of the principal Instances of the Operations of the Holy Spirit on the Humane Nature of the Head of the Church The whole of them all I confess is a Work that we can look but little into only what is plainly revealed we desire to receive and imbrace considering that if we are his we are predestinated to be made conformable in all things unto him and that by the powerful and effectual Operation of that Spirit which thus wrought all things in him to the Glory of God And as it is a matter of unspeakable consolation unto us to consider what hath been done in and upon our Nature by the Application of the Love and Grace of God through his Spirit unto it so it is of great Advantage in that it directs our Faith and Supplications in our Endeavours after Conformity with him which is our next End under the enjoyment of God in Glory What therefore in these Matters we apprehend we embrace and for the depth of them they are the Object of our Admiration and Praise Sect. 13 Secondly There is yet another Work of the Holy Spirit not immediately in and upon the Person of the Lord Christ but towards him and on his behalf with respect unto his Work and Office And it comprizeth the Head and Fountain of the whole Office of the Holy Spirit towards the Church This was his witness-bearing unto the Lord Christ namely that he was the Son of God the true Messiah and that the Work which he performed in the World was committed unto him by God the Father to accomplish And this same Work he continueth to attend unto unto this day and will do so to the consummation of all things It is known how the Lord Christ was reproached whilst he was in this World and how ignominiously he was sent out of it by Death Hereon a great contest ensued amongst mankind wherein Heaven and Hell were deeply ingaged The greatest part of the World the Princes Rulers and Wise Men of it affirmed that he was an Impostor a Seducer a Malefactor justly punished for his Evil Deeds He on the other side chose twelve Apostles to bear Testimony unto the Holiness of his Life the Truth and Purity of his Doctrine the Accomplishment of the Prophesies of the Old Testament in his Birth Life Work and Death and in especial unto his Resurrection from the Dead whereby he was justified and acquitted from all the Reproaches of Hell and the World and their Calumnies refelled But what could the Testimony of twelve poor Men though never so honest prevail against the confronting Suffrage of the World Wherefore this Work of bearing witness unto the Lord Christ was committed unto him who is above and over all who knoweth how and is able to make his Testimony prevalent John 15. 26. But when the Comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the Father even the Spirit of Truth which proceedeth from the Father he shall testifie of me Accordingly the Apostles plead his concurring Testimony Acts 5. 32. And we are his Witnesses of these things and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God hath given to them that obey him And how he thus gave his Testimony our Apostle declares Heb. 2. 4. God also bearing witness with them that is the Apostles both with Signs and Wonders and with divers Miracles and Gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his Will The first principal End why God gave the Holy Spirit to work all those miraculous Effects in them that believed in Jesus was to bear witness unto his Person that he was indeed the Son of God owned and exalted by him For no Man not utterly forsaken of all Reason and Understanding not utterly blinded would once imagine that the Holy Spirit of God would work such marvelous Operations in and by them who believed on him if he designed not to justifie his Person Work and Doctrine thereby And this in a short time together with that effectual Power which he put forth in and by the Preaching of the Word carried not only his Vindication against all the Machinations of Satan and his Instruments throughout the World but also subdued the generality of Mankind unto Faith in him and Obedience unto him 1 Cor. 10. 4 5. And upon this Testimony it is that there is real Faith in him yet maintained in the World This is that which he promised unto his Disciples whilst he was yet with them in the World when their hearts were solicitous how they should bear up against their Adversaries upon his absence I will saith he send the Comforter unto you and when he is come he will reprove the World of Sin and of Righteousness and of Judgment of sin because they believe not on me of Righteousness because I go to my Father and ye see me no more of Judgment because the Prince of this World is Judged John 16. 7 8 9 10 11. The Reason why the World believed not on Christ was because they believed not that he was sent of God John 9. 29. By his Testimony the Spirit was to reprove the World of their Infidelity and to convince them of it by evidencing the Truth of his Mission For hereon the whole issue of the Controversie between him and the World did depend Whether he were Righteous or a Deceiver was to be determined by his being sent or not sent of God and consequently God's Acceptance or Disapprobation of him That he was so sent so approved the Holy Spirit convinced the World by his Testimony manifesting that he went to the Father and was exalted by him for it was upon his Ascention and Exaltation that he received and poured out the Promise of the Spirit to this purpose Acts 2. 33. Moreover whilst he was in the World there was an unrighteous Judgment by the instigation of Satan passed upon him On this Testimony of the Spirit that Judgment was to be reversed and a contrary Sentence passed on the Author of it the Prince of this World For by the Gospel so testified unto was he Discovered Convicted Judged Condemned and cast out of that Power and Rule in the World which by the darkness of the Minds of Men within and Idolatry without he had obtained and exercised And that the Holy Spirit continueth to do the same Work though not absolutely by the same means unto this very day shall be afterwards declared And by these Considerations may we be led into that Knowledg of and Acquaintance with our Lord Jesus Christ which is so necessary so useful and so much recommended unto us in the Scripture And the utter neglect of Learning the Knowledg of Christ and of the Truth as it is in him is not more pernicious unto the Souls of Men than is the learning of it by undue means whereby false and mischievous Ideas
or Representations of him are infused into the Minds of Men. The Papists would learn and teach him by Images the Work of Mens Hands and Teachers of Lies For besides that they are forbidden by God himself to be used unto any such purposes and therefore cursed with barrenness and uselesness as to any end of Faith or Holiness they are in themselves suited only to ingenerate low and carnal Thoughts in depraved superstitious Minds For as the Worshippers of such Images know not what is the proper Cause nor the proper Object of that Reverence and those Affections they find in themselves when they approach unto them and adore before them So the Apprehensions which they can have hereby tend but to the knowing after the flesh which the Apostle looked on as no part of his Duty 2 Cor. 5. 16. But the Glory of the Humane Nature as united unto the Person of the Son of God and ingaged in the discharge of his Office of Mediator consists alone in these eminent peculiar ineffable Communications of the Spirit of God unto him and his powerful Operations in him This is represented unto us in the Glass of the Gospel which we beholding by Faith are changed into the same Image by the same Spirit 2 Cor. 3. 18. Sect. 15 Our Lord Christ himself did foretel us that there would be great enquiries after him and that great Deceits would be immixed therewithal If saith he they shall say unto you He is in the Wilderness go not forth behold he is in the Secret Chambers believe it not Matth. 24. 26. It is not a Wilderness low persecuted unglorious and invisible Condition as to outward Profession that our Saviour here intendeth For himself foretold that his Church should be driven into the Wilderness and nourished there and that for a long season Rev. 12. 6. And where his Church is there is Christ for his Promise is to be with them and among them unto the end of the World Matth. 28. 20. Nor by Secret Chambers doth he intend those private places of meeting for security which all his Disciples for some hundreds of years were compelled unto and did make use of after his Apostles who met sometimes in an upper Room sometimes in the Night for fear of the Jews And such it is notorious were all the Meetings of the Primitive Christians But our Saviour here foretels the false wayes that some would pretend he is taught by and found in For first some would say he was ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in the Desart or Wilderness and if Men would go forth thither there they would see him and find him And there is nothing intended hereby but the ancient Superstitious Monks who under a pretence of Religion retired themselves into Desarts and Solitary Places For there they pretended great Intercourse with Christ great Visions and Appearances of him being variously deluded and imposed on by Satan and their own Imaginations It is ridiculous on the one hand and deplorable on the other to consider the woful Follies Delusions and Superstitions this sort of Men fell into Yet was in those dayes nothing more common than to say That Christ was in the Desart conversing with the Monks and Anchorites Go not forth unto them saith our Lord Christ for in so doing you will be deceived And again saith he If they say unto them he is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in the Secret Chambers believe it not There is or I am much deceived a deep and mysterious Instruction in these words ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã signifies those secret places in an House where Bread and Wine and Cates of all sorts are laid up and stored This is the proper signification and use of the word What pretence then could there be for any to say that Christ was in such a place Why there insued so great a pretence hereof and so horrible a superstition thereon that it was of Divine Wisdom to foresee it and of Divine Goodness to forewarn us of it For it is nothing but the Popish Figment of Transubstantiation that is intended Christ must be in the secret Places where their Wafer and Wine was deposited that is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Concerning this saith our Saviour believe them not All Crafts and Frauds and bloody Violences will be used to compel you to believe a Christ in the Pix and Repository but if you would not be seduced believe them not Such are the false wayes whereby some have pretended to teach Christ and to learn him which have led them from him into hurtful Snares and Perdition The consideration that we have insisted on will guide us if attended unto a Spiritual and Saving Knowledg of him and we are to learn thus to know him Sect. 16 First That we may love him with a pure unmixed Love It is true it is the Person of Christ as God and Man that is the Proper and Ultimate Object of our Love towards him But a clear distinct Consideration of his Natures and their Excellencies is effectual to stir up and draw forth our Love towards him So the Spouse in the Canticles rendring a Reason of her intense Affections towards him sayes That he is White and Ruddy the chiefest of ten thousand that is perfect in the Beauty of the Graces of the Holy Spirit which rendred him exceeding amiable So also Psal. 45. 2. Would you therefore propose Christ unto your Affections so as that your Love unto him may be sincere and without corruption as it is required to be Ephes. 6. 24. that you may not lavish away the Actings of your Souls upon a false Object and think you love Christ when you love only the Imaginations of your own Breasts consider his Humane Nature as it was rendred beautiful and lovely by the Work of the Spirit of God upon it before described Do you love him because he was and is so full of Grace so full of Holiness because in him there was an All-fulness of the Graces of the Spirit of God Consider aright what hath been delivered concerning him and if you can and do on the account thereof delight in him and love him your Love is Genuine and Spiritual But if your Love be meerly out of an apprehension of his being now Glorious in Heaven and there able to do you Good or Evil it differs not much from that of the Papists whose Love is much regulated in its Actings by the good or bad painting of the Images whereby they represent him You are often pressed to direct your Love unto the Person of Christ and it is that which is your principal Duty in this World But this you cannot do without a distinct Notion and Knowledg of him There are therefore three things in general that you are to consider to this purpose 1. The Blessed Union of his two Natures in the same Person Herein he is singular God having taken that especial State on him which in no other thing or way had any Consideration This therefore is
And this instructs us in the Way and Manner of that Communion which we have with God by the Gospel For herein the Life Power and Freedom of our Evangelical State doth consist and an acquaintance herewith gives us our Translation out of Darkness into the marvelous Light of God 1. The Person of the Father in his Wisdom Will and Love is the Original of all Grace and Glory But nothing hereof is communicated immediately unto us from him It is the Son whom he loves and hath given all things into his hand He hath made way for the Communication of these things unto us unto the Glory of God And he doth it immediately by the Spirit as hath been declared Hereby are all our Returns unto God to be regulated The Father who is the Original of all Grace and Glory is ultimately intended by us in our Faith Thankfulness and Obedience yet not so but that the Son and Spirit are considered as one God with him But we cannot address our selves with any of them immediately unto him There is no going to the Father saith Christ but by me John 14. 6. Through him we believe in God 1 Pet. 1. 21. But yet neither can we do so unless we are enabled thereunto by the Spirit the Author in us of Faith Prayer Praise Obedience and what-ever our Souls tend unto God by As the descending of God towards us in Love and Grace issues or ends in the Work of the Spirit in us and on us so all our ascending towards him begins therein And as the first Instance of the proceeding of Grace and Love towards us from the Father is in and by the Son so the first step that we take towards God even the Father is in and by the Son And these things ought to be explicitly attended unto by us if we intend our Faith and Love and Duties of Obedience should be Evangelical Take an Instance of the Prayer of Wicked Men under their Convictions or their Fears Troubles and Dangers and the Prayers of Believers The former is meerly Vox Naturae Clamantis ad Dominum Naturae an out-cry that distressed Nature makes to the God of it and as such alone it considers him But the other is Vox Spiritus Adoptionis clamantis per Christum Abba Pater It is the Voice of the Spirit of Adoption addressing it self in the Hearts of Believers unto God as a Father And a due attendance unto this Order of things gives Life and Spirit unto all that we have to do with God Wo to Professors of the Gospel who shall be seduced to believe that all they have to do with God consists in their attendance unto Moral Vertue It is fit for them so to do who being weary of Christianity have a mind to turn Pagans But our Fellowship is in the way described with the Father and his Son Christ Jesus It is therefore of the highest importance unto us to enquire into and secure unto our selves the promised workings of the Holy Spirit For by them alone are the Love of the Father and the Fruits of the Mediation of the Son communicated unto us without which we have no interest in them And by them alone are we enabled to make any acceptable Returns of Obedience unto God It is sottish Ignorance and Infidelity to suppose that under the Gospel there is no communication between God and us but what is on his part in Laws Commands and Promises and on ours by Obedience performed in our own Strength and upon our Convictions unto them The exclude hence the real internal Operations of the Holy Ghost is to destroy the Gospel And as we shall see farther afterwards this is the true Ground and Reason why there is a sin against the Holy Spirit that is irremissible for the coming unto us to make Application of the Love of the Father and Grace of the Son unto our Souls in the contempt of him there is a contempt of the whole actings of God towards us in a way of Grace for which there can be no Remedy Sect. 7 Fifthly Whereas the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Grace and the immediate Efficient Cause of all Grace and Gracious Effects in Men where-ever there is mention made of them or any fruits of them it is to be looked on as a part of his Work though he be not expresly named or it be not particularly attributed unto him I know not well or do not well understand what some Men begin to talk about Moral Vertue Some thing they seem to aim at if they would once leave the old Pelagian ambiguous Expressions and learn to speak clearly and intelligibly that is in their own Power and so consequently of all other Men. At least it is so with an ordinary blessing upon their own endeavours which things we must afterwards enquire into But for Grace I think all Men will grant that as to our participation of it it is of the Holy Spirit and of him alone Now Grace is taken two wayes in the Scripture 1. For the gracious free Love and Favour of God towards us And 2. for gracious free effectual Operations in us and upon us In both senses the Holy Spirit is the Author of it as unto us In the first as to its manifestation and Application in the latter as to the Operation it self For although he be not the principal Cause nor procurer of Grace in the first sense which is the free Act of the Father yet the Knowledg Sense Comfort and all the Fruits of it are by him alone communicated unto us as we shall see afterwards And the latter is his proper and peculiar Work This therefore must be taken for granted that where-ever any gracious actings of God in or towards Men are mentioned it is the Holy Spirit who is peculiarly and principally intended Sect. 8 Sixthly It must be duly considered with reference unto the whole Work of the Holy Spirit that in what-ever he doth he Acts Works and Distributes according to his own Will This our Apostle expresly affirmeth And sundry things of great moment do depend hereon in our walking before God As 1. That the Will and Pleasure of the Holy Spirit is in all the Goodness Grace Love and Power that he either communicates unto us or worketh in us He is not as a meer Instrument or Servant disposing of the things wherein he hath no Concern or over which he hath no Power But in all things he worketh towards us according to his own Will We are therefore in what we receive from him and by him no less to acknowledg his Love Kindness and Sovereign Grace than we do to those of the Father and the Son 2. That he doth not work as a natural Agent ad ultimum virium to the utmost of his Power as though in all he did he came and did what he could He moderates all his Operations by his Will and Wisdom And therefore whereas some are said to resist the Holy Spirit Acts
7. 51. and so to frustrate his Work towards them it is not because they can do so absolutely but only they can do so as to some way kind or degree of his Operations Men may resist some sort or kind of means that he useth as to some certain end and purpose but they cannot resist him as to his purpose and the end he aims at For he is God and who hath resisted his Will Rom. 9. 19. Wherefore in any Work of his two things are to be considered 1. What the means he maketh use of tend unto in their own Nature And 2. what he intends by it The first may be resisted and frustrated but the latter cannot be so Sometimes in and by that word which in its own Nature tends to the Conversion of Sinners he intendeth by it only their hardning Isa. 6. 9 10. John 12. 40 41. Acts 18. 26. Rom. 11. 8. And he can when he pleaseth exert that Power and Efficacy in working as shall take away all Resistance Sometimes he will only take order for the Preaching and Dispensation of the Word unto Men for this also is his Work Acts 13. 2. Herein Men may resist his Work and reject his Counsel concerning themselves But when he will put forth his Power in and by the Word to the creating of a new heart in Men and the opening of the Eyes of them that are blind he doth therein so take away the Principle of Resistance that he is not that he cannot be resisted Sect. 9 3. Hence also it follows that his Works may be of various kinds and that those which are of the same kind may yet be carried on unequally as to Degrees It is so in the Operations of all voluntary Agents who work by Choice and Judgment They are not confined to one sort of Works nor to the Production of the same kind of Effects and where they design so to do they moderate them as to degrees according to their Power and pleasure Thus we shall find some of the Works of the Holy Spirit to be such as may be perfect in their kind and Men may be made Partakers of the whole End and Intention of them and yet no saving Grace be wrought in them Such are his Works of Illumination Conviction and sundry others Men I say may have a Work of the Holy Spirit on their Hearts and Minds and yet not be Sanctified and Converted unto God For the Nature and Kind of his Works are regulated by his own Will and Purpose if he intends no more but their Conviction and Illumination no more shall be effected For he works not by a necessity of Nature so that all his Operations should be of the same kind and have their especial Form from his Nature and not from his Will So also where he doth work the same Effect in the Souls of Men I mean the same in the kind of it as in their Regeneration he doth yet he doth it by sundry means and carrieth it on to a great inequality as to the strengthening of its Principle and increase of its Fruits unto Holiness And hence is that great difference as to Light Holiness and Fruitfulness which we find among Believers although all alike Partakers of the same Grace for the kind thereof The Holy Spirit worketh in all these things according to his own Will whereof there neither is nor can be any other Rule but his own Infinite Wisdom And this is that which the Apostle minds the Corinthians of to take away all Emulation and Envy about Spiritual Gifts that every one should orderly make use of what he had received to the Profit and Edification of others They are saith he given and distributed by the same Spirit according to his own Will to one after one manner unto another after another so that it is an unreasonable thing for any to contend about them Sect. 10 But it may be said that if not only the working of Grace in us but also the Effects and Fruits of it in all its variety of Degrees is to be ascribed unto the Holy Spirit and his Operations in us according to his own Will then do we signifie nothing our selves nor is there any need that we should either use our endeavours and diligence or at all take any care about the furtherance or growth of Holiness in us or attend unto any Duties of Obedience To what end and purpose then serve all the Commands Threatnings Promises and Exhortations of the Scripture which are openly designed to excite and draw forth our own Endeavours And this is indeed the principal Difficulty wherewith some Men seek to intangle and perplex the Grace of God But I Answer 1. Let Men imagine what absurd Consequences they please thereon yet that the Spirit of God is the Author and Worker of all Grace in us and of all the Degrees of it of all that is spiritually good in us is a Truth which we must not forgo unless we intend to part with our Bibles also For in them we are taught That in us that is in our flesh there dwelleth no good thing Rom. 7. 18. That we are not sufficient of our selves to think any thing as of our selves but our sufficiency is of God 2 Cor. 3. 5. Who is able to make all Grace abound towards us that we may alwayes have All-sufficiency in all things abounding to every good work Chap. 9. 8. But without Christ we can do nothing John 15. 5. For it is God which worketh in us both to Will and to Do of his good Pleasure Phil. 2. 13. To grant therefore that there is any spiritual good in us or any Degree of it that is not wrought in us by the Spirit of God both overthrows the Grace of the Gospel and denies God to be the only First Supream and chiefest Good as also the immediate cause of what is so which is to deny his very Being It is therefore certain what-ever any pertend that nothing can hence ensue but what is true and good and useful to the Souls of Men For from Truth especiall such great and important Truths nothing else will follow 2. It is brutish Ignorance in any to argue in the Things of God from the Effectual Operations of the Spirit unto a sloth and negligence of our own Duty He that doth not know that God hath promised to work in us in a way of Grace what he requires from us in a way of Duty hath either never read the Bible or doth not believe it or never Prayed or never took notice of what he prayed for He is a Heathen he hath nothing of the Christian in him who doth not pray that God would work in him what he requires of him This we know that what God commands and prescribes unto us what he encourageth us unto we ought with all diligence and earnestness as we value our Souls and their eternal welfare to attend unto and comply withal And we do know that what-ever God hath
promised that he will do himself in us towards us and upon us It is our Duty to believe that he will so do And to fancy an inconsistency between these things is to charge God foolishly 3. If there be an Opposition between these things it is either because the Nature of Man is not meet to be commanded or because it needs not to be assisted But that both these are false and vain Suppositions shall be afterwards declared The Holy Spirit so worketh in us as that he worketh by us and what He doth in us is done by us Our Duty it is to apply our selves unto his Commands according to the Conviction of our Minds and his Work it is to enable us to perform them 4. He that will indulge or can do so unto sloth and negligence in himself on the account of the promised working of the Spirit of Grace may look upon it as an evidence that he hath no interest or concern therein For he ordinarily giveth not out his Aids and Assistances anywhere but where he prepares the Soul with Diligence in Duty And whereas he acts us no otherwise but in and by the Faculties of our own Minds it is ridiculous and implies a Contradiction for a Man to say he will do nothing because the Spirit of God doth all For where he doth nothing the Spirit of God doth nothing unless it be meerly in the infusion of the first Habit or Principle of Grace whereof we shall treat afterwards 5. For Degrees of Grace and Holiness which are enquired after they are peculiar unto Believers Now these are furnished with an Ability and Power to attend unto and perform those Duties whereon the encrease of Grace and Holiness doth depend For although there is no Grace nor Degree of Grace or Holiness in Believers but what is wrought in them by the Spirit of God yet ordinarily and regularly the Increase and Growth of Grace and their thriving in Holiness and Righteousness depend upon the Use and Improvement of Grace received in a diligent Attendance unto all those Duties of Obedience which are required of us 2 Pet. 1. 5 6 7. And me-thinks it is the most unreasonable and sottish thing in the World for a Man to be slothful and negligent in attending unto those Duties which God requireth of him which all his Spiritual Growth depends upon which the eternal welfare of his Soul is concerned in on pretence of the efficacious Aids of the Spirit without which he can do nothing and which he neither hath nor can have whilst he doth nothing Sect. 8 Here lies the Ground and Foundation of our exercising Faith in particular towards him and of our acting of it in Supplications and Thanksgivings His participation of the Divine Nature is the formal Reason of our yeelding unto him Divine and Religious Worship in general but his acting towards us according to the Sovereignty of his own Will is the especial Reason of our particular Addresses unto him in the exercise of Grace for we are baptized into his Name also Sect. 9 Seventhly We may observe that in the Actings and Works of the Holy Spirit some things are distinctly and separately ascribed unto him although some things be of the same kind wrought by the Person in and by whom he Acts or he is said at the same time to do the same thing distinctly by himself and in and by others So John 15. 26 27. I will saith our Saviour send the Spirit of Truth and he shall testifie of me and ye also shall bear witness The Witness of the Spirit unto Christ is proposed as distinct and separate from the witness given by the Apostles He shall testifie of me and ye also shall bear witness And yet they also were enabled to give their witness by him alone So it is expresly declared Acts 1. 8. Ye shall receive Power after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you and ye shall be Witnesses unto me Their witnessing unto Christ was the Effect of the Power of the Holy Spirit upon them and the Effect of his Work in them And he himself gave no other Testimony but in and by them What then is the distinct Testimony that is ascribed unto him It must be somewhat that in or by whomsoever it was wrought it did of its own Nature discover its Relation unto him as his Work So it was in this Matter For it was no other but those Signs and Wonders or Miraculous Effects which he wrought in the confirmation of the Testimony given by the Apostles all which clearly evidenced their own Original So our Apostle Heb. 2. 4. The word was confirmed ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã God co-witnessing by Signs and Wonders He enabled the Apostles to bear witness unto Christ by their Preaching Sufferings Holiness and constant Testimony which they gave unto his Resurrection But in this he appeared not he evidenced not himself unto the World though he did so in and by them in whom he wrought But moreover he wrought such visible miraculous Works by them as evidenced themselves to be Effects of his Power and were his distinct Witness to Christ. So our Apostle tells us Rom. 8. 16. The Spirit it self beareth witness with our Spirits that we are the Children of God The Witness which our own Spirits do give unto our Adoption is the Work and Effect of the Holy Spirit in us If it were not it would be false and not confirmed by the Testimony of the Spirit himself who is the Spirit of Truth and none knoweth the things of God but the Spirit of God 1 Cor. 2. 11. If he declare not our Sonship in us and to us we cannot know it How then doth he bear witness with our Spirits What is his distinct Testimony in this Matter It must be some such Act of his as evidenceth it self to be from him immediately unto them that are concerned in it that is those unto whom it is given What this is in particular and wherein it doth consist we shall afterwards enquire So Rev. 22. 17. The Spirit and the Bride say come The Bride is the Church and she prayeth for the coming of Christ. This She doth by his Aid and Assistance who is the Spirit of Grace and Supplications And yet distinctly and separately the Spirit saith come that is he puts forth such earnest and fervent desires as have upon them an Impression of his immediate efficiency So v. 20. carrieth the sense of the place namely that it is Christ himself unto whom She sayes come or they pray for the hastning of his coming Or they say come unto others in their Invitation of them unto Christ as the end of v. 17. seems to apply it Then is it the Prayers and Preaching of the Church for the Conversion of Souls that is intended And with both the Spirit works eminently to make them effectual Or it may be in this place the Spirit is taken for the Spirit in the Guides and Leaders of the
are before this Work is wrought in them and on them Ephes. 2. 1 5. which is the Work of the Spirit alone for it is the Spirit that quickneth the Flesh profiteth nothing John 6. 63. see Rom. 8. 9 10. Titus 3. 4 5 6. where the same Truth is declared and asserted But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour towards Man appeared not by Works of Righteousness which we have done but according to his Mercy he saved us by the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit which he shed on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour Sect. 4 What we have frequently mentioned occurreth here expresly namely the whole Blessed Trinity and each Person therein acting distinctly in the Work of our Salvation The Spring or Fountain of the whole lyeth in the Kindness and Love of God even the Father Thereunto it is every-where ascribed in the Scripture see John 3. 16. Ephes. 1. 4 5 6. What-ever is done in the Accomplishment of this Work it is so in the pursuit of his Will Purpose and Counsel and is an Effect of his Love and Grace The procuring Cause of the Application of the Love and Kindness of God unto us is Jesus Christ our Saviour in the whole Work of his Mediation v. 6. and the immediate efficient Cause in the Communication of the Love and Kindness of the Father through the Mediation of the Son unto us is the Holy Spirit And this he doth in the Renovation of our Natures by the washing of Regeneration wherein we are purged from our sins and sanctified unto God Sect. 5 More Testimonies unto this purpose need not be insisted on This Truth of the Holy Spirit being the Author of our Regeneration which the Ancients esteemed a Cogent Argument to prove his Deity even from the the Greatness and Dignity of the Work is in words at least so far as I know granted by all who pretend to sobriety in Christianity That by some others it hath been derided and exploded is the occasion of this Vindication of it It must not be expected that I should here handle the whole Doctrine of Regeneration practically as it may be educed by Inferences from the Scripture according to the Analogie of Faith and the Experiences of them that believe It hath been done already by others My present aim is only to confirm the Fundamental Principles of Truth concerning those Operations of the Holy Spirit which at this day are opposed with violence and virulence And what I shall offer on the present Subject may be reduced unto the ensuing Heads Sect. 6 1. Although the Work of Regeneration by the Holy Spirit was wrought under the Old Testament even from the Foundation of the World and the Doctrine of it was recorded in the Scriptures yet the Revelation of it was but obscure in comparison of that Light and Evidence which it is brought forth into by the Gospel This is evident from the Discourse which our Blessed Saviour had with Nicodemus on this Subject For when he acquainted him clearly with the Doctrine of it he was surprized and fell into that enquiry which argued some amazement How can these things be But yet the Reply of our Saviour manifests That he might have attained a better acquaintance with it out of the Scripture than he had done Art thou saith he a Master in Israel and knowest not these things Dost thou take upon thee to Teach others what is their State and Condition and what is their Duty towards God and art ignorant thy self of so Great and Fundamental a Doctrine which thou mightest have learned from the Scripture For if he might not so have done there would have been no just cause of the Reproof given him by our Saviour For it was neither Crime nor Negligence in him to be ignorant of what God had not revealed This Doctrine therefore namely That every one who will enter into the Kingdom of God must be born again of the Holy Spirit was contained in the Writings of the Old Testament It was so in the Promises That God would circumcise the Hearts of his People that he would take away their Heart of Stone and give them a Heart of Flesh with his Law written in it and other wayes as shall be afterwards proved Sect. 7 But yet we see that it was so obscurely declared that the principal Masters and Teachers of the People knew little or nothing of it Some indeed would have this Regeneration if they knew what they would have or as to what may be gathered of their minds out of their great swelling words of vanity to be nothing but Reformation of Life according to the Rules of the Scripture But Nicodemus knew the necessity of Reformation of Life well enough if he had ever read either Moses or the Prophets And to suppose that our Lord Jesus Christ proposed unto him the thing which he knew perfectly well only under a new Name or Notion which he had never heard of before So to take an advantage of charging him with being ignorant of what indeed he full well knew and understood is a blasphemous Imagination How they can free themselves from the Guilt hereof who look on Regeneration as no more but a Metaphorical Expression of Amendment of Life I know not And if it be so if there be no more in it but as they love to speak becoming a new Moral Man a thing which all the World Jews and Gentiles understood our Lord Jesus was so far from bringing it forth into more Light and giving it more perspicuity by what he teacheth concerning Regeneration the Nature Manner Causes and Effects of it that he cast it thereby into more darkness and obscurity than ever it was delivered in either by Jewish Masters or Gentile Philosophy For although the Gospel do really teach all Duties of Morality with more exactness and clearness and press unto the Observance of them on motives incomparably more cogent than any thing that otherwise ever befel the Mind of Man to think or apprehend yet if it must be supposed to intend nothing else in its Doctrine of the New Birth or Regeneration but those Moral Duties and their Observance it is dark and unintelligible I say if there be not a secret mysterious Work of the Spirit of God in and upon the Souls of Men intended in the Writings of the New Testament but only a Reformation of Life and the Improvement of Mens Natural Abilities in the Exercise of Moral Virtue through the Application of outward means unto their Minds and Understandings conducting and perswading thereunto they must be granted to be obscure beyond those of any other Writers whatsoever as some have not feared already to publish unto the World concerning the Epistles of Paul But so long as we can obtain an acknowledgment from Men that they are true and in any sense the Word of God we doubt not but to evince that the things intended in them are clearly and
properly expressed so as they ought to be and so as they are capable to be expressed The Difficulties which seem to be in them arising from the Mysterious Nature of the things themselves contained in them and the weakness of our Minds in apprehending such things and not from any obscurity or intricacy in the Declaration of them And herein indeed consists the main Contest whereunto things with the most are reduced Some judg that all things are so expressed in the Scripture with a condesension unto our Capacity so as that there is still to be conceived an inexpressible Grandure in many of them beyond our Comprehension Others judg on the other hand That under a Grandure of Words and Hyperbolical Expressions things of a meaner and a lower sense are intended and to be understood Some judg the Things of the Gospel to be deep and mysterious the Words and Expressions of it to be plain and proper Others think the Words and Expressions of it to be Mystical and Figurative but the Things intended to be ordinary and obvious to the Natural Reason of every Man But to return Sect. 8 Both Regeneration and the Doctrine of it were under the Old Testament All the Elect of God in their several Generations were all Regenerate by the Spirit of God But in that Ampliation and Enlargement of Truth and Grace under the Gospel which came by Jesus Christ who brought Life and Immortality to light as more Persons than of old were to be made Partakers of the Mercy of it so the Nature of the Work it self is far more clearly evidently and distinctly revealed and declared And because this is the principal and internal Remedy of that Disease which the Lord Christ came to cure and take away one of the first things that he Preached was the Doctrine of it All things of this Nature before even from the beginning of the World lay hid in God Ephes. 3. 9. Some intimations were given of them in Parables and dark Sayings ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Psal. 78. 2. in Types Shadows and Ceremonies so as the Nature of the Grace in them was not clearly to be discerned But now when the great Physician of our Souls came who was to heal the Wound of our Natures whence we were dead in Trespasses and Sins he layes naked the Disease it self declares the Greatness of it the Ruine we were under from it that we might know and be thankful for its Reparation Hence no Doctrine is more fully and plainly declared in the Gospel than this of our Regeneration by the effectual and ineffable Operation of the Holy Spirit And it is a Consequent and Fruit of the Depravation of our Nature that against the full Light and Evidence of Truth now clearly manifested this Great and Holy Work is opposed and despised Sect. 9 Few indeed have yet the confidence in plain and intelligible words to deny it absolutely But many tread in the steps of him who first in the Church of God undertook to undermine it This was Pelagius whose principal Artifice which he used in the Introduction of his Heresie was in the clouding of his Intentions with general and ambiguous Expressions as some would be making use of his very Words and Phrases Hence for a long time when he was justly charged with his Sacrilegious Errors he made no defence of them but reviled his Adversaries as corrupting his Mind and not understanding his Expressions And by this means as he got himself acquitted in the Judgments of some less experienced in the sleights and cunning craftiness of them who lie in wait to deceive and juridically freed in an Assembly of Bishops so in all probability he had suddenly infected the whole Church with the poison of those Opinions which the proud and corrupted Nature of Man is so apt to receive and embrace if God had not stirred up some few Holy and Learned Persons Austin especially to discover his Frauds to refel his Calumnies and confute his Sophisms which they did with indefatigable industry and good success But yet these Tares being once sown by the envious one found such a suitable and fruitful Soil in the darkned Minds and proud Hearts of Men that from that day to this they could never be fully extirpated but the same bitter Root hath still sprung up unto the defiling of many though various new Colours have been put upon its Leaves and Fruit. And although those who at present amongst us have undertaken the same Cause with Pelagius do not equal him either in Learning or Diligence or an Appearance of Piety and Devotion yet do they exactly imitate him in declaring their minds in cloudy ambiguous Expressions capable of various Constructions until they are fully examined and thereon reproaching as he did those that oppose them as not aright representing their Sentiments when they judg it their Advantage so to do as the scurrilous clamorous Writings of S. P. do sufficiently manifest Sect. 10 Secondly Regeneration by the Holy Spirit is the same Work for the kind of it and wrought by the same Power of the Spirit in all that are Regenerate or ever were or shall be so from the beginning of the World unto the end thereof Great variety there is in the Application of the outward means which the Holy Spirit is pleased to use and make effectual towards the Accomplishment of this great Work Nor can the Wayes and Manner hereof be reduced unto any certain order For the Spirit worketh how and when he pleaseth following the sole Rule of his own Will and Wisdom Mostly God makes use of the Preaching of the Word thence called an Engrafted Word which is able to save our Souls James 1. 21. and the incorruptible Seed by which we are born again 1 Pet. 1. 21. Sometimes 't is wrought without it as in all those who are Regenerate before they come to the use of Reason or in their Infancy Sometimes Men are called and so regenerate in an extraordinary manner as was Paul but mostly they are so in and by the use of ordinary Means instituted blessed and sanctified of God to that end and purpose And great variety there is also in the perception and understanding of the Work it self in them in whom it is wrought For in it self it is secret and hidden and is no other wayes discoverable but in its Causes and Effects For as the Wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof but canst not tell whence it cometh nor whither it goeth so is every one that is born of the Spirit John 3. 8. Sect. 11 In the Minds and Consciences of some this is made known by infallible Signs and Tokens Paul knew that Christ was formed and revealed in himself Gal. 1. 16. So he declared that who-ever is in Christ Jesus is a New Creature 2 Cor. 5. 17. that is is born again whether they know themselves so to be or no. And many are in the dark as to their own condition in
enabling unâo all Acts of Holy Obedience and so in order of Nature antecedent unto them then it doth not consist in a meer Reformation of Life and Moral Vertue be they never so exact or accurate Three things are to be observed for the clearing of this Assertion before we come to the Proof and Confirmation of it As 1. That this Reformation of Life which we say is not Regeneration or that Regeneration doth not consist therein is a necessary Duty indispensibly required of all Men. For we shall take it here for the whole course of Actual Obedience unto God and that according to the Gospel Those indeed by whom it is urged and pressed in the room of Regeneration or as that wherein Regeneration doth consist do give such an Account and Description of it as that it is or at least may be Foreign unto true Gospel-Obedience and so not contain in it one Acceptable Duty unto God as shall afterwards be declared But here I shall take it in our present enquiry for that whole Course of Duâââs which in Obedience towards God are prescribed unto us 2. That the Principle before described wherein Regeneration as passivâly considered or as wrought in us consists doth alwayes certainly and infallibly produce the Reformation of Life intended In some it doth it more compleatly in others more imperfectly in all sincerely For the same Grace in Nature and Kind is communicated unto several Persons in various Degree and is by them used and improved with more ãâã care and diligence In thâse therefore that are adult these things are inseparable Therefore 3. The difference in this Matter ãâã unto this Head We say and believe that Regeneration consiâs in Spirituali Renovatione Naturae in a Spiritual Renovation of our Nature Our Modern Socinians that it doth so in Morali Reformatione vitae in a Moral Reformation of Life Now as we grant that this Spiritual Renovation of Nature will infallibly produce a Moral Reformation of Life so if they will grant that this Moral Reformation of Life doth proceed from a Spiritual Renovation of our Nature this difference will be at an end And this is that which the Ancients intend by first receiving the Holy Ghost and then all Graces with him However if they only design to speak ambiguously improperly and unscripturally confounding Effects and their Causes Habits and Actions Faculties or Powers and occasional Acts infused Principles and acquired Habits Spiritual and Moral Grace and Nature that they may take an opportunity to rail at others for want of better Advantage I shall not contend with them For allow a new Spiritual Principle an infused Habit of Grace or gracious Abilities to be required in and unto Regeneration or to be the Product or the Work of the Spirit therein that which is born of the Spirit being Spirit and this part of the Nature of this Work is sufficiently cleared Now this the Scripture abundantly testifieth unto Sect. 20 2 Cor. 5. 17. If any Man be in Christ he is a New Creature This New Creature is that which is intended that which was before described which being born of the Spirit is Spirit This is produced in the Souls of Men by aS Creating Act of the Power of God or it is not a Creature and it is superinduced into the essential Faculties of our Souls or it is not a New Creature for what-ever is in the Soul of Power Disposition Ability or Inclination unto God or for any Moral Actions by Nature it belongs unto the Old Creation it is no New Creature And it must be somewhat that hath a Being and Subsistence of its own in the Soul or it can be neither New nor a Creature And by our Apostle it is opposed to all outward Priviledges Gal. 5. 6. Chap. 6. 15. That the production of it also is by a Creating Act of Almighty Power the Scripture testifieth Psal. 51. 10. Ephes. 2. 10. And this can denote nothing but a New Spiritual Principle or Nature wrought in us by the Spirit of God No say some a New Creature is no more but a changed Man it is true but then this Change is Internal also yes in the Purposes Designs and Inclinations of the Mind But is it by a real Infusion of a new Principle of Spiritual Life and Holiness No it denotes no more but a new course of Conversation only the Expression is Metaphorical a New Creature is a Moral Man that hath changed his Course or Way For if he were alwayes a Moral Man that he was never in any vitious Way or Course as it was with him Matth. 19. 18 19 20. then he was alwayes a New Creature This is good Gospel at once overthrowing Original Sin and the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. This Doctrine I am sure was not learned from the Fathers whereof some used to boast Nay it is much more fulsome than any thing ever taught by Pelagius himself who indeed ascribed more unto Grace than these Men do although he denied this Creation of a New Principle of Grace in us antecendent unto Acts of Obedience And this turning all Scripture-Expressions of Spiritual Things into Metaphors is but a way to turn the whole into a Fable or at least to render the Gospel the most obscure and improper way of teaching the Truth of things that ever was made use of in the World Sect. 21 This New Creature therefore doth not consist in a new course of Actions but in renewed Faculties with new Dispositions Power and Ability to them and for them Hence it is called the Divine Nature 2 Pet. 1. 4. He hath given unto us exceeding great and precious Promises that by these you might be Partakers of the Divine Nature This ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã this Divine Nature is not the Nature of God whereof in our own Persons we are not subjectively Partakers And yet a Naâure it is which is a Principle of Operation and that Divine or Spiritual namely an Habitual Holy Principle wrought in us by God and bearing his Image By the Promises therefore we are made Partakers of a Divine Supernatural Principle of Spiritual Actions and Operations which is what we contend for So the whole of what we intend is declared Ephes. 4. 22 23 24. Put off concerning the former Conversation the Old Man which is corrupt according to deceitful lusts and be renewed in the Spirit of your Mind and put on the New Man which after God is created in Righteousness and true Holiness It is the Work of Regeneration with respect both to its Foundation and Progress that is here described 1. The Foundation of the whole is laid in our being renewed in the Spirit of our Mind which the same Apostle else-where calls being transformed in the Renovation of our Minds Rom. 12. 2. That this consists in the participation of a new saving Supernatural Light to enable the Mind unto Spiritual Actings and to guide it therein shall be afterwards declared Herein
But as it hath been in part already manifested and will fully God assisting be evinced afterwards that in our Regeneration the native Ignorance Darkness and Blindness of our Minds are dispelled Saving and Spiritual Light being introduced by the Power of God's Grace into them That the pravity and stubbornness of our Wills are removed and taken away a new principle of Spiritual Life and Righteousness being bestowed on them and that the Disorder and Rebellion of our Affections are cured by the infusion of the Love of God into our Souls so the corrupt Imagination of the contrary Opinion directly opposite to the Doctrine of the Scriptures the Faith of the Antient Church and the Experience of all sincere Believers hath amongst us of late nothing but Ignorance and ready Confidence produced to give countenance unto it Sect. 25 Thirdly The Work of the Holy Spirit in Regeneration doth not consist in Enthusiastical Raptures Extasies Voices or any thing of the like kind It may be some such things have been by some deluded Persons apprehended or pretended unto But the countenancing of any such Imaginations is falsly and injuriously charged on them who maintain the powerful and effectual Work of the Holy Spirit in our Regeneration And this some are prone to do wherein whether they discover more of their Ignorance or of their Malice I know not but nothing is more common with them All whom in this Matter they dissent from so far as they know what they say or whereof they affirm do teach Men to look after Enthusiastick Inspirations or unaccountable Raptures and to esteem them for Conversion unto God although in the mean time they live in a neglect of Holiness and Righteousness of Conversation I Answer if there be those who do so we doubt not but that without their Repentance the Wrath of God will come upon them as upon other Children of Disobedience And yet in the mean time we cannot but call aloud that others would discover their diligence in attendance unto these things who as far as I can discern do cry up the Names of Virtue and Righteousness in opposition to the Grace of Jesus Christ and that Holiness which is a Fruit thereof But for the Reproach now under Consideration it is as applyed no other but a Calumny and false Accusation And that it is so the Writings and Preachings of those who have most diligently laboured in the Declaration of the Work of the Holy Spirit in our Regeneration will bear Testimony at the great Day of the Lord. We may therefore as unto this Negative Principle observe three things 1. That the Holy Spirit in this Work doth ordinarily put forth his Power in and by the use of Means He worketh also on Men suitably unto their Natures even as the Faculties of their Souls their Minds Wills and Affections are meet to be affected and wrought upon He doth not come upon them with involuntary Raptures using their Faculties and Powers as the Evil Spirit wrests the Bodies of them whom he possesseth His whole Work therefore is rationally to be accounted for by and unto them who believe the Scripture and have received the Spirit of Truth whom the World cannot receive The formal efficiency of the Spirit indeed in the putting forth the exceeding greatness of his Power in our quickning Which the Ancient Church constantly calleth his Inspiration of Grace both in private Writing and Canons of Councils is no otherwise to be comprehended by us than any other Creating Act of Divine Power for as we hear the Wind but know not from whence it cometh nor whither it goeth so is every one that is born of God yet these two things are certain herein First That he worketh nothing nor any other way nor by any other means than what are determined and declared in the Word By that therefore may and must every thing really belonging or pretended to belong unto this Work of Regeneration be tryed and examined Secondly That he acts nothing contrary unto puts no force upon any of the Faculties of our Souls but works in them and by them suitably to their Natures and being more intimate unto them as Austin speaks than they are unto themselves by an Almighty Facility he produceth the Effect which he intendeth Sect. 20 This great Work therefore neither in part nor whole consists in Raptures Extasies Visions Enthusiastick Inspirations but in the Effect of the Power of the Spirit of God on the Souls of Men by and according to his Word both of the Law and the Gospel And those who charge these things on them who have asserted declared and preached it according to the Scriptures do it probably to countenance themselves in their hatred of them and of the Work it self Wherefore 2dly where by Reason of Distempers of Mind Disorder of Fancy or long continuance of distressing Fears and Sorrows in and under such Preparatory Works of the Spirit which sometimes cut Men to their Hearts in the sense of their sin and sinful lost condition any do fall into Apprehensions or Imaginations of any thing extraordinary in the wayes before-mentioned if it be not quickly and strictly brought unto the Rule and discarded thereby it may be of great danger unto their Souls and is never of any solid Use or Advantage Such Apprehensions for the most part are either Conceptions of distempered Minds and discomposed Fancies or Delusions of Satan transforming himself into an Angel of Light which the Doctrine of Regeneration ought not to be accountable for Yet I must say 3dly That so it is come to pass that many of those who have been really made Partakers of this gracious Work of the Holy Spirit have been looked on in the World which knows them not as mad Enthusiastick and Fanatical So the Captains of the Host esteemed the Prophet that came to anoint Jehu 2 Kings 9. 11. And the Kindred of our Saviour when he began to Preach the Gospel said He was besides himself or extatical Mark 3. 21. and they went out to lay hold of him So Festus judged of Paul Acts 26. 24 25. And the Author of the Book of Wisdom gives us an account what acknowledgments some will make when it shall be too late as to their own Advantage Chap. 5. 3 4 5. They shall say crying out because of the trouble of their Minds This is he whom we accounted a scorn and a common reproach We Fools esteemed his Life madness and his latter End to have been shameful but how is he reckoned among the Sons of God and his Lot is among the Holy Ones From what hath been spoken it appears Sect. 26 Fourthly That the Work of the Spirit of God in Regenerating the Souls of Men is diligently to be enquired into by the Preaching of the Gospel and all to whom the Word is dispensed For the former sort there is a peculiar Reason for their Attendance unto this Duty For they are used and employed in the Work it self by the Spirit
of God and are by him made instrumental for the effecting of this New Birth and Life So the Apostle Paul stiles himself the Father of them who were Converted to God or Regenerate through the Word of his Ministry 1 Cor. 4. 15. Though you have ten thousand Instructers in Christ yet have you not many Fathers for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel He was used in the Ministry of the Word for their Regeneration and therefore was their Spiritual Father and he only though the Work was afterwards carried on by others And if Men are Fathers in the Gospel to no more than are Converted unto God by their Personal Ministry it will be no Advantage unto any one day to have assumed that Title when it hath had no Foundation in that Work as to its effectual success So speaking of Onesimus who was Converted by him in Prison he calls him his Son whom he had begotten in his Bonds Philem. 10. and this he declared to have been prescribed unto him as the Principal End of his Ministry in the Commission he had for Preaching the Gospel Acts 26. 17 18. Christ said unto him I send thee unto the Gentiles to open their Eyes to turn them from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan unto God which is a Description of the Work under Consideration And this is the principal End of our Ministry also Now certainly it is the Duty of Ministers to understand the Work about which they are employed as far as they are able that they may not Work in the Dark and Fight Uncertainly as Men beating the Air What the Scripture hath revealed concerning it as to its Nature and the manner of its Operation as to its Causes Effects Fruits Evidences they ought diligently to enquire into To be spiritually skilled herein is one of the principal Furnishments of any for the Work of the Ministry without which they will never be able to divide the Word aright nor shew themselves Workmen that need not be ashamed Yet is it scarcely imaginable with what rage and perversity of Spirit with what scornful Expressions this whole Work is traduced and exposed to contempt Those who have laboured herein are said to prescribe long and tedious trains of Conversion to set down nice and subtile Processes of Regeneration to fill Peoples Heads with innumerable Swarms of Superstitious Fears and Scruples about the due Degrees of Godly Sorrow and the certain Symptoms of a through-Humiliation p. 306 307. Could any mistake be charged on particular Persons in these things or the prescribing of Rules about Conversion to God and Regeneration that are not warranted by the Word of Truth it were not amiss to reflect upon them and refute them But the intention of these Expressions is evident and the reproach in them is cast upon the Work of God it self And I must profess that I believe the Degeneracy from the Truth and Power of Christian Religion the Ignorance of the principal Doctrines of the Gospel and that scorn which is cast in these and the like Expressions on the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ by such as not only profess themselves to be Ministers but of an higher Degree than ordinary will be sadly ominous unto the whole State of the Reformed Church amongst us if not timely repressed and corrected But what at present I affirm in this Matter is That it is a Duty indispensibly incumbent on all Ministers of the Gospel to acquaint themselves throughly with the Nature of this Work that they may be able to comply with the Will of God and Grace of the Spirit in the Effecting and Accomplishment of it upon the Souls of them unto whom they dispense the Word Neither without some competent knowledg hereof can they discharge any one part of their Duty and Office in a right manner If all that hear them are born dead in Trespasses and Sins if they are appointed of God to be the Instruments of their Regeneration It is a madness which must one day be accounted for to neglect a sedulous enquiry into the Nature of this Work and the means whereby it is wrought And the ignorance hereof or negligence herein with the want of an Experience of the Power of this Work in their own Souls is one great cause of that lifeless and unprofitable Ministry which is among us Sect. 27 Secondly It is likewise the Duty of all to whom the Word is Preached to enquire also into it It is unto such to whom the Apostle speaks 2 Cor. 13. 5. Examine your selves whether you be in the Faith prove your own selves know you not your own Selves how that Jesus Christ is in you except you be Reprobates It is the Concernment of all individual Christians or Professors of Christian Religion to try and examine themselves what Work of the Spirit of God there hath been upon their hearts and none will deter them from it but those who have a design to hoodwink them to Perdition And 1. the Doctrine of it is revealed and taught us For secret things belong unto the Lord our God but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our Children for ever that we may do all the Words of the Law Deut. 29. 29. And we speak not of curious Enquiries into or after hidden things or the secret veiled Actions of the Holy Spirit but only of an upright endeavour to search into and comprehend the Doctrine concerning this Work to this very end that we might understand it 2. It is of such Importance unto all our Duties and all our Comforts to have a due Apprehension of the Nature of this Work and of our own Concernment therein that an enquiry into the one and the other cannot be neglected without the greatest folly and madness Whereunto we may add 3. the danger that there is of Mens being deceived in this Matter which is the Hinge whereon their Eternal State and Condition doth absolutely turn and depend And certain it is that very many in the World do deceive themselves herein For they evidently live under one of these pernicious Mistakes namely That 1. either Men may go to Heaven or enter into the Kingdom of God and not be born again contrary to that of our Saviour John 3. 6. or that Men may be born again and yet live in sin contrary to 1 John 3. 9. Works of the HOLY SPIRIT Preparatory unto Regeneration CHAP. II. 1. Sundry things Preparatory to the Work of Conversion 2. Material and Formal Dispositions with their Difference 3 4. Things in the power of our Natural Abilities required of us in a way of Duty 5. Internal Spiritual Effects wrought in the Souls of Men by the Word 6 7. Illumination Conviction of Sin Consequents thereof 8. These Things variously taught 9. Power of the Word and Energie of the Spirit distinct 10. Subject of this Work Mind Affections and Conscience 11 12 13. Nature of this whole Work and Difference from Saving
the Apostle when he sent him to Preach the Gospel was to open the Eyes of Men and to turn them from Darkness to Light Acts 26. 18. not a Light within them for Internal Light is the Eye or seeing of the Soul But the Darkness was such as consisted in their blindness in not having their eyes open To open their Eyes and turn them from Darkness Ephes. 5. 8. Ye were sometimes Darkness but now are ye Light in the Lord. What is the Change and Alteration made in the Minds of Men intended in this Expression will afterwards appear But that a great Change is proposed none can doubt Col. 1. 13. Who hath delivered us from the Power of Darkness as also 1 Pet. 2. 9. Who hath called us out of Darkness into his marvelous Light And the Darkness which is in these Testimonies ascribed unto Persons in an unregenerate Condition is by Paul compared to that which was at the beginning before the Creation of Light Gen. 1. 2. Darkness was upon the Face of the Deep There was no Creature that had a Visive Faculty there was Darkness Subjectively in all and there was no Light to see by but all was objectively wrapt up in Darkness In this state of things God by an Almighty Act of his Power created Light vers 3. God said Let there be Light and there was Light And no otherwise is it in this new Creation God who commanded then Light to shine out of Darkness shines into the Hearts of Men to give them the knowledg of his Glory in the Face of Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 4. 6. Spiritual Darkness is in and upon all Men until God by an Almighty and Effectual Work of the Spirit shine into them or Create Light in them And this Darkness is that Light within which some boast to be in themselves and others Sect. 7 To clear our way in this Matter we must consider first the Nature of this Spiritual Darkness what it is and wherein it doth consist and then secondly shew its Efficacy and Power in and on the Minds of Men and how they are corrupted by it First The Term of Darkness in this case is Metaphorical and borrowed from that which is Natural What Natural Darkness is and wherein it consists all Men know if they know it not in its Cause and Reason yet they know it by its Effects They know it is that which hinders Men from all Regular Operations which are to be guided by the outward Senses And it is two-fold 1. When Men have not Light to see by or when the usual Light the only external Medium for the discovery of distant Objects is taken from them So was it with the Egyptians during the three dayes darkness that was on their Land They could not see for want of Light they had their Visive Faculty continued unto them yet having no Light they saw not one another nor arose any from his place Exod. 10. 23. For God probably to augment the terror of his Judgment restrained the vertue of Artificial Light as well as he did that which was Natural 2. There is Darkness unto Men when they are blind either born so or made so Psal. 69. 29. Let their Eyes be darkned that they may not see So the Angel smote the Sodomites with blindness Gen. 19. 11. and Paul the Sorcerer Acts 13. 11. However the Sun shineth it is all one perpetual Night unto them that are blind Sect. 8 Answerable hereunto Spiritual Darkness may be referred unto two Heads For there is an Objective Darkness a Darkness that is on Men and a Subjective Darkness a Darkness that is in them The first consists in the want of those Means whereby alone they may be enlightned in the Knowledg of God and Spiritual Things This is intended Mat. 4. 16. This Means is the Word of God and the preaching of it Hence it is called a Light Psal. 119. 105. and is said to give Light Psal. 19. 8. or to be a Light shining in a dark place 2 Pet. 1. 19. And it is so termed because it is the outward Means of Communicating the Light of the Knowledg of God unto the Minds of Men. What the Sun is unto the World as unto things natural that is the Word and the Preaching of it unto Men as to Things Spiritual And hence our Apostle applies what is said of the Sun in the Firmament as to the enlightning of the World Psal. 19. 1 2 3 4. unto the Gospel and the Preaching of it Rom. 10. 15 18. Sect. 9 And this Darkness is upon many in the World even all unto whom the Gospel is not declared or by whom it is not received where it is or hath been so Some I know have entertained a vain Imagination about a Saving-Revelation of the Knowledg of God by the Works of Creation and Providence objected to the Rational Faculties of the Minds of Men. It is not my purpose here to divert unto the confutation of that Fancy Were it so it were easie to demonstrate that there is no Saving Revelation of the Knowledg of God unto Sinners but as he is in Christ reconciling the World unto himself and that so he is not made known but by the Word of Reconciliation committed unto the Dispensers of the Gospel What-ever knowledg therefore of God may be attained by the means mentioned as he is the God of Nature ruling over Men and requiring Obedience from them according to the Covenant and Law of their Creation yet the knowledg of him as a God in Christ pardoning Sin and saving Sinners is attainable by the Gospel only But this I have proved and confirmed elsewhere Sect. 10 It is the Work of the Holy Spirit to remove and take away this Darkness which until it is done no Man can see the Kingdom of God or enter into it And this he doth by sending the Word of the Gospel into any Nation Country Place or City as he pleaseth The Gospel doth not get ground in any place nor is restrained from any Place or People by accident ãâã by the endeavours of Men but it is sent and disposed of ãâã to the Sovereign Will and Pleasure of the Spirit of God He Gifteth Calls and Sends Men unto the Work of Preaching it Acts 13. 2 4. and disposeth them unto the Places where they shall declare it either by express Revelation as of old Acts 16. 6 7 8 9 10. or guides them by the secret Operations of his Providence Thus the Dispensation of the Light of the Gospel as to Times Places and Persons depends on his Sovereign Pleasure Psal. 147. 19 20. Wherefore although we are to take care and pray much about the continuance of the Dispensation of the Gospel in any place and its Propagation in others yet need we not to be over-solicitous about it This Work and Care the Holy Ghost hath taken on himself and will carry it on according to the Counsel of God and his Purposes concerning the Kingdom of Jesus
an esteem for any one part of the Gospel will shelter Men from the Punishment due to the rejection of the whole by whom any essential part of it is refused And this is the condition of many The Things which most properly belong to the Mysteries of the Gospel or the unsearchable Riches of the Grace of God in Christ Jesus are foolishness unto them and the Preaching of them is called Canting and Folly And some of these although they go not so far as the Frier at Rome who said That St. Paul fell into great excesses in these things yet they have dared to accuse his Writings of Darkness and Obscurity for no other reason so far as I can understand but because he insists on the Declaration of these Spiritual Mysteries And it is not easie to express what contempt and reproach is cast by some Preachers on the Preaching of them But it is not amiss that some have proclaimed their own shame herein and have left it on Record to the abhorrency of Posterity Sect. 37 5. The Event of the Dispensation of the Gospel manifesteth That the Spiritual things of it are foolishness to the most for as such are they rejected by them Esa. 53. 1 2 3. Suppose a Man of good Reputation for Wisdom and Sobriety should go unto others and inform them and that with Earnestness Evidence of Love to them and care for them with all kind of Motives to beget a belief of what he proposeth that by such ways as he prescribeth` they may exceedingly increase their Substance in this World until they exceed the wealth of Kings a thing that the Minds of Men in their Contrivance and Designs are intent upon if in this case they follow not his Advice it can be for no other reason but because they judge the things proposed by him to be no way suited or expedient unto the end promised that is to be foolish things And this is the state of things with respect unto the Mysteries of the Gospel Men are informed in and by the ways of God's Appointment how great and glorious they are and what blessed consequents there will be of a Spiritual reception of them The Beauty and Excellency of Christ the inestimable Priviledge of Divine Adoption the great and pretious Promises made unto them that do believe the glory of the World to come the necessity and excellency of Holiness and Gospel-Obedience unto the attaining of Everlasting Blessedness are Preached unto Men and pressed on them with Arguments and Motives filled with Divine Authority and Wisdom Yet after all this we see how few Eventually do apply themselves with any industry to receive them or at least actually do receive them for many are called but few are chosen And the Reason is because indeed unto their darkened Minds these things are Foolishness whatsoever they pretend unto the contrary Sect. 38 Secondly As the instance foregoing compriseth the reasons why a Natural Man will never receive the things of the Spirit of God so the Apostle addes a reason why he cannot and that is taken from the manner whereby alone they may be usefully and savingly received which they cannot attain unto Because they are Spiritually discerned In this whole Chapter he insists on an Opposition between a Natural and a Spiritual Man Natural things and Spiritual things Natural light and knowledg and Spiritual The Natural Man he informs us will by a Natural light discern Natural things The things of a Man knoweth the Spirit of a Man And the Spiritual Man by a Spiritual light received from Jesus Christ discerneth Spiritual Things For none knoweth the things of God but the Spirit of God and he to whom He will reveal them This Ability the Apostle denies unto a Natural Man And this he proves 1 Because it is the Work of the Spirit of God to endow the Minds of Men with that ability which there were no need of in case Men had it of themselves by Nature And 2 as he shews plentifully elsewhere The Light it self whereby alone Spiritual things can be Spiritually discerned is wrought effected created in us by an Almighty Act of the Power of God 2. Cor. 4. 6. Sect. 39 From these Things premised it is evident That there is a two-fold Impotency on the Minds of Man with respect unto Spiritual things 1. That which immediately affects the Mind a Natural Impotency whence it cannot receive them for want of Light in it self 2 That which affects the Mind by the Will and Affections a Moral Impotency whereby it cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God because unalterably it will not and that because from the unsuitableness of the Object unto its Will and Affections and the Mind by them they are Foolishness unto it 1 There is in unregenerate Men a Natural Impotency through the immediate depravation of the faculties of the Mind or understanding whereby a Natural Man is absolutely unable without an especial Renovation by the Holy Ghost to discern Spiritual things in a saving manner Neither is this Impotency although absolutely and naturally insuperable and although it have in it also the nature of a punishment any excuse or Alleviation of the sin of Men when they receive not Spiritual things as proposed unto them for although it be our misery it is our sin it is the misery of our Persons and the sin of our Natures As by it there is an inconformity in our Minds to the Mind of God it is our sin as it is a consequent of the Corruption of our Nature by the fall it is an Effect of sin and as it exposeth us unto all the ensuing evil of sin and unbelief it is both the punishment and cause of Sin And no man can plead his sin or fault as an excuse of another sin in any kind This Impotency is Natural because it consists in the deprivation of the Light and Power that was Originally in the faculties of our Minds or Understandings and because it can never be taken away or cured but by an immediate communication of a new Spiritual power and Ability unto the Mind it self by the Holy Ghost in its Renovation so curing the Depravation of the Faculty it self And this is consistent with what was before declared the Natural Power of the Mind to receive Spiritual things For the Power respects the Natural Capacity of the faculties of our Minds this Impotency the Depravation of them with respect unto Spiritual Things Sect. 41 2. There is in the Minds of Unregenerate persons a Moral Impotency which is reflected on them greatly from the Will and Affections whence the Mind never will receive Spiritual things that is it will always and unchangeably reject and refuse them and that because of various Lusts Corruptions and Prejudices invincibly fixed in them causing them to look on them as Foolishness Hence it will come to pass that no Man shall be judged and perish at the last day meerly on the acount of his Natural
Impotency Every one to whom the Gospel hath bin preached and by whom it is refused shall be convinced of positive actings in their Minds rejecting the Gospel for the Love of Self Sin and the World Thus our Saviour tells the Jews that no Man can come unto him unless the Father draw him Joh. 6. 44. Such is their Natural Impotency that they cannot nor is it to be cured but by an immediate Divine Instruction or Illumination as it is written they shall be all taught of God v. 45. But this is not all he tells them elsewhere you will not come unto me that you may have Life Joh. 5. 40. The present thing in question was not the Power or Impotency of their Minds but the obstinacy of their Wills and Affections which Men shall principally be judged upon at the last day For this is the Condemnation that light is come into the World and Men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil Joh. 3. 19. Hence it follows 3. That the Will and Affections being more corrupted than the Understanding as is evident from their Opposition unto and defeating of its manifold Convictions no Man doth actually apply his Mind to the receiving of the things of the Spirit of God to the utmost of that Ability which he hath For all unregenerate Men are invincibly impeded therein by the corrupt stubbornness and perverseness of their Wills and Affections There is not in any of them a due improvement of the capacity of their Natural Faculties in the use of means for the discharge of their Duty towards God herein And what hath been pleaded may suffice for the vindication of this Divine Testimony concerning the disability of the Mind of Man in the State of Nature to understand and receive the Things of the Spirit of God in a spiritual and saving manner how-ever they are proposed unto it which those who are otherwise minded may despise whilst they please but are no way able to answer or evade Sect. 42 And hence we may judge of that Paraphrase and Exposition of this place which One hath given of late But such things as these they that are led only by the Light of Humane Reason the Learned Philosophers c. do absolutely despise and so hearken not after the Doctrine of the Gospel for it seems folly to them Nor can they by any study of their own come to the knowledge of them for they are only to be had by understanding the Prophesies of the Scripture and other such Means which depend on Divine Revelation the Voice from Heaven Descent of the Holy Ghost Miracles c. 1. The Natural Man is here allowed to be the Rational Man the Learned Philosopher one walking by the Light of Humane Reason which complies not with their Exception to this Testimony who would have only such an one as is sensual and given up unto bruitish Affections to be intended But yet neither is there any ground though some countenance be given to it by Hierome to fix this Interpretation unto that Expression If the Apostle may be allowed to declare his own Mind he tells us That he intends every one of what sort and condition soever who hath not received the Spirit of Christ. 2. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is paraphrased by doth absolutely despise which neither the Word here nor elsewhere nor its disposal in the present Connexion will allow of or give countenance unto The Apostle in the whole Discourse gives an account why so few received the Gospel especially of those who seemed most likely so to do being Wise and Learned Men and the Gospel being no less than the Wisdom of God And the Reason hereof he gives from their disability to receive the things of God and their hatred of them or opposition to them neither of which can be cured but by the Spirit of Christ. 3. The Apostle treats not of what Men could find out by any study of their own but of what they did and would do and could do no otherwise when the Gospel was proposed declared and preached unto them They did not they could not receive give assent unto or believe the Spiritual Mysteries therein revealed 4. This Preaching of the Gospel unto them was accompanied with and managed with those Evidences mentioned namely the Testimonies of the Prophesies of Scripture Miracles and the like in the same way and manner and unto the same degree as it was towards them by whom it was received and believed In the outward means of Revelation and its Proposition there was no difference 5. The proper meaning of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã receiveth not is given us in the ensuing Reason and Explanation of it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã he cannot know them that is unless he be spiritually enabled thereunto by the Holy Ghost And this is farther confirmed in the Reason subjoyned because they are spiritually discerned And to wrest this unto the outward means of Revelation which is directly designed to express the internal manner of the Mind's reception of things revealed is to wrest the Scripture at pleasure How much better doth the Description given by Chrysostom of a Natural and Spiritual Man give Light unto and determine the sense of this place ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã A Natural Man is He who lives in or by the Flesh and hath not his Mind as yet enlightned by the Spirit but only hath that inbred Humane Understanding which the Creator hath endued the Minds of all Men withal And ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Spiritual Man is he who liveth by the Spirit having his Mind enlightned by him having not only an inbred Humane Understanding but rather a Spiritual Understanding bâstowed on him graciously whâch the Holy Ghost endues the Minds of Believers withal But we proceed Sect. 43 Having cleared the Impotency to discern Spiritual Things spiritually that is in the Minds of Natural Men by reason of their Spiritual Blindness or that Darkness which is in them It remains that we consider what is the Power and Efficacy of this Darkness to keep them in a constant and unconquerable Aversation from God and the Gospel To this purpose some Testimonies of Scripture must be also considered For notwithstanding all other Notions and Disputes in this matter for the most part complyant with the Inclinations and Affections of corrupted Nature by them must our Judgments be determined and into them is our Faith to be resolved I say then that this Spiritual Darkness hath a Power over the Minds of Men to alienate them from God that is this which the Scripture so calleth is not a meer Privation with an Impotency in the Faculty ensuing thereon but a depraved Habit which powerfully and as unto them in whom it is unavoidably influenceth their Wills and Affections into an opposition unto Spiritual Things the Effects whereof the World is visibly filled withal at this Day And this I shall manifest first in General and then in Particular Instances And by the whole
reason of the Darkness that it is under the Power of it can neither discern the Excellency of the Spiritual and Heavenly Things which are proposed unto it nor have any Affections whereunto they are proper and suited so that the Soul should go forth after them Hereby this Prejudice becomes invincible in their Souls They neither do nor can nor will admit of those things which are utterly inconsistent with all things wherein they hope or look for Satisfaction And Men do but please themselves with Dreams and Fancies who talk of such a reasonableness and excellency in Gospel-Truths as that the Mind of a Natural Man will discern such a suitableness in them unto it self so as thereon to receive and embrace them Nor do any for the most part give a greater Evidence of the Prevalency of the Darkness and Enmity that is in Carnal Minds against the Spiritual Things of the Gospel as to their Life and Power than those who most pride and please themselves in such Discourses Sect. 55 2dly The Mind by this Darkness is filled with Prejudices against the Mystery of the Gospel in a peculiar manner The hidden Spiritual Wisdom of God in it as Natural Men cannot receive so they do despise it and all the parts of its Declaration they look upon as empty and unintelligible Notions And this is that Prejudice whereby this Darkness prevails in the Minds of Men otherwise knowing and learned it hath done so in all Ages and in none more effectually than in that which is present But there is a Sacred Mysterious Spiritual Wisdom in the Gospel and the Doctrine of it This is Fanatical Chimerical and Foolish to the wisest in the World whilst they are under the Power of this Darkness To demonstrate the Truth hereof is the Design of the Apostle Paul 1 Cor. 1 2. For he directly affirms that the Doctrine of the Gospel is the Wisdom of God in a Mystery that this Wisdom cannot be discerned nor understood by the Wise and Learned Men of the World who have not received the Spirit of Christ and therefore that the things of it are weakness and foolishness unto them And that which is foolish is to be despised yea Folly is the only object of Contempt And hence we see that some with the greatest Pride Scorn and Contempt imaginable do despise the Purity Simplicity and whole Mystery of the Gospel who yet profess they believe it But to clear the whole Nature of this Prejudice some few Things may be distinctly observed Sect. 56 1. There are two sorts of Things declared in the Gospel First Such as are absolutely its own that are proper and peculiar unto it Such as have no footsteps in the Law or in the Light of Nature but are of a pure Revelation peculiar to the Gospel Of this Nature are all Things concerning the Love and Will of God in Christ Jesus The Mystery of his Incarnation of his Offices and whole Mediation of the Dispensation on the Spirit and our Participation thereof and our Union with Christ thereby our Adoption Justification and Effectual Sanctification thence proceeding in brief every thing that belongs unto the Purchase and Application of Saving-Grace is of this sort These things are purely and properly Evangelical peculiar to the Gospel alone Hence the Apostle Paul unto whom the Dispensation of it was committed puts that eminency upon them that in comparison he resolved to insist on nothing else in his Preaching 1 Cor. 2. 2. And to that purpose doth he describe his Ministry Ephes. 3. 7 8 9 10 11. Sect. 57 2. There are such Things declared and enjoyned in the Gospel as have their Foundation in the Law and Light of Nature Such are all the Moral Duties which are taught therein And two things may be observed concerning them 1. That they are in some measure known unto Men aliunde from other Principles The inbred concreated Light of Nature doth though obscurely teach and confirm them So the Apostle speaking of Mankind in general saith ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Rom. 1. 19. That which may be known of God is manifested in themselves The Essential Properties of God rendring our Moral Duty to him necessary are known by the Light of Nature And by the same Light are Men able to make a judgment of their Actions whether they be Good or Evil Rom. 2. 14 15. And this is all the Light which some boast of as they will one day find to their disappointment 2. There is on all Men an obligation unto Obedience answerable to their Light concerning these things The same Law and Light which discovereth these things doth also enjoyn their Observance Thus is it with all Men antecedently unto the Preaching of the Gospel unto them In this Estate of Gospel superadds two things unto the Minds of Men. 1. It directs us unto a right performance of these things from a right Principle by a right Rule and to a right End and Purpose so that they and we in them may obtain acceptance with God Hereby it gives them a new Nature and turns Moral Duties into Evangelical Obedience 2. By a communication of that Spirit which is annexed unto its Dispensation it supplies us with strength for their Performance in the manner it prescribes Sect. 58 Hence it follows that this is the Method of the Gospel First It proposeth and declareth things which are properly and peculiarly its own So the Apostle sets down the constant Entrance of his Preaching 1 Cor. 15. 3. It reveals its own Mysteries to lay them as the Foundation of Faith and Obedience It inlayes them in the Mind and thereby conforms the whole Soul unto them See Rom. 6. 17. Gal. 4. 19. Tit. 2. 11 12. 1 Cor. 3. 11. 2 Cor. 3. 18. This Foundation being laid without which it hath as it were nothing to do with the Souls of Men nor will proceed unto any other thing with them by whom this its first Work is refused it then grafts all Duties of Moral Obedience on this stock of Faith in Christ Jesus This is the Method of the Gospel which the Apostle Paul observeth in all his Epistles First He declares the Mysteries of Faith that are peculiar to the Gospel and then descends unto those Moral Duties which are regulated thereby But the Prejudice we mentioned inverts the Order of these things Those who are under the Power of it when on various accounts they give admittance unto the Gospel in general yet they fix their Minds firstly and principally on the things which have their Foundation in the Law and Light of Nature These they know and have some acquaintance with in themselves and therefore cry them up although not in their proper place nor to their proper end These they make the foundation according to the place which they held in the Law of Nature and Covenant of Works whereas the Gospel allows them to be only necessary Superstructions on the Foundation But resolving to give unto Moral Duties the
Preheminence in their Minds they consider afterwards the peculiar Doctrines of the Gospel with one or other of these Effects For 1. some in a manner wholly despise them reproaching those by whom they are singularly professed What is contained in them is of no importance in their Judgment compared with the more necessary Duties of Morality which they pretend to embrace and to acquit themselves of the trouble of a search into them reject them as unintelligible or unnecessary Or 2. they will by forced Interpretations enervating the Spirit and perverting the Mystery of them square and fit them to their own low and Carnal Apprehensions They would reduce the Gospel and all the Mysteries of it to their own Light as some to Reason as others to Philosophy as the rest And let them who comply not with their weak and carnal Notions of things expect all the contemptuous Reproaches which the proud pretenders unto Science and Wisdom of old cast upon the Apostles and first Preachers of the Gospel Hereby advancing Morality above the Mystery and Grace of the Gospel they at once reject the Gospel and destroy Morality also for taking it off from its proper Foundation it falls into the Dirt whereof the Conversation of the Men of this Perswasion is no small Evidence Sect. 59 From this Prejudice it is that the Spiritual Things of the Gospel are by many despised and contemned So God spake of Ephraim Hos. 8. 12. I have written to him the great things of the Law but they were counted as a strange thing The things intended were ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the great manifold various things of the Law That which the Law was then unto that People that is the Gospel now unto us The Torah was the intire Means of God's communicating his Mind and Will unto them as his whole Counsel is revealed unto us by the Gospel These things he wrote unto them or made them in themselves and their Revelation plain and perspicuous But when all was done they were esteemed by them ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as is also the Gospel a thing forreign and alien unto the Minds of Men which they intend not to concern themselves in They will heed the things that are cognate unto the Principles of their Nature things morally Good or Evil but for the hidden Wisdom of God in the Mystery of the Gospel it is esteemed by them as a strange thing And innumerable other Prejudices of the same Nature doth this Darkness fill the Minds of Men withal whereby they are powerfully and as unto any Light or Strength of their own invincibly kept off from receiving of Spiritual Things in a spiritual manner Sect. 60 Again the Power and Efficacy of this Darkness in and upon the Souls of Unregenerate Men will be farther evidenced by the Consideration of its especial Subject or the Nature and Use of that Faculty which is affected with it This is the Mind or Understanding Light and Knowledg are intellectual Vertues or Perfections of the Mind and that in every kind what-ever whether in things Natural Moral or Spiritual The Darkness whereof we treat is the Privation of Spiritual Light or the want of it And therefore are they opposed unto one another You were Darkness but are Light in the Lord Ephes. 5. 8. It is therefore the Mind or Understanding which is affected with this Darkness which is vitiated and depraved by it Now the Mind may be considered two ways 1. As it is Theoretical or Contemplative discerning and judging of things proposed unto it So it is its office to find out consider discern and apprehend the truth of Things In the Case before us it is the duty of the Mind to apprehend understand and receive the Truths of the Gospel as they are proposed unto it in the manner of and unto the end of their proposal This as we have manifested by reason of its Depravation it neither doth nor is able to do John 1. 5. 2 Cor. 2. 14. 2. It may be considered as it is practical as to the Power it hath to direct the whole Soul and determine the Will unto actual Operation according to its Light I shall not enquire at present whether the Will as to the specification of its Acts do necessarily follow the determination of the Mind or practical Understanding I am at no more but that it is the directive Faculty of the Soul as unto all Moral and Spiritual Operations Hence it follows Sect. 61 1. That nothing in the Soul not the Will and Affections can will desire or cleave unto any good but what is presented unto them by the Mind and as it is presented That Good what-ever it be which the Mind cannot discover the Will cannot chuse nor the Affections cleave unto All their actings about and concerning them are not such as answer their Duty This our Saviour directs us to the consideration of Mat. 6. 22 23. The Light of the Body is the Eye if therefore thine Eye be single the whole Body shall be full of Light But if thine Eye be evil the whole Body shall be full of Darkness if therefore the Light that is in thee be Darkness how great is that Darkness As the Eye is naturally the Light of the Body or the means thereof so is the Mind unto the Soul And if Darkness be in the Eye not only the Eye but the whole Body is in Darkness because in the Eye alone is the Light of the whole so if the Mind be under Darkness the whole Soul is so also because it hath no Light but by the Mind And hence both is Illumination sometimes taken for the whole Work of Conversion unto God and the Spiritual Actings of the Mind by the Renovation of the Holy Ghost are constantly proposed as those which precede any gracious Actings in the Will Heart and Life as we shall shew afterwards 2. As the Soul can no way by any other of its Faculties receive embrace or adhere unto that Good in a saving manner which the Mind doth not savingly apprehend so where the Mind is practically deceived or any way captivated under the Power of Prejudices the Will and the Affections can no way free themselves from entertaining that evil which the Mind hath perversly assented unto Thus where the Mind is reprobate or void of a sound Judgment so as to call God Evil and Evil Good the Heart Affections and Conversation will be conformable thereunto Rom. 1. 28 29. And in the Scripture the deceit of the Mind is commonly laid down as the Principle of all Sin what-ever 1 Tim. 2. 14. Heb. 3. 12 13. 2 Cor. 11. 3. Sect. 62 And this is a brief Delineation of the state of the Mind of Man whilst unregenerate with respect unto Spiritual Things And from what hath been spoken we do conclude that the Mind in the state of Nature is so depraved vitiated and corrupted that it is not able upon the proposal of Spiritual Things unto it in the Dispensation
1. The Opposition is not ad idem The Enmity and Opposition that is acted by the Will against Grace is against it as objectively proposed unto it So do Men resist the Holy Ghost that is in the external Dispensation of Grace by the Word And if that be alone they may alwayes resist it the Enmity that is in them will prevail against it Ye alwayes resist the Holy Ghost The Will therefore is not forced by any Power put forth in Grace in that way wherein it is capable of making opposition unto it but the prevalency of Grace is of it as it is internal working really and physically which is not the Object of the Wills opposition for it is not proposed unto it as that which it may accept or refuse but worketh effectually in it Sect. 35 2. The Will in the first Act of Conversion as even sundry of the Schoolmen acknowledg acts not but as it is acted moves not but as it is moved and therefore is passive therein in the sense immediately to be explained And if this be not so it cannot be avoided but that the Act of our turning unto God is a meer natural Act and not spiritual or gracious For it is an Act of the Will not enabled thereunto antecedently by Grace Wherefore it must be granted and it shall be proved that in Order of Nature the Acting of Grace in the Will in our Conversion is antecedent unto its own acting though in the same instant of time wherein the Will is moved it moves and when it is acted it acts it self and preserves its own Liberty in its exercise There is therefore herein an inward almighty secret Act of the Power of the Holy Ghost producing or effecting in us the Will of Conversion unto God so acting our Wills as that they also act themselves and that freely So Austin cont Duas Epistol Pelag. lib. 1. cap. 19. Trahitur homo miris modis ut velit ab illo qui novit intus in ipsis cordibus hominum operari non ut homines quod fieri non possit nolentes credant sed ut volentes ex nolântibus fiant The Holy Spirit who in his Power and Operation is more intimate as it were unto the Principles of our Souls than they are to themselves doth with the Preservation and in the Exercise of the liberty of our Wills effectually work our Regeneration and Conversion unto God This is the substance of what we plead for in this Cause and which declares the Nature of this Work of Regeneration as it is an inward Spiritual Work I shall therefore confirm the Truth proposed with evident Testimonies of Scripture and Reasons contained in them or educed from them Sect. 36 1. The Work of Conversion it self and in especial the Act of believing or Faith it self is expresly said to be of God to be wrought in us by him to be given unto us from him The Scripture says not that God gives us Ability or Power to believe onely namely such a Power a we may make use of if we will or do otherwise but Faith Repentance and Conversion themselves are said to be the Work and Effect of God Indeed there is nothing mentioned in the Scripture concerning the communicating of Power remote or next unto the Mind of Man to enable him to believe antecedently unto actual believing A remote Power if it may be so called in the Capacities of the Faculties of the Soul the Reason of the Mind and Liberty of the Will we have given an account concerning But for that which some call a next Power or an ability to believe in order of Nature Antecedent unto Believing it self wrought in us by the Grace of God the Scripture is silent The Apostle Paul saith of himself ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Phil. 4. 13. I can do all things or prevail in all things through Christ who enableth me where a Power or Ability seems to be spoken of antecedent unto Acting But this is not a Power for the first Act of Faith but a Power in them that believe Such a Power I acknowledg which is acted in the Co-operation of the Spirit and Grace of Christ with the Grace which Believers have received unto the performance of all Acts of Holy Obedience whereof I must treat elsewhere Believers have a stock of Habitual Grace which may be called Indwelling Grace in the same sense wherein Original Corruption is called Indwelling-Sin And this Grace as it is necessary unto every Act of Spiritual Obedience so of it self without the renewed Co-working of the Spirit of Christ it is not able nor sufficient to produce any Spiritual Act. This working of Christ upon and with the Grace we have received is called enabling of us But with Persons Unregenerate and as to the first Act of Faith it is not so Sect. 37 But it will be Objected That every thing which is actually accomplished was in potentia before There must therefore be in us a Power to believe before we do so actually Answ. The Act of God working Faith in us is a Creating Act. For we are his Workmanship created in Christ Jesus Ephes. 2. 10. And he that is in Christ Jesus is a New Creature 2 Cor. 5. 17. Now the effects of Creating Acts are not in Potentia any-where but in the Active Power of God so was the World it self before its actual existence This is termed Potentia Logica which is no more but a Negation of any contradiction to Existence not Potentia Physica which includes a disposition unto actual existence Notwithstanding therefore all these Preparatory Works of the Spirit of God which we allow in this Matter there is not by them wrought in the Minds and Wills of Men such a next Power as they call it as should enable them to believe without further Actual Grace working Faith it self Wherefore with respect to believing the first Act of God is to work in us to will Phil. 1. 13. He worketh in us to will Now to will to believe is to believe This God works in us by that Grace which Austin and the School-men call Gratia Operans because it worketh in us without us the Will being meerly moved and passive therein That there is a Power or Faculty of believing given unto all Men unto whom the Gospel is preached or who are called by the outward Dispentation of it some do pretend And that because those unto whom the Word is so Prâacâed if they do not actually believe shall perish eternally as is positively declared in the Gospel Mark 16. 16. But this they could not justly do if they had not received a Power or Faculty of Believing Answ. 1. Those who believe not upon the Proposal of Christ in the Gospel are left without remedy in the guilt of those other Sins for which they must perish eternally If you believe not saith Christ that I am he you shall die in your sins John 8. 12. 2. The Impotency that is in Men as
like that which is in a dead Man unto the Acts of Life Natural if there be not an alike Power of God required unto our Deliverance from that Condition and the working in us a Principle of Spiritual Obedience as is required unto the raising of him that is dead they may as well say That the Scripture speaks not truly as that it speaks metaphorically And that it is Almighty Power the exceeding greatness of God's Power that is put forth and exercised herein we have proved from Ephes. 1. 18 19. Col. 2. 12 13. 2 Thess. 1. 11. 2 Pet. 1. 3. And what do these Men intend by this quickning this raising us from the Dead by the Power of God A perswasion of our Minds by rational Motives taken from the Word and the Things contained in it But was there ever heard of such a monstrous Expression if there be nothing else in it What could the Holy Writers intend by calling such a Work as this by a quickning of them who were dead in Trespasses and Sins through the mighty Power of God unless it were by a noise of insignificant words to draw us off from a right understanding of what is intended And it is well if some are not of that Mind Sect. 50 2. The Work it self wrought is our Regeneration I have proved before that this consists in a new spiritual supernatural vital Principle or Habit of Grace infused into the Soul the Mind Will and Affections by the Power of the Holy Spirit disposing and enabling them in whom it is unto Spiritual Supernatural Vital Acts of Faith and Obedience Some Men seem to be inclined to deny all Habits of Grace And on such a Supposition a Man is no longer a Believer than he is in the Actual Exercise of Faith For there is nothing in him from whence he should be so denominated But this would plainly overthrow the Covenant of God and all the Grace of it Others expresly deny all gracious supernatural infused Habits though they may grant such as are or may be acquired by the frequent Acts of those Graces or Vertues whereof they are the Habits But the Scripture giveth us another Description of this Work of Regeneration for it consists in the Renovation of the Image of God in us Ephes. 4. 23 24. Be renewed in the Spirit of your Mind and put on that new Man which after God is created in Righteousness and true Holiness That Adam in innocency had a supernatural Ability of living unto God habitually residing in him is generally acknowledged And although it were easie for us to prove that whereas he was made for a supernatural End namely to live to God and to come to the enjoyment of him it was utterly impossible that he should answer it or comply with it by the meer strength of his natural Faculties had they not been endued with a supernatural Ability which with respect unto that End was created with them and in them Yet we will not contend about Terms Let it be granted that he was created in the Image of God and that he had an Ability to fulfil all God's Commands and that in himself and no more shall be desired This was lost by the Fall When this is by any denyed it shall be proved In our Regeneration there is a Renovation of this Image of God in us Renewed in the Spirit of our Minds And it is renewed in us by a Creating Act of Almighty Power which after God or according to his likeness is created in Righteousness and true Holiness There is therefore in it an Implantation of a new Principle of Spiritual Life of a Life unto God in Repentance Faith and Obedience or Universal Holiness according to Gospel-Truth or the Truth which came by Jesus Christ John 1. 18. And the Effect of this Work is called Spirit Joh. 8. 5. That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit It is the Spirit of God of whom we are born that is our new Life is wrought in us by his Efficiency And that which in us is so born of him is Spirit not the Natural Faculties of our Souls they are once Created once Born and no more but a new Principle of Spiritual Obedience whereby we live unto God And this is the product of the internal immediate Efficiency of Grace Sect. 51 This will the better appear if we consider the Faculties of the Soul distinctly and what is the especial Work of the Holy Spirit upon them in our Regeneration or Conversion to God 1. The leading conducting Faculty of the Soul is the Mind or Understanding Now this is corrupted and vitiated by the Fall and how it continues depraved in the State of Nature hath been declared before The sum is that it is not able to discern Spiritual Things in a Spiritual manner for it is possessed with Spiritual Blindness or Darkness and is filled with enmity against God and his Law esteeming the things of the Gospel to be foolishness because it is alienated from the Life of God through the ignorance that is in it We must therefore enquire what is the Work of the Holy Spirit on our Minds in turning of us to God whereby this Depravation is removed and this vitious State cured whereby we come to see and discern Spiritual Things in a Spiritual manner that we may savingly know God and his Mind as revealed in and by Jesus Christ. And this is several wayes declared in the Scripture Sect. 52 1. He is said to give us an Understanding 1 John 5. 20. The Son of God is come and hath given us an understanding that we may know him that is True which he doth by his Spirit Man by Sin is become like the Beasts that perish which have no Understanding Psal. 49. 12 20. Men have not lost their natural intellective Faculty or Reason absolutely It is continued unto them with the free though impaired use of it in things Natural and Civil And it hat an advance in Sin Men are wise to do evil But it is lost as to the especial use of it in the saving knowledg of God and his Will to do good they have no knowledg Jer. 4. 22. For naturally there is none that understandeth that seeketh after God Rom. 3. 17. It is corrupted not so much in the Root and Principle of its Acting as with respect unto their proper Object Term and End Wherefore although this giving of an Understanding be not the creating in us a-new of that Natural Faculty yet it is that gracious work in it without which that Faculty in us as depraved will no more enable us to know God savingly than if we had none at all The Grace therefore here asserted in the giving of an Understanding is the causing of our natural Understandings to understand savingly This David prayes for Psal. 119. 34. Give me Understanding and I shall keep thy Law The whole Work is expressed by the Apostle Ephes. 1. 16 17 18. That thâ God of our Lord
Jesus Christ the Father of Glory may give unto you the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the knowledg of him the eyes of your understanding being opened that you may know what is the hope of his calling c. That the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation is the Spirit of God working those Effects in us we have before evinced And it is plain that the Revelation here intended is subjective in the enabling us to apprehend what is revealed and not objective in new Revelations which the Apostle prayed not that they might receive And this is further evidenced by the ensuing Description of it the eyes of your Understanding being opened There is an Eye in the Understanding of Man that is the natural Power and Ability that is in it to discern Spiritual Things But this Eye is sometimes said to be blind sometimes to be darkness sometimes to be shut or closed And nothing but the impotency of our Minds to know God savingly or discern things spiritually when proposed unto us can be intended thereby It is the Work of the Spirit of Grace to open this eye Luke 4. 18. Acts 26. 18. And this is the powerful effectual removal of that depravation of our Minds with all its Effects which we before described And how are we made Partakers hereof It is of the Gift of God freely and effectually working of it For 1. he gives us the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation to that End And 2. works the thing it self in us He gives us an Heart to know him Jer. 24. 7. without which we cannot so do or he would not himself undertake to work it in us for that end There is therefore an effectual powerful creating Act of the Holy Spirit put forth in the Minds of Men in their Conversion unto God enabling them Spiritually to discern Spiritual Things wherein the Seed and Substance of Divine Faith is contained Sect. 53 2. This is called the Renovation of our Minds renewed in the Spirit of our Minds Ephes. 4. 23. which is the same with being renewed in knowledg Col. 3. 10. And this Renovation of our Minds hath in it a transforming Power to change the whole Soul into an obediential frame towards God Rom. 12. 2. And the work of renewing our Minds is peculiarly ascribed unto the Holy Spirit Tit. 3. 5. The renewing of the Holy Ghost Some Men seem to fancy yea do declare that there is no such Depravation in or of the Mind of Man but that he is able by the use of his Reason to apprehend receive and discern those Truths of the Gospel which are objectively proposed unto it But of the use of Reason in these Matters and its Ability to discern and judg of the sence of Propositions and force of Inferences in Things of Religion we shall treat afterwards At present I only enquire whether Men Unregenerate be of themselves able Spiritually to discern Spiritual Things when they are proposed unto them in the Dispensation of the Gospel so as their knowledg may be saving in and unto themselves and acceptable unto God in Christ and that without any especial internal effectual Work of the Holy Spirit of Grace in them and upon them if they say they are as they plainly plead them to be and will not content themselves with an Ascription unto them of that Notional Doctrinal Knowledg which none deny them to be capable of I desire to know to what purpose are they said to be renewed by the Holy Ghost to what purpose are all those gracious actings of God in them before recounted He that shall consider what on the one hand the Scripture teacheth us concerning the Blindness Darkness Impotency of our Minds with respect unto Spiritual things when proposed unto us as in the state of nature and on the other what it affirms concerning the work of the Holy Ghost in their Renovation and change in giving them new Power new Ability a new Active Understanding will not be much moved with the groundless confident unproved Dictates of some concerning the Power of Reason in it self to apprehend and discern Religious Things so far as we are required in a way of Duty This is all one as if they should say That if the Sun shine clear and bright every blind Man is able to see Sect. 54 God herein is said to communicate a Light unto our Minds and that so as that we see by it or perceive by it the things proposed unto us in the Gospel usefully and savingly 2 Cor. 4. 6. God who commanded the Light to shine out of Darkness hath shined in our hearts to give the Light of the Knowledg of the Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ. Did God no otherwise work on the Minds of Men but by an external objective proposal of Truth unto them to what purpose doth the Apostle mention the Almighty Act of Creating Power which he put forth and exercised in the first production of Natural Light out of Darkness What Allusion is there between that Work and the doctrinal proposal of Truth to the Minds of Men It is therefore a confidence not to be contended with if any will deny that the Act of God in the Spiritual Illumination of our Minds be not of the same Nature as to Efficacy and Efficiency with that whereby he created Light at the beginning of all things And because the Effect produced in us is called Light the Act it self is described by shining God hath shined into our Hearts that is our Minds so he conveighs Light unto them by an Act of Omnipotent Efficiency And as that which is so wrought in our Minds is called Light so the Apostle leaving his Metaphor plainly declares what he intends hereby namely the actual knowledg of the Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ that is as God is revealed in Christ by the Gospel as he declares v. 4. Having therefore 1. compared the Mind of Man by Nature with a respect unto a Power of discerning Spiritual Things to the state of all things under Darkness before the Creation of Light And 2. the powerful working of God in Illumination unto the Act of his Omnipotency in the Production or Creation of Light Natural He ascribes our Ability to know and our actual Knowledg of God in Christ unto his real Efficiency and Operation And these things in part direct us towards an apprehension of that Work of the Holy Spirit upon the Minds of Men in their Conversion unto God whereby their Depravation is cured and without which it will not so be By this means and no otherwise do we who were Darkness become Light in the Lord or come to know God in Christ savingly looking into and discerning Spiritual Things with a proper intuitive sight whereby all the other Faculties of our Souls are guided and influenced unto the Obedience of Faith Sect. 55 It is principally with respect unto the Will and its Depravation by Nature that we are said to be
which he gives unto his Wisdom Love and Grace with the excellency and certainty of the way of Salvation of Sinners by Jesus Christ which is to make God a Layar 1 Joh. 5. 10. Joh. 3. 32 33. 2. A Contempt of Love and Grace with the way and means of their communication to lost Sinners by the Blood of the Son of God which is the highest provocation that can be offered unto the Divine Majesty 4. In the Declaration of the Gospel the Lord Christ is in an especial manner proposed as crucified and lifted up for the especial Object of our Faith John 3. 14 15. Gal. 3. 1. And this Proposition of Christ hath included in it an Invitation unto all Convinced Sinners to come unto him for Life and Salvation Isa. 45. 2. Chap. 65. 1. 5. The Lord Christ being proposed unto Sinners in the Gospel and their acceptance or receiving of him being urged on them it is withal declared for what end he is so proposed And this is in general to save them from their Sins Mat. 1. 21. or the Wrath to come whereof they are afraid 1 Thess. 1. 10. For in the Evangelical Proposition of him there is included 1. That there is a Way yet remaining for Sinners whereby they may escape the Curse of the Law and the Wrath of God which they have deserved Psal. 130. 4. Job 33. 24. Acts 4. 12. 2. That the Foundation of these Wayes lies in an Atonement made by Jesus Christ unto the Justice of God and Satisfaction to his Law for Sin Rom. 3. 25. 2 Cor. 5. 21. Gal. 3. 13. 3. That God is well-pleased with this Atonement and his Will is that we should accept of it and acquiesce in it 2 Cor. 5. 18 19. Isa. 53. 11 12. Rom. 5. 10 11. 6. It is proposed and promised that through and upon their believing that is on Christ as proposed in the Gospel for the only way of Redemption and Salvation Convinced Sinners shall be pardoned justified and acquitted before God discharged of the Law against them through the imputation unto them of what the Lord Christ hath done for them and suffered in their stead Rom. 8. 3. 10. 3 4. 1 Cor. 1. 30 31. 2 Cor. 5. 21. Ephes. 2. 8 9 10. 7. To prevail with and win over the Souls of Men unto a consent to receive Christ on the Terms wherein he is proposed that is to believe in him and trust unto him to what he is hath done and suffered and continueth to do for pardon of Sin Life and Salvation the Gospel is filled with Arguments Invitation Incouragements Exhortations Promises all of them designed to explain and declare the Love Grace Faithfulness and good-Will of God herein In the due management and improvement of these parts of the Gospel consists the principal Wisdom and Skill of the Ministers of the New Testament 8. Among these various Ways or Means of the Declaration of himself and his Will God frequently causeth some especial Word Promise or Passage to fix it self on the Mind of a Sinner as we saw it in the Instance before insisted on Hereby the Soul is first excited to exert and act the Faith wherewith it is endued by the effectual working of the Spirit of God before described And by this means are Men directed unto Rest Peace and Consolation in that variety of Degrees wherein God is pleased to communicate them 9. This Acting of Faith on Christ through the Promise of the Gospel for Pardon Righteousness and Salvation is inseparably accompanied with and that Faith is the Root and infallible cause of an universal Ingagement of Heart unto all Holy Obedience to God in Christ with a Relinquishment of all known Sin necessarily producing a through-Change and Reformation of Life and Fruitfulness in Obedience For as upon a discovery of the Love of God in Christ the Promises whereby it is exhibited unto us being mixed with Faith the Soul of a poor Sinner will be filled with Godly Sorrow and Shame for its former Sins and will be deeply humbled for them so all the Faculties of it being now renewed and inwardly changed it can no more refrain from the Love of Holiness and from an Ingagement into a watchful course of Universal Obedience unto God by such free Actings as are proper unto it than one that is new born can refrain from all Acts of Life Natural In Motion desire of Food and the like Vain and foolish therefore are the Reproaches of some who in an high course of a Worldly Life and Profane do charge others with Preaching a Justification by Faith alone in Christ Jesus unto a neglect of Holiness Righteousness and Obedience of God which such Scoffers and fierce Despisers of all that are good do so earnestly plead for Those whom they openly reflect upon do unanimously teach That the Faith which doth not purifie the Heart and reform the Life which is not fruitful in good Works which is not an effectual Cause and Means of Repentance and newness of Life is not genuine nor pleadable unto Justification but empty dead and that which if trusted unto will eternally deceive the Souls of Men. They do all of them press the indispensible necessity of Universal Holiness Godliness Righteousness or Obedience to all the Commands of God on surer Principles with more cogent Arguments in a more clear compliance with the Will Grace and Love of God in Christ than any they pretend unto who ignorantly and falsly traduce them as those who regard them not And as they urge an Obediential Holiness which is not defective in any Duty either towards God or Man which they either plead for or pretend unto so it contains that in it which is more Sublime Spiritual and Heavenly than what they are either acquainted with or do regard which in its proper place shall be made more fully to appear Sect. 38 10. Those who were thus converted unto God in the Primitive Times of the Church were upon their Confession or Profession hereof admitted into Church-Society and a Participation of all the Mysteries thereof And this being the common way whereby any were added unto the Fellowship of the Faithfull it was an effectual Means of intense Love without dissimulation among them all on the account of their joynt Interest in the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. And I shall shut up this Discourse with one Instance hereof given us by Austin in the Conversion and Admission into Church-Society of Victorinus a Platonical Philosopher as he received the Story from Simplicianus by whom he was Baptized Ut ventum est ad horam profitendae fidei quae verbis certis retentisque memoriter de loco eminentiore in conspectu populi fidelis Romae reddi solet ab eis qui accessuri sunt ad gratiam tuam oblatum esse dicebat Victorino a Presbyteris ut secretius redderet sicut non nullis qui verecundia trepidaturi videbantur offerri mos erat illum autem maluisse salutem suam in
of the sanctification of the Spirit For such fruits of secret Atheism doth the world abound withall But our principal Duty in this world is to know aright what it is to be Holy and so to be indeed Sect. 7 One thing we must premise to clear our ensuing Discourse from Ambiguity And this is that there is mention in the Scripture of a Twofold sanctification and consequently of a two-fold Holiness The first is common unto Persons and Things consisting in the peculiar Dedication Consecration or Separation of them unto the Service of God by his own Appointment whereby they become Holy Thus the Priests and Levites of Old the Arke the Altar the Tabernacle and the Temple were sanctified and made Holy And indeed in all Holiness whatever there is a peculiar Dedication and Separation unto God But in the sense mentioned this was solitary and alone no more belonged unto it but this sacred separation nor was there any other effect of this Sanctification But secondly There is another kind of Sanctification and Holiness wherein this Separation to God is not the first thing done or intended but a Consequent and Effect thereof This is real and internal by the Communicating of a principle of Holiness unto our Natures attended with its Exercise in Acts and Duties of Holy Obedience unto God This is that which in the first place we enquire after and how far Believers are therein and thereby peculiarly separated and dedicated unto God shall be afterwards declared And unto what we have to deliver concerning it we shall make way by the ensuing observations Sect. 8 This whole matter of Sanctification and Holiness is peculiarly joyned with and limited unto the Doctrine Truth and Grace of the Gospel for Holiness is nothing but the implanting writing and realizing of the Gospel in our souls Hence it is termed ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Ephes. 4. 24. The Holiness of Truth which the Truth of the Gospel ingenerates and which consists in a conformity thereunto and the Gospel it self is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Tit. 1. 1. The Truth which is according unto Godliness which declares that Godliness and Holiness which God requireth The prayer also of our Saviour for our Sanctification is conformed therunto John 17. 17. Sanctifie them in or by thy Truth thy word is Truth And he sanctified himself for us to be a sacrifice that we might be sanctified in the Truth This alone is that Truth which makes us free John 8. 12. that is from sin and the Law unto Righteousness in Holiness It belongs neither to nature nor the Law so as to proceed from them or to be effected by them Nature is wholly corrupted and contrary unto it The Law indeed for certain Ends was given by Moses but all Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ. There neither is nor ever was in the world nor ever shall be the least dram of Holiness but what flowing from Jesus Christ is communicated by the Spirit according to the Truth and promise of the Gospel There may be something like it as to its outward Acts and effects at least some of them something that may wear its Livery in the world that is but the fruit of mens own Endeavours in Compliance with their convictions but Holiness it is not nor of the same kind or nature with it And this men are very apt to deceive themselves withal It is the design of corrupted Reason to debase all the glorious mysteries of the Gospel and all the concernments of them There is nothing in the whole Mystery of Godliness from the Highest crown of it which is the Person of Christ God manifested in the flesh unto the lowest and nearest effect of his Grace but it labours to deprave dishonour and debase The Lord Christ it would have in his whole person to be but a meer man in his Obedience and suffering to be but an Example in his doctrine to be confin'd unto the Capacity and Comprehension of Carnal Reason and the Holiness which he communicates by the Sanctification of his Spirit to be but that Moral vertue which is common among men as the fruit of their own Endeavours Herein some will acknowledge that men are guided and directed to a great Advantage by the Doctrine of the Gospel and thereunto excited by motions of the Holy Ghost himself put forth in the Dispensation of that Truth but any thing else in it more excellent more mysterious they will not allow But these low and carnal imaginations are exceedingly unworthy of the Grace of Christ the Glory of the Gospel the mystery of the Recovery of our Nature and healing of the wound it received by the entrance of sin with the whole design of God in our Restauration into a state of Communion with himself Moral vertue is indeed the best thing amongst men that is of them It far exceeds in worth use and satisfaction all that the Honours Powers Profits and Pleasures of the World can extend unto And it is admirable to consider what instructions are given concerning it what expressions are made of its excellency what Encomiums of its use and beauty by Learned contemplative men among the Heathen the wisest of whom did acknowledge that there was yet something in it which they could onely admire and not comprehend And very eminent instances of the practice of it were given in the lives and conversations of some of them And as the examples of their Righteousness Moderation Temperance Equanimity in all Conditions rise up at present unto the shame and reproach of many that are called Christians so they will be called over at the last day as an Aggravation of their Condemnation But to suppose that this Moral vertue whatever it be really in its own nature or however advanced in the imaginations of men is that Holiness of Truth which Believers receive by the Spirit of Christ is to debase it to overthrow it and to drive the souls of men from seeking an interest in it And hence it is that some pretending highly a friendship and respect unto it doe yet hate despise and reproach what is really so pleasing themselves with the empty name or withered Carcase of vertue every way inferiour as interpreted in their practice to the Righteousness of Heathens And this in the first place should stir up our diligence in our enquiries after its true and real nature that we decive not our selves with a false appearance of it and that unto our ruine Sect. 9 It is our Duty to enquire into the nature of Evangelical Holiness as it is a fruit or effect in us of the Spirit of Sanctification because it is abstruse and Mysterious and be it spoken with the good leave of some or whether they will or no undiscernable unto the eye of carnal Reason We may say of it in some sense as Job of Wisedom whence cometh Wisedom and where is the place of understanding seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living and kept close from the
Light that shines by the Gospel from Jesus Christ into our Souls begins to undeceive us in this matter And there is no greater Evidence of our receiving an Evangelical Baptisme or of being baptized into the spirit of the Gospel than the clear Compliance of our minds with the Wisdom of God herein When we find such constraining motives unto Holiness upon us as will not allow the least subducting of our Souls from an universal attendance unto it purely on the Ends of the Gospel without respect unto those now discarded it is an Evidence that the Wisdom of God hath prevailed against that of the flesh in our minds Wherefore Holiness with the fruits of it with respect unto their proper Ends which shall afterwards be declared is all that God requireth of us And this he declares in the tenor of the Covenant with Abraham Gen. 17. 1. I am God Almighty walk before me and be thou perfect This is that and this is all that I require of thee namely thy Holy Obedience for all other things wherein thou art concerned I take them all upon my own Almighty Power or All-sufficiency as he sayes elsewhere that the whole of Man is to fear God and keep his Commandements And the consideration hereof taken singly and by its self is sufficient with all that have any regard unto God or their own Eternal welfare to convince them of what importance these things are unto them Sect. 13 6 But neither yet are we left in this matter merely under the Authority of Gods Command with an Expectation of our complyance with it from our own Ability and Power God moreover hath promised to sanctifie us or to work this Holiness in us the Consideration whereof will give us yet a nearer Prospect into its nature He that requires it of us knows that we have it not of our selves When we were in our best condition by nature in the state of Original Holiness vested with the Image of God we preserved it not And is it likely that now in the state of lapsed and depraved nature it is in our own power to restore our selves to re-introduce the Image of God into our Souls and that in a far more eminent manner than it was at first created by God What needed all that Contrivance of Infinite Wisdom and Grace for the Reparation of our nature by Jesus Christ if Holiness wherein it doth consist be in our own Power and educed out of the natural faculties of our Souls There can be no more fond Imagination befall the minds of men than that defiled Nature is able to cleanse it self or depraved Nature to rectifie it self or we who have lost that Image of God which he created in us and with us should create it again in our selves by our own endeavours Wherefore when God commandeth and requireth us to be Holy he commands us to be that which by nature and of our selves we are not and not only so but that which we have not of our selves a Power to attain unto Whatever therefore is absolutely in our own Power is not of that Holiness which God requireth of us For what we can do our selves there is neither Necessity nor Reason why God should promise to work in us by his Grace And to say that what God so promiseth to work he will not work or effect indeed but only perswade and prevail with us to do it is through the pride of Unbelief to defie the Truth and Grace of God and with the Spoyls of them to adorn our own Righteousness and Power Now God hath multiplyed his Promises to this purpose so that we shall need to call over only some of them in way of Instance Jerem. 31. 33. I will put my Law in your inward parts and write it in your hearts and will be your God and ye shall be my People Chap. 32. 39 40. I will give them one Heart and one Way that they may fear me for ever and I will put my fear in their Hearts that they shall not depart from me Ezek. 36. 26 27. A new Heart will I give you and a new Spirit will I put within you and I will take away the stony Heart out of your flesh and I will give you an heart of flesh and I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my Statutes and ye shall keep my Judgments and do them V. 25. I will sprinkle clean water upon you and you shall be clean from all your filthiness V. 29. I will also save you from all your uncleanness The whole of our Sanctification and Holiness is comprized in these Promises To be cleansed from the Defilements of sin whatever they be to have an Heart inclined disposed enabled to fear the Lord alwayes and to walk in all his Wayes and Statutes accordingly with an internal habitual Conformity of the whole Soul unto the Law of God is to be sanctified or to be Holy And all this God promiseth directly to work in us and to accomplish himself In the Faith of these Promises and for the fulfilling of them the Apostle prayeth for the Thessalonians as we observed at our Entrance That the God of Peace himself would sanctifie them throughout whereby their whole Spirits Souls and Bodies might be preserved blameless to the coming of Jesus Christ. And hence is evident what we before observed that what is absolutely in our own power is not of the nature of nor doth necessarily belong unto Holiness whatever it be The best of the Intellectual or Moral Habits of our minds which are but the natural Improvement and Exercise of our facultyes neither are nor can be our Holiness nor do the best of our Moral Duties as meerly and only so belong thereunto By these Moral Habits and Duties we understand the Powers Faculties or Abilities of our Souls exercised with respect and in Obedience unto the Commands of God as excited perswaded and guided by outward Motives Rules Arguments and Considerations Plainly all the Power we have of our selves to obey the Law of God and all that we do in the pursuit and exercise of that Power upon any Reasons Motives or Considerations whatever which may all be resolved into fear of Punishment and hope of Reward with some present satisfactions of mind on the Account of Ease in Conscience within or outward Reputation whether in Abstinence from sin or the Performance of Duties are intended hereby and are not that Holiness which we enquire after And the Reason is plain even because those things are not wrought in us by the power of the especial Grace of God in the pursuit of the especial Promise of the Covenant as all true Holiness is If any shall say that they are so wrought in us they do expresly change the nature of them For thereby those Powers would be no more natural but supernatural and those Dutyes would be no more meerly Moral but Evangelical and spiritual which is to grant all we contend for
needfull unto them The Spirit is promised as a Comforter unto Believers as engaged in the Profession of the Gospel and meeting with Conflicts inward and outward on the Account thereof The first Promise of the Holy Ghost as a Comforter was made to the Disciples when their Hearts were filled with sorrow on the departure of Christ and this is the Measure of all others John 16. 7. And this is evident both from the Nature of the thing it self and from all the Promises which are given concerning him to this End and Purpose And it will be wholly in vain at any time to apply spiritual Consolations unto any other sort of Persons All men who have any interest in Christian Religion when they fall into Troubles and Distresses be they of what sort they will are ready to enquire after the things that may relieve and refresh them And whereas there are many things in the Word suited unto the Relief and Consolation of the distressed they are apt to apply them unto themselves and others also are ready to comply with them in the same Charitable Office as they suppose But no true Spiritual Consolation was ever administred by the Word unto any but Exercised Believers however the Minds of men may be for the present a little relieved and their Affections refreshed by the things that are spoken unto them out of the Word For the Word is the Instrument of the Holy Ghost nor hath it any Efficacy but as he is pleased to use it and apply it And he useth it unto this End and unto no other as being promised as a Spirit of Consolation only to sanctified Believers And therefore when Persons fall under spiritual Convictions and Trouble of Mind or Conscience upon the Account of Sin and Guilt it is not our first work to tender Consolation unto them whereby many in that Condition are deluded but to lead them on to Believing that being justified by Faith they may have peace with God which is their proper Relief And in that state God is abundantly willing that they should receive strong Consolation even as many as fly for Refuge to the Hope that is set before them 4 The Spirit of God is promised and received as to Gifts for the Edification of the Church This is that which is intended Acts 2. 38 39. And his whole Work herein we shall consider in its proper place The Rule and Measure of the Communication of the Spirit for Regeneration is Election The Rule and Measure of the Communication of the Spirit for Sanctification is Regeneration And the Rule and Measure of his Communication as a Spirit of Consolation is Sanctification with the Afflictions Temptations and Troubles of them that are sanctified What then is the Rule and Measure of his Communication as a Spirit of Edification I answer Profession of the Truth of the Gospel and its Worship with a Call unto the benefiting of others 1 Cor. 12. 7. And here two Rules must be observed 1 That he carryes not his Gifts for Edification out of the Pale of the Church or Profession of the Truth and Worship of the Gospel 2 That he useth a Soveraign and not a Certain Rule in this Communication 1 Cor. 12. 11 13. so as that he is not wanting unto any true Professors in proportion to their Calls and Opportunities Sect. 4 2 ly Whereas the Spirit of Sanctification is promised only unto them that are Regenerate and do believe May we in our Prayers and Supplications for him plead those Qualifications as Arguments and Motives for the further Communications of him unto us Ans. 1. We cannot properly plead any Qualification in our selves as though God were Obliged with respect unto them to give a man encrease of Grace ex congruo much less ex condigno When we have done all we are unprofitable Servants As we begin so we must proceed with God meerly on the Account of Soveraign Grace 2. We may plead the Faithfulness and Righteousness of God as engaged in his Promises We ought to pray that he would not forsake the Work of his own hands that he who hath begun the good work in us would perfect it unto the day of Jesus Christ that with respect unto his Covenant and Promises he would preserve that New Creature that Divine Nature which he hath formed and implanted in us 3. Upon a sense of the Weakness of any Grace we may humbly profess our sincerity therein and pray for its encrease So cryed the poor man with tears Lord I believe help thou mine unbelief Matth. 9. 24. And the Apostles in their Prayer Lord increase our Faith Luke 17. 5. owned the Faith they had and prayed for its encrease by fresh supplyes of the Holy Spirit Again 3 ly May Believers in Trouble pray for the Spirit of Consolation with respect unto their Troubles it being unto such that he is promised Ans. 1 They may do so directly and ought so to doe yea when they do it not it is a sign they turn aside unto broken Cisterns that will yield them no Relief 2 Troubles are of two sorts Spiritual and Temporal Spiritual Troubles are so either Subjectively such as are all inward Darknesses and Distresses on the Account of sin or 2 ly Objectively such are all Persecutions for the Name of Christ and the Gospel It is principally with respect unto these that the Spirit is promised as a Comforter and with regard unto them are we principally to pray for him as so promised 3 In those outward Troubles which are Common unto Believers with other men as the death of Relations Losses of Estate or Liberty they may and ought to pray for the Spirit as a Comforter that the Consolations of God administred by him may out-ballance their outward Troubles and keep up their hearts unto other Dutyes 4 ly May all Sincere Professors of the Gospel pray for the Spirit with respect unto his Gifts for the Edification of others seeing unto such he is promised for that End Ans. 1. They may do so but with the ensuing Limitations 1 They must do it with express Submission to the Sovereignty of the Spirit himself who divideth to every one as he will 2 With respect unto that Station and Condition wherein they are placed in the Church by the Providence and call of God Private persons have no warrant to pray for Ministerial Gifts such as should carry them out of their Stations without a Divine Direction going before them 3 That their End be good and right to use them in their respective places unto Edification So ought Parents and Masters of Families and all Members of Churches to pray for those Gifts of the Spirit whereby they may fill up the Dutyes of their Places and Relations From the Consideration of this Order of the Dispensation of the Spirit we may be directed how to pray for him which we are both commanded and encouraged to doe Luke 11. 13. For we are to pray for him with respect unto those
Ends and Effects for which he is promised And these are those which are before expressed with all those particular Instances which may be reduced unto them We might therefore hence give Direction in some Enquiries which indeed deserve a larger Discussion if our present Design would admit of it one only I shall instance in May a Person who is yet Vnregenerate pray for the Spirit of Regeneration to effect that Work in him For whereas as such he is promised onely unto the Elect such a Person not knowing his Election seems to have no foundation to make such a Request upon Ans. 1. Election is no Qualification on our part which we may consider or plead in our Supplications but only the secret Purpose on the part of God of what himself will doe and is known unto us only by its Effects 2 Persons convinced of sin and a state of sin may and ought to pray that God by the Effectual Communications of his Spirit unto them would deliver them from that Condition This is one way whereby we flee from the wrath to come 3 The especial Object of their Supplications herein is Sovereign Grace Goodness and Mercy as declared in and by Jesus Christ. Such Persons cannot indeed plead any especial Promise as made unto them But they may plead for the Grace and Mercy declared in the Promises as indefinitely proposed unto sinners It may be they can proceed no further in their Expectations but unto that of the Prophet who knoweth if God will come and give a Blessing Joel 2. 14. yet is this a sufficient ground and encouragement to keep them waiting at the Throne of Grace So Paul after he had received his Vision from Heaven continued in great distress of mind praying until he received the Holy Ghost Acts 9. 11 17. 4 Persons under such Convictions have really sometimes the seeds of Regeneration communicated unto them and then as they ought so they will continue in their Supplications for the Encrease and Manifestation of it It is evident that by these Observations the foregoing Objection is utterly removed out of the way and there is no disadvantage ariseth unto the Doctrine of the Free and Effectual Grace of God by confining this Work of Sanctification and Holiness unto Believers only None are sanctified none are made Holy but those who truely and savingly Believe in God through Jesus Christ which I shall now further confirm Sect. 5 1 Without Faith it is impossible to please God Heb. 11. 6. The Faith discoursed of by the Apostle is that whereby the Fathers received the Promises walked with God and obtained the Inheritance the Faith of Abraham that is true saying justifying Faith This Faith constitutes all them in whom it is true Believers and without it it is impossible to please God Now Holiness wherever it is pleaseth God and therefore without Faith it is impossible we should have any interest in it This is the Will of God even our Sanctification 1 Thess. 4. 3. and walking therein we please God v. 7. All that pleaseth God in us is our Holiness or some part of it and it principally consists in an Opposition unto all that displeaseth him That which he commands pleaseth him and that which he forbids displeaseth him and our Holiness consists in a Complyance with the one and an Opposition unto the other Wherefore that any others but Believers should have any thing which really belongs unto this Holiness the Apostle declares it to be impossible Some would except against this sense of the words from the ensuing Reason which the Apostle gives of his Assertion which contains the nature of the Faith intended For he that cometh unto God must believe that he is and that he is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him For this is that they say which the Light of Nature directs unto and therefore there is no other Faith necessarily required that a man may please God but only that which is included in the right use and exercise of Natural Reason But this Exception will no way evade the Force of this Testimony For the Apostle discourseth concerning such a Coming unto God and such a Belief in him as is guided directed and ingenerated in us by the Promises which it rests upon and is resolved into Now these Promises all and every one of them include Jesus Christ with a respect unto him and his Grace And therefore the Faith intended is that which is in God through Christ as revealed and exhibited in the Promises and this Coming unto God is a Fruit and Effect thereof 2 Our Lord Jesus Christ affirms that men are sanctified by the Faith that is in him Acts 26. 18. That they may receive Forgiveness of sins and an Inheritance among them that are sanctified by the Faith that is in me If there were any other way or means whereby men might be sanctified or made Holy he would not have confined it unto the Faith that is in him At least there is no other way to attain that Holiness which may bring them unto the Heavenly Inheritance or make them meet for it Col. 1. 11. which alone we enquire after And indeed there can be no greater Contempt cast on the Lord Jesus and on the Duty of Believing in him whereunto he makes this one of his principal Motives than to Imagine that without Faith in him any one can be made Holy 3. Faith is the Instrumental Cause of our Sanctification so that where it is not no Holiness can be wrought in us God purifyeth our hearts by Faith Acts 15. 9. and not otherwise And where the Heart is not purifyed there is no Holiness All the Dutyes in the world will not denominate him Holy whose Heart is not purified nor will any such Dutyes be holy themselves seeing unto the unclean all things are unclean All the Obedience that is accepted with God is the Obedience of Faith Rom. 1. 7. thence it springs and therewith is it animated So is it expressed 1 Pet. 1. 21 22. You who by Christ do believe in God and have purifyed your Souls in obeying the Truth through the Spirit It is from Faith in God through Jesus Christ acting it self in Obedience unto the Gospel that we purifie or cleanse our Souls which is our Sanctification See Col. 2. 12 13 14. Chap. 3. 7 8 9 10 11. 4 All Grace is Originally entrusted in and with Jesus Christ. The Image of God being lost in Adam whatever was prepared or is used for the Renovation of it in our Natures and Persons wherein Gospel Holiness doth consist was to be treasured up in him as the second Adam by whom many are to be made alive who dyed in the first It pleased the Father that in him all Fulness should dwell as the Fullness of the Godhead in and for his own Divine Personal Subsistence so the Fulness of all Grace for Supplyes unto us that of his Fulness we might receive Grace for Grace He is made the Head
such things are worthy of Death not only do the same but have Pleasure in them that do them When open Profligate Sinners do as it were make themselves up into Societyes encouraging and approving one another in their Abominable Courses so that no Company pleaseth them but such as have obtained an Impudence in sinning then is the greatest Defiance given unto the Holiness and Righteousness of God Now such as these will never seek after Cleansing For why should they do so who are sensible of no Spiritual Pollution nor have the least touch of shame with respect thereunto It is Necessary therefore unto the Duty of Purifying our Souls that we be affected with shame for the Spiritual Defilements which our Nature under the Loss of the Image of God is even rolled in And where this is not it will be but lost Labour that is spent in the Invitation of men to the Cleansing Fountain Sect. 13 3. Let Person so affected be fully satisfied that they can never Cleanse or Purifie themselves by any Endeavours that are meerly their own or by any Means of their own finding out According unto mens Convictions of the Defilements of sin so have and alwayes will their Endeavours be after Purification Hos. 5. 13. And indeed it is the Duty of Believers to purifie themselves more and more in the Exercise of all Purifying Graces and the use of all Means appointed of God for that Purpose 2 Cor. 7. 1. And their neglect thereof is the highest Disadvantage Psal. 38. 5. But men in the state of Nature concerning whom we now treat are no way able to cleanse their Natures or purge themselves He only who can restore repair and renew their Natures unto the Likeness of God can cleanse them But here many fall into Mistakes For when by Reason of their Convictions they can no longer satisfie and please themselves in the Pollution of sin they goe about by Vain attempts of their own to purifie their Souls Hos. 5. 13. Jerem. 2. 22. Job 9. 30 31. their own Sorrow and Repentance and Tears of Contrition and that sorry Amendment of Life they can attain unto shall do this Work for them And every especial defiling Act or every renewed sence of it shall have an especial Act of Duty for its Cleansing But though these things are Good in themselves yet there is required more Wisdom to the right stating of them as to their Causes Respects Ends and Use than they are furnisht withall Hence are they so frequently abused and turned into an effectual Means not only of keeping Men off and at a Distance from Christ but also from a due and acceptable Performance of the very Duties themselves pretended unto For Legal Sorrow or Repentance or meer Legal Convictions being trusted unto will infallibly keep the Soul from coming up unto that Evangelical Repentance which alone God accepts And meer Reformation of Life rested in proves opposite to Endeavours for the Renovation of our Natures But let these Duties be performed however in what Manner you please they are utterly insufficient of themselves to cleanse our Natural Defilements Nor will any seek duely for that which alone is effectual unto this Purpose untill they are fully convinced hereof Let therefore Sinners hear and know whether they will or will not believe it that as by Nature they are wholly desiled and polluted with those Abominations of Sin which render them Loathsom in the sight of God so they have no Power by any Endeavours or Duties of their own to Cleanse themselves but by all they doe to this End they do but farther plunge themselves into the Ditch and encrease their own Defilements yet are all those Duties necessary in their proper Place and unto their proper End 4. It is therefore their Duty to acquaint themselves with that only Remedy in this Case that only Means of Cleansing which God hath appointed and which he makes Effectual One great End of the Revelation of the Will of God from the Foundation of the World of his Institutions and Ordinances of Worship was to direct the Souls and Consciences of Men in and unto the Way of their Cleansing which as it argues his Infinite Love and Care so the great Importance by the Matter it self And one Principal Means which Satan from the Beginning made use of to keep men in their Apostasie from God and to encourage them therein was by supplying them with innumerable Wayes of Purifications suited to the Imaginations of their dark unbelieving and superstitious Minds And in like manner when he designed to draw men off from Christ and the Gospel under the Papacy he did it principally by the suggestion of such present and future Purgatories of Sin as might comply with their Lusts and Ignorance of so great Importance is it therefore to be acquainted with the only true real Way and Means hereof And there are two Considerations that are suited to excite the Diligence of Sinners in this Enquiry 1. The Weight that is laid on this Matter by God himself 2. The Difficulty of attaining an Acquaintance with it And 1 as hath been observed any one by considering the Legal Institutions of Old will see what weight God layes hereon No Sacrifice had any respect unto sin but there was somewhat Peculiar in it that was for its Cleansing And there were sundry Ceremonious Ordinances which had no other End but only to purifie from Uncleannesses 2 Among all the Promises of the Old Testament concerning the Establishment of the New Covenant and the Grace thereof which are Many and Precious there are none more Eminent than those which concern our Cleansing from sin by the Administration of the Spirit through the Blood of Christ. Some of them have been mentioned before Which also farther manifests the Care that God hath taken for our Instruction herein 3 There is nothing more pressed on us nothing more frequently proposed unto us in the Gospel than the Necessity of our Purification and the only Way of Effecting it If therefore either Instructions or Promises or Precepts or all concurring may evidence the Importance of a Duty then is this manifested to partake therein And those who will preferre the Guidance of Carnal Reason and vain Traditions before these Heavenly Directions shall live in their Ignorance and dye in their Sins 2 ly The Difficulty of attaining an Acquaintance with it is to be duely considered It is a part of the Mystery of the Gospel and such a part as is among those which the Wisdom of the World or Carnal Reason esteemeth Foolishness It is not easily admitted nor received that we can no otherwise be cleansed from our sins but by the sprinkling of that Blood which was shed so long ago Yet this and no other way doth the Scripture propose unto us To fancy that there is any cleansing from sin but by the Blood of Christ is to overthrow the Gospel The Doctrine hereof are Persons therefore obliged to enquire after and come
Evangelical There are many sins whereby Believers are defiled But there is a Way of Cleansing still open unto them And it is not meerly the Incidence of a Defilement but the Neglect of Purification that is inconsistent with their state and Interest in Christ. The Rule of Communion with God and consequently of Union with Christ in its Exercise is expressed by David Psal. 19. 12 13. Who can understand his Errors cleanse thou me from secret sins keep back thy Servant also from presumptuous sins let them not have dominion over me then shall I be upright and I shall be innocent from the great transgression The Design of the Psalmist is to be preserved in such a state and Condition as wherein he may be upright before God To be upright before God is that which God requireth of us in the Covenant that we may be accepted with him and enjoy the Promises thereof Gen. 17. 1. He that is so will be freed from that great Transgression or that Abundance of sin which is inconsistent with the Covenant Love and Favour of God And hereunto three things are required 1. A constant humble Acknowledgement of Sin Who can understand his Errors 2. Daily Cleansing from those Defilements which the least and most secret sins are accompanyed withall Cleanse thou me from secret sins and 3. A Preservation from Presumptuous sins or Wilfull sins committed with an high hand Where these thing are there a man is upright and hath the Covenant-ground of his Communion with God And whilest Believers are preserved within these Bounds though they are defiled by sin yet is there not any thing therein inconsistent with their Union with Christ. 7 Our Blessed Head is not only pure and Holy but he is also Gracious and Mercifull and will not presently cut off a Member of his Body because it is sick or hath a sore upon it He is himself passed through his Course of Temptations and is now above the reach of them all Doth he therefore reject and despise those that are Tempted that labour and suffer under their Temptations It is quite otherwise so that on the Account of his own present state his Compassions do exceedingly abound towards all his that are Tempted It is no otherwise with him as to their Sins and Defilements These he himself was absolutely freed from in all his Temptations and Sufferings but we are not And he is so far from casting us away on that Account while we endeavour after Purification as that it draweth out his Compassions towards us In brief he doth not unite us to himself because we are perfect but that in his own Way and Time he may make us so not because we are clean but that he may cleanse us for it is the Blood of Jesus Christ with whom we have Fellowship that cleanseth us from all our sins Sect. 17 Lastly to wind up this Discourse There is hence sufficiently evidenced a Comprehensive Difference between a Spiritual Life unto God by Evangelical Holiness and a Life of Moral Vertue though pretended unto God also Unto the first the Original and continual Purification of our Nature and Persons by the Spirit of God and Blood of Christ is indispensibly required Where this Work is not there neither is nor can be any thing of that Holiness which the Gospel prescribes and which we enquire after Unless the Purification and Cleansing of sin belongs necessarily unto the Holiness of the New Covenant all that God hath taught us concerning it in the Old Testament and the New by his Institution of Legal purifying Ordinances by his Promises to wash purifie and cleanse us by his Precepts to get our selves cleansed by the Means of our Purification namely his Spirit and the Blood of Christ by his Instructions and Directions of us to make use of those Means of our Cleansing by his Declarations that Believers are so washed and cleansed from all their Defilements of their sins are things Fanatical Enthusiastick Notions and Unintelligible Dreams Untill men can rise up to a Confidence enabling them to own such horrible Blasphemies I desire to know whether these things are required unto their Morality If they shall say they are so they give us a new Notion of Morality never yet heard of in the World and we must expect untill they have further cleared it there being little or no signification in the great swelling words of Vanity which have hitherto been lavished about it But if they do not belong thereunto as it is most certain the most improved Moralists that are only so whether in Notion or Practice have no regard unto them then is their Life of Moral Vertues were it as real in them as it is with notorious Vanity pretended cast out from all Consideration in a serious Disquisition after Evangelical Holiness And what hath been spoken may suffice to give us some Light into the Nature of this First Act of our Sanctification by the Spirit which consists in the Cleansing of our Souls and Consciences from the Pollutions of Sin both Original and Actual CHAP. VI. The Positive Work of the Spirit in the Sanctification of Believers 1 Differences in the Acts of Sanctification as to Order 2 The Manner of the Communication of Holiness by the Spirit 3 The Rule and Measure whereof is the Revealed Will of God 4 As the Rule of its Acceptance is the Covenant of Grace 5 The Nature of Holiness as Inward 6 Righteousness Habitual and Actual 7 False Notions of Holiness removed 8 The Nature of a Spiritual Habit. 9 Applyed unto Holiness with its Rules and Limitations 10 Proved and Confirmed 11 Illustrated and 12 Practically improved 13 The Properties of Holiness as a Spiritual Habit declared 14 1. Spiritual Dispositions unto Suitable Acts 15 16. How expressed in the Scripture 17 With their Effects 18 Contrary Dispositions unto Sin and Holiness how consistent 19 2. Power 20 The Nature thereof or what Power is required in Believers unto Holy Obedience 21 With its Properties and Effects in Readiness and 22 Facility 23 Objections thereunto answered and 24 An Enquiry on these Principles after true Holiness in our selves directed 25 Gospel Grace distinct from Morality and 26 All other Habits of the Mind 27 28 29. Proved by many Arguments especially its Relation unto the Mediation of Christ. 30 The Principal Difference between Evangelical Holiness and all other Habits of the Mind proved by the Manner and Way of its Communication from the Person of Christ as the Head of the Church and the peculiar Efficiency of the Spirit therein 31 Moral Honesty not Gospel Holiness Sect. 1 THE Distinction we make between the Acts of the Holy Ghost in the Work of Sanctification concerneth more the Order of Teaching and Instruction than any Order of Precedency that is between the Acts themselves For that which we have passed through concerning the Cleansing of our Natures and Persons doth not in Order of Time go before those other Acts which leave a real and
Explanation of it I shall only add three things 1 That this Habit or Principle thus wrought and abiding in us doth not if I may so say Firm its own Station or abide and continue in us by its own natural Efficacy in adhering unto the Faculties of our Souls Habits that are acquired by many Actions have a natural Efficacy to preserve themselves untill some Opposition that is too hard for them prevail against them which is frequently though not easily done But this is preserved in us by the constant powerfull Actings and Influence of the Holy Ghost He which works it in us doth also preserve it in us And the Reason hereof is because the Spring of it is in our Head Christ Jesus it being onely an Emanation of Vertue and Power from him unto us by the Holy Ghost if this be not actually and alwayes continued whatever is in us would dye and wither of its self See Ephes. 4. 16. Col. 3. 3. Joh. 4. 14. It is in us as the Fructifying Sap is in a Branch of the Vine or Olive It is there really and formally and is the next Cause of the Fruit-bearing of the Branch But it doth not live and abide by its self but by a continual Emanation and Communication from the Root Let that be intercepted and it quickly withers So is it with this Principle in us with respect unto its Root Christ Jesus 2 Though this Principle or Habit of Holiness be of the same kind or Nature in all Believers in all that are sanctified yet there are in them very distinct Degrees of it In some it is more strong lively vigorous and flourishing in others more weak feeble and unactive and this in so great variety and on so many Occasions as cannot here be spoken unto 3 That although this Habit and Principle is not acquired by any or many Acts of Duty or Obedience yet is it in a way of Duty preserved encreased strengthened and improved thereby God hath appointed that we should live in the Exercise of it and in and by the Multiplication of its Acts and Duties is it kept alive and stirred up without which it will be weakened and decay Sect. 11 This being what I intend as to the Substance of it we must in the next place shew That there is such a spiritual Habit or Principle of spiritual Life wrought in Believers wherein their Holiness doth consist Some few Testimonies of many shall suffice as to its present Confirmation The Work of it is expressed Deut. 30. 6. The Lord thy God will Circumcise thy Heart to love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and all thy Soul that thou mayest live The End of Holiness is that we may live and the principal Work of Holiness is to love the Lord our God with all our Hearts and Souls And this is the Effect of Gods circumcising our Hearts without which it will not be Every Act of Love and Fear and consequently of every Duty of Holiness whatever is consequential unto Gods circumcising of our Hearts But it should seem that this Work of God is only a removal of Hinderances and doth not express the Collation of the Principle which we assert I answer that although it were easie to demonstrate that this Work of circumcising our Hearts cannot be effected without an implantation of the Principle pleaded for in them yet it shall suffice at present to evince from hence that this Effectual Work of God upon our Hearts is antecedently necessary unto all Acts of Holiness in us But herewithall God writes his Law in our Hearts Jerem. 31. 33. I will put my Law in their inward parts and write it in their Hearts The Habit or Principle which we have described is nothing but a Transcript of the Law of God implanted and abiding on our Hearts whereby we comply with and answer unto the whole Will of God therein This is Holiness in the Habit and Principle of it This is more fully expressed Ezek. 36. 26 27. A new Heart will I give you and a new Spirit will I put within you and cause you to walk in my Statutes and ye shall keep my Judgements and do them The whole of all that actual Obedience and all those Duties of Holiness which God requireth of us is contained in these Expressions ye shall walk in my Statutes and keep my Judgements to doe them Antecedent hereunto and as the Principle and Cause thereof God gives a new Heart and a new Spirit This new Heart is an Heart with the Law of God written in it as before mentioned and this new spirit is the habitual Inclination of that heart unto the Life of God or all Duties of Obedience And herein the whole of what we have asserted is confirmed namely that antecedently unto all Duties and Acts of Holiness whatever and as the next Cause of them there is by the Holy Ghost a new spiritual Principle or habit of Grace communicated unto us and abiding in us from whence we are made and denominated holy Sect. 12 It is yet more Expressly revealed and declared in the New Testament Joh. 3. 6. There is a Work of the Spirit of God upon us in our Regeneration we are born again of the Spirit And there is the Product of this Work of the Spirit of God in us that which is born in this new Birth and that is spirit also It is something existing in us that is of a spiritual Nature and spiritual Efficacy It is something abiding in us acting in a continual Opposition against the Flesh or Sin as Gal. 5. 17. and unto all Duties of Obedience unto God And untill this spirit is formed in us that is our whole Souls have a furnishment of spiritual Power and Ability we cannot perform any one Act that is spiritually good not any one Vital Act of Obedience This Spirit or spiritual Nature which is born of the Spirit by which alone we are enabled to live to God is that Habit of Grace or Principle of holiness which we intend And so also is it called a New Creature He that is in Christ is a new Creature 1 Cor. 5. 17. It is something that by an almighty creating Act of the Power of God by his Spirit that hath the Nature of a living Creature is produced in the Souls of all that are in Christ Jesus And as it is called the new Creature so it is also a Divine Nature 2 Pet. 1. 4. and a Nature is the Principle of all Operations And this is what we plead for The Spirit of God createth a new Nature in us which is the Principle and next Cause of all Acts of the Life of God Where this is not whatever else there may be there is no Evangelical Holiness This is that whereby we are enabled to live unto God to fear him to walk in his Wayes and to yield Obedience according to his Mind and Will See Ephes. 4. 23 24. Col. 3. 10 11. this the Scripture plentifully
need not here to be further insisted on Sect. 30 The present Assertion which we are to prove is That there is in and by the Grace of Regeneration and Sanctification a Power and Ability given unto us of living unto God or performing all the Duties of acceptable Obedience This is the first Act of that Spiritual Habit arising out of it and inseparable from it It is called Strength or Power Isa. 40. 31. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength that is for and unto Obedience or walking with God without Weariness Strength they have and in their Walking with God it is renewed or encreased By the same Grace are we strengthened with all might according to the glorious Power of God Col. 1. 11. or strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man Ephes. 3. 16. whereby we can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth us Phil. 4. 13. In our Calling or Conversion to God all things are given unto us by his Divine Power which pertain unto Life and Godliness 2 Pet. 1. 3. every thing that is needfull to enable us unto a holy Life The Habit and Principle of Grace that is wrought in Believers gives them new Power and spiritual Strength unto all Dutyes of Obedience The Water of the Spirit therein is not only a Well of Water abiding in them but it springeth up into everlasting Life Joh. 4. 14. or enables us continually to such gracious Actings as have a Tendency thereunto There is a sufficiency in the Grace of God bestowed on them that Believe to enable them unto the Obedience required of them So God told our Apostle when he was ready to faint under his Temptations that his Grace was sufficient for him 2 Cor. 12. 9. or there is a Power in all that are sanctified whereby they are able to yield all holy Obedience unto God They are alive unto God alive to Righteousness and Holiness They have a Principle of spiritual Life and where there is Life there is Power in its Kind and for its End Whence there is not in our Sanctification only a Principle or inherent Habit of Grace bestowed on us whereby we really and habitually as to State and Condition differ from all unregenerate persons whatever but there belongs moreover thereunto an active Power or an Ability for and unto spiritual holy Obedience which none are partakers of but those who are so sanctified And unto this Power there is a respect in all the Commands or Precepts of Obedience that belong to the New Covenant The Commands of each Covenant respect the Power given in and by it Whatever God required or doth require of any by vertue of the Old Covenant or the Precepts thereof it was on the Account of and proportionate unto the strength given under and by that Covenant And that we have lost that strength by the Entrance of sin exempts us not from the Authority of the Command and thence it is that we are righteously obliged to doe what we have no Power to perform So also the Command of God under the new Covenant as to all that Obedience which he requireth of us respects that Power which is given and communicated unto us thereby And this is that Power which belongs unto the New Creature the Habit and Principle of Grace and Holiness which as we have proved is wrought by the Holy Ghost in all Believers Sect. 31 We may therefore enquire into the Nature of this spiritual Power what it is and wherein it doth consist Now this cannot be clearly understood without a due Consideration of that Impotency unto all spiritual good which is in us by Nature which it cures and takes away This we have before at large declared and thither the Reader is referred When we know what it is to be without Power or Strength in Spiritual things we may thence learn what it is to have them To this purpose we may consider that there are three things or Faculties in our Souls which are the Subject of all Power or Impotency in spiritual things namely our Vnderstandings Wills and Affections That our spiritual Impotency ariseth from their Depravation hath been proved before and what Power we have for holy spiritual Obedience it must consist in some especial Ability communicated distinctly unto all these Faculties And our Enquiry therefore is What is this Power in the Mind what in the Will and what in the Affections And 1 This power in the Mind consists in a spiritual Light and Ability to discern spiritual Things in a spiritual Manner which Men in the state of Nature are utterly devoyd of 1 Cor. 2. 13 14. The Holy Spirit in the first Communication of the Principle of spiritual Life and Holiness shines into our Hearts to give us the knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 4. 6. yea this strengthening of the Mind by saving Illumination is the most eminent Act of our Sanctification Without this there is a Veil with Fear and Bondage upon us that we cannot see into spiritual things But where the Spirit of God is where he comes with his sanctifying Grace there is Liberty And thereby we all with open face beholding as in a Glass the Glory of the Lord are changed into the same Image from Glory to Glory 2 Cor. 3. 18. See Ephes. 1. 17 18. Sect. 32 Wherefore all sanctified Believers have an Ability and Power in the renewed Mind and Understanding to see know discern and receive spiritual Things the Mysteries of the Gospel the Mind of Christ in a due and spiritual Manner It is true they have not all of them this Power and Ability in the same Degree but every one of them hath a sufficiency of it so as to discern what concerns themselves and their Dutyes necessarily Some of them seem indeed to be very low in Knowledge and in comparison of others very Ignorant For there are different Degrees in these things Ephes. 4. 7. And some of them are kept in that Condition by their own Negligence and Sloth They do not use as they ought nor improve those Means of Growing in Grace and in the Knowledge of Jesus Christ which God prescribes unto them as Heb. 6. 14 15 16. But every one who is truely sanctified and who thereby hath received the least Degree of saving Grace hath Light enough to understand the spiritual Things of the Gospel in a spiritual Manner When the Mysteries of the Gospel are Preached unto Believers some of them may be so declared as that those of meaner Capacities and Abilities may not be able to comprehend aright the Doctrine of them which yet is necessary to be so proposed for the Edification of those who are more grown in Knowledge Nevertheless there is not any the meanest of them but hath a spiritual insight into the things themselves intended so far as they are necessary unto their Faith and Obedience in the Condition wherein they are This the Scripture gives
such abundant Testimony unto as to render it unquestionable For we have received the Spirit of God that we may know the things that are freely given us of God By vertue of what we have received we know or discern Spiritual things 1 Cor. 2. 12. So we know the mind of Christ v. 15. This is the substance of that double Testimony 1 Joh. 2. 20 27. This abiding Vnction is no other but that habitual inherent Grace which we plead for and by it as it is an holy Light in our Mind we know all things The Understanding that is given us to know him that is True 1 John 5. 20. Only it is their Duty continually to endeavour the improvement and enlargement of the Light they have in the daily Exercise of the spiritual Power they have received and in the use of Means Heb. 5. ult Sect. 33 2 This Power in the Will consists in its Liberty Freedom and Ability to consent unto choose and embrace spiritual Things Believers have Free-will unto that which is spiritually Good For they are freed from that Bondage and slavery unto sin which they were under in the state of Nature Whatever some dispute concerning the Nature of Free-will that it consists in an Indifferency unto Good or Evil one thing or another with a Power of applying it self unto all its Operations whatever their Objects be as the Scripture knoweth nothing of it so it is that which we cannot have and if we could it would be no advantage at all unto us yea we had much better be without it Have it indeed we cannot for a supposition of it includes a Rejection of all our Dependance on God making all the springs of our Actions to be absolutely and formally in our selves Neither considering the Prejudices Temptations and Corruptions that we are possessed and exercised with would such a flexibility of Will be of any Use or Advantage unto us but would rather certainly give us up to the Power of Sin and Sathan All that the Scripture knows about Free-will is that in the state of Nature antecedent unto the Converting sanctifying Work of the Spirit all men whatever are in bondage unto sin and that in all the Faculties of their Souls They are sold under sin are not subject unto the Law of God nor can be can neither think nor will nor doe nor desire nor love any thing that is spiritually Good according to the Mind of God But as unto what is Evil perverse unclean that they are free and open unto ready for prone and inclined and every way able to doe On the other side in those who are renewed by the Holy Ghost and sanctified it acknowledgeth and teacheth a freedom of Will not in an Indifferency and Flexibility unto Good and Evil but in a Power and Ability to like love choose and cleave unto God and his Will in all things The Will is now freed from its Bondage unto sin and being enlarged by Light and Love willeth and chooseth freely the things of God having received spiritual Power and Ability so to doe It is the Truth that is Faith in the Gospel the Doctrine of the Truth which is the Means of this Freedom The Truth that makes you free Joh. 8. 32. And it is the Son of God by his Spirit who is the principal Efficient cause of it For if the Son make us free then are we free indeed v. 36. and otherwise we are not whatever we pretend And this freedom unto spiritual Good we have not of our selves in the state of Nature for if we have then are we free indeed and there would be no need that the Son should make us free Sect. 34 The Difference therefore about Free-will is reduced unto these Heads 1. Whether there be a Power in Man indifferently to Determine himself his Choice and all his Actings to this or that Good or Evil one thing or another independently on the Will Power and Providence of God and his Disposal of all future Events This indeed we deny as that which is inconsistent with the Prescience Authority Decrees and Dominion of God and as that which would prove certainly ruinous and destructive to our selves 2. Whether there be in men unregenerate not renewed by the Holy Ghost a Freedom Power and Ability unto that which is spiritually good or to Believe and Obey according to the Mind and Will of God This also we deny as that which is contrary to innumerable Testimonies of Scripture and absolutely destructive of the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. 3. Whether the Freedom of Will that is in Believers do consist in an indifferency and freedom from any Determination only with a power equally ready for Good or Evil according as the Will shall determine it self or whether it consist in a Gracious Freedom and Ability to choose will and doe that which is spiritually Good in Opposition to the Bondage and slavery unto sin wherein we were before detained This last is that Liberty and Power of the Will which we assert with the Scripture in persons that are sanctified And a Liberty this is every way consistent with all the Operations of God as the Sovereign first Cause of all things every way complyant with and an Effect of the special Grace of God and the Operations of the Holy Ghost a Liberty whereby our Obedience and Salvation are secured in Answer to the Promises of the Covenant And who that understands himself would change this reall usefull gracious free-will given by Jesus Christ the Son of God when he makes us free and an Effect of Gods writing his Law in our Hearts to cause us to walk in his Statutes that Property of the new Heart whereby it is able to consent unto choose and embrace freely the things of God for that fictitious imaginary freedom yea for it if it were reall of an Indifferency unto all things and an Equal Power unto every thing whether it be Good or Evil. I say then that by the Habit of Grace and Holiness infused into us by the Spirit of Sanctification the Will is freed enlarged and enabled to answer the Commands of God for Obedience according to the Tenor of the New Covenant This is that freedom this is that Power of the Will which the Scripture reveals and regards and which by all the Promises and Precepts of it we are obliged to use and exercise and no other Sect. 35 3 The Affections which naturally are the principal servants and instruments of Sin are hereby engaged unto God Deut. 30. 6. And from what hath been thus far discoursed the sence of our former Assertion is evident as also the Nature of the Principle of Holiness insisted on The Holy Ghost in our Sanctification doth work effect and create in us a new holy spiritual vital Principle of Grace residing in all the Faculties of our Souls according as their especial Nature is capable thereof after the manner of a permanent and prevalent Habit which he cherisheth preserveth encreaseth
may be to Relieve and Cherish them This End is good and so far the Work or Duty it self is good also But the ultimate and General End of this Action may be Self Merit Reputation Praise Compensation for sin committed and not the Glory of God in Christ which vitiates the whole Now Moral Habits acquired by Endeavours answerable unto our Light and Convictions or the Dictates of Enlightened Reason with Resolutions and Perseverance may encline and dispose the Will unto Actions and Works that for the Substance of them are Duties and are capable of having particular Ends that are good but a want of Respect unto the General End allows them not to be any part of Gospel Obedience And this is applicable unto all Moral Habits and Duties whatever But the difference asserted is farther manifested Sect. 45 First From the especial Fountain and Spring of Holiness which constitutes its Nature of another Kind than any Common Grace or Morality can pretend unto And this is Electing Love or Gods Purpose of Election Ephes. 1. 4. He hath chosen us in Christ before the Foundation of the World that we should be Holy and unblameable before him in Love God chooseth us from Eternity that we should be Holy that is with a Design and Purpose to make us so He sets some men apart in his Eternal Purpose as those unto whom he will communicate Holiness It is therefore an especial Work of God in the pursuit of an especial and eternal Purpose This gives it its especial Nature and makes it as was said of another Kind than any Effect of Common Grace whatever That is Holiness which God works in men by his Spirit because he hath chosen them and nothing else is so For he chooseth us unto salvation through the sanctification of the Spirit 2 Thess. 2. 13. Salvation is the End that God aimeth at in his choosing of us in subordination unto his own Glory which is and must be the Vltimate End of all his Purposes and Decrees or of all the free Acts of his Wisdom and Love The Means which he hath ordained whereby we shall be brought unto this Salvation so designed in his Eternal Purpose is the sanctification of the Spirit Gospel Holiness therefore is the Effect of that Sanctification of the Spirit which God hath designed as the especial Way and Means on their part of bringing the Elect unto Salvation And his choosing of them is the Cause and Reason why he doth so sanctifie them by his Spirit And where our Sanctification is comprized under our Vocation because therein and thereby we are sanctified by the sanctifying Principle of Holiness communicated unto us it is not only reckoned as an Effect and Consequent of our Predestination but is so conjoyned thereunto as to declare that none others are partakers of it but those that are Predestinate Rom. 8. 30. And this Consideration is of it self sufficient to Evince that this Holiness whereof we treat differs essentially from all other Habits of the Mind and Actions proceeding from them as having an especial Nature of its own Whatever there may be in any men of Vertue and Piety or whatever their Endeavours may be in Wayes of Honesty and Duty towards God and Men if the Power and Principle of it in them be not a Fruit of Electing Love of the Spirit of Sanctification given of God for this certain End that we may attain the Salvation whereunto we are chosen it belongeth not unto this Holiness Wherefore the Apostle Peter giving us in charge to use all Diligence whereby we may make our Calling and Election sure that is unto our Souls and in our own Minds prescribes as the Means of it the Exercise and Encrease of those Graces which are its proper Effects 2 Pet. 1. 5 6 7 10. And the Reason why we see so many glorious Professions of Faith and Obedience utterly to fail as we do is because the Faith so professed was not the Faith of the Elect of God Tit. 1. 1. And the Obedience of it was not the Fruit of that Spirit of Sanctification which God gives to man to make his Purpose of Election infallibly Effectual that so the Purpose of God which is according to Election might stand Rom. 11. And the Election or those Elected might obtain the Grace and Glory designed for them Rom. 11. 5. 7. And it is an Evidence of much spiritual Sloth in us or that which is worse namely that our Graces and Obedience are not genuine and of the true Heavenly Race if we endeavour not to satisfie our selves that they are real Effects of Electing Love Sect. 46 If any one shall enquire How we may know whether the Graces of Holiness which we hope are in us and the Duties that proceed from them are Fruits and Effects of Election seeing such only are genuine and Durable I answer it may be done three wayes 1 By their Growth and Encrease This in ordinary Cases setting aside the Seasons of prevalent Temptations and Desertions is the best Evidence hereof Waters that proceed from a living Fountain encrease in their progress because of the continual Supplyes which they have from their Spring when those which have only Occasional Beginning ârom showers of Rain or the like do continually decay untill they are dryed up The Graces that come from this Eternal Spring have continual supplyes from it so that if they meet with no violent Obstructions as they may do sometimes for a season they do constantly encrease and thrive And therefore no man can secure his spiritual Comforts one Moment under a sensible decay of Grace For such a decay is a very sufficient Reason why he should call the Truth of all his Grace into Question Where the Spirit of Sanctification is as given in pursuit of the Purpose of Election it is a Well of Water springing up into Everlasting Life Joh. 4. 14. The quietness and satisfaction of Professors under a Decay of Grace is a Soul-ruining security and hath nothing in it of Spiritual Peace Sect. 47 2 We may discern it when we are much stirred up unto diligent Actings and Exercise of Grace out of a sence of that Electing Love from whence all Grace doth proceed It is the Nature of Grace that is the Fruit of Election greatly to affect the Heart and Mind with a sence of the Love that is therein So the Apostle sayes expressely that one Grace exciteth and stirreth up another from a sence of the Love of God which sets them all on work Rom. 5. 2 3 4 5. So God is said to draw us with Loving-kindness because he hath loved us with everlasting love Jerem. 31. 3. That is he gives us such a sence of his everlasting Love as thereby to draw us after him in Faith and Obedience Those Principles of Dutyes in us which are excited only by Fear Awe Hope and the jealous Observances of an awakened Conscience will scarce at any time evince this heavenly Extract unto a spiritual
our great Exemplar as there was never the least shew of variableness from the Perfection of Holiness for he did no sin neither was there any guile found in him yea in him was Light and no Darkness at all so were all his Graces all his Actings of them all his Duties so absolute and compleat as that we ought to aim no higher nor to propose any other Pattern unto our selves And who is it that aiming at any Excellency would not design the most absolute and perfect Example This therefore is to be found as unto Holiness in Christ and in him alone Sect. 56 And Secondly He is appointed of God for this Purpose One End why God sent his Son to take our Nature upon him and to converse in the World therein was that he might set us an Example in our own Nature in one who was like unto us in all things sin only excepted of that Renovation of his Image in us of that Return unto him from Sin and Apostasie of that Holy Obedience which he requireth of us Such an Example was needfull that we might never be at a loss about the Will of God in his Commands having a glorious Representation of it before our Eyes and this could be given us no otherwise but in our own Nature The Angelical Nature was not suited to set us an Example of Holiness and Obedience especially as to the Exercise of such Graces as we principally stand in need of in this World For what Examples could Angels set unto us in themselves of Patience in Afflictions of Quietness in Sufferings seeing their Nature is incapable of such things Neither could we have had an Example that was perfect and compleat in our own Nature but only in One who was Holy Harmless Undefiled and separate from Sinners To this End therefore among others did God send his own Son to take our Nature on him and therein to represent unto us the perfect Idea of that Holiness and Obedience which he requireth of us It is evident therefore that these two Considerations of an Instructive Example that is hath a moral aptitude to incite the Mind unto Imitation and that it is instituted of God unto that Purpose are both found Eminently in this of Christ. Sect. 57 But there is yet more in this matter First as God hath appointed the Consideration of Christ as an especial Ordinance unto the Encrease of Holiness in us so his Holy Obedience as proposed unto us hath a peculiar Efficacy unto that purpose beyond all other Instituted Examples For 1 we are often called to behold Christ and to look upon him or it is promised that we shall do so Isa. 45. 22. Zech. 12. 10. Now this beholding of Christ or looking on him is the Consideration of him by Faith unto the Ends for which he is exhibited proposed and set forth of God in the Gospel and Promises thereof This therefore is an especial Ordinance of God and is by his Spirit made effectual And these Ends are two 1. Justification 2. Salvation or Deliverance from Sin and Punishment Look saith he unto me and be saved This was he on the Cross and is still so in the Preaching of the Gospel wherein he is evidently crucifyed before our eyes Gal. 3. 1. lifted up as the Brazen Serpent in the Wilderness Joh. 3. 14 15. That we looking on him by Faith as bearing our sins in his own Body on the Tree 1 Pet. 1. 24. and receiving the Attonement made thereby Rom. 5. 11. may through Faith in him be Justified from all our Sins and saved from the Wrath to come But this we intend not For 2 He is of God proposed unto us in the Gospel as the great Pattern and Exemplar of Holiness so as that by Gods Appointment our beholding and looking on him in the Way mentioned is a Means of the Encrease and growth of it in us So our Apostle declares 2 Cor. 3. 18. We all with open face beholding as in a Glass the Glory of the Lord are changed into the same Image from Glory to Glory even by the Spirit of the Lord. That which is proposed unto us is the Glory of the Lord or the Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ Chap. 4. v. 6. that is God gloriously manifesting himself in the Person of Christ. This are we said to behold with open face The Veil of Types and Shadowes being taken off and removed Faith doth now clearly and distinctly view and consider Jesus Christ as he is represented unto us in the glass of the Gospel that is the Evidences of the Presence of God in him and with him in his Work Purity and Holiness And the Effect hereof is that we are through the Operation of the Spirit of God changed into the same Image or made Holy and therein like unto him Sect. 58 Secondly There is peculiar Force and Efficacy by the way of Motive in the Example of Christ to encline us unto the Imitation of him that is not to be found in any other Example on any Occasion whatever Because 1 Whatever is proposed unto us in what he was or what he did as our Pattern and Example he was it and did it not for his own sake but out of free and meer Love unto us That pure Nature of his which we ought to be labouring after a Conformity unto 1 Joh. 3. 3. and which he will at length bring us unto Phil. 3. 21. he took it upon him by an infinite Condescension meerly out of Love unto us Heb. 2. 14 15. Phil. 2. 5 6 7. And all the Actings of Grace in him all the Duties of Obedience which he performed all that glorious Complyance with the Will of God in his Sufferings which he manifested proceed all from his Love unto us Joh. 17. 19. Gal. 2. 20. These things being in themselves truely Honourable and Excellent yea being only so the Holiness and Obedience which God requireth of us consisting in them being by the Appointment of God proposed unto our Imitation in the Example of Jesus Christ how must it needs influence and prevail on gracious Souls to endeavour a Conformity unto him therein to be as he was to do as he did seeing he was what he was and did what he did meerly out of Love unto us and for no other End And 2 Every thing which we are to imitate in Christ is other wayes also beneficial unto us For we are in its Place and Way even saved thereby By his Obedience we are made Righteous Rom. 5. 19. There is no Grace nor Duty of Christ which he did perform but we have the Advantage and Benefit of it And this encreaseth the Efficacy of this Example For who would not strive to obtain these things in himself of whose being in Christ he hath so great Advantage Sect. 59 In this Regard also therefore is the Lord Christ made Sanctification unto us and is the Cause of Evangelical Holiness in us And certainly we are the most of
of our Nature And had we continued in that State the same Image of God should have been communicated by natural Propagation But since the Fall and entrance of Sin God no more communicates Holiness unto any by way of Nature or natural Propagation For if he did so there would be no Necessity that every one who is born must be born again before he enter into the Kingdom of God as our Saviour affirmeth there is Joh. 3. 3. For he might have Grace and Holiness from his first Nativity Nor could it be said of Believers that they are born not of Blood nor of the Will of the Flesh nor of the Will of Man but of God John 1. 13. For Grace might be propagated unto them by those natural Means It was the old Pelagian Figment That what we have by Nature we have by Grace because God is the Author of Nature So he was as it was pure but it is our own as it is corrupt and what we have thereby we have of our selves in Contradiction to the Grace of God That which is born of the flesh is flesh and we have nothing else by Natural Propagation Sect. 65 3 God communicates nothing in a way of Grace unto any but in and by the Person of Christ as the Mediator and Head of the Church John 1. 18. In the Old Creation all things were made by the Eternal Word the Person of the Son as the Wisdom of God Joh. 1. 3. Col. 1. 16. There was no immediate Emanation of Divine Power from the Person of the Father for the production of all or any created Beings but in and by the Person of the Son their Wisdom and Power being one and the same as acted in him And the supportation of all things in the course of Divine Providence is his immediate Work also whence he is said to uphold all things with the Word of his Power Heb. 1. 3. And so it is in the New Creation with respect unto his Person as Mediator Therein was he the Image of the Invisible God the First-born of every Creature having the preeminence in all things and he is before all things and by him all things consist Col. 1. 15 17 18. In the raising of the whole New Creation which is by a new spiritual Life and Holiness communicated unto all the parts of it the Work is carryed on immediately by the Person of Christ the Mediator and none hath any share therein but what is received and derived from him This is plainly asserted Ephes. 2. 10. So the Apostle disposeth of this matter the Head of every man is Christ and the Head of Christ is God 1 Cor. 11. 3. which is so in respect of Influence as well as of Rule As God doth not Immediately govern the Church but in and by the Person of Christ whom he hath given to be Head over all things thereunto so neither doth he administer any Grace or Holiness unto any but in the same order For the Head of every man is Christ and the Head of Christ is God Sect. 66 4 God doth work real effectual sanctifying Grace spiritual Strength and Holiness in Believers yea that Grace whereby they are enabled to Believe and are made Holy and doth really sanctifie them more and more that they may be preserved blameless to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. This hath been so fully confirmed in the whole of what hath been discoursed both concerning Regeneration and Sanctification as that it must not be here again insisted on Wherefore all this Grace according unto the former Assertions is Communicated unto us through and by Christ and no otherwise Secondly Whatever is wrought in Believers by the Spirit of Christ it is in their Vnion to the Person of Christ and by vertue thereof That the Holy Spirit is the immediate efficient Cause of all Grace and Holiness I have sufficiently proved already unto them to whom any thing in this kind will be sufficient Now the End why the Holy Spirit is sent and consequently of all that he doth as he is so sent is to glorifie Christ and this he doth by receiving from Christ and communicating thereof unto others Joh. 16. 13 14 15. And there are two Works of this kind which he hath to doe and doth effect 1. To unite us to Christ And 2. To Communicate all Grace unto us from Christ by vertue of that Union 1 By him are we united unto Christ that is his Person and not a Light within us as some think nor the Doctrine of the Gospel as others with an equal folly seem to imagine It is by the Doctrine and Grace of the Gospel that we are united but it is the Person of Christ whereunto we are united For he that is joyned unto the Lord is one Spirit 1 Cor. 6. 17. because by that one Spirit he is joyned unto him For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one Body 1 Cor. 12. 13. implanted into the Body and united unto the Head And therefore if we have not the Spirit of Christ we are none of his Rom. 8. 9. We are therefore his that is united unto him by a Participation of his Spirit And hereby Christ himself is in us for Jesus Christ is in us except we be Reprobates 2 Cor. 13. 5. That is he is in us by his Spirit that dwelleth in us Rom. 8. 9 11. 1 Cor. 6. 19. It may therefore be enquired Whether we receive the Spirit of the Gospel from the Person of Christ or no. And this is the Enquiry which nothing but the extreme Ignorance or Impudence of some could render seasonable or tolerable seeing formerly no Christian ever doubted of it nor is he so now who doth disbelieve it It is true we receive him by the Preaching of the Gospel Gal. 3. 2. But it is no less true that we receive him immediately from the Person of Christ. For no other Reason is he called so frequently the Spirit of Christ that is the Spirit which he gives sends bestowes or Communicates He receives of the Father the Promise of the Holy Ghost and sheddeth him forth Acts 2. 33. Sect. 7 But it may be said That if hereby we are united unto Christ namely by his Spirit then we must be Holy and Obedient before we so receive him wherein our Vnion doth consist For certainly Christ doth not unite ungodly and impure Sinners unto himself which would be the greatest dishonour unto him imaginable We must therefore be holy obedient and like unto Christ before we can be united unto him and so consequently before we receive his Spirit if thereby we are united to him An. 1. If this be so then indeed are we not beholding in the least unto the Spirit of Christ that we are Holy and Obedient and like to Christ. For he that hath the Spirit of Christ is united unto him And he who is united to him hath his Spirit and none else Whatever therefore is in any man of Holiness
us by the gracious Inhabitation of his Spirit in us 1 Cor. 6. 19. Eph. 4. 30. according unto the Degree of participation allotted unto us This in the substance of it is contained in this Testimony There was and is in Jesus Christ a Fulness and Perfection of all Grace in us of our selves or by any thing that we have by Nature or natural Generation by Blood or the Flesh or the Will of Man v. 13. there is none at all Whatever we have is received and derived unto us from the Fullness of Christ which is an inexhaustible Fountain thereof by Reason of his Personal Vnion Sect. 72 To the same purpose is he said to be our Life and our Life to be hid with him in God Col. 3. 3. Life is the Principle of all Power and Operation And the Life here intended is that whereby we live to God the Life of Grace and Holiness For the Actings of it consist in the setting of our Affections on heavenly things and mortifying our Members that are on the Earth This Life Christ is He is not so Formally for if he were then it would not be our Life but his only He is therefore so Efficiently as that he is the immediate Cause and Author of it and that as he is now with God in Glory Hence it is said that we live that is this Life of God yet so as that we live not of our selves but Christ liveth in us Gal. 1. 20. And he doth no otherwise live in us but by the Communication of vital Principles and a Power for vital Acts that is Grace and Holiness from himself unto us If he be our Life we have nothing that belongs thereunto that is nothing of Grace of Holiness but what is derived unto us from him Sect. 73 To conclude we have all Grace and Holiness from Christ or we have it of our selves The old Pelagian Fiction that we have them from Christ because we have them by yielding Obedience unto his Doctrine makes our selves the only Spring and Author of them and on that Account very justly condemned by the Church of old not only as false but as blasphemous Whatever therefore is not thus derived thus conveyed unto us belongs not unto our Sanctification or Holiness nor is of the same Nature or Kind with it Whatever Ability of Mind or Will may be supposed in us what Application soever of Means may be made for the exciting and exercise of that Ability whatever Effects in Vertues Dutyes all Offices of Humanity and Honesty or Religious Observances may be produced thereby from them and wrought by us if it be not all derived from Christ as the Head and Principle of spiritual Life unto us it is a thing of another nature than Evangelical Holiness Sect. 74 Thirdly The immediate efficient Cause of all Gospel Holiness is the Spirit of God This we have sufficiently proved already And although many Cavils have been raised against the Manner of his Operation herein yet none have been yet so hardy as openly to deny that this is indeed his Work For so to doe is upon the matter expressly to renounce the Gospel Wherefore we have in our foregoing Discourses at large vindicated the manner of his Operations herein and proved that he doth not educe Grace by Moral Applications unto the natural Faculties of our Minds but that he creates Grace in us by an immediate Efficiency of Almighty Power And what is so wrought and produced differeth Essentially from any Natural or Moral Habits of our Minds however acquired or improved Sect. 75 Fourthly This Evangelical Holiness is a Fruit and Effect of the Covenant of Grace The Promises of the Covenant unto this purpose we have before on other Occasions insisted on In them doth God declare That he will cleanse and purifie our Natures that he will write his Law in our Hearts put his Fear in our inward parts and cause us to walk in his Statutes in which things our Holiness doth consist Whoever therefore hath any thing of it he doth receive it in the Accomplishment of these Promises of the Covenant For there are not two wayes whereby men may become Holy one by the Sanctification of the Spirit according to the Promise of the Covenant and the other by their own Endeavours without it though indeed Cassianus with some of the Semi-Pelagians dreamed somewhat to that purpose Wherefore that which is thus a Fruit and Effect of the Promise of the Covenant hath an especial Nature of its own distinct from whatever hath not that Relation unto the same Covenant No man can ever be made partaker of any the least Degree of that Grace or Holiness which is promised in the Covenant unless it be by vertue and as a Fruit of that Covenant For if they might do so then were the Covenant of God of none Effect for what it seems to promise in a peculiar Manner may on this Supposition be attained without it which renders it an empty Name Sect. 76 Fifthly Herein consists the Image of God whereunto we are to be renewed This I have proved before and shall afterward have Occasion to insist upon Nothing less than the intire Renovation of the Image of God in our Souls will constitute us Evangelically Holy No series of Obediential Actings no Observance of Religious Duties no Attendance unto Actions amongst men as Morally vertuous and usefull how exact soever they may be or how constant soever we may be unto them will ever render us lovely or holy in the sight of God unless they all proceed from the Renovation of the Image of God in us or that Habitual Principle of spiritual Life and Power which renders us conformable unto him Sect. 77 From what hath been thus briefly discoursed we may take a Prospect of that horrible mixture of Ignorance and Impudence wherewith some contend that the Practice of Moral Vertue is all the Holiness which is required of us in the Gospel neither understanding what they say nor whereof they do affirm But yet this they do with so great a Confidence as to despise and scoffe at any thing else which is pleaded to belong thereunto But this Pretence notwithstanding all the swelling words of vanity wherewith it is set off and vended will easily be discovered to be weak and frivolous For Sect. 78 1 The Name or Expression it self is foreign to the Scripture not once used by the Holy Ghost to denote that Obedience which God requireth of us in and according to the Covenant of Grace Nor is there any sence of it agreed upon by them who so magisterially impose it on others Yea there are many express Contests about the signification of these words and what it is that is intended by them which those who contend about them are not ignorant of and yet have they not endeavoured to reduce the sence they intend unto any Expression used concerning the same matter in the Gospel but all men must needs submit unto it that at
Holiness and are accepted with God they proceed from a peculiar Operation of the Holy Spirit in us And herein to make our Intention the more evident we may distinctly observe 1 That there is in the Minds Wills and Affections of all Believers a Meetness Fitness Readiness and habitual Disposition unto the Performance of all Acts of Obedience towards God all Duties of Piety Charity and Righteousness that are required of them and hereby are they internally and habitually distinguished from them that are not so That it is so with them and whence it comes be so we have before declared This Power and Disposition is wrought and preserved in them by the Holy Ghost 2 No Believer can of himself act that is actually exert or exercise this Principle or Power of a spiritual Life in any one Instance of any Duty internal or external towards God or Men so as that it shall be an Act of Holiness or a Duty accepted with God He cannot I say do so of himself by vertue of any Power habitually inherent in him We are not in this World intrusted with any such spiritual Ability from God as without further actual Aid and Assistance to do any thing that is Good Therefore 3 That which at present I design to prove is That the Actual Aid Assistance and internal Operation of the Spirit of God is necessary required and granted unto the producing of every holy Act of our Minds Wills and Affections in every Duty whatever Or notwithstanding the Power or Ability which Believers have received in or by Habitual Grace they still stand in need of Actual Grace in for and unto every single gracious holy Act or Duty towards God And this I shall now a little further explain and then confirm Sect. 6 As it is in our natural Lives with respect unto Gods Providence so it is in our spiritual Lives with respect unto his Grace He hath in the Works of Nature endowed us with a vital Principle or an Act of the quickening Soul upon the Body which is quickened thereby By vertue hereof we are enabled unto all vital Acts whether Natural and Necessary or Voluntary according to the Constitution of our Beings which is Intellectual God breathed into man the Breath of Life and he became a living Soul Gen. 2. 7. giving him a Principle of Life he was fitted for and enabled unto all the proper Acts of that Life For a Principle of Life is an Ability and Disposition unto Acts of Life But yet whosoever is thus made a living Soul who is indued with this Principle of Life he is not able Originally without any motion or Acting from God as the first Cause or independently on him to exert or put forth any vital Act That which hath not this Principle as a dead Carkase hath no meetness unto vital Actions nor is capable either of Motion or Alteration but as it receives Impressions from an outward Principle of Force or an inward Principle of Corruption But he in whom it is hath a Fitness Readiness and habitual Power for all vital Actions yet so as without the Concurrence of God in his Energetical Providence moving and Acting of him he can do nothing For in God we live and move and have our being Acts 17. 28. And if any one could of himself perform an Action without any Concourse of Divine Operation he must himself be absolutely the first and only Cause of that Action that is the Creatour of a New Being Sect. 7 It is so as unto our spiritual Life We are by the Grace of God through Jesus Christ furnished with a Principle of it in the Way and for the Ends before described Hereby are we enabled and disposed to Live unto God in the Exercise of spiritually vital Acts or the performance of Dutyes of Holiness And he who hath not this Principle of spiritual Life is spiritually dead as we have at large before manifested and can do nothing at all that is spiritually Good He may be moved unto and as it were compelled by the Power of Convictions to do many things that are materially so But that which is on all Considerations spiritually good and accepted with God he can do nothing of The Enquiry is What Believers themselves who have received this Principle of spiritual Life and are Habitually sanctified can do as to Actual Duties by vertue thereof without a new immediate Assistance and working of the Holy Spirit in them And I say they can no more do any thing that is spiritually good without the particular Concurrence and Assistance of the Grace of God unto every Act thereof than a man can naturally act or move or doe any thing in an absolute Independency on God his Power and Providence And this proportion between the Works of Gods Providence and of his Grace the Apostle expresseth Ephes. 2. 10. For we are his Workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good Works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them God at the Beginning made all things by a creating Power producing them out of Nothing and left them not meerly to themselves and their own Powers when so created but he upholds supports sustains and preserves them in the Principles of their Beings and Operations acting powerfully in and by them after their several Kinds Without his Supportment of their Beings by an Actual incessant Emanation of Divine Power the whole Fabrick of Nature would dissolve into Confusion and nothing And without his Influence into and Concurrence with their Ability for Operation by the same Power all things would be dead and deformed and not one Act of Nature be exerted So also is it in this Work of the New Creation of all things by Jesus Christ. We are the Workmanship of God he hath formed and fashioned us for himself by the Renovation of his Image in us Hereby are we sitted for good Works and the Fruits of Righteousness which he hath appointed as the Way of our Living unto him This New Creature this Divine Nature in us he supporteth and preserveth so as that without his continual influential Power it would perish and come to nothing But this is not all He doth moreover act it and effectually concurre to every singular Duty by new supplyes of Actual Grace So then that which we are to prove is That there is an Actual Operation of the Holy Ghost in us necessary unto every Act and Duty of Holiness whatever without which none either will or can be produced or performed by us which is the Second Part of his Work in our Sanctification And there are several Wayes whereby this is confirmed unto us Sect. 8 First The Scripture declares that we our selves cannot in and by our selves that is by vertue of any strength or power that we have received do any thing that is spiritually Good So our Saviour tells his Apostles when they were sanctified Believers and in them all that are so without me ye can do nothing John 15.
3. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã So without me Seorsim a me so separated from me as a Branch may be from the Vine If a Branch be so separated from the Root and Body of the Vine as that it receives not continual supplyes of Nourishment from them if their Influence into it be by any Means intercepted it proceeds not in its Growth it brings forth no Fruit but is immediately under decay It is so saith our Saviour with Believers in respect unto him Unless they have continual uninterrupted influences of Grace and spiritually vital Nourishment from him they can do nothing Without me expresseth a Denyal of all the spiritual Aid that we have from Christ. On supposition hereof we can do nothing that is by our own Power or by vertue of any Habit or Principle of Grace we have received For when we have received it what we can do thereby without further actual Assistance we can do of our selves You can do nothing that is which appertains to Fruit-bearing unto God In things Natural and Civil we can do somewhat and in things Sinfull too much we need no Aid or Assistance for any such purpose But in Fruit-hearing unto God we can do nothing Now every Act of Faith and Love every Motion of our Minds or Affections towards God is a part of our Fruit-bearing and so unquestionably are all external Works and and Duties of Holiness and Obedience Wherefore our Saviour himself being Judge Believers who are really sanctified and made partakers of Habitual Grace yet cannot of themselves without new actual Ayd and Assistance of Grace from him do any thing that is spiritually Good or acceptable with God Sect. 9 Our Apostle confirmeth the same Truth 2 Cor. 3. 4 5. And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward not that we are sufficient of our selves to think any thing as of our selves but our sufficiency is of God It is a great and eminent Grace which he declareth that he was acting namely Trust in God through Christ in the Discharge of his Ministry and for the blessed Success thereof But he had no sooner expressed it than he seems to be jealous lest he should appear to have assumed something to himself in this Work or the Trust he had for its Success This no man was ever more cautious against and indeed it was incumbent on him so to be because he was appointed to be the principal Minister and Preacher of the Grace of Jesus Christ. Therefore I say he addes a Caution against any such Apprehensions and openly renounceth any such Power Ability or Sufficiency in himself as that by vertue thereof he could act so excellent a Grace or perform so great a Duty Not that we are sufficient of our selves And in this matter he hath not only in places innumerable asserted the Necessity and Efficacy of Grace with our impotency without it but in his own Instance he hath made such a Distinction between what was of himself and what of Grace with such an open Disclaimure of any Interest of his own in what was Spiritually good distinct from Grace as should be sufficient with all sober Persons to determine all differences in this Case See 1 Cor. 15. 10. Gal. 2. 21. and this place I assume no such thing to my self I ascribe no such thing unto any other as that I or they should have in our selves a sufficiency unto any such purpose For our Apostle knew nothing of any sufficiency that needed any other thing to make it effectual And he doth not exclude such a sufficiency in our selves with respect unto eminent Actings of Grace and greater Duties but with respect unto every good Thought or whatever may have a tendency unto any spiritual Duty We cannot conceive we cannot engage in the Beginning of any Duty by our own sufficiency For it is the beginning of Dutyes which the Apostle expresseth by thinking our Thoughts and Projections being Naturally the first thing that belongs unto our Actions And this he doth as it were on purpose to obviate that Pelagian Fiction that the Beginning of Good was from our selves but we had the help of Grace to perfect it But what then if we have no such sufficiency to what purpose should we set about the thinking or doing of any thing that is good Who will be so unwise as to attempt that which he hath no strength to accomplish And doth not the Apostle hereby deny that he himself had performed and Holy Duties or Acted any Grace or done any thing that was good seeing he had no sufficiency of himself so to doe to obviate this cavil he confines this denyal of a sufficiency unto our selves we have it not of our selves But saith he our sufficiency is of God that is we have it by Actual supplies of Grace necessary unto every Duty and how God Communicates this sufficiency and how we receive it he declares Chap. 9. v. 8. God is able to make all Grace abound towards you that ye alwaies having all sufficiency in all things may abound to every good work God manifests the abounding of Grace towards us when he works an effective sufficiency in us which he doth so as to enable us to abound in good works or Duties of Holiness These are those supplies of Grace which God gives us unto all our Duties as He had promised unto him in his own ease Chap. 12. 9. And this is the first Demonstration of the Truth proposed unto Consideration namely the Testimonies given in the Scripture that Believers themselves cannot of themselves perform any Acts or Duties of Holiness any thing that is spiritually good Therefore these things are Effects of Grace and and must be wrought in us by the Holy Ghost who is the immediate Author of all Divine Operations Sect. 10 Secondly All Actings of Grace all good Duties are actually ascribed unto the Operation of the Holy Ghost The particular Testimonies hereunto are so multiplyed in the Scripture as that it is not convenient nor indeed possible to call them over distinctly some of them in a way of instance may be insisted on and reduced unto three heads Sect. 11 1 There are many places wherein we are said to be led guided acted by the Spirit to live in the Spirit to walk after the Spirit to do things by the Spirit that dwelleth in us For nothing in general can be intended in these expressions but the Actings of the Holy Spirit of God upon our Souls in a Complyance wherewith as acting when we are acted by him our Obedience unto God according to the Gospel doth consist Gal. 5. 16. Walk in the Spirit To walk in the Spirit is to walk in Obedience unto God according to the supplies of Grace which the Holy Ghost administers unto us for so it is added that we shall not then fullfill the lusts of the flesh that is we shall be kept up unto Holy Obedience and the avoydance of sin So are we said to be led by the Spirit
ver 18. being acted by him and not by the vitious depraved principles of our corrupted Nature Rom. 8. 4. Walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit To walk after the flesh is to have the principles of indwelling sin acting its self in us unto the production and perpetration of actual sins Wherefore to walk after the Spirit is to have the Spirit acting in us to the effecting of all gracious Acts and Duties And this is given unto us in command that we neglect not his motions in us but comply with them in a way of Diligence and Duty see ver 14. 15. So are we injoyned to attend unto particular Duties through the Holy Ghost that dwelleth in us 2 Tim. 1. 14. that is through his Assistance without which we can do nothing Sect. 12 2 As we are said to be led and acted by him so he is declared to be the Authour of all gracious Actings in us Galat. 5. 22. 23. The fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace long-suffering gentleness goodness meekness temperance All these things are wrought and brought forth in us by the Spirit for they are his fruits And not onely the Habit of them but all their Actings in all their Exercise are from him Every Act of Faith is Faith and every Act of Love is Love and consequently no Act of them is of our selves but every one of them is a fruit of the Spirit of God So in another place he adds an universal affirmative comprehending all instances of particular Graces and their Exercise Ephes. 5. 9. The fruit of the Spirit is in all Goodness and Righteousness and Truth Unto these three heads all Actings of Grace all Duties of Obedience all parts of Holiness may be reduced And it is through the supplies of the Spirit that he trusteth for a good issue of his Obedience Phil. 1. 19. So is it expressely in the Promise of the Covenant Ezek. 36. 27. I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my Statutes and ye shall keep my Judgments and doe them This is the whole that God requireth of us and it is all wrought in us by his Spirit So also Chap. 11. 19 20. Jerem. 32. 39 40. All the Obedience and Holiness that God requires of us in the Covenant all Duties and Actings of Grace are promised to be wrought in us by the Spirit after we are assured that of our selves we can doe nothing Sect. 13 3 Particular Graces and their Exercise are assigned unto his acting and working in us Gal. 5. 5. We through the Spirit wait for the Hope of Righteousness by Faith The hope of the Righteousness of Faith is the thing hoped for thereby All that we look for or expect in this World or hereafter is by the Righteousness of Faith Our quiet waiting for this is an especial Gospel Grace and Duty This we do not of our selves but through the Spirit Phil. 3. 3. We worship God in the Spirit love the brethren in the Spirit Col. 1. 8. we purifie our souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the Brethren 1 Pet. 1. 22. See Eph. 1. 17. Act. 19. 31. Rom. 5. 5. Rom. 8. 15. 22 26. 1 Thes. 1. 6. Rom. 14. 17. Chap. 15. 13 16. of Faith it is said expressely that it is not of our selves it is the gift of God Ephes. 2. 7 8. Sect. 14 Thirdly There are Testimonies that are express unto the Position as before laid down Phil. 2. 13. It is God who worketh in you both to will and to doe of his good pleasure The things thus wrought are all things that appertain unto our Obedience and Salvation as is evident from the Connexion of the words with v. 12. Work out your Salvation with fear and trembling Hereunto two things are required 1 Power for such Operations or for all the Duties of Holiness and Obedience that are required of us That this we are indued withall that this is wrought in us bestowed upon us by the Holy Ghost hath been before abundantly confirmed But when this is done for us is there ought else yet remaining to be done Yea 2 There is the Actual Exercise of the Grace we have received How may this be Exercised All the whole work of Grace consists in the internal Acts of our Wills and external Operations in Duties suitable thereunto This therefore is incumbent on us this we are to look unto in our selves it is our Duty so to do namely to stir up and exercise the Grace we have received in and unto its proper Operations But it is so our Duty as that of our selves we cannot perform it It is God who worketh effectually in us all those gracious Acts of our Wills and all holy Operations in a way of Duty Every Act of our Wills so far as it is Gracious and Holy is the Act of the Spirit of God efficiently He worketh in us to will or the very Act of willing To say he doth only perswade us or excite and stirre up our Wills by his Grace to put forth their own Acts is to say he doth not do what the Apostle affirms him to do For if the gracious Actings of our Wills be so our own as not to be his he doth not work in us to will but only perswadeth us so to do But the same Apostle utterly excludeth this pretense 1 Cor. 15. 10. I laboured abundantly yet not I but the grace of God which was with me He had a Necessity incumbent on him of declaring the great labour he had undergone and the pains he had taken in preaching of the Gospel But yet immediately least any one should apprehend that he ascribed any thing to himself any gracious holy Actings in those Labours he addes his usual Epanorthosis Not I let me not be mistaken it was not I by any power of mine by any thing in me but it was all wrought in me by the free Grace of the Spirit of God Not I but Grace is the Apostles Assertion Suppose now that God by his Grace doth no more but aid assist and excite the Will in its Actings that he doth not effectually work all the gracious Actings of our Souls in all our Duties the Proposition would hold on the other hand Not Grace but I seeing the principal Relation of the Effect is unto the next and immediate Cause and thence hath it its Denomination And as he worketh them To Will in us so also To Doe that is Effectually to perform those Duties whereunto the gracious actings of our Wills are required Sect. 15 And what hath been spoken may suffice to prove that the Holy Spirit as the Author of our Sanctification worketh also in us all gracious Acts of Faith Love and Obedience wherein the first Part of our Actual Holiness and Righteousness doth consist And the Truth thus confirmed may be further improved unto our Instruction and Edification 1 It is easily hence discernible How contrary are the Designs
some indeed who being under the Power of that Blindnesse and Darknesse which is a Principal part of the Depravation of our Nature doe neither see nor discern the Inward secret Actings and Motions of sin its Deceit and Restlesness its mixing its self one way or other in all our Dutyes with the Defilement and Guilt wherewith these things are accompanied who judge that God scarce takes notice of any thing but outward Actions and it may be not much of them neither so as to be displeased with them unlesse they are very foul indeed which yet he is easily intreated to passe by and excuse who judge this Duty superfluous despising both the Confession and Mortification of Sin in this Root and Principle of it But those who have received most Grace and Power from above against it are of all others the most sensible of its Power and Guilt and of the Necessity of Applying themselves continually unto its Destruction 2 With respect unto its Inclinations and Operations wherein it variously exerts its Power in all particular instances we are continually to watch against it and to subdue it And this concerns us in all that we are and doe in our Duties in our Calling in our Conversation with others in our Retirements in the frames of our Spirits in our Streights in our Mercies in the use of our Enjoyments in our Temptations If we are negligent unto any Occasion we shall suffer by it This is our Enemy and this is the Warre we are ingaged in Every mistake every neglect is perillous Sect. 12 And 3 The End of this Duty with respect unto us expressed by the Apostle is that henceforth we should not serve sin which referres unto the Perpetration of Actual Sins the bringing forth of the Actual Fruits of the Flesh internal or external also In whosoever the Old man is not crucisied with Christ let him think what he will of himself he is a servant of Sin If he have not received Vertue from the Death of Christ if he be not wrought unto a Conformity to him therein whatever else he may do or attain however he may in any thing in many things change his Course and reform his Life he serves sin and not God Our great Design ought to be that we should no longer serve sin which the Apostle in the ensuing Verses gives us many Reasons for It is indeed the worst service that a Rational Creature is capable of and will have the most dolefull End What therefore is the only Way and Means whereby we may attain this End namely that although Sin will abide in us yet that we may not serve it which will secure us from its Danger This is that Mortification of it which we insist upon and no other If we expect to be freed from the service of Sin by its own giving over to press its Dominions upon us or by any Composition with it or any other way but by being alwayes killing or destroying of it we do but deceive our own Souls Sect. 13 And indeed it is to be feared that the Nature of this Duty is not sufficiently understood or not sufficiently considered Men look upon it as an easie Task and that which will be carried on with a little Diligence and ordinary Attendance But do we think it is for nothing that the Holy Ghost expresseth the Duty of opposing Sin and weakening its Power by Mortification killing or putting to death Is there not somewhat peculiar herein beyond any other Act or Duty of our Lives Certainly there is intimated a great Contest of Sin for the preservation of its Life Every thing will do its utmost to preserve its Life and Being So will Sin do also and if it be not constantly pursued with Diligence and Holy Violence it will escape our Assaults Let no man think to kill sin with few easie or gentle strokes He who hath once smitten a Serpent if he follow not on his blow untill it be slain may repent that ever he begun the quarrel And so will he who undertakes to deal with Sin and pursues it not constantly to death Sin will after a while revive and the Man must dye It is a great and fatal Mistake if we suppose this Work will admit of any remisseness or intermission Again the Principle to be slain is in our selves and so possessed of our Faculties as that it is called our selves It cannot be killed without a sense of pain and trouble Hence it is compared to the cutting off of Right Hands and the plucking out of Right Eyes Lusts that pretend to be usefull to the State and Condition of men that are pleasant and satisfactory to the Flesh will not be mortified without such a Violence as the whole Soul shall be deeply sensible of And sundry other things might be insisted on to manifest how men deceive themselves if they suppose this Duty of Mortification is that which they may carry on in a negligent careless Course and Manner Is there no Danger in this Warfare no Watchfulness no Diligence required of us Is it so easie a thing to kill an Enemy who hath so many Advantages of force and fraud Wherefore if we take care of our Souls we are to attend unto this Duty with that Care Diligence Watchfulness and earnest Contention of spirit which the Nature of it doth require Sect. 14 And moreover there is no less fatal Mistake where we make the Object of this Duty to be only some particular Lusts or the Fruits of them in Actual sins as was before observed This is the way with many They will make Head against some Sins which on one Account or other they find themselves most concerned in but if they will observe their Course they shall find with how little success they do it For the most part Sin gets ground upon them and they continually groan under the Power of its Victories And the Reason is because they mistake their Business Contests against particular sins are only to comply with Light and Convictions Mortification with a Design for Holiness respects the Body of Sin the Root and all its Branches The first will miscarry and the latter will be successefull And herein consists the Difference between that Mortification which men are put upon by Convictions from the Law which alwayes proves fruitless and that wherein we are acted by the Spirit of the Gospel The first respects only particular sins as the Guilt of them reflects upon Conscience the latter the whole Interest of Sin as opposed to the Renovation of the Image of God in us Sect. 15 Thirdly That which remains further to be demonstrated is That the Holy Spirit is the Author of this Work in us so that although it is our Duty it is his Grace and Strength whereby it is performed as also the Manner how it is wrought by him which is principally intended For the first we have the truth of it asserted Rom. 8. 13. If ye through the Spirit do mortifie
of Christ in the State of the Dead 146 10 Death Natural what it is 240 5 Death Natural and Spiritual wherein they differ and wherein they agree 243 13 Death of Christ applyed by the Spirit for the Mortification of Sin 492 33 Spiritual Death Two-fold 239 2 Decayes in Grace to be found in many 353 Deceits practical about Holiness 420 Dedication unto God in what sence it is Sanctification 324 7 Deep Things of God what and how searched by the Spirit 56 19 Defilement of Sin wherein it doth consist 374 4 Degrees of Prophecy fancied by the Jewes rejected 105 11 Degrees in Holiness and growth in Grace whereon they do depend 167 10 Deliverances means of Conviction 294 13 Delight an Effect of Love 514 27 Delight in Sinners as sinning the highest degree of Shamelesness 397 398 How the Spirit of God departed from Saul 37 11 How the Holy Spirit departeth from Men. 91 19 Natural Depravation discovers the Nature of the Grace of Conversion 279 48 Depravation of the Mind how removed 282 52 Depravation of the Mind by Sin what it is and wherein it doth consist 209 13 Description of Sanctification 338 2 Spiritual Desertions and the Nature of them by some Derided 92 19 Design of the Gospel what it is 330 13 Design to be like unto God the Life of Holiness 503 11 Desires of Heaven of what sort they ought to be 512 21 Despisers of God who are so 538 11 Destruction of Sin in the Root and Principle our great Duty 405 Determination of the Will as a free Principle by Grace proved 284 55 Diabolical Pride in Scoffing at the Humiliation of Sinners 405 Difference between receiving Doctrines Notionally and Things really 219 28 Difference about Free-will stated and debated 434 34 Difference between a Spiritual Life and a Life of Moral Vertue 408 17. 414 6 Difference in Religion before the Entrance of Sin and afterwards 461 81 Differences between the life of Adam in Innocency and the life of Grace in Christ. 241 9 Differences about Regeneration none in it 178 12 Different Operations and Effects of one and the same Spirit 38 12 Different degrees of Graces 340 4 Difficulties of Faith 401 13 Difficulties in Duties from sundry Causes 438 39 Difficulty and Necessity of the Work of Mortification 480 13 Dignity of Professors wherein it consists 511 20 Diligence required in the Exercise of Grace 354 Discerning of Spirits an extraordinary Gift at the first 18 22 Discovery of Graces of Holiness springing from Election 443 46 Discovery of a false Foundation of Duties 364 Dispensation of the Spirit not consined unto the first times of the Church 25 28 Dispensation of the Spirit in general declared 79 80 1 2 3. Take away the Dispensation of the Spirit and the whole Church is ruined 157 Disposition of the Soul unto Acts and Duties of Holiness from an inward Principle 423 16 No Disposition unto spiritual Life in a State of spiritual Death 250 29 A Gracious Disposition expressed by Fear Love and Delight 427 17 Depraved Disposition in the Mind by Nature 215 20 Dispositions unto Regeneration of what sort 191 1 Natural Dispositions of some more sedate than of others 568 4 Disquisitions after God by the Light of Nature and their success 230 48 Distinct Operations ascribed unto the distinct Persons in the Trinity 45 4 Manifestation of the Distinction of Persons in the Divine Nature a great End in the Work of the New Creation 155 2 Distresses upon Conviction of Sin 302 27 Distribution of spiritual Gifts 6 5 Distributions of Grace used by the Ancients 255 6 Disturbance on Divine Revelations whence it proceeds 103 9 Diversity of Gifts an Occasion of Differences in the Churches 7 7 Knowledge of Divine things in their Operations and Effects 20 24 Divine voluntary Actings constantly ascribed unto the Holy Spirit in the Scripture 49 10 Divine Persons succeeded not to each other in their Operations 70 3 Divine Nature in Christ acted not as his Soul 137 2 No true Apprehension of Divine Goodness but in Christ. 229 36 Division of the Holy Spirit in what sence spoken of 93 20 Doctrine of the Spirit of God the second great Principle of the Spirit 8 9 Doctrine of the Spirit the Life of all saving Truth 33 8 Doctrine of the Trinity despised by many 45 4 Doctrine of Regeneration variously described 196 10 Doctrine of some men about Regeneration 261 19 Doctrine of Obedience taught by Christ and what is considerable therein 558 10 Doctrines concerning the Operations of the Spirit of God preached with Efficacy 26 31 Things or Doctrines of the Gospel reduced to two Heads 223 36 The Dove under which shape the Holy Ghost appeared of what sort it was 52 53 15 16 Dreams a Means of Divine Revelation 107 13 Christ how Driven by the Spirit 142 Duty not the Measure of Power 379 Things wrought in a way of Grace prescribed in a way of Duty 379 No Duty of Obedience but an Holy Heart is enclined unto it 425 19 Duty and End to be considered in every Act of Obedience 441 43 Dutyes of Persons intrusted with spiritual Priviledges 7 1 Dutyes required in order to Conversion 192 3 Dutyes of Morality in the Gospel superstitious not the Foundation 235 58 Dutyes of Vnbelievers how Sins 248 25 Good Dutyes how vitiated yet accepted 248 26 The same Dutyes how accepted and rejected with respect unto divers Persons ibid. Dutyes not accepted on the Account of Persons 249 26 Dutyes of Faith Repentance and Obedience on what Grounds to be pressed on men 249 28 Good Dutyes of Vnregenerate men how to be esteemed 250 251 30 Dutyes of themselves will denominate no man Holy 362 Dutyes of Morality and Piety to be encouraged 420 Special Dutyes of those who have received a Principle of Holiness 422 Dutyes Internal and External distinguished 463 2 Dutyes of Believers and Vnbelievers differ in their Substance 471 16 Dutyes required in order unto the Mortication of Sin 487 23 Dutyes how to be performed that Sin may be mortified 489 27 Dutyes of Holiness more clearly revealed by Christ than any other way 557 9 How the Spirit dwelleth in Believers notwithstanding the Remainders of Sin 484 20 E. Earth in the first Creation what it contained 72 8 Education and Convictions in some measure compose Natures Disorders 568 6 Effects of Conviction where to be placed in the Soul 199 15 Effects of natural Vanity and how they are to be opposed 214 19 Effects of Conviction 301 26 Effects of the Priestly Acts of Christ of two sorts 555 3 Especial Effects of Divine Love 514 25 Every work of the Spirit Effectual 198 14 Effectual Work of Grace and our own earnest Endeavours consistent 345 7 Efficacy given to all Ordinances by the Holy Spirit 23 26 No Efficacy in second Causes independently on the first 77 15 Efficacy of Faith whence it ariseth 401 13 Efficacy of the Death of Christ for the destruction of Sin wherein it
consists 493 34 Real internal Efficiency ascribed unto Grace 269 29 Eminent Effusions of the Holy Spirit accompanyed with effectual Delusions of Sathan at the same time 18 22 Plentiful Effusion of the Spirit the great Promise of the Old Testament 122 2 The Elect the subject of the Promise of the Spirit as to Regeneration 357 3 Election the Spring of all true Holiness 442 45 Eternal Election a Cause of and Motive unto Holiness 520 c. No Evidence of Election without Holiness 521 5 Election absolutely considered no part of Gods Revealed Will. 523 10 No man Obliged to believe his Election before Conversion 524 13 Who are bound to believe that they are Elected 525 13 Divine Emanation of the Holy Spirit from the Father and Son 35 9 End of Prophesie in the Church 99 5 End of Miraculous Operations 115 21 End of God in the Work of the Old and New Creature 155 2 End of Afflictions and Tryals 343 6 End of Dutyes Two-fold 441 44 End of Legal Commands 535 5 Ends of Holiness for which it is required 414 4 Principal Ends for which the Holy Spirit is promised 357 3 Enforcements unto Obedience from the Authority of God in his Commands 538 10 11 No Enjoyment of God without Purification from Sin 378 Enmity of the Carnal Mind against God and his Wayes 231 49 50 Natural Impotency and Enmity how taken away 278 46 Enquiry into the Reasons and Difficulties in Holy Duties 438 8 Enthusiastical Raptures no Means of Conversion 186 25 No Enthusiastical Impressions in Conversion 270 32 No Entrance with God without Holiness 504 11 Equity of the Law how it respects the Ability of them that are Obliged by it 249 27 Espousals of the Blessed Virgin with Joseph the Necessity thereof 134 14 Essence and Form of Holiness wherein it consists 415 7 8 Eternal Love a powerfull Motive unto Holiness 525 14 Evangelical Holiness distinguished from all Pretences thereunto 439 40 No Evangelical Truth inconsistent with Holinesse or repugnant thereunto 507 16 Evidences of Regeneration various 177 11 No Evidence of an Interest in the Oblation of Christ unless we are Holy 556 4 Infallible Evidences of Divine Inspiration 104 10 Evil Spirits and their Operations 37 11 Evil Frame of Nature how Cured 383 Evil Spirit how it wrought in Saul 112 18 All Excellencies ascribed unto the Holy Spirit in the Scripture 98 3 How Christ is our Example 447 448 449 Exhortations respect Duty not Ability 244 17 Experience of the work of the Spirit of God in the Souls of Men. 27 31 Experiences of the Truth and Reality of things believed supplyed by the Holy Spirit 341 5 Experience of the Defilement of Sin 372 3 External Duties of two sorts 464 4 Extraordinary Works of the Holy Spirit the several kinds of them 99 4 Extraordinary Acts of Christ during the Course of his private Life 140 F. Face of the Earth by what means Annually renewed 74 9 Facility in Dutyes of Obedience from a Principle of Holiness 436 37 Faith and Obedience with respect unto the Gift of the Holy Ghost how to be regulated 90 16 Faith Actually wrought by Grace 272 36 Faith and Love the Spring of Holiness how they are encreased 340 5 Faith encreased by the due Proposal of its proper Objects 341 5 What Faith is required that a man may please God 362 Faith alone interests us in the purifying Vertue of the Blood of Christ. 388 Faith worketh by Prayer unto the Cleansing of Sin 390 6 How it purgeth the Soul 390 8 Faith whether it be a Fixing of the Imagination 400 The Power of Faith in Conforming the Soul unto God 513 24 Faith of Election tends not to Carelesness 530 22 Faith without Holiness vain 553 38 Faithfulness of God in his Promises to be pleaded in Prayer 360 How the Holy Spirit doth Fall on men 90 17 Reasons of Mens Falling from a Course of Duties 548 26 False pretences unto the Name and Work of the Holy Spirit 13 15 False Prophets how they were Acted ib. 16 False Prophets of two sorts some meerly Acted by the Devil some pretenders only 14 17 False pretences to Divine Revelation Sathans Design therein 15 18 False Prophets why called Spirits 16 21 False Notions of Jews and Mahumetans about the Spirit of God 33 8 The Father how he is said to raise Christ from the Dead 148 All Grace Originally from the Father 163 Dread and Fear attending Convictions of Sin 304 30 Fear inseperable from Guilt 375 Fear of Sin a Fruit of Faith 404 Fear of Man how to be removed 539 13 Fiery Tongues what they signified 54 17 Figurative Expressions multiplyed in the Scripture 48 9 Figurative Expressions setting out the Vileness of Sin 402 The Nature of the Guilt and Filth of Sin how made known 375 The Finger of God what it is 72 7 Filiation a personal Adjunct 133 11 Fire on the Altar what it signified 53 16 Fire and Water the Means of all Typical Cleansing 371 1 Folly of men in seeking after Instruction in Moral Duties from others rather than from Christ. 558 11 The Things of God Foolishness unto the Mind of the Natural man how and in what sence 221 31 No Force put upon the Faculties of our Souls by the Operations of the Spirit 187 Forming of the Host of Heaven and Earth the Work of the Holy Spirit 71 7 Forming of the Body of Christ in the Womb the Work of the Holy Spirit 131 10 Foundation of all Church-Order in the Confession of the Lordship of Christ. 4 2 Foundation of the Ministry of the Church in the Promise of the Spirit 156 3 Foundation of Moral Differences among Mankind 364 Freedome and Bounty in the Gift of the Spirit 82 4 Free-will wherein it ends consists 433 33 Freedom of Corrupted Nature and of Grace 434 33 Frequency in Duties produceth Facility 437 Fruits of Sin Internal and External 476 6 Fruits of Election its onely Manifestation 524 13 Evil Frame of Nature how Cured 383 Fulness of Christ what it is and how Communicated 457 71 Fundamental Principles to be attended unto in the tryal of Spirits 17 12 G. Gift of Prophesie honourable in the Church of Old and why 13 16 Gift of Prophesie falsely pretended unto and abused 13 16 The Gift of Prophesie whether ever given to Wicked men 110 17 Gift of Prophesie not a sanctifying Grace 111 18 Gifts of Civil Government from the Holy Ghost 116 22 Gifts for the Discharge of the Office of Mediator Collated on the Humane Nature of Christ by the Holy Ghost 139 4 Gifts how to be prayed for 360 The Holy Spirit Given of God and how 80 3 Giving and Receiving related ibid. Giving of the Spirit includes Authority Freedom and Bounty 81 4 The Spirit how Given by the Father in the way of Authority 81 4 To Glorifie God as God what it is 44 2 Glorified Body of Christ the Example of ours 149 12 Glorying in Sin its Abomination 397 12
God Author of our Sanctification 322 3 God how he is the God of Peace 323 3 All good in the Scripture ascribed to the Holy Spirit 470 15 A good man who he is 515 516 29 No good in us but what is wrought by the Holy Spirit 11 13 The good Spirit and the Holy Spirit the same 38 12 Good Spirit of God over-ruling the Devil 112 18 Gospel how abused and despised 223 36 Apprehension of Gods Goodness in the Light of Nature not sufficient to reconcile men to him 229 47 No true Apprehension of the Divine Goodness but in Christ. 229 48 Nature of the Gospel with respect unto the Objects of mens Lusts and Desires 233 54 Things peculiarly belonging to the Gospel or its own Things 234 56 Things known in the Light of Nature further manifested in the Gospel 234 What the Gospel superaddes unto Moral Duties 235 57 Gospel sent for the Accomplishment of the Decree of Election 524 11 Nature of Gospel Precepts 535 6 Grace taken two wayes in the Scripture 164 7 Grace how really efficient in Conversion 264 23 Grace of the Gospel overthrown by asserting it to be a Moral Suasion only 265 23 Nature of Converting Grace explained 268 27 Grace victorious and irresistible 270 30 Grace internal not resisted 271 34 Grace produced by a Creating Act. 275 40 Grace and Nature opposed 322 3 All Grace depends on continual Influences from God 344 6 All Grace Originally in Christ. 362 Things wrought in a way of Grace prescribed in a way of Duty 379 Grace excited by Afflictions 392 Sin and Grace cannot bear rule in the same Person at the same time 429 25 Grace and Nature opposed 322 3 Grace how it frees the Soul from spiritual Incumbrances 436 36 Grace how communicated from Christ unto Believers 457 70 Administration of Grace not equal at all times 547 24 Graces acted and exercised in the Oblation of Christ. 144 Graces which are our Duties not absolutely in our own power 322 2 Graces of Holiness improved into Glory 328 10 All Graces excited unto Exercise by the Holy Ghost 341 5 Graces whose Exercise is Occasional onely how they are encreased 343 6 Graces eminently making us like unto God 513 23 Graces declaring our Conformity to God 515 28 Growth in Grace and Wisdom how ascribed unto Christ. 138 2 Growth in Holiness compared unto that of Trees and Plants 346 8 Growth of Holiness secret and indiscernible 347 8 Growth in Holiness an Object of Faith 351 10 Growth in Holiness enjoyned unto us and required of us 339 4 Growth in Holiness an Access towards Glory 511 21 H. Habit of Holiness antecedently necessary to every Act of Holiness 416 8 Habit of Grace preserved by the constant Influences of the Holy Spirit 417 10 Habit of Holiness not acquired but preserved in a way of Duty ibid. Habit of Holiness permanent in its Inclination 427 23 Habits encline unto Acts of their own kind for a certain End 423 15 Infused Habits of Grace proved 280 50 Intellectual Habits the Nature of them 415 8 Habitual Vncleanness equal in all 378 Habitual Pollution inconsistent with any Holiness ibid. Habitual Grace necessary unto all Acts of Obedience 548 26 Tongues and Hands of the Prophets guided by the Holy Ghost 105 10 Harmony between Grace and the Command 551 33 Head of the Church first respected in the New Creation 128 1 The Heart what it signifies and how it is depraved 212 17 Stony Heart how taken away 277 43 New Heart promised what it is 277 44 418 11 Heart the meaning of it in the Scripture 367 Historical Books of the Scripture written by Divine Inspiration 113 19 The Holy Spirit how both Lord and God 6 4 Holy Spirit the onely Author unto us of all spiritual Good 11 12 The Holy Spirit known by his Operations 21 24 Holy Spirit so called from his immaterial substance 34 9 The Holy Spirit so called first because he is essentially holy 35 36 9 10 Holy Spirit called holy from his Work 36 10 Holy Spirit in what sence called the Spirit of God 38 13 Holy Spirit how called the Spirit of the Son 39 14 The Holy Spirit an Eternal Infinite Intelligent Person 46 47 48 49 c. 7 8 9 10 c. The Holy Spirit hath a spiritual substance and subsistence of his own 54 18 Why the Holy Spirit never Appeared in the Person of a Man 55 18 The Holy Spirit the Author of the Ministry of the Church 61 26 The Holy Spirit the Object of mens Actings in Religion 62 28 The Holy Spirit not a Quality or Vertue of the Divine Nature 64 30 The Holy Spirit expresly called God 64 31 The Holy Spirit given of God and how 80 3 The Holy Spirit compared unto Fire and Water and why 88 13 The Holy Spirit One dividing as he pleaseth to others 94 21 The Holy Spirit the Promise and Legacy of Christ. 124 6 The Holy Spirit the Spirit of the Son as well as of the Father and what followeth thereon 130 8 Actings of the Holy Spirit not ascribed unto him Exclusively 130 9 The Holy Spirit supplyes the bodily Absence of Christ. 158 5 Holy Spirit worketh by Means ordinarily 187 25 The Holy Spirit the immediate Sanctifier of all Believers 337 15 The Holy Spirit promised with respect unto his Effects 357 2 Holy Spirit the principal efficient Cause of the Mortification of Sin 481 15 c. Holy Ghost how the Power of the most High 132 No Holiness but by the Gospel and the Grace of it 325 8 Holiness passeth over into Eternity and Glory and how 328 11 Holiness glorious in this Life 329 12 Holiness all that God requireth of Believers 330 13 Holiness commanded in a way of Duty promised in a way of Grace 336 14 Holiness in its true Nature 338 2 Holiness how it is encreased in Believers 340 4 Holiness may thrive where its growth is not discerned 350 10 Holiness pleaseth God wherever it is 361 5 No Holiness beyond the bounds of Relation to Christ. 363 6 Holiness of God wherein it consists 374 4 Where the Principle of Holiness is there will be the Fruits of it 421 All Holiness derived from Christ. 450 451 c. Evangelical Holiness an effect of the Covenant of Grace 459 75 Holiness of God how an Argument of the Necessity of Holiness in us 500 5 Holiness not absolutely of the same use under the New Covenant and the Old 503 9 Holiness necessary unto the future Enjoyment of God 504 13 Holiness the highest Excellency whereof our Nature is capable 509 18 Holiness the Design of God in Election 521 3 Vniversal Holiness how required in the Precepts of the Gospel 535 6 Necessity of Holiness 537 9 Moral Honesty not Holiness 363 6 The Host of Heaven what it is 70 6 Host of the Earth 71 6 Humane Nature of Christ derived no evil from the Fall of Adam Reasons thereof 136 1 Sanctification of the Humane Nature of
114 20 Matter of Holiness wherein it consists 411 3 Means assigned in the Wisdom of God for the Recovery of fallen Man 8 9 Due Means to be sued in coming to the knowledge of Christ. 151 14 False Means rejected ibid. Means of Regeneration various 177 10 Vse of Means towards Persons unregenerate 244 16 Measures of the Gift of the Holy Spirit 95 21 The Spirit not given by Measure to Christ. 140 Mediation of Christ the only procuring Cause of Holiness 444 49 Christ a Mediator in what sence 451 62 Mediation of Christ confined unto his Offices 554 2 Merit inâânsistent with Grace 332 13 Merit destractive unto Holiness 505 14 Metaphors not to be faigned in the Scripture 57 21 Metaphor in the Expression of sending the Spirit 84 8 Meteors when created 72 8 Method of the Work of the Spirit in Regeneration 189 26 Method of the Gospel in declaring the Matters contained in it 235 58 Method of Divine Revelations to be believed 523 9 The Mind Depraved in things Natural and Moral 209 12 The Mind as the leading Faculty of the Soul how Corrupted 211 15 The Mind affected with Darkness 236 60 Carnal Mind in all Man-kind by Nature 243 14 Mind as the Conducting faculty of the Soul how Depraved 181 51 Mind to be renewed 367 Wofull Disorder of the Mind in a Natural Condition 567 2 Impotency of the Mind to receive spiritual Things 210 13 To be spiritually Minded what it is 424 18 Ministration of the Spirit renders the Gospel effectual 11 11 Ministration of the Spirit or how he is ministred 85 9 Ministers how called by the Holy Ghost 62 26 Ministers Duty to inquire into and declare the Nature of Regeneration 188 26 Ministry of the Gospel how the Ministry of the Spirit 122 3 Ministry of Angels about the Body of Christ when dead 147 10 Ministry of the Word its use in Conversion 257 9 Foundation of the Ministry of the Church in the Promise of the Spirit 156 3 Miracles Effects of the Power of the Holy Ghost 114 21 No Mere Man the real Subject of a Power of working Miracles 115 21 Miraculous Operations in Christ by the Power of the Holy Ghost 141 6 Misery of Defiled Sinners 394 10 Misery of Man in this World not renewed by Grace 566 1 Moral Condition of Man by Creation 75 11 Moral Vertues and Endowments in Civil things wrought by the Holy Spirit 118 23 Moral Impotency of the Mind wherein it consists 225 41 Moral Vertue its worth and Excellency 325 326 8 Moral Vertue is not the Holiness of Truth 326 8 Moral Habits the Nature of them 416 8 Moral what is intended thereby 460 79 Name and Nature of Moral Vertue examined 459 78 Moral Operation and Efficacy of Dutyes for the Mortifying of sin 490 29 Moral Vertue what intended thereby 506 15 Morality improved by Grace no way hindred 181 17 Morality or a Course of Moral Duties not Gospel Holiness 440 441 c. To mortifie sin what it signifies 474 3 Mortification of Sin the Nature of it explained 473 1 Mortification an alwayes present Duty 475 5 Mortification progressive 479 10 Moses the first who committed Divine Revelations to writing 113 19 No local Motion in the sending of the Spirit 84 8 Motives unto Religious Worship taken from what God is unto us 44 2 Motives unto the Purification of Sin 391 8 Example of Christ our great Motive unto Holiness 449 58 Principal Motive unto the Mortification of Sin what it is 489 19 Moving on the Face of the Waters 72 8 Mistake of sundry ancient Translations 30 3 Mystery of Holiness 326 9 Mystery of the Cleansing of Sin by the Blood of Christ. 399 Mystical Body prepared for Christ by the Holy Ghost 321 1 N. The Name Spirit with the several Significations of it in the Scripture considered 28 2 The Name Spirit how peculiar to the third Person in the Trinity 34 9 The Name of God denoting his Being and Authority proper to each Person in the Trinity 50 12 The Nature of God the Foundation of all Religion 43 2 Nature of Prophesie of Old 100 5 Humane Nature of Christ derived no Evil from the Fall of Adam Reasons thereof 136 1 Sanctification of the Humane Nature of Christ in the Womb. 137 1 Divine Nature in Christ acted not as his Soul 137 2 The Divine Nature what it is 184 21 Nature of the Common Work of the Spirit explained what 198 13 Our whole Nature the subject of Sanctification 323 3 Nature of Holiness not to be comprehended by Natural Reason 326 9 Nature of Merit wherein it consists 332 13 Nature lapsed and depraved not able to repair it self 335 14 Nature of Decayes in Holiness 353 Nature created in the Image of God 365 The Nature of the Guilt and Filth of Sin how made known 375 True Nature of spiritual Liberty 434 34 Nature of God the onely infinite Fountain of Holiness 451 63 Holy Nature of God the Original Reason of the Necessity of Holiness in us 499 3 The Nature of that Holiness which God requireth of us revealed in Christ. 502 7 Some things clear in the Light of Nature 560 13 The Natural Man who he is 217 24 Natural Impotency of the Mind wherein it consists 225 40 Necessity of Changes in the Work of Grace 353 3 Necessity of Holiness acknowledged by all 498 1 Necessity of Holiness notwithstanding Gods readiness to pardon sin 518 33 Necessity of Holiness arising from Gods Command 533 2. 553 37 Neglect of known Duty ruinous to the Life of Holiness 250 10 New Act of especial Grace required unto every particular Duty 430 28 New Creation how effected by the Holy Spirit 95 1 Work of the Holy Spirit in the New Creation greatly to be considered 121 1 New Creation the Work whereby God designed to glorifie himself principally in this World 126 8 New Creation how assigned unto the Father Son and Spirit dictinctly 126 9 New Creature what it is and wherein it consists 183 20 New Man what it is 367 New Nature wherein it consisteth 411 2 Nine sorts of spiritual Gifts 6 7 7 Nocturnal Visions and Dreams the same 107 13 Nothing to be done in Obedience without Aids from Christ. 466 8 Nourishing of the Creation the Work of the Holy Spirit 73 9 O. Obedience of Christ gave Efficacy to his Oblation 144 Obedience without Merit Foolishness to Carnal Reason 334 13 Obedience with respect unto Rewards and Punishments not servile 541 15 Object of Christs Priestly Acts God himself 555 3 Objects of the Life of Innocency and the Life of Grace in Christ different 242 10 Objects of Creating Acts not in potentia before their Existence 273 37 Objections against the Progressive Nature of Holiness answered 349 350 c. 10 Objections against the Necessity of Holiness from the Decree of Election removed 522 523 c. How the Lord Christ sanctified himself to be an Oblation or Sacrifice 143 9 Oblation of Christ
Prayers of Believers for the purification of Sin how influenced by the Spirit of God 384 3 Prayer for Light to discern the Nature of Sin necessary 395 Prayer how a Means of purging Sin 400 13 Prayer weakeneth Sin and how 492 32 Preaching of the Word by the Holy Spirit 119 27 Preaching of the Gospel provided for and disposed by the Holy Ghost 209 10 Precepts of the Law not clearly understood before the Coming of Christ. 557 6 Preeminence of our Nature wherein it consists 509 18 Prejudices against spiritual things from Darkness 232 53 Prejudices against the Mystery of the Gospel what they are and whence they arise 234 55 Work preparatory unto Conversion 192 3 Works of the Spirit preparatory for the New Creation 98 2 Preparatory Works for Conversion on men not preparatory Inclinations in them 251 30 Preparatory Work unto Conversion wherein it consists 256 6 Presence of Christ by his Spirit what it is and wherein it consists 159 Preservation of the Creation by Divine Providence 77 15 Preservation of Grace a glorious Work 348 9 None can preserve their own Grace 345 6 Pretences of Opposition unto the Spirit of God examined 21 25 Pretences of Moral Vertue unto Holiness disproved 462 False pretences unto Holiness 327 10 Prevalency of the Word whereon it depends 260 15 Pride the poyson of the Age. 527 16 Acts of Christs Priestly Office 555 3 Principle of spiritual Life antecedent unto Moral Reformation of Life 185 22 Principle of Obedience how wrought in us of God 276 42 Principle of spiritual Obedience how renewed in us 280 50 A Principle of Eternal Life in Holiness 329 12 Priciple of Holiness in it self 346 8 Principle of Sanctification or Habit of Grace wrought in Believers by the Holy Spirit the Nature of it 411 2 Principle of Holiness in what sence called an Habit. 416 9 Principle of Holiness described ibid. Principle of Holiness in Believers the same in kind in all Believers distinct in degrees 417 10 Where the Principle of Holiness is there will be the Fruits of it 421 Principle of Holiness enclineth the Heart unto Acts and Duties of Holiness universally 425 19 Principle Dispositions and Effects of Sin 476 6 All false Principles of Obedience will admit of Reserves for Sin 425 19 Priviledge of one man above another on the Account of Holiness 510 19 Spirit proceedeth from the Son 39 14 Procession of the Holy Spirit of what sort 88 89 14 15 Procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and Son 89 15 Two-fold Natural and Voluntary ibid. Dignity of Professors wherein it consists 511 20 Progress made by the Lord Christ in the Exercise of his Humane Faculties 137 2 Mortification Progressive 479 10 Promise of the Holy Ghost unto whom it is made 10 10 Promise of the Spirit of God unto the Church rendred useless by some 23 26 Promise of the Spirit under the Gospel unto all Believers 123 4 Promise of Christs presence with his Church how accomplished 158 5 Promise of God when respected in a due manner 337 14 Promises and Exhortations how effectual 245 18 Promises how to be mixed with Faith 400 Especial Promises annexed unto especial Duties 552 35 Promises a great Encouragement unto Holiness 553 36 Proper Ends of the Knowledge of Christ Love and Conformity 152 16 All properties of the Divine Nature ascribed unto the Holy Spirit 66 32 The properties of God most gloriously represented in Christ. 501 6 Prophets of Baal who they were and why so called 14 17 A Prophet what the Name signifies 101 8 Prophets how they enquired into their own Prophecies 100 5 Tongues and Hands of the Prophets guided by the Holy Ghost 105 10 Prophets established in the Church all Holy 111 18 Prophecy the first eminent Gift of the Holy Ghost under the Old Testament 99 5 Beginning and Ending of the Gift of Prophecy under the Old Testament 100 6 Prophecy in its Exercise Two-fold 101 8 General Nature of the Gift of Prophecy 102 9 Prophetical Office of Christ its Acts and Objects 556 6 Propositions of the Gospel to be believed of what Nature 524 12 Purgatory a great Engine for the Ruine of Souls 381 Faith how it purgeth the Soul 390 8 Purging of Sin commensurate unto the whole Work of Sanctification 378 To purifie our selves from all Sin our Duty 398 13 Purification the first of Sanctification 370 1 Means of Purification if duely used the Soul is kept from Defilement so as to be alwayes accepted with God 407 Purification the End of Christs Oblation 555 Legal Purifications Types of real Sanctification 371 2 Putting of Spirit on men and what is signified thereby 85 10 Q. Quakers mistakes and failures about Mortification 488 26 Quakers strangers unto true Mortification 489 26 Qualifications for the Receiving of Gospel Gifts unto Edification 359 Spiritual Quickening an Act of Almighty Power 279 49 The Queen of Heaven 71 6 R. Rage against the Spirit of God 24 26 Enthusiastical Raptures no Means of Conversion 186 25 Readiness unto Holy Obedience whence it proceedeth 435 36 Readiness in the Minds of Believers unto all Duties of Obedience 464 5 Real Work of Grace and Holiness in the Hearts of Believers 452 66 Reasons and Causes why the Mysteries of the Gospel are esteemed Folly 222 34 Reasons why the Growth of Holiness is hardly discerned 351 10 Corrupted Reason depraves the whole Mystery of the Gospel 325 8 Weakness of Humane Reason to instruct us unto Obedience 559 13 To Receive the Grace of God what it is 80 3 What is required to the Receiving spiritual things in a spiritual Manner 219 29 Receiving of the Spirit how Antecedent unto Faith 358 3 Rectitude of Mans Nature wherein it consisted 76 14 Reformation of Life is not Regeneration 181 17 Reformation of Life upon Convictions wherein it comes short of Holiness 201 19 Regeneration wrought under the Old Testament but not clearly as to its Nature 174 6 Regeneration not a Metaphorical Expression of Amendment of Life 175 Regeneration in the Nature of it clearly revealed in the Gospel 176 8 Regeneration as to the Kind of the Work the same in all that are Regenerate 177 10 Regeneration infallibly produceth Reformation of Life 182 19 Regeneration the only Means of Delivery from the state of Sin 254 3 Regeneration the Work of God not our own 285 57 Regenerate Persons alone have the Promise of the Spirit for their Sanctification 358 Rejection of Christ the the last fatal Fall of the Church of the Jewes 25 27 Relation of the Person of the Holy Spirit unto the Father and the Son 89 15 Relation the Ground of Communication 363 5 Reliance on the Blood of Christ for Cleansing an Act of Faith 389 No Relief by Christ for unholy Persons 564 21 Religious Worship is the due Application of our Souls unto God according to his own Manifestations of himself 44 3 Religious Obedience due to the Holy Spirit as unto the Father and Son
what sence 453 67 Universality the best Evidence of sincere Sanctification 369 Unregenerate Persons must all perish 253 2 Unregenerate Persons may pray for the Spirit 361 4 Use of spiritual Gifts 1 1 Use of Promises Exhortations and Threatnings 166 10 Use of Ordinances and Means necessary to the Progress of Holiness 354 Diligent Use of Means required unto every one that would be holy 521 4 Usefulness in the World depends on our Conformity to God 512 22 W. Water poured on Grace to cause it to grow 347 8 Fire and Water the Means of all Typical Cleansing 371 1 Watching against Sin on the Account of its Defilement 403 15 The Way whereby the Blood of Christ cleanseth from Sin known to few 384 3 The Way of Cleansing Sin made known by the Holy Spirit alone 388 Wayes whereby Grace is encreased 343 6 Wayes and Means whereby we may come to a Discovery of the Defilement of Sin 395 The weakest Grace shal be preserved 344 6 Weakness of Humane Reason to instruct us unto Obedience 559 13 A Rational Will the most eminent Property of a Person ascribed to the Holy Ghost 57 2â The Will of the Spirit in all his Operations 165 8 Christ not to be sought in the Wilderness in what sence 151 15 Will and Affections how under the Power of the Mind 237 61 The Will of God the only Rule of Obedience 249 27 Wills and Assections of men how wrought upon by the Word 259 13 The Will in Conversion acts not but as it is acted 271 35 Acts of the Will in Conversion how to be considered 274 39 The Will considered as a Vital Faculty and as a free Principle 283 55 Will of God the Rule and Measure of our Obedience 412 3 Every gracious Act of the Will wrought by the Holy Spirit 470 14 Wisdom and Power of the Holy Spirit in the Preservation of Grace 348 9 Wisdom of God to be considered in all Commands of Obedience 543 18 19 c. Office of Witness-bearing unto the Lord Christi discharged by the Holy Spirit 149 13 Witness of the Spirit 168 9 Words the Means of any thing in us applyed to God intend signs onely of it 160 What the Word worketh instrumentally the Spirit worketh effectually 197 11 Word of God the onely Rule and Means of perswading the Soul to Conversion 257 8 Word and Doctrine of Christ the Rule and Measure of Holiness 445 52 Every divine Work distinctly assigned to each Person 68 1 Work of the Spirit towards the Humane Nature of Christ in the state of the Dead 146 10 Every Work of the Spirit is not sanctifying or saving 166 9 Work of Illumination and Conviction wherein it comes short of Conversion 199 16 Work of the Spirit in Regeneration not confined to Arguments and Motives 261 19 Work of the Holy Ghost in Sanctification owned by all the Nature of that Work questioned 339 3 Work of Holiness secret and Mysterious 351 10 Work of Grace variously carryed on in the Soul 353 Work of the Holy Spirit in us as to the Subject and Object of it 385 3 Entire Work of the Holy Ghost in Sanctification explained 435 35 What Works ascribed distinctly to the Father what to the Son and what to the Holy Spirit 69 2 Works supposed satisfactory for Sin overthrow the Gospel 331 13 Workings of the Spirit of God on and in men of the World 77 15 Writing of the Scripture an Effect of the Holy Ghost 113 19 Three things required unto the Writing of the Scripture 113 20 Z. Zeal to the Glory of God how Acted by Christ in his Oblation 144 A TABLE of some Places of Scripture Explained or Applyed in this Treatise GENESIS Chapters Verses Pages Sections 1 2 38 13 1 2 72 8 1 22 32 7 1 26 27 75 11 2 7 74. 465 10 6 3 8 29 2 4 4 53 16 6 5 211 366 15 6 6 63 28 8 1 29 2 8 11 53 16 9 1 2 510 18 17 1 334 413 13 4 EXODUS 4 8 115 21 7 1 102 8 31 2 3. 118 25 LEVITICUS 1 11 385 4 9 24 53 16 NUMBERS 11 16 17 95 116 21 12 8 106 12 19 4 5 6. 389 Â Â 20 387 4 â4 1 112 18 DEUTERONOMY 5 29 424 17 13 1 2 18 22 18 20 14 17 30 6 417 11 32 12 65 31 JOSHUA 10 11 115 12 12 22 112 18 JUDGES Chapters Verses Pages Sections 3 10 17 15 5 20 71 6 I. SAMUEL 10 9 117 Â 16 14 36 11 Â 15 91 19 18 10 37 11 19 24 110 17 II. SAMUEL 23 2 101 7 I. KINGS 22 6 13 16 22 26 15 18 22 21 22. 33 7 22 18 108 14 II. KINGS 2 9 95 21 I. CHRONICLES 12 18 90 16 28 12 105 10 28 19 113 19 EZRA 9 6 396 Â JOB 9 29 30 31 379 Â 26 13 71 7 32 4 58 22 33 4 75 12 PSALMS 1 4 29 2 5 4 5 6. 500 3 8 3 72 7 Psalms Verses Pages Sections 16 11 146 10 18 21 22 23 490 28 19 12 13 408 Â 33 6 35 9 38 5 377 5 40 6 7 8 144 Â 45 13 329 12 5â 11 35 9 Â 5 402 Â Â 7 389 5 53 3 395 Â 63 8 425 18 68 18 157 3 104 29 30. 73 9 139 13 14. 327 10 143 10 37 12 PROVERBS 1 23 86 11 4 18 347 9 6 10 436 36 8 26 74 10 30 12 397 12 ECCLESIASTES 5 6 31 5 12 10 114 20 SOLOMONS SONG 5 2 3 436 Â ISAIAH 4 4 370 1 6 6 7 54 17 11 1 2 3 131 59. 90 94. 23 18 20. 20 1 2 3. 109 15 32 15 86 11 40 27 28 342 5 40 31 431 30 44 3 88 13 45 1 77 118 15 22 57 9 10 376 232. 5 53 59 20 21 11 11 61 1 139 4 63 10 11 14 35 65 9 31 64 6 377 6 JEREMIAH 2 22 379 Â 4 22 216 22 20 9 103 8 23 28 104 10 23 33 36 108 14 31 33 418 11 52 23 32 6 EZEKIEL Chapters Verses Pages Sections 8 3 109 16 13 3 32 7 16 60 61 62 63 396 Â 36 25 26 27. 185 335 370 418 23 14 1 11. DANIEL 10 9 107 13 12 3 83 7 12 9 104 10 HOSEA 1 2 109 15 5 13 388 Â 8 12 236 59 14 5 6 346 8 AMOS 4 13 30 3 MICAH 2 7 59 23 3 8 101 7 6 6 7 331 13 ZEPHANIAH 3 17 91 18 ZECHARIAH 4 7 78 16 12 8 342 5 13 1 387 394. 4 11. MATTHEW 1 18 131 10 3 11 54 17 3 16 17 52 139 17 4 16 207 6 6 22 23 237 61 9 38 142 6 12 24 28 31 32. 63 141 6 29 24 26 151 15 27 46 130 6 28 19 45 50 51 Â MARK 1 12 141 7 11 13 36 Â 13 32 130 6 17 5 360 Â LUKE Chapters Verses Pages Sections 1 35 131 10 2 11 5 3 2 40 137 2 3 16 88
his Gifts unto his Disciples by breathing on them John 20. 22. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And because in our first Creation it is said of Adam that God ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã breathed into his Nostrils the Breath of Life Gen. 2. 7. He hath the same Appellation with respect unto God Psal. 18. 15. Thus is he called the Spirit And because as we observed before the Word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is variously used Didymus de Spiritu Sancto lib. 3. supposeth that the prefixing of the Article ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã doth distinguish the signification and confine it to the Holy Ghost in the New Testament Oft-times no doubt it doth so but not alwayes as is manifest from Joh. 8. 3. where ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is joyned with ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and yet only signifies the Wind. But the Subject treated of and what is affirmed of him will sufficiently determine the signification of the Word where he is called absolutely THE SPIRIT Sect. 9 Again He is called by way of Eminency the Holy Spirit or the Holy Ghost This is the most usual Appellation of him in the New Testament And it is derived from the Old Psal. 51. 11. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Spirit of thy Holiness or thy Holy Spirit Isa. 63. 10 11. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Spirit of his Holiness or his Holy Spirit Hence are ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Holiness in common use among the Jews In the New Testament He is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã That Holy Spirit And we must enquire the special Reasons of this Adjunct Some suppose it is only from his peculiar Work of sanctifying us or making us Holy For this Effect of Sanctification is his peculiar Work and that of what sort soever it be whether it consist in a separation from things Profane and Common unto Holy Uses and Services or whether it be the real Infusion and Operation of Holiness in Men it is from him in an especial manner And this also manifesteth him to be God for it is God alone who sanctifyeth his People Levit. 20. 8. I am Jehovah who sanctifieth you And God in that Work ascribes unto himself the Title of Holy in an especial manner and as such would have us to consider him Levit. 21. 8. I the Lord which sanctifieth you am Holy And this may be one Reason of the frequent use of this Property with reference unto the Spirit Sect. 10 But this is not the whole Reason of this Name and Apellation For where he is first so mentioned he is called the Spirit of Gods Holiness Psal. 51. 11. Isa 63. 10 11. And in the New Testament absolutely the Spirit of Holiness Rom. 1. 4. And this respects his Nature in the first Place and not merely his Operations As God then absolutely is called Holy the Holy One and the Holy One of Israel being therein described by that Glorious Property of his Nature whereby he is Glorious in Holiness Exod. 15. 11 And whereby he is distinguished from all false Gods who is like unto thee O Jehovah among the Gods who is like unto thee Glorious in Holiness So is the Spirit called Holy to denote the Holiness of his Nature And on this Account is the Opposition made between him and the Unholy or unclean Spirit Mark 3. 29 30. He that shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit hath never forgivness Because they said he hath an unclean Spirit And herein first his Personality is asserted for the Unclean Spirit is a Person And if the Spirit of God were only a Quality or Accident as some fancy and dream there could no comparative opposition be made between him and this unclean Spirit that is the Devil So also are they opposed with respect unto their Natures His Nature is Holy whereas that of the unclean Spirit is Evil and perverse This is the Foundation of his being called Holy even the eternal Glorious Holiness of his Nature And on this account he is so stiled also with respect unto all his Operations For it is not only with regard unto the particular Work of Regeneration and Sanctification or making of us Holy but unto all his Works and Operations that he is so termed For he being the immediate Operator of all Divine Works that outwardly are of God and they being in themselves all Holy be they of what kind soever He is called the Holy Spirit Yea he is so called to attest and witness that all his Works all the Works of God are Holy although they may be great and terrible and such as to Corrupt Reason may have an other Appearance in all which we are to acquiesce in this that the Holy One in the midst of us will do no iniquity Zeph. 3. 5. The Spirit of God then is thus frequently and almost constantly called Holy to attest that all the Works of God whereof he is the immediate Operator are Holy For it is the Work of the Spirit to harden and blind obstinate sinners as well as to Sanctifie the Elect. And his acting in the One is no less Holy than in the other although Holiness be not the Effect of it in the Objects So when he came to declare his dreadful Work of the final hardning and Rejection of the Jews one of the most tremendous Effects of Divine Providence a Work which for the strangeness of it Men would in no wise believe though it were declared unto them Acts 13. 41. he was signally proclamed Holy by the Seraphims that attended his Throne Isa. 6. 3 10 11 12. Joh. 12. 40. Acts 28. 26. Sect. 11 There are indeed some Actions on Men and in the World that are wrought by God's permission and in his righteous Judgment by Evil Spirits whose Persons and actings are placed in Opposition to the Spirit of God So Sam. 16. 14 15. The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and an Evil Spirit from the Lord troubled him And Saul's servants said unto him behold now an Evil Spirit from God troubleth thee So also v. 23. The Evil Spirit from God was upon Saul So chap. 18. 10. Chap. 19. 9. This Spirit is called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã an evil Spirit of God Chap. 16. 15. and absolutely ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a Spirit of God v. 33. where we have supplied Evil in the Translation But these Expressions are to be regulated and explained by v. 14. where he is called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã an Evil Spirit from the Lord that is appointed and commissioned by him for the punishing and terrifying of Saul For as the Spirit of the Lord departed from him by with-drawing his Assistance and Influential operations whereby he had wrought in him those Gifts and Abilities of mind which fitted him unto the discharge of his Kingly Office upon the first impressions whereof he was turned into another man from what he was in his Private Condition 1 Sam. 10. 6
9. So the Evil Spirit came upon him to excite out of his own adust Melancholy discontents fears a sense of Guilt as also to impress terrifying thoughts and Apprehensions on his Imagination For so it is said an Evil Spirit from the Lord ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 1 Sam. 16. 14. terrified him frightened him with dreadful Agitations of Mind And that we may touch a little on this by the way The Foundation of this Trouble and distress of Saul lay in himself For as I do grant that he was sometimes under an immediate Agitation of Body and Mind from the powerful Impressions of the Devil upon him for under them it is said he prophesied in the midst of the House 1 Sam. 18. 10. which argues an extraordinary and involuntary Effect upon him yet principally he wrought by the Excitation and Provocation of his Personal Distempers Moral and Natural For these have in themselves a great Efficacy in cruciating the Minds of Guilty Persons So Tacitus observes out of Plato Annal. lib. 6. Neque frustra praestantissimus humanae sapientiae firmare solitus est si recludantur Tyrannorum mentes posse aspici laniatus ictus quando ut corpora verberibus ita saevitia libidine malis consultis animus dilaceretur The most Eminent Wiseman was not wont in vain to affirm that if the minds of Tyrants were laid open and discovered it would be seen how they were cruciated and punished seeing that as the Body is rent and torn by stripes so is the Mind by cruelty Lusts evil Counsels and Undertakings so he as I suppose from Plato de Repub. lib. 9. Where Socrates disputes sundry things to that purpose And another Roman Historian gives us a signal Instance hereof in Jugurtha after he had contracted the Guilt of many horrible wickednesses And yet this Work in it self is of the same kind with what God sometimes employs holy Angels about because it is the Execution of his Righteous Judgments So it was a watcher and an Holy One that in such a Case smote Nebuchadnezzar with a sudden madness and frenzy Dan. 4. 13 14. Sect. 12 To return as he is called the Holy so he is the Good Spirit of God Psal. 143. v 10. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Thy Spirit is Good lead me into the Land of Uprightness So Ours Rather Thy Good Spirit shall lead Me. Or as Junius Spiritu tuo bono deduc me lead me by thy Good Spirit The Chaldee here adds ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Good Spirit of thy Holiness or thy Holy Good Spirit Didymus Lib. 2. de Spirit Sanc. says that some Copies here read ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a Remembrance whereof is in the M. S. of Tâcla and not elsewhere So Nehem. 9. 10. Thou gavest them ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that Good Spirit of thine to instruct them And he is called so principally from his Nature which is essentially Good as there is none Good but One that is God Matth. 19. 17. as also from his Operations which are all Good as they are Holy and unto them that believe are full of goodness in their Effects Crel Prolegom p. 7. distinguisheth between this Good Spirit and the Holy Spirit or the Holy Ghost For this Good Spirit he would confine unto the Old Testament making it the Author or Cause of those Gifts of Wisdom Courage Prudence and Government that were granted unto many of the People of old So it is said of Bezaliel That he was filled with the Spirit of God in Wisdom and Understanding and in Knowledg Exod. 31. 3. So Chap. 35. 31. That is saith he with this Good Spirit of God So also it is pretended in all those Places where the Spirit of God is said to come on Men to enable them unto some great and extraordinary Work as Judg. 3. 10. But this is plainly to contradict the Apostle who tells us that there are indeed various Operations but one Spirit and that the one and self same Spirit worketh all these things as he pleaseth And if from every different or distinct Effect of the Spirit of God we must multiply Spirits and assign every one of them to a distinct Spirit no Man will know what to make of the Spirit of God at last Probably we shall have so many feigned Spirits as to lose the only true One. As to this particular Instance David prays that God would lead him by his Good Spirit Psal. 143. 10. Now certainly this was no other but that Holy Spirit which he prays in another place that the Lord would not take from him Psal. 51. 11. Take not thy Holy Spirit from me which is confessed to be the Holy Ghost This he also mentions 2 Sam. 23. 2. The Spirit of the Lord spake by me and his Word was in my Tongue And what Spirit this was Peter declares 1 Epist. Chap. 1. v. 21. The Holy Men of God spake in old time as they were moved by the Holy Ghost So vain is this pretence Sect. 13 Again He is commonly called the Spirit of God and the Spirit of the Lord So in the first mention of Him Gen. 1. 2. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Spirit of God moved on the Face of the Waters And I doubt not but that the Name ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Elohim which includes a plurality in the same Nature is used in the Creation and the whole Description of it to intimate the Dictinction of the Divine Persons For presently upon it the Name Jehovah is mentioned also Chap. 2. 4. but so as Elohim is joyned with it But that Name is not used in the account given us of the Work of Creation because it hath respect onely unto the Unity of the Essence of God Now the Spirit is called the Spirit of God originally and principally as the Son is called the Son of God For the Name of God in those Enunciations is taken personally for the Father that is God the Father the Father of Christ and our Father John 20. 17. And he is thus termed ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã upon the account of the Order and Nature of Personal Subsistence and Distinction in the Holy Trinity The Person of the Father being Fons Origo Trinitatis the Son is from him by eternal Generation and is therefore his Son the Son of God whose denomination as the Father is originally from hence even the Eternal Generation of the Son So is the Person of the Holy Spirit from him by eternal Procession or Emanation Hence is that Relation of his to God even the Father whence he is called the Spirit of God And he is not only called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Spirit of God but ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Spirit that is of God which proceedeth from him as a Distinct Person This therefore arising from and consisting in his proceeding from him he is called Metaphorically the Breath of his Mouth as proceeding from him by an eternal Spiration On this Foundation and Supposition he is